The Solo Trip Which Led to a Vinylmation Addiction!** COMPLETE 4/8

[petals]

joining in. Luving all your pics so far. Was is weird being solo in Disney. I really want to go to WDW but nobody will come with me. I'd go myself but have reservations because i'm so far away from it like

 

[RachelNinja]

At first, I wasn't enticed by Be Our Guest, but as I see more reviews of it, I really want to try some things that they offer. I wonder if by the time I go back possibly next year in February if the lines and crowds will be lower!

Yay for an annual pass!!!

 

[rachel09985]

I just want to apologize. Photobucket has issues resizing pictures lately and I am not sure if these are resized or not.

After I saw the big BTG I was on a mission to find the couture ears. They were limited time ears and they looked cute in the pictures. I found them right in the specialty ear shop where they sew your name on.

These ones were my favorite!! I was very tempted to get them but I didn't.

The clouds looked really cool so I wanted to take a picture of the tree. The tree is horrible underexposed but the clouds look cool.

The obligatory balloon shot!

I decided I should probably have a picture of myself to prove I was in Disney! Plus TR with just scenery is boring so I needed more pictures with people in it. So here I am!

After my photography fun I went shopping but first looked in the windows on Main Street.

I loved these windows that were mini models of the Disney Christmas Carol with Mickey and Scrooge McDuck. Corey and I watched it this year so I wanted to take pictures to show him.

Next stop was the jewelry store on Main Street! I forget what it is called but it has a lot of nice jewelry, Dooney's and other collectibles.

I bought myself a present here! A Chamilia Mickey swirl bead! It was pretty pricey but it makes my bracelet complete. I put the mickey swirl as the center.

I found something else I want: This Disney dooney.

I like it because it is a nylon material and not leather. I feel like their leather bags are too stiff.

Next I went in the Emporium and bought myself a shirt. I am not sure where the pic is but I will post it later.

I saw Minnie hangin' around

I wonder if a CM did this?

It was close to my time to head to my dinner at Artist Point when all of a sudden I realized this would be my last time to take pictures of New Fantasyland during the daylight!! I freaked out so I rushed over there to take more pictures of FLE.

Not without a few street shots and a portrait of myself, of course.

This photopass photographer annoyed me. I told him I didn't want a photopass card. I wasn't getting photopass this trip and he insisted on giving me a card and said that his photo would be better than mine because of his settings. I am not buying a photopass picture of myself so I told him no I don't want a card. He told me the pictures he took on my camera weren't good.

It looks fine to me!


Hmpph! FLE photos up next!

 

[rachel09985]

Just catching up because I'm real behind!

A little fun fact about that pirate guy, I am also afraid of him as a child I thought his leg would fall off and land in my lap. Recently I learned that the hair on his legs is actually real

Oh be our guest, what a beautiful place. I had the same problem with with opening my cupcake when I went. I don't get why they decided to go with those wrappers.
Oh my goodness!!! How is the floor already falling apart?

yay yay yay for another trip planned and getting an annual pass!

Hahahah about the leg falling off! That is gross that the hair is real!!! I have no idea why the floor is falling apart already. I am soo excited about the AP!

Just getting caught up on your last few updates!

Didn't you love Be Our Guest? I thought it was so amazing! Such a beautiful restaurant! I had the Croque Monsieur too, and I loved it! The fries were good, you should have tried them! They weren't your typical Disney fries, they had some seasoning on them that's really good!

Congrats on your AP! I was tempted to upgrade my park hopper to an AP when I was just in Disney, but I decided against it, on the slim chance that I wouldn't be going back this year! I LOVED having an AP!

I wanted to meet Rapunzel, but we just didn't have time! I'm glad she spent a lot of time with you, I like when the characters spend just as much time with adults as they do with the kids!

Yes BOG was fun! I don't think my fries were seasoned. I love when the characters spend time with adults too! As cute as it is to spend time with little kids they def need to spend time with adults too. I love Rapunzel. I love how spunky she is.

joining in. Luving all your pics so far. Was is weird being solo in Disney. I really want to go to WDW but nobody will come with me. I'd go myself but have reservations because i'm so far away from it like

It was weird for the first couple of meals but then I quickly got over it. I wrote in a journal during my meals. It was weird walking around by myself but I was okay about it because I could pretty much do whatever I wanted.

