Odyssey Memories

This picture was taken in May of 1991 inside Epcot's Odyssey restaurant. That's a 17 year old me on the right -with my Touchstone Pictures ballcap and Disneyland 35th Anniversary watch. On the other side of Mickey is my best friend Grant (who recently designed this blog's new banner.) In the middle of course is Mickey Mouse, sporting his futuristic space age metallic rainbow jumpsuit from Epcot's earlier days. I have a feeling that suit eventually went missing from Disney's wardrobe department and ended up in a Gay Pride parade somewhere...but I digress...

I have a great memory from my visit to the Odyssey. In 1991 I was lucky enough to attend Grad Nite at Walt Disney World. About 20-30 of us from the senior class flew from Baltimore to Orlando on a Friday afternoon. That evening we attended the Grad Nite festivities at the Magic Kingdom from 11:00pm to 5:00am. Saturday, we were whisked back to WDW for a day at Epcot Center. Between being 17 years old and not having the invention of the internet, I was pretty sure I was the world's foremost expert on everything Walt Disney World. Therefore, I was personally offended when some members of my class chose to tour Epcot on their own instead of having me as their tour guide.

After spending the better part of the day taking in all the headlining attractions at Epcot Center, my group and I had diner at the Odyssey. We had a teenager approved meal of hamburgers, chicken strips and whatever other fast food delights we wanted. We were also, unexpectedly, treated to a live stage show featuring Mickey Mouse and friends singing and dancing around the restaurant. As many members of the group had never been to Walt Disney World before, meeting Mickey and the gang face to face was a real highlight of the trip. After our meal and show we headed back into the park and sampled more attractions.

As the park closed, we headed back to our bus and met up with the rest of our classmates. The rest of the class couldn't have been more disappointed in how their day had gone. It seems without my "expert" knowledge they decided to have dinner at Les Chefs de France. They ended up waiting a long time for a table, a longer time for their food, and then they were served the kind of food that didn't exactly fill the tummies of a group of high school seniors on a field trip. Meanwhile, everyone in my group went on and on about how they got to meet Mickey and Donald and we got our pictures with them and the food was really good and we rode all the rides...

My honor had been vindicated!

My 10 Favorite WDW Attractions

I love lists! I like making them, and I like reading them. I want to do more lists on this blog and I encourage you to post your own list, either in my comments section or on your own blog. Here's a list I've been wanting to do since my last trip to Walt Disney World. After much soul searching I present my new list of the top attractions at the Walt Disney World resort that I love the most.


#10 - The Enchanted Tiki Room - Under New Management Yes, I wish the new management would sell it back to the original owners. The WDW refurb of this Disneyland classic is not even half as charming as the original. However, I loved the old show so much that even screaming Iago and his rap music can't make me stop loving this birdbrained show. I love how the show is literally all around you and there is nothing standing between you and putting your fingers in a Tiki guys mouth.

#9 - Splash Mountain - To me, the 52-foot drop isn't the coolest part of the ride. I love the way the boat meanders around the exterior of the mountain, taking it's sweet time before you get inside the mountain. Once inside, the ride still takes it's time floating through scene after scene of audio-animatronics. It really sucks you into the story. And I really like the way the set pieces are bright and colorful and cartoony - such a contrast from some of the other AA based epic attractions in the Magic Kingdom.

#8 - Pirates of the Caribbean - I remember riding this when I was little and just totally feeling like you were in another world. I mean, before you even got to the ride the queue just completely separated you from the theme park outside. And I really thought we were outside once we started sailing in our boat. Nowadays, I appreciate the grandness of the set pieces and how everything is all around you. Unlike Haunted Mansion, where your line of sight is controlled, there's all kinds of stuff to look at all over the place in this masterpiece. I think the new characters added to the ride recently bring a little something extra for younger generations to connect with, without taking away from the ride as a whole. This is one of my sons favorite attractions too and they just love spotting Jack Sparrow along the way.

#7 - Living With the Land - I gotta admit, I never really thought much of this ride until recent years. I'm all about simplicity and this ride couldn't be more simple. Plus, it's one of the last remaining attractions that hasn't changed much at all since Epcot opened 25 years ago. When I was younger, this ride couldn't have been more boring. When I ride it now I'm amazed at how fascinating growing plants can be. You can't go wrong with Mickey shaped pumpkins. Not to mention, you've got the tunnel with the live animals in it at the end to look forward to.

