An Imagineer Fell For Bill - **New 10/19 Last 2 installments**

[jenseib]

How awesome to walk in. I should give that a try.

 

[mickeyfan71]

Catching up now that I'm back from vacation.
Love all of the pics from the F&G at EPCOT. My mom loves flowers so I need to take her one year for that.
Congrats on the walk up at Ohana! I am so ready to eat there in a few months!

 

[okw19]

Just read all of your chapter links so I could get caught up quickly! Reading your TRs was what made me come out of lurkdom and join DIS! I absolutely love reading about you and Bill's adventures! Can't wait to hear about the Destination D event!

 

[RunningGirl]

Just a bump to say hope you're doing well and out having fun! Can't wait to continue reading about your trip.

 

[mrsksomeday]

All your pictures are wonderful! The topiaries, the rare characters, the food , and of course Bill!

The first picture you posted of the playground area in Epcot - I thought the little girl was just a prop She just looked too perfect with her dress, and little bobbed hair cut and head band...then in the next picture I saw there were other kids playing and she was moving on.

I really need to try OHana sometime. I am starting to get DH to venture away from burgers and chicken strips....well, at least from restaurants that only serve burgers and chicken strips. He still winds up searching for a steak, burger, salad, or chicken strip option even if we go somewhere you can try to be a little more adventurous. I'm not a real big meat eater, so I probably wouldn't get the most out of the skewers, but the food pics that you posted look right up my alley!

That playground was really cool. I like Ohana, Bill LOVES it. Your DH sounds like my son, he would take a burger over just about anything, drives me crazy.

All along I've been hoping you made it to the front of the park. Lotso was awesome and I LOVED the strawberry smell And I thought they did a great job recreating the sandbox.

Great news about 'Ohana. Got to love the successful walk up

Lotso was amazing, all the topiaries were, but the strawberry smell was yummy.

All caught up! I love seeing all the topiaries, even though I was there in March! All of the flowers do look so much better after they've grown in a bit! You are so right about the creepy no-faced topiaries...

The Pixar Weekend event looks really cool!

I love the panoramic of the sand sculpture - I can do those with my camera but I always forget!

Sounds like you were having good restaurant & bus mojo!

I still can't get over the no face topiaries. Pixar weekend was cool, I wish it hadn't been so hot we would have done more character meet and greets. I think they should have set them up like they have it at the Character Connection. People would stand in line ONCE and get pictures with all the Pixar characters. Would have been so much more functional.

So Lucky for that walk up!!!!! I LOVE Ohana!!
I found those huge Dasni bottles at OKW.
Very nice bus driver.

Come to Vegas so we can go to the Lion King together!!!!

I loved that huge Dasani bottle . We have talked about going to Vegas to see Lion King, if we ever do it I will make sure to let you know we are coming .

Pixar weekend looks like so much fun! DS is crazy about Lotso and would have loved it!

An Ohana walk up? Great work. We have a supper ADR for the first time since our second trip (usually we do the breakfast) and are looking forward to it.

Thanks for more great photos

We have never done Ohana breakfast and probably never will unless we are staying there, Bill loves to say "one more hour" when the alarm goes off . Thanks for posting.

Great pictures at Epcot and the sand sculpture...that is pretty impressive. I am amazed you were able to walk up to O'Hana! Looks like a yummy dinner...I need to head there one time. Looking forward to hearing about Destination D!

That sand sculpture was amazing. I was shocked about the walk up.

That's so cool you were able to get into Ohana like that, and what a great bus driver

I thanked that bus driver no less than 6 times. They know how hard it is to get a transfer from DTD>

We didn't stop in the Pixar tent for character. That is great that you got a walk up for Ohana, that is one of my favorites.

The Pixar tent was packed, they could have had more room in there, don't know why they made it so tight, but Bill had fun.

 

[mrsksomeday]

Enjoyed your lastest update. Seeing all your flower and garden pictures really makes me want to plan a trip to see it all in person.

It is gorgeous there during the festival, flowers everywhere. We really loved it.

