Disney World PF Gathering and Tips for Disney Mania!

[ZapperZ]

Just a few more hours... and then THIS!

Zz.

 

[Evo]

I'm happy for you Zz! Good thing Katrina didn't hit Florida!

 

[ZapperZ]

I'm happy for you Zz! Good thing Katrina didn't hit Florida!

She wouldn't dare! I would have beaten her with an ugly stick!

Anyway, I'm all packed, and if I have time tomorrow morning, I'll check in here before I leave (car is picking us up at 5:00 AM). But if not, I'll be reporting from the Happiest Place on Earth - with pictures!

:)

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

If you are in Hollywood, CA, don't miss the Disney ice cream store!

http://www.lacanadaonline.com/articles/2005/09/01/entertainment/applause01.txt

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

Walt Disney hometown is hosting an international Toonfest.

http://www.moberlymonitor.com/articles/2005/08/31/news/news5.txt

Checking in for the last time before I catch the plane. Next report will be from the very magical place...

Zz [with his mouse ears hat on]

 

[Lisa!]

Just a few more hours... and then THIS!

Zz.

Wow, what a beautifu place! Is it Moonbear's?

 

[ZapperZ]

Wow, what a beautifu place! Is it Moonbear's?

Lisa, if Moonbie has a Mickey garden in front of her home, I would marry her yesterday!

:)

Zz [waiting impatiently for his car pick-up to the airport]

 

[ZapperZ]

Greetings from the Happiest Place on Earth!

I'm here! And guess what was the first thing we did after checking into our hotel? We went to the pin station at the Contemporary Resort to get that surprise pin from a week ago! So Moonbie dear, I have that "Bored Meeting" pin!

We then went to the Magic Kingdom and spent the rest of the day/early evening there. Did part of a scavenger hunt for the Virtual Magic Kingdom online game (I got a glow-in-the-dark hand band, and several magic codes for my character and room in that online game). We then did Haunted Mansion, It's A Small World, and Mickey Philharmagic. Not bad for a first day. We then got tired and didn't say for Spectromagic and Wishes (we have been up since 3:30 am and will have plenty of time to do those later in the week).

Will try to upload pictures later when I have the time. But today, we're doing Epcot! There's a special Character greetings (with a free keepsake picture) for Disney's Visa cardholder (waves hand). So after doing Soarin' and Test Track, we'll stick around till the character event.

After that, we're going to Downtown Disney to shop our brains out. There's this "golden" train set that I am dying to get my hands on...

Evo, Moonbie: wish you were here.

Zz.

 

[Moonbear]

Lisa, if Moonbie has a Mickey garden in front of her home, I would marry her yesterday!

:)

Zz [waiting impatiently for his car pick-up to the airport]

If you buy me the house with a yard that size, I'll gladly plant a Mickey garden.

I'm here! And guess what was the first thing we did after checking into our hotel? We went to the pin station at the Contemporary Resort to get that surprise pin from a week ago! So Moonbie dear, I have that "Bored Meeting" pin!

Cool! Is it as nice up close and in person as it looked in the picture? Will you really wear it to meetings?

Evo, Moonbie: wish you were here.

I'm sure not nearly as much as we're wishing we were there!

 

[JamesU]

Zz, you know moonbear and you are married. and you're on the honeymoon at disneyland and she's unpacking in west virginia. I see another maury episode arriving...

 

[ZapperZ]

Zz, you know moonbear and you are married. and you're on the honeymoon at disneyland and she's unpacking in west virginia. I see another maury episode arriving...

Moonbie, looks like someone found out about us. The game's over!

So how's the unpacking going on way up in the mountains, hon?

Cool! Is it as nice up close and in person as it looked in the picture? Will you really wear it to meetings?

It's VERY cool. I bought one extra for you. So you'll get to see it some time soon. I also bought that jumbo pin that has the instructions on how to draw Mickey (I mentioned about the pin a while back). The pin is, in a words, FABULOUS. I think it will become my most favorite pin. Too bad it costs an arm and a leg.

