Walt Disney World

Jungle Cruise

2009-07-03T16:10:00.001-04:00

The Jungle Cruise is a boat ride attraction located in Adventureland at the Magic Kingdom theme park in Walt Disney World. Guests load onto a boat where they are introduced to their skipper and then proceed into the jungle.

While cruising along in the boat, the skipper will speak about the things seen as well as make short jokes about them. Guests will notice lions, zebras, snakes just hanging around, elephants (some which intend to squirt the guests in the boat), a rhinoceros which chased a safari party up a tree, hippos that try to attack the boat, and many other animals and insects. Also in the Jungle Cruise you will encounter natives and near the end meet a shrunken head dealer.

In short, the Jungle Cruise is a spectacular attraction that deserves 4 1/2 to 5 stars. Wait times can be extremely long. In the summertime, it can be around 60 to 75 minutes long although we got right on in early June but that was in the morning when it wasn't so busy. My recommendation is to get a fastpass for this one. Jump ahead to the Pirates of the Caribbean, the Enchanted Tiki Room and then return back to the Jungle Cruise. Also, since this is an outdoor attraction and you are visiting in the hot summer months, I would suggest you ride this early or late in the evening or purchase one of those water fans to keep cool.

Check out this video of the Jungle Cruise below. It begins with many of the props in the queue area before you load onto the boat.

Columbia Harbour House

2009-05-12T21:40:00.008-04:00

Columbia Harbour House is a colonial-style counter service restaurant located mainly in Liberty Square at the Magic Kingdom theme park in Walt Disney World. I say mainly because there are two floors to the Columbia Harbour House restaurant. Part of the second floor actually acts as an archway between Liberty Square and Fantasyland. We have eaten up there a couple of times while visiting Walt Disney World. You can watch other guests from the windows of the archway walk under you while you pig out.

A few of their menu choices include a fried fish basket, chicken nuggets, tuna and hummus sandwiches. Most entrees are served with fries, chips, apple slices or carrots. Columbia Harbour House also serves soups like New England clam chowder or vegetarian chili and desserts like apple crisp or chocolate cake. Yum. Now I'm hungry while blogging about this. The prices are also more reasonable compared to the other theme park restaurants.

I recommend Columbia Harbour House highly. It's a great place to sit down with your family for about a half an hour or more to eat, drink, talk, avoid the hustle and bustle of the crowds, and just get out of the heat for awhile (if you're visiting in the hottest times to be at Walt Disney World). I love the style of the Columbia Harbour House from the wooden floors to the relaxing atmosphere. I remember when me and my little brother were in our younger days getting up from the table and doing a little dance to the sailor-type music that was playing. That same music still plays today although I couldn't hear the music as well upstairs where we sat. I loved this place then and yet I still love it today.

Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor

2009-05-05T21:09:00.011-04:00

Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor is one of the newer attractions located in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. It replaced the Circle-Vision attraction. Laugh Floor is furnished with about 400 seats and uses digital puppet technology where live actors perform voices for computerized monsters from the movie behind large digital screens. The image above is the layout and design of the theatre itself.

Monstropolis runs on safe, clean "laugh power", but even now it still needs more laughs to power up the monster world. So, the object of the show is to obtain all the laughs into the giant canister until it is full. According to Roz, if you don't fill up the container with laughs then they may not have enough power to open the exit doors. Mike Wazowski is the monster of ceremonies and introduces all of the show's comedians.

One of the Laugh Floor's top key components is interacting with guests. Before entering the performance, guests can send text messages with jokes into their cell phones to be used on the show. In the theatre, backstage cameras are used to zoom in on guests whom they want to interact with. A microphone is brought to the selected guest where the person can then talk to the performer on stage.

This truly is a great performance that will get the laughs they need and deserve. I highly recommend you to at least see Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor once. It is fun for all ages. The presentation will run between 14 and 15 minutes long. No fastpass is available but it is worth the wait. We waited approximately 20 minutes before we got into the theatre. My family and I all loved Laugh Floor. We laughed so much until we cried. I thought it was absolutely incredible how they interacted with the guests.

