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 Disney
Feature:
MouseFest 2004 Fun
or "Impressions de Fest"
by Dave Marx, PassPorter co-author and publisher
MouseFest
2004 has come and gone, and darn it, we still owe you a report! We’re delighted
to say that this annual “grand gathering” of Internet-based Walt Disney World
fans at Walt Disney World seems to have been a smashing success. Whether folks
were cruising on the Disney Wonder (December 5-9), cavorting at Walt Disney
World (December 9-13) or some combination of both, all we saw was smiling faces.
And face it, as co-organizers of MouseFest, if there were problems, we would
have heard! Alas, Jennifer and I meet a
whole lot of people during MouseFest and get to spend quality time with very few
of them. Most folks reading this will do far better than we do. We see them all
around us, hugging and brightening in recognition as screen names and avatars
morph into real people with real faces. For many, MouseFest has become a “Same
time next year” reunion, with everyone pledging to return before they part
company. Consider it a kind of winter summer camp for grownups. Like summer
camp, we end up doing things we’d never do back home, all in the name of fun.
Some of us are like camp counselors, hosting
get-togethers, making introductions, handing out little party favors, and making
sure everyone is having a good time. Others are more like
counselors-in-training, preparing to host their own events next year. And most
folks are just plain happy campers.
This year’s MouseFest was bigger and better
than ever. The
Pocket Guide to Events, a 4.25” x 5.5” booklet that Jennifer and
I have put together every year since 1999, grew to 60 pages! (While the name MouseFest was new last year, the tradition of Internet communities gathering in
early December at Walt Disney World goes back much farther.) This year’s Pocket
Guide listed 10 events on the MouseFest cruise, and 64 events at Walt Disney
World. If only we could have attended all of them!
Remarkably, in a World where everything but the
magic carries a price tag, nearly all these meets were (and are) free to all.
Sure, if you’re doing a dinner meet at Crystal Palace you have to pay your fair
share of the tab, and if you want to be at the Splash Mountain meet, you need
admission to Magic Kingdom. But that’s all. Every community opens its meets to
any and all comers. When there is a charge, it’s just enough to cover costs.
Everyone’s creating and running events because they want to share the fun with
their online friends.
Unfortunately, between caring for
Baby Alexander
(certainly no chore) and attending to various behind-the-scenes tasks as
co-organizers of MouseFest, Jennifer and I attended only a small portion of
these offerings. Here are some of our fonder memories:
Sunday - Port Canaveral Meet and Greet -
10:30 am at the cruise terminal coffee shop. Well, I didn’t see too many folks at
the coffee shop – we were all standing together in the pre-boarding queue! It
was like one, big, happy family, which is no exaggeration, considering the four Marxes, Jennifer’s sister, brother-in-law and sister-in-law were part of the
group. You wouldn’t believe the number of people who weren’t aware of MouseFest
who recognized Jennifer and me in the queue and complimented us on our
Disney
Cruise Line guidebook.
Sunday - Bon Voyage Sail Away Party - 4:30 pm. We
passed out over 100 bottles of MouseFest bubbles on Deck 10, to help make the
Wonder’s departure from Port Canaveral that much more festive. We gave a bunch
of bottles to a non-MouseFest family that wanted them for their upcoming
shipboard wedding, which meant we were no longer strangers – it’s nice to feel a
part of other people’s happy events.
Monday - Nassau Walking Tour - 10:00 am.
About 25 of us gathered for a walk ‘round Nassau town. This tour has become a
tradition for me – all too many cruisers are deterred by the aggressive locals
hustling business near the pier, so I lead folks for a casual, two-hour walk
that takes them to the charming sights that lie a bit farther from the ship. The
gauntlet of hawkers was worse than any other visit I can recall, but the tour
group seemed to enjoy themselves after we extricated ourselves from the throng.
The view from Fort Fincastle was as glorious as ever, but the waterfall that
used to grace the Queen’s Staircase was dry as a bone. An elderly street vendor
offered to tell us why, if only I’d buy a soft drink from her. It seemed like a
fair deal, especially since I was as parched as that waterfall. Turns out, the
water pump that fed the cascade burned out, and there’s been some disagreement
over who should pay for the replacement. Considering the hurricane damage that
is still being repaired all over town, the government has been less than
enthusiastic about footing the bill for this project, too, but it looks like
that’s what will happen, eventually.
