AllEars® Team Blog

SPOILER ALERT: We share some of the hidden surprises in Germany and Japan, so if you haven’t embarked on this adventure and want to save the surprises, you might want to read this later.

As veterans of Walt Disney World, we know that there is always something more to do….some other adventure hidden around the corner, so on a recent trip, we decided to try something new just to see what it was like: the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure. For us, Disney rarely disappoints, and this was no exception.

We were at WDW as a surprise trip to celebrate Liam’s 10th birthday. Because he did most of the spy work on these cases, I’ve asked him to join me in describing this experience.

Read on and we’ll tell you what we learned.

Why We Chose to Do the Kim Possible Adventure
Liam: Because it looked really fun. I had heard that you get to go around the countries in World Showcase to see these cool things. I’ve been to EPCOT a lot and I think I’ve seen everything, but I haven’t been there since last August and I’d heard about this and wanted to try it.

Michelle: Liam is like his mom. He loves everything Disney and would opt to go to the parks every day for 14 hours a day, given the option. While he enjoys World Showcase, he’s not always enthused about spending lots of time there. I thought this would be a great way to show us some of the many details that Imagineers built into these pavilions.

What We Thought It Would Be:
Liam: I had no idea what it would be. I thought it would be a scavenger hunt, but it ended up being better.

Michelle: I, too, thought it would be a scavenger hunt…and to be honest, I thought it might to be a bit tedious, with us running around from spot to spot, finding minute details and writing them down. However, knowing the way Disney does things, I was hoping for more of an exciting adventure….and it was.

First, we stopped off Innovations and they swiped Liam’s park ticket to send us to a country to get us started. We received our Kimmunicator from a Kim Possible cart, which sent us to our first case in Germany. Here is Liam and another spy (he looked vaguely familiar) as we begin our challenge.

What We Liked:
Liam: Disney made things just for this adventure. We did two countries and one of them was Germany. In Germany, we went to the toy shop and I pressed the Kimmunicator and it told me to remember a number and a train came around with three numbers on it.

I liked all of it. I liked how the Kimmunicator worked. You pressed OK and it would make something happen in the countries. In Japan, Bebe came out of the top of the toy shop display.

At the miniature railroad, a church clock lights up.

Michelle: I agree. Wow! That Kimmunicator was really neat. It was a cell phone which was programmed to introduce the case that we were working on. “Spies” are walked through five or six different tasks around the countries, each of which showed Liam and I things that we’d hardly noticed other times we’d visited the countries.

Here’s the thing that was really cool about this little device….Often when you got to a certain area to follow up on a clue, the Kimmunicator will ask you to look at a certain spot and press a button on the phone. In the toy store in Germany, a train drove by with a special code and the little clock lit up at the miniature railroad. We loved it!
This is at the end of the Germany adventure. You’ll need to use your communicator to look up at this balcony for a surprise.

Another thing that I liked was that this was a great way to kids and adults to have fun together. I went into it thinking that I would just let Liam do everything, but after the first few tasks, I was really engaged and interested to see what the next surprise was.

Each adventure took about 30 – 45 minutes to complete, but since we didn’t have anything definite on the agenda, it was a great way to spend our time in EPCOT.

What We Didn’t Like:
Liam: I liked everything. I thought it was fun.

Michelle: I have only two little criticisms. First, it may have just been my old mom ears, but I had difficulty hearing some of the things that the characters were saying on the Kimmunicator.

Second, the “cases” didn’t really flow well in terms of storyline, but the excitement of seeing all the fun things pop up and turn on offset that.

Would We Do It Again:
Liam: Yes! I didn’t get to do all of the countries and I’d like to try it again because there were a lot of surprises and things popped out. I think that kids and adults will enjoy it if they do it.

This is a really cool thing that happens in Japan. It tells you to look at a black rock and this appears.

This is another cool thing in Japan. This lights up when you push the Kimmunicator.

Michelle: Definitely. We did only two of the seven adventures and I am looking forward to taking on more villains and helping Kim Possible solve crimes.

This is a really fun experience for kids and parents alike and a new way to have fun and look at some details you may have missed at World Showcase.

Find out more about the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure!

By Michelle Scribner-MacLean

Beautiful weather was a welcome theme for this entire weekend, after traveling from New Hampshire, where it is still struggling to get out of the 50s. This May weekend was in Orlando absolutely beautiful with temperatures in the mid-80s and abundant sunshine for nearly the entire time I was there. This provided a terrific backdrop for my second full day at the Flower and Garden Festival at EPCOT.

