Nifty Fifty: The Great return of the Sauciers! - April 2022 TR

So sorry for your loss but so happy for you guys for being able to take this trip now and couldn’t be bette timing. Have so much fun!
 
I am so sorry for your players. Praying for you all. I just booked my first Disneyland trip for August (just me and a girlfriend) so will need all the tips if you feel up to it. Hoping your trip is magical.
 
Hello Everyone!

Thank You so much for the kind words. I truly appreciate it! We are back from our trip and it was def want we needed as a family. We had a great trip. We did have some illness in there but we made the most of it. I will def do a trip report about it but I think I want to try and get this one complete first!

I spent this last week trying to get back up to speed at work and home. We had Easter yesterday, since we were away for the actual Easter. And today is Andy's birthday, and we are actually just chilling today, it has been a lot, so a quiet day is just what we need.

Since, today is actually one year from the trip report post i am going to start today! Andy's 50th Birthday.


Day Eight: Happy 50th to Andy!

We all woke up at 6:30 this morning and everyone was slow to get up.

Since we were all up, I lost track of time and almost missed the 7 window to make our first LL. I was able to make LL for Haunted Mansion at 9:15 - 10:15.

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Tinkerbell left a bunch of birthday stuff today. Andy picked out the Fifty Nifty shirts. So, those weren't a suprise. But the birthday magic band was! And he actually really liked it.

The other surprise was the 50th Bingo that I made. I tried to make it have a mix of stuff for us to try and hit.
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The plan was to go to Magic Kingdom in the morning, go back and rest for a bit. Head to Hollywood Studios for awhile and then finish up with dinner at Hoemcomin'.

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We slowly got ready. Morgan was not feeling the morning but rally for Andy. We headed down to the bus around 7:45 AM. We just missed a bus and finally had one show put at 8:06. I think it was Early Entry at 8:30, so we were on target for timing.

But we were at Magic Kingdom by 8:20.

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Walking towards MK, we saw 2 ducks just sitting in a que for the Wilderness Lodge bus. It was hilarious, it looked like they were waiting for the bus.

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First stop was to get Andy his birthday button first. We went into the Emporium Got one at the Emporium.
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CM gave us extras as well. Which I ended up just carrying around all day and setting off the security alarm with each time, but it was nice of the CM.

Check Off one Box: The Unscramble square was "Get Birthday Button"

Next we grabbed a photo pass photo closer to the castle.
https://flic.kr/p/2ocDLum]2022-04-23 - Magic Kingdom Park - Main Street USA_2[/url]

https://flic.kr/p/2ocDLtp]2022-04-23 - Magic Kingdom Park - Main Street USA_2[/url]

We decided to go into Tomorrowland first since the night before we failed at going on Buzz Lightyear.

https://flic.kr/p/2ocBxhj]2022-04-23 - Magic Kingdom Park - Main Street USA_2[/url]
There was CM blowing bubbles that stopped Andy and asked how old he was. Andy made a joke about his being 21. It was a very nice, simple interaction with the CM.

Check Off one Box: Have a CM wish Andy Happy Birthday, Another Square done!

At 8:40, we got on to Buzz. It was still a walk on since it was extra hours.
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2022-04-23 - Magic Kingdom Park - Main Street USA_2

no bloody noses this time, and we got on with no issues.

2022-04-23 - Magic Kingdom Park - Main Street USA_2 by Ariella Saucier, on Flickr

Space Rangers-Ariella and Morgan
Look at our faces of determination...

But really these two..
Space Rangers Andy and Gwen
Look less focused but these are there scores:
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Gwen got Galactic Hero! She was SUPER excited about it.
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When she asked for a sticker after, the CM said she was the first of the day. Which made her feel even more special.

After Buzz, we hopped on the people mover.
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We joked that only old people rope drop people mover. But it was perfect way to start the day.

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We debated trying to get on Astro Orbitor but when we got off the ride it was already too long. (It was just after 9, so the rest of folks had been let in)

So, instead we headed to Speedway next.
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Gwen was finally tall enough to ride by herself but still let Andy come with her. I was a little sad as the girls were as excited to ride this as they used to.
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Check Off one Box: We realized that this would qualify as riding a ride when the park opened. Another square done!

