Bill and Tracy’s Kinda Excellent Adventure 5/7 M & M Day 2 Cinderella Castle Suite

[PryncessChrysty]

We remember you!! We had so much fun with Alex. We weren't at BWV's during Magic & Merriment, we were at Pop. We loved BWV's so much we are going to be there for 10 nights in May.

10 nights sounds amazing!

It was amazing because of Lurkyloo's wonderful blog. Are you the Chrysty from her new podcast? I am thinking she said Princess Chrysty from the DIS and I was like "BILL we met her". The podcast is great!!!

Yep, that's me!! Thanks for the kind words!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I'm reallyyyyyy late, but I'm here and caught up! WOW! Way to go Bill!!!! I had tears in my eyes reading about your amazing night! Wow, wow, wow!

 

[piglet50]

just checking in to see if there's another update. i see you're going on another trip. have a great time.

 

[Rozz]

Am I understanding correctly from your ticker thing that you are soon to be leaving on another trip to the World? and where does that leave us in this trip report? Maybe you can blend this one with the next one!
I know you and Bill are very busy and I'd offer to write the next trip report for you only I can't on account of you haven't added me to your room and park ticket purchases yet.

 

[oregonmommyof2]

You are being quite the slacker... Just sayin'...

 

[mrsksomeday]

I love the story tellers. I so wish we had taken more time to listen to them but with the kids that was impossible. Odd thought they only 1 group wouldn't do pictures.

When Bill's birthday rolls around, I think you should have that hat picture put on his birthday cake! It is the best!!!

It bothered me that we didn't get a picture with the Norway storyteller, it will be a priority on the next trip, I will bother them until they smile with Bill .

10 nights sounds amazing!


Yep, that's me!! Thanks for the kind words!

We are trip changers, we changed the May trip to 5 nights at Pop Century then to Boardwalk Villas for 6 nights. Carrie's podcast is amazing, she has such a great voice and the two of you together are great. I ever got Bill to listen to the podcast with me ,

I'm reallyyyyyy late, but I'm here and caught up! WOW! Way to go Bill!!!! I had tears in my eyes reading about your amazing night! Wow, wow, wow!

Hi Brook!! I almost cry every time I think about that night, it was amazingly wonderful.

just checking in to see if there's another update. i see you're going on another trip. have a great time.

Thanks, updates coming very soon.

Am I understanding correctly from your ticker thing that you are soon to be leaving on another trip to the World? and where does that leave us in this trip report? Maybe you can blend this one with the next one!
I know you and Bill are very busy and I'd offer to write the next trip report for you only I can't on account of you haven't added me to your room and park ticket purchases yet.

I am finishing this one before we leave. I am sorry we can't bring you along with us, there is a long list of people asking to go .

You are being quite the slacker... Just sayin'...

EVERYONE thank Toni for kicking me back into trip report writing gear. I heard you loud and clear. Installments coming right up .

 

[mrsksomeday]

I am so sorry for not posting lately. Life got in the way, I have been informed that I am “quite the slacker” so I figured I better get this report wrapped up. I am going to be posting mostly pictures, these days are just so involved it would take forever to explain it all.

The day started by going to Epcot so we could check in and get our lanyards, we saw several people we had met the previous year. We grabbed breakfast and made our way to the main room.

The imagineer we had had lunch with at the Hollywood Brown Derby would be speaking that morning and came over to us as soon as he saw us. He is such a great guy. We also talked to Laura the D23 Cast Member that had helped us with accessibility issues back at the D23 event in May 2011. She was the first speaker of the day:

For this installment it is going to be mostly pictures. First off we had more speakers:

Lisa talked about how they came up with holiday designs for Aulani. Here are some fun facts:

Next up was Steve Vagnini from the D23/Disney Archives.

He talked about how the Candlelight Processional came to be. As he talked many pictures were shown:

The Candlelight Processional used to be performed at Magic Kingdom in front of the castle:

Human Christmas tree:

In 1994 the Candlelight Processional moved to Epcot. He then played to tv special that showed Walt, I love old footage of him so I was happy.
Next up was:

Why is this lady a Disney legend? She was the voice for Alice in Alice in Wonderland and Wendy in Peter Pan. She was completely delightful. She said the animators said it was harder to animate people so the voice actors were filmed as they did their lines. They acted the scenes out, from falling down the rabbit hole in Alice, to flying in Peter Pan. She said Mr. Disney was a lovely gentleman, that he would ask her how everything was going and if she was happy. She said he would come to the cafeteria, get in line like everyone else and sit with random people just to see how they were.

