Sharing the Disney Magic with Family & Friends-DL Diamond Anniversary-DCA F&W Fest Kiosks & The End!

[PrincessInOz]

Wow! Wow! Wow!

What a great night.

I have nothing else to say except Wow!!!!!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

That event looks awesome! I loved how they gave you such a great presentation! The meal looks like it was put together nicely as well along with some nice wines.

 

[dolphingirl47]

The meal looks delicious and the whole event looks amazing.

Corinna

 

[mvf-m11c]

The meal look so amazing as well as the presentation with Ron Miller. That must have been a fun and exciting time.

 

[alohamom]

Thank you soooo very much for sharing all of this! I feel like I was kind of there with you. The food looked divine but all those special photos were incredible to see. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

[MEK]

Glad you both were able to overcome your heartburn even if you missed your original wakeup call.

How fun to see everyone dressed in their 50's garb. What a nice touch.

Your lunch looks freaking amazing! That presentation sounds amazing. I would have loved that. How very cool and what a special tribute to Walt!

Yup - that lunch with all that wine - I would be heading out for a nap, too!

 

[dvc at last !]

Seeing the menu I thought sounds delish, but seeing the presentations - they looked super !
How did you even make it through all that wine and not nod off during the family speeches ?
The table settings were beautiful also.
Nice touch going to another area for dessert.
You and Fran are living the life - and that is a good thing !
Thanks for sharing.
How interesting that someone recognized you from the DisBoards - love it !

 

[rndmr2]

That dinner really looked good! I would have eaten everything on the menu which is unusual for me.

That presentation sounded nice that must have been cool to see the family and hear all the memories of Walt.

 

[jedijill]

OMG, what a special event! Absolutely amazing. The food looked amazing too.

Jill in CO

 

[dhorner233]

What a nice photo presentation! My mouth was literally watering looking at the delicious food and a tear always comes to my eye seeing pictures of Walt. Those lucky grand kids!!! I just wish he had lived a lot longer!

 

[dgbg100106]

So I thought I would give you another trip update.

I love the cruise plans, and the B2B with 2 day to nowhere, sounds really nice, and makes it a great cruise overall. I think dressing up for pirate night and the no airline is really sweet.

Back to the 60th Anniversary Celebration report: We finally got notification that our room was ready and headed over there and had the bags brought up by the Bellman. While Fran napped, I responded to some of the posts on my thread on the DIS, checked some other things on the computer and then decided to check out Happy Hour at the lounge. They usually have a hot appetizer, today was sausage calzones and peperoni rolls. I didn’t try the pepperoni item, but I did get a sausage calzone. It was not very good. There was hardly any filling so I only ate the side of the crust that had filling on it. In addition to grabbing a coke for Fran I got myself a glass of wine.

I hate snacks that are all about filling you up and not really providing anything other than fried bread.

After her nap, Fran was refreshed and ready to go out to eat. Neither of us was ravenous since we had snacked our way through the park and lounge after lunch. We headed over to Tortilla Jo’s and were seated after a brief wait. I sat underneath this wall of Tequila.

yummy tequila wall

And we both ordered margaritas.

Oh yeah... Margaritas

Our Guacamole

Now that looks good enough to eat. I would fill up on that alone.

Now the next event was among the most strange events for Fran and myself.

You guys look great and so do the drinks. So glad you had a great time. Fran looks like she is feeling better, I hope it lasts a good lone while now with these drugs.

 

[afwdwfan]

Disney encouraged folks to dress up like 1955 that day. A lot of people gave it the old college try and a lot pulled it off quite well. I took pictures of anyone I saw who was trying.

Cool!

But even better is to watch it for yourself.

Thanks! Looks like a neat celebration. I didn't even realize they did that... although, it doesn't really surprise me.

Then we were on another mission. Our friends John and Suzie had told us about the cupcakes on the 50th Anniversary, and various CMs had confirmed that they would have cupcakes for the 60th as well. So we went out in search of the cupcakes. We heard that one of the locations was Big Thunder Ranch.

You can't have an anniversary without cake!!!!

For the 60th Anniversary, we were lucky enough to get a reservation at a Wine Maker Dinner/Luncheon with Silverado Winery, the one owned by Diane Disney Miller and her husband Ron Miller.

Oh wow... You must have some great connections.

Then the presentation started. Ron Miller talked about how he and Diane Disney were introduced via Blind Date, and they hit it off immediately. Walt gave him a job, and Ron talked about how difficult it could be working for Walt because his expectations were always so high, and once you did something well, he always expected you to do the next job even better.

Dinner alone looked great, but this would be the ultimate... sitting in the same room as Ron Miller and listening to stories about Walt!!!!

It's sad to say it, but it won't be long before the people telling stories about Walt won't have that first hand experience of knowing and working with him.

They showed lots of family photos with Walt and I don’t remember all the details of each of the photos, but it was fun to listen to him tell various stories about his time with Walt.

This is really just amazing. I'd have been in awe of the entire presentation!

