Photos From Mouse Town

 

My wife and I did the tourist thing and spent the day at Disney World, at the Magic Kingdom theme park. I try to avoid the usual kinds of snapshots when I go to tourist attractions, so this gave me a chance to take some different kinds of pictures.

Below: Splash Mountain is one of the most popular rides it has a 50 foot drop at the end of it.

Above right: going through the tunnel to the first drop in the ride

These two pictures are from the line that winds its way to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Disney is very clever in designing amusing distractions for people waiting in line to board the rides.

Aboard the Jungle River cruise ride, one of the oldest rides in the park. It seems a bit hokey these days, but remains a popular attraction nonetheless.

Space Mountain was on and off-line intermittently the day we were there. In the top photo, the scene would normally be dark and dramatically lit. However, because  Space Mountain was off-line, all of the lights were on while the ride was being repaired.

This provided a rare opportunity to see the ride as it really looks. It looks like the interior of a industrial facility, very different when all the lights are out.

We did get to ride however, and I took some dramatic pictures of the inside of the attraction.

Disney is expanding Fantasyland to add new attractions, removing the rather dated Mickey's Toon Town Fair in the process.tall walls were erected to block a lot of the construction from the view of visitors, but you can see the heavy equipment and scaffolding above the walls. The expansion is scheduled to open in 2012.

Below: a rendering of what the expanded Fantasyland will look like

 The ride Its A Small World After All was created for the 1964 world's fair and subsequently moved to Disney World, where it has been ever since. The ride has been the subject of a lot of derision because of the constantly repeating song which gets into your head like an ear worm.

At the base of Cinderella Castle, there was a choreographed skit with Disney characters to set the stage for the illumination of Cinderella Castle, which has been covered with thousands of Christmas lights. The lights came on gradually until the entire castle was illuminated.

As we left the park, it was obvious it was ready for the upcoming holiday season.