TCD's Halloween 2011 Trip Report

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Thank you for your patience.

Here is the next update as promised!

We left off with our pumpkin carving activity.

We went ahead and ate lunch at our site, and the girls headed off to the showers.

I know that we had some visitors that morning/afternoon, including Stef and Trevor.

Our plan was to head over to the MK for a bit- as we figured all the rain coupled with the fact that there was a MNSSHP that night would make for light crowds.

We left later than I had planned, but that was fine. We knew we couldn't stay long, because we wanted to be back for the golf cart parade at 6.

We scored the very first parking space at the marina. I don't know why that matters to me, but it does. I like having that first parking space! Here we are looking back toward the Settlement. It turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day. Look at that blue sky and sunshine!:

The bright sun made the water of Bay Lake shimmer. This photo does not do the beauty of the scene justice, but you get the idea:

When we boarded, I thought that we would be the only passengers on the boat, and we almost were. Just a couple more people boarded before we cast off. We sat out back:

We went by the Shoe Tree again, so I just had to take a photo:

You can see that there are plenty of shoes as well as the tetherball that CKCK first spotted toward the bottom right of this photo:

The flag was flapping so nicely in the breeze that I had to take a photo of it as well:

You may not be able to see them very well in this photo, but there are two gas grills sitting in the little clearing to the left of the castmember boat dock in this photo. I think castmembers have parties here along Bay Lake. It's a great location:

In fact, it's such a great location that it is rumored a DVC resort will one day be built right there.

Here's some more shimmering water:

I should have mentioned that we had two primary objectives to accomplish at the MK. We always have a few things planned before we visit a park- it helps to avoid arguments and wasting time wandering around choosing what you want to do. Our objectives today were to look for guests in intersting Halloween costumes and also to find ourselves a soft pretzel shaped like Mickey's head. We heard that they had these pretzles at a cart in Frontierland and we aimed to find one.

Our first objective was achieved before we even entered the park. Check out this very tan Fred Flintstone up there on the top deck of the MK ferry:

And we saw this group walking up as we approached the gates:

They always do a nice job decorating the MK for Halloween:

Here we are just entering the park- look at all the decorations!:

This is where we had our little dose of pixie dust.

There was an old car parked right in front of the train station. I'm not sure if we had ever seen that particular one before, but I'm sure you have seen some of the old cars that they sometimes have driving up an down Main Street. It was one of those. There was a castmember standing there with the car. We stopped for just a moment to look at it, and he asked us if we would like a ride. "To where?," the girls asked. He told us he could give us a ride to the castle. We said sure, and he said hop on. So we did.

Here we go!:

This may sound kind of dumb to you, but it was really cool to us. None of us had ever ridden in one of these cars.

As we drove by, these castmembers made a fuss, and clowned around like they were hitch-hiking:

Regular park guests stopped and stared like we were VIP's or something:

This guy in the kilt and kneesocks didn't know what to think of us. Which made us even, because we didn't know what to think of him:

Hey look! It's two Asian Stitches!!!:

We got to enjoy the backsides of the Dapper Dans:

We were all enjoying this a lot more than I ever would have thought:

Here we are looking back down Main Street. We were being followed by what appears to be a blue Incredible Hulk:

There's Casey's Corner right there:

This next guy (or is it a girl?) kind of scared us all- first take a look at this photo, then we'll talk about it:

OK- so What The Fort is that? A dude in a suit with a squirrel tail? What is that? And he/she gave us an angry glare and followed us. I think he/she wanted to hop on the car with us. Thankfully our driver did not slow, and we kept on going. This was all good, because we came here to see interesting costumes, and this one certainly was that.

Our driver pulled right in front of the castle, and let us off. Here he is with the TCD twins:

And, he let the girls pose on the car:

So, how do you like that?

It was just a little thing.

But, it made me smile!

From here, we headed over to Frontierland to see about those pretzels.

On our way, we saw the Incredible family:

All I can say is way to go Mr. I!

Boy, were we having some fun!

The girls found the pretzel cart. There was a line, and it was in the sun. They said they didn't mind waiting, so I went over to the side so I could stand in the shade. A bird landed on the roof of a nearby building, and I thought I could take a neat photo of it. Here it is:

That's the Hall of Presidents over there in the background- look at how blue the sky is! If you didn't know better, you would never guess how this day had begun.