At first, I wasn't enticed by Be Our Guest, but as I see more reviews of it, I really want to try some things that they offer. I wonder if by the time I go back possibly next year in February if the lines and crowds will be lower!

Yay for an annual pass!!!

I know about the annual pass!! yay! I am not enticed by BOG dinner but lunch I am. I just won't want to pay extra for dinner when you can see it at lunch. Also, this is crazy but it makes me so mad about their dessert offerings at dinner. I can't believe they have cupcakes and creme puffs for dessert and they are the same for lunch. I am a huge dessert person so I might consider going if they had a unique dessert menu at dinner.

 

[UGAFan0829]

Rachel, do you mind if I ask which Vera backpack you were using?? I love that pattern by the way!!

 

[MEK]

My son and I were on a college tour yesterday and I just realized that you look so much like our tour guide.

I, too, like your backpack.

And - yes - your PP pic on your camera turned out great. I just take the stupid card even when I know I not purchasing PP. I think it shuts them up.

 

[marDgreen88]

I love obligatory balloon pictures! Who cares if you've seen them hundreds of times, they're always so pretty!

Love the rows of Minnie and Mickey stuffed animals. They always look so soft and cute all piled together like that.

 

[rachel09985]

So where I left off I just realized I had to go back to new fantasyland to take photos before it was still light out and I had to do it in a hurry!

The photopass photographer just took my photo and he retook it with flash because he thought that would help. Here is the flash photo.

It was so weird that the castle lights were on this early. I didn't know if they played the lighting show or not after christmas and I guess they don't because it wasn't played tonight.

It looked very weird with the lights on and not dark out.

I made it Fantasyland and took pictures of everything but only will post the pretty ones!

I saw Gaston with not a long wait so I stood in line. When it was my turn I told Gaston that I wished my boyfriend had as big of muscles as him! He said, "Doesn't everyone wish that??" Haha sooo arrogant! This is literally the worst picture of me in the entire world so please pass by quickly!

I had my 50mm lens on which is a relatively zoomed lens and I told her she just had to get our faces in but she literally went all the way back to get our whole bodies in!

I wasn't impressed with the selection of merchandise in here. It is pretty merchandise but I can't see a lot of people buying things from here.

Storybook circus was pretty with the lights on.

Since I took all of my photos, I left to go to dinner. Of course I stopped to take more pictures on the way!!

I decided to take the boat to Wilderness Lodge and when I got there there wasn't anyone else in line. Shortly another couple came in and started talking about the GF DVC. I chimed in because they said a question I could answer and then I said something about how nobody would be able to afford them because they are so expensive. They didn't really say anything after that. On the boat I saw her wedding ring and it was a huge diamond! Well, I guess they could afford the GF DVC! Maybe that is why they stopped talking! Haha. I put my foot in my mouth with that!

We finally got on because we had to be put on another boat. They had to use our boat for the monorail because the monorail broke down. It worked out for us because the WL was the first stop!

It was an absolutely gorgeous night. The sky was so rich and saturated!

People getting redirected from the monorail

I love how you can see the castle in between the trees. You can even tell it is lit up.

Before I knew it we were at Wilderness Lodge. I really think boat is my favorite transportation at WDW. It is soooo peaceful.

 

[rachel09985]

Rachel, do you mind if I ask which Vera backpack you were using?? I love that pattern by the way!!

I think it is the Bookbag! I like it too. It is a great size.

My son and I were on a college tour yesterday and I just realized that you look so much like our tour guide.

I, too, like your backpack.

And - yes - your PP pic on your camera turned out great. I just take the stupid card even when I know I not purchasing PP. I think it shuts them up.

Thats so funny! What college? Haha I should have taken it. I would have just thrown them away.

I love obligatory balloon pictures! Who cares if you've seen them hundreds of times, they're always so pretty!

Love the rows of Minnie and Mickey stuffed animals. They always look so soft and cute all piled together like that.

Balloon pictures are the best!! I love them! Especially when you get the castle behind them. I know I want to jump on the stuffed animals! If you have ever been to Disney stores you know they pile the stuffed animals on that tree looking thing. I always wanted to jump on those!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

I'm just joining in now, I hope I'm not too late. I'm particularly interested in your solo trip since I've been considering it myself, but I'm a little apprehensive. Your pictures look amazing!

