Sorry Gaston, They are MUCH More Interesting Than You!*6/8* NEW Trip Report Link p154

[Nermel9]

Great update! Love the prom pictures! Is that girl your son's girlfriend? She's adorable, and I love her dress, it's very princess-y!

Aww, the ducks are too cute! I don't think that's true about a person touching them and the mother rejecting them, though...who knows? I guess it could be...but it seems like an awful lot of people touch the ducks in Disney, I think they are used to it!

I love your pictures of the Boardwalk and Beach Club!! I love that area so much!!!

Can't wait to see what you did on your solo evening!

 

[MEK]

Ack. All caught up sitting at the airport getting ready to board.

I hope you had a wonderful time!!!! Did you love the BWV? Did they do a morning tour? Were Todd and Paul there to great you? Details please!

Prom pictures look great.

Thanks!

Love the duck story too. Too cute.

OMG - those ducks were SOOOOOOOO cute! Definitely a trip highlight!

I will have to come back and comment more.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Tried to comment but having trouble getting it to "go".

Well guess what it went anyway.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

That happens to me all the time when I try to comment from my phone!

Great update! Love the prom pictures! Is that girl your son's girlfriend? She's adorable, and I love her dress, it's very princess-y!

Yup - that's his GF of 2.5 years, if you can believe it. She really is a lovely girl. They do make a cute couple! And, yes, her dress is very princess-y! It was even prettier in person.

Aww, the ducks are too cute! I don't think that's true about a person touching them and the mother rejecting them, though...who knows? I guess it could be...but it seems like an awful lot of people touch the ducks in Disney, I think they are used to it!

You right - it's just a myth. Those ducks were so, so cute. I wanted to help that little guy so bad, but mostly I think I was afraid I might scare him away.

I love your pictures of the Boardwalk and Beach Club!! I love that area so much!!!

So do I. That area is so perfect and it was such a lovely evening. It doesn't get much better than that.

Can't wait to see what you did on your solo evening!

Coming up soon. I am going to start writing that update tonight so stay tuned!

 

[MEK]

The Lone Traveler

Don't forget to check back for the results from the wet....err... I mean T-shirt Contest. I'm sure Cynthia will be posting soon.

So when I last left off I was here



So what's a girl to do besides eat!

Whatever I got first I didn't take a picture of. So food sample #1 is anyone's guess. What I do remember is that I got the ice wine in Canada. It was the size of a thimble. Literally a thimble. It was tasty, but I drank it lot a shot because the quantity was just too depressing.

Next on the food agenda



Followed by this



Between snacks I tried to watch a little bit of the acrobats in China



I couldn't find a good spot to stand. It was near the end of the performance





Yup - they were done



Then I walked to the nearest booth and got one more glass of wine.

The sun was starting to set and it looked like it was going to be an absolutely gorgeous site, so I found myself a table near Norway so I could rest my camera bag and take pictures.

First a cell phone picture


Camera pictures





























A view of the countries







Continued in Next Post...

 

[khertz]

Love the pictures from Nick's prom! What a cute couple. Love his date's dress.

And the HHI pictures were SO gorgeous! Love that you can visit some place so beautiful and still have the touch of Disney around you.

Aww, saying goodbye to Cynthia. I didn't "know" Cynthia before this TR, but I had a great time getting to "know" her through both of your posts!!

You got some great photos of the resorts, Mary Ellen. One day I will make the time to go check them out. One day!

And the ducks, oh my gosh, how adorable!

Can't wait to see how you spend your last evening in WDW!

 

[MEK]

Continued From Previous Post...



Looks like there was some official work going on out on the water.



The barges were all in place for tonight's festivities



After I watched the sunset I had a decision to make - should I stay for Illuminations or should I go to MK to close out the night?

Hmmmmmm - I didn't have to think about it very long. As much as I would have loved to see Illuminations from a private viewing area, I also really wanted to go to MK and ride some rides.

Good bye Norway



Good bye Spaceship Earth



Good bye Test Track (that hasn't been refurbed yet)



I think I sat on a bench here and called home to talk with Denny for awhile. I needed to make sure he knew what time to pick me up at the airport. By the time our conversation was over is was DARK out.



No - I didn't stop in here, but I certainly enjoyed looking at the awesome neon sign



Of course, my night would not be complete without some fountain pictures









In keeping with my fascination with neon lights











I think this is a cool touch on the monorail station



It was an uneventful monorail ride to the MK. All I remember is I got to sit and that's important after three glasses of wine (the ice wine doesn't count)

Soon enough I was here



I passed thought bag check uneventfully and then I was IN!



Clearly it was crowded



But I honestly didn't care. I was high on all the energy that was surrounding me.



Continued In Next Post.....

 

[MEK]

Continued From Previous Post...








Break









There was a whole park ahead of me, but the question was - which way first?

One thing I knew for sure….I wanted to get my ride on. I decided to see what the FP situation was like at two of the mountains. I headed straight back to Splash and Big Thunder I decided to grab a FP for Splash and take my chances in the standby line of BTMMR. My photos confirm that and, as I recall, BTMMR was practically a walk on. Yeah!

Exiting the ride.




Even though I had a Splash FP with a 9:20 return time, I decided to brave the stand by line. 10 minutes later I was in the back seat of a boat. Oh yeah - clearly I was ready to ride. Check out that back row! And yes - that IS a poncho. I wasn't taking any chances with getting wet. The boys can call me a sissy, but it was just too darn cool out to walk around wet. Luck was with me and the timing of the giant spray at the base of the mountain was off. I escaped with nearly a drop!



I did manage to get one decent cell phone pic on Splash and one "almost" decent picture. Zip id e do dah!





Up Next - Where does the solo traveler head next?

 

[MEK]

Love the pictures from Nick's prom! What a cute couple. Love his date's dress.

Thanks! Her dress was really beautiful. The pictures don't do it justice. And her shoes were super cute, but that picture didn't turn out at all.

And the HHI pictures were SO gorgeous! Love that you can visit some place so beautiful and still have the touch of Disney around you.

You said that perfectly - its a gorgeous place, full of nature, and yet you get to "come home" to the Disney touches. I love that.

Aww, saying goodbye to Cynthia. I didn't "know" Cynthia before this TR, but I had a great time getting to "know" her through both of your posts!!

Cynthia is an awesome roommate and I feel very fortunate to have met her through the DIS boards. We have been lucky to be able to share two trips with a third trip in the future.

You got some great photos of the resorts, Mary Ellen. One day I will make the time to go check them out. One day!

It's so hard when you have little kids. Resort hopping is definitely an adult activity and one that I really enjoy because there is so much beyond the parks.

And the ducks, oh my gosh, how adorable!

Those little babies were definitely a high light. I really enjoyed that interaction and still wish I had video.

Can't wait to see how you spend your last evening in WDW!

For being a solo traveler, I had a ton of fun!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

So what's a girl to do besides eat!

At Disney? Beats me. Can't think of anything.

The sun was starting to set and it looked like it was going to be an absolutely gorgeous site, so I found myself a table near Norway so I could rest my camera bag and take pictures.

Beautiful sunset!

My photos confirm that and, as I recall, BTMMR was practically a walk on.

Beautiful. Can't beat that.

Even though I had a Splash FP with a 9:20 return time, I decided to brave the stand by line. 10 minutes later I was in the back seat of a boat.

So the crowds weren't anywhere near Frontierland, I'm guessing.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Sunset in World Showcase during Food & Wine. Sigh. Definitely one of my favorite places! Gorgeous pictures, as always. Looks like you got a lot done that evening as a solo traveler!!

 

[KathyRN137]

I never ride Splash without a poncho and I don't care who knows it!!

