Splash Mountain: Ride Review

Splash Mountain is my favorite water ride in Disney World. It is located in the back corner of Frontierland, next to Big Thunder Mountain. You have to go across the bridge otherwise you will miss the entrances to these two rides. You don't get to soaked, so it is still comfortable to walk around the park the rest of the day. Plus, the themeing  is really cool. It is set to the story of Brer Rabbit and his adventures. It is supposed to be like the movie Song of the South. I have never seen this movie, but I have read all of the Brer Rabbit stories. I like the combination dark ride and water ride. Its more than just driving around a little and then getting wet. There is a whole story to watch in the meantime. That's what makes this ride so much fun. This ride gets a 9 out of 10 only because it needs to be updated a little. Some new paint can go a long way. 

Now, on to some pictures!

This is the main focus of Splash Mountain. 

The Main Entrance Sign

Brer Frog during the ride.

The view before the big drop.

The star of the ride, Brer Rabbit

Photo of the Day

Since I've gotten back from vacation, I have gone straight back to work. So until I post a real blog entry, here is a photo from our vacation last week.

This was taken during the Kilimanjaro Safaris at Animal Kingdom. This was the closest that I had ever seen the giraffes. This photo was taken with no zoom!

Vacation Time!!

We are leaving tomorrow for our trip to Disney!! Driving the whole way!

We are staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge at the Vacation Club Villas. This will be our first time at AKL using Vacation Club at our home resort.

I'm so excited to go! I will be taking more photos than normal, just for this blog!

See you in a week ;-)

Disney Resort Recipe

My favorite dessert in WDW has to be the Zebra Domes from Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge. 

There are two different versions at the Lodge. The ones that are served at the restaurant  are alcoholic, you can  taste it but its not overwhelming. 

The ones pictured above are served at the cafe, The Mara. These are non-alcoholic and equally amazing.

I can't really describe how they taste. They are creamy and delicious, that's all you need to know ;-)

The next time you are in Disney, just drive or take the bus on over to Animal Kingdom Lodge. If you are driving, just go up to the main gate and say that you would like to check out the hotel. You might need your hotel key or just your ID to get it. 

Here is a non-official recipe I found that changes the domes to a coffee flavor.

Zebra Coffee Domes

Source

Yield: 16 servings

Ingredients:

1 pound milk chocolate
¼ cup espresso coffee
5 egg yolks
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
6 sheets gelatin
½ cup Kahlua Liqueur
4 cups heavy cream
¾ cup white chocolate ganache
¼ cup dark chocolate ganache
sponge cake (store-bought or your favorite recipe)

Method:

1. Melt milk chocolate.
2. Whip heavy cream to soft peaks.
3. Mix yolks with sugar.
4. Soften gelatin leaves in cold water.
5. Mix gelatin with Kahlua and coffee. Set bowl over hot water bath to dissolve the gelatin.
6. Fold 1/3 of whipped cream into the chocolate.
7. Add the yolks, then the gelatin mixture.
8. Fold in the rest of the cream.
9. Pour mousse in flexipan domes almost to the top.
10. Place sponge circle (1/4" thick yellow cake cut in a circle) on top. Leave in the freezer to set.
11. Once hard, unmold and place in glazing racks.
12. Make white chocolate ganache and chocolate ganache.
13. Put chocolate ganache in a pastry bag. Ladle white chocolate ganache to cover each dome. Simultaneously, pipe a stripe design of chocolate ganache over the dome.
14. Refrigerate to allow the glaze to set.
15. Decorate the bottom edge with coffee crunch.
16. Place a chocolate covered coffee bean on the center of each dome.

Note: One sheet of gelatin is equal to one teaspoon of unflavored powdered gelatin dissolved in ¼ cup of water.

Photo of the Day

This photo was taken at the Lego store in Downtown Disney. I was playing around on my photo program and this is what happened. The original photo was much brighter because I took it in the middle of the day, so this is quite a transformation. 

I think that it makes the dragon (from Sleeping Beauty) even more dark and sinister than it already is. 

I also like that you can not tell that this dragon is made out of Legos ;-)

What I Bring Into the Parks

We leave for Disney on the 15th so I am in the process of packing all of my stuff. I figured that I would show everyone what I pack to tack into the parks.

