Day 495: Late Into the Night

Day 14 of the Disney Photo Challenge: A picture of your favorite night time activity (Existing or past) on Disney Property. 

Blast from the Past: 

I'm going to think a bit out of the box here on this one, because the first thing I thought of about night time at Disney was Extra Magic Hours. And then I thought about my favorite attraction to ride at night, and decided that's actually my favorite night time activity. 

As awesome as Extra Magic Hours are, especially at 3 in the morning and the park is just EMPTY, I really love riding Test Track at night. Now, this ride is, sadly, changing, although I'm excited to see what they are going to do with it. Anyway, after going through a series of tests with your car, you pass the surprsie test and head out on the high speed loops, which are located outside. You go out the door, take a drop and then head into the next turn, around a parking lot. In order for this to work you have to be seated on the right side of the car, and there's a point in the banked turns (making you about 5 feet higher than the person on the left) where you can look out to your left and point directly at Spaceship Earth. You are level with it...and it's just this good feeling. If it's just my family in the car I always yell out at that point and then you pull into a straight line and speed up until you turn again. There's a speedometer there, a giant one, telling you how fast you're going...which is generally between 64 and 65 MPH. Jonny and I always yelled it out, regardless if we're in a car with other people. The highest we've gotten is 64.7...which is pretty good. Test Track is the fastest attraction in any of the Disney Parks, and honestly, is way more fun to ride at night. It's just different from during the day. 

Back to the Future: 

Oh dear...so many to choose from here because I am literally such a night owl when it comes to the Disney Parks.

But currently, I'd have to say my favorite part of the night time atmosphere at Disney World is the Kiss Goodnight at the Magic Kingdom, which occurs about a half hour after park closing. I saw it for the first time last July and have just loved it ever since, trying to catch it as often as I possibly can. There's just something extra magical about it, especially when the park is super empty.

Going into the past for a second though, probably the Tapestry of Nations parade from the Millennium Celebration tops the list as well. It's a piece of my childhood to be honest because that celebration makes up some of the very first Disney memories I have...plus the Millennium Celebration brought me Illuminations: Reflections of Earth, which I love to the ends of time.

Have a magical day!

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

Day 312: Oh Meyla Weyla

Today's blog post is brought to you by Frumpstagram, so let's start with that, kind of like how we sometimes start with Disney History when that day has specifically to do with whatever the history is.

Today's prompt for Frumpstagram was Oh Meyla Weyla, which refers directly to the Millennium Celebration Parade at Epcot, Tapestry of Nations, which later became Tapestry of Dreams. The lyrics, such as Oh Meyla Weyla, weren't made up of any one language specifically, and the entire parade celebrated the unity of the nations, just as the Millennium Celebration in itself did throughout the years that it existed. Sadly it isn't a thing anymore, but that doesn't mean I can't write a blog post on it. 

You see, I grew up with this parade, and many of my earliest memories of Disney center around the Millennium Celebration itself. I saw the parade many times, such as I've seen Illuminations more times than I can remember and listened to the soundtrack from both probably more times than the number of days I've spent at Disney (that's around 240 for your information). 

I said this on Instagram when I posted the picture too, but I still remember how when I was in Kindergarden and older (which would have been right when the parade was in full swing), I would gather a group of my fellow students and we'd march around the playground (especially during the winter on the snowhills) and I would lead singing Oh Meyla Weyla. Honestly I couldn't pronounce half the words, but I still sang it, and it's one of the few clear memories I have from when I was that young in school. 

Now, this all relates back to my life today, so it's kind of funny that this was today's prompt and not the prompt of a later date. Today in Theology we were talking about equality (specifically equality between races), and I happened to look at my phone right after class. Disney_frump, the user on Instagram who creates Frumpstagram had a great summary on her picture for that day: 

"I really wanted today's #frumpstagram to capture the essence of my favorite music in all of WDW. For those of you who don't know, Tapestry of Nations/Dreams (now sadly obsolete at EPCOT Center) had lyrics that were not any one distinct language, and yet incorporated aspects of any. It is this principle that is the heart and soul of EPCOT's ideals. Although we come from different places, cultures and religions, we are all connected by our dreams and our common humanity. EPCOT is a place that incorporates the lessons of the past with the beauty of the present and the enigmatic excitement of the future. Oh Meyla Weyla means we can all come together and celebrate life, joy, hope and the human experience. With a voice from every country, a face from every land, let's celebrate the future hand in hand. Oh Meyla Weyla." 

She's right, and that's one of the things that I thought was just so special about the Millennium Celebration. From a young age I guess I've always thought that while we may look different and think different things, we're the same. I won't go into further detail, but that lesson has stuck with me throughout my life, and I'm certainly glad it has. 

Here's today's Disney History: 1980: Although running since September, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has an official opening in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. A mine train roller coaster located in Frontierland, it is the second one of its kind (as Big Thunder Mountain first opened in Disneyland in 1979). 

Have a magical day!