Under the Boardwalk, the Boardwalk

I hadn't known this part of Disney even existed until this past trip! Mike saw it listed on a map, or one of our books... I forget actually, but he was curious. So we asked a cast member at our hotel how to get there. We read that it was near one of the mini-golf courses, so we figured we'd hit 2 birds with 1 stone. The cast member's directions took us to Epcot, but we'd have had to use a ticket to get in, just to get through to the Boardwalk. Not having park-hopper tickets, we asked a security guard for another way to get there. She said to take the bus to Hollywood Studios. From there we could walk or take a ferry. We walked.

We saw this on the other side of the water:

Because I now have an awesome camera, I was able to zoom in and read what it says on the gravestone:

On the ferry ride we took back, Mike claims it wasn't there. We were both looking for it. Maybe it was only there for the pirate cruise? That's something they offer for kids:

We knew we'd made it when we found this sign:

How very welcoming! We read it was based on Coney Island, but I also read it's based on Atlantic City as well. I guess it's just a universal boardwalk feel.

There was pretty marsh grass under the water:

And cute hotel fronts:

You can see Epcot across the way:

Not many places were open because we were there in the morning--it's more of a night place. We did manage to get coffee (Mike) and food (me). I wasn't very hungry, but I took a picture of these cute Mickey-esque cupcakes:

Definitely inspiring! I'm getting ideas for the next project on my cupcake blog! We saw muffins where Mike got his espresso:

The blueberry ones are shaped like Mickey, too. Mike bought me the one on the lower right, chocolate-chip banana. Mmm.

How cute!! Of course Mike wasn't crazy about me having to stop and take a picture every 2 seconds, but I made him take one of me on the Boardwalk with my muffin.

If you look closely, you can see the hungry seagull to the left on the railing. In true Disney form, the seagulls referenced Finding Nemo by claiming the muffin "mine!" and flew at me until they knocked it out of my hands. I was pretty stunned and laughed very loudly in reaction (as I do in stressful situations) and everyone on the little tables & chairs lining the boardwalk saw what happened. Except Mike. He was walking ahead of me. He, of course, said I'd been taunting the birds by taking so many pictures of the muffin.

There they all are, proud of themselves. I bought a t-shirt later in the trip at Epcot that had the Nemo seagull on it going "Mine! Mine! Mine!"

We also read that the Boardwalk has the only microbrewery in Disney World, Big River Grille and Brewing Works. I was hoping they'd have beer with Disney themes, like "The Sorcerer's Apprentice Pale Ale" or something... Nope! I would totally go for something like that. "Rapunzel's Golden Wheat." You know? "Feelin' Goofy," "Grumpy's Stout." Disney missed a huge opportunity (in my opinion)!

Mike got a "beer flight" (we had more "flights" in Epcot!):

There's our bartender in the background, and the woman being nasty to him, saying stuff about how customer service is underrated.. Mike and I were shocked that anyone could be in a bad mood in the happiest place on Earth! Especially at a brewpub! But she was there for a work thing, so I guess she didn't even really want to be there. I'd love to be sent there for work!

We asked him to make us a fruity shot, and he gave us these:

They were delicious, cold and refreshing. I asked him, in a last-ditch effort to find something Disney-themed inside all this, what he calls it. Hoping for "Goofy's Hat," I only got "...Green."

There were a few stores open with all-Disney merchandise, of course. I loved the Boardwalk items--an old-fashioned hotel keychain with Goofy as a bellhop, a Minnie Mouse on the Boardwalk t-shirt, and magnets with Mickey. (That link is a Yahoo image search and only has a few merchandise items listed, but they're darn cute!!) I didn't get anything at the time, but I'd definitely go back for some more shopping in the future!

We found the Fantasyland Mini Golf Course amidst all this, but I'll save that for a future post. We took the Ferry (called "Friendship") back to Hollywood Studios, and then our hotel!

Someone saw a bald eagle on our trip back! How crazy! Oh, the wonders of Disney.

Haunted Mansion!

Bah! This ride was never my favorite, but I enjoyed it a lot more this time. Mostly because of the new additions!
First of all, I kept reading that it was based on mansions from the Hudson River Valley, which is where we live! Of course, I haven't seen many buildings like this.

Above are the headstones you first see as you enter. I just read in the updated Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World Planner by Susan & Simon Veness (a very excellent book!) that this was a new addition circa 2011! I knew it looked new! So now you have the option of getting on the ride, or walking through this interactive area in the graveyard and then getting on the ride.




Obviously I liked this one a lot since I took 3 pictures of it. Haha.

Then of course there are the old standards--the silly headstones! I took a picture of this one for my brother, David.



This one was cool--the headstone is a bathtub and bubbles overflow out of it!





Working at a bookstore, this one felt close to home. It's a stone bookcase with some books sticking out. When you push them in, others pop out! My coworker said it sounded just like re-sorting books at our store!


The ride was fun, and the songs were hauntingly jolly! My favorite part was the end, when they turn your "Doom-buggy" to face the mirror. This was a new addition for me--I'm used to a projection of a ghost sitting in the buggy with me. This time there was a ghost sitting on top of our buggy who reached down to our faces which became ghost-like. He then pulled them and it looked like our faces were stretching! Then they disappeared in a poof. It was thrilling :)

Here is the pet cemetery on the way out:


The dog on the left is holding keys, I wonder if it's the one from Pirates of the Caribbean? My favorite, though, is the one way in the back.


It's Mr. Toad! I'd never seen that before! I remember going on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride back when I was a kid (and it was kind of scary for me!) and a few years ago it was replaced by the Winnie the Pooh ride. I guess this is to remember him by!

New Fantasyland

If there is one thing I can't wait for, it's New Fantasyland. I'm wondering if they'll keep that name after the unveiling. I wish I'd taken the train all around Magic Kingdom--I probably could have had a real good look at all the construction. Oh well!!

This is what I hear is coming (of course you can find this all on plenty of websites): an expanded Dumbo ride (2 rides next to each other), The Great Goofini roller coaster (same thing as The Barnstormer in Toon Town but revamped), The Little Mermaid ride (can't wait!!) with Prince Eric's castle at the entrance (it looks kind of small though), The Seven Dwarfs Mining roller coaster, Beast Castle (really, really can't wait for this), and a kind of French village themed around Beauty and the Beast including Maurice's house where Belle will tell stories, and Gaston's bar (he really does use antlers in all of his decorating). Pretty cool!

In the meantime they have these fences all around, some with cute designs like these (click on them for full-size views):





I'm guessing the above left is the Little Mermaid ride, or part of the mining roller coaster, and above right is Dumbo's circus tent.

Ok I guess it was the Little Mermaid ride--this is Prince Eric's castle.


Above is Beast Castle. Wow!! I'm so curious.. I wonder if the rocks will be all around it and if we'll have access inside. There's supposed to be a restaurant inside.

These fences were directly across from the teacups and the Winnie the Pooh and Snow White rides. Toon Town is gone.

Also the Great Thunder Mountain Railroad was closed!! I doubt this had anything to do with the expansion, but it also makes me very curious. Hopefully it's up and running again by now!

It all made me want to buy this T-shirt (although they tended to have more awesome shirts for men than for women). I will post about the awesome souvenir Mike got for me on our last day :) coming up next.