My Love Story

"I look at you, and I'm home"

-Dory (Finding Nemo)

Lately most of my posts have been reviews or tips on your Disney trip and I love Disney and this entry will also be Disney heavy but with a more personal aspect. This is my love story. 
I chose that quote from Dory for a very specific reason, it is probably the shortest most basic love quote, very basic and not full of fairy tale luster that I am usually drawn to but it really sums up not just love but my love.
I mentioned in my what Disney means to me entry that I didn't have a very good or stable childhood and that pattern followed me most of my life. From 15- very, very recently I was moving a minimum of once a year and couch surfing with family and friends after my mother decided I wasn't wanted anymore. Due to everything, I like many people had trust issues and issues with commitment because well, everybody leaves, don't they?
I remember when I first saw him, it sounds cheesy and fake but it's true. I was entering my second college lecture, I sat near the back but not too far back and off to the side. I scanned the lecture hall to see all my new classmates a room full of possibilities. Who should catch my eye but a long haired hippie boy with his long board leaning against his seat and a paisley shirt with the first few buttons open on his tan, toned skin. He reminded me of someone from a movie.

  The first time we spoke alone I was sitting in the hall outside of that same lecture hall I was late and far more scared of going in and having people stop and look at me than missing a class so I was sitting waiting for it to end. Jamie came out and asked what I was doing and I explained he offered to go in with me so it was less awkward but I was worried about finding a seat and my anxiety won so I declined.
At this point in my life I was coming off of a messy break up, dealing with on going family problems, thrust into the world of financial difficulty and was dealing with an unidentifiable health problem. It wasn't a great time for me.    When Jamie first told me he liked me my instinct was to not trust him, we had been drinking it was college , I was sure it was just a line and I told him that. He assured me his feelings were genuine but I was terrified of being hurt again.
For weeks I not only turned him down but I told him I would never date him. I was determined to make it on my own. Jamie was respectful never crossing boundaries but persistent. No matter how hard I pushed him away he stood there waiting for me to come back.
Slowly I began to trust him, I began to test if he'd really be there when I needed him and he was. In all honesty the first year if not two of our relationship was a roller coaster. I had trust issues and problems with anxiety, he had a long stemmed fear of commitment as well.
As with all loves we began to bend, through honest communication, a really under appreciated asset in relationships we learned to balance each other, to grow in ourselves while together and to heal together. We fell in love.
Fast forward 5 years after we met, 4 of a solid relationship. We were now probably one of the healthiest relationships ever despite ourselves.
All of my dreams were coming true, I had gained a new family, an anchor in my life. Things had settled down and I was finally happy and healthy and somewhere good with someone good.
If that wasn't enough my life long dream to go to Disney World was coming true and I was going to experience it with my best friend and my partner. When we got to Disney World the only people even close to my excitement level were the children everywhere, I think I spoke to more kids than adults on the buses because lets be real, they get it. When I saw the castle I cried. Jamie and I spent the next couple hours just taking it all in and exploring. In the early evening we met up with my best friend and rode some rides, until it was time to get a spot for Celebrate The Magic.
We got a spot near the bridge to Frontierland. They tried to get me to move to a more central location but I was scared of missing even a second of the show so we stayed put. Celebrate the Magic is an amazing show I was teary eyed the entire time. Then Wishes started.
I was sitting on the fence post that lines one of the gardens, Jamie leaned in and whispered about life moments that are worth repeating and how this was one of them, and then he got down on one knee.
It was both magical and terrifying , my wildest dream and a terror. I froze, and then I lunged into an awkward kiss. We stood there, me semi blacked out but standing for a few moments. They moved me out of the crowd and I whispered to Jamie that I had basically blacked out with all the people there and I wasn't fully aware still. By this point we had made our way to the wishing well and away from crowds and I was starting to come too.
I thought about leaving this part out but I thought it was such a testament to his love, patience and understanding that it would be doing him and the story a disservice to leave it out.
Shelley suggested we take some pictures, and Jamie realized this was an opportunity. He knew I had panicked and not gotten the full experience in crowd so he took a moment to do it again still by the castle but away from the crowd. The memories of both rounds are kind of jumbled together but I cant think of anything better than being proposed to by the Disney castle (twice!) because my love is so loving and understanding when it comes to things like my anxiety and he wanted me to have,experience and remember the entire thing. He even planned for my best friend to be there, be the que and to take photos! It was such an extremely magical and over whelming night.
Earlier that day I had wished, in that very wishing well and I told Jamie I didn't know what to wish for because I had always just wished to go to Disney and here we were, so I wished for magic and that night I got everything I wished for and more.

