3 WDW Trips in 6 months: August, October and December Reports *Completed*

[meeko_33785]

After leaving Toontown, Buzz saw that the Mad Tea Party had next to no line, so we stopped there. For those of you who may not know it, Buzz can spin a tea cup faster than just about anyone and riding with him is certainly not for the faint of heart or stomach. If you remember that last scene of Alice in Wonderland where everything goes insane right before she wakes up, that’s pretty much what the world around you looks like when Buzz is spinning. In the end, dizzy and disoriented, we made our way to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority.

This trip on the TTA was a little unique for us in a few respects. First, when we got into the room where you glide past the giant model city, all of the Peoplemover cars stopped for about a minute and all the lights came on. We’d never had the ride stop on us like that before, although I’m sure it happens all the time to allow wheelchair transfers and such the same way that Haunted Mansion,Spaceship Earth, etc. all do. It did give us some more time to check out the model city, which was cool. Secondly, Space Mountain was still under construction so we got to see the inside of it with all of the lights on, which is not as impressive. With the coaster behind refurbishment walls and all the special effects off it just looks like a dull, undecorated concrete building from the 1970s. Third, this was our first time hearing the ride's new narration. In case you haven’t heard, the old narration complete with “Paging Mr. Tom Morrow”, “Mr. Johnson in Skyview Hovercraft 1” etc., was removed for a more straightforward description of Tomorrowland’s attractions with periodic vocal cameos from characters like Mickey, Sticth, Buzz and Roz. It’s alright but will take some time to get use to.

After our trip around Tomorrowland, we headed back towards Fantasyland by way of the Wishing Well path. Along the way, I noticed that the Tremaines’ sign for their Halloween Party meet-and-greet was already up.

Yet another shot of the Castle. Not my favorite of the day, but you really can see that the Christmas Dream Lights are already up, especially looking at the closest turret.

The beanstalk outside Sir Mickey’s.

Our next ride of the day was one we don’t do very often but just seemed right for the trip- Cinderella’s Golden Carousel. The first time Buzz and I ever went to the Magic Kingdom, Mom and Dad brought us to celebrate our second birthday and the Carousel was one of the few attractions we did. Since we were back once again celebrating a birthday, it seemed right to ride the Carousel again. Just like the Tea Cups, there was barely a line to speak of and we just had to wait for the next boarding.

My trusty steed for today.

One of the panels above the ride that tell the Cinderella story.

By now, it was looking like we would only have time for one more attraction before having to leave, so we picked Mickey’s Philharmagic. Since there wouldn’t be any fireworks or anything, it seemed like the best choice for a grand finale for our day at the park.

One of the posters in the waiting area. Anybody else remember this cartoon? Again, not much of a wait here either, so we only had to wait until the last show was let out (maybe 5 or 10 minutes). Like always, it was a great show.

We briefly looked around the shop at the exit before heading back to Main Street.


On the way out, I was hoping to look around the area near the Crystal Palace. There was a fountain there that I thought would make a nice photo opportunity, so I headed back there. On my way over there, I was stopped by a CM who said that I couldn’t go there because I didn’t have a wristband for the Halloween Party. I told him that was true but that the party had not started yet and that the park was officially still open for another 5 minutes. Gruffly he said that it was close enough to closing time to not let me through. It’s not like I was trying to sneak onto Splash Mountain or anything, I just wanted a picture of the fountain! Eventually we let me through, but was somewhat of a pain about it. I understand them wanting to clear out the park for the Party guests and that it’s stressful for the CMs, but I really did not expect to have someone try to kick me out of the park before official closing time!

My fountain picture. Not as great of a shot as I would have liked to have gotten, but I was still a little flustered after that CM encounter. Maybe next time I’ll get a better one.

Minnie all dressed up for Halloween in one of the window displays outside the Emporium.

Mickey was there too.

Pocahontas and Meeko.


Before heading out of the park, I spent a little time looking around the Emporium to see if I could find anything to get with the Disney Dollars Buzz got me for my birthday. I was hoping to be able to look through the pin shop as well, but it was already closed by the time I got there. Oh, well. The only thing I ended up getting was a pressed penny of Prince Phillip from the line of “Walt Disney Princes” that I’ve been collecting (my fourth Prince thus far). I actually found it last December, but it was broken at the time. I was glad to see that they got it fixed.

