DisneyQuest: Alive at 13!

Last week, I obtained a Disney Premiere Pass, and, while I’ve been to all of the theme parks, including the water parks, in recent years, it had been many years since I had visited DisneyQuest.

DisneyQuest is close to my heart. I worked extensively with the operation to provide team building programs and we had a lot of fun there. That’s a longer story for another day. That said, I was both excited and fearful to visit the attraction after having been away for several years. The excitement was born out of my love for this unique attraction. My fear was that it had gone steadily downhill in the years since, which was what I saw last time I visited nearly five years ago.

Great news! It’s alive! Where previously I could see wear and tear and little concern, this time it looked well kept. Sure, there haven’t been new games introduced in years, and the software looks old compared to what you’ll find on your Wii or Xbox. Still, it’s vibrant, and a great way to enjoy a few hours before heading back to the airport or waiting out a thunderstorm in the heat of a summer day.

This article celebrates the good in DisneyQuest, and gives you a glimpse of what you’re missing if you’ve never been, or if it’s been a while.

Entering DisneyQuest

As you approach the building, it’s clear where DisneyQuest is. But unless you’ve been inside, you wouldn’t have a clue what to expect of this massive five-story structure. That’s why a major mural was painted on one side not long after it opened. Additional signage tries to explain the experience, and, at one point, an example of CyberSpace Mountain vehicle was displayed. But the latter is gone.

This marquee outside DisneyQuests educates guests that there are four lands for your discovery. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.

Stepping into the lobby of DisneyQuest, it’s still hard to see what lies ahead either. But you do see that there’s a strong Disney presence in the theming. Statues of Disney characters surround a dome with a Mickey globe in the center. Here in the lobby you purchase your tickets, go through the turnstiles, and enter the attraction.

Surely whatever is inside is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.

Busts of Disney characters surround the lobby. Here we see Malificent-kind of. That’s another story. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.

Married to the outdoors - Outdoors - The Charleston Gazette - West ...

Ross Wallingford had done a lot of big-game hunting, but he'd never really considered a musk ox hunt.

Until his wife suggested one, that is.

"A lot of the adventures we've gone on are things Karol wanted to do," Ross said. "And we've always had a great time doing them."

From a polar bear photo safari in Manitoba to two plains-game hunting safaris in Africa, Ross and Karol have shared wildlife-related experiences in all four hemispheres. "Whatever it's been, we've always had a great time," Ross said.

Their latest journey began when Karol watched some television shows that featured musk oxen. "I thought they were interesting creatures," she said. "They're amazing because they live in really harsh conditions and they get really big despite eating really poor forage."

Karol wanted a musk ox for the trophy room in the couple's Fairview home.

"I told Ross, 'I want a musk ox, and I'm going with you,'" she said. "I decided that if we were going to have one, I first wanted to see it in its natural environment. Ross asked me which season I would prefer, spring or fall. I told him I wanted to go when it was all snowy and windy and uncomfortable."

On April 21, the Wallingfords lifted off for Ulukhaktok, a hamlet located on Victoria Island in Canada's Northwest Territories, 289 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Karol got her cold-weather wish. In April, the average high temperature in Ulukhaktok is 9 degrees Fahrenheit; the average low is minus-7.

"Everything was covered with snow and ice," Karol said. "The only dark spots in the landscape were rocks and musk oxen."

Telling rocks and musk oxen apart is an acquired skill, especially at the distances required to avoid spooking the oxen. On the hunt's first morning, for example, the Wallingfords' Inuit guide spotted three of the animals heading over a ridge more than a mile and a half away.

"The guides had warned us that musk oxen were really wary and easily spooked," Ross said. "Not only do they have sharp eyesight, they have great hearing - and they've learned that when they hear a snowmobile, it's generally bad news for them. It's hard to get close to them."

After the oxen disappeared over the hill, the guide gunned the engine of his snowmobile and circled far around the hill to the where the oxen would most likely reappear.

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