Finally got some time this afternoon to review my 10/11 - 10/18 trip. I've been down to WDW for the F&W Fest almost every year since '06, but this may have been one of the best yet! If there was a theme, it may have been serendipity. We just had so many lucky or fortunate incidents on this trip, that I don't want to get used to that happening all the time. Some of my serendipitous trip wins ...
1) New Fantasyland
Many of my October trips have been going along with my parents. They have an RV that they take down to Ft Wilderness, and then I usually fly down and meet them. I split the trip up doing plenty of solo stuff, but my parents are also a pretty fun pair to hang out with. On Friday 10/12, We headed as group to do rope drop at the MK. By 10:30 AM or so we had already hit all the major rides and I was going to head back to the RV. My Dad wanted to check out the new Storybook Circus area. I was thinking about bailing, but something told me to stick around with them. On the way there we passed the fence/gate/planter area of New Fantasyland which was closed with a line of folks outside. I told my parents that they were probably waiting for the Belle Storytime thing as they've been doing previews. After checking out the Circus area, they were opening the gates towards Belle's area just as we were walking by. A cast member waived us in, but I declined, and told my parents I really had no interest in the Belle story stuff as I'd seen it online. The cast member then told me that I really should go in and take a walk around. I figured what the heck ... so I went in to discover all sorts of WDW execs and the entire area OPEN (except for Be Our Guest). I asked a CM if this was the 1st day open, and he said that we were probably within the 1st 100 folks to see it as it just opened minutes before! How cool is that!? If I would have left before checking out the Circus area like I was going to do, I would have missed it ...
2) Epcot 30th Merch
I'm a huge retro EPCOT fan, and consider myself a child of EPCOT as I grew up visiting the park from the beginning, and it's always been my favorite. I missed the 30th anniversary by a bit, but there was a specific 30th shot glass set I was still hoping to find. On 10/12 on the way to hit the Boardwalk for the DIS meet (already had a few beers in me by this point) I stopped by Mouse Gear in Epcot. As I was checking out the reto gear and some left over 30th merch, I asked a CM about the shot glasses as I didn't see them. The CM mentioned that all the boxes sold out immediately, and there's currently no more stock
Since I had a few brews in me, I started up a nice conversation with some folks in the store who may (or may not) have been CMs (I won't confirm or deny in case any potential CM rules were broken). After some talk of my love for old school EPCOT, one of the gals told me that there was a rumor of a few more 'toothpick holder' sets and if found they'll be put up for sale. She took my cell # and said she would text if anything popped up. Sunday 10/14 I got a text early afternoon that some glass sets have appeared. I headed on over to Epcot and got my prize (along with a couple Unibroue Ephemere brews from Canada):
Another case of great timing! By Sunday evening they were all sold out again.
3) Meeting John Lasseter
Yep ... I got to meet the man! When they released the F&W seminar schedule I noticed we were visiting during a Lasseter Family wine tasting hosted by Nancy Lasseter. John and Nancy were also hosting a dinner at Citricos a couple days later. I figured there's a good chance John would also be at the seminar ... and I was right! We got there early and were the 2nd group in line, right in front of the AllEars team. Got a seat right in the front row.
The Lasseter's provided a really nice info package along with some other swag. After the seminar I was able to get them autographed:
4) Meeting DISers
Finally, got to say how great again it was meeting and hanging out with the folks from the DIS. If anybody is on the fence about dropping by during a meet ... just do it! After some 'hair of the dog' Saturday morning, I had a great time at the F&W Fest day on through Jellyrolls. Also had fun Friday night up until a missing time incident that I'll just attribute to alien abduction. For the DISers I met, If you're near Philly on the I-95 corridor, you're always welcome to drop by Casa de Brocktoon!