Mickey'sApprentice 40th bday - W/PICS!!- Complete

[FrozenMinnie]

Thanks for letting me experience your arrival via the phone to MK. I can't wait to see todays story....please hurry and post....Hope your day was wonderful. I was jealous with envy all day long...

Anxiously awaiting in Alaska....you have sunny skies we have haze from Redoubt. I should have come...huh?

Next time I will.....

 

[manntra]

Great update with all of the pictures!! Illuminations turned out great and I loved the pictures of the scrambled eggs from CM. I don't know what it is about scrambled eggs at Disney but it is the only place I eat them (I'm usually at Boma for breakfast but also did Crystal Palace my last trip!) YUMMMM!! Probably lots of butter in them and that makes everything taste better!!

Anxiously awaiting your next update and the big day!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Well, it's the big day and DW decides to sleep in. After some prodding and pushing I finally got her up and going. AS we were leaving the Boardwalk, DW got a Happy Birthday message from Goofy at the house phone next to the elevators. We got to MK and while I went through the gate DW got her b-day gift card. I immediately went to the barber shop to get my haircut. But I had to come back because there were 4-5 people ahead of me. DW met me at the Barber shop and then went to the Emporium. We then went to Cosmic Ray's for lunch. I got the chicken caesar salad and DW got ribs. We were warmly serenaded by Sonny Eclipse.

After Cosmic Ray's we went to Philarmagic and got a fastpass for Peter Pan. We then went to Frontierland to ride Big Thunder Mtn. but saw that it had an 80 minute wait. Did I say that MK was crowded? Anyway, we checked on other rides and they all had at least a 30 minute wait. Once we figured out that there were no short waits on most of the rides, we went right on in to the Tiki Birds.

After the birds, we went back to Main Street for the 3:00 parade. I went back to the barber shop while DW watched the parade on main street.

After the parade, DW met me at the Barber Shop. Penny was the nicest barber and did a very good job on my hair. We left the Barber shop and went to City Hall (Guest Services). After much thought and consideration, we took the plunge and now have DVC annual passes.

We then went to the contemporary to rent a boat. We got there 15 minutes too late to rent one. So we just took some pictures of a very large sandwich on the contremporary property.

We then went back to the MK to get ready for dinner with Cindy. We took our picture with Cindy, who was most gracious and splendid. We were placed in the back of CRT next to the large windows. We had a nice view of Fantasyland.

Our meal consisted of Corn and Crab soup, BLT salad, and Prime Rib with asparagus and potato.

Then the big moment. The Birthday cake was presented.

Then Perla came over to our table to wish DW a happy birthday.

We had our waiter hold our cake while we rode BTMM with a fastpass. The only problem with this was that we rode BTMM at 8:15 PM. Somehow, however, I made it back to CRT through Frontierland during Spectromagic. I then met up with DW in Fantasyland where we watched Wishes.

We then rode Dumbo and Peter Pan before landing back to Frontierland to watch the 10:15 Spectromagic before going back to the room. Cindy wished DW a Happy Birthday from the float as she passed by.

We then left the MK but got one more shot of the castle and Main St.

The night ended on one final touch of pixie dust. This was waiting for DW when we got back to the room.

Even though MK was crowded, DW really enjoyed her special day. She was thrilled with the cake and the balloons.

 

[Disney Princess]

What a fun birthday!!! That sounds so special. I love the cake and balloons. That was too sweet of you to do for her!

 

[mcrabeck]

What a great way to spend a birthday! It looks like you are having a fabulous trip! Thanks for sharing it with us!

 

[dallastxcpa]

Happy Birthday to your DW.

Thank you so much for the trip report. the pictures are great. keep posting.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Here's something interesting.

There was a bride and groom shooting hoops under our window last night.

 

[liznboys]

What a FUN birthday!!

Isn't Penny at the Barber Shop so nice?!

Congrats on the AP's!!!

 

[photobob]

Here's something interesting.

There was a bride and groom shooting hoops under our window last night.

A new idea for my wedding photography!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

A new idea for my wedding photography!

Now that's funny right there. I don't care who you are.

The bride actually made her shot before the groom did.

I'm not sure if anybody took pictures.

I have to admit that I was surprised to see that.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Back to the trip report...

There's got to be a morning after....

We must be getting tired. We actually slept in a little again on Wednesday morning. It worked out though.

Before heading out, Dh went to Donde's next to the lobby to get an ace bandage. Funny how your broken ankle from 7th grade will start bothering you on your 40th birthday. Hmmm. Do you think walking 5-10 miles a day could have something to do with it? Anyway, its not a big deal. It just required a little TLC as a precaution.

OK, on to the great Disney day.

We took the boat to Epcot, and used those nifty new annual passes. We then went to Biergarten for lunch. I had forgotten to put on my birthday button. It was interesting to be in the parks with only an "unbirthday." This topiary was in Morocco.

