Shopping and Eating Our Way Around the World. Feb 2018 Mother/Daughter TR Updated 7/10!

[Pluto0809]

Hi! And welcome to yet another one of my TRs. This one is definitely going to be interesting to write because it’s been a few months since the trip and I took no notes at all. I also was pretty lean on the picture taking so I may have to do a bit of guess work now and then on the order which we did stuff. Life just got in the way once I got home from Disney and I’m just now getting a chance to start this. I also have a January 2018 TR to write but I did take notes for that one so I thought I’d better get this one started first. This one will probably move quickly since I don’t have a large amount of photos. Hopefully I can get the January one started next week.

This trip came about as a result of my uncle (Mom’s brother) planning a trip to WDW with his family. Mom and I decided to sneak down and surprise them. Our plan was a few meet ups to ride some rides with them and that ended up working out really well. I was sneaky and got my Aunt's MDE user name and password so I was able to line up our days and FPs with theirs.

I just realized I’ve written 2 paragraphs and still haven’t introduced myself. I’m Ariana. I’m 44 and live outside of Atlanta GA. Mom and I are great friends and both share a vast love for Disney. She lives up North and we have been traveling together a lot since my Dad passed away in 2007. Here we are enjoying Pandora on this trip.



And here’s the gang from Chicago that we were there to surprise. I’d introduce you to all of them but I can barely keep them all straight myself!



We arrived on Friday and the Chicago gang got there on Saturday. We ended up surprising them Saturday night but that's a story for later in the TR.

So let’s get this TR started and move onto our travel day. I could go on about our likes and dislikes but if you read my past TRs you will know that and if you are new you’ll catch on soon enough!

Up Next: Hurrah for Hollywood

 

[Pluto0809]

Table of Contents

Friday, February 2nd, 2018
Hurrah for Hollywood

Saturday, February 3rd, 2018
A Breakfast Fit For Royalty
Chef Mickey's and the Big Surprise

Sunday, February 4th, 2018
A Magic Kingdom Kind of Morning
A Soggy Afternoon and Evening

Monday, February 5th, 2018
The "New" Purple Wall
The Quest for Figment
Where is that Darn Figment?

Tuesday, February 6th, 2018
Introducing Mom to Pandora
Visiting Our Favorite Primates
Finishing Out a Fun Filled Trip

 

[Pluto0809]

Hurrah for Hollywood

I took a grand total of zero pictures on this day until we reached our resort so I’ll try to keep this part brief.

My flight out of Atlanta wasn’t until 10:25 am on Friday, February 2nd but I was still up super early. My husband Jim was taking me to the airport and I didn’t want him to be too late for work. Plus Mom was flying into Atlanta and meeting me for our flight to Orlando so I wanted to be at her gate when she landed. So we left the house at his normal time of 5:30 am. I know I was at the airport way sooner than I needed to be because it was too early to check my bags. Apparently, you can’t check your bags with Southwest if you are more than 4 hours early for your flight. I really was only about 10 minutes early so I sat off to the side and waited till 6:25 am.

I have TSA pre-check so security was a breeze and before long I had made it to Terminal C which is where Southwest flies out of. I quickly found an arrivals board and determined that Mom was flying into gate 3 and our Orlando flight left out of gate 4. Perfect! Except that I wanted to get us breakfast from our favorite place, Charley’s Grilled Subs. Charley’s is near gate 12 which was a pretty good hike from gate 4. I decided to site across from the restaurant and let Mom know to text me when she landed. That way I could grab the food and meet her at the gate.

So I did just that for the next two or so hours. While I was sitting there, I got a text that our room was ready! I couldn’t believe I got that text so early. I just checked the e-mail which I saved and it came in at 7:36 am. We were at Pop Century for this trip and I had sneakily upgraded us to Preferred. Mom has no clue and leaves the planning up for me. I think she believed we had just lucked out with a close room. We ended up in Building 1, room 1133. My only request had been 1st floor and I got that. I pulled up the Pop map and was pleased with our location.

