Florida

The happiest place on Earth

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Adventureland

Jingle Cruise

Thanks to the recent screen adaptation starring Dwayne Johnson as the skipper, Jungle Cruise was by far the most visited attraction during my visits to the Magic Kingdom. The Jingle Cruise Holiday Overlay certainly helped make even more people want to visit the attraction, yet it is a very nice addition to the overall great attraction. The boat trip through the waters of the world is definitely a highlight of the park, not least thanks to the wacky jokes that are told along the way and the eighth wonder of the world.  

Pirates of the Caribbean

Pirates of the Caribbean is one of the classic Disneyland dark rides that everyone wants to experience, but when the Magic Kingdom opened, it was nowhere to be found. As the Caribbean is so close to Florida, it was thought that a pirate attraction would not be as popular, instead a large Western dark ride was already in the making. It didn’t take long, and plans changed to install Pirates of the Caribbean at the Magic Kingdom as well. A good decision, as the ride is just a splendid experience. All of the scenes are great and the loose story line of Blackbeard’s pirates overrunning a village in search of treasure is overall very well staged. 

Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room

The Enchanted Tiki Room is the archetype of all animatronic based shows worldwide and interestingly one of the only remaining ones. While the attraction did not age well in any other theme park around the globe and even the few remaining shows are cringe pure, the Enchanted Tiki Room is just great. The show has a great humour, a well thought out story arc and the music is just wonderful; especially when the tiki totem poles get into the action. I just love it!

Frontierland

Country Bear Jamboree

While the Enchanted Tiki Room in Adventureland is just an awesome experience, I cannot say the same for the adjacent Country Bear Jamboree. The show is a country music revue and fine for what it is; however, it is nothing special and a bit boring. No surprise, there is a new version of the show already in the making.

Tom Sawyer Island

One of the smaller attractions in Frontierland is Tom Sawyer Island, which can only be reached by rafts. The island itself is lacking a bit of attractions. There is a windmill, a fort, a rarely opened restaurant and plenty of great photo opportunities towards the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but that’s about it. 

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Sometime in the late 1800s, gold was discovered on Big Thunder Mountain. Overnight, the small mining town of Tumbleweed became thriving under the thumb of the greedy mining company owner Barnabas T. Bullion. Mining was prosperous, and an extensive line of mine trains was set up to transport the ore. The land was sacred and hence the desecration of the mountain by the settlers soon led to a great tragedy. After a flash flood struck the mines and the town, the village was abandoned. Interestingly, the locomotives were found to be racing around the mountain on their own, without engineers or a crew giving us the opportunity to take a ride on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

We start our journey by entering the mine. After a short turn to the left and a turn to the right, we reach the first lift hill. Arrived on top, we quickly get some speed in a descending turn to the left. We then race through a rock formation before a turnaround followed by a very sudden dip leads us into a tight helix. We then pass the village on a very fun and janky track section, before diving a second time into the mine. After a left turn, we then reach the second lift hill. Once again, we gain some speed in fast descending turn. Then we climb up a hill and enter another helix at the top. With speed, we then take some hills with very sharp transitions, throwing us out of our seats, before entering the third and final lift hill. Now on top of the mountain, we first head over dip and dale, before gaining more and more speed. A long curve to the left is followed by one to the right, while we leave Big Thunder Mountain behind us. Passing a dinosaur skeleton, we then take the final turn of the ride leading us directly into the brake section. 

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is the perfect mine train style roller coaster. While aesthetically, the version in Paris is overall more stunning, it is also far gentler, albeit the very similar layout. The Floridian version has far more janky moments which underline the out-of-control sensation, we should expect from a ride on a runaway ghost train. In short, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is the perfect family roller coaster.

Splash Mountain

Initially, Splash Mountain was set to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the movie Song of the South, where for the first time, Disney managed to merge animation with live actors. The movie is famous for its animation, yet very controversial in its portrayal of the time period it is supposed to be set in. After its final theatrical release in 1984, the film never got a home release in America, nor was ever intended to be released on the streaming service Disney+, which to be honest is a shame and an early example of cancel culture. It would be best, if one day, a narrated version will be published.

Now that we have that out of the way, we can focus on Splash Mountain following the adventures of Br’er Rabbit. The ride starts with our log approaching the first lift hill after which we make a scenic tour around the ride’s final chute, before entering the second lift hill. On top, we bob our way through the channel before plunging down the first chute. A bit moist, we now enter a large-scale dark ride section which is accompanied by the song “How Do You Do?”.  After turning a corner, we see that Br’er Bear is caught in a trap, while Br’er Fox says to him: “We gotta catch that Br’er Rabbit!”.

