Unleash the Villains: TCD's Friday the 13th TR

[Disneyzombie-Brenda 10]

TDC, I have no idea what route our bus driver took. We passed the Swan and Dolphin a couple of times. Went way past Downtown Disney, he kept saying lets try this way...we didn't sit anywhere very long, it was an E ticket ride. 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great Pictures!  Why would they even make Goofy underwear like that?  Just wrong. Giselle wins it for me, that girl wears that pretty dress perfectly! Awesome!  Not to mention that is my fav movie!  The box head kid was good too, and your right it did look weird on that on picture.  I could not see the cruella costume you thought was good, I must be blind.

Nice update! Thank you so much  :clint:

Laura

 

Here's a clue to help you find the girl in the Cruella costume:

 

 

 

 

I will guess Brandy is the Fiend in the baseball cap. 

 

Wow!  How did you guess that?

 

You are right.

 

While we were waiting for our drinks, an attractive blonde says hello to me.

 

I get that all them time when I'm out in public, so I didn't really take a good look.  I've been happily married for 26 years now, and I try not to lead the ladies on.

 

Then she said, "it's Brandy, from Fort Fiends."

 

The Momma bear was there with her little cub.  They were not staying at the Fort on this trip.  And neither were we.

 

Brandy, if you read this- it was good to see you.

 

Oh, and this one looks like Nellie Olsen from Little House on the Prairie. 

 

She sure does.

 

I never liked that Nellie Olsen.

 

That is a woman who has repeatedly auditioned for a CM position.  She has many trip reports on Voldemort about her trips down for auditions..

 

Really?

 

I take it from the way you worded your comment that she has not been successful?  I would like to hear more about this, but not if I have to go to the place you mentioned.

 

Yes, very proud of the virtual Legos. They hurt a whole lot less when you step on them than their non-virtual brothers. And I know what you mean about the costumes being misinterpreted. My son was Yoda once and was asked constantly if he was Shrek. And at last years MNSSHP, he was Dipper from Gravity Falls and even I barely knew who he was. 

 

LOL.  I wish they had virtual Legos back when they were popular with my girls.  Ouch.

 

I have to confess that sometimes I like to give trick-or-treaters a hard time.  One time at the Fort, there was a girl in an excellent Avatar costume.  I asked her if she was a Smurfette.  That was before the recent Smurf movie came out, so the poor girl had no idea what I was talking about.  I thought it was funny, though.

 

Another confession:  I have never seen Gravity Falls, and would have no idea who any of the characters are.

 

 

Yay! another trip report..

 

I know!

 

It's so exciting!

 

LOL, Cleo is not from a show that I know of.  I didn't know it was rule that all costumes had to be Disney inspired.  I thought maybe the girl just liked all the bling on her collar and belt.

 

Well. for now all costumes do not have to be Disney inspired, but I am working on getting that changed.  Actually, I haven't started working on that.  But, I would like to.

 

TDC, I have no idea what route our bus driver took. We passed the Swan and Dolphin a couple of times. Went way past Downtown Disney, he kept saying lets try this way...we didn't sit anywhere very long, it was an E ticket ride. 

 

You went by the Swan and Dolphin a couple of times, and past Downtown Disney?

 

What the heck was your driver doing?

 

To my knowledge, there are only two ways for a bus full of guests to enter DHS, and coming from the Fort, you wouldn't go by Downtown Disney to get to either of them.

 

TCD

[Family of Bears 98]

Hey TCD!  Good to see you.  And good work DIT...Im impressed.  How'd you know it was me?  I mean, I didn't even know it was me! 

 

Im here reading along, just had a busy summer.  We will be camping a bunch this fall and look forward to seeing everyone :)

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Hey TCD!  Good to see you.  And good work DIT...Im impressed.  How'd you know it was me?  I mean, I didn't even know it was me! 

 

Im here reading along, just had a busy summer.  We will be camping a bunch this fall and look forward to seeing everyone :)

 

Hey, look, the Family of Bears is not hibernating after all!

 

It was a great surprise to run into you.

 

With the TCD girls' schedules,  I will unfortunately not be at the Fort as much as I would like to be this fall.  But, I'm going to try.

 

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Hey TCD!  Good to see you.  And good work DIT...Im impressed.  How'd you know it was me?  I mean, I didn't even know it was me! 

 

Im here reading along, just had a busy summer.  We will be camping a bunch this fall and look forward to seeing everyone :)

 

I'm just that good. 

[4mickey2 41]

<<cough>>  sorry-yeah dave, that's it!   :rofl3:

[4mickey2 41]

great tr so far.  guess we'll have to go off grounds to get our fresh bakery when we are down there.  ohhhh-wait, i can get a starbucks so why would i leave.  lol    okay---ready for more pics!