 

[rachel09985]

I'm just joining in now, I hope I'm not too late. I'm particularly interested in your solo trip since I've been considering it myself, but I'm a little apprehensive. Your pictures look amazing!

Of course you aren't too late!

It is really nice to do a solo trip. Mine was only a long weekend trip so it wasn't too bad. I think it might be a bit boring to do do a long solo trip but a long weekend is perfect. It is nice because no one forces you do anything.

 

[rachel09985]

I think my reservation for Artist Point was at 5:30pm and I got there right on time.

I checked in at the podium and asked them to tuck me into a corner. I was relatively nervous to be eating on my own as my first two meals were with Emmebear! I didn't want to be out in the open and have people look at me and feel bad for me because I was alone at Disney. That wouldn't have happened but I still don't like to stick out.

Here was my view. It was very empty as it was early.

These pretty little lanterns were on the table.

I should note this is my first disney signature ever! I like all foods but my bf is a meat and potatoes kind of guy so he doesn't really venture out. We are stuck with the usual when we go to Disney. Luckily Emmebear and I are venturing out a bit in April

My server was Rae and she was a cute tiny girl that was pretty young.

She brought the bread which is a multigrain with a butter with black sea salt and a hazelnut olive oil. The bread wasn't great but the butter was good with the sea salt and the hazelnut olive oil was great although it lacked a hazelnut flavor, I thought. The bread was too hard on the crust for me.

I knew I wanted to start with the Smokey Portobello Soup ($10).

This had a great mushroom flavor but the soup was lukewarm. I am not sure if it was supposed to be lukewarm but I like my soup hot and this was not hot. I should have sent it back. It had a great portobello creamy flavor though. I didn't like the smoked portobello mushrooms in the soup. They were way too big and too chewy.

I contemplated getting wine but decided on a regular old Diet Coke.

It is so cute that she gave me a mickey straw! Is that the norm at signature restaurants?

For my entree I couldn't decide. I wanted the scallops because it came with butternut squash risotto but she talked to me into the buffalo strip steak. She suggested medium rare so I went along with her.

The buffalo strip steak came with collared greens and truffle mac and cheese.

Sorry for the horrible picture of the steak and mac and cheese.

I didn't care for the buffalo strip steak because of the temp it was cooked, which was totally my fault. I should have had it medium. It was way toooo bloody, almost purple!! It is unappetizing to me to see blood all over a plate and this is how this plate was. It also turned my mac and cheese pink on the bottom

The truffle mac and cheese was soooo good. I don't really know what truffle tastes like(besides Lindt truffles, lol) I think it is a mushroom?? But this mac and cheese was so good and creamy and light. It is hard to make a mac and cheese light but this was!

The collared green were yuck! I don't like collard greens so I had one bite to confirm I don't like them.

I should note that I was out of a drink for the entire first half of my meal. It was really frustrating to not have a refreshment while I see her chatting away to another table for 5 minutes! How hard is it to give good service to one person?? that was my only complaint, other than that she was really nice and good.

She let me order the butternut squash risotto as a side dish on my dining plan!!

I had butternut squash risotto at The Wave and thought it would be similar because I loved The Wave "risotto".

Unfortunately this didn't taste anything like it. This was very bitter and not sweet at all. I am so glad I didn't get the scallops and just got a side of this. I didn't care for this at all. The cranberries on top were tasty but that was it.

For my dessert I got the artist point cobbler. Housemade cobbler with seasonal berries and black raspberry ice cream.

This was heaven!!! Probably one of the top 3 of desserts I have had at Disney. The cobbler was so fresh and hot and tasted delicious with the raspberry ice cream. The berries were soo fresh and perfect and no imperfections at all. The cobbler was chock full of blueberries and they were delicious. The bottom of the cobbler was a little undercooked but it was heaven. It was perfect that way. It was like eating a doughy cookie on the bottom. My only complaint was the ice cream was a bit icey.

I crave this dessert. I want it again someday.

