No kids, no husbands & no rain! Girls weekend at BWI! - NEW 11/12 p16 -The End!

[DisMomAmy]

Recap: We spent a FULL day at Epcot – 9:15am until about 8:30pm!

Highs: Gorgeous weather, walking to the International Gateway, walking through the WS before it opened, visiting all of my favorite FW attractions, visiting much of the WS and Illuminations from our room!!

Lows: I don’t know that there were any!!! We were BEAT by the time we went to bed… but it helped me sleep like a baby!

How did we do with our itinerary:
• Grab breakfast at Boardwalk Bakery or eat at Epcot – Sunshine Seasons
• Head to International Gateway by 8:40 – got there a bit later
• Head straight to the Land – get FP for Soarin’ - done
• Breakfast at Sunshine Seasons? - done
• Living with the Land? (13 min) - done
• Ride Soarin’ - done
• Grab more FP for later - done
• Spaceship Earth – now or later? – rode a little later
• Grab KP Mission FP - done
• Seas/Nemo? - done
• Head to Imagination Pavilion - skipped
• Figment (6 min) - skipped
• Captain EO (15 min) - skipped
• Work our way toward Japan – 12:10 Teppan Edo - done
• Tour American Adventure (45 minute show)/Japan/Morocco/France (film?)/UK/Canada (film) – toured AA & Japan – skipped Morocco, France, UK & Canada
• Test Track FPs? - done
• Break? (3-5) - skipped
• Soarin’ – skipped second ride
• Test Track? - done
• SSE? - done
• Mexico/Norway/China (acrobats at 6:15)/Germany/Italy/AA – done
• Via Napoli at 7pm (or CS?) - done
• Snacks & Find spot for Illuminations – got snacks, watched Illuminations from balcony
• Illuminations – from balcony

I joined a photopass share through Tour Guide Mike & I'm glad I did because these are our only pictures together! We didn't do too many but it was definitey worth it. Our leader received the CD yesterday & put the pictures on a Picasa webalbum so I was able to get them right away. Here's what we've missed so far:

DHS on Day 1:

Epcot on Day 2:

I don't think we knew what we were doing here... The PP CM told us to put our hands up... I think we were supposed to pretend to hold SSE.

Up next: Day 3... Hopefully I'll get it up this weekend. Today is shaping up to be a crazy day... Karate, soccer, a birthday party, swimming & a date night now that DMIL is finally back! And tomorrow DMIL is having a birthday celebration for me & Zach since she was in Florida for the real things.

 

[MEK]

Nice photopass pictures and what an exhausting Day 2 you had! Did you guys sleep for a week when you got home!!!!!

Looking forward to Day3!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Cute Photopass pictures!!! Have fun during your crazy weekend! For once, we don't have a million things planned -- just the pumpkin patch tomorrow afternoon.

 

[Native NYer]

Your Photopass photos are cute!
Have a great weekend

 

[DisMomAmy]

Nice photopass pictures and what an exhausting Day 2 you had! Did you guys sleep for a week when you got home!!!!!

Looking forward to Day3!

I wish we could have slept for a week, but there was no sympathy at home.

Cute Photopass pictures!!! Have fun during your crazy weekend! For once, we don't have a million things planned -- just the pumpkin patch tomorrow afternoon.

Luckily we got our pumpkins a couple weeks ago... now I just have to figure out when we'll have time to carve them! Have fun tomorrow!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Your Photopass photos are cute!
Have a great weekend

Thank you!! You too!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I love the pictures Amy! Isn't the photopass share a wonderful thing? It was so worth the money!!

Hope your day isn't too nutso.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Cute PP pics!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Great PP pictures! I really like the off center one in Epcot.

Have fun this weekend! We, for once, aren't too busy. Heading into the City later today to take Henry to FAO Schwartz (we haven't been there yet! I GOTTA do the "Big" piano!), and then grab dinner somewhere around Central Park, maybe hit the playground in the early evening, should be fun!

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Hi Amy! I've been lurking a bit and then got behind but I'm up to date now. Great photopass pictures.

