Best Birthday Ever! - my (very first) July 2018 trip report

[TNGirlwCamera]

That's awesome they upgraded your room for you and I love the picture too!

Love your picture of Jack.

 

[obisbondgirl]

That's awesome they upgraded your room for you and I love the picture too!

Love your picture of Jack.

Thanks!

 

[xlsm]

I teared up during your HEA experience - I feel the same way about it. I was so, so sad when Wishes went away, and made a trip to see it one more time. When HEA began I watched the livestream and fell in love, and I watch on Youtube more often than normal people probably do

I've never managed a good in-person view - Just at the far end of Main Street (where you couldn't see the detail of the projections) and from the CL lounge at the Polynesian (better b/c you could see how wide the fireworks actually spread out over the MK). We're doing the after fireworks dessert party on new year's day, so I'm excited to finally see it up close.

I've never done AstroOrbiter either! If I do, it will probably have to be on a solo trip - none of my family members want to go up there, LOL! We've done the one at Disneyland which isn't bad at all, but it's not up as high. I think it's the last thing on my list to do at the MK...maybe the swiss family tree house, but I think i did it once back in 2001. It's one of those fuzzy did I or didn't I memories, LOL!

 

[obisbondgirl]

I teared up during your HEA experience - I feel the same way about it. I was so, so sad when Wishes went away, and made a trip to see it one more time. When HEA began I watched the livestream and fell in love, and I watch on Youtube more often than normal people probably do

I've never managed a good in-person view - Just at the far end of Main Street (where you couldn't see the detail of the projections) and from the CL lounge at the Polynesian (better b/c you could see how wide the fireworks actually spread out over the MK). We're doing the after fireworks dessert party on new year's day, so I'm excited to finally see it up close.

I've never done AstroOrbiter either! If I do, it will probably have to be on a solo trip - none of my family members want to go up there, LOL! We've done the one at Disneyland which isn't bad at all, but it's not up as high. I think it's the last thing on my list to do at the MK...maybe the swiss family tree house, but I think i did it once back in 2001. It's one of those fuzzy did I or didn't I memories, LOL!

I hope you enjoy the dessert party! I considered it but it wouldn't have been good value for just my mum & I, we didn't eat enough as it was!

Astro-Orbiter is definitely up high & the view is great. It had a very "old school carnival" feel though, didn't feel like Disney at all to us. I'm sure some enjoy that, it just wasn't a good fit for us.

 

[obisbondgirl]

Bonus Pictures!

Tuesday was my first day back at real life

But good news is I could take pictures of the stuff I bought/received!

Please see attached photos. Unfortunately the picture I took of the bus cards won't load on this site?? But there is the MK Christmas Shop bobble, and my Japan cat bowls lol.

 

[obisbondgirl]

Bus Trading Card

Ok it likes this one. Tells me it's too large if I put them all in a collage lol. Oh well here is one card at least!

 

[obisbondgirl]

Day 3 (Part 1) - Retail Therapy

After the "busy-ness" of our past two days, I knew we would need a bit of downtime at this point. Initially we'd planned to go offsite to the Premium Outlet Mall, to see what souvenirs we could find at the outlet Disney store. I didn't even know about the outlet Disney store until I saw a TimTracker video on it ahaha. However we learned that the minimum cab fare would be $20 each way. We'd also planned to go to our favourite offsite dinner (Macaroni Grill) tonight. So that would be $60 minimum or $40 if we didn't eat offsite and just went to the mall and back. And I'd have to make sure I got an accessible cab as well... suddenly it just seemed expensive and stressful aha.

So I ended up booking Paddlefish at Disney Springs for a late lunch and we could just suck it up and shop at Disney prices at Disney Springs lol.

All of this was decided closer to noon because I didn't wake up until after 11 lol. I've not slept that late since my teen years! But I also haven't stayed up till 3am (the night before) since then lol! Mum had gone for a swim in the quiet pool while I was snoozing so I'm glad she got to do that. Our pool plans did not materialize for the rest of the trip!

