An "I Miss You" PTR!! Summer/Fall/Winter 2020??- 2 DAYS AWAY- Updated 8/25!

Favorite Disney Park This is a tough one, but probably DHS or Epcot

Favorite Disney Resorts POFQ has my heart, but I also love the Poly!

Favorite Disney Movies Beauty and the Beast, Tangled, The Incredibles

Favorite Disney Song Happily Ever After! :sad: I cry every time!! My husband proposed to me after the fireworks, and we played it at our wedding! Before HEA I would have said "We Go On!"

Favorite Disney Characters Belle and Goofy!

Favorite Disney Restaurants Trail's End, Crystal Palace, 1900 Park Fare (can you tell I love buffets? :laughing:)

Favorite Ride at Magic Kingdom Splash or Space

Favorite Ride at Epcot Test Track

Favorite Ride at Hollywood Studios TOWER OF TERROR (fave of all time!)

Favorite Ride at Animal Kingdom Expedition Everest!!

Favorite Disney Snacks Popcorn or a make your own Rice Crispie Treat!!

If lost at Disney World.. Look for me at: any park bench eating popcorn and people watching :love: that sounds soooo good right now


Ugh, I'm SO sorry you didn't feel good!! Being sick in Disney is the worst!!! I'm glad you were able to go on that tour! It sounded incredible. Definitely a bucketlist item for me! That s'mores snack looked heavenly as well!!
 
Well that's a silver lining! It's probably smart that you cancelled your June flights; I unfortunately can't see Disney opening to what it once was anytime soon :(

Yeah, I think so. I'll probably get an AP next year and use those credits for a couple of trips there after Italy. We'll see....

Me too!!! That's why I feel like I have to do these surveys every few months :laughing: I just checked out Nomad Lounge in January and it was so nice! My drink and the apps that I sampled were delicious!

Everything about it's amazing! Drinks, view, music, atmosphere. Well, ok, the service can really actually suck sometimes, but I'm never in a hurry though, so that's okay, I guess.

I heard Caroline wake up and shower, and it just kept getting worse. I drank some water and tried to switch positions, but my mouth was getting dry and my heart began to race…

Oh nooooo.....
Caroline was still in the bathroom doing her hair and makeup, but I couldn’t handle it anymore! I burst into the bathroom and apologized quickly to Caroline before proceeding to throw up in the toilet next to her :crazy2:


OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Caroline is a nurse, so she was so sweet and totally unfazed, offering to get me water and medicine :) What a great first impression, Molly!

Nope, that is not a faze-able event for a nurse. ;)

Then I remembered the ample desserts and 2 cups of hot chocolate I consumed the night before, and it all made sense ::yes::


F8F8F832-F34F-46CE-89C8-F9CC8AC13799.gif

:lmao:
managed to meet the group right in front of Test Track at about 8:30! I was so happy that I hadn’t missed anything on the tour.

WOOT!!! :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:
This is where Liesa’s infamous “Chunky Dump” was born! 😂

Look at me go!!! :rotfl2::rotfl::lmao:
I rode next to Liesa ( @Steppesister ), and she was so much fun to talk with :)

It was the BEST!!!


AWww, I really love this photo!

Y’all, I INHALED this! It was soo yummy- they torched the marshmallow right in front of you so it was perfectly toasted and gooey. I also loved how the graham cracker was soft and chewy instead of crunchy! 10/10 would eat this again- although I think it’s only available seasonally now!

WHOA! That's certainly going on my list!
 
Jen and Joe's answers:


Favorite Disney Park Epcot (Joe and Jen)

Favorite Disney Resorts Contemporary and POFQ (Joe) WL and POFQ (Jen)

Favorite Disney Movies Snow White (Joe) Robin Hood (Jen)

Favorite Disney Song When you Wish Upon a Star (Joe) Out There (Jen)

Favorite Disney Characters Grumpy and Snow Whits (Joe) Robin Hood (Jen)

Favorite Disney Restaurants Bull and bear (Joe) Cali Grill, Narcoossees, and WBG (Jen)

Favorite Ride at Magic Kingdom 7DMT (Joe) HM and Peter Pan (Jen)

Favorite Ride at Epcot The 3 Caballeros and Figment (Joe) FEA and Figment (Jen)

Favorite Ride at Hollywood Studios Rise of the Resistance Jen and Joe!!!!!

Favorite Ride at Animal Kingdom EE and FoP (Joe) FoP and Safari (Jen)

Favorite Disney Snacks Mickey rice crispy snacks (Joe) caramel apples, chocolate dipped pineapple, popcorn and Le Fou's Brew (Jen)

If lost at Disney World.. Look for me at: Joe and I can both be found at Jock Lindseys or WBG
 
You poor thing. I remember you saying something about this...


Yep. That would explain it. LOL!


So happy we got to spend time with you too. :love2:


I didn't realize we were both FOP virgins at the time. I was so nervous about riding it too!!! LOL!

I was so nervous about doing another dessert party in August because of this! Luckily, I didn't go overboard that time- I learned my lesson! I was so glad that FOP didn't put me out of commission 😆

Ugh I'm sorry you woke up feeling so sick! Thank goodness you felt better in time for the tour! What a fantastic day it sounded like!!

Sounds like a nice night at DS! The dole whip froscato is high on my "want to try" list!

There's nothing worse than being sick at Disney! Girl, the froscato is SO GOOD! You can't even taste the alcohol, which is amazing yet concerning :laughing:

It's true! I thought that after I said that one was sad :rotfl: I've heard that The Pact had a Lifetime movie, and I wanted to see it. I'm not sure if it's available anywhere, but I got an offer for a free month of Lifetime Movie Club the other day and I was considering signing up while we're at home so maybe it's on there! I could imagine that being a very cringe-y movie in Lifetime's hands.



Aw oh no! I'm glad you felt better for your tour. I have stomach issues too sometimes when we go on vacation especially early on. I think it's because it's a lot more food than usual and it's heavier food? Idk, but I get indigestion badly sometimes.



I'm so glad you decided to ride. I was kind of nervous too the first time because I get motion sickness, and I loved it too. I also got a tiny bit dizzy the first time, but the second time we rode it I felt fine. The scents/air and everything really helped.



I had one of those at Disney! And I randomly found it like 6 months later on the ShopDisney app, and got it then.



Ooo I've always wanted to try one of those.

Haha I love how we both love Lifetime Movies!!!

I used to never get sick in Disney, but out of the 4 Disney trips I went on last year, I got sick on 3 of them :( Luckily they were just like this time where it was a one-time thing, but still a bummer! And not even after dessert parties- one was after DAH where all I had for dinner was a half bag of popcorn and a Mickey ice cream sandwich, haha?! But, I'm happy that it didn't affect my trip or the tour at all!

I would love to a DisMeet with you!

I love the update! That All-American Sundae...goes I want one so badly right now!:love:

Yay!! The All-American Sundae was great- it was such a hot day and it cooled me down right away! Plus anything chocolate and peanut butter is right up my alley :)

This was such a fun day, minus your upset stomach! I’m glad it went away quickly and you enjoyed the day!
I really want to try Wine Bar George, always really good reviews!

It was SO fun- went by way too fast!! Now that Andi is 21 you need to try Wine Bar George! Both the dole whip froscato and frozen rose are so yummy!

We love Old Town too though sadly we don't get over there nearly enough. My first condo was just outside of Old Town and in my 20's I spent a lot of nights there. So many good memories.


Oh no!!! You poor thing.


Impressive. Looks like you rebounded quickly!


❤ ❤ ❤


So happy to hear you loved this. I can get a little motion sickness too but FOP is so worth powering through it for


Besides just spending the day with you all missing the backstage stuff was what I was most bummed about. How cool to see Ratatouille being built


She certainly is amazing ❤ So thrilled you all got to experience this and almost a year later still not bitter at all :earboy2:


Looks like the perfect ending to a perfect day no matter how terrible it started. I may not be from Wisconsin but I'm a sucker for some cheese and of course dole whips!

Oh my gosh, Old Town Alexandria is a perfect place to live, especially when you first move out on your own! I'm so jealous!! :laughing:

Such a bummer that you couldn't join us on the tour!! It was a perfect day; crazy and action-filled at the start but relaxing and laid back at the end!

I'm SO glad that you felt better quickly and were able to partake in all the fun!!



I'm so happy to hear this!! I still haven't gotten on FOP. I have been to WDW several times since it opened but I was chicken...and then when I wasn't chicken I couldn't get a FP for it and then...well I was supposed to go on it this March but well...we all know what happened so...that is one of the first things I hope to do whenever I can get back to WDW.



I think this part would be the coolest for me too!! How amazing that you were able to do this!

I was so relieved when I started to feel better!! Although something tells me that I would have hauled myself on the tour no matter how I was feeling- bucket and all :laughing: And YES you should go on! If you start to get dizzy, closing your eyes really helps, but it only made me dizzy during a really high-action part. The other parts are kind of like Soarin' with a bit more of a "drop" feeling in your stomach!

