The modern world, in ten minutes or less

The extinct Tomorrowland attraction, The Timekeeper, made an attempt to show the modern world to Jules Verne in "ten minutes or less." Expanding the time limit to include an additional ten minutes, guests at Pop Century can walk along the shore of Hourglass Lake and gain some intriguing, entertaining glimpses into the history of the latter half of the last century, from 1950 up to 1999. For those of us unable to make to Hourglass Lake for our morning constitutional, here is my attempt to bring the modern world to you, the reader, in ten minutes or less…

Course by course - Part I

There is a lot to be said about the food of Walt Disney World. Similarly, there is just as much fare to be discussed, and digested, from Disneyland. With that thought in mind we are going to undertake a particularly intriguing conversation. So, to answer your two burning questions (which, I am certain are, who is this we I speak of and what tasty topics are we going to be chatting about?), over the next month of Wednesdays we are going to be comparing the cuisine from Disneyland and Walt Disney World with examples that are as close as in taste as is possible. The other, far lovelier, piece to this puzzle is our good friend AJ from The Disney Food Blog. In fact, since I have just returned from Walt Disney World and she has just returned from Disneyland, those will be the respective meals that we are each accountable for. Therefore, over at The Disney Food Blog you can follow our tasty trail in California, while the Main Street Gazette will offer the symmetrical dishes from Walt Disney World.

We’ll kick off our tour with the small bites. In the battle over sweet snacks around Walt Disney World, Dole Whips, Mickey Bars, Patisserie pastries, and Kitchen Sinks are often bandied about as if they are the supreme rulers of the realm. In fact, however, far more tempting and time-tested treats can be found in the first land of Walt Disney World in the Main Street Confectionery.

In my attempt to offer a fair and impartial look at the offerings of the Confectionery, I decided it was only prudent to sample as much as I could. During the week I tried one piece of fudge, but I was so concerned that the others did not meet the mouth-watering standards of the first piece, that I decided I should sample another half dozen pieces. In addition to the fudge overload, I also choked down a piece of English toffee slab and pecan caramel roll. With a spread fit for a king, and enough sugar to keep me awake until my next visit to Walt Disney World, here were my thoughts of the various sweets I tasted.

Fudge – For comparison’s sake I munched on the chocolate, peanut butter, chocolate-peanut butter, turtle, vanilla turtle, chocolate-vanilla, and s’mores varieties of fudge. There were several others I did not get to, but I saved those for another trip.

Growing up, fudge was a simple, rich slab of melt in my mouth chocolate or peanut butter, with the occasional walnut thrown in for good measure. It is the quality of ingredients that combine to make that smooth texture and tongue boggling taste, and the Main Street Confectionery clearly uses only the highest quality ingredients. These hunks of fudge were, simply put, a trip back to my childhood, at least as far as the chocolate and peanut butter classes are concerned.

When it came to the other flavors, ones that added in syrups, marshmallows, or graham crackers, the quality was well maintained across the board. Also, the additions were evenly distributed across the pieces so every bite had the same flavors coming through. All of the flavors were top notch, even if I happen to be partial to the more classic flavors.

English Toffee Slab – This is one of the Confectionery’s marquee attractions. In fact, when I ordered my piece, the Cast Member assisting me told me it would be the best thing I ate that day. Those were high standards to live up to and, unfortunately, the treat fell a little shy of that mark for my taste buds.

For those of you who have never sampled the English toffee slab, it is a block of toffee (caramelized sugar and molasses that has been allowed to cool into a brittle sheet), covered in chocolate, and the topped off with chopped nuts. If this item had been served with just the toffee bar, or even with the coating of chocolate, it well could have received my highest marks for candies. However, the chopped nuts, which usually are a plus for me, put me off of this particular snack because it simply seemed as if there was too much going on and the creamy flavor of the toffee were being lost.

Pecan Caramel Roll – Where the nuts in the English toffee slab proved to be too much, the pecans in this chunk of sugar proved to be the piece the put the roll over the top. The pecan caramel roll is a thick snaking roll of caramel, topped, once again, with chocolate and nuts, that is then sliced off into oversized wedges.

The piece is chilled, tacky, and hard when you first receive it from the case, but the longer it spends in your hands, or in the sweltering Florida sun, the softer, stickier, and chewier it becomes. Whether it is enjoyed immediately, which is nearly impossible given how rich the caramel is, or as it softens, the pecan caramel roll is at the top of an extremely tall mountain of quality sweets that the Confectionery offers up daily.

