WDW Today Podcast Reunion 2011 Recap

If you were at Walt Disney World last weekend for WDW Today Podcast‘s Reunion 2011, I’m assuming your awesome-induced hangover is just starting to wear off. Given that we’re all finally starting to recover, I thought it would be fun for those of us who were there to reflect upon the too-awesome meets that took place, and to give those of you who weren’t there a reason to start planning those early-December 2012 Walt Disney World trips.

The festivities started innocuously-enough, as they always do, when we headed to the world’s worst…err…best theme park, Disney’s Hollywood Studios to fill a Fill a Star Speeder 1000 Meet. To the best of my knowledge, it’s called a Star Speeder 1000 because it seats 1,000 people. Well, we filled TWO Star Speeders, meaning at least 2,000 people attended Reunion!

The revelry didn’t end there, as the group headed over to MuppetVision 3D for an impromptu viewing. Unfortunately, Len was quickly asked to leave the theater after he mooned Statler and Waldorf for saying he was a lady with a Goofy face! Poor Len.

The afternoon concluded with a Great Movie Ride meet, where the group had some fun before parting for the day. Of course, the day wasn’t over for many Reunionites, as new and old friends decided to continue the festivities throughout Walt Disney World.

December 9th was Epcot day, and most Reunioners reported relief that they were “finally visiting a REAL park!” Meets included visits to Sum of All Thrill and American Adventure. The afternoon was capped with the famous Skagway, Alaska Reunion Meet, which included many high fives in the switchback queue along with about the most pitiful version of the wave I’ve ever seen. Future Reunionizers, we definitely need to practice that more for next year. We were a disgrace to America! Let’s plan on meeting at the Spaceship Earth queue every Saturday at 4 pm for the next 50 weeks.

Of course, the night wasn’t complete without Mouse Fan Travel’s VIP IllumiNations Dessert Party. What better way to end the day than by relaxing with friends in Italy at a private dessert party while the IllumiNations holiday tag exploded overhead and Walter Cronkite  reminded us: “During this glorious time of year there is one message that rings out around the world in every language. Peace on earth.”

Saturday was easily the best day of Reunion, and not just because the day started out at 7am with the Test a Touring Plan meet. David will report more in depth on this tomorrow, but all you really need to know is that my team won. If David says otherwise, well, that’s just foolishness.

After the TouringPlans meet was the “Most Awesome Carousel of Progress Meet.” You can tell a lot of effort went into that name. Conversely, a lot of effort actually was put into the meet by TouringPlans’ own Len and Laurel, who were prisoners in their rooms for 17 days as they scattered drafts of the script for this meet on the floor. Luckily, it wasn’t difficult for these master script-writers to make 200+ clocks chime at the same time, as the script was delivered wonderfully by all Reunion-goers, and had us all in stitches as we recited our lines. If you happened to miss this meet, you really ought to listen to WDW Today’s 12/19 episode.

The rest of the day was filled with fun at the Haunted Mansion and TTA meets, but the marquee event occurred that evening with DE-sserts & DE-lights, sponsored by Mouse Fan Travel. How do the kids describe something awesome these days? Tubular? Gnarly? Rad? EXTREME?! OFF THE HOOK! Well, this meet was all of those superlatives and more. It was really an excellent meet. The event started with a Fantasmic! dessert party followed by an event with hors d’oeuvres in the Disney Junior building. Santa Mickey and Mrs. Claus Minnie even showed up and met with the guests. Just when it seemed the event couldn’t get any better, there were a number of prize giveaways before we headed out to a private attraction. Nothing special, just a walk on to…TOY STORY MANIA! That was followed by a private viewing of the Osborne Lights. If I could pinpoint the precise moment during the weekend when many of us secured our hangovers due to an overdose on “awesome,” I’m betting it was right around the moment those lights were illuminated.

Sunday we began the collective recovery process with a meet at Downtown Disney’s Babycakes NYC. Following that, it was time to say goodbye see ya real soon to the old and new friends everyone had made along the way!

Did you attend Reunion this year? If so, share some of your favorite memories with us in the comments. If you didn’t attend, are you hoping to attend next year?