MouseFest 2007 (Day 03) Special Report: Space Ship Earth Sneak Peek

SPOILER WARNING:  The following post lists details about what is contained within the new re-Imagineered Space Ship Earth.  If you do not want to know anything about it then do not read this post

We were sitting at lunch when Tim Devine got the phone call from one of his forum members that Space Ship Earth had the doors open allowing people on the ride.  The powers-that-be have been doing this the entire time we have been here, but we kept on missing it. 

So, we wolfed down our food and then sped on over to Space Ship Earth.  After getting through security and getting our annual passes scanned we started walking toward Space Ship Earth at a deliberate pace.

It wasn't very long before one of our party made the statement that they thought the doors were open.  Before they could finish the sentence we were sprinting toward Space Ship Earth.  You would think that we were participating in the annual bridal gown sale by the way we were hoofing it to the door.  We figured as long as one of us got there before they tried to close the door, they'd have to let all of us in. 

Sure enough the doors were open and we were in the queue.  I just had to rub it into George and Andy Taylor (Imaginerding) who were attending the Fantasmic! Dessert Meet at Disney's Hollywood Studios.  I could hear the disappointment in their voices as I gloated about our good fortune.

We got through the queue and onto the ride vehicle fairly quickly. 

The first thing I noticed was that the ride vehicle seemed a bit more roomy and if my memory serves me correctly, a bit more "boxy".  The most obvious difference is the presence of a small LCD screen in the center of the front of the ride vehicle.  It seems to be about a 22-24" display.

As soon as you start your approach up the hill, the narration starts and one quickly finds out that Dame Judy Dench is indeed the new narrator.

As you approach the first diorama, you will start to notice some differences.  It is clear that the new message of Space Ship Earth is technology and it's use for communication.  We start off in the stone age.  I'm pretty sure this diorama was in the old ride, but the Audio-Animatronics have been brought up to modern standards.  In fact, all the Audio-Animatronics have been updated.

Many of the scenes seemed to be polished up versions of the old ones.  Some seemed to be in new locations and expanded upon.  Others were flat out new.

We did get to see the much rumored inclusion of Steve Jobs in the famous garage where Apple Computers was formed.  Granted, his name was never mentioned and it was just alluded to the fact that the ability to have computers in the home originated in a garage.   Now, everyone on the Internet is saying that the figure is supposed to be Steve Jobs, but I'd like to think that it was his buddy and geek-in-arms Steve Wozniak.  The figure appeared to look like more like the uber-geek and Segway Polo Stud Woz than it did Jobs.

When you got the top of the geodesic sphere, where they introduce the term Space Ship Earth to us, we turn around for the descent.  At this point everything is black.  There is nothing outside the ride vehicle to focus your attention on.

This is when the LCD Screens kick in.  You are asked a series of questions about your preferences in life.  Then a little animated story is told based on your answers.  For example, we were asked questions like would we prefer to travel by solar power or wind power or do we most enjoy the planning a trip or the destination.  The animation seems to be computer generated as opposed to hand-drawn.  It is definitely not Pixar, photo-realistic-quality.  It's more of what you'd see lately on the Disney Channel at night. 

When you get to the bottom, you are dumped onto a moving platform and escorted to the post-show building.

In our case, Tim asked the Cast Member if we could ride again and we just got to stay in the vehicle and go again.  What a Magical Moment!

Now that I've given the description I feel I should give my opinion.....

First, I need to say that it is quite obvious that the attraction is not complete.  I wouldn't even classify this as a "soft opening".  The signs outside were saying that Space Ship Earth was scheduled to be re-opened in February 2008.  That means we are over 2 months away.  I would classify what we got to experience as a sneak peek.  More of a tease.  You could almost say the Imagineers were saying, "Oops, did we leave the door open in the construction wall?"

Part of me is wondering if this "event" was really just a nice "thank you" to all the MouseFesters.  We'll have to wait and see if they are still letting people on after MouseFest is over.

It is obvious the attraction is not complete.  I was very prepared for this fact when I got on the attraction.  I knew there was no way the ride could be even remotely close to being completed if it is scheduled to open in February and it is now December.

I was not even remotely sold by Judy Dench.  It really seemed like she "phone it in" when it came to her narration.  I don't really have a complete memory of Walter Cronkite's narration but I do have vague memories.  But, I do have a good memory of Jeremy Iron's narration.  Both seemed to have a very resonating voice with lots of intonation and sold you into what they were saying.  Just as with an audio book, the chosen voice is very important.  Judy Dench's delivery just seemed to blend into the background and didn't add anything to the show.  I found myself not even noticing that she was talking. 

I was very hopeful that it was Patrick Stewart when I had heard the rumor that he was in the running.  But the Disney Corporation may have had their mind on selecting a woman for this incarnation (you never know).  I am just lost on a good suggestion for female voice-over talent.  As much as I am not a fan of Oprah as a talk show host, she does have a great voice.  Personally, since the theme seemed to be technology, I think they should've found someone who is closely tied with the field.  Someone, when you hear their voice, you think technology and/or communication.  That is why I thought Patrick Stewart would be a good fit.  He has loyal fans in the Science Fiction genre.

Who's to say it had to be a well known person.  Pixar, for example, works with tons of voice talent every day and not all of them are household names.  Heck, some of them were the animators who stood in until it was decided that noone else could voice the character.

But, I digress.

The various diorama sets we see are awesome.  They are clean and tell a great story by themselves.  I really liked the scene where the town is being burned and you could really smell burning wood.

