Orlando theme parks, Part VI: Disney World's Magic Kingdom, visit 2

 Personally, I was on the fence about the need to revisit Disney's Magic Kingdom on this theme park sweep in the Orlando area of Florida. But because there were children in our party(one toddler and four teenagers), the decision to do so was made long before we even arrived in Florida.

Demand for tickets to the parks is so high to begin with, that you almost have to buy admissions before you ever arrive. But given that we were still in the throes of COVID-19, the parks were lowering the number of people admitted to the parks each day, making it even more imperative that you buy tickets well in advance to guarantee you'll be admitted when you want to go there. 

 I did a little less picture-taking on this second visit to Magic Kingdom, but I found that I really liked a lot more of the second-visit shots that those I took during the initial visit. And ... it was on this second visit that I decided to try the Space Mountain ride, which I'd passed up on the first visit. As I mentioned in the previous post on the Magic Kingdom visit, I'm glad I tried it ... but I wouldn't do it again. 

As always, to view a larger, sharper version of an image, simply click on it. To view a full gallery of images from the second visit to Magic Kingdom, click on the link in this sentence. 

Rather than begin with a park entrance shot -- already been done -- I decided to show the princesses (and one fairy godmother) who were greeting visitors from the upper balcony of the building at the start of Main Street just inside the entrance. That's what you see in the photo leading off the post and the ones above and immediately below.

Above and below: We tried the Dumbo ride on this visit. It's certainly no Space Mountain, but then ... I was perfectly OK with that.  

Above: Ornamentation above the Dumbo amusement ride. 

 

Above and below: All I'll say is that I do like to photograph interesting signage. And no, we didn't dine at the Tortuga. 

Br'er Rabbit (above and closeup in the first image below), shilling for Splash Mountain. This was an inanimate Br'er. In the second photo below, a real person inside a bear outfit waves to visitors from a balcony perch overlooking the pedestrian thoroughfare. I'm not up on all my Disney characters, but I believe the bear is Jamboree Bear.

  

Above: A tree-branch framing a butte-like rock formation.

Above and below: Water again integrated into the composition, this time on a Magic Kingdom ride that I think was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller-coster.

 

Above and below: A couple of unusually serene scenes in an otherwise hectic, and high-traffic theme park. 

Above is the start of yet another spontaneous parade, and this time, Goofy (next two images below) stars as the featured Disney character.

  

Above: An egret (I think), enjoying a perch on an upper-level balcony to catch some quiet time. 

 

Above: This "exhibit" (for lack of a better description) stands alone in the middle of the thoroughfare. It is close to an Old West restraining stocks that visitors could place themselves into for souvenir photos, but still ... with no explanation that I could find in and around whatever it was supposed to represent, I had to wonder. 

Above: Just a building that caught my eye, probably because of the conal roof formations. 

Above: If I may borrow the title (and lyric) of a 1970 Cat Stevens song (from the "Tea for the Tillerman" album), this guy appears to be "on the road to find out." 

Above and below: Perspective and closeup shots of the lantern of Aladdin at this Magic Kingdom attraction.

 

Above and first two below: Sculptures I came across near the end of the day. 

I provided a couple Cinderella's Castle pictures in the first post (in Part I). But I felt I'd be remise if I tried to close a post from the second visit without at least more nod to the park's centerpiece structure (above). And if you've forgotten and/or are unable to figure it out, at the left is a statue of the late franchise founder Walt Disney holding hands with his first animated creation, Mickey Mouse. Below, a statue of Minnie Mouse atop one of the concrete pillars surrounding a nearby plaza. 

Above: There were staffers shilling balloons near the Main Street entrance again.  

Just before leaving for the day, I was seated on the curb alongside Main Street waiting for family to return from getting beverages nearby. Yet another spontaneous parade materialized as I waited. It include characters from the Winnie the Pooh/Christopher Robin franchise (that's Piglet above), followed by a marching band. I conclude below with five photos of the instrumentalists and marchers. The enthusiasm and smile on the face of the drummer (in the penultimate image), in turn, made me smile. The photo was taken just as he caught the drumstick at the end of a quick flip. 

Rather than ride the monorail again to return to the parking lot, we elected to sample the alternative ferry boat trip there (above) across Seven Seas Lagoon. Admiral Joe Fowler was at the helm. The first photo below is our view of the departing shore just as we pulled away across the lagoon. The second and third photos below are perspective and closeup views of one of the Disney resort hotel complexes along the water. 

