DizneyMike’s World

If you are afraid of Trolls and Vikings then maybe you better not come with me on this walk. Because today we're going to beautiful Norway.

To me the Norway pavilion is one of many contrasts. On one hand you can find all sorts of Troll like creatures there and while at the same time you see so many beautiful little Princesses walking all about. Yes, Norway is a special place and like with the other pavilions we've visited together, we will take the time to not only enjoy the beauty of the pavilion but learn a little bit about Norway and it's history. So, let's start our walk!

Here we are leaving Mexico and walking into Norway.

The center of the pavilion is a town square designed to represent the Norwegian towns and cities of Bergen, Oslo, Alesund and Setesdahl.

Looking into Norway from the main sidewalk. Because of the popularity of the restaurant it always looks very crowded and congested.

The first building on the left hand side of the pavilion is the Stave Church. This building is a replica of the Gol Stave church found in the Norwegian Folk Museum in Oslo, Norway. Have you ever gone inside or just walked by like so many people do? Well, today we're going in.

This will give you some information about the history of the Stave Church.

Inside the church you will find some very interesting information about the history of Norway. This is actually a small museum where in a short time you can learn about Norway's past. You'll also find there statues of three historic Norwegians: Olaf II, Erik the Red and Rognvald, a Viking raider and a brief story about each of them.

The next building is the Kringla Bakeri og Kafe. Now if you haven't been inside here before you're in for a treat. This little shop is filled with some of the most delicious deserts in Epcot. It it also the favorite of my wife, Julie. Just about every time we go into Epcot she stops here and gets one of their strawberry waffles. She loves them! I usually get a Carlsberg and sit and watch her eat. It's a great place to stop and take a break.

Look at all that great food!

Here's where you can sit and enjoy the goodies that you just bought.

As with each of the countries shopping in Norway is fantastic! Puffin's Roost is the one big shop where you can purchase everything Norway from Troll items to high quality sweaters and jackets.

You can purchase some really nice perfumes and colognes in here.

The Kidcot station is located inside the Puffin's Roost shop.

Here's where you can buy those Viking horns that you've always wanted.

A Christmas tree? Yup, you can buy Christmas items year round.

That's one big Troll! Go ahead, but on that Viking helmet, grab a sword and shield and we'll take your picture.

Some more Troll items.

I love the part of the shop with all those beautiful sweaters and jackets. It almost makes me wish I was back living in Massachusetts just so I could wear them. Unfortunately living year round in Florida I don't have much need for such heavy items. However, they are really fantastic!

Here you can find some really nice Norwegian accessories to go along with the sweater and jacket that you just purchased.

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall is one of the most popular restaurants in all of WDW. Why? Well, because it's a Princess Storybook Dining location. Little Princesses, along with their Mom's and Dad's, can have breakfast, lunch or dinner with their favorite Princess. I do love to watch all the little ones as the wait for their names to be called.

I really couldn't get inside the restaurant to get a good pictures because of all the activity. This is the best I could do.

If you want to learn a little about Norway and be entertained at the same time then Maelstrom is not to be missed. Maelstrom is a boat ride that takes you to a Viking Village, a mythical Norwegian forest populated by Trolls and out to the North Sea. But along the way there's danger, so beware when the boat goes backwards! You don't want to go over that waterfall!

I haven't seen any boats fall down that waterfall yet, but they do come close!

This is the Maelstom queue. Usually it's very full.

That dragon headed boat is pretty neat, huh?

The ride ends at this beautiful Norwegian fishing village. Here you wait for the doors to open into the theater.

Here you can watch a wide screen movie about Norway. It's a really good movie and a great place to sit and relax and enjoy the cool air on a hot summers day.

This plaque is on the wall as you leave the theater. It reads: "The Norway Showcase was inaugurated on the third of June, 1988, at Epcot Center, in the presence of Their Highnesses, Crown Prince Harald and Princess Sonja."

More views of the simple Norwegian architecture that is to me, so inviting and relaxing.

This is the beer and wine kiosk that's out on the main sidewalk. Yes, I do admit to ordering a Carlsberg or two from this stand.

This is the building that houses the Restaurant Akershus. The building is modeled after a 14th century Oslo castle.

Sadly, it's time to leave Norway.

And on to China; our next tour.

