Hot stuff at Lights, Motors, Action
But of course, we have travel troubles. We tried doing the remote check-in desk again. As it turns out, there appears to be a problem with the fact that we have an apostrophe in our last name. They couldn't print our boarding passes, but they could for my in-laws. The apostrophe apparently would be taken by the check-in interface, but since the reservation had the apostrophe they couldn't just omit it. Same thing happened last July, although the relatively inexperienced people at the desk then didn't pick up on what the issue might have been. This time, however, they were able to at least check in all our bags so we didn't have to transport them with us and have all that fun like we had getting to the resort. I complained to JetBlue - although they hadn't heard other reports of this problem (they never do...), they would forward it to the "appropriate team".Hot stuff at Lights, Motors, Action
We still made it for rope drop, although we weren't very far up the road. We did our usual Tower of Terror/Rockin' Roller Coaster run to start while the in-laws occupied DD#2.
Our first major item this time was to bring the in-laws to see Lights, Motors, Action. We had no problem getting in, and the show was good - but pretty much the same as what we saw in July, so a certain surprise in the show just wasn't surprising to us. This is something that if you've seen it before, you can skip it again. I did get some good action shots again, including the stunt person on fire and some mid-air shots...I like the new camera so much more than the old one....aaaaaand, PRINT!
Then it was time for our character lunch at Hollywood & Vine, with Leo and June from Little Einsteins, along with Jojo and Goliath. H&V is generally a rather simple buffet served in a diner-like atmosphere, but we like it. The characters make their rounds, and periodically the characters and other Cast Members will do a song-and-dance number, inviting the kids up to join them. DD#2 loved this so much, at one point she just got out of her seat and started dancing around several tables - even though they weren't doing it at the time.
At one point, Leo came to our table and was trying to sign the autograph book, but was having trouble getting the pen to work. I let slip, "I thought Leo was the smart one..." Trust me, these characters can give you a nasty look, even though they can't blink. But it was in good fun. At least it was after I apologized.
After lunch we caught the holiday version of the Stars and Motorcars parade, which also was led off by Princess Giselle from Enchanted. Many of the parade characters and/or their vehicles were dressed up for the holidays. One unusual item is that the parade still featured Bear In The Big Blue House and PB&J Otter characters - even though they had been dropped from Playhouse Disney programming for some time.Mickey and Minnie in the Holiday Stars and Motorcars Parade
After the parade, some of us went to One Man's Dream, an exhibit on Walt Disney that we hadn't actually been to before. There are all sort of exhibits of things from Walt's childhood, things he created, and models of plans for Walt Disney World. There was a movie as well, but because we had split up and needed to meet up again we skipped it - it is on our list for next time though. Leaving there, we caught a couple of the Little Einsteins and grabbed pictures with the kids.
After that, we went to the Magic Of Disney Animation, and went through the whole exhibit. Afterwards we got pictures with Emile of Ratatouille (Remy had disappeared) and the Incredibles, and talked with a cast member who was from the Massachusetts area. He told us something interesting. When you are on the tour, and you are in the small theater where the animator speaks, look all about the room. There are all sorts of things on shelves...some are obvious (like a Woody doll), but others you might wonder about. One is a picture of the late Tom Yawkey (although it may not still be there), who had owned the Boston Red Sox. Why would there be a picture of Tom Yawkey in a Disney exhibit? According to the CM (who I apologize for not remembering his name, but too much time has passed), the CMs who work there are allowed to bring in personal items to decorate that room. His was a picture of Tom Yawkey. When he was a young kid, the Yawkeys were friends of his family, and did a lot for them.Santa is in this parade too!
At this point, it was time to go home.
It was a relatively uneventful ride back to the airport, except for some nasty looking clouds. Sure enough, weather delays started to happen. I don't remember what time we took off, but we got to Logan airport around midnight - when the airport is mostly empty. And Terminal C is eerie when it is empty.
Since we had lots of bags, I grabbed a baggage cart near the gate, loaded it with our carry-ons, and head out of the gate area to the baggage claim. Now, the problem is that our plane got in pretty late. The security gates were closed. The only way they had to baggage claim which was on a lower level was a set of stairs/escalators - you can't take a heavy duty baggage cart down those. Two security guys just kind of stood there. I asked one of them if they could let us out via the door with the cart so I could take the elevator down, and he seemed incredibly annoyed at such a request! Uhhh...planes and people are still arriving, why is the door closed?!? He opened the door, but when I had to stop because a bag fell off the cart and I picked it up, he started yelling that I couldn't stop because the alarm would go off! What was I to do, leave it behind? He was just a total jerk about it, considering that the door shouldn't have been locked in the first place AND it is his job to deal with it.
But we were able to get our bags (always a good thing given that US Airways lost ours the year before - that trip report has yet to be written), and we packed up the van and went home, ending our first ever (and we do not plan it to be our last) holiday adventure at Walt Disney World.
