HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES: It was so weird experiencing Thanksgiving with blue skies and 80 degree weather. It's just so absolutely foreign to someone who has spent ever Turkey Day in the Pacific Northwest.
The scene above is one of the beaches at the Grand Floridian resort at Disney World. Which brings me to this ...
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Don't ever, ever, ever, and I mean EVER go to Disney World's Magic Kingdom on Thanksgiving. Ever. Never.
It was a flesh press from the monorail in to the park exit and everywhere in between. The average wait for a ride was around two hours, and the star attractions were considerably more. I couldn't help but notice, as we shuffled around the park, the look on most people's faces was nothing short of misery. I thought Disney World is supposed to be the happiest place on Earth. (Or is that Disneyland?)
I have never seen so many strollers in my life!
As an adult, I did not want to spend two hours ... or even one ... in line for a ride. I can't fathom how parents get their 3- and 5-year olds to do it. Yikes.
We ended up ditching the "Magic" Kingdom after about 90 minutes and decided that our only "ride" for the day would be taking boats between the different resorts and checking things out there. That was the best call we made all day. Because it's the holiday season, we saw some real eye candy, including a cottage sized gingerbread house (sorry, my photos of it were crappy), and wreaths aplenty, including this enormous one hanging on the Contemporary Resort.
IT'S OFFICIAL: Our final, official Tweetup schedule was emailed to us today. Here it is:
Friday, Nov. 25/L-1: Tweetup Day 1
7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. – Registration at the Kennedy Space Center Press Accreditation Badging Building; travel to the press site (if you are running late or unable to come, please contact Stephanie Schierholz at 202-834-0548)
9:05 a.m. – Meet the tweeps (Name, Twitter handle, where you're from, and one thing about yourself)
10:30 a.m. – Break
11:00 a.m. – Welcome and introduction of first speaker (NASA TV starts http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-tweetup)
11:05 a.m. – Jim Green, director, Planetary Science, NASA Headquarters
11:25 a.m. – Doug McCuistion, director, Mars Exploration program, NASA Headquarters
11:45 a.m. – Curiosity engineering: Allen Chen and Betina Pavri, systems engineers, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
12:00 p.m. – Ryan Bechtel, Department of Energy
12:15 p.m. – Curiosity science: Ashwin Vasavada, deputy project scientist, Mars Science Laboratory at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Pan Conrad, deputy principal investigator for Curiosity's SAM Instrument at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
12:30 p.m. -- Rex Engelhardt, mission manager, NASA's Launch Services Program (@NASA_LSP)
12:45 p.m. – Lunch break (note: the cafeteria will NOT be open Friday, so you do need to plan to bring your own food)
2:00 p.m. – Tour of NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, including a drive by historical launch pads and stops at Launch Complex 41 with a briefing from Mike Woolley of United Launch Alliance (@ULAlaunch), the Vehicle Assembly Building, and the Apollo Saturn V Center.
5:30 p.m. – Return to the press site
Saturday, Nov. 26/Launch: Tweetup Day 2
6:15 a.m. – Badges get you in to Kennedy Space Center Press Site
6:45 a.m. – Group picture beside the countdown clock (NASA photographer Paul Alers, @NASAhqphoto)
Group 1:
7:00 -- Eyes on the Solar System (@NASA_Eyes) demo with Doug Ellison (@Doug_Ellison), JPL Visualization Producer in press briefing room
7:30 a.m. -- Expedition 25 Astronaut Doug Wheelock (@Astro_Wheels)
7:45 a.m. -- Bill Nye the Science Guy, (@thescienceguy)
Group 2:
7:00 a.m. -- Expedition 25 Astronaut Doug Wheelock (@Astro_Wheels)
7:15 a.m. -- Bill Nye the Science Guy, (@thescienceguy)
7:30 a.m. -- Eyes on the Solar System (@NASA_Eyes) demo with Doug Ellison (@Doug_Ellison), JPL Visualization Producer in press briefing room
8:00 a.m. -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden
8:30 a.m. -- Astronaut Leland Melvin, associate administrator for Education (@Astro_Flow)
8:35 a.m. -- Deputy Administrator Lori Garver (@Lori_Garver)
8:40 a.m. -- will.i.am (@iamwill)
10:02 a.m. – Launch window opens for Mars Curiosity rover
(window closes at 11:45 a.m.)
~12:30 p.m. – Post-launch news conference on NASA TV
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