The View from Scopa Towers

Hi Folks.

First allow me to thank Deb for inviting me to participate in this new phase for AllEarsNet. I’m pretty excited on the opportunity to share some insights with all of you and hopefully help in any way I can to assist you in your Walt Disney World Trip planning activities.

So what’s new? Well recently Walt Disney World announced yet another race in their Endurance Series and I’m pretty excited about running in it.

This brand new race is called The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 13K (8.01 miles).

This race is to commemorate the 13th Anniversary of the opening of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attraction at the Disney/MGM Studios theme park. Actually my family and I were there the first day the cast members donned their bellhop costumes. I hope to tell you what that day was like.

This race is pretty cool because it takes place on Saturday, Oct. 27th at 9 P.M. That’s right…at night.

I’ll talk more of this race next time including how to register and recommend how to prepare to run in a WDW sponsored race. Over the last 18 months I've run in eight WDW races and have learned a lot and I want to share my "education" with you.

Oh there’ll be other topics we’ll cover and I hope you’ll feel free to contact me here as to what you would like to hear from me. As I prepare for my trips, experience them, and learn from them I will share my experiences with you in the hope of helping you with your own trips.

Just as Deb has graciously invited me to share my thoughts with you I’m inviting you to my blog and to encourage you to let me know what you think of it and of course WDW.

Mike

When I had read about how the upcoming Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 13K is to commemorate the 13th year anniversary of the opening of this attraction, I could not help but think about my first encounter with the Tower 13 years ago.

I remember that July trip back in 1994 and wondering when I took off for Orlando if I'd get chance to experience this much heralded new attraction during my visit.

The following excerpt comes from my trip report that recollects that vacation and especially my first visit to the old Hollywood Hotel.

On that particular day while we were in MGM-Studios we noticed that the Tower was....

...wait a minute...let me share with you the exact written words from my trip report.

Come with me…back to July 1994 on a trip with my wife Carol, daughter Holly, and son Mike Jr.…back…back….

(Insert clouds and wavy dream sequence effects)

We were sitting on a bench along Hollywood Blvd. and I couldn't help but notice how empty the park was on this day. Little did I know how we would benefit from the lack of guests.

You can exit just before the elevators if you chicken....erh prefer to bypass the actual ride. We get up to the elevator and we are directed to stand on certain spots just outside the elevator. This is done for loading purposes. The elevator comes and we file in. The elevator contains benches. We sit in the front row and a lap bar is pulled down. Note that the middle seat in the rear row does not have a bar but a seat belt (lap...not shoulder).

Next time it's Part II: The Ultimate Elevator Ride.

It's always exciting to do a soft opening of a Walt Disney World attraction. such was the case back in 1994 when my family and I were among the first to experience the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

When we left off in Part 1 we were sitting in the elevator. My son, daughter and I were about to experience the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

Let’s get back to my trip report and see what my observations were as we sat down, buckled up, and wondered what would happen next.

Back we go...back to 1994.....back...back...

(Cue the dream sequence fog)

I checked my watch. It took but 20 minutes to get to this point. I couldn't help but notice how many cast members were staffing this attraction. They were all over the place. Just before we got on a small boy (barely made the 42" requirement) asked about the drop. "What drop?" asked the CAST MEMBER, "We have good elevators here at the Hollywood Hotel." Good job.

Thank goodness the drop is in darkness. I would think that if we could see outside as we dropped we'd be in serious trouble at the bottom. I know there are coaster people out there who are saying, "C'mon Mike! It sounds like a coaster!" Nope. Coasters are always moving. This vehicle TOOK OFF FROM A STANDING POSITION. I wish I had looked up as we plummeted.

So what happened next? That's called Part III: The Ride Aftermath!

Thirteen years later it was all coming back to me, the anticipation, the excitement, and the thrill of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. As I read through my trip report of 13 years back what struck me as most interesting was my observations as my daughter, son, and I came to the bottom of that crazy elevator shaft and how the rest of that day went for all of us.

So allow me to wrap up this trip down memory lane with the final installment of The Day the Tower Opened with my own words from my trip report of July, 1994.

Carol was there waiting for us....along with a dozen cast members and several EMTs standing by to assist any visitors having problems. Needless to say, what other Disney attraction needs EMTs standing by? That says it right there that this attraction is major league.

It was a very satisfying day.

That was thirteen years ago. It was a very satisfying day and I’m looking forward to a very satisfying night…race night that is.

Well there have been some interesting developments regarding the Tower of Terror 6.5K and 13K races. I know that many people were hesitant to register for either one of these races because for awhile there were no indications as to what the minimum pace would be for each course.

Considering that there are entry fees involved can you blame anyone for not jumping forward blindly without first determining if in fact they can do the pace that the Disney race folks will require for each distance?

Well I’m happy to tell everyone not to worry. The pace requirements have been posted and they have made everyone smile.

Regardless of which race a participant enters the pacing requirement is the same. The requirement is to complete the course in 2 and ½ hours.

That means those doing the 6.5K distance are looking at about a 38 minute per mile pace and those doing the 13K race are looking at about a 19 minute per mile pace.

My guess is that once everyone saw that pace requirements the registrations started pouring in.

A little bird told me that the longer course may have quite a few surprises for the participants and I’m looking forward to that myself.

By the way, the start time for the race and party at Disney/MGM-Studios has been pushed back to 9:30 P.M.

For those who usually run in the morning or mid-day that start time makes for even more of a challenge

Every race that I have run at WDW has started anywhere from 6:00 to 7:30 A.M. so this will be quite different for me.

Oh yeah, don’t let me forget to tell you that there is a Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party event scheduled for the night before the race on Friday, October 26th and if you’re wondering, yes I plan to go and I already have my ticket in hand.

I figure that I might as well stay out late Friday night and sleep in on Saturday morning because I’ll need to be well rested for the race on Saturday night.

Will I see YOU there?

Training Tip

If you are new to running or are returning to running after a long layoff your first priority should be to find the best running shoes for your needs.