Meanwhile, Br’er Rabbit has left home in search of adventure and is on his way to his Laughin’ Place. Br’er Bear follows him, but the “Laughin’ Place” is just a trick, and Br’er Bear is attacked by bees, while Br’er Rabbit laughs at the sight, which led Br’er Fox to catch him. While taking the third lift hill, we see that Br’er Rabbit in Br’er Fox’s Liar about to be eaten. Fortunately, Br’er Rabbit outsmarts Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear by tricking them into throwing him into the briar patch (where he was born and raised), whereupon we take the ride’s final drop. Soaked, we then approach the ride’s final show scene, celebrating a “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” day and the homecoming of Br’er Rabbit.

Splash Mountain is a fantastic log flume, but it does show its age. While technically, the ride still is top notch, the animatronics were a bit outdated and not all of them were in a good shape. About a year after my visit, extensive renovations started making way for a princess and the frog attractions, which for sure will be a perfect theme for this great water ride.  

Liberty Square

The Haunted Mansion

Passing the Liberty Bell Riverboat, we now enter the queue for the Haunted Mansion. This attraction is the reinvention of the classic ghost train and focuses on a coherent story line throughout the ride, while others focus on cheap scares or an overload of animatronics. The dark ride has so many noticeable characters and is just a very fun one to experience.

Hall of Presidents

Probably the most unique attraction within the Magic Kingdom is the Hall of Presidents. The show that features all past (and present) presidents is quite iconic and even for non-Americans quite interesting to watch.

Fantasyland

It’s a small World

The happiest place on earth is also home to the happiest cruise on Earth: It’s a small World. The cruise takes us on a world tour while portraying the culture of every country through the innocent view of the children. It’s a very nice dark ride, with a distinctive style, cute puppets, and a very catchy tune. It’s one of the must-do rides at the Magic Kingdom.

Peter Pan’s Flight

Peter Pan’s Flight is always one of the most popular dark rides at any of the main Disneyland Parks and therefore usually has a very long queue. It is one of the classic dark rides, yet it is a rather short, and in my opinion quite underwhelming, experience:

After leaving the darling’s children’s room, the ride takes us on a flight above London, before reaching Neverland. Here the kids get kidnapped by Captain Hook. Shortly thereafter, there is a short fight scene between Pan and Hook. After defeating Hook, the kids take over the ship and Hook has to deal with the crocodile. The End.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Located right next to Peter Pan’s Flight you can find the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The ride through the Hundred Acre Wood starts with the story of Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, where everyone is having some troubles facing the storm. After finding shelter in Owl’s house, we then meet Tigger, who tells us about Heffalumps and Woozies, which lead to a very wacky dream sequence. The storm got worse and not everyone is safe. Awake by the increased water, Pooh gets gone with the wind, while Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, Tigger, and Owl attempt to save Piglet from floating away. Fortunately, Pooh finds himself stuck in a tree with lots of honey and in the final scene, everybody is celebrating that the storm is gone.

Mickey’s PhilharMagic

One of the few attractions at the Magic Kingdom to feature the world-famous Mouse and his friends is Mickey’s PhilharMagic. The attraction takes you on a magical voyage through the famous movie scenes and their tunes, but Mickey is nowhere to be found. The star of the attraction is actually Donald Duck, who curiously took over Mickey’s role of conducting the orchestra and experiences the famous animated scenes himself, which leads to all kind of clumsy situations. The movie itself is well animated and a lot of fun.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Currently, the most popular roller coaster at the Magic Kingdom is the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Based on Snow White and the seven Dwarfs, the ride puts us in a swinging mine cart which the seven Dwarfs use for their work.

After leaving the station, the ride directly starts with a turn to the right, giving the mine carts a first swing. A turn to the left then leads us into the first lift hill. The route now follows an undulating pattern over hill and dale, constantly changing direction, while approaching the mine. Here we see the seven dwarfs, working and chanting. While climbing the ride’s second lift, the dwarfs tune in their famous tune. After a small dip, we then take the ride’s largest drop, which releases us in large helix. After passing a bridge, we then make our way through some tight alternating bends leading us into the brakes.

