Brad's Happy Holiday Adventure - Day Seven, Part One

[brad192]

NOTE: Sorry for the delay in reports guys, it's been a crazy couple of weeks. Anyway, on with the show!


Who: Just me – my third consecutive solo trip.
When: Dec. 10-20
Where: Pop Century, room 6459


Day Seven – A Magical Backstage Tour – Part 1

Mickey & Stitch woke me promptly at 7, and I hit the ground running. I didn’t want to be late for my Backstage Magic tour! I get ready, grab an OJ from the food court, and hop a bus to Epcot where I easily find the tour gathering area. I made really good time, so I had a little while to wait. As I sat there, more and more people were arriving. Wow! This is going to be a huge group! Our guides arrive a few minutes before 9, and I realize that there were two tours assembling, and our group, while still rather large, is only about half the people waiting.

We are checked in, ID’d, nametagged, and given our listening devices. We all introduce ourselves to each other, and board the bus to start the tour. ( I won’t go into all the intimate details about the tour, ‘cause that would spoil all the fun for those who haven’t done it yet, but I’ll hit the highlights. ) We ride around the backstage road behind Epcot, and discover how close all the pavilions actually are to each other. Onstage, it would take a few minutes to walk between The Seas & The Land, but backstage it’s about a 30 second stroll. We continue around the road to our first stop, the American Adventure.

We have a large group, so we split into two smaller groups. Deena, our tour leader, takes her people and heads inside while Megan, her assistant, takes the rest of us. We walk around the building while Megan tells us all about how it was made, why it was placed where it was, etc. She also gives us some info on WS, which was still closed, very quiet, and just a little spooky with nobody around. As we head towards the back of the building to go inside, Deena is coming out with her group. Perfect timing! We enter the building and make our way to the “stage” area of the show. I won’t give anything away, but just let me say that the device that moves all the sets on & off is an absolute engineering marvel, and the AA’s are pretty darn cool up close & personal! We learn all about the show & how it works, and even get to touch Mark Twain’s face! Too much fun! We head back to the bus to continue our journey.

Continuing around WS, we see all the backstage areas for the countries, and head into FW where we learn that when you ride TT, you actually go backstage during the high speed outside portion of the ride. Hmm, never thought about that. We then leave Epcot & head for the building that houses all the HR stuff for the CM’s (sorry, I forget the actual name of the building), and learn about the “business” of being a CM at Disney, how many people are employed at WDW, the benefits, incentive programs, etc. We see many CM’s coming & going in their various costumes for the areas they will be working in, and realize that, while the magic is always present onstage, it’s pretty much an ordinary business situation backstage. We head back to the bus and are on our way to DHS.

We arrive at DHS & work our way slowly back to ToT. Our big honkin’ tour bus has a little trouble maneuvering thru the narrow streets, but we manage. Again, our group splits and we wait on the bus for a short time asking Megan all sorts of questions about DHS, working for the Mouse, etc. Soon,it’s our turn & we file off the bus into the backstage area for ToT. We get all sorts of info on the ride, and get to inspect one of the ride vehicles up close. Let me tell you, those things are built like a tank. All solid steel & kind of ugly in the daylight. After our hotel visit, we cruise a little more around the backstage area of DHS, seeing some of the support buildings for the park & the practice area for LMA, and then head for the Wilderness Lodge for lunch at Whispering Canyon. I had finally gained my appetite back and was pretty darn hungry at that point, so I was primed & ready for a nice lunch.

We arrived at WL and were promptly seated in our own reserved area, with our own personal wait staff! How nice! There were about 30 of us, so we took up a pretty good chunk of the dining area. The meal was the standard all-you-can-eat fare, with lots of food for everyone. Ribs, chicken, mashed potatoes, etc. – all really good. I think this place will get an ADR from me my next trip. The wait staff was wonderful, with a lot of joking around & typical attitude. I was hoping someone would ask for ketchup, but wasn’t going to do it myself. By the time dessert rolled around – an incredible fruit cobbler – we were all stuffed & satisfied. After a quick head count to make sure we had everyone, we were back on the bus for our afternoon activities.

Next up – Part 2 – Costumes, carpentry, utilidors, and VIP parade viewing.

[brad192]

Who: Just me – my third consecutive solo trip.
When: Dec. 10-20
Where: Pop Century, room 6459


Day Seven – A Magical Backstage Tour – Part 2

On the bus, we learn we’re headed for some REALLY backstage areas – costuming, laundry, and the building where the props, vehicles, signs, etc. are created & serviced. Oooh! A glimpse into all the hard work & grind that lets all of us feel the magic. We arrive at the WDW laundry facility.

