Trip Report a Dutch boy in Walt Disney World

unbelievelars · Feb 17, 2016

As real Dutch people we prefer to walk to the bus stop (many Americans therefore ask: "are you nuts?") when we see something on the left that literally gives me goosebumps. The words "Walt Disney World" show in shiny gold letters on a sky blue gate with a Minnie and Mickey smiling right at us. I mutter to myself “it's real" and from the bus stop I am still keeping my eyes on the gate. It does not matter that this only is the entrance to the Disney area, (which is huge): in my eyes behind that arc lays THE 'entertainment capital of the world.’ It takes almost a full week (we visited Sea World and the Universal parks earlier) before the shuttle bus from our hotel drives through the same gate. Today we are introduced to Walt Disney World with our visit to the Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow, or as everyone calls it: EPCOT.

We are taking the monorail for the first time (in which Sherelynn yells immediately: "It's like Jurassic World!" whereafter I immediately respond with "No, Jurassic World is just like Disney!") that will take us towards the 'golf ball'. From the moment you are on Disney grounds you can immediately feel it. The grass actually looks slightly greener, the roads are sleek, the traffic lights work in your favor, the environment is perfectly maintained, people are throwing with smiles like it’s nothing and the air you breathe contains more oxygen. OK I’m an honest person, that from the oxygen is a lie, I think.

The silver ball is getting bigger and bigger and the MyMagic+ card with a radiant Mickey is burning in my hands. We get out of the monorail and walk towards the gates. But huh, where are they? The MyMagic+ system ensures that there is no such think like an entrance gate. You just keep your card against the Mickey silhouette while keeping your finger on the reader and wait how it magically turns green. Who would have thought that a ticket control might evoke an O-MY-GOD experience? Are you reading along Europe? I want this cool stuff in a park nearby!

At a walking pace we go further untill the huge iconic orb reveals itself. Wow. The 11,324 triangles that are each placed by hand reveal a visual shadow play which works equally hypnotic as enchanting. We walk along an amusing fountain in the direction of the left side of the park where we can immediately join the queue of Test Track (hurray for FastPass+!)

We scan our MyMagic+ card (another magical oh-my-god experience) and arrive in an area where we can make our own vehicle on an intuitive screen. Sherelynn and I uphold the motto "the uglier the better" which has a yellow color, huge open wheels and and lava motor (because lava is awesome) as result. After this comical creation session we step towards the direction of the boarding platform where we can scan our card just before we enter our own vehicle. It soon becomes clear that the time has come to test our own ‘batmobile’.

We put the seatbelts on while we enter a setting in which the adjective 'futuristic' is quite an understatement. Feel free to call it high tech. We pass various tests in which the car of mine and Sherelynn won a few but Loren and Silvie’s one did so too. It’s time for the all-deciding final: the speed test. The car accelerates to a rotvaart (dutch word for something ridiculously fast) and futuristic wall (or was it high tech?) opens just in time. We are going faster and faster until we tear through the curves with 105 km/h (I honestly don’t have a clue how many mph this is). Hair is blowing in all directions (luckily my Mickey ears are secured tightly with a rubber band) and once we arrive inside there appears to be a clear winner: team Lars & Sherelynn! Well, we never had a doubt with our brilliant lava engine.

Where a ‘normal’ attraction would end at this moment Test Track is going further: your test results are extensively presented and through your MyMagic+ card you can conveniently check in to race with your own vehicle in different games. In our opinion this is one hell of an attraction. The theming (and sponsor) fits in perfectly with the type of attraction which is a pleasure and delight to the eye. The thing that makes this evaluation extremely positive is the fact that it really is a complete experience. It feels like the attraction has lasted for fifteen minutes while you are actually only a few minutes sitting in the car itself: we love it!

At 'The Seas' pavilion the waiting time for 'Nemo and Friends' is 10 minutes. Our fast pass starts in about 15 minutes so we decide to enter the building through the exit and visit ‘Turtle Talk with Crush’.

