DisneyaHolic23
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2000
Who's there?: Ron (DH-38), Eryn (DD - 18), and me (37).
Park(s): Epcot, dawn til almost daylight!Date: December 31-Jan.1
Our last day in the World was, in a word, freezing!! We knew we had to be in the park of our choice - Epcot - early, to be sure that we would not be left out. So, we left our hotel by 7:00 AM. We were at Epcot by 7:20 AM. We secured a locker (there sure aren't many to be had - they were gone by 10:00, I think), put away our many layers, and headed to Test Track for a Fastpass. Since we had to come back in an hour for our ride, we warmed up in Ellen's Energy Adventure. We were stunned to find that by 10:00 AM the Fastpass return time was 7:15 PM-8:15 PM!! It seemed certain that in another hour, Fastpass would be gone for the night!
After Test Track, we checked in for our character breakfast at Garden Grill (a little late - it seems we picked the wrong door at Test Track, and so had a longer wait.) We ate a delicious, and filling, meal (those cheesey potatoes are GREAT!), and headed back out. By now, Ron was freezing, since he, unlike me, didn't bring warm gloves or a hat!
Mouse Gears was like a combat zone. Although the park had warmed up to 34 degrees, people were running scared. The entire park (and we were told, the entire World) had sold out of hats, gloves, and scarves. So, people were scrambling for the warmest character hat they could find. Ron ascertained that the Sorcerer's Apprentice one was warmest, when pulled low, and so we made the purchase. Since they were out of gloves, people were buying socks to wear on their hands. We even saw a large, darling man decked out in a very snug Tinkerbell jacket!!
We did The Land, The Living Seas, Honey I Shrunk the Audience (with Fastpass - gotta love 'em!), and Food Rocks (I just love this show!); anything indoors to keep warm.
By now, it was time for our Icecream Social P.S. Crazy, I know. In fact, everyone else thought so, too. We were the only Icecream Social all day!! However, we enjoyed our icecream immensely, and the characters were very interactive. I had purchased a New Year's Eve Mickey beanie, who we strapped to the camcorder case. All of the characters were very attracted to little Mickey, so we have lots of cute pictures with the characters posing with the little guy.
When we emerged from icecream, we were feeling a little desparate. There were hours to go, we were freezing and tired, and people were a little cranky. Looming over us was a flight home at 7:00 AM, meaning we had to leave our hotel before 5:00 AM!! Should we even go to bed???
Eryn was desperate for the free hats and blowers that were all over the park, so we headed to the World Showcase to explore the countries. I was determined to get a photo in every country. That amused us for awhile, but those darn blowers honking all over the park were driving us crazy!! Everyone knows that one must wait til midnight to honk!
I was surprised how easy it was still to walk around the paths. I thought it would be a lot more crowded! (Epcot had closed their doors for awhile that afternoon).
We had dinner P.S. at 7:30 at Le Cellier - thank goodness! The reservationist in Canada told us that every restaurant was sold out, and we saw soooo many people trying to get a seat at a restaurant. We had to wait until 8:00 to be seated, but since we were inside, that was OK with us! We chatted with the other guests, and made lots of friends.
Dinner lasted, deliberately, a long time. We found out that there was a celebrity at the next table (Barry Bonds brought his children). No one bothered him, but I took a picture of Eryn in her tophat at an angle so he was in the background. Pretty exciting! Boy, was our meal wonderful!! It was hard to leave to head back into the, by now, 20 degree weather. Before going out, I went in the restroom and changed into all of my layers. When I was done, I looked like a tick about to pop (a stolen line from A Christmas Story, the play my students performed this year). Just like the little boy in the movie, I couldn't put my arms down to my sides!
We now had almost two hours to kill. Partying was almost non-existent - who wants to drink cold beer?? We decided to shop in some warm stores. At the Canadian apparel shop we found out that another celebrity - DMX - was visiting the park with his family. We hung out in the UK for quite awhile too.
Stopping at Millenium Village, we had to laugh. It looked like a natural disaster had struck, and people were taking shelter in this make-do refugee camp. People were everywhere, hudddled in little groups, curled up on the floor, looking just miserable! We tried to discretely take a picture to remember New Year's Eve in sunny Florida!
The 11:42 IllumiNations was beautiful, and the fireworks went for almost 20 minutes. It was amazing! We sprinted for the exit at the conclusion of the show, and seemed to beat most people out. We were back to our hotel by 12:35!!
We decided to catch a couple of hours of sleep, so we quickly got ready for bed, and fell into immediate sleep.
Our flight home was uneventful. We were almost bumped twice, which would have been great, assuring us a return Disney trip. I am soooo sad to be home. Months of reading these boards for great ideas and planning every detail, over...
