Trip Report *COMPLETE* How to Break a Disney Curse in Three Easy Steps: 1) Two Chipmunks 2) The Dapper Dans 3) The Best Mom Ever

Well, it finally happened.

I went to Walt Disney World, the place where, for the last three years and last three trips, I:

• Found out my company was closing, and thus I wouldn’t have a job in a month;
• Tore my ACL in Hollywood Studios, ended up at the ER, and had to be on crutches and use a scooter for the first time, all while racking up a massive hospital bill I’m still paying off;
• Got tonsillitis, my dad got the flu, and my mom got a bad cold, so we had to leave four days early on what was supposed to be our “do-over” trip.

(If you want the details about any of these trips, check out my pre-trip report here, where I wrote mini trip reports about these nightmares.)

Would this trip be different? Would my mom and I have fun on our first mother-daughter only trip? Would turning 30 slowly drive me insane? Most importantly, would I finally break my Disney curse??

Stay tuned to find out! *Dun dun dun*

Dun…

Dun…

Ha, just kidding. I really considered leaving you all in suspense about how my trip went, but I’m going to be upfront instead: this trip was probably one of my favorites that I’ve ever taken! Definitely top 3, if not tied for first place! My mom and I had an absolutely incredible time, and I can’t wait to go back with her! And I think she had a lot of fun, too, since this was supposed to be a “once-in-a-lifetime” thing, but since we’ve been home, she’s even said we need to do another trip, just the two of us, again! (Sorry, Dad!)

Here’s a quick refresher for everyone who didn’t read my pre-trip report:

WHO: My mom (Ele) and me (Carrie)

WHEN: April 7-April 13

WHERE: Beach Club Villas

WHY: My 30th Birthday!

My dad and I are the obsessive Disney lovers in our family. My mom adores the movies, but while she also loves the parks, they’re not the be-all, end-all for her like they are for me and my dad. So I was surprised when she not only didn’t immediately say no when I jokingly asked to go to Disney for my 30th birthday, but instead started asking questions about what the crowds were like and where I’d want to stay. Fast forward through months of waiting and anticipation (and that final trip where we all got sick, which was just this past Dec-Jan), and the day had finally arrived—we were leaving on our first mother-daughter Disney trip!!

 

[carriehpotter]

APRIL 9, TUESDAY: ANIMAL KINGDOM (continued)

When I left the Donald M&G, a CM stopped me by name. I had that moment of “How does she know my name!?” before I realized it was on my birthday button . But apparently, my mom had pointed me out to her, and asked her to let me know that Goofy’s line had been too long (he meets over by Primeval Whirl) so she’d gone to find Chip and Dale instead. The CM gave me directions and I quickly found my mom, who was next in line. So it was time to meet some chipmunks!

Well. They both immediately saw my shirt and button (as I said before, I wasn’t exactly being subtle about the whole “birthday” thing) and started jumping around and waving their hands in the air like they were singing. Then Chip directed me to stand in the middle, he pointed at Dale and ordered him to distract me, and then he went over behind the photographer and character handler and started rummaging around. So Dale was dancing me around, not letting me look over, and we were all laughing hysterically. Then Chip came back over with something behind his back, and the handler goes, “Oh, he has a birthday present for you!"

It was…a dead leaf and stem! How lovely. Well, of course I acted like it was a bouquet of red roses and thanked him profusely.

Then my mom hopped in for a picture and we went through a whole ‘nother round of them excitedly showing her what they’d given me .

Then, before they let us leave, they pointed to the rest of the line and then my shirt, and then waved their hands like conductors and made the whole line sing “Happy Birthday” to me!

It was just a very fun, high-energy M&G. And you can bet that I kept that leaf with me until we were leaving AK, haha.

This was definitely the best M&G of the trip (both Dinoland ones were, really)! Thanks, Chip and Dale!

It was finally time for our dinner ADR, so we made our way over to…Yak & Yeti! Yak & Yeti is definitely one of our favorite (if not our number 1 favorite) restaurants in WDW. We love the food, the service is always top notch, and the theming is incredible! We actually joined the Landry’s Select Club because of Yak & Yeti (though it was also because we have a Rainforest Café in our local mall and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. is a favorite for us when we’re forced to be touristy in Times Square with family). I had my $25 birthday reward ready to go!

We split two appetizers and one entree, which ended up being just the right amount of food!

(My mom got the Beso Del Sol Sangria and I got the Big Bamboo to drink. Both were yummy, but a little weak.)

(Dim Sum Basket)

(Pork Egg Rolls...seriously, these are possibly the best egg rolls we've ever had!)

(Honey Chicken with Jasmine Rice...this is pretty mild, but so yummy!)

And then it was time for dessert. We OF COURSE ordered the Fried Wontons to share, because how could we not? They are SO GOOD. Tied for our favorite dessert at Disney, for sure (we'd have the other later in the week). Our waitress also brought out a special birthday dessert for me. It wasn't quite a cupcake or a cookie...I don't know how to describe it, but it was yummy, too.

(SO. GOOD.)

After another delicious meal at Y&Y, we started to make our way out of AK. We were park hopping over to Hollywood Studios for a special reason!