I also commited to a rather HUGE thing (some people already think I should be commited, so why not go all the way?). I enrolled in the Disney Vacation Club. This is almost like a time-share thing, but Disney version. I bought enough points for about 2 weeks of vacation a year at any Disney resort all over the world, but with my homebase here at Disney World at the Saratoga Springs resort. The nice thing about the DVC is that you are not stuck with a set time of the year to use it. You can come at any time, stay at any place. The only factor in it is that you use up different amount of points at different resorts at different times of the year. The resorts that are designated as DVC resorts have the lowest number of points per night. And these resorts are almost like a home - they have large bathrooms, kitchens, and the 1-2 bedrooms have pull-out sofa-beds, washing machines/dryer, etc. The Saratoga Springs (which is our home base) have 6 (count 'em) swimming pools, a health club and a spa (for a low fee). Can't you just see me doing a 1-hour aromatherapy facials? :) The kicker is that it is walking distance to Downtown Disney (or a short boat ride), which is my favorite location in all of Disney World.

In any case, as soon as we told them that we are signing up, we immediately got the greetings "Welcome Home". That is what they greet all their DVC members. They gave us this nice canvas bag to hold all our DVC documents. Turns out they give this only to people who signed up, so all the cast members we bumped into on our way out were wishing us "Welcome Home". I was grinning from ear to ear since I am such a sucker for things like this. They gave us temporary DVC ID cards that we can use immediately for discounts throughout the resort (and believe me, we have used it already). And of course, the first thing we did was get pins that were DVC members exclusive! How sick is THAT?! :)

Anyway, today, we're doing Animal Kingdom - mainly to get that surprise pin from 4 days ago. Then back to Downtown Disney for more shopping. We already have one shipment sent home already, and that includes that Golden train set! Tomorrow, I have to drive back to the Orlando airport to pick up a couple of friends flying into join us for the rest of the trip. So the group will grow even more. There's plenty more of the trip to look forward to...

Cheers, and have a Magical Day!

Zz.

 

[arildno]

You haven't thanked me for your wedding present yet, Zz.
https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=734820&postcount=14
I'm tempted to keep it to myself.

 

[Moonbear]

You haven't thanked me for your wedding present yet, Zz.
https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=734820&postcount=14
I'm tempted to keep it to myself.

You got Zz a purse? Weeeeeelllll, maybe I'll just keep that one for myself. Thanks! That's just my style too.

Zz, sounds like you're having a great time! Don't forget to ride some rides in between all that shopping.

I'm almost done unpacking here. Yay! I have two more boxes in my office that I just shoved into a closet because I'm dreading unpacking those. I'm not even sure what's in them, I think it might be all the crap that was at the bottom of my closet in the last house that landed there when the box I didn't feel like unpacking after the last move fell apart. If I was sure that was all that was in there, I'd just take the whole thing out for trash.

I have very noisy neighbors here...they stand outside mooing at 8 AM. They weren't around when I visited the place last time, but I just think it's so cool that I have cows for neighbors. (There might be mice in the attic too, but no big ones with red pants. I think they're stealing insulation for nesting material...it makes me itch just thinking about it.)

 

[Lisa!]

Hey Moonbear, you don't want to tell me anything?

 

[Moonbear]

This is definitely going on the wedding registry.

http://disneyshopping.go.com/DSSectionPage.process?Merchant_Id=2&Section_Id=13527&Product_Id=175844

 

[Evo]

Evo, Moonbie: wish you were here.

Zz.

Will you be able to post pictures?

 

[JamesU]

This is definitely going on the wedding registry.

http://disneyshopping.go.com/DSSectionPage.process?Merchant_Id=2&Section_Id=13527&Product_Id=175844

god, Zz, you'd better have an american express platinum card with moonbear as your wife..

 

[Moonbear]

god, Zz, you'd better have an american express platinum card with moonbear as your wife..

No, that's why it goes on the registry, to hope someone else might buy it for us. It's sooooooo cute, but WAY out of my budget, and after ZZ buys me that big house with the big yard for me to plant a Mickey garden for him, I don't think we'll have much left for splurging on artwork.