The absolute best way to insure that you will select shoes that will work for you is to go into a store that specializes in running shoes and do the following:

• Tell them of your running plans. Let them know what your goals are and how far you plan to run per week.
• Have them measure your feet so that you will be sure to get the proper fit.
• Let them know if you have and issues with aches and pains in your legs, ankles, back or feet. That can help with the selection. Running shoes fall into classes that are designed for special needs such as cushioning and stability.
• Finally, have them observe you walking so they can see how your gait works and how you naturally land on your feet.

A running store staffed with knowledgeable people will go far in getting you off on the right foot…no pun intended.

Try all the shoes suggested and go with the most comfortable fit.

It may take a week or so before you know if they are the right shoes for you.

Once you know you have the “right” model for you it may be worth getting a second pair and rotate them as you train.

There’s so much more to talk about as we train.

Mike’s Training Notebook

If you’re interested my training regimen now has me at the point where I’m running one hour a day at least three times a week. I’m not worried about pace for now. My objective is to slowly build up my stamina. I’m taking my time and so should you.

Let me ask one more time...

…Will I see YOU in October?

The response and questions regarding "The Letter" I read at MagicMeets has prompted me to share the entire letter with everyone.

So here in its entirety is the letter, written by Lee Cockeral, WDW Operations Manager, a few years ago:

Why We Do What We Do...

We do it for the children of all ages from around the world.

And for the lifelong memories we create for our welcome Guests and
cherished friends from all around the world . . . that is WHY WE DO WHAT WE
DO.

So here I am in Walt Disney World and I thought I'd share my trip experiences with you for the main purpose of helping you plan your next trip to Walt Disney World.

I'll reflect on some things that work for me that save me money, time, and stress. Call them tips if you like.

I'll also mention a few interesting things I have noticed on this trip that you may want to look for or experience on your next trip.

The Early Bird

Yes I am an early bird. I take the ealiest flight I can. Why? Well if I plan on taking a later flight there is a better chance of that flight being delayed simply because of the domino effect that occurs when flights are delayed.

Also, for some reason early morning flights seem to make better time than the later ones.

Join the Club

If you rent a car while in Orlando always try to join that car agencies club or whatever allows you to bypass the counter.

As we rolled along with our luggage Carol saw the line at the National Car counter and said, "Yikes! Look at that line!" She forgot i was an Emerald Aisle member. We went right up and grabbed our car and was off.

How much time did this save? Well we were rolling our luggage into our room at Pop Century approxiamately 75 minutes after our plane touched down in Orlando.

It is well worth it to do whatever you can to save time.

As an Annual Passholder (and I realize not everyone is) I always try to get AP rates for the room. This vacation has me spliting my time between Pop Century (I know...blasphemy...but Pop Century should not complain...i'm approaching my 100th night there) and Port Orleans French Quarter...both with AP rates.

Another AP advantage is the Disney Dining Experience card which offers me a 20% discount at most of the sit-down restaurants and also Everything Pop (Pop Century's foodcourt).

When we got to the TTC we took the Admiral Joe Fowler Ferry to The Magic Kingdom

Here's a few topiaries for you to look for on your next trip to the Magic Kingdom.

The Haunted Mansion

Now look at this photo...tells you that Haunted Mansion is really closed for refurbishing erh?

However, Master Gracey left us this note...

...which informs us that he's traveling the netherworld in search of new spirits.

Here's another picture of the Haunted Mansion "under wraps" and going through a face change.

Keep yer fingers crossed that this attraction will be up and running in 6-8 weeks.

Be on the Lookout for...

Here's something for you to look for the next time you ride the Magic Kingdom riverboat. Look for the dog standing in this boat and watching this fish jump out of the water...and I mean this fish does jump out of the water.

I have two other bits of information to share with you before I end this very long day.

The next time you visit the Carrousel of Progress you may want to check out each scene very carefully. One of them includes an image of Mickey as the Sorceror's Apprentice...but which one? And where in the scene is this image?

Finally, the next time you are in The Magic Kingdom and you see this sign in front of the City Hall...

...please take it with a grain of salt.

I suggest that you both call Disney Dining and also take a chance and walk up to the restaurant's podium and check for an opening. It actually works more often that you would think.

That's it for now. See you next time everyone.

Travel days take a lot out of me. The proof was that I didn’t wake up until 6:45 Monday morning…at the time I’m usually just back from my morning run…not on this morning.

What was worse was that I closed my eyes and didn’t really wake up until 8:30.

We had breakfast at Chef Mickey’s with several of our friends.

We celebrated two birthdays.

Here are some exclusive pictures I took of the current DVC work going on where the old Contemporary North Garden wing used to be. The work has only just begun.

For those of you who used to visit the Belz outlet it’s now the Prime Outlet.

There are some unusual stores like…

..and like….

…I was in the market for some new running trunks so I visited this store...

The Disney Character Warehouse store was not open yet….arrrrrggggh!

We then went to the Premium Outlets to visit the Disney Character Premium store.

Hey…I know someone who would be interested in this merchandise they were selling….

…do you know of whom I speak?

From there we shot over to Publix to get a case of water for our room.

From there we went over to Disney’s Animal Kingdom to catch the afternoon parade.

By the way….the ice tea sold at the quick-service restaurants comes in sugar and sugar-free but not is decaffeinated.

We had a dinner ADR at Boma and weren’t sure if it would be too late for us to return to DAK for EMH but we got our bands anyway.

As it turned out after Boma we thought it best to go to MGM.

MGM was very crowded.

Here’s some homework….next time you’re in MGM look for this billboard.

Make that two assignments….look for this Mickey Mouse rocking horse too.

Here’s a clue…

We did a few things in MGM and finished the night watching Fantasmic…always entertaining.

By the way, speaking of Fantasmic, I no longer do the Fantasmic dinner package because I think that the prices are a bit much. So I eat at my favorite MGM restaurant about 2 hours before the Fantasmic show time and then head over to the Hollywood Hills about an hour before the show.

We had left center seats, about 15 rows up.

Tips that come to mind from today…

• Don’t go by the printed schedules you pick up at the parks. If there is a greeter board, like the one at the beginning of Sunset Blvd. check that for late changes in the park. For instance, today the printed schedule said MGM was holding only one showing of Fantasmic…the board said otherwise….so check the boards.