By now, it had just turned 7pm and the Halloween Party was in full swing. The spooky lighting, the Ghost Host’s announcement of the beginning of the Party and the “Boo to You” theme being played throughout Main Street really does give it that spooky feel. I’d really love to be able to go to the Party someday. It really does seem like a lot of fun. I’d love to see some of those characters that only come out for Halloween, and I think that getting to wear a costume around the Magic Kingdom would be a blast.

As we made our way out of the park, we passed the Halloween scarecrows in the Hub one last time.

After walking through the tunnel under the train station, we were hurried out by slightly grumpy, stressed CM. Not a very magical way to end our visit. Still, we really had such a fantastic day, and it wasn’t quite over yet.



Next chapter: Back to All Star Movies.

 

[Lady Lallie]

That's really too bad about the CM not wanting to let you pass through. I mean, 5 minutes is 5 minutes! I've always liked that fountain, it's very pretty.

Did you go to just one park? If so, I'm really sad that your report is almost over.

 

[wdwgirl03]

That's kinda cool about the TTA stopping while passing through the model city. I've always wondered what Space Mountain looks like with the lights on but yeah, I bet it's nothing special.

The Halloween party is so much fun. We went in '06 and we didn't wear costumes at all (we probably would've died since that year they had record high temperatures in Orlando!) but it was so neat seeing everyone else in theirs. Some of them are pretty elaborate!

 

[meeko_33785]

That's really too bad about the CM not wanting to let you pass through. I mean, 5 minutes is 5 minutes! I've always liked that fountain, it's very pretty.

Did you go to just one park? If so, I'm really sad that your report is almost over.

Hey LL!

Yeah, I couldn't believe he wouldn't let me though at first. I mean, the park was still open and it's not like I was trying to get on a ride or anything. When Buzz and I went to the Pirate and Princess Party a few years back they closed the park at 7pm too, but did a showing to Wishes and then gave the day guests plenty of time to exit before running the party from 7:30pm - 12:30am. That seemed like much better system than trying to close the park and start the party at 7pm.

We did only do one park on this trip, but the report's not quite over yet. We've still got almost a whole day's worth left including lots more exploring at the All Stars Resorts, breakfast with Goofy and friends at Cape May, and trips to the Boardwalk and Downtown Disney. Plus by the time I get all that done it should be time for December!

That's kinda cool about the TTA stopping while passing through the model city. I've always wondered what Space Mountain looks like with the lights on but yeah, I bet it's nothing special.

The Halloween party is so much fun. We went in '06 and we didn't wear costumes at all (we probably would've died since that year they had record high temperatures in Orlando!) but it was so neat seeing everyone else in theirs. Some of them are pretty elaborate!

Hey Sarah!

It was fantastic getting to stop in front of the model city. It's actually one of my favorite parts of the ride so it's great to be able to have more time to check it out. And yeah, Space Mountain wasn't too impressive (I'd always wondered what it looked like too), but then again we didn't get to see the best part- what the track looks like with all the lights on. Maybe someday we'll get a chance.

Hopefully I'll get to the Halloween Party someday. This is my third year in a row saying "Maybe next year", so maybe third time will be the charm.


Well, tomorrow's Thanksgiving here in the States, so to everyone in America I want to wish you a happy Thanksgiving. To all the rest of my friends out there, have a fantastic Thursday.

 

[Lady Lallie]

Hey LL!

Yeah, I couldn't believe he wouldn't let me though at first. I mean, the park was still open and it's not like I was trying to get on a ride or anything. When Buzz and I went to the Pirate and Princess Party a few years back they closed the park at 7pm too, but did a showing to Wishes and then gave the day guests plenty of time to exit before running the party from 7:30pm - 12:30am. That seemed like much better system than trying to close the park and start the party at 7pm.

We did only do one park on this trip, but the report's not quite over yet. We've still got almost a whole day's worth left including lots more exploring at the All Stars Resorts, breakfast with Goofy and friends at Cape May, and trips to the Boardwalk and Downtown Disney. Plus by the time I get all that done it should be time for December!

When we went to MNSSHP last fall they weren't forcing guests out of the park. At least not that I could see. We had our wristbands on and if you didn't have a wristband they wouldn't let in line for a ride or photo op. I don't know, maybe that CM was having a really bad day.

I'm so glad we still have almost a full day!

