Were you one of the estimated 2,000 passholders at the taping of the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade at Magic Kingdom today?

Yep, me and the wife and kids were, too.

If you're thinking about going to tomorrow's parade taping or to similar events at Walt Disney World in the future, bear this in mind: Depending on your attitude and expectations, this event and those like it could be seen as several things.

It might be a unique chance to see some behind-the-scenes television production work and a few celebrities, all while getting into the Christmas spirit a little early and wholeheartedly, too.

Or, it could be a unique chance to see how the sausage is made, so to speak, all while having any semblance of holiday spirit diminished by the stifling crowds, the whining children (who just happen to be your own), the restless geriatric passholders who had nothing better to do today than show up and complain about everything, and the endless, mind-numbing wait while production crews readied the set for hours before the star took to the stage for a 10-minute, Tele-prompted performance.

Here are a few observations from this bleary-eyed morning, starting with the negatives and leading to the positives:

A few thoughts from a trip to Candlelight Processional this week are below. It was fellow ranger Mary Frances' first-ever time at the Epcot event.

1. "Rejoice With Exceeding Great Joy" remains my favorite piece, maybe because I don't hear it everywhere else this time of year. If you see someone spinning and shaking a tamborine during this number, be sure and say hello to me. M.F. liked the Hallelujah Chorus, which may well have been the strongest song of the evening.

2. John O'Hurley was our narrator, and we picked this evening because we knew he had an interesting voice. I never thought of it before, but he could definitely pass in a role of televangelist.

3. I only spotted two fainters among the choir members. My understanding from friends is that it's quite warm up there with lighting, body heat and tight quarters. Never lock your knees, gang. Another friend in the choir told me she approved of Mr. O'Hurley. "He added a few personal notes but not too many," she said. "You count the minutes when you're squished like sardines."

As the holidays come and go, high school seniors enter the homestretch. Now they can look forward to Grad Bash 08 at Universal Orlando, which has announced a major musical guest : Rihanna.

They list her hits as "Pom de Replay," "S.O.S" and "Umbrella," although I'm more drawn to "Shut Up and Drive." Also on the bill: Hellogoodbye, a group with the song "Here (In Your Arms)."

The Bash is set for April 25 and 26, 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. and takes place in both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure theme parks. Tickets will be available through participating schools.

For more information, click here. (Alert: There's a dress code.)

We went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party last night and had a great time despite the rain during the Holiday Wishes fireworks. It had been about three years since we last attended the party, and we were looking forward to the new parade and our old favorite shows.

The Christmas party, which requires a separate ticket, runs from 7 p.m. to midnight in the Magic Kingdom on select nights. I had read that for the last several years, Disney allowed guests to enter as early as 4:30 p.m. for the event. We decided to try that because we wanted to see the new 10-minute show in which the characters light up the castle at 5:45 p.m.

It's not often you get to say an actual dream came true, but that's what happened for me on Friday night. SingLive!, a community choir I participate in, was a guest chorus in Disney's Candlelight Processional at Epcot.

Since the first time I saw this holiday show nine years ago, I have wanted to sing in it. The songs range from rousing Christmas anthems to a tender "Silent Night." The singers -- which number in the hundreds for each performance -- are accompanied by an orchestra. And a celebrity guest, basketball star David Robinson, in my case, reads the Christmas story from the Bible.

So did I trip on my choir robe? Set Epcot on fire with my candle? Read on...

Gentle readers, start your engines. This is early, but I wanted you to have a running start at an exhibit that opens Friday at Orlando Science Center because it's only here through Jan. 6. The hands-on offering is "Discover the Daytona 500."

It's one of those crafty science center things that teaches about physics and entertains simulateously. I had a sneak peak yesterday, and I enjoyed reading about centripetal force but also getting my hands on some NASCAR features that I've only seen on television, such as the bald tires and safety barriers. There are cutaway cars and split-open helmets that make it easier to see how it all works and protects.

