WDW June 2015

Wednesday, June 17

I had class on Wednesday night until 8:15, after which time I drove home and got my final few things organized for the trip.  C drove my mom and me to my brother's house, which is not far from BWI, and we got a few hours of sleep before it was time to head to the airport!  This was a special trip because my sister (technically my sister-in-law, but I've made it quite clear that I don't like the term "in-law"), my mom and I were going to celebrate my mom's birthday!  Here are our Magic Bands – we were the three good fairies from Sleeping Beauty:  Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather!

our inspiration

Thursday, June 18

My brother J drove my mom and me to BWI bright and early on Thursday for our Southwest flight to Orlando at 6:20 am. (R had to work that day, so she was flying to Orlando later that evening).  The flight itself was pretty uneventful and I slept most of the way.  I snapped a few photos from the air; I never get tired of admiring the clouds!

love the reflections

Up ears I wore on the plane and all day Thursday

After landing, we rented a car and drove straight to Animal Kingdom.  I was on a mission.  As some of you may know, Disney has opened a Starbucks location in each of its six U.S. theme parks, and they began selling the "You Are Here" mugs that can be found at Starbucks locations everywhere.  Well, I wanted those six mugs!

I had already purchased mugs from Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios, and I had a friend get me the Disneyland and California Adventure mugs, so the only one I still needed was Animal Kingdom.  And it just so happened that the Starbucks in Animal Kingdom was opening on the very day my mom and I arrived!  What luck!  So before we even went over to our resort, I drove to AK so I could go in and buy mugs.

That may seem crazy to non-Disney folks, but on my way into the park, I saw 35-40 people leaving with mugs from Starbucks – and this was at 9:15 in the morning!  So ALL of those people had the same plan I did!

I made a beeline for the Starbucks and right outside of it, I recognized a woman I follow on Instagram because she posts amazing photos of WDW.  And even though I felt super awkward, I introduced myself and told her I followed her on Instagram, and I was so glad I did…so incredibly nice!  You may be wondering how I recognized her; she always wears yellow Chucks!  A girl after my own heart!

Obviously I stopped to take a photo of the new mug with the Tree of Life:

I don't like having incomplete sets of things, so I was so glad to finally have the sixth mug!

Once I got my mugs, my mom and I checked into our resort, Art of Animation, grabbed some lunch, and spent the rest of the day at Downtown Disney, despite my previous vow to not go there until the construction was completed.  However, we had a great time together, and I made some very exciting discoveries at the World of Disney store.

one of the pools at our resort

Those of you who know me are very familiar with my obsession with office supplies, and the crown jewels of office supplies are Disney pens and pencils.  I would estimate that I have more than 50 of these pens and pencils, and honestly, that is probably lowballing it.  Every time I go to WDW or Disneyland, I look for new pens and pencils.  It has been so long since they came out with a new design that I almost didn't bother looking for any on Thursday.  Thank goodness I did, because oh my word, I hit the jackpot!

Here are photos of the new pens and pencils that I bought.  I am excited about all of the new deigns, but look at the first one!!!  SLINKY!!!  My mom would tell you I completely freaked out in the store.  Slinky is a dog, so obviously I love him.  Slinky is from the Toy Story franchise, so obviously I love him.  And Slinky is a Dachshund, so I obviously I love him.  Forget Woody and Buzz…in my opinion, Slinky is the BEST character from the Toy Story universe.  Slinky in the form of a Disney pen?!?  Amazing.

Slinky

Glass Slipper

101 Dalmatians

Stitch

Mike Wazowski

Toy Story Alien

Marie

Mickey's hand

Mickey

Donald

Goofy

Believe me when I say that I wouldn't have cared if I hadn't bought another thing over the course of the trip it.  But right after I found the pens, I found my new best friend, Bing Bong.  If you haven't seen Inside Out yet, you won't know who Bing Bong (and frankly, I'm wondering what you're waiting for…), but I think he makes the whole movie.  We'd seen the sneak peek of the movie two days earlier on Tuesday night and I could not stop thinking about Bing Bong.  I love him so much!  I won't say anything else about him, but once you see the movie, you will understand exactly what I mean.

Bing Bong and Joy <3

We noticed that a storm was rolling in, so we hopped on the boat to get from the Marketplace back to the West Side so we could return to our resort.  I got a very cool photo of the sky from the boat:

After dinner, my mom and I relaxed because we'd gotten up so early that day, and then we went to the airport to pick up my sister.  R's plane was delayed a few times due to weather, so I took a few photos of the lobby area of our resort while we waited to leave for the airport.  R didn't land until after midnight, but we didn't care because we were so excited she'd finally arrived!

Friday, June 19

We drove over to Epcot in our matching ears, which I got from a very creative person on Etsy (her shop name is "MyMouseketEars" and she is awesome).  I've order several pairs of ears from her and each set is beautiful.  Flora is red, Fauna is green, and Merryweather is blue, and I was a little concerned that no one would get it, but we had people throughout the weekend complimenting us on our ears.  Thank you, Etsy!

