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From 8 to 80!Seeing the Magic through a new set of eyes-Updated7/15-NEW TR LINK pg 28

The three of us left Calgary on a chilly morning SUPER early, flying with United, and managed to actually land while the sun was still up and it was around 3:30! We didn’t have the bands yet as they don’t ship to Canada so we had ye olde paper system for the Magical Express, but that wasn’t slowing us down!



While on the bus we heavily prepared Steven for all of the emotions that were sure to occur during this quick three day trip, and he kept asking “are you gonna cry?” every moment during the video! Baha! We arrived into Art of Animation WAY earlier than I expected, it’s super close to the property line/sign, weird! Never noticed before!





The driver of the bus wasn’t doing too great with the hotel sign today, nearly clipped it turning into the driveway, whooooops!



Luckily it managed to stay up and in good condition all week! Bahaha! I was seriously BURSTING with excitement as we pulled in! AoA is one of my favorite resorts, Halloween is my FAVORITE TIME, and the added bonus of Lion King was taking it over the top!







The lobby is seriously perfect, like, amazing, I will always and forever love it here! Check in was pretty simple, I’d requested close to transportation, as always, and hoped that would be somewhat honored, and it WAS! We also got OUR BANDS! I had chosen green to go with my Tink costume, Paige and pink, and since Steven was added to the reservation ONE DAY before leaving…he was stuck with grey… Oh well, our room was ready, it was CLOSE, and we were on our way and jumping with excitement!

We entered through the main door, and were in the building that was across from the big log, right behind Pride Rock! Yay. I was loving the indoor hallways, and the patterns on the walls, and the giant portrait of Scar we passed. Our room was on the very end of the hallway right next to the stairs, added bonus!



The view from the living room wasn’t too majestic, but it was Mufasa! We took a few minutes freaking out about EVERYTHING, and of course, starting to DIG IN to the groceries I had ordered. I got some Twisted Teas, Uncrustables, Bananas, and a can of hairspray as I only took a carry on for this trip!

To Review: I went through Garden Grocer and would DEFINITELY do it again, they were great, not expensive and it was all in the room when we arrived at the resort! I will say though, they put the Uncrustables in the fridge, and left the drinks out….backwards…whoooops!





The pullout couch bed was cute! And it was super awesome that the other bed folded all up as a table!





The suite was arranged so that when you walk in the door, directly on your left is the table bed, and to the right is the vanity area, with one bathroom. A little further into the room is the kitchenette (microwave, fridge and counter space) and then the TV and couch bed. Parallel to the kitchenette is the door to the mater bedroom, which had its own bathroom and TV!







The shower walls are definitely the BEST part of these suites! The shower curtains are cute, but the Ariel ones are my favsies! That was the main bathroom, the ensuite was pretty much the same but had a vanity area IN it and the shower had a door! I took the master bedroom as I was paying the most for this trip, and hey, you only live once, baha!







After doing a very quick exploration of the suite, we got ready as fast as we could, we had a party to get to!
 
Paige, Steven and I had decided that since this party was going to be on arrival day, we would throw together some easy and quick to get into, costumes. I reused my Alice costume, Paige found a “china doll” from Oz the Great and Powerful that we said was Wendy, and Steven found some Goodwill stuff that he formed into Prince Eric for the night! It wasn’t a long wait for the bus, and before we knew it, we were on our way and ready to party, and of course, try out the magic bands!



A quick stop at Will Call to pick up Stevens ticket and we were IN and boy were we golden, we’d made it before the official party starting time!! [PS, I had added Paige and I’s MNSSHP tickets to our bands, as an attempt to see if FP plus would work, and had no problem whatsoever with them being connected!] Since I had missed out on it in September, and was pretty sad about it, our very first stop was for some PUMPKIN SPIIIICCCEEE.



Hey, wonderland really tires ya out! Lol. The party wasn’t officially started, so we headed to a character that we knew would be out during the day, Ariel! I’m going to guess we waited about twenty minutes for her, and just spent the time planning out the night! I wanted to watch the parade twice, watch the fireworks, and of course, see some characters, the main ones being Princes, and Alice, and that was about it! Haha!

We made it to the front of the Grotto, and I hate to tell you, but I have no pictures from this experience! A lot of the character meets Paige and Steven both had their cameras/phones out, and I don’t want to be a bother with having THREE separate forms of picture taking, so I opted out….this may be a repeat occurance.

ANYWAYS. We sat down to chat with Ariel and she made some chit chat about Paige and I’s costumes and then turned over to Steven to ask “and who are you?” Uhmmm… awkward…. Steven enlightened her that he was his prince, and she was just “oh….” And we took a picture. Not a great experience overall, but hey, it’s the first of the night, bahah! I do remember her being super into character though, so that helped!

