Characters vs. Pin Traders: It's Heated War! A Pixie-Dusted Nerdventure (COMPLETE)

[marDgreen88]

Sounds like such a fun breakfast at 1900! Although it is quite a shame about the lack of strawberry soup. That's so strange, I thought it was always there!

Hmm... which park will you pick?

 

[cindianne320]

What a bummer that there was no Strawberry Soup!
Can't wait to hear how you spent your last day!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Sounds like such a fun breakfast at 1900! Although it is quite a shame about the lack of strawberry soup. That's so strange, I thought it was always there!

Hmm... which park will you pick?

I'm pretty sure it is because I saw it at other tables. It just coincidentally disappeared from the buffet when I went up. But I will be back for my strawberry soup. I WILL. Either way, it was so much fun.

Hmmm, I wonder...

What a bummer that there was no Strawberry Soup!
Can't wait to hear how you spent your last day!

Yeah, I guess I just I will have to make a return visit for my Strawberry Soup hehe

I'll be updating in just a sec on how the rest of the day went.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I’ll Just Blame Stitch
June 28th, 2014

I'll just skip the usual banter and say that after much deliberation and the like, I ended up here.



I decided to stay at Magic Kingdom with Nate. I think it was better that I didn't do too much traveling and risk having to be standing too much with my bad knee. I let my IG friend know that I wouldn't be making it over to Epcot sadly and settled with the fact that I wouldn't be riding DINOSAUR this trip or finally see Festival of the Lion King. I was fine because I got to spend that some more quality time with my favorite Kingdom.

Look, Pluto was even right by the entrance to greet me! Hi bud!



Nate wanted to go do some pin trading at the Emporium so I went there with him.





I realized as we were about to walk in that I hadn't gotten my authentic personalized Mickey ear hat yet. I stopped Nate and told him I had to head to the Chapeau to get my Mickey ears and I'd meet him back here later.

Of course, I got a little distracted on the way because... Main Street.







Eventually, I wound up at the Chapeau as intended.



It didn't take me long to find exactly what I needed...



The personalized embroidery would take awhile so I went back over to the Emporium to get Nate. We actually walked right up to each other this time strangely enough. Nate said we should go hit up an attraction so we headed on down Main Street USA. On our way down, we passed by MiSiCi as it ended. I captured some photos along the way.





When we rounded the corner to head to Tomorrowland, we ran into this fab CM!



That's right, she was dancing right along to MiSiCi, mimicking all the choreography perfectly. It warmed my heart so much. She is my favorite kind of CM. Doing her job, but not afraid to have some fun when she can and give us guests an extra dose of magic. I wish I had gotten a photo of her from the front and gotten her name. Another missed opportunity for a comment card. Oh well, at least the memory and one good photo remains.

I'm sure you're all wondering what attraction we were heading for. I gave you one hint: Tomorrowland and that's all you gonna get.

Any guesses?
















No.











My guess is that you're probably wrong...



















Why do I say that?



Nate actually convinced me to go on Stitch's Great Escape. Yeah, I'm still surprised.

He wouldn't stop bugging me about it and apparently in the time I was walking around Main Street and choosing a hat in the Chapeau, he went on it and he was now adamant about going on again. It would be a new attraction and it would give us a break from the heat so I said yes.

Regrettably.

Yes, I am in the group that just don't get this attraction. It was different, but felt kind of a let down. We barely got hit by any effects and the effects we got were lackluster especially since it meant us just sitting in the dark for long periods of time. In a nutshell, #BringBackAlienEncounter. *drops microphone*

After that waste of time, I started to feel thirsty and knew we had some snack credits left over. I wasn't going to waste it on some silly drink so off we went to New Fantasyland to get the proper form of hydration. I took some quick photos of all my Fantasyland faves since it probably would be the last time I'd get to see them.



I considered going to visit Ariel, but as we passed by the Grotto and saw the wait time...



Nevermind. Back to getting to that other destination!







And the final destination in New Fantasyland:



I'm sure you know where this is going...



Nectar of the GODS (aka Le Fou's Brew (aka Le Brew's))!

And look what just happened to be empty for me to enjoy this Le Brew's...



GASTON'S CHAIR!!!!!

FIIIIIINNNNNAAAAAALLLLLLYYYYYY!!!!



And a selfie, because it's all about whoever gets to sit in Gaston's chair. Nobody sits in Gaston's chair like those who are far from being Gaston!



I downed that Le Brew's with no trouble at all. You can't not when you're in the master of the one who makes the Brew's chair. Then, I just relaxed in it for a little bit longer before Nate started getting anxious. I had to leave the chair sadly behind (I doubt it would fit in my suitcase). On our way out of the tavern, we saw Gaston was out greeting. It would've been nice to have met him after spending time in his chair, but you know, the line was long and I still needed to get my Mickey ears to have cute little photoshoots in. Back to Main Street, we go!

Continued Here​

 

[marDgreen88]

It's pretty hard to stay away from Magic Kingdom, I'll give you that! But I'm sorry, did you just say 'finally see FotLK' as in you've never seen it before? Because that's just unacceptable. BLASPHEMY!

Oooh, embroidered ears! One of these days I need to get some of those. Or maybe I can just get the ones I already own embroidered? Do they do that? Haha anyways.

I actually totally guessed you would do Stitch! I'm kinda ehh about it tbh. Like I don't actually hate it, but I haven't done it in years. So...

Gaston's chair! Woooo!

 

[cindianne320]

Only reason I guessed Stitch was from the title of the update! I'm one of those people who has to try each Disney attraction at least once. My DH and I did it in 2007 and I will NEVER do SGE again!

 

[Newsies]

YOUR PHOTOS OF THE CASTLE MAKE ME SO HOMESICK and like, I know I have absolutely no place being homesick when I'm literally less than two weeks away from being there myself, but still... I sighed out loud over your photos of the castle.

Omg your interaction with Tiana. I can picture you softly whispering "sorry" after accidentally elbowing her and omg

this was my reaction when I read that there was no strawberry soup:

I'm literally so, so sorry that you stumbled upon 1900PF on a strawberry soup-less day.

