Going to Disney World tomorrow

But anyway, I'm leaving for a week in Walt Disney World and also week in Bonita Springs, FL tomorrow. I jumped on the WDW "buy 4 get 3 free" special and am staying at a "deluxe resort" because the nearly half-price special is the only way I'm gonna be able to stay in a $300+/night resort! Naturally, my first choices were the Contemporary and then the Polynesian, since both are on the monorail, but both were full. So, I did the best I could and grabbed the Yacht Club since it's walking distance to Epcot.

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I made a few-hour stop by Epcot on Friday the 13th (oooh scary!) and as I was driving to park, I noticed that the bulk of the "Epcot" lettering has already been taken-down. I also grabbed a pic of the walls around the ride entrance.

I'm not a purist, but I agree with many that the wand just didn't look "right" on Spaceship Earth, so I'm glad they're removing it.

The day was nice and not real crowded (as shown in one photo). However, just after lunch, Test Track went-down and didn't come back up before I left at about 3:00. I don't know if it's the result, but it did seem that the park got more crowded after TT was down. I know that without Test Track or Spaceship Earth, I was doing lots of walking around with everyone else.

The photos were taken on my phone, as I didn't feel like hauling my normal camera around for the short day, so the quality isn't the greatest, but I think they're OK.

Lucky enough to live within a short drive of Disney World, my sister recently enjoyed a weekend in Celebration. During that time, she captured this shot of the theatre and lagoon, devoid of wind, weather, and tourists. This is quite a difference from what I've seen on my one trip to Celebration, where tourists (myself included) were mobbing the picture-perfect town.

I'm sure the residents are used to seeing this side of the Disney-run town, but for those of us not lucky enough to live there (or near), this is an interesting insight into what it's like during the "off time" of the day.

I stumbled across a very interesting blog today. So interesting, at least to me as a Disney theme park nut, that could not take the time to post it sooner because I was reading it in all of my free time throughout the afternoon!

In a semi-blog, semi-forum format, Disney, Pixar, and other professional theme park workers comment on how the Disney parks have taken a turn for for the worse, especially Disneyland. For example, they discuss the "cancer" known as (Winnie the) Pooh and how it replaced several rides (20,000 Leagues and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride among them) with thinly guised rides which really just parade patrons past merchandising displays. I especially enjoyed this line:

If slogging past wobbly wooden flats while sitting inside a giant carved out turd is your idea of fun then you will be delighted.

There is plenty of discussion and commenting on other things such as the poor maintenance caused by departmental in-fighting and (of course) beancounters, archiving classic art, and plenty more. Sadly, I think that much of what they discuss is actually true. The current crop of MBAs running Disney seem to value their media, TV stations, and web content more than the parks, which is very unfortunate for the millions to plan family vacations there every year.

If you're at all interested in the Disney parks, the behind-the-scenes "magic" at the parks, or just what it can be like to work there, this site is a must-read (don't forget the comments!) Even after reading all of this, though, I'd still love to work in WDW!

P.S. If you like the "secrets" of Disney parks, I very highly recommend these books.

I was in Disney World in June of 2004 when I took these. There was a pretty bad storm coming-over (not a hurricane, fortunately!) and lightning had apparently hit a portion of the monorail track which caused something to blow and shut-down all of the trains.

We were at the front of the line to head home when this happened and therefore, had a very good view of the little pusher car (I guess that's what you'd call it) that is used in emerency situations. It was gas powered and appeared to come out of the Contemporary Resort building, but it's tough to say for sure from the angle I was at.

I figured I should snap some pics as it's not too often that you get to see the "behind the scenes" working of a Disney Park like this. Also, during this trip, Space Mountain got shut-down several times and I got some good lights-on views from the People Mover but sadly, could not get my camera out fast enough to get the shots.