Minnesotan's Dream Come True Birthdays

[Minnesota]

Hi All! well I have found a few minutes at a time over the past week inbetween Physics and Work to get Day 1 typed. Let me know if you have any questions!

Where Dreams Came True
Minnesotan’s Birthday Vacation

Welcome to my 2007 Trip Report. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy telling it. Just as a note, I took over 350 photos this year myself and I know Sara had over 300 as well. Not all the photos will be available to view, but I will post highlights in this report on the chat boards, and you can find this report (eventually) and even MORE photos on my website (http://www.geocities.com/picturedisney) One slight warning though, I love telling stories so my reports tend to be a little long so that said, on with the story!

Who: Amanda (Me) and my best friend since High School (12 years ago) Sara, we’re both 26yo

What: A Birthday trip to WDW

When: August 16th to 20th 2007

Where: Disney’s All-Star Music Resort – Country Building #5

Side Note: Sara and I live in two states so some of the trip report is written from only my perspective and some will be written from both our viewpoints (hopefully with out confusing you all)

August 16th 2007
Today dawned bright and early, so early it was still dark outside! My alarm clock went off at 4:45am CST and I quickly got ready to leave for the Minneapolis-St.Paul Airport. My Dad was driving me as he works in the area and was headed that way anyway. My flight was leaving Minnesota at 7:30am and I arrived at about 6:45. I had checked in online to Northwest Airlines so all I had to do was check my suitcase and go through security. As it was my birthday I was wearing a Tiara and had planned to wear one every day of our trip so I had a box of tiaras in my carry on. The TSA looked a little strangely at this but I got through no problem. My gate was one of the farther concourses from the main terminal but I arrived there with plenty of time to spare and to take a few pictures, Me at the gate and the plane carrying me (and a few hundred others) to Orlando.

I managed to get a direct flight and spent most of it dozing off and listening to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on CD. I landed in Orlando right on time at 11:45 EST and called Sara who had landed there at about 8:30 that morning from Denver. I couldn’t get a hold of her, I tried again before getting on the monorail to the main terminal and then again before exiting security, never getting a hold of her. I was wondering if she had been delayed until I got to the center of the airport and spotted her waiting there. She gave me a birthday card and then I made a confession to her. I had told WDW a little white lie and had said my birthday was August 16 (the truth) and hers was August 17th (off by 6 months). Due to family issues she was by herself on her real birthday in Colorado without even a phone call from her family. Her Father and Brother and Sister sent packages, but for a family that really does big things for birthdays, hers was basically forgotten. That was why I decided to share my birthday and attach them both to our room reservation and all of our ADRs.

We went together to check in for DME and got in line for the bus. It was only a matter of about 15 minutes before we boarded the bus and headed to the most Magical Place on Earth! The All-Stars Music Resort was the second stop and was where the magic really began for us. We were both wearing Birthday buttons when we went to check in. The CM noticed this and gave us official WDW birthday buttons with our names on them, birthday balloons, and a rose each. The Front Desk manager then got on a mega phone and announced our birthdays and had the entire lobby sing to us. It was a little embarrassing but great fun. We got checked in and then headed to our room. We had requested Calypso or Jazz but got placed in Country. Not ideal but when we arrived in the room we found it decorated for our birthdays with a window towel creation and a towel Mickey on one of the beds.

Once getting a little settled we grabbed our park stuff and headed off to Animal Kingdom for our traditional birthday lunch at the Rainforest Café. Since there is one in Minneapolis this has been our tradition for years. We got in right away but our server was really slow. The food was really good and we split a Volcano desert afterwards. The server had stuck 2 candles in it and had a few other employees sing to us as well.

After lunch we headed into Animal Kingdom to watch the afternoon parade. We found a perfect spot even though we were only about 10 minutes before parade start. We positioned ourselves sandwiched between the rope line and a big bush like plant. It was in the shade, right on the rope line with no one in front or behind us, it was great. While waiting we met a wonderful cast member who we talked with nearly the entire wait time. She had to go block the street but came back for a moment to wish us a happy birthday and give us each a special set of pins. You can’t get them from any store. They were two identical pins on each card, one for us to keep for making the day of the cast member we got them from and then one to make the day of another deserving guest. The parade was great, even better since we hadn’t seen it in a few years.

