Day 1136: Back and Forth

While trying to balance so many parts of my life all at once, it seems that I keep going back and forth between what comes first. Of course, my school work comes long before anything else, and my schedule here at SNC certainly keeps me busy between classes, work, and meetings, not to mention homework and practice time! Meanwhile, Everyday Disney tends to fall behind, and why I'm just not quite sure.

It's pretty easy, I suppose, to just shove off a day of blogging with the intent of making it up the next day, but then one day turns into two, and suddenly we're down the rabbit hole. In other words, it seems that in my attempts to become more organized and develop new, healthy habits, my blog continues to flounder in the background, and that's something I've given a lot of thought to over the past few weeks. Still, Disney becomes a part of my daily routine, as though that hasn't already been demonstrated by the years of blogging that I've somehow come up with since January 2013, and a lot of those posts were made up after the fact. I mean, really, we can't forget how I literally got behind only a week or so into the daily blogging game due to sickness, and while I haven't been sick recently (*knock on wood*), blogging goes back and forth between being caught up and falling behind.

And then I thought about how this, the simple act of falling behind, might also somehow relate to Disney. I fall behind in things all the time - my weekly practice schedule, rushing to 8 a.m. class twice a week, when playing my solo in Sweet Georgia Brown, you name it - and so does Disney, even if none of us like to admit it. We all, obviously, need to set goals for ourselves, and opening dates or daily blog posts are always good goals. But if we achieved every goal we made, then life wouldn't be as interesting, or at least I don't think so. Disney will often set opening dates and then push them back by days, weeks, or even months, allowing for more time for development. After all, Star Wars was just delayed a number of months to give more time for production, and it wasn't all that long ago that the opening date for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was pushed back and back until it finally opened much later than initially intended.

I suppose, then, that falling behind isn't all that bad...even if I do intend to try and keep my goal of consistently staying up to date with my blog posts.

Have a magical day!

Day 725: On The Server

You may or may not remember a day back in November when I blogged about the Walt Disney World server on the popular game Minecraft, and if you don't, you can read it HERE. However, today I finally remembered it, as he was playing Minecraft on his computer while I continued working on my blog, and not only did he know what I was talking about, but we ended up spending like an hour exploring the server, and I have to say that it's even cooler in person.

Jonny started me out by taking me to Epcot, which of course I loved. We even rode the Minecraft version of Spaceship Earth. From there we checked out other parts of Epcot until our lag caught up to us and we bounced back to the TTC. But can we just talk about the beautifulness that is the Minecraft Spaceship Earth for a moment...

From there we ended up looking at the Grand Floridian, which is also absolutely beautiful, even in Minecraft: 

It's also sort of ironic because while my parents have been on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Jonny and I haven't as of yet, but we went on it in Minecraft. Therefore, our first ride through of Mine Train was on the computer more than it was in person. That's alright though. Now we have a comparison for when we finally get on it next week! 

I have to say that the entire Disney World Minecraft Server is more beautiful that I could have possibly imagined. It's extremely well done and I can definitely tell the work that was put into it without even being a Minecraft player. I've never built anything on the game, but I can definitely understand the intricate detail that went into this. I mean come on, I rode Spaceship Earth on Minecraft. 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 29 due to Holidays and Computer Issues).

Day 486: Never Have I Ever

No, not the drinking game! Its...

Day 6 of the Disney Photo Challenge: A picture of something you've never ridden/seen in the parks! 

Blast from the Past: 

Tower of Terror...it's as simple as that.

Why have I never been on this ride? It's not the story, and it's not that I don't like thrill rides (I LOVE the mountain range at Magic Kingdom and I think Everest is awesome!). I just don't enjoy the weightless feeling of dropping 13 stories on a broken elevator. I think this is partly because when I was little, I went on Splash Mountain, one of my favorites now, and they didn't have lap bars. I was a pretty little kid, and the nearest thing to hold on to was about two feet in front of me. So, naturally, when you go down a giant drop into a briar patch, I was freaking out that I was going to fall out...and with a drop of that size, you have a weightless feeling. It scared the crap out of me then, although I don't mind it much on that ride anymore, and the drop on Everest is pretty thrilling, but I will not...EVER...go on Tower of Terror.

I love the thought itself, the storyline is great, and how they connect it to the Twilight Zone show is just awesome. It really does look like an old hotel from the time period, just completely abandoned...including a chess game that goes unfinished. It's a thrilling line, and I almost always walk through the line and then take, the ironic, elevator down to the end and skip the ride. The cast members that work there must have so much fun. They just get to act all creepy all day. I couldn't do it...I would start smiling and ruin the creepiness.

