Yes, the snowflake was preserved

Here's a Blue Sky imagineering idea for the dormant Wonders of Life pavilion in Epcot's Future World.  Why not re-furbish it using some of its components and those of an extinct attraction, the Adventure Thru Inner Space?  That attraction was lovingly re-created at themightymicroscope.com.

The Wonders of Life pavilion lies between Mission: Space and Ellen's Energy Adventure.  The Wonders of Life Body Wars attraction involved shrinking as did Disneyland's Adventure Thru Inner Space.  In looking at the pavilion's status, it appears the ride simulator may have been removed at some point.  That doesn't seem to be as much of problem as it is an opportunity to put a more advanced simulator in it.  There has also been talk about a sinkhole near Mission: Space which may explain why its footprint is smaller than Horizons which it replaced.  The building itself appears to be structural sound as it serves as an occasional special events area.

So, just what's going to happen in Mission: Inner Space?  You may recall that Adventure Thru Inner Space closed in 1985 to become Disneyland's version of Star Tours.  But, that was just a clever cover story to mask what really happened.  You see, after 18 years of shrinking and enlarging multitudes of explorers, something happened - "The Incident." Some of them failed to return.  Their Atommobiles remained deep within a single snowflake which was preserved until a means could be found to attempt a rescue mission.  This is the goal of Mission: Inner Space.

The Mark II Atommobile was designed to return to the region of the snowflake where the explorers from September 2, 1985 vanished.  How could they have possibly survived?  The answer lies in the statements of the first person to make the fabulous journey.  The thoughtwaves of his first impressions were suspended in the "timelessness of inner space."  The original inner space explorers had reported that system clocks were always slightly out of synchronization after their brief journey.  This was attributed to the stresses of shrinking and enlarging through the Mighty Microscope.  That was found to be incorrect.  Time and space are interrelated.  By chance, the missing explorers slipped between two moments in time.  The rescuers are to search interactively for a temporal rift within an atom of a water molecule in the snowflake.  Then, the Mark II Atommobile is to pull the trapped explorers out without falling into the rift too.

It's dangerous, but someone has to do it.

The seats of the Mark II Atommobiles have interactive display terminals where riders can scan and lock on to targets.  Once they have successfully returned with the trapped explorers (after something nearly goes "horribly wrong" as always), the now-freed people thank them although they are a bit confused about emerging in contemporary Florida instead of late-20th century California.  They mention something about heading over to "The PeopleMover" before taking the "Skyway" to Fantasyland.

What is your Favorite Ice Cream??

An advantage to living at WDW for months at a time is to taste all of the different food! I discovered Mrs. Pott's Cupboard back in 1999. It has since been changed to Storybook Treats. I always get a chocolate ice cream sundae with chocolate fudge. It is my go to treat @ WDW every time.I'm a HUGE chocolate fan if you cannot tell! The longest I have ever waited for this is 45 minutes! It is worth it everytime.This place is unique &  you don't have too many places on property to get sundaes at a quick service place. Ghiradelli is great but this sundae does so much more for me. Maybe because it is so simple & the taste NEVER changes.Don't get me wrong I love Dole Whips too but I'm more of a chocoholic. :) Next time you are in Fantasyland give this place a try. It is next to where Dumbo & Snow white used to be.

What is your favorite ice cream at WDW Property???



Picture courtesy of disneyfoodblog.com



Picture courtesy of disneyfoodblog.com

Le Cellier Beer Cheese Soup Recipe Review

The first time I ever had the beer cheese soup was this past November. I wasn't expecting much but it was SO good! I have the "Cooking with Mickey & the Disney Chefs Book" & thought I'd give this soup recipe a whirl. I have made another disney soup recipe before & it always comes out good. (Clam Chowder)

My soup I had at Le Cellier 

It took me almost 2 hours to prepare everything & cook! They are time consuming but worth it in the end. Everything in this recipe I already have at home so it was a no brainer to try.

Bacon,butter,onion&celery saute

After adding flour & stirring constantly

After adding the milk

Tada!

Rating: I give this soup a thumbs up. If you don't like beer you don't even have to add it & it still tastes good. Before I added the cheese & beer the soup still tasted amazing. I will definitely make this recipe again! It makes A LOT. The recipe says it makes enough for 10 people. It reheats well too. This is a super easy soup to make but it is just time consuming shredding cheese & cutting veggies & bacon up. I just need some of that pretzel bread to dip in!!!

