My Very "Meety" Christmas Party - COMPLETED!! 12/15/10 About This Page:

[cindybelle]

Originally Posted by sc507

What a great breakfast!! My kids went crazy when they saw your picture with Bullseye - they'd love to meet him!

Stacey, it was so cute to see how Bullseye, Woody, and Buzz all maintained their individual personas throughout the breakfast.

Woody found everything knee-slappingly hilarious, and he would hold his sides and shake to indicate he was laughing. Buzz stayed tall and strong and positive, giving lots of thumbs-up to everybody. And Bullseye somehow conveyed sweetness and shyness.

It was all so adorable!

Today I brought my Toy Story backpack to the office and gave it to a coworker whose little girl had come to our office Halloween party dressed as Jessie. I said, "Be sure to tell Margaret that Buzz and Woody signed this just for YOU."
.

[lukeandbrookesmom]

Originally Posted by cindybelle

Today I brought my Toy Story backpack to the office and gave it to a coworker whose little girl had come to our office Halloween party dressed as Jessie. I said, "Be sure to tell Margaret that Buzz and Woody signed this just for YOU."
.

That is great Cindy!!!!

[cindybelle]

And now, back to our story!

The bartender recommended the Jalapeno Margarita and assured me it wasn't too spicy. He said it has honey and cucumbers and all kinds of interesting stuff in it. Well, twist my arm!

I am SO GLAD I ordered this. I haven't tried every FAB at WDW, but this one is certainly my favorite so far! The next day, Michael told me that after every sip I kept announcing, "I really, really, REALLY like this drink." My own recollections are strangely fuzzy.

Isn't this a beautiful beverage?




And doesn't Kaleigh look just as happy as I do?



When we looked at that photo the next day, I said, "Michael looks like he's either asleep or thinking 'Why did I sit down with these crazy women?'" Michael's response: "I think it was a bit of both!"

After we finished our libations, Kaleigh ran off to find her parents who were watching her young daughter. We would meet up with all of them at the dessert party.

Sandy and I were "listing to port," so I suggested that Michael ride the Gran Fiesta Tour attraction with us. He did an excellent job keeping us from falling overboard.

I was so sure that I was taking wonderful during our ride, but things were strangely out of focus.




Hey, this one isn't bad! I bet Michael was feeling like the Donald pinata by this point: "How did I get stuck with these two crazies?"




Then it was time for a bit of fresh air, so we strolled over toward Italy where we would have our dessert meet. While Sandy and Michael talked, I kept wandering over toward the water to take photos. Here's one that actually looks good -- how the heck did THAT happen?

[cindybelle]

We stopped in Germany, and of course you know why:




We made some purchases to be consumed on future days/nights. Then it was time to gether 'round the piazza in Italy for our dessert Illuminations party!

While we waited, I took this photo of a cool explanation of Italian Christmas traditions.




Isn't that a wonderful explanation? I love it!

Now, this was the ccc-co-lddd-dest night of the entire week, and we were right by the water which made it even colder. But Cast Members had set up a heater on our piazza by the water's edge.

We met Caleigh's daughter Veronica, who "never smiles for the camera" according to her mom. But either she really liked my Goofy hat or I just got lucky, because look at this:




The treats were yummy, but I didn't get a photo of them. We were too busy getting settled at our table (and we nabbed the one closest to the heater ) and readying ourselves for the Holiday Illuminations show! Plus, I was wearing probably 3 layers of clothing and felt like the little boy in "A Christmas Story" who can't move his arms because of his snowsuit!

What a great vantage point for Illuminations, with Venetian gondolas moored just in front of us.

[cindybelle]

How could you possibly top THAT? Wow.

Epcot had EMH until 1:00 a.m., and both Sandy and Michael were staying. Since both of them had remarked earlier that "I think you're my mom's age " I had no difficulty extricating myself. This old lady needed a hot shower and then and I wasn't ashamed to admit it!

As I strolled out, I took this shot of Spaceship Earth. A lovely end to another great day.

[cindybelle]

I woke up feeling tired and thought, "Yep, I've got just enough energy for one more day."

