D23 Scavenger Hunt 2011

A few weeks ago my brother and myself completed the first D23 Scavenger Hunt at Walt Disney World. What an adventure it was. Each day for 2 days you entered into 2 parks for 3 hours in each park to complete a series of questions ranging from 1 point to 10 points. At the end of the 2 days the scores were calculated and a winner was announced. The hunt had over 550 teams with some having 4 people per team. My brother and I were on our own!

We arrived at our designated first park Disney's Animal Kingdom to begin our hunt. After standing in a line of many die-hard enthusiasts we learned that some teams (ok many) had done research, read books, created pages of trivia and answers, watched movies, studied internet sites, trolled the parks earlier in the week and had really prepared for this hunt. They brought colored flags to delineate where in the park the questions were, highlighters for the more difficult questions, pens, pencils, extra papers, food, and a host of other items to be fully prepared for this HUNT! Dan and I, we just showed up! No materials in hand, no pencils or pens, nothing but some gum, advil, money and our ID's.

After receiving our credentials Dan and I began by reading all the questions and figuring out where in the park to head to first. Our first stop was my old hunting ground DinoLand USA. I had this down pat! Heck I worked there for over 3 months so I should know, right? Not really! Soon we answered the questions and moved on through the park. At about 30 minuted remaining Dan and I noticed that there were questions with higher points. So after answering 75 questions valued at 1 point each we came to the 5 point questions (10 in all) and the 10 point questions (another 10) with only 30 minutes left. We did our best guessing and answered as many as we could with some really stupid answers! However we turned our booklet in with only a few minutes remaining and left the park, heads held somewhat high. After all it was 97 degrees out that day! Off to Epcot for round 2!

Epcot, we learned from our mistake, to read the questions first, keeping in mind the higher valued ones! We entered Epcot and had 4 hours to complete the booklet with the same number of questions as AK. Dan and I went to the Electric Umbrella, got something to eat and began our strategy. Dan's only strategy was eating while he let me eat and figure out all of the questions. This time we answered all of the 5 and10 pointers and while in certain areas we were able to answer the less valued ones. By 6pm we were DONE! Dan and I both were hot, burnt, tired (of each other) and ready to go to our resort.

Day 2

We began our day in the Magic Kingdom! Another one of my old stomping grounds. With questions in hand and our strategy figured out from the day before, we sat at the checker table near the Chapeau shoppe, figured everything out and began answering questions on Main Street USA. The day went much faster and by the end of the 3 hours in MK we had all of our booklet completed and moved on to Disney's Hollywood Studios. By this time Dan and I are slap-happy, cracking jokes left and right and not concentrating on what was at hand. Again we entered the park got something to eat and figured out were to begin. We finished on time and felt good about the day.

With all concluded Dan and I returned to our resort and waited until 8:30 PM for the announcement of the winners at the Contemporary Resort. We did not win. On top of that we had to wait to get our results for another week! Oh well the time spent with my brother was a lot of fun!

One last thing. Sorry Dan! Dan is not always on top of his game! While answering some of the more difficult questions that required thinking Dan would space-out. Leaving me trying to figure out the answers. As I would be writing them down Dan would yell out what I had written while many other teams were around us! On many different occasions Dan did this with me grinding my teeth and giving Dan the evil-eye! Yet on many other questions when we had to count out words on a plaque with corresponding numbers to get a certain letter, Dan would be there as I might have 4out of 15 of the letters done and he would say "lets go I got it" What! "Yup its Manifest Destiny"! Ok, I thought he was pulling this from you know where! He was right! Finally Dan caught on and instead of yelling out the actual answer he would yell out something different! Good Job Dan!
At the end Dan and I finished 206 out of over 550 teams! Next year Team Goof Troop will be prepared and will have a new name, Disney Intelligent Minds With Ingenious Talent, otherwise know as the DIMWIT's!! Thanks for the name Dad!

A Disney Dream!

So what can be said about a true Disney Dream, The Disney Dream! I had such a pleasure of being on the Maiden Voyage of the Dream, and a Dream it was! From the beginning to the end the short 4 day cruise was filled with fun, relaxation, entertainment and gifts!

