We Left With Blisters On Our Feet

Shawn:

Finally it is here. Our Disney Post!

For all of you who don't know, Elad and I went last weekend to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. It was a last minute and unplanned - but we made it there and back with great stories to tell about it.

For all of you who want to visit Disney - you don't have to plan ahead. But in reality, it doesn't hurt. When we arrived in Disney we tried to find a hotel. We thought we were smart by picking the weekend after New Years, and before Martin Luther King weekend, because most people wouldn't be at Disney at this time. We were wrong. We had to stop at a handful of hotels before finding one that had an available room. We found Seralago because Elad thought they had a nice sign. Turns out they only had a few smoking rooms available for the weekend. Why were there no rooms available, you ask? Disney had a Marathon during the entire weekend - which ran through the parks - and booked up all the hotels. So lucky for us we found a hotel that was only 5 minutes to the park - and the room actually didn't smell like smoke at all.

Since I am insane, I don't like to waste time when there are things to see or do. That means waking up at 6:45 am in order to be at the gate, ticket in hand, ready to be the first on line for the rides. Elad is a good sport, so he went along with me. Here is how the morning went:

6:45 am - wakey time!
8:00 am - in the car driving to get coffee
8:30 am - at MGM-Disney Studios buying tickets
9:00 am - in the park.What happened to that half hour between buying tickets and getting into the park? Sadly the park opens at 8:30 for people who are staying at Disney hotels - but the cheap people who stay outside of the park are only allowed in at 9:00 am.

We decided to get a one day park hopper pass. This would allow us to check out as many parks as we can get to in one day.

We made it into the park and headed straight to Star Tours - which is a Star Wars ride that is in definite need of a face lift. It is a cute idea - that you are in a space ship going through the galaxy and are avoiding being hit by lasers - but the ride doesn’t have a realistic feel after being on all the new modern rides that make you really feel like you are in another world.

Soon we hit the best ride of the day - Aerosmith’s Rock n Roller Coaster. This Ride Kicks Ass!! It goes super fast and is like a modern day Space Mountain. I will admit I was scared to get on the ride - and we somehow found ourselves in the first row - but it was totally worth it!

At about 11:00 we decided that we wanted to move onto Epcot. This was definitely were we wanted to spend the most time and we knew that MGM might be fun - but Epcot was the place for us. So we took a nice ferry boat and managed to see a few Disney resorts on the way.

We entered Epcot in the middle of the area where there are the different countries. Specifically we found ourselves in England. We quickly moved through this part and went straight for the new ride Soarin’.

There is a lot of hype around Soarin’ - its new - its pretty - its like you are flying. Sure it is - but really it’s a great IMAX film, with seats that go up in the air so it feels like you are in the sky. You fly through California - but the transition isn’t smooth. You are over the sea and suddenly the screen flashes to mountains and then again a quick flash and you are in Yosemite. Its really pretty while you are in each scene - but the transition sucked.

After Soarin' we had lunch at the Coral Reef restaurant. A great place that is built around a huge tank that is big enough to scuba dive in! Eat some good food while watching sharks, sting reys, and fishes of all sort swim by.

We spent the afternoon on Honey I Shrunk the Audience (which is cool besides the 10 minute Kodak commercial you are forced to sit through) and Test Track (which is a fun ride where you are in a car that is put through all types of tests and ends with a really fast speeding test). We also went on Mission:Space (scary and fun) and Spaceship: Earth (cute and easy going).

At about 4pm we decided that we were gonna head over to the Magic Kingdom, so we can get on Space Mountain, eat dinner, and see the new fireworks show called "Wishes." We got on the monorail, went straight for Tommorowland, got a Fast Pass for Space Mountain, and then wandered the park a little until it was our time to use the Fast Pass.

So for all of you who don't know what Fast Pass is - listen up. When you go to Disney the lines are long. You can wait hours just to sit on a ride that lasts 1 minute. Of course some of the rides are worth it - but nothing beats using a Fast Pass. Show up to the ride, scan in your ticket at a Fast Pass machine, and a ticket comes out that tells you to come back at a certain time. For example, when we got to Space Mountain we got a ticket that said come back between 6:30 and 7:30. It was about an hour and a half away, so we wandered the park, did Small World, Pirates of the Carribean, the Haunted House - and ate a few snacks - while waiting. By the time we got back to Space Mountain we were able to go straight to the front and get on the ride within 10 minutes.

The trick is that you can only have one Fast Pass at a time. So you need to time yourself well. Elad and I got really lucky throughout the day. We did everything with fast pass, and didn’t wait on line for more than 15 minutes for anything. We even had someone hand us their fast pass that they weren't using on Soarin’ - so we waited no time at all for that.

Elad:

Finally, the moment we had been waiting for all day was upon us, the fireworks. Shawn and I love fireworks. Love the colors, the sounds, the surprises. In that regard, The Magic Kingdom's Wishes was everything we could imagine. It started with the brightest white ball we'd ever seen, like a comet flying over Cinderella's Castle, establishing the "wishing upon a star" theme. Another comet came from the other side and they threatened to collide. They didn't, but it was as if they did, because the width and breath of the ensuing explosions defied all our expectations. There were kaldiescope of colors, there were sprinklings showers of sparks, there were a dozen comets with brightly lit trails streaking across the nightsky. There was music, there was lights and projections on the castle. It was indescribly impressive.

