The Wandering Disciple

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee: For decades Dolly Parton has entertained millions with her music. From growing up in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennesse through stardom in Nashville, there hasn’t been a country star more recognizable as Dolly Parton. Her legacy and career are idolized through a theme park in the Foothills of the Smoky Mountains called Dollywood. This vision of Dollywood really took off in 1986 when Dolly bought into Silver Dollar City Tennesse, a small theme park in Pigeon Forge. At the time the park had been open since 1961 as several different parks ranging from a Civil War park (Rebel Railroad) through Silver Dollar City and even a stint under ownership of Cleveland Browns owner Art Model. Under Dolly’s leadership, the park doubled in size and became the biggest ticketed attraction in Tennessee, entertaining over 3 million visitors each season. In addition to attractions dedicated to Dolly’s life and career, the park is packed with thrills around every corner. ...

A Lego birdwatcher is one of the thousands of Lego creations awaiting at Legoland Florida. Around every corner is a new and exciting creation to see and enjoy at this one of a kind theme park dedicated to the childhood favorite Lego building toys. (Photo: October 27, 2012)

The saga of America's favorite cartoon family comes alive at Universal Studios Florida. Simpsons: The Ride takes you on an journey through the storyboards as you join Bart, Homer, Lisa, Marge,Maggie and the rest of the Simpsons cast on a quest to save Springfield. (Photo: January 9, 2009)

Riders try to beat the heat by getting drench on Congo River Rapids at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.  The white water rafting adventure takes you through the rapid and waterfalls of the Congo.  (Photo: May 31, 2009)

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: The sounds of children having fun fills the air in the Storybook Circus, the newest addition to the Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World. Here the circus is always in town, providing fun and excitement for the entire family. Storybook Circus opened in March 2012 as the first phase of the Fantasyland expansion project. It takes the place of Mickey’s Toontown Fair that was closed in 2011. The newly opened land features a redesigned family favorite, Dumbo the Flying Elephant. The popular ride had a second set of ride vehicles added to help ease the congestion. Another Toontown ride resurfaced in the new Storybook Circus as the Barnstormer was re-themed to a circus theme. Hop aboard for a wild ride with the great Goofini. A new addition to the park is the Casey Jr Splash n Soak Station. This splash area is a hit to help the kids cool down from the Florida heat. Rounding out the ride attractions in the Storybook Circus is the Storybook Circus ...

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: Pixar Place is the latest addition to the Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World. It is home to the park’s newest attraction, Toy Story Midway Mania. To create Pixar Place, Disney Imagineers transformed a portion of Mickey Avenue to resemble the Pixar Studios in California. Pixar Place openend to the public in 2008. The main attraction of Pixar Place is Toy Story Midway Mania. The ride is one of the most technologically advanced rides at Walt Disney World. Riders embark on a 3-D adventure through carnival games inspired by Disney-Pixar’s Toy Story franchise. During the ride, you encounter five mini-games, each with their own graphics but the goal remains the same, to score the most points by the time the ride ends. Pixar Place is also a great place to meet the Pixar stars. Here you can meet the stars of Toy Story throughout the day. The area also features a shop selling items inspired by Pixar films. Pixar Place lacks a restaurant...

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: Not a detail was spared in creating the Morocco Pavilion at Epcot’s World Showcase. One of the newer pavilions in the showcase, the culture of Morocco comes to life in Central Florida. Opened in 1984, it was the first expansion country to the World Showcase. The pavilion is the only one to be sponsored by the representing country. King Hassan II even sent artists to Walt Disney World to assist in the design of the pavilion. The pavilion is designed to resemble a typical Moroccan city. It features a Minaret, a replica of the Bab Boujeloud gate and many more native Moroccan structures. If you are looking to try authentic Moroccan food, the following restaraunts are found in the Morocco Pavilion: Restaurant Marrakesh is a full service restaurant feature typical Moroccan food and belly dancers for entertainment. Tangerine Café is a counter service restaurant with Moroccan sandwiches and light fare.  The pavilion also features several shops ...

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: Today we hitched a ride with my dad and sister to Walt Disney World. The two of them have gotten into the pin trading hobby and they were on their way to pick up a newly released Alice in Wonderland pin as well as to travel the park in search of pins to trade. After checking the crowd calendar through Touring Plans, we decided on Epcot. They were forecasted to be the best park to visit with the lowest crowd level of all four parks. As we arrived on Disney property, we were greeted with thousands of people on the roads. There were people everywhere as far as the eye can see, so I was really starting to second guess the crowd forecast. Turns out it is Disney Marathon weekend and this morning was the Half-Marathon. The thousands of people we saw were involved with the marathon and not going to the park. I was instantly relieved and as we pulled into the parking lot, it was surprisingly empty at the park. We arrived just 15 minutes before park open...

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: October has arrived and the ghosts and goblins, pirates and princesses have converged on the Magic Kingdom for the annual Halloween event. On select nights in October, the little ones and the little ones at heart can enjoy themselves at the park for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. On these special nights, the Magic Kingdom closes early and then reopens for guests holding tickets for this event. Then the park comes alive with special Halloween treats for the whole family, everything family friendly of course. Disney does it right with special decorations, a special parade, shows and a Halloween fireworks show to top the night off. The highlights of the night include plenty of candy, Mickey's Boo to You Parade, Happy HalloWishes fireworks, Character Dance Parties, Villain's Dance Mix and Mingle stage show and your favorite Disney rides. This is a special ticket event and is not included in regular admission or annual passes. If you are ...

