Disney – Day 5!

Day 5.

 

SO excited to write about this day. You have no idea.

 

First and foremost… this was the day we had our High Tea booked at the Grand Floridian.

 

AND it was date night. Reservations at Fulton’s Crab House. 🙂

 

Plus, makeup days at Epcot and the Magic Kingdom!

 

So, we got around, and headed to Epcot.

 

We walked into the park, and saw on the guide, Daisy and Stitch were in Epcot, near the entrance. We looked, but didn’t see them.  Made me sad. It would have been great to see Stitch on my last day at WDW.

 

As we moved forward through the little entrance area to Epcot, we looked, and off to our left, I saw a butt of fuzzy blue.

 

And flipped.

 

His line was maybe 2 people long.

 

So we were meeting Stitch, for the 3rd time. 🙂 I couldn’t have been happier.

We watched Stitch interact with the little girl in front of us… he playfully stole her hat and tried to wear it. She smiled, and basically just beamed at him. She was really too little to have more more of a reaction, I think.  He smiled, took the hat off, and very carefully sat it back on her head.

 

Then, tried to steal her from her family!  Cracked us up.

 

When we got up to Stitch, I ran up, and gave him a huge hug. Then, I jokingly told him that since it was the last day in the parks… he should hop in my purse and go home with us.

 

Well, I learned you never tell an alien experiment that likes trouble to do something, unless you expect it to happen. He took ahold of my purse, pulled it open, and tried to get in head first.

 

His handler almost seemed like she didn’t see it at first, then turned around and started laughing. When she asked him what he was doing, we both started to explain. He mimed everything, and I replied like a kid trying to get her friend out of trouble, by explaining it like it was no big deal.

 

Then, Stitch mimed to his handler that he had gained weight, so he couldn’t fit in my purse! I hug/kissed him again. SO cute. I’m telling you. These Stitch cast members MADE my trip.

 

So while we were hugging, we posed for a picture. Turned out FANTASTIC.

 

We made the rounds through Innovations and Future World. We thought about trying to make Soarin’ — but they were out of FastPasses by the time we got to the park.  Oh well. Gives us something new to try next time!

 

We walked around Innoventions for a while, hoping to catch Chip and Dale, but never saw them.

 

We were on a pretty tight time limit, since we had to get tea at the Grand Floridian at a set time… and we wanted to get a few things done at the Magic Kingdom before that…. so we rode Mission Space, (the easy side) and then headed for the World Showcase.

 

This time — Matt agreed to take a boat! I was so happy. 🙂  We sat outside on the back of the boat, and I got some beautiful pictures. It was wonderful.

 

The boat dropped us off at Morocco, and we looked to see if Aladdin and Jasmine were there.

 

They weren’t, so we walked to France.  Belle was on my list of people to take a picture with.

 

She wasn’t out yet, but there was the cart that had the Grey Goose and Grand Marnier slushes that I’ve heard so much about.

 

 

After a brief panicked moment where I thought I’d lost my ID… I finally got to try one of the slushies.

 

And they are amazing. Wonderful. <3<3 I was nervous the grey goose ones would taste like the vodka. But, it had citrus added. <3<3

 

 

After that, we walked back down to Morocco, to see if the characters were out yet.

 

Jasmine we saw, but Aladdin wasn’t there yet. The handler said he was having issues with Abu , and would be out in a bit.

 

So we didn’t hop in line immediately. Instead, we stood off to the side and waited.

 

Finally, out comes Aladdin- and yes, it’s our Aladdin. Awesome!

 

So we got in line… and I started to get a little nervous.

 

See, we had already met Aladdin and Jasmine – and they had stumped me. Aladdin had asked me what I would wish for if I  had a magic lamp. (Day 1 of TR) I was still in Disney-star-struck mode, so I had no real answer for him.

So, we were going back to correct my wish!

 

I wasn’t at all sure how to go about it; or if they would look at me like I was crazy, but I was going to give it a shot.

 

Finally, we get up to the front of the line, and I didn’t have to say anything. Immediately, Aladdin was like, “OH! HEY! You came back to see me!”  It was the best thing. I was so surprised. I laughed about it, and said hello to him and Jasmine, then they asked what we were doing, if we were just taking another picture, or what?

 

So, I started to explain.

 

I reminded them about them asking me what I’d wish for if I had my own Genie, and how I couldn’t think of anything suitable… and when they said that yes, they remembered, I told them that I had thought of a wish.

 

I explained my hydrocephalus. Gave them a quick, general summary of the condition — mostly laymans terms. I mean, do they even have neurologists in Agrabah?

 

I explained my own experiences with the condition, and the ones of people I know both in real life, and in internet life. I told them about my working with the Hydrocephalus Association to have support group here in Owasso, as well.

They seemed really intrigued.  They asked questions, both about me personally, and the condition overall. We were there for a good ten to fifteen minutes.

 

Now, keep in mind, this is a picture line. A meet and greet line.

 

A long, meet and greet line. We had families and children behind us, who were way more “deserving” I guess you could say, of the Disney magic.  But they didn’t care.

 

I was, and still am, shocked at the attention that they gave to me. It was probably, the most magic moment of our trip, for me. I almost cried.

 

It was just so special. Aladdin almost slipped out of character. He was saying how he believes that if you believe in something hard enough, you can make it happen. Then, he faltered, and added in, “I mean, look at me! I was just an ordinary street rat — and now I’m living in the castle! …… But, in all seriousness, I really do believe that if you want something hard enough, and believe enough in it — you will make it happen.”

 

That, for me, did it. I was just so moved by the characters caring… but for the actual cast members to try and slip in something of their own opinion — made my trip.

‘And, before we left, they assured me that they’d get Genie on a cure, immediately.  Made me laugh.

Pictures:

 

 

Then, Belle was out, so we went to see her. She was so sweet. We chatted about books, and she told me that her Beast couldn’t read, but she was teaching him. She then asked, if my Beast could read, and pointed to Matt. So cute.

Is this your beast? Can he read?

 

After that, we left Epcot, and headed to the Magic Kingdom. We didn’t have much time before we had to head to tea at the Grand Floridian.

 

At MK, the only thing we really had on our must do list — was the teacups.

 

Matt, does not like spiny rides.  They make him get motion sickness.

 

But he said that this trip, on our last day, he would ride them with me.

 

After waiting in line for ages, we get on. I was sitting across from him.

 

It was SO much fun. I LOVE rides like that.

 

At one point, I stood up, leaned over the wheel you spin to spin the ride, and kissed Matt.

 

Who then, yelled at me for standing up. I laughed at him, and sat back down.

In retrospect, I think he was probably right. But at the time, I was having so much fun it didn’t dawn on me.

 

After we got off the teacups, we ran for the monorail.

 

We had a high tea appointment at the Grand Floridian.

 

On the monorail, we ended up in our own car.  I LOVED it.

 

There were these poles that the people standing hold on to…. but since there was no one in the car, I decided to have fun with it.   I hopped up, and decided I was going to try “pole dancing” .

 

And, by that, I mean, I had the pole in one hand, attempted to do something sexy, then the monorail jarred, and I freaked out, and almost fell over.

 

Very much something that I would do. But it was fun, and worth a shot. At the next hotel, some more people got on, so I had to sit down and behave.

 

The Grand Floridian — is gorgeous. It’s white, Victorian style, and absolutely beautiful. There was a pianist in the lobby, who alternated between playing Disney songs, and lounge type music.

 

 

We get in to our tea, and sat down.  The tea room was beautifully decorated. We had porcelain cups — and actual sugar cubes.

We ordered our teas, I had the Grand Tea, and Matt had the Buckingham Palace tea. We both had tea, I had champagne. We had tea sandwiches, scones, a mini quiche, and jam tarts. I had an English Trifle for dessert, and Matt had strawberries and cream, which he shared with me.

I also, finally got the champagne with strawberries I wanted. I saw it somewhere a long time ago, and thought it would be good. Never tried it though.

So much fun. I loved the vibe, it was quiet, and pretty romantic. 🙂 It was perfect. A must do for next time!

We wandered the hotel after tea. Checked out the gift shop that had all the soaps, and spa paraphernalia. We almost bought some, but I decided to pass.

