EPCOT Review September 2019

    Have you ever walked somewhere where you have visited a few times and realized this is the last time you will ever see that place the same way again? Well that was me as I walked into EPCOT for the first time on this trip. From aboard the monorail I could see that the entrance to the park was already well under construction with all of the monoliths removed, but construction walls still up. The area there the festival photo opportunity once stood now sits empty as well. Beyond the entrance area though, EPCOT still looked the same. Despite officially closing the day before, the fountain of nations continued to flow and no construction walls were up anywhere else in the park outside of the ongoing construction projects of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Space 220 Restaurant, Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, and the Disney Skyliner EPCOT Station.

    It felt really good to be able to see the vast majority of the park as it has stood for so long one last time. This would literally only last a day however as by the time I got back to EPCOT just a couple days later, construction walls wrapped from the area by the character spot all the way around the fountain of nations and almost all the way across to Mouse Gears. The reinvention of EPCOT I would say is now officially underway. No demolition was noticeable when I was there, but I did not enter the park via monorail after the walls went up so I am not sure if anything is noticeable from there. What was noticeable after the walls went up was a traffic jam. Typically guests can walk straight down the middle of the park and into World Showcase. With the walls up there is a much thinner walkway by Mouse Gears for guests to walk through or you can go around the construction area by the Land Pavilion. I would think that option will eventually vanish as construction ramps up. Despite the walls going up, plenty of fun was still had at EPCOT as well as a couple hiccups.

Construction
    Let's continue the construction conversation. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is really coming along. The building housing the ride looks pretty much done and the face of the old Ellen's Energy Adventure building has been removed and is undergoing a massive transformation. Not to be outdone, the Space 220 Restaurant is also making a lot of progress. At the back of the France pavilion, Remy's Ratatouille Adventure is also coming along smoothly. I'm really looking forward to that ride finishing. The one in France looks like a ton of fun and I'd imagine the one here will be no different. The Skyliner station looks ready to roll. Not sure how much more needs to go into this station, but the amount that can be seen looks beautiful. I'm still not sure how traffic in the area is going to be effected by the Skyliner nor am I really sure what the bus situation will end up being as a result of it either.

    One place where there is no sign of construction, and seems like wont be is probably the place that needs it most. The Imagination Pavilion, while still very fun looking, has seen better days. The fountain near the front of the Pavilion is still running unlike the Fountain of Nations. The building itself though has areas of faded and chipped paint. The interior was also quite dusty in areas and many features on the Journey Into Imagination ride were simply not working correctly. Kind of a shame given how popular Figment is with park guests, but for whatever reason this little corner of EPCOT seems forgotten.

    With the walls up around the fountain of nations, the area around the start of World Showcase is more crowded than ever. With the generally low crowds I experienced it wasn't too bad, but on Saturday it was a very cramped area. As more walls go up I'm interested to see how they are going to navigate walkways, especially with new firework shows just on the horizon. Next time I go to EPCOT it is going to be pretty amazing. I sure can't picture what it is going to look like right now, but if the Disney parks have taught us anything.... It will be magical.

Illuminations: Reflections of Earth
    I got to see Illuminations: Reflections of Earth one last time. The show will end at the end of this month and a new show, EPCOT Forever will come in. Illuminations's soundtrack remains my favorite soundtrack in probably all of Walt Disney World, so I am sure going to miss hearing it. I do admit that the show on a whole is showing its age. Compared to the screens on many of the attractions and signage around the parks, the Illuminations globe just doesn't look that great. The parts of the show where the music is playing and the focus is on said globe has a hard time competing with the slower segments of Fantasmic, or Happily Ever After. I know it's not the same type of show, but the excitement just isn't there, especially when what's playing on the globe is hard to make out.
    Not quite Illuminations related, but on one of the last nights I was in Disney World I saw a few fireworks from what I'm guessing is Disney testing out EPCOT Forever. I was staying at the Art of Animation Resort and from the top floor I could see it. It was definitely from EPCOT as I had caught the end of Illuminations from the same spot about an hour earlier. Kind of cool to see that. Whatever the case, I am sad to see Illuminations go, but it is time for an update, that much is for sure.

