Well I am going to start off by saying what a fantastic trip. ; Sean and I had probably the best trip of all out of the 4 times that we have gone. ; The weather was unbelievable. ; I thought for sure that I would be freezing, but it was almost up to 30C every day and the evening cooled down a bit. ; The humidity is what made it a little sticky, but it was bearable for sure. We were able to join in the Mousefest this year and had a great time meeting such nice people. ; It was great to finally meet up with Northern Mouse and meet all kinds of new people. ; For those of you that don’t know what Mousefest is, it is a gathering of Disney enthusiasts (web developers, podcasters, fans of Disney, message board groups). ; Most of the people were from the US, but there were many from Canada and all over the world. ; These groups then do activities together, which is a blast. Some of the Events that we took part in the first day were MouseFest ; 101 where we got to meet the organizers of MouseFest and learn really what it is all about. ; We then walked over to Adventureland and had our first Dole Whip at Aloha Isle. ; It was very yummy! ; If you haven’t tried one, we definitely recommend it. ; We then joined a group to find Hidden Mickeys at the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. ; We all loaded on a boat and started off talking and laughing and pointing out the Hidden Mickeys. ; Then all of a sudden just on the edge of the small drop, we stopped. ; We bottomed out. ; So our group started singing Pirates life for Me and 99 bottles of beer on the wall. ; It took at least 15 minutes of us sitting in the dark before the ride attendants were able to locate us in the ride. ; They then turned on the lights. ; What a treat to see a bit of the ride while the lights were on. ; They tried pushing us free, but that wasn’t going to happen. ; They then tied the boat off and let us unload and go through a hidden door that leads us outside. ; Everyone was in good spirits and laughing and everyone wanted to go on it again. ; Only this time less people in each boat. ; They finally got the ride going. ; I guess there were a few more boats that did get stuck, but it was all in good fun. ; The ride with all of its refurbishments was great and what a way to start off our trip. ; We got off the Pirates ride and quickly made it to TMIP intro to photography. ; It jogged my memory and it really helped Sean out with taking some wonderful pictures this trip. ; Later the first night we were lucky enough to go to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. ; Only 20,000 people were able to buy tickets for the event so Magic Kingdom was not packed and it was nice to walk around and not be overcrowded. ; Sean and I enjoyed the newly refurbished Haunted Mansion, free sugar cookies and hot chocolate and the parade that was the same one that was aired on Christmas Day. ; We met up with the Mousefest Group to watch the fireworks as well. ; It was a busy first day. By the second day, jet lag hit. ; We had planned to do so many things, but ended up enjoying the Caribbean Beach Resort for most of the day. ; In the evening we went to see the Osbourne’s Family Spectacle of Lights. ; It was amazing to see. ; With over 5 million lights on the Streets of America buildings, fake snow, and music it truly was neat to see. ; There were a lot of people crammed into the streets so you had to go with the flow, but other than that, it is totally worth checking out. We then made out way to Fantasmic! ; Finally after 4 trips and only seeing the show once, we got to see it again. ; Truly a great time. ; We stood in line quite awhile before the opened up the theatre, but we got fantastic seats to see the show. ; And of course I went snap happy with the camera. Saturday Dec 8 will not be forgotten. ; It was the first and probably last time I will ever get a taste of the Kitchen Sink at Beaches and Cream. ; We met up with another Mousefest group at Beaches and Cream and they ordered two No Way Jose’s which were huge in themselves. ; Then the lights were flashing while the CM’s brought out 5 kitchen sinks. ; It was every scoop of ice cream and every topping they had all smushed into a dish that looked and was as big as the kitchen sink. Everyone grabbed a bowl and dug in. ; Sean and I both had a bowl. ; I know I thought mine was pretty gross, and I seen that Sean didn’t finish his bowl. ; Definitely at 11am in the morning, it wasn’t the greatest thing to be eating. ; But it was fun. Also that day was the Mega Mouse Meet. ; A convention of sorts at the Dolphin where the groups were set up at tables and were giving out information, pins, and meeting everyone. ; We were lucky enough to meet ; with Steve Barrett who wrote the Hidden Mickey’s book along with many other amazing people. For supper we went to the ESPN club to eat. ; The food was great and there was so much of it. ; On our way to the next Mousefest meet we stopped in at the Canada Pavillion and got a look at the new O Canada movie. ; It was FANTASTIC! ; It certainly was a huge improvement from the old version. ; I didn’t feel embarrassed to be living in a ‘70’s world of Canada at all. It was a great representation of Canada and its provinces. ; It was