As predicted, the park was very uncrowded:

It was cool to see the big riverboat cruise by from this perspective. Bonus points if you can spot the twins in line:

After just a few minutes, the girls arrived with their pretzels. One got an unsalted one. I told you that they have different personalities!:

In just this short visit, we had now accomplished what we set out to do. It was getting near 4 o'clock now, which is when MNSSHP guests can enter the park with their party tickets. We decided to head over to Main Street to watch the party guests arrive. You will see what we saw in my next post.

TCD

p.s. - here's a head's up to you that are following this report very closely- I probably will not be able to post another update today. No complaining. This is a good one. And, I'll make it up to you by trying to post two tomorrow.

[kampfirekim 260]

I've never ridden in a old timey car on Main Street either. And I've been going to WDW since I was 4. That's a long time. We'll definitely have to correct this oversight.

Great update! Looking forward to the next 2... tomorrow. ;D

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Another great update, Andrew. I have ridden one tho Old Time Cars down Main Street. I was during our first family visit in 1988 and has not been repeated since. Congratulations on scoring a ride.

Now I want a Mickey shaped pretzel, with or without salt. :)

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

Obviously Mrs. Incredible is not so incredible at doing laundry...Poor Mr. Incredible's pants look like they shrunk. Or else Edna Mode was making them for Urkel!

Truly another great report! Looking forward to more!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

1. love the halloween decor pictures (we've never been at that time of year)

2. Love the pics of the TCD twins together. You can really see the differences.

3. Once again... pretzels...hungry!

4. No complaining... just a pleasant anticipation (Stef no extra fun for us today)

5. You answered a question about the cars. I always thought people paid for the privilege of riding in those.

6. guy at the corner looks really befuddled

7. patiently waiting to see all the costumes....

[stefa70 205]

Regular park guests stopped and stared like we were VIP's or something:

You guys are VIP's, IMO :heart:

[we3peas 12]

I thought that I would surely be the first to post some photos of something interesting we saw there, but I'll be darned if We3Peas didn't beat me to the punch! Amazing.

But in case you didn't see her photos, let me share with you how they do things over at the Wilderness Lodge. They don't decorate pumpkins. Or golf carts. Or dress their pets in costumes. In fact, they can't even have pets there. Mummy wrap? Are you kidding? I feel sorry for those poor people who stay there. It's not that they don't try to have fun. They just don't know how. For example, look at the type of thing they do over there . . .

They apparently had a contest to see who could make the best hat out of trash. This was on display in the quick serve restaurant's eating area:

TCD

I think that was the night I didn't sleep because I've heard you have to get up pretty early to scoop TCD! Glad I beat you to something, I didn't think it was possible (probably be the last time though...)

[shoreline99 137]

Great trip report, as always!

[rdancemom... Pam 113]

wow... I'm just catching up now and can't wait to see more. Guess work and laundry will just to wait... and as for dinner? Let em eat cake leftover Halloween candy! :rofl2:

Great job as usual Andrew. Thanks!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Guess work and laundry will just to wait...

please don't mention the laundry... the laundry is stacking up and i'm waiting for a place with a better laundromatt...the last one was SCARY!!

[Total Joker ... TJ 203]

TCD I always enjoy the perspective you bring to your trip reports.

Yes, I'd like some fresh, clear, well seasoned, perspective.....Can you suggest a good wine to go with that?

[caveat lector 181]

Yahoo! My plan is working out perfectly. I targeted page 12 of a TCD report to get in my post, and it worked. Um....OK.....not really, but I'm just trying to save face. On to more serious matters. Sorry for the wide span of comments, but I'm just trying to get caught up. Coming in to a TCD TR is not unlike trying to eat the whole breakfast buffet from the Sizzler (you pictured earlier).

- I initially thought that you might being trying to win your own self awarded TCDRMoG. At first glance of the picture with Nicholas playing in the puddle, it looked like you had devised a way to set your trailer hitch on a pumpkin. That is really getting into the spirit of things I thought to myself. Btw, some might say you had a large puddle in front of your lot, I prefer to think that you were upgraded to a lakefront lot. YIKES!