This is my backpack type thing that I wear inside all of the parks. 

This is my vinylamtion cross-body bag. I wear this one to Downtown Disney and the road trip down to our hotel. 

Inside the backpack, it is actually pretty roomy. I can't even feel the Hidden Mickey book. The blue thing is my water bottle. It is plastic and kind of fills up like a balloon. You can freeze it too, so that's why I love it. Plus, it is so light that I can just hook it to the back of the bag and it doesn't give me a problem.

I always have band aids because no matter what kind of shoes I wear, I get blisters. I keep wet wipes in my bag because it is June and I sweat. It is nice to feel fresh when you are surrounded by smelly people. My biggest OCD type tendency is my use of deodorant. I can not stand it if I smell, so it is always in my bag. 

The black strap is for my glasses. This way I can see everything and do not have to worry about my glasses flying off. It is nice to be able to see and experience the more intense rides. I also keep a bunch of hair ties in bag in case one breaks.

Not pictured are various items like pens and snacks. I also keep my phone and wallet and all that in my bag. If I have any pins or vinylmations to trade, they go in the bag too. I tend to over pack, but the backpack is so nice that it does not feel heavy. It also has a side pocket for some of the smaller stuff. 

Of course packing is different for everyone. I usually pack the same things every time I go to Disney. It seems to really work for me. I love that Disney lets you bring snacks in too. It really helps if you don't want to spend $10 for a quick lunch.

I can't wait to leave for Disney! The packing continues!!

Photo of the Day

My favorite pictures are usually of fireworks. I love the firework setting on my camera. I love how the fireworks look so much different in the pictures than they do when you actually look at them. 

Having the castle in the background just adds to the feeling of watching fireworks in Disney. The way that the fireworks surround the castle is just stunning. 

I always end up taking a million firework photos at Disney and they I have to go through and pick out the best ones. 

My advice with photographing fireworks is to just keeping shooting. Don't shoot so much that you don't take in the beauty of the scenes around you, but take enough. There will always be some bad pictures in the bunch but most of the time you will find stunning ones. 

Spaceship Earth: Ride Review

Spaceship Earth is a classic ride that a lot of people find boring. It is a ride that transports you to different points in history. It begins with cavemen and ends with a look into the future. The animatronics are a little on the retro side but that adds to the classicness of the ride. The line is always short because the ride vehicles are constantly moving. If the line is longer than 25-30 minutes, it's time to switch parks ;-)  (unless you are there during a peak visit time). 

Spaceship Earth

Mural outside of the entrance

The Renaissance section 

A newer addition to the ride is the personalized future profile. At the beginning of the ride your picture is taken and saved for later. You answer a few questions and your future is revealed. It is pretty entertaining to see yourself as different characters. It makes the ride a little bit more modern.

My future profile

I did not discover this ride until I got a little bit older. You really can start to appreciate the history after you have learned about it in school. After the addition of the picture profile, it got really cool. Now we go on the ride at least twice just to take our picture and answer the questions. 

I think that this ride is really geared towards the 12 and up crowd but it depends on your kid. My family really loves this ride now and us kids were 14, 16 and 19. 

I would rate this ride a 7 out of 10. Only because we mostly go for the future profile. It really isn't 100% about the ride anymore for us. We still appreciate it but we just love the picture taking.

The Famous Dole Whip

 On every single blog or forum about Disney, I have heard rave reviews about the Dole Whip. I finally tried one this year and this is my opinion of it.


You can purchase the Dole Whip at Aloha Isle Refreshments. It is located in Adventureland. If you keep walking past Aladdin's Magic Carpets you will see it on the left. If you walk by Pirates, you are going in the wrong direction. A Dole Whip is basically a float with pineapple ice cream and pineapple juice.

Photo Credit

You can order a Dole Whip two ways, either have the just the ice cream in a cup or eat it as a pineapple juice float.

Photo Credit

I had the float, it was pretty good. In all honesty, its just pineapple ice cream and juice. It tastes really good, but I didn't get why people were so excited about it on the blogs. It is a definite must try food item though. I really did love it and will be ordering one when I go back to Disney.