Week 34 - Magic Kingdom New Attraction Updates (Aug 26)

It had been a while since we last visited Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, so we spent this Friday exploring many of the attractions that have been recently updated (and a few of our favorites). By the way, the lines were very short today. We often walked right into an attraction with no wait.

Follow the footsteps of our day at the Magic Kingdom:

Enchanted Tiki Room
The Tiki Room had actually caught fire early this year. The attraction running at the time (Enchanted Tiki Room - Under New Management) suffered a bit of damage.

It has now reopened with a performance similar to the original attraction, Tropical Serenade and no longer includes the birds, Lago (voiced by Gilbert Gottfried) or Zazu. I think it is no coincidence that the Tiki Room reopened without Lago. A few short weeks after the fire, Gilbert Gottfried was fired from his gig as the Aflac duck for a series of un-Disney-like "tweets" he posted on Twitter (what's up with Gilbert and birds?). It would seem Gilbert made Disney's decision to dump rather than repair ore rebuild Lago a very easy one.

Pirates of the Caribbean
Hands down this is one of my favorite rides. We've already seen the Captain Jack Sparrow enhancements and really enjoy them.

As much as I enjoy Captain Jack, I have five favorite moments in the Pirates attraction: 1) Dead men tell no tales; 2) Getting "shot" by a cannon; 3) We want the red head; 4) The hairy leg and dirty foot hanging over the bridge and 5) The dog holding the jail cell keys.

The Haunted Mansion
The Haunted Mansion recently expanded the queue to run through a bit of a cemetery. Guests now have the option to stroll through the cemetery or bypass it (for quicker entrance).

While the cemetery is cute and worth a look at least once, I would suggest bypassing this little extra tour if you are short on time.

In addition to the new cemetery, the ending of the Haunted Mansion ride has changed a bit too (no spoilers here). Unfortunately, my line of vision seemed to be interrupted for some reason and I did not experience the full effect of the ending. Another reason to go back...

Carousel of Progress
There's just something about the Carousel of Progress that my husband and I both really enjoy. We can't help but sing, "There's a great big beautiful tomorrow".

Originally built for the 1964 World's Fair in New York, we always try to make it part of our visit to the Magic Kingdom.

Fantasyland Expansion
Last, but not least, we spent some time looking at the posters for the new Fantasyland Expansion. Here's a sneak peek at what is scheduled to open in 2012. Click on any of the photos for a larger image:

New Fantasyland

New Fantasyland Construction

Enchanted Tales with Belle

Be Our Guest Restaurant

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Looking forward to this one... some neat roller coaster technology!

Looking forward to our next visit to Magic Kingdom. We had lunch at Casey's Corner and saw some really awesome looking Chicago Dogs go by (we split an order of corn dog nuggets). I probably won't like it because I'm such a picky eater, but my husband is definitely going to try it out. I'll give it at least one bite because it looked really good - even to me!

Week 33 - Port Orleans Riverside Mill Food Court (Aug 16)

This afternoon we decided to cool off at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside resort. Since it was a little early for lunch, for we first picked up some cold drinks and then headed over to the River Roost Lounge.

The lounge doesn't officially open until late afternoon so we had the whole place to ourselves to just sit back and relax.

After time at the River Roost, we decided to grab some lunch at the Riverside Mill food court. Today we shared a Muffaletta sandwich. I've always shied away from this sandwich, but my husband has always wanted to try it so I finally gave in.

Let me list the reasons I'm not attracted to this sandwich. First, the name. Muffaletta. Really? What is that? It sounds completely unappetizing to me. There's no description on the menu board so I guess I'm just supposed to know what this is. I've since looked it up and this is what I found...

New Orleans is home to the Muffaletta. So, I guess that makes sense since we're at Disney's Port Orleans resort. It is filled with Italian meats and cheeses plus (and this is the unique part) a special olive salad. The sandwich is also made with Muffaletta bread - a dense round loaf. Sandwiches are traditionally served as one-quarter or one-half of the loaf.

If you've ready my other blog entries, including my Disney pizza reviews, you know that I don't like a lot of bread. And, every time I have looked at this sandwich, I see a meat to bread ratio that just doesn't appeal to me. My husband, on the other hand, loves bread. Which is why he also ordered the breadsticks and marinara.

The breadsticks look awesome, but they are hard as a rock. I didn't even try one. My husband much prefers the soft breadsticks and sauce available from Pop Century. OK... getting back to why I don't like the Muffaletta sandwich. I'm also a very picky eater and I don't like stuff I can't identify in my food. I actually like olives quite a bit, but there is much more than olives in the special "olive salad". It is an Italian marinated blend of olives, celery and cauliflower along with some spices and other things I couldn't identify. If it were only marinated olives, I'd be in business. Instead, I cut a small piece off the back-end of the sandwich which had just a little meat and no "stuff".

