TCD is Thankful for Thanksgiving at the Fort Trip Report

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

1. pro steak fries

2. pro putting funny (snarky) up on the board

3. pro TCD

4. anti putting life lessons on the board

5. neither pro nor anti gators.....

6. can't wait to see what you find at DHS

7. coming to suspect that I haven't given DHS a fair shake

[stefa70 205]

I too am thankful for red solo cups...even if I wasn't there to write it on the board.

I am also thankful for TCD...but I think we've established that LONG ago.

I'm looking forward to what you found at DHS. All I found was pushy, rude people.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Looks like a great Thanksgiving for the TCD family.

I'm thankful that you beat your malware virus. :)

It was a great Thanksgiving. And, I'm glad that virus is gone too!

1. pro steak fries

2. pro putting funny (snarky) up on the board

3. pro TCD

4. anti putting life lessons on the board

5. neither pro nor anti gators.....

6. can't wait to see what you find at DHS

7. coming to suspect that I haven't given DHS a fair shake

I agree with all of the above, except I am very pro Gators!

I too am thankful for red solo cups...even if I wasn't there to write it on the board.

I am also thankful for TCD...but I think we've established that LONG ago.

I'm looking forward to what you found at DHS. All I found was pushy, rude people.

Ah, thanks.

And, I'm thankful for S70.

And the rest of the Fiends.

We had a nice visit to DHS. No rude or pushy people at all (at least not until we showed up).

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I owe y'all another update, so here we go.

You can always count on TCD.

So, it's Thanksgiving night.

We hop the bus to Hollywood Studios.

That's right.

I'm tired of driving.

No problem at all.

In fact, I'm sure we got there faster by bus than we would have if I had driven.

Into Hollywood Studios we go.

We are there to see the Osborne lignts.

But Star Tours is on the way.

So we pop in there.

It really wasn't very busy at all.

Maybe a ten minute wait, and we are lined up and ready to load.

The castmember helping us was a young lady on the college program.

The girls struck up a conversation with her.

We asked her where she was from and if she had been able to eat some turkey today.

She was a really nice young lady, and it made me kind of sad to think that she was away from her family and working here on Thanksgiving night.

For some reason, there was a bit of delay before we loaded so we kept on talking.

We talked about the new features added to this attraction.

We talked, in particular, about how the rebel spy is chosen.

If you don't know what that is, let me take a moment to explain this to you. The way this attraction works is that about 40 guests are loaded into a ride capsule. This is a big simulator, and we are supposed to be passengers in a space craft. A film is then projecected on the screen in front, and the capsule moves in sink with the film. There are many different films that they show, and you never know which one you are going to see. There are actually different segments, and this can be combined differently. I don't know how many possible shows there are, but there are a lot. One thing that is constant though, is at the beginning of the ride, Darth Vader appears on the screen and confronts C3PO, who is piloting the ship, about a Rebel Spy who is onboard the ship. When this happens, a photo of the Rebel Spy is projected on the screen. It is a member of the audience.

TCD twin #2 has been the Rebel Spy twice. We were seated in different rows and seats in the capsule both of these times, so the Rebel Spy does not appear to be chosen by where he or she is seated.

We asked the castmember how he Rebel Spy is chosen. She said a computer choses the passenger randomly. But then we asked what if the seat was empty, and when the photo was taken, and a lot of other questions. We talked some more. We even talked about how I have been chosen multiple times to be That Guy at Monster's Inc Laugh Floor in the MK, and how twin #2 has been the Rebel Spy twice but twin #1 and I have never been. The castmember finally let us in on a little big secret- the castmember who loads the passengers for each trip actually pushes a button to take the photo and picks the Rebel Spy!

That may not seem like big news to you, but it is. Trust me.

So, after our chat, we get loaded in to our capsule.

Our new friend the castmember tells us to be sure to not put our 3D glasses on until we are told, and to face forward.

I took a little test photo, because I thought maybe I would get a photo of twin #1 being the Rebel Spy:

The ride begins, and Darth Vader shows up.

It was time to reveal who the Rebel Spy was on this journey.

The photo is shown.

I snap a quick picture:

I know you can't really see who that is, but it is not twin #1.

Or even twin #2.

Bummer.

Well, not really.

Because that is TCD!!!

TCD was the Rebel Spy!

Woo Hoo!

So, that castmember was telling us the truth.

Yoda himself came out and personally warned C3P0 to get me to my destination safely:

I don't know if you ever noticed, but in addition to being rather annoying, C3P0 is pretty dumb for a robot.

