WDW Radio # 702 – Top Ten Places to Take a Walk in Walt Disney World

[00:00:00] Lou Mongello: When you think about your next Walt Disney World Vacation, there are so many things that probably instantly come to mind. Attractions and shows and where to stay, where and what, and when to eat, and when, and planning and prepping, and PR packing and making the most out of your often limited time in the park.

But as I've wanted to do since the beginning of the show back in 2005, I always look to introduce you or bring to light some overlooked experiences. And when I say that, I don't just mean add-on or ticketed activities or events, but instead I like to show you how, why, and, and where to stop and smell the roses as it were.

In fact, we did just that on show three 14 appropriately titled Top 10 Places to Literally and Figuratively Stop and Smell the Roses. But there's also experiences that don't require you to stop instead just the opposite. So this week we're gonna look at our top 10 walks in Walt Disney World. The best, most relaxing, enjoyable, off the beaten path, or however we may define and describe it.

And when I say we in the context of top tens, 99.37% of the time, you know that joining me will once again be the incomparable, the indomitable Mr. Timothy Foster from Celebrations Magazine, indomitable, indomitable. I've, I like that. Listen, it's, it's s a t time, so I'm, I'm bringing out the sau I got, I'm looking that up real quick cause I don't know if I just cut.

Yeah. I don't know what it means actually, but it just sounds like a word with a lot of of different syllables in it. Walking around

[00:01:53] Tim Foster: Walt Disney World with Luman jello is always. Always at the top of my list of things to do.

[00:01:59] Lou Mongello: So , [00:02:00] it's exhausting, isn't it? It's exhausting. Al I get accused, I get accused that I walk very, very fast.

I think it's, they're like, how does somebody with such little legs walk so fast? I think it's the, the jersey in me. You

[00:02:13] Tim Foster: know what? I'm glad you said that cause I was going to, but I wasn't going to.

[00:02:16] Lou Mongello: Cause it's, yeah, I get that a lot. I don't do it intentionally. It's just the speed at which I need to get from snack location to snack location.

I, I

[00:02:25] Tim Foster: always figured it was food driven probably.

[00:02:28] Lou Mongello: Yeah. So, but you know, it, it's funny cuz when I think, I think, Tim, when you do think, when we think of Walt Disney World, you, you think it, of it almost sometimes being wonderfully exhausting, right? Because there is so much hustling from place to place in an effort to try and see and do it all but you and.

On past shows have talked about some of the places and ways to relax and refresh and rejuvenate. For example, back on show two 40, the top 10 relaxing attractions in Walt Disney World, and most recently on show 6 0 8, you were actually here for these. I know this is like, you sound like you're being surprised.

The top 10 show 6 0 8, the top 10 quiet spots in Walt Disney World. And oh, so we've talked about these places to go for a little bit of a, a respite or, or a break or a nap, but I think sometimes. You may almost need to go take a walk, whether it is to clear your head or de-stress for something that people like to call, exercise.

If you wanna maybe get away from the crowds, um, walk off, walk off the churros. Walk off the churros. That's bad. I'm not a sweets guy, but I have walked off a churro in my day. Maybe you just wanna go and do a little bit of exploring in some of those areas that maybe you had not been to or through before.

And look, sometimes it's just, it's a convenience, right? It's a way to get from one place to another [00:04:00] without having to wait for a mode of transportation. But I think there are so many beautiful places and predefined trails even that we miss for one reason or another, because I think we oftentimes don't think about it.

So I think there. There's a variety of different reasons to find or create some of these paths. And if you are sitting here with us at the table thinking, wait a minute, man, jello, why do I wanna walk when I'm already walking an average of like nine miles a day? Which is an accurate number in the theme parks.

But I do think, Tim, that there are some occasions and reasons that we do want to go and just take a leisurely walk. I'm not talking about a run or going on the running trails cause that's something completely different for a, a different purpose. But there are reasons I think that we want to just go and not stop and smell the roses, but maybe go and take a little stroll by them.

I

[00:05:03] Tim Foster: agree. I choose not to run too, so that's not a, that's not a thing I'm not doing. .

[00:05:09] Lou Mongello: So before we get to your list, and I'm really, really curious as I often am , because you, you never cease to surprise and sometimes amaze. What made for you when I said that, when I, when I proposed the topic of, of top 10 walks in Walt Disney World, what made it an entry on the list for you?

Right? What are some of the factors that you included in these? And they may vary from one entry to the other.

[00:05:36] Tim Foster: Well, they vary a little bit, but uh, I've, I've talked about this a lot. One of the things I like to do at Walt Disney World is to go out and about and go for a walk. Cause it's a way, and a lot of my entries I think, fall into this.

It's just that phenomena of when you're there, and again, if you have the time, like you said, cuz some of us are pressed for time when we're there. But just the idea that you go [00:06:00] for a walk somewhere and we'll get to the wheres, but. You're in a, you're in a peaceful area. There's nobody around you. You feel like you have the place to yourself, which is very strange cuz you know about, oh, a five minute walk away.

There's thousands of your closest friends just waiting to hang with you on Main Street. But it's, for me, that's always a nice thing. So I guess it's a, it's a a bit of getting away from the hustle and bustle of the parks for even the briefest of moments and being able to just enjoy walking around.

Wherever it is you happen to be so well taking a break, as it were.

[00:06:34] Lou Mongello: Yeah, and I, and I obviously am going, I want you to go first. The only thing I wanna make sure that I say is, and I know that none of these entries on our lists are going to violate this, this. This rule only walk where you are supposed to and allowed to walk.

Oh, walk. Yeah. Right. This is not just, this is not for you, but you know, sometimes we're walking and we see this pathway, or we see cast members only stay along the paths that you are supposed to stay on. Yes. We, we will never encourage you to go backstage or anywhere that you are not supposed to. But with that Timothy I, um, the floor is yours as it were.

Where would you like us to go on our leisurely walk together first ? Well, the

[00:07:17] Tim Foster: first place I'm going actually follows a little bit on your caveat there, . And it's, it's, I, I got the fir chance to do this for the first time last year, although it had been around for a little bit before that. But this was, The, the dream that wouldn't it be great if I could walk around the Seven Seas lagoon from the Grand Floridian to the Polynesian and get to the Magic Kingdom?

And when I saw they finally opened that pathway to the Grand Floridian, I was overjoyed. Cuz I've always thought how wonderful it would be to do that. So that's the first entry on my list is that pathway. And like imagine, I, I was fooled years past cuz there was always a path that led away [00:08:00] from the monorail station seemingly heading to the Grand Floridian, only to end in a nice, granted very peaceful little cul-de-sac with a lamp of the bench.

But that was it. But I got fooled a couple times by that, but I did get to do it. It's a wonderful, wonderful walk. Again, this idea, not too far away in the Magic Kingdom, there's lines, there's crowds there. All of your, all of your close friends waiting to join you as you walk through Fantasyland and Tomorrowland or whatever.

But here you are, you're walking around Seven seas, lagoon, nobody around you. Maybe there's somebody coming the other way, but that's about it. It's so peaceful and it's so scenic cuz you know the lagoon of course, and the Grand Floridian. And not to mention that in monorail, gliding overhead, which is great photo opportunities by the way.

