Parks and Pop Century *And* A Park and Pop Century Christmas! *Plus* Downtown Disney

[meeko_33785]

Welcome to what is now three trip reports in one! This year, we’ve had a couple of great family trips to Walt Disney World enjoying the fun of the Disney Parks and the Pop Century Resort. I’m excited to be able to share stories and photos from these visits and hope that you’ll enjoy them.



Before we start, here is the cast list:

Meeko- College guy/ the author of this trip report. I’m probably the most energetic member of the family and occasionally a bit dramatic. If anybody over-plans for trips, chances are good it’s me, though I’m trying to be a little more flexible. I like the rides and shows at WDW, but I also enjoy getting pictures of the characters just as much. No one else in my family usually has much of an interest in characters, but they’re fairly patient about my quests for photos and autographs.

Buzz- My brother and still one of my best friends. Buzz is funny and artistic, working primarily in photography. He has an interest in animation of all kinds, but especially likes Disney and PIXAR animation, hence, my DIS nickname for him “Buzz”. At WDW (is in life in general) Buzz is usually a bit mellower than I am. Along with the major attractions, he also enjoys finding the little details that each of the parks have to offer.

Mom- My mother is passionate and loves to learn about history and cultures. One of Mom’s favorite parts of WDW is World Showcase at EPCOT. She loves seeing the countries. She also enjoys dining throughout the parks and resorts (she’s usually the first to start browsing the Disney menus online to start making suggestions on where we should eat) and relaxing around the resort and pool.

Dad- How to sum up Dad? I guess you could say he’s kind of goofy at times, but he can be fun too. He loves to relax on our trips and loves to take it easy. One of the running gags in our family is that if you’re not sure where Dad is, he’s probably sitting on the nearest bench. He’s also into The Nightmare Before Christmas and wishes that there were more Nightmare-related things in the parks.



"Parks and Pop Century" Trip Report- August 2008


It’s time for a trip report! This is the family's summer visit to WDW complete with three days in the theme parks. Before the report starts, here’s a sneak peeks at what you’ll see and read about:


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A stay at Pop Century Resort...


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PIXAR Place, Toy Story Mania and other new additions...


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Dining including our first meal at the Plaza Restaurant at MK...


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Character meet-and-greets (including a few new faces)...


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Some rain...


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and ducks?


For easy access to any of the chapters from the pre-trip for trip report, here’s an index of them all:

Preparing for the Parks and Pop Century- Pre-Trip Highlights


Introduction (PTR Post #1 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=25878628&postcount=1))
Dining (PTR Post #3 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=25961627&postcount=3))
Pop Century Pics (PTR Post #4 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=25980440&postcount=4))
Potential New Experiences (PTR Post #7 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26134365&postcount=7))
10-Year Flashback- July 1998 Mini Trip Report (Part One) with pics! (PTR Post #9 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26237987&postcount=9))
10-Year Flashback- July 1998 Mini Trip Report (Part Two) with pics! (PTR Post #10 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26271678&postcount=10))
10-Year Flashback- July 1998 Mini Trip Report (Part Three) with pics! (PTR Post #11 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26308032&postcount=11))
Plans and Itenerary (PTR Post #14 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26475624&postcount=14))
Character Photos (PTR Post #16 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26565717&postcount=16))
The Last Time I Saw... EPCOT (Photos) (PTR Post #18 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26679710&postcount=18))
The Last Time I Saw... Magic Kingdom (Photos) (PTR Post #19 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26715502&postcount=19))
The Last Time I Saw... Disney-MGM St... Disney's Hollywood Studios... Whatever Studios (Photos) (PTR Post #20 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26759508&postcount=20))



The Trip Report


Day One, Part One- Arrival and EPCOT (Post #5 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26974997&postcount=5))
Day One, Part Two- The United Kingdom feels so authentic! (Post #12 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27000108&postcount=12))
Day One, Part Three- Characters Between the Raindrops (Post #15 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27025383&postcount=15))
Day One, Part Four- Back To The Future (World) (Post #18 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27082353&postcount=18))
Day One, Part Five- At Least One Out Of Two Rides Isn't Broken (Post #25 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27111575&postcount=25))
Day One, Part Six- More Sights of World Showcase (Post # 28 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27144147&postcount=28))
Day One, Part Seven- The World Tour Ends (Post #40 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27190391&postcount=40))



Day Two, Part One- Welcome to the Magic Kingdom (Post #46 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27236665&postcount=46))
Day Two, Part Two- A Jolly Holiday on Main Street (Post #52 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27300035&postcount=52))
Day Two, Part Three- Spooks and Stepsisters (Post #59 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27359758&postcount=59))
Day Two, Part Four- Why Haven't We Eaten Here Before? (Post #68 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27423819&postcount=68))
Day Two, Part Five- Solo at the Magic Kingdom (Post #74 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27553795&postcount=74))
Day Two, Part Six- Poor Mom (Post #80 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27682614&postcount=80))
Day Two, Part Seven- Riding Rides with Short Lines (Post #91 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27952080&postcount=91))



Day Three, Part One- Toy Story Midway Mania (Post #96 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=28027470&postcount=96))
Day Three, Part Two- Singin' In The Rain (Post #99 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=28164037&postcount=99))
Day Three, Part Three- Tale as old as time... (Post #105 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=28300101&postcount=105))
Day Three, Part Four- Will We See A Parade? (Post #111 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=28500150&postcount=111))
Day Three, Part Five- Characters Galore (Post #112 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=28534075&postcount=112))
Day Three, Part Six- Hollywood and Vine (and Sunset) (Post #118 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=28630560&postcount=118))



Day Four- Departing from Pop (Post #119 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=28679068&postcount=119))



Final Thoughts (Post #120 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=28718251&postcount=120))



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"A Park and Pop Century Christmas" Trip Report- December 2008


The second addition to the trip report is our Park and Pop Century Christmas, our brief visit to WDW during the holiday season. Along with attractions, characters, dining and extra surprises like I included in the summer report, there’ll also be plenty of photos of Christmas decorations from…


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Pop Century Resort...


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Grand Floridian Resort...


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and Magic Kingdom, including…


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The Castle Dream Lights!


For easy access, each of the chapters from the pre-trip have been indexed here and each chapter from the trip report will be added as they are posted:


Preparing for A Park and Pop Century Christmas- Pre-Trip Highlights


Introduction (Post #137 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=28885460&postcount=137))
Initial Itinerary (Post #143 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=28941216&postcount=143))
10 Year Flashback- December 1998 Mini Trip Report (Part One) (Post #144 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=28959883&postcount=144))
10 Year Flashback- December 1998 Mini Trip Report (Part Two) (Post #147 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=28979169&postcount=147))
Characters (Post #152 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=29048306&postcount=152))
Slightly Off-Topic, Busch Gardens at Christmastime (Post #155 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=29075039&postcount=155))
Attraction Priorities (Post #158 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=29103671&postcount=158))
Photos of Christmas Past (Post #159 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=29129219&postcount=159))


The Trip Report


Day One, Part One- Arrival (Post #170 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=29219100&postcount=170))
Day One, Part Two- First Rides of the Day (Post #175 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=29271107&postcount=175))
Day One, Part Three- Main Street at Christmastime (Post #184 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=29434923&postcount=184))
Day One, Part Four- A Grand Time at the Grand Floridian (Post #190 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=29544333&postcount=190))
Day One, Part Five- Tom Sawyer's Island (Post #196 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=29750960&postcount=196))
Day One, Part Six- Fun and Fantasyland(Post #206 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=30104620&postcount=206) and Post #207 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=30104634&postcount=207))
Day One, Part Seven- A Sparkling Castle and Fairy Tale Princesses (Post #212 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=30240505&postcount=212))
Day One, Part Eight- Will We Finally Get On Big Thunder Mountain? (Post #219 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=30322071&postcount=219))
Day One, Part Nine- Goodbye Magic Kingdom(Post #219 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=30497488&postcount=224))


Day Two- Another morning at Pop(Post #228 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=30683728&postcount=228))




**************


"Downtown and Downtown Disney" Trip Report- February 2009

The last addition to this report is Buzz and my day in Orlando. Unlike the other reports there will be no Parks and no Pop Century, no characters and no overnight stays, but there was...


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A visit to Downtown Orlando to check out the Jim Henson's Fantastic World exhibit (sorry, photography was not allowed inside the museum, though)...


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Buzz and my first time back to Downtown Disney in over a year...


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And our first chance to "Celebrate Today"!


For easy access, each of the chapters from the pre-trip have been indexed here and each chapter from the trip report will be added as they are posted:


The Trip Report


Part One- Jim Henson's Fantastic World (Post #236 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=30860897&postcount=236))
Part Two- Downtown Disney Marketplace (Post #243 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=30969268&postcount=243))
Part Three- More Shops and Obscure Character Refrences (Post #251 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=31372341&postcount=251))
Part Four- Pleasure Island and West Side (Post #254 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=31560287&postcount=254))




**************


Final Thoughts

To wrap up all three reports, here are the Top 7 Highlights (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=31597392&postcount=257) of the report.



**************


Next Chapter:The August report begins. Will we make it to EPCOT before FastPasses run out at Soarin'?

[pikafreaks]

I'm so in!


The pictures look awesome~


Cant wait to read more............

[WDW Fan]

Hurry back with more.:)

[meeko_33785]

I'm so in!


The pictures look awesome~


Cant wait to read more............

Thanks so much. Glad to have you aboard. :)



Hurry back with more.:)

Hopefully the next installment will be ready soon (maybe tomorrow).

[meeko_33785]

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After some early-morning driving, we arrive at Pop Century. By now it’s almost 9:30am and the parks are open, so once we arrive, there’s no time to lose. The plan is to quickly check in and get right on the bus to EPCOT. Soarin’ is a favorite of all of us, especially Mom and Dad, and since we skipped it last year, it’s one of our main priorities. My only worry was that I’ve been reading on the boards that over the summer, FastPasses for it have run out as early as 10am! :eek: I figured that we needed to get to EPCOT fast if we had any hope of getting a FastPass and not having to wait an hour or more in the Standby queue.


There’s no line at check-in so Dad and I head to the desk to check in to our respective rooms. The CM at the desk said that our rooms weren’t ready yet, but that we would have adjoining rooms and that they would be in the 80s section near the giant Roger Rabbit statue. We’d never stayed in that area before, so I was excited. :thumbsup2 We caught up with Mom and Buzz in the Everything Pop shop and after briefly looking around we head to the EPCOT bus stop.


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Along the way, we spot this retro trailer and map. I believe that when it’s in use it’s just a DVC info kiosk, but it looks pretty cool like this complete with old-fashioned looking Mickey and WDW logo.


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After a little wait, an EPCOT bus pulls in shortly followed by another EPCOT bus. I believe it was one of the older buses so there wasn’t any music or automated spiel, which was ok. Can’t decide whether I like the buses better with or without music. Soon we arrive at EPCOT.


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Before we go in the park, we need to exchange our Play 4 Days ticket vouchers for tickets, so first stop is the ticked window. Again, there is no line (maybe crowds won’t be so bad after all?) and the CM quickly gets everything ready. In no time, we’re inside the park.


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Last time we were here, the Mickey wand and stars were in the process of being removed from Spaceship Earth, so this was the first time any of us were at EPCOT to see Spaceship Earth back to its pre-Millennium look. It looks great.


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Had to get the shot of Spaceship Earth with the monorail going by.


Next, we make our way to The Land to attempt to get FastPasses for Soarin’, hoping that they weren’t all gone yet. When we get there, we discover that The Land is a crazy, chaotic mess. People everywhere walking into each other, trying to all fit on the escalators. After all the stress of getting through all that you need a relaxing ride like Soarin’! :scared: When we finally make it to Soarin’, the wait time is up to 65 minutes and the FastPass times was around 3pm. As quickly as we could got in line to get some passes. After this, we decide to get out of The Land and head towards Spaceship Earth, so we head out of pavilion, feeling a bit like fish swimming upstream through a river of tourists.


The line at Spaceship Earth looks a bit long, but the sign says that the wait time is around 15 minutes and goes quickly, rarely stopping.


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My attempt at an artsy picture of the tiles on Spaceship Earth.


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This was the first time that we’d been to the park since Spaceship Earth had reopened from its refurbishment. It was still pretty enjoyable. The writing on the narration was a little lame and felt like it was trying too hard to be to be hip and relative to the kids (The roads of Rome were the first information superhighways?) The new scenes were nice though as was the new interactive finale. Mom and Dad really loved that part. They were having a great time with it.


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After we got off the ride, we began to head towards World Showcase since it was getting close to time for our ADR at Rose and Crown. Along the way, per Mom’s request, we pass through the Rose Walk that leads to World Showcase.


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Next Chapter: What makes the United Kingdom feel so authentic?

[cajunfan]

Great start! Can't wait for more!

[vdarrell]

Ready for MORE.:yay:

[Leslieann1024]

Can't wait for the next installment ! Off to a great start !

[Sleeping*Beauty]

Can't wait for more!!

I love the picture of the Disney Ducks!

[WDW Fan]

Great start! Loved your pictures especially the Spaceship Earth with the Monorail running through!!:thumbsup2

[meeko_33785]

Great start! Can't wait for more!

Thanks. Glad to know that you're enjoying it. :)


Ready for MORE.:yay:

More is on the way. The next chapter is almost finished.


Can't wait for the next installment ! Off to a great start !

Glad you liked it. Thanks for responding.


Can't wait for more!!

I love the picture of the Disney Ducks!

Hi! I promise you there will be more ducks ahead. :thumbsup2


Great start! Loved your pictures especially the Spaceship Earth with the Monorail running through!!:thumbsup2

Thanks. That's one of my favorite pics too. Seemed to really turn out nice. Glad you're enjoying it.

[meeko_33785]

Off to World Showcase! As we arrive, we’re greeted by some ducks that walk right in front of us in order to get to the lagoon.


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I promised that there would be ducks, didn’t I? ;)


We pass by Canada for now and head straight on to the United Kingdom. We figure that we’ll be back to Canada later in the day since we want to see the new movie here with Martin Short. There’s still a little time before our ARD time comes up, so we spend some time looking around the UK area.


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First thing, I head to the edge of the UK and check out France from across the “river”. I wanted to start with a look at my favorite pavilion in EPCOT.


Returning to the UK, I get some more pics of the atmosphere and architecture around the area.


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There was some refurbishment of part of the façade of this building. It’s just off camera to the left. There didn’t seem to be as much construction going on around EPCOT as last year, but there was still a fair amount.


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Next we head off to the Rose and Crown Dining Room to check in a few minutes before our time. The restaurant wasn’t quite ready yet, so we’re given a pager and sit down at one of the tables on the street to wait.


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While we’re waiting, the sky begins to look a little dark and slightly ominous. Seeing the black clouds rolling over the pavilion seemed like something out of a British murder mystery or horror story. Didn’t appear that the weather was going to be all sun and blue sky today, but it’s August in Florida so what else is new? By the time our pager went off, we still hadn’t seen a drop of rain and it appeared that the storm was going to miss us.


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We’re promptly seated inside in an area of the dining room just off the pub. Nice atmosphere, friendly service. The whole restaurant was just filled with the aroma of fish and chips, so how could I have ordered anything else? It was delicious, but the portions were huge! Everyone had an enjoyable meal. None of us had been here in years (I think 1996 was the last time we were here?) so it was nice to revisit it.


Following lunch, we spent a little more time wandering around the UK. As we were there, the sky opened up and the rain that appeared was going to pass us by finally arrived. Not a full-out thunderstorm, but enough rain to send Mary Poppins who had been doing meet-and-greets near the gazebo make a mad dash backstage (who knew Mary could sprint like that ;) ). As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I heard another guest also dodging the rain under an overhang between a couple of shops utter the same thought- “Well, this rain makes it really feel like you are in England”. There’s that extra authenticity! :umbrella: Soon the rain seemed to clear and we headed off to France.


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Still not an incredibly beautiful day, but at least the rain had stopped. I tried to get more of the Eiffel Tower in the shot, but that’s about all I could get. We spent some time just exploring around the pavilion. Mom loves to look at the shops here, so she went off to do that. I headed over to Belle’s Library near the perfume shop to look around and get a few pictures.


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Two of my favorite Disney fairytales in their French translations. Even if you don’t know French, I’m sure you can figure out the English titles.


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Looks like Belle’s been reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame lately.


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Continuing the Hunchback theme- a gargoyle (though this one doesn’t talk like Quasi’s friends).


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The Beauty and the Beast stained glass from inside the library.



Next Chapter: More of World Showcase and the first character photos of the trip.


(Not sure how long it will take to get this next chapter up. We’re all preparing to brace for Tropical Storm Fay down here in Florida. It’s possible that I could be without power or internet if the storm should hit. Hopefully it won’t be any worse than that, but we’ll have to wait and see. Until then, enjoy this chapter)

[MEK]

Awesome, awesome pictures. I am enjoying your detailed report. Good luck with the Hurricane.

[meeko_33785]

Awesome, awesome pictures. I am enjoying your detailed report. Good luck with the Hurricane.

Thanks. Glad you like the report. :) Looks like the storm won't be too bad here. It won't even make it to a hurricane and haven't even had that much wind. Hopefully it doesn't get too much worse.

[meeko_33785]

After exploring France for a bit, I was ready to see if I could find any characters. I had been hoping to find the Beast since I haven’t seen him in a while, but after the rain it didn’t seem like any of the characters in France had returned after the rain shower earlier. Across the water, I spotted Chip and Dale at the International Gateway, so I headed over to see them. Not exactly the characters I was hoping for, but Chip and Dale are always fun too.


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There weren’t a lot of people around, so the line was short. After visiting with the chipmunks I headed back to France.


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A little display along the “river”.


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The artist’s inspiration.


Back in France, it seemed like the characters seemed to be coming out. I seemed to arrive back in the pavilion at the same time as Princess Aurora so I went over to get a photo.


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Aurora seems to be the least-recognized princess, or at least the one most the one most confused with other princesses. There was only one family in line in front of me. The little boy in the family takes a look at Aurora and tells his family, “That’s not Sleeping Beauty.” The mother tried to convince him that it was, but he knew it wasn’t because “Sleeping Beauty has black hair”. The mother told him that was Snow White who had black hair which confused him more. Well, they did both fall asleep. Dad’s not much better. His park ticket had Cinderella and Prince Charming on it to which he responds “I got Prince Charming and Sleeping Beauty on mine”. All these years he still hasn’t gotten the princesses straight. :sad2:


After bidding Aurora goodbye, I headed off to see if the Beast was out, but found only Belle. I checked with the character attendant with Belle (who was one of the best I saw the entire trip, very friendly and great at engaging the kids waiting to see the characters) if the Beast would be out. Apparently, the Beast was off doing “Princely things” in the castle and decides when and if he comes out, but she thought that he might be out later. Belle’s line was pretty short so I decided that as long as I was there, I might as well meet her.


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World Showcase has to have some of the best backdrops for the characters.


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We all managed to meet back together after our exploring and picture taking to head on to Morocco.


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Our Fastpass time for Soarin’ was beginning to approach, so we decided that since Morocco had a Friendship boat dock, we’d hop on the boat and head to Future World instead of having to walk all the way around the lagoon.


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One of the Thousand and One Arabian Nights.


While I was looking around, I noticed that the Beast was now out with Belle, so I headed back to France and got in line to see them.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/bellebeast-600.jpg

Beauty and the Beast- together.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/beast-600.jpg

I asked Belle if it would be alright to get a photo of just the Beast since I had gotten a photo of her by herself earlier. The Beast!


Next, we started to all meet up near the Friendship dock. In no time, a boat was ready to take us to Future World. When we got off the boat, we noticed that it was now raining and began raining harder… and harder. Quickly, run to the nearest cover!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/showcaseplazarain-600.jpg

Déjà vu! We got stuck in one of these shops here last summer too. What is it about Showcase Plaza that makes the skies just open up when we’re here?



Next Chapter: Not even rain can keep us from Soarin’!

[WDW Fan]

I guess it's hard to avoid rain showers in Florida during the summer months. Great pictures.:)

[meeko_33785]

I guess it's hard to avoid rain showers in Florida during the summer months. Great pictures.:)

True, at least a little rain every day in the summer is pretty much a fact of life in Florida. It's actually not too bad as long as there's no lightning (and thankfully, there was none this day). Keeps the temperature from getting too hot. :thumbsup2

[meeko_33785]

So there we are getting off the Friendship boat in Showcase Plaza to make our way to Soarin’ when it suddenly begins to rain. It doesn’t look like it’s going to rain long enough to warrant breaking out the ponchos, so we take this time to look around one of the shops in the area until the rain lightens up.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/parisdisplay-600.jpg

Until that happens, we can always look at the displays and pretend we’re in Paris…


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/italtdisplay-600.jpg

Or maybe Venice.


This was the first point of the trip I can really recall looking though a souvenir shop (ok, maybe browsing through pins but not really anything else). They had some really interesting retro-looking EPCOT shirts which were kind of cool, but nothing that I would see myself buying. Soon the rain lifts and we head off to The Land.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/soarinsign-600.jpg

Things don’t seem quite as crazy here as it did earlier, but it’s still pretty crowded. The line for Soarin’ has gotten even longer though- up to 100 minutes! Good thing we have FastPasses! We get right in line and in no time at all we’re getting ready to ride. We got seats in the front row (which is nice since you don’t see a bunch of feet dangling over the screen like you do in the back rows). Great ride, we all enjoyed it, especially Mom and Dad. This is either their favorite WDW attraction or at least one of their favorites.
And for those who wondered if there would still be FastPasses left after 2pm…


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/soarinfpsign-800.jpg

Nope.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/land-600.jpg

After Soarin’, we noticed that the line for Living with the Land is only 5 minutes or so, so we get in line.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/livingland-600.jpg

Can’t believe that we hadn’t been on this in years, especially since Dad is really interested in gardening and all. Not sure when they changed the format from having an on-board guide and narrator to having a fully pre-recorded spiel, but I didn’t see too much of a difference. I guess having a live person reading the spiel didn’t really add that much to the attraction.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/ll-flowers-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/ll-dragonfruit-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/ll-sunflowers-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/ll-9lblemon-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/ll-cindypumpkins-600.jpg

Check out the Mickey pumpkin!


After the ride, we wanted to head back to World Showcase to see the rest of the countries, but before that, we headed over to Innoventions. We had heard that there was a new exhibit celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the park somewhere near the Character Spot and Club Cool, so we checked it out.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/epcotgallery-600.jpg

It was a fairly small gallery near the exit of the Character Spot, but it had a bunch of interesting models, props, costumes and memorabilia from the early days of EPCOT.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/italtymodel-600.jpg

Inspirational art and models used in the creation of the Italy pavilion.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/germanymodel-600.jpg

Miniature model of the Germany pavilion.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/horizonsrobot-600.jpg

I still kind of regret never riding Horizons. This, World of Motion and the original Universe of Energy were the only major original EPCOT attractions that I missed before it was replaced.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/dreamcatchermodel-600.jpg

Dreamfinder’s Dream Catcher in miniature.



Next chapter: On to Mexico and beyond.

[Lady Lallie]

What wonderful pictures! I can't wait to read and see more. :thumbsup2

[kimsuenew]

:thumbsup2 Awesome TR so far... we can't wait to read more! :goodvibes

[WDW Fan]

Wonderful pictures! I loved seeing the Epcot 25th Anniv. Exhibit pictures. We've visited WDW three times during this celebration and keep forgetting to see this, but I am going to definitely check it out in Sept. when I go!!!:)

[meeko_33785]

What wonderful pictures! I can't wait to read and see more. :thumbsup2

Glad you're enjoying them. I was pretty happy with the pictures so it's great to know that others are enjoying them too.



:thumbsup2 Awesome TR so far... we can't wait to read more! :goodvibes

Thanks. More is on the way soon. :)



Wonderful pictures! I loved seeing the Epcot 25th Anniv. Exhibit pictures. We've visited WDW three times during this celebration and keep forgetting to see this, but I am going to definitely check it out in Sept. when I go!!!:)

The 25th Exhibit was really nice and well done. I'd definatly recommend it. You do kind of have to search for it a little (it's sort of tucked away near the Character Spot exit and the back of Club Cool) but it's worth it. It was nice to see all the exhibit pieces, plus the music they have playing in the gallery really takes you back ("Veggie Veggie Fruit Fruit", "One Little Spark", etc.").

[MelaBella]

Great trip report so far! I look forwarding to reading the rest of it. We will be headed to the Pop in just 19 days. :banana:

I was wondering what camera you use? Your pictures are great!!:thumbsup2

[meeko_33785]

Great trip report so far! I look forwarding to reading the rest of it. We will be headed to the Pop in just 19 days. :banana:

I was wondering what camera you use? Your pictures are great!!:thumbsup2

Thanks so much. Have an awesome time at Pop Century. We had a great time there, and there should be more pics of the resort coming up. :)

The camera I used it a Canon Powershot. It's a fairly basic camera, but I do think that it does take some nice quality photos.

[meeko_33785]

As we’re heading off to Mexico, we stop briefly in Showcase Plaza to get a quick picture.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/moroccohth-600.jpg

I think that it’s amazing how the Tower of Terror just seems to fit so nicely with Morocco that you don’t normally notice that it’s there. I meant to get a photo of this after the Friendship boat ride over from Morocco, but the rain kind of nixed that plan. On to Mexico!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mexicobalcony-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mexicoparrot-600.jpg

There was a new animatronics parrot in a cage in the market. If you go down the ramp on the left down to the marketplace, it’s right there before you reach the exhibit with the virtual postcards and Kidcot table.Rumor has it that this will be a part of a new Kim Possible Interactive Adventure that’s set to open later this year. Could be interesting.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/granfiestaposter-600.jpg

Mom suggested riding Gran Fiesta Tour since we’re already there which was a great idea. I’d only done it once before and was trying to take pictures the whole time (all of which came out blurry :( ), so I feel like I missed a lot the first time around. This time was great, except we had a family in front of us who didn’t seem to understrand the concept of “No flash photography on this ride”. All those flashes weren’t really pleasant, especially in the dark area at the beginning around the pyramid, but once the actual ride started everything was fine.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/jose-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/norway-600.jpg

Norway was next. I never seem to take many photos in Norway for some reason, so I wanted to see if I could get any good ones here. After passing a gigantic line of parents and little girls in Princess dresses trying to get into Akershus we make it into the courtyard.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/norwaysign-600.jpg

While I’m taking pictures, I notice that some of the windows, crevices and landings all have little trolls on them. Don’t know if this is new or not but I’d never noticed it before. I pointed this out to the rest of the family and soon we’re all searching for trolls around the pavilion.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/trollwindow-600.jpg

There’s a troll!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/norwaywaterfall-600.jpg

Maelstrom appeared to be having some problems. After a few minutes the CMs began sending people away before eventually closing the two large doors at the ride’s entrance. Shortly afterwards, we noticed that there was an empty Viking boat perched at the top of the waterfall. Not sure if there was an evacuation, but that would be my best guess. No Maelstrom today.


