The Walt Disney World Resort I Grew to Love

 No, it wasn't Disney's Polynesian Village Resort that I had to grow to love. Anyone who knows me is aware that was an instant hit. The truth is the other original Walt Disney World Resort hotel was the one that took decades to win me over- the Contemporary Resort. (And here's a piece of rare concept art: an early plan for the exterior.)

Yes, riding the monorail through the lobby still surprises with the reveal of the Grand Canyon Concourse, but that wasn't enough. Decades after my first visit to the World in 1975, it was the sum of many smaller pieces that won me over. The energy, the bright colors, the large panes of glass that provided terrific views, the lakeside setting. 

What tipped the scales? Dinner at the California Grill back in 2009! That memorable and expensive evening became one of my favorite resort experiences. What could be more spectacular than a great meal with my beloved wife high atop it all? Only a view of the Magic Kingdom while the evening fireworks were aglow. Truly magical!

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

A Booking Nightmare Part Two- What We Gave Up at Walt Disney World

It does not get any easier to book a Walt Disney World trip. And Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge makes it all the more difficult. In fact, even with Extra Extra Magic Hours, it's still a big problem. We went through this over a year ago, and I thought it would be years before we'd encounter this mess again. But, when our oldest daughter and her husband asked us to go with their family, we jumped at the chance. These kids are big Star Wars fans and had never been to a Disney park. And what a great time we'll have... once we figure out all the pre-trip planning. Ugh, Walt Disney World just used to be much more relaxed and spontaneous. But that was then.

If you look at this post, Booking Nightmare Part One, (from our 2018 trip), you'll see we gave up plenty of must dos in order to get the most out of our time. One thing is certain, having to scurry on line in the early morning hours to get "prime" reservations for rides and restaurants brings out the worst in me, that old sinful nature that reminds me how much I need a savior. Envy, greed, worry, fear, etc. All these things come to the foreground as I compete with others for the best experiences on the property. It shouldn't be this way, but it is. I thought I might do better planning this trip, but no, it was just more of the same. Yet...

For our 2019 adventure with a young family that has never been to Florida, the new addition of Star Wars Land to Disney's Hollywood Studios, only makes things much harder. Unfortunately for guests, Disney park managers and company executives have made things even worse by excluding Galaxy's Edge restaurants and attractions from both Fast Pass+ reservations, restaurant seating times, and the Disney Dining Plan. One more way to extract additional cash from guests in the middle of trying to manage the anticipated crowds. (We all know they didn't figure it out well at Disneyland. But Florida has a whole different kind of vacationer.) How do you explain to middle class kids that building a light saber or eating in the famous cantina won't happen due to pricing and limited availability? Guess we will settle for blue milk to be shared and trinket shopping. The Falcon ride and any entertainment had better be good! 

Back to the Studios and not just Star Wars. In an entire theme park with so few attractions (less than 10) versus theater shows, a full day experience is just not possible if you have a family who prefers activity instead of sitting still watching shows. And that's just who we are. 

What did we give up this trip? I'll focus just on the Studios for now. We said goodbye to short lines for Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (the original is still the best version) and next door's coaster. We did snag a meal time at Sci-Fi Dine In, a must do with school aged kids- and honestly, one of very few eating locations worth spending time at while in the Studios. We also gave up a more relaxed morning since we must embrace Extra Extra Magic Hours in order to see Galaxy's Edge. Who wants to get up at 4:30am to make sure we get on a ride that is Star Tours 3.0 at best? Yet, for kids whom this will be their only Walt Disney World trip, we do it out of love when they are fans of the films and cartoon series. Those very early morning hours means we give up late nights at the park. For all its shortcomings, the Studios park is absolutely stunning at night, making evening walks delightful.

We set aside two days for this park to make sure we see all of Galaxy's Edge that we can. This meant only one day is set aside for Animal Kingdom. We'll see how that works out. Epcot gets a day and a half. Thankfully, the Magic Kingdom is still a full two day park for guests of any age, the mainstay of a Walt Disney World vacation. As you'll read in the forthcoming trip reports, we did do smashingly well with our restaurant reservations, allowing us to eat in locales I haven't experienced in years or not at all. I'll save that for later. Stay tuned.