Uh, the fun thing, I noticed this was weird. I don't know why I thought this, but I was walking around and I saw a couple deer walking around the side. And my literal first thought was, wow, they're getting really good at these animatronics. These are great. And then I caught myself and realized they were real deer.

So, so I love that walk. I love with the, the lights and the benches and everything else. And it does extend. I'm gonna cheat and do two sort of, but my, one of my favorite walks had always been the contemporary walk to the Magic Kingdom, which for the longest time was the only resort you could walk to the Magic Kingdom from.

And it wasn't just, uh, it's taking too long to get on the monorail, the buses, I'll just walk, but it's, it's not as scenic as walking along Seven Seas lagoon. But I quite enjoy that walk, walking underneath the monorail and, uh, it's very pleasant. It's not that long, but I don't know. We can, we're not quite where we can walk all the way around yet.

They still have to build that bridge for me. They'll get there. My kid that's not in the plans, but uh, but that, that's my first century. The Grand Floridian new pathway, which you haven't gone on it, I highly recommend it. It's very peaceful, lovely and very [00:10:00] relaxed.

[00:10:01] Lou Mongello: So this was actually second on my list.

Ah-ha. And I, I, I first called it sort of the magic kingdom pathway, but I really wanted to. I, I decided to call the seven CS Lagoon Pathway because I think the lagoon is the star of this. And when we talked about things that, that Disney added as part of the 50th anniversary celebration, this walkway, I, I think sort of, and I have to remember the timing, but I think this walkway was sort of part of, at least in the timeframe and may be the most overlooked yet one of the most beautiful additions to this to, to the 50th anniversary because I think this is not just a walk that is utilitarian in that if you want to avoid the crowds at the end of the night for the monorail, this is a beautiful walk in the evening from Magic Kingdom to the Grand Florida, and I think it's, Nicer in the evening and at the golden hour.

Cause there's really no shade here. So if it's one of those middle of the afternoon hot day, it can, it can get pretty warm. It's about, depending on how fast you walk, a 15 to 20 minute walk. For me, that's about three and a half minutes . But it really does give you not just access from Grand Floridian to Magic Kingdom, but you can also go to the ttc.

You can go to the Polynesian Village, you can go to the contemporary, you can make sort of a, a giant, almost horses because it doesn't sort of really go all the way around. Yeah. But what I like about this, Tim, is. , it's wide open. There's really never anybody there. It is this wonderful sort of meandering path that is very easily walkable, right?

It's like I said, it's, it's, it's maybe if I'm, it's like 0.75 and so maybe it's like a mile ish. I mean, if, if that, probably not even, and there's nothing remarkable [00:12:00] about the path, which makes it remarkable. And what I mean by that is you are not going on this path because there is this statue you're looking for.

There is this bit of decoration. There's this thi. There, there's really nothing to it other than just enjoying the beautiful vistas and the unique views that you get of, like you said, the monorail passing overhead, great views of the seventies lagoon and the resorts off in the distance. If you're a photographer, you time it just right.

You can get some spectacular shots on this walkway. So I, I, I agree that whether you're going to avoid monorail crowds or you're just going for a relaxing walk, or you're going to, you know, stroll your way and walk off your breakfast to Magic Kingdom. The, uh, the, the Seven Seas Lagoon, I don't wanna call it the Loop, but Will Seven, the Seven Seas Lagoon Path was, was very, very high on my list as well.

Yeah. But it was beaten out by one other path, beat out by, by one other path. And, and I, I have to imagine that there's gonna be a lot of overlap for, for both of ours. But for some reason, the first thing that came to my mind when I thought about walking paths and I do, was I normally do, I just sort of like brain dump a few, um, you know, o on, on paper as it were.

And the first place that I went to was around another body of water. And it was not a lake, it was not a pool. Instead it was a river. And I am talking about the walkway along the Saola River between porter's French. And Port Orleans Riverside Resort. This promenade really, which is what it is, is about a mile and a half.

I think it's actually like 1.7 miles in between the two. But this walkway is. It, it sort of has it all. I tick sort of all the boxes, [00:14:00] right? It's, it's a relatively long path. So if you're looking to take a long leisurely stroll, you have that if you want to, it connects to resorts. So if you're staying at one and want to go and see Yeha Bob, if you wanna go grab some beignets, if you wanna go eat at boat rights or go late night over to Skat Kat's Club at French Quarter, you can do that.

But it's another one of these winding meandering pathways that really shows off the spectacular architecture of both resorts that are, are very different as well as the beautifully manicured, um, like kudos to the horticultural team. The lawns and gardens in between, in between an at two of those resorts, uh, are just gorgeous.

So whether you're walking this path or if you are a runner, you can walk it as well. But I think that there is something. so wonderfully peaceful that I I real, that really sort of attracts me. And again, I, I love, um, I love New Orleans, which I think is why I sort of leaned here a little bit hard. But there's something wonderfully serene and relaxing about this pathway and the quiet waterway next to you that put it instantly at the top of my list.

[00:15:15] Tim Foster: I am so glad you said that one because , as many here as many times as I've been to Walt Disney roast quite a lot, there are very few places that I have not been. That's one of them. Stop it. And you, you, next time I come down, you gotta get me over there. You gotta come over. Pick me up, drive me over, and we gotta walk there.

So you've never visited this resort? I've never, no. We, and you know what, it's, we talk about it all the. And I, it's not because I don't want to, I I really want to see it. I know it's, I've seen pictures. I, we've almost stayed there many times, but the Wilderness Lodge just calls us and we end up going back there.

So, no, it's, it's Timothy of things [00:16:00] I need to do at Disney that is absolutely the top of my list to do. So

[00:16:04] Lou Mongello: Timothy Ignatius Foster, I'm enuring

[00:16:08] Tim Foster: you to help me make this happen. Help

[00:16:10] Lou Mongello: me make this happen. Help me help you. I help me help make this happen. I think next time you come down, Uhhuh, I think you need to stay there.

I think you need to stay, go break out of your comfort zone just a little bit. It's hard.

[00:16:23] Tim Foster: We've made reservations there so many times, but then, hey look, there's a contemporary garden wing room.

[00:16:28] Lou Mongello: Yeah, I mean, I was gonna make it creepy and be like, I will stay with you. We will. We will make a buddy comedy.

We'll stay one eight at Riverside. But that's not creepy. That will be, no, it's not good. Yeah. , but one eight at Riverside. One at at, yes. At French Quarter. Because while they're connected and, and Sister Resorts, they're so different in terms of the architecture and the theme. Oh, I know. Even the dining options.

And look, even, I promise you. Wait. No. This is what we're gonna do. Yeah. You're gonna come down, we're gonna do a Wednesday night live show. Yes. And we're gonna go and visit both of the resorts. Done. We'll eat, we'll. Walk . We'll, yeehaw, Bob. We'll, skat Catt Lounge. We'll, we'll do it all. I, they're beauti, they're beautiful, beautiful, beautiful resorts.

Um,

[00:17:13] Tim Foster: I, I know. I believe you. And now I'm literally Yes. We've gotta

[00:17:17] Lou Mongello: make this happen. I'm getting out my little handy dandy post-it note because this is where, this is where I put like, the super high priority things. My next resort report is going to be about Port Orleans Resorts for the show. And, and I

[00:17:31] Tim Foster: know, I know I have to turn in my WW radio club card now cuz of that, but, you know,

[00:17:37] Lou Mongello: I'll get it back.