• Also, have you ever made an ADR (Advanced dining Reservation) yet was hungry an hour before the time of your ADR? Well, if it’s just the two of you then you have a very good chance of having your ADR moved up…just show up at the restaurant and ask if your time can be moved up.

As I write this entry the weathermen down here are starting to mention the possibility of a hurricane hitting Florida sometime late this weekend. If so I’ll be here to report it.

It’s time for me to head over to Deb’s blog to see how her Southwest Adventures are going.

That’s all for now.

Help, I’m beginning to panic. I woke up at 4:30 Tuesday morning. Hmmm, too early to run. I’ll just close my eyes and then wake up at 5:30 and then go out and run.

Big mistake.

It’s been almost five days since my last run and I need to run Wednesday morning…but we have an 8:10 ADR at Donald’s Breakfastsaurus…..yes I’m panicking but anyway….

…we headed to EPCOT this morning and here’s an up to date picture on the state of Spaceship Earth…at least regarding Mickey’s Arm and wand…

…yep…practically gone.

A Soarin'

We headed over to Soarin’ and as always, I head over to the leftmost FastPass distribution box and that box is never crowded.

I noticed the huge pictures in the queue area had changed quite a lot. See for yourself.

After we got the FastPasses We got into line and hen we got to the loading area we ASKED to sit in the top row…we were guided to the next area and we were top center row…cool

After our first ride we needed to burn 30 minutes so we did “Living with the Land” and that attraction no longer has a Cast member riding with you.

Get a load of this…

We returned to Soarin'; and Carol AGAIN asked for the top row. This time not only did we get top row center but I was sitting in seat #6. That is the best seat in the house folks.

So there’s your second tip of the day…if it looks like you can get into the top row then ask.

We then did the Nemo attraction at the Living Seas. We got a kick out of this t-shirt

A Sailing

After Nemo I called my buddy Matthew from Reedy Creek emergency Services. Carol and I had plans to spend some time with Matthew and his fiancée Kristen today.

We planned to meet at DTD and take a pontoon ride to Old Key West.

As Carol and I left EPCOT we cut through Innoventions.

Now here’s a Segway I’d like to try.

We met Matthew and Kristen at the Marina at DTD and we took off for Old Key West. On a pontoon boat like this one which was docked at the Old key West Marina.

Along the way we past Saratoga Springs and Port Orleans

It was a nice comfortable quiet boat ride. It was refreshing too because the high for the day in Orlando set a new record…98 degrees.

We helped, or I should say Matt and Kristen (they both work for Reedy Creek Emergency services) helped a woman whose small boat kind of conked out on her.

Kristen edged the pontoon boat close to the woman’s boat and Matt got her boat working again.

We returned and had lunch at the Rainforest Café before heading our separate ways.

We made arrangements to get together again next week

Carol and I checked the stores.

Here’s a homework assignment. Where in DTD can you find a bee’s nest with bees?

We then headed back to EPCOT and took in American Adventure. I was very curious about the new “Golden Dream” and I was not disappointed. As much as I would like to say they just tweaked it I’d have to say it was more than a tweak and it will move you even more than its predecessor.

Also, look for a slight change to the ending of the AA attraction after ‘Golden Dream”

AA is my favorite WDW attraction.

I’m always the last one to leave the theater.

A Soaking

As we made our way around World Showcase everyone jumped as without notice a huge crack of thunder came out of nowhere. We were surprised because half the sky was sunny…we didn’t notice what was behind us.

Then the rains came ans we got soaked.

Here’s proof that half the sky was rainy and the other half sunny.

We watched Illuminations and it looks as though the video globe has been given some enhancements.

I took some pictures but they don’t do the globe justice so here’s a token torch picture.

We checked out Mouse Gear before leaving the park.

Hmmmm, I kept seeing the following logo on a lot of merchandise…

…could this be the new EPCOT logo?

We’ll see.

That was it for Tuesday.

Arrgghhh....slept until 6:36 and since we had an early ADR at Donald's Breakfastosaurus another morning went by the boards without me running. Not good.

Anyway, we headed out to Disney's Animal Kingdom and made our way to Donald's.

Here's me...awake for only an hour, with Mr. Goofy.

We left breakfast and went to see Festival of the Lion King. It's always a joy to see this show and a great first attraction of the day.

We then went to see "Nemo - The Musical."

I've heard that people who have seen this show either love it or hate it. Those who dislike the show complain that they don't like to see the puppeteers. However, I think that's the charm of the show.

The larger puppets were amazing to see, especially Crush.

When you see this attraction my advice would be to sit in the rear portion of the theater, behind that main aisle. Otherwise you will miss some very entertaining parts of the show.

Again, the main charm is seeing the performers do their thing.

We then decided to leave DAK and head over to the Studios to catch a few attractions there.

The first order of the day in MGM was Beauty & The Beast. I know. I know. You're thinking, "Okay Mike, where's the gazillion pictures of Belle in her blue dress?" Well, I don't know. I just watched the show.

I've noticed over the last two years that the performing Belle for this attraction is always short, perhaps to emphasize the size difference between her and the Beast!.

From there we went over to the ABC theater steps to watch the "Stars and MotorCars" parade.

The middle sections of those steps are reserved for those who are hearing challenged and there are two people who "sign" the sounds of Stone Granite, Gabriel Huffington (I think that's her name) and other parade sounds to these special guests.

We saw Remy in the parade.

Oh yeah, these guys too.

We then saw the High School Musical Pep Rally, that is before the rain cut it short.

A word about this show, if you are a High School Musical purist you may not particularly enjoy the show as the performers put their own personalities into the songs which I noticed bothered some of the guests.

However there are those who loved the show and these guests, mostly the pre-teens, seem to be quite fanatical towards this show.

Before I forget, here is a homework assignment. Now where can you find this in MGM?

Also, this...

We then had dinner at H&V. Somehow they had us down for two ADRS with one of them being part of the Fantasmic Dinner Package, who knows.

After dinner we got our Extra Magic Hour wristbands.

We then took in the Backlot Tour.

I discovered something. If you sit in the back half of car #5 you will get soaked at Catastrophe Canyon...trust me.

At the AFI Villains portion of the tour...

...I checked on a special Hidden Mickey that Steve Barrett pointed out to me last year.