The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is the most family-friendly roller coaster at the Magic Kingdom. Despite being innovative in its ride system, it barely uses it to its advantage. The dark ride scene is great, and the coaster sections are fun, but the ride is not worth the current wait times.   

The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure

The little Mermaid dark ride gives us the opportunity to voyage under the sea. The ride is home to some of the best animatronics to be found anywhere in the world, especially the one of Ursula is seriously impressive. The ride itself is entertaining and great if you just need some minutes of rest, as the wait times are normally pretty low due to the high capacity of the ride.

Storybook Circus

Dumbo the Flying Elephant

The carousel where you control the flight of your elephant is one of the most popular and most iconic rides at the Magic Kingdom. The first version of this ride opened in 1971 with a capacity of 10 cars. In 1993, a 16-elephant version opened. When creating the Storybook Circus area in 2012, the ride capacity got doubled – now two Dumbo the Flying Elephant carousels exists right next to each other, flying in opposite directions.

The Barnstormer

The Barnstormer is the smallest family coaster of the Magic Kingdom. The ride features a classic junior coaster layout by Vekoma, yet it got varied a bit to feature a second train. Starting with the lift, the train immediately goes into a steep curve leading us to the ground, followed by a curve surrounding the lift hill. After a small dip, a righthand curve then leads us into a helix. Shortly thereafter, we hit the brakes, and the ride comes to an end.

Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland Speedway

One of the least futuristic attractions at Tomorrowland is its old-style car ride Tomorrowland Speedway. The ride is based on Disneyland’s Autopia, yet it does not feature the same premise; instead of a scenic voyage, you are driving along a four-lane racetrack. Overall, the experience is rather short and underwhelming.

Space Mountain

After the success of Matterhorn Bobsleds roller coaster, Walt Disney approached designer John Hench for a new attraction that would be a focal point of Disneyland’s renovated Tomorrowland planned for 1967. Plans changed, but the ride itself got into fruition as the headlight attraction to the Magic Kingdom in 1975. The ride consists of two tracks, which layouts are exactly mirrored. Nowadays, one of the tracks is reserved for Genie+ customers.

The ride on Space Mountain starts slow but feels incredibly fast due to the lighting effect used on the otherwise very straight section. After a short curve, we reach the ride’s lifthill. Once at the top, we start our decent by entering a curve. After passing a block brake, we enter a gentle slope and soon after pick up some speed in a 270° helix. This is followed by a surprisingly steep ascent. After passing another block brake, we then hit a downward helix leading us into a very long curve followed by a jump into the next block brake. Here, we enter a very tight curve after which we take a large drop. We then make our way through a bunch of curves, before hitting another block brake parallel to the ride’s lift hill. The ride now gets progressively faster, as we rage through a series of drops interrupted by some curves. The largest of them then leads us into an upward helix. After another block brake, we continue our way downwards through a helix and some turns before we enter the final brake sections underlined by a visually pleasing light effect.

Magic Kingdom’s Space Mountain is a very wild ride, although it only consists of a bunch of tight turns, helices and drops. However, due to the very rapid transitions, this ride fells out-of-control, which is especially underlined by being an indoor coaster mostly travelling through a low light environment. This ride is just insane.

Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress

The Carousel of Progress is a nice attraction showing the advancements of technology through time. While some scenes nowadays are a bit dated – especially the fourth act representing the 21st century –, the ride itself has a very nice leitmotiv showcasing a great, big, beautiful tomorrow. Overall, the Carousel of Progress is an entertaining show, which should not be missed.  

Astro Orbiter and The Peoplemover

Sitting above the structure that houses the station of the Peoplemover scenic ride, is the Astro Orbiter. The ride itself is very similar to Dumbo the Flying Elephant, yet with a different seating arrangement, and just as popular. While there are always people waiting in line for the lift leading to the ride, the Peoplemover hardly ever sees a queue.

Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin

The interactive dark ride Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger is one of the smaller attractions at Tomorrowland, yet it is still a pretty funny one as you can control the rotation of the vehicle by yourself while aiming for the highest score. It is a very solid interactive dark ride, and one you should give a chance when the wait times are low.  

Monster Inc. Laugh Floor

The story of Monster Inc. Laugh Floor takes place after the movie; therefore, laughter is the new form of energy to power the monster’s world and we are invited to laugh at the headquarters of Monster Inc. The show is a fine one for native English speakers, as it is basically just a stand-up comedy show, but if you are not fluent, the show is a waste of time. Overall, most of the jokes are about the visitors to the theater, so if you don’t like that, the show is not at all for you.