For those who don’t know the concept of an interactive Disney show I will explain it. You sit with a lot of other people on benches in a fairly small room where a beautiful animated screen is incorporated in which Crush comes out and chats with the people. The humor is very contagious and the thin storyline with Dory and a huge whale works fine. After fifteen minutes we even scream "awesome dude!" so it's time to leave the theater. Sherelynn is still in a total trance at how good Crush is animated and real life responds to everything and everyone and I can tell you: many young children with her.

The MyMagic+ card gives us access to 'The Seas - with Nemo and friends’ where we immediately take place in a doom buggy themed as a shell. We pass small sea scenes where the characters of the film are innovative projected in. Nemo is lost (again, will he never learn?) and we take a trip through the pleasant and less pleasant parts (JELLYFISH!) of the sea to look for him. Eventually we find the little rascal and he swims, projected into the real aquarium, with his friends and us as the beautiful music (in the big blue world) guides us. When you get off you step into the aquarium which was the largest in the world when it opened. The marine life is beautifully presented and (as seems to belong to EPCOT) an educational twist is present in a fun and non-intrusive manner. If we suddenly see two dolphins swimming by the ‘I did not expect this feeling’ is complete.

We get back into the daylight where the gulls are still calling 'Mine! Mine!" what turns a faint smile on my face. The last fastpass reservation today is waiting for us in the iconic sphere: Spaceship Earth. We admire the structure that they build on for 26 months and can not imagine that there also is a real attraction is in this floating colossus. "Where does this attraction go about Lars? - I think about the evaluation from the man." The ladies burst out laughing at this slip of the tongue with which I am still faced to this day. "Sherelynn how was that Harry Potter area called? Downton Alley, right? Exactly.” So we all have no idea what to expect and take place in the vehicle which can be best described as a doom buggy with two rows.

We go up (YEAH, REALLY INTO THE GLOBE!) and we have to choose a language on the touch screen and then specify from which country we are. The pleasant voice of Judi Dench starts to tell about the history of communication and we end up in prehistoric times where we see how rock paintings where made. Immediately Sherelynn and Loren ask if that are real people. “No, but honestly they seem to be real: what a wonderful animatronics!

In the next 10 minutes we take a journey through the world of communication and through time. The development of the printing press, the rise of telephony and the rise of live television. All this is epic (hurray Disney!) coming to an end once you arrive in the top of the globe. Beautiful words ring in our ears accompanied by a captivating soundtrack while the galaxy is projected on the massive interior of the sphere. While we descend back down (physically and mentally) we fill out some questions about our ideal future. We immediately see a movie where Silvie and I (our heads are cut from a photo which apparently has been taken earlier) life in our ideal furture world: hilarious! And the attraction? That is, in order to keep it in theme, ...-. .-. ... .- .... -. - .. / -.-. --- --- .- .. (for the non morse code readers among us: surprisingly cool!)

We explore the rest of ‘Future World’ and decide to discover the 'The Land’ pavilion. While we are waiting for ‘Circle of life: an environmental fable’ we kill some time exploring the MyMagic + app on the iPhone. We find out which restaurants are in World Showcase, scroll through the menus and then make a reservation for the Chinese restaurant with just one click for the same evening. It can’t be more simple.

NANTS INGONYAMA, BAGITHI BABA" blasts through the speakers and then there are two reactions possible of an average human being: 1- from complete happiness you produce a sound that sounds like 'aaaaaah’. 2- you get goosebumps. We obviously belong to category 3 (combination of number 1 + 2) and stare 12 minutes to the beautiful images of nature while the message "we have to pass on the earth” slips through. It is not a top attraction but the message and brilliant soundtrack by Mr Zimmer and John Rice provides an enjoyable combination that is very educational but never feels too preachy in any way.

