"want to watch me run a half marathon?" a february 2018 trip report! *COMPLETE*

[xjillianpaige]

I Want Adventure...​

♫ In the great wide somewhere! I want it more than I can tell. ♫

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Hello everyone! Welcome to the start of my trip report. I'm excited to get going! To those of you that have followed the pre-trip report, some of this introduction is old hat, but for those of you who are new, welcome! I'll recap all the details you need to know and then we can dive right in.

The Cast of Characters

Jillian • I am your host for this trip report. I am one of the three Princess Half Marathon runners attending the trip. In real life, I work with kiddos and spend as much free time as I can indulging in all things pop culture and Disney. The remainder of my time you'll find me either out for a run, grabbing drinks and dinner with friends, or cuddling my favorite chosen niece and nephew (1 year and 5 years).

Devin • Devin is a friend from college. We met our freshman year as we lived on the same floor and discovered that we were distantly related through a common ancestor on the Mayflower. I sent her a text one day asking if she would watch me run and decided to also run! She is a film and television expert and works in the industry. She is also Disney-obsessed and loves to plan trips using spreadsheets and early wake-ups.

Jenna • Jenna and I met at work and realized that we had a number of mutual friends as we went to the same high school two years apart. We quickly bonded over a love of Disney and our love for working with kiddos going through tough times. She spent the summer pushing me to sign up for the race and then became my training buddy, so we spent a ton of time together prepping for 13.1 magical miles.

Katie & Todd & Vic • Katie and Todd are the wife & husband pair that we affectionally call Mom and Dad. That definitely makes Vic the cool aunt. Devin and I met Todd at college and he was persistent and wore us down to friendship. Katie is his lovely wife whom he went to high school with. Vic was Katie's Maid of Honor and the trio all grew up together. You may remember Katie and Vic from my previous/first trip report. They came to cheer us on!

Aunt Lisa & Cousin Ashley • My mom's baby brother started dating Lisa in college, so she was there for my very first trip to Disney in 1994. She has three boys and my cousin Ashley last, so with my brother also in between, that makes Ashley and I "the bookends." They live in Florida and kindly drove up to watch me run and cheer me on! They are annual passholders so they've been making lots of trips to Disney this year.

Brenda & Paul • These two are better known as Mom and Dad. Those who have been here since the start of planning may notice that their names are new. They secretly booked flights and hotel and dining in December to surprise me! I unfortunately found them out just before leaving for my trip (Disney hid everything from me on MDE except for their fastpasses). While I found them... no one else did! So as far as everyone is concerned I was REALLY surprised.

The Basics​

Where: Riverside was home base for most of us; Jenna stayed off property; Lisa and Ashley were at Coronado; my parents were at Boardwalk
When: February 22-28; Jenna stayed through Friday; Lisa and Ashley were Friday night to Sunday afternoon; my parents flew in late Friday and out early Monday.
What: To run a half marathon; to watch a half marathon; to relax on vacation

Important Links
My training journal
The start of the pre-trip report
The table of contents for the trip report​

 

[docsoliday1]

Brenda & Paul • These two are better known as Mom and Dad. Those who have been here since the start of planning may notice that their names are new. They secretly booked flights and hotel and dining in December to surprise me! I unfortunately found them out just before leaving for my trip (Disney hid everything from me on MDE except for their fastpasses). While I found them... no one else did! So as far as everyone is concerned I was REALLY surprised.
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Cool surprise. You may have found out just before you left, but still a big/good surprise!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Cool surprise. You may have found out just before you left, but still a big/good surprise!

Definitely a great surprise! When I figured it out, I was with my parents and I cried. So happy that they made it to see me run my first half!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Day 1: Arrival & Princess Weekend Expo
Part 1: "Good luck in there."
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Our first day was February 22. Devin and I woke up at 3:00 a.m. to get ready for our 6:00 a.m. flight out of Logan. My mom drove us in before heading off to work and we breezed through security - our boarding passes already in hand. Not much was open yet, and what was open had quite a line, so I skipped my airport Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks and instead grabbed some breakfast from a stand to eat while on the plane.

