[QUOTE]Originally posted by AXO Alum
[B]{AXO Alum clutching heart and stumbling back ala Red Foxx...aka Sanford for those young'uns} IT'S THE BIG ONE!!

I am SO MUCH in love with WDW -- truly. My life dream (and the reason I have a master's in event planning) was to go live at WDW...in the castle no less ;) -- I am 110% Disney crazy. We vacation there practically every year, and I never EVER get tired of it. I know the parks forward and backward - up and down. Know when to go to which park, and when to ride (and not ride) certain things due to lines -- I should write the travel guide :D

We're planning on driving over to Epcot for the day from New Smyrna. Any helpful tips? I can't find a good website on Epcot.
Thanks!

Actually, the Eurostar is the first-class train in all of Europe, not simply the Channel Tunnel train. I remember quite fondly my trip between Rome and Florence on the Eurostar. :) Also, I didn't say that Euros don't attend Disneyland Paris at all--it's still primarily an attraction among Asian and American tourists. One criticism of it was, "why would Europeans, who have been surrounded by historic castles all of their lives, pay a fairly large amount of money to see a fake castle?"

Fair enough. But what about the kids and the rides and the cartoons? I loved Disneyland growing up and even now I can have a great time when I go. It's funny, Pirates of the Caribbean was a favorite ride of mine as a kid (remember the restaraunt inside it? I would beg to eat there) and now I can't wait to see the movie.

My dad worked for Disney Design and Engineering (in Lake Buena Vista). He stayed for a little over a year and then when he got another job offer in another state he jumped on it. While there were benefits (pretty good pay, unlimited free trips to WDW and Epcot) the downside is that he was slave to his pager, and especially since my sister and I were young, he really didn't like working 60+ hours a week. Still those were the absolute coolest 14 months of my life. Imagine mom picking you up from school and saying "Do you want to do Epcot or WDW tonight?" :)
ETA: My dad was one of the main designers for Typhoon Lagoon. Hope ya liked it. He doesn't know how to swim.

I hope to go to Disney World in July or August. I went to Disney World once when I was ten and Disneyland when I was fourteen. It was great! I can't wait to go back. :D I love the Mouse.

One of my friends was given gift of stocks in Disney when she was born. It paid for some of her MBA and a part of her wedding. Good investment. :)

The Italian Rail system does have their own "Eurostar" trains(which are the high speed trains), however the specific one between London and Paris is called the Eurostar as well http://www.eurostar.com/dctm/jsp/index.jsp. If there is anything that I know very well about Europe it's the rail systems in the various countries. The high speed trains in the different countries go by different names: TGV in France, Thalys in Belgium and Holland, ICE in Germany, AVE in Spain, etc...

Interesting side note about Disneyland Paris, they use a totally different color scheme on the castle and in the whole park with paint then they do in the US. They tend to use a lot less pastels, and instead use more vibrant colors. I saw a program on it once, and they explained the rationale behind it, but I can't remember it at this particular moment. Also as far as the castle goes, it's much less impressive(size wise, and believe me, while it looks just huge, it's just the picture) than the one in CA, and Florida as well, as the Europeans are far more used to the castle issue than Americans are, so the castle there looks a lot more fairy tale like. The Disneyland Paris website has some decent pics. http://www.disneylandparis.com

Ok, back to work for me! :)

The Eurostar goes between London and Brussels now, too....I took it back in 2001 when I was travelling the continent during my long break and returning back to school. It's still weird to realize that you're travelling underwater...claustrophobia is not a good thing to have if you're going to take this train!

I noticed that about the paint colors at Disneyland Paris, too. I just thought that it was because that park is "new" compared to Disneyland and WDW.

We just got home from our WDW/Universal vacation (a day late thanks to United Airlines) and I loved Typhoon Lagoon! Tell your dad thanks for the great water park, swissmiss04!

Okay, I have to admit...

I HATE the stupid rat!!!!

I spent a summer working at the Disney Store, and I'm still having recurring nightmares in which I have to line up all the character eyes on the henleys-lol.

Seriously, though. I refer to DS as "The Cult". Anyplace that makes you wear pantyhose (only nude) AND white socks so that everyone has the same skin tone on the legs is full of shit. And those stupid striped cardigans ITCHED like a mofo. My face would ache from smiling (and I'm normally an upbeat, happy person). The whole place felt like someone was pumping laughing gas through the air ducts to keep employees as bubbly as possible.