A Whole New World of Disney ~ Lia's Birthday Shore & Sea Dream Trip! UPDATED 6/24!!!!

[khaleesi]

I love how much you love SciFi! I only ate there once, but I really liked it. And obviously the atmosphere is so cool! I've read some pretty bad reviews of the place, and it makes me very happy that you love it so much because I would go back there in a heartbeat, except that I tend to limit the number of TS places I go to. (I say that as if I'm there all the time!)

YAY for Gina finding a hidden Mickey! I'm only able to do that if I know that it already exists. Ha.

Glad you had such an amazing day! And yay for your birthday loot from SciFi!

 

[khertz]

I have been an awful lurker on this TR for some reason, but I had to comment and laugh about the Tomorrowland touristy picture and its comparison to people taking pictures holding up the leaning tower of Pisa...because I totally just did that a few weeks ago and felt like such a nerd! But it's just a must do.

Sounds like you had a fantastic birthday! Can't wait to hear about the cruise.

 

[disneyxparadise]

APRIL 7TH, 2014
Day 1, Part 1 In Which Two Best Friends Are REUNITED!​

Here I am the night before my big birthday adventure! Princess alert.

Here is the autograph book I made for this trip:

As much as I love my official Disney World books, I think the characters really appreciate home made ones. At least, that’s what I heard, and it turned out to be spot on. I’m telling you, if you want some extra attention for your child (or yourself), make your own book!

What I did was used an old scrapbook I bought in the Target dollar section literally years and years ago and never put anything in. I bought some supplies from Michaels and then I pulled out my old issues of the Disney magazine. Does it even exist anymore? I don’t know. But I used to be a subscriber and so I had these issues laying around. I cut pictures of the characters I knew I would meet on the trip and glued them to the pages. One page for a photo and the one next to it for the autograph. I had a lot of fun making it and the characters went crazy for it. It was awesome because having met all these characters before many times, having a new experience with them was lovely and added extra magic to the trip!

The other thing I had to make for this trip was a pirate costume! If you’ve read my other reports, you know I always make my own costumes and this was no exception. We won’t get to pirate night until Night 2 of the cruise, but I had a lot of fun putting together my costume which literally cost me no money. So between that and the book, I was quite creatively busy before this trip! So much fun!

Also, I have to include the AMAZING Birthday Ribbon that Lee-Anne mailed me before the trip! I was SO excited to wear it!!

Thank you, Lee-Anne!!!

The morning I was leaving I woke up long before the crack of dawn after getting approximately 30 seconds of sleep. Actually… I had to wake up around 3:30, so I believe I took a sleeping pill and a half around 10pm. IT WORKED! Thank God, because out of every crazy trip I’ve had, this one was the most tiring. If I hadn’t gotten any rest the first night… oh man, that would have been bad.

My mom drove me to Laguardia which is usually a nightmare, but since most other people are normal and don’t go to Disney World at 4am, the roads were clear! Yay! MAKE WAAAAY FOR PRINCESS LIAAAAAA!!!! Hey, Lia is totally “Ali” mixed up. I know Prince Ali was just a facade, but I still think we should date if our names are mirror images of each other. Just saying.

This is what I ate for breakfast in the car:

It was a quality meal.

I don’t remember much about this part of the trip except I couldn’t believe that I was, AGAIN, off to Disney World. They recently re-did Laguardia, I was in one of the new areas, and it was looking pretty good. I don’t know why everyone complains about that airport. Probably because if they didn’t have something to complain about their lungs would collapse and they would die instantly, and airports are a pretty easy target.

The only thing was that everything is so absurdly expensive, as they are in all airports, but still. Like, I’ll dance around dressed like Miley Cyrus before I spend $5 on a croissant. There was a sign next to this croissant that said it was “shipped in from Balthazar.” Balthazar is a fancy bakery with multiple locations around New York City, aka the same city this airport is in. It’s not like they shipped it in overnight from Italy. Calm down, people. I was about to ship myself to Epcot and I needed that $5 for a rum dole whip and other delicacies found at the Flower & Garden Festival.

