A "Once Every 3 Years" Very Dapper Reunion!- UPDATED 7/31

[katt789]

FRIENDS!!!

Welcome!! To a tale of enchantment, a tale of great friends, umbrella hats, all sorts of magic, a world of wizardry, definitely not enough photos, but still a GRAND OLD TIME!!

If you've read my trip reports before, WELCOME BACK!! I've missed you, I'm so sorry I've been so absent from the Dis over the past little bit! If you haven't read anything, WELCOME, I LOVE NEW FRIENDS!! YAAAY!!

BUT WAIT...who am I? I've been so rude, I should probably introduce myself....

IMG_0155 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

I'm Katt! I'm 28 years old, from Calgary, Canada. I work at a Duelling Piano Bar (much like Jelly Rolls but much more obnoxious) I also do some work with my bestie's Princess Party Company, hanging out with some royals and doing some photography. I've always loved Disney, and made my first trip to Florida back in 2011, and since then have been on approximately 28 times (JEEEEEEZE!) (with four of those being to Disneyland in California....)

Back in 2014, I was lucky enough to accept a position as a Cultural Representative for the Walt Disney Company! Which basically meant I got to spend a year of my life pouring beer & serving popcorn & running food in the Canada pavilion in Epcot! This program brought an amazing best friend into my life, Kara! Her & I have spent so many days in WDW, she's inspired me to run my first 5k, we've celebrated our friendiversary in Disneyland last year, and the year before were LUCKY enough to travel all the way to Japan, China & Hong Kong and visit all of those amazing parks!

Tokyo:
k8 by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Shanghai:
IMG_3723 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Hong Kong:IMG_4767 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

California Adventure: (may Paradise Pier rest in peace...)IMG_5896 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Disneyland!
IMG_6306 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr

Wait...would I show you this many pictures of the back of her head if she wasn't important?! NOPE!
Kara:
IMG_5853 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
She JUST turned 29, and is currently LIVING the DREAM IN FLORIDA! She's on her THIRD CRP program, and as of halfway through this trip, became Le Cellier's newest server! As stated, we met on our program in 2014, and bonded instantly over our love for Disney entertainment, photography, and just being overall awesome. She lives in BC when she's in Canada, and is literally the reason I spent 1 year in Vancouver between her programs. She LOVES Belle, Rapunzel, the mountain rides, mini photoshoots, and all the same things as me lol. It was VERY much thanks to her that we got the discount on our hotel, despite some other struggles that I'll go over in a bit!

Our Third, and more OFFICIAL adventure-er is Amy!
IMG_7747 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
Amy & I met back in 2011, when a friend bailed on the trip, so our mutual friend invited her in! Then...we barely talked but stayed connected, and 3 years later, I was looking for a 4th for a trip, and she was down....naturally...that was 3 years ago....so IT WAS ABOUT TIME for another trip together! She loves Peter Pan, and is a super chill and awesome human being, who I knew would get along with my Florida crew perfectly, so it was just amazing! She's also Canadian, and lives about 3 hours away from me!

Lastly, we have our last "guest star" of the trip, who spent a good chunk of time with us... Amanda!!
IMG_7729 by Katt mccluskey, on Flickr
Amanda & I met through the internet 5 year ago...no joke...we both happened to be browsing the Disney Audition tag on Tumblr where we ended up meeting at an audition & spent a day in the parks together. Once we discovered neither of us were internet creeps, we split a hotel the next trip down, and quickly became best friends! She currently lives in Orlando with her husband & pets, working at SeaWorld with the pets show! It's the AMAZING thanks to her & her husband that I got into the parks for a couple of days thanks to some craziness last minute before the trip started.

OKAY! Those intro's were super long, but hey, I love my friends!

When???
So, originally, Kara & I had discovered Marvel around the same point in time (June 2017...after Wonder Woman came out and we realized superhero's were AWESOME). So, we knew we wanted to see Infinity War together!
avengers-infinity-war-5120x5120-chris-evans-steve-rogers-captain-13244 by Jesperadoo, on Flickr

THEN I discovered that Dapper Day was happening the last weekend in April!
Dapper-Day by Jet Tiu, on Flickr

SO OBVIOUSLY we needed to go for BOTH, especially since Dapper Day had TWO days, one at Magic Kingdom, and one at Epcot! To plan around this we booked for April 27th to May 5th

BUT THEN RDJ had to go & get Avenger's released a week early and COMPLETELY screw with the plans, but both Kara & I ended up seeing it on the Thursday before I came down, and both died because omg....

