My 50th Birthday Solo Trip Blow-Out (Sept 2-13, 2017)

Saturday, September 9th
With the specter of Hurricane Irma looming, I decided I wanted to salvage as much of the rest of my original vacation as I could. I had an early morning Fastpass for the Kilimanjaro Safari (I'd done it on my first visit to the Animal Kingdom but in the middle of the afternoon when it was the hottest, and I wanted to do it when it was cooler and had a better chance of seeing animals in action), so I decided to spend half the day at Animal Kingdom, then hop over to Epcot for lunch and then just stick it out there until the weather worsened enough to send me back to my room. The morning was still very hot and humid as usual, but for once there was a nice breeze blowing most of the time (warning enough that change was in the air!). It also became pretty obvious that anybody who could get out of Orlando was doing so because the park felt practically empty (except for the lines at FoP and Expedition Everest, which never dropped below 30-minute waits).

Even though I sort of took my time getting ready that morning, I still made it to the Animal Kingdom gates shortly after rope drop. I decided to head first for Flight of Passage again to see what the wait was like and if I could ride it once more. There was no massive stampede this time at the bridge, thank god. The sign said about 30 minutes and I decided it was worth it in this case, so I got into line. I don't think it took quite that long, plus the line almost never stopped moving, which was great. It actually made it difficult to take more pictures, but I did snap this one quick. Waiting for my new ride!
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Observation: Regarding Flight of Passage, while the ride itself holds up and remains thrilling and arguably the best 3D experience at Disney, the pre-ride prep becomes an endurance test after the first trip. The talking goes on WAY TOO LONG, all the while making you stand in place and occasionally move around while it "runs tests", etc. I get that it's supposed to build up that sense of immersion, but it becomes obvious just how awful and drawn that pre-ride show is upon second viewing. I guess your mileage may vary and some may love it, but IMO it's in desperate need of editing. And upon revisiting that question of whether or not the attraction is worth the wait? I'd say that 30 minutes is worth it, but 60-90 minutes is not...not once you already know what it's like. I'd do everything I could to either use a Fastpass or go at the least peak hours from now on.

Afterward, I paused to have a belated breakfast at the Satu'li Canteen (I've learned that they's stopped serving breakfast there, at least for now).
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I maybe should have gone with my first choice of trying the weird "pods," but then instead went for the French toast. (Sorry, I can't recall the exact details of this meal and the breakfast menu has been pulled from the website). Sadly, IMO it was prettier than it tasted. It was fine, but there wasn't nearly enough sauce and so the toast was--to me anyway--very dry. Or I'm just used to pouring a lot of syrup over them. The sausage was tasty, though! And they gave me a free birthday cupcake too! (Against not nearly as tasty as it looked, frosting was way too sweet but with no flavor.)
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Magic Moment: By this time my Fastpass for the Safari was nearly up, so I high-tailed it to the African part of the park. While passing through the Harambe village, I came across a live concert going on in the main square. It was a band playing some lively South African tribal music, with a lead singer/dancer down on the ground trying to pull in folks from the audience to join him. I was enjoying recording him live on Facebook, and then he spotted me and started dancing my way! I relented, put away my camera, and joined him in line. He was a lot of fun and had us all working up a good sweat already trying to imitate his dance moves. Then he sent the rest of our line dancers away but asked me to stay. Then he announced to the rest of the crowd that it was my birthday (!) and taught them how to say "Happy Birthday" in Swahili and had me dance one last quick one to a traditional birthday song before releasing me. I was laughing and gave him a big hug. I hadn't really been sweating too badly before this point, but I was soaked afterward. (Sadly Facebook doesn't seem to allow me to download this, so I can only provide a link and post it publicly. Here you go.)

And of course I just loved wandering through the Harambe Village some more, soaking in the atmosphere and enjoying the attention to detail.
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And here is about the only above-ground wires you'll find in all of Disney, and even these weren't functional. See what I mean about attention to detail?
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Magic Moment:
While heading up the Fastpass isle, a group of 20-somethings in the Stand-by line caught up to me, and they started singing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." I surprised them by suddenly joining in. By the time we reached the end and lined up for the safari truck, a whole bunch of us were serenading the cast members there which made them laugh.

I'm very glad I took the Safari again at a different time--I got better views of some animals, plus I think we took a slightly different route (for example, we either didn't pass by the lion exhibit on my first trip, or else they weren't visible and so weren't pointed out).
Got a great shot of the White Rhino.
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And gotta love these Watusi cattle. Those horns are just crazy!
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Here are the lions, doing what cats do.
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We creeped along through the middle of this Bongos herd.
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Here's the black rhino taking a break.
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Got a great shot of an African elephant.
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And this family of African elephants, including the baby!
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Because I'd done most of the park on my first visit, this time I had more time and energy to explore more of the nature trails, particularly the Maharajah Jungle Trek. I didn't see too many animals (the tiger was just out of view and the flying foxes weren't coming out probably because of the coming storm), but I did love walking the lovely trail and seeing more examples of the sort of attention to detail that Disney is known for.
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I wandered through the Asian portion of the park once more, too.
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And after being denied a chance to meet Baloo and King Lois, I finally caught them at the right time so I could mug it up with them! Capturing them helped make my Disney trip feel complete.
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I did get a chance to ride Expedition Everest a second time, though, along with a proper picture this time. It's definitely one of my top favorites now.
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I also got to finally walk the trails that riddle Discovery Island, and got some better views of the Tree of Life.
Here were some ring-tailed lemurs.
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Can you tell that by this point there was a nice stiff breeze blowing? It felt fantastic but it also warned that my time was limited.
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By this time it was around Noon and I started making my way to the gate because I still wanted to hit Epcot before the rains came. I did pause to capture two last examples of that detail I was talking about, though. One was the lamp posts and the other was this nice mosaic in the floor of one of the gift shops.
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Since the forum has a limit on pictures per post, this seems like a good place to break. Please see the next post for a continuation of this day...
 
Thursday, September 7th (continued)
I took the Monorail back to Magic Kingdom and found myself back on Main Street USA, lingering a bit more this time. I hadn't thought it possible, but it was actually hotter than before, or at least it certainly seemed that way. Walking anywhere that wasn't in the shade was an endurance test.
Here's a bit of Disney graffiti that cracked me up because even the vandalism was magical! Plus you can see just how humid it was outside.
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The one blessing was that it really did seem as though the park was nearly empty--not just because it was the week after Labor Day and most folks (particularly kids) were back to work/school, but because there was no question that Hurricane Irma was coming. Those who could fly out were doing so, and those who were local were busy fortifying their homes. It felt like the park was left to those of us with no choice but to stay.
This pictures were around 10:30 am and it's hard to believe the street was this empty.
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And just look at this picture! 10:30 am on a park day! You could make a postcard of this one!
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I had three Fastpasses for the day but they were very spread out and my feet were already killing me at the start despite pre-medicating.
I also had a lunch reservation for Be Our Guest, so it meant I'd be bouncing around a bit more.

Once again I headed left into Adventureland, this time to ride Pirates of the Caribbean since I'd missed it last time and wanted to make sure I got it in at least once. This was probably my family's favorite attraction all those years ago because it was a refuse from the heat--it was dark and cool and entertaining. The same is true today, although my enjoyment was tempered a little by the woman seated next to me who didn't stop talking the entire time to me. She was rattling on about how she knew Johnny Depp, etc., and I didn't believe an iota of it, but what could I do? I just tried to focus refreshing my memories and adding the "new" changes (particularly all the insertions/swaps of Captain Sparrow). Sadly, as it turned out, I never did get a chance to go back and ride again, hopefully with a quieter seatmate, but there you go. Another reason to go back.

I spent more time than usual in the gift shops of this area because I was searching for a particular t-shirt souvenir I wanted from the Jungle Cruise. I'd seen someone wearing one and it was right up my alley (it looked like an old fashioned ad for a drink elixer that featured Shrunken Ned's head), but after 30 minutes or so I finally gave up, assuming it must have been an old shirt. I was bummed, though.

