ShellieMay, Slinky Dog, and the SCRUNCHIEST Thanksgiving Ever! - A Nov 18 TR *FINISHED! 4/28*

[the2ndstar2theright]

All of that food looks and sounds sooo yummy, but I hate that you weren't feeling well!! It makes it really hard to enjoy a big meal like that when you're not feeling 100%. SO SWEET of Jason to box up your dessert, though!

 

[dolewhipdreams]

if we wanted to sit and have a drink at the bar, which we did

obvs

We were tucked in a corner, right up against the window. We couldn't have asked for a better view in the entire restaurant, it was so magical!

Wowza that is incredible!

However, as I was enjoying my amazing dinner at California Grill, my headache returned with a vengeance. I really thought I was going to throw up. I took some aspirin about 30 minutes before our dinner arrived, but I couldn't make it to dessert. My head hurt so bad, I needed to go to sleep. So I unfortunately left CG before dessert.

Aw poor bunny (I don't know you well enough to know what your sick spirit animal is so I just picked one?). So sorry your headache came back and was rude enough to interrupt dinner. Like seriously, it should know better.

Jason was nice enough to send my dessert home with my parents!

So sweet! Jason seems like a stand out fella. A real dime.

I'm glad you at least got to eat a nice meal before the pain monster came back!

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a great experience at CG! The view is amazing! But I'm so sorry you were feeling like crap

 

[Newsies]

All of that food looks and sounds sooo yummy, but I hate that you weren't feeling well!! It makes it really hard to enjoy a big meal like that when you're not feeling 100%. SO SWEET of Jason to box up your dessert, though!

It was such an amazing meal, but yeah-- the headache made things a little difficult! Jason was the greatest, he was so kind to box up something to go for me!!

obvs


Wowza that is incredible!


Aw poor bunny (I don't know you well enough to know what your sick spirit animal is so I just picked one?). So sorry your headache came back and was rude enough to interrupt dinner. Like seriously, it should know better.


So sweet! Jason seems like a stand out fella. A real dime.

I'm glad you at least got to eat a nice meal before the pain monster came back!

A drink was def. in order for the evening!

SUCH an incredible view, I still to this day can't believe it was ours!

I don't know what my sick spirit animal either but I LOVE bunny for me?!?!? It's mine now, thank you for enlightening me. SUCH a rude headache. But I was feeling better next morning, so all was not lost!

I should have #CastComplimented him, I kick myself now for not having done it that night!!

It was a really great meal, so the pain monster only won, like, a little bit.

Sounds like a great experience at CG! The view is amazing! But I'm so sorry you were feeling like crap

It was such an amazing experience with a stellar view! Having a headache was def. not ideal, but it was gone by the morning, so I still had a day of fun ahead of me!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Wow what a view at California Grill! I always seem to get seated on the exact opposite side of the restaurant lol

Thats such a shame about your headache! I've only ever been that sick where I couldn't do anything but sleep in Disney once and it was not fun at all. I'm glad it didn't snatch away your last full day though!

 

[evre13]

Your dinner at CG is making me sooooo excited about brunch there in a few weeks! So sorry you weren't feeling well, but I'm glad you were able to get back and go to sleep.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

Your Thanksgiving dinner at CG sounded amazing! Sorry you weren't feeling well, I hope the headache went away by the next morning!

 

[Newsies]

Wow what a view at California Grill! I always seem to get seated on the exact opposite side of the restaurant lol

Thats such a shame about your headache! I've only ever been that sick where I couldn't do anything but sleep in Disney once and it was not fun at all. I'm glad it didn't snatch away your last full day though!

I hope you get seated on the castle side next time you go!

It's the WORST feeling But I was up for rope drop the next morning!

Your dinner at CG is making me sooooo excited about brunch there in a few weeks! So sorry you weren't feeling well, but I'm glad you were able to get back and go to sleep.

Ooooh, I hope you enjoy brunch! Please let me know how it is!

I was really lucky to be feeling better after a night of sleep!

