Rajah
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 17, 1999
Once again we had a relatively sleepless night because the room didn't cool down until 2am. But this time it was cold enough by 5am that I got up and turned it back up (I don't think we've had a trip yet where we didn't have fights with the A/C). But this time we slept better than we had the night before because of the exhausting day yesterday.
This morning the alarm was set for 9:10...but it didn't go off. It usually helps once you set the alarm to actually turn it on
Our internal alarms went off though so that we snoozed until 9:45 when Michael got up -- for once, he was up before I was. I dozed while he finished getting ready, then I dragged myself out of bed and went through my morning routine. By the time we were ready to leave the room, it was 10:40.
Our first stop this morning was down at the Disney guest relations once more. This trip was the AP/No AP trip. We both wanted annual passes, but annual passes would be about $100 more expensive per person than just getting the park hoppers. Not to mention that with annual passes we were likely to return at least once more than we should and probably two or three times more in the next 365 days. When we were first starting out and happy in our apartment (and more willing to put charges on credit cards), taking three or four trips in a year's time was okay. But this time, we were trying to save up for a house *and* we were on the waiting list for two purebred Siberian cats (supposedly hypoallergenic for my allergies/asthma). Purebred = expensive. So the question was: get the APs and end up spending less in the long run if we do indeed return twice more, or get regular park hoppers and thus examine the situation more closely any time we feel like going back out to Disneyworld. Yesterday, we just used the remaining days on our previous park hoppers. That gave us a day at Disneyworld to think about it. But time was up, it was time to decide: APs, or park hoppers. When we left the Disney guest services counter, we had two bright and shiny new 5-day park hoppers in our pockets.
Pass dilemma solved (to our good if not to our satisfaction since we both *really* wanted APs), we made our way down to the Coral Cafe for breakfast. We were very thrilled last March when we found out that unlike most of the Disney restaurants, Coral Cafe served breakfast until at least 11am every morning. Or at least that's what I recalled from the trip report from March. We weren't disappointed: they were able to seat us right away with no PS and the breakfast buffet was still in full swing.
We both ordered the buffet, me with orange juice and hot tea to try to help my still-sore throat, Michael with orange juice and coffee, and made our way up to the counter. Eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast ham, wonderful hash browns, pancakes, and waffles awaited us, and we can't forget the highlight of the breakfast: omelets made to order. Ham, mushroom, and cheese for me. Everything for Michael. As we returned to our table, walking past the Japanese breakfast setup (including what looked like sushi?? Sushi for breakfast??) I grinned and asked Michael if he wanted anything from there. He moved away very quickly
After we finished breakfast (using our Disney Club discount -- one of the few places I was actually prepared this trip), we returned to the room. Originally I had planned to stop at the Disney counter, eat breakfast, then go straight out to MGM instead of backtracking. But Michael needed some allergy medicine, I left my kleenex back up in the room, and I had planned to give Randall aka SideShowBob a call at his "lemonade stand" while we were in town. So, Michael picking on me the entire way about how we could have left all our park stuff in the room, we returned to the room and got our various items.
I gave Randall a call, or rather Randall's answering machine. Since it picked up immediately, I knew he must be there and on the phone, so I left him a message and told him what room we were in then we settled back to wait for a few minutes. While Michael stretched out on the bed for a brief nap once again, I as usual pulled out the camera and took some posed pictures I'd intended to get this trip.
The first was a joke for my boss back at the office. I was on this trip with his approval, but the timing of the trip meant I would miss the annual Safety Day festivities. With each Safety Day, they give out various things. Last year was a t-shirt. This year was a small tote-bag and a pair of safety glasses. Before I left, my boss said (teasingly) he wanted proof that I'd worn the glasses while at Disneyworld... he didn't say I had to wear them all the time, just proof that I wore them. So while we had a few minutes, I stepped out on the balcony where I could have the backdrop of the Swan and Boardwalk (indisputably Disney icons), put on the safety goggles that I brought specifically for this picture, and snapped a picture.
The second set of pictures was for a friend, Karen, on the DIS boards. She was doing a project called Flat Stanley in which a paper doll is sent out to friends around the country (or world if you're lucky enough to have friends around the world) and they take Stanley around to see some of the sights of their hometown. Since he was our "guest" for the time we were at Disneyworld, we brought him with us. He couldn't go to any of the parks with us because it was too windy, so he made full use of the amenities in the room: sleeping (Stanley under the covers), sitting back in the chairs, playing on the decorative lamps, and being introduced to coffee.
By the time I finished snapping pictures (and got a couple more of our view from the balcony), the phone rang. Sure enough, it was Randall. And he was available to come meet us in the Dolphin lobby for a few minutes -- his "Lemonade Stand" was obviously very close-by. So we agreed to meet in the lobby in about 10 minutes.
Once more, we gathered up our park paraphernalia (again forgetting the chest brace for the video camera) and headed downstairs. Michael and I briefly parted ways at Daisy's Garden because it turned out that even though I'd put Michael's allergy medicine out to be packed we somehow had gotten off without it. This is becoming a tradition: every time we stay at the Dolphin, Michael buys a pack of Sudafed.
While he was making his purchase, I continued out into the lobby to meet up with Randall. I had my Tigger Safari hat on so that he could recognize me, though we both figured we'd recognize the other from pictures without too much trouble. Our timing was good because as I stepped into the lobby from the west side and started looking around, Randall approached from almost opposite and spotted me.
Randall and I visited for a couple of minutes before Michael caught up with us. We had enough time after that for Michael to snap a quick picture to prove that Rajah had indeed met SideShowBob, and then we parted ways. Next time we come up there, I hope we have enough time to spend more time visiting, but it was nice to meet Randall in any case. Even if only for a couple of minutes
Meeting over, Michael and I hiked out to the boat dock where we debated: wait for a boat to MGM or walk. Or, rather, I debated... the second I mentioned the options to Michael he said BOAT! So we got in line and didn't have long to wait before a boat came to take us to MGM. The boat ride was, as always, very pleasant and relaxing. We had a boat driver that knew quite a bit of Disney trivia, especially connected to MGM, trivia which he shared with the couple sitting in front of us (most of the trivia we already knew). The weather was very nice, especially out on the water.
When we arrived at MGM, we arrived in a good mood -- both of us for once! That comment comes from our history with MGM -- MGM is definitely my least favorite park because I've almost never had a really good day there. If something bad is going to happen on a trip, it'll happen to me at MGM. And the one trip that didn't happen (that is, I had a good day), Michael was very sick and miserable all day. I think this was the first time we entered MGM in a good mood and both had a good time.
Anyway, as we walked up, we noticed a few new things (or details we hadn't noticed before) like the "filmstrip" of flowers to one side of the walkway. And the new Mickey 100 Years of Magic topiary, complete with a film roll of more flowers.
Security was once again very quick and easy and we were through the gates in just a couple minutes' time. First stop: locker. Only the little store in which we used to get locker keys was closed. A note on the door said to get locker keys at the information booth (it had another name for it but I'm blanking on that name) and so we returned to the center of the entrance plaza to get our key. *Then* it was on to a locker. We stuffed half our stuff into the locker, then started up Hollywood Blvd toward that giant hat.
I don't know...part of me really likes that hat. It is a neat new icon and looks very snazzy. But I do miss looking down Hollywood Blvd and seeing the Chinese Theater at the end of the street. It just looks wrong to see something besides either a Christmas Tree or a theater. Plus, I miss the nice big planter that the hat has now replaced. But, the hat is neat.
Half-way down the street, Michael remembered that he had forgotten something in the locker -- I think he'd forgotten to use the sunblock. Whatever the case, he turned around and returned to the locker briefly while I continued on to the hat, stopping every few feet to get pictures of course.
Inside the hat (or rather underneath) I found the first of the trivia kiosks that we'd seen. I know more were somewhere in the Magic Kingdom and at Epcot, but we hadn't found those (yet). All the kiosks were full already, so I stood back and watched for a moment or two before moving on to browse the store and get some more pictures. A few minutes later, I noticed a few kiosks open so stepped up to one. That was where Michael found me three questions into the trivia game.
The Kiosk was really fun for someone who likes Disney trivia and computer animation. Their interface was really nice and very cute when you got a question right. And I'll leave a little hint for some fun: if you have one of those light-up 100 Years of Magic interactive Magical Moments pins, wear it while at the kiosks. I won't say any more -- it's nothing big with them, but still neat to me.
When we finished with the kiosk (staying until we got every trivia answer right), we stepped back out onto the street. Michael and I both knew what we wanted to do: see the new One Man's Dream exhibit. Only Michael decided to have a little fun with me. MGM is by far and away the park I know the least. I can get us to Rock 'n Roller Coaster, Fantasmic, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones, and the Animation Studio, and that's about it. I know where Hollywood and Vine is, and where to find the Brown Derby, but other than that I'm likely to get lost. And just about the only restrooms I can find without a map are at the front entrance (or at least the only ones I could find before this visit -- I can add 4 more to my list now).
Well, I knew roughly where the One Man's Dream exhibit was supposed to be, but Michael wouldn't let me have the map to find out the most direct way of getting there. He said I should know this park better than that so lead on. So lead on I did -- right past the ABC Commissary to New York Street, past the entrance to the Backlot Tour, and finally to the other attraction we wanted to see: Who Wants to be a Millionaire Play It.
If you're familiar with the park map at MGM, you probably know that there was a MUCH more direct way of getting to One Man's Dream from where we were... walk behind the Chinese Theater, past Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and you're there One minute walk verses the five minute walk we took. Oh well, we did get to see Stromboli out greeting guests along with Gideon and J. Worthington Foulfellow. Stromboli is the "evil" puppet master from Pinocchio, and this was the first time I've ever seen him in the parks signing autographs.
When we finally reached Who Wants to be a Millionaire Play It, we were greeted by the CM outside saying if we wanted to join in on this show to hurry, the show started in one minute. WWTBAM
I with no wait? We'll take that! So in we ran and approached the soundstage. I must say it was a very eerie feeling to me -- it really did feel like we were walking onto the stage of Who Wants to be a Millionaire! The Stage Manager was already out on stage and joking with the guests as we walked up, and I felt a little awkward as we looked around for where to sit. But another CM caught our attention just to our right and directed us up into the proper seats.
What a great attraction! We had so much fun with this attraction, it's now one of my favorites! They start off (after introductions and the opening movies) with the Fastest Fingers question which everyone in the audience (who wanted to anyway) answered. Michael, not one interested in being in the spotlight, purposely waited a few seconds between the question and when he selected an answer even though he probably could have gotten at least in the top 10 if he'd wanted to (he's good at trivia, though he would disagree).
The question was something along the lines of "put these capital cities in geographical order from east to west starting on the East Coast of the US" and it listed three international capitals and one US capital. I got the order right, but was definitely not the fastest. The first person to make it into the hotseat was a boy around 12 years old. When asked if he knew the question or just guessed, he fessed up that he'd just guessed, which got everyone to chuckle. He definitely didn't look too comfortable in the hot seat, but he did very well -- made it to the 1000 point question (which meant he got to keep the 4 pins plus the hat) before he missed a question.
During the time that the kid was being asked questions, the audience was able to answer as well and whoever answered the questions correctly the fastest and thus built up the most points got to come down when the kid was taken off-stage to claim his prizes. The next guy to go up was a bit older, I'd guess in his mid-late thirties, and the questions were distinctly harder. Apparently they have different levels of questions appropriate for whatever age group the person in the hot seat belongs to, which I thought was a very nice touch.
That guy also made it to 1000 before missing a question, so he too went away with the hat and four pins. The third and final person to go down to the hot-seat though did an excellent job! He made it all the way to 64000 before we ran out of time, and he was asked to stay for the next show to continue his run. He was cool, calm, and collected on stage and had quite a sense of humor -- I hope he was able to go all the way I was tempted to circle right back around and see if we could get in the next showing to see what happened to him, but we didn't have time.
I was actually somewhat surprised at how much Michael enjoyed that attraction. He's not a big fan of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and he only entered the attraction because it was new and I really wanted to see it, but when we left he enjoyed it as much if not more than I did. We've got a new favorite at MGM (though it doesn't displace our old favorite Rock 'n Roller Coaster!). Another neat thing from the show was every time someone got a question right, my 100 Years of Magic Magical Moments Pin lit up and went crazy. I love those pins... you never know when they'll be activated
Oh, and one other thing from that attraction that was really cute was the little girl, probably about 4 or 5, who was trying very carefully to step on the solid parts of the floor as she and her family were being seated. Walking on the see-through floor was apparently very disconcerting to her, and the stage manager assured her that the floor was solid. Cute kid.