After this, we decided to grab some breakfast.
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We decided to stop for some Cheshire Cat Tales.

We grabbed 3 Cheshire Cat Tails, a Mad Hatter’s Unbirthday Tea and an iced coffee.

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The Mad Hatter's Unbirthday Tea was some sort of sour apple frosted thing. I remember it being pretty sour and we didn't finish it. (don't mind the reusable straws already stuck in the drink)

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The Cheshire Cat Tales were good as usual. And the iced coffee was iced coffee.

While we sat and enjoyed our treats and drinks, the girls counted 50 chairs for one of the squares.

Check Off one Box: Count 50 of something

Up next more Magic Kingdom Birthday Fun!
 
Great start to Andy's 50th. Congrats to Gwen for getting Galactic Hero!

Love the Cat Tail but missed getting one last week.
 
Day Eight: Happy 50th to Andy!

I left off, taking a break and having some breakfast. While we sat and rested, we discussed whether to try and do another ride with low wait or just go and ride Haunted Mansion. I said she should scan into LL before 11 to try and get another one before the 11 rush. So, we headed over there next.

Path to Haunted Mansion

We stopped at the Wishing Well for Andy to make a wish. (And Earn a Square on his Bingo Card)

Morgan

We scanned in at 9:59 and tried to find another LL before the 11:00 window and another mass booking time I was actually hoping for something in HS for the night. But everything was either still too early or too late. So, I kept refreshing and trying to decide what to do.

Haunted Mansion

Graveyard
This is why I really don't like the new system. I have to decide between fiddle fiddling for a good LL or enjoying the que and who I am with. I did snap a few pics.

Stretching Room

Gwen and Me
This is me and Gwen pretending to be dead. Aren't we great actors...

Morgan and Andy
Andy and Morgan didn't know where the photo spot was just yet.... ha.

We Earned another Square on his Bingo Card for one of Andy’s favorite Rides. (Haunted Mansion)

After Haunted Mansion, we went to It’s a small world. Posted 35 minutes.
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But it was only a 10 minute wait.
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Andy decided to try and only take creepy photos of the dolls on the ride. Was he successful?

Creepy Fire God Doll
Creepy Fire God Doll

Creepy Tiki Dolls
Creepy Tiki Dolls

Creepy Heaven Dolls
Creepy Heaven Dolls

Creepy Chicken
Creepy Chicken Doll

Creepy Dolls
Creepy Dolls...

As a reward, Andy’s name came up on the floating away sign!
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At some point, I ended up grabbing a pirates LL, as it was soon-is. We wanted to leave Magic Kingdom by noon to have a nice rest, so that made the most sense.

In the meantime, we decided for more food! We stopped at the Rapunzel Bathrooms.
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The best bathrooms ever!

And stopped into Memento Mori’s on the way. I ended up buying a Haunted Mansion Mug. I am actually drinking out of it right now! I love ti so much!!! I kind of grabbed it on a whim, but love it so much.
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Gwen tried on a few hats, but didn't get anything.
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Finally we focused on the snack situation. We decided to try and get dole whips. The line wasn’t too bad, thankfully. It looked like they had turned off mobile order for Aloha Isle. Which seemed to be causing more problems than helping the other day.

Andy and Morgan got in line for Dole Whips.
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Gwen wanted Lime, so we got a Lime and Vanilla Swirl to share and Morgan went with a good old Dole Whip.

Gwen and I went and got a 50th Churro from the cart in Frontierland.
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Gwen was happy that she was finally able to get her churros. She did share with everyone.

As Gwen and I walked back to Andy and Morgan were, they were almost to the front of the line, so Gwen and I went to find our secret spot. But then I saw someone walk by with egg rolls, so I decided to run and grab egg rolls as well! I left Gwen at the secret spot and ran to see if the line was like. The line wasn’t too bad. So I hopped in line. I got both kinds again and headed back to everyone.

We had successfully completed our goal from the first day when we failed miserably! We all sat and enjoyed the food. We all shared and just relaxed for a bit.

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This ended up being our "lunch" and worked out well. The Rueben Egg Rolls and Churro counted for eating a 50th snack. Another Square done!
 