We took the morning pretty slow and caught a bus to Disney Springs. The last time we were here, I remember it as being essentially a maze of construction walls, so it was nice to see it all done. I thought it was very beautiful, I love (what I call) "Floridian" architecture, with the tiled roofs and stucco. I'm sure it did not originate in Florida lol but it's the only place I've seen buildings like that! Sadly not a style I see in the Frozen North lol.

I had seen on the Springs map that Paddlefish was on the water and is essentially a giant boat, so I planned to just keep walking towards the water until we saw it. For some reason it was not that easy! We must not have been awake yet, we kept having to stop and look at a map aha.

Nevertheless we made it, turned a corner and then ah giant boat lol. I'd heard that this used to be Fulton's Crab House which I'd never been to. The inside was very modern with a nice view of the water. There were several plaques that said "voted best seafood" (I couldn't see by who) but I was surprised because I haven't heard much about this place. There's a lot of info about the Boathouse (which I also haven't been to yet) which seems similar. I booked Paddlefish because they seemed more focused on fish rather than meat and fish (Boathouse). Also because they had a soup and salad combo which was affordable and just what we felt like having today aha.

This is exactly what mum and I got, and we thought it was good. I'd probably come back because I love seafood and they had lots of options, with a nice setting and view. I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't try anything more substantial, but I can't pass up clam chowder and they let me put shrimp in my salad so I didn't do so bad aha.

We decided to head to the back of the Springs after lunch, where most of the Disney stuff is aha. Unfortunately for us, there's no real benefit to shopping at the "normal" stores, as we'd have to pay exchange on things we could get in Canada. Also we popped into a few of them and I think they might have been like designer versions? Just seemed extremely expensive, even at US prices.

We went past Rainforest Cafe to go to the Art of Disney store as I wanted maybe a poster or something to decorate my new place. We passed an animatronic gator outside the restaurant that freaked mum out because she briefly thought it was real lol. To be fair it was very realistic (and cranky!) looking aha.

They didn't have posters in the Art store but you could look up the options on a screen and they could print it for you. I didn't find a poster but I was able to buy a beautiful print of the castle during fireworks for a reasonable price aha. This is still at my parents house as my mum insisted it be a Christmas present aha. I've put a picture of the original here so you can see.

Next we headed clockwise to a Star Wars store. I was on the hunt for a BB8 t-shirt as he's my favourite! Alas the staff informed me they only make BB8 clothing for children. Children as in juvenile humans or children like 27 year olds who visit Disney for their birthday? Sadly they meant actual juvenile people, not me

However my other desired BB8 souvenir was a magic band! Which I did find in the pin trading place across from the Star Wars store. Hooray!

One amusing thing, in each Star Wars store I went in, they had these small BB8 robots buzzing around. Not sure if they were remote controlled, or used like robot vacuum tech to go on their own? In any case BB8 was obsessed with my chair lol, specifically going underneath it rofl. Some poor CM would come running up to me "BB8 noooo! Bad BB8! And apologetically explain that BB8 was hiding underneath lol.

I was quite disappointed in the Star Wars merch I saw this trip, it seemed exclusively promoting the "Solo" movie and not much else. I'd bought loads of Star Wars things at Disney in the past, before they even owned it! But maybe I am thinking of Star Wars Weekends, which no longer are a thing... overall all of the stores (not just Star Wars) were heavily homogenized and the amount of "stuff" available seemed greatly reduced. Mum and I were wondering if this was the result of the recession? Or just Disney wanting to reduce it's inventory, which makes sense to "accounting hat" me but less so to "consumer hat" me lolol.

We went into Mickey's Pantry next as mum wants me to fill my new place with Disney stuff ahaha, but again I didn't see anything to my liking so we moved on.

I think we went into the Marketplace Co-op building next which had a bunch of stores inside. Didn't get anything from here but I think this was most fun to wander in aha. Lots of neat stuff! I'm not a dress-wearer, just don't find them comfortable to sit in, plus I'm a major tomboy ahaha. But I loved looking at the Cherry Tree Lane dresses, all very beautiful! Mum tried to convince me to get one as she thought these might be "the only dress I'd ever wear" bahaha, but I couldn't do it given the cost and the fact it would be all rumpled underneath me. I'd also heard of like a Tower of Terror dress and I swear I saw a BB8 dress on TimTracker?? But didn't see those ones, saw Orange Bird and Mary Poppins... some others I don't remember sadly aha.