Mom landed at 9:30 so I got our grub and headed down to the gate. I wasn’t in TR mode yet (or for most of the trip) so I didn’t take photos but our sandwiches were delicious. You wouldn’t think a sub shop would have a good breakfast but they do. I got an egg sandwich and mom got bacon and egg.

We barely had time to eat before they asked for the A group to line up. I always do early bird check in for Southwest so I don’t have to worry about finding a seat. When we got on, the exit row that only has two seats was still available so we grabbed that. This gave us a lot of extra room and even though Mom was technically in the middle seat, there was no window seat so she had lots of room.

Our flight was uneventful and we landed at MCO right on time at 12:00 pm. We headed right to the Magical Express and pretty much ended up going straight onto a bus. There were very few people there at that time. We were towards the back and I only got one crappy picture of the Welcome Sign. You get to see it though since I have so few pictures this trip.



When we arrived at Pop, we went straight to our room. I was hoping for a renovated room but we had no such luck. Our location was awesome, I could literally throw a rock and hit Classic Hall (and I can’t throw for anything) but when we entered the room, we immediately noticed a faint smell that I believed was cigarette smoke. I don’t think someone had smoked in the room itself but maybe a family of heavy smokers had stayed there last. We discussed it for a minute but in the end decided it wasn’t bad enough to warrant the time it would take to move rooms. Plus we were both remembering our previous stay at Pop when we did switch rooms and our luggage got delivered to the wrong room. Neither one of us wanted to deal with that again. Instead, we freshened up a bit, took some pictures of the room and then headed back out again. I’m sure most of you have seen pictures of the old Pop rooms but just in case here are mine.











I honestly don’t remember much about the bus situations on this trip except for one morning I'll talk about later. Mom has some balance issues so standing is not an option for her but I was always able to get her a seat and I don't recall standing at all myself. I think there might have been once or twice where we waited for a second bus so we would get seats but the additional wait was never more than 5 minutes. So on this day we hopped a bus to Hollywood Studios. This would be our only time at HS but with half the park closed and Mom not a Star Wars fan at all, we figured we could get everything done in a half a day.

First thing we had to do upon arrival was head to guest services. While I had activated my Annual Pass in January, Mom had not done so yet. There was no line and it was a very simple process to get her activated.

Second order of business once we entered the park was to get a locker. Mom insisted we get one each day because she didn’t want to carry her sweatshirt. I was fine with that and we took turns paying. Disney’s lockers are all automated now and you go to a kiosk inside the locker room to purchase one. They were very simple to figure out although we didn’t have to on this day. A gentleman was emptying his locker and asked us if we would like it. He was leaving for the day and didn’t need it anymore. We gladly accepted and thanked him many times. I entered his four digit code and the locker number into the notes on my phone so I wouldn’t forget. I really liked the automated system for the lockers but it’s not as convenient for park hopping because you can’t transfer to another park now.

Next, we stopped for a few photopass pictures.





Not sure why we always seem to get a CM that tells us to hug but we just go with it and end up with some seriously awkward photos.



At this point we were getting hungry and it was a long time until our 7 pm ADR. We didn’t want a full meal but there was somewhere I really wanted to try so we headed in that direction. We arrived at the new Baseline Tap House and went in to order. We decided to share the Bavarian Pretzel with Beer Cheese and Spicy Mustard and we each got a California Sunset to drink (Absolut Berri Acai Vodka, Southern Comfort, Orange Juice, Sweet and Sour with a float of Pomegranate Juice).





The pretzel was good, I mean it was a pretzel, not much to report there but we liked it and it was a good size to share. I pretty picky so I didn’t try either sauce but Mom seemed to like them. Now the drink was amazing, it’s definitely a new favorite and I can’t wait to have another one in October. I almost went up and got a second one but I am a serious lightweight and I would have been under the table with a second one. We sat outside and enjoyed our treat. There is some limited indoor seating but it was such a pleasant afternoon, we were fine outside.

I only made 2 FPs for us and we still had some time till the first one. Neither one of us was interested in seeing a show so we decided to do what we do best, shop! Yep, Mom and I can spend hours in the Disney shops. Since we were back near the Muppet Courtyard, we decided to check out those stores first.