- The mummy wrap thing. Somebody is putting out an effort with very little budget to work with. I'll leave it at that.

- I hope my kids continue to enjoy Disney as much as yours. It's almost like you've entered the bonus round of family fun time.

- It was kind of Rocky to defer the costume competition this year. He's obviously allowing others to enjoy the glory he has already attained.

- I am pro Mickey Head shaped preztal. I will take salted or un-salted, that's how "I" roll.

- The car ride to the Castle. I will not have you dismiss that as a "small" thing. That is freakin' cool. My kids would die for that kind of attention. Although, like you, I would have to question the attention of the Man/Woman/Racoon thing in the suit. :)

That's all for now. I need to hit the mental treadmill to work off the TCD TR buffet.

[Total Joker ... TJ 203]

Fox news reporter??

:rofl2:

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Fox news reporter?? :rofl2:

That's funnnnnyyy!

I am pro Mickey Head shaped preztal. I will take salted or un-salted, that's how "I" roll.

I am pro Mickey preztal too...but do they have an nacho cheese to go along with it.....

[rdancemom... Pam 113]

This next guy (or is it a girl?) kind of scared us all- first take a look at this photo, then we'll talk about it:

OK- so What The Fort is that? A dude in a suit with a squirrel tail? What is that? And he/she gave us an angry glare and followed us. I think he/she wanted to hop on the car with us. Thankfully our driver did not slow, and we kept on going. This was all good, because we came here to see interesting costumes, and this one certainly was that.

That's definitely a cosplayer but I have no clue which anime character he's supposed to be. Starla looked too and said she knows it but can't think of the name either right now. Oh well... kids, whatcha gonna do?

Lacking a definitive Japanese anime character name at the moment, let's err on the side of us good old Americans and just assume he's the big bad wolf...

[Pirate Jeff 9]

Thanks for the recipe I'll try it next week

[homebrew 14]

Great TR Andrew....Just a little bit of info for ya'll. That car you rode in is called a Jitney, an old term for a shared taxi.

As you're leaving the MK on the left side of the Main Street Station, you'll see a sign that says "Jitney stop". Back in the day several of these ran all day.

In addition there were also the horse drawn trollies, double deck busses, and occasionally the old time fire truck for guests to ride up main street.

My next door neighbor, when I'm in Fla, used to work at the MK and told me that they would get them out every now and then.

I do remember one of the trolley drivers telling us that the horses that pulled them were a cross bred stock. They used a Clydesdale-Pony cross that had the look of the full sized draft animal, just scaled down in keeping with the rest of the park.

I can't remember the scale he told us was used, but if you'll pay close attention, even the brick used in the buildings are a smaller size to further the illusion.

It certainly works because I couldn't possibly remember the amount of times folks have plopped down next me and said "I'll bet I've walked 10 miles today"

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

Disneyland had all four of those also, and they ran every day. I'm not sure what they do now. I've had the chance to ride all of them. They don't save much walking, but after a long day in the MK, it sure was nice to catch one up by the castle and get dropped of near the train station ...

[Discamper 394]

I remember when the cars and other vehicles ran up and down Main Street all day. It also it was a nice little ride to people watch. I bet now with all the liability of people walking in front of them Disney now limited now to the slow times in the parks. The horses used are Belgians and Percherons. Mostly Belgians for the main street horse drawn Streetcars and all Percherons for the calliope team. Do the still put the rubber strips in the tracks to keep people from twisting their ankles.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

You guys are VIP's, IMO :heart:

Well, thanks, Stef.

And right back at ya! (IMHO).

I think that was the night I didn't sleep because I've heard you have to get up pretty early to scoop TCD! Glad I beat you to something, I didn't think it was possible (probably be the last time though...)

Actually, you have scooped me on other things, too.

And that's good.

The more folks posting the better.

IMHO.

Great trip report, as always!

Thanks for reading.

And commenting.

(I was going to say IMHO, but I think that joke is getting old).

wow... I'm just catching up now and can't wait to see more. Guess work and laundry will just to wait... and as for dinner? Let em eat cake leftover Halloween candy! :rofl2: Great job as usual Andrew. Thanks!

Thanks, Pam.

We still have a quite a bit of Halloween candy to contend with as well.

Yes, I'd like some fresh, clear, well seasoned, perspective.....Can you suggest a good wine to go with that?

