Remnants of Epcot Center (Pt. 2)

Getting back to my roots. I was in WDW recently and I figured I would post about some of the Epcot Center remnants that I had missed in the previous post. So here goes nothing!

Around Epcot's birthday, I was rocking my Epcot Center tee that my girlfriend made me and saw this little jem on a random wall in the former Inoventions (near the former Visa card-member photo spot). This is the stuff that I look for in Epcot now. I know that the spirit of Epcot leaves on somewhere, but since the late 90's has been so elusive. The fact that Disney took the time to set this up is a little comforting. As was this beautiful sight.

A little backstory; I actually started my Disney fandom when this attraction was being refurbished to the abomination that was Journey Into YOUR Imagination. This ride was my childhood, and meant the world to me!I was just some 8 year old kid who was so hurt and pissed that my favorite attraction was being taken away from me, that I joined a website named "Friends of Figment" and singed a petition to have the ride in it's original form, just like the Save  Mr. Toad's Wild Ride group wanted. For the next 17 years I learned that things do not go back to there original forms (most of the time, looking at you EO) and have accepted that we honor those attractions through...pins...

But when the announcement was made that the new Disney Vacation Club Lounge at Epcot would be located in the on the second level of Journey Into Imagination, a place off limits since 1998, I was elated. I had dreamed about following in the footsteps of AdamtheWoo and my personal favorite Mr. Leonard Kinsey and just darting up those stairs, but now I don't have to risk getting kicked out! This is one of the best views of Spaceship Earth there is. 

My girlfriend and I (seen here grinning like an idiot). (below)

It was so good to be back up in the second floor of JII, and almost go into the original far superior Imagesworks. I want to take a sledgehammer to that wall so bad. Also kinda sad that they just left the escalators covered, but the elevator still works!

Also, here are the best restrooms in Epcot!

Also here is a super secret tip. Do you need to go to the bathroom in Epcot? Head over to Journey into Imagination and keep going, past the entrance to the ride. Here you will find some rarely used bathrooms unchanged from 1982. Here you can still listen to the original JII's Background music, which includes Magic Journeys, and Makin' Memories. Also you can see the original paint job/where Disney got lazy. As a Cast Member I ran into said, "you gotta take a shit? Head to Imagintion". Actually, once I think of it I don't know if he was talking about the bathrooms, or the ride?

It's weird to say "former" Inoventions because I remember when is took Communicore's place. At 25 I'm really not that old, but I feel it when the "new attraction" (or at least that how I see it in my mind) is now seen as dated and slated for renovations. They should name it Renovations!

Also,what the hell is going on with the color scheme near Epcot's fountain of nations?!?

It literally looks like a colorblind artist just started painting.

I can't be the only one who thinks this looks better right?

And back on the inside you can see the remnants of the previously mentioned Imagination's Dreamcatcher. This is located right inside the shop Mouse Gears (pictured below).

To be fair, I actually think this is one of the better stores on Disney property. This is the one of the only places you can find original Epcot Center memorabilia as well as general souvenirs.

On to an attraction that really hasn't changed since 1982, except for the Ellen's Energy Adventure update, which basically added  Ellen Degeneres and Bill Nye the Science Guy to the original. Unfortunately they got ride of the songs  "Universe of Energy" and "Energy, You Make the World Go 'Round", which I performed as sophomore in high school to get our group an A for creativity in science! I had to ride one last time, as it was recently announced to be closing.

The theaters are pretty much the same, the building which was recently repainted to it's original color is the same, and the ride vehicles are the same (pictured below). Even the Prehistoric scene is pretty much the same (also pictured below).

Look at all them crowds!

A great place to sleep, or rest your feet!

Seriously, the exact same since 1982!

Ok, This is actually pretty cool that they still have this! As you probably know, I love the original logos.

Once again I visited Wonders of Life or as it's now called, the "Festival Center", just to get a look at the Body Wars queue, which I actually succeeded in. My friends distracted the nearest cast member with pin trading and allowed me to peek and a bare wall :/.

On to Mission: Space. Honestly I really like this ride, it's just so unfortunate that it replaced Horizons which meant it really couldn't live up to it's predecessor no matter how hard it tried. The story is getting a tad bit stale, it would be cool if they did different missions like a Star Tours.

Anyways, the remnants, or rather nods here from Horizons are actually hidden in plain sight. You can see the original Horizons logo right smack dab in the middle of the gravity wheel (pictured below).

You can also spot the same logo in the gift shop (pictured below).

This are constant reminders to me and all Epcot Center fans of how much we miss Horizons.

A thoughtful review of Disney's Transportation System

If you've been to Walt Disney World you've probably used some sort of their transportation system, whether that be a Disney Bus, a Monorail, a Friendship Boat, or a Ferry. Today we will review the changes and the additions of many of the transportation on property.

