There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow!~ a Magical May trip report! *Updated 7/11 X2 Pg 9*

[pucknasty]

I'm here! Already jealous of the fun you had on day 1! Can't wait to see how much fun you have the entire trip!

 

[Reflections of Earth]

Just found your TR and got all caught up, glad you had so much fun on your first day! Can't wait to read more!

 

[Sarahh1027]

I definitely know how that is! I knew while planning and researching that I had to go back someday, hopefully for the 50th during Food and Wine. That's still a few years away. But recently I came up with a plan that might get me there sooner.

Ooooo! I hope it works out for you!!!

Loving the updates. I am also a fan of once upon a time

Yay!!! I just finished Season 4 on Netflix and I'm waiting to get my sister's boyfriend's Hulu account info so I can dive into Season 5!

Haha! I ALWAYS say that this one is going to be the last one for awhile but I can never wait. I've now resolved that if I can afford it, I'm just going to try to go every year. I'm pretty much keeping my job to support my Disney habit. But if my employers ask, tell them it's because I love working for them and I love my career and I have no complaints. At all.

Hahahahaha that's awesome! And very relatable!

I don't know why, but I often crave just a smidge of chocolate before bed.

GIRL SAME!!

I am just joining in! I am loving your TR so far! How exciting to take your boyfriend on his first WDW trip. I am taking my fiancé for his first trip this fall. He has been to DLR a couple times but has no idea the scale of WDW.
I am glad you didn't find the Little Mermaid rooms to be too bad of a walk to the bus stop and main building. I love the rooms but haven't stayed there yet after reading several reviews stating how horrible the walk was.

It definitely wasn't bad at all! Worth checking out on maybe a no-park day in a future trip! You might find it isn't that bad of a walk! Yet at the same time I can see how it might be for some families. Oh man you're boyfriend is in for a real treat! You must be SO excited!!

So exciting about the new trip! Even if it's not really planned out yet, the fact that there is one on the horizon always makes me happy

Interesting about the Air National Guard - I didn't know tattoos were an issue, but I'm super impressed that you're going through the whole removal process and everything. That's some serious dedication!

Yesss and now my sister might join us- let the planning commence! The military had just passed a new law right before I went to sign up saying you couldn't have any tattoos above I think your collar bone or below your elbows..one of mines on my finger (gone now!) and the one I'm waiting on is behind my ear! I visited an Army recruiter and Air National Guard recruiter just a couple weeks after the law was passed! The Navy just removed the law from their branch but my sis was in the Navy- not sure I wanna copy her! (She wouldn't mind though!)

Interesting! House of Blues wasn't ever really on my radar, but I keep hearing good things about it. Glad you both enjoyed!

You should definitely check it out! YUM!

I love surprises! And this one was great I got a present for my husband on our honeymoon and they delivered it to our room - we came back, and he totally didn't notice it for like an hour! I had such a hard time not being like "hey, what is that thing over there?" but I wanted him to notice it by himself

Oh my..hahaha men sometimes, huh?

Yay for the sweet gifts! That chocolate looked delicious! I'm glad you were able to get some good sleep, since you didn't the night before.

For real! We were sooo tired! But it hasn't really caught up with us yet! The chocolate was amazingggg

Awesome TR so far. I am following along! Love the little mermaid room, my daughter would love that.

Thanks for following along!!! Disney did such a good job with Art of Animation! Even James loved it haha

Subbing! Loving your TR so far!!

Yay!! I'm glad you're enjoying it!! Saw in your signature you and your fam are planning a trip for 2018 which is so exciting!! I know it seems far but the way time is flying by it'll be here before you know it!

I'm here! Already jealous of the fun you had on day 1! Can't wait to see how much fun you have the entire trip!

Yesss the fun has just begun!! Thanks for joining!!

Just found your TR and got all caught up, glad you had so much fun on your first day! Can't wait to read more!

Thank you!! So glad you found my TR! I'm going to update it today-finally!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

I love your trip report!!! I just read the whole thing I return in a few weeks so I'm getting pumped reading about your trip! You and James are so precious, I love that you got him some gifts from Disney floral. I've been looking at the website but I've never seen those chocolates in the chocolate dish before, what a sweet little gift. Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Sarahh1027]

Day 02
Rope Droppin’ It
& Exploring Future World!
Epcot Day Part I

I’m back fellow Disney lovers!
I really stink at updating this, huh?
But I thank everyone who's stuck around!!

