My Self Obsessive Princess-Birthday Trip - Completed 4/30/07

[disneyfav4ever]

Great TR! I constantly contemplate taking a long weekend solo trip since DH cant always get off work... but it always seems to fall thru. How long do u think is a good minimum to at least get a good portion of stuff done? Looking fwd to the rest!

When I went last month for three nights, I thought it was too short, and ended up wishing I had stayed at least one more night, so I could of gone to two favorite restaurants, (Boma, Le Cellier, and / or Wolfgang Puck,) and then I also could of gone to another Pirate and Princess Party, (well worth it.) So if I ever take a "short" trip again, I'd probably go for five nights. This was my shortest solo trip though, my other two were ten and eleven night trips.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Yeah, I know, I'm horrible about keeping this updated. So now I have two TRs that I'm in the middle of writing, and another pre-TR that I should be starting. Well, I'm at least going to finish this TR before I start my pre-TR.

Epcot - Akershus Princess Storybook Breakfast

I dawdled over from Mouse Gears, and made my way to the World Showcase, walking through an empty Mexico. I got to Akershus at 10:00, ten minutes before my ADR time.

Unlike the last time I had eaten here, I had almost no wait to be seated. Well, actually first I had to see Belle, then I was seated. Belle said she really liked my pins, and told me happy birthday.

Then I was seated. My server was very nice, he told me happy birthday, and I said it had been the day before, and he said something about it being Disney so it could last an extra day or something. He asked if I would like my hot food first, go to the buffet first, or have all the food at the same time. I chose to get some things from the cold buffet before being served my skillet.

I had some fruit, a danish, and a cinnamon roll. It was all good, but nothing special. I was also served a birthday cookie, (way healthy for breakfast,) and a card signed by all the princesses, which is still in my room at home.

After a little while I was served my skillet, which was eggs, bacon, sausage, and potatoes. The eggs were fine. I'm not a big egg eater, so tried them just to try them for review purposes, so for eggs, they were good. The sausage and bacon were good, but nothing special. I don't know how bacon could be made "special" though. The potatoes on the other hand, were outstanding, and I would return to Akershus for these alone! I ate the portion that was on the plate, and then got another plate of just potatoes, and ate most of those too.

But, I hadn't come to Akershus for the food, I had come for the princesses. The princesses that day, were; Jasmine, Mulan, Snow White, and Aurora. I hadn't seen Jasmine yet this trip, and she's my favorite princess, and by then the only one I hadn't seen, so I was glad to see her. All of the princesses were very nice, and spent a few minutes talking to me, even though I was by myself, and had no kids.

There were two families there that both offered to take my picture for me, so that wasn't an issue at all. At one of the tables there was a little boy who was giving the princesses those valentines you buy in boxes of like 30 for a buck. (I always buy them back home, and give them to all my friends.) Anyway, he had given Mulan a Sally (from Cars,) one, and she started saying how she was good friends with Sally and Tow Mater. The little boy though that was too cool. It was so cute. Of course, I also heard a lot of hollering and cheering at one point from another table across the room. When I looked up to see what the comotion was, Jasmine had just walked over to a big group, and a bunch of 20 or 30 something year old guys were really happy about that.

After breakfast, which lasted just over an hour, I started to walk from Norway to France, so I could get the boat from International Gateway to MGM. World Showcase had just opened ten or so minutes before that, so aside from CMs, was pretty much deserted. For some reason, I didn't take any pictures. Go figure.

I went into the doll shop in Germany, to admire the Disney princess dresses, and started wishing that DBF was there so he could buy me some. I could never justify spending close to $100 for a doll dress for my own pleasure, but if DBF wanted to buy me one, I would have let him. I heard they fit the American Girl dolls, and I have two, so he would of had to have bought me two, since it just wouldn't be fair, (to the dolls of course,) if one got to dress up like a princess and the other didn't. And yes, I still dress up my dolls sometimes.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

After I left the doll shop, and ironically, just a minute ago DBF, now DF, decided to call me. You all know DF was supposed to come to Florida with me. Well, he had tried to get another flight, couldn't, and then there were ice-snow storms, and all flights were cancelled or delayed. But I can save the fun of delayed flights for later in my TR when I get to write about the airport.

