The Parks Floating Festival continues in the Valley, with two new puzzles and a secondary, fully decorated island evoking the best of Adventureland from Disney theme parks across the globe, including Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Disneyland in Anaheim, and Paris Disneyland. This week, we earned two new furniture items from Adventureland: one from Magic Kingdom in Orlando and the other from Disneyland in Anaheim:
The Adventureland Entrance is a pretty exact replica of the Adventureland Entrance leading from the main hub into Adventureland at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando. This is an item that I have desperately wanted to come into the Valley because it holds great sentimental value for me. Between 1989 and 1998, I went to Walt Disney World every summer with my Mama and Mema. In 1996, I was lucky enough to go twice: once with Mama and Mema and a second time with my best friend, Sharon, and my then-fiance, Larry. I went twice in 1997 as well: once with Mama and Mema, and a second time on my honeymoon with Larry. There was a ten year pause after that, due to sickness in the family, but we went one last time in August of 2006. That trip, on which I was accompanied by Mama and Sharon, was bittersweet but still wonderful, as we went to celebrate the life of my beloved Mema (who looked, behaved, and even sounded exactly like the Fairy Godmother!), who had recently passed over.
For most people who visit Magic Kingdom, they consider Main Street the beginning of their “Day at Disney”, but for my family, our day officially started the moment we passed under that Adventureland Entrance. Every trip to Magic Kingdom started with Dole Whip for breakfast:
(Mama enjoying her Adventureland breakfast on our trip in 2006.)
With the arrival of the Adventureland Treehouse in the Valley, I had recently completely redone my Dazzle Beach so that it would more closely mirror Adventureland at Magic Kingdom in Orlando. When I created the entryway leading into this area using the Encanto Wall Kit, I intentionally left a “wishing space”, just in case we should actually happen to get the Adventureland Entrance as a furniture item in the Valley at some point in the future (manifestation at work, y’all!), and sure enough, I had guestimated its size exactly: it fit perfectly into my vacant “wishing spot”! I’ll admit: I teared up a bit as I placed it. That’s why I spend a little bit of every day in the Valley: it’s a place where my best memories virtually live on.
The puzzle to gain the Adventureland Entrance was a jaw-drop moment for me:
For those who don’t recognize the image, it is from the original 1955 Jungle Cruise poster at Disneyland (and I really, really wish they would give us this image as a memory, so that we could put it in a frame and hang it in our house!). That’s not why my jaw dropped, though. You may recall in a previous post that I discussed the Society of Explorers and Adventurers (SEA) panel at D23, which happened on the same day as the DDLV panel. Well, that panel is why my jaw dropped:
In my opinion, this is concrete proof that Josh D’Amaro’s One Disney ethos definitely applies to the Valley. It’s also another possible clue that the Realmweaver is, in fact, Dreamfinder, if my theories about Dreamfinder’s upcoming association with the SEA hold true.
But back to the Parks Floating Festival: Week Two:
After completing the Poster Puzzle, Valley Villagers are granted access to a secondary, fully-decorated island, as mentioned in the head of this post. There, one must complete a second puzzle to attain the Jungle Cruise Entrance. This is a very nice item with a really cool history behind it, as it is a reproduction of the original 1955 entrance to the Jungle Cruise from Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Jungle Cruise was an opening day attraction, which means the edifice on which this furniture item is based officially turned 70 on July 17, 2025. As mentioned, the poster in the Poster Puzzle dates to that same time.
I don’t know about y’all, but with all of these associations to the Society of Explorers and Adventurers and all of this great Disney History (Distory), I’m beginning to wonder if the arrival of the Realmweaver–whoever he is–in the Valley might signal an honorary induction of each of us into the SEA. I’m already practicing dressing the part, as I would be exceptionally hyped if that were the case!