'Living with the Land’ is in maintenance so the main E-Ticket of this pavilion is Soarin'. We wait 35 minutes in a not too special waiting area and then are escorted by the flight staff to our place. A pilot gives us a comical but the necessary flight instructions before we can board and soon take off. A breeze blows in our faces while we fly over California and see the Golden Gate Bridge, Yosemite National Park Los Angeles and many more. Along the way we sway kayakers, golfers, balloon paddlers and rafters goodbye while the images go hand in hand with the music. The one after another scent passes: from oranges in the vineyard and pine trees in the pine forests to romanticized sea air. Is this a top attraction? For me, personally not. The images are not completely sharp and although the experience is 'cool' it isn’t more than that. The thing the whole internet seems to bother hasn’t disturbed me at all: legs. Although: when I exited I charmingly tripped over my own pair.

In a park where so far nothing seems to disappoint an anticlimax lurks around the corner. The title 'Journey into Imagination’ makes us enthusiastic but the ride itself is a 6-minute ‘’ experience. The dragon Figment may be cute but can not help to save this twisted ride. In a journey through different test stages you different senses are being tested whereafter things derail and you'll go through a black-light landscape with floating objects. The ride feels temporary, cheap and unfinished, yet three words I thought who can not be found in the Disney dictionary. The space where you could do various experiments give us a very outdated impression and therefore the attraction gets a low score from us.

We leave the abstract but perhaps somewhat chilly 'Future World' behind and decide to explore ‘World Showcase’. First we are introduced to Canada (where we incidentally thought it was Switzerland or something in that region) where we enter the beautiful and imposing castle. Once inside where we stand in a 360 degree cinema to watch the film which feels like one big commercial for (you guessed it) Canada. The humor gives it a little gravy but it still feels like dry potatoes, even the musical earwig 'Oh Canada' can not change anything about this.

unbelievelars · Feb 17, 2016

We stroll further and when I'm in England and decide to take a side street I see the very first Disney character of our holiday. Loren and Silvie don’t like characters that much and so they soon lost Sherelynn and me: after a few minutes 'chim-chim-cheree-ing’ we are standing face to face with our young heroine Mary Poppins. The English lady herself notices that we come from far away and asks if we traveled by umbrella (but of course!) on the jolly holiday. As fun as chatting is, so uncomfortable is the photo opportunity itself: we are sort of leaning toward Ms. Poppins on the snapshot. I wish her a supercalifragilisticexpialidocius day when Sherelynn softly wispers "awkard” when we burst out laughing.

In the French part a spectacular streetact is going on but my internal alarm bells are ringing (or should I say alarm Belle-s?) because my favorite Disney princess makes her appearance here daily. I ask the nice cast member who is enjoying the sun at the empty photo location whether the French mademoiselle is coming up here. Soon he points with his finger and says "she's right over there cutie."

I guess now is the time to tell you something about the history of me and the princess with the golden-yellow dress. Starting from childhood I have a fondness for the film with the beast and the lady herself, she is the only princess who does not marry the first man she sees. It is a princess who reads, who is recalcitrant, who kind of is a re-Belle: she has character. During my visits in Disneyland Paris (11 in total) she has never been present at the photo point and in February she was even absent during the parade. When I read in March that the Brunette makes her appearance every day in EPCOT my heart stood still. I just have to meet her in about four months even though it's the only thing I do.

I take you back, back to September. We are walking in EPCOT where the mercury 30 hits the degrees celsius and where the smiling cast member just pointed with a finger where I should be. With a huge smile I say ‘merci’ (because we are in France) and walk along the romantic gables, the something-that-must-look-like-an Eiffel Tower, the charming fountains, the light-green trees and then I see her: Belle. It seems like everything is blurred and we are luckily the last ones to conclude in the row. The ladies consider me mad that I want to wait for so long but Sherelynn will wait with me. After 40 minutes (which afterwards will be the longest queue from whole our trip) the time has come. I ask subtly to Sherelynn if it’s crazy that my heart is beating faster. She answers with: "I have it too." I go first and move forward as we greet each other with ‘Bonjour’ and I throw (as taught in the French lessons) a “ca va?” back while Belle replied in fluent French. Since we were the last she takes the time to start the conversation and of course for taking a picture. I cannot describe what I feel better than what her prince himself once sang in the Dutch version:

“She touches me and oh, it seemed
As if she looked at me with a little warmth
As if she reads my mind
And that moment has never been there before"

Sherelynn and I are fascinated by the fact how much work goes down to create someone like this: what she's wearing, how she does, how she is, how they move, what they say, how they say it, how they smell and how they look: everything is right. Perfect. Only Disney can do this. If Silvie and Loren come back with a huge ice cream cone and ask us how it was, I can not say anything other than, "she was Belle, she did not look like it but she was."

