Happy early birthday greetings to Disneyland and MousePlanet! I hope some of you will be able to attend the MousePlanet birthday meet on July 17. You can read more about it on our MousePad message boards here.
The first letter this week asks for some Walt Disney World travel advice and history. MousePlanet staff writer Steve Russo was happy to provide an answer to reader CarrieAnn R., who writes:
I have a few questions about River Country, the old Disney water park. When we first visited Disney in 1998 with our kids we took a boat to River Country and I believe Discovery Island. It was late in the day and the water park was closing so we didn’t have much time, but had a good one nonetheless.
Two years ago my husband and I stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and had a wonderful time. One day we ended up on a bus that stopped at the Fort Wilderness Campground; just where is River Country now, and will it ever open again? Also, does Discovery Island still exist?
Our first trip was in 1980 and we took a Greyhound bus from Bradenton and stayed at the Best Western on the Beeline Expressway. Two-day admission with shuttle to the Magic Kingdom was $105.50 for two people! We still have some of the paper tickets labeled A/B/C/D for rides.
For our trip this year we will be staying at Port Orleans French Quarter; will we be pleasantly surprised or disappointed? Also, can we walk to Epcot and the Boardwalk from Port Orleans French Quarter? How do we get to the Polynesian for the luau from Port Orleans French Quarter
Wow! You’ve given me quite a bit of work. Let’s tackle River Country first…
River Country was the first water park at Disney World and opened in 1976. It was closed in late 2001. Many expected a refurbishment and reopening that never came. The definitive answer as to why it was closed may never be known outside of Disney’s executive meetings. The general consensus seems to be that that the place had deteriorated significantly and it would not be cost-effective to repair – especially with 2 newer water parks opened. In 2005, Disney announced that River Country would remain closed permanently.
It was located on the shores of Bay Lake (as is the Wilderness Lodge) near Discovery Island (your next question). Discovery Island was a place to observe wildlife. It closed in 1999 and all of its animals were relocated to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
I think you’ll enjoy Port Orleans French Quarter. I’ve only stayed there once, this past January, but we enjoyed it a lot. It may replace the Caribbean Beach Resort as our favorite moderate.
I would not advise walking to the Boardwalk area from French Quarter – there are very limited walking paths or sidewalks. You can get there by bus to Epcot and walk through to exit in the back, via the International Gateway (just past the United Kingdom). From there, it’s a short walk or boat ride to the Boardwalk. The best way to get to the Polynesian Resort, in my opinion, would be by bus to the Magic Kingdom and hop the Resort Monorail to the Polynesian. In all of these cases, you could also rely on a taxi from your resort.
The next group of letters cover a wide range of topics, and are answered by mailbag editor Stephanie Wien.
Denise M. writes:
I would like to play MouseAdventure with my son, but registration filled up before we could register last time. We have done it one time before, but have been unsuccessful in getting in since then. Can I please get an email to know when registration opens for the fall version?
You can sign up to be notified when registration is set to open for the fall MouseAdventure by keeping an eye on MousePlanet. Registration will likely not occur until later this summer, but an announcement will be made on the website when it is getting close.
Mike writes:
I will be staying at the Contemporary this summer and have a breakfast reservation for 8 a.m. at Kona in the Polynesian. The park does not open that day until 9 a.m. and there are no morning Extra Magic Hours that day. Everything I have read states that the monorail does not begin running until one hour prior to park opening. Unfortunately, that will not get us to the Polynesian in time for our reservation.
Is it possible that the monorail will begin running earlier, or is there another form of Disney transportation that we could take so we will be at the Polynesian for our 8am reservation?
Chances are that the monorail will be running, as there are other resorts on the monorail that do breakfast as well. Be sure to double check with the concierge when you check in. There’s always a taxi if the monorail isn’t running.
Sarah writes:
Do you send emails when you publish the newest Disneyland Resort park update? If so, where can I sign up? It would be great to have that sent to me every week so I could remember to read them. They are great! Thank you.
We don’t have an email reminder for the weekly Park Updates, but we do have a couple of ways for you to keep up to date:
The RSS feed is automatic, and will give you links to MousePlanet’s daily content as soon as it’s published.
Finally, MousePlanet photographer Frank Anzalone‘s photo tip articles continue to inspire readers.
Michael G. writes:
My family and I will be at Walt Disney World next week and I’m going to be sure I read all of your photography tips. I have a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi and I was wondering what lens(es) you recommend that people use.
There are so many lens variations that you could use for your camera, both Canon lenses and other third-party brands. Personal preference plays a part in selection!
What I would suggest is to first decide what you want to shoot. I am going to specifically frame my responses here around a Walt Disney World vacation. Most pictures will probably be close ups, people/groups and landscapes. I think a wide-angle zoom lens might be a good choice. Something like a 17-85 mm would be generally available and I believe very versatile for you.
For my vacation camera (Nikon D80), I have an 18-200 mm zoom lens. I got this one because I thought it would be fairly universal for my needs when I shoot; it gives a nice wide angle for those group pictures with Mickey and also a nice telephoto for shooting at the Animal Kingdom. This lens is a little more expensive than the 17-85 mm, but I liked the extra telephoto capacity. Also, if you get a lens that zooms to anything more than 150mm, you may want to consider the “VR” (vibration reduction) feature that is built into some lenses. Keep reading those photo tips! I hope they help you!
Betsey writes:
I cannot remember where I saw your image of Mickey looking at The Happiest Balloon on Earth. I think it would make an excellent street painting (with your permission of course). My daughter is an accomplished street painter and she told me to find an image to use. I remembered surfing this site, and loved the picture, but can’t remember the link.
Here is the link to the story on the Happiest Balloon.
I am not sure on the legalities of this because Mickey Mouse [character image] is a copyright of the Walt Disney Company – as long as you are doing (what I understand as) “chalk art” on sidewalks and on the street and the painting is temporary it’s probably fine.
Please take a picture of your daughter and the finished painting when it is done! I would love to see it!