On to China. When we got there, Mushu was just coming out to join Mulan for meet-and-greets near the movie entrance. I got in line to see them, but it was fairly long and very slow moving so I passed on them. The lines for them always use to be much shorter for them when they were kind of hidden back on the side streets, but not anymore. Maybe next time guys.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/chinastairs-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/chinawaterfall-600.jpg


Over by one of the large ponds near the entrance of the pavilion we heard some interesting noises and tried to figure out what it was.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/chinafrog-600.jpg

Turned out to be a bunch of frogs hanging out by the lillypads (where else?). I'm convinced that some people must think that these are animatronics or something, but they are real-live frogs, and loud too!


Next Chapter: More World Showcase

[Disney Brat]

I'm joining in!! Great pics!! Can't wait to hear more!

[meeko_33785]

I'm joining in!! Great pics!! Can't wait to hear more!

Glad to have you aboard. :)

[meeko_33785]

After leaving China, we headed on towards Germany, but took a quick break to check out these guys in the Outpost.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/scartopiary-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/zazutopiary-600.jpg

For some reason, I find it odd that out of all the characters from the Lion King, they pick Scar (at least I think that’s who it’s suppose to be) and Zazu. No Simba, Timon, Pumbaa, Mufassa, Nala, Rafiki, etc.? Oh well. They were still pretty cool.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/germany1-6002.jpg

Welcome to Germany. This is defiantly one of my favorite pavilions. Love the look of it.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/germany2-600.jpg


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St. George battles the dragon.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/germanysparrow-600.jpg

There were tons of sparrows just flying around the pavilion, landing everywhere, almost flying into people. I managed to catch this photo of one in-between flights. After doing a little looking around the shops and taking in the ambiance, we headed over to the Railway Garden.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/germanyrailway1-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/germanyrailway2-600.jpg

A little messy from all the wind and rain, but nice.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/italy-600.jpg

Italy’s next. We did some looking around at some of the shops and all. There was some entertainment going on so we watched some of that for a bit (no pictures though; the crowds were huge when we got there so all I would have gotten were the backs of people’s heads).


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/italystairs-600.jpg

Another attempted artsy shot.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/italystatue-600.jpg


Before the trip, we’d heard about a new exhibit at the American Adventure about national treasures (not to be confused with the movie ;) ) so we went over to check it out. When we got there, everyone was lining up to get into the show so after the crowds cleared a little we checked out the exhibit. There were some interesting things in there.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/linconhat-600.jpg

Abraham Lincoln’s hat. This kind of amazed me. You always see photos of drawings of him in a hat like that and there in front of you is one of them! For some reason out of everything that was there, this seemed to impress me the most.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/moonrock-600.jpg
Lunar Sample (aka a moon rock).


Next chapter: Day One ends

[kcork1026]

I'm in and enjoying your report

[RachelNinja]

Wow, you have such an eye for framing your shots! Are they all unaltered or do you crop? When I take pictures, I only realize after seeing them after the fact that I could have taken them differently.

I particularly like your World Showcase pictures because I have never fully explored it before. I'm excited to see Belle's Library for myself! Great TR, can't wait for more :)

[Jenvenza]

I love love love your TR!! I cant wait for more!

[meeko_33785]

I'm in and enjoying your report

Thanks. Glad you're in. :)



Wow, you have such an eye for framing your shots! Are they all unaltered or do you crop? When I take pictures, I only realize after seeing them after the fact that I could have taken them differently.

I particularly like your World Showcase pictures because I have never fully explored it before. I'm excited to see Belle's Library for myself! Great TR, can't wait for more :)

Thanks. As far as cropping goes some are and some arent'. I try to get it as right as possible while I'm taking the shot, but crop is helpful too. The other thing I've found that helps is taking a lot of pictures from different angles and such, experimenting on what looks best. You can always delete the bad ones and you're left with a nice shot. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest of the report too.



I love love love your TR!! I cant wait for more!

Thank so much.

[missj1975]

I love all your pictures. Thanks for sharing.:thumbsup2

[Disney Brat]

Loved the pics of WS!! Beautiful shots!!

[MrsGrumpy2009]

Wow, Meeko! Great pictures! I am thoroughly enjoying this trip report!

I'm new here, and trying to figure out how to subscribe to this thread, so I can find it easier when I return...can someone help?


Thanks!!!:)

[meeko_33785]

I love all your pictures. Thanks for sharing.:thumbsup2

Glad you're enjoying them. I'm happy to share them. :)


Loved the pics of WS!! Beautiful shots!!

Thanks so much.


Wow, Meeko! Great pictures! I am thoroughly enjoying this trip report!

I'm new here, and trying to figure out how to subscribe to this thread, so I can find it easier when I return...can someone help?


Thanks!!!:)

Thanks. If you like, you can click on the "Thead Tools" link at the top of the thread across from the "Post Reply" button. "Subscribe to this thread" should be one of the choices. Hope that helps.

[MrsGrumpy2009]

Thanks Meeko! :cheer2:

[Nancy for Disney]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/spaceshipmonorail-600.jpg

Had to get the shot of Spaceship Earth with the monorail going by.





Next Chapter: What makes the United Kingdom feel so authentic?


I just started reading. This is me this morning. :surfweb:
I wanted to say that I love, love, love this picture. You should submit it somewhere. I know some of these Disney websites are always asking for pictures. I just really think it is a cool shot of EPCOT. :)

[meeko_33785]

Thanks Meeko! :cheer2:

You're welcome. :)


I just started reading. This is me this morning. :surfweb:
I wanted to say that I love, love, love this picture. You should submit it somewhere. I know some of these Disney websites are always asking for pictures. I just really think it is a cool shot of EPCOT. :)

Thanks. I'd never thought about submiting any of the photos to a Disney site. I might have to consider doing that. Glad you're enjoying the report.

[meeko_33785]

On to Japan!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/japankoi-600.jpg

The gardens here are really beautiful and relaxing. Plus the koi in the pond are fun to watch.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/japan-600.jpg

A look down at the pavilion from the top of Mitsukoshi.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/japanarch-600.jpg

Spaceship Earth though the Tori Gate.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/japanlantern-600.jpg

After a brief look through the shop and the Tin Toy exhibit, we head off to France to get some crapes to hold us over until we get back Pop Century for dinner. Once we got our crepes there weren’t any tables outside to eat at so we headed inside the main shop in the pavilion that has a few tables for dining. For the amount of food and pastries that France seems to sell, they seem to barely have enough tables. After enjoying our crepes, we start the long walk back to bus stop. On our way, Buzz pointed out a certain rodent hidden in the Kidcot Station in France, and it wasn’t Mickey.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/hiddenremy-600.jpg

A hidden Remy! Can you believe that this was the only Ratatouille thing I remember seeing in the parks this whole trip? It’s kind of shocking since the movie seemed so popular. I liked it at least. :(


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/boulangerie-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/francebox-600.jpg


On our way out, I asked if anyone was interested in seeing the new movie in Canada with Marin Short, but nobody else was interested. My parents really didn’t seem interested in standing through a movie after a long day of walking all over EPCOT. Maybe next time. We did pause for a few quick pictures in front of the pavilion before biding World Showcase adieu.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/canada-600.jpg


After walking through Future World, we finally make it to the bus stop. We have a bit of a wait but finally get on the way back to Pop. The bus had music this time which was nice. For some reason I think that I like the music on the bus coming back from the parks than hearing music going to the parks. I think it makes the moment you step off the bus into the park and hear all the music filling the air less special since you’ve been hearing that music your whole ride over. On the way back though you’ve been hearing music all day around the park so it feels like more of an extension of the experience so something like that.


When we get back to Pop, Mom suggested that we grab some sandwiches at the food court to take back to the room with us so don’t have to make an extra trip back to Classics Hall. I got the Turkey Ciabatta which was good. Once we all had our to-go food, we re-parked in the 80s lot and got to our room for the first time.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/poproom-600.jpg

Don’t want to bore everyone with a bunch of pictures of the room since I know a ton of trip reports here include tons of pictures of the rooms here, but here’s a few. First the overview. This was Buzz and my room.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/80sposter1-600.jpg

The posters in the room are so fun. Buzz and I were 80s kids, so it was fun looking at the posters and seeing things we had as a kid. I know we had at least one of the Oliver and Company toys from this poster.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/80sposter2-600.jpg

Here’s the poster from Mom and Dad’s room. We use to have some of the Disney Afternoon toys and comic books from this one, but some of them are actually from the 90s if you want to get technical.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/popborder-600.jpg

Look who was in the border around the room- Ariel and Flounder. Most of the other decades we’ve stayed in had pictures of the characters from the giant icons outside the hotel, but apparently the used the Little Mermaid instead of Roger Rabbit. Actually, Roger wasn’t in any of the posters either. I’ve heard there’s some legal issues between Disney and the companies they co-own Roger Rabbit with, but it seems odd that they’d let them have a giant statue of him outside the hotel but have no sign of him at all anywhere else. :confused3


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/towelanimal-600.jpg

Found this guy in our window. Not certain what it’s supposed to be but it kind of reminds me of a camel.


It’s been a long day, so we end it by doing a little unpacking, having the dinner we got to-go at the food court and relaxing in the room. We’ve got to get up early tomorrow to make it to rope drop at Magic Kingdom! :banana:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/rogerback-600.jpg

Goodnight Roger. See ya in the morning.

[okaybye]

I'm in! Keep 'em coming:) This is soooooo fun to read. :cool1:

H:hippie:

[meeko_33785]

I'm in! Keep 'em coming:) This is soooooo fun to read. :cool1:

H:hippie:

Hi. Glad to know you're in and enjoying the report. I'll try to get more up soon for ya. :)

[Jenvenza]

I am ready for more!!

[RachelNinja]

The other thing I've found that helps is taking a lot of pictures from different angles and such, experimenting on what looks best. You can always delete the bad ones and you're left with a nice shot.

Hmm, that may be the first thing I should try when taking pictures. When I'm with my family, I barely have enough time to get one or two pictures so I'll keep that in mind next time!

Nice that that hidden Remy was spotted!

[meeko_33785]

I am ready for more!!

More is on the way, I'm just not sure when. Can't wait to start on MK, but I just need to find the time.



Hmm, that may be the first thing I should try when taking pictures. When I'm with my family, I barely have enough time to get one or two pictures so I'll keep that in mind next time!

Nice that that hidden Remy was spotted!


Yeah, that trick isn't ideal when you're doing Disney comando-style, but if you can find the time, it really does work. :thumbsup2

[meeko_33785]

Good morning! We get our morning wake-up call expected to hear Mickey and Stitch on the other end, but all we get is some Disneymania/ Disney Channel/ tween pop version of “That’s How You Know” from Enchanted. A little disappointing, but who cares. We’re going to Magic Kingdom, my favorite park! We all get up, get ready and head down to the food court to get some breakfast before heading to the bus stop. There really aren’t any big gate-buster attractions we want to get there early for, but we wanted to be there at opening to see the Magic Kingdom Welcome opening show since it’s been a long time since we’ve seen it. We seem to either we go on EMH days when they don’t perform it or we don’t get there early enough. Plus, there’s a few characters that I’d heard were hanging out in Town Square in the mornings recently that I wanted to see first thing- Jiminy Cricket, whom I’ve never met and always seem to miss in the parks. And Bert from Mary Poppins whom I’d only seen once before and didn’t get to meet (managed to get a photo from the side but no autograph or interaction or anything).


We make it to MK a little less than an hour before opening, so we enter the gates and wait in front of the train station.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/trainstation-600.jpg

The train station is quiet before opening time. The train will be here soon though!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/milliondreamsbanner-600.jpg

Just a little reminder that the “Year of A Million Dreams” is still going on. Spoiler: We didn’t win anything from the Dream Team this trip.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mksign-600.jpg

The Magic Kingdom sign and Walt Disney’s Window. “Walter E. Disney: Keeping Dreams On Track”.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mkw-mayor-600.jpg

Soon, the Mayor arrives and begins the ceremonies. I wasn’t really pleased with how my pictures of the show came out, but here they are for what they’re worth.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mkw-dancers1-600.jpg

“Good Morning! Good Morning!”


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mkw-dancers2-600.jpg

“Good Morning! Good Morning To You!”


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mkw-dancers3-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mkw-facecharacters-600.jpg

The characters arrive. I spotted Bert and Mary Poppins on the train. Looks like they’ll be out today!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mkw-chipdalestitch-600.jpg

Chip, Dale and their new friend Stitch.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mkw-characters-600.jpg

Most of the characters that I’d heard appeared in Town Square recently were onboard except one- Jiminy! :( Looked like he wouldn’t be out this morning. Oh well, maybe next year. Mickey, the rest of the characters and the family of the day open the park and we head into Town Square.


Once we got there, the only characters that seemed to stick around were Chip, Dale and Pluto. Where’d everybody else go? I checked with a CM when Mary and Bert would be coming out, but she said they wouldn’t be out until 9:20.I figure I’ll wait. Buzz heads to the pin shop on Main Street to find a WALL-E pin that he was looking for and then heads to the Expo Hall to watch some Steamboat Willie, and Mom and Dad did some exploring around Main Street as well. Dad really seemed to enjoy the old cameras on display at the Expo Hall.


While I wait for Mary and Bert, I try to get some pictures of some of the window displays at the Emporium.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/arielwindow-600.jpg

Ariel and friends from “Under the Sea”.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/cinderellawindow-600.jpg

Cinderella and Prince Charming dance at the ball (not sure what’s up with his hair though).


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Snow White and Dopey celebrate.


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Tale as old as time, Beauty and the Beast.


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Aladdin and Jasmine fly over Agrabah.


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I look once more, Just Around the Riverbend.


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And, of course, one of my favorite- Meeko!


Not long after getting my pictures, I’m about to take a break on a bench near City Hall when who should I see on the other side of Town Square but…

[Mickeefan]

Oh, snap, I hate cliffhangers! Come on . . . . . who did you see?

[DisKate]

Subbing :)

[meeko_33785]

Oh, snap, I hate cliffhangers! Come on . . . . . who did you see?

Sorry about that. I couldn't help but do a cliff hanger here. I can give you a hint to tie you over if you like- it's a character. ;)


Subbing :)

Thanks for subbing. Glad to know you're onboard.

[schmoopypoo]

Great report, especially the pictures. DFi always has to get that famous "monorail by spaceship earth" shot too. I swear last trip he stood there for like 40 minutes just waiting for the perfect shot LOL Anyways can't wait to hear who you see and for the rest of your report :thumbsup2

[meeko_33785]

Great report, especially the pictures. DFi always has to get that famous "monorail by spaceship earth" shot too. I swear last trip he stood there for like 40 minutes just waiting for the perfect shot LOL Anyways can't wait to hear who you see and for the rest of your report :thumbsup2

Hi and thanks. Sounds like your DFi has tons of dedication to wait so long for that shot! I thought I waited a long time for it but it wasn't anywhere near that long (although it kind of felt like it because as much as I wanted to get that shot, I also wanted to get so Soarin quickly). I'll try to get the next part up sometime either today or tomorrow. :)

[meeko_33785]

Not long after getting my pictures of the Emporium windows, I’m about to take a break on a bench near City Hall when who should I see on the other side of Town Square but…


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/jiminy-600.jpg

Jiminy Cricket! After not seeing him in the Welcome show at opening I was sure he wouldn’t be out for greets today, but he was! I head over to where he was in front of the Expo Hall and wait to see him. I’d been trying to find Jiminy on my last few trips with no success, so I was excited to finally get his picture and autograph.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/jiminy2-800.jpg

Jiminy’s such a classic character it’s always been a little surprising that he didn’t use to come out very often. It’s nice to know that he’s coming out more and more. After saying “good-bye” to Jiminy I head back to wait for Mary Poppins and Bert. Pinocchio and Geppetto were nearby and didn’t have a long line (neither did Jiminy), but for some reason I passed on seeing them. After the trip I’m still kind of kicking myself for not meeting them since I don’t really have a picture of them together. Again, maybe next time.


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The Dapper Dans drove by on the trolley. They weren’t singing though just waving, which I thought was a little odd, but whatever. Soon Mary Poppins and Bert came out from the Expo Hall and took a “Jolly Holiday” stroll around Town Square back to the Confectionary. It was just like out of the movie- wonderful.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/bert-600.jpg

Bert walked up to one of the doors and started knocking calling for Uncle Albert to see if he was in. It appeared that he wasn’t so Mary and Bert started greeting guests instead of visiting him. I love little touches like that. It really adds to the whole character experience.


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Mary and Bert were awesome. Bert even shock my hand twice to give me a double dose of luck. They were like as if they’d walked right out of the movie and so much fun. It’s nice to see Bert out since I’d never really seem him out a lot.


After meeting Mary and Bert, I attempted to find the rest of the family. Mom really wanted to ride the trolley down to the Castle while we’re here, so once we all found each other, we headed to where the trolleys stop in Town Square and waited. While we were waiting, it looked like they were having a bit of trouble with the horse of something. The trolley would go down the street a little, stop, go a little bit and stop again. We figured the horse must be a little temperamental today until we realized they were doing the trolley show.


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“We’re walking right down the middle of Main Street USA…”


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“Clang Clang Clang went the trolley…”


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“Zing Zing Zing went my hearstrings….”


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/trollyshow5-600.jpg


The show eventually ended and the trolley arrived at Town Square ready for passengers. Mom really enjoys the Main Street Vehicles. They really are charming, but for some reason I never really think of riding them. It is fun doing all the big E-Tickets and gate-busters, but sometimes it’s fun to start the day with some of the more “minor” attractions in MK- taking in the atmosphere on Main Street, seeing the street shows, meeting the characters, and riding the Vehicles. Really, it’s just as much fun as Space Mountain. :thumbsup2


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/trolleycastle-600.jpg

How great is that view?


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/trollycastle2-600.jpg

When we arrived at the Castle, Dream Along with Mickey was starting so we were able to see a bit of the show from the trolley which was fun. A nice end to our time on Main Street for the morning. See ya Main Street; we’ll be back for lunch.


Next chapter: The “new” Haunted Mansion

[ktmdooley]

Oh my gosh...what day were you at Epcot??? It looks like you got back about the same time as us.

We were in Epcot on a rainy day and saw Chip and Dale at the gateway. It was a Thursday.

[burly]

Oh yeah, i'm in.....:surfweb: popcorn::

[RachelNinja]

It looks like it would be fun to meet Mary Poppins and Bert! I finally watched the movie again last year after having not seen it since my childhood. I totally forgot they were even at MK! I'll have to keep an eye out the next time I'm there.

Looking forward to your HM installment :)

[meeko_33785]

Oh my gosh...what day were you at Epcot??? It looks like you got back about the same time as us.

We were in Epcot on a rainy day and saw Chip and Dale at the gateway. It was a Thursday.

Hi. If it was a Thursday, then we weren't there on the same day, but probably the same week. It was a bit on the damp side (especially on Thursday).


Oh yeah, i'm in.....:surfweb: popcorn::

Hi. Glad to have you aboard. :)


It looks like it would be fun to meet Mary Poppins and Bert! I finally watched the movie again last year after having not seen it since my childhood. I totally forgot they were even at MK! I'll have to keep an eye out the next time I'm there.

Looking forward to your HM installment :)

Definatly keep an eye out for them. They were so much fun. Mary Poppins is definatly one of my favorite Disney movies so it was great to see them both out on a Jolly Holiday.

[~Mommy&MeLuvDisney~]

Hey I am going to stay at POP. Everyone is saying that the bus transportation is really good. Did you think so?

[meeko_33785]

Hey I am going to stay at POP. Everyone is saying that the bus transportation is really good. Did you think so?

You know, the bus transportation wasn't bad at all. Sometime we did have to wait a while (no more than 15 or 20 minutes at most), but often two buses would come at once so everyone would be able to get on. You might have to stand, but at least you're not waiting at the bus stop longer. Never had any problems with the transportation either. Out of all the resorts I've stayed at over the years, I thought the bus transportation here was actually beter than at most of the Moderate resorts and maybe some of the deluxe that have to share buses with multiple resorts. Hope that helps.

[meeko_33785]

Off to Liberty Square! Last time any of us were here, Haunted Mansion was closed on its long refurbishment so the main priority attraction-wise for this trip at MK was to see the “re-imagineered” Mansion. :hmghost:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/hauntedmansion1-600.jpg

I’d heard beforehand that they made a change in policy that the CMs at Haunted Mansion were now required to smile at guests and sure enough, the first thing I noticed was the butlers and maids at the entrance and queue were indeed smiling as if they were at any other attraction in the park. It seemed a little odd, but not too distracting. There was absolutely no line at all which really added to the experience. It felt like you were just walking into this spooky mansion rather than queuing up for a ride. We walked right through the grounds and right into the Stretching Room which looked great. Once we got to the actual ride portion, the CMs weren’t smiling anymore which seemed to fit the atmosphere more. All in all, there didn’t seem to be a lot of noticeable changes, but those that were noticeable were great. The new stairway scene was great, Madame Leota’s floating crystal ball was breathtaking and the new Bride and attic scene was impressive (though a bit too dark for that moment in the ride I think). All in all, I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed this ride so much, so a definite thumbs up here. :thumbsup2


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/hauntedmansion2-600.jpg

Another shot of the Mansion as we exit. Tried to get a picture of the Mr. Toad statue in the Pet Cemetery but was unsuccessful. You’ve got to have a really sunny day and a powerful zoon to get a picture of that! After the Mansion, we head off to Fantasyland.


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I love all the details in Fantasyland, like this turret near Small World. Thematically, I think it has to be the most underestimated land of all, but if you really look, it’s very charming.


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Mom and Dad hadn’t seen Philharmagic in a couple of years so we made that the next stop. Again, no line to speak of here either, but we have to wait a few minutes before being let into the theater. The show was great, one of my favorite attractions at MK and possibly my favorite 3D movie (can never decide if I like it better than Muppets).


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/philharmagicdonald-600.jpg

Poor Donald. He’s the star of the attraction and Mickey gets to billing. No wonder he’s angry!


As the rest of the family looks around the Philharmagic shop for a while, I head out to the Courtyard to get some pictures of my favorite Disney mice (sorry Mickey and Minnie).


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/gus-600.jpg


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It’s getting close to our lunch reservation, so we start to head towards the Plaza Gardens to look around before we eat. Along the way, we spot more mice at Cinderella’s Wishing Well.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mice-600.jpg

I don’t think Mom and Dad had ever noticed all the mice (and cat) sculpted into the well, so we checked it out for a while. While the rest of the family was checking out the Well some more, I headed to Fairytale Garden.


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Fairytale Garden in where Belle usually does her story time, but that’s not why I wanted to check it out. I’d heard that Cinderella’s Stepfamily were making appearances there recently and wanted to see if I could get a “family portrait” of them. I’d gotten photos of them individually when Buzz and I were here for the Pirate and Princess Party last year, but I thought it would be nice to get a group shot too. Sure enough, they were out so I got in line to see them.


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A photo of the stage and seating area while in line. Kind of a cute little area.


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The Tremaines- Anastasia, Lady Tremaine, and Drizella. These three were awesome with all the guests- very funny and entertaining. There were a few kids in line that wanted nothing to do with them, but they tried their best to be nice- giving them stickers, trying to have their parents in the pictures with them. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. The trio were thrilled to have their portrait taken and posed as only the Tremaines could.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/anastasia-600.jpg

Anastasia declared that she wanted a picture of just her. Lady Tremaine started to scold her for asking, but I obliged. Ever since Cinderella III came out she’s become one of my favorite characters of late. It was nice to see her grow as a character in the film, but obviously she still has plenty of feistiness too.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/castletrees-600.jpg

After meeting the Tremaines, we all left Fantasyland and headed towards the Plaza Restaurant.


Next chapter: Our first meal at the Plaza

[~Mommy&MeLuvDisney~]

OMG!!! You take wonderful pictures!!!:thumbsup2

Keep it coming!!!!

Oh and thanks for the bus tip!!!

[cjhinch]

I am absolutely loving all of your pictures, and I love getting a more "grown up" version of a visit to Disney World. Makes me look forward to the days when we can slow down in the World Showcase and really take in all of the sights! I can't wait to see/read more!!

[Disney Brat]

Awesome updates!! I really love your pics they are great!! Can't wait to see more!

[meeko_33785]

OMG!!! You take wonderful pictures!!!:thumbsup2

Keep it coming!!!!

Oh and thanks for the bus tip!!!

Thanks so much. Glad to know that my photos are being enjoyed and that the bus tip was helpful. :)


I am absolutely loving all of your pictures, and I love getting a more "grown up" version of a visit to Disney World. Makes me look forward to the days when we can slow down in the World Showcase and really take in all of the sights! I can't wait to see/read more!!

Thanks. I love the way we do Disney. It's definatly different that if we were traveling with kids, but it's wonderful to be able to slow down, smell the roses and enjoy everything that parks have to offer. More is on the way, just not sure when it will be ready to be posted.


Awesome updates!! I really love your pics they are great!! Can't wait to see more!

Thank you. Glad you're enjoying them.

[kcork1026]

Your pictures make me feel like I am there, and since I have 87 more days until I return to the most magical place on earth, please keep your report coming.

[meeko_33785]

Your pictures make me feel like I am there, and since I have 87 more days until I return to the most magical place on earth, please keep your report coming.

Glad that my photos really are giving you that "you-are-there" feeling. That's exactly what I hope they express, so I'm thrilled to know that it's working. More is on the way. :)

[APB513]

Great trip report Meeko! :thumbsup2

I didn't get to visit the World Showcase when we were at EPCOT last month. I was really looking forward to exploring WS and was really disappointed when I did not get the chance. But thanks to your photos, I do feel like I was there!

