Welcome back to another edition of Disney in Pictures, my friends, the weekly series that showcases your favorite pictures from around Disney! Since next Sunday I will be at Walt Disney World with my family and great, close friends, I wanted to close out my “Treasures of …” theme for Disney In Pictures by looking at the treasures of both Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom! I would like to take a moment and thank all of you that have become regular contributors of your photos — it means the world to me, and as I repeatedly say, the Disney in Pictures segment is nothing without your contributions! It really pleases me that so many of you get enjoyment out of this series, and that some of you have used this series to share some of your favorite pictures with family who didn’t know that they were being highlighted on the Internet! But enough chit-chat, let’s get on with the show!
In this first set of photos, I’m sharing with you two of the many treasure photos that my friend Denny has taken in his many years of visiting Walt Disney World! As you all probably know by now, Denny is one of the writers/photographers/collaborators for Mouze Kateerz, and his infectious love for seeing the positives in things rubs off on all of us in the group! But he can always say what he means better, so here’s what he had to say:
The first photo is at Animal Kingdom. There are no animals in it. This view just takes me away from Central Florida. Those Imagineers know their stuff!
This second photo is of the re-creation of Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. It perturbs me to no end to have to endure the giant Sorcerer’s Hat which blocks this fabulous building. Before ‘the hat’, the view of this building was the most magical view in the whole park. Now…let’s hope they build somewhere else to sell pins at the studios.
Next up on our list is my friend Amanda, the creator of Mouze Kateerz! Here is what Amanda had to say:
I grew up a huge Star Wars fan. I was 7-years-old when the movie came out in 1977, and I stood in line, a line that wrapped around the theater, to see it in Chattanooga, TN. I think I was a science fiction fan when I walked out of the movie, and I have seen or read or every good science fiction trilogy since that time. I still don’t exactly know how I feel about Star Wars being at Hollywood Studios. I don’t associate Star Wars with Disney, and I probably never will, no matter how many Lucas character outfits they dress Mickey Mouse in.
That said, I love Disney, and if the Star Wars franchise had to land at a theme park. I’m glad it wound up at a Disney theme park. May the Force be with you, always.
Amanda from Mouze Kateerz.com
The next person to contribute to the post is my friend Heidi from Heidi’s Head! I’ll tell you right now that Heidi is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, so when she emailed me her photos, I was so excited! Here is what she had to say:
On our past several trips to Walt Disney World, we didn’t have a lot of time to spend at Animal Kingdom. So, we made sure to devote a full day to this park when we went this past January. I was so glad that we did (and actually wished for more time to spend there). We started our day with breakfast at Tusker House. We all loved it! We even enjoyed standing in line outside to meet Donald Duck (so much so that we paid for the photo package!) We loved our server (Clifford), the yummy juice that they serve, and the wide variety of breakfast foods. The character interaction was great. We have plans to go back and do this breakfast again in September. I’d highly recommend it.
One of our favorite parts of Animal Kingdom is the Asia section. Both Gracie and Ian are adopted from Vietnam. We hope to take them back there someday. But, in the meantime, it’s neat to be able to point out things that remind us of their culture. For example, when Brian and I traveled to get Gracie in 2000, our main means of transportation was the Xich-lo (pronounced “zeek-lo”). We were “taxied” from here to there in Hanoi by very small Vietnamese men; but they are strong! This picture of Gracie pretending to taxi Ashley and Ian somewhere is very reminiscent of that experience! (Can you imagine riding one of those through the traffic in NYC? That’s what it was like, only without traffic laws!)
I love Disney because they are into the details – right down to a t-shirt with Pho on it. Pho is the traditional soup of Vietnam – a broth-based soup containing noodles. I believe it is served for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! (Hmmm . . . maybe that’s part of the reason why my kids enjoy Ramen noodles so much!)
Next I want to introduce you to Jon, the creator of the site Mouse and Memos. This site is an up and coming site, and one that I urge you to take a look at — it has a lot of promise! Jon had some photos to share, here is what he had to say:
My treasures at Disney almost always involve my family. On our most recent trip to Animal Kingdom, two come to mind. My wife has been trying to ride Kali River Rapids for the last four years. For one reason or another, she never made it on. This trip we were determined. FastPasses in hand, we headed that way. My 3-year-old son does not like water splashed in his face, doesn’t like being wet, and can be a little frightened on some rides. When mommy said she was going on a water ride, for some reason he decided he wanted to go. Since he was tall enough and against what I thought was my better judgement, we decided to let him ride. Nothing made my day like seeing the two of them come around the bend and a big smile on each of their faces as he rode his first “big-boy” ride.
My second treasure is getting to see my wife relax and have some real fun. I think our boys enjoyed seeing it as well.
This last treasure is not a family one. We rarely are every at WDW for any major Disney events. Over the years we have hit a few of them, but we’ve never been during Star Wars Weekends. I’ll admit, I’m not a Star Wars fan, but it was a blast being at Hollywood Studios for the event. It was incredibly fun to see all the special events and activities going on throughout the park, seeing all the Star Wars fans dressed up, and watching all the extra characters wondering through the parks interacting with guests. I even got to check out Darth Vader up close.
Next up is Roger and Brenda from Back to Disney! They are also writers for Mouze Kateerz, and they always have good photos to share. Roger put the pressure on me this time — he told me that I didn’t have to use all of them — he sent me 19 photos! So, the pressure was on for me to select two that I really liked, and here they are. I hope you like them also!
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Fantasmic Beauty & Beast
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Osborne Lights at Christmas!
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Last, but certainly not least, my friend Deb from Focused on the Magic wanted to share her thoughts about Kilimanjaro Safari over at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Here are her thoughts:
A favorite treasure of mine is the Kilimanjaro Safari in Animal Kingdom. The safari combines family (we all love it), photography, animals and exquisite storytelling into one attraction making it a hit with me.
I have included a photo collage combining a few shots as it was almost impossible to choose just one picture.
Thank you all for stopping by to share in the photos that our readers and friends have shared with you. I hope you all have a great week! The next two weeks we’ll be taking the day off as we enjoy our vacation at Disney World, but we’ll still have things to share during the week! Thanks for following My Dreams of Disney!
What a great week of stories and pictures, Mike! Thanks for letting me play along this time. ENJOY YOUR TRIP!
Love the pictures and stories. What a great way to end this fun series. Hope you have a magical trip!
Thanks for your comments, Heidi and Debra! Have a great week!