TCD's Pre-Halloween 2012 Trip Report

[Judy in Texas 150]

I totally agree! :rofl:

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

The first Gaston was handsomer, but his "enhanced" muscles were more obvious. The second looked like he filled out the shirt on his own.

I think you split the twins in half. That what Solomon would do, right?

[DaveInTN 3,247]

In my mind, if Phil was there on opening day working at the HM, and over 40 years worked his way up to running the MK, including overseeing the largest expansion in the park's history, he deserved a lousy portrait in the gift shop.

Oh, and the Headless Horseman is cool.

[Ok Grumpy AKA Cindy~~ 9]

I'm really enjoying your TR! I have to admit I haven't been paying attention to all the changes and had no ideal it was going to look like that! It looks really neat! Halloween is my Favorite time and it's my favorite party too! Thanks for sharing!

[devores 382]

Going through the fast pass line for the Ariel ride you missed all of the detail in the que. It is an interactive que too. Something that wasnt working the first 3 times we rode it. We went to the cast preview yesterday and they had the entire que opened and working and no one was behind us or in front of us, so we took in all of the details. They did a good job and the interactive part is actually fun. In the the glass areas of the que (ship windows, divers masks, mirrors, etc) crabs come out with objects and you tell the crab what belongs and what doesnt by pointing and yelling. The crabs either take the objects away or throw them in the chest. Some of the play areas can be over looked so when you go through, look at everything closely.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great fireworks photos! One of my friends was there on the 16th and had a great time at the Halloween party. She even took the time to run over to the Fort and pick me up a FW t-shirt, so it must have been a good trip.

Congrats on the FW shirt!

Thanks for getting so many updates in today..... like stef said too much to comment on but i can't wait for the next update.

You are welcome. I do what I can.

It's not Twin #1 you should worry about. It's the quiet one.....

So true.

I love the Halloween Parade. Thanks for the videos.

Which twin wins? I will stay tuned for the further adventures of the TCD Gang duke it out in the MK!

There was no duking it out. But, there are further adventures.

So I am thinking that Twin who wants to see new fantasyland at night wins or did we have a dual split with TCD going back to see the new fantasyland at night with a single twin.....hmmmmmmm

No, there was no split, but you are kind of close to the answer.

I vote back to new Fantasyland.....oh wait it already happened didnt it?

I am guessing you were able to do both somehow.

The parade picks and headless horsemen were cool as I have never seen the MK at Halloween.

I loved that the Florida Gators mascot was there too.

Very good guess, Aaron- we did end up doing both- I'll give the details in the next update.

The Headless Horseman is cool. You used to be able to see him at the Fort too. But not this year.

I seem to remember back in 2004 that the Headless Horseman went down main street at a much faster clip. Some kid probably got trampled.

I don't know about a kid being trampled, but the Headless Horseman definitely used to race down the street.

He also used to chase (as in fast) the Haunted Hayride wagons back when they used to have Haunted Hayrides at the Fort.

Those were the good old days.

Does anyone else think Gaston is kind of a hottie?

Annnnnyways....

As Jeff said, Gaston does think he's a hottie. The CM's they have playing Gaston are a hoot. He comes across as the biggest jerk you ever met. Having been around as long as I have, I know that there is a large percentage of the female population which is attracted to big jerks.

Sorry to bust your bubble but dudes who are that good looking usually only like other dudes who are that good looking. Plus, that hair and those muscle don't look real. That guy apparently didn't really eat 5 dozon eggs every morning to be "roughly the size of a barge."

Very funny!

You are on fire around here lately!

I figured the little boy was her son, the daughter is at the ticket machine and that is proud daddy behind the little girl in flip flops

I don't know. I can't think of many ladies who would be able to wear shorts like that after popping out two kids. I really do think this was a teenager.

TCD

[Discamper 394]

TCD site 416 was our site for 3 months. I loved that site big back yard for Rudy & Shelby and real close to the CS

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

WOW so many interesting costumes

Looks like a lot of fun

You are right.

And, there were some even more interesting ones that I did not get photos of.

