KeyCon 2014 Trip: Day #7

My last Disney day, I woke up and packed everything up.  My flight wasn't until later in the evening so I had to leave my bags at the front of Pop for the day.  This required a lot of thinking to make sure I had everything I needed.  Once I was ready, I had luggage services help take my bags to the front and I said goodbye to my room.

I hopped on the bus to Blizzard Beach so I could enjoy a few more hours of the relaxing in the lazy river.  I floated around 2 times before getting off for another round of the toboggan racers.  I went on them once and had so much fun that I went again.  The second time was not as much fun as I smacked my left foot pushing off.  For a few terrifying minutes, I thought I broke my foot.  I hobbled back over to the lazy river and thankfully my foot felt better a few minutes later.

I went around the lazy river one more time before deciding I better get out to check the time.  (I was planning to go to the Magic Kingdom and I really wanted to catch the parade.)  I took a quick shower and got dressed in my park clothes.  Then, I returned the locker key for another Olaf bag.  (I had to get one for myself since I planned to give the other one to Eliot!)  After, I bought the Blizzard Beach shirts I'd found in the Beach Haus.

I made my way back to Pop Century to drop off my bathing suit and my shopping bag. Luggage services added it to the rest of my bags.  Next, I headed over to the Magic Kingdom for the parade.  The luggage guys didn't think that I'd have enough time, but I can move when I really want to.  Before entering the park, I went to Guest Relations to upgrade my seven day pass to an annual pass.  Yay!!!

I went into the Magic Kingdom and realized that I was not going to get a good view of the Festival of Fantasy Parade… until I decided to climb up to the Train Station.

I had a great view of the parade from up there.  I stood behind a few ladies who were seated.  Unfortunately, my cell phone ran out of photo space right as the first float went by.  The upside was that it forced me to enjoy the parade instead of focusing on taking a ton of photos.  The parade was amazing.  I fell in love with the costumes and the floats. The details in them were absolutely incredible.

After the parade, I made my way down Main Street for some last minute shopping over at Momento Mori.  I was determined to get the Haunted Mansion shirts for Eliot and myself, but they were still out of most sizes.  Instead, I headed over to the Christmas Shop in Liberty Square and bought the Christmas Duffy I'd fallen in love with.  Finally, I made my way to the Emporium to pick up a few more last minute gifts.

I was cutting it close on time, so I was unable to make the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean my last rides of the trip.  However, I still made time for my most important end of Disney trip tradition: I took one last look down Main Street at Cinderella Castle and made sure to soak in the view.

I said goodbye to Cinderella Castle and the Magic Kingdom and went back over to Pop Century to catch my Magical Express bus.  Luggage Services helped me get my bags and I waited for the bus.  Before I knew it, the bus was there, I was on it and I was headed to the airport.  I checked in, went through security and was on the flight home.  

My KeyCon 2014 Walt Disney World trip was absolutely incredible.  I met so many wonderful people, experienced so many new things and had the best time.  I can't wait to go back to Disney World in January and I really can't wait for KeyCon 2015.  °o°

KeyCon 2014 Trip: Day #4

Sunday was the first "official" day of KeyCon events.  I got up and put my Olaf outfit on and headed over to Epcot where I'd meet the rest of the Key to the World agents!  We were having a team building activity- a photo scavenger hunt all around the World Showcase!  I love scavenger hunts!  

On the way over, I stopped to take a few pictures of the Food and Wine Festival displays and topiaries.  As I approached the World Showcase, I heard my name.  I turned around to find a group of KTTW management and agents right behind me!  I joined them and we stood in the shade in Great Britain while we waited for the World Showcase to open.  

Eventually, we met up with the entire group and gathered at the American Adventure to be assigned to our teams.  I was on Team Japan with Wanda, Stephanie and Shannon. Go Team Japan!!!  We had so much fun running around the World Showcase for two hours. We had to take pictures of all the Food and Wine Festival signs at the booths.  We also had to take pictures in front of certain landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, a phone booth, and the Totem Pole in Canada.

In addition, we had to act out some of the photos.  Some of my favorites poses were: wearing a warm hat, growling with lion statues, posing with a camel, viking pose with viking statue and holding beer steins.  (Note: The original PDF file of the scavenger hunt can be found to download at CarissaDesigns if you would like to do it for yourself!)

We finished the scavenger hunt in Mexico and Jeff bought a margarita for anyone who wanted one.  (At that point, I was so hot, sweaty and dehydrated that I passed.)  We hung out and cooled off for a bit inside.  When we finally split up, I went back to Pop Century to relax.  I'd been planning to go swimming in the pool at Pop Century and this was the perfect chance.  I was in the 1980's section so I was right next to the computer pool.  The pool wasn't that busy.  There was even enough room for me to do a few laps back and forth.  I mostly leaned against the side and enjoyed the sunny day and the cool water.  I brought Eeyore along in his swim trunks for a photo op.  