Where???
I love Disney, I lOVE their resorts, and ORIGINALLY, two more Canadian friends were supposed to come with us but due to paying for school/car accidents, they both dropped out, and NO ONE else could fill their spaces, so despite there only being 2 of us, we were staying at:
Disney's Fort Wilderness by Orlando Updates, on Flickr

WHICH I AM NOT MAD ABOUT! Usually we'd stay at a Value, but they were LITERALLY ALL SOLD OUT, as were ALL the moderates, so we paid around $1200 CAD each for the hotel...WITH THE 50% DISCOUNT. WHAT EVEN? But like again, not mad....I LOVE Fort Wilderness, it's amazing, it's like a piece of Canada in florida, it houses Hoop Dee Doo, and the cabins having a full kitchen,so I had Kara pick up some Walmart snacks for me!

That about covers everything at this point I believe, I am super excited to share this trip with you, we did a lot different, we did a lot of early nights cause....we old....and didn't nap during the day at all...and we had a lot of magical experiences! Stay tuned for chapter links in the next post!!

 

[katt789]

Day 1: Friday April 27th

Day 2: Saturday April 28th
Reunions
A Magic Filled Afternoon

Day 3: Sunday April 29th
Best Day Ever
A Return to Canada
World Travels

Day 4: Monday April 30th
Wookie Hugs & Quiet Villages
Wondrous Dazzling Brilliantly
A Family Affair

Day 5: Tuesday May 1st
Today is for Drinking and Eating

Day 6: Wednesday May 2nd
Wizards and Super Hero's

Day 7: Thursday May 3rd
A Lot of Hopping

 

[missjackiemcg]

Hi, Katt!! So excited to see you back on the DIS I enjoyed following along on some of your trip on IG. Love your photography and all of your friends and shenanigans. Can't wait to read about the adventure!!!
Jackie

 

[dnllmz]

Hi! I haven't read any of your previous reports but am excited to read about this trip.

 

[missangelalexis]

Of course I am joining in!! Can't wait to hear about your trip! And how exciting that you got to stay at Fort wilderness!

 

[abarriger]

I followed along with photos on Insta, and can't wait to fill in details here! It looked like an amazing trip.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Hi Katt I always enjoy reading your trip reports.

 

[katt789]

Hi, Katt!! So excited to see you back on the DIS I enjoyed following along on some of your trip on IG. Love your photography and all of your friends and shenanigans. Can't wait to read about the adventure!!!
Jackie

Hi!! Thank you!!I'm trying to spend a bit more time on here lol!! Thank you so much!!!

Hi! I haven't read any of your previous reports but am excited to read about this trip.

Hahaha!! Hi!!! Glad you're here!!

Of course I am joining in!! Can't wait to hear about your trip! And how exciting that you got to stay at Fort wilderness!

Yay!! Welcome back! Lol, it was a great trip!!

 

[katt789]

I followed along with photos on Insta, and can't wait to fill in details here! It looked like an amazing trip.

Yay!! Glad you're here, it was a lot of fun!

Hi Katt I always enjoy reading your trip reports.

hi!!! Glad you're back!! thank you so much!

 

[kilroy1966]

Following. Did you work at the cart at the exit to O Canada?

 

[katt789]

Following. Did you work at the cart at the exit to O Canada?

I worked at the popcorn/beer cart in Canada, and inside the Le Cellier restaurant for my program!

 

[katt789]

Day 1: Friday April 27th

So today was basically just a travel day, and nothing too exciting happened. The evening before I went to go see Avengers: Infinity War with a friend, and was STILL PROCESSING it for the next 24 hours, like, WHAT EVEN WAS THAT MOVIE?!?!?!? Luckily for me, said friend was able to drop me off at the airport and I didn’t have to take the bus!

The first flight was fine, there was a bit of turbulence, and I was crazy anxious for some reason and couldn’t focus on music/sleeping so I ended up watching Wonder Woman. I landed in Toronto, and searched for some food, before I was on my way to the food court, I ran into Amy! We’re from different cities, but managed to get the connection onto the same flight, so we checked in & were on our way! Landed in Orlando swiftly ( I slept most of the way) and were soon hopping on the magical express to Fort Wilderness!! We had a little bit of a muffled check in, it seems to always been confusing for CM’s when we’re checking in. The discount meant that Kara had to check in first, and show her ID that morning, and we arrived at nearly midnight. Luckily we all got things sorted out, and they drove us off to our cabin with no problems! It was amazing to reunite with Kara after nearly SEVEN months away from each other!! Around that point I realized we hadn’t gotten our magic bands from the front desk….HOW did that even happen?!! It SUCKED because that meant we had to run down to the FRONT to get our bands, since Amy’s ticket was linked to it, BEFORE bussing to the BACK of the resort to get the boat to Magic Kingdom in the morning. We out the drama behind us….watched some cartoons, ate some cheese its and went to bed, ready for the next morning of fun!!!