I'm so jealous of your VIP tour! Such a once in a lifetime experience! I'm glad you felt better after your rough morning. I never had an interest in Wine Bar George, but in my old age (almost 25) I enjoy a good cheese board and glass of wine so much.

Such a good idea to ask everyone's favorites!
Favorite Disney Park: Epcot (I'm sorry MK)

Favorite Disney Resorts: Beach Club and Polynesian

Favorite Disney Movies: Peter Pan, Mulan, 101 Dalmations, Tangled, Heavyweights

Favorite Disney Song: I'll make a man out of you

Favorite Disney Characters: Peter Pan, Rapunzel, Tigger

Favorite Disney Restaurants: Homecomin', Earl of Sandwich, The Plaza, Via Napoli, Hollywood Brown Derby

Favorite Ride at Magic Kingdom: Peter Pan's Flight

Favorite Ride at Epcot: Soarin

Favorite Ride at Hollywood Studios: Rock n Rollercoaster

Favorite Ride at Animal Kingdom: Expedition Everest

Favorite Disney Snacks: Ganache from the Ganachery, Nutella waffle, Dole Whip, Mickey Rice crispy

If lost at Disney World.. Look for me at: Disney Springs

I was so shocked that we were able to do the tour. When Su-Lynn announced it on our Facebook page, I literally stood there with my jaw dropped for a good 5 minutes (what was even more amazing was that we found out less than 2 weeks before leaving on the trip)! You have to try Wine Bar George!! It's a nice and quiet spot in DS; I want to try their brunch soon, I heard it's amazing!! Great favorites! I need to try The Plaza for a meal sometime... that brisket mac n cheese is calling my name :love:


Ugh it stinks to not feel well on vacation but especially with people you're just meeting!

I'm glad you were able to power through and make it to the tour because it sounds like a great experience.

I love that All-American Sundae from the Plaza! I used to always get it before watching Wishes :love:

Oo I loved the Dole Whip froscato too (and I think it's better than a regular Dole whip lol)

Haha, it was definitely one of those moments where I wished I had my mom! I was so glad I felt okay to take the tour, it was the thing I was most looking forward to for the entire week! Ooo I need to get ice cream before the fireworks sometime; I get so weird about finding a perfect spot that that's all I can think about :laughing:

Oh, no! You poor thing!



Perfect timing!




Not at all. I think you mentioned it, but I never would have guessed!




I don't care how fast it is, as long as it's pink ::yes::




Me too :love:




Still the most fun safari I've ever been on :rotfl:




That looks yummy! 😋




Holy cow. Way to power through a day where you woke up vomiting!

I couldn't believe that I lasted that long after my rude wake-up (although my 2 hour nap did help a lot)! It was so much fun spending time with you on this tour :) I loved our pink car and our fun safari!!


Favorite Disney Park This is a tough one, but probably DHS or Epcot

Favorite Disney Resorts POFQ has my heart, but I also love the Poly!

Favorite Disney Movies Beauty and the Beast, Tangled, The Incredibles

Favorite Disney Song Happily Ever After! :sad: I cry every time!! My husband proposed to me after the fireworks, and we played it at our wedding! Before HEA I would have said "We Go On!"

Favorite Disney Characters Belle and Goofy!

Favorite Disney Restaurants Trail's End, Crystal Palace, 1900 Park Fare (can you tell I love buffets? :laughing:)

Favorite Ride at Magic Kingdom Splash or Space

Favorite Ride at Epcot Test Track

Favorite Ride at Hollywood Studios TOWER OF TERROR (fave of all time!)

Favorite Ride at Animal Kingdom Expedition Everest!!

Favorite Disney Snacks Popcorn or a make your own Rice Crispie Treat!!

If lost at Disney World.. Look for me at: any park bench eating popcorn and people watching :love: that sounds soooo good right now


Ugh, I'm SO sorry you didn't feel good!! Being sick in Disney is the worst!!! I'm glad you were able to go on that tour! It sounded incredible. Definitely a bucketlist item for me! That s'mores snack looked heavenly as well!!

I'm so glad I was feeling better!! I did NOT want to miss the tour; it was so fun getting some inside information on Disney and it felt amazing to skip the lines :rolleyes:

Great answers! OMG, I can't believe that you got engaged during Happily Ever After!! Goals! I also love "We Go On" and listen to my IllumiNations soundtrack in my car all the time :)


Yeah, I think so. I'll probably get an AP next year and use those credits for a couple of trips there after Italy. We'll see....



Everything about it's amazing! Drinks, view, music, atmosphere. Well, ok, the service can really actually suck sometimes, but I'm never in a hurry though, so that's okay, I guess.



Oh nooooo.....



OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!



Nope, that is not a faze-able event for a nurse. ;)



:lmao:


WOOT!!! :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:


Look at me go!!! :rotfl2::rotfl::lmao:


It was the BEST!!!



AWww, I really love this photo!



WHOA! That's certainly going on my list!

I'm definitely going back to Nomad's soon- I think my Mom would love it!

I'm soooo jealous that you're planning an Italy trip! What an absolute blast! I've never been overseas before, but Italy (along with France and Switzerland) is a must-see for me in my lifetime!! :)


Jen and Joe's answers:


Favorite Disney Park Epcot (Joe and Jen)

Favorite Disney Resorts Contemporary and POFQ (Joe) WL and POFQ (Jen)

Favorite Disney Movies Snow White (Joe) Robin Hood (Jen)

Favorite Disney Song When you Wish Upon a Star (Joe) Out There (Jen)

Favorite Disney Characters Grumpy and Snow Whits (Joe) Robin Hood (Jen)

Favorite Disney Restaurants Bull and bear (Joe) Cali Grill, Narcoossees, and WBG (Jen)

Favorite Ride at Magic Kingdom 7DMT (Joe) HM and Peter Pan (Jen)

Favorite Ride at Epcot The 3 Caballeros and Figment (Joe) FEA and Figment (Jen)

Favorite Ride at Hollywood Studios Rise of the Resistance Jen and Joe!!!!!

Favorite Ride at Animal Kingdom EE and FoP (Joe) FoP and Safari (Jen)

Favorite Disney Snacks Mickey rice crispy snacks (Joe) caramel apples, chocolate dipped pineapple, popcorn and Le Fou's Brew (Jen)

If lost at Disney World.. Look for me at: Joe and I can both be found at Jock Lindseys or WBG

LOVE that you guys answered my survey :) I really enjoyed Jock Lindsey's when we tried it in January- my drink was awesome! Also I've never stayed at POFQ, but it seems to be everyone's favorite pick! I have to get over there soon!
 


Trip #1, Day 3- May 3rd, 2019


I slept in a little bit this day, due to the crazy long days both yesterday and the day before! I wanted to say we all got up at 7:45ish (funny that this is considered sleeping in at WDW)! Lesley was heading to Animal Kingdom for the day, while Caroline and I decided to spend some time at Epcot!


We had our big Flower and Garden Festival meet-up with the whole group the next day, but I wanted to try some of my top food picks today so that I could be more present and go-with-the-flow tomorrow :)


Caroline and I stopped at the Market at Ale and Compass for some coffee before we headed off. I ordered the seasonal special, which was an iced S’mores latte. It was delicious!


Then, we took a leisurely stroll to Epcot and arrived at about 9:30 AM. The weather was absolutely gorgeous this morning- so sunny but not stiflingly humid!




We weren’t hungry just yet, so we bypassed World Showcase for now and headed into Future World! Crowds were nice and light today, so we were able to coordinate some fast passes and do Soarin’, Living with the Land, Spaceship Earth, the Seas with Nemo and Friends, and Figment!






I have this random photo from Spaceship Earth of the disco scientist 😆 I thought it was funny that the location on Snapchat came up as Animal Kingdom instead of Epcot?!


Caroline had a fast pass for Frozen Ever After that was coming up, so we made our way towards World Showcase. Our tummies were starting to grumble!


We stopped by the Bubblegum Wall first to grab a picture :cutie: I had done the purple wall before, but never this one!






To start off, we shared a cronut from the Taste Track booth. Caroline had tried the Violet Blueberry Vanilla Cronut on her last trip and said it was delicious! However, I had never had a cronut before, so we decided to try the classic sugar flavor instead. It was super yummy and very sweet- perfect to split! We wolfed this down so fast that we forgot to grab a picture ::yes::


Then, we trekked towards Norway to use Caroline’s fast pass. I didn’t have a FP and I was totally okay with not riding, but we wanted to try out a trick that Lesley had taught us about the day before.