Kids and inner children are going to love the model racing aspects of a slot track and then a 60-foot pinewood derby track that lets eight racers compete at a time on a downhill slope.

Although one of driver Jeff Gordon's race cars is there, you can't sit in it. First of all, there's no door. Can you imagine visitors climbing in and out through the window? Plus, it's a tight squeeze thus a logistical nightmare. You can sit in a free-standing race car seat (soft yet sturdy), which could make you feel like a two-year-old in an SUV.

More things I saw after the jump ...

Here's another celebrity sighting/photo op from Walt Disney World. It's Orlando's own Rob Thomas, frontman of matchbox twenty, hanging out with Goofy at Magic Kingdom.

Ran out to SeaWorld Orlando this morning for the opening of The Polar Express Experience, which is housed temporarily in the Wild Arctic structure. More on that later, but the ride did make me smile. (UPDATE: Here's a link to what I saw.)

So I'm waiting for that half of the park to open at 10 a.m. A crowd has gathered -- some to rush toward Polar Express, some to Shamu show -- when suddenly a woman yelled "It's  a shame to come to SeaWorld and not be able to escape Christmas music." Boy, lady, you're going to have a hard month ahead. She seemed more like the Grinchmas type.

Speaking of the 10 a.m. opening, what's up with that? A good chunk of the park -- including Shamu's Happy Harbor, Wild Artic, the Clydesdales and hospitality center -- is roped off until 10 a.m. even though the park opens at 9.

This wigs out the tourists a bit. And in fairness, much of this is revealed in type on the back of the map. But time after time, you see Dads-on-mission with strollers making beeline for the walkway only to be rebuffed. (Frequently, they try to work around by walking around, but of course it's roped off over there too, guys).

So people dwell at the opening -- today there were about 200 at the Waterfront entrance -- instead of enjoying the open parts of the park. Go figure.

On the day that shoppers are looking for bargains everywhere, here is a tip on buying photos at Disney World. First, having your photo taken by a PhotoPass shooter is free, so take as many as you can stand to increase your choices later.

Until recently, I preferred to look at the professional photos online at home, rather than at the kiosks in the parks. Sometimes the wait there can be long, and my preschoolers are impatient. I'd end up feeling rushed and later second-guess what I'd bought. By waiting until I got home, I could also better compare the photos I took and decide if purchasing additional shots was worth it. The prices were virtually the same, except for the minimal shipping charge.

However, on a recent visit to the Magic Kingdom, I discovered some park-only (at least for now) options that have changed my mind.

A couple of theme-park related photos to share today.

Princess Giselle -- the lead character of Enchanted, which comes to theaters today -- makes appearances before the Hollywood Holly-Day Parade at Disney-MGM Studios. She's played in the movie by Amy Adams. (Photo from Kent Phillips/Walt Disney World). Read Sentinel movie critic Roger Moore's four-star review here. The film also stars Patrick Dempsey, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden and Idina Menzel.

Meanwhile, actor Seth Rogen met the Grinch this week while visiting Universal Orlando. The Return of Grinchmas begins Dec. 7. Rogan recently appeared in Knocked Up and Superbad.

Most people are familiar with the turkey hotlines that heat up around the holidays. These are toll-free numbers that connect frazzled cooks to experts at the USDA or companies such as Butterball. They deal with problems like thawing the turkey, how long to cook it, what happens if you forget to take the package of giblets out of the neck and why it’s taking twice as long to cook than it should. This last one is usually one of two things: either they’re opening the oven to baste the bird too often and thus lowering the temperature, or they forgot to turn the oven on.

Hotline operators have heard them all.

Now the folks at the Loews Hotels at Universal Orlando are hoping to do for wine novices what Butterball did for turkey newbies. They’ve set up a wine help-line at 407-503-9463 (WINE) for you to call with all your fermented grapes queries. Perhaps you’d like to know what’s the perfect wine to go with turkey, or what temperature you should serve a pinot noir.

