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!