On what can probably be described as an incredibly insane whim, I decided when they announced the D23 1st Anniversary parties at WDW and DL that I would go. Because of three other Disney trips planned for this year, I didn’t have very much vacation leave available, so it was by necessity going to be a short trip. I woke up at 3:30 Friday morning to get ready and get to my 6AM departure from Ottawa. I stopped in Toronto and went through U.S. Customs. For the first time ever, my passport raised flags and I was sent for secondary screening [I figured out later this might have been connected to my conditional approval for a NEXUS card]. The screening went smoothly and quickly I was winging my way to MCO. :sohappy:
On arrival, I left the plane at exactly 1PM and caught DME to GF. I was checked in and had dropped my carry-on, freshened up a bit, took some quick room pics with my iPhone and was out the door at 2:05! The room:
A quick Monorail ride to MK and a text to Sarah [NewfieFan] and her husband Pete and I was meeting them in Columbia House to get my package for the party! The package had a lanyard with a large plasticized party name tag, a certificate to redeem for a D23 gift [pictured below], an agenda of events and a complimentary one-day, one-park admission as well as a welcome cover-letter.
After introductions, I quickly abandoned Sarah and her family to go to City Hall to use the comp ticket toward renewing my AP. Unfortunately, to my chagrin, the comp ticket had no value for upgrade or toward renewal. I renewed anyway, but I will be complaining to WDW about that. IMO the comp ticket was worthless to virtually anyone who would attend the party except someone who needed 11 days’ admissions on their trip and had a 10-day MYW already or someone who didn’t have an AP and was only planning on attending the party with no other park visit while there. :shrug
With renewed AP in hand, off I went into the park. I got an FP for Space, the Standby was posted as 50 minutes, but it was 3PM, so I knew folks would be heading to watch the parade and sure enough I got two quick rides in Standby in 40 minutes total. I liked the new queue, but didn’t get to play the games and flew past most of it. The first time I went left as you enter the loading area. The ride was a lot darker than I remember pre-refurb and a little smoother. Second time I went right. This side was even smoother, but there appeared to be lights on on the TTA and it made the track dimly visible throughout the ride, which was simultaneously kinda neat and kinda disappointing. Neat to see the track even if dimly, but it detracted from the enjoyment of the ride. I rode the TTA right away in hope of seeing why the lights had been on, but they were off again. It isn’t as interesting riding through Space Mountain on TTA anymore, you can’t see down into the loading area and the trains don’t show up as well so all you see is a bit of the outline of track against the starfield and hear people screaming.
After TTA I went over to the Diamond Horseshoe, figuring 20 minutes was plenty early… The line already extended from the restaurant, through into Adventureland and was rounding the corner toward Aloha Isles by the time I joined it. I texted Pete to let them know I was in line so they could join me. Dinner was good, my piece of chicken was a bit dry, but the rest was yummy. During dinner we were given a presentation. Disney Ambassador Clay Shoemaker from the D23 team introduced Steven Clark founder/creator/head of D23. Steve gave a bit of his own history with Disney, first as a fan, then an employee and finally in Management. He talked about his first time meeting Dave Smith, the Disney Historian. He introduced the small D23team some who were present and a couple who weren’t and then he proposed a toast [he didn’t have his Champagne glass, but we all did!] to the 1st Anniversary.
He then showed some of the rumours that had spread throughout the internet regarding the “Are you 23?” campaign, only one of which I recognised from WDWMagic. Some were quite amusing. Then he reviewed some humorous artwork for advertising that never saw the light of day. There was a retrospective video/slide presentation of the D23 year in review, accompanied by a live pianist, fitting with the Diamond Horseshoe venue [the only real acknowledgement other than an earlier comment that the restaurant was chosen because of its rich history].
