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

[amyrella]

Ugh I so hear you on the rain in Disney. We were there the week before you and had a lot of rain also. And it rained on our MNSSHP also. Your advice about the shoes and socks is spot on. My sneakers were soaked and didn't dry out until after I returned home. We did our best to put smiles on our faces and enjoy as much as we could. I also was expecting the crowds to be a lot less than they were, especially at the party. We went on a Tuesday night and there were sooooooo many people. It was kind of insane.
Anyway I follow you on twitter and instagram and enjoyed your photos. I love reading your TR'S but I guess if you don't do one for this trip I'll just learn to deal lol. Can't wait to read more about your birthday trip! !!

 

[ElsasMom]

I just caught up! I don't know if you remember, but on your the TR when you did the hot & fancy MNSSHP I told you I had never ever been to one and posted an adorable picture of my little one hugging Jack Skellington (whom she plans to marry).

So, I made it this year (just a Disney date with my DH) & we were there on the same night! I was following your instagram as I was posting pictures of my night at MNSSHP. I even saw you walk by in your beautiful costume just before fireworks started! Thanks so much for inspiring me to make a MNSSHP happen!

Can't wait to hear about the cruise. We're taking one in Feb.

 

[mom2munchkins]

Love your trip reports!! So fun! I will continue to live through you. Someday I will go to Disney on my birthday. The ham and cheese sandwich and chocolate flan. OMG Yummmm!!!! How is it I did not know chocolate flan even existed!!! I need that

 

[__disneygirl]

APRIL 8, 2014
Day 2, Part 2 In Which We Are Pixie Dusted Princesses​

​

Our next stop was Villains in Vogue because I wanted to Vinylmation trade! It ended up being a fantastic trade… I got a lost boy from Peter Pan and one of the dogs from Oliver in Company all in one shot!

Awesomeness!

I also tried on the Queen of Hearts ears which I thought were so cool!

They are getting more and more creative with those, it's so fun to see all of them!

I can’t remember what we bought… but we also pin traded. I didn’t keep as good of a track of my pin trades this trip, but they were AMAZING, seriously I got so many fantastic ones… so I will have to post some pictures at the end of the report!

The next thing I was itching to do was head over to the Animation Academy for a drawing class. This is one of my favorite things in all of Disney and I was so happy to be back!

I was really hoping my favorite animator would be there, but I knew it was a long shot. Well guess what, it’s my birthday so of course HE WAS THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't embed Instagram videos on here, but check this out: http://instagram.com/p/m9FSUMoKvx/ He was extra funny that day!

He is my favorite because, for some reason, the way he describes drawing makes sense to me. I am not good at drawing anything outside of this class, so that’s pretty impressive! I mean, all of the animators are great, and I think all of my drawings there have been successful (maybe with the exception of Elfin Rapunzel from the last trip… LOL), but he’s just the best. I don’t struggle at all when he’s explaining it. The only thing was, we drew Stitch, and it was my third time drawing him, so I was kind of over it and not trying my best. But who cares, it was still great!

On our way out of Animation, we saw Chip and Dale in cool Hollywood costumes greeting near the front. I think it’s their rain location. Jess really wanted to stop but the line was long and we were on a pretty strict schedule, so we had to skip it, but there’s a tip if it’s raining and you want to meet some characters!

Our next stop for my birthday adventure was… can ya guess!? CAN YA?!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Onward!!!!!!!!! At this time, the rain really started coming down. It was not a good welcome into Magic Kingdom, but hey, i’ll take it. I had changed into my birthday dress, leggings and a poncho. It really came in handy that ALL my clothes were in Jess's car... whew. Stupid rain. I had actually forgotten my poncho even though I KNEW it was going to rain. Thank God Jess’s mom has her apartment memorized, because she knew where Jess’s extra poncho was when Jess didn’t. Oh, moms.

So you know what was pretty sweet about walking up to Magic Kingdom? Is that we saw GINA!!!! What a coincidence, except totally not since we planned the whole thing. Gina had driven up to Disney that morning and spent some time at the Poly before meeting up with us! I really appreciate her being there for my birthday because duh, we have the best time together, but also… she had to buy a day ticket which is NOT cheap and she basically did whatever I wanted to do all day, so I really appreciate that. My friends rule for making me feel like a princess all day!

After lots of wet and rainy hugging, we entered the most magical kingdom in all the land, and cried. Duh.

The pretty spring flowers all over the kingdom made me very happy!

We spent a lot of time around the hub just chilling and taking pictures. It was lovely.

The castle looked even prettier than usual because they had just gone through the process of painting it. The color really popped! We just spent some time wandering around the hub taking photos. A rainy Main Street is a gorgeous Main Street!

Jess got the PERFECT Partners Statue photo. Love it.

Here's another Jess masterpiece. I just love this photo!

Our next stop was CINDERELLA CASTLE!

That part of the movie may be the most magical of the entire thing. "You see, I have the other slipper." I CHEER EVERY TIME!

Cause I’m a princess, again, DUH! I had a royal invitation to get a special birthday button from one of the castle’s most magical inhabitants, of course!

