October 11, 2007
RADP 12
I was getting a bit hungry
by this point (it was about 3:50) so I dropped in at Cosmic Rays Starlight
Cafe where I had the Chicken Caesar Salad, Large Coke, and a brownie $12.75
although I enjoy Sonny Eclipse I
was more attracted to the almost empty dining area overlooking the castle, it
was a nice meal and I even got to talk a bit with the cast member who was
cleaning the area. I took my time eating and by the time I got done it was
getting close to 4:30 and I headed towards town square to catch the flag
retreat ceremony, I had attempted to record it in June, but it was some of
the audio from that first day of the trip that I lost and this time once again
I seem to have messed up in attempting to record it go figure. Still it's
hard to be to awfully upset about it with all the rest of the stuff
I recorded this day.
After flag retreat I believe I went and caught Jims last set, as I remember
being over there by the piano after folks had started coming in for the party
and hearing him play a bit of Following the Leader when we saw a
whole family dressed as the characters from
Peter Pan, the Dad was dressed as Smee, the son as Peter, Mom as Wendy
daughter as Tigerlilly and a little baby as Tinkerbell. (but unfortunately
that was part of the audio I lost from this evening too.)
I decided to hit a few more attractions Monsters Inc.
Laugh Floor was a new attraction for me so I wanted to make sure and catch it,
I enjoyed it, but for some reason I missed recording it too, I have a few
minutes in the queue recorded but I think perhaps at this point, missing the
flag retreat and the Laugh floor, perhaps my battery was going dead and I was
just a bit slow to catch on as my own personal battery was wearing down a bit
as well, by this point in the day. I enjoyed the Laugh Floor and followed it up
with a "spin" on the Buzz Lightyear attraction. By this time it was closing
in rapidly on 7PM I walked through cosmic Rays to get a glimpse of the party
in there, there was a a DJ and a throng of people around the stage I
contented myself with getting a few quick shots of the Characters
in costume from a distance (Elvis Stitch, Aviator Pluto, and Pumpkin Donald)
before heading on my way.
One of the frustrations of
this party in recent years for me has been the lack of availability of a
live entertainment schedule, the party has changed over the years, when I had
last attended it, in 2002, there was s how at the Diamond Horseshoe that
featured some of the Horseshoes normal performers and the "Cadaver Dans",
an undead, Frontierland version of the Dapper Dans. There was also a
Riverboat Cruise that featured a storyteller named Auntie Bellum, and the
Lone Strangers Trio (who bear a striking resemblance to the Notorious
Banjo Brothers and Bob). I belive the Lone strangers still perform a set
early in the night at the front of the park as folks are coming in, but the
Riverboat no longer cruises during the party, and with no "regular show" in
the Horseshoe the Dans are relegated to strolling Liberty Square to perform
their sets. Still I had some hopes for this party as there were also some
new entertainments I had heard would be performing this year, there was a
performer on the lawn of the Haunted Mansion named Madame Carlotta,
a Pirate Band in Caribbean Plaza, and a ghostly apparition on the
riverboat. Well with the riverboat parked I pretty much guessed that
the apparition was one of those things I would not worry too much about
catching as it was probably just a matter of "there's something moving
around over there" kind of thing. I knew I wanted to try to catch the
Pirate Band and the Dans though, I ran into the Dans on my first trip round
through Liberty Square, just in time to catch the last song of a set
Ghost Riders in the Sky and got to ask them about the rest of their
sets and if they knew anything about the live entertainment, they mentioned
the acts I listed above and the fact that the previous year there
had also been a Merlin (played by the guy who used to play Professor
Terrance at the Horseshoe, and who currently plays Blackjack Dupree at
the Pirate and Princess Parties, and Jack Diamond at the Disney's Hollywood
Studios) but they weren't sure if he was still doing that this year
(I found out later he was not). I headed over to Caribbean Plaza to see
if the pirate band was out they were not, so, passing through the hub where
a castle stage show of some sort was going on I headed over to see if the
Merlin fellow was out at the stage where Belle normally has her story time
session, but this year it appears they were using it as a meet and greet
location for Cinderella's Step sisters. I circled around towards the Mansion
stopping to get some candy in a short line in Liberty Square. I wasn't exactly
sure where to look for Madame Carlotta but seeing nothing obvious on this pass
headed around again to Adventureland to see if the pirate band was out. on my
next trip back to the Mansion I saw a Cast member out front and found out
that she performs on the lawn, and I had just missed her. I went and got a bit
more candy this time at the station at the riverboat the line was a bit longer
but it moved really fast. Coming out of there I heard the Cadaver Dans
entertaining the folks gathering along the parade route since they were doing
their pre-parade routine of doing a song or two and moving a bit father
up the route to entertain some more folks I didn't try to get too close but
instead hung back where it was easier to move as they moved.