 

[ZapperZ]

Will you be able to post pictures?

Yes, I can. Haven't been doing that since I basically got back to the hotel exhausted. But tonight was an easy evening since I spent a wonderful time at friends' house and a quite lovely dinner.

So here are a few pictures from the past 2 days. The first one was on the first day and the obligatory picture of the most wonderful sight - the entrance into Disney World.

The second is the view from my room on the 16th floor of the Grosvenor hotel looking right at Downtown Disney. The third is my attempted at an "artistic" shot at the "golf ball", which is Spaceship Earth at Epcot.

We had a great time today at The Animal Kingdom. I found out that I misread the location of the surprise pin that was released a few days ago. It is at the Animal Kingdom LODGE. I'll go there in a couple of days and get it then when we go out there for our dinner at Boma. I also got the It's A Small World jumbo pin that was released more than a month ago. I sort of lost hope of getting it since I didn't see it at the Pin stores at Downtown Disney, Magic Kingdom, and Epcot. But surprise, surprise, the Animal Kingdom Merchantile store had it! And it's as gorgeous as it was in the picture!

Tomorrow, I pick up friends from the airport, and we'll be doing the Magic Kingdom all day and evening. We have a dinner researvation at the Liberty Tree Tavern at the theme park. This is dinner with the characters (Minnie and friends, it says). And then we will stick around for Spectromagic if it isn't raining. The park will be closed at 8:00 pm, so no Wishes fireworks.

I'm off to bed early so I can up and perky tomorrow. So good night, sleep tight, and have a magical dream!

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

More pictures!

The first one was from inside the "canyon" at the Contemporary Resort, where we had our lunch after picking up the surprise "Bored Meeting" pin. The second is the evening view from Cinderella's Castle looking down at Main Street, USA at the Magic Kingdom. It was obvioiusly a wet evening.

Zz.

 

[Lisa!]

Where's your wedding party held?

 

[Moonbear]

I got the pin! I got the pin! I got the pin! And it's adorable! Thanks ZZ! :!) :!) :!) :!) :!)

 

[ZapperZ]

I got the pin! I got the pin! I got the pin! And it's adorable! Thanks ZZ! :!) :!) :!) :!) :!)

Oh goody! I'm so happy! Hopefully, Evo got hers.

Had a great day yesterday. Did Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, Mickey Philharmagic, teacups, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, etc. But the highlight of the day was the dinner with the characters at Liberty Tree Tavern. Evo and Moonbie, if you ever join me at WDW, we MUST do dinner there! It's a hoot! You have Minnie, Goofy, Chip&Dale, and Pluto, all dressed up in colonial outfit (except Pluto) and walking around the place visiting all the tables multiple times. I got a lot of pictures (will upload it later when I have better connections).

We stayed for Wishes (no spectromagic) even though it was raining. Got partially drenched, but I didn't care. I was having a lot of fun.

Today, we do Disney/MGM Studios in the morning, and then hop on over to Epcot for afternoon/evening.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

Here are a couple of pictures from our fun dinner. Both Pluto and Dale found the food so good, they came and sit at our table!

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

Yesterday was one of those RARE days that will be remembered for a long time. We started out at Disney/MGM Studios. We did Tower of Terror twice, Rock 'N' Rollercoaster, Muppets 3D, and The Great Movie Ride. Then we hopped to Epcot and did Soarin', Test Track, Mission Space, had dinner at Marrekesh in the Morroco pavillion, and then ended the evening with Illuminations.

But while at Epcot, since I own a Disney Visa card, we had another special character greetings. It is common to have a character picture with Mickey, or Minnie, or Goofy. But when was the last time someone had ALL THREE in one location at the SAME TIME? Certainly never happened to me. That's what we got yesterday! We had pictures with all three of them at the same time, in one picture! It was wonderful! Mickey and Minnie in one picture alone is rare, but having Goofy at the same time is just unheard of!

