Fantasyland at The Magic Kingdom

Time to visit The Magic Kingdom again...this time we will go to Fantasyland.

In Fantasyland, we find Snow White's Scary Adventure. Luckily, in the end, Snow White gets her Prince Charming.

It's A Small World had a small line...the wait time was only 10 minutes for the boat ride featuring children from around the world.

Next, we were off into Neverland on Peter Pan's Flight.

Will Wendy have to walk the plank?

Captain Hook gets his just rewards in the end.

In Fantasyland we happened upon Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. They were visiting with their friend, Darby, from Playhouse Disney.

Marlon stops in front of props depicted from Alice in Wonderland.

Time to experience The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in our very own hunny pot. This ride replaced Mr. Toad's Wild Ride several years ago.

These are the stars of the ride.

Once again, the focal point of The Magic Kingdom...Cinderella's Castle.

Experience It's A Small World first hand (kind of) in this video.
For more pictures of The Magic Kingdom, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/january/magickingdomjanuary/ .

To be continued...

Return to Cypress Gardens Adventure Park Part 2

Now we are heading in to see what exotic animals await us here at Cypress Gardens Adventure Park's Nature's Way.

Vanna points the way.

What is this? This is Nature?

"When Radios Were Radios" is a neat collection of antique radio equipment located in Nature's Way.

This is a not-so-antique goat, probably of the African Pygmy variety.

Lemurs doing what they do best.

This Coatimundi took time out from its busy schedule to pose for us.

This is a marmoset. He was quite a little thing...about 8 to 10 inches tall.

Remember the Wallaby Squash? It was a carbonated lemony soda which only lasted in the soda wars from 1976-1980.

Anyway, here's Bennett's Wallaby. We don't know who Bennett is, but this animal is similar to the kangaroo. Hopefully we'll get a better view of it in the future.

This seagull just got finished taking his bath.

Reeve's Muntjac tries to figure out how we got up there. We don't know who Reeve is either.

This one IS an antique. This is an American Alligator named Tarzan. He is currently 77 years old and makes his home at Cypress Gardens.

He is a retired actor, having been miscast as Cheetah...er...a crocodile in the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies of the 1930's.

Here's the miniature Loch Ness Monster of Lake Eloise.

Marlon put together a brief video of Cypress Gardens on this visit. Here it is.
For more pictures of this visit to Cypress Gardens, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/january/cypressgardensjanua-1/ .

To be continued...

Return to Cypress Gardens Adventure Park Part 1

We decided to return to Cypress Gardens today to see some of the park we had missed the first visit.

Here's a quick view of Topiary Trail as we walk toward the botanical gardens.

A swan...

A duck...

A waterfall...

Pictures of the Cypress Gardens Botanical Gardens.

A bridge spans a babbling brook...

Don't drink out of the babbling brook.

The cypress trees from which Cypress Gardens gets its name.

The huge 70 year old banyan tree of Cypress Gardens.

As promised in the prior blog, today we rode the Sunshine Sky Adventure. This is the only panoramic tower in North & South America.

The platform rises 16 stories into the air and revolves 360 degrees for a spectacular view of the park and the surrounding area.

See the next blog for the zoo section of the park.

To be continued...

Presidents Hall of Fame, Clermont, Florida

Today we drove about 25 miles north on US-27 to visit The Presidents Hall of Fame. The attraction was originally opened in 1960 as the wax museum called The House of Presidents. Renamed The Presidents Hall of Fame in 1990, this museum includes thousands of artifacts of both presidential and Americana interest.

The black limousine in the front of the building was a Presidential Parade Limousine used by several presidents, including Nixon.

Abe guards the entrance to the museum in this replica of The Lincoln Memorial statue.

Upon entering the museum, you encounter a replica of The White House Dining Room complete with Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, George Bush & Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Marlon prepares to watch the video "Stand-Up Reagan". This is one of many videos patrons of the museum can view during their visit.

In addition to wax figures of each and every president, The Presidents Hall of Fame also has a collection of miniature wooden presidents each measuring about 2 feet high.

In the main exhibit area, each president has his own display of memorabilia in its own showcase.

First ladies Hillary Clinton and Jacqueline Kennedy stand at their husbands' sides in the exhibit.

There are miniaturizations of The Oval Office for each presidency beginning with the 1909-1913 Taft Administration.

The Oval Office of Lyndon Baines Johnson (1969-1974)

The Oval Office as it appears in 2008

The Hall of Fame also features a vast collection of miniatures created by owner John Zweifel.

The bread and butter of The Presidents Hall of Fame is a 1/12th replica of The White House which is currently touring various Presidential Libraries.

This scale replica of Mount Rushmore is featured next to the Hall of Fame.

Yes! Marlon made a video. Enjoy...

For only $9.95 plus tax, you can visit The Presidents Hall of Fame an entire year...and parking is free!

For more pictures of The Presidents Hall of Fame go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/january/presidentshalloffam/ .

To be continued...

Cypress Gardens Adventure Park

Today we decided to head down to Winter Haven to experience Cypress Gardens Adventure Park.

Cypress Gardens, which originally opened in 1936, closed in early 2003. It seemed to be a victim of 9/11, which triggered a drastic decline in tourism. However, a new owner stepped up to the plate and reopened it as Cypress Gardens Adventure Park in late 2004 after the park underwent some changes.

Thrill rides were added to the park to increase its younger-crowd appeal. The Botanical Gardens and zoo area (Nature's Way) remained, albeit in a smaller format. In addition, the legendary Ski Show Spectacular and Ice Skating Show also remain, apparently in a scaled-down version according to internet sources.

Well, changes or not, we enjoyed the park and what it had to offer. We met up with Frank and family on a Sunday morning.

Doug, Joyce and Frank get ready for the first drop on Cypress Gardens' newest coaster, the relocated Starliner Coaster. The Starliner debuted in 1963 in Panama City Beach, Florida at Miracle Strip Amusement Park. The park closed in 2004 and the ride was moved to Cypress Gardens where it recently debuted.

Frank came down the Fun Slide so fast he was the first one up and ready to go.

Aron did a little race car driving in the arcade.

This is a view of the Sunshine Sky Adventure from the stands at the Cypress Gardens Water Ski Show. We did not get to ride the Sunshine Sky Adventure today but we will soon.

Cypress Gardens is considered to be "The Water Ski Capitol of the World". The Water Ski Show, which originated in 1943, features hang-gliding and traditional skiing, as well as stunt skiing.

Here are the current Aquamaids at Cypress Gardens.

The world famous Water Skiing Pyramid was one of the highlights of the show.

This beautiful waterfall was located near the topiary gardens.

Here's a sample of the topiary in the park.

This model-train display can be found in the Trains, Planes & Automobiles store in the Jubilee Junction section of the park.

Marlon and Frank are awed by the tiny locomotives.

This scene reminded us of Colorado.

This butterfly reminded us that it does not snow here in Florida. We found him (or her) at the Wings of Wonder butterfly garden.

The characters at Cypress Gardens reside in the children's section called "Bugville". Here's one the characters now.

There was another character present at Cypress Gardens today though who could be found at the Star Haven Amphitheatre. That character was 75 year young Mel Tillis.

Here's another young one acting as engineer on the Rio Grande Train.

Marlon put together a video! Here it is.

For more pictures of our visit today to Cypress Gardens, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/january/cypressgardensjanua/ .

Watch for our next visit when we will visit the Botanical Gardens and the Nature's Way area of the park.

To be continued...