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

 

I take it from the way you worded your comment that she has not been successful?  I would like to hear more about this, but not if I have to go to the place you mentioned.

 

TCD

 

Every once in awhile when I'm really bored/desperate I go to the other place to read trip reports.  No, she hasn't been successful, but she's auditioned a lot.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I'm just that good. 

 

Seriously. That was good.

 

<<cough>>  sorry-yeah dave, that's it!   :rofl3:

 

Actually, it was pretty impressive that Dave got it right with one guess.

 

great tr so far.  guess we'll have to go off grounds to get our fresh bakery when we are down there.  ohhhh-wait, i can get a starbucks so why would i leave.  lol    okay---ready for more pics!

 

Yeah, if you want anything fresh, you aren't going to find it in that bakery.  More pics are on the way.  Before noon.

 

Every once in awhile when I'm really bored/desperate I go to the other place to read trip reports.  No, she hasn't been successful, but she's auditioned a lot.

 

Poor girl.  You would think she might take the hint.

 

Just for giggles, what is her screen name at this other place that will not be mentioned?  I like me a good train wreck, and may take a look.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

We need an update.

 

This TR is supposed to be about the Unleash the Villains event, and we're still hanging out in the MK.

 

Just to let you know, we will be hanging out in the MK for this update, and then we will get to the main event.

 

We had heard recently that the construction walls came down around the new Princess meet and greet that is replacing the old Snow White ride.  We decided to take a look.

 

And here it is- it's called Princess Fairy Tale Hall.  We weren't real sure how this was going to be set up, and which princesses would be available to meet, but from looking at the outside, we now understand things a bit better.  For example, there are two separate entrances- this is the one on the right as you face the attraction-you can see that there is a sign posted where they will be inserting photos of which two princesses will be on that side.  Also note that there is a Fastpass entrance over here.  There is one on the other side too.  So, two separate Fastpass entrances.  Oh, and they aren't quite done with the construction- there's a ladder up there on the roof:

 

 

This is the main sign in the center of the two entrances- note that there were CM's out there guarding the entrance.  Sometimes that would suggest a soft opening, but I haven't heard that there have been any princesses in there yet:

 

 

It won't be long until all of our questions about how this place will work will be answered- this sign tells us that the Princess Fairy Tale Hall will open on September 18- which is tomorrow!:

 

 

Remember that ladder?

 

There was a CM using it:

 

 

You may have noticed in the previous photos that there are little shields posted along the roofline of the entrance with symbols representing different Disney princesses.  This is an interesting touch- here we see a sea shell and some leaves, which I presume represent Ariel and Pocahontas:

 

 

Here we see a slipper, and behind the sign a spinning wheel- Cinderella and Aurora not doubt:

 

 

On these shields, we see symbols representing Rapunzel, Mulan, Snow White, and Tiana.  Behind the sign, and not in the photo was an image of Aladdin's lamp, which obviously refers to Princess Jasmine.  You can also see the second FP entrance in this photo:

 

 

I think all of the official Disney Princesses are represented here.  It looks like I missed getting a photo of the shield that depicted a bow and arrow- Merida.  These shields raise an interesting question- will Merida, Ariel and Tiana meet in this new venue?  What about their existing meet and greet areas?  I could see them moving Tiana and Merida in here, but not Ariel.  Twin #1 suggested that maybe you will be able to meet Ariel with legs in her dress in here, and Ariel with the mermaid tail over there in her cave?

 

The other thing Twin#1 pointed out is that they didn't leave room for any new shields.  The new Frozen movie coming out later this year apparently introduces two new Disney princesses.  I would think that Disney isn't going to miss the chance to sell merchandise related to this movie, and there will probably be some place to meet the new princesses.  Twin #1 told me she read someplace about a possible new meet and greet area in the Norway area of Epcot, since the movie apparently takes place in Norway.  We checked on that last time we were in Epcot, though, and there are no signs of a new meet and greet place there.  Maybe they will bounce Merida or Tiana from their current meet and greet areas and put the Frozen princesses there? We will find out soon enough, the movie comes out at the end of November.

 

Anyway- it looks like the new Princess Fairy Tale Hall will provide guests with the opportunity to meet at least four princesses each day.  Each line leads to two princesses, and they apparently will change them out.  Twin #1 told me that she read somewhere that Cinderella and Rapunzel will always be there, and they will each have one additional princess with them, who will vary-I'm not sure if that's true- but it would make sense to have the most popular princesses available more often than the less popular ones.

 

It's kind of weird to stand in front of the old Snow White ride and turn around and see this:

 

 

I'm still not clear on why they built those walls there like that, but they do look cool framing the Beast's castle back there atop the mountain.