Courtesy of disneyfoodblog.com    

Courtesy of avatarsdb.com

If I had One Wish...

Photo courtesy of disneyclips.com

People often ask me what is one thing at Disney that I haven't gotten to do. It is my dream to one day eat at Club 33. This is a secret club/restaurant in New Orleans Square at DisneyLand. I heard it costs $25,000 a year for membership! The wait list got so long they no longer have a wait list. Walt made this place for government officials, VIP's, & other celebrities. I was born in CA and have been to DL a million times although my last trip was back in 1997. If it wasn't so much money I'd go back sooner plus I'm way closer to WDW. I hear AMAZING things about Club 33 food & decor. It would be one of my three wishes if a genie granted me some. :) 

I enjoy reading http://www.talesofadisneylandcm.com/ & I pulled the Club 33 pictures from her website. She has an amazing story on how she got to go to Club 33! She went in great detail about the restaurant. I highly recommend her blog. 

Cool toilet from Club 33! 

My Disney Book Recommendations...

I always love a good read especially when it comes to Disney. Since I am a past Disney intern I love the "Mousecatraz" book by Wesley Jones. It has a lot of stories in it from past Disney interns. I could relate to a lot of them. Parts of it are pretty funny especially if you never worked there. I let my friends borrow the books & they put post-its in it with questions for me on certain stories. HAHA

The other book I got was "Walt Disney World Hidden History" by Kevin Yee.It gives you detailed information on certain places in WDW & who the names of the people are like on the windows in Main street. It was a quick but fun read.

I have read the Walt Disney biography by Bob Thomas. It is a big book but you learn a lot about Walt as a child and how the company came to be. This book is for an avid Walt Disney fan.Right after I got home from my internship I went through a MAJOR Disney depression so I picked up this book. If you don't care for Walt much this isn't the book for you but I love it personally.

Difficult times with a Vista Way Roommate...

Being a Disney intern forces you to live with people from all over the United States. My first internship I lived in a two bedroom two bath. I shared a room & bathroom. Luckily I got along with my roommate & I rarely saw her.Hah. Unfortunately for my other two roommates there were issues... One of them was a "born again Christian" while her roommate was an Atheist. Day in and day out the Christian would "preach" to the atheist on her beliefs. It didn't help that they shared a room & bathroom . Over the semester things escalated. The atheist was always calm & just told the Christian she had her own beliefs & wasn't going to change them.One night when I got home from work I saw the Christian storming out of our apartment by slamming the door. She didn't talk to me as I passed her in the hallway. Apparently she got physical with my roommate & pushed her!The Atheist was on the phone with her mom in Utah & Dana screamed at her to get off the phone & kept grabbing at her arm for the phone. Her mom is on the other line asking what is going on & concerned at this point. The Atheist told her to go down the hall to use our neighbor's phone if she needed one. Her mom had important family stuff to tell her that couldn't wait. Dana got so mad she pushed the Atheist into the wall! The Atheist had to hold herself back from hitting her as she REALLY wanted to. If you touch anyone at Vista Way like that you are supposed to get terminated...... My roommate went to security to report what happened & she had to write a statement. Myself & my roommate had to write statements as well with everything that was going on in our apartment.The Christian girl got moved into another apartment 3 weeks before our program ended. I never understood her. She claimed to be a "born again Christian" yet I caught her having sex on our couch one night when I got home from work yet she claimed to be a "born again virgin" too.....I've learned to never discuss religion because of this. I'm still good friends with the Atheist to this day. :)

Disney's Venomous Villains MAC Makeup Collection

I'm a HUGE makeup fan to begin with but when MAC came out with the VV Collection I had to have it! THese came out in Fall of 2010.I really wish they re promote these as they were limited edition items & packaging.I love it all but wear the lipgloss the most. This collection was sold out by 9am the day it came out!Luckily the lady at Nordstrom's placed a web order for me & she didn't understand why it was SO popular! HAHA I love the Snow White blushes. They all have cute names. I use my items a lot but carefully because I'm not sure they will ever come out with these colors again!