"To face the future with anther, who means more than any other, is to be loved"

-The Rescuers 

Cinderella's Royal Table : Dining with Royalty

"No doubt you saw the whole pretty picture in detail. 

The young prince bowing to the assembly. Suddenly, he stops. 

He looks up. For lo... there she stands. The girl of his dreams. 

Who she is or whence she came, he knows not, nor does he care, for his heart tells him that here, here is the maid predestined to be his bride."

-The Grand Duke (Cinderella 1950)

Cinderella's Royal Table is located as it should be right inside of Cinderella's Castle. When you enter that castle your royal family will be greeted as such and you will receive your royal invitation to dine with the princesses (a little ticket with your parties information on it). You shuffle into line to meet Cinderella before heading upstairs to the dining room. Fun fact while your in line look around, up and down you should be able to find some of Cinderella's friends have joined her in the royal life, that's Gus Gus and Jaq you can spot.

After meeting her highness 

Cinderella you take the spiral stair case up to the dining room. CRT is a signature dining experience so it is pricey, very pricey if you are paying out of pocket you are looking at up to 75$ per person (price does depend on age and time) or if your on the DDP 2 sit down credits. So this location is usually followed by "Is it worth is?". I would argue yes. More for the atmosphere than anything else.

 CRT is a character dining experience during which you get to meet 5 princesses including Cinderella. If you were to wait in line to meet each of the princesses separately you could easily spend an entire day just due to wait time of 20-60mins per character. A part from that you are getting the chance to dine in a castle! 

Your meal also comes with your choice of a wand and wishing star or a sword, they do tend to show gender bias on this but don't feel weird asking for which ever you want it was noticable during the make a wish ceremony that some boys felt left out as they waved their swords around like wands because they had no wand. If your an adult don't let them forget you, you are also entitled to your souvenir the stars go great in a scrapbook! 

We chose to do CRT for breakfast the main perk of a breakfast dining reservation particularly at this location is that if your reservation is early enough you can get in at take pictures in front of the castle with little to no crowd! For us this didn't work out as planned however because it was during the ABC Christmas special filming.

So as vegans there really isn't an on the menu option at breakfast other than mickey waffles (totally fine by me though). Our waiter was very courteous he brought us soy milk for our coffee and for our meal we got mickey waffles, potatoes , salad, oatmeal (which was a bit to bland not a fan) and fresh fruit. The good was OK but I was more there to meet the princesses than anything else. 

For lunch and dinner there is an on the menu option of seasonal gnocchi with roasted vegetables eggplant, mushrooms, and squash tossed with gnocchi, arugula, brown butter sauce, and finished with shaved drunken goat cheese and leeks.  Also available with Rice instead of Gnocchi.  As a Vegan Offering without cheese and butter sauce. The lunch and dinner option does sound better but I may again do breakfast so we can do morning photos but if your a foodie I'd say lunch and dinner sound like a better bet.

The princesses are rightfully announced by a trumpet sound, it can be loud in the dining room so you may miss it but you wont miss the princesses themselves, as they enter one by one and begin their tour of the dining room. It can feel like you are being skipped because it is hard to tell what the order they are doing it but be patient your turn will come. Each princess stops at each table for photos and a quick interaction which is really lovely and it feels more natural than the regular meet and greets in my opinion. I will say I wish I had stayed calm and not worried so much about holding them up so I could have gotten better photos I really didn't love any of the photos I got here sadly, but that was totally my own fault.

I would definitely recommend that people make time to do Cinderella's Royal Table if you plan to meet the princesses during your trip it's a much more fun and authentic way to do it compared to waiting in line for a 30sec meet and greet repeatedly throughout your trip. It will save you a ton of time and is one of the most fun ways to meet the characters and get lost in the magic.

DisneyBounding

Salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo 
It'll do magic believe it or not 
Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo

    Disneybound! Disneybounding is a growing fashion trend that allows you too subtly channel your favorite Disney characters and even parks adding a little magic to day to day life. Unlike cosplay which is full costume Disneybounds are subtle hints , they are outfits you could wear out and about that disney fans may pick up on but an unsuspecting on looker will not likely pick up on. Some fans like to blur the lines between cosplay and bounding I personally prefer to keep it separate, so for me no props,no wigs nothing that would begin to cross it over into cosplay territory.   Leo Camacho did a great vlog on the difference between the two as well which I will link below. 