Our next stop was right next door at One Man's Dream, where we were greeted by another very friendly CM who told me to watch my pin as we entered. Sure enough, the pin started going crazy as we passed through the doorway and stepped into Walt's Realm.
This was another fantastically done attraction. I've seen the setup they have (had?? I'm not sure it's still there) at Disneyland in the lobby of Great Moment's with Mister Lincoln where they had two different offices set up like Walt's old offices, so I knew somewhat what to expect at this attraction, but it still was really really neat. They had all sorts of Disney memorabilia and important objects from Walt's life, such as the desk he sat at in elementary school, the animator's desk on which Steamboat Willie was drawn, and the multi-plane camera (which I think was one of the NEATEST things I've ever seen -- they have a mirror set up on top to show the guests what the camera sees as the camera sees it, and it was SOOOOOO cool!!).
They also had models of everything ranging from Main Street at Disneyland to Sleeping Beauty's Castle, Cinderella's Castle, several main elements of each of the major parks, and very, very detailed models from Tokyo Disneysea and Disney's California Adventure. They also had a model of Peter Pan's Flight, apparently the original model used as a concept design which wasn't too detailed but at the same time was really neat.
Don't forget the TV and film memorabilia like one of the Mouskateer's costumes (Karen's I think), Zorro's costume (which was REALLY neat for me as much as I LOVE Zorro), costume elements from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and a costume from Mary Poppins. And all throughout you had little snippits of conversations with Walt from the past, mostly from the Disneyland/Wonderful World of Disney/etc shows Walt hosted for a while.
The attraction was set up into I think three main rooms, and I was able to take pictures throughout the first room before a CM (the same one who greeted us at the entrance as they cycled around every 15 minutes or so) caught me and said no no Well, they didn't have any signs or anything that said no pictures, so there 
I think this was actually one of my favorite things to see from the trip, and Michael really enjoyed it too. The movie at the end was very nice, though having just watched the biography of Walt Disney that was shown on ABC just a few weeks earlier, there wasn't much new information in it. Overall, we both gave this attraction two thumbs way up and very highly recommend it to people who like Museums.
After our run through the museum (which I think took us almost 45 minutes but I may be over-estimating that -- we really took our time in that exhibit) we pretty much just wandered around wondering what to do next. We didn't have enough time to do Rock 'n Roller Coaster at that point, and I wasn't feeling all that hot anyway. Neither of us was in the mood for Voyage of the Little Mermaid or Muppets 3-D, two past favorites. I don't know why we didn't try going through the Animation Tour because that's usually a favorite and we came out right next to the entrance. Michael wanted to do Star Tours but I wasn't up to it (too much of a stomach ache for some reason). Neither of us was in the mood for Indiana Jones or the Great Movie Ride, and the next showing of Beauty and the Beast was still a while off. Hunchback was closed for the day.
So we ended up just wandering for a bit. We stopped to say hi to Kida from Atlantis (she signed her autograph in Atlantean and was a really friendly character), and to Meg from Hercules (who was *very* much in character in the rude "I don't want to be here" set. Very good character acting there, but if I hadn't know that was how the character was supposed to be, I might have been put off a bit). We glanced around at the other characters around but all were pretty "normal" and had lines -- Meg and Kida were a little separated from the rest of the group and not many people knew who Kida was despite her movie having just come out recently.
We stopped to take pictures of the Sorcerer Mickey and broomstick topiaries that were set up near the Brown Derby, and Michael checked out the menu there. When I saw what he was doing, I immediately put up my hands in a warding gesture... I don't think I've ever been as sick at Disneyworld as I was after eating at the Brown Derby. I'm not sure what they put on their steaks that made me so sick, but "once bitten, twice shy" and I was twice "bitten" there. If Michael ever wants to eat there, he'll get to do it on his own
So we wandered around past the bronze busts and along the lake's edge. I was looking for something to drink to cool me off, as well as looking to see if we could find Becky. I didn't know if she was working today but knew her primary days off were Monday and Tuesday and this was Thursday (I found out later in the trip that she had Thursday off after all... oh well, I should have tried reaching her when I reached Randall but I thought she'd be working). I was also keeping my eyes open for Uncle Kyle from the DIS boards, but I never saw him either.
As we made our way around the lake, Michael found an iced coffee that he wanted, and I eventually ended up with a frozen coke -- kinda like the coke icees. That hit the spot for both of us, though I still really needed a power aide. As we sipped at our frozen drinks, a show started behind us. Two of the streetmosphere people were setting up for a show -- some kind of spelling bee. As usual, I stayed to watch for a couple of minutes while Michael disappeared around the corner.
For some reason, these particular streetmosphere characters tend to get on my nerves rather than entertain me, so I only watched for a moment or two before joining Michael and we ended up wandering up and down through the shops. We didn't end up actually getting anything, but it was a way to kill time until Beauty and the Beast opened up.
We finally ended up heading to Beauty and the Beast about 20 minutes early. I got in line across the street for a turkey leg, hoping that maybe the protein would help me feel better. While I stood in line, I gave Michael my ticket to go check on fastpasses for Rock 'n Roller. The idea was that we'd get passes now that hopefully would be available after the parade. But when Michael got there, he found that the fastpass return time was only 20 minutes behind the current time, and it was a 20 minute stand-by wait. That would put the entire fastpass window in our wait and viewing time of the parade. So I called him back, agreed he should wait, grabbed my turkey leg, and asked him to purchase a couple of poweraids.
We then met back up and found our seats in the Beauty and the Beast seating area. As we walked past the CMs, I was just waiting for one of them to say no food in the auditorium (that would have been par for the course of an MGM day), but none of them stopped us so we went right in. Michael had to run back out to get some silverware and napkins since I forgot to grab those, but he returned just a moment later and we were able to munch and relax for a few minutes. We only ate about 1/3 of the turkey leg, but I think the protein helped a little.
As for the show... this is one show that I'd only seen once before and hated that one time. Two years ago when I saw it, it was horrible. The singing and acting were okay, but if you were to take every major scene in Beauty and the Beast, write it on a slip of paper, throw those papers into a hat and shuffle them up, then dump the hat out and pick a scene at random, you'd pretty much get what the old version of Beauty and the Beast was. I *hated* it. *Don't* re-arrange the order of scenes in my shows! So in all our previous visits, I'd always steered Michael away from Beauty and the Beast.
But just recently, they re-did the show and I'd heard since it's reopening that it was much better. So I was willing to give it another try. Sure enough, it was much better than it had been before. Now it was actually in order, even though the scenes themselves were almost identical. It's a show actually worth seeing now . But it's still not as refined and well done as the Hunchback show IMHO.
After Beauty and the Beast we considered going to get Rock 'n Roller fastpasses, but the time was getting late enough that we decided it would be better to go check the parade route instead. Or, rather, we did at Michael's insistence... I was going to just wander and shop for a bit but Michael called the crowds better than I did this day. It's a good thing we did, too, because the crowds were already starting to line up on Hollywood Blvd, and since this was probably *the* new parade that Michael and I both really wanted to see this trip, we wanted a place on the curb.
With a little searching, we found a place next to and slightly in front of a party on a bench. They had one or two more people coming, but that was it, so there was enough room for us on the curb. Once again, I asked Michael if he'd operate the video, and once again got a "no way" look. So over the next 30+ minutes, I experimented with ways to prop up the camera on the ground so it would be pointing toward the oncoming parade. I also made sure to record a minute of the pre-show entertainment on the tape since Michael just now told me that the first and last minutes of a tape (or approximately a minute) were impossible to digitize. (*Now* he tells me? After I'd recorded two parades and such at the beginning?)
And the pre-show entertainment... I'm not too sure what to make of it. The show itself irritated me, but the ending was absolutely hilarious. This show consisted of three women... one who was a Hollywood moviestar, one who was an old friend of the moviestar in her pre-moviestar days, and one who was a "stranger". The two "old friends" were getting into an argument so decided not to talk to each other again. This brought in the third lady, who acted as go-between for the two women. You know the old scheme: tell so and so that I say this. She runs to so-and-so and says that. (Note, *that*, not this, and that was always an insult of some sort). Well, it turns out "that" was never the "this" she was told to deliver, and when the moviestar went to confront her old friend directly, the third woman slipped into the audience to hide. We heard this scream of "I NEVER SAID THAT!!!" followed by more "I never said that!" comments from each of the two and they ended up making up. So they called the third woman out and showed they were friends again and they only had one thing to say to the third woman... RUN! Then they proceeded to chase woman3 down the street.
I don't really find insults funny most of the time, so the show itself was just irritating to me, but I *loved* that ending. Boy did woman3 get what she deserved, and I do have to say they did a very good job of staying in character again.
Finally, though, it was time for the parade to begin and Stone Granite came out into the street to get people excited and start a bit of a pep rally. This parade consists of a lot of Disney characters going down the street in cars designed specifically for them, like an old "parade of heroes" type thing. And to keep with that theme, they have announcers set up in various places around the parade route and the announcers tell things about each of the cars or characters. We happened to be sitting pretty much on the invisible line he used to announce a car, so about the time a car came into our proximity, he'd announce it.
As expected, we really enjoyed this parade. The funniest point was a confrontation between Darth Vader and Stone Granite, but I won't say what happened so maybe I can keep it a surprise for others if it happens again The only problem with the parade wasn't with the parade, but with my camera, which appeared to lock up right as the Atlantis car came by. I got it un-locked, but too late to get any pictures of Milo and Kida. 
After the parade, we were burning up. It was very hot sitting in the direct sun for 30+ minutes then another 30 or so watching the parade -- and this was in October. I fear what it would be like in August. Once again, we were stuck with what to do next. I still wasn't feeling that great, but I agreed to go check on Rock 'n Roller. So we went to the lockers and dropped off our stuff then hiked back around to Rock 'n Roller Coaster where we grabbed a couple of fastpasses. We hoped that after the fastpass and some time to drink more poweraid that I'd feel well enough to ride, so while we were waiting we looked through a couple of stores and returned to the hat to get the rest of the Magical Moments interactive pins and try for the internet pins.
Only there were no more internet pins... they were out. But the CM said he could sign our receipt to indicate that we didn't get our pins, and that if we kept our certificate and receipt and tried again later, we might have better luck. Since we've got plans to return in April, that worked as a solution. But then of course we had to go *back* to the locker once more because we now had pins we didn't want to take on the coaster. So more walking, then more browsing in shops, before we finally ended up just sitting around in the Rock 'n Roller Coaster courtyard.
There, I made a very big mistake. Well, okay, not *too* big, but a big one for me. As we sat for about 15 minutes waiting until our fastpass return times, I watched Tower of Terror. And watched. And watched. And grew anxious. And more anxious. And more anxious. We weren't waiting for Tower of Terror, we were waiting for Rock 'n Roller, but by the time our 15 minutes were up I'd talked myself into quite a state of anxiety. Why watching Tower of Terror (a ride I don't think I'll ever go on because of my already-existing fear of elevators) made me nervous about riding Rock 'n Roller Coaster (my favorite ride in MGM) I don't really know, but it did. Plus, my stomach ache hadn't completely gone away and because of being so anxious, I was starting to get a tension headache.
I kept mentioning this to Michael, somewhat wanting to chicken out and sit this ride out this time, but no way would he let me. We figured one of two things would happen: I'd ride the ride and it would get rid of the headache and stomachache, or I'd ride the ride and it would make both worse. As half of my symptoms were as bad as they were due to anxiety, it was more likely the ride would relieve the symptoms... one of those facing your fears type of things I think. So, he didn't let me talk myself out of the ride and finally our time came up to ride.
"Don't watch the launch... don't watch the launch" I kept telling myself, because that was the part that was making me anxious. So what did I do? Watch the launch almost every time, of course . But finally it was our turn to ride and we ended up in a seat a few cars back. The only problem with the ride was that the camera system was down so we couldn't see our pictures. I kept telling Michael there weren't any flashes, but he kept claiming there were and I just wasn't seeing them. No there weren't!
Anyway, I enjoyed the ride just as much as I always do, *despite* my eternal anxiety over that stupid launch, and by the time we got off my head was spinning but my stomach was fine and my headache was gone. Amazing how much tension and anxiety you can release by screaming your head off in laughter
We spent the next 20 or 30 minutes in the gift shop looking for costume ideas for Michael for tonight's Not So Scary Halloween Party. I'd actually completely forgotten my agreement with Michael by this time: that is, that we stop in the gift shop and look for costume stuff for him. No wonder he wouldn't let me talk myself out of riding Rock 'n Roller
We did end up finding stuff for him for the party. First, a bandanna that he could tie up and wear as a hat, apparently like one of the artists in Aerosmith does (Steven Tyler?). Second, two new Rock 'n Roller shirts, both of which we had to ask a CM to look in the back before we found the right size. But it was a very friendly CM who helped us We also got a slider Rock 'n Roller pin, and Michael got to "play" with the guitar behind the counter. He actually was going to play a few chords on the guitar, but it was missing half its strings so he didn't.
