World of Dreams Photo of the Week

Hello everyone! I apologise for the lack of posts on the blog last week, I've been doing some more behind the scenes changes to the blog, and so it was difficult to be able to post any new articles. I've finished all my changes to the blog, so the posting schedule will return to normal from now on!

This week represents a first for Photo of the Week, with this being that today's featured photo is the first I have shared which shows one of Walt Disney World's beautiful resort hotels. And where better to start than Disney's flagship resort at WDW; The Grand Floridian. Officially known as "Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa", this awesome hotel is located on Seven Seas Lagoon, just across from the Magic Kingdom, and is themed to reflect a Victorian Seaside Resort. It opened in 1988, and offers one of the best ranges of amenities on property, with significantly more than even its fellow Deluxe Resorts.

My photo of this incredible resort was captured from the Express Monorail, on a commute between the Magic Kingdom and the Transportation & Ticket Centre. Any commute on the Walt Disney World Monorail System offers unique views of some of WDW's greatest landmarks, and this journey offers no exception, with passing through the Grand Floridian one of its highlights. I took this photograph on the stretch of the journey between the park and the resort. Whilst this loop doesn't actually stop at any of the resorts, only MK and the TTC, it does provide stunning views of them, including the one shown in the picture. I have edited this photo slightly, and have tried to do so with the theme of the resort in mind, so to hitherto make it as authentic as possible, as I always aim to do with all my photography. I think the 'tilt-shift' filter I used really enhances the photograph!

So, here it is...






Thank you for reading! Please also check out the We're Going To Walt Disney World Podcast! We had a lot of fun recording Show #34, which was released earlier this week and includes discussion about technology at Walt Disney World- it's awesome! You can listen by clicking the hyperlink above, or by searching for the podcast on iTunes. Thanks!

Have a magical day!

Attraction Review~ Humunga Kowabunga

Typhoon Lagoon's Mount Mayday might not reach as far into the sky as Mount Gushmore at its sister park, Blizzard Beach, but there is no doubting the fact that it has its fair share of wonderful waterslides. Each one fits exquisitely into the storm hit tropical paradise theme of the park, fitting in beautifully with the waterfalls and other water features which tumble off the mountain.

The most thrilling of this awesome collection of waterslides is the incredibly fun Humunga Kowabunga, three identical side by side speed slides, each 214 feet long, which whisk guests down the mountain... In the dark! Not only that, but each slide is incredibly steep, meaning that it's apparently possible to reach speeds of up to 39mph!

This attraction has a height restriction of 48 inches (122cm) and is located on the right hand side of the park, next to the Storm Slides, and is accessed via the Mount Mayday's right slope. And location isn't the only thing these two attractions have in common. Humunga Kowabunga, like the Storm Slides, rarely has a very long queue, at least, not in my experience! I've personally never seen the line at Humunga at more than 20-25 minutes, not even on busier days at this amazing waterpark. No Disney waterpark attraction offers Fastpass, so I would say the best time to ride Humunga Kowabunga would be after experiencing some of the park's more popular attractions, including Shark Reef and Crush 'n' Gusher, amongst others. The fact that Humunga Kowabunga features 3 separate slides makes the line move faster. About two thirds of the way through the line you will encounter a fork in the path. Bear right to get to the slides; the left hand path takes you on Typhoon Lagoon's Mountain Trail, a truly beautiful pathway across Mount Mayday which hardly ever has anybody walking along it. It's great to explore, and I would really recommend it to anybody visiting the park. If anything, it's an effective way of crossing the park without having to walk around the massive Surf Pool or along Castaway Creek. I love how it's so tranquil, passes through some amazingly themed landscape, and provides impressive views of the park.

Here's how I would rate Humunga Kowabunga in the following areas, and why:

Thrill~ 9/10
All you have to do is read the aforementioned statistics, and you'll have no doubt that this is an extremely thrilling attraction! The standout one is this slide's remarkable speed, of up to 39 miles per hour. To put things into perspective, that's 11mph faster than Space Mountain at the Magic Kingdom, which itself clocks in at 27mph! It's very exhilarating to shoot down these spectacular waterslides!

Scariness~ 8/10
This is a serious thrill ride, and thus isn't at all for the faint hearted! You plummet 214 in pitch darkness at incredible speeds, before swiftly emerging at the bottom. These elements all combine to make Humunga Kowabunga considerably scary, and by far the scariest attraction in the entire park.