Supposedly, even if you don’t have a fast pass, if you ask nicely, a CM is required to let you onto a ride as long as somebody else has one! I think this only works if there is just one of you tagging along- like one person cannot let on 5 extra people, etc.! Caroline made sure to be super nice and polite about it, and the CM let us both right on Frozen Ever After! I was so impressed, but also kind of nervous about “breaking the rules” :scared:






Well, it didn’t faze me for too long :laughing:


By now, we were starving and determined to get some more snacks from Flower and Garden! Now that I’ve been to all 4 Epcot festivals, I’ve decided that Flower and Garden is definitely my favorite festival. The food is so good, there’s lots of variety, and they have plenty of sweet treats to satisfy my sweet tooth! Plus I love the beautiful topiaries :love:


First, we stopped at Flavor Full Kitchen! There were two things at this booth that I wanted to try.






Can you tell that I have a sweet tooth? I ordered the Cookie Butter Worms and Dirt and the Mickey Peanut Butter and Jelly Tart!


The worms and dirt was ok- it was actually a milky consistency (I thought it would be more like pudding?), but it was nice and cold so that was good. I am a cookie butter fanatic- in college, I used to go through at least one jar a week and would just eat it plain with a spoon; no dippers necessary ::yes::


The Mickey PB and J tart was probably my favorite thing I had at Flower and Garden this year! I love peanut butter and jelly so I knew that I needed to try this. The filling went perfectly with the chocolate crust. Caroline also tried a tart for herself and she loved it too!


I wanted something savory next, so we headed off to the Honey Bee-stro booth. I had seen this on the menus before the trip…






It’s the Honey Tandoori Chicken Flatbread with white cheddar cheese, charred vegetables, clover honey sour cream, and micro citrus greens. This was AMAZING and I wish it came in a full size. I would get this all the time for lunch in WDW if it did! This definitely took #2 for F&G eats! The flavors worked so well together and I loved the sour cream drizzle.


Caroline had a hankering for a potato pancake, so we headed off to Germany’s Bauernmarket booth! I ordered:






Toasted pretzel bread topped with black forest ham and melted gruyere cheese.


This was yummy but just ok. It seemed like it had been sitting out for a bit, so it was a little stale. Still tasty, though! Also, I wish my legs were that tan again :(


I was getting super full, but Caroline and I each had one more item on our lists. Caroline found us a picnic table at The Smokehouse in America, where she got the BBQ burnt ends. I jogged off to Japan in search for…






Frushi!! I tried this back in 2017 and I knew I had to have it again! It was yummy and refreshing, but definitely not as good as the first time I tried it :( Maybe they had a bad batch?! I remember someone else on the trip saying that their Frushi wasn’t great either!


Caroline and I were both stuffed, and we had a big Epic dinner tonight! So we headed out of the park.


We strolled over to YC, where we changed into our swimsuits and went down to…






Stormalong Bay :love: Ahhhhh… best pool in WDW! Lesley was just returning from AK at this point, so we texted her our spots so she could meet us.


Overall, we spent about 2 hours down by the pool. This day was probably the best weather of the trip- so sunny and not a cloud in the sky! The love bugs did start to venture out on this day though :crazy2:


We met up with @StarWarsMomofGirls! and her beautiful family to chat and swim for a while! Ariella is the sweetest- I was really excited to meet her because she was one of the first DISboards peeps that I remember commenting on my TRs, and I love her TRs as well! Her daughters were also sweeties- I bonded briefly with her daughter Gwen and said that we were “name twins” because Gwen is my middle name :)


When we bid goodbye to Ariella and her family, we figured that we should start heading upstairs to get ready for our big dinner. Caroline and I grabbed some drinks for the room from Hurricane Hanna’s. I ordered a Banana Cabana- it went down wayyy too easy :drinking1 I remember that Caroline also paid for my drink, which was so thoughtful!!






Back in the room, we got all dolled up and headed out at 4:00 to call a Minnie Van. Tonight was our EPIC dinner at O’hana! This was one of the biggest events we had planned all trip- there were going to be about 25 people there in total! I was so pumped since O’hana is one of my favorites, but also a bit nervous that it would be overwhelming ::yes::


I took a quick selfie- I was very proud of my hair this night :cutie:









Minnie Van picture! I loved Lesley and Caroline’s dresses!


We took one more picture while arriving at the Polynesian Village Resort. This resort seems to stay the most consistent as my #1- the nostalgia factor is so real for me and this place is an oasis outside of the chaos that is WDW!









We met up with all of our Epic ladies (and a few husbands) and sat down to our giant tables!


There was a lady at another table with a tall and iced blue tropical drink, so I asked the waiter for one of those. (Now that I’m looking, I literally cannot find a blue drink anywhere on the menu- maybe I hallucinated this?? I did spend a lot of time in the sun this day ;) ). Anyway, our server brought me a blue Glow-Tini instead, which was totally accurate on his part but not exactly what I was expecting.






My returning readers should know by now that I am TERRIBLE with confrontation, so I didn’t say anything and tried it. I was so pleasantly surprised! I usually don’t like martinis because of their strong vodka taste, but this was super sweet with a yummy sour twinge. I really enjoyed it!



I don’t have any food pictures (sadly), but the food was delicious. My favorites have always been the honey chicken wings and noodles with peanut sauce! I’m also a sucker for the bread pudding.


I do have pictures of the lovely company, though!






Su-Lynn (@chunkymonkey ) gave out adorable little Mickey keys with everyone’s “chunky name” on them!! Mine was “ChunkyBaby” of course, since I was the youngest of the bunch :)





One memorable moment from this dinner was when the waiter accidentally spilled the bread pudding, and Mary (@MissMaryQC ) got caramel sauce all down her back! I felt sooo bad for her. But then, I saw the gorgeous $125 Tiki Room dress that she got for free… And I kinda felt like turning towards the waiter and being like

A45A6975-1BA3-4385-BCDA-203932FB793D.gif


:laughing: Hey, I will gladly pour caramel on myself if that means I can have a free Disney dress!!





Here’s a picture of the whole crew! While a bit chaotic, this was such a fun meal. Our server was wonderful and O’hana will always be one of my favorites! Jennifer (@Chrystmasangel ) also gave out custom-made Mickey ears to everyone and beautiful, hand-made blankets to Su-Lynn and Lesley, which was so amazing.


Everyone was literally so generous on this trip. Liesa brought some of her beautiful pictures that she printed for everyone (she is an amazing photographer), Fallon (@fallonkendra ) brought some sweet treats from Canada like Coffee Crisp and Smarties, and Caroline brought Lesley and I some fun Minnesota souvenirs!


I couldn’t get over how sweet everyone was. When you’re in a large group, there’s bound to be some people that you don’t click with, but that literally NEVER happened!! All of these ladies are so amazing, and there was none of that awkwardness that happens when you first meet someone. I mean, hey, if you love Disney parks, chances are that I’m going to love you too! :)


At this point, people started to split off. A big group headed over to Geyser Point at Wilderness Lodge for a nightcap, but my heart was pulling me towards Magic Kingdom! I did have some FOMO about Geyser Point- it was one of those situations where you wish you could be in two places at once! But, Karamie (@paradesintherain ) said that she’d meet me over there in a bit, so I was happy to have a friend with me :)


I took a leisurely walk around the Poly to let my stomach rest..














This resort is so beautiful. Many people think it’s dated, but that’s why I love it so much :love:


I also took the monorail over to GF and took a little stroll around there too! I texted our August “Girl’s Trip” group chat some pictures, since this is where we were staying in 3 short months! Everyone was so jealous ::yes::





I also ran into Liesa (@Steppesister ), Jennifer, and Liesa’s lovely mom! Liesa’s mom wasn’t feeling well and had quite the little scare over at the Poly monorail (she was okay, don’t worry), so they were headed back to the room. As they were walking away, Liesa called out, “Are you staying here?” and I said “No, just resort-hopping!” and another random lady in the lobby looked at me, smiled, and nodded. :laughing: THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING ME, GF LOBBY LADY.



911986E0-548D-4DA3-9885-8D5C7A455A1E.gif


It was almost time for Happily Ever After by now, so I jaunted over to MK! I caught the first few minutes of the fireworks, then headed over to ride Space Mountain, since I hadn’t ridden it yet this trip!


I was texting with Karamie at this point, and the line was getting SO long. It originally said 25 minutes, but bumped up to 45 minutes after I got in line :mad:







I was clearly not having it :laughing: Luckily we were able to coordinate some FPs and I promised to meet her as soon as I got out!


FINALLY, I was able to ride!






Then, I jogged over to BTMRR to meet Karamie! I hadn’t ridden this mountain yet either this trip, and it was so much fun in the dark!


We looped back to Liberty Square and rode Haunted Mansion.






I LOVE our photopass picture! Neither of us knew where the new camera was on this ride, so this was completely candid. We look so pensive and philosophical :rolleyes:


After HM, we headed to Tomorrowland to ride Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and the People Mover.





The park must have been open late tonight, because then we headed over to Main Street USA to do some shopping to close out the night! We browsed through the Art of Disney, the Emporium, and Crystal Arts.