 

[carriehpotter]

APRIL 9, TUESDAY: HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS EVENING

On our way out of AK, we stopped in Discoverer Outpost and I bought far too many Spirit Jerseys (potion purple, the bright yellow, and the gray with rose gold sequins ). We noticed this sculpture at the entrance (it was the same idea and material as the penguins in Epcot):

We hopped on a Hollywood Studios bus after only waiting about 10 min, and we were off!

The new bus depots had just been finished before our trip (whew!), so we got to check them out. My mom also checked out the new bathrooms (I sat on a lovely bench and caught up on my TR notes!) and she said they were nice and expansive.

Brace yourselves for this next bit of birthday magic: we then proceeded to have the best security experience we've ever had at WDW. Since it was around 6:00ish at this point, there were not a lot of people going through security, so we got in side by side lines with no one behind us. Well, after chatting with my security guard for a minute (WHY AM I SO BAD AT GETTING NAMES!?), he asked if I'd like an original birthday rap. Of course I said yes! So he proceeded to bust out an original, (mostly) rhyming rap using my name and where we were from and what we'd done that day. It was so much fun and definitely reinvigorated us! CMs really are the greatest.

When we got in, the first order of business was to get my picture with the 30th anniversary banners because, hey, HS and I are the same age! The pictures only turned out OK (my mom still isn't the best at manipulating a cell phone camera), but I was still quite happy with it!

Since this was the only time we'd be in Hollywood Studios on our trip (since my mom can't ride thrill rides due to her motion sickness), we then hopped into line to get some PP pictures. Well, we picked the wrong line. The photographer was super weird. He was moving all over the place, running in super close to get "close ups" (that all ended up blurry), and saying some really weird stuff. He took like 15 pictures, and only these two turned out decent (and they're still not the best). Oh well.

(That is my awkward "I'm laughing because I don't know what else to do" smile.)

Like earlier in AK, we didn't have enough time to really *do* anything before our next scheduled thing. I wanted to check out Municiberg (since it hadn't yet opened when we were there over Christmas) and see how long the Edna Mode M&G line was. So we headed over.

Unfortunately, the area was totally dead. Both M&Gs had concluded for the day, so I just ran around and took a bunch of photos (I'll spare you most of them).

(I love the Jack Jacks everywhere!)

(The Edna Mode Experience queue...)

We left that area and made our way back over by the Chinese Theatre. My mom attempted more pics of me with banners...

After that, we took no more pictures, I'm sorry to say. But that's not because nothing happened. Oh no! The reason we'd hopped to HS was because we'd booked the Fantasmic! Dessert Party. We usually do the Fantasmic! Dining Package because we think you get more bang for your buck, but that wasn't possible for this short trip. So we decided to try the "party." Mostly because Fantasmic! has long been my absolute favorite nighttime show at WDW (though Happily Ever After is nipping at its heels), so I had to see it on my birthday trip!

It was after 7 at that point, and we were supposed to check in at 7:50, so we decided to start heading over toward the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater, figuring we'd hit some stores on the way. Well. Our great luck with rain at basically this same time every day would spring up again. It looked like it would cut loose any minute, so we put on our ponchos before going anywhere. As we turned onto Sunset Boulevard, it started drizzling. I read the signs and immediately sprinted into the nearest store, the one that's now all Pixar where the Villains store and the candy store used to be. Well, my mom isn't quite as fast as me, so she got caught when the sky opened up. The wind also picked up exponentially, so my mom's poncho flew up around her face! She finally made it into the store, but she was pretty wet.

We hung out in the store for a while, trying to stay out of the way, while it poured outside. (We took off our ponchos so we didn't get everything around us wet.). I also bought a neat Edna Mode shirt since I'm apparently incapable of spending time in a store and not buying something. Finally, the rain slowed down. It was past our check-in time at that point, so we put our ponchos back on and braved the still drizzling weather. As we made our way into the amphitheater, they were continuously making announcements that the show may be delayed or canceled. Neat.

The way this "party" works is you check in and get a light up Fantasmic! pendent necklace. Then, once you have that, you get your tray of "To Go" desserts in a Fantasmic! bag and your light-up Fantasmic! mug (with choice of alcoholic drink for adults)--the nerd in me was super pleased with all the Fantasmic!-branded stuff.

Well, there was a group in front of us to check in for the necklace that was NOT HAPPY. Apparently, they had only booked the party for three and not four (2 adult and 2 kids). They were flipping out at the poor CMs. Finally, the one CM just gave them an extra necklace and sent them on their way. When my mom and I stepped up, we made sure to be super nice and extra thankful.

After getting our necklaces, we picked up our dessert trays and drinks. The CM making the drinks offered to make us fresh ones since it was my birthday (there were already a bunch of pre-made drinks ready for pickup). Of course we said yes! She definitely added some extra alcohol to the drinks, as they were super strong and yummy!

The main appeal of this "party" is the VIP section, which just happens to be dead center. We picked our seats (since we were relatively late, they weren't end seats like we prefer) which ended up being dead center, as well. We spread our extra poncho on the wet bench and settled in to wait. We were both still stuffed from dinner, so we didn't eat the desserts, but we drank our drinks, praying the rain stayed away and the show would happen. It kept drizzling on and off, but finally, at 8:30, the show went off! I was SOOOO happy. The main reasons I love this show are that it stars Mickey, who still seems underutilized to me as THE main Disney character, and the music. Oh boy, the music. I still start to cry when the music crescendos after Steamboat Willie disappears, right as Sorcerer Mickey appears at the very top of the set. And probably my favorite line ever is, "Some imagination, huh?" I LOVE IT.