After dinner I chatted with Sarah and Pete until they pretty much kicked us out so they could clear and set up for the second sitting of dinner. On the way out, I asked Clay Shoemaker how many tickets had been sold, he said 350. Which explains why they were sold out in under 15 minutes! I had tried to buy mine on-line, but missed the very short window because I was at work at the time and actually had work that needed doing at 1PM. Fortunately for me, Sarah, who I’d met last August at WDW, had very kindly agreed to buy another WDWMagic member a ticket since his brand new membership didn’t seem to be working when he tried to buy tickets to other events on-line. She bought one for him, but he had tried anyway and successfully bought his own for his wife and himself. Sarah thus had an extra ticket and the fellow she’d bought for got hold of D23 and had the extra one with his name switched to my name [otherwise, there would have been two of us with his name attending :lookaroun]. Pete graciously agreed to wait until I met them for the $140US for my ticket [it’s nice to be trusted]
After dinner I was off to meet up with Marcia [SillySpook13], another Magic member who trusts me enough to buy stuff on my behalf in hope I’ll reimburse them. She’d picked up a couple of LE pins for me. I had $20 ready, but since she gets a CM discount, that was way too much. So I suggested she could use the difference to buy us both Dole Floats! A worthwhile meeting! We made tentative arrangements to possibly meet up at EPCOT Saturday if my “date” at Le Cellier fell through [it did fall through, but my brain was so fried from exhaustion I completely forgot the next day when she texted me… Sorry Marcia, I owe you a meal at Le Cellier sometime…]. Then Marcia had to leave to go to a rehearsal, so I was off to ride more. I rode Pirates and Jungle Cruise, then used my FP on Space. This time I went right again and it was dark through the whole ride, I love the refurb. Then I thought of riding CoP, but it was getting close to time for Wishes and the rest of the party, so I went and rode Haunted Mansion instead. After mansion, I sat in FrontierLand and watched Wishes. We then congregated in front of Hall of Presidents to be escorted over to PhilharMagic. I tried to spot Sarah and Pete, but had no luck. I finally texted and found them that way. It took a lot longer before we got moving than planned, but we finally headed off.
Mark Cole from WDI was introduced by Clay Shoemaker. He gave a brief history of WDI, a photo of the first five Imagineers working with Walt and then a video about Imagineering. He then went into details about the upcoming FantasyLand Forest expansion. He said Phase one would be opening in about two and a half years [around October 2012]. The first part was about the Cinderella M&G, a group of 30-40 guests would be introduced Cindy in her rags by the Fairy Godmother, who would lead the group in “Bibbity, bobbity, boo” as Cindy magically transforms into her Princess form. Then after the transformation, Cindy will interact with the guests dancing with guests or offering knight training in order that a male guest can properly “announce” her. From there he went into the Belle M&G. Guests will enter Maurice’s [Belle’s father] cottage to see the magical mirror the Beast gave Maurice so he could always see his daughter [a concept that I thought might be disturbing to Belle at certain times :lookaroun]. Going through the mirror, the guests will meet Belle and help play out some of Belle’s stories. He talked about the restaurant being highly interactive and loaded with technology, but gave no specifics. Then he went on to the Aurora M&G, where guests will create a Birthday card for a surprise 16th birthday party for Aurora [since she slept through the original] and help with preparations for the party. Then they’ll attend the surprise party and interact with Aurora. All three M&Gs are intended to provide “meaningful” interaction with the Princesses of up to 10 minutes each.
The Ariel “E-Ticket” was next. He showed concept art of an omnimover dark ride, but not much detail. Then he talked about the duel Dumbo ride. Afer that, he showed photos of scale models of some of the new attractions, the Woodcutter’s Cottage and one or two others. Then he went into an open Q&A session, apologizing that they would be doing stuff behind him to cycle PhilharMagic so we could watch it when he was done. He fielded a whole lot of questions without really answering much. A number of things were “yet to be determined/decided”. He got several questions about Mickey and Minnie’s houses, but ultimately all he clearly said in response [this guy would make a great politician!] was that there will always be Mickey and Minnie M&Gs at WDW [a lot of folks seemed to be satisfied that he had indicated they would always have houses, but he certainly didn’t say so].