The Audio-Animatronics seemed much smoother and that is what caused me to conclude they were updated.  During a scene of Rome where a soldier was talking to another person, you almost could swear they were real people much like the Jack Sparrow audio-animatronic in Pirates of the Caribbean.

Is this attraction an abysmal failure?  That would be an emphatic no!

All in all, I think when another couple months go by this attraction will definitely be another home run for Disney Imagineers just like with the Haunted Mansion's Re-Haunting.  I don't know what they are going to do about the less than engrossing narration, but it's amazing what they can do to audio in post production.  Heck, there is even enough time that Disney could just decide to bring someone else in. 

Needless to say, I cannot wait until my trip next year to see it completed and until then I'll reserve final judgement.  Right now, we are seeing the equivalent of a film's rough cut.  Much can change before it's unveiled to audiences as a final product.

If you want to see all the pictures I took of Space Ship Earth you can see them in my Flickr account:

Space Ship Earth Set

But, if you want to see really good pictures, then head over to Tim Devine's The Magic In Pixels and check out his album devoted to this ride:

Space Ship Earth 2007

 

Technorati Tags: Trip Report, Space Ship Earth, Soft Opening, Review

MouseFest 2007 (Day 03): Enchanted Rose's Lucky Day

When we woke up this morning, we got to log a few more hours of sleep than previous days.  Today we really didn't have anywhere to be for MouseFest before noon when the Mega Mouse Meet began.

We had made plans to meet up with Tim's friend will and his girlfriend.  Since Tim was tied up with a webmaster's breakfast, we needed to do something to keep us busy while we waited.  So, we were going to go to EPCOT Center and hang out until it was time to go to the Mega Meet.  Since that park was close to The Dolphin it made most sense.

Before we headed out, we all grabbed some breakfast snacks down at the Dolphin's lounge. 

At some point during the eating conversation switched to shopping.  So, we altered course and went shopping.

By the time we got done shopping and standing in line for 30 minutes to pay, it was an hour before the start of the Mega Meet.

So, it was decided that we wanted to go to Beaches & Cream to get a burger.  It was nice that we are DVC members because it allowed the person who was driving the ability to park there since it was a DVC Resort.

On our way to Beaches & Cream, we stopped to take a look at the giant gingerbread carousel in the lobby of the Beach Club Resort.

When we got to Beaches & Cream, we discovered that Jonathan Dichter's Kitchen Sink Meet was going on.   Fortunately, we were able to get some seats at the bar.  Jonathan had quite a turnout for his meet.  A good 20+ people were there.  They were enthusiastic but not obnoxiously loud which is easy to have happen in such a small place.  You could definitely tell these people love Disney.

We got done with our food and paid about 10 minutes before the  start of the Mega Meet but we didn't rush back.  The Mega Meet lasted a long time.

We got back to the Dolphin and headed to the location of the Mega Meet.  Once my wife and I knew where it was, we decided to go up to our room first and drop stuff off and change into something a bit more comfortable.  Well, actually, I wanted to show off my Yoda T-Shirt I bought at Tatoonie Traders in September.

The Mega Meet was something else.  The room was huge and it wasn't too hard to meet all the people that you wanted to. 

As can be expected, there were tables that were constantly packed with people and you had to be patient to get to meet them.  Some of those people were Lou Mongello and Jeff Pepper at the Disneyworld Trivia/WDW Radio Show table, Paul Barrie and Patrick Hurd's table for Window to the Magic, the WDW Today table, Passporter's Table, the table selling the books, Nathan Rose and Tim Devine at The Magic in Pixels/Magical Definition Podcast table, and any table near the raffle location.

I really spent too much time catching up with George and Andy and  not as much time snagging swag off tables as  I should've.  That I regret now.  But, I did somehow step outside my comfort zone a bit and get to talk to some of the community personalities.  This is something I normally would've been incapable of doing without the assistance of my lovely wife as my wingman. 

I got to thank Mike Scopa for his great keynote speech at the last Magic Meets (I heard it on the WDW Today podcast).  I got to say hi to Lou and Jeff several times and even asked Lou to sign my books (I got to buy the first volume of his book which now completes my set).  I asked Steve Barrett for his John Hancock inside his Hidden Mickeys book which he graciously obliged.

I also got to spend a little more time chatting with Jessica from If we can Dream It.  She brought her mother and her grandmother to the event.  It was a 3 generation representation.

The exciting part was the raffle.  Unfortunately, the facility wasn't equipped with an overhead speaker setup so the microphone they were using wasn't powerful enough to really do anything.  So Dave Marx and his entourage had to yell out the numbers. 

My lovely wife, Enchanted Rose, actually won something.  Her number came up on the XM Satellite Radio that Fred Block contributed.  This allowed me and my wife to get to meet Fred who is the founder of the Magic Meets event in Pennsylvania every year.  We are hoping that we'll get to go to Magic Meets next year.

It was at the Mega Meet that Jeff Pepper finally divulged to George that I had been inducted into the Crate Appreciation Society.  But, much to his chagrin his application was still being rejected and we was relegated to the role of groupie.  This was sealed when Jessica gave him his Crate Appreciation Society card with the title of "Groupie" under his name [ed note:  These cards were grumptastically awesome].  Sadly, my induction occurred too late to go to press.

Lou came through with is promise to play Santa and I was gifted a copy of his Audio Tour CD and I am excited to be able to mainline some "Vitamin M" into my earbuds.

