2011 Pin Celebration Event - The Florida Project Trip Report

What if I just send you the pictures?

Zz.

We are all packed and ready to go. Our "home" for the next few days will be at the Boardwalk, with a Boardwalk-View studio. This has always been a very convenient location since the pin event will be held at the World Showplace at Epcot (see my earlier trip report for a previous Pin Celebration event).

We're off! My next transmission will be from the Most Magical Place on Earth.

Zz.

Greetings from the Most Magical Place on Earth. We are enjoying the humid afternoon at the Studios. Will post a more elaborate report later today.

Zz.

We are back at our room in the Boardwalk relaxing for the rest of the afternoon. We might go off to a Winn-Dixie in a bit to get some supplies, and then call it the evening.

We have a lovely room overlooking the Boardwalk. These are the views from the balcony.

We had a quick lunch at the Boardwalk Cafe. Love their tomato mozzarella sandwich. But we also couldn't resist their smores cupcake. Holy cow! That thing should be illegal! It was THAT good!

We then decided to walk over, instead of taking the boat, to DHS. After all, after that cupcake, we definitely need to get some exercise.

Went on ToT, but they were running only half of the attraction. Where the queue line separates to the two loading area, it appears that they were loading only one elevator only. It made the queue line excruciatingly slow. There might have been a technical issue, but we couldn't tell.

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We then headed over to Star Tours. This is the first time we are riding it since it officially opened, but not the first time we're on it. We had a sneak preview of this attraction last May before it officially opened.

After that, we decided to head on back to our resort. On the way out, we checked a few of the merchandise that they had. We found this cute Dumbo Mickey ears hat. It does seem that they have quite a collection of adorable hats of all kinds.

And they already have lots of Halloween stuff out. This caught my attention. Too bad they're not selling the ghost itself.

Tomorrow we are planning on heading over to DAK for the early Extra Magic Hour. Hopefully, the humidity and the weather will corporate. It looks like this is going to be a wet and raining stretch for the next several days.

Zz.

Good morning.

It's a raining morning here and promises to be a wet day if the forecast is accurate.

We are still planning on heading on over to DAK, but we are going to play it by ear and see how bad the weather is. If it rains too heavily, we may alter the plan and do something else. We are going to check if they still have the Welcome Home Wednesday for DVC members at the Atlantic Dance Hall. If they do, we might go to that one this afternoon.

Other than that, we're keeping the poncho close to us.

Zz.

We are back at the Boardwalk to rest a bit. This turned out to be a lovely day, considering how wet it started early this morning. We had overnight thunderstorms, and things were pretty wet and soggy in the morning.

After the rain stopped a bit, we headed on over to Animal Kingdom. The sun was beginning to peek in between the clouds.

We headed on straight to Expedition Everest, which ha ZERO wait for the standby line.

These were some of the people who were in the same train as us.

We then did the Kilamanjaro Safari. During the Safari, we saw a group of people in the middle of their "Wid Trek Africa" tour. This woman is doing a rope crossing across the crocodile pond. Hum... looks like fun. We hope to get to do this some time soon.

A giraffe heading our way.

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We went on to It's Tough To Be A Bug, and then did Everest a second time. Then it was time for dinner and we went to our most favorite place to eat at DAK, Flame Tree BBQ.

Had my favorite entree, the smoked Chicken. It was as amazing as always. Love it!

With food this good, and a view this gorgeous, this is the reason why this is our most favorite place for lunch. Can't get any better than this.

After lunch, we bid farewell to DAK to rest up a bit back at our resort.

We are planning on going to the DVC Welcome Wednesdays at Atlantic Dance Hall. It's barely a few feet away from our room. So we might as well go and see what fun gifts they are giving out this time. We will be meeting up with our friends who are flying in this afternoon, and then possibly have dinner off-Disney, at our favorite South Indian Restaurant at Crossroads called Dakshin.

Zz.

We got hats!

Here are some of the folks waiting for the doors to open.

The show is about to start.

The First Lady of DVC, Deevy Cee, was at her hilarious best, as always.

And here are the gifts that we received. Very nice DVC hats, and about-to-be-outdated D23 calendars.

We are back at our room just chilling out, and waiting for our friends to show up.

Zz.

Just got back from dinner. We met up with our friends that just flew in this afternoon, and then went to dinner at Dakshin. Food was terrific, if you love Indian food. Then we went to a Winn-Dixie nearby so that our friends could shop for stuff they will need for the rest of the stay.

When we got back, I snapped a couple of photos of The Boardwalk Inn resort, and here they are:

Tomorrow morning, we go to the Magic Kingdom. In the afternoon, we will make our way to Coronado Springs resort for our early registration and merchandise pickup for the Pin Event.

