Sorry kids but my cell phone ran out of battery 1/2 way though an update last night around 6:30 right as the heavens opened up.
So as everyone knows now, the 5:00 AA meet was changed to 6:00. Originally, the Marty sessions were only supposed to be 1/2 hour but I guess he had other ideas. Marty was awesome and had so many great stories, photos, concept drawings, etc. Truely an experience of a lifetime.
So we did AA at 6:00 which was great. No flags but we all tried to sit together. The show seemed 100 times better with positive Disney mojo flowing though the room. As we were letting out, they were loading up the out ramps. Later on I found out there was a wedding in the rotunda. We found out that the Dessert party was moved to Odessey because of the rain and it was to start at 7:30.
So we made our way down to China for a quick snack, when the skies opened up and poured like I haven't seen in a while, and I live here. So we waited until 7:15 and it was still coming down. So I bit the bullet, hopped over a railing to get to a shop to buy my $7 ponchos for me and the DW.
Made our way down to Odessey though the ponds in Norway and Mexico. I couldn't believe that the walkways were covered with water that was at least a foot deep in some area. Thankfully we had flip-flops on. Had to wait to get in, finally let us in around 7:45. Still raining outside.
Dessert were really good. Coffee, tea and water were included. They had a couple cheesecakes with a chocolate disk that had the 25th logo on them. Pretty neat. Will post later. Got to chill out and dry off for a little bit. We had a toast to EPCOT given by the Celebration25 team which was a nice touch. Jim McPhee was supposed to show up but couldn't make it. No BS because the DW heard one of the supervisors tell an underling to be on their best behavior because Jim may show up.
Then left in masse to Italy around 8:45. Supposedly Disney was providing us free ponchos. Not sure why they didn't hand out ponchos BEFORE we left! I got to Africa and the skies opened up again. Luckily, I got mine back on in time. I thought all the rain would have thinned out the crowds but there were a TON of people there. Diehard fans or people that were just excited to see some extra fireworks. Finally got to the island and at the base of the bridge, NOW they're handing out ponchos.
I took another one and we made a little poncho tent around us.
Right before ROE starts, some guy comes over with a basket and a towel over it. I see a Mickey bar sticking out of it. He says in broken english, "You from Odessey?" So I say yes. He takes the towel off and there's a basket of every kind of frozen treat imaginable. What luck! So he says have at it and sets it down on the fountain wall in front of us. Whoever provided that, THANK YOU!! Made the DW's night honestly. To eat a Mickey bar and watch ROE on the 25th was truly magical!
Fireworks tag was AWESOME. The power of it went right though you. Then the lasers on SSE was the icing on the cake. Then walking out with all the old music playing was the sprinkles on the icing on the cake! Didn't stay for the burnoff. Had to come to work today.
Got home about 11:00 so I'm dragging today.
Again, to everyone who made this happen, THANK YOU!! Even though some things got shuffled and it was hard to find out new information, things happen. If you showed up to all the events, you found out about the next event shift (JII -> AA -> Dessert). Overall, this was very well planned and coordinated with Disney.
And thanks again to Disney and Jim McPhee for making something, anything happen yesterday. To think how far they came in a short time all because of you the fans. Truly magical!
