Holiday Decorations Halloween is coming	Arrrrrr! Pirate Mickey!	Along the dock Wishing you a MAGICAL DAY

At some point, I talked to someone from work, and determined that there was a situation that needed my attention before tomorrow.  So I had a choice.  I could do all my sessions for the rest of the day, and stay in the room that night to deal with the situation, OR I could ditch the sessions, do the work in the afternoon, and be able to attend the special party at the Magic Kingdom that evening.  That’s where they close the park to everyone except conference attendees, and you have the run of the place, free counter-service food, and free alcoholic beverages.  Yes – ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES.  IN THE MAGIC KINGDOM.  FREE!

Which do you think I chose to do?

Circa a little after noon, I was on a shuttle bus back to POR, hoping against hope that I would not have to connect to work via dial-up.  That would really suck.  I noticed during this bus trip that some bus drivers are precisely accurate with all their turns at all times, always hitting the target lane, while other drivers are just plain sloppy.  This was one of the sloppy-turning drivers, and he had a few near-misses of objects that should not be hit with a bus.  Eventually, I stopped looking, because the way he was driving was making me crazy. 

All the drivers of these Mears shuttles had tip cups up front, generously seeded with $5’s and $10’s.  As if!  I don’t know why anyone would tip one of the drivers of a shuttle at a conference, when that service is supposed to be included in your exceedingly exorbitant conference fee.  Or, if someone WERE moved to tip, why they would put in a $5 or a $10.  All this, and sloppy turns, too! 

Back at the room, the broadband was back up, and I dialed 56, did not get treated to any music, and got the charges for yesterday dropped from my account.  “Nathan” told me, “oh yes, we had some challenges last evening, but we’ve resolved them now…” and had no explanation for why the music on hold ceased after one minute and produced a fast busy signal instead.  Whatever, just so long as I don’t have to pay for a service that wasn’t delivered. 

At some point, I ran out and got a grilled chicken Caesar salad and filled my mug with something to drink, coming back to continue my work.  I finished the crisis in surprising time, and then had to decide what to do.  I had a con call about the crisis at 4:00 PM.  I could go back to the Swolphin and try to make another session, or I could make a mighty push on my paper for school. 

Hmmm….I consulted the replay schedule, and determined that one of the sessions that I had planned for the afternoon was available on replay the next day.  So I decided to make the push on the paper.  I was getting sick of this paper, but I knew that I had to hand in a first draft when I got back, so I had to keep pushing.  As luck would have it, my subject matter was being covered a number of times at the symposium, and I had the presentations on the conference CD that came with the backpack when I checked in.  So I was able to use that as some source material, look up the author/speaker on the web, find more stuff that she’d written/spoken about, and turn all that source material into 4 more pages of independent study fodder! 

Did the 4:00 pm conference call, did some more work, then packed up to go to the park.  I kinda thought there were going to be long lines at the shuttle stop – no one was allowed to drive into the park themselves, you had to be bussed in – so I grabbed my mug, made myself a mocha at the food court, and headed out early to get in line.  It turned out I was fourth in line, but soon the line was snaking itself all around the front of the resort, and I was glad that I’d come out early.  The Mears folks came down the line, passing out special park maps, that showed which park attractions and eateries would be open, and gave a schedule of parade and fireworks type stuff.  I fell in with a crowd of rowdies on the line (big surprise, that), cracking jokes and acting a little manic cause we were off to play in the Magic Kingdom all night.  The handful of us basically terrorized and delighted the line by turns with a bunch of silliness.   

Many more busses than I would have expected were queued up, lining the road leading up to the resort.  I had not realized how many people staying at POR were conference attendees, until I saw all those busses – that’s truly a lot of overflow, when you think about how many rooms there are at the Swan, the Dolphin, the Yacht & Beach Clubs, and the Boardwalk!  There were no children in the line, and hardly any identifiable couples (attendees with spouses), so that meant there were a LOT of conference attendees at this resort.  Hmmm, maybe I should make that ressie at the Swolphin, like, NOW for the 2006 symposium! 