Consider this another homework assignment and look for this Hidden Mickey on your next trip.

We next did Muppetvision 3-D.

Here's another homework assignment. The next time you visit Muppetvision 3D watch the film very closely ans see if you can find the 3D glasses on the bust of Mozart.

We finished the night taking in Voyage of the Little Mermaid.

We thought about doing The Great Movie Ride and Indy but we were beginning to run out of gas.

Plus I had to write this blog entry.

Boy I hope Deb is using her sunscreen out West.

Looks like no running for me at Pop Century on this trip. Missed it again this morning and tomorrow we move to Port Orleans French Quarter.

Today we got a late start (wrote my blog until 1 A.M.) and went to EPCOT.

We decided to visit Figment first and then we stroled into World Showcase and rode the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico.

When you next experience this attraction look for the Donald Duck pinata.

From there we walked around World Showcase and walked right onto The Maelstrom.

We saw drawbridge up to allow the Illuminations barges into the lagoon.

And from another angle...

And of course one of the aforementioned barges.

We made our way to Canada and had lunch at Le Cellier.

We overheard one of the castmembers say that the restaurant was fully booked up to January.

BTW, new Canada film in late September.

After lunch we took in Off Kilter....sans lead singer Jamie Holton who is on vacation.

Hey look...it's Lou Mongello of WDWRadio on the fiddle.

From there we enjoyed Brisith Invasion at the United Kingdom pavilion.

Looks like Food & Wine is already being celebrated at Japan.

We just had to see American Adventure one more time...I almost made it through "Golden Dream" without shedding a tear.

Homework assignment. Where can you find this in World Showcase?

We had dinner at Alfredo's. It would be our last dinner there as the restaurant will be closing at the end of the month.

After dinner we took in Ellen's Universe of Energy and decided to call it an early night for a change.

We got back to Pop Century and I finally visited my favorite spot at the resort, Generation Gap Bridge.

More tomorrow.

Well, the good news is that I woke up early enough on Friday to go out and run. The bad news is that I said to myself, “Let me close my eyes for just another 15 minutes.”

We call that a “mistake.”

Next thing I know its 6:47 and we have an 8:10 ADR at the Grand Floridian Café.

Arrrghhh, another morning without a run.

When we got to the Café they told us that our ADR was for the day before! Huh? First at Hollywood & Vine the night before they had us down for two ADRs at the same time now this!

They honored our time and we had a very nice breakfast. We did not eat everything as we turned down the final course which was Mickey waffles.

We had visits from Tigger, Pooh, Mary Poppins, the Mad Hatter, and Alice.

1900 Park Fare will soon reopen. Our server said that they are hoping that the new 1900 Park Fare will open in late September and it will be able to serve even more guests as the restaurant will be bigger.

We left the Grand Floridian and headed back to Pop Century to do our final packing as we were moving to Port Orleans French Quarter.

We didn’t think our room was going to be ready but surprise, surprise it was.

We tossed our bags onto the bed, stashed our water in the frig, and headed over to the Magic Kingdom.

As we entered the town square I scooted over to City Hall to ask for a birthday button for Carol and also a brochure for the Pirate & Princess Party.

We are not going until Tuesday evening but it’s never too early to plan how best to navigate the park for this party.

There are some general guidelines I suggest to families going to any of the MK parties, be it Pirate and Princess, Mickey’s not So Scary, or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.

Here they are:

• First and foremost grab a party brochure a day or two before going to the party.

• Review the brochure and put together a plan as to how you will navigate the park during the party.

• Get your MK attraction fix the day before the party because you don’t want to put attraction touring at the top of your list…remember, you are paying extra to get into the park at this time for the special events…not the attractions.

• If possible do the Extra Magic Hour Evening the night before the party. Stay out late because you really should think about sleeping in on the morning of the party.

• Take it easy in the morning, perhaps go to DisneyQuest for a few hours, and then have an early dinner, say no later than 5 P.M.

• Wear a watch with a lighted dial so you can keep track of the time.

• Try to arrive at the Magic Kingdom at least 30 minutes before the start of the party.

• If you can, do the later scheduled events such as a show or a parade because it will be less crowded than the earlier ones.

• Plan any attraction touring around the special events. That is, if you can fit in Big Thunder Mountain or Pirates of the Caribbean around your schedule then go for it. Remember that you are paying for these special events so make sure you get the most of the party.

The last few days have been somewhat hot and we have felt the need to hydrate as often as possible. We grabbed light lemonade at Casey’s.

We then made our way over to Adventureland to finally ride Pirates. The wait time was about 75 minutes. No thanks.

We rode Aladdin’s Magic Carpet and then took in the Tiki Room.

There was a guest sitting next to us who had what looked like baby who was no more than a few weeks old.

Not only was the baby probably the youngest person to se the Tiki room, he/she may have been one of the few chosen to be nursed by his mom too….yes…but discreetly.

Homework Assignment: next time you're in The Magic Kingdom look for this sight.

Pirates was still full so we visited the Country Bears.

We then watched the “Disney Dreams Come True” parade.

It was getting close to our Crystal Palace ADR time so we strolled over to Main Street and looked in the shops.

I was selected by a cast member to participate in the flag lowering ceremony. Unfortunately I am not a veteran so I had to turn them down.

Dinner was at Crystal Palace.

After dinner we watched the castle show…twice.

We then took in the Hall of Presidents. It’s a favorite of Carol’s because it was one of the first attractions we ever saw. Back in the mid-70’s when the HoP opened it was FREE. Back then you used tickets A thru E and HoP was free for a whole year.

From the presidents we went to Mickey’s Philharmagic.

Then we got our wristbands for EMH and then took in Small World.

Are you as tired as we were becoming?

We grabbed lemonade and made our way to Tomorrowland. We rode the TTA and when we got into the Space Mountain potion of the ride all of a sudden the lights in Space Mountain came on…pretty spooky.

We asked to stay on the ride and we rode it again and once again got to see the insides of Space Mountain.

Then the TTA broke down for about 10 minutes…seemed it was not the night to be in Tomorowland.

We headed to Main Street to watch “Wishes.” About 4 minutes into the show someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to move because his girl friend could not see.