Then they showed PhilharMagic [after a short wait, apparently they hadn’t completely cycled whatever needed cycling... Someone suggested the Q&A had cut off early because the speaker was getting hammered with questions he couldn't really answer] and we were off into FantasyLand. There were a number of dessert tables set up with some incredibly good stuff. There were a few characters out, Bandleader Mickey, Pinocchio and Jiminy, Belle and Gaston, the Tremaines, Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow. I rode Snow White for the very first time! Lines are usually way to long there. Also rode Peter Pan, though I’d ridden it previously. Sadly, Pooh and IASW were both closed. I decided to forego Dumbo, even though I’ve never been on it, it was a bit too chilly for an outdoor ride.
Having been awake since 3:30, I was totally exhausted at 10:30PM and decided I’d better head back to GF before I collapsed in MK. So we went to the Gift table to exchange our certificates for our D23 1st Anniversary pins and I said my goodnights to Sarah and Pete and headed out. They stayed. I was happy to find that the resort Monorail was the one they'd kept running. The announcement had said they'd keep the Monorail running to take guests to the TTC to transfer to a DTD bus and then take buses back to their resorts, but didn't say which or if they'd stop at the Monorail resorts. So I made it back to GF. DME had successfully transferred my checked luggage, so I unpacked and organised for the morning, then crashed.
Saturday I was up at 7AM [darn military training!]. So, I showered and got dressed and headed to the Grand Floridian Café for breakfast. I had Eggs Benedict with a side of potatoes, coffee and orange juice. It was quite good. Then I went to pre-check-in for my flights home and get boarding passes printed off at the Concierge. I asked about booking the bounce-back offer, but he said I had to book it from my room by phone. So, I went back and phoned to book 6 nights in December. I wanted GF again [one night really isn’t enough to judge a resort on], but there was no availability for my dates. So I booked WL instead at 40% off! Then I packed my luggage and took it to Bell services to store for later and was off to EPCOT.
I arrived before rope drop and bought two “Then & Now” series pins. From there I grabbed an FP for Soarin’ and then rode right away with minimal wait. Then I headed to Sum of All Fears and created a wonderful fight jet ride and rode it. What a great new attraction! I loved it! A definite must-do for future trips [my son Morgan will likely “design” all my future rides, but that’s OK, I got to do one]. Then I did my obligatory SSE ride. Stopped by Club Cool for a whistle whet. Then I used the Soarin’ FP. And rode Living with the Land. I got a text from Katie [SweetMagic] saying her migraines were bothering her and she wouldn’t make it for our late lunch/early dinner date at Le Cellier [this is when I was supposed to let Marcia know so she could join me instead – I’m blaming lack of sleep]. I decided to just wander WS and shop through the various stores. When I got to the UK, I stopped in to my favourite pub and ordered my traditional Blue Label. The bartender poured a very generous free-pour shot [more than double] so I tipped him very handsomely. As I savoured my Scotch, I texted Otto to torture him a little [he’s been known to enjoy Blue Label].
The Blue Label after I’d already consumed more than half, there’s still a full shot!
Then I was off to Canada. I had a little time, so I ordered a Moosehead in a Le Cellier commemorative mug and enjoyed a little people-watching while I drank it. I then reported to Le Cellier and realised I’d forgotten to tell Marcia she could join me. Despite my extreme guilt, I managed to thoroughly enjoy every mouthwatering spoonful of Choup and morsel of succulent Filet. I made friends with a retired couple from Connecticut who were at the table next to me and we chatted merrily throughout. I had the Chocolate Whiskey cake for dessert. It was, as always, an absolutely divine meal.
Sadly, from there I had to race to the Monorail and managed to retrieve my luggage just five minutes before my scheduled pick-up. I hate that they insist on getting international passengers four hours before their flights. Everybody goes through the same check-in and the same security screening, why do I need to sit around waiting after security for an extra hour? Anyway, I arrived safely, checked my bag and was off to wait… and wait… When I got to the departure gate, the sign said the flight was delayed, but not by how much. There was no agent at the gate to ask. Just then I got a text from the airline that it was delayed 45 minutes, I forgot that I'd signed up for text updates. The delay meant my connection was impossible in Toronto. I phoned and rebooked my Toronto-Ottawa flight for the following morning and arranged a hotel voucher. I then advised other passengers in the gate area that the flight would be at least 45 minutes late… Still no agent at the gate either. We ended up over an hour late into Toronto. Iwent to the hotel, got about four hours of fitful sleep and then returned to catch my new flight to Ottawa.