[meeko_33785]

Great trip report Meeko! :thumbsup2

I didn't get to visit the World Showcase when we were at EPCOT last month. I was really looking forward to exploring WS and was really disappointed when I did not get the chance. But thanks to your photos, I do feel like I was there!

Thanks. Glad you're enjoying the photos. :)

[meeko_33785]

It’s almost lunchtime, but there’s still some time to enjoy the Plaza Gardens and all of its beautiful scenery before our ADR time comes up. We never seen to spend much time in this area, so it was nice to get have some time to really enjoy it.


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A topiary swan near the garden’s entrance, I think a reminder that this use to be where the old Swan Boat dock use to be. Wish I could have been here when the ride was here since they looked cool from the pictures I’ve seen of them, but alas that was before my time.


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The views of the castle are really gorgeous from here. This photo doesn’t really do it much justice- it’s that nice.


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Mickey and Minnie in topiary form wave to guests passing by.


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A topiary sea serpent and even more Disney ducks.


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And eventually we reach our destination for lunch- The Plaza Restaurant. We’ve been going to Magic Kingdom for years and years and never once had any of us eaten there on any occasion. It had never really ever crossed my mind to try it and at least Dad (if not a few more of us) didn’t even know this was here! When we were planning the trip, the idea of at least checking the menu and some reviews of the place online came to mind and it really looked good. Everyone seemed really enthusiastic on giving it a try so here we are.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/plazasign-600.jpg

When we arrived, the restaurant was just opening, so we had a bit of a wait, so we relaxed and watched a bit of the Castle Show that was going on across the water until our table was ready. We were among the first to be let into the restaurant that day, so I was able to get a few shots of the practically-empty restaurant.


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The dining area was very small- probably smaller than any restaurant I’ve been to at WDW, but it was very charming. The atmosphere was great, plus the music loop from Main Street (probably my favorite loop in all of WDW) was piped into the dining room adding to the feel of the place. Plus, how can you beat the view out the window?


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/plazawindow-600.jpg

Yes, we had a table with a Castle view! How could it get any better than this? The only major negative thing that I’d heard about this place before the trip was that the service was a little slow, but I thought it was just right- not too slow but also not too fast where you feel like you’re being rushed out of the restaurant. Plus the food was great! I ended up getting the Chicken Strawberry Salad and really enjoyed it, and the milkshakes were delicious. Everyone else liked their meals too. All in all, I really think this was one of the best meals I’ve ever had at MK. Why didn’t we know about this place sooner? A definite thumbs up! :thumbsup2


After lunch, we left the turn-of-the-century atmosphere of Main Street for Tomorrowland. First stop- Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. There was a bit of a line so we decided to FastPass it. As we got our passes, we were surprised to see two FastPasses come out for each of us instead of one. We were each awarded with Bonus FastPasses for Carousel of Progress. Now, if you’ve ever been to Carousel of Progress, you know that there’s rarely (if ever) a line for it, so FastPasses for it seem a bit silly. After recieveing out “Bonus FastPasses”, we try to decide whether we wanted to hit Carousel of Progress or do something else before our time for Buzz came up. I suggested Stitch’s Great Escape since we’d only done it once before a few years back, but nobody else wanted to do that again so we decided to just use the FastPasses for Carousel of Progress.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/carouselofprogress-600.jpg

When we arrive at Carousel of Progress, they’ve even got the queue separated into “Standby” and “FastPass” line. It was amusing since the Standby line was empty and the only the FastPass line seemed to have anyone in it. Looked like we weren’t the only people to receive “Bonus FastPasses”. The show was very corny as usual but still enjoyable. Dad actually saw this when he was a kid when it was in the New York World’s Fair, so I think it’s neat to be able to do something as a family that Dad experienced in his childhood. After the show, we had a few minutes to look around Tomorrowland, check out some of the shops and get some water.


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Ran across the Pleakley statue and got a picture. He’s so goofy-looking (no offense, Pleakley).


Our FastPass time quickly came up, so we head over to Buzz.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/buzz-600.jpg

Not a great picture of the queue. I never have much luck getting pictures here. The score wasn’t my best, but was ok. Buzz (my brother, not Buzz Lightyear) did much better- one of his better scores. The ride stopped a few times, but I don’t think that ended up affecting our scores much.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/booster-600.jpg

Booster salutes us as we exit. At this point, Mom and Dad were interested in heading back to Pop to spend some time at the pool, so we decided to split up and Buzz and I headed off to spend some more time in the park before joining them. We wanted to see how the lines and FastPass times were at Big Thunder Mountain, so we figured we’d take the train fron Toontown to Frontierland. Plus, that would give me a chance to see if there were any interesting character in Toontown. Sometimes rare ones hang out near the train station (spotted Cruella there last year), so it's usually worth a check to see if anyone is out.


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Well, there didn’t seem to be any characters out besides the ones at the Judge’s Tent and Hall of Fame, and their lines were long enough to where I wasn’t really interested in waiting. We looked around Toontown a bit until the train came.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/cootstatue-600.jpg



Next chapter: More Magic Kingdom

[cjhinch]

I barely knew about that restaurant myself! We may have to give it a try next time....loved your pics again!!

[meeko_33785]

I barely knew about that restaurant myself! We may have to give it a try next time....loved your pics again!!

Thanks. Yeah, the Plaza sure seems to be a well kept secret, doesn't it?

[cajunfan]

I love the Plaza too!

I favor the club sandwich and their German potato salad!

Once when we visited, we were the 100th guest of the day, and we got a certificate stating so, a free photo pass picture with the Mayor (He announced that we were the 100th guest of the day to the whole restaurant!) and a free dessert for us to share. Of course this was on our 2004 "magical" trip to the world...lots of magical things happened that trip including an upgrade from garden view concierge to castle view concierge!

One day, I will make it back there!

Also enjoying all the photos from your trip!

Lynn

[angela3676]

I love your trip report. Your pictures show a differenct view point than what I'm used to seeing on here. I really, really like it. Your pictures kind of show the artistry of disney and not just the rides.

[meeko_33785]

I love the Plaza too!

I favor the club sandwich and their German potato salad!

Once when we visited, we were the 100th guest of the day, and we got a certificate stating so, a free photo pass picture with the Mayor (He announced that we were the 100th guest of the day to the whole restaurant!) and a free dessert for us to share. Of course this was on our 2004 "magical" trip to the world...lots of magical things happened that trip including an upgrade from garden view concierge to castle view concierge!

One day, I will make it back there!

Also enjoying all the photos from your trip!

Lynn

The club did sound really good. I would love to go back and try more off the menu. Glad to know you're still enjoying the report. :)


I love your trip report. Your pictures show a differenct view point than what I'm used to seeing on here. I really, really like it. Your pictures kind of show the artistry of disney and not just the rides.

Thanks so much. I'm really glad to hear that you (and others) are enjoying it since it it is from somewhat of a different perspective from most of the reports I've read here too. I do like the rides, but the artistry of it all really facinates me too. Disney makes it easy to get some nice photos with all the fantastic looking things they've got everywhere.

[meeko_33785]

Wow, seems like a while since I updated the report. Sorry everyone, it’s been a busy week and I had a hard time finding space to work on it, but I’ve finally got a new chapter! Enjoy. :)


Alright, when we last left off, Mom and Dad were heading back to Pop Century for some pool time. On their way down Main Street they even ran into the Mayor of Main Street and his wife. Kind of wish I had been there too since I’d never seen them out like that, but that’s cool. There was more fun ahead for Buzz and I. Taking the train from Toontown, we headed to Frontierland to see what the wait and FastPass times were. Unfortunatly the wait was a little long and the FastPass times weren’t very convenient with our plans of meeting up with Mom and Dad at Pop later so we passed on it. Instead we head off to Adventureland. I wanted to Captain Hook and Mr. Smee since I hadn’t gotten there picture in a while (almost 5 years I think). Buzz is rarely interested in characters so he passed and opted to split up for a while and did Pirates of the Caribbean. The line for Hook and Smee weren’t so bad but a longer wait than pretty much anything else we’ve done today (it’s been a day of really short waits so far :thumbsup2 )


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Taking pictures of the area near the queue while I wait.


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Captain Hook and Mr. Smee were awesome. pirate: They were really great with the kids. They even took special care with the kids (usually the little girls) who were terrified of them. Captain Hook would walk over to a nearby tree, pick a flower and give it to the girl as a peace offering- and it actually helped! It was cute, but I’m not sure if Disney’s horticultural staff would feel the same way. When I was meeting them, Mr. Smee wanted to be the center of attention in the picture with Hook in the background which caused a fight that we and the character attendant had to “break up” (all in good fun, of course). The pose in the picture above was the compromise one they finally reached in which they both were the center of attention.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/adventurelandbridge-600.jpg

After meeting the pirates I left Adventureland on my way back to Fantasyland to get some pictures and see if I could find the Pooh gang (specifically Darby whom I’d never seen before). On my way, Dream Along with Mickey was going on so I stopped and watched for a while.


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Princes and Princesses.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/dawm-snowprincemickeyminnie-600.jpg

I really liked how this one turned out- two of Disney’s most classic couples.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/dawm-bows-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/dawm-auroracindyprinces-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/dawm-auroracindyprinces2-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/cindyfountain-600.jpg

On to Fantasyland! Cinderella’s Fountain from a somewhat different view than the traditional “crown above the head” shot.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/elephanttopiary-600.jpg

Next I headed over to Dumbo for some more pictures. It’s was hard to find a good angle to get a picture of these elephants from. Hopefully this is alright.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/dumbo-600.jpg

This is the closest I’ll get to the actual ride this time around. The line was way too long, plus I’d feel silly riding Dumbo by myself. There’s a ton of rides at WDW that I wouldn’t mind riding solo sometimes, but Dumbo defiantly isn’t one of them.


Next over to Pooh’s Playful Spot. Darby was indeed out as well as Pooh and Tigger, but their line was ridiculously long. They’ve got it set up so that you just stand in one big line and then get to meet Pooh and then Tigger and Darby together. Well, there’s no way I’m standing in a line that long so see a character I’m not really that familiar with, but I figure as long as I’m here I could try to get a picture of her from the side with a zoom while she’s between guests. I try that and a CM gets in the way of the short. Alright then, I’ll move a little to get the CM out of the shot, but not long after the CM moves again seemingly trying to block the shot. I assume this was to make sure guests don’t take pictures of other people’s kids while they’re meeting the characters, but I was just trying to get a picture of the characters by themselves. Oh well. It's a sign of the times I guess. :sad2: I gave up and left without the picture. Took a quick trip to Toontown to see if there were any characters at the train station now, but there were still none. Well, back to Fantasyland.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/cindymural1-600.jpg

I head off to the Castle to check out the mosaic murals (or at least the ones that weren’t blocked off due to Dream Along).


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/cindymural2-600.jpg

This shot became a lot harder to get now because it’s above the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique now and constantly has a giant line pouring out of it. I won’t go into my opinions of the Boutique right now, but I’ll just summarize by saying :crazy2: :duck: .


Around this time Buzz calls me to see if I was interested in heading back to Pop and hitting the pool. I agreed and we met up on Main Street. As we were meeting Buzz asks if I recognize the song that’s being played in the background loop. It was “Sunday Clothes” from Hello Dolly aka one of WALL-E’s favorite songs. Right after the movie came out Buzz was asking me if the song was part of the loop. He seemed to think it was; I couldn’t remember. It seemed that Buzz was defiantly right. And there’s our WALL-E moment for the day. On the way down Main Street, we check out a few of the details along the way- one of which was a sign that Mom mentioned finding earlier in the day on one of the windows in the Emporium that credits Osh Popham as being the store’s proprietor. This may sound like nothing at all, but it’s actually a reference to a Disney movie and one of Mom’s favorites from when she was younger. Bonus points for anyone who knows what movie this is a reference too. :) Tried to get a picture but couldn’t get a good shot. Maybe next time I’ll figure out a way to actually make the shot work.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/contemporaryconstruction-600.jpg

On our way to the bus stop, we stop to see the construction at the Contemporary. Looks like the new addition’s going to be big! I’m going to miss the old wing that use to be there since that’s where we were when we stayed at that resort. It was so cool to be able to see the fireworks and Space Mountain out the window and be about as close as you can get to MK. I’m defiantly not into the DVC resorts so I’ll probably never stay that close to the park again. We get on the bus and head back to Pop. If you’ve ever been to Pop Century, you probably know that the music they play on the buses on the way back from the parks is a mix of songs from movies, TV shows. Commercials, radio, etc. that may or may not necessarily be “Disney”. Well, believe me one of the strangest things I experienced on this whole trip was watching the Castle disappear in the distance as we pull out of the bus stop to the tune of the Looney Tunes theme, the one that plays while Porky Pig always says “That’s All Folks”. :confused3 It just seemed so wrong.


Next chapter: Back to Pop Century

[burly]

I'm still reading. :thumbsup2 :cool1: :surfweb:

[meeko_33785]

I'm still reading. :thumbsup2 :cool1: :surfweb:

Yay! :banana: I was affraid I wasn't quick enough with my updates and had lost my awesome readers. Glad to know you're still around.

[nutz2notz]

Hi Meeko,

I just found your report today and read the whole thing. Great Job :thumbsup2 I will be looking forward to hearing about the rest of you and your family's adventures.

I also wanted to say I agree with many others that your pictures are beautiful. :goodvibes

[cjhinch]

I'm still reading! Still loving your pictures!

[meeko_33785]

Hi Meeko,

I just found your report today and read the whole thing. Great Job :thumbsup2 I will be looking forward to hearing about the rest of you and your family's adventures.

I also wanted to say I agree with many others that your pictures are beautiful. :goodvibes

Hi! So glad to know you've enjoyed it so far. Thanks so much, and I assure you that more is on the way. :)


I'm still reading! Still loving your pictures!

Awesome! Thanks for letting me know.

[meeko_33785]

Sorry not too many photos in this chapter. There will be more in the next one, I promise. :)


I forgot to mention in the last chapter what Buzz was up to while we split up for a bit. After Pirates, he headed off to Frontierland where Woody’s Cowboy Camp was starting up. Buzz is a Toy Story fan so he stops and watches and gets a few pictures. While he’s doing this, a CM comes up to him and asks if he’d like to be in the show. He was a little befuddled at this (pure Buzz) but agreed. How cool! This kind of stuff never happens to us. They give him a big hat to wear that looks like a mountain and the little kids on hobbyhorses ride around his while singing “She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round The Mountain”. Wish I could have seen that! No photos of this were taken sadly. After the show, he looked around for a bit before meeting me at the Hub.


Fast forward to us arriving back at Pop Century. The weather’s not too bad, a bit overcast but still not raining, so I figure now’s a good time to head over to the 50s area and get some pictures of Lady and the Tramp. I’d meant to last Christmas when we were here but didn’t get the chance, so I really wanted to get over there this time. Buzz isn’t interested so he heads back to the room.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/lady1-600.jpg

Lady. Still not sure if she’s suppose to be looking at anything in particular.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/tramp1-600.jpg

“He’s a tramp, he’s a scoundrel…”


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Along the way I spot more ducks. I believe this is the last of the Disney ducks for this report.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/roger1-600.jpg

Back the 80s. Hi Roger.


On my way back to the room, I was checking the pools so see if Mom and Dad where in any of them, but I didn’t seem to spot them. I figured I’d just missed them and joined Sam in the room to relax and watch some TV. After a while we hear what sounded like a cough on the other side of the adjoining door. We come in to find Mom in bed under the covers with a bunch of pillows behind he to prop her up a little. We’d known she wasn’t feeling 100% well recently (caught a little something from a co-worker, she though), but now she looked really sick. :sick: Turns out she and Dad had went to the pool, but it was ridiculously cold. Combine that with the somewhat cool- or at least cool for Florida in August- weather this afternoon, it really made things a whole lot worse. She was all achy with a sore throat just miserable. :( At this point, the plan for the rest of the day was up in the air. For now, we’ll just hang out in the rooms and see how Mom’s doing.



Next chapter: Will Mom feel better and will we make it back to MK?

[mommylovesdisneymore]

You take the Most Beautiful Pictures. WOW!!:cloud9: They are awesome

[hollybearsmom]

I'm joining in now. I agree your photos are terrific, and I am enjoying your whole report also!

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Really enjoying your TR so far. We're staying in POP as well, so it's great to see all the photos. My DH is a keen photog so he'll be keen to get some ideas for photos. He likes taking 'different' photos. Hope your mum wasn't too ill!
Di x

[bob6sims]

Great TR :thumbsup2

looking forward to your next installment :cool1:

[meeko_33785]

You take the Most Beautiful Pictures. WOW!!:cloud9: They are awesome

Thanks so much. :) I'm always happy to hear that my photos are being enjoyed.


I'm joining in now. I agree your photos are terrific, and I am enjoying your whole report also!

Welcome aboard! Thanks for reading.


Really enjoying your TR so far. We're staying in POP as well, so it's great to see all the photos. My DH is a keen photog so he'll be keen to get some ideas for photos. He likes taking 'different' photos. Hope your mum wasn't too ill!
Di x

Thanks. Your DH sounds like a photographer after my own heart. I love 'different' photos too. Have fun at Pop. We really enjoyed it.


Great TR :thumbsup2


looking forward to your next installment :cool1:

Glad to know you're enjoying it. Hopefully I'll have the next installment up pretty soon, but I'm not certain when.

[cjhinch]

I hope your Mom feels better so she can enjoy the rest of your trip!!

[burly]

EEK:scared1: hate it when someone is sick on a vacation.:sick: hope mom gets better. :hug:

[meeko_33785]

I hope your Mom feels better so she can enjoy the rest of your trip!!

EEK:scared1: hate it when someone is sick on a vacation.:sick: hope mom gets better. :hug:

Thanks you two.

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Any more updates?? :surfweb:

[meeko_33785]

Any more updates?? :surfweb:

Soon hopefully. I really haven't had the time recently, but I should soon. Sorry everyone that it's taking a little long.

[meeko_33785]

Again, I’m extremely sorry that it’s taken so long to get this report updated. Life’s been pretty busy lately and I just haven’t been able to work on it. Anyway, let’s continue where we left off.


By the evening, Mom still wasn’t feeling very well and she decides that she’ll be skipping going back to Magic Kingdom tonight. She wants to get well because she wants to ride Toy Story Mania tomorrow! Dad stays with Mom and Buzz and I will hit the park for a few hours. Before heading to MK, we all head down to the food court for dinner. Mom gets some soup and tea that seems to help. I think I got chicken fingers or something. Not too memorable but good enough. After dinner, we wish Mom and Dad well and head to the bus stop.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mainstreet-600.jpg

When Buzz and I get back to Magic Kingdom, the first thing we do is head down Main Street and to the tip board to see how the waits look on the rides. For some reason none of the wait times are listed. I don’t understand why this doesn’t seem to stay updated in the evening. :confused3 Not having a clue on the wait times, we walk half-way across the park to try Big Thunder Mountain again. The wait time is still a little too long for us and the FastPass timewas later than we intended on staying for the evening (we were hoping to be heading back to the resort by 10pm). Looks like Big Thunder Mountain is a no-go for this trip. We’ll have to make it a priority for next time I guess. New plan: we’ll take the train to Toontown and check out Tomorrowland instead.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/bigthunder-600.jpg

On the Railroad, we catch a glimpse of Big Thunder Mountain along with the other sights. The portion between Frontierland and Toontown is probably my favorite part of the ride. There’s so many things to see and little surprises along the way. We get off the train and hit the path from the train station to Tomorrowland. Neither of us could remember ever taking this path before. Another first for us!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/spacemountain-600.jpg

A photo of Space Mountain from the path. Of course, it had long lines too.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/rozbanner-600.jpg

The lines aren’t too bad at Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, so we get in line. :sulley:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/misnacks-600.jpg

The queue really has some really great details in there. The Snack Machine might just be my favorite.


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We’d enjoyed this show when we saw in last year and it again did not disappoint. Most of the comedy routines this time around were different than the ones we saw last time which I thought was cool. The guest participation was great too. They really know how to pick the people who really will play along with the monsters in the show. It was great.


When we exited the theater, we discovered it was dark now, so we headed to the TTA to take a ride through Tomorrowland to see it all lit up for the evening. Amazingly beautiful! Got to love the views of the Castle in the evening too as it passes the edge of Tomorroaland. After the TTA, we decide to head towards Fantasyland and hit the rides that have short lines.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/speedwaysign-600.jpg

The first thing we hit is the Tomorrowland Speedway. It’s been years since I’d been on this! It was fun and the views are great at night (I’d only ridden it during the day before). I think I’d forgotten so much of the ride that it kind of felt like I was riding something brand new.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/speedway-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/sonnyeclipse-600.jpg

After the Speedway, we were heading to Fantasyland when I suggested we check out Cosmic Ray’s. I’d heard about Sonny Eclipse, the animatronic alien lounge lizard that entertains here, but had never seen him before since we never eat here. We take a break and watch him do a couple of numbers. I was excited to finally see him sing “Bright Little Star” since I’d heard it a bunch of times on the WDW Official Album soundtrack. After the break watching Sonny, we continued to Fantasyland. Along the way, we spot SpectroMagic in the Hub and watch a couple of floats pass by from afar near Belle’s Fairytale Gardens.


The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh didn’t have much of a line so decided to ride it. pooh: Everything went fine until we got to the room where Tigger is bouncing. Right as we’re passing the scene where Tigger has pounced onto Pooh to tell him about Hephalumps and Woozles the entire ride stops and all the lights turn on. There was a couple with a baby in front of us in the “Hunny” pot who were very confused asking if this was part of the ride. No, no it isn’t. The lights turn off and the ride continues again, but it seems to throw everything out of whack. We didn’t get to see the scene of Pooh floating off into his dream (which is too bad since it’s my favorite effect in the ride). We ended up stopping five more times between this point and the end of the ride which wasn’t all bad because it really gave us a chance to see some of the details in the ride, especially in the “Floody Place” scene. The last time we stopped was right before entering the last room with the Hero Party for Pooh. The scene begins with Pooh bemoaning his getting stuck in the honey tree with an “Oh, bother” and telling Piglet that he’ll be with him in a minute. The narrator then starts talking about the party saying that “Everyone has gathered today to say…” When you enter the next room everyone shouts “Hooray!”. Well, we end up getting stuck right before we enter the room where everyone shouts “Hooray” but we can still see the figure of Piglet right in front of us almost waving us to come in. The audio in the room re-loops so the dialogue now goes:

Narrator: And the time came when everyone gathered to say…
Pooh: Oh, bother! Be with you in a minute Piglet!

Buzz and I start laughing. :lmao: The time had defiantly come when we all were ready to gather together to say “Oh Bother!” The ride did start again and we finally rode past Piglet and unloaded. Not the best ride on Winnie the Pooh, but we found the last part so funny that it was worth it. Still, we decided that this defiantly should not be the last ride of the evening. We wanted a better finale than a ride that kept breaking down. I wanted to ride Snow White’s Scary Adventures. I know it’s not very well-liked, but I really enjoy this ride. Buzz doesn’t like it as much as I do, but agrees to ride it as long as he can pick the last ride of the day.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/snowwhitewell-600.jpg

My pictures on rides never seem to turn out very well. My camera seems to have a hard time focusing when there’s no flash and the “No Flash Photography” rules on the rides make pictures nearly impossible. I was happy with the way this one turned out though. The ride was fun, as usual. Didn’t break down once!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/smallworld-600.jpg

I wasn’t at all surprised at Buzz’s pick for today’s finale ride- It’s A Small World. He really enjoys this one. I’m always amazed to the amount of detail all throughout the ride. Sometimes I wish the ride could go slower just so I could see more of the detail. I think I’ve gotten to the point where the song doesn’t bother me anymore so I wouldn’t mind hearing it for over 10 minutes anymore. It was a good choice for a last ride of the day.


We wanted to get out of the park before Wishes started in order to beat the rush at the bus stop after the fireworks and get back to the resort and get some sleep to prepare us for tomorrow. We’ve got to be up early if we want to get to Toy Story Mania at park opening! We’ve only got 5 minutes before the fireworks start and an announcement goes over the loud speakers that once the lights go off, stay where you are for safety reasons. I don’t want to get stuck in the park while we’re trying to beat the rush so I hurry faster. I think Buzz thought I was crazy. We were the only ones in the park rush out of the park before the fireworks started. We make it through the tunnel out of the park just as the lights go out and Wishes begins- just in time to see the fireworks going off over the train station (for reference: seeing the fireworks go off over the Train Station is actually a pretty cool view that I’d never seen before or heard about on the DIS. You can still hear the music and if you watch it from near the boat docks, you don’t have to go through the turnstiles or security so you wouldn’t necessarily have to pay park admission). We watch it from the entrance courtyard a little before heading to the bus stop and watching the rest of the fireworks waiting for the bus to come. No music here, but the fireworks are still beautiful. The bus arrives and we head back to Pop to rest up for Disney’s Hollywood Studios tomorrow.

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Enjoying the updates! :thumbsup2 Hope your mum recovered quickly.
Sounds like you had a good day, just a pity the wait lines were too long for BTMRR, I've heard a few other posters say the lines were fairly short, so I guess it can change day to day.....
Funny story on Pooh! We had Buzz breakdown whilst we were on it, it gave us a good chance to up our scores though!
Di x

[mikesjoy]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE your trip report! Your pictures are awesome!!! :love:

[ckret01]

I just LOVE your pictures! You have such a eye for photography!:goodvibes

[meeko_33785]

Enjoying the updates! :thumbsup2 Hope your mum recovered quickly.
Sounds like you had a good day, just a pity the wait lines were too long for BTMRR, I've heard a few other posters say the lines were fairly short, so I guess it can change day to day.....
Funny story on Pooh! We had Buzz breakdown whilst we were on it, it gave us a good chance to up our scores though!
Di x

Glad you're enjoying them. Not getting to ride Big Thunder wasn't too big of a loss. I like the ride but it wasn't really a priority for this trip so it's ok. That's what happens when you go in August.