 

I've shared before how I was thinking all this year that the new Mine Train ride would be open for preview rides by the end of this year, but looking over the wall, it just doesn't seem possible.  In this photo, you can see the new roofline of a building just over the fence:

 

 

The rockwork on the side of the mountain by the Ariel ride looks pretty much done, but over here not so much:

 

 

I have a hard time imagining what this view will look like when the construction is finally done and those walls are down, but I think it's going to be cool:

 

 

We decided to walk toward Tomorrowland and take the bridge back to Main Street from there. 

 

Along the way, we ran into another Alice and Rabbit:

 

 

I forgot to point out the guy in the Yankee fan costume with his back to us in that last photo.  He did pretty good with the wifebeater shirt and backward baseball cap.  The only thing missing is some hair on his back.

 

Speaking of Bears, there was an assembly of them right across from the Winnie the Pooh entrance:

 

 

I should have waited until these folks were a bit closer to get this photo- I thought they were dressed as pop tarts, but Twin #1 corrected me and said they were peanut butter and jelly.  Plus a random Ravens fan:

 

 

We ended up walking past the Merida meet and greet area, and saw a guest in a really good Merida costume, complete with wig- she's standing there in front of the banner in the center of this photo.  I wanted to go in and watch the meet and greet- I imagine it is awkward- what does the real princess say to the guest in this situation?  We couldn't go in, because the line was closed- they needed to start herding the non-party guests out of the park:

 

 

We needed to get going anyway.  I wasn't sure yet how we were going to go to DHS, and didn't know if it was going to be busy or not. I suspected it would be busy, so I wanted to get going.

 

On our way back out, we saw a group in nice Muppets costumes:

 

 

On Main Street, CM's in MNSSHP costumes were starting to herd people that didn't have party wristbands toward the exits:

 

 

It was about 6:45 pm, so we could look for just a few more minutes.

 

I am not sure what was going on here- I recognize Goofy and Minnie, but what's with the angry giant Gingerbread Man?:

 

 

A family zipped by in Phineas and Ferb costumes- they moved so quick that I just got these two separate photos:

 

 

 

That angry giant Gingerbread Man had a date.  This couple had me confused.  Do these costumes somehow go together?:

 

 

Across the street, we spotted a couple of XL Queens:

 

 

Take a closer look:

 

 

Beam me up Scotty:

 

 

Oh Vey.  An octogenarian Periwinkle:

 

 

OK, I apologize for the octogenarian comment.  But, lady, that is not a good look.  Women of a certain age cannot be fairies.  Fairy Godmothers yes.  Fairies no.

 

The Goofy and Minnie family posed for a photo.  I have a slight problem with Goofy's pants. They're too tight. And the wrong color. But at least he's wearing pants:

 

 

There was a news crew filming there on Main Street.  At first, we thought maybe they were guests in costumes pretending to be a news crew, but I think it really was a news crew:

 

 

On the way out, we passed the line for Jack and Sally. It was much longer.  This was at approximately 6:52 pm.  There are a lot of good costumes in that line:

 

 

 

 

The thing is that some of those people near the end of the line will be eating up an hour of their party time just to get a photo with Jack and Sally.  That makes those folks I was laughing at when we came into the park look pretty smart.  They will get their photos right at 7 and be on their way.

 

Well, that's 30 photos.  So we have to stop.

 

We will still be in the MK when the next update starts, but then we will move on. 

 

You'll get to hear about our bus ride to DHS.

 

It was memorable.

 

TCD

[Laura 17]

Thank for the HINT TCD!  LOL  I got it that time.  Not sure how I missed that...... moving on.  The screen name for the Girl in the WENDY costume (Wendy is her fav character I guess) katt789. She seems like a nice girl, I hope she gets her break someday. :wiz:

Laura

[DaveInTN 3,247]

It takes all kinds to make the world go round.  What a freak show. 

[ajcjmom 8]

I thought about going over after work but it sounds like it was way to crowded for me!

 

I am trying to convince DH to go to at least 1 MNSSHP.

 

I love people watching!

[alexwyattmommy 181]

The Gingerbread man is from the Shrek movies.  I have no idea who his date is.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

 

Just for giggles, what is her screen name at this other place that will not be mentioned?  I like me a good train wreck, and may take a look.

 

TCD

 

If I can find her again I'll let you know her name.

 

Oh, I see Laura beat me to it.

[jjbescher 17]

We need an update.

 

This TR is supposed to be about the Unleash the Villains event, and we're still hanging out in the MK.

 

Just to let you know, we will be hanging out in the MK for this update, and then we will get to the main event.

 

We had heard recently that the construction walls came down around the new Princess meet and greet that is replacing the old Snow White ride.  We decided to take a look.