 

The pianist had stopped, but a jazz type band had started. So, of course, we checked them out before we left. 🙂

 

After tea, we went back to the hotel room to relax. Matt was still sick, and we didn’t have anything to do until evening, when we had our dinner date at Fulton’s Cafe.

 

Which – I was very excited for.   I had bought a new dress, so I was happy to dress up. 🙂

 

Matt hadn’t seen the dress, I was trying to keep it a secret.  I don’t get many chances to surprise him, so I wanted to go for it.

 

Was a pain, but it paid off! He didn’t see it till right before we left. And thank God, he loved it. ❤  I did too! I have a thing for red dresses now. I think I need to branch out…….

 

When we got on our bus to head to Downtown Disney- I felt like people were staring at us. Most people were in their park clothes, and Matt and I were dressed up. Not to the nines, but pretty close!

 

We did have several people tell us we looked nice. And got plenty of looks. 🙂 I liked that.

 

We made it to DTD, and headed towards Fultons. We were a little late, but they still had our table.

 

Our server was wonderful. She recommended her two favorite dishes — which we got.

 

I got a filet mignon with blue crab meat and béarnaise sauce. Matt got a stuffed lobster that comes with new potatoes.

We started out with calamari, which tasted amazing.  We still like Ciao’s better… but this was phenomenal.

 

Our food- killer. Exceptional. Outstanding. ❤

 

I took some of Matt’s potatoes, since he didn’t think he could eat them all. It was amazing to  mix those with the béarnaise sauce & crab meat.

<3<3

 

After that, we wandered DTD for a bit.  Went to Ghiradellis, and I got a white mocha, that tasted amazing.

 

We wandered the World of Disney store, ended up finding a chatty cast member, who insisted that we get the celebration buttons – showing everyone we were celebrating our anniversary! Which was cool, we got wished a happy anniversary that night.  Made me smile. 🙂

it's cheesy. I know. oh well.

After that, we headed back to our room , and basically passed out.

 

The next morning – we left Disney.  Matt was starting to feel better… but I was starting to get sick. 😦

 

We had a quick breakfast at the Mara, and packed up.  We wandered the hotel for a while, until Mickey’s Magical Express got there.

 

I admit it. I cried.

 

I cried a good portion of the ride to the airport.

 

It’s terrible, but I didn’t want to leave! It had been such an amazing trip… and with a place like WDW, you never know for sure when you’ll have the money to go back. You know?

 

The flights home were smooth.  I think I was starting to feel too sick to freak out.

 

We made it home…. and get home…… and it was lie, 90 degrees inside our house.

 

Apparently, our AC had gone out at some point during the week. 😦

 

I’ll spare everyone all the drama.. because it isn’t near as interesting as the WDW information… but it ended up getting fixed the next day. Thankfully.

Disney- Day 4

I know, I know. It’s been nothing but Disney posts lately. But I’ve been putting them off, and putting them off. Just a few more, then I can post about other things. 🙂 Promise.

Past posts about the Disney trip:

Day 1 Day 2A– 2B Day 3

We had to be up insanely early for my 9:15 appointment at the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique…

……

For anyone who isn’t as Disney oriented as I am… let me explain.

The Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique — or the BBB– is a boutique inside Cinderella’s Castle (or in Downtown Disney) where your child can get a Princess makeover. There are 3 hairstyles to choose from. Fairytale Princess, The Diva, and the Pop Princess…. you can add nails for a fee…. buy a princess outfit for yet another fee.

Then, they can have a photoshoot as their favorite princesses.

It’s for ages 3 to… well, they don’t specify a cap on the age. So, adults aren’t banned from doing it, if they want.

Of course, adults don’t get the clothes. But meh.

Yes, yes. I know. I’m 25. And it’s really, truly, technically, meant for little kids.

But you know?  Ask me exactly how much I care.

 

So anyway. We’re up early, so we can go to my early appointment – – and I had finally gotten the wakeup call to work.

This time, I made sure I answered the phone.

I finally got to hear Stitch on the wake up call! He says something like, “Wakey wakey, no more sleepy!” Then Mickey takes over the call, and I forget exactly what he says. Nothing huge, but it still made my morning.

 

Went down, got meds and OJ for the sick hubby… and headed down to the lobby.

 

We stayed in Animal Kingdom Lodge, and the bus to Magic Kingdom was all the way down at the end of the line. Not that we were running late or anything, but I ran.

 

So much so that my husband laughed, turned to a random person waiting for a bus, and commented that in our whole relationship, he’s never seen me move that fast.

 

I didn’t care. I was excited.

 

We got to Magic Kingdom, hopped off the bus, and took off.

 

Now, we knew the Boutique was in the castle… but we also knew that Cinderella’s Royal Table was in the castle.

 

So it took me a minute, but I figured out where to go, (I mean really, there were only 2 options, so it wasn’t THAT hard…) and went up to the lady at the front desk.

 

To be quite honest, she was a little taken aback that the appointment was for me (really, everyone was.. though they did say that they get adult “princesses” every once in a while.)

 

They took me to my “Fairy Godmother In Training” (FGIT) and sat me down, after asking me a couple questions, including who my favorite princess was.

 

My FGIT was very nice, but I could tell she felt a title awkward doing my makeover.

 

Which, well, to be honest, I’d be more excited about doing princess makeovers on little ones than adult females. They haven’t learned to be witchy yet, just bratty sometimes. And really, they just want to be their favorite princess.

 

But she was really very sweet, and as the appointment went on, we both got a little less awkward with each other.

 

It was different having the photopass photographer there taking pictures the whole time. A few of the pictures, I look like I’m high…

 

I tell you, I don’t know HOW these little girls do it. The FGIT’s have to pull your hair SO hard to get it all smooth and perfect… and my hair is SO thick.. hello, pain!

 

Also, there are LOTS of layers of hair spray and gel. With every time they comb your hair smooth, they smooth on a layer of gel. And then they repeat.

 

Believe me when I say that when I tried to take my hair down… well, it was a mistake to try out of the shower. The style held itself up!! (as I warned a family we saw the next day on the Disney buses)

 

Halfway through, she offered to play one of her Disney trivia games. She asked Matt and I if we could name all the Disney movies with one word titles. (Not Disney Pixar… just Disney.) It’s harder than it looks! We did need some prompting … but we got it.

 

I was talking with her mid appointment, and I asked her if she had any moments that stood out to her. I mean, she’d been a FGIT for 3 years, at the happiest place on earth — there had to be some good stories in there!

 

Which, she didn’t disappoint. She had a little girl once who was slightly overweight. And there is a part at the end of the appointment where you make a wish. After the little girl saw how she looked, she just started crying. Her wish had been simple — she just wanted to look/feel beautiful. And when she saw herself, she said that she was beautiful, and her wish had came true! -I- almost cried. So adorable.

 

I’m sure you get your share of fussy kids, but there’s also gotta be those sweet moments that more than make up for it.

 

After she did my hair, she asked me to choose between a small silver, pink, or… blue, I think, tiara. Of course, I picked silver.

She slid that under the small bun she had pulled my hair into, and added some hair pins.

Then, she pulled up any excess hair in the back, smoothed it, and added a “jeweled mickey hair clip.”

 

 

 

What you can't see, is the major will power it took this tenderheaded girl to keep from yelping the whole time, and giving up mid-appointment. That hurt!

Next, we did nails. I got to pick pink or blue polish to take home…and then she painted my nails with sparkle polish. (Which, I am a sucker for. My nails are actually sparkly as we speak…)

 

Then came the makeup. She had this cute makeup palette… I got to choose two eyeshadow colors and a lip color… she applied blush, and then I picked a sparkly gem to go on my cheek…

 

Sparkles all over the place- LOVE it.

 

Then the last step, was to wave a wand over me… add lots…and lots… of glitter, she said her quote about hoping all your wishes come true, and then I made a wish with your eyes closed….

 

I love how the Photopass photographer caught Matt in the background.

 

Then, they spin you around, .. ala What Not To Wear…and as soon as you see yourself in the mirror… the photographer snaps a picture!

 

I could totally be in Disney's next ad campaign..... if I were 20 years younger.

