"It's So Much Fun Not Knowin Where You're Goin" Oct. 2013 Celebration! **6/22 FIN**

[amberg93]

Day 9, Part 4: The Best Ariel Ever

I then proceeded to take an abundance of selfies and random pictures at Marie from my angle. So I'll put some that best sum up the experience in with the other random pictures.

Ahh, no more people. Well, okay, a few people, but nothing like inside.

Gems like this were part of my random picture taking.

I think this sums up Marie's feelings toward me and the camera.

Other travelers. Hello fellow Music-ers.

Shadow picture because why not?

Not our bus. We had to wait a while for one to come along.

Just in case you've never taken the buses, here's the experience you miss

After that we finally got on a bus and we chilled out in the air conditioning for a while just to relax and not have to deal with crowds and be out of the heat.

We left our room around 6:40 and caught a bus to the Magic Kingdom. This seems like a painless experience since I have no notes that say otherwise.

What my notes do say is that we made it into the park at exactly 7:23. I was very specific for whatever reason.

Our first stop ended up being here:

Fancy ladies room. You can tell she's fancy because of her hat.

Angel Soft advertising.

We made our way up Main Street and over to Liberty Square because we were headed to meet Tiana and Naveen. They weren't meeting right then so we hopped into line. Or, I hopped into line, Marie went into the Christmas store.

Where she bought this ornament.

We were behind a nice British family in line and we talked to them some until we reached the front of the line.

Naveen was great. When Tiana signed Princess Tiana, he wrote '♥'s Naveen' underneath it.

They also joked that with green being my favorite color I could hang out with them anytime I wanted. Then they asked if I could be an animal what would I be.

I told them a cat, and they said I'd have to stay away from Charlotte because she and Tiana were no good to Charlotte's kitty.

Overall, they were a great meet. Plus, I've said it before and I'll say it again, Tiana's friends are always the prettiest. Every friend of hers is just super beautiful (not that other princesses don't have beautiful friends, but sometimes they just aren't the choices I'd make).

Either way, now that we met them, we decided to head toward Fantasyland. Except we got blocked by the parade, so we waited it out and then decided we were hungry.

So we went to Starlight Ray's and I took zero pictures of our food. Oops. I didn't even note what we ate.

But we took it with us over to New Fantasyland and sat down to eat right by Enchanted Tales with Belle so that we could watch Wishes at the same time.

It was interesting, but I didn't like it. Partly because there was a tree that blocked some of it, but the fireworks on both sides of me threw me through a loop.

When we were finished, we had a FP+ to meet Ariel and as the chapter title suggests, she was the best Ariel ever. She was adorable and so kind.

But this, this was the part. (Ignore my arm, I don't know what I was doing)

It seems like just a hug, but this was the part that made me want to meet Ariel again. When she hugged me, she whispered to me that I was still a very beautiful princess.

And I cried tears guys because it was a huge deal for a stranger, a very beautiful one at that, to tell me that I looked beautiful. It'd been a huge deal for me to decide not to wear a head cover my entire trip because I was so self conscious about my hair and my scars and everything else.

In fact, I told people repeatedly that I didn't want pictures of me taken during the time that I was sick. I didn't want to be captured when I was so broken and ugly. And that comment, that comment still chokes me up. I'm tearing up as I type this remembering how it felt to be called beautiful by someone who didn't have to say anything when I still saw myself as sick and broken.

And that's why she was the best and that's why I meet characters and that's why I love Disney because it gave me something extra.

We headed out and I tried to compose myself while Marie snapped some pictures.

Continued in next post​

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Seriously, why walk when you can take a boat? It's only common sense.

Stupid fountain!!! Aww heck, what can you do? I still love it.

Haha, picture of your fellow Music-ers. You know, it's true though. You really do feel a kinship with your fellow resort guests.

Oh you don't even have to explain about the awesomeness that is Ariel. But OMG what a lovely story. Yeah a little tear shedding here too. You explained perfectly why Disney is Disney and the absolute best medicine on the planet. And why meeting characters isn't just for little kids. I loved this!!!!!!

And now YOU'RE IN DISNEY!!!! I wish you and Marie nothing short of the best trip EVER!

 

[amberg93]

Seriously, why walk when you can take a boat? It's only common sense.

