Yoo Hoo, All!
We are on our return flight from a week long stay at WDW.  I must say
that the decorations in all of the Parks, Hotels, and Property Grounds
were absolutely beautiful!!
As usual, we received roasted chestnuts (from a CM in Dickens garb) in
front of the Grand Floridian, before we took in the ambiance of the
lobby.  We toured all of the hotel lobbies through the week, taking in
all of the festive decorations. The Yacht Club had the neatest model
train in the lobby with a ski lift scene.  The cars were decorated in
Y&BC and Epcot logos!!
Still one of our favorites is the Wilderness Lodge.  The lobby is
spectacular as is, but when decorated, is just magnificent!
We attended the Very Merry Christmas Party last Friday night and had a
wonderful time from 8pm to 1am.  We received our family photo and made
a major dent into the free hot chocolate and cookie stations throughout
the MK.   The highlight was attending the Compuserve Florida Forum Ranger
Reunion 1996 (FFRR96), where close to 50 of us hijacked the Jungle
Cruise at midnight and, with a willing pilot, took the boat around the
course twice - reciting all of the lines, puns and bad jokes back to the
captain.
The weather throughout the week was, well typical Florida.  The highest
temp might have hit the high 70's, and we had almost a full day of
liquid sunshine yesterday.  It finally quit early last evening, and gave
us a great opportunity to hit the last few attractions at MK, then on
over to Epcot for a quiet walk around and final goodbye's.
Our first day at WDW, we had a visit from 24 cousins, relatives, etc.
from the right-coast of Florida.  We all descended on Olivia's at Old
Key West and had a great meal.  We then toured a few more hotel lobbies,
and finally ended up at the Contemporary, where we all had dinner at the
new Chef Mickey's.  The best part is having Goofy in the front waiting
area, entertaining all the kids and adults, too.
On our way around Epcot Wednesday or Thursday night, we were able to
stop in and hear the Candle Light Processional featuring David Ogden
Stiers. We were treated to a breathtaking performance by a group of very
talented singers (450), musicians(50), and of course Mr. Stiers as the
narrator. Earlier in the week, we had heard Buzz Aldren (we met him at a
book signing in Future World) do the narration, but opted to come back
to hear Mr. Stiers.  Had we been able to, I think the next guest
narrator was Barbara Eden.
We managed to stop in and eat at the new Rainforest Cafe at Disney
Village Marketplace.  What an experience.  Seating is interesting!
When you approach the podium, you are given an EXACT time to come back
and your table will be ready.  We arrived at ~2:30pm and were given a
seating card showing a return time of 2:49pm.  We browsed for a few
minutes, and were promptly seated at the designated time.  I understand
that after 5pm, the wait can be ~2hrs.  The food was good, and we all
enjoyed all the animal and fish surroundings.  I especially was
intrigued with the 3 and 10 thousand gallon marine aquariums throughout
the dining area.  The rainstorms were also a nice added touch.  Watch
out for the elephants and gorillas!!
We also visited the new World of Disney store.  It was truly amazing!!
There are some parts of the store that most go up 3 stories.  Although,
one cannot go up that high, I thought about asking for "that particular
Eeyore that was the second from the top."   The thing unique about
the store, and WDW for that matter, is that they are selling certain
25th Anniversary items that I have not seen for sale elsewhere.  We
picked up some commemorative 25th items that we felt would be special in
the years to come.
On our last day, today, we drove over to The Boardwalk, where we rented
a bicycle surrey and pedalled around the lake a couple of times before
stopping in the Sweet shop for some goodies and rock candy to-go!
If anyone is interested, I will go into some detail about the different
rides and shows we did throughout the week.  The most notable changes
were the World of Energy, with Bill Nye and Ellen and of course the
Holiday parades and Illuminations that are different for this time of
year.  The crowds were moderate, except for being at the MK on a Monday
which is a don't-do, except we had booked lunch and dinner without
thinking.  As a side note, they have changed menu's at Tony's and the
Coral Reef restaurants.  We were very disappointed at the first, and
so-so at the 2nd.
The kids had a ball looking throughout WDW for the penny-pressers and
the new 25th Anniversary quarter pressers.  We didn't get them all, but
had fun looking for them.
We now have a week's worth of catching up to do, but what a nice start
for the Holiday Season.
Joe & family
PS  If Dawn or Mike are reading this, sorry we didn't hook up.  We were
just two buildings away at OKW.  Maybe next year.  BTW, Kaitlyn is just
now feeling better from her cold.   How did your visit go?
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--- InterEcho 1.19
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