Food and Wine Festival
    The Food and Wine Festival was well underway during my trip. The usual array of food stands were set up in and around World Showcase. New this year is a stand for the Alps. None of the menu items really appealed to me, but still cool to see that as a food and wine stand anyway. My favorite item out of food and wine fest this year had to be the cheddar soup from the Canada stand. While it was really hot and humid out, the soup still hit the spot. It is pretty heavy, but it is packed with flavor. In addition you get a pretzel bun that is absolutely perfect to dip into the soup. I also had the Le Cellier Filet Mignon. The filet is always delicious, but this time around I feel like it was more on the well done side. Something that I've seen a couple different Youtube Vloggers mention as well. The food and wine festival is still a whole lot of fun and a delicious time. It's also great for people watching really as the alcohol really flows through the World Showcase during this time of year.

The Rest
    No trip to EPCOT is complete for me with getting on both Soarin Around the World and Spaceship Earth. Spaceship Earth is actually my favorite ride in EPCOT and it was nice to ride it one last time in its current form. I'm really excited to see the planned additions for this ride come together as well as the new narrative. Ever since my time on the ride I've felt the last quarter or so where you are watching your future come together is just a complete waste of space. I am so excited to see what is going to be going in that spot to really bring the ride together. Other ride experiences were Frozen Ever After (which I actually got pretty wet on), the Seas with Nemo and Friends, The Grand Fiesta Tour Featuring the Three Caballeros and Test Track (which my car didn't register to me for some reason so congrats random person who got most powerful car of the hour that I designed).

    On September 11th I watched The American Adventure. As much as the show just screams AMERICA NUMBER 1!!!! it was a perfect thing to do on that day. The scene towards the end where the screen shows George Bush at ground zero was incredibly powerful that day. The show itself really a good way to spend some time out of the sun. It touches on some of the major American victories, but doesn't really touch on American issues outside of slavery and the woman's suffrage movement. More-so it focuses on the achievements of the country.

    The Seas with Nemo and Friends is always a great educational place. The aquarium isn't overly big, but all of the tanks in there are beautiful. The large tank that is connected to the Coral Reef restaurant I could sit in front of all day. The end of the ride where you pass by the tank with the Finding Nemo characters projected into the tank is still one of the coolest things to me. It's pretty much the only reason I ride the ride at all as the rest of it just seems so dated and well, broken down?

    Frozen fever is certainly starting to ramp up again with Frozen 2 just around the corner. Frozen Ever After is still in a fight with Test Track for longest wait times and it's not hard to see why. The ride is the most Disney ride in EPCOT and for the moment is one of two IP based rides (The Grand Fiesta Tour being the other) in the park. While I like Frozen, the movie doesn't rank in the top of my personal favorites and I really really enjoyed the creativity that was in Malestrom, which this ride replaced. So while the ride does nothing special for me and I feel that the entire backwards part is a missed opportunity, I get why it is a big hit with kids.The animatronics in the ride are amazing, the scenery is incredibly well done, and the most popular Frozen songs are there with some modified lyrics... Except for the lengthy Let It Go section that coincidentally is the backwards part I referred to earlier. At this point in the ride you gradually accelerate backwards from Elsa, but along the way there is no scenery really or anything special. Just lots of big screens of Elsa singing Let It Go. Compared to the rest of the ride, that section just lacks for me, especially when right before you have an energizing lead up to the palace and right after you encounter Marshmallow.