After our bit of shopping, we hurried back to the locker and grabbed all our stuff, turned in the locker key, and hurried back out to the boat stop. We slowed only when we saw that a boat was indeed coming (so we wouldn't have to walk) and it was far enough away that it would arrive about the same time we would if we walked at our normal pace.
As we left, we for once both left with a smile. This was the first time I can remember that we've been in MGM without having what we've come to term an "MGM Day" -- that is, nothing major went wrong during the day. Sure, we walked around not wanting to do anything in the park, but that seemed to be our theme almost this entire trip. We weren't quite ready to really be back with such short notice I guess. Sure, I did end up feeling a little under the weather, but not bad enough to ruin the day like it's always been in the past. So we were both happy. We'd even spent about 45 minutes longer in the park than I intended because we still had to get back to the Dolphin and get into our costumes.
And so we did. We got back to the room around 6pm and I hurriedly pulled out all the pieces to my costume. The shirt went on first, then my makeup, which took about 15-20 minutes. Pants jacket and shorts next, and finally I pulled the towel off my hair and asked if Michael would spray my bangs back (I *HATE* using hairspray, but for this costume I'd do it). In the meantime, Michael changed into one of his new Rock 'n Roller shirts and figured out how to properly tie the bandanna, then otherwise sat around and rested until I was all ready to go. I transferred everything out of my belly bag into my camera vest instead so I'd have less to keep track of and wouldn't be carrying a belly-bag that was definitely out of character.
Then we were on our way. This was when we discovered the short-cut to the bus stop by leaving past Daisy's Garden, but even then we still had to run to make it to the bus on time because a Magic Kingdom bus pulled up just as we left the door.
We climbed onto the bus, ready for our party, and looked around to see what everyone else was wearing.
Only no one else was wearing a costume. Everyone was instead staring at me.
I felt so stupid.
What if I'd heard wrong? What if we were the only adults in costume? What if we got there and not only were we the only adults in costume, but they wouldn't let me in because of my costume? Michael looked normal enough he could get through anyway, but not me...not Tigger.
Self-consciously, we found a seat near the back of the bus and I was glad I had make-up on to cover my blushing. I like having fun with costumes, but I felt like I'd gone a little far this time.
It wasn't until we got to the next bus stop that I remembered we were the *second* stop on the way to the Magic Kingdom, and almost everyone on this bus was coming *from* the Magic Kingdom, not heading for the Halloween Party. So of course none of them would be in costume! As more people in costume climbed on the bus to take over spots vacated by those leaving, I began to feel more and more comfortable. No, no more adults were really in costume, but at least we were among kids who were in costume, and such adorable kids they were!
By the time we made it to our last stop, almost all the kids in the back half of the bus had congregated in the very back row and the sideways-facing row next to it. Parents were craning their necks to keep an eye on their little ones, but all those costumed kids together made such a cute picture, I couldn't resist. So, naturally, I took a picture
Finally, we finished picking everyone up and continued on to the park. Driving through the toll booth for Magic Kingdom parking, we passed under two giant pumpkins that had been set up for the evening. When we reached the Magic Kingdom itself, everything was dramatically lit and you could hear music playing even from the bus stop.
But as we approached the gates, we hit a dead stop. People after people after people after crowds. This was even closer to 7:30 than the 7:00 opening time. How long were we going to have to wait to get into the park?? As it turned out, less than two minutes. Apparently, a good portion of people crowding the walkways were standing in line to *get* tickets rather than to get through the gates. Weaving past them, we were able to get past the security guards doing bag checks (who did indeed check most of the pockets on my vest) and get in the gates with almost no wait at all.
As we passed through the gates, we started looking around at the decorations. The candles in the windows of the train station were flickering like flames wildly out of control. The 100 Years of Magic Mickey topiary just above the Mickey-head of flowers had fog flowing all around it. Orange Mickey pumpkins made of light were spinning in circles on the ground, and the theme song from the Haunted Mansion (Grim Grinning Ghosts) blared from every speaker. And we hadn't even made it past the lockers yet!
As we emerged into Town Square, our breath was taken away. The usual festive lighting all up and down Main Street was replaced with mood lighting: Orange, green, red and other fall colors were projected onto each building. Every once in a while, wisps of fog danced across the street. Giant candy-bags (decorations only at this point) were set up next to each tree in the center island. Characters were gathered all around Town Square as usual, but these were in Halloween costumes. The main one we actually took the time to look at (though not stand in line to get an autograph) was Donald, who was dressed as a pumpkin.
As we walked around Town Square, something rolling around on the street caught our eye: it was a moving fire hydrant! It would pull up to some random place and stop, just waiting for some unsuspecting person to approach before it would squirt them with water! Michael, observant as always, caught where they were controlling it from and weaved past to point out that control location to me -- I think he was right, but I won't say how
As we entered Main Street proper, Michael said to look back toward City Hall. There, in the early-evening light, was the dramatically lit City Hall with the moon just rising above its 'shoulder'. Ahh, perfect picture opportunity. All it needed was to be full and have a bat or witch pass in front of it.
While no bats or witches flew in front of the moon, we were confronted with two on Main Street itself. White lights were dancing from one end of Main Street to the other, gliding across the faces of each building. And if you looked closely, you could tell that one was a bat, and the other a witch. In addition to the dramatic lighting and dancing witches and bats, in the windows of each upstairs building were placed jack-o-lanterns. Balloons in the appropriate orange and black hung from every lamp post. And still that music from the Haunted Mansion filled the streets. I'd expected great atmosphere after seeing how Main Street was transformed for the Christmas Party last year, but this surpassed my expectations.
We worked our way down Main Street, me pausing every once in a while to snap a picture or point out something new to Michael, and finally found ourselves at the end. Michael complained of hunger so begged that we go eat first. I suggested Tomorrowland since I knew from the DIS that at least one eatery would be open there. But as we passed the lines for pictures, set up in the old queue area for Timekeeper, we decided we'd best get our picture taken first -- before my make-up smeared (which actually it didn't do all night). Michael also remembered correctly that during the Christmas party, they hadn't offered pictures throughout the night so if this followed that same pattern it was take the picture now or miss it entirely.
So we spent a good bit of time waiting in line to get our picture taken, but it was an enjoyable time as we watched the others in line and passing by (mostly kids in costume but we weren't the only adults in some form of costume). Every once in a while, I heard cries of "Look mommy, Tigger!!!" as kids passed by me. I guess my costume was a success if the kids could recognize me as Tigger so easily
The people in front of us were two groups who wanted a picture of just their three kids. One was a safari tour guide, I forget what the older girl was, but the youngest (looked like she was somewhere in her "terrible twos") was in a princess costume and DID NOT want to wear that crown. No amount of begging, pleading, ordering, or bribing worked to keep that girl's crown on while in line, but they were finally able to get her to wear it for the picture itself. Only, she wouldn't smile.
Mommy tried to get her to smile. Friend's mommy tried to get her to smile. CMs tried to get her to smile. Daddy tried to get her to smile from the other side of the queue. The photographer tried to get her to smile, and asked mom if she wanted the picture taken even if the girl didn't smile. Finally, when I caught her looking in roughly my direction, I bounced a little like Tigger. I don't know if that really did it or not, but at that moment the little one smiled and they were able to snap a picture really quick.
We got our picture done next, then struck out in search of someplace to eat. But Michael, observant as always, spotted bright orange shirts just inside the doorway of Mickey's Star Traders. We headed over that direction and sure enough, there was the MNSSHP merchandise we'd hoped to find. Pins, buttons, shirts, candy buckets, CDs and beanies. I grabbed a shirt (though what I'm going to do with it now I don't know... I look horrible in orange), two pins and two buttons. We'd missed getting the Christmas Party pin back in December (but ended up with one anyway thanks to a friend) so I wanted to make a point of finding the Halloween Party pins. If it hadn't been for Michael, I still would have come away from this party without the pins because I never saw the merchandise in Star Traders until Michael pointed it out.
As we were making our purchases, who should walk up but good old Joe, whom we'd met yesterday. He not only remembered but actually recognized me (despite makeup) from our conversation yesterday. I also drew a lot of attention from the CMs for my Safari Tigger costume. *All* of the CMs we encountered at the Party who commented on the costume not only recognized it as Tigger, but as either Safari Tigger, Animal Kingdom Tigger, or Hunter Tigger. And this was the only time during the evening that not only was my costume recognized, but so was Michael's: a girl working at Star Traders not only recognized Michael as a musician, not only a musician from Aerosmith, but as Steven Tyler (sp?) -- the lead singer of Aerosmith, who is what Michael was apparently dressing up as (I don't know Aerosmith that well, but apparently something about his costume was distinctive enough to be recognized) I was shocked, Michael was pleased.
Purchases complete, I stuffed everything except the T-shirt into my jacket pockets and handed Michael the bag to carry for the rest of the evening (don'tcha just love husband-pack-mules? ) and we continued on our quest for something to feed Michael. We finally ended up at Cosmic Ray's Cafe and in the line for the chicken things and cheese steaks. But Michael really wanted a hamburger and noticed that people were walking past with hamburgers. So we ducked around the corner to find another counter open, this one serving hamburgers.
Michael got in that line, while I returned to the cheese steak line, and we made our individual purchases. With my make-up, I didn't want to eat anything that required biting into something like a hamburger, so I got the cheese steak and a fork and ate that way.
Not only were people eating in Cosmic Rays, but where Sunny Eclipse is usually playing they had a DJ set up who was playing all sorts of Monster Music (and some just plain loud music with no tie whatsoever to Halloween). People were packed onto the floor in front of the stage -- tables had been moved so that the area could be used as a dance floor, and not only were there people there, but characters as well. I saw Goofy and Pluto, and I think also Chip and Dale all in costume. We started to sit in the room overlooking the band, but after about 30 seconds I decided that would be too loud and moved back into the main room with the ordering counters and fixin's bar -- all this before Michael was able to finish going through the line to get his food.
I'd intended to go get a picture of the characters and DJ out on the main floor, but unfortunately by the time we were done eating, the characters had moved back outside to go mingle with guests. So we just finished eating (me munching on the meat section of my cheese steak and the fries, Michael eating every bite of his hamburger and most of his fries) then ventured back out to Tomorrowland and over to the ride we'd skipped yesterday.
The line for Space Mountain was practically non-existent. It was a walk-on up until we reached the split, and we almost didn't stop moving from there until we were on the ride, too. We took the left side, which in the past has been our favorite. My hat went into the bag with the T-shirt so I wouldn't lose it, and otherwise we just hung on tight for our ride through space.
What a ride! I always remember Space Mountain being tamer and less enjoyable than it is when I actually ride it. Even after having just done Rock 'n Roller earlier in the day, this was still quite a rush and we came off laughing. Michael, however, was a little disconcerted because he was sitting in the very back seat of the last car -- which bounced off the tracks a time or so!
When we came off of Space Mountain, we paused for a quick run to the restroom. While I disappeared around the corner, Michael waited outside to watch the DJ set up on a stage nearby. When I returned, he commented that I'd been turning kids heads all the way as I disappeared, yet no one was paying any attention to him: exactly as he liked it. So we started calling him the CM that stays with the characters. You know, one of those "line forms here" CMs Michael jokingly wondered what they'd do if he came to the Halloween party dressed up as a cast member.
Finished in Tomorrowland, we worked our way to Fantasyland. This was where we found our first trick or treat station. Would you believe Michael didn't know what you were supposed to do at them? Trick or treat of course! So we stayed by the first station we saw (not far from the entrance to the Speedway as I recall) and watched as the CM dug into what looked like one of the Astro Orbiter cars FULL of candy and handed it out to all the little kids in line.
Since there was a line, we opted not to try for any candy at this station. Furthermore, I didn't feel out of place at all being an adult in costume, but I did feel kinda silly going up and asking for candy when the only others in line were kids and their parents.
On we continued, this time pausing at the Mad Tea Party. In the aisle where frequently can be found characters from Alice in Wonderland was another mostly-hidden trick or treat station. This one wasn't as well marked as the previous one, nor was it as well lit, which meant it was almost deserted. There were three people (I believe CMs) dressed up as playing cards (all hearts) who were visiting with a couple of guests on one side of the candy bucket, so we approached from the other side.