In between presentations they would bring the members stuff. Each of us had a little Christmas gift bag at our seat so we would have a place to put everything. We got an ornament, cookies, a scarf that had Mickey and Minnie embroidered at one end the other end said Magic and Merriment, and a D23 patch.

After the presentations were over Ms. Beaumont posed for pictures with the D23 members:

After this we were free to do whatever until meeting up again for the Candlelight Processional. We came out and saw this:

Off Kilter always puts a smile on my face.

I looked at the times guide and we had time before our lunch to see the Canadian storyteller. We hung out by his stage:

Bill pulled up to get a front row seat:

Continued in next installment Pt. 2

 

[mrsksomeday]

Off Kilter kept us entertained while we waited:

Before we knew it Papa Noel was walking towards us and took the stage:

As he talked he changed his shoes and started putting on different clothing:

Look who he looks like!!

After he was done he took a picture with Bill, poor Bill the sun was directly in his eyes:

It was time for lunch in Canada, we love the beauty of this pavilion.

This reservation was made before we decided to do Magic and Merriment, we were thrilled that Neil Patrick Harris was the narrator so we got the Candlelight Processional dining package. Seeing Neil was included in the D23 event, but we didn’t want to cancel our lunch. We came up with the idea to pixie dust our Candlelight badges to someone standing in the standby line. Then the day we met up with our CM friend “N” we talked about going to see Neil and she said she wished she could go but wasn’t waiting in the standby line all day. Bill and I looked at each other and knew what we were going to do. We pixie dusted her and she was thrilled. She was going to meet us after our lunch to get the badges. She came with a friend of hers and met us in-between Canada and the United Kingdom. We talked, laughed, then we saw the birds. Tons of birds flying all together and really close to guests in the park. “N” is completely afraid of birds and started panicking. She started walking toward Future World and her friend yelled for her to come back, she calmed down enough to turn around and started off towards France. Poor thing, she is so sweet and was so scared. I wish I could have helped her somehow that day.

We decided to make our way over to the American Pavilion to meet up with other D23 members. Along the way it seemed the birds followed us:

We got there and saw the Kwanzaa storyteller:

Looks a little ominous doesn’t it?

In 2010 the Magic and Merriment people were way down front on the right side of the theater, we were in the accessible section. This year they had us at the very top. I took a test shot to see how zoomed in I could get:

When they went to seat us I saw jackets from D23 members on the bench and asked Laura if it was ok where they placed us because of Bill’s chair. She said we were absolutely fine. Next thing I know they sat Kathryn Beaumont right next to me. This woman knew Walt Disney. Bill and I were in awe of her. She chit chatted with us and I tweeted this picture:

I knew a friend/D23 member had purchased an Alice sketch in hopes of getting it signed. I also knew she was always on twitter and I was right. She was up from her seat and in front of us in no time getting her sketch signed. As soon as her sketch was signed it started raining. A D23 CM was right on it and had an umbrella over Kathryn. An Epcot CM said they couldn’t use an umbrella and sit in those seats. We were in the last row and she was KATHRYN BEAUMONT a Disney legend. She got up to move and didn’t sit by us the rest of the show L. Laura sent someone to get all of us, the 200 D23 members ponchos. Here is how we looked:

Poor Bill:

He refused to leave. We stuck it out. The Candlelight Processional is something you shouldn’t miss. The Voices of Liberty give me goose bumps every time:

The choir filed in:

Then Neil Patrick Harris came out. He said “What’s crack-a-lackin?” The crowd laughed, he thanked us for sitting in the rain to listen to him.

After the show was over we went to the store at the American Pavilion to see if they had Candlelight Processional CDs for sale. We were told they were sold at one of the carts outside. They were shut down because of the rain, but then it cleared a little and the guy reopened his cart. We got 2 CD’s, one for us and one for Bill’s Mom. (She LOVED it, we listened to it as we were opening presents, I hope this becomes a tradition.)

The D23 itinerary had the members going over to Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. This was different in the previous year in two ways. The year before when they wanted us to go to another park they transported all of us. This time we were supposed to make our own way over and they had us going to MVMCP on the first night of the event. If you didn’t want to be dead tired for the events the next day, you didn’t stay until the end of the party. I didn’t like that L.

Bill’s feet were wet and we decided to just call it a day. It seemed MVMCP was not in our plans this trip. We decided to go back to the Boardwalk and the ESPN Club for a bit. We had a good time and I think this is our hang out now. I took some pictures in the lobby.

We took a bus to DTD then to Pop.

