Mar 6, 2015

Five Favorite Rides to Feel Like a Kid at Disney | Friday Five

It's already here, Friday. This week has been quick and long at the same time. Here in northern Virginia, we just got a back of fresh show just after it tried to warm up a little. Oh joy. I mean, I have a half marathon in 8 days, but who really wants to run outside anyway? This week's Friday Five linkup is five favorites, making it fairly open ended. Now, my blog has two main areas: first is my running and the second is Disney. For this week I decided to write about the later. This week's topic is


Five Favorite Rides to Feel Like a Kid at Disney

1. The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh

We'll start Magic Kingdom park for this list, where there are many rides that fit this list. I could easily choose five from just this park and still have some left over. My first choice is a ride that is fun romp through a classic children's tale where you bounce right through the pages. You'll travel through a blustery day, bounce along with Tiger, encounter some Heffalumps and Woozles, get swept away when the rain comes down down down and then finally celebrate with all your friends from the Hundred Acre Wood. You get that great feel of the characters in their world, but with the pages intertwined, just like the movie does oh so well. The ride mechanism is a great contributor to immersing you in the story, where your whole car with bounce with Tiger and sway when you float away on the water. It's a great melding of childhood and technology.

Fun fact for the ride. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in Walt Disney World is housed where you used to find Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (also a fun childhood ride). When you are in Owl's house during the blustery day section, if you look off to the side, you'll see a picture of J. Thaddeus Toad himself handing over the dead to Owl, a nod to the ride that came before it. You'll also find a statue of Mr. Toad in the pet cemetery outside the Haunted Mansion. Oh Imagineers...

2. Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room

For number two on the list, we're going to go with a classic. Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room has been around for a long time, in fact, it was the first Audio-Animatronics show. It was groundbreaking technology paired with catchy music. For me the music just brings back that nostalgia feeling and childhood memories. I still love to see it every time. The show has undergone several iterations, even being "Under New Management" for a while, but currently pays tribute to the original Disneyland show, with updated technology and remastered sound, of course.


3. Journey Into Imagination with Figment

Next we're going to grab the monorail over to Epcot and learn about our imaginations with the help of Eric Idle and a little purple guy named Figment. This ride has undergone several changes over the years, even with some rumors of a Phineas and Ferb possible refresh, but is always one I've loved in each iteration. What is more childhood than your imagination? The ride does a great job of capturing that spirit of imagination and setting your imagination free. After the ride, you can play around some more in the hands on ImageWorks play area, with some cool hands on activities. And of course, it has it's own catchy tune.

4. Muppet*Vision 3D

From Epcot, we'll take a short boat ride over to Disney's Hollywood Studios for our next attraction. I love the Muppets. I enjoyed watching the classic Muppet Show growing up, all the movies and TV specials. I've also enjoyed the latest two Muppet movies. Whenever we go to Walt Disney World, I'll also enjoy seeing this show, even though I've seen it countless times before. The show is a theater show where you see a Muppet Show style show in 3D, complete with corny 3D jokes and the Muppet style antics you love. The show is actual "4D". In addition to the 3D movie, there are in house effects, such as bubbles and maybe little spurts of water. They also use some Audio-Animatronics as well, really rounding out the feeling of being in Muppet Theater.

5. Toy Story Midway Mania

For our final of the top five, we'll stay in Disney's Hollywood Studios. This is the newest ride on the list by far, but that doesn't mean it can't invoke that "feel like a kid" spirit. In this ride, you enter the world of Andy's toys to partake in some 4D carnival games. You hop in cars of 4 people with two back to back and compete in carnival style games with Toy Story twists, like a ring toss onto Little Green Men. The fourth D comes into play when you get puffs of air from popping balloons or the occasionally slight splash back. The ride also features a unique system for the shooter, where you need to pull a string to "fire" your shooter. All in all it creates a very immersive experience.

This is however one of the rides you classically needed to run to in order to get fast passes to avoid the often 2 hour wait all summer long. So if you're traveling during any even slightly busy time, make sure your try to grab your FastPass+ reservations for this ride in as far advance as possible. However, there is no need to fret, another track is coming, which will help alleviate some of that wait. You can also pick the home version of the ride for Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 (Kinect Compatible), PS3 (Move Compatible) or even a plug and play TV variety. (Amazon affiliate links that are only there to support this blog if you were to decide buy)

Linking Up


Check here for some links out to others sharing, staring with our three lovely hosts: CourtneyCynthia and Mar. Check their posts (Eat Pray Run DC, You Signed Up for What?! and Mar on the Run to see the full set of links). I will add some others, usually randomly, as I read them to share the love. Go visit and keep reading!


Our hosts:

Eat, Pray, Run DC - Five Things I'm Loving

You Signed Up for What?! - Favorites

Mar on the Run - Favorites


Some other good reads, pulled from the link up:

Fairytales and Fitness - Five Favorite Running Books

Running 'n' Reading - Friday Favorites

Deb Runs - Most Memorable Snow Days



15 comments:

  1. Sounds like some great ones. I am sure I have done these before but has been years. We always seem to go to Magic Kingdom and can never do the Winnie the Pooh bc the line is so long. -L

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, it would usually have a long line but we usually would either luck out somehow or paper fastpass it. The interactive queue was a nice addition for if you need to wait with little ones though.

      Delete
  2. Toy Story and Winnie the Pooh are two of my favorites. It has been years since we watched the Enchanted Tiki Room show. Maybe we will try that on our next trip!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, its nothing overly complex but I enjoy it. Its simple and not too long. Also, if nothing else its a great AC break with some music.

      Delete
  3. Fun post! Figment was my favorite character when I was little. I think I may still have the stuffed animal!

    ReplyDelete
  4. i'm not sure if i've ever ridden the toystory ride. i need to change that stat! have a great weekend, john :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds like a good list. I was very disappointed with Disney the first and only time we ever went. I doubt I'd ever go back again.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I haven't been to Disney since my now 13 year old was 3 LOL. I think we need to get back there. Those rides sound cool.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This makes me want to go back to Disney right now!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Well now you got me singing In The Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room and Imagination! Hey, don't forget "Mama Don't Whoop Little Buford!"

    ReplyDelete
  9. I like the drawing in your first graphic. I've gone to Disney when I was 2 (no memory) and 18. I did my enjoy my time at Animal Kingdom.

    ReplyDelete
  10. My kiddos enjoyed the Winnie the Pooh and Toy Story ones. We'll have to check out the others on your list next time we go. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I've never done Figment, and it's been a really long time since I visited the Tiki Room. Toy Story Midway Mania is great, though.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I've only been to Disney twice, and only remember Space Mountain by name. Something happened while we were riding it back in 1980 and they had to stop us mid-ride and turn on the lights while we were at the highest point of the ride. It was crazy cool to see how high up in the air we were. I probably wouldn't have ridden if I could have seen that in advance. HaHa!

    ReplyDelete