Another great viewing of Fantasmic! under our belts, we let the crowds leave around us and then we slowly made our way out. We were lucky since a Friendship boat was waiting for us, and we got seats. We got back to BC and went immediately to bed. It had been a long, but awesome day. Plus, we had an early (birthday) morning ahead of us.

UP NEXT: Finally, the big 3-0!

 

[Rista1313]

APRIL 9, TUESDAY: HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS EVENING

On our way out of AK, we stopped in Discoverer Outpost and I bought far too many Spirit Jerseys (potion purple, the bright yellow, and the gray with rose gold sequins ). We noticed this sculpture at the entrance (it was the same idea and material as the penguins in Epcot):

View attachment 397683

We hopped on a Hollywood Studios bus after only waiting about 10 min, and we were off!

The new bus depots had just been finished before our trip (whew!), so we got to check them out. My mom also checked out the new bathrooms (I sat on a lovely bench and caught up on my TR notes!) and she said they were nice and expansive.

View attachment 397696

Brace yourselves for this next bit of birthday magic: we then proceeded to have the best security experience we've ever had at WDW. Since it was around 6:00ish at this point, there were not a lot of people going through security, so we got in side by side lines with no one behind us. Well, after chatting with my security guard for a minute (WHY AM I SO BAD AT GETTING NAMES!?), he asked if I'd like an original birthday rap. Of course I said yes! So he proceeded to bust out an original, (mostly) rhyming rap using my name and where we were from and what we'd done that day. It was so much fun and definitely reinvigorated us! CMs really are the greatest.

When we got in, the first order of business was to get my picture with the 30th anniversary banners because, hey, HS and I are the same age! The pictures only turned out OK (my mom still isn't the best at manipulating a cell phone camera), but I was still quite happy with it!

View attachment 397694

Since this was the only time we'd be in Hollywood Studios on our trip (since my mom can't ride thrill rides due to her motion sickness), we then hopped into line to get some PP pictures. Well, we picked the wrong line. The photographer was super weird. He was moving all over the place, running in super close to get "close ups" (that all ended up blurry), and saying some really weird stuff. He took like 15 pictures, and only these two turned out decent (and they're still not the best). Oh well.

View attachment 397697
(That is my awkward "I'm laughing because I don't know what else to do" smile.)

View attachment 397698

Like earlier in AK, we didn't have enough time to really *do* anything before our next scheduled thing. I wanted to check out Municiberg (since it hadn't yet opened when we were there over Christmas) and see how long the Edna Mode M&G line was. So we headed over.

Unfortunately, the area was totally dead. Both M&Gs had concluded for the day, so I just ran around and took a bunch of photos (I'll spare you most of them).

View attachment 397699

View attachment 397700
(I love the Jack Jacks everywhere!)

View attachment 397701
(The Edna Mode Experience queue...)

We left that area and made our way back over by the Chinese Theatre. My mom attempted more pics of me with banners...

View attachment 397702

View attachment 397703

After that, we took no more pictures, I'm sorry to say. But that's not because nothing happened. Oh no! The reason we'd hopped to HS was because we'd booked the Fantasmic! Dessert Party. We usually do the Fantasmic! Dining Package because we think you get more bang for your buck, but that wasn't possible for this short trip. So we decided to try the "party." Mostly because Fantasmic! has long been my absolute favorite nighttime show at WDW (though Happily Ever After is nipping at its heels), so I had to see it on my birthday trip!

It was after 7 at that point, and we were supposed to check in at 7:50, so we decided to start heading over toward the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater, figuring we'd hit some stores on the way. Well. Our great luck with rain at basically this same time every day would spring up again. It looked like it would cut loose any minute, so we put on our ponchos before going anywhere. As we turned onto Sunset Boulevard, it started drizzling. I read the signs and immediately sprinted into the nearest store, the one that's now all Pixar where the Villains store and the candy store used to be. Well, my mom isn't quite as fast as me, so she got caught when the sky opened up. The wind also picked up exponentially, so my mom's poncho flew up around her face! She finally made it into the store, but she was pretty wet.

We hung out in the store for a while, trying to stay out of the way, while it poured outside. (We took off our ponchos so we didn't get everything around us wet.). I also bought a neat Edna Mode shirt since I'm apparently incapable of spending time in a store and not buying something. Finally, the rain slowed down. It was past our check-in time at that point, so we put our ponchos back on and braved the still drizzling weather. As we made our way into the amphitheater, they were continuously making announcements that the show may be delayed or canceled. Neat.

The way this "party" works is you check in and get a light up Fantasmic! pendent necklace. Then, once you have that, you get your tray of "To Go" desserts in a Fantasmic! bag and your light-up Fantasmic! mug (with choice of alcoholic drink for adults)--the nerd in me was super pleased with all the Fantasmic!-branded stuff.

Well, there was a group in front of us to check in for the necklace that was NOT HAPPY. Apparently, they had only booked the party for three and not four (2 adult and 2 kids). They were flipping out at the poor CMs. Finally, the one CM just gave them an extra necklace and sent them on their way. When my mom and I stepped up, we made sure to be super nice and extra thankful.