But as we rounded the corner, I saw that Goofy was out with a very short line. Mom’s not a huge character person (which is funny as you will see we did three character meals this trip) but she had one of her Goofy bags so I made her get in line. Goofy is her favorite and he was very impressed with her bag.







As we walked, I snapped a quick picture of the new entrance to Star Wars land and we checked out what we could see of the construction.



We checked out the Muppet Store (not sure why I even call it a Muppet store as there is very little Muppet merchandise).



Mom bought some postcards but I didn’t find anything myself. I did find something to purchase in the Christmas store. If you haven’t read any of my other TRs, just know that I am obsessed with Pluto and have an entire room dedicated to him in my house. I couldn’t leave the Christmas store without this ornament.



It was finally time for our first FP which was for Toy Story Mania. We usually do RnRC because that’s Mom’s favorite but she said she wanted to do TSM instead on this trip because RnRC was getting too rough for her. Honestly, I think she made that up because she knows how much I love TSM. As usual, I beat her pretty handily, she’s not much of a video gamer.



I’m pretty sure I was best in vehicle also but that picture came out too blurry.

Next we headed into One Man’s Dream mainly because I was in search of something Groot for a friend. She had made me a Pluto running shirt for the 5K I did in January and wouldn’t let me pay her for it. Groot is a favorite of hers but unfortunately there was no Groot merchandise at the little kiosk that was outside of the meet and greet. And speaking of the meet and greet, there was zero line and I came very close to dragging Mom in there. But I had met Star Lord and Groot in January so we moved on. Mom would have been totally lost as she has never seen the movies.

We ended up mostly shopping for the rest of the evening although I didn’t buy anything else except for some postcards which I didn’t take a picture of. I think Mom bought more but I don’t remember what at this point.

Sometime during the shopping spree, we used our 2nd FP for TOT a favorite of both of ours.





We also stopped for some unique Photopass pictures on Sunset.





We finished up our shopping with some time to spare before our ADR so we sat on Sunset Blvd and watched the crowds for a bit.





During that time, I left Mom on the bench and walked down to our locker to drop off our purchases and get our sweatshirts as it was getting a little chilly.

About 6:45 we headed to our dinner destination which you may be surprised to learn was not Mama Melrose. Mom and I almost always eat at MM because it’s a place where we go to celebrate my Dad. But we decided to try something different this time, we were heading to Sci Fi.



We sat for a bit after we checked in but were seated fairly close to our ADR time. We were the hitchhikers in the back of a six person car and pretty much in the front row of the theater.





We weren’t on a dining plan since we had APs but I do have a Tables in Wonderland card I used everywhere I could. I’m pretty sure we both got water to drink. Mom got the Blackened Shrimp Pasta (Penne Pasta tossed in a Four-Cheese Sauce topped with Asparagus, Fried Okra, Red Bell Pepper, Onions, Tomato, and served with Garlic Bread and Parmesan).



And I got my favorite meal here, a burger with just ketchup and fries (I did say I was picky).



Everything was delicious as usual. I really wanted to get the House Made Sci-Fi Candy Bar (White and Dark Chocolate Mousse layered with crispy Pearls sandwiched between Sponge Cake and dipped in Chocolate Gananche) for dessert but I was just too full at that point. Maybe next time.

When we left the restaurant, the Star Wars fireworks were just starting. We hurried down the street, picked up the stuff from our locker and beat the crowd out to the buses. It was really cold that night and we shivered our way back to our room.

When we got back to our room, the smell was still there but we were tired and decided to just live with it rather than complain or move rooms. Our suitcases were thankfully there so we unpacked a bit and headed to bed. I will say that after the first day, the Mousekeeper must have done a deep cleaning because the musty, smoky smell was gone the next night.

I trade for pins but I can never remember exactly when or where I get each one. So I will just post a picture of all of them at the end of each day. I also like to get the pressed pennies and quarters as you will see.