We went into World of Disney next which as usual was very busy. But I found this absolutely amazing park bag! I also found... like a tea steeper thing, those little mesh balls where you put loose leaf tea in to steep it, only this one had Mickey ears ahaha. This will a gift for my brother as he loves his tea and forbid me from getting him any "loud Disney" presents lol. I hope that this will be "simple" enough for him! I don't have a picture of this sadly as I left it at my parents.

We were fading at this point and we'd passed Vivoli Gelato on the way in which was on my "snack list" aha. I've had gelato before but not recently enough that I remembered what it tasted like aha. And I'd seen on the menu that you could get gelato "affogato" which means they pour coffee (espresso?) over it. This sounded amazing and I've never seen this before at any ice cream place I've been to. I also heard that the only other location of Vivoli is in Italy? So seemed like a "try it while you're here" type of thing.

I got cheesecake gelato affogato and mum got a sorbet, I think rasberry, as she wanted something lighter. She said she liked her sorbet and finished it, which means she really liked it, she's not a fan of sweets in general aha. I absolutely LOVED my gelato! Really unique flavour combo, when he first handed it to me it actually felt interesting, hot and cold depending on where I held the cup aha. Then eventually it all melted into essentially coffee ice cream which I have no complaints about. I also have to say the coffee itself tasted amazing, before it combined with the gelato even. I haven't looked it up to confirm if the original shop is in Italy, but based on taste alone I'd believe it! I was thinking I could get another of these later on in the trip but sadly it never came to pass.

We headed towards the front of the Springs now, back towards the buses, but I convinced mum to pop into Uniqlo before we left, again on TimTracker's recommendation aha. Sadly it seemed all the Disney stuff had been majorly picked over. I asked about Star Wars merch but the CM regretfully informed us it usually sells out as soon as they get it, and timing of the next shipment wasn't going to work with our plans.

It was around 5 I think at this point and we were ready for dinner. This was originally to be another quick service night but we would be taking advantage of the club lounge again. Later in the evening we had a fastpass for Fantasmic. Continued in Part 2!

 

[LeiaIsAPrincess2]

I love your Magic band but I was disappointed in the Star Wars merch this summer too!

 

[obisbondgirl]

Day 3 (Part 2) - The Tower Lives Up to It's Name

(Aside) - Went to Canada's Wonderland yesterday with some friends. Had lots of fun but it really shows you what separates Disney from "just a theme-park"! I definitely found myself missing things that I take for granted at Disney aha.

So last we left off in this report, we were heading back to the Boardwalk from Disney Springs. I don't recall the trip back so we'll say it was uneventful aha.

We headed to the club lounge for dinner. I really don't remember what was on the menu tonight. I'm not sure if it just wasn't our cup of tea, or I was just hungry for my Via Napoli leftovers lol, because that's what I had tonight. We asked Sam, who'd made me my coffee drink the day before, if they had a microwave for me to heat up my leftovers, and they do not have a microwave in the club lounge which did kind of surprise me? But, Sam insisted on having a microwave delivered up to our room! Sam made my list of "best cast-members" this trip aha.

Unfortunately we couldn't get the microwave to work? And yes we had it plugged in lol. So we just ate our leftovers cold. And I must say it was nowhere near as good as eating it fresh at Via Napoli. Tasted noticeable burnt where I hadn't noticed that at all in the restaurant.

I think this was also the day I discovered the croissant fondue in the lounge which is what I stuffed myself with every day subsequently lol. The fondue was just normal cheese fondue but the bread was croissants ripped up which somehow made it super amazing. I love croissants but I rarely eat them aha, they're my "special occasion breakfast". I think this was also the day I discovered croissants at breakfast too. Bottom line I ate a lot of lounge croissants lol, breakfast, dinner, all the time lol.

We'd originally had a fastpass for the late Fantasmic show, because I'd assumed we'd be coming from offsite shopping/eating. But then since we stayed onsite I'd moved it up to the earlier show. This was a good idea because mum was obsessed with riding Tower of Terror tonight bahaha. I kept reminding her that we were staying late at Hollywood Studios the next night but she kept saying "but... we can also ride it tonight too?". Lol! Back during the high school trip, we dared each other to go on it together and we were so terrified and now it is our favourite ride aha!

