The Real Disney

So, the Disney??? thread finally moved on to the subject of the real Disneyworld. I wanted to talk more about Disney, but didn't want to showcase the content that was filling up the rest of the thread. :)

Anyway, Trish and I are huge disney fans (we are even Disney shareholders, believe it or not). We went to Disneyworld for our honeymoon in 1996, and went back last February.

My favorite park is, of course, the Magic Kingdom. It's just unbelievable. It can make ANY adult feel like a 5-year old child all over again.

Epcot runs a very close second, though. The Land is obviously my favorite attraction there, with their crazy methods of plant growing, and their giant lemons they're growing. :)

Living Seas is EXCELLENT, and the World of Energy is scary and interesting. Horizons remains a classic favorite of mine, with their 1950s view of the future.

The World Showcase is also very very nicely done. I've been to many of the countries that they emulate, and I can verify that they really did a good job with this. We took a guided tour of the gardens of Epcot, and found out that in each "country", they only grow plants that are found natively in that country. Very nice!

I'm not at all impressed with the Animal Kingdom, except that they had lots of nice landscaping and plants growing everywhere. It was just another zoo to me.

MGM studios is lame to me, but I'm not a fan of the glitzy hollywood stuff.

Scariest ride in all of Disneyworld: The Extra-Terrorestrial Alian Encounter. DO NOT BRING YOUR CHILDREN ONTO THIS RIDE!@!!@!@!@!@!~ It's absolutely TERRIFYING. I screamed and screamed, and was certain that I was not going to survive it.

Ahhh memories. I should break out the pictures of our trips and scan them in.

dave

Dave, I just love Disney too.Isn't it just so neat the way you can feel like a kid again? I am a big chicken, my favorite ride was Dumbo---I know, I'm boaring. I went on Spacemountain and never opened my eyes or closed my mouth. Just one big scream, never came up for air. I was wondering about the new animal addition. I would like to see it.
I loved Epcot. Everything about it was so awsome. We really need to go back soon. I do hope we get to go this year! Lisa

Lisa, you can skip Animal Kingdom. You could visit the zoos of New Orleans, Baton Rouge, or Dallas and get a MUCH better experience, in my opinion.

Actually, speaking of zoos, I was really impressed with a zoo in North Carolina, about 60 miles east of Raleigh-Durham. I can't remember the name of the zoo (or city), maybe Horseshoe can fill us in.

Anyway, skip Animal Kingdom. There is much more to do at Disneyworld, so don't waste your time there (or at MGM for that matter).

Epcot and Magic Kingdom all the way!!

And if you're staying at a resort hotel, I recommend the Old Key West resort. It is VERY nice, and you get your own apartment, complete with 2 bedrooms, big den, kitchen (full of dishes and everything you need), laundry room, big bathroom with jacuzzi, etc). This is where we stayed for our honeymoon and we were extremely sorry to have to leave. :)

I know what you mean about Spacemountain. You'll be surprised next time you go, then, because they have added a lot more rides along the same lines as Space Mountain. Lots more roller coasters (one at MGM that I can recall right now).

dave

Dave, I don't think MGM really would interest me at all. Not a big movie/TV fan. I think I would have to agree with you, Magic Kindom and Epcot rule. Although I would probaly have to go to the Animal Kingdom...and after I'm sure I'd say, "well, Dave told me."LOL!
I have a great picture of an angel statue I took at Epcot. I should dig it out and post it as you said about your old pics!
We sent in bunches of Hershey bar wrappers to Southwest airlines for ticket vouchers last month. We will be getting 150.00 off any round trip tickets to anywhere Southwest flys, I hope to convince my DH to use them to go to Disney. We will have 2 years to redeem the vouchers. I turn 40 next year and that is where I want to spend my B-day. I think I have that right to choose! LOL! Lisa

Now that's a good birthday present! Next year you'll have a 4 year old. Will you bring her, or have a someone else watch her while you go?