(Photograph copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

Eating Up at the California Grill

When it comes to unique experiences that say "I'm in Walt Disney World!" few come as close to being as iconic as a nighttime dinner and fireworks show from the rooftop California Grill. 

Sure, it's an expensive meal- and just for the view alone of the Magic Kingdom from the observation deck, it is worth every hard earned penny!

The Contemporary Resort itself is spectacular with the monorail running through the 4th floor open lobby. But when I'm up on that deck, outside in the balmy Florida night and watching what's happening on the lagoon and in the park via telescopes, it truly is magical. (Did you know you can actually see the logs dropping down Splash Mountain using them?)

Looking another direction, you can see the Polynesian Village and the Grand Floridian Resort lit up next to the sparkling Seven Seas Lagoon, monorails circling it all. 

All said, a great dinner, adult drinks, high in the sky view of the Magic Kingdom followed by fireworks and a cruise around the monorail makes for one very special, totally unforgettable night! Faster than you can say "Disney Food Blog", I'd pick this place for every Disney World trip- if I could afford it!

(Photograph copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

A Booking Nightmare- What We Gave Up at Walt Disney World

Dinner for six at California Grill? How about an evening at Chef's de France in Epcot for the family? These are just some of the things we had to give up due to the crazy hyper-planning necessary to visit Walt Disney World these days.

Chef's de France 

It shouldn't be this way. At Disneyland, it takes a minimal amount of advance planning, and you can still have a great vacation there with a sense of joyous spontaneity. Not so in Florida.

Morimoto Asia (photo by WDWMagic.)

At Disney World, the overcrowding and delayed but long needed expansions to handle the millions who visit have created a booking nightmare. Now in order to see and do the primary attractions at Magic Kingdom (let alone the other three parks), all this extra work takes the fun out. Pre-choosing Magic Band characters for each person in the party doesn't make up for it. Nor does Magical Express. 

Frankly, it's all just exhausting, and I decided to give up. I cancelled reservations to maintain some sense of freedom from a set agenda, and decided we'd take our chances. Morimoto Asia lost out to Flight of Passage. Chef's de France to Test Track. More examples than I will write about. We will now forgo table service and instead go to late night counter service places in out of the way spots, particularly at Epcot.

The greedy, short-sighted suits have created a mess. Yes, we booked that dinner at Be Our Guest, but we will never eat there again after the price increase coming in July. Fifty-five dollars a head for a theme park dinner? No, thanks. Quick bucks now for less customer loyalty long term. Poor business decision. Never in my life did I think aspects of a trip to Disney World would be "one and done".

I guess one good thing about the last two decades of blatant underdevelopment meant we explored the real world. That has been a delight. But the Walt Disney Company has lost tens of thousands of dollars from just one family. How many more families did what we did and went elsewhere? 

Last trip to Florida, some in our family skipped Disney altogether, preferring Universal. Less hassle, newer attractions, less cost. Could be a trend. This trip, we've even scheduled less days to visit the World than we ever did before. 

Will we have a great time on this upcoming visit? Of course. We're going with family, so how can we not? Will we go back? Yes....eventually.

(Photos copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

Nighttime View from California Grill

Take a look at this incredible photo of the Magic Kingdom from the outdoor walkway at California Grill. This shot by my friend Len Yokoyama captures the reason this restaurant at Disney's Contemporary Resort has become one of my favorites. And dare I say, it is something that Disneyland cannot compete with! From the far reaches of Big Thunder Mountain to New Fantasyland to the iconic Space Mountain, you can see it all. When you're there, you can see it all via telescope too, even displaying the logs going down the final flume of Splash Mountain. Gorgeous!

(Photograph copyright Len Yokohama.)

Top Ten Disney Park Moments

When you're a huge Disney park fan such as I am, you look around at the condition and quality of the Stateside Disney parks and sometimes wistfully yearn for days in the past when the company was truly cutting edge and fully invested in creating the ultimate experience for its guests. That doesn't mean there haven't been huge successes recently, the revamp of California Adventure comes to mind- but in too many other areas, the Company has failed at home in spite of some great concepts developed by the Imagineers.

