Category Archives: Attraction Reviews

Disney Princess or Pirate? – Pirates League Review

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Princess-to-PirateI have this friend named Melissa who’s a huge Disney fan.  We travel together sometimes for work and never run out of things to talk about. Melissa and her family take a Walt Disney World vacation every year in the fall for Food & Wine and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. Melissa’s little girl, a second-grader, is really into things like cheerleading, fashion accessories, and watching Disney ride videos on YouTube.  Little Annelise is already a seasoned Disney traveler and she knows what she likes!

You’d think, wouldn’t you, that Annelise would be the perfect candidate for a makeover at the Bibbity-Bobbity-Boutique? That’s what my friend Melissa thought too when she offered to make an appointment for their most recent vacation. Turns out, we’d be wrong! See, Annelise has a bunch of girly interests, but is also really into things like zombies, age-appropriate classic horror films, and conventions like Walker Stalker Con. She did not want to visit the Boutique and be made over into a princess. She wanted to join the Pirates League!

The Pirates League experience at Walt Disney World is available to boys and girls, but is definitely more geared towards boys. On the day Melissa took her daughter there for her appointment, Annelise was the only girl in attendance. Having purchased a pirate outfit in advance (Melissa highly recommends this), Melissa and Annelise were welcomed into the League’s Adventureland headquarters near Pirates of the Caribbean.Pirate-Name-Machine

The Disney attention to detail is in abundance in the Pirates League.  Guests start out by spinning the helmsman’s wheel to discover their pirate name before pledging the Pirate Oath.  This was the first step for Annelise on her way to becoming Betty Goodhawk.  Once Betty (the pirate formerly known as Annelise) had her new name, the real transformation began.Pirates-League-TransformationPirates-Transformation-Begins Pirates-League-Transformation Taking-the-Pirate-Oath

Pirate Oath? Check.  Pirate name? Check.  Pirate appearance? Double-Check.  One last thing was necessary to make the change complete – entrance into the Secret Room just for pirates – this part’s details are super-extremely-top-secret and cannot be shared with anyone who has not taken the Pirate Oath, sorry.Pirate-Parade

Finally, Betty Goodhawk received her official Pirate Certificate signed by none other than Captain Jack Sparrow himself.  Betty and her fellow new pirates were all invited to return in the afternoon to participate in the Pirate Parade through Adventureland.Pirates

From the pictures, it’s obvious Betty/Annelise enjoyed the experience of becomeing a pirate, but what did her mom think?  Melissa said, “The crew at the Pirates League was amazing. Always in character. We loved it, and are already planning our next experience.”

If you have a daughter, is she more a Princess or a Pirate?

For Love of Epcot’s Spaceship Earth

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Spaceship Earth at Sunset / Epcot / Walt Disney WorldThe iconic heart of Epcot’s Future World, this much-photographed geosphere is a beloved park favorite at Walt Disney World.  Spaceship Earth is both a weenie and an attraction – and adored by legions of Disney fans around the world.  The ride inside Spaceship Earth takes us on a slow and easy journey through time for a peek at various innovations in communications technology and how those discoveries influenced human lives through the ages (and will shape our future, perhaps).

For my family, this 16 minute tour of both past and future never gets old and we’re not alone in our love for this attraction!  We’ve been known to ride Spaceship Earth many times during aRM-SSE5 single vacation – even multiple times in a single day.  Is it the animatronics?  The narration?  The smell of Rome burning?  The peek into our personalized future on Earth?  No!  I believe there’s no single moment of the experience, but the perfection in the combination of all the components, the small details and the expansive scenes.

Once again, I asked and you answered.  Twitter followers and Facebook friends were happy to respond to my request for shout-outs, in Haiku form, expressing feelings for Epcot’s icon.  I’m happy to share these gems of poetic beauty with you now…

For Love of Epcot’s Spaceship Earth

From Facebook, there were only two entries, but both were highly creative!

DSCN2870Submitted by Anastasia:

Golf ball cool and dark
Invites me to sit and rest
I can haz nap now

Gaylin posted her fondness this way:

Bright golf ball of love
Beckons all to ride away
Past to future slow.

On Twitter, the response was overwhelming! (If you’re looking for Disney friends on Twitter, you should follow all of these awesome folks!)

From @BerryMary92, a beautiful poem:RM-SSE1

One of Disney’s icons
beautiful site to behold
stands proud in Epcot

From good friend (and occasional guest writer) @AndrewCfran:

At Epcot Center
Lies a geodesic dome
Called Spaceship Earth

@bscala1986 composed this very touching entry:

Grand and miraculous.
A symbol of immortality.
Tomorrow’s child awaits.

