You Guys Part of the Family? You've Got the Magic In Your Eyes!!->Updated 10/19x3!!!!

[katt789]

Little update on life & junk right now:
-Still waiting to hear back from Disney about electronic submissions; they had the posting down for nearly a month and then re posted with some of the same characters and some new ones. Each time they do this, they say "if you sent in for one of the last ones, don't send in again"

-My ballroom competition is THIS WEEKEND! EEEEK. I'm dying. It's going to be so amazing. Just the "dress rehearsal" and buying all the make up & tanning stuff makes me so excited to officially be performing again.

-It's already snowing heavily here...I want to be in Florida

-I spent a couple of hours watching Disney videos on youtube last night and there's no way I'm NOT going back this year before Christmas, I'm thinking the last week of Nov, maybe early Dec for FLE (although I want to avoid crowds, so I'd prefer Nov....)

How's your life going?? Hope you're all well and amazing!!

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Our next stop on our explorations of the World? Well, the Seas of course!!

As Mom was taking a picture of me, she had a lovely person who was walking by offer to take a picture of the two of us, it seriously makes me happy when people do this in Disney, I try to do it as often as I can, I mean, people certainly are more friendly in Disney, that’s for sure haha.

Also, can we just talk for a minute about how dang DARK this cue is! And how long it is! Like, I’ve never seen if filled, and I don’t understand why it has to be THAT dark, especially at the beginning, when it’s all “beach” setting, like, that’s not a beach I’d want to hang out at!

Clearly, we walked right onto the ride and were soon boarded into a clam-mobile for our journey through the big blue world.

This is another place where Disney does an amazing job with their work, it looks exactly (like I would imagine) it to if we were actually under the sea, it’s amazing! And the way they do the jellyfish, awesome!

It’s also super cool how they incorporate the Nemo characters into the actual aquarium at the end, seriously, the things you can do with technology today! Ha, while we’re on the topic of cool things you can do with technology, let’s head into Turtle Talk, shall we?

Look up! Haha, Mom’s learning fast, take pictures of things that are up! The show was starting right as we were getting out of clam mobiles, so we jumped right in there, and took a seat near the back of the room and settled in.

As always, the show was great, super cute, and definitely some funny moments for parents that the kids wouldn’t get. Some of my favorites include when Crush pulls out a Buzz Lightyear after the kids explain what it is, he’s all “oh sweet, I got a buzz man…” lol. He also pulled out a bikini top and “put it on” asking “does this make me look fat?” and of course, when he found out it was for girls, he was super embarrassed. Oh Crush, it’s okay. Mom and I then explored a little bit, and enjoyed finding some fish in the exhibits around the area.

Now it was time to get some REAL exploring of cool stuff on the go! We cut back across that side of the park past the Land to go and check out what was hiding in our Imaginations!

I love how everything’s so colorful and awesome over here, it all looks so cool, there’s definitely a lot of potential here that could definitely be put in, make things more awesome. (well, that’s kind of Epcot as a whole…I feel like there’s a lot of cool stuff to look at, but not quite enough to *do*) Maybe next time I’ll do Agent P’s Mission, or at least get a little Duffy to color, haha! Clearly, Mom’s excited to do some imagining!

Jumping fountains! I got all excited about them, pointing out how cool they are, and apparently we have them somewhere in my hometown…or somewhere in Canada that we had been to a lot…one of the two haha, either way, I love them and they’re really cool! Mom thought the whole Imagination thing was cool, and cute, but there could definitely be some more playing afterwards, and she’s right, there isn’t a whole lot of things to do after you get off the ride, we did play around in the section with the light up floor square things though, ahah, that’s right, we’re clearly 6 years olds!!

 

[katt789]

Well, it was nearly 10:30 by now, and what else was there to do in Epcot, in Future World, but meet some characters!! YAYAYAYA *muppet dance* The wait time was posted at 20 minutes, but we got into meeting everyone in around 15 minutes! Yay! Super bonus, although I’m almost positive Disney wait times are always longer than they say they are, that way people are all “awesome, we got in in half the time”. I was interested to see how the first character meet would go, I mean, it’s been 15 years since Mom and I had met characters together, how would it go over this time? Ha! First up of course, was the Mouse himself!