Observation: Regarding souvenirs, I'd gone assuming I'd been so overwhelmed with awesome choices that I'd struggle to narrow it down, but oddly I experienced the opposite. I'm sure part of that is because I'm 50 and without kids or much close family. Partly it's because I'm currently trying very hard to declutter my life and the last thing I wanted was more knickknacks collecting dust. Partly it's because we've switched to musical chairs at work (hoteling) so we're discouraged from personalizing our desks. That ruled out the vast majority of things being sold. There were certain functional things I WAS looking for and keen to buy if they "spoke" to me, however. First was cool and unique t-shirts (sort of a specialty of mine), which I could justify because I was still using vacation t-shirts from 15 years ago that were well past their presentable stage and should be thrown out. Two was maybe a cool coffee mug or two because those are always fun and handy. Third was a really nice set of glass beer tumblers so I could retire the oddball collection I'd accumulated since college but were dated or worn and just mismatched. I did eventually find a few t-shirts, but not nearly as many cool ones as I'd hoped (so many had dates on them, or were Halloween-themed, or just not quirky enough). I got one that featured Indiana Jones, one with the seagulls from Finding Nemo with the words "Mine mine mine mine!", one from Pandora's Flight of Passage (the only one with 2017 on it because I felt that actually was significant), one with the Himalayan mask artwork for the Yeti from Expedition Everest, one with just a white shape of Cinderella's Castle that says "My happy place", one that has the Mickey Mouse ears made up of all the names of all the attractions in different fonts, and one from Trader Sam's Grotto Grog (the only one I felt was quirky and "in crowd"). Yeah, I got a few. ;) But really, that was in part because I saw so little else Disney-themed that I wanted. Now, I DID buy a number of things that weren't Disney as such but by local artists that were cat-related (the watercolor paintings at Epcot, a painted tile from a stand at Disney Springs, the plate and little bowls from the Japan shop), etc. I did end up buying three mugs for myself (Tinkerbell, one with Pooh in safari gear asking as real tiger "Is that you, Tigger?", and a really lovely non-Disney tall mug from the UK tea shop at Epcot that's just all falling cats. As for my quest for beer tumblers, it was a bust. Aside from going the etched glass route, which wasn't reasonably priced or really what I wanted, I only saw two options--one with the new Be Our Guest theme but wasn't dishwasher safe (nope!), or one that had a black base and simple ring of little Mickey ears around the rim. I debated on those a little while but ultimately just wasn't in love with them enough to spend $12 each. Sigh. Oh well, better to be disappointed than to regret purchases later, that's my motto now.

While wandering, I did snap a few more pictures of just the lovely landscaping and neat details of the park because it was a gorgeously bright day.
Here was a really neat "cooling station" of Tiki statues that shot sprays of water rather than poison darts.
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And again, you can see how empty the park could feel at times. There were still plenty of people, but there were lots of moments when I almost felt like I had the place to myself.
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One of the things I really enjoyed doing was trying to get silly selfies everywhere I went. This is probably my favorite of them all because the photobomb is epic.
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Magic Moment: Around 11 am I decided to take a break and get something cold to drink, and since I was in Fantasyland and I decided to try the famous LeFou's Brew from Gaston's Tavern. I walked up to the counter (no line) and gave her my order. We chatted a little while she was getting the drink, then when it came time for me to pay, she leaned in with a conspiratorial grin and said, "Don't worry about it, happy birthday!" I was very surprised and grateful. (That's a $5.50 drink!) She really helped fortify me for my upcoming chat. And the drink was delicious! LeFou's Brew (Frozen Apple Juice with a hint of Toasted Marshmallow and topped with All-Natural Passion Fruit-Mango Foam). I'd order that again, even if I had to pay for it!
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While sitting in the cool dining area, I decided it was time to try and call my boss about my cancelled flight, etc. I suspect he already half-expected the call but all the same he wasn't very happy about it. It's a long story, but his pushing back on my taking my vacation when I did--despite having 9 months to make other arrangements--had meant enduring his needling about it that entire time, and I knew this would never die now whenever I asked for future vacation time. That was honestly part of why I didn't just cancel my trip early and go home--because I really DID fight hard for this vacation and I refused to give him the satisfaction. Anyway, there was little either of us could do about it at that point so I told him when my new flight was scheduled. I did ask if I could just have all of the following week off since I wouldn't be getting in until late Wednesday (if I'm lucky) and would be exhausted. He said that wasn't possible, but granted my compromise of working from home those two days. Sigh.

Anyway, I put the phone away and enjoyed the rest of my drink and chatting with some folks at the next table--they'd heard my plight and felt bad for me. Their flight was Saturday morning so they were getting out in time.

My Fastpass for Seven Dwarfs came up (I was lucky to get one for each of my MK days). This time I got some great mid-ride pics!
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I'm not in this picture but I thought it captured the nature of the ride so well.
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I had just enough time before my lunch reservation to also squeeze in another character meet, this time with Ariel. This is another one of my top 5 films, so I was willing to wait in the slow-moving line. It was totally worth it because she was great. I'm always so uncomfortable with posing so this time I just flat out asked her if she had an ideas. She paused, then reached behind her and pulled out this giant Dinglehopper! Well, I knew exactly what to do with that!
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Then it was time for my lunch reservation. I honestly wasn't that hungry but this reservation is probably one of the hardest to get so I wasn't about to cancel it. It's inside the Beast's Castle and there's this long draw bridge across the moat. The line started there and there's no shade. It was BRUTAL. And even though I had a reservation, it was about a 30 minute wait before I got a seat. I did snap some pictures while waiting, though. And it really is the most immersive restaurant I visited at Disney, which is why it's so hard to get in.
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It's a quick service restaurant so there are no assigned tables and you find your own spot. I managed to grab a corner of a table in the main ballroom.
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I was torn on what to order, and I probably should have gone with my first choice and gotten the French Onion Soup, but instead I ordered the Croque Monsieur (Grilled Sandwich of Carved Ham and Gruyere Cheese and Bechamel with Pommes Frites). While it was tasty, it was way more food than I wanted or could eat. The size was huge, and the angle of the picture wrong to capture how THICK that ham was cut, with 3 slices at that! I couldn't finish half of it, plus barely touched the fries.
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On top of that, I couldn't eat there without trying the "Grey Stuff"--it's what they're known for. And the only option for getting it was by ordering the Master's Cupcake (Chocolate Sponge Cake topped with Lumiere’s special “Grey Stuff”). It was good and the cake was super moist, but by that time I was uncomfortably full. It might have been the heat, too, but I was actually starting to feel a little ill, so wasn't able to savor it as much as I would have liked.
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I decided to skip the little kids section of Fantasyland (it really IS for little kids) and finally made my way toward Tomorrowland, which I'd skipped on my first day due to time. The line for the Tomorrowland Speedway (my brother's favorite from way back) was ridiculous, even on that slow day and with the heat, so I didn't hesitate to skip it and instead headed for the attractions that involved sitting as much as possible! I had a great time at the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor because you could tell it was a live show and we had some good participants in the crowd.

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin was fun and silly.
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Next I hopped on the People Mover, which is basically a flat escalator with seats that gives you a talking tour of Tomorrowland. It's not air conditioned, but you're seated the entire time and it's just a great way to relax and still be entertained, plus some cool views.
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I next headed into the Carousel of Progress attraction. For those who haven't been, it's basically a rotating circular stage with tons of animatronic people talking about their lives from era to era. It's a Walt original attraction and so is very beloved, although it shows it's age a bit and they have to regularly update the last phase because hello, iPhones and talking refrigerators, etc. But really, it's air conditioned and you sit in comfortable seats. I really did nearly fall asleep more than once.