The lipstick on the left is called Toxic Tale & the lipgloss name is Strange potion. :)

The blush on the left is called Briar Rose & the blush on the right is called Oh so Fair. The small pink blush is bite of apple. I de potted it for a blush palette I have. You wouldn't believe how much makeup I have?! Maybe I should do some princess makeup tutorials sometime? HAH

Blue Skies

Of the Blue Sky imagineering ideas I've written about, this one was once close to going forward, but in a different location.

At the beginning of the Walt Disney World resort, there were a number of proposed hotels and their timelines are intertwined.  To start, were the Contemporary, Polynesian and Ft. Wilderness resorts (names have changed over the years).  The Golf Resort (Disney Inn/Shades of Green) was added later and is now operated by the Department of Defense.   In addition, there were to have been Asian, Venetian and Persian resorts.   The site for the Asian resort is now the part of the Grand Floridian that extends into the Seven Seas Lagoon.  The Venetian was to have been between the Transportation and Ticket Center and the Contemporary.  The Persian report was to have been on Bay Lake, but NOT where the Wilderness Lodge is now.  

The Mediterranean resort was to have been located where the Venetian resort was.  It was reported that the building site was not favorable to the construction.  Ironically, there was too much water.  The Venetian resort would have been able to have its canal system except those were supposed to be roads.

There's a write-up about the resorts that are-were-never were here at jimhillmedia.com:  http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief1/b/jim_hill/archive/2007/04/20/why-for-did-wdw-s-asian-venetian-and-persian-resorts-never-get-built.aspx

In that article, the model of the Mediterranean resort from that era has some oddities like what appear to be palm trees.  The color scheme seems very monochromatic although that may have been the model's material of construction.  In addition, it has elements of Michael Eisner's favorite designer, Michael Graves.  The Disney-In-Name-Only Swan and Dolphin resorts bear his distinct style.  They've also gone down in history as the ugliest hotels on property.

So, let's take a couple good ideas and try to fuse them.  Why not place the Mediterranean resort where the Persian resort was to have been rather than where the Venetian would have been.  That spot of land it to the north of the Contemporary on the western shore of Bay Lake.  Google maps already shows a cleared area there which appears to be used as a staging area, storage, non-guest parking etc...  It's not too difficult to image a resort there.  The Persian resort reportedly would have had access to the monorail via a spur.  Almost all monorail expansion has been a non-starter since Epcot.  The Wilderness Lodge (originally Cypress Point) isn't on the monorail system and its boat service has its own charms.  Almost anything else is going to be a bus ride.  Bus/boat connections would work just fine for the northwestern shore of Bay Lake too.  

It is interesting to note that the Persian resort would have been themed in blue and white.  Those are traditional Greek colors and are seen on Santorini (Thera/Thira) which is actually in the Aegean sea.  So, why not have our own "island" resort.  The Isle of Mickeynos is a play off Mykonos which is also in the Aegean.  Some fine Greek seafood would be served in its high-end restaurant.  Fishing boats would be tied up at its marina.  Certainly, Florida is hot enough to replicate conditions found in the Greek isles.  As with the other resorts, swimming is not done in the lake/lagoon but rather in pools.  The Isle's pool would be along the lines of classic Greek baths.   

There are a number of resorts that can be thought of as extensions of various parts of the parks

The Contemporary -> Tomorrowland

The Polynesian -> Adventureland

Wilderness Lodge/Ft. Wilderness areas -> Frontierland

Port Orleans (French Quarter/Riverside) -> New Orleans Square

Animal Kingdom Lodge -> Animal Kingdom Park

All-Star Movies -> Disney's Hollywood Studios

I offer that the Island of Mickeynos would complement the Greek pavilion at Epcot which I've covered in several other articles.  Perhaps, they could be built in tandem as a larger project.  

A great Lazy day Activity....

A great activity to do on a day where you are feeling lazy is to go to the zoo inside of the Animal Kingdom. I'm a huge animal lover & enjoyed this zoo. I got some great pictures as well. It has a nice flow & viewing areas. The zoo wasn't busy at all! I think we only ran into one other couple & one family on the trail. It is a quiet little zoo.






Another lazy day activity would be to go to Fort Wilderness petting zoo & fishing area. They even have a cow "Minnie Moo" with a Mickey spot! I'm not sure if that cow is still there but it was a cool thing to see in person. They have a bunch of smaller animals to pet with a nice hand washing area nearby. There is also a park with swings close by too. We had a fun relaxing day there!

Creating Disney Magical Memories...