RM-SSE4@WDWParkHopper captured Spaceship Earth’s best moments:

Thank the Phoenicians
I can smell the fire in Rome
Time to head back home

@Bekka_C writes of her own Spaceship Earth memories (Bekka – stay awake & you’ll remember it better!):

Every time I ride.
I swear it is new inside.
What a great sleep ride.

@HLebischak also captured the spirit of Spaceship Earth with:

Time traveling sphere –
in the center of EPCOT –
thank you, Phoenicians.

@scottquaile seems to feel the latest Disney technology has not been good for SSE!RM-Spaceship-Earth

My Magic Plussed
Long lines it has
EEHHHHHHHHH…

@TacoMan945 submitted this beautiful piece:

Jeremy Irons
Many think you’re a golf ball
Smell in burning Rome

@GoAwayGreen played along this time with a profound piece of art!

Most fragile transport
Of the knowledge collected,
Analyzed and shared

RM-SSE7In @YoPaulieNJ’s entry, Paulie weighs in on SSE’s most recent updates:

The last ride descent
Once so very inspiring
Now a dumb cartoon

Finally, I am proud to bring you the artistic talents of @AmyBethCombs, who didn’t just compose one poem – Amy’s obvious love for SSE could not be contained in a single Haiku.  Amy is the clear winner of today’s game (Congratulations, Amy) with this Ode to Spaceship Earth composed of several entries…

Spaceship Earth is cool.
Spaceship Earth is really cool.
Wow I love Epcot.

Look at those three guys.RM-Spaceship-Earth-Early-Backup-System
That guy’s hat looks like garlic.
I love Spaceship Earth.

Hey, do you smell smoke?
Oh no! Rome is on fire!
Well, there go the books.

Thank the Phoenicians.
You know what they invented?
The alphabet, chump.

How did they do that?
The cave painting on the wall.
It moves. That is cool.

When it turns backwards
That can be kind of scary
The angle is steep.

RM-SSE6Each entry was awesome – some of their expressions of love, others for their honesty.  How do YOU feel about Spaceship Earth?  Which attraction would you like to see tributes for next?

Epcot’s Living With the Land

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RM-Living-With-The-Land-SceneAs with each and every Walt Disney World attraction, Living With the Land will not appeal to everyone.  In truth, it’ll probably appeal to fewer folks than most rides and that’s just how it is.  It’s not breathtaking like Soarin’ or thrilling like Mission: Space and Test Track, but it IS unique and special in its own way.  It harkens back to Epcot’s roots (HA! You’ll get that one in a minute) and is both entertaining(-ish) and educational (but still fun).  Plus, it’s a realistic, behind-the-scenes look at the heart of Walt Disney World.

Decidedly slow-moving, Living With the Land takes guests on a boat tour.  No, not like Magic Kingdom’s Pirates of the Caribbean or Splash Mountain – this tour hasn’t got any singing animals nor does it take you to a world of make believe.  Living With the Land mostly keeps you in the here and now while, in it’s own unique and fascinating way, shows visitors how Epcot uses the most cutting edge agricultural and aqua-cultural techniques to feed Walt Disney World guests.  It’s also packed with lessons on the effects of climate and environment on organic food production.RM-Living-With-The-Land-Production-and-Research-Sign

If Living With the Land sounds boring to you, you’re not alone.  Many people pass up what certainly sounds like a major snooze-fest.  I’d like you to reconsider.  It will eat up a whopping 15-or-so minutes of your Epcot day, but there’s rarely a wait!  The Land pavilion has Soarin’ and one of my favorite snack places, Sunshine Seasons (chocolate croissant, just a suggestion), but if you need a break, want to relax, are tired, hot, or trying to maybe save your legs for a runDisney event, you really can’t ask for a better attraction than Living With the Land!RM-Living-With-The-Land-Tunnel

The tour is made up of two halves – the first explains the Earth’s different agricultural environments and challenges.RM-Living-With-The-Land-Scene RM-Living-With-The-Land-Landscape-SceneRM-Living-With-The-Land-Buffalo-SceneThe second part (which is SO cool!) shows how Epcot raises large quantities of produce to use in Epcot’s Garden Grill and Sunshine Seasons restaurants and demonstrates the use of soil-less and other modern agricultural techniques to reduce the use of natural resources and incorporate natural pest control.RM-Living-With-The-Land-Produce RM-Living-With-The-Land-Greenhouse RM-Living-With-The-Land-Banana-Plant RM-Living-With-The-Land-Agriculture-AreaThere are also displays of modern aquaculture – I’m talking tanks of fish!  Interesting-looking giant “vats” of eels, catfish, tilapia and more.  There is also an alligator-raising area.RM-Living-With-The-Land-Aquaculture-Area RM-Living-With-The-Land-Fish

So maybe your FastPass for Soarin’ isn’t good for the next 20 minutes – whatever the reason, you should consider hopping a boat for the Living With the Land experience.  There’s a little bit of something for everyone and, even if you’re not into educational vacation experiences, you’re bound to see something interesting.

