DISNEY WORLD | TOWER OF TERROR INTERIORS

With the recent news that Disney's California Adventure's Tower of Terror would soon be no more, I can't help but fear that Hollywood Studios' counterpart will suffer that same unfortunate fate.  Hopefully, that day is far, far away and we'll have have many more freefall drops and trips to the fifth dimension in our future.  With that said, I thought it would be the perfect time to take a trip through one of my favorite queue experiences at Disney - the Hollywood Tower Hotel lobby!  I'm so glad that we were blessed with long wait times and a very slow moving queue the last time we were at Walt Disney World because I was able to get up close to so many of the spectacular details that we often have to whoosh by. 

Who else is a huge fan of Disney cobwebs?  Nothing immerses me into an attraction more than a good cobweb!  Don't you just want to reach out and grab them?  Or, if you're a neat freak like my husband and I, reach out and spray some Windex on them?  That reminds me of a really funny story in the fantastic book by RJ and Suzanne Ogren, Together in the Dream:  The Unique Careers of a Husband and Wife in the Early Decades of Walt Disney World, where RJ talks about having to reapply all the cobwebs in the Haunted Mansion due to a custodial worker cleaning them up thinking they were real.  They're just that convincing!

Another feature that I really appreciate about this attraction is that Walt Disney Imagineering used actual antiques for most of the props, some even dating back to the Renaissance!

I'm always excited when we end up right at a cut-off point here because it means I get to read the awesome directory with the plastic stick-on letters.  This is one of the areas where the Imagineers got it absolutely right and I'm almost certain that there's a Stardust Room in the Mezzanine and a High Society Suite in the Penthouse.  How amazing would it be if there was?  

Well, that concludes our little tour of the Hollywood Hotel Lobby at Hollywood Studios' Tower of Terror!  We are actually going to be at Disneyland in a few months and I look forward to documenting the ride at California Adventure before it undergoes the Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: BREAKOUT! redo (which - OK, OK - looks pretty cool).  Here's to hoping for another long wait time - see ya real soon!

ILLUSTRATION | LITTLE HAVANA

Recently completed these illustrations of a few landmark buildings in Little Havana!  From top to bottom, Versailles Cuban Restaurant (hands down, the best Cuban food in Miami), Farmacia Luis, and the Tower Theater.  Even though these buildings don't adhere to one specific architectural style, I had a lot of fun drawing each of them as they're each quintessentially Miami!

Art prints are available here and here.

DISNEY WORLD | EPCOT WORLD SHOWCASE | JAPAN

The last country in our brief but stretched-out tour of Epcot's World Showcase is Japan.  Japan is absolutely the country we spend most time during out visits.  Not only are we big fans of the restaurants (I personally love the quick service delight that is Katsura Grill) but we tend to spend quite a bit of time perusing the Mitsukoshi Department Store - the above gorgeous array of kimonos are from their selection.  Unfortunately for this blog, most of the time spent at the store is spent, well, spending so I don't have too many photos to share!

Mitsukoshi is, indeed, a department store and they have departments for pretty much everything.  I usually enter from what I call the "Hello Kitty" side as you are greeted by endless racks of Sanrio merchandise.  My husband and I love this area - me for the Monchichis and he for the Transformers - and they tend to get merchandise that's uncommon elsewhere in the U.S.  As you walk further, they have the Pick-A-Pearl station where you can select a pearl to go with various jewelry items which they have on sale.  While I've never purchased one, it's always fun to hear the excitement when they open the oysters.  It's one of those "You Know You're in Disney When..." sounds!  

Next to Pick-A-Pearl are countless other items such as stationery, household goods, clothing, and accessories and then a separate area dedicated to more traditional Japanese arts and crafts such as the beautiful dolls shown above and hand-painted housewares.  And then we've reached another one of my favorite areas at Mitsukoshi - the food market!

A little tradition that my husband and I have is stocking up treats from the marketplace and enjoying them throughout the rest of our trip.  We typically visit Epcot on our second day (yes, we have a system by now) so we make sure to get enough sweets to sustain us for a few days... because, you know, there aren't hundreds of places to eat at Walt Disney World.  Some of my favorites include Koala's March, Pocky, and the unfortunately-named but delicious Cream Collon.

And that, folks, concludes our trip through Japan and the World Showcase!  Like I said, I wish I had taken more photos but there's just too much to distract me from my camera in the pavilion.  I have always wanted to visit Japan and this place has always been a nice diversion until I can actually get there.  I will not end this post with "Sayonara"... I will not end this post with "Sayonara"...

DISNEY WORLD | EPCOT WORLD SHOWCASE | MOROCCO

Morocco has always been my favorite area at EPCOT's World Showcase.  The attention to detail throughout the pavilion is incredible and what I would imagine strolling through Marrakesh would feel like.  This was the only area of World Showcase where the country's government had input on the design and the king actually sent artisans to create most of the mosaics as well as the aged, irregular textures on the wall.

Oh, and here's something really cool I recently found out - you can see the Tower of Terror from Hollywood Studios while standing at certain spots throughout the pavilion so the top of the tower was designed to blend in with the Moroccan architecture!  I love Disney.

The shopping here is incredible and some of the best (non-Disney) merchandise you'll find at the resort.  The shops, which are meant to resemble a channel of interconnecting vendors in a souk, carry everything from clothing, accessories, belly dancing coin belts, snacks, and housewares.  I absolutely love their woven bags and am torn as to which one I want each time I visit!  I think I need to make up my mind next time... or just buy them all.

One of the reasons why I love the Moroccan pavilion so much is that it feels as if it's alive.  The hanging yarns, the incense, the way the dresses are displayed, the shelf styling - it's all very dynamic and a glimpse into what life might be like in a place thousand of miles away from Orlando.

Morocco is definitely one area you want to dedicate an extra bit of time to next time you're at EPCOT.  Perhaps it's because it's one of the countries I've never had the pleasure of actually visiting, but the richness in both the architecture and even the (seemingly) minor details always manages to transport me into the middle of a bustling Moroccan town... in Florida.

DISNEY WORLD | EPCOT WORLD SHOWCASE | FRANCE

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EPCOT holds a special place in my heart.  Even though Future World is currently a far cry from what it once was in the 80s , World Showcase, thankfully, has remained true to itself.  (OK, expect for Maelstrom but we won't go into that now. Sore spot.)

We love to travel so it's nice to get a little taste of the world while on a Disney vacation and the World Showcase offers just that, wrapped up in a nice little package - no passport needed!  I thought I'd share some snaps from a few weeks ago of our afternoon trek through France, Japan, and Morocco.  We'll start off with France where beautiful details, such as the above gorgeous perfume and soap display at L'Esprit de la Provence, abound!

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Perfumes, sachets, and colorful flowers make the France pavilion one of the most fragrant places in all of Walt Disney World.

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We happened to be visiting during  the Flower and Garden Festival and were treated to many gorgeous topiaries featuring Disney characters such as Belle and the Beast, Flower Skunk, and (one of my favorites), Lumiere!  Disney has always, in one way or another, featured elaborate topiaries throughout their parks but they have really gone above and beyond in recent years.

As I mentioned, I was very excited to discover the above detail which I had never noticed before in the thirty-plus years I've been visiting EPCOT!  I'm a complete Disney nerd when it comes to things like this so it really excited me.  I do remember actual scenes such as this along the Seine in actual Paris, though, which is just another reason why I enjoy exploring the World Showcase so much - the details!  See?  Nerd.

Anyhow, thanks for joining us through our little walk through France at the World Showcase!  I'll be posting about Morocco next - au revoir!