I really wanted to see Fantasmic because I remember loving it when I'd last seen it in high school. The boys in my family don't like it so I'd only seen it with my school friends aha. But it kind of fell short for me this trip. For some reason I remember there being way more boats with characters? And the show seemed very disjointed. The Pocahontas section seemed especially weird. It came out of nowhere and seemed like it got more time and was more elaborate than any of the other movies? But once the villains take over it gets really good, the dragon is the best thing about the show aha, and even the Jafar snake was pretty neat. Overall though, I think I would skip this show next time.

I don't remember how much time we had after the show until the park closed, there were no extra magic hours tonight. We didn't have a lot of time but I'd managed to get a late fastpass. However the line was only 20 mins I think so I convinced mum that we could line up and ride, then use our fastpass to ride again before closing.

This was another thing I really wanted to try, riding Tower of Terror at night! I am not sure it was better though. I think the theme of this trip was that rides I thought would be good at night actually turned out to be better in the day aha. The Tower lit at night is definitely better. But the line itself is pretty dark, it's actually spookier in the day when you can see better I think. And the inside is just the same as daytime. And when you drop, in the daytime you can see how high up you are, but in the night it's just dark. So overall my opinion is, see the Tower lit at night if you can, but ride during the day.

I was really kicking myself for my plan of lining up and then using fastpass after. Should have done the reverse. Because... we got stuck on Tower of Terror aha. Everything was normal until you go in that room with all the weird images, the eye, the clock, the window breaking. At a certain part in that room, the sounds became unsynced from the images, that light beam opened up right before the drop... and we stopped. And it was pitch dark lol. It was pretty spooky just sitting there in the darkness, complete quiet! I wasn't panicking as I knew worst case someone would come and evacuate us. My biggest worry was how high up we were and if they'd have to call the firemen to get me down! I could force myself to do stairs in like a life-or-death situation I guess but I wasn't keen to test that out!

Eventually the lights came on and they kept announcing that the ride would start shortly, until eventually it did. When we got off there was a small army of official looking (definitely not college program etc) CM's. The guy in charge explained that we could ride again or get an anytime fastpass, and we opted to ride again. My plan was saved after all! The CM explained to us that someone in a different elevator had thrown something in the air to see it "float" during the drop. Except this meant Disney had to stop the ride because they don't know what was in the air or if it could hurt someone. I guess that means Disney is monitoring the elevator cars even during the ride? Which makes sense from a safety perspective. So PSA, don't throw stuff in the air on Tower of Terror, you'll just get stuck!

The second ride was much better, probably the best drops out of all the times I rode this trip. It was now a ways past park closing (though I don't remember the exact time), so we decided to browse the gift shop another day and head back to the Boardwalk for now.

Although I did enjoy Tower of Terror, getting stuck the first time I rode it kind of made it weird sadly. I kept thinking on subsequent rides "I hope we don't get stuck again!" and it kind of took away from the ride. It never felt the same to me as in past trips. But then, even though some rides felt not as good to me, other rides stepped up like Haunted Mansion. So all in all it evened out.

On the way back to Boardwalk, the late Fantasmic show was nearing the end, and we saw Sorcerer Mickey standing on top of the (mountain?) from the Friendship Boat! Very cool, definitely one of those "perfect timing" moments.

Day 4 is next!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Getting stuck in the dark on Tower of Terror sounds like some sort of fresh hell!

Interesting that it was caused by someone throwing something. That is so dumb! Not the safety response from Disney, but the actual throwing of something on that ride.

 

[obisbondgirl]

Getting stuck in the dark on Tower of Terror sounds like some sort of fresh hell!

Interesting that it was caused by someone throwing something. That is so dumb! Not the safety response from Disney, but the actual throwing of something on that ride.

Aha yeah it was not my favourite experience. But we rode it lots more times this trip to wash away the one bad one lol. I think maybe we rode it too many times honestly! Surprisingly the wait only went over 20mins our last day (at least while I was actively checking) so we couldn't stop ourselves aha.