 

And here it is- it's called Princess Fairy Tale Hall.  We weren't real sure how this was going to be set up, and which princesses would be available to meet, but from looking at the outside, we now understand things a bit better.  For example, there are two separate entrances- this is the one on the right as you face the attraction-you can see that there is a sign posted where they will be inserting photos of which two princesses will be on that side.  Also note that there is a Fastpass entrance over here.  There is one on the other side too.  So, two separate Fastpass entrances.  Oh, and they aren't quite done with the construction- there's a ladder up there on the roof:

 

 

This is the main sign in the center of the two entrances- note that there were CM's out there guarding the entrance.  Sometimes that would suggest a soft opening, but I haven't heard that there have been any princesses in there yet:

 

 

It won't be long until all of our questions about how this place will work will be answered- this sign tells us that the Princess Fairy Tale Hall will open on September 18- which is tomorrow!:

 

 

Remember that ladder?

 

There was a CM using it:

 

 

You may have noticed in the previous photos that there are little shields posted along the roofline of the entrance with symbols representing different Disney princesses.  This is an interesting touch- here we see a sea shell and some leaves, which I presume represent Ariel and Pocahontas:

 

 

Here we see a slipper, and behind the sign a spinning wheel- Cinderella and Aurora not doubt:

 

 

On these shields, we see symbols representing Rapunzel, Mulan, Snow White, and Tiana.  Behind the sign, and not in the photo was an image of Aladdin's lamp, which obviously refers to Princess Jasmine.  You can also see the second FP entrance in this photo:

 

 

I think all of the official Disney Princesses are represented here.  It looks like I missed getting a photo of the shield that depicted a bow and arrow- Merida.  These shields raise an interesting question- will Merida, Ariel and Tiana meet in this new venue?  What about their existing meet and greet areas?  I could see them moving Tiana and Merida in here, but not Ariel.  Twin #1 suggested that maybe you will be able to meet Ariel with legs in her dress in here, and Ariel with the mermaid tail over there in her cave?

 

The other thing Twin#1 pointed out is that they didn't leave room for any new shields.  The new Frozen movie coming out later this year apparently introduces two new Disney princesses.  I would think that Disney isn't going to miss the chance to sell merchandise related to this movie, and there will probably be some place to meet the new princesses.  Twin #1 told me she read someplace about a possible new meet and greet area in the Norway area of Epcot, since the movie apparently takes place in Norway.  We checked on that last time we were in Epcot, though, and there are no signs of a new meet and greet place there.  Maybe they will bounce Merida or Tiana from their current meet and greet areas and put the Frozen princesses there? We will find out soon enough, the movie comes out at the end of November.

 

Anyway- it looks like the new Princess Fairy Tale Hall will provide guests with the opportunity to meet at least four princesses each day.  Each line leads to two princesses, and they apparently will change them out.  Twin #1 told me that she read somewhere that Cinderella and Rapunzel will always be there, and they will each have one additional princess with them, who will vary-I'm not sure if that's true- but it would make sense to have the most popular princesses available more often than the less popular ones.

TCD

 

Did you see a shield for Belle?  I think they will leave Merida where she is.  They still have a place for characters where the princesses are currently, unless they are going to expand Mickey's queue.  At this point the only way to see Belle is to go into the Enchanted Tales with Belle, but since they do not do autographs, for those with kids that want to get autographs, it is very hard to get Belle's signature.  I do not think Belle will ever be in this hall since she appears elsewhere, along with Ariel.  Where is Tiana's meet and greet?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Thank for the HINT TCD!  LOL  I got it that time.  Not sure how I missed that...... moving on.  The screen name for the Girl in the WENDY costume (Wendy is her fav character I guess) katt789. She seems like a nice girl, I hope she gets her break someday. :wiz:

Laura

 

Thanks for the name.  I may do some stalking take a look some time.

 

It takes all kinds to make the world go round.  What a freak show. 

 

I love me a good freak show.

 

I thought about going over after work but it sounds like it was way to crowded for me!

 

I am trying to convince DH to go to at least 1 MNSSHP.

 

I love people watching!

 

It was way too crowded.  Stay tuned for the photos.

 

Even if you don't buy a ticket for MNSSHP, it's a good time to just be at the entrance to see what guests wear.  I think I've mentioned before that I don't recall guests getting this into the parties in the past.  In recent years, the costumes have become much more elaborate.

 

 

The Gingerbread man is from the Shrek movies.  I have no idea who his date is.

 

I thought that Gingerbread man was from Shrek.  Twin #1 didn't think so.  She didn't think the Shrek one was so mean looking.

 

If I can find her again I'll let you know her name.

