My Big Florida Escape Trip Report! Part 2: Boats Boats Boats

Hello! We’re still in Jupiter and I am still, unfortunately, without photos. Once we get to Orlando (tomorrow) I will have pictures galore to share.

Anyway, let’s talk about the rest.

Saturday, March 20 – Water Water Everywhere

A few years ago, my sister and I realized that when you’re in coastal areas there are usually two kinds of people, beach people, and boat people. We are overwhelmingly, beach people. We love roasting in the sun, and riding waves and the slow pace of a beach day.

My Uncle Denis is a boat person. And we’ve enjoyed being on his various boats since we were very little even if we aren’t really boat people. And these days, he hires a captain and takes the boat out every Saturday, and most of these Saturdays, my parents join him. This time, my dad was playing golf, but Mom and I headed out.

A speedboat is a wonderful thing and it’s a very free feeling when it’s going fast and the wind is blowing through your hair. We boated around the inlet, saw the lighthouse again. (The Lighthouse is really nice) and then docked, said our goodbyes, and headed to the spa at The Admiral’s Cove Country Club to get our nails done.

We had a delightful time doing that and then, Mom had a few other errands to run, which I happily did with her. (Which was a little silly on my part, I could have been poolside!) Then we got back to the house just in time to get changed for dinner, which was my mom’s birthday dinner at the Club’s restaurant.

I am aware that describing these days makes me sound like a Downton Abbey character, but I was on vacation. So a certain level of absurd relaxation is worth it.

Dinner was lovely,back with my Uncle Denis and my Aunt Britta, as well as some of the friends that my parents have made in their short time down there. They start dinner early because they’re old. (I did tease them about this, “5:30 for cocktails? ON SATURDAY NIGHT?”) After said, way too early dinner, we headed to another restaurant for a Night Cap, it was too windy to be outside on the Waterfront, but this place was really cool, and we even talked to a stranger at the bar, something I have described as missing deeply from my life so that was great. Then it was back to the house again, and then bed.

Sunday, March 21 – It’s someone’s Birthday and Hangover Management

There had been some talk about us heading to Brunch on Sunday morning, but, when it came down to it, none of us wanted to get moving early enough to make that happen. So instead we ate soda bread and hung out by the pool and then packed and planned for our Orlando week.

As dinner time came around we decided to try for Guanabana again, and SURPRISE, there was again a 2 hour wait, so we again, bailed. We instead headed back to the Club to one of the 4 restaurants on property (seriously, my parents are very fancy people now.) to The Marina Grill. It’s so called because it’s literally on a boat marina and it’s beautiful.

The menu is pretty straightforward bar fare, which, since we were all still feeling a little hungover was perfect and we got seats at the bar itself and had a lovely, very chill time. We also, happened to be served by a bartender named Tristan and I decided this was some kind of sign from the universe, though I don’t know what it means.

Since we were going to have an earlier morning (I was determined to get on the road by 10) we headed back to the house. I asked my mom if there was something else she wanted for her birthday and she assured me that the week ahead would be enough of a celebration…

And trust me, readers, it really, really was.

TOMORROW! We arrive in The Happiest Place On Earth. I fulfill a couple of Dis-Nerd dreams, and my dad learns the benefits of the Walt Disney World Transportation System!

My Big Florida Escape Trip Report!

Hello All!

I apologize for my lengthy absence, but I wasn’t feeling much like writing or watching Bond movies, so I decided taking a few months off was worth it. I’ve always said that the minute anything on this blog starts to feel like homework it goes!

I haven’t exactly been slacking, entirely of course. I did a bunch of work over on The Marina Chronicle, I’ve been very active on Twitter, and well, I got to go Home again.

Yes, friends, I finally got back to Walt Disney World!

But not before a few very relaxing days in Jupiter, Florida, where my parents now live.

Having not really travelled in two years, I’m out of practice on writing up a trip report, but here we go! This one should take up quite a few weeks, if I post one a day.

So, we begin!

Thursday, March 18 – Newark NJ – West Palm Beach

I had a lot of anxiety about going to the airport and flying. We are, after all still in a pandemic. But the whole experience was very organized and well distanced and I didn’t feel unsafe. I also managed to get a full work day in, so that was nice too! And I wound up sitting next to a woman who I’ve known most of my life, the mom of a girl who went to middle school with Mary. (She’s a nurse so was fully vaccinated! So that was also reassuring!)

