As most of you know, I just got back from a trip to Walt Disney World. This was my first time traveling alone. Before I left, I thought it would be fun to make a Disney Trip Bucket list with 15 things to do while I was there. I did pretty good with it. I wasn't alone as much as I thought I would be during the trip. (That's a good thing; I had tons more fun!) Once I was there, some of these things didn't seem important anymore. Here are the results:
Melissa's October 2014 Disney Trip Bucket List:
°o° Instagram photos from the Parks
Check! I started my Instagram account before the trip with zero photos and by the end of the trip I had over 80 photos! It was easy to use, quick and a lot of fun! I really enjoyed sharing quick snippets of my vacation with everyone!
°o° Eat Favorite Sweets- ice cream, candy apple, Dole Whip, Mickey Bar, etc.
I also enjoyed some of my favorite sweets. I did not have all of them, but I did pretty well. I brought a Minnie Mouse Witch candy apple home with me. I had two Mickey ice cream sandwiches. We had dessert snacks at our KeyCon lunch. We also had the Fantasmic Dessert Party with tons of yummy things to eat. I did miss out on the Dole Whip this trip. I'll have to make sure I add that to my list for January!
°o° Try some Alcoholic Drinks (at the parks, at the bars, anywhere…)
I was also successful with this! I had a white wine sangria at our KeyCon meet and greet in Martha's Vineyard Lounge. I had a Blue Glow-tini at 'Ohana (yum!) and then I tried the Magical Star Cocktail at Top of the World Lounge. Yum on both accounts. Plus, I got to keep the little glowing light cubes. I will be back for more of those… ;-)
°o° Wear New Ear Headband Designs by Happily Ever Hatter
I wore my new ears! I wore my Olaf outfit one day and my Frozen outfit another. There was one pair that I didn't get to wear since Momento Mori, the new Haunted Mansion store, ran out of the shirt I planned to pair with it. It will happen in January. In the meantime, I'm going to be stalking the shirt on Disney Store online.
°o° Go on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride for the first time
I did not get a chance to ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride. It looked like a lot of fun, but the wait time was always 70-90 minutes. I couldn't get my My Disney Experience app to let me set up any FastPasses, so I skipped it this trip. I'm planning to set up FastPasses for our January trip!
°o° Go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party
I was really bummed out when I went to purchase tickets at the concierge counter and they were SOLD OUT! The only time I've ever bought my MNSSHP tickets ahead of time was for Halloween night. The other three times, I bought them the morning of the party. Thus, I missed out on that this trip. I'm still a little bummed, but I had an enjoyable time at Downtown Disney, and it all worked out. Plus, I've been to the Halloween party four times, so the world didn't end.
°o° Have some quality Sketchbook and Quiet Time
I did not bring my sketchbook into the parks. I was with my Key to the World friends more than I thought I would be, and I had a much better time hanging out with them.
°o° Eat at 'Ohana for the first time
I am so glad that I got to do this. Our KTTW bosses had set up a dining reservation for the "KeyCon singles", basically all of us who travelled to KeyCon without our spouses or family. I had absolutely no idea what to expect for food, but I was ready for an adventure. The food was amazing. I'm still dreaming about it. I'm also scheming how I can get myself back there in January. I don't think Eliot or my brother would go for it, but I'm contemplating kidnapping my parents for a nice dinner one night. It was that good. The company was really great too! Plus, we got to watch Wishes from there. The whole 'Ohana experience was amazing!
°o° Go to Blizzard Beach
I went to Blizzard Beach twice during my WDW trip! I wanted to make sure that I got enough of it since it's going to be closed when we go back in January. I went around the lazy river 5 times the first time I went and 3 more the second trip. I went on the Toboggan Racers; Eliot absolutely loves those so I had to go in his honor. I also went in the wave pool for a bit. It was so relaxing and so much fun!
°o° Try LeFou's Brew in New Fantasyland
I simply ran out of time to try LeFou's brew at the Magic Kingdom. I'll add this to my list for January since I know my family was planning to try some anyways!
°o° Swim in the Pool at Pop Century Resort
I did enjoy a swim at the Pop Century pool. I was in the pool for 45 minutes to an hour so it was plenty of time to relax and enjoy it.
°o° See the Festival of Fantasy Parade
I caught the Festival of Fantasy Parade my last day at the parks. It was really the last thing that I did this trip. I loved it. The floats and costumes were absolutely beautiful. I can't wait for my family to see it in a few months!
°o° Check out the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot
I got to check out the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it to it's fullest since the days were so darn hot. I did try the Garlic Shrimp at the Australia booth. (It was delicious.) I also had a bit of a friend's shrimp and noodle dish from China. I'd love to do this again and to try a few more new things!
°o° Meet Anna and Elsa again in my special Frozen outfit
Again, I couldn't get FastPasses set up, and day I checked the line was 100 minutes long. I'll set these up for our trip in January!
°o° Take as many photos with my new KTTW friends as possible!
I took a ton of photos with my new Key to the World friends! I had such a good time with them. We have a PhotoBucket account where everyone is adding their pictures so I'll have to go grab a bunch of them sometime this week!
During the trip, I also did a few things I did that I hadn't expected to:
°o° Friendship Boats
I took the Friendship Boats for the first time. In order to get over to Boardwalk to meet up with my group, I took the bus to Hollywood Studios and then the Friendship Boats over to the Boardwalk Resort. It was a great ride and I loved seeing the resorts from the water.
°o° Boardwalk
I went to the Boardwalk and the Yacht and Beach Club area for the first time. I'd never been there before. I absolutely loved it and told my Mom that we have to go there during our January trip. I know my family would love it, and the boat ride would be fun too!
°o° Animation Academy
I've wanted to do this for a long time and we've never had the chance. We're always too busy running around on the rides to stop and take the time to draw. One of the other girls and I did this in between our KeyCon meeting and the Fantasmic Dessert Party. We drew Minnie Mouse and mine came out really good! (More on that story in my recap!) I can't wait to do this again. I could sit and draw characters there all day.
°o° Waffles
I also tried the waffles at Sleepy Hollow in Magic Kingdom this trip. This trip I discovered that we're very set in our ways and we've always walked right by it. Little did I know the amount of wonderful that resided there. I had the Nutella and Fruit waffle for lunch one of my last days and it was incredible. I love waffles. They even have waffle sandwiches. I can't wait to go there again to try more of their menu. Yum!
°o° Top of the World Lounge
Finally, possibly the coolest experience this trip that I wasn't planning on was going to the Top of the World lounge in Bay Lake Tower. One of the guys in our KTTW group has Disney Vacation Club and invited us to go up to the lounge with him. We planned to do it our last night at Disney, and to watch Wishes from there since they pipe the music in. It was amazing. The view was a different angle that none of us had seen before and we never realized how far behind the castle the fireworks are shot off. It was a great way to end my KeyCon experience with some of my new friends.
To recap: I didn't do all of the things I'd planned, but the extras that I hadn't expected to do were way cooler than the things I didn't accomplish. I'm really happy with all of the new experiences I had this trip. Most importantly, this trip has left me with a desire to branch out each time I go to Disney so I can continue to experience new things! °o°