 

[katt789]

Day 2: Saturday April 28th

Our morning started off NICE AND EARLY! We wanted to get to the park as close to 8:00am as possible, and Dapper Day always takes more time to get ready for! The three of us all knew what we were wearing & makeup but NO CLUE when it came to hair lol! Luckily we figured that all out, made some coffee and ate some breakfast while we got ready. Then we had to hop on the bus to the front desk to get Amy & I’s magic bands, since the CM had forgotten the night before. THEN the lady couldn’t find them anywhere and eventually just gave us new ones in the proper colours. While we were sorting all that out, Kara decided to call a Lyft over to the Contemporary and walk from there



(thought process, it would be SO much faster, and the bag check that way is MUCH faster).



Thought process didn’t include: Kara & I being in heels…and having already walked the long way around the loop from the cabin to the bus….#whoops. also my feet were still a little airplane swollen/not used to Florida heat swollen bahahahha! LUCKILY I had toms in my bag for later!



Quickly enough, we got over to the Magic Kingdom, and that sweet, sweet beautiful castle view filled with all the magic, happiness, and popcorn/Starbucks smell. I’m pretty sure Kara & Amy needed food, so we made a pit stop at Starbucks, and took a little chill time while we waited for the Trolley Show! It’d been nearly a YEAR since I’d been to Florida, and there were some exciting faces in the show today!



31969972_10160658229400647_7357614505188130816_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31464266_10160619564605647_2592430232814464031_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



While we were waiting for the show to start a friend of ours, Cassidy popped up! She did a program with us a few years back and was just about to start her second one the following week. I didn’t take any pictures of Trolley today, to be completely honest I didn’t take many pictures this trip at all, especially on the first day, I mainly watched and enjoyed, just soaking it all in!! After stop 4 down by the Train Station we had some hugs and chats with the Trolley kids before we made on our way. We had a very special visit to make, and a very special present for a special Princess!



I’d been talking to a friend throughout the morning, and she gave me a little code to say to the hostesses at Cinderella’s Royal Table to pop upstairs to say hello! YAY!

31444713_10160620112465647_4107224644893477705_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31487070_10160620112695647_5532057887014181025_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31512395_10160480890050171_5951158091801165824_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

It was suuuuper good to see Snow after SO LONG, and to introduce her to Amy, and it was the first time Kara had seen her since being down in Florida on her program, so it was happiness all around. Now, I mentioned a present….well…I’d had some good chats with Snow about umbrella hats, and how RIDICULOUS we found them! Then like, a DAY later when my Mom was visiting she said something about wishing she still had the one she’d won at work cause of all the rain! BAAHAHAHA!! THEN!!! Kara was cleaning out her Gramma’s house and FOUND AN UMBRELLA HAT THAT WAS ALL EMBELLISHED WITH CANADIAN THINGS!



31444817_10160620112710647_923941706974764729_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Naturally, I’ve literally been carrying it around for 2 years to give to her…..cause….jokes mean commitment! Snow loved it, we had another round of hugs, and attempted to creep on Aurora, but it looked like she was too into finishing her round, so we left. (and promptly found out Aurora WAS going to come out and say hi and was jokingly mad that we left without saying hi, lol!)



Our group wasn’t sure what we wanted to do next, but after some thinking, realized that a photoshoot was in order!!

31453655_10160480889910171_5407718482588467200_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31646799_10160619564710647_7322234229121629864_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



IMG_7701 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

Kara was clearly over it already….bahahha….also judging by the camera in her hand, there are more photos that I’m missing from today, but she has yet to upload anything.



IMG_7703 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

IMG_7704 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

IMG_7705 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr



31495119_10160619564250647_6873067694851864087_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31659949_10160619564880647_6088057298162563706_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

IMG_7706 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

31500356_10160619564140647_5672869643593233270_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Yeah…she does some weird stuff sometimes…but she makes up for it…

IMG_7710 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

IMG_7715 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr



Honestly, this trip was a lot of “hmmm…what should we do now?” and Kara being all “I live here, it’s you on vacation….” and myself turning to Amy going “you come here the least….” and then us attempting to figure something out. The Peoplemover was our next stop!