I imagine you can’t hear another word about Belle so we walk quickly through the fairytale pavilion of Morocco, the crazy shops in Japan (especially the girl calling in Japanese while she works a pearl from an oyster is hilarious) after which we arrive in America which subtly is exactly is in the middle. Ah, subtlety is not for everyone.

Funnel cake sounds unfamiliar to Sherelynn and me so more reasons to try it! Something similar to a substance between pancakes and the Dutch snacks we eat when the clock strikes 12 at new years eve lies on a plate with a huge load of powdered sugar on it. Sher and I take a piece in our hand and count down: 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... (we put it in the mouth) ... mmm, quite tasty! The icing sticks everywhere and when finally the wind blows the empty plate against me I look like the younger cousin of Paris Hilton with powdered sugar all over me. While an american looks at me Iike I’m crazy my comment "obviously I'm from Holland” makes him laugh. The toilet appears to be the only one of the resort to have no towels so 5 minutes fumbling later we are ready to enter the stately building.

The beautiful hall that reminds us of the White House when the epitome of the American system shows: a yellow line before doors that will be opening shows where you can stand and of course the cast member refuses to open the doors because someone stands 3 cm over the line (yes, literally 3 centimeters). Crazy. Inside the theater (jeej for soft seating and air conditioning!) we see a show around the origins of America. Probably this story is overly romanticized but as a European I find it quite interesting to see this beautiful Animatronics act out the history. The indispensable end with images of America in an uber-cheesy compilation under bombastic but emotional music can not be missed and many American show to be proud of their country. Weird, but somehow also kind of beautiful. But if something like this would open in the Netherlands representing the history of our country I bet it will be shut down in the first week.

Our stomachs slowly begin to rumble and that's good because it's almost time for our reservation. Through Italy and Germany we make our way towards China and we step inside the 'Nine Dragons' restaurant. We sit in the soft seats, our enthusiastic waitress (which actually comes from China!) tells us what the 'specials' of the day are, and not long after we have made a choice the food appears on the table. It tastes delicious, the American habit of ‘we love to keep your glass full until you say stop’ is very welcome after such a long theme park day and the atmosphere is fantastically relaxed. Loren appointed what we all feel: now we are not in America, we are not in Walt Disney World, we are not in a theme park but we're 'just' in a Chinese restaurant. And I can tell you that feels very nice.

After the meal we discuss the plans for the evening and because ‘Ellen's Energy Adventure’ closes earlier we conclude that we can’t experience this one. As we walk in the land of the rising sun the same sphere goes under and after a walk through Norway we face the temple of Mexico. The sun casts a golden glow over the entire area and when we get inside we find a charming pavilion. Less attractive is the dark ride that goes with: projection screens are integrated in the most illogical and ugly way possible making this journey around Donald Duck and his caballeros my least favorite Disney Dark Ride ever. Aj carmaba!

unbelievelars · Feb 17, 2016

Our 4.5-hour-around-the-world-journey has come to an end and one mysterious E-ticket is still waiting: Mission Space. Silvie and Loren don’t like the idea that this is a heavy simulator in which Sherelynn and I somehow are afraid to step into. There is no waiting time and the ‘it-can-not-be-that-heavy’ mentality decreases while we walk through the waiting line. They are making clear to us in all possible ways that this is heavy stuff. Yet we choose 'orange' (the heavy version of the two) when (after an instructional video where they make us afraid again) we are being split into groups of four. Along with two American children we wait outside the booth and start talking. The boy and girl want to switch positions (why not?) and ask if it's our first time. We nod and they say that it is very intense and you can become extremely ill, but there are barf bags so we don’t have to be afraid. Thanks for the encouraging words children, thank you.

