Vol. 5 # 1 - Tiffin Motorhomes

232425Playhouse Disney–Live on Stage! will debut in February 2008 at Disney’sHollywood Studios. Children will be singing, clapping, and dancingwith the Disney characters.Walt Disney World Marathon will be staged in January (see wdwnews.com for times). This full 26.2-mile marathon will pass through all fourof the Disney theme parks.Block Party Bash – At Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the spring, visitorscan play, party, and dance in the most interactive parade in DisneyNew for 2008 at Disney WorldIn Asia at Flights of Wonder (22), we were amazed at theintelligence of birds as their trainers asked them to do severalunusual routines. The birds are free to fly about the open theaterand are trained to return to an assigned perch.Disney’s Hollywood StudiosBy the time you read this issue, Disney-MGM Studios will havebeen renamed Disney’s Hollywood Studios to better reflect notonly the Golden Age of Tinseltown but all that today’s Hollywoodhas to offer in movies, music, theater, and television. Ifyou are a real movie buff, it will take at least two days to dojustice to this park.Disney’s Hollywood Studios is divided into several venues:Hollywood Boulevard, Streets of America (23), Echo Lake,Mickey Avenue, Animation Courtyard, and Sunset Boulevard.There are so many things to see and do, our decision was to selectone activity from each area to get a good flavor of the movieindustry. The Great Movie Ride is right at the end of HollywoodBoulevard. A 24-minute trip in tram cars will take you throughsome of the most famous scenes filmed over the last 70 years.Throughout the ride, Disney’s signature Animatronic figures includingJames Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, and JulieAndrews will bring lifelike commentary to each film clip.In the Echo Lake venue, the Indiana Jones Epic StuntSpectacular features re-enactments of a climactic scene fromthe movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. Fight scenes, explosions, and acrushing boulder falling on the Indiana Jones look-alike bringedge-of-your-seat realism to the 30-minute show. Try to getthere a half-hour early for the best seats and comedy routinesfrom the “hired help.”There was no question about which act to see in the Streetsof America venue; it had to be Lights, Motors, Action! ExtremeStunt Show. The action-packed, high-performance showfeatures the good guys and the bad guys chasing each otherthrough a Mediterranean village as the film crew with its mobilehigh-tech equipment attempts to record all of the action (24),some of which gets projected on the big screen above the village.Jumps, near accidents, and chases that crash through secondfloorbalconies make the 40-minute show very entertaining.The good guys ride in red cars and the bad ones in black. Thecars appear to be standard Opel Corsas, but in fact are rebuiltwith roll cages, 150 hp motorcycle engines, and eight gearshistory. See wdwnews.com for times.Atlanta Braves Spring Training Camp returns to Disney’s Wide World ofSports for Spring Training in February.Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival opens on March 18.Epcot’s Future World and World Showcase will show off more than30 million colorful blossoms. Interactive garden activities for kids andworkshops for adults with national gardening experts will be offeredduring the two-and-a-half month event.(four forward and four backward). Oneis cleverly modified with the driver facingthe rear so that when he is backing up orbeing chased backward at high speeds, heis actually traveling “forward.” Jet skis ina narrow canal and motorcycles used incasting also create a lot of excitement.The Mickey Avenue venue took usdown memory lane for the Backlot Tour.It is amazing how a relatively small areacan be made to project depth and size,such as battles at sea with huge wavesand explosions, or a flash flood at an oilrig in Catastrophe Canyon. The oil tankerlooked as if it would tumble right downon our tram (25). When you see your nextaction-packed movie, you may be able tospot the telltale signs of a movie set if youlook carefully.Animation Courtyard has three entertainmentchoices, but we went with PlayhouseDisney— Live on Stage! becauselive performances generally seem to bemore fun. Definitely aimed at preschooland early elementary age children, thefreshness and vigor of the actors will entertainparents and grandparents as well.The mini-musical features charactersfrom Jim Henson’s “Bear in the Big BlueHouse,” “The Book of Pooh,” “Stanley,”and “JoJo and Goliath.”When we got to Sunset Boulevard, itwas a tough choice. We decided to go withthe 30-minute version of Beauty and theBeast— Live on Stage. Upon learning thather father, Maurice, had been imprisonedin the Beast’s enchanted castle, Belle offeredherself in his stead. She eventuallyfalls in love with the Beast and the endinghas a fairytale quality.Be sure to make your evening diningreservations early in the day. In Epcot,we recommend the all-you-care-to-eatbuffet at Germany’s Biergarten Restaurantas well as France’s Bistro de Paris. You willalso find interesting choices at DowntownDisney including the Wolfgang PuckCafé, Bongos Cuban Café, and Planet Hollywood.Entertainment options at DowntownDisney include La Nouba (Cirquedu Soleil), an AMC 24-movie theater, andComedy Warehouse.26 Roughing It SmoothlyDisney in Winter 27