[FONT="]Long trip for such a short stay, but I had a wonderful time![/FONT]
On arrival, I left the plane at exactly 1PM and caught DME to GF. I was checked in and had dropped my carry-on, freshened up a bit, took some quick room pics with my iPhone and was out the door at 2:05! The room:
A quick Monorail ride to MK and a text to Sarah [NewfieFan] and her husband Pete and I was meeting them in Columbia House to get my package for the party! The package had a lanyard with a large plasticized party name tag, a certificate to redeem for a D23 gift [pictured below], an agenda of events and a complimentary one-day, one-park admission as well as a welcome cover-letter.
After introductions, I quickly abandoned Sarah and her family to go to City Hall to use the comp ticket toward renewing my AP. Unfortunately, to my chagrin, the comp ticket had no value for upgrade or toward renewal. I renewed anyway, but I will be complaining to WDW about that. IMO the comp ticket was worthless to virtually anyone who would attend the party except someone who needed 11 days’ admissions on their trip and had a 10-day MYW already or someone who didn’t have an AP and was only planning on attending the party with no other park visit while there. :shrug
With renewed AP in hand, off I went into the park. I got an FP for Space, the Standby was posted as 50 minutes, but it was 3PM, so I knew folks would be heading to watch the parade and sure enough I got two quick rides in Standby in 40 minutes total. I liked the new queue, but didn’t get to play the games and flew past most of it. The first time I went left as you enter the loading area. The ride was a lot darker than I remember pre-refurb and a little smoother. Second time I went right. This side was even smoother, but there appeared to be lights on on the TTA and it made the track dimly visible throughout the ride, which was simultaneously kinda neat and kinda disappointing. Neat to see the track even if dimly, but it detracted from the enjoyment of the ride. I rode the TTA right away in hope of seeing why the lights had been on, but they were off again. It isn’t as interesting riding through Space Mountain on TTA anymore, you can’t see down into the loading area and the trains don’t show up as well so all you see is a bit of the outline of track against the starfield and hear people screaming.
After TTA I went over to the Diamond Horseshoe, figuring 20 minutes was plenty early… The line already extended from the restaurant, through into Adventureland and was rounding the corner toward Aloha Isles by the time I joined it. I texted Pete to let them know I was in line so they could join me. Dinner was good, my piece of chicken was a bit dry, but the rest was yummy. During dinner we were given a presentation. Disney Ambassador Clay Shoemaker from the D23 team introduced Steven Clark founder/creator/head of D23. Steve gave a bit of his own history with Disney, first as a fan, then an employee and finally in Management. He talked about his first time meeting Dave Smith, the Disney Historian. He introduced the small D23team some who were present and a couple who weren’t and then he proposed a toast [he didn’t have his Champagne glass, but we all did!] to the 1st Anniversary.
He then showed some of the rumours that had spread throughout the internet regarding the “Are you 23?” campaign, only one of which I recognised from WDWMagic. Some were quite amusing. Then he reviewed some humorous artwork for advertising that never saw the light of day. There was a retrospective video/slide presentation of the D23 year in review, accompanied by a live pianist, fitting with the Diamond Horseshoe venue [the only real acknowledgement other than an earlier comment that the restaurant was chosen because of its rich history].