(If you find your gewurtraminer isn’t chilling down in the refrigerator fast enough it may be because you’re opening the door to baste it too often.)

Sommeliers are standing by, and if you don’t need an answer in real time, you can e-mail the experts at

.

Now, if the problem is you’ve got a bottle of chardonnay stuck inside a frozen turkey, it’s a toss-up whether you should call Loews or Butterball. But if you ask me, I’d tell you to simply walk away and go out to dinner.

I am a huge fan of Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade, which is the holiday overlay to the regular day parade at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The catchy song remains the same, but note the cute revised lyrics appropriate to the season: "It's a jingle jingle jungle full of holiday fun!"

The crowd gathered to view can get thick, which can make it trickier for little ones to see. After the jump, a tip that may help you during busy times at the park (virtually the whole holiday season). Plus, a photo of Santa Goofy!

Gaylord Palms has kicked off its ICE! presentation, but another event at the resort showed me something I'd never seen before: drummer in the sky.

Periodically on the hotel's Emerald Plaza stage is performance of "Luminescence -- A Christmas Fantasy." It's a heavy metal holiday thing, kinda headbangy, kinda Christian rocky. There are several numbers, ending with one where the drummer is lifted into the air, where he plays on a circle of drum heads -- I'd guestimate about 30 feet above the ground.

I'm not sure what the purpose is, but it's fun to watch. Photo after the jump.

I have witnessed the unveiling of the "icy" Cinderella Castle. It's one of those things that looks even better in person. There's a gentle motion to the 200,000 white lights that's missing in still photography. Plus, the castle's base color moves through that Disney pallette of purple, pink, aqua effectively, and it's even more striking as the night progresses.

Before dusk, the look of the icon isn't too disrupted by the lights and mesh. You don't walk down Main Street and say "Hey, who wrapped the castle in fishnets?"

They've flipped the switch on the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights again at Disney-MGM Studios. They're set to music again, just like last year. Monday's debut was packed with onlookers, and I reaffirmed what I already knew: For every last element of the Walt Disney World resort, there's a fanatic out there with encyclopedic knowledge.

I was standing next to a man who pointed out that the MERRY CHRISTMAS lights across the street are different than before. A technician nearby confirmed this and other facts. Sure enough, last year's letters were wider and less decorative. Photo from last year and other technician tidbits after the jump.

Here's the word on the pony-spotting earlier during Super Soap Weekend in the parking lot of Disney-MGM Studios, from a various of sources.

It is a seeing-eye pony, a service animal. The miniature Appaloosa is named Confetti and lives in Jacksonville.

Many of you say you've seen Confetti multiple times. For the rest of you, there's a pony pic after the jump.

Yak & Yeti, the first full-service restaurant in Disney’s Animal Kingdom park, opens today at 11 a.m. If you’re too hungry to wait you can get faster food at the quick-service part of the operation beginning at 1030 a.m.

The menu in the full-service side of Yak & Yeti is pan-Asian, with dishes inspired by Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and Indian cuisines. The quick-service menu is primarily Chinese.

The pan-Asian menu, I was told, is limited in scope because of the restaurant’s location in the park. What does that mean? That it’s hard to get supplies inside the Animal Kingdom?

Some final tidbits from the Super Soap Weekend extravaganza at Disney-MGM Studios.

As promised, here's the answer to which soap star snapped a bit at Saturday night's Soap Jam when a fan commented he seemed to have been drinking. It provides a valuable lesson to attendees: Remember, the actors are STANDING RIGHT THERE. They are not in your TV. They can hear you, so some common courtesy would be nice. Of course, Super Soap Weekend is not known for courtesy.

When SeaWorld's admission price hike was announced, the numbers for its Aquatica also were revealed. The adult retail price for one day at the upcoming water park will be $38.95.

This is line with other Central Florida water parks. Wet 'n Wild also charges $38.95; Disney's Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon are $39. The nature of theme parking today has many counteroffers and combos, especially for the sharp-eyed Florida resident. It pays to shop around and see which plan fits best.