I'm also sorry about your mad hatter interaction????? like I feel like if the mad hatter came over to my table and was like "where you guys from? cool bye" i would have pulled him back over and made mustard jokes until he blew up

OMG SAME @ YOUR VICTORIA AND ALBERT'S THING IM DYYYYING "I want to know that it's actually a place where you can eat" LOOOOOOL

I'm real hyped to see where you choose to go next on your last park day. Real hyped.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

It's pretty hard to stay away from Magic Kingdom, I'll give you that! But I'm sorry, did you just say 'finally see FotLK' as in you've never seen it before? Because that's just unacceptable. BLASPHEMY!

Yeah... never seen FotLK. I know. I'm a sham. It's bad. Top priority for me next time.

Oooh, embroidered ears! One of these days I need to get some of those. Or maybe I can just get the ones I already own embroidered? Do they do that? Haha anyways.

I love mine and you totally should! You do not need to get new ones to get them embroidered. Embroidery is a separate cost so you can totally do that.

I actually totally guessed you would do Stitch! I'm kinda ehh about it tbh. Like I don't actually hate it, but I haven't done it in years. So...

I mean, I'm kinda obsessed with the attraction that it had to be toned down from and I want that back. It's a unique ride, but it's just not intense and exciting enough. Hopefully they might amp up the effects or Alien Encounter 2.0.

Gaston's chair! Woooo!

Only reason I guessed Stitch was from the title of the update! I'm one of those people who has to try each Disney attraction at least once. My DH and I did it in 2007 and I will NEVER do SGE again!

Yeah, the title kinda came last minute because apparently I didn't have one when I wrote it lol Oops! And yeah, never doing SGE again. I want Alien Encounter back!

YOUR PHOTOS OF THE CASTLE MAKE ME SO HOMESICK and like, I know I have absolutely no place being homesick when I'm literally less than two weeks away from being there myself, but still... I sighed out loud over your photos of the castle.

It's ok. Usually it's when you're so close to returning that you feel the most homesick.

Omg your interaction with Tiana. I can picture you softly whispering "sorry" after accidentally elbowing her and omg

Yup, such a smooth move lol

this was my reaction when I read that there was no strawberry soup:

I'm literally so, so sorry that you stumbled upon 1900PF on a strawberry soup-less day.

I don't think it was, it's just it wasn't out when I went up. *sigh* Next time I shall have my strawberry soup!

I'm also sorry about your mad hatter interaction????? like I feel like if the mad hatter came over to my table and was like "where you guys from? cool bye" i would have pulled him back over and made mustard jokes until he blew up

Awwww, that would've been great! I just really stink at keeping characters occupied sometimes unless they really interact with me and I thought that would be the Mad Hatter. Hopefully next time I meet him, he'll be a lot more fun.

OMG SAME @ YOUR VICTORIA AND ALBERT'S THING IM DYYYYING "I want to know that it's actually a place where you can eat" LOOOOOOL

Seriously though? Who actually eats there? I have yet to read a review of the place. I NEED TO KNOW WHAT IS UP AT V&A'S?!

I'm real hyped to see where you choose to go next on your last park day. Real hyped.

Ummm... look above. I did post an update on where I went back to.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

You Kiss The Magic Kingdom Goodbye, The Magic Kingdom Kisses Right Back Part I
June 28th, 2014

As we headed to Main Street by way of the original Fantasyland, I went right to taking photos again because I'd probably never be back in the most magical of all the most magical places on Earth locales again until whenever my next trip shall be. Lucky for me, it was such a lovely day that complimented the magical atmosphere so well.





See ya real soon Fantasyland!

And one last walk through the Castle...




DAWM blocking my view. Of course. (;


Details <3 <3 <3





It felt so much like we were leaving so I needed to get some more Castle photos. You can never have enough and I wanted to get some more.




Magic Kingdom has my heart.



I still had to go pick up my hat and Nate wanted to go back to the Emporium to satisfy his undying hunger for pin trading. Off into Main Street we went further!





Picking up my Mickey hat was relatively quick, even though the person who was there before me had the CMs at their wits end. Luckily, I was quick and out the door. Lucky for them and me because I ran into this fairest in the land maiden.



The character attendant she was with was just letting her wander. Festival of Fantasy wasn't too far off now so she probably was having to make her way over to the parade entrance and decided to just have a little fun on her way over. She got really caught up in the chess or checkers game that was going on outside the Chapeau, it was too too precious and I was poised and ready with my camera.



Then, she started skipping away...



She then promptly complimented me on my the new Ears I had donned. I promptly thanked her and fell off the sidewalk as I tried to get a photo of her looking my way and being a fine upstanding gentleman. No, I did not hit the ground, just stumbled a little and still snapping away at Snow.



She was long gone off down Main Street after that last shot. I didn't want to stray too far since my phone had died around this point and Nate never set a spot for us to meet. In the mean time, I had a selfie shoot with my new Ears.


AMAZE.




I should let you know that the reason I had a jacket was we had a bit of a chilly morning. Didn't last long and I just had to lug it around everywhere.



A group of 20-somethings saw me taking selfies and asked if I would take a photo for them. I was more than happy to and got some lovely photos of them with the castle being totes adorbs. I might've held them up, but I got some awesome memories captured for them. You're welcome, random 20-somethings.

I then settled myself right where I was and took in that classic Main Street atmosphere *breathes in heavily* *sighs happily*



I could hear the beautiful mixed sound of tenor, baritone and bass voices and I turned to find this familiar foursome...





This would be the first time I'd run into the Dapper Dans and I hadn't even scheduled this and I got to watch them perform some lovely Disney standards. I don't recall exactly which ones they did, but they sounded fantastic. Sadly, they were finishing up a set right about then and Nate had found me and asked if we could go to Tomorrowland to go find a Space Mountain pin for his aunt. It was getting close to our Magical Express arrival time so this would probably be our last adventure in the Magic Kingdom and our last return to Tomorrowland.











