Scott
Former TS Team Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
So, I did a thing. That thing was to fulfil a long-time dream of mine and go to Florida baby! Me and the Mrs went about a month ago now (time bloody flies L) and now is the first real chance I’ve had to sit down and try and document any of it. Some of you may have seen photos on facebook or had me bore you to death with bits and pieces whilst I was there (here’s looking at you, team!) but for the rest – I’ll write about it here instead.
Obviously for the vast majority of the forum, this will mostly be the same old stuff – since many of you have already experienced what Florida has to offer, however I hope this still provides some interest to you… but if it doesn’t, well, I’m not fussed since I’m enjoying documenting all this for myself anyway haha!
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So, I guess I had better start at the very beginning (it’s a very good place to start) and at the hotel at the airport! We flew from Gatwick and stayed the night before at a Travelodge nearby. It was quite an amusing place to stay since the hotel was clearly a more upmarket hotel in the past. The rooms were huge (although decorated like normal TL rooms) and the bathrooms featured dated décor which would have probably classed as semi-premium a decade or two ago… All the same it was a comfortable and reasonable stay with a handy bus shuttle to the terminal door. As for Gatwick itself, we faced no issues and sped through check in and security! We opted to enjoy the Virgin Holidays V-Room, and I think it was worth the small extra payment that it cost. We enjoyed complimentary cooked breakfasts as well as access to video games, newspapers and fantastic views across the runway and taxiways – which is always good for a pre-flight geekout…
As for the flight itself, I was excited for that too! Neither of us had flown long-haul before and as such it was the longest flight that either of us had ever been on… I was impressed by the service that Virgin offered. I’m a big guy (6ft 5) and even though we were in Economy I had just about enough legroom – though stretching out was a bit tricky! In-flight entertainment was top-notch with a great selection of movies, TV shows and music to keep us entertained. Also, a mention needs to be made of the food! Although it was standard airline kinda stuff, it was actually bloody tasty and the free-flowing alcohol is ALWAYS appreciated
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Moving on from the boring travelling parts now and on to actual bloody Orlando! We arrived and got on our shuttle to the hotel (we didn’t rent a car and managed perfectly fine without – more on this later) at Walt Disney World! We chose to stay at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, which is the newest of the Disney resort hotels (opening in phases since late 2012) and is classed in their ‘Value’ range. It’s an absolute behemoth of a hotel – containing four blocks themed around animated classics: The Little Mermaid, Lion King, Finding Nemo and Cars and each block would have probably classed itself as a good size hotel anywhere other than Disney!
The hotel featured three pools – including the single largest on Disney hotel property – as well as the usual food court, pool bar, shop, arcade and other amenities that you would expect. The food court sold an array of foods and all that we tried were good quality and fairly reasonably priced too. I was also impressed by all the staff, but particularly those at reception and concierge who were informative and friendly… So much so in fact that after we checked in, we later found a message on our room phone from the cast member who checked us in stating that if we had any issues at all that we should not hesitate to come back to reception and ask away! A nice touch I thought!
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Now after a good sleep it was time to get up and be ready to go for day one: Animal Kingdom
I had high hopes for this park since I love the idea behind it, and it didn’t disappoint. Although I now probably place it last out of the 4 WDW parks, I do so with a heavy heart and not because I dislike it at all – just that I like the others better!
One thing which was slightly off-putting about the park is its current state. There are large construction walls all over the place right now – some for Avatar, but many for all sorts of other reasons. This meant that the whole area surrounding the Tree of Life was closed off and construction walls completely surrounded the lake around the Asia area. Whilst these were actually done in a fairly unobtrusive way – it did detract from the atmosphere slightly in places.
The first thing we did in AK was catch the Lion King show. I was thoroughly impressed by this and it set the tone for the rest of the trip really. A fun and immersive (due to the theatre layout) show featuring lots of colour, music, lights and talented people. I really liked the dynamic staging and the way the segments flowed fluidly – despite needing constant set changes despite being surrounded by the audience…
Moving on from the Lion King, we wound our way to Kali River Rapids. Obviously these were my first American rapids and thus I was prepared to get a bit more wet than in Britain – though I did end up getting absolutely drenched! I loved this ride, and it’s my favourite of the three rapids that we rode. The theming is great and the drop is fun – with wetness depending on whether you go backwards or not. Despite that though it is a bit of a one-trick pony and doesn’t feature a great deal else.
