Star Tours

Star Tours is a ride at Hollywood Studios in Disney World and also in Disneyland.  In the fall of 2011, the old Star Tours ride was shut down for refurbishment.  This is my grandson’s favorite ride.  This is a flight simulator ride and you do get jostled around in your seat as if you were really on a spaceship.  Originally it was based on the first Star Wars movie and you basically ended up flying through the Death Star just like Luke Skywalker, ending up blowing it up just like he did in the movie.  We were fortunate enough to visit Disney World in August 2011 and caught the ride in its final days of operation.

In May 2012 the new ride opened at both Disney World and Disneyland.   This version is based on the prequels of the Star Wars movies.  It is now a 3D ride with several different versions and 5 different planets that you may have an adventure on.   There are two scenes in every ride with varying characters that you encounter.  With all the different permutations possible, there is supposed to be about 50 different experiences.  The premise is that C3PO is in the cockpit doing some updating to the equipment while the pilot takes off on a break.   Unfortunately, the ship is scheduled to take off even as C3PO protests that he’s not the pilot.  Luckily, navigator R2D2 is aboard.  As you are leaving the hangar, you may get stopped by a Storm Trooper or Darth Vader looking for a Rebel spy.  A scanner comes up on the screen and scans the riders until it stops on one of them and their picture is shown on a screen to the side of the action.  It could be anyone on the ride.  My grandson was the rebel spy twice on our last trip.  How exciting!  The ship pushes past the guards and out of the hangar reaching warp speed and flying through to the first planet of the adventure.  It could be Hoth where you fly past the AT AT s and almost crash into the snow covered mountains, or Tatooine, or (my granddaughter’s least favorite place) Naboo where you are flying through an underwater city inhabited by Jarjar Binks and his ilk and almost get swallowed by a giant sea creature, or Kashyyyk where a Wookie shakes his fist at you for flying too low.  Once you leave that planet you may get a message from Princess Leia or General Akbar pleading with you to get the rebel spy to their headquarters, it’s very important.  On the way you fly to another planet, this time it could be the Death Star and then you finally reach your destination.  It’s an exciting and fun ride.  The kids usually come off the ride only to circle around to the entrance and ride it again 3 or 4 times.  Not even Tatooine Traders, the gift shop you exit into, holds their attention too long when there is another flight to experience.  We’ve never had to wait more than 10 minutes or so to get on this ride and it probably takes that long to walk from the entrance to the actual loading of the ride.

I miss the original ride.  I was so impressed with the experience the first time I rode it.  The new ride is more high tech and you never know which planets you'll get so it's a good experience as well.   My granddaughter seems to get Naboo almost every time and is usually frustrated to tears.  She is terrified of that giant fish that tries to eat the ship.  I told her she should start hoping for Naboo and maybe she won't get it so often.

If you ever get a chance to try it, I recommend it. 

Pop Century Resort

 

Wow!  I was reminded the other day by a co-worker (Hi James) that he was told that I had a blog about Disney World.  I can’t believe that I haven’t entered anything into the blog for over 3 years!  Sometimes life just gets in the way.  Although I haven’t written anything, I have of course continued to go to Disney World during this time.  In fact, I just looked at my room keys and have been to DW 6 times since my last blog entry!  The latest was just one month ago.

For most of those visits, we stayed at Pop Century Resort.  This was the newest value resort up until a few months ago when they opened the new Art of Animation Resort across the lake from Pop Century.  Art of Animation Resort looks interesting but is mostly family suites which run over $200 per night.  A good option if you have a large group and can split the cost.  Pop Century is a fun resort that the kids love and the adults can get nostalgic about.  The buildings are divided up into the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.  They are themed accordingly.  Large statues of Lady and the Tramp can be found outside the 50’s buildings.  Stairwells masked by giant Rubik’s Cube’s adorn the 80’s buildings.  Giant 8 track tapes are plastered to the side of the 70’s buildings.  You get the idea.  There are three swimming pools.  The main one is between the 60’s buildings and has a ‘flower power’ theme.  The 50’s building has a bowling pin shaped pool and the 80’s building has a computer themed pool complete with a stack of floppy disks in front of the pool.  We’ve stayed in the 50’s, 70’s, and 80’s buildings and I’ve never felt that we were excessively far away from the main building and bus stops.