After getting our necklaces, we picked up our dessert trays and drinks. The CM making the drinks offered to make us fresh ones since it was my birthday (there were already a bunch of pre-made drinks ready for pickup). Of course we said yes! She definitely added some extra alcohol to the drinks, as they were super strong and yummy!

The main appeal of this "party" is the VIP section, which just happens to be dead center. We picked our seats (since we were relatively late, they weren't end seats like we prefer) which ended up being dead center, as well. We spread our extra poncho on the wet bench and settled in to wait. We were both still stuffed from dinner, so we didn't eat the desserts, but we drank our drinks, praying the rain stayed away and the show would happen. It kept drizzling on and off, but finally, at 8:30, the show went off! I was SOOOO happy. The main reasons I love this show are that it stars Mickey, who still seems underutilized to me as THE main Disney character, and the music. Oh boy, the music. I still start to cry when the music crescendos after Steamboat Willie disappears, right as Sorcerer Mickey appears at the very top of the set. And probably my favorite line ever is, "Some imagination, huh?" I LOVE IT.

Another great viewing of Fantasmic! under our belts, we let the crowds leave around us and then we slowly made our way out. We were lucky since a Friendship boat was waiting for us, and we got seats. We got back to BC and went immediately to bed. It had been a long, but awesome day. Plus, we had an early (birthday) morning ahead of us.

UP NEXT: Finally, the big 3-0!

I have never seen fantasmic, we booked a fantasmic lunch for our upcoming trip, so hopefully things will work out for us to watch it this time!

 

[carriehpotter]

I have never seen fantasmic, we booked a fantasmic lunch for our upcoming trip, so hopefully things will work out for us to watch it this time!

I've been told I tend to over-hype things, so I will try desperately not to do that here! I personally ADORE Fantasmic! It's my fav nighttime show, and really my overall favorite, in WDW. But I think at this point, it may have something to do with nostalgia. The music is fantastic, and there are some really breathtaking moments. But it also shows its age in places. But overall, I think (and hope) you will enjoy it! And doing the dining package is a great idea! You're guaranteed great seats and you don't have to wait the "suggested" 60-90 min!

 

[carriehpotter]

APRIL 10, WEDNESDAY: THE BIG 3-0 AT MAGIC KINGDOM!

It was finally my birthday!! And where else would we spend it other than at Magic Kingdom?! We got up early (for us, at least) because I wanted to see the new opening show. I’d only seen the original show with the WDW RR once, so I wanted to make sure I saw this one, too. We did pretty good for us and we were on the bus before 8:30 (luckily, no EMH this morning). I had to commemorate both the fact that it was my birthday, and that we were on the bus before 8:30 for the second day in a row .

Well, we stopped to pick up people at Yacht Club, so by the time we actually got to MK, we were cutting it close (it was about 8:50) and the security lines were massive. But since my mom is the best mom ever, she took my bag and told me to go ahead through the no bag line. Of course, I got picked to go through the metal detector, but I knew the drill and was through in no time. I booked it toward the castle, trying to soak in my first walk right down the middle of Main Street, U.S.A. , but mostly just hurrying to get a decent spot. I made it with about three minutes to spare!

And then, right before the show started, my mom popped up next to me! She’d apparently been redirected to a newly opened line, so she made it through quickly! Another birthday miracle!

The show was cute (as many have said, it doesn’t have the same charm as the old show), and it was a nice way to kick off our (what would end up being a VERY long) day at MK!

(Ever since Mickey and the gang started "blinking," I always seem to catch at least one of them mid-blink. )

We still had some time to kill before our breakfast ADR, so we grabbed some PP pictures.

(More balloons. I did wish for more magic shot variety on this trip, but that’s OK.)

(This was my favorite of the bunch, even though the castle is cut off, because I like Walt over my mom’s shoulder! Also, yes, that is a "Mother of the Birthday Girl" shirt that I forced my mom to wear. )

Then we headed back down Main Street to see if the trolley show was happening, because it’s so fun! But we happened upon something even better! The Dapper Dans were just getting ready to start their show about halfway down MS, so we parked ourselves right in front to watch. Now, you may have noticed in the above shots, but I was being even less conspicuous about the fact it was my birthday on my actual birthday. So the Dans were bantering before the show started and they pretty much immediately noticed me.

“Oh, wow,” one of them said. “Guys, I may just be crazy here, but something tells me that it’s Caroline’s birthday.”

“Really?” another asked. “What gave you that idea?”

“The shirt, the ears, the button. But I could just be reaching.”



Laughing, I confirmed it was my birthday and they launched into a full rendition of “Happy Birthday!” All four directed their full attention at me and used my name--it was an honest-to-goodness birthday serenade! As a huge Dan fan, it was the perfect way to start off my day!

They kept referring to me and addressing me during their whole set, too, which was too funny. So, of course, I asked for a picture at the end!

Feeling like I was walking on air, we made our way to our breakfast destination of choice: Crystal Palace!

Tigger is one of my fav Disney characters, and we love the light and airy feel to this buffet in the morning. Plus, Pooh’s Puffed French Toast is life.

We checked in and hung out on the porch for a bit, as they were running behind (as usual). They finally called our name and we headed in, not knowing the…interesting…experience we were in for.

When we do character dining, especially buffets, we tend to hope that the characters come right away so we can “get them out of the way,” so to speak, and then enjoy our meal. Usually we’re pretty lucky and it works out that way. Not this time. The characters came very sporadically, which was fine but not ideal.