We had relaxed long enough that our LL for Pirates was up. So, we headed over there around 11:45.
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Pirates was fun as always. Gwen and I decided to pretended to be asleep. Andy and Morgan again didn't get the memo. ;)

We started to make our way out after Pirates. It was time for a rest!

We stopped for a photos on the way out. First with a golden statue.
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I had all these intentions of finding all of the golden statues on this trip but that only kind of happened.

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And then another by the Hub.
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This CM was just standing there with no one to take photos, so she took a bunch for us!

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All of us together!

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A Magic Shot!

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Gwen wanted to take one by herself with the balloon magic shot.

After our mini photo shoot, it was FINALLY time to make our way out!

We tried to see if we could find the CM from the first day who made Gwen’s day. But unfortunately no luck.

We walked through the Emporium. I had decided that I wanted the lavender / purple Spirit Jersey. And they didn’t have it at World of Disney the day before. So, I went in search of that here. Found it! Gwen wanted to get a matching one as well. And she found a tiny one for her Nuimo! We did mobile payment AGAIN, this time, the CM made sure we took the security item off the jerseys on our way out. That is a little tooo easy!

Morgan decided she wanted all of the park guides in all languages. She grabbed one of each on the way out.
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She started a deco page thing with them last summer but has yet to finish it! If she ever does, I will share a photo of it.

And because this was the longest exit of a park ever... we grabbed a photo pass photo outside the entrance with the Topiary cake.
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2022-04-23 - Magic Kingdom Park - Main Street Train Station_4

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The picture with a Birthday Topiary was another Box!

And with that we were FINALLY waiting for a bus to go back to the resort...
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2022-04-23 - Magic Kingdom Park - Main Street Train Station_4
with a duck....

Who did not care at all that we were so close to him!

Bingo Card So Far
Here is our Bingo Card so far! We did pretty good!

Can we finish all of the items?
 
What a great morning! You certainly ticked a lot of boxes on the birthday bingo. I love your ride photos- I never know where the cameras are so mine are always a surprise to me 😂
Andy definitely succeeded at the “creepy dolls” photos :rotfl:
The snack lunch looked very tasty and something I would really enjoy though I’ve yet to try the egg rolls. Do you have a favorite or are they both good?
 

I love your ride photos- I never know where the cameras are so mine are always a surprise to me 😂
It took us a long time to figure them out! So, don't feel bad. And sometimes they are in weird places.

The snack lunch looked very tasty and something I would really enjoy though I’ve yet to try the egg rolls. Do you have a favorite or are they both good?
I actually liked the Rueben one, but that was a 50th anniversary one, so I am not sure if they are still selling it. Andy loves the traditional Cheeseburger one. I love the buffalo chicken one, but they don't always have that one.

I'm loving birthday bingo! It's helping to give the day some direction and I'm sure it'll make that a stand out memory for years to come.
It def gave us memories! And my next installment has one we will also always remember...

Great morning! I am embarrassed to say I have never had the Chesire Tail treat :rolleyes1
I mean... personally, it's a breakfast danish... you could probably get one at home. But it's fun since it's Disney. Morgan and Gwen do love them!
 
Happy Saturday!

This weekend we technically have nothing to do! Well, by nothing I mean no parties to go to, no big place to be.... We have errands and cleaning to do! And literally it might be the first weekend this year THIS YEAR that I haven't hav a million things to do.


Day Eight: Tragedy Strikes!

I left us off going back to the hotel to rest. We all rested in the room, Andy took an actual nap. Girls watched YouTube, shocking.... but it was a much needed rest. The plan was to head to Hollywood Studios sometime in the afternoon.

I fiddled and faddled for a good 30 minutes trying to get a LL for Rock n Rollercoaster LL. I had no luck and finally gave up and grabbed Aliens. I was a little annoyed because we were not going to have anything good to ride in HS in the evening. This was before the modify feature that they finally added in. And the modify feature is def nice!

We finally started to get ready to go. We were about to leave, and Gwen couldn’t find her phone. Andy and morgan had actually left the room while Gwen and I searched for her phone. Andy came back in and was like what are you doing? We looked and looked and I just knew she left it somewhere on MK. Andy said let's just go but I knew if she lost it we needed to get it back ASAP.