Straight after this we headed for Kilimanjaro Safari – a ride I was really, really excited to experience. For those that haven’t ridden it, this is where Animal Kingdom really comes into its own. The whole experience lasts a good 15 minutes and takes you through a variety of habitats where you can see all kinds of animals. It was a fantastic experience and I was pleased at just how many animals you could see and equally how close they got to the vehicles passing through. It was really a joy and a great experience that blurs the line between theme park and zoo.
After a spot of lunch (Flame Tree BBQ – yum!) we rode the ride AK is probably most famous for – Expedition Everest. The mountain itself is bloody impressive as it towers in the distance and just gets bigger and bigger as you approach. I also loved the queue – which featured an incredible amount of detail. As for ride experience, I thought it was serious, serious fun… It’s a long ride, and packs a decent amount of punch through its drops and turns – particularly when going backwards. I was impressed also by the ride system and the speed that the transfer tracks engaged and set off too. It’s a definite Disney classic and one of my favourite rides now, just a shame that the disco Yeti can’t move eh!
We also experienced the bizzare area that is Dino-Rama before we left. I appreciate that it is meant to be slightly ironic and does have a fairly detailed backstory, but it just looks plainly crap and completely out of place with the rest of the park. Primeval Whirl as well looks a right mess because of a combination of ride type and the theme… Let’s be honest, when Disney are placing in a type of ride that Pleasurewood Hills owned and sold years ago something is a bit odd… It’s still a fun ride, just something that doesn’t belong where it is.
Fortunately though, the area has Dinosaur to fall upon to give it some class. A top quality Disney dark ride – although it is one that does feel a teeny bit tired in its queue and station area. I didn’t really know what to expect with this one before riding but was pleasantly surprised both with the visual effects used and also the cars movement! It’s definitely a bit of a violent ride – which could be off putting to some- but the layout is very good and the story itself fairly interesting too. Highlights were the really cool dinosaur animatronics of course!
By this point it was time to call it a day and we went for our dinner reservation at the Rainforest Café – which was equally as much of a fun experience as it was tasty, although the service wasn’t exactly fantastic.
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I feel like I’m blabbing on a hell of a lot right now and this has taken quite long enough to type today… so I’ll hopefully carry on and continue this soon with my thoughts on the other Disney Parks as well as Universal, Busch and SeaWorld… See, that’s the trouble with Florida, there is just too damn much to discuss!!
Obviously for the vast majority of the forum, this will mostly be the same old stuff – since many of you have already experienced what Florida has to offer, however I hope this still provides some interest to you… but if it doesn’t, well, I’m not fussed since I’m enjoying documenting all this for myself anyway haha!
------------------------------------
So, I guess I had better start at the very beginning (it’s a very good place to start) and at the hotel at the airport! We flew from Gatwick and stayed the night before at a Travelodge nearby. It was quite an amusing place to stay since the hotel was clearly a more upmarket hotel in the past. The rooms were huge (although decorated like normal TL rooms) and the bathrooms featured dated décor which would have probably classed as semi-premium a decade or two ago… All the same it was a comfortable and reasonable stay with a handy bus shuttle to the terminal door. As for Gatwick itself, we faced no issues and sped through check in and security! We opted to enjoy the Virgin Holidays V-Room, and I think it was worth the small extra payment that it cost. We enjoyed complimentary cooked breakfasts as well as access to video games, newspapers and fantastic views across the runway and taxiways – which is always good for a pre-flight geekout…
As for the flight itself, I was excited for that too! Neither of us had flown long-haul before and as such it was the longest flight that either of us had ever been on… I was impressed by the service that Virgin offered. I’m a big guy (6ft 5) and even though we were in Economy I had just about enough legroom – though stretching out was a bit tricky! In-flight entertainment was top-notch with a great selection of movies, TV shows and music to keep us entertained. Also, a mention needs to be made of the food! Although it was standard airline kinda stuff, it was actually bloody tasty and the free-flowing alcohol is ALWAYS appreciated
------------------------------------
Moving on from the boring travelling parts now and on to actual bloody Orlando! We arrived and got on our shuttle to the hotel (we didn’t rent a car and managed perfectly fine without – more on this later) at Walt Disney World! We chose to stay at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, which is the newest of the Disney resort hotels (opening in phases since late 2012) and is classed in their ‘Value’ range. It’s an absolute behemoth of a hotel – containing four blocks themed around animated classics: The Little Mermaid, Lion King, Finding Nemo and Cars and each block would have probably classed itself as a good size hotel anywhere other than Disney!