He almost crashed when he landed us, and then ran into another ship in the spaceship hanger. There is a really pissed alien in this photo:

So, there's that solved mystery for you.

We now know how the Rebel Spy is picked.

And perhaps with that knowledge, you too, can cozy up to a castmember and be the Rebel Spy.

As we exited our capsule, the castmember who let us in on that little secret was leading the next group in.

We thanked her for our fun trip, and wished her a Happy Thanksgiving.

Then it was off to the Osborne Lights!

On the way out of Star Tours we ran in to this castmember.

She was seriously trying to fool people into thinking that she was a statue:

The funny thing was how bad she was at this. She blinked like crazy, and really could not stand still. We kind of poked fun at her, and she cracked up. But, then she went back to trying to be a statue.

I hope this is the only time I see twin #1 behind bars, but I have my doubts about that one:

The Osborne lights are just around the corner from Star Tours, so here we are:

I have already shared photos from the Osborne lights from our visit earlier in the week, so I'll just add a few more here.

We all really liked the upgrade to this canopy. Of course, you can't tell how cool it was from these photos, but trust me, it was cool:

There are several informational signs posted around the displays. I don't remember these from previous years. This one tells us about the big Christmas tree:

This is the tree that the sign refers to. You can see from these photos that there are several layers of lights, and they can make the tree turn colors and have mulitiple different looks depending on what lights they light up:

The angels and giant globe you see in the back of this photo are some of my favorite elements of this show:

And, here's the last photo from Hollywood Studios- twin #2-

We were watching our time here, as we knew that the first Fantasmic show would be letting out soon.

So, we headed to the buses to beat that mob.

We kind of were a bit off with our timing, as we ended up in the middle of the mob heading out of the park.

That ended up being fine- at least we weren't behind the mob.

The bus transportation was very efficient here.

As soon as the line for Fort Wilderness got long, a bus pulled up.

We made that bus easily, and were on our way back to the Fort.

The plan from here was to do a little more looping, and then head to the Magic Kingdom.

That is where we ran into the unexpected pixie dust.

I'll have that story in my next post.

TCD

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

A fabulous T giving day with family and then the Osbourne lights!!! Awesome day!!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Great scoop on the Rebel Spy. I will never be chosen because I am ant-simulators.

More pixie dust? Yay, I can't wait to see what happens next!!

[stefa70 205]

Good for TCD being the Rebel Spy. I've always pegged you for a rebel...spy, not so much.

It is kind of a downer to post pics of the Osborne lights for fiends that haven't seen it in real life. It really is amazing, and pictures don't give you "that" feeling, like the real thing.

I highly doubt you will ever see Twin #1 behind bars!

She is too smart to get caught. I've heard that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

1. Thanks for the low down on ST. I can't ride that one. It makes me sick.

2. I will inform DH on how to become the rebel spy

3. When we went to see the lights it was SO busy (week before Christmas). I want to go back at a slower time. Still love them.

4. Nice to see an actual pic of TCD in his report

5. guessing we will be waiting until monday for the next installment?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

A fabulous T giving day with family and then the Osbourne lights!!! Awesome day!!

Fabulous so far, you mean.

Thanksgiving was great.

But it's not over yet.

We are heading to the MK next!

Great scoop on the Rebel Spy. I will never be chosen because I am ant-simulators.

More pixie dust? Yay, I can't wait to see what happens next!!

I am pretty much anti-simulators too.

But I think this one is so well done that it doesn't make me feel the least bit motion sick.

I think it's the 3D that helps.

And you won't have to wait long to find out what happens next.

I'm working on the next update now.

Good for TCD being the Rebel Spy. I've always pegged you for a rebel...spy, not so much.

It is kind of a downer to post pics of the Osborne lights for fiends that haven't seen it in real life. It really is amazing, and pictures don't give you "that" feeling, like the real thing.

I highly doubt you will ever see Twin #1 behind bars!

She is too smart to get caught. I've heard that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Yes, you are right, I definitely have some rebel in me. But, come to think of it, I like to spy too.

You are also right about the Osborne lights- even the professional photos I have seen of them don't do them justice. The music and the fake snow also add a lot and those elements don't translate through photos.

1. Thanks for the low down on ST. I can't ride that one. It makes me sick.

2. I will inform DH on how to become the rebel spy

3. When we went to see the lights it was SO busy (week before Christmas). I want to go back at a slower time. Still love them.