Let me tell you, there was a LOT of candy there!! For this stop they'd taken a cup like those on the Mad Tea Party and it looked like it was completely full of candy! Maybe they had a shelf two inches down so what looked like a full cup of candy wasn't really, but it sure looked full! Since Michael didn't know what you're supposed to do at these trick or treat stations and here was one without a line, I walked up and showed him and came away with a chocolate of some sort -- I forget what I actually got, I think it was a mini-milky-way but I'm not sure. Michael followed my lead (since all I did was reach in and get a piece -- the CMs were still visiting with the other guests) and came away with a miniature of one of his favorite candy bars (again, I forget what, just that it involved chocolate).
We continued into Fantasyland, this time taking the back walkway so that we went past Ariel's Grotto. I picked up a bottle of water at Skuttle's Landing, then we stood around and watched what was going on in the seating area for Skuttle's. They had face painting, a guy doing balloon characters, another guy playing a small guitar-like instrument (may even have been an actual guitar, I didn't look close enough), and little kids were dancing to the music.
They'd roped off the queue area for Ariel's Grotto, though. That's because Ursula had taken over -- there was a giant Ursula balloon set up in the water play area, with fog drifting all over. You couldn't get very close, but it still looked really neat.
After watching the face painters and kids dancing for a few minutes, we continued on through Fantasyland. As expected, most of the rides in Fantasyland had relatively long lines. None of them had a really long wait but compared to everything else at the party they had long ones. We just walked past all of the attractions in Fantasyland and headed for the Haunted Mansion, pausing here and there to take in some of the other Halloween decorations (like the giant blow-up dalmation puppy that was looking into a pond next to the old Skyway ride).
When we arrived at the Haunted Mansion, we were in for a bit of a treat. Just a little. The Mansion was decked out in its full glory... brilliant mood lighting was reflecting off of every surface of the building, moreso than I remember ever seeing before. More fog filled the air and drifted down into the streets and queue. And the wait time was posted as 13 minutes. I'm surprised I had to explain to Michael that the 13 minute wait time was a joke. Real wait times very rarely say anything other than a multiple of 5: 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 35 minutes, etc. Off-numbered wait times are usually indicative of very little wait and are posted as a mood-setter. 13 minutes... Haunted Mansion... 13 is an "unlucky number".
As it was, there was next to no wait. But, then again, we walked up just in time to see them closing the doors for the previous batch of guests so who knows how many people were waiting before we walked up? I was actually really surprised that the Haunted Mansion wasn't more popular than it was tonight. I'd expected to encounter long waits at any attractions that had a Halloween theme: Haunted Mansion, Snow White's Scary Adventures... But there wasn't much of a wait at either.
Our ride through the Haunted Mansion was pretty much as usual. Though I pulled another one on Michael. He and I both know where the doors are that open into the stretching room. As soon as we got into the room, though, I headed straight for the wall that opens to let you out. Michael gave me a puzzled look and asked how I knew which wall it was. I just grinned. By the time everyone else had filed into the room, he had figured it out though.
After boarding our Doom Buggies and starting through the ride, I don't know why but I got it into my head that I MUST change the batteries in my camera RIGHT THEN. In the dark. On a ride. When I couldn't see which holes were supposed to have the + side of the battery up and which were supposed to have the - side up. So there I was with a pocket full of dead batteries and the camera open with new batteries in place but me afraid to close the lid just in case I had the batteries backwards. Every time we passed past anything that produced light, I tried to see if I had the batteries in right. Needless to say, I didn't really pay much attention to the ride this time
When we got off (I determined at the exit that I did indeed have the batteries in right), we only had a few minutes to get to the hub area to watch the fireworks. So we hurried through the crowds and finally found our spot at the hub pretty much centered on Main Street. Michael kinda wanted to watch the fireworks from farther back, but true to character didn't say anything until *after* the fireworks Besides, there's a *reason* for watching these party fireworks from the hub.
As we stood to wait for the fireworks to begin, I reached to get a drink of my water...
...only it wasn't there. Quick mental backtracking put me in the queue for the Haunted Mansion when I last saw the drink. Which meant I'd probably left it on the Doombuggy. Michael said not to worry about it...after all, it was a $2.50 bottle of water and a $3-$5 drink strap that I could easily replace. The only problem was that the drink strap was one I believe we got on our honeymoon (now I honestly don't remember if it was on our honeymoon or my first trip to WDW the year before, but at the time I was sure it was the honeymoon). So even though I could get an identical drink strap in Animal Kingdom tomorrow, I really wanted *that* one back for sentimental reasons. So Michael agreed that after the fireworks we could go back to the Haunted Mansion JUST on the off chance that they found it.
We didn't have long to wait before the castle went dark to signal the start of the fireworks. Just as during Christmas, they started out with the non-Tinkerbell version of the introduction: the one where your dreams soar high above Cinderella's Castle to light Fantasy in the Sky instead of Tinkerbell lighting it. And the fireworks, just as during the Christmas show, continued through the usual Fantasy in the Sky up until the false-ending (just before the real grand finale in the normal show).
Then someone appeared up in the balcony from which Tinkerbell usually flies. It was a witch of some sort. Neither Michael nor I could get a good enough look to tell *which* witch it was if it was any specific witch from a Disney film, but it was most definitely a witch And following the witch's interruption was what I was waiting for and the reason for watching the fireworks from the hub: all around the hub were fireworks in the round. I'd expected it (though didn't know for certain) but again Michael didn't expect it and it was neat to see the expressions of everyone else around -- especially those for which this was a complete surprise.
Following the fireworks, we returned to the Haunted Mansion. I walked up to the greeter CM and asked what I should do if I thought I left something in a Doom buggy. He said to go ahead and walk up the exit and go ask the CM on duty there if he'd seen it. Michael only went about half-way with me before sitting down to wait, so I continued on (feeling awkward but wanting my bottle and strap back) until I was able to catch the CM's attention. He hadn't seen it, but I figured he wouldn't since the person on duty in that room when we'd left was a female. He wanted me to go back out and have the greeter radio around to find out if anyone had seen it, but I thought that was very much a waste of time -- so I asked if there was somewhere that the other CM would have put the bottle if she'd found it in a buggy after we got out. He blinked, thought for a moment, then said yeah let me check. Sure enough, it was hanging on a hook somewhere around the corner (or on a table there or something). Since I knew it was an Animal Kingdom drink strap, he double-checked the strap then handed it over.
Drink strap retrieved, I felt much better. Especially after getting another drink of water -- why is it when I have the water I forget its there but when I lose it I'm thirsty all the time? Anyway, we debated what to do next and finally decided on a ride on Thunder Mountain. So we started around Frontierland, pausing for a moment to watch the riverboat launch from dock. It was packed to the GILLS, so much so that I don't think we would have enjoyed it all that much, but they did have a band on the first level at the front and we could hear them starting up the opening refrains of one of my favorite western ballads, "Ghost Riders in the Sky."
After watching that for a moment we continued on as far as the Diamond Horseshoe. The show in there had already started and we figured we'd watch it during the last show anyway, so we didn't try to go in. But with the restrooms right there Michael decided to go for a break. While I waited for him, I asked the CM out front about the Headless Horseman. I knew he ran sometime during the night before the parade, but wasn't sure how early. The CM out front was very friendly (and had her hat full of candy though had just given away the last piece before I walked up) but this was her first night on the party and she had no idea what I was talking about.
I smiled and said that's okay, I'd just ask around some more and when she offered to run in and get some more candy so I could have a piece, I agreed to wait for her. As I stood outside the Diamond Horseshoe waiting for the CM or Michael, a family approached me and asked about the Boo to You parade in Frontierland (those are the kids parades where they march through one land displaying their costumes. We didn't get to see any unfortunately). Apparently, they thought I was a CM, though what made my costume "CM-like" and others' not I don't know It wasn't the only time that night that I was mistaken for a CM (but we'll get to that later). Looking at the map and times listed, I was able to give my best guess to the answer to their question.
The CM came out before Michael did, so I selected a small bag of skittles and then turned to see Michael returning. I offered to get something for him, but if it didn't have chocolate in it he didn't want it and all she had were skittles and sunkist candies. So we continued on around toward Thunder Mountain. I stopped at a booth or two to see if they knew about the Headless Horseman, but none of them had any more of an idea than I did (actually, I probably had a better idea than they did -- they acted like they didn't even know he would be running) so I gave up for now and we finished getting to Thunder.
We thought about riding Splash, but neither of us had brought our ponchos and I didn't want to mess up my costume and neither of us wanted to walk around wet for the rest of the evening, so we only took one ride around on Thunder before returning to the parade route. Once we reached the parade route once more, I started looking for some CMs who would perhaps know the answer to my question.
There were two standing essentially in the middle of the road making sure people didn't go back-stage. This was a prime spot for parade CMs to be stationed, so I approached the two CMs who were both dressed essentially as clowns. One of the two was busy with guests already, but the other looked up and smiled as I approached. I said "two questions." He countered, "two answers". The first was which direction the parade would be running. The answer: from Main Street to Frontierland, opposite of the way I'd expected for some reason.
But before I could ask the second question, the second CM walked up and challenged me with something along the lines of, "Safari Tigger? You're in the wrong place, you should be over in Animal Kingdom. I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to return where you belong." I played along by countering that Animal Kingdom was closed so I came to check out the festivities and couldn't I just stay for the parade? This type of conversation continued for a couple of minutes -- the CMs trying to insist I was in the wrong place and at least had to stay in Adventureland, me trying to convince them to let me stay for the party. Finally, they gave in if I would bounce, but they wouldn't accept my first two bounces. Finally, CM2 backed away and said if I could bounce from there (where I was) to here (about 10 feet away) then I could stay. So bounce I did, ending up with a round of applause from the audience we had gathered (unbeknownst to me of course) and a yo-yo and candy from CM2.
About this point, as CM1 joined CM2 and myself about 10 feet away, a third CM approached. This one looked like a mechanic or perhaps someone else involved with the parade and he started to pull CM1 away to go somewhere else (I'm not sure where). CM1 said hang on just a moment and then, laughing, asked me what my second question was. At this point, CM3 got this look of shock and said "Oh my gosh, I thought she was a cast member, I'm so sorry!!" and acting horrified he retreated very quickly so that CM1 could answer my question.
My question was, of course, if the Headless Horseman would be riding before the parade. His answer, with a mischievous grin, was "He's been seen around these parts, yes..." So I thanked him and turned to hunt for Michael, who was "hiding" about 15 feet away (within earshot and watching with a grin but far enough away that *he* wouldn't be picked on). He was grinning ear to ear as much as I was and said that was great. My only two regrets of the episode were first that we both failed to catch the names of CM1 and CM2, and second that Michael (who I think was carrying the video camera at the time) didn't think of pulling it out to record the episode. Not that we had any warning that we'd have such a fun encounter of course, but it still would have been fun to have some video of those few minutes.
CM1 I think at this point went off wherever CM3 was trying to take him, but I'm not sure because Michael and I returned to walking the parade route in search of a place to sit. Already the rope was up and people were lining up along it. But we found a place right on the rope right next to the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon, the idea being that as soon as the parade was over we'd duck inside the Horseshoe to watch the show in there.
We then sat and waited and rested for several minutes, and I took that opportunity to try to get a challenging shot with the camera. Michael, being the observant person he is, had looked up in the sky about the time we reached the Haunted Mansion. Up over our heads were several beams from those high-powered spotlights. But instead of sweeping across the sky as they usually do, these beams were set up so that they intersected in a pattern above the Magic Kingdom. And oddly enough, the beams seemed to fizzle out almost immediately after crossing the other beams so that you had a really good pattern. I'd tried getting a picture at the Haunted Mansion, but I couldn't hold the camera steady enough to get a shot. So then I tried again at Big Thunder Mountain, this time bracing the camera on top of a trashcan and doing a longer exposure (8 seconds). That one came out, but there were more clouds in the sky by this point so I wanted another. The ground worked just as well as a brace for time exposures and I came away with another shot of the neat light patterns in the sky.
Also as we were waiting there, watching people go by and line up for the parade, CM3 from a few minutes earlier passed by and stopped long enough to apologize once again, repeating "I'm so sorry, I really thought you were a cast member." We laughed and said no problem. I don't mind being mistaken for a cast member -- in fact, I'm honored by it
About 30 minutes before the parade was supposed to start, some CMs started frantically trying to get people off the street and behind the rope. But they were having a difficult time, more difficult than usual, because some people knew the parade was supposed to start at 10:30 and it was only 10:00. Finally, some CMs in suits came walking quickly down the parade route and making SURE that everyone was off. Every once in a while a CM would peel off of the group and stand to watch the area and assist the area CMs in keeping the rope clear -- after all, a person with a radio and headset carrying a clipboard seems to carry more authority than a CM in the standard area costume.