Not sure how much I can put in one post so I'll continue in a reply

 

[Minnesota]

We then left Animal Kingdom for Epcot as we had dinner reservations in the world show case that night. First we stopped back at the resort. Sara had an over night flight and wanted to change clothes as she was on about hour 20 in the ones she was wearing. While back at the resort we found not only our luggage had been delivered but also the birthday boxes we had sent ahead of us.

We then went right to the world showcase and started in Canada and the UK pavilions. We soon discovered we were spending too much time shopping and taking pictures and were going to be late for dinner so we just walked the rest of the way to Mexico where we ate for the first time at the San Angel Inn.

This was a great place to eat, the lamps on the table and the entire atmosphere was awesome and the food was good to. We were going to try and take pictures of everything we ate while on the Disney Dining plan but only got about a third of them. Here Sara ordered something with steak and I got angel hair pasta with chicken. I for the life of me can’t remember exactly what the names were but those were the main ingredients in each. Those were our main courses, for appetizers Sara had the quesadilla and I had a house salad and for desert we both had the rice with milk desert, again I can’t remember the exact name.

Stay tuned for the end of the day!

 

[Minnesota]

Following dinner we had only about 15 minutes to find a place to watch Illuminations. Impossible you say, well this seemed to be the trip of the impossible dreams come true. We came across to a great family right on the fence line near Mexico. The 3 children wanted to pin trade with us and then the parents invited us to stand there with them. It worked wonderfully, the children and mother sat on the street and watched from below while Sara, the Dad and I all stood behind them and watched from above. All 7 of us had nice views (one tree could have been pruned a bit in our opinions) and got good pictures and no fights, elbowing, crowding, or waiting for 3 days.

After Illuminations we got our wristbands for the extra magic hours and went back to future world to ride Mission Space (the Green Side) Test Track and Sorin. We also rode the new Mexico ride. Even with the wrist bands we still had 20-30 minute waits at all three of these rides so we didn’t get much more than those four done that night. A note about the new Mexico ride. I loved the way they redid this ride. There is a lot of the original ride left for those who like the nostalgia but they updated it a bit to reflect a more current Mexico and also added the three caballeros, which include Donald Duck, for more character recognition for the younger guests. It was a really nice way to update without completely starting over.

By then it was past closing for even the EMH and we boarded the bus back to the resort to crash for the night.

Stay Tuned For day 2!
Minnesota

 

[princessjv]

I'm always ready to jump on board of a fellow Minnesotan! Great start...you are cruising right along.

 

[Minnesota]

I forgot to mention that our EMH in epcot ended with Sorin. WE had decided to stay in the park as long as possible so we got into that line just before closing. When we finally got to our "boarding area" the CM noticed our birthday buttons and had everyone applaud us and a couple having their anniversary there. The four of us then got loaded into the front row, it was pretty cool!

Minnesota

 

[Dolce27]

Joining in! I can't wait to read about Day 2

 

[Minnesota]

Here comes Day 2!

August 17th 2007
Day 2

We had planned to wake up early this morning for Extra Magic Hours in Magic Kingdom but decided for lack of sleep the day before and our somewhat crazy flight times the day before, to skip EMH and sleep in a bit. When we did get up we went to Disney – MGM Studios and headed right for Hollywood Tower of Terror and Rockin Rollercoaster. We wanted to make sure we got to the first show of the day of the Lights Motors Action Stunt show so we got fast passes for Rockin Rollercoaster and stood in the stand by line of Tower of Terror. Once we rode that we crossed the park and got in line for the stunt show. This was where we discovered that even the 99 cent personal battery operated fans were the best thing we had brought along. So many years we thought that we didn’t want to or need to haul one along but I am never going to WDW without one again!

The line for the stunt show was long and hot but we really wanted to see this one so we waited then when we got into the stadium we wanted to get good pictures, but still be in the shade. No such luck, the only seats that had good picture angles were in the blazing sun so we figured oh well and sat in the sun. The best thing of the seats we chose was once the show started, the sun had moved enough where we were in the shade AND we still had our “good picture seats”! it was awesome. The show was even better than when we saw it last year Even though it was the same show, knowing when to get the camera ready to get cool shots made it even better.