One character meet down, we moved over to the Fairytale Hall! I’m kinda just going to skim through the rest of the night, no notes and lack of pictures from greets have me kinda stuck, haha. I can tell you that the way they work the Fairytale Hall on party nights is very different from TST. In the old greeting location, they had a space where they’d set up a “party line” well, there isn’t really the space to set up this queue in the Hall, so you’re kinda stuck waiting around awkwardly until about 10 to seven where they’ll close the door into the hall and you form the line outside. I’m pretty sure that we just came back at seven to get into the line.





I do really enjoy all the hints and tribute they pay to the Hall being where Snow White’s ride used to be though! It’s great!





Throughout the rest of the night, we spent the time doing exactly what we’d wanted, haha. We found a spot on Main Street to watch the parade both times it ran! Paige and I were dancing and singing along to it once the music started, because let’s be serious, it’s the GREATEST THING IN THE ENTIRE WORLD AND NOTHING IS SUPERIOER. Steven was looking at us like we were crazy and taking vines of it all, but don’t worry, we got him converted pretty quickly!

























Like, MY ONE TRUE LOVE. Paige is also a HUGE fan of the Halloween festivities that go on, I mean, who wouldn’t be?! It was great to be experiencing everything with the BFF once again, and boy am I glad she could get the time off work. Now, Steven, well, he has a LOVE for all things Villains, so this was a great experience for him to get to Disney World for the first time in a while. He’s one of those people who’s all “what villains can you meet?” and when you reply saying “Gaston and The Tremaines” he’s disappointed, so naturally he was freaking out when the Villains section of the parade came past! Although he WAS disappointed that there was no Ursula, like, she could easily be up on that float, even if it’s an animatronic….

Since Villains were a love of ours, it was pretty clear where another one of our stops would be!
 


Yeah, me again. :wave2:

God this trip still blows my mind. "Wanna go to a Halloween Party Out of town???", lol.

Ahh I wish I could pack up and do a trip AND gather a crew that quickly. But I know it's gonna be a good one! Happy ME pictures do not lie.

Hahaha, yeah, it was a really insanely random trip that I'm so happy could happen lol!!

I definitely plan to apply, no worries on that front! I just have to finish my degree first...a year and a couple of moths to go. Great start on the October TR! Wish I could be so spontaneous! :thumbsup2

Awesome!!!

Hhaha yes! It was completely random and insane! Though totally fun!

Oh man, I wish I could do something that spontanious. If I went on all the Disney trips I plan in my head I think I would be there always!

I can't wait to read all about this one!

Ahaha, if I did every trip I planned out in my head I would actually completely be broke lol!

What an awesome spontaneous trip! Can't wait to hear all about it.

Glad you're still here!! :) Yay!

OMG those Lion King suites, just so perfect!

Awesome that you made it back to MNSSHP so soon!

They were absolutely amazing in every way!! I was super happy and impressed with them, and it was impressive that night! We made GREAT time!!

 
Yay for such a fun trip with your mom and Anne! Thank you for taking us along on your adventures :earsgirl:
I am convinced that some day I'll be watching a show or parade when I'm in Disney World and I'll turn to the person next to me and say "I know her!" because I know someday you'll be bringing magic to Disney pixiedust:
Yay for getting to go back so soon with your friends! I need more Disney friends in my life. The kind that I can turn to and ask "What are you doing next week? Want to go to Disney?" and that don't look at me like I'm crazy :ccat:
 


OMG Katt, I don't know how you managed to go a whole month!!!! ;)

So this was Steven's first time at Disney or did I misunderstand? (Edit... OK you said later that it was first time in a while, so I'm all caught up, lol)

Oh well, grey's still a colour.

Oh yeah it's only fair that you get the master bedroom. I would absolutely do the same thing.

OUCH on the Eric with Ariel miss. Kinda funny though too. And in fairness, it was a last minute costume.
 
Great effect on the ballroom dancer pics! Spooky!!!

Thanks!!

Yay for such a fun trip with your mom and Anne! Thank you for taking us along on your adventures :earsgirl:
I am convinced that some day I'll be watching a show or parade when I'm in Disney World and I'll turn to the person next to me and say "I know her!" because I know someday you'll be bringing magic to Disney pixiedust:
Yay for getting to go back so soon with your friends! I need more Disney friends in my life. The kind that I can turn to and ask "What are you doing next week? Want to go to Disney?" and that don't look at me like I'm crazy :ccat:

No problem, I'm glad you've stuck around!! Lol. Awwe, I really do hope that day comes sooner rather than later lol. Awe man, it's good to have friends like that I'll tell ya!