   I bound pretty regularly the 2 I do most often are Anna and Ursula, I am not #teamvillains I just really like my outfit for her which is a cute purple crop top blouse with a high waist black mini skirt and because I am Canadian and its chilly here black thigh highs. As cute as the outfit is I am still #teamheroes sorry not sorry. Anyways for my trip I Disneybound-ed pretty much every day! Some were much less subtle than others and I'll go through and explain them. 

   

 The first Disneybound I did was Minnie Mouse. Here is a picture of my best friend and I both as Minnie, I had wanted to find a skirt with white polka dots but I waited to long to order online and couldn't find one in stores. That said the beauty of bounding is that its supposed to be subtle and not exact so it was totally fine. So for Minnie you would want either a red , or pink skirt with a black top, bonus points if you do yellow shoes, which we did not.

 The next bound was Princess Jasmine. Jasmines colours would be teal or mint with gold. For this one I did a teal dress with a gold necklace and gold head band. Its hard to see in this picture but I also twisted my hair around the headband on the sides creating a hair style similar to hers without the pony tail part.

 You can also do outfits themed after parks or attractions, not just specific characters. For Hollywood Studio's I did Star Wars/ Star Tours. For this outfit I did a high waist pleather mini with a Star Wars tee. So while not channeling a specific character I did go with the theme of the film and the park. Had I done the same outfit at home I would add black thigh high sock or real cute faux thigh high tights from hottopic where the top of the 'sock' is Darth Vader. However because I was in Florida it was way too hot for socks or tights.

 You can't really see it but what I love about this top is that it was Han and Leia in an embrace, you can sort of tell on my left boob (lol) and I love that it plays up the romance, because I am a hopeless romantic. On the other side it has Luke on a tauntuan because why not.




As mentioned one of my favourite and most frequent bounds is Anna from Frozen, I have two versions of this one. I have the one pictured below and one with a darker almost maroon coloured sweater depending on weather. Also not pictured but often used/recommended would be adding a gold belt and the Frozen faux thigh high tights also from hottopic which I am not entirely sure if they still carry.

 So basically when planning a Disneybound you want to find the characters main colours and use those , and channel their look in a subtle and modern way. Clearly I could wear this Anna Outfit any where and no one would find it weird or costume-esque but next to a picture of Anna its clear what I am doing. During this trip I also did Cinderella. For Cinderella I chose a light blue dress with a black choker necklace and silver hair bow. For Cinderella you will want light blues,whites,silvers. The most popular character among bounders  right now according to cast members is Ariel. For Ariel you would want green bottoms with a purple top, bonus points for fish themed earrings or her shell shaped necklace. For land Ariel you would want a dark blue skirt with a black top similar to my Anna outfit above, if your somewhere slightly cooler add a light blue sweater to really complete the look.
 
   Some as I mentioned are a bit less day to day like my Rapunzel. For this look I used a simple lilac dress with a double flower crown and pastel floral necklace. You can find many examples of Rapunzel online the main colors you will want are pastel pinks and purples.

 

  The last princess I did was my favourite, Belle! Belle was not only my favourite but she is actually one of the easiest to bound. For Belle I did my hair half up, half down similar to her hair in the ballroom scene. For most characters I did not try to copy the hair but because bounding Belle is basically as easy as finding a yellow dress I did want my hair somewhat similar to pull the look further into a bound and no just being a yellow dress. My bounders will also add red accents when doing Belle to pay tribute to the enchanted rose, I did have rose earring but honestly just did not think to wear them. I actually changed from my Rapunzel bound into my Belle bound the same day and while I was in the washroom pinning my hair the most precious thing happened a little girl behind me said to her mom "Momma is that girl Belle?". I nearly died, not only did she remind me so much of Chip the way she said Momma but I was at Disney World being mistaken for a princess!  I told the little girl that I just wanted to be like Belle and thanked her and we had a lovely little chat as I finished up. So because of that special moment I will end on Belle.

This is the link to the video I mentioned by Leo Chamacho on the difference between Disneybound and Cosplay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flc3eo38VGw

Snap back to reality!