 

[meeko_33785]

When we went to MNSSHP last fall they weren't forcing guests out of the park. At least not that I could see. We had our wristbands on and if you didn't have a wristband they wouldn't let in line for a ride or photo op. I don't know, maybe that CM was having a really bad day.

I'm so glad we still have almost a full day!

Hmm... maybe. It did seem like just about every CM we experienced between him all the way down to the exit gate was a little cranky. Perhaps it was a rough day backstage or something. I've never experienced anything quite like that at Disney so I was pretty shocked.

 

[meeko_33785]

The bus trip from Magic Kingdom to All Star Movies was fairly hassle-free. The line for the bus wasn’t too long and we didn’t have to wait too long for one to come and pick us up. It wasn’t long before we were back at the resort ready to get go to our room for the first time. I forgot to mention it earlier, but while I was doing my photo walk through Fantasyland that morning, I got a text from the resort saying that the room was ready and what the number was. I really thought that this was a great system- much more convenient than having to call the front desk and seeing to see if the room was ready. Anyway, when we got back, we got our bags and brought them up to the room.

A look at our room. It’s a little smaller than the rooms at Pop Century, but not too bad. It was fine for two people.

Note the cartoon on the television. They don’t advertise it, but at some of the resorts, there’s a channel that you can watch that is nothing but old Disney cartoons. It’s the same one that most of the resorts use in the kids area of the lobby. We couldn’t get it at Riverside, but could here. We ended up really only watching this channel and the Walt Disney World Today channel with the park hours and info (love the music they play on that one). For some reason we just can’t get into the new show with Stacy that they replaced the Top 7 with.

The bedspread was pretty cool.

Specially-themed wallpaper border for the Love Bug area.

A Herbie poster. How much more ‘60s can you get?

I thought the light fixtures that looked like popcorn boxes were really cool. The shower was always very impressive and well themed. The wall had a film reel design done in tile and the wallpaper and curtains were covered in stars (which kind of reminded me of the finale of the Great Movie Ride when you enter the room and the screen is just covered in stars).

Also in our room were a couple of surprises. First was a Mickey made our of towels like the one we got at Riverside in August.

The second was a signed photo of Mickey and a Photopass Card with a discount code as a birthday gift.

Once we were all settled in, we headed to the World Premiere food court for some dinner. I really liked the design of it- each booth looking like an old movie theater. I was in the mood for some pizza, so I headed to the Majestic. The wait as fairly long but no longer or shorter than at someplace like the food court at Pop.

Buzz headed to the Roxy to get a burger and fries.

A few more of the different stations around the food court.

We didn’t end up getting the one of those “delicious ice cream sundaes” at the Grand, but we did each get individual little chocolate cakes. It is our birthday after all. While we were paying, the CM at the register made a big deal out of our birthday and went out of our way to get us a little birthday gift- complimentary plastic straws in the shape of Mickey Mouse. I hadn’t seen one of them in years! I didn’t know they still made them. It was a little thing, but it sure was nice of her.


The food was good- typical resort food court fare if not a little better than average. The dining room was good sized but a little smaller that Pop Century. It seemed like this was becoming the recurring theme at All Star Movies- everything is just a little smaller than at Pop Century. The rooms, the food court, the lobby, the gift shop, the pool and the whole place in general felt just a little smaller. I don’t know if that’s altogether true or not, but it did feel that way.

My little birthday cake. Yes, those are pumpkins and bats on it, but when you have an October birthday you get use to things like that. All in all, a nice little birthday dinner.

Before heading back to the room, we wanted to check out the Toy Story area since we hadn’t when we first got there that morning. We figured that we could come back to see it in the daytime the next day, but while we were here, we tried for a few photos of the area at night.

After a very long but fun day, we retreated to our room where I pretty much collapsed and headed straight to bed. Our birthday may have been over, but we still had more of the trip to go.



Next chapter: Exploring more of All Star Movies and All Star Music

 

[Lady Lallie]

Wow. All Star Movies looks really neat. I like the theming from the pictures more than Music. It makes me want to stay there instead of Pop in January. I'm just a sucker for anything that has to do with Movies.

 

[dawnbu40]

Great pics of the All Stars! That was really nice they left you a special birthday card

 

[meeko_33785]

Wow. All Star Movies looks really neat. I like the theming from the pictures more than Music. It makes me want to stay there instead of Pop in January. I'm just a sucker for anything that has to do with Movies.