Magic Moment: I needed another cold drink and decided that a frozen Coke sounded just about right. The cast member passed along my order, then turned back to me and must have taken pity on me because she said, "This one's on Mickey. Happy birthday!" Awww. Seriously, these folks kept giving me little injections of happiness right when it was running low.
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I STILL had time to blow before my last Fastpass for Space Mountain around 5 pm. I sat at the drink stand in the shade for a while, just watching people because I was starting to see lots of guests in costumes for the Halloween party that evening. I was really impressed by how elaborate some of them were, particularly in that heat! I don't think we were supposed to take pictures of people, but she let me make an exception because I thought hers was just so awesome!
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By this time I was truly depleted of energy and really hurting (the Aleve wasn't helping anymore), so I was nearly dead on my feat and was struggling to stay in a happy mood. I rode the People Mover again just because it was something to do that didn't involve my feet!

I finally got to Space Mountain. This was another one of mine and my brother's favorites back in the day (we'd run around and get back in line in the last hour of the day). But I have to say--I think the thrill is gone for me on this one. It's very jerky and because you're in pitch black most of the time, you can't prepare for sudden corners, etc. I felt like I was getting whipped around and I know I heard my neck pop at one point. Luckily no lasting damage, but yeah, that's one I'm going to have to leave to the younger folks now. Sigh.
This might have been the moment my neck snapped. :^P
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Backing up a little, I should mention that because I knew about these weird park hours, and because I knew I had a huge day of eating ahead of me, I'd made the painful decision late the night before to cancel my dinner reservation for this day at 9:30 pm at the California Grill on the top floor of the Contemporary resort. It would have given me the opportunity to watch the fireworks from the awesome observation deck, but I didn't think I could make it that long, not after four straight days at the parks without a break. Normally they tend to charge a fee for cancelling with less than 24-hours' notice, but I was hoping they'd let it slide because of Irma. But the cast member on the phone kept asking questions as to why I was cancelling and I finally said that I was considering checking out and heading home because of the storm. She accepted that, but then saw that I had a reservation for the following day at Flying Fish and prompted me about that, saying, "Well, I see you have a reservation at Flying Fish for tomorrow evening. I guess you'll need me to cancel that one as well." She had me there--I was either going to have to cancel or my lie was busted. See what happens, kids, when you lie? My heart sank as I told her to go ahead. (Side note: As it turned out, there were so many cancellations later, and on the following Tuesday, that I could walk into any of the signature restaurants without a reservation, but there you go.)

So by around 5:30 pm I'd basically checked off all the attractions I was interested in, and because the park was closing early at 7 pm but the fireworks wouldn't be until 9 pm, I called it a successful day and headed toward the main gate, taking advantage of one more photog op along the way.
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At the gate, I went up the stairs to the train platform to ride the entire circuit around the Magic Kingdom, for posterity's sake and for yet another moment to reconnect with my Dad's memory a bit (he was a huge train enthusiast like Walt).

Then I got on a bus straight back to my resort. Once there, I figured I should order something for dinner but was torn on what to get. I'd never had real shrimp and grits before, so I decided to go for it. At Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory they cook-to-order so I figured that this had to be a better-than-average example because of the fresh ingredients alone. And it was very tasty, but OMG super filling and I could only finish about half of it. I stuck the rest in my mini-fridge because I thought it might be okay cold and maybe I'd get a chance to finish it the next day.
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After showering, I all but collapsed into my bed and then called Mom to let her know about my situation. The next few days were promising to be very memorable in a totally unanticipated way.

The pictures of you in this series are so awesome!! You look like a kid having the time of her life!
 
Saturday, September 9th (continued)
I hopped on the bus and went straight to Epcot from Animal Kingdom. Once past security, I didn't spend any time in Futureworld since I'd done nearly all of it on my first visit but hadn't been able to see all of the World Showcase and wasn't sure I'd get another chance after Hurricane Irma. In hindsight, particularly considering the low crowd, I wish I'd got in line for Test Track again because I never did get another change on that one.

I did pause in the Futureworld portion, however, to finally hit the Club Cool shop. It's hosted by Coca-Cola and features some of their more obscure international products that you can taste for free. Although I'd stopped drinking soda a month before, I decided it was worth breaking my rule in order to experience this famous attraction. Some of them had okay flavors but were generally too sweet, and then there was Beverly. Beverly is different. Beverly has a reputation.
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Tip: If you're going to try Beverly, this is how I recommend doing it. Start by tasting all the others first so you can pinpoint which is your favorite. Then go for Beverly. Then immediately switch back to that favorite and try to wipe out the aftertaste as best you can. It may take more than one attempt.

Magic Moment: One of the cast members in Club Cool spotted my reaction and correctly assumed I'd just tried Beverly. She consoled me and asked me to follow her. I did as she led me over to the main counter where they sold frozen drinks, etc. She had them pour a frozen Coke for me and them handed it over, saying, "Happy Birthday. You'll enjoy this more."
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Observation: Disney and Coke are missing a great opportunity by not selling t-shirts stating, "I tried Beverly."

I decided that, for some who maybe have been there yet or not in a very long time, I'd post a picture I took of the map to show the sheer scale of walking involved just to GET to the Showcase, and then how far it is around. Despite the fact that I was in constant pain by this point and the heat was unrelenting, I endevoured to tackle the Showcase again, this time counter-clockwise by starting with Canada.
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I came across the temporary food stand for Patagonia and decided to try something new-to-me. I'm glad I did--it was delicious. This was the Grilled Beef skewer with Chimichurri sauce and Boniato purée. It was a little oily but I still liked it a lot.
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I'm sort of "eh" about the Canada showcase. (Heh, get it?) Maybe because I grew up in the north woods of Wisconsin. I thought the film they provided was fine, with some lovely footage, but it's starting to feel a bit dated (how many folks even know who Martin Short is anymore?). I didn't really explore the gift shops, and the food stand didn't sound tempting in the afternoon heat (Cheese soup?). There's a lovely garden tucked into the middle of the pavilion, though.

I absolutely did stop at the Scotland food stand, however, because this little plate caught my eye. This was the fresh potato pancake with Scottish smoked salmon and herbed sour cream, and a Bellhaven Brewery Scottish Ale. The pairing was perfect and delicious and I would certainly order it again.
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Entering the UK exhibit, I paused at the outdoor stand for Rose & Crown to sample their pear cider, which sounded like an excellent way to beat the heat. I was right, it was the perfect accompaniment as I took my time exploring the paths and shops.
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By this time I was really wilting and nearly collapsed into the wonderful chair that was tucked into a back corner of one of the UK shops. I think I stayed there for 15-20 minutes, just trying to find enough energy to push on.
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I moved on into France and decided to treat myself once more with one of these delicious La Passion Martini Slushies (Vodka, Grey Goose Le Citron, and Cranberry and Passion Fruit Juice). I was fortifying myself!
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You can see in the picture that the weather was definitely starting to turn by this time. The nice breeze I've been enjoying all morning was increasing in strength, sometimes gusting so strongly that it would rock you a little. There was no rain yet, or at least not enough to make you seek shelter, but that was my signal that I needed to pick up my pace.
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I wanted to try one more "snack" and was tempted into buying the Crispy calamari with spicy Pomodoro sauce and a glass of Pinot Grigio at the Italy stand. It was a bit on the rubbery side, but the flavors were good.
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I had one last goal for the day before heading back, so I pushed on to Norway and picked up a couple of the School Bread pastries to be part of my hurricane "survival kit" while I was sequestered in my room. I had my priorities!
Once I picked those up, I didn't linger anywhere but headed straight for the bus stop. I had a lot of things to do that day before it really started raining.

While on the bus heading back to the Port Orleans: French Quarter, I struck up a conversation with a lovely couple sitting next to me. They not only were also stuck at the resort for the duration, but it turned out they were in the room that adjoined mine! I joked that we could open the doors between and have a hurricane party while still observing curfew!

