It looks like I have time to squeeze in another update today, so you are going to get one. I'll warn you up front that this one is mostly fireworks photos. We took a lot of fireworks photos. I don't know why we do that, because I am not that fond of fireworks photos. There is no way a photo of fireworks can convey what it is like to be there watching the fireworks. So, I will spare you, and just post a few of the fireworks photos. They will all be in this post, and then we will move along. So, it is Friday night. The New Year's Eve version of the Magic Kingdom's fireworks will be displayed both tonight and tomorrow night. Tomorrow night, we will watch them from the Fort. Tonight, we will watch them from the beach at the Polynesian Resort. That is a plan we have followed before, and we like it. So that is what we will be doing tonight. You have probably heard that they changed the times for the Hoop Dee Doo Review. So, we took this in to account when we planned our trip to the Polynesian. You do not want to get to the Fort dock after the HDDR has dumped all of its guests out. We timed it right. We got to the dock by 10, and not many people were there, but a resort boat was loading, as was an MK boat. The resort boat was going to WL first, then on to the Contemporary. Judging how things were going, we wouldn't make it on either one of these boats, but we figured that another resort boat would be along soon. You need to be careful on nights like this. Because of the expanded fireworks, they suspend boat traffic for an hour:
The two boats pulled away. Then the HDDR let out. And, the lines for both boats stretched all the way down the dock. But, we were in front of the line, baby! We know how to play this game! The resort boat did come along right away. And this one was going to the Contemporary first. That is what we wanted. So, we got to the Contemporary in no time. That leg of our journey could have taken a lot longer. It only took us about 20 minutes. We headed up to the monorail. The twins saw this gingerbread tree last night, but I didn't know that until after I took this photo:
Toward the end of 2011, there was some hubbub at WDW about the decision to shut down the monorails an hour after the MK closes, even on EMH nights. Well, tonight was a 3:30 am EMH at The MK, and they weren't going to shut down the monorails until 4:30 am!:
We had no wait for a monorail, and got to the Polynesian Resort by way before 11 pm. I thought it was going to take us an hour or more. Oh well, better to be early than late. We were going to have Dole Whip after the fireworks, but since we were early we had it now. I noticed that right after 11, they took down the dinner menus in Captain Cooks, and posted the breakfast menus. This was odd, as I thought this restaurant was open 24 hours. I figured they would serve the dinner menu late into the night. Well, it turns out that even thought the restaurant is open, they don't have the grill part open after 11. That means all you can get is the sandwiches and salads they have in the cases. And Dole Whip. So, it is kind of misleading to say this place is open 24 hours. Technically, that is true, but after 11, all you can get is prepackaged stuff. And Dole Whip. That is a good thing. That's why I said it twice. We enjoyed our Dole Whip. The twins made it. There are not photos because they really weren't noteworthy. There was a line at the machine, and the girls felt rushed and couldn't create their normal masterpieces. No worries, though, we had plenty. Then we headed down to the beach. As many of you read in his trip report, we ran right into fellow Fiend Devores on the beach. And I plopped by self right in front of him. It is now time for the fireworks photos. You will be pleased to know that I narrowed it down to just 19 photos. I can't say that these are any better than those that Devores posted in his report. But I can say that there is no Jackwagon blocking the view of any of these. The NYE fireworks begin with Mickey, Minnie and Goofy narrating. And then there is a countdown from 10. They shoot of fireworks in the shapes of the numbers. You can see some of the numbers in these shots ( you can see the 6, 5, 3 and 2 shapes in these next four photos) :
And then all heck breaks loose! :
It is pretty much a non-stop barrage after that:
If you look toward the bottom center of those photos, you can see little old Cinderella castle way over there. We have never been inside of the MK for the NYE or 4th of July fireworks, but I firmly believe that the view from here across the lake has to be better than what you would see standing someplace like a sardine in the Magic Kingdom. The only thing that might be better is that they shoot off low fireworks inside the MK near the castle. You can see these small fireworks in the next two photos:
It might be cool to see those from inside the MK. But, otherwise, I think you really couldn't appreciate all of the fireworks that are being shot off from all around the park. Here are some more shots from our spot on the beach:
I love how the firewoks reflect off the Seven Seas Lagoon. The show concludes with a big finale:
That's all the fireworks photos I have for you. Until we get to tomorrow night. We took Devores' advice and headed over to the TTC instead of following the mob through the Polynesian lobby. We were able to walk on to a monorail there, and then exited at the MK and took the boat back to the Fort. The MK was a madhouse because it was EMH, and people were just arriving! We had no problem catching the boat and heading back to the Fort. We did a little looping and called it a night. Tomorrow was the last day of the year! And we were going to sieze it! TCD
Our local radio station was talking today that the 10 theme parks in Orlando have had record attendants this passed 2 weeks. Even Legoland had to turn people away yesterday and Hotels are saying they are running at 95% occupancy rate. Just goes to show thing are getting better
The issue is that you came on here pretending to be a customer of a golf cart company - that's deceitful and I'm not sure why you felt the need to lie? If you wanted to promote your dad's business (and that's commendable), you had 2 HONEST options on this site - have your dad take out some ad space (a few other companies already do), or get some of his ACTUAL customers to join and share their experiences. If you really didn't know how things worked in regards to promoting a business on this site, you could have simply come on and said, "hey gang - my dad has a great golf cart rental business..." Then folks here would have told you about those 2 other options and no harm done. Unfortunately what you've done now is actually damage your dad's company's reputation with this group because now how can we trust anything that's posted about his business? If you'd actually joined this board as a participating member (instead of looking for some free advertising) and done some poking around, you'd have learned that other golf cart companies have tried these kinds of tactics here before too, and most people here have vowed never to work with them again. Working with a vendor for a service like this involves a good degree of faith and trust - especially when you're trying out a new company for the first time. That's why people here value REAL reviews from fellow campers that share their experiences. That's also why when you break that trust by operating in the way you have, it makes people seriously leery of wanting to do business with you. ETA: Oh and the information you posted at the top of the page is not new. If you'd done even a little bit of research on this site you'd have learned that it was reported over a month ago.
Gary Mikkelsen he is authorized to work at the Fort and is on the list of repair man the front desk gives you. We used is services when our A/C went out. He is fast and very fare on prices. He does a lot more than just A/C he works on most brands of gas and electrical appliances plus a lot more. His mobile # 407.301.4487
Yep. And this kind of monkey business will lead to the Fort management cracking down once and for all on outside renters. Even Kenny. And then we're all screwed. TCD
Julie, I disagree with your comment about dealing with a company rather than a person. I have a camper rental business and I go to way farther lengths than a big box company to satisfy my customers. I realize your co. has and will take a hit by Steve doing this. I know a lot more about this situation from some things I'm hearing at the fort. I just hope all this rental stuff doesn't cause a problem with personal carts being brought into the campground.
Let me add one more thing. This great Duty Manager told me without Laughing Fort Wilderness managment has never heard of a problem with locals at the pool. I said Bull Shit I talk to managment 5 times over 4th and they told me that they are working on a way to fix it so don't tell me there is no problem with locals I was on the phone with him for 28mins givein him a ear full
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