Deb's Digest

I was going through some old photos recently and thought I would share some with you.

25th Birthday Magic Kingdom Castle

Test Track Pre-Opening Sign

The "Original" Wand on Spaceship Earth

Tower of Terror Construction Photo #1

Tower of Terror Construction Photo #2

Tower of Terror Construction Photo #3

I awoke bright and early this morning, ready to head over to the Magic Kingdom! I was very excited about seeing the newly rehabbed Haunted Mansion.

The early morning is always pretty, even if it is very cloudy! This is the pool in the Arcadian Section of Port Orleans Riverside.

And as I made my way to the food court, I had to stop and take this photo....

After a ham and cheese omelet at the Riverside Mill I made my way to the Magic Kingdom via the Dolphin.

You'll find the entrance to the Dolphin (street side) under construction and walled off. You must head left past the regular entrance to get to the temporary entrance in the convention center. The actual doors are being totally removed and new sliding doors installed in their place. One Cast member told me it would be finished in December, the other said it would be 3-4 months.

As I walked into the Magic Kingdom, I saw Chicken Little and Pinocchio in front of City Hall posing for photographs. Walking down Main Street, several Cast Members were welcoming guests with Mickey Gloves.

I barely walked a few steps and there was the Mayor of Main Street greeting guests as they began their day. He was kind enough to stop and catch a photo with me.

The Magic Kingdom really was decked out in fall / Halloween decorations.

The lands weren't yet opened and instead of standing at the rope drop, I hung back on Main Street to enjoy the atmosphere. I was quite surprised when I found an empty Frontierland about 9:15 this morning

First stop was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which reopened yesterday after a month long rehab. While there are no "new" effects or scenes (according to the Cast Members) there were some general enhancements to the scenery as well as upgraded audio! It was as Wild a Ride as always!

Soon it was time to meet my friends Tod and Sue from Michigan. I've known them over 9 years and have spent many a great vacation with them. We rode the Haunted Mansion together, not once but twice. We were all excited about the changes to the Mansion. Kudos to the Imagineers and all who were involved in this upgrade! The changes are numerous, so you may want to ride a couple times, as we did. Definitely back on the must see each trip list!

To be continued...Friday Part 2

Friday continued.....

Tod and Sue accompanied me around the Magic Kingdom as I took photos and got menus. I ran into David, the Cast Member I had met earlier at Peter Pan. He was very nice and made me smile in Neverland, so I made a point to stop and chat with him as his duties changed to trash pickup.

When we reached Tomorrowland we decide to ride the TTA. As we exited I saw PUSH the talking trash can for the first time ever. I know the photo isn't the greatest, but when was the last time you tried to photograph a moving trash can LOL.

We then went into the Laugh Floor Comedy Club. Tod and Sue had not seen it before and my only time was during the soft opening. It certainly has gotten better since my first visit back in January. Tod and Sue both enjoyed it; Sue said it was a strong "C" ticket attraction and Tod felt it was between a "C" and "D" ticket.

All too soon it was time for me to head off and say goodbye to Tod and Sue. As I arrived at the Polynesian, I hit the "trifecta" by seeing all 4 hosts of WDW Today podcast, Mike, Matt, Len and Mike. We, along with Beci from MEI and MouseFanTravel enjoyed lunch at the Kona Cafe.

After lunch I went over to Pleasure Island to get my ticket for Saturday night's Tower of Terror Race Party. It was like a homecoming seeing so many familiar faces and friends! One of the first people I saw was Masayo, my friend from Japan. She introduced me to her friend Nozomi.

The inside of Motions was quite crowded with folks not only getting the TOT party tickets, but also their race packets! It was here I met up with All Ears team member, Linda Mac.

Outside, I found some of my friends from Tagrel.com. Many of them are participating in the race Saturday evening!

Linda Mac and I wandering into the Marketplace area with Masayo and Nozomi and did a little shopping. We walked right past the new construction site of TRex, the themed restaurant opening next year at Downtown Disney.

I headed back to Port Orleans to get some rest before heading out to Epcot for the evening. Unfortunately, I was much more tired that I thought and had to cancel my plans to nosh around the world with AllEars team member Laura Gilbreath and her husband, Lee. :(

I grabbed some dinner at the food court and called it a night.

Coming on Saturday - Ft. Wilderness Segway Tour and Tower of Terror Race Party.

What are you doing on Friday, September 26th?

Any chance you will be in the Magic Kingdom?

Join Deb Wills, LindaMac, Jack Spence, Barrie Brewer and Lisa Berton of All Ears at a Haunted Mansion Attic meet!

We will all be in the Magic Kingdom on Friday as part of the WDWCelebrations.com -- A World Wide Weekend (Free Registration for A World Wide Weekend ends September 19th).

There is free time in the schedule so we decided to do a meet and greet.

At 11:45am we'll gather near the old FastPass machines to the left of the Haunted Mansion entrance and will get in line promptly at noon!

We will be trying to locate some of the more difficult items in the Haunted Mansion's attic! Jack will be there to give us some hints to help us spot a couple of the items.

After exiting the ride, we will meet in the Columbia Harbor House upstairs to get some lunch and chat about our discoveries.

The whole event will end no later than 1:45pm as we will be off to the next WDWCelebrations meet at 2:00pm.

Come join us for a spooky time at the Haunted Mansion!

RSVP if you'd like. Just click on Deb's Blog on the Blog comment page.

See you soon!

Deb