My flight was at 2 PM, so I landed in West Palm Beach around 5:30. My mom picked me up and we drove to my parents’ new house in Jupiter, Florida.

My Uncle Denis has been in Jupiter for well over a decade which is why my parents chose the town. It’s a lovely house that they have a lot of plans for, but for my purposes on this trip included a kitchen and a pool, so all good on this end.

Rather than go out in a rush, Mom made Corned Beef and Cabbage and we stayed in and drank wine. It was a lovely start to my trip, if I do say so myself!

Friday, March 19 – We Get Fancy, Mom Eats Spicy Fish and Go To The Lighthouse

I wasn’t yet officially on vacation here. I was working in the morning, but there’s a world of difference between working at my tiny little cafe table in my apartment and working poolside. One is a good deal more pleasant. However, after the morning of working, Mom and I headed down to Palm Beach to go to High Tea at The Chesterfield Hotel.

Pretty much anytime we travel, Mom and I say we’re going to go get High Tea at whatever fancy hotel has it. And then we always forget and don’t do it. So, this year for Christmas I gave her a gift certificate for the High Tea at The Chesterfield.

If you find yourself in Palm Beach (and if you can swing a long weekend, I highly recommend it, it’s a very fun and different place to check out) go to The Chesterfield’s Leopard Lounge. We have every intention of doing this every time I’m down there now (not always tea, we’ll probably just grab drinks) The room itself is themed around exotic animals. (This is a British owned fancy hotel, bits of colonialism are a given.) I love a hotel bar, especially when it feels different from other Hotel Bars, and The Leopard Lounge, uses sleek blacks and animal print rather than the traditional dark woods and red velvets.

The tea itself was good. We had to take half of the sandwiches home with us since it was a Friday in Lent and we couldn’t eat meat. But the pastries and scones, which are the real reason for going to tea, made the whole thing worth it.

We then walked around Palm Beach a little, but my stomach was hurting from too much sugar and having my period so we quickly headed back to the house and I took a nap and felt much better.

That night we’d planned to go to this awesome outdoor waterfront bar that the whole family loves, called Guanabanas, but there was two hour wait for a table, so, no, we didn’t do that. Instead we headed to a place called The Bistro, which is where we used to eat at least once every trip, because when we called they said they could seat us as soon as we got there.

Again, it was a Friday, and also it’s Florida, so we all got fish. I got a thin sliced salmon dish, Dad got crab cakes, and Mom got a snapper cooked in paper, and it was made with sweet chili. Now, my mother does not eat spicy food. Ever. She’s a real baby about it, even too much black pepper will ruin something for her. But she very much enjoyed this. I was proud of her. One of these days I will get her to eat Thai food!

After dinner, Mom suggested we head back to the waterfront, and grab a quick drink with a view of The Jupiter Lighthouse. I smilingly agreed, I’d go anywhere, this was their portion of the vacation. We parked the car and walked into a “divey” (as divey as anything in this area of the state gets, it’s a pretty chichi area) and hanging behind the bar were more moscow mule mugs than I thought existed and “Don’t Stop Me” by Queen blaring over the speakers. I was thrilled. We ordered drinks and headed out onto the dock and saw the beautiful and Iconic Jupiter Light House, before going home and heading to bed.

That’s the beginning. Tomorrow, we’ll cover the weekend! I go on a boat! And eat dinner at a serendipitously named restaurant with a coincidentally named bartender! Very exiting stuff! Hooray!]

(I thought I had pictures for this post but i got a new phone and now I can’t find them and it is very frustrating)

Third Time’s A Charm – Be Our Guest NYC

The incredible Captain Awkward,an advice writer who I’ve been following for the past few years, has stated that when attempting to meet new friends as an adult you should find a recurring event that sparks your interest and go three times, no matter what. Three times, decide if it’s right for you, if you fit in.

Back in June, I got a Facebook notification, in the “events near you” section for “Be Our Guest: A Disney DJ Night,” the even was taking place that Friday, and the event description appealed to me, an evening where a bunch of people wore costumes and drank and sang along and danced to Disney music.

Yes, I couldn’t have designed a better evening myself. I texted Aless and asked if she wanted to come, she gave a hearty “OF COURSE” and we went. We had an absolute ball, talked to some great people, haunted a diner until 5 am and stumbled back to Aless’s apartment at 6 giggling.

