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

[DisneyKid4Life]

Okay so there's what everyone calls "Disney Pizza" which is the pizza they serve at all counter service places that offer pizza including Pizzafari, Pizza Planet, etc. The one exception is Wolfgang Puck Express that sells delicious gourmet pizzas. It's not that this "Disney Pizza" is disgusting or anything. It's just like frozen pizza quality and they charge like $9 for it and I am like PLEASE. Being from the pizza capital of the world I would probably be run out of the NY/NJ area if I ate it. I can't imagine why anyone outside of extremely picky children would eat it when there are so many other delicious options at Walt Disney World. It's not like it's a good value or anything. I just don't get it.

The pizza at Wolfgang Puck Express and TS restaurants like Via Napoli is gourmet and fresh and nothing like the "Disney Pizza" served at CS places. Does that clear this up?

I AM SO EXCITED FOR BETTER CALL SAUL!!! Did you see this? http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/vince-gilligan-reveals-better-call-saul-details-20131016 Omg, Vince Gilligan sure knows how to please his fans. Seriously, I could not be happier with everything that he said. It's EXACTLY what I wanted. Like getting together as many BB crew/cast members as possible and sticking with ABQ and all that stuff. I am SO EXCITED.

Yay for one extra day/staying at Pop! Pop is so awesome, it doesn't feel like a sacrifice to stay there, you know?

Thank you SO MUCH Lia. I thought I was going crazy. I only had it the one time and, while it wasn't "bad", I just didn't get all the love I kept hearing about. I almost felt anti-Disney somehow by not thinking it was amazing. Good to know I'm not alone. If Miss Disney (i.e. You) feels that way, at least I know I'm in good company.

And yup, it absolutely clears things up! WPE is on the to do list. Well actually it was anyway.

OMG that's too funny. I actually just read that earlier today before reading your update. Haha, can you imagine if they actually did a sitcom? Ahhh it is gonna be SO GREAT!!!

TOTALLY!!! Absolutely no sacrifice whatsoever!

 

[khaleesi]

Hi there!! I posted a picture of the costume you partially inspired on my PTR... here's a link to the post I'm not actually wearing the costume in the pic, but you'll get the idea!

 

[__disneygirl]

Thank you SO MUCH Lia. I thought I was going crazy. I only had it the one time and, while it wasn't "bad", I just didn't get all the love I kept hearing about. I almost felt anti-Disney somehow by not thinking it was amazing. Good to know I'm not alone. If Miss Disney (i.e. You) feels that way, at least I know I'm in good company.

And yup, it absolutely clears things up! WPE is on the to do list. Well actually it was anyway.

OMG that's too funny. I actually just read that earlier today before reading your update. Haha, can you imagine if they actually did a sitcom? Ahhh it is gonna be SO GREAT!!!

TOTALLY!!! Absolutely no sacrifice whatsoever!

I very much like being called Miss Disney. If only that was my last name!

Hi there!! I posted a picture of the costume you partially inspired on my PTR... here's a link to the post I'm not actually wearing the costume in the pic, but you'll get the idea!

Aww that's REALLY cute! I love the skirt. You will look adorable.

 

[danimaroo]

LIA I AM OFFICIALLY CAUGHT UP! I'm a little proud of myself right now because I've been trying to hard to catch up and I finally am! YAYAYAYY!

So many fabulous things have happened on this trip already, and I don't even know where to start.

I will say I am loving your Vinylmation and pin trading! That Card Guard was a good one to get.

Okay, your photos have convinced me that I need to at a minimum visit Port Orleans! I am thinking next trip we will have to get over there to check out that resort. It looks amazing! That is the resort we would stay at if we weren't using DVC points!

While I'm sad you didn't like the Carrot Cake cookie, I'm with you on Disney Pizza. It really isn't very good... but that being said, I'll sometimes just randomly order it! I don't even know why, but I will. I didn't during this last trip because I was too busy eating so many other delicious things like waffle sandwiches, but I have in the past. I still need to go to WPE at some point!

Oh man, I'm kind of wondering if you didn't get to AK as much for the same reason we didn't spend as much time there this trip... THE HEAT! Ugh, well for us, that was an issue. Animal Kingdom makes you feel like you are melting when it's really hot out.

ALSO your photos in MK of the sky made me miss it so much. I just want to go back again and be walking around Magic Kingdom, looking at pretty clouds and pretty sunsets.

ALSO I LOVE THAT YOU TOOK SO MANY PHOTOS OF BEACH CLUB! It is the best resort in the history of all resorts and I want you to stay there and fall in love with it. Okay, sound good? Cool.

Glad I'm finally caught up again, yay!

 

[geckodani]

Yay! Another Lia trip report! Your TRs just ooze Disney Love and Bubbliness (yes, that's a word now) and happy and I love them. I can't believe you're going back for Halloween - that's so great!

I have yet to stay at Pop. I've actually never stayed at a Value (I'm too in love with POFQ!!!) but all the love Pop gets has me wondering what I'm missing!

Disney Pizza... not the bomb. I don't get it either.

 

[hutch0830]

I love to read your trip reports! Your enthusiasm is infectious! Also - I really want to stay at POFQ soon! It looks amazing....

 

[__disneygirl]

LIA I AM OFFICIALLY CAUGHT UP! I'm a little proud of myself right now because I've been trying to hard to catch up and I finally am! YAYAYAYY!

So many fabulous things have happened on this trip already, and I don't even know where to start.

I will say I am loving your Vinylmation and pin trading! That Card Guard was a good one to get.

Okay, your photos have convinced me that I need to at a minimum visit Port Orleans! I am thinking next trip we will have to get over there to check out that resort. It looks amazing! That is the resort we would stay at if we weren't using DVC points!

While I'm sad you didn't like the Carrot Cake cookie, I'm with you on Disney Pizza. It really isn't very good... but that being said, I'll sometimes just randomly order it! I don't even know why, but I will. I didn't during this last trip because I was too busy eating so many other delicious things like waffle sandwiches, but I have in the past. I still need to go to WPE at some point!

Oh man, I'm kind of wondering if you didn't get to AK as much for the same reason we didn't spend as much time there this trip... THE HEAT! Ugh, well for us, that was an issue. Animal Kingdom makes you feel like you are melting when it's really hot out.

ALSO your photos in MK of the sky made me miss it so much. I just want to go back again and be walking around Magic Kingdom, looking at pretty clouds and pretty sunsets.

ALSO I LOVE THAT YOU TOOK SO MANY PHOTOS OF BEACH CLUB! It is the best resort in the history of all resorts and I want you to stay there and fall in love with it. Okay, sound good? Cool.

Glad I'm finally caught up again, yay!

Thank you so much for catching up! On the next trip there will be EVEN MORE pin and vinyl trading. I have 10 vinyls and 75 pins to trade.

DEFINITELY visit Port Orleans. I think you and Matt will love it. Same with WPE.

It was the heat. Not so much that I was bothered by it but I could tell the animals were because they were SO MUCH less active so it made the whole experience less than exciting.

I always take tons of Beach Club pictures. I'm sure I have pictures of the same stuff from other trips but I can just never stop snapping away.

Yay! Another Lia trip report! Your TRs just ooze Disney Love and Bubbliness (yes, that's a word now) and happy and I love them. I can't believe you're going back for Halloween - that's so great!