As we walked up to the castle, I said, “I’m just going to accept now that Festival of Fantasy is not happening.” It was really coming down, we were all soaked, and I just knew that if I got used to the idea now I’d be a lot better off when it was confirmed with an announcement or something. I just kept thinking of Eugene, obviously, I mean when am I not? Seriously though, the Tangled float. If you are not aware, it has some moving parts. I just couldn’t see how Eugene & the ruffians would be able to safely do what they do on that float. I was really sad about this, but I mean, it was my birthday in Disney, so I moved on.

We went into Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, which I had actually never been inside of before. Jess has been inside quite a few times, but Gina and I had no idea what we were stepping into so we instantly started FANGIRLING. If you love Cinderella, omg. It’s just…. omg.

THE ROYAL PROCLAMATION!!!!!!!

It was really cool/surreal to see that in person! I love when they make things straight from the movies come to life.

We waited patiently and then a Fairy Godmother in Training came out to pixie dust me for my birthday!!!!!!!!

Kinda hard to see my face in that picture but I was so happy. It was a magical moment and I felt like a child again. That feeling is really always going on in Disney, but this was a special experience for me. I was also, as you can see, wearing a poncho. Hey, you can't have everything.

And of course Jess and Gina got pixie dusted as well! YAY, PIXIE DUST FOR ALL!

I am hot and fancy and pixiedusted... and drunk, apparently?

Hahahaha.

Then I got my extra special Birthday Button! I had never had one like this before, with my name perfectly printed on it. Of course, it was also covered in GLITTER!!!!!!!!!

I sure felt special. THANKS PRINCESS! :-* :-* :-*

After that extremely magical moment, I needed the sweet nectar that keeps my circulation up. The divine drink my immune system needs to keep working. LEFOU’S BREW!!!!!!!!

We planned on eating at my favorite CS location, Be Our Guest, for my Official Birthday Lunch. Jess, being the princess that she is, offered to get in line for us while Gina and I went to Gaston’s to get our brews. Thank you Jess!!!!

Hula Timon demanded on his own cup of Brew. Who could really blame him?

We went right to Be Our Guest and met up with Jess who was halfway down the bridge now.

We reminisced about the last time we were there, when it downpoured but we were hot and fancy anyway (read about that in the last report if you haven't!). Oh, Florida rain.

I decided... if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

I'm attractive. I think I'll join OK Cupid and make that my profile pic.

Once the line moved inside, Gina screamed because she spotted a Hidden Mickey.

This is a BIG deal because Gina often finds it very difficult to find Hidden Mickeys so for her to find one out of the blue was very exciting!!!!!!

Jess and I had never even noticed that one before so Gina felt very accomplished. YAY. ​

 

[renderman7]

fantastic update, shame about the rain, but as you always do, you made the most of it

 

[__disneygirl]

APRIL 8, 2014
Day 2, Part 3 In Which Eugene Does Not Slip, Fall, or Die! YAY!​

​

We ordered our food and then I was daring enough to sit in the Master's Chair. Cogsworth was very nervous but he should know by now that I live on the edge!!!

I ordered the braised pork and Master’s Cupcake!! YUUUUMMMMM this is one of my favorite meals of all time! Jess ordered the same thing and Gina went with the kids grilled cheese and tomato soup, which she described as delish. She got the Master's Cupcake too, cause it's the best.

It was a Master's Cupcake kinda day.

The West Wing is my favorite room to sit in, but it’s also the smallest, so I was worried there would be no tables. Well IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY so of course there was one free table waiting for us!!

The food came and it was exceptional, as usual. I enjoyed it more than I could ever say.

No idea what i'm doing here. IT'S MY BIRTHDAY WOO!

Jess finished first and became obsessed with getting a photo of the Beast. You may know that the Master’s human portrait is in the West Wing, and every once in awhile when the thunder claps, it switches to from man to Beast, just for a second. It was surprising that Jess had never captured this before… but now was the time!

She sat like that for ages and would scream every time she missed the Beast. It just flashes by SO quickly that even a pro like Jess was having trouble! I finished eating, went to the bathroom, came back… still nothing!

As you can see, she had her giant new lens on... this was no joke. THIS IS SERIOUS.

And when she finally got it… oh what a joyous moment. We all cheered.

BEFORE:

AND AFTER!

YOU GO JESS.

Before leaving, we just wandered around a bit. I'm not going to post all the photos we all took, but this one Jess took of the Enchanted Rose is probably my favorite.

After leaving Be Our Guest, we went over to the Fastpass+ machines in front of PhilharMagic so we could plan the rest of my birthday.

For those who don’t know, you can pick three attractions per day (then after that you can do one at a time). I wanted Splash, Space, and meeting Rapunzel as our three for the day. It was kind of hard to schedule everything in… at first Rapunzel wasn’t available, but we worked it out so that we’d meet her right before Wishes.

At this point, it was getting pretty close to the start of Festival of Fantasy, and there had been no announcement that it was canceled. We asked a bunch of CMs about it and none of them could confirm or deny that it was happening. We decided to just go to Main Street and get a spot anyway, and honestly up until we heard the music start, we had no idea if it was even going to happen.