 

Oh, I see Laura beat me to it.

 

Yup.

 

I have the name.  But you get points for spotting her!

 

Did you see a shield for Belle?  I think they will leave Merida where she is.  They still have a place for characters where the princesses are currently, unless they are going to expand Mickey's queue.  At this point the only way to see Belle is to go into the Enchanted Tales with Belle, but since they do not do autographs, for those with kids that want to get autographs, it is very hard to get Belle's signature.  I do not think Belle will ever be in this hall since she appears elsewhere, along with Ariel.  Where is Tiana's meet and greet?

 

Good catch! Twin #1 and I thought all of the princesses were represented, but I do have a photo of a shield for Belle.  I think that there was a shield with books on it, but now I'm not so sure.

 

You are right about Belle- I am sure guests would like to meet her, but would they have her both here and right across the way at her Enchanted Tales attraction?

 

Tiana's meet and greet is currently in that courtyard area behind the Christmas Shop in Liberty Square.  It's outside.  I bet they move her inside.

 

TCD

[jjbescher 17]

Thanks for the name.  I may do some stalking take a look some time.

 

 

I love me a good freak show.

 

 

It was way too crowded.  Stay tuned for the photos.

 

Even if you don't buy a ticket for MNSSHP, it's a good time to just be at the entrance to see what guests wear.  I think I've mentioned before that I don't recall guests getting this into the parties in the past.  In recent years, the costumes have become much more elaborate.

 

 

 

I thought that Gingerbread man was from Shrek.  Twin #1 didn't think so.  She didn't think the Shrek one was so mean looking.

 

 

Yup.

 

I have the name.  But you get points for spotting her!

 

 

Good catch! Twin #1 and I thought all of the princesses were represented, but I do have a photo of a shield for Belle.  I think that there was a shield with books on it, but now I'm not so sure.

 

You are right about Belle- I am sure guests would like to meet her, but would they have her both here and right across the way at her Enchanted Tales attraction?

 

Tiana's meet and greet is currently in that courtyard area behind the Christmas Shop in Liberty Square.  It's outside.  I bet they move her inside.

 

TCD

 

Thanks for the info on Tiana.  I know my daughter will want to see her again in December.  Since we are going without friends this time, I guarantee there will be a lot of time waiting in line for princesses and other characters.  She would rather do that than go on rides.

[Beckers 1,136]

Props for the pre MNSSHP freak parade idea. I shared with my parents and they plan on doing the same on their trip in Oct. they have AP's and love some good people watching. Their main trip goal is F&W but they said they will be trying to catch the freak show.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Thanks for the info on Tiana.  I know my daughter will want to see her again in December.  Since we are going without friends this time, I guarantee there will be a lot of time waiting in line for princesses and other characters.  She would rather do that than go on rides.

 

I'm sure we will know before December exactly how this new venue will work.  I like it that it has two separate lines and two separate FP's.  If your mission is to meet princesses, this will help speed things up tremendously.  It also looks like the queue will be inside.  That is nice.  Waiting out in the heat for some of those meet and greets is awful.

 

Props for the pre MNSSHP freak parade idea. I shared with my parents and they plan on doing the same on their trip in Oct. they have AP's and love some good people watching. Their main trip goal is F&W but they said they will be trying to catch the freak show.

 

Well, if they go, they had better send you some photos, and you had better post them.

 

I hope to get back to the MK again to watch the party crowd come in.  You can't find better people watching than that.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Let's get to the Unleash the Villains event, shall we?

 

First, the last of the MK photos.

 

I had no idea what this Afro Circus guy was supposed to be, but Twin #1 said that there's an Afro Circus in the Madagascar movies:

 

 

Oh, and don't miss the guy in the orange jumpsuit there to the left of center of the photo in the back.  Is that a tin foil thong he's wearing?  What the Fort?

 

Over here we have a couple of those things from Despicable Me- what are they called- minions?  And a Ninja Turtle:

 

 

If I was in charge, which would be a good thing, I would not let the Afro Circus guy or the minions in.  The turtle is OK.  I would cut kids some slack, but adults, no.

 

It was now time for us to make a decision.

 

I wanted to take the monorail to the TTC and catch a bus from there to DHS.  Twin #1 said that was a bad plan.  Everybody was going to try that, and it would be crowded. She said we should walk to the Contemporary and take the bus from there.  I didn't like that because it meant we would have to stop at the Polynesian and GF before heading to the park, but Twin #1's point was that if the buses were crazy, our best chance of getting on one would be at the Contemporary.  That made sense, so we went with her plan.

 

On the way there, we saw this group with The Emperor's New Groove costumes.  They did a great job:

 

 

 

I mentioned it was hot, right?

 

Well, it was.

