We had received a precious Valentine towel heart with rose petals from Mousekeeping the night before, and since we had a little something for her, we used that towel heart to display her valentine gift from us: a box of chocolates, candy and a Princess Valentine, along with her tip.
I went down to get us coffee, gather a Valentine for my sweetie and noticed it was considerably chillier this morning. We were snacking on breakfast bars and cereals this morning, before we headed out to Hollywood Studios. We had only our little camera with us, and no bags to check. Our plan was to get there as close to opening as we could, and made it for 9:10ish.We were glad when we saw the bag check line! Even by that time and rushing along, our FP return for TSM was for 1:10! You gotta be kidding me! We looked around a bit and headed over to Writers Stop for a Carrot Cake cookie.
I can't even describe the yumminess of this cookie-perhaps I was just hungry, but we ate every last bite and I think I could have even eaten a whole one myself. It was a decadent Valentines breakfast, for sure!
We wandered around a bit and decided to get in line for Star Tours. I love that ride-it's usually different and a whole lotta FUN. One of the best things about this ride is the gift shop. We spent the better part of 40 minutes in here, trying on hats and checking out the merch. DD was in HEAVEN! She settled on some Ewok ears.
Since it was getting on around 11, I decided we needed lunch. We didn't really, but I wanted a sammy at Starring Rolls and I also didn't want them to run out of sushi for DD-this would jeopardize my cupcake dessert! I had the turkey foccacia and she had the sushi, we both had coffee and I had a Valentines Red Velvet cupcake while she had a Peanut Butter Chocolate. They were incredible looking! The bummer is that there was no seating and the closest seating is at Fairfax Fare AND it was pouring rain! Cupcakes and sammies don't weather the storm very well. We finally found a seat, in the rain, while watching a few families using the table and umbrellas as shelter. Oh well, I suppose they are as entitled as I am! Lunch was delicious and hit the spot, I even tasted the sushi. Very yummy! Those cupcakes would feed a family of 4 and are to DIE FOR!
After lunch, we went over to One Mans Dream and Voyage of the Little Mermaid, where we sang every single song like the little kids we are! I ADORE that show. Before heading over to TSM to use our FP, we grabbed a RNR FP. It wasn't too bad- We only had to wait until 2:50. It was our first time for TSM and since I'm not really a video gamer, I didn't really understand what all the hype was about until I had the string in my hand! What came over me, I'll never know, but I actually BEAT DD! She was as surprised as I was, lemme tell ya! I was excited for Lauren to try out my favourite roller coaster in the whole world. I just LOVE that takeoff! She loved it as much as I did and we decided that we had to do it again, during Fantasmic. We rushed off to grab some spots along Hollywood BLVD to watch the parade. I asked a CM inside the store where DD had just bought buttons, if we could have a bag to sit on-they actually HAVE bags for this reason(OF COURSE THEY DO!) and she gave us two. YAY for dry bums!! We've never seen this parade before, in fact, we've never spent a whole day in HS with the kids for one reason or another. It was simply adorable. I was humming that song all day long-"IIIII dont wanna work."
We wandered after that, through the streets and shops, over to see the Muppets and headed back over to Star Tours again.
You cannot imagine the excitement on DDs face, when all of a sudden we saw the Storm Troopers and Darth Vader walking out and walk right past us! GAWKFEST!!! It was made even better that I was chosen as the Rebel spy by Darth! She was over the moon! I mean, really! Finding out Mum is a rebel spy-PRICELESS!
We headed back over to RNR to see what was what while people were lining up for Fantasmic and it was still a long line. We decided on a treat at Sunset Sweet Spells-I dont even know how she decided, but finally chose a Mint Brownie. Delish! There was a lot to look at and it was not a day for shows because of the incessant rain-so we stayed in the shop until it was 6:45.
