A simply sensational summer solo trip ~ August '22 edition! Completed 12/17

[missjackiemcg]

So sorry to hear about your aunt. (And so glad your little cottage faired OK in the storm!!)

What a beautiful room! I definitely miss those little toiletry bottles from our usual home of Pop Century, as well as the cruise. They were my favorite "souvenirs!"

An absolutely perfect evening at Epcot. I loved the sound of everything you ordered for dinner. Too bad the brussel sprouts not being as good as they looked and sounded. What a fun surprise that the concert artist happened to be one you loved!!

 

[Simba's Mom]

Thanks for posting the picture of the Kid's meal at Pecos Bill. Sometimes I order kids meals-that one looked really good!

 

[afwdwfan]

Looks like a nice start to the trip!

I haven't been around the boards much the past few years, but we are actually planning a trip now so I'm trying to make more time to get back here to figure out how the heck everything works now! It's great to see some familiar faces from when I used to be here more frequently. I look forward to reading about your trip!

 

[vamassey1]

I was very grateful to be there to celebrate the life of an extraordinary woman and be able to support my Dad.

I'm so sorry for you and your family's loss.

Friends, I have to say these studios are beautiful! I

Yes they are. Blue is my favorite color which adds to the beauty for me.

Originally I had planned on going back to MK but then I realized that Air Supply was performing at Epcot! As someone who was in high school in the 80's, Air Supply was in constant rotation. I also hit up my first Food and Wine booth at Brew-Wing for dinner.

Wise move. Food looked great too. Sorry the sprouts disappointed.

Look at how beautiful the view is at night......sigh! I love Epcot!

Me too!

 

[suse66]

What a fun afternoon/evening! I LOVE Air Supply- how fun that you got to see them!!

Thank you! I had a great time!

I'm so sorry, Susan

Thanks Kelly! Out of my Dad's family of 10, there are only two left now. Just my Dad and my aunt Patricia. Time with them is so precious.

Haha! I loved those and ended up eating them all myself!

I liked the sprouts, just not the buffalo sauce.

I would have been doing the same thing, I love Air Supply!

It was so fun!

We did the same, I don’t want to jinx myself but I have been to WDW 7x since early 2021 and work as a nurse and I am still a Novid. I mask all the time and I do think it helps!

I am still a NOvid too, even teaching kindergarten! Not sure how but that's how it is.

Those rooms are really pretty!!!

It's always fun to reminisce when music is involved. Looks like a great first day!

It was a great day! I was just so thrilled to be back in my happy place.

I'm sorry to hear about your Aunt.

Thanks Sue. She was a fesity and strong woman with lots of opinions. She was also very kind and generous. All great qualities.

I agree 100% with your review. The theming is gorgeous. I love that there are two queen beds. I would love to stay in one of these rooms, but I have a feeling that they will be very popular and hard to get. We stayed in Big Pine Key a few years ago and the location is fantastic.

I was surprised that tthey were easily available at the 7 month mark. I do love that location!

So sorry to hear about your aunt. (And so glad your little cottage faired OK in the storm!!)

Thank you Jackie. I t was miraculous that we didn't get hit at all. Other cottages around us had over 20 trees down on their lots. Our lane dwon to the cottage was completely blocked.

What a beautiful room! I definitely miss those little toiletry bottles from our usual home of Pop Century, as well as the cruise. They were my favorite "souvenirs!"

Love those souveniers too! I may have a little stash...

An absolutely perfect evening at Epcot. I loved the sound of everything you ordered for dinner. Too bad the brussel sprouts not being as good as they looked and sounded. What a fun surprise that the concert artist happened to be one you loved!!

It was a really great meal, the wings were so meaty. The brussels were ok, just too muchsauce for my taste. The cake was the highlight though...mmmmm!

Thanks for posting the picture of the Kid's meal at Pecos Bill. Sometimes I order kids meals-that one looked really good!

I really love kids meals too. They are a great option when you don't wan to overeat in the heat.

Looks like a nice start to the trip!

I haven't been around the boards much the past few years, but we are actually planning a trip now so I'm trying to make more time to get back here to figure out how the heck everything works now! It's great to see some familiar faces from when I used to be here more frequently. I look forward to reading about your trip!

So nice to see you! Hope all the family is doing well!

I'm so sorry for you and your family's loss.

Thank you Vanessa.

Wise move. Food looked great too. Sorry the sprouts disappointed.

I think I just have to remember I am not always a buffalo sauce fan.

Me too!

 

[KathyM2]

I realized that Air Supply was performing at Epcot! As someone who was in high school in the 80's, Air Supply was in constant rotation.

This is so cool!! So much fun to be able to see them in the amazing Epcot setting too.

