The Magic of Disney

I just spent a long weekend at Disney Word with the family and we had a great time. We went to EPCOT, Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom and managed to hit all of the major rides. After this weekend, I think I can sum up the magic of Disney in one word – LOGISTICS.

Sure the rides are fun, the themes are vibrant, and the sounds, smells and smiles are something only Disney can create. But what really makes everything click is Disney’s mastery of logistics. We stayed at the Saratoga Springs Resort, which is a few miles away from the parks. Not once did we have to wait more than 5 minutes for a bus to pick us up and take us where we wanted to go.

And once we got to the parks, it was clear that Disney has things down to a science. The openings were on time with “cast members” there to ensure there was no mad dash to the most popular rides. FastPass machines at the most popular rides made it easy to void lines (although I was amazed at the number of people who would rather wait 35 minutes in a line instead of going away, doing something else, and coming back an hour later to a 5 minute wait).

Of course all of the lines are set up so that people have something to look at as they wait. The winding paths and the different rooms for the line make it so that no one looks at the line and gets discouraged. Finally, the estimated wait times posted at the end of the line are probably a bit on the high side, so that patrons are pleasantly surprised when they get on the ride in 10 minutes rather than 20.

So – what rides were the big winners with our family? Amazingly the classic Space Mountain seems to have withstood the test of of time – I can recall riding on it when I was 10 – and it was the favorite ride. Other winners were:

• Thunder Mountain
• Splash Mountain
• Kali River Rapids
• Expedition Everest
• EPCOT’s Test Track
• Dinosaur

The biggest disappointment: Pooh’s Adventure. I guess the kids are just a little too old…