NEXT INSTALLMENT… Magic & Merriment Day 2 pt. 1

 

[piglet50]

yay, you're back! thank you for the post. your reports are always so interesting. how neat to meet people who knew mr. disney.

 

[laura74]

Enjoying your report. That dinner at the Grand Floridian was so special. I didn't know they did that!

 

[Tinkermom76]

I can't wait to go back at Christmastime so I can see the Candlelight Processional again

 

[mrsksomeday]

yay, you're back! thank you for the post. your reports are always so interesting. how neat to meet people who knew mr. disney.

Thank you so much for your kind words. I was in awe of Ms. Beaumont, she was so elegant, graceful, and kind.

Enjoying your report. That dinner at the Grand Floridian was so special. I didn't know they did that!

Thank you for reading. That dinner is one of my most precious Disney memories.

I can't wait to go back at Christmastime so I can see the Candlelight Processional again

We just might be going back this December, the CLP is one of my very favorite things.

 

[GeminiAngel]

Very nice update.
The rain wouldn't chase me away either.

 

[mrsksomeday]

Very nice update.
The rain wouldn't chase me away either.

The rain usually wouldn't chase us away from MVMCP either but Bill's feet were wet and we had another day to get through .

 

[mrsksomeday]

I have a favor my wonderful readers. If you read my Dec. 2010 trip report you know about TnT aka oregonmommyof2 and oregondaddyof2. They are Disers that we had been talking to online and decided to meet in person. We specifically went to WDW at that time to meet them. We adore these wonderful people. Toni and I talk on yahoo almost every day.

They have started a PTR for their upcoming trip. Please go there, read it, and show them some love .


Operation "ShutYourMouth" has commenced... Dec 2012 is not far away....

 

[mrsksomeday]

Magic Kingdom was the first park today. We were doing a backstage tour with D23 before our 2pm appointment with Cinderella’s Castle Suite. I am going to be posting a bunch of pictures again:

Hey where’s Bill??

(sorry we love Phineas and Ferb)

Boo, again look how gloomy, but we weren’t freezing so we were happy:

We made our way over by Splash Mountain where we were supposed to meet up and I loved how there was nobody around:

The backstage tour consisted of touring of Creative Services, Scenic Services, and the Parade Barn. No cameras could be used unless specified. They used Mears Busses like the Magical Express ones. The problem with this?? Bill has to be lifted up and down and strapped in every time we went to another location. He had to be taken on and off the bus 4 separate times. It was raining again, he did let me put the poncho on though. Everyone on the tour was really nice, they would let Bill get up front so he could see and hear what the CM’s were talking about. We did feel like we were always rushing because we were last off the bus.

The backstage service areas are amazing, everything organized for each resort and park. I love how huge some of the ornaments and decorations are. I have never seen so much glitter in all my life. They had an area that was for stripping older and broken ornaments. The guy from that department said he had glitter on him 365 days a year, you couldn’t help it.

One of my favorite parts was the parade barn, we got to see the floats up close, they explained to us how they were driven and how a CM had to start with an open parade float, one where you could see the CM drive it, to one where you couldn’t really see them, then if they were good enough drivers, one to where you couldn’t see them at all.

The best part for me was when I asked a CM manager about Spectromagic when we were leaving, in Dec. 2011 the floats were still there, he pointed to the barn they were in. I wanted to run to it and see the floats I have loved and missed. I hope someday to see them again.

After our tour it was time to go over and check in for our castle tour. We were fortunate enough to be going for the second time. I had my better camera this time and hoped the pictures would turn out like I wanted. We had to wait outside the door for another tour to come back down:

I took a picture of one of the mosaics as we waited:

I love the detailing here, it is everywhere you just have to stop and look:

We were finally allowed in the door, there is a little room where a concierge person waits by a phone to wait on the person that is up in the suite.

Elevator door and flooring:

When you get off the elevator you are in a foyer:

During the talks the day before at the start of Magic and Merriment there was a gentleman that had talked about all the work that had gone into designing the suite. It really enhanced the tour of it because we really noticed the details this time.

Real antique:

There is an alarm clock in the box:

Show ready = Do Not Sit!!!

The mirror turns into the television:

The stained glass windows tell a story:

continued Magic & Merriment Day 2 pt. 2

 

[mrsksomeday]

Ceiling in the sitting room details:

Copies of Mary Blair paintings:

The bathroom:

Ceiling above the tub:

There are 3 mosaics above the tub:

Shower and sinks:

Lighting fixtures that look like crowns:

Look!! Proof I was there too:

After we left, I started taking pictures of the mosaics again, I love the way they tell the stories:

After the tour we had lunch at Cosmic Rays and headed over to Animal Kingdom for some more D23 events.