My grandson’s favorite feature is the tie-dyed cupcakes in the food court.  Had to have one every night around 9 p.m.  They show Disney movies near the 60’s pool every evening if you’re so inclined.  The rooms are the usual set-up but now provide free refrigerators and wi-fi (however no coffeemakers).  As a matter of fact, there is wi-fi available all over the parks now as well.  This is new even since our visit in August of 2012.  They also now use RFID chips in the room cards.  So, instead of sliding the card in and out of a slot to unlock the door, you just hold the card up to the face of the lock and it opens.  More Disney Magic!  There is one area for buses in front of the multi-functional main building which houses the registration, food court, and gift shop.  The best thing about this bus area is there are clearly marked areas for each park bus and they have roped off queues for waiting.  Unlike other resort bus stops where there are no queues and everyone just bunches up and pushes their way onto the bus.  This also helps you get in practice for queuing up for those rides at the park.

There have been lots of changes over the last three years.  Next time: the new Star Tours ride!

You Can’t Control the Weather

I’ve had two ‘bad’ trips to Disney World. One in September a few years ago when the temperature was consistently in the 90’s with 90 % humidity. The other was this past January when the temperature struggled to get into the 40’s most days. Although I say these were ‘bad’ trips, I don’t mean to infer that we didn’t still have a great time. However, bad weather does create its own challenges.

Too much heat and humidity is not normal September weather for Lake Buena Vista. It’s usually in the 80’s with some humidity and a daily rain shower that time of year. We usually carry ponchos with us to get through the afternoon showers. On this trip I looked forward to the rain and let myself get soaked just to cool off. I was probably dry again within 15 minutes of the rain stopping. This time it was just a period of record highs that everyone who lived there commented on as totally unusual. We spent a lot of time going into buildings just to cool off, which worked for about 5 seconds and then the stifling, sweaty heat overcame the inefficient air conditioning and there really wasn’t much relief. You will notice that all of the doors to all of the shops in Disney parks remain open, thus the inefficiency of the air conditioning. Thankfully the rides are air conditioned and did offer some relief but it was a struggle each day to remain hydrated and to not let the discomfort ruin your good time.

This past January we had the complete opposite problem. The totally bizarre experience of wearing a winter coat and gloves at Disney World hit me over and over again during our stay there. I have a cute picture of my granddaughter with Tinker Bell marred only by the fact that she is wearing her winter coat in the picture, to forever remind me of that strange trip. I still clearly recall standing outside of the Magic Kingdom waiting for it to open with my fingers going numb even though I was wearing gloves. I kept telling myself that it was below zero in Minnesota and that I should be happy to be in 30 degree weather. The difference is that in Minnesota, I’m in and out of a car and in and out of buildings, not standing around for 15 minutes to wait for something to open and then spending the whole day outside. Also, the Florida cold is a very penetrating icy cold. I was amused to hear on the local news that cars were not starting because of the overnight 20 degree weather.

Riding on Soarin with a coat on because there really wasn’t any place to put it while on the ride was uncomfortable but didn’t diminish the ever amazing feeling that you are really Soarin over mountain and stream. Seeing carts selling hot chocolate in souvenir mugs rather than ice cream treats seemed other worldly to me. It was a world gone mad! Cast members waited on you in the stores with their coats on because as I mentioned before, the doors stand open so any heat flowing into the buildings was mingled with the cold air coming in the doors.

Friends of mine who spent 7 days there at the same time we were there were so disappointed. They planned this trip for a year and to have it take place under such dire conditions could be nothing but a disappointment, but who do you complain to? Even Disney cannot control the weather.

So be prepared for the weather on you next trip to DW. Extreme heat, extreme cold, Hurricanes etc. it can all happen in the magic world of Disney.

Disaster Mouse!

"If you never did, you should. These things are fun and fun is good.” is something I once read in a book. Well, actually it was every night for about two months (sometimes twice) to my daughter until I told her the book didn’t work anymore and needed a rest. It’s hard to write an article without the existence of the article hinging on “this economy”, so I’m trying something different.

Officially, my story is that I did this all on purpose to test just how badly prepared someone could be and still have fun at Disney World. As long as you have a sense of humor and think happy thoughts. I’m pretty sure my experience had nothing to do with me not making my usual list of things to pack and starting the list a couple weeks ahead of time. In fact, the experiment was a double blind, so that not even I knew what it was I had (purposely, I insist) forgot. That way I could have the same sinking feeling as everyone else.