She would come with us. Where I go, she goes. We took her to Mexico when she was close to 2 years old. She is a real trooper. She can hang! When she was 6 months old she was already canoeing in Fla. Little lifejacket and all!
I couldn't go to Disney and not take her, I would not have fun!! Lisa

Oh I can't believe you guys are whetting my appetite for Disney World again. The last time we went was Memorial Day weekend of '95. I was 7 months pregnant with our daughter, and it was a sweltering 100+ degrees every day. Our boys had a BLAST. I survived. And they made us promise to come back when their sister was old enough to enjoy it. She's five and a half now, so of course we're starting to think about going. Surprisingly enough our oldest son (who is 15) is still wanting to go - I figured he'd dismiss it as too babyish by the time his baby sister got this age, but he's a good sport.

So......I guess we'll probably take the plunge sometime this year, or early next year.

Justmelisa, in my opinion YOU'RE the trooper, taking your daughter to spots like that. We took our oldest son to Hawaii with us when he was four, and his body clock didn't adapt well to the four-hour time difference. So we were all up by 4 am every day (8 am "back home"). We had a wonderful time, but I wasn't thrilled with taking them that young after that.

My husband and I went on a seven-day cruise exactly four years ago today, it left out of New Orleans, and we spent our days "playing" like kids, snorkeling in Cozumel and the Caymans....ahhhhh, now that's a repeat vacation I'd sign up for in a New York minute!!!!! I love my kids dearly, but it is fun to leave them with Memaw and sneak away for a few days now and then. But maybe that's because our kids outnumber the parents three to two.....WHAT were we thinkin!???!!!???

Dave, I was so thrilled to hear about your trip to Epcot. My husband has wanted to go there for years...but it's 3000 plus miles and it wasn't at the top of my "vacation" list. But..we now have some close friends that live about 1 hour from there and they have been begging us to visit them. We are now thinking seriously about going and making it a double vacation...stay with them for a few days, then go to Epcot for a few days. Is this a good time of year to make this trip? We are thinking end of March. Also, regarding the resort you stayed at... is it close by Epcot. Any info anyone can give me, would be appreciated.

Donna

BTW...I live 10 miles from the CA Disneyland, and haven't been there in almost 10 yrs. It's like saying "been there..done that".

SoCal: The old key west resort is kinda out of the way, but you know WDW has excellent ground transportation. You can take busses and monorail anywhere you need to go.

When I was a little, I thought it was like part of the Constitution that every American child MUST be taken to Dinsneyland (no Disney World back then!) My parents explained my error - never been to either, probably won't ever go, but this thread is sure fun reading!
Kathleen

Oh, I haven't been to Disneyland since I was in 4th grade, hmmmmm how many years ago was that? It was great. I now have a 3 year old & a 6 year old I hope to take this year or next. We took the camper & camped at Yogi Bear camp site. It was great. There was so much stuff planned for the kids at the campsite, I think mom & dad got a real break also. I remember coasting into the driveway at home - no gas left (but we made it) and eating peanut butter straight from the jar (no food left). But mom & dad were glad they could get us there (4 kids). When we go, we will be camping also (I'll save the resort for when the kids grow up!) jUlie

Dave, whats the best time of the year to go? When we'd miss the searing heat and the torrential downpours and the gardens would be at their zenith? Am I asking for too much? Could you or Trish post some more about what the gardens are like, thanx!!!!

Marlowe-

We went the first time in mid Dec..the first part of the week we wore swim suits, the second part of the week we were as bundled as we could be! They had some freak weather then.
The second time we went in mid Feb- the lines were very small, and the weather was perfect. I would say to go Dec-early March- miss the lines and stormy weather. Of course, don't go during Christmas or New Years- prices are higher those weeks.