It was so much fun getting to hang out with Karamie! We had talked briefly before the trip, but we really found out how much we have in common while on the trip and we kind of became buddies! It was sad because this was the last night I really spent any 1:1 time with her! But Karamie is such a sweetheart and always up for anything, and I so enjoyed getting to hang with her. Her dad is also great and it was awesome getting to meet him too!


We got some slushies at the Confectionary before heading out. We bid goodbye at the bus stop (she was staying over at WL), and I fell into bed immediately once I got back to YC! I was ready for some Star Wars, Flower and Garden, and IllumiNations boat cruisin’ fun tomorrow! Would all of these things happen? Stay tuned...



 
Great update and photos!!!

When I read this.....
Mickey PB and J tart

my immediate reaction was o_O:eek: SERIOUSLY!!!!
next time...whenever that is....that I am at Disney I MUST find this.

I also love the magic of Poly as well! :love: I love the dress you wore!
 
I loved the PB&J Mickey tart, so delicious and I didn’t feel guilty eating it since Andi wasn’t there. She is allergic and I would never order something with peanuts when she is with!
Your Bubblegum wall picture is so cute. I actually was able to take a decent phone picture haha 😂
Such a fun day and night.
I’m with you, F&G is my all time favorite festival and I am so sad to miss it this year!
Almost 1 year ago to the day that our epic trip started, Ahh I miss everyone!
 


Love this pic!
Supposedly, even if you don’t have a fast pass, if you ask nicely, a CM is required to let you onto a ride as long as somebody else has one! I think this only works if there is just one of you tagging along- like one person cannot let on 5 extra people, etc.! Caroline made sure to be super nice and polite about it, and the CM let us both right on Frozen Ever After! I was so impressed, but also kind of nervous about “breaking the rules” :scared:
Hehe, we broke the rules a lot!!
This was yummy but just ok. It seemed like it had been sitting out for a bit, so it was a little stale. Still tasty, though! Also, I wish my legs were that tan again :(
OMG me too, I'm so pasty now.
I took a quick selfie- I was very proud of my hair this night :cutie:


You looked so pretty!
We took one more picture while arriving at the Polynesian Village Resort. This resort seems to stay the most consistent as my #1- the nostalgia factor is so real for me and this place is an oasis outside of the chaos that is WDW!
Exactly! This resort brings out all the old Disney feels, and nostalgia is a huge factor of why I love it!



My returning readers should know by now that I am TERRIBLE with confrontation, so I didn’t say anything and tried it. I was so pleasantly surprised! I usually don’t like martinis because of their strong vodka taste, but this was super sweet with a yummy sour twinge. I really enjoyed it!
I think this is the magical star cocktail? I like it too!!



Su-Lynn (@chunkymonkey ) gave out adorable little Mickey keys with everyone’s “chunky name” on them!! Mine was “ChunkyBaby” of course, since I was the youngest of the bunch :)
And it's also a bottle-opener!! Dual function, LOL!
One memorable moment from this dinner was when the waiter accidentally spilled the bread pudding, and Mary (@MissMaryQC ) got caramel sauce all down her back! I felt sooo bad for her. But then, I saw the gorgeous $125 Tiki Room dress that she got for free… And I kinda felt like turning towards the waiter and being like

A45A6975-1BA3-4385-BCDA-203932FB793D.gif
Me too!! Slather me in sauce!!
I couldn’t get over how sweet everyone was. When you’re in a large group, there’s bound to be some people that you don’t click with, but that literally NEVER happened!! All of these ladies are so amazing, and there was none of that awkwardness that happens when you first meet someone. I mean, hey, if you love Disney parks, chances are that I’m going to love you too! :)
Totally how I felt too!! We were such a fun bunch!!
This resort is so beautiful. Many people think it’s dated, but that’s why I love it so much :love:
I miss it so much!
 
I have this random photo from Spaceship Earth of the disco scientist 😆 I thought it was funny that the location on Snapchat came up as Animal Kingdom instead of Epcot?!

:rotfl2:


Caroline had a fast pass for Frozen Ever After that was coming up,

Caroline must've been happy you were so willing to go on since Andi hates that ride!


Caroline made sure to be super nice and polite about it, and the CM let us both right on Frozen Ever After!

Nice! :thumbsup2


We strolled over to YC, where we changed into our swimsuits and went down to…





Stormalong Bay :love: Ahhhhh… best pool in WDW!

That looks like heaven :cloud9:


We took one more picture while arriving at the Polynesian Village Resort. This resort seems to stay the most consistent as my #1- the nostalgia factor is so real for me and this place is an oasis outside of the chaos that is WDW!



You all look beautiful :love:


This resort is so beautiful. Many people think it’s dated, but that’s why I love it so much :love:

Oh, I love it so much there too. We have a very small DVC contract there so we can really only stay every 2-3 years. We'll be staying there for the 50th and I can't wait ::yes::
 
What a fantastic day!

Spending time at F&G with Caroline sounded really nice. I'm a sucker for cookie butter too!

And dinner with the whole crew at Ohana must have been a blast!

Ending the night at MK is always great. And so nice that you could spend more time with Karamie and that you both got along so well!
 
Around 5:45 AM, I started to realize why I was so restless- my stomach was killing me :(
Ugh I remember you telling me about this :( Never fun to be sick in Disney but so much more uncomfortable when you don't even know the people you're rooming with! You definitely lucked out with the roommates you had and I'm glad you felt better quick :goodvibes
It was also my first time seeing Toy Story Land,
Oh wow I hadn't realized this!
We also created some make-your-own treats at Goofy’s Candy Company
We did this for the first time last year and definitely will do again! Really fun and SO good!
Wine Bar George!
One place I haven't been that I still need to go soon.....................
 
Karamie got a brownie sundae, and we plopped down on the curb and ate our treats. We people-watched and just talked for a good half hour! This was a really great memory from this trip- Karamie was so much fun to talk to and it was a peaceful moment after our whirlwind day!

This was such a nice, peaceful moment! So glad you had the idea.


I looove this sweatshirt, maybe Shop Disney still has it?


Oh man I should have met up with you sooner and gotten this!

Dare I say, it was actually better than a normal Dole Whip?

I'll say it! 100% better than a regular Dole Whip!


So cute! Someone needs to teach me to do cute poses in front of the Walls of Disney.

Caroline made sure to be super nice and polite about it, and the CM let us both right on Frozen Ever After! I was so impressed, but also kind of nervous about “breaking the rules” :scared:

I've had CMs ask me trivia questions, which I always think is fun!

We met up with all of our Epic ladies (and a few husbands)

And 1 dad :thumbsup2

And I kinda felt like turning towards the waiter and being like

Oh man I laughed out loud.

I LOVE our photopass picture! Neither of us knew where the new camera was on this ride, so this was completely candid. We look so pensive and philosophical :rolleyes:

Possibly the best PhotoPass picture of the trip!

It was so much fun getting to hang out with Karamie! We had talked briefly before the trip, but we really found out how much we have in common while on the trip and we kind of became buddies! It was sad because this was the last night I really spent any 1:1 time with her! But Karamie is such a sweetheart and always up for anything, and I so enjoyed getting to hang with her. Her dad is also great and it was awesome getting to meet him too!

Awww so sweet! It was so great getting to know you. I'm thinking this means we ought to plan another trip... Plus, we'll for sure need it after all this Covid pandemic stuff!
 
We had our big Flower and Garden Festival meet-up with the whole group the next day, but I wanted to try some of my top food picks today so that I could be more present and go-with-the-flow tomorrow :)
Good call!!! I can only recall trying two things when we were all there together. So many others I never got too but I was way more interested in talking to everyone.

I have this random photo from Spaceship Earth of the disco scientist 😆 I thought it was funny that the location on Snapchat came up as Animal Kingdom instead of Epcot?!
:rotfl2: Maybe she is diversifying and thinking about moving over to Rafiki's planet watch :confused3

Caroline made sure to be super nice and polite about it, and the CM let us both right on Frozen Ever After! I was so impressed, but also kind of nervous about “breaking the rules” :scared:
Wow! My attempts at breaking the rules never work though I'm pretty sure super nice is also not in my vocabulary :P

ow that I’ve been to all 4 Epcot festivals, I’ve decided that Flower and Garden is definitely my favorite festival.
Oh its so mine too. This was only my second time but the food is just as good as food and wine (if not better) plus I love all the flower and topiaries. Sad to be missing it this year but hopefully we have some food and wine in our future




It’s the Honey Tandoori Chicken Flatbread with white cheddar cheese, charred vegetables, clover honey sour cream, and micro citrus greens. This was AMAZING and I wish it came in a full size. I would get this all the time for lunch in WDW if it did! This definitely took #2 for F&G eats! The flavors worked so well together and I loved the sour cream drizzle.
Yum!!!!!! This looks and sounds delicious. I'm a sucker for all things tandoori and flatbread so sign me up

Ariella is the sweetest- I was really excited to meet her because she was one of the first DISboards peeps that I remember commenting on my TRs, and I love her TRs as well!
She really is! We've been able to spend time with them on a few trips and its so great when all the adults and kids get along. Casey and Gwen are like two little peas in a pod and have struck up a friendship of their own.

