OKWTink
January 1st, 2005, 04:50
Holy Cow! The quiet parks from Christmas are no more!
I headed to EPCOT around 3:30 p.m. I intentionally drove the route that would bring me past the signs directing guests to EPCOT and MK. I wasn't sure what I would see, but wanted to check it out anyway.
There it was, the "full" sign for MK. No one getting in that park, at least at that tiime!
Went on toward EPCOT, parking in the Swan. Note to self, this won't be happening much longer. The Swan is clearly renovating their parking lots to put in gates. :sigh:
The parking lot is quite full, and there are many, many people walking through the resort and out to the walkway to the Boardwalk.
As I follow my nose to EPCOT I pass a very busy Big River Grille, and ESPN. There are many folks on the boardwalk for this time of day.
As I round the corner heading down the hill to the IG, I am astonished at the huge numbers of guests I'm seeing in the World Showcase.
The park is jammed, and before I leave, it is even fuller. Shoulder to shoulder like it was in 1996.
For now I can make it through the World Showcase with relative ease. Just need to be sure I stay fully alert! Strollers, wheelchairs, ECVs, teens with linked arms, Mothers herding children, all sorts of activity to safely negotiate.
Extra little kiosks and booths are set up throughout the park. Some sell ice cream, some sell alcohol, some sell things like hot dogs, chili, Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches, etc.
I did have a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich. The young man doing the cooking was very careful, and precise in his actions. He filled the roll to bursting, and handed it over with great pride.
I'm certain that before the night was out, some manager sort was going to come along and interrupt the overstuffing of the roll! LOL!
It wasn't all that good, but then it wasn't really a steak sandwich, rather those nasty thin pressed beef things. Steakums? I think that's what they are called.
At any rate, no huge loss, and it was hot. The weather by the way, is quite nice. I'm in shorts, t-shirt and sandals. Not too hot and not too cold. The breeze may make it seem cooler once the sun sets, but for now all is well.
I essentially just wandered around the showcase taking in the special events and entertainments for this night.
Japan had the large screens up again and were playing really old Mickey Mouse cartoons.
The US had Caliente, a Latin Dance Band at the outdoor theatre.
Italy had something going on, but I didn't want to push through the crowd to find out exactly what it was. From the main walkway it looked like a bunch of scaffolding with theater lights and some huge silver overhead disk of some sort. Can't imagine what it was. It was seriously packed though, so folks were certainly finding something interesting about it.
Germany had our Snow White greeting people. She looked lovely as always. I returned to Germany at 6:00 pm hoping to ring in the new year there, but there was no outward display of the time being midnight in the real Germany. A bit of a disappointment.
The hats and noise makers are everywhere. The hats are the same as in years past, only with 2005, and the noisemakers are still as annoying as all get out when 70,000 or so people are blowing them! :eek:
I headed for the UK as it was approaching 7:00 pm. The place was packed; wall to wall people, all with the same intent-ring in the New Year at the UK!
I managed to snug up to a lamp post and not be trampled while I just watched the crowd ebb and flow. Horns were blowing, people were shouting, babies were screaming, teens were chanting, everyone was smiling! The Rose and Crown was so packed and so busy that there were CMs doing "traffic control." One door to enter and the other door to exit. Made sense, but still the place was chaotic.
At about five before seven, nearly every CM in the UK came to the center walkway and formed a circle, including some of the guests. They wratcheted the excitement up to very high levels indeed!
With each passing minute the crowd grew noisier and cheers were shouted.
At one minute before seven (according to whomever's watch :D ) the CMs started counting down. When they hit 7:00 pm the place erupted! British folks surely do like to kiss each other at the new year, don't they? :eek: :D There was excitement, happiness, joy, and resounding laughter throughout the UK area. For a few moments one could actually be lost in nothing but cheer. It was a wonderful, if fleeting sensation.
After a rousing chorus of Auld Lang Syne, the CMs wended their way back to their stations, and the crowd took over. Someone started a conga line and it headed off toward Canada. Some folks just continued cheering and smiling, others headed to the edge of the lagoon hoping to find a place to watch the early show of Illuminations.