Here was where we finally escaped the boiling sun:



I let Nate do his shopping and hid myself in the arcade, resting my leg that had not gotten any better in the slightest. I distracted myself with more random detail photos...





Continued Here​

 

[PlutosRHM55]

You Kiss The Magic Kingdom Goodbye, The Magic Kingdom Kisses Right Back Part II
June 28th, 2014

My rest didn't last long when Nate needed my help. He realized there was a limited selection of Space Mountain pins and didn't know which one to get. I offered my second opinion. They all were pretty cool so I could understand the need for help. I immediately took notice of the Space Mountain I had gotten on my past trip and it was the only one with Mickey. In the end, that was the one I chose and the one Nate bought.

Nate didn't have his aunt's address to send the pin to her so we found a spot near the PeopleMover, in the shade so he could talk to her for a bit. I took photos in the mean time, per tradition.




RIP Paper FP stations :'(








Another selfie, of course.


Nate on the phone, of course.


Yup, that's a selfie. I have skill.

Nate got the address and everything. The phone call lasted awhile since he hadn't talked to his aunt in quite some time, but it was no biggie.

Unfortunately, the phone call ending meant saying "See ya real soon Tomorrowland!"



It hadn't hit me yet, but the impending final departure from Magic Kingdom was starting to become real. This next photo was where the feels began.


Curse my on-point photography skills!

We were pretty much set on leaving. However, I didn't have photo with my ears on in front of the castle and Nate never got ANY photos in front of the castle. We fixed that real quick.







Just like that, it was time. I'm still not emotionally capable of talking myself through this so I will let the pictures take it away, while I try to stifle the sobbing.








See ya real soon, Emporium. :'(








Goodbye for now, Main Street. :''(




No, not yet...


The monorail came to say goodbye, but it's only for a little while good friend. :'''(


One last see ya real soon for the Grand Floridian. :''''(






Ta ta for now, Contemporary and Bay Lake Tower. :'''''(

It was about time to say goodbye to the Magic Kingdom as a whole...


:''''''(

As we were about to get on the motorcoach that happened to be there when we got to the stop, we heard a familiar song come over the loop. I guess Magic Kingdom decided to give me one last kiss goodbye...

:'''''''(

The motorcoach filled up before we could get on and we had to wait for the next one.

It ended up being quite the wait and it didn't do nicely for my leg. Finally, we saw this come around the corner.



See ya real soon, Magic Kingdom!

Continued Here​

 

[marDgreen88]

Sounds like a nice goodbye to Magic Kingdom. (But I mean, is there such a thing? Not really.) And hooray for the Dapper Dans! I love them SO MUCH. Great pics btw!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Sounds like a nice goodbye to Magic Kingdom. (But I mean, is there such a thing? Not really.) And hooray for the Dapper Dans! I love them SO MUCH. Great pics btw!

It was... in the relative sense. And YES, Dapper Dans. THE. BEST. Love them! And thank you!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

The last update of the trip portion! Wow, I'm sorry it took forever to get here. I guess I got a bit overwhelmed by the amount of photos I took, but we've made it. Thank you so much to all of you who have stuck around until the end! I live for reading your comments and it makes me so happy that there was at least one comment on each update for me to read and you guys are absolutely super sweet. I'm also very sorry I have been slacking on all the real life updates. My wrap-up will consist of one MASSIVE real life update since I like you all to be in the loop. So stay tuned for that and the other parts of the wrap-up. Due to my work schedule, I might be going back to the one update per week, but we shall see. Just don't be surprised or feel I'm slacking if an update doesn't happen on Monday or Sunday. There will definitely be one on Thursday. Until then, enjoy the last installment of my supermegalovelymagical June 2014 graduation trip!

It May Be Five Seconds or Five Years, But It's Always "See You Real Soon!"
June 28th, 2014

Although we ended up waiting quite awhile for the second motorcoach to come, we still were able to get seats and start some major winding down. My winding down became rather intense when I jolted awake. Yup, I had fallen asleep. In Disney. It happened. I was trying to avoid it, but I couldn't. It was a stressful, fun, crazy and exciting week, and it was all hitting me now. The Grand Floridian, I was feigning my nap, but here, it was real. The exhaustion was real.

Unfortunately, that was my only moment of relaxation because the motorcoach was pretty packed and I just didn't feel comfortable falling asleep in a throng of people. I think Nate was feeling the same way because he was basically wide awake the whole ride back to AoA.

When we arrived at AoA, I went to the bathroom while Nate went to figure out how to send the pin to his aunt. I assumed it wouldn't take too too long so he would also go grab us table when he had time. Of course, this wasn't how it went. I ended up not being able to find Nate for some reason after I went to the bathroom so I claimed a table. This was taken from where I claimed a spot for us:



I then went into the gift shop since I didn't check in there to find Nate. I happened upon the Trivia Board again.



I know the answers to all the trivia, but not the joke (what else is new?) But OMG, I didn't realize at the time that I was eating at the Grand Floridian on its BIRTHDAY! SUPAH COOL! I guess it was fate that we had to move our 1900 Park Fare ADR. #bless

I then turned away from the board and found Nate at the check out counter, buying stamps and writing out the envelope to send the pin to his aunt. In other words, there was very little to dissuade me from taking another attractive photo of my friend here:



I stuck around while he did this. Said hi to my friend Pumba...



You know the usual Disney things.

He was very efficient and eventually had it all sent to send. Unfortunately, he found out that there was apparently no way to send it home from the resort so he carried it around with him to send it when he got home. I showed him where we were sitting then went outside to go get our carry-ons. I passed this beautiful wall on the way:



There was a bit of a line when I got out there so I had a little wait. When I got up there, I gave him the slip and he only came out with two bags, Nate's and my mini-suitcase. My Pluto pillow pet and merch bag had apparently been put somewhere separate. I told the guy I had three bags so he went back to look, which took quite a bit of time, but he found it and all was good. I headed back with all the bags to Nate waiting patiently at the table.