By the time I got to the resort, it was around 5 pm. The lobby and restaurant were a bit of a madhouse as people were stocking up on supplies, and cast members were starting to hand out meal vouchers. This was smart thinking on Disney's part. The voucher gave you a window of time in which you could come to the restaurant and buy from the already-limited menu, either pre-packed sandwich bags or hot pizzas or pasta station, etc. While folks were already lining up for this, my first priority was to do laundry before the rush after diner. I was down to my last clean clothes (I'd originally expected to fly home the next day, after all). If the power or clean water went out with the storm, who knew when I'd get another chance, and the last thing I wanted was to go into an emergency situation without even a clean change of clothing. I'd packed one of those big blue dry cleaner bags with the draw-string top to collect all my dirty laundry, and as a ziplock bag with a couple of detergent pods and dryer sheets, just in case. I grabbed them and headed straight to the little laundry facilities next to the pool. I was about the only person in there, so there was no wait. It wasn't cheap, though--$3 each machine for each load. I set the timer on my phone and then walked back to the lobby to get my voucher. I was just in time to get one that just became active that hour, so I ordered a pepperoni pizza (I figured it was enough to provide about 3 meals). The night before, on the way back from Hollywood Studios, I'd stopped in Disney Springs and picked up some pork ribs and fixings from The Polite Pig, so much of that was already chilling in my mini-fridge. Plus, I'd already been stocking up on bottled water and snacks over the past couple of days--to avoid that rush and the lines--so I felt I was pretty well prepared.

Observation: I was impressed throughout with how Disney prepared for the hurricane. They clearly knew trouble-areas throughout the resort and had laid out sand bags in strategical spots. They'd also closed off certain doors to the restaurant to control crowd sizes. Inside the gift shop, they'd cleared off shelves of regular merchandise and stocked them with bottled water, plus they were steadily restocking all the snacks and other food and drink items. It was reassuring to see they were taking things seriously.

I had enough time to take my pizza and a couple of last items back to my room before I needed to go back and switch my clothing to the dryers. Then I refilled my mug and headed back to my room to eat and catch up on the news a little. When I went back an hour later to gather and fold my clean clothes, the place was packed and every machine was in use! I was so glad I'd handled that first rather than after the food.

Magic Moment? While sitting at my table and eating, I noticed a moment in the corner of my eye and glanced up in time to watch as the top drawer of my dresser rolled open, all by itself. I hadn't touched it since that morning. Not creepy at all, right?
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Once I'd finished eating, sealed the leftovers into the extra ziplock bags I'd packed, and put away my laundry, I made one last run to the restaurant to top off my mug. Then I showered and settled onto the bed to watch the news and, above all else, get off my feet.
After a little while, though, I got bored and so I dragged a chair out onto the "veranda" and sat with a drink to enjoy the fresh air while I could. My neighbors from next door joined me and we had a great time talking until we laughed too loud around 11:30 pm and some cast member yelled at us because it was quite hours--then she roared off in her golf cart. So we yawned and turned in.
 
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Magic Moment I forgot to mention!

Back on the night of the 7th, after returning relatively early from my second night at the Magic Kingdom (having cancelled my diner plans), I finally got a chance to try out the resort pool for a couple of hours. A cast member started a Disney music quiz game. I didn't plan to participate but drifted closer so I could still watch. This nice couple nearby called me over and asked if I wanted to join their team, Team Amazeballs. How could I possibly say no to a team with that name? We proceeded to be only mediocre because half the songs were from obscure Disney films like "High School Musical 3: Electric Bugaloo." By the time the last song started, the kids had gotten bored and swum off to all corners of the pool, leaving us adults. And of course the last song was "Let It Go." There was a sudden commotion from the back portion of the pool, and we glanced around to see arms waving everywhere as every single kid began dramatically singing along. The cast member joked that a sudden water aerobics class had broken out in the back pool. A very funny moment.
 
Sunday, September 10th
This was the first morning of my entire vacation when I didn't wake up to an alarm. Because all Disney parks were closed, I was in no hurry to go anywhere or do anything. I peeked outside to see a steady but fine rain falling.

Housekeeping stopped by around 9:15 am and I learned that curfew was expected to go into effect around Noon or 1:00 pm, but that they were serving a limited hot breakfast. I had the School Bread I'd purchased the afternoon before, so I didn't need to buy breakfast, but I got dressed and walked over to fill my mug while I still could. Only about 20 feet of my path wasn't sheltered from the rain, so I only got a little wet. Once I got back I dragged my chair back out onto the balcony and tried to read for a while, but my feet were still aching so badly that I really needed to put them up. Plus I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I eventually gave up and went back inside to try and nap for a little bit, but with little luck (I'm just not a good napper.)

Disney made attempts to entertain their guests as much as possible during this time, some more effective than others. One was hosting games and a character greet in the lobby, with Chip and Dale. They were clearly trying to wear out the kids with dancing as much as possible before they were locked in their rooms for the next 24 hours!
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Disney also made their movies free on the TV but it was moot because they rely on satellite broadcasting, which was already starting to fail by that morning as the storm got closer. Nearly every channel I tried was starting to drop out or permanently went to snow for the duration--particularly the channels I wanted to watch. I was very glad that I'd packed a good book because I ended up doing a lot of reading.

Disney also lifted their restrictions on having pets in the rooms, which was a kindness to many of the locals and cast members who were choosing to stay on property for the storm. It was interesting to suddenly see dogs everywhere, although I wondered how those folks would handle walking the poor things during the worst of the storm.

Around 11:00 am I was out on the balcony and talking with my friends next door when I noticed a woman carrying a small pet carrier and talking with a cast member, looking very distraught. When she started walking away, I called down and asked if she had a cat. She responded that she did indeed, but that it has escaped her room and was out in the resort property somewhere. By this point the rain was only getting worse and I totally empathized with her: I volunteer for a cat rescue and knew the odds of finding the poor animal were slim as the storm got worse. I grabbed my umbrella and joined her on the ground, walking all around the area searching and calling out for "Mimi" and recruiting other people to keep an eye out and to report to the Front Desk if she was spotted. We were all searching for about an hour, and we were talking with the owner again when suddenly she got a call from the Front Desk--they'd located the cat. It was a huge relief for all of us, a little miracle in the face of the epic storm coming.

Curfew was pushed back again, so arround 1:00 pm I walked over to restaurant to refill my mug, and nearly broke my neck slipping on the painted concrete. That was it--I was done with exploring beyond my balcony--there was no more need to leave my room except for ice by the elevator!
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Once back in my room, I got the cold leftover ribs from my mini-fridge and had some lunch, settling in for the long haul. The wind was picking up by then and the rain was heavier, but my room faced leeward from the storm, so I figured I'd be pretty sheltered from the storm until it literally passed over. If you walked over to the other sides, the balcony was completely wet, but our side was still dry, so we'd regularly step back outside and just watch cast members buzzing around and the storm coming in.

Here was also when I was very glad I'd packed both of my portable batteries as well as the 4-slot USB charger with enough cords to keep both my smart phones (work and personal) plus iPad and Kindle fully charged in case the power went out.

Observation: My only complaint from my experience at the resort during the storm is that the paint they use on the cement walkways of the resort is extremely slick when wet. I mean EXTREMELY slick. I went down once and nearly fell countless other times, and I wasn't the only one. They should have added some sort of grit to the paint or used another product. It was hazardous walking, particularly if you had your hands full. And this problem wouldn't have been limited to the hurricane, but true for any rainstorm.

There was a Packer game being nationally broadcast mid-afternoon that I was looking forward to as a good way to pass the time and distract myself from the storm, and it was on a local channel so the signal was coming through okay, but of course it was preempted for storm coverage. I could take only so much news about the storm so I regularly muted it and read or did other things.

I think it was unrelated to the storm and just bad timing, but the elevator temporarily went down mid-afternoon, which was tough for those with physical limits, so there were several cast members on duty to assist folks up the stairs while technicians were working on fixing it.

