Mickey, Harry Potter, and Shamu Walk Into a Bar

Welcome, y’all, to my trip report. Now some of you may be disappointed in the (somewhat distasteful) name that I chose for this particular trip report, while others may be upset in the lack of actual bars in the trip report. However, you will not be disappointed in the amount of photos, fun, and new adventures that my family went on during our 10 day stay from May 5- 15. I won’t waste too much time on the introductions because I plan on getting into more detail as the report continues.

The cast again, in case you forgot, included: myself (Rachel); husband, Jordan; mom, Disneybird; pops; grandmother; sister, Amanda; brother-in-law, John; nephew, Victor; niece, Julia. Yep, that’s a big ‘ole party to travel with.

Now on with the show.

May 5, 2012

I’m including this day for one very special reason: my husband graduated from college on this day! Three years after returning to school I was very proud to watch my husband walk across the stage to receive his Bachelor’s in Bible and Theology. Many people often ask if I am older than my husband considering that I have my Master’s. He is actually three years older than me, but he lived a much cooler life than I did before he went back to school. He backpacked through Scotland, traveled the country playing music, and traveled to different parts of the world doing missions work. On the other hand, I went to school…fun.

Still, I was very proud to see him receive his diploma, and this entire trip was planned to celebrate his graduation, as well as his new position at the church where we attend. He worked very hard leading right up to graduation. Trust me, writing exegetical papers, memorizing hundreds of years of history from the Nicean Councils, and debating Calvinism vs. Arminianism made for a very exhausting last semester. So, I was excited to spend a relaxing 10 days with a stress free husband.

We were hoping to have an additional reason to celebrate while we were in WDW, as well. Last July I received my Masters of Arts in Teaching. I am certified to teach History 7-12, with an add-on in Language Arts. For the past year I have worked at the high school where I did my year long internship in the testing department and as a tutor in English and U.S. History. Unfortunately, the school did not have a teaching position for me, but I was blessed to have a job regardless. Honestly, the best way to get a job in a school is to stay in the school. Rumors started circulating about three months ago that a position would be opening in the Social Studies Department. The department rallied behind me to be the person to fill the position in case it came open. I even had several meetings with members of the administration to discuss job opportunities. However, as it got closer and closer to our trip it seemed less and less likely that there would be a position open. The week before we left for vacation two different people on two different occasions approached me and suggested that I start looking at other schools for jobs. They were both looking out for my best interests and wanted to make sure that I could find employment. While I appreciated it talk about a devastating blow. On top of it all this came during my busiest week of the year, the week of End of Course testing (I was able to take off the entire next week because my job is based on hours, which I built up enough of during the week of testing.). So, I was so ready to just get out of town and away from the craziness for awhile. I planned on using these 10 days not having to or wanting to think about jobs.

The day and a half leading up to Jordan’s graduation were very hectic in our little household as Jordan’s mother and brother came down from Maryland to stay with us. Packing and resting beforehand became a little rushed. Still, Saturday morning I was ready to pop out of bed and get going with everything. Fortunately, Jordan’s graduation was early in the morning because we had a very long drive ahead of us.

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Blurry but this was the best I could do.

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All smiles afterwards

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Once graduation was over, my parents met us over at our place for lunch before hitting the road. We hit the road around 1:30 for a long journey ahead. The ride down was uneventful, and traffic wasn’t bad at all. We stayed off-site for the night at a Comfort Suites. My mom was nice enough to get Jordan and me our own room for the night. Once we got there we were so excited to be starting our vacation that we literally jumped up and down on the bed.
 

popsicletrees

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Great report, looks like you all an amazing trip:)

Thank you! It really was!

Starring Rolls is great and love the pics and commentary of Jedi Training!

That was my first time ever getting something from Starring Rolls. I have no idea what I was waiting so long for! I really did enjoy Jedi Training. Considering they are working with kids I'm sure they are prepared for just about anything.
 

popsicletrees

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After Jedi Training was completed it was time to go and redeem our fps at TSMM.

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We are both very competitive. Whenever we play board games with our friends they always remark that they feel like pawns in our game to defeat one another. It is all in good fun. I was beating him in the first two rooms, but as usual he won.