And finally, my Fitbit stats for the day. I tend to walk a lot less when Mom is with me than when I’m with my husband or by myself.



Up Next: A Breakfast Fit for Royalty

 

[rteetz]

Joining in!

 

[missangelalexis]

Hi! Glad to see you back! Excited to hear about your trip with mom/surprising family.

Sounds like you were off to a good start. Your DHS afternoon sounds nice and laid back. Your drink from Baseline looks and sounds yummy!

 

[DMGeurts]

Here! Wahoo!

D~

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Joining in! That drink from Baseline sounds delicious! Yum!

I love the atmosphere at Sci Fi. I’m totally thinking of adding in a meal here on our November trip. My kids would love it!

 

[dizneefan13]

Yay! Another Ariana trip report! I've been waiting to hear about your back to back trips. Looks like a great start to a wonderful vacation.
BTW to say you have a Pluto room in your house is an understatement. LOL I remember the pics from the flood. Your Pluto room is very impressive and cute. I hope all the damage was taken care of and your basement is back to normal.
I'm looking forward to more of your Mom and daughter trip (and morefamily) stories. Always enjoy your reports!

 

[jchurch0409]

Following along!

 

[Nakkira]

We checked out the Muppet Store (not sure why I even call it a Muppet store as there is very little Muppet merchandise).

This is a pet peeve of mine. I LOVE the Muppets and need more Muppet merchandise! LOL

 

[KailaH]

I'm joining in. I'm ready to read more!

This one is definitely going to be interesting to write because it’s been a few months since the trip and I took no notes at all

This is how I am when I am about to take a test

I have TSA pre-check so security was a breeze

I used to get TSA pre-check when I would fly by myself. I am now 18, so I am no longer considered a minor.

we immediately noticed a faint smell that I believed was cigarette smoke

That is the worst!

It already seems like y'all had a really fun trip!

 

[missjackiemcg]

We barely had time to eat before they asked for the A group to line up. I always do early bird check in for Southwest so I don’t have to worry about finding a seat.

Best advice you gave me on our first Southwest experience in December! It was totally worth it, too, considering the extra $$ I usually have to spend on checking luggage!

NOT awkward!! Adorable!

We also stopped for some unique Photopass pictures on Sunset.

I love this spot!! I just wrote about our pics there on my TR I love the luggage because it's from Tower of Terror!

 

[Tracy161]

I'm here!!! And yes, still bummed we weren't able to meet up in January Someday our trips will overlap again though Lovely start to your trip!

 

[DLo]

Reading along ! Was your drink tart or sweet ? I like tart and it sounds like it would be . Pretzel looks delish .

 

[Blissikins]

Subbing in!

This is a pet peeve of mine. I LOVE the Muppets and need more Muppet merchandise! LOL

Mine too! I remember on our first trip in 2012 (I'm a WDW "late bloomer"!) it was just about all Muppet related, with a little bit of princess stuff thrown in. Now it's completely the other way, it's really disappointing. And STILL nothing for my beloved, Bean Bunny. He's only the star of the show (IMHO)! I mean really! Get on it Disney!

Everything was delicious as usual. I really wanted to get the House Made Sci-Fi Candy Bar (White and Dark Chocolate Mousse layered with crispy Pearls sandwiched between Sponge Cake and dipped in Chocolate Gananche) for dessert but I was just too full at that point. Maybe next time.

Looks like you had a great first day! I'm glad your room scent improved!

Oh my goodness, the candy bar! I had my first one on our trip last month, I wished we'd made more reservations there after that.

 

[pattyw]

Sounds like a good start to your trip! Love Sci Fi! It's a family favorite. I usually get the burger but your mom's pasta looks wonderful! May have to give that a try next time! I love their onion rings and the dip they serve with it!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Great start to your trip! I'm doing my first mother daughter trip with my 12 year old. I hope to continue taking these trips like you and your mom!

 

[Pluto0809]

Joining in!

Hi Ryan! Thanks for stopping by.

Hi! Glad to see you back! Excited to hear about your trip with mom/surprising family.