But OH BOY. Was it NOT fine for “Bella” at the next table. Bella was a (probably 5-ish?) monster. She would not sit still in her chair. All she did was cry, scream, jump around, roll on the floor, and demand that she wanted to see the characters. Now, I have no idea if there was a specific reason for this behavior, but it was atrocious, nevertheless. And all of the adults at her table (mom, dad, grandparents) completely enabled her. Bella wanted to be held at all times, so mom kept holding her. Bella would then scream, tug on mom, and demand characters. Mom kept promising that the characters were coming long before they were actually due at their table (we were in the center, and as you know, the characters do the perimeter first), so then Bella flipped out when they passed their table by. She also got loose several times and would run up and bug a character when they were at another table. She almost knocked several servers with trays down. Honestly, she was horrible. (And her parents were really to blame, because you know it stems from being able to get away with it.)

Anyway, we did our best to tune Bella out and enjoy our meal. However, I didn’t take any food pictures because her behavior had me pretty rattled (and she almost knocked me over once when I was coming back with food). Suffice it to say that there was a lot of puffed French toast!

Soon enough, the characters reached our table! (And luckily, Bella’s table was first, so she didn’t bother our interactions too much.) Piglet was first. My mom was upset after he left to see that her finger had been partially over the lens, but we rectified that later!

Then my fav Tigger stopped by!

 

[carriehpotter]

APRIL 10, WEDNESDAY: THE BIG 3-0 AT MAGIC KINGDOM! (continued)

Tigger also wanted his pic with my mom!

The whole meal, the waitress had been low-key rushing us, so she bought out my birthday cupcake and birthday card (another reason I’d wanted to eat here!) before we’d seen Pooh and Eeyore, and as we were still eating. But oh well!

Pooh came shortly after.

We were done eating, and still no Eeyore, so we were just hanging out, waiting. The waitress came over and basically asked us if we were done and getting ready to leave. OK? We told her no, we were waiting for Eeyore. She seemed annoyed, but whatever. The CMs always seem so put out by this, but it happens all the time. So I don’t really get it?

Piglet actually came by again before Eeyore, and we asked him if we could get another picture since the last ones were covered. He, of course, obliged!

Eeyore finally came then and it was a fantastic interaction! We told him we were so excited to see him and he hugged me so tight!

Once Eeyore left, we packed up to go (I’m sure our waitress was thrilled ).

We stepped out to…the Mouska Dance It parade thing. I’ve never cared for Move It, Shake It, but I knew that this version celebrated Mickey and had the revamped “Oh Mickey” song, which I wanted to see. So we made our way into the fray and saw most of the show. Several of the stilt walkers wished me Happy Birthday, which was nice.

(Had to get a pic of Clarice! Talk about a rare character!)

UP NEXT: Our first ride, and will it rain on my birthday, too?

 

[Spash007]

That's so much fun about the Dapper Dans!

About the kid in Dapper Dans, I completely agree it's on the parents. In this case it seemed to be more lack of control on their end rather than a medical reason (but I guess no one can know for sure), but no matter the reason, they could have at least acknowledged the kid's behavior and either tried to control it to any extent (walking holding hands maybe to stop them from running?) or at the very least apologize to the people around them. At CP we had a boy who at the table after us who was extremely excited to meet the characters and when Piglet came, he lost it. Jumping, talking loudly and then he got up and came right over to our table. At first it was a bit annoying, but then the mom apologized and that made all the difference. Instead of being annoying at that point, we actually found it cute and told them he could stay between our tables so he could run over right when we were done. We actually talked to them quite a bit that day, and all because they noticed they might have been affecting other guests and did something about it!

 

[carriehpotter]

That's so much fun about the Dapper Dans!

About the kid in Dapper Dans, I completely agree it's on the parents. In this case it seemed to be more lack of control on their end rather than a medical reason (but I guess no one can know for sure), but no matter the reason, they could have at least acknowledged the kid's behavior and either tried to control it to any extent (walking holding hands maybe to stop them from running?) or at the very least apologize to the people around them. At CP we had a boy who at the table after us who was extremely excited to meet the characters and when Piglet came, he lost it. Jumping, talking loudly and then he got up and came right over to our table. At first it was a bit annoying, but then the mom apologized and that made all the difference. Instead of being annoying at that point, we actually found it cute and told them he could stay between our tables so he could run over right when we were done. We actually talked to them quite a bit that day, and all because they noticed they might have been affecting other guests and did something about it!

It was really the absolute best way to start my birthday off!

Exactly! If Bella's parents had been apologetic, or at least clearly trying to rein her in, it would have been one thing. But they let her run wild and let her essentially bully them, it felt like. It was quite distracting, seeing as the whole table was just generally loud, but we had a fun breakfast, nevertheless. As I know you know, you just gotta roll with the punches when in Disney!

 

[carriehpotter]

APRIL 10, WEDNESDAY: THE BIG 3-0 AT MAGIC KINGDOM! (continued)

After Mouska Dance It, it was time for our first FP: Pirates. Have a sub par, unnecessary ride photo:

When we left PotC, we noticed a line forming by where the Captain Jack show used to be. We asked the CM what it was for, and we were told Captain Jack would be meeting. Cool, but also…he used to be exclusive to the MK parties. But I guess it’s neat that now he’s not!