Disney's Buses

This is by far the fastest mode of transportation on WDW property. Buses will run constantly throughout the day and usually you won't wait more than 10 minutes, but you may be unfortunate and wait 45 at times, but on average you'll only wait about 5-10 minutes. So here are the buses that ran on opening day.

As you can see, quite a lot has changed since then, the most drastic would be size. The stripe on the side indicated where this bus was going. (below)

Who remembers these good looking buses? Most of these were re-painted versions of the ones above. These are the buses I remember fondly. I remember standing alot due to lack of seats, and getting sick because of the way we took turns combined with the fact I had the flu... (below)

Around the early 2000's you could start to see these kinds of buses (pictured below). They have more room, are closer to the ground to benefit the ever growing population who needs wheelchair access, and more seats. There was/are many different layouts of this version of bus and are currently still in use. 

Finally we have come to present day. These buses use less diesel, some electric. They now make up a majority of the buses. (below)

As well as the new extra long. I pray for this bus at the end of the night. (below)

Along with the Disney Transport Buses you have both the Cruise Line buses and Disney's Magical Express which run from WDW to Cape Canaveral and WDW to MCO (Orlando International Airport). 

Disney Ferry Boats/ Friendship Boats

There are many Ferry Boats on property, the most prominent being the Liberty Belle in the Magic Kingdom, and the Transportation and Ticket Center Ferries, the Richard F. Irvine, the General Joe Potter, and the Admiral Joe Fowler.

(The Liberty Belle above)

This is the Ferry that travels along the Rivers of America in Liberty Square.

(The General Joe Potter above)

This is a Transportation and Ticket Center Ferry

(Admiral Joe Fowler circa 1979 above)

There was actually a second Ferry Boat on the Rivers of America in the Magic Kingdom, the Admiral Joe Fowler which actually was the first Ferry but was destroyed in the 80's during one of it's dry docks, then they renamed one of the TTC Ferries after him.

(New Admiral Joe Fowler Circa 2012 below)

My Personal favorite boats are in Epcot and used in the surrounding area. The"Friendship" boats are used daily from launches inside of Epcot (Future World to Germany and Future World to Morocco) and outside the back gate at the international gateway providing service from Epcot to Disney's Hollywood Studios (with stops at Disney's Yacht and Beach Club, Disney's Boardwalk, and the Swan and Dolphin).

The only caveat with taking these boats is that they are slowwwwwww. It is often faster to take the boat from Epcot to the Boardwalk and walk to Disney's Hollywood Studios, or Hollywood Studios to Swan and Dolphin and walk to Epcot, you will almost definitely beat the boat.

If you are in World Showcase and are planning to head to Future World, its worth it to give your feet a break and take a friendship across the lagoon. It's only a 5 minute ride and your feet will thank you later.

Walt Disney World Monorail System

The most famous and my personal favorite transportation on WDW property, the Monorail. Disney has of course been famous for it's monorail ever since their first opened at Disneyland in 1959. When  you think of "Disney World" one of the first images that pops up in my mind is the monorails. I can gaurentee that most people who have been here have ridden the monorail once. Shout out to my fellow geeks who can word for word "Please stand clear of the doors...".

(Disneyland's original monorail pictured below)

The Walt Disney World Monorail System has been operating since opening day 1971, serving as a means of transportation from both hotels and the parking area (where as Disneyland's was just an attraction taking you around Tomorrowland until 1961).

The Monorail still travel directly through the Grand Canyon Concourse of the Contemporary Hotel (pictured below)

And in 1982, the Monorail expanded to include Epcot Center. Originally before E.P.C.O.T. became Epcot Center, Monorails and Peoplemovers were to be the main transportation around Walt Disney World.

Disney Trams!

The last but not least transportation in WDW I want to touch on is of course the Disney Trams. Everyone has probably at least seen them. For those of you who frequent WDW and stay on property, you may have never been on this but those who stay off property or are Florida residents are quite familiar with them. I have actually never been on them in Florida, I have been on the ones in California (shout out to mickey and friends tram!). These are as iconic as the Disney Buses. 

While they can also be as slow as the Friendship boats, this tram is almost necessary when you are traveling with kids, or a big family.

Anyways, That's all I got!

Walt Disney World News for the Week of October 10th, 2016

Walt Disney World Resort News for the week of October 10th, 2016

MSEP say's "farewell" to the Magic Kingdom
Walt Disney World said farewell to the most performed parade ever this past week. The final performance of the Main Street Electrical Parade dazzled it's way down Main Street U.S.A for it's last time (for the foreseeable future) on October 9th. This run has lasted since May 2010, where it replaced Spectromagic for the summer of 2010 (Summer Nightastic), however after the mis-storage of the floats, Spectromagic was retired and Walt Disney World adopted the Main Street Electrical Parade.