Stopping magic is a lot harder than starting

All good things must come to an end and my time at Disney World was not exception. The night before had ended in the most picturesque way possible with champagne and fire works over the castle just past the lake. Who could ask for more? 

  Letting it go still wouldn't be easy, lucky for us our flight wasn't until the evening so we went for a quick morning swim and then checked out leaving our bags with the baggage service which is no extra cost and good for those we want to fit some fun into their last day, you drop your bags off and you wont see or worry about them until your home. We still had dining credits due to opting to pay for a few meals out of pocket on prior days, so I headed to the cafeteria for one last Mickey waffle meal sadly it was a different chef working so I only got 3 waffles instead of 4. I cant really complain an adult meal is only meant to have 4 but because so few people request vegan waffles and the iron makes 4 at a time all week the chef had given me 4 so I was really looking forward to that on the last day, if you haven't had Mickey waffles you probably don't get what the big deal it and I cant explain it they are just the best waffles ever.

  We then headed to Disney Springs formerly known as Downtown Disney. We had planned to also do Disney quest but I lost our free admissions passes and those passes were the main reason we were going so sadly we did not go. Disney Springs is a dinning and shopping area a long a small lake or large pond depending on your point of view. It was all sorts of dinning from fun themed restaurants to fine dining. For shopping it offers a large Disneyfied selection including a Lego store with huge Disney themed displays  and the worlds largest Disney store fittingly named World Of Disney. 

  We explored the shops and bought some last second souvenirs and gifts and then headed to the famous Erin McKenna's Bakery formerly part of babycakes bakery. Much to our pleasent surprise they accept snack credits for things under 5$ so we used our last snack credits on donuts to take home I also bought a donut cup to bring home and an ice cream sandwich to eat there. The treats tasted very good but the one thing I was very disappointed by was nothing was Disney themed, now this could be due to copyright and things like that I have no idea but I was hoping for Mickey cupcakes or something and sadly there was nothing. 

   Before heading to the bus back to the resort to wait for our Magical Express to the airport we stopped at The Rain Forest Cafe to split our last table service credit. To be honest it's not that different from others of the chain like that in Niagara Falls so I would have much rathered gown to the T-Rex , same idea but dinosaur themed. Jamie wanted one last water side beer though so we decided on Rain Forest. The chef came out and gave me 2 pasta options that could be veganized so we had a light pasta that was fairly good. I forgot american iced tea is not like Canadian iced tea so despite ordering sweet tea could not finish my drink, dear fellow Canadians don't forget american iced tea, even sweet tea is probably not what your expecting! Still over all it was very pleasant we even got to watch a few amphicars go by. Then it was time to go. Off to the airport and back to Canada.

  Disney was the best, most magical 8(ish) days of my life which I'll never forget! I can't wait to go back! Now that the day reports are done I can't wait to walk you through, my haul, dining,planning etc 

Let the fun begin, and let's never forget it all started with a mouse.

Day 7: Final day in the kingdom!

"Adults are only kids grown up anyway."

-Walt Disney

 Our last full day. We woke up trying not to think about returning to reality the next day, stepping out on to the walk way at about 8am you could already hear the playful laughter of children, the upbeat surf music of the pool and families splashing around. Despite the deadline you cant help but feel the joy oozing from every corner. We made our way into the cafeteria for mickey waffles ! From there it was time t squeeze as much as possible into our last day.

   Our first fp+ was space mountain so we decided to do the park basically in order starting in Tomorrowland and working our way around. In Tomorrowland we did Space Mountain, and Monsters Inc laugh floor, I had already done Stitches Great Escape with Shell as well as the people mover so we skipped those and the lines for orbiter and Buzz Lighter's were too long so we moved on from there. Before leaving the night before we had managed to make it onto 7 Dwarfs Mine Train with only a 20minute wait at closing just before we went to watch Goodnight Kiss, so we didn't need to try and wait for that one luckily. Our next stop was Under The Sea ~ Journey Of The Little Mermaid! This was one of my favorite attractions of the day, despite Jamie almost falling asleep on it. From there is was off to meet Guston and Peter Pan!