I only got to speak to Tim a little bit because he was constantly swarmed with people who were interested in looking at his album of pictures.  I hope all his hard work is finally paying off and his name is getting out there.  His work is phenomenal and the 4x6 prints he had on display at his table really didn't do his talent justice.  To really appreciate his work you need to see them at a minimum of 8x10.

I didn't even come close to meeting every attendee at the Mega Meet nor did I meet everyone who was working   the tables.  But I have to say that from what I've observed these first 3 days, Lou has the coolest wife who is stuck as a Disney Widow.  I constantly saw her working the room.  She is vivacious and energetic and always had a smile on her face.  You'd think she had gone through Disney's Traditions Class.  When we made it to Lou and Jeff's table she very warmly congratulated my wife on her win of the XM Satellite Radio.  Good news seemed to have traveled fast. 

If I ever get to the point where I have a table at an event such as this, I know my wife is the same type of person that will be doing the same thing.  My wife is my biggest cheerleader and supports all that I take on inside and outside of my paying job, I know how lucky it is to have a spouse like that.  You rock Deanna!  You and my wife should be the founding members of the Men of Shorter Stature Appreciation Society (MOSSAS).

By the time the meet was over my feet were sore, but there was still time to kill before we could call the day done.

So, we went to grab some food at a restaurant in the hotel before heading to EPCOT Center.  I got a hot dog and it was one of the best dogs I've gotten outside a ballpark.

When we got to EPCOT Center we were able to get onto Space Ship Earth for the "Sneak Peek" Opening that has been going on the whole time we were here [ed note:  I have done a separate post in more detail in regards to this part of my trip].

After riding Space Ship Earth twice, we had to move on because Tim had a meet to get to about night time photography. 

I must say, that I just wasn't that much into the meet.  I don't know if it was because my feet were sore or because I have gotten a lot of this same information directly from Tim over the past 6 months. 

So, during Tim's meet, I sat on a nearby wall talking to my wife and some of Tim's non-participating friends.  At some point, my wife decided to go to Mouse Gear and do some more shopping.  This was a short lived endeavor but I'm sure it helped kill some of the monotony for her.  After awhile, it was decided that we were going to ride some attractions before we left the park that night.

Tim did his thing for about an hour.  The one thing that forgot to mention was that Tim hurt his toe sometime before MouseFest.  He was fine until after all that time he spent in dress shoes during the Mega Mouse Meet.  Now he was walking around like I was after my blisters set in during our September trip.

So, Tim was in no mood to walk around the park taking pictures either.  It was decided that we were going to go do Soarin'.  There really wasn't that big of a wait to get on.  We got to get on the vehicle that we wanted (you want to be on the front row of the vehicle so that you don't have anyone obstructing your view).

Both Tim and I tried to take pictures inside this attraction which is difficult because you are shooting pictures of a movie that is on a curved screen.

After Soarin' we decided to hit up Test Track.  There was absolutely no one on this ride.  We just walked right on.  It was decided that we were going to ham it up for the photo.  Since we had the whole car to ourselves, we were all going to pretend to be dead for the camera.  It turned out pretty hilarious when we saw the final product.

When we got back to the disembarking point, we asked the Cast  Member if we could ride again.  There was absolutely no one in line so we thought for sure that he'd say that it was alright.  Every time we asked, we were just told, "Please exit to your left".  We begrudgingly got out of the ride vehicle and headed for the exit.  Tim muttered to us, "The word you were looking for was....No".  This got a rousing round of laughter out of us.  The way he said it was just hilarious.

At this point, it was time for Illuminations! which meant that if we were going to get out of the park easily now was the time to go.  We got to see a few of the fireworks as they shot over Space Ship Earth as we were leaving the park.  I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get to see much of the usual stuff but I'm having a blast hanging out with friends.

We went from EPCOT Center to Downtown Disney.  The ever so lovely Enchanted Rose has a checklist of stores she needed to mark off in order to feel like she properly shopped.

We hit up the 25 Days of Christmas and we were able to add a few more ornaments to the rather extensive Disney Ornament Collection we have at Casa De Grumpwurst.

It was at the 25 Days of Christmas that the Taylor Boys caught up to us again.  We had planned on going to the Adventurer's Club again, but after much review it was discovered that Tim was really the only one up to doing a back to back showing.  So shopping was chosen as the new past time.

After the 25 Days of Christmas we temporarily parted with the Taylor Boys and headed to the Earl of Sandwich to get some Cannonballs! (toasted meatball sub).  All I have to say is YUM YUM YUM.

While I was noshing, my wife was shopping.  She acquired some more scrapbooking supplies and did some looking at that Art of Disney.   Apparently, there is a new Beauty and the Beast painting that has been added to her wish list.  She also acquired a cute magnet that goes on your dishwasher that lets you indicate if the contents are clean or dirty.  That is something we desperately needed since we often ended up dirtying the entire contents when it wasn't known that they were already clean and then dirty stuff was introduced.

After getting her shopping done, she then darted off to Ghiridelli to get a fudge brownie sundae after which she re-joined us at the Earl of Sandwich to enjoy the spoils of her journey.

The whole time Tim was entertaining us with stories from his days playing baseball in college.  He had us busting up the entire time because he really knows how to tell stories.

After they kicked us out of the restaurant (by kick I mean politely influenced us to leave by putting up all the chairs onto the table around us), we stood outside and talked for awhile.

Then, once we realized it was 12:30AM, we all headed back to our respective rooms to go to bed.

Well, not all of us. Yours truly had some SD Flash Cards to dump and a blog post to write.