I was already standing and moving about so I went to get food first while Nate stayed with all our stuff. I wasn't really planning on eating much, but I'm sure I'd be able to sneak some of this onto the plane to maybe eat at home so I went for more packaged items. This is what I ended up with:


I cannot even begin to tell you how necessary that water was.

I spent my time at the table figuring out how I would be able to pack everything into that one plastic bag. I did figure it out once Nate got back, but it definitely set an interesting precedent for my first solo experience with airport security. More on that later.

Nate got some cotton candy for the plane ride which prompted me to find something other than a Minnie cookie. I ended up with this, my final snack credit:



A worthwhile buy I'd find out later. After I got that, I ran to the bathroom one last time since I had just downed that water in about five seconds and I wanted to make sure I wasn't going on a half-hour plus Magical Express ride with a full bladder. Yeah, TMI, but bathroom was necessary. I came back, got my stuff together and we headed out to the Magical Express stop where...



Nobody but Nate, me, my suitcases and Nemo, who was wishing I could stay, were paying attention to this area. It was kinda sad, mostly because I was about to go on the Tragical Express, but that we were the only ones leaving for a moment there... why couldn't we have stayed longer?

*very depressed sigh*



Notice I said not for long. Eventually, the entire Little Mermaid section showed up and we were surrounded by people who were set to take the same Tragical Express as Nate and I. Yay people (except not, I was not in the mood for being around so many people. Eww.) I took photos to keep myself occupied while others milled about and Nate did his own thing.





Then, the Tragical Express arrived...


*cue sniffles*

We kinda planted ourselves in the center of the Tragical Express throng so after we had to take the time to put our luggage under the bus, we ended up sitting here for our Tragical Express ride:



Because we were so far back, I wasn't able to get a good farewell photo of AoA. It's fine. I can sense we will be reunited soon enough. See ya real soon AoA!

Off to the airport, we went.





It was funny. Nate had slept for most of the ride into Disney. Leaving, he didn't sleep at all. Not a wink and he was pretty talkative. It was like he was happy to leave. I... I don't get it. However, his presence in the last photo I got of us still semi-on-Disney-property, he captured my thoughts and emotions perfectly.



The PDD had begun when I had to give a "See Ya Real Soon" to all of my happy place. So much sadness. :'''(

On the way to the airport, Nate and I both checked our emails to see if there was anything about our flights and such. Both of ours got delayed. I usually expect it so it wasn't a big deal and I believe it was only a 50 minute delay, which is short compared than what I've had to wait in the past. Nate wasn't so lucky. His flight got delayed TWICE in the time we had been on the bus. I believe he wasn't set to board until midnight. I felt so bad. Nate actually had to get up super early to go to Penn State for a volunteer program he was doing for the week following our trip. Poor kid wasn't going to get ANY sleep because of the delays. I found it later this is pretty common for the Philadelphia airport, which my dad has to fly into for work often.

Nate tried to be positive and started talking about MCO as an airport and how great it is, hoping that maybe they could switch him to an earlier flight. I think he was really trying to take the advice from the awful replacement for the original Tragical Express narrator here.



For me, this was impossible. I WAS LEAVING MY HAPPY PLACE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.

Anyways, I really hoped Nate would not have much trouble at the airport and get home at a decent hour because I didn't want this trip to end with him getting screwed over. I wanted him to walk away from this pre-college trip with all good, happy memories. We got to the airport and were lucky enough to be the first stop at Terminal A for our flights. We got our stuff no problem and then split off because Nate had to go check his suitcase in to Southwest (that was his bag that I got for him alongside my many carry-ons, not another carry-on just to clarify) while I headed for security.

I took one last photo at the airport to signal that I indeed was there. This was the last photo I took during the trip.



It's going to be words from here on out, I will try my best to be as concise as possible.

Security was pretty packed, but they really kept it moving so it wasn't bad in terms of wait. What really made it not fun were the people around me who would not shut up about how awful airport security is. Literally, they would not stop talking about it and on top of the noise and my antisocial outlook on things, I was not having this. I honestly wish I could've snuck into the family line with some family and had a nice conversation with them about their Disney trip, since I assume if a family is departing from Orlando, they went to Disney. Adults... honestly, most of us complain WAY too much.

Things weren't better once I got up to the metal detector. I already had a ton of stuff precariously shoved into my two carry-ons, but I also was still wearing my Mickey hat (why not?), sunglasses, had filled pockets, my bags already took up TWO tubs and that was just half of it so it was a huge mess getting me through the actual security part. While they were going through the metal detector. A few of my things fell out, including my sunglasses, which got caught in the roller and I ended up having to hold up security to get them out. Once they were out, I was able to reconfigure myself rather quickly and jumped right on the fake-o-rail to take to me to my gate.

My gate was pretty packed when I got there, no couches were opened so I found the charging station and popped a squat right up against it to charge my phone and curl up with my Pluto pillow pet. As my phone charged, I took one last sad selfie to post on instagram letting everyone know I was headed home from a successful third trip to the world. I played around with my phone, playing some games and such until Nate showed up. I wasn't listening closely to any announcements made and he told me he now was probably going to get home right when he had to go to Penn State for volunteer work. He actually was not going to get any sleep. I felt so bad, but he wasn't letting it bother him and we kept each other company in this overcrowded airport (LOTS of flights were getting some heavy delays).

There wasn't much happened while we waited. I believe I finished my Chip & Dale pretzels and talked with some people over instagram, like my friend I was supposed to meet up with that day. It was a good distraction from the fact that I was leaving Disney and when the time came to leave, I was much more emotionally stable. I was very sad to have to say goodbye to Nate who even came to wait in line with me while I boarded. Even with some downs that we had on this trip, he was an awesome companion and I was so happy he got to join me so I could see him at least once this summer before we'd be even further apart. I gave my pass, boarded and said goodbye, again, it was far from goodbye, it was "See ya real soon." You never say or actually mean goodbye. "Goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting and forgetting means growing up", which would never ever happen with me.