We only had to wait for a little bit of time before we started to board. I boarded before Devin and was the second person on the plane (besides the VIP folks) so I was able to sprint back to my seat and put my carry on up in the overhead. Devin boarded shortly after and we settled in. Once in the air, I ate my breakfast and watched Thor: Ragnarok at Devin's recommendation and laughed! It was a great movie!

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The movie ended just before we landed, so I pulled out Anna Kendrick's Scrappy Little Nobody to read while descending. We landed just after 9:00 - a little bit early - and patiently waited for our turn to disembark before making our way to the Magical Express to our new home for the next few days: Port Orleans Riverside!

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Our room wasn't ready, unfortunately, but Vic had already made it to the hotel (her flight landed just before ours) so we dropped our bags in the room she was sharing with Katie and Todd and walked out to the bus for the Expo. We were in line for the bus just around 11:00. We knew it was early, but were so freaked out by everyone saying how busy it would get, that we figured we could stake out our spot in line. The bus arrived shortly after we got into line and we made it on. Of course, as it was unloading someone told us "good luck" and my anxiety shot up, but I would soon find I had nothing to worry about.

The bus ride to the Wide World of Sports was quick, as it was express right to the expo. Devin and I hopped off the bus and were directed to pick up our bibs just around 11:45. I looked at the time and was working under the assumption that it opened at noon and anything before that was for the race retreat people, but we were allowed in and within moments I had my bib, pin, and Snow White luggage tag. Next up, Devin and I made our way to the vendors to pick up our t-shirt at around noon. We did a little exploring, Devin had her knee taped up, and we met the fantastic people at Girl Power 2 Cure's booth (that's the charity we ran with).

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The next part was the dreaded merchandise... Devin and I made our way down and were directed to the pre-order line where we waited maybe 10 minutes. I got a large pre-order jacket and the pin/magnet bundle while Devin got the same jacket and bundle, except in a medium. She took one look at the length of the jacket and knew it wouldn't fit, but before getting in line to see if she could exchange I grabbed it and we switched. The medium ended up fitting perfectly.

Now, I'm not sure if we were supposed to then leave and go back to get into line to enter the merchandise area, but we didn't. We hopped over and started checking out all the clothes. I wasn't super impressed by what I saw - and the ones that did interest me didn't fit well. In the end, I only left with a magnet for Jenna, rose gold ears for myself, and more pins. They didn't have the spirit jersey I wanted in a small, so I held off on that.

Getting into line, I made the bet that we would be at the front around 1:30 (we got into line at around 12:45) and I was right! We were at the front at 1:33 and went to the same register. There they had another magnet with the weekend logo on it, so I grabbed it for myself. I used my Disney card and saved some $$$ so that was nice!

We wandered out and took a few photos around the World of Sports before making our way back to the buses for the hotel again to kill time before dinner at Disney Springs.

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As we walked up to the bus stop, a Riverside bus was pulling away. We grabbed a seat on the ground under the umbrella and only had to wait about 10 or 15 minutes for the next bus to arrive. They loaded us up and we sat in the a/c for a few minutes before making our way back, with stops at French Quarter and along the various Riverside stops. We hadn't quite learned our route yet, so we got off at the main building to grab lunch and while we were there our room was assigned! Hooray! We were in the Alligator Bayou.

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We grabbed our bags and stopped off at the room. I changed into my suit and went to sit by the pool for a few minutes of sunshine before we went to Disney Springs. Vic and Devin opted for a nap inside their respective rooms considering the 3 am wake up call. I decided to go to the noisiest place, complete with swimming kids yelling and playing BINGO. And y'know what? I still kept dozing off and jerking awake when my head fell to the side. It was a perfect spot for a power nap in the sun.

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Previous
Introduction

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Day 1: Arrival & Princess Weekend Expo Part 2

Table of Contents​

 

[lisatav]

Following along, I also stayed at POR around the same time but we we're over in Arcadian House.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Following along! I love that your parents tried to surprise you!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Following along, I also stayed at POR around the same time but we we're over in Arcadian House.

Welcome! I wish I had been at the resort a little more to explore! I really only saw the main house, alligator bayou, and the pool. Did you like your area of the resort? I'd definitely stay there again.

