Category Archives: WDW May 2012

Brush With Fame

We all know that Walt Disney and The Walt Disney Company has lots of famous characters in its background. Part of the fun at WDW can include rubbing elbows with some of these greats. So here’s our brush with Disney fame!

Oh, and on the subject of Disney disrepair,

Here is a great Seeburg KT that has been at home in the Main Street train station for as many years as I can remember (1994 for WDW). Same problem as the 1900 Park Fare Limonaire, except hopefully the KT has a minor problem…

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And of course,
20120521-231644.jpgAnd notice how professional and permanent that Out Of Order sign looks. I hope that doesn’t mean anything…

An update or correction on my previous post is provided by Youtuber NICKELINTHESLOT (check out his other Youtube posts) a dedicated Disney fan and mechanical music fan who provided the following video showing the organ in 1900 Park Fare actually working recently although obviously it’s not in the best condition that it could be–at least it’s still operable and protected from the elements!!

Sore Feet, Second Day

Our second day hitting the parks was epic by design. The Magic Kingdom was open until 2 AM and we left when they kicked us out. My phone battery died long before my feet did, so I’m behind on posting, but I’ll get caught up soon. Our day started at the 1900 Park Fare restaurant at the Grand Floridian. Food is good, served as a buffet. It’s a character dining breakfast, which is always fun. The whole experience was great. One thing I have enjoyed about the place over the years is that tied into their whimsical turn-of-the-last-century look, they obtained a carousel style organ referred to as Big Bertha from the Eakins collection. This was a late 1800s Limonaire, I think. Disney built it into the restaurant high above the dining area. It used to play periodically, but Disney has let it fall into ruin, and rather than being good stewards of this historic instrument, they let it rot. Shame on them. Here’s a picture of the room from our table from which we could see the decaying Limonaire.

20120521-123508.jpg. Don’t let me leave you with the impression that we didn’t have a great time–we did! It’s just that Disney has the resources to fix that organ, and they should either fix it or sell it to someone better equipped to care for it…

More Epcot

Epcot has fantastic opportunities to try authentic and well-prepared food from around the world in the World Showcase. Rides like Mission Space tend to work counter to that great food. Soarin is always a hoot, and we did all that stuff, but the Epcot fireworks are without compare outside Disney. I have actually seen bigger fireworks displays, but I haven’t seen better anywhere, and of course Disney does theirs daily. Here are a couple of really bad pictures. One thing I noticed is that the dummies who know how to call a lawyer have evidently convinced Disney that turning all the lights down for the duration of the fireworks creates a risk that said dummies will trip over their massive intellect as they wisely try to move around in the dark, so for our safety and comfort they leave the lights on for the fireworks. A victory for the idiots, but it’s just a skirmish-they haven’t won the war. Still, the fireworks are nothing less than breathtaking, and my pictures are still bad.

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Epcot

I’ve been a little slow to update because I’ve been busy running my feet, but I have to take a minute between soaking and massaging to point out how beautiful Epcot is. This despite the throngs of people who tramp through daily. Callie says that she could spend an entire vacation at Epcot, and despite my affinity for the other parks, I’m starting to see her point. David gives Epcot at least one thumb up as well.

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