Downtown Disney's version of Black Friday

I survived! :)

Leaving a little later than we planned, my Disney-Sis & I left about 4am to head up to Disney's version of Black Friday. Arriving just before 5:30am, the line was crazy! The line wrapped around the building! Standing in line across from Arribas & Basin, we waited patiently. A CM walked around the line about 6am, announcing that wristbands would be given out to the 1st 1000 in line. Once they ran out, that was it. At about 6:15, I got my wristband! YAY!!

At 6:30, they did promptly open the doors, but we did not get inside until close to 6:45. That was when we saw the true length of the line. The line was still wrapping around the building as we went in the doors. CMs were so nice..handing out shopping baskets/bags as we entered the store.

We ran all over the store to see what the door-buster sales were. There were quite a few...PotC figurines, Disney pj's, stuffed animals, clocks, watches..there were deals in every room. CM's were right on top of things...keeping doorbusters organized..helping people find things...even making sure that we knew exactly what was on sale! Most organized of all was the free giveaway line!

Believe it or not, this was the most organized give-away I have seen. The free give-away was stationed at The Bippity Boppity Boutique. A line was snaked around the room. As you approached the Boutique, a CM cut the wristband off your arm & another CM handed you a Vinylmation Doll. And that was it! Very organized & quickly done. Kudos, WoD on that one!!

The lines & the crowds were another story. I think we shopped an extra hour just so we didn't have to stand in the monstrous lines. In walking around that extra hour, we did spy Santa Goofy & WDW Moms Panel Mom, Erin Foster (@MomsPanelErin).

All in all, the experience was good. Would definately do it again. As a matter of fact, Disney did add an additional 2 more Saturdays of Passholder & DVC Members Appreciation Days (12/12 & 12/19) from 8-10 am. This time, the sales have been extended to other stores in DtD...Once Upon A Toy, Disney's Pin Traders, Team Mickey, Tren-D, Disney Days of Christmas, Pooh's Corner, Mickey's Mart & Goofy's Candy Company. The flier announces up to 50% off select merchandise, special doorbusters, surprise markdowns, purchase with purchase offers. A complimentary gift to the first 1,000 at World of Disney will be held again on both Saturdays. You do have to have a Gov't issued ID along with your pass in order to enter the store & shop (they do check them!)

Anyhow, looks like I will be heading to bed early again the next couple Fridays! If you happen to go to the sale, look for me in line or in the store & say hi!

Maria Elkin is one of the fabulous members of the Disney Dream Depot . You can also follow her on twitter @heavensent30

Twitter Poll #3: Best Spots to Relax

For some people, a WDW vacation is all about touring the parks until they drop.  Most Disney fans, though, realize that the beauty of the world's vacation kingdom is in the details.  The more you slow down and enjoy the quiet moments, the better your time in the World will be.  WDW Twourists understand and they've shared their favourite spots to relax with us.

We asked:

What is your favourite spot to relax in WDW?

And the winner is,

with 17.5% of the vote . . .

Resort Beaches

(especially the Polynesian Resort Beach) 

@BeOurGuestMike said:  "Definitely the beach at The Poly!!"

 

Number 2, with 12.5% of the vote . . .

 

Tomorrowland Transit Authority 

@duckyislost said:  "The peoplemover, it's like a moving park bench."

And number 3, with 10% of the vote . . .

Chairs

(including loungers at water parks and 

various rocking chairs around the Magic Kingdom) 

@MarkerMouse said:  "Favorite spot to relax-Rocking chairs at Aunt Polly's on Tom Sawyer Island, I could sit there all day."

Honorable mentions to the following relaxing spots, each with 7.5% of the vote:

Around Cinderella's Castle

Epcot's World Showcase

Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

Resort Pools & Hot Tubs 

 Wilderness Lodge

Didn't get a chance to enter the poll?  Leave your response to the question below in the comments.  

We'd love to hear from you!

Win with Mickey!

This is a list of WDW-related contests that you might be interested in entering.  If you win, be sure to let us know...and share your prize with us, of course!  :o)

Celebrate the Magic Sweepstakes


Prize: Disney Parks Vacation Package
Company: Pier 1 Imports
Open to:  U.S. Residents Only


How often can I enter?  unknown
Ends:  November 30, 2009
Other Details: By entering, you are automatically put on the company's mailing list.


Disney Princess Contest

Prize: Disney Princesses Prize Pack (jewelry, makeup, games, craft supplies, bedding, doll, etc.)
Company:  Playhouse Disney Canada
Open to:  Canadian Residents Only Excluding Quebec
How often can I enter?  Daily
Ends:  November 30, 2009 at 5 pm
Other Details:  Required to play an online matching game to enter.

