Well if there's one question I get asked a lot, it's "I like trains, what is there for me to do at Walt Disney World?". And knowing as much as I do about the resort it's hard not to scoff at the question, but I have to remember that not everyone is as knowledgeable as I am. There's just so much trainy goodness to be had at the resort that it's hard to know where to begin. So let's begin!
1. The Walt Disney World Railroad
It's a train. I don't think I need to explain this.
2. The Walt Disney World Monorail
It's a train. From the future. But a little farther into the future when it's a futuristic train but not a super brand new train and sometimes it has a weird smell but not like a NYC subway smell, it's not that bad but you'll notice it sometimes and maybe it doesn't always run perfectly but you know it's still a train and this is still a run-on sentence.
3. Casey Jr. Splash 'N Soak
This new water area is a great place to strip down to your diaper and run around a train!
4. Big Thunder Mountain
It's a train but things go wrong and you're as out of control as you can be on a train considering it's bound to the rails it rides on. Lots of trainy goodness to be had here.
5. Expedition Everest
It's a good thing you like trains and not moving yetis or else you might not enjoy this. Fortunately, you like trains and this is a train.
6. The Backlot Tour at the Disney-MGM Studios
Alright, you're gonna need a time machine for this one because the part you're gonna want to see what you want to see here. This is also great for people who like Bette Midler. Thanks to the wonderful Marin Smith and Chris Bales you can see the video here:
What's that around the 3 minute mark? Is that a train? I think it is! If I recall correctly, you could even see the train used in the movie shortly after watching it! How's that for making the movies come alive?
7. Journey Into Imagination with Figment
Actually, don't. Just admire the outside.
8. Germany at EPCOT
"Germany, are you crazy? I want trains, not beer! If I wanted trains I would ride that bullet train ride over in Japan!" Okay let me stop you there because I'm tired of you yelling at me. One, there's no bullet train ride in Japan. Two, there's a model railroad in Germany and I thought maybe you'd find that interesting. If I knew I'd get my head bit off, I'd have kept my thoughts to myself.
9. The Wildlife Express Train to Rafiki's Planet Watch
If you like trains and really want to enjoy just the part where you're on a train and not necessarily the speed you might be going or the things you see along the way, this is perfect for you! This train will take you from Africa to Rafiki's Planet Watch which I think is a petting zoo or something?
Also I think there's a little train ride at Downtown Disney, ride that or something.
If you're reading this blog, you probably know what a Hidden Mickey is. If you don't, it's typically three circles, shaped like the classic Mickey Mouse outline, hidden around Walt Disney World. There's tons of them, several books written about them, websites dedicated to finding more, probably an iPhone app or something too. Some of these Hidden Mickeys are rather well known and relatively easy to spot, such as the paint can rings from Spaceship Earth in the photo below. There's also a lot of more subtle, tougher to find Hidden Mickeys that fly right under the radar of even the most dedicated Hidden Mickey hunters, and that's what I want to focus on today.
The paint can rings in the center of the photo illustrate a typical Hidden Mickey
For starters, let's check out the upper floor of The Land. These guardrails that prevent guests from plummeting to their death seem like a pretty normal pattern to most people, but look closely and you might find something more interesting!
Do you see the Hidden Mickeys? Let me zoom in and highlight it for you, just in case.
Those clever Imagineers!
Now let's move on to the World Showcase where you might see a classic animation icon while you wait in line for Maelstrom!
There's those classic circles again!
Leaving Norway and moving on to China, this post by a water fountain has a little more than meets the eye!
You can see the two, symmetrical, Hidden Mickeys on the post here.
Now the Pin Cart outside the American Adventure is a great place to buy pins. They have a lot of them, I mean if you want pins this is definitely a place that sells them. But the careful observer will notice more than just pins here:
Notice how the bolts on the wheel complement the hub, creating a perfect Hidden Mickey from eight different angles!
Back in Future World, you can see most of a Hidden Mickey on the sign for The Seas With Nemo and Friends!
His head may not be visible, but it looks like Mickey Mouse could be hiding behind the S on this sign!
Now this next photo doesn't have any Hidden Mickeys to my knowledge, but it sure does make you think
There's another Hidden Mickey in the Seas With Nemo and Friends that isn't always there. Technically this isn't a Hidden Mickey per se, but it's definitely a mouse! I wasn't lucky enough to catch it on my most recent trip, but keep an eye out for the video screen near the smaller aquariums on the second floor and you might just see a mouse hiding out here:
It's only fitting to close this blog with Spaceship Earth, as that's how it opened. So I'll leave you with a great opportunity to find Hidden Mickeys in the lights you'll see on your descent back to Earth:
One last Hidden Mickey
The next time you visit Epcot, make sure to keep an eye out for these Hidden Mickeys and more! The sharp eye can find these hidden in places that even most Imagineers wouldn't think to look! Good luck and happy hunting!
I was accused of writing an article similar to this one by a friend of mine on Twitter. While I've never written such an article and would never even think to do so, I feel that I have no other choice now. The title seems pretty self explanatory here, so let's get to the list of things to do at Walt Disney World if you like bears! (Update: Shortly after publishing another friend pointed out this article at Vacationearing which appears to be the article I was accused of writing that led to me writing this one. If you're still following my story here, I just want to say that I didn't find this until after I completed the writing of this post.)