It took them about 20 minutes to get the parade route completely clear, and then the CMs were given the word: DO NOT under any circumstances let people into the street. Close the walkways and keep everything clear.
This morning the alarm was set for 9:10...but it didn't go off. It usually helps once you set the alarm to actually turn it on
Our internal alarms went off though so that we snoozed until 9:45 when Michael got up -- for once, he was up before I was. I dozed while he finished getting ready, then I dragged myself out of bed and went through my morning routine. By the time we were ready to leave the room, it was 10:40.Our first stop this morning was down at the Disney guest relations once more. This trip was the AP/No AP trip. We both wanted annual passes, but annual passes would be about $100 more expensive per person than just getting the park hoppers. Not to mention that with annual passes we were likely to return at least once more than we should and probably two or three times more in the next 365 days. When we were first starting out and happy in our apartment (and more willing to put charges on credit cards), taking three or four trips in a year's time was okay. But this time, we were trying to save up for a house *and* we were on the waiting list for two purebred Siberian cats (supposedly hypoallergenic for my allergies/asthma). Purebred = expensive. So the question was: get the APs and end up spending less in the long run if we do indeed return twice more, or get regular park hoppers and thus examine the situation more closely any time we feel like going back out to Disneyworld. Yesterday, we just used the remaining days on our previous park hoppers. That gave us a day at Disneyworld to think about it. But time was up, it was time to decide: APs, or park hoppers. When we left the Disney guest services counter, we had two bright and shiny new 5-day park hoppers in our pockets.
Pass dilemma solved (to our good if not to our satisfaction since we both *really* wanted APs), we made our way down to the Coral Cafe for breakfast. We were very thrilled last March when we found out that unlike most of the Disney restaurants, Coral Cafe served breakfast until at least 11am every morning. Or at least that's what I recalled from the trip report from March. We weren't disappointed: they were able to seat us right away with no PS and the breakfast buffet was still in full swing.
We both ordered the buffet, me with orange juice and hot tea to try to help my still-sore throat, Michael with orange juice and coffee, and made our way up to the counter. Eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast ham, wonderful hash browns, pancakes, and waffles awaited us, and we can't forget the highlight of the breakfast: omelets made to order. Ham, mushroom, and cheese for me. Everything for Michael. As we returned to our table, walking past the Japanese breakfast setup (including what looked like sushi?? Sushi for breakfast??) I grinned and asked Michael if he wanted anything from there. He moved away very quickly
After we finished breakfast (using our Disney Club discount -- one of the few places I was actually prepared this trip), we returned to the room. Originally I had planned to stop at the Disney counter, eat breakfast, then go straight out to MGM instead of backtracking. But Michael needed some allergy medicine, I left my kleenex back up in the room, and I had planned to give Randall aka SideShowBob a call at his "lemonade stand" while we were in town. So, Michael picking on me the entire way about how we could have left all our park stuff in the room, we returned to the room and got our various items.
I gave Randall a call, or rather Randall's answering machine. Since it picked up immediately, I knew he must be there and on the phone, so I left him a message and told him what room we were in then we settled back to wait for a few minutes. While Michael stretched out on the bed for a brief nap once again, I as usual pulled out the camera and took some posed pictures I'd intended to get this trip.
The first was a joke for my boss back at the office. I was on this trip with his approval, but the timing of the trip meant I would miss the annual Safety Day festivities. With each Safety Day, they give out various things. Last year was a t-shirt. This year was a small tote-bag and a pair of safety glasses. Before I left, my boss said (teasingly) he wanted proof that I'd worn the glasses while at Disneyworld... he didn't say I had to wear them all the time, just proof that I wore them. So while we had a few minutes, I stepped out on the balcony where I could have the backdrop of the Swan and Boardwalk (indisputably Disney icons), put on the safety goggles that I brought specifically for this picture, and snapped a picture.
The second set of pictures was for a friend, Karen, on the DIS boards. She was doing a project called Flat Stanley in which a paper doll is sent out to friends around the country (or world if you're lucky enough to have friends around the world) and they take Stanley around to see some of the sights of their hometown. Since he was our "guest" for the time we were at Disneyworld, we brought him with us. He couldn't go to any of the parks with us because it was too windy, so he made full use of the amenities in the room: sleeping (Stanley under the covers), sitting back in the chairs, playing on the decorative lamps, and being introduced to coffee.
By the time I finished snapping pictures (and got a couple more of our view from the balcony), the phone rang. Sure enough, it was Randall. And he was available to come meet us in the Dolphin lobby for a few minutes -- his "Lemonade Stand" was obviously very close-by. So we agreed to meet in the lobby in about 10 minutes.
Once more, we gathered up our park paraphernalia (again forgetting the chest brace for the video camera) and headed downstairs. Michael and I briefly parted ways at Daisy's Garden because it turned out that even though I'd put Michael's allergy medicine out to be packed we somehow had gotten off without it. This is becoming a tradition: every time we stay at the Dolphin, Michael buys a pack of Sudafed.
While he was making his purchase, I continued out into the lobby to meet up with Randall. I had my Tigger Safari hat on so that he could recognize me, though we both figured we'd recognize the other from pictures without too much trouble. Our timing was good because as I stepped into the lobby from the west side and started looking around, Randall approached from almost opposite and spotted me.
Randall and I visited for a couple of minutes before Michael caught up with us. We had enough time after that for Michael to snap a quick picture to prove that Rajah had indeed met SideShowBob, and then we parted ways. Next time we come up there, I hope we have enough time to spend more time visiting, but it was nice to meet Randall in any case. Even if only for a couple of minutes
Meeting over, Michael and I hiked out to the boat dock where we debated: wait for a boat to MGM or walk. Or, rather, I debated... the second I mentioned the options to Michael he said BOAT! So we got in line and didn't have long to wait before a boat came to take us to MGM. The boat ride was, as always, very pleasant and relaxing. We had a boat driver that knew quite a bit of Disney trivia, especially connected to MGM, trivia which he shared with the couple sitting in front of us (most of the trivia we already knew). The weather was very nice, especially out on the water.
When we arrived at MGM, we arrived in a good mood -- both of us for once! That comment comes from our history with MGM -- MGM is definitely my least favorite park because I've almost never had a really good day there. If something bad is going to happen on a trip, it'll happen to me at MGM. And the one trip that didn't happen (that is, I had a good day), Michael was very sick and miserable all day. I think this was the first time we entered MGM in a good mood and both had a good time.
Anyway, as we walked up, we noticed a few new things (or details we hadn't noticed before) like the "filmstrip" of flowers to one side of the walkway. And the new Mickey 100 Years of Magic topiary, complete with a film roll of more flowers.
Security was once again very quick and easy and we were through the gates in just a couple minutes' time. First stop: locker. Only the little store in which we used to get locker keys was closed. A note on the door said to get locker keys at the information booth (it had another name for it but I'm blanking on that name) and so we returned to the center of the entrance plaza to get our key. *Then* it was on to a locker. We stuffed half our stuff into the locker, then started up Hollywood Blvd toward that giant hat.
I don't know...part of me really likes that hat. It is a neat new icon and looks very snazzy. But I do miss looking down Hollywood Blvd and seeing the Chinese Theater at the end of the street. It just looks wrong to see something besides either a Christmas Tree or a theater. Plus, I miss the nice big planter that the hat has now replaced. But, the hat is neat.
Half-way down the street, Michael remembered that he had forgotten something in the locker -- I think he'd forgotten to use the sunblock. Whatever the case, he turned around and returned to the locker briefly while I continued on to the hat, stopping every few feet to get pictures of course.
Inside the hat (or rather underneath) I found the first of the trivia kiosks that we'd seen. I know more were somewhere in the Magic Kingdom and at Epcot, but we hadn't found those (yet). All the kiosks were full already, so I stood back and watched for a moment or two before moving on to browse the store and get some more pictures. A few minutes later, I noticed a few kiosks open so stepped up to one. That was where Michael found me three questions into the trivia game.
The Kiosk was really fun for someone who likes Disney trivia and computer animation. Their interface was really nice and very cute when you got a question right. And I'll leave a little hint for some fun: if you have one of those light-up 100 Years of Magic interactive Magical Moments pins, wear it while at the kiosks. I won't say any more -- it's nothing big with them, but still neat to me.
When we finished with the kiosk (staying until we got every trivia answer right), we stepped back out onto the street. Michael and I both knew what we wanted to do: see the new One Man's Dream exhibit. Only Michael decided to have a little fun with me. MGM is by far and away the park I know the least. I can get us to Rock 'n Roller Coaster, Fantasmic, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones, and the Animation Studio, and that's about it. I know where Hollywood and Vine is, and where to find the Brown Derby, but other than that I'm likely to get lost. And just about the only restrooms I can find without a map are at the front entrance (or at least the only ones I could find before this visit -- I can add 4 more to my list now).
Well, I knew roughly where the One Man's Dream exhibit was supposed to be, but Michael wouldn't let me have the map to find out the most direct way of getting there. He said I should know this park better than that so lead on. So lead on I did -- right past the ABC Commissary to New York Street, past the entrance to the Backlot Tour, and finally to the other attraction we wanted to see: Who Wants to be a Millionaire Play It.
If you're familiar with the park map at MGM, you probably know that there was a MUCH more direct way of getting to One Man's Dream from where we were... walk behind the Chinese Theater, past Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and you're there
One minute walk verses the five minute walk we took. Oh well, we did get to see Stromboli out greeting guests along with Gideon and J. Worthington Foulfellow. Stromboli is the "evil" puppet master from Pinocchio, and this was the first time I've ever seen him in the parks signing autographs.When we finally reached Who Wants to be a Millionaire Play It, we were greeted by the CM outside saying if we wanted to join in on this show to hurry, the show started in one minute. WWTBAM
I with no wait? We'll take that! So in we ran and approached the soundstage. I must say it was a very eerie feeling to me -- it really did feel like we were walking onto the stage of Who Wants to be a Millionaire! The Stage Manager was already out on stage and joking with the guests as we walked up, and I felt a little awkward as we looked around for where to sit. But another CM caught our attention just to our right and directed us up into the proper seats.What a great attraction! We had so much fun with this attraction, it's now one of my favorites! They start off (after introductions and the opening movies) with the Fastest Fingers question which everyone in the audience (who wanted to anyway) answered. Michael, not one interested in being in the spotlight, purposely waited a few seconds between the question and when he selected an answer even though he probably could have gotten at least in the top 10 if he'd wanted to (he's good at trivia, though he would disagree).
The question was something along the lines of "put these capital cities in geographical order from east to west starting on the East Coast of the US" and it listed three international capitals and one US capital. I got the order right, but was definitely not the fastest. The first person to make it into the hotseat was a boy around 12 years old. When asked if he knew the question or just guessed, he fessed up that he'd just guessed, which got everyone to chuckle. He definitely didn't look too comfortable in the hot seat, but he did very well -- made it to the 1000 point question (which meant he got to keep the 4 pins plus the hat) before he missed a question.
During the time that the kid was being asked questions, the audience was able to answer as well and whoever answered the questions correctly the fastest and thus built up the most points got to come down when the kid was taken off-stage to claim his prizes. The next guy to go up was a bit older, I'd guess in his mid-late thirties, and the questions were distinctly harder. Apparently they have different levels of questions appropriate for whatever age group the person in the hot seat belongs to, which I thought was a very nice touch.
That guy also made it to 1000 before missing a question, so he too went away with the hat and four pins. The third and final person to go down to the hot-seat though did an excellent job! He made it all the way to 64000 before we ran out of time, and he was asked to stay for the next show to continue his run. He was cool, calm, and collected on stage and had quite a sense of humor -- I hope he was able to go all the way
I was tempted to circle right back around and see if we could get in the next showing to see what happened to him, but we didn't have time.I was actually somewhat surprised at how much Michael enjoyed that attraction. He's not a big fan of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and he only entered the attraction because it was new and I really wanted to see it, but when we left he enjoyed it as much if not more than I did. We've got a new favorite at MGM (though it doesn't displace our old favorite Rock 'n Roller Coaster!). Another neat thing from the show was every time someone got a question right, my 100 Years of Magic Magical Moments Pin lit up and went crazy. I love those pins... you never know when they'll be activated
Oh, and one other thing from that attraction that was really cute was the little girl, probably about 4 or 5, who was trying very carefully to step on the solid parts of the floor as she and her family were being seated. Walking on the see-through floor was apparently very disconcerting to her, and the stage manager assured her that the floor was solid. Cute kid.
Our next stop was right next door at One Man's Dream, where we were greeted by another very friendly CM who told me to watch my pin as we entered. Sure enough, the pin started going crazy as we passed through the doorway and stepped into Walt's Realm.