31657999_10160619564275647_1664164183300994200_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

 

[katt789]

It was nearly time for the next Trolley show, but the crowds were starting to get CRAZY, so we waited down in the Train Station and played around for a bit while we waited. It was super funny at one point cause Kara was standing in the doorway (on her phone, with the group of us) and a young boy came up and was all “Excuse me…do you know when the next train is?” Lolololol. Clearly she did look the “Main Street” part, but it was super funny to all of us! Before the show started we also met up with Pearl, another friend from our program who is currently serving at Le Cellier!



31587892_10160619564355647_324146790716052712_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31460794_10160619564350647_1035413043847687483_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31439964_10160480889955171_4368832362599940096_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



I’m so sorry these are so dark….again…working off 2 different flickr’s and it’s a lot to go in and log into the other acct to edit them…. #lazysummerday here…



31444856_10160619564465647_6203526754767796892_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31498709_10160480890045171_3218016444235120640_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31454016_10160619564500647_2404336131906431514_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



We enjoyed the Trolley Show again, gave some more hugs to the kids and moved on our way, the Move It Shake It parade/dance party was due to start, so we follow it down Main Street, but proclaimed it was too hot too dance, lol, and food was a much higher priority! Columbia Harbour House was where we ended up, Kara & Pearl did the mobile ordering, (and continued to most of the week) and I do have to say, it seems SUPER convenient and MUCH quicker than waiting in the line. BUT, to help budget I was using cash, and Amy had nearly $900 cash herself (EXTRA) as she’d ended up putting the entire hotel on her card and I paid her cash, so we never got to utilize it ourselves. I also noticed that the kids meals portions (at least here) were definitely smaller than they had been in the past….Disney clearly caught on lol! We enjoyed our meals, Pearl ended up taking off to meet up with someone else, and we moseyed on over to Haunted Mansion to use our fast pass…..to find that the ride was down…



Damn.



Kara ended up re-booking us over to Enchanted Tales in a little bit longer, we checked some of the wait times on the app, but ended up wanting to run through Agrabah JUST to check and see if today was a great day to be there….Kara & I were pretty sure it wasn’t going to happen, but MAN WE WERE HAVING A LUCKY DAY!!! Jasmine saw us, but they were just finishing up their set, luckily it was only 20 minutes until the next one so we jumped in line!



31959674_10160658229945647_8505603733776760832_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

32186578_10160658230195647_2653742442590765056_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

32095447_10160658230485647_8349567378639552512_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



It’d been LITERALLY four years since we’d seen each other, so it was just happiness, hugs and jokes all around!



32089848_10160658229885647_788225755510210560_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

32153030_10160658229695647_9034543915650252800_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



We had some funny chats about Abu, saying we hadn’t seen him around anywhere, but Aladdin brought up that you could usually smell him before you could see him! Lol!

32215380_10160658229635647_5833105267788611584_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

32087353_10160658229710647_5003522507681038336_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

32090007_10160658230435647_6731139176550367232_o by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr



Yes…it was clearly nap time for me….bahahha. HOWEVER, I apparently only uploaded the one pic from photo pass, but don’t have access to the account right now to download another one, #whoops.



ALSO….I’m just now looking at my notes and the Aladdin m&g CLEARLY happened earlier on….Pearl stayed with us until FoF, but wasn’t at that m&g….I am SO SORRY I SUCK AT THIS UPDATE THIS TIME GUYS….



Our group wanted to cool down, and it was around 2pm, so the natural thing to do was hit up our favourite… COUNTRY BEAR JAMBOREEEEE! YAAAAAS!!



Kara, Cassidy & Pearl all grabbed some Dole Whips while Amy & myself grabbed parade spots in Frontierland. Added bonus…Pearl couldn’t finish her Dole Whip, so Amy & I got to share the rest of it, and it was the perfect amount for all of us!



The parade was lovely, amazing, fantastic as always! We got some great waves, kisses, and love from everyone, and I enjoyed simply watching it instead of focussing on photos! (I promise there’s some coming…)



At some point, we ended up at the Wishing Well, but again…Kara has those pics on her camera….when she EVENTUALLY EDITS THEM…. I’ll share them…lol…love you…I promise…



31430078_10160480889890171_8438985672869543936_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



And we used our fast pass to meet Tiana & Rapunzel!

31961092_10160658230830647_6680097420132483072_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

32191601_10160658230715647_2402547350389129216_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



They were lovely enough, nothing super memorable this time through though…



32207735_10160658230970647_1142209551227944960_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

32080306_10160658230500647_4476368894763728896_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

32215234_10160658230680647_2137945479118323712_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



And that is where the pictures come to a close, so I’l jump through the rest of the day with you quickly!!



