SATURDAY SIX Presents: Flights with @bioreconstruct vol 7 (Epic Universe at Night, Tropical Americas at AK, Disney’s REAL Best Kept Secret and More!)
This week’s SATURDAY SIX once again joins blogger-in-the-sky @bioreconstruct to get a bird’s eye of Walt Disney World and Epic Universe. There were some major announcements at the recent D23 Expo for projects that (hopefully) will be coming to Walt Disney World, and in preparation for the expected construction, Bio gassed up the blogger copter and got us some great aerial shots of the areas at Magic Kingdom, DHS, and Animal Kingdom that are expected to be home to these new attractions. Bio also got a whole bunch of other great photos as well, including incredibly rare aerials of Universal’s Epic Universe at night.
Feel free to click on any photo to see a 4K version and let’s start everything off with…
# 6 – Magic Kingdom
Looking down at the most popular theme park in the world…
The biggest ride opening for Disney in 2024 was Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, which replaced Splash Mountain. The aerial below gives an incredible look at this attraction along with its neighbor, Big Thunder Mountain. Even though I’ve been looking at Bio’s aerials for YEARS, this picture is the first time I ever notice the theming on the show buildings at the far left of the photo. To me, *that* is the Disney Difference.
Now, back in 2022 D23 Expo, Disney took the interesting tactic of not announcing new attractions coming to Walt Disney World, but instead had a presentation on vibes and essentially held a “What If….?” session with guests in the audience. The area in question would be Beyond Big Thunder at Disney’s Magic Kingdom and there were rhetorical questions being asked such as, what if we could walk into a magical casita, like in Encanto? What if we could fly into the land of the dead, like in Coco? Definitely one of the stranger experiences that has happened during a Parks presentation at D23. There was even some blue sky concept art giving hints at what could be coming.
Below is a look at exactly what is Beyond Big Thunder Mountain, showing the space that Disney has to work with. Rumors & Innuendo suggest that this is where the long talked about Villains Land will reside.
We’ve been talking about BEYOND Big Thunder for over two years now, but it turns out we should have been talking about what was BEFORE Big Thunder, because Disney announced that a new area based on Pixar’s Cars movies would be replacing the beloved Rivers of America. This came as a shock to many, including Your Humble Author. While I personally haven’t been on the Liberty Bell boat or over to Tom Sawyer Island in many years, I do love the feeling I get being around that area.
It seems almost incomprehensible how an attraction themed around Cars could work in this area, but our man Bio had an answer for that with the photo below taking during a Rivers of America refurbishment.
Its hard to wrap your mind around what’s coming when looking at the photo below, but its a lesson many of us have learned when seeing the changes over the years of EPCOT Center to the EPCOT we have today. It’s not the park it was and it never will be again. The audience (and – more importantly – Disney Management) of today is completely different than when these parks were created.
Okay, let’s look at some of the rest of the park…
There’s many great things about Bio, but one thing he does along with taking great photos is adding a lot of context and information that people might now realize about things *in the picture.*
When you look at the picture below you have to marvel at the foresight the early Disney Imagineers had when creating something like this.
Let’s fly even further up and see the Magic Kingdom in context with some of the resorts around it.
The Contemporary will always be cool in my book.
I’ve stayed at pretty much every single Disney onsite hotel, with the exception of the most recent one, the Walt Disney World Swan Reserve, which I’ll be going to shortly (stay tuned for a full review in this Fine Blog Series.) However, there is one WDW Resort which not only have I never stayed it, and it’s one I know almost nothing about. Across from the Grand Floridan/Polynesian Village Resort is SHADES OF GREEN.
Shades of Green is a resort dedicated to active (and retired) members of the military and their families. I imagine many guests coming to Walt Disney World have no idea this resort even exists, let alone sits right next to some of the most popular hotels in all of the Vacation Kingdom. It is truly Disney’s Best Kept Secret.
# 5 – EPCOT Area
Let’s head on over to EPCOT. In the background is the Magic Kingdom area, and at the top right is smoke from pyro at Cinderella Castle.
A look at the park itself…
…the new Moana play area…
…and World Discovery. As a person who called Disney Hollywood Studios “MGM” for many, MANY years after the official name change, I’m not sure when I’ll ever refer to the various EPCOT neighborhoods by their official names and not just think “Future World.”
