Fun, flowers and firsts THREAD 3 OF 7 About This Page:

[GoofyMom]

Wow! I'm just catching up on your TR, Chez! Great job! Sounds like a great trip so far (except for the couple of glitches like bug bites)

How I wish DD was going to be 16 instead of 15 when we get there! I know we would both really enjoy the Keys to the Kingdom tour while the guys are at Kennedy Space Centre.

[joyjoy]

It is so cool that you got to do the media event. And that breakfast looked divine. Tell us more, we're dying here!

[Wendyismyname]

Hi Cheryl!! I haven't even started on my TR yet because I wanted to catch up on yours! Loving every detail!! Thank you for writing it!!!!

[mom2my4dwarfs]

Wow! I just got caught up with your TR. It is awesome. Can't wait to read more.

[BritDisFan]

Your breakfast sounded lovely Cheryl, please hurry with the next part .

Karen

[DrDolphin]

What a great opportunity and a fantastic sounding breakfast!! Hurry back with another installment - PLEASE!!!

[buckysmom]

Cheryl,
I'm just back from a several day trip and the first thing I did (after dumping the laundry) was rush upstairs to catch up on your TR. I'm so hooked!
Thanks for even more reasons for me to try to see the Keys to the Kingdom tour I really like the hummus sandwich at the Columbia Harbor House, and if you're there in the winter, try their veggie chili.
More please!

[Jennifer2003]

How fun!!!
YOu're so lucky to be in with all the media!
Looking forward to more!

Jennifer

[goofy4goofy]

Great photos! Alex will LOVE meeting JoJo and Goliath!!!! I showed him the pictures and he got so excited!

Kelly

[simbarel]

This is too exciting. I'm so excited about this media event, and I'm sitting in front of my computer, in pajamas, in Maine, weeks after the event...and I'm giddy. And thankful I have tomorrow off so I can read more!



I've also decided you have the best camera in the world. Do you understand how amazing those night time photos are? I'm sure you do...I do too.

Oh, and I had that same sandwich at Columbia Harbor House.



Ok, now post more now!

[chezp]

Wednesday 5 May – part two: Disney delights in Sound Studio One



Next I headed off to Sound Studio One where they had various booths set up for the media to wander round.



It was all Disney, with details of upcoming events and more recent additions to the parks, including booths for Saratoga Springs, Stitch’s Great Escape, the Osborne lights, the Flower and Garden Festival, the new Princess Tea Party and the Star Wars Weekends. Really anything that was a recent addition or would be coming up in the next few months was featured and I wandered around each, making notes from the conversations I had with the various CM's manning the stalls and getting press releases.





What you receive at the Princess Tea Party



The Star Wars weekends booth



R2-D2 travels around the media



It was just so much to take in, almost too much, but my, Disney were obviously determined to show just how much is going on at their parks at the moment. It really was overwhelming, but also an amazing experience. I was so glad that I had taken a day out of our vacation to come to this, even if it meant leaving Mark to his own devices for the day. He had told me it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and he was not wrong. As someone who now works in PR (I was a journalist for seven years before that), it was very interesting to see Disney's approach to media relations. Of course, as I work in local government, we will never have the money to do anything on that scale, but it was interesting nevertheless.



And as for the give always, there was something at every booth, from pins to key rings to a Stitch photo frame to a scrapbook. No wonder they were giving out huge carrier bags to put it all in. I looked at those as I walked in and wondered what they were for, but I quickly found out. Of course, now my problem would be carrying it all around, as there was just me and I already had a backpack and the press pack we were given when we came in full of press information and now I had all my gifts as well. I suspected I would need the three-day Disney Cruise to recover from carrying all this lot around!



After I finished browsing all the booths, I grabbed a snack from the Earl of Sandwich, who were offering free samples. They only had meat on offer, so I asked if there was anything else and within a moment I was able to sample the tuna sandwich. Absolutely delicious. I think we will be visiting Downtown Disney to go there in the near future, it's obviously a superb addition to the food places on offer there.



Oh, I nearly forgot, then there were the shows as well. They had a Lion King based one first, I really didn't catch much of it, as I was chatting to people about Saratoga Springs (putting on my DVC forum moderator hat for a moment, you see I did do some work while I was there!), but I did see the later show, a group of acrobats who were just amazing. The way they threw themselves around the stage had to be seen to be believed and the limbo-ing was really something.





Some impressive limbo-ing and acrobatics from one of the shows at the media event



It was all very relaxed and I did not feel out of place at all, which had been my fear. Every CM was so welcoming and informative and just chatted away happily to me. Even the relaxing background music of a piano set me at ease.



I’m not sure what I expected from it, but whatever it was, the actual event far and away surpassed those expectations. It was an amazing insight into the world of Disney and what's going on there over the next few months. I felt very privileged to be there.



Once we got to midday, it was time to move on to the next part of our day, the part I was really looking forward to the most, our preview of Saratoga Springs. We were directed to a bus to take us over there and I was a bit shocked to be told by a CM to just go through the door clearly marked “CM's only”. Usually there is no way they would allow you to do that, but today it was fine, so backstage I went and found the bus.