   Now in between point A and point B what I vowed wouldn't happen did, the classic vaca melt down.  I wont go into details but some stressful news came up, this is part of why phones should be off during vacations unless you are going t meet up with someone within an hour. And it was hot , bags were heavy and all things came to a head. Our last day and for a few long moments I thought our last day would be ruined. We stopped so Jamie could call home and sort everything out, but it wasn't looking good. While he tried to get in touch with those he needed to speak to I went into Pinocchio's Village , I had wanted to find and write in the blue fairy's wish book, but to be honest all my wishes had been granted, as long as I could remember Disney was my wish. So with everything happening in the moment I wrote "For Jamie to be happy". I kid you not when I got outside Jamie said he had gotten a hold of who he needed to speak to, everything was fine and while he still needed to calm down he was sorry for over reacting. Magic is real. We went and met Peter Pan who cheered Jamie right up and from there the day was back to its happy status.

   Our final park day happened to land on a MVMCP day meaning after 7 we would have to leave the park. We made our way around seeing all we wanted to see and doing all we wanted to do and were done by a

bout 6. As we entered the Main Street area from Adventureland we saw a crowd forming and realized that the Frozen show was going to start soon so we decided to try and see it. We actually got really good spots on the edge of the crowd and I was finally able to watch Elsa light up the castle and actually see it happen!

    It was finally time to say good bye to the park. We made our way out slowly, taking time to appreciate all the store displays. We had a romantic ADR for Narcoossee's at 9pm so we headed to the boats to The Grand Floridian. The boat ride it's self was quite enjoyable and upon arrival we had lots of time to wander the grounds and enjoy the resort. After we changed for dinner we listened to the lobby pianist and then the lobby band, we took pictures and looked at the giant gingerbread house! We went outside wondered the grounds and watched part of Tangled which was that nights beach side movie under the stars. 

   We arrived to our ADR about 15 minutes early and were seated fairly quickly. Narcoossee's has a vegetarian menu and almost all the dishes can be easily veganized. shortly after ordering the electrical water pageant, which apparently a lot of people don't know about, passed our window. Its a cute little water parade of light up displays. Shortly there after it was time for wishes! Narccoossee's pumps in the Wishes music so you don't miss a moment of magic and it was the best view we had the entire trip! We went out and stood holding each other on the veranda sipping champagne and watching wishes. I really couldn't picture a more perfect ending. If there is any experience I would recommend its Narcoossee's during wishes.

Day 6: Back to the Magic Kingdom

When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you

  Day 6 we woke up slowly and took our time getting ready. We started the day with a swim in surf board bay, I needed to get some use out of my Minnie Mouse bikini and then we got ready for the park. I wore my Tangled Disneybound After our still fairly early fp+ we still had 3 hours until our next fp+ so we decided to get some use of our park hopper and fit in a quick Animal Kingdom visit. 

  Because out Animal Kingdom visit was spur of the moment we didn't have a plan or fast passes so we honestly didn't do a ton. I had researched Animal Kingdom a lot prior to the trip and while I did and do feel comfortable with the park and their treatment of animals it was still undecided if I'd take the plunge and visit it until that very day. When you first walk in you see The Tree Of Life which is an awe inspiring monument to the animal kingdom. From there we wandered to Its Tough T Be a Bug which is a disney show/ attraction based on, you guessed it, A Bugs Life. I really enjoyed this experience not only was the show entertaining and exciting but it did more or less have a vegan message, be nice,even to bugs.

  After that we wandered the park taking in the sites until we ended up in Asia the line for Expedition Everest was only 20 minutes and I had heard good things so we got in line. The wait felt very short given the interactive 'museum' que and the ride was intense and fantastic. The gift shop had ride specific gear that was actually really cool I got my friend who loves yeti's a yeti in a train car with Mickey and Jamie got himself and his bestfriend t-shirts. After that we wandered some more, stopped for a quick, quick service meal at the Dino Diner just your basic veggie burgers but what was nice is that they like many QS spots have a toppings bar so you can really load it up, they also offer free lemon water on the patio which was a god send. 

  After our quick lunch we rounded back and wandered into Africa unfortunately both the rapids and the safari had well over 35minute wait times so instead we took the train to Rafiki's conservation station. What I liked about this train ride is it takes you through the background so you get to learn about and see the behind the scenes facilities, the transparency that Disney demonstrates with it's animal care is too me one of its most impressive features and part of what won me over. I will do a more detailed blog on how I came to be ok with Disney's Animal Kingdom for anyone else on the fence. At the Station we met a giant belgian rabbit as well as Rafiki himself! Rafiki was really fun and danced with me for no real reason other than Disney is awesome and full of random, fun, magical moments! 