I have yet to stay at Pop. I've actually never stayed at a Value (I'm too in love with POFQ!!!) but all the love Pop gets has me wondering what I'm missing!

Disney Pizza... not the bomb. I don't get it either.

Thank you so much! I am happy to bring you the bubbliness.

I don't blame you for being too in love with POFQ to try something else. However Pop is SO much fun. It might be nice to change it up one of these trips.

I love to read your trip reports! Your enthusiasm is infectious! Also - I really want to stay at POFQ soon! It looks amazing....

Thank you so much! I highly recommend POFQ for anyone and everyone!

 

[__disneygirl]

MAY 17, 2013
Day 5, Part 4 In Which We Create Our Own Pasta​

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I love all the little historical pop culture facts they have around Pop.

The Generation Gap Bridge!

This is the view of our building from the bridge:

The walk over to AoA is seriously nothing. Staying at one of these resorts is like staying at both! Very similar to French Quarter & Riverside. After all, AoA was supposed to be the years 1900-1940 and be Pop's twin resort. So really if you stay at AoA or Pop you kinda get two resorts in one. IT'S GREAT.

THE BIG BLUE POOL!

We arrived at Landscape of Flavors and I already knew I was getting the Create Your Own Pasta. It's even better than Riverside's, which I knew from eating it during Stuck In Disney. Jess decided that's what she would get as well.

Gelatoooooo

While deciding on dessert we discovered HIDDEN MICKEY GELATO.

That's not an official name or anything... just what I dubbed it after seeing the famous three circles I adore so much!

I got the whole wheat linguini with pesto, chicken, peas, and roasted red peppers. IT WAS DELICIOUS and just as good as I remembered. Sometimes when I have a dish a second time at Disney it's not as good b/c I've built it up in my head over a period of months and daydreamed about it. Not the case with this!

I love when they offer whole wheat or gluten free pasta because I literally see no reason to eat white/"normal" pasta anymore. The healthier pastas they make these days taste EXACTLY the same. At home I have brown rice pasta all the time too. WHAT A GODSEND for an italian like me who requires eating pasta like 14 times a week but doesn't want to be the size of a house! Very very important.

Jess chose the bowtie pasta with marinara sauce, shrimp, and mushrooms. She absolutely loved it! She was trying to go the healthier route with her dessert so she got a smoothie. I got one of my all-time favorite Disney desserts, a Mickey tartlet!

Here is our tray:

To my surprise, Jess had never tasted the Mickey tartlet before, so let her have an ear. I am such a generous and charitable person. She thought it was amazing, but duh.

It's time for some pasta close-ups courtesy of Jess. Mine:

Hers:

We sat for a long time and talked about life while eating our delicious Dinner #1. It was absolutely wonderful! Jess is just one of those people I could chat with forever but eventually we had to get going.

We went into the gift shop to pin trade. The pin board was coming out in about 10 minutes, so we were really lucky with the timing. So we just wandered around for a little bit waiting for it. In the lobby, they had just announced the Sketch Artist of the Day:

Please notice this dude's AWESOMENESS. He is wearing a lei, a fez, and holding up a sign that says applause. WHEN WILL YOU LOOK THIS GOOD? The answer is never and I'm sorry.

I went to use the restroom and discovered that Ariel is in there!

Then we went back into the shop because it was time for the pin board!

I can't remember if we found any good pins on it. Hmm. Oh well, after that we started walking back over to Pop.

The 60's section from across the lake:

I love the Nemo buildings.

When we got back to Pop, we were in the 60's section and Jess said, "What decade is this again?!" Being the huge fan of the 60's that I am, I SCHOOLED HER, omg. I am so obsessed. I think I bombarded her with so much information, it was probably scary. I was just like "FREE LOVE!!!!!!!! BEATLES!!!!!!!!!!!!! MARTIN LUTHER KING!!!!!!!!!! FLOWER POWER!!!! WOODSTOCK!!!!!!!! KENNEDYS!!!!!!!!!!!!" LOL.

I am actually pretty into the history of all the decades from the 20's onward, but the 60's I just feel a special connection with, so naturally it's my favorite section of Pop. I really love them all though! I'm so jealous of people who are like 90 now and got to live through them all. What a magnificent feeling it must be to have witnessed all of that history.

We went to Brooke so that we could bring Jess's birthday balloons up to the room. As I said before, it was very important that we have them as decoration because this was the ultimate birthday trip!

I had to take that frumpy candid cause Jess was so happy and excited! It was so cute. Some stuff she was more chill about having lived there for months but getting the 50's section like she wanted without even asking for it was magical.

Here is a close-up of the now-extinct Princess balloon. I think it is perfect because it has the trio of early 90's princesses on it. They were always my favorite, way more than the ones who came earlier.

R.I.P. PRINCESS BALLOON. Thank you God that I was alive to experience the true and original looks of these princesses!

This is the top of the bowling pin that was the staircase we walked up every day. We quickly decided the world would be a better place if all staircases were shaped like bowling pins.

It just makes sense, people.

We freshened up a bit and changed, then we were off to the bus stops.

Right after I took this picture, we noticed a Magic Kingdom bus right about to leave, so we both RAN toward it. After running for 10 seconds, Jess proclaimed, "Okay, I'm done for the year." hahaha We are not runners, people!!! But for the Magic Kingdom... we WILL briefly run. And we made it, so yay!

Bus picture!

I was way happier than I look... trust me! LOL​

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[__disneygirl]

MAY 17, 2013
Day 5, Part 5 In Which We Drop By Our Favorite Kingdom​

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Bye bye Pop... for now!

In no time we were arriving at Magic Kingdom.

I don't know why I felt the need to take a picture of this security guard, but when I look at it I like to imagine that the pretty princess bag he is holding belongs to him. LOL

Good evening, beautiful kingdom!

I desperately needed to go on thrill rides. LIKE IMMEDIATELY. I love being in Disney with Lee-Anne, but there is one down side and that is that I can't ride thrill rides when she is there! I technically could but I hate making people wait for me so yeah, I don't do that. BUT NOW IT WAS TIME FOR THE THRILLS BABY!

We went straight to Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain first. Of course the line was very long, so I figured we would get FPs. Oh how wrong I was!

Jess whipped out this little ticket that allowed us to skip the entire line! It was from her friend who works at this ride. That must be so cool to work there and just get to hand out line skippers to all your friends. And even cooler to receive them!

So yeah I was like VIP PRINCESSES COMIN THROUGH PLEASE STEP ASIDE!!!

Our ride photo is quality.

Jess decided to do a princess pose but I did one more accurate to my personality. I call it: Escape Mental Patient Not Aware of Where the Camera Is. I'm pretty sure this won some kind of modeling award, but Jess and I weren't able to show up because we were too busy Disneying it up. A typical problem for us.

I love this so much.

To compare here is a picture of us a year and a half earlier in the same spot!

Yay us!!!

I don't even know what's going on in these pictures except that we are extremely attractive.

Boys please stop calling us, we just need some space right now.

Next we decided to be people who were moving so we went on the PEOPLEMOVER!!!!

We are both OBSESSED with this ride so it was wonderful to go on together!

From there we went to Frontierland to get Splash fastpasses!

On the way, we got some pictures taken in front of the glorious castle.

