Young At Heart: The #BirthdayFestivus13 Adventure!!! 5 UPDATES, 1/8!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SparklyDiva]

OMG LIA!!!!!!!

I am seriously here at work trying to do something productive and I'm holding back all my giggles and ear to ear grins because your "Drunk Frumps Do Downtown Disney" update was HIL-FREAKIN-LARIOUS!!!

The macarena? Totally 1995 when Downtown Disney had New Year's Eve every night and 8-Trax (simply the grooviest bar on the planet) was the place to see and be seen with their light up disco floor a la John Travolta!

PS I Love You: that movie is one of my besties and I favorite movies eva and in fact we are planning on going to Ireland to celebrate one of their milestone birthdays in a couple of years and plan on doing a lot of Irish pub crawling and a lot of beer drinking! (finding that hottie from the movie wouldn't be that hard, would it? Shhhh what happens in Ireland stays in Ireland)

GINA: GIRL - try tequila!!! It is a very fun alcohol - if used in the proper proportions and made by a certified, trained bartender it is tasty! Do yourself a favor though: if someone dares you to eat the worm at the bottom of some bottles of tequila, DO NOT DO IT. It's a hot freaking mess. I did the dare and couldn't be around an empty bottle of Jose for years. But now he and are back on speaking terms and if truth be told, Don Julio and I are very close friends

I am so jealous that you guys will be back at MNSSHP in less than a week but THRILLED for you both and psyched that you were able to make this dream of going back a reality!! I want massive pin updates, food photos, dole whip photos, back stories, front stories, sky scrappers, and F&W fest updates DAILY! I am soooo looking forward to another trip report from you girlies!!

(wow I realize I sound drunk! It's gotta be the Nutella and Go snack I had for dessert = major sugar overdose! )

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Haha, yeah, I don't get running either. I would never go to Disney to run. I'm not even that fond of the walking but you do what you have to do.

Bar hopping in Disney. This should be fun!

I just keep staring at the dancer at Raglan Road. The way the light is hitting her, it looks like she's floating since she really stands out in the photo. It's probably just me, but is looks very cool!

See, for some reason I was under the (misguided) impression that bar hopping in Disney was creep free zone. Clearly not the case.

Wow, what an adventure. I can honestly say that in all the various Trip Report posts I've read, I have never seen one quite like this!! Just Brilliant!

 

[luvslikepi]

I don't know if anyone else has seen the movie P.S. I Love You (If not, watch it. SO good.) but when I'm in Raglan Road I half expect Jeffrey Dean Morgan to walk in and start playing the guitar. I REALLY wish that would happen. In general I just want to go to Ireland and spend 90% of the time drinking pints with Irish musicians. I mean, I do that anyway in New York so I might as well do it over there. Can anyone get me a discount on Irish airfare?? Help a sista out.

I'm heading to Ireland within the next 6 months for dissertation research and I could always use a "research assistant."

 

[danimaroo]

Okay, I was DEAD at your Stefon bit. DEAD. I love Stefon SO much. So that was just basically the best thing ever. Thank you for that.

Also, I was dying at the photobombs on Splash, hahaha. I often find that the people in the background can make a photo ten times more amazing than the initial photo if you just look for them! All of our attraction photos crack me up, especially on Dinosaur because of this.

I LOVED your whole surprise for Gina and that she cried. It's too adorable for words and you're a wonderful friend.

HAHAHA your bar hopping in DTD sounds hilarious. I remember when you were posting about it on twitter while it was happening and I was looking forward to hearing about your evening. Raglan Road is kind of my go-to spot for food, but I'd love to try out some of their drinks, too!! Perhaps in a future trip... though Matt isn't a big drinker, so we shall see. ANYWAY it sounds like a ridiculously fun night and I'm even more impressed you snuck into your room without waking up Jess! I'm not the quietest drunk person ever. I try to be, but then stumble on something (I'm known to fall into bushes) and then laugh and wake up everyone and their Mom. So kudos to you guys for being all drunk-ninja-like.

 

[amandaluvsgoofy]

I got off the bus at the YACHT CLUB!!! Oh so fancy.

Every time I'm here I just want to put on a snooty accent and like, look through a monocle at the globe and make some comment about how visiting Casablanca is lovely in Spring. LOUDLY.

"DARLING, I told you not to use that wooden brush to groom your pony. Use the one with the gold encrusted bristles."

This place has its charm but in my opinion it can't hold a candle to the Beach Club. Like there is just a life about the Beach Club that the Yacht Club doesn't have.

Also when I think of the names, Beach Club sounds so fun and Yacht Club sounds like old guys in blue blazers and sailor hats drinking old scotch and smoking cigars talking about how they survived the Titanic and stuff.

Oh my gawd!!!! I died laughing at this!!! My kid thought something was wrong cause tears were coming down! You are so hilarious! Seriously, can we meet up for drinks so I can laugh with you?!

 

[__disneygirl]

Okay, this is what I MEANT to post the other night when I was obsessively reading your updates as you were posting them:

So I totally understand where you're coming from with the Cars thing. I really enjoyed the movie but I think I've only seen the whole thing twice and I'm just not that interested in it (or the sequel).

I CAN'T BELIEVE you were talking about the Little Mermaid series!!!!!! I literally just watched it the other morning on Disney Jr, and then I watched again this morning! I definitely recall some sort of dolphin related drama.

Omg, your interpretation of that Minnie art on the wall of Tren-D... like no really, what on earth is going on there?! That really had me scratching my head.

LOL.
I love Beach Club AND Yacht Club!!!! And Boardwalk!!!!! My sister said she thought the inside of Boardwalk was boring and I wanted to give her a good slap for her ignorance.

Oh my god, I want that to be my official job description: "Disney Vacation Refresher". (I charge by the hour btw- I will also accept payment in the form of park tickets and cupcakes.)

I love that picture I took of you running down the stairs in front of me. I feel like you're about to eagerly take me on an adventure. "COME ON, LET'S GO!" (Accurate.)

I almost cried AGAIN reading the 1900 Park Fare part. When you told me you were lying I was like... wait, what? You had like this guilty look on your face and I was like... what is about to happen to me. And I'm so glad everyone reading your TRs is so entertained by my emotions!!!
Also- JASMINE RICE.

Truth: those are actually the legit words to the Macarena. I called Los del Rio and confirmed it.

HELLO GMF! I look forward to your commentary on all my updates about our crazy adventures.

I wish they would do series for recent Disney movies. I would love to see Mike and Sulley's daily adventures in Monstropolis, for instance.

I was hoping someone would appreciate how crazy the art in Tren-D is!!

I love the Yacht Club too but if I had to compare it with Beach Club it doesn't stand a chance. Not that they're in competition anyway, but one day when I am rich I will have to choose between them and besides the fact that I want to stay in every Disney Resort, I would never choose Yacht over Beach.

Omg I WISH people would pay you in park tickets so you could JOIN THE WHOLE TRIP!!!

I like that picture too. Good work

LOL I am just so happy you didn't figure anything out beforehand because I really wanted you to be surprised and well... you definitely were! SORRY I MADE YOU CRY.

And here are my real-time comments.

Oh lord, I tried to look up the recipe for the Gummy Bear drink and I have no idea what it was, but I do know the Ace's Pub "website" headline says "We Cure Sobriety!" LOL.