BUT IT DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Away we gooooooooooooooooooooo, it’s a Festival of FANTASY!!!!!!!!

I didn’t take any pictures because I was too busy 1. Dying 2. Dying 3. Worrying that my camera and phone would get wet and be ruined, and finally 4. DYING because oh my God, what an amazing parade. It really makes Celebrate look like kind of a joke, honestly. What I’ve never understood is why Disney World’s parades weren’t measuring up with the parks overseas. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go on Youtube right now and look up the parades at Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong, and Tokyo Disneyland. Your mind will be blown… they just do it differently over there, and Festival of Fantasy is more in that style. It’s just more grandiose, it’s loud, it’s an attraction all its own and it will run for ages, I’m sure.

I really don’t care how old I get, my God, there is something about my favorite characters waving at me all excited that makes me want to cry… and then makes me cry. I don’t know what it is. I mean, I know the reality of the situation and I’m an actor myself, but I can’t help but be taken away by the magic. It really is real… and it’s not even a choice. It’s not like I consciously say to myself, “I know this is all fantasy, but I’m going to pretend it isn’t cause I’m in Disney World so I’m gonna be a kid again!” It just happens, so naturally that you think someone must have slipped you a magic pill or something. And that’s why I’ll never think Disney is too expensive or too much of a hassle, and that is why I believe in all the pixie dust and dreams talk… because it really is real when you stand in front of the castle. At least, it is for me. I hope it never goes away.

Like I said, I didn’t take any photos, but I am very thankful to Jess and Gina for getting AMAZING ones!

Here are Jess's.

I love how she focuses in on the characters. She captures so many great moments!

My favorite part is, quite obviously, the Tangled unit.

If you do not like Flynn Rider, I am very sorry about your life and I have to tell you, this is not the trip report for you.

I just have no comment. I will say something inappropriate and this trip report will get locked so I am just going to have no comment.

I couldn’t believe my eyes, Eugene was swingin’ like there was no tomorrow! He had no trouble at all, of course, that GD professional.

Seriously though… I was VERY impressed by how Disney and the cast pulled this off. There were barely any changes, it was if it wasn’t even raining! Honestly amazing.

Mickey and Minnie were in their regular outfits which was the only change that we noticed. Jess had already seen this parade many times and that was the only thing she could pick out. Very impressive!

Here are Gina's pics because you can never have enough FoF. Here you can get a good idea of the spot we were in/the rain situation.

This picture cracks me up because you see Jess, normal Florida girl used to dealing with rain and sucking it up and then you can partially see me next to her hiding under my poncho for dear life LOL!

BEAUTY AND MAJESTY SHINING MAGICALLY!

​

 

[__disneygirl]

APRIL 8, 2014
Day 2, Part 4 In Which The Peoplemover Dries Up All The Rain​

​

Naveen was so excited to see us!!! I LOVE YOU NAVEEN!!

Gah I just love all the flowers and this whole unit so much. It's so beautiful.

All of this is just so larger than life and impressive, especially in the rain.

My other favorite part is the Maleficent dragon, Phillip, and all the weird birds on stilts. It’s just so dark and artful, it really looks like some kind of weird art installation you’d see at MOMA or something. Really, whoever designed that is thinking next level for Disney World and I am in love with them for it. It’s also so cool to see Phillip running around like that, slaying the dragon. Remember when he and I danced together on Halloween? Good times Phillip, good times.

When Alice and the Mad Hatter came around I got a little birthday surprise!!!!!

He came right up to me and put his hand out. My hand was buried somewhere under my poncho, I was in awe of the parade, and really had no idea what he was doing so it took me a second but when I gave him my hand he shook it and said, “Happy Birthday, Dear!” We were all giggling so much, it was magical. And Jess, that pro, got it on video!! Here is the link to watch it on her Instagram: http://instagram.com/p/mkwW-CFmpo

That was so freaking cool!

I don't have many pics of them from this day, but all the performers who are not well known characters are so amazing. I will never get tired of staring at their awesome outfits, hair, and make-up!

Daisy looking hot and fancy as always.

That is not even pictures of it all... if you haven't seen this parade, trust me, it's an experience you do not want to miss under any circumstances. Top of your list.

There isn’t a dull moment or a float that’s lacking. It’s all so beautiful and imaginative, I can’t say enough about this parade. I would have much preferred to see it on a clear day, trust me, I was pretty moody about the whole thing because when I get unintentionally wet I just am such a brat. I haaaattteee when my clothes get wet, it’s a very specific kind of discomfort I can’t stand. Also, a kid stepped on my (Jess’s) poncho and it totally ripped right down the middle almost completely, so it was not much of a help at this point. But again, my birthday was happening in Disney World so I built a bridge and got over it!

Toward the end of FoF, it started REALLY coming down hard again and I was just like -___- WHY.

We made a beeline for the Peoplemover.

It POURED, but this ride is a miracle. I don’t even know what happened, but it completely erased my bad mood. Like, Festival of Fantasy didn’t even do it but the Peoplemover did!

