Sunday, January 19, 2014

January 2014 Trip Recap- 1/11/14 (Part 2)

After about 2 hours, I woke up from my post-race nap.  I didn't want to sleep too long because I was afraid that I'd be groggy the remainder of the day.  I had a few snacks and got up to take a shower.  Eliot was still completely passed out, so I let him sleep.

The shower felt so good on my stiff muscles.  I made sure to take a warm one and it was heaven.  I got dressed and ready for our night at the Magic Kingdom.  Mom, Dad and Jeremy were awake, so I went over there to figure out our plan.  We eventually decided that I'd go with Mom, Dad, Nana and Papa to get dinner.  Then we'd go over to the Magic Kingdom and leave Nana, Papa and Dad there.  Mom and I would drive back to get Eliot and Jeremy.  That way the guys could rest and relax a little more, and Mom didn't have to drive back and forth between the park and hotel alone.




We all headed over to a Perkins restaurant near us.  I had a turkey avocado sandwich that really hit the spot after our long day.  After our dinner, we headed to the Magic Kingdom.  I felt like a champ when I pushed Papa up the ramp to the Monorail in his wheelchair.  Nana was behind us raving, but I was ok.  If anything, pushing the wheelchair made it easier for me to walk on my stiff legs!



I found a nice area on Main Street where there was a small bench.  We parked Nana and Papa's wheelchair and planted Daddy on the bench.  Mom and I then headed back to the hotel to get the guys.  They were ready when we got there.  Apparently, Eliot had walked across the street to Krispie Kreme as there was a giant box of donuts with only one left. Well, he ran a half marathon so I guess he earned it!  He also went to the Walgreen's to get some AAA batteries for his light up Glow with the Show ears.

We went back to the Magic Kingdom to stake out a spot to watch the Electrical Parade. We ended up in a great spot on Main Street right outside of the Emporium.  I noticed that no one was over there, and we were squished over on the other side where we'd left Nana, Papa and Dad by the bench.  The 7 of us barely fit inside the roped area so I suggested moving to the other location across the street.  It was perfect!  We had front row seats and the perfect view of the parade.




That's when the rain came.  At first, it was just sprinkling, then it poured.  We moved Nana and Papa under the edge of the Emporium so they'd stay dry.  Eliot and I went into the Emporium to try to pass the time while it rained.  We looked around and made mental lists of the things we wanted to get before we left.  We played around with a cute Donald plush and had him "wear" our medals.  (I'd wanted to get a picture of our medals with the Donald statue near the Partners Statue, but since it was pouring, that wasn't likely.)



After a while, it was apparent that the rain wasn't going to stop.  An announcement came over the speakers that they were canceling that showing of the Electrical Parade so the performers would not hurt themselves.  We were hoping that they would still do the 10:00 parade, but we weren't so sure.



I suggested getting ice creams to pass the time.  Mom, Dad and I went across the street to get it.  I ended up getting a delicious cake batter and strawberry sundae with whipped cream and a cherry in a waffle cone!  Yum!!!  We stood under the overhang of the Emporium while numerous people left the park.  My legs were really killing me at this point.  I just wanted to sit for a few minutes!



Finally, we had to decide what we wanted to do.  I was still hopeful that they'd have the second parade.  Plus, Eliot and I had rides we wanted to go on.  Everyone else decided that they wanted to go back to the hotel to watch the Patriots game.



Eliot and I ended up sitting on the window ledge outside of the glass shop for quite a while.  The little side street off of Main Street was more quiet and relaxing.  Once a large group of people left, we ran over to grab their seats.  We ended up sitting there for quite a while.  The rain slowly started to let up.  Eliot went out to try to tape the Frozen section of Celebrate the Magic for his sister Elissa.  When he came back, I'd decided that I'd rested my legs long enough to start walking again.



When we left our little hideaway, Wishes was just beginning.  We stopped and watched that for a little bit.  I wanted to see Eliot's Glow with the Show ears in action.  Sadly, there are so few people that wear them that the average Joe wouldn't even realize what they do.  Apparently they sell out super fast, and you can't find them in any of the stores. Nonetheless, it was fun to watch Eliot's ears change color with the music.



Towards the end of Wishes, we decided to take advantage of everyone's attention being directed elsewhere.  We scooted through the crowd over to Tomorrowland and arrived right as the show was ending.  At least we missed the mass exit that occurred as soon as the fireworks show was over!