It was incredible. In September, I went back. Aless was back in Colombia visiting her mother, but I thought about that 3 times thing, and I bought the ticket and went by myself this time. It was, again, unreal. I was immediately surrounded by people I felt connected to. I sang and danced and again, found myself in a diner at five in the morning laughing about everything and nothing.

This past weekend, I got my third shot. I laced myself into my black Ariel As A Human Corset, I hopped on a late train, and walked into the Gramercy Theater on 23rd Street and danced and sang my face off and had just, the absolute best time. (Aless came again this round).

Trying to explain why this event has gotten so inside of me is tough. It’s just a strange intersection of things that I really love. The cosplay and Disney songs are nice trappings, but what I really love about it is communal. It’s the part that gets me sitting in a diner talking to new friends until 5 in the morning. The part that I lost a lot of when I outgrew a group of friends. Getting a taste of that, even if it’s only one night every few months is nourishing. 

So anyway, I’m in on this event now, I’ve found people I care for very much there, and I hope to be as much of a regular there as I can. I’m also going to try to hang out with the people I’ve met there in other spaces. But even if those friendships never quite make it past the late night disco fries and milk shakes stage, I’m grateful for it.

My Fair Lazy, Culturing Up, and Six Months Of Lovely Accidents

So, a lot of people are writing, “it’s halfway through the year, here’s a check in posts.” I wasn’t planning one, but last night I has a realization that made me very happy.

A few years ago my favorite non fiction writer Jen Lancaster, wrote a book called, My Fair Lazy that was about a year long project to expand her horizons and get a bit more cultured. The project included exploring fine dining, attending theatrical performances and reading “important” books.

Y’all, between The Epics Project and The Best Theatrical Year of My Life, this sort of happened to me by accident, I realized as Aless and I picked up our champagne at the second intermission of ABT’s production of Don Quixote. (Partially, realizing that this wasn’t a terribly unusual outing for us anymore. We’ve come a long way since those $5 margaritas on 34th Street!)

Here are the cultural milestones I’ve had this year:

• Read: War And Peace, Ulysses, Middlemarch, Don Quixote, Dune, David Copperfield, The Alchemist and Lincoln In The Bardo. As well as several other books that are probably not as culturally important but I have enjoyed quite a bit. That I’m reading a lot again is good. It means I can read things that are important and literary and the crap that I’d been consuming for the past few years. And I’ve got six more of the biggies (and a few smallies I’ve been putting off) before I’m through that project.
• Watched: I’m still not good at watching things that are good for me. I’ll hit an occasional indie film or documentary, but for the most part, what I’m watching is still junk food. Often very well crafted junk food, like those sundaes from Serendipity or whatever, but still, empty calories
• Attended: BEST THEATRICAL YEAR OF MY LIFE! It’s amazing how no longer participating in theater has made seeing theater feel essential to me. The Children, Children Of A Lesser God, Once On This Island, My Fair Lady, Angels In America, La Boheme and Don Quixote. I’ve still got a revisit to Hamilton and Springsteen On Broadway coming up and likely a few more.
• Food: Most of my food exploration has come from cooking rather than eating out and my skills are still basic but improving. I can make Chicken Korma, which is exciting (Though I’m still tweaking my spice mix. It comes out a little too sweet for me every time…)

So that’s my culture year so far. It’s been good.

May The 4th Be With You

Hey all! I didn’t get the Epcot trip report done for today. (It was 90 degrees out yesterday and my airconditioner isn’t installed yet. I was lucky to BREATHE last night.)

But it’s May The 4th! Happy Star Wars Day!

I write about Star Wars a lot, so skim some of that if you’re up for it.

 

Meet Me Tonight In Atlantic City

If you’re a comic con person, I can’t recommend getting your butt to a con in Atlantic City hard enough, FOR THE PARTIES ALONE these weekends are worth it.

This past weekend Aless, Kristi and I hit up Garden State Comic Fest: Atlantic City. While it will never ever live up to my gone to soon ACBC, it was a good substitute.

Also, frankly, I just love that town. Every time I go I have a massively awesome time. My first trip to Atlantic City was when I was ten, and we stayed at the Trump Taj Mahal with some family friends, and it was a weekend of bowling, and swimming in an indoor pool and singing Spice Girls songs. It’s a deeply fond memory for me.