Why do we look backwards? Often it is because we are used to being flabbergasted by what's been created by the folks who used to be best in the business. And we hold on dearly to those sweet, sometimes inspiring, memories that we've made. It is in that spirit that I present my personal Top Ten Disney Park Moments (in chronological order):

Wow, just wow!

July 1975- Taking the boats across the Seven Seas Lagoon, seeing Cinderella Castle for the first time, long before we arrived at the dock to go to the Magic Kingdom. I was just a teen, but the impression was so strong that my attachment to Walt Disney World became just as powerful as the one I had to Walt's Original Kingdom. That's saying something from a guy who considers himself an Orange County California boy.

July 1981- Visiting Club 33 at Disneyland with my girlfriend (now wife). It was the perfect birthday gift, and one that has never been able to be repeated. My father in law worked for Kodak, and they had a corporate membership. Little did she know then that her life would be filled with Disney moments.

If You Had Wings was just around the corner. Photographer unknown.

April 1982- Walking the grounds of the Polynesian Village on our honeymoon. It wasn't the focus of our trip, (that was the Bahamas), but it was the first two days. We absolutely loved the gorgeous Electrical Water Pageant, Liberty Square, and of course, If You Had Wings.

In its original incarnation, EPCOT Center was my favorite Disney theme park.

April 1983- Returning a year later but this time for a whole week, we couldn't wait to see the first (and best until Tokyo Disney Sea) non-castle Disney park. Taking the Walt Disney World monorail through EPCOT Center the night before we would go in the park, I couldn't imagine what it could be like. World Showcase lit up beautifully, Future World gleamed even before Horizons, and the next day could not come soon enough. We were not disappointed.

Photo copyright The Walt Disney Company.

May 1989- Taking our children to Walt Disney World for the first time. Three little ones were surprised by the adventure as they went with Daddy on his business trip. A stay at the Caribbean Beach and the opening of the Disney-MGM Studios. What a week of fun!

A beautiful day to explore the world's most beautiful Magic Kingdom. 

One of three trips to Disneyland Paris taken in three different seasons.

(Photo by Mark Taft.)

October 1998- The first view of the castle as we walked down Main Street U.S.A. at Disneyland Paris. Our family (now with three teens and an 8 year old) snagged $99 each way tickets from Denver to London. Absolutely, we would not miss Paris and Disney's first European theme park. Just being in Europe as a family was the "E Ticket", but the part itself was everything it was promoted to be. Still the world's most beautiful Magic Kingdom.

Photo copyright Mark Taft.

October 1999- The Tree of Life at Disney's Animal Kingdom. This family trip included a close friend of ours. The kids were old enough to stay in the room one night while we went our for dinner.  A new Disney theme park, a beautiful one, but woefully short in attractions.

We still love Epcot- but not as much as the original EPCOT Center.

Photo copyright Mark Taft.

February 2009- A trip for husband and wife alone. After many years, the World seemed fairly fresh again. Dinner and fireworks at the California Grill restaurant at the top of the Contemporary Resort. Watching the Magic Kingdom via the telescope. A stay at the Port Orleans Riverside resort was just the ticket to a relaxing few days. Now, that restaurant is one of my favorite places to eat- but its not the food (mostly good), but it is the location that draws me. 

Photo copyright Mark Taft.

October 2012- Catching the view of Cars Land for the first time as I walked under the rock work arch from the Pacific Wharf at California Adventure. I was alone this trip but absolutely amazed. The Imagineers still had it. If the suits would let them. Perhaps my favorite land at the Disneyland Resort. That or New Orleans Square. Now, it's a tough choice. 

Well, thanks to my job and all my miles, we've been able to have some great adventures. These are my Top Ten Moments, all without actually being there and riding an attraction. By the way, did you notice there were only nine? I'm reserving Number Ten for when the time comes that we take take our  grandchildren to Disneyland for their first visit.