Running Through Walt's Original Magic Kingdom **COMPLETE 10/9** - Page 3 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
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To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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I have to say that the Alice themed bathroom is amazing!
Isn't it ?
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Originally Posted by Tere WDW
I love all your pictures, they are really making this TR special! I have only been to DL once and don't remember much, so I'm seeing it through your eyes. Can't wait to read more
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
More great pictures!
Thanks!
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Originally Posted by disney_duke
All the Duffy photos are so cute! Yes, isn't Matterhorn bumpy? I rode on the Fantasyland side and wanted to try the other side, but decided against it. It wasn't as exciting as I'd hoped. But still a must-do ride (with some Excedrin!) due to the history.
Yep, I would ride it again, just because it was Walt's favorite!
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Originally Posted by mcc0313
Sorry that the Matahorn was a bit more bumpy then you had thought...but at least you rode it once. Love the "Alice" bathrooms, those doors are just too cool. Seems like Duffy is having a great time. Love the view from Dumbo. Can't wait to hear about your tour.
DH took the pics from Dumbo; he did well, don't you think?
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Originally Posted by KMB733
Just read all the updates! I'm loving all the pictures. I can't wait to see all of that in person next month!
Oooh, have a great trip. It really is a very different experience than WDW.
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Originally Posted by lauriep
Very funny to picture you waiting until all the stalls were empty and then arranging the doors to get the shot in the Alice bathroom!
Fortunately, there were very few people around (as you could tell by the view from Dumbo!) so it was pretty easy. If there'd been people around, I totally would have done it anyway.
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Originally Posted by pamcarey
Very cool bathroom!
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Originally Posted by chezp
Those restrooms are amazing - that's Disney theming at its best!
Here are a few of the photos near the famous bathrooms. I actually think I noticed the light fixtures first, then realized where I was!
This is the actual light fixture in the bathroom. If I could have turned out the light, I would have, so I could have gotten a better picture!
We headed toward the castle, hoping that we'd get a chance to come back and experience the walkthrough, something that they don't have in WDW.
The window dedicated to the Sherman Brothers!
There is a light in the window that used to show the guests when Walt was in the park. Now they keep it lit all the time, in honor of Walt.
We went into Guest Relations to see where we needed to check in for our tour. They directed us to the little kiosk just to the left of Guest Relations. Before we left, I had to snap this photo:
We checked in for our tour at about 9:15; we had to choose our lunch from the following menu. I got the turkey, and DH got the ham.
We got these little tags to wear, to indicate that we're part of the tour. (Yeah, like the dorky headsets don't do that already!)
Duffy was jealous, so we let him borrow one of our tags.
We had a few minutes before the tour started, so I ran to the facilities. On the way back, I ran into these two:
Our tour guide's name was Josh, and he was very young. Apparently, it takes a long time to work up to the tour guide position. I was surprised that someone so young would be in such a coveted position. The tour guide on our last tour at WDW was an older woman with a ton of experience, and it showed. This young guy was enthusiastic, but in my opinion, he just didn't have the knowledge base to be a good tour guide. For example, the first thing he told us, as we stood next to the flagpole, was that Walt was born in 1905, when in actuality, he was born in 1901. I knew then that I most likely wouldn't learn a ton on this tour, but I was happy just being in Walt's park. One of the cool thing about the tour was that as we went along, we got to hear audio clips of Walt. I think the backstage tour at WDW could use some of these.
Since I don't have too many facts to share, I'll just show you lots of pictures!
Walt's opening day dedication speech
The first land of the tour...
We'd be stopping by here later...
Our first attraction was one of my favorites:
I already have a ton of pictures from WDW, so I tried to take pictures of things that we don't have in Florida. We got to ride on a regular boat with a regular skipper, unlike the tour at WDW, where we got our own boat and our tour guide talked over my favorite jokes!
Up next: Frontierland!
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Last edited by mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince; 09-15-2011 at 10:25 PM..