I will never, I will never take that. Well, I'll never say never , but you can keep your card. But we will, we will remedy this. Uh, no, you do.

[00:17:44] Tim Foster: That's why I'm glad you said that one because I wanna put it on my list, but I haven't Regretably had a chance

[00:17:51] Lou Mongello: to do it yet. We'll, we go fishing at Old Man Island. Oh.

Go to the food courts. .

[00:17:59] Tim Foster: I want [00:18:00] Beignets,

[00:18:00] Lou Mongello: beignets, Yees. We'll go sit by the pool and, and we'll get a little No Hido at Mardi Gros.

I'm in Dub Balloon Lagoon.

[00:18:13] Tim Foster: This got away from walking really quick. That's okay.

[00:18:15] Lou Mongello: Sorry. . . All right. So moving on. Okay. We have our, we have our, yes, our date set for ports, but what is next on your list?

[00:18:22] Tim Foster: Oh, that was, that was your, okay. Um, so for this one, I'm going to head over to see, where am I gonna go?

[00:18:31] Lou Mongello: You know what, I'm gonna go to Epcot.

I knew it. I'm, you're literally at my notes. Wow. But, but, but,

[00:18:36] Tim Foster: but, but I'm going through Epcot. And I'm going to the Epcot resort area,

[00:18:42] Lou Mongello: right? Crescent Lake is next on my list. God, I love Cton Lake is

[00:18:48] Tim Foster: next to. How did we do then? So well here, I'll tell you what the things I like about it and then I'm curious what you, I bet we do like different things as we wander around, but now I love the Epcot resort area is one of my favorite areas of all Walt Disney World.

I love walking around there, especially at n Well, you know what, I'll take, I was gonna say, especially at night, but I will say one of my other great things I've loved to do, and it's one of those memories that I, that always cherishes the times when I will come to, like I say, we're staying at the yacht club and we'll arrive early, you know, late midday, I'm trying to say late morning, early afternoon.

So around midday we get there, we just arrived, we're getting ready to go to parks. But relaxing, you come into the front because that's where they drop you off. And then, but when you go out the back and you head out to Crescent Lake, and if it's that time, there's nobody there and it's peaceful. That's usually one of my great, ugh.

I'm in Disney moments. Like when I go through that back and I'm on the walkway and looking out at the resorts, it's like, ah, yes, I'm here. But I love walking around it at night. Uh, even coming from the [00:20:00] international gateway in Epcot down the canal, especially going under the bridge, which I've talked about so many times, is probably my one absolute favorite spot in all of all.

Disney World reminds me of RTU because you hear the music from France in the background and, and everything else, but just it's walking around, it's so peaceful. Um, I love visiting all of the resorts, doing some resort hopping there, even hopping over the swan and dolphin a little bit. One of my favorite memories though, was, uh, walking around the boardwalk, which is its whole other place to walk around and looking at the, the street entertainers on the boardwalk and just how magical and fun it was.

And there was one, I, I think he was, I think he was the magician. Not the juggler, but the magician. And like they all do, he had a little whistle that he would use to tell people what to do. Like, instead of saying, come over here, like, you know, come over here, do that . And there was a boat coming in. We were at the boat dock and the boat was coming in and the magician's trying to do his thing.

The boat's blaring its horn interrupting everything, and everybody's laughing about it. The boat pulls away and the magician turns around in exasperation with his whistle and the boat goes ah, as it sails off into the sunset. And that was just, uh, one of those impromptu Disney magical moments that was great.

But everything about Crescent Lake, I love the lights on the boardwalk, uh, the peacefulness over by the yacht club and the beach club even, uh, walking across the bridge. Over the international gateway. I remember watching illuminations from there several times, uh, which is a great place to see it.

Nobody's there. You have it to yourself. Um, uh, yeah, so that's my memories of Crescent Lake. So when you walk around Crescent Lake, do Lou, where are you going? What do you like?

[00:21:49] Lou Mongello: First thing's first, your, your sound effects. You're like the Michael Winslow. Good of, of Disney , uh, with your, your sound effects.

I'm gonna do with the top 10 sound effects that little Timmy [00:22:00] Foster can do. I try. Um, Crescent Lake was third on my list. This, this, because I think Crescent Lake. I, I sort of broke it up into, you can sort of divide Crescent Lake into one long walk or I think about it in terms of three different walks.

So, Hmm. There is the walk around Crescent Lake Proper, which is the, the Circle Yacht Beach Club Boardwalk in Boardwalk Villas, uh, over by the, the bridge over to Epcot, which in and of itself is, is a beautiful view. I love the boardwalk, especially in the morning. You really wanna, thi I love sunset. Golden Hour is my favorite time of the day, but especially if you're staying at any of those resorts, go early in the morning.

And depending on the time of year, it's super quiet. If you go early enough, there's no music, there's no background music playing, and all you hear are just the, the, the natural sounds around you. But there's this time as the sun is coming up and there is this dew that sits along the boardwalk and you feel like you have this pathway all to yourself.

I've never actually done it myself, but in theory, this is what I imagined it to be. is, is beautiful. Um, and then if you time it just right, the bakery will just open up and you can carb load with a, a little nosh, but you can also. Extend this walk as well. This somewhat circular, more oval shape of Crescent Lake.

You can extend, if you wanna go over the, the small bridge to the swan and dolphin resort area. That's actually, it's a nearly perfect half circle that takes you around the swan over to the, um, the, the sort of that straight line that divides the semi-circle in front of the Walt Disney and World Dolphin, beautiful [00:24:00] views of their own sort of mini lagoon.

There's a beach, there's a wonderful pool area like with this, uh, rock waterfall. Um, you can stop there and have breakfast if you want as well to some great places inside the dolphin. And then if you really want to. Be adventurous or extend your walk, whether you're going to or from. There is a util i I keep calling the a utilitarian walk.

Right? It's a place, it's a walk that takes you from point A to point B. You can take the often overlooked walkway in between that area, right where the, the bridge to the swan dolphin is. There's a, a pathway along. It's not really a river, there's no real sort of name to it, but it's this extension of Crescent Lake that will take you from the boardwalk to or from.

Disney's Hollywood studios. So if you're staying in the Epcot resort area and maybe you don't wanna wait for the bus or other transportation back, you can actually take a really nice long walk along that waterway. The friendship boats will pass by depending on the time of year and the time of day or night that you go.

It's actually very leisurely. It's, it's, it's a wonderful stroll. Timothy Foster, I will buy you dinner anywhere on property. Yeah. If you get this right. Oh, what is the name of that walkway?

[00:25:21] Tim Foster: You know, Lou, it's funny on my list, cause I have this on my list and I have a note under there. Ask Lou what the name of this canal is because I don't know and I, I swear you've told me.

And I think, but I'm, I owe you a dinner, I guess, cuz I don't know. I wanted to ask

[00:25:41] Lou Mongello: you, I'm still gonna treat you anyway, but I'm a huge nerd and I love this guy. You know what, I'm going to change what I was going to make this week's trivia question. And I'm going to make that this week's trivia question, which means you're not gonna tell me I'm Tim.