The door opens and soon we see why the two children wanted to switch positions: everyone is assigned to a specific role and the boy is now the captain. The cabin closed so we are sitting in a tight and anxious space overlooking the galaxy through our own window. I give the signal for ‘takeoff’ because, after all, I am the 'commander' and we sail through the galaxy. We experience enormous pressure on us which feels very intense but also feels very cool. When, after a turbulent flight, we see Mars the landing obviously goes wrong while the boy directs us in our tasks. So I need to take care of the rocket disconnection (after which you actually feel direct response) and Sherelynn lands the rocket. At last we experience some heavy forces (up to 2.5G!) when we violently come to a complete stop on the red planet. Sherelynn mumbles "Damn, this was heavy" which I respond with "but so cool!" - "Indeed, super super super cool!"

We are using the single rider line to do a quick re-ride on Test Track that remains a top attraction without the 'create-a-car aspect but certainly doesn’t give you the ‘complete-experience-feeling’. Silvie walks with Sherelynn to score a Walt Disney World Puzzle for her parents while I buy a backpack for myself and Loren some christmas ornaments for in her tree. We wait at the huge fountain until we are complete and look for a spot at the edge of the lake for the final spectacle "Illuminations: Reflections of Earth" which is about to begin.

“We've gathered here tonight around the fire as people of all lands have gathered for thousands and thousands of years before us... to share the light... and to share a story” echoes through the speakers and the magical music starts. An impressive display of fireworks and huge (and I mean really huge) fire effects symbolize the origins of the earth and a few minutes later our planet earth reveals itself in the form of a 8.5 meter high colossus. On this globe we see the highlights of our planet. A bombastic musical spectacle reveals itself with precisely timed fireworks after which the surrounding buildings light up.

As if this was not enough the huge sphere opens revealing a fire: the flame that burns within our earth and connects us all. Beautiful words like "reach out and touch tomorrow, take the future in our hands" are sung as they should be sung and the climax that can be heard all over Walt Disney World creates a loud applause, wow. We did not expect anything less from this show who has won the award for best outdoor production 11 years in a row. But in our honest opinion Disney Dreams in our beloved Disneyland Paris is more overwhelming. "To a new day, we go on."

While we see a projection of our earth on 'Spaceship Earth' which then slowly turns into beautiful colors we walk underneath this themepark icon and exit our first Walt Disney World park. We came here to meet new things and we certainly did. We met Walt Disney World, the past, the present, the future and the world. I realize to well that this is a ‘love-it-or-hate-it' park when we are discussing our day in the monorail. The ladies thought this park does not have the ‘Disney feeling’ where I though the streamlined, the thought out, the great and relaxing aspects make it feel like Disney. "The magic is missing" say the ladies in unison while I with my pre-knowledge just knew that magic is the main ingredient. The idea that all triangles of the huge globe are placed by hand, the original intend and thought which Walt Disney himself had, the educational approach and the love and passion with which this park is created and has evolved makes me feel the Disney magic.

Yes Future World is perhaps a bit bleak, but in my opinion far from ugly. And yes World Showcase does not really have a lot of attractions, but brings a holiday feeling to me that I haven’t experienced yet in any other park. It is more than amazing how immersive this micro-worlds all are. What we all like is the fact that this park actually has no standard attractions: Test Track, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth and even The Seas are all unique and that's refreshing, surprising and exciting. Where we also are unanimously (extreme) positive about is the MyMagic + system. See restaurant menus and reserve while waiting somewhere else, simply look back attraction photo’s on your smartphone, see wait times and no hassles with fast pass tickets: amazing, brilliant, innovative, useful, time-saving, stress-reducing and especially experience-optimizing. While other parks bet on quantity as new attractions it's great that Disney invests so much money in quality for which nothing but praise.