We had such a blast on it, just riding around Tomorrowland and chatting, you know, like BFFs do. It was so much fun!

I also braided my hair because that is what you do on the Peoplemover when it’s raining and you need to get your hair under control. Seriously, it’s in all the guidebooks. Look it up!

After that magical mood changer, I remembered that I really wanted to buy a shirt I saw in the little Buzz Lightyear store. I had seen it in October and didn’t forget about it all these months later, that means it’s a necessary purchase! So we headed inside there next and on the way in got some AMAZING pins. I can’t remember which ones they were now, but I remember Jess and I were both really excited.

Here is the shirt I got

It still cracks me up. Literally every time I wear it, it makes me laugh. I think it’s because Buzz just looks so happy about telling you to give him space. He’s just soaring through the atmosphere and wants you to back up and let him be. Respect his personal space and mine please!!!

ZURG GOT ME!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel like that’s Tomorrowland’s touristy picture. It’s along the lines of people trying to look like they are holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Next, we headed to the big top at Storybook Circus to escape the rain, pin trade, and just wander around enjoying the amazing smell of the place. I used a dinglehopper.

I also got my favorite earrings ever here, MY CASTLE EARRINGS!!!

I still wear these all the time. I absolutely love them. Disney knows what they are doing when it comes to earrings, which is mainly why I visit. Other things too, but mostly the earrings.

It was getting to be our Space Mountain fastpass time, so we shot through the universe in a very hot and fancy way!

The rain finally calmed down and we headed over to Liberty Square. For the life of me I can not remember why, but we split up. I think Jess had some kind of top secret Cast Member mission to complete.

EDIT: I discovered the section of my notes that reveals what Jess went to do! SHE GOT A DOLE WHIP.

YUUUUUM.

Meanwhile, Gina & I went on the Haunted Mansion!!!!!!!! Yes yes yes yes!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course I had to take my traditional photo with my happy haunts.

Wait til you guys see the most recent one from MNSSHP a couple weeks ago... SOOO CREEPY. But that is for another report!

Once the ride was over, I had to pee, so naturally we headed to my beautiful Flower Gleam and Glowrooms.

By far the best place on earth to relieve yourself!!

We charged our phones for a few minutes waiting for Jess. She showed up pretty quickly and then it was time to head out.

Luckily we caught some of Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! on the way out.

Always a fun time!​

 

[__disneygirl]

Hi Lia, I rarely post but follow your trip reports closely and love them! I just wanted to tell you that I saw you at the Halloween party on Friday--it was when you walked through the villain's dance party very fast with Gina and LeeAnn behind you. I recognized all of you from your reports and I loved your costume! I think this version was even better than last year's! I didn't stop you because you looked like you were on a mission, and my 10 year old son was in the process of being seduced by one of the stepsisters. I wanted to pop in to tell you I saw you and to also tell you that your trip reports were a big reason why we went to the Halloween party for the first time this year--we took two trips from NY to Disney in the past month, the second just for the party! Hope you had fun--we loved it! --Jackie

Thank you!! AHH we absolutely LOVED Club Villain. Thanks for noticing the changes in my costume, I liked this years a lot better myself!

That is SO awesome that my TRs are part of why you went to MNSSHP. I absolutely love hearing that. I am so glad you went and loved it!!

No trip report?? Just kidding. It's totally understandable that you can't document every moment of every trip. And rain....ughhh. I hate when the rain ruins plans. But I am sure you had an amazing time despite it. Can't wait to hear more of this current TR.

Yeah, it's getting pretty difficult! I want to keep doing TRs, it's just a lot of work. Thank you!

That's awesome they had a whole event about their beer! What did you think of it (assuming you tried it)? I really love it. I found a website that will deliver it to NJ and ordered 2 6-packs (Holy Moly was that expensive). I drank one myself and the other is a surprise for my equally-Hanson-obsessed friends!

I absolutely love it! I may be biased since I adore them so fully, but yes, I love MMMHops. I am so happy they did this. It's great to see them following another passion of theirs. They were clearly very excited about it and I am so proud of them.

Yup, being home sucks. I wish I had paid more attention to social media as our trips crossed ever so slightly. But once I figured that out it was too late. Whomp Whomp.

I feel the exact same way about a TR. I mean, I'm doing one, but I can't imagine it'll be the same level of detail I'm used to. There's only so much you can say about rain. And yes, for what it's worth, it rained plenty the week before you got there as well. And YUP YUP, rain on MNSSHP!!!

"MMMHops." Bahaha that is super comical and awesome!! I definitely hope you do at least something TR wise though. It would be a crime if you didn't.

Aw that's okay Rob, I am sure we will cross Disney paths sometime in the near future!

If I do another one it's definitely gonna be a downgrade in detail... but that's okay! I will still make it worth reading I think, just maybe not AS involved/long.

Looking forward to reading more! Yours are some of the best TR's I've read!

Thank you so much!

Glad you had such a great time and I loved following along with your adventures!

Thanks!!

Welcome back Lia - I'm so sorry that this Disney adventure is over for you but I have no doubt you'll be back in the land of fun, fantasy and happily ever after before you know it!