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We left Adventureland and walked through Frontierland. I thought maybe we'd stop for an attraction, but we didn't.
I loved the decorations at these shops. We meant to get back here, but we never did.
Josh told us a little about the Golden Horseshoe, where Walt and Lillian celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary the day before the park opened. We hoped to get back here for the Billy Hill show; I'd read nothing but good things about it.
Next up was New Orleans Square. Liberty Square is my favorite land at WDW, so I was not surprised at all that I loved NOS! I love the look of it, and ambiance and the feel of it. It's so very !
Sailing Ship Columbia
Mark Twain
See the letters on the balcony? They stand for Walt Disney and Roy Disney.
We had a reservation here for the next day, and I couldn't wait!
Love the instruments up on the balcony!
One of the stops on the tour was the famous Club 33. We got to go inside the lobby, learned a little about its history and took a few photos. (In case you're not familiar, here's some more information: Inside Club 33 « Disney D23)
The lobby has an elevator that was very important to Walt. He saw one in Paris, and wanted to get one like it for Disneyland, so he had his Imagineers build one just like it.
This fountain is at the crossroads between the last two attractions that Walt worked on, both of which opened not long after his death.
Every popcorn cart has a character that turns a little wheel. This one is outside of Haunted Mansion!
Unfortunately, HM was down for the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. Normally, this tour takes a ride on HM, but instead we had to skip it. We were supposed to take the train from New Orleans Square, but it was full when it came by, so we headed to our next destination on foot.
This train tunnel is left over from an old attraction called the Rainbow Caverns Mine Train. It closed to make way for BTMRR, but they left this here as a tribute. As we stood there listening to Josh tell us about this, a guest came by and told us what a great ride it had been!
One last picture in Frontierland before we headed into Fantasyland.
We were able to take a little break in the shade at Pinocchio's Village Haus, and DH got a little treat. It was quite warm, and sunny (but not humid! )
I saw a couple more interesting bathroom signs:
It's so funny to see the monorail going by the mountain!
Even the pretzel cart is themed. Can you guess which attraction is close by? Unfortunately, we didn't ride it at this time.
Not sure why I took this picture.
I didn't notice these little guys at the Alice attraction earlier. Aren't they cute?
Apparently, when they were showing the model of Sleeping Beauty castle to Walt, the front we know was actually supposed to be the back. Somebody turned the model around, and Walt decided that it looked better that way.
This drawbridge actually works, but it has only been lowered twice: once on opening day, and once after Fantasyland went through a major refurb.
Even though the statue of Snow White looks bigger than the dwarves, they're actually all the same size. They use forced perspective (and smaller animal statues) to make Snow White seem taller.
Disney family crest
Weird to think that you can get to Tomorrowland from the castle...
I went back and forth on whether or not to take this tour when I was there and decided not to. Looks like a good one.... I'll take it next time for sure.
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Great pictures from the tour! And I love your theme pictures (light fixtures, bathroom signs, etc...)! I think I need to try that, instead of just taking the same pictures all the time.
More great pictures from your tour! Sorry the guide was lacking!
He could have been worse. He was at least excited about his job and had respect for Walt. He just needed to get his facts straight!
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Originally Posted by chezp
Despite your guide being a bit lacking, it sounds like it was still a great tour.
Even though I knew some of what he told us, I'd never heard it at the park where Walt walked, so it was all good!
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Originally Posted by disney_duke
I went back and forth on whether or not to take this tour when I was there and decided not to. Looks like a good one.... I'll take it next time for sure.
Definitely!
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Originally Posted by pamcarey
Great pictures from the tour! And I love your theme pictures (light fixtures, bathroom signs, etc...)! I think I need to try that, instead of just taking the same pictures all the time.
It's because I'm a scrapbooker! I get tired of doing layouts of the same photos all the time!
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I knew then that I most likely wouldn't learn a ton on this tour, but I was happy just being in Walt's park. One of the cool thing about the tour was that as we went along, we got to hear audio clips of Walt. I think the backstage tour at WDW could use some of these.
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