"What is the highlight of the day?" - Silvie? - "Test track" - Loren? - "Test Track" - Sherelynn? - "Test Track" - Lars? - My mouth curls into a smile, my eyes squeeze themselves blissfully together and behind my teeth sounds a subtle and enamored laugh making the answer obvious. I put my lips together and whisper softly: "Belle".

If you tell someone you can make a journey through the history of humans and his communication, you can design your own car and test it, can eat in China, can fly in a rocket simulator to Mars, make a ‘step-in-time’ dance with Mary Poppins, talk with a turtle and be a spectator together with all cultures of a spectacle about what connects us all: the earth in one day he or she will say you are crazy. However all of this is possible in Epcot, in no other park cultures flow together so well making the title Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow more than appropriate. And why shouldn’t we celebrate our progress, history, culture and social connection? La vie est Belle.

Lars

To finish this report I've made a short (but hopefully nice) video which also gives a preview of the next Disney Park

cgersic · Feb 18, 2016

Superb report Lars! It's always wonderful to "see" it again through new eyes! Thanks and I look forward to more!

DisneyJunkie217 · Feb 18, 2016

Following along! I really enjoy how you tell the story of your experience at the parks. I can almost feel the emotions you and your group felt at the parks. I am very excited to see what is to come.

Juneau Biscuits · Feb 18, 2016

Fantastic trip report Lars! You are a great writer...looking forward to more!

ajrwdwgirl · Feb 18, 2016

Great descriptive report so far! Pictures are excellent too.

unbelievelars · Feb 19, 2016

cgersic said:
Superb report Lars! It's always wonderful to "see" it again through new eyes! Thanks and I look forward to more!

Thank you so much!

DisneyJunkie217 said:
Following along! I really enjoy how you tell the story of your experience at the parks. I can almost feel the emotions you and your group felt at the parks. I am very excited to see what is to come.

It's so good to read that somehow our emotions are captured by the words and pictures, thanks!

Juneau Biscuits said:
Fantastic trip report Lars! You are a great writer...looking forward to more!

Jeeeej, thanks for the beautiful compliment

ajrwdwgirl said:
Great descriptive report so far! Pictures are excellent too.

Thanks! Good to hear that the you like pictures :happy:

12in12 · Feb 20, 2016

As a fellow Dutchie I understand your amazement at over the top Disney magic. I love to visit WDW so soak it all up. I look forward to the rest of your report.

Laurenciaa · Feb 20, 2016

Following along ! Very nice ( and funny) start op the TR! Groetjes uit België !

Goofnut1980 · Feb 21, 2016

Fantastic trip report! I love the videos you made!!! Excellent!

unbelievelars · Feb 22, 2016

RedNoseMickey said:
As a fellow Dutchie I understand your amazement at over the top Disney magic. I love to visit WDW so soak it all up. I look forward to the rest of your report.

Thanks! The more Dutchies the better

Laurenciaa said:
Following along ! Very nice ( and funny) start op the TR! Groetjes uit België !

Super bedankt! En natuurlijk de groetjes terug

Goofnut1980 said:
Fantastic trip report! I love the videos you made!!! Excellent!

Thank you so much

And hereby my new video as sort of a preview of what's coming in the next reports

ShookieJones · Feb 22, 2016

Dude! TR is good but the videos are amazing! Wow! Excellent job!

unbelievelars · Feb 23, 2016

Wow huge compliment, thanks!

farrellbarrel · Feb 27, 2016

Great TR!

unbelievelars · Jun 15, 2016

Frozen in Blizzard Beach

In a region where the thermometer is in love with 30 degrees celsius and where air conditioning is one of the ‘basic needs’ it’s not crazy to occasionally make a refreshing swim. For the cooling-seeking-tourists Walt Disney World had two huge water parks to offer which each receive more than 2 million visitors annually. What do we know? That one park is something with snow and a ski lift and the other park is something with a boat on a mountain and some ridiculously high waves. The bags are filled with snacks, besides a tanktop I wear my swimming trunks and also the bikini straps of my travel company reveal that we are ready to show our swimming skills. Are we excited? YES WE ARE!

