Trip Report A Very Merry and very expensive 50th Birthday Celebration

Who: Brian and I
When: November 12-19
Where: Pop Century and Cabana Bay
Why: My 50th Birthday

Hello again everyone! My husband and I were able to make it back to Orlando again this year to celebrate my 50th birthday. I have to be honest I was not looking forward to turning 50 this year so a figured spending some time in the sun at 2 of my favourite places would help make it a lot more magical .



Our flight left at 2pm and we had a connection to catch in Ottawa. Due to the weather our flight from our home to Ottawa came in a bit late so it was a race to get to customs. When we got there they would not let us through because our luggage had not been transferred yet. I think I've mentioned before that I have really bad anxiety so I had a panic attack in the airport. It was embarrassing but I cannot control it and it can be quite scary. I was shaking and couldn't catch my breathe and trying hard to keep it together. Luckily for me Brian was able to get someone to help us with the luggage situation and they finally let us on the plane. The airline ended up holding the plane for all of the passengers that were running late so thank goodness for small miracles.

The good news is when we were at the airport in our hometown I saw someone who knows me from my job and she works for the airline we flew with so she had our tickets upgraded to 1st class on both flights! What a wonderful surprise that was for both of us.

Sunset

Menu for 1st class


We played it safe and we both got the cheese and fruit tray and I got a margarita because I really needed it .


We arrived in Orlando at 7:20pm and this is the next picture we took almost 2 hours later...


We quickly checked in, dropped off our luggage and hopped on a bus to Disney Springs to get a late dinner at Polite Pig.


After a delicious meal we did a little shopping until 11pm and then it was time to head back to Pop to unpack and get some sleep.
We really wanted these 2 decorations but they definitely would not fit in our luggage .

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Not strange at all! I love doll houses! Some of my favorite things in museums are the miniature rooms downstairs at The Chicago Art Institute, the Fairy Castle at the Museum of Science and industry and Queen Mary’s dollhouse at Windsor! I could spend hours at each exhibit.
If the Queen could be into miniatures - I think it’s okay for the rest of us!

The Strong Museum, a children’s museum in Rochester, NY also has a large collection of doll houses.

My grandfather made each of his grand families a doll house. My cousins’ doll houses were so large he built tables on wheels for them. Due to space and updating issues I donated my doll house a few years ago. Hopefully someone else is enjoying it!

Great photos of your trip too!

 

[Beastly74]

The Strong Museum, a children’s museum in Rochester, NY also has a large collection of doll houses.

My grandfather made each of his grand families a doll house. My cousins’ doll houses were so large he built tables on wheels for them. Due to space and updating issues I donated my doll house a few years ago. Hopefully someone else is enjoying it!

Great photos of your trip too!

I know there are a lot more miniature stores and museums in the larger cities of Canada (like Toronto) but there is nothing like that around here. I am lucky enough that every spring there is a miniature show in my town that I look forward to each year. I see some of the displays that people have and I am in awe. It is very expensive hobby and I know I will never get the money back that I have put into my collection but that is okay because it brings me a lot of joy. Someday I am sure it will bring someone else the same amount of happiness.

Thanks so much for following .

 

[Beastly74]

We did head back to World Showcase but not before visiting Journey of Water to view it at night.


I don't have lot of pictures of the different pavilions but we did spend quite a bit of time exploring each one and browsing the shops.



I wanted to try the pretzel bread pudding in Germany so we stopped there. I will definitely get this again!

As you can tell I have a really big sweet tooth .



I was hoping to ride FEA before the fireworks so we jumped in line but groups of 5-10 people kept getting in the LL so after 20 minutes of barely moving we jumped out of line. By this time there were not many good spots left for the fireworks show so we had a terrible view.
Bad photo and Brian's finger is in the top corner lol.

Hopefully we will get to see the show again someday.

We actually left Epcot before the show ended and made our way to the Skyliner. We were glad we did because we watched the crowd heading our way after and it was huge sea of people. Now normal people would go back to their resort and get ready for bed after a 14 hour day but we jumped on a bus bound for Disney Springs and got dinner at Polite Pig again.

The darker pink drink in the background is mine and I forget the name but I think it had gin in it. Well I downed it because it was sweet and did not taste like alcohol at all. After I drank it so fast the waitress came over and asked if I needed some water - she looked a bit worried .

All in all it was an amazing day and the weather was perfect.
35,963 steps (this was the most we walked in a single day all week)

 

[Beastly74]

Thursday, Nov 14th

I was up again at 6:30am and Brian followed shortly after. I did not bother with any ILL or VQ's this morning because I had a plan that I really hoped would work. We left the room at 7:30 and had no problem making early entry at 8:30. I believe they let us in about 8:15am.
On our way . Love the skyliner!




We decided to head to Slinky Dog first because last year we rope dropped MMRR and then had to wait a long time to ride Slinky Dog. It was still a 30 minute wait but better than the almost hour wait it got up to for the rest of the day.






Next up was MMRR and it was a 30 minute wait. Actually the 1st four rides we did in the morning were all about 30 minute waits.

 

[Tiki Traveler]

35,963 steps (this was the most we walked in a single day all week)

And you got up early again the next day!

 

[Beastly74]

And you got up early again the next day!

I have no idea how we managed to get out of bed the next morning lol. I know I took a couple pain-killers to help me. At the end of our trip I admitted to Brian that I don't think I will be able to do long days like that for much longer.

 

[Beastly74]

After MMRR we stopped for Starbucks because I was looking forward to trying the carrot cake cookie for breakfast . I was disappointed to find out that it was seasonal so I ended up with something a bit smaller. I can't remember what it is called but thankfully it was pretty good. We also each got a caramel crunch frappuccino.



We sat for a bit and enjoyed the view when Max suddenly appeared .



Once we got our sugar rush it was time for TOT. It is a good thing the wait was 30 minutes because it gave our stomachs time to settle. The wait went by fast because the line was constantly moving.






It was a good ride but not as many drops as we would like.