Croissant-less, I moved on and saw this:

Biergarten!!! I jumped for joy knowing that soon I would be in the same park as THE Biergarten, aka the restaurant in Epcot’s Germany that I have always wanted to go to but never have - YET. I don’t often jump for joy before noon hits, so this was a big moment for me.

Because I booked this trip so close to the date I was leaving, I had to accept the doom of a connecting flight. Usually, I do not mind paying more for a direct flight but there was quite an absurd difference in the prices so an hour after taking off from NYC I found myself in Washington, D.C.

I also found this.

@babybritney: I love you, I thank God for you, you are the wind beneath my wings

I’ve driven through D.C. plenty of times, but only actually visited the city for Hanson reasons. Hanson is why I do 99% of things, so it’s really no surprise. Because of my lack of historical experiences in D.C., I was quite excited that I could see the Capitol Building from the window. I just love traveling, I love looking out the window and seeing something I usually never see.

Hula Timon was extremely ready for our flight to Orlando!!!!!!!!!

Jess and I were texting each other from our respective airports. You see, she had just taken a trip back home to visit her family, so we were flying in on the same morning! That worked out pretty perfectly.

I texted her this photo of my crazy-eyed excitement:

I’m kind of surprised she didn’t cancel the entire trip out of fear after seeing that photo. What can I say. she’s a good friend.

I don’t remember my flight at all really, except for this moment that I tweeted:

@babybritney: Listening to Let it Go right as your plane lands to Orlando is pretty epic and tear inducing. RECOMMENDED

Once I got off the plane I was like an exploding firecracker. I could not believe I was at MCO, where Jess was waiting for me, to drive us to DISNEY WORLD, for my birthday, that would then be followed by a DISNEY CRUISE!!! I know you’re probably like, “Um, Lia, you go to Disney kind of often, get used to it already.” But I NEVER WILL. I don’t care if I live in Orlando, every time I pass through those gates I will thank God that I am lucky enough to be there. It means everything!

Ah, The Magic of Disney store. Once you pass that, you’re golden, man.

I practically ran down to Baggage Claim and then caught sight of JESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!! God, reunions are the best. I couldn’t believe that we hadn’t seen each other since November. It was surreal to see her again and just cemented that this trip was really happening!

After we got re-acquainted, I went in the bathroom to change into my Epcot dress. We were headed to Epcot and so it was only appropriate! Jess said “WHERE did you find an Epcot DRESS?!” It’s actually a large men’s shirt from Urban Outfitters that I turned into a dress. Jess was like, “You’re always makin’ stuff!” hahaha, that’s me.

Then, we headed out to the parking garage to find the one, the only, BROOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you aren’t familiar, shame on you, because Brooke is Jess’s car and has been a large part of many Disney adventures in her time. Love ya, Brooke.

Jess’s Hot and Fancy Magical Express then took off out of MCO and to EPCOT! I remember saying to Jess, “I can’t believe I’m back with you, in Brooke, on our way to Disney AGAIN.” We blasted Hanson and Hilary Duff like usual and just had a blast! AHHHH THIS TRIP WAS UNDERWAY, BABY!

We arrived at the Epcot parking lot and I saw THIS BEYOND GORGEOUS SIGHT!

I absolutely could not believe my eyes when I saw Spaceship Earth. I WAS LIVING, DUDE!

We parked Brooke and made note of where she was. We did not want to make the same mistake we have made several times of forgetting where she was parked. Brooke, we’re so sorry. We won’t do it again. Except we totally did.

We’re BACK! A Princesses Story….

Hey, that would actually make a good TR title. Oh well, maybe next time!

@babybritney IM IN EPCOT IM BACK IM HOME IT'S SO WARM IM SO HAPPY

We made our way right over to the World Showcase. We were pretty hungry and did not want to waste any time at all before hitting the lands of deliciousness AKA the countries of the world.

Once we arrived, I promptly had a moment when I saw these:

and said, “Oh my God, the flamingos from Fantasia!”