 

Real hot.

 

But the sun was setting.

 

Look how it's reflecting off of Bay Lake Tower:

 

 

Hey.  See that bus?

 

It's marquee says "ANNA." :

 

 

I've seen strange things on the bus marquees around WDW, but never ANNA.

 

It wasn't a good scene at the Contemporary bus stop.

 

It usually isn't crowded.

 

But tonight it was.

 

All of the benches were full.

 

So we had to stand.

 

They don't number the bus stops there like they do at some of the other resorts.

 

The buses all pull up to the same spot.

 

A Downtown Disney bus came.

 

Nobody got on it.

 

I think everybody here wanted to go to DHS.

 

So we moseyed our way over to where the buses actually stopped.  All of the lazy butts sitting on the benches were going to have the last chance to get on the bus when it came.  You snooze you loose.

 

Sure enough a bus finally came.

 

it was full.

 

Only about a third of the passengers got off.

 

And two scooters showed up and wanted on.

 

Oh boy.

 

The bus driver loaded the scooters.

 

Some guests tried to jump in the back doors.

 

The bus driver wasn't going to have any of that.

 

Then she opened the front doors. Which was where we were standing.  Dummies.

 

This is the crowd that was waiting to board:

 

 

We were in front of the guy in the FSU t-shirt you see on the right of the photo.  That lady in the blue shirt in the center and all the people behind her did not make it.

 

They were not happy.

 

But we were on the bus and out of there.

 

I hope they all enjoyed sitting on the benches at the bus stop, because that's where they were going to be for a while.

 

By the way, I snapped that photo of the bus stop crowd at 7:24.  We had left the MK right at 7, and it took us maybe 10 minutes to get to the Contemporary, so we had waited around 15 minutes for the bus. 

 

Then we went to the Polynesian.  Another big crowd there.  A few of the people on the bus got off, and a few of the waiting crowd were able to get on.  Then to the GF.  Same thing there, but there was not really a crowd waiting to board there.

 

Finally, we could make our way to DHS!

 

The bus driver got on the PA and made an announcement that there was gridlock around DHS, but that she had been cleared to take a shortcut.  By the way, this is the second time recently that a bus driver used the PA system on a bus.  I thought they had been taken out.

 

Shortcut?

 

What shortcut is there?

 

I was interested to see, so I paid careful attention.

 

We headed toward DHS via World Drive.  As we approached the exit for DHS, I could see that traffic was backed up coming the other way for quite a distance.  But not in our direction.  We made the exit, and the driver stayed in the left lane.  I knew that the DHS entrance was on the right, but she stayed in the left.  Then she turned left at the Epcot Resorts Blvd. intersection.  We went all the way around that, and came out right across from the DHS entrance.  There were Orange County Sheriff's directing traffic, and it was awful in both directions on Buena Vista Drive. They had traffic stopped in both directions, and were only allowing a few cars in at a time.  But, as soon as we pulled up to the intersection, they waved us right through.  In case you can't visualize what I'm saying-here's the route:

 

 

The purple line is the route we took- it really isn't a shortcut, but it allowed us to bypass all the stopped traffic on Buena Vista.  Those areas I circled in red were all bumper to bumper stopped traffic.

 

The parking lot itself wasn't that bad, nor was the entrance.  Those cops were holding people back unnecessarily. 

 

Later that night, we heard from Twin #2 that there were people tweeting about 2 hour bus rides, and even people being turned away.   I spoke to some guests while waiting in line for food later on, and one guy told me that his bus driver stopped and let everyone off his bus at the Swan, and they walked.  Another lady in line said she had been on the bus for an hour and a half.  It did take us about an hour to get from the Contemporary and on into the park, but we had to make two stops before we moved on.  Overall, we didn't have it anywhere near as bad as some of the horror stories I've heard.

 

We, somehow, had zipped right in.  After thinking about it, I believe we got the special shortcut permission because we were coming from the Deluxe resorts.

 

This is where we were at 8:17 pm:

 

 

Please take a moment and take that scene in.  Do you see the big hat there in the back?  There is a big screen hanging over the walkway closer to us, which they used to project what was going on up on the stage.  Over to the right, you can see the tip board there in the back.  Up there and to the right is the road you take back to Tower of Terror and Rock N Rollercoaster.  You see those people stopped in front of us?  It was wall to wall people from there all the way up to the hat.

 

I have never seen DHS that busy.

 

Not for Hyperspace Hoopla on a Star Wars Weekend.

 

Not for any of the old ESPN weekends.

 

Even the one where we saw Tim Tebow.

 

Never.

 

It was complete and total gridlock.

 

And remember, there were thousands of people behind us in cars and buses trying to get in.