For example, there were four grown men traveling around dressed as the members of KISS. They had on complete costumes, including the make up, and ridiculous platform boots. We saw them late in the evening heading down Main Street. It was too dark, and they were too far apart to get a photo. But, they were amazing. I can't believe they walked around all night in those boots.

I think Gaston looks like Dudley Do-Right of the Northwest Mounties.

True!

LOL!

I bet Gaston does. :)

I already acknowledged this witty comment above.

Very good.

I totally agree! :rofl:

What are you agreeing to Judy?

That Gaston is a hottie?

Or that Gaston thinks he's a hottie?

Or maybe both?

The first Gaston was handsomer, but his "enhanced" muscles were more obvious. The second looked like he filled out the shirt on his own.

I think you split the twins in half. That what Solomon would do, right?

Yes, there was quite a bit of variation in the Gastons we saw over the weekend. One was close to 7' tall, I swear.

Yes, that's how Solomon did it. Or at least what he said he would do. I have tried that kind of logic on some other deadlocks. It doesn't work for me.

And, by the way, excuse the blasphemy, but I never thought Solomon was all that bright. If he was so smart, then why did he have so many wives?

In my mind, if Phil was there on opening day working at the HM, and over 40 years worked his way up to running the MK, including overseeing the largest expansion in the park's history, he deserved a lousy portrait in the gift shop.

Oh, and the Headless Horseman is cool.

I disagree about Phil. He may have survived working for the company for 40 years, but he should not be singled out to get credit for the Fantasyland expansion in this way. The whole way it is presented, and the stupid answers the CM's have obviously been trained to give, is annoying.

I agree 100% about the Headless Horseman. Very cool.

I'm really enjoying your TR! I have to admit I haven't been paying attention to all the changes and had no ideal it was going to look like that! It looks really neat! Halloween is my Favorite time and it's my favorite party too! Thanks for sharing!

The changes are really great. We will be heading back to the new stuff again on this trip, and I have photos of stuff we have not yet looked at, so be sure to check back.

Going through the fast pass line for the Ariel ride you missed all of the detail in the que. It is an interactive que too. Something that wasnt working the first 3 times we rode it. We went to the cast preview yesterday and they had the entire que opened and working and no one was behind us or in front of us, so we took in all of the details. They did a good job and the interactive part is actually fun. In the the glass areas of the que (ship windows, divers masks, mirrors, etc) crabs come out with objects and you tell the crab what belongs and what doesnt by pointing and yelling. The crabs either take the objects away or throw them in the chest. Some of the play areas can be over looked so when you go through, look at everything closely.

Ah, but Dave, you are getting ahead of the story.

We did go back to the Ariel ride on this trip and we purposely went through the regular queue. Photos will be shared at the appropriate time in the story.

Not only that, but when we went back on Friday, which was the last day of the Dress Rehearsal before CM previews began on Saturday, we got Little Mermaid Fastpasses. I'm pretty sure this was the first time they issued the LM Fastpasses, so bragging rights to the TCD gang.

TCD site 416 was our site for 3 months. I loved that site big back yard for Rudy & Shelby and real close to the CS

I thought that was your site.

Had they already done the premium upgrades by then?

I had mixed feelings about the site, which I will share later on.

Overall, I liked it and would stay on it again.

This backyard you speak of is blocked off now because they planted bushes across the back of the site. Good for privacy, but not good for access to that nice grassy area behind the site.

TCD

[Discamper 394]

Yes it was a premiun site. We didn't have any bushes across the back of the site. We could just walk out back to that big grassy area behind the site. I will stay there again. The only problem the dogs were not happy with all the people walking down the sidewalk to the CS.

[Grumpy and Grandma 739]

TCD

It's so nice when you do these reports. We get to enjoy most of the sights without the crowd. Good job.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Yes it was a premiun site. We didn't have any bushes across the back of the site. We could just walk out back to that big grassy area behind the site. I will stay there again. The only problem the dogs were not happy with all the people walking down the sidewalk to the CS.

Thanks for that photo, Todd.