I despise tequila to my very core, but I promise if my future plans work out, I will make this one of my goals. Also- I have searched my memory in vain and even looked up the Paradiso 37 drink menu and I still have no idea what I drank there.
I now crave truffle fries on the regular.

Bret Michaels. *SMH*
I remember that when the bartender took that picture of us, he didn't think it was a good picture. I think it's one of the best pictures we've ever taken together? So idk. He was very mistaken.

I think the reason we didn't go to T Rex was because it was super crowded and we thought it was going to take forever to get in? I'm glad we didn't go though because otherwise I wouldn't have met my future husband from Las Vegas.
That guy that wanted our picture at Splitsville, he totally reminded me of Bret Michaels. Idk why.
I'm glad you had a lot of pictures from Splitsville because I didn't really, and I love seeing the ones you took that I've never seen before! And you are correct, neon is my power source.

I forgot about you almost dropping the room key off the balcony... that would've been a large problem.

10 days until I see you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ugh you again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LMAO at "website" first of all. And oh God I am so amused by that. Oh, Ace's.

Your future plans need to work out or I will cry. ANd not just because I want to visit like 4,000 times.

Bret Michaels brings amusement to many people throughout the world, how dare you!!

I think it's a great picture too! We both look good and like we are having an awesome time (which is accurate).

That's true!!! Fate stepped in on the whole Splitsville thing. If he is still there when we go, I will die. Didn't he think Las Vegas was terrible or something... but I feel like he also wasn't fond of Orlando...? Oh who remembers.

You turned into Mom mode when I almost dropped the key. It was literally like an inch from falling off and you were like LIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SEE YA REAL SOON

OMG LIA!!!!!!!

I am seriously here at work trying to do something productive and I'm holding back all my giggles and ear to ear grins because your "Drunk Frumps Do Downtown Disney" update was HIL-FREAKIN-LARIOUS!!!

The macarena? Totally 1995 when Downtown Disney had New Year's Eve every night and 8-Trax (simply the grooviest bar on the planet) was the place to see and be seen with their light up disco floor a la John Travolta!

PS I Love You: that movie is one of my besties and I favorite movies eva and in fact we are planning on going to Ireland to celebrate one of their milestone birthdays in a couple of years and plan on doing a lot of Irish pub crawling and a lot of beer drinking! (finding that hottie from the movie wouldn't be that hard, would it? Shhhh what happens in Ireland stays in Ireland)

GINA: GIRL - try tequila!!! It is a very fun alcohol - if used in the proper proportions and made by a certified, trained bartender it is tasty! Do yourself a favor though: if someone dares you to eat the worm at the bottom of some bottles of tequila, DO NOT DO IT. It's a hot freaking mess. I did the dare and couldn't be around an empty bottle of Jose for years. But now he and are back on speaking terms and if truth be told, Don Julio and I are very close friends

I am so jealous that you guys will be back at MNSSHP in less than a week but THRILLED for you both and psyched that you were able to make this dream of going back a reality!! I want massive pin updates, food photos, dole whip photos, back stories, front stories, sky scrappers, and F&W fest updates DAILY! I am soooo looking forward to another trip report from you girlies!!

(wow I realize I sound drunk! It's gotta be the Nutella and Go snack I had for dessert = major sugar overdose! )

Thank you!! I'm glad you enjoyed it!!

You're so lucky you are going to Ireland, I want to go so bad.

Gina has had tequila before, she just hates it. I'm not a big fan either but I still want to try all 37 of them at Paradiso.

I will try to update as much as possible!! Thank you!!!!!

Don't worry, you're fine

Haha, yeah, I don't get running either. I would never go to Disney to run. I'm not even that fond of the walking but you do what you have to do.

Bar hopping in Disney. This should be fun!

I just keep staring at the dancer at Raglan Road. The way the light is hitting her, it looks like she's floating since she really stands out in the photo. It's probably just me, but is looks very cool!

See, for some reason I was under the (misguided) impression that bar hopping in Disney was creep free zone. Clearly not the case.

Wow, what an adventure. I can honestly say that in all the various Trip Report posts I've read, I have never seen one quite like this!! Just Brilliant!

I mean I think if I'd run ANYWHERE it would probably be Disney because I love the after hours at the Tower of Terror stuff that goes on during the marathon over there but UGH I'D HAVE TO RUN!

If you go there you will stare even more, the dancers are so great!

Nowhere is a creep free zone. But they were harmless, thankfully.

That's awesome to hear, thanks Rob!

I'm heading to Ireland within the next 6 months for dissertation research and I could always use a "research assistant."

YES PLEASE TAKE ME WITH YOU!!!!!!!

Okay, I was DEAD at your Stefon bit. DEAD. I love Stefon SO much. So that was just basically the best thing ever. Thank you for that.

Also, I was dying at the photobombs on Splash, hahaha. I often find that the people in the background can make a photo ten times more amazing than the initial photo if you just look for them! All of our attraction photos crack me up, especially on Dinosaur because of this.

I LOVED your whole surprise for Gina and that she cried. It's too adorable for words and you're a wonderful friend.

HAHAHA your bar hopping in DTD sounds hilarious. I remember when you were posting about it on twitter while it was happening and I was looking forward to hearing about your evening. Raglan Road is kind of my go-to spot for food, but I'd love to try out some of their drinks, too!! Perhaps in a future trip... though Matt isn't a big drinker, so we shall see. ANYWAY it sounds like a ridiculously fun night and I'm even more impressed you snuck into your room without waking up Jess! I'm not the quietest drunk person ever. I try to be, but then stumble on something (I'm known to fall into bushes) and then laugh and wake up everyone and their Mom. So kudos to you guys for being all drunk-ninja-like.

Stefon is one of the best people to ever exist so I am happy you are on board with my references of him!

Right? It's so true. Gina and I spent some time at the end of our trip zooming in on the other people in our ride pictures, hahaha.

Aww, thank you Dani. That's a great compliment.

hahaha It was so fun. Raglan Road is so great, I can't wait to go back. And as for not waking up Jess I'm sure the credit goes more to the fact that she was ridiculously tired from work. I can't imagine that we were THAT quiet but knowing she had to get up again in a few more hours definitely made me feel bad enough to try and really keep it down!

Oh my gawd!!!! I died laughing at this!!! My kid thought something was wrong cause tears were coming down! You are so hilarious! Seriously, can we meet up for drinks so I can laugh with you?!

I'm glad it put a smile on your face! Thank you so much!

 

[__disneygirl]

MAY 20, 2013
Day 8, Part 1 In Which Gina Makes Her Triumphant Return to Disney Parks!​

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This morning, Gina and I got up for what would amount to quite a day.

It was GINA'S FIRST DAY IN DISNEY PARKS SINCE 1995!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH MY GOD. For the huge Disney fan that she is... this was just going to be a MONUMENTAL day that she would never ever forget.

That's one of my favorite things about Disney. You wake up and you know every day is going to bring memorable things that you're not going to forget. How many days out of life can you say that? So many times we get wrapped up in the mundane, but not here. Never ever here.

Jess had to get up early and go to work. Boooo. What a dedicated concierge frump she is! Ya gotta hand it to her.

What did we do first to get ready for this epic day?! Put the QUEEN on, of course!