The curfew was eventually pushed all the way back to 7:30 pm before it was final and they shut down the restaurant and lobby completely, essentially leaving us on our own until whenever it would be lifted and things would reopen on the next day.

At one point, around 6:00 pm, I stepped out and shot this live Facebook video of what things were like.
https://www.facebook.com/suezahn/vi...283380247/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

I stepped outside again around 8:40 pm and you can see just how much worse it got in that time. I didn't linger long.
https://www.facebook.com/suezahn/vi...803600247/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

By around 9:00 pm the satellite TV had become useless and everybody was switching to streaming on Wi-Fi, which made that useless as well because it slowed down so much. I was so glad that I'd brought a good book to read. Despite the curfew there still seemed to be a lot of people outside and I heard some whooping and yelling down on the ground somewhere out there at one point. Meanwhile I was also starting to hear some interesting noises above me, probably from exhaust fans or any other features up on the roof. It was a little concerning. I could also definitely hear the wind whipping around out there. I was very glad I had packed ear plugs as well.
 
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Monday, September 11th
My second day of no alarm clock, I was awoken by the sound of chainsaws, which is never a good thing. I rolled out of bed and peeked out the window. While the worst of the storm had passed, it was still windy and raining a little. It was around 8:00 am. I stepped outside to see how bad it was.

With nothing else to do, I took my time showering and getting dressed. That was when I discovered that I'd made a big mistake while packing for this trip. I had purchased a two-row pill holder to fill for the 9 days I'd be gone. Even though I had enough pockets for 14 days, I'd only filled up 9 of them (the duration of my original vacation). I was out of my high blood pressure medication! Assuming my rescheduled flight for Wednesday afternoon wasn't pushed back, it would be 2.5 days before I could take them again. This was bad, but there was little I could do about it because of the storm--I just had to wait until things started opening up again, and hope the damage to the area wasn't so severe that I couldn't fly out on time or get refills.

Tip: ALWAYS pack more doses of medications than you actually need for your trip, JUST IN CASE. You never know whether you'll be delayed or forced to change plans, and you can't rely on local means to resupply quickly or easily. I always try to be prepared for any contingency, but I dropped the ball in this case.

I pulled out my last School Bread for breakfast (they're definitely better when fresh!), sat at my table, and watched some of the news coverage, then read for a while.

Around 10:45 am I stepped outside again. The curfew was still in effect but I could see that it was safe enough for me to walk around on the balcony.
There was a lot of debris and snapped branches, and a very large tree had fallen across the path to the parking lot.
https://www.facebook.com/suezahn/vi...048700247/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

While we were originally told that the curfew wouldn't lift until 6:00 pm that night, it was clear by around Noon that the guests were restless because everybody was out walking around inspecting the damage by that point. By that time the wind had died down to a steady breeze and the air was blessedly cool and wonderful, which made it nearly irresistible to keep from going for a walk!

I was out on the balcony again with my friends when I received a text from my boss, asking how I was doing. I responded that I was okay, described a little bit about what it was like and the damage, etc. Then I broke the news I'd learned that the Orlando airport's website was stating that they were without power and had sustained some damage, so they were unsure when it would reopen. This meant there was a possibility that I would NOT be able to fly out on Wednesday after all. His response, and I kid not, was "You may need to consider renting a car or taking a train." o_O I was so shocked and furious by this that I literally couldn't respond, which was probably for the best. About a minute later he texted again, perhaps having realized just how insensitive and moronic his suggestion was, because he followed it up with "Although that might come with their own complications." Yah think? As if there was a rental car within 100 miles, as if there was gas, as if there was power anywhere. As if this was some excuse I was making up to get out of working the rest of the week. Because he thought it was reasonable to expect me to drive from Orlando to Washington DC, through the path of the biggest storm to hit the US in modern history, so I could report to work on Thursday. I found out later that he then went around to my other coworkers asking them when I'd told them I was supposed to come back because he didn't trust the two calendars we keep, etc., because he probably suspected I maybe told them a different story. So now you can maybe see why my fight for this vacation was quite literal, and that I wasn't going to just abandon it so easily as some friends wanted me to. I'd had to deal with that sort of resistance from the day I'd requested the vacation 9 months prior. I wasn't exaggerating--this is how I was treated. Anyway, I told him that I couldn't guarantee anything, and left it at that.

At some point in the early afternoon, my friends next door and I decided to go for a walk (I needed to blow off some steam) and see what we could forage for lunch. We got a better look at the big tree that was down, but didn't want to get too close.
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The lobby and restaurant had reopened, but you could see that some water had leaked into the lobby (I suspected they knew this would happen because they were prepared for it).
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Although I didn't see it, I learned later that one of the light poles by the pool and fallen over and taken down a couple panels of the fence around the pool.

The menu in the restaurant was the same list of sandwiches, so we wondered if the menu at the much bigger restaurant at Port Orleans: Riverside, our sister resort, might be better and different, plus we were just curious about what it was like. We filled up our mugs and set out walking along the river/channel to the other resort. We clearly weren't the only people with this idea. There was a lot of people out walking along these paths, wandering around.

PO:Riverside is a huge resort, easily twice as big as French Quarter, and has a very different aesthetic--more of the classic Antebellum plantation Southern "charm" feel that frankly does nothing for me since I don't find it charming. To each their own. :) Anyway, we were right about their restaurant having a bigger selection. It appeared to be up and fully running again, so we had the full range of their normal menu to chose from, although they WERE out of the corn dog nuggets I originally requested. :rolleyes1

Afterward we roamed the resort a little, explored their more extensive gift shop and lobby, then checked out their bar. The line was to order drinks was terrible, so we decided to head back to French Quarter. There was a huge tree on the opposite side of the bank that had fallen into the river, but for some reason I didn't snap a picture--duh. But I imagine that was one of the main reasons why the boat service was still out when I finally left later in the week--downed trees along the entire route, plus higher water levels that would cause boat wakes to surge over the embankments, and that would reduce the clearance under bridges.
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We reached Scat Cats, the little bar attached to the lobby at the French Quarter, and grabbed a little table. I knew they served authentic Sazeracs there, the traditional drink of New Orleans, and was keen to try one. Looking at those ingredients, you wouldn't think they went along, but after that initial punch of taste, it was rather nice how the flavors blended together. Had a kick like a mule, though, and one was enough. :jester:
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I was also finally able to stop at the concierge's desk in the lobby and ask if they had any sort of pharmacy services available and explained my plight. He said that Disney worked with a third party off-site pharmacy that delivers to the resorts, and he handed me the contact information. By this point it was still uncertain whether my flight would still be on time, so I decided to hold back on contacting my doctor, etc. I figured that I would know one way or the other on Tuesday morning and would make a decision then whether I would need to place an order or just hold out another day.

There were a couple of upsides to Hurricane Irma, at least from my point of view. One was that it FORCED me to take a break, get off my feet for most of the time, and actually rest. After nearly 7 days of parks and activities, I was in a lot of pain no matter what I did, and those 16 hours of curfew meant I was off my feet for most of it. My heels were hurting so bad that they never stopped throbbing, not for nearly a week after I got home!

Also, because of the tons of dining cancellations, I had no trouble rescheduling a 7:30 pm diner at California Grill for Tuesday night when the parks reopened, which meant I could still get to watch the fireworks the following night but eat at a much more reasonable time. (As it turned out it was yet another Halloween party night so the fireworks were yet again pushed back to 9:30 pm, but at least by that point I was relaxing at a restaurant).

Best of all, though, was that this delay gave me a "bonus day" at the parks. It was an extra day I hadn't anticipated, free to do whatever I wanted. I'd had a couple of days to rest up a bit (although I was far from 100%), which helped, too.