The next time I went I was 18 because my friend Constantine was in the touring production of Hairspray and it was playing at Harrah’s. There’s even less for an incoming college freshman to do in the city than a 10 year old kid, but we went to the spa and saw the show and generally enjoyed the ambiance.

My first I can actually participate in it trip came about five years ago (Jeeeeeezzzz) when Juli, Chrissy and I did a quick overnight at the Showboat, which also featured dinner at Margaritaville, dancing our faces off at Boogie Nights at the Trop and a late night room service meal of cheese fries and milkshakes.

Then I found ACBC and well, there have been a few other trips in between as well. This trip, I was back at the Showboat (also the scene of an epic Coheed concert with the sibs!)

Anyway, this is not meant to be a tourism ad for Atlantic City, though seriously, I would do that too. I love that town. Anyway, the con itself was really fun, pretty standard small con, with light cosplay, a few big name guests, and lots of independent press. There was one of the best post con parties we’ve ever been to (This time with 0 sexual harassment! WEEE!) and some pretty epic hangovers.

But it was after the drive home, while Aless and I sat at my apartment eating Chinese food and rewatching Young Justice and planning our next con adventure (Terrificon, in Connecticut in August!) that I realized how really lucky I am to have my friends. Fandom was so lonely for me for so long, and now there’s this epic group of women around me who enthusiastically go to a Johnny Rockets to take pictures while in Riverdale Cosplay (More on that tomorrow!), and sing along loudly to [title of show] on a roadtrip, and say snarky things about teen superheroes who we love with all our hearts. (Except Young Justice!Roy Harper, we don’t love him, because UGH!)

I found my people, and it’s so deeply rewarding.

Time To Get Personal: Let’s Talk About 2017

I feel like 2017 needs to be subtitles, “the year I undid a bunch of work I’d done the year before.”

But that isn’t totally fair because I had some pretty big wins. But I want to start with the not so great stuff.

My day job fell apart, which lead to things here sort of falling apart too. This is because it was taking every scrap of my will and sanity to keep from falling off a cliff into the toxic sludge of that place. And just when I thought it was just me, I was quickly validated by several other coworkers. (One of whom took extended medical leave just to tend to the mental health issues brought on by the stress of this place. Seriously, it was nightmare) In the end, it turned out they were getting ready to sell the company and the stress and tension of that was trickling down to everyone.

Because of that stress I stopped dieting, I stopped running and I drank wayyy too much. So a lot of the progress I’d made in 2016 and the first half of 2017 went down the tubes. My weight is up, my habits are bad, I’m gonna do my best to repair that damage now, but oof, it’s been rough.

In addition to that, Mary moved to Colorado. This is awesome for her. I’m so so proud of my little sister, but I miss her all the time, and I never realized how much I rely on her for just like, helping me keep my life in perspective. And I decided not to do a show, so for the first time since I was fourteen I wasn’t in a theater all summer. Both of these things would be fine on their own, but in addition to the job stress and put together, it left me feeling unmoored.

Luckily, I recognized what was going on and began a job search in earnest in September and by Thanksgiving I was someplace new, which is lower stress, higher pay, and most of all, my boss does not appear to be a psychopath who calls me stupid when I ask questions and then when I try to figure things out on my own yells at me for doing things wrong. (It was really really bad, you guys).  I also knew enough to get into therapy, and practice basic self care, but it was really really hard.

So, aside from that, let’s talk about the good things:

I ran my half marathon! And I’ve decided to train for a full. (I haven’t chosen yet, it may be Disney, or I may do another destination city…) This will be a tremendous commitment, but I’m ready for it!

I moved out of my parents’ place and into my own. I love my apartment, and frankly, during the really rough moments with work, it was really great to be able to go home to a place that was mine and sit quietly, or cry, or huddle up and watch Gossip Girl without worrying how this would effect my family. Or call in for a mental health day without it also causing my mom to spiral into anxiety. We feed each other’s dysfunction that way. This move has been GREAT for our relationship.

