MOUSEFEST 2004
OUR WONDERFUL TRIP WITH THE MOUSE
Day 5, Back in the USA
:
We rose at 6:30, and at 6:50 got our wakeup call from Mickey
. Bob went to Shutters to pick up the pictures we'd decided to purchase, and met me at Parrot Cay for breakfast. We had a nice "last meal" with our friends Ann and George, Doris and Dennis, and Ray. Again, Danna and Niti were our servers, and we all exchanged hugs
with them when we left, they'd become almost like family. I was sorry
to have to leave them
.
We left the ship, and after we collected our bags, went through customs. I showed the officer the sand we'd collected. He was a bit hesitant
, but I told him that we don't have really nice beaches where we live, and I thought that if I planted the sand, that I could grow my own
. He just laughed and asked if there was anything alive in the bags. I reassured him that there wasn't, and he let me keep it
.
As we left the terminal, it was trying to rain
, and the skies remained overcast and cloudy for most of the day
. We loaded our luggage into the van, and headed for Orlando. We collected a bit of dirt from Port Canaveral for our friend before we left.
As we drove along the BeeLine, we decided to make a quick stop at Belz Outlet Mall to pick up some cheap pins for trading. We got off the BeeLine at International Drive and made our way to the mall. We picked up the pins, plus another scrapbooking kit
and some other stuff, then headed for Epcot. We'd figured that since our room probably wouldn't be ready this early
, we might as well put in some park time before checking in
.
After our arrival and parking at Epcot and we were walking into the park, I discovered that we'd left the camera in the van
! So I headed back to retrieve it. I noticed a man getting out of a mini-van with his back toward me, but I'd recognize that logo anywhere
- a big, black question mark with Mouse Ears....It had to be Lou Mongello (author of Walt Disney World Trivia), someone I'd chatted with several times on his website. I said, "Lou"???....He turned around with puzzlement written all over his face, and I approached him and showed him my "Ripkensnana" badge. He immediately knew who I was, and we exchanged a big, warm hug
. He introduced me to his beautiful wife, Deanna, and his little princess, Marion Rose (a one-year-old charmer with big brown eyes and dark hair)
.
I quickly retrieved the camera, and as Bob and I finally entered Epcot, we bumped into the Mongello's again. We took each other's pictures
in front of the Mickey and Minnie topiaries - the Mickey one sporting a Santa hat. Bob and I then headed for Innoventions West, which was one of the few things at Epcot that we hadn't done before. I have to interject here that one of the Prime Objectives of this trip was to try to do as many "new" things as possible
.
Innoventions West was more fun than we'd thought it would be
, but we didn't have as much time to spend there as I would have liked, because we had a PS at Garden Grill
.
Our server was Yalila, from the Phillipines, and our lunch (flank steak, pork loin, catfish, roasted potatoes, red cabbage, and veggies) was delicious (as usual), but nobody put my napkin in my lap
! I had to do it myself....I was used to Danna or Niti doing it for me
....and at the end of the meal, we actually had to pay
! What was up with that
???
Anyway, we were visited by Dale, then Chip came along and gave me a big hug
and a kiss
. Mickey stopped by, then Pluto put in an appearance, then they all returned one by one again, so we had two visits from each
.
At the end of the meal, we found that Annette had struck again
! We were presented with an anniversary cake that was quite large - we had to take most of it with us
!
Bob took the cake to the van, and I hung around the pin shop to wait for him. I spotted a MouseFest pin beneath an unfamiliar face, so introduced myself....It turned out to be James D (dzneynut/nasanut) and his wife Linda
. He and I had met previously in the chat rooms, and it was great to actually meet him! We chatted a bit, then browsed the pin shop (individually). I found a copy of a book which pictures and lists most of the Disney pins, and tried to find a picture of the third Tinker Bell pin that Bob needs to complete the set of lanyard pins he's trying to collect. James came over to help
me, and we weren't having a whole lot of luck
, until I spotted a tab at the top of one of the pages that said "Lanyard"....Duh
! We got a chuckle out of that, and about this time Bob approached, and I performed the introductions.
Bob is a retired General Motors employee, and as such is entitled to use the VIP Lounge at Test Track, so we headed there to find out how many people we could bring up at once. They said any reasonable amount....Bob (of course) asked if 200 would be reasonable, the guy said, "How much are you willing to pay for us to be reasonable?" They did say that 10 or 20 wouldn't be too far out of line. This was great
, because I wanted to invite the Marx's and family to come there with us, and maybe a few other people as well.
We then went to the Spaceship Earth entrance for the Hidden Mickey hunt. Along the way we ran into Steve Barrett, who told us that he'd been out making sure that the HM's he'd chosen for the hunt were still in place (since some of them do tend to change from time to time). We got to the meeting spot, and I was just standing there when I heard, "Carol?" I turned around, read a name badge, and got a great big hug from TheGoof (who, along with Nala, I spend most of my chatroom time with)! I was so happy to meet him, and meet his son, MaxGoof
! The only damper was that his DW couldn't be there as well
....One of these days we'll have to set something up so that Nala's family, TheGoof's family, and Bob and myself can all be at WDW at the same time....The place may never be the same (Mwuaahaahaaa)!