The food in the main dinning rooms was terrific and dinning in Palos was outstanding! Dinning in Remy's was out of this world! The entire dinner took 3 1/2 hours to complete and you felt like a King! Following dinner you were surprised with truffles in your stateroom sitting comfortable on your bed awaiting for you to slowly slip into bed to enjoy.
The Gifts: Many people wondered what they would do that would be so special for the Maiden voyage of this ship. Well let me tell you I was prepared to buy and buy but spent not a penny! In each stateroom on the very first day were 2 Mickey hands to use during the deck party with the date of the cruise. In addition was your stateroom gift if you were a returning guest, part of the CastAway Club. That gift was a red and black bag filled with rice crispy treats, water bottles and key chain. On the second night when I returned to the stateroom there were gifts gallor on the bed. A very nice lithography by Don (Ducky) Williams of Mickey in bed dreaming of the new ship, chocolates from Remy's, a leather portfolio and luggage strap from the Castaway club and a nice letter. The third night each stateroom had a book detailing the construction of the new ship. In addition I had a mahogany Captains Box (jewelery box) with lanyards and a pin inside. On the last night each room had a replica Keel Coin made of bronze, the same coin that is placed in the keel during construction as a symbol of prosperity and good fortune. I was also given a blue Dream blanket, DVD of the ship and other smaller memento's.

This cruise was truly spectacular which included a special "Float By" of Castaway Cay to visit the Dream's sister ship the Magic while she was docked and those guests were enjoying the island. The captains had a horn-off playing and responding to each ships horns. Coming back to reality was difficult but makes returning to any of the Disney ships a Dream come true!!!

Walt's Lamp

So here is the story of Walt Disney's Lamp! If you have never heard of it, their is a lamp that sits on a small table in his private apartment above the Fire station in DisneyLand. The story goes...

Walt Disney liked to work and he worked a lot! So often that on many evenings he would work from his private apartment above the fire station in DisneyLand. This became his "Home away from Home". Whenever Walt would be in DisneyLand he would go and put the light on in his apartment to give a signal that he was in the park. This became well know to the Cast Members who worked during this time and would know to be on their best behavior! This light stayed on all the time during his time there.

All the Cast Members would look for this light when in the park as well as some guests who knew to look for this signal. Well when Walt died very expectantly, the Cast decided that this light would stay on all the time as a perpetual reminder of Walt and a symbol that Walt is in the park (in spirit) all the time!

Not too many people know this nor understand this but when we tell it to them they get a tear in there eye! One picture is of the actual lamp that I took and the other is of a special pin they give to those who have seen the apartment!

An Early Christmas Gift...

So as I have mentioned many times (if it is not already noticeable) I love everything about Disney! I mostly love the fact that Walt had a true vision that was family orientated! My family is very important to me so that is why this is of importance to me.

My collection of Disney items ranges from Knickknack's that have no monetary value but hold tremendous personal value such as my first ticket to the Magic Kingdom and my first Walt Disney World Cast Member ID to items that do have value monetarily such as my Key to World similar to a key a Mayor would give to someone of importance. I have many, many Disney items worth noting but too time consuming to do so.

This one item is very different! The highlight to my Disney collection arrived about 1 month ago; although it has been in the works for almost a year! My dream piece of Disneyana is a check from the desk of Walter Elias Disney and the Walt Disney Company. After working for the Disney Company for more then 10 years I decided to fulfill my collection and chose this item.

The check is for $12,000.00 for legal services and is signed by Walt himself. It is great to know that Walt actually touched and signed this item and it is now in my collection. I had to have it museum framed which was expensive but well worth the investment! It now hangs above my television where I am able to view it any time I want.

Merry Christmas!

A Dream Come True...

So everybody has one of those dreams that is just that... a DREAM! Some come true and others stay a distant and far off wish that remains with them forever! Well one of my far off dreams came true last month when I was visiting DisneyLand in California. I was allowed to visit Walt Disney's Private Apartment above the Firestation on Main Street, USA!

So here is how it happened! I walked into Guest Relations very confident and holding strong to my ultimate goal. A very nice Cast Member was there of which I was sure after hearing my story I would NEVER get into Walt's apartment. However I told her who I was and where I came from and then explained what one of my "Bucket List" dreams was. She heard my story and then told me she would be right back. When she returned about 5 minutes later she said that due to the significance of the apartment it is never shown anymore except on very rare occasions such as if you are family of Walt's. She explained how the items inside are museum pieces and a very large part of the history of the company not to mention personal items of Walt's. MY DREAM WAS BEING CRUSHED before my eyes and ears!

Then she asked if I was alone which I very promptly answered YES. She then said to go over to the side of the Firestation and put my Disney CM ID on and that a VIP Tour Guide would meet me there to take me on a tour of my Dreams! To this date I cannot remember the wonderful CM that met me there but she was very nice and truly a pleasure to be with for the hour I was with her. After introductions and questions about where I work and what I did for Disney we climbed the stairs behind the Firehouse up to Walt's apartment. The stairs are the same ones he used and are green in color. At the top of the stairs she unlocked the door which was beautiful reddish brown door, very simple but to Walt's liking.

