Theme Park Karma

If there is such a thing as karma, the hubby and I are loaded with it - at least as far as theme park going goes.

Over the years, the Hubby and I have been:
*the "Disney Family of the Day" at the All-Star Sports Resort,
*guest conductors on the Magic Kingdom train,
*the Prince & Princess of Pleasure Island,
*Grand Marshals of the 'Share A Dream' parade at the Magic Kingdom.

What a hoot that was!
We not only got to ride in Walt's electric car, we were given our own personalized Mouse Ears!

About a year later we were asked a 2nd time, but declined so that someone else would have that wonderful experience.

(You may wonder how the Grand Marshals are chosen. I don't know what the exact criteria might be except for one thing: don't ask.)

Then, when our son and his bride came for a delayed honeymoon, we visited Disney Studios on the 1st day. We all received special Fast Passes from the Disney Dream Team.

While waiting in line for a photo op with Mike and Sully, my hubby got a phone call from Disney - the kids received a surprise resort upgrade from a Value Resort (All-Star Sports) to a Deluxe resort (Contemporary).

On the Magic Kingdom day, we received another round of Dream Team Fast Passes.

And apparently the karma isn't only at the Mouse House.

I have been chosen by the man, err, thing-him-it-self, to dance with Beetlejuice at Universal's Graveyard Rock 'n Roll Review. (Yo, B.J., you never called like you said you would)

And then during the same afore-mentioned honeymoon trip, the four of us happened to be at Universal Orlando the day "Disaster" opened. Guess who was asked to help open the new ride?


Not only did we get to stand on the same stage with Bill Davis, the President of Universal Orlando, and The Rock, Dwayne Johnson (a mighty fine-lookin' young fella!), we got golden ride passes for the day.

I can't wait to find out what's next!

Wishful Thinking # 1: Epcot

Wishful Thinking:

* Add a new country to the World Showcase!

Australia would be great, except I have another thought for Australia.

How about Greece?
Yummm the food!
And the characters Hercules and Megara have already appeared in a Disney movie!

* I would also Update and upgrade the American Adventure show. It's looking tired and dated and could be SO much better.

A 'Soarin'-type adventure over America's National Parks would be too cool.

In Hog(warts) Heaven

How exciting is THIS:

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is coming to the Islands of Adventure in late 2009-or early 2010.

For a theme park junkie and a Harry Potter fan this is no less than heaven on earth.

Hogwarts Castle

Hogwarts Castle, the village of Hogsmeade, and the Forbidden Forest have been announced as featured attractions.

Universal recently closed the Flying Unicorn ride, the Enchanted Oak Tavern, the Dragon's Keep store and the Alchemy Bar (all in the Lost Continent area). They will be re-themed for Harry and friends.

Hogsmeade Village

I can just imagine, as part of Hogsmeade: the Three Broomsticks, Madame Puddifoots, Zonko's Joke Shop, Honeyduke's, Gladrag's Wizardwear, maybe even the Shrieking Shack!

One rumor is that a flight through the Forbidden Forest in the Weasley's flying Ford Anglia will be one of the ride experiences!

Another rumor is that one of the big rides will involve a Quidditch match theme.

Hopefully the place will be filled with Blibbering Humdingers and a crumpled-horn snorkack or two.

Confession # 3: I Miss Marineland

I've just never had much interest in SeaWorld.

Perhaps that's because I grew up going to Marineland
... the first aquarium for 'monsters of the deep', a place my family loved and visited often.

The original Oceanarium opened in 1938, south of St Augustine, FL and was called Marine Studios ...

and featured:

the circular tank where the bottlenose dolphins would leap clear out of the water to pluck a fish from the feeder's hand;

the rectangular tank with sharks, sawfish, barracuda and sting rays, swimming right in front of your face;

divers, like something out of '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea',
walking on the floor of the tanks, feeding the sharks by hand;

and ... the educated porpoises - Splash and Algae who performed in the original dolphin Stadium.


This was great entertainment back in the 1950s.

There was no place else on Earth like it.


Marineland still exists today, though greatly changed.

The rectangular and circular tanks have been demolished, as have the Dolphin Restaurant, the Periwinkle Cafe and the Marineland Motor Lodge.

Dolphin Restaurant - THEN

Dolphin Restaurant - NOW

Rectangular Tank- demolished

Circular tank-demolished

Now it is all about dolphins and offers a variety of educational programs, including a dolphin trainer camp, as well as 3 summer camps.



More photos and history may be found here.

I Got Lei'd at 'Ohanas

One of our favorite Disney dining places is 'Ohanas at the Polynesian resort. Generally, we save going there for special occasions.

The other day was our son's birthday, and even though he wasn't here (the Commandant has seen fit to send him to Hawaii), 'Ohanas happens to be a particular favorite of the kid's, so we figured that was close enough.

In case you're unfamiliar with 'Ohanas, which means family, dinner is served 'family-style'. You sit and the food is brought to you by the servers, called "Cousins". And brought. As much as you want.