Jess stopped dead and was like, “Flamingos?!”

I realized that I meant to say ostriches but some weird brain fart caused my mouth to say FLAMINGOS. We died laughing. It was just too much. Already this trip was becoming more hilariously memorable than the last, and that was really saying something!

The first thing I desperately wanted was the Violent Lemonade from the Pineapple Promenade booth!

It was just as deliciously violent as I remembered! This is seriously one of the most refreshing drinks ever made. I could drink them until I croak.

Our next stop was La Hacienda’s quick service because Jess really wanted some tacos. I want tacos literally every second of the day, but since I can get them any time at home (we have the best little Mexican place in the next town over that I order from WAY too much) I saved my stomach space for some other choices from the Flower & Garden booths. And thank God I did, because I ended up eating WAY TOO MUCH later on as it was, but I’m getting ahead of myself here!

One thing I didn’t know was that if you buy from La Hacienda’s quick service, you don’t have to sit at the outdoor tables. You can go inside and sit! I thought that was just for people eating at the table service. ~The more you know~!!! Though, I don't think you can do that during dinner time... but I am not sure.

I had never been inside there before and I really liked the atmosphere. I would love to make an ADR to eat there sometime soon!

I rarely meet characters in World Showcase and I have been meaning to do that more often. I looked up the times and what do you know, Aladdin and Jasmine were coming out soon! If you know anything about Jess, you know that it did not take much convincing for her to agree to go and do that LOL. She's pretty open about the fact that 90% of her parkgoing activities involve meeting Aladdin and Jasmine.

Before heading to Morocco, we went back to Pineapple Promenade so I could get the glorious rum dole whip. You can get white or black rum and I chose the coconut rum.

The first sip I took was RIGHT from the bottom of the cup and so I got a giant swig of rum right away and I was like WHOA WHOA WHOA I’M IN DISNEY WORLD HERE SLOW IT DOWN. I mean, I don’t know what I was expecting. I guess that the rum would be more mixed in with the ice cream but that doesn’t really make sense. It was much more enjoyable after I mixed it up a little with the straw. Oh man, I loved it. I also think it’s the perfect size. The dole whips at Magic Kingdom are just too big for me… as much as I love ice cream, I usually don’t gorge on it, so for me it’s one of those things that’s better in a normal dose. Plus, unless you go in December or something, half the thing melts before you even get to it. So I appreciated the smaller portion. It was exactly what I needed!

Off to Morocco we go!

On the way over to see Lad and Jas, we passed Mary Poppins! I recognized Mary Poppins’ friend as someone who is also close with Aurora and Belle. I had met her with those princesses before and just thought she was so gorgeous and talented! I would have loved to meet Mary, but we really wanted to make Aladdin and Jasmine’s time and the line was pretty long. Another time! Sidenote: I’ve actually never met Mary Poppins before, I don’t know what I’m doing with my life.

When I took that picture, Mary had just said to that boy, “So lovely to see you again. It’s been since Christmas!” in her perfect little English accent. The boy melted and basically so did I!

​

Im glad you got to see Eugene even though it rained! Those princess rooms look amazing!!Cant wait to hear more about your trip!

 

[nfggirl5454]

Your birthday day was so busy and sounds super fun! I saw MESP from Frontierland once after closing. There were a few other people, but not many at all, and it was great. The pictures of the Royal Guest Room are fantastic! I love all the detail that went into the rooms. I live 2 hours north of Disney and travel mostly with my sister and my nephew. She's having a baby daughter (Penelope!) any day now, and I'm already looking forward to like five years in the future when Penelope will love the Royal Guest Rooms.

 

[ThePin Princess]

Great to hear that you had such an awesome birthday!! I have to try the Master's cupcake next time I'm at Be Our Guest it looks so good! The Splash Mountain ride photo is so hilarious! Looks like you guys had a great day! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[__disneygirl]

Lia, you are a posting machine. Just as I finished one update, the next appeared. This is really helping pass the remaing 45ish days until I return to WDW.

