Double the fun : East & West coast Disney & Universal parks - UPDATED 1/14 About This Page:

[Cam22]

back! The Keys to the Kingdom Tour is just so much fun along with quite a bit of learning.

[pamcarey]

What a great day! I will definitely do the Keys to the Kingdom tour someday!

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you enjoyed your tour! What a great day at MK and AK!

[lfredsbo]

Just signed on here and caught up! What an amazing trip for you and your brother! Sorry Nest was not feeling so well, but you certainly are making the best of it!

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by Grammy Grumpy

So glad to have you back!!!!! Love hearing about your adventures with Nest!

Originally Posted by chezp

Great to see you writing again.

Originally Posted by Cam22

back!

Thank you – I’m glad to be back, and thanks for waiting! I had been hoping to be posting more regularly since I re-started, but unfortunately that plan didn’t work out To finish this journal has been on my list of New Year’s Resolutions for the past couple of years. I’m determined that 2015 (five years after the trip itself! ) is going to be the year I complete it!

Originally Posted by chezp

What a packed day you had - glad you enjoyed the Keys to the Kingdom Tour.

Originally Posted by Cam22

The Keys to the Kingdom Tour is just so much fun along with quite a bit of learning.

Originally Posted by pamcarey

What a great day! I will definitely do the Keys to the Kingdom tour someday!

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Glad you enjoyed your tour! What a great day at MK and AK!

Re-reading over the day you all just responded to, I can’t believe how much we packed into the day, either!

The Keys to the Kingdom part of my report wasn’t as detailed as I would’ve liked, due to the amount of time that has passed since actually going on the tour, and the brevity of my notes – I’m quite disappointed in myself! (But at least brief notes are better than no notes.) Occasionally, a little tid-bit of information comes to mind quite by chance, that I accidentally omitted, such as on some of the walls in the utilidors, are complete collections of pins released throughout the years – I sooooo wish photography was allowed down there! And while laundry is quite a boring topic, I recall watching a rather humourous video on it. I also recall parts of the utilidors being decorated for Christmas, which David was surprised by, as he said no one but the Cast Members would see it. I think it’s great that Disney decorate staff-only areas, as staff need to be treated and involved in the season too, even though they’re working.

I’m seriously considering re-doing this tour again during my next trip, this time taking proper notes afterwards, so I can look back over the years and remember the experience more thoroughly. At the moment, I’m thinking that the tour can be the main part of the day, and I can devote the rest of the day sitting next to my resort’s pool with a variety of snacks and refreshments on hand, to help me write That definitely sounds like a plan that could work! I hope Nest agrees! (I just conferred with him, and he has surprisingly agreed! )

Originally Posted by lfredsbo

Just signed on here and caught up! What an amazing trip for you and your brother! Sorry Nest was not feeling so well, but you certainly are making the best of it!

I’m honoured you’ve caught up with my trip from the very beginning, and are glad you’ve enjoyed it thus far. It certainly was an amazing trip – it was so much fun to plan, ecstatic to make it come to life in the form of bookings, and absolutely unbelievable to live through!

I’ve got another massive trip in the works, but it has currently been halted due to finances and health issues We’re not giving up hope though! I’m forever reading to keep up-to-date with the goings on at the Disney and Universal parks and dream of the day when we can both return and experience all the old favourites and new developments for ourselves

[Dlandmom2]

I'm glad you're still working on this TR! I really do enjoy reading along. You and Nest seem to have so much fun on your trips!

I recently went to Universal Studios Hollywood and thought of you and Nest as we ate lunch at the Saddle Ranch Chop House restaurant right outside the USH gate. I still remember when you wrote about that during your trip!

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by Dlandmom2

I'm glad you're still working on this TR! I really do enjoy reading along. You and Nest seem to have so much fun on your trips!

I recently went to Universal Studios Hollywood and thought of you and Nest as we ate lunch at the Saddle Ranch Chop House restaurant right outside the USH gate. I still remember when you wrote about that during your trip!