Pictures Magic Kingdom

Conclusion Magic Kingdom

Overall, I had a great time visiting the Magic Kingdom. The park has a bunch of truly great attractions and some very cool shows. With the next roller coaster already in the making, I will not hesitate to come back one day. Albeit there is one thing I did not enjoyed at all: The food. Somehow, the offering at the Magic Kingdom differs a lot from the other parks at Walt Disney World and the quality is not that great. 

 

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Magic Kingdom

A quick tour around the world

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Epcot, or the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, was basically Walt Disney’s lifelong dream and was to be the planned city of the future, where the latest technologies and innovations of American industry were to be used. After Walt Disney’s death in 1966, the project fell dormant before it was taken up in the 1970s as a showcase for the imagination of entrepreneurial wonders and concepts of the future and realised as a theme park in the early 1980s.

Despite its initial success, Epcot constantly faced the challenge of keeping up with global progress, which led to the park losing relevance and becoming partially outdated as early as the 1990s. To maintain visitor numbers, Disney introduced seasonal events such as the International Flower & Garden Festival and the International Food & Wine Festival. In the mid-1990s, the park’s original edutainment attractions also began to be phased out in favour of more modern and exciting attractions. As a result, many of the attractions in the Future World pavilions were either reworked or replaced altogether. 

In November 2016, Disney announced that Epcot would undergo a major redesign to help make the park more timeless while preserving its original vision. Shortly after, the Ellen’s Energy Adventure themed ride closed to make way for Epcot’s first roller coaster: Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind.

Spaceship Earth

Probably the most imposing structure in Epcot, it is home to the Spaceship Earth dark ride. The geodesic dome right at the entrance of the theme park offers a 15-minute ride inside that shows how advances in human communication have helped shape the future one step at a time. Passengers ride in an endless ride along a track that spirals up and down the sphere. Scenes depicting important breakthroughs in communication throughout history are shown – from the development of early language through cave paintings, to the use of hieroglyphics, the invention of the alphabet and the invention of printing, to today’s modern advances.

The Seas with Nemo and Friends

Epcot theme park consists of many very large pavilions. One of these is The Seas. The entrance to the pavilion is through the dark ride The Seas with Nemo & Friends, where you first ride along scenes from Finding Nemo before you get to the real highlight of the ride and ride through a large aquarium. However, this is rather on the bleak side and so you leave the dark ride, which is initially very enjoyable, with rather mixed feelings at the end.

Turtle Talk

In addition to a look at the Caribbean Coral Reef Aquarium and a very deceiving enclosure for Caribbean manatees, there is another attraction at The Seas: Turtle Talk with Crush. The interactive show gives young children the chance to hang out with Crush, the turtle from Finding Nemo, and practice their Australian dialect a little. Unless you have children in this age group with you, it’s best to skip the show.

The Land

The huge pavilion The Land is home to the flying theatre Soarin’ Around the World, the boat ride Living with the Land and the impressive 4D film Awesome Planet, as well as a larger food court and the interesting revolving restaurant The Garden Grill, where you not only meet Chip and Chap, but also get a glimpse of the dark ride part of Living with the Land.

Living with the Land

Living with the Land is an extremely relaxed boat trip. After an initially very impressive dark ride, which is meant to symbolise the mighty power of nature, you sail for quite a while through greenhouses that give a glimpse of modern agriculture.

Soarin’ Around the World

The Flying Theatre Soarin’ Around the World was long considered one of the best dark rides in the world. In the meantime, however, there are similar attractions all over the world and the technically impressive theatre in Epcot is losing more and more of its significance thanks to its mediocre film. The flight over the world’s landmarks is quite nice, but basically you just fly from one fade to the next. That’s a shame, especially since other theme parks usually focus on the nearby surrounding area and offer a much more rounded overall experience. Here, I would actually wish if they would limit themselves to America’s landmarks.   

Imagination Pavilion

The Imagination Pavilion nowadays mainly consists of the dark ride Journey into Imagination with Figment. The little dragon Figment has been the theme park’s mascot since the original version of the dark ride.

Journey into Imagination with Figment

In Journey into Imagination, Dr Nigel Channing (played by Eric Idle) leads us through the five laboratories of the Imagination Institute on Open Day. We are accompanied, much to Dr Channing’s displeasure, by the dragon Figment.