OMG Katt, I don't know how you managed to go a whole month!!!! ;)

So this was Steven's first time at Disney or did I misunderstand? (Edit... OK you said later that it was first time in a while, so I'm all caught up, lol)

Oh well, grey's still a colour.

Oh yeah it's only fair that you get the master bedroom. I would absolutely do the same thing.

OUCH on the Eric with Ariel miss. Kinda funny though too. And in fairness, it was a last minute costume.

Hahahahaha yeah, it was hilarious.

Haha, I figured it was best, I mean, I still left the door open so everything was connected the entire time, and it wasn't like we were there long anyways lol

 
It’s time for the Villains Mix and Miiinngggllleee..













Something that I hadn’t noticed the last time was the projections on the castle during Facillier’s part of the song! It was definitely an added effect from last year, and it was super cool! As I’ve said, I do love the show, I wish they’d do a little more than what they have, but hey, it’s still awesome, it’s villains, and there’s dancing! Oh man, how I would LOVE to dance in that show, Paige too, like, it’s amazing!!





Steven was more set on the villains of course!



We chose the Snow Queen as we were closest to her and she had a relatively short line, and she can talk lol, much more fun than the others. Although she didn’t say much, just kind of greeted us and took the picture. We did comment on how it would be more fun to hang out with a villain like that as you wouldn’t really have to say a whole lot, and it’s still in character, ahah!
 
I’m sorry these updates are so sparse on details….it’s really not my style, and another reason they’re so rushed, I really have no passion to write them, haha, but I have notes for further on, and there’s some super fun stuff, so I’d like to include it all.

Through the party when we weren’t watching the BEST PARADE EVER or chasing after Evil Queens, we DEFINITELY stopped to watch the fireworks, as they’re my absolutely favorite of Disney fireworks. The music, the effects, how far around the hub they go, they’re just simply amazing and beautiful and spooky to watch again and again! I was incredibly happy that I got the chance to see them again! Steven was definitely rolling his eyes at the level of PUNS that there were tonight, and when they just kinda continued throughout the night, it was quite hilarious…and yes…we took him on the Jungle Cruise too..bahaha!

We spent the entire night at the party and were super glad to have gotten two parties in such a quick trip! It was a great experience for everyone and we were all just so happy to be back in Disney. Obviously the highlights included Rapunzel and Flynn, Boo To You and the Villians Mix and Mingle, and I promise, we did meet some other characters too!





As if I haven’t stressed it enough in this TR, but if you’re ever considering doing a MNSSHP, JUST FREAKING DO IT! SERIOUSLY! It’s one of the best experiences I’ve ever had at Disney, and to be able to do it a total of FOUR times this year was incredibly amazing. I do find the night to feel extremely busy, as I like to watch both times the parade runs, plus fireworks, stage show, and get some character greets in too! If you cut out watching both parades it saves you a bunch of time, especially since I like good viewing spots which can involve sitting down an hour to half an hour in advance.

All in all, we had an amazing night, and were BEYOND tired when we got back to the resort that night! It had been a super long day for us, travel, seven hour flight, bus ride, hotel check in and a 6 hour party, an awfully good start to a trip if I don’t say so myself!!

Again, I apologize this portion was so rushed, I have a lot more notes for the next few days!

As of Day 1, I had no complaints about the Magic Bands, we hadn’t used the fast pass plus yet, and had no problems with getting into the parks or the room at all, added bonus!




 
Gooood morning!! Are you ready for a wild and spoooooky day here at Disney World!! I had set the wake up call for BRIGHT AND EARLY, because, what else is the logical thing to do after getting back to your hotel at 1:00 in the morning?? We really wanted to maximize our time this trip, so we were headed off for some AM extra magic hours at no other than:



Disney’s ANIMAL KINGDOM! My love…seriously…I mean, I love everything about Disney, but there is nothing as magestic as walking up to this puppy first thing in the morning, and it not even being 8:00 IN THE MORNING YET!



Yup! They let us in early! Now, for those of you who have been around for a while, you know that Paige and I like to ride Everest a certain number of times in a row and each trip “beat our previous goal” so, this trip, we had to ride over seven times in order to achieve this. Would we be able to? You tell me!







On our first go through the line I was definitely nomming down on some Uncrustables for breakfast and the ride attendant was all “Smuckers Uncrustables?! Nice breakfast” and we stopped to ask what he had for breakfast and he replied with “Noodles!” And the nickname had been born! I also definitely rang a bell EVERY time we went through the queue, superstition, tradition? Call it what you will….