Stupid fountain!!! Aww heck, what can you do? I still love it.

Haha, picture of your fellow Music-ers. You know, it's true though. You really do feel a kinship with your fellow resort guests.

Oh you don't even have to explain about the awesomeness that is Ariel. But OMG what a lovely story. Yeah a little tear shedding here too. You explained perfectly why Disney is Disney and the absolute best medicine on the planet. And why meeting characters isn't just for little kids. I loved this!!!!!!

And now YOU'RE IN DISNEY!!!! I wish you and Marie nothing short of the best trip EVER!

Truth, especially in the heat.

Yes, yes you do. Except when you dislike them for getting into the bus and taking up extra seats by putting their infant in their own seat instead of on their lap.

It was amazing. I'm so glad that I got that experience. I can't even handle how amazing it was.

It was a good trip, but definitely not the best trip ever. There were laughs, there were jokes, there were bumps, there were tears, there were fights... but I'm getting ahead of myself. That trip is for another TR which I will hopefully get started soon

 

[amberg93]

Hey all, we're now back from the World and as promised, there is going to be a TR. I just put up the intro and Marie will be taking the first couple of chapters. So anyone who wants to follow along with that trip can do so here, otherwise kick back and relax as I work on finishing off the tales of October.​

Day 9, Part 5: Parade Blockade

Once I was ready, we decided to continue on with the Little Mermaid theme and went over to Journey of the Littler Mermaid which had a 20 minute posted wait.

My notes say we did wait the full 20 minutes, but it was fine, we didn't have anything pressing to do.

I actually enjoyed the queue more this time because the interactive things were working, where they hadn't been in November.

Before too long though, we were hoping into our clam mobiles and getting underway.

Ursula, I can't look at you without thinking about the Tumblr post that makes fun of the Poor Unfortunate Souls and what the people who had gotten all shriveled up must think about hearing it every time she cons someone.

You're welcome for now having to think about that.

By the time we got off the ride, our FP+ for Cinderella and Aurora had opened up, so we made our way over to Fairytale Hall.

I love this wallpaper.

There was a snarky guy in front of us. The kind that asks how many Cinderellas there are to CMs and pushes to find out 'the truth' in front of kids. It was annoying.

But the CM noticed my button and told everyone in line and they all congratulated me, even the snarky guy, so that was something. Even though I feel awkward when people congratulate me like I did something for finishing chemo or being cancer free. Like, I really didn't do anything except live? I don't know, I showed up when I was supposed to and I didn't really do work. Oh well. I'm probably being silly.

Either way, it didn't take long before we did get to meet Cinderella.

She was a sweetie and talked with us for a little while.

We then moved over to Aurora who was nice enough but kind of bland. Which, actually, seems to be a common problem with our meets with Aurora. She's just not memorable.

Bring back that dress, please. Her old/current one is so painful to look at.

Having met the royalty, we decided that we were going to head over to Adventureland to meet Tinkerbell, so we headed up behind the castle.

This fountain is so pretty, especially at night.

Of course, as the chapter title would lead you to believe, we got there and MSEP was going on. Oops.

We enjoyed some of it from our spot and waited for it to pass.

We caught more of this parade than we wanted to over this trip. Oh well.

Finally the parade passed though and we were able to get on our way.​

Continued in next post​

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Sorry that things didn't work out with meeting up with your friends - especially since it meant going to EPCOT during a Saturday during F&WF - just painful!

What an amazing story of your meet with Ariel! And just amazing to think what some positive words from the right person at the right time can mean to someone!

"Even though I feel awkward when people congratulate me like I did something for finishing chemo or being cancer free. " ... um, I don't know, having tremendous amounts of strength, courage, and heart to get through it - while trying to keep a positive outlook and provide love to your partner? I don't know, seem pretty impressive and "congratulations worthy" to me!

 

[amberg93]

Day 9, Part 6: "I'm so upset at that bear!"

Once we got past the blockade of the parade, we cut across Liberty Square and over toward Tinkerbell's Nook. RIP Nook.

I'm sad that Tink is moved to the Theater all by herself now. Actually, I'm sad that there is only one more Tink film left. We'll never know now how she came to be with Peter and what happened to her friends. Personally, I think they had to have died because like, otherwise how could she ditch such awesome people?