Zz.

Good morning! This is dawn at the Boardwalk.

There are signs in elevators, etc. about the Welcome Home Wednesdays. It is also announced in the Portable Perks that you get in that package they gave you at check-in.

Anyway, today, we'll head on over to MK for the morning before doing the early registration and some pin trading for the start of the Pin Event at Coronado Beach. The actual event starts tomorrow at World Showplace at Epcot. We probably won't stay for the open-to-the-public Pin Trading Night, since we have to head on back to MK for our dinner reservation at Crystal Palace. Hopefully, it won't rain and we'll get to see Wishes.

We'll probably won't be back at our resort all day, so there won't be any updates till late this evening (if I still have the energy). Still, if you want to follow what I'm to before then, you can always read my blog.

Zz.

Thank you.

I have a camera and a laptop. Internet connection for DVC members at DVC resorts is free!

For my blog, I take pictures using my phone and post blog entries directly. That's why I can blog on the spot.

Zz.

We started the morning at the Magic Kingdom.

Here we were about to board the ferry boat.

When the boat pulled in in front of MK, we spotted our favorite hidden mickey.

Magic Kingdom was already decked out for the Halloween festivities.

The first attraction that we got on was the Haunted Mansion.

Then we got on Splash Mountain.

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Next, we went on Pirates.

.. and then, on the back-to-the-original Tiki Birds.

All of these rides had no or barely any lines. It was amazing and a perfect time to visit Magic Kingdom.

By then, it was time to head on over to Coronado Springs. But before we left, we stopped by for our mandatory Dole Whip float. Yum!

We took the monorail back to the TTC

Got to Coronado Springs for our early registration and merchandise pick-up. After spending the morning at MK with hardly any lines, the lines for this event was very long. It took us almost an hour to get our stuff.

We are back at our resort for a short rest, before going back to MK for the evening, and our dinner reservation at Crystal Palace. We're hoping to stay for Wishes after that, if the weather corporates.

Zz.

A quick report this morning. We're in a hurry to pack our pins and head on over to the first official day of the Pin Event.

Yesterday evening, after our early registration, we headed on over to MK again. Unlike the morning, MK was very busy, with lines being "normal". We got on It's A Small World. This is the first time we are on it with the new queue line where the loading is on the other side than the old one.

Always loved the giraffe with lipstick.

We then had dinner at Crystal Palace, and then stayed to watch The Magic, The Memories, and You.

We then stayed for Wishes. Unfortunately, there is this woman in front of me who kept moving into my camera's view. As I moved to one side, she also moved to one side, until I finally couldn't go anywhere anymore. So in some shots, I'm stuck with her head popping up. People, keep your head still (or at least on ONE location) when you're watching the fireworks! You never know whose shot or whose view you're ruining behind you!

That's all for now. We're off to the Pin Event!

Zz.

We're back from the first day of the pin event. It was a lot of fun, a lot of pin trading, a lot of standing in line at pin trading games to get the exclusive pins that are being released only at this event. It was very nice to see a lot of friends again. It's getting to be a bit scary that I can recognize a lot of people there, and they remember me as well.

Will upload photos from the pin trading event later. We are now back at our resort to freshen up a bit. We are going to a friend's parents' timeshare condo for dinner and a relaxing evening. It will be good to just chill out.

The weather turned nasty for a bit but it seems to have stopped raining, even though there are still dark clouds and lightning/thunder in the area. I hope it isn't like this tomorrow when we have our dessert party and Illuminations viewing.

Zz.

Good morning! A gorgeous morning here at the Boardwalk

This will be a quick report mostly on the first day of the Pin Celebration event. As in previous years, they have a separate bag check for us pin traders attending the event (they recognize us due to the credentials we are wearing). The cast member on 4 legs were sniffing all over our bags.

Here we were walking into World Showplace where the event is taking place.

Here are some sights and scenes around the event. The theme here is the Florida Project. The scene at the Preview Center, a few years before Walt Disney World opens, and the announcement of the theme park had already been made a few years ago.

A lot of participants are in line for various pin-trading game, hoping to get the pins being released only during this event, and also to get other highly-sought after pins (such as Artist Proof pins) that are often available at these games. So you will see often long lines at many of these games.

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There is an area where pin traders can set up their stuff, and trade with other pin traders.

Saw this at a pin traders table.

Here are other sights around the convention area.

When you walk in, you see this, and you are welcome by the orange bird, which was part of the early history of WDW.

Other decorations around the place.

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