I just LOVE your pictures! You have such a eye for photography!:goodvibes

Thanks so much. :)


I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE your trip report! Your pictures are awesome!!! :love:


Happy to know you're love love love loving it. Thanks.

[meeko_33785]

Good morning! Welcome to day three, sadly the last full day of the trip. The Mickey wakeup call this morning either; we get some cowboy-sounding song. Meh. I wonder if they’ve stopped doing this or if Pop just isn’t. Mickey call or no Mickey call, it’s time to get up.


Happily, Mom is feeling a lot better today. She still has a little scratchy voice, but she’s not feeling achy or sick so she’s up for heading to Hollywood Studios today. :woohoo: We get some quick breakfast at the food court before heading to the bus stop.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/dhsbussign-600.jpg

This will be our first time to the park since the name change from MGM Studios to Hollywood Studios, so I wanted to document the name change. I think it will always be MGM Studios to me though. Also, note the blue sky. Enjoy it while it lasts (it won’t for long). The bus comes and we’re off!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/tsmbillbord-600.jpg

We get there pretty early- at least 45 minutes before opening- so we spend a little time looking around the entrance area before getting in line at the gate. Toy Story Mania now open! This will be first on the agenda for today.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/dhsentrance-600.jpg

Another sign of the name change. Again, isn’t the sky beautiful? We look around the little shop to the left of the gate for a while because there isn’t all that much to do before opening. We’re all looking at the Cars toys and Mom finds a diecast car of the character that George Carlin played (can’t remember his name). Sadly this was not long after he had passed away. Mom and Dad were both fans so consider buying it, but end up not. Eventually a line starts to build at the gate and we join it.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/singinrain-600.jpg

Heading down Hollywood Boulevard before opening. I have two reasons for taking this photo. 1) Singin’ in the Rain is one of my favorite films of all time. For the last few months before the trip, I’d been watching a bunch of old MGM musicals, some I’d seen perhaps many times before and a bunch I’d never seen before (you’d think I’d be watching Disney movies leading up to Disney World, but no) and one of them happened to be Singin’ in the Rain, so this is sort of in commemoration of that. 2) I knew the weather forcast for today and figured that this might be a sign of things to come. I didn’t really think about it until later, but it could serve a third purpose too. 3) A photo for all the crocs fans on the DIS! ;)


After the opening ceremonies, we join the flood of guests heading for the new PIXAR Place. It was pure craziness! People were running like crazy and shouting to love ones. I’d never seen it this bad before- especially for a non-thrill ride. When we finally arrive, we’re told that Toy Story Midway Mania is broken. Not the news the hoard wanted to hear! They’re letting people queue up just in case they can get it working, but won’t promise how long it will take. We hope for the best and get in line. It seemed to be moving, so we’re optimistic.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mrpotatohead-600.jpg

Most of my photos in the queue didn’t come out too great, but I was glad that I got a few shots of Mr. Potato Head. Actually, he’s the one reason we decided to go Standby instead of getting a FastPass. We’d heard that the FastPass line totally bypasses Potato Head and after all the hoopla that we’d heard about his, we didn’t want to miss getting to see him in action.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mrpotatohead2-600.jpg

He was cool, but I don’t think many people understood that we could interact with them. He’d try to talk to people (“Hey you in the red shirt!”), but most people didn’t really get it and wouldn’t talk to him. :confused3


The line moves constantly and it’s not too long before we get on the ride. It really was a lot of fun. We all really enjoyed it. Can’t remember my score (I never can and don’t ever think to write it down), but I think I got the second lowest level of “prizes” they have. Buzz was the winner. No surprise; he always wins on Space Ranger Spin too. The whole experience was great. I think the ride was still having some problems because after each game we were stuck there for a short while before moving to the next one. It was fine though since they let you re-play the game while you wait. Didn’t get any extra points though, but it was still fun.


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The details and theming there were just great too. Wish I’d thought to get more photos! I liked this “Little” Golden Book at the exit. Some might recall that “Tin Toy” was really a short that PIXAR made that inspired Toy Story. It was nice to see a tribute of it here, plus it makes a nice Little Golden Book too.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/tintoy2-600.jpg


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After we get off the wait is already up to 50 minutes just minutes after 9:30! Yes, it’s true. You want to get to Toy Story Mania first thing in the morning if you want to avoid a wait. The FastPasses by now are already for after 3pm. We debate getting FastPasses to ride it again and eventually decide to get them. We’ll be able to ride them after seeing Block Party Bash. At this point, Buzz and I were planning on riding Tower of Terror before the lines got too bad there. Mom and Dad don’t really do thrill rides anymore so we split up.


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A view of PIXAR Place as we’re leaving.


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Here’s what it looked like last time we were here.


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Now with Monkeys!



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Another photo from last time we were at the Studios.


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And now with a brand new sign on the arch.


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A brief stop at the Fantasia topiary before heading to Sunset Boulevard. Hopefully the line’s not too long.


Next chapter: Tower of Terror, Narnia and more

[kcork1026]

Good morning! Welcome to day three, sadly the last full day of the trip. The Mickey wakeup call this morning either; we get some cowboy-sounding song. Meh. I wonder if they’ve stopped doing this or if Pop just isn’t. Mickey call or no Mickey call, it’s time to get up.


Happily, Mom is feeling a lot better today. She still has a little scratchy voice, but she’s not feeling achy or sick so she’s up for heading to Hollywood Studios today. :woohoo: We get some quick breakfast at the food court before heading to the bus stop.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/dhsbussign-600.jpg

This will be our first time to the park since the name change from MGM Studios to Hollywood Studios, so I wanted to document the name change. I think it will always be MGM Studios to me though. Also, note the blue sky. Enjoy it while it lasts (it won’t for long). The bus comes and we’re off!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/tsmbillbord-600.jpg

We get there pretty early- at least 45 minutes before opening- so we spend a little time looking around the entrance area before getting in line at the gate. Toy Story Mania now open! This will be first on the agenda for today.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/dhsentrance-600.jpg

Another sign of the name change. Again, isn’t the sky beautiful? We look around the little shop to the left of the gate for a while because there isn’t all that much to do before opening. We’re all looking at the Cars toys and Mom finds a diecast car of the character that George Carlin played (can’t remember his name). Sadly this was not long after he had passed away. Mom and Dad were both fans so consider buying it, but end up not. Eventually a line starts to build at the gate and we join it.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/singinrain-600.jpg

Heading down Hollywood Boulevard before opening. I have two reasons for taking this photo. 1) Singin’ in the Rain is one of my favorite films of all time. For the last few months before the trip, I’d been watching a bunch of old MGM musicals, some I’d seen perhaps many times before and a bunch I’d never seen before (you’d think I’d be watching Disney movies leading up to Disney World, but no) and one of them happened to be Singin’ in the Rain, so this is sort of in commemoration of that. 2) I knew the weather forcast for today and figured that this might be a sign of things to come. I didn’t really think about it until later, but it could serve a third purpose too. 3) A photo for all the crocs fans on the DIS! ;)


After the opening ceremonies, we join the flood of guests heading for the new PIXAR Place. It was pure craziness! People were running like crazy and shouting to love ones. I’d never seen it this bad before- especially for a non-thrill ride. When we finally arrive, we’re told that Toy Story Midway Mania is broken. Not the news the hoard wanted to hear! They’re letting people queue up just in case they can get it working, but won’t promise how long it will take. We hope for the best and get in line. It seemed to be moving, so we’re optimistic.


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Most of my photos in the queue didn’t come out too great, but I was glad that I got a few shots of Mr. Potato Head. Actually, he’s the one reason we decided to go Standby instead of getting a FastPass. We’d heard that the FastPass line totally bypasses Potato Head and after all the hoopla that we’d heard about his, we didn’t want to miss getting to see him in action.


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He was cool, but I don’t think many people understood that we could interact with them. He’d try to talk to people (“Hey you in the red shirt!”), but most people didn’t really get it and wouldn’t talk to him. :confused3


The line moves constantly and it’s not too long before we get on the ride. It really was a lot of fun. We all really enjoyed it. Can’t remember my score (I never can and don’t ever think to write it down), but I think I got the second lowest level of “prizes” they have. Buzz was the winner. No surprise; he always wins on Space Ranger Spin too. The whole experience was great. I think the ride was still having some problems because after each game we were stuck there for a short while before moving to the next one. It was fine though since they let you re-play the game while you wait. Didn’t get any extra points though, but it was still fun.


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The details and theming there were just great too. Wish I’d thought to get more photos! I liked this “Little” Golden Book at the exit. Some might recall that “Tin Toy” was really a short that PIXAR made that inspired Toy Story. It was nice to see a tribute of it here, plus it makes a nice Little Golden Book too.


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After we get off the wait is already up to 50 minutes just minutes after 9:30! Yes, it’s true. You want to get to Toy Story Mania first thing in the morning if you want to avoid a wait. The FastPasses by now are already for after 3pm. We debate getting FastPasses to ride it again and eventually decide to get them. We’ll be able to ride them after seeing Block Party Bash. At this point, Buzz and I were planning on riding Tower of Terror before the lines got too bad there. Mom and Dad don’t really do thrill rides anymore so we split up.


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A view of PIXAR Place as we’re leaving.


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Here’s what it looked like last time we were here.


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Now with Monkeys!



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Another photo from last time we were at the Studios.


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And now with a brand new sign on the arch.


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A brief stop at the Fantasia topiary before heading to Sunset Boulevard. Hopefully the line’s not too long.


Next chapter: Tower of Terror, Narnia and more


Now I am excited to see all the changes on Dec.....my family is a little hesitant, as studios was always our favorite park.

[meeko_33785]

Now I am excited to see all the changes on Dec.....my family is a little hesitant, as studios was always our favorite park.

Awesome. The Studios has been my favorite park after MK for a long timeand I actually really liked most of the changes. PIXAR Place and Toy Story Midway Mania are really fantastic additions- exactly what the park needed IMO. The rest were basically fairly nominal like sign changes that didn't really take away the feel of the park. All in all, I think it's in great shape and getting better. :thumbsup2

[meeko_33785]

Buzz and I continued down Sunset Boulevard to my favorite WDW attraction- the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.


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We’d missed this last time we were here so Buzz and I defiantly wanted to make sure that didn’t happen on this trip. When we get there, the wait wasn’t too bad (maybe 20 minutes, I can’t remember anymore) so we hop in the standby line.


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The detailing in the queue is one of the best in the parks I think, if not the best. I love all the period décor and the way it really brings you into the story.


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A few shots in the lobby. I would have gotten more if I could have but by the time we got into here the line never stopped moving until we got outside the library.


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As usual the ride was absolutely fantastic. Hands-down the best attraction I experienced the entire trip. The theming is great, the effects are great, the whole experience was thrilling and the randomized drop sequence always surprises! Defiantly a true highlight! :thumbsup2 After the ride, I knew that Prince Caspian was starting to do meet-and-greets at Journey Into Narnia at that point so I decided to head over there. Buzz didn’t have any interest so he set off on his own.


Honestly, at this point I had not seen the Prince Caspian film (and actually two months later I still haven’t), but I knew that the recent trend for characters from new films tends to be they appear in the parks for a little while and then seem to disappear. I figured that there may be a good possibility that if I passed on meeting him now I might miss my chance (I’d already had this happen before with Chicken Little so I didn’t want to have it happen again). The line here is about 20 minutes too but I get in line. As I’m waiting, the sky gets darker and darker. By the time I’m at the front of the line it starts to rain increasingly hard. :umbrella: Thankfully, Caspian was in an indoor alcove so he didn’t have to rush indoors like a lot of the other characters have to do when the rain sets in.


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Prince Caspian turned out to be really cool. He taught me the proper Narnian greeting on shaking forearms (which must be new since I didn’t remember if from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe) and we discussed the differences between Narnia and Florida while he signed autographs and poses for photos. He was a lot of fun. The meet-and-greet empties to the front of the line of the Journey Into Nania exhibit. It was still raining but even though the queue was covered the wind was blowing rain in on everyone in line. I was defiantly glad to get inside! The attraction itself wasn’t too thrilling, just a bunch of clips and a summery of the film’s plot (a spoiler for those of you like me still haven’t seen it: good triumphs over evil in Narnia).


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At the end of the attraction there was a small gallery of costumes and props from the film. While looking around, I call Buzz, Mom and Dad to find out where they were. Turns out they were all at the Magic of Disney Animation so I booked it over there hoping that the rain had let up enough where I didn’t need a poncho. Half-way between Narnia and the Animation building I realized I was wrong.


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At the Animation building we checked out the WALL-E exhibit and photo-op. It’s not as good as having a WALL-E character or anything but it’s as close as we’re going to get for this trip at least.


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In the gallery, EVE was on display as well. While we were there, I checked out the line for the new Sorcerer Mickey meet-and-greet but it looked pretty long so I passed on it. At this point, we had planned to head over to Sunset Boulevard to start waiting for the first showing of Beauty and the Beast, but we weren’t really interested in seeing it in the rain. True it’s covered so we’re not going to get very wet if wet at all, but even so we decide against it. We decided instead to break out the ponchos and head over to the Great Movie Ride instead.


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I’d been hoping we’d be able to fit this into our itinerary. I’d been watching a lot of old MGM musicals for the last few months leading up to the trip (around one a week) and my two favorites- Singin’ in the Rain and The Wizard of Oz were featured on the ride, so I figured that it seemed fitting to do the ride on this trip.


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Another of my favorite musicals (though a Disney one, not MGM) that’s featured on the ride- Mary Poppins.


After the ride, we head towards Sunset Boulevard to get some lunch. We grab some food (I got a pizza from Catalina Eddie’s) and get a table under a covered canopy so we’re not eating in the rain.


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Here’s the view from out table with the Tower of Terror poking up over the next canopy over. While we’re eating the rain finally stops and the next showing of Beauty and the Beast is put on our schedule.


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A few photos of the Victory Garden over by Rosie’s Café in the Farmer’s Market. This has to be one of my favorite details in the park. Great storytelling and something that really places you in the era that it’s portraying. Plus it’s educational- Sunset Boulevard the first place I learned about Victory Gardens as well as war rationing, Rosie the Riveter, and other historical details about America during World War II when I was a kid.


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After lunch, we looked around some of the shops in the area before heading to the Theater of the Stars.



Next chapter: Beauty and the Beast and some Enchanted costumes.

[burly]

Still along for the ride........
I love the tower of terror. Took my two oldest for EMH at HS when we were there in June. We ended up riding in the very last elevator of the night. T:jumping1: hey gave us like 10 drops and then when we landed and the music started, we thought it was over, but no they shot us back up and down 4 more times!!! It was awesome!:cool1: :banana: :woohoo:

[kidrericha]

On the way down Main Street, we check out a few of the details along the way- one of which was a sign that Mom mentioned finding earlier in the day on one of the windows in the Emporium that credits Osh Popham as being the store’s proprietor. This may sound like nothing at all, but it’s actually a reference to a Disney movie and one of Mom’s favorites from when she was younger. Bonus points for anyone who knows what movie this is a reference too. :) Tried to get a picture but couldn’t get a good shot. Maybe next time I’ll figure out a way to actually make the shot work.
Osh Popham is Burl Ives' character in Summer Magic... did they list him as the postmaster, too?

[meeko_33785]

Still along for the ride........
I love the tower of terror. Took my two oldest for EMH at HS when we were there in June. We ended up riding in the very last elevator of the night. T:jumping1: hey gave us like 10 drops and then when we landed and the music started, we thought it was over, but no they shot us back up and down 4 more times!!! It was awesome!:cool1: :banana: :woohoo:

Glad you're still onboard. I was beginning to worry all my awesome readers had moved on. Fantastic story! Sounds so crazy but so fun. Love it. :)


Osh Popham is Burl Ives' character in Summer Magic... did they list him as the postmaster, too?

You are correct! :banana: That's exactly who it was. I think Osh had a bunch of possitions in that town and postmaster sounds familiar. I haven't seen that movie in a few years, but remembered the characters' names, as did Mom who loved that movie growing up. I think it's awesome to see references to some of the more obscure movies in the Disney cannon in the parks so I was thrilled to find this one. Bonus points for you! :banana:

[kcork1026]

I;m still with you also......just under 50 days till my next trip...keep the report coming please!

[meeko_33785]

I;m still with you also......just under 50 days till my next trip...keep the report coming please!

Awesome. More should be on the way soon. :)

[meeko_33785]

Beauty and the Beast- Live On Stage had been on the itinerary of the trip from the beginning. It’s my favorite show in all of WDW and one of my favorite attractions in general, but somehow I always seem to miss it and five years had passed since the last time I’d seen it. :scared1: There was no way I was going to miss it this time. I think that this might be the most photo-heavy chapter for this report which Probably is not surprising. I’ve never been the best at getting photos at this show in the past so I wanted to try to get as many good ones as possible. The photos I’ve posted here are the ones that I’d consider somewhere between ok and good. Didn’t really get any great ones IMO. Hopefully the show will stick around a bit longer so perhaps I can.


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We made sure to get to the show early enough to catch 4 for a $ do their preshow. They’re always great. Sad to know that they didn’t survive all the budget cuts in the entertainment department last month and are no longer at Hollywood Studios. :(

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The Prince snubs the Enchantress-in-disguise.


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“Little town, it’s a quiet village…”


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“Gaston” was one of the best I can remember seeing. Great voice, great personality for the part.


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Belle wasn’t as impressed with him.


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You’ve got to love all the giant enchanted objects.


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“Be our guest, be our guest! Put our service to the test!”


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High kicks for the finale!


I was sad that I didn’t get any good shots during “Something There”. It’s one of my favorite numbers in the show (actually, aren’t they all my favorites? lol)


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Gaston approaches the castle.


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“Kill the Beast!”


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The Beast has been transformed back into the Prince!


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“Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme, Beauty and the Beast!” The show was wonderful. I was glad to finally see it again. :thumbsup2


After the show, there was still some time before Block Party Bash so we headed off to the AFI Showcase. We’d heard that they had changed out some of the displays to include costumes from a few more recent films, the one of which got me most excited was Enchanted. I liked that movie a lot so I was glad to hear that it at least has some park presence (I’m still a little bummed that Giselle and Edward never came out for meet-and-greets; they would have been hilarious. Oh well).


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Queen Narissa’s costume. It’s extremely impressive close up. The dragon-scale-like detailing was a nice touch that I hadn’t noticed in the film.


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The costume for Narissa’s disguise as the old hag (complete with poison apple).


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Narissa’s lackey Nathaniel’s costume. Apparently they couldn’t find a mannequin that looked anything like Timothy Spalding.


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Nearby, Davy Jones' pipe organ from Pirates of the Caribbean was on display. I Can’t recall if this is from Pirates II, III or both. I think at least II.
After looking around the Showcase for a but we began to venture back towards Hollywood Boulevard for Block Party Bash.


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You might not be able to tell this from the photo, but by the time we exited the AFI Showcase, the sky had defiantly opened up again. This was taken under a awning and zoomed. Is it ironic that the fountain is from the movie Splash and we were about to get “splashed” by all the rain? :umbrella: In any case, we break out the ponchos and head for Hollywood Boulevard hoping that the rain and stop and Block Party Bash would still be performed. As we’re rounding the Sorcerer’s Hat an announcement is made that this performance of Block Party Bash has been…

[Dr_Finkelstein]

All the photos are great - we love ToT, this year will be the first year our twins want to ride it. I think they'll love it! My DS was especially keen when I told him Dylan and Cole Sprouse from Suite Life were on it recently - his most fav show!
I'd never noticed the mermaid fountain before - where is it? I'll need to keep an eye out for it!
Di x

[meeko_33785]

All the photos are great - we love ToT, this year will be the first year our twins want to ride it. I think they'll love it! My DS was especially keen when I told him Dylan and Cole Sprouse from Suite Life were on it recently - his most fav show!
I'd never noticed the mermaid fountain before - where is it? I'll need to keep an eye out for it!
Di x


Hi! The mermaid fountain is between the entrance of the backlot tour and the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. If I can remember correctly, it was actually a prop from the movie Splash. There's a plaque in front of it explaining its history.

Thanks for reading. Hope you all enjoy the Tower of Terror. :)

[meeko_33785]

Hey everyone. Just wanted to say that I have not forgotten about the trip report. I don't have a lot of time to be working on it right now, but I should have a new update by the weekend or maybe the end of the week at the soonest. I did not think that I'd have this long of a wait between chapters when I made the last one a cliff-hanger. Sorry everyone.

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Meeko,
Just popped in to say 'cheerio', I'll need to catch up on the rest of your TR when I get back.
We head off to WDW tomorrow - finally! :cool1: :cool1: :cool1: :cool1:
Di x

[meeko_33785]

Hi Meeko,
Just popped in to say 'cheerio', I'll need to catch up on the rest of your TR when I get back.
We head off to WDW tomorrow - finally! :cool1: :cool1: :cool1: :cool1:
Di x

Awesome. Will you be doing a trip report too? I'll have to keep an eye out for it. You probably won't see this until you get back but have a wonderful trip. :)

[meeko_33785]

Postponed. Based on the announcement it seems like we easily could or could not get a performance of Block Party Bash today. Just in case there is, we head to Hollywood Boulevard and get a spot. It’s still raining a little but it looked like it was about to stop so we remained hopeful. When 3:00 came around the rain had just about stopped when the announcement that today’s performance of Block Party Bash had been cancelled due to inclement weather. :( Oh, well. That’s the risk you take when you go to WDW in August. We change plans and head to the Streets of America since we hadn’t been over there yet today. We can take some time to look around there a bit before our FastPass time for Toy Story Midway Mania comes up.


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Along the way, I stop to check out the topiary near the Hat. By now the rain had stopped.


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A few pics from around the Muppet area. I noticed that I haven’t really gotten any pics of the Miss Piggy fountain in a long time so I made sure to get one.


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Under refurbishment. It looked so strange without the balloon.


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It’s A Wonderful Shop- the Christmas store. Not sure if the “closed for the season” sign was real or just part of the theming. I guess we’ll find out if it actually opens for Christmas this year.


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The MuppetVision balloon sitting off to the side.


According to the Times Guide, Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable were about to come out for a meet-and-greet so I headed over to wait for them while the others continued taking pictures around the area or watched some of Mulch, Sweat and Shears’ show. They already had quite a line for them before they arrived which I’d never seen before (usually they only have two or three families in line to see them if any). I’m guessing the rain had cancelled most of their earlier appearances today so everyone who had missed them earlier all came at once.


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Ron Stoppable and Kim Possible- they arrived a little later than scheduled but better late than never.


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I had to get a pic of Ron with his chair. I was him a couple times for Halloween years ago and some of my friends still call me “Ron Stoppable”.


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After I met Kim and Ron, everyone regrouped and head for PIXAR Place to ride Toy Story Mania again. Again, it was a lot of fun. I think I did slightly better this time around than my first. I kind of missed not getting to see the Mr. Potato Head animatronic since you don’t get to pass him when you go through the FastPass line, but the really short line you get when using FastPass was a definite plus you won’t get on Standby most of the time. :thumbsup2 Sorry, no pictures this time this time around.


After the ride, we head to the One Man’s Dream exhibit. This is probably one of my favorite lesser-known attractions, especially all the exhibits at the beginning.


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Miniature Main Street USA.


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The original Audio-Animatronic.


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Walt Disney’s office.


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Mary Poppins costume.


After the film, we all decide to split up for a while before regrouping for dinner at Hollywood and Vine. I decide to head to the Hat to see if I can find any characters.

[meeko_33785]

I had heard that usually a bunch of characters come out by the Hat around 5pm for a big meet-and-greet so after getting out of One Man’s Dream, I headed for the Hat. Apparently these evening Hat sets are the best time outside of the Halloween Party to find some of the harder-to-find villains so I was hoping that a few would be out. Sure enough, at 5pm a bunch of characters come out from the Chinese Theater and head to the courtyard in front of the Hat.


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The Villains for today were Governor Ratcliffe from Pocahontas, The Queen from Snow White and Jafar from Aladdin. I hadn’t seen these three out for years so it was nice to finally see them again- and more exciting all together! They weren’t doing autographs which was a little disappointing since I didn’t have the Queen or Jafar’s, but the awesome group shot more than made up for it. All were fantastic- perfectly in character and fun. After meeting the Villains, I headed over to see if I could meet any of the other characters but most of the lines were already closed. The CMs said that the characters would be back out at 6pm so I decided to come back them to try and meet some more.


While I was waiting, I decided to head to the Animation Courtyard to see if the lines were short at the Animation building. Along the way, I noticed JoJo and Goliath waving to passersby on their way offstage.


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Inside the Animation building, Mickey’s line still looked a bit too long for me so I skipped him. The Incredibles weren’t out so the possibility of meeting them was out. Instead of spending more time here, I headed back to the Chinese Theater Courtyard to check out the pin shop in the Hat and the hand and footprints in the Chinese Theater. Along the way, I notice that Voyage of the Little Mermaid barely has a line for it’s next show which is scheduled to start in a little while. I don’t know if this is becoming less popular but I can remember not too long ago when you’d wait at least an hour to see this but the last couple of years the wait seems to have significantly dropped. I figure I’ll still check out the stuff around the Chinese Theater, but perhaps come back to see Mermaid a little closer to Showtime.


Off to the Hat to pick up a souvenir. Considering all the old MGM musicals I’d been watching all summer and the way the weather had been this trip, could there be a more fitting memento that this?


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Singin’ In The Rain Mickey Mouse! :umbrella: They had a bunch of pins of Mickey and friends in the different films represented in the Great Movie Ride (Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, Casablanca, etc.), but I had to go with my favorite out of all of them.


Next, I returned to the Chinese Theater to check out the footprints of the stars of so many of the MGM Musicals I’d seen recently.


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Judy Garland’s Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz. Judy Garland started in my two favorite MGM musicals after Singin’ in the Rain- Wizard of Oz (of course) and Meet Me In St. Louis (aka the film where the “Clang Clang Clang went the trolley” song from Main Street came from).


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Cyd Charisse danced in so many wonderful MGM musicals- Singin’ In The Rain, The Band Wagon, Silk Stockings, and Brigadoon to name a few.


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Van Johnson who also starred in Brigadoon with Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly.


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Most people today remember Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts of Jessica Fletcher, but back in the 1940s she starred in MGM Musicals like The Harvey Girls.