OMG i cannot believe you ran into Disney Royalty Dave Smith, how awesome is that!!!!

Great pictures, i always love your trip reports, so nice.

Cannot believe you arranged a walk-up at O'hana's.

Pixie dusted day for you two, huh?

KIM

Dave Smith is fantastic and amazing. We were thrilled to meet him. Thanks for reading along!

As much as I don't like getting behind on TRs, I love getting caught up on lots of updates all at once. Your pictures are all wonderful and your humor cracks me up. Alberto, the rain poncho, the birds....

The Bambi topiaries are adorable and UGH to the faceless princesses!

Thanks for reading. The birds really do freak me out, it cracks Bill up. Glad to make him smile while I am ducking and running .

Yeah for the walk up at O'hana's - that is amazing and meeting Dave Smith all in one day
Love the topiary pictures - have them all myself cause I have a topiary addiction my favorites are the Croc from Peter Pan and Lady & the Tramp. Totally missed the miniture ones in Germany at the trains.

The Croc was amazingly detailed, if it hadn't been blazing hot we would have spent a lot more time looking at the topiaries, we really enjoyed them. I didn't notice the miniature ones until I saw the pictures when we got home. I saw the little people but didn't pay attention to all the other stuff .

Another great update, Tracy. Those desserts at ESPN Club look Amazing! *drool*

Love all the pics of Bill smiling. I bet your smile was just as big.

Can't wait to hear all about the Destination D events. I was so excited to follow along with people who were there that weekend and so wish I could have been. Totally something that would be my kind of thing.

Woo hoo on the 'Ohana walk up! You just never know, do you? I had the same thing once. We were with friends who never plan ahead and they wanted to eat at Garden Grill for dinner. I told them there was no way we'd get in without an ADR (I had tried to call) but he walked up and they sat us within 10 minutes. Oops, I guess overplanning isn't always the only option.

Bill loved ESPN, we will be going back there definitely.

How awesome to walk in. I should give that a try.

Yes you should .

Catching up now that I'm back from vacation.
Love all of the pics from the F&G at EPCOT. My mom loves flowers so I need to take her one year for that.
Congrats on the walk up at Ohana! I am so ready to eat there in a few months!

You should go, it is gorgeous there, the flowers and all the details are fantastic!

Just read all of your chapter links so I could get caught up quickly! Reading your TRs was what made me come out of lurkdom and join DIS! I absolutely love reading about you and Bill's adventures! Can't wait to hear about the Destination D event!

Thank you so much for reading and posting. Sometimes you really don't know if people are reading, welcome to the DIS!!

Just a bump to say hope you're doing well and out having fun! Can't wait to continue reading about your trip.

Thank you for the bump. I will be posting an update very soon .

 

[kathleen27]

Epcot looks gorgeous for Flower & Garden Festival. We had a sneak peek of the festival this year - we were there about a week or two before it opened. Some of the topiaries and flowers were there, but nowhere near as many, plus we kind of rushed through.

Your photos are amazing!
Those Bambi topiaries are adorable, and I love the Lady & the Tramp display (did see that one in person too!)

All your meals look great so far! I haven't been to any of those resauraunts, but would like to try a few of them. Those are quite the desserts at ESPN!

The Pixar event looks neat, but very crowded!
I was going to tell Jacob that Bill met Mr. Potato Head, but I think he'd be more excited that you met Dave Smith!

Can't wait to hear about Destination D!

 

[KatGarcia]

I haven't been on the boards in months so forgive me for being late...i plan to catch up over the weekend tho! can't wait to read all about it!

 

[mmeb144]

I love reading your trip report. All those Flower & Garden pics remind me of our trip during F&G about 10 years ago. The park looks so nice! I can't wait to hear about the Destination D weekend. Thanks!

 

[Rozz]

Just a shout out to say Hello! Hope you and Bill are having a great weekend!

 

[mrsksomeday]

Epcot looks gorgeous for Flower & Garden Festival. We had a sneak peek of the festival this year - we were there about a week or two before it opened. Some of the topiaries and flowers were there, but nowhere near as many, plus we kind of rushed through.