That's such a shame to hear about the rain but I'm glad you still managed to have an amazing trip regardless. I live in Scotland so I'm really used to the rain but when I visited NYC a few weeks ago it rained horribly and I was so disappointed. Things always seem better when it's nice and sunny but if anyone's going to find fun and laughter in torrential rain then it's you!

I've been following along on Twitter and, like many others here, am hopefully that you will decide to do a TR at some point. I completely understand if you don't though - I can only imagine how much time and effort you put into these amazing reports.

For now, can't wait to hear all about your cruise...I have a feeling I'll be booking one (then swiftly declaring myself bankrupt) by the time you post your final update!

Amy xx

Thank you! I'm sorry it rained during your NYC trip. I hope you still got to do a lot of amazing things.

We'll see about the TR. Until then the cruise part is coming slowly but surely!

Hi, Lia-

Welcome back to the land of reality. Le sigh.

Understandable that you might not want to do a full-flegded trip report for this past rainy trip, but I do hope that you at least share some of the awesome photos that you shared on social media. Your Haunted Mansion Ballroom Dancer gown was to die for. pun intended.

Can't wait to hear more about the cruise!

Linda

Le sigh is right.

Thank you so much! I just love that costume, I had to do it again. I'll definitely post some photos on this thread if I decide not to do another TR, but I am leaning toward doing one, just making it shorter/less detailed. We'll see how I feel when this one is done.

Bahah! I can seriously picture that “happy birthday” moment with Jess, like, you wake up and your subconscious remembers its your bff’s birthday, but you blank becauase you’re just not with it, and then DERP.

Also oh my gosh Quinn, a dog greeting like that makes any day more amazing!!

Awe! How wonderful you were able to get so many awesome fp for dhs! It is super tricky with all the park hopping to get everything you want done! Yay for that!

Yum! Cupcakes! How wonderful that a dining reservation opened up right at the right time!! Love it when that happens! Ahahah I feel the exact same after a round of TSMM!

Okay, I’ve got to figure out these ghost statues!! Look UP when we first pull into the elevator shaft? I MUST SEE THEM! Beautiful pictures of tower, you always manage to capture the best angles of it! I also always think of you when I see it, I’m all “oop! There’s Lia’s home!”

hahhaaha I'm glad you understand the hilarity!

It's not when you first pull in, it's when you're dropping, but you only see them during certain circumstances. Look up but forward, they're in front of you, not directly above. Hope that helps!

I love that you think of me when you see the Tower... PERFECT.

Sorry about the rain. I live in Orlando and all the heavy rain has been getting tiresome. I was at Epcot on 9/28 for F&W and to see Hanson; I'm glad it was pretty dry that day!

Yes that first night was not rainy but the second... AHH. Sadly they had to cancel one of their shows due to lightening.

Ugh I so hear you on the rain in Disney. We were there the week before you and had a lot of rain also. And it rained on our MNSSHP also. Your advice about the shoes and socks is spot on. My sneakers were soaked and didn't dry out until after I returned home. We did our best to put smiles on our faces and enjoy as much as we could. I also was expecting the crowds to be a lot less than they were, especially at the party. We went on a Tuesday night and there were sooooooo many people. It was kind of insane.
Anyway I follow you on twitter and instagram and enjoyed your photos. I love reading your TR'S but I guess if you don't do one for this trip I'll just learn to deal lol. Can't wait to read more about your birthday trip! !!

hahaha oh man my sneakers did not dry out until like 2 days after I got home. I put them outside to dry and guess what... it RAINED HERE TOO. hahaha. I wouldn't be surprised if they were still wet, damn things.

Thank you so much!

I just caught up! I don't know if you remember, but on your the TR when you did the hot & fancy MNSSHP I told you I had never ever been to one and posted an adorable picture of my little one hugging Jack Skellington (whom she plans to marry).

So, I made it this year (just a Disney date with my DH) & we were there on the same night! I was following your instagram as I was posting pictures of my night at MNSSHP. I even saw you walk by in your beautiful costume just before fireworks started! Thanks so much for inspiring me to make a MNSSHP happen!

Can't wait to hear about the cruise. We're taking one in Feb.

AHH that's awesome! I'm so happy I could inspire you for your mnsshp! Thanks for the compliment on my costume too. Seems like you had a great night!!

Love your trip reports!! So fun! I will continue to live through you. Someday I will go to Disney on my birthday. The ham and cheese sandwich and chocolate flan. OMG Yummmm!!!! How is it I did not know chocolate flan even existed!!! I need that

Thank you so much! yes you need some chocolate flan ASAP. Trust me on that one.

 

[renderman7]

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.

 

[PippiDancer]

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.

 

[__disneygirl]

APRIL 8, 2014
Day 2, Part 5 In Which MEGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!​

​

After leaving Magic Kingdom, we drove back to Hollywood for my birthday dinner! YAS!

Our first stop was Toy Story Mania because thanks to an awesome princess we had fastpasses that we saved so all three of us could go on together.

I'm so cool tbh.

I kicked Gina's behind as usual. SORRY GINA!!

