A Very Cold and Character Filled SoloVacation/Birthday Celebration Extravaganza TR About This Page:

[Colexis Mom]

Great start!

[nladams]

Now time for the good stuff (with pictures)!!

I finally made my way over to the DME counter and was flagged on over directly to the line where they scanned my vouchers. Since I hadn't recieved new vouchers she sent me to the POP line but quickly realized and moved on over to the WL line.
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I only waited about 10 minutes to be called out to the bus with only about 6 other people on my bus. After another 10 minutes of waiting on the bus ..probably around 10:20 am we were on our way....it was only 20 more minutes until I saw this amazing sign....
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We made stops at the Poly, GF, CR and finally WL
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After all the stops I finally made it to WL around 11 am. I had done online check-in at the 10 day mark..which was really quick and simple but didn't really save me a lot of time at check-in since there was no else at the desk or in line. I was handed my package and birthday pin and was told they would text me when my room was ready. I took my bag out to bell services where they kept it for me until my room was ready.

By now I was starving so I took some quick pictures around the lodge....
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and headed to the boat launch. The weather was actually quite nice (compared to back home of course) it was around 12 degrees (celcius) so warm enough for jeans, a long sleeve, and hoodie....but when your on the boat..that's another story. It was FREEZING!!

After a few minutes we arrived at the CR. From there it was a short monorail ride away to the GF. On my last trip one of my fav lunch spots was Gasparilla Grill. I would sit right outside near the marina and you can hear the MK train in the distance as well as any shows that were going on in the MK...very peacefull and near crowded.

Although I had my KTTW card I paid OOP for my CS meal consisting of pizza, carrots & celery, and an Orange Fanta. I have to say I really really don't like all the whole wheat buns and whole wheat pizza crust they have now...but hey I really shouldn't be complaining.

After lunch I decided to try my hand at MK. Now from my experience on the buses and monorail so far I knew that it was going to be busy. I have never had to wait for another monorail because the one previous was too full. After a lengthy wait at the GF monorail stop I was on my way. After a quick bag check and a swipe of my KTTW card I was in!

It was PACKED! I have never seen so many people in the park before. I guess since New Years fell on a Friday this year many chose to extended their vacation into the weekend. Eventually I made my way down Main Street and caught the tail end of the Dream Along With Mickey show at the castle then headed over to Space Mountain. With a standby wait time of 150 min I decided to go for a fast pass...the return time? 7:15pm! (it was only 1:00pm) ...fair enough...I was coming back that night for the Wishes Dessert Party anyway....

I then decided to head over to BTM just to check on wait times ...180 min.....Haunted Mansion...50 min....I just dont have the patience today....

Around 1:30 pm I recieved the text message that my room was ready. Since I just missed a bus I decided to brave the cold and take the boat back to the resort.

I was assigned rm 4099. Right on the corner overlooking the lobby and over the check-in desk. The room was clean but not the king bed I had requested. No worries a Queen will do just fine for me...And the view? Well let's just say I didnt waste any space on my camera by taking a picture of it. Basically all I could see was the roof meeting more roof. The baclcony was alright but didnt get any sun in day....

Since I had only a few hours sleep the night before I decided it was time for a nap. As I was laying out my clothes for later on the bed I found a tiny white bug crawling up my arm from the sheets on the bed....it was small and had the back of a spider but only 4 legs...GROSS!! I squished it just thinking I brought it in from outside and set the alarm for 4:30 pm.

After a well needed nap (which I could have slept all night long if I wasn't at Disney) I decided to get up and head down to Roaring Forks to purchase a refillable mug and some new pins for trading.

Becuase of the cooler weather tonight (I had my winter coat in backpack) I decided to skip the boat and catch the bus. With only a 10 min wait I was on my way to MK to catch the castle lighting ceremony, some dinner, and the Wishes Dessert Party...and maybe my first ride of the trip....

Stay Tuned!!

[B.M.]

Sorry MK was so packed!
I hope that's the end of the bugs (but worried it isn't)

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update and pictures! Sorry about the crowds!