Following along! I love that your parents tried to surprise you!

Welcome! I love that my parents tried, too! And if I weren't so meddlesome and pushy - they would have gotten away with it! I have the best parents in the world, for sure.

 

[ZellyB]

I'm here and following along. Great start to the report and glad that the expo wasn't crazy for you.

 

[xjillianpaige]

I'm here and following along. Great start to the report and glad that the expo wasn't crazy for you.

Glad you found me! Welcome to the trip report! I think I found the expo sweet spot - I'll definitely do it this way (early!!) next time, too!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Day 1: Arrival & Princess Weekend Expo
Part 2: "That's past my bedtime."
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Even though I was dozing by the pool, we had a dining reservation in Disney Springs to get ready for! The Edison opened earlier this year and we had dinner planned there. I packed up my things and went back to the room where Devin never got her nap in, but relaxed for long enough to feel rested. I quickly changed back into my outfit from earlier and packed my backpack with a long-sleeve shirt and the necessities for shopping.

We met up with Vic down in de bayou and decided to take a boat. One had pulled up and was starting to load while we were on the bridge, so we hustled along and walked around the corner to find the rope had been put up and they were boarding the boat. At 27.5 years old, I am still terrified of getting in trouble, so we stood at the rope and made sad eyes, hoping the captain would notice us and let us on.

The last person boarded and the captain turned, saw us, and waved us through! Score! We're pretty sure that was the last boat leaving, although we could be completely wrong considering the boats were an option to take us back later that night.

I love that Disney has so many transportation options. The buses are nice, but sometimes it's nice to mix it up and grab a boat somewhere. The ride was very nice and we made it to the springs far in advance of our reservation. We wandered around a bit as we tried to figure out what to do first. There was a bar that looked open, but we found that it was not open yet, so we made our way over to Paradiso 37 to get a happy hour $5 margarita.

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It turns out that it was national margarita day! An appropriate choice! Now, I'm no food/drink aficionado, but I didn't finish this because I like my margaritas sweet and fruity with the tequila hidden under the taste of sugar! Devin finished up my drink because our reservation snuck up on us and it was time to pop over to The Edison!

This is a super cool restaurant! I really like the atmosphere. It looks like they have some entertainment that can come around to the table to do magic tricks, but we didn't have anyone stop by. Unfortunately, I wasn't super hungry because it was such a weird and long day and I found the create-a-pasta at Riverside to be perfectly filling, but the three of us shared a few bites to eat. We ordered the deviled eggs (which I had been eyeing on the menu since we got this reservation), the greek salad (gotta be healthy, right?) and the grilled cheese & tomato soup.

Sharing this was a good portion for me. Again, I'm no foodie, but I loved the grilled cheese and soup and am obsessed with the deviled eggs. The salad was fine but I've had way better salads than that. I would 110% go again and get the grilled cheese & soup for myself and share the deviled eggs (or get them for myself, too - one of those foods I love but no one in my family or social group ever makes).

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Also of note, I got an AMAZING drink here. I love ciders, and they had one on the menu that I asked to try, but it was a bottle so I couldn't taste it. The server also thought they were out so I was going to go with Angry Orchard, but they ended up having the cider so I ordered it and it was SO good. Very sweet and light. I took a picture so I would remember and could buy some here at home.

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One last thing to note, apparently at 9:00 they have someone perform pop songs in an old-timey steampunk/20s style and then 10:00 is a burlesque. We decided that we would be more than tired at that point, plus we were rope dropping Animal Kingdom the next morning, but on my next trip I am 100% going to see that! It's right up my alley.

Anyway, we settled our bill and headed to World of Disney (mini-version due to construction) for shopping! I was mostly shopping for myself, but I also decided to look to see if anything struck my fancy for my chosen niece and nephew that was also within budget (and wouldn't spoil them - they had just gotten gifts from my parents who had been in Sarasota).

I ended up grabbing some 2018 pins and the rose gold WDW spirit jersey (which I ADORE). I really love all the compass and travel themed items, and was hoping they had a pin with that compass design on it but I didn't see one.