The bus took us through the backstage areas at MGM. It was very odd to drive past parts of the Backlot Tour on our way out and we exited through the Cast Member entrance, which is almost on top of Tower of Terror. That building is massive close up.



Next: seeing Saratoga Springs for the first time

[chezp]

Wednesday 5 May – part three: seeing Saratoga Springs for the first time



It only took us a few minutes to get to Saratoga Springs. We drove past Old Key West and it was a lovely view as we approached Saratoga Springs, with the golf course eventually giving way to the entrance of the resort. I didn't realise that the two DVC resorts was so close together. It made you feel like you were in the middle of nowhere and that is no mean achievement at Disney. There was a long sweeping drive up to the resort entrance and again, with the golf course on your right, there’s a real sense of space.



Our first glimpse of the resort as we pulled up at the entrance was of beautiful pastel colours and it did remind me somewhat of the Yacht and Beach Club, as the architecture is from a very similar in era. We were to learn more about that later on. We were greeted with snacks, but it being Disney, we were not talking fast food here, but cheese and fresh fruit and a selection of cold drinks. Now that’s my kind of snack! If I had that kind of option available at home, I would be a more healthy eater, I can tell you!









My first view of Saratoga Springs and High Rocks Pool



Some of the wonderful theming



The next part of the press day was due to be a big announcement of some kind, but we had been given no idea as to what it was to be in any of the literature we had received. We were seated in the performance centre, just across from the lobby. It would be a perfect place to show films, but when I asked a CM, it turns out it will be available for hire for small conferences. It's a superb venue with state-of-the-art facilities. We were all seated there for some time before we were told that we would be crossing live to Disneyland to hear about their plans for next year's 50th anniversary of that park and those announcements would contain details of how Florida would be celebrating the anniversary.





The performance centre from the outside



When the live link to California began, it quickly became apparent that it wouldn't just be California we would be hearing from, as this was to be a global celebration of Disneyland's 50th and indeed we went around the Disney parks to hear what each would be doing to celebrate this event. As for WDW, each part could get something new imported from another park around the world, some of which I already knew about, but there were some surprises too.



The Magic Kingdom and it would get Cinderellabration from Tokyo, which celebrates the coronation of Cinderella. From what I could see of the video of the Tokyo show, it features a lot of face characters and is pretty spectacular. It did look like an evening show, I wouldn't swear to it. I'm guessing, but I suspect it would be performed in front of the Castle, that seems to be the logical place for it anyway. For Epcot, Soarin’ from Disney's California Adventure would be the new attraction and the Studios will of course get the Lights, Motors, Action stunt show from Disneyland Paris.



Animal Kingdom will get Lucky the dinosaur, a new audio animatronics figure, who was tried out in Disneyland last summer apparently. He appears to be about five foot tall from the video we saw and he is apparently the most advanced audio animatronics figure they have ever created. He‘ll be roaming around Animal Kingdom doing meets and greets and even signs his name, so I think he'll be a unique character. Add to that Expedition Everest, which is slated to open early in 2006 and there are going to be a lot a great new attractions at WDW over the next year or so.



Elsewhere in the world, Disneyland Paris will get Wishes and there are new attractions planned for Tokyo, with Hong Kong due to open to the public either in late 2005 or early 2006. But the vast majority of celebrations will unsurprisingly be in Disneyland, with Buzz Lightyear debuting, a major revamp of Space Mountain, a new fireworks display called Remember, which will be the biggest anywhere on Disney property, so that should be bigger than Wishes and something worth seeing and a new parade for each park. The emphasis will be the Pixar characters at Disney's California Adventure, with 100 plus characters appearing in the Disneyland parade.



After hearing all about those plans, we then heard from the President of WDW, Al Weiss, who ran through each of the plans for the parks in slightly more depth, as well as reviewing what had been introduced recently, attractions such as Mission Space, Wishes and Mickey’s Philharmagic. Mickey’s Philharmagic is now the best rated attraction on property and Mission Space has seen the biggest increase in visitors to a park thanks to just one attraction, so Weiss kept telling us how pleased he was with the way things were going and the overall message was there's still more to come. Sounds good to me.



We finished just before 2.00 and it was time to take my tour of Saratoga Springs. I had signed up for the first available tour, as I had arranged that Mark would pick me up between 3.00 and 3.30.



Next: touring Saratoga Springs with an Imagineer!

[DopeyGirl]

Sounds like the chance of a lifetime, Cheryl!!! Plus, you got tons of free goodies . . . who wouldn't LOVE that?



NO WONDER that Princess Tea Party costs $200 . . . my goodness!!! The doll alone looks like it is a little spendy!!!



Saratoga Springs, from the pictures, looks gorgeous!!! Might have to go take a look myself next trip!!!



Looking forward to the next installment . . . we should be getting awful close to the cruise, right?

[BritDisFan]

Cheryl the media event sounds so exciting and Saratoga Springs looks beautiful, please hurry with the next installment.

Karen

[Colexis Mom]

More great pictures Cheryl Wow, that must have been exciting, to say the least

The princess tea stuff is great I find it interesting that they say Mission Space is responsible for bringing more people to Epcot, when there's never a line for it (at least during our stay)

What an exciting day Keep it coming