 

[DisMomAmy]

I love the pictures Amy! Isn't the photopass share a wonderful thing? It was so worth the money!!

Hope your day isn't too nutso.

We made it through the day yesterday!!

Yes - photopass is awesome! And the shares are even better!

Cute PP pics!

Thank you!!

Great PP pictures! I really like the off center one in Epcot.

Have fun this weekend! We, for once, aren't too busy. Heading into the City later today to take Henry to FAO Schwartz (we haven't been there yet! I GOTTA do the "Big" piano!), and then grab dinner somewhere around Central Park, maybe hit the playground in the early evening, should be fun!

Thanks Brook! I hope you had fun playing the piano!!

Hi Amy! I've been lurking a bit and then got behind but I'm up to date now. Great photopass pictures.

Hi Tracy! I know how easy it is to get behind or to lurk... thanks for posting this time!

 

[jenjolt]

What a full EPCOT day you guys had!!!!! FUN FUN!!!!

Love the photopass pictures!!!! So cute!!!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

 

[Angies1274]

Hi Amy!

Aww....I love the WS! You got so many great pictures!

I remember Taylor Dane!! That would have been so cool to see her perform!!

Glad you enjoyed Via Napoli! That pizza looks really yummy!

You had a great view of Illuminations!! What a wonderful way to end the night!

Cute Photopass pics!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

What a full EPCOT day you guys had!!!!! FUN FUN!!!!

Love the photopass pictures!!!! So cute!!!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

I was surprised we made it all day! We would have stayed for Illuminations if we hadn't already planned to go back the next night. Which may or may not have happened...

Hi Amy!

Aww....I love the WS! You got so many great pictures!

I remember Taylor Dane!! That would have been so cool to see her perform!!

Glad you enjoyed Via Napoli! That pizza looks really yummy!

You had a great view of Illuminations!! What a wonderful way to end the night!

Cute Photopass pics!!

It ws pretty cool to see Taylor Dane... although we couldn't really see her very well.

Via Napoli hit the spot - it was just right for that day.

I loved that we were able to see Illuminations from our room!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Saturday morning we were up at 7:30 again & found our ME folder under the door! Our bus would be at 4:20pm on Sunday.

Our plan for today was:
• Breakfast at Fresh at 9:15 at the Dolphin (walk there)
• 10:00 catch bus to DTD
• Shop at DTD
• Lunch at DTD around 12-1pm
• Bus back to BWI after lunch to freshen up
• Plan A) If MK night… 2:30ish: Walk or boat to DHS/Bus to Grand Floridian or
• Plan B) If Epcot night… Walk through Epcot to monorail to Grand Floridian
• Garden View Lounge tea at the Grand Floridian at 3:50
• Monorail to either MK or Epcot for the evening

Plan A) Magic Kingdom Night:
• Arrive around 5:15
• Enter right tunnel
• Hit a few rides (BTMRR in the dark, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise?)
• Grab snacks & find a parade spot around 7pm
• MSEP at 8pm
• Wishes at 9pm

Plan B) Epcot Night:
• Arrive around 5:15
• Hit any of the rides/shows we missed yesterday
• Watch Illuminations

Once we were ready to go we walked over to the Dolphin for breakfast at FRESH.

We each decided on the buffet. I had an omlette, bacon & fruit. I think Laura had eggs, bacon & fruit. We also had the freshly squeezed OJ. Laura got her beloved Starbucks coffee! The food was delicious, the restaurant was nice & the service was good. There were several kids there & they seemed to be enjoying the food. I didn’t notice a separate kids area but they had Mickey waffles, fruit, yogurt & other stuff kids enjoy. With our bellies full, we made our way to the bus stop, with a pit stop at the restroom… which was easier said than done! It took us forever to find the restroom!

Once we made it to the bus stop it took a while for a DTD bus to arrive. The first bus was for Animal Kingdom, then Magic Kingdom, then another Animal Kingdom followed by another Magic Kingdom. One family was trying to fold up their stroller over by the benches and missed the bus! They were acting all angry at the bus driver, but I don’t think he could have known they were trying to get on his bus since they didn’t move any closer or give any signs to the driver. Shortly after a third MK bus arrived and the family made it clear they wanted to get on that bus! Then a fourth MK bus arrived! Finally a bus drove up that said something other than DTD on the marquee. The drive stopped, got off the bus, said his sign wasn’t working right and assured us he’d be stopped at Typhoon Lagoon & DTD.