Shopping in World of Disney was VERY easy and quick since it was pint-sized. I next went to Goofy's Candy Co. for well-deserved snacks (the gummies and rice crispies are my favorite) and did some browsing in Tren-D. I ended up not buying for my two babes because they're growing too fast and I can't justify the price for so few wears, but figured I would find something somewhere as a little souvenir.

After shopping we decided it was time to head back for a good night's sleep and to wash the day and airplane germs off. We walked over to the boat and hopped on for our ride back to Riverside and then climbed the stairs to our room where the first surprise of the trip was waiting for me!

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My dad had sent a little care package with snacks and water and a water bottle! Now if only I actually ever hung out in the room and snacked or actually thought to bring the snacks to the park with me (which I never do because my go-to park snacks are obviously ice cream related). The bright side of not eating them right away is that I get to take them home with me and keep a little bit of that Disney magic in the real world.

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Day 1: Arrival & Princess Weekend Expo Part 1

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Day 2: Animal Kingdom​

Table of Contents​

 

[ZellyB]

Sounds like a great evening at Disney Springs. I was listening to the Dis unplugged dining show when they tried the Edison and they raved about those deviled eggs. I love deviled eggs, so now with both the Dis and you approving of them, sounds like I need to give them a try! So sweet of your dad to send the care package!

 

[sweetlike]

Following! Also an outside of Boston Disney / ice cream fanatic!

 

[apdebord]

Following along! That's awesome that your parents surprised you! I can't even get my family out to a finish line 20 minutes down the road, haha. Congrats on your first half!

We went to The Edison also during Princess weekend for snacks and drinks. Those deviled eggs were amazing! We can't wait to go back and try more things, it was a cool place.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Sounds like a great evening at Disney Springs. I was listening to the Dis unplugged dining show when they tried the Edison and they raved about those deviled eggs. I love deviled eggs, so now with both the Dis and you approving of them, sounds like I need to give them a try! So sweet of your dad to send the care package!

It was a lot of fun! I'll have to take a listen to that show. One of my favorite part of planning a trip is checking out menus and reading dining reviews and finding photos of menu items.

Following! Also an outside of Boston Disney / ice cream fanatic!

Hello fellow Bostonian! Do you also do the thing where people ask you where you're from and you say Boston and then they ask where in Boston and you have to specify that you meant outside of Boston but no one is going to know where it is if you say it initially?

Following along! That's awesome that your parents surprised you! I can't even get my family out to a finish line 20 minutes down the road, haha. Congrats on your first half!

We went to The Edison also during Princess weekend for snacks and drinks. Those deviled eggs were amazing! We can't wait to go back and try more things, it was a cool place.

Welcome! I have rockstar parents. Hopefully your family will come out to see you race - I feel like I'm a better athlete when someone I love is out there rooting for me and watching me.

@ZellyB - we have another vote for the deviled eggs!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Day 2: Animal Kingdom
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The next morning of vacation had my alarm going off at 6:00 a.m. In our planning, we weren't able to get a fast pass for Flights of Passage, only N'avi River, so we decided to rope drop. Historically, I've traveled with this group with another friend who is not into early mornings, so we would sleep in while everyone else got to the parks early. Since she was not there, I am very willing to be up and moving with the rest of the group.

So, I got dressed in my best Animal Kingdom outfit, ate my cereal that I had bought at the dining hall the night before, packed my little backpack and we made our way to the bus stop. The park opened at 8:00, so we got on the bus at 7:00. I know that a lot of people suggest arriving at the park an hour before open in order to rope drop, but I think that's overkill. We arrived at Animal Kingdom around 7:20 and went quickly through security and the turnstiles. We had to stop for a super quick photo of the Tree of Life, too.

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Off to Pandora we went and to the right for Flights of Passage. The line wrapped all the way past the entrance to the ride and onto the path toward Africa. I was a little nervous at first that we would be waiting for a long time despite the early wake up and arrival, but the line never stopped moving. I checked the time and we officially entered the line at 7:45 for an 8:00 opening. Entering the line was, for me, when we stopped walking away from Pandora and were turned around by a cast member and walking back into Pandora.