Before heading to The Land for breakfast, we stopped at Starbucks and got drinks with our fairy names on the cups.  It's always fun watching people's reactions when the character names are called out when the drinks are ready!

We wandered around Epcot and stopped at Taste Track, which is a place that serves the most delicious grilled cheese sandwiches.  We got two different sandwiches and shared them – a Fontina and Tomato Basil with Balsamic Glaze on Sour Dough Bread and a Canadian Cheddar and Apples with Apple Butter on Cinnamon Raisin Bread.  Oh my word.  So delicious.  We made our way through the World Showcase and ended up at the France pavilion for dessert before returning to Future World, where we happened upon an Inside Out garden display at the Imagination pavilion, which was so cute.  A preview of the movie was also showing at the theater, so we watched that because even though my mom and I had seen the movie earlier in the week, my sister hadn't seen it yet.  The whole area was adorable!

After Epcot, we drove to Magic Kingdom where we went on Carousel of Progress, Buzz Lightyear, Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, the Peoplemover and generally wandered around enjoying the park.  We had dinner at Tony's Town Square, which was fabulous and we had some of the best service I've ever experienced!  After dinner, we went on Peter Pan's Flight, to Mickey's Philharmagic, and then watched the Wishes fireworks from Fantasyland, which is always a great perspective.  We ended the night with Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain, where I got completely soaked – which seemed like a sign that it was time to call it a night.  The final stop on our way out was for the Cinderella Coach caramel apple, which was both beautiful and tasty!

Rapunzel ears at Rapunzel's tower

Saturday, June 20

Saturday was my mom's birthday and we had breakfast reservations at Be Our Guest at MK.  I haven't really described the weather yet, but it was extremely hot and humid, which is not the best for my mom's lungs.  To reduce the distance my mom had to walk, I dropped her and R off near the Contemporary, and then I drove back to park the car and take the monorail.  Unfortunately, that took longer than I had planned, but my mom and R were able to get into the park early and enjoy Main Street, USA and Cinderella Castle before the park opened.  We met at Be Our Guest, and it was our first time eating breakfast there.  Everything was good, but there is one menu item that was so yum:  a croissant topped with banana-caramel sauce, bananas, pastry cream, and chocolate sauce.  I cannot even tell you how delicious this was!

We spent a few hours in MK and met Merida, who is a fabulous character, before driving over to Animal Kingdom.  As soon as we got there, we saw something I'd never managed to see in my many visits:  DiVine.  She is a stilt walker camouflaged in foliage and vines.  She is amazing!

Unfortunately, it rained pretty heavily off and on throughout the afternoon, but that didn't stop us from having fun at Kilimanjaro Safaris, Dinosaur, and Festival of the Lion King.  We had my mom's birthday dinner at Yak & Yeti, which is one of my favorite restaurants.  I think my mom and R really enjoyed it, too!  After dinner, we rode Expedition Everest, which had been closed for a while due to thunderstorms.  We were relieved it resumed running before the park closed!

Finally, I had to stop by the AK Starbucks location again to pick up some mugs for people at home (there is a limit of five per purchase).  I ended up chatting with one of the cast members who told me I had a "local vibe" and was wondering if I was a cast member because I "seemed like one."  Unequivocally the BEST compliment I've received in a very long time!  Someday, maybe!

After Animal Kingdom, we went back to our room for a little while before taking a taxi over to Jellyrolls to see my beloved Scotty perform.  It was so wonderful to see him!  As I have come to expect, the show was awesome; in the countless times we've been there, we've never been disappointed with the pianists.  Some of the other customers, yes, but never the pianists!  It was a great way to end my mom's birthday celebration!

Scotty

Johnny and Ray

Rob

Sunday, June 21

Unfortunately, Sunday was the most depressing day of any Disney vacation:  check-out day.  We packed up our stuff and enjoyed a quick lunch at Landscape of Flavors.  I had to make two quick stops at Hollywood Studios and Epcot to pick up a few mugs for friends at home, so I dropped my mom and R off at Downtown Disney to shop while I ran those errands.  I grabbed a drink in Epcot (and had my new favorite character's name written on the cup) before meeting my mom and R at Port Orleans Riverside for dinner.  As you can see, it was a beautiful day!

Elsa & Anna topiaries at DHS 

Overall, it was a great weekend, despite the oppressive heat!  The crowds were much more manageable than I had feared, so wait times were very reasonable, and we were able to enjoy the parks at a relaxing and leisurely pace.

I had also order some Disney-inspired t-shirts from Etsy (their shop name is "HappilyEverTees" - I have several car decals from them, too) and wore those over the weekend with my Inside Out button (purchased from "ParkBound Buttons"); both led to many conversations with other guests and cast members.  I've already ordered more shirts for my next trip in August with two of my best friends, one of whom has two daughters who will be joining us!  I can't wait!

Mary Poppins shirt

Peter Pan shirt

Happy Tails to you!