While the homemade saccharine snacks are the highlight of the Main Street Confectionery, there are still other treats to be found here that are a feast for the eyes. Staring out over Town Square, the art of cotton candy crafting can be viewed by the charmed and passersby alike. Once enticed inside the store, however, the feathery cotton candy is left in the window and the real operation can be seen. Behind a series of windows the candy making process can be monitored, and items such as peanut brittle, candy apples, rice crispy treats, and toffee come to life before viewers’ eyes.

All in all, the lines may be longer elsewhere around Walt Disney World, particularly just over the bridge into Adventureland, but the Main Street Confectionery is the real heart of the snacking soul of Walt Disney World. Fresh, quality treats can be seen being created and sampled from the large display case. And you really cannot ask for more than that. To read about Disneyland’s counterpart, the Candy Palace and Candy Kitchen, be sure to check the article at The Disney Food Blog.

A right and necessary step

The stories and history behind the development, construction, and execution of EPCOT Center are many, but just how did the actual construction process begin?

While clearing of the land hand been happening for some time, the official start of construction was a marquee event. The ceremony, dubbed a “land-filling,” took place on October 1 (a familiar date), in the year 1979. Meant to show that EPCOT Center would, indeed, be a blending of corporations, Imagineering, and the ideas of tomorrow, the land portion of the presentation was facilitated by a General Motors vehicle, General Motors having already signed on to the project as a pavilion sponsor. The vehicle in question was the world’s largest earthmover, a 40-ton Terex truck, which rolled onto the site to deliver the first batch of soil in the presence of Card Walker, Dick Nunis, and a plethora of other guests.

These other guests included an assemblage of every governor who had had a hand in the development of Walt Disney World. From Haydon Burns, who had been instrumental in early stages of the resort’s development and was present at the Walt Disney World announcement with Walt and Roy Disney, to Burns’ successors, Claude Kirk Reubin Askew, and even the current governor in 1979, Bob Graham. This set of governors been involved, in one way or another, from the planning stages of the Vacation Kingdom straight through its early operation and development of EPCOT Center.

During the ceremony, Card Walker made a statement that surmised not only the possibilities of Walt Disney World, but the promise of brighter tomorrows that EPCOT Center presented for the entire state of Florida. Speaking to the honored guests, Walker stated, “We take this major step forward for Walt Disney Productions with great confidence. We have looked carefully, even minutely, at not only the creative aspects of EPCOT Center, but also the economic, the business and the marketing potentials. And now, more than ever before, we know that this is a right and necessary step in the growth of Walt Disney World and, we believe, in the continuing growth of the state of Florida as the most important tourist destination in the whole world.”

Instant relief

Last week, we vaulted back and forth between the various incarnations of Fort Wilderness’ nature trail. Throughout the week I kept thinking back to the days I have spent wandering through there, both in my youth and in my adult life. If I am honest with myself, and know that I am only speaking from my opinion, there is no single resort on Walt Disney World property where you can spend more time relaxing, and for more of a value, than Fort Wilderness.

For the past several years, during my annual solo research trips, I have made a point to take off one afternoon and evening towards the middle-end of my trip and spend it wandering through Fort Wilderness. What, you might ask, could I do to take up all that time? Here’s a typical afternoon.