No matter what time of year you go, something is growing. Dave mentioned that they have plants specific to different parts of the world, so everything is blooming at different times. Also, southern Florida doesn't get much of a winter, so things like Maples were just losing their leaves in Feb, but at the same time, there were TONS of flowers in full bloom. They are very careful to make sure that all of the gardens look their best at all times. They'll remove anything that looks dead or dying, and replace it with blooming or evergreens as needed. In the middle of summer, they will hide the stuff that doesn't look good in the heat by things that do, and vise-versa in winter- so you always get a good showing. They have all types of gardens to imagine- no way to decribe them. Everything from the most tender annuals, to hardy tropicals, topiaries to hanging baskets, water plants to Japanese gardens. There is a HUGE rose garden somewhere (Magic Kingdom, I think), a "jungle" complete with water features and parrots. Also, if you get the chance, you should tour all of the different resorts that are on the monorail. You'll notice that everywhere you go in WDW, there is a theme. For example: Magic Kingdom is full of bright colors, and all of the plants are very bright and cheerful, the Floridian is more formal, so you'll see formal type plants, the Polyesian is tropical, so palm trees and other tropical plants, EPCOT is techie, so there you find more unusual plants that look very contempory, the Campground (can't remember the name) is all woodsy, pine trees, ect, of course, the World Showcase: in Japan the Jap. gardens complete with the fish, Mexico with the cacti...Once you notice the "theme", you'll be amazed at how well they carry it through. Gosh, I've talked myself into _needing_ to go back!!

BTW- Lisa- you do need to go to Animal Kingdom at least for half a day. I'm glad we went, we just won't go back again. You're DD will like it.

Trish

Well said, Trish. When are we going back? ;-)

The zoo in NC is the NC Zoological Park in Asheboro. The apx center of the state.

plantbug - THAT'S THE ONE!!! Excellent zoo, in my opinion.

I knew I liked you two. I grew up near the original Disneyland ,CA. You could see the fireworks every summer night. I asked to go for my birthday every year. My husband and myself honeymooned there. We have annual passes every year. We will probably go in couple of weeks for my daughters 9th birthday. I really appreciate the landscaping scince I have gotten into my obsession. Now there is a new park they have built in the old parking lot, California Adventures. Love it, new territory to explore!Just hate the drive to the Big Cities. But love seeing the Pacific Ocean everytime I go. Favorite Rides, Rocket Rods , Indiana Jones. The new Tomorrowland looks like old fashioned futuristic, Buck Rogers style. They use veg. plants(artichoke, tomatoes, peppers, miniture citrus it really is great the way they do it.)And as always , I could spend all day in New Orleans Square, listening to the Dixieland Band , having Jambalaya. I have a dead marigold head from there.Is now my favorite marigold. And Josephs Coat Rose, thats where I first saw it and had to have it.
I must stop. Love Disneyland!!!!! Some day visiting Disney world Florida, would be awsome.Isnt it great to share with your kids? Makes it even better.
Michele

DisneyWorld, my favorite place in the world!!! My husband and I went there for our honeymoon too Dave, September 1996 (second marriage) We took our twins this past September for their 6th birthday and for my 42nd. The last two times we went we stayed at the Polynison Hotel. This was the first time for them and they absolutely had a blast. Our room was right on the water so they had a view of Cinderella's Castle every night(with fireworks). They wanted to fish and ride the speedboats and chase the lizards the whole week. Let me tell you, after we left there were alot of lizards without tails. The entire plane ride down I kept telling them that all I wanted to see was Captain Hook!! Well the second we walked into the Magic Kingdom before we even got under the bridge where the train station is, there he was THE CAPTAIN himself..... What a great birthday present for me!!! Kathleen, I love the constition thing, maybe we should all write to are congress to get that added to the constition!!!(HA-HA) P.S. We DID take the boys on the Alian Encounter ride at the Magic Kingdom and Yes it did scare the [deleted] out of them.. By the last day they were asking the people who ran the rides if the rides were scarey I guess they did not believe mom and dad anymore!! I can't wait to go back!!! HEY maybe for DavesGarden 1st year (or 10th) reunion we can all meet up at Disney World for a garden tour?????(HA-HA)........sue

Hey Ruby - I think last Feb (13 months ago) Trish and I stayed in the same room as you did!! We stayed at the polynesian, right on the lagoon, facing the castle. We had a perfect view of it outside our sliding glass door. Very pretty!