Steve handed out pictures of the Hidden Mickeys to be found, along with a list of questions regarding some of them. He explained the general areas where some would be, told us that we'd have to ride Journey into the Imagination (really hard to take
), and that one of the HM's in Germany was hidden by Christmas decor, but that we should be able to figure out where it was.
The four of us headed for the Mission: Space shop, where we found a bunch - then had a bit of trouble finding the next one....it turned out to be on the backside of the moon outside the ride. Then it was off to Journey Into the Imagination. Bob left us to "use the facilities", and TheGoof, MaxGoof, and I rode through and met Bob outside afterward.
I recognized where the next batch would have to be, so we headed to Canada - sure enough, there it was, near the top of a totem pole. The next one was in the United Kingdom, then one in Morocco, and on to Japan. The last ones were in Germany, and the next puzzler was to find Steve. He'd told us that he'd be in Germany, so we scoured the place....All at once, we spotted him on the lagoon side of the pavilion! We finally reached him, and discovered that we'd come in second. Another Christmas ornament
! Cool
.
We took TheGoof and MaxGoof to Test Track (as previously promised) to visit the VIP lounge. There's a separate entrance, so we went in and rode the elevator up to the lounge. There's a room with a typical Coca-Cola dispenser - Coke, Diet Coke. Sprite, Minute Maid something or other....you get the picture. There's also coffee, tea and hot chocolate if you don't want a cold drink. This room also has windows overlooking most of the indoor part of the ride. There are conference rooms in the center area, and huge floor-to-ceiling windows above the outdoor, high speed part of the track. The cars fly past just below in a blur! You also get a great panoramic view of Future World. A couple of years ago, we could see Mission: Space while it was under construction (there'd been a wall in front at the time so it couldn't be seen otherwise). We took some pictures
, used the restrooms, then got a pass from the secretary so that we could board the ride immediately.
We rode another elevator down to the unloading area, gave the CM our pass, and then up and down a few stairs, and were put into the first car (I love this - no waiting in line!). We enjoyed the ride, then parted company so that Bob and I could go to POR to check in and get ready for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party
.
When we got to the resort and checked in, I discovered that we were in Magnolia Bend....Wait a minute
! I'd asked for Alligator Bayou! The CM told me that Alligator Bayou was full of cheerleaders.....Suddenly, Magnolia Bend sounded like a much better choice
!
Our room was in Oak Manor, right next to a convenient parking spot (having a handicapped permit comes in handy). Our room was very nice, but a bit fancy for my taste (which is why I'd wanted Alligator Bayou). Oh, well...we probably wouldn't be spending much time there....
We unpacked, and changed into the special, matching T-shirts we'd gotten from the Disney Catalogue. Getting these shirts was an adventure in itself! I'd ordered Mickey and Minnie Bride and Groom personalized shirts, and the inscription was to read:
"Bob & Carol
1994-2004
Ten Happy Years and Counting!"
The first shirts came reading:
"Bob & Corol....."
Wait a minute! The invoice has the inscription right, what's up
? So I sent them back, requesting an exchange for the correct inscription. About a week or so later, I found a credit on my card from the Disney Catalogue. Hey
! I wanted an exchange, not a refund
!! So I called the Disney Catalogue. The CM who handled the call was very nice, but proved to be a bit thick
....she took the information that I wanted printed on the shirts, and repeated it back to me. It sounded perfect, so I told her to place the order. The shirts came. The new inscription read:
"Bob @ Carol...." and instead of being 2 - 1x size shirts, they were 2 - 2x shirts....AAARrrrrrgggghhhhh!!!!
I returned the shirts, again requesting an exchange for the correct sizes and inscriptions. Well, the third time was the charm, so we had our Mickey and Minnie Bride and Groom shirts with the correct inscription...and it only took three tries to get it right
....
Anyway....
We then headed for the Magic Kingdom. We took the Monorail (Blue), and soon reached our destination. Our tickets were scanned, and purple wristbands were put into place.
We entered the Magic Kingdom, and were delighted
to see real snow falling on Main Street (not bubbles, as I'd been led to believe). Okay, it was man-made snow, but who cares? It was still cool
!
We wandered for a bit, and since the streets were being lined with people waiting for the first parade, we headed for Splash Mountain, thinking (rightly) that there wouldn't be too much of a line....Hah! No line at all
!!
The same held true at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Magic Carpets of Aladdin (one we hadn't done before)
.
It was getting to be Wishes time, so we headed for the general area of Cinderella's Carrousel, as that's where TheGoof said that he likes to watch them...We searched and searched, but couldn't find him! We found out later that he'd decided to go to the MouseFest meet at the Rose Garden, thinking we'd be there....Talk about miscommunication
! We also rode the teacups while we were there (another "newbie" for us).
After Wishes, we went to Cosmic Rays for a bite to eat, into the Timekeeper building for our freebie picture, and nabbed a spot for parade watching.
I loved
the parade! It was so cool
to see all the characters in holiday garb
, and the very energetic dancing! Those young people must be in terrific shape to keep that sort of thing up for the whole parade
!
We were a bit tired by this time, so wandered through the Emporium to do some pin trading on our way out. We rode Coral back to the TTA, and returned to POR for a good night's rest. We were to pick up Pat (joguss) and her friend Linda from POR-FQ in the morning to attend Donald's Breakfastosaurus. We finally retired at 12:45, tired, but happy!