After the stunt show we went to the backstage tram ride on our way back across the park to use our Rockin Rollercoaster fast passes. Even though this isn’t a headliner attraction we like seeing the props, costumes, and such from different movies. They change stuff out all the time so there is always something new.

To be continued...

 

[Minnesota]

Being we were still ahead of our fast passes we made another detour to the Muppets 3D show. Even after seeing this movie every year we noticed, and had a chance to photograph, some of the doors and decorations around the cue area.

We then went for our traditional lunch in the studios at Toy Story Pizza Planet. Apparently we aren’t the only ones to adore this counter service stop as the place was PACKED. AS soon as I found a clear table I claimed it while Sara got the food. This is where the dining plan comes in really handy, only one person has to get the food and no one owes anyone anything. Again it was really good food. Figuring everyone had seen personal pan pizzas we didn’t take any pictures.

Finally it was time to ride Rockin Rollercoaster. It was much easier to ride this when there is a member of the party waiting outside to hold everything but even riding with a backpack purse and tiara we didn’t loose anything. My tiara started lifting off but I held it for the remainder of the ride. Sara’s stayed on no problem. At this point we were getting really hot and were looking for a sit down air conditioned attraction to cool off at. We decided to pick Sounds Dangerous. Another non-headliner but still really fun attraction but on the way we came across the parade lines so we stood behind a family from Mexico and had pretty good pictures of the parade. A few times a really obnoxious parade viewer would lean blatantly right in front of Sara so I ended up taking most of the pics, all I had to avoid was their elbow. I’m fine with others getting pics too but I always make sure I am out of others way as much a possible realizing I am not the only one with a camera. Apparently others don’t think that way. I degrade, sorry…

After the parade we went to wait for Sounds Dangerous where we got even more birthday magic. The CM working Sounds Dangerous was chatting with us while waiting as we were 2 of only about 8 people waiting to see that attraction. She asked us if we had seen Indiana Jones Stunt Show yet. We said not yet but we were planning on seeing one of the last shows of the day that day. She said to wait right there for a minute ( the doors for Sounds Dangerous were about to open.) curious more than anything we waited and when she came back she told us we had priority seating for the last show of Indiana Jones that day and explained how to go about checking in to get them.

After Sounds Dangerous we went pin shopping for a bit then tried going to the Great Movie Ride but we would have been late for our seating at Indiana Jones and we weren’t giving that up! So we stopped at a few more pin shops then the bakery at the studios to get a slushie to drink. There the gal behind the counter at the candy shop gave us each a sprinkle covered Marshmallow. They sound weird but it was a pretty good treat, WAY high in sugar obviously but yummy none the less. We then made our way over to the Indiana Jones Show and checked in to find out Priority Seating there… is the FRONT ROW. I got some AWESOME pictures of this which was really cool and Sara was walking on cloud 9 as Indiana Jones is her favorite show in MGM.

After the show we made it over to the Great Movie Ride where I got more pictures this year than any other (apparently this was also the year of dream come true photos). It helped that at a few of the scenes our “car” was stopped longer than usual and moved slow enough through some of the other scenes that I could get non blurry pics.

to be continued again...

 

[sandybobandy]

I'm just marking my spot so I get updates when you....well....update. lol

Joe (my husband) and I are leaving for the World in 23 days. While the ticker reads 24, it's "really" 23 days and some odd hours. Every minute counts!

Anyway, I didn't realize we were so close in age! I see your posts and like to read them because it's fun to find fellow Minnesotans on here. I just turned 25 and Joe is 28. Are you in the cities? We're in Bloomington

Anyway, I'm super excited to read your report. We're also staying at ASMu!

