Day 1 of fun!

Magic Kingdom - 12/06/07

We head up to the marina on the cart - me pointing out it's 626, Stitch's number; John rolls his eyes at that. - and see a number of decorated carts including one with a Santa Snoopy, and one with an entire Rudolph the Reindeer scene on the roof done with beanies! The camera batteries go dead - figures! - so I take video of it. The people who own it come up and ask if I really like it that much and when I go on about how great it is, I hear them say, "That makes all the work worth it!" as I walk away.

The boat comes right away and we sit on the bow. Right then, everything with a battery falls apart! Pal Mickey, my family radio, the camera! I brought one pack of batteries with me, but it's not enough! Unbelievable! For a little while, I'm frantically ripping out batteries and shoving in other things.

We dock at MK and Cathi teases me about all the paraphanalia I'm carrying, which is always fun with Disney security too. But at last: Main St! Decorated for Christmas!

And an immediate stop at the Emporium for batteries. :) Fortunately, this very nice CM tells me that I picked up the most expensive batteries - lithium -- which are 3 times the price of the regular. Since we have tons of batteries at the camper, I get regular and we're on our way.

50 million pictures of decorations and the castle later, John suggests Cosmic Ray's to get something to eat. We sit outside by the water and watch people crossing on the bridge as we eat. The CM at the register very nicely explained the dining plan to us once I told her it was our first time ordering with it. It made up for us having to wait while someone ordered their chili cheese fries with the toppings in separate containers, confusing the kitchen order.

We missed our first MouseFest meet while we get things set up at the campground, and we almost decided not to do the next one, but we headed for it and I'm glad we did. It was a short digital photography class given by the owner of MagicinPixels.com. I'm still rough with night photos, but I think I'm a little better. My speed shots still really suck. If nothing else, I hold the camera better. ;)

While we're sitting at the photo meet, the new ice lighting comes on for the castle. Someone yelled look and we turned to see it. Oh... my. Nothing describes seeing it in person. The man giving the class was very sweet about a bunch of us jumping out of our seats to go see it!

When that was over, we went into the new Laughter Comedy Floor attraction. We all enjoyed it, especially as John "fuzzy hat guy" (his Eagles Santa hat) had to get up an dance! The woman in front of us got such a kick out of it, she turned around to get an extra photo of John waving to her.

We then went around on the TTA (PeopleMover in my heart) where I proceeded to take a lot of very bad photos in trying to apply what I had learned. This got me frustrated and when we got off and John talked about going to Haunted Mansion, I felt more off. I felt we weren't doing anything special, and I had looked forward to doing something different and special since this was the Very Merry Christmas party. John pointed out that we would be doing more later and suggested we do Buzz since we were in Tomorrowland. That didn't quite hit the spot, especially when Cathi said she was going to find a restroom and wasn't interested in the ride, but when John started laughing and CHEATING, I felt a whole lot better. Captain Cheats-a-lot won, but by dirty means!

We then headed for Haunted Mansion, but I stopped to ask a CM why he was holding a lit up Mickey Snowman sign. I didn't get an answer, but when I told him I liked the snowman, he took a photo of us with it.

The new effects in Haunted Mansion are very good; John pointed out the gargoyles talking and how the sound now comes from different points in the room. But I'm so busy keeping an eye on the CM who is doing a very good job at being a creepy host that I miss the new hanging scene above us.

We take the few steps into Fantasyland and ride Peter Pan (a long time favorite), where Cathi says this is the start of the gator attacks, then Philharmagic (got to love it!!), and Pooh. Then it's time to get to the Rose Garden to watch Holiday Wishes.

We meet up with our buddies from Tagrel; they always amaze us with their friendliness, big hugs, and warmth! Dave set us up with lanyards and pins, Moley told us how much she's looking forward to the Lights the next night, John (WDWNJ) picks me up in a big bear hug, and everybody settles down for the fireworks! They're wonderful, and I hopefully get a few pics that'll turn out.

A bunch of us scoot up the side path to ride Small World together, hosted by Tacey. We jump into a couple of boats, making a big deal over the CMs, and cracking jokes like "What are the words to this song?" We're sitting in front of Suzy Q, her husband, and their little girl, Li Li. Li Li is wearing a Santa hat that keeps falling over her eyes!

Tacey is tossing candy bags to everyone, including from boat to boat, and one lands in the water. John shouts, "I guess it's okay to dump my mother's ashes now!" after the story of a woman who done that with her father's ashes.

When we get to the end and hear the last of the song, I yell "One more time!". People tell me I'm cut off from caffeine.

Li Li puts this on her list of acceptable rides for Grandma when she arrives on Sat.

We all hustle over to Frontierland Shooting Gallery to catch the parade. A few people point out my reindeer antlers saying they want a pair; I have to tell them that they're from 1995 and are no longer sold. Seeing our lanyards, they ask what's going on, and when we start to explain, they perk up: Is this MouseFest?! Is Deb Wills' here! Of course, Deb is widely known in the Disney Internet community with AllEarsNet.com -- probably more widely visited that the official Disney site -- but she had packed it in after being tired from the cruise and with a lot more ahead of her.

We stood enjoying the parade when John hugged me and said, "This is so much better than the Halloween party."

After the parade, people break up and we head back for Fort Wilderness. It's been a long day, but a great one. We have an early start the next day too. But as we reach Main St, the parade is still going full force there (with snow falling!), so we cut through the stores. We duck out of the Emporium to catch a glimpse of the toy soldiers and Santa again (still didn't get a good photo). I turned from doing that to see John had thrown an arm over Cathi's shoulders and they were talking and laughing together. It warmed me so much to see them like that.

As we're waiting for our boat to FW, I see a couple of people dancing to the music on the way to the monorail. I love happy guests.

When we get back to Fort Wilderness and head for the golf cart, I find out that after a day of insisting we have cart number 626, we have have 646!

Cathi & I walk the dogs and we hear a warbling sound. She teases that it's a gator, and I tell her that she's nuts, it's some kind of bird. After a while, I say, "Maybe it's a coral snake", sending her scooting back in the camper.

We get a lot of mileage out of that gator noise joke in the days to come.