 

[Skywatcher1206]

So sorry for your loss. The room looks beautiful!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Sincerest condolences on the death of your Auntie. She sounds like she was a wonderful person

Your room looks gorgeous and your evening at Epcot sounds like a lot of fun. I was so tempted by that dessert at the Ireland booth. Now I wish I’d gotten it!

 

[footballmouse]

I love the colors in your room.

 

[suse66]

This is so cool!! So much fun to be able to see them in the amazing Epcot setting too.

It was so much fun to see them! The crowd was really into it too.

So sorry for your loss. The room looks beautiful!

Thank you so much. Yes, they really did a beautiful job on the rooms. The colour palette is so soothing and I loved the Mary Poppins theming.

Sincerest condolences on the death of your Auntie. She sounds like she was a wonderful person

Your room looks gorgeous and your evening at Epcot sounds like a lot of fun. I was so tempted by that dessert at the Ireland booth. Now I wish I’d gotten it!

Thanks Moira! Aunt Kathy was definitely one of a kind. That chocolate lava cake was delish! Of course I love anything with chocolate and Baileys.

I love the colors in your room.

Thank you! I found the decor so soothing and relaxing.

 

[amazingact21]

Your GF room looks gorgeous. I bet it was easy to calm down and relax after a busy park day in there. Although, I agree with you on the beverage cooler. I wish they'd go back to regular fridges!

Wow, MK and Epcot on your arrival day. You stayed busy! Sounds like the Air Supply concert was a lot of fun. What a great way to start off a trip.

 

[suse66]

Your GF room looks gorgeous. I bet it was easy to calm down and relax after a busy park day in there. Although, I agree with you on the beverage cooler. I wish they'd go back to regular fridges!

Wow, MK and Epcot on your arrival day. You stayed busy! Sounds like the Air Supply concert was a lot of fun. What a great way to start off a trip.

I absolutely love to park hop! I was really hoping for a 4 park/1 day experience but the time restrictions make it cahllenging. Most days this trip I did two parks. It was a really fun first day!

 

[suse66]

The day I fell in love with MMRR!

I was up bright and early to head to Hollywood studios with hopes of fully taking advantage of extra 1/2 hr for resort guests. Sadly, the bus gods were not on my side and I ended up waiting for 25 minutes and didn't arrive at the park until about 8:10. I didn't waste any time and quickly walked straight to my beloved Tower of Terror. I couldn't ask for a better way to start the day! After walking on to ToT,I debated going on Rockin Roller Coaster next but it was already a 35 minute wait. I thought I'd take my chances with Slinky Dog instead as I wasn't able to get a desired time with Genie+. Even though I ended up waiting a long 65 minutes for Slinky, it was worth it. I made friends with a lovely British family in line and generally had a great time!


By now I was hungry and thirsty so I made my way to Trolley Car Cafe for my favourite HS snack, the carrot cake cookie! Yum! I also ordered an iced almond milk latte with a vanilla shot. And then I got the best surprise of some lovely Disney pixie dust as the CM told me my order was on Mickey as she liked my dress!

The dress in question was my teal park icons dress from Disney Dress Shoppe! I brought three of my Dress Shoppe dresses with me on this trip and found them really cool and comfortable to wear in the parks.

After having some fun photos done, I fiddle faddled (love this term from Molly) with Genie+ to get an early return time for Toy Story Midway Mania. With some time to kill, I headed over to the Frozen show. I love this show and always have such a good time. The Arrendelle historians are hilarious and who doesn't love belting out "Let it Go" as the magical snow is falling.

Before heading to TSMM, it was time for some pin trading as I knew the big board was going to be out at Sids for 12:00. So I popped down to carefully peruse the board. You are allowed to choose two trades per guest and imagine my delight when I found two Country Bear pins! There was a sweet little girl doing her first trades so I asked her mom if it was ok to let her choose a pin from my lanyard of traders. It's always nice to spread some pixie dust yourself.

Now it was time for some fun to Toy Story Midway Mania! I met another fab British family in line who were doing a three week Disney holiday and we had a great chat about DVC. As I mentioned that I was Canadian, the next family in line said oh we are Canadian too and we are from Aurora (only 20 minutes from me). It's a small world after all....

One of my favourite parts of the TSMM queue is the scrabble board ceiling and the barrel of monkeys. It's such fun!

Did I mention I suck at TSMM? Irregardless I love it and this actually wasn't too horrible of a score for me.

Now it was time for Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad! Can you believe this was the first time I rode this? Well, it was completely adorable and I had the biggest smile on my face the whole time. Yes, there will always big a part of me that misses the the Great Movie Ride but I did love MMRR. Especially the fireworks scene at the end!


Feeling satisfied with everything I accomplished, I headed for the Skyliner. I was heading for lunch at Primo Piatto!