Among the SeaWorld plans will be a SeaWorld-Aquatica deal for $89.95. This would cost cost $106.90 a la carte. There's also the jumbo Orlando FlexTicket Plus, which is SeaWorld, Aquatica, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Busch Gardens AND Wet 'n Wild for $279.95.

The Super Soap Street Jam at Disney-MGM Studios last night lived up to its billing, with the "Cellblock Tango" themed to story lines on the ABC soaps the clear highlight. If you've seen the stage musical or movie "Chicago," you know the premise. But the reworking for five soap characters was both funny and clever.

I survived Saturday at Super Soap Weekend and am here to tell about it. It was the usual shriek and shove fest that soap fans have come to adore.

All My Children star Cameron Mathison had the biggest throng -- not that thong that keeps getting mentioned on Dancing With the Stars -- going. I couldn't get close enough for a good picture. He has a boisterous following, but do they vote on Mondays? Another reason for the screams was ABC's cameras following him during the day. Point a camera at a group and they apparently go bonkers. (In an unscientific poll, Jason Thompson of General Hospital had the fans with the second-strongest lungs.)

After the jump, a few pics and moments with Susan Lucci, John-Paul Lavoisier, Laura Wright, Kathy Brier, Brandon Buddy, Tika Sumpter, Sherri Shepherd and more -- including a pony!

On the fence about attending Super Soap Weekend at Disney-MGM Studios? Would a little Dancing With the Stars make a difference? We now know that Cameron Mathison, pulling double duty on All My Children and surviving thus far on DWTS, will perform with his professional partner Edyta Sliwinska during the evening "street jam" on Saturday. The stars' motorcade begins at 7:15 p.m., with the jam afterwards.

Another street jam note: Expect "Cell Block  Tango" but with an ABC Daytime twist.

Friday I talked with several ABC actresses about Super Soap Weekend experiences and daytime dramas in general. These are their stories. Quick! Who was allegedly named for a Magic Kingdom attraction? (After the jump: One Life to Live's Erika Slezak plus Laura Wright and Rebecca Herbst from General Hospital.)(Also: For Super Soap preview interview with Alicia Minshew of All My Children, click here.)

Tika Sumpter, Layla on One Life to Life. It’s her first Super Soap.

On her SSW debut: I’m ready for all the fans. "It’s times 100 here than at normal fan events. The fans are excited to see us, so why shouldn’t we be excited to see them? David Fumero, who plays Cristian Vega on the show, and Melissa Gallo, who plays Adriana Cramer, gave me a little heads up. They’re like ‘Pace yourself, have fun, enjoy it, it may be overwhelming at times but just breathe and enjoy it. And try not to smile way too much because it makes your mouth hurt.’ "

On coming to Disney at age 12: "Disney World was my most favorite place to go. I just remember "it’s a small world and all these different place and I want to go back. It’s so different when you’re older. It’s like oh, OK. It’s not so HUGE."

On her first two years on OLTL: "Everyone has treated me, from day one, like family."

On her hopes for high-soap drama: "I need a stalker, give me an extra boyfriend, an old boyfriend. Maybe a kid that I had a long time ago. yeah, I would love just some more drama, more craziness, more back story to let the fans know where she’s coming from. Why is she so feisty? Why is she so hard?"

On the name Tika: "I supposedly got the name here when I was at Disney World, when I was way younger. I came here as a baby. Somehow I was crying, I saw a Tiki bird, my grandmother gave me that name. That’s the family legend. (Her mom disagrees though). I’ve had the name forever."

Just a couple more days left for the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival and apparently everything went off without a hitch.

I have to tell you about one of my favorite exhibits this year. It was called the Pearville Fair and was hosted by USA Pears of all people. There were informational displays and you could even purchase your very own pear to take home with you. Those pears were packaged in individual clear-plastic containers with a mouse-ear shape. The fellow manning the purchase-a-pear stand told me the package was reusable. How? I wondered. Was I to take the empty container to Publix and put another single pear in it to take home? I think the reusable pitch was just to lessen the observation that putting one pear in its own package was environmentally irresponsible.