Marie thinks that she's still friends with them but just spends her time with Peter instead.

Either way, I wanted more Tink films! I love them.

Moving on, the line said that it was 20 minutes and we found that to be accurate as well.

So Tink was just meeting by herself that night and when we got in we had to wait for her to get done with the next group.

Naturally, that means that we started to talk to the CMs and we fawned over their pins as they did the same with ours to the point where we were still talking to each other when Tink was ready for us.

She actually had to come over and be like, "Umm, hello, humans?"

It was pretty funny and it set the tone of our whole meeting.

She was the best Tink that we've ever had and I say that after the meeting we had with Tink last week. She was just so chatty and excited and awesome.

She asked who my favorite character was and when I told her Winnie the Pooh she surprised me by saying, "I am so upset with that bear!"

Clearly, I was confused and I asked why, to which she'd filled me in that she'd had Winnie the Pooh over for some tea and he ate all of her honey! Which is just no good, you know, since she prefers her tea to have honey in it and she will never have him over for tea again.

We bid Tink ado and then had to head back to Fantasyland for our other FP+ selection.

Which, was, of course, Rapunzel and Snow White. You know, because we really, really wanted to keep on track with our goals.

First up was Snow and let me tell you, she was great. Her voice sounded just like Snow in the movie and she kissed her autograph in the book.

We asked for a special picture for Aunt Vivi (our travel partner from our first trip) because Snow is her favorite.

Here I am asking and explaining.

Kisses for Aunt Vivi.

Then we moved over to Rapunzel and I have to say I was not a fan of her. She was just so reserved and quiet. Not very Rapunzel like at all. I think she'd have been better suited to be friends with Aurora or Cindy. She just didn't have that Rapunzel excitement.

Actually, Marie said she reminded her of Olesya Rulin. Kelsi in the High School Musical series. I didn't see it before, but I see it now. Anyone else?

Once we were finished we were starting to get tired but Marie had promised me that we'd ride The Haunted Mansion before we left. However, when we walked over and the wait was 20 minutes, she just was through for the night and didn't want to wait because her feet hurt so much.

So, I agreed that we could head out and skip the ride.

I snapped this picture as we made our way toward the exit.

We made it for the bus line, but literally got there just as the bus was pulling away which was really disheartening because Marie's feet hurt so much and she was just in a lot of pain so I felt bad.

However, luckily for us we had a super magical moment. I know, you guys are probably tilting your head like, it's a bus, how magical can it be? Well I'll tell you how magical things can be.

Literally two minutes later a bus pulled up and let us on. And we were the only people on the bus. True story guys, they put us on the bus and then left with just the two of us.

I was so relieved and thankful for the quiet and peaceful ride back that I didn't even mourn POFQ when a bus passed us by.

We got back to the room around midnight and Marie had a message from her mom telling her that she might have to return to Canada sooner than expected because of some restrictions about health insurance and other things that had to be looked into. Obviously this upset Marie a lot, but I managed to calm her down and we called it a night. ​

Continued in next post​

 

[amberg93]

Sorry that things didn't work out with meeting up with your friends - especially since it meant going to EPCOT during a Saturday during F&WF - just painful!

What an amazing story of your meet with Ariel! And just amazing to think what some positive words from the right person at the right time can mean to someone!

"Even though I feel awkward when people congratulate me like I did something for finishing chemo or being cancer free. " ... um, I don't know, having tremendous amounts of strength, courage, and heart to get through it - while trying to keep a positive outlook and provide love to your partner? I don't know, seem pretty impressive and "congratulations worthy" to me!

It was super painful, but oh well. At least we had the park hopping abilities so we didn't have to stay all day

I agree and I think about that a lot, about trying to make sure that I'm kind to people because of how something that probably seemed like no big deal for her to say made me feel so great.

I guess so? I think I had the easier part though. To me it seems harder to watch someone you love be hurt rather than being hurt. Thanks though.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Honestly, I do not get people. Pure and simple. And people who seem to like to show off how "smart" they are by asking how many Cinderella's there are is near the top. Punch to the face. There's one dude... ONE... end of discussion.

But Amber, you absolutely DID do something by being cancer free. Don't you dare ever think otherwise. Never ever discount a person's internal will. And the same goes for Marie too incidentally.