And I kinda felt like turning towards the waiter and being like

A45A6975-1BA3-4385-BCDA-203932FB793D.gif
You and me both! For $150 dollar dress spill whatever you want on me




I LOVE our photopass picture! Neither of us knew where the new camera was on this ride, so this was completely candid. We look so pensive and philosophical :rolleyes:
It actually looks like you posed for this. Love it!
 
AHHH Katie!!! SO good to see you here! I've been reading along with your newest report! I'm so happy for you and Jamie (although I have to say I was expecting him to something cute like that ;) )! That's so exciting!!

Ahh thank you thank you! I'm so happy too, he was so precious about it I can't wait to write about it :hug:

I did have a great year! Haha, I definitely went a little overboard with trying the Deluxes- I'm slowly but surely trying to stay at every Disney resort! Hmmm my favorite... it's so tough, they're all so different! But I have to say that the ones that made the strongest impressions on me this year were the Riviera (for it's astounding service- literally they treat you like royalty, and my awesome upgrade), the Boardwalk Inn (for the amazing view, location and theming in general- it's taken my #2 spot for favorite resort) , and the Polynesian of course (also had great service there)!

That's awesome, I'd love to hear more about Riviera. We did a DVC tour there a couple of months ago and got to see the rooms and the lobby etc. I really want to try Topolino Terrace too!

If there is another DIS trip in the future, you HAVE to come (I'll introduce you :laughing:)!

omg YES absolutely I would love to!!

(but I’m not a fan of beer or fish fry :crazy2:)

What the heck is fish fry please :laughing:

(Click for a video of 4 year-old Molly) 😂



Owww you are precious! What an amazing little person voice you had :cutie:

Favorite Disney Snacks- Jack-Jack Num Num Cookie

I had one of these in Feb and it was everything I dreamed it would be! I could not finish it though, I was disappointed in myself. It's so sweet!

Mickey Rice Krispie Treat, the Cinnamon Roll from Gaston’s Tavern, Mr. Kamal’s seasoned fries from Animal Kingdom

Yes yes and yes

I am a Disney snacks connoisseur and ate just snacks about 75% of the time on my solo January WDW trip :cutie:

You sound so great to be in the parks with :laughing:

I am actually still working a full 40-hour work week despite the pandemic, which is REALLY helping my sanity (and my bank account ::yes::).

That's so good for you that you've kept your job and everything. I'm in the same position, I can do my whole job from home so I'm still working full time. I'm loving the fact that my commute has gone from 35 minutes to 5 seconds :laughing::thumbsup2

love to binge-watch old seasons of America’s Next Top Model

I loved ANTM so much!

Favorite Disney Park

Favorite Disney Resorts

Favorite Disney Movies

Favorite Disney Song

Favorite Disney Characters

Favorite Disney Restaurants

Favorite Ride at Magic Kingdom

Favorite Ride at Epcot

Favorite Ride at Hollywood Studios

Favorite Ride at Animal Kingdom

Favorite Disney Snacks

If lost at Disney World.. Look for me at:

Ooh fun! I've not done one of these in a while.

Favorite Disney Park Magic Kingdom

Favorite Disney Resorts Wilderness Lodge, Grand Floridian

Favorite Disney Movies Too many! Snow White, Mary Poppins, Toy Story, Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Emperor's New Groove, Ratatouille, The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, THE MUPPETS, Moana

Favorite Disney Song Also wayyy too many! Absolute favourite has to be the main theme from Ratatouille

Favorite Disney Characters Jiminy Cricket, Winnie the Pooh, Emperor Kuzco, Ray, Tamatoa

Favorite Disney Restaurants Sanaa, Trail's End, Whispering Canyon!

Favorite Ride at Magic Kingdom Splash Mountain! And the PeopleMover. And honourable mention to the Country Bear Jamboree :laughing:

Favorite Ride at Epcot Soarin'

Favorite Ride at Hollywood Studios Tower of Terror / Rise of the Resistance!

Favorite Ride at Animal Kingdom Flight of Passage

Favorite Disney Snacks Oh god there's too many! Hawaiian pork slider from Food and Wine Festival, Nutella fresh fruit waffle from Sleepy Hollow, magical cookie bar from the Wilderness Lodge, Gaston's cinnamon bun, make-your-own Mickey bar from Goofy's, Mr. Kamal's fries, those big strawberry and dark chocolate bars... also in remembrance of those red velvet cupcakes from starring rolls :lovestruc

If lost at Disney World.. Look for me at: resorts and restaurants!

I burst into the bathroom and apologized quickly to Caroline before proceeding to throw up in the toilet next to her :crazy2:

Oh no that's awfulll! I'm so sorry that happened to you :sad: glad it seems like you felt better later on and didn't miss out on anything!


Oh wow I need to try one of these. Is the light brown all of the peanut butter?

Supposedly, even if you don’t have a fast pass, if you ask nicely, a CM is required to let you onto a ride as long as somebody else has one! I think this only works if there is just one of you tagging along- like one person cannot let on 5 extra people, etc.! Caroline made sure to be super nice and polite about it, and the CM let us both right on Frozen Ever After!

Good tip!!

Mickey Peanut Butter and Jelly Tart!

Shall we go to Disney together and just share all of these amazing peanut treats? And by share, I obviously mean get one each :laughing:


Oww how do you look so pretty after having such a rough morning! :lovestruc


Great pic, there's so many of you! Love the matching ears.

One memorable moment from this dinner was when the waiter accidentally spilled the bread pudding, and Mary (@MissMaryQC ) got caramel sauce all down her back! I felt sooo bad for her. But then, I saw the gorgeous $125 Tiki Room dress that she got for free… And I kinda felt like turning towards the waiter and being like

A45A6975-1BA3-4385-BCDA-203932FB793D.gif

Hahaha WHAT! How did this happen? Was it in the form of a gift card or did they just bring a dress to the table :laughing: I would totally take the caramel sauce. Even better down my front so it's a little easier to clean up / lick up :lmao:
 
What a great day! Epcot is my favorite park, so I can never get enough time there.

I love the dress you were wearing for dinner. Did you get that at Lily Pulitzer the day before?

I would have loved to have gone on that trip, but had just been there a couple months earlier and I couldn't ask for more time off. It appeared to be such a fun group of people.

Do you work year round or just during the school year? Is it easy to take time off whenever you want? I try not to take more than a couple of school days off for vacations because it is highly frowned upon. I'm counting down the days (actually years) until retirement when I can go to Disney whenever the heck I want!
 
I have this random photo from Spaceship Earth of the disco scientist 😆 I thought it was funny that the location on Snapchat came up as Animal Kingdom instead of Epcot?!

I noticed that too and busted up. :laughing:

and the CM let us both right on Frozen Ever After! I was so impressed, but also kind of nervous about “breaking the rules” :scared:

I'm a rule follower too and would be pretty shy about even asking.

I’ve decided that Flower and Garden is definitely my favorite festival.

I think it might be mine too after going to two now. I really love how beautiful it is and the food booths make it equally as fun to me now as F&W.

It’s the Honey Tandoori Chicken Flatbread with white cheddar cheese, charred vegetables, clover honey sour cream, and micro citrus greens

That was one of my top 3, I think. SO GOOD!

Toasted pretzel bread topped with black forest ham and melted gruyere cheese.

I'm bummed it wasn't as good for you as it was for me. I LOVED that and also was in my top 3.

I bonded briefly with her daughter Gwen and said that we were “name twins” because Gwen is my middle name :)

Awww, name twinsies.

this place is an oasis outside of the chaos that is WDW!

YES!!! So soothing and relaxing!

One memorable moment from this dinner was when the waiter accidentally spilled the bread pudding, and Mary (@MissMaryQC ) got caramel sauce all down her back! I felt sooo bad for her. But then, I saw the gorgeous $125 Tiki Room dress that she got for free… And I kinda felt like turning towards the waiter and being like

A45A6975-1BA3-4385-BCDA-203932FB793D.gif
I never heard about that!! OMGosh! Why can't spills like that happen to me? (not that I got a GF upgrade or anything. ;) )

Liesa brought some of her beautiful pictures that she printed for everyone (she is an amazing photographer)

Aw, you're too sweet. Thank you, Molly. :hug:

I also ran into Liesa (@Steppesister ), Jennifer, and Liesa’s lovely mom! Liesa’s mom wasn’t feeling well and had quite the little scare over at the Poly monorail (she was okay, don’t worry),
That was terrifying!! I'm SO glad it turned out to be a minor inconvenience and not a heart attack or something! :scared:

Liesa called out, “Are you staying here?” and I said “No, just resort-hopping!” and another random lady in the lobby looked at me, smiled, and nodded. :laughing: THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING ME, GF LOBBY LADY.