up to date and modern and Martin Short made a great host for the show. ; Sean and I then hung out at Epcot and were able to get on the soft opening for Spaceship Earth. ; It was ok, I guess I expected them to do more to refurbish the ride, but the things they did add were definitely a plus for the ride. ; After a group of us met with Tim Devine from TMIP and got some great night time photography tips which were greatly needed. ; On the next day we went on the Splash Mountain/Big Thunder Railroad meet with a fantastic group that made us feel very welcome. ; This was my very first time going on Splash Mountain. ; Every other trip it had been closed for refurbishment or broken. ; So as much as I didn’t want to get wet for the rest of the day, we went on. ; Luckily Sean sat next to me. ; He was the one that took the brunt of all the water that was thrown our way. ; He came out of the ride soaked. ; I was pretty wet, but managed to steer clear of most of the water. ; We then hung out at the parks and had a great time. Monday we got up bright and early and went to MGM to meet a group for the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror meet. ; Again they made us feel very welcome and part of their group. ; We went on Tower of Terror first. ; Did I ever tell you I love that ride?? ; We weren’t able to convince Sean to go on the ride that early in the morning, but it was a blast as usual. ; We made our way over to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and that was my first time on that ride as well. ; While standing in line we missed the Year of a Million Dreams Team by 17 seconds. ; The people behind us got the fastpasses. ; For me it was a fun ride, but by the second upside down turn I was ready for the ride to be finished. ; I got off feeling a bit queasy, but that quickly went away. Sean and I then went back to Epcot where we explored some of the Epcot resorts and then took park in BeverlyFest at the Cool Club. ; A few people in the group were brave enough to chug shots of Beverly. ; Whoever got the fastest would get a prize. ; I am not sure if drinking it the fastest was the smartest thing to do, but the guy who did ended up over the garbage can within minutes. ; Sean took the pictures while I did participate, but only took one shot. ; There was no way I could do 7. ; The Beverly tasted like motor oil and antifreeze mixed together it was pretty gross. ; But if you are ever in the Coke Cool Club and want to sample a coke drink from Italy, I highly recommend the Beverly. ; It is something everyone should experience just once. We then made our way back to MGM where we caught the afternoon parade and the High School Musical Pep Rally. ; That movie really caught on and it was fun to watch the kids enjoy themselves with the songs that the group sang. It was supper time by then and we had booked for 50’s Prime Time Cafe. We booked in advanced for Friday, but then easily changed our reservation for Monday. ; Where the parks weren’t that busy, making reservations for restaurants was hassle free. ; We really enjoy our server, Aunt Tracy, who helped us see that we should never put our elbows on the table, tattle tale, and eat our veggies. ; She was kind enough to airplane in Sean’s veggies and I managed to get the choo-choo train. ; It was pretty funny. ; The food was great, the atmosphere was fun and it was a great place to eat. ; I highly recommend the peanut butter and jam milkshake and the smores for dessert. ; My mouth is watering just thinking about it. ; We finished off the last evening of Mousefest with mini golf at Fantasia Gardens. ; It was a really neat 18 hole mini golf course and of course we had loads of fun. ;
The next day was spent relaxing a bit more at the hotel. ; It was a gorgeous day to fall asleep on the hammocks out on the white sand beach outside our hotel building. ; Later in the day we went exploring through Epcot and taking in the newly refurbished Seas with Nemo and Friends. ; Huge improvement with that refurbishment as well. ; We enjoyed talking with Crush as well as the many aquariums that were there. ; We then tossed around the idea of going on Mission Space, but I didn’t want to risk going on it this trip. ; I was a bit chicken. We then hopped on the bus to take us to Magic Kingdom where we went on the Resort monorail and enjoyed the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian. ; Wow, is all I can say. ; They were both spectacular to see and I had no idea they would both be so gorgeous. ; Both would definitely be great places to stay. We then took the resort boat to Fort Wilderness Campground where we attended Mickey’s Backyard BBQ. ; I am not sure what I was expecting, but I was a bit sad that there weren’t more things for adults to enjoy besides the food. ; The kids enjoyed the singing, rope trick guest, and dancing with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Chip and Dale. ; I was very excited that characters walked around and made sure that everyone got photos with their favorite characters. ; Forget that there was an amazing buffet of food that included ribs, chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, corn , salads and ice cream bars for dessert. ; It was the characters I was there to