We chatted as the line moved and wrapped around and into the official queue. I found it to be totally immersive. The floating mountains were quite a site and I was dying to get into the ride for real. I didn't check the time for when we went into the pre-show room, but we made it in and then made it to our banshees for the ride! And let me tell you about those ride seats - my posture has never been better! The ride was absolutely incredible! I loved how the banshee was breathing under you. My only problem was that I was afraid to look down because I thought the 3D glasses would fall off my face. Whenever I wanted to look down on the screen I would hold them to keep them in place.

The ride finished and we walked out at 8:45. All together an hour to wait and ride the ride! Not bad! We popped through the gift shop and realized that we were all really hungry. The cereal was just not enough, so we decided to get Creature Comforts (a.k.a. Starbucks) At risk of being the most basic blank ever...

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I also got a chocolate croissant but that did not last long, at all. Our first FP was N'avi River Journey, so we wandered back to Pandora, stopping for some photos with banshees and floating mountains. Now, this is a gorgeous ride and the animatronic at the end is absolutely out of this world, but N'avi River is missing a story line. It's a pretty ride, but I just think that Disney can do better than "just pretty" and there needs to be a story. That would take this ride to the next level and make it something worth waiting for. In the meantime, it'll have to be a FP+ for me.

We left the world of Pandora for our next FP, an African Safari. We saw lots of animals out and about, but no lions this time. They were lazing around somewhere out of site. But that's okay! I've seen lions lots of times, and giraffes are my real favorites. We also saw hippos (and the baby), crocodiles, elephants (and the babies playing in the water with their mama), rhinos, wild dogs and all sorts of other animals. We joked that our driver was incredibly young and we wanted to see his license, we bet that since he's cute as a button and has some sort of accent (some sort of Latin/romance language) he's the talk of the college program.

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We hopped off the safari and walked through the Gorilla Falls Exploration trail. This is one of my favorite things to do and I could watch the Gorillas for hours. We also got to see the new tiger babies and they are the cutest little things ever! They were doing lots of playing while Mom watched on and probably rolled her eyes. The kind cast member hanging by the tiger area had us guess which cub was more adventurous and we guessed correctly - the girl!

We went through the bird area, but Vic and Katie moved ahead. Todd and I had a lot of fun identifying the different birds he saw. He asked what one was and my response was "It's a duck" but I apparently said it in some sort of tone that made the woman in front of me laugh (maybe there was a silent "duh" tacked on at the end of my answer). Todd pointed out that the bird was, in fact, a teal. The man in front of us turned around, looked at Todd and deadpanned, "a teal is a duck." In about 15 seconds of being in the bird room, I had everyone turned against our friend Todd. Mission Accomplished.

Seriously, Todd and I had a lot of fun finding birds, but lunch time approached and the stomachs began to grumble again, so we popped into Harambe market. Todd and I shared the Tikka Masala Chicken. I wasn't super hungry, which is why we shared, and I was also nervous about not liking the food. Now that I've tried it, I would definitely order that again and all on my own.

Devin and I took a look at the time and realized our next FP for Expedition Everest was close to expiring! So, we grabbed our staff and hustled over to Asia. We made it JUST in time and after tapping in, waited off to the side for the rest of the crew to join us (we scheduled a lot of overlapping passes so we could ride together and they had more time left). This ride is a lot of fun and now that the Yeti doesn't move, I don't have to close my eyes (I hated when he popped toward you even though I knew it was coming).

Now, I am notorious for not remembering the order of things, so forgive me because after running for our FP I'm not sure what order we did things. I know that at some point in the morning, we stopped for a photo with Flik and explored the trails around the Tree of Life.

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We couldn't find a FP for Dinosaur at a time that worked for us (Katie and Todd had a date night reservation and Devin and I were ending our night at Magic Kingdom to see my aunt and cousin, which Vic would meet us for) so we opted into waiting about 40 minutes in the standby line. Now, I am very patient. I work with kids and I have seen the worst of the worst, so it takes a lot for me to roll my eyes or get frustrated by... but boy the families in front of us in the Dinosaur line made me want to scream.