[debrabrown]

ewww.... hate bugs in the bed. I don't think I could have slept but glad you did. Sorry about the wait times.

[janicelovesmickey]

a spider!!
omg I know the parks were nuts!!

[Cam22]

MK sounds terribly crowded! I do NOT like bugs and fear there will be more to that story.

[Diz]

Another about the bug!
Glad you were able to catch a nap before your Wishes Dessert Party! It's amazing!

[Nick and Ryans Mom]

Originally Posted by Cam22

MK sounds terribly crowded! I do NOT like bugs and fear there will be more to that story.

[BlueCinderellaEyes]

Cant wait to read more! EWWW on the bug!

[lazanya]

Sorry about the crowds at MK! ewww....on the bug!

[nladams]

Now where was I? Ahhh yes the cold night out at MK. With my previous pin shopping and the bus ride I made it to MK around 6:00 pm with just enough time to stake out a good spot for the castle lighting. I have to say that this was one of my favorite things about holidays at Disney. The show was super cute and when the lights came on it was absolutely breathtaking...especially since I had never seen them before. It was beautiful.

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All the cold weather in the world wouldn't have kept me away. Seeing the castle was well worth the money, cold weather, and crowds. I could have sat in front of the castle all night and been perfectly happy

Since my meals had been all outta wack today from travel and napping I decided I should probably eat some "real food" before heading to the dessert party and eating junk all night. I decided on Casey's. I know hot dogs aren't really "real food" but close enough. I settled on the hot dog meal with fries, orange fanta, and a brownie. This was about the time I started to think that the DDP would be way too much food for me...the brownie ended up in my backpack and a lot of the fries in the trash. Overall the meal was good but I really can't stress enough how much I really don't like all these whole wheat buns and crust everywhere. I know it's nice to have the option but it should be just that - an option.

By the time I was finished it was just about time for my FastPass for Space Mountain so I headed over to tomorrowland. The ride queue looks very similar to before the refurbishment except for the games you can now play while your in line. This is a great idea for those who choose to endure those long wait times but I did find it held up the line a little bit since some people just wanted to keep playing despite the line moving up. Even with the fast pass I still waited about 20-25 mins to ride. I feel like the ride itself was a little more jerky than what I remember but then again I did have a sore neck from the plane so it could of just felt that way because I was slightly uncomfortable to begin with. I would have rode again if I could but it was about time to meet my adopted family for the night and head over for the wishes dessert party.....

I had met a single mother on another message board back in November. She had posted about her difficulty getting the Desserty Party for a group of 3 and I had posted about my troubles getting a table for 1 so we combined forces and low and behold ..we were in as a party of 4!!

I met up with her and her kids just outside of the ice cream place on main street and headed over to the noodle terrace. We were all handed wrist bands and told to wait in line. They started seating groups around 8:30 (wishes wasn't until 10 pm) so we had LOTS of time to fill up on treats before the fireworks. We were seated on the left side of the terrace and what a view!! I don't think there was a bad seat in the house!! And best of all...it was a seat!! No sitting on Main St for hrs to stake out a spot for me

It only took a few minutes to find our spot and get settled before we hit the buffet. The selection was fantastic...tons of different teas, coffee, hot chocolate, juices, water etc as well as a selection of hard cookies, soft cookies, fruit, pastries, tarts ...and my fav. chocolate covered strawberries. I was in heaven. Here is a small sampling from ONE of my many plates ....

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Eating all the treats and chatting with my new friends really ate up the time between when we sat down and when the fireworks started and good thing too because it was getting VERY cold. I should mention that this wasn't the "regular" wishes fireworks, this was the last night of the Christmas ones (can't remember the name of it though).

The show got underway right on time and we had a prime seat for Tinkerbell's flight ..she went right by us!!! I have to say that the small price of the dessert party was well worth the good food, a warm comfortable seat to sit in, the view of tinkerbell, and just the view of fireworks in general. If they have this in September for our honeymoon this is going on my must-do list.

The fireworks were really good but I do enjoy the "regular" wishes show better. It just can't be beat (in my opinion). I don't have any pictures of fireworks from this night since it was too cold to hold my camera and I didn't have any gloves on me....and the MK was sold out of gloves (and this wasn't the first time this happened).

