
got up early so we could get to countdown at the gates...didnt happen! this will be a consistent issue the whole week...we were up early because we had Ps's for Minnie and Friends at Plaza Inn at 8:10...didnt get over there until closer to 8:30..as I came through the turnstile, I went over to the tunnel and stood there for a couple seconds reading the sign overhead and relishing in the fact that I was finally here...I closed my eyes and slowly walked through the tunnel onto main street and with a big cheeky grin I opened my eyes and took in all the sights and sounds...while watching everybody flying down main st to get to the rides, I just strolled along taking in everything...I was very happy and content....got to PI and checked in we were taken almost immediately inside...Food was good...didnt take any pics because all I ate was eggs, potatoes, ham and buscuit...and they didnt make it fancy so no point in taking pic right?...good character interaction...in fact much better than goofy's kitchen imo...saw

, captain hook, chip and dale, fairy godmother and

hmph

...fairy godmother came and sat down with us and talked to us for a few minutes...asked us if we came by buggy or carriage...I told her I came by carriage being the

that I am and Cheryl came by buggy and her horses kept stopping to eat every 2 minutes..so it was a long journey....also, chip came over and sat down next to me and sign talked to me for a bit...for those of you who don't know (all 2 of you)...I DONT like Minnie Mouse because she has my

and although I was cordial, after all this is her home, but I wasnt overly gaga...however, she kept coming around my table constantly so finally I told her...look

instead of coming over here to my table all the time you better go find your

before I take him from you...

she put her hands over her eyes and shook her head like no no no...it was funny

...after breakfast we started on the rides...rode space, all the fantasyland rides, big thunder...and then it happened...it is my fault but still...I got a lanyard and pin with my pkg so due to the fact that I already had one I gave Cheryl the new lanyard...BIG MISTAKE...thus began the pin trading horror...she became so addicted to this that everytime she saw someone with pins she stopped them...this caused my precious ride time to be excruciatingly delayed now along with this delay, cheryl is a

so I did get to find out where the smoking areas were in the park...lucky me

well during one of our nasty smoke stops, a cm was replacing out a ecv cart that wouldnt work and cheryl was standing next to it when the cm got there...the cm got on the cart and put the key in like a goofball and proceeded to run over cheryl...ran over her foot and knocked her back a couple of feet...luckily she wasnt knocked down...but I also got to see another part of the park for the first time....the first aid...its over by the baby care center on main st....we were there for about an hour and half...again! lucky me....they gave her an ecv cart for the rest of the day and the next which I thought was really nice...lucky for us we were there on a slow day else she may not have gotten one...once we were on our way we decided to get some food as it was close to 3 and we were hungry...I had to have my corndog and since we were right by the truck we went ahead and got some...lucky for us there was a great spot reserved for wheel chair and ecv carts to watch the parade and the parade started at 3:30 so we sat there and ate our food and watched the parade...it was great

after the parade we headed on over to dca and got fastpasses for soarin...while we were waiting I could handle the wait no longer and flew over to TOT...I got cheryl hooked on that ride

we rode it back to back 2 times...by then it was time for soarin...as usual, love that ride

...realized albort was at work so I went looking for him...he was really busy and didnt look to happy so I said hi to him and we left ...was gonna go back to see him but got sidetracked...easy to do over there as you know...we went around to the pier and back over to farmers market...we headed back over to DL and went straight to the area where fantasmic riverside premium seating check in was...I was bound and determined to get there early so I could choose my seat...however, they had been open since 6pm...sheesh...so remember this people ...get over there by 5:30 to pick your spots.....we still got front row seats so it was no problem...we met an elderly cm who had been there for a long time named Bob...he had been gone for 5 months as he had to have a lung removed and he was so happy to be back to the park...it was his first day back to work....we talked to him for awhile and he told us about an incident 5 years ago where a kid was riding in HM, shooting everything with his bb gun...at the part where you see the dining room with the dancers, he shot at it and put a hole in the glass which is floor to ceiling in length...they were going to have to replace the glass and the only way to do that would have been to take off the roof and pull it out that way...one of the cms suggested just drawing a spider and making a crack look deliberate to avoid all this....everytime I rode HM I tried to find it but I couldnt...got very frustrating

so I gave up and just enjoyed the ride

...after we left him we went over to ride POTC...loved it then on to royal street veranda for clam chowder in a bread bowl....very good...we were told to be back at the check in booth by 8:20...were seated right away and drink orders were taken...coffee for both of us...this was the beginning of the nescafe nightmare...I have to have my coffee strong and I try to avoid places I know that sells it because its like hot water with a touch of nasty to it...well guess what I got??? ding ding...yep nescafe...so I tried the hot chocolate...watered down something or other...wasnt good...they gave us a box filled with 2 chocolate covered strawberries, a biscotti cookie with white frosting and red squiggly lines, a mickey face rice crispy treat and this soft sugarcookie that had the bottom of it dunked in chocolate...when you bit into it there was raspberry filling...mmm was it good...we were seated in the front row and no one was behind us because they put the cart with coffee and drinks on it so I got to stand up to watch fantasmic..I have to tell you that this was an incredible experience for me...I am such a fantasmic fanatic...I have videos from the very first performance ever and they have changed the choreography for mickey 3 times...I have videos for that too....the reason I loved this so much is because I actually got to see some things behind the scenes...most of the time you are watching it from the front and the screen blocks out all the goings on back there...but where I was, there was just enough light to be able to make out what and where mickey goes, where the old hag changes from the wicked queen to the hag..and saw the princesses get off the float and the dock.....we stayed and watched the fireworks and it snowed

...it was so perfect I started crying because I was so happy and the music brought back alot of childhood christmas memories for me...after that we decided to leave because it was really crowded and we were very tired...happy but tired....took the shuttle back to the hotel and cheryl passed out as soon as she hit the bed...me well I just basked in the happiness I was feeling ...completely unaware of the tragedies to come...dum du dum....will put up pics in a little while...next, day 2 and lost pass
here's some pics of characters during minnie and friends breakfast: