More Holiday stuff

Last Tuesday night after work, all four of us went to dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge. While there we enjoyed the tree and other holiday decorations.

After dinner we went to the Transportation and Ticket Center for a transportation cast fireworks cruise on one of the ferries. Disney provided drinks and snacks and we visited with other cast members and guests while cruising around the Seven Seas Lagoon, then watched the holiday party fireworks over the Magic Kingdom. 

Thursday night Susan and I drove to Tampa with Jenn and a friend to watch the Lightning play the Los Angeles Kings. The match featured several holiday embellishments, but the Bolts lost, 2 to 1. 

A friend of Jenn’s has been working as an attendant to Santa Claus at Disney Springs this year, so this Tuesday after work Susan, Jenn, and I went to visit her. The girls did some shopping and I took photos of some of the trees on display. We had dinner at Earl of Sandwich and after her friend was off work she and Jenn took photos with Santa Claus. 

Susan had to work this morning so the kids came over on Christmas Eve for dinner and opening presents. While she was working, I spent a couple of hours at Hollywood Studios. I looked at the decorations and rode Star Tours and did the single rider line at Rise of the Resistance. 

I tried to check out the work at the Animation and Muppets courtyards, but not much was visible over the construction walls. The arch was completely gone at the Animation courtyard, and I could see the all the Muppet theming had been removed from the show building. 

Savannah

Last 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 Georgia. On the way back Wednesday, we stopped in Savannah, and stayed at the Marriott Riverfront. 

Thursday 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 at the Byrd’s Cookies flagship store on the way out of town. The bakery is located next door, but unfortunately they stopped doing tours during the pandemic.

We stopped at the Buc-ee's in Daytona on the way up, and the one in Saint Augustine on the way back. We got home late Thursday night.

Festival of Holidays

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.

Friday afternoon Jennifer flew to Boston to attend a Christmas themed book signing event in New Hampshire on Saturday. It was a small event, but she sold out of all the books she brought, over 100. She stayed with a friend outside Boston, and flew back tonight. 

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.