Mom wanted to get one with us kissing Mickey’s cheeks, so of course, we did that as well!

Next we moved over to Pluto, who is as loving as ever!

Minnie Mouse was the next we had to meet, so cute!

She was so teeny!!

Donald’s next, yay! Seriously, my favsies! He’s completely adorable, even with he’s angry, haha, too cute!

Finally we got around to Goofy, and we had to take some different poses, as, according to my Mom, it was our chance to “be goofy!” Lawl.

I will say, I do love the opportunities to stand in one line and meet a bunch of characters, it just makes it that much better, truthfully, yes, the lines are a bit longer on average, but whatevs! When we left we circled through the back of the building and found some other friends out over there!

Brer Bear was on his way in for a break, and sat down beside an older gentleman sitting on one the of the benches, apparently he wanted to do if he was asleep or not, super cute! Now, here’s a piece of advice, for some unscheduled character meet & greets, check the pathways between the back of the character spot and the Imagination Pavilion! They do training over here, and today, we saw both Snow White & Belle out greeting people! Be sure to check it out! We circled around but both their lines were closed, although we did stop to watch some little princesses who were VERY excited about meeting real life ones! And now it was time to start exploring through the world!

 

[shan23877]

Your mom looks like she's having a ball! She's going to want to accompany you all the time now!


Looks like a nice Epcot morning--and thanks for the character tip!

 

[ronnmel]

It's so great how your mom looks like a 5 year-old in a candy store. She seems to be having so much fun!!

I'm all for early mornings at DHS and MK for all the rides you can do, and even at AK to see the animals on the Safari out and about, but Epcot is the one park I don't mind coming in later. I just feel that most things don't get a line much (Living with the Land, Nemo, Turtle Talk, Journey into Imagination, Spaceship Earth), there are many things to just "explore" (World Showcase, The Seas, Innoventions). Just get a FP for later on Soarin, hop into the single-rider line at Test Track, and you're set!

 

[jane2073]

You are getting snow and I am happy we are finally getting weather in the upper seventies next week!

Cute pictures!

 

[ronnmel]

Forgot to comment on your life update.

That must be so nerve-wracking to have yet to hear from Disney about those electronic submissions. I hate waiting for something, especially something this important.

GOOD LUCK!!! for your ballroom competition! I love dancing on a stage! You must be so excited!!

Snow sucks. The end.

New Fantasyland looks so freaking amazing!! I can understand your desire to want to go visit!!!

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

Looks like Mom had a blast with the characters...

And are those hidden Mickey's I see on your dress??? Way cool!!!

 

[LifeIsDis]

Haha I love your mom’s face on Spaceship Earth! I love making crazy faces on there.

I HATE how dark the Nemo queue is. I have probably crashed into people like five times because I can’t see where I’m going.

Your pictures of Nemo are great! Mine always come out awful and blurry.

Your pictures with the Fab 5 are awesome!

 

[katt789]

Your mom looks like she's having a ball! She's going to want to accompany you all the time now!


Looks like a nice Epcot morning--and thanks for the character tip!

Hhaha I'm pretty sure I've already talked her into F&W for next year hahahaha!! It was a great morning, and it's barely over! Ha! UGH, I would have loved to meet them, but yeah, there's always a chance of randoms being out there. Also during summer, when they're training for MNSSHP characters, you could find princes, villians and more rare ones out there

It's so great how your mom looks like a 5 year-old in a candy store. She seems to be having so much fun!!

I'm all for early mornings at DHS and MK for all the rides you can do, and even at AK to see the animals on the Safari out and about, but Epcot is the one park I don't mind coming in later. I just feel that most things don't get a line much (Living with the Land, Nemo, Turtle Talk, Journey into Imagination, Spaceship Earth), there are many things to just "explore" (World Showcase, The Seas, Innoventions). Just get a FP for later on Soarin, hop into the single-rider line at Test Track, and you're set!