 

 

I’m sure that it’s much, much more adorable on the little girls, but I was legitimately surprised! I was all Disney-fied!

 

They gave me a BBB sash, and a sack with blue nail polish, the gems left over … my makeup palette, and 2 Belle stickers. 🙂

 

It was pricey- but it was so worth it. 🙂

 

I had a blast- the experience alone was great, and being in the castle was fantastic! Very glad I did it. (It, didn’t exactly hurt that I was called princess the rest of the day, either…)

 

My FGIT and I .

 

After we left the castle, we went to ride the Haunted Mansion. They redid a few things since the last time we went, but it wasn’t terribly different.

 

We also rode Pirates of the Carribean. We skipped it last year, but I’d ridden it before Jack Sparrow had been added in, so I was curious. There was NO line!

 

After the ride… we saw where the pirates were being done up, at the end of the ride. (Think BBB for pirates! ) I think they were still doing some mermaids, too,I kinda wanted to try that… but I liked being a princess.

 

We also went and found Dole Whips. I ended up with a Dole Whip float. SO GOOD. HOW DID I MISS THIS LAST YEAR………

 

Pineapple/vanilla soft serve in pineapple juice = heaven.

Matt was not doing well… so after that we rode the Stitch ride, our last ride of the morning. ( I know lots of people hate it, but I LOVE it.) We ended up front row this time…. it was great. But then again… I love anything Stitch.

 

Then we headed back to the room. The park was mainly empty… so we had breezed through those rides in no time flat. Matt was sick, and needed some rest. Which, no big deal, we were going to be back at the park at 3:45 to have dinner at Cinderella’s Castle, so we’d have more time to do anything else that we wanted to.

 

We took a quick nap. Well, Matt took a nap, I laid down and watched TV for a bit, touched up my princess makeup, added earrings, then we headed back to Magic Kingdom.

 

Where the magic just about ran out.

 

We were part of the first dinner group of the day. 3:45.

 

Only…when we got there, there was a parade going on.

 

Crossing right in front of the castle.

 

We couldn’t get by.

 

It was 3:43.

 

I asked 3 different cast members. Not happening.

 

This is where I started to get upset.

 

We had a credit card on file for this dinner. If we missed, we got charged a fee anyway.

 

I got the ADR EXTREMELY last minute, very lucky on my part.

 

I WAS NOT going to miss this.

 

Matt kept saying it’d be ok… even if we missed, they’d find a way to let us in….on and on, but I wasn’t buying it. I was super stressed, and just knew it was going to end badly.

 

So, then he started plotting where to interrupt the parade and run across.

 

I wasn’t quite that ballsy yet, though. There were cast members all over the place!!

 

Finally we spotted the end of the parade.

 

We ran. And when I say ran… I mean, we hauled it across the street. I was on a mission.

 

Of course…. we still couldn’t get in the castle. It’s roped off. On both sides. The door was RIGHT THERE. Frustration!!

 

And, unfortunately, showing off my tiara and saying “I have a reservation with Cinderella, right. NOW.” doesn’t charm these guys. Surprise, surprise.

 

So we ran around the long way, along the back of the castle, just as we were told…. and finally got in that way.

 

Not late, thankfully. We waited in line, and got our picture taken with Cinderella, who was very sweet to us.She complimented my hair. 😛

 

 

We were led upstairs to the castle… and ended up being seated right next to the window- EXACTLY the spot we would have wanted. ❤

.

 

The place was beautiful. We took a few pictures….

 

 

 

 

 

 

But our waiter came, and he was nice… reminded Matt of Gregory House…. he had the attitude. And was VERY tall. Very smart alecky. 🙂 Called me Princess, and wasn’t sure how to refer to Matt… so he called him Sport. Not prince, lord, anything like that. Just… sport. It made us laugh. Quite a bit.

 

Only thing… all the girls got wands; the boys swords.

 

Our waiter didn’t bring us any! So I conned him into bringing me a wand. 🙂

 

Matt ordered the vegetarian cassoulet, I got the beef tenderloin with asparagus and duchess potatoes. We both started off with salads.

 

SO. GOOD. Well.. Matt’s was weird. But mine? AMAZING.

 

As dinner went on, there was an announcement that told the story of each princess that was coming in. There was Belle, Aurora, Snow White and Ariel.

 

LOVED the princesses. Belle was gorgeous. I believe Aurora kissed me on the cheek. Ariel was feisty. Snow White was sweet.

 

There wasn’t any outstanding interactions, really…. they seemed a little pressed for time. But they did seem to spend some special time with the kids. Ariel kissed a little boy, left a red lip print on his forehead! ❤

 

Of course, I took pictures with all of them, —and our waiter!

 

 

Who, in the end, brought Matt a sword- at his request! I was shocked. Didn’t expect him to want one.

 

As for dessert… Matt got  a fruit sorbet, and I got the chefs trio. Little tiny chocolate mousse, a key lime tart, and almond cheesecake.

That cheesecake… was better than sex. Better than meeting the Princesses OR Stitch. It. Was. Incredible. If I had known….. to heck with the trio– bring on the cheesecake!!!!!!

 

 

At the end of dinner. All the girls (I think all the tables, maybe) had a Wishing star. The fairy Godmother came over the speakers, had everyone wave their wands over the stars, make a wish, and say Bibbidy Bobbidy Boo. SO cute.

After dinner, we walked around some, and I saw Photopass photographers over by the rose garden.

 

Which, of course, made me want to take a picture! I conned Matt into going over there, and we took a quick picture.

 

Then left to go to the hotel, drop off our souvenirs, then headed to DTD, to see the final Harry Potter movie! (Yes, with my princess hair and all)

 

We walked around some, since we had time before our showing. I checked out this magic shop, and the person working did a card trick for me!

 

When we finally got in…. wow! So many snack options — a full bar– the fancy touch screen coke machines…. I was wowed. It was insane!

 

And in the bathroom….. OMG. There was a Dyson hand dryer. Coolest thing EVER.

 

Dried my hands in ONE PASS.

 

I was amazed. Won’t lie.

 

As for the Harry Potter movie….. I loved it. Very little to complain about. I won’t put it here…. but if anyone is interested, I DO have a blog post about it.

 

Although, I think there was more later that I thought about that bothered me…. but as far as movies go, that was the closest they got!

 

After that, we headed back to the bus stop… and waited ages . I kept nodding off. 😦 Finally the bus showed, and we got to go back to our hotel and crash. ❤

 

Very excited for the next day – Epcot/MK/ makeup day. Tea at the Grand Floridian. A special meetup with Aladdin and Jasmine. <3<3

 

Disney – Day 3

Disclaimer: If it says DH in here anywhere... stands for dear husband, darling husband, whatever. It's a forum abbreviation. Adapting this from a post on a Disney site...

So...I was doing surprisingly okay remembering my trip information..... then, this happens.

There's a little bit I forgot to add in to the end of day 2. 

We had every intent of trying again to see Harry Potter. But, Matt was starting to feel sick, so we napped. But, set an alarm to wake us up in time to hit the AMC in Downtown Disney and see it. 

Alarm went off- we both woke up, and wanted to go. 

But, I was exhausted, he was starting to become sickly... and those damn Disney beds are SO comfortable... sleep won out.

We woke up from the nap a bit later, and Matt was feeling worse. Needed medicine. Of course... the gift shop is closed. 

The front said that they could get a manager to come unlock it and get what we needed... but we would have to pay by a credit card, not cash. So, we decided to wait, he would just sleep till morning. 

In the morning, I woke up, and headed to the gift shop. Not only did I grab alka seltzer, but the lady gave me a number of a pharmacy that could deliver meds to us if needed. Not that I thought we'd use it, but she offered, and I thought it would be a smart idea, just in case. 

Then, I ran to Mara, the quick service restaurant in the hotel.  Grabbed some eggs, potatoes and bacon. (Yay for the Disney Dining Plan!) Found out that for my dessert, I could grab an orange juice! So, Matt and I had orange juice, and split the Mara breakfast. 

I felt horrible. He felt AWFUL, but didn't want to stay in the hotel the whole trip.

 So, we went ahead and went to Hollywood Studios. 