Since we shared a sandwich, there was room for dessert. I went for the chocolate cupcake and my husband went for the chocolate cake.

Both were yummy, but the icing on my cupcake looked like someone had already taken a bite out of it. My husband picked up the desserts while I sat at the table, so I did my best to ignore the missing icing and assume nothing icky happened to it.

Finally, after an afternoon of eating and drinking we dropped by the Riverside Mill restrooms before heading out. To our surprise, they were completely renovated:

While I'll never complain about a brand new bathroom at Disney (this one had a lot of beautiful and quality tile work), I'm a little disappointed that they didn't maintain the rustic "old South" theming this restroom once had.

Week 32 - Epcot The Seas with Nemo and Friends (Aug 13)

Today we visited The Seas with Nemo and Friends located in the Future World section of Epcot. Once called The Living Seas, this pavilion is located a short distance from The Land pavilion. My favorite part of the entrance is the three birds perched on the rocks... continually squawking, "Mine, Mine, Mine".

The main attraction, of course, is Nemo and his friends. If you're looking to cool off on a hot day at Epcot, this is the place to be. It has to be one of coolest ride queues in the entire park. Our wait time was posted as 10 minutes, but there was no wait at all. However, it is a LONG walk to the clam-mobiles. I don't know why but I counted paces and came up with 287.

The Finding Nemo ride is dark and may be a little scary at times for the really young (but only briefly). One of my favorite special effects is seeing Nemo in real water with real fish. In this photo (the only one that came out) you can see Nemo with teacher Mr. Ray and the other kid fish from school.

As cute as the Nemo ride is, I have a super soft spot for Turtle Talk with Crush.

Located inside the same pavilion, this children's show always makes me smile and laugh out loud. No matter how many times I see it, I grin from ear to ear. The show is interactive (Crush talks to the kids and sometimes to the "parental units") so every show is a bit different.

The body movements and especially the facial expressions on Crush are very convincing. Even as an adult, you forget - just for a moment - that Crush is nothing more than the genius creation of Disney's Imagineers.

It's moments like these - a cartoon turtle taking to an audience - that make me so grateful for the opportunity to can grab a little bit of Disney magic just about any day or time I want.

Week 31 - Disney RFID Refillable Mugs Crack Down (Aug 2)

If you're one of those folks who likes to bend the rules when it comes to Disney refillable mugs, your free ride may be coming to an end.

Introducing Disney refillable mugs with RFID tags. That's right. Disney is currently experimenting with the idea at the All-Star Sports resort. You'll notice that these mug colors (purple, orange and green) are a bit different from the refillable mug colors offered at other Disney resorts.

What does this mean? Well, Disney is cracking down on the unlimited refill program. At the testing location, you can no longer use your old refillable mugs from past vacations (or other containers). The soda dispensers have been retrofitted to read RFID tags before dispensing soft drinks (the tags are now on the paper cups too). Only water is available without a tag.

The new RFID mugs automatically expire at the end of your vacation stay (up to 14 days) and can only be refilled once every five minutes. The display panel lets you know how many days are remaining on your mug. If you have returned earlier than 5 minutes, it will let you know how many minutes remain before you can fill up again. (Click the photo below to enlarge for detail.)

Paper cups are only good for an hour or two. And, if you try to use one of the complimentary water cups? Guess what? You can only get water.

What is particularly interesting is that the old signage would indicate unlimited refills. The signs at the All-Star Sports test location have been updated with language that does not include "unlimited" in the description. Rather it states "refills available..."

The loss prevention for Disney is just a small part of the equation.

While many people are complaining about the current refillable mug testing, there is a real problem. If you've ever been a guest, you've undoubtedly witnessed other guests cheating the program. It is simply not fair to the guests who play by the rules. Especially if you're standing behind someone filling a 2-liter soda bottle (yes, it happens).

I think Disney may be considering changes that go beyond the resort beverage centers. Many guests carry their mugs throughout the parks (sometimes because schedules are tight and it is a very long walk back to the room). Perhaps Disney is considering theme park refills (maybe .99 cents a refill)? It would be a cost-savings for guests and a green alternative to disposable cups and plastic bottles.

My biggest concern as a guest is "rush times". With the current setup it appears that only two people can fill up at once (one per side). That is going to slow down a process that is already pretty slow.

Also, the last time I purchased a drink at one of the resorts, I had an issue with my drink not once, but twice. The first soda I filled up was flat. I had to dump it and start over. My replacement Coke was literally hot. It melted my ice cubes and I was left with a warm soda. On my third attempt, I finally got an icy cold Coca-Cola. The current RFID system would have locked me out before I had a chance to get an acceptable drink.