If you want to view all 306 pictures taken on the 3rd day of MouseFest go here:

MouseFest 2007 (Day 03)

Technorati Tags: Trip Report, MouseFest, Mega Mouse Meet, EPCOT, Beaches and Cream, Downtown Disney

MouseFest 2007 (Day 02): Hoopla

Well, morning came very quickly for your friendly neighborhood grump.  I finished downloading the pictures off my SD Flash cards around 3AM.  I we even had a hope of making the Kilimanjaro Safari Meet, we had to get up at 7AM in order to be at the Animal Kingdom by 9:15AM.

Well, I normally can leap out of bed, even after a few hours of sleep, but that wasn't the case.  My wife, who had a couple more hours of sleep than I did went to the showers first.  When she was done, I got up and showered.

We were both grumps as we got ready to head out the door.  We stopped downstairs at the Lobby Court Lounge so that my wife could pick up something to munch on for breakfast.  She was able to score a cinnamon bun and a cup of ice for her very warm Dr. Pepper she purchased at the grocery store.

At this point, I'd like to point out that there is some renovations going on at the Dolphin and because of that, their signage to the busses are just temporary pop-up signs.  Well, they aren't the best signs and we went around the lobby a couple times before finding our way to the busses again.

The bus to Animal Kingdom didn't take long to get to us.  But it was quickly apparent that we were not getting on that bus.  As soon as someone approached the bus to embarked they were shooed away and told there was no room.  We are the last stop on the route before heading to the park and apparently, Animal Kingdom is popular today.

About 30 minutes later, another bus came and it was almost equally as full, but we were able to get onto the bus.  But, in order to do so, we had to be very pushy because people who had arrived after the other bus denied us access were trying to jump in front of all of us.

I need to say that the hand rails are not made for people of diminutive stature.  My shoulders were sore by the time we got to the park.  People who were sitting down were not making it easy for me to grab the handles on the back of the seats.  So, I was forced to use the rails near the ceiling.  This wasn't easy to do.  It just so happened that Gary and Karen (from The Magic in Pixels) were on the same bus as us and were going to the same place.

As soon as we got into the parks, I tried to contact Tim and found that he was waiting near the exit of Kilimanjaro Safari.  Apparently, they had trouble getting started this morning too and got to the Safari too late to be able to attend that meet and still make it to Expedition Everest in time for Nathan Rose's scheduled meet.

We sort of loafed around and took some pictures as we slowly made our way to Expedition Everest with Tim Devine, Nathan Rose, Jackie O, my wife and one of Tim's friends.

It was outside Expedition Everest that I was fin ally able to meet Lou Mongello and Jeff Pepper in real life.  Pictures were taken of the group.  One of those pictures was the mandatory shot to prove that Lou was indeed taller than another member of the adult male human species. 

Now Lou can sleep well at night knowing there is another community member who is male and shorter than him.  My wife and his wife share the privilege of being married to guys who are shorter than themselves.

I was also able to say a few more word with Andy and George Taylor of Imaginerding.com.  But, they didn't stick  around long after the picture taking session because they had a date with Dinoland U.S.A.

There was a fairly sizeable group hopping onto Expedition Everest and I think that really made it far more enjoyable.  The amazing thing was that quite a few of us were too late to get fast passes but the Cast Members let on anyone who was wearing a MouseFest yellow lanyard.  I was fortunate enough to be in the same train car as Lou, his wife, Tim and my wife.

Tim, as usual, decided to give the Cast Member a bit of gentle  heckling and asked them if this ride "went upside down".  As you can see from this picture, it indeed does [ed note:  smoke and mirrors my friends, smoke and mirrors.  Otherwise known as shooting a picture over one's shoulder].

Much laughter and screaming was had by all and after safely returning back, we had to go and look at the pictures that were taken on the ride.  As expected all hammed it up for the Disney camera.

At this point it was time to go to the Yak & Yeti Restaurant.  This is the newest addition to the restaurant listings at Animal Kingdom and it's a sit-down establishment (about time!).  Nathan had a reservation for his MDP crew and added my wife and I onto the billing (Thanks Nathan). 

The food was great.  I'm not the biggest fan of Asian cuisine but I partook on the  Pork Potstickers and the Wonton Soup while my wife shared my Potstickers and had the Chicken Fried Rice.  She was still being very cautious with her stomach and not wanting to tempt fate even though she was starting to feel better.

In addition to great food, there were tons of photographic opportunities within the restaurant.  It was a good thing we got there at opening otherwise it would've been hard to get pictures without intruding on people's meals.  The average person isn't used to paparazzi and wouldn't take kindly to guys with large lenses shooting over their meals to capture a shot of some old picture hanging on the wall behind them.

We had to eat fairly quickly because Tim had a Photo Safari Meet at the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. 

As was the trend that was starting to develop, we made it there late.  There were quite a few people at them meet sporting some serious investments in glass.  Whenever you see the off-white lenses you know someone mortgaged a house to purchase it.  It's a flashing beacon to lens thieves everywhere telling them to,"Steal Me". 

As was feared, this moved slowly so we had to drop off the planned trip to the Maharaja Jungle Trek so that people could make it to Disney's Hollywood Studios for the second half of the day. 

I think I got some good pictures on the Pangani Trail and even got a picture of the "hidden Jafar" that is near the suspension bridge at the highland Gorilla exhibit.

We hightailed it to Disney's Hollywood Studios because the Podfest Meet was at 3PM.  We got there with some time to kill so we did some shopping looking for some Christmas stuff.  As was becoming frustratingly apparent, the things both Tim and my wife were looking for was nowhere to be found.