Glad to hear it! Thanks for reading!

I love that birthday button! It is so sparkly and perfect. Did they have to make it ahead of time for you?

It sounds like you had an amazing pixie dusted birthday! My next trip just happened to fall on my birthday and I can't wait to spend it in the happiest place on earth!

I completely agree with you about the magic of Disney World. There is just something about it that transforms you. I don't care what anyone says, the magic there IS real.

No, they make them on the spot. I think it's technically only for little princesses getting done up at BBB, but I had a friend there so pixie dust was created!

It is absolutely real! I'm glad you understand. :smickey

The pictures of FoF are amazing! I've been twice since it started once it was canceled because of rain & last time I had to get a birthday girl to BBB to see her fairy godmother in training. So boo I've got my fingers crossed for next time!

Love your Mad Hatter moment! My first and only trip to Disney Land I randomly bumped into Alice & the Mad Hatter taking a stroll. No joke! They were just walking around. Anyway, they were kind enough to pose for a picture with me, but then the Mad Hatter was like "No, no, no, this won't do! You need a hat!" He walked into a gift shop and came back with a Cheshire Cat hat and plopped on my head! At the risk of being "the girls who always posts pictures in her TR comments" here it is:

As far as FL girls toughing out the rain, I was born and raised in FL and I always joke about making t-shirts for Disney trips that say "Ponchos are for tourists" Of course I was eating my wards during the downpour on our MNSSHP night. I looked like the scene from the movie were Anna's dress freezes hobbling up to a ride drenched and muttering "cold, cold, cold" Even being uncomfortable at Disney can be magic sometimes!

Ok, sorry for the novel. I'm so glad you had such a great birthday!

I LOVE how in Disneyland the characters just wander around sometimes. That's such a fun thing to see but so rare at WDW. That's a great story about the Mad Hatter, love it!

hahaha you're so right, that scene with Anna was totally my life on our MNSSHP night toward the end. My petticoat was soaked and I was not a happy person at that moment.

Thank you!

So I work at a movie theater and in our projection booth area we have this old statue of Theodore from Alvin & the Chipmunks, and he is very clearly doing your "fancy" hand motion. Every time I see it I have to laugh now, having read through this (and your previous) trip report. Unfortunately because the booth is rather dark and my phone does not take great pictures, I couldn't take a picture of it to show you, but I managed to find him online so you can see what he looks like! Hope it makes you smile as much as your reports make us smile!

HAHAHAHAHA thank you so much for sharing this with me... hilarious!

That is definitely not the guy I got for my (one and only) animation class. This guy sounds great. The one I had, not so much. And yes OF COURSE you got him on your birthday.

Awww yay you found GIna. Best MK entrace ever?

I was just thinking the castle looked extra bright. Thanks for clarifying.

Ooooh now THAT is an impressive Birthday button. How seriously perfect.

Oh my YES, capturing the Beast portrait is no joke. Congratulations Jess. Incidentally, isn't it amazing how the seemingly littlest things can bring the most joy? That's kinda what Disney is all about and I wish more people understood that.

I could not agree more regarding FoF parade. I'm not a parade guy (with the exception of Boo to You), but this parade is fabulous!!

Bahahaha, I don't know why but I totally broke at your Hot and Fancy shot at the Tangled Tinkle spot. "Sorry people behind me that want to leave, but this must be done".

Yup, I will say it again as well... The characters ARE Rock Stars!!! So glad you at least got some (and most of the best) of Fantasmic!

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!! I just did Wishes from NFL and IT. IS. AMAZING!!!!

OMG what a GREAT birthday Lia. Despite the stupid rain you totally proved that no matter what, there's magic to had, and you found it all many times over.

Sorry you didn't have the best animator. My favorite is there pretty often so I have no doubt you'll get him eventually!

Yes. I totally agree. It is all about the little things.

Lmaooo yes I definitely held up a few people trying to get in and out of the restroom. Sorry not sorry

Yes there is always magic to be had. Glad you understand that too. *Sigh* Disney is the best.

