Disney World

It was tough leaving Epcot. I would start to make my way towards the exit, out of the World Showcase, and then turn around and tuck into an alleyway, be it France, Morocco or Italy. There was a brief respite here and a form of escapism I like best, but I had to be on my way.

When I woke for my first of two days in Disney World, I eased myself into it. Shooting some Disney characters at breakfast for the resort, eating at the buffet and then packing my gear, I boarded the bus. The first stop would be the Magical Kingdom.

I have to hand it to Disney, they do a very good job at managing the enormous crowds. You take your bus to the transport center, get in the quickly moving, elevated shuttle line and get zoomed to the entrance. After a quick bag search, either feed or have the barcode of your ticket scanned, you are in. When you enter the main street of Disney, you are in and magic begins. Although Disney was one of the most commercialized monsters on the planet it manages to work its magic on your heart and mind. As a childish, but synical adult, I allowed myself to suspened some of that synicism and smile at all the happy things. The style of the main street is of a fictional, Victorian-like, May Poppins-ish, Willy Wonka-world. If you ever dreamed of being in Willy Wonka, or thinking how 'cool that would be' well, you have to look no further. There are few places, if any, which can have this affect.

I streamed in with the strollers and families and balloons and colors and flowed to the center statue of Walt Disney and down to the palace which you see at the end of the avenue as soon as you enter the gates. They were finishing some grand show with the music exceptionally cheesy and actors and costumes smiling, singing, dancing and waving - but this was still grand. I was happy it was at its end. With the completion of the show the crowds quickly dispersed and I was able to spend some time right by the palace. Even with my video camera, getting shots and doing a few takes of on camera pieces, I felt free of the bonds of work and bathed in the happy land. That lasted a good twenty minutes.

Work is attempting at yet a new strategy. How this translates to me is that it is akin to flying by the seat of your pants. People scheduling every niche of a moment with shoots, having to balance logistics on the fly when you don't have your crafted schedule before you and trying to deal with the snowballing affect. I get things like "they did what, who scheduled that, they're not supposed to do that, you're going to be a driving fool, we're trying to get this ironed-out, I told them you would be in contact with them soon, I'll have to get back to you, there are some major complications." You get a little bit of the idea. Perhaps it's best to skip this part.

I went to the Hall of Presidents. My aunt is right about it being both hokey, but fun. It gives some Disney, patriotic story on a big screen and then it parts to reveal animatronic versions of all of the Presidents. From here I pretty much skirted around the entire park, taking shots and hopped a bus and head to Animal Kingdom. This has a mostly Africa and Asia, jungle theme. I waited in the long but moving line into the Safari ride. Here you boarded a converted, covered safari vehicle and drove through the asphalt roads, styled to look like mud, and were directed to look this way or that by your driver guide. There were some neat animals, but it seems to be more geared to the family and the "hey Johnny, look at that, is that a big lion?" But it allowed me to get some shots. I walked around the park some more. It was like a zoo with a few rides and a more thematic presence. The big roller coaster would have been fun but I wanted to make it to Epcot.

Finding the bus I next transfered to Epcot, which as been my favorite since I was little. You are greeted by the by the giant golf ball, Spaceship Earth and the rayed, concrete, fins before it which are covered with metal plaques. Upon these plaques are little engraved photos which you can buy and have yourself immortilized upon. It's kinda neat. Especially when you can find someone you know, like I would the day later.

Spaceship Earth was just as I remembered it and did not feel that much updated. You rise up in your little car into the dark confines of the globe. It is a journey through technological innovation. You pass more animatronic people of different eras and inventions. Dame Judy Dench now narrates this trip. That, and the nostalgic coziness, is what I liked the most.

Then it was to my favorite place, the World Showcase. Here you can visit reproductions of countries such as China, France, Italy, Morocco and England. They compress archicture, garden and culinary traits into about two blocks of space. My aunt reminded me that I might want to catch the evening light and firework show called illuminations. It takes place within the World Showcase lagoon, beginning with the flaring up of the torches around the perimeter and some narration about the timeless tradtion of flame and light in universal culture. The music score backdrops the use of fireworks, spotlights, jets of water and a spinning globe, all of which eventually culminate in a big finale. Definately worth the time.