You might actually have to go and listen to, you might have to listen to your very first episode of the show. Um, [00:26:00] but I do, I, I love this walk, whether it is. The, the circle you add on the, the swan dolphin or you walk over to, um, to or from Disney's Hollywood Studios. Um, again, timing of the day because there's not a lot of shade in a lot of these areas.

Do it early in the morning, do it at sunset or do it even, uh, late in the evening. Uh, it's really, it's a beautiful, beautiful walk.

[00:26:25] Tim Foster: Well, I, I do have this on my list, and if memories, two things about it. One, it, it is a great walk. Um, I've done it plenty of times and again, it's great. Another early in the morning, like if you're gonna the studios for the day and it's not super hot yet.

It is a fun walk if memory serves. It's been a long time since I've done this, but, um, when you, uh, like say you're, well staying anywhere, but when we stay at the swan or the dolphin, you can walk down, correct me if I'm wrong here, either side of the canal. Like there's, there's a main walkway coming if you're doing the Crescent Lake walkin from there and you're going down the main path.

But I seem to recall you could go on that main path and eventually you get to a bridge, which you go under. But at that point, I think you can go up and over. And then there is a path that actually goes back down to the dolphin. I, and that might be the jogging. My understanding is it's been a long time. I don't know if that's still there or I believe

[00:27:17] Lou Mongello: there's only a pathway that is on the boardwalk side, right?

It's gonna take you maybe then, maybe there is, right. It's gonna take you And the way you access it, there's sort of a little loop there. It's gonna take you, if you go behind jelly rolls, it'll take you behind Big River, past the Luna Park play area. Wait, is it still called Luna Park? I think it is. Pass the, um, past the pool area.

You also passed by the, uh, the DVC pool. Uh mm-hmm. , the boardwalk tennis courts. But I, there may be a path on the other side, but I don't think it goes all the way around. I think the path on the opposite side.

[00:27:56] Tim Foster: My recollection, it's not, it wouldn't go to the studio. So that's not how you would go. Yeah. I think it [00:28:00] was more like the jogging path of dolphin and swan and you could,

[00:28:05] Lou Mongello: I think there is a, right, I think it's a circular

[00:28:07] Tim Foster: path, but if you're gonna the studio, that's the main

[00:28:09] Lou Mongello: one on, yeah.

You lost me at the word jogging, but other than

[00:28:12] Tim Foster: that, yeah, I know. I, I, I, believe me, I wasn't one of the people jogging. In fact, when I'm walking on this path in the morning and I see people jogging, I am just in awe, like, how can you possibly, I'm already tired and I just started, but

[00:28:24] Lou Mongello: I'm in awe of them.

But it's gonna be great when I convince you, by the way, to do your first 5K for at Walt Disney World. And as part of one of the run Disney, I just, I'm thinking this up as I go on the fly. We're gonna get you to do the fi. I'll do it with you. I'll Well, I got Tim, have you done this? Yes, I have. Okay,

[00:28:40] Tim Foster: then what are you so aversed to jogging for?

[00:28:42] Lou Mongello: Well, I, I didn't say I jogged it. Oh, . If I

[00:28:47] Tim Foster: can get you jogged or can I,

[00:28:49] Lou Mongello: can we, we can walk slow walking. We will walk it. No, I'm in pan in hand. I love walking. And we'll, we'll love raise money for charity too. How's that?

[00:28:57] Tim Foster: I love it. That's still Mark

[00:28:58] Lou Mongello: Stanley. We'll even do like some sort of themed matching costume setup

[00:29:03] Tim Foster: thing.

We will talk about that. But I'm in . I don't know where you're going with that. , uh, one memory I have of that canal, which is good. This kind of goes over to, uh, I sometimes have fun talking about our favorite rainy moments in Walt Disney World, which is a whole other thing. There was one time I was walking, I guess I was coming back from the studios and did you know Lou?

Every once in a while they'll, you'll get an afternoon thunderstorm in Florida. It happens. I've heard occasionally. I have heard. Yeah. So I got caught in one and I was, I was still, I was approaching the swan and dolphin, but I was still a ways out. I started to do the pick up your pace to try and get out of the rain before it gets going, but then realized, you know what, I'm just in for the, I'm just in for the long haul and just slowly walked as the deluge, the deluge.

Hit me and, uh, I didn't wear those shoes the rest of the trip. So, fun [00:30:00] memory then. So was that your entry then, or was that part of your Crescent Lake discussion?

[00:30:05] Lou Mongello: That was all just part of my Crescent Lake discussion. Oh yeah. See he had like five and one there. I love it. Well, it's right, it's Crescent Lake sort of embodies all the, the Epcot resorts and Swan Dolphin and that walkway to be guessed later.

[00:30:20] Tim Foster: Okay. Ooh, interesting.

[00:30:23] Lou Mongello: So it's your turn. It is my turn and yeah, I, I, I wanna sort of go, I'm sort of bouncing in between because I had the next thing that was, was on my list in terms of places that I wanted to go, but I may go a little off script. Not that I'm using a script, but I'm gonna go off script and rather than mention, cause we've mentioned ones that are sort of tied to resorts, which is fine because you don't necessarily need a theme park ticket, which is one of the reasons why I like this.

I'm going to just to mix things up a little bit and I, and I know you're doing a lot of walking already in the parks and maybe I'm trying to get you also to an attraction that you might not necessarily do otherwise because I think to a certain degree it is a bit overlooked. And rather than go to my next resort, I'm instead going to go all the way down.

Don't walk there because you can't, all the way down to Disney's Animal Kingdom and the Maharaja Jungle Trek where Oh yeah. You get not only. A beautiful walk, but this introduction to incredible storytelling. Right. And I'll, I'm gonna do a deep dive and sort of a dsi into Maharaja Jungle Track. Look, I think, I think it's some of the best subtle storytelling that Imaginary does to tell this imaginary storyline, while also integrating important and valuable lessons about [00:32:00] animals and our relationship with the animal kingdom, not Disney's animal, but the actual animal kingdom and nature.

And walking through Maharaja Jungle Trekk gives you not just this self-paced walkthrough, uh, attraction, but. The experience of encounters with a variety of different, unique and exotic wildlife and the ruins and the vegetation and the, the. I mean, I wanna say lions and tigers and dragon, but there's the kimodo dragon and the buffalos and the tigers and, and the, um, the birds and the bats.

It is a beautiful yes, overlooked experience, but I also think it is a wonderful walk. So maybe some people in your family want to go and hit all of the thrill rides in Disney's Animal Kingdom. This is a perfect opportunity for you to not just sort of find a place to sit and watch the world go by, but wander and explore and take time going through this attraction, which really never has much of a weight.

But I think I, I would abs if I was doing a top 10 list of overlooked experiences in Walt Disney World, I would put this in here and. Give yourself an, and also, I think, know when to go too, right? Like the safari and things. If you go early in the morning, you go later in the day, um, you can see the, um, I think they're like Sumatran, tigers, um, which are just, they're, they're you, they're, they're absolutely beautiful.

Um, as well as all the birds and the bats, et cetera. And then see if you can piece together the story that is being told and what this Royal Forest, according to story was originally meant to be. And it is this puzzle that you can sort of put together as you are taking your time on your [00:34:00] self-guided tour and putting the pieces together.

