Trip Report Tale of our adventures

My vacation started on August the 29th, and I returned back home to Chicago on September the 8th. It was a birthday trip for me, because my 69th birthday was on September the 4th. There were 6 of us all together traveling from Chicago to Pop Century for 7 nights, and then we would be moving from there to Cabana Bay at Universal Orlando. There were a few bumps in the road, but for the most part, we all had a super time.

My trip report is all collages. I will keep the commentary to a minimum.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

Do you have any absolute favorite place/spots in the park? The Tangled Bathroom area is one of mine in the Magic kingdom. Cinderella's drinking fountain is another.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

I rode the carousel next. I'm not able to board the horse that easily, anymore, but I can sit on the bench that is nestled among the horses. From there I can enjoy watching the other riders, and listening to the magical music as we go round and round, and round.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

I missed Chip & Dale, when I made my round of photographing the mini statues.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

I wish that I had taken more photos of Brer Rabbit. He is the only statue at Magic Kingdom that does not have a twin at Disneyland. They have the White Rabbit instead.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

It had been a very long time since I road the riverboat the Magic Kingdom. I especially love the narration that you hear as you circle Tom Sawyer's Island, and travel through the Rivers of America.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

My first fastpass was for meeting Rapunzel and Tiana. I must say it was a wonderful "Meet & Greet". Both of these princesses make the most of their time with everyone of their guests. I enjoyed my time with them, and I enjoyed watching them interacting with the guests that went before me.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

This was the one time that I rode this ride, that I was able to get a few good photos inside the ride. Pooh as always been a favorite character of mine. My grandson loved him when he was a toddler. I love him still. I love the stories that are told in the Pooh story books.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

When I made that wish for sunshine, I should have made a 2nd wish for stamina. I finally get a sunny day, and I was pooping out at 5 p.m. in the early evening, on a night that MSEP was running. The crowds had gotten larger. It was a Saturday. Carousel of Progress had a long line. Even the People Mover. My next fastpass wasn't until 7:30. I guess I could have found a place to rest my sore foot, but I caved. I headed back to the hotel. I needed to rest up, because Tomorrow was my birthday, and we were going to Epcot. I look back at it now as missed opportunity. At the time, I saw it as the sensible thing to do.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

Annette returned back to Pop Century with one extra person, and so now we were a party of 5, instead of 4, or the original 6. Her son Clarence had had a wonderful birthday day, spent mostly at the ocean. So as we were riding the bus to Epcot, I tried to get everyone is a selfie. That didn't work to well, but it was fun trying. Clarence kept looking away at the signs on the bus.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

I got everyone to stop in front of Spaceship Earth, before we decided about riding the ride, or not.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

While we waited for our ride time for SpaceShip Earth, we visited this great shop. I just loved all the artwork, and the figurines.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

We then headed for the Land Pavillion. As we entered, we watched the great Circle of Life Movie with Timon and Pumbaa. I had forgotten just how enjoyable that film was. It is a nice introduction to the pavilion. Next we rode Soarin. Annette, and Carissa, and I rode first, and then Pat, Carissa, and I rode again. I liked the newer version of the ride. Next up, I rested, while the others went to ride the Living With The Land Ride. After this, it was almost time for our lunch at Garden Grille.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

This was officially my birthday celebration meal, and we had a wonderful time. The food was yummy. The characters were great, and I got a birthday surprise I was not expecting. I highly recommend this restaurant, if you have never been there.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

The Living Seas Pavillion was next. I stopped for a quick pick outside, while the others were clamoring to go inside. Inside we caught the Turtle Talk Show, after riding the Nemo ride, of course.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

I wanted to continue on to the Imagination Pavillion, but the others kept asking about Frozen. So we headed left for the World Showcase, instead of staying in Future World. Later I/we would regret that decision.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

We did not spend too much time in the Mexico Pavillion. Long enough to take just a few pics, and ride the boat ride. Annette compared it to small world.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

When we arrived in Norway, we discovered that the Frozen ride was just reopening after having a lengthy downtime. Annette asked for a return time, so the 4 of them could ride, while I went to visit Anna and Elsa. While they were riding the ride, and I was visiting Anna and Elsa, it started raining. It was a light rain at first. However, by the time Annette and the others came off of the ride, it was a deluge. I thoroughly enjoyed my meet and greet. They, however, were upset. The ride had broken down again, and Clarence was shaking as they had to be walked off the ride. We found shelter, and I refused to move. As I look back on it now, we should have left right away. We probably could have enjoyed some more of the attractions in Future World. We waited instead way too long for the rain to stop, and it never did. Then we got separated as they went looking for the restroom, and they never came back looking for me. I was not too happy about being abandoned. So I walked back to the buses by myself. By the time I texted them at the bus stop, they were already in the room eating pizza. Not such a great end to my birthday. I stopped in the food court for the vegetable soup that I love, and I picked up some items for my next day breakfast. Tomorrow was our check out day, and we had plans to possibly visiting a park, before heading for Universal. We would be spending our next three nights there, and had tickets for two days in their parks.

 

[Mr Ferret 75]

I waited an entire hour to meet Jack and Sally. However, it was a really great encounter. Both Jack and Sally spend quality time with their guests. I had a super time, and the photographers took great pics of us with my camera and with there's. Time well spent. Thumbs up!

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So jealous

 

[BAChicagoGal]

The next day was packing day. I had set up fast passes for Magic Kingdom, just in case we decided to go. However, we could have went back to Epcot, or Animal Kingdom, or even Hollywood Studios. Check out time is 11, and we wanted to be gone somewhere by that time. Packing went quicker than we thought, and we got all the bags in the car by 10 a.m. We then discussed our plans for the day. The majority of us were finished with WDW, and decided to begin our Universal vacation instead.

How successful was this vacation? On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it about a 7. I was nursing a sore foot, so that limited my mobility a lot. However, my motto is this, "If I don't have fun on my vacation, that's my own fault". I had no control over the weather. That's a fact. Because of the weather, I didn't get to see any of the night time stuff, except for the night of the Halloween party. I made a few decisions along the way that perhaps with a bit of hindsight, I would take back now. However, I had a lot of fun. I got many birthday wishes along the way. I took a lot of amazing photos. My memories will be with me forever. Beats staying home that's for sure.

Til next time, which I am hoping will be a 70th birthday trip to Disneyland.

 

[Songbird76]

When we arrived in Norway, we discovered that the Frozen ride was just reopening after having a lengthy downtime. Annette asked for a return time, so the 4 of them could ride, while I went to visit Anna and Elsa. While they were riding the ride, and I was visiting Anna and Elsa, it started raining. It was a light rain at first. However, by the time Annette and the others came off of the ride, it was a deluge. I thoroughly enjoyed my meet and greet. They, however, were upset. The ride had broken down again, and Clarence was shaking as they had to be walked off the ride. We found shelter, and I refused to move. As I look back on it now, we should have left right away. We probably could have enjoyed some more of the attractions in Future World. We waited instead way too long for the rain to stop, and it never did. Then we got separated as they went looking for the restroom, and they never came back looking for me. I was not too happy about being abandoned. So I walked back to the buses by myself. By the time I texted them at the bus stop, they were already in the room eating pizza. Not such a great end to my birthday. I stopped in the food court for the vegetable soup that I love, and I picked up some items for my next day breakfast. Tomorrow was our check out day, and we had plans to possibly visiting a park, before heading for Universal. We would be spending our next three nights there, and had tickets for two days in their parks.

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That wasn't very nice of them...they could have at least texted you that they were leaving. I'm sorry how your birthday ended....glad you got a surprise at garden grille!