The Countdown Continues...

In exactly one week from now, what will we be doing? We won't be on the road quite yet. Most likely, we'll be packing up our suitcases and making some last minute checklists. But, what I hope we'll be doing at this time next week is... sleeping.

For our last trip, we had lain down to try to get some sleep at about 8:00pm until midnight. I lay there for four hours but I didn't sleep at all. Joy thought I was mistaken but, it's true. I think I was so wired thinking about our drive to Disney that I literally couldn't sleep. I got a little physical rest since I was actually lying in bed with my eyes shut but, I didn't really get any mental rest. But it was okay because I didn't have too much trouble driving. And when I did, I just switched places with Joy.

Regardless, about 14 hours after we haul our sleeping kids into the van, we'll see the awesome iconic Pop Century structures. Like this bowling pin:

So looking forward to this trip.

12 Days to Disney!

Wow. I really almost forgot to write this post today. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter whether I post today or not. But for me and my Disney vacation blog history, this day is special. As I mentioned in my previous post, there's no real reason or significance for posting 12 days ahead of our trip to Disney--I just like the way the blog post title sounds.

Anyway, not much to report today. We've been spending a lot of time purchasing stuff that we're going to need for our trip--the road trip and for our actual time at Disney.

Well, it's late so I'd better sign off. I leave you with this rather bland shot of Epcot. I say "bland" because there's really not a whole lot going on in this shot. But still, Epcot is a beautiful park.

See ya!

Been a While/Sixteen Days to Disney

I was at work today, and I thought, "We're rapidly approaching our '12 days to Disney' requisite blog post day and, if I'm not careful, I'm going to miss it!" Of course, it doesn't really matter but, ever since our 2007 trip, I've intentionally written a blog post titled "12 Days to Disney". There's no real significance other than the fact that I thought it sounded like a cool band name--or something like that.

Anyway, "16 days to Disney" doesn't carry with it the same cool, hipster feel but, it'll do. It'll do.

Maybe my next post will be more... post-ey. This one is a bit light on meaning, content, inspiration, etc. I'll do better. I promise (to try).

Signs!

Walt Disney World is full of awesome signs. The one above here is kind of goofy but, that's really the idea.

But, seriously, there are so many wonderful signs in Disney; ones that fit the associated theming just perfectly. Check out this one from the Flame Tree Barbecue:

Anyway, it's late, I'm tired, and I'm having trouble finding a lot of pictures of Disney signs on my flickr stream so, it's time to go. The main point of this post is to say that, for this trip, I'm going to make a conscious effort to photograph a lot of the cool signs in Disney World.

Now, where to start..,?

(39 days to Disney!)

The Beauty of Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe

Let me start out by saying that when I use the term "beauty" to describe Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe, I'm not really talking about aesthetics. That's not to say it's not a nice looking quick service restaurant, because I honestly think it is. No, when I talk about "the beauty" of Cosmic Ray's, I am talking about its idealism.

I'm not going wax philosophical or anything like that but, I like what Cosmic Ray's and the "lounge lizard", Sonny Eclipse, represent. To me, this restaurant stands for something that I hope is not dying off in Walt Disney World: original theming and attractions. I'm sure that this quick service restaurant's theming--and Sonny Eclipse himself--owe a great deal to sci-fi movies and books (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, perhaps?) but still, this restaurant is not based directly on a Disney movie, or any movie for that matter.

Now, there's nothing wrong with basing attractions and restaurants on existing IP's (intellectual properties). One great example is the Be Our Guest restaurant in the Magic Kingdom. That restaurant is absolutely beautiful and I was really blown away by the attention to detail that was in every nook and cranny.

But looking at one of my earlier posts which focused on The Tower of Terror, I am reminded of how good and authentic an attraction can feel without being based on a movie. The Imagineers have an awesome history of creating unique experiences that don't need to emulate a movie and I'd really love to see this continue. However, given the fact that Disney is already working on an Avatar land in the Animal Kingdom and Star Wars land and Toy Story land at Hollywood Studios, I'm afraid the trend of original-themed restaurants or rides at Walt Disney World might be a thing of the past.