Tim decided to go to the PodFest thing early because he needed to setup.  So, the rest of us went to ride Rock N Roller Coaster.  We didn't get to ride this in September since it was down for refurbishment.  So, we had to make sure we got it in this time.

Rock N Rollercoaster is a Grumpaliciously grumptastic roller coaster.  I think the best part is getting launched up the first hill off of an aircraft carrier catapult [ed note:  Disney Geek George points out to me that it's really magnets that launch the ride vehicle not a device like we use on Aircraft Carriers].  It's a real shame that Tim won't step foot on this ride nor will he do Tower of Terror.  We have decided that we need to start a Rock N Terror Fun Raising Drive to get everyone's favorite photographer onto these two fantastic attractions.

After getting off the rollercoaster we headed toward Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular since that is where the PodFest meet was being held.

What we hadn't counted on was the afternoon Parade.  It cut us off right as we got to the location of the meet.  We had to sit there for about 15 minutes waiting for the parade to pass before we could cross the "street" to get to the meet location.  While we were standing there waiting we got to do a bit of chatting with Patrick Hurd of Window To the Magic.

Apparently, the PodFest planners were a bit taken aback by the parade too.  Maybe next time it should be in the Counter Service establishment near the Backstage Tour.  No one goes back there.

I was expecting a larger venue for the Podfest meet.  It was kind of small and packed with all the fans that congregated there to meet their favorite podcasters.  I get a bit claustrophobic in tight crowds where I cannot see above people's heads.  So, my wife and I split away from Tim for awhile  and milled around a bit.  We got a chance to talk to Jeff Pepper, Lou Mongello and his wife Deanna again. 

We also got some more quality time with Andy and George Taylor (Imaginerding).  Halfway through Andy got tired of being around George because he was so boring that he went off to ride some attractions without him [ed note:  You guys do know I'm picking on you].

George was also able to introduce my wife and I to Jessica from the If we can Dream It blog.  It was nice to put a face to the name.  A lot of the bloggers seem to be camera shy when the lens is pointed in their direction.  So we don't know what they look like.  Hopefully after this MouseFest, some more bloggers identities will be revealed

After a bit of standing around we convinced several people to go get some ice cream from Gertie's.  I only took a small bite of my wife's waffle cone but Tim seemed to be hungry enough for 2 cones.  It was at this mini-meet that the guy who founded Owner's Locker found Tim and started talking to him about his service.  It really sounds like a great deal for those of us who call Walt Disney World our second home.  We are seriously thinking about getting the service but we'd like to see what a container looks like first and get some more info.

When all of our ice cream cravings seemed to be satisfied we parted ways and Tim and his entourage (me, Enchanted Rose, and Will) went off to EPCOT Center.

We decided to go to see if the rumors of a soft opening of Space Ship Earth were true.

We talked to some cast members who were manning the construction entrance but they played dumb on any information.  We knew it had happened the night before because one of Tim had another friend who was actually vacationing at Disney at the time (not participating in MouseFest) who had photographic proof.

We went into the Art of Disney to do some window shopping because frankly we love that darn stuff.  We didn't stick around long in here because the store is very painful on the wallet and if you stick around too long it leaps out of your pocket and throws up it's contents into Disney Cash Register.  It took everything ounce of strength I had to keep my wallet from committing hari kari.

We decided it was time to get back to the room to get ready for dinner at Raglan Road. 

So we were heading out of the park when we saw Adam Roth (Celebration 25) coming out of the construction entrance to Space Ship Earth.  I guess those connections he made planning his successful 25th Birthday Celebration for EPCOT have come to pay off.

Tim decided to once again talk to the cast members and found out that it has been running as a soft opening but it had just broken down.  They didn't know if and when it would be back up (of course).

So we headed back to the car and my wife and I were dropped off at the room to shower and get ready.  My lovely wife decided to try and take a 15-20 minute nap.

Even though I was the walking dead, I just couldn't see any benefit of laying down for such a short time.  By the time I hit REM, I have to wake back up.  So I decided to dump what pictures I could off my flash cards so that I wouldn't be up as late when we got back from what was sure to be a long night.  Apparently, the Adventurer's Club is penciled into the agenda for the evening.

Tim and Will picked up the wife and I outside the Dolphin and we headed to Downtown Disney.  We finally got to meet Will's girlfriend, Jacklyn. 

When we got to Pleasure Island, we thought we would have enough time to run to The 25 Days of Christmas, but that just wasn't the case because it isn't a short walk from Pleasure Island (where we were parked) and the far end of Downtown Disney.

So, we just went straight to Raglan Road and met up with Nathan Rose and the rest of the people who RSVP'd for his meet.

The first thing that was apparent was that the menu had changed.  I kept hearing about these fantastic hamburgers you could get at Raglan Road and there weren't any on the menu.  We asked our waiter and he informed us that the menu had just been changed and quite a bit was removed.  But, we could still get a burger because it was on their "late night" menu.  So, those of us on our end of the table all got the burger.  My wife, who is still babying a bad stomach, got a side order of mashed potatoes and ate a few bites of my burger.

Dinner went relatively quickly and we got to enjoy a bit of the Celtic music before we felt like we got our fill of Raglan Road.  Afterwards we headed over to The Adventurers Club.

I must preface the rest of this post by saying I have never been to The Adventurer's Club and had no idea what I was getting myself into.  Tim, on the hand, has been quite a bit.  If you are going for the first time, it really helps if you go with someone who has been a time or two.

