My "Pin Event" Trip

Gosh, it feels as if it has only been a few weeks since I last ended my report on my Mini Grand Tour. In any case, I'm about to leave very early tomorrow morning to fly off to WDW for an 9-day vacation.

There are two special items on this trip. First, on Tuesday morning, we will be doing the 2-hour Segway tour at Epcot. Thanks to everyone who had reported on this, we have decided to do this, so we are really looking forward to it.

Then starting on the 8th and running through till the 10th, it's the annual, largest pin event at WDW, to be held at the World Showplace in Epcot. This year's theme is "It All Started With ... Walt!" This will be the 2nd pin event that we are attending, so this time, we won't be so "ga ga" over the whole thing, and won't make the same mistakes that we did last year. We are already ensured of receiving several Random Selection pins when we get there, and can't wait to see all the goodies that we will get as part of attending this event. BTW, the event will be open to the public on Sunday the 10th at 11:00 am.

Anyway, as with the Mini Grand Tour report, I'll try to make daily reports with pictures whenever I can.

I just know that I won't be able to sleep tonight.....

Zz.

 

[KnK]

My trip starts in 2 days! Your pictures have helped for the pre-warm-up for the vacation!

 

[ZapperZ]

A fun morning at Animal Kingdom. Again, it wasn't busy at all, and Expedition Everest only had barely a 5-minute wait, which is almost unthinkable. So we rode it twice!

We then went on the Safari ride. Our guide, again, was terrific and he was really enthusiastic about it. Wish I remembered his name.

We then did Primeval Whirl (again), and the Dinosaur ride. We did a little bit of shopping, and a lot of pin trading (of course). I also want to make a correction. Expedition Everest ride pictures are NOT available on PhotoPass. For some reason, I thought it was EE that had this. Oh well. In any case, we got our 2nd free 5x7 pictures from a second voucher we got for playing the Yeti Vision game. Again, love those freebies!

Anyway, we didn't take a lot of pictures today (we did videotape EE again, and the safari). So here are more pictures from yesterday.

When we walked into the Magic Kingdom, the Dapper Dans were serenading us. They sound as wonderful as ever.

This was the neatest part of Pirates of the Caribbean ride - the projection of Davy Jones onto a screen of mist that you ride through.

Haven't done Snow White in quite a while, so we did it this time while the lines was almost non-existent.

Of course, we did It's A Small World. It's a must on every trip.

While we were waiting for Wishes, I took this shot. I am very fond of this. Never took it from this location before.

And of course, another shot of Wishes.

We're back at Old Key West, resting for the afternoon. We're meeting up with a few friends this evening in Downtown Disney for dinner. So today will be just a relaxing day at our resort and hanging around the pool.

Zz.

 

[PSU_Princess]

Your pictures are absolutely amazing! :sohappy:

 

[Jerm]

While we were waiting for Wishes, I took this shot. I am very fond of this. Never took it from this location before.

Zz.

Was that it for people in the hub for Wishes????? Oh please say yes, that will make my trip at the end of the month that much better!

J

 

[ZapperZ]

Was that it for people in the hub for Wishes????? Oh please say yes, that will make my trip at the end of the month that much better!

J

Yes it is, but there is a very good reason for it. You shouldn't sit too close to the castle or else you'll miss a lot of the fireworks that occur behind and above the castle. So sitting right at the hub behind the Partners statue is not a good idea. Go to the entrance to the hub on the bridge. That would be the most ideal location.

Zz.

 

[DanStat]

You're having a perfect trip. Seems to be a leisurely pace. Very nice.

 

[ZapperZ]

As expected, we had a very relaxing afternoon at OKW. At around 5:00 pm, we made our way to Downtown Disney's West Side on the water shuttle. It was a very pleasent, slow ride, with a lovely view. This first one is the view of the water way leaving the loading dock area at OKW.

This is the view from the water way of one of the buildings/villas of OKW.

This is the water shuttle and our captain.

The water shuttle made a stop at Saratoga Springs before heading out to the West Side, and finally to the loading area right next to Cap'n Jack's at Marketplace. This was where we took the shuttle back after a lovely evening in Downtown Disney. This is the front of Disney Quest, which, if rumor about its fate is correct, will soon be gone and be replaced with ESPN Zone.

And just for the heck of it, here's another picture from last night of the castle, taken at the top of the Hub.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

I mentioned earlier that when we were at Disney/MGM Studios, we did the Animation Studios and got to learn how to draw Mickey Mouse. This is the second time we did this, and both times we got to draw Mickey. So I think I'm getting a bit better and doing it. Here is my sketch of Mickey that I did in that Animation Studio class.

When we sat in the pilot's cabin of the Monorail going towards the Magic Kingdom, the pilot gave us these co-pilot cards. So these things come with a wonderful memory of riding in the front of the monorail for the very first time for us.

I usually don't ask to do this since we usually do not travel with any kids. But since it wasn't that busy, and no one was asking to ride it up front, I decided to ask. I'm glad I did!

Today, we're going back to the Magic Kingdom. Meeting up with a few friends there, and then see how it goes. Our pin event starts tomorrow afternoon, with registration starting around 2:00 pm at the Contemporary.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

Oops! I just looked at the calendar,and the pin even registration is this afternoon! Phew, glad I double-checked!

So we will spend part of the afternoon at MK, and then do our pin event registration at the Contemporary after that. It goes from 12:00 noon till 7:00 pm.

Zz.

 

[ilovepluto23]

Thanks for sharing your pics, they're awesome! Glad your trip is going great!

 

[cpcpjfan]

Fantastic report. Can't wait to hear more.