Since it was soooo cold I hightailed it out of there as soon as the fireworks were done. I was surprised that I was able to get on a bus back to WL so quickly (no longer than 10 min wait).

Once I got back to WL I set my wake-up call for 5:50 am since I had an early ADR at Akershus for 8 am. I did one sweep of my bed for more bugs since I still couldn't really shake my experience from earlier and found nothing....until I moved the alarm clock. There were 3 more on the nightstand. By now I am completely exhausted and just decided on squishing them and making a room change in the am..I just wanted to go to bed.

Day 3
"Gooooooooood Morning!" Get Moving!" After a friendly wake-up call from Stitch (one that came far too soon) I was up and getting ready for my breakfast date with the princesses.
I make my usual stop at the bathroom vanity to brush my teeth and what is crawling all over the counter.....MORE BUGS!!! It seems they didn't like that I killed their friends and came back in full force. This was the last straw. I threw everything in my suitcase and headed downstairs to the front desk.

I had a wonderful CM who didnt even ask twice and quickly put me in a new room. I got my new room key and headed up to 3106. This I think was a slight upgrade as i'm sure that this was a "woods view" rather than standard. This room was much quieter too and best of all? No creepy crawlies.

Now it's off to Akershus and a very cold day at Epcot.....
Will I make to the buffet on time?
Will I chicken out or get all my character autographs?
Will I make it through a whole day plus an EMH night at MK?

Lots of pictures to come in the next post!!

[nladams]

I decided that busses would be the best way to get to the parks this early and was at the bus stop by 6:45 am. After only about 10 minutes a bus came headed to Epcot. After some quick stops at the GF we were on our way. By the time we arrived at Epcot it was around 7:30 am. There wasn't really anything signed anywhere as to where character breakfast attendees should line up there was just one slightly grumpy CM shouting orders to families.

Around 7:45 am our names were checked against the clipboard and we were let in to start our long journey to Norway. I was hoping to get some good pictures since there was no one else in the park but it was really cloudy and really cold today so I decided to wait till later. I was the second person to make it to Norway to get checked-in. And yes, I did have that "oh your a party of 1?" thing with the sad look but I just smiled and said "yup just me". That didn't bother me at all but when they announce "royal Adams family party of 1" made me feel a touch uncomfortable.

I was seated right at 8:00 am after a quick visit and picture with Belle. I had a small table for two right near the buffet. My server was great and the buffet was really good...great selection. The only minor complaint I have over the Akershus buffet was the eggs...tasted really fake...and kind of soapy. Shortly after I started to eat the princess started to come around. I had my camera out and ready and my homemade autograph book.

The first to visit was Aurora...
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Next was Cinderella....
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Then Snow White....
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Then finally the one I was hoping for....
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Ariel!!

Overall the breakfast was fabulous!! The food was great and the service was amazing. I was lucky to have the family at the table next to me want to take all the pictures for me...it was sooo nice of them! It was so much fun ...even on my own..I felt like a little kid again and was surprised at how excited I was to meet the princesses. They all took a lot of time with me and had some great conversations with them....I also got a birthday cupcake and a card signed by everyone for celebrating my birthday...it was so nice! The photo package included in the meal is a great value...this is a TS meal that is well worth all the money. I didn't feel rushed at all and still made it out of the restaurant by 8:50 am ...just in time for rope drop and for me to make to Soarin' for the first time ever.....

Much more to come.....!!

[Cam22]

You are a braver woman than me as far as those bugs. I think I'd have left before bed. Glad you got a better and bug-free room.

Now on to the good stuff, the Wishes Dessert Party really is a great addition to MK. I'm kind of hoping it's still available this coming June as I might add it to one of our MK nights. I couldn't believe how great the seats were and how yummy all the desserts were.

[Cam22]

You snuck another update in while I was responding. Glad you enjoyed breakfast at Akershus -- I have wondered about this one as Stefanie has mentioned it a couple of times. I think we might need to try this one.