We JUMPED into high gear, ran over to RNR and when we were walking into the StandBY line, the CM says, "Where you going ladies? You're in the wrong line!" I said, "Oh sorry, I thought this was the standby li..OH..it is the standby line!" He stood there, with a big grin and holding a stack of FPs. He said to DD, "I have some FPs for you, but first I have a question." So she says, "OK...?" and he says, "Will you be MY VALENTINE!" I was really hoping she'd say yes and she DID. SO CUTE!!! Then he proceeds to yell it over to the other CM at the FP line. She was embarrassed, but I was LOVING IT! We zoomed right on in and after riding we could finally use our TOT FPS. We are both TOT newbies. Really, I've been right up to the elevators twice with my DS, who chickened out both times. I was very excited and DD was compliant because she is a good sport. Turns out she LOVED it. Funny thing though, I didn't think to hang on to my bag of merch and when we dropped, I felt it shoot upwards and I panicked. DD thought I was scared of the ride- but I was just adding up all the damages/lost goods! When we dropped the third or fourth time, and the lights shone on, I found it hovering right at eye level and kind of resting on the gal in fronts hair. OMGosh! Love this gift shop too and all the cute t-shirts!
We were about done after that (well, being hard core, I wanted to go to the Boardwalk. but we both agreed that since the bakery was closed and it was still raining we'd just go back to POP). We hopped aboard a bus, just before Fantasmic let out, so we barely had a wait. In case you're wondering, we have seen Fantasmic and although I know so many people swear by it and it is rated as a MUST SEE, its not really our bag. That's why we skipped it. When we arrived back at POP, we grabbed some dinner. DD had Veggie Lo Mein, Iced Tea and chocolate cake and I had a Create Your Own Salad, a milk (for our breakfast cereal) and pineapple (for tomorrows breakfast) We LOVED our food-the salad was huge and delicious and I highly recommend it. It was cool that night, but not yet cold, just mostly wet and really, we shoulda had the ice cream!!! It was about to get COLDER!
Morning!
It's EPCOT day(second favourite park only to MK)and a very lengthy update-GET READY!!!! I was up early with aching hips so I ran a nice hot bath and put some Mickey shampoo in there for a Doris Day bubble effect. I soaked and tried to relax for about 20 minutes before I was so excited I had to get up and do something! I got ready at mach speed and was out the door to get coffee before 7. I knew I wanted to be at EPCOT for 9 and I was only letting the little EWOK sleep until 7:30.
We had cereal bars, fruit loops, pineapple and leftover-cold- breaded- chicken(YUMMY!) for 1st breakfast and as quick as an Ewok can, DD was ready, and out the door.
*** As a side note: Lauren follows the Cake Wrecks blog faithfully and if you haven't already heard of this PLEASE, stop everything you are doing and go to http://www.cakewrecks.com/. She also has a personal blog which includes a lot of Disney/Steampunk/COSplay stuff too. She had noticed that Jen, the New York Times best-selling author and all around amazing person, who lives in the Orlando area, sometimes agrees to meet- ups. She then contacted her and asked if shed like to do just that. Jen replied that she'd absolutely LOVE to meet up with us and we scheduled it for TODAY! Due to my insane brain and general unfocused , rarely-making-the-connection nature, I neglected to note any of the cool details about Jen and thought we were: a) meeting up with someone DD's age and b) was generally perplexed why we were doing this at all. DD had worked hard on a lovely piece of steamy art-Jen in her Figment COSplay, done in her favourite colours and with a few steampunk personal touches. It was beautiful!****
We received a text from Jen's hubby, John to confirm our meeting for later that day. I was all, "her HUSBAND?!" and she was all, "Ya!" and then the normal, "MUM, YOU SOOOO DON'T PAY ATTENTION" banter ensued, while she filled me in once again. What can I say; I had a Disney Vacation to plan-never mind those details! Leaving our room I saw our Mousekeeper and decided to introduce myself. She was so sweet and appreciative of the Valentine. I thanked her for the amazing service and lovely towel arrangements and I told her we'd see her later. That thought, must have been the kiss of death, because we never did see her again. More of that later. Off to find our bus to EPCOT!
The first thing we did upon descending under that incredible BALL was head directly over to get on Soarin'. We were fortunate enough to get front row seats, so no looking at anyone's shoes and shared with a fun family who were first timers! I just LOVE seeing first timers experience DisneyWorld. The looks of their faces makes my vacation better too. They had 2 little girls and they were all making WEEEE sounds at all the right times. It's like they read my script!
Next, we blasted off to Mission Space, where we met up with two young brothers who were to be our co-pilots. They were beyond description ADORABLE and so stoked for this mission. One of them wanted to be the Engineer and one wanted to be the Commander. DD was all."AWESOME! 'Cause I want to be the pilot! Im SULU y'all!" Once inside, they took their roles so seriously, it actually made the ride SO much better. They were right into it and making certain that we pressed the buttons and flipped the switches in all the right places. RIGHT?! The gift shop for MS is AWESOME and we had to try on more hats and play with Star Wars stuff and make light sabres and really had to resist the urge to buy ALL the merch. Lauren had seen the baby ewok plushies in the safety video for Star Tours the day before and had fallen in love. You can only imagine her delight when she came across these babies today!