There were two families in front of us, clearly together, and about 5 or 6 kids (I can't remember now) who spent the entire time running all over the place or not moving in line or hanging onto each other and wrestling in line. Ask me if the parents looked up from their phones one time to tell the kids to knock it off. Go ahead. Ask. Did the four adults with these children do ANYTHING even remotely parenting-like to stop the children from being wild in line? No. They did not. They spent the entire 40 minute wait looking at their phones. If these parents had once tried to control their children, then my frustration would have been nil, I get that sometimes your kids get rowdy and you try to no avail to control them - I know tough kids. But this was just straight up not caring. And I'll get off my rant now.

We made it through and did some time-traveling and dinosaur stealing then wandered over for some Primeval Whirling. What can I say? We just love to time travel with dinos.

We sure do love rollercoasters, so we hopped into the Mt. Everest Line when it had about a 35 minute wait for one more ride. This was when we had the best time, because the little girl in front of us was an absolute HOOT. She turned around and asked us if we had ridden Everest before (we had earlier in the day). And then we were best friends. She was SO excited to go on this ride because it's her favorite (and she requested to be in the front) and she's a thrill seeker. After becoming best friends (and correctly guessing my age as 27 completely unprompted) she asked if she could hold my hand if she got scared, and then I reminded her that she needed to ride with her dad to keep him brave (her mom and two sisters were off being less brave than she was).

When it was our turn to ride, she was the next to be in the front so we waved goodbye to her. On the way out we noticed that her dad took a photo of the screen, so we grabbed it onto our photos and sent it along to them via e-mail after the vacation.

We went for another walk through the Maharajah Jungle Trek where Todd and I spent an inordinate amount of time looking for his favorite bird (we were not successful this time). We had somewhere to be after this (this might have been the trek we were on prior to lunch, actually) so I set a time limit and we hustled through the rest of the trek.

It was time to go and say goodbye to Animal Kingdom, but we had one more item on the to do list... we needed to meet Pocahontas!

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She was so adorable and great and we held a power pose because you need to be powerful to prep for your half marathon. She invited Devin and I to run through the forests with her, and we decided that sounded like a fun idea. We said our goodbyes and began to wander out of the kingdom of Animals.

Next stop... Magic Kingdom.

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Day 1: Arrival & Princess Weekend Expo Part 2

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Day 2: Magic Kingdom

Table of Contents​

 

[xjillianpaige]

Day 2: Magic Kingdom
"The Bookends Take Disney."
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We hopped on a bus and began the journey to Magic Kingdom. We tapped into the park and it finally felt like I was in Disney. Does anyone else feel that way? You're not really in Disney World until you've been to the Magic Kingdom? If I could choose, I would start and end every trip in Magic Kingdom.

When we arrived, it happened to be just in time for the flag retreat ceremony. Devin ran into grab a "first visit" pin for Todd and then met me outside. When I told her it was flag retreat, we decided to hang out and watch it. I've never seen it, and it's a cool ceremony. I believe the veteran who was honored was with her son, and he led the pledge of allegiance. Very cool.

Devin had mentioned that one day she wanted to do the Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom thing around the park, so I told her there was no time like the present! She hopped in line and I was going to do some shopping and hanging out, but if I did it with her she could get more cards, so I joined her in line and we learned all about what to do. He showed us where to go first on the map, and we decided that we would do any of the ones we stumbled upon.

Next up, Devin and I stopped for lots of photo pass photos because I was getting my money's worth! One photographer had this super cute idea for us to turn around and this is one of my favorite photos ever. I saved this idea for my back pocket, I could see it being very worthwhile.

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My aunt and cousin wouldn't be in until around 8:00, so Devin and I got going on some rides! This was a WHIRLWIND because we did so much while we were in the park. I didn't know you could do so many rides in just half a day. I can't remember exactly what order they came in, so here's me doing the best I can!

I'm fairly certain that we started by walking toward Fantasyland and we did the very first Sorcerer's task. It showed us the next one, which was right next to the first, so we tried that one but it timed out on us because we could not get the camera to read the card. Or we are just really bad at being sorcerer's. After that I think we looked to see what was available for wait times, but were starting to get hungry and wanted some mac and cheese. We went to the Friar's Nook but they only had tots on the menu! So we went to Pinocchio Village Haus and ordered chicken fingers and the mac and cheese and shared each meal. I think we may have followed up dinner with Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and sat in the second to last row.