Hmmm, when I met Aurora in Epcot she was great which is made even odder considering there is only ONE, Snarky Guy! And YES, I have to find out what the deal is with her back in the old dress. No Bueno!

Ahhh I love Tink. Nothing better than when they talk about other characters like she did with Pooh.

 

[amberg93]

Honestly, I do not get people. Pure and simple. And people who seem to like to show off how "smart" they are by asking how many Cinderella's there are is near the top. Punch to the face. There's one dude... ONE... end of discussion.

But Amber, you absolutely DID do something by being cancer free. Don't you dare ever think otherwise. Never ever discount a person's internal will. And the same goes for Marie too incidentally.

Hmmm, when I met Aurora in Epcot she was great which is made even odder considering there is only ONE, Snarky Guy! And YES, I have to find out what the deal is with her back in the old dress. No Bueno!

Ahhh I love Tink. Nothing better than when they talk about other characters like she did with Pooh.

I know. Ugh people just have to be jerks sometime.

I don't with other people. Marie always calls me out on it, because I think very highly of other survivors. I just don't give myself the same credit, I guess.

Maybe Aurora was having an off night with us every single time? And apparently there was something wrong with the design and they had to recall it, but I just want them to fix it and get her re-design back.

She was great. I forgot to ask Pooh about it later, though I'm sure that he would have been honest about eating all the honey. That bear loves himself some honey

 

[amberg93]

Day 10, Part 1: "Now this is more like it."

We've reached the second to last day and let me tell you, it started out sadder than most second to last days start out.

The alarm was set to go off at 8:30 but Marie got up at 8:10. Once again, I hadn't slept very well, so I was like, hey, Imma stay asleep.

But then I woke up with Marie very upset at 9 because there had been a miscommunication about how long she could stay. As you all know, she ended up staying past Thanksgiving, but at that point someone on one of the many phone calls she'd made that day told her that she had to be out of the States by Sunday.

Clearly, this was upsetting news. So, for once during the trip, I was the one who calmed down an upset Marie.

It took a while, but finally we each got ready to go.

We left our tip and headed to the bus stop.

As I said in Day 9, we were headed back to Epcot because it is my favorite park and it was the second to last day.

So a little after 10:30, this is what we were seeing:

And we had a goal. Or, I had a goal rather, for this morning that needed to be accomplished.

So we breezed over to the World Showcase and we promptly parked ourselves, here:

I needed that steak though. See, we've never been fancy enough to do Le Cellier, but steak and I are good friends. Great friends. I once almost divorced Marie to marry the steak from Mama Melrose. (But I decided I liked being married too much to Marie and the relationship between me and the steak would turn weird).

So, the booth wasn't open yet though, because it was like 10:40. But I was determined to be first in line for that steak.

My view looked approximately like this off to the side. I take the most random pictures (more random that I put them in here, now that I think about it).

And also like this.

I decided to catch up on the TR notes during my wait.

While Marie took more pictures.

At around 10:50 they opened the booth and I got that steak.

See, look at it. Best use of a snack credit, ever.

I don't even like mushrooms, so I didn't eat them but I devoured that steak. So good. So, so good.

Anyway, after that our plan was to meet Mulan first thing so we made our way over to China. Only the ropes were still up, so Marie stopped at the China booth to get something while we waited for 11 to come so that the ropes would come down.

This is the strawberry silk ice ribbons. It had a really strange texture that I can't even describe, but it was yummy.

Marie thought so too.

Once the line was down, we headed straight over to get in line for Mulan, like many other families did.

She was great. She commented on our 'medals' and gave her autograph a kiss.

Not to mention the fact that she was like super pretty.

Erm- I can't follow basic instructions I guess. I don't know. Every time I look, I see Marie doing it perfectly and we're both like, "Amber, what are you doing with your hands?"

Who knows what I was doing. Who knows?

But I digress, we decided that we were going to head to Morocco to make the meeting for Aladdin and Jasmine because we weren't even trying anymore.

Marie declared that this crowd level was beautiful.

I get amused by the Cheese booth. I know it's not the only non-country booth, but it was the first I noticed and I was like, "Wait... cheese isn't a country."

Guys, look at the difference between the previous day and this day. It was awesome.