Me? I headed for the IG. I'd seen the Holiday version of Illuminations and felt it would be better for me to head back to the car.
The boardwalk was very busy by now, with a DJ playing tunes on the lawn and several live acts.
One caused me to pause, and I'm still wondering if the talent hiring agent for Disney was having a bad day or what.
There was a man on a board, rocking it back and forth on a cylinder, keeping his balance rather well. He was nattering on about something, I didn't quite catch what, when suddenly he reached down to his thighs and tore off his trousers! I am serious! Underneath he had silly looking boxers with some sort of wild pattern on them, hearts maybe, I'm not sure.
Shocked the daylights out of more than just me! As I was wondering if this really was a Disney show, he reached down and tore off the silly looking boxers! :gairy: Under those was another pair, albeit a bit smaller, but no less sillier looking. He called for some "dangerous items" (his words) and was handed some mean looking garden hand tools from someone in the audience. He started juggling those.
I thought it best to leave at this point. I wasn't too sure what he was going to do next, but I was positive that I did not want to be around if he started tearing off more of his clothes.
Further down the boardwalk was a man doing some light magic routines, and the banjo player was serenading a family dining outside at Big River Grille (which was packed by the way, with a huge queue waiting; same thing at ESPN).
By the time I'd made it to the end of the actual boardwalk the fireworks started, so I leaned on the railing and watched from there. As the colorful explosions lit up the night sky, I did what most people do on NYE. I reflected on the year that was just leaving us. I must have been musing pretty thoughfully, as I was startled by the finale.
The smoke from the fireworks was drifing out toward the boardwalk, and a bit of a firework actually landed in the lagoon, fizzling out as it hit the water.
I wandered back to the car, and had an uneventful drive home. The traffic was starting to pick up though, and I felt quite sensible in getting off the roads before things got too crazy.
So, here I am, typing this up, waiting for the New Year to reach our shores.
I expect I'll slip back into my musings and rush to open the bottle of champagne just before the clock ticks 12 midnight. Again.
I headed to EPCOT around 3:30 p.m. I intentionally drove the route that would bring me past the signs directing guests to EPCOT and MK. I wasn't sure what I would see, but wanted to check it out anyway.
There it was, the "full" sign for MK. No one getting in that park, at least at that tiime!
Went on toward EPCOT, parking in the Swan. Note to self, this won't be happening much longer. The Swan is clearly renovating their parking lots to put in gates. :sigh:
The parking lot is quite full, and there are many, many people walking through the resort and out to the walkway to the Boardwalk.
As I follow my nose to EPCOT I pass a very busy Big River Grille, and ESPN. There are many folks on the boardwalk for this time of day.
As I round the corner heading down the hill to the IG, I am astonished at the huge numbers of guests I'm seeing in the World Showcase.
The park is jammed, and before I leave, it is even fuller. Shoulder to shoulder like it was in 1996.
For now I can make it through the World Showcase with relative ease. Just need to be sure I stay fully alert! Strollers, wheelchairs, ECVs, teens with linked arms, Mothers herding children, all sorts of activity to safely negotiate.
Extra little kiosks and booths are set up throughout the park. Some sell ice cream, some sell alcohol, some sell things like hot dogs, chili, Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches, etc.
I did have a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich. The young man doing the cooking was very careful, and precise in his actions. He filled the roll to bursting, and handed it over with great pride.
I'm certain that before the night was out, some manager sort was going to come along and interrupt the overstuffing of the roll! LOL!
It wasn't all that good, but then it wasn't really a steak sandwich, rather those nasty thin pressed beef things. Steakums? I think that's what they are called.
At any rate, no huge loss, and it was hot. The weather by the way, is quite nice. I'm in shorts, t-shirt and sandals. Not too hot and not too cold. The breeze may make it seem cooler once the sun sets, but for now all is well.
I essentially just wandered around the showcase taking in the special events and entertainments for this night.
Japan had the large screens up again and were playing really old Mickey Mouse cartoons.
The US had Caliente, a Latin Dance Band at the outdoor theatre.
Italy had something going on, but I didn't want to push through the crowd to find out exactly what it was. From the main walkway it looked like a bunch of scaffolding with theater lights and some huge silver overhead disk of some sort. Can't imagine what it was. It was seriously packed though, so folks were certainly finding something interesting about it.
Germany had our Snow White greeting people. She looked lovely as always. I returned to Germany at 6:00 pm hoping to ring in the new year there, but there was no outward display of the time being midnight in the real Germany. A bit of a disappointment.
The hats and noise makers are everywhere. The hats are the same as in years past, only with 2005, and the noisemakers are still as annoying as all get out when 70,000 or so people are blowing them! :eek:
I headed for the UK as it was approaching 7:00 pm. The place was packed; wall to wall people, all with the same intent-ring in the New Year at the UK!
I managed to snug up to a lamp post and not be trampled while I just watched the crowd ebb and flow. Horns were blowing, people were shouting, babies were screaming, teens were chanting, everyone was smiling! The Rose and Crown was so packed and so busy that there were CMs doing "traffic control." One door to enter and the other door to exit. Made sense, but still the place was chaotic.
At about five before seven, nearly every CM in the UK came to the center walkway and formed a circle, including some of the guests. They wratcheted the excitement up to very high levels indeed!
With each passing minute the crowd grew noisier and cheers were shouted.
At one minute before seven (according to whomever's watch :D ) the CMs started counting down. When they hit 7:00 pm the place erupted! British folks surely do like to kiss each other at the new year, don't they? :eek: :D There was excitement, happiness, joy, and resounding laughter throughout the UK area. For a few moments one could actually be lost in nothing but cheer. It was a wonderful, if fleeting sensation.
After a rousing chorus of Auld Lang Syne, the CMs wended their way back to their stations, and the crowd took over. Someone started a conga line and it headed off toward Canada. Some folks just continued cheering and smiling, others headed to the edge of the lagoon hoping to find a place to watch the early show of Illuminations.
Me? I headed for the IG. I'd seen the Holiday version of Illuminations and felt it would be better for me to head back to the car.
The boardwalk was very busy by now, with a DJ playing tunes on the lawn and several live acts.
One caused me to pause, and I'm still wondering if the talent hiring agent for Disney was having a bad day or what.
There was a man on a board, rocking it back and forth on a cylinder, keeping his balance rather well. He was nattering on about something, I didn't quite catch what, when suddenly he reached down to his thighs and tore off his trousers! I am serious! Underneath he had silly looking boxers with some sort of wild pattern on them, hearts maybe, I'm not sure.
Shocked the daylights out of more than just me! As I was wondering if this really was a Disney show, he reached down and tore off the silly looking boxers! :gairy: Under those was another pair, albeit a bit smaller, but no less sillier looking. He called for some "dangerous items" (his words) and was handed some mean looking garden hand tools from someone in the audience. He started juggling those.
I thought it best to leave at this point. I wasn't too sure what he was going to do next, but I was positive that I did not want to be around if he started tearing off more of his clothes.
Further down the boardwalk was a man doing some light magic routines, and the banjo player was serenading a family dining outside at Big River Grille (which was packed by the way, with a huge queue waiting; same thing at ESPN).
By the time I'd made it to the end of the actual boardwalk the fireworks started, so I leaned on the railing and watched from there. As the colorful explosions lit up the night sky, I did what most people do on NYE. I reflected on the year that was just leaving us. I must have been musing pretty thoughfully, as I was startled by the finale.
The smoke from the fireworks was drifing out toward the boardwalk, and a bit of a firework actually landed in the lagoon, fizzling out as it hit the water.
I wandered back to the car, and had an uneventful drive home. The traffic was starting to pick up though, and I felt quite sensible in getting off the roads before things got too crazy.
So, here I am, typing this up, waiting for the New Year to reach our shores.
I expect I'll slip back into my musings and rush to open the bottle of champagne just before the clock ticks 12 midnight. Again.