I love, this

[00:34:04] Tim Foster: was absolutely on my list and the, like, the Maharaja Jungle track for me ticks off so many lists. This. It on my list of overlooked attractions, like you mentioned, it's on my list of most relaxing places in all of Walt Disney World. Most beautiful places in all of Walt Disney World. Yeah. I love the Jungle Track so much.

There's one part in there, which is one of my fa We, we talk a lot about these little, little tiny spots that we think are some of our favorites in all of Walt Disney World for various reasons. And the Maharaja Jungle track, there's a, there's a courtyard. Mm-hmm. with a little jade fountain in the middle, which is, and it's, you're surrounded by, By trees and foliage, you're, you're so far away from the rest of the park and civilization and it's such a peaceful, relaxing place.

It's one of my favorite places in all of Walt Disney World to go. So, yes, absolutely. On my

[00:35:02] Lou Mongello: list and I'll, and I'll give you a bit of a hint, two things. There's a Wilderness Explorer activity inside the Mahara Jungle Trek. So if you or your kids wanna take place in that, but you mentioned the murals. I'll give you a little bit of hint.

Yeah. The murals, both the relief murals and the painted murals. Help tell a very, a fascinating connected story that sort of has, you know, this beginning, middle, and end as you walk through the entire trek. And some of those murals are behind fences. So make sure you take the time to look and see if you can piece the story together or wait until I do the dsi and, um, I'll help, I'll help fill in the blank, fill in those blanks for you.

[00:35:50] Tim Foster: Yes. There you go. My and my daughter is all about the bats, by the way. So don't I dig the

[00:35:55] Lou Mongello: bats, which you can skip. You can skip the bats if you don't dig. Skip, don't. But [00:36:00] don't skip the bats. Don't skip

[00:36:01] Tim Foster: the bats. So good. So from my next one, I hope you're okay with it. I'm gonna go in, in the old way back machine as you call it, and talk about one that isn't there anymore.

But, but try to look it ahead to what may be there. But I'm not sure yet. But the, one of the paths I always loved back when we first started going was in the Magic Kingdom. And again, oddly enough, one of these paths, you're, you're right near, you're not too far from everybody else, but if you took this path, you felt like you were so far away from everything.

And this was, I like to call it the secret path that only I knew about, but it was the one that led from Tomorrowland back to Toontown Fair. Yes. And I loved that pathway. And it seemed oddly, it seemed oddly overlooked cuz it, it wasn't that far out of the way. But if you went on it, there was rarely anybody there.

You had amazing views of, of the Walter Disneys New World Railroad, perhaps the best views short of standing at the station. Some of the best views you could have photographers. It was a photographer's delight for the train. Um, but it was such a peaceful pass going both ways. Whether you are even deliberately heading to Tune Town Fair or not, I just thought it was a great way I wanted to take in some scenery.

Two, to get away from the crowds for a little bit. And, um, so much fun. Alas not there anymore, but what I'm looking forward to, and I, I dunno how this will play out and we'll see, but like last time we were there around the t t a getting a good glimpse of Tron coming together, which, um, again, anybody's seen it.

Lou, you live there, you've probably seen it so many times. Looks like it's going to be so amazing. Not sure if I'm ever gonna ride it cuz it's me and it's a little fast. But the, um, from the t t a, you can start seeing the, the outer courtyard, the outer area. Surrounding Tron, starting to take shape, got to see the tunnel, the railroad's gonna come through the [00:38:00] first time, and even getting glimpse of the corresponding areas in the Shanghai version, that area's gonna look so incredible.

It's not gonna be a path to fan land, of course, and I don't know if we would actually call it a place to walk, but I can't wait. Just to explore that whole area. You, you're not going on the attraction. It just looks so amazing. So the pathway to tune town fair may be gone, but I can at least hopefully look forward to, uh, at least a nice place to hang out soon, which will be exciting.

[00:38:30] Lou Mongello: I did, um, I did always used to love because it was almost, again, one of those overlooked pathways, uh, behind. Mickey Starland, Mickey's birthday land, Mickey's tune town fair over to Tomorrowland. And when you got that beautiful view of the Walter World Railroad as it came back, and that's one of the, I, I didn't have it on my list, but as you said that I was like, I, I remember you.

I used to like showing people that pathway cuz it almost looked like a place you weren't supposed to go. Like you weren't really sure. And then at one point they opened her up, they put like a smoking section there and I was like, eh. And then , they, it, it used to be a, a treat trail during the not so scary Halloween parties, which sort of.

Um, introduce people. I think a lot to that pathway. But, um, you did mention the railroad, by the way, which is reopened. Go ride it. Yes, yes. Breaking news. Well, I'm not go, it's not breaking anymore, but go ride at the new, you don't realize how much you miss it until it's gone. And the new narration and views are spectacular.

[00:39:32] Tim Foster: We, I've been been waiting for the railroad for so long. Yeah. So we were so excited when we saw it. Uh, well we saw the tunnel, we were excited cuz we knew it can't be long now. And then pretty soon after that it was open, so we're gonna first ones in line when we get there anyway, so,

[00:39:49] Lou Mongello: so I am, um, I, I'm back and forth because I keep wanting to go to this other resort that I want to touch on, but, [00:40:00] um, you know what I.

I didn't, I didn't do this on purpose, but I'm gonna stay at Disney's Animal Kingdom, not just because I wanna walk over and get some Mr. Kamal's fries while I'm there, but because I think this is one of those things that every person that's ever been to that park has seen, but has not necessarily done.

And what I mean by that is when you enter Disney's Animal Kingdom and you are making your dash to Kilimanjaro Safaris, uh, Navi River Journey, flight of Passage, expedition, Everest, you know, finding Nemo, the musical, the musical, wherever it might be, you walk through Discovery Island, but I think you don't walk to Discovery Island.

And one of the things that I love doing in this park, Other than dining, it's a tule Canteen for lunch is walking over to the Discovery Island trails, Tim Foster for an undisclosed prize that will make you happy. What was the, don't Google it. What was the original name of the Discovery Island Trails?

I'm sorry. That is incorrect. I wanna,

[00:41:19] Tim Foster: well, I'm, I'm, I have Oasis in my head, but I don't think that's what you

[00:41:23] Lou Mongello: mean. It's not, but it's called, you know what it used to be called? Well, that, that area, that land was sort of called the Oasis. So I'm gonna give you half credit, half credit, or half a church. It was originally called the Tree of Life Gardens.

No way. Way. It opened in May of 1998, a few weeks after Animal Kingdom Park opened, but they later renamed it the Discovery Island Gardens and then changed it to what it currently is, which is the Discovery Island Trails. And they are these, lush [00:42:00] winding pathways that take you to and around the base of the tree of life.

There are never any crowds there. You get some incredible views and unique vistas of not just the tree of life but the river, and then Asia and Africa. Across the river there are like tunnels of rocks and trees, and there's this beautiful, beautiful, serene waterfall that you, nine times outta 10 will have to yourself and again.

Going in early in the morning and then later in the day. If you're a photographer, there's great photo opportunities there as well. It gets you away from the crowds. It is a walking path. I, I think at one point there may have been a bench there, but I don't think there are, there are a few animals on there that you can only see from these pathways.