Below are videos taken of Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor in two parts. Some of it is a little dark and tough to see but you should still be able to hear the jokes. It's pretty funny.

Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage

2009-04-28T21:20:00.006-04:00

Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage is a Broadway-style musical at the Theater of the Stars located on Sunset Boulevard at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World. It is based on the popular animated film Beauty and the Beast. Features include many of the characters and songs like Be Our Guest, Something There and the title track from the show.

I highly recommend Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage if you loved the story of the original movie like I do. It is a great family show to get you to relax and take a breath for awhile. Me and my family loved it all. It'll make you laugh, dance, sing and even cry. It is that good a show to see.

Length of the show itself is approximately 25 minutes. Many cuts and edits have been made in order to fit it in that time frame. No fastpass is available for Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage. Get there about 30 minutes before the next show opens to get a good seat.

Take a look at the video below for some of the highlights of Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage and please leave a comment. Your feedback is always welcome here.

The Windsor Hills Resort

2009-04-21T22:15:00.000-04:00

The Windsor Hills Resort is a beautiful gated community located about 2 to 3 miles from Walt Disney World.

Windsor Hills offers several amenities including an extra large swimming pool with a winding slide and a splash pad for the kids. Also there is a game room, a fitness room, a theater, a sundry shop and more. Plenty to do if you want to kick back and take it easy for a day or two.

We stayed here at 2785 Almaton Loop in apt #201 for 15 nights and loved every minute of it (when we were there).

We took advantage of the huge olympic-style pool on our days away from the parks and usually after a day at Walt Disney World just to wind down and relax a little. We tried to do this almost every evening especially because me and my daughter both enjoy swimming. I went down the slide several times and it whips you around pretty fast. If you like water parks, you'll love this slide and the pool itself. It was a blast. There is also a jacuzzi on the back end of the pool area.

There is a nice sitting area between the sundry shop and the game room before you enter the pool area. The center image is our kitchen area which included a full refrigerator, dishwasher, oven and range, microwave, double sink, plenty of counter space, cupboards and drawers. The right image is one of the three bedrooms. This one featured a king-sized bed. Not shown, another room had a queen and the last room had two twin beds. All bedrooms had its own television set. There were two bathrooms, one inside the master suite above and the other in the hall between the other two bedrooms. Below is a short video of what you'll get when you book your vacation at Windsor Hills.

Even though it is outside of Walt Disney World, I highly recommend this resort. For more information, do a google search on "Windsor Hills Resort Kissimmee" for a bunch of great sites. For the actual link where we booked our vacation at the Windsor Hills Resort, visit Value Vacation Rentals, Inc.

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

2009-04-10T23:42:00.013-04:00

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is a drop thrill ride at the Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park in Walt Disney World. This attraction is based upon the television show of "The Twilight Zone".

The story of the hotel includes the hotel tower being struck by lightning transporting passengers aboard the elevator into the Twilight Zone. The Tower of Terror is just under 200 feet high at 199 feet because of FAA regulations that require a fixed red light beacon to be added to the top of any 200-foot or taller structure taking away the effect of the hotel's 1939 theme. Guests enter the hotel through the main entrance gate winding itself through the overgrown gardens and into the lobby. You are then ushered into the library where you observe a thunderstorm going on outside. Lightning strikes and a television comes on with Rod Serling hosting the events that took place and are about to happen. Guests then enter a basement boiler room where they wait for their elevator to arrive. CAUTION: Don't get on this elevator if you have a fear of falling or of dark creepy things. Take the chicken's elevator for a safe trip down where you can wait for the rest of your party, if they come back.

The cool thing when guests board their doomed elevator is that the elevator cab not only goes up and down but goes sideways as well. As the elevator goes up and stops, doors will open briefly to reveal a corridor populated by the ghostly occupants from 1939, who then disappear. The doors close and the elevator moves up and at the top, the doors again open and the cab mysteriously moves forward out of the shaft, through a section of the ride called The Fifth Dimension. After the elevator moves in to the final shaft and the doors open overlooking the park, the drop of the elevator begins at random. It dropped approximately 4 times on average when we rode it.

