Tag: Epcot

Where in the World… Are the Disney Princesses?

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Princess Fairytale Hall

So, you know where all the Princesses are meeting, right?  Well guess again.

Disney is about to move them around to accommodate the HUGE popularity of the new comers, Princess Anna and Elsa.  Currently, you can find them meeting together in the Fairytale Hall, completed this year just for our Royalty.  You can also find Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty for those who might not know) ((Yes, these people do exist!)) at Fairytale Hall.

However, starting on June 15, 2014, Aurora is going to be moving to the Town Square Courtyard.  She will be taking the place of Snow White.  Snow White will then move to Center Street, Main Street U.S.A.  (To be completely honest, I was not aware of a “Center Street” until now.)  Cinderella and Rapunzel will remain in their current locations.

As for Anna and Elsa, they will also remain at Fairytale Hall.  The change though, comes when you arrive to meet them.  They will no longer be meeting together.  They will be separate just like Cinderella and Rapunzel.

Disney is hoping that this will cut down on the outrageously long wait times to meet the Frozen Royalty, visiting all the way from Arendelle.  Wait times have been exceeding at least 200 minutes each day and by separating them into two meet and greets, hopefully this will be cut down.  Also, Disney being Disney, they are hoping that this will provide the opportunity for more people to actually come meet Anna and Elsa during their visit to Magic Kingdom.

You can meet the Princesses of Fairytale Hall from the time the park opens until 30 minutes before the park closes.

As for some of our other Princess favorites, you can swim under the sea to Ariel’s Grotto in Magic Kingdom to meet the mermaid herself.

Tiana is over in Liberty Square with her Prince Naveen.

Merida can be found in the Fairytale Garden giving friends some tips on her archery skills.

Jasmine meets with Aladdin at the Agrabah Bazaar, but sometimes they’ll fly over to Morocco on a magic carpet.

If Snow White doesn’t seem to be out and about in Magic Kingdom, she’s probably visiting friends in the Germany Pavilion in EPCOT.

As for Aurora, she sometimes likes to wander back into the woods to visit Fauna, Flora, and Merriweather but seems to end up in France.

Belle always has her nose stuck in a book, enjoying the fresh air in France as well.

Mulan is helping the Emperor in China, but she loves meeting new warriors who want to defeat the Huns.

And you can find Pocahontas over in Animal Kingdom with all of her animal friends.

 

So, what are your thoughts on the new changes?  Do you think Disney will save guests time by having Anna and Elsa meet individually?  °o°

Disney’s Marathon Weekend 2014

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Today is officially the start of the annual Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend.  For the next few days, runners from all corners of the world and their families will prepare to run one or more Disney races.  From a Family 5k to the after party, Disney has a fun-filled, busy weekend for all participants.

This year’s Marathon Weekend has something new and exciting as well.  New Balance teamed up with Disney again to create another line of limited edition running footwear to debut at this weekends Marathon events.  There is a variety of designs to choose from, inspired by Cinderella, Minnie Mouse, Sorcerer Mickey, and Goofy.

Check them out!

What are your thoughts on these designs?  I like the Cinderella one the best.

-Buzz

The Monorail.

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*Photo courtesy of mouseplanet.com

Okay, so here’s the low down on the beloved Monorails at Walt Disney World.

Walt Disney World has been using the Monorail System since Magic Kingdom opened in 1971.  What started out as just two lines to and from the Magic Kingdom, has expanded into three lines with transportation to EPCOT in 1982.

The two Magic Kingdom route consist of Express and Resort.  The Express route goes straight to Magic Kingdom without any other stops.  The Resort route stops at the Polynesian Resort, the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, the Contemporary Resort, then on to the Magic Kingdom.  You can catch the EPCOT and Express monorails at the TTC (Transportation and Ticket Center).

The Monorail System follows a concrete beam filled with polystyrene to make the structures lighter.  These beams were shipped in from Washington.  The way the system is laid out, guests can “ride high in the sky” to their destination on property.  Every year, about 50 million Disney Resort guests use the monorails as a mode of transportation while visiting.

Each monorail is identified by the color of the stripe that wraps around each of them.  The colors of the monorails are: Black, Blue, Coral, Gold, Green, Lime, Orange, Peach, Red, Silver, Teal, and Yellow. Sometimes, you may notice that a color isn’t present on the track but in its place is a “decorated” monorail.  To promote new movies, Disney has been known to convert the outsides of certain monorails to look like it is from the new movie.  In 2012, Monorail Red was converted to The Avengers and before that, a monorail was transformed into a promotion for Tron: Legacy.  In March 2013, Monorail Black promoted Iron Man 3 and then in April, Monorail Teal was converted to Monsters University.

One of the most popular phrases on Disney property comes from the prerecorded spiel on the monorail.  “Please stand clear of the doors.  Por favor manténganse alejado de las puertas.” can be heard every time guests have boarded a monorail and are about to leave the station.  This phrase can also be found on T-shirts throughout the resort.  If ever in a situation where everyone around you speaks Spanish, all of us crazy Disney fanatics will be able to tell everyone to “please stand clear of the doors” if need be.

The monorail cars also seem to have a distinct smell to them when you enter them.  To me, they smell like a barn, but that’s just me.  Growing up out in the country, that’s what I associate it with.  Even though the smell isn’t too pleasant, there is this joy and excitement that comes with riding in a Disney monorail.  For me, boarding a monorail means that I’m really close to being back home.  There’s just that extra little magic that fills you up when looking out the window and seeing Cinderella Castle growing closer.

Now, Woody and I are notorious for trying to board an empty car and “monorail surf.”  This means that for the entire ride we stand in the middle of the car and try to stay standing the entire time without holding on to anything.  I must say, we go pretty good at this in the months we have spent at Disney.  We can also recite the entire boarding spiel which always seems to get us crazy looks from normal guests.

Well there ya have it! Some basics on the Monorail System at Disney World.

-Buzz