 

Next up: Harry Potter section at Universal Studios 

Previously in the series:

Part I: Magic Kingdom

Part II: Hollywood Studios

Part III: Epcot Center

Part IV: Disney's Animal Kingdom

Part V: Universal Studios

Orlando theme parks, Part IV: Disney's Animal Kingdom

I have a vague recollection, from my visits in 1978 and '80, that "Disney World" back then consisted of just the Magic Kingdom, and that the Magic Kingdom had an area within that was devoted to animals. 

In the 40 years since then, Disney World has become a complex, adding Epcot Center, Hollywood Studios, the ESPN Wide World of Sports and, now, a separate Animal Kingdom. 

The Animal Kingdom was our destination on our third day of the theme park tour of the Orlando area. Of course, I didn't recognize any of it this visit; it was all new. But there were some interesting opportunities for photo composition, as long as we weren't riding the safari tour bus. That's not to say anything critical of the tour experience; but the bus was almost always moving, and the roads were dirty -- and bumpy beyond a point you might imagine for a diligent photographer to depend on getting a large percentage of shots that weren't off-center or, at worst, blurry beyond salvaging. 

I did manage to get a few shots on the tour, and I've included them in the gallery for this day. But the majority of images were taken elsewhere in the park. My favorite part was the etchings of animals into the bluff rock. There was some amazing work done there, and hopefully the pictures in this post reflect that. But if you click on the photo leading off the post, then enlarge it as much as you can without distorting detail, look close in the trunk of this iconic tree in the park; there are etchings of various members of the animal kingdom through the trunk and then more in the bluff rock to the right and left at the bottom of the tree, portions not visible in this image.  

As always, to view a larger, sharper version of an image, simply click on it. To view a full gallery of images from my visit to Animal Kingdom, click on the link in this sentence. 

Above: I'm not sure why I made a point to grab at least one photograph of each of the entrances to the parks we visited, but I did. Perhaps it's the "preserving a historical record" thing that I have. Anyway, that's what this photo is about. The image below is just a closeup of the elephant head in the middle of the above signage. 

A significant portion of the first area you walk through after getting past the entrance is devoted to tropical landscape and vegetation. The photo above and the two below are from that area. 

Above and below: These guys, both winged creatures, are the first two members of the kingdom I came across in the park. 

In the same vicinity were the modest water falls above and the river overlook below. 

Above and below: Also nearby were these flamingoes. 

Here's where we get into those animal carvings, sculptures or whatever the proper term is for them. There are quite a few of them below this point, so enjoy the handiwork. Some of the works were in full sun; others were in full shade. I was appreciative that I shot each in triplicate to process them in high-dynamic range software to bring out the full details.  

An initial break from carvings: Another moment I was glad to have composed in triplicate for HDR processing was when I shot the waterfalls above and below from an opening on the other side of the cave. My shutter was pretty slow for both shots, but I tried to use the image giving me the best sharpness for my buck. 

Above and next three below: More animal carvings before another break ... 

Above: A colorful vegetation interlude I came across while shooting the carvings, more of which appear in the next three images below.

Yet another waterfall (above) followed below by three shots of the lily pond again.

 

Above and next three below: I'm not sure how Disney people crafted this other-wordly looking objects melding into the bluffs and ground. You can see more of them in the full gallery.  

Above: Whaddya know? Another waterfall! 

Above and next four images below: A look at some of the outdoor "decor" in the park. 

More colorful vegetation (above) followed below by another other-worldy creature. 

Above and below: Because I guess one just cannot get enough tropical vegetation pictures. 

Above and next two below: Disney's Animal Kingdom doesn't have spontaneous parades like at the other theme parks, but they do have people dressed in Disney characters waving to crowds on walkways and bridge overpasses while they cruise past on a boat ride. 

Above and next three below: Some scenes from the primage pedestrian walkway. 

The picture above starts a series of shots I took on the safari tour (the one in a bus along the bumpy dirt road). I put my two favorites -- the rhino looking sortakinda right at me and the gorilla looking to its right -- at the end of the series. 

Above: A far less intimidating (and much more inanimate) profile of a couple of elephants. 

At a merchandising place (aka "store") along the route, the walls at the entrance were saturated with animal likenesses like the ones above and below. 

Above and next two below: Visitors can get up close to a handful of tame animals -- goats, pigs and the like -- in the petting zoo area. That's where these images were taken. 

The signage tells it all (above) before wrapping up this post with a shot below of one more boat cruise-by involving staff dressed as Disney characters. 

Next up: Universal Studios

Previously in the series:

Part I: Magic Kingdom

Part II: Hollywood Studios

Part III: Epcot Center