 

Oh well, if Disney knows anything, it's how to manage a crowd, right?

 

Do you know how much information Disney released to the public about this event?

 

Not very much.

 

All they said is that the party would go from 8 to 1, and there would be character meet and greets and fireworks.  That's about it.

 

If they ever published a schedule, I never saw it.

 

Some of the many Disney blogs posted schedules, but Disney never did.

 

I had texted fellow Fiend Devores on the way over and asked him what he knew.  He knew the names of most of the characters that would be there for meet and greets.  Some of them are very rare.  So we decided that we would try to meet some of them.

 

We asked a CM where the meet and greets were.  She said, all around Echo Lake.

 

We asked for a schedule. 

 

They give out schedules at Star Wars weekends so you know what characters are where, and when they will be there.

 

They didn't have one the CM told us.

 

We headed to Echo Lake.

 

I got some bad news right off the bat.

 

The Dockside Diner had already closed for the night.

 

There goes the pretzel dog I was planning to eat.

 

Boo.

 

There were people standing in front of the Dockside Diner.  And there were people standing in front of them.  And a solid wall of people all around the lake.  I asked someone in line what this line was for.  They said for the character meet and greets.  Which one, I asked.  All of them, they said.  There were no CM's around to help.  Like sheep, people kept joining the line. 

 

I wanted to see where the line led, so I said to Twin #1, let's walk up to the front of the line and see what's there.

 

So, we walked all the way around the lake, and before we got to the Dinosaur, we was this backdrop:

 

 

OK, so this looks like a place where there will be a meet and greet.

 

But there were two more beyond this one.

 

Where were the lines for those meet and greet areas?

 

We still have yet to see a CM.

 

We walked up to the next backdrop.  There really didn't seem to be a line there- more of a mob.

 

Then we went to the third backdrop.  There was a CM there answering question after question from confused guests.  We stopped and listened.  We learned that there would only be six characters coming out to meet and greet, and they would use those three backdrops that we saw.  Two characters were assigned to each backdrop, and would rotate periodically.

 

Here's a map showing the situation I'm trying to describe:

 

 

The purple line indicates the line wrapping around Echo Lake.  The three ovals show the approximate locations of the meet and greet areas.  The yellow star is where we were talking to the CM.

 

The CM told us that at the first backdrop, Maleficent and Bowler Hat Guy would be meeting, and the second would be Jafar and Oogie Boogie, and at the third would be the Evil Queen and Shan Yu.  We were right near the third.

 

Where's the line, we asked the CM.  She pointed us over to a mob near the backdrop.  It turns out that there were supposed to be three separate lines, but nobody was there to tell the guests that, and all of those people lining up in the longest line over by the Dockside Diner were in line for the first meet and greet.

 

We went to where the CM told us, which meant that we were now ahead of all of these people:

 

 

Twin #1 got in line, and I went up to the backdrop to see what was up.  There was a photopass photographer and a CM there, and they said their information was that the characters would start coming out at 8:30.  Shan Yu was supposed to be first, and then they would trade out with the Evil Queen.  That is not a great set up.  The Evil Queen isn't anywhere near as rare as Shan Yu.  They do this rotation thing at some of the Star Wars Weekends meet and greets, and folks get upset about it. They might be waiting to meet Boba Fett and then Jango Fett comes out instead.  At SWW, the CM say you can't let others pass you in line- you have to meet who's there.   I asked the CM if that's what they were doing tonight, and she said she had no idea.  She was kind of new, and didn't know anything about the rule I tried to explain to her.

 

Well, 8:30 came and went.

 

People in the crowd grew antsy.

 

Then 9:00 came.

 

Still no characters.

 

That's a very poor show on Disney's part.

 

This party only was going to go from 8 to 1.  They should have had the meet and greets open at 8.

 

Finally, at 9:08, out comes the Evil Queen.  There was a groan from the crowd.  The majority of people in line did not want to meet her.  I was sitting right in front of her, and got her photo:

 

 

This whole time, I was texting back and forth with Twin #1- she was somewhere in this mob of people, and I thought it was better for me to just wait where I was until she got to me rather than go and try to find her:

 

 

The Evil Queen was out for a while.  Several guests came up to the CM and asked when Shan Yu would come out.  She said she didn't know. Finally, another guest came up, and asked her if they were "doing 30 minute sets."  The person asking the question was obviously a CM, and knew the lingo.  The CM on duty said yes.  What was so hard about that?  Sure enough, at 9:30, the Evil Queen left, and out came Shan Yu:

 

 

I really enjoyed my vantage point- seeing how guests reacted with Shan Yu:

 

 

As I watched the crowd- it was interesting to see that the majority by far were young people in their 20's.  Not families.  Not older folks.  Why would a bunch of 20-somethings pay big bucks to come to Disney World.  Then it dawned on me. They were all CM's.  There was no doubt about it.  We heard them talking to each other.  And saw them greeting and hugging CM's who were on duty.  At least half of this massive crowd was Disney World Castmembers.