When I finished swimming, I took another shower and saw that I still had plenty of time before I had to leave for Ohana.  I worked a little more on the top secret KeyCon project and took progress photos so I could show Jeff and Heather at dinner.

I made my way to the Magic Kingdom bus waiting area.  I looked up a minute later and my Team Japan teammate Stephanie and her husband Patrick were also waiting for the bus.  They had dinner reservations for Ohana too!  It was nice to have someone to talk to on the way over.  Poor Patrick… Stephanie and I chatted pretty much the entire bus ride and monorail ride over to the Polynesian.  I'm incredibly grateful they were also going to Ohana since I had absolutely no idea where I was going.

When we arrived at Ohana, I wished Stephanie and Patrick a good dinner and I met the rest of the Key to the World crew over by the bar.  The girls had gotten some Lapu Lapu drinks and sat at the bar while we waited to be seated.  We took a few photos and I made sure to show Jeff and Heather the top secret project.  I was thrilled when I saw their expressions!  A few minutes later, we were heading in to be seated.  Heather and Jeff made reservations for their families to eat together at one table and for the "KeyCon singles" to have another one.  It was nice of them to make sure those of us who traveled alone still felt included.  We had a lot of fun!

I was really excited to eat at Ohana.  I'd heard awesome reviews and I was not disappointed.  I was even more ecstatic when I opened the menu and saw the Blue Glow-tini.  I had seen pictures of the glowing drinks online and I swore I'd find a way to order one this trip!  It was so yummy.  The meal was absolutely amazing.  I can't even begin to tell you how good it was.  (I'm dying to go back in January but I know Eliot and Jeremy won't go for it.  I'm debating kidnapping my parents, Nana and Papa though…) The lettuce wraps were so good.  Then they came out with the pork, and the steak, and the shrimp.  My taste buds were in overload.  It was especially delightful since I hadn't had a hardy meal the entire trip.

However, the best part of the entire meal was definitely the company.  Wanda, Linda, Tara, Ryan, Greg and I had a blast.  We were laughing so hard.  The waiter had fun with us too.  Linda asked him for corn on the cob, and he told her he'd have it by "next Wednesday."  The only corn she would be getting was the baby corn in the noodles. Then, our waiter told us a few silly jokes about Disney characters.  One was "what do you say to Simba to get him to move faster?"  "Mufasa."  We laughed pretty hard at those.  Finally, we enjoyed our bread pudding with the banana carmel sauce for dessert while watching Wishes off in the distance.

The most memorable part of the evening was the car ride home.  Linda drove to Walt Disney World so she had her SUV and offered to take Wanda and Tara back to Boardwalk, me to Pop Century and finally ending up at Port Orleans where she, Ryan and Greg were all staying.  We all agreed and thanked her.  I volunteered to sit in the back of her SUV, where there wasn't room for you to put your legs.  It took me a few minutes to get in, but once I was in there, I was ok.  (Or so I thought.)

Getting out… now that's another story.  My legs got cramped up and my right knee was locked up.  (It's nothing new; it happens often when you've had knee surgery.)  When we got to Boardwalk and dropped Wanda and Tara off, I planned to move to the back seat so I could easily hop out of the car at Pop.  Needless to say, it was incredibly entertaining and someone should have video taped it.  There were no doors in the back and I got myself (very) stuck on the way over her back seats.  Everyone got quite a chuckle when I stated "I'm 30 darn it!  Heck, I'm not even 30 yet!"  Eventually, I (not very gracefully) extricated myself from her car and landed on the pavement at Boardwalk.  Of course, I had to make fun of myself to lighten the moment and I declared "And she sticks the landing!"  (I should note that this in no way is a reaction from the drink I had earlier in the night.  This display of sheer grace would be the reason my mother calls me Gracie Lou.)

After a lot of laughs and bidding Wanda and Tara goodnight, Linda took me back to Pop Century and I went to finish the secret project.  When they were finished and I was happy with the result, I headed to bed to get some rest before our official KeyCon meeting!!!  °o°

KeyCon 2014 Trip: Day #1

The first day of my trip started bright and early- well, not so much bright, but definitely early.  My parents drove with me to Boston the night before so I could catch my 6:00 am direct flight to Orlando.  I was up at 3:00 am, after not going to bed until almost 1:00 am. However, I was on my way to Disney World and I was pretty pumped.  I insisted on cranking my iPhone and serenading Mom and Dad to my (out of tune) edition of "Let It Go" in the car on the way to the airport.