OH MY WORD! What a birthday you had! You can just feel the excitement of the crazy amazing day from reading your updates!!

Aww thanks, I'm glad you can feel that excitement! That's what I'm trying to make clear in these reports so that's awesome to hear.

Wow! So many updates! What an amazing, jam packed day! All of those pictures are just fantastic; you look like you're having so much fun in spite of all the rain. Can't wait to hear more!

Thank you so much!!

I have been lurking around but I finally got caught up from the beginning! Can't wait to read more!

Where did you get your Vanessa Shell Necklace? That is probably the best Disney related thing to have!

Jess's pics of the FoF Parade is making me so excited to see it for the first time in a few weeks!

I got that necklace at Hot Topic, I'm pretty sure it's still available. If not ask at the register and they may be able to order it for you.

You will absolutely love FoF! Have a magical time!

Loving all these updates! So happy you had such a great birthday even with the rain.

Thank you so much!

I love how much you love SciFi! I only ate there once, but I really liked it. And obviously the atmosphere is so cool! I've read some pretty bad reviews of the place, and it makes me very happy that you love it so much because I would go back there in a heartbeat, except that I tend to limit the number of TS places I go to. (I say that as if I'm there all the time!)

YAY for Gina finding a hidden Mickey! I'm only able to do that if I know that it already exists. Ha.

Glad you had such an amazing day! And yay for your birthday loot from SciFi!

Thanks!! Sci Fi is one of my favorite places in all of Disney/the universe, and I'll never understand the bad reviews. It just doesn't make sense to me. I get that it's not a 5 star dining experience but it's SUPPOSED TO BE A DRIVE IN so I don't know what people are expecting. I've never had a bad meal there so I don't get it at all, but even if the food was bad I would still return for the milkshakes/ambiance.

I have been an awful lurker on this TR for some reason, but I had to comment and laugh about the Tomorrowland touristy picture and its comparison to people taking pictures holding up the leaning tower of Pisa...because I totally just did that a few weeks ago and felt like such a nerd! But it's just a must do.

Sounds like you had a fantastic birthday! Can't wait to hear about the cruise.

Aww that's awesome!! I want to hear all about your trip... just from what I saw on IG it looked like an incredible trip of a lifetime!

Im glad you got to see Eugene even though it rained! Those princess rooms look amazing!!Cant wait to hear more about your trip!

I know, that was such a great surprise that the parade was still on! Thank you!

Your birthday day was so busy and sounds super fun! I saw MESP from Frontierland once after closing. There were a few other people, but not many at all, and it was great. The pictures of the Royal Guest Room are fantastic! I love all the detail that went into the rooms. I live 2 hours north of Disney and travel mostly with my sister and my nephew. She's having a baby daughter (Penelope!) any day now, and I'm already looking forward to like five years in the future when Penelope will love the Royal Guest Rooms.

It's such a great experience seeing it with no one around, isn't it? Beyond magical!

I love all the detail as well. I hope they continue to do that because those little things really make the stay that more amazing. Good luck to you and your family with new baby Penelope!!

Great to hear that you had such an awesome birthday!! I have to try the Master's cupcake next time I'm at Be Our Guest it looks so good! The Splash Mountain ride photo is so hilarious! Looks like you guys had a great day! Can't wait to hear more!

YES get it next time! So delicious! Thank you so much

 

[katt789]

Oh my goodness that was so much to read that I don't even remember anything to comment lol!

Super glad you had an incredible & amazing birthday in Disney. Happy that fof went off and that you enjoyed it and the peoplemover made your mood better!

It all sounds amazing and the royal rooms look great, I was at riverside in a mansion room last week & it was gorgeous! I can't wait to see the royal rooms in person! Lol

Excited to read more! Hope I can keep up!

 

[khertz]

Aww that's awesome!! I want to hear all about your trip... just from what I saw on IG it looked like an incredible trip of a lifetime!

I started a TR for our ABD so here's the link if you're interested. It was AMAZING!