Have you ever tried Living With the Land before?  What did you thing about it?

 

Disney World Wilderness Back Trail Adventure

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RM-FW-Back-Trail-SegwayYou may have visited here recently when I mentioned that Raymond and I, during our TWO extra days at Walt Disney World (flights cancelled due to winter weather), took the super-awesome Segway tour at Fort Wilderness.  I’m here today to give the deets on that extra-fun-spur-of-the-moment experience.  If you’ve always wanted to try riding a Segway, this is the very best opportunity…and currently the only Segway tour offered at Walt Disney World.

We were not Segway rookies when we decided to see if we could make last minute reservations for this tour.  We’d taken our first Segway tour in Barcelona, Spain while getting ready to embark on the Disney Magic for a Mediterranean cruise in August, 2013.  Riding a Segway is easy.  I’m being totally honest – remember, I have absolutely zero eye-hand coordination and can barely walk and chew gum at the same time.  If I can ride a Segway without incident, anyone can!RM-Fort-Wilderness-Bike-Barn

Luckily for us, we were able to find a couple of spots available for a late morning Wilderness Back Trail Adventure at Fort Wilderness.  Safety first, there are forms to complete upon arrival at the Fort Wilderness Bike Barn where the tour begins.  Forms in order, the tour actually begins with a safety class (including video and awesome gigantic helmets), followed by a very thorough practice session during which all necessary maneuvers on the off-road Segway are mastered.RM-FW-Back-Trail-Tour-ReadyWe learned to go forward and back, turn, and get safely on and off the Segway.  It was our understanding that if anyone in the group could not safely perform all Segway riding exercises, they would not be allowed to advance to the actual tour.  No one seemed to struggle in the least – including one lady, I’m guessing she was in her late 50’s, who was extremely nervous in the beginning.  The instruction and practice took about 30 minutes all together.RM-FW-Segways

Once we’d all performed the necessary Segway driving requirements, we were off!  It was raining lightly, but no one cared.  The tour includes some Disney World history, some photo ops, and, the highlight for me, a guided tour (off Segway) of the Tri-Circle-D Ranch.  I loved everything about this part of the adventure.  RM-FW-Tri-Circle-D-Tour RM-FW-Tri-Circle-D-Photo-of-Walt-Disney RM-FW-Tri-Circle-D-Horse-Black RM-FW-Tri-Circle-D-HorseOkay, really, I completely, thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience, but going in the horse barn and seeing photographs of Walt Disney with the horses he clearly loved was a side of him that I hadn’t seen before.  The horses (no petting!) were curious, friendly and beautiful.  This is one place I would love to visit again.

The rain stopped while we were in the barn, so we enjoyed the rest of the tour much more comfortably (without the poncho hood!).  We were literally on the back trails as the name of the tour implies and saw the woods and fields surrounding Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge.RM-FW-Back-Trail-Tour-Beside-Bay-LakeWe spotted deer and listened to wonderful facts and stories from our guide.  We also, at a maximum speed of SIX miles per hour, zipped (slowly) off-road around and between trees and over rough-ish terrain, which was actually very fun.  So fun, in fact, that the lady I mentioned earlier that was nervous to begin with could be heard laughing out loud during these off-road expeditions.  All too soon, it was time to return to the Bike Barn and park our Segways.  RM-FW-Back-Trail-Tour-GuidesI wish I had more pictures for you of the off-road portion of the adventure, but the rules strictly prohibit the use of a camera while operating a Segway.  As a very cool souvenir, we each received a Back Trail Adventure pin.RM-FW-Back-Trail-Segway-Tour-Pin

Would we recommend this experience?  With enthusiasm!  It was even better than we’d hoped and, if we get the chance, we will absolutely do it again.

Have you taken (or thought about taking ) the Wilderness Back Trail Adventure?  What do you think about this unique offering at Walt Disney World?