Thank you! I'm just about to upload another post and have already started working on the entry after that I'm so excited, as the entry I'm currently working on is the day when I arranged for a surprise treasure hunt for Nest through the "Presentations : Gifts of a Lifetime" people - it was a totally awesome experience!

How awesome that you got to go to Universal Studios Hollywood recently - Nest and I love that park! The Saddle Ranch Chop House is one of our favourite places to eat there - I hope you had a lovely meal

[Big Sister]

DAY 21: Monday, 29 November 2010

Lunch at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre Restaurant and the Holiday D-Lights Tour

Due to the late night Nest and I had had the evening before, we set our alarm for 9.30am, but we were woken up so much earlier, as the Pop Century Resort’s room walls are so thin. The constant noise made it impossible to go back to sleep, so we were forced to get up and start the day earlier than planned. If sleeping in occasionally is on your agenda, then the Pop Century Resort isn’t the place for you.

Nest and I arrived at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (as it was known then) an hour before our 12.30pm lunch reservation at the Sci-Fi Diner, so we filled in time by browsing the Curio Store just inside the entrance to the park. It specialized in selling signed memorabilia. Due to the price tags on all the items, Nest and I could only window shop. A signed framed photo of Lou Ferrigno was going for US$200 ; Justin Beiber = US$600 (Nest fussed big time about this, as he couldn’t see the value in it ) ; Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson = US$800 ; Arnold Schwarzenegger = US$900 ; Gregory Peck = US$900 ; The Rolling Stones = US$3000 ; Laurel and Hardy = US$4500 ; a photo of John Wayne accompanied by a letter from him (it mentioned having been invited to multiple dinners on the one night) was going for US$4500 ; and, a photo of the one and only Walt Disney accompanied by a letter from him, going for US$5500. No doubt these prices have fluctuated some-what (even going down, in one particular case ) over the past five years since this trip actually took place.

After dreaming about which signed photos we would buy if we could afford such luxuries, Nest and I then made our way to the Sci-Fi Diner. I was so glad I had made a reservation, as they were fully booked for lunch, and all the walk-ins had to be turned away.

As we were 30 minutes early for our time slot, we waited outside, as the small waiting area in the foyer was full. We took in the retro theming which included an awesome poster board of a couple being attacked by a giant octopus while in their car (“It came from the snack bar … terror at the Sci-Fi Diner Theatre Restaurant … watch in horror as it slithers off the screen!”) ...

... while nearby, we could see people auditioning for American Idol. We didn’t try fitting in a ride or two to fill in time, as the park was packed that day, and we knew without checking, that all the ride queues would’ve had waiting times a lot longer than the half hour we had at our disposal. We didn’t want to miss our lunch reservation! (Neither of our diaries mentioned having had breakfast before leaving the Pop Century Resort, so no doubt we were very hungry by this stage, and wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of our upcoming meal.)

12.30pm rolled around, so we squeezed back into the crowded foyer, where a cast member called Thomas, showed us to our seats. Thomas was wearing roller-skates and skated backwards while talking to us – he particularly admired the t-shirt Nest was wearing, which said, “Beware of people!”. I thought it was a very impressive skill to have – I can’t even skate forward without falling over, so attempting to skate backwards is out of the question – LOL!

I couldn’t wait to see the inside of the Sci-Fi Diner, as I had read about the theming many times before, and thought it sounded absolutely marvelous. All drive-in theatres in our town were closed down in the very early 90s, so it was great to be in this kind of fun environment once again, albeit a made-up one. I wasn’t disappointed once we emerged from the corridor we were taken down. It was eternal evening inside, and in front of us were rows and rows of different coloured corvettes (I don’t know a thing about cars, so apologies if my identification is incorrect ) packed with diners.

Way in front, was a big movie screen showing retro clips of the corny old black and white movies Nest and I love, coloured cartoons (eg. Tom and Jerry),and really corny (therefore awesome) advertisements, also from the olden days.

Behind the rows of cars, was the snack bar.

The whole area was surrounded by a wooden fence adorned with old movie posters, and beyond the fence, was a mountainous desert type environment and a beautiful night sky with twinkling stars.