So much fun! I'm really glad she had fun. Ugh, EMH really weren't needed at Epcot, but I didn't mind it, it gave us the time to park hop (although we would have anyways haha) Epcot's usually later in the trip and the park that I take a late start at haha

You are getting snow and I am happy we are finally getting weather in the upper seventies next week!

Cute pictures!

UUUGGGGGGHHH SNOW it's so cold I'm dying

 

[katt789]

Forgot to comment on your life update.

That must be so nerve-wracking to have yet to hear from Disney about those electronic submissions. I hate waiting for something, especially something this important.

GOOD LUCK!!! for your ballroom competition! I love dancing on a stage! You must be so excited!!

Snow sucks. The end.

New Fantasyland looks so freaking amazing!! I can understand your desire to want to go visit!!!

I STILL HAVEN'T HEEEEAAARD. And they posted the electronic submissions again with a change in some of the characters, and a thing saying "if you sent in to one of the last ones, don't send in again) Ugh

Thanks! I'm in the process of getting ready right now

Looks like Mom had a blast with the characters...

And are those hidden Mickey's I see on your dress??? Way cool!!!

YES! I have 2 dresses that are hidden mickey dresses, they're great!!

Haha I love your mom’s face on Spaceship Earth! I love making crazy faces on there.

I HATE how dark the Nemo queue is. I have probably crashed into people like five times because I can’t see where I’m going.

Your pictures of Nemo are great! Mine always come out awful and blurry.

Your pictures with the Fab 5 are awesome!

Bahahaha, she wasn't even trying! I didn't even know where the camera was, but I knew it was happening eventually. Thanks!! I had a lot of fun that morning

 

[katt789]

Just before we get into this, a huge thank you to all of you for being so awesome! I appreciate and love every single one of you, even if you're just a lurker! Also, I'm currently getting ready for my ballroom competition (and very possibly listening to Disney park music to pump myself up! Hahhaah) and am ready as I'll ever be! Baha, I'll be sure to keep you all updated!!

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Before our worldly adventures began, we of course stopped for some photopasses!

Yay! Because of our lunch reservations, we started World Showcase in Mexico, and before we knew it, we were well on our way!

We took some time exploring inside the pavilion, checking out all the little things you could buy, and then of course, it was time to take a ride with Donald! How could we not?!

This part always reminds me of POTC in DLR, there’s a restaurant right at the beginning part (Blue Bayou I think) and I definitely want to eat there, or here, either one really haha!! (p.s. did you know over in DLR you don’t need ADR’s?!? It’s insane, you just walk up the day before, or day of and they can generally get you in!) It was also right about now that my Mom’s camera battery decided to die! She’s one of those “charge it only when it’s dead” people, and I explained to her that I charged mine at the end of every Disney day and it never seemed to shorten the life, so hers should be okay!

Look at all of his hats! Who wears that many hats?!

Poor Donald, he sure gets the rough end of the stick….heh heh…(that’s bad, I know, I think I’m a little hopped up on cold medication….lawl)

It’s a cute ride, something to get inside and in the air conditioning, which is a major bonus in World Showcase. I do like that you can kinda just wander through, and they don’t care if you’re brining in drinks to the stores and stuff, makes it more enjoyable haha! We of course took some time to stop at the little shop outside, and I found something to play with!

“Look at my big hat!” Baha, this is just the start…wait til Paige shows up, the pictures just get more and more ridiculous! I said something about wanting a margarita as we passed the stand and got into China, and Mom said she had never had a margarita, WHAT?! If you’re going to have a margarita, you best be having one here! They’re delicious! She asked if that was the drink I had a picture of from last trip that she had commented on, on facebook, I told her that was the GM Slush, so she asked what was in the margarita. Turns out she’s not a big tequila fan (clearly I don’t get my love of tequila from her then….) and we decided to by pass the margaritas for later. However, in China, we picked up a Peach Snap!

It was some blended deliciousness involving Peach Schnapps, from the Joy of Tea. It was a little too sweet, but we split it, so it balanced out nicely, and we took some time to explore inside!