I found the experience to be quite overwhelming.  The space can get very crowded and the cast of characters mingle amongst the non-cast members and entertain while you wait for the next "show" to open in one of the many rooms (mask room, trophy room, or library).  The lounge also is a pivotal part of the show at times.  People are constantly joining the crowd and other people leave and they just slide into the who process. 

You also need to know that everyone in the audience is fair game to become "that guy" (Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor Reference).  Except at The Adventurer's Club, the penalty for being "that guy" can be quite embarrassing and not necessarily 100% Disney-friendly.  It's not obscene but it's also can be a bit risque with double entendres and the such.  I personally found it hilarious, but I also didn't get targeted.

I must say that my lovely wife wasn't so lucky.  She got picked for the big number at the end of the Hoopla [ed. note:  HOOPLA!!!!!!] and she seemed to have a blast even though her face turned the same shade of crimson of her sweater.

Of course the ever present paparazzo Tim Devine was there to snap a few shots of my wife making her The Adventurer's Club debut.  I have some shots as well, but mine were less than stellar.  The lighting conditions in this joint are challenging at the least.

We were at The Adventurer's Club from 9PM till closing around midnight and I had a freakin' blast.  So much fun that I cannot just say it was grumptastic.  I had so much fun that I must go with calling it Grumpaliciously grumptastic!

After getting in our last Hoopla (HOOPLA!!!!), we headed back to the hotel where our Heavenly Bed was awaiting us.  I finished this post, dumped the contents of my flash cards and went to bed.

If you want to view all 327 pictures taken on the 2nd day of MouseFest go here:

MouseFest 2007 (Day 02)

Kungaloosh everyone!

Technorati Tags: MouseFest, Trip Report, Kungaloosh

MouseFest 2007 (Day 01): Chimpmaster General

Sorry this has taken so long to get up.  My original intent was to do this as I was at MouseFest, but by the time I had gotten each day written, I only had a few more hours before I had to be up again.  If I wanted to edit the post and get pictures in, I probably would've never gone to bed.  So, I sat on them until I got home.  Then I had trouble getting the RAW image files converted to JPEG and uploaded to Flickr.  So, it took me till today to get Day 01 Posted.  Enjoy......

Well, this morning began bright and early.  The wife and I had a 4:30AM wake up call (aka the alarm in my cell phone ) so that we could catch our 6:15AM flight from Oklahoma City to Houston.  Then from Houston we were to go to Orlando.

We got lucky at the airport and were able to park in the garage attached to the airport.  Usually, by Thursday, this parking structure is already full.

We breezed through security and got to our gate about 10 minutes before they started boarding.  The first leg of our journey was pretty empty and it didn't take long before we were both asleep.

In Houston, we lucked out again because our next gate was right across the hallway from the gate we arrived at.  We went to Wendy's and picked up some breakfast items and headed back to our gate.  At this time we found out that we were having to change planes because there were "mechanical" difficulties with our current plane. 

So, we had to go around the corner to catch or next plane.  Other than that minor hiccup everything went smoothly.

I really had a hard time being comfortable on the flight from Houston to Orlando.  The flight clocks in around 2.5 hours and I had really sore abdominal muscles since that was the muscle group I worked out at the gym the previous day.  No matter how I positioned myself in the chair, I couldn't get comfortable.  

Needless to say, I was happy when we landed in Orlando.  We made our way to baggage claim and noticed that there was a new, unfamiliar voice on the speaker in the tram that takes you to baggage claim.

We met our driver from Quicksilver and he waited with us as we got our bags.  Then it was off to the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort.  Even though we reserved a towncar, once again, we were picked up in a Cadillac Escalade.  On our way to the Dolphin, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some essentials:  water, breakfast bars and Dr. Pepper (Hell hath no fury like my wife without Dr. Pepper).

The check-in at the Dolphin was smooth and we were quickly to our room where I immediately tried to start contacting Tim Devine (The Magic in Pixels) and the Taylor Boys (Imaginerding).  I wasn't successful in getting George or Andy Taylor, but I knew that since he was a Sprint customer, like myself, that service was spotty, at best, in the parks.  I did get Tim and let him know that I'd call when we got into the park.

While I was doing this, my wife was unpacking.  She simply cannot function until all the bags are unpacked and all it's contents are put away.

As we walked out the room to go the Magic Kingdom, we discovered that our door wasn't latching.  No matter what we did, the door wouldn't stay latched.  Despite what some people may think about me, I'm not a big enough idiot to not know how to shut a door.  So we called down to the front desk to see what they could do for us.  I just assumed they'd move us to another room since there were plenty of available rooms (according to the gentleman who checked us in).  Well, this wasn't the case.  They were insistent that maintenance come and check it out.

After waiting for 20 minutes and not having anyone show up, my wife called down again and informed them that we were here for MouseFest and we had a meet to get to and couldn't just be sitting around all day waiting for someone to fix our door.  She was told that they would try to get someone from security to come sit in our room so we could go to the parks.  She was told to wait and they'd call back when they knew when he was coming.

After 10 more minutes we got a call that security could not come because there was an "incident" in the hotel that was occupying their time.  But, the person promised someone would be there in soon.

Well, it took a grand total of an hour of frustratingly painful time but a maintenance person was eventually dispatched to our room.  As soon as I opened the door, he had a Phillips head screwdriver in hand.  He loosened the strike plate on the door jam, gave it a slight tap, then tightened it down again and the door closed fine.

We were informed that housekeeping tends to engage the deadbolt and then let the door slam shut.  The deadbolt keeps the door from closing and locking behind them while they are cleaning the room.  Well, the process of doing that causes the deadbolt to slam into the strike plate and knocks it out of alignment.