This was another fantastically done attraction. I've seen the setup they have (had?? I'm not sure it's still there) at Disneyland in the lobby of Great Moment's with Mister Lincoln where they had two different offices set up like Walt's old offices, so I knew somewhat what to expect at this attraction, but it still was really really neat. They had all sorts of Disney memorabilia and important objects from Walt's life, such as the desk he sat at in elementary school, the animator's desk on which Steamboat Willie was drawn, and the multi-plane camera (which I think was one of the NEATEST things I've ever seen -- they have a mirror set up on top to show the guests what the camera sees as the camera sees it, and it was SOOOOOO cool!!).
They also had models of everything ranging from Main Street at Disneyland to Sleeping Beauty's Castle, Cinderella's Castle, several main elements of each of the major parks, and very, very detailed models from Tokyo Disneysea and Disney's California Adventure. They also had a model of Peter Pan's Flight, apparently the original model used as a concept design which wasn't too detailed but at the same time was really neat.
Don't forget the TV and film memorabilia like one of the Mouskateer's costumes (Karen's I think), Zorro's costume (which was REALLY neat for me as much as I LOVE Zorro), costume elements from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and a costume from Mary Poppins. And all throughout you had little snippits of conversations with Walt from the past, mostly from the Disneyland/Wonderful World of Disney/etc shows Walt hosted for a while.
The attraction was set up into I think three main rooms, and I was able to take pictures throughout the first room before a CM (the same one who greeted us at the entrance as they cycled around every 15 minutes or so) caught me and said no no
Well, they didn't have any signs or anything that said no pictures, so there I think this was actually one of my favorite things to see from the trip, and Michael really enjoyed it too. The movie at the end was very nice, though having just watched the biography of Walt Disney that was shown on ABC just a few weeks earlier, there wasn't much new information in it. Overall, we both gave this attraction two thumbs way up and very highly recommend it to people who like Museums.
After our run through the museum (which I think took us almost 45 minutes but I may be over-estimating that -- we really took our time in that exhibit) we pretty much just wandered around wondering what to do next. We didn't have enough time to do Rock 'n Roller Coaster at that point, and I wasn't feeling all that hot anyway. Neither of us was in the mood for Voyage of the Little Mermaid or Muppets 3-D, two past favorites. I don't know why we didn't try going through the Animation Tour because that's usually a favorite and we came out right next to the entrance. Michael wanted to do Star Tours but I wasn't up to it (too much of a stomach ache for some reason). Neither of us was in the mood for Indiana Jones or the Great Movie Ride, and the next showing of Beauty and the Beast was still a while off. Hunchback was closed for the day.
So we ended up just wandering for a bit. We stopped to say hi to Kida from Atlantis (she signed her autograph in Atlantean and was a really friendly character), and to Meg from Hercules (who was *very* much in character in the rude "I don't want to be here" set. Very good character acting there, but if I hadn't know that was how the character was supposed to be, I might have been put off a bit). We glanced around at the other characters around but all were pretty "normal" and had lines -- Meg and Kida were a little separated from the rest of the group and not many people knew who Kida was despite her movie having just come out recently.
We stopped to take pictures of the Sorcerer Mickey and broomstick topiaries that were set up near the Brown Derby, and Michael checked out the menu there. When I saw what he was doing, I immediately put up my hands in a warding gesture... I don't think I've ever been as sick at Disneyworld as I was after eating at the Brown Derby. I'm not sure what they put on their steaks that made me so sick, but "once bitten, twice shy" and I was twice "bitten" there. If Michael ever wants to eat there, he'll get to do it on his own
So we wandered around past the bronze busts and along the lake's edge. I was looking for something to drink to cool me off, as well as looking to see if we could find Becky. I didn't know if she was working today but knew her primary days off were Monday and Tuesday and this was Thursday (I found out later in the trip that she had Thursday off after all... oh well, I should have tried reaching her when I reached Randall but I thought she'd be working). I was also keeping my eyes open for Uncle Kyle from the DIS boards, but I never saw him either.
As we made our way around the lake, Michael found an iced coffee that he wanted, and I eventually ended up with a frozen coke -- kinda like the coke icees. That hit the spot for both of us, though I still really needed a power aide. As we sipped at our frozen drinks, a show started behind us. Two of the streetmosphere people were setting up for a show -- some kind of spelling bee. As usual, I stayed to watch for a couple of minutes while Michael disappeared around the corner.
For some reason, these particular streetmosphere characters tend to get on my nerves rather than entertain me, so I only watched for a moment or two before joining Michael and we ended up wandering up and down through the shops. We didn't end up actually getting anything, but it was a way to kill time until Beauty and the Beast opened up.
We finally ended up heading to Beauty and the Beast about 20 minutes early. I got in line across the street for a turkey leg, hoping that maybe the protein would help me feel better. While I stood in line, I gave Michael my ticket to go check on fastpasses for Rock 'n Roller. The idea was that we'd get passes now that hopefully would be available after the parade. But when Michael got there, he found that the fastpass return time was only 20 minutes behind the current time, and it was a 20 minute stand-by wait. That would put the entire fastpass window in our wait and viewing time of the parade. So I called him back, agreed he should wait, grabbed my turkey leg, and asked him to purchase a couple of poweraids.
We then met back up and found our seats in the Beauty and the Beast seating area. As we walked past the CMs, I was just waiting for one of them to say no food in the auditorium (that would have been par for the course of an MGM day), but none of them stopped us so we went right in. Michael had to run back out to get some silverware and napkins since I forgot to grab those, but he returned just a moment later and we were able to munch and relax for a few minutes. We only ate about 1/3 of the turkey leg, but I think the protein helped a little.
As for the show... this is one show that I'd only seen once before and hated that one time. Two years ago when I saw it, it was horrible. The singing and acting were okay, but if you were to take every major scene in Beauty and the Beast, write it on a slip of paper, throw those papers into a hat and shuffle them up, then dump the hat out and pick a scene at random, you'd pretty much get what the old version of Beauty and the Beast was. I *hated* it. *Don't* re-arrange the order of scenes in my shows! So in all our previous visits, I'd always steered Michael away from Beauty and the Beast.
But just recently, they re-did the show and I'd heard since it's reopening that it was much better. So I was willing to give it another try. Sure enough, it was much better than it had been before. Now it was actually in order, even though the scenes themselves were almost identical. It's a show actually worth seeing now
. But it's still not as refined and well done as the Hunchback show IMHO.After Beauty and the Beast we considered going to get Rock 'n Roller fastpasses, but the time was getting late enough that we decided it would be better to go check the parade route instead. Or, rather, we did at Michael's insistence... I was going to just wander and shop for a bit but Michael called the crowds better than I did this day. It's a good thing we did, too, because the crowds were already starting to line up on Hollywood Blvd, and since this was probably *the* new parade that Michael and I both really wanted to see this trip, we wanted a place on the curb.
With a little searching, we found a place next to and slightly in front of a party on a bench. They had one or two more people coming, but that was it, so there was enough room for us on the curb. Once again, I asked Michael if he'd operate the video, and once again got a "no way" look. So over the next 30+ minutes, I experimented with ways to prop up the camera on the ground so it would be pointing toward the oncoming parade. I also made sure to record a minute of the pre-show entertainment on the tape since Michael just now told me that the first and last minutes of a tape (or approximately a minute) were impossible to digitize. (*Now* he tells me? After I'd recorded two parades and such at the beginning?)
And the pre-show entertainment... I'm not too sure what to make of it. The show itself irritated me, but the ending was absolutely hilarious. This show consisted of three women... one who was a Hollywood moviestar, one who was an old friend of the moviestar in her pre-moviestar days, and one who was a "stranger". The two "old friends" were getting into an argument so decided not to talk to each other again. This brought in the third lady, who acted as go-between for the two women. You know the old scheme: tell so and so that I say this. She runs to so-and-so and says that. (Note, *that*, not this, and that was always an insult of some sort). Well, it turns out "that" was never the "this" she was told to deliver, and when the moviestar went to confront her old friend directly, the third woman slipped into the audience to hide. We heard this scream of "I NEVER SAID THAT!!!" followed by more "I never said that!" comments from each of the two and they ended up making up. So they called the third woman out and showed they were friends again and they only had one thing to say to the third woman... RUN! Then they proceeded to chase woman3 down the street.
I don't really find insults funny most of the time, so the show itself was just irritating to me, but I *loved* that ending. Boy did woman3 get what she deserved, and I do have to say they did a very good job of staying in character again.
Finally, though, it was time for the parade to begin and Stone Granite came out into the street to get people excited and start a bit of a pep rally. This parade consists of a lot of Disney characters going down the street in cars designed specifically for them, like an old "parade of heroes" type thing. And to keep with that theme, they have announcers set up in various places around the parade route and the announcers tell things about each of the cars or characters. We happened to be sitting pretty much on the invisible line he used to announce a car, so about the time a car came into our proximity, he'd announce it.
As expected, we really enjoyed this parade. The funniest point was a confrontation between Darth Vader and Stone Granite, but I won't say what happened so maybe I can keep it a surprise for others if it happens again
The only problem with the parade wasn't with the parade, but with my camera, which appeared to lock up right as the Atlantis car came by. I got it un-locked, but too late to get any pictures of Milo and Kida. After the parade, we were burning up. It was very hot sitting in the direct sun for 30+ minutes then another 30 or so watching the parade -- and this was in October. I fear what it would be like in August. Once again, we were stuck with what to do next. I still wasn't feeling that great, but I agreed to go check on Rock 'n Roller. So we went to the lockers and dropped off our stuff then hiked back around to Rock 'n Roller Coaster where we grabbed a couple of fastpasses. We hoped that after the fastpass and some time to drink more poweraid that I'd feel well enough to ride, so while we were waiting we looked through a couple of stores and returned to the hat to get the rest of the Magical Moments interactive pins and try for the internet pins.
Only there were no more internet pins... they were out. But the CM said he could sign our receipt to indicate that we didn't get our pins, and that if we kept our certificate and receipt and tried again later, we might have better luck. Since we've got plans to return in April, that worked as a solution. But then of course we had to go *back* to the locker once more because we now had pins we didn't want to take on the coaster. So more walking, then more browsing in shops, before we finally ended up just sitting around in the Rock 'n Roller Coaster courtyard.
There, I made a very big mistake. Well, okay, not *too* big, but a big one for me. As we sat for about 15 minutes waiting until our fastpass return times, I watched Tower of Terror. And watched. And watched. And grew anxious. And more anxious. And more anxious. We weren't waiting for Tower of Terror, we were waiting for Rock 'n Roller, but by the time our 15 minutes were up I'd talked myself into quite a state of anxiety. Why watching Tower of Terror (a ride I don't think I'll ever go on because of my already-existing fear of elevators) made me nervous about riding Rock 'n Roller Coaster (my favorite ride in MGM) I don't really know, but it did. Plus, my stomach ache hadn't completely gone away and because of being so anxious, I was starting to get a tension headache.
I kept mentioning this to Michael, somewhat wanting to chicken out and sit this ride out this time, but no way would he let me. We figured one of two things would happen: I'd ride the ride and it would get rid of the headache and stomachache, or I'd ride the ride and it would make both worse. As half of my symptoms were as bad as they were due to anxiety, it was more likely the ride would relieve the symptoms... one of those facing your fears type of things I think. So, he didn't let me talk myself out of the ride and finally our time came up to ride.
"Don't watch the launch... don't watch the launch" I kept telling myself, because that was the part that was making me anxious. So what did I do? Watch the launch almost every time, of course
. But finally it was our turn to ride and we ended up in a seat a few cars back. The only problem with the ride was that the camera system was down so we couldn't see our pictures. I kept telling Michael there weren't any flashes, but he kept claiming there were and I just wasn't seeing them. No there weren't! Anyway, I enjoyed the ride just as much as I always do, *despite* my eternal anxiety over that stupid launch, and by the time we got off my head was spinning but my stomach was fine and my headache was gone. Amazing how much tension and anxiety you can release by screaming your head off in laughter
We spent the next 20 or 30 minutes in the gift shop looking for costume ideas for Michael for tonight's Not So Scary Halloween Party. I'd actually completely forgotten my agreement with Michael by this time: that is, that we stop in the gift shop and look for costume stuff for him. No wonder he wouldn't let me talk myself out of riding Rock 'n Roller
We did end up finding stuff for him for the party. First, a bandanna that he could tie up and wear as a hat, apparently like one of the artists in Aerosmith does (Steven Tyler?). Second, two new Rock 'n Roller shirts, both of which we had to ask a CM to look in the back before we found the right size. But it was a very friendly CM who helped us
We also got a slider Rock 'n Roller pin, and Michael got to "play" with the guitar behind the counter. He actually was going to play a few chords on the guitar, but it was missing half its strings so he didn't.After our bit of shopping, we hurried back to the locker and grabbed all our stuff, turned in the locker key, and hurried back out to the boat stop. We slowed only when we saw that a boat was indeed coming (so we wouldn't have to walk) and it was far enough away that it would arrive about the same time we would if we walked at our normal pace.
