The Princess and the Knave take on the World! Complete with pics!

[GoofyBaby]

After our Jungle Cruise excursion, we headed over to catch the Country Bear Jamboree and I snapped a picture of the Haunted Mansion along the way. . .

And what do you know, there were Brer Fox and Brer Bear! They were very mischevious. . .

We had about 15 minutes before the next Country Bears show, so I headed into a nearby shop to look at pins. . .a very nice CM came up to me with a large board full of pins and gave me 30 seconds to pick one. . .this is called speed trading and it was a lot of fun! I was able to quickly make a choice within the time frame and was presented with a dream certificate for speed trading! Awwww!

Finally it was time for the show. . .no flash pictures were allowed until the finale, which are what these pictures are of. . .I was glad they allowed pictures at the end!

And on our way out. . .it was a really cute show and I was so glad we were able to catch it!

After the show we goofed around in Liberty Square. . .Here is Liberty Tree Tavern, where we had dined the previous week. . .

And the Liberty Bell. . .

And the Liberty Tree itself. . .see all the lanterns in the tree?

Hey, where’d my horse go?

We decided to head back over to Main Street, and on the way I caught another angle of Cinderella Castle. . .I don’t you can ever take enough pictures of it!

 

[GoofyBaby]

And then I found the old Fantasyland queue of the Skyway. . .I miss that ride so much!

We had ventured into one of the Main Street shops where we found the Dapper Dans! I ran up to them and asked if they would take a photo with me. . .well, not only did they do that, they serenaded me with “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes!” How magical! I was trying very hard not to cry. . .

He was trying to be in the limelight! Hehehe!

These guys are so much fun and they are extremely talented. Please don’t miss them when you are in the Magic Kingdom. You’ll just love them! I know I do!

After my serenade, James bought me a chocolate covered Mickey pretzel, which was delicious! I can’t eat too much sugar, but this was small enough that I didn’t have any reaction to it, thank goodness! It was really good!

As I was eating my pretzel, we saw the Family Fun Day parade pass by on Main Street! This is a parade that guests can participate in, using hula hoops and pom-poms, walking and mingling right along with the characters! How fun!

 

[GoofyBaby]

After the parade, we headed back over to Tomorrowland. . .

Where we hopped on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. I have loved this ride ever since my very first visit to WDW in 1997!

I found this sign to the women’s restroom amusing!

And then we saw PUSH the talking trash can! He was so funny, talking to the little kids around him. . .I was kinda hoping he’d talk to me and I stayed close by, but alas, he did not. No matter, though. . .I still enjoyed his mini show! It’s really funny to see a trash can moving about the park!

By this time I was really hot and tired, so we made our way to the front gate, but not before I spotted Pinocchio villain Gideon the Cat! He was J Worthington Foulfellow’s bumbling sidekick. . .but he was a gentleman with me!

I snapped this picture of the gate on the way out. . .

And we caught the ferry back to the Polynesian. . .I can never get enough monorail photos!

Not wanting to go rest just yet, we walked around the grounds where we hadn’t been yet (the Aotearoa & Tuvalu side), taking photos. . .

See the yellow smiley face on the top left? That is a parasailer! I want to try that someday!

 

[GoofyBaby]

The other side of Tuvalu. . .

The wedding pavilion. . .

More beautiful Polynesian flowers. . .

And the marina. . .

We went inside to cool off and I goofed around with the tiki outside BouTiki. . .

Not sure what I was doing here, but I found it amusing!

Ahh, that’s better!

He’s smiling at me!

And I couldn’t pass this photo up, as I love Lilo & Stitch! Surf’s up!

And I snapped some photos of the gorgeous lobby area. . .

Finally, it was time to head back to our room, where to my surprise, I found the best towel animal yet – a bunny! I loved it so much that James went to the front desk and asked he if could buy it. But the CM said that it was a gift for us to take home with us! Awwwww! I named her Flora, in honor of the lovely crocodile we baby-sat during our trip. . .