Theming~ 10/10
I really do make no secret of the fact that I love Typhoon Lagoon's theme- it's absolutely superb! Humunga Kowabunga is the highest attraction on Mount Mayday, with the start of the three slides situated not far below Miss Tilly, the boat which perches atop the mountain, and serves as the park's icon. An abundance of lovely little streams cascade down to Humunga Kowabunga from the mountain's peak, passing through the area in which you stand awaiting your turn on the attraction, before continuing on down the mountain. These streams, which exist throughout the park and feed many of its attractions (an element which I adore, and really adds authenticity to the theming), are supplemented by the 50 foot geyser which erupts from the peak of Mount Gushmore every 30 minutes, creating a mini surge of water, which is wonderful to watch if you're lucky enough to be at the top of Humunga Kowabunga when it happens. The landscaping here is simply gorgeous, and there aren't many things better in life than waiting at the top of Humunga Kowabunga in the warm Florida sun with cool water whirling around your feet, with unbeatable views of Typhoon Lagoon and parts of Downtown Disney set out before your eyes!

Educational~ 3/10
Humunga Kowabunga may not be an educational attraction, but it sure teaches you about how cool gravity is!

Fun~ 7/10
Humunga Kowabunga is definitely designed to be thrilling, so it therefore must be awesome fun too! For all the reasons I've already mentioned this attraction provides a great experience! Indeed, it's great fun just to queue for this attraction, such is the fantastic theming which surrounds it! However, it does hurt slightly when you hit the water at the bottom. Sure, it's more than worth it, but this isn't too fun! Regardless, everything else about Humunga Kowabunga cancels out this one small negative.

Repeatability~ 5/10
I'll be perfectly honest, you're gonna pretty much get the same experience every time here. All three slides are identical, so you won't see any differences. However, such is the thrill of this attraction, you'll most likely want to ride it more than once- I know I always do! As with almost every waterslide, there are a lot of stairs to climb, which can get difficult for anybody in the hot sun- another thing to consider here. Yet another reason to repeat is to be able to see the amazing theming again!

Interactivity~ 1/10
I think this is the lowest rating I've ever given for a Disney attraction! *sad face*
There really is no interactivity with Humunga Kowabunga, you have no control over how you descend the slide. You have to cross your arms and legs, so I guess the only thing you could do to make it more scary is close your eyes! That's not to say it isn't a good experience though- interactivity is by no means vital to any attraction.

And finally, my overall rating of Humunga Kowabunga~ 9/10
As I'm sure you've guessed by now, I'm a pretty big fan of Humunga Kowabunga! I love its thrill, its theming, its levels of fun, everything, really! Whilst it is a bit short, all speed slides are, it's just the nature of this variety of waterslide. The theming here truly is incredible, some of my favourite in the whole of Walt Disney World, and I really don't consider there to be any negatives with Humunga Kowabunga.

Thanks for reading! I would love to hear your views on Humunga Kowabunga- please leave a comment or post on the Blog's Facebook Page! Please also check out the awesome We're Going To Walt Disney World Podcast! Have a magical day!

World of Dreams Photo of the Week

Hello everyone and welcome to Photo of the Week! I must apologise for not posting an Attraction Review and My Top Seven earlier this week as I originally promised- they'll be posted tomorrow and Sunday instead. I was a lot busier with sports and school council than I originally expected- so didn't get the opportunity to post the articles!

As with last week's photo, which showed the entrance to the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland, this week's image comes from a Walt Disney World land which is somewhat themed to the future, in this case Future World at Epcot. This incredible part of Epcot features many unique and wonderful attractions, one of my favourite being The Seas With Nemo and Friends Pavilion. The standout feature of this beautiful pavilion is an omnimover ride of the same name, which we discussed on Show 32 of the We're Going To Walt Disney World Podcast.

Following their experience on this hi-tech ride, guests can explore a series of fascinating exhibits about our planet's enormous oceans, their inhabitants, and our responsibilities in conserving them. One of my personal favourites of these marvellous exhibits is one which features several small tanks showcasing a variety of marine life. Of course, the highlight of this area of the pavilion is the tank containing a shoal of clownfish, the same species as Nemo himself. Upon my last visit to Epcot, I snapped several photos of this lovely tank on my iPod, and was pleased with the results. The photo below was my favourite of the images I captured, and has been edited slightly to make it even more aesthetically pleasing! As you can see from the picture, the name of the pavilion doesn't lie- Nemo has lots of friends!





Thanks for reading, and have a magical day!

Rumours Intensify Concerning the Future of Disney's Hollywood Studios...

As I'm sure you're aware, recent days have seen a flurry of activity in the Disney Community, as rumours about the much speculated makeover for Disney's Hollywood Studios have intensified. Anybody who reads a lot of Disney related articles and blog posts will be no stranger to the fact that this park in particular always seems to have several rumours floating around it, but this one is huge even by DHS' standards! It's been expected in the Disney Community for a while now that the park would be receiving a major overhaul sometime in the not so distant future, but it's been unclear what exactly this project will include.

