More Than Just Frozen Ever After at Walt Disney World

Frozen Ever After opens soon in Epcot's World Showcase! Elsa, Anna, and friends make their splashy debut in Norway. But that's not all- there's more! 

Like so many of you, I have long resigned myself to the sad fact that Frozen is now taking over the Maelstrom attraction at Norway. Just to recap old ground, I'm not opposed to the film being turned into an attraction at Walt Disney World. It's just in the wrong park. And no, Maelstrom was not an Epcot Center "E Ticket" attraction of old (that designation would belong to Journey into Imagination, World of Motion, and Horizons). What was it? An old attraction that needed a refreshing, not a character infusion. Now that is all settled...

It's clear to this writer that Frozen Ever After just doesn't apply to the ride replacing Maelstrom. In fact, if you look for it, you can find it all over Walt Disney World!

It seems temporary attractions and changes really aren't, broken effects stay that way, and it's now all about guest manipulation versus guest satisfaction and providing the best experience for the travel dollar. Each park suffers from the malady of Frozen Ever After:

The Magic Kingdom- Where to start? Tomorrowland's Carousel of Progress. Stitch should be ditched. No love from Disney suits, but The Hall of Presidents will be getting a forced upgrade due to the Presidential Election. (And both choices are awful!) Adventureland is a disjointed mess, but at least the New Fantasyland feels somewhat fresh from what I can tell. 

Animal Kingdom- This park has probably made the most strides going forward in light of the coming Avatar / Pandora addition. Yet, Dinorama remains a blight on the landscape, Kali River Rapids continues at best to be a waste of an attraction, and the Yeti on Expedition: Everest sadly continues to trip the light fantastic. 

Disney's Hollywood Studios- Aerosmith needs to be booted out of Rock 'N' Rollercoaster. In spite of the still great songs like Walk This Way, Imagineering needs to bring the attraction into the New Century. Over at the Great Movie Ride, new scenes and updated film choices need to be added, but the dancing girls of the opening scenes are still Frozen Ever After. Fantasmic! needs a serious retooling, and in an odd twist of fate, the one attraction that doesn't need an overhaul seems to be in line to get one: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror as it converts into a Guardians of the Galaxy mess. In reality, the whole park is a disaster. You can't give the guests meet and greets and new dining locations to make up for shuttered attractions and construction walls.

Epcot-  My how the once mighty have fallen!  Circle of Life is in the state of rigor mortis, Figment's personality and face lift need an overhaul, but then so does Ellen at Universe of Energy and Martin Short in the Canada film! Ellen looks particularly stuck in the 90's.

That's just Future World! Things are equally bad over at the World Showcase half of the park. Isn't it time for a whole new country to be added to the place? Or at least brand new films for the countries represented? Or even brand new attractions instead of just milking the guests with new places to wine and dine? 

Yes, Walt Disney World is Frozen Ever After- and not in a good way.

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

Our WDW Christmas Vacation Part VI: Disney's Animal Kingdom

Back in 2004 during our last visit to WDW, Animal Kingdom struck me as the least interesting. Part of this is due to personal taste and expectations from a Disney based park. For one thing, viewing wild animals live in person was low on my priority list. Don’t get me wrong, these are amazing creatures but now necessarily something I want to see at Disney (I can do that at a local zoo). The park also felt vastly underdeveloped…the ratio of space to attractions feeling oddly unbalanced. The early closings just added to this feeling that you could easily do everything by late afternoon and have no need to return. 

Dragons did not make the final cut.

I remember McDonald’s running a promotion when AK first opened which consisted of 4 drinking glasses (one for each park). The AK logo showed a parade of animals, from real to mythical (the fantasy aspect represented by a dragon). 

There was something about the design that fired up my imagination as well as expectations for the new park. Alas, Beastly Kingdom, as it was to be called, never came to fruition. This was to be a land dedicated to mythical animals such as unicorns, sea monsters, and of course, dragons. Instead AK got Camp Minnie-Mickey. Like Walt’s vision of Epcot, one can only imagine how different the park might have become had the company followed through with their original plans.

A million miles from Orlando or so it seems.

A treacherous climb to the top.

Guardian of the mountain.

The blog owner's favorite Walt Disney World attraction.

So it was with lukewarm feelings that we entered AK last December. Of course, we were looking forward to Expedition Everest (still a metal skeletal frame during our last visit)! The fact that a mythical creature like the Yeti lived in the mountains already gave the E-Ticket ride a strong edge. The roller coaster ride itself does not disappoint. The ride is imaginatively designed to reach the end of vandalized tracks and then flung backwards in a myriad of loops and dips. 

Shadow of a beast

compared to the attraction's opening day.