We used Gwen’s ipad to find my phone. And could clearly see it was in lost and found at Magic Kingdom. Andy tried to fill out the form online but it kept erasing our information. Which made Andy SUPER annoyed.

Gwen was crying. She felt bad for losing her phone and she thought she had ruined Andy’s birthday.

It was a tense bit of time...

We finally just went down to the front desk. The CM at the front desk called guest relations in MK for us, and confirmed that they had the phone! But we had to go get it ourselves. Gwen was still lightly crying at the fact that she ruined the evening. Andy wasn't mad, he just wanted to get it back.

Once I realized we were going to have to go back to MK instead, I cancelled our HS LL and booked BTM for 4:40 - 5:40. Which honestly was a better LL than what I had gotten in HS.

We ended up on a bus back to MK at 3:08 and at MK by 3:25. The bus ride over was very quiet... Morgan didn't want to say anything. She didn't want to make anyone angry or sad... it was just a quiet ride to the park.

We went straight to guest relations and was able to get Gwen’s phone! There was no line, thank goodness! And when we described the phone they went back and found it. They had powered it off and when Gwen was able to unlock it, they let us take it. They had a form I had to sign. And we were off! It honestly was pretty painless... THANKFULLY!

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Thank Goodness there was someone good out there who found it and turned it in. I wish we knew who it was but we will never know. Also, thank goodness for locate my phone! I personally felt better the second I saw that it was sitting at Guest Relations. I knew we would be able to get it back, as long as we went that day.

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This is the look of a traumatized Gwen... oye!

With that taken care of! We all took a big sign of relief and decided what to do now....


The festival of fantasy parade was just about done.
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So we hustled across the way and got in line for Mickey before the parade crowd did. It was perfect timing as people did flooded in.

We waited about 10 minutes to meet Mickey.

Mickey was in his 50th Outfit, which was a square that we wanted to do!

But the whole thing was just a little weird, it felt flat in the area. Not sure why. There was no photopass Photographer. Just a handler. Which I thought was sad being that it was Mickey!

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We did get to hug Mickey! Hugs had JUST come back earlier that week!

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And Andy got a birthday shot with the big cheese!

Another Square done!

As we came out of meeting Mickey and saw the 50th Calvacade!
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We joked at how fast Mickey was! We just saw him inside and man did he get outside really quickly!
Another box done.

We had a bathroom break and headed to the Tiki room next. The Tiki Room is def natagic, especially for Gwen and I. We would also listen to disney music when we would swim this summer. And dream about our first trip back after covid. So, it was something we needed to go and do.

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I have a soft spot for those clicky clicky eyed birds...

After tiki it was time for Big Thunder Mountain LL! With the LL lane we only waited 10 minutes to get loaded on. I think we took whatever part of the train they gave us.
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Big Thunder Counted as Andy’s other favorite ride in MK. Another Square.

Headed out after BTM, it was time to head out for dinner! We saw the flag lowering ceremony as we were walking out. Andy didn’t know what it was. It is a really nice thing they do. And almost crazy that it happens with so many things going on and no one even know that it is happening.

We went to the buses thinking you could get a bus to Disney Springs. For some reason I thought it was just after a certain time. Realized that there was no bus. So, we turned around and walked BACK through security and walked to the Contemporary. We just waited for a bus from there. Which wasn't bad at all.

We popped into World of Disney quickly before dinner.

Morgan picked out Stich PJ pants that she saw earlier but they didn’t have her size. And Morgan ended up getting a Donald Nuimos, while Gwen purchased 2 outfits for her existing Nuimos. After that quick stop, we headed to dinner!

Andy requested Homecomin' for dinner! We were sat 5 minutes after getting there. Checked in outside, then went inside to wait and use the bathroom. And we seated right after that. Perfect!

We started with 2 appetizers:
Bee Haven Bay Fried Green Tomatoes
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Shaved ham, rémoulade sauce, and dressed local greens

I love this! Living in the north, it is literally the only time I can get Fried Green Tomatoes. Morgan also really liked this. So, Morgan and I mostly shared this one.

Gator Bites
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Tender bites of gator tail, hand-battered, lightly fried and served with remoulade and house-made hot sauce

Andy ordered these since he does NOT like Fried Green Tomatoes. Gwen and Andy liked these, so me and Morgan basically let them have that app. I did try one and it just tasted like fried stuff... but in a good way.

