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Dear Lord, thank you for the bounty of what I have come to know as Amusement Park crack. Yes, I speak of the Walt Disney World Parks in Orlando, Florida. If you have come to read my blogs in the past (here and Sleep Before Waking) you’ve most likely passed or scrolled by yet another preaching of praise through pictures by yours truly. I honestly, can’t get enough of Disney World. Having a six year old daughter only compounded that. Still, I hereby express some – not all, but some – of the reason why the place calls to me on a yearly basis.

This picture was taken in the Boardwalk area of the park. This area of the parks is where the Epcot Resorts are located and the parking is free and walking around is free. It’s modeled after a 1920′s Jersey Boardwalk style of place and it is complete with dance halls, jazz music, street performers, and if you’re lucky enough to stay in any of these resorts, it sports some of the nicest pools ever. You can snag frozen drinks, get photo booth shots done, gawk at the mime with seething hate and blind fixation. But more importantly – if you missed it the first time – you can do it all for Free! Where else in Disney can you say that (other than Downtown Disney, which though I want to say doesn’t count, it does. It’s fun to walk around there, too.)

Another spectacular reason to visit the Boardwalk is that one can park here early, walk through the Boardwalk area and enter Epcot Center through their World Showcase entrance. That’s right, don’t tell anyone, but if you don’t mind the walk, you can save the $11 – $14 parking fee that it takes to freaking get close to the parks.

Score!

As you can see above, (and in the Boardwalk link) the World Showcase is yet another reason why Disney effing rules. You don’t actually have to be cultured to eat Falafel! The “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow” has everything you could need to feel world traveled, as well as fireworks and light up clapping hats. On top of those selling points, they also have the most soothing and hypnotic ambient music playing through the park. I swear to God, it’s Aural hypnosis. If I could get the soundtrack to Epcot and just play it every night while I sleep, I’d probably solve the world energy crisis in the wake of the music’s brain growth side effects.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for more awesome free shit to do, we have the Animal Kingdom Lodge. No I’m not saying go stay there (though if you have RCI you can trade a timeshare to stay there, I recently learned. Wicked.), but I am saying go park there for free and walk around the resort.

Why you ask?

I see you still doubt me.

Because it’s a freakin zoo!

No, literally. They have Giraffes and Zebra and Gazelle on the property and the animals can be seen at all hours of the day and night if they are feeling so inclined. Yes, sometimes they meander to areas that make them less visible to the passerby, but still – free zoo equals free damn zoo, if you ask me.

Beyond the awesome of potentially seeing animals and most certainly being accosted by puffy throated lizards, the architecture is stellar.

This tends to be the case with most of the main resorts. Their atriums, lobbies and main thorough fairs make for a good dose of ogling to anyone who has an eye for “Holy crap, that’s cool!” type shit. I personally have to have such an eye as a requirement for the photography so I like to think myself pretty keen in that department.

Maybe I’m easily impressed. We’ll never know.

Another pinnacle of Animal Kingdomy goodness is Animal Kingdom itself.

Now, I’m going to be honest here – Animal Kingdom is the closest to a Vietnamese prison as most of us are ever going to get. The place is hot as hell, the walkways are cramped and often completely overcrowded, and people are extremely intelligent. So much so that the act of ramming a child’s stroller into your shins as a means of gentle greeting is not only acceptable, it’s suggested!

Still, if you can get past the crowds and the resulting crowd attitude – and if you promise me you won’t go in the summer – it’s one of the more visually stunning places in all of Disney World.

Though there are furry creatures galore in this park (and I’m not just talking about the dude with his chest hair bared at eye level standing less than a centimeter away from you in line for Everest), I personally find the space itself to be the one of the best. If you have the patience to wait for the crowds to filter out (or NOT go in the summer, as I said), you can find yourself standing in places like this, alone.

It’s beyond calming to the spirit.

Worth it.