An enormous Thank You!!

Hi Everyone! I'm back from The EPCOT Thing and all I have to say is... WOW!

I had an absolutely amazing weekend and I just want to thank everyone who was able (and willing, lol) to attend. I feel so incredibly lucky to have met so many wonderful people. The conversations, the faces and the memories, I couldn't have had a better time celebrating EPCOT's 25th. Honestly, thank you all so very much for joining Tim, Nathan and I. Thank you all so very much for your support, it means so very much to me. It was a weekend I will not soon forget and I hope to see you all very soon!

A blog all about my weekend will be released this coming sunday along with a new episode of The Magical Definition Podcast. In the meantime, I just HAVE to talk about The New Haunted Mansion. So, this is a warning, if you have NOT been on the new version and do NOT want to be spoiled... STOP READING NOW...








When I got to Walt Disney World on Sunday afternoon, I had the chance to roam the parks on my own. I immediately headed over to The Haunted Mansion. The wait time was 25 minutes and it was pushing 95 degrees outside. I was so nervous that my favorite attraction just wouldn't be the same. The line wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated. My anticipation began to build as I headed through those big, gloomy doors into the stretching room. I was spellbound and I wasn't even halfway through the attraction yet. The new sounds in the room stretching and the "Ghost Hosts" voice echoing all around the room gave me chills. The fresh coat of wallpaper was an added bonus. Of course, I was in just the right spots to race through the line before the masses.

This new version has so many wonderful changes and upgrades, I can't begin to name them all. The first hallway with the pictures while in the doom buggies isn't quite the same, but the changes here are very cool. They added some windows to the left of the pictures and there are new pictures on the right hand side. When the lightning flashes in the windows, the pictures change to new creepier images! (Oooh Ahhh!) Also, the suit of armor right next to the endless hallway now moves. As a kid, I'd convinced myself it already did this, but I really like this new addition. One spot in the attraction that is brand new is the stair labyrinth (which you would know was actually meant to be a part of the revamped Journey Into Imagination ride if you were at The Epcot Thing park tour, hehe!). This used to be the old staircase and giant spider scene. The new scene is definitely a thrill for the eyes because there is so much to look at. The floating Madame Leota in the seance scene is very cool and the new bride scene at the end gave me "hot and cold running chills!" I was ACTUALLY creeped out. I have never been afraid of this attraction and riding it by myself and witnessing the new bride was definitely took my breath away. She is now on the opposite side and is very life like. Her audio track is so eery, but I love it. I really wanted to go on the ride over and over again. I suppose I could've, but the line was now up to 40 minutes and the heat was lingering. I figured checking into my hotel room for a nap was a good trade off.


I cannot wait to tell you all about The EPCOT Thing 2007. In the meantime, head over to www.themagicinpixels.com, www.magicalmountain.net and www.explorethemagic.com for pictures, stories and more of this event. A big thank you also to the sponsors of the event, as well as our tour guides Jeff Lange, Ron Schneider and Jim Hill.

I simply cannot wait until we can all get together for another awesome event at the parks. Until then, Take care!


-Jackie O.