    So with all that said I said goodbye to the Epcot that I have come to know and enjoy over the past six years. I may not have been there for Horizons and other classic EPCOT attractions, but nonetheless I'll miss the concept of Future World. It is outdated and it is certainly time to move on from it though and I can see that just by walking around. Thank you all for reading as always! My next blog will be shorter as I take a quick look at Disney's Art of Animation Resort. After that will begin the bigger blogs. With the amount of things that I did at both The Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, it's going to take me some time and a few blogs to get all my thoughts out on these two parks. 

Shoutout
    Surprise! You never know what can happen in Disney. While waiting for a friend to get out of the bathroom I ran into my favorite Youtube bloggers, Tim and Jen Tracker. I've been watching them for the last few years and their many adventures in Disney parks around the world. Both of them were incredibly nice and were more than happy to chat for a few minutes and take a picture. Just wanted to give a shout out to both of them, congratulate them on their child one more time, and promote their Youtube channel which can be seen Here.

Disney's Animal Kingdom Review September 2019

    Another trip to the Walt Disney World Resort is in the books! This trip featured some goodbyes and some new experiences as well. I am going to do this trip review a bit different than the last. As opposed to going day to day I am going to highlight different experiences I had at each park. I'll be focusing in on rides, shows, and other things I found interesting, strange, sad, fun, etc. Chances are pretty good that the Hollywood Studios blog is going to need to be a couple blogs as opposed to one since there is just so much going on there. This blog will probably be shorter since Animal Kingdom is largely the same as it was back in March. So let us get right into it.

    I always feel weird in talking about Disney's Animal Kingdom. I love the park, but from working with animals so long I feel really jaded when talking about the safari and the trails through the park. This bring me to the first thing I'd like to talk about.

Disney's Animal Kingdom at semi-sunrise

Kilimanjaro Safaris 
    Kilimanjaro Safaris has seen a lot of changes through the years and I have to say it's current form I am not the biggest fan of. Don't get me wrong, the animals and their habitats are awesome for sure, but the experience itself I have a little bit of an issue with. This really stems from the quality of safari that Six Flags Great Adventure puts on. I know it's ridiculous to compare Six Flags to Disney, but in this specific case I have to. The guides on the Six Flags safari are lively and educate you on a mass amount of animals over what is essentially an hour long experience. I feel like I don't get this on Kilimanjaro Safaris. This was my second safari in a row where the guide seemed to just be repeating a script. There were long portions where I was learning nothing and other times the guide just seemed disinterested.
    I know that's a negative way of looking at it cause at the end of the day most people aren't going on the ride to learn, they're going to see the animals. In that aspect, while Disney does not have the number of animals that Six Flags has it is still a very well put together safari and includes several animals not seen at Six Flags. For the first time I was able to see the wild dogs awake and running around. That was certainly the highlight of the safari. Any other time I've been on it the dogs were sleeping, but that day they were up and running around. This was also the first time I've seen a sleeping elephant. Again, I feel a bit jaded and skewed when talking about this ride. Overall it was a good time for sure though. Just wish that the guide was more informative or at least acted like she enjoyed what she was doing.

Low crowds and construction walls at the base of the Tree of Life

Dinosaur
    Dinosaur is one of my favorite rides in not only Animal Kingdom, but Disney World as a whole. I am a massive dinosaur fan in general so I love the movie the ride is based on. I know it's not the best movie and certainly not the most popular, but I enjoy it. I enjoyed the ride as much as I always have, but noticed a few things either wrong and fixed. The first two times I went on through the week the raptor animatronic was missing, by the end of the trip it was back and working again. Glad to see it back as it's one of my favorites in the ride. The first Carnotaurus encounter on my second time riding was not working. The dino roared and you could hear trees snapping, but the dinosaur was not moving at all. The last time I rode it though it was fixed, so that was a quick fix for sure. The only other thing that wasn't working correctly was the Pterodactyl that was motionless the whole trip and apparently has been motionless for a while now.