As the door opened I was looking down a small hallway with an Edison player straight in front of me with a coat rack on the left. The carpet was red and floral in color and pattern. The room was very cold. The CM said she was just going to put the heat on as it was off since "no one every goes in here anymore!" She then asked me if I wanted her to tell me everything about the apartment or if I just wanted to look around for myself. I quickly told her that I wanted to be told everything as if I knew nothing about the apartment. I then had to tell her that this was such a dream come true that I would probably cry. I lasted about 30 seconds and then began crying. She said that she was going to love giving this tour because most VIP's who are given the tour do not understand the significance of the apartment and its occupants.

I was shown the Eddisson player on the couch that Walt used to entertain as well as to sleep on. The couch was red in color and very comfortable. I picture of Walt was above his couch. Behind the middle pillow was a cubby that held the original rolls for the player. This was a gift to Lillian from Walt and was an original piece. In another cubby was Walt's pj's and a pillow. The photo shows me sitting on Walt's couch and bed. Other items also were on the ledge of the couch. Adjacent from his couch was Lillian's couch which is identical with a photo on the wall of her as well. In the middle are two chairs, a small table and two foot stools. The table usually holds something special, a Lamp always turned on. Read my other post about this lamp. In the photo I posted you will see this lamp. They moved it due to it being the Christmas season so a small Christmas tree is now on the table. The window that is at the center of the 2 chairs with the table underneath looks out over Main Street, USA. All guests usually see the lamp but now see the tree instead. The lamp which is on the left of my photo is now in another window as you can see and it is still lit.

After viewing the chairs, lamps, carpet, photos, couches, nicknack's and the rest I was shown the phone that Walt would use which was on Lillian's side of the room. I was even given a chance to call someone. Why would I want to call someone? Well the caller ID comes up saying "Walt's Apartment"! From there we went over to Walt's small kitchen which is across from the center window. On the counter was a small sandwich press for making Walt's favorite, Grilled Cheese. It would also serve to heat up another of Walt's favorite, Chili! Across from that was a large porcelain drink bowl with matching mugs. The bowl said "Tom and Jerry". This was Walt's favorite adult beverage the recipe is: 12 egg(s), 1 cup sugar, 1 bottle brandy, Pinch of ground allspice, Pinch of ground cinnamon, Pinch of ground cloves, 1 bottle dark rum, milk, nutmeg. Not my type of drink but OK. The fridge was empty but usually stocked with oranges for Walt's breakfast. above the sink were cabinets for his dishes which were still there along with baby bottles that Walt used to feed his grandchildren!

Turning left we looked at an old Victrola that Walt gave to his wife as a gift. It was original to the apartment. Some items have been removed after Walt's death as the family wanted them but replaced them with replica's. Next we turned slightly right and walked into a very small hall that contained their burrow with a silver dressing set for Lillian. A few things remained hanging on the hooks to our left. From there was the bathroom. This bathroom is special because Walt had it designed for him with 4 shower heads to massage his bad muscles following a polo accident. A piece of cranberry glass sat on the toilet.

Walking out of the bathroom we continued up a few stairs which led to an outside deck that sits right above the guests bathrooms right next to guest relations. Walt was able to entertain guests up there as well as to sit and relax with his family. From there you could see the flag on Main Street, USA as well as to be able to watch all the parades and going on's in the park. Walt's children would also run from there to the Jungle cruise to scare guests and play with them. Walt got many phone calls from managers saying that his children were doing this. The CM and I walked to the privacy fence and looked over. A few guests saw us and pointed with some pictures being taken. Later when I walked out, many guests were standing there taking pictures of us and asking questions. This led to park security having to escort us back into guest relations with me then going back stage and then on stage again in a different area to get away from the guests.

We then entered the apartment again had a few more stories, a few more tears followed by a hug. The CM was so happy that she was able to do this for me that she needed to hug me and told me that she never gave a tour like this before filled with so much emotion and happiness~ One last surprise for me was a pin that she gave to me. I will post a picture of it later but it was a pin of the lamp which actually lights up!

After about an hour in the apartment I made one last tour while touching everything possible, looked out Walt's window, sat on his couch and Lillian's, made a call, took in the sites etc, then the CM made a call to a manager and got permission to take a picture of me sitting on Walt's couch! What a surprise since no photos are allowed to be taken in there! We then left the apartment and back into the park.

It all happened so fast but was truly a dream come true! Thanks Disneyland!

Just another morning at Disney's Hollywood Studios

Here is just another picture of DHS early in the morning without any guests walking around nor CM's. It is so very quiet in the morning!

Walking To Work

A few weeks ago I was walking to work and saw miss piggy just shinning like normal and just had to take a pic. This is what part of DHS looks like when noone is around and morning hasn't broken through yet.