I managed to get us out of there in time for the Boulangerie opening at 10(in fact, it opens at 9) but promised we could come back later to get one. There was a ham and cheese croissant with my name on it!
The new Boulangerie is just SO pretty and the smells are enough to make you faint! I got a ham and cheese croissant and a latte and DD got a Tarte aux Fraises and we shared a demi baguette. O-EM-GEE! So yummy! We also looked around the shop a bit and fell in love with Minnie le souris. I was also practising my francais.
Tummies full(ish) we were off to check out the rest of France and back over to the UK, which is my favourite pavilion. We also had decided to check out Canada (being Canadian, we usually skip this one or go quickly through it while making fun of all the stereotypes-we ALL have a coon skin cap doncha know!) We also wanted to try and see some shows and movies this visit. I personally think the Canada one is great but that song just ruins it, so not this time! We came over the bridge and saw Miss Mary Poppins!
She was, in fact, perfect in every way and commented on DDs ears. Thank you Mary, you know how to make my little girl happy and proud! They had a lovely conversation and then off we went to check out the end of the British street show. Sadly, were rushing off cause we had a track to test! Too bad though, because it's a very cute show. The new Test Track is nice. I liked getting to custom our own car, and I simply LOVE the speed(you could say, I have the NEED...)& so we had a great time! From there, it was over to see our ol' pal Figment!
He never lets us down. Also, meet Helga, our darling little creation!
Walking back to the WS we passed a new display, for the new OZ movie: it's so cute with glass poppies, a hot air balloon and a pretty yellow brick road. You could actually stick your head into the character cut outs as well, but we opted out. I always find that kinda creepy anyway.
We meandered along and lunched in Morocco. I had the sliders combo, DD had the veggie platter and we both had iced tea. I was hoping for an alternate dessert because, although I could eat each and every pan of Baklava in the entire world, I have a nut allergy, so I knew I shouldn't. They offered me a Slushie instead and DD got to have one too. I didn't really like my orange tangerine one but DD's strawberry one was the BOMB! The CMs in here are very sweet and many of them look like Aladdin, which is never a bad thing! We engaged in conversation with one in particular who told me a sad tale that I am having a hard time getting over. I won't share, but it made me a little mad that racism is alive and well and living in the World. Here we are in all our blurriness that a kind passerby was so sweet to capture for us. #nailedit
We poked around the beautiful Morrocan pavilion and ran into a camel with a FEZ! RIGHT?! Lauren was busily trying to find out how she'd sneak that fez away from the camel. Out popped her T.A.R.D.I.S. in all her splendor and a picture ensued.
Next, we waited in line for Belle. Next to Jess: DisneyFreak508, my second choice for Belle would be Lauren. She is, in fact, in many ways a real live Belle: her nose stuck in a book and a dreamy far off look. No denying she's a funny girl! We had been watching the line since early morning and it just didn't get any smaller. So we waited and waited and waited but since it wasn't so warm in Florida today, it wasn't so bad. We heard Mo-Rockin and also saw a bit of the French show as well. Soon it was time to meet the princess. She was sweet and lovely and loved DD's home made ears. She admired them and asked her, "Oh? Are you an inventor like my papa?" DIE!!!!!!!!!! Then they posed and hugged and we got the BEST photopass picture ever that I seriously will treasure 'til my dying day!
Honestly, IS there a better PP picture out there?
We watched the British Invasion next and it was sooo good: they played a lot of Beatles, Herman's Hermits and even Another Brick in the Wall! Take me back to high school!!! Then we went right over to see OffKilter, who I've seen many times on youtube.We were disappointed with the song choices (although the piper rocked!)
From there we sauntered around the rest of the world, dipping into shops and watching some shows like drumming in Japan and the Tambourine ladies in Italy and Panchito in Mexico and having a pretzel in Germany (and not leaving enough room for Karamel Kuche...) We just couldn't fit any more in. BOO for not thinking about take out! I really, really wanted to finally see the Voices of America. Not sure why we didn't, but we didn't. Reason number 750 million to go back!
