Another Round Of Disney Please!

We were getting that itch again... that Disney itch. I along with one of my nieces keep a pretty close eye out for low prices and prime times to head on down to Florida for a bit for a Disney trip. One day I got a text saying "Cheap Disney, let's go!!" So I did a little more research to make sure I wasn't going crazy, and it was true! That trip was booked faster than it takes an inch of water to boil. Now all we had to do was wait as usual!

Myself along with two of my nieces made the trip to Disney World again! Heat is not my friend and it's been perpetual summer here since forever, so I thought, hey, end of September, it should be cooler down there... notice the ... that's for later. It was an exiting thought because we would be there for the Halloween celebrations and the Food and Wine festival was also happening! I've had our itinerary mapped out since the day we booked a few months ago. I was prepared and ready for lift off!

She didn't want me to go.

Up up and away!

I always ask for wings when I fly, I'm a child.

My ears. As you can tell, I made them. I can't find gold ears ANYWHERE in the parks. However, I did learn from a cast member that they do sell gold ears two nights a year... December 30th and 31st. Mission: Accepted. 

The night before our early morning departure I had all my things packed and ready to go, left my roommate in charge of the cat, and I was off. 2am came way... way too quickly. Since we were flying out of an airport in the next state over, we had to leave extraaaa early and since not even the sun was up, we blew through security and got to the gate no problem. Once there though, I had a hard time not falling back into a deep sleep. But the excitement of the trip kept us going for sure. Best part about the morning? The airline announcer was a dead ringer for the character of Ramone from The Proposal, accent and all. I just wish I had the guts to ask him to say "the way she drinks her soda pop". Delta gave us laughs and candy that morning, never a bad thing. A quick stop in New York and we were in Florida by mid day! We went on our first ride of the trip- the airport monorail, and then headed to the Magical Express where you just know you're in Disney! I was so excited! Then it happened... stepping outside to get in line for the bus was a slap in the face. The heat and humidity hit me like a ton of bricks and I was instantly swollen. Greatttttt, how can I expect to find prince charming looking like an escaped bratwurst from the Germany pavilion!

This trip we were staying at one of the All Star resorts- All Star Movies. I checked in online before getting there- saved a bunch of time, food for thought! Speaking of food. Oh my goodness, I had so many things I wanted to eat and it was only the beginning of the trip! Once we got there it was go go go, no time for resting up. We headed over to Hollywood Studios for our dinner and show package, walk around for a bit, and maybe do a few rides. We were going back later in the week so we weren't too worried about missing rides today. First thing... I had to get a pickle. Disney pickles are just amazing. They are the big single dill pickles. YUM. So cold and crunchy, very refreshing. We were all running on empty from being up so early and not taking a break so when we finally got to dinner at Hollywood and Vine it was like that scene in Hook where the lost boys pig out on the invisible food. Except we had actual food and we were ravenous! Good thing it was a buffet, I think we all ate our weight. After dinner we rolled ourselves over to the Fantasmic gate where we had fast passes for the show. Fantasmic is a water/fire/fireworks show based on the views of Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer's Apprentice and then the villains come into play and tries to dull things down- it's all about imagination and it's always so good- definitely hit it up if you get the chance! When the show was done we headed back to the hotel. Tired isn't even close to what we were feeling. Once we got back, the lights were out and I was snoring like a banshee which I'm sure was very attractive. 

On the Great Movie Ride in Hollywood Studios. My favorite ride in this park. It brings you through time through movies. It's perfect. The end always makes me cry, I'm a sucker. This scene- Singing in the Rain.

Great Movie Ride: Casablanca

Great Movie Ride: The Wizard of Oz

A dessert at Hollywood and Vine. I didn't get any other picture of food because I'm pretty sure I ate it all in a second. This is a caramel apple tart. YUM.

Fantasmic. If you look closely, you can see the dragon : )

Mickey at the end of Fantasmic. Yes, I know it's blurry, but it's still a fun picture. Darn phone couldn't focus with all the magic going on!