 

[GoofyBaby]

And then it was time to rest for a couple of hours, which I was very happy to be able to do. . .those two hours went fast and it only seemed like I was asleep for about 10 minutes, but then it was time to get up and head back to the Magic Kingdom because I was NOT missing seeing Wishes in the park tonight! It had eluded me twice before on this trip, but not tonight! So we caught the monorail back to the park. . .

Where James and I were the only ones in our car, so we took the opportunity to goof off! Gee, we’re really good at that!

When we got to the park, we headed over to the Carousel of Progress, which we hadn’t seen previously. . .

But halfway through, I developed a horrible, nagging, hard cough that wouldn’t go away and I couldn’t stop coughing! I was disrupting the show for everyone and I felt so guilty that I got up to exit the show. . .James was right behind me and we stepped outside to the sidewalk, where I continued to cough HARD. . .I couldn’t stop! I was really scared because I didn’t know what was going on, but I was even more scared when a CM came running up to us yelling for us to leave right away – our exiting had caused the entire Carousel of Progress to come to a complete stop! OOPS! I was so completely embarrassed and so apologetic. James explained what was going on as I was still coughing and the CM was understanding, but still insisted that we had to move on or the show could not be restarted, so we made sure we completely excited the attraction and James bought me some water that I chugged down in a New York minute and then he gave me a couple of throat lozenges, which seemed to do the trick. . .we didn’t get to see the whole show, so we got back in line again and I was praying to God that this cough wouldn’t come back! Thank goodness it didn’t and we were able to enjoy the whole show the second time around. . .we really did enjoy it!


I was delighted to find Buzz Lightyear after the show. . .

And then I found this phone booth that talked to you when you pressed the different buttons! And each message was different! I spent quite a few minutes entertaining myself!

Then it was time for our dinner ADR at the Plaza on Main Street. . .this is a very small & quaint restaurant that we really enjoyed, with the exception of one thing. . .the service was extremely slow. It took us over an hour and a half to get out of there, when it should have only taken about 45 minutes. I am not sure why it took so long, perhaps they were understaffed? But our waitress was very sweet. . .

I ordered the veggie sandwich. . .

And James ordered the angus burger. . .

Both of our meals were delicious! We would love to come back here if the service could be sped up a little. . .after our dinner, I was determined to have a brownie fudge sundae, because I hadn’t been able to enjoy many treats on this trip due to my health issues. . .

Well, I shouldn’t have enjoyed this treat either because I suffered for two hours afterward with a pounding heart and chest pain. . .AARRGGH! Sometimes I just want to be normal and get to enjoy all the wonderful treats you can find at Disney, but then my body rebels and tells me otherwise. . .as delicious as that sundae was, it wasn’t worth the suffering I had to endure. . .so from now on, it will be very small treats!

It was starting to get dark after we finally left the Plaza, so we rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority one more time and then snapped some night pictures of the castle. . .

 

[GoofyBaby]

I had the Photopass photographer snap a picture of James and me. . .

And then she let me do a princess pose in front of the castle! Awwww!

Finally it was time for the SpectroMagic parade to start and since we’d been trying to cram everything we could into our last day, we did not have time to scout out a great spot, but it was okay. . .my night pictures are horrible, since I am still learning the settings on my camera, and I hope they will be better on my next trip!

 

[GoofyBaby]

And then it was time for Wishes! Finally, I got to see it in the park! We found a great spot right next to Casey’s and I thoroughly enjoyed this fabulous show. . .of course I cried! I cried because I was happy and I cried knowing I had to leave early the next morning to go back to the real world. . .but I would never forget this night.

 

[GoofyBaby]

And just as soon as it began, it was over. . .that was it. . .no more rides in the park, no more character greetings, no more wonderful ADRs to look forward to. I just broke down and cried. HARD. I just wasn’t ready for my trip to be over! James promised me we’d return for a long trip in the future, which was so sweet of him. But these past two weeks went by so fast it only seemed like two days. I was so sad my dream trip was over. . .

One last Photopass picture. . .