The shuttle bus takes us to the ‘Walt Disney World Ticket and Transportation Centre’ where we take the monorail to the Polynesian resort (WOW what a pomp and circumstance!) from where we travel to Blizzard Beach by bus. It’s the 13th of the month and unfortunately it appears immediately that this gives us bad luck. The sun that said hello in the breakfast room this morning is now overgrown by gray clouds that are becoming darker and darker. Since we are at the - something with snow, ski lifts and slides - swimming park we make jokes that bad weather thematically is correct.

“The snow glows white on the mountain tonight, not a footprint to be seen.”

After scanning our Magic+ cards we walk through the entrance and enter a world where contrast is celebrating its heyday. Atmospheric Christmas music with reggae influences welcomes us in a ski resort sensing area. Melting icicles adorn the eaves, a sleigh stuck in the sand and tropical plants that are pushing themselves through the pine trees. The legend tells that during an extremely cold period a ski resort has been built in Orlando, but when the temperature was rising again and the snow began to melt, they saw heir business change into water. Literally. Soon the ski slope's and bobsleigh tracks were transformed into a swimming resort where we are now walking into.

“A kingdom of isolation, and it looks like I’m the queen”

The iconic ski jump reveals itself more and more as we walk further. When we stand still next to the cute snowmen a beautiful view over the park unfolds. The first thing Sherelynn calls is: “huh, there are going people down that ski ramp, how’s that possible?” I laugh out loud and say that she has to look carefully where the people actually go. But for now +1 for the visual arts of the Disney Imagineers. We place all the garments which are not intended for water in a safe and stroll toward the storm-bath. Where a normal wave pool is stationary most of the time and occasionally shows its waves here is the other way around: the bath constantly undulates and is occasionally still. Nice to know: we can count the visitors in the park on 387 hands.

"The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside, couldn’t keep it in, heaven knows I’ve tried"

Talking about swirling storms: we float on the free (in Europe this is something you have to pay extra for) accessible rubber tubes to view the enchanting landscape from out the water when an alarm goes off. Because a thunderstorm is approaching they ask everyone to go out of the water and wait until the storm has passed. It just may be a thematic joke but since today is the 13th we slither out of the water into our sunbeads under a winter roof on the white sand. The hurricane season shows itself from its best side and after counting goosebumps for 45 minutes we are allowed to enter the water again.

We believe that a large portion of slides can make us warm and are first exploring the purple slope. The 'Downhill Double Dipper' surprises us with a generous portion of airtime and a great racing aspect. Snow Stormers amazes us with its uniqueness: on your stomach you take place on a mat and slalom around mountain ski flags. Sweet!

The world's longest family raft ride 'Team Steamboat Springs' gives us a long but not too spicy fare (hence the favorite of Silvie) and "Runoff Rapids' has four light-different tire tracks in store which unfortunately only uses one-person bands. How familial or 'ordinary' these slides may be, this is compensated by the extreme level of theming. They really thought about every corner, crack, step, pole and tree.

“Don’t let them in, don’t let them see”

All that climbing makes us feel warmer (still goosebump alarm) so we decide to relax with a trip in the "Cross Country Creek ', better known as a lazy river. 0.6 kilometers of float fun lays ahead of us (yes, I could also say 600 meters but that sounds less long) in which we can admire the entire park. Here and there we are plagued by fog but even with the trip through the caves of the mountain itself we are becoming very jing & jang.

