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The ultimate Walt Disney World video [2018]

Feb 19, 2018
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Let me introduce myself first: I come from the Netherlands (that country in Europe where people are riding bikes, you can eat the delicious treat called ‘stroopwafel’ or famous Gouda cheese and where we have lots of historical cities like Amsterdam) and I’m lucky to have Disneyland Paris as my homepark. However I follow the Disney and Universal updates and blogs from all around the world and on our holidays we travel to far-away themeparks Recently we’ve been to all the Disney parks and Universal Japan. This year was the year to sleep on-property for the first time in forever and to completely immerse ourselves in the Disney bubble, and boy it was amazing! I summarized our Walt Disney World week in this flashy 5 minute video:





Now it's time to put down the highlights of our Walt Disney World Holiday :)


Animal Kingdom Lodge

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Walking into the lobby of Animal Kingdom Lodge for the first time was a jaw-dropping experience for us! The detail, grandeur and atmosphere is amazing and immediately felt good and warm. We had a ‘partially Savannah view’ room but because mostly we were out at 9 AM and coming back from a park at 10 PM we didn’t see that much animals. However the benefits of sleeping on-property (Disney busses, the Magic Band, the Magical Express and the fact that you don’t leave the Disney Bubble) are amazing. The memory maker is awesome and so good compared to similar services in other parks.

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Tower of terror: two people stepped into an elevator

When we were riding the Tower of Terror, which isn’t the most intense but definitely the most heavy themed and best version of them all, we noticed that the que was totally empty. We did the ride over and over again and each time the elevator became less and less crowded untill… we heard the gate behind us close when we just walked into the queue. We looked at each other and thought the same: ‘if we walk slowly we have an elevator to ourselves’.

When entering the lobby the doors of the library just closed so the bellboy (or bell lady in this case) walked with us into the other library. “Do you want to see the video or just want to go on the ride?” she asked- “Uhm, we would love to see the video” - she sighed and walked away. I put my HTH hat on and a few minutes later we were sitting in an elevator all by ourselves. It was the best and most impressive elevator I’ve ever took on a stormy night not that long ago.

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Pandora: the world of Avatar

We’ve red raving reviews about Pandora and because of that we had very high expectations. We all know that ‘Diagon Alley’ moment when stepping through the brick wall, that ‘Cars Land’ moment when you walk under the arch and see Ornament Valley and now we all know the ‘Pandora’ moment. You walk though an densely forested area which subtly changes into an other world: the paving changes, the lights are different, the vegetation is shifting, you hear strange sounds and slowly you see some ‘odd’ mountains peaking though the trees. A few steps more and BAM, there it is, the world we thought did not exist, the world that is unbelievable immersive, big and appealing to the eye, the world that is Pandora.

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After walking around and strolling over various paths we came to the conclusion that this is next-gen. ‘Real’ and ‘fake’ nature are blending perfectly and the area truly feels like a place, or a planet, on its own. Na’vi River Journey is calming and enchanting but really could use some more movement like an extra animatronic. However the headliner of this area is the pure definition of movement.

The first time we completely experienced ‘Flight of Passage’ we could not believe what was happening. The breathing of the Banshee between your legs, the mist of the waterfalls in your face, the ocean smell when you escape a huge wave and the feeling of completely being free when you fly. Halfway during the ride tears began rolling over my cheeks and I could not stop crying. This is the most intense and most touching attraction I’ve ever experienced and it was the first time that I cried during a ride.

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Disney really outdid theirselves with Pandora and I can’t wait to see what other parks have in store to compete this. When we walked into Diagon Alley a week later we were somehow not impressed because we still had the scale of Pandora in our mind. “But Lars, does this land have any points of improvement?” - Jep it has. In my opinion the area could use some music hear and there, especially when you are seeing the floating mountains for the first time. Also I think that the ‘Flight of Passage’ preshow is very long-winded and I find the obvious dubbing of the main character very annoying. But besides that: WOW WOW WOW SIVAKO!