 

[cindianne320]

Loving your report so much!

Just a few thoughts:

-I had to giggle at your Food+Wine/Flower+Garden gift cards, since a Magic Band can do just that. :hehe:

-I feel you on the rain. My DH and I went for a week in June for our anniversary. And it rained. Every. Single. Day. But hey- we were in Disney- was just kind of a bummer to watch Fantasmic in a downpour, and miss Tink jumping.

-I'm glad I'm not the only adult who cries at parades. FoF really got me!

Can't wait to read the rest! We went on the Dream a year ago and I miss it so much!

 

[KelleyK75]

Just caught up and what an amazing birthday!!! It sounds like you had SO much fun!! Can't wait to hear more.

 

[jessicus]

I know this was a few updates ago but I have to say THANK YOU for your comment on the mermaids in the POTC ride. My brother was telling me to keep an eye out for them and I'm expecting, you know, an actual mermaid (maybe Ariel!), and all I saw was a flash of light under the water. He was like, no there are mermaids, so we went on it twice more and I thought I was going crazy because there are NO MERMAIDS JUST LIGHTS!!! Phew. So thank you!!

The princess room is beautiful! I love all those little characters in the borders - I'd have so much fun picking them all out! What a wonderful way to spend your birthday and it's just the best feeling when you've had such a magical, busy, fulfilling day AND you still have more to come!! Really excited to hear about the rest of your trip!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Besides the rain, I'm so glad your birthday worked out for you!!!
We had a few super-storms on my recent trip but I always remind myself, I'd much rather be in the rain at Disney World, than in the sun back home!!
I'm happy they ran Festival of Fantasy for you, (and Eugene was very handsome..!!)

And seeing Fantasmic AND Wishes AND the Electrical Parade in one night - that just sounds AMAZING. What a great day, you guys are so much fun

 

[Sisa]

Holy Moly, a ton of catching up here...

The Queen of Hearts ears are really neat, they totally nailed that one.

I hope I get to draw Stitch, yours is so cute.

The castle pictures are so beautiful!

Awe, pixie dusted by your own Fairy Godmother on your birthday, what could be more perfect?!

"I'm hot and fancy and pixie dusted...and drunk, apparently?" HAHAHA Oh my, so funny!

Way to go Hula Timon for demanding your own brew, smart cookie there.

Congrats to Gina for finding a hidden Mickey

That picture of the Master's Cupcake is torture, I can't wait to try one!

Congrats to Jess for capturing the Beast portrait!

So glad you were able to experience the FOF parade, the photos Jess got are incredible!

Love how you rocked the fishtail braid, that is my daughter's favorite braid, she calls it the Elsa braid and requests it all the time.

Those castle earrings are amazing! I've never seen anything like it!

Love the hot and fancy space photo, perfection!

Wow, MSEP basically all to yourselves what a way to end the evening.

The PP photos of you all facing the "wrong" way are really neat! I really enjoyed seeing those!

Ah...the princess room looks to die for, just stunning!

And ending it all with popping a blister with a Disney pin, seriously cracking up over here!

Glad you had a fantastic birthday!

 

[mollybuck]

OMG. Those Castle earrings. I've never seen those before! I am going to have to get them, they are so perfect.

I can't wait to try the Masters cupcake. I've had the grey stuff before but never the cupcake, the pictures look amazing.

Glad you had an awesome birthday! and with a stay in a royal room...SO jealous.

 

[__disneygirl]

APRIL 9, 2014
Day 3, Part 1 In Which We Live Like There's No Midnight​

​

Before I start this update I must share some huge news!

MY BBFFAEAEAE GINA HAS BEEN ACCEPTED INTO THE DISNEY COLLEGE PROGRAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EVERYONE GET THE HELL UP AND SCREEEEAAAAMMMMM!!!!!!!!

hahahaha I AM SO EXCITED. She is going to be doing Merchandise and I could not be happier for her. I absolutely can not wait for her to have this opportunity of a lifetime! I know it's going to change everything for her for the better and I can not even fathom the adventures she is gonna have yet! I can't wait to see what happens AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS GINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On that note... there will be lots more BBFFAE trips happening I'm sure. And Jess will be back too... so like... get ready for some EPIC STUFF in 2015. Oh man.