Sounds like you were off to a good start. Your DHS afternoon sounds nice and laid back. Your drink from Baseline looks and sounds yummy!

Hi Alexis! This whole trip was pretty laid back, it usually is when it's Mom and I.

Here! Wahoo!

D~

Hi D! Glad to see you here.

Joining in! That drink from Baseline sounds delicious! Yum!

I love the atmosphere at Sci Fi. I’m totally thinking of adding in a meal here on our November trip. My kids would love it!

HI! Thanks for reading along. That drink was very yummy. It's on the list for day one in October. Sci Fi is a really fun place to eat, I enjoy it a lot.

Yay! Another Ariana trip report! I've been waiting to hear about your back to back trips. Looks like a great start to a wonderful vacation.
BTW to say you have a Pluto room in your house is an understatement. LOL I remember the pics from the flood. Your Pluto room is very impressive and cute. I hope all the damage was taken care of and your basement is back to normal.
I'm looking forward to more of your Mom and daughter trip (and morefamily) stories. Always enjoy your reports!

Hi! Sorry for the delay, life has been crazy. And I still haven't gotten the January one up and going.

Yeah, I guess my Pluto room is a bit out of control. All of the renovations are done, we just need to move everything back in from the garage. But I decided that I want to replace some of the shelves in there to expand display area so it might be a few more weeks before I get those purchased, put together and then start moving all the Pluto's back in.

Following along!

This is a pet peeve of mine. I LOVE the Muppets and need more Muppet merchandise! LOL

Totally agree! My husband loves Swedish Chef and I can never find him merchandise.

I'm joining in. I'm ready to read more!

This is how I am when I am about to take a test

I used to get TSA pre-check when I would fly by myself. I am now 18, so I am no longer considered a minor.

That is the worst!

It already seems like y'all had a really fun trip!

Hi! More coming right up.

I actually went and paid for the TSA pre-check. I think it was $85 for five years and I had to have a background check. Well worth the money as I fly a lot.

Yeah, the room smell was not fun but at least it went away quickly.

Best advice you gave me on our first Southwest experience in December! It was totally worth it, too, considering the extra $$ I usually have to spend on checking luggage!

NOT awkward!! Adorable!

I love this spot!! I just wrote about our pics there on my TR I love the luggage because it's from Tower of Terror!

Hi Jackie! I need to find your new TR and get caught up along with a bunch of others.

I don't think I will ever fly Southwest without doing Early Bird. So much nicer to get on the plane in the first group!

I didn't even realize the luggage was from TOT! I'll have to look closer next time.

I'm here!!! And yes, still bummed we weren't able to meet up in January Someday our trips will overlap again though Lovely start to your trip!

Hi Tracy! I still have your last TR bookmarked but am so far behind right now. Do you have one for January? I was bummed we didn't get to meet up but I agree, someday!

Reading along ! Was your drink tart or sweet ? I like tart and it sounds like it would be . Pretzel looks delish .

Hi and welcome! It was kind of both sweet and tart. Kind of like a Screwdriver if you've ever had one of those but a little sweeter.

Subbing in!

Mine too! I remember on our first trip in 2012 (I'm a WDW "late bloomer"!) it was just about all Muppet related, with a little bit of princess stuff thrown in. Now it's completely the other way, it's really disappointing. And STILL nothing for my beloved, Bean Bunny. He's only the star of the show (IMHO)! I mean really! Get on it Disney!


Looks like you had a great first day! I'm glad your room scent improved!

Oh my goodness, the candy bar! I had my first one on our trip last month, I wished we'd made more reservations there after that.

For my husband it's the Swedish Chef. He always complains about no merchandise for him. I want one of those Candy Bars right now!

Sounds like a good start to your trip! Love Sci Fi! It's a family favorite. I usually get the burger but your mom's pasta looks wonderful! May have to give that a try next time! I love their onion rings and the dip they serve with it!

Hi! Thanks, we did have a really nice trip. Mom really did love the pasta.

Great start to your trip! I'm doing my first mother daughter trip with my 12 year old. I hope to continue taking these trips like you and your mom!