I kept my resolution to be more social (AND HOW). Even if my weekends were sometimes more solitary than I’d originally planned, I did something with friends pretty much every week this year. MAJOR Shout outs to Katie, Aless and Crystan, but not forgetting Juli and Chrissy, for whom lack of proximity forces less interaction. I should note that getting in the habit of being social also helped my mental health A LOT. When on any given evening Aless will text and say, “I’m coming to your place tonight” I’ve gotta keep the place clean, or Crystan pointing out that we have tickets for something means that regular bathing is a necessity. And, I really missed Katie. Adulthood makes maintaining friendships from when you were younger hard, but as our friendship prepares for it’s Sweet 16 (We’ve now been friends for over 50% of our lives. It’s terrifying. We’re old.) I’m so glad we’ve managed to spend a bunch of time together. And a bonus of all of our hanging out, I discovered how much I love $9 wine, and as I understand it, she discovered a love of Jarlsberg. HUZZAH!

And, I’m keeping this very vague…I liked liked someone for the first time in a while, and they liked me back. We’re still not sure where it’s going, but it’s good, and even if it’s just friendship, I’m glad my depression didn’t stamp out that part of myself.

So, 2018 personal resolutions:

Start running again. 4 days a week. No excuses.

NO DRINKING ON WEEKNIGHTS AT MY HOUSE. Period. End of sentence. If I’m in my apartment, and I have work the next day, NYET. Even when out, limited to 1 glass of wine.

Seriously cook once a week. Crock Pot dumps and “reheat type” cooking more often, but my Uncles gave me a cook book for Christmas and I want to experiment with my kitchen a bit.

Take dating seriously. Seriously. This means apps and websites and speed dating and all kinds of nightmares that I hate, but with my mental health in check and no more “I live with my parents” as an excuse, I want to get into this. Having gotten into the habit of being more social last year, I think this is a good extension of that.

Merry Dapper Day: 11/21/2017: “The Wilderness Mus Be Explored”

I’ve gone on seven trips to Disney World in the past 2 years, and the one thing that surprises people more than, “and you don’t have children?” is when they ask what my favorite thing to do is, and I say, “Walk around Animal Kingdom.”

My Disney trips have had me fall head over heels in love with the Animal Kingdom, and this was even before Pandora opened and gilded the lily as it were.

And this day, this magical wonderful day, had us (mostly because Juli is something of a genius.) really diving into exploration of the park.

We started the day in Pandora, at 8 AM sharp. We had a 9:10 fastpass for Flight of Passage, so we started on Na’vi River Cruise, which I really love riding, it’s such a beautiful and peaceful and lovely experience. I also love the woven queue, the explanation of the various animals you’ll see on the cruise, and of course, the incredible Shamaan Audio-Animatronic.

Then we did some running around and exploring, before our fastpass came up, and then we did Flight Of Passage.

I’d wondered if maybe, maybe I’d with the long wait, and hype for it, been overwowed by Flight Of Passage.

I no longer feel that way. This ride is exceptionally wonderful. It’s beautiful, well executed and didn’t even make me queasy this time around. Hooray! Then we stopped by Pongu Pongu, to get some snacks. I was excited to try the Lumpia, and I also grabbed the Mo’Ara High Country Ale, since I’d tried the Grog Ale last time, Dom got the Grog Ale, and Juli got the Night Blossom, for the Insta of the thing, and also, because it did not occur to me when I ordered it, it wasn’t yet 10 AM. (Our early start had my internal clock off by a bit.) Ah, whatever, it was vacation, if you can’t drink at 9:30 in the morning on vacation, when can you?

Juli with her Night Blossom

The Lumpia is really good and I get why people were freaking out about it back when Pandora first opened. I’m a sucker for anything desert-y with a cream cheese base. I also liked the beer, again, I’m a sucker for an Amber. Though I preferred the Grog Ale. And if I had a choice, I’d go with a Safari Amber instead.

We then decided to begin the “Wilderness Explorers” part of our day, which allowed for much of the exploring that we did. This was something Juli insisted on, and she was absolutely right! We chatted with the Explorerer troop leaders in Pandora and took a boatload of pictures, before making our way to Harambe to check in for our brunch at Tusker House.

Tusker House has a mixed internet reputation but it’s Kristi’s family’s favorite and my friend April also counts it as a stand by for her family. Plus in these seven trips in two years, I hadn’t yet done a character meal.

I really loved this restaurant. The layout is a market style for the buffet with lovely thick wood tables where we sat. And of course there’s the characters in their safari finest!