Huh?

I was stunned at first but decided to hold my tongue and I stood behind Carol instead of next to her.

As I stood there watching:”Wishes” I thought, “Okay, now what do I do if I’m blocking someone else’s view?

Gee, do I ask the dad in front of me to take his son of his shoulders because I can’t see?

Carol had a good point. No one is tall enough to block the fireworks; she wanted to see the castle.

I’m such a softie.

After the fireworks we headed to a special spot to watch Spectromagic, the late parade.

It’s been some months since I’ve seen Spectro but I noticed the Spectro Men are gone, and I could have sworn the three fairy godmothers used to be on one float not three separate floats and finally Chernobog’s horses used to be all one color…blur, right? Now they are different colors.

Wow, it was late. My day was already 18 hours long and it wasn’t over. Also, my aching ankle, yes the one I broke during the 2006 WDW half-Marathon was talking to me and saying, “Mike, I thought we had an agreement. I would give you no problem while running if you refrained from walking on me in excess of 12 hours a day!”

He had me there.

We went over to Pirates. There was no line….because the attraction was down.

So we decided it was time to call it a day.

We got back to our room around 1:15 A.M. and found this waiting for us.

It is a very thoughtful birthday gift to Carol from some very dear friends and I thought I'd just post a picture before we "made use" of this wonderful gift.

Thank you dear friends. You know who you are!

So now you know why this blog entry is a little late.

More tomorrow.

Put your hands together because I actually got out of bed on this morning at around 5:30, put on my running gear and went out at 5:45 to run around the resort.

It had been at least a week since my last workout and I had no idea what to expect. My whole body was screaming at me until I hit Alligator Bayou over at Port Orleans Riverside.

I ended up running a bit over 40 minutes and felt great at the end of the run. However I am definitely behind schedule for the Tower of Terror 13K and when I return home I will be working hard to train for that race.

I had finished my run, showered, and got dressed in time for us to shoot over to EPCOT for Extra Magic Hour Morning

Here’s the latest on the deconstruction of Mickey’s arm/wand from Spaceship Earth.

There were two lines to get into EPCOT. We got into the line on the right side…it went almost to the bus depot….want to see?

The lines moved fairly fast.

Once we got in we went over to Soarin’ and grabbed a FastPass and then went in line. For the third time in a row Carol got us top row center. I may have to start renting her out to folks who want that top row center experience.

After Soarin’ we had a light breakfast and then rode “Living with the Land” to kill some time before using our Soarin’ FPs.

This time our luck ran out and we ended up center but second row instead of top row.

By the way, the next time you experience Soarin’ I suggest you watch the screen very carefully. If you count only 8 hot air balloons then you are not watching close enough.

If you do not see six fighter jets then you are not watching closely enough.

We walked over to see Nemo and Crush. Does anyone else out there just love that Starfish?

From there we went over to visit Figment. We took in “Honey I Shrunk the Audience" since it was the Imagination Institute’s annual....

We then walked back to the Land for lunch at the Garden Grill. We were early so we watch “Circle of Life” first.

Then we had lunch with farmer Mickey…

After lunch we visited Innoventions. We checked out the Rockin’ Robots…

…we played that IBM game and that pizza game (think goodness it was virtual pizza) and a few other things before checking out Mouse Gear. You never know when a neat new WDW shirt will show up.

Now since this was a surprise birthday trip for Carol I tried to get ADRs for all of her favorite restaurants. In order to do so I had to sometimes book meals a bit close together….like a late lunch and early dinner.

This was one of those days. We tried to eat light for lunch because we were going to the Kona Café for dinner.

We got into the car to drive over and when I started the car up look what I saw on my rear view mirror…

That explains the two glasses of ice tea and two glasses of water I had at lunch.

We drove over to the Polynesian Resort. My three favorite resorts are Pop Century, Port Orleans, and the Polynesian Resort.

Here’s a cute picture.

Look again, the tiki on the left is outside and the tiki on the right is inside.

Did I mention why the Polynesian Resort is one of my favorite resorts? A picture is worth a thousand words.

Let me take this opportunity to put in a good word for the Kona Café. It is one of the better restaurants in all of WDW and especially when it comes to teriyaki ANYTHING.

It is one of the few sit-down restaurants in WDW I love so much I will actually dine there alone when I do solo research trips. The bread is very decadent.

So Carol and I are eating and we are thinking about where to go and what to do next. The heat of the day (remember what the mirror said) had really taken some energy out of us so we decided to return to POFQ and do some laundry and check up on email and try to recoup some of that energy that the sun was draining from us.

Besides tomorrow was Carol’s birthday. You always want to be well refreshed when waking up in WDW on your birthday.

Finally the day came when Carol could “legally” wear her “Happy Birthday” button.

We decided to try something different today so we went to the dock to take the Riverboat Cruise to Downtown Disney, as mentioned on the WDW Today channel in our hotel room.

The CM who was driving the boat asked us where we wanted to go. We actually wanted to go to Downtown Disney. He said, “Well obviously you didn’t read the schedule because the next boat that goes to Downtown Disney leaves in an hour. I’m going to Riverside.”

I almost said, “Well obviously you didn’t read the fine print in your Disney Employee’s Guide as to how to address guests but I’ll make sure that your supervisor won’t forget to remind you to refresh your memory on your customer skills.”

Of course I didn’t say that but would it have hurt him too much to say, “Well folks the next boat to Downtown Disney won’t be here for about an hour but I’d be happy to take you to Riverside.”

Not only that, you think with Carol wearing her birthday button he would have been a bit more dare I say, “cast memberlike?”

We decided to take the boat to Riverside and checked out the General Store.

We decided to walk back to POFQ and drive to Downtown Disney.

We were spending the morning doing our “official shopping” to get a few gifts for friends, and use our 10% discount from our Annual Passes.

We found a few things but not as much as we have in the past.

By the way, I’m amazed at the success of the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique.

Next month a second one will open in Cinderella Castle.

We finished our shopping and came back to POFQ to drop off our stuff and grab a little bite to eat. It was that time in the trip when all guests begin to say, “Y’know, I’m not that hungry, but I need a little something.”