Wow! This was amazing. The first thing we see is the way they handle the laundry. Everything is tagged, coded, or otherwise identified. Huge amounts of laundry move thru this facility in large blue bags, deposited into the cleaning system via a computer controlled system, getting cleansed in a way I can only describe as “amazing” Trust me, any item that needs to be washed at WDW is definitely clean at the end of the process. We learn that, in addition to the general laundry for the resorts, that the costumes for the CM’s are handled differently. All costumes have a bar code that identifies what the costume is, who it’s assigned to, and where the heck it’s at. I guess “One on the rack, one in the sack, one on your back” still applies. It’s kind of neat to see not only how the ordinary laundry is done, but how all the costumes are handled as well. We leave the laundry & make our way to the building where all the real life design, refurb, and creation occurs for the “Magic” you see on stage.

This building was one of the first to be built on WDW property, as it was needed for construction of everything else. It’s a huge building that houses machine shops, carpentry shops, a large highbay where ride pieces & vehicles are brought in to be assembled or refurbished, and a lot of “off limits” areas we weren’t allowed to visit. It was here that we got to see an old AA from Kitchen Kaberet up close & observe all the intricacies of how it worked. Really neat stuff. We then head for costuming.

We enter an area where the designers work creating costumes for the various characters, and see pencil art, watercolors and miniature costumes for Cinderella, Belle, etc. The whole process, from concept to finished costume, is explained to us as we move from room to room seeing the various stages of creating costumes, wigs, accessories, etc. It’s an enormous tailor shop – actually several shops – and as we are about to exit, a “very close friend” of Belle appears, all decked out in her finest yellow attire! Kind of put an exclamation point on this part of the tour. We exit the building smiling, and head back to our bus for the short ride to MK, our final stop on the tour.

We pull up backstage behind Tony’s where we get a brief lecture on how MK was built & the function of the utilidors. We then head thru a backstage door, down a flight of stairs and into the tunnels. We walk a little ways thru the corridors, while learning about all the different activities that happen down here, and how it really is the arterial system that keeps MK functioning so well. For any of you who haven’t been in the utilidors, it really is kind of anticlimactic, as it’s pretty spartan & industrial down there. You do however, gain a new appreciation of just how hard everyone works to make all the Guests happy. It was getting near parade time, so we climbed back up the stairs, out of the building, and thru a gate onto Main Street down near the Hub. The CM’s had the street nearly clear of people, but we were VIP’s! Our group walked right up the middle of the street like we owned the place, while all the parade viewers were wondering who we were & why we got special treatment. It was kind of fun, but I did feel just a little self-conscious. We made our way to the VIP viewing area at Town Square, right where the parade exits backstage, and had front row, no obstruction viewing for the whole thing. Nice. We milled about a little afterwards, letting the crowd disperse, then headed back to the bus for our ride back to Epcot & the end of our tour.

Back at Epcot, we exited the bus & got our special Backstage Magic tour pins. We thanked our guides, Deena & Megan, and went our separate ways. I headed for the front gate of Epcot. I had a 6:15 ADR at Teppan Edo, but was still really full from lunch, so wasn’t sure whether I’d keep it. Inside the park, I headed for WS & caught part of the CP before seeing AA again. I wandered thru Germany, Japan, and Mexico before deciding to cancel my ADR, as I just wasn’t hungry. After returning to Japan to do that, I headed for FW, where I rode TT & M:S before deciding to head for Pop. I really wanted to see Illuminations again, but I was feeling tired by then & didn’t want to wait that long and then fight the crowds to get back. I headed for the exit, but SSE pulled me in like a black hole for just one more ride. That done, I jumped on a bus & was back at Pop in no time. I grabbed a salad and some fruit from the food court, headed back to my room, and happily watched Mary Poppins while having my snack. Setting a wake-up call for 8:30, I hit the sack about 11. Next up – a fun day at AK, and FINALLY, my first ride on EE!

[KylesMom]

I'm so glad that you're feeling better and that you were able to make the tour. It really sounds like a fabulous time.

Looking forward to hearing more details, Brad!

[mouseketeer mom]

That was just a fantastic report. Loved every minute. My kids still aren't at an age where we can tour the whole day, but we are doing Keys to the Kingdom in March and your report got me super excited. Thanks so very much. Loved the details!

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the Report!

[faline]

Great tour! I'll have to put that on our future list of must-dos!

[hoop de do]

Brad: Thanks a billion. That was a very thorough and exciting report. Glad you got your appetite back. I'm always heading to the fridge after your reports. I have never done the Tour but your report convinced me that I must my next trip. Hope to catch you at the WORLD again someday.

[DizNee143]

what a great day on that tour!! sounded like lots of fun..im looking into doing another tour when i go back in nov...this one sounds very good!! so glad your feeling all better...

[dolphinmickey9170]

That was an awesome report. I think that tour must be on my list of things to do!! Thanks for sharing.

[Bethis26fan]

Sounds like a nice day.