4. Nice to see an actual pic of TCD in his report

5. guessing we will be waiting until monday for the next installment?

You should give Star Tours a try with the new technology, maybe you won't get sick.

And you guessed wrong about the next update.

It will be up in just a little while!

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Fabulous so far, you mean.

Thanksgiving was great.

But it's not over yet.

We are heading to the MK next!

I am pretty much anti-simulators too.

But I think this one is so well done that it doesn't make me feel the least bit motion sick.

I think it's the 3D that helps.

And you won't have to wait long to find out what happens next.

I'm working on the next update now.

Yes, you are right, I definitely have some rebel in me. But, come to think of it, I like to spy too.

You are also right about the Osborne lights- even the professional photos I have seen of them don't do them justice. The music and the fake snow also add a lot and those elements don't translate through photos.

You should give Star Tours a try with the new technology, maybe you won't get sick.

And you guessed wrong about the next update.

It will be up in just a little while!

TCD

It's not the technology... I don't think. I've heard that with some people even the new 3d makes them sick. I don't want to take the chance as it would ruin everyone's day. Besides I can ride the tea cups and make others almost sick and most people with motion sickness can't ride those.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I thought that I would have this report finished this week.

But that's not going to happen.

I can get Thanksgiving night wrapped up though.

And some of you want to know about the surprise.

So, let's git 'er done!

The Fort was very subdued on Thanksgiving night.

But I was finally able to catch up with my friend Fiesty and have a chat with her.

She had us all in stitches, as usual.

She also told me that Donnie was on his way to the Fort and that they had cooked up a practical joke for him.

This was some joke too.

I guess Fiesty had made Donnie's reservation for him, and she also knew that his 5th wheel was out in the parking lot waiting for him to arrive. So, she had her husband take Donnie's trailer to his site and set it up. But she didn't tell Donnie that. She told him she didn't know his site number yet, and that he would need to call her when he got there so they could get it all straightened out. I think the plan was to have Donnie show up and think his trailer had been stolen. Fiesty doesn't play around when it comes to practical jokes. She also said that she turned the a/c in the trailer down so low that Donnie's "balls would be chattering." The twins thought that was pretty funny. I thought they had heard enough. So, we headed down to the marina and caught our boat.

Oh yeah, Fiesty also asked if I would be writing a trip report. And I told her of course. She has heard about TCD trip reports, but I'm not sure she has ever read one. She told me "make sure not to use the F-word." The girls asked what she meant by that, since she uses the F-word as a part of her normal vocabulary. They thought maybe there was some other F-word that we don't know about. I told them maybe there is. Is there?

Just so we are clear, I love Fiesty. I think she is hilarious. I'm just not sure I want my 16 year old daughters to learn from her.

From here, we headed to the marina and hopped our boat.

We headed to the MK.

It was open till midnight, and we intended to get our money's worth.

We have finished our Thanksgiving nights at the MK for the last few years.

We really love it.

We started over in Frontierland with Big Thunder Mountain, and then made our way to the Haunted Mansion. There wasn't a line at all, but we did have to wait outside the big doors for a little bit. Which was fine, because it gave me a chance to take a photo of the lady on this gravestone opening and closing her eyes:

We have a little joke about the Haunted Mansion in the TCD family. Twin #1 once asked me why Abraham Lincoln's portrait was in the Haunted Mansion. I told her this was news to me and asked her where it was. She said right in the first room. So, we call this picture Abraham Lincoln now, even though we know it isn't:

After the Haunted Mansion, we decided to head over to Fantasyland and see how the crowds were there.

They weren't bad.

The girls suggested that we ride Snow White's Scary Adventure, since it is supposed to be closing soon.

That was a good suggestion.

And that is what we did next.

This may have been our last look at Dopey:

We joined the dwarfs in waving goodbye to Ms. White and Prince Charming:

Then it was on to Tommorowland.

We did Laugh Floor.

I thought for sure I would be That Guy again.

Sure enough, as we sat in the audience, a spot light hit me and I looked up on the screed to pretend to be surprised.

But the light was shining on this giant bald man seated right behind me.

He got to be That Guy!

I have to admit he was a better choice than I would have been.

If I was picking, I would have picked him too.

From there it was Buzz, then the Peoplemover, and then Space Mountain.

It was around 11:30 when we entered Space Mountain, I figured that would be our last ride.

And I was fine with that, we had definitely gotten our money's worth.