Um, but you also can enter into the tree of life and see animals that you would carved into the tree that you would not have seen otherwise. And so, and, and really get super, super up close to, um, to those carvings. So Discovery Island, the Discovery Island pathway is, is I, I had to make sure I included on my list.

[00:43:22] Tim Foster: I love though I had to take your advice and do it earlier, late, cuz I you more often than not, when I am walking around those trails, it is the middle of the day and the sun usually wins in that. In that contest and I bail out. But, but it is, there's so much to see there. I remember seeing, uh, uh, what a Wilderness Explorer cast member.

Mm-hmm. , if I have that right on like, not, not on the path, but on another part of the path. But it was across the, the little valley in the stream and we're waving at each other and it was a, it was a wilderness explorer moment, which was great. So, but yeah, for the tree of life, so many, I, I've never tried [00:44:00] to look for all of the animals, but if you ever wanted to do that, you definitely need to do this to find the different vantage points and yeah, it's, it's, it's so great.

This and two of points, and like you said, so many photo opportunities.

[00:44:11] Lou Mongello: I, I don't think they do it anymore, but at one point, a long, long time ago, I do remember there was a, a character meet and greet. I remember seeing Pocahontas on the trail. Um, she was on sort of the, like the creature comfort side. The other thing I, I meant to note and, and made sure I made an, uh, illustrated the point when we first started too, Tim, we're talking about.

Top 10 walking paths in Walt Disney World. I wanna be clear, these are walking paths, they are strolling paths and for the most part, they're also wheel paths, meaning, yeah, I think everything that we have talked about so far, and I wanted to make sure I was being inclusive in this regard, even these paths too are accessible via.

Wheelchair, ecv, stroller, et cetera. So for example, if you have really young kids and maybe you wanna just take them on a walk someplace quiet, so maybe they, and you can take a nap. You can do this if you want to, you know, get out of the at, well some of 'em are in the sun, somewhere out. But if you wanna sort of get yourself or your mom or dad or whomever, you know, out of the crowds a little bit, these are all places that are easily accessible as well.

[00:45:23] Tim Foster: I'm glad you mentioned that cuz we, we do ECS when we go for some people in the party. I did wanna mention, we, we've led off with the Grand Floridian Magic Kingdom Trail. That no doubt would be a, a fun trail to do on an ecb. Just make sure my piece of advice that you are sufficiently charge. Because if you get, ha, because I did see this happen once you get halfway down and if you run outta juice, you might have a little bit of an issue.

So that's one trail. Be careful of that. So true. Your point. I don't, who is it? My turning? I believe it's back to you. Back to me. [00:46:00] Uh, let's see.

All right, I'll, I'll cheat. Yeah. Where do I go? I'm gonna go, I dunno if this qualifies as a walking trail per se, but one thing I like going back to Epcot, and I've talked about this before in the context of a relaxing moment, a magical moment. But I still love walking. We talked about walking around Crescent Lake, going to another body of water in Epcot, walking around World Showcase Lagoon.

But for me more specifically, at night after. Everything is closed after, back in my day when it was illuminations, uh, or harmonious. Now when that's over, just walking around world showcase, even hanging back a little bit, letting people go, not going out with the crowd, but just walking around, enjoying the music, enjoying the pavilions, walking into the courtyards.

Of course, the shops aren't open anymore and so forth, but you can still step back and it's amazing. Everywhere you go, you, you get off the path even a little bit, and you're in that sweet spot of feeling like you're a million miles away from everybody and you have the whole park to yourself. and I especially remember during illuminations days and hearing we go on and that, that closing music and walking around the pavilions at night and into the courtyards in Japan and back in the United Kingdom and so forth.

Um, just a magic place and doing the whole circuit if you can. And you have plenty of time cuz uh, there's, there's, everyone's trying to make their way out, so you got lots of time, or, or especially if you're staying at the Epcot resorts, you can just walk out. But yeah, that, that ticks the boxes of favorite places to walk, most relaxing moments, most magical moments.

So still love it. I actually haven't done it in a while, so I need to make a point of doing it again on my

[00:47:56] Lou Mongello: next trip. So what we need to do [00:48:00] is you do a late night dining experience Yes. In Epcot Yes. This way, if you time it appropriately when you come out the promenade. Mm-hmm. is for all intents and purposes.

Yours, it's all yours. Me and you. Tekume. The best Dunning experience on Walter's World Property. . We'll, we'll do a late night reservation. We'll come out and we will stroll, and I will just sort of as a quick addendum. I actually had as almost like an honorable mention, but it was on the list itself. Muroc.

Is a really, really nice place. Ooh, it's a short walk, right? Because of the depth of the pavilion. But I think a lot of people don't realize, Tim, that behind that front almost facade of the pavilion is this labyrinth like walkway of alleyways and exhibits and little shops and mosaics and artwork and little places to sort of go.

It's gorgeous. It is gorgeous back there again, especially if you go at night, it's very, very different than if you go early in the day. But Morocco lit up late night is, is Beau again, if you're a photographer too, there's, there's beautiful shots you can get back there, but walk through the Morocco pavilion.

It's really like a mini, it's a mini walk in, in Walt Disney World or as part of your overall walk through and around world showcase. Oh,

[00:49:28] Tim Foster: I like, I'll do another one going next door to the Japan pavilion and walking through the gardens, uh, over by the ponds and up up that pathway. And I'm only saying this cuz I feel like we need an excuse at least on one show to get up to that upper level in the Japan pavilion and just sit by the waterfall, which is our favorite spot in

[00:49:45] Lou Mongello: all of Disneyland.

It would not be a top 10 if we somehow did not integrate our, exactly. Our mutual love of that pavilion. Um, and it, and it's not just, i, it, my love of that pavilion is really almost more [00:50:00] the external part than what is within the walls of the pavilion itself. Yeah, exactly. I will from there, go back to where I wanted to.

Visit, and this is one. And, and a lot of these should say, well, do I need to be staying at the resorts to stay there? Not necessarily, right. A lot of times you should be able to get to the resort. This resort is a little bit out, more out of the way. But you can go and visit for a variety of different reasons, whether it is to eat, whether it's to take part in the multitude of activities, or maybe if you're going for an evening at a show that I like to call the Hoopty Doo musical review.

But if you are looking for a place to take a long, beautiful, truly serene walk, Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort may actually be at the top of that list. Now, a couple of qualifiers. The, the resort itself, the property is huge, right? Which is why people rent golf carts to get around. , but there is a trail that is specifically designated for walking and for jogging.

At one point it used to actually connect, there was a, a, a shaded part of the trail. That was another about three quarters or so of a mile long that would connect Fort Wilderness with Wilderness Lodge, which

[00:51:30] Tim Foster: obviously that's my honorable mention item, that pathway. I loved that. Well,

[00:51:34] Lou Mongello: may it rest in peace?

Yeah. Because the construction that was started and now put on hold, or whatever you wanna call it for reflections of Disney Lakeside Lodge impacted the, the accessibility of that pathway. But walking through. Fort Wilders itself. Again, timing of the year. Timing of the day is super important here. But even if you're staying at [00:52:00] Wilderness's Lodge, or if you're at Magic Kingdom, you can take a boat over and you can be let out, um, you know, over by where, um, pioneer Hall is, and you can access the, the trail from there.