First things first, we got Fastpasses for Star Tours. We were excited to check out all the new additions.  I think that was the only Fastpass we ended up using... we usually don't mind the queues in lines..
But, since he was sick, it works out. 

Then, we headed to Tower of Terror.

Love, LOVE the set up /queue for this ride. I am immensely jealous of this lady. (link goes to a Disney forum. Pic heavy. But worth it!)

I would pay to stay in a HTH themed hotel. Whether in the parks, or just on property. I love my Animal Kingdom Lodge... but seriously. Disney needs to get on this asap!

There wasn't a terribly long line, so we got up to the 'hotel' pretty quickly. We were, unfortunately, behind some kids that kept giving us looks. Meh. It happens, whatever. It was neat to take the time and look at the ride queue. The signs that tell you where to go on the property for different things, the dried up pool... it's all done so perfectly. 
 

We get to the ride -- one of Matt's favorites, it being Twilight Zone themed and all-- and went on it. 

Per usual, I was freaked out about the drops.

 But loved it. Had a dizzy spell on it.. but then again, with my shunt for the brain condition I have.... they don't want you on roller coasters or other rides with fast altitude changes, or whathaveyou.

Oops. Oh well. *shrug* It's the high school band trips all over again..

After that, we browsed the gift shop-- but no shopping yet. We decided to just hit all the shops at the end of the night. Would be easier that way.

Then- outside the ToT, what did we find?!

Not my picture. I have one somewhere of just the real espresso machine. So beautiful... *sniff*

Yup. A real coffee stand!  Not Disney run! Not Nescafe! <3<3<3  I got coffee, Matt got some Earl Grey tea... poor thing was still not feeling well at all.

Off to the Backlot tour! (I think. If my order is a bit off, it's because my memory is fuzzy. Otherwise, the info is all here- promise!)

Same tour as last year... did see some different memorabilia in the boneyard though. Would be nice to sometime shell out the extra money to do some of the behind the scenes park tours... 

Spent a good amount of time in the Villians building, naturally. :) Took some pictures last year, not as many this year.

 I think this guy was technically in a Planet Hollywood shop we went in.. but shh. The picture can go here.. It fits. :P

After that... we headed back to Star Tours. 

Not...without protests from me. 

Not that I didn't want to do Star Tours... it's just... 

Well. I saw a face painting booth. With no line. So of course... I wanted to do it! We stood, looked at the options..... and decided to come back later. 

Really.. Matt decided. He explained why it'd be a good idea... pointed out all the excellent, rational reasons that made sense.... and, I'm pretty sure I pouted. I wanted to do it now! Not later!! 

But, he made sense. So, we waited. 

Star Tours!

At first, I liked the new setup. The line was fun, good atmosphere. 

The ride itself, I liked the aspect of having different stories. 

The 3D gave me a headache. Didn't look all 3D-y (I can't see 3D anyway. So... eh. )

The ride was a LOT shorter than I remember.  

I really prefer the old one, all around, I think. Not that this one was bad.. just not the best, in my opinion. You know?

Quick picture before the ride started...

Lunch was next! With, the excruciating decision: Pizza Planet, or the Backlot Express. 

Pizza won out. (i think because I was still wishing for more Via Napoli...) . Which, the individual pizzas were really good! The castmember taking orders was nice... Crowd wasn't too bad. 
We found a table upstairs! And I didn't get lost or separated from my husband without a cell phone!! (very unhappy Disney moment from last year. ) 
The pizzas were good- but what surprised me was how much I liked the mini Caesar salad. As a rule -- I don't like Caesar salad. I LOVED this though. Made myself eat it very slow. 

The cookie for dessert was amazing, too! 

Let's see.... what did we do next?  

I believe, we found Mike and Sully for pictures!  Last year, we passed this opportunity up, because it was only Mike. Matt wasn't too keen about standing in line with a bunch of kids for just Mike. Now Sully.... that, he would do. 

HOW DO YOU HUG AN EYEBALL.

 I'm in here somewhere!

You can't tell it. But he really was enjoying it...

We walked around DHS some more... looked in a lot of shops/ buildings.  I bought a necklace from a Tattooine themed tradeer booth... resembles the Boondock necklaces. 

Finally got to do my face painting! Couldn't make up my mind what I wanted... so I finally picked the music one. The guy doing it was nice. Very, very quick with the painting. 

I was paranoid the rest of the day that it would come off. 
It stayed.... pretty well, surprisingly.
 Near the end of a night was a different story though.

Went through ... oh lord, I don't remember. The Walt Disney building.... One Man, I forgot the name! It tracks Walt's history, the history of the parks, ends in a little movie? 

Anyway. We saw that too.  It was neat. I wouldn't mind reading some of the books out on him. Both the official, and unofficial. Seems like it'd be an interesting read....
I was also getting looks right and left from kids and parents alike.  Oops..... 
Random pics from that place:

After that, we went to see Beauty and the Beast. I was VERY excited to see this. I <3 that movie. I love that princess. A book nerd, I mean, come on! I identify better with her than any of the princesses. :) And Matt had NEVER SEEN THE MOVIE. 

We got into the theater, and got a seat. Not the best seat, but not bad at all! 

Matt was eyeing the catwalks and ladders... was afraid for a moment he'd try to climb them!!

The show started- I LOVED it. It was so unique to see a movie I loved as a kid broadway style. I will admit. I teared up. And felt a bit crazy, but gave up caring. It was well done, (really well done, considering it was a 20 minute show!)  and was just as magical as everything else at WDW. 


I want to kick myself for not remembering where in the timeline this took place... but at one point during the day, we ended up in one of the Animation buildings. 

SO many pretty pictures. It's like an art gallery, but all Disney themed. And then they these little booths inside where they showcase an artist a week, or something, and they can draw pictures for you to buy.

We'd been through a few already on the trip, just looking. 

I was looking at one of the artist of the days sketches for something Stitch related, when Matt tried to get my attention.

I was a little annoyed- I mean, I wanted to find Stitch! So I waved him off, and told him I was looking for Stitch. He understands me well enough, that's all I have to say.

But no... he was so persistent! I think he actually came over, grabbed my hand, and had me follow him.

And this is what I saw:

Guess who was no longer annoyed?!
We looked it up on the computer, and found that, and another Stitch painting. 
This is my FAVORITE. Love ANYTHING about the book, or the ducklings. So sweet. We also liked that it was darker, so not as cartoony. 

Somewhere in there, Matt became serious about buying the picture. I was still in dreamy-isnt-it-pretty-maybe-someday-mode. 

We bought it. 

I was still in shock hours later. 

We went from plenty of souvenir money... to where we had to watch it and be cautious. 

This is the first painting I've ever bought! An actual, original, painting. I'm getting all giddy again, thinking about it.  It is now hanging in our room, over the bed. :) So pretty! 

On our way out of the park.. we got cornered by a survey guy. We decided what the heck, and followed him into his "office" to take the survey. 

When...we saw this:

Probably won't mean much to anyone that doesn't know me or Matt very well.. but remember the bit in my Ohana update about the band Matt works with? 

They use two of these buckets. 

We just can't get away! 

After that, we headed off to Epcot for dinner at the UK. <3<3 Rose and Crown.  We started off trying to walk, but gave up when we couldn't figure out where to go, and hopped a bus. Figured it would be easier to walk from Epcot back to DHS to see Fantasmic... since we had a definite starting point. 

Dinner was fabulous. Matt had fish and chips, I had the surf and turf. 

So. Much. Food. 

Matt was in heaven, it was the UK... it was rainy drizzly outside... etc etc. 

Finally, we finish eating, order coffee to go, and head back towards DHS , to see Fantasmic.

It's still drizzly. So, we stop in a shop to buy a poncho.

Of course, they are down to only childrens sizes. 

Looking back, not entirely sure why I bought it. It didn't cover my head - which is the only reason I wanted it! 

We headed out the International Gateway in Epcot, and started walking towards the Boardwalk. Which, would take us right to Hollywood Studios! Easy, peasy, right?

Nope! 

We walked forever, and finally ended up at the boardwalk. Which... looked like it just went in a circle? 

Wasn't sure how this one was going to work... so we stopped at some hotel to just wait on a bus. 