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Ann Miller- fantastic dancing star of Kiss Me Kate, On The Town, Easter Parade and many more. I actually was there the day she was at then-Disney-MGM Studios to do these prints and I got to see her in a parade and do a Star Interview at the old Theater of the Stars. I feel very fortunate now to be able to see her back then.


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June Allyson, who got her start at MGM in Best Foot Forward with Lucille Ball in her pre-“I Love Lucy” days.


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These two don’t have anything to do with any of the classic MGM Musicals, but they’re two of my favorites- Mary Tyler Moore and the acotr who played Rob Petrie, Bert and so many others (unfortunatly his name only comes up as *s due to the DIS's filters).


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While I was checking out the hand and footprints, all the characters came through on their way offstage.


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It was getting close to time for Voyage of the Little Mermaid so I headed over and got in line. The show was fantastic, enjoyable as always. Ariel had a nice voice and the puppets were a lot of fun. All in all, a great performance (perhaps made even better by a short wait). :thumbsup2


After the show, it was almost 6pm so I headed to the Hat for the meet-and-greet. The weather was looking a little dicey like it was looking like it could rain at any second. The CMs were already lining everyone up for the characters but warning them if it starts to rain, the characters would have to leave. I lined up for the Princesses and hoped for the best.


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You can’t really tell from the picture, but it was actually sprinkling rain very lightly when I got up to the Princesses, but it was light enough where they were still able to stay out. I like the way the photo turned out. Today's Princesses were Pocahontas, Snow White and Belle. Putting them all in front of the Snow White topiary makes for a nice background. After saying “good bye” to the Princesses, I headed off to meet with the rest of the family at Hollywood and Vine for dinner.


Next chapter: Hollywood and Vine and the last night of the trip.

[meeko_33785]

Hey, I was just wondering if anyone was still out there reading. I haven't gotten any responses from the last two chapters so I'm just curious if anybody else is still on board. There should be two more chapters to come so we're quickly coming to the end. Looks like we might get three days done- and after only three months of writing. lol

[MossyCastle]

I am reading, totally enjoying the trip report.

Love the villians pics!!!

[Sleeping*Beauty]

I'm reading too!!

[burly]

I'm still here. Don't stop now. :thumbsup2

[meeko_33785]

I am reading, totally enjoying the trip report.

Love the villians pics!!!

Yay! Glad you're still reading. I was so excited to get that picture of the Villains so it's nice to know that others are enjoying it too. :)


I'm reading too!!

Oh good. Hope you're enjoying it.


I'm still here. Don't stop now. :thumbsup2

Good to know. I definatly won't be stopping then. ;) I'm hoping to finish out day 3 this evening.

[meeko_33785]

This chapter should be fairly short. We’re pretty close to the end of the trip.

While we were split up, Buzz, Mom and Dad pretty much relaxed around Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards, checking out the shops, taking pictures, watching the streetmosphere, and knowing Dad a good amount of bench-sitting. ;) I met up with them a little after 6pm at Echo Lake. We had a ADR for Hollywood and Vine and when I arrived, Dad had already checked in and we were told that we would most likely get a table earlier than out ADR time! In the meantime, we got some photos of the surrounding area.


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The “apartments” between Hollywood and Vine and the 50s Prime Time. I liked this set up. It almost doesn’t look like it’s a theme park.


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Dinosaur Gertie.


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Looking past Min and Bill’s towards the Hat and Chinese Theater.


In no time, our table was ready so in we went. We had a perfect vantage point- just close enough to the dessert buffet. :goodvibes I know that I’ve heard some mediocre reviews of this place on the DIS, but I really enjoyed it. The atmosphere isn’t Disney’s most fantastic, but it’s charming and nostalgic. Mom likes it because it reminds her of the cafeterias that she ate at when she was little. The buffet was good- nice selection and tasty. The desserts were great too! All in all, a fantastic meal. It was nice to be able to relax, have some good food, reminisce about the trip, check out each other’s photos, be dry (!), and listen to the background music piped into restaurant which primarily consisted of songs from many of the MGM musicals I had been watching. It was a terrific finale for the day. For some reason I didn’t think to take any pictures. Sorry everyone.


After dinner, we headed back up Hollywood Boulevards, checked out a few last shops before heading back to Pop Century.


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One of my favorite spots in the entire park. The architecture, the music, the Tower rising in the distance and all the hustle and bustle just makes this area so alive and enchanting.


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The corner of Hollywood and Sunset.


One last stop before we leave- Sid Cahuenga’s One-Of-A-Kind. I rarely buy anything here (though I have gotten a few good deals on posters and such in the past), but I always enjoy looking around at all the memorabilia for sale. For the record, back in August the “Jolly Holiday” Bert jacket from Mary Poppins was still up for sale. At a $65,000 price tag, I would be surprised if it did get sold anytime soon!


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Back to Pop Century for one more night before going home in the morning.



Next chapter: Once last morning at Pop

[meeko_33785]

Yes, we’ve made it to the final day of the trip. No more theme parks, mo more rides, no more shows, no more characters, but what we do have is one more morning at Pop Century to get some breakfast and take a few last photos before check-out time. After packing up and taking a few bags out to the car, we take a walk around the resort before getting some breakfast at the food court.


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We start out tour with the not-too-distant 90s. It’s hard to be too nostalgic about laptop computers when you’re still using them.


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One last picture of Roger before we leave.


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This sign struck me as funny. Was this some 80s dance that I never learned or is he just patting his head and rubbing his stomach at the same time? Looks like the latter to me.


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Mr. Potato Head got so much attention earlier in the trip for being in Toy Story Mania, I thought that Mrs. Potato Head should have her time in the spotlight too.


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The unfinished Pop Century Legendary Years across the water. Mom and Dad said that they were talking to a CM earlier in the trip who had said that work was supposedly going to start back up on getting it finished and open fairly soon. CM rumors aren’t always very reliable though so I guess we’ll have to wait and see.


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The Generation Gap Bridge aka the bridge to nowhere.


At this point we headed back to the food court to get something to eat before we left. Not too much to talk about here. I had the chocolate chip pancakes and enjoyed them. Nothing too different from what you’d find at any other Disney food court but still tasty. After breakfast we looked around the lobby and shop one last time.


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A Mickey Phone!


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Mom has told all of us that she thinks that she might have made this. She had sewn a poncho just like it- the same print, same pattern, same poorly-sewn zipper (her words, not mine)- back in the 60s. She’s pretty sure that she either donated it somewhere or sold it at a garage sale. How amazing would that be if it was really hers? I like to think it is. Imagine something my own mother made on display at Disney World.


Mom, Dad and Buzz hadn’t been over to the 50s area yet, so we went to check it out. The sky was a lot prettier today than when I went to get pictures here after getting back from Magic Kingdom, so I took a few shots of Lady and Tramp with a blue sky behind them.


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It was just about time to leave, so we headed back to the room to get the last bags and head out.


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A shot of the section of the building where our room was, under the “Let’s Do Lunch” sign. Sorry Pop Century, but we can’t stay to “do lunch”. We’ve got to go.



Next Chapter: Final Thoughts of the trip

[meeko_33785]

Well, after almost five months from starting this journey as a pre-trip, it’s time to wrap things up. So here are just a few final thoughts that I have from reflecting on the trip through writing this report.


Pop Century
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This was all of our third time staying at Pop Century and we all really enjoyed it. The amenities were good and suited us just fine. The rooms were great, the cast members were all great, and even though the 80s/ 90s section was the farthest from the food court and bus stop, the walk was not too long at all. Plus we all really enjoy the theme and setting of the resort- it defiantly has things that bring back memories for all of us. All in all, a great stay.


New Attractions
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The biggest new addition for this trip and undeniably my favorite was Toy Story Midway Mania. I’d been saying for years that the Studios needed a good dark ride that the whole family could enjoy and with Midway Mania we get one that’s all that and more! The games are fun and the theming of ride and queue were fantastic. The only downside was that, at least in the Summer, if you don’t get in line or grab a Fastpass at park opening, you’re in for at least an hour wait. There are worse things than spending an hour checking out the fantastic queue, but I’d still recommend getting there after rope drop and doing the full queue since if you do go through the FastPass queue, you will miss a lot of fantastic theming including Mr. Potato Head.

Also new to us on the trip was the Re-Imageneered Haunted Mansion and Spaceship Earth. Out of the two, I think Haunted Mansion really got the nicer makeover. The new effects are all great additions and I think that in general I’ve never seen the ride look better. Spaceship Earth was nice. The new finale with the interactive screens is really was a lot more fun than it sounds, but I still think the narration was a little lame in places. In general, a few improvements, a few missteps.

The other “new” attractions for this trip were a few new or rotated exhibits in the parks- the 25th Anniversary Gallery and National Treasures exhibit at EPCOT and the Journey into Narnia: Prince Caspian attraction and the newly-updated Villains exhibit at the AFI Showcase at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Out of them all, the Anniversary Gallery was my favorite, though it’s sadly been closed since I started writing the trip report. After that, I’d say I did enjoy the Villains exhibit particularly for the costumes from Enchanted. The National Treasures gallery was alright and worth a look through. I wasn’t really impressed with Narnia in general. Unless you really want to meet the Prince Caspian character or you’re really into Narnia, I’d recommend skipping it.

Two “new” additions that we had intended to see but missed this trip were Block Party Bash (due to rain) and the new O Canada film at EPCOT. Both will have to be put on a “maybe next time list”.


“Rediscovered” Attractions
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Every year, it seems like there are a few attractions that we do that for some reason or not I haven’t been on in years and “rediscover” them. For me, those attractions were Living with the Land, Tomorrowland Speedway and Beauty and the Beast- all of which we hadn’t done in at least five years (besides the Speedway which only Buzz had done the Speedway more recently). I still can’t believe it took me five years to see Beauty and the Beast again since it’s one of my favorites, but regardless it was great to see it again. The Speedway and Land were nice to revisit was well, but I don’t see them being added to my “must-see-every-trip” list. Good rides though. This was also the first time we had been at Magic Kingdom to see the morning “Welcome” show at the train station (we seemed to be on a kick of going to MK or EMH days in the last few years and it wasn’t performed those mornings). It was a cute show and it’s fun to see all the characters together riding in on the train.


Dining
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Let me start by saying that I have to give the award for favorite meal of the trip to lunch at the Plaza Restaurant. I’m still asking myself why we never tried this place before! Great food, great atmosphere, great service. None of us are big fans of the food at Magic Kingdom, but we all gave thumbs up to the Plaza, which really says something! I can defiantly see myself going back here.

The rest of the meals were fine too. and such. Rose and Crown and Hollywood and Vine were good- no complaints. I think this was our first time of having an actual mean (not just drinks or snacks) at the Farmer’s Market food court on Sunset Boulevard. The food was good but not remarkable- normal food court fare. Hollywood Studios doesn’t really have a bunch of good counter service restaurants that are very good, but this one’s fine, plus I like all the vintage 40s theming around it with the Victory Gardens. The food court at Pop was good too, I think above average for a food court as far as the food goes. And of course, you can’t go wrong with desserts in EPCOT’s France! The crepes were great, but really anything you could pick I’m sure you’d be happy with.


Characters
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I was actually impressed with the amount and variety of characters out this year. EPCOT seemed a little light on characters in general, but Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios seemed to have a good amount. I got to meet and get photos and autographs of two characters I had never seen before- Jiminy Cricket at Magic Kingdom and Prince Caspian at Hollywood Studios- and meet three characters that I had only gotten photos of in passing of from the side on previous trips- Bert, The Queen and Jafar. All the characters I met were a lot of fun and very much in character. For any character fans who were interested in a more complete list of what characters that I spotted that were out on the trip, here’s a full list. The ones underlined are the ones that I met. If you are curious to exactly what location the characters were or when they were spotted, feel free to ask.

EPCOT: Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Chip & Dale, Snow White & Dopey, Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Mary Poppins, Belle & Beast, Princess Aurora, Aladdin & Jasmine, Genie, Mulan & Mushu, Caballero Donald

Magic Kingdom: Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio & Geppetto, Chip & Dale, Mary Poppins & Bert, Snow White, Lady Tremaine, Anastasia &Drizella, Alice & Mad Hatter, Buzz Lightyear, Captain Hook & Mr. Smee, Peter Pan & Wendy Darling, Pooh, Tigger & Darby, Timon & Rafiki (I did not go into Toontown Hall of Fame, but the Princesses listed for the day were Belle, Cinderella and Aurora)

Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Minnie Mouse & Daisy Duck (wish I could have met Daisy; I spotted her on my way to Narnia and figured I could come back to see her later, but she never came back out due to rain :( ), Pluto, Goofy, Chip & Dale, Prince Caspian, Mickey Mouse, Mr. & Mrs. Incredible, Mike Wazowski & Sully, JoJo & Goliath, Three out of four of the Little Einsteins (not sure of the names, the one in the purple dress was not out), Handy Manny, Kim Possible & Ron Stoppable, Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Green Army Man, Belle, Snow White & Pocahontas, Aladdin & Jasmine, Mary Poppins, Gov. Ratcliffe, The Queen & Jafar

Sadly, I’ve heard that since the trip that Bert, Wendy, Kim and Ron are not doing meet-and-greets. Too bad, they were always a lot of fun to meet.


Weather and Crowds
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Admittedly, this was not the best weather, but not the worst either. Primarily on Day One and Three there was a good amount of time in the late morning and afternoon with intermittent showers. The only thing that it really messed up was raining out Block Party Bash and some entertainment. Other than that, the rain wasn’t too much of a problem. The mornings and evenings were nice though. That’s the Florida summer for you! Crowds weren’t too bad considering it was still Summer. I didn’t see a lot of rides besides a few of the big ones (which seems to include Toy Story Mania) with waits over an hour. Fast Pass defiantly helped. In general, if you can be a little flexible with the crowds and weather, August is fine.



Well, I think that pretty much wraps things up. If you have any questions, I can attempt to answer them, but I’m out of story and photos to post. Thanks to all of you who have read and especially to those who have responded. I immensely appreciate your feedback and encouragement to keep going. Thanks to you all! I anticipate a short weekend trip around Christmastime since we all still have one day left on our passes that will expire after the end of the year, so keep an eye out for that trip report if you enjoyed this one. I’m thinking maybe a day at Animal Kingdom since we skipped it on this trip. Regardless, thanks to all of you and I hope you’ve enjoyed it!:)

[Lady Lallie]

What a great Trip Report! I love the focus on characters, I hope to meet up with a bunch on our next trip. :goodvibes

[kcork1026]

Thanks so much for this amazing trip report. It has kept the magic alive for me, and has taken me to under 3 weeks til my trip. I appreciate your time and AMAZING pictures.

[Sleeping*Beauty]

I'm so sad that it's over. Can't wait for your next trip!

[meeko_33785]

What a great Trip Report! I love the focus on characters, I hope to meet up with a bunch on our next trip. :goodvibes

I'm glad that you enjoyed it. Thanks so much and hopefully I will come back from my next trip with some more character photos to share. :)


Thanks so much for this amazing trip report. It has kept the magic alive for me, and has taken me to under 3 weeks til my trip. I appreciate your time and AMAZING pictures.

Thanks so much to you too for reading and thanks for the compliment about my pictures. I don't consider myself anywhere close to being an "expert photographer" but do try very hard to try to get some nice shots and it's really nice to know that you and others really do enjoy them, so thank you for that as well. Have fun on your trip too!


I'm so sad that it's over. Can't wait for your next trip!

Thanks! Glad that you were onboard with me through the journey of this report. Once I get planning started for the next trip, I may start a pre-trip for it (though I'm not sure since the last few pre-trips I've done have gotten little to no response).

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Meeko,
Just got back late yesterday, and am getting caught up with everything!
Really enjoyed the updates - again some great photos!
Your TR really helped me during our trip - I kept an eye out for all the nice stuff I saw in yours. :thumbsup2
Glad to hear you might be going back very soon (I'm just very jealous), AK is always lovely to see. I'll keep an eye out for your next PTR!
Di x

[meeko_33785]

Hi Meeko,
Just got back late yesterday, and am getting caught up with everything!
Really enjoyed the updates - again some great photos!
Your TR really helped me during our trip - I kept an eye out for all the nice stuff I saw in yours. :thumbsup2
Glad to hear you might be going back very soon (I'm just very jealous), AK is always lovely to see. I'll keep an eye out for your next PTR!
Di x

Welcome back! Glad to head that my trip report was able to help you out on your trip. Thanks so much for always reading and responding. It was fun to have you along for the ride. :)

[mom2rtk]

LOVE the picture of the villains at DHS! We're headed that way in a few weeks. You said they didn't do autographs, but will they pose with people for pictures?

[meeko_33785]

LOVE the picture of the villains at DHS! We're headed that way in a few weeks. You said they didn't do autographs, but will they pose with people for pictures?

Thanks. From what I understood, when they do the group photos like that becuase they will only do one or two sets for the day and they want as many people to get to see them as possible. Autographs slow things down I guess. They still pose for pictures and interact or chat with guests like any other character though. Usually they're out at 5pm and/ or 6pm at the Hat but I believe that times and locations can change depending on what time Fantasmic is and what time the High School Musical shows are. If they're not at the Hat, they may be inside the Animation building around those same times. Hope you find them. :)

[meeko_33785]

Hey everyone. I just have a quick update. It looks like all four of us will be going back for a quick trip next month! I know I had mentioned going to Animal Kingdom in a previous post, but we're really looking into going to Magic Kingdom now since we haven't been there to see the Castle Christmas Dreamlights yet. I'm toying around with the idea of starting a new pre-trip or whether to just keep this trip report going and just add the next trip onto it since it's only going to be a couple of days long.

So, what do you guys think? Should I start a new pre-trip and trip report for December or just keep this one going and add on to it with the pre-trip and trip report for December?

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hey everyone. I just have a quick update. It looks like all four of us will be going back for a quick trip next month! I know I had mentioned going to Animal Kingdom in a previous post, but we're really looking into going to Magic Kingdom now since we haven't been there to see the Castle Christmas Dreamlights yet. I'm toying around with the idea of starting a new pre-trip or whether to just keep this trip report going and just add the next trip onto it since it's only going to be a couple of days long.

So, what do you guys think? Should I start a new pre-trip and trip report for December or just keep this one going and add on to it with the pre-trip and trip report for December?

Hi Meeko,
Good news on the next trip!
I would be edging into the keeping this TR going if your next visit is going to be short - but then I'm just lazy!
Di x

[meeko_33785]

Hi Meeko,
Good news on the next trip!
I would be edging into the keeping this TR going if your next visit is going to be short - but then I'm just lazy!
Di x

Hi! That's what I was leaning towards too. Unless anyone has any objections, I'll just add on the next trip to this report. I'll be sure to post a pre-trip update as soon as things start to shape up (which they have to soon- we've got less than a month!)

[mom2rtk]

Hey Meeko, You seem to be a wealth of character data. Do you know if Mary Poppins ever appears in her Nanny suit (other than the parade)? My daughter has both a Nanny and a Jolly Holiday costume (and they're coming with us on our trip!) and I'd love pics of both. But I've never heard of Mary appearing in anything other than her white costume.

Also, I've only ever seen her in her white Jolly Holiday costume at the Magic Kingdom down near the hub on Main Street. I'd LOVE pics with Mary on the carousel. Does she ever hang out in Fantasyland?????

Thanks!

[mom2rtk]

One more question. I made Anastasia and Drizella costumes for my daughter and her friend. We're going to 1900 Park Fair, but probably won't get a group shot there. I see you got one at Belle's storybook garden. What time of day did you find them there? Do you know if this is typical??????

Thanks!

[meeko_33785]

Hey Meeko, You seem to be a wealth of character data. Do you know if Mary Poppins ever appears in her Nanny suit (other than the parade)? My daughter has both a Nanny and a Jolly Holiday costume (and they're coming with us on our trip!) and I'd love pics of both. But I've never heard of Mary appearing in anything other than her white costume.

Also, I've only ever seen her in her white Jolly Holiday costume at the Magic Kingdom down near the hub on Main Street. I'd LOVE pics with Mary on the carousel. Does she ever hang out in Fantasyland?????

Thanks!

Hi. I have seen Mary Poppins in her Nany outfit, but only once a few years back at 1900 Park Fare. I believe that if she's wearing it, it's usually on colder days when her "Jolly Holiday" dress is not warm enough for her.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/marypoppinsnanny-600.jpg

As far as Magic Kingdom goes, she usually only hangs around Town Square now. A few years back she use to hang out in Fantasyland and periodically ride the carousel, but not recently. Locations do tend to change periodically though, so I would recommend checking with a CM where Mary is appearing that day. Most CMs that work at Guest Relations or any gift shop can call a character hotline and be able to tell you where a specific character is scheduled to appear that day. Hope you find her. :)

One more question. I made Anastasia and Drizella costumes for my daughter and her friend. We're going to 1900 Park Fair, but probably won't get a group shot there. I see you got one at Belle's storybook garden. What time of day did you find them there? Do you know if this is typical??????

Thanks!

I saw them there around 10:45 in the morning. I believe that they usually appear there most mornings and afternoons in between Belle's scheduled Storytimes.

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi! That's what I was leaning towards too. Unless anyone has any objections, I'll just add on the next trip to this report. I'll be sure to post a pre-trip update as soon as things start to shape up (which they have to soon- we've got less than a month!)

What are you waiting for? Get busy planning! :lmao:
The day after we got home I was on Virgins website checking out holiday prices for next year (don't tell my bank manager), unfortunately they, as yet, don't appear to be giving holidays away for free :confused3 , so I'm waiting for that offer. ;)
Di x

[meeko_33785]

What are you waiting for? Get busy planning! :lmao:
The day after we got home I was on Virgins website checking out holiday prices for next year (don't tell my bank manager), unfortunately they, as yet, don't appear to be giving holidays away for free :confused3 , so I'm waiting for that offer. ;)
Di x

Oh, we're defiantly working on it. :rolleyes1 I'm about to make an "official" announcement very soon. Just have to finish writing it up. let's just say this trip report is not done yet.

I have to say, one of the nice things about living so close to WDW is that the Holiday airfare doesn't really affect us. However, there are some nice deals at the Disney hotels right now which do affect us quite a bit. :)

[meeko_33785]

I’m happy to officially announce that this trip report is not over yet! :banana: We’re going back… and soon!


Yes, in less than a month, Mom, Dad, Buzz and I will return to Walt Disney World for a bit of Holiday cheer :santa: and to use up the last day on our Play-4-Days passes before the six-month window on using them passes us by.

So, why just continue this trip report instead of starting a new one? Because it fits perfectly thematically with this one, or course! This is the “Parks and Pop Century” Trip Report, and for Christmas, we will again be returning to Pop for the third trip in a row! We were actually leaning towards trying one of the All-Stars since we've never stayed at any of them before, but by the time we got around to making reservations they were already all booked. We all love Pop though, so we’re more than happy to return. Of course, what would the “Parks and Pop Century” Trip Report be without the parks? In the case of this trip it will have to be “Park and Pop Century”. It will be a shorter trip than the last one with one day in a theme park (Magic Kingdom unless our plans drastically change) and one night at Pop, so this part of the report will hence be the “A Park and Pop Century Christmas!”


Besides the basics, we’re really just starting on planning. We have no plans for dining or anything yet and are trying to figure out what our priorities should be at Magic Kingdom. We know that we defiantly want to try and see the Castle Dreamlights since none of us have seen them yet and I’ve been thinking of seeing if anyone wants to take some time to explore Tom Sawyer’s Island this trip since it’s something we never do (I think the last time we’ve been over there was 15 or 16 years ago… I can’t remember exactly). So, we have a bit of work in front of us, but we can do it. Heck, Buzz and I planned our Pirate and Princess Party trip (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1382284) in less than two weeks, so we can handle this.


More updates to come as the plans progress. I also think I’ll be posting some pictures from past trips too sometime in the next couple of weeks when I get the chance… perhaps a 10-Year Flashback trip of our December 1998 trip like I did for the summer trip in the last Pre-Trip? :scratchin

[Lady Lallie]

I am so excited that you are going on another trip! I would love to see pictures from past trips, that is always so much fun. :goodvibes

[meeko_33785]

I am so excited that you are going on another trip! I would love to see pictures from past trips, that is always so much fun. :goodvibes

Awesome. :) I'll likely start getting some photos from our Christmas 1998 trip sometime after Thanksgiving. Until then, there's some old photos in my original Pre-Trip (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1867292), but I'll try to get some "new" old photos posted here in the next week or so.

[Dr_Finkelstein]

:woohoo: :woohoo: Another trip!
Actually, I'm just incredibly jealous you're getting to go again so soon :rolleyes1
Can't wait to hear all about it!
Di x

[Lady Lallie]

Awesome. :) I'll likely start getting some photos from our Christmas 1998 trip sometime after Thanksgiving. Until then, there's some old photos in my original Pre-Trip (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1867292), but I'll try to get some "new" old photos posted here in the next week or so.

I just finished reading your PTR and your Pirate & Princess Party TR. Both were very good! I can't believe your P&PP TR, you had such great luck with rides and characters that night! :goodvibes

[meeko_33785]

:woohoo: :woohoo: Another trip!
Actually, I'm just incredibly jealous you're getting to go again so soon :rolleyes1
Can't wait to hear all about it!
Di x

Glad you're looking forward to it. :)


I just finished reading your PTR and your Pirate & Princess Party TR. Both were very good! I can't believe your P&PP TR, you had such great luck with rides and characters that night! :goodvibes

Thanks. That P&PP trip has to be one of my favorites I've ever taken. The amount of characters and entertainment alone was phenominal and the rides were a fantastic bonus. Buzz and I were just reminising about the trip and were amazed at how many attractions we were able to do in such a short amount of time (Buzz more than I did, but I met a lot more characters than he did).


New update about next month's trip coming soon! :)

[meeko_33785]

Well, the four of us have all been together for Thanksgiving, so it’s been a good time to start planning for the trip (it’s so much easier than trying to plan long-distance). We’ve defiantly decided that Magic Kingdom will be our park for this “Park and Pop Century Christmas” since none of us have seen the Castle Dreamlights yet and all would like to. This will also give us a chance to be able to do some of the attractions that we missed over the summer.