My recommendation is if you love thrill rides, this is a good one that you don't want to miss out on. We all loved this attraction but I could only ride it twice. I don't think my stomach could have handled it anymore than that. Don't eat before you ride this. You might upchuck on someone. Get a fastpass if you don't want to wait long because the wait times can be extremely long anywhere from 60 to 120 minutes being that it's a popular attraction. Anyone with weak knees or stomachs can walk through until you get to the boiler room and then you might want to take the coward elevator down.

There are 2 videos below of the Tower of Terror. The first is of the ride when it was MGM Studios but hasn't changed much. And the second is a 3D virtual version of the Tower of Terror which is pretty awesome. Check them out below.

Soarin'

2009-03-31T21:31:00.006-04:00

Soarin' is located in the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World. This attraction is a free-flying simulator adventure over California.

You start out in a standby queue watching a video screen of what to do and what not to do before you enter the flight simulator. WARNING: If you have a fear of flying or falling, you may want to bypass this and wait for your party to get off the ride. My wife went on this and she constantly would shut her eyes and turn her head. She cut the circulation out of my hand as she was squeezing it.

Next, the doors will open and guests enter a huge room with three rows of simulated hang glider seats. Each row will split in three sections as the ride starts. The closest row to the screen will go up the highest as the one further away from the screen will not ascend as high. After you put your bags, hats and other loose items into the compartment below you and buckle your safety belts, the rows guests are sitting on begin to take off forward and then up into the air with your feet dangling freely. As you hang glide over various scenery, scents complementing the various scenes are injected into the air streams blowing on riders.

Soarin' is an awesome attraction. I definitely recommend that you ride this one. Wait time can be 30 minutes to as long as 2 hours. Ouch! Fastpass is available so get one if you don't want to wait that long. We all loved this ride except, well, my wife.

Here is a short video of Soarin' below but it doesn't do it justice. You've got to see this one for yourself. I give it a 5 star rating.

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin

2009-03-24T21:24:00.010-04:00

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin is an interactive video-game ride kind of like a mix between a shooting gallery and a ride all in one. It is located in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom theme park.

As you walk through the line before boarding, you will notice a life-size Buzz Lightyear instructing you what to do on your mission. Visitors board an Omnimover space vehicle featuring two laser pistols and a joystick. The pistols are used to shoot laser beams at different shaped targets for points. The targets are round, square, triangle and diamond shaped. The triangle and diamond shapes are worth the most points. Targets that are hit while lit up will produce much higher scores. A digital readout on the dashboard shows the player's score. The joystick turns the vehicle 360-degrees in a complete circle to help assist in aiming.

My recommendation is to at least ride this one once especially if you enjoy video gaming. My daughter at six years old loved this one. I think we rode it at least three times the two weeks we were there. I still miss and think about "If You Had Wings", the ride that used to be where Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin is now. It closed down in June of 1987. So, for all those who remember this attraction, take a trip down memorabilia lane with me for just a moment.

Now, back to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. Fastpass is available for this attraction. Lines can be a very long wait. Several times when we went in June, the wait time was well over sixty minutes and right under ninety minutes. The best thing to do is to get the fastpass for this ride, then follow the steps I posted in the Tomorrowland Transit Authority post. Enjoy the ride!

Tomorrowland Transit Authority

2009-03-17T21:53:00.011-04:00

The Tomorrowland Transit Authority (TTA) is a peoplemover ride in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom theme park. This attraction takes you high above Tomorrowland where you can see a bird's eye view of the park.

The boarding area is located right below Astro Orbiter. You step on to a conveyor belt escalator as it takes you to the top where the vehicles are. As you hop onto the moving cars and the ride takes off, you can look down where the people are walking around and see a lot of the other attractions.

A few times the ride goes in and out of some of the buildings where you will see things like the original model of Epcot as envisioned by Walt Disney himself. The next one is entering Space Mountain. For those who can't stomach roller coasters very well, don't worry. You won't be riding the actual coaster. This does give you an idea of what Space Mountain is like though which is really cool. The last building is where you can look down through a window and see just a bit of Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.