#6 - Space Mountain - Just simply one of the best thrill rides built anywhere!

#5 - Muppet Vision 4-D - I've been a huge Muppets fan all my life. In fact, in my younger days I was probably more into Muppets than Disney! Naturally I was excited when they announced this attraction. Even after all these years, and having seen this film dozens of times, it's still funny! It's very funny!

#4 - Test Track - Here's where I'll geek-out on ya and tell you the reasons I love this ride. I love the pre-show and how they tried to make it look like it's live. I love any ride where the vehicles start and stop or change speeds during the show. I love going up the curvy mountain road in the beginning. I love the way you twist and turn and make your way through that massive building. I love how that truck off to the side gets me every single time!

#3 - Gran Fiesta Tour - This one is a little hard for me because El Rio del Tiempo was my absolute most favorite ride in all of WDW for many, many years. I loved it's simplicity and mild incoherence. It also featured my favorite gag in any Disney ride - the film of the merchants as they followed your boat while you floated by three windows. While Gran Fiesta Tour carries over many similar elements from the previous attraction it just isn't the same for this El Rio fan. I like the addition of the characters and now the ride has a story and it's funny. But I'll always miss the random clips of people cliff diving and having drinks in a hot tub.

#2 - Mickey's PhilharMagic - This is just one of the coolest things in the world! Swimming with Ariel, flying with Peter Pan & Aladdin, and I love the kaleidoscope effect during the Lion King number. The effects are awesome and the whole thing is simply jaw dropping every time! This is now home to my NEW favorite gag in all of WDW. When Donald Duck gets shot out of the movie screen and crashes through the wall in the back of the theatre, his little feet hanging out of the wall brings a huge smile to my face every visit!!


#1 - Tomorrowland Transit Authority - I was disappointed when they replaced the more serious narration with the silly space-themed voice over but this is still a cool ride. I love the way the trains quietly glide alone the track, slowing down and speeding up and zipping through all the different attractions in Tomorrowland. Alot of rides end at a gift shop, but TTA takes you through a gift shop - how cool is that? Plus you've got the EPCOT model and that alien chick getting her hair done...what's not to love!? With the demotion of the Mexico ride, TTA (or WEDway Peoplemover as I still call it) is my new #1 favorite ride in Walt Disney World!

Paying The Bills

The Mouse Gear shop in Epcot's Innoventions is always busy with loads of people looking to stock up on WDW goodies to take home with them. It's one of the biggest retail spots in all of Epcot. It takes extra hands to run a store of this size so many of the citizens of Duckburg pull double duty working behind the scenes of this shop. Why ducks? Come on, this ain't no Mickey Mouse operation!

If you look up above the shopping fixtures in many parts of the store, you'll notice the silhouettes of many hard working ducks. In one room, chaos reigns as paper airplanes fly, Donald looses his temper and Huey, Dewey and Louie run wild.


In another area of the store, over by the watches and jewelry you'll find Scrooge McDuck firing off a memo to his secretary, Daisy. Daisy Duck is jotting down the memo while sitting in a very sexist old-fashioned secretary pose. But my favorite employee can be found in the last window of this scene...



... the often overlooked Gyro Gearloose is busy crunching away the numbers on, what appears to be, one of his crazy inventions. My guess is that Gyro invented a machine that could display enough numbers needed to show how much dough Mouse Gears rakes in on any given day!

Before Mickey Came To Epcot

When Epcot Center first opened in 1982, it was decided that Mickey Mouse and his cartoon friends would not have a role in the new grown-up oriented park. So instead of shaking hands with Goofy or sharing a hug with Donald Duck, kids got to line up for photo-ops with these gigantic dolls of the world characters. They were huge, they were completely unfamiliar and they had an empty glass-eyed stare that would chill you to your very bone. In this December `82 picture, my little brother and I manage to maintain a smile long enough for the flash cube to pop on my parent's Inst-o-matic before we ran hiding in fear behind mom and dad from this enormous psychotic looking man-child.

These characters didn't last long and before you knew it, Mickey and the gang were making trips from the Magic Kingdom over to Epcot to visit with guests.

Also, check out the cool not-yet-retro Epcot Center t-shirts my bro and I are sporting. I'm sure they would fetch a pretty penny on e-bay today!