Find Yourself Exploring the Whimsy All Around You...
A bit more to the side under The Wondrous Garden, Guests will make their way to Pedro’s Airfield to explore
Pedro’s Air Academy, a junior rollercoaster offering a good time for kids and aspiring pilots of all ages based on the
Saludos Amigos segment
Pedro. In this segment, we meet a small anthropomorphic child airplane who lives in Chile with his mother and father, large airplanes who deliver mail. When they both face technical defects, Pedro is forced to embark on his first flight in their place to pick up and deliver mail. His flight is perilous and dangerous as he reaches Aconcagua on his way back but manages to make it back victorious in the end. During the ride, Guests are invited to climb aboard a wacky anthropomorphized plane of themselves and hold on tight as they take to the skies above the Airfield.
The ride entrance is alongside a fiberglass Pedro photo-op. Children can climb aboard this Pedro figure or pictures, or simply get comfortable with the ride vehicles. Behind a white picket fence, and past cartoonishly bulbous air fuel tanks, we see the attraction itself rushing by. Queuing can be found within and around the Airfield Hangars. Guests pass under an anthropomorphized air traffic control tower, complete with a red cap and oversized bullhorn. Past a windsock, switchbacks explore Pedro’s airfield. Little decorative sights add vibrancy: A mail tower with a dangling mailbag, Pedro’s gasoline bottle, and a biplane-shaped weathervane. A covered queue continues into a nearby hangar with an orange-and-yellow checkered roof. This is the Escuela de Aviones(Plane Academy). This space is full of mail bags and spotlights. A chalkboard displays airplane-themed arithmetic. There is a dangling airplane skeleton, of all things. A projector in one corner plays a loop of the original Pedro animated short dubbed into Spanish. Maps visually exposit the story of Pedro’s flight. In big cartoony style, air maps plot the route from Santiago de Chile to Mendoza, Argentina. The route passes Aconcagua, a snow-capped Andean mountain with a big scary anthropomorphized face.
Loading takes place in a higher-roofed hangar which is supported by an observation tower. Behind the vehicle loading, a mural of Pedro and his adventures is painted on the wall. Guests board one of two trains which each seat 16 riders and are leaded by anthropomorphized airplanes similar to Pedro himself. The train is taken up a chain lift hill to a height of 9.1 meters past the observation tower. Then, brace yourself as you swoop over 414 meters of twists, turns, and elevation changes past a condor’s nest and the labeled hangar homes where Papa and Mama proudly observe. After soaring and darting over the airfield, Guests land safely during the grand finale in the brake run. Riders reach a top speed of 40.2 kilometers per hour on the two-minute ride.
Back to the Central Plaza of Porto do Amigos on the right we first find a shop named
Titicaca Traders, based on the
Lake Titicaca segment from
Saludos Amigos. The exterior of the shop takes inspiration from Peruvian architecture as seen in Puno, which lies at the edge of Lake Titicaca(the highest lake in the world!). Outside the shop are displays of rugs, pottery, flutes, furnishings, drums, and clothing. Attached to the building as a decoration is a replica of a Llama pen, holding figures of the alpacas that are seen in the short. Inside, however, birch wood planks are everywhere, covering the ceiling, the floors, and the walls. Hanging across the walls are hot pink curtains nailed tightly to the wall to give the interior of the store a more festival marketplace-type feel, along with carpets of beautiful shades and colors hanging on the walls as well, and draped over stands as decorative pots. The store itself is lit up by multicolor twinkle lights with pom-poms attached to them. Throughout the store are decorative cases of cultural objects of value to Peru, such as dolls, drums, flutes, clothing, and model replicas of food items, which all come with plaques with humorous presentations on their history. The store itself sells Chullos, Tumis, Pucara Bulls, Chulucanas Pottery, Kero Cups, Andean instruments, Retablos, Andean Jewelry and Carved Gourds.
Next door you will find
Moedor do Café, where Guests will be lured in by enticing smells that lead you to a treasure trove of freshly ground Brazilian coffee and desserts. Guests will be able to satisfy their sweet tooth with a walk over the Central Plaza, where this quaint kiosk café cooks up crumbly cookies and delicious desserts, all complemented by specialty coffees, teas, and hot chocolates. The building flows into the shop next door,
El Torito de Juguete. This will be where everyone can tap into their inner child at a whimsical shop featuring hard-to-find collectibles, board games, puzzles, plush and more. The shop is themed around the Toy Bull which can be seen during the end of
The Three Caballeros movie when the Caballeros are playing a bullfighting game. Around the toy shop, Guests will be able to see Central- and South-American decorations in a similar style to the Bull, which can be seen in a static figurine form in the center of the toy shop. The ceiling is lightened up with the bright colors of fireworks shooting up into the night sky.
From here, Guests will be able to pass over the central street that leads past other shops and dining options around the area towards the central viewing point overlooking the Porto do Amigos Lagoon towards the Wondrous Garden and the Fantasia Palace. Here Guests will be able to enjoy the park’s largest entertainment offerings such as the parades as well as the night-time castle show. At the central viewing point Guests will be able to find a Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse Statue in which they can be seen with a camera pointed towards Porto do Amigos, in a similar way as he can be seen in a picture during his trip to South America.
On the left of the street that leads from the Central Plaza of Porto do Amigos to this viewing point, Guests will be able to find
Mickey’s Empório dos Sonhos, of which the exterior will somewhat be inspired by the Theatro Municipal in Sao Paulo. Mosey over to the busiest (and biggest) business in the park and explore an old-fashioned store selling all kinds of keepsakes and souvenirs. As you stroll toward its stately entrance, you’ll notice that the building is engraved with references to various Disney characters such as Mickey and his pals, Panchito, Jose, Peter Pan, and Snow White. Then, once inside, get ready to gaze about in wonder while you peruse an amazing selection of merchandise, including pins, apparel and costumes, toys, plush and dolls, decorative home décor, jewelry and timepieces, artwork and other collectibles, stationery, snacks, and sundries. Finally, when you’ve taken your pick of all this shop to offer, simply head for the trustworthy checkout area – themed to Rocha Vaz, a.k.a. Brazil’s richest Toucan!
Just past the Emporium is a small side street, similar to Center Street as seen on most Main Streets. This street will lead again to the area where Aquarela do Brasil can be found. Facing the Emporium in the side street is first the
Café do Samba which is hosted inside a small blue building in traditional Brazilian style. Inside will be a small quick service restaurant led by the Aracuan Bird himself. The café is based on the
Blame it on the Samba segment in Melody Time in which Donald and Jose are introduced to the pleasures of the samba by the Aracuan Bird. Outside we see several red tables and chairs set out as a terrace for the Café. Inside, the walls are decorated in the style of the short itself, with musical notes and strings, as well as colorfully motived mouths and musical instruments adding texture to the café. A glass of magic as seen in the segment forms the inspiration for a fountain in the middle of the café, which occasionally projects images from the short itself.
Next door Guests will follow their nose into
Os Quindins de Iaia for some baked cookie delights. It is based on the
Os Quindins de Iaia song from
The Three Caballeros. During the song in the movie the character Yaya, played by Aurora Miranda, walks around the city of Salvador with its citizens who all dance along to a samba beat as they bump into Donald and Jose. While she is doing so, she is supposedly selling Quindins or Brazilian cookies. Therefore this shop which is themed around that scene and song offers the traditionally Brazilian cookie-like treat as well as other irresistibly fresh cookies and pastries sure to satisfy the sweetest of tastes.