:lmao:
 
To make sure that we got a pull-out bed, Lesley had put two fake “children” on our reservation so that we were guaranteed the extra bed. Well, let me tell you, this CM GRILLED me about those children. “Where are they? What are their names? How old are they?”

I had no idea Lesley did this for your reservation, how smart! I would have panicked and probably cried if the CM started asking me those questions haha!

Also - glad to see you back on the Disboards! I've been painfully absent myself - I'm hoping to get in some quality time on here over the next week or two!
 
Great update and photos!!!

When I read this.....
Mickey PB and J tart

my immediate reaction was o_O:eek: SERIOUSLY!!!!
next time...whenever that is....that I am at Disney I MUST find this.

I also love the magic of Poly as well! :love: I love the dress you wore!


Thank you!! :)

I saw the tart it on the list on Disney Food Blog and I knew I had to try it!! It did not disappoint- it reminded me of Smucker's Uncrustables but 100% better ::yes::


I loved the PB&J Mickey tart, so delicious and I didn’t feel guilty eating it since Andi wasn’t there. She is allergic and I would never order something with peanuts when she is with!
Your Bubblegum wall picture is so cute. I actually was able to take a decent phone picture haha 😂
Such a fun day and night.
I’m with you, F&G is my all time favorite festival and I am so sad to miss it this year!
Almost 1 year ago to the day that our epic trip started, Ahh I miss everyone!

Haha, I'm so glad you got a chance to try the tart! It was so good and it even surprised me with how good it was!!

I wish we were gallavanting around Epcot right now :( It was so fun touring the parks with you and we travelled so well together!! Hopefully soon we can be back in our happy place again!


Love this pic!

Hehe, we broke the rules a lot!!

OMG me too, I'm so pasty now.

You looked so pretty!

Exactly! This resort brings out all the old Disney feels, and nostalgia is a huge factor of why I love it!

I think this is the magical star cocktail? I like it too!!

And it's also a bottle-opener!! Dual function, LOL!

Me too!! Slather me in sauce!!

Totally how I felt too!! We were such a fun bunch!!

I miss it so much!

Haha, by the time January came, I was totally comfortable breaking the rules :laughing: Although we did have some sassy CMs a few times! Ugh I miss touring the parks with you guys so much!!

I was surprised by how much I liked the cocktail, I was expecting it to be like a Cosmopolitan which I DO NOT like! And what?! I had no idea that they key was also a bottle opener! Now I have to try it out!!

:rotfl2:




Caroline must've been happy you were so willing to go on since Andi hates that ride!




Nice! :thumbsup2




That looks like heaven :cloud9:




You all look beautiful :love:




Oh, I love it so much there too. We have a very small DVC contract there so we can really only stay every 2-3 years. We'll be staying there for the 50th and I can't wait ::yes::

Thanks Kelly :) Ahh, the Poly for the 50th?! How exciting, I'm so jealous!! Very fitting too since it was one of the first resorts that opened!


What a fantastic day!

Spending time at F&G with Caroline sounded really nice. I'm a sucker for cookie butter too!

And dinner with the whole crew at Ohana must have been a blast!

Ending the night at MK is always great. And so nice that you could spend more time with Karamie and that you both got along so well!


I was a bit disappointed with the cookie butter dessert! Luckily, I just bought a jar of cookie butter when I got home and it was much more satisfying ::yes:: It was such a perfect day- a great combination of high action and restful!


Ugh I remember you telling me about this :( Never fun to be sick in Disney but so much more uncomfortable when you don't even know the people you're rooming with! You definitely lucked out with the roommates you had and I'm glad you felt better quick :goodvibes

Oh wow I hadn't realized this!

We did this for the first time last year and definitely will do again! Really fun and SO good!

One place I haven't been that I still need to go soon.....................

Ugh, I know!! I was kind of embarrassed, but Caroline and Lesley were wonderful and didn't treat me like I had the plague :laughing:

I actually found out about Goofy's through the DIS, and OMG I've made it an every-trip tradition ever since! The fresh-made Rice Krispy Treats there are sooo much better than the prepackaged ones you can get at the shops! My mom also loves their caramel apples. You would loooooove Wine Bar George, you definitely need to stop in soon!


This was such a nice, peaceful moment! So glad you had the idea.



I looove this sweatshirt, maybe Shop Disney still has it?



Oh man I should have met up with you sooner and gotten this!



I'll say it! 100% better than a regular Dole Whip!



So cute! Someone needs to teach me to do cute poses in front of the Walls of Disney.



I've had CMs ask me trivia questions, which I always think is fun!



And 1 dad :thumbsup2



Oh man I laughed out loud.



Possibly the best PhotoPass picture of the trip!



Awww so sweet! It was so great getting to know you. I'm thinking this means we ought to plan another trip... Plus, we'll for sure need it after all this Covid pandemic stuff!

Loved getting to hang with you on this trip!! I had such an awesome time at MK and DS :) And YES girl count me in!! You were saying March?! :banana:


Good call!!! I can only recall trying two things when we were all there together. So many others I never got too but I was way more interested in talking to everyone.


:rotfl2: Maybe she is diversifying and thinking about moving over to Rafiki's planet watch :confused3


Wow! My attempts at breaking the rules never work though I'm pretty sure super nice is also not in my vocabulary :P


Oh its so mine too. This was only my second time but the food is just as good as food and wine (if not better) plus I love all the flower and topiaries. Sad to be missing it this year but hopefully we have some food and wine in our future


Yum!!!!!! This looks and sounds delicious. I'm a sucker for all things tandoori and flatbread so sign me up


She really is! We've been able to spend time with them on a few trips and its so great when all the adults and kids get along. Casey and Gwen are like two little peas in a pod and have struck up a friendship of their own.


You and me both! For $150 dollar dress spill whatever you want on me


It actually looks like you posed for this. Love it!

I'm hoping I'll be back for F&G next year... May is probably my favorite time of year to go (although I love August/September too)!! Crowds are not too bad, weather is beautiful and hot, and no hurricane warnings usually :laughing:

Ariella is so nice and I love reading both of your TRs about your adventures together! :)

What a great day! Epcot is my favorite park, so I can never get enough time there.

I love the dress you were wearing for dinner. Did you get that at Lily Pulitzer the day before?

I would have loved to have gone on that trip, but had just been there a couple months earlier and I couldn't ask for more time off. It appeared to be such a fun group of people.

Do you work year round or just during the school year? Is it easy to take time off whenever you want? I try not to take more than a couple of school days off for vacations because it is highly frowned upon. I'm counting down the days (actually years) until retirement when I can go to Disney whenever the heck I want!

Epcot is slowly moving up my ranks! I used to dislike it as a kid and thought it was boring, but it's #2 now! Although DHS is creeping up there with Toy Story Land...

Thanks for the compliment :) It is Lilly Pullizter, but I actually bought it back home! Our local department store, Von Maur, sells Lily dresses seasonally, and it is DANGEROUS!

I work year round! I work with the little ones (2-5) so none of them are in school yet, so we don't follow a school schedule! I'm really lucky in that I make my own schedule every week, and as long as I get 40 hours per week, I can work when I want! I can also flex my PTO; for example, so let's say I take a Friday off, if I work 36 hours Monday-Thursday, I only have to take 4 hours of PTO instead of a full 8-hour day! My work is quite generous with our PTO since it's a "high burnout risk" job and I'm so thankful for that!! It's very conducive to my Disney trips ::yes::



I noticed that too and busted up. :laughing:



I'm a rule follower too and would be pretty shy about even asking.



I think it might be mine too after going to two now. I really love how beautiful it is and the food booths make it equally as fun to me now as F&W.



That was one of my top 3, I think. SO GOOD!



I'm bummed it wasn't as good for you as it was for me. I LOVED that and also was in my top 3.



Awww, name twinsies.



YES!!! So soothing and relaxing!


I never heard about that!! OMGosh! Why can't spills like that happen to me? (not that I got a GF upgrade or anything. ;) )



Aw, you're too sweet. Thank you, Molly. :hug:


That was terrifying!! I'm SO glad it turned out to be a minor inconvenience and not a heart attack or something! :scared:



:lmao:

I'm so hoping I can get back to F&G soon! I feel like a crazy person, but Food and Wine actually ranks #4 on my list 😲 I hate getting tipsy on wine (makes me sooo dizzy and actually kind of sad :laughing:) and they mostly only have savory items and I'm much more of a sweets girl!

I was sooooo worried about your Mom! I'm so glad everything was ok and she could still enjoy the rest of the trip too :)


I had no idea Lesley did this for your reservation, how smart! I would have panicked and probably cried if the CM started asking me those questions haha!