I sat in the back on the flight home per the normal. I sat in the aisle since someone already had the window in my row and there was no way I'd sit in the middle. However, I ended up having a lovely conversation with the dude who was sitting at the window and the lady who sat between us. I forget his name, but her name was Stacy and she was super sweet. We talked about basically everything and it definitely made it all go by so fast. She reminded me of my mom a lot so it also was a nice flowing conversation. I don't remember many specific details, but she was coming to visit family for the fourth which was the weekend after I got back. She unfortunately wasn't a big Disney person, but loved hearing about how passionate I was about among my many passions.

During this conversation, I was expecting to read my book on the flight home so I had it in my lap, which ended up sparking a conversation with a guy who came back with his absolutely precious baby daughter, and told me that it was an awesome book. He also mentioned that he met Marty Sklar (who wrote the book) and that he was just an incredible and interesting guy. I can concur wholeheartedly having just finished the book on the day that I wrote this update (yeah, no time to read during the school year. Yay for summers!). Shameless plug: If you haven't read it yet, READ "DREAM IT! DO IT!" BY MARTY SKLAR!! IT'S MY NEW BIBLE AND IT'S LIFE CHANGING AND AMAZING!! INCREDIBLE BOOK.

Moving on, we touched down at the Manchester Airport at about 11 o'clock. As you can tell, it was a smooth flight and equally smooth when we disembarked. I said goodbye to Stacy and the other guy I was sitting with. Stacy said to say hi to my mom for her. They both went off to some place different so I was at the luggage carriage on my own (I think Stacy had someone drive up her clothes for her while the other guy only had it as a carry-on). My luggage came right out and my mom was right outside. I raved and ranted about the whole trip the entire way home and told her I had gifts for her when we got back.

My sister Siobhan was the only one awake when I got home so I only got to give her and my mom their gifts. They both enjoyed them, especially my mom since she was so jealous I went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (remember I got her a Gryffindor mug). I gave my dad and Alyssa their gifts the next day. My mom also told me that Alyssa loved the video I got of Tiana and was watching it constantly. My mom letting me just go on and on and on about my trip really helped with my PDD and ended up exhausting to the point that I fell asleep in the clothes I wore that day (which never happens with me). I had work the next day so it was good I fell asleep when I did.

Still, the PDD came fast and furious, because at the end of the day, my trip was over. So much sadness. However, this trip report is not over yet. I have some more real life to catch y'all up on and some of my famous lists and a final wrap-up. Keep following along and I will have all those up ASAP! Thank you so much again for keeping up with this for this long and have a magical day!

Continued Here​

 

[cindianne320]

Ah, the tragical express. It's so sad when all that planning just comes to an end!
Glad you made it home safely, and I can't wait for your Real Life Update!

 

[dashtheunicorn]

Hi Timmy! You don't know me (I'm sadly more of a lurker than a commenter, sorry ) but I've read your entire TR! I started reading a month or two ago, but I figured I'd hold my commentary til the end because I could sense you only had a few updates left at that point anyway. I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed reading your report! Oh, and loved all your pictures! Your TR is actually big part of the reason I've recently been thinking more and more about writing my own TR in the future. I'm most likely going to both WDW and Universal next summer for my college graduation trip, so not too far off.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your trip with us all, looking forward to your final wrap up posts!

 

[Tink2Day]

But when you return for your DCP?

Security at MCO is....odd.
Anyway, it was a great adventure for you. Even though Nate was a good travelling partner I sure wish someone as devoted and in love with Disney as you are could have gone with you...... So sorry I wasn't available at that time....my grands and Papa are of the thought that fishing every vacation is so much more fun, (I think they need an intervention, seriously disturbed eh?),so I'm usually on my own for these types of trips.
Sad the trip report is over but anxiously awaiting the next update on your life and looking forward to the day when I can read of more Disney adventures for you!!!
And Timmy, NEVER grow up!

 

[marDgreen88]

Ugh, LEAVING. It's the worst thing ever and there's no way around it. But the best attitude to have is that you absolutely know you'll be back someday, so good for you for having that attitude. Poor Nate with his delays! Hopefully everything went smoothly. Glad your family liked their gifts!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Ah, the tragical express. It's so sad when all that planning just comes to an end!
Glad you made it home safely, and I can't wait for your Real Life Update!

It is, but hopefully I'll be back real soon and I'll have that RL update up real soon!

Hi Timmy! You don't know me (I'm sadly more of a lurker than a commenter, sorry ) but I've read your entire TR! I started reading a month or two ago, but I figured I'd hold my commentary til the end because I could sense you only had a few updates left at that point anyway. I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed reading your report! Oh, and loved all your pictures! Your TR is actually big part of the reason I've recently been thinking more and more about writing my own TR in the future. I'm most likely going to both WDW and Universal next summer for my college graduation trip, so not too far off.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your trip with us all, looking forward to your final wrap up posts!

Hello and

So glad you could join in! I love it when lurkers come out of lurkdom to leave me some love and I'm so glad you've enjoyed my TR. Really hope you get to go for a graduation trip too! It was a blast and I definitely would do it again for when I graduate from college (and hopefully work there not too long after hehe). I'll be posting my first wrap-up post real soon.

But when you return for your DCP?

Security at MCO is....odd.
Anyway, it was a great adventure for you. Even though Nate was a good travelling partner I sure wish someone as devoted and in love with Disney as you are could have gone with you...... So sorry I wasn't available at that time....my grands and Papa are of the thought that fishing every vacation is so much more fun, (I think they need an intervention, seriously disturbed eh?),so I'm usually on my own for these types of trips.
Sad the trip report is over but anxiously awaiting the next update on your life and looking forward to the day when I can read of more Disney adventures for you!!!
And Timmy, NEVER grow up!

YEESSS, hopefully my DCP will be real soon. *crosses fingers*

Haha, I'll definitely keep you in mind next time I need a travel partner (and yeah, that intervention would be necessary).