Andy ordered the
Sweet Tea Shine
Sweet Tea, fresh-squeezed lemon and moonshine
Getting Andy’s favorite Drink was another box on Bingo.

And I got the Shine Flight. It’s not on the menu but I had seen it on instagram.
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Rumshine Punch - this was good and probably my second favorite.
Strawberry RumShine, blackberry brandy, banana liqueur, pineapple juice and house-made grenadine

Blue Hooch - Meh... I really don't like blue curacao... it was fine, def my least favorite.
Blue Flame moonshine, lemon-infused moonshine, blue curacao, house-made simple syrup, fresh lemon juice and a splash of Sprite. Our strongest shine on tap

Strawberry Lemonade - This was my favorite of these.
Strawberry moonshine, freshly muddled strawberries, lemonade and strawberry puree

Moonshine Margarita - This tasted pretty much like a margarita! I was surprised how much it tasted like tequila!
Tequila, moonshine with a splash of freshsqueezed orange and lime

Sweet Tea Shine - This one is Andy's Favorite!
Sweet Tea, fresh-squeezed lemon and moonshine
It was a lot of Moonshine! But def fun to to!

The girls both went with Sweet Tea. I tried there tea and it wasn’t as sweet as some sweet teas. But good.
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Gwen said hers was "too sweet" so she went with this strategy of drinking water and tea at the same time..

Morgan and Gwen decided to split the
Fried Chicken & Doughnuts
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Two pieces of Chef Art’s famous fried chicken served with house-made sugar doughnuts. Choice of side item. - Mac and Cheese.
This was MORE than enough food for the 2 of them. And they said it was good.

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Look at that cheese pull!

And then Andy and I split the
Art's Famous Fried Chicken
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Buttermilk-brined for 24 hours then perfectly fried and served with creamy mashed potatoes, a cheddar drop biscuit and love
This was also really good. I did miss having the thigh high biscuit sandwiches but this was really good as well.

Homecomin' was great as always. It was nice to sit and relax. We decided on a game plan for the evening while we relaxed.

After dinner I wanted to make sure we got Morgan’s phone case, It was Black and White Sketch Phone Case
that she wanted as a birthday gift. So, we walked down to the Co-Op to get that. And I wanted the orange bird shorts and shirt.

Once purchased, we headed back to the buses. Andy requested we go to EPCOT to see Harmonious. We tried to get a bus directly to EPCOT BUT they didn’t have any. IS this STILL a thing!?!?! I thought you could get to the parks sometimes from Disney Springs. It really is kind of annoying.

We got the Yacht, Beach Club and Boardwalk bus instead and got off at Beach Club to go in the back entrance.
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I grabbed a blurry photo of the old car out front.

Gwen used the bathroom at Beach Club lobby before we headed to EPCOT around 8:30.

As we walked inot Epcot, this lady in front of us at the tapstile hadn’t gone to her first park reservation and couldn’t get in and was yelling at the poor girl. The woman had a little girl and wanted to go into EPOCT just to get Fish and Chips. We felt so bad for the poor CM. She clearly was just doing what she needed to do.

We tapped in. Gwen dug out one of her coins and gave it to the girl as we passed through. And I think the girl really appreciated it in that moment.

We headed in to find a spot. We ended up in Canada between a rock and a merch kiosk. It ended up being a pretty good spot for getting there 20 minutes before the show started. We didn’t have any trees in the way. And could see one of the half moon floats pretty well.

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Morgan and Gwen def liked this show better. Andy like it better as well. I thought it was ok. Both nighttime shows just didn't wow me. Both are good but meh... Which both are now gone soo...

But I am glad we saw them both while they were here!

After that we headed out of the park and straight to pjs and bed! It was a good say with some bumps in the road but still a good day. But we were exhausted!!!

Bingo Card So Far
We did manage to get bingo without going to Hollywood Studios. Which made Gwen happy in the end.
 
I’m sure you were all so stressed out about Gwen’s phone ( poor girl). So glad you got it back and finished your day on a happy note. Dinner and fireworks sound pretty perfect :goodvibes
You’re managing to tick off so many squares on the birthday bingo card too 🥳
 

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