The freedom of solo touring is intoxicating; you don't even need those thimblefulls of wine!!


Kathy

 

[marDgreen88]

BEAUTIFUL sunset pictures! Wow. As much as I love IllumiNations, on my last night I would have gone to MK too.

And you got to ride SPLASH! Yes, definitely a good decision.

 

[TarzansKat]

I love your pictures!!! Love, love, love them. I have a hard time picking favorites, but the sunset shots over the World Showcase lagoon are just beautiful.

You are a brave woman on Splash, I am too chicken to stick my hands up. As a matter of fact, I haven't been on that ride since my honeymoon...I must have taken pity on my DH, and the last time was almost 9 years before that. Apparently I go on it once every decade....which sadly means I must be due...

 

[jenseib]

Gorgeous evening. I used to not be a fan of park hopping when Claire was little, but last trip we did it and I loved going to another park for just a few more hours at night.

 

[MomToPrincePhillip]

Phew! After being away for 2 weeks, I'm all caught up! A lot happens around here in 2 weeks.

Congrats Mary Ellen on the new job, that must be a relief, I'm so happy you're going to make it to Orlando after all, I'm looking forward to that TR. I loved the pics of HHI and Nick's prom, thanks for sharing!

Cynthia, your Hawaii trip is getting sooo close! I'm looking forward to that TR too, I've got to still catch up on the other one.

 

[Poolrat]

I hope you had a wonderful time!!!! Did you love the BWV? Did they do a morning tour? Were Todd and Paul there to great you? Details please!

I do believe I did see an afternoon tour but did not get to do one myself .

Todd and Paul were there and they say " Hey"

I had a room almost all the way to the tennis courts. Being that the only elevators are near the lobby area, it was either walk up four flights of stairs from the quiet pool or backtrack to the center for the long hallway walk.

When coming from DHS and the pool it was stairs and when coming from EPCOT it was the elevator.


I liked BWV but still have a soft spot for BCV, but the points for a standard can't be beat for the location. I have done too many short trips lately and really need a longer one. That and home stress had an effect on this particular trip.


Now for the solo time ----- Isnt it amazing just to sit and watch a sunset like that!!! You ate, your drank, you rode. Great choices. They also shortented EMH to 2 hours, not sure how I feel about that yet. That last hour was always the best.

 

[teekathepony]

Ugh. I hate when the food and wine samplings are teeny tiny.
But otherwise, looks like some very yummy food,
Beautiful sunset pictures! Not too much better than a sunset in Epcot.
MK for the evening, eh? Nice. Very nice. LOVE your Splash photo!! Looks like a blast!!

 

[MHTeacher]

I am so behind, it's embarrassing! First, LOVE the prom pics. Your son and his date look fantastic.

Enjoyed looking at your last pictures of BWV and BCV. They're both such pretty resorts.

 

[GoofyFan1515]

Way too much to catch up on everything! Guess I am too late to the T-shirt contest party. I don't know the E's well enough yet to venture a guess, and I'm guessing the results will be posted before I can consider all the options. Maybe next time around.

I always hate last days. What is it about everyone trying to cram in their whole trip one last time the final night. Seems to work so much better just taking in the atmosphere, but you did get a lot done Mary Ellen. I always hate that exhausted feeling at the end of the trip when I'm heading home.......especially when I know I will be back again soon. Okay, who am I kidding............

Some really good resort pics and how great to get animal pics in the pool without having to be at AK or AKL.

I hope all you Mom's had a great Mother's Day!!!

 

[englishrose47]

Great Updates Mary Ellen !!! I really enjoyed my solo trips , it is sooo great to be in complete control !!! The pix of sunset at Epcot were amazing !!I started my Cruise TR by the way and link is in my siggie !!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

What a joyous thing to sit by yourself to watch the sunset & ponder what to do next. I love my DH, but sometimes I would love to be alone on vacation.

Beautiful sunset photos.