Jess was getting her camera back from the PhotoPass photographer who had another CM with her. This CM was wearing a lanyard. All of a sudden Jess was like, "UMM LIA!!! OMG! I THINK YOU ARE GOING TO WANT THIS PIN!"

She was DAMN RIGHT!! Here's the pin!!!!!!!!!!

AHHH!! NIGHTMARE!!!! Omg. I was so happy! Jess really knows how to spot 'em.

The only thing is... the pin says "This is Halloween" which is the wrong song for the scene they are showing in which Lock, Shock, and Barrel are singing "Kidnap the Sandy Claws". So I thought that was interesting.

Once we got to Liberty Square, a Disser stopped us and said she read our TRs. She was super nice! I believe her name on here is Peace Mickey Lovers, so hi if you are still reading!

Unfortunately once we got to Splash we realized we weren't going to be able to come back during the return time. It would have made us late to Artist Point! So we headed out of the Kingdom and onto our ADR!!

We took the boat to the Wilderness Lodge, something I have never done before. I've taken the boat to the GF and the Poly, but never WL. Another first!! YAY! What an absolutely BEAUTIFUL trip it is. Any time you can take a boat in Disney, just do it.

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[__disneygirl]

MAY 17, 2013
Day 5, Part 6 In Which We Eat the Wildest Meal in the Wilderness!!!!!​

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I WAS SO HAPPY TO BE BACK AT THE WILDERNESS LODGE. Oh my God.

It was so wonderful to be going back to Artist Point as well. I didn't think I was going to get to do it this trip but I was seriously DYING to. Like, I had a day a couple weeks before I left where I was just obsessed with eating there. I got it in my head and couldn't get it out!

Here is my very amazing picture of the entree menu:

Just so you can get an idea of what we're dealing with here, LOL. I love this place so much but it is hard to decide because everything sounds so great.

Before putting our food orders in, the first thing we had to do is let our waiter know that we were going to need the Mickey straws they give out to kids here, hahaha. Lee-Anne and I did that when we were here during Stuck in Disney too!

Mine:

Jess's

ARTIST FREAKING POINT!!!!!!!!!!! YES!!! hahaha I WAS SO HAPPY.

Our bread came. O_O

It was the same as I remembered from October. DELICIOUS. I am not the biggest fan of sourdough bread usually but this is really good. It definitely compliments your meal well.
For my entree I went with the same thing I got last time, because I had been craving it for 6 months now! BUFFALO!!

They have completely made over this dish since the last time I had it. I think they do this seasonally. The beef was still absolutely delicious and perfect though, so they were good changes! I missed the yukon gold potatoes, but it was okay because that little dish you see is TRUFFLE MAC & CHEESE!!! Holy HEAVEN THIS WAS AMAZING!!!!!! I was so in love with this meal. Buffalo really isn't as adventurous a choice as it sounds. If you like steak, you will love it. I would seriously recommend it to EVERYONE (except vegetarians, haha). I think it's so much more flavorful than normal steak which is saying something because I am quite the meat lover. I've never had buffalo anywhere else but the dish here is just amazing. I HIGHLY recommend it!

Jess went with the salmon. This is what Lee-Anne got last time, but again, it was different!

Jess said it was an incredibly fresh and delicious cut of fish! She loved it. We both definitely picked winners here!

One of my favorite things about the Signatures is their unique desserts. I watch all those Food Network shows where chefs are super crazy and creative about the desserts they make, and that's the kind of stuff that ends up on your plate at Disney's Signatures. So I could not WAIT to get ahold of that dessert menu!

I wanted to try every dessert they had, seriously! The epic one I had ordered in October was no longer there, but there were new things in its place. Including the O-X-O Kisses & Hugs dessert! OMG!

This is what they serve at the special Valentine's luncheons at Artist Point, but I had never even heard about that before so I was so pleasantly surprised by this! What a creative and DELICIOUS dessert!!!

So you're probably wondering exactly what it was. The official description is: Sultry Chocolate Panna Cotta with Wildberry Compote, Dark Valrhona Chocolate with Hazelnut Crumble, and a Long Stemmed Wild Chocolate-Covered Strawberry.

AHHHHH. Every single element of this dessert was so perfect and tasted wonderful. I don't get to have panna cotta too often so I was thrilled by that, and oh my God, it was melt in your mouth delicious. I had Valrhrona Chocolate in my last Artist Point dessert and it was even better than I remembered! The hazelnut just made the whole thing, and the chocolate covered strawberry was of course divine too. I LOVED IT. So much better than just getting some chocolate cake or something, ya know?

Jess went with the Artist Point ca-lass-ic, Berry Cobbler!

She could not say enough good things about this dessert. It was not her first time getting it and I highly doubt it will be her last!

*Sigh* I just love this restaurant so much. If you are on the fence, just book it. I know it's expensive but you really get what you pay for here.

Once we finished and "paid", we headed out and I stopped in the restroom. I was just in the most fantastic mood ever. I'd just had an amazing 5 days in Disney and my time there WASN'T EVEN HALF OVER! Somebody pinch me. So I was singing in the stall. I sing very often, in fact my friends are always telling me to shut up, but not usually while peeing. I didn't think anyone else was in there but a custodial CM was. I came out and she was around my age and so cute and nice. She was like "omg, your voice is so beautiful! Are you a singer?" I loved her.

We walked by the Territory Lounge and had I not been so tired and full I probably would have asked if we could stop in.

I'm just intrigued by this place for some reason. Maybe it's the great reviews I've read on the Disney Food Blog.

After that we went back downstairs and outside to the boat dock! Surprisingly we didn't even stop to pin trade at the front desk or the gift shop... we must have been TIRED! For us not to pin trade... whew. Unheard of.

Once we got to the dock we noticed there was no one else there, and no one ended up coming! So we got our own private cruise back to the Magic Kingdom!! It was absolutely wonderful!!

I have taken a picture of this Life Vest sign on probably every single trip of my life, but I don't care. It's so cute.

We got back to the Magic Kingdom and of course I had to pee AGAIN! So I went to the bathroom there and snapped this photo of the angel soft ad (?) outside of it.

I love vintage looking ads!

From there we caught the bus back to Pop and I don't even remember the rest of the night! We both just crashed I think. It had been another exciting yet tiring day at Disney. I mean today alone I visited 2 theme parks, 5 resorts, moved to a new resort, ate at 2 CS restaurants and 1 TS signature. LOL!

As for the firsts of the day, besides little things there was really only one first: Visiting Coronado Springs!

Hey... do you guys think I can finish this report in time for my trip? I really don't think so but I am going to give it a go! It's not even half over yet though so we'll see what happens.

11 DAYS TIL I GO BACK TO DISNEY!!!!​

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[LumosQ102]

Love Artist Point

Its such a chilled restaurant, but the food is just magnificent. I'm not a meat person, and on my last trip had my fill of pasta meals (sometimes it feels like thats the only option for veggies, really - there are other options people!) and I had mentioned this to the waitress, and what arrived on my plate but a perfect selection of vegetables - wonderfully cooked, wonderfully seasoned... the chef's there are outstanding. and so very considerate.

Can't wait to be back there in just over a week

Hope you have a fabulous trip

 

[khaleesi]

Aww that's REALLY cute! I love the skirt. You will look adorable.

Thanks so much!!!


I am impressed by how much you're able to pack into one day!