So, my feelings were quite realistic when I realized that the stroller for the four-year-old on medication in which a side effect is tiredness was at home in the car trunk. And my feelings were exactly as you might expect when I went to put on my zip-up hoodie in 20 degree Florida weather and it wasn’t there. (It was supposed to be in the 60s!) Of course, being the Disney World expert that I am, I had calculated exactly what would be the absolute worse things to leave at home. And, for the record, the absolute worse things to leave in a resort room are your keycard/park tickets. Which I did not almost do and remember just as the door was closing.

Add onto that, a large number of smaller unlucky incidents of the kind which normally makes for a horrible, rotten, no good day. (Like the hand sanitizer leaking, seeping into the lip balm and then the fire of stinging as it’s applied to chapped lips.) The trip could very easily go downhill from there. It’s pretty easy. All the people seen in the Parks, yelling, crying, screaming…things didn’t go perfectly. Maybe even they went very badly.

So, how does someone still have fun in the face of adversity? Try to see it as funny. Anyone can have the perfect Cinderella dream vacation. They sort of meld into each other, though. It’s the ones that have something truly memorable happen that sear a vision forever in your brain.

I certainly know I will never forget running through Hollywood Studios carrying a freezing, strollerless child in the throes of a potty emergency while passing a cascading fountain that causes the child to scream in terror and panic just as a long line to the restrooms loom into view. I’m still laughing about the scream as the first splash of cascading water reached our ears. And hey, the Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage performance was pretty good. It all ended well. The guests in line rushed us to the front. Sure, Gertie the Dinosaur’s Ice Cream of Extinction being closed almost eclipsed this tremendous show of good will. But then we got to see Darth Vader beating up on some little kids.

Really, any vacation is going to go badly if there is a preconceived notion of setting up “special moments“. Disney World, of all places, is one of unforeseen moments. Sometimes sipping free hot chocolate next to a giant water wheel listening to piped-in jazz music can be one. Sitting back and just letting things happen can make all the difference between a bad trip and a good one. If it’s one piece of advice I can give, it’s forget the Picture Spots or trying to get a big family photo in front of the Castle. Stop walking through the Parks with a camcorder in front of you. Don’t plan every moment and every meal for every day that you are there. At the very least you’ll burn out, even if all goes well.

Of course…this was just Day One of the experiment…

Quote taken from One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Doctor Seuss

Tower Drop Ride

A faint mist fills the air as you pass through a wrought iron gate, following a twisting path towards an old hotel. The mist seems to bring the strains of music. Big band music from another era, familiar and yet the old recordings are eerily tinny sounding. A completely different dimension of sound from current music.

The landscaping is overgrown, broken. It looks like no one has come this way for seventy years. Reaching what should have been a fountain and pool, you find it dry and filled with dead leaves. The music is a bit stronger here and it’s near the pastel pink stucco of the building.

This is the building you’ve come to see. An old 1920s, abandoned Spanish-Renaissance styled hotel. Each step closer to the lobby entrance brings more anxiety, more anticipation. The lobby is cool, yet dark. A thick layer of dust covers everything. A mah-jongg game half-played. Empty glasses, luggage, coats. It seems people left this place in a hurry, never returning for their belongings. Stopping in the midst of their cocktails. Outside it’s hot, inside here it is cool. Preternaturally cold.

The bellhop leads you to a large library. Once inside the library, your situation has become clear. This is not reality, you unlocked a door with the key of imagination. You’ve entered a different dimension. You’ve traveled directly to…The Twilight Zone.

With this pronouncement still ringing in your head, you enter a basement. Towards a freight elevator, which is the only way to get out of here. The hum of boilers accompanies you. Another bellhop directs you to a seat with the freight elevator. Did the bellhop just wish you good luck? Or say that if you had any questions it was now too late? That disembodied voice just said that people long ago had also stepped through an elevator door and into a nightmare.

Slowly the elevator moves up. Here’s your stop. A mere hotel hallway. But what are those phantasmagorical figures waving at you to join them? What was that you just saw? Did you really see what happened after the apparitions disappeared? The doors close and you move up again. When they open, this is no hotel hallway. Your elevator car moves out and forward. That’s right! It moved forward! Past a large blinking eye, E=MC2, into the deepest darkest corner of the imagination.

Then you fall. And fall. Raising up, windows open to give you a view of the outside. You fall again. The rising and falling doesn’t seem to show any sign of stopping as it does it again and again!

Then as quickly as it started you blink in the soft glow of electric light. You’re on the ground, being warned to be more aware the next time of exactly what sort of place you are checking into. Everyone in the elevator staggers out into the light, many walking as if slightly drunk. Big band music heralds your return into the living dimension. Vera Lynne ominously crooning out how you’ll meet again.

