Biggest Revelation - Star Tours
Star Tours is a Star Wars-themed simulator ride. Passengers board a “shuttle” for a leisurely tour of the Forest Moon of Endor when the whacky droid piloting the shuttle accidently steers into an ongoing attack on a Death Star. The first time we rode, I noticed the droid laughing nervously a lot and saying things like “Heh heh. I meant to do that.” When we debarked, I told the family that it seemed like the droid was doing a Pee Wee Herman impression. The next time we rode, everyone agreed. One wiki search later and I was proven right. Paul Reubens did the voice of the droid.
Additional (hysterical) revelation - Some Star Wars fans have gone to great lengths (somewhat unsuccessfully) to fit the Star Tours storyline of an attack on a Death Star into the Star Wars canon.
Best Restaurant experience - Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Great African buffet. Everything we tried was unusual and good. We should’ve gone back for a second meal. We went to several of the higher end Disney restaurants and while all were good, this was the most memorable.
Biggest surprise - Ben liked the Hall of Presidents.
Really. Of course, it helped that he was able to see amazing animatronics of his three favorite Presidents. # 3 Abraham Lincoln, #2 William Howard Taft, and his favorite President, #1 Richard Nixon. Really.
Best New Interactive Show - Turtle Talk with Crush
At Epcot, there’s an attraction that used to be called “The Living Seas” which includes a huge aquarium. They rethemed it recently to be a Finding Nemo attraction. They still have the aquarium with boatloads of live marine life, but the Finding Nemo theme makes it more accessible to youngsters. One of the new elements is “Turtle Talk with Crush” a live, face to face conversation with the sea turtle, Crush. The kids sit in front of a huge screen showing what looks to be part of the aquarium. Crush swims on screen and actually converses with the kids asking and answering questions. He does this in the Crush voice, in real time. The graphics and sound seem to be generated on the fly with no lag. It was quite impressive and very funny.
First time at an old attraction - Tom Sawyer Island
I’ve been to WDW maybe a dozen times and never ventured over to Tom Sawyer Island. It’s a big island, accessible only by raft, with walking trails, fake caves and mines to explore, and a fort with guns you can shoot. It’s well detailed and was doubtless a huge draw years ago. For today’s kids, it’s probably a little too old-fashioned.
Most refreshing spot - Club Cool
Some years ago, Coca Cola set up a temporary exhibit of sodas from around the world. This seems to have become a permanent part of Epcot because they’ve moved into an actual building. In Club Cool, you can sample as much of the international sodas as you like. They have a variety of flavors from an excellent red pop from Costa Rica, a vegetable soda from Japan to an amazingly bitter and horrific entry from Italy called Beverly. It’s a lot of fun to try the different sodas and it costs nothing to drink as much as you want.
And that's my Disney report. It was a great vacation. I can't wait until our next visit.
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