I learned how to always go over & beyond for the guest with my time as a cast member. We were told if we ever saw a guest drop their ice cream or  popcorn that we can just go up to the cart and request a new one for free for the guest. Also everyone at WDW is technically a custodial employee. We would always pick up trash no matter where we were. One time I was sweeping the queue line for the Mad Tea Party & this old man started lecturing to me on college and what am I doing with my life?! I tried to explain that I was on an internship program but he was not listening to me at all!

Photo courtesy of www.honeywhatscooking.com

On a few rare occasions I had guests crying about lost bags of souvenirs so I would simply write out a voucher ticket for the items they lost. They could take that to the gift shop & get everything they needed at no cost. For some reason that happened when I was at the Pooh ride both times it happened.

Working at WDW definitely opened doors for me that normally wouldn't be possible. Without Disney I don't think I would have my job today! I highly recommend the College Program to anyone going for any degree. It is an experience you will never forget & you will make life long friends too!

Blue Skies Antarctica

Photo courtesy of nasa.gov

Sure, everyone wants Australia with all its charismatic marsupials, but what about the continent at the bottom of the world?

In this article, the Imagineer-in-Waiting shares Blue Sky brainstorming about what would be at the Antarctica continent at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

The initial reaction is usually "Are you insane?  Antarctica in the middle of Florida!"  They also said it would be daft to build a vacation kingdom in the middle of a swamp, but they built it all the same.  "But, it's hot in Florida."  That doesn't prevent the Tampa Bay Lightning from playing ice hockey.  That doesn't prevent the operation of giant resort hotels with air conditioning and open lobbies.  You can skip the next paragraph if you're more into the imagination part than the engineering part of imagineering.

The energy requirements would be high, but not as much if the design were flexible to take advantage of a few things.  A climate-controlled dome would help.  In Florida, the water table is notoriously high, so excavating the area use earthen insulation is not likely.  But, building aboveground and covering the structure with an insulating overburden has been done before.  Just ask cast members who have been under Main Street.  Airlocks (or more accurately thermolocks) would also assist in maintaining the proper temperature even with warm bodies entering and exiting all day.  Keeping the place cool might also require innovative air conditioning.  One way is to freeze spherical shells containing a medium with a large latent heat of fusion (melting/freezing).  Then, one blows air through a packed bed of these spheres.  They are frozen during a duty cycle that's off-peak.  Electrical utilities refer to this as "load leveling."  Isn't thermodynamics class exciting?

Photo courtesy of toxel.com

Let's get out of the Florida heat go inside the "Coolest Place in The World."

There is much storytelling about Antarctica.  One that fits into Walt's True-Life Adventure series would be the tale of Ernest Shackleton and the crew of Endurance.  The ship was crushed by the ice.  They were trapped at the bottom of the planet for many months, but in one of the most unbelievable accounts of survival, the didn't lose anyone.  Using a modified salvaged boat from the ship, a small group made an open-ocean trip to South Georgia Island to organize a rescue.

In addition to the Endurance ride-through attraction, one can take a group submarine tour in the frigid waters around the continent in "Glidin'."  Think of it as an underwater version of "Soarin'"  Penguins are flightless, but they can swim.  Encounter fish with anti-freeze in their blood.  Watch as an iceberg calves.

Photo Courtesy of migueldante.com

If the movie penguins weren't enough, a live penguin exhibit might intrigue guests more.  This is the Animal Kingdom, after all.  There are certain species of seals that inhabit the south polar regions too.  Somewhere in all this, guests could interact with the few human inhabits of Antarctica via a McMurdo Station link.  They could also virtually explore such strange places at Mt. Erebus (a volcano on Ross Island) or Lake Vostok which lies hidden under the ice.

If you need to take a break, just indulge in some ice cream or a snow cone.  They won't melt here.  Actually, I might put a plug in here for my personal favorite treat, the chocolate covered frozen banana with nuts.  I made a variation of this using mini-Reese's pieces in place of the nuts.

Still not enough animal life for the Animal Kingdom?  Perhaps an additional tank and show area could be outside the dome for an orca.  Say hello to "Mickeymu".  Take that SeaWorld.  Orcas range worldwide and large populations are known to swim about Antarctica.  There is a claim that orcas are the only species of whale to breed in Antarctic waters.

Well, have fun and remember to brace yourself for thermal shock when exiting Antarctica.  - Jeff 

One Fine Day of a Disney Intern...