 

Finally, Twin #1 made it to the front of the line, and she got to meet Shan Yu.  First, she took that selfie that we saw in the first post of this report.  Shan Yu played along with that, and the CM's thought it was funny.

 

Then, I jumped in for a photo:

 

 

That was fun.

 

Very time consuming and crazy but fun.

 

Next, we checked out the dance party.

 

It was a madhouse.

 

Tons of people, and a few obscure characters walking around, but trying not to stop.

 

Twin #1 got this close to Frollo:

 

 

And had a moment with Captain Hook:

 

 

 

The character that Twin #1 most wanted to meet was Meg from Hercules.  She was there, but she never got close to the crowd. These apparently were some friends of Meg, who had a private moment with her:

 

 

It was around 10 pm now.

 

I wanted to get something to eat.

 

I had hoped for a pretzel dog, but they weren't selling them tonight.

 

That was dumb.

 

They could have sold a lot.

 

So, I suggested we try the quick serve place next to Star Tours.

 

We have never eaten there.  I don't know why, but we never have.

 

So we went.

 

And this is what we found:

 

 

 

In case you can't make that out, that is a mob of people trying to order food.  At 10:15 pm.  It didn't help the situation that they only had a few of the registers open to take orders.

 

Good grief.

 

It would take at least 30 minutes just to have our order taken there.

 

And the fireworks were at 11.

 

That wouldn't work.

 

I suggested we cross the park and try the food stands on the way to Tower of Terror.  Maybe that part of the park would not be as busy.

 

On the way there I remembered something I wanted to try one day.  The macaroni and cheese hot dog from Fairfax Fare.  It's a hot dog.  With macaroni and cheese on top.  To make matters worse, then they throw some bacon bits on top.

 

So we went to Fairfax Fare.

 

It was busy, but not as crazy as the last place:

 

 

This is a shot to show how many people there were in this part of the park.  There were a lot:

 

 

How much do you think a macaroni and cheese hot dog is?

 

It's $8.59.  That's $9.15 with tax.  For a stupid hot dog.

 

Time for the chip trick.

 

The hot dog is served with chips.

 

If you tell them to hold the chips, the hot dog now only costs $6.59, or 7.02 with tax. 

 

For two hot dogs, the total price I paid was $14.04 vs. $18.30 just by skipping the chips.  That's $4.06 I saved.  Here's the blurry receipt in case you don't believe me:

 

 

While I was ordering and waiting for the food, Twin #1 was in charge of finding us a table, which was no easy task.  She found a six top round one, and agreed to share it with three female CM's who were off duty. Two of the girls were from Norway, and one was from China.  The girl from China did not speak much.  The girls from Norway were a treat. They had just started nine days earlier. They had never been outside of Norway before, and here they were.  Twin #1 and I had a great time talking to them.  They told us that school bread really is something that people eat in Norway.  They knew about the Frozen movie, but nothing about a meet and greet at the Norway pavilion, which is where they both worked.  Twin #1 talked to them about school and the college program, which she is very interested in.  They talked about the food at Disney and how much they disliked it.  They didn't like how unhealthy it was.  It made me a little self conscious as I was shoving that macaroni and cheese hot dog in my mouth.  I tried to be a good father and not embarrass Twin #1, so I said very little.  I also did not take a photo of our hot dogs, as I'm sure the girls from Norway would have thought that was weird.  Overall, though, that was a highlight of our night, and made Twin #1 more excited to participate in the college program, because she would get to meet and befriend people like this.

 

Even though we were enjoying our conversation, it was almost time for the fireworks, and we had to go and try to find a spot.  So we headed back to the mobs.

 

I have some fireworks photos and videos to share.  Let me say this:  the fireworks made up for the hassles and crowds we had to deal with all night.

 

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

The Anna bus is probably one that drives and drives and drives, and never stops.  Not even once.  It just goes and goes. 

 

I can't believe you haven't heard of Afro Circus.  Here is the song.  You can thank me later, when you can't get it out of your head. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBTdgqn4o7k

[Beckers 1,136]

I can't believe what a cluster $€ it sounds like the meet and greets were. It's not like Disney is new to this!

Who is Shamfu or whatever his name is?

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I can't believe what a cluster $€ it sounds like the meet and greets were. It's not like Disney is new to this!

Who is Shamfu or whatever his name is?

From Mulan

[Beckers 1,136]

From Mulan

TY. I haven't seen the whole thing.