It was (clearly) down to the 3 of us now, and we decided it was time to take a break from the park, it was hot, crowded, and we needed a beverage! So it was over to the Grand Floridian, and Citricos’s lounge, where we had some lovely chats with the bartenders there, enjoyed a bottle of sparkling blush wine, and a cheese plate! Amy & I spent some time quizzing Kara on the Le Cellier menu since she went into service training the next day. Amy laughed that none of it was particularly “Canadian” sounding, ahaha! We used Kara’s discount, and then Amy was amazing enough to take the bill for us! THANK YOU AMY!!! Things balance out, right? Amy was thankful that I’d done all the planning for the trip, and Kara had helped us out a couple of times with discounts! YAY FOR AWESOME FRIENDS!



We ended up heading back to Magic Kingdom to use our Pirates Fast pass, and were entertained by the new Readhead….I was happy there was some chanting still, even if the script was a little bit changed. Our boat got in a bit of traffic, and all of us were basically napping on the boat. SO SLEEPY after a late night, an early morning and a long day in the sun, heck, us adults can’t do this anymore! Lol.



Amy & I said we were going to stay for the fireworks, while Kara went back to the cabin to grab her stuff and then headed home so she could study (she was super nervous for some reason….). And after a hot second, we were chasing Kara down Main Street to join her (without the studying of course lol) We stopped at the little shop near Pioneer Hall and picked up a frozen pizza to eat back in the cabin while Amy & I chilled out and had a pretty early night!



*****

My apologies for this update being super bare, and kind of all over the place, I promise, it gets better and much more picture filled the next few days!!

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a great first day! You all look so great in your Dapperr Day outfits, and as always I love all the photoshoot pics!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Love your Dapper Day outfits and the beautiful pics of you by the train station! Kara is so talented--her dress is incredible!

 

[katt789]

Day 3: Sunday April 28th



GOOOOOD MORNING!!!



ARE YOU READY FOR THE BEST DAY EVER!?!?!?



Cause WE SURE WERE!!



It was Day TWO of Dapper Day, AND our Epcot day AND we had an amazing breakfast planned out!! Kara opted to skip out to study some more before her shift starting at 11am, but Amanda & Cassidy joined us for some fun! Amy & I used Uber to get over to the Boardwalk!



We had a hilarious interaction while we were going through the Boardwalk security gate, the CM’s were all “top…made it back, welcome home ladies” to which we everyone in the car had a good chuckle over! Our driver laughed saying that not everyone was coming HOME at 8:00 am, though there was a lot of hotel hopping that goes on! Bahahahha! Not us! We good! lol!



IMG_2996 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr



Cassidy was already there, and Amanda showed up pretty quickly after we arrived!

IMG_2993 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr



(also sidetone I am definitely using some old photos from last May, but I wanted more from breakfast so hey…more details for y’all is always a good thing, right?!)



We checked in, and said there would only be four of us (I’d booked for 6) and didn’t have to wait long before we were shown to our table. We all did coffee, and a few of us had juices, and we nixed the “allergy” note on our table (Teegan was going to come, but couldn’t make it, and since Amanda had been there before, she knew what she can & can’t eat, lol)



IMG_3015 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

IMG_3016 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr



Our table was right around the corner from the entry way, which was fine, it was secluded enough to not be loud or rowdy. Let me tell you, I have ALWAYS loved Trattoria, it’s super close to Epcot and easy enough to jump out for dinner or to have breakfast and make it to the park before it’s getting too late. As per it being a character meal in the morning, it’s PERFECT, there’s RARELY any screaming/running/obnoxious children, and it’s just SO MUCH more relaxed than the other meals that we’ve done with characters.



ANYWAYS, I AM GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF FRIENDS….



We each got coffee, some got some juice, and we tucked into the pastries while we decided what we wanted to eat!

IMG_3019 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr



Amanda & Cassidy both got the “Tower of Pancakes”

31543926_10160625699155647_3675038751651790848_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



While I got the steak & potatoes, and started with a fruit cup

Untitled by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31531347_10160619564705647_6394566923978894730_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Amy got the ….frittata….I want to call it that…it was a LOT of eggs, and a LOT of potatoes lol! The food quality is to be RAVED about here as well, it was all delicious, and big portions! We also got a second pan of pastries that we dug into, AND thew some into a ziplock to snack on later, lol. I will say though, the egg thing that was on my plate was NOT great…but everything else about the food was!! And THEN we got to see some characters!