And the bad part about it was that there weren't any lines waiting for such a picture. Either not many Disney visa cardholders knew about it, or most of them have left. The theme parks were very, very sparse (again, as I've said before, this is one of the best time to come to WDW - no crowds!).

Today, we will be doing the Animal Kingdom again, and hop back to Epcot later in the afternoon to pick up our registration packages for the Happiest Pin Celebration event that will officially begin tomorrow. All the cast members we have talked to unanimously said that it will be the largest pin event every held anywhere in Disney property. And us amateurs will be a part of it! :)

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

Spent the morning yesterday at Animal Kingdom, and then the afternoon at Epcot to register for the pin event. It was a ZOO, and I mean the pin event registration, not Animal Kingdom (AK is Notahzu, remember?). The progress on Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom is stunning (see picture). They are now putting up "snow peaks" on the structure. Still schedule to be open in 2006. I can't wait!

Today, it will be more pin events. I am putting a random selection process order for the Walt Disney framed pin set that I didn't get last time. So cross your fingers!

Zz.

 

[JamesU]

X <my poor immitation of fingers

Sounds like your having a good time

 

[ZapperZ]

Yesterday was spent at Epcot, specifically the Happiest Pin Celebration pin event. All I can say is WHOA!

I can see how someone can easily get sucked into the pin mania. There were people hauling suitcases full of pins! We get to see truly hardcore pin collectors and get to talk to them, especially in learning which pin series are worth collecting and which aren't. However, what was more fun was the interaction with people having the same interest, and doing pin trading. I got a number of very rare pins that a few pin traders were simply getting rid of. Plus, the pin event had several games and trading events where we could get the just released cast lanyard series. These pins will soon become very sought after on ebay (I got 3 of them so far).

Anyway, today, we will be doing Magic Kingdom in the morning, and then back to the pin event at Epcot in the afternoon. There are more surprise pins to be released there today, so we hope to be lucky enough to get them. The pictures below are from the pin event held at the World Showplace at Epcot. Even Mickey Mouse was there and looking over the previous cast lanyard series.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

This is a very sad day, in more ways that one.

It is of course, the 4th anniversary of the day that changed many of our lives. On a lesser degree, it is also our last day here at Disney World. I fly back to good old Chicago late in the afternoon (and back to work tomorrow). It has been a terrific visit.

Yesterday, we did the Magic Kingdom in the morning, and then back to Epcot and the Pin event in the afternoon. Did more pin trading, and stayed to watch the auction of very rare pins. I'm just aghast that some of the pin sets were fetching up to $900! On average, the winning bids were around $200. That's a lot of money! On the other hand, I'm sure I've spent a lot more than $200 for the haul of pins that I'm bringing back this time. I don't even want to know how heavy my luggage is. This is in addition to the 4 packages that I am having them mail directly to my home.

We also got news that our Disney Vacation Club membership has been approved, and that we will be getting the agreement package in a few days (or maybe it has even been mailed already). I'm looking forward to using it for the first time this coming January, especially at our new "home" at Saratoga Springs resort here at WDW. Have to work on Evo and Moonbie to get them to come to Orlando during that time.

Will post more pictures after I get home. Till then, so long from the Happiest Place on Earth!

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

<sigh>

It's back to reality. It really amazes me. I would be running on barely 4 or 5 hours of sleep each day that I'm at WDW, and I hardly feel tired. Back at home, and I need my 7 hours of sleep or else I'm lethargic the whole day! Someone once told me that's the Tinkerbell effect. I'd buy that!

:)

Even with the 4 packages that we shipped home, our luggages were still OVERWEIGHT! It has never happened before. We ended up paying $50 for the two overweight luggages! Oy! I blamed in on all the pins we got on this trip, and that includes the pins from the pin event. Without a doubt, this is the largest number of pins that we have ever, ever, brought back. I'm looking at this pile on the dining room table and would guess that it would take at least a week to sought, categorize, and put them up into the pin album. I have no idea what to do yet with the pins that come in their special display boxes. I have to find some way to display them or else they'll be in storage somewhere, and that's not good.

Humm... maybe I'll start giving away some of the pins on here? :)

Zz.