It was rainy. My face paint was a mess. And it was cold. And we were kinda lost... (only not. Because we were at a hotel. We could hop on a bus.)

I was glad we had so much time before Fantasmic! We missed it last year- I wasn't about to miss it again- Matt really wanted to see it! 

So many buses came and went- I don't even remember how long it was. Ridiculous, is what it was. 
FINALLY a bus for DHS showed. 

We learned the hotel was the Yacht and Beach club. We have a special place in our heart for that hotel. It's a black.. and cold... and dark place . But nonetheless! 

We get to DHS, the parks pretty empty.... but as we walk towards the theater... we soon learn why.

The whole damn park is in line for Fantasmic! And this is why, in case you've never seen Fantasmic. That's not my recording , I just found it on YouTube.. Everything projected, is projected onto screens made of spraying water. 

I want a pretzel. I don't want to wait an hour in line. :( 

No pretzel places are open nearby... and if Matt goes with me to look further... we lose our spot.

So I get more cranky. Even more so the longer we wait. 

Finally, we get let in. 

Which, is cool. It's like an entire mini park in there! Long walkways back to where Fantasmic shows... I didn't realize that! 

There's even snack stands back there. Which, I didn't get a pretzel from... because we sat down first, and I am so directionally impaired its not funny. I wouldn't have found my way back to my seat.

Fantasmic was cool. I don't know if I'd go through the wait again though.... it was pretty ridiculous!

After that, we left the park, and went back to the room. 

Which, brings me to perhaps the most interesting part of the night.... laundry!!

Matt was feeling sick, so he took a shower, and was stuck in the room for a while, not feeling amazing. I, took our laundry in an oversized WDW bag (why I didn't just take a suitcase.. I don't know) down to try and find the laundry room.

We were on a different floor/trail in Animal Kingdom Lodge than we had been the year before. So where we were in relation to laundry.. I had no idea. 

When I figured it out -- it was like a death march! Down the hall… ove the lobby… around a corner…. down three floors… down another hall…. THERE IT IS.

Then… I'm short moneywise. Well, of course, right?

So I start the washer.and start the march back to the hotel room to grab more quarters for the dryer (and for a pop). 

Now,there was a guy who had been walking behind me the WHOLE (well, halfway. Not the whole) way to the laundry room. He kept giving me looks…and was kinda creeping me out.

But then… I stopped to think about it.

I was still wearing the tank top from the day... Low cut… built in bra. Blue leopard print.

I had changed into pj shorts… that were basically red, cloth, booty shorts. There is no other way to describe them.

 Pretty short, but I'd forgotten about laundry! 

My face was still painted……and still smeared/streaky from the rain. 

And I had flip flops on.

The term "a hot mess" seems to apply here. 
So, I stayed down there for a while, watching TV with another family. Which, to my dismay…was not on Disney channel, like last year.  

But, it was Whose Line is it Anyway, so I couldn't complain much. 

After the people leave, my husband shows up!  

In pajamas and no shoes. :( He said he had Mission Impossible-d his way down to the laundry because he was without socks due to me doing laundry*… but would love some sock before going back to the room. 

What a night. 

But! I did manage to spread some pixie dust. A family came in shortly before we left, and started buying detergent and fabric softener. 

I, remembering how much this crap had cost, and bought a box of the softener sheets at home to bring with us. And we only had one day to do laundry. 

So, I offered to let the family take some of the sheets. They seemed happy, but didn't want to take my sheets from me.. (could have had to do with my weird appearance…. I won't lie….)

But I convinced them I didn't need them…..and they were happy. 

Finally…we finished, and went back to the room to go to bed.
<3
The next day- was Magic Kingdom, Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique, and Cinderella's Castle!!

Disney Day 2- B!

Ok. So, we finished Ohana... I'm still on a Lilo & Stitch high, so we decide to go through the gift shop. 

Of course, we wander the hotel for a bit first. It's so pretty!

We get to the gift shop... only we don't see the plethora of all things Stitch that I'm expecting to see! 

I wish we'd gotten a picture of the coconut postcards! Anyone see those? You can buy them for... 20 dollars, I think? Write on them with a sharpie, and the hotel sends them to someone! Expensive... but can you imagine, [I]getting a coconut in the mail? [/I] I love it. 

Anyway. Parts of the gift shop looked pretty picked clean. But, I found a pretty hair flower. Lots of them looked damaged.. but I found one I liked!

Emo picture taken in between Ohana and Animal Kingdom

Then, I found coconut cups! I almost didn't buy it. It seemed silly. But I've always wanted to drink from a coconut. I'm a dork like that. 
And it was cheap. And it had a purple flower that matched my hair flower.  So, we got it. :) 

After that, we went back to the hotel to drop off all our goods, then head to Animal Kingdom! 

We skipped AK last year, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  It was ok, neat to look at - but it seemed hotter than all the parks!! 

We walked around for a bit. Thought about doing a safari, but the wait was LONG. So we grabbed a frozen lemonade, thank you dining plan, and headed for the Maharajah Jungle Trek.  I think we walked through the Pangani Trail as well... but the Maharajah stands out to me..

It was neat, we loved walking through the "ruins" and all. The birds were pretty... when we got to the bats, WOW... 

I forget what we were looking at, when we asked a CM what was keeping all the animals (tigers, specifically) from coming over the little waist high fence at us. We didn't see a chain link fence... no cord like they have around the savannah at AKL..... nothing, to be honest. She hesitated... then told us nothing, really. That they just choose to, since they've lived/been brought up like this. They're well fed, well taken care of, etc. 

Can anyone tell me if this is true, or if said CM was pulling our legs? Matt and I disagree on this...

Either way, when we got to a point where we were inside the ruins, we looked out the window- and a tiger was staring at us. 

I mean, literally. He was staring right at us. 

It unnerved Matt a bit, so he walked around to the other side of me... Yup. Tiger was for sure checking us out. Which, he started walking toward us. 

And, didn't stop at a safe distance. 

Matt, who has common sense, leaned over and told me that if he wanted to, our new friend could probably come right through that glass. And that he didn't think direct eye contact was a good thing. 

I nodded, and being the ever so cautious person I am, told him to get his phone out and snap a picture! 

Does this picture say "Hello, friends. " or "Oooo... Lunch!"

 

That wood you see? Yeah, thats the ruins, with the window in it. He was maybe 6 inches from our faces, depending on the width of the glass. 

About this time, people started flocking over, because the tiger was so close.  Then, Mr. Tiger looked at us, slowly turned around, and walked away. 

I don't know if we were a planned lunch, or if he's gotten so used to people oohing and ahhing over him that he knew he'd get attention, or what. But it was an amazing moment! 

After that, we went up to Rafiki's Planet watch.  I got pretty grumpy, I didn't understand exactly what the map was saying about it... Matt and I had a mini fight, he was grumpy from getting sick on the trip.. needless to say when we got on the train, we weren't thrilled with each other. 

Conservation station was cool... but more like any hands on museum I've been too. We saw Rafiki, and someone else I can't remember... and this guy. 

Less than impressed with the petting zoo, we headed back to AK, to leave. 

And caught some of the parade! Got a good spot on the corner!  I wish I had a picture- King Louie gave me a kiss! 

After that, we left AKL, went back to the room!

Well. Not quite. We started to leave- Guess who we found!!!?

Stitch was very upset I went for Lilo first. Just stood and looked at me dejected when I tried to hug him. : ( 

 
Still had my lei from Ohana on, and my hair flower. Lilo gingerly touched both of them, then pointed to her own. Awww.  I loved it.

Finally got my hug. Love how DH and Lilo are just hanging out watching.

 <3 

After going to AK, Matt and I headed back to our hotel room. (My feet were SO SORE. Flip flops- for me at least - were a bad idea. )

The plan was -- room service, then out to Downtown Disney, to see the last Harry Potter movie. 

We make it back to the room, and I try to bring up AMC's site on my phone. (We didn't buy the internet usage in the room. We did last year... but didn't think to this year) 
Of course, my internet on my phone wasn't cooperating. 

Finally, we pull up the website, and find out that the last showing of the day, was going to start in ten minutes. 

In short-- we weren't seeing Harry Potter that night. 