In the Sound Lab, Figment interrupts the experiment and reminds the passengers to listen with their imaginations. After Dr. Channing loses his train of thought, a Train of Thoughts is literally heard passing by before Figment belts out a little song.

In the Sight Lab, Figment interrupts the eye test by manipulating the test image. A karaoke session follows to the song One Little Spark and the message that you should unleash your imagination instead of trying to capture it.

In the Smell Lab, Figment then transforms into a skunk and blows a foul smell into the noses of the passengers. Dr. Channing then breaks up the tour of the Institute, whereupon Figment literally turns the open house upside down and invites them on a tour of his realm. 

The finale of the tour takes place in the Imagination Institute. After Dr. Channing also gives free rein to his imagination, the journey literally ends with a bang, for all of a sudden an extremely imposing stage set appears, in which several Figments and Dr. Channing together tune into One Little Spark.

Journey into Imagination is a nice dark ride that is quite surprising, especially on the first ride. The ride system used and the large stage sets stand out positively, but the Imagination Pavilion itself is less so. In its original version, the pavilion was much larger, e.g. the now manageable Imageworks used to take up an entire floor. The pavilion now looks bare for the most part.

Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival

Like the Discoveryland Theatre at Disneyland Park, the Magic Eye Theatre at Imagination Pavilion was once home to the 3D spectacular Honey, I Shrunk the Audience! before the show was cancelled in 2010 following the death of Micheal Jackson. Between 2010 and 2015, the Captain EO Tribute ran until the Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival moved in here as well. The timeless short films are a perfect fit for the pavilion, even if most visitors will already be familiar with them.

World Showcase

The Disney world exposition World Showcase is a mirror of the American world view. The individual pavilions differ only in their architecture, but otherwise they all consist of restaurants and souvenir shops. In contrast to a real World’s Fair, no one is interested in the cultural offerings and at the time of the Covid pandemic, there were no staff from the respective countries to give the World Showcase a touch of authenticity.  The whole thing is then topped by the favourite activity of adult Epcot visitors: Drinking Around the Globe. Depending on whether you go clockwise or counterclockwise around the lake, at some point they are all drunk and have usually spent a hell of a lot of money along the way.

We start our walk counterclockwise and immediately encounter the Canada Pavilion. The extremely appealing pavilion is one of the few that can offer an attraction. Unfortunately, however, the Circlevision 360 film Canada Far & Wide was not being shown at the time of my visit.   

After a short detour through England, we were immediately drawn to the French pavilion, where Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure was waiting to be tested by park visitors. Thanks to the active reservation system, however, my visit slot was not until the evening.

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

While the World Showcase doesn’t really stand out with its rides, the French pavilion has been even more impressive since this year with its dark ride Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure; because we are in an Americanised version of Paris, the city of love and especially that of the rats. Even though Paris is not the cleanest city, it is mainly about Rémy the rat and his family, known from the Pixar film Ratatouille. Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is a copy of the dark ride Ratatouille L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Remy located in the Walt Disney Studios Park near Paris.

After the cars have left their starting position, it seems as if they are driving around randomly at first, but shortly afterwards they all drive along a narrower corridor. On the roof of the Gusteau’s, Rémy is currently pondering the current evening menu in his own restaurant and oh what a miracle, it will probably be ratatouille.

Rémy tumbles through the skylight and we slide down after him. A short tour of the restaurant’s kitchen follows, during which the young chef Linguini helps us to escape unrecognised. The path now leads through the restaurant’s pantry where Emile, Rémy’s brother, once again stuffs his stomach full of grapes. Linguini also successfully covers up the way through the kitchen before we are discovered in the restaurant’s dining room by chef Skinner. Although Linguini helps us to escape quickly, Maître Skinner is always on our heels, but before he can grab us, he rather falls into a mouse trap. We finally reach the kitchen of the restaurant La Ratatouille, after a little champagne shower we end up with the other rats, whereupon we reach the final stop of our journey.

Despite the admittedly very loose adaptation of the film, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is an extremely successful dark ride where you would always find new details even after the tenth ride. In contrast to other dark rides in Orlando, however, the dynamics of the ride are not very exciting and so the question ultimately arises as to whether one would even want to take the extremely long waiting time for the ride, including the prior reservation in the app. At least the Paris dark ride seems to lose out to other local dark rides in its Orlando version, which is a shame.