I have some photos of the site coming up. There are more and bigger bushes giving some privacy from the sidewalk, and also between 416 and 417. The back of the site is completely blocked off by bushes. I see you have a pop-up and a tent behind your trailer- you couldn't do that now because of those bushes.

TCD

It's so nice when you do these reports. We get to enjoy most of the sights without the crowd. Good job.

Thanks, Dave.

You could go and see these sights yourself, you know. Just hop on the boat.

BTW- I should have already mentioned that it was nice to see you and Linda again.

I'll bet things are picking up around the 100 loop.

TCD

[Discamper 394]

Here is site 416 from Bing maps with my TT on it

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Here is site 416 from Bing maps with my TT on it

Wow, you're famous!

TCD

[caveat lector 181]

Wow, you're famous!

TCD

And rich enough to go up in his own helicopter for Ariel shots

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

I bet you are working on an update right now. (I hope, I hope, I hope!!)

[Just Beachy 18]

I used the new men's room in the village to wash the pork grease off my hands. Those new restrooms are very nice. I wanted to take a photo, but there were a lot of guys in there, so I didn't. I'm not a creep, you know.

If you had taken that picture, I think you would have been on the receiving end of a not-so-magical beat-down. Wise decision!! :rofl2:

[caveat lector 181]

Alright.....here is my cool o meter ratings so far:

Pork shank is really cool - due to both content and name

Pictures of people in costumes/other is really really cool - I like it when people commit

Picture of Jasmine is really really really cool - I like.......we'll let's just say nice job.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I think you are jealous of Phil.

[devores 382]

The headless horseman was slowed down for safety purposes, which really didnt help much as they (horse and rider) fell during one of the parades this year.

http://youtu.be/aynfhWkdSdo

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

We will wrap up Thursday night in this post.

After the parade, there was a difference of opinion as to where we would head next.

Twin #1 wanted to go back to the Princess meet and greet and meet the Princes and Princesses again. She thought there would be another crew of castmembers in there, and it would be fun to do it again.

Twin #2 did not agree. She wanted to go back to the new Fantasyland area and experience it in the dark. She thought it would be cool to see the lighting and the atmosphere in the dark.

Neither one would budge in her position. Normally, these little conflicts work themselves out. But, sometimes they don't. Tonight was looking like one of those times where I had to cast the deciding vote. I hate that. I have to listen to both sides of the argument and then make the call.

I suggested that before we did anything we get our candy bags filled.

The trick-or-treating had not been as much a priority this year for us as it was in the past. At past parties, the candy was the most important thing.

We headed back to Adventureland.

We found the castmember we were looking for.

At the other treat lines, we would wait in line, get to a castmember, and get a couple of pieces of candy tossed in our bag.

At this line, when we got to the castmember, we got a giant handful of candy.

We went through the line twice and our bags were full.

At past parties, I have been known to stash the full bags in my backpack and get new ones and start again.

But, we would then have more candy than we could possibly eat.

So, we stopped with one very full bag of candy each.

We could have had more if we wanted, though.

I had noticed on the schedule that there was still one more performance of the Villians show.

I suggested we head there.

I was trying to dodge making a decision on the Princess/Fantasyland deadlock.

The girls liked the idea of seeing the Villians show again. They wanted a photo with Maleficent, and we hadn't been able to get one at the last show because we didn't know where to stand in the crowd to be near her.

We planned well, and got the photo.

The only thing is, I don't know what happened to the photo.

I remember taking it.

I think it was on one of the girls' phones.

It probably is somewhere on Instagram. But, I don't know how to find it.

So, just imagine the twins striking that standard hand on one hip pose that they do with Maleficent in the middle.

That's all you're missing.

After that, we had to decide what would be next.

Whatever we chose would likely be the last thing we would get to do that night, as the party would end at midnight, and it was getting close.

I had to pull the trigger.

I said lets go back to the Princesses.

Twin 1 was happy. Twin 2 was not. What can you do?

I really didn't care what we did, and I liked the idea of being near the exit at the end of the party.

So we headed down Main Street with a sulking Twin 2.

There was no line for the meet and greet and we walked right in.

And found the exact same cast as we saw about 5 hours before.