But that wasn’t my favorite part of this exhibit. What I really liked was a funhouse-type mirror with a sign inviting people to "find your inner pear." What’s supposed to happen is you stand in front of the mirror and it distorts your image to make you look pear-shaped.

But most people just looked at themselves and apparently couldn’t see any difference.

More details are emerging for holidays activities at Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. The festivities kick off Dec. 7 and run through Jan. 1.

It's the 50th anniversary of the completion of the book "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," and Islands is presenting a "brand new" musical salute. (This just in: the show will be held on a new stage in Seuss Landing). IOA is also touting its "Who-ville Wonky Tree Lot" with new decorations. These are included with your theme-park admission.

An add-on is the Grinch character breakfast. It runs Thursdays through Sundays at 8 a.m. Cost is $19.95 for adults, $13.95 for children ages 9 and younger. Call 407-224-4012. You can also meet and greet the Grinch in the park at select times.

Spent a day at SeaWorld and learned a valuable lesson: Get to Shamu's "Believe" show early. Very early Crazy early. Believe me on this.

We can no longer deny it: Christmas is a-coming. It's manifesting itself all over the place.

At Gaylord Palms Resort, work has been under way on its ICE! attraction, a 9-degree spectacle that favors parkas over flipflops. At Christmasinorlando.com, you can watch two areas -- Penguin Pointe and the Frostproof Express -- on webcams. Your toes stay warm too.

Over at Holy Land Experience, you might have noticed that the landscaping has changed along the interstate. I'm of two minds on this. On one hand, it's getting a lot of exposure this way. On the other hand, that's a LOT of exposure to I-4 for those in the park, I would think.

Last week on an early morning trek to Disney, I noticed that the attraction has augmented its new look with tons of white lights on the trees. It definitely has impact.

So, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios is a wrap.

And next year, the park has a Simpsons ride opening.

And last night, the Simpsons aired its annual Treehouse of Horror episode.

The TV show featured an E.T.-based vignette, not to mention Flanders' "Heck House."  Who doesn't want to see this synergy?

A ghoul can dream, right?

If you're dining out for Thanksgiving, why not consider one of the area theme parks?

The Liberty Tree Tavern in the Magic Kingdom is a fun place to have a Thanksgiving feast, we discovered a couple years ago. All the traditional dishes are served at “Goofy's Liberate Your Appetite Character Dinner” while Goofy (of course), Minnie, Pluto and Chip & Dale circulate in their historical outfits.

The food was decent, and I was certainly thankful I didn’t have to prepare any of it. Liberty Tree's Colonial theme is well-executed both in the décor and the staff’s demeanor. Families are summoned by name and state of origin and then escorted to one of six rooms. Waitresses wear bonnets, which my son, who was 3 at the time, had never before seen. He was confused about why the women were wearing shower caps while serving dinner.

Do you love the grapefruit cake at Disney-MGM Studios' Brown Derby? Then be sure to check out Florida Magazine in today's newspaper. Pastry chef Andreas Born gives the recipe and the secret for making this popular sweet treat.

Before I could tell you about it, they were gone. It took less than 6 hours on Thursday for passholder tickets for the taping of the Walt Disney World Christmas Day parade to be snapped up. I knew they went quickly because I hadn't been able to secure reservations in past years. But 6 hours? Unbelieveable.

Earlier this week, a note appeared on the passholder Web site, indicating that in November we would be able to submit requests for the Nov. 30 taping of celebrity performances on the castle stage in the Magic Kingdom. That especially interested me because of the expected performers: 'High School Musical' stars, Billy Ray Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Joey Fatone and Drew Lachey, Josh Groban, Harlem Boys Choir and Whitney Houston. The lineup has not been confirmed by Disney, but I did find it on an online source that has been accurate in the past.

If you were not one of the lucky ones and you want to see the taping, you still can.