Also in the plans is a mid-day break to check out the Christmas decorations at the Grand Floridian and have some lunch at the Grand Floridian Café. We’ve never eaten at that particular restaurant before so it should be interesting. We were looking at menus for a few restaurants along the monorail line and we picked this one because we were most interested in the Christmas decorations at Grand Floridian as opposed to the Contemporary and Polynesian. It’s been a couple of years since we’ve gone resort-hopping to check out decorations, so this should be fun. As far as dinner, we’ll most likely pick up something quick somewhere- most likely the food court at Pop.


We’re still deciding what attractions to make priorities to do this trip. Buzz and I defiantly want to try to do Big Thunder since we just never got a chance to ride it in August and Tom Sawyer’s Island since we haven’t visited it in at least 15 years. Buzz Lightyear is pretty much always a must-ride (especially with Buzz) so we’ll likely do it, and I’ll probably see if we can fit in a ride on Peter Pan since it’s my favorite in the park. We haven’t really figured out a plan of attack and this is all subject to change, so we’ll see if the day actually ends up looking anything like this.


More updates will be coming as the planning progresses. I’ll be scanning some photos from 1998 to post pretty soon in a Flashback mini trip report, so that should be starting in the next couple of days.

[meeko_33785]

When I was writing the pre-trip for the summer portion of this report, I included a mini-trip report of our family’s trip from 10 years ago. I figured I’d do the same for the Christmas portion of this report as well. Enjoy this brief look at our December 1998 trip.


Day One

Just as we did in the summer, we spent our Christmas trip staying at the still-new Coronado Springs resort. We arrived in the afternoon and after checking in and dropping off our bags in the hotel room, we head off to Downtown Disney West Side. When Buzz, Dad and I had all been to DisneyQuest in the summer, the ticketing was set up differently than it is now. Originally, each guest had a card with a certain number of points and you would swipe the card at each game or attraction you experience. At the end of our previous visit we had unused points left, so we figured we could spend some time at DisneyQuest and use the points we had left. To our surprise, it turns out that the ticketing had changed in the last few months to a one-price ticketing system. To our surprise, the CMs at DisneyQuest exchanged our remaining points for a full one-day admission. :cool1: While Mom and Dad spent some time looking around the shops of West Side, Buzz and I tried a few favorites from the summer including Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride and some new experiences that we hadn’t gotten the chance to do over the summer including the Virtual Jungle Cruise and Animation Academy, where we drew Goofy:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/goofy-500.jpg

Keep in mind that this drawing is 10-years old. Just to show that I have improved somewhat over the years, here’s the Pluto I drew last year at the Animation building at the Studios:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/pluto-animationacademy.jpg

Not perfect, but at least it's better than Goofy. :scared:


After a while, we all met back up together for dinner at House of Blues, followed by checking out some of the shops at West Side and the Marketplace to finish out the evening.


Day Two

Our theme park day. For this trip, we had planned a first for us- park hopping between three theme parks in one day. The long say got an early start with an EMH morning at Magic Kingdom. When we got to the park, I noticed Scrooge McDuck doing meet-and-greets doing meet-and-greets near City Hall for the Holidays. This was the first trip in my “I’m-too-old-for-the-characters” phase so I passed on meeting him. Years later when I started meeting characters and getting photos and autographs I use to kick myself for not meeting him then since he’s so unusual to see in the parks. Thankfully, I finally got another chance a few years ago and did get to meet him and may get the chance to meet him again this next trip (I hear he’s been out again at MK lately).


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/castle98-500.jpg

First stop- Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. The attraction was brand new- open for only a few months at this point - and the word wasn’t out about it yet. There was no line whatsoever! We loved the ride so much that right after we got off, we went back and walked right back through the still-empty queue and rode it again. I can't remember ever seeing that short of a line for that ride since. The next ride of the morning was another first for us- Dumbo. :dumbo: Yes, even though we had been going to Magic Kingdom as a family for over a decade at this point, we had never rode those flying elephants! We were on our way across Fantasyland when we noticed a short line at Dumbo and decided to give it a try. I’ve got to admit, it is a fun little ride.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/peterpansflight-500.jpg

Continuing the flying theme, we headed to Peter Pan’s Flight before exploring Fantasyland for a bit before the rest of the park opened at 9am.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/cindyfountain-500.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/cindywell-500.jpg

This was our first our first time finding Cinderella’s Wishing Well. I still remember being excited about making the discovery.


Once the park was open, we continued on to Liberty Square to do ride that Buzz and I had never ridden before- the Haunted Mansion. :hmghost: When we were kids we use to be too scared to even go near the Mansion and as we got older, we just never got around to doing it. By now, we decided to finally give it a try. I was so glad that we finally went on it. Afterwards, we headed over to the Frontierland to see the Country Bear Christmas Special. I’m still a little disappointed that this show isn’t still going on. I thought it was even better than the normal show.



Next chapter: Thee remainder of the trip one with visits to EPCOT and Disney-MGM Studios.

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi there,
Enjoying the updates and hearing about your old trip. I can't believe Buzz had no queue - you'd never see that now!
And I just realised - we still never saw Cinderella's wishing well!
Your plans so far sound good for Christmas, they had just started putting up the decorations - lovely!
Di x

[meeko_33785]

Hi there,
Enjoying the updates and hearing about your old trip. I can't believe Buzz had no queue - you'd never see that now!
And I just realised - we still never saw Cinderella's wishing well!
Your plans so far sound good for Christmas, they had just started putting up the decorations - lovely!
Di x

Hi! Yes, it's so hard to even imagine Buzz Lightyear without a line now, but it's true. Imagine our surprise the next trip we were there and the ride was anything but a walk-on!

Thanks for the imput about the plans. Looking forward to seeing the decorations again. I've seen a few pics here and there of this year's displays and they really do look lovely. :)

[meeko_33785]

Day Two (Continued)

After a couple of monorail rides we make it to the second park of the day- EPCOT.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/sse98-500.jpg

I believe this was the last trip we took before the work started getting the wand and Leave A Legacy sculptures up around Spaceship Earth. Note the glass fountain near the center of the photo with the old EPCOT Center logo. Before heading to World Showcase we stopped and watched a group called Cast In Bronze performing some Christmas songs. It was basically a rock band with a carillon. For those of you who were like me ten years ago and have no idea what a carillon is, it’s basically a giant piano but instead of making music by striking strings it uses giant bronze bells. They were a cool group and Dad even ended up getting their Christmas album. They ended up appearing at EPCOT for a few years and were always fun to see during the Christmas season.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/lightsofwinter-500.jpg

Off to World Showcase! The Lights of Winter aren’t as impressive when they’re not lit, but here they are anyway. After a quick friendship boat ride, we started out journey around World Showcase to Germany where I did a little souvenir shopping. There’s a shop there called Der Teddybar that sells mostly dolls and Steiff bears now, but back in the day they use to have a fantastic selection of Disney plastic figurines that were made in Germany. Over the years I must have collected at least half a dozen different figurines that they sold there. The best thing about this figures was that not only did they have all the ordinary characters, but that had a ton of characters that were more obscure and just couldn’t find anywhere else. On this particular trip, I got this guy:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/elliot-500.jpg

Elliot from Pete’s Dragon. Sadly, the store hasn’t carried these figurines in years. :(


Continuing our trip around World Showcase, we stopped and checked out the decorations in all the countrie, listened to some of the Holiday storytellers like La Befana in Italy and the Canadian Santa Claus, and had got some lunch in the Yakatori House in Japan.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/ukchristmas-500.jpg

For some reason I didn’t get a whole lot of photos at World Showcase on this trip, but I found two that I had taken in the United Kingdom. Go figure.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/marypoppinstopiary-500.jpg

The construction wall behind Mary Poppins and the penguins was set up due to the construction of Millennium Village (now World Showplace).


We continued around World Showcase seeing all the countries (and returning to Italy to get some dessert) before taking another Friendship boat ride out of World Showcase to head back to our next park of the day.


I don’t really remember if we walked to Disney-MGM Studios or if we took the bus, but I do remember that we were tired by the time we got there. (Sorry about the lack of any pics from the Studios; the camera I had at this time didn't take good pictures after the sun went down). This was our first trip since Fantasmic premiered at the park and when we heard that the amphitheater was already seating guests we headed straight there and got seats. We ended up, I believe in the center Mickey section near the top of the amphitheater. We rested our feet and waited for the show to start which, of course, was fantastic. :smickey: We’d all seem footage of the Disneyland version on different Disney TV specials for years and it was so exciting to finally see it live.


After the show, we headed to the New York Street to see the Osborne Lights. Back then, it was still on the Residential Street on all the houses and as cool as it was there, it was defiantly a tighter fit to get a huge crowd through that little street causing a long slow line through the display that thankfully doesn’t exist at the Light’s current location. :crowded: After a brief walk through the street where Mama Melrose and Pizza Planet are (which use to have a lot more Christmas décor all year round) we headed back to Coronado Springs to get some dinner at the Pepper Market.



Day Three

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/coronadoreflection-500.jpg

The last day of the trip was defiantly a lot more chill than the three-parks-in-one-day marathon of the day before. We got some breakfast (I think the Pepper Market but we may have just gotten something quick from the bakery), taking one more look around the gift shop and walked around the resort getting some pictures. I got one semi-good one out of the day (ah the joys of not having learned a lot of photography skills yet). By the time check-out, we were ready to head home.


Hope you’ve enjoyed this mini trip report. It was fun looking back at it. I really think this is one of my favorite holiday trips we’ve taken. :thumbsup2 Just wish I had taken more pictures. Hopefully this won’t be the case on our next trip. More than that trip to come. :)

[Laneychris]

Great report and pics!

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Enjoying the updates! CSR looks nice - next time we go we're thinking of trying another one of the moderates - have you stayed at CBR or POR, if so do you have any suggestions?

Di x

[Lady Lallie]

I love your Past Trip Report. It's so much fun to see some pictures of the parks from 10 years ago. :goodvibes

[meeko_33785]

Great report and pics!

Thanks. Glad you're enjoying them. :)



Enjoying the updates! CSR looks nice - next time we go we're thinking of trying another one of the moderates - have you stayed at CBR or POR, if so do you have any suggestions?

Di x

I've stayed at all three of those resorts and enjoyed them all. Out of the three, I'd say that overall I liked POR the best. Overall, everything was nice there. The only major downside that I find there is that it shares a bus with POFQ and they usually tend to fill up before getting to all of the stops at POR. CBR is a more sprawling resort which is nice but does mean more walking from some of the "villages" to the the main restaurants/ shopping/ pool/ etc. The upside is that I think the rooms are larger at CBR than the other moderates. Coronado is good. I'm not a big fan of the restaurants there, but everything else is great. I don't think you could go wrong with any of them though.


I love your Past Trip Report. It's so much fun to see some pictures of the parks from 10 years ago. :goodvibes

Thanks. It's fun looking back, isn't it? It's amazing how much can change there in just 10 years and how some things thankfully stay the same.

[meeko_33785]

The planning continues! As if you couldn’t tell by now, meeting the characters is defiantly one of my favorite parts of WDW. Usually before a trip, I like to find out what characters have been in the parks lately and get some idea if there any characters that I haven’t met and gotten pictures of appearing where we’ll be going. Unfortunately, it seems like the majority of the characters that have been appearing on a regular or even occasional basis are all characters I’ve already met and gotten autographs from. The only exceptions I can see are Tinker Bell and her fairy friends at Toontown. :tink: As cool as it would be to finally meet Tinker Bell since she's never done meet-and-greets before, I can’t see myself waiting 1-3 hours to see her and a couple of her friends whom I don't know since I have no experience with the "Disney Faries" line. Plus, since we’ll only be in the park for one day and 1-3 hours is a substantial chunk of the trip. Fortunatly, I've never been a real Tinker Bell fan so skipping her won't be really disapponting.


Since it doesn't seem likely that I'm going to run into any new characters to met this trip (although it's not unheard of; I've been surprised before), I thought that I'd focus on meeting characters that I haven’t met in a while instead, especially those who the last picture I have of them is about 5+ years ago. After a little research ron the DIS and some other sites, it looks like these are the characters I’ll likely be on the look-out for.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/pinocchio-500.jpg

Pinocchio. I haven’t met Pinocchio since December 2003 and for some reason I always skip meeting him in the parks even though he always seems to be out. He has been appearing pretty regularly in Town Square lately.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/geppetto2-500.jpg

Geppetto. This is pretty much the same story as Pinocchio. I haven’t met him since December 2003 and always seem to skip him. I don’t know if he is always out, but I know he’s been in Town Square with Pinocchio sometimes. Maybe I’ll luck out and be able to get a father-and-son portrait of them.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/daisy-500.jpg

Daisy Duck. I haven’t met Daisy since December 2002 and actually keep meaning to get a new picture of her but just haven’t. For this trip, I think I’ll make Daisy a top priority to find. She’s supposedly in Town Square too which looks like it could be a busy spot for character meeting this trip.



I’m a little bummed that it doesn’t look like I’m going to find any new characters since that’s always fun, but I’m sure that I'll still come back with some fun character pics for all of you anyway. Hopefully it will be at least these three and then perhaps whoever else has the shortest lines. ;)

[Lady Lallie]

I think it's amazing how many characters you have met on your trips. I really want to focus on the characters on our next trip and meet as many as possible. I really want to meet Mary Poppins in her nanny outfit instead of her Jolly Holiday outfit but I think I will have to wait until our December 2009 trip for any hope of that.

[meeko_33785]

I think it's amazing how many characters you have met on your trips. I really want to focus on the characters on our next trip and meet as many as possible. I really want to meet Mary Poppins in her nanny outfit instead of her Jolly Holiday outfit but I think I will have to wait until our December 2009 trip for any hope of that.

Thanks. :) Hope you have fantastic luck with characters on your next trip.

[meeko_33785]

Over the weekend, Buzz and I visited Busch Gardens in Tampa. For the last few years, we always try to get there around Christmastime to ride a few rides but mostly to see the Holiday decorations and entertainment. I know this doesn’t particularly have anything to do with our upcoming Disney trip, but I figured that people might enjoy a brief look at Busch Gardens at Christmas. If you really need an excuse, we can call it an “Off-Disney-property park day” for the trip. ;)


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/elves-600.jpg

When we arrive at the park, we’re greeted by a pair of Christmas elves. Yes, even at parks that aren’t Disney, I still get character pictures. I’d never seen these characters out before, so I figure they’re new for this Holiday season. A little strange, but I give them points for creativity.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/tree1-800.jpg

The main Busch Gardens Christmas tree, located right outside the main entrance.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/orniments-600.jpg

A closer look at some of its ornaments.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/montu-600.jpg

The first ride of the day is one of my favorites in the park- Montu. There’s defiantly nothing quite like this at Disney.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/christmaszebra-600.jpg

Another Holiday decoration- a zebra all decked out for Christmas.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/tiger-600.jpg

On to my new favorite area of the park- Jungala. They just opened the new tiger habitat this year and it’s really fantastic. It’s not quite as elaborate looking as Maharajah over at Animal Kingdom, but I think it has more windows and areas to watch the tigers. It’s defiantly my favorite animal exhibit in the park, if not my absolute favorite thing in the whole park.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/hildatj-600.jpg

Jungala also seems to be a great place to find characters in the park too. Here’s Hilda the hippo and TJ the tiger all decked out in their Christmas finery.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/coi1-6002.jpg

Next stop- Christmas On Ice. I believe that this is the second year that Busch Gardens has put on this show and I think it was even better this year than last year. This year’s lineup included some gold medalists who were absolutely fantastic. They pulled off some amazing stunts.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/coi2-6002.jpg

Penguin characters and skating elves.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/coi3-600.jpg

Excuse the green glow in this picture. It’s the theater’s lighting.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/coi4-600.jpg


The next major attraction of the day was another of my favorite attractions- the Gwazi wooden roller coaster. I never can seem to decide if I like Gwazi or Montu better. Both are fantastic rides.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/reindeer-600.jpg

Yet another holiday decoration.


Next, we hit a few of the animal exhibits in the park. First was Myombe Reserve, home to the chimpanzees and gorillas. The gorillas weren’t out and some keepers were putting food and such around their habitat, but we did watch the chimps for a little while.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/meerkats-600.jpg

Edge of Africa was the next stop. Plenty of animals here- lemurs, hippos, lions, etc. The highlight for this visit was, I think, the meerkats. There were just a ton of them! Usually, there’s just one or two keeping watch, but today they were just all out together.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/flamingos-600.jpg

Jambo Junction is another animal attraction in the park. It’s pretty much Busch Gardens’ answer to Rafiki’s Planet Watch, but has more animals to see and less interactive activities which is fine by me. The flamingos are one of my favorites here. I always get a kick out of seeing the real flamingos in this pond next to the plastic lawn flamingos.


By this time we were ready to end our day at the park and headed back towards the park entrance.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/tree2-600.jpg

One last shot of the tree- probably my favorite photo of the day.


More on our Disney trip soon. :)

[Lady Lallie]

Great photos! I didn't realize Busch Gardens went all out for the Holidays too.

[meeko_33785]

Great photos! I didn't realize Busch Gardens went all out for the Holidays too.

Thanks. Yes, Busch really does go all out for the Holidays. Pretty much every park in Central Florida does, but for some reason they don't promote their Christmas events and decorations as much as Disney, Universal and Sea World does.

[meeko_33785]

The trip is getting closer and closer. We’re in single digits now! :cool1: We’ve got a pretty loose itinerary by now, so I thought I’d share a few of the attractions we wanted to make a priority to do.



Big Thunder Mountain Railroad- since we missed it last time
Pirates of the Caribbean- since Mom, Dad and I have only done it once since they added Jack Sparrow
Tom Sawyer’s Island- since we haven’t been there in years
Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin- since we pretty much always have to do it
Country Bear Jamboree- I’m not sure why; Buzz just suggested he wanted to do it
Peter Pan’s Flight- as long as we can Fastpass it or get a short line
Cinderella’s Holiday Wish Show/ Castle Lighting- Haven’t been to MK since they added this and we defiantly want to see it.


Hopefully we’ll be able to do more than this, but these are the ones we want to make sure we don’t miss.

[meeko_33785]

As we’re getting closer, here are a few photos from past Decembers of two of the places we’ll be visiting- Magic Kingdom and the Grand Floridian. I have a few pics of Pop Century's Christmas decorations too, but I won't post theme here since I posted them in the pre-trip before the Augist trip. You can take a look at them here (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=25980440&postcount=4) if you like though. :)


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mktree-500.jpg

The tree in Town Square just after being lit.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/toysoldiers-500.jpg

Toy Soldiers under the tree.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/christmastrolley-500.jpg

The dancers and the trolley from the Trolley Parade are all dressed up for the season.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/shakerchristmas-500.jpg

Have I mentioned yet how much I miss the Country Bear Christmas Special? I think I have.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/scrooge-500.jpg

Uncle Scrooge! I may try to get another picture of him this trip if I can manage it.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/gftree-500.jpg

The tree at Grand Floridian- possibly the most elegant looking one on property.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/gfgingerbreak-500.jpg

The giant gingerbread house.

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Meeko,

Enjoying all the updates! I love all the decorations Disney do, they're all spectacular!
Busch Gardens looks really good, we've never been before. I liked the look of the ice show.

Di x

[Lady Lallie]

I just love looking at all of the Holiday pictures from Disney. They are so pretty. I think it's great that they have that tree lot too, it's just a nice touch!

[meeko_33785]

Hi Meeko,

Enjoying all the updates! I love all the decorations Disney do, they're all spectacular!
Busch Gardens looks really good, we've never been before. I liked the look of the ice show.

Di x

Thanks Di.

Buzz and I always enjoy Busch Gardens. The ice show was top notch. They use to ice shows all year long but stopped doing them completly at one point. Last year they started up the Christmas ice shows and it has been a fantastic addition for the Holidays. Nice to have ice shows again, if only for Christmastime.


I just love looking at all of the Holiday pictures from Disney. They are so pretty. I think it's great that they have that tree lot too, it's just a nice touch!

Thanks. I'm hoping to come back with plenty of Holiday pictures from our next trip. I've decided to make it a priority this year. Between MK and Grand Floridian alone, I'm sure they'll be lots of oppertunities. :santa:

[meeko_33785]

The planning us done and the trip is coming soon. If something interesting does happen or change between now and the trip I’ll be sure to update, but otherwise, I think this will be it. Thanks to everyone who has been reading through this period between the August trip report ended and the December trip report begins, especially Dr. Finkelstein and Lady Lallie for all your responses and encouragements. It’s been fun.


The Parks and Pop Century report will continue with more photos once I get back. Hope to see you all then. :)

[Lady Lallie]

Have a wonderful, magic filled trip! :wizard:

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Meeko,

Have a great trip when it comes! can't wait to hear all about it! :santa:

Di x

[meeko_33785]

We're back from WDW! It was a nice visit packed with Holiday cheer. :santa: I'll be starting the trip report soon, but for now I've added a few pictures from the trip as a preview to Post #1 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26959598&postcount=1) on the first page of this report. Just scroll past all the preview photos and links from the August trip report and you'll find them. Stay tuned for more.

[Lady Lallie]

Welcome Back! I am glad you had a great trip. :goodvibes

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Meeko,

Welcome back! Glad you enjoyed your trip, can't wait to hear all about it!

Di x

[meeko_33785]

Welcome Back! I am glad you had a great trip. :goodvibes

Thanks. :)


Hi Meeko,

Welcome back! Glad you enjoyed your trip, can't wait to hear all about it!

Di x

Thanks. I should start getting the report started soon. I'm trying to get the first installment up tomorrow. We'll have to wait and see if I do, but that's what I'm hoping for.

[meeko_33785]

The trip starts off on a slightly stressful note, for me at least. When I had been planning, I had been anticipating that we would be arriving at Magic Kingdom by 10am, but by 9:45, we were just pulling in to Pop Century. :scared: The stress appears to be mine alone. Everyone else reminds me that we don’t need to worry about a schedule; we’re on vacation. Easier said than done!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/popdecades-600.jpg

As we head into the lobby, I snap a few quick pics as I walk.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/poptreeday1-800.jpg

I wasn’t really happy with his pic, so I decided I’d try again latter. It’s hard to get a good shot on the move.


Dad and I head to the desk to check in. Not surprisingly, our rooms aren’t ready. We’ll be in the 70s area in the building with the giant Big Wheel and very close to the bus stop and food court. No adjoining rooms this time, but they will be next to each other. We can live with that for one night.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mkbusstop-600.jpg

Once we’re all checked in, we head to the bus stop. It's a cloudy day, but the sun seems to be trying hard to come out.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mkbus-600.jpg

In a few minutes, not one but two buses to the Magic Kingdom pull up.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mkentrance-800.jpg

We’re whisked by bus to the Magic Kingdom. No music this time. Seems like we usually seem to get buses without music on the way to the park and then get buses with music when we’re leaving the park. I have no idea why. Maybe it’s just coincidence. :confused3


As usual, the first stop of the day will be Town Square to see some characters. Before the trip, I had decided to make finding Daisy Duck, Pinocchio and Geppetto a priority since I hadn’t met them in 5 of more years. For some reason, I always seem to skip them. Geppetto was nowhere to be found, but Daisy and Pinocchio were out. I got in line for Daisy while the rest of the family went to check out the Christmas decorations in Town Square.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mktree2-800.jpg

While I’m waiting, I get a few pictures from the line.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/emporium-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/firehouse-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/daisy-600.jpg

Here’s Daisy! She’s had a bit of a makeover and gotten a new outfit since the last time I saw her six years ago, so it was great to finally get her picture again. She looks great! Pinocchio had a good-sized line and I figured that the rest of the family would enjoy heading off to do some attractions instead of waiting for me to meet another character. Unfortunately, I never saw Pinocchio again today. I guess he and Geppetto will be added to the priority list for the next trip.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mktree1-800.jpg

A quick look at the tree before heading on. It was hard trying to get any shots of the other decorations around the Square since Chip, Dale and Pluto were appearing in front of the tree and their lines were blocking the views of them. We’ll see them later in the day once the characters leave.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mainstreetchristmas-600.jpg

Main Street looked great decorated for Christmas. On the way up the street, we stop at the Tip Board to see the wait times. Buzz and I defiantly wanted to try and get on Big Thunder Mountain since we missed it in August. The wait looked a little long, but we figure that we’ll head over there, grab a FastPass and the four of us can go ride Pirates of the Caribbean, which didn’t appear to have a very long line.



Next chapter: On to Frontierland… and Adventureland… and Tomorrowland

[Lady Lallie]

Daisy looks so cute in her outfit.

It does look a gloomy day, I hope the sun breaks out for you.

[meeko_33785]

Daisy looks so cute in her outfit.

It does look a gloomy day, I hope the sun breaks out for you.

It was a bit of a cloudy day, but unlike August, it was totally rain-free. There will be a little blue in the sky here and there.

[RachelNinja]

I like the picture of the firehouse! I guess I never paid much attention to Main Street before because I didn't know what it looked like at all. I was particularly interested in seeing it after reading Kingdom Keepers because some of the action happens in the upper room, and I couldn't visualize that part of Main Street in my mind. Looking forward to more! Glad you had a great trip :)

[meeko_33785]

I like the picture of the firehouse! I guess I never paid much attention to Main Street before because I didn't know what it looked like at all. I was particularly interested in seeing it after reading Kingdom Keepers because some of the action happens in the upper room, and I couldn't visualize that part of Main Street in my mind. Looking forward to more! Glad you had a great trip :)


Nice to see you again. :) Glad that you're enjoying it.

[meeko_33785]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/libertysaquersign-600.jpg

On our way to Big Thunder Mountain, we pass through Liberty Square and the rest of Frontierland.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/libertysquarebuilding-600.jpg


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Some Christmas decorations in Frontierland.


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The Liberty Square Riverboat coming our way. That’s Frontierland, Liberty Square and Fantasyland all in one picture.


When we got to Big Thunder, we discover that the FastPass window is right in the middle of our lunch ADR for today. That wasn’t going to work, so we passed on it and headed to Adventureland.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/peterpan-600.jpg

On our way to Pirates of the Caribbean, I found Peter Pan out for meet-and-greets with no one in line to see him. It seems like whenever I see Peter by himself he rarely has anyone lined up to see him, but he always has a line to see him if Wendy’s by his side. Not sure if that’s always the case, but that’s what I’ve noticed.