 

[cinderaimee]

I can't imagine getting stuck on Tower of Terror! Shame on the person goofing off that caused it. I think Disney is like a casino, someone is always watching and people don't realize it!

Croissant fondue sounds amazing! I can't blame you there.

Really enjoying your report!

 

[obisbondgirl]

I can't imagine getting stuck on Tower of Terror! Shame on the person goofing off that caused it. I think Disney is like a casino, someone is always watching and people don't realize it!

Croissant fondue sounds amazing! I can't blame you there.

Really enjoying your report!

LOL that gif!! You're probably right! I just never thought about it before.

 

[obisbondgirl]

Day 4 - Star Wars Stuff (Part 1)

I didn't have much planned for today until dinner (Cape May!!!!) and planned to see the Star Wars fireworks after dinner. Was thinking we would chill out by the pool but it was a cloudy, gloomy day, raining on and off, so we decided to head for a park instead.

I was still hoping to find some Star Wars merch so we decided to go to Hollywood Studios and do a bit of shopping. I also made a fastpass for Star Tours because why not?

We didn't head to the park till later though, we wanted to experience "lunch" in the lounge, which is really just an afternoon snack (and is described as such, so no false advertising aha). They had house made popcorn and kettle chips (kettle chips were very good), some little toasts with chicken and ham, and then a bunch of desserts (cookies, jelly beans, etc). We weren't sure if this would fill us up but I ate a lot of the chips lol.

Our ride on Star Tours was the best Star Tours ride we had all trip, as we got 2 planets I'd never been to (Coruscant and... wookie planet that I'm not even attempting to spell lol). I will always have a special place for original Star Tours in my heart, I discovered the original trilogy at the same time as we took our 90's trips, so it was amazing for little me to ride my new favourite thing aha. I can still remember a lot of the ride aha, I must have ridden it a lot! The little robot guy shouting "where are the BRAKES!!" and then you literally fell off a ledge and it really gave your stomach a lurch aha. And the ice comet that you went into, and then of course the Death Star aha.

I will say though that I feel that the new Star Tours with the randomized scenes somehow makes it... more fake? Of course I know I am riding rides, but a lot of the rides at Disney really make me suspend my disbelief, I stop thinking about real life logical stuff aha. But then on new Star Tours, I know that there is a limited number of combinations of planets etc. So maybe it's just my accounting brain but I start focusing on what planets I've gone to and how many times have I been to those and what are the odds, etc. So I miss the simplicity of original Star Tours that never changed aha.

Also I always go to the same planets!! This time got new planets but we rode it 4 more times (lol yeah) this trip and Tatooine was the only new planet I got. Went to Hoth and Naboo over and over again! Every time I end up at Hoth I bust out my best Indiana Jones impression: "Snow??!! I HATE snow! Turn this thing around!". Something ironic about travelling south to catch a spaceship to a snow planet LOL.

Our time spent shopping was uneventful sadly. The Star Tours gift shop seemed really empty compared to past trips. And it was raining and kind of blah. We decided to head to Launch Bay while we were here. I'd had it scheduled in another day but we had plenty of time so decided to just go now. I really wanted to meet BB8!

We kind of wandered around and couldn't find the line for BB8 but we saw the Chewie and Kylo lines. I had absolutely no interest in meeting Kylo lol and was unsure about Chewie cause of my general character anxiety ahaha. But in the end I decided I couldn't pass it up so we got in line. It was a bit of a wait but I was telling mum it was super pleasant to just chill in the air conditioning and listen to Star Wars music ahaha.

The line was pretty funny cause there were lots of kids dressed up. A little boy had a red lightsaber and a CM came up and said "ohhh excuse me this is the light side, no red lightsabers allowed here" and like pretended to take the kid's saber away. And just the kid's face looking at his mum in shock was so funny aha. He got it back btw aha. And there was a little boy with like a stormtrooper Halloween costume lol. When we got out of line the actual Stormtroopers walking around noticed him and asked him to come with them, so he was marching around with them through the Launch Bay lol. Very cute!