I went back to the concierge to ask if I could buy another park day pass for the same discounted rate or if I'd have to pay a single-day rate since my resort reservation had technically reset when I had to rebook. We were surprised to learn that I actually HAD one last park day already--that my original package included 7 days at parks, although I'd only spent 6 of them. This is despite the fact that my agent had planned for me to only spend 6 days in parks (the 7th was at the water park and my "rest day"). ***?! :mad: While I was a little relieved to learn I wouldn't have to spend more money, I was furious that had the storm not happened, I would have flown home on that Sunday, having spent money on a park day I couldn't use because she'd miscalculated. That was pretty unforgivable, IMO.

Anyway, my neighbors and I dragged our chairs out onto the balcony again and spent the rest of the evening chatting and enjoying the cool air while it lasted, then turned in relatively early because the parks would reopen the next morning and we had full days planned.
 
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Tuesday, September 12th
My "bonus day"! I had decided to take my time that morning. I got up a little early in order to start packing all but what I would need before flying out, checked my flight information (it was still listed as "on time" although the airport was still closed), and showered and dressed.

This was the first opportunity to go to Sassagoula's for breakfast and try out their famous Beignets, another classic treat from New Orleans. I got my order, checked out, and was filling up my mug with some iced tea when I heard my name called out (well, that just never happens at Disney unless you're traveling WITH people), and spotted my neighbors seated at a table already. We laughed and I came over to join them and admire this epicness of this dish! And I made the mistake of dumping off most of the powdered sugar before taking the picture--it was HEAPED on them, as is the custom
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I'd debated hard on what to do with this unplanned day, then decided that I would build it around three things I absolutely wanted to do--more shopping at the China shops at Epcot, a drink at Trader Sam's at the Polynesian resort, and dinner/fireworks at California Grill at the Contemporary. But I also wanted to try a handful more food stands at Epcot, so that sealed it. I was heading back to Epcot!
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Because of the storm, the security had removed all their metal detector stalls and switched to the wands, so it took a little longer to go through, despite there being practically no lines. Sadly the cool breeze was gone and the heat and beating sun was back--and this time I'd forgotten my hat, which I had a feeling I would regret.
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Although I had no Fastpasses for the day, I decided I wanted to ride Test Track once more, even if there was a wait (how bad could it be with no crowds?), but I walked all way to the attraction only to learn that it was shut down for repairs (unknown if it was due to storm or just the usual troubles). That was my first disappointment of the day.

Since I'd seen everything else in the Futureworld section I was interested in, I moved on to the World Showcase for one last attempt at the International Food and Wine Festival.
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Along the way I took some pics of some of the tree damage I could spot. I was very impressed by just how much work the grounds crew must have done in the past 24 hours to clean up, though--you would hardly know such a terrific storm has passed through the day before.
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I reached the Mexican pavilion and wanted to show just how empty the place was.
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At Norway, I was about to pass by, then realized that if I was going to ride the Frozen attraction, particularly without a Fastpass, this was my best opportunity. The sign said it STILL had a 30-minute wait, but it didn't really take that long, probably more like 10 minutes and the line kept moving. Which was a good thing because the ride isn't anything special, IMO. It had hijacked the previous Norway-themed ride and just slapped a lot of Frozen content inside which made little sense with what the ride was doing. But check out just how quiet the place was (around 11:30 am)!
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I wandered through the shops there afterward and decided to do a little trolling.
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Then took a selfie with my little friend here.
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China was equally empty.
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As I approached Italy, I come upon the Greece food stand and decided their Taste of Greece sampler sounded like an excellent start to lunch. This was the Stuffed grape leaves with lemon-dill sauce, grilled octopus, and feta cheese dip with warm pita, with a glass of Argyros Atlantis Red Blend from Santorini. It was excellent, the cheese dip nice and salty, the octopus perfectly cooked to the right amount without getting too chewy and the olive tapenade beneath it adding a lovely flavor, and the stuffed grape leaves were a great way to wrap it up.
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I was haloed in Italy.
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Upon reaching the American portion, I was met with my next disappointment. I'd had my heart set on getting another one of those frozen spiked ice teas from the Black & Hans stand, but the cast member told me that they weren't frozen yet. I smiled and told him that that was half the point, then moved on.

By the time I reached the Japan section, the heat was really starting to get to me again, exacerbated by the fact that I was off my high blood pressure medicines. I knew I had to take it easy that day. I thought the cherry Kakigōri (shaved ice) sounded like a great way to help stay cool.
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I had also made up my mind to go back to the huge shop in Japan where I'd bought the cat plate to purchase more cat-related items, plus I was wracking my brains trying to think of gifts for my friend who was stuck pet-sitting 3 extra days for me and figured that would be the perfect place to find something. Since I was expecting to fly out the next day I couldn't use the Disney resort-delivery perk, so three thickly wrapped pet food bowls and some other little items went into my backpack.

I stopped at the Belgian food stand for another bit of food, this time the Beer-braised beef with smoked Gouda mashed potatoes, and a Leffe Blonde Belgian Pale Ale. It reminded me of one of my favorite comfort food dishes my Mom used to make and was wonderful.
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While I was eating, I notice the family next to me starting to flip out a bit and realized it was a fearless squirrel that was "terrorizing" them. I thought they were overreacting a bit--the mom was literally and finally raced off in anger. I was like, just ignore it and it'll go away, which it did.
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Approaching the French pavilion, I caught a pretty impressive acrobatic show in the street and enjoyed one last frozen La Passion martini from there.
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When I reached the UK exhibit, I wanted to take my time wandering through the garden and shops a bit more, searching for a gift and maybe something for myself. It's a lovely pavilion, one of the better ones (IMO on a par with Morocco and Japan). I had no luck with a gift, but I did end up buying an awesome non-Disney coffee mug covered with cats. :cat: Another bulky item into my backpack.
I also decided to do a little live broadcast of walking through the exhibit.

By this point I was starting to wilt again, my feet resuming their protesting, so I decided to start wrapping it up and headed toward the distant exit.

Along the way I checked out the menu of the Islands of the Caribbean stand and decided on one last treat--a rare dessert! This was a Quesito (puff pastry with sweetened cream cheese and guava sauce). It was served warm, which surprised me (not sure if that was intentional). The crust was nice and flaky, and the sauce very sticky but delicious.
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I made one last attempt at shopping for a gift in the biggest of the gift shops there, and did end up FINALLY finding something I thought my pet sitter would like, plus another t-shirt for myself and a bag full of snacks to take home with me. I was barely able to cram the gift and t-shirt into my backpack, and ended up carrying a bag with the snacks to keep them from getting crushed.

On the way through Futureworld I stumbled across my favorite Muppets, the last thing I expected, and stopped to watch them for a while because they were great. I'm still not sure how they did this (remote controlled?) but it was very well done.
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At some point during the afternoon I'd learned that the Jungle Cruise at the Magic Kingdom was shut down due to the storm. One more ride on it had been one of the main reasons why I was considering one last visit there, and the news helped me decide to cancel that portion. Honestly, by that point I felt no energy to really do it anyway so it was almost a relief that the decision was made for me. Plus, my bag was so packed by this point that the idea of having to go through a bag search several additional times was a huge turnoff.

Here's my last farewell to Epcot while waiting for my ride on the Monorail.
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And here was my ride. I was heading for the Polynesian resort from here.
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Since the forum has a limit on pictures per post, this seems like a good place to break. Please see the next post for a continuation of this day...
 
Tuesday, September 12th (continued)
I reached the Polynesian resort around 4 pm but Trader Sam's Grog Grotto, one of my last goals of this vacation, wasn't open yet, so I found a comfy chair in the lobby to collapse. I was near the Tambu Lounge and a cast member came around to see if I'd like something to drink. She'd read my mind! I ordered this bit of heavy, a raspberry colada. It was as good as it looks!
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I then moved into the lounge proper to finish my drink and relax. I ended up sharing a seating section with an extended family from the area who were staying there during the storm and we talked for some time. By then I knew that Trader Sam's was open and said that it was a place I"d heard about and really wanted to check out. They'd never heard about it, but the older lady in their group (whom I realized was probably the closest to my own age!) said she was really curious and wanted to come along with me to check it out. Happy for the company, I grabbed my bags and lead the way.

