shatzjsl
<font color=teal>No wonder I love DIS boards so mu
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2004
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Day 5 Wednesday, June 8, 2005
Cast:
Me: Trip planner, age unimportant, 2nd trip to WDW
Mimi My mom, 62, 1st trip to WDW
Maddie my niece, 12, 1st trip to WDW
Lauren my daughter, 11, 2nd trip to WDW
Special appearances by coworker Julie and her family (DH Bob, DS Tyler-15, and DD Josie-6)
I woke early today because I was excited about my tour at MK. The tour didnt start until 9:00 but I wanted to get in early. I arrived at MK at 8:00 and got a great parking spot on the first row right in front of the bridge that you go under to get to the TTC. I hopped the monorail and made it through bag check and headed to the PS line. I got inside around 8:15. I headed over to the building that is to the left of City Hall and checked in for may tour. Then I had 40 minutes to do whatever I wanted. It was so neat to be on Main Street with hardly anyone else around. None of the stores were open so I just walked up the sidewalk and window-shopped and soaked up the atmosphere. I was most excited to be able to take pictures of the castle without the crowds in them. I got a couple of great shots of Walt and Mickey with hardly a sole in the background. I strolled back up Main Street and some of the stores were beginning to open. I realized that I had left my visor back at CBR so I bought a new one and did some browsing. I went back to where I checked in at about 8:55. The next four paragraphs are going to be the rundown of the Mickeys Magical Milestones tour so if you dont want too many details skip it and just know that I enjoyed it very much!
At 9:00 our group or 10 began our two-hour Mickeys Magical Milestones walking tour. I hadnt read much about it and just found it on the WDW site. The price is $25 and it is for 10 and up I believe. We followed Abby, our tourgude, played salmon swimming upstream going against the entering crowds to began our tour in front of the floral Mickey head in front of the train station and learned about Walts vision of WDW. We then headed to the porch at at the Exposition Hall and learned about Main Street. Then we entered the Hall and headed toward the back. I didnt even know this area was here! It had a movie theater showing some of the first Disney cartoons and several cut outs that you could pose in. Abby showed us a wall that had a mural of all the Disney characters on it and said the guy that painted it did it all from memory. The she showed us the timeline wall and explained it in more detail. Then we headed to the train station where we got to cut in line (hee hee) and hopped on the train and headed towards Mickeys Toontown Fair.
Once the train got started Abby handed us all a pencil and paper and asked us to draw Mickey Mouse. Lucky for me the lady sitting in front of me had a picture of Mickey on the back of her shirt! I didnt win though. A guy who knew how to draw won and got a Mickey Mouse Club pin. Bummer, I would have liked to have had that! We got off the train in a still roped off Toontown and headed into Mickeys house. It was great being in there with just 10 other people. Abby told us about each room and showed us a couple of not so obvious hidden Mickeys which she did throughout the tour. In the garden we had a special guest waiting for us. The Mouse himself! He only had time to pose for a group picture because he needed to go out and open Toontown but it was fun to meet with him in his tux without a line! We went through the garage and learned about WDW recycling and some of the things that Mickey has hanging there. A lot of it I wouldnt have noticed because I probably would have just walked on through. Take a look at the things hanging on the walls and up in the rafters next time you go through.
We left Toontown and headed towards the Tea Cups and Abby told us about the film Mickey Through the Looking Glass which came out before Alice in Wonderland Then it was on to Sir Mickeys and the history of the two different areas. I had never seen the giant in there. Learning a lot of new things on our tour! Abby then told us that Mickey had invited us to see a concert but to be prepared because Donald might cause some problems. We entered through the FP line of Mickeys Philharmagic and enjoyed the show. Before the show, Abby told us where to spot the hidden Mickeys. There is one in every scene and so far the WDW CMs have found all but one. I saw all of the ones she told us about except one. You have to be really quick to see them. The one that I really remember is in the Beauty and the Beast scene. At the very end of Be Our Guest Lumierre (SP?) puts his hands on top of his head and his shadow on the table is a hidden Mickey. You have to look very quickly because it is only there for about ½ a second.