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Some of the theming of Caribbean Plaza. It seems like every time we come here we notice something we’ve never noticed before.


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On to Pirates of the Caribbean! pirate: The line’s not too long and moves quickly.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/piratechess-600.jpg

The ride was fun as usual. This was the second time that Mom, Dad and I had ridden since they added Captain Jack to the ride, so we noticed a lot more details this time around. After the ride, Mom and I were talking about how we noticed the rope made of sheets coming down out of the window above where Captain Jack was hiding behind the dress maker’s dummies. Apparently Dad didn’t understand the scene and thought that Jack was just hanging out with headless women. :confused3 We love you Dad. As the ride went on, we stopped a couple of times (once near Captain Jack hiding in the barrel, once near the pirate with all the cats), giving us a little more time to check out details. As we were getting out of our boat at the end of the ride, a CM was telling everyone that Pirates of the Caribbean had opened exactly 35 years ago that day. None of us knew that it was the ride’s anniversary! How fitting that it was out first tide of the day.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/adventureland-600.jpg

After Pirates of the Caribbean, we leave Adventureland and head for Tomorrowland for Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/castle-600.jpg

A quick picture of the Castle on the way. Can’t have too many pictures of it, you know.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/tomorrowlandsign-800.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/buzzsign-600.jpg

Buzz Lightyear had about a 20 minute wait, so we just get in line. Another fun ride, and like Pirates, the ride stopped half-way through. We managed to get some extra points out of the stop, so it was alright.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/meekoscore-600-1.jpg

I can never remember my score, so I managed to get a picture of it at the end of the ride. Not my best, but ok.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/buzzscore-600.jpg

Buzz fared much better than I did. Nice job! :thumbsup2



Next chapter: Christmas decorations and more

[Lady Lallie]

I love your picture of Fantasyland, Frontierland and Liberty Square all in one picture. Very nice.

I love the theming of Liberty Square, I could just wander around there for hours enjoying it.

[meeko_33785]

I love your picture of Fantasyland, Frontierland and Liberty Square all in one picture. Very nice.

I love the theming of Liberty Square, I could just wander around there for hours enjoying it.

Thanks. It is such a nice little area.

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Meeko,

Enjoying all the updates and the photos! I just love seeing all the decorations! Sounds like a fun trip so far.

Di x

[meeko_33785]

Hi Meeko,

Enjoying all the updates and the photos! I just love seeing all the decorations! Sounds like a fun trip so far.

Di x

Hi! I should have plenty more pics of the decorations to come in the next few chapters. I doubt any of them will be up before Christmas though, but hopefully by the end weekend I'll get at least one up.

[meeko_33785]

Hey everyone. I just wanted to wish all of you Seasons Greetings and a very merry Christmas. I'll start working on the next installment for the report (which, perhaps ironically, is mostly about Christmas decorations) after the holiday. Hopefully you all won't mind seeing more Christmas pictures after Christmas is over. Until then, I hope that you and all your families has a great holiday. :santa:

[Lady Lallie]

Merry Christmas! :santa:

[meeko_33785]

Hey everyone. Hope you all had a great Christmas. Sorry I've been slow with getting the next chapter up. I may not be able to get it done until the new year, but I just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about the report. It will be updated. :)

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hey everyone. Hope you all had a great Christmas. Sorry I've been slow with getting the next chapter up. I may not be able to get it done until the new year, but I just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about the report. It will be updated. :)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - I'm having the same problem with my TR!

Di x

[meeko_33785]

Happy New Year! Finally, here’s a new installment as promised. It's so Christmas-heavy that I wish I could have gotten it out in time for Christmas, but hopfully it's enjoyable. :santa:


After getting off Space Ranger Spin, I noticed Stitch doing meet-and-greets nearby. It's been a few years since I'd gotten his picture so I figured I'd try to see him. Unfortunately, his line was closed and wouldn’t be back for an hour. I was hoping to head to Fantasyland to check if any characters were out there (especially Scrooge McDuck or Cinderella’s Stepfamily), but the rest of the family didn’t seem to think we had enough time to see characters before getting to the Grand Floridian for out lunch reservation. Hopefully there’ll be time to check later in the day.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/trolleyhorse-600.jpg

Reaching The Hub, Mom noticed the trolley and wanted to check if we could take a ride down Main Street on our way out of the park. It turns out that it wasn’t taking riders and was waiting for the Main Street dancers for the Trolley show. We ended up just getting some pictures of the trolley standing still. Behind the trolley was the double decker omnibus. I remembered from over the summer that the Omnibus follows the trolley show which stops three or so times along Main Street. Mom tried to convince us to get on the Omnibus, but I was confused that we didn’t have time to even check for characters, but did have time to sit in the Omnibus behind three run-throughs of the trolley show. :confused: We seemed to compromise by just watching the Trolley show once before heading on.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/trolleyparade1-600.jpg

“I'm walkin’ right down the middle of Main Street USA!”


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/trolleyparade2-800.jpg

“I tiped my hat and took a seat”


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“Clang Clang Clang went the trolley!”


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There weren’t as many crowds blocking the Christmas decorations like there were in the morning, so we got some more on the way out.


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These giant nutcrackers use to be up in EPCOT's Germany pavilion years ago at Christmas. It was a tradition for us to see them, but we hadn’t seen them for quite some time. It was nice to see them again.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mainstreetchristmas2-600.jpg

A look down where we just came from.


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Soldiers from Toyland.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mkstrainstation-600.jpg

The train station all decked out for Christmas. I was impressed with the amount of Christmas decorations on Main Street. It seemed just as decorated (if not more so) than I remember from past years.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mkstationtree-600.jpg

We left the park and headed for the monorail. One had just pulled in and we were able to get right on.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mkentrance-600.jpg

A view of the Magic Kingdom from the monorail.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/spacemountain2-600.jpg

Space Mountain.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/baylaketower-600.jpg

Bay Lake Tower- the new addition to the Contemporary- under construction.



Next chapter: Visiting the Grand Floridian

[Lady Lallie]

Those are some great photos of the parade. Great action shots, those are so hard to get sometimes.

I can't wait to see your Grand Floridian pictures. :goodvibes

[RachelNinja]

I have to admit that I'd probably be quite terrified if I saw those nutcrackers in real life! I think I had a bad dream about them after seeing The Nutcracker ballet ...

Hope you have a great 2009!

[meeko_33785]

Those are some great photos of the parade. Great action shots, those are so hard to get sometimes.

I can't wait to see your Grand Floridian pictures. :goodvibes

Thanks. Those action shots were a little tricky. There were a few more shots I wish I'd gotten, but it's not easy to get my camera to focus when there's so much motion. I was really pleased that these turned out so nicely though.


I have to admit that I'd probably be quite terrified if I saw those nutcrackers in real life! I think I had a bad dream about them after seeing The Nutcracker ballet ...

Hope you have a great 2009!

Aww... If you ever get to see them, I hope you won't be scared. I can assure you they're not mean at all. ;) Happy 2009 to you!

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Meeko,
Happy New Year!
Enjoying the update and the photos! I have problems with 'action' photos, but unlike you, my efforts can't be allowed out for public viewing! Mind you, if I'd actually figured out how to use the settings on my camera, that would've helped! :headache:
Did you go for dinner to GF? Can't wait to hear about it!
Di x

[meeko_33785]

Hi Meeko,
Happy New Year!
Enjoying the update and the photos! I have problems with 'action' photos, but unlike you, my efforts can't be allowed out for public viewing! Mind you, if I'd actually figured out how to use the settings on my camera, that would've helped! :headache:
Did you go for dinner to GF? Can't wait to hear about it!
Di x

Hey Di. We actually took a mid-day break and had a late lunch at GF. The day's not even half over yet. :)

[meeko_33785]

The monorail dropped us off at our next destination- the Grand Floridian. We had decided to take an afternoon break here to get some lunch at the Grand Floridian Café (which we’d never been to before) and also to check out all the Christmas decorations.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/gftree-600.jpg

The Grand Floridian never disappoints when it comes to decorations! The tree was remarkable.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/gftree2-800.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/gfsleyornament-600.jpg

Even the smaller trees in the lobby were very nicely adorned.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/gfchef-600.jpg

When we arrived, one of the resort’s pastry chefs was doing a presentation near the giant gingerbread house, talking about the history of the display and how they accomplish it every year. At the end of the presentation, she even had free samples of the type of gingerbread they used. For anyone who’s ever wondered, it’s delicious!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/gingerbreadhouse-600.jpg

The gingerbread house itself.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/gingerbreadhouse2-600.jpg


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2008 marked the 10th anniversary of the gingerbread display at the Grand Floridian.


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The chandelier in the lobby and some of the Christmas garland on the railings behind it.


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I’d noticed these reindeer near the entrance of the resort from the monorail station and knew I had to go down and get some pictures.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/reindeer2-600.jpg


After looking around the lobby area we headed off to find the restaurant (I don’t know if any of us knew exactly where it was). We found it tucked off the lobby and checked it. While we waited for our table, we took some time to explore the hotel grounds and gardens.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/gf1-600.jpg

The clouds are really trying to let some of the blue sky through by now.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/gf2-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/gf3-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/reindeer3-600.jpg

More reindeer were on this side of the resort as well.


After a while, we headed back into the lobby outside the restaurant to wait until our table was ready.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/gfcchan-600.jpg

The restaurant was nicely decorated. In generable, it’s pretty comparable to the Plaza Restaurant where we ate during the August trip but a little airier and Floridian.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/gfctable-600.jpg

An empty table (not ours).


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/gfcafemeal-600.jpg

All of us really enjoyed the food here. I had the Grand Sandwich. I’m not usually one to take pictures of food in restaurants, but I thought that the presentation looked so nice I decided to take one. It tasted incredible too. I was a little concerned about taking time from our theme park day to leave and eat at a resort, but I really did enjoy the meal, so I guess it was worth it.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/gfdome-600.jpg

After lunch, we took another look around the lobby before heading back to Magic Kingdom. Here’s the dome in the ceiling near the center of the lobby.


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A close up of some of the ornaments on the giant tree.


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And what trip to the Grand Floridian would be complete without visiting Mary Poppins?


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/marypoppinstopiary2-600.jpg

From this angle, it almost looks like she’s flying away.



Next chapter: Returning to Tom Sawyer’s Island

[Lady Lallie]

I've been thinking about trying GFC, did anyone in your party have the Grand Floridian burger with the lobster on it? I really want to try that it! Yum.

It really looks beautiful inside. I also love your shots of Mary Poppins, it really does look like she is flying away in that last picture. :goodvibes

[Dr_Finkelstein]

OMG!!!!! My mouth is watering looking at that sandwich!!!!!! And the gingerbread house!!!!!

The GF always looks so lovely - and delicious!!

Di x

[meeko_33785]

I've been thinking about trying GFC, did anyone in your party have the Grand Floridian burger with the lobster on it? I really want to try that it! Yum.

It really looks beautiful inside. I also love your shots of Mary Poppins, it really does look like she is flying away in that last picture. :goodvibes

Not sure if anybody had the burger. Buzz had the Angus Chuck Cheeseburger but there's no lobster on that. Dad might have had the Grand Floridian Burger but I can't remember. I'll have to check with him and get back to you on that. :)


OMG!!!!! My mouth is watering looking at that sandwich!!!!!! And the gingerbread house!!!!!

The GF always looks so lovely - and delicious!!

Di x

If you can believe it, both taste even better than they look!

[Lady Lallie]

Not sure if anybody had the burger. Buzz had the Angus Chuck Cheeseburger but there's no lobster on that. Dad might have had the Grand Floridian Burger but I can't remember. I'll have to check with him and get back to you on that. :)

Thanks! I should my husband the picture of your sandwich and he decided that we should have lunch there instead of dinner because the sandwich isn't on the menu for dinner. :rotfl:

[meeko_33785]

Thanks! I should my husband the picture of your sandwich and he decided that we should have lunch there instead of dinner because the sandwich isn't on the menu for dinner. :rotfl:


:laughing:

[meeko_33785]

After a short monorail ride, we arrive back at the Magic Kingdom. The 3 o’clock parade was about to start, but we decided against seeing it and hopped on the train at the Main Street Station to head to Frontierland. First stop- back to Big Thunder Mountain to check on FastPasses again. By now, the time for the Castle Dream Lights show was right in the middle of the FastPass time. We pass on it again and figure that we’ll just try to see if there is short line later in the evening during Extra Magic Hours.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/tsidocksign-600.jpg

Next stop- the rafts to Tom Sawyer’s Island. The Island is somewhat of an overlooked attraction for all of us to say the least. Just to put things in perspective, the last time I remember going to the Island before this past trip was when Splash Mountain was still being built. I’ve meant to try to get us back there for a couple of years and we finally decided to do it this trip.


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Our raft trip to the Island was delayed for a few minutes while the Liberty Belle Riverboat passed us by.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/libertybelle2-600.jpg

Usually the only perspective of the Rivers of America we get are from the Riverboat, so it was neat to get a new perspective.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/tsiwelcome-600.jpg

Tom and Huck have a “Welcum” on the Island for us.


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Our first stop was this windmill. It had a bit of an observation tower for us. This was followed by one of the caves.


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One of my favorite spots as a kid on the Island- Harper’s Mill. The inside has a few scenes reminiscent of the old Silly Symphony The Old Mill


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Tom’s partially whitewashed fence. In the old days there was a little restaurant here with picnic sandwiches and snacks. It’s now been reduced to a couple of coke machines.


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A few of the Haunted Mansion from start of the barrel bridge. I wasn’t really planning on doing this while we were here, but everyone else convinced me that as long as we’re here we should do it. I’m glad they did; it was fun.


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A look at some of the natural setting of the Island.


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I loved this view of Liberty Square with the Castle poking over it. It just seems like something out of a storybook.


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We took the long bridge to the other side of the Island to what was my favorite part of the Island as a kid- and might still be my favorite- the Fort. When I was a kid is was called Fort Sam Clemens, now it’s Fort Langhorn (apparently a tie in with the Tom and Huck movie from the 1990s).


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The animatronic displays inside the fort always fascinated me. Here are song blacksmiths…


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who are making shoes for the horses nearby.


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I seemed to remember there being more chickens, but there was only one here.


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A little blurry, but here’s an attempted artsy shot.


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The sleeping guard in the Guardhouse.


When we had seen everything in the Fort, we took the Escape Tunnel out. It was a bit of a tight fit, but the four us all managed to make it through.


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A few of Big Thunder from the Island. We will make it on it this trip, I promise!


The last part of the Island we explored was Injun Joe’s Cave. It was a little spooky but fun. Dad seemed to remember there being a bottomless pit here, but we never found it. After that, we headed back for the raft dock and returned to the “mainland” of the park.



Next chapter: Fantasyland and Toontown

[Lady Lallie]

What a nice tour of Tom Sawyer Island. I have never been over there and I didn't realize there was so many things to look at. Thanks for the information! :thumbsup2

[meeko_33785]

What a nice tour of Tom Sawyer Island. I have never been over there and I didn't realize there was so many things to look at. Thanks for the information! :thumbsup2

It really seemed like there was more to do there than I remembered. Glad you enjoyed it.

[RachelNinja]

Great pics of Tom Sawyer's Island! I never went there as a kid and really only recently knew what it was all about. I've been wanting to go for the past couple of years, but because it requires energy, it usually gets bumped off the list of things to do. But I absolutely love the book since reading it in 5th grade, and I feel it's only right for me to see it for myself!

I didn't know there were animatronics on the island! I'm glad I know now so I won't be entirely surprised. Haha, sometimes animatronics scare me ... don't know if they're going to come alive (like in Disney's Kingdom Keepers).

Ooo, and I agree with you about the picture of Liberty Square and the castle. It just seems so picturesque! It's a good picture to take because we normally don't see it from that perspective.

[meeko_33785]

Great pics of Tom Sawyer's Island! I never went there as a kid and really only recently knew what it was all about. I've been wanting to go for the past couple of years, but because it requires energy, it usually gets bumped off the list of things to do. But I absolutely love the book since reading it in 5th grade, and I feel it's only right for me to see it for myself!

I didn't know there were animatronics on the island! I'm glad I know now so I won't be entirely surprised. Haha, sometimes animatronics scare me ... don't know if they're going to come alive (like in Disney's Kingdom Keepers).

Ooo, and I agree with you about the picture of Liberty Square and the castle. It just seems so picturesque! It's a good picture to take because we normally don't see it from that perspective.


Hi! You should defiantly try to see the Island sometime. It's worth the energy. If you want to avoid the animatronics though, most of them are in the Fort. You look through the windows in some of the buildings to see them. They're easily avoidable. :)

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi! You should defiantly try to see the Island sometime. It's worth the energy. If you want to avoid the animatronics though, most of them are in the Fort. You look through the windows in some of the buildings to see them. They're easily avoidable. :)

The scariest animatronics are in ITASW!!!!! That ride terrifies me - my nightmare would be getting stuck in their at night....when they all come alive!!! :scared1: :faint:

We'll have to check out Tom Sawyer's island next trip - we went over 2004 but have apparently the animatronics just passed us by all together!:confused3 How can we have missed them?

Di x

[meeko_33785]

The scariest animatronics are in ITASW!!!!! That ride terrifies me - my nightmare would be getting stuck in their at night....when they all come alive!!! :scared1: :faint:

:rotfl2: Do your kids still drag you on it?

We'll have to check out Tom Sawyer's island next trip - we went over 2004 but have apparently the animatronics just passed us by all together!:confused3 How can we have missed them?

Di x

You have to look through the windows in the different areas of the fort to see them and you can fairly easily miss them on the way to the cannons and passage ways on the second level. They're all on the left as you enter if memory serves, under the signs that say "Blacksmith" and "Guardhouse". They were always thr highlight of the trip when I was a kid, the chickens especially for some reason. I'm not sure why.

[Dr_Finkelstein]

:rotfl2: Do your kids still drag you on it?

Oh yes, they're twisted that way! ;) :lmao:

You have to look through the windows in the different areas of the fort to see them and you can fairly easily miss them on the way to the cannons and passage ways on the second level. They're all on the left as you enter if memory serves, under the signs that say "Blacksmith" and "Guardhouse". They were always thr highlight of the trip when I was a kid, the chickens especially for some reason. I'm not sure why.

It's funny how there's always some wee thing that sticks in your head as a kid! Will need to have a good look for them next trip!

Di x

[meeko_33785]

Hey everyone. I can't believe it's been almost three weeks since I've posted an update. Sorry for the delay. :( Hopefully I'll be able to get a new one up later this week or maybe this weekend.

[Dr_Finkelstein]

:coffee: waiting.......;)

[meeko_33785]

Time for Fantasyland, at last! :bounce: Buzz, Mom and Dad headed off to the Christmas store in Liberty Square while I made my way to my favorite land in the park to find some characters. I had heard that Scrooge McDuck had been showing up for the Holidays on the half-hour near the Teacups, so that would be my first stop. When I arrived, it wasn’t quite time for Scrooge to come out and Donald was appearing. Knowing that he would likely be out soon, I hopped in Donald’s line so I’d be there when the switch happened.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/castlefort-600.jpg

An interesting view of the Castle from the line. If you think I have a lot of pictures of the Castle now, just wait until the sun goes down. ;)


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My plan works and within a few minutes, Donald has to leave to “answer a phone call from Miss Daisy” and his Uncle Scrooge arrives to greet guests. It’s always fun to see the characters that don’t get out much.


I headed over to Fairytale Garden where I had found The Tremaines (Cinderella’s Stepfamily) in August in hope of finding them again. I asked a Cast Member and was told that only the Stepmother would be coming out, but that she would be out in a few minutes. I was a little disappointed that the Stepsisters would not be out since they’re always so much fun, but one Tremaine is better than none. In the meantime, I check out the nearby areas.


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The Tremaines’ cat Lucifer stalks one of Cinderella’s mouse friends on the base of the Wishing Well.


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I was surprised to see the old Tinker Bell’s Treasures shop had been completely refurbished and transformed into two different shops. The first, Castle Couture which sold Princess dresses and accessories which wouldn’t be very exciting to me except…


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They had a very well-done display of Aurora’s enchanted dress that actually changed colors. How cool is that? It was impressive enough to get me to actually walk to a little girls’ Princess dress shop, so I think that says something.


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The second store had the extremely unimaginative name Fairy Treasures. Not too interested in the Fairies so I didn’t check it out. I have no idea if there’s anything that rivals Aurora’s dress of how Tink use to fly around the old shop. If there is, it didn’t catch my eye walking by like the dress did.


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A shot of the Cinderella’s Royal Table sign. I haven’t eaten here in 15 years (it even went by a different name- King Stefan’s Banquet Hall). Maybe someday I’ll return. It was my favorite restaurant as a kid.


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Back to Fairytale Garden where Cinderella’s Stepmother Lady Tremaine was skulking about. None of the kids around wanted to get near here. I think she’s a little less intimidating when Anastasia and Drizella are around, but without them she seemed terrifying. That's ok though. She was great- very funny. I told her how sorry I was that I missed getting to see her daughters, and she told me that they had gone to have supper and get ready for finding Princes tonight. Good luck ladies! :thumbsup2


After saying good-bye to Lady Tremaine, I got a call from the family and we decided to meet up near the Castle. Along the way, I got a few pictures of some of the atmosphere in Fantasyland.


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A circus monkey near Dumbo.


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Ariel’s Grotto


Upon meeting up, we decided to head for Toontown to see some of the decorations at Mickey and Minnie’s Houses.


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Along the way, we check out Pooh’s Playful Spot, which Mom, Dad and I never had never done. It’s so charming! We all just looked at each other and wished they had this back when Buzz and I were kids. We would have spent so much time here. pooh:


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First stop in Toontown- Minnie’s Country House, which Minnie had decorated for the Holiday. Here’s a few of the Christmas decorations inside:


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Minnie seems to have been working on a painting of her friend Clarabelle. I guess she’s modeling for Minnie now that she isn’t doing meet-and-greets right now.


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Tiger Lillies- second place in Minnie’s garden on puns apparently.


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I made a quick stop just to see how the lines were at the Hall of Fames. An hour for the Fairies, but the Princess line was only 30 minutes. I still pass though.


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Not to be outdone by Minnie, Mickey has his house decorated too.


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The stockings are hung by the fireplace.


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Mickey’s goldfish, Bianca.


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There’s even trees in the backyard- and with snow on them!


(Continued in next post)

[meeko_33785]

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Cans of Mohave Oil in Mickey’s garage. Here’s a trivia question- this is actually a reference to another WDW attraction. Anyone know what it is. (Hint: think Hollywood Studios).


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And a few more items in Mickey’s Garage. I love that he had Susie’s “auto-biography” on the shelf. Mom wanted to make sure I’d spotted it. It was one of the cartoons that Buzz and I use to watch a lot as kids.



Next chapter: Disney after dark and an illuminated Castle

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Meeko,

Good updates! Right - need help - what's the scoop on the cans of mojave oil?? Can't think of the link with DHS. :confused3

Good photos of McScrooge - have never seen him before! The new shops look cool - it was all still under renovation when we were there. Will need to check out the colour changing dress - looks really cool.

Di x

[RachelNinja]

Great update! I was wondering, do you ever get intimidated by any of the characters? You mentioned that the little kids weren't willing to go up to Lady Tremaine, but I wondered if they ever "bothered" you in that way since you have so many pictures! I think I might be a little frightened of the Beast! Even Goofy's a little scary to me because of his height.

[Lady Lallie]

Another great update. Do you know if Scrooge McDuck does meet and greets any other time of the year?? He's one of my favorites and I would love to try and meet him. I figure if anyone knows, it would be you! :goodvibes

I remember that cartoon too with Susie. I love those types of cartoons!

[meeko_33785]

Thanks everybody. It feels nice to be back and updating again. :)

Hi Meeko,

Good updates! Right - need help - what's the scoop on the cans of mojave oil?? Can't think of the link with DHS. :confused3

Good photos of McScrooge - have never seen him before! The new shops look cool - it was all still under renovation when we were there. Will need to check out the colour changing dress - looks really cool.

Di x

It's actually a reference to the Studios Backlot Tour. The tanker truck at Catastrophy Canyon is a Mojave Oil truck. I believe they also have (or had, I'm not sure if they still do) have some Mojave Oil cans at Oscar's Classic Cars stroller shop near the entrance of the Studios.


Great update! I was wondering, do you ever get intimidated by any of the characters? You mentioned that the little kids weren't willing to go up to Lady Tremaine, but I wondered if they ever "bothered" you in that way since you have so many pictures! I think I might be a little frightened of the Beast! Even Goofy's a little scary to me because of his height.

You know, I don't usually get intimidated by the characters. There's been a few times where I've had characters kind of surprise me by sneaking up behind me, but that was more of a shock that you can laugh about than a bother. Trust me, you don't have to be worried about Beast. He's a real sweetheart and one of my favorites. Goofy's ok too, but then again, I'm on the tall side too so height doesn't really bother me.


Another great update. Do you know if Scrooge McDuck does meet and greets any other time of the year?? He's one of my favorites and I would love to try and meet him. I figure if anyone knows, it would be you! :goodvibes

I remember that cartoon too with Susie. I love those types of cartoons!

As far as I know, Scrooge only comes out at Christmas time at the Tree Lot in Fantasyland, or at least has for the past few years. I've heard of him being at MNSSHP, but that was years ago and haven't heard of him being there since. I think if you want to see Scrooge, the Holiday are the best time.

[meeko_33785]

Having explored Mickey and Minnie’s houses, we take the Railroad back to Main Street. It’s starting to get dark now and we wanted to be sure to see all the lights on the Castle come on.


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When we got back to Main Street, the tree and all the lights on the street were already on.


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We had some time before the show started so we hung found a table on the little side street of Main Street and spent some time hanging out here, checking out the Christmas windows, listening to the “music lessons” upstairs. I don’t remember spending much time checking this area out, but it’s really a neat place to relax and get away from the hustle and bustle.


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Once it was getting close to time for the Castle Lighting, we decided to avoid the crowds at the Hub and watch from the area near where the Noodle Station that’s sometimes open is. Our view of the show was a little obstructed (I don’t think I could see Prince Charming for a lot of the show, but could see the other characters just fine), but it was still a great spot.


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Not a very good shot, but it serves as a “before” picture.


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Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother begins to transform the Castle into a wintery dream.