Your photos are amazing!
Those Bambi topiaries are adorable, and I love the Lady & the Tramp display (did see that one in person too!)

All your meals look great so far! I haven't been to any of those resauraunts, but would like to try a few of them. Those are quite the desserts at ESPN!

The Pixar event looks neat, but very crowded!
I was going to tell Jacob that Bill met Mr. Potato Head, but I think he'd be more excited that you met Dave Smith!

Can't wait to hear about Destination D!

We loved the Bambi topiaries, they were so cute. We are trying to do at least 1/3 new restaurants each trip from now on. Dave Smith is amazing, I am in awe.

I haven't been on the boards in months so forgive me for being late...i plan to catch up over the weekend tho! can't wait to read all about it!

Hey Floridian!! I hope things are going well for you.

I love reading your trip report. All those Flower & Garden pics remind me of our trip during F&G about 10 years ago. The park looks so nice! I can't wait to hear about the Destination D weekend. Thanks!

If the weather would have been just a bit cooler, it would have been perfect, thanks for posting!

Just a shout out to say Hello! Hope you and Bill are having a great weekend!

Hi Rozz!!

 

[mrsksomeday]

Saturday May 14th, 2011, it was finally time for Destination D!! We were up and out the door early. We took a Magic Kingdom bus then walked to the Contemporary. It is a nice short walk, it would have been even nicer if my sinuses weren’t giving me fits. I was taking Dayquil and popping throat lozenges like candy, but nothing and I mean NOTHING was going to make me miss this event.

We went the same way we had the previous day and saw this:

Not one but two lines

hmmm, what to do?? ASK SOMEONE!! The line on the right was for merchandise, the one on the left was to get into the ballroom. I am looking through the crowd to see if there are any DISers, podcasters, etc. that I might recognize, but didn’t see anyone. There were a bunch of people and like any Disney event, we got to stand in line to wait, move a couple feet, wait, well you know the drill. When we were finally allowed in the ballroom there were ushers escorting the wheelchairs/ecv’s to a designated spot. We were in the last row of the first set of seats. There was an aisle behind us then another set of chairs. Bill could see perfectly, he was already smiling. We always worry when we get to a venue we have never been to before about him being able to actually see things. We were both very pleased.

As we were sitting there I was watching people filing in and filling up all the available spots. Then one person in a pink shirt caught my eye. Oh my goodness, was it? She said she was coming and wow there she is. LURKYLOO!! Some of you might be asking who/what is a Lurkyloo. She is a fabulous DISer that has tirelessly helped out on the Official DISNEY cake thread, she has an amazing blog – Disney Travel Babble, she turned her research for her wedding into writing a PassPorter book Disney Weddings & Honeymoons, is a part of the Inside Disney Weddings podcast, writes HIGHlarious trip reports and Bill and I can’t get enough of and showed us the beauty that is the photography of The Roots. If you followed our December 2010 trip report you read how over the moon I was to meet Jensey and Nathan Root in person. Check out their Root Photography Blog, mirror shots and first looks are my favorite, but back to Lurkyloo, aka Carrie. I had posted on her latest TR that we would be at DestinationD and we had talked about saying hi, although I didn’t want to bother her and knew there would be two whole days and I would probably run into her at some point, so I left her alone, although I did take a picture:

As we were sitting there I heard a familiar voice and turned around. It was Lou Mongello, WDW Radio Show Disney Podcast host. I took a crappy cell phone picture:

I enjoy listening to him and knew KathyRN137 enjoyed him to, so I did something I rarely do… I went over and introduced myself, he was very pleasant. I excused myself and went back over to Bill. Not two minutes later he came over to us said hi to Bill and asked us if we had ever gotten any of his audio guides, I told him no and he handed me this:

Do you think I hogged Bill’s table? My cell phone, my camera, and my journal. Bad Tracy, Bad!!

How nice of him!! We thanked him and he went back to his seat, it was almost time for Destination D to begin and the room was buzzing with excitement! I was looking through the schedule they gave us and it said:

Opening Program
9:30 a.m. - 10 a.m.
D23 Head Steven Clark welcomes D23 Members with some special guests and a few surprises you won't want to miss!