Trader Sam's Grog Grotto is one of the hidden treasures of Disney, IMO. It's the only lounge I know of that got the full Disney animatronic treatment, which means that the decor isn't just detailed to the hilt, but it DOES things depending on what's ordered, etc. It's full-on Titi lounge themed and I LOVE it. It's tucked down at the end of a long, nondescript hallway and behind a door that makes it feel like you're stepping into a speakeasy. Because it has limited hours and it's a small room, there are very few seats and so during normal days it can pack up quickly. But I was there the day after Irma.
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We were able to find a place to sit together without waiting and started to peruse the exotic menu of drinks.
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They were pretty much all rum drinks, and it was just a matter of how much rum you wanted. I ended up starting with the
HippopotoMai-Tai (Coruba Dark Rum, Bacardi Superior Rum, Bols Orange Curaçao, Orgeat (Almond), Organic Agave Nectar, and fresh Lime Juice). It wasn't bad, but there was some strange flavor in it that both me and my companion could not pin down, although she thought it might have actually been the basil foliage they'd added as decoration. It was that or the Orgeat (which I'm not familiar with).
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Evidently when I ordered this drink, I awakened the Great Kahuna! Suddenly the lights changed and the thunder rumbled and fine drops of water sprayed the room, then he began to speak! It was pretty awesome.
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We were sitting at a table with bench seats, but after a little while she had to return to her family and so I took my drink and moved up to this long and tall table in the room that had bar chairs along both sides. I still had some time to burn before my diner reservation, so I decided to linger and buy another drink, something very different. I went with the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum (Pyrat XO Reserve Rum, Cream of Coconut, and Pineapple and Orange Juices dusted with Cinnamon and Nutmeg). I didn't think to take a picture since it just looked like a White Russian with some brown spices sprinkled on top. It was pretty tasty, but I was really starting to feel the rum and slowed down.

Magic Moment: A group of 20-somethings came in and took over the end of the table beside me. I tried once or twice to strike up a conversation with them but they seemed resistant to adding another person to their party. I was fine with that and pulled out my iPhone to have something to do while finishing my drink. When their drinks arrived, I noticed them all whipping out their own phones to take pictures of their drinks. The woman across from me then laid her phone face-down on the table and I noticed her phone case: It was Han Solo in carbonite! I let out a shocked laugh and said, "You're not going to believe this..." and then held out my own phone case for her to see because I had exactly the same one. She let out a roaring laugh and we both showed them around to the group to see why we were laughing to hard. After that they were very friendly to me until I had to leave. It just took that moment to break the ice.

I still had about 45 minutes before my dinner reservation but my head was starting to swim from all the rum, so I reluctantly left Trader Sam's and decided to browse through the gift shop nearby. It was there, finally, on my last day, that I found exactly the sort of t-shirt I'd wanted! It's this funky artwork of a octopus holding the words "Trader Sam's Grog Grotto." It was exactly the sort of obscure reference I wanted and I immediately purchased one for myself.

I managed to cram that into my backpack and then headed for the Monorail platform. Going through the security line was daunting because I had to pull out every single item from my bag so they could inspect everything, but there's no place to repack carefully because of people behind me, so I had to pile it all on the floor and do it there. I was very glad this was to be the last time I had to go through that process. A Monorail train was still waiting when I was finished, which surprised me, but I gratefully hopped on. That's when I was informed that the train was stuck because the one ahead of us had broken down at the Magic Kingdom and they'd been stuck there for about 15 minutes already. My heart sank--unless it got moving again soon, not only would I miss my reservation, but I would have to walk all the way to the boat landing and go through security all over again (and I wasn't even sure if the boats were running again after the storm), or take at least two buses to get to my destination. I debated what to do, and I was so dog tired by this point, that I just decided to stick it out and wait. I made the right decision because it was only about 5 minutes before we got moving. The train made the usual stop at the Magic Kingdom, then continued on to my final destination, inside the Contemporary resort.

The California Grill is a very exclusive restaurant and in such high demand that reservations are nearly impossible to get unless you book them months in advance. It's so exclusive that you can't even go to the top floor where it's located unless you check in on the second floor and they escort you up on a locked elevator. I made it just in time and let them know that there had been a delay on the Monorail and that they might have some late arrivals. The cast member escorting me up asked how my day was going and I told her that I was having a great day, my "bonus day", and that while I was exhausted I was still really looking forward to this treat. She was amused by that and was happy I was having such a great and unanticipated day. We stepped off into the restaurant and was met with a literally walls of wine coolers filled with no doubt tons of expensive vintages. As she walked me through the place and seated me at a window, I was taken by just how lovely the place was--and by how empty it was. Most of the tables were empty, which really shocked me considering it was 7:30 pm, a prime time for dining.
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The view from my table.
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I was introduced to the cast member who would be my waiter for the evening, and he handed me both the main menu and wine menu to peruse.

Magic Moment: While I was debating over the menu, the cast member who had escorted me in and seated me returned to my table. She was evidently so amused by my description of today that she made this and gave it to me!
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While glancing through the wine menu, I balked and did a literal double-take. There was a bottle listed for $7,000. No joke. Here's proof! I was so blown over that I took the picture and posted on Facebook, "OMG, I think I'm in the wrong place!"
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So anyway, I eventually gave my server my choices from the menu and asked him if he had a recommendation for a glass of wine that might go well with my selection. He suggested the Conundrum white blend, and it turned out to be a great choice, crisp and light.
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Are you ready for some more food porn? I have to keep things on the light side, plus it was so hot that anything heavy didn't sound appetizing. That being said...

I started with the bread and chose a piece of what looked like focaccia, with the unsalted butter and black volcanic salt. The bread was so tender that it seemed to melt in my mouth and I would have been happy just gorging on that!
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Then came the Brentwood Corn Bisque (Maine Lobster, Pickled Sweet Corn Salad, Chives). It was rich but light, almost like a foam. The corn flavor was wonderful and I could best describe it as a taste of summer.
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Next was the Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli (Tomato-Fennel Broth, crispy Mushrooms, Tiny Basil, Arbequina Organic Olive Oil). It had a robust tomato broth I could smell as he set it down. The flavor was nice, with a kick of pepper. The mushroom chips were a unique texture that gave it a bit of crunch.
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By this point I was feeling a bit full, between this and the heavy drinks earlier, and none of the desserts on their menu that day tempted me--they all sounded too heavy. And my birthday button had broken that morning and I hadn't bothered to replace it, or maybe I might have gotten something free. As it was, though, I was content. Because the place was mostly empty nobody was rushing me and I took my time.
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The setting was so lovely, with a commanding view of most of Disney World. It was still only around 8:30 pm when I finished but the fireworks wouldn't start for another hour. I didn't feel like sitting at the table that long, so I wrapped up and then decided to just take a peek from the observation deck before heading downstairs to find a lounge for a while (Yeah, I didn't know there was a lounge attached to California Grill).

Magic Moment: I was just stepping through the doors and out onto the observation deck when I realized that there was a couple alone together out there, standing close and talking. Then I watched as he suddenly sank to one knee and held up a little box. I instantly stopped and slowly backtracked back inside, smiling and happy to let them have their own Magic Moment. :tiptoe:

I decided to check out the Wave Lounge down on the ground floor because it had sounded cool and a friend recommended it. And it did look pretty cool in a dark and funky way, and I'm sure it's a pretty happening place normally, but it felt abandoned that night. I was almost literally alone down there--there was one couple sitting at the bar and that was it other than the bartender. I wasn't really in the mood for another drink, so I sat in corner and elevated my feet as much as possible to stop the throbbing, and surfed on my iPhone until it neared the time of the night show.