That surprised me.

I figured they wouldn't have the same CM's work the whole party.

That's a long time to be on your feet.

But, there they were.

Twin 1 was kind of disappointed.

Twin 2 clearly was about to launch into the whole "I told you so" routine.

That never ends well.

So, I said, hey, we still have time to head back to the new Fantasyland.

Twin 1 said that was fine with her, and Twin 2, of course, had wanted that all along.

So, off we went.

We sure do walk a lot at Disney World.

But, I guess that's good for us.

We got back to the Enchanted Forest at about 11:45.

We had a whole 15 minutes to go crazy and do whatever we wanted!

Woo Hoo!

The place was deserted.

There was a castmember begging people to come in to the Enchanted Tales with Belle. We had been lucky enough to try this two weeks earlier, but had not been back. We all agreed, why not? So in we went. As we went in, I told the girls that they ought to volunteer to participate so they could get a photo with Belle and a free bookmark. I said I just wanted to watch this time, and I could take their photos. They said they just wanted to watch too, so we all agreed that was what we would do.

Even though I wanted to look around the queue area some, there was no line, and we were whisked right into Maurice's workshop.

Here we are:

And there is that magic mirror:

As far as I could tell, even though the Castmember working this part of the attraction looked like a female Ben Franklin, she was not in costume for the Halloween party-that is how she looks.

After this room, we next met up with Wardrobe, and the roles for the play were cast.

Since we had been before, we knew the drill, and hung back so others could take the roles.

The first role they cast is to pick two men to be the guards. I had been a guard the last time. And a darned good one. But I did not put up my hand or make any overt gesture to indicate I wanted to be a guard this time. There were several other men, including an older guy who was jumping up and down like he had to go tinkle, who volunteered to be guards. Good. I could sit on one of the nice benches and watch.

It didn't work that way.

Before I knew what hit me, the CM in charge thrust a cardboard helmet in my hand, and I was once a again a guard. The guy doing the potty dance did not get picked. Loser.

Having been called to serve, I assumed my role:

I made sure to smirk at the potty dance guy.

When the girls saw I was going to be a guard, they changed their plans too.

So the three of us particpated.

Which meant that we had to rely on the Photopass photographer to document the occasion.

He did a good job:

On paper, this whole attraction sounds kind of boring.

But, it is fun.

We were all glad that we did it again.

And, we all now have Belle bookmarks.

And one of us even has two.

And, there will most likely be many more, as I apparently am exactly what they are looking for in a guard.

We headed on out to an empty forest.

No one was around.

We had the place to ourselves.

It was awesome.

I said to the girls we need to enjoy this, because once this all opens for good, there won't be any time that it isn't going to be packed with people.

We walked around and enjoyed all of the cool lighting.

There were workers going hard on the Mine Train ride. At 12:13 am:

We got to walk over the bridge back to the area of Gaston's Tavern. Everything was closed up, and there were a couple of CM's standing there to stop guests from walking any further back, since the park was now closed. We hung out in the area of the fountain. We were the only guests there. And I am sure that will never be the case again.

I wish I was a better photographer, because the lighting back here is magical.

You can see Cinderella's castle from here:

And you can also look over and see the Beast's:

Another cool thing we noticed is that they had all kinds of forest sounds coming from the forest around the fake mountain on which the Beast's castle sits. We stood there for a while just listening.

I don't know when the CM's would have told us we needed to get going, but I suggested to the girls that we ought to head to the boat. We have been to the MK late many times, and have caught the last boat to the Fort many times as well. Some day, we are going to miss that last boat. I don't know what will happen then, but I didn't want tonight to be the night we found out.

So, we headed on out.

We were content.

We had a fun day at the MK. And a fun night.

I was surprised at what we found at the boat dock.

A crowd of unhappy people.

The whole waiting area was full.

The Lodge side was empty.

And, one of the smaller boats pulled up there.

There was a CM there trying to calm the crowd.

He said a big Fort boat was on the way.

Something was not right.

I think they only had one boat running back and forth to the Fort.

That might work on a slow night.

But not on a sell-out Halloween party night.