Your Thanksgiving dinner at CG sounded amazing! Sorry you weren't feeling well, I hope the headache went away by the next morning!

It was seriously one of the best meals of my life! Don't worry-- the headache was gone for rope drop!

 

[Newsies]

Day 5: Magic Kingdom/DHS
Extra Magic Power Hour
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So I woke up really early the next day, which was our last day in the parks.

I was feeling a LOT better, so I pulled myself up and got myself ready to go to Magic Kingdom for EMH that morning!

The monorail wasn't running yet when I arrived at the GCH, so I stopped at both Cap'n Cooks and Kona Island for a really nutricious breakfast: iced coffee and a rice krispie treat.

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Finally, the monorail came and picked me and one other family up. We ended up at MK about 40 minutes before the park was supposed to open for EMH guests. There were a few people already there, but I was towards the front of the pack, so all was good.

They let us into the park ~10/15 minutes before Fantasyland actually opened for us, so I took the opportunity to get pictures taken on Main St. while most people were waiting to get on 7DMT, which I decided would be out of the question for me.

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After going through 2 Photopass CMs, I decided it would probably behoove me to get ready to get into Fantasyland.

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... No comment necessary.

When EMH started, I decided I would head to Princess Fairytale Hall because I really wanted to meet Rapunzel!

There must have been a problem in the Hall (happens) on Punzie/Tiana's side, because we were waiting there for a good 5/10 minutes before they started letting people in, whereas people were just walking up to Cindy/Elena's room.

Sure enough, when we were finally let in, Punzie was nowhere to be seen. Yay for guest princesses!!! First I spoke to Tiana. I had to get the scoop on how her Thanksgiving day dinner went.

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She was such a sweetheart! She told me all about the great food she made for everyone the night before.

Up next was the visiting princess... Aurora! She really liked my ears.

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Honestly, I couldn't tell you what we talked about, but we must have been collaborating our minds to figure out some kind of problem.

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Then I decided to head to the other side of the hall, since there was still no wait for Cindy/Elena!

While I was there, I ran into my friend Mack! I met her a few years ago through Newsies on Broadway, and she did her Fall 2018 DCP as a Character Attendant in MK. It was so good to see her!

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First I met Cindy, who had some type of secret to share with me.

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I'm pretty sure this was about the Fairy Godmother using magic to make a bunch of pumpkin desserts for their Thanksgiving dinner.

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I moved onto Elena and once again, I really cannot for the life of me remember what we spoke about. Sorry! We were well past the point of this trip where I stop taking good notes, and now it's like four months after the fact. However, judging off of these pics, I can tell we had a lot of fun together! I can piece together that she was really engaging and bubbly, which is good.

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There were SO many pictures this morning, and they're all quite large, so I'm going to cut things here and do a second update later today.

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[Newsies]

The Most Photographed Morning Ever?
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When I was done with the hall, I decided to take a few pictures of some of the Fantasyland stores.

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With EMH burning, I decided to once again set sail on the happiest cruise.

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A tear was shed as I docked and parted from my favorite ride. I think I've ridden its a small world more times by itself than every other ride in WDW combined?

When I got off of it's a small world, I decided to hop over to Peter Pan's Flight just to see if my favorite coworker was around-- I was surprised to see he was helping guests prepare to board, so I hissed at him and he brought me up the FP+ to hug him! I hadn't seen him since I graduated my program, sinc he wasn't around when I visited Disney in 2017. This CM honestly helped me survive my college program, and I was thrilled to see he was promoted to a coordinator for the area-- I think he should be a manager. He let me go through the ride, and then I came back out and gave him another big bear hug before leaving him. It was genuinely one of the best moments from the trip

Afterwards, I headed back to Castle Couture to get pixie dusted. My friend Heather was behind the counter! Heather did her Fall 2018 program in Fantasyland Merchandise. We met through a blog we once wrote for. She gave me my pixie dust, and I went on my way once again.