The hotel featured three pools – including the single largest on Disney hotel property – as well as the usual food court, pool bar, shop, arcade and other amenities that you would expect. The food court sold an array of foods and all that we tried were good quality and fairly reasonably priced too. I was also impressed by all the staff, but particularly those at reception and concierge who were informative and friendly… So much so in fact that after we checked in, we later found a message on our room phone from the cast member who checked us in stating that if we had any issues at all that we should not hesitate to come back to reception and ask away! A nice touch I thought!
------------------------------------
Now after a good sleep it was time to get up and be ready to go for day one: Animal Kingdom
I had high hopes for this park since I love the idea behind it, and it didn’t disappoint. Although I now probably place it last out of the 4 WDW parks, I do so with a heavy heart and not because I dislike it at all – just that I like the others better!
One thing which was slightly off-putting about the park is its current state. There are large construction walls all over the place right now – some for Avatar, but many for all sorts of other reasons. This meant that the whole area surrounding the Tree of Life was closed off and construction walls completely surrounded the lake around the Asia area. Whilst these were actually done in a fairly unobtrusive way – it did detract from the atmosphere slightly in places.
The first thing we did in AK was catch the Lion King show. I was thoroughly impressed by this and it set the tone for the rest of the trip really. A fun and immersive (due to the theatre layout) show featuring lots of colour, music, lights and talented people. I really liked the dynamic staging and the way the segments flowed fluidly – despite needing constant set changes despite being surrounded by the audience…
Moving on from the Lion King, we wound our way to Kali River Rapids. Obviously these were my first American rapids and thus I was prepared to get a bit more wet than in Britain
– though I did end up getting absolutely drenched! I loved this ride, and it’s my favourite of the three rapids that we rode. The theming is great and the drop is fun – with wetness depending on whether you go backwards or not. Despite that though it is a bit of a one-trick pony and doesn’t feature a great deal else.Straight after this we headed for Kilimanjaro Safari – a ride I was really, really excited to experience. For those that haven’t ridden it, this is where Animal Kingdom really comes into its own. The whole experience lasts a good 15 minutes and takes you through a variety of habitats where you can see all kinds of animals. It was a fantastic experience and I was pleased at just how many animals you could see and equally how close they got to the vehicles passing through. It was really a joy and a great experience that blurs the line between theme park and zoo.
After a spot of lunch (Flame Tree BBQ – yum!) we rode the ride AK is probably most famous for – Expedition Everest. The mountain itself is bloody impressive as it towers in the distance and just gets bigger and bigger as you approach. I also loved the queue – which featured an incredible amount of detail. As for ride experience, I thought it was serious, serious fun… It’s a long ride, and packs a decent amount of punch through its drops and turns – particularly when going backwards. I was impressed also by the ride system and the speed that the transfer tracks engaged and set off too. It’s a definite Disney classic and one of my favourite rides now, just a shame that the disco Yeti can’t move eh!
We also experienced the bizzare area that is Dino-Rama before we left. I appreciate that it is meant to be slightly ironic and does have a fairly detailed backstory, but it just looks plainly crap and completely out of place with the rest of the park. Primeval Whirl as well looks a right mess because of a combination of ride type and the theme… Let’s be honest, when Disney are placing in a type of ride that Pleasurewood Hills owned and sold years ago something is a bit odd… It’s still a fun ride, just something that doesn’t belong where it is.
Fortunately though, the area has Dinosaur to fall upon to give it some class. A top quality Disney dark ride – although it is one that does feel a teeny bit tired in its queue and station area. I didn’t really know what to expect with this one before riding but was pleasantly surprised both with the visual effects used and also the cars movement! It’s definitely a bit of a violent ride – which could be off putting to some- but the layout is very good and the story itself fairly interesting too. Highlights were the really cool dinosaur animatronics of course!
By this point it was time to call it a day and we went for our dinner reservation at the Rainforest Café – which was equally as much of a fun experience as it was tasty, although the service wasn’t exactly fantastic.
------------------------------------
I feel like I’m blabbing on a hell of a lot right now and this has taken quite long enough to type today… so I’ll hopefully carry on and continue this soon with my thoughts on the other Disney Parks as well as Universal, Busch and SeaWorld… See, that’s the trouble with Florida, there is just too damn much to discuss!!
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