After a 20 year hiatus, the Main Street Electrical Parade is set to return to it's home to Disneyland in 2017 for a Limited time engagement. No word yet from Disney on a replacement, however I am betting on Paint the Night to make an appearance at some point in the next year at Walt Disney World, however as of now that is total speculation.

Rivers of Light may have a new Opening Date

While there is no official word as of right now, a link (now defunct) to a Rivers of Light Dinning Package similar to the Fantasmic! Dinning Package, gave the opening date of May 1st 2017, a whole year past it's original opening debut which would have been April 22, 2016. However since the posting of the page, Disney has sense taken it down. Earlier this year, Rivers of Light (or more affectionately called Rivers of Lol on this website) was delayed to simply "2016". Currently it is listed on the WDW website as "Coming Soon".

What we do know is that Rivers of Light will offer Fastpass+ and be housed on the Discovery River in 2 seating areas that seat 5000 total near Expedition Everest. There is also a 3 minute version of the show on YouTube from the Press performance.

Disney's Hollywood Studios to debut new Holiday Show, "Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!"on November 14th 

Disney Hollywood Studios will debut a new show "Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!" on November 14th. The show is hosted by Prep and Landing from the self entitled show on ABC and run until December 31st. This show will fill the void left by the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights as DHS nighttime holiday show. There will also be a new Santa meet and greet in the park as well.

Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular will continue to run until November 12th, and is expected to return after the holidays.

5 Saddest Closures in WDW 2016

Many changes happen year to year at Disney, and this post is here to reflect on those shows and attractions we lost this year.

5. Main Street Electrical Parade

I have so much respect for this parade, It basically revolutionized night-time parades, and inspired the Walt Disney World original parade that I grew up with Spectromagic. It is definitely a classic I can't say that I'm too heartbroken because I am 95% sure that it will eventually be replaced by the far superior Paint the Night Parade. So far 50% of my prediction of what will happen is accurate, I think it will only be day's until Paint the Night is announced.

4. Earfell Tower

This WAS the symbol of Disney's MGM and Hollywood Studios and to be torn down is just sad. Don't get me wrong, I think it is appropriate, but none the less sad. This symbolized the "studios" part of the original MGM studios where productions were filmed and animation was created for movies. Honestly you could only get a good look from certain parts of the park, but it was clearly visible from the now defunct Studio Backlot Tour.

 Although it has gone through some changes throughout the years due to name changes.

This was the change that made me realize that Hollywood Studios of old, is now in Yesterland. Man what a great theme park Yesterland would be!

3. Symphony in the Stars

I just saw this for the first time earlier this year during May the 4th, and it was amazing! I seriously loved this show I had to see it again the next night. You were able to watch the show from pretty much anywhere down Hollywood Blvd. To me it is better than the current show, in fact it honestly was better than Wishes and gave IllumiNations a run for it's money, but that I assume was the reason for the change, the cost per show must've been insane with all the fireworks launched.

Hopefully we see it this year for May the 4th be with you!

2. Streets of America

(photo credit: WDWLive.com)

This is probably the most drastic change from this list, and will really change the landscape of the entire back section of the park. The close was necessary for the opening of Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land. This section of the park housed Osborne Lights as well as countless numbers of shows, the Honey I Shrunk The Kids playset as well as Light's Motor's Action! and the Backlot Tour. Gone, but not forgotten.

This parcel of land is humongous as is the plans for DHS, however currently it looks so sad. There really hasn't been a drastic change to a park in Walt Disney World, the only other US park that got a "makeover" all at once was Disney California Adventure.

Honorable Mention: Dream Along with Mickey and Lights! Motors! Action!

1. Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights

This was definitely the saddest closure. I had only seen this once but it was amazing and truly an amazing sight. It was a wonderful use of the Streets of America and really a tradition for many families. It was not only cool to see all the lights, but also moving. My favorite part was when everyone crowded the streets the see the lights get turned on for the night.

I really do think we will see another version of this somewhere in the parks in the near future. I think maybe Sunset or Hollywood Blvd, or perhaps even the central hub at Epcot or Liberty Square in the Magic Kingdom. Main Street would be awesome, but it kinda has its own thing going on right now.


Pretty tough year for Hollywood Studios, but I cannot wait for the incoming changes to take place, It truly will be a full day park.

Top 5 new additions at WDW 2016?

As 2016 is winding down, I thought I would review my favorite new additions to Walt Disney World this year. Whether that be a food at the Epcot Food and Wine Festival, a new attraction, or a new show, I'm making my list!

5. Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular

Earlier this summer, Symphony in the Stars at Disney's Hollywood Studios was replaced by the brand new show Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular. Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular is wonderful multi sensory experience. While I still prefer Symphony, the new show really surprised me with how they it was presented. In the past it was just fireworks and John Williams, pretty simple. Now they have projections on the Chinese Theater and surrounding buildings to give you a large immersive show. The added fire and laser effects are pretty spectacular to see combined with the projections, you really feel like a AT-AT walker is walking toward you and that you are watching the second Death Star battle from a Star Destroyer.

It does unfortunately include the prequels, but they made it bearable and really focused on the originally trilogy and of course the new movies. It is hard to get a spot to see the entirety of the show, which means you should get a spot 35 minutes early if you want one and they play music from the films as you wait. If you don't want the best seat in the house, 20-15 minutes should do. Fireworks wise it is not nearly as impressive as the previous show and the standing room is very scarce in comparison, but still a really good show.

4. Soarin' Around the World

I have know gotten a chance to ride Soarin' Around the World at two different parks and have enjoyed it each time. It's very cool to get some variety and to see new locations, all of them totally different from just California. Also, each park will end with a shot of there home park; What I mean by that is Disneyland's will end once again in Disneyland, where as in Walt Disney World you will now end in Epcot soarin' over Spaceship Earth which is almost emotional.

3. Tree of Life/Expedition Everest at night!

Expedition Everest is an amazing coaster in general, but mixing it up and riding it at night was almost made up for the fact that I went to Animal Kingdom on the wrong night for the DVC Safari party...
It was really cool to see everything dark, it made it suspenseful, and you could actually get a good look at disco yeti, which makes the fact that his arm is frozen pretty close to the train all that creepier.

What was really cool was the Tree of Life Awakens. This spring marked the debut of night hours for the first time in 18 years at Animal Kingdom, and also a new light projection show and it is really amazing. While I don't consider Animal Kingdom a park that is worthy of ending my day there yet, it does provide some amazing sights and stories projected on the tree. There are 4 shows, 1 every 15 minutes, each of them are different starting an hour before close.

2. Frozen Ever After

I was mad when it was announced that Malestrom would be closing to make way for a Frozen attraction. Basically the country of Norway in Epcot would now be the fictitious country of Arrendale. There would be no way I could respect this ride.

Fast forward to 2016, said Frozen ride opens and I am actually blown away by the ride. IT IS FANTASTIC. With how much shade is thrown at Frozen, I really have to give Disney credit for making this ride a dark water ride that includes a story that is totally believable (Elsa is throwing a summer party in remembrance of Anna's act of true love). That was the weirdest sentence I have ever written. Anyways what I am trying to say is that Disney did not try to shoehorn a story into the ride just let it play out like other classic dark rides.

The Animatronic's are the best I've seen, far better than those in the Seven Dwarf's Mine Train. Olaf in particular was pretty fantastic. The effects on the ride are so cool, especially the "Let It Go" section. They kept the fiber optics from Malestrom and integrated them well. Honestly the first thing I look for in a re-themed ride is what remained from it's previous tenant, but I honestly forgot that this was Malestrom and was generally awed by the ride. The effects plus the animatronics and soundtrack made this an amazing family ride, something that World Showcase has needed for awhile.

Honorable Mention: Rivers of Light (LOL)


This just sad. April 22nd has come and went with just a 3 minute preview of the show. Wonder when, if ever we will see Rivers of Light?

1. Disney Springs

Disney Springs is awesome. Although Disney Springs officially opened in 2015, it wasn't until 2016 that we saw the opening of town center and the actual springs. It is great to see this location redesigned and fully operating which it hasn't been since late 2012 (2008 if you count Pleasure Island).

Disney Springs is split into 4 distinct areas: The Marketplace, The Landing, Town Center and West Side. Obviously you've probably heard of the Marketplace and the West Side which were the two area's in Downtown Disney, but both have been expanded and renovated. The Landing which opened in October of 2015 was built on the site of Pleasure Island. Instead of clubs, this part of Disney Springs is now filled with new restaurants and themed bars line The Boathouse and Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar.

The Boathouse (pictured above)

The Boathouse's outside bar (above)

Indiana Jones themed bar Jock Lindsey's (above)

And the brand new Town Center is filled with new shopping and restaurants as well. This was built on the Downtown Disney parking lot. The springs are beautiful and the new snacks and shops are a great addition to Disney Springs.

I wasn't a huge fan of sprinkles, it was alright I guess, but that view from there location is amazing. The new bus stop is certainly an improvement over the Marketplace/west side stations and actually has bus stops for every resort just like the theme parks.

Disney Springs is now a place I actually want to visit while I am at Disney.

Overall rating for new additions in 2016: C+

Why a C+? Well first off I think this year and much or all of next year are rebuilding years. There wasn't a major addition, if anything I think they took a step back this year. That may not be fair to say as these steps were necessary to make way for Star Wars and Avatar Land, but in terms of what closed this year to what was added, the closures far exceeded the additions.