We did however see the Fife and Drum show which was very good.
**NB All you judgy McJudgy pants out there: not everyone who stops to see this show lives in the US. Therefore, when it is time to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and your neighbours to the North do their best(and might I say, get most of it right) to pledge right along with you, that you refrain from giving dirty looks to teen girls not following along to your pledging capabilities. We don't learn it in school and only hear it in movies and such. Thank you.(Mayor Mc Judgy this means YOU!) **
We ate dinner at Sunshine Seasons and I had Salmon with veggies and potatoes and Lauren had Caesar Salad with chicken on the side(which I of course stole, wrapped in a napkin and stuck in my camera bag, so the joke of the evening was that I had chicken in my bag) Don't you go worrying about us eating spoiled chicken because Mother Nature took care of that with the dropping temps! Suffice it to say it was well refrigerated! We both had iced coffee beverages anyway(because we're Canadian like that!) and I had delicious cheesecake and DD had a delicious whoopee pie.
At this point, we got a text from Jen and John and agreed to meet them in Mexico.
Can I just say how lovely a couple they were? Jen brought Lauren some buttons and we hung out for around 2 hours and told us amazing stories and Disney secrets that we didn't already know and then guided us to the best ILLUMINATIONS spot.(So check out her stuff, k?) SHE ROCKS!!
We were staying for EMH but they were not, so we walked them out and we went back for our date with MJ.
OK lemme tell ya a little something about Captain EO: It's like if Labyrinth + Star Wars had a love child=ADORE!!!
The level of cheese is at an all time high and not-surprisingly we were one of the only people there. Awww, Michael.
We then went to visit Nemo and couldn't wait to enjoy a delicious. chocolate sundae at Fountainview. Upon reaching Fountainview, we were shocked to see that it was CLOSED!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!! That sundae was one of my get the most for your snack credit must-dos PLUS I was dying for chocolate. (I got over it, but barely.)
We cheered ourselves up with a visit back to the gift shop and purchasing the baby ewok.
Personally, I think that dude is UGLY, but Lauren loves him, sleeps with him nightly and for this reason, he's growing on me.
We decided that since it was now 10:45, we'd leave the park, even though every ounce of hard-core I have in me was screaming to use that extra last 15 minutes. We were tired, cold and it was time to go and it was also time for DD to leave steamy ears behind and don the warm and fuzzy ears!
When we got back to POP, my hips were not lying and they were SORE!!!
I couldn't wait to flop down with a tea and some Stacey. We got to our room and there was a big bag of toiletries and towels hanging there with a note that said something about them honouring our wishes for no service that day.
ODD?
We'd seen our Mousekeeper and never asked for that. We tried the door and got a yellow light. Wait, WHAT?! (did I mention it was freezing?)
Then again and again and again. G(B)RRR!!!
So, I walked down to the first floor and called GS. They would send someone right away.
Or NOT.
Twenty minutes later, (STILL FREEZING)I decided to make the hike to the front desk because I really wanted to lie down and I was cold and did I mention my hips? So, from here a long story ensues that I won't you bore with and that Disney has just yesterday settled to my satisfaction. Lets just say it was pretty un-Disney there, for a few days when we didn't have maid service or a working door.
First world problems, but we were on holidays. Nighty, night Day 3.
This morning we were off to Animal Kingdom!.
I woke up with Stitch at 6:45 and ran another ginormous bubble bath to soak in, while I did some yoga stretches for my hips. There is a lot of walking in those parks and while you can't wait to get your flip flops back on in February, it's REALLY necessary to ensure your feet are properly supported! I knew that I would wake DD up around 7:30, because we had already agreed we would try to make rope drop this morning.
When I went over for our morning Joe, I decided to grab it at Art of Animation, because we were only here for 3 more days and we'd not yet visited!
I had to plan my trip well, bringing everything I needed along, as well as order another wake up call for 7:30, because our door key didn't work AND I needed my roomie to be awake to open the door for me.
(Anyone out there who has a teenager knows that pretty much Armageddon could happen and they would sleep through it)
Any little thing to aid in that process, I was prepared to do!
Walking over the bridge was so exciting and pretty but CHILLY! The estimated high was in the low 60s today but the FLA sun was back in FULL FORCE!