What a beautiful morning it was. I took this photo looking out the 5th floor balcony over the WL's swimming pool and on out to Bay Lake.




I had breakfast downstairs at the Roaring Fork, and that got my energy boosted. I headed for the bus stop to get to DHS and immediately engaged a waiting family of four in conversation. (I was getting over my "innate shyness," you see. )



"Happy birthday," I said to the daughter, who then explained that her mother's birthday would be occurring two days later. "Wow -- you're celebrating two birthdays AND Christmas? You're at the right place!" They all agreed. Then we discovered that we're all from Missouri, with me from St. Louis on the eastern border and them from Kansas City on the western border. It IS a small world after all!

While I was excitedly reenacting all my fabulous "meets" for this family, a woman I'd met the night before (Nancy) appeared. She was laughing as she said, "I heard someone talking very animatedly and thought, "That sounds like Cindy." So now I had another new Reunion pal, Nancy!




When the bus arrived, we all grabbed the front bench seats that face each other, with Nancy and me on one side and the family on the other. We happily shared tips and stories all the way to my favorite park, Disney's Hollywood Studios. (I'm so dramatic, dahling! )

After we disembarked, the daughter handed small pieces of paper to Nancy and to me:




Isn't that a wonderful idea??? I the Canton family!

We arrived before EMH (8:00) and I tried calling Sandy, but got put into voicemail. (You know how cell phone service is in the parks -- kinda spotty sometimes.) Turns out Sandy was WAY ahead of us, third person from the front of the line. Well, I knew I'd find her eventually!

We all did the rope-drop run to TSMM to get FPs for later, and then Nancy and I got in the regular line. I tried Sandy a couple more times.

I just love the theming in the queuing area for TSMM!

[cindybelle]

Have you ever noticed you see the same person or group over and over at one of the parks? Well, we shouldn't have been surprised that the Canton family was ahead of us in line at TSMM! Every time the line snaked around so that we were face-to-face, we'd laugh and point at each other. Finally the dad asked, "Can I take a picture of my daughter with you?" Once again, I managed to get past my innate shyness!




A minute later, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around, and who do you think I saw? Hint: Do you remember this message from earlier in my story?

Originally Posted by lindawdw

Great start to your TR Cindy! You had a great view from your room in the WL to see the fireworks! Just wanted to say it was so nice to meet you in theTSM line. You are such a upbeat person

And now may I introduce all of you to Linda (lindawdw)! Turns out she was about 4 people behind Nancy and me in the regular line for TSMM. Of course, we had to get a to prove that it's possible for PassPorters from different places to magically "find" each other at the Happy Place!

Linda, I hope to bump into you again!




Then Nancy started really hard. She had to catch her breath before she could explain: "You should look at the faces of everybody else in line -- they're trying to figure out if you're a celebrity because two apparent strangers wanted to get their pictures taken with you!" Oh boy, we all the way up to the ride!

Does that count for Magical Moments #3 and #4? I think so!

Don't Nancy and I look too, too fabu in our 3-D glasses, dahling?



By the way, Nancy and her husband were at WDW to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary -- with him playing golf and her at DHS! She says that's the secret to a happy marriage! They were going to get together in the afternoon and then dine at Tony's Town Square. I said, "He'd better nudge that last meatball your way" and Nancy started all over again!

We got to talking with these two young ladies who were behind us in line, who were celebrating their respective birthdays. After we got seated, we were facing them for a brief moment and I managed to get this:




The headband on the left is the same one I bought Sheri for Christmas!


Then it was time for the All Ears 15th anniversary breakfast meet at Rosie's All American, where I finally caught up with Sandy!

Look at this cool pin that one of the Reunioneers had traded from a Cast Member!

[lazanya]

Wonderful updates!

[Sandy_N]

Originally Posted by cindybelle

Stacey, it was so cute to see how Bullseye, Woody, and Buzz all maintained their individual personas throughout the breakfast.