After dinner I chatted with Sarah and Pete until they pretty much kicked us out so they could clear and set up for the second sitting of dinner. On the way out, I asked Clay Shoemaker how many tickets had been sold, he said 350. Which explains why they were sold out in under 15 minutes! I had tried to buy mine on-line, but missed the very short window because I was at work at the time and actually had work that needed doing at 1PM. Fortunately for me, Sarah, who I’d met last August at WDW, had very kindly agreed to buy another WDWMagic member a ticket since his brand new membership didn’t seem to be working when he tried to buy tickets to other events on-line. She bought one for him, but he had tried anyway and successfully bought his own for his wife and himself. Sarah thus had an extra ticket and the fellow she’d bought for got hold of D23 and had the extra one with his name switched to my name [otherwise, there would have been two of us with his name attending :lookaroun]. Pete graciously agreed to wait until I met them for the $140US for my ticket [it’s nice to be trusted]
After dinner I was off to meet up with Marcia [SillySpook13], another Magic member who trusts me enough to buy stuff on my behalf in hope I’ll reimburse them. She’d picked up a couple of LE pins for me. I had $20 ready, but since she gets a CM discount, that was way too much. So I suggested she could use the difference to buy us both Dole Floats! A worthwhile meeting! We made tentative arrangements to possibly meet up at EPCOT Saturday if my “date” at Le Cellier fell through [it did fall through, but my brain was so fried from exhaustion I completely forgot the next day when she texted me… Sorry Marcia, I owe you a meal at Le Cellier sometime…]. Then Marcia had to leave to go to a rehearsal, so I was off to ride more. I rode Pirates and Jungle Cruise, then used my FP on Space. This time I went right again and it was dark through the whole ride, I love the refurb. Then I thought of riding CoP, but it was getting close to time for Wishes and the rest of the party, so I went and rode Haunted Mansion instead. After mansion, I sat in FrontierLand and watched Wishes. We then congregated in front of Hall of Presidents to be escorted over to PhilharMagic. I tried to spot Sarah and Pete, but had no luck. I finally texted and found them that way. It took a lot longer before we got moving than planned, but we finally headed off.
Mark Cole from WDI was introduced by Clay Shoemaker. He gave a brief history of WDI, a photo of the first five Imagineers working with Walt and then a video about Imagineering. He then went into details about the upcoming FantasyLand Forest expansion. He said Phase one would be opening in about two and a half years [around October 2012]. The first part was about the Cinderella M&G, a group of 30-40 guests would be introduced Cindy in her rags by the Fairy Godmother, who would lead the group in “Bibbity, bobbity, boo” as Cindy magically transforms into her Princess form. Then after the transformation, Cindy will interact with the guests dancing with guests or offering knight training in order that a male guest can properly “announce” her. From there he went into the Belle M&G. Guests will enter Maurice’s [Belle’s father] cottage to see the magical mirror the Beast gave Maurice so he could always see his daughter [a concept that I thought might be disturbing to Belle at certain times :lookaroun]. Going through the mirror, the guests will meet Belle and help play out some of Belle’s stories. He talked about the restaurant being highly interactive and loaded with technology, but gave no specifics. Then he went on to the Aurora M&G, where guests will create a Birthday card for a surprise 16th birthday party for Aurora [since she slept through the original] and help with preparations for the party. Then they’ll attend the surprise party and interact with Aurora. All three M&Gs are intended to provide “meaningful” interaction with the Princesses of up to 10 minutes each.
The Ariel “E-Ticket” was next. He showed concept art of an omnimover dark ride, but not much detail. Then he talked about the duel Dumbo ride. Afer that, he showed photos of scale models of some of the new attractions, the Woodcutter’s Cottage and one or two others. Then he went into an open Q&A session, apologizing that they would be doing stuff behind him to cycle PhilharMagic so we could watch it when he was done. He fielded a whole lot of questions without really answering much. A number of things were “yet to be determined/decided”. He got several questions about Mickey and Minnie’s houses, but ultimately all he clearly said in response [this guy would make a great politician!] was that there will always be Mickey and Minnie M&Gs at WDW [a lot of folks seemed to be satisfied that he had indicated they would always have houses, but he certainly didn’t say so].
Then they showed PhilharMagic [after a short wait, apparently they hadn’t completely cycled whatever needed cycling... Someone suggested the Q&A had cut off early because the speaker was getting hammered with questions he couldn't really answer] and we were off into FantasyLand. There were a number of dessert tables set up with some incredibly good stuff. There were a few characters out, Bandleader Mickey, Pinocchio and Jiminy, Belle and Gaston, the Tremaines, Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow. I rode Snow White for the very first time! Lines are usually way to long there. Also rode Peter Pan, though I’d ridden it previously. Sadly, Pooh and IASW were both closed. I decided to forego Dumbo, even though I’ve never been on it, it was a bit too chilly for an outdoor ride.