We walked to the Germany pavillion and walked around the shops. We then had lunch at the Biergarten. We met 3 lovely couples. Two were snowbirds, while the other couple lived in Pensacola.

Our lunch was at noon, so it didn't include a show. One of the couples at our table stayed for the show at 1:15 so we watched a little of it too.

The food was good.

Here are some pictures of the entertainment.

We then saw the boat headed to Mexico docked so we hopped on.
Here is the pyramid.

We rode the ride too. This one with Donald Duck is growing on me.

We then walked into the Stave church for the first time and saw the exhibits.

We then rode Maelstrom. That is always a real favorite.
This is from the ride.

We then went through China and watched Acrobats.

We went back through Germany and DH joined the paparazzi to get this shot.

Here is another topiary.

Here are more Epcot/Germany pictures.

We passed through Italy and saw the beginning of Serge - World Showcase Player - show. We thought it was a little odd, and went on our way.

We then went to the American Adventure

Voices of Liberty

Statues

(I have to continue on the next post.)

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Here's the American Adventure Show.

Going back through Morocco - we saw these superstars!

We then saw a lovely couple that was obviously in love. They were behind a tree together in France. Others saw them and lined up to see them.

Here is another loving couple.

We went back to the room for a little while before Illuminations. It was another really great day that we enjoyed a lot and will remember a lifetime.

We need to download our Illuminations pictures and get back to you. I hope you are still enjoying our trip report.

 

[manntra]

Wow!! Another great update with tons of pictures! Thanks so much for sharing! Mmmm....I love Biergarten too. Pretzel bread, potato salad, and so many other yummy treats!! I got an annual pass this year too...( I went in January and going again in October so I thought it was the best use of money.) Well, keep on having a wonderful time!!

 

[Disney Princess]

Another wonderful day! Epcot is so beautiful this time of year. Thanks for keeping us in the loop. I am anxious to try Biergarten for the first time in about nine months. Have you eaten there before? Did you enjoy it? I hope so - it sounds so yummy.

 

[Cyndibear]

I AM enjoying your report!!!!!! What wonderful photo's you are taking! It sure looks like you are having a relaxing and fun time!!

Cyndi

 

[SunnieRN]

What a wonderful birthday!!!!! Thanks for more fantastic pictures!!!!

 

[DVC Mike]

Great trip report! Thanks!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Thanks everybody. I've really enjoyed all of the great comments.

Hey Mike: I'm glad you liked it. I read your report everyday while you were in the world. I can't wait to hear about Disneyland.

I've still got a day or two to blog about, but...we will go home today. Dh is carefully deflating the balloons. What a metaphor? He said I know you don't want to see this. I don't!!

Well, we've got memories for a lifetime, a bunch of pictures, and annual passes. We are getting pretty tired though. Dh said, I can't go home! My passes haven't run out. I told him we had to go home so that we can support our Disney habit.

One of the cruise lines uses an interesting line. Its a guy that is obviously at work who says...I consider this a temporary exile. We love that line, but use it for WDW.

Here is the newest question...with APs...is an add-on in our near future? What do you guys think?

We'll be back in Fall or Winter. We have 38 '09 points and 42 '10 points to use. Frozen Minnie has mentioned coming down in January. I'd love to celebrate DNephew's 9th birthday in November (unlikely-DBil can't get off work), and early December would be cool. I'll have to decide which trip to take.

Anyway, everybody keep the positive comments coming.

 

[jakenjess]

Have a safe trip home! We'll be waiting to hear about the rest of your trip!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Wow! I just realized that I was still writing about Wednesday night! I've got to get going.

I had promised Illuminations pictures, but realized that Dh didn't take any new pictures. I'll tell you about it though.

We headed back to Epcot and decided to have counter service in World Showcase. We went to the Morocco pavillion (Tangierine Cafe' maybe?). It was my first middle eastern food. We both got the chicken and lamb. That was my first lamb as well. It was pretty good. I really got the idea that the Table Service would have been much, much better. I'm intrigued now, and will likely go to Marrakesh on the next trip. We ate outside close to the wall next to the lagoon. We thought it would be a good view for Illuminations, but the wall was a little high. We quickly ate and then tried to stake out a new location.

We headed toward the UK pavillion. Our usual spot at tables between Canada and UK was already filled. We found an area that juts out at the International gateway. We were just to the right of the boats, and pretty much at the same level. I sat on the wall, and DH moved to the fence area with the camera. I had a great view and would request it again. There were a few trees in the way, but it was very good. (Our usual spot is probably 10% better.) Anyway, somebody blocked Dh's view and he didn't take any pictures.

We came out of Epcot and took some pictures.

After getting back, we took some pictures inside the room as per request of pp.

The room was in very excellent condition. We were very happy.