Before we leave a couple of notes. First of all the Viking ship that was on the back side of the shops has been taken down. I know at one time children were allowed to play on the ship, but not recently. Not sure why it was taken down, but I am disappointed. They ship was a wonderful addition to the pavilion. Also, the Spelmanns Gledje, a Norwegian folk music band rarely plays anymore. I went to Guest Services to ask about them and not one of the CM's knew when and if they would perform. And, I must note one omission in this walk. My picture of the Greta Waitz statue didn't come out. However, the statue is located on the Mexico side of the Stave Church.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this walk as much as I did and that you learned a little something about this beautiful country. As usual it was great having you walk with me. We're going to China next, so rest up and get yourself ready.

Please leave me a comment and tell me what you like about the Norway pavilion or what your memories are of previous visits. I love to get comments.

Finally, be one of the first people to hear when my newest blogs go live on AllEars.net by joining "DisneyMike's World" Facebook group.

Well, that’s all for now. As my good friend says “see ya real soon”….DizneyMike

I spent yet another day at Epcot's Food and Wine Festival. And, that means another Eat to the Beat concert at the American Garden Theater in front of the American Adventure. Unfortunately, it also means the last Eat to the Beat concert concert this year. What a bummer!

Performing tonight was Los Lobos. I had never seen Los Lobos perform at Epcot and aside from La Bamba, I really didn't know a lot about the group and their songs. However, I really enjoyed their performance. They are great musicians, wonderful vocals who can play just about any type of music.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Los Lobos, they are three time Grammy award winners and according to Amazon "is an American band whose (who's style is a) blend of Mexican influenced rock music". They first started recording in the 70's but didn't have their first hit until 1984. They are still recording albums to this day. In fact they just released an album of Disney songs. The album is titled "Los Lobos Goes Disney". They sang two of the songs from the album "I Will Go Sailing No More" and "I Wan'na Be Like You". They did a great job with both songs! Anyway, some of their hit songs are La Bamba and Come On, Let's Go.

Tip: for those of you who don't recognize songs by their title (like me) you can go to either YouTube.com and find a video or a web site like Amazon.com and look up the greatest hits album. Amazon will allow you to play a few seconds of each song; just enough to help you recognize (or not) the song.

Los Lobos did change songs in all three sets. I really liked that. And even though I didn't know most of the songs they performed, I really did enjoy them and that made me want to come back for all of their shows.

The familiar Eat to the Beat concert series sign that's on the stage.

Here's a picture of all their guitars before the show started.

Please leave me a comment and tell me if you were there what you thought of the concert or what your memories are of Los Lobos or of previous concerts. I love to get comments.

Finally, be one of the first people to hear when my newest blogs go live on AllEars.net by joining "DisneyMike's World" Facebook group.

Well, that’s all for now. As my good friend says, “See ya real soon”….DizneyMike

My wife, Julie, and I spent yet another day at Epcot's Food and Wine Festival. And, that means another Eat to the Beat concert at the American Garden Theater in front of the American Adventure.

Performing tonight was Billy Ocean. We had never seen Billy Ocean perform at Epcot but really like his music and was looking forward to the concert. He did not disappoint us! Billy has a wonderful voice and really sounded fantastic. He had a great band and great back up singers. The performance was high energy and Billy never stopped moving around the stage.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Billy Ocean, he is a pop singer, with Caribbean influence, who had a number of hit songs in the 70's and 80's. He was born in Trinidad and later moved to England. Anyway, some of his hit songs are: Caribbean Queen, Suddenly, When the Going Gets Tough, They'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry) and Get Outta My Dreams, And Into My Car, .

Tip: for those of you who don't recognize songs by their title (like me) you can go to either YouTube.com and find a video or a web site like Amazon.com and look up the greatest hits album. Amazon will allow you to play a few seconds of each song; just enough to help you recognize (or not) the song.

Billy did not changed any songs the two sets that we saw; so we didn't stay for the third set. The fact that he didn't change up the songs was a disappointment.

The familiar Eat to the Beat concert series sign that's on the stage.

Please leave me a comment and tell me if you were there what you thought of the concert or what your memories are of Billy or of previous concerts. I love to get comments.

Finally, be one of the first people to hear when my newest blogs go live on AllEars.net by joining "DisneyMike's World" Facebook group.

Well, that’s all for now. As my good friend says, “See ya real soon”….DizneyMike

My wife, Julie, and I spent yet another day at Epcot's Food and Wine Festival. And, that means another Eat to the Beat concert at the American Garden Theater in front of the American Adventure.