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From here Jordan and I decided to head over to Epcot to check out some of the displays from the Flower & Garden Festival.
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We went over to the butterfly garden area. It was really beautiful.
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popsicletrees

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We really didn’t have any intention of riding much while we were at Epcot. We typically use most of our time there to explore, which is a lot of fun. Since we were some time away from when we planned on eating dinner, we headed into World Showcase.

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Alright, even though we really didn’t want to ride anything, we did make time for the Gran Fiesta Tour.

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Jordan’s hairy leg, not mine.

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Some orchids that were growing just outside of the side entrance to the Mexico pavilion.

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popsicletrees

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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Well, we rode Maelstrom too.

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We only made it through two countries before we decided to turn around and head to the Land to eat at Sunshine Seasons.

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For dinner I had the spicy cashew chicken with vegetable stir-fry noodle. It was far from spicy. Actually, it was just an ok meal. It was edible by all means but just tasted generic. I’ve definitely had much better food there, and I wanted to try something different this time. I wasn’t too hungry as it was (and I was saving room for dessert), but I just couldn’t eat that much of it.

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For dessert I did get the awesomeness that is the strawberry shortcake there. It is no banana pudding from Starring Rolls, but it is still yummy.

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Jordan had the tuna noodle salad and a cookie. A cookie?! Didn’t he see that amazing display of desserts and all he got was a cookie? I know, I know.

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popsicletrees

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After dinner we saw my parents briefly. They were taking the kids back to the hotel so Amanda and John could go out. Jordan and I headed back over to DHS. We planned on seeing Fantasmic, but we wanted to go a few hours early to see if we could finally get on ToT and RnRC. We actually decided to walk from Epcot over to DHS. This was a new experience for us. It took around 20 minutes, but it felt like we were walking for forever.

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We hit Sunset Boulevard again and kept our fingers crossed that ToT and RnRC would not have outrageous waits. Fortunately, ToT had a 20 minute wait posted. We walked on.
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popsicletrees

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We ended up riding ToT three times that night. RnRC was still having problems, and when it wasn’t the line was long. So, we decided to forego that one for the night. About an hour before Fantasmic started we decided to go ahead and get in line. We were let in immediately and found our way in the center of the theater. We had great seats for the show.

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popsicletrees

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Out of all of the nighttime shows that we watched during the week this is the only one that made me misty eyed. I couldn’t believe it. No, the feeling of being in front of Cinderella’s Castle with my husband during Wishes didn’t get to me in that way nor did the grandeur of Illuminations, but when Sorcerer Mickey appeared at the top of the stage my eyes watered a little.

After the show security and CMs were pretty strict about not going in certain areas of the park. They were ready to get everyone out, and we were ready to go back to the room and crash.

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popsicletrees

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
May 12, 2012

This was the day that the rest of the family was leaving to head back home. Fortunately, Jordan and I were going to stay a few extra days just the two of us. We spent that morning with my parents and grandmother and started out our day with breakfast at Kona. This was our first time eating breakfast at Kona although it is one of our favorites for dinner. I am not a big breakfast eater at all, but Jordan loves breakfast and I wanted him to try the Tonga Toast.

I ordered the Macadamia Pineapple Pancakes with sausage for my meal. The sausage was really good, and I’m glad that it came in links rather than a patty. The pancakes were really good. The pineapple and macadamia flavors complemented each other very well. It was a big meal, especially for me, and Jordan and my dad ended up eating most of the meal for me. Don’t take that as there being any problem with the pancakes for the deliciousness of the meal. Again, I’m just not a big breakfast eater. I did steal some syrup that my grandmother had for her blueberry pancakes because I needed a little bit more sweetness to it. My favorite part of the meal though was the pineapple that was on top. It was such a great flavor for such fluffy pancakes.

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Jordan did what he was told and ordered the Tonga Toast. I say that because he was considering getting the Big Kahuna instead. I told him that he couldn’t and that he was welcome to as much of my pancakes as he wanted. I will say that he did not regret the Tonga Toast. He ate every bite, and he loved the strawberry sauce that came with it. Personally, I don’t care for the Tonga Toast. It is way too much for me to eat and way too sweet for breakfast (wait, didn’t I steal syrup from my grandmother?), but I knew that Jordan would love it and love it he did.