In short, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority is a great way to pass some time. My recommendation is to do this in the following steps especially if you visit in the busiest times of the year. First, get a Fastpass for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin or Space Mountain, your choice, if the wait time is over 60 minutes long. Second, ride the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (no Fastpass available but you should not need it anyway because we got on it almost immediately every time in June). Third, go over and ride the Carousel of Progress. By that time you should have burned about thirty to forty minutes. If you still have time before the Fastpass ride of your choice in step one, ride the TTA one more time. This worked out perfectly for us.

My 6 year old daughter absolutely loved this one. She wanted to ride it again and again. Don't miss it. It's a good ten minute relaxation. Check out the video below of the attraction. As always, your comments are welcome.

If you've never seen the Space Mountain tracks from the TTA with the lights on, then check out this video.

Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress

2009-03-08T21:36:00.011-04:00

The Carousel of Progress is an excellent attraction located in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom theme park. This is a theater experience and also a short ride in which the theater you sit in rotates to the right advancing to the next stage. It is based on the beginning of the 20th century and ending into today's time.

Four scenes include an Audio-Animatronic family, narrated by the father, who interacts with the latest technology and innovations during a particular era. The last scene has been updated several times to keep up with the times of today. Each scene also focuses on certain holidays like Valentine's Day, the fourth of July, Halloween and Christmas.

Fastpass is not available for this attraction but seriously you will not need one. Every four and a half minutes or so, the ride rotates and allows for more people to get in. The three or four times we went to see this attraction, we got in immediately.

If you would like to relax for a little while, approximately 22 minutes, I would not miss this one. It is really interesting to see where we have come from the early 1900's to today's time.

Disney's Electrical Water Pageant

2009-02-26T22:09:00.006-05:00

Disney's Electrical Water Pageant is a show that takes place every evening, weather permitting, in Walt Disney World's Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake featuring lighted images of sea creatures. Floats include King Triton, a whale, an octopus, a crocodile, dolphins, a sea serpent and a turtle. At the finale, the floats all turn into flags and stars for a patriotic finish.

We didn't get a chance to see this one when we was down in Walt Disney World in June. I don't remember ever watching the whole thing play out. I remember seeing a few images on the water when I was little but I can't recall any music being played. However, from watching this video below, it looks like I missed out on a short and sweet water pageant. Take a look.

SpectroMagic

2009-02-22T22:15:00.013-05:00

SpectroMagic at the Magic Kingdom theme park is a nighttime parade of floats with about a half million dazzling lights and miles of fiber optics cables. Many of the floats are filled with sparkling lit up Disney characters.

You will absolutely love the awesome lights and the music is just fitting as it celebrates multiple scenes from Disney films narrated by Jiminy Cricket.

SpectroMagic begins each night showing at two times during selected months. The first one is at 9:00 and the second is at 11:00. Be sure to find a spot maybe about a half an hour before the show to get a good view. We had a decent view of the parade from outside of the Hall of Presidents. The music in this parade will stick with you for quite awhile. Me and my family hummed and sang the song long after the parade was over.

My recommendation is to not miss this one. SpectroMagic has replaced the Main Street Electrical Parade which was very good. Sad to see it go but this is an amazing substitute. Anyways, check it out below and leave a comment if you wish.

Country Bear Jamboree

2009-02-09T21:59:00.008-05:00

The Country Bear Jamboree is located in Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom theme park in Walt Disney World.

This attraction is a stage show featuring audio-animatronic bears performing country music songs. The bears rise up from the stage, appear from behind curtains, and lower down from the ceiling. Also included during the performance are audio-animatronic animal heads such as a moose, a buffalo and a deer mounted on the right wall who all interact with the bears on stage.

Check out the two part videos below of Country Bear Jamboree for the entire performance. Make yourself comfortable, clap your hands and stomp your feet. Enjoy!

My review, don't miss this one. It's fun entertainment for the whole family to enjoy. The show is approximately 14 minutes in length.