When they finally started loading us on the busses, it was properly dark outside, and they took the head of the line (us rowdies) all the way down to the LAST bus.  No fair! we cried.  But then it turned out that the last bus left first, so all was not lost.  We left the resort in a long caravan, and went basically the same way I had gone to the Car Care Center on Sunday.  At some point, I realized they were taking us in via the parade entrance adjacent to Splash Mountain, because I started to see parade paraphernalia parked along one side of the narrow road, and those light parade boats that make the rounds of the MK resorts at night were all queued up in a canal on the other side of the road.  We disembarked and were greeted by CMs every couple of feet pointing us in the direction of a red carpet, illuminated by topiaries strung with twinkling lights (and sponsored, apparently, by Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and Sterling Commerce).

Here we go Walking in from backstage	Yes, it's red People treading on the red carpet	Our fearless sponsors Free food, free drinks, no lines, all night - thanks, dudes!

Well, when the Magic Kingdom is going to be that empty all night, and you’re turned loose in it, here’s where there’s an advantage to having been there many, many times before.  You don’t need to stand in little clumps, consulting the special event map, trying to decide what to do and where everything is.  You make a beeline for the E ticket experiences. 

I trod the red carpet, hung an immediate left, and was the first person on Splash Mountain that night – in the FIRST car.  For good measure, I went on again – IN THE FIRST CAR.  So, there! 

After that, I partook of dinner at Pecos Bill’s  - you know, you really CAN construct a decent salad at their fixin’s bar!  Then, I set out to wander a bit.  There were streetmosphere performers, hillbillies on their first trip to Disney World, with drinks in their hands.  They were a scream!  Lawdy, the Daisy Dukes on that one girl – you would NEVER see something like that out front of Pecos Bill’s during normal Magic Kingdom hours!  A little further down, going toward Liberty Square, there was a DJ blasting dance tunes, with all these flashing disco lights.  There were bar carts set up here and there, usually near a smoking section.  Seemed to have primarily beer and wine, and you could get soda or water there, too.   

I did Pirates of the Caribbean (FIRST CAR), and then backtracked and did Big Thunder Mountain a couple of times (FIRST CAR), before wandering back down toward Liberty Square to wait for the SpectroMagic parade to come by.  I have actually never seen SpectroMagic before!  On the way, I stopped to take some shots of the castle with the moon rising next to it.  The castle kept changing colors, and I played around trying to get several colors and several angles.

I love this shot Taken from dock directly across from Tom Sawyer's Island	Orangey Castle Pretty color	More blue Taken from Liberty Square, just outside the Christmas shop.

OMG, Spectro has Diana, Mistress of the Hunt!  I really LOVED this parade – why have I never seen it before?  Where has it been?  Where have **I** been?

The scary spinning guys Nieceling came home from her trip with the same opinion - these dudes are freaky!	Bright lights This is a very bright and shiny parade	Ta-da! :-)
Mickey! The dude himself	Tick, tick... ...tick, tick....	Scary, too This float is just fabulous
Pirate Ship I keep seeing pirate ships on this trip - ARRR!	Diana! Mistress Of The Hunt

 After Spectro, I hung out behind the Christmas shop, watching the castle changing colors a bit, then headed over to stake out a position for Wishes.  Here’s what I wrote to my Disney-freak friends in the forum: 

“The private party at MK last night was AWESOME!  They took us in busses through the backstage area and we entered walking on a red carpet, with lighted topiaries along the path, coming in the parade entrance by Splash.  Free food and drink all night, no wait for any of the attractions, and performances of both SpectroMagic and WISHES.  For the Fireworks, I was able to claim prime real estate in the pre-rose garden area with ease - no one in front of me blocking my view, no one crowding me at the rail.  I took LOTS of pictures…” 

I’d almost forgotten that the Magic Kingdom had been the scene of much discontent last time I was here.  I think getting in the first car all night mitigated that!  Well, that, and certain decisions having been made, my future going in a clear direction. 

Sometime during Wishes, I was taking photographs through tears.   

I forgive you, Disney!

Wishes No further comments necessary!

 

• Day One
• Day Two
• Day Four
• Day Five
• Day Six
• Day Seven
• Day Eight
• Day Nine

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