We didn’t wait too long (less than 20 min), and then it was our turn. I love the “friends” they get for Jack. They’re always so spot on in their voice and movements. I think they should just use one of them in the new movie instead of Johnny Depp so we still get the character without the controversial actor . He was very fascinated by my Mickey ears: “Those are interesting ears…may I touch them?” (Can’t you just hear the voice? Haha.) We got some good shots.

(Not the most flattering picture of me, but you can see how hilarious this guy was…)

Then it was time for our next FP: Jungle Cruise!

Man, I love me some Jungle Cruise (you’ll hear that a lot today…it was my birthday so we did all of my favorite things, of course!). No matter how many times I hear the same corny jokes or answer the skipper’s punchline questions, I still laugh so hard. On this particular cruise, my mom and I got seated right next to the skipper. Well, he was fantastic, but the other passengers were duds. No one really laughed or engaged with him. Except me and my mom. We laughed at every bad pun and answered every question (“You’re in denial!”). When we entered the temple and he sat down, he leaned over and talked to us for a bit, thanking us for engaging and saying we were awesome. He wanted to know where we were from (NJ, and we commiserated over how it was still winter there) and how my birthday was going so far. As silly as it may sound, it was nice to feel appreciated for making the effort to engage!

(We cheered when we hit the backside of water. The rest of the boat just looked at us, lol.)

After our cruise, we decided to try to grab something cold, somewhere inside or under cover, preferably. It was looking like it could rain at any minute (not on my birthday!!). We backtracked to Tortuga Tavern, because I had seen a slushy advertised that sounded good. We grabbed a table that was fully covered and my mom got some cups of water, while I got my Pear Slushy. It was sweet, but yummy and refreshing too!

Sure enough, while we were sitting there, it started to pour! But we had a nice spot and a reason to be there, so you can bet I nursed that slushy for a while, haha.

Once the rain let up, we had to decide what to do next. Our third and final FP was meeting Mickey and Minnie at the Town Square Theater (I had to meet the main mice in their birthday outfits on my birthday, of course!), but we still had a bit of time before we had to head over. So we decided to hit up Country Bear Jamboree, as we continued our tour of my fav stuff in MK.

Gosh, do I love the Country Bears…

 

[carriehpotter]

APRIL 10, WEDNESDAY: THE BIG 3-0 AT MAGIC KINGDOM! (continued)

After we were done clapping our hands and stomping our feet and trying to keep right with them, it was time for our Mickey and Minnie FP. I was really excited about this because we were all in our birthday outfits .

We didn’t wait long at all, and it ended up being an awesome M&G. But, AGAIN, the photographer didn’t capture any of the back and forth. Minnie was fussing over my ears and shirt and making me model for her. Mickey was again miming how old he was, and he made me pretend to me an old lady too. We were walking around with our pretend canes. It was so much fun. And the whole time, the photographer was laughing at us and NOT TAKING PICTURES. Grrrrrr. So. Annoying. Seriously.

We still got some nice shots, but when I think about what could have been…sigh.

We left the M&G about fifteen minutes before Festival of Fantasy was set to kick off. They announced that it could be delayed or canceled due to storms in the area, and I’m not gonna lie, I’ve never seen the Rainy Day Cavalcade, so a part of me was hoping it would be. But the parade stepped off as scheduled. We found a spot to squeeze in right at the end of the parade route, and it actually made for some pretty awesome pictures (from me, anyway. As I'm sure you've noticed, I'm not the best photographer...).

One of these days I’ll watch a parade without taking photos. Today was not that day, unfortunately.

 

[Swissmiss]

Why is it so difficult for people to play along with Jungle Cruise skippers?! On the ride warning they should add “duds need not ride” because they just take up space for those of us that want to laugh at corny jokes

 

[carriehpotter]

Why is it so difficult for people to play along with Jungle Cruise skippers?! On the ride warning they should add “duds need not ride” because they just take up space for those of us that want to laugh at corny jokes

Agreed!

 

[carriehpotter]

APRIL 10, WEDNESDAY: THE BIG 3-0 AT MAGIC KINGDOM! (continued)

After a great parade, we made our way to the FP I’d made while we were waiting: Haunted Mansion (I’d hoped for this exact scenario when booking FPs for this day, and I couldn’t believe my birthday luck was holding out!).

Got a pic of Leota with her eyes open on her tombstone:

I don’t think we were aware there was a ride photo yet. I’m still not sure where this is taken? Anyway, it’s awful.

After escaping from being the 1000th resident, we had to decide what to do next. Great Moments in History with the Muppets is one of my favorite new additions to MK. I love the music (“Great moments in history, but just the American parts!”), the fact that it’s live puppetry, and how it feels so much like old-school Disney. Well, the next show was in about 10 min, so we went to stake out our spot on the stone wall across from the Hall of Presidents. Even though people kept walking in front of us (understandably), it was nice to have a spot to sit that wasn’t the ground! We saw the Declaration of Independence first.

Then once it was finished, we decided to wait and see Paul Revere, too! There’s only a half hour between shows, so it wasn’t too bad a wait. Plus, I got one of my most-coveted snacks while we waited!

(Birthday girl gets a Premium Mickey Ice Cream Bar, of course!!)

Soon enough, the next show started! I do miss the town crier for the Paul Revere show (I really don’t understand why they don’t utilize him for both, unless it’s an amount of time allowed on-stage issue?), but it was still fun!

