A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

...but THAT'S never stopped me! However, in this case, I will let the pictures do the talking. Well, some of it anyway.

These photos are from the Storybook Land Canal Boats. This ride isn't in Walt Disney World and I wish it was - it's really cool! We've been to two miniature cities before - one in Holland (Maduradam) and the other in Denmark's Legoland. I find miniature cities fascinating - all that detail, getting the landscaping to scale - kind of like dollhouses on steroids. From a decorator/designer point of view, they are studies in art! What makes these particular scenes so special is their tie-in to beloved Disney stories (which, DUH! makes sense seeing as how it IS Disneyland!).

The ride starts off as you enter, literally, the mouth of the whale from Pinocchio...which is a bit creepy in a fun sort of way. Then you start recognizing the different scenes from each story.




Whoa! Glad those teeth are clean - that would be some tartar buildup!


Looking out the whale's mouth tunnel to the other side.


Here's the scene from the boat of Aladdin's Agrabah...


and up close.


The home of the Three Pigs. Who knew they were English? Or at least like English Tudor with thatched roof? Classy pigs...


Alice's Village - I never thought about where she lived! I always thought about, you know, the "other side" of that looking glass. Evidently so did the writers for the new series on SyFy "Warehouse 13" if you're, ya know, into that sort of thing...which I am...but I digress.


Toad Hall. Quite impressive for a toad! I didn't notice any "torn up" countryside however.



Captain Hook's ship.


The Matterhorn Bobsled Ride mountain is in the background with the miniature village in the foreground. Cool juxtaposition, no?




And Cinderella's Castle - which, as I'm sure you already know, was inspired by Neuschwanstein Castle.

Neuschwanstein - the real deal, not a miniature. For all the trivia buffs out there...