I'll be posting my RL update in just a moment. Thank you so much for following along again! I always look forward to reading your comments. And I promise, I will NEVER EVER grow up.

Ugh, LEAVING. It's the worst thing ever and there's no way around it. But the best attitude to have is that you absolutely know you'll be back someday, so good for you for having that attitude. Poor Nate with his delays! Hopefully everything went smoothly. Glad your family liked their gifts!

It is and yeah, exactly. I usually won't have a trip planned right after like most, but I'm always thinking about it so if it doesn't happen in a few months I know it WILL happen and I'm definitely looking towards another trip so... *crosses fingers* And yeah, everything ended up going fairly smoothly. I know Nate didn't get on his flight until I was fast asleep in my bed back at home, but he got home in time to make it to his school.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I'm sorry it took so long to get this up. I was very busy with work and some other things I had to deal with. I'll be double updating this week, I promise. So expect something on Thursday or just bombard this thread with comments asking me to post! Okay? GREAT!

I Just Really Miss College
Wrap-Up Part I

Hello lovely readers!

It's time to start wrapping this monster of a trip report up. My guess is we are now over a year since this trip happened or when I began this trip report and that's insane especially since this was a trip report I was pretty consistent with updates from the beginning. However, I wasn't nearly as good about updating y'all on my life near the end and that's how I'll start this wrap-up.

To begin, right now, I am probably back at work, watching over the lovely people of the lake, their lives in my hands and such. Some things may happen since or before this. I don't know, I can't predict the future. My summer has been pretty uninteresting so far, but most of this update will be about the end of my freshman year of college, which was actually a lot like this trip. It was crazy, stressful, fun and exciting, except all those didn't happen in one short time frame.

I'll start after Urinetown, which was where my last real life update left off. I think I mentioned that I was quite sick for about two weeks. It was not fun and the recovery felt like it took forever. Then, I had to get right back into the swing of things because we were heading into finals week. Not every class that a person takes at my school will have a final nor will the final be secluded to that one exam period, which means just boat loads of work before then. Weeks were pretty much spent dealing with that alongside my job.

Luckily, I had some pretty fantastic weekends. My school really piles on the fun for the last few weeks. It gives us a reason to work for our keep, I guess. Except when there are other parties that may or may not have happened during the week after classes were finished (classes end then study days then finals), but a house party is nothing special to talk about. Especially when you have FUN DAY!

Fun Day is just as it sounds. Super fun and that's all there is to it. It happens on the Saturday prior to classes ending at my school and I almost didn't make it this year (one of my work shifts conflicted with basically everything), but I'm so glad I did! It was a blast. There was music, bouncy obstacle courses and free sunglasses... what more could you ask for?!

Here are some of my favorite moments from that event:






I love when my best friends are a couple so I can show them off haha SO CUTE.

So many memories! I can't wait until next year's Fun Day.

After Fun Day, classes end as I mentioned. I went to a 21st birthday party for two of my friends, which really wasn't that interesting and unimportant (it wasn't the only house party I went to after Urinetown) and things got kinda low key since it was finals time. But then the Theater Company Roast happened!

Yes, the Theater Company at my school hosts a comedy roast every year. All underclassmen roast the seniors and the seniors roast everyone else. Then, there's a ton of other stuff that goes on. It's the longest day of the year because it starts early in the afternoon all the way to late at night. There's a lot of driving and getting to places, but it's a good time. I definitely look forward to doing it again, especially since I intend on being a bigger part of the Theater Company next year.

Sadly no photos from that. It was just too hectic a day to really fit photo-taking time in, at least for me that is.

After Roast, it was finals week, which is the last week of the year for school, which means... having to leave your friends. My last final was on a Tuesday and I left on Friday so I had plenty of time to say goodbye, but I realized that there were just so many friends I made it got stressful trying to say goodbye to everyone. I made as much headway as I could. I also scheduled in some me-time because why not? Most of my friends had finals right up until the last day so what better time to spend some alone time and enjoy the gorgeous summer weather of Saratoga Springs?

Here are some photos from that week:








Not the most flattering, but ya know... Braids. And we saw a cute dog right about now.




Current Facebook cover photo

Then, I said another "See ya real soon!" to Skidmore. I really miss it so much. I had an amazing first year there and really felt I grew a lot while being there more so than anywhere else. I can't wait to be back in the fall with all my friends.

Since I've gotten home, I haven't done too too much. I hung out with my best friend Jocelyn before she left for Atlanta, where she is right now and will be until mid-June. Unfortunately, because she's gone I don't have many people to hang out with. I kinda deliberately cut myself off from most of my high school friends so I don't really have anyone back home, which was a bad idea in hindsight. We got to see Pitch Perfect 2 together the day before it came out, which was awesome though. That movie is honestly just as perfect as the first. I highly recommend going to see it if you haven't yet.

Still, I've been hanging out quite a bit with my friend Lindsey since I got back. First, her, myself and our friend, Jill, went out to dinner then went to our high school's music department concert because our chorus teacher was retiring this year. Then, I brought Lindsey with me to go see Tomorrowland, which was lovely. Not the best film, but there was so much Disney nostalgia imbedded in it, I enjoyed it so definitely go see it for that. We also stopped by the Disney Store to see if they had any Big Hero 6 or Little Mermaid Tsum Tsums (I got her addicted). Sadly, the selection at our local Disney Store has been greatly diminished since I was last there and a lot of the Tsum Tsum Tuesday collections are no longer on the shelves. Whatever, we still got to play for a bit as you do in a Disney Store.

Since then, Lindsey now works in the Disney Store and I've made quite a few visits. We also have seen quite a few movies such as Inside Out (three times for me), Jurassic Park and Ant Man. We've spent a lot of time together watching Disney movies, talking about Tsum Tsums and such as Disney Buddies do. Here are some photos from those occasions:








I bounded as Anger then Disgust then Sadness on the occasions I saw Inside Out.




Lindsey bounded as Sadness then Bing Bong.


More reason to come to the Disney Store!