 

[Minnesota]

Hmmm. The muppet pics were supposed to have rotated, oops. Anyways here is the end of day 2

We thought we were about done with the studios when we remembered the drawing class in the animation studios so we headed there next and went thought their little show with Mushu and an animator. It was really cute and different from the last time we did this in 2002. When we finished there we went to the drawing class which was already in session. We didn’t have time to wait for the next one, we had dining reservations for that night, so we played with their interactive computers there for a bit then headed to the Journey into Narnia as it wasn’t open when we were there in 2006. This was a nice exhibit and really cool if you are a fan of the Narnia movie. There is a little pre show then you go through the wardrobe doors and into Narnia where there is a movie of the making of the movie. Then to exit you go through an exhibit area where there are props and costumes from the movie.

At this point it was time to leave the studios for our dinner reservation at Spoodles on the boardwalk. We left by boat and glided our way to the Boardwalk arriving right on time. We watched a boardwalk performer for a while until our table was ready. Dinner again was excellent and again I cannot remember the exact names of what each of us ate but we did remember to take pictures. I had a pasta dish while Sara had Steak Kabobs (notice a pattern forming here?) for our main courses while our appetizers were the 4 cheese flat bread and something I can’t remember and didn’t take pictures of, sorry. It’s really not that I am finally writing our report nearly 3 weeks after the end of the trip but more so that I probably couldn’t remember what we ate the next morning.

Then came desert which was also excellent. I had an orange chocolate cake thing and Sara had something else. At least I got a picture of this one. If I recall it was also a cake like thing. Both were really good and we actually managed to eat it all. We thought we were done, by this point the only room left for food would have been our pockets but our wait staff had another notion in mind. Because our Birthdays had been attached to the reservation they then sang to us and presented each of us with the biggest cupcakes I have ever seen. They weren’t as good as the deserts we ordered but they were pretty nice and we each ate some but there was no way we could eat all of that too.

After dinner we decided to head up to the Magic Kingdom for the Extra Magic Hours. We got our wrist bands right at the main gate then headed in. Spectromagic was about to start but as we had a million pictures of this parade we really didn’t have any inclination to watch it, until we were told by the two CMs giving us our bracelets that the beginning had changed 5 days earlier. They wouldn’t just tell us what changed but they said if we just watched the parade until we saw Mickey (about 5 floats worth) we should be able to spot the changes. We tried finding a spot but that close to parade time it was nearly impossible. We tried asking two different CMs what had changed and they too refused to tell us but said we could watch from a stroller parking area for the few minutes we were going to watch.

The somewhat stupid part of this was we saw the changes then never took a picture of them! Just as the parade started we noticed the change. If you don’t want to know, skip to the next paragraph, if you do want to know finish the rest of this one. The people with the white faces in the very beginning, they used to have white masks where as now it is their actual face but with white makeup. No huge thing there but it was fun to try an spot the change.

While watching just the beginning of the parade a man stopped behind us, outside the rope line where you were supposed to keep walking, to video the parade. The CMs kindly but directly told him that if he stood there he would have to keep walking, if he wanted to video he would have to be on the other side of the rope line. The man totally blew up and started threatening the CMs who then not only went and got Disney Security but also the Orange County Sheriff department who informed the man that if he didn’t leave the park politely he would not only be tossed from the Magic Kingdom but arrested too. This was all about 6 inches behind me, my sister is a deputy for my home county so I have heard and seen things most people don’t but this was too close for me!

Once they got him out of the vicinity Sara and I ducked the rope again, thanked our CMs again and headed off to Tomorrowland to ride the rides with short lines. We thought the park closed at midnight but we found out it actually closed at 2am. Knowing we had breakfast reservations and would never move that early if we stayed until closing we left for bed at about 1:00am.

Check back soon for Day 3!
Minnesota

 

[Goofydiane]

Greetings from another Minnesotan!

Sounds like you are having a great trip - look forward to reading about the rest of it. I'm less than 90 days to my next trip....woohoo!!

 

[Goofydiane]

Anyway, I didn't realize we were so close in age! I see your posts and like to read them because it's fun to find fellow Minnesotans on here. I just turned 25 and Joe is 28. Are you in the cities? We're in Bloomington

Unfortunately - not close in age (I'm in my 40's), but I grew up in Bloomington. West side near Normandale and Old Shakopee Rd.