We decided to go on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin there was only about a 5 minute wait.  It took us longer to walk through the queue then it did to "wait" for the ride. Eliot and I love these rides where you interact and "shoot" at targets.  We weren't going to make it on Toy Story this trip, where Eliot reigns supreme.  (Usually, I have beat him a few times.)  So it was on like Donkey Kong!!!



I went into it shooting to my heart's content!  Eliot stunk majorly at the spinning of the vehicle so I took over.  I couldn't hit the targets when his timing the turns stunk!  



We had a blast, and I won!  Ok, I didn't just win.  I kicked his butt to the moon and back.  I don't know what happened!  Maybe his gun wasn't working 100%.  But I won!  Woo!!!



We got a kick out of our photo.  You can tell that I'm in deep concentration.  Take that Evil Emperor Zurg!!!  After Buzz, we decided to go on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover again to give our legs another break.  We had another whole train to ourselves so we took a few photos together while we zipped around Tomorrowland.



Of course, Eliot insisted that we take one with our medals!


I think Eeyore and Duffy enjoyed the ride too.  We kicked back with our feet up.  It was so relaxing after our long day being on our feet! 


After that, Eliot wanted to go on Space Mountain if the line wasn't too long.  We walked past the Tomorrowland Dance Party where the Incredibles were dancing on the stage. As we passed by, we swayed a little to the beat.  The line for Space Mountain was only about 20 minutes long so he decided to do go on it.  While he was gone, the music changed over to NSYNC.  Let's just say that I may or may not have been dancing around Tomorrowland doing part of the "Bye, Bye, Bye" dance.  He he.

Next, we decided to go over to New Fantasyland.  We still hadn't gone on the Little Mermaid ride this trip and I wanted to make sure that we saw it.  We still were planning to show it to my family, but it was good to go just in case!  We basically walked right on to that ride too!



I absolutely love this ride!  The Under the Sea part has so many things that it's hard to go on it without noticing something completely different each time.



We enjoyed the first ride so much, that when it was time to get off, we asked if we could go on it again.  Since it was so close to closing and there was no line the cast members let us!  One of the girls told us to try to find the Hidden Mickeys in the Under the Sea scene and the Kiss the Girl scene!



We sat back and enjoyed the ride while keeping an eye out for Mickey.  I had no idea where to even look in the Under the Sea part.  There was too much going on.  I'll have to try to look for it again next time!



During Kiss the Girl, I thought that it might be the lily pad configuration.  (Spoiler alert!!!) When we got off the ride we asked the cast member and she said they were on the frogs! Gah!  So close but still so far away!



We slowly made our way back over to Main Street.  I knew that my family would want to watch the entire Patriots game so we still had time.  We walked through the rest of New Fantasyland and the Beauty and the Beast section.  It was so quiet that I got a picture of Gaston's Fountain and Tavern with no people in it!



We continued on towards Cinderella Castle.  I stopped at the back of it to take a few pictures by Cinderella's fountain.  Eliot and I had a few of our Bridal Portraits taken there so I thought it might be fun to get a few pictures there at night.  I like how it's dark and shows her silhouette.  (I also should have moved slightly to the left and the crown would have been on her head!) 



We got to walk through Cinderella Castle.  I love the mosaics inside.  I felt a slight pang of sadness that I didn't get to run through it earlier that day.  I was sure that if I hadn't lost the Mickey balloons and gotten behind pace that I would have at least made it that far. Oh well!  There's always next time right?



We stopped after the castle to get a few PhotoPass pictures taken with our medals on.  I wanted to get as many different photos with the PhotoPass as possible.  I always feel like we get the same pictures every trip!  It's time to start getting creative and the medals were the perfect accessory!  We don't have any pictures of those yet!



I took one last photo of the castle at night with the Partners Statue in the foreground.  No matter how many times I see that castle I'm always in complete awe at how beautiful it is. After a few minutes of admiring it, Eliot and I made our way down Main Street.



My parents picked us up a little bit later and we went back to the hotel and crashed.  We needed our sleep so we could make the best out of our last Disney day for this trip!  °o°

2 comments:

  1. Why don't you stay on Disney Property? I loved it!!!
    Thats the night we left to head home..I was so so sad..but atleast it was raining, I told myself...lol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We usually do stay on property! I'm a fan of Pop Century. (That's why I kept going there to catch connecting buses. It's my home away from home on property.) This particular trip we stayed off property because we found a hotel for about $40 a night. With 3 hotel rooms for the 7 of us, $140 a night at Pop wasn't worth the extra $300 a night!

      Delete