And this guy...


And these guys too (only got the Genie when the Aladdin set came out uggh).

The same day we made our return to the Disney Store, the 24 hour day at Disney World and Disneyland was happening on top of the kickoff for the 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration at Disneyland so I followed along with that. If you haven't followed along, it looks AMAZING over at Disneyland and there is SOOOOO much new stuff going on (HATBOX GHOST IS BACK!!) I want to get over there so bad. PaSo so bad. Paint The Night... Disneyland Forever... UGGGGHHHH The agony over not being in Disneyland right now is too too real. I MUST BE THERE FOR ALL THIS.

Speaking of Hatbox Ghost, he actually arrived the day after I got back from Skidmore which was also MAH BIRTHDAY coincidentally enough. Not much to report on that. I'll post my gift haul and such, but it was very low key and that was alright with me. I got an abundance of birthday wishes that made my day. Thank you again a million times over to those who wished me a happy birthday! It was the highlight of my day. But yeah, the gifts were lovely too. No photos because I don't even remember what I got lol, but...

I had quite a jam-packed week recently. My summer has been pretty dull with the conflicts in my work schedule with friends and family, but I got to go to two concerts in under week. First, I saw Colbie Caillat & Christine Perri's Girls Night Out, Boys Can Come Too Tour with special guest Rachel Platten with DOS and my best friend, Jocelyn, whom you may recognize from my last TR. They were all fantastic and we definitely had a fun night. Still got to go to an ATM to get some cash out to pay her back though. :S





Then, not long after, I managed to convince my mom to buy tickets to go see Ariana Grande's Honeymoon Tour with guest Prince Royce, which was definitely quite the show and we had AWESOME seats for that one. I was iffy about her, but I will never EVER doubt her voice or her stage presence. She's fantastic and Prince Royce... well... check my twitter...








She came in on a chandelier too.


The dress. The intro. She perf.

All because I didn't get to see Taylor Swift lol

(Videos from the show on my Instagram, if you want a taste of what we saw @goofy_disnerd.)

And everything leads back to the day I'm writing this and nothing's happening. Hopefully this will catch y'all up to date on things. I think that's enough of a sidetrack. Time to take a look back on this TR. First, order of business: ...you'll have to wait and see hehe

Continued Here​

 

[PlutosRHM55]

A Trip Like This Deserves A Top 5 List... Multiple Top 5 Lists!
Wrap-Up Part II

Time for the actual wrap-up! And yeah, this is not the last part of the wrap. Nopety nopety nope. This trip was just that awesome and amazing, it needed three parts! All the same, at least there is only one part left to go. Still, we have to get through this first.

On this trip, we plunged head first into a myriad of new experiences. First, this was the longest trip I've taken. I mean, I have been to Disney for six days before, but the last time we didn't have a park day our first day. We just spent the day at our resort. This time, as soon as we were situated, we were off to the parks. Right out of the gate and it was basically go-go-go from there. Usually this go-go-go attitude becomes a major asset, but this time we ran into a new obstacle: Florida heat. My last two trips took place in April and February, months where the Florida weather is relatively moderate or even cold on occasion. This time, the humidity never let up and it was a pretty safe bet to say that we never went below 80 degrees the entire trip. This became a problem because it really got to Nate and required a lot of drinks, many of which were awful warm water, but when you're at Disney, you have to deal with what you have so you don't spend a fortune on quality water just to stay hydrated. It was rough. Still, through all of this, we still managed to have a wonderfully magical time and got to visit a new park: Universal Orlando!

Ignoring all the big newness of the trip, there were many things that came to the forefront of what dominated the trip in terms of where our plans were directed. Things we did a lot, that kinda controlled what was planned. Funnily, these were also for the most part, have never been the focus of a trip either of us have been on before. Pin trading/collecting was one big one, but we'll get to that later alongside the other merchandise. The other ones were definitely character meet and greets, dining and photography. I was all about meet and greets. I really got the bug for it and, because we had to have a yin yang thing going, Nate just wasn't into it and got dragged a lot as I did with his insane pin trading. Neither of us really despised the idea of pin trading or character M&Gs, it was that one of us was insanely into the idea while the other wasn't. This set an interesting base tone for the trip. Dining was big in that we actually did get to have fun and choosey with what food we ate. We had a good mix of table service meals, counter service meals and snacks; in other words, a well rounded dining experience. Photography mostly pertained to me since I was the one who had the camera and took the 3,000+ photos, of which I had to sort through even after uploading to figure out which one to use for this trip report. While photography usually followed with wherever we decided to go, sometimes a need for a certain photo would lead to interesting experiences and made sure I'd come back home remembering everything picture perfect. Characters, food and photos were the defining aspects of this trip, particularly for me and in honor of that, I'd thought why not give a top five list for each one? I love writing lists, even if it is difficult and I will never agree with myself later on, they are a fun endeavor and this trip deserves some lists. So let's begin, starting with the characters...

TOP 5 CHARACTER INTERACTIONS

Before I get to the top five, here's an overview of all the characters I met on this trip...

The Beast
Goofy (x2 --In Circus and Classic Attire)
Donald Duck
Chip
Dale
Pluto
Mickey Mouse (x2 --In Sorcerer and Classic Attire)
Minnie Mouse
Belle
Tiana
Anna
Elsa
Alice
Mad Hatter
Tigger
Pooh
Wreck-It Ralph
Vanellope
Dug
Russell
Mary Poppins

Total Meets: 23
Total Characters: 21

Just for comparison to who I met on previous trips...

APRIL 2010
Eeyore
Piglet
Pooh
Tigger
Stitch
Mary Poppins
Queen of Hearts
Chip
Dale
Pluto
Mickey Mouse
Donald Duck

FEBRUARY 2011
Minnie Mouse

Total Meets & Characters: 13

I nearly doubled that this trip. Wow, and let it be known that all the places I met the characters and the attires I met them in were different from previous trips. Very impressive if I do say so myself hehe

Anyways, going back to the list from this trip here were my top five favorite character interactions:

#5: Chip & Dale



This just goes to show the unplanned moments are the best. There I was taking photos of the hand prints in front of the Graumans Chinese Theater when out of the blew... CHARACTERS!!! Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet my boy, but I got to meet this adorable pair with an adorable pair of selfies to show for it, both chippy approved.