After meeting Rafiki it was time to head back to the Magic Kingdom. 

Back at the Magic Kingdom we headed to our next fp+ at The Haunted Mansion! With our fp+ we pretty much walked right into The Haunted Mansion which in my opinion like many Disney attractions is more of a visual experience than mere ride. After that I took some pictures in my Tangled Disneybound and then went to change into my Belle Disneybound for our next fp+  Enchanted Tales With Belle, I've noticed a lot of blogs don't go into detail about this experience in hopes it will be a surprise for guests so keeping with that spirit I wont say much except that this is a must do Beauty and The Beast fans of all ages and involves a character meet and greet making it a great way to meet a character with extra magic.In the bathroom while I was getting ready to add to the magic I had the best Dineybound moment when a little girl behind me said "Mommy is that girl Belle?"! I swear she sounded just like Chip! I turned and told her I just really wanted to be like Belle. Such a magical moment. 
  Tip: I scheduled out fp+ for Enchanted Tales With Belle to be just before our ADR at Be Our Guest. I highly recommend doing it in this order it really adds a bit of magic and it ensures you meet both Belle and Beast. 
  There was quite a wait for Be Our Guest but we didn't mind, dont stress when schedules change it accomplishes nothing but taking away from the magic , Disney isn't a place for negativity or stress. This seems obvious but I saw a few people getting lippy with the staff because they were frustrated they had to wait to eat in the parks most popular restaurant, its normal to have to wait for this kind of thing. Anyways lets not focus n the negativity of others and move on to happy thoughts! As soon as you walk in you know your in a castle, it really is breath taking! We ate in the grand ballroom which looks just like in the movie, it had a view of the enchanted forest and it was snowing out , the Christmas tree was complete with Angelique ! Disney's imagineers captured every detail of the castle to perfection. 
We explored the west wing which is probably where I'd request in the future it too is extremely detailed and very beautiful and a lot quieter. For dinner we both had french onion soup, they did not have dairy free cheese when I went so it had no cheese, bread with dairy free butter and ratatouille as the main, it  was beautiful and I am very glad we had this ADR that said I really, really did not like the food. I found out after you can get pasta with marinara sauce though its considered a kids meal and would definitely get that or maybe just the soup in the future because all the atmosphere is stunning the food in my opinion is not very good especially given the price tag. I should note though that many people love the ratatouille so maybe take my review with a grain of salt. 
  After dinner we walked through the castle gallery, which is another dining room, when I first saw the castle gallery online I thought that it looked really plan and it would be unfortunate to be sat there but after being there photos really dont do it justice and I is actually quite lovely. The castle gallery is probably the quietest during dinner so if your looking for that, this is probably the best room  for you and you can still walk through the others. After exploring the castle we met beast on our way out as everyone gets to, our timing was good and there was almost no wait. 
 By the time we left it was almost closing, we managed to get in line for the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train before the cut off and only waited about 20 minutes! It had been one of goals for the trip to see Goodnight Kiss, which isn't really a show but a way of letting guests know its time to go home and for whatever reason I really wanted to experience it. So after the 7DMT we went and sat in the castle gardens to watch the kingdom say goodnight and just like that it was time to bid adieu to the Magic Kingdom and return to our resort for some much needed sleep.

Day 5: Hollywood Studios

"Aren't you a little short for a storm trooper?"

-Princess Leia (A New Hope)

