Early in the year, my mom
started asking questions about Disney. When’s a good time to go. How much are
annual passes. Things like that. Turned out that she and my aunt (her sister)
were planning a Saturday trip. I don’t
want to say we weaseled our way into their day, but we did get invited, so we
all ended up heading to Disney on Saturday.
We planned on meeting them
there, so we grabbed our donuts (we got a whole dozen, but that is WAY too many
for the drive down, FYI!) and got to the TTC around 9.
 |
| Finally got a photo of the Other Mickey - we never walk on the left sidewalk |
Our first stop was to renew our
Annual Passes, which took forever. The CM we got was very slow! Finally, after a bajillion texts from mom
(she was texting quicker than I could reply!), we met them near the ferry docks
and there were hugs all around! We haven’t seen Aunt L since her 60th
birthday in (I think) 2009.
 |
| This is how much I love my family - it is so crowded today! |
We got our obligatory Castle
Shot and made our way first to Buzz Lightyear.
 |
| My head is so shiny sun bounces off of it... |
Aunt L has been to Disney a lot,
with her grand-kids, but this was the first time she’d been as a ‘Grown Up’, so
she was wanting to really show off Disney to Mom.
Being a group of 5 makes rides
hard sometimes. On Buzz, Mom and Aunt L rode together, and I think the three of
us all rode solo.
 |
| Sisters united in defeating the Evil Emperor Zurg! |
Our next stop was the Carousel
of Progress, one of my faves. Mom hasn’t
been to Disney since *I* was a kid, so it was fun for ME to watch her
experience Disney as a ‘Grown Up” too!
After CoP, we all rode on the
People Mover. Mom commented on how you can’t really see Space Mountain anymore.
Hubby and I pointed out the new work on New Fantasyland and the special ‘back
walkway’ behind Tomorrowland to Storybook Circus.
By the time we got off of the
People Mover, it was close to lunch time, so we headed to Columbia Harbor
House. Aunt L’s favorite (after Cosmic Ray’s) and, as I learned, MY favorite
since the first time I came here (who knew?).
Aunt L and the Kiddo grabbed a table upstairs while the rest of us
ordered lunch. I got a large ice water
as well.
Eating was great – I really miss
Aunt L, and we really need to get together more often! One thing that was
really funny was teaching Aunt L that ice water was free. She seemed to be so
amazed at the fact that there was something FREE!
After lunch, it was “let our
meal settle” time, so we rode the Haunted Mansion. I rode with Aunt L again,
and she said that, out of all her nieces and nephews, she was surprised that
*I* was the one who loved Disney. She asked why, and I told her it was because
I loved the Magic of it all, how it made me feel. I love the secrets, the behind
the scenes knowledge and tricks Disney uses to create everything. I love the
music and the dancing and all the wonderful photographic opportunities. I just
love it.
Mom had mentioned that she
wanted to ride Big Thunder while she was here. Aunt L didn’t, but we made our
way over to the Mountain to pick up some FastPasses anyway.
We walked over to New
Fantasyland next, hoping that we would be able to tour Be our Guest.
Unfortunately, it was already closed for lunch, and they were setting up for
dinner, so they weren’t letting anyone in.
We headed to The Little Mermaid
instead, riding that before deciding to head back to Fantasyland for some ice
cream (Aunt L and Mom like food even more than I do, I think!)
When we left New Fantasyland, we
looked like all 3 of us were together, but apparently I was mistaken and I left
Hubby at Gaston’s! He called my cell,
frantic to find us (really?) and then was angry that I made a mistake and left
him. Really, bro? Next time, I’ll do it on purpose! Not really…
Aunt L and Mom had already found
Storybook Sweets and were eating their ice cream while we waited for him, then
it was off to Peter Pan, and then Enchanted Tales with Belle.
(I have to point out, that by
now, you see that they have a very inefficient touring strategy! We walked back
and forth all day with them J )
Anyway, after Belle, we headed
to Dumbo and Mom sat this one out – she gets sick on spinny rides (more so than
me!). I sat with Aunt L and Hubby rode
with the Kiddo. I don’t remember a
single thing from that ride, except for the fact that it was two of the most
memorable minutes of my life with Aunt L because we had so much fun! I remember
laughing a lot, and smiling, but lord only knows what made us that way!
Night was quickly descending on
the Magic Kingdom, so we made our way to Frontierland for a spot to watch the
MSEP. (I think at some point after Dumbo we ate dinner at Cosmic Rays, but I
can’t remember) Mom had been getting tired back during Ice Cream time, but she
kept soldiering on, and I figured this would be a good way for her to relax for
a bit.
We took up a spot outside the
Diamond Horseshoe and while we waited, I walked over to one of the Glow Stuff
vendors to see if they had any bubble guns.
Clover, our cat, LOVES bubbles, and I thought that getting a gun would
be easier on my lungs than just a bottle of bubbles! Unfortunately, they didn’t
have any in stock, but he was able to tell me that the gun was $18.
Finally, MSEP came through and I
think I had more fun watching Mom and Aunt L – they were clapping, smiling and
bouncing around to the music like little girls.
We waited for the crowds to
disperse and I asked if they wanted to see Wishes, and they said sure, so we
parked it again, near The Crystal Palace and watched the Castle Show as well as
the fireworks.
Sadly, our night had come to an
end, and we all piled onto the ferry back to the TTC and went our separate
ways. It was great to visit with family,
and definitely shouldn’t be so few and far between!
We piled into the car, and – as
we always do, ti seems – we got lost on the way home. We have to remember that we need to leave
property via Coronado Springs!
I think we finally got home
around 1:30 a.m. or so – I was sleepy and ready to crash!
No comments:
Post a Comment