After our quickie lunch we headed off to the Magic Kingdom.

We had not really hit Fantasyland yet on this trip so we headed straight for Peter Pan and walked right on thanks to some special Attraction Re-entry passes given to us by a friend.

It was another warm day so we were looking for any relief…and it came in the Carrousel of Progress.
Look for that abstract painting of Mickey as the Sorcerer’s apprentice in the last scene.

We rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority a few times and then checked out a few shops for some Disney Halloween pins. Carol likes to be the Disney pin teacher at her school and likes to wear a different Disney Halloween pin every year.

We were meeting friends…I’ll keep it a secret for now…at the Contemporary for dinner.

We took the monorail over to the resort and walked around.

Wow, things were happening.

Take a look at the activity we saw just beginning on the fourth floor.

Some new shops are going in and you may have seen the artist renditions in Jack Spence's report earlier this week.

We met up with our dear friends Steve and Vickie Barrett and had a wonderful dinner at the California Grill.

How’s this for a view of the sunset?

The California Grill folks came over and took our photo because of Carol's birthday.

The folks at CG also gave Carol a special birthday dessert.

We had some very high quality time with Steve and Vickie. We had hoped they could stay to watch Wishes with us both both had an early morning and they also had a fairly long drive home. See you at Mousefest guys, if not sooner.

Another view from the CG

We went out on the observation deck to watch Wishes.

The photos I took do not do Wishes justice simply because of the angle from which we watched the nighttime spectacular. Remember that during Wishes there are several sets of fireworks being fired….those around the castle and those from a barge well in the rear of Magic Kingdom. The best angle to watch Wishes is from directly in front of the castle on Main Street USA.

So Carol had a nice birthday.

Since we got in real late we got a late start off to our last day.

As always the question is “What do we do on our last day?”

I’m sure for most people there are traditional objectives like perhaps visiting a special park or doing a special attraction or having the last meal at a certain restaurant.

Not for us…at least in recent years.

We went to EPCOT and found the stars gone from Spaceship Earth.

The star spikes were still there.

Carol was still on the lookout for some Halloween pins so we checked a couple of places before taking the Friendship boat to WS.

At Noon we walked up to one of our favorite restaurants…

…and grabbed a reservation for lunch.

We had a five minute wait so we strolled into the shops near the restaurant.

Hey look…princesses...

After lunch we strolled around WS. Carol was hurting. She had developed a blister the size of Spaceship Earth on one of her toes. This would be not only our last day but our shortest day.

There’s always a crowd checking out the trains at Germany.

We visited the American Adventure and of course saw the Voices of Liberty.

The woman on the far left is Deb Johnson. Her husband is Derric Johnson who created the Voices of Liberty and has quite a hand in the vocal arrangements for the Candlelight Processional.

After we watched the American Adventure I scooted around the side to hit the ATM.

Chip & Dale and a few CMs were hamming it up for me.

Oh yes…my favorite Disney character was in France…but was accompanied by some guy who needed a shave real badly.

We watched Off Kilter. Jamie was back….and these guys hammed it up for me too.

Year of a Million Refurbishments: Take 22

Look at these little men they were selling (or should I say NOT selling) in one of the Canada shops.

Our last meal of the trip was dinner at Rose & Crown. Now I have eaten at this restaurant several times and each meal has been decent. There are some WDW restaurants which I associate with certain entrees and I usually will not sway from those entrees.

For example, pot roast at Prime Time, New York strip at Le Cellier, and Teriyaki tips at Kona Café, to name a few…catfish is good at Garden Grill and if possible….turkey stew and crusted salmon at Hollywood & Vine.

Anyway, in recent years I’ve settled on the bangers (sausage) and mash (potatoes) at the Rose and Crown but today I thought I’d try something different so I ordered the Steak and Fish which is described as “Grilled Steak with black and tan demi-glace, Harry Ramsden's Battered fresh cod, green beans and mashed potatoes”

When the entrée showed up at my table it looked to be a very tempting dish. I was pleased with my selection, especially as it was a different entrée that I could say I’ve tried.

Let it be said that on August 22nd, in the year 2007 that I, for the first time in my life, did not clean my plate. As a matter of fact, I ate only one piece of my steak.

It was cooked the way I like it to be cooked but there was something about the taste...that I didn't like....I've had "gamey" tasting meat before but not like this.

I had the beans and potatoes and cod….but the steak remained in my dish when our server, Carrie, returned.

She looked concerned and asked if there was anything wrong. I tried as hard as I could to explain why I did not care for the steak without hurting her feelings. She wanted to bring me another one or a free dessert but I graciously said no.

I explained to her why I didn’t like the steak and she began to tell us that in her past life as a chef she learned that when you order a steak from a menu that it helps to know what cut of beef it is.

She went on to say that the word “sirloin” covers a large area on a cow and that taste is very much influenced by distance from bone and muscle and that for some cuts it’s next to impossible to guarantee consistent taste.

So I looked at her and I said, “So Carrie, are you saying that I may want to be careful about ordering a sirloin entrée when at a restaurant?”

She smiled at me and said, “I’m careful.”

The only problem of course is when you come across a menu that does not tell you "Where's the beef" coming from.

Next time I’m in the Rose & Crown it's Bangers and Mash for me.

Carol’s toe was really bothering her so we headed back to the room. It was close to 7 and we did not plan on staying for Illuminations.

When we got back she soaked her foot while I tried to grab a few pics of the resort, like the pool area…

…and the boat dock.

Later that night I took some evening shots of the resort.

Here’s what I see when I run in the pre-dawn hours at POFQ

Here’s another shot of the pool slide….at night

Yikes, it was almost 1 A.M. What was I doing?

Then I realized that I was carrying out my own personal tradition. For as long as I can remember on the last night of any Walt Disney World vacation I always found myself wandering the resort way past midnight.

In fact one night at Mousefest 2004 I spent an hour from 12:30 to 1:30 just sitting and swinging in a swing while glancing across the Seven Seas Lagoon at the Magic Kingdom.

It's important for me, as as frequent guest, to sort of sit back and smell the roses on the last evening of any trip.

