Notes on Disney World, part 1

We recently spent a week at the Contemporary (arriving the day of the monorail accident) and visiting the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and the Animal Kingdom. I haven't been to a Disney theme park since 1988 (Disney World; I remember going to Epcot and the Journey into Imagination and eating at the Biergarten, but while there's video footage of us at the Magic Kingdom, I have no memory of it. Besides, most of my experience was with Disneyland), and so there was a lot of "new" stuff to experience, especially with a 2- and 5-year-old in tow.

The Contemporary has held up well, and I was impressed with the Contempo Cafe as a place to get a quick breakfast and be off to the theme parks. It's still cool that the monorail goes through the building, though less cool that only one monorail track stops at the Contemporary. To get to the Magic Kingdom, you have to wait for the next car and take it through stops at the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC), Polynesian, and Grand Floridian before you get to the Magic Kingdom. Leaving the Magic Kingdom, the Contemporary is the first stop, but in order to get to the monorail, you have to walk back out through the baggage check station at the entrance and through all the people coming in. By contrast, the monorail that now simply shuttles from the TTC to the Magic Kingdom (essentially it's for daytrippers to the park or people staying at off-site hotels) is easily accessible upon exiting from the Magic Kingdom. Moreover, that monorail has quicker access to the Epcot monorail at the TTC -- you simply get off and walk directly to the Epcot monorail while the people on the "resort" monorail need to go down an exit ramp, around the the structure, and up the entrance ramp to the Epcot monorail. This doesn't seem to me to be the best way to take care of the resort guests.

That was a longer gripe than I intended. We really did have a great time! Hopefully more on the "good stuff" tomorrow.