After watching approximately 174 loops of Stacey, I threw my awesome new home made tie dye Mickey shirt from Gina and on and headed to Everything Pop to get some tea. I just love that shirt so much!!

They had changed the Trivia Board to Ratatouille!

I was not very good this time. I love that movie, but I've only seen it twice. I need to brush up on my Ratatouille knowledge! He and I just have so much in common with our appreciation of food.

Here are Gina and I all ready for her first full day!!! WOO!

So, where were we off to?

IS THAT EVEN A QUESTION?!

We had to start at the most magical kingdom of them all, THE MAGIC KINGDOM! Duh.

Gina was practically vibrating with excitement, Minnie in Tren-D style. And so was I.

I mean... IT'S THE FREAKING MAGIC FREAKING KINGDOM!!!!!!!! THIS PLACE IS NO JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally, I had planned for Gina and I to get up in time for the Welcome Show on this day. Because we didn't get to bed until well past 2am, though, we decided it would be better to get an hour or two of extra sleep since they day ahead was gonna be JAM packed.

I can't remember what time we actually got to the Magic Kingdom, but I do remember how long it took us to get in!

First we had to pick up her ticket at the Guest Relations will call, which there was quite a line for. They actually had a second Guest Relations set up in a kiosk-type thing. There was a long line for that too, but it was shorter than the normal Guest Relations one, so we hopped in there.

I felt stupid for not picking it up the night before, but obviously our alcohol fueled tour of the West Side was more important.

Gina had purchased the special FL resident discount 4 day park hopper. It was an amazing deal at $139 and one of the main reasons why this trip turned from a one or two day thing into a week. A 4 day park hopper is normally $359.97, so as anyone with a small amount of math skills could determine, this is a HUGE savings.

She got her plastic Donald ticket and we attempted to enter the Magic Kingdom. I got in fine, but Gina got totally denied!

A CM helped her and then called additional CMs as well. We both explained separately that she had just gotten the ticket from Will Call, what kind of ticket it was, etc. I tried to walk over to where she was and help her but a CM stuck his arm out and said, "You, stay in the Magic Kingdom."

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am not fond of people telling me what to do, but this was different. I was like alright dude, I'll stay in the Magic Kingdom. No probz. Just let my friend in too!

Finally after several people tried to help, we were escorted over to a white podium next to the store on the right side of the entrance.

Again we had to wait because there was only one podium available and someone else was being helped at the time. I'm a pretty mild mannered person when it comes to this stuff because I have dealt with rude customers for years and I will never ever be that person. So I just kept a smile on my face because the fact is, we were at the Magic Kingdom and I knew that Disney would never just not let her in.

Once it was our turn at the podium, the CMs said they needed a confirmation number from Gina that she did not have on her. She had printed something out but strangely, it wasn't on there. Since she had the print out and had been given a ticket by Guest Relations, they obviously believed she had in fact purchased a ticket, but there was nothing they could do without this confirmation number. This confused me because I thought they would be able to look it up by her name, credit card, or whatever other information she gave when buying the ticket. Odd.

I asked her if she still had the e-mail Disney sent her when she purchased the ticket months ago in her inbox, and she said yes. Problem is, at the time Gina did not have a smart phone. Thank God I did.

I was able to look it up, but it took FOREVER. I don't know why, but the MK wifi was really failing us in this moment!

While we were waiting I was very amused by this woman trying on a Mickey umbrella hat.

Here she's still kind of figuring it out

She's got it!

But anyway, this was so annoying because I had to go into Gmail, log out of my account, log into Gina's, wait for her Inbox to fully load the messages from awhile ago, then she had to find the right e-mail... and it was just going so slow. But of course the CMs were super nice and eventually we found the number, gave it to them, and they went to get her a brandy-new shiny ticket!

She got Minnie this time.

Gina said she had wanted a Minnie ticket anyway so that didn't work out too bad in the end. The other cool thing is that we got one of the special Fastpasses!!!!

Anytime anything goes wrong in Disney I get a teeny bit excited as long as it isn't serious, because I know there is a chance for the special Fastpass when a guest is inconvenienced!

It had Pinocchio on it:

YAY. This allowed us to skip the line on any FP attraction (valid for one ride only). We decided we would hold off and use it later on in the day for Splash Mountain! WOOOOOO!

Good morning, Main Street.

Gina was so cute when she FINALLY got into the park. So many years and years of loving Disney so much and wanting to go so badly had all built up to this!

For me, it kind of feels like I'm showing my friend around my home, you know?Like, "Here we have our Town Square. To the left, you'll see City Hall. And to the right... GOOFY!"

Gina and her BFF.

I love that picture!!

When Gina saw the castle she was like a little kid. She just kept saying, "Oh my God... it's the castle!" I was like YEAH I KNOW ISN'T IT GREAT hahahaha.

She was like, "I can't believe I'm here." and I was like, "Me too!" Just because I've walked into the Magic Kingdom dozens of times doesn't mean it gets any less magical. <3 Thank God.

Our first stop had to be the Emporium, because Gina desperately needed an autograph book! Who wouldn't.

Gina was in love with all the baby stuffed animals.

As am I. I have an emotional attachement to Pooh Bear cause that's who we named our dog after, so I especially need that one.

I also find the Bambi one RIDICULOUSLY precious even though I haven't even seen Bambi since literally the mid-90's. I don't even remember much about it except I know it's really sad and stuff so I just don't have that big of a desire to watch it! Also I know from the joke on Friends (spoiler alert!) that Bambi's mom dies because someone asks Chandler how he could be so unaffected by Bambi's mom dying and he says, "Oh yes. It was so sad when the man stopped drawing the deer!"

I love that man.

One day, though, I will watch Bambi. And hopefully I will be clutching this baby Bambi toy for moral support!

There were three noteable instances here:

1. There was water on the floor near the register that I almost became ridiculously rich because of. I promptly reported it to a nearby CM instead of purposefully breaking something in order to gain a hefty fortune. Really though all I would ask for is like unlimited Cheddar Cheese Soup, free DVC and a lifetime ticket.

2. The guy who rang up Gina was very attractive. Always worth noting.

3. I pin traded with a super sweet CM who seemed to enjoy her job so much and I just loved her. I saw her later on in the day too! She was great!

When we walked out, Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! was going on. Gina pretty much had the same reaction Lee-Anne had earlier in the week, which was like... WHAT IS THIS RANDOM PARADE?!

I don't think anyone knows. It's just an excuse for Lumiere and Sebastian to be at the top of a float and I approve of it very much. I love it because it's just one of those things that is so DISNEY.

Like, why not have this parade fly down Main Street for no reason? This is Disney World! THIS IS FREAKING DISNEY WORLD! MOVE IT! SHAKE IT! CELEBRATE IT! LET'S GO! THERE'S A TALKING CANDLE ATOP THIS FLOAT WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR THIS IS DISNEY WOOOOOOOOOOOORLLLLLLLLLLLLDDDDLLDKLDKJSLKDFLFK;ASD

That's the parade's inner monologue, if you couldn't tell.

I love it.

Anyway, here's the Hall of Champions scrim you were dying to see.

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[__disneygirl]

MAY 20, 2013
Day 8, Part 2 In Which We Are Moving People​

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And the main attraction (complete with someone's fro there at the bottom)

The following pictures are epic...