When I took that picture, Mom said something along the lines of “great! Now I can tell my sister that I’ve been to China and maybe she’ll stop bugging me to go!” They’ve been traveling a lot together in the past few years (Africa, Mediterranean Cruise, another cruise/trip coming up) and my Aunt has been bugging non stop to go to China, but it doesn’t really interest Mom at all. (Or me, the only reason I really want to go to anywhere in Asia is for the Disney parks over there! Ha!)

There was already stuff set up for Food & Wine all throughout World Showcase, and we took a picture of a booth that looked awesome (and for my cousin, lover of all things cheese)

We wandered through Germany, specifically, Karamell-Kuche! My Grandma always had these Werther’s candies that were small, flat, and covered in chocolate, but were crunchy, and I haven’t seen them in years, Mom had no idea what I was talking about, and we didn’t see any inside the store. What we did see, a lot of really delicious looking noms…which we bought non of… (seriously 4 years ago, I probably would have bought one of everything, but it’s been a lot of changes over that time, and sweets, and my sweet tooth, have gone out the window, lol)

 

[GoldenAfternoon]

I love your trip reports! When my last trip to WDW ended up being solo at the last minute, I debated whether or not to go. Then I thought of your solo tr & it really inspired me to still go. I ended up having an amazing time, so thank you so much for sharing your trips with us

 

[Pluto0809]

Guilty of lurking here!

I've read every one of your TRs and have enjoyed them all.

 

[katt789]

I love your trip reports! When my last trip to WDW ended up being solo at the last minute, I debated whether or not to go. Then I thought of your solo tr & it really inspired me to still go. I ended up having an amazing time, so thank you so much for sharing your trips with us

Ah! That's so great! I'm glad I can inspire people to go solo, it's awesome and amazing! I do love it.

Guilty of lurking here!

I've read every one of your TRs and have enjoyed them all.

Hahah!! No worries, I'm glad you came out to say hello!!

 

[katt789]

Hey guys! Hope your weekend went great and you're all having a great Tuesday! I just wanted to pop in here and give you all an update on the dance competition I was at this past weekend. It was my first ballroom competition, ever, and I did pretty well!!

I danced Waltz, Quickstep & Tango in Standard, in terms of level/category, I was Pro-Am Pre Bronze (if that means anything to you guys haha).

I also danced cha-cha, rumba and jive in Latin, in the same levels

Yay! So, I danced a total of 8 times, and placed 1st in 6 of those times, and 2nd in the last two, and for those ones I was competing alongside people who were a level higher than me, so I did pretty good.

It felt amazing to be out on the dance floor again, and the whole anticipation and stuff was amazing, I forgot how much I love it, and it just really solidified the fact that this is something I want to do.

Yay.

Now, onto the Disney news!! I'm going back! (are you surprised?!) After much deliberation, I officially booked the trip today. The plan is:

Nov 24-28th, staying at Coronado Springs Resort! (New resort for me!) Plans being:

Saturday Nov 24: Arrival, probably head into MK for the evening
Sun 25: DHS (I'll spend most of the day watching shows, and probably stick around for both Fantasmics) Definitely planning on checking out the Osbourne Lights and hanging out for a bit of EMH's.
Mon Nov 26: Animal Kingdom there's EMH's that morning, so I'll accomplish a lot, then go to lunch at Yak & Yeti!
Tues Nov 27: Magic Kingdom & MVMCP
28TH: Departure, super early so I can get to work on Wed bahaha

Short & sweet, but I'll do everything I want and more and check out Christmas at Disney in more detail, yay!!

Also, I'm looking for some new places to eat in DHS/Boardwalk/Boardwalk resort areas to eat, preferably some sit down places. Where are you favorite places to eat in that area??!!

 

[katt789]

With Italy our next pavilion to explore, wandered back through the shops, and stopped in the end one with all the masks! Apparently they had seen lots of stuff like this on the cruise and Mom had been wanting to get me one, but didn’t know which one would be most me. Well, I would totally want all of them, they’re so pretty, but I’d never have any use for it!