    If they decide to replace Dinosaur with a new theme I will be a bit upset about it. I really do enjoy the ride and while it may not be the best for kids it's a rare thrill ride for adults and teenagers. While I was there the ride had very little wait times. For the most part it was 15 minutes or less, even on the busier days and there were plenty of fast passes available as well. While crowd wise it was pretty quiet, I still fear that consistent wait times and low demand may lead to the ride eventually becoming extinct. Speaking of extinct...

Dinoland U.S.A.
    Dinoland as a whole is still what some would call a hot mess. Compared to the rest of the park, the land just looks like it could use some love. Primeval Whirl remains down for refurbishment, and Triceratops Spin is in dire need of anything from paint to just being cleaned. The ride operated fine and the new soundtrack that goes with Donald's Dino Bash is much better than the country banjo music that used to play. The rest of the area still has that temporary carnival feel. Donald's Dino Bash however, continues to be a success. I'm glad they decided to keep the party going long term. The lines to meet the Dino Bash crew were all pretty long and it's still awesome that Scrooge and Launchpad are there every day. The music through the land is also pretty fun as it's a variety of different rock songs and what not. Certainly different than anywhere else in Animal Kingdom.

Pandora: The World of Avatar
    Pandora remains every bit the spectacle it has always been. I can't quite put my finger on it, but Pandora is one of two incredibly unique places for me in all of Disney World. As I walk over the bridge from Discovery Island or Africa I just get this sense. As the scenery changes to a more wild and natural one, the music of Animal Kingdom begins to fade out and more and more out of this world natural sounds take over. The scenery changes and all of a sudden I just feel like I am not longer at Animal Kingdom. It still legitimately feels like another world to me. Pandora remains in great shape, but I did notice one feature of the land that was not working correctly. In one of the many water features there are these creatures that are supposed to shoot water if they detect any sudden movements. These creatures were not working correctly. Only one of them attempted to shoot any water and when it did only a small amount of water dribbled out.
    Both rides are really in excellent shape. Flight of Passage was ridden 3 times. On the third ride it was having some kind of issue that must have shut down one of the theaters so wait times were a bit longer. Other than that the ride itself is ever bit as epic as I've always felt it is. Na'vi River Journey is still as beautiful as ever. I really do not understand the flak this ride gets. No, it's not worth waiting 45 minutes for, but it still is a beautiful and peaceful ride.

These are the creatures that are supposed to shoot water, but aren't

The beauty of Pandora

More of Pandora

Food
    At Animal Kingdom I had a couple different food items. First up was my traditional meal at Satu'li Canteen. This time around I had a noodle bowl with chicken, slaw,and garlic herb dressing. The chicken was very flavorful and while I normally am not a fan of slaw, I really enjoy it in this dish. The dressing is also very good. All the variety of flavors mashed into one bowl really bring about an interesting taste. I can see how it wouldn't appeal to everyone, but for someone looking for something a little different these bowls are pretty good. I'm not sure if I like the chicken more than the beef bowl or not. Both are very good and offer obviously different flavors. To drink I tried the Pandoran Sunrise. This drink is advertised as a blend of tropical juices and Powerade Melon. The price was a bit steep at nearly $5.00, but it was tasty and came with a slice of delicious pineapple. As far as the taste it tasted like Powerade with pineapple mixed in. Not sure what the other tropical juices are, but the two big flavors were the Powerade and pineapple. Of course dessert was the blue cheesecake again. It's one of my favorite desserts in Disney World. Tastes great and certainly looks interesting to say the least.

Blue cheesecake

Noodle Bowl!

    I also had the buffalo chicken chips from Trilo-bites. They're a bit expensive at $8.50, but I have to say they are pretty filling. The chips are homemade potato chips with buffalo chicken, buffalo sauce, ranch dressing, and some what I think is salsa on them. You get a lot of them and they are pretty flavorful. If you are into hot buffalo though you'll be disappointed. These chips are far from hot, but they are very flavorful and do have a bit of spice to them, just nothing crazy. I got these last time I was in Disney as well so I must have liked them enough to make a point in getting them again.