I was reading the November issue of Food Network Magazine and they mentioned that Hanson now has their own beer... Mmmhops or something like that. So of course I thought of you. LOL.

I can't wait until mid-February when I'm able to say "11 days until Disney!" Hehe.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Mmmm, the make your own pasta looks divine!!! I just may have to try that.

I don't know why I felt the need to take a picture of this security guard, but when I look at it I like to imagine that the pretty princess bag he is holding belongs to him. LOL

I had to pause for a bit after this because, hysterically laughing = ME! Not kidding, I can not stop laughing. OMG. Also, it almost looks like the other guy in the photo is trying to hide his laughter. In the words of Patrick, "Nice work Pal."

God I need a CM friend, lol!

WOW WoW WOW, what a great pin find. That girl can really spot 'em, like professionally. How perfect!

See now if the life vest instructions on planes had Mickey on them, I may actually read them.

 

[Disneyluvr81]

Hi Lia!

This is my first time posting to one of your trip reports - I am usually just a reader but wanted to say that your enthusiasm and love for WDW is just infectious! It's so hard not to have a smile on your face when reading your updates!

So excited you are getting to go back - definitely going to be living vicariously through you!! Can't wait to read more and hear all about your Halloween trip too!!

 

[jedimeg16]

CM friends are great, aren't they?

During my first Disney Internship I dated a guy that worked both ToT and RnR, so I never had to wait in line for those until we broke up. Second time I had a bunch of guy friends who worked in Attractions, namely ToT and PotC (I don't know what it is with me and Tower boys!).

Alas, I all of my friends still working at Disney are either in food or a backstage role.

 

[__disneygirl]

Love Artist Point

Its such a chilled restaurant, but the food is just magnificent. I'm not a meat person, and on my last trip had my fill of pasta meals (sometimes it feels like thats the only option for veggies, really - there are other options people!) and I had mentioned this to the waitress, and what arrived on my plate but a perfect selection of vegetables - wonderfully cooked, wonderfully seasoned... the chef's there are outstanding. and so very considerate.

Can't wait to be back there in just over a week

Hope you have a fabulous trip

It's amazing there! Did you ask every server you had about the vegetarian options they had? Because my friend Gina is a vegetarian and she got a bunch of different things... I think she only had pasta one time out of the whole week she was there. You really have to ask each time because so many of the vegetarian options are not listed on the menu.

I hope you have an amazing trip too!!

Thanks so much!!!

I am impressed by how much you're able to pack into one day!

I was reading the November issue of Food Network Magazine and they mentioned that Hanson now has their own beer... Mmmhops or something like that. So of course I thought of you. LOL.

I can't wait until mid-February when I'm able to say "11 days until Disney!" Hehe.

Yes they do. I can not believe I have not tried it yet! I saw them at the beginning of September but they didn't have it yet. I wish they would bring it to the Food and Wine Festival.

Mmmm, the make your own pasta looks divine!!! I just may have to try that.

I had to pause for a bit after this because, hysterically laughing = ME! Not kidding, I can not stop laughing. OMG. Also, it almost looks like the other guy in the photo is trying to hide his laughter. In the words of Patrick, "Nice work Pal."

God I need a CM friend, lol!

WOW WoW WOW, what a great pin find. That girl can really spot 'em, like professionally. How perfect!

See now if the life vest instructions on planes had Mickey on them, I may actually read them.

I'm glad you were so amused by that! Omg I love when Patrick says "Nice work pal", it makes me laugh every time.

Hi Lia!

This is my first time posting to one of your trip reports - I am usually just a reader but wanted to say that your enthusiasm and love for WDW is just infectious! It's so hard not to have a smile on your face when reading your updates!

So excited you are getting to go back - definitely going to be living vicariously through you!! Can't wait to read more and hear all about your Halloween trip too!!

Thank you so much! I am so glad to hear it! Thanks for reading and I can't wait to share all the details of the Halloween trip everyone.

CM friends are great, aren't they?

During my first Disney Internship I dated a guy that worked both ToT and RnR, so I never had to wait in line for those until we broke up. Second time I had a bunch of guy friends who worked in Attractions, namely ToT and PotC (I don't know what it is with me and Tower boys!).

Alas, I all of my friends still working at Disney are either in food or a backstage role.

You're lucky! I wish there was something about me and Tower boys! Maybe someday.

 

[__disneygirl]

MAY 18, 2013
Day 6, Part 1 In Which I Return To The Resort That Dubbed Me The Queen!​

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Hello Humans! OH MY GOD. I AM GOING TO WALT DISNEY WORLD IN 10 DAYS.

I don't even believe it. It's so hard to imagine. I know that sounds ridiculous, I mean I've been to Disney quite a lot. I've been through this before! But I just can't believe I am going to be back there in 10 days. It's UNREAL.

I don't have my MNSSHP costume fully done yet. D: I am kind of nervous about it. It's an involved costume and I am a perfectionist so it is hard for me to make it come together the right way. Plus I am sad I am only going to one MNSSHP. I know, I'm spoiled by doing 3 of them last year. Who knows maybe I will go on November 1 for a second party. I wish it wasn't so expensive. :| We will see. It's just SO hard to fit in everything you want to do in one night, even after you have done so much at other parties! Jess and I formed a plan for our party but I don't know how we are going to fit all of that in. And I REALLY don't want to wait 3 hours for Jack and Sally, but I mean, I MUST MEET THEM!!!

Oh well. I'm sure it will all be AMAZING regardless! AS LONG AS IT DOESN'T RAIN. I WILL DIE. Seriously. I mean fine it can rain a little but when I hear horror stories of MNSSHP monsoons I want to cry.

WOW why do I have to be such a worrier?

Anyway. Get ready for a lot of updates! I want to get this done in time for the trip. I hope you enjoy it all! HERE WE GO!

This morning Jess and I slept in like some kind of losers who don't know about the whole NO SLEEPING IN DISNEY thing.

I don't even think we set an alarm. If we did, I didn't hear it. I remember getting up and rolling over and Jess was all drowzily like "Hi" and I looked at the clock which said 9:50 and was like WHOA. We're burnin' daylight!!!

We needed to get going, we only had an hour to get up, get ready, and get to one of our favorite places: KONA!!!

I made us a late reservation (10:50 AM) because I had enough foresight to imagine that we'd wanna sleep in on this day, thankfully!

I almost said let's change our plans though because I HATE RUSHING. It just sucks the fun out of everything, like I can not even describe how much I hate rushing anywhere. And I had to shower too, which obviously adds even more time onto the whole thing, so that was really annoying trying to get out the door.

Luckily we had Brooke, because if we had to take the bus to MK and then the monorail to the Poly we definitely would have been late, and then we would have been screwed because they only serve breakfast until 11:00 AM! AHH I HATE PRESSURE.

Jess and I are pros though... so we just kept the reservation. I was happy Jess was driving cause I left the room with totally no make-up on since I knew I could do that in the car. What a time saver!

I actually think we did get to Kona about 5 minutes late but they were so nice about it and it was no problem at all! Thank you, understanding Kona CMs!

I stealthy took a photo of this cup at the podium cause I thought it was so cute. Aloha!

I love when employees decorate stuff like this. At my job where we keep the post-its it says "Romy and Michele Invented These" xD

There was a Hula Dancing class going on downstairs. I would love to do that someday!

I hula dance often just b/c I am a silly person and do it randomly but as a student of dance I would love to learn the right technique.