Anyway, so DF had planned on proposing to me during the trip. But then the stupid moron had to miss his flight. I had hinted that I wanted a Disney proposal, and he was going to wait until we were in Disney to do it. But of course, that never happened. So a few days ago, six days ago actually, DF decided to pop the question. Of course I said yes. And even though I didn't get a proposal at Disney, (I had actually named off good places he could propose,) I am now engaged, and will be having a Disney wedding.

I ended up spending about half an hour, sitting on a bench in Italy, talking to DF. He was complaining that it was cold, and I was making fun of him saying that if he hadn't overslept and missed the flight, he could be in sunny Florida with me. And also then he wouldn't have missed the princess breakfast. Except that he didn't care about the princess breakfast. Who wouldn't want to eat breakfast with the princesses. Oh well, at least now he knows better then to tell me that "they aren't real princesses." Whatever.

After getting off the phone, (who then was still DBF, but I'm going to be calling him DF from now on, even though he was DBF for this whole trip. I'm just so excited to be engaged, and I love being able to call him my fiancee, so it's DF now.) So we got off the phone, and I walked to France. And guess who I saw? Cinderella and Prince Charming, greeting, outside, in France. Now I don't know how many of you are character followers, but from everything I've read, and I mean, I'll research where the characters are, and try to find them in different locations and outfits, it's what I do. So I knew that Cinderella in France was pretty unheard of, and with the Prince, was even more rare. As a matter of fact, this was the first time I had seen either of them outside, and the only time I had seen the prince without going to a special event party. So I of course had to take my picture with them. Then, as I was walking to International Gateway, I saw Stitch there, outside the shops, meeting and greeting as well, so I got a picture with him too.

I got on a boat at noon, and had a small wait, I think they were changing captains or something, before it departed for MGM.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Day Three - MGM

When I arrived at MGM it was about 12:30. I had a dinner reservation at Brown Derby at 4:00, so I only had a few hours to spend in the park, compared to the two days I usually schedule for MGM on my longer trips.

I went to Mickey Avenue first, and got a Fast Pass for one of my must-dos, Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Then I went to the end of Mickey Avenue, to where Sorcerer Mickey does meets and greets. Apparently I was in a character finding mood that day, and I wanted to see Mickey. Plus I had never met him in his Sorcerer outfit before, and thought it would be a cool picture.

I'm weird. I never let anyone take my picture usually for any reason. But then when I'm at Disney, I have to have my picture taken with every character I see. Which, after some family members looked at my photo albums, (I have two full ones from three trips, that hold 100 pictures each,) asked me why I wasted so much time meeting characters, especially when it's the same one over and over again. Apparently Mickey is Mickey to them, and him being in a different outfit, (I have pictures with Pirate Mickey, Sorcerer Mickey, regular Mickey, Mickey in his Christmas outfit, YOAMD Mickey, Farmer Mickey, etc,) does not make a difference.

Honestly, I don't know how I'm related to my family sometimes. They don't "get it." Neither does DF. Why did I just agree to marry a man who has never been to Disney World, and never even seen a Disney movie?

Anyway, so I met Mickey, again. By then it was almost 1:00, and there was a showing of Beauty and the Beast at 1:45 that I had to see, otherwise I'd miss it this trip. This was actually one of the only points I was glad DF wasn't with me, since I knew he would of rather seen Lights Motors Action, and we wouldn't of been able to see both, and I was going to be a good DGF / DF, and take him to see that.

On my way to the theater, I was able to get a Fast Pass for Tower of Terror, which is the only ride at MGM that is a must-do for me.

I got a really good seat, and another couple, when they asked if I was saving the seats for anyone, complimented my choice of seating. The show was fantastic as always, and I was able to see Four For a Dollar, who I'd missed in Dec, since I saw the show on a day they weren't performing.

After the show I used my Tower of Terror Fast Pass, and was able to get right on with no wait. I love Fast Pass.

I walked back over to Mickey Avenue then thinking I was going to use my Fast Pass, but for whatever reason, it had stopped showing until 3:30. That was okay, I could just manage to see that and make it to my 4:00 ADR, since, convienatly for me, Brown Derby is right next to the Little Mermaid theater.

It was 2:30 then, and I didn't really care that much about the parade, so I figured I'd shop, and then if I could still get a halfway decent view a few minutes before, I'd watch it.

I went to the store by the Backlot Tour, since they usually have books and memorabilla for the ABC shows, and there was a Grey's Anatomy book I was looking for. I didn't find it, but I did find an Unofficial Guide to Lost that I ended up buying, even though it was slightly outdated by then.