I was exhausted by the time we took off.  I planned to sleep on the plane but I started talking with the nice ladies next to me.  They were two older women on their way to a Disney wedding at Epcot.  (I think their names were Rita and Janet.)  I told them we got married at Disney and showed them a few photos I happened to have on my phone. Before I knew it, we were landing in Orlando!

Upon arrival in Orlando, I went to the monorail and saw my first palm trees!  Shortly after, I spotted the Magic of Disney store and had my first Mickey sighting!  (It finally felt real.)  I hoped on the Magical Express and went to Pop Century.  I've never arrived at Disney so early before.  (We usually take a late flight and arrive after the parks are already closed.) I checked in and would get settled later when my room was ready.  Instead, I met up with Wanda, one of the other Key to the World agents staying at Pop Century.  She offered to let me freshen up and leave my stuff in her room while we went to the Magic Kingdom. After talking for a bit and changing into my park clothes, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom.  I'm not on a trip to Disney until I see Cinderella Castle!

Wanda was up for anything since she'd arrived the day before.  We decided that we'd head over to Pirates of the Caribbean first.  Unfortunately, the ride was broken and it was closed.  Instead, we went towards the Haunted Mansion.  I always try to go on the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean first.  They're my favorites!

The line at the Haunted Mansion said it was 30 minutes, but I'm pretty sure we waited at least 45 minutes to an hour.  Thankfully, Wanda and I had plenty to talk about.  I had a few moments of exhaustion sneak up on me while waiting in line.  I felt like I was in a dream like state since I hadn't slept much.  It hadn't really sunk in that I was actually at Walt Disney World.  We enjoyed the ride and then I took a quick stop to check out Momento Mori, the new Haunted Mansion store.

Next, we walked over towards Fantasyland and stopped to admire Rapunzel's tower and the restrooms.  I insisted that we go inside them since Wanda had never seen them before!  As we continued along, we saw the line for It's A Small World wasn't too long so we decided to do that as well.

At this point, it was almost 3:00 and I was starting to crash after being up for 12 hours with less than three hours of sleep.  We decided to walk through New Fantasyland so I could see the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Ride before we headed back to Pop Century.

We made our way back to the front of the park and decided that we'd take the monorail over to Epcot and then take a bus.  I wasn't quite ready to crash, and I still wanted to see more of "home".  Plus, the Monorail is totally a ride.  ;-)

I'm glad we took the monorail.  I got to see the Wedding Pavilion along the way!

Eventually, we made it back to Pop and I got my room number.  We grabbed something for dinner and I headed to my room to eat and take a much needed nap!  Wanda was amazing and brought over the bags I left in her room.  We agreed to rest for a while and that we'd meet up later on to go over to Epcot.

After dinner and a two hour nap, I felt like a completely new person.  I got up and took a quick shower, changed and headed over to Epcot to meet Wanda.  Upon seeing Spaceship Earth, I really felt like I was at Disney World.  (A bit of sleep will do wonders.)

We met at the main entrance and decided to go on Nemo and Friends since the line wasn't long and we wanted to have a nice, relaxing evening.  Afterwards, Wanda took me to see Turtle Talk with Crush since I'd never seen it.  It was really cute and I enjoyed it a lot.  I can't wait to take Eliot to see it when we go in January.

After Turtle Talk, it was so close to park closing that it wasn't worth walking around the World Showcase.  Instead, we headed into MouseGears to poke around.  I saw a ton of cute items, but naturally I was most attracted to the holiday merchandise.  I found some awesome holiday jewelry.  (I later went back to get some Disney Christmas earrings.) The store was fairly quiet since everyone was preparing for IllumiNations. Wanda and I took advantage of it and looked at the Alex and Ani bracelets.  The cast member even let me try one on!  I'm definitely adding those to my Christmas wish list!

After MouseGears, we decided to call it a night and to head back to Pop Century.  Wanda and I agreed to text each other the next day to see if we could meet up.  When I got back to my room, I fell into a deep sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.  °o°

WDW Honeymoon Recap- 3/31/13

Sunday March 31st marked Honeymoon Day 9; it was also the last day of our trip.  I was pretty bummed out when that was the first thought to cross my mind when I woke up. Then I remembered it was also Easter Sunday and how we'd be at the Magic Kingdom celebrating Easter in a few hours!

Eliot and I started packing up and getting ready to leave.  We decided to make the most of the day by going over to Epcot in the morning to take pictures of the Flower and Garden Festival.  While I was in the Pop Century lobby waiting for Eliot to get us breakfast, I spotted a line of people next to a small sign.  Minnie Mouse was here at Pop Century- awesome!  I got in line and waited for Eliot there.  A few minutes later he brought me a yummy chocolate croissant!