With about 15 minutes to go, I reported back at the concierge desk and was escorted back up so I could go out onto the deck (if you had a reservation there any afternoon/evening, you're allowed to return that same day to watch the show, a nice perk).
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I was eventually joined about maybe 10 other people as the music and narrator for the event began to play from synchronized speakers on the deck. Then it started. I'll admit that I think I would have preferred to see the non-Halloween-themed one (it just felt weird to be doing Halloween in the second week of September), but this was still pretty impressive and I was just glad to see the Magic Kingdom show at all because had I flown home on Sunday as planned, I would have missed it entirely.
https://www.facebook.com/suezahn/vi...886400247/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

After the fireworks, I made my way down to the ground floor and out to the bus stop that would take me to Disney Springs. It arrived about five minutes later and I was the only person to get on. We rode in silence for a little while, then we spotted a man attempting to walk through the middle of the wilderness and stoplights between the resorts, with a towel around his shoulders, and we started speculating on what exactly he thought he was going out there in the dark in the middle of nowhere. When we finally arrived at the stop and I stood to get off, he asked me what my button meant because he'd never seen one say "Bonus Day" before. I explained the inspiration and he laughed and thought that was wonderful, then wished me a good night.

I then walked over to the bus that would take me to my resort and had an uneventful ride back. It was around 10:30 pm by this point and I was exhausted. My neighbors had spent the day at the Magic Kingdom and has paid extra to participate in the Halloween party, so they would no doubt be arriving much later, so I didn't wait up. I knew we'd have a chance to say goodbye in the morning. I went inside, showered, and then all but collapsed into my bed for the night.
 
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Funny story about the "Muppet Mobile Lab" - we were watching it at Epcot one morning when all of a sudden it stopped talking, went silent for a few seconds, then did a nose dive onto the ground. Two guys ran up to take care of it/cart it off - turns out they were the CM's running it but were dressed to blend in with the tourists in the crowd. Kind of a bummer since it was a good interactive show, but it was also interesting to see the "magic" behind it.
 
Wednesday, September 13th
It was my last day at Disney and I enjoyed "sleeping in" one last time. I didn't have to check out until 11 am, and my Magic Express bus wasn't until 11:30 am, so I took my time showering and getting dressed. I'd confirmed my flight the night before and it looked like there would be no delay after all, so I was definitely leaving. After living at Disney for nearly 12 days straight, it was a difficult concept to grasp. It was an absolutely bittersweet feeling--I missed my cats desperately, but I was leaving with the sad feeling that I had no idea when I'd ever get a chance to come back.

I spent a good amount of time attempting to organize my baggage to fit everything. I probably should have reconsidered a couple of the more bulky purchases (coffee mugs) because those took up so much room in my cases. It was like playing a game of Tetras to fit everything into the two cases and my backpack, but I barely managed and still ended up with the ubiquitous Disney shopping bag full of treats that would just have to go on the plane as is (and hope nobody yelled at me for having two carry-ons).

Then I pulled my chair out onto the balcony one last time and ate one of the Poptarts I'd bought the week before as hurricane emergency food but never needed. I probably should have gone over to Sassagoula's for one last batch of Beignets but they were so heavy that I didn't really want them two mornings in a row. Plus I didn't want to miss my new friends.

Soon Jane and Graeme did appear and we sat for a little while and talked until it was time for me to check out. I asked to snap their picture and then we said goodbye. Back on Monday night we'd exchanged Facebook invites so I knew we could keep in touch, and we talked about maybe someday meeting up here again, or if I ever got my wish to travel to see another friend in Glasgow, Scotland that I could hop down to Manchester to see them as well. They're lovely people and I really enjoyed my time with them--they helped ease the boredom of being stuck under a curfew, they enhanced those last couple of days, and they made me laugh the entire time. I hope I did the same in return.
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We shared hugs and then I gathered up my things and headed for the Magic Express bus stop. Because of the limited services due to the storm, I wasn't able to check my bags there at the resort but instead had to load them on the bus and then take them with me and check in at my airlines counter once I reached the airport.

On the bus ride to the Orlando airport, I began to see real signs of the devastation around Orlando outside of the parks, most of it downed trees and damaged superficial structures like screened rooms attached to homes. It was bad enough, but nothing like what I'd been seeing along the coastal areas. I also so several large bonfires out in the wilderness areas where they were gathering debris and burning it.

The airport was crowded, but luckily I arrived at a window when there was no line at the security checkpoint, so I breezed through. I finally arrived at my gate only to discover that my flight was delayed an hour. It was very chilly as well and I saw people with blankets--it was a bit crazy since all I had were shorts and a t-shirt.

When we did eventually board and take off, I was very glad it was a direct flight home, no connections, because by that point I just wanted it over and wanted to collapse on my bed with my cats and not move for three days (wishful dreaming--I had a very busy 6:00 am start the next morning for work). The sky was crystal clear and even from there I could already see the Eastern coastline. But what really shocked me was the almost post-apocalyptic appearance below--as far as I could see, there were random plumes of smoke rising from countless debris pyres. It instantly reminded me of that opening scene from Blade Runner with the endless smoke stacks. I was crammed into my seat and couldn't reach my phone in time to take a good picture of it. But that image was just burned into my brain as a reminder of just how bad that storm really was, and how lucky I was to come away not only unscathed but with a happy ending to my epic vacation.
 
Funny story about the "Muppet Mobile Lab" - we were watching it at Epcot one morning when all of a sudden it stopped talking, went silent for a few seconds, then did a nose dive onto the ground. Two guys ran up to take care of it/cart it off - turns out they were the CM's running it but were dressed to blend in with the tourists in the crowd. Kind of a bummer since it was a good interactive show, but it was also interesting to see the "magic" behind it.

Oh cool, I wondered if that's how it worked. Yeah, I can see how that would spoil the magic a little, but so cool to know that there were cast members incognito running it like that. From looking at the structure, I figured it was using the same Segway technology to have it balance on just two wheels like it did but still be able to turn and reverse with ease.
 
Susan, I've read many trip reports and I really do think yours is my favourite. I just LOVED your details, your Magic Moments, your photos, and your positive attitude. My goal is to, someday, do a solo trip, and I will remember your tips. Thank you for taking so much time to recount your trip. I truly enjoyed reading every bit of it.
 
Great trip report. Thanks for taking the time to write it. Have you started planning or at least dreaming about your next trip?
 
Thanks for sharing! I really enjoyed your trip report, especially all your observations and thoughts on everything. I loved how you look so animated in your pictures, like you are having so much fun!
 
Excellent trip report! I am glad I came along!
This is what I learned:
1. Do a solo trip, it will be fun!
2. Try to engage with both guests and cast members, some may not work, but some will and it will be great.
3. Be flexible; things happen that is out of your control, you can work it out, you are at Walt Disney World!
4. Attitude IS EVERTHING, if you have a positive attitude, you will have a great time!
 
Great trip report. Thanks for taking the time to write it. Have you started planning or at least dreaming about your next trip?
I definitely WANT to go back, but I can't realistically do so any time soon, so I'm attempting to remain cautiously optimistic. I have a credit card to pay off, plus I just had an old crown break off last week and will likely have to pay most of it out-of-pocket. Every time something like that happens, it sets me back several more months in my projected time-frame. This single-income-budget thing is for the birds!

What I have done so far is take my Excel spreadsheet and planning tool, updated and cleaned it up, and will leverage it for a future trip. All I'll need to do is pick a date and I'll be ready to start the process over again. There are other things I'd like to do at some point (a trip to Scotland, maybe elsewhere overseas), plus trips home (1,000 miles away), that I have to factor in. I'm a huge Star Wars fan and the pending Galaxy's Edge land is in the back of my mind as well, although after my experience with Pandora, I'm inclined to give it a good year after opening before I'll visit. :crowded:
 

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