ASD’s visits to Disney’s Parks and Resorts
Photos taken in November, 2016 — The Chicago Cubs won the World Series! Wait, the Chicago Cubs actually, finally, after 108 years, won the World Series! So, three of the players got to go to Walt Disney World for a Main Street Parade (which, appropriately enough, is themed to about 108 years ago)…and I was there!
Photos taken in October, 2016 — October 1, 2016 was the 45th Anniversary of the opening of Walt Disney World. It was also the 34th Anniversary of the opening of Epcot. The Food & Wine Festival ran all month at Epcot, Magic Kingdom was decorated for Halloween, Disney’s Animal Kingdom was open some nights (but still without its Rivers of Light spectacular, Disney’s Hollywood Studios had less to see and do, and Disney Springs was decorated for Fall. I also took my first walk through Disney’s Port Orleans (Riverside and French Quarter), and I walked from Disney Springs through Disney’s Saratoga Springs all the way to Disney’s Old Key West. Oh yeah, the Main Street Electrical Parade “glowed” away (again), a new Muppets show debuted at Magic Kingdom and the Muppets Mobile Lab reappeared at Epcot.
Photos taken in September, 2016 — Visits to Epcot where the Food & Wine Festival got underway, Disney’s Animal Kingdom at night, Disney’s Hollywood Studios for another opportunity to see Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular and the tearing down of the Streets of America, and Magic Kingdom where it is already Halloweentime, plus Disney Springs and some of the resorts.
Photos taken in August, 2016 — Visits to Epcot, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom plus Disney Springs and some of the resorts.
Photos and video taken in July, 2016 — Visits to Epcot, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom plus Disney Springs (where even more new places opened) and Independence Day Magic Kingdom fireworks (on July 3) from the beach at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort.
Photos taken in June, 2016 — Visits to Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom plus Disney Springs, featuring photos of the newly opened gateway arch (bus depot) at Town Center; the newly opened Disney Vacation Club Members Lounge inside one of the pyramids of Epcot’s Imagination Pavilion; the newly opened Royal Summerhus and its “Frozen” princesses; the newly opened Frozen Ever After; the newly opened Soarin’ Around The World and more.
Photos taken in May, 2016 — Visits to all Four Parks plus Disney Springs opens its Town Center (though there is still more construction going on); featuring photos from the final month of Epcot’s longest-ever Flower & Garden Festival, Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s new nighttime hours and attractions, Olaf gets a meet-and-greet at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, a visit to the closing-one-of-these-days DisneyQuest, a visit to House of Blues, Turtle Talk with Crush at Epcot gets a few more friends, Magic Kingdom fireworks viewed from Disney’s Polynesian Resort’s boat dock and Soarin’ re-opens with “Soarin’ Over California” while we all await the grand debut of “Soarin’ Over the Horizon” in Shanghai in June so we can see it the next day, and more.
Photos taken in April, 2016 — Visits to all Four Parks plus Disney Springs construction; featuring a farewell to Lights, Motors, Action! and the Streets of America at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, a new (mostly video screen) Star Wars stage show, a SpaceX rocket launch was visible over Epcot, and lots more photos from the second month of Epcot’s longest-ever Flower & Garden Festival.
I was invited to visit Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Magic to see Tangled: The Musical, to have lunch in the Animator’s Palate, and to take a tour of the ship. (Except for tolls and gas, Disney Cruise Line issued me a Media credential and covered all of the expenses of the visit.) The ship is impressive. The show is broadway-caliber with a top-notch cast, a score by Alan Menken, impressive costumes and sets that mixes physical and digital elements. Animator’s Palate (the restaurant) is quite a sight to see — the food was a sampler of the ship’s major restaurants and I only ate a small sampling of that, but the service here was top-notch too and then there was the video-based animation which included the works drawn by every guest in the room mixed with classic Disney animated scenes. During the tour, in addition to the ship, I got some nice photos of NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building at neighboring Kennedy Space Center. With the rest of the media, was escorted off the ship before its sailing this afternoon. March 17, 2016.
Photos taken in March, 2016 — Visits to all Four Parks plus Disney Springs construction and views from the Characters in Flight balloon; featuring lots of photos from the first month of Epcot’s longest-ever Flower & Garden Festival and playing with the camera settings for more vibrant fireworks photos. Also, Easter Egg decor at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort