Our plans

Here's what we have planned for our trip. If you see something called a "meet", it's a get together with our friends for MouseFest. The fest is a get together of Disney people: travel agents, forums, artists, and authors. It's also a chance for people to not only meet them, but to see each other after talking remotely online. John and I have met people who have become good friends this way, and it'll be great to see each other again and share in some great experiences.

Tuesday, December 9th:

• Leave home in early AM
• Stay at Kingsland KOA

Wednesday, December 10th:

• Check-in at Fort Wilderness Campground Resort
• Have dinner with our friends at the Trails End Restaurant
• The Fort Wilderness Lights and Dogs Tour! We're hosting this meet with our friends Gary and Carol from Canada; we giving a tour of all the holiday decorations in the resort, the official ones and the ones everyone put up around their sites and cabins. Afterwards, we're going back to our sites for dessert, featuring goodies you can only get from our region and their home region in Canada. At the end, we're going to the beach for the fireworks and water electrical parade. We also have a few gifts for each of our guests, including a button/pin I designed. I can't tell you how excited I am about this! And just as thrilling are the people who have said this is one of the things they are most looking forward to doing.
  

Thursday, December 11th:

• Welcome meet: this is an All Ears Net event along with the PassPorter authors. This has grown so large, we have to be at the Contemporary. They used to just get together at the Tomorrowland Noodle Station.
• Dole Whip Meet
• Tomorrowland Big Three Meet: we see how much we can risk getting thrown out of the Magic Kingdom by going into the Carousel of Progress and singing along; riding one of our all time favorites, the couch with a breeze, the PeopleMover (or TTA); and finally, John and I resort to our full level of maturity by cheating and screwing with each other so we can try to win at Buzz Lightyear.
• Dinner at the Grand Floridian Cafe; it'll be our first time dining at this hotel. Of course, we want to see all the decorations in each hotel, including the Floridian's full size gingerbread house that has a store inside. On the way back, I want to stop at the Contemporary's fireworks balcony to see Wishes at the castle. They pipe in the music like you were in the park.

Friday, December 12th:

• Deb Wills' Africa meet in AK
• Everest meet
• Studios - Toy Mania meet
• Stop, Drop & Roll Meet: a bunch of us are riding Rock N Roller Coaster & Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

John and I then separate out of necessity. He's:

• Eating at Mom's Prime Time with a number of friends.
• Ho Ho Ho Lotta Lights meet: we were both co-hosts for the Osbourne Lights and I adore the Lights, but I became an All Ears Net team member and we're having a team function. So I'll catch the lights later.

I'm heading for:

• The Gaylord Palms: Deb Wills and her All Ears Team are having a get together to celebrate a good year for the site and the holidays together. And I am so lucky to be part of them! We're having dinner and then touring ICE! Everyone who has seen it has told me this is fantastic! What a great treat! ICE! has a webcam so if you're looking at it starting at 9pm on Friday night, you might see the All Ears team going through!

John and I then meet up again for:

• The Gift Exchange: a big number of us are doing a Yankee Swap. We're meeting at the Yacht Club for it. We got a couple good gifts, including a piece of Disneyana!

Saturday, the 13th:

John knows what a great morning person I am - NOT! But when we saw who else was doing this, we signed up for -

• The PhotoWalk Meet: our friends Barrie and Lisa are wonderful photographers. They're taking us around the Boardwalk resort area for a photo tour. We're finishing at the Bakery for coffee and pastry!
• We volunteered to help at the big gathering: the Mega Meet. I'm also going to be at the All Ears table, plus greeting at the convention center entrance. This year, besides all the other great vendors, we're meeting Lee Cockerell, Former Executive Vice President, Operations at the Walt Disney World Resort; he's written "Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney." and will be signing autographs.
• After collasping -- :) -- we're having dinner at the San Angel Inn.
• Illuminations dessert party with friends
• KARAOKE meet! LOL! At Kimonos lounge in the Swan. See Johnny Black sing Mack the Knife!

Sunday, the 13th:

Things slow down as far as meets. But it's a classic!

• Capture the Magic! A photo scavenger hunt! Last year, our team won first place. The best part is the fun in taking pictures as you try to convince strangers to do things like hoe-down at Country Bears while you trash talk with other teams!
• Dine at Le Cellier with our friends.
• Deb Will's Illuminations party

Monday, the 15th:

MouseFest is over at this point.

• Hollywood Studios day
• Lunch at Kona Cafe at the Polynesian with friends
• Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge with our friends

Tuesday, the 16th:

• A Magic Kingdom day
• Dinner at Artist Point at the Wilderness Lodge

Wednesday, the 17th:

• Animal Kingdom Day! Including evening Extra Magic Hours! (Which means only a limited number of resort guests can stay late). The lighting here is fantastic!
• Lunch at the Pepper Market in the Coronado Springs
• Dinner at the new Tusker House buffet in the Animal Kingdom

Thursday, the 18th:

• Epcot! Seeing the Holidays around the World!
  
• Late lunch at Chefs de France.
• Candlelight Processional!

Friday, the 19th:

• Breakfast at the Crystal Palace before Magic Kingdom opens! I want to get photos before the crowd comes in.
• Play around in MK during the morning.
• Studios in the afternoon!
• Fantasmic to close the vacation

Saturday, the 20th:

Pack, leave, and cry!

Of course, we'll be visiting Downtown Disney throughout the trip and the Christmas Chalet which is taking dogs this year! We are really going to miss the Adventures Club though! It was a big part of our vacation!