But, and this is a big but, the yeti is a failure!!! I know Disney was having trouble with the animatronics, but the silhouetted figure against a cave wall and a brief glimpse through strobe lights are not adequate substitutes. With Beastly Kingdom being a no go, it seems imperative that the first mythical creature to appear in AK should… actually work! As a result, Expedition ends up being a major thrill and disappointment all in one breath.

Local dining and beautiful atmosphere.

Other than that one strike, I was totally shocked by how much Sue and I enjoyed Animal Kingdom. Where to begin? First, and perhaps most important, is the food. We couldn’t find a bad meal even if we tried. Somewhere in Africa we came across these delicious teri-beef sliders. A little bigger than a silver dollar, the meat is marinated in a slightly sweet sauce and served on a moist bun with an assortment of veggies. A little pricey at five bucks a pop, but that didn’t stop us from ordering a few. 

Guilty pleasures at Sanaa

in Animal Kingdom Lodge.

And then there are the incredible breads at Sanaa (okay it’s not technically in the park, but we can probably lump the lodge in the same boat). I’m a bread lover, so I’m not easily impressed, but the texture and density of the African based carbs were pure delight. Adding to that is an assortment of dipping sauces from hot & spicy to tangy sweet that just added to taste bud nirvana!

Harambe Market is the newest addition to AK and is the beginning of what I hope is a gradual expansion to the overall theming of the park. The Imagineers found just the right mix between authentic cultural trappings and imaginative visual aesthetics. I’m not sure it’s indigenous to African art, but the combination of colors and patterns used for in AK’s Christmas decorations were downright mesmerizing. I truly can say that the holiday trimmings here were second to none. 

We were able to catch several musical performances here and all were top notch with amazing rhythms and vocals. Even the shops seem to carry merchandise that were a cut above the normal tourist offerings found elsewhere. My wife picked up a set of ceramic bowls with a very classy and colorful motif while I purchased a pull over sweater featuring patches designed around Expedition Everest (okay, I now I grumbled about the ride earlier, but this jacket was too beautiful to pass up). It seems to me that a lot of the merchandise here shows a bit more restraint in the advertising / marketing graphics. Whereas a lot of stuff will scream “Look, I’ve been to Disney!”, AK’s wares have a more subtle, low key approach that focuses more on the art itself.

The only blue tinted beings found in Animal Kingdom...
but not for long!

Did I mention that AK has not one, but two of the best musical productions in all of WDW? “Festival of the Lion King” and “Finding Nemo the Musical” feel like elaborate Broadway productions with their amazing vocal talent, grade A staging/props, outstanding musical numbers. I prefer Festival to the Broadway play, as it wasn’t a scene for scene mimicry of the movie. Nemo’s careful integration of actor and puppet works to perfection and the audience can really buy into this symbiotic relationship as believable.

DiVine is heavenly.

Prior to visiting the park, I started seeing images of a character named DiVine. These are dancers hired to perform in costume as living embodiments of nature. Her movements are slow and graceful, accomplished while on stilts! DiVine often startles guests by blending in with the plants and trees, but more often it gasps of amazement or the gleeful chuckle of a child that is the end result. It’s interesting that something as small as DiVine’s performance can add so much to a park that is already loaded with heavy hitter attractions. It’s a prime example of what Disney does the best…attention to even the smallest details. It’s this philosophy that’s worked well for the company and why they’ve been able to keep ahead of the competition all these years (although Universal is closing that gap).

The wonders of man's creation and God's creation

are both found in this park!

Not only has AK matched Epcot as a favorite park, the potential for growth far surpasses all the rest. With the coming of River of Lights and Avatarland, I think Imagineers are truly starting to tap into the unlimited potential Ak has to offer. If the good Lord is willing, I hope to be back in several years to see some amazing sights and changes!

It's a jungle in there.

A big mahalo to Mark Taft for allowing me to share my thoughts and pictures with all of you! I hope it hasn’t caused anyone to avoid this wonderful blog as Mark has done an incredible job entertaining and informing us throughout the years. And although I did nitpick areas of WDW, I still highly recommend a visit to the parks if you have a chance (but don’t forget to see the real world too). Thank you for your time and have a wonderful day!
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Editor's note: Thank you, Len, for this incredible series of posts and the absolutely wonderful photographs! I've saved the most beautiful Animal Kingdom photo ever taken for a later post...

(Photographs copyright Len Yokoyama.)

Wildest Ride in the Kingdom

Some days, a guy just has to take a thrill ride. With my local Six Flags-ish park, Elitch Gardens, not open yet, my mind goes back to my favorite coaster on US soil: Expedition Everest.

Granted, the broken yeti leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But if it were anyone but Disney Imagineering, we'd be celebrating the excellence of the coaster on its own. And there's much to like! The swoops and drops make me refer to it as "Big Thunder Mountain Railroad on steroids", a not so distant cousin to my favorite Disneyland coaster. 

Maybe, just maybe, the suits will fix the yeti right before the debut of Pandora / Avatarland. Wouldn't that be a great surprise.