31723329_10160488453755171_5580994948120969216_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31562128_10211478594311545_8497554140430336000_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31492844_10160619564975647_504596886267026708_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



We were VERY excited to see Flynn, he commented that he’d seen us the other day during parade, and was super excited that we were here for breakfast, even if it did mean that he’d gotten woken up way to early by some kind of frog that morning, lol!! We got lots of hugs and it was a great time!



31453877_10211478594871559_2829138349929791488_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31755206_10160488453095171_5607863752423636992_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31445062_10211478594271544_178809852288565248_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31577940_10160620112445647_1650335237172788538_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Ariel came over next and we had a good time with her too!

31754622_10160488453955171_608362236074786816_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31670273_10211478593831533_2470205201403871232_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31454053_10160619564945647_1229252314340770284_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Which was when she said “wait…I saw you at the castle yesterday didn’t I?” and when we said yes she proclaimed that she’d seen the present that we’d given Snow White and called me out on not bringing her a present, she wanted a cool umbrella hat too! Lololol!



Our last visitor was Prince Eric, which is ALWAYS a fun time, he never comes out anymore, and he’s one of my favourite characters, plus his new outfit is just great!

31682252_10160488453975171_6022137601803157504_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31460817_10211478593871534_8480958047496175616_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31444933_10160619564980647_399066600225034855_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Breakfast was a great time for all of us, we debating getting the potatoes packed up since we had SO many leftover, but with Epcot ahead of us, and it being flower & garden there were SO MANY YUMMY snacks ahead of us too! We all thew Amanda cash and she was able to use her discount for the meal (her husband works with the MK boats, so she has a “spouse card” that came in handy quite a few days) She was ALSO THE AMAZING HUMAN that when I was a little poop outta luck money wise right before the trip said she would main-gate me into the parks using this ticket, BLESS random strangers you meet off the internet who turn out to be your best friends, am I right?!



Because Amanda lives in Florida, she had driven to the BW earlier, so we all jumped into her car and popped around to the front of Epcot to park and make our way in to start our next adventure!!!

 

[katt789]

On the way over to Epcot we had discussed our plan of what to start with. Amanda had made a few fast passes for us, but hadn’t managed to get any Frozen stuff, which Amy had not seen/done on her last trip; so we figured hitting Norway first would make the most sense! We jumped through the queue for the ride, waiting probably 15-20 minutes? Amy liked it, as do I, it’s a cute ride, but I never had any strong feelings for Maelstrom, and I mean, I wouldn’t wait a long time for it or anything, but hey, it’s cute. And I was having some MAJOR love for Elsa this trip….lol! Amanda on the other hand, was a HUGE Maelstrom fan, so she isn’t Frozen’s biggest fan, but hey, to each their own!



Since we were in Norway already it made the perfect sense to head through and meet Anna & Elsa, which was a good time!

32077617_10160658229365647_4568742006234284032_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Also, this is where it became apparent that I MISSED the green memo for today…(which also sucks ‘cause originally today I wanted to Disneybound as Loki, but the dress was sold out when I went to buy it..)



32105073_10160658229145647_403663227164033024_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Anna & I said next time we’d wear green, and we’d make sure to eat lots and lots of chocolate!



Our fast passes were for Future World and for later that day, plus we’d already walked through it, and the most logical thing to do at Epcot is to drink….and take photos…SO, we crossed through the promenade to head over to Canada. We were joking today about how ridiculous the “wall” trend is getting at Disney, like, it’s cool & all; the purple wall DOES have a super awesome background for taking portrait styled photos, but THE LINE FOR THE PURPLE WALL WAS LITERALLY RIDICULOUS on Dapper Day, and the march is just weird….lolololol! We half joked half serious said that today would be spent finding walls around Epcot that weren’t things already that we’d MAKE things…. (but not really lol)



Starting in Canada, both the beer cart & restaurant were still closed, so we popped over to Kid Cot to get some Duffy’s….mainly to use as fans….lets be real…that’s their biggest use! Also it was HOT already, and it was like….just barely 11 am….#nothankyou. We chatted with the CM working the kid cot station for a bit, and then made our way up to the back part of Canada that’s BARELY ever seen!



IMG_7743 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

IMG_7745 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

IMG_7727 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

Which meant it was a great place to have a little photoshoot! PLUS, NO ONE was up there!



IMG_7728 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

IMG_7747 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

IMG_7729 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr



IMG_7753 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

IMG_7734 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

IMG_7755 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

IMG_7742 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr



IMG_7761 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

31699053_10160488457545171_6754632759328636928_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



We then promptly found the #canadianrockwall …….

