A Very Lurkyloo Christmas is FINISHED! New 3/16: Last Day of the Trip!

[lurkyloo]

So after the show I waited til the audience cleared out, and then the friend of Patrick's friend of a friend came out to meet me and give me a backstage tour. I'm not s'posed to say who he is, and now, more than a year later, I don't even remember! But he was really friendly and so kind to take the time to squire around a non-puppeteer. The bad thing about waiting this long to tell the story is that now I can't remember any of the cool insider info I got on the tour. Mostly it was just how the puppets worked, though, so you're not missing too much.

It was super-dark backstage, so if you thought my show pix were bad, wait til you see how bad my backstage pictures are!

The underside of Crush

Change the light, and suddenly something cute becomes terrifyingly creepy!

I just know something's up there…

Aiyeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

So, the absolute COOLEST part of the whole tour was when my guide let me go up in the rafters where the gargantuan pelican waits for his cue and look out on the stage and the audience!

How he works

Don't remember what this is—maybe what you fall through if the audience doesn't like your jokes!

Up Next: Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party *AND* Tomorrowland Terrace Wishes Dessert Party with the Roots!

 

[mrsksomeday]

I think we might try Tusker House on our next trip. Your Nemo show pictures are wonderful. Such a shame Patrick didn't get to go on the backstage tour, although he had a great excuse. You took great creepy pictures . Thanks for taking us backstage with you.

Are you going to the D23 Destination D event? I hope so and I hope you do a TR for it, your TR's are so wonderfully detailed. Bill and I won't be going to Destination D since we are doing a Poly/BWV split stay in Nov./Dec. . It is killing me not to see Marty Skylar and all the other speakers.

I can't wait to read the next installment.

 

[IheartDDuck]

That is so cool that you got to go backstage at Finding Nemo!

I do agree with you on the Tusker house. It's good, but not as good as Boma, which is definitely not as good as Jiko!

 

[Disneygrl36]

Loved the backstage tour--those puppets look creepy just sitting there. Hate that Patrick missed it!

 

[lurkyloo]

I think we might try Tusker House on our next trip. Your Nemo show pictures are wonderful. Such a shame Patrick didn't get to go on the backstage tour, although he had a great excuse. You took great creepy pictures . Thanks for taking us backstage with you.

Are you going to the D23 Destination D event? I hope so and I hope you do a TR for it, your TR's are so wonderfully detailed. Bill and I won't be going to Destination D since we are doing a Poly/BWV split stay in Nov./Dec. . It is killing me not to see Marty Skylar and all the other speakers.

I can't wait to read the next installment.

Yes! I'm going to Destination D solo. I hope to write a trip report about it, but I'll have the October report, Anniversary report, and DFTW Bridal Showcase/Social Media Moms reports all backed up by then... Also, I never did get a report up about Disneyland's Destination D—now I'm thinking of just doing a summary, since it's a whole lot of "we sat in an auditorium, this person talked, we got in line for the next talk, we sat in an auditorium..."

That is so cool that you got to go backstage at Finding Nemo!

I do agree with you on the Tusker house. It's good, but not as good as Boma, which is definitely not as good as Jiko!

Mmmm.... Jiko! Just 5 more days til I get to have dinner there again!

Loved the backstage tour--those puppets look creepy just sitting there. Hate that Patrick missed it!

I know, right? Well maybe he can arrange another one sometime, and then photos will be HIS responsibility!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Awwwwwwwwwwww I love this guy!!!!!!!!!

I was unaware that Godzilla had a cameo in Finding Nemo the Musical. Perhaps that's in the extended version for backstage guests only...

Tusker House looks like it was a nice meal! I love the ambiance there - I've wanted to go, but Animal Kingdom falls pretty low (okay, it's the lowest) on our list of favorite parks, so we generally don't spend much time there (if any).

However, I still can't get that darn Crush song out of my head from when we saw Finding Nemo several months ago! "Go with the flooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow!!" Add this to my list of harbored resentments against AK.