We were seated right away and got our lovely menus. I love the art on them!

Obviously, I was wearing my Queen of the Polynesian crown and my Kakoui nut necklace. If you do not know why I am Queen, please read this post immediately!

Yeah I looked awesome. Even with waking up late, I decked myself out b/c I knew I couldn't disappoint my loyal subjects.

They were being kept at bay by the hotel staff who set up velvet ropes around our table so no screaming fans would interrupt our meal.

I WAS SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS ADR. I know I say that every single time I write about a restaurant, but Kona really is one of my all-time favorites. It's one of the places I ate when I first started getting really into ADRs and Disney food and it's my favorite place to have breakfast in the whole world.

Jess is a huge fan of it too so it was nice to be there together. In general it's just so nice to be in the Disney with her b/c I feel no pressure to be a tour guide. She knows everything I know and probably more, she is the only person I know who has had more experiences in Disney than I have, so we just hang out and enjoy it.

We started with my FAVORITE JUICE EVER! It has many names: Frunch, Lilikoi, Jungle Juice. The name is not important, the point is: It's perfect and the most delicious juice ever.

You know that it's good if Jess gets it since she normally drinks almost nothing but water!

Unless you hate deliciousness, happiness and joy be sure to get this juice wherever you can at Walt Disney World.

With this, LeFou's Brew, and the all natural lemonade with wildberry foam, Disney drinks are giving Disney food a run for their money.

For my meal I got what I have gotten every single time I've eaten at this beyond glorious place - THE BIG KAHUNA!

*Sigh* It's so beautiful.

This is like the exact right amount of food for me. Just kidding, I wish it was.

It is a little too much which is why I have a strategy. Stick with me here because I do not just write entertaining TRs, I provide food strategy.

What I do with the Big Kahuna is I eat about half of everything first. That way I get a taste of every single food without being full at all yet. After making those rounds I chill for a bit and eat nothing. Now this is the important part: DON'T DRINK ANYTHING DURING BREAKTIME!

Check your phone, look over the menu again, use the restroom, play hide the penny just do not drink. Once you are already filling up, juice is not gonna help you pack more food in. It will make you feel fuller by the sip.

After your eating break it's time to finish off with whatever you enjoyed most. For me it's usually the Macadamia Nut Pancakes and bacon. Why not just get that entree you ask? Well I am a sucker for a plate with multiple foods. I love having many different tastes. This is why I love the Food & Wine Festival SO MUCH. I also prefer tapas restaurants to normal ones (usually).

Jess had kind of hit a food wall due to the fact that she ate like 9328098302 calories the day before and not many of them were very healthy, so she decided to go the lighter route and order something that does not require a strategy.

When you're a Disney frump, the "lighter route" comes on a giant plate inside of a pineapple with two large chunks of banana bread.

WHOA. This dish is amazing. If you love fruit, you need to have this at least once in your life.
A restaurant near my house has something very similar to this and my mom and I always get one to share. It's so fun to just dig in on all these different fruits and know that it's not making you super fat. Though I'm sure some would point out the mass amount of sugar in it, but when it's natural sugar, I tend not to worry.

After our wondrous meal we headed straight over to the Magic Kingdom. Jess said where to go was my decision (on the whole trip in general) because 1. She is there all the time and 2. She loves doing everything so she will enjoy it no matter what. I told ya she was a good person to be in Disney with.

I chose MK mainly because I HAD STILL NOT BEEN ON SPLASH MOUNTAIN!

What a gigantic problem. This really needed to be fixed.

Look at Jess's AMAZING Little Mermaid skirt!!

Is it weird I took a picture of my friend's backside without her knowing? I promise it was because of the awesomenesses of the skirt! hahaha

First we went to Splash Mountain to secure some fast passes. On the way I started to wonder if I was a witch b/c I was almost positive that I was melting.

Uggghhh.

This was the first day the heat bothered me. The park was also pretty packed... I hate having to weave through people everywhere you go.

You know from my previous TRs that I usually visit Disney during cooler times, which also happens to have lower crowds.

I can't even imagine going every summer and never experiencing the more pleasant weather and smaller crowd level. I'm not a diva or anything but this heat was a no. It really made the time less enjoyable. Oh well, IT'S DISNEY and on the day with the most crowds and highest heat index it would still be magical.

I wasn't complaining out loud or anything but let's just say I prefer going in October and April. Those months are just perfect.

After getting our FPs, we didn't really know what to do and we just walked to Adventureland because it was close. I noticed this on the ground:

I'm sure there is some significance because we all know Disney doesn't just throw things together, so if anyone knows please tell me!

We went to ride Pirates after that and although I adore that ride, this choice was really more based on how cool and dark it is in there! Unfortunately the line was quite long even though it only said 15 minutes... Thank God the wait is all indoors. I didn't know what else we were going to do because it was just so hot and crowded.

Jess and I discussed how the dead mermaid wasn't really the best addition. For some reason the normal skeletons don't bother me (I LOVE CREEPY THINGS AS YOU ALL KNOW <3) but the mermaid is just an ew moment for me. I think her singing is nice and creepy but now you can hardly hear the classic and ICONIC "Dead men tell no tales" part, so that's kind of annoying.

You can barely see it but this is my favorite pirate in all of POTC and it always has been. When I was a kid I used to get all excited when I saw him. Not only does he have awesome very lifelike looking leg hair (people say it's real hair on his leg but I doubt that)... He just looks really content with life and isn't pillaging or plundering or anything. He isn't jumping on Tom Hanks's ship and taking it over. I mean I'm sure he has in the past but in the moment he kind of reminds me of Winnie the Pooh holding a honey pot.

After the ride we really weren't in any rush to head out so we just looked around in the shop. There are cool details and movie props in here if you just take a minute to check out things other than the merchandise.

And their pin board is really cool! I love themed pin boards like this and the ones at Sunshine Seasons and French Quarter (which has Tiana on it!).

I got the Mickey Skellington plush I had been eyeing the other day and an amazing Nightmare lanyard.

Like I needed another one! I have two red MK ones, one purple Tinkerbell, one pink and purple Little Mermaid and one black and white Jack & Sally. Oh well I guess I'm collecting them now haha

Jess bought sunglasses with Mickey's head in rhinestones on the side. I don't have a pic but you will see them in future updates cause she put them on right away! It was a necessary purchase since the sun seemed to have a vendetta against our eyes and was determined to blind us.

Next stop was SPLASH MOUNTAIN!!! OH MY GOD FINALLY.

My favorite quote.

I take a picture of it every time. I remember the first time I read it I was like 10 and it completely resonated with me even at that age. I was like, "OMG THIS TRUTH!!!" except not cause I didn't talk like that back then.

First fake out hill!

Briar Patch. Now this is the part of the ride that you get really wet.

And we did!

Now I'm sure you were looking at Jess and I in that photo b/c we are fab even when splashed. However, let's examine the people behind us.

HAHAHAHAHA. The old lady in the back is def my fave but there are just so many hilarious things about this. The dude who is like OH SNAP kills me too. ​

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[__disneygirl]

MAY 18, 2013
Day 6, Part 2 In Which Fireworks Explode As We Take Pictures!!​

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Here's a better shot of us where Jess is actually in frame. I WAS VERY EXCITED TOO EXCITED TO SMILE NORMALLY.