I now present to you, the first part in the next chapter of this trip report!

Let’s see how James and I handle both of our FIRST EVER ROPE DROP!

"James, we're gonna wake up at 7am and spend all day at Epcot riding all the rides and seeing all the countries, and not return back here till like 10 at night!!!"

Epcot will be James’ first Disney park, and it’s also happens to be my favorite. During my last trip, Epcot and Animal Kingdom tied for first, with AK coming in first by a hair. But honestly I think Epcot came in first this trip! It helps that Epcot was our first park, which gives it those first day happy vibes.

Okay enough of that! The alarm went off at 7! We were up and ready in minutes.

We put sunblock on and finished packing our bag, laced up our sneaks and we headed out the door!

We made our way over to Landscape of Flavors, and took a look at the breakfast offerings. First we noticed the iced coffee. I ordered a vanilla iced coffee and we moved on to find some food. We were checking out the breakfast sandwiches and the only one that was stocked was the kid’s sandwiches. We knew that more would be coming soon, but we decided to try the kid’s sandwich. We found out at the register that we get to pick drinks and sides in the Kid’s Choice area. I got apple juice, James got chocolate milk. We also got grapes and apples. We find out later that we actually get two sides each which we totally love! I’m that person who still orders off the kid’s menu at our local Friendly’s (I mean, it comes with ice cream…) so getting the kid’s sandwich doesn’t bother me but I’d never try and order off the kid’s menu at a nice restaurant obviously haha

This was great. The sandwiches were bacon, cheese, and Mickey shaped egg on a biscuit, all served hot and delicious. It’s affordable and filling too! But guys, my coffee was disgusting. Way too sweet, it mostly ended up in the trash.

After breakfast, we headed out to the bus stop. Within minutes we were climbing onto a bus to head to Epcot! It wasn’t even 8am yet.

When we arrived at Epcot shortly after, I took this picture of our bus after it dropped us off. Stepping off that freezing cold bus into the warm Florida morning air was perfect. We were ready to start our adventure!

A handful of pictures from this day were taken on my camera, but after today I switch to James’ phone for every pic!

Check out the sun peaking through:

Once we got to the line, we found a nice short one with just a few families ahead of us! I was so hyped up! The couple in front of us (they were on our bus and are actually in the last picture shown above) were Japanese, and their guide map was in Japanese and the girl had a notebook which she was writing in Japanese! It was so perfect considering we were at Epcot...The place for celebrating different cultures!

I love that picture with our flag!

We patiently waited. Honestly, time flew by.
We waited maybe 40 minutes. Around quarter of they let us in.
I can see how this would be rough with kids though!

There is a Joffrey’s outside of the park which I’ll take advantage of next time.
(At Animal Kingdom I got coffee and James and I split a donut at the Joffrey’s outside the park, which will definitely become a tradition!)

I scanned my magicband (on my right wrist) and used my left hand index finger, so I had to cross hands since the finger scanner is on the right side of the magicband scanner haha

James was smart and had his magicband on his left wrist.

We hustled inside and got a picture of James with Daisy:

I had him get one of me (on my camera) and it never took…
James is so used to phone camera’s he didn’t wait for the flash!

I tell ya. Kids these days.

Here’s a shot of Donald with the crowd behind us:

Spaceship Earth always wows me with it’s size.

These guys were all blowing bubbles and waving!
Such a wonderful greeting.

Bubbles from a trash can!

Awkwardly placed couple & cast member in my fountain pic:

They’re probably very nice folk!

Mouse Gear!

We headed over to this line (Short, isn’t it?) to be one of the first onto Test Track!

I took the following pictures while waiting for 9:00.

Then came the wonderful announcement welcoming us to a fun-filled day at Epcot!

We headed over to Test Track, staying behind the cast members. We got in line outside of Test Track, we were literally like the 3rd group back.

There was an announcement apologizing for the delay.

Test Track was not open to ready, but they would update us soon.

Bummer

Lots of people left, but we stayed, and thank goodness too because no more than 5 minutes later we were let in!

We walked all through the queue, and entered the little room where we got to design our car.
James told me I could design the first, and he would design the next one.

Fair enough...the competition is on!

Meet my beauty:

Isn’t she wonderful?

She kicked butt, too.

She won the first category, and after we got off the ride (which was a blast) we saw that she made the Most Capable list!

Granted we were one of the first on the ride for the day...but still…

Continued in next post...​

 

[Sarahh1027]

Continued from previous post...




After Test Track we headed over to use our Spaceship Earth fastpass.

As we were about to enter, the cast member told us (and others) that there’s no line so we can use our fastpass elsewhere woohooo

We loveeeed this ride.


Welcome to our humble abode:

James got a kick out of the fact that I was serving him food haha

After Spaceship Earth, we found a spot to sit and used James’ phone to book our next fastpass. We found one for Figment which I’ve never actually gone on, so we booked that. I figured it wouldn’t be worth waiting in line so might as well take advantage of a free fastpass!

After that, we headed to:

“De Laaand!” as my sister and I say.

There’s a town in Florida which I’m sure many of you who drive to Disney from the North see called Deland. So “The Land” becomes “De Laaaand!”

Anyways...since Soarin’ is down, we headed straight to Living with the Land.
We headed straight on with very little wait, and enjoyed our trip.

I spy Mickey:

And more Mickey:

I love this next picture because when I took it, all I saw was tomato plants. But now I see that someone drew flowers in the sand!!

MICKEY:

One last Mickey, but this one is sorta rough lookin:

Next, we fly to Mars!

We have some photopass pictures outside here but I have to wait to upload these pictures from the cd. I only directly downloaded certain ones!

Mission: Space was fun as always! We rode orange, and joked about being doomed because our navigator was a little girl who didn’t press her button when told haha

James was the commander and I was the engineer while the girl’s mother was our pilot!
This was also a walk-on! Lemme tell ya, rope drop is the way to go, but I’m sure you all know that already!

After that, we headed to use our Test Track fastpass.

James got to create this time:

My truck beat his, no doubt about it!

I’ll post all our ride pics later guys, I promise!

After Test Track we headed to The Seas with Nemo and Friends!
Anyone else get blinded by the darkness after entering through the sliding door at Nemo? Seriously my eyes could NOT adjust!

Nemo was fun as always

I can’t locate any pictures from the Seas but we walked around a bit!

Then we headed to Figment, but it was currently down.

We decided to take a small break and got some Mickey pretzels!

We could’ve split one, they were so filling!

Monorail!

We headed back over to Figment and honestly really enjoyed it! Especially James haha

After Figment we got some pictures:

Then we headed to World Showcase!

But that's an update for another time ​

 

[Sarahh1027]

I love your trip report!!! I just read the whole thing I return in a few weeks so I'm getting pumped reading about your trip! You and James are so precious, I love that you got him some gifts from Disney floral. I've been looking at the website but I've never seen those chocolates in the chocolate dish before, what a sweet little gift. Can't wait to hear more!

Awww thank you girl!! I read your first trip report and I'm equally loving your ongoing one!!! Your trip reports got me pumped up for my trip so I'm glad I could return the favor!

 

[Reflections of Earth]

There’s a town in Florida which I’m sure many of you who drive to Disney from the North see called Deland.

Yes! I've never been able to make it to a rope drop, but it's definitely a must do for me now. Can't wait for more!

 

[jmccoy18]

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your EP day!

 

[chasingthtdream08]

Looks like a great time so far! Our first day will also be at Epcot, my favorite!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

I love the picture of you in front of the fountain! You just look like you're kickin' back, having a good time. It makes me relaxed just looking at it! I'll have to keep staring at it until I get to go on my vacation.

That sounded creepy.

I'm not a stalker. I promise.

 

[Saphire5742]

Rope drop is definitely the way to go! You both created some cool car designs.
Love all your pics and can't wait to read about your adventures in WS.

 

[Sarahh1027]

Yes! I've never been able to make it to a rope drop, but it's definitely a must do for me now. Can't wait for more!

Definitely!! I never thought it would be as fun as it was (rope drop). Honestly, getting up early and waiting in line to be let in was thrilling and definitely part of the Disney magic! Wow..that sounded sarcastic! I swear it wasn't! I mean it! I will forever rope drop Epcot (especially now with Frozen Ever After, and having to pick 1 fastpass for it, Soarin, and Test Track!!) Rope drop will be a life saver!

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your EP day!

Thank you It's good to know that even though I'm a super slow updater, I still have faithful readers!!

Looks like a great time so far! Our first day will also be at Epcot, my favorite!

Ahh love it! Just don't think I ever wanna do anything other than Epcot on my first day! It's become such a wonderful tradition! This was only the second time doing so, but I definitely fell in love with it!