World Showcase will always be one of the absolute greatest things built in any theme park. It’s like the Animal Kingdom Lodge of theme park areas. Universal and other competitors may approach or even beat Disney in some things, but they’ll never do something like World Showcase.
Love shots like the one below where we get a brief look at the helicopter itself. I picture Bio leaning out the open door just to get a better shot of Slinky Dog Dash while if I were up there I’d need to be secured like the “late, great Hannibal Lechter” with multiple seat belts, a harness, and maybe even some duct tape just in case.
# 4 – Disney Hollywood Studios
I can’t get over shots like the one below that have the entire park in one beautiful photo. I’d buy prints of stuff like this for my house.
There’s many things I enjoy about Toy Story Land, but man, is there a better example at Disney or Universal of something that should have been so much better?
The shot below featuring Slinky Dog Dash and Alien Swirling Saucers is just a master class on how to take a great and eye pleasing photo.
The backside of the Hollywood Tower of Tower. A closer look nearby shows the façade of Rock and Roller Coaster. Now of course I’ve noticed that large guitar a million times, but its only with this photo that I noticed the piano keys in front of the guitar on the ground.
Lots of Rumors & Innuendo surrounding the upcoming Monsters Inc area coming to DHS. When announced, many assumed it was going to replace the Muppets area in the park. This caused quite a bit of panic on social media. We’ll cover this story in next week’s TPEI.
Right outside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge sits the former home of the Galactic Starcruiser.
You may remember the Rise of Fall of this hotel, a winner of the coveted Golden Turkey in last year’s Theme Park Turkeys of the Year Awards.
Rumors and Innuendo suggest that the Starcruiser may make an appearance in this year’s upcoming Turkey Awards as well. If true, this would make it the first EVER two time Turkey winner. How is this possible if the hotel has been closed the entire year? I guess we’ll all find out more the weekend of Thanksgiving…
# 3 – Animal Kingdom
Time to head over to one of my favorite theme parks of all time, Animal Kingdom.
A closer look at the park itself…
…along with this great shot showing us some amazing details in the park, including the Tree of Life and Mount Everest.
The Tree of Life is hands down my favorite Disney park Icon.
The front of Expedition Everest…
…along with the rarely seen backside of Expedition Everest. This is a fascinating look at the Hollywood-like aspect of building theme parks. Meaning, you don’t need to theme areas that guests will never see (Bio will see though. Bio sees everything.)
Like World Showcase in EPCOT, Kilimanjaro Safaris is one of those attractions that Universal or any other Disney competitor will never come close to replicating. It takes a lot, but you can beat Disney in dark rides, you can beat them in roller coasters, and you can even beat them in streetmosphere… but you’ll never have something like Kilimanjaro Safaris.
Guests at this stop enjoy snacks with a leisurely view of the animals of the Harambe Reserve. (photo by @bioreconstruct)
Varieties of plants are grown here for park residents to enjoy as food or as bedding material. Area farms also grow browse items. (photo by @bioreconstruct)
Time for a look inside Pandora – The World of Avatar, one of my favorite lands in any theme park (for those who don’t know, I’m a HUGE FAN of the first Avatar movie.)
The center of the photo below is the current home of Dinoland. At the D23 Expo they announced this entire area will be converted over to Tropical Americas. This will include an Encanto-themed area and attraction along with an Indiana Jones attraction.
At the top right in the photo below is the area which was the former home to Primeval Whirl. That attraction closed back in 2020. It’s great that we should be getting something new sometime in the next five to ten years, but the fact that the area is still currently empty is just ridiculous.
# 2 – Disney Springs
Huge fan of Disney Springs, and love this aerial of the entire area. Wow!
Closer look at the dining and retail area, including the Orange parking garage (which is the BEST parking garage at Disney Springs.)
Imagine being able to get this shot. Forget Blade, There is only been one Bio. There will only ever be one Bio.
Not far from Disney Springs is the Team Disney building. We don’t really talk about that building much with the exception of its famous appearance in an episode of Hulk Hogan’s Thunder in Paradise. However, this shot of the building from above makes me think that the next Flights With Bio article should be dedicated to Things At Disney & Universal That Are There Just For Bio To See.