We also tried to get that stupid sword out of the stupid stone.

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I know we did Pirates of the Caribbean for three reasons: Devin had found a FP for it when we finished at Animal Kingdom, there's a photo from it (we didn't know there was a photo during it, so we're looking at my phone - but I forget what we were looking at) and Devin really wanted the redhead scene on video before it closed (which was either the next day or two more days). Pretty sure that's what we did after dinner since it would be quick.

After Pirates we heard from Vic and she was back in the area and was heading to Magic Kingdom. We found a spot in the hub for the fireworks and settled in. Vic joined us and I was in touch with Ashley and Lisa who were nearing the Magic Kingdom. They offered to stop at the hotel first to clear out the car so we could hitch a ride back, but I told them to come to try to make the fireworks and I told them where they could find us.

Side note: At some point Devin, Vic and I Did Buzz Lightyear. I do not know when, however, because I met up with Lisa and Ashley after the fireworks and spent some time with just them. So I don't know when in the schedule this all comes together. I do have a theory, which will be explained below).

Unfortunately, Main Street closed so Lisa and Ashley couldn't get up to us in the hub area, so after the fireworks Vic and Devin went off to do another ride and look for Katie and Todd (who watched the fireworks from Cal Grill and would join us later).

Ashley, Lisa and I hugged and caught up and decided to wander over toward Tomorrowland. They wanted some rose gold ears like mine so we popped into a store so they could each get a pair. I didn't have mine, but they saw them in the shop and I said I had them. Hence the shopping trip. Lisa also told me that for my birthday/Christmas she wanted to get me a Pandora charm so we decided to check that out the next day when we were in Magic Kingdom for breakfast.

Here's a photo of the park since I have so few photos from this afternoon at MK...

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Here is where my theory comes into play, Vic and Devin met back up with us while we were in Tomorrowland and we decided to do Buzz Lightyear while my aunt and cousin did a 7 Dwarves FP. That's why they didn't do Buzz with us, but Vic did! The timing works.

From there, Vic and Devin met with Katie and Todd and I check the app to see if I could get any passes that overlapped with Ashley and Lisa, which I could! They had a Winnie The Pooh pass, so I grabbed one for the same time and we rode that together. Ashley had never been on it (that she could remember).

From there we hit It's A Small World because there was no wait. Todd, Katie, Vic and Devin were in the boat leaving the dock just as we got into the rows so we waved to them! As much as I love my friends, I wanted more family girl time, so Lisa and Ashley checked out what other rides were available. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad had a short line, so we hopped into it and rode that. Ashley and I were in the last row and Lisa was right in front of us. Whenever the car turned, Lisa would slide all the way along the bench! Ashley and I laughed hard at that.

Last up we hopped onto Haunted Mansion and some ghosts followed us home! How rude!

Here's one more picture since I don't have photos of just me...

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The park was closing at 11, so we shut down the park after a SUPER long day. I don't know how we managed it, but we did. Katie, Todd and Vic left earlier than us to hit the hay. I walked out with Ashley and Lisa and met up with Devin, where we parted ways. Ashley and Lisa were on their way to the TTC to get their car and Devin and I had a bus to catch.

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Day 2: Animal Kingdom

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Day 3: A Surprise in Magic Kingdom

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[xjillianpaige]

Day 3: Magic Kingdom
A Special Surprise
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This morning we had an 8:20 am reservation at the Crystal Palace. When we first made reservations, it was pre-park open, but hours changed and it was an 8:00 am open instead!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Devin and I woke up nice and early again and got ready. Ashley and Lisa had a case of water for us, so they stopped by to drop that off and then we drove to the Ticket and Transportation Center to catch the monorail. This was our first experience with the new bag check/security and I really like not having to go through security at the park and going right in from the monorail. I feel like on other days when I did go through bag check, it was a shorter line.

