We were there last night. We had been over visiting GF before, so even though we were staying offsite, we got our wristbands in the Villas Lobby with no wait. We wandered into Epcot around 9PM hoping to get a Tortiere (French meat pie) at the booth in Canada, but it appears the food booths close at 9PM We wandered around the world showcase and watched illuminations from Japan. As we wandered back to front, Norway WAS packed. The line at Mexico for the Three Cabaneros seemed long. I wanted to get a pin so we went straight to the Merch booth. I think I got in line around 10:10PM. While I saw people with ornaments in hand to buy, there were no more on the rack. While I thought the wait was about 20 minutes, DH said it was more like 30 minutes. Really a shame they couldn't set a up a queue AND have more cashiers. I was able to get two pins, I asked about the ornament, but they said they were out. After that, We made our way to where Carabelle and Horatio were, and got in line. DH held our place while I wandered over the Imageworks to see if they had ornaments. They did not and the line for the registers was VERY long. I did grab a Mickie bar with no wait on the way back to the character line. Again, I thought the wait was about 45 minutes, but DH said it was over an hour. We went into Soaring with hopes of pictures with Minnie, but at that point it was about 11:30, and I really wanted to see the fireworks. We grabbed the Hot dog snack and sat down for 15 minutes or so and then wandered outside. As we were walking towards the world showcase the fireworks started. It was a truly great show but I think it was 10 minutes or less. DH wanted to leave after that. He doesn't take well to alot of standing, which we did, watching illuminations, then at the merch line, then at the Character line. If I had stayed I would have tried to get more character pictures, but alas, we were home just before 1AM. We didn't do any rides as were are AP holders and have lots of opportunities to do the rides. I do like to try and get new character pictures though. The Minnie line looked about 20-30 minutes when we were having our snack. It would be interesting to know if it got longer or shorter after the fireworks.
I'm not sure I would really make a point to do a future one, and I don't think I could ever get DH to go with me to another one. Afterall, most of what I might go for is a pin, to commemorate, and then character pictures.
Anyone out there get lots of character pictures? and ow did you do it?
Anne