BEST FRIENDS SINCE 1999 FINALLY IN DISNEY WORLD TOGETHER!

YAYAYAYAYAYAY.

I LOVE this photo. Tink!!!

WOO HOO!

After a ton of picture taking, we headed into Tomorrowland!

Since we had arrived late, I figured it would probably be best to get Space Mountain FPs right away.

Gina's first FastPass ever!!

CASTLE!

Gina's first ride had to be... of course... THE PEOPLEMOVER!

Does anyone else think it's weird how The WEDWay Peoplemover was its original name, but then it was the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (which is what I grew up with it being called) and now they brought back the old name (kind of) but took away the AMAZING spiel? I actually finally like the new one ("Now it's laughter they're after at Monster's Incorporated!"), but it will never ever compare to the original. LE SIGH.

I guess I should be thankful, since the ride does not even exist at Disneyland anymore!!!!!!!!!! If they ever remove it from WDW I will actually cry about it. I will riot in the streets. I will sit on the ride and refuse to move.

ANYWAY. Gina absolutely LOVED the TTA/Peoplemover.

It is now one of her top favorites! I have always felt that way so I'm really glad she enjoyed it so much too! YAYAYA. Doing stuff with someone who has never done it before makes the experience new for you too, in a way. I was enjoying myself so much!

CASTLE!

I don't think I've captured that angle before, with the speedway cars and all. Kinda cool!

But of course... THIS one is the money shot.

WOO, got it!

After the ride, we ran into PUSH!!!!

How exciting. I always love seeing how captivated children are by this. It's so cute.

I'm about to ruin the PUSH magic so if you have a problem with that, skip the next paragraph!

The coolest part for me was that I FOUND THE DUDE CONTROLLING IT! He was right next to me at one point and I was like omg. If you want to find the person, look for a "guest" in plain clothes wearing a hat and holding his hand to his mouth. Umm what an awesome job. I wonder if you do other things if you're PUSH or if you are literally just PUSH. He's probably friends with a character too!

PUSH had to take a break so he headed inside. WE HEADED TO STORYBOOK CIRCUS!

Mad Tea Party had been closed for a bit and this was the scrim over it.

I just love the pastels and of course the Hatter's hat as the exit sign.​

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[DisneyOBSESSEDMommy]

Lol! I saw the pic of your tie-dyed Mickey tee and thought "I LOVE that! Wonder where she bought it at!!" And I've also been trying to read Gina's shirt in the pics but can't get the whole thing! 7 days and counting! Hoping we run into you and Jess at some point . You two are like celebrities I'm guessing we will prob start off in the Jack/Sally line since DS 7 is going to be Jack for Halloween ! Wish we were staying for a week as well but I'm just super excited we are even going! MNSSHP & F&W......eeeeek my excitement is hardly being contained now!!! AND the fact that is supposed to be upper 80s vs our 40s here is also adding to my need to be in FLORIDA NOW!! ahhhh!

 

[__disneygirl]

MAY 20, 2013
Day 8, Part 3 In Which There Are Clowns and Tremaines​

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While on your way into Storybook Circus, you can check out the Mine Train construction through a little window if you feel the need. Which I did!

I can't wait to see what this ride is like!!! I am so curious about it! AHH.

I wonder if Sneezy is irritated by the Butter Flavored Topping...

I know my stomach is always angry at me for eating it. But oh well, it's delicious.

WELCOME....

TO THE CIRCUS. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Any other Britney fans really miss the Circus tour? Sigh....

Anyway, we went right under the big top for some snacks!

Gina wanted one of those really huge cookies with the mouse ears, but when we tried to use a snack credit, the CM told us we couldn't. I had no idea there were cookies that are not included in the DDP!

The CM said snack credits had to be under $5. Now I know this isn't true because I have bought many items at the F&W Festival and also during this trip at the F&G food booths that were well over $5. I didn't say anything though because rules are rules. Plus I looked at where the cookie was displayed and there was no DDP symbol next to the price which I didn't even notice at first!

The cookie was like $6 and Gina wanted to try so many other things that WERE included in the DDP, so she got a Peanut Butter Cookie instead.

She said it was one of the best cookies she ever had! So that ended up working out well.

I thought this little magnet was adorable. I love Jiminy.

I have NO idea why I didn't get anything in here, hmm. Very unlike me to pass up a treat under the big top. Oh well!

Outside we saw the clowns performing, which I was excited about since I hadn't seen that before!

They were cute... like, for clowns.

This dude with the yellow hair is living the life.

Also he is walking around like a zombie. ZOMBIE CLOWN?!?! AHH!

After watching for a couple minutes we headed back into OG Fantasyland. The wait for Pooh was 55 minutes! No thank you. We went to PhilharMagic to get Ariel fastpasses.

It was definitely what you could call crowded! :/ Stupid May.

As you can see, we got what we came for though!

Then something so cool happened... the Tremaines appeared!

I love when you just randomly see characters walking by. It feels so authentic.

Our Fastpass window had opened up, which meant it was time for Gina's first ever ride on SPACE MOUNTAIN!!

I took the opportunity to act like a maniac.

I'm so great!!

After we shot through the galaxy and back, we were pretty hungry and decided we'd use a CS credit at Pinocchio's, so off we headed to OG Fantasyland again.

On the way we saw Pooh strolling by!

And the White Rabbit was out greeting.

We didn't wait even though we both love Alice in Wonderland. It was a really long line. I want to meet him though, I never have! If I did it was ages ago.

So we get to Pinocchio's and the line was right up to the door! I was shocked. Gina was like, "Well, it is lunch time." Which sounds like reasonable logic but I am used to Disney being so not crowded. I've never waited more than like 5 minutes for service at CS place, so I was like HALE NO am I waiting on this line!

Instead, we went to Philhar Magic! God bless this attraction for never having a line.

WOO!

I was SO excited for Gina to see this because it's one of my favorite things to see in Disney. Unfortunately it made her nauseated, as a lot of things do. She had also NEVER seen anything in IMAX. Like nothing. Ever!! So she was pretty overwhelmed but she still said it was awesome. Duh. If anyone in the world dislikes PhilharMagic I will be shocked.

We went back to Pinocchio's in hopes that the line had died down. There was a CM outside with a Pinocchio marionette he was letting kids play with.

Very cute!

The line was still long but not to the door, so we considered that an improvement and joined in.

Surprisingly, it went incredibly quickly! They had CMs stationed at many different places in the restaurant to help out, and they were all VERY efficient.

There was someone to keep the line moving and additional CMs who found tables for guests walking away from the kitchen with trays. The whole thing went very smoothly and I was extremely impressed! Yeah Disney!!!

Gina got the Caprese Flatbread and the Chocolate Cake w/ Mickey head sprinkles! YUM.

She loved it! I was just in the mood for my MK classic, the chicken nuggets and fries.

It was perfect as usual. I got the Chocolate Gelato for my dessert. It was a pretty basic item but it did the trick.

For my drink I got the GLORIOUS All Natural Lemonade With Wildberry Foam.

Anytime you can get this in Disney, DO IT. I wish they offered it at every single restaurant, that's how much I love it. I'd get it every time!​

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[__disneygirl]

MAY 20, 2013
Day 8, Part 4 In Which Figaro Is A Cat​

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Once we finished eating we walked around the restaurant a little just cause I LOVE the decor in here, especially the stained glass. I noticed this beautiful shiny pretty art and freaked:

I had never even seen that before! I was so excited cause I love the Blue Fairy and it's so gorgeous. Ahh I love it.