Fastpass is unavailable for this attraction but you shouldn't need one anyway. The longest you might wait would be about 20 minutes. We got in almost immediately when we visited in early June.

There is one more video that some of us who have went to Disney World for years remember. When the show ended and you went out the doors to the right, you entered into an eating area which was called "The Mile Long Bar". And on the wall directly in front of you was again the talking animal heads. I miss this part. The wall along with the audio-animatronic heads are just a memory now. We used to grab a bite to eat after the show and watch them talk and move. Check it out below.

Splash Mountain

2009-02-01T00:13:00.005-05:00

Splash Mountain in Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom is a log flume ride based on the characters, stories and songs from the classic 1946 film Song of the South.

Riders are seated 2 per row of a total of 4 rows making it an 8 passenger log ride. You start off on a peaceful journey outside floating on the waters and into the mountain where you will find the audioanimatronic figures like Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear.

WARNING! There are some drops in this attraction and some are a little significant especially the famous 5 story drop near the end of the ride. So for those who have a fear of falling, I would not recommend this ride. However, for those who love the drops, this is an excellent ride that you don't want to miss out on. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, you will get wet (but it feels great in the summertime).

Fastpass is available for this attraction. Normal wait time without the fastpass could be approximately 45-60 minutes. Although, I jumped on this thing a couple of times pretty fast while the 11:00 parade was going on. My recommendation is to get a fastpass, hop over to the Pirates of the Caribbean, sit down and watch the tropical birds sing in the Enchanted Tiki Room and by that time go back over to Splash Mountain to use your fastpass if it's time to use it.

Take a look at this video below and I hope that you enjoy it. It's nothing like being there and feeling the thrill of when the next drop will be or when the water splashes into the log you are in. Whatever it may be, all in all, I give this attraction a thumbs up 5 out of 5 star rating.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

2009-01-18T22:02:00.010-05:00

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is a fun and somewhat mild mine train roller coaster located in Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom. It zips in and out through the tunnels of the mountain. The rocks, moutains, bones and everything looks so cool.

Check out a short video of the entire ride below. There are a few dark places in the attraction that didn't show up good so you'll just have to go and see it for yourself. Watch in the video at about 4:02 as it looks as if you are about to run right smack into the side of the mountain and then it dips down.

The ride itself is a little over 3 short minutes. I'm beginning to see a trend in these long lines when it comes to short rides. Fastpass is available for this attraction which I do recommend. We did the mistake of getting on without the fastpass and we waited a little over an hour and it was the busier time of day in the afternoon.

My recommendation is to definitely not miss this one. I am not a big roller coaster fan but this one as I said above is mild compared to others and the scenery is great. Not to mention how cool the ride is with the wind blowing on you as you whip around the tracks in the hot summer sun.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

2009-01-17T01:26:00.006-05:00

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is located in Fantasyland and is great for little ones. Ride with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and many of his other friends passing a giant storybook telling the story of his adventure.

I don't remember much on this ride for this is the first time I had seen this one and we only rode it once. It has replaced Mr Toad's Wild Ride which in my opinion was a better attraction. But if you enjoy the Pooh characters, then you'll like this one.

There is a fastpass available for this ride which I recommend getting. The wait time without the fastpass is approximately 45-60 minutes. The ride alone is not much longer than 4 minutes.

Check out this short movie of the entire ride below to get an idea of what to expect so you can make an informed decision as to whether ride this one or skip it altogether.

Mickey's PhilharMagic

2009-01-06T22:51:00.007-05:00

Mickey's PhilharMagic is a 3-D film attraction located at the Magic Kingdom theme park in Fantasyland. Mickey's PhilharMagic is a 12-minute long show starring Donald with 3-D effects, interactive smells and water as well as a number of characters from many of the Disney classic movies.

I can remember when this theatre belonged to the Mickey Mouse Revue when we first went to Disney World (let me clear my throat on this one - 1976, I'm really showing my age now). Too bad it closed down in 1980. It lasted for 9 years when it originally opened in 1971. Okay, I'm back from my time machine now.