AWESOME.

I could even take pictures without people in them.

Murica.

Continued in next post​

 

[amberg93]

Day 10, Part 2: "If I was American... I'd be bawling."​

​

With the crowd levels so low, we continued blissfully on our way over to meet that famous street rat.

Oh Japan, I've spent far too much time in you that now looking at you, even in this picture, is too much (Spoilers: May trip).

Finally we made it to Morocco! Which, I think is probably the most beautiful pavilion. No offense to Canada.

Broken tiles.

The detailing though.

I like that they meet here now instead of outside like they did our first trip.

We noted with amusement, that we were basically surrounded by the same group that was in line with us to meet Mulan. Guess we're all just the same sort of running the circut together.

Marie's face here though.

Anyway, so when we met them, the first thing that Aladdin says is, "Is that a vest? I like your style!"

Thanks Aladdin, thanks. I'm glad someone appreciates it. (Though, funny story, the outfit I'm wearing that day, I tried on as a joke to be like, who would really wear it? And then I liked it so much I bought it)

They were great.

After that we went to eat at the Liberty Inn, which we were like "Oh, the whole world in front of us and we eat in America? Hahaha."

Guys. Eat in America. Do it. You will not regret it.

These were our plates. That's right, I've got steak there. (I told you that I love steak) and Marie a chicken BLT which she said was delicious... but this steak. ZOMG this steak was good. Quick service and I was eating steak. This is my kind of lunch.

Also, the individual apple pies? Umf. Forget about it. You need these in your life, I promise you do. If you like apples or pies or America, you need to get yourself one of those individual apple pies.

I have a cookie too because Peggy Ann, who took our order, noticed my button and got me an extra cookie to celebrate, which was pretty awesome of her.

Once we'd eaten one of my favorite meals in Epcot QS locations, we decided to go and see the American Adventure.

It's classic. I mean, I don't see how people can dislike it.

This is where the elevator lets you out.

I always cry during this show and Marie always tears up, but as the chapter title says, she insists that if she were American, she'd be full out bawling.

Now that my patriotic duties were fulfilled (it should probably be American law to have to see the American Adventure if you're in Epcot), we made our way to the UK for some more character meets.

First was Alice, who was nice but kinda meh.

Then we met Marry Poppins, who, as usually was practically perfect in every way.

She even thanked us for letting her be a part of our celebration. I mean, what?

We were headed up to Future World, so we went ahead and stopped through Canada because it's so beautiful.

*Patriotically plays Canada, My Canada in the background* I don't know all the words of the English parts or anything. That would be weird.

But seriously, I could spend all day here, probably. ​

Continued in next post​

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Awww, I hate that Marie had that to deal with while in Disney. Obviously glad it worked out, but in the moment it must have been rough.

oooooh, a snack credit steak? I like that.

Such a pretty Mulan. I think you're kinda doing the opposite of Marie, so it works. Like a mirror image. Mulan's the odd one out, lol.

No offence to Canada taken. I too am enamoured with the Moroccan pavilion. So much undiscovered (by most) goodness there.

OK I just learned something. I did not know there was QS steak. On the list.

I admit to not having seen the American Adventure yet. BUT, I will say that there are tears to be shed by me in this general location.

 

[amberg93]

Awww, I hate that Marie had that to deal with while in Disney. Obviously glad it worked out, but in the moment it must have been rough.

oooooh, a snack credit steak? I like that.

Such a pretty Mulan. I think you're kinda doing the opposite of Marie, so it works. Like a mirror image. Mulan's the odd one out, lol.

No offence to Canada taken. I too am enamoured with the Moroccan pavilion. So much undiscovered (by most) goodness there.

OK I just learned something. I did not know there was QS steak. On the list.

I admit to not having seen the American Adventure yet. BUT, I will say that there are tears to be shed by me in this general location.

It was rough. I mean, this trip had a lot of bumps like that. Where real life got in the way.

More steaks should be snack credit in my opinion

Yeah but it's supposed to mean like, strong warrior when you do it the right way but since I did it the wrong way I have no clue what it means

And it's a yummy steak too! Don't forget the apple pie. That's the American way, after all

You should see the American Adventure. Though I still haven't seen the Country Bear Jamboree. So I'll make you a deal, you see the American Adventure and I'll see the Country Bear Jamboree

 

[amberg93]

Day 10, Part 3: "I bet she'd give you Lydia."​

More of Canada because I love it there.