I went back to the parade route, and was able to get a good enough spot for viewing, but not for taking pictures. Oh well, I had already seen this parade twice on previous trips, and didn't care about pictures this time. I did get a decent picture of Jasmine, and Ratcliffe, who before today, I had never noticed, or seen before, aside from when he's in Fantasmic.

I left the parade after the Villian's float had passed by to get in line for Voyage of the Little Mermaid. I'm glad I got in line when I did, since I guess a lot of people had the same idea, and I did not want to be late for my dinner reservation.

I saw the Little Mermaid, which I've always enjoyed, especially when it's really hot outside, just because that theater is so nice and cool. Plus I love the Little Mermaid story, and I've always loved the music, and Ariel's a favorite character of mine. I'm also very excited that the Little Mermaid is coming to Broadway, and am hoping for tickets to go and see it as one of my Christmas presants this year.

After the show it was just a few minutes before 4:00 so I went straight to Brown Derby, and checked-in for dinner. I was seated almost immediatly, and even though I'd had a big breakfast, I hadn't eaten anything since then, and was hungry again.

I had booked the Fantasmic package for dinner, and this was my third time using it, so I knew that I was going to get an appetizer, entree, and dessert. I always read the menus on All Ears, and had decided previously on the scallop appetizer, the duck entree, and the banana-toffee dome dessert. I wasn't really in the mood for poultry though, and got the filet mignon instead, plus the server recommended it.

I was very happy with my choice, as the filet was excellant, and I ate the whole thing right up. This was actually better then the filet I had at Le Cellier, which I believe is the only other filet mignon I've had at Disney, but I'm not sure. The banana-toffee dome was fabulous as well, and redeemed Brown Derby from the bland lackluster dessert I'd had there in Dec.

After dinner I had about an hour before I wanted to go and get a seat for Fantasmic. So I did what I hadn't really had a chance to do yet, I shopped. I used up the rest of a gift card a had, and bought a Four for a Dollar cd, a huge beach towel with all of the princesses on it, a Pirates of the Caribbean keychain, some pins, and I'm sure there was other stuff I bought as well.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Night 3

After I had shopped for a little while, I decided to go to the Fantasmic theater, and get a seat. Yes, I had reserved seating, but I like to be as close to the "public" as possible so I went there kind of early. I was glad I had bought a giant beach towel, since despite how nice and warm it had been during the day, it was getting quite chilly, so I wrapped myself in that, called my parents and DF, and then settled in with my Lost book for the rest of my wait time. I was actually quite cozy.

Fantasmic was at 7:00, and started right on time. It's my favorite night show, and I'm glad I saw it, since between this, Spectro Magic, and Illuminations I had to miss one, but this wasn't it. That ended up being Illuminations, which I like, but just not as much as the other night shows.

After Fantasmic ended at 7:30 I went to the buses, I had to be back at All Star Movies by 10:00 so I could see Lost, which was on tv that night. I had plenty of time to get back, and ended up getting there before 9:00, so I went down to the food court to get a burger, since I was hungry again. I took it back to my room, where I caught up on my journal and receipts, and watched the previous week's episode of Lost.

At 10:00 I watched the new episode of Lost just as I planned, but found it rather boring. I watched the whole episode anyway, and was glad I did since there was a good ending, which got me excited for next week.

After Lost, I went to bed.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Day 4

I woke up early, at 5:30, depressed that I had to go home. My trip had been to short. Unlike my previous trips though, I was going to go to a theme park which I had never done on a departure morning before. So I packed, and took by bag down to be held for me until my DME time.

Magic Kingdom had EMH this morning, and I had made a last minute ADR at Crystal Palace for a late breakfast that morning. Now when I say "last minute" I mean I made it in January for my February trip, unlike the rest of the ADRs, which I had made in August at 180 days out. So for me it was last minute, for other people, not so much.

I made it to MK, and was through the turnstiles around 7:30. MK opened at 8:00, and I wanted to be there at rope drop, I wanted as much park time as possible.

At 8:00 I headed straight to Fantasyland, which is my second home. I took full advantage of the EMH morning, and rode Pooh, Snow White, It's a Small World, and saw Mickey's Phillarmagic before the official park opening at 9:00.