Halfway Sherelynn and Loren notice a lifeguard staring at us. I don’t see anything (something with eyes that can no longer tolerate contact lenses and my glasses lying are on the sunbed) when suddenly the same lifeguard says ‘NETHERLANDS?’ which we respond with a loud' YES '. After this he yells ‘DOLFINARIUM?” (which is the biggest see animal park of the Netherlands) which I answer with a ‘yes' when he screams back: I know you, I did an assignment for you Unbelievelars! The flow prevents us from making more contact so the only thing I can do is respond with 'I don’t have my glasses on so I can not see you!" How small the world can be. And how blurry the world can be. Without glasses. With fog. To this day it is one big mystery who that person was: cliffhanger PAM PAM PAM! (Pam pam pam represents dramatic music)

“Be the good girl you always have to be, conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know”

With 5 stops we have have to think where to exit the river but as the day progresses we become more convenient to make use of this relaxing mode of transport. After lunch and after the wave pool has entertained us for quite some time the river transports us to the purple slope: the highest point of the park. We still doubt whether we need to take the ski lift up (simply brilliant that this is possible) but our feet are already underway.

“Well, now they know”

To test if we dare to slide from the enormous monster we start with 'Slush Gusher' which has a height of nearly 30 meters, and according to Wikipedia has some real air time: "you're going so hard up you are flying in the air." We don’t have time to pay attention to the air time but we are feeling some butterflies in the stomach. For Silvie and Loren this was heavy enough and Sherelynn and I decide to visit the 40-meter-high Summit Plummit. Slightly anxious Sher asks a lifeguard (which is undoubtedly quite a fan of Lady Gaga and Sex & The City) if it hurts. Imagine the following text (for the entertainment value) with an overly articulated affected American accent "If you're really tensed then it will hurt, but if you just relax it will not hurt honey”. Okay, we loose Mr. T and climb the slope with mister R. Elax which is quite high (Turns out that they did not built a ski lift for nothing).

unbelievelars · Jun 15, 2016

“Let it go, let it go”

I sit down, Sherelynn asks the cast member if it hurts and while she answers "yes it hurts like hell” I throw myself down. The first few seconds are delicious, you fall with tremendous freedom and speed (till 97 km/h) while experiencing loads of airtime. What follows then is something that can be best described as, well as what. 27 knives in your back? Maybe. Demonic wings trying to get out of your shoulder blades? Mwah. A baking session in a frying pan? Hmm. It hurts like hell? Jep. When also Sherelynn has thundered down she immediately yells "auwwww" and says “I hate that the snow is not real, It would be perfect for cooling our grilled shoulder chops.”

We float a bit, see the sun for just a few minutes, ride a few more slides, explore the shops (where they also sell gloves and hats!), explore the mountain, enjoying the view from Mount Gushmore (you can both see Tower of Terror and the Earfull Tower of Hollywood Studios as well as Epcot's golf ball) and are ready to go around closing time.

Is Blizzard Beach is a good park? Yes. Did the thematic weather influence our experience? Yes. It's a shame when you are in a waterpark walking around with goosebumps in ‘the sunshine state’, and unfortunately this time it was goose bumps from the cold. Goosebumps from pure beauty at a Disney park has yet to come. Did we had to take a look at the weather report on forehand? Yes.

From the other side of the ocean I labeled this park as genius because of its original approach. This also did appear to be true, but this does not mean that the park also feels genius. Snow and Christmas music are simply not going along with swimming, and unfortunately that’s something you can feel. Somehow it does not feel logical, natural, organic or nice. We have certainly been entertained but are even more curious about the at first sight stereotypical Typhoon Lagoon. Blizzard Beach is grand, unique, distinct, diverse and fantastic, but not that feeling-wise nice park where we had hoped for. If the general public could also end up missing the feeling which makes the attendance drop to freezing point (which I think is never, never going to happen) they can always throw a Frozen sauce over it. This park breathes and simply is Frozen. Give the snowmen the face of Olaf, place Elsa’s castle on top of the rock, the houses are actually already are Arendelle, pop some Frozen music through the speakers and you have a park that suits the wet summer's dream of Olaf. Although, the current Alligator that now is the mascot of the park and the idea of a Disney theme park without Disney characters secretly also is very chic.

“The cold never bothered me anyway” - Elsa

“But today it did” - Lars

To end the report I’ve made a video in which also a preview is given from Hollywood Studios and Blizzard Beach. Let's hope that it does not reveal too much which waterpark we liked the most

Trip Report a Dutch boy in Walt Disney World

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