I spent the first part of the day on my own, taking my time and carefully checking out the special exhibits and plants that were highlighted in Future World. I got the chance to speak with two beekeepers, whose booth was located in Future World East, between the Mousegear store and Mission Space. They brought two living hives, samples of honey, and were very willing to talk about the bee-plant relationship, as well as what is involved in keeping hives.

Next I made my way over to Minnie’s Butterfly Garden (Can you see a theme here? I'm a science teacher and love learning about bugs!).

Sandwiched between two amazing butterfly topiaries, this popular attraction is back with an array of local butterflies including zebra longwings, orange julias, and painted ladies.

It was fairly crowded (with lots of enthusiastic photographers getting shots of these interesting creatures on their native plants. Here’s a photo I took of a common buckeye.

Later in the morning I was joined by my friend, Pat, who had never seen the Flower and Garden Festival. I visit Walt Disney World frequently, but one of the things that I really enjoy is introducing my friends and family to new things that they haven’t seen before. Pat was thrilled with all that she saw and kept saying, “I can’t believe that I never knew this was here!”

At lunchtime we made our way over to Garden Town, former home to the Wonders of Life Pavilion. (I met up with a cast member friend who said that, although they’ve been opening the Wonders of Life for five weeks a year during the past several years, now it is officially closed for good – or, as we like to say in the Disney fan world – it has become an “extinct attraction”).

For Flower and Garden, they’ve converted this space into sort of an exposition of things related to plants and growing. There are two spaces for lectures and demonstrations (I caught a horticulturist talking about garden irrigation and walked by a group learning about proper ways to plant trees), there is a little garden store, and there is a wonderful 20-minute film which shows behind the scenes footage of how the Disney team of horticulturists prepare for this event.

Pat and I then ventured to the Garden Town Café for lunch. This was a perfect spot for a few reasons. First, it seems that not many people know about this café….so it was not crowded at all. Second, there were some great food choices. We had salads with edible greens and flowers and both agreed that it was really yummy (and I definitely felt as if I’d had my vitamins for the day after eating that).

We spent the remainder of the day walking around World Showcase, where each country featured some special plant arrangement, spice, or fragrant flower collection. The topiaries were just spectacular. I noticed these familiar characters in Germany.

My last morning at Walt Disney World was filled with interesting events. I decided that I could not go home without going to the Magic Kingdom (what trip to WDW would be complete without seeing the castle?). Taking advantage of my planned reservation later in the day, I parked at the Grand Floridian and took an easy monorail ride over to the Magic Kingdom. I spent quite a bit of time in Tomorrow Land and must comment that every time I’ve gone to the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, I’ve really enjoyed myself. I sort of feel that I don’t want to like it – because it’s so goofy, but every show that I’ve been to has been different and really funny. I’d recommend it if you’ve never been.

Crowd levels we really high, but I decided to venture over to one of my favorites – Splash Mountain – because I had a Fast Pass. Not a good idea. Ten minutes into it, the ride broke down and we were stuck for 25 minutes. Because we stopped at a difficult to access place in the ride, our evacuation required that we climb over the back seats of several boats before being taken backstage to exit (cast members requested that we take no photos). Although this doesn’t happen often, it happens occasionally, so here is a tip for parents: make sure that your child has visited the restroom before going on a long attraction. The poor family behind me had a 5 year-old girl who had to go and that 25 minute wait was not a pleasant one for her!

On the way out of Splash Mountain, I had a bit of a celebrity sighting. Cole and Dylan Sprouse (a.k.a. Zack and Cody from the show on the Disney Channel) were walking toward Splash Mountain with a VIP guide. There were so many people in the park, they seemed to be walking around unnoticed. Sadly, I didn’t have my camera out when they passed.

The final treat for my weekend was meeting my friend for high tea at the Grand Floridian. This was a new experience for me and I was very excited. The tea is served at a small restaurant at the back of the lobby called Garden View Lounge. The tables are small, the chairs are comfy, the room is sunny, and the wait staff was excellent. Pat and I both ordered three course teas and settled in for a wonderful experience. I treated myself to a Prince Edward’s Tea (but shared the pate with my friend since I’m a vegetarian). The first course also came with sherry (a fun surprise), delicious cheese, and an assortment of berries. Later I had scones with Devonshire clotted cream, while Pat, who had ordered the Sally Lunn Tea, had beautiful strawberries and cream. It was a perfect ending to a whirlwind getaway weekend and I highly recommend high tea as a change of pace from the parks and a new experience at Walt Disney World.