Performing tonight was Taylor Hicks. This is the first year that Taylor Hicks performed at Epcot. For those of you who don't know, Taylor Hicks won the fifth season (2006) of American Idol. He is a pop/rock singer who has released a number of albums. I am not familiar with his music and didn't recognize any of the songs he sang.

We only stayed for one show so I don't know if he changed up song in his second and third shows. He has a decent voice and had a very good band backing him up. The theater did fill up, however, the audience was very reserved compared to many of the other groups that we've seen perform. I do think that has to do with the lack of big hits from Taylor. My wife is a very big American Idol fan and was looking forward to seeing Taylor in concert. Unfortunately she wasn't impressed with him either. Sorry Idol fans!

Tip: for those of you who don't recognize songs by their title (like me) you can go to either YouTube.com and find a video or a web site like Amazon.com and look up the greatest hits album. Amazon will allow you to play a few seconds of each song; just enough to help you recognize (or not) the song.

The familiar Eat to the Beat concert series sign that's on the stage.

Please leave me a comment and tell me if you were there what you thought of the concert or what your memories are of Taylor or of previous concerts. I love to get comments.

Finally, be one of the first people to hear when my newest blogs go live on AllEars.net by joining "DisneyMike's World" Facebook group.

Well, that’s all for now. As my good friend says, “See ya real soon”….DizneyMike

My wife, Julie, and I spent yet another day at Epcot's Food and Wine Festival. And, that means another Eat to the Beat concert at the American Garden Theater in front of the American Adventure.

Performing tonight was Jon Secada. We have seen Jon Secada perform at Epcot a number of times over the years and think he's very, very good. In particular, my wife loves his songs and put this in our calendar as a concert that we couldn't miss. Jon's voice is still soulful and so strong and powerful.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Jon Secada, he is a Latin/R&B/pop singer who had a number of hit songs in the 90's. I believe that he sang backup for Gloria Estefan who is credited with "discovering" Jon. Anyway, some of his hit songs are: Just Another Day, Do You Believe In Us, Angel, I'm Free and sang If I Never Knew You a duet with Shanice for the Disney movie Pocahontas.

Tip: for those of you who don't recognize songs by their title (like me) you can go to either YouTube.com and find a video or a web site like Amazon.com and look up the greatest hits album. Amazon will allow you to play a few seconds of each song; just enough to help you recognize (or not) the song.

Jon changed only one song in each of the sets; so there was very little difference from all three sets. Jon does sing parts of some of his songs in Spanish, much to the delight of those Spanish speaking guests in the audience. I should mention that all of the three sets were packed!

Finally, as you look at the following pictures "yes" his backup singers are twin sisters.

The familiar Eat to the Beat concert series sign that's on the stage.

Please leave me a comment and tell me if you were there what you thought of the concert or what your memories are of Jon or of previous concerts. I love to get comments.

Finally, be one of the first people to hear when my newest blogs go live on AllEars.net by joining "DisneyMike's World" Facebook group.

Well, that’s all for now. As my good friend says, “See ya real soon”….DizneyMike

My wife, Julie, and I spent yet another day at Epcot's Food and Wine Festival. And, that means another Eat to the Beat concert at the American Garden Theater in front of the American Adventure.

Performing tonight was Taylor Dayne. This is the first time that we've seen Taylor Dayne perform at Epcot. I have always liked Taylor's voice and songs so I was really looking forward to this concert. I can tell you that she didn't disappoint me at all. She was just fantastic! I know I keep saying this about these performers, but Taylor's voice is still so strong and powerful.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Taylor Dayne, she is a pop/rock singer who had a number of hit songs in the 80's and 90's and is still recording albums. Anyway, some of her hit songs are: Tell It To My Heart, I Will Always Love You, Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, and Love Will Lead You Back.

Tip: for those of you who don't recognize songs by their title (like me) you can go to either YouTube.com and find a video or a web site like Amazon.com and look up the greatest hits album. Amazon will allow you to play a few seconds of each song; just enough to help you recognize (or not) the song.

Taylor changed only one song in each of the sets; so there was very little difference from all three sets. Taylor did get off the stage and interact with the audience which everyone loved. Also, she did sing a song off a recent album call Crash that I liked a lot. And as you'll see for one of the pictures all of the shows were packed!

The familiar Eat to the Beat concert series sign that's on the stage.

Please leave me a comment and tell me if you were there what you thought of the concert or what your memories are of Taylor or of previous concerts. I love to get comments.