This wish book is underneath it.

Cleo!

Jiminy <3 Always let your conscience be your guide.

Gina and I both thought this was really funny. "Figaro is a cat."

Yes, yes he is! Simple and straight to the point, I like it.

We headed out of the Haus and into NEW FANTASYLAND!!! Oh yeah oh yeah.

Beasty beasty beasty!

Phillipe prints.

Walking by Gaston's Tavern, we passed Gaston himself!

Yes, I said "passed Gaston" and yes, it's funny. It's really funny. I don't care if I'm not 13 anymore, saying "I passed Gaston" makes me laugh.

Another castle!!! Whattaya know.

It was time for our ride through Ariel's life! Well, the four days in which the movie takes place in, anyway.

Hey, if you go by Ariel's timeline, you could be married to a prince by like... Monday.

Like everyone else, Gina loved this ride!! We sang and danced along the whole time. Duh.

Waterfalls: don't go chasin' em.

Our next stop was the church I call Gaston's Tavern. I call it a church because they possess something holy and divine.

You know what I'm talking about, folks.

Gina was very excited to try the brew because of my constant raves.

I suggested she taste mine first before getting her own, in case she didn't like it, since it's pretty expensive for a drink you're gonna just throw away.

However, Gina had the same reaction Lee-Anne had earlier in the trip which was to say "OH NO I'M DEFINITELY GOING TO LIKE IT!"

LeFou's Brew just has such power over people, I love it!

Luckily, Gina ended up loving it! Not as much as I do, no one could possibly have the soulmate-like bond I have with this drink. However, she really enjoyed it and no Brew was wasted. Yay!

After getting our delicious Brew we headed into the main dining room, which unfortunately looked like this:

GRR. People in Gaston's chair yet again! Even when I saw New Fantasyland during previews, when it was not crowded at all, someone was always sitting in Gaston's chair and I just wanted to do that SO BAD! Sigh. So we settled for a table instead.

You may think the following photo is of Gaston's chair.

But... you would be wrong.

He was European!!!!

*emoji with heart eyes* hahaha

Just a mild crush, no big deal. Luckily he and his party got lost quickly and FINALLY THE CHAIR WAS EMPTY! OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. FINALLY. YES.

I don't know why this was such a big deal to me, but it was. I've never even liked Gaston. I mean, it's Gaston. He's positively primeval. But like... I WANTED TO SIT IN THAT DAMN CHAIR. And I did!

This picture describes our friendship literally since 1999.

Yeah we had to take 209803298 pictures. It's not every day you're in Gaston's chair!

And of course I vined it: https://vine.co/v/b9JuE5eHaaM​

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[__disneygirl]

MAY 20, 2013
Day 8, Part 5 In Which We Party In The Future​

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After spending quite a bit of time just enjoying the best chair ever, it was time to get back to our busy day of magical firsts for Gina!

Look, Doc is holding Lumiere! I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed that before.

We headed to Rapunzel's Tower to use the restroom and then decided we would use our special Fastpass (granted to us for our trouble in the morning) for SPLASH MOUNTAIN!!

This was going to be another epic moment because Gina has admired and feared this mountain since she was 5 aka the last time she was in the Magic Kingdom.

She went on Splash and CRIED! Hey, I guess it's scary for a 5 year old. I don't know cause I didn't even go on until I was 10!

So we go through the Fastpass queue and when you get to the point where you would hand in your Fastpass, I handed our special one to the CM. He grabbed it for one second and then handed it back to me and said, "Enjoy your day! HAVE FUN!" really enthusiastically.

OMG.

Did he really just hand this thing back to me? Gina and I were so happy but confused! We thought he would take it because it's a one time use.

Once we boarded our log I read it again and it did in fact say one time. That CM was just SUPER cool and decided to just give it back to us! THANK YOU SO MUCH DUDE, YOU ROCK!!!!

I think they need to change that sign to the iconic Stacey quote, "YOU'RE GONNA GET WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!"

Here is our ride photo!

I appreciate the women behind us. They are livin the life!!!

Sooo, since that CM had given us back our "one time" use Fastpass, it kind of felt like a Golden Ticket. I had planned our day around using it for Splash, which is why I hadn't used it for Space, Little Mermaid, or anything else. We wondered whether or not more CMs would let us keep it. Were we going to be able to go through ANY Fastpass line all day?! OMG!

I really just wanted to go right back on Splash! Not only is it one of my top favorites, but it was really hot out! I could have stayed on that puppy all day.

However, we didn't want to take advantage of that CM's kindness so we hit up Big Thunder next instead!

This ride isn't my fave (soo much better at night!), but with a free pass to skip the line, why not? Plus I knew Gina wanted to do every thrill ride.

Unfortunately this time the CM kept our Fastpass. Oh well, we got more out of it than we even expected so we were happy with that!

I forgot how great the views are once you get off this ride. The Liberty Belle was passing by!

Tom Sawyer Island

Bye, Big Thunder! See ya next time (IN 6 DAYS FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).

From there we went to Adventureland. There was a Pirate and Princess Parade going on! So cute.

The Crystal Palace from Adventureland

Our next ride was Pirates! Obviously a classic that Gina had to experience!

It was my third time on it this trip and I was not mad.

This is one of the few rides that I would say regardless of your age, personal preferences, anything really... if you go to Disney you MUST do it! I mean we all have our own personal must-dos, I can see how some thrill rides may be too much for people or some of the more off the beaten path stuff may be boring, whatever. But Pirates is overall one of the best attractions and I just can't imagine anyone leaving disappointed. Anytime people talk to me about visiting Disney for the first time I always tell them to go to Pirates right away.

Next we monorailed it on outta the Kingdom and over to EPCOT!

Monorail Vines: https://vine.co/v/b9J91T3dUwi & https://vine.co/v/b91a9HB0bYO

Aka, Gina's first time in Epcot. EVER!

They still had Flower & Garden stuff up despite it being officially over the day before. YAY, Gina got to see it!!

Aaaand here we are!

SSE Vine: https://vine.co/v/b91ZQ2QpMpU

First BBFFAEAE trip to Epcot commencing NOW.

Our first stop was this lovely adventure sponsored by Siemens!

Hey, thanks Siemens.

Okay so.. the our future thing ended up making us laugh SO HARD we couldn't breathe.

UP AND AT EM whoaaaa yeahhhh time for a great day

Looky here it's my vitamin! Gotta take it gotta stay healthy

Onto my daily walk, such a healthful future baby!

SCREW THE HEALTH STUFF WOO GINA'S HERE PARTY TIME! CONGA LINEEEEEEEEEEE

It always makes me giggle but this time it really just made us die because it came out so perfectly hilarious that we could not even believe it. Luckily we captured it in photos and also a Vine: https://t.co/29aKiYcZtb

LOLOLOLOL. I am so glad I whipped my phone out for that one. PERFECT.​

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[__disneygirl]

MAY 20, 2013
Day 8, Part 6 In Which I Spin Slowly While Eating Delicious Food and Meeting Animals!!!!!!!!!​

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I just love that title. Because where else can you do that but Disney?!