All in all my meal was $78.80, 2 credits. I guess she accidently charged my 4 credits because when I went to check out the next day he said I had no credits left for table service. I was like Umm no, that is not right! That is when he realized I was charged twice. Thank god I checked out, even though I didn't have to, because I had no room charges. Otherwise I would have never known until I got ready to pay at lunch where they would have said I have no credits!

It was definitely a good meal. I would probably rate it 7/10. Negatives were being out of a drink for half of my meal, lukewarm soup, undercooked steak, and bad tasting risotto. I know two of those I could have done something about it, so I am not taking it out on them!

High points were the mickey straw, truffle mac and cheese, and the cobbler!!

 

[MEK]

It is so cute that she gave me a mickey straw! Is that the norm at signature restaurants?

I don't know - I always have wine and it never comes with a Mickey straw! My DH and I did get a light up tinkerbell and mcqueen when we were there for our anniversary.

I'm sorry you meal left a few things to be desired. I've heard that soap is great, although I've never tried it. As far as blood on my plate - I'm with you - I don't care for that.

I also can't believe you couldn't get a refill on your soda and you were charged twice.

 

[afnaechiquita]

Eugh, you can see the blood on your plate just from the photo! How unfortunate. The mac and cheese looks delicious though.

 

[Linda67]

I've just read your whole TR and have loved it
Your photos are really good
It's very cool that you got to make a new DIS friend whilst you were there
I'm very much looking forward to reading more

 

[marDgreen88]

Ugh, blood on a plate?! That is horribly disgusting. I feel like they could have wiped that off or something! Hahha ugh.

The dessert looks yummy! I don't really like cobbler so I probably wouldn't like it, but it definitely LOOKS great! And the important thing is obviously that you loved it!

 

[rachel09985]

After Artist Point I took the boat back to Magic Kingdom.

I sat in the front of the boat and it was very chilly! It was a gorgeous night but it was a tad cold just because of the wind.

When I walked in to MK Celebrate the Magic was on! I was hoping to see the start but I knew that it was playing again after the fireworks so I was okay with that.

After the show I took a lot of night photos of the castle and surroundings. They aren't great.

Before Wishes I befriended a family while we were sitting on the sidewalk. The guys wife went to go for a smoke break and so then we started talking about smoking. He said he quit from reading this book called something like the Easy Way to Quit Smoking. I told him my dad is a smoker who has tried to quit numerous times. I was happy he told me the name of that book. I told it to my dad. He didn't listen yet though: still smoking.

Before we knew it Wishes started! I was in a huge crowd so my pictures aren't that good. There was a lot of tall men in front of me!

I love Wishes; it makes me cry everytime I see it.

Sooo beautiful! I love the castle and especially Wishes!

 

[rachel09985]

I don't know - I always have wine and it never comes with a Mickey straw! My DH and I did get a light up tinkerbell and mcqueen when we were there for our anniversary.

I'm sorry you meal left a few things to be desired. I've heard that soap is great, although I've never tried it. As far as blood on my plate - I'm with you - I don't care for that.

I also can't believe you couldn't get a refill on your soda and you were charged twice.

Wine out of a mickey straw? That sounds fun!! The soup definitely had a great flavor!

Eugh, you can see the blood on your plate just from the photo! How unfortunate. The mac and cheese looks delicious though.

I know it was gross. I should have just had them cook it a little longer.

I've just read your whole TR and have loved it
Your photos are really good
It's very cool that you got to make a new DIS friend whilst you were there
I'm very much looking forward to reading more

Thanks for reading Linda! Yes Emmebear and I had a lot of fun. I can't wait for our next trip in April.

Ugh, blood on a plate?! That is horribly disgusting. I feel like they could have wiped that off or something! Hahha ugh.

The dessert looks yummy! I don't really like cobbler so I probably wouldn't like it, but it definitely LOOKS great! And the important thing is obviously that you loved it!

Lol it was pretty gross!!! Normally I can handle MR meat but this was more like rare. Some people like that i guess. MMM the cobbler was sooooo good. I want some right now. The fruit was amazing and the cobbler was so warm and gooey.

 

[MEK]

Love your night time shots. They are very pretty. Especially the ones of Main street - they really capture to the festivities of the Christmas season!

 

[marDgreen88]

I think your pictures are great! They make me want to be there right now! (I mean, that's normal but still... they're making me want to be there MORE. )

Hopefully your dad can get that book!!!