You can download your own copy of the Flower and Garden Festival at: http://adisneyworld.disney.go.com/media/wdw/Images2003/languagespecific/eng/nontheme/parks/epcot/events/flowerandgarden/FlowerGarden08_lores.pdf

Take a look at menu for high tea at the Grand Floridian Garden View Lounge.

By Michelle Scribner-MacLean

Ah, the generosity of friends….and all my friends happen to know that I love Walt Disney World. So, when my dear pal Pat invited me to stay at her off-property Orlando timeshare for the weekend, I jumped at the chance. I was particularly happy because, although we usually trek down to WDW in May as a family, this spring we’d decided to postpone our family trip until later in the year….which meant that I was going to miss the Flower and Garden Festival at EPCOT. However, yesterday, after a very early flight from cold and dreary New Hampshire, midmorning I found myself standing in front of Spaceship Earth taking in this splendid site:

The entrance area to EPCOT didn’t have its typical music, but instead featured tunes that you’d hear at a beach party….which is fitting since all of the topiaries are decked out in beach gear. Minnie had a cute bathing suit and her dear boy…..er…..mousefriend looked like this:

I didn’t get very far into EPCOT when my friend called and invited me to Downtown Disney for lunch. (See! I told you it was whirlwind). We met at Wolfgang Puck’s for a lunch on the outside patio (something that it pretty tricky to do in New Hampshire these days).

I ordered spinach salad with pecans and gorgonzola cheese, but had asked them to take the apples out since I am allergic. The waitress assured me it would be no problem at all. After the salad arrived and I started eating it….I bit down into an apple! Luckily, I only had a slight reaction, but I made sure to tell the waitress. The chef came out to personally apologize, but I wanted to mention this because, although anyone with allergies is very careful, mistakes do happen so be sure to double check (it reminded me that I need to remember to carry my benedryl wherever I go).

As my friend Pat headed to a water park with her son, I had some time to myself before we met later for dinner. As I got into my car I had an email on my phone from a friend suggesting that there might be soft openings of Toy Story Mania at Disney Hollywood Studios. Well, I guess that made the decision of where I’d be going next! When I arrived I found out that the soft openings were just for Cast Members….and that the line was a 90 minute wait (those Cast Members love the new attractions as much as we do!). This is was the area looked like.

You can see that it was blocked off, but there is a Pixar Studio banner, some plastic monkeys, and some army men on the roof. Looks like it is going to be a fun area….but I’ll have to wait until my next trip.

I did get to see something new…the Block Party Bash, which has just been around for about a month. The parade is a bit different from other Disney parades because there are about six or seven floats with performer and different characters and they start by moving up the street and then stopping to perform for 10 minutes….then they move to another part of the parade route and stop again. I was sitting at the second stop….and it seemed like a long wait until they got there.

The characters are from Pixar films so you’ll see Toy Story characters, the Bug’s Life crew, and the ones that stopped in front of me were from Monster’s Inc.

The characters, along with dancing Cast Member friends, engage the audience in jumping, clapping, and dancing to pretty much any party song you can imagine (think YMCA and macarana). It was different and the kids around me were thrilled when they were pulled out into the street to dance. At the end of the mini performance, they shot mini rubber balls into the audience.

After two trips on Aerosmith’s Rock ‘n Roller Coaster and two more on the Tower of Terror, I headed off to Boma for dinner (see previous note about the whirlwind nature of this trip). I introduced Boma to my friend last year….and now, just like me, she likes to make a visit to Boma part of every trip. Our new tradition is arriving about 45 minutes before our reservation so that we can walk around the lobby and check out the interesting artifacts and go behind the resort where you can see some African animals.

So, after a wonderful dinner at Boma….we headed back to her resort and preparation for another fun day. More to follow…

Debra Martin Koma is in Walt Disney World right now. She sent these photos of the continued removal of the wand/arm that's been on Spaceship Earth for several years.

Also, this morning she reported that at 10ish, the standby wait for Soarin was 75+ minutes. They were able to get FastPasses with a window beginning just after noon.

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