Nest and I we were seated in a yellow corvette along with two other couples. Thankfully we were the drivers (Thomas mustn’t have known that neither of us had our driver’s license at that stage ), so we could see the screen perfectly and it felt like we were dining alone.

For starters, Nest and I both had fried onion rings with horseradish dipping sauce and vanilla Cokes.

Despite not having eaten at all up to that point, we were both scarily full by the time our main courses arrived Nest battled to eat his angus chuck burger with swiss cheese (no bacon or mushrooms) with a side cucumber salad, followed by his pre-ordered dessert of apple crumble...

... while I battled to eat my angus chuck burger with swiss cheese and mushrooms (no bacon) and a rather large side of fries. I was so thankful I hadn’t pre-ordered dessert!

It took Nest and I a little over an hour to finish lunch, during which time we thoroughly enjoyed watching previews for movies we already own, such as Teenagers From Outer Space, and Plan 9 From Outer Space, as well as previews for movies we plan on following up, such as Attack of the Flying Saucer Men, Robot Monster, and Invasion of Party Beach. One of the ads that really stuck in our minds, was so bad by today’s standards, it was funny. It went something like, “Mrs Housewife will feel like a fairy princess in her new kitchen!”

After lunch, we made our way out of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and travelled to Epcot on the Friendship Ferry in preparation for checking into the Holiday D-Lights Tour later that afternoon. Just inside the gates of Epcot, a couple gave us their fast passes for Soarin’, which was really nice of them. It would’ve been great if we could’ve used them, seeing as waits at that time were around three hours, but the frame to use the passes was during our upcoming tour, so we passed them onto another couple, who seemed really grateful (we never did make it onto Soarin’ that trip )

We walked from the International Gateway through to the Spaceship Earth attraction, grabbing a bottle of water along the way. Near Spaceship Earth, I was asked to fill in an online survey about my water purchase. I felt a bit silly making such a big deal over such a small action, and asked if they wanted me to focus on a recent larger purchase, but the cast member said no. One of the questions focused on healthy eating while at Walt Disney World, and I chose the option saying that I don’t worry about healthy eating at all while at Walt Disney World. If you can’t treat yourself whilst on holidays, then when can you?

All this took a surprisingly long time, as we had finished lunch at 1.35pm, and by the time we sat on a bench near where we needed to be to sign in for the Holiday D-Lights tour at 4pm, there was only 45 minutes to go! (Once again, we didn’t try fitting in any rides due to lengthy waiting times, plus Nest had to be careful not to aggravate his sore back.)

Nest and I ended up checking in for the Holiday D-Lights Tour at 3.35pm, as a very large group of people had amassed by that stage, and we thought in those circumstances, that it was better to make ourselves known sooner rather than later. We were each given a Disney Institute wristband and a name badge featuring a Christmas Pluto, and put our email address down on the feedback sheet.

As the tour would be covering three of the four main Walt Disney World parks, transport was provided in the form of an exciting (to us) Disney Cruise Line coach. At that stage, Nest and I had never been on a Disney cruise before (our maiden voyage would be two years later), and as we took our seats and looked out the porthole-shaped windows, we wondered what it would be like if we were actually on our way to a cruise.

The first park we’d be visiting as part of the Holiday D-Lights Tour, was Epcot. We were dropped off in a backstage area, where a security guard checked our bags before we got off the coach. We were led through a gate and found ourselves in the American area just opposite the America Gardens Theatre where the Candlelight Processional, a retelling of the Christmas story by a celebrity narrator accompanied by a 50-piece orchestra and massive choir, is held three times nightly. As we would be catching the first performance that evening (5pm), we were led straight to a reserved section at the back left-hand corner of the seating area. It afforded us a great overall view of the entire stage, which was flanked by three stained glass windows and giant white Christmas trees covered in gold and red decorations and gold fairy lights. The three different groupings of stairs that the choir would be performing from, were surrounded by bunches of red poinsettias. The backdrop was a moving fire type pattern that changed colour continuously.