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My mom ordered the fruit plate. This was actually right up my alley as far as ideal breakfasts for me, but I had my heart set on trying the pancakes there. The fruit plate came with a banana, kiwi, strawberries, pineapple, and grapes. Yum!

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After breakfast we headed over to the Magic Kingdom to end the family time there.

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Space Mountain was first on our list. Yay! Mom finally got to ride!



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Then, it was Haunted Mansion time.

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popsicletrees

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We didn’t spend too much time there because my dad was ready to get on the road. We went back to the resort with my parents and said our good-byes. Then, vacation part two started. Jordan and I had early dinner reservations at Coral Reef that night, so off to Epcot we went.

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Since our exploration of the WS only made it to Norway the day before, we began our adventure in China.



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popsicletrees

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
While we were in China Jordan had me trying on outfits left and right. I had no intention of buying one because it just isn’t my style, but he had fun watching me play dress up.

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Afterwards we hit up Germany. I want a cuckoo clock from here someday.

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While we were in Italy Jordan told me how much he hated these masks because his mom had some all over the house he grew up in and his life was threatened if he dared to touch one.

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popsicletrees

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
For the first time, in a long time, I didn’t even consider going into the American Adventure. Where is my patriotism? Actually Jordan doesn’t like it because he thinks it is way too nice to the history of the U.S. What does he expect? We put it together; we can do what we want. We did go see Lotso and Buzz and Woody all flowered up for the festival.

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By the time we arrived at Morocco it was time to head over to Coral Reef.

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When we arrived at the restaurant I asked for a table next to the aquarium glass. I was told that they couldn’t guarantee anything, which I understand why but I do think that they would try and accommodate requests. Well, surprise, surprise we were seated by the glass. Before our food arrived we saw a large group of divers come by. It was really neat watching them swim by right in front of us. Jordan was envious.

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popsicletrees

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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For dinner I ordered the Coral Reef Lobster Orecchiette Pasta with White Cheddar Cheese and Basil Oil and sangria to drink. The sangria was just the same as what I had the other night. The pasta was really good and had large chunks of lobster with it. The sauce was good and didn’t taste like your run-of-the-mill Italian restaurant alfredo sauce (which I was afraid of). Plus the sauce was perfect to dip the bread into as well. Even a diver stopped in front of us pointed at my meal pointed at me, pretended to eat, and gave me a thumbs up. I pointed at my plate and gave a thumbs up back. Then, eating felt a little awkward after that.

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Jordan ordered the Orange Ginger-glazed Scottish Salmon with Vegetable Stir-fry and a glass of Chardonnay. His tasted nice and had a great flavor with it.

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PolynesianPrincess

Well-Known Member
LOVE the pics from the F&G Festival. Epcot is so beautiful in it's own right and the flowers just make it that much better I think.

We are dining at Coral Reef in September so I'm glad to hear you liked your meal. We've never eaten there before and we're kinda nervous cause of the back and forth reviews we read. Some people love it, some people hate it. Seems to be split right down the middle.

How adorable was Victor doing the Jedi Training Academy?! So stinkin cute!! He does kinda look petrified at first! Although, if Darth Vadar were coming at me, I'd probably be petrified too!! lol
 

popsicletrees

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
LOVE the pics from the F&G Festival. Epcot is so beautiful in it's own right and the flowers just make it that much better I think.

We are dining at Coral Reef in September so I'm glad to hear you liked your meal. We've never eaten there before and we're kinda nervous cause of the back and forth reviews we read. Some people love it, some people hate it. Seems to be split right down the middle.

How adorable was Victor doing the Jedi Training Academy?! So stinkin cute!! He does kinda look petrified at first! Although, if Darth Vadar were coming at me, I'd probably be petrified too!! lol

I loved being able to go to the F&G Festival again. It really is beautiful to see.

We enjoy Coral Reel, but I will admit that the atmosphere has a lot to do with it. Plus, we both like seafood and have had some yummy seafood there.

Victor was terrified at first. I can't blame him though. I would be too if adults were sticking me in a show to relive their childhood dreams and fight a tall, scary guy in a mask. LOL! He does like Star Wars though, and I was proud of him for fighting despite his difficulty with the light saber.
 

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