Finally, be one of the first people to hear when my newest blogs go live on AllEars.net by joining "DisneyMike's World" Facebook group.

Well, that’s all for now. As my good friend says, “See ya real soon”….DizneyMike

Today we're going to take a walk South of the boarder to Mexico. Now before we start our walk, it's interesting to note that as you enter the World Showcase and look across the World Showcase lagoon at the American Adventure, Mexico is the first country to what I believe is on the South side of the lagoon and Canada is the first country on the North side of the lagoon. I'm sure that is not a coincidence and that the Disney Imaginears planned it that way. (Note: It has been correctly pointed out by a number of readers that Mexico is on the East side and Canada is on the West side of the World Showcase Lagoon. I stand corrected.)

In any event, the Mexico pavilion is always a favorite place to stop and visit. My wife loves the Gran Fiesta boat ride and I love the idea that most of the pavilion is indoors and air conditioned. It's a great place to spend some time cooling off.

Today we will be walking in from the Future World side of Epcot.

As we enter the pavilion we can't miss the beautiful pyramid that shoots up into the sky. It looks like a stairway to heaven. The pyramid is modeled after an Aztec Temple of Quetzalcoatl (the god of life) at Teotihuacan. Along what I called the "stairway to heaven" are a number of serpent heads that represent Quetzalcoatl. Also, take a minute and look at the artwork at the base of the pyramid and on the two structures on either side. Most people just walk by and pay no notice. Before we go inside I want to mention one more thing. Some of you will remember that the pyramid use to have plants/flowers on three of it levels. Personally I like the pyramid without the plants. It seems more natural; what do you think?

Before we go inside I want to mention that the handicap entrance is to the right of the pyramid.

OK, let's go inside. The first thing we see is all those brightly colored wood carvings. They are the Animales Fantasticos - The Spirits in Wood. Also, the Kidcot location is in the same area.

Then we move along into the Plaza De Los Amigos. As you look down into what looks like a Mexican village you see carts with bright colored merchandise, shops, a restaurant and a Mayan pyramid in the distance. What a beautiful sight!

There is some great shopping here for those so inclined. The carts are loaded with traditional Mexican ware and the shops have some really terrific items. If you're lucky you can catch the glass blower in action in the La Prircesa de Cristal shop. You'll find fine jewelry and accessories in La Tienda Encantada.

New to the Plasa De Los Amigos is the Gava Tequila bar. A great place to stop, have a drink and relax.

The San Angel Inn restaurant has a great menu and a beautiful setting. As you eat you have the Mayan pyramid and an erupting volcano in the background. Very, very pretty!

The Gran Fiesta Tour is a relaxing ride that's been updated with the Three Amigos. The ride is a mixture of video and small world like characters on as they try to find Donald Duck. A thrill ride it's not, but it is entertaining and worth doing.

As we leave the Aztec Temple you'll notice the quick service restaurant right across from the steps. The Cantina de San Angel has some of the best, out of the way tables to eat at. You may not have noticed by the tables go all the way around the restaurant. Great place to grab a quick bite to eat and get out of the sun.

There's and outdoor shopping kiosk right next door where you can try on one of those big Mexican hats and have a ring carved.

Most days you'll find Donald Duck there to greet you. What a rascal he is! Also, a couple days a week the Mariachi Cobre band perform. I really enjoy listening to them!

And before we leave Mexico, we must stop and have one of those really tasty Margaritas.

And on to our next walking tour!

Whew, I don't know about you, but that walk really wore me out! As usual it was great having you walk with me. We're going to Norway next, so rest up and get yourself ready.

Please leave me a comment and tell me what you like about the Mexico pavilion or what your memories are of previous visits. I love to get comments.

Finally, be one of the first people to hear when my newest blogs go live on AllEars.net by joining "DisneyMike's World" Facebook group.

Well, that’s all for now. As my good friend says “see ya real soon”….DizneyMike

Well, my wife, Julie, is still visiting with family back in Boston so I traveled over for a second night to Epcot's Food and Wine Festival by myself to see yet another Eat to the Beat concert at the American Garden Theater in front of the American Adventure.

Performing tonight was the group Kool & The Gang. WOW, were they great! Over the years I've been to a lot of these concerts and very seldom does a band get the crowd up on their feet, in the aisles, dancing and singing. The Cast Members working the show had their hands full trying to keep the crowd of young (and not so young) women from going up on the stage.