American Adventure

Passing the beautiful Morocco Pavilion and the equally impressive Japan Pavilion, we are now drawn to the American Adventure Pavilion, where the show American Adventure awaits us in a huge theatre.

Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain take us on a journey through the history of America. The characters in the show give an insight into American life in the past by discussing current events of their time. The eras include the American Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Centennial World’s Fair of 1876 (representing American industrialisation) and the Great Depression. The presentation culminates in a musical film montage depicting famous moments and people in American history from the post-World War II era to the present.

Reflections of China

Passing the overly kitschy Italy Pavilion and Germany Pavilion, we are now drawn towards the China Pavilion, where the Circlevision 360 film Reflections of China awaits us in a replica of Beijing’s Temple of Heaven.

The show is narrated by an actor playing Li Bai, an ancient Chinese poet, who takes the viewer on a tour of the Chinese countryside and historical structures and buildings. Sights include the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Terracotta Army in Xi’an, Hunan, Guilin, Suzhou, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Frozen Ever After

The Norway Pavilion is home to the Frozen Ever After dark ride, which I did not test due to time constraints. Since its opening in 2016, the extremely popular dark ride based on Disney’s Frozen has by far the longest waiting times in the park.

A little fun fact on the side: other versions of the dark ride are currently being built at Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea and Walt Disney Studios Park in Marne-la-Vallée near Paris.

Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros

In the Mexico Pavilion, day turns into night. Inside the large pyramid, next to the very nice San Angel Inn Restaurante and La Cava de Tequila bar, is the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros dark ride. Here we accompany José Carioca and Panchito on their search for Donald, who has gone sightseeing through Mexico. In the evening they finally find their buddy again, whereupon the three caballeros give a little concert together and the great ride comes to an end.

Test Track

Neben dem World Showcase befindet sich die Themenfahrt Test Track. Die von Dynamic Attractions konzipierte Anlage kann man im Grunde als einen sehr komplexen Powered Coaster bezeichnen, wobei der Antrieb über Reifen auf einer Lauffläche von statten geht. Dies erlaubt für ein realitätsnahes Erlebnis auf unterschiedlichen Straßenbelägen.

A good video explaining the technique of Test Track can be found here.

The ride itself offers an insight into the ride tests of the automotive industry. In the original version, the car was subjected to several tests: a gradient test, a test for different road surfaces, a test for the anti-lock braking system, a heat test, a cold test and a corrosion test. In the new version, each passenger assembles a car, which is then tested and evaluated against the cars of the other passengers. In both versions, a test with several hills and tight hairpin bends follows, whereby we can only narrowly avoid a truck in the last bend. Last but not least comes the highlight of the ride: a crash test. At the last second, a gate opens and gives way to a course with several steep banked curves. Here we accelerate to a top speed of about 65 mph (~105 km/h). After a lap around the main building of the ride, we slowly reduce our speed, whereupon we approach the end of the ride.

Test Track is an absolutely brilliant dark ride, but the current version and the focus on the work of the development engineers have taken a bit of a toll on it. The previous version was dedicated to the work of the test engineers and thus created a thoroughly coherent experience.

Mission Space

Bold concepts need someone to execute them. One of these bold concepts is Mission Space. On two missions, brave astronaut aspirants can embark on a training flight to Mars or around the Earth. While the nacelles of the green mission (Earth) move similar to a flying theatre and the accelerations result mainly from the movement of hydraulic pistons, in the orange mission (Mars) this movement pattern is significantly amplified with the additional rotation of the centrifuge, producing accelerations of up to 2.5 Gs.

You can find a good video on the movement of the orange mission here.

Mission Space is a wicked simulator and probably the most intense ride attraction in all of Orlando. The ride is quite stressful due to all the superimposed movements and can quickly lead to motion sickness in some people, which is why there are barf bags available within the gondolas of the orange mission. The acceleration of the green mission is not quite as wild, which is why this mission should be preferred by anyone who gets sick quickly.

Pictures Epcot

Conclusion Epcot

Epcot offers a lot and just as well nothing. The huge amusement park convinces with its regular festivals and the concept of a permanent world’s fair, but in the end you always do the same thing: eat and drink something. The number of good restaurants here is shockingly high, but Epcot simply lacks rides and other offerings. With the imminent opening of the new Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster, this gap may close somewhat, but a visit to Epcot will only really be recommendable once the current restructuring is complete.

