it was nice.
Dec. 15th, 2007 08:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ironymaideni never would have chosen to go to Disney World on vacation (and i still won't) but when someone else is paying for part of it and i get to see my family it's very nice. i get it: they hold your hand from the moment you step off the plane until you get back to the airport on the way home. our agenda was to visit with the family, and maybe ride some rollercoasters. anything else was a bonus.
we were there about a day too long, and next time (because there probably will be one) we won't give MGM more than an hour or so. the family time was great, and the lodgings were great. (jetted tub!) C and i were last in Florida (separately) about 16 years ago, so this was my first adult Disney experience. (no, i've never been to Disneyland, and i don't care if i ever go; a former co-worker who grew up here commented that the west coast got screwed. all i need to know. also, see above about not choosing this sort of thing on our own.) i didn't drink my way around the world at Epcot, but it's pretty great to be at a "family" location swilling a huge frozen margarita in a go cup on the street.
Animal Kingdom is my new favorite, and i wish we'd been able to give it more time. it's the least commercialized/holidayized/mickeyfied. i felt more immersed in the environment there than elsewhere and couldn't help but be enchanted with the attention to detail in the sets.
sets: i always felt like i was walking through a performance in progress, which is sometimes good and sometimes bad. there's an overwhelming focus on storytelling as part of every attraction, so when the story is thin it feels extra-pathetic. there's a dumbass story tacked onto the safari tour. i would rather have been fed factoids about all the cool animals who were only a few feet away. instead we had to be chasing pretend poachers and having a bridge "fail" under us. what-ever. (also, very strange to be at a theme park pretending to be Kenya when two friends were in real Kenya this year.) then again, i was remarkably charmed by getting into a "stretch limo" at the "Park & Rock" to start the Rock and Rollercoaster (featuring Aerosmith) ride.
favorite ride: Mission: SPACE, a Mars exploration simulator that comes with a barf bag dispenser. it's not that bad, but two people have died on the ride, so they're legally obligated to put the fear of god in you. the big promotion thing at Disney right now is "Year of a Million Dreams" where they offer random guests special "dream experiences." for me, being an astronaut for a few minutes totally beats anything else they have to offer.
dumbest ride: theRiver of TimeThe Gran Fiesta Tour in "Mexico". the people of Mexico should protest, especially since this pointless random tour of tourist crap is near the "Norway" Maelstrom that shows off Norway pretty and Norway useful.
secretly awesome: Mickey's PhilharMagic (the only time i was in an attraction that used a pleasant scent effect instead of a stinky one.) i enjoyed it even though i hate the Sorcerer's Apprentice story that it's loosely based on.
the shuttle failed to launch while we were there, so we didn't get out to Cape Canveral, but the airport has a Kennedy Space Center store, hence the NASA bling in my previous post. i need to see if i can order another one so that i have a replacement when it wears out. (sparkly NASA! squeeeeeeeeeeee!)
kudos to my sister-in-law for putting it all together. she made a handful of group meal reservations (not even daily) but otherwise we were free to break into small groups and self-schedule. we took a lot of afternoon naps, i took a lot of baths, i still rode rollercoasters with my Dad and the Haunted Mansion with my niece, and we all saw the Wishes fireworks from the top of the Contemporary Resort after dinner at the California Grill. awesome.
we were there about a day too long, and next time (because there probably will be one) we won't give MGM more than an hour or so. the family time was great, and the lodgings were great. (jetted tub!) C and i were last in Florida (separately) about 16 years ago, so this was my first adult Disney experience. (no, i've never been to Disneyland, and i don't care if i ever go; a former co-worker who grew up here commented that the west coast got screwed. all i need to know. also, see above about not choosing this sort of thing on our own.) i didn't drink my way around the world at Epcot, but it's pretty great to be at a "family" location swilling a huge frozen margarita in a go cup on the street.
Animal Kingdom is my new favorite, and i wish we'd been able to give it more time. it's the least commercialized/holidayized/mickeyfied. i felt more immersed in the environment there than elsewhere and couldn't help but be enchanted with the attention to detail in the sets.
sets: i always felt like i was walking through a performance in progress, which is sometimes good and sometimes bad. there's an overwhelming focus on storytelling as part of every attraction, so when the story is thin it feels extra-pathetic. there's a dumbass story tacked onto the safari tour. i would rather have been fed factoids about all the cool animals who were only a few feet away. instead we had to be chasing pretend poachers and having a bridge "fail" under us. what-ever. (also, very strange to be at a theme park pretending to be Kenya when two friends were in real Kenya this year.) then again, i was remarkably charmed by getting into a "stretch limo" at the "Park & Rock" to start the Rock and Rollercoaster (featuring Aerosmith) ride.
favorite ride: Mission: SPACE, a Mars exploration simulator that comes with a barf bag dispenser. it's not that bad, but two people have died on the ride, so they're legally obligated to put the fear of god in you. the big promotion thing at Disney right now is "Year of a Million Dreams" where they offer random guests special "dream experiences." for me, being an astronaut for a few minutes totally beats anything else they have to offer.
dumbest ride: the
secretly awesome: Mickey's PhilharMagic (the only time i was in an attraction that used a pleasant scent effect instead of a stinky one.) i enjoyed it even though i hate the Sorcerer's Apprentice story that it's loosely based on.
the shuttle failed to launch while we were there, so we didn't get out to Cape Canveral, but the airport has a Kennedy Space Center store, hence the NASA bling in my previous post. i need to see if i can order another one so that i have a replacement when it wears out. (sparkly NASA! squeeeeeeeeeeee!)
kudos to my sister-in-law for putting it all together. she made a handful of group meal reservations (not even daily) but otherwise we were free to break into small groups and self-schedule. we took a lot of afternoon naps, i took a lot of baths, i still rode rollercoasters with my Dad and the Haunted Mansion with my niece, and we all saw the Wishes fireworks from the top of the Contemporary Resort after dinner at the California Grill. awesome.