If you couldn't tell, from Spaceship Earth we walked over to The Land because our reservation for GARDEN GRILL was approaching!!! AHHH!!

Living with the Land super busy as usual!

Okay so the pictures Gina took in this update are going to be bigger than the other ones because I am so sick of editing pictures, I could die. So deal with it! Thanks.

We still had some time before our dinner so we went on. While we rode, it started to rain really hard. And it was raining inside but also it... wasn't.

I don't know how else to explain this. It was SO WEIRD. Like we saw the rain hitting the windows above us but it was also raining on our boat, we could hear it hitting the tarp. It was mind boggling and I am still confused.

Gina and I discussed how that could possibly be happening and we were kind of amazed by it.

TELL ME YOUR SECRETS, LIVING WITH THE LAND!!

I guess there are holes in part of the roof? There has to be because the rain was definitely hitting the windows in certain parts but also falling on us at other parts.

Maybe they want certain plants to be hit by rainwater and not others. I guess that makes sense. Not being a botanist I can only imagine the planty magic that goes on in here.

If any of you have any Living With the Land insight, feel free to share!

Oh how I love the murals.

Oh, the Land. I wish I could smell you right now. I will in SIX DAYS though so it's all good!

After that half rainy and half not experience, we went upstairs to wait outside of Garden Grill for Jess.

She and I had been texting for awhile all willy nilly not even realizing that I made a mistake! I thought she was on her way there but she thought the reservation was for 6:50. It was actually for 5:50, which was very very soon! She was at her apartment chilling after work and hadn't even left yet. D:

She was like "Omg, you told me it was 6:50!" and I was surprised bc I never do that! I check and recheck everything when it comes to Disney planning. Gina was even like, "Yeah, you've been saying 5:50 all day!" but when I looked back at what I had told Jess earlier... she was right! I told her 6:50. So Jess had to rush all the way from her place to Epcot in the pouring rain! I felt really bad. That must have been so annoying. I'm so sorry Jess!!

Luckily when I went up and explained the situation to the CM at the podium she was understanding. Even when I told her the 3rd person in our party wouldn't even arrive until like 30 minutes after our reservation time, she said, "Okay, when she gets here, come up and I will seat you." WOW! I was impressed and VERY grateful to her. Garden Grill is super busy too! So that was awesome of her. Thank you so much, CM!

Gina and I went and sat near the restrooms that are to the left of Garden Grill. Take note because there are outlets here where you can charge your phone or whatever else you want, I guess. So that's what I did while we waited for Jess and Gina of course had to photograph me.

Jess actually got there pretty fast for someone who had to drive from off property to Epcot, park, and walk though the park in the rain all the way to the Land. She is a professional!!

YAY! This was one of the most exciting reservations for me because I have literally been trying to eat here since 2006. I've had a bunch of ADRs for it, but somehow things just never worked out. This was a LONG TIME coming! I WAS SO PUMPED!!

A hidden Mickey at our table. What a FLAWLESS beginning to this meal!

Jess is absolutely in love with this place and her reports of going there time after time made me even MORE thrilled about it. Gina was excited too because, well, she was excited to go anywhere... it was her first time in Epcot! But also because she's a vegetarian and we knew Garden Grill would probably have an amazing vegetarian offering! I mean it is the GARDEN Grill located in the LAND. This is a no brainer, people!

Pluto came to our table before any food even arrived because he is in love with Jess and could not wait any longer.

They're engaged, it's fine.

AWW.

Then the bread came. Oh my good lord Jesus in Heaven, thank you for this bread.

SO fluffy. SO FLUFFY I'M GONNA DIE

They also brought salad. I actually ATE SOME!

I am progressing as a human being.

AND THEN CHIPPY CAME!!!! Oh my GOD I was so happy. I have not met my Chip in ages.

Signing Gina's autograph book

Behind the scenes: Jess and Chip!

This was um... not my finest moment. HAHAHAHA. I was just so tired. Oh my God, I could barely deal with this day. But Chip loved me regardless of how shiny, sleepy, and derpy I looked.

I think my eyes are literally just trying to close or melt off my face in that picture.

Chippy, what are you looking at?

Guess who came back??!?! MY PLUTO!!!

Umm yeah that's right, Jess. I said MY PLUTO. Look at our hug. I think we obviously made a connection!!!

Then our BEYOND DELICIOUS food came. Here is Gina's vegetarian dish!

This does not cost any extra. If you have any dietary restrictions AT ALL, always tell Disney no matter what restaurant it is. They will hook you up!

THIS MAC AND CHEESE WAS SO GOOD.

HOW DID I EVER EAT MAC AND CHEESE WITHOUT GOLDFISH ON TOP? I just don't know.

Jess has a very personal and intimate relationship with these next guys.

SWEET POTATO FRIES!! Absurdly good. So good she had to model them.

Your main dish is the long one with all the meat, potatoes, vegetables and stuffing on it! All of this was cooked PERFECTLY and was so flavorful and delicious. I can't say enough good things about this place.

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[__disneygirl]

MAY 20, 2013
Day 8, Part 7 IN WHICH MICKEY MOUSE KNOWS ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!​

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I AM SO HUNGRY. Thank God I will be back at the Garden in a week or so!!!!!

I especially loved the turkey and mashed potatoes, but really I ate everything except the seafood.

At some point I looked around and realized we had rotated REALLY FAR! I got so freaked out. Now I have known about Garden Grill being a rotating restaurant since 2006. I have always thought it was really cool. It was one of the reasons I wanted to eat there! But on this day I FORGOT ALL ABOUT IT. It totally slipped my mind.

Before I remembered, I looked around and thought "Hey, that looks different, I thought that tree was over here..." and I STILL didn't realize we were rotating until we had a totally different atmosphere. In my sleep deprived state I was floored by this even though it's a FACT I HAVE KNOWN FOR 7 YEARS. But I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. And every time I would look up and see a new enviornment I was tripped out. It was really funny... I am such a frump oh my god.

Dale came by next. He is so much fun!

I really can't choose who I love more, Chippy or Dale. As a kid I was obsessed with them because of their famous Christmas short. They both crack me up so much and they're just so precious.

Who came by next? Of course the big guy. The one I was waitin' for. My love. MICKEY MOUSE!!!!

I love that picture. We were freaking out and so was Mickey. Let me tell you a little story that I am still confused by.

Okay so as soon as Mickey came over he like stomped his feet, pointed and me, and came right to where I was sitting. I was very flattered!!! MICKEY LOVES ME.

He was actually acting the way that the characters were acting toward Mark at Chef Mickey's on Day 1, which was normal because of Mark's job. They all know each other very well!

If a character recognizes you they will point to their nose. This means "I know you!"

MICKEY DID THAT TO ME! Repeatedly! Jess and I kept looking at each other like who... is ... that? I mean, it's Mickey. But uh, Mickey and I obviously have a mutual friend.

It would have been less weird if Mickey also said he knew Jess. Obviously there would be a bigger chance that someone friends with Mickey would know her since she had been living there for months by then. But Mickey didn't know her, he just knew me!

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!

I really wonder who Mickey was friends with. I cannot even imagine it. I searched my brain and I don't know anyone who it could be! I was just really confused. But hey, it's Disney magic. Why question these things, really?

