December 2011 Trip, Part 9
D23's 2011 Magic and Merriment
Please see Part 1 for cast and plot summary...
Day 7, Sunday, Dec 11. Four Parks, One World, One Day.
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Dreslaine wants to meet today!
She actually wanted to meet on Friday (the day they arrived), but we had a little D23 conflict. They wouldn't be going to MVMCP, and we'd be in Epcot and wouldn't get to MK before it closed for the hard ticket event... Let's just say we couldn't work it out.
Sunday was the best we could do. Magic Kingdom. Some time before Laura's Chocolate event. No problem!
It's actually going to be a busy and ambitious day.
We have to go into Animal Kingdom this morning to pick up our freebie AP Calendar. I generally remember the AP freebies were in DMGM (now DHS, so that shows you the last time I picked up an AP freebie). We will be going to DHS on Monday. So I look it up to make sure, and we have to go to Outfitters in AK. Bummer, we could have done that yesterday during M&M.
So we get to the bus stop, and an Animal Kingdom bus is right there. We get on, and I turn to Jenny and tell her, "Cathy's not going to like what I say about her in the Trip Report..." Jenny agrees. Transportation pretty much sucked while Cathy was here. Once she was gone, transportation has been brutally efficient. I usually make my phone calls to home when I'm waiting for a bus. Not this time. I am mostly talking to people on noisy buses.
That includes Dreslaine. Actually, I think we mostly left each other voicemail. I may have butt dialed her on ExE.
We get to AK, and Outfitters is the first gift shop to the right as you get to Discovery island. Was it worth the trip? Yes. It's a cheaply made affair, but the prize is the 12 art concept prints included.
2012 Annual Passholder Calendar
So long as we're at Discovery Island, we're halfway to ExE, right? Right? On the way to the mountain, we pass a place that sells corn dogs. Mmmm... On the way out...
After we just escape Betty, a CM has her clipboard over one of the photo monitors. Someone was naughty, lol.
We walk back toward Discovery Island, and get our Corn Dogs. Mmmmm... Meat in tube form deep fried in batter. Other than a turkey leg, what could be better?
We leave the park, and head toward the far bus stops. Nothing goes to MK, only the TTC. If the original Imagineers could look forward 40 years, do you think there'd be a TTC? I think not. But I digress.
As we're walking to the bus stop, a TTC bus is leaving. Bummer. By the time we walk all the way around the bus turn-about, another TTC bus is arriving at the bus stop. We're the only riders. The Bus Driver asks if we're going to MK. Yes. Do we know how to get there? Yes. Done deal! We're at the Ticket and Transportation Center in only a few minutes.
We decide to Ferry across. The Ferry is just leaving as we get there. Oh well. Can't have all the breaks. But you can see the other boat making its way across the Seven Seas Lagoon, and we're soon aboard. I call Dreslaine, and leave voicemail that we're on our way. We go into Liberty Square to buy a Christmas Present for someone, and my phone rings. It's Dreslaine, they were on Pirates. We'll meet in front of Country Bears in 10 minutes.
And meet we do. We move out of the way and over to Rivers of America, and all the introductions are done. Her husband Steve, her son, DiL, grand-kid, dad, daughter and friend? Husband? Maybe it was another son? Anyway, there were a whole lot of them. The brain cells that once held their real relationships and names have been recycled. Sorry about that.
Anyway, I show her the AP Calendar, and I get to brag about what we've done the past couple of days. Steve is remarkably patient and understanding of Dreslaine's Disney addiction. She has a couple of GAC cards. We decide on a kid friendly attraction. Haunted Mansion!
We take the lead toward Gracey Manor, and are constantly looking back to see if all other 8 people are there. Can't imagine trying to handle that many people at a crowded venue like Disney World.
I take a family photo (and Jenny) in front of the hearse, and we are allowed into the queue. The queue through the Cemetery is much too long, so we bypass it and go into the preshow. I substitute the memory card in the camera, and show Dreslaine the pictures from the castle suite. What a rotten person I am.
Once we exit the stretching room, we are directed into an alternate handicap queue, which will feed us to the ride's exit, so we get on where we would normally get off. Once on, the doom buggy's bar doesn't close, so we're told not to do anything stupid. Or something like that. We do the ride through, and exit.
Magic Kingdom / Dreslaine's family
Jenny and I have no idea where Laura's Chocolate event is. I know it's in Epcot. 2pm, I think. No, it's 4pm in France. Okay, we're off to... Wait. Jenny remembers a Tinkerbelle shop around the castle. She is looking for a Christmas Present. We go around the back of the castle, and we can't find it. We're gone, off to... Yacht Club! Then we'll just take the boat to Epcot, and France is right there at the international gateway.
If the Chocolate Meet is at 4pm, we do have some time. Lunch. First, we take some pictures at Yacht Club's Christmas train set. Wow. Now this has some detail.
Yacht Club Christmas Train Display
Here's where the Addict Jenny starts to surface. She asks at the front desk where the pressed penny machine is. In the arcade. We go there, only to find out she needs all three. I am sent next door (to Beaches and Cream) and get a couple bucks worth of quarters. She has cents. I get the change, and it's one of the electronic models. I ask her not to break it, and get a dirty look. Hey, I'm not the one who breaks electronics!
We walk all the way around Crescent Lake. Big River is open. We go to Kouzzina's. Not open for lunch. Bummer. We get a table at Big River, and I order the Kobe Burger, and Jenny has the quesadilla.
With lunch over, we go and grab the boat to Epcot. It's right there at the dock. We are in Epcot minutes later.
We are in time (it's 4pm), but no Laura or crowd of people. We will later find the event was supposed to start at 2pm. Well, we're here, and Serveur Amusant is just starting their show, and we get to see the chair tower built from scratch...
With feet tired, we take the boat from Morocco to Canada, then the walk to the resort bus. We get to the bus stop, and the bus is right there.
An hour's nap is in order. While napping, apparently, it rained. Everything's wet. But it's not going to stop us, we're going to go into DHS tonight for the Osborne Lights.
We get to the bus stop, and you guessed it, there's a DHS bus right there. As a matter of fact, she's about to pull out, but is blocked by another bus, so we stand there and smile, and the door opens.
We walk to the back of the park, and make our way through Pixar Place, and to the Streets of America and The Osborne Family Spectacle Of Dancing Lights.
The Osborne Family Spectacle Of Dancing Lights
They've made several improvements, most notably on the canopy by...uh...San Francisco street. They also have more control and lighting options on all the buildings, removing many of my objections the last time I saw the lights in 2008. Otherwise, there's problems. Most of the angels don't light up. A couple of buildings have large panels of lights out. The inner "trees" in the large tree by the switch doesn't work. Obviously, Disney's having some problems.
Still, it's impressive, and really celebrates the season, like always. We head toward the stunt show side, and check out some of the free standing displays, and it starts to rain. Hard. We cower in a small overhang for a little while, and then just decide to walk in the rain. My hat does a very good job of shedding water. Unless you're smacked down under water at a wave pool. But I digress.
The Osborne Family Spectacle Of Dancing Lights
On our way out, we pass Star Tours, and can't resist stopping in. Twice. It was a walk on both times. I have noticed that the facial recognition scan takes place when you're first seated. You can see the camera move behind the overhead display that has the no smoking, eating or drinking sign. Once the camera makes it's pass, the no smoking sign lights up.
We exit the park, and bus back to the resort. Jenny has to go get her boarding pass printed. I accompany her to the lobby, then call it a night.
End December 2011 Trip Report - Part 9.
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