So there is a trail that you can go. It literally sort of begins almost at that boat dock and will take you through. Um, it'll take you around like the Meadow Depot. It'll take you by where Chippendales Campfire sing along age. It'll take you past the Meadow Trading Post. So are places to stop if you need to get yourself something to drink.

If you need to use a facility, it is there, but overall to about a two and a half mile. Walk. So depending on how fast you walk, you can sort of approximate is it gonna take you, you know, 45 minutes to an hour maybe to do it, maybe a little bit less. But if you are a walker, a runner, a hiker, a camper, whatever it is, this is a really neat way to see sort of a different side of, of Disney.

And I think it's absolutely something worth going and doing. And I'm not as, I'm thi saying this out loud. I know we're talking about walking, but years ago, and I don't, I'm not sure if it's back yet. There used to be a segue tour at Fort Wilderness that I did when it first launched, which I loved because, and I won't spoil it in case they do it.

They take you places that you cannot see otherwise. And there's a piece of Walt Disney world history there, which is vital that 99.9% of guests don't know about. You're

[00:53:42] Tim Foster: not gonna tell us what it

[00:53:43] Lou Mongello: is, Ari, I'm only gonna say this and it's gonna sound like a creepy horror movie, but there's a hidden cabin.

What? I'm not kidding. There's a hidden cabin on Walton's world property that is, is [00:54:00] integral into the history of this property.

[00:54:05] Tim Foster: You gonna leave me like that? I'm gonna have nightmares.

[00:54:07] Lou Mongello: Nightmare. . I didn't say it was like Blair. Which project

[00:54:12] Tim Foster: out there? Well, you said, you said creep, you planted creepy. It's not cabin no one knows about in my head.

So now that's what I got. That's what I gotta deal with,

[00:54:19] Lou Mongello: Tim. You know, if I, I'm not gonna go, I'm not gonna lay overlay some like, haunting music on here because the pen, the music choice, I can either make it haunting or be like, whoa, like a scent of I should do this because I wanna go and see it. But I, I'm not even sure that the, um, that those segue tours have return.

Well, that's the other, yeah. But it is, but that walking trail, um, and I know a lot of people who are runners, they love going on those different, uh, jogging and running and, and walking trails as well.

[00:54:46] Tim Foster: Well, I've, uh, couple times rented a bike to do those trails too, which is also a lot of fun. Hmm. Good, good time.

That's a whole other top.

[00:54:57] Lou Mongello: I, I'm just, you think that's, you think the cabin is creepy? I'm picturing you on a bike like Peewee Hermann, like flying through the forest. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:55:05] Tim Foster: That, that's, that's fair. I think, did I fall over? I think I fell over. You know what, you know when they stay, it's just like riding a bike.

You never forget. No, you forget. And I, it took me a while to get , get back together. So, oh, I'm down to my last one sort of mostly Cause we doubled up on so many of these. Um, I had a long list. So last thing I had, and this, this doesn't mean it was my favorite one I had, it's just the last one. It does, I, it doesn't really qualify even as a walking trail or anything like that.

But when you talk about walking around Walt Disney World, one of the things I actually like to do is, depending on the resort we're at, is to just do some resort exploring and walking around, uh, the walking around the grounds or walking around the inside. and there's a few resorts that are all my, my favorite to do this.

Um, one is the yacht and the beach [00:56:00] club, just cuz they're connected. And I've done done a walk from that door that is the closest resort room to an entrance of a Walt Disney World Park down at the end of the Beach Club. And Macon my eye way all the way through and all the way to the yacht club. But it's just, it's so much fun to explore both of the resorts, to see both of the lobbies.

Uh, and it's because it's so big and sprawling. It's, it's a long walk, but it's, it's, it's, it's pretty nice. And you can pop outside occasionally when either you have to or you want to. So that's a nice thing to do. I also like walking around the, um, wilderness lodge, not just the insides and that, oh, that wonderful ramp.

Way from the Roaring Fork up to the lobby. One of my favorite . There's just something about that that's so magical, but just exploring the grounds of the wilderness lodge. In Boulder Ridge and, and going over to the D V C and checking out the Carol Wood room and the train exhibits and playing some checkers with your friends.

Uh, but the, the wilderness lodge especially is so, there's so many paths and every places to explore in about and around the resorts. Uh, even the, the pathways going down the dock for the boats to the Magic Kingdom. So much fun to walk around. And again, one of those places it feels, depending on what time of year it is and what time of day it is, really feels like you're in the Great Northwest and it's a little cold and it just might snow, especially around Christmas time.

So, so that was the last one on my list is exploring the resorts. Uh, when you're, There're lots of fun. Contemporary was my other one, going down the second floor convention area and just wandering around. There's thing, there's a whole business area. There's places I didn't know were down there, so there's lots of fun.

So that's, that's my final entry on this list cuz Lou, you kind of took all my favorite ones. Not to mention mine. Uh, just so you know, as,

[00:57:49] Lou Mongello: as I see you walking through Great. Through. Wilderness Lodge. I'm going to be waving to you from my waterside seat and bison burger over at, um, at as [00:58:00] I'm sitting. Yeah, that sounds about right.

[00:58:02] Tim Foster: Yeah, it's, I'm walking around there. There you

[00:58:04] Lou Mongello: are. Um, I'll just mention a couple of others quickly and. Tim, for the most part, I did really try and stay outside the parks because I think there's just sort of the inherent walking that you do when you are there, unless there are places that are sort of off the beaten path.

And we talked about places at Disney's Animal Kingdom, and there was one more that I didn't even, I just thought about now that, and I think we've talked about this in the past, there's that sort of secret pathway, which is not a, it's not really a walk, it's just this little path that is on that walkway in between Africa and Asia.

But I do wanna just point out a couple of others quickly. If you are at these resorts, if you are visiting resorts, a lot of them have these built-in pathways. And there's a few that I think are notable for a variety of different reasons. One of which is Hourglass Lake, which is in between Disney's Pop Century and Disney's Art of Animation Resort, which were Tim originally going to be called What?

Two resorts?

Um,

[00:59:04] Tim Foster: Why do you do this to me all

[00:59:06] Lou Mongello: the time? Because it's

[00:59:06] Tim Foster: fun. And I say, say this again. Art of animation of Pop pop

[00:59:10] Lou Mongello: resort. Disney's called and Disney's Art of Animation Resort. Yeah. Were buildings that were originally going to be part of. They were gonna be called something else. I know this,

[00:59:20] Tim Foster: I can't remember.

What is it? Gimme a hint.

[00:59:23] Lou Mongello: The classic years and the,

[00:59:31] Tim Foster: see you gave me other one. I would've said

[00:59:32] Lou Mongello: Classic years season. The legendary years Legendary. There you go. The legendary and the classic. Yeah, I knew that. I know you did. I we're just doing this with the benefit of, of our friend who's listening. This walk allows you to. Get your steps in, walk around the beautiful lake.

You've get beautiful views of the skyliner. You have all the different views of the larger than life [01:00:00] animated characters on the art of animation side. On the pop century side. You also have, as you, as you sort of weave through, there's all of these, um, little signs that, that have facts and figures throughout history that are sort of spaced out along the pathway that.