During the course of any trip to Walt Disney World there is bound to be a day in which you just can't get away from a long line, can't find an acceptable dining time at your favorite restaurant, or just feel like a sardine waiting for the afternoon parade at Magic Kingdom.

Those little irritants can easily obscure the fact that there is something that keeps bringing us back, year after year, that we can never put our finger on.

It's an intangible for sure...but it's there nontheless.

For me, it may not be as much theme parks, characters, fine restaurants, and nighttime spectaculars but maybe the overall reminder that life is way too short to not pamper yourself from time to time with a trip to Walt Disney World...and a reminder to stop and smell the roses before either they are no longer there for us to smell or we are no longer around to appreciate their scent.

Yup…the trip had ended…but the tradition will continue…for the next trip…and the next trip….

Greetings from Walt Disney World!!!!!

Thursday was a long day. It started for me at 2:30 A.M.

I landed in Orlando around 9:30 A.M.

My first stop was EPCOT where the 2007 Food & Wine Festival is starting to wind down.

You know what comes after Food & Wine don’t you? Why the festive Christmas holidays of course and lookie here…the Christmas decor is going up already.

Ahhhhh Christmas in October...ya gotta love it.

I found this Hidden Mickey in the bushes near the Japan pavilion. Honest, I did not do this but my guess is that someone took the time to clear the shrubs and arrange the rocks.

Had lunch at Biergarten with Brian Bennett and was close to the stage and the band. You know what that means don't you? It means no more talking at the table 'cause we can't hear each other.

In mid-afternoon we were joined by Len Testa of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. Len wanted so much to try the food in…

...but we just had lunch some 90 minutes before. So we ordered ALL the appetizers and one pasta dish. Honest folks, this was research. We do it all for you. We were all in agreement that the food was relatively good but overpriced. I will say that the service was nothing less than excellent.

We were soon joined by Beci Mahnken of MEI Travel, and Mike Newell, and Matt Hochberg from the WDWTODAY Podcast and we all went over to check out a new film at an attraction known as….

Here’s Matt and Len, obviously up to no good.

The new "Oh Canada!" film was received with mixed emotions. The new version has added some humor to it but I was longing for some of the scenes from the original movie. I expect that for every two guests who watch this movie one will like it and the other will prefer the original.

We then took a stroll around World Showcase in search of dessert. Len treated us to caramel and ginger ice cream at China. Very tasty.

No...not research...call it "carbo loading" for Saturday evening's race.

BTW, the freaking out has begun because depending upon who you listen to the chance of rain for Saturday evening falls anywhere between 50% and 70%. Lovely.

We then took in The American Adventure before heading to Canada where we ran into our good friend Masayo Kano who made the long trip from Japan..

You're saying, "Mike, what's that shirt you're wearing? That's not a Disney shirt is it?"

No it's not. I live in new England and the Boston Red Sox are in the World Series...do the math.

We finished the night watching Illuminations. If you have not seen Illuminations since early 2007 you are in for a pleasant surprise. The video globe is brighter and more distinct. Also, you may find the fireworks to have more color.

It was quite a long day but nothing beats enjoying a day and evening in Walt Disney World with friends.

Friday is the day for packet pickup and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. I hope it's a BOO-TIFUL night tonight.

Stay tuned as there is more to come!

First an apology for my absence.

Buckle your seatbelts however, because from here until the aftermath of the d2008 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend we are on for quite a ride.

Thoughts on my Tower of Terror Trip

On Friday of my trip Len Testa and I took in the newly refurbished Haunted Mansion. If you plan to go to WDW soon and want to be surprised about the new enhancements to HM then you may want to skip the upcoming bulleted list, if not then read on:

• The first notable change was in the stretching room. The audio seemed to completely surround me. Also as the room starts to “stretch” you could hear squeaking sounds. Oh and our ghost host showed us (with better lighting) his way out.
• One more thing about the stretching room…are those gargoyles saying something?
• Once in the doom buggies the fun really began. As we entered the corridor we saw some stairways with candelabras…that’s new.
• The left side of the corridor/hallway has very long windows and it seems it was thundering and lightning outside.
• There were many new pictures adorning the walls.
• There also seemed to be eyes following us on our journey.
• Then there were the stairs…seemed taken out of an M.C. Escher painting with footsteps appearing and disappearing at the same time…upside down.
• The séance room had a fresh well lit assortment of instruments and Madame Leota…the new Leota…was floating in her crystal ball about four feet higher than I recall in the past. There is a flaw in this room…look for it.
• The attic was very different as special photographs told us about the famous Masey family and we learn quite a bit more about the Widow Masey.

From there we toured the Caribbean with some swashbuckling pirates. We noticed that this attraction has some deliberate debris placed in the water. Look for it the next time you ride this attraction.

We then strolled over to Tomorrowland and rode Buzz Light-Year.

Here's proof...

Then while I made a few phone calls Mr. Testa rode Astro-Orbiter.

As we were leaving the Magic Kingdom I was accosted by some wild woman.

Here is one of the scarecrows that adorned Town Square.

We then took off to visit the monorail resorts…first stop the Contemporary…work coming along fine on the new DVC addition.

From there we shot over to the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. Neither one of us had ever seen Victoria and Albert’s so we ventured over and looked into the restaurant. If you ever saunter over to V&As to check out the menu bring some smelling salts… for when you gaze at the prices.

From the GF we walked to the Polynesian as were we were meeting friends for lunch.

Along the way as we past by Luau Cove we checked the Scopa family brick…looks worn.

Lunch was at Kona.

From there it was time to head to Pleasure Island to pick up the race packets.

I ran into many friends there.

From there I drove some friends to All-Star Sports to check on the refurbished rooms.

Check them out.

From there it was onto TMK and the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party where I ran into my friends Matt, Marissa, Sara, and Josh.

The party was just like the last two years. We did our trick or treating and did a few attractions and saw the fireworks...

...the Villains Mix and Mingle....

...and the BOO-To-You Parade.

I was kind of fading and had a race to run the next day so I headed back to my room. I did run into Batman and Robin at the Ticket and Transportation Center.

I fell asleep about 12:30 A.M.

Saturday morning I spent in Epcot with a friend who I hadn’t seen in almost two years.