During the meal we met with Goofy, Daisy, Donald and Mickey. This was our third encounter with Goofy and we were thrilled about it. Specifically though, I was psyched to meet with Donald and Daisy, since I was wearing my Webby Vanderquack Disneybound this day.

The food is really interesting and cool, and we specifically book at 10:45 so that we could get a taste of both the breakfast and lunch options. Also, the drink options at Tusker House come from Dawa Bar, which means I got to have a Sugar Cane Mojito, which, as I’ve stated before, is my favorite bar made mojito I’ve ever had. (Disney is one of the few places I let myself have rum, because my opportunities to be ah “friendly,” the way I tend to get when I drink rum, are limited.)

Once we finished there, it became clear that it was about to rain, and we decided to head in to Festival Of The Lion King. Neither Juli nor I had done this show before, and I think that I’m going to fit it in to every itinerary from now on. It’s truly spectacular.

Then it was on to more Wilderness Badges, this time, by going to Gorilla Falls again, then after that, we had Everest Fast Passes, and completed those badges. It was then on to my favorite (very super favorite) thing in Animal Kingdom, The Maharahja Jungle Trek. Unlike Gorilla Falls, the trek is almost never crowded, it’s tucked back in a weird back corner of the Asia section, rather than in a highly trafficked ride exit dump, and it’s residents are a bit more subdued. We talked to a cast member about the tiger cubs. (I was really hoping we’d see them.) He explained that they’re not on display yet, as they want to limit human contact with them. Disappointed but understanding we were happy to at least see their proud papa wandering around.

We had a truly magical moment, however, as we reached the aviary. I’ve walked the Jungle Trek many times and never, have I seen this area so alive. Birds were zipping above our heads, skittering around on the ground and perched happily singing in the trees. It was exceptional.

Post Jungle Trek we headed to Disney Springs where we all did some shopping, and then back to the hotel, where we picked up dinner and relaxed in the room. (And had one of those quiet exhale moments that I’m so crazy about.) We headed back over to the park to experience Pandora at night and Rivers Of Light.

I was head over heals for Pandora having only seen it during the day. Seeing it at night just further cemented my love for Animal Kingdom. Seriously, I’m obsessed. Maybe someday I’ll have an Animal Kingdom trip, where I stay at lodge and only go to Animal Kingdom, except for one night when I go over to the Poly to have drinks at Trader Sam’s. (This is not a logistical reality, just something that I fantasize about.)

Then it was off to Rivers Of Light. We stopped by the Thirsty River Bar first, where I tried to Himalayan Ghost, which is, I must say, incredible. I really do need to incorporate Guava Juice into my home mixers.

The show was spectacular. I really like it, and I think the only reason that it will never eclipse Illumiations as my favorite is because I don’t have childhood memories of it. (And for the moment, it’s sort of a pain in the butt to see.)  It’s so beautiful and interesting and well done and the song is great.

After that, it was time for our party to part ways. Juli and Dom were getting up super early to begin their drive home, and still had packing to do. The park was still open for about an hour, so I decided rather than be in their way while they packed to further explore at least in some fashion.

I knew I had a few options, but I landed on heading to Nomad Lounge and having a night cap, and then hopping on line to ride Na’Vi River Journey one more time.

Settling in at Nomad I had a Night Monkey and chatted with the bar tender, before settling up and heading over to River Journey, where I talked to a family as we wound through the cue, and then headed out to the bus and back, where I crashed out.

BONUS Departure Day:

I had a 9:42 flight. I didn’t book it that way. I’d booked in the afternoon hoping to get in a morning at Studios to do Star Wars stuff. (Juli and Dom have no care for a galaxy far far away and I wasn’t going to force my super-fandom on them) But, American Airlines changed their flight times, so, here we are. I skipped Magical Express, since it was picking up at 5:35 AM for the Holiday rush, and I knew I didn’t need that much time.

I got up, took some pictures of the room, and grabbed a Lyft to the airport and then it was home, with no hiccups.

Overall, this was an incredible trip. Longer than I usually do, and much more strenuous. Coming up later in the week, we’ll do a hotel review & favorites, and then I’ve got a special, things I’ve learned in my Disney Year post!

But for now, well, as they say, See You Real Soon!

Merry Dapper Day: 11/20/2017: “That Time Of Year”

If there’s one thing that I’ve done in this year of Disney that I do not every feel the need to do again, it is the 4 Park Day.

