Disney World

In February, four of us went to Coronado Springs Resort to enjoy a week in, mainly, Disney World. Having been before, my wife and niece organised the itinerary carefully to ensure we got as much as possible out of our stay. We also went to Universal Studios Theme Park and Kennedy Space Centre, but this blog will be long enough with just Mickey and chums.

Some degree of planning is wise for any holiday, but it’s essential for Disney World. The four Disney parks are very large; there are an enormous number of rides, shows, and things to see and experience. There is a wide range of eating options, ranging from street food to a la carte dining. Fortunately, there is a plethora of websites, internet groups and forums to get advice to hit the ground jogging. This Facebook group is a good example and starting point for your research. Get wise; ask questions.

Why the fuss? To give an example, the ‘Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance’ ride is probably one of the best in the world. It is stunning. The queue to get on it was over two hours long, which is excessive for an eighteen-minute thrill. However, if you have the Lightning Lane pass, that wait is nearer twenty minutes. The passes can be quite pricey, but if your time is limited, you would want to get the most out of it. Disney is an expensive holiday, as a percentage of your total cost the pass is probably worth the money.

Study the prices on the ‘My Disney Experience’ phone app. I can’t give you a figure here because they vary due to ‘dynamic’ (ahem) pricing. Yes, inevitably, there is an app for everything these days. This is a useful one, but there’s a lot of content in it and you would be wise to get familiar with its labyrinth ways. It will enhance your holiday.

Check the weather before you go and take your most comfortable shoes. We walked about fourteen miles per day in the parks. It’s quite tiring! Right. That’s enough of a preamble. We planned to spend two days in Disney World, a half day in each of the four parks to give us a flavour, with options to re-visit favourite bits on our two ‘rest days’.

We had a 10.00 am flight from Manchester to Orlando with Virgin Atlantic, seated in economy premium. The service was very good: a welcoming prosecco, decent food, proper crockery and cutlery, real glasses for drinks. Plenty of choice on the in-flight entertainment system. The nine hours flew by… (sorry, I’m just warming up).

We arrived at our hotel, the Coronado Springs Resort, in time for a quick bite to eat and a drink in the bar. It’s a massive hotel, with almost 2000 rooms, in large blocks surrounding a big lake. As it’s under the Disney ‘umbrella’ some of our food there was covered by our overall booking arrangements. We also pre-purchased a number of vouchers covering snacks and quick-service meals. There are more upmarket dining options, and we had booked a few of them, but we felt our time was best spent on experiencing the parks.

The quick-service options are basically a summary of America’s contribution to global gastronomy. Think MacDonalds and KFC and you’ve covered 90% of the menu. Native British cuisine is equally thin on the ground, but we’re better at copying other countries. Portions are generous, inspired by a philosophy of never mind the quality, feel the width. In fairness, our hotel outlet did very good sandwiches, but the overall quality of quick-service food was poor across all four parks. Too often food was tepid and had spent too long in the deep-fat fryer.

I’d say that European and Asian food is more highly seasoned than American food. Additionally, they seem to have more of a sweet tooth than other countries. You will usually find sugar somewhere on your plate. Of course, I’m generalising. Bear this in mind when looking at TripAdvisor for restaurant reviews. Anyway, back to the fun!

On our first day we went to the Magic Kingdom for an early start at 9.00 am. Guests at Disney resorts can get into the parks an hour before the public. Unfortunately, Florida, the Sunshine State, chose to welcome us with a ‘feels like’ temperature of minus eight Celsius. Seriously, I had it warmer in Finnish Lapland. It was freakish weather; fountains froze and the early visitors scrambled around for shows indoors.

This led us to some of the classic (older) park offerings. They are gentle and tend to reveal Walt Disney’s personal philosophy. ‘It’s a Small World’, with its cute theme song, is charming, almost naïve. The same can be said of the ‘Carousel of Progress’ attraction, lauding the development of household gadgets over the last hundred years or so. It’s not something anyone would develop today, yet you can find that same optimism in more recent offerings across the parks. Disney still believes in dreams and the power of imagination.