I wasn't going to post this one until I noticed the unimpressed woman looking over here. Hello to you too, unimpressed woman.

Waterfalls!

I mean, since we were over there, we had to go ahead and see O Canada. Like, I wouldn't be a very good Canadian if I didn't.

Once I'd seen my favorite Epcot film, we headed up toward the front of the park because we had to go to Guest Relations to leave a comment for Peggy Ann.

Fountain again!

Inside Guest Relations. I like that they have all the flags inside, it's really nice.

The gentleman that helped us (I wish I'd written down his name), asked about my celebration and then he made me cry a little. Because when I told him, he teared up as well and told us about his family members who were also fighting cancer.

Once we'd finished chatting with the gentleman, we walked over to Spaceship Earth to give it a ride.

And then we got sent to the back entrance, of course.

Right after we took the picture, Marie turns to me and goes, "Next time we should make a silly face."

I didn't let her know that I'd already done so until she saw it in the video

Once we'd taken our trip through time, we headed back out into Future World and over to Innoventions.

And went to Stormstruck because we enjoy it?

Yeah I don't know, when I think about it I'm like, why do we like doing Stormstruck? But we just do.

But we did it and then we headed over toward Test Track because we had a FP+ for it.

However, we stopped first to talk to the DVC guy over in that area because we had a few minutes to kill before our FP+ opened up. He was super nice though and we talked about cancer with him too because, unfortunately, he also had cancer. I'm telling you, when you get cancer suddenly you notice all the other people in the world who have cancer or had cancer or is the mother/sister/wife/etc of someone with cancer. It's a terrible thing to bond over, but it does create a bond.

After chatting with him for a few minutes, he gave us some Aulani buttons and continued on over to Test Track.

Marie and I got to make separate cars again.

This was Marie's.

This was mine. I don't want to brag or anything, but it was one of the most efficient of the day.

We had an awesome ride and then made our way to France because we had to meet one of my favorite princesses.

Belle!

I asked what her favorite book was and she told me that it was Pride and Prejudice and that she was jealous of all of Lizzy's sisters. I then joked that Lizzy would probably give her Lydia if she wanted and she agreed.

She was just the sweetest.

Next up: food! After all, it'd been a while since we'd eaten lunch.

Continued in next post​

 

[amberg93]

Day 10, Part 4: "Are you sure?"​

​

Since we were so close to Japan and we'd had such a great experience at Katana Grill our first trip, we decided that we would go ahead and eat there again.

Oh Japan. Looking at you now... I don't want to. May got me my share of Japan for the year. And maybe next year too.

I take the most random pictures.

Further proof.

This was our table. It was one of the only ones not really dirty.

We both got the beef and chicken teriyaki this time with bottled water and chocolate chip cookies.

And it was terrible. For both of us. We barely touched it because it was just so off. I have no clue what happened but all of it tasted really weird and nothing like it had in November. So, we left hungry and threw away most of our food, which I felt bad doing, but I just couldn't eat it.

There was a lizard that decided to hang out on the wall next to us.

Since we'd been so unhappy with our food, we decided to head over to France to try and find something else to fill our stomachs from the bakery.

It felt really narrow when those walls were up. I like it better now that it's open again.

I can read all those words! Like, I know how to say them and what they mean. Small accomplishments.

Marie got the strawberry fruit tart and it was super delicious.

I got the pain au chocolate which is something I didn't think I'd like when I first had it in Quebec but has grown on me to the point where I picked it at the bakery and I'm glad I did, it was soooo good.

And then we split a chocolate eclair, which was also super delicious.

Overall, the moral of the story is... eat at the French bakery whenever you have an excuse.

Now that our tummies were happy, we went to the UK so that we could meet my favorite bear again!

I love meeting him here because like no one is ever around.

Look it how cute they are! I could hug Pooh all the time.

After that Marie had to use the bathroom, so I stopped over to listen to Off Kilter because they were out and then we continued toward the front of the park and stopped in every single store we came across to pin trade.

The plan was to ride Figment (just to do so), but it was closed down for the night.