All in all they agreed that having Walt as a FIL/Grandpa was really pretty cool when it came down to it!

I certainly can't argue that point!

Thanks for sharing! I got goosebumps just reading about and seeing the pictures of the Disney/Miller family presentation. I can only imagine how awe inspiring it must have been sitting there in the room with them!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Both of us were having severe heartburn or GERD type feelings and dared not leave the hotel room for fear of creating a public nuisance.

Instead we took some Pepcid Complete and crawled back into bed. I think it was around 7:00 or 7:30 when I came back to consciousness.

Ugh. Sorry you weren't feeling well.

Already our spot was beginning to fill up fast. By the time 10:00 arrived the entire space next to us was packed as well as the area in front of us all the way up to the screen.

Looks like you chose wisely, staking your spot early!

And then all the characters came out to say, “Happy 60th Birthday!”

Seems like a fairly brief show.

Our friends John and Suzie had told us about the cupcakes on the 50th Anniversary, and various CMs had confirmed that they would have cupcakes for the 60th as well. So we went out in search of the cupcakes.

Mmmm..cupcakes...

We arrived early, but were led upstairs and immediately served glasses of wine.

Just what you needed after all that Pepcid!

According to the Menu it read, Salad of Little Gem Lettuce, Marinated Scallop in Lemon, Pistachio and Silverado EVO and Fennel Dust (at least I think that’s what it said.) But in plain English it was a miniature grilled romaine heart, and a scallop cevice.

Thanks for the translation.

For those not familiar, Agnolotti is just a fancy word for a kind of “ravioli”.

You were thinking of me when you wrote these, weren't you?

Walt gave him a job, and Ron talked about how difficult it could be working for Walt because his expectations were always so high, and once you did something well, he always expected you to do the next job even better.

I heard he wasn't very generous with compliments, either.

While the kids may not have appreciated having to be celebrities at ribbon cutting ceremonies, they did agree that Grampa Walt sure had some of the best toys that they got to test out!

It's always interesting listening to the truth of living behind the scenes!

 

[DnA2010]

Wow! Just wow! Thank you so much for the great details and photos of such an amazing event! How fantastic to hear about the adventure from the kids side!

 

[rentayenta]

ok wow! That event looks and sounds ah-mazing! 8 glasses of wine? Atta girl!

 

[Pinkocto]

That event sounds amazing. How fun to hear stories from Walt's family. I imagine it is bittersweet for them at these celebrations though.

I don't think I'd have been able to eat anything past the first two courses, but the meal looks scrumptious. I've recently discovered I'm intolerant to gluten, so all regular breads and pastries are out the window...

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Wow what neat updates! First of all that's harsh you woke up that day feeling sick. Sorry for you both. Those cupcakes looked nice and very impressed with that lass and her skirt her Mom made! How cute. Wow that restaurant and that menu! Check that out. I love opera cake! The beef looks good. I am with you on the cheeks. Happy kitties though! The other courses superb! How nice you got a talk like that. What a lovely day!

 

[Leshaface]

And though we couldn't actually see it, Walt’s Apartment was right there.

That is actually the best spot! And somewhat within eye shot of Walt's apartment

Such great costumes! I've always wanted to visit during Dapper Days but i'm not sure I could pull off that look. I'd need some help.

Perfect viewing location!

How awesome that they were giving these out for FREE! Disney and free is a rarity.

Good shot with the wine and logo

The tablescape is beautiful!

I was doing the “Happy Food Dance” in my chair, so much so that Fran gave me one of hers!

You enjoyed every dish! Amazing!

I think I was up to eight glasses

My hero.

but I was also pretty full from all the other courses, so that was OK, the cats really liked them.

Man, my cat would be so jealous of your cats

Yum!

I love seeing old pictures like this. So cool.

 

[franandaj]

The meal looks awesome!
Lots of wine - awesome!
Silverado, my favourite - awesome!
And all those great photos - awesome!
Taking a nap afterwards - awesome!

Can you see the trend? Reading your TR and being able to share your experiences - awesome! Absolute best thing to read on a lazy Sunday morning!

Thanks for sharing!

You're welcome, it was a really good day!

Wow! Wow! Wow!

What a great night.

I have nothing else to say except Wow!!!!!

Glad it wowed you so much, we haven't even made it to night yet! I think that it was like 3:30 in the afternoon and I was already passing out!

That event looks awesome! I loved how they gave you such a great presentation! The meal looks like it was put together nicely as well along with some nice wines.

That was the best post renovation meal we have had there.

The meal looks delicious and the whole event looks amazing.

Corinna

It was great!

The meal look so amazing as well as the presentation with Ron Miller. That must have been a fun and exciting time.

We really enjoyed it!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Glad it wowed you so much, we haven't even made it to night yet! I think that it was like 3:30 in the afternoon and I was already passing out!

It was lunch???? OMG! I skipped ahead a whole half a day and didn't realise??? I really must pay more attention to what I'm reading!