All Star Movies really was cool. I knew I was going to like it, but I think that it exceeded my expectations. I still think I perfer Pop, but Movies was pertty close.

Great pics of the All Stars! That was really nice they left you a special birthday card

Thanks. The birthday card was a really nice surprise. The cast at All Star Movies was absolutly wonderful. They really went above and beyond to make our birthday special even though we were "big kids" as they said.

 

[meeko_33785]

With Thanksgiving over, it seems the Holiday season is upon us. Well, if you want to get technical, most places around here have had their Christmas decorations and merchandise up since October or even September, but there’s just something about the weekend after Thanksgiving that makes it feel really official.


To start the season, Buzz and I have put together our mix tape playlist for the December trip. This time around, it will be all Christmas music, but many of the songs have some sort of Disney connection as well. Some of the songs are from shows or musical acts that have played at Disney during past Holiday seasons like the Candlelight Processional, Voices of Liberty, Four For A Dollar, American Vybe, and Cast In Bronze; some feature Disney characters like Mickey Mouse, Jiminy Cricket and the Muppets or appeared in Holiday-themed Disney films including The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas and Babes in Toyland; some are played as atmosphere music at different areas of Walt Disney World; and some are performed by artists who have been featured in Disney films and Broadway shows including Angela Lansbury, Susan Egan, Sierra Boggess, Kristin Chenoweth and others. Of course there are a few others that don’t have too much of a Disney connection (if any) but are some that we just enjoy.


Here’s a look at our playlist:

• A Christmas Carol (from Scrooge: The Musical)
• Sleigh Ride (Leonard Slatkin and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra)
• Christmas Island (Kristin Chenoweth)
• Jingle Bells (Mickey Mouse and friends)
• We Three Kings (Cast in Bronze)
• We Need a Little Christmas (from Mame- performed by Angela Lansbury)
• Run Run Rudolph (Jimmy Buffett)
• Twelve Days of Christmas (John Denver and the Muppets)
• Christmas In The Air (The Derric Johnson Vocal Orchestra aka The Voices of Liberty)
• It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (The Derric Johnson Vocal Orchestra aka The Voices of Liberty)
• March of the Toys (from Walt Disney’s Babes in Toyland)
• I’ll Be Home For Christmas (Susan Egan)
• Christmas Is Coming (from A Charlie Brown Christmas)
• Better Days (Goo Goo Dolls)
• It Came Upon A Midnight Clear (Percy Faith and his Orchestra)
• Do You Hear What I Hear? (from EPCOT’s Candlelight Processional)
• From All of Us To All of You (Jiminy Cricket and Mickey Mouse)
• Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly (Percy Faith and his Orchestra)
• Mele Kalikimaka (Jimmy Buffett)
• Santa Baby (Miss Piggy)
• Go Tell It On The Mountain (American Vybe)
• What’s This (from The Nightmare Before Christmas)
• Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Sierra Boggess)
• Russian Dance (from The Nutcracker)
• White Christmas (Goofy)
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Percy Faith and his Orchestra)
• Winter Wonderland (Avalon)
• What Child Is This? (Return2Zero aka Four For A Dollar)
• My Best Christmas Yet (from A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa)
• Bring A Torch, Jeanette Isabella (The Broadway Cast of Mary Poppins)
• As Long As There’s Christmas (from Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas)
• Christmas/ Sarajevo 12/24 (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
• Joy To The World (from EPCOT’s Candlelight Processional)

In other news, since the whole family has been together for Thanksgiving, we’ve also been doing some talk about planning for the trip. It sounds like everyone is willing to give American Idol a try. We also have a new addition to the plans. There will be a gospel choir performing at the Fountain Stage at EPCOT this year which is apparently the replacement for the Lights of Winter not being done this year (still a little bummed it’s gone since we hadn’t seen it in the last few years), and it sounds like everyone’s interested in seeing them. More info on the December trip planning to come.

 

[wdwgirl03]

YEAH! Glad everyone is willing to try AIE. Now they can't back out. haha

Great playlist too. I bet the Candlelight Processional songs are amazing. And the one, From All of Us to All of You I remember from one of those old Disney Christmas sing-alongs!