If you love the All Star and Pop décor and Disney immersion feel, you are going to LOVE Art of Animation. The attention to detail is absolute perfection! I didn't have too much time, but managed to snap a few shots of the Big Blue Pool area and the Lobby area. I also checked out the Ink and Paint store and the Landscape of Flavours, while I was filling up our mugs.
I had my heart set on a dinner we'd grab on Monday night, before we headed home. (Stay tuned for my disappointment) I took special note of the giant locked fence around the Big Blue Pool, to keep non- AoA resort guests out (SAD).
Fortunately, they were hosing everything down and had left the gate open BWAHAHAHA!
This made for some closer up shots.
Before I went back to the room, I checked at the POP GS to make certain: a) my room door would be repaired b) that we would have Mousekeeping today. I was ensured that we absolutely would, that it had been noted on my file and even was given a time that the repairs would go down. So efficient! (or so I thought...)
Back at my room door, I hummed my knock song.
You know the song you sing in your head as you knock, knock, knock (etc 100 times?)
Seems baby ewoks need extra time to rise! I must say that DD was a trooper and a readying machine this morning because we were out the door and at the bus stop for 8:30. Sadly the bus did not get the memo and arrived about 8:45, so no rope drop for us. I was gob smacked at the amount of people in line, seeing as how this was a highly recommended park today on both EasyWDW and UndercoverTourist.
As it would turn out, this was still a low crowd compared with MK and Epcot this particular weekend, due to Presidents Day crowds.
Not doing President's Day weekends again any time soon!
DD was wearing her adorable Grape Soda pin. The one that Ellie gave to Carl.
We arrived to the beautiful Animal Kingdom and headed immediately to Killamanjaro Safaris. I love to see those precious animals first thing in the morning. We were not disappointed!
Safari time complete, we headed over to Asia, grabbed some FPs for EE for later and then headed over to Pizzafari for our breakfast. I had the Bounty Platter and requested it be split into two plates, so DD could enjoy my potatoes and my biscuit, along with her cinnamon bun. To me, a simple request. To the CM, not so much.
She was perplexed why I wanted to do that. Thinking it would be much easier and less conspicuous for DD if I just used my nut allergy as an excuse, I explained that I wanted 2 plates for the meal because I didn't want the potatoes on my plate, lest they be contaminated.
SHE insisted (God Bless her, really!) she get the Allergy Specialist to come out to speak to me.(of course, she did.)
I'm sure it was not as big a deal as my mind was making it, but I don't really like attention drawn to myself. Nor does DD. Nor am I THAT nut allergy person, who thinks the whole world should stop eating them lest I come in contact.
It seemed that a crowd of epic proportions was gathering!
After a long discussion about the potatoes, I simply said, as quiet as I could without causing a bigger scene,
"So, my daughter will not eat off a plate that has meat on it, ok?"
She looked surprised, but we both had a giggle and she went to tell the kitchen staff. Breakfast was good but not worth the drama!
Our fun day at AK included: Primeval Whirl(cheesy but cute-I do like the spinning but found it jerkier than I had remembered), Finding Nemo the Musical(one of my favourite shows), Kali River Rapids(WET! Why we did this on a cold day was only because DD wanted to!), Festival of the Lion King(we were first timers and I think that this is my favourite show ever!)
This should really be on Broadway(wait...I guess it IS)
A few dance parties later, many hat try-ons and Expedition Everest-TWICE.
Lauren was hooked! I just love going backwards on that ride!
This was a tricky lunch day because we thought that we'd be able to feed DD anything at Yak and Yeti quick service, minus the meat.
Not so much.
She isn't a fan of sweet and sour sauce and like Tigger, she doesn't like honey. We had planned on the Beef Lo Mein, minus the beef but it was premixed with the beef in it and the same went with the chicken salad CURSE YOU PREMIXES! . I had read ahead of time that all you need to say is that you're a vegetarian and they'd find you something. If you have a picky puss vegetarian, I'd strongly advise packing snacks.
They really tried, but she wasn't interested in any offerings!
Her loss was my gain because now I was free to go to Flame Tree and eat BBQ! I got the ribs with a side of French fries and a chocolate mousse as well as a delicious lemonade. Is the lemonade actually better at DW? Life's questions.
The carnivore I am, I ate the ribs and Lauren ate the rest of my food. Even only eating the meat, I could not finish them-I liked the taste but found them fatty and just too much for one (and my daddy makes the best ribs in the whole wide WORLD!)