Woody found everything knee-slappingly hilarious, and he would hold his sides and shake to indicate he was laughing. Buzz stayed tall and strong and positive, giving lots of thumbs-up to everybody. And Bullseye somehow conveyed sweetness and shyness.

It was all so adorable!

Today I brought my Toy Story backpack to the office and gave it to a coworker whose little girl had come to our office Halloween party dressed as Jessie. I said, "Be sure to tell Margaret that Buzz and Woody signed this just for YOU."
.

That's awesome Cindy, what a sweet thing to do.

[Colexis Mom]

More fantastic updates and pictures Cindy!

[ttnmama]

Awww. I didn't realize how close I was to the end of today's post. Looking forward to more. Thanks for all the pics. They are wonderful. I'm going to show the Toy Story ones to my 3 year old. He just loves Toy Story.

[cindybelle]

Of course the fabulous Deb Wills thanked everybody for coming.




She gave us all cool "trading cards" with Disney stuff on them, and of course we all got blue lanyards to celebrate AllEars.Net - The Unofficial Disney Planning Guide for Walt Disney World, Disneyland and the Disney Cruise Line and its 15th anniversary. Gawrsh, I couldn't make a dining ressie without checking out the menus at All Ears, could you?

She posed for pics with the entire All Ears team:




They had a drawing for prizes, and Nancy won this cap:




I rode the SRL at RNRC and shot this after disembarking:

[cindybelle]

Nancy was only staying a bit longer, and since our FPs were ripe for TSMM, I went on it with her again. This meant skipping a meet with two of the street performers, but I hoped to locate the group after Nancy headed out of the park.

Neither of us is terribly accurate, but we're pretty evenly matched -- I barely beat her this time.



Then Nancy and I hugged and said our goodbyes. She's a lot of fun -- maybe I'll run into her the next time she and her husband are celebrating an anniversary!


I called Sandy to figure out where the Reunion group was, and about 30 seconds later I ran smack dab into 'em. I'd missed the show, but Norma Desmond and her director were still available for a few photos. Too, too divine, dahling!





One of the married couples at Reunion 2010 brought their adorable triplets every day, and they always seemed to be in good moods. Or maybe I was just lucky -- they seemed happy every time I saw them.




Now that I'd found Sandy, I knew the rest of my day would be

We both Walt Disney: One Man's Dream, so we walked through the exhibit. Sandy had a brilliant idea to get us into the famous photo of Mickey and Walt!




You'll notice I've switched to my Tower of Terror cap ("I suggest you take the stairs"). That's because the weather was cool but not cold, AND the Reunion group was planning to ride that attraction together a bit later -- and as I've said many times, once I mash my hair down under a Goofy hat, I'm "committed" for the day. My hair gets completely plastered to my head -- but it's so worth it, dahling!





Way , dontcha think? Those Canadians are GENIUSES.
.

[lukeandbrookesmom]

Another great update Cindy! I absolutely LOVE the photo of the WL pool/lake in the morning - GORGEOUS!!!!

[cindybelle]

One of the Reunioneers had the coolest shirt, I just had to get a pic:




Then we ran into Michael, and the three of us just managed to get into the drawing class before they closed the door! We drew Buzz Lightyear, but mine looks so bad I refuse to show it here! It was fun, though.

Instead, why don't I show you this little sketch I did (not!)




Then we stopped at the Commissary for a quick bite to eat -- Sandy and I didn't want to eat too much because we had dinner ressies at the Hollywood Brown Derby.



At 2:00 the group met at Starring Rolls for cupcakes. We watched Kaleigh eat part of one and then she gave the rest away. It looked yummy, but I wanted to be hungry for HBD, my favorite restaurant in the park. One of the guys -- was it Len Testa -- ate an enormous cupcake in just 3 bites. Oh my!

At 4:00 the whole group sat in a special area for this:




Mark, a member of our group, got picked to be one of the extras. We all cheered like mad for him, of course.

By the time the stunt show ended, Sandy and I were already late for our dinner ressies. We were both hungry and so skipped getting pics taken with Indy and Marion.

Sandy had never dined at HBD before. I had warned her that I like to act appropriately while there. . . . and she said she was ready.