Next stop: MY BIRTHDAY DINNER AT THE BEST RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!

You guessed it: The Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre!

Are you guys sick of reading about me eating here yet?! I don't know what else to say about it at this point. This was my 9th visit here! I have never been back to a Disney restaurant so many times but it is my absolute favorite.

We were seated pretty quickly. Gina and I sat in the front of the car and Jess in the back. It's always awkward if you have an odd number of people at this restaurant, but Gina and I just sat sideways so that we didn't have our backs to Jess and it was fine.

I ordered what you must order if you go to Sci-Fi, A VANILLA MILKSHAKE DUH!!!!!!

Any milkshake will do, but vanilla is the best in my opinion, unless pumpkin is available as a special in which case brace yourself for a life changer.

Another life changer: THE CAT THAT HATED PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!

It was a blast here as usual! We talked about Full House and Gilmore Girls basically the entire time, what flawless topics. I just remember a lot of laughter and happiness.

I got the same food I have gotten every time. Let's not even get into this again.

Gina got a salad and Jess got a burger. We all devoured our food because Sci-Fi is the bestestEST.

We were actually running kind of late on this meal because we really wanted to make it to Fantasmic.

Our server was good throughout but toward the end of the meal he disappeared. It got to the point where my eyes were glued to the doorway.

Going through the whole getting the check, paying, waiting for him to come back with the reciept, etc took a long time and we were definitely going to miss the beginning of Fantasmic and we were worried they wouldn't let us in after it began. We started talking about how Jess's roommate Megan works at Fantasmic and if only we could call her and find a way to have her get us in, but she was on the clock at the time so it wasn't possible to contact her. This then turned into a big inside joke where we would just scream "MEGAN!" any time we needed anything. So we just kept yelling out, "MEGAN COME ON HELP US WE NEED TO GET TO FANTASMIC" or "MEGAN WHERE IS OUR WAITER?!" You probably had to be there but like WE WERE DYING.

I honestly wasn't even mad cause we had just had the best dinner and it was my birthday and I was in Disney, so whatever. We found a way to make the whole thing funny to us. MEGAN!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess we had forgotten to mention it was my birthday to our waiter and when someone did he freaked out and insisted on bringing me all this stuff. Really I just wanted to leave but he was really nice and I enjoy being showered with gifts so it was fine.

First he brought me a birthday cupcake which he wrapped for me because he knew we wanted to leave. Then when he came back with the check he had a huge Disney Parks bag in his hand and we were like "OooOOH!" He gave us each a free mug from Sci-Fi!

These were no crappy mugs, these were the souvenir ones you can buy with your drink order. I bought one back in 2010 or 11, so now I have two! It was very nice of him to bring them for Jess and Gina too. We all get presents on my birthday! Yay!

Once we finally got out of there we BOOKED IT over to Fantasmic. We are freaking professionals.

The entire way we were screaming for Megan, it was too much. We heard Fantasmic going on as we got closer and asked the CMs out front if we could still go in. They said of course! YAY! I guess since it's out in the open it isn't really a distraction to other guests when you come in super late.

It takes so long to walk from the front of the attraction all the way to the show and we were hoofing it and screaming at Megan the entire time, then we would erupt with laughter, especially because she literally works there and could at any time hear us and be like, "WHAT?" Oh man do we amuse ourselves.

We heard the Lion King music loud and knew the neon monkeys were out there shaking their thangs. Awesome, so that means we did not miss the best part AKA Pocahontas leading into the couples.

Jess tweeted: "8 minutes late to Fantasmic but IT'S ALL GOOD CUZ WE KNOW MEGAN." hahahahahahaha

She also got some fantastic shots. Damn Belle you are gorgeous.

Some imagination, huh?

We sang, we danced, we screamed for the characters like they were rockstars (they are lbr) and we yelled at Megan, thanking her for assuring we got into Fantasmic (even though she had done nothing and had no idea she was the topic of conversation the entire night).

We actually never even saw her which made the whole thing even more hilarious.

After Fant, the park was closing and we had some serious business to take care of at Magic Kingdom, so off we went again. I swear we covered so much ground in this day, it's insane.

What we realized is that the Fastpass time we had reserved for Rapunzel was gonna probably have us missing Wishes... but we decided to just go really fast anyway cause again if we missed the beginning, it's not like this is our first or last trip and I was DYING to meet mah girl.

The whole thing ended up not taking much time at all, hence the word Fastpass! Rapunzel was super excited that it was my birthday and asked if I was having the best day ever. Duh of course I was!

I showed her my Rapunzel ribbon and she asked if I painted it myself. I said that I infact did (I am such a liar) and I wished Eugene was around so I could show him. Rapunzel agreed!

Oh how I love that girl!​

 

[__disneygirl]

APRIL 8, 2014
Day 2, Part 6 In Which There's Too Much Magic and Hilarity To Even Describe​

​

Next we met Snow White! I can't remember much about this meet but she was so cute.

What was even more adorable was Gina who was like a little girl when we came out of there. She was like "I've never met a princess before, besides Cinderella!" She was sooo excited!