I know, it's a terrible loss. But we managed to find our way through the grief and instead went to ride The Seas with Nemo and Friends.

Here is a terribly blurry picture. Oops.

Once we got done, we had a Soarin' FP+ to use so we went over that way.

(And that is the last picture I have for the night, just as a fair warning.)

We ended up in Concourse 1 (like usual) in section C in the first row again. That's right, the third time we ended up in the front row this trip. Marie was super thrilled.

After that it was about a little over an hour until IllumiNations, so we headed over toward the World Showcase again to get our spots in the handicapped section.

And we had amazing seats, I mean it, they were pretty much directly across from the globe and it was our last Epcot day and I was going to see my favorite show... and then I got on Facebook on the phone to send my family a message to talk about coming home in two days and I had a really upsetting message on there.

To be honest, right now I can't even remember what it was about but I remember the feeling that it brought me. I felt sick and sad and I was tearing up and trying so, so hard not to cry. It just sucked the magic out of everything, whatever it was (I could probably look it up but even remembering that moment makes me feel the same way, so I'm guessing it was pretty bad).

I was done at that point. It was cold too, that night, so I was huddled in my coat and under a blanket and it was windy and I was so upset that I suddenly couldn't handle the situation. I couldn't handle people and I couldn't handle my emotions and there was still so long to wait for IllumiNations that I turned to Marie and I told her I wanted to leave.

She asked me if I was sure and I told her that it was. She double checked, wanting to make sure that I wouldn't regret it and you know, in some ways I do. I think about it now, about only seeing IllumiNations once when I was in Disney for 11 days but I also think about how remembering that night makes me feel sick all over again and I know that I made the right choice.

I spent the whole trip thinking about how to reply to the message (according to my notes). We got back and saw that the Little Mermaid was playing at the pool but continued to our room where I replied to the upsetting message, waited for a response and then finally fell asleep.

The final day is almost here already. Wow, I can't believe it.

Continued in the next post​

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

OK Amber, we're happy to have you in Canada. You can stop sucking up now, lol.

Oh My, that's so sweet with the Guest Relations CM. Seems to me like you're inspiring people.

Oh No, sorry that the food in Japan was so bad that you had to throw it away. Yikes. Nice substitute going for the sweets though.

Awww Amber, I'm sorry for whatever it was that upset you. For what it's worth, I think you made the right decision in leaving. Whatever it was, it was obviously upsetting, so the last thing you want is to associate that with you favourite Illuminations.

 

[amberg93]

OK Amber, we're happy to have you in Canada. You can stop sucking up now, lol.

Oh My, that's so sweet with the Guest Relations CM. Seems to me like you're inspiring people.

Oh No, sorry that the food in Japan was so bad that you had to throw it away. Yikes. Nice substitute going for the sweets though.

Awww Amber, I'm sorry for whatever it was that upset you. For what it's worth, I think you made the right decision in leaving. Whatever it was, it was obviously upsetting, so the last thing you want is to associate that with you favourite Illuminations

I can never stop until I'm a citizen I don't want them to kick me out before I get that citizenship

Like I said, it's a bonding thing. A terrible bond to have, but a strong one.

I don't even know what happened. I just know that it was so gross. Maybe it was an off day.

Yeah, I wrote that in my notes too. That I didn't want that memory associated with IllumiNations so I also think that I did the right thing in the end because it isn't associated with it and I'd never want it tainted. Unlike a certain other fireworks show (*shakes fist at May*).

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I love how this report is also providing like a preview of the drama for the May trip report

That is quite a lot of EPCOT goodness in your pictures! And congrats on getting steak twice within like a 2 hour period. Bummer that the food from Japan wasn't good though - definitely sounds like something was off if it was all tasting bad

Oh, and that woman shouldn't feel too bad ... McKayla wasn't impressed with Canada either:

Sorry to hear of that troubling message you got - agree that it was the right move to leave given how you were feeling. Definitely don't want Illiminations to be associated with a negative memory

 

[amberg93]

I love how this report is also providing like a preview of the drama for the May trip report

That is quite a lot of EPCOT goodness in your pictures! And congrats on getting steak twice within like a 2 hour period. Bummer that the food from Japan wasn't good though - definitely sounds like something was off if it was all tasting bad

Oh, and that woman shouldn't feel too bad ... McKayla wasn't impressed with Canada either:

Sorry to hear of that troubling message you got - agree that it was the right move to leave given how you were feeling. Definitely don't want Illiminations to be associated with a negative memory

I know, it's just like a bunch of small hints. Although there was no drama in Japan, just stuff

Epcot is so beautiful though. It's like.. hard not to just take pictures of everything. I mean, MK is beautiful too but it's different

Small victories like getting steak twice in 2 hours is really what I live for

I'm dying. Thank you for that.