I did however catch the attention of every male from there to the Potomac! Something about BBQed meat really gets their attention. Come to think of it, they should consider Meat by Lady Gaga for a perfume scent!
I didn't want to push my appetite because we had dinner reservations at Boma(!!!) and I wanted to get my OOP money's worth!!! Later in the day, I know we shared a cookie ice cream sammy at Dino Bites Snacks.
It was cold out, but we had foolishly been neglecting our ice cream intake earlier in the week. We had some catching up to do!
Second Magic Kingdom Day(AKA Crash Day, AKA Sleep-in Day) (I won't mention that the previous evening began with not being able to enter our room and no maid service. I don't think you need to know that, so I won't bother telling you.)
Someone though, did sprinkle some pixie dust on the bill.
This day commenced sometime around 12:45, when I woke up and DD was watching SNL. I had a temporary break down due to the worry that she was NEVER going to want to get up and go for our marathon day at MK.
It was Day 2 of President's Weekend and our last park day. MK was open until 1 AM but in my crazy hard-core mind, we were getting there at 8am(9 at the latest) and going like mad hatters all day! Ya, that didn't happen.
My day started again, at 7, with the usual bubble bath, coffee run, yoga stretches and a head out for breakfast. Upon leaving the room that morning, I was hit by a COLD breeze.
A first experience at DisneyWorld: Polar Fleece day. They should have a button for that!
Was it even 50 degrees out there? Rushing back with my breakkie, a Bounty Platter and OJ, and my breath following behind me, I noticed that most of the people heading out were wearing winter parkas.
"Really?" I thought.
Turns out they are the realistic planners and perhaps, not the eternal-sunshine-and-lollipops like I am when planning my Disney adventures.
We left our coats in the car on the way to the airport!
Keeping some treats aside for the sleeping beauty, I sorted out stuff, resorted stuff, reorganized stuff, packed and repacked stuff all while DD slept and slept and slept...until I couldn't take it anymore and woke her at 9:45.
Gotta get up, gotta get going, gotta see a friend of mine!
Coffeed and fed, we slowly made our way to the POP gift shop, where DD wanted to find a little something for the day. She wanted a Minnie Bakeshop cookie(like she couldn't have found that in the MSConfectionery?!)
We hopped aboard the next MK bus and we were scooting under the train station and right into the middle of Main St USA to a wonderful performance by the Main St Singers. I might add that there was a huge stage set up for Kelly and Michael, to begin the next day.
As it was close to lunchtime for most, we thought we'd just meander along Main St, taking in the sights and sounds and "goofing" around before we headed over to TLand.
On the way there, we met the sweetest CM, who asked if DD wanted to draw Mickey. OH BOY!
The pics don't do it justice, but it was magical! He also invited us back to behind Cindy's castle to watch the fireworks with he and his family later that night.
So sweet.Gotta love the CM's!
Heading into TLand, the first FP we got was for Space Mountain. The return time was for 5 pm! WOWZA!
That was not our shining pay attention moment, but we decided that we'd just let the universe take us where she wanted to take us, and we'd ride the rides during the afternoon parade and MSEP times, not to mention, EMH's.
We rode the TTA and were able to see Space Mountain with the lights on...wait!
The lights on! Oh NO!
Now had a (wasted) FP and SM was broken? Not to worry, we headed on down over there after disembarking and they told us to keep the FP's, that we could get a new one anytime and they even gave us free ones for DUMBO!
Crisis averted!
We walked around looking at the extra 30 K people, wondering what to do next. We decided to walk around the lands, just simply taking it all in. Look at this precious Mickey and Minnie topiary for Valentine's Day. Ah L'amour!
We thought we'd like a little smakeral of something, so we headed over to Pinocchio Haus
(must be said: Pinocch-E-O HOW-SSS)
and ordered some dee-lish flatbreads.
I must say, they were a pleasant surprise. DD got the Caprese and I got the BBQ'ed chicken. We both got cappuccinos and gelato. DD got chocolate and I, mango.
After lunch, we thought we might like to wander around Fantasyland, the old part, and we stumbled upon Merida's greeting spot. An hour later, we entered the darling set up that is Merida's kingdom.
Was it worth the wait?
Let the pictures do the talking.