(Photograph copyright Mark Taft.)

Animal Kingdom's Stunning View

Among us hard core Disney park fans, it is quite in vogue to complain about the current state of Disney's Animal Kingdom. Not that the criticisms are inaccurate. The park is stale and even in disrepair. The Tree of Life is falling limb by limb. The Yeti in Expedition Everest is almost a still life, and the special effects in Dinosaur aka Countdown to Extinction leave much to be desire. 

Even the plans for the future do not seem impressive or even in theme. Avatarland, anyone? A trip to a night-lit Pandora could be amazing, but its relevance to the park theme remains questionable.

With all to question and complain about, one thing is certain. When the park excels, it does so exceedingly. The evidence? This stunning photo taken from the trip upwards to the top of the Himalayas. What a view! Even on a cloudy day. And views like this fill the park, making it one of the most gorgeous of all theme parks.

(Photograph copyright Mark Taft.)

A Brand New Animal Kingdom

It's not every day that a theme park guest gets to experience an expansion of this magnitude. Yes, California Adventure has it's long awaited Buena Vista Street- and the icing on the cake, Cars Land's Radiator Springs Racers. Elsewhere on the West Coast, Universal Studios has its new Transformers attraction, while things are very quiet in Orlando- other than the first Dumbo inspired expansion of the Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland.

With vacation dollars shrinking and summer quickly passing us by, those of us with limits on both time and money are taking day trips and "staycations". We're no exception. Fortunately, the Denver Zoo has provided a bit a escape for city dwellers wishing to experience the wildlife of Asia. The new Toyota Elephant Passage is just about  everything you'd expect from an expansion this size. There's enough detailed elements to temporarily fool a guest into thinking they had stumbled into a new section of Disney's Animal Kingdom, doing some things better than Disney itself.

In the last several years, it has been apparent that Zoo officials wanted to move beyond the expected "animal in a cage" arrangement. The Predators (Lions) section was elaborately redesigned as was the African Gorilla exhibit. A brand new entrance area with a noticeable increase in vegetation and walkway elevations gave the zoo a whole new opening act. The venerable elephant exhibit was next- and the results do not disappoint.

The new section is at the back end of the zoo, and the long walk over filled me with anticipation. Sure, there wasn't an Expedition Everest or even a Kali River Rapids waiting for me as a reward, but I was only paying fifteen dollars a piece for several hours, not the almost one hundred dollars a person a day for a more lush environment with a few great rides added in.

After passing through the entry gates, we were drawn into the village area. In contrast to the intentionally weathered look of Asia at Animal Kingdom, the Denver Zoo chose to present a more kept up version. It looked sparkling new- and I wasn't sure if I liked that or not. Had I been spoiled by a faux weathered Animal Kingdom? Regardless, the exhibits both large and small are filled with details. Themed signage is everywhere as are small artifacts placed throughout the village to give it an inhabited appearance. Bags of rice stacked up against a building, prayer flags hung high above, and in a touch of whimsy I found charming, the drinking fountain has a small metal frog on it- while its lunch (a small metallic fly) is placed just out of reach on the wall right above it. Pretty clever!

Being built on a tight schedule, there certainly was a lack of trees at the zoo compared to Disney's version of Asia, but you could tell where a couple years of growth would fill things in. Even winter hardy bamboo was planted to make a study fence here and there, sheltering guests from seeing the harder side of the clever animal enclosures. Lily pads fill a natural shaped pond, and there are plenty of flowers to be seen, making for lots of color where it is needed.The animals were plentiful, although on this particular day you had to see farther in the back as many were hiding from the 90 degree heat- but without any humidity!

In a nod to the hoards of littler guest that visit, there are a couple of small tents set up with telescopes they can use to watch the animals, radios that play clever bits describing what was around the area, and small bridges and rope swings that certainly encourage a bit of playtime. All were right in theme along with the more traditional zoo like signs talking about feeding habits, geography, and local conservation efforts.

Stopping for a cool drink as we backtracked through the park made for a nice break. In a little over two hours, the designers had given us enough to see and do in one new area. No rides, no animal shows, no expensive gift shops. I walked away thinking they had done a pretty good job- and sadly being reminded of what Disney's Animal Kingdom could and should have been. It's a stunning setting for an absolutely neglected theme park. Perhaps between now and the pending Avatarland, the Imagineers- no the budgeteers- will surprise us. But don't hold your breath. Support your local zoo instead for a fraction of the price.
(Photographs copyright Mark Taft.)

New Carsland and Radiator Springs Racers Image

Radiator Springs Racers looks fantastic, doesn't it? Love the waterfalls and all. Makes me want to rush to California Adventure on the opening day of Cars Land. Let's just hope all the effects stay running and the attraction doesn't turn into another Expedition: Everest at Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom.

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)