After promising the British that they were still our best friends, we decided to wander into Fantasyland. The app had Journey Under the Sea as only a 15 min wait, but when we got there, it was down. Oh well. We walked over by Gaston’s Tavern to use the bathroom and saw a line forming outside Bonjour Gifts. Could it be? Is it he?

Sure enough, it was Gaston meeting, so we hopped in line. He’s always too funny. This photographer took 16 pictures vs. the Mickey and Minnie’s 11. Seriously? I’m not bitter, I promise.

(I just loved his face here...)

 

[carriehpotter]

APRIL 10, WEDNESDAY: THE BIG 3-0 AT MAGIC KINGDOM! (continued)

The app had the Storybook Circus M&Gs at only 15 and 20 min waits respectively, and we’d never done them before, so we headed in that direction (can you tell I’m a thirty-year-old who likes M&Gs? I’m not ashamed!). But when we got there and checked out the lines, it was easily a 30-40 min wait on both sides. And the CM confirmed when we came back out that the waits were longer than the wait times posted (so why not up the wait time?).

So we decided to head into Tomorrowland. On the way, we grabbed some popcorn and a soda, and we sat for a while to munch on that.

(I loooooove popcorn.)

I’d nabbed a Buzz FP while in line for HM, and it was almost time for that. But before we battled Zurg, we hopped in line for the Peoplemover, another of my favs. It does make me sad sometimes, waiting in line for this, because I remember when this was literally a walk on all the time. Oh well. We only waited about 10 min.

My mom insisted on taking my photo but wouldn’t let me reciprocate! What a stinker.

I knew it was my duty to photograph Tron construction, but of course it’s way further along now!

It was time for Buzz! Buzz Lightyear is my mom’s favorite character (and I love him, too! Though I identify more with Woody’s desire for order, haha), so SRS is always a must!

(Is it just me, or do most people always look kinda silly in this ride photo? Or maybe it's just us...)

(My score.)

(Mom’s score. From bad to worse. Geez…)

Since we were in the area, it was time for my all-time favorite Walt Disney World attraction! But what is it? Astro Orbiter? Space Mountain? The Speedway (which was still closed)?

Nope. Carousel of Progress.



CoP has always been my favorite ride/attraction at WDW, since I was very little. When I was 6, my mom and I saw it about 4 times in a row while my dad went and rode the rollercoasters. And it wasn’t my mom just trying to wrangle me in one place: I wanted to keep watching it!

I don’t know what it is about it (the song, the nostalgia, the puns) that makes me love it, but I do. I will honest-to-god picket at WDW if they ever try to take it away. I promise.

(I always take this one picture at the beginning. I’m too engaged for the rest of the time to think of pics. )

After singing enthusiastically along with “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow,” I found my mom a spot to sit and I went to what used to be my secret bathroom location (the ones by SM), but now it seems that everybody has found them . Oh well. When I got back, we chatted about where to eat. It was down to Columbia Harbor House or Pecos Bill. We decided to go with Pecos Bill, since my mom doesn’t eat seafood, so there’s a slightly wider variety there. We mobile ordered to avoid the lines (as y’all know, PB always has super long lines), and strolled over, just taking it all in (which we rarely do!).

My mom found a table in our favorite room (the one where it feels like nighttime in a Spanish courtyard) and I went to get the food. I waited a little longer that usual for MO, but soon got my order. Of course, it was missing something (like a sucker, I’d ordered a side of guac which ended up being small and pitiful), so I had to go back and wait some more. Finally, I got back to our table with our prize.

We’d decided to split the beef nachos and the three soft tacos (we got chicken and beef). Everything was relatively good, which is all that can be expected.

(The guacamole was smaller than it appears in this picture…It was tiny for like $2-3.)

After eating, it was time to check in for what I’d been waiting all day: The Happily Ever After Fireworks Dessert Party!

 

[mollygirl21]

Love your trip report!

 

[Janir]

So we decided to head into Tomorrowland. On the way, we grabbed some popcorn and a soda, and we sat for a while to munch on that.

(I loooooove popcorn.)

I hear ya! I don;t know what they are putting into the Disney popcorn but they better not change it. I don't care if it's illegal, addictive, and is very bad for me. I WANT the popcorn!

 

[carriehpotter]

Love your trip report!

Thank you so much!!

I hear ya! I don;t know what they are putting into the Disney popcorn but they better not change it. I don't care if it's illegal, addictive, and is very bad for me. I WANT the popcorn!

It's so GOOOOOOOOOOD. I love popcorn in general, but Disney popcorn is genuinely addictive. And I'm fine with that!

 

[carriehpotter]

APRIL 10, WEDNESDAY: THE BIG 3-0 AT MAGIC KINGDOM! (continued)

Bellies pleasantly full (but not stuffed!), we headed over to check in for the HEA dessert party. As I said previously, HEA is fast approaching Fantasmic! as my favorite nighttime show at WDW. When I saw it for the first time over Christmas, I went in completely cold. I hadn’t watched any video or listened to the music. So I didn’t know what to expect. But it was glorious. And as my icon might suggest, Hercules is my favorite Disney movie. So when the first bars of “I Can Go the Distance” started to play that first time, I literally burst into overwhelmed tears. It was so emotional for me.

