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Finally - all of the pictures are in!
To see the BATW photos from our 1997 trip to Orlando, click here.
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Cinderella Castle and the beans. The symbol for all of WDW, shining brightly in the sky with our legendary can. A match made in heaven! Do you agree that if the Fairy Godmother had changed beans into a coach instead of a pumpkin, good ol' Cindy might've arrived at the ball in a '65 Mustang instead??? |
| Here's another shot of the castle and beans, as seen from the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (PeopleMover, to us West-Coasters...). How does it work? It's a mystery, kids. This quote is direct from Disney's Web site: Powered by a linear induction motor – whatever that is... See? Even they don't know! :) |  |
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Another shot from the TTA, this time of Tomorrowland. It's difficult keeping up with tomorrow - when Disneyland's Tomorrowland opened in 1956, they set it in that far-off, distant time of...1986! Too bad there were no flying cars or bubble houses around when we finally hit '86, but hey - we did end up with "Top Gun", Madonna, break dancing, President Reagan, parachute pants, and Big 80's hair! |
| Finally, we wrap up our visit to the MK with a picture of the entrance to my favorite attraction, the Haunted Mansion. 999 Happy Haunts live inside, and I wouldn't be too surprised to find out that there are actually more than that. I know if I was a ghost, this is where I'd hang out... Grim Grinning Ghosts come out to socialize... over beans! |  |
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The Millennium celebration is over at WDW, so instead of Mickey's hand and magic wand proudly announcing "2000" above Spaceship Earth, you see a big blank in the sky. But never fear; word is that this will soon say "Epcot" for all the world to see. Either way, the beans liked it. |
| This is "Tom Morrow"... get it? Har, har - how droll! (I've always wanted to use the word droll in a sentence...) He's an audio-animatronic pal of ours, found inside Innoventions at Epcot's Future World. If your kids watch a lot of Disney Channel, they'll recognize Tom from his snippets, Imagineer That. Tom's cool, and a minor celebrity on his own, but he still doesn't have his own Mini Bean Bag Plush likeness...yet. |  |
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This is outside the main gate to Disney's Animal Kingdom. You intentionally can't see the Tree of Life from here - it's suppose to be the big surprise once you get inside the park. As you can see, there are several hundred "human animals" on their way in. |
| And look - there it is! The Tree of Life. It really is an impressive site up close and personal. The leaves are green 365 days a year, it doesn't require much watering, and there are no worries about this tree tipping over in a storm. As for termites, well, you'd need to see the It's Tough To Be A Bug show in its trunk for a full explanation of that one... |  |
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Lions, and Tigers, and Black Beans, oh my! Okay, there were no lions at this point in the tour, and this tiger is made out of plywood, but I assure you that the can contains 100% genuine black beans. |
| Never smile at a crocodile... even if it is fossilized. At least Mr. Croc here has good taste. | 
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A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, STAR BEANS. This is outside of the Star Tours ride, which is nicely themed with an Ewoks village and an Imperial walker. Why, standing here, I could almost hear the spirit of Obi-Wan himself: "The beans will be with you, always..." |
| This is the legendary "Earful Tower" at Disney Studios; impressive as it is, it's actually a fake water tower, which leaves you to wonder... if it's not used for water, what's really in there??? You don't suppose it's full of beans, do you? Nah...
Oh, by the way, the hat size on the Earful Tower is 342 3/8. "See, Ma? I told you that studying Disney Trivia for all them years would prove to be useful one day!" |
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No, this ain't the Jolly Green Giant's 6 string. It's the Rock 'N Roller Coaster, Disney's first coaster in the U.S. with inverted loops. You'll have a blast with Aerosmith blaring in your ears as you launched from zero to 60 MPH in 3 seconds, then into a loop, a couple of corkscrews turns, and a whole lot o' fun. My advice: Go early, go often, and wait to have the frozen banana until afterwards. What goes down shouldn't always come back up. |
| Imagine, if you will. For reasons unknown to but a few braves souls, a single can of beans travels both space and time in a never-ending quest for a laugh or two. It's next stop? The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror drops you 13 stories at faster-than-gravity speeds, giving you a momentary feeling of weightlessness as you plummet towards the ground. It was the lightest that the can of beans had been all day! Okay, one more Disney Trivia fact - the Tower of Terror is the tallest building on the Walt Disney World Resort property, at 199 feet. Why'd they stop there? Well, the FAA requires an airplane beacon on anything taller than 200 feet.. and Disney felt it would be "distracting". See? BATW can be both fun and educational!!! |  |