And that's just one of the few I've never ridden. I've also never been on Mission Space at Epcot due to some health restrictions (motion sickness...lovely), but otherwise I've done pretty much everything at least once. There are some restaurants I've never been in, and I'm still discovering new things each time I go, but someday I promise...I will do everything, other than maybe Tower of Terror.

Back to the Future: 

I'm funny, aren't I? Here I am two years later and I still haven't been on Tower of Terror despite the fact that my band director was dead set on me going. The world worked with me though, providing me with a breakdown just in time to skip the attraction in June. Although in order to get out of it I had to make a deal that I would go on it in January. Not looking forward to the day I die.

But let's take a step back and look at another thing I've never done that I can't wait to experience: the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and New Fantasyland. My parents got to go on the Mine Train in June, but we just didn't have time, meaning that I won't get to experience it until January. That's alright though, I mean, I've waited this long, haven't I? I remember when we first learned about it at D23 in 2011, and now all of New Fantasyland is finally finished. Since I'll have more time on my next trip, I seriously am looking forward to experiencing more of what the new area has to offer, since I haven't really done most of it (I haven't been on the new Dumbo or met the characters or anything like that).

Unlike Tower of Terror, however, this is one new experience I'm pretty darn excited about.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on August 19).

Day 452: FAF: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Time for the last Featured Attraction Friday of March, and let's take a look at the brand new, not even open yet, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train! I think this will be a bit of a different FAF post though, mostly me just talking about how excited I am for the whole thing while also being sad that I probably won't get to see it when I'm there in June because I'll be so busy doing other stuff that I won't have time to wait in a long line for such things, no matter how much I want to go on it. Plus, the day I have to march a parade is probably not the best time to test how well my motion sickness works.

I did get to see part of it with the walls down when I was at Disney a couple weeks ago, and this is about the fourth time I've been there to see it under construction. It reminds me of when Everest was being built, and we really did see it go up over a couple of years. It's just really interesting to see how things are built up. And now that some of the walls are down, you can really get some insight into what the ride will be like.

I remember the first time I saw the concept art for the Mine Train, along with the rest of New Fantasyland at the D23 Expo in 2011. It was a crazy thing to think about at the time, all these brand new things: a new castle, a Little Mermaid Attraction, a restaurant themed after Be Our Guest from Beauty and the Beast, a double Dumbo attraction AND A brand new thrill attraction? It was just too much to handle. Plus, at the time, Toontown Fair was still very much a part of what I knew as Magic Kingdom, and thinking back now, it's weird to think that that once stood where Storybook Circus now stands.

But I do remember seeing the virtual ride through of the Mine Train, and the thought of cars that rock and forth was kind of crazy too. This was brand new technology, and it was coming to Walt Disney World, the place I consider home. That's a big deal! And now we're so close to seeing it for real! I mean, they're doing drop tests pretty much daily, and soon we'll all be able to experience Snow White in a way we never have before. How exciting is that?

You can see the virtual ride through paired with some of the first onboard video of a drop test below. I can't wait to see it for real!

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on April 2 because it's been a super busy week!)

Day 266: Drop Tests!

Just the other day (today actually because that's when I did the statistics) I talked about how there is always something new at Walt Disney World, and one of the newest attractions that is scheduled to open sometime next year is the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. So today brings some amazing news that has to do with this particular attraction! Today Imagineers performed their first drop test of the cars, meaning that it's the first time they ran them out of the station with their own gravity!

I'm pretty excited for this attraction, since I saw some of the first previews of it back in 2011 at the D23 Expo. Gosh that feels like such a long time ago now...and it is! But you do get the idea. Originally it sounded like this was going to be open for when I would be there with the band, but sadly from what we heard the last time we were there it won't be open until later in the year. That's alright though I suppose, I'm still very excited for it all!

Some have commented that it's just like Big Thunder Mountain, and I just wanted to touch on that too. It is a similar theme, but it's completely different at the same time! From what I understand it's almost like a Splash Mountain format, with a storyline included throughout the entire attraction featuring the dwarves. Plus, the vehicles feature some of the most advanced ride technology, making it possible for each car to swing back and forth throughout the attraction. Meaning that it should be quite the interesting ride when it's all finished.

That's about it for today though since I just spent all that time working on the former blog posts and I still have those two left from the weekend and some homework to do!

Frumpstagram today asked for a picture that was "breaktaking," and there was only one thought in my mind as to what it would be: the view from the top of Bay Lake Tower. I even included that panorama I took in July because it's seriously awesome!

Here's today's Disney History: 2001: A new attraction "Walt Disney: One Man's Dream," showing memorabila about Walt Disney's career and heritage to the public for the first time, officially opens at Disney-MGM in Florida. The attraction has been in soft-openings for the last few days and will officially be dedicated October 1 for the start of Walt Disney World's 100 years of Magic Celebration.

Have a magical day!