New to us, that is – since we haven’t been here since last December.
That’s one of the things we really enjoy about Walt Disney World – it
seems like every time we’re here there’s always something that’s
new, whether it’s a new attraction or exhibit or live entertainment
group.

Contrary to what you might think we aren’t just eating around the world, though in the first four days of
our trip it seems like that’s about all we did (well, there was that
little 8 mile run on Saturday night…) We did actually get out into
the parks and try a few new things that weren’t food-related.

Our first night here was Extra Magic Hours at Epcot, so in addition to
eating, we had the opportunity to see all the new (to us) things at
Epcot. First was the Gran Fiesta Tour in the Mexico pavilion. While I
don’t miss the annoying street vendors at all, I do miss the narration
in the first section when you were floating by the pyramid, and they
talked about the ancient civilizations. Now it’s basically “it’s a
small mexico” with the Three Caballeros. My favorite part was something
Lee pointed out to me – the “it’s a small mexico” kids whacking
away at a Donald
Duck-shaped pinata. 🙂 I’m not sure it’s really an improvement over the previous version, but in any case it’s not something we’ll be in a
hurry to do again any time soon.

We also visited the Epcot 25th Anniversary Gallery behind Club
Cool. (We recognized the room – it’s where they originally held the
Segway Training sessions!) We had the exhibit all to ourselves, and
enjoyed seeing the concept art and the original costumes and the various
models. If you’re interested in more information, as well as lots of
photos, see Linda Mac’s excellent blog entry on the Gallery, which is HERE.

At The Seas with Nemo and Friends we rode the clam-mobiles. We
had done this before, but I hadn’t seen it since I’d ridden the Finding
Nemo Submarine Voyage at Disneyland, which employs similar technology in
producing the visuals of Nemo and Friends in their underwater
environment. I think it’s much better here at Epcot – especially the
section where the Nemo gang appears to be out in the tank with the
*real* fish. The clam-mobiles are also a lot more comfortable than those
cramped submarines!

What was new since our last visit was the new (and much bigger) theater
for Turtle Talk with Crush, though the show itself isn’t very different.
We lucked out and arrived just as they were loading the theater for a
show. Crush always makes us smile. Awesome, dude. 🙂

At Disney-MGM Studios (or is it now Disney Hollywood Studios?) we did a couple of new things – saw the Jedi Training Academy on its new and
permanent stage – though it was the same Jedi Master we’d seen 2-1/2
years ago. And we watched Mulch, Sweat, and Shears on the
Streets of America. They’re a “Rake n’ Roll” band working as landscapers while
they wait for their big break. They put on a good show, performing
songs by the Rolling Stones, Eagles, etc.

During Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party on Tuesday night we had a
chance to do the two new things at the Magic Kingdom – and we were glad for the
excuse to get out of the rain, too. I’m not enough of a Haunted
Mansion aficionado to recognize many of the changes that were made
during its recent rehab, but we noticed
the creaking of the stretch room as it starts to stretch, the
glowing eyes in the wallpaper, the glowing footprints overhead, and
Madame Leota’s floating crystal ball. And of course the creepy bride in
the attic, with the husbands disappearing from the wedding portraits.
Nicely done.

The Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Club was fun – I’d heard some
not-too-positive reviews of it, but we enjoyed it. (I have to say that
there were members of the audience who seemed to be enjoying it a
little TOO much, though – both kids and adults. At any other park I’d blame it on alcohol, but since it was Magic Kingdom during the Halloween party I’ll attribute it to sugar overload.) Like Turtle Talk
With Crush, this show also features real-time animated characters who can
interact with the audience. (Disney is getting a lot of mileage out of
that technology!) Most of the jokes are pretty corny but it was fun –
and part of the fun is laughing with the audience members that they pick
on and show up on the big screen. There are some truly awful puns,
though.

Today (Wednesday) we finally made it to Animal Kingdom. The only new thing
that I’m aware of there is a new spiel for Kilimanjaro Safaris – I’d
heard they
eliminated at least some of the annoying elements. The entire “Warden
Wilson Matua” recording is different – it sounds like it could be the same
voice, but I can’t tell. That silly Miss Jobson, who doesn’t realize that
Thompson’s gazelles are called “Tommies”, is gone, though – as is the whole
“Tommie” thing, which I always thought made Wilson sound like an idiot.
No more Big Red and Little Red either – just a baby elephant that the
wardens found which had gotten separated from his mother. But Wilson is
still chasing poachers, and towards the end our mission (which we weren’t
even given a choice to accept!) was to help drive the poachers towards
him. I have to say that it was less annoying than the original, but I
still wish they would offer a poacher-free safari. We DID learn something
new from our driver, though – elephants frequent the red clay pits because
they rub their tusks in the red clay
and then eat it – it gives them extra minerals, apparently.

Coming up…More Food and Wine Festival, our thoughts on our first stay
at Animal Kingdom Villas, and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party – not
necessarily in that order. So many things to write about, so little
vacation left!