Melonballer visits Christmas Carol train and the Zoo

[Melonballer]

Hi everyone. Today I spent the day in Seattle, WA. First I went to Disney's Christmas Carol Train Tour, which will be at the King Street Station until Sunday. Then I went to Woodland Park Zoo. Part one is going to be all about the train. Part 2 about the zoo.

Of course what is a Seattle trip report without the Space Needle shot.



Some cruise ships in port before heading to Alaska.



After leaving the ferry I walked through Pioneer Square to get to the King Street Station. On the way I stopped to take some pictures. Fans of Adult Swim will recognize the following.



The Pioneer Square Pergola.



The Waterfall Park.



King Street Station.



The Christmas Carol Train.



It was about 8:40 am. The train opened at 9am for visitors. Here was the line. I am sure it will only get longer as more people find out about it.



I met up with about 14 members of the local NFFC chapter, the MountainEars, who are celebrating their 10th anniversary and are hosting the Pacific Northwest Mouse Meet in August.

At 9am they started to let people board the train. We only had to wait a few minutes before we were on. The set up was really neat, with christmas music and snowblowers. Once onboard it was even neater. Basically they take you through the process of making the film from the original story to design, to filming and post production.

In the first car there are several costumes and pictures of characters from the film.

Old Scrooge











Also in the first car were several artifacts, including a first edition of A Christmas Carol.



There were also original handwritten pages from other Dickens novels like 'The Pickwick Papers"



The lighting was real nice and I like the decoration.



There were several screens that showed preproduction art and had interviews with the people involved in the making of the film. Here is some of the art.









After that you came to a car full of maquettes, busts, and models.



Big Ben










The maquettes were really nice. I heard several people say that they would buy them if they could.








The next car was the Motion Capture car. Inside they showed how Mo-Cap is done with numerous presentations on the screens. A moCap suit.



MoCap cameras.



The next train had a whole lot of screens that showed bits from the film in rough to a more finished state.



The next couple cars had cameras that you could take your picture at and morph your face into one of 4 characters. You could then send it to your email. I have not got mine yet, but I will post it once I get it.



The last car had a final display with several screens with completed shots from the film.



Marley and Scrooge.



There was a place to get your picture taken with a christmas feast. The windows in the back had computer images from the film with a snowfall.





Nope, bad picture. Oh well.



After leaving the train I said to another visitor "Hey when was the last time you got of a Disney attraction and there was not a gift shop at the end?" LOL







There were even Carolers out. I am sure that as the day moved on they were quite uncomfortable.



They had a large blowup movie theater that showed a scene from the movie. Unfortunately I could not stay as I had to go to the ferry terminal to meet up with my parents and sister to go to the zoo.



Another view of the Pergola.



A flower on the way.



The Train was really neat and totally worth your time to go see it when it comes to town. What is even more amazing is that it is completely FREE! Yep when was the last time Disney gave you something for free. Go see it.

Coming zoon, I mean soon: part 2: Woodland Park Zoo

[Disney Wrassler]

That looks fun

[SeaWolf38]

Great report! I think I recognize that pic that you said Adult Swim fans would recognize... have they shown it in one of their little spots in between shows?

[Melonballer]

Originally Posted by SeaWolf38

Great report! I think I recognize that pic that you said Adult Swim fans would recognize... have they shown it in one of their little spots in between shows?

Yes they did. First time I saw it I was like, "I know where that is!" Since I was walking by I was sure to get a pic of it for the AS fans.

[SeaWolf38]

Originally Posted by Melonballer

Yes they did. First time I saw it I was like, "I know where that is!" Since I was walking by I was sure to get a pic of it for the AS fans.

Hahaha I thought that was where I'd seen it! Cool! Are they based in Seattle?

[Melonballer]

Originally Posted by SeaWolf38

Hahaha I thought that was where I'd seen it! Cool! Are they based in Seattle?

I think Adult Swim is based out of Atlanta actually. I am not sure why they have that picture in a bump. Still it is cool to see something local.

[SeaWolf38]

Probably just some random shot they picked. Maybe one of them comes from Seattle or something. That's pretty neat though.

[jsdmn2]

Wow! Great pics, MB. Thanks for posting! We didn't have time to get down there this weekend, so it was nice to see what it was all about.

[SnorkletsMom]

Great pics! We enjoyed Seattle when we visited. However, while I am happy that you enjoyed it, I thought it was a colossal waste of time. Here in L.A. the lines were hours long (in the heat) and the train was very disappointing.

[Melonballer]

Well I would say that it is not worth waiting several hours for, but worth maybe a half hour wait.

[Coheteboy]

Awesome TR! Too bad the train didn't have a spoiler alert! j/k

And there's a character there (ghost of the whatever) that looks like a cross between Burger King and Hagrid.

[Melonballer]

Ok people time for part 2.

After leaving the train I met with my parents and headed to the Woodland Park Zoo. It is a terrific zoo. The recently added a new Humboldt Penguin exhibit that we were anxious to see.

So Humboldts are native to South America. The exhibit had some of the native flora.



The crows would take any leftover fish the penguins left.



I feel underdressed. Each penguin is also an activist who was wearing an armband for some cause or another. (not really)



They released live fish in the water for the penguins to catch. It was very cool to watch.



A Great Blue Heron took advantage of a free meal.



The zoo is doing a Penguins on the March project to benefit Penguin conservation. Penguins are painted by local artists and will be auctioned off in a few months. Here is one of them.



I can say with great pride that my sister also got to paint one. I dont have a picture of it for you at this point, but will be sure to share the second I have one.

We had lunch and I took some flower pictures outside.





Then it was time to go inside for some indoor exhibits. First is a bored looking tree kangaroo.



Poison Dart frogs are cute, but hard to photograph.



They are very active.



See what I mean?



Dwarf Crocodiles



If I remember right this is an Reticulated Python.



Some birds in the Budgie house.





The animals were getting patriotic themed items that day. For example here is an apple for the birds.



And the Brown Bears got a red white and blue picnic basket.



I think she likes it.



Of course what would a July zoo visit be without seeing the Bald Eagles.



Komodo Dragon.



We waited for 15 minutes while the keepers set up the elephants' treats. Meanwhile some ducks came in as the warm up act.



Ducklings for Darkbeer.



Finally the elephants came out to eat.







a siamang.



I really, really, really tried to get a picture of the hippos wiggling their ears or blowing bubbles, but no luck.



Flamingo!



A red Panda.



If you do not know what a red panda is, I suggest you watch the following video.

When Red Pandas Attack!

My family was ready to leave, but I had not visited my friend, the jaguar yet!



The glass was so full of finger prints and face prints from the little kids, it was hard to get a clear shot.

I went into another indoor exhibit to see the ocelot. Beforehand I found some more flowers.





Emerald Tree Boa. I liked how the water was beaded on his back.



A pretty bird. I do not know what kind he is.



And finally the Ocelot. Unfortunately he was behind where the water spots were.



And that is it. Thanks for reading.

[Coheteboy]

Very cool shots! Dustin Hoffman is a red panda too.

[Figaro]

Thanks for both of these great updates!

[I Heart Disneyland]

Amazing photos, Anthony! Thanks for the train ones especially as I never made it in to see it over the weekend. Those poor carolers...it was nearly 90 on Saturday! ha!