So, we sit down to make the room service order.  Flipping through the menu... we try to find what we got last year, because it was nothing short of amazing. 

They had Matt's chicken sandwich... and they had my steak! 

Only thing... my steak had different sides! 

Last year, it had these amazing potato wedges, and green beans. This year... it had potato parsnip puree, and broccolini. 

Hm. Yeah. I'm not sure how I feel about that. 

So I call to place the order, and ask the poor lady a million questions about what the sides are. She was very nice about it, and didn't seem annoyed at all. :) 

After I placed the order, I decided I wanted to go get a drink from the Victoria Falls bar, which is the bar that is sort of in between floors in the hotel. Beautiful place (as if the whole hotel isn't...) 

I ended up ordering a Victoria Falls Mist - again passing up the Acai martini, that comes with a Acai seed bracelet... Next time! 

 This drink had banana, melon, and an African liquor similar to triple sec. So good! 

Took it back to our room, along with the cherry coke I'd gotten for Matt,  and he was out on the balcony. 

We sat for a bit, animal watched, drank our drinks.... until another, uninvited guest showed up! 

a WASP. with a NEST nearby. 

Matt is allergic. So we very quickly moved inside. 

And not long after that-- our order arrived!

We tend to go all out on room service , we usually only do it once a trip. :) 

Our table, done up all pretty.

The bread was kinda sweet... interesting. Loved the butter though, had salt crystal type things in it. <3 

Kenyan Coffee Encrusted Steak, with Broccolini and Potato- Parsnip puree.  SO good. You couldn't even taste the parsnips. 

Curried Seafood and Pearl Couscous Stew
Matt changed his mind about the chicken sandwich, and tried this. He said this was good... not amazing though. And he couldn't really taste much of the curry. 

Chilled Shrimp Appetizer. We got this last year too. I don't like the texture. Matt loves it! Sauce is kinda odd. 

Taste of Boma. Zebra dome, fruit tart, and a cafe latte tart. Mmmm. 

After that, we hung out, watched TV, and fell asleep. Couldn't find a whole lot on, but! It was fun nonetheless.

Disney- Day 2! (well, the beginning of it anyway)

 

First off, I know it’s been a while since I started posting about our Disney trip. But, I finally got the pictures in I was waiting on. So, I can post the rest of it!

Not sure I have time for a full update- but we’ll give it a try!!

 

 

 

On our second day at WDW… we had reservations for breakfast at ‘Ohana at 10:30. I was beyond excited. I mean…. for me…. all the time we were planning our trip, and setting things up, and figuring out what to do… this was it. 

I was going to meet Lilo and Stitch. The one thing, besides Fantasmic, that we didn’t get to do last year.

I couldn’t be happier.

Despite how early we had to get up…

 

 

 

Matt answered our wakeup call, still half asleep. I was already up & around from my cell phone alarm, and the promise of seeing Stitch.

Looking back… I was probably hyper to the point of annoyance…

 

 

When the phone rang… I ran (bounced?) over, and asked him who was on the phone.

I know that sounds dumb.. but I had read on a forum that Mickey does the wake up calls in the Disney hotels! I of course, hadn’t told Matt. So, I was excited to see how it went over.

 

Matt, still half asleep, looks over at me, a little confused, and answers “Stitch.”

 

 

 

If I remember correctly I went from being happy-bouncy-did-you-hear-Mickey to oh-my-god-really-give-me-that-phone-NOW in about 5 seconds flat.

I was a little confused as to why Stitch was doing our wakeup call…(and to be quite honest, how that little detail had snuck past me…) but by the time I got the phone from DH, Mickey was jabbering away about something or other.

 

 

Ok. So… maybe sleepy Matt confused Mickey for Stitch. It happens..

He [I]is[/I] still in bed, half asleep….

 

 

 

But, as we’re getting ready, he keeps insisting (yes, because I haven’t let it go yet.) , saying that Stitch said something about waking up, and no sleepy. So, we decide to set a wake up call for tomorrow, and I’ll answer it. And, we’ll figure this out.

 

 

 

We finally get dressed, go downstairs, and catch a bus to MK.

Not, that we’re going to the Magic Kingdom this early. But there isn’t a bus that goes from hotel to hotel. Well, I mean, most of them do indirectly to pick up passengers, but, there isn’t a set bus that would get you to the hotel of your choice on time.  So, we are going to MK, then taking the Monorail to the Polynesian resort to have breakfast. Which, is another thing we didn’t do last year. Matt and I were both excited about that.

 

 

 

Side note here. On the buses, they play a recording when you near the parks.

The Magic Kingdom one, has music.

That starts off with a snare drum, has some marching drums, and then the Disney music kicks in.

Well, they played that, and Matt and I both jumped a little, not expecting it. I mean, we had heard it last year, but it had been a year!

 

It was funny.. It wasn’t entirely that the music was completely unexpected.

He works with a band called [URL=”http://www.facebook.com/radioradioband”%5DRadioRadio%5B/URL%5D, and one of their songs (you can hear it on their FB page), which … coincidentally is both the opener of their set AND the CD … has an intro that starts out with a snare drum!

So when the song started, we both jumped, instinctively expecting to hear “Esprit de Corps” coming through the bus speakers.

It’s funny. We laugh and decide that it doesn’t seem like he can escape his RR duties, even while he’s  at Disney World..  (you think I’m kidding? Oh, keep reading these Disney posts. It gets better..),but then I point out that when we get home.. now I’ll think of Disney everytime I hear the song. So it’s a fair trade, right?

Editors note. We’re home. And I don’t think of Disney when I hear EDC. I think it’s time to buy the Disney music CD from the parks, no?

 

 

 

Anyway. We get off at MK, and find the monorail station, to take it to the Poly. We go to get in line (and folks, this happened EVERYTIME we rode a monorail, this trip.) Matt goes past every single empty boarding  line… to the one on the very end.

Normally, that’s not a bad thing. But on trips with LOTS of walking…. it gets old.  By the end of the trip, I start to get pretty gripey about his monorail etiquette.

Reason being? No one else does this, they usually stop at the first open ones, since they’re tired, or have been walking a lot. So, Matt reasons that we’ll be the first ones on. Which, makes sense to me. It does.  But really… I always just want to stop at the first open one! 😦

 

 

 

Anyway. It was a really cool experience riding the monorail- we didn’t do that last time! Loved going through the Contemporary Resort. I can’t imagine the logistics of building that (or, anything else at WDW)

 

 

 

Finally, we get to the Poly. It’s so pretty-Hawaiian themed– and I’m bouncy excited. Remember- we looked for Stitch the ENTIRE trip last time, and I never got a picture, a hug, anything. Very depressing…

 

 

 

So we find the Ohana restaurant, and they take our name. I’m already stressing, because we left the papers with the confirmation numbers on them in our hotel room!

Sigh.

Thankfully, we didn’t have a problem. And didn’t wait long at all for our table, actually! The wait was long enough to take our picture in front of their Ohana background, get our leis (Matt wore his, thankfully! I thought I might have to con him into it… ) and then- our buzzer went off! Yay!

 

 

 

So we foliow the host to our table (table for 2, not one of the long tables they had set up in the middle of the restaurant. Whew.) And get sat down.

 

 

 

Twana was our “cousin.” That’s what they called the servers. Ties in with the Lilo and Stitch theme…  She seemed really very genuinely perky/ happy from the get go. I was excited. She brought us our “Best Friends” juice (which, was the same as jungle juice. Matt and I were thrilled. Could not have been happier.) and Kona coffee.

 

 

 

Now, I have read stories of Stitch interacting with guests, and relayed most of them to Matt. He’s rifled through bags, tried to take kids toys away, (not in a mean way,) harasses the adults some…. he’s just a trouble maker in general.

We decided it’d be cute if I brought a Stitch toy with me to breakfast.

 

 

 

Which, works out actually, since I had one in my purse, to work as a security blanket during our flight. (Don’t judge me. If it works, why not, yes?)

 

Meet Lovebug Stitch:

 

LOVE this guy. Was a Valentines Day present!

 

 

 

No one we saw in the parks, cast members OR tourists, had seen this Stitch before. Which, we found funny, but kinda cool.