So, we got to Magic Kingdom and did a small photo shoot outside the train station. Seriously, I think we had about 30 photos with various combinations of myself, Devin, Aunt Lisa and Ashley. Then we popped in and had another mini photo shoot on Main Street. We were seriously "those people" - especially because this was the day we all wore the matching shirts (each a different color) that my Dad had bought us!

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Ashley and I got the photo I wanted - just like the one Devin and I have! It came out super cute with our matching shirts - both hues of blue - and rose gold Minnie ears. Can you believe she's 9.5 years younger than me? And about 9.5 feet taller. #bookends

Lisa really wanted to go to Pandora, but I told her we could go after breakfast, we were cutting it a little close to our reservation time! We popped in and it was a relatively short wait before we had our friendship day celebration! This was a TON of fun and we got a million photos with the gang from the 100 acre woods. These are some of my favorite people - and the puffed french toast? One of my favorite foods! I had a few plates here, including the french toast, Mickey Waffles (Mickey Waffles!), an omelette, and more. I even grabbed a banana for the next day.

There's honestly not a TON to say about this breakfast - it's breakfast! The only real "story" is that during the pooh-rade, Ashley, Devin, Katie and I got up to march! And we were the only ones! It was a pooh-rade for the adults in the room, I guess.

Here's a small photo dump from the breakfast!

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Some photos of myself with Tigger and Pooh! Followed by LOTS OF SELFIES! I am not very good at selfies. I have short arms and I struggle to hit the button and hold the phone steady. Maybe one day I'll get one of those pop sockets and that will help me stabilize my grip on the phone? I don't know.

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Getting a selfie with Tigger is NO easy task! It took three tries before we were both in the shot, but we got there! Not half bad!

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And here's a behind the scenes photo of what goes into taking a selfie with Pooh. Check out the awkward position my wrist is in and how it takes two hands for me to stabilize the phone enough to get a decent shot? Does anyone have any good selfie tips and tricks?

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Katie, Todd and Vic had an 8:40 reservation, which is why I referenced Katie in the pooh-rade story, but why they weren't with us earlier that morning. We all finished with our breakfast around the same time, though, so we walked out to have someone take our photo in this spot:

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The first person we asked sort of made a face and said no (what? who does that?) but two women walking by happily stopped for us and took a photo of all 7 of us in a pretty spot! I like this spot in the Magic Kingdom because you can get a nice castle photo, but it's not super crowded with people, and the people in the background are super tiny so it's cool that they're there.

So, we had our photo taken as a big group (and some variations, I'm sure - knowing Lisa) and all of a sudden those women were back with two people who wanted to join in the photo - my parents!

Now, you guys know the secret: I knew my parents were coming down to watch me run, and I had a vague idea that they'd come to surprise us that morning in Magic Kingdom - I just didn't know exactly when. Jenna also knew they were going down, but wasn't with us that morning. No one I was with that morning knew, however! So I had to use my acting chops!

Honestly, I was so overwhelmed with emotion that it was actually real and they were there to cheer me on that the tears came easy! I was so excited! And the best part is that if you look close at the photos of our big group, my mom and dad are in the background between Ashley's and my heads. (wearing hot pink and bright yellow - hard to miss!)

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Day 2: Magic Kingdom

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Day 3: Hollywood Studios

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[ZellyB]

We love Crystal Palace. It's my favorite place in MK for breakfast. I love that you guys did the parade and I think your selfies are adorable. That one close-up of Tigger made me crack up!

 

[xjillianpaige]

We love Crystal Palace. It's my favorite place in MK for breakfast. I love that you guys did the parade and I think your selfies are adorable. That one close-up of Tigger made me crack up!

Same! I loved eating there when I went with my family in June 2016 and have been DYING to get that french toast again! I've never had a bad experience meeting the best animals from the 100 acre wood.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Does anyone have any good selfie tips and tricks?

I also suck at selfies. But I bought a bluetooth shutter from amazon (<$10). So all I have to do now is hold out the phone and get the frame set, no matter where my hands are on the phone. Then I use the bluetooth shutter to actually take the photo!

I also got a camera mount (just handheld) for my last trip, so during fireworks I could just hold the mount in the right spot, then use the bluetooth shutter to click away while I was enjoying the show!