Originally Posted By TDLFAN Hello ALL! I just got back from attending tonight's Princess and Pirates Party at the Magic Kingdom (Mar 5th, 07). All of this may be water under the bridge since the parties have been held now for about a month and there is not much else to be said that many of you would not know... except for my opinion on this event.. Hehehe.. I went in with little expectations... and guess what.. I enjoyed the event very much. The night started beautifully (no clouds and temp in the low 50s) and caught "Wishes" from the Ferry boat as we sailed towards the MK. Yes, I did get caught up in the mayhem of guests leaving as those of us were arriving, but much to my surprise, the crowd flow was under control and entering the park was not that difficult to accomplish. Good job to those in charge for opening the gates facing the ferry boat, to avoid running into the guests leaving the park. As I entered the park, a lovely red carpet with princess motif welcomed guests. The small plants with twinkling lights was a nice touch as well. Main Street buildings were colorfully lit. This was in fact a light show as building's colors would change depending on the music and the mood. There were also animated projections of Cindy's coach and skelleton skulls.. making all of Main Street very kinetic and fun to look at. The color lighting has been done before but this is the first time I see the buildings actually changing color on a constant basis. I have only seen this done at HKDL during their Xmas days.. KUDOS! Other areas of the park were very much lit with color spotlights to accent such features as trees and buildings throughout the park. Again... I loved it. (Does not take much to make me excited, does it?) I also enjoyed how so many guests were in the mood to participate and dressed up as Princesses and Pirates. Seems to me the Pirates outdid the Princesses almost 4 to one. Many butch women wanting to be Pirates, and at least one man wearing a tiara. (You GO! Girl) Me...? I went "bi". So I had my "ARGH!" Tee with my light up Cindy slipper pendant. oh well.. Hehehe! One guest couple in particular was regal.. she in Cinderella outfit and him as a handsome Pirate. Now..the shows. I could have done without the regularly featured "Dream Along with Mickey" (yawn), however... I did enjoy the parade very much. The Princess portion was lovely, but the Pirate's portion was better. I liked the new Tink float, and the glow in the dark Davy Jones. The boys doing the Flag twirling were fab (and some of them cute too), and I think they were the highlight of the procession. All in all, the parade was very nice and I would not mind seeing this done on a daily basis over the already stale ex-Snowglobes parade du jour. Now on to the piece du resistance: the Fireworks show "Magic, Music and Mayhem". This folks was worth the price of admission. FABULOUS score and great use of color in this show. This is also the first time I see the perimeter pyro being incorporated into the show, rather than being used for extra "ooh/aah" for the finale. The mid portion of the show seemed "perimeter intensive" and it was great! I *loved*loved* how they used the castle in the attack act, with booming sound effects that could be felt on my chest! KUDOS!!! To top it off... Tinkerbell flies off at the most opportune time during the show as it hits it's high point. It was a perfect moment for Tink to appear. KUDOS again!!! As for other activities... there were plenty of candy grabbing and beeds being handed out. The dance parties at some park locations were OK but mostly areas where kids could let the steam out. Many character greet/meet photo spots were OK as well and the lines short. I had my photo with Mickey in less than 10 mins. However, after waiting for 30 mins to have my photo with Jack Sparrow, I was a bit disappointed with the CM playing him. Not only did this guy NOT look a lot like Depp, he was playing Jack like an all-out, major-case... QUEEN. Everyone knows the character of Jack has that certain... je ne sais quoi that makes you think he might be... hmmm.. gay? But this fellow was playing him way pass that. Jack as the ultimate femme queen. I personally was a bit embarrased as it was way much overacting. It takes a decent actor to play this part, which requires a certain...way of being but also...a certain restrain. This guy did not cut it. Sorry boy, but at least it was nice trading "how to" mascara secrets with you. Regrettably, I didn't have a chance to have my photo with any of the Princesses this time around. However, where were the Princes??? Maybe next year, the powers that be should bring out the boys for meet/greet??? We wants the boys, argh!! To finish... the only thing that took me aback was how low the attendance on this particular night seemed to be. I would take a guess and say there were no more than 10,000 guests in the park. Many areas of the park look deserted by 10pm, and lines were very very very short for rides, or at least they were walkons most of the time. Many places to eat were opened with hardly anyone in them enjoying a meal, like the case at the Harbor House where I ate. An Emporium CM told me that they have seen more people on other nights but all in all, it has not been Halloween/Xmas packed at all. He also confessed he has not heard anything about these parties returning in early Fall like some have mentioned here on other topics. Hmmm... When you could get a front row spot for the parade as the parade was about to start, you know the park was slow. It was painful to see how dead Town Square was when the parade went by.. just like it is the case at HKDL and sometimes at DLP during their daytime parade. As an added treat, I got to preview Monsters Inc Laugh Floor Comedy Club (my opinion on that on another topic). They also has a special Jolly Roger Scary Tale narration on the Riverboat, which ended with a peppy song. I was disappointed that nothing else was done along the river to enhance this story, which to be honest with you... I stopped paying attention to after like 5 mins into the trip. All in all, it was an enjoyable evening at the MK and I am pleased to share my photos from the evening. Some are dark due to the low lighting conditions thru the park but I hope you enjoy them. Thanks. <a href="http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/Albu...3&a=32484040&f=" target="_blank">http://albums.photo.epson.com/ j/Albu...3&a=32484040&f=</a>
Originally Posted By TDLFAN ^^^BAD LINK. Try this one: <a href="http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=4334673&a=32484040&f" target="_blank">http://albums.photo.epson.com/ j/AlbumIndex?u=4334673&a=32484040&f</a>
Originally Posted By Labuda Thanks for the report and pics... which I'm still going through, BUT I love the phrase "pirate flag twirlers" = where else but Disney will you see pirates twirling flags? hehe
Originally Posted By sun-n-fun Nice pics. Great as always! Thanks agaion for sharing. I was at MK on 2/23 - didn't stay for the party but was able to see some of the lights and sights. It looked nice in person.