When we got out of there, Wishes was like literally a minute from starting but there was no way we were gonna get in front of the castle, which is where I ALWAYS watch it. So I asked Jess where she likes watching it best besides Main Street and she said New Fantasyland so we booked it over in front of Beast's castle.

OH MY GOD. YOU HAVE TO DO THIS. YOU HAVE TO SEE WISHES FROM HERE.

I am so happy this happened because it was AMAZING. First of all, we had room to move which was great. I danced and twirled the whole time, there was hardly anyone around! I was absolutely 100% in my element and just in another world of happiness!

The other thing is, Wishes shoots off from a few different locations so you have to keep turning to see it all and it was sooo funny and awesome, I can't even explain. I was twirling around everywhere singing every word and people were getting such a kick out of me as they walked by. I literally could not believe how ridiculously lucky I was, on my birthday, with my best friends, dancing in between two castles to WISHES! It was unreal.

Here is a quick clip from Instagram: http://instagram.com/p/m_JoVnoKr2

What was too funny is that the second Wishes ended, literally the second, Jess was like "OKAY COME ON LET'S GO" and RAN over to Under the Sea. This was my last park day of the whole trip and we had talked about everything I wanted to hit and we had such little time. I was like "WHOA SLOW DOWN GIRL" and she was like "WE HAVE STUFF TO DO COME ON PRINCESS!" Jess just does not mess around when it comes to a time crunch in the kingdom, I love it.

I twirled all the way over to Ariel's in a complete state of bliss.

Nothing like being at Disney for your birthday. Nothing.

We went on Under the Sea and then booked it again all the way across the park to do Splash and Pirates.

First we went on Pirates and I showed Gina the mermaids in the water which is basically just light that doesn't even really look like a mermaid, but whatever. The three of us discussed how they should do more holiday themed rides like what they had done for Jungle Cruise, and we came up with this:

@babybritney: The next holiday ride alteration is gonna be SANTA CLAUS OF THE CARIBBEAN featuring Santa in random scenes.

A fine idea in my opinion! I think we found it hilarious to imagine Santa just randomly behind Jack Sparrow saying HO HO HO or something for no reason. Like no other sign that it's Christmas except Santa lurking and picking out a wench or something.

Bottom line: We are weird.

Next we went on Splash which was a walk on and one of the most fun experiences on Splash I have ever had. We had been various degrees of damp for most of the day and now that we were dry, Jess REALLY did not want to get wet and so every time there was even the smallest chance of a droplet hitting her, she would crouch down and put her raincoat over her head, covering herself completely.

Gina and I were sitting behind her and she would just crouch down so quickly and dramatically and suddenly all we would see is a blue lump. We were laughing so hard that we could not breathe and could not stop. Splash is fun enough without all this extra silliness so the ride just added to the hilarity. Jess had no idea how funny she was being which made it ten times funnier. I have not laughed this hard in ages. I swear to God it was reaching dangerous territory as I seriously could not breathe for a few seconds. It was one of those laughing fits where everything just comes to a head and you can not stop erupting with laughter. It was the greatest and out of everything that happened on my birthday, that was probably my favorite.

@babybritney: Literally just laughed so hard on splash that I was gasping for air. What a happy birthday!

Our ride photo is the best picture ever taken basically. It belongs in the Smithsonian.

I love my friends so much.

We had not even planned on seeing the Main Street Electrical Parade that night and by the time we got off Splash, the park was past closing time. I thought they only did MSEP before or right at closing, but sometimes they do it afterward! I guess a lot of people don't know this because Frontierland was EMPTY.

Jess ran into her friend Bobby who does parade control and he was really nice and adorable. It was great to meet him!

I thought more people would show up for the parade but nope! It was like getting our own private parade... I swear there was almost no one around. Every few feet there'd be like maybe one or two people but it was so empty that all of the characters were focusing directly on us. IT WAS TOO AWESOME!

HIYA PAL!

Charming was mesmerized by me basically. He wanted me to try on the slipper and I was like damn your girl's right there!

We were running around and dancing the whole time, moving up and down the rope, chasing after certain floats or walking toward them, there was just so much room! All of the characters that were not on floats would come right up to us and give us hugs and kisses! It was so cool! My favorite would be when a character spotted my birthday button and made a big deal about it. That's what Alice did from high atop her mushroom! I was very impressed she noticed, thank you Alice!

The rest of these Jess took, she got some amazing shots!

Peter was so adorable and so excited to see us!

Elliot from Pete's Dragon recognized Jess and she was SO happy and excited about it. It was so adorable. He was saying hi to us and then happy birthday to me and then he saw Jess and said, "Hey you! I recognize you! I see you all over this place!"

That was definitely the best MSEP experience I've ever had! I highly recommend going to an after-closing showing of it if you can because you will get ALL the attention! Even the snail came right up to me, I swear he was saying hi. I know it's late to keep a child up but I WISH we had a kid with us cause I would have probably really felt like it was my personal birthday parade if I was 5. It was just so special!

Leaving the park, we were on such a high. I could not even believe how amazing the first 2 days had been, how lucky I was to be in Disney for my birthday, and that the trip was not even half over yet.