Wow- That is a pretty obscure quote.

Good job!

Yahoo! My plan is working out perfectly. I targeted page 12 of a TCD report to get in my post, and it worked.

Very funny.

And great comments!

You put a lot of thought in to them!

Fox news reporter?? :rofl2:

Another good one, TJ!

You are on fire!

That's definitely a cosplayer but I have no clue which anime character he's supposed to be. Starla looked too and said she knows it but can't think of the name either right now. Oh well... kids, whatcha gonna do? Lacking a definitive Japanese anime character name at the moment, let's err on the side of us good old Americans and just assume he's the big bad wolf...

I have no idea what you are talking about- cosplayer? What The Fort is that? My DD's told me that there are kids who show up at their school wearing fake fox tails and such nonsense. This makes me feel officially old because I am clearly very far out of touch with what young people are getting themselves into these days.

Thanks for the recipe I'll try it next week

I hope you do.

Please let me know how it turns out!

Great TR Andrew....Just a little bit of info for ya'll. That car you rode in is called a Jitney, an old term for a shared taxi. As you're leaving the MK on the left side of the Main Street Station, you'll see a sign that says "Jitney stop". Back in the day several of these ran all day. In addition there were also the horse drawn trollies, double deck busses, and occasionally the old time fire truck for guests to ride up main street. My next door neighbor, when I'm in Fla, used to work at the MK and told me that they would get them out every now and then. I do remember one of the trolley drivers telling us that the horses that pulled them were a cross bred stock. They used a Clydesdale-Pony cross that had the look of the full sized draft animal, just scaled down in keeping with the rest of the park. I can't remember the scale he told us was used, but if you'll pay close attention, even the brick used in the buildings are a smaller size to further the illusion. It certainly works because I couldn't possibly remember the amount of times folks have plopped down next me and said "I'll bet I've walked 10 miles today"

Thanks for the info, Denny.

In my memory, they used to have a fleet of these vehicles at the MK back in the day of A-E tickets, and it cost you an A ticket to ride one.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Disneyland had all four of those also, and they ran every day. I'm not sure what they do now. I've had the chance to ride all of them. They don't save much walking, but after a long day in the MK, it sure was nice to catch one up by the castle and get dropped of near the train station ...

We typically visit MK in the afternoon or later, and I don't recall seeing many of these old-timey vehicles at the MK of late.

I agree with you- its a very short amount of walking that you save, but it feels like you are getting a real break by riding the length of Main Street.

I remember when the cars and other vehicles ran up and down Main Street all day. It also it was a nice little ride to people watch. I bet now with all the liability of people walking in front of them Disney now limited now to the slow times in the parks. The horses used are Belgians and Percherons. Mostly Belgians for the main street horse drawn Streetcars and all Percherons for the calliope team. Do the still put the rubber strips in the tracks to keep people from twisting their ankles.

I don't think they bother covering the tracks any more, and it is a real pain for anyone trying to push a stroller, and I would imagine for folks in wheelchairs and ECV's as well.

TCD

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

I don't think they bother covering the tracks any more, and it is a real pain for anyone trying to push a stroller, and I would imagine for folks in wheelchairs and ECV's as well.

TCD

We're proof of that!! One one of our first ECV trips, Rick got the scooter tire caught in the tracks!!!!

[Discamper 394]

I don't think they bother covering the tracks any more, and it is a real pain for anyone trying to push a stroller, and I would imagine for folks in wheelchairs and ECV's as well.

TCD

You would think the would do it even more now then they are not using the tracks to my it easer on everyone like Carol's Rick and to cut down on law suits and don't forget the super smart people walking around in high heels

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

You would think the would do it even more now then they are not using the tracks to my it easer on everyone like Carol's Rick and to cut down on law suits

I think that they still use the tracks- maybe daily- early in the morning.

I agree, though, they used to have castmembers cover them up with rubber strips, and it is strange to me that they stopped doing this.

TCD

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

I think that they still use the tracks- maybe daily- early in the morning.

I agree, though, they used to have castmembers cover them up with rubber strips, and it is strange to me that they stopped doing this.

TCD

Halloween morning at MK ...

and the all important

and the Jitney was running too

The sign is still up for the Fire Truck (and the others)