I always get so happy when I see the view of the Kingdom from up here... like I'm not happy enough being on Splash as it is!

"Don't you worry, Mr. Bluebird. I learned my lesson."

We did something really funny for our ride photo pose but unfortunately you will never ever see it!!! Some other people must have done something inappropriate because they put that thingy in front of one of the screens. Which I'm probably not explaining well so here's a pic:

(Also notice VERY SERIOUS Jess in this photo lol)

For those who don't know, there are Cast Members monitoring every photo that gets taken on every ride. If a guest is flashing or flipping off the camera, the photo gets deleted and that's when you'll see a message like "This photo has been washed away!" on the screen. However, sometimes it takes a minute so if the CM working by the screens sees something off they will cover it up to protect the eyes of the innocent. TRIVIA!!

After our drop into the Briar Patch we decided to just leave. I am sooo happy I am a Disney Veteran, I don't know how people who only have a few days to fit everything in because they may never be back do it in this heat and crowds. Cheers to those parents for hangin in. I often dream about bringing my future children to Disney, but it will not happen in the summer.

I did not mind leaving at all because I was DYING to visit Cast Connection so we thought what better way to beat the heat and crowds than doing some private shopping?!

I did however want to stop into the Frontierland Trading Post on the way out because that is the Magic Kingdom Vinylmation Trading location.

Outside of the store they were giving out FREE SAMPLES OF FUDGE! Omg!

It was DELICIOUS. I was so excited. I remember in October they gave out samples of candy apples at Storybook Circus too. Free Disney food excites me.

Once inside the store I went straight to trade and Jess went to look at pins. I think she ended up buying a couple of them but I mean duh. Pin obsessed frump.

I chose two numbers from the blind box and GOT SO EXCITED when I saw what the CM pulled out!

Both were awesome but omg, WOODY!! How perfect being that he is one of my favorite characters of all time. How appropriate to find him in Frontierland. And I had just gotten a Buzz one the other day! How perfect.

I also saw a stuffed Mickey where he was dressed as Woody. Omg, I wanted to buy it but since I had just bought Mickey dressed as Jack Skellington AND we were headed for more shopping, I decided to tone down the Mickey in random getups purchases for the day.

After that I saw a shirt that would be a great gift for my mom. She is all into Southwestern stuff and they had this long sleeved shirt that was in that theme. Also it was on sale, yay! She loves it and wears it all the time, so that was very successful! I love finding the perfect gift.

Then I realized I had another Vinylmation in my bag that I could trade and so I went back over to the counter and asked if I could trade again. The CM said of course. I picked two different numbers and ended up finding a CAST CHASER VINYL!

SO awesome. I didn't know what this was at the time, I thought it just looked cool. But basically a cast chaser is a special series available only for CMs so it is really special to find one. YAY!

I also pin traded with that same CM and one right next to her. I was just a trading machine. I loved this not-so-Hidden Mickey on the wall next to the pin trading guide!

So cute.

I was very excited about my Woody Vinyl so we had to take a mirror picture!!

I love us and our Ariel & Rapunzel themed outfits. We rule.

The next thing I noticed was that they had the disgusting yet wonderful soaps here, the same ones they have in Canada at Epcot. They had a lot more scents here though. I had never heard of the Eagle Dandruff or the one that made me laugh the most, RAGING ELK.

Imagine an elk full of rage!!! What would that smell like? Thanks to Disney now I know.

See folks, you are going to learn things in Disney that you cannot have anywhere else so book your trips now for the raging elk experience.

Pin Trading Duffy dressed as Woody! Aww.

I recently have had a desire to buy a Duffy. I don't really know why. I've never been that into him and I would rather buy a real Disney character toy (sorry Duffy lovers, I have nothing against him but he is not on the same level as my lifetime favorites).

What I want to do is buy a Duffy and dress him as a princess. I want a cross dressing Duffy.

Who is to say Duffy doesn't watch Aladdin and dream of wearing Jasmine's sparkly top? You don't know.

Just sharing my desires here. Don't know if I'll actually buy one, we'll see.

We were done in the Kingdom for the meantime so we headed toward Main Street. We got excited when we saw that the Diamond Horseshoe was open. This place only serves food seasonally so you know it's busy if they are open!

I took a picture of the menu to commemorate this occasion even though we didn't get anything.

It took forever for my phone to open the camera for some reason (I think it may have been the heat but I'm not sure) and then it wouldn't focus. So we were just standing there awkwardly in front of the CM who handed us the menu, trying to get a picture of this obviously momentous occasion. #DISSERPROBLEMS.

Dream Along With Mickey, aka our obsession, was on at the time we walked out of Liberty Square so we sang/spoke along with the whole thing as we walked out. Then we stopped to get some pics taken.

So yeah we're just taking normal pictures and then the photographer told us to hold still a minute because the fireworks in the show were about to go off. OMG, perfection!!!

THIS WAS SO AWESOME.

Those are some of my favorites from the whole trip. How wonderful that we were there right in that moment!!!

Bye, Magic Kingdom! Don't worry, I'll be back on Monday.

From there we left the park and to the boat dock.

Brooke was parked at the Polynesian where we had breakfast so we had to reunite with her and what better way than a lovely boat ride? Boat rides are the best.

WEDDING PAVILION!!

This would be the sight of my future wedding but idk, I kind of want to do it somewhere atypical. Ideally it could be like on the savannah at AKL so a giraffe could like walk by and totally ruin the ceremony by bleeting loudly or something.

I would love that. Way better story than "We got married and everything went on without a hitch!" Nope. Boring. I prefer, "A giraffe ruined our wedding and it was awesome!" I mean, one day when I am a celebrity I am going to be on many late night shows and I need good stories. These are the things I think about. ​

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[__disneygirl]

MAY 18, 2013
Day 6, Part 3 In Which the Princesses Go Discount Shopping

Then we came to our beautiful destination: Disney's Polynesian Resort.

Every time I think of the whole resort name like that instead of just saying the Poly, I think of Monorail Voice Guy saying it. Sigh. I love you MVG.

Monorail Red from the Poly lot

From there we drove Brooke over to Cast Connection!!! YESSSS!!!

This is a discount store in a backstage area of Disney that is only for Cast Members to shop in. However, you can bring a guest... and today that was me!!! I have heard about this store for YEARS but it was never the right timing for someone to take me. WELL THIS WAS MY CHANCE!

I was so excited that I wanted to take pics but I didn't want them to get mad. In general you are not supposed to take pictures of backstage areas but I did take this one because I am a rebel... call me Lia Dean.

That is on the trash can. Don't you love that Disney decorates backstage areas the same way they do the parks in some ways? Sigh. The details.

The inside is just... OMG. This is my favorite store in the world. When I say discounted merchandise, I don't mean it's junk. NOT AT ALL.

It's the exact same stuff they sell in the parks, just stuff that didn't completely sell out. The turnaround for Disney merchandise can be pretty fast because they are constantly coming out with new designs and there is only so much floor space in each shop. So when something goes on sale and then new merchandise comes in, they move the older stuff out and it goes to Cast Connection. Another cool thing I never knew is that they have produce and some other food and basic every day items too.

I really freaked out in here. First of all as soon as we walked in a CM says to Jess and I, "OOooOoOH ARE YOU GUYS PRINCESSES?" like we were celebrities.