31562090_10160620116435647_2715968156515773915_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31531018_10160620116220647_5646560226102937141_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



So cool….right?



We continued on our Canadian adventure down to get closer to the waterfall!

IMG_7767 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

IMG_7768 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

IMG_7771 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

IMG_7774 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

 

[katt789]

Our group passed through the UK pretty quickly, and crossed over to France where we creeped on Belle a little bit, and some of us got slashes!

33207122_10160718134570647_4293027916402393088_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Also yes…I am sunburnt by day 2….I blame waiting for parade…



Amanda really wanted a drink, but her allergies are citrus, so we naturally all told her all the slashes were horrible and she would’ve hated them….lololol…(the pink one is my favourite…the orange one is just too sweet for me, so I love F&G time in France!)



We spent some time wandering shops, I applied some more perfume from the store in France (lol) while we moved into Morocco!



IMG_7778 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr

IMG_7780 by Katt Wyllie, on Flickr



And apparently I only took pictures of Amanda there…lol…we browsed through some shops, Amy got backtracked laughing at the “phallic” wall, though we didn’t take pictures infant of it lol. We also SUCKED at getting our Duffy’s signed/stamped these past few countries. I specifically remember being in the UK and no CM’s being there but reaching over to stamp them ourselves but I DO think they were later in the day!



Naturally, due to my LOVE of all things Japanese we HAD to make a detailed trip through the merchandise there; I fawned over all the Sailor Moon stuff, and compared how expensive things were there vs in Japan (mainly Daiso/DonQi, both those stores are SO cheap over in Japan, and the same products are like 3x the price lol). Despite our breakfast being large, we were already getting hungry, so we figured some delicious quick service was in order!



Untitled by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



….Though ONLY the drinks in that pic are accurate lol…I opted for the teriyaki shrimp kids meal while Amy & I shared the green tea colada, which is DELICIOUS! We also got our Duffy’s stamped/signed in Japan, where they wrote our names down in Japanese which was super cute, and I chatted with the CM’s about the time I’d spent in Japan which was great! Since we were right next to Italy, it made the most sense to grab another drink there, I’d described the Espresso Martini’s to the girls and I’m pretty sure we ALL got one!



Untitled by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Though we stood at the bar to drink them, so I think they may have been in real cups, we also had the Bailey’s added into them! YUM! We meandered back over to America, where Amanda was ready to see Voices of Liberty, and thus had somehow CHUGGED her martini (also surprise, her & Amy are self proclaimed light weights….) we had a good laugh at that, as we all slowly but surely finished our drinks before we entered the hall.



Voices of Liberty are always a great stop for me, and like, I’m Canadian. There was one awkward moment during this show that they started signing the US Anthem, and Amy & I were all “oops…should probably stand up…” and were the only 2 who weren’t hand over heart in the entire room…..#whoops ? who even knows? It was a great show, as always! Amanda quite frequents the show & was surprised she didn’t know anyone, but we were there on a day that she usually wasn’t!

31495285_10211479425652328_8976052860580003840_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31503783_10211479557455623_7110502230372909056_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Feeling a little patriotic ourselves, it was time to start the walk back towards Canada, but we naturally got distracted by a princess in France! The line was long, but luckily she was coming out pretty soon, and we got in line before it was cut!



32116598_10160658230165647_591751514482016256_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

32207632_10160658232375647_4093329722597965824_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

#twinning

ALSO, during this wait, I was texting with Katy, whom you might remember from previous TR’s, she works at Universal. and is an amazing human being, who I’m sad we didn’t get to spend more time with this trip! She literally found us in line, while we caught up, took some pics with us;

32207470_10160658232400647_7255023499016667136_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31967903_10160658232585647_8336069026572664832_o by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

….you can tell how hot it was by Amanda & I’s faces being so red…lololololol



Cassidy wanted to head back to Canada to see if her friend was working yet, and we hand’t had a drink there yet, or seen people at Le Cellier. I popped into the restaurant with Amy; since she’d never been in there before I explained how things worked with sections and such. Kara saw us practically immediately and waved over to us, while a couple other FT/2nd program servers came to say hi! While we were standing there one of the managers came out of the office and we were able to catch up super quickly too! Cassidy’s friend, Sam, wasn’t at kid cot yet, so we discussed what to do next.



I suggested we head over to Mexico, since Canada had been out of the drink I wanted, and I also desperately needed some a/c! It was HOT! and it worked out since Amy & I were both feeling the heat, Mexico was THE place to be!