 

[Minnesota]

I'm just marking my spot so I get updates when you....well....update. lol

Joe (my husband) and I are leaving for the World in 23 days. While the ticker reads 24, it's "really" 23 days and some odd hours. Every minute counts!

Anyway, I didn't realize we were so close in age! I see your posts and like to read them because it's fun to find fellow Minnesotans on here. I just turned 25 and Joe is 28. Are you in the cities? We're in Bloomington

Anyway, I'm super excited to read your report. We're also staying at ASMu!

Well I am happy you are enjoying it. I hope to have it finished by the time you leave, Darn College getting in the way of my hobbies again! I am actually in the northern suburbs, Anoka County. I am hoping to post day 3 sometime this weekend so keep an eye out!
Minnesota

 

[DisneyDivaMom]

Well I am happy you are enjoying it. I hope to have it finished by the time you leave, Darn College getting in the way of my hobbies again! I am actually in the northern suburbs, Anoka County. I am hoping to post day 3 sometime this weekend so keep an eye out!
Minnesota

I am enjoying your trip report so far. I am in NE suburbs. I can walk a mile and go through 3 counties, Anoka, Hennepin and Ramsey.

 

[Minnesota]

hey all,
I haven't forgotten about all my readers, I just had a rather rough physics test today. Day three is just about done (I'm at dinner right now) I am aiming to post it this weekend. Thanks again for reading and I'm sorry for taking so long, please hang with me!
Thanks!
Minnesota

 

[Minnesota]

Or at leat as much as I can post before going to Physics! Enjoy!

August 18th 2007
Day 3

This morning started bright and early, too early in our opinions but we had reservations at Donald’s Breakfastosaurus for the Character Breakfast. We headed by bus to Animal Kingdom but I wasn’t feeling well this morning so we were moving a little slower. At the main gate we ran into the talking tree. It was talking to a couple of boys who seemed to be fascinated by it so we just headed into the park and right to The tree of life. We had enough time to see one of our favorite shows before our breakfast. After the show we headed right to Dinoland USA. We arrived right on time for our reservation, had our picture taken and then sat only for a few minutes before we were brought in.

Our server wasn’t the happiest person on the planet but we didn’t mind too much as they again noticed the birthday note on our reservation. We each got birthday cards signed by all the characters there, it was really cute. We started eating but as I was still not feeling well I didn’t get to eat much which was kind of a bummer but then the characters started coming around!

After we had eaten all we were going to eat and had seen and taken pictures with all the characters there we paid (we had decided to pay for this one so we could get a more expensive one covered by the dining plan) and headed out. I wanted to ride Dinosaur but Sara didn’t so we checked the line times, 10 minutes. We decided while I rode Dinosaur Sara would ride Primevil Whirl, a ride I don’t really mind if I miss. We agreed to meet at a specific light pole and went our separate ways. In the end, Dinosaur was a 20 minute wait and primevil whirl broke down. Once I finished Dinosaur I agreed to go back to primevil whirl so Sara could ride it this trip but it was still down.

We instead headed over to the new Nemo stage show. It was the longest line I have ever seen in WDW, it was incredible, in a bad way. There was no way we could be in line that long and even hope to remain even close to our schedule for the day so reluctantly we passed it by to take some pictures of Everest and get in the single riders line. This is usually faster for the two of us than the stand by line or waiting for the fast passes, we have actually only been separated twice in the 5 times we have ridden it. This year however, it took us 40 minutes in the single rider line (out in the blazing sun) to get on the ride. On our way out we saw the stand by line was only 45.

To Be Continued...

 

[Minnesota]

I made the previous section short cuz this one has a lot of pics. Enjoy!

After Everest we got fast passes for Kali River Rapids and then headed over to the Kilimanjaro Safari to see if we could catch the animals before it was too hot in the day. We got some good photos but a couple sitting in our row seemed to think they were the only ones on the ride, I could hardly get anything out that side of the vehicle. I know I am not the only one who wants pictures but I try to stay out of peoples way, sorry I’ve gone into that tangent before.

By the time we got off the safari our fast passes weren’t ready yet so we did the Paganini forest walk, rather quickly but I did get some cool photos again.