Thanks for joining in! I think the first family trip for me was when I was 7 or 8. I definitely love going with Mom!

 

[Pluto0809]

I switched over to Smug Mug from Photobucket and I'm still experimenting with the photo size. I felt that the photos in the first update were too small so I picked a bigger size this time. Let me know which you prefer.

A Breakfast Fit for Royalty

We were up fairly early on Saturday, February 3rd because we had a special breakfast to get to on the Boardwalk. I decided before we even left for the trip that I was not going to deal with buses/boats on this morning. Instead we were going to use Lyft because I had a 25% off coupon.

We left the room around 8 am and walked the 100 feet or so to the main building. Hanging out by the doors was this guy. The CMs there said he (or she) visited every morning. Mom and I never did figure out what kind of bird he was. Anyone know?



Once we were at the bus area, I ordered up our Lyft. This was the first time I had done this on my own but it was fairly simple. We did use Uber a lot out at Disneyland but my SIL did all of the ordering out there.

It took about 3 minutes for our car to get there and about 10 minutes to get to the Boardwalk. Our driver was pleasant but did not speak English well so it was mostly a silent trip. Total cost with tip and the 25% off was $7. I felt like it was $7 well spent. We were able to sleep in a little bit longer and not deal with the stress of multiple transportation modes.



We arrived way too early for our ADR so we browsed through the store on the Boardwalk before heading to the restaurant.

If you haven’t figured out by now, we were going to the Bon Voyage Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno. This was of course entirely my doing because I wanted to add Prince Eric to my list of characters met. Mom is pretty easy going and although she’s not a character person, she said the breakfast sounded good.

We checked in a little early then used the restrooms which were next door at AbracadaBar. The bar wasn’t open of course but Mom had fun checking it out. Jim and I visited there in January but Mom and I couldn’t fit it into our schedule on this trip. I definitely want to take my brother & SIL there in October.

Not long after we checked in, the lobby filled up but we were still one of the first groups called for our 8:45 am reservation. We were seated at a 2 top table and it wasn’t long before our pastries arrived.



Between Mom and me, we tried all of the different pastries but didn’t finish them because we didn’t want to fill up too much. I didn’t try the clam shell on because it had fruit filling which I don’t like. We both tasted the Rapunzel star but it was kind of a weird crunchy consistency which we didn’t care for. My two favorite things where the chocolate muffin which you can catch a glimpse of behind the star and also a chocolate croissant thingy (I know, riveting reporting there) that was under the other pastries.

Next we got a choice of a Fruit Salad or a Berry, Yogurt, and Granola Parfait. Mom and I both went with the Fruit Salad which I failed to photograph. Honestly, you didn’t miss much there, it was a bowl of fruit.

For our entrees, Mom got the Swimmer’s Delight (Egg White Omelet with Smoked Salmon, Goat Cheese, Spinach, Mushroom, and Tomato with Breakfast Potatoes).



I got the Royale Breakfast (Oak-grilled Steak, Cheesy-Egg Torte, and Fonduta with Breakfast Potatoes and crispy Onions) except I subbed out the Cheesy-Egg Torte for plain scrambled eggs.



We both loved our meals except for the potatoes. They were edible but pretty bland and nothing special.

As we were eating the characters came around. At this point I have no idea what we talked about. Mom still hasn’t figured out my camera so she got some pretty awkward angles on some of these. Flynn came around first.



Then Rapunzel (see what I mean about awkward angles).



Then the one I was waiting on showed up, Prince Eric! He was quite handsome although the eyebrows were a bit much. Mom had me stand away from the window which did help with the photo.



Oh, and see that door behind us? That led to a section of the restaurant that was for no characters. I’m guessing it was mostly used by guests staying at the Boardwalk who want a nice breakfast without the characters.

Last but not least was Ariel. Once again a weird angle and we got some of the glare from the windows again.



Overall, we both loved this breakfast. Other than the potatoes, the food was excellent and the character interaction was fun. We would definitely go back again.