We made several stops… BC/YC/BW/TL and finally DTD marketplace. Unfortunately it was later than we’d hoped. It was already 11am. We shopped for quite a while, spending most of our time at World of Disney. We also checked out Pooh Corner, TrenD, Team Mickey, Once up on a Toy, & Basin. I think that was it...

First stop: TrendD & Team Mickeys. I bought this shirt for Alex:

This package of post-it notes for me:

World of Disney:
My “promise ring” to my other man... I mean mouse:

Close up:

A shirt for Zach:

Some bowls for the kitchen:

Some hand towels:

A key chain:

And a decal of our new family member for the car:

Then a stop at Basin for these:

I think these pictures are from Arribas Brothers, but I don't remember when we stopped there...

Zach loves frogs:

As we shopped we decided we didn’t want to rush to get back for tea. We were also contemplating a change of plans... We were considering going to Magic Kingdom for the evening instead of Epcot. We had a lot we still wanted to see & do at Epcot, plus after the bus ride we thought it might be better to be at Epcot on Sunday so we weren’t dependent on the bus to get back to BW in time for our ME bus. But that would mean missing seeing Illuminations close up. We weren't sure where we would end up that afternoon/evening, but we knew it wouldn't be the Grand Floridian.

Around 1:45 we decided to get some food. We had seen Earl of Sandwich & Wolfgang Puck Express on our way in so we headed back that way & looked at the menus on my phone while we walked. We opted for WPE, but the line was soooooo long! We decided to skip lunch, grab a pretzel and wait for the bus back to BWI. We backtracked to Wetzel’s pretzels, but it was closed temporarily. The sign said it would reopen at 2pm. We grabbed strawberry smoothies at the cart next door & waited in the shade. A few minutes before 2:00 we got in line only to be told the oven was broken! They hoped it would be working within another ten minutes. Luckily we waited at the booth because a long line formed behind us. Around 2:15 we finally got our pretzels and let me tell you, these were the freshest most delicious pretzels ever!

We dragged our packages, smoothies & pretzels toward the bus stop. We took a quick stop at the restroom then dragged ourselves to the bus stop. I was really tired at that point & was hoping for a second wind to kick in! Our bus came pretty quickly this time. Several AKL buses drove up before our bus finally arrived but it was still a pretty short wait. On the way “home” we stopped at Pleasure Island, The Swan, The Dolphin, BC & YC then finally the Boardwalk. It was about 3:30. We stopped at Character Carnival and picked up all of the packages we had sent back to the resort on Thursday & Friday.

After relaxing in the room for a bit & freshening up we headed back out to... Any guesses?

 

[Charleston Princess]

Hurray for shopping at DtD! I about died laughing over your "promise" ring! It's a very cute ring -- I like it a lot! Maybe I need one, too! All of your other purchases are great! It makes me want to go shopping!

I think you headed to the Magic Kingdom!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Oooo, I love all the things you bought! It's so much fun and sort of dangerous to the bank account balance to shop in Disney.

A fresh pretzel sounds sooo good right now. I actually skipped lunch on my girls' trip too and just had a pretzel. They are HUGE!!

I can't wait to see how you decided to spend your evening Amy.

 

[disneyfan61]

Your PP pics came out good!!

Love all the souvie pics I love those red bowls. I have the blue & white kitchen towels Your ring is very pretty.

I say you headed to MK.

 

[nowellsl]

I love your "promise ring"!!! I'm gonna look for one myself

I'm really enjoying your trip report! I followed you over here from someone elses report (can't remember which one) and I'm glad I did!

 

[jenjolt]

What a fun afternoon at DTD!! I love going over there and exploring and doing lots of shopping!!!

Hmmmm...pretzels and smoothies sound amazing!!!

I so want Mickey post-its!!!