Help teach you a little bit about the history of each decade as well. So there's a learning opportunity, kids and parents as well. And you have the skyliner right there. Uh, the views are beautiful. So Hourglass Lake, hourglass Lake is one. And lest we forget that there's two great food courts at at both of them as well.

Um, in Coronado Springs, uh, wrapping, and again, I keep going around water because around Lago, Dorado, the, the giant lake is a pathway that's, it's about three quarters of a mile or so. Very easy, very accessible path, whether you're a walking, running, wheeling, pushing a stroller, whatever it might be. Uh, there's a lot to see along the way as well, in terms of.

The resort itself, I think I'm 82.4% sure that if you go to the front desk at the resort, I believe that there's a. Not a scavenger hunt, but there is a guy that'll teach you about some of the different horticulture and, and plants and flowers that are along the way as well. There's also a really nice walkway in between Disney's Caribbean Beach and Disney's Riviera Resorts, um, that there's a, a long pathway that surrounds Barefoot Bay.

This is a little bit longer. It's about a mile and a quarter, mile and a half, somewhere in there. Um, but you get beautiful views [01:02:00] of both of the resorts as well. And start from one end at the other and go do it in the morning and go have breakfast over at Disney's Riviera Resort, which is just gorgeous.

Or go back again at night for dinner up at Topos Terrace and have the rigatoni. You can thank me later. that you need to walk off. You need you. Oh gosh. You need to walk. I'm still walking it off. And I had it like six months ago. Um, and I think the last thing is, uh, And, and you can sort of separate these or put them together.

Disney Springs. And Saratoga Springs. Um, Saratoga Springs. You know, it was funny, Tim, for a while Saratoga Springs was like, The resort people would stay at if you couldn't get in anywhere else. But then once Disney Springs came up and there was this easy ability to walk in between the two, it became much more popular.

And it's a beautiful, relaxing walk there. There's a lot of water features and fountains and like nature along the way. Um, so it, it's a very nice walk. You can walk in between the two. You can walk from Saratoga to Disney Springs and vice versa. Versa. Or just walk around Saratoga Springs itself and, uh, and some of the water features there too.

I mean, I think all of the resorts, you know, I mean, as we think about sort of all these resorts Yeah. Have their own little built, built-in pathways, I think. I think even the, the All Stars has a running path. Like it's a specifically like laid out running path as well in between each. The resorts, but I really wanted to try and highlight some of these that were off the figurative beaten path and might have a little bit of an additional attractive element to it and, and another reason to go for whatever reason you feel you want or need to go and take a walk.

You gotta take along, you gotta take away. Well, I,

[01:03:53] Tim Foster: I, it's, again, it's a great way to get away. feels like the last thing you wanna do in Walt Disney World, but a [01:04:00] great way to get away from it all for a little bit. And I'm always amazed at how far away I feel when I'm on that, these pathways. And, and that's the, which is a good

[01:04:08] Lou Mongello: thing, right?

And, and no matter what your reason is to go and take a walk, whether you wanna do it on your own, if you, if you're an early riser and just wanna grab your coffee and take a leisurely st. At your resort, you can do that too if you're looking to explore different resorts that maybe you had never done before, but like Tim, you've never stayed or even visited before.

It's a reason to go. If you are a runner, you can obviously run on these paths as well. And again, there, there, it really feels to be a little bit of a, of an exploratory element to some of these. And it's why I thought it would be something that was fun and a little bit different. And hopefully we've introduced you to a path or a place or some sort of an attractor, uh, along the way.

That you would want to go, but I wanna know from you, and so does Tim, he's not saying it cuz he is shy. But we really want to know collectively and individually, what is your favorite place to go and walk in Walt Disney World and why? Why do you like it? When do you like to go take a walk? What is it that's special or what is something that we need to look out for?

There's a few different ways you can let us know. I'll post this question over in the clubhouse over on Facebook. It is our fun, friendly, family friendly, and oh, so welcoming community over on Facebook. You can go there directly by visiting ww radio.com/clubhouse. If you wanna tell us and be heard on the air, like you're sitting here at the table with us and you have something you wanna say and share, you can call the voicemail.

I'll play it on the air at 4 0 7 909 3 9 1. And maybe after your walk and you wanna go back to your resort and just sit down with your coffee tea mimosa. Hey, there's no judgment here. Whatever you'd like to do, and maybe pick up something to read. Maybe that is a great time to grab the latest edition of [01:06:00] Celebrations Magazine or, or in the alternative, one of the incredible, I, I don't know, they're, they're souvenir books.

They are Collectible Works of Arts, uh, on paper over@celebrationspress.com, I, we call 'em keepsake books. Keepsakes, that's the word I was looking

[01:06:21] Tim Foster: for. So much, so much fun. Yeah. Well, we have our Epcot 40th anniversary book and Free companion Pin, which we love. We did with, there's a 50th anniversary book we did that was so much fun to put together, both still, but plenty.

They're available over@celebrationspress.com and I will say, I don't know quite what we're doing yet, but I do note that next year, actually I take that back this year. It's January a hundred year celebration. Animal Kingdom turns a young 25 years. Today. What? And I think we'll be doming something special for both of these things.

Details to come cuz we're still working them out. But lots of excitement to look forward to.

[01:07:05] Lou Mongello: How is Animal Kingdom. I know that can't like the, remember it was just a pup and then here it is. Wow. Now I, I didn't feel old before, but for some reason animal kingdom turning 25. That's the thing that put me over the limit.

[01:07:20] Tim Foster: Sorry. Sorry about that. So you need a beignet

[01:07:23] Lou Mongello: now. I always need a beignet. Oh. But I'm not a sweet guy. But Tim, these after, again, going back, speaking of how time flies, going back to the very beginning when we first started doing these low, those many years ago, they're still so much fun. There are many more on our list to do, but I would also love to hear your idea, not you, Tim, but you, our friend who's listening, your idea for what you would like us to cover in a top 10 or maybe a top 10 that you could join us.

Which would be a lot of fun too. And it's less work from Tim, which he always enjoys. Yeah. You could also email me [01:08:00] lou ww radio.com or put it in the clubhouse and uh, you'll never know. You never know if we might do it and maybe invite you to be a part of it as well. So little to me. Foster, I love you, brother.

I appreciate you in this new year. We are gonna do yes so much together. Port Orleans Riverside, port Orlene, French Quarter, skipping through Crescent Lake, dining at tekume ta and then late night strolling through the World Showcase promenade. My heart is all a flutter. Now all in one day, it's gonna be amazing.

I'll, don't threaten me with a good time, you. Let me, don't forget,

[01:08:35] Tim Foster: don't forget the ha, the half K, the half 20

[01:08:38] Lou Mongello: K, whatever thing you're making. The 20 k. Slow down Cowboy 20 K, 5k. You let me, why don't you let me plan a day? No. Why don't we let the community plan a, a Tim and Lou special day in Walt Disney World and they will lay up.

I'm so frightened saying this out loud. I should really cut this out.

[01:08:59] Tim Foster: No, no. Cause I'm, why, I'm so curious what

[01:09:03] Lou Mongello: would come out of this. Let, uh, let them help plan our day together. Hmm. Frolicking. Frolicking through Walt Disney World. . I love it. With matching shirts, at at least frightened...