I decided to head towards Tomorrowland. Another CM from my DCP was working at the FP+ entry to meet Ariel, so I stopped and said hello to her, too! She had great news going on in her life, so it was wonderful to catch up and let her know I was supporting her on her journey. She also allowed me to enter the FP+ line to meet Ariel.

LOOK at this photo that PP took:

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But I have nothing but love for my favorite princess!

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After Ariel, I eventually move onto Tomorrowland and enjoy a ride on the Peoplemover. What would a trip to Disney be without at least one go around the Peoplemover?!

After the Peoplemover, I saw on Twitter that another one of my friends had just clocked into work at Hundred Acre Goods, and I knew it was going to be a long day for him, so I went to visit him! His name is Franky, and I got some great photos of him!

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After I caught up with him, I knew the Fairy Godmother was due for a set, so I went to see her as well.

She asked me if I found my ears on "Fairy Godmother Etsy." I love her.

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I didn't have anything for her to sign, but she pulled out this little card for me and I seriously could not adore her any more! She is such a sweetheart!

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Then, I got a text from my parents saying they were at Cheshire Cafe, so I went to go meet with them.

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[PlutosRHM55]

What a most magical morning! You seem to be happier and healthier and it sounded like everything was going swimmingly at the Magic Kingdom. So glad to hear you ran into so many friends and had so many fabulous interactions (Fairy Godmother *happy sobs*). I'm excited to hear about the rest of this day because I'm pretty sure I remember you saying this was a really really great day for you, even if it was your last.

 

[missangelalexis]

Cute PP pics! And so many great character pics! Fairy Godmother is amazing and I love that she gave you that little card!

Sounds like you ran into a lot of old friends that morning, how awesome!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Sure seems to pay to know CMs haha! What a fabulous morning in MK!

I feel for you on that bad PP pic with Ariel. My pics with the Evil Queen from the Storybook Dining dinner are TERRIBLE. Not one good one. The CM apparently never waited for any of us to be ready to smile or anything so we look disasterous in all 4 of them lol I'm glad you have a good one though!

 

[Newsies]

What a most magical morning! You seem to be happier and healthier and it sounded like everything was going swimmingly at the Magic Kingdom. So glad to hear you ran into so many friends and had so many fabulous interactions (Fairy Godmother *happy sobs*). I'm excited to hear about the rest of this day because I'm pretty sure I remember you saying this was a really really great day for you, even if it was your last.

It was a seriously pixie-dusted morning! I was 100% healthier and 100000% happier! Fairy Godmother was a doll as usual, and I didn't realize I had so many friends who still worked at MK until I got there! I had a really fabulous rest of the day for sure, can't wait to update!

Cute PP pics! And so many great character pics! Fairy Godmother is amazing and I love that she gave you that little card!

Sounds like you ran into a lot of old friends that morning, how awesome!

Thank you so much! I had a great time with characters that day! Fairy Godmother is a darling!!

I seriously didn't even process how many people I met that morning until I was writing that update and I was like, "... Huh. I guess I DO have friends!"

Sure seems to pay to know CMs haha! What a fabulous morning in MK!

I feel for you on that bad PP pic with Ariel. My pics with the Evil Queen from the Storybook Dining dinner are TERRIBLE. Not one good one. The CM apparently never waited for any of us to be ready to smile or anything so we look disasterous in all 4 of them lol I'm glad you have a good one though!

It was such an amazing morning!!

Oh, YIKES! Evil Queen is such a great meet, too! I'm sure that was disappointing!

 

[FantasiaMagic]

That's great to hear you were feeling better that morning!

Love all the character photos

And that is so nice you were able to see some old friends!!!

 

[Newsies]

That's great to hear you were feeling better that morning!

Love all the character photos

And that is so nice you were able to see some old friends!!!

Thank you so much!!!

Running into friends was definitely one of the highlights of this trip!!!