The Country Bear Jamboree - Now, this is assuming you don't just like bears, but you'll also enjoy singing bears. It's hard not to recommend this show in general, but especially to a bear lover like yourself! I could go into the history of some of the songs used in the show (maybe later), or debate whether or not the songs really should be considered country (a lot of it closer to folk in my opinion), but that's not the point! No, the point is that you like bears and this show has a whole slew of 'em! Somewhere between 18 and 20 bears depending on whether the stuffed teddy bear that Oscar is holding counts as a bear and also whether or not Rufus, who is never actually seen, is a bear. I would like to think that Rufus is a bear since everyone else involved in the production of the show is a bear, but since they have him just handling the lights and stuff it's possible that these bears have enslaved another species to do their menial labor. Well, I'm starting to drift away from the original subject so let's sum it up: If you like bears you should see a show about singing Audio-Animatronic bears.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - This ride, much to the dismay of many Disney fans, replaced Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at the end of the 90's. A lot of people are upset still to this day about the removal of Mr. Toad but Mr. Toad is a toad. Toads aren't bears. I don't recall any bears at all on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. You? You like bears, and The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh increases the number of bears in this location to 1! That's an infinite percentage improvement for bear lovers!
Disney's Animal Kingdom - Animal Kingdom might have bears. I don't remember seeing any but it's possible that there's a few around somewhere. If not, I'm sure there's one carved into the Tree of Life so you can see some nice artwork of a bear. More importantly though, one of the access roads behind the park is called Bear Island Road. Sounds like something a bear lover would like! I've never been back there and can't advocate that anyone else go there without permission, but there might be some interesting bear-related stuff. Probably not, but you never know! It does make you wonder what Bear Island is. It must be important to have a road named after it at Walt Disney World. Probably an island. Full of bears.
Maelstrom -Maelstrom? That boat ride at Epcot with the trolls? Why would a bear lover want to see that? Trolls aren't bears! This is ridiculous! Wait, come on now, bear with me, let me explain! You have to let me explain why you should see Maelstrom before you go and call me names and tell me I'm dumb. There's a polar bear at the end of this ride. I thought you might like to see the polar bear. Calm down.
Duffy! - After that last outburst when you started reaming me out for suggesting Maelstrom before you gave me a chance to explain, I'm gonna subject you to Duffy the Disney Bear! He's conveniently located between Future World and World Showcase so he's not too far from Maelstrom after you see that really cool polar bear I wanted to show you.
He's watching you.
Baloo - This beloved character from the Jungle Book does meet and greets, I think. Probably at Animal Kingdom. I'd double check but the Disney Mobile app doesn't want to tell me. It's whining about it being almost 11 PM and Animal Kingdom closes at like 3 PM or something so I'm out of luck on double checking this. If you want to see Baloo though, he's probably at Animal Kingdom.
Splash Mountain - This is a really popular log flume at the Magic Kingdom. I'd rank it higher up on the list but that Br'er Bear, he's not a very nice bear or a smart bear. He's trying to help Br'er Fox catch poor Br'er Rabbit and I don't think that's the kind of portrayal of bears that someone who likes bears would want to see. It's still a good ride, just please realize before you ride that it isn't very culturally sensitive to bears.
Jungle Cruise - "There aren't any bears on the Jungle Cruise!" you exclaim. Well, no. There aren't. But I only had seven ideas for things people who like bears should do at Walt Disney World and I figured if you like bears you probably like other animals too. The Jungle Cruise, it's full of other animals. There's lions and tigers and hippos and oh there's a lot of animals. I'm sure you'll like it too.
Well, that concludes the list. I'm sure you'll find some great bear-related activities when you visit Walt Disney World! If you have any suggestions for other bear fun on property, feel free to leave a comment. It's always possible that I overlooked something!
I went to EPCOT today for the first time since the Flower and Garden Festival ended, so the state of the landscaping was the second biggest surprise of the day. The first will have to wait until the end of the post, but it became quite clear that this festival puts quite a toll on the grass of EPCOT as many areas appeared to be in need of resodding. Elsewhere around the resort today, Snow White's Scary Adventures entered it's final day of operation and will be closing for the last time in a few short hours. Meanwhile, Disney's Pop Century Legendary Years resort opened today, delighting guests with rooms themed after 1950's car culture. Now, on to pictures from Epcot!
This turtle has a lot more room to move around now that all the floating baskets from F&G are gone.
The site of the butterfly house is looking a little rough.
Water is still functioning properly in Canada, flowing from the top of objects to the bottom.
Aww yeah, check out that train barreling down the tracks.
The railroad area is also no longer hosting the F&G festival either. Goodbye tiny Mater topiary. You will be...missed?
Around here is when I overhead a young boy, about ten or so, asking his mother what German beer tastes like. The mother's response was "It's like regular beer but it's for adults." Oh, EPCOT.
Doing my best to make the Fountain of Nations + SpaceShip Earth view look nicer with an idea I definitely didn't steal from Tom Bricker.
Playing around under SpaceShip Earth, I assume people were looking at me weirdly but I didn't notice.
Trippy
Now at the beginning of this blog I mentioned that the landscaping at EPCOT was only the second biggest surprise of the day. The biggest one is coming up quite soon. There's been a lot of talk about Disney's NextGen project lately, with small construction boxes showing up outside various attractions to prepare them for all the crazy upgrades coming along. Well, I happened to notice one of those now infamous boxes today while I was at EPCOT and I haven't seen anyone else anywhere report on it yet. I'm not sure how it will be integrated yet, possibly FastPass, maybe some interactive thing where stuff lights up, I really don't know. But anyway, here it is: Leave A Legacy is going NextGen!!!!!!!!!!