We were making our way to the first aid location in the park to do personal care for Bill and I had completely forgotten that they changed the location of where they started the afternoon parade. They were getting ready to start it and I asked a CM if there was any way we could continue toward the first aid location. The CM said that we would have to wait because of the parade, another CM said to follow him. We walked very fast to the location and I thanked him over and over.

By the time we got things taken care of the parade was going past us, we walked right up to the roped off area. The wheelchair turned into a character/CM magnet again:

Continued: Magic & Merriment Day 2 pt. 3

 

[mrsksomeday]

Mickey waving at Bill:

We waited a couple minutes for people to clear out and started walking toward the fastpass line for the safari because that is where we were supposed to meet up with the D23 group. I turned around to look at Bill and all the sudden we were in the middle of D23 people, Bill thought it was hilarious that we had just blended right in with them.

There were some people in ECV’s and manual wheelchairs that were also at the event and ended up in the same safari truck. I have to enter the truck before Bill does and there are two rows of seats that are right by where Bill would park. When looking at it I couldn’t remember which row would be better to hold on to him and picked the wrong one, I need to be in the front one not the back. It was a not so fun safari since Bill’s balance is way off. I did manage to take a couple of pictures:

I had never seen the male lion standing up:

He was pacing and roaring, I think he knew it was time to go, D23 was the last group of the day. He was telling us to leave!!

After the safari we were walked across the park to a reception at Flame Tree Gardens. I love the details on lighting fixtures in WDW:

When we first got there most of the seats were taken I just grabbed a chair and made Bill’s tray our table. A gentleman and his wife that was in a wheelchair were sitting close to us, he went to another area and found a table and invited us to join them, I thought it was so sweet of them.

After the reception we walked over to Camp Minnie Mickey for dinner.

We were welcomed by a couple of D23 CM’s and a gentleman with a white beard. We found a table with a couple empty spots and had dinner. Gitar Dan showed up and serenaded a couple people at our table:

Next came a D23 CM that introduced the surprise for the night, it was the white bearded gentleman we had seen a little earlier. People FLIPPED OUT at his name, he was the one and only Dreamfinder - Ron Schneider.

They told us that he was going to be hanging out with us and we could ask him questions and get your picture taken with him.

DISer siting!! It was Lurkyloo talking to Mr. Schneider:

Bill meets Dreamfinder:

He also met Goofy Santa:

We decided we had enough fun for the night and thanked the D23 team. It was odd being almost alone walking through Animal Kingdom at night it is gorgeous.

The lights were on everywhere, the background music was playing it was just amazing. We did run into one odd thing though:

Imagineers we have a problem. I wouldn’t want to have to be the one checking to see which bulb caused that to go out. We got on a bus that had people from a couple different resorts and made our way back to Pop.

For some reason I didn’t take any pictures on the last day. We were both pretty tired. It was an uneventful flight and a safe drive home. Ace was so happy to see us the next day.

Next installment… Details for the next trip

 

[JolllyHoliday]

Yeah!!! So glad to see you posting again!! Your trip reports are always so interesting. I really look forward to reading them.

 

[PryncessChrysty]

We are trip changers, we changed the May trip to 5 nights at Pop Century then to Boardwalk Villas for 6 nights. Carrie's podcast is amazing, she has such a great voice and the two of you together are great. I ever got Bill to listen to the podcast with me ,

Oh my gosh, I totally hear you on the whole trip changer thing. We're right there with you!!

ITA - Carrie has a GREAT voice for broadcasting. I'm so excited & honored to be a part of her show whenever she invites me on. Of the shows I've done, the one she posted this past week (5/2) was definitely my favorite so far. The overviews are great, but on this episode we were able to have more of a discussion about the topic at hand - and it was one of my favorite topics to boot!

I think it's so sweet that Bill listens with you!! I send my DH out of the room when we record, otherwise I get too self-conscious. Although, he can still hear me so I always ask him for a critique afterward.

ETA: Just got all caught up with your update! All the fun memories of M&M came flooding back! It wasn't a perfect event, but we did have a lot of fun. I really need to get back on track with my TR - you've inspired me! Guitar Dan sang a WONDERFUL song for me that night, too! It was so sweet and absolutely perfect. I can't believe how quickly he can put it all together!

I also loved seeing your pic of Laura Sanchez from the D23 crew. She is seriously one of the most fabulous CM's we have ever come across. We go to a lot of D23 events and she always goes out of her way to say hello to DH & I. It's like she's welcoming us to a party in her own home every single time. I absolutely adore her!