#4: Belle



Kinda marked a breaking point for Nate and I on this trip, but it was still a lovely meet and greet. Belle was so sweet and we had a wonderful conversation about me becoming a new knight at her castle because we know the Beast isn't going to hire the proper people. Also, we got the most awkward photos ever lol

#3: Vanellope



Unfortunately Ralph got left out because Vanellope and I were having a moment and everyone had to watch (obviously), but OMG I got a gummy bear out of the deal! I'm so sad these two are no longer greeting, even if that meant making room for Baymax and Hiro, but THEY'RE GONE TOO! THIS WHOLE PLACE IS GONE! #crying5ever I'm not over this, but at least I have so many wonderful memories at the Magic of Disney Animation all from just one trip and I don't have any regrets over how much time I spent there or what I didn't do because everything I did do was worth not doing it all.

#2: Alice



For a last character interaction, this was the perfect one. I promise to never grow up, Alice. I might grow old, but NEVER grow up and I thank you for reminding me to keep my inner child alive. Love ya gurl!

P.S. The study struggle is still very real.

#1: Dug & Russell



M&Gs don't always go as you planned. They don't always go perfectly. In this case, it was neither of those, but in the most positive way ever. I got a nice hug and slobberin' up from Dug. I did the Wilderness Explorer call with Russell (and it was thus documented on film to remember forever). Then, as I left, I distracted my exit by pointing out a squirrel to Dug. I seriously don't know how more perfectly a M&G could've gone. I seriously don't. I MISS MY BABIES!!!

Honorable mentions go to Tiana, Mickey (in his classic attire) and Anna & Elsa (who might've made the list if they hadn't made me despise them so since).

I think it's easy to say from that indecisiveness that characters are where it's at, even if you aren't a kid. They are so much fun and I can't wait to go back and meet the rest!

After the characters, dining was something I always had at the back of my mind so here are the...

TOP 5 DINING EXPERIENCES

Again, a little summary of the places I came upon...

Aloha Isle (Dole Whip)
Be Our Guest
50s Prime Time Cafe
'Ohana
Via Napoli
1900 Park Fare
Cosmic Ray's
Writer's Stop (Carrot Cake Cookie)
Earl of Sandwich
Gaston's Tavern (Le Fou's Brew x2)
Landscape of Flavors
Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe (Schoolbread)
Butterbeer Cart

Yup, Butterbeer is included because Butterbeer.

And because this needs a comparison too. My dining experiences from past trips.

APRIL 2010
Sanaa
The Crystal Palace
SciFi Dine-In Theater
Yak & Yeti
Garden Grill
Golden Oak Outpost
Pecos Bill's
La Cantina de San Angel (Food Cart At the Time)
Fantasmic Food Stand
Crepes de Chefs de France

FEBRUARY 2011
Italy Isola Buffet
Pizza Planet
Golden Oak Outpost
Ice Cream Cart at Animal Kingdom (Mickey Bar)
Intermission Food Court

Not as big a difference, but I'm definitely getting better at fitting a meal into the day. I've also covered a lot of the signature snacks found at the parks, which is what I'm most proud of because those are really why you get the dining plan. Seriously, if I could Mickey bars and drink Le Fou's Brew all day, life would be just dandy.

Anyways, my top five eats of the trip...

#5: Earl of Sandwich



A DIS favorite for a long time and I finally got my chance to try it out for myself. It did not disappoint. That Original sandwich really hit the spot and will definitely be getting a return taste.

#4: Butterbeer at the Butterbeer Cart (Universal Studios)



Yeah, I know, this ain't Disney but c'mon... IT'S BUTTERBEER!!! For those Disney purists and HP haters out there (and if you exist, I suggest you get off this page ASAP because how can you hate HP?), you may not understand, but Butterbeer is something everyone should have before they die. It's that good and so perfect for those humid Florida days, which we dealt with throughout our entire trip.

#3: Via Napoli



Great food. Initially iffy, but progressively fantastic service. And the only graduation celebration we received this entire trip. Via Napoli is the reason why I like to note my Italian heritage on occasion.

#2: Le Fou's Brew (aka Le Brew's) at Gaston's Tavern



Whatever way you serve it, Le Brew's is still God's nectar and... OMG IT'S BEEN OVER A YEAR SINCE I'VE HAD ONE?!?! WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?!

#1: Be Our Guest



Did you really think it would be anything but? I could've just written Grey Stuff, The Beast or Ballroom here and you'd know. And I'll leave it at that.

Also...

Be Our Guest, Be Our Guest, Put Our Service To The Test!

Seriously.

I'll give the single honorable mention to the Dole Whip because Dole Whips are still amazing and Aloha Isle is gone. #inmemoriam :'(

Lastly, we are getting into a...

TOP TEN DISNEY PHOTOGRAPHS

There were around 3,000 photos taken on this trip, not all of which I showed, which is weird considering my past two TRs, I had many an update without a photo in sight. I really made up for that and I haven't even posted all of them on here nor on my Instagram or anywhere. Yes, they are all on my flickr (LINK-- >link<), but I got to make a list of my faves because... who knew I could actually take so very many quality photographs without a DSLR?

Well, I did and I'm proud of that and this is my TR so there ya go! I don't think I could list them in order so here is just a random jumble, but they are most definitely my ten favorites.





















And there it is, a trip summarized by some faves lists. But there is still so much more to talk about than that. SOOOO much more. I mean, this TR took almost an entire year to write! There is one more part. Get ready! The tears are already welling up in my eyes as I prepare to write this last installment. Bring tissues. My last note on a trip from over a year ago by now and how it became the prologue to the award-winning novel that was this past year. Stay tuned.

Continued Here​