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 .

 

[Beastly74]

We stopped to ride The Mummy (no picture) before heading back to Diagon Alley because we wanted to catch the dragon breathing fire. I would have liked to try some more ice-cream but I had a chill because my clothes were still damp. We grabbed a hot butterbeer and then looked around a couple shops while we waited.






Then we caught the Hogwart's train again because we wanted to ride Velocicoaster and Hagrid's. However the wait time for one was 40 minutes and the other was 20 minutes and because of the noise bylaw they both closed at midnight so we did not have enough time to ride both. So we split up and I rode Hagrid's by myself and Mike and Brian were able to ride Velocicoaster twice. Sorry no pictures of either. All of the rides were walk-ons except for those 2 all night.

After we met back up for a late night meal at Thunder Falls Terrace,

Brian and Mike got the ribs and chicken meal and I just got some corn and potatoes.


We couldn't decide what to do next until Mike mentioned he would like another butterbeer so off we went back to Hogsmeade again. I lost track of how many he drank in the 2 nights - I think he almost got his money's worth of butterbeers though . If I drank that much I would have spent the event visiting the different bathrooms.
Since we were in the area we ended the night with another ride in Hogwart's castle.



Before we left we grabbed some snacks and Gatorade from the kiosks for breakfast the next morning (included in the price). It was another amazing night and we had a great time. It was noticeably busier Saturday compared to Friday but still a lot of fun.

Total steps for the day - 29,062.

 

[Beastly74]

Sunday, Nov 17th - My official 50th birthday

We slept in again because we did not have any plans until later in the afternoon. We decided to go shopping at CityWalk to get something for Brian's mother for Christmas. She is a big Harry Potter fan so we got her a blanket and a few smaller items from the franchise. Mike had to return something to Walmart so we met back up later. The only picture I have of our shopping expedition is a coffee from Starbucks .


It was another beautiful sunny day and it felt amazing. A perfect day for a leisurely stroll back to our resort. It is really a beautiful walk and only about 20-25 minutes.



I loved looking at all the flowers and greenery because by November we don't see any of that here until April/May.





Mike was waiting for us back at the resort and we quickly got ready for our next adventure.

I like the palm trees in the lobby.

 

[Beastly74]

We stopped for dinner at Polite Pig (again) in Disney Springs. Brian and Mike got the open faced turkey smash (a turkey dinner served on bread) and I got my usual - the salmon. Everyone loved their meals.

It looks a little gross but they said it was delicious. Brian had it last year too.


Then we were on our way to the Magic Kingdom Christmas party. Great way to celebrate turning half a century .



Crooked castle but cool picture.

And we are finally in the park. I forget sometimes how much longer it takes to get in the park when you are not staying on property. I think it was almost 5pm when we got to MK.






It was another sold out party but that is okay we were excited to start our night.

 

[Beastly74]

We are going to get a white Christmas after all . Up until last night there was no snow. Our town does a beautiful light display along one of our walking trails.





I love having snow for Christmas but after that it can go away .

 

[Beastly74]

Since we were in Tomorrowland we started with a friendly competition on Buzz.

Terrible ride photo


I wanted to get a Dole Whip so we headed over to Aloha Isle. Mike got the coconut one, Brian got the pineapple upside down cake and I got the regular. We all enjoyed our treats.



Next we went on POTC.


We continued on our way and noticed that Tiana's had a standby wait and it was only 25 minutes. Yes, please! I think at this time the party had just started. Time was going too fast.





I may have the picture order messed up - sorry.

Brian was not very happy about the retheming of Splash Mountain but I think he ended up enjoying the ride because at the last scene I heard him say "WOW". I absolutely loved it.

 

[Beastly74]

After Tiana's we took a wild ride on BTMRR.


Mike wanted to ride Tron and the wait time had gone down to 25 minutes so we rushed over there but by the time we got there it was more like 35.


When we got off Tron Mike noticed Space Mountain and wanted to try it because he had never been on it before.

It was not his favourite .

We stopped to watch the dance party in Tomorrowland.


We enjoyed seeing Nick and Judy.
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Then it was already time to find a spot to watch the fireworks. Last year we watched them right in front of the castle but this year we watched them in the middle of Main Street (close to Casey's Corner).