While very fun, these marathons are exhausting, and made more so by the discontinuing of the Express Bus Service. (Seriously, such a bummer that this isn’t a thing anymore.) If other people I’m with want to do it, I’ll nope out at lunch time and take a nap.

Anyway, all this to say, that I’m glad I did both of my 4 Park Days this year, but I am not doing it again for a very long time.

So, we got up early, there was a 7 AM extra magic hour at Animal Kingdom, and we drove over. We were through the gates by 7:45 and on Kilamanjaro Safaris by 8. After the safari, (which went well, again, I don’t know that I’ll ever top February’s safari trip, but again, this one was very good.) and then did Gorilla Falls, before grabbing a fastpass picture and then driving to park at the TTC. (We planned on finishing the day at Magic Kingdom, so this made the most sense.) Then we caught the Monorail to Epcot, since we had some Fastpasses (and a burning desire for some Via Nappoli Pizza.) there. We rode Living With Land, then got on The Friendship Boat, and hit Italy, hoping for a walk up to Via Nappoli. We got a table in about 10 minutes (I always forget how fricking HUGE that restaurant is) and a pepperoni pie and a bellini made the whole day a little better. (I was feeling my hangover from the day before, LET ME TELL YOU!) We then backtracked to the Land pavillion again, to ride Soarin’ and followed that up with a ride on Imagination.

Somewhere in there, we managed to take this picture.

I haven’t done either Living With The Land or Imagination since I was kid and they were fun to revisit. Living With The Land is super relaxing and the tour of the Greenhouses is really cool, and honestly, who doesn’t simply adore Figment?

After that we worked our way to the back exit, took a Friendship Boat to the Yacht and Beach Club to check out the Gingerbread Carousel. Juli’s always said that The Boardwalk is her dream resort, where as I lean more Yacht & Beach, and I think after catching a glimpse of Storm A Long Bay, I’ve brought her over to my point of view. (STEP INTO MY WEB!) We then got back on the boat, and headed to Studios.

Because of lines, we opted out of any of the rides there, but did catch Muppets 3-D, For The First Time In Forever: A Frozen Sing A Long, (which featured a special ending with “That Time Of Year” and “When We’re Together” from Olaf’s Frozen Adventure.) We also hung out on Sunset Boulevard and watched the projection show “Sunset Season’s Greetings” which goes onto the Tower of Terror. It’s a really cute show, and I especially appreciated that one of the segments is based around “Mickey’s Christmas Carol,” which has always been my favorite version of that story.

We settled in for Fantasmic after that, and golly, what a good show that is! I haven’t seen it in a while, but it’s Juli’s favorite, so we were definitely not skipping it. We managed to see the actual fireworks from “Jingle Bell Jingle Bam” while we waited, as well as the finale of Illuminations! (Pretty cool stuff!)

Fantasmic really is great though, it’s sweet, and an excellent use of characters and has some great music in it. The five minute long Pocohontas section is a little bit dated. (I mean, I’m just saying it wouldn’t be hard to say, switch that up to be about a young Polynesian girl wondering how far she’ll go…) But otherwise, this is a stone cold classic.

Our final stop was Magic Kingdom, where we arrived just as the lights were dimming for “Happily Ever After.” Our plans were all Fantasyland based, so we saw the fireworks, but not the projection show. (Still really good.)

Also, got these cool pics with the fireworks in them!

We rode Under The Sea, and then Dom wanted to check out Winnie The Pooh. I’m not a huge fan of that ride, and was wearing my Rapunzel Disneybound, so I went to meet up with Punzie herself (and my girl Tiana!)

As I talked about my “best day ever” with Rapunzel, I thought about how lucky I’ve been this year, to share my favorite place with so many people I love so much, and how happy I am to have made these little touchstones for myself.

Chatting with Rapunzel = My favorite thing to do on trips. For serious.

Juli, Dom and I met up altogether at the latern photo spot by Rapunzel’s tower, and then we headed out to get to the TTC and then home.

The lines for both the monorail and the ferry were bonkers, so we walked to the contemporary and took the monorail from there. Once we got back to the hotel, we all quickly crashed out.