We both had the same kind of blushing, aw shucks reaction but we were like "No!" and she was like, "Well, you look like princesses. You should be princesses. I would audition if I were you!" Now that is how I expect to be treated every time I walk into a building!

Jess and I got a cart and split up. I looked at literally everything in this whole store. I was SO EXCITED. I could not believe how discounted this brand new, top quality Disney stuff was. I love Disney merchandise at full price, nevermind when it's marked down SO LOW!

The coolest thing to me was that I saw a lot of stuff that I had wanted to buy in October, but couldn't because being Stuck in Disney is expensive. WELL I'm glad I didn't because omg. This stuff was like half price or less now! I got an amazing 2012 picture frame and photo album.

I decided it would probably be prudent to buy all my gifts for people here, so I started shopping like mad for everyone. I got one of my cousins a Rapunzel dress up set and my older cousin a black backpack that had Mickey heads and hearts all over it in different colors.

I got my mom an Animal Kingdom wristlet. She loves this and carries it everywhere. It was like $3.

I got Gina a pair of peace sign earrings. My dad's birthday and father's day were coming up so I got him a blue T-shirt that had Mickey surfing on it and a pair of lounge pants that had Mickey as a mechanic on it with cars all over. He especially LOVED the pants, I actually saw him wearing them today!

Sorry I don't have pics of ALL the merchandise. I didn't take any so I googled everything to see if I could find pics. So thanks to whoever took the ones I am posting!

For myself I got a pink and purple shirt that says "Walt Disney World 1971" on it. You'll see me wear that later on in the trip. I had the green and pink version, but the purple one was just so cheap I had to get it!

I went over to Jess's cart and looked through her stuff b/c I am a nosy frump. I saw a Buzz Vinylmation that matched my new Woody one exactly and she was like "That's your present!!!"

How thoughtful! She also pointed out to me that they had a sofa bed from one of the AoA Lion King rooms for sale. HOW COOL IS THAT?

The entire trip (and 2 trips before it!) I had been looking for Rapunzel pins and almost NO one ever has them on the lanyards/pin boards/books. Even the ones for sale seem limited. Jess pointed out one to me here that was only $1.99.

I couldn't even believe that price for a pin of my favorite princess. THANK YOU JESS FOR SEEING THAT cause it was the last one!!

I'm trying to remember if I got anything else. Probably.

I was so happy! It almost feels like getting away with something because of the low pricing. I was on a high from that shopping experience.

If you have any CM friends, ask them to take you there! And if they say no, hide in the back of their car when they are driving there and leap out as soon as they park. Threaten them until they let you BE THEIR GUEST~*~. It's worth scaring someone in order to get in. Try it!

THANK YOU SO MUCH JESS FOR BRINGING ME!!! Whew. I couldn't believe how great it was.

We packed our giant bags full of awesome Disney stuff into Brooke and headed back to Pop. I kind of wanted to go to Epcot since it was the last day of Flower & Garden and I hadn't gotten to try all of the foods I wanted to, but IT WAS JUST TOO HOT. World Showcase on those hot days is just a death wish so we went back to Pop instead!

Pretty lady.

Jess and I were hungry so we talked about what we wanted for lunch. Jess wanted to try out Everything Pop since she had never eaten there so we headed over. I would have gotten my fave, the Chicken Penne Alfredo, but it had been removed from the menu. :[

I can't believe they would take this out, it was SO popular! Or at least I thought it was. People always talked about it here on the DIS and I always saw a lot of people eating it in the food court. Oh well.

Luckily they still have it at the All Stars, but still. I probably would have gotten whatever the Mom's Night Out meal special was but it was too early for that, so I decided I would just eat at Landscape of Flavors again. I wanted more of that delicious pasta anyway so no one was mad!

Jess chose to get one of her favorite foods, sushi, at Everything Pop. So she picked that up to go and then we walked over to AoA.

Pretty tree at Pop!

Once at Landscape of Flavors, I got the same thing I had yesterday - whole wheat linguini with peas, chicken, and roasted red peppers. I had the same dessert too - a Mickey Tartlet!

PERFECT MEAL. This is definitely one of my favorite things to get in Disney. And also if you notice my Honest Tea there, it's a great value when you're on the DDP. I love Honest Tea! At home, those bottles are about $1.50, but at Disney I noticed the OOP price was $3.99. Quite the markup! My favorite is the pomegranate but this time I got the peach white tea and that one is so good too. So I highly recommend that if you are on the DDP.

Here is Jess's California Roll:

She said it was really good, especially considering it was in a container from a food court. This was also her first time trying the famous TYE DYE CHEESECAKE!

It did not disappoint, even after all the hype! I kept telling her how good it was so she could have easily been let down but this thing is just a winner. My favorite part is that the bottom is red velvet cake. So it's really more like red velvet cheesecake. SO GOOD.

As soon as we finished they were about to bring the pin board out in the AoA gift shop so we stood and waited for it for a few minutes. We seriously had the best timing with pin boards on this trip.

When they finally brought it out the CM was SUPER STRICT about it. She was all like "ONE TRADE PER PERSON!!!" in a really serious way and told us this other guy got to pick first because he had been there first. Which is fair, but like she was so STERN about it. I was like calm the hell down, it's PIN TRADING and you're sucking the fun out of it. Fun sucker!!!

I didn't want anything on this board but Jess wanted two so she had to like whisper to me which one she wanted so I could trade it for her, cause you know, ONLY ONE PER PERSON. Yeah that's right we cheated the system!!

From there we went back to our lovely 50's room and hung around awhile. It was one of those things where you stop to sit down and your whole body just relaxes and even though you're in Disney you just like cannot move. The heat really got to me this day and I was just like SPLAT onto the bed. So we put on Stacey and relaxed.

Eventually we had to get up though cause we had reservations at Eppycot. Off we go!

I loved this flower mix outside the gates.

We decided our outfits were kind of Mexican themed. Which was appropriate cause we were eating in Mexico!!! HALE YEAH!

The PhotoPass Photographer had us get creative with our poses, which I LOVE. SO many of your photos can look the same save for your outfits, so the poses change things up and make it fun. I wish they all did that. If I ever had that job I would get crazy. I would be like, "Okay now do a cartwheel!"

I am not really pleased with my kiss blowing in that picture, but oh well. In the next one he wanted us to make a heart but because I am frumpy I blocked some of my face. LOL.

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[__disneygirl]

MAY 18, 2013
Day 6, Part 4 In Which We Hit Up A Norwegian Night Club!​

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Into Epcot we go!

I love this art and want it hanging in my house.

I saw one of the little cars that gives out stickers again! I was so excited when I saw one on my October trip, and here it was again! That one was Mickey though, this one was of Ferb!

SO adorable. Thanks for the sticker, Ferb!!

Really excited about getting my 938083th free Mickey sticker.

I'm an adult.

No really I'm like a grown up with a job. I pay my phone bill and go to the DMV and stuff. It's weird.

Let's ignore my crisis and just continue with the report....

We had time before dinner so we decided to go on Mission: Sinise since I had not been on it yet this trip. Jess doesn't ride this that often so she was excited too!

That Buzz topiary was AWESOME. Probably my 3rd fave at the F&G Festival this year (after Peter Pan in the UK and B&tB in France).

This giant space... thing always reminds me of *NSYNC's Bye Bye Bye video. If it doesn't remind you of that honestly just get out.