We prefer to do the "after fireworks" party, because that gives us the ability to stake out our spot earlier than those at the before party, and then we can enjoy eating our desserts while not feeling rushed. We got the same awesome spot this time as we did last time and settled in to wait about 45 min.

(Our view)

I didn’t take pictures during the show because I wanted to fully enjoy it. I didn’t have quite the same visceral reaction this time (I think I listened to the soundtrack too much between trips . I haven’t listened to it since we got back so that hopefully I can be a bit “surprised” again in September), but it was still awesome. Of course, this tall guy in our section (who had a perfectly good spot), shifted over in front of me for no reason about halfway through, and my mom went all “mama bear” and asked him to please move back as I could no longer see. Thankfully, he did so without complaint.

After the show, we let the crowds die down a bit, and then we made our way to Tomorrowland Terrace for the dessert party. I didn’t take any pics of the buffet (I am going to try so hard to remember to take pics like this in September!!), but I did actually remember to take a picture of at least my first dessert plate!

(My first plate)

(And you can kinda see my mom's behind the sparkling cider...)

This party mostly features desserts, but one of the appeals (to us, at least) is that it also has the cheeseburger spring rolls (yum!) and the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake from Liberty Tree Tavern (and it’s still ooey gooey here!). They have lots of nonalcoholic drink options, including sparkling apple cider and POG juice! They also have a s'mores action station that’s delish! If you’re going to do any dessert party, I HIGHLY recommend the After Fireworks HEA party (the view is great, and the food is pretty OK) and the Frozen Ever After Dessert Party in Epcot (though who knows the fate of it now?).

There were EMH until midnight, and while I could tell that my mom was starting to feel it, she could tell that I wanted to stay. I’d told her on the bus that morning that my big hope for the day was to finally see the Kiss Goodnight. We’d stayed until after 1 a.m. on NYE to see it, and of course they weren’t doing it that night. For some reason, for all our years of going to WDW, we’ve never seen it. It was my birthday wish. She, because she is the BEST MOM EVER, agreed to tough it out (we also agreed to sleep late the next morning ).

After eating our fill of desserts, we left TT (we always seem to be the second to last table to leave this party, but I don’t feel bad as long as we’re not the last, haha) and decided to get some more PP pictures.

(My mom insisted I get one of just me. The proportions in this photo seem off to me...)

(Much better!)

We decided to head into Fantasyland. The castle was open to walk through, which I was delighted about.

Since we didn’t really care about “taking advantage” of EMH, we just did what we wanted. Which meant starting with going to see Mickey’s Philharmagic. We both really love this one.

(There were ducks in the queue, and I was in love…)

(I literally ALWAYS take a picture of this poster. Hades will forever be my fav Disney character…)

 

[carriehpotter]

APRIL 10, WEDNESDAY: THE BIG 3-0 AT MAGIC KINGDOM! (continued)

After watching the show, we did some shopping in the adjoining store (I mostly bought a bunch of pins, haha). I always hope for some actual Philharmagic merch, but alas, it’s never to be, it seems.

We still had over an hour before midnight, so we decided to hop into the Peter Pan’s Flight queue. This was a mistake. We always FP this one, so we had no idea how expansive the new indoor queue was. The wait was only about 25 min, but it felt like forever. It was fun to see the new queue, however! Funnily, instead of scanning MBs at the entrance to PPF, the CM was just asking people where they were staying (her scanner must have been broken). I wonder what they would have done if someone didn’t know? I’m also wondering if that’s why this line in particular was longer. Oh well.

We had a nice flight (and the CM on the platform very liberally sprinkled us with pixie dust, which was awesome as we haven’t had this done in a while). After we got off, I started to pitch riding IASW, but that’s where my mom drew the line. She’d done everything I asked all day since it was my birthday, but she wouldn’t cave on this. She hates IASW with a burning passion and while she used to grudgingly ride it once a trip, she has now decided she will never ride again. She told me to ride by myself, but during our debate, I noticed something I’d always wanted to do with a relatively short line: The Tangled Lantern photo! Forget IASW…let’s do that!

The photographers at this photo spot had their shots down pat. Unfortunately, two things were against us here. 1) Profiles, so there was a whole lot of double chin on display, and 2) These photos are definitely better for either a group of three or more, or a couple. It was a tad awkward.

After we were done, it was about twenty minutes to midnight, and we were both dragging, so instead of trying to squeeze one more thing in, we slowly made our way back to the hub. We grabbed a spot sitting directly in front of the Partners statue, dead center, and hung out while we waited for the Kiss Goodnight.

This is such a simple thing, but gosh was it beautiful. It really was a final kiss to finish off what I think may just be the best day I’ve ever spent in a Disney park.

We slowly meandered our way out. A bus was waiting for us, which only added to the magical feel of the day. Soon enough, we were back at Beach Club. This is when I ran around taking all those pictures early in this TR of the nearly empty BC lobby.

I also took several pictures of the DVC building and rec room:

All in all, it was a truly wonderful, magical day with an amazing mom at my favorite place in the world. As I said on Instagram, 30 doesn’t feel so scary when Mickey helps you celebrate it!

 

[Tuvalu]

Carrie, the first picture of you holding the lantern is simply beautiful. Your face expresses both hope and contentment. Frame it!

(And the ones with you and your mom are cute!)

What an amazing birthday!