I'm always excited to meet Mickey, it just never gets old. But this interaction was really special. He just really showed that he LOVED me. Mickey was giving me very special treatment. I honestly felt like I was a child again which I think this picture definitely conveys.

AWW. I was so ridiculously happy. I don't even. It was SO special and one of the most magical moments of the trip! I just love that Mickey was as excited to see me as I was to see him! Maybe he remembered me from the Halloween party last year. After all, I did dress as him, who could forget that?!

I LOVE YOU, MICKEY MOUSE!!!

That whole thing was literal perfection. I don't even know what to say!

Our dessert was Berry Cobbler Cake with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream on top!

THIS WAS SO GOOD. We definitely ate the whole thing. We also got cupcake cones though cause we asked for the child food of course.

That's another thing - even if you don't have kids with you, if you want the child's food selection at any of these Family Style places, just ask. They'll give you a plate of whatever they have! It's no problem. I LOVE DISNEY.

Overall the Garden Grill lived up to years of anticipation. Everything from the atmosphere, food, service (I haven't mentioned our server, but he was great), character interaction was absolutely perfect. I do not have one complaint. I can not wait to go back!

Gina's main goal in life is to have a farm, husband, and kids so she kept saying this farmhouse was her house the same way I say the Hollywood Tower Hotel is mine!

If you've never been here, I should probably tell you that's the Living With the Land farmhouse! Gina totally adored it.

While we were admiring Gina's house, Dale was right by us at a table.

He overheard our conversation and started insisting that Gina didn't live there. IT WAS SO FUNNY.

Luckily, I vined it! https://vine.co/v/b9neQLXXXUt

I was getting pretty good at this vining thing! I didn't capture much, but it was sooo hilarious.

I love Dale. That was so fun and unexpected. Another completely magical moment. Also, Mickey was at another table nearby and he saw me and started waving vigorously. LOL! All the characters here just adored us, what can I say?

We went outside and saw a rainbow over Imagination!

One little spark!

The sky looked awesome.

Oh Epcot. You're so pretty.

Stunning, stunning, stunning.

It was time for some World Showcasing, so off we went.

Oh, Canada!

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[__disneygirl]

Lol! I saw the pic of your tie-dyed Mickey tee and thought "I LOVE that! Wonder where she bought it at!!" And I've also been trying to read Gina's shirt in the pics but can't get the whole thing! 7 days and counting! Hoping we run into you and Jess at some point . You two are like celebrities I'm guessing we will prob start off in the Jack/Sally line since DS 7 is going to be Jack for Halloween ! Wish we were staying for a week as well but I'm just super excited we are even going! MNSSHP & F&W......eeeeek my excitement is hardly being contained now!!! AND the fact that is supposed to be upper 80s vs our 40s here is also adding to my need to be in FLORIDA NOW!! ahhhh!

That will be a great costume! I was going to be Jack but then I changed my mind. I hope you guys have a magical trip!!

Gina's shirt says "Keep Calm We Were Only Trying To Drown Her" which is what the mermaids say about Wendy in Peter Pan.

 

[aubergine]

YAY! Our VIP Fastpass! (0nly 4 p0pular seniorz.)

HAHA as soon as you brought up the "notable instances" at the Emporium I was like OMG YES the potential Lia VS. Emporium Lawsuit! Tsk. We could've been billionaires.

I LOVE the Peoplemover. I know I obviously haven't experienced every attraction, but as of this moment, the Peoplemover is my favorite.

~For anyone wondering about my Keep Calm shirt (and my OTHER upcoming Keep Calm shirt that you will see soon!), I got them both at Cakeworthy. They don't have them anymore, but there's a lot of other really cute Disney related stuff!~

I STILL want that Mickey head cookie. When I saw the picture of the snack display I was like OMG THAT'S AN AWESOME COOKIE and then you reminded me that it had been my first choice. Oh well, NEXT TIME.
Also I bought an awesome Mickey head cookie cutter at Storybook Circus!!! I have yet to use it though.

Yes, I said "passed Gaston" and yes, it's funny. It's really funny. I don't care if I'm not 13 anymore, saying "I passed Gaston" makes me laugh.

I laughed. I'm not ashamed.

I want more LeFou's! I only had it once. :/

I really wish we had a whole video of our SSE experience, that was HILARIOUS. I was sad that we couldn't get those pictures emailed to ourselves.

That vegetarian thing they made for me at Garden Grill was SO GOOD. I have no idea what it was. Some kind of like corn cake and grilled zucchini maybe? I ate like every bite and I am not a vegetable fan so you know it had to be good!

I can't wait for the next updates!!!!!!!!!!

 

[JessM]

I loved hearing about all your DTD drinking adventures! That's definitely on my bucket list!

I finally have an ADR at Garden Grill for my December trip, I literally cannot wait it looks so good!!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Any day that starts with Stacey is sure to be a perfect day!!!

Part of me honestly thinks that the whole ticket snafu (I just like the word snafu) was just Disney building anticipation for Gina's first entrance into MK in eight years. Magic Kingdom is right there but... wait for it... wait for it... TA DAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

OMG that Friends Bambi line... I remember that one vividly.

For me, not counting Boo To You of course, Move It Shake It... Best Parade ever.

It will ALWAYS be the WEDway Peoplemover to me. I could never get into the whole TTA thing. But regardless, it's perfect.

OK, totally random observation, but the CM in the White Rabbit photo looks to me like she's posing for a Tinkerbell magic shot. Again, just a completely random observation that really has no bearing on anything at all.

Hehe, nice TLC reference at the Ariel ride!!

Riding Living with the Land right before Garden Grill is genius since much of the food at Garden Grill is grown in Living with the Land. It's all very full circle-y

I LOVE that Mickey was SO VERY HAPPY to see you. What a magical moment!!!!

 

[__disneygirl]

MAY 20, 2013
Day 8, Part 8 In Which Pooh and Tigger Dance To the Beatles​

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We went upstairs and inside the extremely frumpy Canada store.

I always appreciate this fine merchandise. I really need to go to Canada.

I wanted to stop and see the movie because 1. I have never seen it and 2. Martin Short is an international treasure.

However we didn't stop, I can't remember why. I will have to do that when I am back in Disney NEXT WEEK! It's on my list.

But really... I have a list. During this May trip, I knew I wanted to do a bunch of new things but I didn't write anything down. I had it all up in the ol' noggin. Which worked quite well most of the time, I got a lot done. It was just like, if I saw it, I'd go do it. This time I am definitely doing a little bit of overplanning and writing down specific things to do on certain days. As my pal Steven Tyler says, I don't wanna miss a thing.

Steven Tyler and I are not really pals but let's not get into how empty my life is without him!!

AGAIN. THE SKY.

Our next stop was of course the glorious United Kingdom! We looked around in the shops awhile, mostly the flawless rock and roll one. I want to buy every single item in there times 3.

"There's nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time. It's easy!"

#meeveryday

These were my two favorite pieces of Beatles merch this time. Oh glory.

British Revoution was playing and they are so fantastic. The way they recreate some of the most classic hits in music history is outstanding!

I am kind of a Beatles purist so I am not fond of most covers. However, I think BR do an awesome job! And going from that to Pink Floyd to Queen and back again... oh my God. All that music is so sprawling, timeless, and legendary... it just reminds me of my whole life. Like I can't even pinpoint one moment or memory because this music is just ingrained in the fabric of my life.