I'll be darned if we didn't get caught totally off guard by that secret camera:

Do you see what twin #1 is doing there?

What the heck is that?

That's what I wanted to know.

So I asked her.

She said she was making a turkey with her hands.

You know, because it was Thanksgiving.

Have you ever seen such a thing?

Me neither.

I don't know where that girl comes up with some of these things.

Public school is my best guess.

As luck would have it, it was about 11:58 according to my watch as we exited Space Mountain.

There were a few guests hurrying back into line.

And we could have done that too, but we didn't bother.

We had already had plenty of fun.

So that was our last ride of the night.

Or was it?

Remember that magic I told you about.

We were about to find it.

We headed out of Tommorowland over the bridge toward the hub in front of the castle.

As we got there, a double decker bus was driving up:

If you read my Halloween trip report, you might remember that we got a surprise ride in an old fashion Jitney car on Halloween.

Now here we were on Thanksgiving, and a double decker bus was heading our way.

But it was after midnight now.

We weren't going to get to ride.

Wrong!

The bus pulled right up to us:

And the driver motioned us on!

We asked if we could go up top.

And he said of course!

So up we went:

And there we were on Thanksgiving night 2011 on the top deck of a double decker bus right in front of the castle:

I've said it before, but I'll say it again:

It is good to be TCD!

After we were loaded, a few more folks joined us, and we were off to travel around the hub and down Main Street.

People in the hub stared up at us in disbelief:

Here we are leaving the castle behind:

It was cool looking down at people. Even that red headed hippie there liked the bus:

Look, there's a castmember pushing an empty wheelchair. From the ground, that would be boring, but from up here, it looks cool:

It was dark, and we were moving, so it wasn't really possible to take clear photos of what we saw heading down Main Street.

You will just have to take my word for it that it was cool passing right under the garland and wreaths stretched across the street:

Even though it's blurry, I kind of like this photo because of the kid in the mouse ears looking out. Also note the clock shows it was 12:10 am:

And, here's another look at the clock:

The bus driver took us right to the front of the park:

There's the TCD twins up there on the top deck:

I really don't know much about this bus. Was it around when the MK first opened? I haven't seen it around here lately, that is for sure. I wonder why the names of all 5 lands are up there on that sign? Did this bus take people around to those lands at some point?:

So we all thought that was pretty cool.

Totally unexpected.

And cool.

You would think that was enough pixie dust for one day.

But it wasn't.

We got just a little bit more on our way out of the gates.

We got something for free.

At Disney.

You can't say that very many times in your life.

But, as we were leaving, there were castmembers passing out this little free gift:

It's a program for the Chrismas shows to be shown on the ABC Family Cable Station:

But that's not all!

There was a free car air freshener in each program:

Cool!

Something free at Disney.

Not much.

But something.

And with that, we boarded our boat and headed back to the good old Fort.

It had been a great Thansgiving.

But guess what?

It still isn't over.

We still had some late night looping to do.

And guess what?

Even though it was 1 am, I ran into a Fiend who was also still up.

I'll pick up with that little story in my next update.

And that one is probably not going to be up until Monday.

But, you never know.

It seems like I'm full of surprises lately.

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

1. Love the pictures of the TCD Twins on the bus with the castle in the background.

2. Where is that pesky camera on space mountain? I wanna know because I am riding it next time!

3. You know all those people watching you get driven by were just jealous... because they were tired and their feet hurt and they wanted to ride the bus.

4. I want to know how feisty's prank turned out.

5. My daughter and I will miss Snow White's Scary Adventure. We always rode it while the boys did iasw.

6. It is unlikely I will get to see or do any updates after tonight. Going to one of those places were my internet will be limited. Due to the pictures in TRs I have to be careful when only down to one mifi.

[stefa70 205]

I can translate some Judy for you.

The other "F" word she meant was "Fiesty" We heard it all weekend! That, along with: "Don't you be posting those pics on Faht Fiends!"

(not a misspelling, that's how she sounds )

She must have been yanking your chain about the joke on Donnie...she knows he doesn't have balls! :rofl2:

Cool bus ride AND free air freshener. I think I'm going to the park with you next time.

I guess I will have to wait for Mondays post, unless....

I LOVE surprises!! Hint, hint

[DaveInTN 3,247]

So apparently they randomly pick an old clueless guy to be the Rebel spy, too?

I never knew.