# 1 – Epic Universe at Night!
As many of you are reading this article, Bio is already up in the air delivering some incredible up-to-the-minute shots of Epic Universe construction during the day. This includes must see photos of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, Dark Universe’s Curse of the Werewolf coaster, the colorful and vibrant Super Nintendo World, and Celestial Park.
For this article we’re covering a special flight Bio took over Epic Universe earlier this month, a r flight over the area taken at night!
Looking at the photos of Terra Luna and Stella Nova, the Universal hotels located directly across the street from Epic Universe, you may notice the new star lights that twinkle across the buildings.
These lights were first noticed by Bio on the ground, shortly before his nighttime flight.
These hotels already looked cool, but the addition of the star lights take them to the next level.
Now let’s head over to the Epic Universe park itself.
Super Nintendo World…
…Dark Universe…
…How To Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk…
Arrow at a train in the second launch of Hiccup’s Winged Gliders roller coaster during continuous ride testing. (photo by @bioreconstruct)
Arrows in the next two aerial photos are at a train entering the structure over the first launch of Hiccup’s Winged Gliders roller coaster. Photos were taken 12 seconds apart. Here’s part one…
…and part two.
Our last land is the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, which is lit up as if Clark Grisworld was decorating it for Chrstimas.
I mentioned in the Disney Springs section of this article that I love the Orange parking garage there. I especially love the gimmick where before you even enter a level it displays how many empty parking spots there are and then once inside the level there are red and green lights to let you know exactly where the empty spots area. Such a great parking experience.
This is in direct contrast to the parking experience at the parking garages at Universal CityWalk when going to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. More often then not, parking there is a complete clustermess that starts your experience off in the worst way possible. It’s almost inconceivable that it can be that bad every single time over the course of years.
All that said, I’m glad Epic Universe is using a traditional parking lot for day guests because while Universal has mastered the art of theme park hotels, restaurants, lands, attractions, nighttime spectaculars and seasonal events, they give SeaWorld and the Orlando outlet stores a run for their money when it comes to frustrating guests trying to park.
Honorable Mention – The Big Picture
Before we go let’s check out some more fantastic photos of WDW taken from the air that put everything we see on the ground in context.
To the left side of the building below is the storage area for all the Skyliner cabs when they are taken offline for refurbishment or the threat of a hurricane.
SATURDAY SIX Presents: Flights with @bioreconstruct vol 1 (Starcruiser, Disney Lake Nona Land)
SATURDAY SIX Presents: Flights with @bioreconstructi vol 2 (EPIC Universe, Tron Lightcycle Run)
SATURDAY SIX Presents: Flights with @bioreconstruct vol 4 (Luminous, Journey of Water)
SATURDAY SIX Presents: Flights with @bioreconstrust vol 5 (DreamWorks Land, EPIC Universe)
The SATURDAY SIX Celebrates 10 Years of @bioreconstruct
The SATURDAY SIX Presents: @bioreconstruct’s favorite aerial photos
The SATURDAY SIX Takes 3 Flights in a Single Day with @bioreconstruct
The SATURDSAY SIX Presents: Our Favorite @bioreconstruct photos of 2023
The SATURDAY SIX Presents: Our favorite @biorconstruct photos of 2022
The SATURDAY SIX Presents: Our favorite @bioreconstruct photos of 2021
The SATURDAY SIX Presents: Our favorite @bioreconstruct photos of 2020
Special Thanks to The Elite Brandon Glover, Digital Maestro Scott Walker, the bio-est of all reconstructs @bioreconstruct, Captain Cruiseline Scott Sanders of the world famous Disney Cruise Line Blog, my personal protege Hunter “Elvey” Underwood, artist @SonderQuest, the mighty maven of merchandise Hedgehog’s Corner, the SAT SIX Fun Squad of Parkscope Joe and “the Dadalorian” Nick, hot shot Michael Carelli, charter member of the Universal Four @Nitro230, the permit princess Alicia Stella, master cartographer Tommy Hawkins, and Hermione Granger’s tutor Megan Stump for their invaluable assistance with this article. Absolutely no help was added by SeaWorld Influencer @SuperWeenieHtJr. The SAT SIX is inspired each week by goofballs Aengus Mackenzie and LitemAndHyde and you Potterheads will enjoy Meg’s other blog work over at the Central Florida Slug Club.
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