Tuesday - Adult WaveBands Fun - 10:00 pm.
'70s
Night at the ship’s adult nightclub is always fun, and even more so when a bunch
of MouseFesters are recruited to perform. Hidden Mickeys spouse Vicki Barrett
won the Gloria Gaynor lipsync contest (yes, she will survive!), and three of us
morphed into YMCA-dwelling Village People. (Why is it natural for guys to be
shirtless at the pool or beach, but risqué to be topless on stage?)
To see our bare chests for yourself (and to
enjoy many other memories of MouseFest) visit Deb Wills’ MouseFest 2004
Scrapbook at http://allearsnet.com/btp/mf/mf2004.htm
Thursday - PassPorter Allie & Alex’s Viking
Cruise - 4:00 pm (Epcot’s Norway pavilion). “Jennifer, he looks just like you!”
“Doesn’t he look just like Dave?” “Oh, he’s just adorable!” “He’s soooo
well-behaved!” “Allie is such a good big sister!” Yes, we shamelessly held a
meet at Norway’s Viking Ship just so we could collect compliments about Baby
Alexander and his big sister, Allie. But then, four-month-old Alexander tended
to be the center of attention wherever we went. So much for being famous
authors! (kidding)
Thursday - Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
- 8:00 pm. If you think Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom
sounds like fun, wait until you share it with several hundred like-minded
people, gathered together curbside to watch the Christmas Parade, or lining the
Rose Garden Path to gasp in awe at the Wishes fireworks. “Isn’t this just like
the regular Walt Disney World experience,” you ask? Maybe, but there’s a big
difference between standing in a crowd of strangers where you haven’t quite let
down your guard, and standing in a throng of friends who are openly sharing
their joy and insights – just like a huge, extended family. As you make your way
around the park you keep bumping into familiar faces sporting MouseFest buttons,
and the whole park begins to feel like one big, happy family reunion.
Friday - 5th Annual Kilimanjaro Safari
Meet – 9:15 am. Deb Wills has been organizing this gathering for a while
now – dozens of us gather outside this popular Animal Kingdom attraction,
snapping pictures and renewing old acquaintance until the magic moment when we
enter the queue and find out just how many safari vehicles we can fill. This
year, I think we filled three. Well over 100 of us helped save Little Red –
that’s enough to scare off any band of poachers!
Saturday - Mega Mouse Meet – 1:00 pm. To some, MouseFest is symbolized by the Mega Mouse Meet, a two-hour event that we held
this year in a large meeting room at the Swan resort. From the standpoint of
organizing MouseFest, this is certainly the most involved, expensive, and
time-consuming event to put on, and it attracts the biggest crowd of MouseFest.
But even so, if we can judge by the head count (about 400), no more than half of
all “MouseFesters” attend. It’s definitely “Diff’rent strokes for diff’rent
folks,” and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
More than a dozen rectangular tables lined the
perimeter of the room, each hosted by an online community, web master or author.
Folks made their way around the room meeting and greeting the “celebrities” (who
naturally, turned out to be just plain, warm folk with the same passion for
Disney as everyone else). Some of us signed autographs, and most of us had
little goodies to hand out – you could walk away with a pretty big bag of
“loot.” One table was set aside for the “real” kids; with kids-only pin trading
and other activities (Allie added several new pins to her Lion King-themed
collection). Meantime, in the middle of the room we had scattered a bunch of
tables and chairs, so folks could sit down and just shoot the breeze. And that’s
just what they did. Several communities used Mega Mouse Meet as their
community’s principal meet-and-greet event, and even some communities that
didn’t have a formal presence at MouseFest wound-up having impromptu meets when
they spotted folks sporting the same buttons they were wearing.