Thanks, I'm glad that it's generally agreed upon that it was the right choice and if I had to make it again, I probably would.

 

[amberg93]

Day 11, Part 1: "Are you brave?"​

Oh my goodness, we're here! We've arrived at my last park day from October. Isn't that crazy? I think it's a little crazy.

We had a wake up call for 7:45, but I did not get up because I'd had another terrible night of sleep.

The wheelchair had to be turned in at the front of the hotel at 8:40, so Marie took care of that and to eat breakfast.

Originally, I was just going to wait for her in the room, but I ended up heading to the food court to meet with her. I didn't even get dressed, I just threw on a coat and a scarf and called it good.

Marie's breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, sausage and orange juice.

I also snapped a couple of pictures of some of the paintings on the walls at Intermission food court.

I mean, it's really something, am I right?

After Marie was finished, we had to go back to the room so that I could get dressed and we could get our bag. Not to mention that we had to do online check-in for our Southwest flight.

We left tip and then headed back up to the lobby.

First stopping into the gift shop to do some pin trading and then out to the bus stop, where we literally watched a bus pulling away as we walked up. Oops.

Sunscreen is important. And sunscreen sticks are amazing.

Another bus wasn't too far behind though, but I wish I'd gotten on the other one because this bus was the loudest bus ever. I mean, I get it, we're going to the Magic Kingdom and it's exciting! Inside voices though. Inside voices.

Signage out front of Magic Kingdom.

I ruined Marie's picture by pointing to which line to get in, but I kinda like it.

The non-ruined picture.

Since I ruined the picture, apparently Marie didn't want to follow my advice. Clearly she should have.

Hello Magic Kingdom!

Our first stop was over to guest relations to use the FP+ kiosks that were there at the time (no longer) so that we could move back our Winnie the Pooh FP+ time.

I felt the need to snap this picture.

And then we continued down Main Street to figure out where to go first.

Disney birds must be photographed.

We made the decision to head into Adventureland, spurred largely by my want for a pretzel and the fact that a CM told me I should find one there.

There are no pretzels in Adventureland. Don't let anyone lie to you and tell you there are. They're playing you.

Since we were there though, Marie decided to stop at the Sunshine Tree Terrace and get a citrus swirl.

But I still needed my pretzel, so we cut over to Frontierland where there was, in fact, a pretzel cart open already.

I couldn't wait to take a bite, hence Mickey's ear.

Now that we'd gotten our food, we decided that we were going to head over to try and meet Peter and Wendy since the year prior we'd only met Peter.

Mandatory Tangled bathroom picture.

We ended up like 3rd in line for the set that would be starting soon.

I love their faces.

We had a pretty good interaction, it went something like this.

Peter: Are you brave?
Me: I think so, possibly.
Peter: Did you rescue her *motions to Marie* from Pirates?
Me: I did not.
Peter: So, what makes you possibly brave?
Me: I just finished chemo.
Wendy: Oh! That makes you very brave!

And then she went on to ask about our bows and if we were planning on seeing Anastasia and Drizella.

We actually liked her suggestion and decided that we were going to do just that, so we headed over to where they were meeting but the line was already closed.

Instead, we decided to try and see if we could meet the Fairy Godmother. We asked a CM and she said that she'd be out at 12:15.

So, we sat and waited. And waited and waited until 12:20 when we decided that she wasn't going to be coming out then and instead went back to get in the line that was already forming for the Tremaines.

Let me tell you, the line closed a couple of minutes after we got into it and it was a brutal line. No shade at all and the sun was just a blazing down. I couldn't imagine waiting in that area in the summer. It'd suck. I even went to get some water from the Friar's Nook while we were waiting for the ladies of the hour to come out and we drank almost all of it right away. ​

Continued in next post​