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Epcot

On Expedition Everest

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Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the park famous for its entrance sign meme, is one of the more visual stunning theme parks in Orlando. Opened in 1998, the park focuses on a limited number of wildlife experiences, an elaborated selection of rides and outstanding shows.

Tree of Life and It’s Tough to be a Bug!

Once you entered the park through the Oasis, you will find yourself in front of the Tree of Life, a large artificial Baobab tree featuring all kinds of animals modelled into its trunk and branches. The Tree of Life is also home to a theatre showing It’s Tough to be a Bug, a 9-minute-long 3D film starring the characters of A Bug’s Life. Interestingly, the attraction premiered first. Like the animated feature film, the attraction nowadays is a bit dated. In its heydays, the attraction was a visual stunning experience featuring top of the notch animatronics and never to be seen animations. The edutainment aspect of the movie makes it interesting, yet partly boring. The big musical finale is nice to see.

In the evening, the Tree of Life awakes. It then becomes an impressive backdrop of a projection mapping show showing various animals, which the guest might have encountered on their day at Disney´s Animal Kingdom. Unlike other evening spectacles, Tree of Life Awakening is not based on a Disney IP.

Pandora – The World of Avatar

Pandora – The World of Avatar might be the most ambitious themed area so far ever created in a theme park. The area features a bunch of floating rocks and a vegetation never to be found in a place before. It’s just astonishing! The overall theme fits in perfectly with the trilogy of movies, where two still needs to be published. It was a weird IP choice back in the days, as the first movie just had an impact due to its 3D effects in a time when 3D movies where actually popular.  

Avatar Flight of Passage

The main attraction of Pandora – The World of Avatar is the flight simulator Avatar Flight of Passage: An attraction unlike anything else. Where most flying theatres just simulate a flight using a machine of some sorts, Avatar Flight of Passage simulates the flight on a living being. Storywise, the guests are experiencing a flight on a banshee – a keystone species for the planet Pandora – using their avatars. The flight sequence itself is fast paced and full of surprises. Additional effects increase the immersion.

During the flight, I was sensory overloaded and just wanted to leave the attraction. The simulated breathing of the banshee is a nice feature for sure, yet a very unpleasant one for me. I understand, why many people love this attraction, as the quality of the attraction is top notch, and the overall experience is great; it was just a little bit too much for me. I might give the ride another chance in the future, but if the waiting time is high, I will for sure give it a miss.     

Na’vi River Journey

The dark ride Na’vi River Journey is the second ride in the realm of Pandora – The World of Avatar. The ride itself is a rather calm, but very impressive one. The boat ride guides us through a series of caves and into a bioluminescent rainforest – which is quite impressive. The main draw of the ride is the Na’vi Shaman of Songs – probably the most interesting animatronic figure by Disney so far. Na’vi River Journey for sure is a dark ride, which you should not miss when visiting Walt Disney World.

Africa

The African themed section of the park is probably the most immersive one. The port village of Harambe serves as the starting point for the Kilimanjaro Safaris and is home to the Festival of the Lion King show.

Festival of the Lion King

One of the biggest attractions in the Africa section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the Festival of the Lion King. The show features a central stage visible from all sides. Here, various actors sing, dance and perform circus acts. During the show, floats featuring puppets of Pumbaa, Simba and other animals are driving into the arena. The meerkat Timon is the only character of the Lion King, who plays along on the main stage.

Festival of the Lion King is a great variety show offering a colourful experience for all park guests. The floats are a great idea to bring Simba and Pumbaa to the action, the singing and dancing is just fine, and the circus acts are an impressive sight. I just expected the show to be a bit closer to the musical and was therefore a bit surprised. It’s a very fine show, don’t get me wrong, yet it could be even better.

Kilimanjaro Safaris

The guided Safari Kilimanjaro Safaris is the highlight at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. During the 18-minute (or longer) expedition, we explore the Harambe Wildlife Reserve, home to 34 species. As we drive through the 110 hectares of picturesque open plains, shady woodlands and rocky wetlands, an expert guide tells us all sorts of fascinating facts about the African wildlife and helps us to identify the animals. Due to the nature of this attraction, it is not easy to spot all animals, which is why the Kilimanjaro Safaris is best to be experiences multiple times.

Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail

Just after you exit Kilimanjaro Safaris, you immediately find yourself on the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail. This trail is probably one of the highlights at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, as you can take a glimpse on some African animals, e.g., your favourite meerkat and warthog.