The next day I started with MGM, got shots and, with childhood fascination, pulled towards the giant statue of the AT-AT, four-legged walker troop transport from Star Wars. This ride allowed bags so I was sure to get in line. The excitement built as the line wormed its way through stages of lifesize C-3PO and R2D2 working on some starcraft and engaged in typical cutesy but amusing banter, some random conveyor belts moving equipment overhead and more droid animatrons. Then you get into a stationary shuttle craft, the screen in front of you opens and a little droid flies you around in a little adventure. It felt like it hadn't been updated in 30 years and might appeal to the kiddies. Although all that ocurred was some jolting of a stationary pod and a screen of movement in front of you, I got quite queezy and it made me question on whether or not I should go on any big rides. But about the time I finished with that the Indiana Jones show was on.

Many people pack into the stadium, volunteers are taken as extras, some stuntmen and women do a few skits and there are plenty of explosions, soundtrack music and choreographed fights. It's all in the light-hearted, fallible feel of the Indy shows. It made me think of what genius Lucas and Spielberg had in mixing up perfect elements of 30's and 40's serials into this perfect creation and also how good it was that Harrison Ford got the part instead of the intended Tom Selleck.

I killed a bit of time, and dropped my bag off in a locker, head off to the Rock n' Roll Roller Coaster, but by then, there was a 75 minute wait. Too long, I thought, and I was going to spend some of my own time, at Epcot.

I head to Mission: Space which is a simulated trip to Mars. When you first enter, you have the choice to do a more intense 'Orange' and less intense 'Green' mission. I like rides but too much spinniness gets to me and I realized, this must be a spinning centrifuge. But heck, live the experience! Gary Sinise does the on-screen guidance and talks you through the mission. You are with 3 other people and each is assigned basic jobs, like 'push this button when' type-of-stuff. You pull down the brace, the doors close, the console approaches and the ride begins. Basically, you stare at the screen in front of you and the ride is very realistic, that is, if you let yourself get lost in the experience and don't think about the fact you are spinning. For the launch I found myself actually grab my brace for support. The g-force is pretty cool. You really do feel your face melt back. You also feel the same when you catapult around the moon. It was a lot of fun. Just focus on that screen, follow the very simple 'push this button now' commands and its a breeze but a blast.

The rest of the day would be in the World Showcase. I was able to get a dining reservation in the English restaurant. I had a Strongbow and some lamb and chatted with the waiter who was a Scottish music producer of Gaelic singers. We chatted a bit and exchanged information.

The rest of the time I sauntered around. I would hang in the French segment, just to hear the French conversations. All of the workers in each country are from that respective country and this was no exception. You also find a lot of tourists who are natives of the country hanging out there. I wondered on whether these are tourists who travel all the way to Florida, only to check out their own country? Or, more likely, these people are expatriots who go here for some feel of home.

Lingering inbetween France and Morocco, I grew more sad, knowing I soon had to leave. But I got to catch an awesome Moroccan band, with one of the coolest bass playing I've seen and grabbed an ice cream cone. Goodbye to Epcot and thanks to people for their pointers, especially my aunt, who knows the spirit of Disney World more than anyone!

This may be the last of details for a bit as I'm unsure of what time I'll have to write. Besides, no one needs or necessarily wants to hear about every moment and it becomes redundant to me as well. It's similar to talking to yourself when you have no one to talk to and this gig is a lot of that.

To give you an idea, here's my coming week:

April 6 - Orlando to St. Pete (2hrs), 1PM Video shoot at St. Pete Beach, drive to Tampa (1hr)
April 7 - Shoot 9AM; Shoot 1PM, drive to Fort Meyers (2hrs)
April 8 - Fort Meyers shoot 1pm
April 9 - Drive to Treasure Island (3hrs), 9AM shoot, drive to Cape haze (2 hrs)
April 10- 9AM Cape Haze shoot
April 11- 3hr drive back up to Orlando, 9AM Fountains

I don't know when I return but it's looking like the end of April or into May.

Right now it's Florida summer weather. Lots of thunderstorms and rain. Pouring, pouring, but pretty cool. Hopefully it won't interfere with my upcoming shoots. But I had a chance to sit in a small park near a lake here, smoke my corncob, identify some trees, watch some osprey and retreat when another wave of rain hit. Happy trails and I hope you have a good week.