Having been awake since 3:30, I was totally exhausted at 10:30PM and decided I’d better head back to GF before I collapsed in MK. So we went to the Gift table to exchange our certificates for our D23 1st Anniversary pins and I said my goodnights to Sarah and Pete and headed out. They stayed. I was happy to find that the resort Monorail was the one they'd kept running. The announcement had said they'd keep the Monorail running to take guests to the TTC to transfer to a DTD bus and then take buses back to their resorts, but didn't say which or if they'd stop at the Monorail resorts. So I made it back to GF. DME had successfully transferred my checked luggage, so I unpacked and organised for the morning, then crashed.
Saturday I was up at 7AM [darn military training!]. So, I showered and got dressed and headed to the Grand Floridian Café for breakfast. I had Eggs Benedict with a side of potatoes, coffee and orange juice. It was quite good. Then I went to pre-check-in for my flights home and get boarding passes printed off at the Concierge. I asked about booking the bounce-back offer, but he said I had to book it from my room by phone. So, I went back and phoned to book 6 nights in December. I wanted GF again [one night really isn’t enough to judge a resort on], but there was no availability for my dates. So I booked WL instead at 40% off! Then I packed my luggage and took it to Bell services to store for later and was off to EPCOT.
I arrived before rope drop and bought two “Then & Now” series pins. From there I grabbed an FP for Soarin’ and then rode right away with minimal wait. Then I headed to Sum of All Fears and created a wonderful fight jet ride and rode it. What a great new attraction! I loved it! A definite must-do for future trips [my son Morgan will likely “design” all my future rides, but that’s OK, I got to do one]. Then I did my obligatory SSE ride. Stopped by Club Cool for a whistle whet. Then I used the Soarin’ FP. And rode Living with the Land. I got a text from Katie [SweetMagic] saying her migraines were bothering her and she wouldn’t make it for our late lunch/early dinner date at Le Cellier [this is when I was supposed to let Marcia know so she could join me instead – I’m blaming lack of sleep]. I decided to just wander WS and shop through the various stores. When I got to the UK, I stopped in to my favourite pub and ordered my traditional Blue Label. The bartender poured a very generous free-pour shot [more than double] so I tipped him very handsomely. As I savoured my Scotch, I texted Otto to torture him a little [he’s been known to enjoy Blue Label].
The Blue Label after I’d already consumed more than half, there’s still a full shot!
Then I was off to Canada. I had a little time, so I ordered a Moosehead in a Le Cellier commemorative mug and enjoyed a little people-watching while I drank it. I then reported to Le Cellier and realised I’d forgotten to tell Marcia she could join me. Despite my extreme guilt, I managed to thoroughly enjoy every mouthwatering spoonful of Choup and morsel of succulent Filet. I made friends with a retired couple from Connecticut who were at the table next to me and we chatted merrily throughout. I had the Chocolate Whiskey cake for dessert. It was, as always, an absolutely divine meal.
Sadly, from there I had to race to the Monorail and managed to retrieve my luggage just five minutes before my scheduled pick-up. I hate that they insist on getting international passengers four hours before their flights. Everybody goes through the same check-in and the same security screening, why do I need to sit around waiting after security for an extra hour? Anyway, I arrived safely, checked my bag and was off to wait… and wait… When I got to the departure gate, the sign said the flight was delayed, but not by how much. There was no agent at the gate to ask. Just then I got a text from the airline that it was delayed 45 minutes, I forgot that I'd signed up for text updates. The delay meant my connection was impossible in Toronto. I phoned and rebooked my Toronto-Ottawa flight for the following morning and arranged a hotel voucher. I then advised other passengers in the gate area that the flight would be at least 45 minutes late… Still no agent at the gate either. We ended up over an hour late into Toronto. Iwent to the hotel, got about four hours of fitful sleep and then returned to catch my new flight to Ottawa.
[FONT="]Long trip for such a short stay, but I had a wonderful time![/FONT]