Some people have said that the Studios will be getting a version of the hugely popular Cars Land at Disney California Adventure, whilst others have been insisting that a Star Wars Land will be the big news instead. Both have seemed equally likely, the former because George Kalogridis, the former president of the Disneyland Resort who oversaw the original Cars Land's construction, now has moved to WDW where he works in the same role, and the latter because of Disney's acquisition of LucasFilm last October. I for one would have been incredibly thrilled with either, but as these articles on Theme Park Insider and Orlando Theme Park News would suggest, we might be getting both! Speculation would suggest that Cars Land would occupy the land which currently plays host to the Backlot Tour and Lights, Motors, Action Show, with Star Wars taking up land around the current Star Tours attraction, or even extending the park beyond its current boundaries. I think personally that the latter option would be better for Star Wars, as it would allow Muppet Vision 3D to stay, unless of course that show was moved elsewhere. I really can't see them getting rid of the Muppets!

I would thoroughly recommend reading both of the aforementioned articles- they both contain absolutely everything you need to know about what is rumoured to be happening- which is a lot! I know that nothing's official yet, but if Disney do indeed go ahead with this expansion, then I'm positive that it'll be a great move for them, and, of course, for us Disney Fans! What with all the competition from Universal over the past couple of years, in my opinion it's only a matter of time before Disney announce something on this scale, and judging from what I've read, it would leave Universal miles behind! Not only can Star Wars boast more popularity than Universal's Harry Potter, it has so much more potential for translation into a theme park environment, whilst Cars similarly outweighs Universal's Simpsons and Transformers attractions in my opinion. 

There is so much information surrounding these rumours that it would be impossible to fit it all into one blog post, so again I encourage you to check out the two articles mentioned above! They're great sources of information! It has been speculated by many Disney Fans that Cars would open in 2017, with Star Wars following suit in 2018, but nobody really knows, we are after all at the stage where these things are merely rumours. The big announcement, if there indeed is one, is expected to come at the popular D23 Expo in California this year. It's also worth checking out the comments sections in each of the two articles, not only do they include some other awesome rumours, but some interesting opinions too.

All I will say at this point is that whatever happens, the future looks very bright for Disney's Hollywood Studios!

 Please note that the rumours described in this post remain at this point in time rumours, and should therefore be treated as rumours.

Thanks for reading! Have a magical day! 

Please also check out the We're Going To Walt Disney World Podcast!

World of Dreams Photo of the Week

This week my chosen image shows the entrance to what is in my opinion one of Walt Disney World's best designed lands geographically. It shows a beautiful view of Tomorrowland, which (seeing as I'm in geography mode today), is located on the eastern side of the Magic Kingdom. Actually, with regards to that, I want to share an interesting fact which I discovered recently. I'm told that the monorail resorts around Seven Seas Lagoon, the lake which fronts the Magic Kingdom, were designed in such a way to as to thematically mimic the layout of generally similarly themed lands within the park itself. Today's example of Tomorrowland within the Magic Kingdom is mirrored by the Contemporary Resort on this wonderful lake, with this futuristically themed resort being situated on the lagoon's eastern shore, just like how Tomorrowland is in the east of the Magic Kingdom. I'm not sure if this is totally accurate, but I've heard it several times across the Disney Community.

My photo this week shows a spellbinding view into Tomorrowland from the Magic Kingdom's hub, with an inviting view into the immediate part of Tomorrowland and beyond (a fitting pun I think, considering Buzz Lightyear's presence in this area!) The magnificently imaginative sign/archway which beckons guests into Tomorrowland stands proudly in the foreground of the image, with the whimsical skyline of this awesomely themed area behind it, dominated by the cleverly themed Astro Orbitor, which serves as a perfect 'weenie' for Tomorrowland (whilst I'm on the subject I'd like to wholeheartedly recommend this article on Blue Sky Disney, a great source of information about Disney weenies, a concept which is a massive part of the parks' history)

Another thing I love about how this area is designed is, strangely enough, concerning something that you can't actually see, at least not yet in the picture's POV. I am, of course, referring to Space Mountain, Tomorrowland's, and arguably even the Magic Kingdom's, signature attraction. I absolutely adore the terrific way in which the Imagineers have told the story of this area so well before you've even set foot in it, a sensational and unique technique that only Disney can do well. This is one of the best things that can be done in theming areas in my opinion, and sets the guest up perfectly for the intricately themed land which they are about to experience. I love how you begin your adventure in this part of the park by walking though what is in my mind a simulation of a bustling metropolis of the future, before suddenly appearing in this breathtaking wide open space dominated by Space Mountain's mammoth structure.

Without further ado, here's my photo:





I love the filter I've put on it, I feel it really does this pretty Magic Kingdom land justice.

Thanks for reading! Please also check out the We're Going To Walt Disney World Podcast! I hope you have a magical weekend!