I spent a some time just taking in the beautiful mosaics in the walkway. The one from Peter Pan has my whole heart!

Primo Piatto was excellent! I ordered the grilled vegetable skewer (Harissa-marinated Vegetables, Cucumber-Coconut Yogurt, Lemon-Tomato Vinaigrette, and Quinoa Salad served over a Grilled Pita). This was phenomenal! For $12.99, it was plenty of food and oh so delicious! Plus they had the freestyle machines for a beverage and I had tucked my resort refillable mug in my backpack. So I filled up on my favourite lemon lime sparkling water. Perfect! I want these machines in every resort QS.


Feeling sated and happy, I made my way to the bus stop to grab the bus to Magic Kingdom! It was time for a Dismeet!

That's next.






​

 

[VanillaThunder]

Did I mention I suck at TSMM? Irregardless I love it and this actually wasn't too horrible of a score for me.

Your accuracy is way better than mine! And I can never beat the Mrs.! Still very much enjoying your tri and looking forward to the next chapter!

 

[Simba's Mom]

You post such helpful pictures of food! I've wanted to try that vegetable skewer, now even more so! I'll definitely try it on my next solo trip in January.

 

[disneyAndi14]

was very grateful to be there to celebrate the life of an extraordinary woman and be able to support my Dad.

So sorry for your loss! I’m glad you were able to be there with family!

Friends, I have to say these studios are beautiful! I love the location of the Big Pine Key building and the lobby is stunning.

I love your pictures. I would love to stay there someday. The GF is in my top 3 resorts! I love the two actual beds in a studio, that is perfect.

Oh my gosh, this was SO much fun! I danced, sang along (yes I still know all the words) and laughed. It brought back so many memories.

I do remember Air Supply. I’m glad you had a wonderful time!

I decided I needed dessert next so went to Ireland for the chocolate lava cake with Bailey's cream sauce. It was divine!

I can agree from experience yum yum

 

[disneyAndi14]

And then I got the best surprise of some lovely Disney pixie dust as the CM told me my order was on Mickey as she liked my dress!

How nice! The dress is really cute and does look comfortable!

I found two Country Bear pins! There was a sweet little girl doing her first trades so I asked her mom if it was ok to let her choose a pin from my lanyard of traders. It's always nice to spread some pixie dust yourself.

Andi was such an avid pin collector for many years! Her lanyard is full of memories! Great find with the Country Bear pins and how nice to share the pin trading with the little girl!
I think I am all caught up now!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

What a great update!
You look gorgeous in your dress. It really suits you and even better that it brought some pixie dust your way.
I rode MMRR for the first time this summer and also fell in love with it. My boys were with me and we were all laughing as our “cars” danced together. I was a huge fan of the GMR but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved its replacement.
HS has so much going for it now with all the new stuff but Toy Story Land holds so many memories for us as a family as both boys were really into the movies. My grandson now plays with all their old Toy Story toys and I get to start another generation off on a love for Disney

 

[Wood Nymph]

Sadly, the bus gods were not on my side and I ended up waiting for 25 minutes and didn't arrive at the park until about 8:10.

We've had terrible bus luck at GF. You would think they would try a little harder to get it right for this resort since it is the flagship.

With some time to kill, I headed over to the Frozen show. I love this show and always have such a good time. The Arrendelle historians are hilarious

I love the Frozen show, too. We had a new historian the last time we were there, and he was really good.

Your dress is adorable. That was nice of the CM to give some good pixie dust.

Toy Story Mania is one of my favorite rides. I think MMRR is fun, too. Both of these are rides that I never seem to get tired of.

 

[vamassey1]

I was up bright and early to head to Hollywood studios with hopes of fully taking advantage of extra 1/2 hr for resort guests. Sadly, the bus gods were not on my side and I ended up waiting for 25 minutes and didn't arrive at the park until about 8:10.

I hate when this happens. You do your part but the busses don't. You did good rolling with the punches.

I didn't waste any time and quickly walked straight to my beloved Tower of Terror.

This is my favorite ride too.

By now I was hungry and thirsty so I made my way to Trolley Car Cafe for my favourite HS snack, the carrot cake cookie!

And this is my favorite treat at DHS. I try to bring one home each trip.

And then I got the best surprise of some lovely Disney pixie dust as the CM told me my order was on Mickey as she liked my dress!

How wonderful!!

Very cute!

I love this show and always have such a good time. The Arrendelle historians are hilarious and who doesn't love belting out "Let it Go" as the magical snow is falling.

This is a family favorite for us too. I think DH is the biggest fan of all of us.

I spent a some time just taking in the beautiful mosaics in the walkway. The one from Peter Pan has my whole heart!

These truly are beautiful!