Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

Disney's PhotoPass is great. You don't have to worry about taking pictures. They do it for you. Not only that, you also receive some professional pictures along with the ones of you.

So today after the Magic Kingdom closed was Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (Separate Pass).

Of course the Park is all decked out for the Holidays, and included with this special entry are fun things like a parade, fireworks, character greetings and of course, free cookies and hot cocoa. 

I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do and I missed out on some of the character greetings, but I was able to see the fireworks at a prime new location. If you stand behind Cinderella's Castle and near the Seven Dwarf Mine Ride, you can see the fireworks shoot off above Beast's Castle too. It was really cool.

And speaking of the Seven Dwarf Mine Ride, the wait times were outrageous during normal Park hours, but at the Party, it was only a 30-minute wait. It went pretty quickly, and the interactive queue helped distract people. Imagineering did a great job with that.

The new Fantasyland is looking sharp, and they did a fantastic job bringing the animated worlds to life. This was taken outside of the Voyage of The Little Mermaid by PhotoPass photographer, Timothy. I told him his name meant "perfect".

Some of the characters I did meet were Wendy and Peter Pan. For some reason, they asked a lot of questions about how I flew from Minneapolis to Orlando.

Overall, the Party was fun and it was a good night. If you haven't checked out Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, hoof on over to the Magic Kingdom for some fun times!

Hakuna Matata!

If you haven't seen a cheese ball in action, here's proof.

 

Need more proof?

 

Fortunately I'm not the only ham bone. Just about every trip to a Disney Park, I'm able to get a Cast Member to clown around with me. I guess that's a whole separate blog post.

 

And So It Begins

I am sooooo not ready for this!

Our first snow of the season, and it turns out to be a storm!

So this is a view of my first bus stop in the morning. It's coming down hard!

This is the same view the next day. Over the course of 24 hours, we had snow, sleet and freezing rain. Now the entire state is an ice rink. I'm not thrilled because that means we'll have a layer of ice until April.

PS: 'F' must stand for 'freezing'.

Look Who's In Town

Looks like the Empire even comes to the Midwest.

Toys Story

In 'Toy Story 2', toys are being kept by an avid collector. Can you image what takes place at night at the Minnesota History Center? Currently there's an exhibit entitled, 'Toys of the '50's, 60s and '70s' taking place until January, 2015. On display are popular toys that capture the craziness, the joy, and the sheer fun of being a kid. Or an adult who thinks he's a kid.

Our company at work is celebrating its 60th anniversary, so I had to plan an event that would tie into our anniversary. What better way to celebrate than to host a private event at the History Center and view this exhibit? It was nearly unanimous that everyone enjoyed the venue and event. Sometimes you can't please people with poopie diapers.

Needless to say I was in 7th Heaven. I found a bunch of toys I had as a kid, but I also found a few favorites as part of the exhibit. I doubt anyone would be surprised.

Obi-Off. Obi-On.

I have to share my birthday treat to myself. This is so cool!  It's a bust of Obi-Wan Kenobi made by Gentle Giant LTD. As you can see below, I received #908 out of 2000.

 

Here's the cool part: the bust lights up! I found this to be so unique, I had to have it, and so I bought it for myself as a birthday present.  Look!

Obi-Off.

 

Obi-On!

 

 

50 Nifty

Wow. 50 years. That's a long time, but I don't feel 50. I sure as heck don't act it.  But here it is. A half-century and I don't feel any different. Oh, I should go to the doctor to get a new prescription before surgery and that procedure...

Guess things have changed! The cheeks are getting chubbier!

 

My Kind of Chi-Town

Today I received an email from the Magnificent Mile. Usually this time of the year I head to Chicago on a business trip and stick around to watch the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival and Holiday parade. However, this year, for the first time in four years, I booked a vacation instead and will be heading some place warmer.

However, I still will miss being in Chicago. This picture that was in the email really sums up shopping in Chi-Town for me! The Water Tower, Disney Store, Ghirardelli, RL Restaurant, Su Casa, the list can go on and on.