see. ; But really, the food was great as well. ; We had a great time. The following day we went back to MGM to make sure that we got to see everything else in the park. ; We decided to do the backlot tour only to end up as part of the opening show. ; Sean was the deck hand and I was the captain of the boat. ; Luckily we weren’t the ones picked to be the mechanic. ; We had a great time and the raincoats did keep us dry fairly well. ; After we changed we joined the tram and took the backlot tour. ; We got off that ride and we stopped in the Streets of American to take in the Sweat n’ Shears band. ; They sounded great and were great comedians as well. ; We then took in the One Man’s Dream attraction and then went to Downtown Disney to take more photos and do some shopping. ; I love shopping at Disney. ; It is so easy to get caught up with buying everything. ; We also stopped by Ghiradelli to get a Hot Fudge Sundae, it was my second one of the trip. ; I sure do miss those sundaes. ; I didn’t get all my shopping in, so the following morning, Sean let me loose and I arrived at Downtown Disney before the shops opened, it was so quiet and peaceful and I took a lot of wonderful photos where there were no people in them. ; I shopped, until I couldn’t shop anymore and then headed back to the resort. ; In the afternoon Sean and I went to the Contemporary and the Wilderness Lodge. ; Again, I don’t know what I was expecting, but both resorts were breath taking. ; I think we need to save our money and stay at all these amazing resorts. ; In the evening we went back to Epcot to try our hand at night time photography and watch Illuminations! ; I didn’t enjoy Illuminations at all this trip, but I won’t get into that. ; It was still an amazing fireworks show, but we ran into some cranky people. Our last full day was spent at Animal Kingdom. ; We walked around, took the train to see the sites, ate some yummy Mickey ice cream sandwiches, and went on the Dinosaur ride. ; It was our first time and boy was it ever a neat ride. ; I do agree that it is a bit hidden and out of the way. ; You barely know that it even exists, but it is a fun ride for sure. ; We also went to see Finding Nemo, the musical. ; It was a great show and much better than Tarzan Rocks which was there before that was built. ; Later we enjoyed our last night back at our Resort. Our last day we had to check out by 11am. ; Our flight didn’t leave until 7pm. ; We really didn’t have anything planned and we were pretty much done with the whole walking thing. ; So we stored our luggage at bell services and ended up going back to Downtown Disney were I got my last Hot fudge sundae of the trip. ; We got back to the Caribbean Resort in plenty of time to hop in the Magical Express back to the airport. ; The only bad thing about that was the bus that did come to pick the guests up was half full to begin with so only a few out of the many waiting for ME could get on. ; A lot of the guests showed up early which caused problems for us. ; Another bus didn’t come for a half hour and we needed to get to the airport for our international flight. ; So one of the CM graciously called us a cab and paid for our trip back to the airport. ; I am not sure if ME is busy like that all the time, but it did seem a little chaotic and unorganized.
The other thing I would suggest is if you do take Magical Express to and from the airport, if you are on a later evening flight, it may be a good idea to actually pick up your own luggage at the airport terminal and then board the bus. ; When we arrived in Orlando our first day we got in around 8pm. ; It was almost 12pm or a little after that we got our luggage delivered to our room . ; I was a bit nervous that I would be sleeping in the clothes that I was wearing the first night, but ME didn’t let us down. Definitely if you are looking for the least crowded time to go to Disney World, go the weeks before Christmas. ; You get to enjoy all the festivities and decorations, but there was barely anyone in the parks, or so it seemed. ; Sean and I didn’t have to use any fastpasses and we weren’t pushing our way through any crowds. ; The weather was perfect, but I heard it was unseasonably warm for that time of year and taking a vacation in December worked out so well for my work schedule. ; Between the days I took off to go to Disney and the holidays, I only worked 7.5 short days. ; Yay, for me, I needed that break. We also had the chance to use the Dining Plan. ; We HIGHLY, highly recommend this. ; Even if it did change for 2008, I am sure you will get every pennies worth out of it. ; We saved so much money by using the dining plan and we ate SO much. ; We left Disney and still hadn’t used a lot of our credits. ; It was impossible to eat so much food. ; For quick service we managed to get an entrée, drink and dessert. ; For table services we each got an appetizer, entrée, drink and dessert. ; It was still too much food. ; We hated to see our credits go to waste, but there was no way we could eat all of the credits up. ; For a family, I could truly see where getting an adult meal credit and sharing it with a child would work. ; The portions are so big around Disney World so that would easily work and would be cheaper for