 

 

 

Twana walked by, saw it, and told me I’d better hide that, Stitch might steal it!

But, she gave me permission to chase him down if so, so.. I was okay with that.

 

 

 

Breakfast came:

 

 

Plus a huge fruit tray. Plus two kinds of sweet bread.

 

Yum. Seriously. SO AMAZING.
Now, the food was served family style, which means they bring your table a BIG plate with all the breakfast food on it. You serve it to your family, and when you need more, you just ask your ‘cousin’ to bring some more.

 

 

 

 

 

And then… the characters came out, it was SO much fun watching them interact with the families and young kids! I don’t think I’ve been so bouncy/excited in my life!

 

 

 

Pictures:

 

Matt, wearing his lei, like a good sport.

 

 

 

 

Me

 

 

Matt… who was getting bored and stalling for time while we waited for characters!

 

 

Now, in the meantime, Twana had brought us over a sharpie, and asked if we wanted the characters to sign Stitch! I had never heard of this, so I said yes. Naturally. It was such a small plush, I wasn’t sure how it would work- but how cool would that be?!? So, we waited. I tried to sit still, really I did.

 

There was a family behind us with the cutest little boy. He LOVED lilo and stitch. Seemed like he could care less about Mickey and Pluto. His eyes were shining.. they kept giving him so much attention. Kisses, hugs, etc. Lilo had her hand to his cheek at one moment, I almost cried. So touching, beats any Disney ad I’ve ever seen. They were so good to that little boy!!

 

 

 

The kids did their little dance around the room with the characters to the Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride song –I loved it!

And, no. I didn’t join in, as tempting as it was! 🙂

 

 

 

Finally- Lilo gets to us! She promptly- without asking if he wanted a picture- put her arm around Matt. Girl after my own heart, that one!!

 

 

And me!

 

 

She saw my Stitch, and put her hand to her mouth and giggled. She fawned over it for a little bit, I believe she picked it up and petted it as well!

 

 

 

She was so sweet about signing him, though it took a bit to figure out exactly how and where. 😉 Before she left she wagged her finger at Stitch, telling him to behave, I suppose, and walked off giggling. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stitch came over, and I fell in love.:) He “talked” with both Matt and I, and I was estatic to hear the kiss sounds coming from him, his laugh, and etc. I didn’t know they did that!?!?!

 

 

 

He flipped over the toy. Which… he had stolen almost immediately. See?

 

He did this all on his own, with zero prompting from us.

 

I could have died, right then and there. SO cute. So we got across to Stitch that we wanted him to sign it (I was nervous about talking to the non-face characters. Is it easy for them to hear us? No idea…)

 

Trying to find a place to sign…. and knocking our napkin  and check book on the floor…. 

 

 

Tada!

 

[

 

 

 

My two favorite boys:

 

 

 

 

Finally! The long awaited, picture with Stitch!

 

 

 

 

I also got a hug and a kiss. 🙂

 

 

 

 Matt and Pluto- this is cool, because DH had his picture taken with Pluto when he was really young.

 

 

 

Before I got licked by Pluto….

 

 

 

 

And then Mickey! He shook Matt’s hand, but didn’t offer to take a picture. Not sure why, but Matt didn’t mind.

 

 

The whole experience was great. The food, the servers, the characters. Absolutely loved it. Didn’t even mind the vast amounts of kids that were around.

 

Afterwards, we found a “cousin” and I said I wanted to talk to a manager. Poor things, everyone looked so nervous. I tried explaining that our cousin had simply been amazing, and had made our breakfast so much more special by suggesting we have Stitch signed… but I think they are just so used to complaints, they weren’t sure what to make of it.

 

 

 

The manager was really nice, though looked a little perplexed that we came to talk to her about Twana being really nice. She said she appreciated our saying that, and would be passing it along.. I do hope she did!!

 

 

 

More later. Promise. But… I’m running late!  😦 That’s no good…

❤

Disney! Day 1!

 

Ok! So, we just got back from a trip to DisneyWorld.

I love that place. I could move there tomorrow, and be happy. I’d have my little Key to the World… a Disney

Dining plan, and free transportation everywhere!

Now, I understand Matt’s feelings about the UK. I totally get it now. 😉

 

Seriously though. It was wonderful to have a chance to recharge, I am exceedingly grateful we had the chance to

go, that Matt’s dad was able to watch the house/cats… that Tiffany was able to stay with Mom, that Matt was

able to get off work… And oh yeah, the whole money concept…

 

I doubt I’ll be able to put it all into words, but I’ll try. I know some people think we’re a bit crazy for

going twice, sans kids. But, really, it’s so amazing. And our hotel, isn’t too Disney-fied. Has a more romantic feel to it.

So, I’m going to try my best and explain about our trip. Maybe we’ll seem less nuts…

 

Plus, really, it’s an excuse for me to relive the trip. I won’t lie.

 

First and foremost…. before I get into any sort of trip report… It’s like a slap in the face. We left the pixie

dust of Disney….. to come home to the real world… and no AC. That, was a nightmare.

 

OH. And Matt was just getting over being sick. And I was just then getting sick. (still am sick, by the way.

Feel free to send sympathy my way…. )

–

Day 1. The dreaded flight day.

 

So. We are running on zero sleep. Fantastic way to start a trip, don’t you think?

 

Well… almost zero, but not quite. We were up till almost 2 packing/cleaning the house. Matt’s dad was feeding

the cats, and watching the house for us. Then, of course, we barely slept at all, since we had to get up at 4:30.

This was wonderful, considering Matt had barely slept at all the night before.

 

Do we know how to plan ahead, or what??

 

Finally got ourselves out of bed… rushed around, did our idiot checks, showered, put clothes on

(thankfully, in that order. I think. ) and were somehow ready when Matt’s dad showed up around 5:15.

 

We loaded the truck, walked him through the to-dos…. and left. On time. Yay!!   Then, I realized I forgot my phone. Fairly typical. But still… not a bad start to the day!

 

We went back, got the phone, and headed for the coffee shop by our house.   Thank the Lord for espresso. (And, for dad being okay with going by…. )

 

Made it to the airport, got in, and checked our luggage…

At this point… I was proud I hadn’t had a breakdown yet.  You see.. I don’t fly well.  I am TERRIFIED of it.  Disney be damned, I hate flying. 😦

 

But I hadn’t cried yet.  Go me!  Last year, I cried on every flight (4, we had two connecting flights,) but one. Was not pretty.

Then, in mid terminal… I promptly burst into tears. I did not want to fly. I didn’t care how safe it is… how pretty the view would be…that it was the only way I would be getting to Disney… I just wanted nothing to do with it.

 

Sigh. I remember thinking that if this was any indication of how the trip would be…… things were not going to go well.

 

I did get a laugh out of this though…. (the screens that show weather, flights, etc.) It was like that when we got back too… Yikes.

 

Blue Screen of Death! At the airport…

yes… the blue screen of death is a WONDERFUL omen when about to board a plane…

Get on the plane…. more tears. And lots of them. Poor Matt. I was a wreck.

 

So… I order a drink. (yes at that early in the morning. No judging!) .. and lo and behold–the flight attendant had an extra drink coupon! So I drank for free. Yay.

She later said she had no idea I was upset…. But I still think she saw me having my little breakdown, and noticed the early drinking, and took pity on me.

 

The flight lasted forever and a day (to me)… but we finally made it to Houston Hobby. Finally. I would have kissed the ground, but we had to leave it again all too soon.

 

Where… Matt had to take a certain picture…. Which, can anyone spot the reference? 10 points if so..

Quick! The picture is a movie reference….

 

It’s ok if you don’t. There isn’t anyone popping in and out in the background of this one..

The flight from Houston to Orlando surprisingly, wasn’t too bad!! I did great, (did however, have another drink. )

Orlando airport! It’s so pretty.

Thanks to us almost getting lost last year… we found the Disney’s Magical Express station in no time at all!! 🙂

We had to print our vouchers, they didn’t actually come to us in the mail on time…  but that didn’t take long, either. 🙂

 

Finally – we were on the bus! So exciting.  And, gotta love the video they show you.  I’ve seen it already, but I LOVED watching the video on the Express. Stitch as a Yeti… how could you NOT love that?? ❤

 

We made it to AKL, and I almost cried then and there.