As we left, we for once both left with a smile. This was the first time I can remember that we've been in MGM without having what we've come to term an "MGM Day" -- that is, nothing major went wrong during the day. Sure, we walked around not wanting to do anything in the park, but that seemed to be our theme almost this entire trip. We weren't quite ready to really be back with such short notice I guess. Sure, I did end up feeling a little under the weather, but not bad enough to ruin the day like it's always been in the past. So we were both happy. We'd even spent about 45 minutes longer in the park than I intended because we still had to get back to the Dolphin and get into our costumes.
And so we did. We got back to the room around 6pm and I hurriedly pulled out all the pieces to my costume. The shirt went on first, then my makeup, which took about 15-20 minutes. Pants jacket and shorts next, and finally I pulled the towel off my hair and asked if Michael would spray my bangs back (I *HATE* using hairspray, but for this costume I'd do it). In the meantime, Michael changed into one of his new Rock 'n Roller shirts and figured out how to properly tie the bandanna, then otherwise sat around and rested until I was all ready to go. I transferred everything out of my belly bag into my camera vest instead so I'd have less to keep track of and wouldn't be carrying a belly-bag that was definitely out of character.
Then we were on our way. This was when we discovered the short-cut to the bus stop by leaving past Daisy's Garden, but even then we still had to run to make it to the bus on time because a Magic Kingdom bus pulled up just as we left the door.
We climbed onto the bus, ready for our party, and looked around to see what everyone else was wearing.
Only no one else was wearing a costume. Everyone was instead staring at me.
I felt so stupid.
What if I'd heard wrong? What if we were the only adults in costume? What if we got there and not only were we the only adults in costume, but they wouldn't let me in because of my costume? Michael looked normal enough he could get through anyway, but not me...not Tigger.
Self-consciously, we found a seat near the back of the bus and I was glad I had make-up on to cover my blushing. I like having fun with costumes, but I felt like I'd gone a little far this time.
It wasn't until we got to the next bus stop that I remembered we were the *second* stop on the way to the Magic Kingdom, and almost everyone on this bus was coming *from* the Magic Kingdom, not heading for the Halloween Party. So of course none of them would be in costume! As more people in costume climbed on the bus to take over spots vacated by those leaving, I began to feel more and more comfortable. No, no more adults were really in costume, but at least we were among kids who were in costume, and such adorable kids they were!
By the time we made it to our last stop, almost all the kids in the back half of the bus had congregated in the very back row and the sideways-facing row next to it. Parents were craning their necks to keep an eye on their little ones, but all those costumed kids together made such a cute picture, I couldn't resist. So, naturally, I took a picture
Finally, we finished picking everyone up and continued on to the park. Driving through the toll booth for Magic Kingdom parking, we passed under two giant pumpkins that had been set up for the evening. When we reached the Magic Kingdom itself, everything was dramatically lit and you could hear music playing even from the bus stop.
But as we approached the gates, we hit a dead stop. People after people after people after crowds. This was even closer to 7:30 than the 7:00 opening time. How long were we going to have to wait to get into the park?? As it turned out, less than two minutes. Apparently, a good portion of people crowding the walkways were standing in line to *get* tickets rather than to get through the gates. Weaving past them, we were able to get past the security guards doing bag checks (who did indeed check most of the pockets on my vest) and get in the gates with almost no wait at all.
As we passed through the gates, we started looking around at the decorations. The candles in the windows of the train station were flickering like flames wildly out of control. The 100 Years of Magic Mickey topiary just above the Mickey-head of flowers had fog flowing all around it. Orange Mickey pumpkins made of light were spinning in circles on the ground, and the theme song from the Haunted Mansion (Grim Grinning Ghosts) blared from every speaker. And we hadn't even made it past the lockers yet!
As we emerged into Town Square, our breath was taken away. The usual festive lighting all up and down Main Street was replaced with mood lighting: Orange, green, red and other fall colors were projected onto each building. Every once in a while, wisps of fog danced across the street. Giant candy-bags (decorations only at this point) were set up next to each tree in the center island. Characters were gathered all around Town Square as usual, but these were in Halloween costumes. The main one we actually took the time to look at (though not stand in line to get an autograph) was Donald, who was dressed as a pumpkin.
As we walked around Town Square, something rolling around on the street caught our eye: it was a moving fire hydrant! It would pull up to some random place and stop, just waiting for some unsuspecting person to approach before it would squirt them with water! Michael, observant as always, caught where they were controlling it from and weaved past to point out that control location to me -- I think he was right, but I won't say how
As we entered Main Street proper, Michael said to look back toward City Hall. There, in the early-evening light, was the dramatically lit City Hall with the moon just rising above its 'shoulder'. Ahh, perfect picture opportunity. All it needed was to be full and have a bat or witch pass in front of it.
While no bats or witches flew in front of the moon, we were confronted with two on Main Street itself. White lights were dancing from one end of Main Street to the other, gliding across the faces of each building. And if you looked closely, you could tell that one was a bat, and the other a witch. In addition to the dramatic lighting and dancing witches and bats, in the windows of each upstairs building were placed jack-o-lanterns. Balloons in the appropriate orange and black hung from every lamp post. And still that music from the Haunted Mansion filled the streets. I'd expected great atmosphere after seeing how Main Street was transformed for the Christmas Party last year, but this surpassed my expectations.
We worked our way down Main Street, me pausing every once in a while to snap a picture or point out something new to Michael, and finally found ourselves at the end. Michael complained of hunger so begged that we go eat first. I suggested Tomorrowland since I knew from the DIS that at least one eatery would be open there. But as we passed the lines for pictures, set up in the old queue area for Timekeeper, we decided we'd best get our picture taken first -- before my make-up smeared (which actually it didn't do all night). Michael also remembered correctly that during the Christmas party, they hadn't offered pictures throughout the night so if this followed that same pattern it was take the picture now or miss it entirely.
So we spent a good bit of time waiting in line to get our picture taken, but it was an enjoyable time as we watched the others in line and passing by (mostly kids in costume but we weren't the only adults in some form of costume). Every once in a while, I heard cries of "Look mommy, Tigger!!!" as kids passed by me. I guess my costume was a success if the kids could recognize me as Tigger so easily
The people in front of us were two groups who wanted a picture of just their three kids. One was a safari tour guide, I forget what the older girl was, but the youngest (looked like she was somewhere in her "terrible twos") was in a princess costume and DID NOT want to wear that crown. No amount of begging, pleading, ordering, or bribing worked to keep that girl's crown on while in line, but they were finally able to get her to wear it for the picture itself. Only, she wouldn't smile.
Mommy tried to get her to smile. Friend's mommy tried to get her to smile. CMs tried to get her to smile. Daddy tried to get her to smile from the other side of the queue. The photographer tried to get her to smile, and asked mom if she wanted the picture taken even if the girl didn't smile. Finally, when I caught her looking in roughly my direction, I bounced a little like Tigger. I don't know if that really did it or not, but at that moment the little one smiled and they were able to snap a picture really quick.
We got our picture done next, then struck out in search of someplace to eat. But Michael, observant as always, spotted bright orange shirts just inside the doorway of Mickey's Star Traders. We headed over that direction and sure enough, there was the MNSSHP merchandise we'd hoped to find. Pins, buttons, shirts, candy buckets, CDs and beanies. I grabbed a shirt (though what I'm going to do with it now I don't know... I look horrible in orange), two pins and two buttons. We'd missed getting the Christmas Party pin back in December (but ended up with one anyway thanks to a friend) so I wanted to make a point of finding the Halloween Party pins. If it hadn't been for Michael, I still would have come away from this party without the pins because I never saw the merchandise in Star Traders until Michael pointed it out.
As we were making our purchases, who should walk up but good old Joe, whom we'd met yesterday. He not only remembered but actually recognized me (despite makeup) from our conversation yesterday. I also drew a lot of attention from the CMs for my Safari Tigger costume. *All* of the CMs we encountered at the Party who commented on the costume not only recognized it as Tigger, but as either Safari Tigger, Animal Kingdom Tigger, or Hunter Tigger.
And this was the only time during the evening that not only was my costume recognized, but so was Michael's: a girl working at Star Traders not only recognized Michael as a musician, not only a musician from Aerosmith, but as Steven Tyler (sp?) -- the lead singer of Aerosmith, who is what Michael was apparently dressing up as (I don't know Aerosmith that well, but apparently something about his costume was distinctive enough to be recognized) I was shocked, Michael was pleased. Purchases complete, I stuffed everything except the T-shirt into my jacket pockets and handed Michael the bag to carry for the rest of the evening (don'tcha just love husband-pack-mules?
) and we continued on our quest for something to feed Michael. We finally ended up at Cosmic Ray's Cafe and in the line for the chicken things and cheese steaks. But Michael really wanted a hamburger and noticed that people were walking past with hamburgers. So we ducked around the corner to find another counter open, this one serving hamburgers.Michael got in that line, while I returned to the cheese steak line, and we made our individual purchases. With my make-up, I didn't want to eat anything that required biting into something like a hamburger, so I got the cheese steak and a fork and ate that way.
Not only were people eating in Cosmic Rays, but where Sunny Eclipse is usually playing they had a DJ set up who was playing all sorts of Monster Music (and some just plain loud music with no tie whatsoever to Halloween). People were packed onto the floor in front of the stage -- tables had been moved so that the area could be used as a dance floor, and not only were there people there, but characters as well. I saw Goofy and Pluto, and I think also Chip and Dale all in costume. We started to sit in the room overlooking the band, but after about 30 seconds I decided that would be too loud and moved back into the main room with the ordering counters and fixin's bar -- all this before Michael was able to finish going through the line to get his food.
I'd intended to go get a picture of the characters and DJ out on the main floor, but unfortunately by the time we were done eating, the characters had moved back outside to go mingle with guests. So we just finished eating (me munching on the meat section of my cheese steak and the fries, Michael eating every bite of his hamburger and most of his fries) then ventured back out to Tomorrowland and over to the ride we'd skipped yesterday.
The line for Space Mountain was practically non-existent. It was a walk-on up until we reached the split, and we almost didn't stop moving from there until we were on the ride, too. We took the left side, which in the past has been our favorite. My hat went into the bag with the T-shirt so I wouldn't lose it, and otherwise we just hung on tight for our ride through space.
What a ride! I always remember Space Mountain being tamer and less enjoyable than it is when I actually ride it. Even after having just done Rock 'n Roller earlier in the day, this was still quite a rush and we came off laughing. Michael, however, was a little disconcerted because he was sitting in the very back seat of the last car -- which bounced off the tracks a time or so!
When we came off of Space Mountain, we paused for a quick run to the restroom. While I disappeared around the corner, Michael waited outside to watch the DJ set up on a stage nearby. When I returned, he commented that I'd been turning kids heads all the way as I disappeared, yet no one was paying any attention to him: exactly as he liked it. So we started calling him the CM that stays with the characters. You know, one of those "line forms here" CMs
Michael jokingly wondered what they'd do if he came to the Halloween party dressed up as a cast member. Finished in Tomorrowland, we worked our way to Fantasyland. This was where we found our first trick or treat station. Would you believe Michael didn't know what you were supposed to do at them? Trick or treat of course! So we stayed by the first station we saw (not far from the entrance to the Speedway as I recall) and watched as the CM dug into what looked like one of the Astro Orbiter cars FULL of candy and handed it out to all the little kids in line.
Since there was a line, we opted not to try for any candy at this station. Furthermore, I didn't feel out of place at all being an adult in costume, but I did feel kinda silly going up and asking for candy when the only others in line were kids and their parents.
On we continued, this time pausing at the Mad Tea Party. In the aisle where frequently can be found characters from Alice in Wonderland was another mostly-hidden trick or treat station. This one wasn't as well marked as the previous one, nor was it as well lit, which meant it was almost deserted. There were three people (I believe CMs) dressed up as playing cards (all hearts) who were visiting with a couple of guests on one side of the candy bucket, so we approached from the other side.