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The Castle Dreamlights!


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All of us thought it was just beautiful!


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I’m not crazy about the plant in the foreground, but I think the reflection in the water is pretty.


By now, Mom and Dad were ready to head back to the hotel, so Buzz and I said that we’d meet up with them later back at Pop. While Buzz decided to head back to Toontown to ride the Barnstormer a couple of times, I headed to the Hall of Fame to see if I could find any short lines since by this time of night, Toontown was pretty much the only place to find characters. The Fairies line was still pretty long and was going to get closed off (apparently it closes an hour or so before the Princess line, or at least was that night), but the Princess line had no wait all! I don’t think I’d ever seen the line so short.


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The Princesses even had their own little Christmas tree outside their room. I didn't really like the new look of the queue at the Hall of Fame. I really liked the old one better. No big deal though.


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The first Princess was Cinderella. Hadn’t seen her for meet-and-greets on our last few trips so it was nice to see her again.


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Belle was next looking very regal in her gold gown.


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This is probably one of my favorite character pictures of the trip. I love that it’s a pose that you don’t usually see much and also that the lighting looks good. It’s so hard to get a good picture in the Princess room at Toontown! I’m almost convinced that they keep it that way so you have to buy the Photopass pictures to get a good shot.


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Speaking of lighting, there seemed to be way too much on poor Aurora. At least the one I took of her at EPCOT over the summer came out better.


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After meeting all the Princesses, I head off to get some more photos of the Castle from the area around Fairytale Garden. I love this angle of the Castle and the lights just make it look even better.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/castledreamlights6-600.jpg


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Next chapter: Will we ever get back to Big Thunder Mountain?

[Lady Lallie]

The Castle lights are just gorgeous. You took some great photos too. I agree with the lighting sometimes it's really hard to get a good picture with the characters in inside spots.

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Meeko,

I just love the castle dream lights! :lovestruc :cloud9: :love:

The Princess Aurora was the same one we met at Epcot on our trip - she snuck a big lipstick kiss on DS!!!!! :rotfl: :rotfl: (secretly I think he liked it!;) )

Di x

[meeko_33785]

The Castle lights are just gorgeous. You took some great photos too. I agree with the lighting sometimes it's really hard to get a good picture with the characters in inside spots.

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed the pics.

I don't know why they don't have better lighting at those character locations. They know you're going to take pictures there so you'd think they'd have really good lighting. It's got to be a scam to make you buy those photopass photos.


Hi Meeko,

I just love the castle dream lights! :lovestruc :cloud9: :love:

The Princess Aurora was the same one we met at Epcot on our trip - she snuck a big lipstick kiss on DS!!!!! :rotfl: :rotfl: (secretly I think he liked it!;) )

Di x

That's so cool Aurora was really good. Wish I was able to get a better picture of her. I like meeting the Princesses at EPCOT a lot better since the lines are more managable and the locations are outside and more picturesque, but since Toontown seems to be the only place to find Cinderella and Belle in her gold dress outside of character meals, it's still seems to be a must-do every couple of trips.

[meeko_33785]

Hey everyone. I should be getting back to trip report shortly. We're almost done with this trip, but I think this report might just have an epilogue! Buzz and I were in Orlando over the weekend to see the "Fantastic World of Jim Henson" exhibit that's in Downtown right now and spent the afternoon at Downtown Disney afrerwards. Now I've got a bunch of pictures of Downtown Disney that I can share if anyone is interested in seeing them. I know it's a little off-topic for this report since it doesn't really have to do with the Parks or Pop Century, but Disney is Disney, right?

[Lady Lallie]

Hey everyone. I should be getting back to trip report shortly. We're almost done with this trip, but I think this report might just have an epilogue! Buzz and I were in Orlando over the weekend to see the "Fantastic World of Jim Henson" exhibit that's in Downtown right now and spent the afternoon at Downtown Disney afrerwards. Now I've got a bunch of pictures of Downtown Disney that I can share if anyone is interested in seeing them. I know it's a little off-topic for this report since it doesn't really have to do with the Parks or Pop Century, but Disney is Disney, right?

Of course we want to see them!! :wizard:

[meeko_33785]

Of course we want to see them!! :wizard:

Awesome. :) I'll be sure to post them then as soon as I get this December trip done. I'm starting to feel like this trip report is going to just keep continuing forever at this rate (ok, not really though; the Downtown Disney pictures will be the end of it for sure).

Next installment coming very shortly. :)

[meeko_33785]

After his second ride-through of the Barnstormer, Buzz meets me over by the Castle. After he gets there, we spot SpectroMagic coming around the Hub and watch it for a little while. I feel like a bad Disney fan when I have to say I haven’t watched this parade all the way through in something like 15 years! :eek: This was actually the first time I’d ever seen the Genie in the parade (it was Roger Rabbit all those years ago). For some reason, we just don’t seem that into the parades. After the first unit had passed and our view was beginning to get blocked by row after row of dads putting their children on their shoulders, we head into Fantasyland and hope the parade will cut some of the wait times at some of the attractions.


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First stop- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. pooh: If you recall from the August trip report, Buzz and I had some bad luck on this ride then- stopping a bunch of times, all the lights getting turned on, effects not working, etc.- so we wanted to try again and see if we couldn’t have a more fun experience this time around. Things went very smoothly until we reached the very last room. Literally, the moment after I thought, “Wow! We actually managed to make it through the whole ride without stopping”, our “Hunny” Pot came to a quick halt and the announcement came up telling everyone to remain in their seats. We only stopped for a moment and had a good laugh about it. Not quite a perfect ride through, but close enough!


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Next, we headed for the Mad Tea Party. Buzz is a master at getting the tea cups to go incredibly fast. Most of the time I don’t even try spinning the cups when I’m riding with him; I just seem to slow things down. :faint: Dizzy and laughing, we leave Wonderland to go further into the park. We debate trying Dumbo, but decide to try Big Thunder Mountain again. We missed it in August, we didn’t get a chance to do this earlier today, so we were adamant about trying to get on the ride.


By the time we got back to Frontierland, it was only a few minutes before the park was scheduled to close. The crowds must have all been on Main Street getting ready to watch Wishes and leave the park because they certainly weren’t in Frontierland! There was absolutely no wait for Big Thunder. At last! The ride was fantastic- even better than I remembered! There’s even apparently a few added effects that they only do at night when it’s dark like shadows of dancers on the second floor of the saloon (I figured I had just forgot them, but Buzz checked online and apparently they do only do those effects after dark). At the end of the ride, Wishes began and the fireworks provided a perfect finale for the ride, as if they should always be there. I loved it! The whole experience made skipping it in August and earlier today completely worth it. :banana: :banana: :banana:


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After getting off the ride, we watched the remaining portion of Wishes go off above Tom Sawyer’s Island.


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After Wishes, the park officially closed, but tonight’s an Extra Magic Evening, so our visit isn’t over yet!


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First stop- Country Bear Jamboree. I attempted to get some pictures of some of the decorations in the lobby before going into the show, but pretty much as soon as we arrived, they were already letting people into the theater. I managed to get this one of Trixie’s portrait before heading in.


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Big Al sings “Blood in the Saddle” over the show’s big finale.


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The main group on the stage. We managed to get front row seats. Yeah, we’re cool. :rolleyes:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/teddi-600.jpg

Teddi Beara swingin’ above the audience.


We wanted to get back to Pop Century to get some dinner and meet up with Mom and Dad, but I wanted to be sure to do one last ride- Peter Pan’s Flight. It’s one of my favorites and we also didn’t get a chance to do it in August. When we got there, the sign above the queue said that the wait was 20 minutes, but a CM at the entrance was telling everyone that the wait was over an hour! :confused: When people asked why the time she was giving was so different from the wait-time sign, we explained that the ride was “a little broken”. Buzz and I took our chances and the wait ended up not even being 20 minutes. I could tell something was wrong. The music was off with the Neverland music playing in London and either the lights were too bright and were exposing some of the things that should be hidden or the ride needs some tlc. All in all, a nice ride through anyway.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/goofy-600.jpg

I had heard that characters usually hang out in Fantasyland during Extra Magic Evenings, so before heading on, we checked to see who was around. I don’t have too many pictures of Goofy, so I decided to meet him. :goofy: Even Buzz came along because he’s a fan of Goofy and the line was short. I was hoping to find Mickey and Minnie, but their line was stretching all the way from the Wishing Well path all the way to Snow White’s Scary Adventures! Neither of us were interested in waiting that long, so we headed on through the Castle on our way to Main Street.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/cinderellamosaic-600.jpg

We were able to get a nice look at the mosaics in the Castle since it wasn’t partly closed off due to Dream Along performances or filled with little “princesses” swarming to the Bibbidi Bobidi Boutique.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/cinderellamural2-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/castlemice1-600.jpg

And don’t forget Cinderella’s mice friends. Mickey’s not the only rodents hidden around here, you know.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/castlemice2-600.jpg



Next chapter: The day ends, but not without one last look at the Dreamlights!

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Great photos as usual! And, yes, lets see the DTD ones as well!!

It's great you got to go on all the rides you missed in Aug - I love BTMRR!

I'm not so keen on the tea cups though - I try to enjoy them, but they just make me feel sick!

Front row for Country Bears? - so cool, you're sub zero! ;) :lmao: :lmao:

Di x

[meeko_33785]

Great photos as usual! And, yes, lets see the DTD ones as well!!

It's great you got to go on all the rides you missed in Aug - I love BTMRR!

I'm not so keen on the tea cups though - I try to enjoy them, but they just make me feel sick!

Front row for Country Bears? - so cool, you're sub zero! ;) :lmao: :lmao:

Di x

Thanks Di. If you get sick in the teacups easily, never ride with Buzz. Riding with him is not for the faint of heart (or stomach). ;)

Sub zero, huh? I like that. :lmao:

I'll be sure to get the DTD pictures too up them. Almost done with Chistmas. :(

[Lady Lallie]

Great photos, as always. I am sad that your day is coming to an end. I really enjoy your pictures and your writing. :goodvibes

[meeko_33785]

Great photos, as always. I am sad that your day is coming to an end. I really enjoy your pictures and your writing. :goodvibes

Thanks. I'm glad you're enjoying it. :)

[meeko_33785]

This will be a quick chapter to finish up the day. Before heading back to Pop Century, Buzz and I take some time to admire the Dreamlights one last time and get some last photos


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/castledreamlights9-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/castledreamlights10-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/castledreamlights11-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/castledreamlights12-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mainstreettreenight-800.jpg

One more look at the Christmas Tree as we exit the park.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/popbusstop-600.jpg

Next Stop- Pop Century via the WDW bus system. We did have music going back to the resort. It always seems to work that way.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/surfgoofy-600.jpg

Our rooms were in the 70s section not too far at all from the Bus Stop and Food Court. We passed Goofy on the way. When we got there, Mom and Dad told us that they had already eaten, but we could grab something at the food court, bring it back to their room and we could hang out for a while. I don’t remember what I had… chicken finger maybe… something basic.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/disney70sposter-600.jpg

I didn’t take a lot of pictures of the room since I’d already taken a bunch during the summer and the previous December. If you really want to know what the rooms look like, feel free to refer back to earlier in the report. Some of the things that are specific to the 70s section you can see in this post (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=22447276&postcount=32)from my December 2007 trip report. I did take a picture of this poster because I didn’t think I had, but looking back at that post it looks like I did. Oh well.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/towelanimal-600-1.jpg

And, of course, we had a little towel animal waiting for us. It kind of surprised me that it was actually glued in place, not just a towel that had been folded. I’m sure this saves time.



Next chapter: The last day (of this trip, that is)

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Cool photos! I just love the castle dreamlights - so purty!!!!!

Di x

[Lady Lallie]

I adore your castle photos. They are really pretty and I like the unusual angles.

The towel animal is too cute!

[meeko_33785]

Cool photos! I just love the castle dreamlights - so purty!!!!!

Di x

Thanks. The photos just can't capture how beautiful it is in person, but I was pretty happy with them. Glad you like them.


I adore your castle photos. They are really pretty and I like the unusual angles.

The towel animal is too cute!

Thanks. Out of the batch in this chapter, I think the first one was my favorite just because it did have a really unusual angle. I don't normally take pictures like that at the Castle, but I'm thinking about trying other different angles next time I'm there since these were interesting.

[meeko_33785]

With the brief trip almost over, there wasn’t much left to do but do a little exploring around Pop.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/bigwheen1-600.jpg

First, the 70s. Here’s a look at our building with the giant Big Wheel.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/bigwheel2-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mickeyphone08-600.jpg

Looking across at the giant Mickey phone.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/getdown-600.jpg

Get down!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mowglibaloo-600.jpg

Not too far away was the 60s. For the last few trips here, I have not been able to get a good picture of Baloo and Mowgli here, but I think I succeeded in getting an acceptable one this time.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/peaceman-600.jpg

Peace, man.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/popentrance-600.jpg

Heading towards Classic Hall.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/poptree-600.jpg

It took me many attempts to get this picture just right without having a bunch of random tourist in the shot. I was very determined this morning.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/popwreath1-600.jpg

I’m sure this photo doesn’t fully express how huge this wreath was. If there were any people in the shot, you would see how much it towered over everyone!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/foodcourtcubes-600.jpg

Off to the food court to get some breakfast.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/foodcourt8track-600.jpg

I can’t quite remember what I had, it’s been too long since December and I never think to write these things down. I think it had chocolate in it (chocolate chip pancakes? Chocolate chip croissant?) and I remember enjoying it. After breakfast, we checkout out the gift shop and looked around the rest of the lobby, and Buzz headed to the 50s area to get a few more pictures over there.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/bellebeasttoys-600.jpg

Beauty and the Beast.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/littlebigwheel-600.jpg

An actual-sized big when to contrast the giant one outside out hotel.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/50sstars-600.jpg

Classic 50s TV stars. Gotta love Lucy!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/popwreath2-600.jpg

Another wreath (much smaller than the other one).


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/peacetree-600.jpg

Mom and Dad loved this tree. This takes them back to their younger years in the 60s.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mickeyornament-600.jpg

Not-so-hidden Mickeys decorated the tree too. It was time to leave, so we packed up and left Disney (for now, of course).


Well, that brings this portion of the trip report to an end. I’m holding off at doing any final thoughts about this trip because we’re not done yet and I’ll be doing a larger one once the entire report is over. Next will be Buzz and my “Downtown and Downtown Disney” trip report featuring a morning at Jim Henson’s Fantastic World in Downtown Orlando and an afternoon of fun and photography at Downtown Disney! I’m updating the first post of this report to include a couple of preview photos and some info. So check it out and stay tuned. :)

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Meeko,

More great photos as always! Such a quick trip - but you managed to pack a lot into 1 day! :worship:
Waiting for DTD! :surfweb:

di x

[meeko_33785]

Hi Meeko,

More great photos as always! Such a quick trip - but you managed to pack a lot into 1 day! :worship:
Waiting for DTD! :surfweb:

di x

Quick trips are one of the perks of living in Florida. They're usually really long days, but always so much fun. :)

DTD is coming soon. That report should be quicker than the December one so hopefully there won't be nearly as much waiting.

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Quick trips are one of the perks of living in Florida. They're usually really long days, but always so much fun. :)

DTD is coming soon. That report should be quicker than the December one so hopefully there won't be nearly as much waiting.

You just have to rub in the fact that I live 4000+ miles from The House of The Mouse, dontcha!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)

Di x

[meeko_33785]

You just have to rub in the fact that I live 4000+ miles from The House of The Mouse, dontcha!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)

Di x

Don't mean to rub it in, just explaining how I can get away with such short trips. :)

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Don't mean to rub it in, just explaining how I can get away with such short trips. :)

Just kidding with you :thumbsup2 I'm just insanely jealous of anyone who stays so near to my happiest place on earth! :goodvibes :cloud9:

Di x

[meeko_33785]

Just kidding with you :thumbsup2 I'm just insanely jealous of anyone who stays so near to my happiest place on earth! :goodvibes :cloud9:

Di x

Oh, I knew. I was just joking back at you. I'm not sure mine showed quite as well. I think I might have to use more of these next time: ;) ;) ;)

lol

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Oh, I knew. I was just joking back at you. I'm not sure mine showed quite as well. I think I might have to use more of these next time: ;) ;) ;)

lol

OK ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Di x

[meeko_33785]

Before we plunge right into the "Downtown and Downtown Disney" trip report, I think that it would be best to start with a little background. First of all, unlike the other three trip reports you may have read here (if you haven’t, check out the first 15 pages of this thread) the main reason for the day in Orlando was not to go to Disney and go to the parks, instead this was a museum trip. As I may have mentioned before, Buzz is a big fan of Jim Henson and the Muppets, so when he heard that there would be a traveling Smithsonian exhibit all about Henson and the Muppets in Orlando, he knew we had to check it out. Somehow it all merged into a combination of seeing the museum and a day at Downtown Disney, a part of the World we always mean to go to but with the length of our trips over the past few years, we rarely seem to manage it. Most of the report will be photos from Downtown Disney, but before we get there, here are Buzz and my experiences at Downtown Orlando.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/historycenter-600.jpg

First stop- the Orange County Regional History Center, where the Jim Henson’s Fantastic World exhibit was being housed while in Orlando.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/gatorwrestler-600.jpg

There was a number of interesting sculptures of sculptures outside of the museum including this one of what I assume was an alligator wrestler. Once we were inside the museum, we discovered that we had picked a great day to visit. Apparently, as part of an Orlando Art Festival, the museum was free of charge to all visitors. Not only was admission free, but the museum still validated our parking giving us two hours of free parking. And you thought nothing was free in Orlando. ;)


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/jimhensonfantasticworld-600.jpg

We followed Kermit’s green flipper prints on the museum’s floor upstairs to the main exhibit. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed inside so I don’t have any photos to accompany the report, so hopefully this portion won’t be too dry. The exhibit itself was set up starting with Henson’s early work including cartoons, commercials and TV pilots and continuing through his more well-known projects including The Muppet Show, Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock. Being an exhibit focused around the Muppets, the highlights were, not surprisingly over a dozen puppets, the most famous of which were Bert and Erinie, Rowlf the Dog, the muppets from the “Mahna Mahna” sketch (pictured on the banner above), Gobo Fraggle and, of course, Kermit the Frog. Along with the Muppets, the exhibit also included a number of sketches by Jim Henson and video of various commercials, films and interviews. It was really interesting to learn more about Jim Henson and it was cool to be able to see puppets that I had grown up watching (and they were bigger than I had imagined). Buzz was pretty much on cloud nine. He’s an armature puppeteer too so seeing the Muppets so up close was a real thrill for him. I enjoyed it too. I have to say, if you even have a casual interest in Henson and the Muppets and will be in Orlando before May 3 and have some extra time, I’d definitely recommend checking it out. After it leaves Orlando, it will be continuing its tour to a number of other museums across the country, so who know, it might just be coming to you.


After going through the exhibit, we checked out some of the other exhibits in the museum before heading to Downtown Disney. There was a film being screened about Henson and the Muppets so we saw some of that, and we also checked out a small exhibit on Abraham Lincoln which had a few fascinating artifacts including a letter hand-written by Lincoln to General Grant. Before we were about to leave, Buzz wanted to take a quick look through the Henson exhibit one last time, so while he was doing that, I went outside to take some more photos of the sculptures outside.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/gator-600.jpg

Another gator. There were a bunch of them outside. Very Floridian.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/postcards-600.jpg

This sculpture made to look like vintage postcards was probably my favorite sculpture outside. They give a glimpse at what Orlando was like before Disney came.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/bluemanguitar-600.jpg

A giant guitar sculpture decorated by the Blue Man Group.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/blueman-600.jpg

A closer look at some of the detail.


After a free morning at the museum, we headed off towards Downtown Disney.



Next chapter: Lunch at the Marketplace and many more photos

[Lady Lallie]

The Muppet Exhibit sounds really neat! I'm going to have tos ee if it is coming up near me. :thumbsup2

[meeko_33785]

The Muppet Exhibit sounds really neat! I'm going to have tos ee if it is coming up near me. :thumbsup2

Based on the tour dates, it looks like they're going to be in Lexington, MA next spring.

[Lady Lallie]

Based on the tour dates, it looks like they're going to be in Lexington, MA next spring.

That is right near me!! Excellent!! :thumbsup2

[meeko_33785]

That is right near me!! Excellent!! :thumbsup2

Awesome. :thumbsup2

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Meeko,

All caught up now. The muppet exhibition looks really good, just a shame there was no photos allowed.

The sculptures outside look good as well, it was interesting seeing what Orlando was like before The Mouse arrived!

The sculpture of the alligator looked a little too real for my liking! :scared1:

:offtopic: I saw on The Daily Show last night (we're a day behind) that there is a bit of a snake infestation in central Florida at the moment! :scared1: :scared1: You haven't come across an 18 foot Burmese python lately have you? ;)

Di x

[meeko_33785]

Hi Meeko,

All caught up now. The muppet exhibition looks really good, just a shame there was no photos allowed.

The sculptures outside look good as well, it was interesting seeing what Orlando was like before The Mouse arrived!

The sculpture of the alligator looked a little too real for my liking! :scared1:

:offtopic: I saw on The Daily Show last night (we're a day behind) that there is a bit of a snake infestation in central Florida at the moment! :scared1: :scared1: You haven't come across an 18 foot Burmese python lately have you? ;)

Di x

I saw that on the Daily Show too. :laughing: I think they're still only in Southern Florida, so I haven't seen a snake yet. Hopefully this will stay more of a comedy story than a serious one.

[meeko_33785]

Back to Disney! After making our way through the traffic between Orlando and Walt Disney World, we arrive at Downtown Disney.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/rex1-600.jpg

The T-Rex restaurant is now open. Can’t even remember if we’d been to Downtown Disney since construction stated on this. It looked pretty popular- lots of people waiting to get in. Reminds me a lot of Rainforest Café. That being said, I’ll probably be passing on trying this one.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/trex2-600.jpg

This little guy was on the menu board.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/marketplacearch-600.jpg

Welcome to the Marketplace!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/dragon2-600.jpg

The Sea serpent by the Lego store.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/dragon-600.jpg

Watch out! He’s going to attack Saratoga Springs! :scared1:Eh, most likely not given his non-menacing grin.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/earlofsandwhich-600.jpg

Buzz and I grabbed some lunch at the Earl of Sandwich. I had the Polynesian Sandwich and it was delicious! Buzz had the Original 1762 roast beef and liked his too. After lunch, we headed out to check out the shops and take some pictures.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/genietoy-600.jpg

Genie looks down from the top of Once Upon A Toy. It was so nice to see such a beautiful blue sky at Disney given most of the last two trips have had much more overcast skies.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mrpotatohead-600-1.jpg

Mr. Potato Head has apparently stolen the Sorcerer’s Hat too.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/woody-600.jpg

Woody.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/ouattrain-600.jpg

I’m not sure who “Tommy” is.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/captjackmegablocks-600.jpg

For all you Pirates fans- Captain Jack Sparrow made out of “Megablocks” (not Legos since this isn’t the Lego Store)


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/peterfly-600.jpg

Peter Pan flies above the store.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/wendyfly-600.jpg

Wendy is, of course, not too far behind.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mickeyminniepin-600.jpg

Off to the Pin Tradder’s shop. Mickey and Minnie.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/dondaisypin-600.jpg

Donald doesn’t seem to even have as much fun shopping here as Daisy does.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/arielpin09.jpg

I found what appears to be a brand new pin- Ariel in the gown she wears for meet-and-greets when she’s a human. Thought it was a neat find. You don’t see much merchandise of her in that dress, but maybe they’re starting to change that.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mickeytree-600-1.jpg

Off to Disney Days of Christmas. Mickey’s up in the tree.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/fairy1-600.jpg

A trio of winter fairies fly overhead.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/fairy2-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/fairy3-600.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/meeko_33785/mickeydonaldsnowman-600.jpg

Snowmen Mickey and Donald silently carol outside.


At this point, I checked out the new design-your-own-shirt and design-your-own-Ears sections that got added to the scrapbooking store. Didn’t get any pictures here. It didn’t look like a lot of people were doing much designing. Maybe too expensive? After this, I perused the art store and headed on to see more of the Marketplace.



Next chapter: World of Disney.

[Lady Lallie]

Oooh, what a great find of Ariel in her blue dress. I might have to pick that one up!

[meeko_33785]

Oooh, what a great find of Ariel in her blue dress. I might have to pick that one up!

I thought it was cool. It's nice to see her as a human and not in her wedding dress like they use to always have her.

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Meeko!

My DD would love that Ariel pin - that's her favourite princess, she was buying all Ariel pins when we were there! Hopefully she can get it on our next visit! :thumbsup2

DTD looks good - it's a place we've never really spent much time at, but it's definately on the cards for a longer visit next time! Hopefully next year! :goodvibes

:offtopic: Any 18ft snake sightings down your way yet?? ;):rotfl2:

Di x

[meeko_33785]

Hi Meeko!

My DD would love that Ariel pin - that's her favourite princess, she was buying all Ariel pins when we were there! Hopefully she can get it on our next visit! :thumbsup2

DTD looks good - it's a place we've never really spent much time at, but it's definately on the cards for a longer visit next time! Hopefully next year! :goodvibes

:offtopic: Any 18ft snake sightings down your way yet?? ;):rotfl2:

Di x

I think the snakes are still in the Everglades or at least were last time I checked. Yet another day safe from deadly giant snakes. :laughing:

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Please don't tell me I've killed another TR!!!!! :headache::headache:
Or have the 18ft killer pythons reached central Florida????!!!! :scared1::scared1:

Di x

[meeko_33785]

Please don't tell me I've killed another TR!!!!! :headache::headache:
Or have the 18ft killer pythons reached central Florida????!!!! :scared1::scared1:

Di x

:rotfl: No, no. We're not dead yet. I've just been veru busy lately and haven't had time to update. I'm hoping to get the next part up soon but I'm not sure if that will happen before or after Easter this weekend.

[Dr_Finkelstein]

:rotfl: No, no. We're not dead yet. I've just been veru busy lately and haven't had time to update. I'm hoping to get the next part up soon but I'm not sure if that will happen before or after Easter this weekend.

Am pleased to hear it - TR killing's a nasty habit I appear to have picked up! :rolleyes1

Di x