After Wishes was over James let me just sit in front of the castle, listening to the Main Street music and watching Cinderella Castle change colors over and over and over again. I just couldn’t let it go! It was so hard.

After what seemed like an hour, I slowly and drudgingly made the walk to the front gate and onto the monorail one last time. I was so tired from the long day and the emotion of it all, but I wasn’t ready to hang it up just yet. I spent another hour just sitting on the balcony of our room and then I fell asleep watching my beloved Channel 96 one last time.

The next morning, before it was time to meet Bob with Sunray to take us to MCO, I snapped a few final pictures. . .

And then we were off to MCO, where I promptly fell asleep once we’d boarded the plane and I dreamed of the next time I’d walk through my beloved Disney Gates, which will be in October with my dear friend Jen, where we will be meeting up with several other DIS members for a MNSSHP DIS meet! I am counting the days!


The End.

 

[tinkerbell87512]

Looks like you had a wonderful trip!!! Truly a trip of a lifetime! I just loved reading about your adventure and looking at all your great pictures. Thanks so much for sharing them.

Almost 2 more months till our meet in October! I'm looking forward to meeting you and everyone else.

 

[the_princess]

i love your pics.....

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Carol,

What a wonderful trip! You two looked like you had so much fun in the parks and goofing around with the characters. You took such wonderful pictures and combined with your engaging writing it really made your trip come alive. I too am sad that your trip ended as now we will have to wait until October when hopefully you will be writing another wonderful trip report for us to enjoy. Wishing you a magical day filled with lots of pixie dust!

 

[Jennifer48]

Aww I'm so sad to see that its over. Your trip report was so much fun to follow along with. You had great photos and great friends. Thank you for sharing your trip and I can't wait to read about your future trip with Jen!

Jen will be in my thoughts and prayers for a speeding recovery.

 

[mymainmouse]

What an awesome trip report! I am sad that it is over. Your pictures were really neat to look at. Thank you for posting. I hope you have a fantastic trip in October!
Kelly

 

[Ness2289]

I absolutely LOVED your trip report. I can only imagine how fun it must be hanging around with you in the World! Your pictures were wonderful and made me want to go purchase a new camera! I can't wait to get to the Polynesian in 2008!!! Thanks for the great report!

 

[rentayenta]

OMGosh, what a truly magical last night.

I almost cried reading about it. The photos are amazing and I have SO enjoyed reading your report. I know I will go through a very similar let down when our trip ends too.

 

[mikep_97]

Every page was wonderful!! Thank you for sharing so much of yourself and your magical trip. Your TR has gotten me hooked on DIS. Thanks!

 

[jnjusoioa]

Carol, my dear, sweet friend!!! Oh my goodness, your last day just sounds so wonderful and I loved all your photos. I loved what a great time you had with Alice and the Mad Hatter!!! They look like so much fun. I am so looking forward to our trip in October, we are just going to have the trip of a lifetime!!! I loved the photo of the little bird eating the popcorn, how cute!!! It sounds like your trip was so wonderful, I can't wait to be back in the world with you my very dear friend. Also can't wait when we finally make it to DL.

 

[whogirl'smom]

Oh, I hate that it's over!! I've really enjoyed this whole trip report so much!!! We will be at MNSSHP on Oct. 8th, so we'll just miss being able to be part of the meet--we arrive on the night of the 6th. I really do hope you do another TR on your Oct. trip. Oh, and don't feel bad about the Spectro pictures; I read on the photo board (I think) that it's really impossible to shoot it in focus unless you have a tripod and a DSL camera because of the movement, being nighttime and the bright lights all in one picture. So, I think I'm just going to sit back and relax for a change and not try to get the "perfect" picture like I usually do. I have to say your last picture of the castle with the fireworks was just beautiful!

When are you actually going to be at Pop? Maybe our dates will cross--we're there from Oct. 6-13th. Again, loved, loved your report!

Jamie

 

[KayleeUK]

Thank you for sharing your trip with us

 

[Goofyluver]

What a great ending darlin'! Thank you so much for sharing!!! I'll be signing on for your next one!