The Rest
    The Festival of the Lion King is still every bit as awesome as it has always been. If you are looking for something to do to get out of the heat in Animal Kingdom, check out this show. I won't spoil anything about it here for those who haven't seen it, but I will say that it is on my must do list for every one of my Disney trips! Speaking of the Lion King, the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the movie continues to go at full force. There is Lion King merchandise all over the park and various Lion King themed photo ops as well.

    Kevin from Up! as a walk around character is one of the best things in the park. She comes out of nowhere and is hilarious to watch. I hear she will even crash the dance party that takes place on Discovery Island.Speaking of Up!, Up! a Great Bird Adventure is currently closed for yet another refurbishment. If I'm not mistaken this is the second or third time the show has closed to be redone. Kinda crazy considering Flights of Wonder wasn't unpopular or anything. I didn't see Rivers of Light on this trip. It remains the only nighttime show I haven't seen. Even with the Lion King additions to the show, it still really does not appeal to me any of the other shows do. It's not even the lack of fireworks, it's just that it still seems to be like it's missing some kind of wow factor. I know Disney is limited here because of the animals, but in their massive box of tricks they have to have something that can help this show out.

Kevin having some fun!

    By the end of the trip I had done pretty much everything there is to do in Animal Kingdom. The only attractions I did not get to was Kali River Rapids, Rafiki's Planet Watch, and Finding Nemo the Musical. As previously mentioned Up! a Great Bird Adventure and Primeval Whirl were both under refurbishment so I was unable to experience those. I spent a good amount of time in Animal Kingdom on this trip. Flight of Passage is every bit as popular as it always has been. Even during extra magic hours, the cast members still guided the crowd to the ride. I was glad to see that other new happenings didn't really affect the ride's popularity like some thought it would. Well that is it for this installment. Next I will take a look at my experiences on this trip in EPCOT! Thanks as always for reading!

From Expedition Everest: Tower of Terror on the right, Spaceship Earth the left

September 2019 Disney World Trip Preview

    The hype is getting real. My next trip to the Walt Disney World Resort is less that 72 hours away. For my final blog before the trip I want to share some of the experiences that I have lined up for this trip. I have a lot of old favorites and some new things planned as well so lets get right to it!

    For my arrival day I plan on hitting the ground running. In theory I should get to the Art of Animation resort around 1pm. From there it will basically be drop the bags and get on the bus to Magic Kingdom to catch the Festival of Fantasy Parade. Fast passes on this day are Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain, and Peter Pan. We'll see what is going on between fast passes and perhaps catch a Hall of Presidents show or The Muppets Great Moments in History or something else with a low wait time. Following those rides will be dinner at Skipper's Canteen. It will be hard not to get the steak there again. Last time it was really, really good. I may try something else, but considering this will be the fanciest place I eat this trip, I'll probably go steak. From there Magic Kingdom will be closing down for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party so I'll be heading over to EPCOT. The plan there is probably to hit a few Food and Wine Festival booths and watch Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. Then perhaps a jog to Hollywood Studios in hopes of catching Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular at Hollywood Studios... Perhaps???

    Monday will be an early morning.... Really all of them are.... Who sleeps at Disney World? Extra magic hours at Animal Kingdom is first where Flight of Passage is the obvious choice. Following that could be Na'vi River Journey depending on it's wait time post Flight of Passage. Fast passes for the day are Kilimanjaro Safaris, Dinosaur, and Flight of Passage. Other experiences of the table are Festival of the Lion King, Expedition Everest, and the various animal trails through the park. No special dining booked, but I'm debating between Satu'li Canteen and trying to find the buffalo chicken chips I had last time. Then there is a bunch of I have no idea what I'll be doing time, but at some point making my way to Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. Pending what else is going on that day EPCOT isn't off the table either for some more Food and Wine Festival stuffs.