Wildness Express Train

I don’t fully understand the reason why the Wildness Express Train is still in operation today. The train ride leads you to Rafiki’s Planet Watch and back. It is the only mode of transport available to this area of the park. Here you can inform yourself a little bit about conservation, learn to draw some characters and/or visit a small-scale petting zoo. For a normal day visit at the park, there is no real reason to visit this corner of the park and therefore no reason to take the train.

Asia

The Asian themed section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom is dominated by the artificial Himalayas of the Expedition Everest roller coaster and many temples. The area has a great atmosphere and is home to two of the parks main attractions.

Feathered Friends in Flight!

Feathered Friends in Flight! is probably the most impressive bird show I’ve seen outside of the one at Parc LePal in France. It starts with a very fun running gag before the edutainment part of the show takes over. During the show, you learn a lot about the different birds and their behaviour.

Kali River Rapids

Unfortunately, I could not test the large scale Intamin rapids ride Kali River Rapids during my visit, as the ride was currently scheduled for maintenance. The atmospheric immersion of the ride speaks for itself, and I really wanted to experience the large drop during the ride for myself.

Maharajah Jungle Trek

The trail Maharajah Jungle Trek focuses on the presentation of Asian animals. Next to the graceful Asian tigers, you can find gibbons, Komodo dragons and many more species in a very immersive area of the park.

Expedition Everest

When the roller coaster Expedition Everest was built, it was the most expensive roller coaster ever created – a fact many websites are still stating even after all these years. Truth is, the ride is pretty impressive with its massive mountain structure, its steel bridge lift hill and the large drop going down the mountain.

The ride on Expedition Everests starts with a small lift hill after a right-hand curve directing towards the artificial Himalaya. A wide left-hand bend, we now move over hill and dale before approaching the main lift hill. Once on top of the mountain, we follow the path through a hole till we encounter a dead end at the other side. Without having any other chance, we now travel backwards. After passing a switch track element, we then run through a curve in pitch darkness. After an encounter with the Yeti, our journey continues straight forwards. With momentum, we now take the large drop out of the mountain. Close to the ground we then pass through a left turn before we climb upwards and continue our way through the mountain for another time. On the other side of the mountain, we then race though a tapering helix before entering the mountain once more. Here, we have another encounter with the Yeti. Shortly after, we reach the brakes, and our wild ride soon comes to an end.

Expedition Everest is probably the most impressive of all roller coasters at Walt Disney World. The scale of the coaster itself speaks for itself. The large drop and the tapering helix are my highlight of the ride. You cannot do anything wrong with a ride on Expedition Everest, especially when the waiting times are low.  

Disney KiteTails

I love a good musical and of course the updated version of the Finding Nemo musical should not open before summer 2022. In the meantime, Disney’s Animal Kingdom presented Disney KiteTails, which of course was suspended due to high winds on the day of my visit.  

DinoLand U.S.A.

DinoLand U.S.A. is often criticked as Walt Disney World’s less ambitious themed area. The main areal of the land resembles a typical fun fair with a bunch of gaming booths and seemingly transportable rides. As always in Disney parks, a Telecombat style of ride shall not be missing, which in this case is the Tricera Top Spin. The area used to be home to the two Primeval Whirl roller coasters, which have not yet found a replacement.

DINOSAUR

The main attraction of DinoLand U.S.A. is the dark ride DINOSAUR. This Intamin enhanced motion vehicle ride is one of the best dark rides in existence. To fit the theme with the long-forgotten Disney movie Dinosaur, we are in a time travel rescue mission. Our goal is to bring an Iguanadon to our present time before a fatal meteor will hit earth. On our way, we encounter many other dinosaurs and some aggressive ones as well.

DINOSAUR is a very impressive dark ride. The use of the enhanced motion vehicles makes our ride a rather wild one. In combination with the immersive surroundings and impressive animatronics, DINOSAUR for sure is a ride which should not be missed. 

Pictures Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Conclusion Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Disney’s Animal Kingdom is indeed a very immersive theme park. The atmosphere at the different sections of the park is just great. Unfortunately, the park lacks a bit in its number of attractions. During my visit, many of the park’s signature attractions could not be experienced, as they were either currently upgraded, under maintenance or just got suspended. The park could easily benefit by focusing a bit more on the animal exhibits such as similar parks in Europe do. The attractions on their own are a good reason to visit the park, yet currently there is something missing. 

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Disney's Animal Kingdom