I can't wait to go back!!
Park(s): Epcot, dawn til almost daylight!Date: December 31-Jan.1
Our last day in the World was, in a word, freezing!! We knew we had to be in the park of our choice - Epcot - early, to be sure that we would not be left out. So, we left our hotel by 7:00 AM. We were at Epcot by 7:20 AM. We secured a locker (there sure aren't many to be had - they were gone by 10:00, I think), put away our many layers, and headed to Test Track for a Fastpass. Since we had to come back in an hour for our ride, we warmed up in Ellen's Energy Adventure. We were stunned to find that by 10:00 AM the Fastpass return time was 7:15 PM-8:15 PM!! It seemed certain that in another hour, Fastpass would be gone for the night!
After Test Track, we checked in for our character breakfast at Garden Grill (a little late - it seems we picked the wrong door at Test Track, and so had a longer wait.) We ate a delicious, and filling, meal (those cheesey potatoes are GREAT!), and headed back out. By now, Ron was freezing, since he, unlike me, didn't bring warm gloves or a hat!
Mouse Gears was like a combat zone. Although the park had warmed up to 34 degrees, people were running scared. The entire park (and we were told, the entire World) had sold out of hats, gloves, and scarves. So, people were scrambling for the warmest character hat they could find. Ron ascertained that the Sorcerer's Apprentice one was warmest, when pulled low, and so we made the purchase. Since they were out of gloves, people were buying socks to wear on their hands. We even saw a large, darling man decked out in a very snug Tinkerbell jacket!!
We did The Land, The Living Seas, Honey I Shrunk the Audience (with Fastpass - gotta love 'em!), and Food Rocks (I just love this show!); anything indoors to keep warm.
By now, it was time for our Icecream Social P.S. Crazy, I know. In fact, everyone else thought so, too. We were the only Icecream Social all day!! However, we enjoyed our icecream immensely, and the characters were very interactive. I had purchased a New Year's Eve Mickey beanie, who we strapped to the camcorder case. All of the characters were very attracted to little Mickey, so we have lots of cute pictures with the characters posing with the little guy.
When we emerged from icecream, we were feeling a little desparate. There were hours to go, we were freezing and tired, and people were a little cranky. Looming over us was a flight home at 7:00 AM, meaning we had to leave our hotel before 5:00 AM!! Should we even go to bed???
Eryn was desperate for the free hats and blowers that were all over the park, so we headed to the World Showcase to explore the countries. I was determined to get a photo in every country. That amused us for awhile, but those darn blowers honking all over the park were driving us crazy!! Everyone knows that one must wait til midnight to honk!
I was surprised how easy it was still to walk around the paths. I thought it would be a lot more crowded! (Epcot had closed their doors for awhile that afternoon).
We had dinner P.S. at 7:30 at Le Cellier - thank goodness! The reservationist in Canada told us that every restaurant was sold out, and we saw soooo many people trying to get a seat at a restaurant. We had to wait until 8:00 to be seated, but since we were inside, that was OK with us! We chatted with the other guests, and made lots of friends.
Dinner lasted, deliberately, a long time. We found out that there was a celebrity at the next table (Barry Bonds brought his children). No one bothered him, but I took a picture of Eryn in her tophat at an angle so he was in the background. Pretty exciting! Boy, was our meal wonderful!! It was hard to leave to head back into the, by now, 20 degree weather. Before going out, I went in the restroom and changed into all of my layers. When I was done, I looked like a tick about to pop (a stolen line from A Christmas Story, the play my students performed this year). Just like the little boy in the movie, I couldn't put my arms down to my sides!
We now had almost two hours to kill. Partying was almost non-existent - who wants to drink cold beer?? We decided to shop in some warm stores. At the Canadian apparel shop we found out that another celebrity - DMX - was visiting the park with his family. We hung out in the UK for quite awhile too.
Stopping at Millenium Village, we had to laugh. It looked like a natural disaster had struck, and people were taking shelter in this make-do refugee camp. People were everywhere, hudddled in little groups, curled up on the floor, looking just miserable! We tried to discretely take a picture to remember New Year's Eve in sunny Florida!
The 11:42 IllumiNations was beautiful, and the fireworks went for almost 20 minutes. It was amazing! We sprinted for the exit at the conclusion of the show, and seemed to beat most people out. We were back to our hotel by 12:35!!
We decided to catch a couple of hours of sleep, so we quickly got ready for bed, and fell into immediate sleep.
Our flight home was uneventful. We were almost bumped twice, which would have been great, assuring us a return Disney trip. I am soooo sad to be home. Months of reading these boards for great ideas and planning every detail, over...
I can't wait to go back!!