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> I liked the new Tink float << I did very much as well. Well designed and presented. Maybe it's the size perspective and Tink herself that really make this one work. I've got pictures of this float, and looking at them again does not diminish. -------------- >> the Fireworks show "Magic, Music and Mayhem". This folks was worth the price of admission << Absolutely. Marvelous show. The castle battle sequence rocks. -------------- >> where were the Princes??? << Are you talking guests, or the real princes? Prince Philip, Prince Snow, and Prince Charming were all indoors ToonTown with their respective Princesses. (With Princess Daisy and Minnie, all decked out to the 9's.) Ariel's prince was with her in the grotto, and of course sort of a prince Aladdin was with Jasmine in Agrabah. -------------- >> I would take a guess and say there were no more than 10,000 guests in the park << Good guess. -------------- >> he has not heard anything about these parties returning in early Fall << I actually did hear a confirmation last night from an insider. August?
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey Thank you for the pics, TDLFAN. Where can I get a pirate t-shirt like yours?
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>where else but Disney will you see pirates twirling flags?<< TDS used to have them in Mediterranean Harbor. >>Prince Philip, Prince Snow, and Prince Charming were all indoors ToonTown with their respective Princesses.<< *bleep*ches. >>Where can I get a pirate t-shirt like yours?<< Crazy Shirt Stores, Honolulu.
Originally Posted By Labuda ">>where else but Disney will you see pirates twirling flags?<< TDS used to have them in Mediterranean Harbor." Exactly! Only Disney pirates would tiwrl flags - real pirates would not! And, here's a link to the shirt: <a href="http://www.crazyshirts.com/detail.cfm?sku=1019160&dept=011" target="_blank">http://www.crazyshirts.com/det ail.cfm?sku=1019160&dept=011</a> Now we ALL can dress like TDLFAN!
Originally Posted By Labuda Oooo, and this is just ADORABLE: <a href="http://www.crazyshirts.com/detail.cfm?sku=1038094&dept=011" target="_blank">http://www.crazyshirts.com/det ail.cfm?sku=1038094&dept=011</a># But, being fat, there ain't no way I'm gonna buy that! lol
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey I think I might have to get BOTH of those - I LOOOOOOVE chocolate!
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb GREAT report! It makes me wish I had a WDW trip planned. All I need is a few extra weeks of vacation (blasted job).
Originally Posted By Labuda ^^^ 3 day weekend where you leave Kyle at home and don't tell him where you're going?
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb ^^^If only I didn't hate to fly. I don't want to spend all day in a plane for less than a week long trip. Sigh.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN All day on a plane?? HA! Try 13 hours nonstop as I go to get to Asia three times a month. A few hours on a plane should not kill anyone... unless the plane goes down. As for you Labuda... you are NOT Fat. You are full figured like me.
Originally Posted By Labuda Thanks TDL, but at my height and my weight, I'm fat, no two ways about it. You're just an average weight dude, too. You may have a teensy tiny bit of a belly, but considering how much you travel and how many meals you must eat out, it's AMAZING to me that you're as slim as you are and that you don't weigh 600 pounds!
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb I envy those of you who can fly coast to coast and it's "no big". But for me 6-8 hours in a plane is major stress. Believe me, if it weren't an issue I'd make the trip out to Florida more often than I do currently, about once every two years. I think I'd need perscription sedatives to make the trip to Asia.
Originally Posted By dl1956 Question for TDLFAN, from your recent pics: are the Three Good Fairies and the Fairy Godmother at the WDW and TDL parades non-face characters?
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey <<HA! Try 13 hours nonstop as I go to get to Asia three times a month.>> And yet another reason that I'm not a flight attendant - 13 hours would drive me nuts unless I was sedated.
