MouseFest Sunday December 9, 2007

Sunday, December 9th.

This was an early start again as the first meet of the day was the Tonga toast Breakfast at the Kona Café at the Polynesian Resort.
There were a lot of people waiting for breakfast.

A good time was had by all especially when Annette, Deb, and Beci began the raffling off of goodies for all.

After breakfast Matt Hochberg handed over the funds raised at Mousefest 101 for Lou Mongello’s make a Wish Foundation efforts and for Deb Wills’ Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

Your hosts for the Kona CafeTonga Toast Breakfast meet.

After the breakfast I wanted to grab a little “me” time so I sort of faded away from everyone and sauntered over to the Grand Floridian to check out the decorations.

In years passed the lobby tree basically had a beige/white color scheme going but this year the tree had that natural look.

The gingerbread house was looking good and even more detailed than in past years. I noticed a few not so hidden Mickeys.

From there I went to the Magic Kingdom to meet up with Lou Mongello and Jeff Pepper as they ran their first Disney Scene Investigation meet through the area of Frontierland.

Lou and Jeff had about 120 people at one point.

I need to let everyone know that it may not be a good idea to plant yourself under any trees in Frontierland.

It seems that the bird population, namely those miniature cranes that frequent the area, like to perch on the trees and if you do the math, if some 30 or 40 birds are perched on a tree above your head then chances are that they may deliver an unwanted present.

Thanks to Deanna Mongello for warning me.

Well the crowd following Jeff and Lou was pretty big and I had a hankering for a Dole Whip.

Once the Dole Whip hankerin’ was fed I headed out to Tomorrowland to check the Tomorrowland speedway. I have a friend who is working there and wanted to check to see if he was working on this day.

He wasn’t. I guess if I had to choose the absolute last CM job in TMK that deals with an attraction my guess is that the Speedway attraction would be it”¦especially in the summertime”¦don’t think I could deal with the smell, heat, and noise all day long.

I met up with Dave and Jennifer Marx, Mark Goldhaber, and Deb Wills for lunch at the Plaza restaurant. We chatted a bit regarding what we observed for Mousefest 2007 and tossed around ideas for Mousefest 2008.

Yep, you might say the planning has already begun.

From there we went over to watch Lou Mongello do his Triviafest meet, always a popular meet.

It was during that meet that folks start to say goodbye and head home. I said goodbye to a few friends and then convinced a few friends that we needed to visit Aloha Isle for, you guessed it, another Dole Whip. I figured this was my last day in Magic Kingdom so I had to make the best of it.

From there I headed to Boardwalk to check out the Patriots-Steelers football game at the ESPN Club.

I then joined the All Ears team for dinner at Spoodles.

Spoodles has come a long way since the mid 90’s. I have eaten there several times over the last few years and have enjoyed every meal.

After Spoodles it was on to the International Gateway and the Illuminations Dessert Party. Ahh yes more desserts”¦I guess I shouldn’t tell you that I lost about 12 pounds on this trip”¦despite the dessert parties.

Watching Illuminations with friends on the last full day of the land portion of Mousefest has to be the only way to properly finish Mousefest.

But there was more.

After Illuminations we were taken backstage through the gates to where the Millennium Village had been set up and down towards a portion of the park.

There was no indication as to where we were going until Deb Wills whispered something into Fred Block’s ear and Fred’s eyes exploded as he yelled out, “Hey Everyone! We’re going Soarin’.

Yep, Beci Manhken and Mouse Fan Travel had raised the bar yet again with this little bonus to the Illuminations dessert party.

Imagine riding Soarin’ with a slew of your friends.

It doesn’t get any better than this.

Of course it gets worse because at the end of this day comes all the rest of the goodbyes.

All the planning and execution regarding everything Mousefest finally comes to an end and the hugs and handshakes are for a job well done and an emotional “See you next year.”

I headed back to my resort room and along the way flashes of memorable Mousefest moments danced around my head.

I was tired, but I was a happy tired.