The next day we had planned to go to Epcot! Epcot is one of my favorite parks, I love going around the world, eating all the food, and shopping at all the shops. Also, one of my all time favorite "rides" is Spaceship Earth. It's really not much of a ride because you go about 5 miles an hour, but it's so great! You go up in the Epcot ball and learn about how technology has advanced in the world from the very beginning. Another thing that I'm sure I'm not alone on is that the smell of the ride is intoxicating. I have a thing with smells, I know it's strange, but if you bottle it up and put it in a candle for me, I'd appreciate it. You also get to create your own little future world, the pictures are always fun as you can see! Other rides that are great there are Soarin' and Test Track- soooo much fun! We had lunch reservations at Chefs De France- I've always wanted to eat there and now I get to! I had such a yummy quiche lorraine, one of my nieces had macaroni and cheese, and my other niece had a croque monsieur. All were SO. GOOD. Highly recommended. From there we made our way around the world! I really wanted to hit Mitsukoshi, a Japanese department store, to get some gummy snacks for my dad. Side note, In my Try the World Japan box I got some peach ones. So so good, so I made it a point to go to this store in hopes to find some more for my dad, they had all kind of flavors- yay! I wanted to be sure to get to Canada to get a cronut. I did and it was everything.  I wanted to get some salted caramel gelato from France. I did and it was everything. It melted everywhere and got all on my shoes. It's ok though, because it was so delicious, I'm not hating. The Food and Wine festival would be starting the following day so we saw all the different countries setting up their booths- looked like the was going to be a good time judging by the menus. We headed back to the room for a little rest. We had every intention of heading back to Epcot for Illuminations later that night but it just wasn't happening. So we decided to take the night off and stay in.

Cronut in Canada.

The cutest topiary! 

My picture from Spaceship Earth- so funny.

Chefs de France

My Quiche Lorraine

Mariah's Mac and Cheese

Charli's Croque Monsieur

Salted Caramel gelato in France. SO AMAZING.

From the ride in the Mexico pavilion. Every time I go to Epcot I look forward to this "ride" so much! It's just a boat ride through a Mayan structure but it's so fun!

Animal Kingdom was next! We had an early fast pass for the Safari so that was exciting! Always good to try and get there in the morning because the animals are more likely to be out. And they were! We saw lions, giraffes, hippos, everything! Ever seen a giraffe run? It's pretty funny, YouTube that. We did lunch at Rainforest Café and went on some more rides and such as you do. Had a little rest and then headed to Downtown Disney, or as it's called now- Disney Springs, to shop and eat more... obviously! One thing you absolutely have to hit when there is Ghirardelli. The Ocean Beach is quite possibly the yummiest thing ever. Chocolate salted caramel heaven. Salt with chocolate is just perfection, I can't even deal, I'm drooling just thinking about it! Definitely not the cheapest, but hey, I'm on vacation! Plus I'm pretty sure I sweat it off and then some, so I'm all good.

Big kitty sleeping

Rainforest Cafe

Now that's a burger! Have to have those extra pickles!

I once had my cards read. She told me in my former life I was a Yeti... so while in a gift from at Expedition Everest I found a relative! 

It's tough to be a bug, good thing these stylish Jackie O glasses made things better!

The most amazing ice cream. 

These mugs are a must at the resorts. You but one at the beginning of your trip and you just refill it at no extra cost to you!

Here it is, the day we're been waiting for! MAGIC KINGDOM! My other  favorite park, of course. The day I get another pickle, dole whip, the Halloween party, and Space Mountain! The second we got to the park it was great, all decked out in Halloween and fall décor. We had some fast passes straight off so we rushed over to Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain. Met Jasmine and Aladdin and finally got myself some dole whip! I've been waiting forever to get my hands on this stuff and I haven't been able to get it the last few times here. I was not disappointed. Seriously like just eating the sweetest pineapple in an icy creamy form. YUM. I'll have to make it a thing now, the list of foods that I need to have every time is growing faster than my waist line! From then on, we met Elsa and Anna, went on some more rides, and tried to keep out of the deathly heat. Since this was the night of the Halloween party, we skipped some of the rides because they would be open later. Went back to the hotel to gussy up and head back to get our Halloween on : ) I was Smee, one niece was Minnie, and the other niece was Belle. Approaching the park the sky looked ominous, but we were hopeful for no rain. It was so fun to see everyone dressed up... no one could guess what I was... nice Meag, nice. I did see a few other Smees looking much better than I, so I just went on and tried to enjoy the party even though it was only getting hotter! How is it possible that it gets more humid as the sun goes down?! No one will ever know. We got our trick or treat bags and roamed around the park going on rides and seeing the sights. Onto Space Mountain, We'd been waiting all day for this! Oh... it's closed. Noooo. Oh... it starts raining. NOOOOO. Fleeing from the rain to an air conditioned shop was no easy task because everyone and their mother was obviously doing the same. We ended up getting ponchos which only made it worse as they were made of thicker plastic and made us even hotter! Smelt like I was wearing a pool toy... I kind of didn't mind that though lol. So as we looked like absolute weirdos trying to get these things on in the middle of a crowded store I had a hard time fitting my big head through the smallest neck hole ever. What adult has a head that small? Come on now. Once all suited up we were off. We looked quite special so I obviously had to send a picture to my dad who then asked if we were supposed to be nuns for Halloween. All in all, it eventually stopped raining and we saw the parade and the beginning of the fireworks. In an attempt to find a seat on the bus back, we peaced out a little early. Once back in the room we finally got out of our wet sticky clothes. Reminded me of that Friends episode where Ross wears the leather pants. Ya, that was definitely us... not cute.  