A lot of the people in line had kids, and had probably been here since right after midnight. It was now almost 1.

The boat did come soon, and we made it on.

But, that was a bad show by the boat transportation department.

Cheapskates.

It was 1:30 or so when we got back to the camper.

I asked the girls if anyone was up for a rope drop in the morning.

They both said no- not the next morning- they wanted to sleep.

Sounded good to me.

So, we hit our racks.

That's it for day one.

We will pick it up with TCD's traditional morning rounds around the Fort.

And, a sighting of a rare critter.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

And rich enough to go up in his own helicopter for Ariel shots

LOL!

Good one!

I bet you are working on an update right now. (I hope, I hope, I hope!!)

You are right!

I hope nobody misses it- it ended up at the bottom of the last page.

If you had taken that picture, I think you would have been on the receiving end of a not-so-magical beat-down. Wise decision!! :rofl2:

Correct.

Man code says eyes straight ahead in the men's room. No cameras.

Alright.....here is my cool o meter ratings so far:

Pork shank is really cool - due to both content and name

Pictures of people in costumes/other is really really cool - I like it when people commit

Picture of Jasmine is really really really cool - I like.......we'll let's just say nice job.

Thank you.

That Jasmine photo was actually taken by Twin #1. I didn't pay too much attention to it. But after FWG and you pointed it out, I have to agree that is one fine Jasmine.

I think you are jealous of Phil.

Heck yes I'm jealous of Phil.

The guy started out as an 18 year old flunky at the HM and now he's in charge of the Magic Kingdom!

The headless horseman was slowed down for safety purposes, which really didnt help much as they (horse and rider) fell during one of the parades this year.

http://youtu.be/aynfhWkdSdo

Holy crap!

That is scary!

The poor horse!

(and the poor rider).

I met one of the HH CM's one year. His parents were camped across from me on the 800 loop. I still see him around the Fort from time to time. I wonder how many CM's there are who can play this role. It isn't exactly the safest thing one could do.

TCD

[devores 382]

LOL!

Good one!

You are right!

I hope nobody misses it- it ended up at the bottom of the last page.

Correct.

Man code says eyes straight ahead in the men's room. No cameras.

Thank you.

That Jasmine photo was actually taken by Twin #1. I didn't pay too much attention to it. But after FWG and you pointed it out, I have to agree that is one fine Jasmine.

Heck yes I'm jealous of Phil.

The guy started out as an 18 year old flunky at the HM and now he's in charge of the Magic Kingdom!

Holy crap!

That is scary!

The poor horse!

(and the poor rider).

I met one of the HH CM's one year. His parents were camped across from me on the 800 loop. I still see him around the Fort from time to time. I wonder how many CM's there are who can play this role. It isn't exactly the safest thing one could do.

TCD

There are actually 3 parts to this. I only posted the fall. The horse continues on with the parade as trained, minus the rider. The rider catches up with the horse by the bridge and gets back on. They did not ride in the second parade that night, but did return the next party. From what I understand, the trainers are the riders, so I cant see more than a couple of them.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

There are actually 3 parts to this. I only posted the fall. The horse continues on with the parade as trained, minus the rider. The rider catches up with the horse by the bridge and gets back on. They did not ride in the second parade that night, but did return the next party. From what I understand, the trainers are the riders, so I cant see more than a couple of them.

Sounds like nobody got hurt. That's good. It could have been much worse.

In case people reading along don't know- those horses live at the Fort.

In fact, the twins saw them loading up two horses Thursday afternoon for the ride to the MK.

In all likelihood, the CM's loading up the horses would also be the riders at the party that night.

TCD

[PlaneCrazy 0]

You got some good nighttime photos.

It's no fun to wait a long time for a boat ride, especially at 1am.

[Heidi-meetsTCD@TSM 5]

TCD,

What a nice surprise to log on today and see a trip report from you!!!

The new Fantasyland looks great! Can't wait to check it out.

For the past few years, I have been dying to go to the Halloween party. The timing doenst seem to work out for us.....someday though. In the meantime, I can enjoy your photos. Thanks for sharing!

Heidi