As soon as the rest of the park opened I went to Liberty Square, so I could ride Haunted Mansion, which was the only must-see I hadn't seen yet this trip. So I had managed to get all of my must-sees done. Good for me.

After the Haunted Mansion I walked back to Fantasyland, which considering it was still early in the morning, was getting pretty crowded, which I can only assume was thanks to the EMH, and the begining of the President's Day weekend crowds. I grabbed a FP for Mickey's Phillarmagic so I could see that again, since that is my favorite MK attraction. Now I knew it was crowded if Phillarmagic was using their FP machines!

I went to Main Street so I could buy some note cards I had seen that I couldn't find at MGM the day before. Luckily I remembered exactly where I had seen them, so I bought them, and then headed to CP for breakfast.

Now, this was the first time I had not had a 8:05 reservation for CP, since 1) I didn't want that on an EMH day, and 2) I knew with my flight time I would probably be missing dinner. So I thought I'd eat late, and hopefully wouldn't be too hungry before I got home, since my flight was scheduled to land at 7:00, which is when I usually eat dinner around anyway.

The restaurant was very busy. They kept announcing that they were full for both breakfast and lunch, and turning away walk-ups. Good thing I had made my ADR when I did. DF and I "discussed" this since we were supposed to be together, and he said, "well, I see how I like Disney, and we can make an ADR that morning," and I was like, "um, no, I'll make an ADR now, and we can cancel it that morning if you want." So anyway, I'm glad I listened to myself and not to DF, who never even came anyway. (But if he had been there he would of gotten an "I told you so" look from me.)

When I checked-in the hostess asked "for two?" and I was like, "no, just one." Every other one of my ADRs had been made for just one since I was going to go solo originally when I had made my ADRs. But since the CP ADR had been "last minute" I had made the ADR for two. So that just reminded me DF wasn't there. But then she noticed it was also my birthday, and got really excited about that. At this point I had given up explaining to people it had been the day before or whatever, so why should I even bother explaining? I was going to have to go back to reality in a few hours anyway.

After about twenty minutes, which is more of a wait then I'm used to, I was called to my table. I think I've been very lucky with my waits, I've only had to wait more then like five minutes twice, here, and at Akershus.

I was led to my table, and it had been decorated with confetti and streamers. I have a confession to make, I stole the confetti, which I guess wasn't stealing since they put it on the table for me. But I stole it so I could use it for my scrapbooks at home. I did the same thing at CRT too. Except that when I got home, I had forgotten that I had stuck the confetti where it was, and when I unpacked I ended up with Mickey confetti all over the floor.

CP was excellant as usual. This is my favorite breakfast at Disney. I had all my favorites; breakfast lasagna, puffed french toast, breakfast pizza and some potatoes, as well as some bacon and fruit. Not a very healthy breakfast, except for the fruit. Yeah, see, I eat healthy when I'm at Disney. See, there's a piece of fruit behind that mound of potatoes, and doughnut-funnel cake-french toast. I had two plates full of those items, and was debating whether I wanted a third, since I didn't really want to be hungry on the plane or at the airport, but then the waitress came out with a cupcake, and had everyone nearby sing happy birthday to me. She also gave me a card signed by Pooh and everybody. So I also had a cupcake. Seriously, really healthy breakfast I had.

Like the day before at Akershus, everybody had been so nice, and offering to take pictures for me. They would get up before the characters even got to me. Everyone is so much nicer in Disney then in the real world. One guy even offered to take my picture with my cupcake.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Day Four Continued

After breakfast it was after 11:00, and I knew I should be back at All Star Movies by 1:00. So I didn't have a lot of park time left.

I went back to Fantasyland, and used the Fast Pass I had gotten earlier for Mickey's Phillarmagic. Then I walked to Toon Town, so I could see the characters in the Hall of Fame. I was going to get in the princess line, but they had an hour wait, so I went in a different line, which was listed as Donald, Chip and Dale, and a Mystery Guest, since there was only a twenty minute wait for that one.

I was able to see Donald and Daisy, Chip and Dale, and Mary Poppins. So I ended up being glad that was the line I had chosen, since I hadn't seen Mary Poppins or Donald yet. And I saw Daisy again, so that was a bonus.

Then it was time for me to leave the Magic Kingdom. I dawdled back to the bus stop, and then had a short wait for a bus with a few other families. There was a little girl there who was very interested in the ducks there. That was pretty cute.