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While waiting for the show to begin, our guides told us the lengthy and complex process of organising the Candlelight Processional each year. This included the auditioning and call-back processes, but unfortunately neither Nest or myself can recall any further details, as there was just so much to take in, and we never seemed to be able to write as much as we would’ve liked at the end of each day, as we were just so tired.

Soon the audience started humming more than just the usual chatter we were used to at that point, so we looked around to see the choir starting to walk down in amongst the audience and position themselves on stage.

Our celebrity narrator for that night had changed (I can’t remember who it was originally meant to be), but Nest and I were excited to discover that they had been replaced by John O’Hurley, who plays J. Peterman on Seinfeld, of which we’re huge fans.

The songs that were sung that night, were: Shout for joy, O come all ye faithful, Il est né, O holy night, Angels from the realms of glory, Away in a manger, Rejoice with exceeding great joy, What child is this, Do you hear what I hear, Silent night, Joy to the world, and, The hallelujah chorus.

The performance went for approximately 45 minutes. While we’re not from a religious family, we were curious to see the Candlelight Processional, as I had read how excited other people had been to see it, and make it a yearly tradition. I thought it was ok (I love listening to all kinds of Christmas carols during the festive season), but don’t feel like I need to see it again. As for poor Nest, I could tell he was bored out of his brain just by the look on his face alone. He loved seeing the guy who played J. Peterman in the flesh though. Each to their own

Straight after the Candlelight Processional, we went to the Magic Kingdom to see the castle lights being turned on. En route, we looked at a montage of castles at Disney parks all around the world, which I thought was a really nice touch to prepare us for what we were about to see. Once again, we were dropped off in the backstage area, but were too late to see the lights being turned on, as they were already shining in all their glory when we arrived. We were told that there are 25,000 LED lights on the castle, and that it takes less electricity than three clothes dryers, to power them.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios was the next stop on that night’s itinerary. Along the way, Jeff gave us a quick run-down on the story behind how the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights came to Walt Disney World. The Osborne’s owned two houses next to each other, and one Christmas Mr. Osborne’s daughter wanted to decorate their houses for the season, so they did, and it ended up involving millions of lights. It went on for a few years and whenever the lights were on people came from all around the world to see them. The street around his neighbourhood became packed. Eventually police had to come to direct traffic. It got so busy that it was difficult for their neighbours to drive in and out of the street when needed. The neighbours ended up taking Mr. Osborne to court, and the judge ruled that he could run the lights until a certain time. After this ruling, a family came from halfway around the world to see the lights, but unfortunately had missed the deadline for the night they were there. The visiting family were only there for that night and had to leave the next day so the Osborne’s turned the lights back on. Unfortunately, this kind gesture caused the Osborne’s to be taken back to court and they were banned from decorating their houses again on that scale.

The Disney Company heard about all that happened, and contacted the Osborne’s, asking them if they would like to have their display moved to the Streets of America. From memory, I don’t think the Osborne’s realised at the time, that Disney meant the Streets of America inside their Hollywood Studios park. However, an agreement was eventually decided on, and the lights were shipped over so their wonderful holiday tradition could be continued unhampered, and people from around the world could still continue to appreciate it. When the purple cat was discovered in amongst the lights sent, Disney saw it as a Halloween decoration. However, the cat was kept with the Christmas lights, and is put in a different section of the display each year. Jeff told us that the Osborne family comes to view the display each year, and enjoy hunting for the purple cat.

We were dropped off backstage at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, walked down some deserted darkened streets surrounded by offices, and came to a beautifully decorated long table of delicious looking snacks, with iconic scenes from Disney movies lit up in the background.

The table was covered with a silky maroon coloured tablecloth, and decorated with strategically placed electronic candles, colourful wooden characters from The Nutcracker, rotund ceramic gingerbread men, shiny Santa ornaments, and of course, plush Mickey and Minnie toys – it wouldn’t be a party without those two!

