The Twinsies (And Others) Reunite! A Mostly Solo May 2013 TR

[bellebookworm9]

(As a side note, I currently have 353 photos of Wishes and 296 of IllumiNations. I think maybe it's time to stop taking fireworks pictures?)

After that ended, we made our way over to Big Thunder Mountain. I don't think Alyssa and Kim made it on at all last year, since it was closed during our whole program. Kim and I sat in the front row and it feels much more "runaway" up there! I adore that ride, particularly at night. I actually can't remember the last time I rode it during the day!

Alyssa is in yellow two rows behind me.

When we got off the ride, we decided to call it a night. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. It was great to see them again! I stopped to get a Dole Whip on the way out. At the bus stop, the line was HUGE and there was one bus for Pop. Within 25 minutes, 4 more came, 2 at a time. So it took me 5 buses to get back to my room, but I thought the length of time was acceptable. And that was really the longest bus wait of the whole trip.

PB came over again (he had been saying goodbye to some of his current CP friends who were leaving the next day) to drop off the stuff we had bought the day before and I had left in his car. We decided we'd try to meet up again the next day before I left t say goodbye.

It was actually pretty funny at MK, because it was the night before the first batch of CP departures. I myself had been there with Alyssa, PB, and another friend exactly one year before, when I was leaving! So seeing all the CPs in their graduation mouse ears, crying and hugging, brought back some touching memories for all of us.

And before I went to bed after midnight, I took a photo of the wicked sunburn I'd managed to obtain that day.

Ouch!

 

[Goofy442]

Great update, love all the pictures.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Friday morning came way too early! When I woke up, I finished packing and took my bags down to Bell Services. My boarding pass was on the door, so I checked my big suitcase and left my backpack to pick up later.

My decision for the day was to get over to Be Our Guest, so I stopped into Everything Pop for a danish-didn't want to spoil my appetite!

Then I hopped on a bus to Magic Kingdom. My first stop was a monorail to the TTC to go to Lost & Found. Unfortunately, no one had turned in the sunglasses. I left my information, but I've never received a call.

And on the way back over to MK, I finally got to ride the Iron Man-orail!

(It looks like I'm boarding the resorts track, so I'm guessing the Express line was massive!)

On Main Street, I decided to cut through the shops and came across my absolute FAVORITE painting by Thomas Kinkade. It's actually also on my phone cover.

But this price tag is way out of my league!

I remember going through that store behind the castle (Sir Mickey's?) and it was pretty dead, so the cast member "pixie dusted" me. It kind of made my day.

Looks like I got in line for BOG around 11:20am. The line was already very long. I took a lot of pictures and chatted with people around me while I waited.

One family I was talking to actually invited me to have lunch with them, but I politely declined. I don't mind talking to people, but that's a little out of my comfort zone!

I finally made it into the castle half an hour after I'd gotten in line. Once I was in, it took about 5 minutes before I had placed my order and was on my way to a table!

The ballroom was a bit too loud and echo-y for my liking, but I loved the ceiling!

And the West Wing was just way too dark!

So I settled on the Portrait Gallery. There were a ton of empty tables in there, but I also noticed there weren't really any smaller tables. I think the smallest one I saw was still meant for four people.

I ordered the Ham & Cheese sandwich, but ended up picking off the ham and just eating the cheese.

And for dessert, a Strawberries & Cream cupcake.

It was an okay meal, I'm glad I experienced it, but I'm in no hurry to go rushing back.

I continued through Fantasyland and stopped to take some pictures of the new Rapunzel bathrooms.

Then it was a quick walk over to Frontierland to say one last goodbye to PB before his shift started at Pecos Bill's.

I headed back to Pop after that and hung out by the pool with my computer for a bit. Then I spent a while out front waiting for the Magical Express bus, which was absolutely packed when it arrived. I think every single seat was taken, which I've never experienced before.

The line at security wasn't too bad, and soon we were on our way to Baltimore. I was able to find my way to my next gate pretty easily, and stopped at Arby's along the way. Well, there were some pretty bad storms that day and my flight was delayed quite a while. Our gate was switched three times. They finally let us board, but we still sat for almost an hour since our crew was not yet in from their current flight from New Orleans. It was craziness.

I was able to get a seat in the second row, but the girl I sat next to was crazy. She was traveling with her mom from California. I guess they had been there for four months while she underwent some sort of medical treatment. She had an adorable companion dog named Guinness. But this girl showed me basically every picture in her phone and actually asked to listen to my iPhone. She was a little older than I am, and told me I looked like I'm 14. It was definitely one of the strangest flights I'd ever been on.

Upon arrival back in Buffalo, my bag was already there. I'm guessing it departed when it was supposed to so it was sitting by the Southwest cubicle. My friend that had dropped my car off made it incredibly easy to find, which was a huge relief after all that flight chaos! And just like that, the trip was over.

But not to worry! I'm about to start a new trip report for my trip that I just got back from, so come find me again!