Perhaps it was the cold weather that affected the rides; several of which were not running or stopped when we were on them. To our amusement, the People Mover kept not moving, and Peter Pan petered out mid-flight. The Tron ride was not Tronning but opened later for us to ‘enjoy’. I don’t like thrill rides, so I shut my eyes and hung on for dear life. Frankly, I regretted not bringing my rosary beads with me. I think a small part of me enjoyed the experience. Would I do it again? No. There’s a last time for everything.

As we left the park, we caught the 3:00 p.m. parade, the ‘Festival of Fantasy’. Characters from many Disney cartoons glide past on brightly decorated floats; there’s music and singing. Children watch agog with awe as their favourites come to life. The joyous spectacle, set in front of the iconic Cinderella Castle, is enough to melt the heart of any cynic. It is moving now to remember it all. Honestly, I felt light-hearted as the child within me awoke. If my words and a few photos convey ten percent of the feeling of being there, I’ve done well.

We headed off to Epcot for the rest of the day. The brilliant transport system has to be highlighted. There are regular, frequent, free buses running between all the Resort hotels and the parks. This service is complemented by a monorail and gondolas whizzing to and fro. In the Harry Potter section, you can even travel on the Hogwarts Express. It’s so convenient, and it takes so many cars off the roads.

The Epcot theme park, is intended as a celebration of culture, nature, and progress. Reader, be aware, I am not claiming to have experienced everything these parks have to offer. You can’t do that in a week. This blog is a partial insight at best. Disney World as a whole would need a book or a movie.

So, Epcot is many things. Its centrepiece is a big lake which is surrounded by architectural and cultural highlights of selected nations. There are iconic sights from France, China, Italy, Morocco… and more. If you’d never been to these places, this is a clever and well-executed snapshot.

Mind you, France, Italy, Germany and the UK have a more… liberal drinking culture. They are boozy countries, and the quality and price of drinks in Disney World are an issue. It would be rare to pay $12.75 (£9.30) for a beer in England. Likewise, with food. In the Toy Story restaurant, a meal for four people, with two beers and two cocktails, cost $267 (£195) and that’s without the tip. It was in a great setting, hence the cost. When the tannoy announced ‘Andy’s coming!’ everyone in the restaurant froze in position. We were the toys…

The meal we had at Epcot at Via Napoli Ristorante (in Italy) was the best meal of the week. Okay, all the waiter-service restaurants are pricey, heigh ho, but the pizzas here were perfection! Our waitress was from Venice, and we had fun practising our Italian with her. Interestingly, all the staff in the different ‘countries’ are authentic nationals.

We didn’t get to see much beyond the world around the lake. We didn’t go in Spaceship Earth, the enormous globe that is the most striking building in the park. The Soarin ride was very good, a trip around some of the great sights of the world; the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids, the Great Wall of China, Preston Bus Station. It was a blast. My wife saw slightly different scenes on this ride two years ago, so they must have changed them around a bit. It’s a flight motion simulator, which is my favourite style because I can shut my eyes if I start screaming with fear and losing control of my bowels.

The Epcot day ends with a big show at the lagoon called ‘Luminous: The Symphony of Us’. It’s a mixture of clever fountains, lights and fireworks. It was very good, although we sat a little downwind and got a tad moist. Bear that in mind when you choose your seat! Water, whether in lakes, ponds or rivers, features a lot in Disney World, as it does across the whole of Florida. I suspect the parks have just shaped and controlled what was already there in the landscape.

The next day we went to Animal Kingdom in the morning and started off with the Navi River ride, a gentle, relaxing journey with mellow music and great animatronics and effects. We followed this with the Avatar Flight of Passage, another flight motion simulator ride, and it was absolutely brilliant. It had me laughing out loud, even whooping for joy! It is really good, so dramatic, exciting, fast and fun! Looking back, I’d say this was my favourite ride of the week… and it had some stiff competition.