After Philharmagic we walked down the ramp by the castle and Cinderellabration was going on. I commented to Abby that those dresses must be hot and she said that the CMs that are in the show would not want to do anything else. Seems Cinderellabration is the most coveted role for the CM actors and actresses this year. I understand why. We ended the tour at the area that is just before the entrance into Adventureland. I believe it is a smoking area but they had it roped off for us. We took a group picture and Abby told us that Mickey had spent a special friend to thank us for taking our tour. It was Donald!!! He presented each of us with mouse ears that had our names on them and then posed for individual photos and a group photo. There were people outside the roped off area that were waiting to see him but the didnt get to because he left as soon as he was finished. It made me feel really special. It was a great tour and I will do it again with Lauren in the future. But only if it is in a cooler month because it was already hot!
After the tour I took my sweat time strolling back up main street to leave the park. I thought about staying and having the family join me later but I didnt think that was fair to them. Sigh, some times it sucks to have a conscience. Since I had nabbed such a good parking spot I decided to leave the car where it was because we were coming back later for our Crystal Palace PS. I walked to the bus stop and I was the only one that was leaving. It took a while for a bus to come to the CBR stop. I probably waited 20 minutes and then I think the driver just took pity on me because his bus didnt say CBR until he made the turn toward me. I made it back to CBR to find Mimi alone in the room resting. The girls were swimming. This was supposed to be the day that we rented boats. Lauren is 5 even (correct height) but is only 11 so she cant drive a boat. Maddie is 12 (correct age) but is only 46 so she couldnt drive the boat. While I was gone the girls decided that it would be way uncool for them to have to ride with me and Mime driving so they settled on paddleboats. ROFL..the joke was on them!! Have you ever rented a paddleboat? They are hard work! Mimi told them she would go with them but they had to do the work. Mimi said they didnt make it very far before they turned around but it took them the full 30 rental minutes to make it to the bridge and back. Mimi wasnt tired. Why? Because she was true to her word and didnt do any of the peddling. Go Mimi!!
They had a late breakfast and I had not eaten anything yet. I didnt want to have to make it until 3:00 without eating so I walked to the food court to get a snack. Oh yeah, my card got deactivated again so I had to get a new one while I was there.
Ill stop here because I still have the rest of our MK day and MK EMH to cover.
Day 5, Part II - The Elusive Eeyore and Goofy
Cast:
Me: Trip planner, age unimportant, 2nd trip to WDW
Mimi My mom, 62, 1st trip to WDW
Maddie my niece, 12, 1st trip to WDW
Lauren my daughter, 11, 2nd trip to WDW
Special appearances by coworker Julie and her family (DH Bob, DS Tyler-15, and DD Josie-6)
I woke early today because I was excited about my tour at MK. The tour didnt start until 9:00 but I wanted to get in early. I arrived at MK at 8:00 and got a great parking spot on the first row right in front of the bridge that you go under to get to the TTC. I hopped the monorail and made it through bag check and headed to the PS line. I got inside around 8:15. I headed over to the building that is to the left of City Hall and checked in for may tour. Then I had 40 minutes to do whatever I wanted. It was so neat to be on Main Street with hardly anyone else around. None of the stores were open so I just walked up the sidewalk and window-shopped and soaked up the atmosphere. I was most excited to be able to take pictures of the castle without the crowds in them. I got a couple of great shots of Walt and Mickey with hardly a sole in the background. I strolled back up Main Street and some of the stores were beginning to open. I realized that I had left my visor back at CBR so I bought a new one and did some browsing. I went back to where I checked in at about 8:55. The next four paragraphs are going to be the rundown of the Mickeys Magical Milestones tour so if you dont want too many details skip it and just know that I enjoyed it very much!
At 9:00 our group or 10 began our two-hour Mickeys Magical Milestones walking tour. I hadnt read much about it and just found it on the WDW site. The price is $25 and it is for 10 and up I believe. We followed Abby, our tourgude, played salmon swimming upstream going against the entering crowds to began our tour in front of the floral Mickey head in front of the train station and learned about Walts vision of WDW. We then headed to the porch at at the Exposition Hall and learned about Main Street. Then we entered the Hall and headed toward the back. I didnt even know this area was here! It had a movie theater showing some of the first Disney cartoons and several cut outs that you could pose in. Abby showed us a wall that had a mural of all the Disney characters on it and said the guy that painted it did it all from memory. The she showed us the timeline wall and explained it in more detail. Then we headed to the train station where we got to cut in line (hee hee) and hopped on the train and headed towards Mickeys Toontown Fair.
