We ventured over to EPCOT Center yesterday after a lunch at the Crossroads' Uno Chicago Grill. The park was pretty quiet which is normal for this time of year. Since we arrived later in the afternoon, around 4 I think, we weren't able to ride Soarin' given the 70 minute standby time and the depletion of all Fast Passes.

We did however experience the newly "re-imaginered" Spaceship Earth attraction. The line was quite long when we arrived at the park and wrapped through most of the switchbacks in the queue. It seems people are curious about the changes.

The touch-ups done on the pre-existing scenes in the attraction came out great. The animatronics move much more fluidly and really look great. The soundtrack also seems more aligned with those new movements. A+ for those refurbishments.

The new scenes and storyline left much to be desired in my opinion and even before the attraction was done I found myself missing the old Spaceship Earth. The added scenes look cheap and are certainly non-inspiring. They also don't fit well in my opinion. I'd rate these changes a D+ at best.

Finally, the entire decent from the apex of the attraction is now nothing more than one, long, dark tunnel. The intention, I'm assuming, is to focus your attention on the newly installed and interactive screens in each ride vehicle rather than on things outside the vehicle. Our screen seemed to malfunction because our images didn't appear but we rather saw someone else. Not sure who he was or where he came from but he certainly wasn't sitting in our vehicle. Rating: C.

Judy Dench narrates the attraction now and the results are unremarkable. I prefer the old voice, whoever that was. Change: C.

Overall I'd have to say this "re-imaginered" attraction is now only a shell of what it once was and the "imaginers" in charge of the project should be fired. (Perhaps they were the same ones who worked on the new Imagination? Given the similarities in the destruction of two once-great attractions at EPCOT, I'd guess they were.)

Poor Spaceship Earth!

Took a late trip to Disney yesterday (didn't even leave the house until 3:30 PM) and caught some new t-shirt designs. They're continuing with the retro look that started with the EPCOT designs. Very cool.

Of course, all of you "This is America and only English should be spoken!" fanatics may not like at least one of the designs. Which, oddly enough, seemed to be the most popular of the four new shirts.

The shirt Travis purchased.


And some shots of holiday decorations at the Polynesian and Grand Floridian:

Trying on holiday hats at Disney-MGM!

This past Saturday we ventured to EPCOT Center and the Magic Kingdom. The holiday decorations are certainly out in full force around the resort, although, the various bric-a-brac does seem a bit lighter this year than in previous years. It could be that they're still in the process of decorating since Thanksgiving is generally their marker for switching seasons and it fell a week earlier this year.

At any rate, I know the new lighting effect on the castle is getting rave reviews but I'm just not all that excited about it. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it or anything, I just don't think it's anything to write home about.

It also seems, to me, to make the castle a little more ordinary rather than extraordinary. I mean, it's like someone bought a bunch of lights at Target and strung them up on the castle like it's just any ordinary house on any ordinary street.

Since we arrived at the Magic Kingdom well after dark I didn't get a chance to spy the castle during daylight. However, judging by the way the lights look close up, I'm guessing it isn't a pretty sight and may resemble large nets thrown over the towers and spires.

Enjoyed a day at Disney today. Had a nice lunch at The Columbia in Celebration and then made our way over to Disney's Hollywood Studios to take in the Spectacle of "Dancing" Lights.