On the bus ride back, the parents were saying what a shame it was that the temperature was supposed to go in the 50's for the rest of the weekend. That wouldn't have bothered me, except I knew I'd be flying back to degrees in the teens, and it would be icy and snowy when I got home.

I got back to All Star Movies, picked up my bag, rearranged some things from my park bag to my carry-on, and vice versa. There was a few other families waiting for a bus as well. A DME bus arrived, but it was the one that was scheduled for 1:00, and we had a 1:30 pick-up time. The dad from the family, asked if she could take a few of the 1:30 people. She refused to take anyone that was there early, even though the bus was pretty empty, and she was pretty rude about it.

About twenty minutes later our bus came. I got on, went to shove my bag up, and I felt my knee snap. Great. Now I don't remember what the medical term is, but every once in awhile my knee or one of the muscles pops or something, and then it hurts to bend for a few days.

So I sat down, and rubbed my knee the whole way to the airport, knowing that as long as I didn't put to much weight on it, it'd be fine. This happens maybe once or twice a year, so it's more annoying then actually painful now.

When we got to the airport, at about 3:00. I was able to check-in right away, and then made it, kind of limping, since I didn't want my knee to hurt more then it already was, and made it to my gate around 3:30.

Now, I knew that my home airport had just been through a storm. So, it wasn't a big suprise that my 4:30 flight had been delayed until 6:30. So I had a few hours to wait. Two hours wasn't so bad though. Actually, by biggest worry was that I would miss Grey's Anatomy. I called by DF and my parents to let them know I was delayed, and wouldn't be landing until 9:00.

So I wrote in my journal, read my Lost book, just tried to pass some time. At about 5:00, there was an annoucement that the flight had been pushed back farther. Sure enough, my flight was now delayed until 9:30. Great, I should of stayed in Disney, then I could of gone to another Pirate and Princess Party. And if I wasn't going to miss Grey's Anatomy before, I would definatly be missing it now.

A lot of people got in line to try and change their flights, but I didn't want to join the mob, and instead went to go find something to eat. Luckily I wasn't to far from this sandwhich shop, and managed to get a decent cheesesteak, and a diet coke. I also called my parents and DF again, so they'd know I'd be even later.

By then it was about 7:00, and I had started talking to some people on my flight that had also been in Disney. By then I'd been at the airport four hours, and should had, if my flight had been on time, been at home by now.

So I was getting pretty bored. I knew it wasn't the airlines fault, but then the departure time got pushed back to 10:30, so I hopped into line to see if I could change flights, maybe even to the next day, since by then I was just sick of being in the airport, and I knew I didn't have to work for another day. I always take the day off after I get home, so I have a day to rest.

Now a lot of people I'd seen, since I was sitting pretty close to the counter, were getting pretty testy with the airline people. So I walked up, and asked very nicely if there was anyway to get out of Orlando earlier then 10:30. I was able to get switched to a 8:20 flight. So now instead of having to wait another three or so hours, I'd be boarding in less then an hour. I then had to call my parents and DF again to tell them that now I was on a completely different flight.

I walked to my new gate, and the nice people I'd been talking to earlier asked if I knew about the 8:20 flight since they had just gotten switched as well. I guess they were keeping an eye out on me since I was solo, young, (they were an older couple,) and / or saw that I'd been limping on my knee all night. Anyway, I thanked them, and told them I had just been switched. So I waited with them over at the other gate.

I think most of the people from my original flight had been switched to the 8:20 one. So anyway, that flight departed on time, and on the plane I ended up sitting to another couple, closer to my age this time that had been in Disney also, but they were supposed to have flown back the day before.

I slept through most of the flight, which was very smooth, and actually arrived early by like twenty minutes. I actually felt better after landing, and my knee wasn't to bad anymore.

It was almost 11:00 then, and I checked the board to see if my original flight had taken off yet. Nope, it was still in Orlando, and now had an estimated arrival time of 2:00 AM. I'm glad I got off that flight.

So I made it home before midnight, and Grey's Anatomy had been taped, so I ended up getting to watch that anyway.

So that was my birthday trip. If I could change anything, I would. DF would have been there, and I wouldn't have gotten stuck at the airport. My flight was delayed when I flew down too. That wasn't nearly as bad though.

But Disney was a fantastic place to spend my birthday, and I'll definatly be doing it again. Hopefully with DF next time.