It's a pickle!

Watch me dole whip, now watch me nom nom.

My people!

It's a churro.

Smee, Minnie, and Belle

Our last full day brought a trip back to Hollywood Studios and to end the day in Epcot for dinner and Illuminations. Definitely got another pickle. Went on some rides, saw some shows and we were off to Epcot to walk around a bit more and dinner! When we got there, it was filled to the max. The Food and Wine festival was in full swing and there were lines a million people deep and just huge crowds everywhere! All the food smelt sooooo good, but I wasn't about to wait in line for an hour for a beef stick from Greece. I'm not about that life, I better be getting more than a stick for waiting in line that long. So I walked by just smelling all the wonderful smells. Maybe I'll go back someday and brave the crowds and prepare myself for lines for days. I said this every day but I think today was definitely the hottest day of the week. I couldn't walk a step without instantly sweating, this made for an interesting day of course. A little bit of a rain shower and a long wait stood in between us and our dinner reservation at Via Napoli at the Italy pavilion. I have heard that Via Napoli was bomb.com so I couldn't wait to eat! I was about ready to eat my arm so if anyone told me that my arm was a pizza, we would have been in a bit of trouble. When we finally got to sit and eat it was just perfection. We got the Quattro Formaggi and let me tell you, sweet baby Jesus. I think the fact that I was starving had something to do with it, but seriously, this was absolutely the best pizza I've ever had. Yes, this pizza even topped the Margarita pizza I had in London, just barely, but oh my God. This pizza was heavenly. I'm pretty sure none of us chewed a thing. Our jaws may have actually come unhinged and it was swallowed whole. Again, another very attractive image, no doubt. Once the pizza was destroyed one of my nieces went to go meet up with some friends and I was left with the other niece to brave the crowds. Deciding I was still hungry, we made our way to China to get some egg rolls. Very good decision as they may have been the yummiest ones I've ever had! Lots of yummy food in the trip apparently. After my after dinner snack we had a sit. And then we realized we were toast. Don't think we were going to make it to Illuminations, especially since we had to get up quite early to get to the airport the next morning. All in all, we didn't make it to Illuminations, which is a bummer because it's such a great show and I cry every single time. I got about 3 hours of sleep before the 4am brutal wake up call for our magical trip to the airport.

Frozen sing-a-long. This show is so fun, especially being around all the little kids that know every single word to every single song. It's the cutest thing.

Charli getting henna done in the Morocco Pavilion.

The infamous pizza from Via Napoli. I'm going to do some research and try to recreate this because it was so amazing. 

China!

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go.

Fast forward a few hours, we made it home! Stepping off the plane to the crisp 60 something degree New England air was the best thing I've felt all week! Fall is my spirit animal and I'm not ashamed. Now to make it home and hopefully catch some of the Patriots game and to make sure the cat wasn't dead somewhere and that she didn't hate me forever for leaving her! Pats won of course and the cat looked like a homeless old man with her hair all snarly and giving me the stink eye because I left. Sorry kitten, but I had to go to Disney! She's still warming back up to me but she'll come around eventually- she knows where her bread is buttered.

"you left me."

A few tips, it's always a good idea to stay on Disney property, if you want to drive in Florida, good luck. Definitely hit all the parks and try to make your way to Universal Studios. See and eat as much as possible because it's all just so amazing. No, this is not a "relaxing" vacation, so as Scar says, be preparedddddd. DEFINITELY plan ahead as far as fast passes and dining reservations go- very important. And don't forget to have fun! Disney isn't just for kids, I think it's a lot more fun when you're older. Make all the memories you can, because once you're there, you are instantly a kid again and there's nothing better.

All in all, it was a very fun trip, a little too hot, but very fun! I love having nieces that are able to go with me and feed my addictions for those nostalgic feelings of my childhood. I got all the food I wanted and then some, although I could have gone for a few more pickles. There's always next time!