And there is entertainment: kids learn a hula song and engage in coconut races. Folks celebrating something special are called up. They all receive a lovely (not real) flower lei.

I happened to be wearing my most Hawaiian-looking blouse and having a good time, and surprise, I got a lei, too!

Alohaaaaa!!

Photo courtesy Deb Wills / AllEars.net

The Ultimate Thrill Ride

The hubby and I celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary last month.
We wanted to do something new and different.
So we did something we had talked about doing for years: taking a Helicopter tour.

There are a couple of helicopter tour companies in the area, but we chose Orlando Helitours
because they seem to be always overhead, and we figured the busier the better.


There were several tour plans and we chose the next to biggest one:
SeaWorld & Aquatica, Universal Studios, and WDW.

The WDW area included DownTown Disney, Epcot, Disney's Studios, but not the Animal Kingdom (for obvious reasons) nor the Magic Kingdom.

The biggest tour offered all that plus Isleworth, where the ultra-rich live.
Who cares about seeing Tiger Woods' place, we flew over OUR place. Yes!

Let me just say this: It was an incredible experience.

Would I do it again? You bet!

Ride rating: AA for Absolutely Awesome

Photo: Orlando Helitours

Towers of Terror, Timber and Doom

I admit to not being a coaster fan, Expedition Everest excluded, but I love those Towers that thrill and chill.

Disney's Studios' Hollywood Tower of Terror is the BEST.


The best theming: from the entrance walkway, to the hotel's 'shabby' interior, back through the 'maintenance' area, 'til you reach the elevator shaft and load the ride.

The best ride: from the anticipation when the elevator doors close right up until the end, when the doors open again at the bottom of the shaft.

And the ride is never the same, thanks to the ride programming.

Ride at night, too, for a different feel!


Over at Universal Orlando-Islands of Adventure are the twin vertical towers of Dr. Doom's Fear Fall.

The Fear Fall differs greatly from T of T.
First it is outdoors. Pretty cool!

And you sit with legs dangling, facing away from the structure. Pretty cool!

And you zoom UP, rather than down.

And it's pretty much the same ride each time.

I haven't done this at night, but I bet that would be pretty cool!

What would be really cool is if Dr. Doom would spin you around as you sit at the top of the tower.

So that brings me to the Timber Tower at Dollywood.

I haven't ridden this one (yet), nor even been to Dollywood (yet), but you can bet the Timber Tower is at the top of the things-to-do-list.

While Timber Tower doesn't drop, you are lifted up and then you spin around while tilting from side -to- side.

Yowza!

And the folks at Dollywood don't consider this a Thrill Ride!

ToonTown Fair - Not Just For Kids

Mickey's ToonTown Fair

is fun for kids of ALL ages!

You'd have to be GRUMPY not to love Mickey's house!

Or just plain DOPEY not to have fun in Minnie's House!

Let the kids push the buttons and touch things!!

<--- Listen to Minnie's answering Machine messages!

My favorite place in ALL of ToonTown Fair
is Minnie's Kitchen.

So many neat things to do there:

pop some popcorn, peek in the fridge,
watch the cake rise ...

Here's my sis elbowing a kid out of the way to get a peek inside the fridge. --->

Confession # 2: Tomorrowland's Treasure

My favorite thing to do at the Magic Kingdom isn't riding Space Mountain or Splash Mountain, nor any other Mountain.

These are great fun, no doubt, but the one thing I never leave the Magic Kingdom without doing is taking a ride on the TTA ... Tomorrowland Transit Authority -aka- the Blue Line -aka- WEDway People Mover.

Yes, I admit it's rather tame, but it does have its moments.

Like the time we went through the Space Mountain area when the ride was shut down and the lights were on. The entire Space Mountain track was totally visible. I wish I'd had my camera.

And I love the ride spiel, it's hilarious.

"Paging Mr. Morrow, Mr. Tom Morrow.
Your party from Saturn has arrived.
Please give them a ring."

Ride. Look. Listen.

Confession # 1: The "D" Word and It's Not Disney

I've wanted to go to DollyWood for years now. Years.

This is pretty ironic since I live 5 minutes from the mother ship of all theme parks, Walt Disney World, which I love.

But oooh ... the Mystery Mine, Blazing Fury, Thunder Road, the Timber Tower, the Dizzy Disk, Smoky Mountain Rampage, Miss Lillian's Chicken House, Dreamland Drive-In, all the live entertainment ... call to me in a siren song understood only by other theme park junkies.

I have read, studied, and made copious notes and lists regarding everything DollyWood.

The on-line reviews from 'regular people' have been 95% positive. The other 5% complained about the cost of things.
Obviously these folks don't get out much and most certainly have never visited certain Orlando attractions.

The hubby has been pestered enough so that his eyes glaze over and temporary deafness occurs whenever the word DollyWood is spoken.

Dolly, if you're reading this, I'm coming!
I'm just not sure when. But soon!