Now that crisis has been resolved, we made our way to the bus to head over the the Magic Kingdom.  Luck was on our side again because the bus showed up pretty much as soon as we did. 

After breezing through the bag check (aka the rubber glove treatment), we made our way to the "will call" window to pick up our tickets I had pre-purchased for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. 

The Cast Member behind the desk was very appreciative that I had brought my confirmation number [ed note:  Readers take note!  It's always a good idea to keep your cast members happy].  She informed me that most people do not and it really slows down the process of getting the guest their tickets.

We used our Annual Passes to get into the Magic Kingdom.  Once inside, we tried to reach George again, but didn't have much luck.  At this point, it was quickly apparent that we were trapped by the Mickey's Dreams Can Come True Parade. 

Since we really couldn't get anywhere easily and we had already missed Mike Scopa's MouseFest 101 Meet,  we decided to watch the parade from the round-a-bout near the train station.  I pulled out my camera (big surprise) and attempted to take some pictures in the poor afternoon light.  The light was really poor because the sun's position caused harsh shadowing to occur on everything.  The built-in flash wasn't strong enough to alleviate the problem.

After the parade, we decided that it be best to try and get some food in our bellies.  Even though my wife was still recovering from a nasty stomach bug she felt it wise to put something in her stomach.

So, we made our way to Cosmic Ray's.  My wife is still having some nausea problems, so she thought it best that we stick with food that we've had before. 

I got the 8-piece chicken nugget meal with fries and a Coke and my wife shared that with me.  We got a seat  near Sonny Eclipse and enjoyed the campy entertainment that we all love at this establishment.  While we ate, I got ahold of Tim Devine.  He met us at the restaurant with one of his good friends that he met at MouseFest 2006. 

From Cosmic Ray's we decided to head to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and take a ride on the blue roller coaster while Tim ran his outline for his 5PM Photography 101 meet by me.

After the TTA, we decided it was time to get a little Buzz Lightyear  in.  I had one of my worst scores yet, but that may have been due to the fact that I was trying to take pictures AND play the game at the same time.  Tim, once again, racked up a huge score and my wife was close behind.   I must say that every time I start to get on a roll, my wife hits the joystick and moves the car on me unexpectedly and screws me up.  I really wish the astroblasters were removable like on the Disneyland version.  I rocked when I could shoot over my shoulder.

After Space Ranger Spin, Tim tried to get some snack food before his meet, but the line was slower than the DMV, so he eventually had to give up.  We had to walk very quickly to get to the Tomorowland Noodle Terrace which was the location of Tim's Photography 101 meet.

It was here that I finally got to ever so briefly meet up with Andy and George of Imaginerding.  They stopped by to say "hi" on their way out of the park.  They had an ADR at EPCOT Center and had to get going if they were going to make it.

George stayed long enough to get one good heckle in before heading out. 

Tim's Photography 101 meet was very informative and he got across many important bits of information for the person who is trying to pick up the hobby of photography.  Plus, it was well attended by people from many of the communities being represented at MouseFest.

Unfortunately, just as Tim was finishing, the Wishes fireworks started.  For us, the vacation hasn't started until we've seen Wishes, so we had to speed on out of the meet, and make our way to see the fireworks.  I guess we weren't the only ones who felt this way, because the start of Wishes! pretty much spelled the end of the Meet.

I attempted some hand-held shots of the fireworks, but didn't have much luck.

After Wishes was done, we made our way back to where Tim was and he was still surrounded by MouseFest attendees who were asking him photography questions.  As we waited for him to finish, we saw Lou Mongello and his "entourage" walk by but I didn't have a chance to get his attention.  I'm sure I'll run into him again.

It was at this point that Tim decided that it was time to get his ticket for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and retrieve his tripod from his friend's car.  Since we already had our tickets, and we knew that it would take Tim some time to get his tasks accomplished, we decided to part ways temporarily.

After getting our blue wristbands at the Rose Garden, the first place my wife and I decided to go was the Haunted Mansion.  As my long standing readers will recall, we got the luxury of being at the Haunted Mansion for it's rededication in September.  This time, I decided the camera was going to stay in my lap and I was going to try and enjoy the attraction as a "normal" guest would.

It was rather nice to not to view the attraction through a viewfinder.  I just sat there and enjoyed the scenery and the accomplishments of the talented Imagineers who really spiffed up this classic Disney Attraction.

After getting off Haunted Mansion, I had decided it was time to put on my sweatshirt.  My wife had already changed into warmer clothes before Tim's Photography 101 meet.  I on the other hand, had held out.  It got cool quick after the sun went down.  In fact, you could almost feel it getting colder with each step you took.

At this point we decided it was time to partake in some of the hot chocolate and sugar cookies that we had heard about. 

Firstly, the hot chocolate was exactly that....hot....scalding hot.  We got the hot chocolate near the Columbia  Harbor House and I resisted taking a sip until we were close to Pirates of the Caribbean and I still burnt my tongue.  The sugar cookie was so-so.  I could really do without them.  I have been spoiled over the years with my wife's skillful crafting of Christmas dessert confections, so it's hard for me to be wowed by outside sources.

We hung around the store outside Pirates until we could get our fill of the hot chocolate.  While we were there, a Cast Member pointed out to us where a coin from Pirates of the Caribbean:  The Curse of the Black Pearl had been hidden, as well as, where Davy Jones' keys from the second movie, Pirates of the Caribbean:  Dead Man's Chest.

We dumped the rest of our hot chocolate and walked right onto the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction.  While on Pirates, Tim called my cell to inform me his was back in the park. 