 

[Wicked Sisters]

I am so jealous

We are going to get a white Christmas after all . Up until last night there was no snow. Our town does a beautiful light display along one of our walking trails.





I love having snow for Christmas but after that it can go away .

We are going to get a white Christmas after all . Up until last night there was no snow. Our town does a beautiful light display along one of our walking trails.



I

I love having snow for Christmas but after that it can go away .

I am so jealous of the snow you have. We haven’t had snow in our part of the UK for years and I really miss it.

 

[Beastly74]

I am so jealous



I am so jealous of the snow you have. We haven’t had snow in our part of the UK for years and I really miss it.

We are definitely not getting the amount of snow we used to in December. This pic is from Dec 22,2013
Can you see me?

No thanks!

This photo is from today...my backyard. It looks pretty but the temperature currently feels like -21C or -5.8F....Brrr.

 

[Beastly74]

No words just .

 

[Bullseye1967]

No words just .

Great Fireworks pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Beastly74]

Great Fireworks pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you . We definitely got better pictures when we didn't stand as close to the castle.

 

[Beastly74]

I hope everyone had a nice holiday. Unfortunately I ended up getting a cold for Christmas but thankfully it is not bad so I was still able to enjoy the last few days.

After the fireworks we took the walkway close to Casey's/Crystal Palace to get a spot for the parade. Main Street was already packed so I figured we could get a decent spot in Frontierland. First we stopped for a snack - we got the fried ice- cream (it was at a cart close to Tiana's). It was not that great.


We had a great view of the parade but there was a spotlight close by so it made getting good pictures difficult.



[






To be con't...

 

[cgersic]

I just got to see the parade a fireworks since the parties were over! The parade was soooo good that I went back again!

 

[Beastly74]

I just got to see the parade a fireworks since the parties were over! The parade was soooo good that I went back again!

It is such an amazing parade . I told Brian that if we could afford it I would love to do 2 Christmas parties because one is not enough to do everything.

 

[Beastly74]

More parade photos...




Brian's favourite





Then it was time for a bathroom break at the prettiest restroom area before one last ride on 7DMT.

 

[Beastly74]

We had a beautiful pheasant visiting our yard this morning .

 

[Beastly74]

When we finished the ride it was time to make our way out of MK.

There was a show on the castle stage so we stopped to watch.





I wasn't ready to leave yet so we looked through all of the stores until 1am and then a couple more pictures before saying good-bye



It was another fantastic day of making memories .
Total steps - 29,728

 

[Beastly74]

Monday, Nov 18th

Mike left early in the morning to head home but we still had a full day left in Orlando. We started out slow and took some pictures around Cabana Bay. I had thought about buying park tickets for the day but I could not justify the cost.

The gift shop

Looking outside towards the pool area. I liked the huge planters.


Starbucks in the resort.

They even have a bowling alley upstairs.

Looking down at the lobby from the 2nd floor.

A nice gym - this was only a small section.

A cool arcade room



Con't,..

 

[Beastly74]

The dining area




We got an early lunch using the gift certificate I had gotten for my birthday.


Then we went back up to the room to get changed to go swimming. Brian only went around the lazy river once and then he decided to go back to the room to relax. I went around 3 times in a row and then swam in the heated pool for a little while.
Our room was in this building.






My only complaint I have is there were 2 young girls going around the lazy river and one of them kept splashing other people and her poor friend kept apologizing to everyone. The sign says no splashing but the lifeguards saw it happening and did nothing. I wish I could speak up more because it was very annoying. If you want to splash around go to the pool. Thankfully they finally left after my 2nd time around the lazy river. Besides the 2 kids it was a nice way to spend 2 hours enjoying the warm weather.

 

[Beastly74]

We had not spent much time shopping in Disney Springs this trip so about 3:30pm we got an uber and headed there to look around. It was a Monday so I was hoping it wouldn't be too busy. I know some people don't like it that much but we always enjoy the shops and restaurants plus at Christmas time it is a whole different vibe.




Not sure how we have never noticed this building before.



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We tried to take a selfie in front of the tree when a kind lady offered to take our picture for us .

Crooked Coco tree


I also wanted to see how long the line was for Gideon's because when we checked in November 2023 it was an estimated 45 minute wait. No thanks! Would we have better luck this year?