The Blonde Diaries

It’s a Small World (IASM for short) is one of those rides at Disney that you either love or hate. I fall into the camp of loving this ride but I bet if Mike answered honestly he’d be in the camp of hating this ride. So what gives? I think the main thing that bugs people is the song that never ends. It just loops and loops throughout the entire ride and easily gets stuck in your head. Some people also have issues with dolls and there are lots of them. So that said if you have people in your party acting up or acting out usually threatening to make them ride this ride is enough to get them to behave.

But I find that if you don’t sit on the ride and ride it back to back to back it isn’t all that bad! The dolls are crafted really well and are very representative of the world and the song is upbeat and happy. The additional plus is that the entire ride allows you to sit and ride in air conditioning for almost 8 minutes. Florida isn’t exactly cool people, you need this ride and the air conditioning! There is nothing scary about this ride nor fast so it is the perfect ride for anyone in your party.

Ahh the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (BTMR) roller coaster. It is part of Disney’s 3 famous mountain rides (Splash Mountain, BTMR, and Space Mountain) over in the Magic Kingdom. This ride I would say is the tamest of the roller coasters at Disney and probably the one you should bring your non-roller coaster fan on first. It doesn’t go too high or too fast so it is really the best place to start and there are no big drops and definitely no loops. The theming of the ride is that you are heading to the wild west on a run-a-way train. I hear that it is fun to ride at night during the fireworks but I haven’t tried it yet. I plan on trying it this next trip. As usual, make sure your hats, bags, and sunglasses are secured before getting on the ride but there really isn’t anything to worry about because this is one of those coasters you can ride the entire time with your hands in the air. Enjoy the video!

Today I found a video of Test Track at the special request of my friend Kimberly who is taking her family to Disney in just 7 days. Super Lucky! Can I tell you I am jealous. I would love nothing more than to pack up from work and escape until the quarter ends and then come back lol. Kimberly has a 16 year old and a 7 year old and is trying to prepare the younger daughter, Cameron, for the larger rides at Disney. Cameron has never been on Test Track and this ride is one of my favorites so I wanted to find a video to show her that it is a fabulous ride that she shouldn’t miss next week.

About the ride: You will go through a simulation of 6 or 7 tests just like cars do during their crash tests and model tests before they are marketed to us, the public. The ride is a little bumpy but nothing to terrible that should worry you. I will say to make sure you have your hats and sunglasses stored securely before the ride starts because at the end your really fly around a track and you don’t want to lose those items.

Man today has been a long day at work. I am still here and having dinner and thought now would be the perfect time to start my new series. Soarin’ debuted at Disney’s California Adventure and then was opened in EPCOT at Walt Disney World a few years later in 2005. It is located in the Land Pavilion and allows you to simulate hang gliding over California. It is a tad out of place in WDW according to some fans but I enjoyed it nevertheless. It is a fun ride for all age groups but there are a few things you should watch out for: You sit in a “hang glider” and you really are lifted off the ground and suspended in the air. If you are afraid of heights this might not be your thing but if you don’t look down and wear your seat belt you should be ok. It also starts out a tad dark so if you have someone afraid of the dark warn them that it doesn’t last too long. Once the ride starts you really forget about everything and are in awe of what is going on.

Here is a video of the ride courtesy of a YouTuber. It does have sound and is a tad long because it shows preshow and the entire video. If you don’t want the ride to be spoiled I would stop once the preshow is over. This should give you an excellent idea of the ride and what to expect. Enjoy!

A couple of friends of mine just got back from Disney. It was their first trip together and also his son’s first trip to Disney. The trip was a very last minute decision both all parties involved and Mike and I were quite nervous upon hearing this back in mid-June. Being the Disney buffs we are, we know all the ins and outs and know about making our dining reservations 180 days out, how extra magic hours work, where to find the characters, etc. Unfortunately, our friends were planning with just 2 weeks to go and we just weren’t sure if they were going to come back loving or hating Disney.

We had dinner with them this past weekend and much to our happiness they had a great time and saw everything they wanted to. Their only complaint was the heat which is not something you can really change. One thing they did mention that I have heard from other people is they didn’t know how to gauge the rides with the 7 year old boy. He was tall enough and old enough to go on most if not all rides but he is afraid of the dark and therefore hated a few rides. This got me thinking. There has to be videos out there that people took while on the rides that you could use to gauge your comfort level for each ride. I headed over to YouTube and found my answer: there are tons!

So I am going through the weeding out process of too long or poorly shot videos and putting together a new series that will be debuting this afternoon called: Navigating Disney Rides. You can use these videos to see how fast, dark, and scary the rides are before you go to the parks and get in line. I will say these videos won’t give you the total experience of riding the ride but if you have small children or don’t like certain things like the dark or bumpy rides these videos should help you. I hope you enjoy this series as I have enjoyed working on putting it together the past few hours.