 

[norybell]

Yet another perfect Dr. Who shot! (Or maybe I just have Dr. Who on the brain lately, it's certainly possible.)

How cool that you got to go backstage...I'm not the hugest fan of WDW shows, either, but I did love Finding Nemo.

 

[Aburns8]

What a great opportunity to go back stage. Those puppets are creepy in the dark! And now I want mini corn dogs. That buffet looked better than some of the other ones I have had on Disney property. Like you, I am not a big fan.

 

[MEK]

I love Tusker House and I love Nemo, so fun update. I never get tired of Nemo because I think the puppets are amazing. Thanks for posting the behind the scenes pictures. They are very cool. I am glad you enjoyed your tour, even though Patrick wasn't there to enjoy it with you.

Contemporary in two weeks eh? Nice!

 

[Disneybuckeye]

Loved the latest update and all the pictures. I would love to have gone on a backstage tour. I am so jealous. Can't wait to read more!

 

[lurkyloo]

Awwwwwwwwwwww I love this guy!!!!!!!!!



I was unaware that Godzilla had a cameo in Finding Nemo the Musical. Perhaps that's in the extended version for backstage guests only...

Tusker House looks like it was a nice meal! I love the ambiance there - I've wanted to go, but Animal Kingdom falls pretty low (okay, it's the lowest) on our list of favorite parks, so we generally don't spend much time there (if any).

However, I still can't get that darn Crush song out of my head from when we saw Finding Nemo several months ago! "Go with the flooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow!!" Add this to my list of harbored resentments against AK.

Yeah, AK ranks pretty low on my list too, but Patrick loves it. At least we are united in our mutual dislke of DHS though!

Yet another perfect Dr. Who shot! (Or maybe I just have Dr. Who on the brain lately, it's certainly possible.)

How cool that you got to go backstage...I'm not the hugest fan of WDW shows, either, but I did love Finding Nemo.

It's totally a Dr. Who shot!

What a great opportunity to go back stage. Those puppets are creepy in the dark! And now I want mini corn dogs. That buffet looked better than some of the other ones I have had on Disney property. Like you, I am not a big fan.

They need to sell mini corn dogs at the counter-service places! Well, maybe they already do... We never go to counter-service places...

I love Tusker House and I love Nemo, so fun update. I never get tired of Nemo because I think the puppets are amazing. Thanks for posting the behind the scenes pictures. They are very cool. I am glad you enjoyed your tour, even though Patrick wasn't there to enjoy it with you.

Contemporary in two weeks eh? Nice!

What's even nicer is getting Disney Weddings' discounted rate there for the Bridal Showcase!

Loved the latest update and all the pictures. I would love to have gone on a backstage tour. I am so jealous. Can't wait to read more!

Thanks for reading! More on the way!

 

[lurkyloo]

Continuing the "experience double-dipping" caused by D23's failure to release info about Magic & Merriment in a timely fashion, that evening I went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party for the second time in 48 hours. However, proving that there's always something new to do at Disney, I had a very different experience.

I'd been looking forward to seeing the party through Jensey's eyes, since Christmas is her favorite holiday. Also, she had very kindly agreed to give up some of our party time to try out the Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert Party, and in return, I spent the rest of the party camped out with her, Nate, and her sister, Amelia, to watch Mickey's Once Upon A Christmastime Parade from her favorite spot.

The Roots took a LOT of amazing pictures, so I'll probably have to break this installment up!

It was a Tuesday night, but the place was PACKED—further proof that hard-ticketed events at Disney theme parks may actually be more crowded than a regular night. I can't get over how Disney trumpets the "exclusivity" of these things as justification of the high price when they are cramming people in like sardines.

At first we were all trying so hard to be polite and considerate of the others that we couldn't really decide what to do and just sorta wandered around taking it all in.

Inside Columbia Harbor House, where we decided not to eat

Eventually I decided to "What Would Patrick Do?" and put forth more decisive opinions about what we could do. This resulted in a ride on Haunted Mansion—hooray!