Once the train got started Abby handed us all a pencil and paper and asked us to draw Mickey Mouse. Lucky for me the lady sitting in front of me had a picture of Mickey on the back of her shirt! I didnt win though. A guy who knew how to draw won and got a Mickey Mouse Club pin. Bummer, I would have liked to have had that! We got off the train in a still roped off Toontown and headed into Mickeys house. It was great being in there with just 10 other people. Abby told us about each room and showed us a couple of not so obvious hidden Mickeys which she did throughout the tour. In the garden we had a special guest waiting for us. The Mouse himself! He only had time to pose for a group picture because he needed to go out and open Toontown but it was fun to meet with him in his tux without a line! We went through the garage and learned about WDW recycling and some of the things that Mickey has hanging there. A lot of it I wouldnt have noticed because I probably would have just walked on through. Take a look at the things hanging on the walls and up in the rafters next time you go through.
We left Toontown and headed towards the Tea Cups and Abby told us about the film Mickey Through the Looking Glass which came out before Alice in Wonderland Then it was on to Sir Mickeys and the history of the two different areas. I had never seen the giant in there. Learning a lot of new things on our tour! Abby then told us that Mickey had invited us to see a concert but to be prepared because Donald might cause some problems. We entered through the FP line of Mickeys Philharmagic and enjoyed the show. Before the show, Abby told us where to spot the hidden Mickeys. There is one in every scene and so far the WDW CMs have found all but one. I saw all of the ones she told us about except one. You have to be really quick to see them. The one that I really remember is in the Beauty and the Beast scene. At the very end of Be Our Guest Lumierre (SP?) puts his hands on top of his head and his shadow on the table is a hidden Mickey. You have to look very quickly because it is only there for about ½ a second.
After Philharmagic we walked down the ramp by the castle and Cinderellabration was going on. I commented to Abby that those dresses must be hot and she said that the CMs that are in the show would not want to do anything else. Seems Cinderellabration is the most coveted role for the CM actors and actresses this year. I understand why. We ended the tour at the area that is just before the entrance into Adventureland. I believe it is a smoking area but they had it roped off for us. We took a group picture and Abby told us that Mickey had spent a special friend to thank us for taking our tour. It was Donald!!! He presented each of us with mouse ears that had our names on them and then posed for individual photos and a group photo. There were people outside the roped off area that were waiting to see him but the didnt get to because he left as soon as he was finished. It made me feel really special. It was a great tour and I will do it again with Lauren in the future. But only if it is in a cooler month because it was already hot!
After the tour I took my sweat time strolling back up main street to leave the park. I thought about staying and having the family join me later but I didnt think that was fair to them. Sigh, some times it sucks to have a conscience. Since I had nabbed such a good parking spot I decided to leave the car where it was because we were coming back later for our Crystal Palace PS. I walked to the bus stop and I was the only one that was leaving. It took a while for a bus to come to the CBR stop. I probably waited 20 minutes and then I think the driver just took pity on me because his bus didnt say CBR until he made the turn toward me. I made it back to CBR to find Mimi alone in the room resting. The girls were swimming. This was supposed to be the day that we rented boats. Lauren is 5 even (correct height) but is only 11 so she cant drive a boat. Maddie is 12 (correct age) but is only 46 so she couldnt drive the boat. While I was gone the girls decided that it would be way uncool for them to have to ride with me and Mime driving so they settled on paddleboats. ROFL..the joke was on them!! Have you ever rented a paddleboat? They are hard work! Mimi told them she would go with them but they had to do the work. Mimi said they didnt make it very far before they turned around but it took them the full 30 rental minutes to make it to the bridge and back. Mimi wasnt tired. Why? Because she was true to her word and didnt do any of the peddling. Go Mimi!!
They had a late breakfast and I had not eaten anything yet. I didnt want to have to make it until 3:00 without eating so I walked to the food court to get a snack. Oh yeah, my card got deactivated again so I had to get a new one while I was there.
Ill stop here because I still have the rest of our MK day and MK EMH to cover.
Day 5, Part II - The Elusive Eeyore and Goofy