This is a running theme through WDW. Your resort is your “home,” while you stay at the World. <3<3

I LOVE how all the cast members tell you “Welcome Home!” and acts as if the resort is your home. ❤ I didn’t pay it much mind the first time we went, I was still in awe of everything. The parks, the hotel, the theming, the buses- SO MUCH to take in. It’s really a lot like when you watch a movie the second time through, and you catch all these little references that it’s almost ilke they were put in JUST for the people watching the second or third times.

 

Upon checking in at Animal Kingdom Lodge. we were a little disappointed.  Even though we called and made a room request – we still received a room with two beds. Which, really, it wasn’t a huge deal. The second bed ended up holding our suitcases and souvenirs.

 

So we got checked in… took everything to our room (once we finally found it.) The hotel is separated into hallways that are called “trails.”   The CM at the desk directed us down the right trail… only there was no elevator down that trail. So, we had to backtrack down a weird trail, then go up that elevator, and hike down to our room.

But, it was all worth it to see this.

 

We had a few hours to kill before dinner at Via Napoli, so we took off for Epcot. This time, thanks to tips on some message boards.. we knew to watch out for a times guide that showed character meet times.   Thanks to that, we learned we missed seeing Stitch by a whopping thirty minutes. Sigh. I blame the hike to the rooms!  Also, we missed the meetup of people from aforementioned boards. They were meeting up in the UK pavillion – we had planned on stopping by, but – that ended up not happening.

 

We wandered Epcot for a few minutes, and ended up in the Innoventions buildings.   In which, I found an attraction I completey forgot about — The Segways!

 

Now, Matt had no interest in riding them… so I went up to the line and signed up. Thankfully, there was only one person in front of me. I wanted to try last year, but the line was way long, so we passed.

I was also a little leery, because I have terrible balance. Made worse by the brain condition I have, and the fact that I have virtually no 3D vision/depth perception. Of course, Matt had his camera at the ready….

 

I didn’t expect them to be quite so tricky!! Thankfully, I didn’t fall. But I came close to running over the poor CM who was helping me.

 

After that, we went over to World Showcase. Walked around the pavilions, and ended up at Matt’s favorite– the UK.

This, is where I started to go into Disney mode… The times guide stated that Mary Poppins, Pooh, and someone else was in the area.

 

We start looking… no dice. 😦 So, instead, we end up going through gift shops, and exploring-  and before we know it — out pops Mary Poppins!

 

I drag Matt out of the gift shop, and we follow her and her handler, and I get my first picture!

 

I was so  nervous about approaching the characters as an adult in a line full of kids…. would they interact as much with me?? Or act like I’m some weirdo.. .

I shouldn’t have been worried.   The first thing out of her mouth was, “Was Bert drawing on your arms? I keep telling him to stick to the sidewalks..”

She was adorable. A practically perfect Mary Poppins. She took one look at my tattoo, and asked me if Bert had drawn all over my arm. Apparently she keeps telling him to only draw on the sidewalks. And obviously, the guy isn’t listening. 🙂  I told her that no, he hadn’t… but if she saw him, he was welcome to color it in for me!

We chatted some more, and she stated that she very well couldn’t jump into my arm… so we had better keep the drawings to the sidewalks… I was a little confused at first… but it finally clicked that she meant jumping into the tattoo – not into my physical arms. XD

 

Of course now, I’m  on a mini-high from Mary Poppins– so now, I want to find the kids from Winnie the Pooh!

Off we go… and off we fail! They aren’t anywhere nearby that we can see.

But!! Aurora is in France…. soooo, that’s where we head next.

Not as interactive, but she was very sweet. And very pretty. But I do NOT like her dress. I think it’s the crushed velvet…

Not sure. But man. Doesn’t sit well with me… Love her. But not the dress.

Photographer gave us a Photopass card. We figure we won’t ever use it… and we aren’t planning on buying any… but what’s the harm? So we take it.

This decision.. … would cause me grief later.  We ended up taking over 100 pictures, I think.

 

Continuing around the Showcase.. we ended up back in the UK gift shops. Then, we find  Mary Poppin’s library. And, Tigger!! ❤

 

There’s a small line, and I told Matt I didn’t really want to take a picture with Tigger. I was a touch freaked out about the fur characters. I didn’t know how well they could hear… or if I should talk to them…. lots of anxiety.

He laughed, and said he didn’t believe me.. So, we got in line.

 

I get up to the room they have roped off… and as soon as they let me in, Tigger grabs my arms, and starts dancing around with me in a circle why oh WHY did we not pre order a photopass cd???)

 

Then, we posed for a picture, his arms still around me. He leaned over a little to one side… so… I leaned more.

This repeated until I was SURE we were going to fall.

So. Much. Fun.

That, is one of Matt’s favorite pictures. I’m undecided. Think I look a little odd- but I definitely look like I’m having fun! This whole interaction set the tone for the character interactions I had that trip.

 

Next – we give up any pretense of shopping. Dinner is soon, it’s hot, and I’m a little dehydrated from the drinks I had on the plane…. which means I’m cranky…  but I want to find Aladdin and Jasmine. Off to Morocco!

Matt and I about died during our wait in line. We heard Aladdin introduce himself and Jasmine to a young child…. and he sounded EXACTLY like Aladdin from the cartoon. To. A. T. Like, they couldn’t have planned it better.

 

If I didn’t know better, I’d believe it was him, straight out of the TV. Wow. LOVED it. And… it was all I could do to keep my mouth shut about it. I didn’t want to ruin the magic for all the little ones around me. But holy cow.

 

So we get up to them, Aladdin introduces them, and they ask where we’re from, ask if I’m with my prince, the usual banter, and then Aladdin asks if I had one wish, what would I wish for?

 

Of course, I blanked. Couldn’t think of an answer to save my life, so he suggests a magic carpet, so that Matt and I could race them! I laugh, agree, and we take the picture.

As we walk off… Matt says that if he was me, he knows what he would have wished for.

When I ask what… he says, a cure for hydrocephalus. (the incurable brain condition I have.

 

How I missed that, I don’t know. I think I was all Disney starstruck- and it never entered my mind!!  I couldn’t believe it.

 

So, we make plans to visit them in Morocco again, and fix my wish. Course, that was a little easier said than done..

 

Off to dinner!  We were a little early, just to check in, but they got us right in! I was surprised.

 

It did take a while for our waiter, Guiseppe, to get to us. But he was extremely apologetic, and explained that it had been a somewhat chaotic day. So, all was forgiven.

Let’s be honest. The Italian accent didn’t exactly hurt, either…

 

I have food pictures up on FB, if you want to see. I already have a million on this post!

The food was great. Loved the sauce for the calamari (though I prefer aioli) my pasta was great, and Matt’s pizza was awesome.

Light crust and sauce. LOVED IT. Guiseppe was amazing. He recommended my food…

He recommended a pizza for our “neighbors” at the table next to us as well. The pizza with melon, fontina, arugula, etc on it.. only minus the melon, with a white sauce, and olive oil on it. Mmmmm..

Speaking of, when I asked the lady and her daughter what they were eating, next thing I know– they were giving me a slice!!

We chatted with them and Guiseppe the entire rest of the time we were there! We gave them one of the desserts on our dining plan, and through a weird mix up we ended up with wrong dessert, and a free wine (or, the wine, and a free dessert.., it got confusing. And Matt wasn’t too forthcoming with the bill details..) And, we bought the lady a cappuccino!

All in all, our desserts were the Rosa De Regale wine, tiramisu, gelato, and 2 cappuccinos! Yum… We left VN very happy.

Went after that to DTD, to try and see Harry Potter… but they had just started airing the last showing. 😦

We got off at the Marketplace bus stop. Not realizing that the bus stopped at both Pleasure Island and Westside…. And I was wearing the WRONG shoes for walking around. Ballet flats. Hello blisters…..

Finally, we went back to the hotel to crash– we had the bus all to ourselves for a while. We had a mini sing along to the Cable Cars song.

End of day 1! Next day, was breakfast with Lilo and Stitch! … And… Mickey and Pluto. But!! Lilo and Stitch. 🙂 Was quite the experience…