CLIFF'S LAUGHING PLACE PHOTOS

THE MAGIC KINGDOM

This is a picture of the centerpeice of the Magic Kingdom: Cinderella Castle decorated as a "castle-cake" for the 25th anniversary. Here are the Castle Cake Recipe Ingredients:
šoš 55,040 Tbsp. pink paint icing (three shades)
šoš Paint "sprinkles" of purple, blue, yellow, pink, green, orange and red
šoš More than 120 pieces of candy, including:
16 green candy stars (2 feet wide);
16 red candy hearts (5 feet wide);
12 gumdrops (5 feet high);
25-foot-high stacks of tractor-tire-size Lifesavers;
30 lollipops (3 feet wide);
50 giant gumballs;
3 candy stacks with basketball-size bonbons,
and 20-foot-high peppermint candy sticks. šoš 26 giant birthday candles (one to grow on) (from 12 feet to 36 feet tall)
šoš Liberal amounts of pixie dust
Disney wouldn't toy with the likes of Cinderella Castle for just any occasion, but it couldn't resist the notion of turning the castle into an oversize birthday cake for the duration of the 25th anniversary celebration. After comtemplating some 150 schemes, Disney Imagineers settled on a cake with bright pink icing and lots of candy decorations. The requisite 25 birthday candles are perched atop the freshly iced spires and placed along adjacent walkways. These candles are lighted each night in a glowing tribute that makes Cinderella Castle Cake something truly special to behold. (I though it was delicious even though others thought it was atrocious.) It was whimsical and creative, and will always remind me of my trip in '97.

EPCOT

Spaceship Earth took approximately 26 months to build. It is 180 feet high and 165 feet in diameter, with an estimated weight of 16 million pounds. Support pilings for its six pylon legs are buried from 120 to 185 feet deep. 11,324 aluminum facets on 954 trangular panels cover the geodesic sphere. The ride attraction inside traces the history of human communication, from Cro-Magnon man to ancient Egypt, Phoenicia, Greece, and Rome, from Gutenberg's Germany and Renaissance Italy, all the way to the radio days of the 1930's and 1940's, right up to today. The lines for this attraction are usually longest during the morning hours, and at their shortest just before park closing time.

DISNEY-MGM STUDIOS

This is Grauman's Chinese Theatre, which looks like the real one located in Hollywood. (It even has famous footprints & handprints in front of it.) The 22-foot central roof section was constructed separately and hoisted into place by a crane. Inside is the Great Movie Ride. The 50 Audio-Animatronics figures present scenes from Singin' in the Rain, The Wizard of Oz, Alien, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Casablanca, and of course even Mary Poppins! At two points there is a cool experience in either Gangster Alley or Wild West Street. (I will tell you "guns" are involved.)
But my favorite ride was the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. According to a legend: On Halloween night, 1939, lighting struck The Hollywood Tower Hotel. An entire guest wing disappeared, along with the elevator and five guests. You find yourself in a service elevator suddenly plunging 130 feet from the top of the tower to the basement below in a free-fall drop, only to rapidly ascend to the top again and drop a second time. The motors running the ride vehicles are three times as powerful as those that propel the elevators at New York City's 110-story World Trade Center; the cameras that take the pictures of horrified guests are mounted behind the Hollywood Tower Hotel sign. The look on my face is from looking out over the entire Disney-MGM Studios from the top of the tower. (I'm on the far right, 2nd row). I could see the Earful Tower landmark.

ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH

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