    Tuesday is a first. I have no park ticket for this day. Originally I had planned on attending Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party on this day, but plans changed and instead I will be doing some resort hopping and spending some time in Disney Springs. So lots of free time on this day. What exactly will I do? Who knows? I don't that's for sure.

    Wednesday begins the marathon. I do not have any Fast passes booked for EPCOT at all this trip so the plan is this... Get to EPCOT for extra magic hours and try to knock out Soarin or Test Track. Then go to the opposite. Then knock out Spaceship Earth and spend the rest of the morning around World Showcase and trying various foods while hitting a couple more rides... Probably not Frozen Ever After though. We shall see. Lunch is booked for Sci-Fi Dine In at Hollywood Studios, but where are the fast passes you ask? Let us go back to Animal Kingdom where Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, and Flight of Passage await me. There will be little time to hang around as Happily Ever After is scheduled at the Magic Kingdom for 9pm. So back on the bus to Magic Kingdom I go and will remain until 12AM when evening extra magic hours end. Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin is a likely target for these magic hours as is Splash Mountain.

    Poor decisions have been made. Thursday will be extra magic hours at 6am at Disney's Hollywood Studios. The goal of course is get into Galaxy's Edge. The probability of doing that first thing in the morning. Probably small. At least I'll be able to get on the virtual queue for the land at that point. Fast Passes are Star Tours and Slinky Dog Dash. It's going to be a play it and see how it goes type of day. Whatever the case I have a reservation at Ooga's Cantina in Galaxy's Edge that evening so fingers crossed I can get in there for that. Afterwards I'm guessing it'll be Fantasmic and Star Wars fireworks unless I'm out of Galaxy's edge fast enough and can get to EPCOT for Illuminations. We shall see.

    Friday will be a tale of two to three parks. Once again extra magic hours will take me to Animal Kingdom for yup, another ride of Flight of Passage (if you couldn't tell, this is by far my favorite ride). From there another trip to EPCOT for more Food and Wine Fest fun could happen for a little bit before heading to Magic Kingdom for all kinds of stuff. Fast passes are Jungle Cruise, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and Peter Pan's Flight. Lunch will be at Liberty Tree Tavern and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party will be incredible I'm sure. I have no agenda for the Halloween party other than seeing the new fireworks, the parade and checking out some of the ride enhancements.

    Saturday will be a bit of a later start possibly? Will it be another ride on Flight of Passage? It's possible... Depends on just how dead I am from Halloween the night before. Also, fast passses are in Animal Kingdom and are Na'vi River Journey, Expedition Everest, and Dinosaur. For the rest of the day I don't have much planned. By this point I should have most of everything done. I'll end the day at either Magic Kingdom for Happily Ever After or EPCOT for Illuminations.

    Sunday is the go home day, so it will be farewell to Magic Kingdom as I wrap up the trip with Pirates of the Caribbean, Dumbo, and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. All in all this looks like a pretty jam packed trip. New experiences, old favorites, and a marathon that'll stretch from Wednesday till Saturday morning should keep me more than busy. Wrap all that up with spending time with some awesome friends and I think I have a recipe for a real good time. It's time to fight off some of these ghosts of the past and make some new experiences at my happy place. Thanks everyone for reading! I'll be back to blogging shortly after I return and I'm sure I'll have pleeeeeeenty to talk about!

D23 Wrap Up

    This blog is going to wrap up my thoughts on the D23 convention in regards to the Disney Parks. I've spent two whole blogs focusing in on EPCOT's transformation and all that comes with that, so I don't plan on spending much time on those here. While EPCOT was the main hot topic at the convention in regards to Disney World, there was a couple other announcements.