I can't really blame Disney if they go completely for movie-based rides and attractions. After all, they spend literally billions of dollars on the Star Wars franchise so it really won't be a surprise if they mine the Star Wars universe for an endless amount of attractions. Disney's Hollywood Studios may end up turning completely into a Star Wars/Pixar theme park and I'm sure each and every one of those attractions would contain the same level of detail that I have grown to love at Disney. 

But here's the thing: when an attraction is based on an existing IP, people go into it with certain expectations. They know what a character's voice should sound like. They know how the music should sound. They know what the setting should look like. A well done, completely original attraction does not open with any of those pre-conceived expectations so, if it's good (like The Tower of Terror) it stands on its own. It doesn't need the muscle of Star Wars, Pixar, or Marvel to back it up.

But business is business and, in order to stay relevant, I just can't see Disney investing a lot of time and effort into restaurants and attractions that don't already have a huge audience.

Hang in there Sonny Eclipse! Don't ever let the Mos Eisley Cantina Band take your place!!

What are your favorite original Walt Disney World attractions/restaurants?

Also... 40 days to Disney!!

Don't Knock The "Standard View" Rooms

Let me start off this post by saying... 48 days to Disney! Unfortunately, I missed the opportunity to say, "49 days... we battled that beast". That's a very sloppy paraphrase of a very funny song:

Now that that's out of my system, I wanted to briefly address some of the room types I'm familiar with at Disney. Granted, we've only stayed at Pop Century, All Star Movies, and Port Orleans Riverside so, I don't pretend to be an expert but I wanted to defend the "standard room view" (or whatever it's called). These "standard" rooms are in contrast to the slightly more expensive "preferred" or "pool room view" rooms.

Our rooms this year are "standard pool view" rooms. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm not exactly sure where our rooms are but, I'm really not worried about it. We have yet to stay in a room that was in a bad area.

The best example of this is our 2009 trip to Walt Disney World when we stayed at the All Star Movies Resort. That year our room was undoubtedly a standard view. I say "undoubtedly" because from our balcony area, you could look to the right and see the main lobby area of the hotel. We had an especially good view of the Disney's Magical Express buses unloading and loading people.

At first, you might think, "Yuck. Who wants to see that?!" But Joy and I really thought it was cool seeing so many people coming in, starting their vacations; kids skipping along, completely consumed with the excitement of starting a vacation in Walt Disney World.

Here's what our view looked like:

See? That's a pretty cool view, I think. Parking lot and all. We really didn't care.

Plus, looking directly down to the little tree/mulch area below our door, we were greeted with the following:

And then, on another day, it was changed to this:

I really thought this was pretty cool. Maybe some guest did this, maybe a cast member--I don't know. But you know what? It put a smile on our faces. As usual, it's the little touches like this that make a "standard room" become "preferred".

Keep up the good work Disney. We'll see you soon...

What Emotions Does This Image Conjure?

The picture above was taken in the bus queuing area at the Magic Kingdom. Obviously, this was taken during the day and, unbelievably, there's almost no one in this shot! 

But back to the title of this post: what kinds of emotions does this image trigger in you? If you've never been to Walt Disney World then the answer is probably nothing. If you have been to "the World", you're either thinking, "Aww! I can't wait! Remember when... [insert special memory here]". But, you may see this waiting area and think, "Ugh. My feet and legs hurt just looking at this." 

For me, I see potential. Potential of a new day at The Magic Kingdom with my family, having awesome new experiences and making memories that will last a lifetime. But, I also see the potential of standing in that line at 11:30pm behind hundreds of other people that just want to get on the bus, get back to Pop Century, and fall onto their bed immediately after trudging back to their room. I also see the promise of a quick bus ride back to the resort, only to be dismayed by a family of 20+ people accompanying their family member that happens to be on a "jazzy". (No offense to those that need to use jazzies. My wife and I had a couple experiences of disappointment at the hands of large families mostly filling the bus before anyone else can get on. Is this complaining? I hope not. I don't mean to be complaining.)

But, no matter what the reality ends up being, waiting in line at Disney is still better than "no line, no waiting" anywhere else in the world.

We'll find out what's in store for us in this waiting area in 52 days!

Unless we drive to the park...