 

[Newsies]

Bea Star's Parting Sentiments
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I skedaddled over to Cheshire Cafe where my parents said they were. The family decided that we would go to The Wave for dinner that night, so I quickly booked that reservation and had a bite of a snack credit they were sharing. They finally got to try the Cheshire Cat tail pastry, which I thought was OK, then I told them I was going to dip out of MK. I wanted to pack my suitcase and eat lunch before we left for DHS that afternoon.

So I'm walking out of Magic Kingdom, reminiscing on our wonderful week coming to an end. I'm walking down Main St. USA, and I'm about to pass the theatre when all of a sudden, I'm stopped by a citizen of Main St.-- Bea Star. She stops me to compliment my shirt, and I thank her very much. Then she asks me if I'm celebrating anything, and so I tell her I'm celebrating Thanksgiving.

"What were you thankful for yesterday?" She asked.

I don't know if it's the fact that I'm leaving MK for the last time this trip, but I get all tear-eyed, and I'm like, "I'm just thankful to be here."

So she adores this, and she takes me by the hand.

"I get all misty-eyed when I'm here, too. Let me show you some of my favorite decorations."

So she walks me into Uptown Jewelers and for about two minutes, we're just slowly walking through the store, and she's quietly pointing out all of her favorite decorations. It was one of the most tender moments I've ever experienced in a Disney Park in my entire life. I'm wiping tiny tears away as we amble through the store and I snap this picture of her favorite garland. It's not my best photo, albeit her favorite ornament is the dangly white and gold one towards the bottom:

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We exit through the side door and she starts to show me some of the windows outside of the store-- she points out all of the displays in the windows and starts talking about her life on stage, how she loved being on Broadway, etc. and then we get to this window where she claims her wedding dress is held.

This next part, swear on my life, is almost verbatim the life advice she gave me--

"Do you think you'll ever get married?" She asked.

"If I find the right person." I told her.

"That's a great attitude to have! I know you'll find the right person because you have so much love to give. Know how I know that? Because you wear your heart on your sleeve, I could tell because you were gettin' all misty-eyed when I asked you what you were thoughtful for. But here's my advice to you-- don't just look for the right person. Be the right person. Let's say you're courtin' someone and they like to go... water skiing! Give it a shot! You might like it, and you might like them even better!"

I genuinely could not have made that dialogue up if I wanted to. It was just such an unexpected and sweet moment, I loved it so much. Then she got the CM who was working that shadow portrait stand to take our picture on my camera:

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She encouraged me to mail the photo to her, which I have yet to do, but I swear on my life I will accomplish before my next trip rolls around.

When that was all said and done, we parted ways with a friendly hug and a few words of affirmation from both parties, and I left Magic Kingdom en route to the Contemporary Resort.

I always have some amazing form of interaction with CMs towards the end of my vacations-- see also, my last M&G with Mickey Mouse in 2015, another last M&G with Mickey Mouse in January 2017, and Fernanda who sold me my unicorn pinata in July 2017. This was another really unexpected and beautiful moment, and a memory I will treasure for the rest of my life. I love the Citizens of Main St. USA! Please stop and talk to Bea Star if and when you run into her, she's so lovely and I feel like she's so underrated.

I went to the Contemporary to grab some lunch, but they weren't serving lunch for another 15 minutes, so I just grabbed a Peanut Butter Pie since I was already over there, then took the monorail over to the Poly. There, I was able to grab some actual lunch, a cheeseburger and those amazing chips. I ate my lunch in the room, and almost as soon as I was finished eating, my family came back to the room.

We finished packing our bags, and then we headed to Hollywood Studios! The bus ride over was... interesting. We were stopped at the Grand Floridian for like 15 minutes so the driver could assist a guest with a scooter, and the guest was NOT happy about her morning at Magic Kingdom. She was like: and we were like:

At Hollywood Studios, we immediately met up with some family who had just arrived at the parks! My uncle, aunt, and one of my favorite cousin were there (her older sister was the one who convinced me to do the disney college program!) They bought DVC a long, long time ago. I think they were part of the first batch of contracts at Old Key West! We had an hour until SDD, so we had a drink at the bar outside of Hollywood Derby, and then we got a Mickey pretzel. The line to buy both was pretty long, but my cousin and I were talking and laughing during the entire ordeal! I ordered a cranberry vodka, which was exactly what was needed to battle today's crowds

When we were finished with our drinks, we headed over to TSL as a group. We stopped to talk to the DVC expert just outside of TSL because my dad and my uncle are two peas in a pod in that they both have to stop and talk to everybody they see.