Also - glad to see you back on the Disboards! I've been painfully absent myself - I'm hoping to get in some quality time on here over the next week or two!

Haha I think it was the Disney adrenaline in me, I'm usually terrible with stuff like that too but I was so desperate to see the room and hit the parks! :laughing: Glad to see you back too! Everybody has so much going on and I hope you (and your little one) are doing well! I'll be thinking of you these next few weeks :)
 
That's awesome, I'd love to hear more about Riviera. We did a DVC tour there a couple of months ago and got to see the rooms and the lobby etc. I really want to try Topolino Terrace too!

I had breakfast at Topolino's Terrace in January and it was lovely! The food was great and the service was wonderful. That was my biggest takeaway from Riviera- everyone there was SO NICE- even for Disney standards! When I checked in for my 1-night stay, I got a HAND-WRITTEN note thanking me for being their guest :sad:

What the heck is fish fry please :laughing:

Haha! Ok so fish fry is basically just battered/breaded fish (usually walleye or perch)! It has big Wisconsin history though and we are known for our "Friday fish fries"! Usually the meal comes with potato pancakes and coleslaw, and they're especially popular during Lent due to the high Catholic population in Wisconsin! But pretty much every sit-down restaurant serves battered fish on Friday and I guess it's sort of a tradition- my dad loves it and gets fish on Fridays almost every single week! And there's your Wisconsin history lesson (we are literally the most boring state in the U.S :laughing:

I had one of these in Feb and it was everything I dreamed it would be! I could not finish it though, I was disappointed in myself. It's so sweet!

I can usually TAKE DOWN some sweets, but I couldn't even finish it in one go either! It was soooo rich and gooey, I had to save some for later in the afternoon!


I loved ANTM so much!

OMG do you watch Brad Mondo on Youtube?! I've been watching all of his videos lately; he's a hilarious hair stylist and does reviews of all of the ANTM hair makeovers! They're sooo funny! But I will stand by the statement that ANTM is literally the most unintentionally funny TV show ever- it makes LOL more than most comedies!


Favorite Disney Snacks Oh god there's too many! Hawaiian pork slider from Food and Wine Festival, Nutella fresh fruit waffle from Sleepy Hollow, magical cookie bar from the Wilderness Lodge, Gaston's cinnamon bun, make-your-own Mickey bar from Goofy's, Mr. Kamal's fries, those big strawberry and dark chocolate bars... also in remembrance of those red velvet cupcakes from starring rolls :lovestruc

Hmm the strawberry dark chocolate bars sound intriguing ::yes:: I loved the Mr. Kamal's fries soooo much while eating them but they did NOT agree with me at all!! Maybe it's the strong seasoning?


Oh wow I need to try one of these. Is the light brown all of the peanut butter?

The brown layer on the top is PB, then the brown layer closer to the bottom is chocolate ice cream :love:


Shall we go to Disney together and just share all of these amazing peanut treats? And by share, I obviously mean get one each :laughing:

HAHA YES girl sign me up! And we will stay one night in every single one of the Deluxes :laughing:


Oww how do you look so pretty after having such a rough morning! :lovestruc

Awww thanks :) Although this WAS taken the next day after my vomiting incident, can't take too much credit haha!


Hahaha WHAT! How did this happen? Was it in the form of a gift card or did they just bring a dress to the table :laughing: I would totally take the caramel sauce. Even better down my front so it's a little easier to clean up / lick up :lmao:

Haha so since the caramel ruined her dress, they took her downstairs to BouTiki while we were finishing up dinner and she could pick out any dress in the store! She chose a beautiful green Tiki Room dress that I also saw at the MarketPlace Co-Op (the Cherry Tree Lane collection)!
 

Trip #1, Day 4- May 4th, 2019


May the 4th be with you! This was going to be a busy day with lots of friends, so we got the ball rolling super early this morning. We wanted to make it to DHS for rope-drop! What better place to spend May 4th, am I right?!


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I was a bit nervous about crowds at DHS, but I was actually also really looking forward to seeing all of the Star Wars ambiance and just enjoying the atmosphere!


This trip in general really was the beginning of a new touring structure for me. Back when I would go to Disney only once a year or every few years, we would be total park commandos with no mid-day breaks. We would also pretty much just do all rides, all the time! Having an AP and having the freedom to hang around and take it slow has really made me feel less rigid and desperate with Disney World :laughing: I just am so much more relaxed and not so “we have to do things according to plan”!


I did post this in our Epic Girl’s trip Facebook group a while ago, because it’s so true ::yes:: It’s a video- click to play!






Anywho, back to May 4th, 2019! We got ready super quick and headed out of our room at about 8:30. For some reason that I can’t remember now, I think Caroline and I got split up from Lesley? I think that we needed our coffee fix from Ale and Compass :drinking1 I got an iced caramel macchiato, which is my standard WDW morning coffee order!


Lesley ended up catching a boat, but Caroline and I decided to walk to DHS! The walking path is so convenient (my friend Morgan and I loved it when we stayed at BWI in December). I think we ended up entering the park right at 9:00.










I was going to try and hit Toy Story Mania, but the line was already over an hour! Caroline was having some troubles with her Magic Band and had to go to guest services, so she encouraged me to go ahead and do my 9:00-10:00 FP for Rock n Roller Coaster.





Make it a super stretch!!





It was a rockin’ ride! :) Nothing like riding a crazy roller coaster right after you wake up :crazy2:


Caroline met me right outside of RNRC, Magic Band issues resolved! We were thinking of doing ToT, but decided to pass. Some of our other friends were in the park by now, so we headed to Toy Story Land to meet them!


The weather was already getting so boiling hot! We were waiting for Ariella (@StarWarsMomofGirls! ) and her fam to finish up their breakfast at Woody’s Lunch Box, so we browsed some of the stands. Lesley knew a CM over at Slinky Dog Dash, so she was going to use her magical Disney powers to get us all through the fast pass line!


I literally don’t know what I would have done without Lesley this trip. She is so nice and knows EVERYTHING about Disney. She taught me so many tips and tricks that I never would have thought about, and she’s such a great friend.


By now, we had a big crew! We headed on over to Slinky Dog Dash and all got to use the FPs! Score!! Thanks Lesley! The stand by line was like 120 minutes :scared:



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About to get on!


After an awesome ride, we all snapped a group picture out front! I forgot just how many of us got to meet up- it was such a fun day!






We said goodbye to Ariella and her family, and headed to another must-do for May the 4th- Star Tours!


This was before Galaxy’s Edge was open, so this was our only Star Wars ride option for the day! I remember being really surprised that this line was so short- it was maybe only 20 minutes?


I’m not gonna lie, I’m not a huge fan of this ride. I think I mentioned this in a previous update, but simulators make me really dizzy. Harry Potter’s Forbidden Journey over at Universal Studios is the absolute worst for this; it was the closest I’ve ever came to getting sick on a ride! :crazy2:


But, it was Star Wars day, and you can’t go to DHS on May 4th without riding Star Tours! Lesley met up with another CM friend of hers in the line. I managed to keep my eyes open long enough to know that…



LESLEY AND I WERE CHOSEN AS THE REBEL SPY(S)!


I was sooo proud of this achievement! And on Star Wars Day too!! :) I had never heard of joint rebel spies before (although I claim that Lesley’s CM friend was trying to pick Lesley, but aimed the camera wrong ;) )


I was looking for the "I am the Rebel Spy" tee shirt in the dump shop, but I couldn't find it! Plus, realistically, I can't justify spending $373649 for a shirt that I’d realistically wear only a few times :laughing:



It was nearing towards our lunch ADR, so we split off from some of the group to head on over.






Had to grab a picture- even though I’m bummed about the Great Movie Ride closing, I’m very intrigued about Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway!


Where else could Molly be eating at DHS, other than..



Sci-Fi Dine In-Theatre! I was very proud of this; Sci Fi is a must-do for me and I like to get there about once per trip if I can. I took the initiative (which can be hard for me), and posted on our Facebook group asking if anyone would like to join me for lunch here, and I was so pleasantly surprised that I got some companions! Our group was: Lesley (@Lesley Wake ), Caroline (@disneyAndi14 ), Su-Lynn (@chunkymonkey ), Su- Lynn’s husband, Steve, Su-Lynn’s sister, Su-Queen, Ariana (@Pluto0809 ), and Jackie (@missjackiemcg )!


We were sat in 2 cars and were really close to the front of the screen. I believe that it was Lesley’s first time here!


I love this restaurant so much. My family and I first ate here in 2002 when I was 8 years old, and I remember feeling like I had been transported into another world. This is quintessential “Disney” to me!


Here’s an audio loop of the restaurant video- I swear it takes me right back!!