One of the "Can't Miss!" off the beaten path places everyone should visit is the mini-museum devoted to the history of Epcot. It just behind Club Cool.

Be sure to visit this exhibit, especially if you are a Horizons fan.

By mid day we each had commitments to attend to. He went to PI to get his race packet and I met a young lady by the name of Deb Wills for lunch at Fresh at the Dolphin…highly recommended….both Ms. Wills and the restaurant.

After lunch I went looking for some pins in Epcot before going back to the room to rest before the race.

I tried to nap but it must have been the rolling thunder that kept me awake.

The Race

I headed to Disney MGM/Studios around 7 P.M. and met about a dozen of my friends at the start line.

The race was really building up…thought it was going to rain. The weather was mild.

The race was late in starting because of traffic snarls and runners being held up.

The race began just about 9:50 P.M. or 20 minutes later than scheduled. But if you want to be real technical the race started 50 minutes late from the originally scheduled start time.

As expected it was a dark and at times a challenging course. Somewhere around Mile 2 the course was diverted into a gravel road. Thanks to some rain a few days earlier there was a portion of this road that offered a few sections with mud.

It was along this portion of the course that the runners were provided with entertainment in the form or volunteers who were dressed as insane asylum escapees. I’m sure it was entertaining for many of the runners but for me I questioned why this entertainment was focused on this area of the course when it was most important for the runners to concentrate on the footing…the uneven ground…the mud…and those poorly lit portions of the course.

The 13k (8.2 mile) course finished in the MGM Studios theme park. Runners came in through near Sid Cahuenga's then turned left to go up Hollywood Blvd and down towards the Commissary and the Sci-Fi Drive-In restaurant before heading toward the Lights! Motors! Action! Stunt Show stadium. From there we weaved our way through the Backlot Tour route.

The course also winded through some off-stage areas before coming out somewhere near Sunset Blvd. and then taking a right to go to Hollywood Blvd…then once on Hollywood Blvd. the course headed towards the front of the park and took a left at Crossroads and then made it’s way up the hill to the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater and then eventually finishing just behind the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Courtyard.

This race was described as the first Annual Tower of Terror 13K which suggests it will return in 2008.

Hopefully the feedback the race organizers get from this race will provide some improvements in next year’s race.

If in fact this race returns next year here are some suggestions I have for the race directors.

• Regardless of whether packet pickup is at Pleasure Island or Disney’s World of Sports the setup should be such so that the line flow should be packet pickup, shirts, and tickets. This year there was some backtracking involved and people were bumping into one another. I truly think the pickup should be at the WoS.
• Begin the race earlier in the evening. I would suggest moving the start time to 9 P.M. or even 8 P.M. Most of the runners struggled because let’s face it, it’s Walt Disney World and curbing your daily activity to save energy for a nighttime race doesn’t work for everyone.
• Also, for those participating in the race, there was little time to enjoy the party afterwards. With an earlier start there is more opportunity to enjoy those attractions which are open for the party.
• Some consideration should be given to the medals. The 13K participants and the 6.5K participants both received the same medals even though the 13K participants ran twice the distance and paid more for registration. At least maybe change the ribbon color and décor to identify the course covered by the medal wearer.
• Regarding the course, there should be two corrals at the start with the 13K corral up front and the 6.5K corral at the rear. When the race started there were 6.5K participants in the midst of the 13.5K participants. This made for an awkward start.
• I’m sure I speak for most of the 13K participants when I say to scrap the gravel road portion of the race. It is difficult enough to run at night without worrying about an uneven surface. A slight adjustment in the course still allows the finish line to remain where it is.

After the race several of us had a late dinner/early breakfast at Picabu’s at the Dolphin Hotel…at around 2:30 A.M.

I got back to my room around 3:30 A.M. and after a much welcomed shower hit the pillow about 4 A.M. but never really got into a deep sleep.

I was up at 7:30 and spent the morning strolling around Pop Century in search of information regarding the beginning of the Legendary Years Phase for this resort. All I could find was some refurbishing of the Generation Gap Bridge.

I called up Disney Dining and was surprised that I was able to make an ADR at Boma for dinner that evening. I was planning to dine with some friends from the United Kingdom who favor the restaurant.

I headed into Epcot and had lunch with Beci Mahnken of MEI & Mouse Fan Travel®
At the Garden Grill in the Land pavilion. It was a very enjoyable and restful lunch.

I then went on a search to locate a special Halloween pin for my wife but came up short.

In the late afternoon I left Epcot and drove over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge where I met my friends for dinner.

We checked into Boma and waited to be called.

When our little gizmo buzzed and flashed we went to the podium where we were surprised to be announced as “Boma Family of the Night.” This meant we were escorted into the restaurant serenaded by drums and were seated at the front center table and made our way to the food before everyone else.

It was a nice final meal for me as Boma is one of my favorite restaurants and my company was exceptional

We then went to Epcot with plans to watch Illuminations before finishing the night at Beaches and Cream where my companions had visions of attacking the Kitchen Sink.

However after seeing the Oh Canada! film I felt the fatigue suddenly hit me. The past two days were finally catching up to me. I knew that sleeping just seven hours over two days while touring the parks and putting in an eight mile race would lead to fatigue at some point. This was that point.

I bid my friends farewell and would see them again in January for the WDW half-marathon.

I passed through the International Gateway and made my way along Boardwalk, stopping to capture my last photograph of the trip.

It was one of my shortest yet most intense WDW trips because of many factors, mostly of trying to squeeze so much into a few days. If I could have done it over I would not have done the MNSSHP the night before the race. I hope someone besides myself learns from this experience.

However, I came away from the trip with the satisfaction of knowing that I made each moment count as I spent 90% of my time with friends and it seems that more and more that seems to be the most important part of my WDW trips…to share the joy of the Disney culture with those with whom I care about.

One thing for sure….it made me even more excited to look forward to Mousefest.

Speaking of Mousefest

Are you ready? We are less than a month away and those on the Mousefest Organization Committee, Sponsors, and everyone else are working very feverishly to get everything in place for this annual event.

I’ve been making a list of things I have to do and this is the week I need to complete some tasks.

One of my tasks is to prepare for a new meet this year. It takes place on Thursd