At TSL, we got a group photo taken!

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We said our goodbyes after that, and then it was FINALLY my family's turn to experience SDD. What was the verdict?

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Everyone LOVED it! It's dad's new favorite ride. Grace was laughing the entire time. It's definitely a new fan favorite!

When that was said and done, we went to the bathroom and then headed to Sunset Ranch Market. We were all hungry, but it was kind of close-ish to dinner, so we split some nuggets and fries. When that was all wrapped up, we went to Mickey's of Hollywood so I could get a gift for my roomie, Austin. His birthday was coming up, so I bought him a denim-looking Spirit Jersey that he had been pining over.

Finally, we left Hollywood Studios... but we didn't get far from the gate before we saw Snow White and Dopey!

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We LOVE the unnamed and totally random M&Gs outside of Hollywood Studios preceding a nighttime performance of Fantasmic!

We took the bus back to the Poly and finished packing our suitcases, then we basically just sat around for about 40 minutes before it was time to head to dinner at the Contemporary.

We headed over to the monorail and soared over to the Contemporary. Once we got off the monorail, Grace essentially turned around and got right back on-- she decided she wasn't feeling well, so she went back to the resort to lay down

The Wave was a very uneventful meal for my parents and I. Super quiet and low-key. For those of you who have never been to The Wave: it's one of our recent favorites. It's very relaxed, and we enjoy the food here. I had a glass of red wine that I thought was good. The bread service was outstanding as usual, it's like a sprouted grain bread with butter that's topped with sea salt (mom goes CRAZY for the sea salt butter). I had the grilled beef tenderloin, which is one of my favorites!

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I really love the cut of beef they used, and it was cooked perfectly. Once again, the mashed potatoes (which they may share with California Grill) were just outstanding-- the highlight of the meal! It's also served with a Red Wine Reduction that makes everything at least 30% more delicious.

We shared a sampler for dessert:

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This was a chocolate flight, with chocolate croissant bread pudding, brownie creme brulee, and german chocolate cake. The croissant bread pudding was good, but we all agreed that the brownie creme brulee was the best!

Once we were finished with dinner, we quickly stopped at the BLT Gift Shop to use up some snack credits. We got two birthday Mickey scones and two gingerbread men, then made our way back to the Poly.

I took a shower and we all went to sleep, concluding our final day at Walt Disney World Resort!

Coming up next: the last installment (a brief travel document).

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[FantasiaMagic]

That story about your fantastic CM encounter was just beautiful to read about. Great advice too! What a fantastic way to end your last day at MK

I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed SDD! That ride is just amazing!!!
How fun you were able to meet up with some family as well

I LOVE this! I'm very jealous you were able to get a picture of Snow White and Dopey together!

This looks delicious!

I also really enjoy the Wave. It is a very underrated restaurant on property. I have done their breakfast and lunch while there, but this picture makes me want to try dinner in the near future!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I love reading that story of your little stroll with Miss Bea. Loved it when you posted it on Insta and loved it texting with you because I was emo about it and had to tell you. What a truly magical way to end your trip. Like I'm jealous.

How fun to meet up with your extended family and get all those cute group shots together then ride Slinky Dog! Precious.

Awww, y'all look so adorable with Dopey and Snow! FantMeet for the win!

The Wave looks and sounds so delicious. Too bad Grace wasn't feeling well enough to enjoy this one, but I'm glad y'all had a good experience in her absence.

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

Absolutely adored that story with Bea! What a lovely way to round out your trip.

Awww I'm so sad that your TR is coming to an end! It's been so fun to read about your trip!