As soon as we sat down, I knew that I needed a milkshake. I have some weird Disney quirks about me, and one of those is the Sci-Fi Specialty Shake. Milkshakes are one of my favorite desserts, I religiously track this shake every single month to see what concoctions they come up with. The shakes that I’ve seen on my past trips are Cherry Pie, Peppermint, Orange-Pineapple, Salted Caramel, Coconut Cream, and Key Lime Pie! I was trying to track the shake for this month, but since it was still the very beginning of the month, so I didn’t have a clue what it was.


I'm not crazy, I promise :laughing: (ok, well maybe a little)!


Much to my delight, it was…






BIRTHDAY CAKE! Ummm, YUM! Of course I had to order one. Caroline was sitting next to me, and she ordered one too! We decided to share our meal today. Since it was a bit of an earlier lunch (I want to say it was 11:45ish?), we weren’t all that hungry. Plus, we wanted to save up for F&G treats later!


We split the seasonal burger, which was the Southern Burger, and some fries. I also ordered a fruit salad because my body was craving some nutrition after 3 straight days of crap food ::yes::


The Southern burger was delicious! I don’t have any pictures of it, sadly, but it had pimento cheese and a fried green tomato on it! In 2018, I ended up travelling to Hilton Head Island three times to help prepare for Haley’s wedding, and it was there that I discovered the beauty of pimento cheese! I could eat a whole tub of it with chips and call it a day :)






Selfie with Lesley! (before she fell asleep) ;)


Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre is one of my parent’s favorite restaurants, and they especially love this scene on the video loop. So, I made sure to grab a video of it and send it to them! Click on the video to play! You can hear Caroline and I talking in the background :cutie:






Overall, our lunch was delicious and a perfect way to get out of the heat! I will definitely be back for many more meals in the future :)


After lunch, we sort of split off. My roomies wanted to head back to the YC to rest, and some of the other ladies decided to head over to Epcot to get an early start on F&G! However, we weren't supposed to meet for about another 2 hours, and I was craving some more solo DHS time!


My first spot was MuppetVision 3D. I will be so sad when they replace it, and this is a 100% purely nostalgia-driven love for me. It’s a guilty pleasure!


The guy next to me must have been a huge fan too, because he literally quoted THE. ENTIRE. SHOW. OUT. LOUD. I kind of wanted to strangle him ::yes::






Then, I strolled through One Man’s Dream. I was very excited to see this!





My last stop was shopping on Hollywood Boulevard. I didn’t buy anything, but I love looking in all of the stores! The ambiance was really great today- it was not as crowded as I thought it would be for May 4th and it was nice just to walk around and soak it all in!


I grabbed a snack and some ice water from Trolley Car Cafe, and took some PhotoPass pictures on the way out! This was my first time taking solo pictures in WDW and I felt a little weird about it, but by the end of the trip, I became a pro :cutie:






Had to get some pictures with my Princess Leia buns on Star Wars Day!


I figured that I should probably go over to Epcot to meet the rest of the Epic ladies, so I got on a boat to head on over! However, almost as soon as I got on the boat, it started to downpour! I wasn’t feeling confident that we were going to finish the boat ride; and I was correct. The boat captain sent us all off of the boat when he docked at the Swan. Looks like I was walking to Epcot in the rain! :scared:


I ducked under some covering and sat on a bench outside of the Swan to put on a poncho. I didn’t want my snack from DHS to get wet from the rain, so I guess I had to eat it now!!


I don’t have a picture of it, but it was a carrot cake cookie! It was so yummy :) I didn’t finish it because I wanted to save some room for F&G! It was a little heavy though; definitely wouldn’t be my first snack choice for a hot day! But I loved how soft the cookie pieces were and it was nice and sweet.


Once I finished my snack, I trekked through the rain all the way to Epcot! Luckily, I had my poncho, so I didn’t get too wet. The storm was actually helping to snuff out the awful heat and humidity!






I met up with everybody in the Odyssey pavilion, and it was mass DISboards chaos in there!! There was at least 25 people there! We waited out the rain in there for a bit, it was nice to sit and chat with some other people that I hadn’t gotten to meet at O’hana last night.


Finally, the rain stopped, and we were able to start our F&G tour! I don’t remember all of the stops we took, and people sort of split off along the way, so I’ll just show you what I had to eat :) Looking back, I really don’t understand how I still had this much to eat after our lunch at Sci-Fi and half of a Carrot Cake Cookie :laughing:




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We stopped at the Florida Fresh Booth first, and I got the Key Lime Tart with toasted meringue. It was yummy, I love key lime flavoring and the crust was really good too!





Funny story about this, it originally came without the decorative green chocolate on top. I kind of off-handedly mentioned this to the group, and Joe (@Jenny Sanders )’s husband was not standing for it! He marched right up to the counter and asked for a new one so that I could get a nice picture :) Thanks for standing up for me, Joe!





Group picture over by Japan!


Then, a group of us headed over to France.






I had to try the La Vie En Rose Frozen Slushy- it had orange flavored Grey Goose, St. Germain, and cranberry juice!





Selfie! This was nice and refreshing and went down easy :love: I also had a bite of Caroline’s Tart au Chevre (goat cheese tart with caramelized onions). It was soo delicious. I wanted one for myself, but onions don’t always agree with me, so I decided to play it safe!


We took a little break at Liberty Inn in the American pavilion to beat the heat and drink some water. My feet were KILLING me this day; the sandals that I wore to O’hana and Magic Kingdom last night were definitely not supportive enough for walking around a park! I don’t remember who was all there, but I know that Jackie and Caroline were with us! It was Jackie’s birthday weekend, so they brought her a Marshmallow Cookie Crunch cupcake, which was really nice :) We all shared this and it was nice to sit down and talk!


At this point, Caroline and I were ready to head back to YC and REST! This was supposed to be my last thing for the day, but as we were heading out towards the International Gateway, something from the Canada booth caught my eye…






It’s the Griddled Maple Pound Cake with Warm Peach Compote and Sweet Corn Gelato with maple syrup! All of the flavors sounded so interesting and I love a good sweet-and-salty combination. This was really unique and perfect as a little bite- I don’t think I’d want an entire ice cream sundae of this though :crazy2:


I was sooo full and really tired at this point, so we finally headed back to YC. I was feeling a little bittersweet, since it was our last night at YC! But, I was also really excited to switch over to BC since I hadn’t stayed there since 2005.


We went up to the room and took long naps, then got changed at met up at the boat docks for our IllumiNations boat cruise. I was so excited for this- we had rented 3 pontoon boats for all of us and I had never done something like this before! However, slight problem… it was sideways raining outside with a chance of lightning in the area :sad:


We decided to all head to Hurricane Hanna’s (YC/BC’s outdoor pool bar) and take shelter underneath some umbrellas while we waited out the rain. But, we eventually got the news that our IllumiNations cruise was officially cancelled. We were all sooooooo bummed. I wanted to cry!






What better way to drown our sorrows than alcohol, am I right?! I got a Cucumber and Mint Vojito, which was just what the doctor ordered! We actually stayed pretty dry underneath the umbrellas and it was a beautiful sunset outside despite the rain.


Eventually, the rain slowed down a bit, so we headed inside to YC to decide what to do. I believe that some of the WL peeps (many of the ladies were staying there) headed to Geyser Point for round 2, but big group of us decided to try out the Ale and Compass lounge right here at YC! I was excited to try this, since I remember seeing lots of signs for it on our 2017 trip.


I wasn’t super hungry since I snacked all afternoon, so I just ordered a drink. I also may have taken a few bites of the apps that people ordered :rolleyes: I got a Moscow Mule, which is my standard alcoholic drink order everywhere!






This was actually a perfect way to spend the night. We were inside and away from the rain, and it was nice and quiet in Ale and Compass. The atmosphere was perfect, and I remember that they had really good music playing too! I got to chat really in-depth with Liesa (@Steppesister ) and Jackie, which was so awesome. We talked about everything, from school, to kids, to our jobs, and just life stuff in general :)





Everyone was getting tired, so we split off. My roomies headed back up to the room, but I wasn’t quite ready to end the night. So, I decided to head over to the BC in search of a late-night snack!


The rain had finally stopped, and it was really calm outside. I was feeling all wistful tonight!






Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to the Beach Club Marketplace in time, they closed at 10:00 and I think I literally got there at 10:05! Ahhhh! I had really wanted a flatbread. So, I decided to do something that I had never done before- order a room-service pizza! I called Lesley and Caroline to warn them that a pizza may be delivered soon :laughing:


Then, I slowly started heading back up to the room. I think I just explored the gift shops for a bit and took my time walking through the lobbies!


The pizza got there pretty much as soon as I changed into my PJs!






Look at it in all it’s glory! And for the record, I DID NOT eat the whole thing myself :) I shared with my roomies!!


Of course, I had to have some dessert, so I dug out this baby from Goofy’s Candy Company a few nights ago.






I only managed to eat about half! We all just talked, lazed around, and watched some TV before heading to bed! We had a big day tomorrow despite it being a no-park day; 2 big ADRs and a switch over to BC! It was a great last night at YC. :love:



 

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