Friday, February 27, 2009

Tangerine Cafe

A great place to relax with a great Safari beer is the Tangerine Cafe in the Morocco pavilion. While I have to say I haven't actually eaten here yet, I hope to try it soon. It's a nice shady place to relax and listen to the fantastic sounds of Mo'Rockin.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Medical Cleanliness

Here's just another example of the attention to story and detail that Disney pays to all of their parks and attractions. While waiting in line for Body Wars in the now closed Wonders of Life pavilion, you would pass through several of these doorways that were meant to cleanse you of any impurities. After all, you were going to be entering a human body and no infection could be allowed through. The story behind Body Wars was great (and yes maybe it's because of the science fiction nature of the ride and my love for that sort of thing) since you were going to be shrunk down to microscopic size and put into a human body to remove a splinter that was causing an infection. Of course, in true Disney fashion, danger and adventure would make this simple mission much more out of the ordinary...

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Framing Spaceship Earth

One of my favorite things to do at Epcot, as my wife will attest, is to take pictures of Spaceship Earth. It truly is a guilty pleasure of mine. I love to try and frame the great icon with trees when possible as I just love the contrast of nature with the futuristic structure. This particular shot is taken on the walkway in World Showcase between Mexico and the bridge to Future World. I also enjoy trying to capture the monorail passing in front of Spaceship Earth, but this particular shot, as you can see, is missing the monorail.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Seabase Alpha Layout

As mentioned in previous posts, I really enjoyed The Living Seas concept of Seabase Alpha that existed prior to the current Nemo and Seas incarnation. From the Jules Verne-esque and sea exploration memorabilia that was displayed throughout the queue, to the great "deluge" film and the seacabs, it was truly an experience to visit Seabase Alpha. As with everything at Disney, there is a great backstory to the pavilion when it was The Living Seas. You were truly being transported to an actual underwater research facility where people lived and worked. The above map gives a sampling of all the different areas of the facility and really shows just how rich in story that the pavilion was in those days. While many of the areas of the above map still serve the same purposes, the story of the underwater research facility has been peeled away and you are now immersed in the world of Nemo and his friends.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Lights, Camera, Action...Almost

Thanks to the knowledgeable insight of Mr. Lou Mongello's WDW Radio Show I was interested to learn that the area located between The Land and the Imagination pavilion in Future World was once considered for a pavilion about movies. Of course, this pavilion never came into being and the idea was rolled into the genesis of the Disney-MGM Studios, now Disney's Hollywood Studios. It's interesting to note that the space considered is just a beautifully landscaped greenspace. The picture above was taken during the 2007 Flower & Garden Festival.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Dinosaur Fight

Not much to say today, just wanted to share a great scene from the dinosaur diorama over at the Universe of Energy. No matter the incarnation of Universe of Energy that we are talking about this scene has remained throughout its history. I think kids especially love the scene as the T-Rex takes on the Stegasaurus in every boy's favorite dinosaur fight. I have to admit, I still look forward to this part of the attraction everytime.

Friday, February 6, 2009

The British Invasion

The British Invasion in the United Kingdom at World Showcase is one of my favorite live performances in all of WDW. As you can see above, peculiarly, they only had three performers as recently as our October '08 trip. To my relief, my parents informed me that they now have a fourth member when they got back from their January trip. There's no better way to enjoy a performance than to grab a pint from the Rose and Crown and listen to some Fab Four tunes. However, be warned...dancing may break out.