And VERY COOL about the double decker bus. I've never seen that thing out and about in the MK. Pretty neat to have ridden it, and been upstairs while going up Main St. Sounds like a great way to end your evening!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

1. Love the pictures of the TCD Twins on the bus with the castle in the background.

2. Where is that pesky camera on space mountain? I wanna know because I am riding it next time!

3. You know all those people watching you get driven by were just jealous... because they were tired and their feet hurt and they wanted to ride the bus.

4. I want to know how feisty's prank turned out.

5. My daughter and I will miss Snow White's Scary Adventure. We always rode it while the boys did iasw.

6. It is unlikely I will get to see or do any updates after tonight. Going to one of those places were my internet will be limited. Due to the pictures in TRs I have to be careful when only down to one mifi.

I'll be darned if I know where that camera is, I'm so old and clueless I don't even remember there is a camera. Heck, a lot of times I think I'm riding on the bus and yell at the driver to slow down!

I can translate some Judy for you.

The other "F" word she meant was "Fiesty" We heard it all weekend! That, along with: "Don't you be posting those pics on Faht Fiends!"

(not a misspelling, that's how she sounds )

She must have been yanking your chain about the joke on Donnie...she knows he doesn't have balls! :rofl2:

Cool bus ride AND free air freshener. I think I'm going to the park with you next time.

I guess I will have to wait for Mondays post, unless....

I LOVE surprises!! Hint, hint

That actually is what one of the twins thought she meant.

That she didn't want me to say anything about her on ff.net.

Yeah, like that kind of thing will work with me.

So apparently they randomly pick an old clueless guy to be the Rebel spy, too?

I never knew.

And VERY COOL about the double decker bus. I've never seen that thing out and about in the MK. Pretty neat to have ridden it, and been upstairs while going up Main St. Sounds like a great way to end your evening!

I'm confused.

What does an old clueless guy have to do with me?

LOL!

Yes, that bus ride was the cherry on top of our perfect Thanksgiving Day!

TCD

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

What a great day!

[Heidi-meetsTCD@TSM 5]

TCD,

Man, you guys can sure pack A LOT into one day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sounds like you had the most PERFECT Thanksgiving Day from start to finish!!!

Thats quite a crowd that gathered for your family Thanksgiving dinner!!!! How many turkeys does it take to feed everybody?

So glad you got to ride on the double decker bus, what an awesome way to end the day!

Heidi

[kampfirekim 260]

All caught up and looking forward to what Monday's update has in store!

Yay for you and the twins getting to ride the double decker bus!

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

Mrs TCD has a large, gorgeous family! I love big family dinners! Judy is sooo funny! I too want to know more about the prank!

The double decker bus looked cool! It's nice to know that even after all your trips to the parks that there is still things that you haven't seen or done! Love that pixie dust!

[lucy_love 1]

oh yes, TCD twins picked up the turkey in the public school system :) The new way to greet each other is to turkey, squirrel, jelly fish, moose, stick shift, rocket, hand hug, etc. each other

Personally I liked using the "hand hug" because as a high school teacher I don't want some 17 year old boy hugging me (even the one-arm-side-hug thing I was not a fan of as I was instructed to do). The last thing I need is pictures ending up on Fox 13! Yes, I was taught how to properly hug a student haha.

on another note, I love the Anna story from the other TR. You two kind of have a cross-over report going on :) I got teared up as well! I hope one day to hitch a ride on the double decker bus, I have never even seen that! I also have not seen the new castle show. We are trying to sneak a quick trip in at the end of the month.

[rdancemom... Pam 113]

I loved the family picture of Mrs TCD's family too. That looks like a Thanksgiving gathering definitely worth driving for. Do you think they'd adopt me?

It must be good to be TCD even at home.

LOL - I was there for a later part of Judy's prank but DD10 got tired so we didn't hang around for the very end. Wish we would have. We were there when Donnie called and Ritchie was in bed with Judy though. Too funny... :rofl2:

[Gots2pitt.. Jeff 64]

I'll be darned if we didn't get caught totally off guard by that secret camera:

Do you see what twin #1 is doing there?

What the heck is that?

That is the polite way of flipping someone the bird.

[Lou... 3,118]

I think this shot says a lot.

[Brent... Just Brent 83]

Great update! Looks like you had a long, but great day. Nights filled with pixie dust are the reason I keep going back. Looking forward to hearing more!

[YodaGirl 13]

Great updates!!

Ya, I liked it too, 30 years ago.

I was only 5 then..

Hmm...30 years ago...

I was 6 months old. :D