Now for the part everyone’s dying to hear about – the food! There were dips (spinach with feta, roasted pepper with basil, and black bean with garlic) ; a huge wire tray of flatbreads to go with the dips, garnished with sprigs of rosemary ; some kind of fried hot turkey balls (unfortunately I can’t read the caption, but know that they were delicious, as I ate so many of them) ; turkey quesadillas ; and, ample amounts of canned sodas. From memory, I believe this was the second year this tour had run, but the first year that refreshments were offered. It was a totally unexpected, but very much appreciated, surprise!

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After refreshments, we went to The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. It was a much more relaxed and enjoyable experience compared to when Nest and I went ourselves a couple of nights earlier in amongst bulging crowds. I would truly love it if my whole family could experience the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights each Christmas season, as it’s such a beautiful sight, coupled with the wonderful Christmas music playing, and really really really puts you in a magical Christmas mood.

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After viewing the lights and finding the purple cat (which actually looked pink to me), we hopped back on the bus and went to the Decorating Services Warehouse, measuring 200,000 square feet, where the head honcho was working overtime. He gave us a little demo in regards to the castle lights. There was a turret covered in a net of fairy lights, in the area where we gathered. It was explained to us that each net was painted to match the part of the castle it would be adorning, and each light was individually checked to ensure it worked. The nets of lights are stored in separate containers so they’re easily put on the castle in order they’re needed, each Christmas season.

We then had our photos taken in front of a display made especially for the Holiday D-Lights Tour (photography was otherwise forbidden), before going on a short tour of part of the warehouse. There were heaps of fake normal sized Christmas trees pre-decorated, that were available to rent for functions and special events. Decorating Services also restore trees. There were also heaps of other stuff like a giant Greek statue, and other one-off pieces that they stored in shelves almost reaching the ceiling, just in case some upcoming function or parade may required it.

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We were also shown an extremely large model (from memory, it was roughly the size of a child’s play house – photography wasn’t allowed) of the house from Disney Pixar’s “Up” movie, which decorating services were hired by a family they refused to name, to make for their special function. Apparently the Magic Kingdom was closed just for them (I can’t remember the details properly, but I’m assuming the Magic Kingdom was closed just during the evenings), and that the function went for four days and that their bill came to US$3,000,000. (I was hearing whispers that this function had something to do with Miley Cyrus, but please don’t quote me on that.)

While we were at the Decorating Services Warehouse, the Magic Kingdom fireworks started going off. We were such a long way from the Magic Kingdom, but the boom of the fireworks was so close and totally unexpected, it was as if we were suddenly under attack! The Cast Member showing us around, told us about the time when he was all alone one night in the warehouse when the fireworks suddenly went off – he said it was quite a creepy experience.

Once our visit to the Decorating Services Warehouse was over, we were taken back to Epcot and given a special commemorative Christmas pin, of which only 400 were made. It was Pluto wearing a Christmas wreath and pair of reindeer antlers. There’s a little red sparkly jewel for his nose, and he’s sitting on a bone that says, “Disney Holiday D-Lights”. Unfortunately, this is where the notes in Nest’s journal, end for this day. I am aware that there are gaps, but I’m not complaining about Nest’s effort, as I surprisingly didn’t even write an entry, brief notes or otherwise, for this day, which has shocked me, seeing as how important and exciting I considered this tour to be! All Nest noted down after the tour, was “Went back to Pop Century. Probably had parmesan chicken for dinner”, but unfortunately I cannot find any receipts in my bundle to confirm this. I will definitely be doing this tour again if I’m in the area again during the Christmas season!

Next entry: Presentations : Gifts of a Lifetime

[Cam22]

The Holiday D-Lights tour sounds so incredible, and you got to do so much! Luke and I always enjoy eating at Sci-fi both for the food and the atmosphere.

[chezp]

Great to see you writing again! The tour sounds wonderful.

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you enjoyed your meal at Sci-Fi, and had a great time on the D-Lights tour! Great pictures!

[pamcarey]

The Holiday D-Lights tour sounds wonderful!

[clio]

Welcome back. The tour sounds really interesting. We like eating at Sci Fi. I think we've only ever sat in the front of the cars. It would be weird sitting behind other people.
Liz

[lfredsbo]

The tour sounds amazing!