Orange... the only way to ride!!

After another rockettastic trip to Mars with Lt. Dan we went into Mouse Gears so I could Vinylmation trade.

This store is very distracting for us merchandise loving frumps and so Jess and I got separated.

I went up to the counter to trade and the CM was way nicer than the one I encountered the day before. One of the numbers I picked was a winner - a Luke Skywalker Vinyl was revealed!

I'm not into Star Wars but I thought this was really cute and I just couldn't let it go! I texted Jess to see where she was but she didn't answer. Hmm, that's unusual.

So I started walking around looking for her and when I finally spotted her I realized she hadn't seen her phone in awhile because Dissers were swarming on her, LOL.

I walked over and one of the ladies was all, "Omg I read your report too!!" and I was like oh cool this is weird haha. They then asked Jess a million questions and she told them her whole life story basically. I think it's cool that she is so open with people cause that is totally not how I am. I'm awkward so I would probably be like "I am not the real Lia. I am her alien twin from the planet *claps and sneezes*, Sector Z. I wish you good morrow."

But hey that's me. Heh heh.

(I'm kidding. If you talk to me I will be nice. I only mess with people like 80% of the time.)

The dissers were super nice too by the way. There were a bunch of young girls that wanted to do the College Program. Jess told them that if there was a role they really didn't want to do that they should definitely put NO interest b/c they will consider you for your "low interest" choices. What a good tip. I wish them luck!

After saying goodbye to them we walked to the glorious World Showcase.

Obviously, it was time for a ride on the Maelstrom. We both appreciate this attraction's frumpy ways so riding it together has probably been written in our stars since like birth.

Right away I walked up to the smoking hot CM standing outside the queue. He was wearing pins and I knew I didn't like any of them but I traded with him anyway b/c I just wanted to be in his flawless pale blonde blue eyed airspace. Boys are just so much easier to talk to when wearing pins and this needs to catch on into everyday life.

Like imagine you're in the club and you see a hot guy. I'm talking to the ladies here because guys, you already have your common way of showing interest without coming on too strong which is buying a drink. I would feel awkward, plus I don't want to spend money just to get rejected. Drinks in NYC clubs are like $15 each! Please.

It's not like you can start up a conversation with the music so loud and all. So I think as girls we're just supposed to dance over and be all up on them. What would be better is if they were wearing a lanyard with pins, and I could just go up and initiate a trade. Trading up in the club y'all.

Think about it. If Kanye West puts the lyric "pin trading up in the club" into one of his songs, it's GOING to spread like wildfire. If anyone reading this knows Kanye please text him for me and just explain this. I don't know how he can argue with it.

All the top designers would get into it and make fancy lanyards and crossbody bags. And whoever had the hottest designer pin trading duds would get all the ladies. But I would still just go for whoever had the Nightmare pins. I'm not really all about the designer stuff, it's more who you are, you know? That's just me.

So maybe I should conclude this tangent now. I don't have anything else to say so I hereby conclude it. Okay moving on!

It's really a good thing we had time before our reservation because the Maelstrom wait was at it's usual 100+ minutes as evidenced by this not edited picture.

SO WORTH THE WAIT!

While in the endless line we frumped around and got super excited. MAELSTROM OMG!!! We took this picture:

And decided it looked like we were in a nightclub. I guess with my pin trading up in the club idea, this was just the theme of the evening.

I actually love that pic of us but it really doesn't look like we are in Disney. This picture transported us by magic from Maelstrom the ride to MAELSTROM: LAKE BUENA VISTA'S HOTTEST CLUB!

LAKE BUENA VISTA'S HOTTEST CLUB IS THE MAELSTROM aka THE HOTTEST CLUB IN THE SCANDANAVIAN AREA!!

This club has everything: polar bears, oil refineries, creepy fish slinging children, snowy mountains, trolls trying to murder you, a sexy dude with a long beard, trees that have eyes and giant waterfalls!

Stefon<3

The mural here is by far one of the most horrifying things I have ever seen.

Here is the terrible bald fish slinging child I mentioned earlier.

There are also furry tree/bush monsters that seem to just really have eyes and nothing else. EXCEPT MAYBE HIDDEN FANGS!!!! That is my theory.

I'm not sure what purpose they serve but they remind me of the critters from the horror film series Critters, of which I have only seen the third because it was Leonardo DiCaprio's first film role. Looking good, teen Leo.

Then there is the beyond SEXY part of the mural, my boyfriend:

I'm talking about the 70's dude with the long hair, but the guy bending over and showing off his booty on the right is also serving up some sexual tension on a hot plate.

WHEW. Because of these and many more reasons, the Maelstrom is the hottest club in the Scandanavian area. Do not miss it!!

After getting off the thrilling ride I WAS APPALLED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THE SPIRIT OF NORWAY WILL NOT BE SHOWN?!

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME???! OF ALL THE PLACES I COULD SPEND MY VACATION DOLLAR I CHOOSE DISNEY YEAR AFTER YEAR AND I COME ALL THE WAY FROM NEW JERSEY ONLY TO SEE THIS SIGN? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MINDS? THIS COMPANY HAS GONE SO DOWN HILL! ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS MONEY!!! WHAT'S NEXT, ARE YOU GOING TO REMOVE THE PARTNERS STATUE? THE CASTLE??!?! WHEN WILL THIS MADNESS CEASE??????????????????????????????

Jess snapped me back to sanity by grabbing my favorite perfume, Laila: Essence of Norway, and spraying it on me vigorously until I stopped screaming. What a scene that must have been!

Sorry if I made any fellow guests uncomfortable. I was just really looking forward to that movie and instead I got a nervous breakdown. Thanks, Disney. Next time I'll go to Knott's Berry Farm.

After that unfortunate scarring experience I really needed food. Which was perfect because it was almost time for our 8:45 P.M. reservation at San Angel Inn.

You know sometimes I am pretty impressed with the iPhone camera. I have a 4 so it isn't the newest model either. I edited this pic after the fact but I'm still happy with the quality of the iPhone camera in low light.

I was, yet again, very excited about this ADR because I have wanted to eat here for the longest time. The atmosphere alone is just stunning, but after getting more into Mexican food the past couple years I really wanted to try it. And by "getting more into Mexican food" I mean there was a Chipotle 2 doors down from where I worked. So I went there like every day. I know everything about Mexico now.

We were seated quickly and our waitress was so cute and nice, we loved her. I also loved the plates!

They reminded me of something from my childhood that I couldn't quite place. Like, I think someone in my family may have had these and brought them out for holidays or something. Whatever the case, they were familiar in a very lovely way.

Our DELICIOUS chips and salsa came first!

SO GOOD. I like the green salsa more but the red was very interesting. It was spicy but also sweet. It tasted like Froot Loops to me and Jess gave me that "You're mentally ill" look when I told her that but then she tasted it and realized I was right! So Kellogg's Cereal lovers, you are in luck at San Angel Inn.

Next I did something I rarely do in Disney: I ordered alcohol! For some reason I just felt like it so I got a glass of Rose.... I think? I don't remember exactly what it was or why I picked it. Oops.

It was really good. I hate strong drinks while I'm eating so I wouldn't have enjoyed the more traditional margarita or anything. I don't understand how people can drink tequila and stuff their face at the same time. But this was delicious and perfect.​

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