Photo courtesy of disney.com

One fond memory I have while being a cast member on the Walt Disney World College Program in the spring of 1999 is the day some of my fellow cast member friends and I went pool-hopping to the various resorts on Disney property! The four of us friends set out early on a day we were all scheduled off from work. We left Vista Way, one of the Disney College Program's housing, by way of the cast member transportation, and headed toward the Magic Kingdom's Ticket and Transportation System (TTS.) From there, we boarded the Monorail, which took us to the Polynesian. We enjoyed the pool there, drank some pineapple juice, lounged out, and when we were finished with being at the Polynesian, we boarded the Monorail again which took us to our next stop, The Grand Floridian! This, by far, was the best swimming pool on the property, and we all had a great time. When we were finished enjoying The Grand Floridian's pool, we got back on to the Monorail, went back to TTS and boarded a bus which took us to Coronado Springs' pool. And when we were finished there, we got back on a bus which took us to Epcot. We walked through the park, exited through the back entrance in the World Showcase, between the Great Britain and France pavilions, and we took a boat to the Yacht and Beach Resort. The four of us splished and we splashed in the pool there, and it was really enjoyable! By the time we were finished there, it was nearly 3:00, and we decided to take the guest bus back to the Magic Kingdom so we could get onto the short line for Splash Mountain (because most guests watch the 3:00 parade, and we knew the line would be short.) We had our bathing suits anyway, so we wanted to see how many times we could ride my favorite ride, Splash Mountain. We enjoyed more of the Magic Kingdom, of course stopping at Casey's on Main Street to get delicious hot dogs, and we decided to call it a day. We took our Vista Way bus back home. After spending so much time in the warm, Florida sun, my friends and I showered, relaxed a little and then geared up for one of many Vista Way parties! That was such a fun day... I miss being on the College Program. Altogether, it was the best time of my life: Living, Learning and Earning at one of the most magical places on Earth. :) -Monika 

Photo courtesy of disney.com

Disney College Program

I never heard of the Disney College Program ("WDWCP" but interns just say "CP") until I visited my friend at Virginia Tech. Her sorority sister roommate did the program and told me all about her experiences. It sounded amazing! I researched the program and got the interview schedule for a session near me.You need at least 1 semester in college before you are eligible with at least a C average. I was attending Northern Virginia Community College at the time but found Disney would be interviewing at a nearby college. I've always been a HUGE Disney fan. I was born in CA and went to DL often with my family. They interviewed us in groups. I was myself and tried to answer the questions as best as I could with a smile of course! I got a postcard in the mail 2-3 weeks later stating that I was accepted! I was SO excited as this would be my first time away from home. I would have to do my own laundry & dishes.

My first time doing the dishes with Dawn OOPS! ;)

 I admit I was very homesick the first month but I stuck it out. I made the most amazing friends! The parties are amazing & legendary. I lived in a gated community called Vista Way where most of the American interns live. The International interns live down the road in a community called the Commons. The only difference with their apartments was they had washer/dryers in their apartments. Vista Way is older but it was like living at a resort. We had two pools, two hot tubs, sand volleyball, basketball, clubhouse,weight room, & tennis! No guests are allowed in after 2am but I know people who snuck friends in.

 I highly recommend this program to any major. I was a Hotel Management major myself but anyone can go. I made life long friends. I attended a wedding of my old Vista Way neighbor & they just had their first baby recently. I know a few people who hated their roommates so left the program. I would NOT recommend that! Odds are your main friends are co-workers & neighbors plus you are always meeting new people at the pool or parties.

My old building # 18

You cannot enter VW without ID or being on guest list

You can either complete a program to receive a Mousters Degree or Ducktorate. I opted for the Mousters. I had had to write 8-10 papers for my college on my experience there during the semester. I attended a weekly seminar as part of the Learning experience. We learned how Disney does their business. I even shadowed one of the girls in HR at the resort I worked at.

I wouldn't be where I am today with out my Disney Experience.

DisneyLand Hotel Monorail Cafe Banana Bread YUM!