SO MUCH HAPPY

We walked a bit further and I saw another Photopass but she wasn't facing the castle, she was facing the front of the park! Omg!!!

I think she was really into photography because she admitted that technically she was not supposed to be taking pictures like that and she was just about to be done for the night but she just wanted to try it! I'm so happy we walked up at just the right moment!

We had to make one last stop: The Confectionery! It was hard to decide but I went with a pretty blue Mickey Macaron!

It was time to leave Magic Kingdom, but that did NOT mean that the fun stopped there. We were so excited because guess what? WE WERE CHECKING INTO RIVERSIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! INTO A PRINCESS ROOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I remember us being really frumpy and taking a long time to check in and find our room. It was almost midnight and I can not describe how much pain I was in. The amount of ground I covered in two days was just insane and I had blisters even though I had comfortable shoes that I alternated and everything. I usually don't even get blisters and if I do, it's far into the trip, so that just goes to show how much I did. The other thing was... I had a minor injury and I had no idea it was going to flare up on this trip. Because I am 106 years old, I fell in the shower like a week and a half before this trip. My knee and the surrounding area are what I fell on and for a couple of days it hurt but after that it was fine. I didn't even think of it flaring up again with all the walking I was gonna do. This was all on top of the regular Disney tiredness that occurs in your whole body. Oh my God I was so physically done, but mentally I was like HELL YEAH THIS TRIP IS AMAZING WOOOO ROYAL GUEST ROOM HERE I COME!!!

I am a trooper.​

 

[__disneygirl]

APRIL 8, 2014
Day 2, Part 7 IN WHICH WE CHECK INTO OUR ROYAL PRINCESS ROOM!!!!!!!!!!!!​

​

When we finally found the room, oh my GOD.

We FREAKED. If you like the princesses at ALL or in general just enjoy nice things, you NEED TO STAY IN ONE OF THE ROYAL GUEST ROOMS. I can not describe how beautiful it is.

First I will present to you a very important detail.

EUGENE IS ON THE WALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Excitement is just not even the word. Oh my God. Oh my God. Prince silhouettes = a lot of a personal joy for me. If that had been the only thing in the room and the rest of it was a beige mess I would have been thrilled. But no it looked like THIS:

All of these pics are Jess's. Oh how I love vacationing with her and not having to worry about documenting everything because she is ON IT.

This is technically Tiana-focused cause you're in the bayou. Thank you for creating such a beautiful room for us Tiana!!

However, there are quite a few nods to other princesses, like this Cinderella carriage!

MAGIC CARPET.

THE PRINCESS WALL ;___________; We were dying.

Letter from Tiana!!

Sleeping under this was bliss.

The border outside of the bathroom featured so many recognizable faces from princess movies! We loved it!

Please notice that Genie isn't even Genie here, he's GENIE AS A BEE. "Beeeeeee yourself!"

PASCAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last but not least, this was the beautiful fountain just outside the room!

At this point, I was showered with gifts by Gina!! She is an awesome gift giver, like I should be used to it by now but I was amazed by all the presents! My favorite was probably these BFF necklaces she got me. One was Daisy and one was Minnie Mouse, so cute! She told me to pick the one I wanted and I picked Daisy. YAY

At this point Jess passed out and I went to go take a shower so I didn't have to do that in the morning. I had to soak my feet first, which were about to fall off. When I looked at my blisters I realized that what had to happen was that they needed to be popped. That is... unless I wanted to be miserable during my entire cruise. Which I did not.

***********TMI VERSION OF THE REPORT BEGINNING*********

This is totally gross but I am writing an all-inclusive report here so deal with it. I probably could have gotten a sewing kit that had a needle in it from Housekeeping, but I did not think of that at the time. All I wanted was to not be in pain any more so I thought of the closest sharp thing I had and that was a Disney pin.

Yes I did use a Disney pin to pop the giant blister on my foot. HAHAHAHA only me, I swear. I didn't even tell Gina what I was doing, I just asked her if she had a lighter. I'm sure she was like *** but she didn't even ask b/c she knows me better than that by now. I needed that lighter to sterilize it. I was still slightly worried I was going to get a foot eating bacteria from using a Disney pin to pop my blister but it all ended up well. It's so funny how the second after you pop it, the pain just vanishes. OH IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. Totally solved my problem. Though, I do have to say I do not condone this, you COULD make it worse/infect it/whatever so don't do it but hey, it worked for me.

***********TMI VERSION OF THE REPORT OVER*********

I felt sooo much better after that and my shower and just crashed. Oh my God, the tiredness and the comfort of that bed = EUPHORIA!!! I really can not even describe it. This was only Day 2 and yet I was more wiped out than I had ever been on a Disney trip. We did so much, it had been such an incredible and full trip already! I couldn't believe how lucky I was and I went to bed feeling like the luckiest birthday girl in all the land. ​

 

[ElsasMom]

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!

 

[KYfriedPanda]

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!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

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.

 

[Curiouser&curiouser!]

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

 

[Neeny17]

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!

 

[DisneyYerd]

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!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

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