Save, Play & Celebrate Sweepstakes

Prize:  Walt Disney World Vacation Package
Company:  Georgia Pacific
Open to: U.S. Residents Only

How often can I enter?  Daily
Ends:  November 30, 2009
Other Details:  None

Walt Disney Signature Margarita Glasses Sweepstakes

Prize:  Set of 6 Glasses from Zak Designs featuring Bambi and Sleeping Beauty
Company:  Pointclickhome.Com
Open to:  U.S. Residents Only
How often can I enter?  Daily
Ends:  December 7, 2009 at noon
Other Details:  None

Playhouse Disney Live Contest

Prize: Tickets to see Playhouse Disney Live in one of several Canadian cities
Company:  Playhouse Disney Canada
Open to:  Canadian Residents Only Excluding Quebec

How often can I enter?  Daily
Ends:  December 27, 2009
Other Details:  Required to tell them your favourite Playhouse Disney character to enter.

Celebrate in Comfort Sweepstakes

Prize:  Walt Disney World Vacation for 20 People
Company:  Hanes
Open to:  Canadian Residents Only
How Often Can I Enter?  Daily
Ends:  January 7, 2010

Other Details:  Secondary prizes can also be won. 

Tyra Banks has officially befriended Princess Tiana, who makes her silver screen debut Thanksgiving week in Disney's latest animated film, The Princess and the Frog.

Supermodel and Emmy Award-winning talk show host Tyra Banks made three little girls' dreams come true this week with a free trip to Walt Disney World, where Banks joined the little princesses and Princess Tiana for a royal tea party, according to the official Disney Parks Blog.

Banks will feature her visit to Disney World on The Tyra Show on Wednesday, November 25, the same day The Princess and the Frog opens at select theatres across the United States. The show will run a second time on December 11, the date the film opens nationwide.

Disney World and Disneyland have released a new line of Princess Tiana merchandise, including the Tiana gown featured in the photo at top left (photo (c) 2009 Disney Media), Tiana wigs and tiaras, princess handbags, shoes, and more. More information on Disney's new Princess Tiana merchandise is available here.

Peggy Macdonald is a WDW Twourist who writes about Disney daily for Examiner.com.

Tiny Twourists - Favorite Rides/Shows for preschoolers

What are the can't miss rides/shows for your Tiny Twourists?

My daughter will be 4 in January. Her first trip to Walt Disney World was at 18 months old. At 23 months, we visited Disneyland. We returned to Walt Disney World 2 months before her third birthday (for Halloween) and 2 months after her third birthday.

Currently, my daughter's park preference is Magic Kingdom, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Disney's Animal Kingdom.

At Magic Kingdom, her favorite rides are: "it's a small world" and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. At 18 months, Cinderella's Golden Carousel was her favorite. She asked to go on it repeatedly. She also enjoys Dumbo, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Peter Pan's Flight, Jungle Cruise, Mad Tea Party, and Tomorrowland Speedway (also known as Speed Racer to my daughter), and the Walt Disney World Railway. We have taken her on Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and Tomorrowland Transit Authority which she will ride, but all have parts that she does not like (she is not a fan of the dark). The first time we took her to the Tiki Room she enjoyed it, but the last time we took her she did not like it. She really did not like Snow White's Scary Adventure. We tried Mickey's PhilharMagic with her, but the initial scene with the swirling wind spooked her and she did not watch the rest of the show. On Goofy's Barnstormer, we made the mistake of sitting in the first car at just shy of 3. The ride was a bit too much for her, and she would not ride it 4 months later. I think she would like it now since she rode a roller coaster over the summer and had a great time. On our last trip, she was still under the 40" height requirement, so was not able to enjoy rides like Space Mountain and Splash Mountain.

At Disney's Hollywood Studio, she likes Playhouse Disney: Live on Stage and Toy Story Mania!. She also enjoyed the Great Movie Ride especially the Wizard of Oz section. My husband is a huge Star Wars fan, so while she is too short for Star Tours, she does enjoy watching the Jedi Training Academy. We have had mixed success with taking her through the line and bypassing the ride with Grandma. Our first trip when she was 18 months old was between Star Wars weekends so she was able to meet a Storm Trooper in the queue. Other times, we have been told that she could not even enter the line because she was too short to ride. We did not even try the Sounds Dangerous attraction due to the darkness. For some reason, she really did not enjoy the Voyage of the Little Mermaid Show. She refused to see it on our most recent trip. I think it was due to the darkness in a few scenes.