a family with children. If you have time on your trip, we recommend that you also check out Resorts other than your own. ; It is a little time consuming, but it is amazing to see the theme resorts and what they would have to offer. ; We checked out the Swan and Dolphin, Yacht and Beach Club, BoardWalk, Wilderness Lodge, Polynesian, Saratoga Springs, Grand Floridian, and Contemporary, we also saw a bit of Fort Wilderness Campground, but only in the dark, we took a bus to Pop Century to get to Downtown Disney, but we didn’t get chance to walk around and of course we explored the Caribbean Beach Resort where we were staying. We both loved the table service meals that we had. ; We ate twice at the ESPN club. ; The second time we went they were broadcasting a live ESPN show. ; Sean and I got on in the background. ; It made me a bit nervous to eat in case they did show the audience more, but it was still fun. ; We also loved the 50’s Prime Time Cafe. ; It was so much fun and the food was great. ; Mickey’s Backyard BBQ was geared a lot towards children, but it was a great time for everyone and any character meal would be a great way to get fantastic photos of the characters and personal time with them. The Caribbean beach was a nice resort to stay at. ; I think I did like the French Quarter better because the sheer size of the Caribbean beach was crazy. ; There were quite a few stops in the internal bus stops before exiting out of the resort to go the ; parks. ; We stayed at Aruba, but also Martinque, Jamaica and Barbados would have been great areas to stay in. ; We loved building 54 in Aruba. ; It was right by the pool and just across the pathway to the white sand beach. ; A great choice. If you also have some time, or are thinking about a DVC, go check it out. ; There are plenty of booths throughout Disney World and the Resorts to go talk to someone. ; They will arrange a time that a DVC van will come pick you up and take you to Saratoga Springs. ; There you will be greeted with a warm, “Welcome Home,” from the cast members. ; And taken into a room where one cast member will ask you questions and talk about your needs for vacations and basically go over if a DVC is right for your family. ; They will then take you in a room, show you other vacation options and explain the point system. ; After they will take you on a tour of the amazing suites that are available for DVC members. ; They have rooms set up that you can look at for Saratoga Springs and also Animal Kingdom Lodge. ; The rooms are pretty much laid out the same for all DVC, however size and theme can vary. ; After our tour we were given a VIP fastpass card that was good for three rides, but needed to be used within 4 days of receiving the card and then we were treated to ice cream. ; Our CM Rob, got my hopes up when he said there was peppermint ice cream, but there wasn’t this time around. ; After we were done our ice cream our DVC van came and picked us up and drove us back to our Resort, but it would have taken us anywhere we wanted to go within the theme park. ; When we booked the appointment they told us it would take about 60 minutes. ; I would certainly allow for more time than that. ; I am not sure if it is because we were thinking about purchasing or not, but we were there for a good hour and a half, even two hours. ; I lost track of time. ; Our CM Rob was very nice and told us bluntly if a DVC would work well for us or not. ; There were no pressure sales, they don’t need to do that, which made the info session and tour even nicer. ; It was a neat experience. So now that I have written a book, in summary, I truly believe that we had the best time yet in our many trips to Disney World. ; We will definitely be going to check out Mousefest again and making it a habit to go in December. ; Thanks for taking the time to read all this. ; If you have questions, please post and we will answer them.
Minnie: Great report!!! ; It sounds like you had a blast. ; It sounds like you are able to manouver a lot faster than we can with the kids in tow. ; I know the last trip I was the first one up every morning, chomping at the bit to get going. ;
Any pictures? ; Yes definitely. ; Over 1500 to look through. ; I haven't had chance edit some that need it yet. ; Sorry a little slow with those. ; Sean and I have posted some that are ready in the photo section (in the link below). ; Just click on the calendar for December and January and it will show you the pictures we have posted for those days. ; http://www.disneymagic.ca/gallery/
I'm glad you had a good time with our group, RADP. ; We like to think of ourselves as one of the most open and welcoming groups on the internet. Even though this was only Mousefest 5, this was our 11th annual Splash/Big Thunder meet, and our 9th Coaster/Tower meet. ; Mousefest grew out of our meets, which have been happening annually since 1996. I actually ended up with one of those dream fastpasses that were handed out to the people behind us in line for RnRC. ; One of the people who got them overheard us talking about them, and said "we're leaving in an hour, and can't really use these, do you want it?" O fcourse I said yes, even though I didn't plan on using it either. ; It's a nice souvenir of the day