And so our first day ended, literally, with a bang.

Next day, up early (although a little bit later than the previous day), and onto Universal. We hadn't planned to do Universal at all, rather split our Disney days to two parks a day. But, we'd do some much in one day, we knew we had to take advantage of our fast-paced spirit and attack the other major attraction in Orlando: Universal Studios and their new spinoff park, Islands of Adventure.

We hit Islands of Adventure first at my suggestion. I thought the Do-The-Big-Rides first-approach was the best and the most efficient. It seemed to work. Despite Shawn's dire proposal the first thing we did was head straight for a behemoth of a ride: The Incredible Hulk. Its curves and drops and rider-screams are ever-present all over The Islands.

Shawn was terrified of the ride. It looked so imposing, so frightening. But she relented and stuck with me, apprehensive as all hell. Riding up the cackling gears of the ride to the pure blue Florida sky, I felt Shawn's fear. She's practically afraid of drops - probably the loose, freefall, effect reminds her of falling - and Hulk had a dozy of one. Thankfully, it curved almost immediately and we were off at the speed of sound (or something like it) before she even had a chance to realize she was afraid. And over the next 60-90 seconds, she screamed and yelled, but not with fear, but glee. I'm somewhat of a rollercoaster enthusiast, having been on dozens in my life, and I have to say that is easily one of the best. It's got style to it. The curves and loops seem to have a purpose, a thematic link to The Hulk idea. In order to ride this thing, you have to be strong.

Next up was Sunday's ride-of-the-day, The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman. This ride is the whole package. It's a small car riding through an elaborate track, but here's the kicker: there are massive, seeming invisible, screens everywhere and you have 3D glasses on. Imagine: rolling through a dilapidated city block only to have Spiderman jump on the car, the car rocks with the impact, and him coming up to your face and saying, "I need your help." Over the next few minutes (the ride is long and engrossing) you watch as Spiderman takes on every single one of his biggest villains. Water splashes onto your face. At one point, Electro shoots a flamethrower at you and heat engulfs the car. Another time, Doctor Octopus grabs the car and throws you upwards towards the rooftops. When I tell you this felt more realistic than any 3D ride I'd ever been on, believe me. It was a wonderful experience and one I hope to repeat very soon.

Next, we did a quick but fun tour of Universal's Islands. From Toontown, where they have tons of great photo opportunities and it was early enough that the only two little kids in the park were Shawn and I and so we took tons of pictures. To the small and unimpressive Jurassic Park section, to The Lost Continent Island where we saw a wonderful show called Poseidon's Fury and finally to Seuss Landing where we went on an impressive, albeit childish, ride based on The Cat In The Hat.

(Shawn: Elad forgot to mention we went on Dueling Dragons. This is a ride where 2 very scary rollercoasters (fire and ice) run along side each other and threaten to collide a few times. This ride was insanely scary and because Elad and I are real troopers, we went on both fire and ice right after each other)

Then we were off to Universal Studios, with it's fair share of classic rides, new fun rides, and slightly disappointing rides. First, the new: Shrek 4-D is a instant classic, bringing a huge theater to life with very impressive 3D and an equally impressive storyline. The Jimmy Neutron ride is another kiddie ride that has a lot of fun moments, a virtual who's-who's of Nickelodeon stars, and The Revenge of The Mummy ride was as surprising as it was awesome. It starts off as a simple animatronic ride and then upgrades to an impressive screen-based ride and then leaps into a rollicking rollercoaster. By the time it's over, you're not really sure which part was the best. A true winner.

Next, the disappointing: For all it's promise, the Men In Black ride, with a Spiderman-ish track and each rider with his or her very own gun, comes off as lackluster and a little dull. It had it's moments, but I wouldn't have waited on line for it. And thankfully, we didn't. (Hint: Universal has its own FastPass system except you pay a little extra and you go to any ride you choose and you don't have to wait in line. Well worth the cash. Just be sure to specify you want the Express pass for both parks.)

Finally, the classic: One of the rides we were most looking forward to it, because it stuck on our collective memory, is The Back to the Future ride. But, unfortunately, after the extremely exciting Spiderman ride, this simple shifting video-ride just didn't cut it. We enjoyed it, sure, for it's classic old-time-ness, but it definitely has lost its appeal. The folks at Universal should do a complete overhaul of the ride, call it Back To The Future II, and take some lessons from their modern rides. It could be a real hit.

The last ride we went on was E.T. Both Shawn and I didn't remember this one - though we probably did ride it - and so it was a complete surprise for both for us. Surprise as in Fun! It was interesting and exciting and when you arrive in E.T's home planet, magical. This is a ride with longevity and creativity and shouldn't be touched at all.

Universal is also interesting for it's facades. The different areas of the park are modeled after different cities, New York, San Francisco, and using movie-tricks, they really bring these areas to life. The only real complaint I had was that the re-imagined Jaws ride was closed for repair. That's the very definition of classic.

All in all, a wonderful weekend, full of memory and excitement. I'm very glad we finally decided to go and experience "the adventure" ourselves. And I would recommend it to everyone!