Steven Clark and Josh Turchetta (D23 Armchair Archivist) came out on the stage. Josh has a great sense of humor and they play up the fact that he sometimes doesn’t listen when they tell him not to show, touch artifacts, or do things he isn’t supposed to do.

It seems Josh brought some pictures of Steven from some of his trips to Disney. Look at the pictures behind Steven:

Steven had some things to share with us, like the fact that even he gets a renewal letter for his D23 membership. Note the “Dear Mr. Clark” and “Best, Steven B. Clark”:

He then introduced us to Walt Disney World’s first ambassador, Debbie Dane Brown. She worked in the Welcome Center in 1970 that was set up before Magic Kingdom opened up. She had to promise she wouldn’t get married while she was a Disney Ambassador:

She talked very lovingly about her time with the company. She admired Roy Disney a lot:

After she got done speaking it was time for:

Weird Walt Disney World
10 a.m. - 11 a.m.
Walt Disney Archives director Becky Cline and Disney historian Paul F. Anderson

Bill and I were really looking forward to this because we had met Becky back in December and she was so nice and funny. She and Paul did not disappoint!!

They told us that they were going to start out with some Disneyland weirdness because it was just too odd not to share. I will let the pictures do the talking:

Ok well I have to talk a little bit about the next couple ones. We were told a story of how several little people were hired to dress up like Pinocchio and sit atop the theater marquee.

According to our presenters, the characters were given libations and by the end of the red carpet experience, they weren't wearing their costumes. Paul said they had photographic proof:

Oops that darn Disney legal team!!!

Here is a little blurb in a newspaper about Walt, how it was supposed to run:

Then here is how it actually ran:

There was an ad that featured the centaurets in Fantasia:

Apparently it was a little too risqué and there was a note written about it:

“Put a sweater on her”, so it was done:

The early Dwarf costumes had a problem, look above the “eyes”:

They used to have creepy, scary people walking around Disneyland:

Characters when Alice in Wonderland opened in Disneyland:

They said Walt was not happy that you could see the CM’s head out of the back of the Rabbit costume.

Continued in next post Destination D Day 1 Part 2

 

[mrsksomeday]

Back in the day you could fish at Disneyland and take home what you caught:

Next up it was time to talk about Aunt Jemima’s Kitchen and what they sponsored, pancake races:

Not bad for flipping some pancakes!!

ENOUGH of Disneyland, time for some WEIRD WDW:

World Showcase Characters (Never knew about them, did any of you?):

More odd/out of place people:

After that:

Earlier in the presentation there was a “clown alert”, I didn’t take any pictures of that, but I HAD to take pictures of this:

SPECTROMAGIC!!!

Those last two slides got HUGE applause, I pray Spectro comes back to WDW, I miss it so much!! Ok, Spectro rant/begging over back to:

Excuse the blurry picture, but I had to show D23 Head Steven Clark:

Onward to:

The Mickey Mouse Revue:

Kitchen Kabaret:

Food Rocks:

Then:

Continued Destination D Day 1 Part 3

 

[mrsksomeday]

Next:

And…..

They jokingly said they were going to be giving some things away:

A sign:

A Contemporary Resort rug:

They actually did give something away:

Next installment…. Dave Smith

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Loved all the weird stuff, especially the picture of Bonhomme and Mickey in front of the castle, so random!

 

[mrsksomeday]

Loved all the weird stuff, especially the picture of Bonhomme and Mickey in front of the castle, so random!

So happy you liked it, I didn't even use all my pictures, I went nuts taking pictures at this event. I guess I just didn't want to forget any of it.

 

[Tinkermom76]

More odd/out of place people:

It's Bonhomme from the Quebec Winter Carnival!!! Love him!!!

 

[okw19]

Love all of the pictures!! I hope Carrie sees your LurkyLoo sighting pic!

 

[ddstratton]

Love the pictures! Looked like a fun time.

 

[jcc0621]

What a great event! Can't wait to hear about Dave Smith!