The important thing to remember is that this is only an experiment and I'm sure they will need to make many adjustments before the program "works" as it is intended without inconveniencing guests. Until then, it is business as usual for the Disney refillable mugs at most resorts.  

Week 31 - SeaWorld Orlando All Day Eating Pass (Aug 2)

Our SeaWorld Orlando annual passes expire at the end of this week so we decided to visting the theme park for one last full day.

Since we'd be there all day, we opted again to buy the SeaWorld all day eating pass. See my previous post on how to discover, is the SeaWorld all-day eating worth it? There, I discuss price and food options and how to best make use of the eating pass.

For today's visit, I'll just share a review of the food we sampled:

Breakfast Entree - first meal of the day and we're already disappointed. Breakfast is served until 10:30 AM. We arrived shortly after 10:00 AM only to find out that they no longer had any bacon (and just one sad little link of sausage left). They had an overabundance of eggs, and placed huge piles on our plate. SeaWorld really needs to get better at estimating the egg to meat ratios and start cooking more as they begin to run out. My Big Shamu Breakfast was missing the bacon and sausage. Glad I was on the plan and not buying ala carte. On the plus side, orange juice was included and the breakfast potatoes were yummy. The big muffins were delicious as always. I had the the chocolate chip and my husband had the blueberry.

Early Lunch Entree - another disappointment I'm afraid. We had lunch at the Spice Mill. I chose the steak burger which was cold. The burgers must have been sitting out for at least 30 minutes (I almost think they were being held in a chiller rather than a warmer). The fries were fresh out of the fryer and great. My husband's chicken entree salad was small. For the price they charge, SeaWorld should be embarrassed to call this an "entree salad". There is about a tablespoon of chicken. A similar entree salad at Voyagers Smokehouse from our last visit was equally small and lacking in chicken. The pickle counts as a side item. The chocolate cake is by far our favorite.

Late Lunch Entrees - We just finished sitting through a performance of Blue Horizons in the blistering heat at this outdoor seating dolphin show and needed to cool off fast. We headed straight to the Seafire Inn for their abundance of cool dark seating. After ordering our meals, we found out that the air conditioned indoor seating had been closed off to guests due to early preparations forthe nighttime luau. They were a handful of tables indoors near the condiment station and another set of tables outside. Both sets of tables were full.

I politely asked the manager on duty if additional seating was available indoors. He wouldn't make eye contact and then pointed to the full tables and said, "this is all we've got". He was unapologetic and it was obvious that he was not about to go out of his way to help a guest. A few moments later, a SeaWorld team member listening in pointed out that a table outside had opened up and suggested it "wasn't too bad out there" because they were running fans. The manger should have applied some common sense and opened a portion of indoor seating. There were more people than tables and it was 95 degrees outside! Unfortunately, we had no choice but to go outdoors. Let me tell you, it is no fun eating a hot meal (I had the chicken parmesan, which was tasty) out in the heat. My husband made a better choice by selecting a sandwich. I mostly had to walk away from lunch. Lesson learned...

A Place to Cool Off - we remembered that the Terrace Garden Pizza and Pasta Buffet at SeaWorld was quite cool. We had only eaten there once before (it was pretty bad) and decided that since it was included in the all-day eating pass, we see if things had improved. We didn't stay long because it was too warm inside the dining area, but we took a look around and sampled a slice of pizza. The pizza is still soggy, unattended children were still sticking their fingers into everything and the salad tongs were buried in the salad. On the plus side, there was now a white bowtie pasta. Previously, there was only whole wheat penne. I'm so glad we didn't pay ala carte to enter the buffet.  

Early Dinner Entree - after suffering in the heat outdoors at the SeaFire Inn and no luck at the Pizza Buffet, we decided we should try to cool off at Voyagers smokehouse. Wrong... there was indoor seating, but is not very cool inside. We shared the brisket (moist and tender, but lacking in flavor) and my usual go-to favorite chicken. The chicken looked super pink inside and there was hardly any meat. I swapped it for ribs. The ribs were dry and chewy, just like many times in the past. My husband loved the carrot cake.

Late Dinner Entree - we finished off the day with a steak and chicken fajita sub combo and Mango Joes and an order of chicken fingers. Not bad, but the only seating option is outdoors. As usual, dessert was better than the entree (chocolate pudding and cookies). But, I have to give SeaWorld props for the fries. Every serving we received today was piping hot and terrific.

We once enjoyed SeaWorld for their dining options. We used to be impressed and thought they did a much better job than Disney. That is no longer the case. Unless something changes, we likely won't be back to SeaWorld Orlando for a long time.