My review, we all loved this one. From Donald picking up Mickey's famous sorcerer's hat to Donald being shot from the stage to the wall behind you. It's fun, hilarious, and just another fantastic magical moment from Disney. There are no fastpasses available. The wait time is approximately 10-15 minutes on average. Not a long wait for an excellent production. Don't miss this one.

Peter Pan's Flight

2008-12-15T22:01:00.011-05:00

Peter Pan's Flight, located in Fantasyland, is a two to three person suspended ride in a miniature ship over London, Never Land, and finally through Skull Rock, where you can see Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Princess Tiger Lily and the Crocodile before unloading.

This ride is usually all the time crowded 90% of the time. It's best to get to this one early in the morning or you can grab a fastpass. However, when we went in early June through the middle of June, we found that when we got to this ride in the afternoon to the later part of the day and got our fastpasses, we still had to come back within an hour and a half to two hours. This truly is a popular ride and believe it or not, the whole attraction from loading on to your mini-ship to when you get off is a little over three minutes long (oh wait a minute, I mean three minutes short). I really wish it could be longer being the reason you have to wait so long.

In closing, I don't recommend waiting in line for 60 minutes or longer especially in the hot summer sun. Get a fastpass, go across the way to It's a Small World, ride Cinderella's Golden Carousel, watch Mickey's PhilharMagic (an awesome 3D show), all depending on how much time you have before returning to Peter Pan's Flight.

Check out the video below for the entire ride from start to finish. It is a little dark but you can see a lot of it for the most part. And the music in it is just great.

It's A Small World

2008-12-06T18:37:00.009-05:00

It's a small world after all. I think just about everybody knows this tune. This is a fun and relaxing attraction for all ages.

You get onto a boat similar to the Pirates of the Caribbean and it glides slowly across the water. In this ride you will find child-like audio-animatronic figures from all over the world singing the ride's title track, animals including elephants, giraffes, leopards, laughing hyenas and much more. The ride has a colorful, pleasant and peaceful arrange of scenery not to mention the tune that gets stuck in your head.

We all loved this ride. We got on this one several times in the five days we went to the Magic Kingdom.

Wait time is approximately 15-20 minutes. Most of the time we got on in about 10 minutes. No fast pass is available for this attraction at this time.

Welcome!

2008-12-06T00:45:00.016-05:00

Walt Disney World is considered the happiest place on earth and I agree.

I grew up going on vacations to Walt Disney World since I was five years old. I just recently took my wife and my daughter to Disney World this year in early June through mid-June for the first time there with them both and had a blast.

Hello and welcome! This site is about my trip to Walt Disney World, tips on Disney stuff, recommendations and more. If you are young at heart and love this place as much as I do, then I hope your visit here is a pleasant one.

Haunted Mansion

2008-12-06T00:04:00.009-05:00

The Haunted Mansion in Liberty Square is definitely a must see. The story of a mansion inhabited by 999 happy haunts. But there's room for a thousand. Any volunteers?

This is mostly a ride, but there is a short walk through before you sit down and venture through this ghostly retreat. As you approach the mansion from the outside, you hear a wolf howling and see grave stones of some who are laid to rest. As you enter the doors to the side of the mansion, you will see many incredible effects. There's a stretching room, doom buggies which will hold 2-3 passengers, pictures that follow you, a floating head, a ballroom scene where ghosts appear and disappear, a ghost that appears in your doom buggy with you and many more. Some of the best additions to the Haunted Mansion include Madam Leota's grave stone where the head on the stone moves up and down, then the eyes open briefly, another is the new staircase room right past the organ where a ghost is playing, and one of my personal favorites is the attic room where they put a new hologram style audio-animatronic bride figure.

Be prepared to be scared. The Haunted Mansion is an awesome attraction to see. Even the young children love it. My daughter at 6 years old went on it several times. So much so, I lost count.

Lines going to the Haunted Mansion are not bad at all. No fast pass is available for this ride. The longest we waited in early June was about an average of 15 minutes. Most of the time though it was 5 minutes and under.