 

[ZapperZ]

We had a lot of fun at the Magic Kingdom today, mainly because it wasn't busy at all! I mean, just LOOK at this:

This was taken at 10:00 am in Frontierland as we're walking towards Splash Mountain. It was like that most of the morning. We went on Splash Mountain twice, and Thunder Mountain Railroad twice. There were almost ZERO wait time for all of them.

We then went to Pirates and did that twice also. They now have a frequent show right in the plaza where a cast member did a very good acting job as Cap'n Jack.

We then did Jungle Cruise again, and as with the last one, our Jungle Cruise skipper, Pete, was also quite good. So that's 2 jungle cruises in a row that we had very good skippers! Again, hats off to these cast members who, I'm sure, worked like mad to make it fun, interesting, and punny, especially to those of us who are seasoned Jungle Cruisers.

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[ZapperZ]

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We then headed on over to the Convention Center at the Contemporary to register for our pin event and to pick up the merchandize that we have ordered. Strangely enough, it was the zoo that we encountered last year, where we were in line for almost 1 1/2 hours! This time, it was more manageable and pleasent. This is a snapshot of the queue line to pick up the merchandize and registration package.

Several pin box sets and framed sets were on display. These were some of the merchandize that were available to the attendees to try to get via the Random Selection Process. Of course, the big framed set can go as high as $800! So these things are not cheap, to say the least. I noticed many attendees walking out with boxes and boxes of stuff. We only have two small bags, with our pins and a few jumbo pins released for this event. Didn't go overboard this time.

Tonight, we're having dinner at our favorite South Indian restaurant that is not on Disney property. It is at the Crossroad strip mall right at the end of Hotel Plaza Blvd. Tomorrow, we'll be spending most of the day at Epcot since the official first day of the pin event moves to the World Showplace. We don't want to miss the pin games and getting our stamps from the pin partners to receive free gifts/pins. There are more freebies to be had.

Zz.

 

[DanStat]

Can't wait to see more pin pics. Do you use a tripod for your night photos?

 

[ZapperZ]

Can't wait to see more pin pics. Do you use a tripod for your night photos?

For the good ones, yes. It's the only way to get a sharp picture when I'm in the manual ISO 100 mode. Any attempt to hold it by hand in that mode will result in very fuzzy picture.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

More pictures from today.

We took a tour of the inside of Exposition Hall. I don't mean the front part where you pick up your photos, but all the way to the back where there's plenty of exhibitions on Walt and Disney's history. These two pictures below are some of the stuff we found there.

In early afternoon, we went on the Dumbo ride, which had only a 5-minute wait - typically unheard of during other times of the year.

Lastly, more pictures from the pin event registration. This is the artists signing session where several of the Disney artists responsible for the pins released during this event are present to sign their work. Throughout the pin event, several different sessions of Disney artists signing session will occur. I'm hoping to get a few of the jumbo pins that I got signed by the artists.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

More reports from the pin event.

One of the pin sets that we bought was the mystery pin set. It is a decorative tin that has 4 randomly selected pin out of a set of 10.

Between the 2 of us, we bought a total of 6 tins. After we took care of our registration and merchandize pick-up, we sat at one of the many tables available in the registration area and started going through the pins we got. As we got to our mystery pin set and started to open them, several people began to "hover" around our table. A couple of them told us that they are all looking to see what we got since they didn't get the complete set of 10 from the tins that they got. We we kinda felt a bit uncomfortable, but also amused, at the attention that we were getting. It was almost like Christmas morning, as we tore through the tins, not knowing what's inside.

It turned out that, while we got several duplicates, all 6 tins combined gave us a complete set of all 10 pins. The most difficult one, which was Pluto, we got only one, and that was the pin that most of the people around us were looking for. So unfortunately we couldn't trade that with them. A girl did come over wanting to trade Daisy, which we did since we had a duplicate. We have several Donald, several Stitch, and several Tink.

We're hoping to see if we can buy more of the tin set tomorrow, but someone told us that they are all sold out. We shall see. If the frenzy over this pin set is any indication, having them might be a good thing to use for pin trading with other pin traders.

Zz.

 

[David]

I am so enjoying your trip! The shot you had of Frontierland that was empty is amazing. I don't think I've ever seen it like that.

We've got 4 weeks until our trip and it's getting to me more and more every day. What is it with
us Disney fans? We just can't get enough of the place! Have fun for the remainder of your trip!!

 

[doop]

You look you're having a fantastic time! I really love your pictures, especially the ones of wishes, they look perfect! Can't wait to read some more.

 

[ZapperZ]

We spent the whole day, and most of the evening, at Epcot, even stayed for the Extra Magic Hour. However, since most of the time was spent at the pin event, this part of the report will focus solely on that. I'll report on our activities at Epcot on this day later.

We arrived at Epcot this morning just as the pin event was opened at the World Showplace at 9:30 am. There's a sign just after the Canadian pavilion indicating that the event will be opened to the public on Sunday.

Just beyond the gate is the entrance to the World Showplace where the pin event is held.

Inside the main entrance, you're greeted by gates leading into the building and the rest of the event.

They have decorated it VERY well. The theming is well done all around. This is just one example, the kids area being themed to the Mickey Mouse Club.

At another location, another set of decorations of various well-known Disney characters.

A snap shot of some of the attendees at the event in line to do various pin event games to get some sought-after pins.

What makes it a lot of fun is that everyone is there to do pin trading. The queue lines to do various pin games are seldom boring, because people are doing pin trading while they're in line. People wear lanyards, carry their pin bags, or even cover themselves with pins from head to toe so that people can see the pins they're willing to trade. Everyone has pins that they're seeking for, and inevitably, someone will have something that they want. It is a great way to meet people, and share a common interest. Stories are told on how such-and-such pin were obtained, or how rare one pin is, etc. You make wonderful friends at such an event, which just adds to the Magic of WDW.

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