I wasn't sure how to approach Chewie because I managed to talk to Belle but there's a bit of a language barrier with Chewie aha. So I was just going to say hi and get my picture aha. When I was standing next to Chewie for our picture, he noticed my birthday badge and tapped on it. I said oh aha it's my birthday! And he enveloped me in this giant hug, and pressed his big Wookie head against the top of my head. And I am not a hugger, I don't like people touching me at all honestly, even my own family. But honestly... I nearly burst into tears. That hug felt like... love. I honestly can't explain it. It was like being a very small child and your parents hug you and it envelopes you. And you can feel how safe and loved you are....

The boys in my family gave me a fair amount of grief before we left, about how like the characters are just people in suits, why would anyone care, it's gross etc. And I'm a logical person, I know the facts. But I can say that it did not "feel" like being hugged by a guy in a suit. It felt "real". The hug was so strong yet so gentle, a real Wookie hug as far as I'm concerned. I dunno, it was one of those experiences I'll never forget, something that really can't be explained but was very special.

After that mind-blowing experience, we headed off to find BB8. The CM at the front of the line was very cheerful, he was chatting with everyone. I believe he and a little girl were speaking Spanish, he kept asking "how old are you?" and she kept saying "5" and he kept saying "500? 5,000? 50? You look so young!" as she protested in vain lol. What they were saying (numbers lol) is the extent of my Spanish lol.

Unfortunately meeting BB8 was a bit disappointing after the amazing experience meeting Chewie. I had seen TimTracker meet BB8 and the CM's were helping him to communicate with BB8 (BB8 would make sounds and the CM's would say "BB8 wants to know where are you from? etc"). The cheerful Spanish-speaking CM swapped out with some very young CM's just before we got to the front, and they looked pretty tired and did not do any interpreting for us aha. But BB8 was very cute and I got a picture with him! So I was happy aha.

We wandered through Launch Bay for a bit but it was getting close to our dinner time and we wanted to take some time wandering Beach Club. So we headed for the boat docks.

Dinner and Star Wars fireworks in Part 2!

 

[TNGirlwCamera]

Back during the high school trip, we dared each other to go on it together and we were so terrified and now it is our favourite ride aha!

This is so cute

 

[obisbondgirl]

Day 4 - Star Wars Stuff (Part 2)

So last we left off we took the boat over to the Beach Club for dinner at Cape May Cafe. I think I mentioned my love for Cape May in my post about my Disney history? But if it did not come through strongly enough then, let me say again that this is my favourite restaurant in Disney lol. I loved it so much I booked it twice this trip!

I tend to be wary of Disney buffets because other than Cape May, I've not been to one where I felt the food was worth the price? And I've mentioned I don't particularly love meeting characters, and most buffets are characters meets. But Cape May is special aha. It's a seafood buffet, and not only am I very willing to stuff my face with seafood lol, but also it feels "worth it" because I really can't get seafood like this at home (well I could but it would be expensive and not all you can eat aha). Also my favourite type of seafood hands down is fried calamari lol. And it's like a special birthday treat for me, and I'm sharing one app with my family usually aha. So all you can eat fried calamari is like heaven as far as I'm concerned!

I also mentioned in my history post that I got to stay at the Beach Club when I graduated high school, and it was the first Disney deluxe hotel that I think I was old enough to appreciate aha. I remember walking in the lobby and it smelled just like the beach aha. And I swear there was a sandcastle inside the lobby, behind glass? No one else in my family remembers this but I do aha. This time I wouldn't get to experience the awesomeness that is Stormalong Bay (sand bottom pool for the win!) but I was very excited to be back at the hotel and just soak up the beauty of it and the smell lolol.

When we got off the boat there was a lady walking the paths who thought she was at Grand Floridian and was confused. I heard her saying "I think this is it, this looks like it" but then someone in her party said "I thought the roof was red?". This was very funny to me but I also feel bad about finding it funny aha. I feel like I should have said something but it was also one of those things where she was farther away and I didn't want to butt in. I hope she found her way!

I've attached a picture of the beauty that is this hotel aha. My favourite colour is blue so I've always liked that it's all blue aha.

