I headed straight to the BatB location and found the group enjoying a bite to eat and lots of mingling and chatting! I enjoyed meeting some old and new friends once again. There have been a great number of new people at the meets so far this year and its wonderful getting to meet people I have both known ‘online’ for years, and those that are new all together. SpiceyCat made this meet and I’ve been reading her posts on the DIS DVC boards for years now!  Great to finally meet her! Also metscool (a brand new member was here and later at the Mega Meet. Great to meet you metscool!) There was also a couple there on their honeymoon, and a Florida local that offered to do take pictures for us around the park if we needed him too! Have to love how great everyone is!

After some nice prize drawings we all started moving over toward the picture location. We like to gather in front of the fountain with SpaceShip Earth behind it in the distance. Makes for a great shot and puts the ‘Ball’ in Brunch at the Ball! :) I believe I made several comparisons to ‘hurding cats’ being very similar to gathering Taginators for a group photo! ;-) But we eventually got everyone in place and Gary returned on cue with a Photopass photographer. After MANY shots by the photographer as well as our own photogs, and some nice shots of the Marathon team as well we were good to go! Frogman’s updated banner was again present and a wonderful centerpiece for both the MouseFest and Marathon photos. And now it would travel with me to the Mega Meet! Thanks Brian!

Gary and I headed out for the Dolphin and I started another round of park based exercise! This time we got lost by entering in a side door of Dolphin and then backtracking and exploring a bit to find the lobby. Sorry Gary! ;-) But we eventually made it to the table and I got some help in hanging up the sign this year! Thanks! Note to self: Bring packing tape next year!

Soon I had everything ready to go. They opened up the doors pretty much on time, and BOY did it get busy fast! There were a LOT of people there, and I believe at least 550 Prize drawing tickets were passed out. And not everyone got a ticket since they could not stay until the end for the drawing! What a nice turnout!

Belle, Zakerdog, Moley and MissB all were great helpers at my table over the course of the meet. We had lots of visitors, and spent lots of time talking about our site, our people and some of the things you can find on our site like DVC content and CM Appreciation cards. It was a lot of fun, and we also enjoyed the Bingo game where everyone was mingling to find people who fit certain criteria (like ‘is a DVC Member’, or ‘Has visited Disneyland Paris’. Right Moley? :-D Nice ice breaker and fun to boot!
 

Over two hours FLEW by and soon it was all starting to wrap up. The drawings were starting and I left the table in the capable hands of MissB and Moley (and the Tigernator of course!) while I circulated a bit to chat with the various groups of Tags in the room. There were LOTS of prizes this year and it took a while to award them all! Taginator’s who won this year included MissB, Belle (ok.. I think Mik glommed on to the prize!), EJ4Disney and I think one or two others, but I’m at a loss right now.
 

The Taginator baskets were awarded very close to the end. The winners weren’t from our site, but seamed very excited with them. I stopped over to each to say hi and tell them about the baskets and just a bit of the contents. Besides all the GREAT Disney items including an Elf Mickey and Minnie from NYC (one in each basket) and a Millenium Celebration CD - I had contributed all three years lanyards and pins - so they had a full set. :) Beyond those items, my moderators had come together to supply an amazing assortment of great items to include in the baskets. So special thanks to everyone that contributed and helped pull these together! I think they were the best things up there! :)

Whew! I had survived another Mega Meet! I packed everything up and took lots of things back to the car. My backpack sure is lighter now! :) I had another meet in the Boardwalk Bellevue Lounge and headed up there to sit and wait and enjoy a nice caffeinated soda. BOY did I need the caffeine!

Then it was off to Epcot for dinner. I was meeting Moley, MissB and Frogman at Chefs de France and this would be my first time dining there. I was looking forward to it and arrived a bit early so I took several photos of the fountain. I love playing with the camera settings and taking pictures of fountains at night. :)

Soon, I saw the dinnermates in line and joined them. It was going to be a while until we were seated so MissB suggested seeing the movie. I’d also never seen this attraction before either, so I was all for it.

We headed in and were almost immediately seated in the theatre. I really enjoyed the movie and the music. Very nice. Frogman enjoyed the special company to his right, but I’ll leave that for hit trip report. It will be much more amusing when he tells you about it! :)

Back to the check in desk and low and behold they were JUST calling us as MissB went up to inquire. The three of us were chatting so much amongst ourselves that we didn’t even realize MissB was INSIDE the restaurant waiting for us with the seater! Oops! We scurried inside and were soon seated.

Both the service and the food was very good from my point of view. I enjoyed the special which included French Onion soup, chicken and vanilla crème Brule for dessert. Oh, and the rolls were awesome! Yum! I think Frogman’s neighbor in the movie must have killed his appetite, because I don’t think I actually saw him eat any of his chicken at all! But again - his version will undoubtedly shed both light and humor on the topic!
 

After we finished it was pretty much time to head over to the Swan for the Karaoke meet. I’ll be seeing Illuminations on Sunday night, so I can skip them this evening. We walked over to the International Gateway so I could once again make the trek back to the Swolphin one last time. Thank GOODNESS saner, lazy butt minds prevailed and we jumped on a boat this time! My legs thank you Moley and MissB! :)

While parked at the Yacht club pier we heard people say they could see the shuttle. Our view from our seats was blocked by the lighthouse on the pier, but we went outside and could see the boosters break away! Very cool, and now my second time seeing a nighttime shuttle launch. But still no pictures! I have to work on that! :)

Then it was on to the Swan. We headed inside and on to Kimono’s where the Karaoke meet was being held. And the place was REALLY packed when we arrived. There were a few Tags here already, but most were groups large and small enjoying dinner. The manager was much more interested in serving the diners that the Karaoke crowd, so it took a while to get a seat. But around 10 the Karaoke crowd was taking over and the fun began.

Ddoll started off and did an amazing job. I think the Karaoke host who had sung first was a bit shocked and outgunned! ;-) Non-Tags were also singing and eventually I was lucky enough to hear MikeS sing Venus, Goddess of Love to Deb Wills! (loved that! Great voice Mike, and Deb’s got the MOVES! First dcdeb and now DebWills! The AllEarsNet Debs ROCK! :-) Also co-host Geri was a great singer too as was Amymouse and AliKat. Johnnyblack did a great job too and Moley led a rendition of Yellow Submarine that got the whole crowd singing the chorus! I know there were others, but I’m drawing a blank right now… I’ll need to check everyone’s pictures! :-)

I stayed FAR away from the stage and enjoyed meeting Zeus and Moley’s nephew Brad for the first time! And I’m sure they made the manager happy too, because they ordered some Sushi! ;-)

I stayed as long as I could, and then decided to head out. From the stories I head the next day I should have stuck it out, but I had a photo shoot the next morning at 8:30 at the VWL! Have to get SOME sleep! A few of us headed back to the resort and soon I was sound asleep and dreaming about another awesome MouseFest day!