After breakfast, we headed back through the Boardwalk Resort and out to the bus stop where we caught a bus to Disney Springs. It was time to do some more shopping. Are you starting to get an idea where the trip report title came from?

First stop was the new Jewelry store, Happily Ever After. I had a particular Rebecca Hook ring I was looking for. Here’s a picture of it.



Pretty, right? Unfortunately when I saw the ring in person, the Mickey heads were so small you couldn’t even tell they were Mickey’s. I did try it on but I was pretty disappointed. But then I saw another one that I immediately loved and it went straight on my finger to come home with me. As a matter of fact, I’m wearing it today as I type this update.



The Mickey head is much more visible than my first choice and I love the blue color. What I don’t love is how wrinkly and red my hand looks there but you can just ignore that.

Mom tried on a few rings but didn’t find anything she liked so we moved on to World of Disney. No idea at this point what Mom bought but I got a few small items. First up was a set of pens. I use these at work since I’m the only real Disney fan and no one thinks to steal them from me. And if they do, they are easy to track down!



I also picked up a few magnets, the WDW one for me and Donald for Jim.



I also bought a Mickey shirt that will be great for casual Friday’s at work. I haven’t worn it yet because it wasn’t warm enough for a while and then recently I’ve had some budget meetings on Friday that I needed to look a bit more professional for. Hopefully I will get to wear it soon. Here’s the front:



And the back:



And a close up of the white area.



I know Mom bought some stuff too. She actually bought and returned several different shirts during the week. She just couldn’t find ones that fit her right.

We went in and out of most of the other stores in the area. Mom tried on some more rings at Arribbas Brothers but still couldn’t decide. I drooled over the dresses at Cherry Tree Lane but walked away. I really don’t ever wear dresses plus they were so expensive.

In the art store, they had the Precious Moments dolls up for sale. I was excited because you can’t always find them and I wanted to add to my collection. If you read my March 2018 TR, you may remember that I got Pluto on that trip. This time I got Stitch.



Once we hit up all the stores, we decided to get a small snack. We weren’t terribly hungry after our big breakfast plus we had an early dinner coming up at Chef Mickey’s. We stopped in at Amorette’s Patisserie but nothing caught our eye. We also checked out the The Daily Poutine and The Polite Pig but both seemed a little too much for a snack. We ended up at Sprinkles for a cupcake. We had tried them out at Disneyland and I was not impressed but decided to give it another chance. I got a Dark Chocolate one and Mom got a Black and White.



Once again, neither of us was impressed. I felt that the cake part was way too dry and the icing is such a thin layer that it’s barely noticeable. I’m all about the icing so this was a huge disappointment. At least we gave it another shot but I don’t think we will be back to Sprinkles any time soon if ever.

While we ate, I asked Mom what she wanted to do. We had some time before our ADR and I suggested we go back to the room to drop our bags and take a break. She said she would like a break but would rather do it a particular resort that she loves to visit. So we headed to the bus stops and boarded a bus to the Grand Floridian.



We found a comfy couch in the lobby and sat for about a half hour just relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere.





Oh and I had been texting during the day with my Aunt Pat pretending to be curious about how their travel day was going. I was mainly trying to keep track of where they were at. At one point, I got this picture from her of the kids first Disney bus ride as they were heading to Magic Kingdom.



They were so excited to be at Disney!

Eventually, Mom and I got up and browsed through the GF stores then boarded the Monorail to the Contemporary where we continued to shop. I was looking for a new luggage tag and found one I liked there.





I also decided on my stuffed animal for the trip. In January (I still haven’t started that TR yet) I bought a Pluto emoji pillow. So this trip I got Stitch to go with Pluto.



The pillows are two sided.



We were still too early for our reservation so we found a little corner and rested for a bit until it was time.



Up Next: Chef Mickey’s and the Big Surprise

 

[rteetz]

I like this new picture size. I switched to Flickr instead from Photobucket.

I really enjoyed the Bon Voyage Breakfast as well. I had the pancakes. I think it is one of my favorite character meals on property now.

Great purchases as well!