Savannah

The rest of November passed uneventfully, and we had a quiet Thanksgiving. Jennifer published a Christmas themed novella, her 14th book. Bryan started working part time at Barnes & Noble. Last Tuesday night they held a book signing event and Jenn acted as moderator for the Q & A portion. 

The Festival of Holidays at Epcot started right after Thanksgiving. Last Wednesday night Susan and I went in to check it out. Jenn and a friend went too. We walked around the World Showcase and had some snacks from the Holiday Kitchen booths, and enjoyed the decorations.

We bought several cookies at each time we did we had out festival booklet stamped so we earned a prize at the end. This is known as the cookie stroll. We also did the the Olaf scavenger hunt. We purchased several maps then searched for Olaf figures in each Showcase pavilion. At the end we turned in the maps so Jenn could have a set of Olaf plates. 

This week Susan and I drove up to Charleston to deliver Xmas presents to our friends at the air base there. We left after work on Tuesday and stayed the night in Brunswick. On the way back Wednesday, we stopped in Savannah, and stayed at the Marriott Riverfront. 

Yesterday we did a trolley tour of Savannah. I didn’t take photos on the trolley because it was cold so they had plastic screens down, but it was interesting learning more about Savannah and seeing some of the sites. The complete route takes about an hour and a half. 

About halfway through we got off at the City Market and walked around and had lunch at an Irish pub, then walked up to the river where there was a Christmas market. We finished the tour and left Savannah in the afternoon, stopping the Byrd’s Cookies flagship store on the way out of town. We got home late last night. 

Moonlight Magic

Tuesday night we attended a DVC Moonlight Magic event at Animal Kingdom. After the park closed for regular guests, we got to experience free snacks and ice cream and short waits on the four rides available - Everest, Flight of Passage, Navi River, and Dinosaur. There were also special character meets and showings of the new Zootopia movie that replaced the Bug movie under the Tree of Life last month, although we didn’t make it to one of those. 

Christmas decorations had gone up at Magic Kingdom on November 2nd, and Disney started having MVMC parties last week. They’ve also been adding decorations to the parks and resorts since, and AK was decked out for Christmas. It’s been over five years since we’ve been to Animal Kingdom at night, and it was nice to see it again. Hopefully they will add some more rides and entertainment soon and start keeping it open after dark again. 

Having a room makes it much more likely to get a spot at one of these events, so I had booked a two bedroom villa at Old Key West when the date was announced, and we stayed in it last night. It would have been nice to spend the day hanging out at the resort but we all had things to do yesterday, so we checked out and headed home.

This morning I had the opportunity to do a back stage tour of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. I went with cast members from MK boats and Monorails. We got to walk along the flumes, explore the queue, and go for a ride before it opened for the day. 

By the time we were done, the park was open for guests, so I snapped a photo of the work at the old Tom Sawyer Island before leaving. 

Anaheim

This weekend Jennifer and Susan attended a romance book convention at the Anaheim Marriott, which is located just south of the Disneyland Resort and next to the Anaheim Convention center. 

They arrived Thursday morning, and after checking in and setting up, went into Disneyland for dinner.

Their room was high enough up that they could see Disneyland's fireworks over the top of the adjacent hotel. Saturday night they went to DCA to ride Radiator Springs Racers and watch the fireworks in Disneyland.

Sunday after the convention was over they went into the parks with some friends for most of the day. The Halloween decorations were still mostly up, and they enjoyed the Haunted Mansion Holiday version of the ride.

They went again on Monday. One of the ways Disneyland celebrated its 70th Anniversary was with special lock stations in each land, so Jennifer bought a key and checked them all out. They fly home today.

Tron and Test Track

Early yesterday morning I dropped Jenn and Susan off at MCO to catch the first Delta flight to LAX so they could attend a book convention in Anaheim. I decided to go into Magic Kingdom and ride the Tron coaster. To promote the new Tron: Ares movie, Disney did a temporary overlay of the ride, with lighting an audio changes. It was pretty well done. 

Afterward I planned to ride Tiana’s again, but it had a delayed opening so instead I hopped on the Jungle Cruise. I hadn’t ridden it for a few years. Tiana’s was still closed when I got off, so although the park was fairly uncrowded, I headed out. 

This morning I headed into Epcot before it opened. Food & Wine started at the end of August, but we’ve been too busy to make visiting it a priority. 

My main purpose in visiting was the revised Test Track. It reopened in July, but we weren’t able to do the Cast preview because we were in England. It was pretty well done, emphasizing new car technology over the last version’s simulated testing. Afterward I walked around the showcase but none of the booths were open yet and none of the menus looked interesting enough to wait for, so I left for home.

Conventions

In Vegas, besides signing and selling books, Jennifer took part in a panel and visited with other authors. She and Susan flew back on a red eye Saturday night. 

This weekend, Jenn had a booth at a fantasy romance book convention at the Hilton near Disney Springs. I helped her and Susan set up on Thursday afternoon, then we went to dinner at the Benihana.

On Friday I took Bryan to the airport so he could fly to a convention in Anaheim. He stayed with friends, and yesterday they went to the Disney parks. Disneyland Park is currently celebrating its 70th anniversary. 

In California Adventure, they are building a new attraction for the Avenger’s Campus. Both parks were decorated for Halloween. Bryan flies back tomorrow. 

Fort Wilderness

Yesterday afternoon I went into Magic Kingdom to check on the progress on Tom Sawyer Island, which is being converted into a Cars attraction. I couldn’t see much because they had recently installed walls around the whole area, but they had demolished most of the structures on TSI. Big Thunder Mountain was still closed for refurbishment, and the train is only running between Main Street and Storybook Circus.

After a walk around MK I took a boat out to Fort Wilderness. Crews have started installing windows and sliding doors and roof elements to Lakeshore Lodge. A couple of the cranes had been removed. 

I walked out to the bat house and the start of the Sassagoula River, and saw some deer on the way back.

Disney has added some cabins across from Pioneer Hall that can be toured by prospective DVC members. I had an early dinner at Trails End and a drink at Crockett’s Tavern then headed home.

Disney is continuing to do work behind Big Thunder Mountain. Recently they added trailers for construction offices for the Carsland and Villains Land projects, and they've been building a berm near the road. 

Hollywood Studios

Last Friday, Bryan went to another Universal Halloween Horror Night, while Jennifer helped another author do a signing at a local bookstore. Yesterday, Jenn and Susan flew out to Las Vegas for a book convention. Like last year, it was held at the Paris Las Vegas.

This morning I decided to head to Hollywood Studios. I got there early, and went for a ride on the Friendship Boats while waiting for the park to open.

Once it opened, I made a loop to see what was new. Disney closed the Star Wars Launch Bay recently so they could convert it back to an animation attraction. The courtyard was walled off, and they had started demolishing the arch at the entrance. 

Inside of Walt Disney Presents was a display on some of the current WDW projects. The model for the Tropical America project at Animal Kingdom was pretty cool.  

Earlier this year they added a covered seating area for the Woody’s Lunchbox quick serve. It really should have been there from the start 

The old Muppets courtyard was also walled off for its conversion to Monsteropolis. Some demolition has been done, but most of the work is occurring backstage, where they are constructing a show building for a door factory coaster.