2xcited2sleep
DIS Legend
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- Jan 5, 2008
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From there I think we went to the backstage holiday warehouse next. Apologies, Ive forgotten the order of things we did.
Here again it was stressed that there were NO backstage photos. Entering the warehouse we had to wear safety glasses because it was a working area. As you might suspect there was not a whole lot of activity in here.
It looked just like youd imagine a warehouse would look. Huge industrial metal shelving units in aisles -- just like Home Depot or Lowes really. And it was kind of organized like that too. There were aisle signs saying what was in each aisle and each box or empty space was labeled with what should be there. I was surprised by how much was still in the warehouse with everything fully decorated. Apparently there was an effort to scale back a bit this year and also they dont use everything every year anyway. Just about everything was organized by color. So if you want an ornament in apple green you can go right to the wall and pick exactly what green you want without having to dig through boxes.
I thought it was interesting that this warehouse supplies the holiday decorations for all the parks, all the resorts, the cruise line, Castaway Cay, and even the Chicago doorway to dreams store!
Toward the back of the warehouse there is a workshop. In here, they explained, they might take custom fabric and craft it into bows. Or they might put together custom wreaths in there. There was activity in here that morning- several people were working. One person we were told was working on a topiary frame that would be planted at the Contemporary next year.
Back onto the bus and over to the Grand Floridian. The bus banter here had to do with holiday traditions around food leading up to gingerbread, of course.
Id never been to this hotel before. The lobby sure is impressive! And the tree, beautiful. We talked about how this was decorated in the Victorian theme appropriate for the resort, of course!
Lobby light fixture
The gingerbread house was awesome! There were quite a few people around it, of course.
Mickey wreaths!
One of many hidden mickeys
I thought it was wild that there was a little store inside the gingerbread house you can see the cash register screen through the window. Its just big enough for the clerk to sit in but its so cute!
The recipe
As we left the Grand Floridian and got back on the bus we each got a little piece of gingerbread to snack on. Yum!
Next and final stop was the Magic Kingdom. We again entered via backstage and stepped right out on Main Street.
Some friends were hanging out by the tree
Here they talked about how the decoration of this tree is meant to bring back memories of childhood to fit the MK theme.
They also mentioned that this tree is one of the last decorations to go up as it cant go up until after the parade is filmed for TV. I guess thats the spot where Regis and Kelly sit!
We walked up Main Street for a quick look at the castle and the special lights on it.
And that was really about it. We got back on the bus and headed back to the Epcot parking lot where wed started. As we got off the bus we got a special pin . Which I cannot locate to show you a picture of or even describe. Sorry.
So all in all I enjoyed the tour. It was not exactly what I expected. I was hoping for more of the nitty gritty how do they decorate everything for the holidays and wasnt expecting the holiday traditions around the world piece. Even so, I was glad I did it and with the AAA discount on the tour thought it was a good value. Im looking forward to doing other tours on future visits.
It was around 12:30 or maybe a little earlier. I decided to head into Epcot for a bite to eat. Of course to World Showcase. Could I possibly have spent any more time there this trip? It really is my favorite place in all of WDW. So Ill save that and my dinner at Jiko for the next chapter.
Thanks for reading and sticking with me!
Here again it was stressed that there were NO backstage photos. Entering the warehouse we had to wear safety glasses because it was a working area. As you might suspect there was not a whole lot of activity in here.
It looked just like youd imagine a warehouse would look. Huge industrial metal shelving units in aisles -- just like Home Depot or Lowes really. And it was kind of organized like that too. There were aisle signs saying what was in each aisle and each box or empty space was labeled with what should be there. I was surprised by how much was still in the warehouse with everything fully decorated. Apparently there was an effort to scale back a bit this year and also they dont use everything every year anyway. Just about everything was organized by color. So if you want an ornament in apple green you can go right to the wall and pick exactly what green you want without having to dig through boxes.
I thought it was interesting that this warehouse supplies the holiday decorations for all the parks, all the resorts, the cruise line, Castaway Cay, and even the Chicago doorway to dreams store!
Toward the back of the warehouse there is a workshop. In here, they explained, they might take custom fabric and craft it into bows. Or they might put together custom wreaths in there. There was activity in here that morning- several people were working. One person we were told was working on a topiary frame that would be planted at the Contemporary next year.
Back onto the bus and over to the Grand Floridian. The bus banter here had to do with holiday traditions around food leading up to gingerbread, of course.
Id never been to this hotel before. The lobby sure is impressive! And the tree, beautiful. We talked about how this was decorated in the Victorian theme appropriate for the resort, of course!
Lobby light fixture
The gingerbread house was awesome! There were quite a few people around it, of course.
Mickey wreaths!
One of many hidden mickeys
I thought it was wild that there was a little store inside the gingerbread house you can see the cash register screen through the window. Its just big enough for the clerk to sit in but its so cute!
The recipe
As we left the Grand Floridian and got back on the bus we each got a little piece of gingerbread to snack on. Yum!
Next and final stop was the Magic Kingdom. We again entered via backstage and stepped right out on Main Street.
Some friends were hanging out by the tree
Here they talked about how the decoration of this tree is meant to bring back memories of childhood to fit the MK theme.
They also mentioned that this tree is one of the last decorations to go up as it cant go up until after the parade is filmed for TV. I guess thats the spot where Regis and Kelly sit!
We walked up Main Street for a quick look at the castle and the special lights on it.
And that was really about it. We got back on the bus and headed back to the Epcot parking lot where wed started. As we got off the bus we got a special pin . Which I cannot locate to show you a picture of or even describe. Sorry.
So all in all I enjoyed the tour. It was not exactly what I expected. I was hoping for more of the nitty gritty how do they decorate everything for the holidays and wasnt expecting the holiday traditions around the world piece. Even so, I was glad I did it and with the AAA discount on the tour thought it was a good value. Im looking forward to doing other tours on future visits.
It was around 12:30 or maybe a little earlier. I decided to head into Epcot for a bite to eat. Of course to World Showcase. Could I possibly have spent any more time there this trip? It really is my favorite place in all of WDW. So Ill save that and my dinner at Jiko for the next chapter.
Thanks for reading and sticking with me!
I would just be thrilled in getting to see backstage and some of the warehouses! I'm looking forward to your Jiko review, that one is on my "Possible December ADR" list.
I'm working my way to that dinner update but I don't mind providing a sneak preview that I thought it lived up to the hype!
When you have to defend your space and lunch while youre eating there is a problem! Disney is so creative
isnt there something they can do?? 
) it was not nearly enough to tide me over and I am missing WDW and World Showcase something fierce. Six more months