I love the picture of you in front of the fountain! You just look like you're kickin' back, having a good time. It makes me relaxed just looking at it! I'll have to keep staring at it until I get to go on my vacation.

That sounded creepy.

I'm not a stalker. I promise.

When you arrive home from your vaca (WHICH IS GETTING SUPER CLOSE AHHH YOU MUST BE SO HAPPY!! I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!) I'll be droolin over your pics in your trip report!! No stalking intended

Rope drop is definitely the way to go! You both created some cool car designs.
Love all your pics and can't wait to read about your adventures in WS.

Thank you!!! I'll be updating shortly!!!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

When you arrive home from your vaca (WHICH IS GETTING SUPER CLOSE AHHH YOU MUST BE SO HAPPY!! I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!) I'll be droolin over your pics in your trip report!! No stalking intended

Oh...is it really getting that close....I had no idea....

I haven't been keeping track of the 44 days, 20 hours, 54 minutes, and 37 seconds....36s.....35s....that it is until my vacation. What do you take me for, a crazy person??

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Joining in. Loving your trip report. I'm looking forward to reading along.

 

[nilla]

First!

Oh, wait.

Maybe not. Your TR is on page 5. I'm late, but I'll catch up this weekend!

 

[BippityBrittany]

typically a lurker who doesn't really comment but wanted to say that i LOVE your TR so far! can't wait to read more

 

[Sarahh1027]

Oh...is it really getting that close....I had no idea....

Joining in. Loving your trip report. I'm looking forward to reading along.

Thanks for joining in!!! Hopefully I can update this more often!!!

First!

Oh, wait.

Maybe not. Your TR is on page 5. I'm late, but I'll catch up this weekend!

The famous Nilla is reading MY trip report?! I tell ya, life is good!!

typically a lurker who doesn't really comment but wanted to say that i LOVE your TR so far! can't wait to read more

Aww I'm so glad you decided to comment here!! I feel special!

 

[Sarahh1027]

Day 02
Traveling Around the World!
Epcot Day
Part II
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Hello everyone! When I last left off (awhile ago, yes, I sincerely apologize) James and I were headed over to World Showcase!! My favorite part of Epcot! The first time James gets to experience this! THE SUSPENSE!
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WE HAVE ARRIVED:
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Wait a sec, that’s in Futureworld! I forgot to add it!
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Speaking of adding pictures...we got our photopass cd’s in. But my sister’s boyfriend set up a new desktop computer at my house with a tv as a monitor..and it’s confusing looking so I’ve avoided trying and my chromebook doesn’t have a cd drive! Plus James has the cd in Worcester.
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But do not fear, faithful followers, I shall get the pictures soon and upload them all! It sort of makes my trip report feel incomplete since I know they exist but no worries, I will get ahold of them soon. There are some really good ones too! I have one which I will post later in this update. I had put it up on facebook while at Disney so it was saved on my phone!
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Anyways...
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Now where did I leave off? Oh yeah!

James and I headed on over to World Showcase.
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When going around World Showcase I always start in Mexico and make my way around ending in Canada. (I say always but it’s only been twice, although this trip made three times!)
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On our way to WS we passed by the sweetest little kid’s playground, but the gardening is obviously what caught our eyes:

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The Big Cheese himself:
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We also saw some other beautiful sights:
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Disney Duckies!
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“Oh be kind to your web footed friends, for a duck may be somebody’s mother!”
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Our first stop of our tour around the world is…
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MEXICO!
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This pavilion is sooo purdyyy it’s my fav!
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We walked right on The Gran Fiesta Tour starring The Three Caballeros:
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Someday I’ll eat here. I’ve read it’s not that good.

But some people have said it’s good, and the atmosphere alone is why I want to try it. Plus I’m not picky. Plus I usually like things people don’t care for. Like Tony’s Town Square.
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Back to the ride!
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Poor Donald!!
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Fiesta Tour picture overload, sorry guys..not sorry!
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Afterwards, we went to the Kidcot table where I decorated a Duffy as James patiently waited. Good boy!
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I gave my seat to a child in need and colored mine on the table behind the cast member because although I’m a child at heart I still look like an adult Or at best, a teen. Yes, I’m 22 (will be 23 in October) and people constantly mistake me for a high school student.
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Then it was time to head to Norway!

There wasn’t much going on here except the construction for Frozen Ever After.
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For some weird reason, I remember going to China then having to head back to Norway because I forgot to get Duffy stamped.