Now back to April 9, 2014!

This morning I woke up next to my GIRL!!!!!

Such a nice thing to roll over, open your eyes, and see a wall of princesses. Why I haven't recreated this in my room yet is beyond me.

I was so wrecked. I had a huge Disney/Birthday hangover. Unlike most people in their 20's, this hangover did not involve any kind of flavored vodka or alcohol at all really. It just required me to traipse around Disney World experiencing this trip to the MAX.

I was tired is what this boils down to.

We slept in, thank GOD.

While I was still passed out, Gina took a shower and a little walk around the resort to go get breakfast. Here are some of her lovely photos.

This is what she got for breakfast. AHHH

While she did this, Jess and I kicked back and watched the greatest person ever on TV.

Before I move on I must pay tribute again to Gina who had given me the best birthday card EVER the night before.

It's the future I can see, it's so mysterious to meeeeee YEAH!

I didn't even know it was possible to get a That's So Raven card in 2014 so I was gleefully surprised. I seriously have the best friends ever.

Gina came back and I finally rolled my behind out of bed and got ready for the day. I was quite excited about my outfit today because it involved rainbow fishnet tights. Now I normally do not wear these because I purchased them at the Halloween store I used to manage and they are *technically* clown tights. Clown tights, schmown nights, I was wearing them today!

I came out of the bathroom all dressed and Gina was like "OH MY GOD I LOVE IT." Always a good reaction to my high fashion choices.

Before Jess had to leave, we decided to all get lunch together at one of our favorite CS locations, The Riverside Mill Food Court.

I got the create your own pasta. Whole wheat penne with chicken, pesto pasta, peas, and parmesan. SO SO good. Would looooove to eat this right now. Sigh, I need you, Disney Food.

I believe Jess got soup and a sandwich while Gina got Create Your Own Salad

She said it was huge and delicious. Over all, the create-your-own stuff at Disney is just awesome.

We said goodbye to Jess who was going home to finish some homework before her classes that day. Gina and I headed out. We were gonna spend a lovely day at the resorts. To me, the most important one today was the Grand Floridian because I wanted to see their famous painted Easter Egg display which I had never seen before. I also had not yet been to the brand new DVC location, so off to the Grand we went!

We parked in front of the new DVC addition and saw a car with this awesome decal on it.

"Live like there's no midnight" is my new motto. Is that a metaphor for "Live like you're never gonna die?" cause I like that too. Let's drop all our damn fears and reservations and live our lives for once, am I right people!?

Anywho... So we walk into the Grand DVC and boy was it... clean. And white. And BLAND.

I'm sorry, I know a lot of people absolutely LOVE this addition but it's just too "This is a very fancy expensive place DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING or Grandma will kill you" for me. It's almost clinical! I don't know how they managed that since I find the original Grand to be so charming. It is just as clean and perfect but there is a certain something about it that is much more welcoming and gives that at home feeling.

I still like it though. Cause duh, it's Disney.

We went over to the guy selling DVC because a lot of those guys have the best pins. He looked at me and goes, "You're a princess, right?"

Dude, it'll take a lot more than that for me to buy into DVC. Like a loan of 20,000$ and some valium.

I said no and he saw Gina and said, "Are you guys princesses?" and we were like, "No." Then after I pin traded with him he kinda looked at me sideways and goes, "You're a princess, right?" No dude, if I was FRIENDS with a princess then I would say that to you but I currently am not so just hand over your pins!! Thank you. He was nice though. I just wish I could be a part of Disney Entertainment in any form so it's frustrating when Cast Members think I'm in it and I'm just like sigh. But I guess it's better than them NOT thinking that... so I'll stop complaining.

In other news, I'm a model.

From there we made our way over to the OG Grand.

Best pool play area EVER? I think yes.

So, the Easter Eggs.