Those were some of my favorites! But there are SO MANY to choose from, even animal ones!

As we got back out into the sunlight, I took the time to snap a little self pic of the two of us!

Before we knew it, we were in Japan!

That last picture…yeah…that’s the restaurant that I didn’t even notice on any of my last trips, but the menu looks pretty enjoyable, they’ve got sushi, and just heathier options than all the “fried” stuff over in China for quick service. Om nom nom. We started exploring in the store that was farthest back first, and made our way to the front, they’ve got a lot of cool merch in there, and one of these days, I really want to do the pick a pearl!

Of course, being the generation I am, I nearly PEED my PANTS when I discovered this last little shelf of fun!

SAILOR FREAKIN MOON!!??!?!?!? They never had this stuff before, this whole corner had been all Hello Kitty. Sailor Moon was MY LIFE as a child, and I may or may not have freaked out in the store when I found all this.

They had so much cool, and functional in every day life, stuff, including yes, an I phone case. I definitely would have bought it, but the problem is, 99% of cases in Disney are clip cases, and they don’t even cover any of the front of the phone. I had one on my phone when it fell, face down, into the pavement, and it’s safe to say that it’s now cracked…and I have a new case…Lesson learnt!

The next thing that we really came up on was, of course, Morocco, and Jasmine and Aladdin were out! I definitely thought that their line was closed already, but we were just having a stroke of luck, it was just a short line, yay! I jumped in line with my book, pen, and a post card ready for them to sign, it may not have been the specific Aladdin I was looking for, but it would have to do for Tanessa! Hah (for those of you who didn’t read April, Tanessa found a new love in the form of Aladdin, but of course, a different friend of his was out today!)

They were both super polite, and seriously, so soft spoken. It was really weird, like, softer spoken than any other character I’ve ever met, and Aladdin’s usually super chatty and outgoing, it was odd, but they were nice! Next it was time to spend some time exploring around Morocco. I don’t know why, but it was always the country that got shafted, and not explored on our World Showcase adventures.

There really is a TON hidden back there, again, mostly just shops…I really do wish there was a little more to do in WS, hence why I wanted to go back for F&W. There’s a lot of cool stuff, and the CM’s that we encountered in Morocco were definitely the most friendly we had talked to so far, they were all chatty and smiley, and awesome!

 

[Pluto0809]

I think we will be at DHS at the same time! We are just going to be there in the evening to catch Fantasmic and the Osborne Lights. I wanted to get those two things out of the way so we can do rides and shows on our full DHS day.

As for restaurants, I've never eaten anywhere on the Boardwalk. We are going to try Cape May Cafe this time but I don't think they are open for lunch. My favorite restaurant in DHS is Mama Melrose. It's probably not the best Italian restaurant in WDW but I love the atmosphere.

Some of those masks are beautiful and some are just creepy! I'm not sure if I've ever been in that store. Probably not since I think I would remember it.

I am definitely going to do Pick a Pearl this time. Just not sure if I'm going to get a ring or the Cinderella necklace.

You do need to spend some more time in Morocco. It's my favorite pavilion. Some of the stores towards the back are fun to go in and I love the atmosphere and the music they play. Also, if you ever get a chance to sit and listen to Mo Rockin', they play some great music.

 

[ronnmel]

Those masks in Italy are gorgeous. I got a similar kind of mask when I went to see a Cirque du Soleil show a few years ago.

I think Morocco is the most beautiful pavilion and a hidden gem!

 

[Princess Oliviea]

Congats on your dance compition. Your dresses are so pretty. I'm one of those lurkers out there and I'm trying to comment more

 

[Aussiesalad]

Ahhh how am I so late coming in on this??
Still can't believe we missed each other by a day!

Your mum pulls the cutest excited faces ever!!

And your ballroom costumes are gorgeous! So glad the comp went well!

I'm so excited for you that you have your next trip planned, I have no idea when I'll make it back next which is such a sucky feeling.

OK back I go to catch up!