Our final day might have been my favorite…I’ll get into why when I talk about it tomorrow! (Yes, I’m burning through these write ups…I had to do something to distract myself during the boring/terrible parts of the prequels…so you know…most of the prequels…)

Merry Dapper Day: 11/18/2017 – Dapper And Curious

I’ve made my thoughts on being on hand for rope drop extremely clear. I think it’s an important way to remove a lot of stress from a day in Disney park day. Of course, sometimes, life doesn’t care about your plans and ideas about theme park touring.

At the sort of last minute, this trip, Disney changed Magic Kingdom’s opening from 9 AM to 8 AM. To compensate, Juli and I got up SUPER early, and were at the turnstiles at 6:50 (YES REALLY). Magic Bands didn’t start scanning until 7:20 and Main Street didn’t open until 7:50.

Finally Inside!

Is this weird? You BETCHA. Main Street usually opens about an hour before park time, not 10 minutes. Regardless, we got a lot done. I purchased a lovely dress at the Emporium, that doubled as a ticket to a meet and greet with Ashley Eckstein and Ashley Taylor of Her Universe. My mania to do this was kind of unfounded, because unlike at Comic Con, not many people at Magic Kingdom, give a rat’s ass about Ashley. (Which is unfortunate. Because Ashley Eckstein, and now Ashley Taylor are incredible women who are doing awesome stuff for women in fandom. They were very nice to me too!)

Once we were permitted in, Juli and I walked over to the tea cups, took some pictures with Alice, (to go with our Cheshire Cat and White Rabbit ‘bounds) and then rode said tea cups, whileJuli took pictures. We were still waiting on Dom, because you know, he didn’t want to wake up at 5:30 AM (amateur!) which lead to a certain amount of just wandering and taking things in, although at 9, I had the meet and greet.

While I waited on line to meet the Ashleys, I thought a lot about this blog, fandom and what this all means to me. I was about a year into my commitment to doing the fangirl thing for real when I found Her Universe, and it really changed a lot for me. It was another two years before I opened my heart to the Star Wars extended universe stuff, which brought Ahsoka to me. (#AhsokaLives!) What meant the world to me, was that Ashley remembered me. Her work and designs have created such an incredible space for women in fandom, allowing us to express our love of media while still being girls, coming to it on our own terms, rather than those laid out for us.

After that, we all managed to meet up and started using our fastpasses, and just going on rides.

All Together!

Also, taking lots of pictures. At 10:30 we came up with a GREAT IDEA to go over to Via Nappoli for lunch. (Hint, this wound up NOT being a great idea. We didn’t get there until Monday…there was a bunch of reservation drama too.) In the end, we wound up hitting a few rides, and then going over to The Wave at the Contemporary for lunch. After that, it was back over to the park, where we did a meet up with some folks for a photo op.

I mentioned this in April, but it bears repeating. I’ve really enjoyed Dapper Day and my general dive into Disney Park fandom this past year, but meet up wise, I’ve been underwhelmed, and my comic com experiences have spoiled me. NO ONE talks to each other outside of their groups at these meet ups, and it’s a huge ass bummer to me.

Post meet up, we rode the train, which I haven’t done since I was a kid, and then got some Dole Whips and headed to the enchanted Tiki Room. After exiting the Tiki Room, we got caught up in the Frontier Land Hoe-Down, which was amazing. Juli and I were pulled in to dance with Clarabelle and Horace, and neither of us could stop smiling for quite a while. We then road the River Boat (again, something I haven’t done since I was a kid. It’s way more fun having written over a hundred pages on Mark Twain!)

We then had a Peter Pan fast pass, and then picked up a Small World one. While on line for Small World, we discussed dinner plans and wound up deciding on going back to Pop and eating at the food court, which was kind of perfect. I had the fried chicken, and a giant ass Corona.

Juli and I both decided it was time to de-dapper, as we headed back to the park for the fireworks. We got an OK spot, and even made some friends as we waited.

Happily Ever After is a technological marvel, with a delightful soundtrack and a few really stellar sections. I’ll never love any framing quite as much as I love Wishes, nor will any likely make me as emotional, but it’s a truly terrific show. We’d already decided not to stay for closing, but I suggested we ride something rather than get stuck in the crush. We landed on reriding Pirates, which is always a favorite, although, as you can tell from the below picture, we were less than engaged.

Juli isn’t yet literally asleep, though she assures me that she did at one point.

So then it was back to the resort and time for our longest sleep of the trip…and the next day…well, we’ll get to that!