At Epcot, she likes The Seas with Nemo and Friends. She loves running around the aquarium after the ride. There is a KidCot Fun Stop inside. She also enjoys The Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros in the Mexico Pavilion. Journey into Imagination has always been one of my favorites and she likes it too. The newly renovated Spaceship Earth is worth a ride, and she enjoys riding it. We have done the Maelstrom ride in Norway, but there are a few areas that are dark that she does not like but she will ride it. There is lots of interactive fun for little ones at Epcot with Innoventions and the ImageWorks lab in the Imagination Pavilion and all of the KidCot fun stops. We did the Honey I Shrunk the Audience show and she was okay for the beginning of the show however when the theater moves towards the end, she was not happy.

At Animal Kingdom, she likes the Kilimanjaro Safari, and we are starting to time it better. The first two times we took her on it, she fell asleep from the motion because it was near nap time. We saw Finding Nemo: The Musical on our last trip and she really enjoyed that. She enjoyed the Wildlife Express Train ride to Conservation Station, but we found many of the activities there were a bit over her head. We rode the TriceraTop Spin on our daughter's first trip but have not been on since. On our last trip, my daughter spent about an hour in the playground which ate into our time to do other activities.

What are your Tiny Twourists Favorite Rides/Shows in the parks?

Your Photo Pass to the American Adventure

Each Monday, Marc Lorenzo shares his beautiful photos to transport us to Walt Disney World. This week we take you to American Adventure in Epcot.  So, sit back, relax and enjoy the very patriotic show!

The American Adventure is the host pavilion of Epcot's World Showcase.  It is also the name of the main attraction housed within the pavilion.  If you enjoy the masterful audio-animatronics that Disney has to offer, then this stage show of American history might just be for you!

First, you make your way to the Colonial-style building that houses the entire pavilion.  Along with the show, you will find the Hall of Flags exhibit, the Liberty Inn quick service restaurant, the Heritage Manor Gifts shop, and the eight-member a capella group known as the Voices of Liberty.  It's all very red, white and blue. 

Once you find yourself in the American Adventure theatre, you can look around at the beautiful statues that surround the large number of spectator seats.  When the show begins, you will take a trip through the country's past, with the help of a couple of important narrators - Mark Twain and Benjamin Franklin.  The story progresses from the Revolutionary War period through the Civil War through American industrialization to the Great Depression.  All the while, sets and characters rise out of the stage.  The grand final is a film montage set to music depicting famous people and moment in the post-World War II era.

Over the years, there have been few changes to the show, other than some sprucing up here and there.  Two major changes did happen.  In 1993, a new version of the theme song "Golden Dream" by Bob Moline was recorded and in 2007, footage was added to the finale to update it, which included a scene of the police and fire rescue crews after the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11.

New mobile apps make life easier for Disney fanatics

In a post-FASTPASS world, Disney World fanatics are not only unwilling to wait in line for rides; they also want to spend much of their time at the parks sifting through the most updated ride and attraction information with smart phone mobile apps.

Disney's Mobile Magic application debuted this week, offering park guests continuously updated information on wait times, precise GPS directions and park maps, FASTPASS information, character greeting times and locations, and much more.

All of which begs the question: How much is too much technology when you're on vacation? What will come next? Perhaps future apps will feature accurate information on monorail service wait times, shortest quick service restaurant and restroom lines, least crowded lands in the Magic Kingdom, open parade viewing spots, and fastest ticket and gift shop queues.

Curiously, while new mobile apps are a dime a dozen, public wireless access is severely lacking at the Disney parks and resort hotels. Even Disney's newest resort hotel, Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort, requires guests to connect to the Internet through an ethernet cable, although nearby Holiday Inns and even McDonald's offer Wi-Fi access. Moreover, Disney blocks access to its internal wireless infrastructure at most of its resort hotels and theme parks. Why Disney would install an outdated Internet connection service at its most contemporary resort hotel boggles the mind, especially since some Disney hotels (including Disney's Beach Club Resort) offer complimentary Wi-Fi service inside lobbies, restaurants, and poolside.

The pace of technological change has already made Disney's Internet infrastructure obsolete. While it is commendable to release new mobile apps for cell phones, it would be a great boon to improve Wi-Fi access throughout the Walt Disney World resort.

Peggy Macdonald is a WDW Twourist who writes about Walt Disney World daily for Examiner.com.