 

[lurkyloo]

And then things went horribly wrong and we ended up in the heinously crowded and noisy Cosmic Rays for this nutritious dinner:

The view was nice, though!

After dinner we staggered into Tomorrowland to be overwhelmed by this preternaturally perky stage show.

And then we went on the Peoplemover!

…Really FAST!

This is the point when we hooked up with Jensey's sister (I know… I thought we started out with her too!), as well as fellow Root Disney bride Jennifer and her husband, Dan, and all went on Buzz Lightyear together.

It was nice to have Amelia as my ride buddy, and she even gave me pointers on which were the high-scoring targets!

Let's pretend like this was my score…

As we got off the ride, Amelia (who WORKS at Walt Disney World) revealed that she had never been on Stitch's Great Escape—whaaaaa???? So of course we then whisked her off to experience that great nadir of WDI creativity.

As I recall, Amelia declared it not too shabby, which induced lots of ribbing from the rest of us. Fortunately there was no time for a re-ride because we were due at the Tomorrowland Terrace for the Wishes Dessert Party. I'd had to shoehorn it into our packed schedule on an MVMCP night because it was the only time that worked for us. I think we all would rather have been on Main Street to see the fireworks, but it was interesting getting this close-but-off-center perspective on them. Oh, and there were desserts…

 

[lurkyloo]

The Tomorrowland Terrace Wishes Dessert Party experience was… interesting. If I'd been there on my own, I'd have been the nerd forming a line at the entrance an hour before the place opened. But since we were all just out enjoying the party together as a group, we ended up getting there right before it opened and were last in line. It was a free-for-all, with people dashing around trying to secure the best tables, all of which were crammed SO close together you could barely maneuver. The desserts were sporadically replenished and we all got to go back for seconds, but… I guess I should know by now what to expect from Disney: dry, leaden brownies; "peanut butter chocolate" tarts with just a dab of peanut butter on top; cold, flavorless "chocolate lava" cakes; bland mousse… maybe the fruit desserts were good, though—I wouldn't know! Oh, and I liked the supermarket-style mini cupcakes cuz I'm into that kind of thing, and the chocolate cheesecakes were good cuz they didn't actually taste like cheesecake! Plus they had milk to go with everything, which was nice.

The best part, of course, is the view. As I said, it's definitely off-center, but you are SO close to the fireworks! I'd never really seen Tink before that night. Here's what the view looks like from Tomorrowland Terrace:

These next 2 shots would be funny as a slideshow…

Before…

After!

 

[lurkyloo]

Looks like they blew off the top of the castle!

 

[lurkyloo]

 

[lurkyloo]

And then… the Apocalypse!

Yep, they definitely blew the top off the castle!

Favorite!

Up Next: Mickey's Once Upon A Christmastime Parade & Slumber Party at Bay Lake Tower!

 

[Aburns8]

Boy, that is a lot of people at M! I loved the picture of the projected snowflakes on the castle. I think that the roots are going to have to do some family portraits in October 2012. Their pics are amazing (like always). We are actually doing the dessert party in May (the Monday after after D23). In fact my in-laws decided to come down so I am having them come with us. The desserts looked pretty good. And I am hoping it isn't as crowded!

 

[MEK]

Gorgeous pictures! I have never seen pictures of the inside of Stitch. And Tinkerbell - wow - that must be one super fast shutter speed camera /lens to take a pic of TB.

I have only attended one Christmas party, but like you, I found it to be annoyingly crowded. It was a sold out party. Fun - but I think it will hold me for awhile.

 

[lurkyloo]

Boy, that is a lot of people at M! I loved the picture of the projected snowflakes on the castle. I think that the roots are going to have to do some family portraits in October 2012. Their pics are amazing (like always). We are actually doing the dessert party in May (the Monday after after D23). In fact my in-laws decided to come down so I am having them come with us. The desserts looked pretty good. And I am hoping it isn't as crowded!

I can't wait to hear what you think of the dessert party!

Gorgeous pictures! I have never seen pictures of the inside of Stitch.

Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have posted them b/c they actually make the ride look GOOD—I'd hate to deceive people!