Finally it was time to get soaked! We had both worn swimwear and shorts so we were ready and being it was a heat index of over 100 F it was going to feel so good too! People loved how prepared we were. Both of us, besides our apparel, had brought 1 gallon ziplock bags to put our cameras and phones and such in. We knew the center luggage thing was there but almost every time we ride it everyone’s stuff keeps it from sealing properly so we figured one more layer would be a little more security to keep our electronics functioning. The ride was great and we got satisfactorily soaked.

We had accomplished all we wanted and were going to do in Animal Kingdom so we went back to our resort to change busses to go to Downtown Disney for our annual WDW shopping spree. We knew our time was short as we had the Pirate and Princess Party that evening and I had a hair appointment before that (my splurge for the trip) so we decided to split up for shopping and meet to go back to the resort at 3:00pm. I did my shopping and got in line at 3:00 figuring I could be checked out in about 5-10 minutes (there were only 2 people ahead of me and one only had a few items) then meet Sara. 15 minutes later Sara called to find out where I was, I told her still in line and she said she was too since 3:05. I finally was done at 3:20 so I called Sara back to find out which register she was at and meet her there.

At 3:45 we decided that I had to get going otherwise I would never make it to the Grand Floridian for my hair appointment. I returned to the bus stop and waited until almost 4:00 for a bus to any resort even close to the All Stars Music. Fortunately my bus was the first to arrive, unfortunately the route called for stops at West Side, and Blizzard Beach before getting back to the resort. I finally arrive back at 4:30, the time in which I was supposed to be leaving for the Grand Floridian. I made a diasater of our room, took a 2 minute shower and was back at the bus stop, clean and changed with the party tickets at 4:40. Not bad since we were in the far back building at the resort. Here’s where the story gets a little complex.

I got on a bus headed for the Magic Kingdom so I could transfer to the monorail to finally get to the Grand Floridian, supposedly by 5:00pm. Sara was on a bus back to the resort and when she arrived back the manager who had checked us in asked how our day was going on our birthday trip. Sara is a person who can tell you the honest truth but never in a complaining or upset manner, almost like she’s just as happy things are bad as if they are good. She said not well but we were getting it fixed. The manager had her tell him the entire story of the day and said he would personally drive her directly to the Magic Kingdom when she was ready, so that we could make our dinner reservations. He also rescheduled my hair appointment so I wouldn’t be fined for being so late (almost 30 minutes in the end) and then also had one more surprise for us.

Meanwhile I was pracitially running in my princess dress, my hair sopping wet with a tiara haphazardly stuck in through the bus terminal at the Magic Kingdom to grab the resort monorail. Just my luck, I had again reversed which monorail goes which way around the lake. I should have gotten the express to the TTC then the resort to the Grand Floridian, but I didn’t, so I went the long way to the Grand Floridian on the Monorail.

The Ladies at the Ivy Trellis were AWESOME! They got right to work on my hair and another little girl who’s family was running a bit behind too. She was as cute as could be all dolled up as Belle. A million pins and a gallon of hairspray later (I had asked to have what ever style done be ride durable, so that was partly my doing) I was finished, right on time and they only charged me $60 instead of the $65 it was supposed to be as a birthday present and to make the day a little better. I loved my hair, it was SO pretty. I then thanked them profusely and headed back to the Monorail to get to the Magic Kingdom. I got in with my usual ticket and waited for Sara by the popcorn stand by City Hall.

To Be Continued... Stay Tuned for the Pirate and Princess Party!
Minnesota

 

[Minnesota]

Okay, first of all sorry for the months long delay in finishing this, Physics really got in the way and now Organic Chem but here is the end of the story!

The Pirate and Princess Party

Once I finished at the Ivy Trellis, I rode the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom and entered on my regular ticket to wait for Sara at the Popcorn stand by the City Hall. I waited and waited, then waited some more. Finally when we were going to be really late for our dinner seating at Liberty Tree Tavern I dug out my cell phone to call her an find out what was going on. I thn discovered that in the park, I missed hearing it ring... twice. She was stuck at the main gate because I had both party tickets and they had stopped letting people enter on regular tickets. I then met her at the gate and gave her the correct ticket and got her in no problem. We then high tailed it to the Liberty Tree where I was wondering if we were going to be able to be seated. Sara then told me what had been going on with her.