Before I go much further, for those of you who don't know let me tell you a little something about them. They are an R&B, funk group who had a number a big hits back in the 70's and 80's. The band is big with ten members. Some of their hits were Fresh, Joanna, Cherish, Too Hot, Ladies Night, Get Down On It, and the really big one Celebration.

They did change a couple of songs from set to set, however, Ladies Night and Celebration were in each set. As they started to sing Ladies Night they asked all the ladies in the audience to stand up and invited them down to the front of the stage. That's when the CM's almost lost control. I've never seen so many people dancing in front of the stage like that.

Seeing how popular they were I don't understand why they were only there for two night. My advice to Disney is to make sure they are back next year and for more nights. They really had the place rockin!

The familiar Eat to the Beat concert series sign that's on the stage.

Please leave me a comment and tell me if you were there what you thought of the concert or what your memories are of the group or of previous concerts. I love to get comments.

Finally, be one of the first people to hear when my newest blogs go live on AllEars.net by joining "DisneyMike's World" Facebook group.

Well, that’s all for now. As my good friend says, “See ya real soon”….DizneyMike

Well, my wife, Julie, is still visiting with family back in Boston so I traveled over to Epcot's Food and Wine Festival by myself to see another Eat to the Beat concert at the American Garden Theater in front of the American Adventure.

Performing tonight was the group Sister Hazel. To be very honest I had no idea who Sister Hazel was or what songs they sang. In fact, I really didn't know if it was a woman or a group. OK, with that said now you know how out of touch I am with the current pop/rock music scene. Judging from the large number of fans they had in the audience it was obvious that I was one of the very few who didn't know of this group. I should say that the group is from Gainesville, Florida; so its roots are very much local.

Even though I didn't know any of their songs, I did enjoy the group. The lead singer has a great voice and I did like their songs. However, I only stayed for one set for two reasons. First of all for the fact I didn't want to sit through another set of unfamiliar songs and secondly, if you weren't a Florida Gator fan (and I'm not) you could be put off (as I was) by both the group and some of their fans. I spoke with a couple of folks after the concert and they felt the same as I did.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Sister Hazel, they are a rock group who had a number of hit songs with their biggest being "All For You". As I mentioned before they are from Gainesville, Florida, the lead singer attended the University of Florida (hence the strong Florida Gators connection) and the band's fans are called "Hazelnuts."

They said they would change up the songs in each of the sets, but would include the crowd-pleasing "All For You" in each set.

The familiar Eat to the Beat concert series sign that's on the stage.

Please leave me a comment and tell me if you were there what you thought of the concert or what your memories are of the group or of previous concerts. I love to get comments.

Finally, be one of the first people to hear when my newest blogs go live on AllEars.net by joining "DisneyMike's World" Facebook group.

Well, that’s all for now. As my good friend says, “See ya real soon”….DizneyMike

My wife, Julie, and I spent yet another day at Epcot's Food and Wine Festival. And, that means another Eat to the Beat concert at the American Garden Theater in front of the American Adventure.

The third performer in the series was Starship. We have seen Starship perform at Epcot a number of times over the years and think they are GREAT! Mickey Thomas's voice is still so strong and seems to get better every time I hear him sing. Also, Stephanie Calvert, who does the Gracie Slick vocals, will blow you away. What an incredible, powerful voice she has! Mickey and Stephanie compliment each other extremely well; and along with the group's memorable songs combine to make Starship concerts special.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Starship, they are a rock group who had a number of hit songs in the 70's and 80's. The group has undergone many changes from it's original roots as Jefferson Airplane, then Jefferson Starship to the present Starship featuring Mickey Thomas. Anyway, some of the groups hit songs are: Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now, Sara, Count On Me, White Rabbit, Somebody To Love and We Built This City. Some of you may remember the name "Gracie Slick" as she was the lead female vocalist of the original group. Personally I think Stephanie is much better than Gracie!

They did change up the songs in each of the sets; but made sure they included the crowd pleasing "We Built This City" in each set. Needless to say that each of the three sets were packed! I hope you get to or got to see Starship perform

The familiar Eat to the Beat concert series sign that's on the stage.

Please leave me a comment and tell me if you were there what you thought of the concert or what your memories are of the group or of previous concerts. I love to get comments.

Finally, be one of the first people to hear when my newest blogs go live on AllEars.net by joining "DisneyMike's World" Facebook group.

Well, that’s all for now. As my good friend says “see ya real soon”….DizneyMike