The line to meet Pooh and Tigger in CHRISTOPHER ROBIN'S ROOM was not long at ALL, so we had to hop in. I had never been in Christopher Robin's room before so it was one of those places I wanted to make sure I visited this trip. Just the fact that it exists in Disney makes me so happy. I couldn't wait to go in!

It was even exciting for Jess, who had done like everything 60749 times by then... EXCEPT THIS! She had never met Pooh and Tigger in this location. So it was a first even for her! I was very successful with my Firsts idea this trip!

How precious is this?!?!

Oh my God they were SO CUTE. They are quite obviously big Beatles fans because they were dancing to the music with that little boy! IT WAS THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER WITNESSED. They have the best lives ever, I really can't.

Obviously I vined it: https://t.co/zzjbxsdqsR

I wish I could remember more about what was said during this M&G but I was SO TIRED and I didn't take any notes. I feel like something really cute happened but it escapes me! I remember it was great, though.

Tigger had to high five Gina. Duh.

Me and my Pooh Bear. <3

We love them!

Silly Ol' bear.

The UK is so quaint.

At this point Jess had to leave because she had an early class the next morning. She wanted to pick up some stuff at Pop and then go to her apartment to sleep since her class is really close to there, so it was just easier. We bid her farewell and headed toward the Friendship boats!

We were on our way to Hollywood Studios, which ended up not being crowded at all! Perfect for Gina's first ever vist!

Oh how I love the lack of crowds.

Our first stop was - duh - my house.

When we got there, it turns out there was was a service elevator still in operation, waiting for us. WHAT A COINCIDENCE.

I was so excited for Gina. I mean, hello. It's the TOWER OF TERROR. I mean, I am always pumped up while riding this but it was even more exciting knowing it was her first time!

Our ride photo was, once again, amazing.

Do you guys know about the Sunset Room?

The Sunset Room is where we held a lot of special events such as parties and banquets at the Tower (I've been around a long time). You can even view our menu for the last Halloween party we ever had.

Happy Halloween everyone! Hope you hurry back.

From there we went across the way to RnR!

The line was a bit long so we did single rider!

I don't think Gina liked riding with a random stranger but I'm solo so often that it's totally normal to me! She loved the ride though... DUH. I would question her mental health if she didn't.

Hidden-ish Minnie in the Rock Around the Shop

Next we went out to Fantasmic. We were able to get AMAZING seats front and center, right near where Lee-Anne, Jess, and I sat the week before! OH YEAH.

I have honestly never been so pumped for Fantasmic. After the ridiculously fun time Jess and I had singing every word and dancing around, it totally renewed the show for me! Seeing it with someone just as Disney crazy as you will do that! So I was ABSURDLY EXCITED about seeing it again, and from such a great spot. AGAIN. Ahh.

Gina held our seats while I went to get us snacks! I got us cinnamon glazed pecans, a box of popcorn, a Diet Coke for Gina and a bottle of water for myself. Yum!!!

The glazed pecans are one of those must-have Disney snacks in my opinion. If you've never had them before, make sure you try 'em on your next trip.

Once the show began, even though I have now seen it probably at least 15 times... omg. I don't even. I had so much fun.

I think Gina was super overwhelmed, I mean what Disney fan wouldn't be?! She said the Pocahontas part was her favorite though! She has good taste.

Fantasmic Vine: https://vine.co/v/b9vxYe6dQHj

After that, unfortunately it was time to head out of this ABSOLUTELY STUPENDOUS park!! I was so tired so I was ready for some rest but at the same time if EMH had been going on I would have been all over that. I LOVE HOLLYWOOD.

Before leaving though, I walked into Villains in Vogue to Vinylmation trade again. I kept hoping in vain they'd have some villainy Vinyls at some point, which never happened. HOWEVER.

Okay, if you don't Vinylmation trade, let me just explain the process. They pull out a "blind box" which is a black box that holds Vinylmations and is sectioned off into 15 parts. It looks like this.

So you pick a number and the CM helping you shows you the Vinylmation that corresponds to your number. They put it on top of the box. You can then pick another number, and they again take out the Vinyl and put it on top of the box. However there is also a clear box sitting there that has 3 Vinylmations you can see. So you have the choice of trading your Vinyl for any of these 5.

If you get a fun CM, they may let you pick more than 2 numbers. Some are oddly strict about it though, and technically picking 2 numbers is the rule. Sometimes there just aren't any that I want though, and so I move on (though apparently some CMs "make" you trade which sounds ridiculous. Are they gonna pry it out of my hand?)

Basically, you just never know what you're gonna get. THIS TIME THOUGH, I got the two COOLEST CMs EVER. I don't know if it was because the park was closed and they just wanted to get out of there and close up shop or what, but they TURNED THE BLIND BOX AROUND COMPLETELY AND I COULD SEE ALL THE VINYLS! OMG!

I was freaking out. I couldn't believe it!

I thought I was going to have a big problem choosing which ones to take, but unfortunately the Vinyls in that box weren't that great. Two of them were actually ones I had traded earlier in the trip. LOL!

I ended up with these 2:

They're both cute, but I prefer the ones that are super artsy. The smiley is so adorable though, so I was happy with these trades! I never traded them away and they are currently sitting on my desk.

We took the bus back to Pop and I don't remember anything else. I'm guessing we turned on Stacey, Gina wrote in her trip journal, and I just crashed.

#BirthdayFirstsivus13: The Firsts of May 20!
~Was given a "No Strings Attached" fastpass that we magically got to use twice
~Saw the magic behind push
~Saw the clowns perform in front of Storybook Circus
~SAT IN GASTON'S CHAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~Saw the kids pirate and princess parade
~Ate at Garden Grill
~Met Pooh and Tigger in Christopher Robin's Room
~Got my choice of Vinylmations when the blind box was turned over!
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[katt789]

Yay!! You guys certainly had a blast getting drunk at DTD! Lol!! It’s definitely something that I’ll have to add to my list of things to do!!

Wow that’s an awesome deal on the ticket, glad that worked out! And that is some crazy shenanigans about the tickets, good thing it got all sorted, and thank goodness for smart phones!

Love all the baby stuffed animals! Bambis so cute!

Wait…when did you change from the tie dye shirt to the hot topic tank!?!? Lol

I would join you in the cry fest if the people mover was ever to leave, hands down one of my favorites!!

Wait, the mickey cookie on the bottom left? I thought I saw a ddp logo on there? Heh, I’m usually the crazy one bahaha. Glad she got a cookie in the end, all Disney cookies are delicious!

Awe, too bad Phillharmagic made her nauseas! It happens to be a bunch too, moreso it hurts my head, I can’t do imax or some 3d stuff either!

THAT LEMONADE!! SO MUCH YUM!! Also the flatbread is super freaking delicious too! I really need to look around Pinnocchios more! I definitely plan on eating there next week! AH NEXT WEEK WHAT THIS IS INSANE! Although I also really want to eat at BOG for lunch, so we’ll see how that works out lol.

Awe, love the shots of you guys in the chair, that’s definitely true friendship lol! Pirates is definitely one of those attractions, everyone needs to do it, it’s classic, it’s great!

Ah what an amazing garden grill experience, especially with mickey!! How wonderful!!