Dining Plan

With our reservation we got a free table service dining plan and that was an experience on it’s own! Normally we bring our own snacks, eat nuggets for lunch and counter service for dinner but now we tried so many new things. We dined in ‘Be Our Guest’ (good food but the atmosphere is mehhh), Skippers Canteen (very tasty, lovely atmosphere but the noodles were spiced like Hades made them), Sanaa (perfectly balanced flavors), The Hollywood Vine (awefull food but hey the characters and VIP Fantasmic tickets are nice) and Teppan Edo (great fresh food, delicious cocktail and a WOW experience, definitely our winner!).

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The best news for us is that alcoholic beverages are included in a dining plan for dinner ánd lunch, we Europeans like our cocktails and wines :) The best counter service we had was at Pandora (sooooo delicious food, the blue cheesecake is terrific and the blue sangria makes a Disney day even more fun). The best snacks we had where the Zebra Cupcake at Animal Kingdom lodge and the pulled pork fries at Animal Kingdom.

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Walt Disney World

Walt Disney World doesn’t have incredible daytime shows like Tokyo Disney, it doesn’t have the most beautiful castle and most detailed Mainsteet U.S.A. like Disneyland Paris, it doesn’t have the spirit of Walt like Anaheim but it has a holiday feeling and completeness like no other resort on earth. The fact that you can spend a week here escaping from the ‘human’ world and can think of new things to do every hour of the day is unique. The fact that you can travel from Pandora to Hollywood, get closer to animals and watch the most beautiful fireworks you will ever see in front of an enchanted castle all in one day is amazing.

Walt Disney World, you are our home away from home and you are indeed the happiest place on earth. Thanks for letting us dream and believe.

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I could talk for hours about Disney and can write a book trilogy about it but leave it to this for now. If you have any questions about my experience please don’t hesitate to ask! And I would love to hear what you all think of the video. Thanks for taking a look and maybe till next time, or as we say it in the Netherlands: doei!

Lars
 
Awesome work, really enjoyed your review alongside those awesome photos. Welcome to the forums and thanks for sharing.

Now to check out the video.
 
Wow, what a video. Being a regular I forget how truly spectacular the Disney parks are. Try putting a video like this of Universal. Lol
 
Wow that is an amazing review of Disney World, very in depth and I liked the comparisons to other parks as well. The photography is stunning too, well timed shots that really capture the moment you were trying to get. I will check out the video shortly but judging from what I saw so far I won’t be disappointed.

Welcome to the IU forums and we all look forward to what you have/can share. Can you do the same for DLP seeing as that’s your home park and a park most of us don’t get to visit?

On a side note my cousin (my Aunt or his mother is Danish) just moved to the Netherlands (Amsterdam to be precise) and loves it so far.
 
WOW thank you all for your kind replies and compliments, I really appreciate it! :D :D :D And thank you for welcoming me to the forum!

Wow that is an amazing review of Disney World, very in depth and I liked the comparisons to other parks as well. The photography is stunning too, well timed shots that really capture the moment you were trying to get. I will check out the video shortly but judging from what I saw so far I won’t be disappointed.

Welcome to the IU forums and we all look forward to what you have/can share. Can you do the same for DLP seeing as that’s your home park and a park most of us don’t get to visit?

On a side note my cousin (my Aunt or his mother is Danish) just moved to the Netherlands (Amsterdam to be precise) and loves it so far.
Thank you so much! I have many reports from Disneyland Paris and ofcourse I can translate one of them :)

If I was sitting next to you, I’d be wondering “what the heck is this dude crying for?” :p

Amazing pictures and great write up. Welcome to IU.
Everybody experiences different emotions on each ride. To me flight of passage is the most immersive I've ever seen. But I also cracked a tear when I walked into Diagon Alley for the first time ;)
 
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