Beats standing on plain asphalt ground in a cordoned off queue for a tower drop ride staring out over more asphalt with your legs hanging out of a harness, doesn’t it?

Storybook Love

One of the cheaper and easier to book alternatives to Cinderella’s Royal Table in Magic Kingdom is the Princess Storybook meal in Epcot at the World Showcase. For a Princess fan, this one is highly recommended. There are three options all with appearances by four Princesses, which are breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is the cheapest, so if you want to get in to see Princesses with the least amount of money possible, this is the choice for you.

Many reviews online are rather critical of the Princess character meal, treating the Storybook meal like the ugly stepsister of Cinderella’s Royal Table. This meal lacks the thrill of actually eating inside Cinderella’s Castle, instead being inside Norway’s Akershus restaurant. Although, really, once you are inside the décor around you won’t make that much of a difference. Although, I will admit that I tend to take the easy way out. I preferred getting a spot, in fact, a choice of days and times, than to have to fight for any spot at any time by getting up at 5:30am or earlier depending on the time zone.

The big difference between the Epcot and Magic Kingdom experiences are the Princesses you are likely to meet. Cinderella’s Royal Table will always have Cinderella in attendance and part of the photo package. (Both include a photo package with the price you pay.) Norway’s photo princess is Belle. The Princesses tend to vary at the Storybook meal with a rotating cast that could include Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine, Mulan, Snow White and sometimes Mary Poppins and Ariel. An appearance by Cinderella isn’t entirely unheard of at the Epcot meal. This meal is definitely the one with more diverse Princesses.

Another complaint about the meal is the amount of time Princesses spend at each table. They do have a large room to work through and every Princess has to try to see every table before their meal is done. This does put a limit on the amount of time a Princess will spend with each family. Don’t expect one to sit down and chat for 10-15 minutes. However, I did time them ranging between three minutes and five, depending on the level of interaction from the little ones at the table. Obviously, the more into a Princess your child (or you…admit it) is, the longer one will stay.

As for food, breakfast is pretty standard. Eggs, cheesy hash browns, bacon, sausage and a cold buffet with a selection of pastries, breads and fruit. Lunch and dinner here is more exotic than at the Castle, featuring Norwegian inspired dishes to choose from. Picky eaters may want to check out the menus at allears.net to see if there is something that appeals to them.

Far from being Cindy’s ugly stepsister, the truth is, this character meal is a wonderful experience and should be given the same chance to try on the glass slipper as any scullery maid.

Sign Here Please

One of the dangers of Disney World, especially with kids, is the merchandise. It’s everywhere. Main Street is lined with stores. Every on-site resort has a shop. Most attractions lead out into a shop themed for that ride. Sometimes, in places like the World Showcase and Downtown Disney, the attractions are the shops and the whole reason for visiting. I’ve written articles here on souvenirs before and the best places for them. However, what about a souvenir that doesn’t cost much, can be more satisfying and stave off a large credit card bill?

That’s where autographs come in. First timers may find the concept funny, but almost all kids and even some adults love getting the autographs of various Disney characters. It becomes a game to find as many different characters as possible to collect the autographs. Books are sold cheaply in the shops along with thick pens that are easy for the gloved hands of characters to handle. However, many people do bring their own collection books and pens from home. Just make sure that the books can lay flat and that the pens are big enough for the characters to manipulate. Some people like to have an autograph on one page and a photo with that character on the facing page.

There are some interesting facts about autograph collecting. One, is that no matter where you meet the character, you can expect the same signature. If you meet Belle in Epcot and then the next day in Magic Kingdom, it will look the same. If you meet Belle five years from now and get her autograph again, it will match the previous autograph. Sometimes I suspect some adults like to collect the autographs just to test this out. (The others are trying to get as many characters as possible. Some characters are quite rare, it’s like bird watching or Pokemon collecting.)

Even more impressive, is that some characters, due to the nature of the costumes (like Goofy and Pluto) are signing blind. Try signing a signature that isn’t your own, but due it by holding your hands above your head and that’s basically what they do.

Just remember if you do decide to do autographs that the books should be open to a blank page before approaching the character and the pen should be uncapped/clicked and ready. This is just common courtesy to all others in line behind you and helps the characters, since most of them aren’t going to be able to turn pages easily.

At the end of the trip, the autograph book will be filled with different signatures all in the style of the character who wrote them and like a photo will last longer than that giant lollipop. Those lollipops almost always are broken anyway. I haven’t bought an intact one yet.