Untitled by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Sorry that pic’s so dark lol….Amy & I both got Avocado Margarita’s, and I’m pretty sure we were the only one’s drinking. We spent some time enjoying the pavilion and then took a seat on the fountain ledge while we hung around and chatted. We REALLY needed the break inside, that was for sure!!



After about a half hour…not even kidding…we were feeling better & getting antsy, so we trekked back across to Canada, where we FINALLY FOUND SAM! We spent a bit chatting with her, while Cassidy continued to hang out, I said hi to some of the Le Cellier servers, and Amanda said it was about time for her to leave (it was like…5pm at this point….I know it doesn’t feel like it TR time frame, but trust me lol). We said our goodbyes, (we’d see each other again numerous times), and I wandered back over to Cassidy to ask how long she’d be, and when she said a while, Amy & I disappeared over to the UK to get another drink!



31720619_10160625699125647_6358100118473801728_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



We shared the cider flight, which was a black cherry cider, a pineapple cider, and a MIMOSA CIDER, which was hands down the best, though the black cherry was pretty good too! We just took a little sit while we chilled out with our ciders and I texted Kara to see where she was at in the day. Luckily, she was finishing up with her washout from work, BUT, still had to get back to cast services and then bus to the front of the park to meet up with us. Once our flight was finished, we started over that way, but not before Amy got a topiary picture, since her dress today could easily have been a Peter Pan bound!



31719071_10160488458350171_8406197776567762944_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Seriously…all my friends are so cute!



Kara had a LOVELY Rapunzel styled Disneybound (shirt fabric from Spoonflower I’m a good 99.9% sure lol) for Dapper Day, and we HAD to take our best friend forever photo at Epcot (once we hit Hollywood, DisneySea, and Paris and we’ll have them all! I mean….we went to DisneySea, but forgot to take the pic…)



31582168_10160625699585647_6645302833505632256_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



Kara had been working ALL day, so our next stop was naturally somewhere with FOOD AND DRINKS, which SURPRISE!!! GERMANY!!! If you go to the back left shop, they have $5 cheese plates, which not a lot of people know about,they USED to have wine flights but they don’t have them anymore. All 3 of us did the cheese plate and a glass of white wine before we settled into a table.



31693242_10160488458235171_7557708437279211520_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Naturally, Kara, being less than one drink it, spilt her glass of wine literally ALL over the table, but Amy didn’t want much more to drink, and I ended up REALLY not liking the wine so we both dumped most of our glasses into hers to make up for it. During our program Kara used to always end up (on the FIRST drink) with the plastic cup or cup with a lid cause she is literally a child…..lolololololol



One of my biggest tips when people ask about “Drinking Around the World” is to go to every second country, and if there is one country you don’t want to drink in, drink twice in another one, SO, we almost always skip the USA, and drink twice in Italy, because they have the espresso martinis, AND the Rosa Regale sparkling red, which we each got one of!



31562385_10160625699550647_7480557660568289280_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



And naturally Kara & I pretended we were in Japan for the next little bit…. cause we weird…



31530591_10160625699325647_6456811540816330752_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

31543647_10160625699430647_6843545832260632576_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr

Also #bless that portrait mode!! All thanks to Kara! You can literally tell when her phone takes the photos!



31655667_10160625699285647_6893787668199505920_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



The three of us continued on our way around, having already had so many drinks from the rest of the countries, we considered Canada, but the line was LOOOONNG! So we talked about what to do next, and Trader Sam’s came up! Kara was a PM shift the next day, and Amy & I could do a later start, so it was where we ended up going! We had some DELICIOUS DRINKS (The Uh-Oha drink, where you toss cinnamon into an open flame, I had multiple Zombie Heads as I am NOT the lightweight my friends are lol, Kara had a spike pineapple, and Amy had some other drinks) I had some Headhunter sushi, and I think Kara had a snack? We then watched Happily Ever After from the patio out there and it was magical, despite not seeng the projections, it was still great..



31720477_10160625699630647_7275229670876905472_n by Katt McCluskey, on Flickr



We quizzed Kara a bit more on the menu before she left, and Amy& I kept drinking cause…. #vacation right? I must have been super excited over getting purple straws, cause I ended up with a ton(they’re my favourite colour) and I somehow ended up with a glow cube to take home to hubs, lol!!! On our way home we 100-% got lost looking for our cabin, but thank god one of us was sober enough to get there…which one…WHO KNOWS…

 

[missjackiemcg]

What an absolutely perfect day! We ate at Trattoria al Forno for the first time in January and really enjoyed the food!! I also got the steak and potatoes, SO good! We like to drink around the world on our trips, but usually end up doing it over a couple of days to get them all in LOL