Then we got pictures taken with Minnie in her spring Easter outfit!  Yay!!!

After, the cast members gave us a huge bag of candy... wait, one for each of us?  Two bags of candy... I might not ever leave!  Then we hopped on the bus and started the beautiful day at Epcot.  We grabbed another picture with Spaceship Earth and our custom Mr. and Mrs. Cady shirts from our wedding week!

Then we made our way around the World Showcase.  Eliot borrowed a wheelchair from Pop Century so he could push me around in it.  After my foot spasm at the Magic Kingdom the night before, it was painful to walk or stand for long periods.  This made it a lot easier to get around.  On our adventure we saw Snow White's wishing well.

Then we saw the Snow White and the Seven Dwarves topiaries in Germany!

Lady and the Tramp were hanging out in Italy.

Lotso and Woody were in the American Adventure section.

We stopped in France when we saw Belle.  We still needed her autograph and photo!

Then we visited the Beauty and the Beast topiaries in France.

We saw Cogsworth and Lumiere, with Mrs. Potts and Chip in the background.

We spotted Prince Charming and Cinderella.  Eliot thought it was appropriate that they were placed at the entrance to our private VIP IllumiNations viewing area.  I agree.

Opposite of the Cinderella topiary were Aurora and Philip.

Here I am in the United Kingdom with Tigger and my wheelchair.  I don't think we would have made it around the entire World Showcase with my sore foot if I wasn't in it!

We also got one more picture with Duffy!  We hadn't bought the autograph book yet when we visited with him before!  And I really wanted to get his autograph!  I love him!!!

We took a picture of the Tinkerbell and Periwinkle topiaries by the Butterfly House.

And we couldn't forget Phineas and Ferb at the Future World entrance.

Then we said goodbye to Epcot and we went back to Pop Century to finish packing and to check out.  Goodbye awesome view from our room of the Art of Animation.  

Goodbye 1950's section of Pop Century!  We've had a lot of great memories here!  (We also stayed in the 1950's section during our wedding week when we occupied an entire room block of the hotel with our friends, family and wedding party.)

After finalizing everything at Pop, we went over to the Magic Kingdom to see the Disney Easter Parade on Easter Sunday!!!  (On my Disney Bucket List.)  We took a few photos by the castle before staking out our parade spots.  I was able to sit comfortably in my wheelchair while Eliot went to pin trade at the Emporium.

An hour or so later, the Easter Pre-Parade started!  We saw Mr. and Mrs. Easter Bunny once again.  They were followed by Daisy and the Azelea Trail Maids.  I was so excited that they were there!  I've wanted one of their pretty dresses since I was just a little girl!  I remember being glued to the television while watching the Easter Parade.  "I could write a sonnet, About your Easter bonnet, And of the girl I'm taking, To the Easter Parade."

We stayed to watch Disney's Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade which followed the Easter Parade a few minutes later.  It was the perfect way to end our honeymoon!

"Celebrate A Dream Come True, and you might just find a wish for you. When you close your eyes, then you realize, any dream is possible! Legacies and childhood wishes, watch them all come true, forever like a picture in your mind. Make a wish, unlock your memories, look inside your heart, and find the dream that's waiting there for you..."

About halfway through the parade, I was overcome by emotions and lost it.  Tears silently streaked down my face behind my sunglasses.  We'd been so lucky and blessed with our year long celebrations- 3 trips to the Walt Disney World Resort: our wedding planning session, having our dream Disney wedding and our honeymoon!  It was an emotional ending to the magical roller coaster ride we'd been on.  

It was really hard to say "Goodbye" to the Magic Kingdom this trip.  We got a few more PhotoPass photos, (Disney forgot to add Tinker Bell to our magic shot!) then we took one last look down Main Street at Cinderella Castle before passing under the railroad tracks.

We decided to take one last photo in front of the Train Station so we could end our year long Disney adventure with the same photo pose we started it with.

After leaving the Magic Kingdom, we zipped over to Downtown Disney long enough for Eliot to grab our RunDisney stuff.  While there, we got a picture of the Bambi topiaries. Then we went back to Pop Century to catch our Magical Express to the airport.

I still wasn't quite ready to say goodbye.  At the airport, we went to both the Earport and Magic of Disney stores.  I saw a large ad outside of one of them and had to get one more Disney picture before we boarded the plane for home.  I'm happy it was with Duffy!

We had a really amazing Disneymoon.  It was a great trip and were incredibly thankful we were able to go on it.  And I want to give a big thank you to Disney Fairy Tale Weddings for our Walt Disney World annual passes as a wedding gift!  We definitely got a good amount of use out of them!!!  °o°