Amateur stuff, really.
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At this point in the day, it was getting hot. The sun was strong and it was actually the hottest day of our trip I think.
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[Sarahh1027]

Off to China:
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In China I found this beautiful handheld fan with panda bears which I ended up getting for my friend Amanda. My family calls her Panda and her college graduation was later that month so I figured I’d get her a few special souvenirs. She loves Disney too and I always bring her home something!
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James found these cool little Chinese Zodiac posters that he got for him and his brothers. It’s just like the paper menus at Chinese restaurants where you use your birth year to see what animal you are and it gives you a personality description. Each poster showed a certain animal, then years it represents, and a brief description. They’re wicked cool but James still hasn’t hung his up yet haha
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I got an iced tea at the Joy of Tea cart, but I honestly can’t remember what it was! I want to say it was peach oolong but I could be totally wrong. I actually think it was a strawberry kind but I don’t see one on the menu!
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A girl, her tea, and her Duffy.
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From there we headed over to the African outpost...and walked right by it for some reason? I know it’s small but I like the theme!
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Then we saw these guys:
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And the rest of the gang:
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We took a brief moment to admire World Showcase Lagoon and reapply sunblock, then we headed to Germany.
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It’s my girl, Snow!!
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She’s my #1 Princess.
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Of course we can’t forget her lil men:
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Doc, Grumpy, Happy!
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Sleepy, Bashful (my guy), Sneezy and Dopey!
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James got a kick out of this:
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From there we went to Italy. James is Italian and we’d be eating dinner in Italy in a short while! The fact that he’s Italian isn’t important I guess. I just like to say it I think. We took a quick look around, got my Duffy stamped, and took a couple pictures.
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But we would get many more Italy pictures when we returned for dinner!
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Till then we moved along to THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE!!!
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Now, I must remind you that it got HOT outside. We hadn’t stopped for lunch, just our Mickey pretzels from that afternoon. We were beginning to lose steam.
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We headed into the American pavilion. The AC hit us and we walked around for a bit then found a comfy seat by the wall and sat down to rest for a bit. I could have fallen asleep I was sooo comfy.
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The Voices of Liberty came out and they were awesome but they were facing the opposite way and I was too lazy to move although James did suggest it if I wanted to. Laziness won out though.
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We finally got up towards the end of their show to get a better look. They were really good and I knew there were some castmembers who had the day off watching them because the crew sitting in the very front was waving, hooting after each song, and mouthing the songs along (silently) word for word very dramatically.
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James and I waited by the door that leads to the theater.
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I saw the American Adventure show back during my first trip in 2012, and I mostly forgot it so I was excited! I loved it! It’s so patriotic. But I feel like if I wasn’t an American I’d be super bored for 30 minutes (same with Hall of Presidents).
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It was also cool, comfy, and restful.
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But then by the time we left it was getting late. I think we were in America for an hour or more. We had much to see before dinner and not much time. We didn’t take many pictures, but after dinner I got quite a few! (So hang in there!)

((Please))
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We went to get Duffy stamped at the Kidcot table in America, and passed by a cast member hula hooping. She was so sweet and asked if I wanted to join.
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I honestly told her I could NEVER hula hoop. I was a champ at jump rope but no matter how much I tried I could never hula hoop.
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Well this castmember said “C’mon, try it!” with a big smile.
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And by golly friends, the magic of Disney didn’t fail me.
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I HULA HOOPED.
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FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE!
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AND FOR A LONG TIME!
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LIKE I WAS A CHAMP GUYS!
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The cast member was so happy for me!
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I went around the corner to get my Duffy stamped, and as I was doing so the girl came over and wrote something on a pin and gave it to me. I was so happy!
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That says, “I’m celebrating hula hooping”
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I was one happy girl.

I finally got my pin!
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From there we headed over to Japan, then Morocco, France, United Kingdom, and finally Canada.
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By then I’d say it was around 5:30 so we had to get back to Italy for our 6:00 dinner reservations.
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Will we make it?
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Will dinner go on without us?
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The suspense!
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But first, a quick shot in Canada of my completed Duffy.
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Uh oh. Bad trip reporting.

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I’m carrying bags but have yet to mention a purchase!
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I’m gonna go back and edit this…
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...okay I’m back.
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All edited
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Up next: Dinner in Italy, photopass pictures (well...they were taken, but I only have one to show you right now…), and a damper on our evening (literally).​