This is probably the most used Disney recipe that I have made over the years. This is SO easy to make plus I always have the items needed to make this in my pantry to begin with! I have made this over 30 times at least over the years! I do not use walnuts myself but feel free to add them to the recipe. This recipe will make 2 loaves. I normally leave one at home & take one to work to share. Just make sure to mix the salt,baking soda & flour up good. I didn't one time & the salt clumped together! OOPS! Also everyone's ovens are different. This recipe says to bake for 60 minutes but in my oven it can bake in 45-50 minutes easily so be sure to check on it around that time frame! I spray baking PAM in my loaf pans as well beforehand.

A quick tip is that I organize all my recipes in a binder into see through plastic sleeves. You can get the plastic sleeves at staples or any office store. I just use the generic ones with the hole punched ones for easy access. Plus it won't get my recipes dirty. I really need to replace this plastic sleeve since I've used it so much & it has gotten splattered on!

Mixed all the wet ingredients together

After mixing the dry ingredients to the mixture


Banana Bread

Monorail Café

1 c. butter (2 sticks)
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 c. bananas, mashed
1/4 t. vanilla extract
3 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
2 t. baking soda
1 c. walnuts, chopped (Optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside. Melt butter on the stove or in the microwave. Mix butter and sugar until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add bananas and vanilla. Fold in flour mixture and walnuts and blend until all flour is moist. Grease 2 loaf pans and divide batter equally between the 2 pans. Bake for 1 hour or until center of loaf is firm and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Greece Pavilion Part 4

In this final installment, we take a magical, mythical tour of Greece in the third section a pavilion that only exists in the writer's imagination.  This is by far the largest component of the pavilion.

I left out a little piece from the prior Greece pavilion installments.  I didn't quite know where to put it.  It is the Olympic torch relay.  It has elements of all three sections of the pavilion: modern, historical and mythical Greece.  It's definitely part of the modern Olympic games and the torch is lit by the sun's rays in Olympia, site of the ancient games.  Finally, perpetual flames burned outside temples to the gods of Greek mythology.  It would be interesting to have a daily torch relay depart the back section of the Greek pavilion, move toward the World Showcase and then make a trip "around the world" through each of the other pavilions as a symbol of global unity.  It wouldn't have to be a real flame (a fiber-optic torch could take on the colors of the flags of each pavilion it visits).  Without real flame, selected guest torchbearers could carry the torch too (kind of like parade marshals).  A final runner (possibly Hermes) sprinting back up "Mt. Olympus" in the rear of the Greece pavilion would ignite a "cauldron of flame" or even set off some fireworks.  Think Tinker Bell going the other way.

But, that's only the start of the mythical section or "the Greece that never was."  This is where all those great characters and creatures could finally come to life.  I have a slight problem with Hercules though.  His Greek name is Herakles, but most people are used to the Roman equivalent.  Still, he and Hades and some of the others from the Disney animated feature could have their meet and greet time here.  I have toyed with the idea of how the Percy Jackson characters could be added although the book/movie series doesn't quite have the draw of, say, Harry Potter.  For anyone about to write "But, that's Fox, not Disney," think licensing agreement.  Indiana Jones Stunt Show?  Star Tours?  Twilight Zone Tower of Terror?  Disney-MGM Studios?  It's possible.  There may even be a morning character dining event "Food of the Gods" which would have to feature ambrosia and nectar.

World Showcase pavilions face criticism for not having enough rides and attractions.  Fair enough.  The Greece pavilion would feature some unusual ones.  First, a double-decked carousel featuring the mythical creatures of the air and land on the upper level and the creatures of the sea and underworld on the lower level.  A double-decked carousel is not that far-fetched for Disney.  There's one at Disney Sea in Tokyo called the Caravan Carousel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_Coast_%28Disney%29).  I thought some Audio-Animatronics would add to the experience.  Perhaps the figures along the building's interior could move or respond to the riders as the go around.

A labyrinth ride would have random elements that change the path through the attraction.  You also never know when you are about to encounter the Minotaur.  I had thought this might work as a walk-through rather than a ride-through.  Then, I remembered falling ill while walking in a labyrinth-like attraction at another location in central Florida.  An Omnimover system with the story of Theseus and Ariadne will do fine.  This could be combined with the story of the designer of the Labyrinth, Daedalus, and his son, Icarus.  When telling their part of the story, there can be a musical snippet from "If You Had Wings" as an in-joke.

This Greece Pavilion entry has gone on longer than the others, but with good reason.  It is relatively extensive when compared to the others.

I think I'll move over to the Animal Kingdom next and sketch out Antarctica. - Jeff