Tag Archives: Canada

Parks

O Canada!

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photo courtesy of rolling with the magic
photo courtesy of rolling with the magic

Welcome to this month’s Blogorail Green Loop. Today we are taking you on a virtual tour of Epcot’s World Showcase.

Our neighbors to the north, Canada, have one of the most visual pleasing (at least in my opinion) pavilions in the World Showcase. It is full of great architecture and a stunning garden.

photo courtesy of Disney nouns
photo courtesy of Disney nouns

With no meet and greets, or quick service restaurant and only just the O Canada! film to capture people’s attention, most people consider Canada to be just a “pass through” pavilion.  But it’s not.  There is so much to see, do, and photograph in this pavilion.

First, O Canada! film was updated in 2007.  This is a recent upgrade by EPCOT World Showcase standards when you go to France and see the same Impressions de France that debuted when EPCOT opened in 1982.  Martin Short narrates the journey through Canada and Canadian culture and even includes a Winter Olympic sport which I participate in on the recreational level….curling.

Canada did have one of the top music acts in the World Showcase, Off Kilter.  But their contract was not renewed and Disney has had a hard time finding something to replace them.  Originally, a Canadian Lumberjack show replaced the musical act but faced a lot of resistance from guests who did not approve of the change.

Canadian Lumberjack Show #1

Then another musical act, Canada Holiday Voyagers, came in for the 2015 Christmas season but their run just came to  an end so Canada is left without any entertainment.

So let’s leave the negative behind and focus on the positive of this pavilion.  The Victoria Gardens are a mini year-round Flower and Garden Festival as they provide a majestic sight as guests walk down to Le Cellier for lunch or dinner.

photo courtesy of rolling with the magic
photo courtesy of rolling with the magic

Guests at Le Cellier are treated to one of the best meals, in my opinion, in one of the World Showcase’s most intimate settings.  The restaurant has one of the smallest dining capacities at Walt Disney World making reservations hard to get.  A few years ago, Disney increased the number of Disney Dining Plan table credits that Le Cellier costs from one to two.  This has alleviated some of the pressure on getting a reservation but not a lot.

The building which houses Le Cellier, Hotel du Canada, is modeled after the iconic Chateau  Laurier hotel in Ottawa, Ontario and the Victoria Gardens, in front of Le Cellier,

This is a pavilion that is definitely worth walking around and exploring.  There are plenty of things to see and photo opportunities to get.  There are three 30-foot high totem poles in the pavilion which make wonderful photo opportunities.  Guests have used these poles to “measure children’s growth” from Disney vacation to Disney vacation.

Now, if Disney could add a quick service restaurant to this pavilion which could make guests stick around the pavilion a little bit longer that would perfect.  If Tim Horton’s could work out a licensing deal with Disney to create that quick service location that would be even more perfect.

For more info on Epcot’s World Showcase,
check out the other great posts from the Blogorail!

Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail Green | Tour of Epcot’s World Showcase Loop:

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2015 City of Ottawa Bonspiel

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It is very rare that I write about something other than Disney. today is one of those times.  During the long upstate NY winters, I spend my free time curling (like the Olympic sport).  It keeps me active while all the golf courses are covered in snow.  Since I began curling in 2002, I’ve got pretty good by club standards and travel to several bonspiels (tournament) a year.  One of the bonspiels, I go to is the City of Ottawa bonspiel which a large event featuring mainly teams from Canada.  This year, there were 112 teams in the open division and only three teams from the United States.  Canada is the world leader in curling so the competition is the best that my team will face all season.

Continue reading 2015 City of Ottawa Bonspiel →

Weekly Recaps

Weekly Update – July 5

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photo courtesy of mynews 13
photo courtesy of mynews 13

I hope everyone had an exciting Fourth of July.

My Fourth was filled with relaxation after a stressful July 3rd.  First, my central air didn’t restart after a power blip and I thought the compressor motor was fried and I shut off the air conditioner.  I was without air conditioning for most of the day until the HVAC repairman came and found nothing wrong.  All that was need was to let the air conditioner sit idle for 10-15 minutes to let the compressor reset and then turn it back on.  After that, it worked fine.

After that fiasco, I went swimming with my daughter at the local town pool.  I decided that it would be a good idea for my phone to go swimming with me.  Thankfully, I was eligible for an upgrade so my broken iPhone 4 turned into a functional iPhone 5.  These were two stresses that I didn’t need heading into a holiday weekend.

Now, on to the weekly update:

Learn about all things Auto Train

All Things Canada at EPCOT

Tiggerific Tuesday Trivia

Wordless Wednesday

Flying Fish Cafe Dining Review

Americana in the Disney Parks

Happy 4th of July from Sam the Eagle and Muppetvision 3D

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Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend, we’ll be back next week with a full week of posts and debate.

Thanks for reading!