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: With cooler temperatures back in the sunshine state and the tourist crowd a little thinner, we decided to take a day trip to Walt Disney World. Being a Florida resident has its perks as we have the flexibility to visit the park when its not so crowded and Sunday was one of those days. This was our first trip back to the park since it started to get hot and full in May. We had originally planned to go up on Saturday, but the crowd of the 40th anniversary celebration pushed our trip back a day to Sunday. We hit the road early, destination Magic Kingdom. We arrived at the park about twenty minutes to park opening and the parking lot was not very full. We walked right onto the monorail. We did not encounter any large lines until we reached the bag check area at the entrance. The bag check is the biggest waste of time in my opinion. For starters, the security guard barely even check the bags and people with strollers and electric wheelchairs manage to get ...

Get up close and personal with these delicate giants at Busch Gardens Tampa. Here you can climb in the back of a safari truck and head out on the Serengeti Plain to get close to giraffes, zebra, ostriches and much more. On the Serengeti Safari, you will get the chance to feed giraffes and antelope while getting extremely close to the animals of the plain. (Photo: January 2, 2005)

The white tiger pictured here is just one of the many animals that you can see at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. The 335 acre adventure park in Tampa, Florida is home to over 2,700 wild animals as well as 24 pulse pounding rides. (Photo: March 20, 2004)

At the blink of an eye, the Incredible Hulk Coaster launched riders into an almost 70 mph adrenaline rush. With seven inversions and pushing 4Gs, it is a coaster that will leave you with your stomach in your throat. The Incredible Hulk Coaster opened in 1999 and is located at Marvel Super Hero Island inside Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure theme park. (Photo: January 29, 2006)

The iconic dome of Epcot, Spaceship Earth stands tall near the entrance to the park. The 18-story geodesic sphere houses a ride that takes guests through the advancements in communications. Sponsored by Siemens, the attraction just underwent a major renovation. (Photo: August 18, 2006)

Dolphin Cove at Sea World in Orlando, Florida is a place where you can face to face with Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins like the one pictured here. Visitor's to the park have the opportunity to pet and feed the dolphins here at Dolphin Cove. (Photo: August 28, 2004)

Bolingo plays with his mother Kishina at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida. Bolingo, a western lowland gorilla, was born on November 18, 2005. He was the first gorilla born at Busch Gardens Tampa and increased the gorilla population to seven. (Photo: December 31, 2006)

Kumba at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida features seven inversions while reaching speeds of 60 miles per hour. Built in 1993, the steel coaster reaches a maximum of 3.8 G's during the almost 3 minute adventure. (Photo: July 24, 2005)

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: In the corner of Disney’s Hollywood Studios there is a place where the art of Disney animation comes alive. Pass through the gates of the Animation Courtyard and follow the story of Walt Disney and his characters through the years. Animation Courtyard is also home to the characters of Playhouse Disney as well as two live stage shows. As you enter the courtyard, the first attraction you encounter is the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. This seventeen minute stage show combines live actors, special effect and more to tell the story of Ariel, the Little Mermaid. Enter the theater and quickly take a trip under the sea and follow the story inspired by the film The Little Mermaid. Directly across the courtyard is the other live stage show, Playhouse Disney Live on Stage. The twenty two minute stage show is geared towards the younger audience. It features characters from the Playhouse Disney cartoon shows like Handy Manny, Little Einsteins, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and ...

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: Today was our final day of the birthday trip and we decided to go to Disney Hollywood Studios and Epcot. We had originally reserved a spot on the 9am bus to Hollywood Studios but since we were going home after visiting the parks, we felt it would be easier to drive to the park. We arrived at Hollywood Studios shortly after park opening and we still grabbed a second row parking spot and the crowd was so light, we walked right up to the gate without a line. Once inside the park, we headed straight towards the new Toy Story Mania ride. As we turned the corner behind the Great Movie Ride, we immediately hit a large line of people coming from Pixar Place, the home of Toy Story Mania. But this wasn’t the ride line yet, this was the line to get a Fast Pass for the ride. As we got closer to the ride, we then encountered the ride line which was already in excess of 40 minutes. So we skipped Toy Story Mania and headed to the Backlot Tour. I am not sure if it w...

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: As you cross over the bridge, you are quickly immersed in dense tropical foliage and sounds of excitement in the distance. No you have not traveled to a distant jungle, you are in Adventureland at the Magic Kingdom park. Split into two areas, the Arabian Plaza and the Caribbean Plaza, it is home to some of the park’s popular attractions. One of the original lands of the Magic Kingdom, Adventureland opened in 1971. While it has evolved a bit over the years, it is still home to two of the parks original attractions, the Jungle Cruise and the Swiss Family Treehouse. Originally designed for Disneyland, the popular Jungle Cruise attraction was adapted for the Disney World and opened with the park on opening day. Here you embark on a journey on some of the most famous rivers in the world. The steam ship operated by the Jungle Navigation Company takes you through the Amazon River, Congo River, Nile River and the Mekong River before returning back to the dock. Along...