The whole Avatar section is brilliantly realised, from the weird flora to the big, seemingly floating rocks. It is very faithful to the movie, and it really comes alive after sunset with cool special effects.

After this we went looking around the wide selection of animals in the park. Effectively, it’s a zoo, but a very clever one. Generally, I’d say that the animals live a feted, even pampered existence. They have better access to healthcare than many Americans. You can Google YouTube videos on the quality of their care. They have a lot more space to live in than is evident from the areas the tourists get to see.

Most visitors will go on the safari ride, and it’s very good, enabling you to see rhinos, giraffes, hippos, elephants, cheetahs, zebras and more. Be aware that the majority of the animals in the area were situated on the left-hand side of the truck. That is assuming it leaves the boarding platform and heads off to your right, as ours did. The safari section is designed to give you the illusion that you are sharing the savannah with the beasts. Actually, the dangerous ones are behind a barrier for safety reasons. It’s a very good experience and you won’t be chased by an angry elephant, as I was in Africa.

There are too many animals in the park to list them all. I think my favourite was the lowland gorillas. They are such wonderful creatures; there are plenty of them here and you should get a good view. These apes are not as hairy as their mountain gorilla cousins, but just as full of character. I sat with mountain gorillas in Rwanda a few years ago. You can read my blog on that here if you wish.

In the afternoon, we went to the Hollywood Studios park. Those of you who have been to Disney World will spot that we were rushing things somewhat. However, these taster visits had us returning more than once on our ‘rest’ days. The highlight of my week was in this park: Galaxy’s Edge.

I’m a sucker for all things Star Wars. As with the Avatar area, this area was a homage to the movie(s). The set of Moss Eisley Spaceport on Tatooine was brilliantly reimagined, not simply replicated. The attention to detail was amazing, right down to the litter bins and, would you believe it, even the gents’ toilets. Honestly, I could imagine Han Solo having a whizz in there. Not Luke, obviously. That would be wrong.

Just to wander about the little streets, a TIE Fighter here and an X-Wing there, the odd droid knocking about and, joy of Instagrammable joys, the Millenium Falcon sat before my very eyes. As my son remarked after editing the photos on his phone,

“I’ve just deleted sixty photos of the Millenium Falcon. No worries, I’ve still got twenty left.”

Around the corner from here was the ‘Rise of the Resistance’ attraction. It was simply brilliant. A physical ride mixed in with actors, animatronics, action screens, cuts from scenes, in fact, too much to see and take in! No spoilers, but I’ll just say that I always wanted to step out onto a Death Star to be faced by fifty Stormtroopers. That evening we had 45 minutes in, effectively, the Cantina Bar from ‘Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope’. When the famous tune kicked in, I leapt up and danced a merry jig.

I never realised I had a bucket list. I see now that Galaxy’s Edge was on it.

This is already a mammoth blog after a mere two or three days in Disney World. I have yet to write up my experiences at Universal Parks and at the Kennedy Space Centre. It was a busy week.

Should You Go?

On so many occasions, a character walks down the street in costume, and you see the children’s eyes light up. They rush over to hug Cinderella, Snow White, Goofy, etc. It’s so joyful, and joy is infectious.

Adults are not immune, and their cosplay was everywhere. I saw more Hogwarts pupils than could ever fit in the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Really, that’s what I was doing in Galaxy’s Edge. I am as cynical as the next old fart, but Disney released my inner child/Jedi.

Yes, Disney World is expensive; that is a fact. There’s commercialism and merchandise everywhere. But even with all that, the enchantment remains undiminished. It’s a place where children play and adults can let go of their inhibitions. A bit of escapism, innocent fun, is a good thing.

If you can go to Disney World, I’d say go.

With imagination, the magic is real.