She arrived back at the ASMu about 15 minutes after I did. On her way to our room however the general manager stopped her and asked how her day was going. Sara is always the type of person to tell you like it is if you ask. She wasn't fishing for anything, sympathy, or whatever, she was just answering the question - not very good. He then asked her why so she explained what had happend and that she had to be going or we would miss our dinner reservations.

In a bit of Disney Magic the manager then told her to come back through and see him when she was ready to go to the Magic Kingdom. She debated doing so but decided to come back through as asked once she had showered and changed as well. Once back he presented her with 3 boxes and a ride right to the gate of the MAgic Kingdom so she didn't have to wait for a bus.

She then met me at the gate and said the GM at the resort had also called the Liberty Tree and told them we were on our way but going to be a little late. When we got there our table was all decorated for our birthdays and was still ready and waiting. Dinner was great, some of the best food in the Magic Kingdom in my opinion and we decided to open our boxes from the GM. He had made a birthday box for each of us and then a third one with a disposable camera in it for us to share at the party that night. It was SOOO nice and really started changing our somewhat bummer day around.

Following dinner we headed back to the main gate to have guest services hold our boxes for us before heading into the Pirate and Princess Party but our birthday suprises weren't done yet. At guest services we each got a certificate and pin for our birthdays then were told that the GM at the resort had also called them to arrange for us to have priority seating for the PPP parade!

That was so very VERY cool! the priority seating was right at the end of the bridge leading from the hub into liberty square so there was not a single soul in any of our pictures, plus because of the bridge the floats and things had to slow a little (or so it seemed to us from prior parades) so we had an even better photo oppertunity. It was GREAT!

We then spent the evening riding rides and watching the shows, the PPP Fireworks were the BEST WDW FIREWORKS EVER!!!! and neither of our tiaras even budged on the rides. I would highly reccomend this party if at all possible. Very exhausted we drug our "royal" behinds back to the resort for a quick sleep, we still had vacation left

Minnesota

 

[basketlover]

glad you starting posting again. please finish. love these trip reports.

 

[Minnesota]

your request is my pleasure. It is now finals weeks so it will be slow but I need something to give my braina break once in a while!

We started the next morning at Epcot, riding one of our favorite rides, Living with the Land. It's strange but we like it. From there we went to the Living seas to ride the new Nemo ride, It was fun and we really liked all the animals they have there now. The seahorses were my favorite next to the manatees and dolphins which are always my favorites. Turtle talk with Crush was really fun. I had read before hand how that worked but it was still really cool to see how kids, even other adults reacted to it.

This pretty much finished off Epcot (or so we thought) so we headed via the friendships over to MGM and finished up a few rides there. By this time it was late afternoon so we stayed to watch Fantasmic, which we did on the dinner package at Mama Melrose. A few years ago we had a really bad experience there and subsiquently avoided it for a few years but this year decided to give it another shot.

We arrived for our seating a little early but it was so hot and humid I was having a few asthma problems. This was my first summer trip to WDW since being diagnosed so I asked if I could get a glass of cold water. I had my inhalers with but I wasn't having that much of a problem I didn't want to use it. A little side note here, I am a pharmacy tech so I know to use my emergency inhailer rather than try and suffer through. I unfortunatly get the Albuterol shakes really bad, to the point I can't write my own name without it looking like I'm in kindergarten. I didn't want to be doing that at dinner so instead I got the cold water and used some pressure point and breathing techniques I learned in my Holistic healing classes (my other degree). This worked well so that when we finally cooled off from being outside I was fine for dinner.

Dinner was really good and the resturant redemed itself in our eyes. I even think I spotted another DISer but didn't get a chance to talk to them as they were on their way out at the time. After dinner we went to Fantasmic which was as cool as ever then headed back to the Magic Kingdom which was open until like 1 am that night to finish some more rides there.

Sorry there are no pictures these last few posts, I'll try an dpost some later but for the moment I'm trying to just finish the story between classes, speaking of which - off to more Organic Chem (yea! - i'm excited, no not really )