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Fantasyland: Not Just For
The Pre-school Set!
by Cheryl Pendry,
PassPorter Message Board Guide and Guest Contributor
I'm going to
share a secret with you – I'm a firm believer that you can have just as much
fun or perhaps even more when you visit Walt Disney World without children,
but shhh… don't tell your kids that. You wouldn't want them thinking that
grown ups enjoy the Disney magic. After all, Disney is all about children,
isn't it?
Well, yes and no. Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom is a case in point. At
first glance, most people would think it's a children's paradise and in
fairness, there are some attractions in there that really won't interest
adults. No matter how hard you try, you've got to face facts. You won't be
able to enjoy the children's playground at Pooh's Playful Spot, although you
can admire the detail in it from afar. And even the most diehard adult
autograph hunters won't want to put up with the long waits at Ariel's Grotto
to see the Little Mermaid.
With those exceptions, I firmly believe that adults can enjoy everything
else that Fantasyland has to offer. Want some proof? Just go into any
showing of Mickey's PhilharMagic and watch grown-ups who should know better
reaching out when things come flying towards them, happily sniffing the
apple pie or laughing at Donald's travels through an animated wonderland.
Proof indeed that it's not only children that can enjoy this attraction.
Perhaps that's the most obvious example. But for some adults, that's where
the joys of Fantasyland end, as they hightail it over to the more grown up
thrills of a trip into the stars on Space Mountain or a plunge down Splash
Mountain. What they don't realize is that they're missing some of the best
attractions that Disney has to offer. All you have to do to fully enjoy them
is find the child inside you and put aside any embarrassment about going on
"kid's rides" and off you go! It's easy when you know how.
Cinderella's Golden Carrousel may live up to its name in that it's
effectively just a carousel, but it's also one of the most beautiful ones
around and I challenge anyone not to ride this and be magically transported
back to childhood memories.
The under-fives don't have a monopoly on riding Dumbo the Flying Elephant
either. Now, I've got a confession to make. I never rode this as a kid and
when I returned to Disney as a teenager, my parents asked me on our last day
what I most wanted to do. I stood there and shuffled my feet a bit and
looked at the ground. "Come on, it's your choice. What do you want to do?"
asked my mum. I looked at her with those big round appealing eyes that every
child perfects so well and mumbled, "Dumbo." After asking me to repeat that,
just in case she'd misheard the first time, we set off to ride Dumbo
together and it's one of the fondest memories I have of that vacation. Even
today, I get a thrill riding round in Dumbo and let's be honest; you get a
pretty cool view from up there! So take your camera with you and capture the
memory.
Perhaps the best thing about Fantasyland is the fact that all the rides are
very similar -- based on classic Disney tales, they take you through the
stories in honey pots, mine cars or even flying pirate ships. Yes, the Many
Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Snow White's Scary Adventures and Peter Pan's
Flight are all similar but they're also beautifully simple but effective
rides, and really shouldn't be missed. After all, it's these types of rides
that Disney -- and no-one else -- does so well.
OK, so unless you have a child in your party that's a Pooh bear or a Peter
Pan fan, you might not consider waiting very long for these rides, but with
FastPasses for two of these rides and usually very short waits for the third
(Snow White), you don't have to. We've found one of the best times to visit
Fantasyland is later in the day, particularly if the park's open late into
the evening. By then, a lot of families with youngsters have headed home for
the day and Fantasyland is often deserted.
The final thing that we haven't mentioned is perhaps the most controversial
-- "it's a small world." Why on earth would a gentle boat ride through dolls
from all the different countries of the world be controversial? The simple
answer is the catchy song. This ride is one that you either love or hate and
many have suggested that it would be considerably livened up by the addition
of softballs, so you could see how many dolls you could hit. It's not
something I foresee Disney doing either in the short or the long term.
Whatever your views on this ride -- and if you haven't ever ridden it, you
should ride just so you can make your own mind up about it -- you can't deny
that this is a priceless piece of Disney nostalgia, first seen at the
1964-65 New York World's Fair. And I, for one, can't help but come off this
ride with a big smile on my face. It's just so sweet and happy and although
I may be cursing the fact that the song is revolving in my head for the next
hour, it just has an uplifting effect for me.
The beauty of Fantasyland is that it's built around the famous animated
characters that we all know and love from our childhood. This gives us the
chance to step back in time and let those wonderful memories of carefree
days come flooding back. And after all, isn't that what Disney is all about?
Give me Fantasyland any day over the latest roller coaster! It's packed with
the most Disney magic you'll ever find in any park, so if you're one of the
adults who usually hightails it out of this part of the Magic Kingdom, give
it a try on your next visit. I'll be the one on Dumbo!
About the Author:
Cheryl and husband Mark
live in
England and love to travel, particularly to America. Their last trip to Walt
Disney World was over Halloween and their next Disney adventure will be the
Mediterranean cruise in May.
This article appeared in our January 25, 2007 newsletter --
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Updated 04/06/07
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