Walt Disney World July 2009- The Magic Kingdom

When I went to the Magic Kingdom, I went there noing that it was not supposed to be Disneyland. But after experiencing it, there are some parts that try to be Disneyland, while there are other parts that scream "This is Disney World, not Disneyland".

Main Street can go either way in this. While it looks similar, it is not. For one thing, it seems as though it's actually smaller then Disneyland's. But at the end of the street, the castle isn't right there. It's very far away, in an odd barren spot. They also have a Partners statue, but it seems odd for Walt to be in the park, for he died before he could see it.

During the trip, Space Mountain was closed. Without it, and with out an Indiana Jones ride, Star Tours, Matterhorn, or Roger Rabitt ride, and with a suckish Pirates, there was just not much to do. Soon, Splash Mountain emerged as my favorite ride in the park. Next was Thunder Mountain, which was right next to Splash Mountain. So you can imagine most of my time was spent in these areas.

Fantasyland is in a state of, well, disrepair. It seems like it still thinks it is in the 70s. I think it will be fixed one day, especially with concept art of a new proposed Fantasyland surfacing on the Internet.





Parts of Tomorrowland also seems to suffer from this, specifically the back. The enterance corridor is pretty nice. Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Club, while a very fun and cool show, does not thematically make sense in Tomorrowland. Stitch's Great Escape was not very fun, quite odd actually.

All in all, the Magic Kingdom was just ok. Not my favorite park, but not the worse. Still, of is a long way from favorite park status.

Walt Disney World July 2009- Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa

Last August, while at Dineyland, I joined the Disney Vacation Club. As an incentive for buying, we were given free points to stay at the Saratoga Springs at Walt Disney World. So, that's how the seeds of this trip were planted.

So we checked in to the hotel, and were given a ride via golf cart to the building where our 2-bedroom villa was. Unfortunately, the resort was huge, much like Disney World itself, and we were tucked in the corner in the Carousel building. Also, the Saratoga was far away from the theme parks, although it was close to Downtown Dinsey, which at WDW, is just- weird.
The hotel room itself was beautiful. It came stocked with a full kitchen (no food) with a fridge, microwave, oven, stove, coffee maker, and dishwasher, not to mention cabinets stocked with plates, bowls, glasses, and utensils.



The living room came with a really a nice TV, DVD Player, couch that has a pull-out bed, and a balcony that overlooks the nice grounds of the resort.





The master bedroom had a king bed and a bathroom. The bathroom had different "sections": one for the shower, one for the bathtub/jacuzi, and one for the toliet. The shower part, which was the main section, connected to living room outside, and had doors connecting the other sections.




Finally, we have the second bedroom. It's more or less your standard hotel room. It features 2 queen beds, a TV set with a huge dresser, and a table and 2 chairs. Also, there was a bathroom with a shower/tub and a toilet, with 2 sinks on the outside of the bathroom, making it look like a vanity area. This part also had a huge closet.


Now, hotels and DVCs are just dandy, but what about the parks? The restaurants? The shows? Well, over the next 5 days I will talk about each of the parks, and finally talk about the restaurants. On the sixth day, I'll wrap everything up and do some last analyzing. Magic Kingdom is tomorrow!

Walt Disney World July 2009: The Airport, Magical Express, and the Weather

First of all, does it ever get cool in WDW? If it does, it was not the case this time. Flordia was hot and humid, with the 2 climate factors becoming progressingly worse over the course of the week I was there.

The weather caused people to become cranky, but there was not 1 single cranky CM, they are all great!

We left our house and rode to the Airport in Westchester via limo. Why? Well, because that airport was the smallest airport in the world. It only had 2 gates, and 1 carousel for baggage claim. We flew on AirTran, which was a nice airline, especially with XM Sattelite Radio on board the flight. However, they started this new WiFi thing, in which you can pay for internet access. Now, with the flight only lasting 2 hours, it was not worht it at all.

After arrving at Orlando Airport, we took Magical Express and it was really easy. I took care of the luggage on the bus, so it was always with us. They played a cute little video about WDW. Very hassle free, and the airline checkin at the hotel was quite nice. Thumbs up from me!


When we got to the Saratoga Springs, I was very impressed by the hotel. But that's a story for tomorrow...

Public Service Announcement

Well, I've returned from my trip to Walt Disney World. For the next week, all regular posts will remain suspended during this week. Why? Because this week I will be posting some very special posts.

Throughout the week, I will be posting trip reports, as well as analyzing them. All Walt Disney World material should be done by Sunday. After that, during the next week, I will be posting Comic Con videos for my favorite movies and TV shows.

Regular updates will return in 2 weeks. We have a busy 2 weeks ahead!