I must say that when we walked inside... it felt different than I remember. It didn't smell the same aha, or rather the smell was less strong lol? Yes I sound crazy aha. I think maybe my memories played tricks on me and everything seemed less "potent" in reality aha? Also no sandcastle inside, did I dream the whole thing lol? I think sadly, Boardwalk wins my new favourite lobby that I have stayed in. That seahorse chandelier is stunning! And all the old antiques inside like the creepy chairs, the merry-go-round that plays music, the mini wooden roller coaster, the flip-book movie crank thing... so many little things to find in there! Sadly Beach Club lobby seemed... empty compared. Did they remodel or change it I wonder?

Mum went into the store they have there, she wanted to buy some H2O products aha, she loves that whole line. But I think she specifically wanted... body lotion I think, and they were out at the Boardwalk. They were out at Beach Club too and when the CM checked for her, they were out across entire WDW! And unfortunately it does not ship to Canada (I've tried to buy it for her lol). Luckily we found 2 bottles at the Contemporary later on!

Compared to the lobby, Cape May did not disappoint me. I think mum actually got more plates than me which I still tease her about, but she mostly stuck to the crab legs while I sampled everything lol. And a plate of calamari all to myself!

Mum was laughing because as a child there was nothing I hated more than people singing in restaurants aha. Like if it was someone's birthday and the staff/restaurant sang aha. But guess what happened, I was wearing my pin and everyone sang ahaha. It was actually very nice! People from neighboring tables got up to say happy birthday to me aha. I must say my faith in humanity was restored by this trip aha. People are really quite nice!

Hollywood Studios was open late tonight and we'd planned to catch the Star Wars fireworks and then ride some rides. I was determined not to repeat my Happily Ever After mistake and arrive too late to get an accessible spot. So I think we got there at 9pm and the show didn't start till 10pm aha. The accessible viewing section was empty!

There was a handful of people waiting around for the show however and there was a CM who was entertaining people by telling stories of the history of the park. Unfortunately I don't recall anything particular aha but we enjoyed listening!

Now, I am a bit cranky about how things turned out here. At first I had a great view, and there weren't many people around. But soon, the area around the Chinese Theatre began to fill up. And the way it is set up is, the accessible viewing section is actually behind where everyone stands? They put tape down in front so people still had a path to walk between me and the people standing to watch the show. But in the end... by the time the show started, I really couldn't see much. And I was pretty cranky about that. Somehow I was able to see less well than when standing in "people soup" to see Happily Ever After aha. But... I'd heard the accessible area is a fairly new addition? And maybe there's not a lot of space to put it, I don't know. Just seemed bizarre that it's behind where everyone stands.

Sadly I didn't really like this show much, and I had expected to love it. I think the fact that I really couldn't see didn't help. But as much as I love Star Wars, it didn't tug at my emotions like the other shows I saw this trip. It was technically impressive, they essentially recreated the space battles with lasers and explosions aha. But I don't know... it didn't do much for me I guess. It started out so great with the opening crawl and the swell of John Williams score... and then I don't know everything else seemed kind of disjointed to me. But, that's my opinion aha. I'm thinking by the time I'm back Star Wars land will be open so not sure the current setup will still exist?

Personally I liked the short "Disney Movie Magic" show that played before Star Wars better! Can't even say why, just felt more "Disney" to me aha. Also I enjoyed the Tron music on the big speakers aha. And I could still see at that point LOL.

I'd stuffed myself silly at Cape May aha so I wasn't sure I wanted to do any rides after the show, I was struggling to move a bit! It was good that we did Tower of Terror the night before as we decided against it tonight with our full tummies aha. Eventually we decided we were in a Star Wars mood so we headed for Star Tours. Got Hoth and Naboo again I think but I was the rebel spy!!! I was so excited! Lol mum was like omg what is wrong? And I had to turn her head to make her look at the little screen lolol. We decided to ride again because the line was so short (it was extra magic hours). And we rode all alone! Not sure if it was a perk or there was literally no one else in line? It was a bit weird riding just the two of us, need the reactions from the other people to make it fun! We got Tatooine this time which I'd not been to before, and I was the rebel spy again! But it was a bit less impressive this time given I had a 50% chance with just us two aha.

