Illuminations Reflections of Earth photos

These photos were taken with a Nikon D5200 using an 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 Nikkor lens.  Click on any picture for a larger image.  Photos were taken from the Mexico Pavilion area on September 27, 2014.

Our recent visit to Character Palooza

A recent visit to Characer Palooza at Hollywood Studios

Character Palooza is an unpublished character meet and greet that takes place at Hollywood Studios.  Here’s the article I wrote on Character Palooza a while back with more information.

We dropped in on Saturday afternoon and saw the Streets of America abuzz with meet and greet action.  It’s funny how many people don’t know this exists and just stumble upon it.  I’ve observed recently that the summer appearance can vary from 5:55pm to 6:10pm, so arrive a few minutes early!

Our goal Saturday was to ride Expedition Everest and Dinosaur and take part in the Dinoland Dance Party at Animal Kingdom, then hop over to Hollywood Studios to take in Character Palooza and the new Rock Your Summer Side Dance Party.  We succeeded at everything except Dinosaur which went down while we were there.

We arrived at Character Palooza and Jordyn was hot and tired and was going to sit on the steps and wait on Debbie to meet some of her favorite characters…until she saw Max!  In the same day Jordyn got to meet Mushu and Max for the first time, so she was pretty happy.

Max Goof

Book those Fastpass+ for Anna and Elsa at the Magic Kingdom now!

As of March 14 at 6:06 guests are beginning to book Fastpass+ reservations to meet Anna and Elsa at the Magic Kingdom.  This image was sent to me by a Facebook reader named Sam for a reservation on May 15th.  Another reader named Dawn said they just booked for May 7th

Let the booking begin!

My thoughts on Anna and Elsa moving to Fairytale Hall in the Magic Kingdom

Disney has confirmed the news that Anna and Elsa are moving to the Magic Kingdom’s Fairytale Hall on April 20, 2014.  I mentioned that this would be happening a couple days ago and it created a lot of buzz.  Disney is only guaranteeing them until “EARLY EVENING,” they will then be replaced by “visiting princesses.”  That’s an important term, so don’t breeze over it without taking note.

When I began this site, I committed myself to sharing my unabashed opinions.  I’m not a media person and don’t have media credentials and really don’t want them.  I don’t want my opinions being influenced by someone feeding me some tarts and giving me access to an attraction that average guests don’t have.  I have nothing against those who do, just not my style.  I want to experience the park just like you do and tell you the best way to maneuver the parks.  So here’s my opinion on the move that will be happening.

Are Anna and Elsa moving to Fairytale Hall in the Magic Kingdom?

A number of people have been asking if Anna and Elsa are indeed moving to the Magic Kingdom’s Fairytale Hall beginning Easter Sunday, April 20th.   I have heard rumblings of this occuring, but haven’t been able to confirm it.  But I have been working a great deal lately as well.  We can hope that this will occur in order to provide FP+ for those who desire that option.

It appears that the notoriously glitchy My Disney Experience website is now advertising a meet and greet of Anna and Elsa with a visiting Princess and another listing of Cinderella meeting with Rapunzel. It shows Anna and Elsa meeting from 8:00 to 9:00AM for Extra Magic Hour and again from 9:00AM to 5:00PM

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/calendars/magic-kingdom/2014-04-20/#timeofday=allday

On the same date of April 20th, Anna and Elsa disappear from Epcot’s My Disney Experience schedule and they were listed on the 19th.  I’d take this as a good sign that the Frozen ladies are moving to the Magic Kingdom, but we’ll wait and see how the schedule shakes out.  If you have Fastpass+ options for these dates, you might want to keep an eye on the Magic Kingdom’s Fairytale Hall.

Would you be happy to meet the Frozen ladies in the Magic Kingdom’s Fairytale Hall?  Would you like to meet them using Fastpass+?  It would increase the standby line wait.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/calendars/epcot/2014-04-20/#timeofday=allday

Festival of Fantasy parade: Rapunzel and Flynn Rider Float

The second float in the new parade is a tribute to the movie Tangled and features Rapunzel and Flynn Rider as well as the guy who dreamed of becoming a mime.  People in the crowd loved the giant mime guy and it was a total surprise to many.

“I am a mime, and I am stuck in your computer screen!”

Festival of Fantasy Parade: Opening Princess float

I’m still going through all the photos I took yesterday and I’ll post them a little at a time until I get through them all.  Of course, I’ll probably go back again this weekend and get some more shots.  I was standing directly across from the Fire Station, which was a great place to see it from, but a terrible place to shoot photos or video because the sun was behind the floats and characters most of the time.  I live an learn huh?

The new parade begins with an all new Prince and Princess float.  I’m happy to see the old mirror thing finally be eliminated from the daytime parade.  The new one is unique, because it rotates in some of the sections to allow guests to see all the characters on the float rather than have to watch twice to see each side.

There was great fanfare and the excitement for the parade was palpable.  People lined up for the perfect spot several hours in advance.  The crowd cheered each time a new float would pass.   The Lords and Ladies in Waiting set the stage for the first new float.

Meeting some characters at the Magic Kingdom with my little girl

My little girl and I set out to test some Touring Plan ideas for the Magic Kingdom today and met some great characters along the way.  If you’d like to see the results of our test, just check out my Facebook page.

We were the first people at the rope, but didn’t run. We still ended up being the first guests of the day. It’s still silly that they make you wait 15 extra minutes for no real reason. They chatted about arrows and Princess lessons.

Meeting Hercules at Epcot’s Imagination Pavilion in Walt Disney World

We had the opportunity to meet the great Greek demi-god Hercules at Epcot’s Imagination Pavilion today.  He only appeared for one day only in preparation for an upcoming event.  Some were saying it’s a Cast Member event, while other hoped it would be for the upcoming Marathon.  I’m not positive, I just know you shouldn’t expect to find him at Epcot again any time soon.

Meeting some Main Street Citizens at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World

While I was on my journey to meet all the Princes on Valentine’s Day yesterday, I came across 3 prominent Citizens of the Magic Kingdom.  I had personally never stopped to meet Francis or Mabel, so I took a moment to greet them and snap some photos.

Chief Smokey Miller is the Chief of the Main Street Volunteer Fire Department

Francis Fermata is the resident Matchmaker of Main Street USA! She is the Etiquitte Columnist for the Main St. Gazette
Her favorite quote “I find em. YOU fix em!”

Mabel Mae Benaught is the President of the Main St Social Society.
Mabel claims to be in the know, but assures that she is not a gossip.
“Have we met? Well maybe, and maybe not.”