Let me tell you, there was a LOT of candy there!! For this stop they'd taken a cup like those on the Mad Tea Party and it looked like it was completely full of candy! Maybe they had a shelf two inches down so what looked like a full cup of candy wasn't really, but it sure looked full! Since Michael didn't know what you're supposed to do at these trick or treat stations and here was one without a line, I walked up and showed him and came away with a chocolate of some sort -- I forget what I actually got, I think it was a mini-milky-way but I'm not sure. Michael followed my lead (since all I did was reach in and get a piece -- the CMs were still visiting with the other guests) and came away with a miniature of one of his favorite candy bars (again, I forget what, just that it involved chocolate).
We continued into Fantasyland, this time taking the back walkway so that we went past Ariel's Grotto. I picked up a bottle of water at Skuttle's Landing, then we stood around and watched what was going on in the seating area for Skuttle's. They had face painting, a guy doing balloon characters, another guy playing a small guitar-like instrument (may even have been an actual guitar, I didn't look close enough), and little kids were dancing to the music.
They'd roped off the queue area for Ariel's Grotto, though. That's because Ursula had taken over -- there was a giant Ursula balloon set up in the water play area, with fog drifting all over. You couldn't get very close, but it still looked really neat.
After watching the face painters and kids dancing for a few minutes, we continued on through Fantasyland. As expected, most of the rides in Fantasyland had relatively long lines. None of them had a really long wait but compared to everything else at the party they had long ones. We just walked past all of the attractions in Fantasyland and headed for the Haunted Mansion, pausing here and there to take in some of the other Halloween decorations (like the giant blow-up dalmation puppy that was looking into a pond next to the old Skyway ride).
When we arrived at the Haunted Mansion, we were in for a bit of a treat. Just a little. The Mansion was decked out in its full glory... brilliant mood lighting was reflecting off of every surface of the building, moreso than I remember ever seeing before. More fog filled the air and drifted down into the streets and queue. And the wait time was posted as 13 minutes. I'm surprised I had to explain to Michael that the 13 minute wait time was a joke. Real wait times very rarely say anything other than a multiple of 5: 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 35 minutes, etc. Off-numbered wait times are usually indicative of very little wait and are posted as a mood-setter. 13 minutes... Haunted Mansion... 13 is an "unlucky number".
As it was, there was next to no wait. But, then again, we walked up just in time to see them closing the doors for the previous batch of guests so who knows how many people were waiting before we walked up? I was actually really surprised that the Haunted Mansion wasn't more popular than it was tonight. I'd expected to encounter long waits at any attractions that had a Halloween theme: Haunted Mansion, Snow White's Scary Adventures... But there wasn't much of a wait at either.
Our ride through the Haunted Mansion was pretty much as usual. Though I pulled another one on Michael. He and I both know where the doors are that open into the stretching room. As soon as we got into the room, though, I headed straight for the wall that opens to let you out. Michael gave me a puzzled look and asked how I knew which wall it was. I just grinned. By the time everyone else had filed into the room, he had figured it out though.
After boarding our Doom Buggies and starting through the ride, I don't know why but I got it into my head that I MUST change the batteries in my camera RIGHT THEN. In the dark. On a ride. When I couldn't see which holes were supposed to have the + side of the battery up and which were supposed to have the - side up. So there I was with a pocket full of dead batteries and the camera open with new batteries in place but me afraid to close the lid just in case I had the batteries backwards. Every time we passed past anything that produced light, I tried to see if I had the batteries in right. Needless to say, I didn't really pay much attention to the ride this time
When we got off (I determined at the exit that I did indeed have the batteries in right), we only had a few minutes to get to the hub area to watch the fireworks. So we hurried through the crowds and finally found our spot at the hub pretty much centered on Main Street. Michael kinda wanted to watch the fireworks from farther back, but true to character didn't say anything until *after* the fireworks
Besides, there's a *reason* for watching these party fireworks from the hub. As we stood to wait for the fireworks to begin, I reached to get a drink of my water...
...only it wasn't there. Quick mental backtracking put me in the queue for the Haunted Mansion when I last saw the drink. Which meant I'd probably left it on the Doombuggy. Michael said not to worry about it...after all, it was a $2.50 bottle of water and a $3-$5 drink strap that I could easily replace. The only problem was that the drink strap was one I believe we got on our honeymoon (now I honestly don't remember if it was on our honeymoon or my first trip to WDW the year before, but at the time I was sure it was the honeymoon). So even though I could get an identical drink strap in Animal Kingdom tomorrow, I really wanted *that* one back for sentimental reasons. So Michael agreed that after the fireworks we could go back to the Haunted Mansion JUST on the off chance that they found it.
We didn't have long to wait before the castle went dark to signal the start of the fireworks. Just as during Christmas, they started out with the non-Tinkerbell version of the introduction: the one where your dreams soar high above Cinderella's Castle to light Fantasy in the Sky instead of Tinkerbell lighting it. And the fireworks, just as during the Christmas show, continued through the usual Fantasy in the Sky up until the false-ending (just before the real grand finale in the normal show).
Then someone appeared up in the balcony from which Tinkerbell usually flies. It was a witch of some sort. Neither Michael nor I could get a good enough look to tell *which* witch it was if it was any specific witch from a Disney film, but it was most definitely a witch
And following the witch's interruption was what I was waiting for and the reason for watching the fireworks from the hub: all around the hub were fireworks in the round. I'd expected it (though didn't know for certain) but again Michael didn't expect it and it was neat to see the expressions of everyone else around -- especially those for which this was a complete surprise.Following the fireworks, we returned to the Haunted Mansion. I walked up to the greeter CM and asked what I should do if I thought I left something in a Doom buggy. He said to go ahead and walk up the exit and go ask the CM on duty there if he'd seen it. Michael only went about half-way with me before sitting down to wait, so I continued on (feeling awkward but wanting my bottle and strap back) until I was able to catch the CM's attention. He hadn't seen it, but I figured he wouldn't since the person on duty in that room when we'd left was a female. He wanted me to go back out and have the greeter radio around to find out if anyone had seen it, but I thought that was very much a waste of time -- so I asked if there was somewhere that the other CM would have put the bottle if she'd found it in a buggy after we got out. He blinked, thought for a moment, then said yeah let me check. Sure enough, it was hanging on a hook somewhere around the corner (or on a table there or something). Since I knew it was an Animal Kingdom drink strap, he double-checked the strap then handed it over.
Drink strap retrieved, I felt much better. Especially after getting another drink of water -- why is it when I have the water I forget its there but when I lose it I'm thirsty all the time?
Anyway, we debated what to do next and finally decided on a ride on Thunder Mountain. So we started around Frontierland, pausing for a moment to watch the riverboat launch from dock. It was packed to the GILLS, so much so that I don't think we would have enjoyed it all that much, but they did have a band on the first level at the front and we could hear them starting up the opening refrains of one of my favorite western ballads, "Ghost Riders in the Sky."After watching that for a moment we continued on as far as the Diamond Horseshoe. The show in there had already started and we figured we'd watch it during the last show anyway, so we didn't try to go in. But with the restrooms right there Michael decided to go for a break. While I waited for him, I asked the CM out front about the Headless Horseman. I knew he ran sometime during the night before the parade, but wasn't sure how early. The CM out front was very friendly (and had her hat full of candy though had just given away the last piece before I walked up) but this was her first night on the party and she had no idea what I was talking about.
I smiled and said that's okay, I'd just ask around some more and when she offered to run in and get some more candy so I could have a piece, I agreed to wait for her. As I stood outside the Diamond Horseshoe waiting for the CM or Michael, a family approached me and asked about the Boo to You parade in Frontierland (those are the kids parades where they march through one land displaying their costumes. We didn't get to see any unfortunately). Apparently, they thought I was a CM, though what made my costume "CM-like" and others' not I don't know
It wasn't the only time that night that I was mistaken for a CM (but we'll get to that later). Looking at the map and times listed, I was able to give my best guess to the answer to their question.The CM came out before Michael did, so I selected a small bag of skittles and then turned to see Michael returning. I offered to get something for him, but if it didn't have chocolate in it he didn't want it and all she had were skittles and sunkist candies.
So we continued on around toward Thunder Mountain. I stopped at a booth or two to see if they knew about the Headless Horseman, but none of them had any more of an idea than I did (actually, I probably had a better idea than they did -- they acted like they didn't even know he would be running) so I gave up for now and we finished getting to Thunder.We thought about riding Splash, but neither of us had brought our ponchos and I didn't want to mess up my costume and neither of us wanted to walk around wet for the rest of the evening, so we only took one ride around on Thunder before returning to the parade route. Once we reached the parade route once more, I started looking for some CMs who would perhaps know the answer to my question.
There were two standing essentially in the middle of the road making sure people didn't go back-stage. This was a prime spot for parade CMs to be stationed, so I approached the two CMs who were both dressed essentially as clowns. One of the two was busy with guests already, but the other looked up and smiled as I approached. I said "two questions." He countered, "two answers". The first was which direction the parade would be running. The answer: from Main Street to Frontierland, opposite of the way I'd expected for some reason.
But before I could ask the second question, the second CM walked up and challenged me with something along the lines of, "Safari Tigger? You're in the wrong place, you should be over in Animal Kingdom. I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to return where you belong." I played along by countering that Animal Kingdom was closed so I came to check out the festivities and couldn't I just stay for the parade? This type of conversation continued for a couple of minutes -- the CMs trying to insist I was in the wrong place and at least had to stay in Adventureland, me trying to convince them to let me stay for the party. Finally, they gave in if I would bounce, but they wouldn't accept my first two bounces. Finally, CM2 backed away and said if I could bounce from there (where I was) to here (about 10 feet away) then I could stay. So bounce I did, ending up with a round of applause from the audience we had gathered (unbeknownst to me of course) and a yo-yo and candy from CM2.
About this point, as CM1 joined CM2 and myself about 10 feet away, a third CM approached. This one looked like a mechanic or perhaps someone else involved with the parade and he started to pull CM1 away to go somewhere else (I'm not sure where). CM1 said hang on just a moment and then, laughing, asked me what my second question was. At this point, CM3 got this look of shock and said "Oh my gosh, I thought she was a cast member, I'm so sorry!!" and acting horrified he retreated very quickly so that CM1 could answer my question.
My question was, of course, if the Headless Horseman would be riding before the parade. His answer, with a mischievous grin, was "He's been seen around these parts, yes..." So I thanked him and turned to hunt for Michael, who was "hiding" about 15 feet away (within earshot and watching with a grin but far enough away that *he* wouldn't be picked on). He was grinning ear to ear as much as I was and said that was great. My only two regrets of the episode were first that we both failed to catch the names of CM1 and CM2, and second that Michael (who I think was carrying the video camera at the time) didn't think of pulling it out to record the episode. Not that we had any warning that we'd have such a fun encounter of course, but it still would have been fun to have some video of those few minutes.
CM1 I think at this point went off wherever CM3 was trying to take him, but I'm not sure because Michael and I returned to walking the parade route in search of a place to sit. Already the rope was up and people were lining up along it. But we found a place right on the rope right next to the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon, the idea being that as soon as the parade was over we'd duck inside the Horseshoe to watch the show in there.
We then sat and waited and rested for several minutes, and I took that opportunity to try to get a challenging shot with the camera. Michael, being the observant person he is, had looked up in the sky about the time we reached the Haunted Mansion. Up over our heads were several beams from those high-powered spotlights. But instead of sweeping across the sky as they usually do, these beams were set up so that they intersected in a pattern above the Magic Kingdom. And oddly enough, the beams seemed to fizzle out almost immediately after crossing the other beams so that you had a really good pattern. I'd tried getting a picture at the Haunted Mansion, but I couldn't hold the camera steady enough to get a shot. So then I tried again at Big Thunder Mountain, this time bracing the camera on top of a trashcan and doing a longer exposure (8 seconds). That one came out, but there were more clouds in the sky by this point so I wanted another. The ground worked just as well as a brace for time exposures and I came away with another shot of the neat light patterns in the sky.
Also as we were waiting there, watching people go by and line up for the parade, CM3 from a few minutes earlier passed by and stopped long enough to apologize once again, repeating "I'm so sorry, I really thought you were a cast member." We laughed and said no problem. I don't mind being mistaken for a cast member -- in fact, I'm honored by it
About 30 minutes before the parade was supposed to start, some CMs started frantically trying to get people off the street and behind the rope. But they were having a difficult time, more difficult than usual, because some people knew the parade was supposed to start at 10:30 and it was only 10:00. Finally, some CMs in suits came walking quickly down the parade route and making SURE that everyone was off. Every once in a while a CM would peel off of the group and stand to watch the area and assist the area CMs in keeping the rope clear -- after all, a person with a radio and headset carrying a clipboard seems to carry more authority than a CM in the standard area costume.
It took them about 20 minutes to get the parade route completely clear, and then the CMs were given the word: DO NOT under any circumstances let people into the street. Close the walkways and keep everything clear.