Saturday - MouseEarVacations Private Party at
the Adventurers Club – 6:15 pm. As fans of Downtown Disney Pleasure Island’s
Adventurers Club, we have oft been turned away when the club’s opening is
delayed an hour by an early evening private party. Oh to be a part of one of
those parties, hobnobbing with the Permanent Members of the club while nibbling
all sorts of good eats! After trying for several years to organize one on my own
(the up-front charges for such an event are quite intimidating), MouseFest
2004’s official travel agency took up the challenge, offering tickets to the
party as a perk for booking a vacation package with the agency. Bless them! The
party was a huge success! Surprisingly, at least half of the guests had never
been to the Adventurers Club before. It was gratifying to see their delight as
the evening’s zany antics unfolded. As special guests, Jennifer, Deb Wills and I
knew that we were going to be singled-out for “fun” by members of the cast. The
only problem was… Deb and Jennifer got away scot-free! So, not only was I a
stripped-to-the-waist Village Person on the cruise, but the Adventurers Club’s
stone-faced sculpture Babylonia, Goddess of Women and All Things Fertile, called
me up to properly abase myself and to do a somewhat suggestive dance involving
all sorts of pelvic gyrations in front of the gathered throng. Well, at least I
didn’t have to wear a lampshade on my head!
Sunday - PassPorter Treasure Hunt -1:00 pm.
“Magic Kingdom Day” normally has the longest roster of events, but Jennifer and
I were beginning to run out of steam. So our apologies to everyone who was
meeting at Buzz, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Mickey’s PhilharMagic, Haunted Mansion
or Stitch, or were participating in the Unofficial Guide’s Touring Plan
Challenge, Jim Hill’s guided tour, or Steve Barrett’s Hidden Mickey hunt (and
that’s just half of the day’s activities) – we didn’t see you at any of them.
But we did make it to the PassPorter Treasure Hunt, which is a good thing, since
we were hosting it. We do a Treasure Hunt every year, and this one was a sample
from our upcoming book, PassPorter’s Treasure Hunts at Walt Disney World. Disney
scavenger hunt experts Jen and Jeff Carter, who are contributors to the new book
and organize the day-long “Great Race” scavenger hunt throughout Walt Disney
World property, were on hand to co-host this hunt through the byways and
attractions of Tomorrowland. About 25 hunters participated, either as
individuals or in teams. As always, since we couldn’t be out there hunting, one
of our biggest joys was the chance to sit in one place and socialize – while
folks arrived before the hunt, during the hunt as friends dropped by to hang-out
and the faster hunters came back with their answers, and afterwards, as we
totaled the scores and announced the winners – Carole Kelly (individual) and
James & Linda Dezern (team). The winners received “Golden Mickey” statuettes
from the Disney Wonder’s stage show of the same name.
Sunday - WDW TriviaFest Meet – 2:00 pm.
Pity the
poor event organizers! Nearly our entire day was taken up with meetings and
planning for MouseFest 2005, but we did manage to make time for Lou Mongello’s
trivia meet at Disney-MGM Studios’ Backlot Express. Lou is author of the Walt
Disney World Trivia Book, but this was his first MouseFest. He and his wife
Linda put on a great trivia quiz, or rather, a series of quizzes. Everyone
present received numbered tickets, which were used to select the contestants for
each quiz. Everyone had a great time, and even the attending “gods” of Disney
knowledge managed to be stumped at least once. Good going, guys!
Well, all good things must come to an end, and
considering how long this article is, that’s probably a very good thing. Our
thanks to everyone who make MouseFest what it is – the meet hosts, the authors
and webmasters, the communities, the Pocket Guide sponsors, travel agents, the
planning committee, and of course, all the “just plain folk” who shared their
Walt Disney World and Disney Cruise Line vacations with everyone else.
MouseFest 2005 is already in the works – you can
learn more about it at
http://www.mousefest.org . And if you didn’t visit it earlier in this
article, be sure to look at Deb Wills’ MouseFest 2004 Scrapbook - there’s a link
at MouseFest.org.
If you attended MouseFest 2004, you’re also
invited to take our newly-created MouseFest survey – it’s also linked at
MouseFest.org.
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Did you enjoy this article? Have
questions? E-mail us at news@passporter.com or visit http://www.passporterboards.com
to discuss joining us for MouseFest 2005. |
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