Cheetah Hunt at Busch Gardens

Although we had every intention to make it to Busch Gardens for the opening of the new ride Cheetah Hunt, between Florida thunderstorms and life, we didn't make it until the other day.  We got there in the very late afternoon and it got too dark to continue taking photos, so there wasn't enough time to explore the new section to go with the ride.  

Hopefully we will return next week . . . 

but in the meantime, here is a peak at the new ride . . .

The landscaping at the base of this section

 of the ride is gorgeously tropical!

A photo from our last visit . . . the landscapers 

busily preparing the grounds for the opening

of the new Cheetah Hunt section.

What a difference a few weeks makes!

One of our favorite spots to chill out.

I love this water feature!

The Magic of Walt Disney World

There is no other place in the world that I love more than Walt Disney World in Orlando.  It is truly magical.

The photo is from the early days of Walt Disney World.  Notice I am wearing bell bottom pants . . . what does that tell you about how long ago that was?  I was there the first week the park opened and continued to visit at least a couple of times a year.  My husband and I were annual passholders and visited at least once a month, sometimes a couple times a month.  We were there for the opening day of Epcot Center.  

So many memories lie in the magic of Walt Disney World.

Since I became a widow almost 9 years ago, I have not returned.  That will soon change as I have moved on with my life and I know that new memories of Walt Disney World with The Captain will be equally as awesome and magical.  I can't wait to show him all my favorite places at the various parks and resorts.

What I've decided to do is feature Vintage Walt Disney World in future blog posts.  I have numerous photo albums going back through time and VHS video that I would love to convert to CD so I can share rides that don't exist anymore and construction of new rides and resorts as they were going up.  The parks and resorts are constantly evolving, but I'd love to feature the many changes and take a trip back in time to earlier days through my memories, photos and video.

The backdrop of this photo are the gardens at the Polynesian Hotel, one of the original monorail resorts that also features boat rides across the lagoon to the Magic Kingdom.  The lushly tropical lobby whose atmosphere is complete with waterfalls, awesome tropical landscaping and parrots remained one of the most beautiful places to hang out on the Disney property . . . in my opinion.  This is the only photo I have scanned into my computer at the moment, but I will definitely be featuring the Polynesian Hotel in a future post with much better photos and video.

The gardens at the Canadian pavillion at Epcot Center . . . one of my favorite spots to get away from the crowds to chill out and get a little rest.  Gorgeous!

Keep checking back for new posts as I dust off my photo albums, convert my videos and dig up some magical memories of Walt Disney World.

Adventures at Busch Gardens

The Captain and I went to Busch Gardens today, where they were busily working toward next Friday's opening of their newest attraction, Cheetah Hunt.  It is unbelievable how fast these projects progress.  We last visited a few months ago and couldn't believe it is almost ready to open.

It was a hot and humid day in Central Florida where we kept going back to take a break around the Sheikra attraction where you can get wet just by being close to the water portion of the ride.  The little kids hanging out and getting drenched over and over again were so entertaining.

It was fun to hang out in "Stanleyville" today.  We really enjoyed our lunch at the Zambia Smokehouse where we were served a huge portion of pork ribs and french fries . . . well worth the $12.49 they charge for the platter.  We decided to eat outdoors so we could take in the sights and sounds of Stanleyville, goof on the people around us and be amused by the birds who would descend on the area after a table was cleared.  It is pretty cool that they stay away from the people who are still eating at the tables . . . at least they are polite :)

The disappointment of the day is when the camera batteries died and we had to stop taking photos.

Here are some photos we took of Cheetah Hunt . . . I'm working on a new video of today's visit.  We took lots of landscape photos and The Captain got some awesome shots of turtles riding on the back of the gators.  

The landscapers were putting the finishing touches at the base of the new ride.

Looking up from the base of one section of the ride.

More views of the ride, which stretches through a large part of the park.

Click here for my blog post on the introduction of Cheetah Hunt which includes videos from Busch Gardens.  

We are tentatively planning to be there for the opening of the new attraction and will take lots of photos of the completed ride.

What an awesome and beautiful day!