Wow.

These are truly a masterful display of artistic talent.

I did not take enough pictures but I did post this video on Instagram for Easter: http://instagram.com/p/nBYG1moKiv

Make sure you check 'em out if you're there around the holiday!

We just walked around the Grand awhile after that.

Gina made a hot and fancy phone call.

"Yes darling, it's quite nice here. Do bring the children."

We checked out Gasparilla Grill to see if they had any good cupcakes. It ended up being a pretty basic CS place with nothing to really write home about. So after walking around a bit more we headed over to the Contemporary for more resort hopping.

We really needed to get our cupcake action going so we went to Contempo and checked out the (awesome) selection. I went with the Strawberry Lemonade Cupcake and Gina got a chocolate Frozen cupcake.

Ooooomg. This is one of my favorite cupcakes I have ever had and I want one right now SO BAD. Gina's was absolutely fantastic as well and we highly recommend Contempo for all your cupcake needs!!!

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[JDUB]

Awesome news about Gina. Congrats to her and I'm sure you'll be there many times in 2015! Does she start in Jan? We are finally going during Christmas and look forward to resort hoping especially GF! Any other must do spots for us?
Awesome TR as always!

 

[Sisa]

CONGRATS to Gina, that is AMAZING news!!!

Awe, a Disney Birthday hangover has got to be the worst

Beautiful Resort photos and the breakfast looks so yum!

That birthday card is pretty rad, can't believe they make That's so Raven ones still.

Your outfit, especially the "Clown" tights=super fab!

"Live like there's no midnight." How awesome is that quote?! I'd love to know who drove that car.

WOW...those Easter Egg paintings are INCREDIBLE! I've never seen anything like it! Thank you for sharing those, they are stunning!

 

[katt789]

Okay, but really, when you said “Everybody scream” I actually went “waahhhaaaaaaAAAHHHH” not too loud since the roomies are asleep, but still!
YAY FOR GINA! OH MY GOSH I’M SO EXCITED FOR HER!! When does she start?! We could be neighbours! (which would totally be awkward since I’d be all “OH MY GOD GINA!” and she’d be all “oh my god who are you?” Bahahahah!

Also me….we definitely need to have a yacht club partay at some point with all of us! The cm discount is INSANE, like, for an entire week at the beach club club level it’s only $1500…..i know that may sound crazy…but I just spent nearly $1800 to stay at Riverside for the week before check in…

LOVE the make your own pasta’s! And honestly, think of you everytime I make one of my own, bahhaa! Weird thoughts like that happen…also MNSSHP..I’m all “man, wish Lia was here right now, she’d love this” lol. ONE DAY.

Yay for resort hopping. And I have to agree, I love the Grand, but it is very “NO TOUCHY!” in there, Im not even sure if I want to stay in the regular rooms because it looks like my gramma’s house did (legit) but the grand villa…wow..I’d get married in there! Lol. Also… #storyofmylife in terms of the “you’re in entertainment right?!” once Tinkerbell thought I was a friend of Rosetta’s…..no joke….

Those easter eggs are incredible!

That cupcake looks amazing! I’ve surprisingly not had a cupcake since being down here…oh dear god…THAT is a problem I will need to fix!!

 

[ThePin Princess]

Yay Gina!!! I'm going to be there for the Spring DCP for Merchandise too!! Maybe I'll bump into you on one of your adventures! Those Easter eggs are gorgeous! I had no idea they did those, definitely going to have to check those out! Those cupcakes look divine, what I would do for a Disney cupcake right now!

 

[khaleesi]

Oh YAY!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations, Gina!!!!!!! That is fantastic!!!

This is the first I've heard of the painted Easter egg display. Stunning!! People are so talented!!

Those cupcakes look delicious!!

And I love your rainbow tights! Go Lia!!!

Ohhh... not sure if you saw it or not (or wondered, who is this weird person?!) but I tagged you in a picture on Instagram of a the cutest little girl in a Nightmare Before Christmas costume. It was sooo cute and it made me think of you!