 

[meeko_33785]

YEAH! Glad everyone is willing to try AIE. Now they can't back out. haha

Great playlist too. I bet the Candlelight Processional songs are amazing. And the one, From All of Us to All of You I remember from one of those old Disney Christmas sing-alongs!

I was really glad everyone was so willing- didn't really have to do any convicing either.

I was excited to find From All of Us to All of You on itunes. There used to be an old tv special with Jiminy singing it, but it hasn't been on in years. At least we have the song to listen to now though.

 

[Lady Lallie]

Your christmas music looks wonderful. I really want a Voices of Liberty CD, they must sell them in Epcot, right? I really hope so. I just love listening to their music.

WOO HOO on everyone trying American Idol.

 

[meeko_33785]

Your christmas music looks wonderful. I really want a Voices of Liberty CD, they must sell them in Epcot, right? I really hope so. I just love listening to their music.

WOO HOO on everyone trying American Idol.

I'm pretty sure they sell them at EPCOT. I found their CDs on itunes though. If you can't wait, they have an album of their Americana songs (including "Golden Dreams" from the American Adventure) called Acapella Amerciana on there under the name "The Liberty Voices". They've got a few Christmas albums on there as well under the name "Liberty's Voices" (without the "The") and the "Derric Johnson Vocal Orchestra" (Derric Johnson is the director of the Voices of Liberty and the Candlelight Processional).

 

[Lady Lallie]

I'm pretty sure they sell them at EPCOT. I found their CDs on itunes though. If you can't wait, they have an album of their Americana songs (including "Golden Dreams" from the American Adventure) called Acapella Amerciana on there under the name "The Liberty Voices". They've got a few Christmas albums on there as well under the name "Liberty's Voices" (without the "The") and the "Derric Johnson Vocal Orchestra" (Derric Johnson is the director of the Voices of Liberty and the Candlelight Processional).

Good to know! Thanks. I don't usually do itunes since I hardly use my ipod but maybe I'll poke around on the internet and try to find some cds of their music.

 

[meeko_33785]

Good to know! Thanks. I don't usually do itunes since I hardly use my ipod but maybe I'll poke around on the internet and try to find some cds of their music.

No problem. I'm pretty sure they have some of their CDs on Amazon.com too and maybe their website (I think the use the name Liberty Voices on the site).

 

[meeko_33785]

The next morning, Buzz and I were awakened by the usual wake up call. Even though we weren’t going to a park today, we still wanted to get as much out of our last day as usual. We had an ADR for a late breakfast at Cape May Cafe, but we were hoping to have some time to finish up exploring All Star Movies and get over to look around a little at Music as well.

Herbie with our building in the background.

The Steadfast in Soldier in front of the Fantasia/ 2000 building.

Mickey as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice directs the water at the pool.

Our next stop was the first of two buildings areas in the resort we hadn’t been to yet- 101 Dalmatians, complete with giant statues of Perdita and Pongo.

The Dalmatians really reminded me of the Lady and the Tramp area of Pop Century. The location of them at Movies was practically the same location that they are at Pop- just to the right as you exit the lobby.

Lucky.

Cruella and her car along the roof.

A quick look at the Mighty Ducks building on our way to All Star Music.

Of all the buildings in All Star Music, the one I was hoping to be able to check out the most was Broadway which turned out to be the closest building to us. I thought that the staircases on the side looking like the stage doors were really cool.

The staircases at the Jazz building next door looked pretty cool too.

Broadway.

Since this is a Disney resort, all of the theaters are advertising Beauty and the Beast

They seemed to think of everything- even a box office is in front of the theater.

A poster featuring Broadway’s original Belle and Beast- Susan Egan and Terrence Mann

More billboards featuring original cast members.

Original Lumiere Gary Beach. When the original touring company came to Florida, he was actually playing Lumiere so we got to see him play the part live on stage- a real treat. He was fantastic.



Next chapter: More of All Star Music and Movies. 

 

[dawnbu40]

I love the pics of All Star Music. I had never actually seen those before so I really enjoyed it! Caitlin would love it as she has been a huge B&B fan since she was 2

 

[meeko_33785]

I love the pics of All Star Music. I had never actually seen those before so I really enjoyed it! Caitlin would love it as she has been a huge B&B fan since she was 2

Glad you're enjoyed them. The Broadway area was pretty neat. I'm sure Caitlin would love it.