Pirates of the Caribbean

2008-12-05T23:30:00.008-05:00

In the Pirates of the Caribbean, passengers get into boats and they are carried along by a gentle current. They go through a series of rooms with pirates all around. There are several audio-animatronic figures including skeletons, a seagull, parrots, donkeys and yes even pirates. Also included are buildings on fire, splashes in the water from cannons blasting at your boat and for those who have a fear of falling, a short slide down an unseen waterfall is right after the skeleton steering a wrecked ship. It is a small drop by the way. Nothing that even comes close to the falls down Splash Mountain. The best additions is a mist of Davy Jones in front of you which you go through and in my opinion is a really cool addition to this ride. And, three separate spots in the ride which include captain Jack Sparrow from the movie. He actually looks like he is real which is amazing.

Wait time is approximately 15 minutes. When we got there in early June, we got right on in under 5 minutes most of the time. Fast pass is unavailable for this attraction.

The Wishes Fireworks Spectacular at Magic Kingdom

2008-10-14T22:13:00.018-04:00

The Wishes Fireworks Spectacular at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World is one of the highlights of the night. You watch and listen as Jiminy Cricket narrates this excellent light show of making wishes come true. Classic Disney songs and character voices are used during the presentation while you're mesmerized by fireworks. Into about 2 minutes of the show, a stunt girl playing Tinkerbell appears at the top of the castle and looks as though she is flying from the castle high above your heads and ending up disappearing somewhere over Tomorrowland. My 6 year old daughter could not stop talking about it. She had no idea who Tinkerbell really was until she saw this stunt which is pulled off every night at the Magic Kingdom. Now she has to have Tinkerbell everything. I think we spoiled her.

The show starts at 10:00 PM and is approximately 12 minutes long. My recommendation is to find a good location about an hour before the show begins so you can get a clear view of everything happening. One of the best top spots we found in my opinion is at the end of Main Street, walk to the right and sit down at one of the outdoor tables directly in front of the Plaza restaurant. Great view from here. And one night we were late for the fireworks due to my daughter, my wife and my mom who all went to wait for the Dumbo ride in Fantasyland. Me and my dad waited in front of the Pinocchio Village Haus restaurant next to the carousel. Shortly after they returned from their ride, we sat, waited and watched as all the fireworks seemed to blast off all around us which was really cool. The downside to this area is that you cannot see Tinkerbell fly down from the top of the castle. Disappointing if your little ones are looking for her and don't see her.

If you have kids, or you are a big kid yourself, you don't want to miss this one. It's a great get together with the whole family and/or friends alike.

Rainforest Cafe

2008-09-15T21:45:00.037-04:00

Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney in Lake Buena Vista, FL is not your ordinary everyday eat in restaurant. From an enormous gift shop to audio-animatronic wildlife. This place has something for everyone. We absolutely loved it. On the outside, you can see this huge volcano and waterfalls. There was a crocodile also which moved and snapped in the water every minute or so. We went inside through a huge gift shop, all rainforest specific. There was a snake hanging from a tree opening and closing his mouth, a leopard sitting up above some clothing area wagging his tail, moving his head and roaring once in awhile and a couple of tall fish aquariums with lots of tropical fish swimming about. After about a twenty minute wait for our table, we walked down a path of gorilla footprints, passed a bar with animal shaped stools listening to the sounds of the rainforest and the animals, saw elephants, gorillas and many other creatures and were seated in a far corner of the restaurant where we could see it all.
I shared a meal with my father, I suggest sharing meals because their portion size is so big. We ordered the Chicken Fried Chicken, breaded chicken breast fried golden brown and served with country gravy. This entree came with red skinned garlic mashed potatoes and Napa vegetables. The menu also included appetizers, soup and salads, seafood, ribs, pizza and burgers. And to top it all off, we ordered the mega dessert called the Sparkling Volcano! which took five of us to finish it all. After that, we all had to walk off this food because our stomachs were about to explode.

It's a very remarkable themed restaurant so if you're visiting Disney World in Florida, I highly recommend that you check it out. If you skip Downtown Disney, you can find another Rainforest Cafe inside the Animal Kingdom park. I give it two thumbs up.