Monthly Archives: June 2014

Trip Planning

Riding the Auto Train

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For today’s article, I’m going to take a look at an alternative method to get to Walt Disney World….the Amtrak Autotrain which runs from Lorton, VA to Sanford, FL.  The Autotrain is an excellent alternative for those people who are afraid to fly but don’t want to drive the entire distance either.

Auto Train #1

Lorton, VA is the northern loading point for the Autotrain.  Lorton is a 30 minute drive south on I-95 from Washington, DC.  So, people coming from the north still have to deal with traffic of the New York/Philadelphia/Baltimore/Washington DC megalopolis.  From my understanding, this is the worst part of the drive to Walt Disney World from a traffic perspective.  Once you get south of Washington, DC, the next major city you would drive near would be Savannah, GA and Jacksonville, FL which don’t have near the traffic congestion issues that major northeastern cities too.

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Weekly Recaps

Weekly Update – June 28

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Dad For Disney is continuing to grow.  The Facebook page now has 154 likes and the Dad For Disney twitter has 62 followers.  This is great growth.  Please be sure to tell your friends about what is going on so they can join in the fun.

Now, onto this week’s posts:

Some tips to find lower airfare:

Ways to Find Lower Airfare

Some debate about the Princess Fairytale Hall:

Could Princess Fairytale Hall Accommodate a Third Meet and Greet

A resort guide to Port Orleans:

Diving Into Port Orleans Resort

A little Food and Wine Festival News:

Food and Wine News

Looking into Polynesian Renovations:

Polynesian Construction – A Renovation Question

Some Disney History:

Disney History: Tapestry of Nations Parade

How to Survive the Rain at Disney:

Surviving a Rainy Day at Disney

We’ll be back on Monday with other week’s worth of posts.

Thanks for reading.

Other Parks and Entertainment, Parks, Trip Planning

Surviving a Rainy Day at Disney

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The saying goes that a rainy day at Disney is better than a sunny day at home.  However, you still get wet and you have to deal with wet clothes when you get back to the room.  There is always that chance you get caught out unprepared and come back to the room soaked.

This happened to my family once.  We were trying to ride out what we thought was going to be a passing sprinkle.  We went on It’s A Small World hoping the rain would stop.  It didn’t.  It was coming down even harder.  We made the long walk through the Magic Kingdom.  Thankfully, we were staying at the Contemporary so we had a quick walk back to our room.  But we were still soaked.  The hardest thing to dry out were our shoes.  Some of us, namely me, still had damp shoes the next day.

What can you do to reduce your chances of getting soaked at Disney?

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EPCOT, Uncategorized

Disney History: Tapestry of Nations Parade

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One of the things that I like about EPCOT is there are no parades to clog up the walkways through the park.  This wasn’t always the case.  For a short time, EPCOT was host to the Tapestry of Nations parade which lasted for almost two years (from 1999 to 2001) before replaced by Tapestry of Dreams parade.  This parade lasted two years as well and was not replaced.  Since 2003, there has not been a parade at EPCOT.  The Tapestry of Nations parade was added as part of EPCOT’s Millennium Celebration.

Tapestry of Nations #3

The parade’s theme was world unity and world peace.  The parade was led by the “Sage of Time.”  The parade features lots of large puppet-like costumes and stilt-walkers.  A variation of this parade was used for the basis of the Super Bowl XXXIV half-time show.

Tapestry of Nations #1

There were some floats in the parade as well.  But the highlights of the parade were the puppets and the stilt-walkers.

Tapestry of Nations #2

The parade’s theme changed to a dream theme when the parade changed to the Tapestry of Dreams as the Sage of Time was replaced by the Dreamseekers.  The parade had dwindling popularity before it was finally cut from the EPCOT program in 2003.

I never saw either of the parades in EPCOT and until doing some research on Disney history never knew that EPCOT hosted a parade.  For those that like Disney parades or have fond memories of the Tapestry of Nations Parade, here’s a full video of the parade.

 

 

Resorts, Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Deluxe Resorts

Polynesian Construction – A Renovation Question

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Today, I head back into the realm of debate as I ask the question “Should Disney have completely closed the Polynesian during the renovation?”  It’s an interesting question to ask because Disney is doing a lot of renovating in and around the Polynesian and it is causing a lot of disruption within the resort.

It’s an expansive and thorough renovation but it is coming at a great cost to those guests who are choosing to stay at the Polynesian while these renovations are taking place.  So, what are the renovations that are taking place and will it enhance the guest experience for those who choose to stay there in the future.

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