I had planned on staying at home for the night to get some schoolwork done (I'm still taking online classes at UCF). One of my roommates, Ben, got home from work and we chatted about his day. He had some schoolwork that he also needed to take care of, but he wanted a better atmosphere to do it in. Well, we're at Disney, right? Why not study AT Disney?? So we decided to take a bus over to the Contemporary Resort and study in the lobby.
- One of the original three resorts that opened with the Magic Kingdom
- The monorail runs through the hotel
- The hotel in which Richard Nixon gave his famous "I am not a crook!" speech
- The A-frame structure was built first, and then pre-constructed bedrooms were lifted by crane and inserted into slots.
We found a quiet spot in the hotel; a beautifully designed, almost rotunda-like room with comfy chairs to sit in. I finished my homework before him and sat observing the details in the room. Soon a couple of cheerleaders entered the room and started chatting. Side note: It is extremely common for groups of cheerleaders to visit Walt Disney World. Sometimes they compete in competitions at the Wide World of Sports and then spend a day having fun at the parks. It is rare to go a day at the parks without seeing a large pack of them wandering between attractions, all of them chanting in unison and swallowing up confused and terrified tourists with their large group. After a couple of minutes, more cheerleaders entered the room and the noise level grew. They kept coming and eventually the room was filled with cheerleaders and chaperones, their combined noise shooting up into the tall ceiling and then echoing back down at us with a force. Throughout the entire process, I was watching Ben trying to concentrate on his work. As the noise got louder and louder, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself as I waited for him to notice. Finally, it got to the point where it was just literally screaming and I busted out laughing, my laughter being the final straw that made Ben look up. He also laughed at how ridiculous the situation had gotten. It was then that we decided, hey, lets go to the Magic Kingdom.
After a short walk from the Contemporary, we were at the front gates of the 8th most visited tourist attraction in the world. It's always a surreal experience to me, walking through the gates for the umpteenth time while around me, many Guests are entering this magical place for the first time, having saved up enough money to get the whole family across the country or even the world to experience the rides or meet Mickey Mouse. It definitely makes me appreciate living here in Disney's backyard and having the ability to visit the parks whenever I choose. I definitely don't take it for granted. This is one of the reasons I wanted to be a Cast Member, so that I could "give back" all the great experiences I've had here.
Anyways, after grabbing a bite to eat at Pinocchio's Village Haus (Ben's place of work for the next couple of months), we headed over to the main reason we had come to the park: Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom (SotMK).
Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom is an almost two year old "game" created by Disney Imagineers that allows Guests to team up with Merlin to fight Hades and his recruited villians and to try and get back the Crystal of the Magic Kingdom. When you sign up at the firehouse on Main Street, they give you a booster pack of five cards for free (you get five more each day that you come). Each card is a different Disney character, each with their own card design and attack. You are also given a key card which has RFID technology built into it. To play, you basically have to find a location on the map, locate the keyhole and swipe your key card against it. This will open a "portal", essentially a video that introduces the villain(s) you are about to fight. To fight, you look through your deck of cards, and hold up the one you want to use. Cleverly hidden cameras read your card and an animation of that cards attack will happen on the screen (for instance, Frozone from the Incredibles shoots a beam of ice). After defeating that villain, you will be sent to another portal to do the same thing.
Ben casting two spells at once
Ben opening a portal. The poster is the screen.
Another portal. See the keyhole underneath?
It's a really fun game and can be very addicting. There are three different levels of gameplay, Easy, Medium, and Hard, which makes it great for all ages. Easy is definitely for kids; any card that you use will beat any villian. But as you get up into Medium and Hard, you have to figure out what weaknesses each villain has and then use the correct card against them. The game takes you around to visit different lands of the park and a lot of the portals are in little alleys or hidden locations that even the most frequent visitor may have never visited before. After playing for a while, myself and friends I have spoken with have concluded that SotMK is the closest you can get to Geocaching at Disney. There are many similarities between the two and I'm not surprised that I'm so interested in the game. I was so interested that I went back again last night and beat the whole Easy mode.
See ya,
P.W.
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