Pirates was good, as usual.  Just like with Haunted, I decided to enjoy this attraction as a "normal" park guest and left my camera in it's parked position in my lap.

When we got off Pirates, I called Tim back and found that they were waiting for me and my wife outside the Main Street Bakery. 

We took a wrong turn and ended up going the long way, but we eventually got to Main Street which was now getting quite packed in preparation for the night's festivities.

After catching up with them, we decided it was time to eat again.  Once again, we went back to Cosmic Ray's.  This time, my wife and I both got a 1/4 lb cheeseburger.  I loaded my burger up with the sauteed mushrooms and pickles (mmmmmm.....mushrooms). 

We joined Tim, Will, and a friend from The Magic In Pixels Forum and his wife (Gary and Karen).  Our seats were in view of the Dance Party that was going on in the space normally occupied by Sonny Eclipse.

We actually hung around for awhile.  It turns out that my wife and Karen (Gary's wife) are both Emergency Room Nurses.  So, they hit it off and started talking shop and swapping war stories. 

About 30 minutes before the fireworks were to go off, we decided it was time to ride the Tomorrowland Transit Authority again.  This is always a nice time killer.  You could definitely tell this wasn't Tim's first trip on the attraction because he could recite the spiels word for word.

It was at this time that it became quickly apparent that this trip was going to be like none other.  If Tim had hair, he really lets it down within Disney's property borders.  There was lots of laughing and goofing off going on.  I was in a car with my wife and Gary's wife.  But, I could tell that they were having a grand ole time in the car in front of us.

It was decided that we weren't going to attempt to setup our tripods at the Rose Garden where the official MouseFest Fireworks Meet was occurring because the angle wasn't good for photos.  Plus, there would most certainty be a tightly packed group of people who may or may not be appreciative of 3 tripods being setup.  So, Tim led us to a spot smack dab in the middle of Main Street, U.S.A. and we setup shop. 

I took quite a few pictures of the fireworks during the party, but only time will tell if I finally bagged a trophy to be mounted on the wall.  To my left during the fireworks was Patrick Hurd from the Window To The Magic podcast.  It just so happens that Patrick and I hail from the same location in Oklahoma.

Before the parade we decided it was time to head toward the Partners Statue and attempt to take some stellar shots of Cinderella's Castle all adorned with the Dream Lights.  We were here for awhile trying various settings to see if we got the perfect shot.

As luck would have it, someone asked Tim to take their picture.  The perfectionist that he is, he wouldn't give up until he got them a good shot using their point-and-shoot camera.  It turns out they were familiar with his web site and he introduced himself.  This wasn't the first time someone had recognized him and I'm sure it won't be the last.  I guess that is why he carries business cards.  If people recognized me, I just might need to do the same thing.

After we felt we had gotten our fill, it was time for the Parade.

We positioned ourselves on Main Street U.S.A. and attempted to take some hand-held shots of the parade.  The soap bubbles that were to double as snow in Orlando really made things fun as my flash was rebounding off them and creating an interesting haze in my photos.  Instead of tripods we braced ourselves against the lamp posts to try and prevent sideways swaying.

After the parade, Tim ran into Jonathan Dichter and John Corigliano.  John hung out with a bit as we decided to go to the Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe to look for various Christmas related items.  On our way to Liberty Square, we crossed paths with Steve Barrett of Hidden Mickey fame.  A short exchange of pleasantries were made and we continued on our way.

None of us found what we were looking for.  Tim was looking for the Haunted Mansion addition to his Disney Christmas Village and we were looking for "It's A Small World" Christmas Ornaments.  We were both told that our best bet was to go to the 25 Days of Christmas shop in Downtown Disney.

After feeling defeated, we headed back to Main Street.  Tim and his crew headed toward home while my wife and I decided to pop into the new location for The Art of Disney. 

We found some "It's a Small World" Christmas Ornaments, but they weren't the ones we were tasked to locate (My wife's sister Julie gets these ornaments for Collin).  What we had found were Walt Disney Classic Collection pieces.  They were $30 each while what we were looking for were $30 for 6.

Now that we truly felt defeated, we called it a night and headed to the bus.  Once again, it pulled up just as we got to the stop.  There were only about 8 people on the bus.  It was at this point that we realized that our bus was going to be making stops at the Boardwalk Resort before heading to the Swan & Dolphin.

Well, my luck must've run out because on our way to the elevator at the Dolphin, my contact lens popped out.  I was noticing some agitation in my eye after getting off the bus.  It was acting real dry and itchy.  I recognized the signs of a possible contact dislodgment so I attempted to keep that eye shut.  The more I tried to keep it shut, the more it seemed to want to open.  As soon as I lost the battle and my eyelid popped open, the lens was out of there.  I didn't bring a backup because that was my last lens and I've been too preoccupied with life to get new lenses after we moved to Oklahoma from Houston.  Plus, the prescription was lost in the move.

So, I'll be going the rest of the trip sans contacts.  Fortunately, I mainly wear the lens to prevent eye strain from all the hours I spend on the computer.  So, hopefully, I'll be alright.  I did bring my glasses, but I switched to contacts just so I could wear sunglasses.  I will choose to go without contacts and risk the headache so I can wear my sunglasses.

If you want to view all 357 photos that I took of the first day at MouseFest you can see them at my Flickr account:  MouseFest 2007 (Day 01).  Feel free to click through and have a look around.  More photos than I could possibly put in a blog post.  If you were there, you might just see yourself.

Technorati Tags: MouseFest, Trip Report