For starters, you could take one of the three inner-resort transportation lines, but the more leisurely and historical journey takes good old fashioned foot power. From the front check-in, known as the Outpost, to Bay Lake/Settlement is, approximately, a little more than a mile. With that knowledge in mind, an afternoon stroll through the campground is not a strenuous as it sounds. On the first leg of the trip, between the Outpost and Meadow, you can pause to find rotting borders around trees, trees that once lined the railway of the Fort Wilderness Railroad.Along the way the raised railroad bed of the former line can be seen, but for a more substantial reminder of the campground’s transportation history we’ll stop in at the Meadow Swimmin’ Pool. The newly created splash area and waterslide use the former water tower from River Country with the symbol of the Fort Wilderness Railroad emblazoned on the side. Here, even without all of the water activities, you can have an ice cream, play an arcade game, or take a stroll over to the Meadow Trading Post for a game of checkers. As we move on, fear not we will be back to the Meadow area.Moving towards and through the Settlement, the paths become more tree-lined. Other intriguing trees can be seen along the nature trail, as previously discussed, as well as infamous Lawnmower Tree. Several years ago, as The Lawnmower Tree continued to envelope its lawnmower namesake, the tree was trimmed down to stop this process. Still, the lawnmower and its crafted history are intact.Spending time along the shores of Bay Lake can be some of the most relaxing moments of the day. First, however, stop in at Trail’s End Take Out. For my money, there is no better value than The Lone Rider, a boxed meal containing two pieces of chicken (white meat only is an option for a bit more), two sides (choices between coleslaw, French fries, cowboy beans, mashed potatoes, or macaroni and cheese), and the option of a biscuit or cornbread. Grabbing a drink and the to-go meal, a few steps back to Bay Lake and a tasty meal can be consumed against a backdrop of waves lapping on the shore, a distant view of the remnants of River County and Discovery Island, and the sun setting over the towering trees in the distance.As evening begins to creep in, the time has come to venture back to the Meadow and the Campfire Show. Arrive before the fires have been set and you can watch the mass of children romping in the grass behind the stage and screen. As a quick aside, thinking back to my own formative years here, it is nice to see that some things, such as children creating their own games and running around barefoot, never change. Once the fires are lit, the after dinner fare of roasted marshmallows and s’mores is a staple. If you don’t happen to have the basic essentials for roasting over the fire, the chuckwagon at the back of the amphitheater has kits available, and larger portions can be found down the way at the Meadow Trading Post. The Campfire Show, hosted by the guitar and banjo extraordinaire Cowboy Anthony, features plenty of interactive songs along with meet and greets with Chip and Dale.As dusk gives way to night, most evenings will offer a choice that will need to be made. After the Campfire Sing-A-Long, there will be a Disney feature shown on the large outdoor screen under the stars. Usually, staying for the film will mean giving up heading back to Bay Lake. Back and forth once again, but why would we want to head back to Bay Lake? Because the furthest shores of Fort Wilderness offer a uniquely spectacular view of Wishes as well as a prime location to behold the Electrical Water Pageant.With an afternoon and evening of relaxation, revitalization, good food, and entertainment coming to a close, it is time to hop on a bus back to the Outpost, or to the campsite. While the hustle and bustle of a day in Walt Disney World seems like the only way to spend a day, Fort Wilderness offers a perfectly peaceful way to waste away an evening, with the only investment required being time.

Disney This Week - 2 May 2010

The front-side of Disney’s Hollywood Studios has always made me long for the golden era of Hollywood. So to does this photograph of New York Street by Melissa Loflin of the Makin’ Memories photoblog.

A trio of Disneyland stories caught my attention this week. First up, Dave took Daveland readers through The Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion overlay, with a keen eye towards Oogie’s enhancements. Meanwhile, photos of Dave’s made their way over to Sam Gennawey, whose history of a specific spot on the Mark Twain over at SamLand’s Disney Adventures makes me want to pull out some old Louis Armstrong albums. Finally, staying on Disneyland’s waterways, Vintage Disneyland Tickets plied the waterways with the keel boats.

In current Disneyland news, Disney’s California Food and Wine Festival is taking place at Disney’s California Adventure. Luckily for all of us, AJ has complete festival coverage on The Disney Food Blog.

Like myself, two other North Carolina authors decided to visiting the yesterday of Walt Disney World in the past few days. Over at Imagindering, George Taylor reminds us of how characters used to wander freely through the Magic Kingdom, as if they actually lived there. Elsewhere, Michael Crawford exposed readers of Progress City, U.S.A. to the melodious sounds of the 70’s, the Dixie Deltas.

Steam trains are a massive part of the Walt Disney, and the entire Disney Company, story. Shawn Slater reminds us about where we can find a chronicle of Disney trains, past and present, at DisneyShawn.

While not necessarily a Disney sponsored event, Amanda Tinney and Disney Every Day remind us about the Lake Buena Vista Relay for Life.

Perhaps lost among a plethora of other articles this week, the Disney Parks Blog brought us news about elephant communication. Research has led Anne Savage, Ph.D., and her team to extraordinary discoveries about elephants' relationship to, and language about, bees.

The Disney Chick gives us food for thought as she presents her take on the five people you meet in line at Walt Disney World.