Take One!



Take Two! Where Paige won for the creeper face…





Take three:



Take Four: With the princess pose! And this time around I do remember that we made pretty good friends/chit chat with the solo rider that joined us:



Take five: pondering…where does this track go when the yeti doesn’t go crazy and rip up the track…



Take Six:



Take Seven; posing dramatically, and I get cut off lol!



RIDE NUMBER EEEEIIIGGGHHHTTT:



Where we appropriately held up 8 fingers and were VERY proud of accomplishing our goal. 8 rides in a row on EE can be kinda tough first thing in the morning…. I was starting to feel a little lightheaded around ride five, but decided to stick it out, and after 8, Steven and Paige were feeling it in their bellies…good thing I had some breakfast! Oh…and yes, every single time we went through the queue we rang a bell, and said hello to our friend Noodles…although the last time through he had rotated somewhere else….SAD FACE!

Upon entering the gift shop after the final ride, I decided to celebrate by buying a friend that I had been considering for a long time, I mean, Danielle’s needed a buddy to hang out with, right!?



YEEETTTIII





We were all very excited to have someone to accompany us on our adventures through life now! Exciting day it was! We did accomplish our rides a little earlier than I expected, thanks to that extra hour, so we headed over to Africa to visit some furry friends on the way over to my favorite destination…



 
Boy! If i rode EE 8 times in a row, there would surely be some YAK to go along with the Yeti!!!
 
I swear you are the only person who updates while IN Disney, lol.

I think I need to get much closer to watch the Mix and Mingle. Your pics show there's a lot more going on than you can see from a distance.

OK... YIKES on Paige's sinister scowl. Hello... Exorcist? :scared1:

Haha, yes I conquer... 8 in a row is rough. But AWESOME!!! :yay:
 
Ahhh what a great time at MNSSHP! I NEED to get to one this year. I just need to figure out who I'm gonna be :rotfl:

It's always fun to bring along someone who hasn't been in a while and I'm glad to hear you were able to convert him so quickly ;)

:worship: 8 Everest rides in a row?! Oh man my tummy would definitely be feeling it too but what a great start to the morning!

PS I've been following you on instragm and I love all the FOF parade pics you posted yesterday, I can't wait to make it down there to see it myself!
 
8 rides in a row on EE?!?! My stomach is doing flips just thinking about it! :happytv: and now... You'll have to do 9 next time! ;)

Your picture with the little Yeti is beautiful! :goodvibes
 
Boy! If i rode EE 8 times in a row, there would surely be some YAK to go along with the Yeti!!!

Ahahahaha, yeah, it was a rough morning for all of us with the 8 in a row lol!!

I swear you are the only person who updates while IN Disney, lol.

I think I need to get much closer to watch the Mix and Mingle. Your pics show there's a lot more going on than you can see from a distance.

OK... YIKES on Paige's sinister scowl. Hello... Exorcist? :scared1:

Haha, yes I conquer... 8 in a row is rough. But AWESOME!!! :yay:

Lol, i think it's because it's a quick and easy process for me! Plus, my trips are a little different, I was sitll awake by 8:30 every morning even without going to rope drop!

Yeah, there's a lot going on in that show, lots to try and pay attention to!

Bahahahaha


Ahhh what a great time at MNSSHP! I NEED to get to one this year. I just need to figure out who I'm gonna be :rotfl:

It's always fun to bring along someone who hasn't been in a while and I'm glad to hear you were able to convert him so quickly ;)

:worship: 8 Everest rides in a row?! Oh man my tummy would definitely be feeling it too but what a great start to the morning!

PS I've been following you on instragm and I love all the FOF parade pics you posted yesterday, I can't wait to make it down there to see it myself!

YES! Ugh, choosing costumes can seriously be the hardest thing in the world!!

so awesome! I love being able to share the disney life with people who haven't gotten to see the magic yet!

Aahaha, it was interesting, and a great start to the morning!

Yay!! Thank you! I love photographing day parades as it's much easier, and FoF is just simply amazing!!

 
I have a lot of catchin' up to do! This will make for some fun reading tonight when the kids are in bed!


Haha awesome!! Glad you're still here!! :)

8 rides in a row on EE?!?! My stomach is doing flips just thinking about it! :happytv: and now... You'll have to do 9 next time! ;)

Your picture with the little Yeti is beautiful! :goodvibes

Ahahahah, we'll have to see what next trip holds!! 9 would be tricky!!

Thank you!!


Great update! :)

Thanks!!

 

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