    We learned that the Star Wars Hotel will officially be called the Halcyon. The hotel will be a completely immersive experience as Star Wars fans will be basically living a Star Wars movie for the duration of their stay. Much of these details were already known with guests interacting with various crew (cast) of the Halcyon. Also involved in the galactic cruise will be a visit to Batuu (Galaxy's Edge). The visit will be complete with a unique dining experience. The Star Wars Hotel looks to be the ultimate bucket list item for any Star Wars fanatic. The price however for this incredible experience will be high though with prices being over $1,000 per night per person with a maximum of a two night stay. Some more details on the hotel layout reveal that it will be quite small in comparison to other Disney hotels. It is said that the hotel will consist of only 100 rooms. While that may seem like a lot, many of the other Disney hotels have over 500 rooms, so in comparison the Halcyon will be quite small. For me I love the idea of a fully immersive Star Wars experience like this. It's a bucket list thing for sure, but how much of a bucket list will depend on just how good the upcoming movie is. Since the hotel features a visit to Galaxy's Edge one would assume that it too takes place firmly within the new trilogy, which is to the dismay of many a fan at this point.

    Technology is a wonderful thing isn't it? Well Disney thinks so too and evidence of that is the upcoming Disney Genie. From what I understand the service will help plan out an itinerary for park guests. This will include booking dining and fastpasses. The screenshots also reveal that the app will set up and show an easy to read itinerary and give wait time forecasts for rides. For example, Space Mountain may have a 70 minute wait time. The Genie may say that the lowest wait time may be 30 minutes during the parade at 3:00pm. Of course there is no way of Genie knowing that for sure, but I'm sure all kinds of historical data go into estimating that wait time. Whatever the case, the new offering sure seems like it will make trip planning a lot easier for those whom are easily overwhelmed by the current system. Disney did not say if this service would be a paid service or not. I think the tool is going to be great for those who struggle with optimizing their time in the parks and trying to balance rides, dining, and other experiences. Personally, I can't see myself using it if it is a paid service, but if it's free I'd try it out for fun.

    Lastly I have just a few thoughts on some of the other not so close to the east coast Disney Parks. Disney California Adventure and Disneyland Paris are going to become linked by the new Avengers Campus that will be present at both parks. The lands are apparently going to tell the story of the Avengers seeking out the next generation of heroes. Also in the lands will be new attractions such as the Spider Man ride coming to Disney California Adventure and a plethora of character meet and greets. For Marvel fans, this is... Awesome. The two lands being linked on a global scale is pretty awesome and I look forward to seeing how far Disney goes with the two lands being linked together.

    Hong Kong Disneyland showcased some pretty epic stuff two. First off, the castle is undergoing a major renovation. Upon it's completion guests will notice references to 13 heroines. Snow White, Belle, and Cinderella are confirmed to be three of them. It'll be interesting to see who the others chosen are. I'd assume all 12 of the princesses will be on it, but the last one? My guess would be a reference to Elsa despite her not being an official Disney princess. Time will tell of course, but the castle should look great when it's done. Also coming to the castle will be a new daytime and a new nighttime show. Finally, some new details on the Frozen land were talked about. Frozen Ever After will be a part of the land and I'd think will mimic the ride in EPCOT. The new roller coaster, Wandering Oaken's Sliding Sleigh looks to be a lot of fun. Though I feel like it has a striking resemblance to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Magic Kingdom. Time will tell I guess. Still, pretty exciting that Hong Kong is getting a Frozen land. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see that come state side eventually, especially if the second movie ends up being as big as the first (I would be very surprised).

    Well that is it for my reactions to D23. There was a ton more stuff announced during the conference from new cruise ships to new movies to other park related announcements. Thank you all for reading as always. I may get one more blog in before I go to.... Walt Disney World! I will be there from September 8th to the 15th, so expect a bunch of review blogs after that. I will be checking out Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, doing some resort hopping, riding Flight of Passage probably 4-5 times, and of course, checking out Galaxy's Edge! Stay tuned for all kinds of review/picture/other stuffs with all that!