Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom - Jingle Cruise

Date of Visit: December 5, 2013

The Jungle Cruise is one of the wheelchair accessible rides at the Magic Kingdom.  We usually skip it because Mik is not too into it, but since they do not have our favorite holiday ride (it's a small world) or any other holiday themed ride (Haunted Mansion Holiday) like Disneyland does we decided we had to try it out as the Jingle Cruise.  Plus, this trip Mom actually came with for the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and Jungle Cruise is her favorite attraction.

Overall I was kind of disappointed in the Jingle Cruise, as I was expecting to see a lot of holiday decorations, but it mainly is just Trader Sam at the end decorated.  The main holiday theme is the corny jokes the skipper's tell, which make it a nice different experience than normal, but I am not into that thing in the first place.  Mom loved it, though.


Mik likes the way the wheelchair gets lowered onto the Jungle Cruise boat (the holiday name for the accessible one is Brrrrr Bertha).  What we did not like, though, is that the disability guide for the Magic Kingdom does not say there is a special mobility access for this ride, but when we tried to get in the regular line we were directed to get a Return Time card to come back instead of wait in the line.  Yeah, it is nice we could go do something else and the wait time ends up being the same, but we missed out on the whole queue experience, which I think also meant missing out on most of the holiday decoration aspect of the Jingle Cruise.  Also, we should have planned better and gone in the daylight, as there is not special holiday lighting (or even much regular lighting) to make the ride more interesting after dark and you can see much more of the attraction in the daylight.

Destination Info:
Magic Kingdom - Jungle/Jingle Cruise
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Disneyland: Enchanted Tiki Tiki Realms at Disney Gallery

Date of Visit: August 12, 2013

The Disney Gallery is located next to The Disneyland Story and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln exhibit/show area on Main Street. It is partly a store, as most of it is artwork for sale, but it also is a themed exhibit. The current exhibit called “Tiki Tiki Realms: Celebrating 50 Years of Enchantment,” which is about the Tiki Tiki Room attraction.

Mik enjoyed rolling around and viewing the different artwork and seeing the animatronics up close. Of course, his favorite, though, was the miniature collectibles they sell in the shop.

Destination Info:

Disney Gallery at Disneyland
1313 South Harbor Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92802

Hilton Anaheim Convention Center

Date of Visit: August 7-13, 2013

We had booked a King bed accessible room with a roll in shower, but ended up with one with just a accessible bathroom with tub because I agreed to them moving us to the theme park view without realizing it was not with a roll in shower. While the roll in shower makes bathing easier, for this trip sacrificing it for the theme park view ended up being great. This was because the room offered a nice way to view the nightly Disneyland fireworks, which Mik enjoys watching, but hates the noise of.

Overall we enjoyed staying at the Hilton, especially since we could get to the D23 Expo without crossing any streets and they even have automatic doors by the exit to the convention center. Mik disliked that the elevators are so slow and crowded even though they have 2 sets of 6 right next to each other. It was not just the D23 Expo crowd, as it was more crowded after the D23 Expo and there was another convention going on in the hotel.

Bottom line was it was a good use of Mom’s Hilton Honors points, especially since we got the free theme park view upgrade. If we have to pay for a hotel, though, we would much rather go with one of the areas Best Western hotels for cheaper plus the benefits of a fridge, microwave, and breakfast. I did like the Hilton internet speed and quality was better than the Best Western’s inconsistent quality, but it was only free because of the D23 Expo.

Destination Info:

Hilton Anaheim Convention Center
777 West Convention Way
Anaheim, CA

Disney’ California Adventure: Blue Sky Cellar – Fantasy Faire

Date of Visit: August 10, 2013

Mik and I always enjoy seeing the Blue Sky Cellar exhibits about what is being planned or what is new in the park. During our D23 Expo trip, the exhibit was about the new Fantasy Faire area in front of the castle at Disneyland. Mik enjoyed seeing the model of the area in the Blue Sky Cellar more than when we had visited Fantasy Faire in person the day before, although he does like the cheesy garlic twists from Maurice’s Treats there.

Destination Info:

Blue Sky Cellar At Disney's California Adventure 
1313 South Harbor Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92802

Disneyland: Mickey’s Magical Map

 

Date of Visit: August 9, 2013

 

Mickey’s Magical Map is a musical show performed in the Fantasyland Theatre.  We arrived about 30 minutes before the show and were directed to wait at the bottom of the ramp that leads up to the restrooms by the theater.

 

About 20 minutes before the show they led us up to the top of the theater near the train station. This was kind of a hassle, since it leads through the area barely large enough for people to be waiting for their party using the restrooms.  I don’t get why they don’t juts direct you around the other way like when you go to the train station, as that area is much wider and is only crowded when the train just unloaded.

 

We were led down a ramp to select a spot in the flat bottom area of the theater right before they let everyone else into the theater.  Since it is not stadium style, we decided to take the last of the two spots in the front for wheelchairs, so our view would not end up blocked by someone in front of us.

I enjoyed the show, as it was a kind of interesting musical adventure featuring Apprentice Mickey and songs from a variety of Disney movies.  Being in front was good for the view, but Mik absolutely hated the loudness of the show, which did seem to partially have to do with them trumpeting right in front of us in parts and the speakers being right there for everything.  He did not really want to see it in the first place, so was quite annoyed with it in the end because besides fireworks it is the only thing we have done in a long time that has bothered him.

Destination Info:
Disneyland
1313 South Harbor Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92802

D23 Expo 2013: Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives

Date of Visit: August 10, 2013

Just like in 2011, the Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives was the most spacious and least crowded exhibit to visit, although again we did it right after it opened at 10 a.m.  We enjoyed seeing the items on display, although I did not like the thick carpeting they used in this area, as it made it harder to push Mik's wheelchair around.

The items on display this time included some props from the new Disney Channel movie, Teen Beach Movie, and from the Once Upon a Time show.

The most interesting area was probably the Oz props.  It is was not about the recent Oz movie, although it may have had stuff from it, but rather it was about older Disney Oz projects including how Walt Disney tried to get the rights from MGM and concepts for Oz project such as having Oz in the Storybookland Canal Boats scenery.  There was also stuff from the 1980s Return to Oz movie.



Of course, my favorite part of the exhibit was the Mary Poppins props, photos, and fan art.  This area had costumes and props from the movie including Mary's carpetbag and a carousel horse.  I think my favorite was the storyboard for the Jolly Holiday sequence.  There was also some interesting photos from the set when they were making the movie.  The last part featured fan art from a contest in honor of the 50th anniversary of the movie.

Destination:
D23 Expo
Anaheim Convention Center
800 West Katella Ave
Anaheim, CA

D23 Expo 2013: Journey Into Imagineering

Date of Visit: August 10, 2013

The first thing we hit on the second day of the Expo was the Journey Into Imagineering exhibit. Lining up for entrance at 7:30 a.m. allowed us to get in at 9:30 a.m. and there was no line to get in the exhibit.  It was good we went there first, as by the time we were done it started to get crowded and there is not that much room to move around in the different booths or the center area in the first place.

Overall we enjoyed the Journey Into Imagineering exhibit.  It begins with a little presentation/show about imagineering and then you go through a door to freely explore the different booths.  Mik especially liked the miniature models in the Dimensional Design area and not just because they had the original Grumpy from the grotto at Disneyland.  We also enjoyed the Art Library exhibit with early concept drawings of Disneyland.

Destination:
D23 Expo
Anaheim Convention Center
800 West Katella Ave
Anaheim, CA