We headed to the front of the castle in time to see the show. We then headed to Liberty Square to get a Fast Pass for BTM and load the Liberty Belle. This was the first time on the Steamer for DD and it had been years for me! It was a lovely ride around and a great photo op. It also put me in the slow paced mode that you would think one might be seeking while on the second last day of one's holiday!
We disembarked and headed into Ye Old Christmas Shoppe and looked longingly at decorations for our favourite time of year(except of course, Disney holiday time!)
We then took note of some of the little things we never took time to do before: the yellow brick on the road to commemorate the days when horses would be relieving themselves along the streets of Philly,
(ah yes! Pee inspired bricks!)
the crack in the Liberty Bell, the leather straps on the shutters, which make the shutters hang funny, the numbers on the little houses etc. Small things.
We were reminded of a fun time we had, years ago on Tom Sawyers Island and since we had a few hours to kill, decided to go there again. Such a fun ride over and back on the raft, and stopping to talk to nice people along the way. A wee rock at Aunt Polly's dock, for ol time's sake and stopping to see what life's all about.
During MSEP we snuck on over to ride Haunted Mansion and onto BTM twice! We witnessed the fireworks from the bridge to TLand and were standing right under Tinkerbell's wire. I was a bit worried due to the weather that day, but
like MAGIC, Tink flew right over our heads!
I don't care WHO you are-if you are not moved by Celebrate the Magic show, don't even try to be my friend!
Once we wiped away all the tears, we were ready for the EMHrs! Bring it!!
First things first, we thought we'd better fuel our fire. DD chose Pinocchio HOWSSS again and I grabbed a delicious hamburger at Cosmic Rays. Again, we both got soda and gelato. The dessert choices are not the greatest there but the gelato is the BOMB!
. Once fed, we decided to head out except now, it felt REALLY COLD. YIKES.
Our breath was out for the party again.
So, a quick coffee/hot chocolate stop was a requirement before we rode SM. That ride never disappoints. Since, we hadn't paid too much attention to our swashbuckling selves, we thought we'd follow the leader right on over to ALand to brave some PoTC! I wanted to stay on that ride forever but we had a Jungle Cruise to see to. Just LOVE the skipper and the cheesiness of that ride.
NEVER gets old!
Feeling a little frozen, we then decided to head over to the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room, because it too was inside and WARM! I LOVED all this old-time Disney!!! DD got up enough courage to ride on Aladdin's Magic Carpets, over and over, since it was 11:30 and there were NO LINES. One good thing about the cold, I guess. The CM couldn't believe she was doing it! We ran around like mad, taking in every ride we could: HM again, VoTLM, SM, PoohBear and more! By 12:30 I must say, I was frozen to the core, although DD was good to GO! We ducked into a Fantasyland store to view the merch and met the sweetest guy from New Jersey, Dan, who was charming us all and telling us jokes. He insisted I take a picture and put it on Facebook. Hopefully this will do.
As well, DD might have got permission to see Aurora's dress despite not being Bibbity Bobbitied up!
We had such a great time in there, with the CM's and Dan from Jersey, but we recalled how we had not used both of our Snack Credits for the day and consequently that there was a Plaza Ice Cream Sundae with our name on it
PROVIDING they'd let us eat it indoors(God Bless them-they did).
This dessert inspired a sweet exit by DD, down Main St, dancing along with Mickey as he bid us adieu and home to POP we went.
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What came over me, I'll never know, but I actually BEAT DD! She was as surprised as I was, lemme tell ya! I was excited for Lauren to try out my favourite roller coaster in the whole world. I just LOVE that takeoff! 
She loved it as much as I did and we decided that we had to do it again, during Fantasmic. We rushed off to grab some spots along Hollywood BLVD to watch the parade. I asked a CM inside the store where DD had just bought buttons, if we could have a bag to sit on-they actually HAVE bags for this reason(OF COURSE THEY DO!) and she gave us two. YAY for dry bums!! We've never seen this parade before, in fact, we've never spent a whole day in HS with the kids for one reason or another. It was simply adorable. I was humming that song all day long-"IIIII dont wanna work."
The gift shop for MS is AWESOME and we had to try on more hats and play with Star Wars stuff and make light sabres and really had to resist the urge to buy ALL the merch. Lauren had seen the baby ewok plushies in the safety video for Star Tours the day before and had fallen in love. You can only imagine her delight when she came across these babies today! 
Here we are in all our blurriness that a kind passerby was so sweet to capture for us. #nailedit