After Star Tours I was feeling a bit better so we decided to ride Rock n Roller Coaster as we hadn't done that one yet and it's another of my favourites. Unfortunately we had another mishap here. There were some teens in the car in front of us and I guess one of them was wearing a hat? I hadn't noticed. But when we took off at the start, their hat flew off and hit me in the face. It was weird for me because something hit me in the face but I didn't know what because it was dark. And it gave me that uncomfortable "I've got to sneeze" feeling that you get when you get hit in the nose? When the ride stopped the hat was at my feet so then I felt better knowing what it was! And I wasn't hurt, it was just a baseball cap, just the bill of it was hard enough to slap my nose. I asked the guys if they lost a hat and they were amazed that I'd "caught it". They kept saying "wow you have great reflexes you caught it in the air!". I never told them I caught it with my face lol.

Mum was pretty mad because the ride picture is me getting hit in the face lol, which I honestly thought was pretty funny. She wanted me to take the photo to guest services as proof and get compensated aha. But it was almost closing and I was more amused at that point once the shock wore off. A little sad that we had such poor luck on my favourite rides, stuck on Tower of Terror and slapped in the face on Rock n Roller Coaster lol. Unfortunately I wasn't able to ride this one again due to future events. But I think I am getting old lol. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the parks, and some of the quieter rides this trip more than my usual thrilling favourites aha.

It was probably close to midnight at that point so we headed back to the hotel. The next day we had lunch at Olivia's Café and went to Animal Kingdom!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

There is a sandcastle in a glass box at the Beach Club. There may be multiples, but the one I'm thinking of is in the hallway outside Cape May. It's almost two-dimensional; it's hanging on the wall in the hallway. If you were checking in at Cape May and turned left to walk around the restaurant, you would have been able to see it.

Sounds like you had a great day overall - ouch on the hat in the face, though!

 

[obisbondgirl]

There is a sandcastle in a glass box at the Beach Club. There may be multiples, but the one I'm thinking of is in the hallway outside Cape May. It's almost two-dimensional; it's hanging on the wall in the hallway. If you were checking in at Cape May and turned left to walk around the restaurant, you would have been able to see it.

Sounds like you had a great day overall - ouch on the hat in the face, though!

Ah ok, I could have sworn it was right near the check in desk but I'm not placing bets on my memory aha. Next time I go I will peek around the corner!

 

[Dezign]

I'm so enjoying your trip report!

I love BWI, too, and I'm so glad you and your mom were upgraded to CL! What a nice treat! YAY!

I really admire how you didn't allow a few negative things to upset you to the point that you became negative about everything... And YAY for CMs that go out of their way to be kind!

I don't like Astro Orbiter, either---it's scary! My DGD loves it, though--so I suck it up and go on it for her. The view is nice, but its slow to load and makes me a little woozy.

The cat bowl is so cute! Did they have any like that but for ?

We don't go to WDW until December 2019 so I'm living vicariously through trip reports! And time is like (Only slower.)

Ha ha ha about snow and heat. I live in Texas where it is hot for about 6 months of the year and I mostly dread summer. Snow seems so lovely to have. Grass is always greener, I guess!

 

[obisbondgirl]

I'm so enjoying your trip report!

I love BWI, too, and I'm so glad you and your mom were upgraded to CL! What a nice treat! YAY!

I really admire how you didn't allow a few negative things to upset you to the point that you became negative about everything... And YAY for CMs that go out of their way to be kind!

I don't like Astro Orbiter, either---it's scary! My DGD loves it, though--so I suck it up and go on it for her. The view is nice, but its slow to load and makes me a little woozy.

The cat bowl is so cute! Did they have any like that but for ?

We don't go to WDW until December 2019 so I'm living vicariously through trip reports! And time is like (Only slower.)

Ha ha ha about snow and heat. I live in Texas where it is hot for about 6 months of the year and I mostly dread summer. Snow seems so lovely to have. Grass is always greener, I guess!

Hi, thank you for reading!

I don't recall any dog bowls but that doesn't mean they weren't there aha. I'm very much a cat person so I was on the lookout for cat stuff. There was a ton of stuff in that store though! If you can, you should take a look when you go!

I think people get sick of too much of one kind of weather lol. Snow is lovely until it's been 4+ months straight and you have to shovel it, drive in it, try to wheel through it etc every day lol. 6 months of heat seems like a lot too!

Your trip is not too far away now! Time to book fastpasses?