Magic Kingdom 50th at Walt Disney World

Earlier this year an idea began to snowball around capturing the 50th anniversary of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida in a brand new series of travel shoots. 

What was originally imagined as an escape with plenty of R&R morphed into one of the most ambitious multi-week travel shoots I've ever undertaken - complete with exclusive reservations, after hours events, and glimpses into Disney World that required months of pre-planning and special arrangements to execute. The idea shifted from a simple feature of Disney World during its 50th to a showcase of some of the top experiences a person could have in the Magic Kingdom. 

I summed up what this was to become a few weeks ago on Instagram:

When it came down to what location I would choose to jumpstart my international travel shoots again - you probably weren't thinking "oh, this guy is definitely headed to the swampland of central Florida" - but hear me out! 

Just a few short weeks ago Walt Disney World (specifically the Magic Kingdom) kicked off its 50th anniversary since the park's opening in 1971. With an avalanche of new events, exclusive experiences, and media attention, this created some much needed tourism buzz since ... actually, let's not rehash the last year and a half.

As one of the most visited tourist destinations on Earth, located in a country that just reopened to global travellers, during one of the most heavily promoted anniversaries in the history of Walt Disney World - well, you do the math.

Is it possible to be ironic, kitsch-obsessed, boujie, and totally embarrassing, all while still fully embracing the most touristy of tourist hotspots on the planet? 

I mean, of course, but stay tuned lol. Lots to come.

 

McPizza and McPasta at McDonalds?

With a tagline boasting "the World's Largest Entertainment McDonalds" this location in Orlando, Florida is something unique. Set aside the oversized play place and arcade, the thing that drew us out of the way to this Orlando McDonalds is that it is one of the few places in the world where you can still order McDonalds pizza and pasta - or should we say, McPizza and McPasta.

With peace and love, I wasn't expecting this novelty fast food to be the best meal I ever had, but as a McDonalds fan, I also wasn't expecting the pizza or pasta to be quite as bad as it actually was. In fairness, the presentation was good, it was made to order, and it came out hot. It was surprising that such simple recipes could be executed this poorly though. 

Despite a viewing area where you could see your pizza being made and put into the pizza oven, our simple pepperoni pizza tasted like a bland frozen pizza at best. It was actually shocking how they managed the texture of something that had been sitting in a freezer for weeks when we saw them preparing the dough. The pasta was even worse though. It was a watery, soggy mess with no flavor. Again, I don't know how you can make such simple comfort foods so unpalatable.

I certainly don't regret the experience as it's always fun to try new things and this was always going to be a novelty experience no matter the outcome, but the real takeaway here was that this is probably why all of the other McDonalds stopped making these options decades ago.

McPizza and McPasta are perhaps best forgotten. 

Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World

Opened in 1989, Disney's Hollywood Studios (then Disney-MGM Studios) was the third theme park built at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Originally focused on the golden age of Hollywood (which included a licensing deal with MGM and a functioning backlot) in recent years Disney's Hollywood Studios has expanded dramatically, including the addition of the Pixar inspired Toy Story Land and the much celebrated opening of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.