   After our long day out of parks we managed to sleep in until about 9am on our 5th day. We chose to day Hollywood studios during the weekend in part because weekends are generally the busiest days for the magic kingdom but also because with hockey day being Jamie's day and Hollywood Studios being home to Star Tours based on Star Wars Jamie's favorite movie it made sense to have his favorite things close together. After another delicious Mickey waffles and potatoes breakfast it was off to Hollywood Studios.
  Quick fun fact, Hollywood Studios was formerly known as MGM so if you hear people talking about MGM this is the park they are referring to.  For Hollywood Studios I didn't do a true disneybound but what I wore was a Star Wars t-shirt with a high waisted pleather skirt, This actually ended up as one of my favorite outfits of the trip. Our first fp+ was Star Tours but we had lots of time to get to it so we slowly explored the park as we made our way there, popping into shops and checking out the scenery.  Star Tours is a quick 4D movie that takes your through a short story of being on a galactic tour stopped by the empire. Star Tours was really fun I definitely recommend using a fp+ because it is a popular attraction but if you have to choose between this or Toy Story Mania for your fp+ selection choose Toy Story as it will have the longest wait of all the rides in this park. The ride lets out into a cute Tatooine themed gift shop they now have two star wars gift shops the one attached to the ride is smaller, and much more crowded but does have more toys and nick knacks where as the other store has more clothing.
   After Star Tours we were hungry so we headed to Pizza Planet for lunch. From a food point of view Pizza Planet is awesome! They make good pizza and have vegan cheese at no extra cost. I standard meal comes with pizza, salad(Italian for vegans) and enjoy life cookies.  I really enjoyed lunch here and the place is cutely themed, part of me feels they could do more but I am not sure what. One thing I am very surprised they don't have is a claw machine with the aliens inside! Can you imagine how much they'd make off that? Anyways this was a great "quick" service but its a super busy location which means it ends up not being quick at all so if your looking for speed its a hard skip , but it has great food and isn't a burger so that too me is worth the time.
   After lunch we headed to our last 2 fp+ out of the first 3 you get , which were Tower Of Terror and Rockin' Rollercoaster!  I have never been on a drop ride before. I've been to Canada's Wonderland many times and always skipped drop zone, I'm not a fan of drops but I wanted to do Tower Of Terror. The atmosphere of the ride is really cool, it really feels like being in an old hotel and the video aspects of the ride add a really cool and eerie feel to the ride, and then the drop. After the ride your let off into a lobby where you claim your photos luckily for me there are ledges you can sit on in this lobby because my legs were shaking so bad I had to sit for almost 5 minutes. That said I still recommend this ride! From there we headed to Rockin' Rollercoaster another very intense ride with the Disney level of theming , this may have been the best ride of Hollywood Studios. After Rockin' Rollercoaster we hurried to a fp+ kiosk to pick a 4th fp+. Something not everyone knows, if you manage to use all 3 fp+ you can then choose a 4th and so on. To choose your additional fp+ selections after you've used your first 3 you have to use a kiosk, you cannot use the app.  We managed to get fp+ for Fantasmic so from then until Fantasmic we wondered the park hit up the Honey, I Shrunk The Kids play ground which is amazing you actually feel like you've been shrunk and it also makes for great photo ops. Then we rode voyage of the littler mermaid and fed the ducks.
   Fantasmic was probably my favorite of all the shows we saw while at Disney. It really is magical and I may or may not have cried.
After Fantasmic we went to walk through the Osborne Spectacular of Dancing Lights. Prior to seeing it I honestly wasn't looking forward to this part, Niagara near by here in Canada does The Festival of Lights annually and it used to be sponsored by Disney so I did think it would be that special, I also worried the lights might give me a head ache but I still wanted to go. Much to my pleasant surprise it did not give me a head ache! Also it was really, really cool! I am so glad we went. I really don't know how to describe what about it makes it so special and I know the pictures I include will not do it justice, you just can't capture it you have to authentically experience it.
   We didn't stay at the lights long, it really doesn't take long so we headed to the bus to go back to the resort and get some sleep for the next day.

Day 4: Is this reality?

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense.” 

-Alice In Wonderland

 Day for was spent out of the parks, in the real world. If you can really expect a Canadian girl to consider Orlando the real world when its 30C in November! Curiouser and curiouser. For our out of parks day we got up super early with the plan of renting a car and driving to a river tour. It took much longer than expected toget ready, rent the car and hit the road and we realized before leaving the parking lot that we were not making the tour. So instead we went to a not yet open Disney Springs just to walk and get the lay of the land and then drove to one of the Disney outlet stores about 10 minutes away from there.  The Disney outlet on vineland which is close to Disney Springs is small so the selection isn't fantastic in all honesty, the prices however are! I can only imagine the money this store could potentially save parents but even for myself. I got the 2015 parks scrapbook + paper and sticker kit for under 30$, the book alone is 30$ in parks! I will get more into shopping and deals when I do my haul after my day reports are done.

  After snagging some awesome saving at the outlet store we were on the road again, this time to Tampa, or I should say Clearwater. The drive From Disney to Clearwater is a bit over an hour but it is a very pretty drive! Palm trees everywhere, so many small bodies of water, very scenic while practical. Clearwater beach was our destination, Jamie really wanted to swim in the gulf of mexico, I got excited that we MIGHT be able to see wild dolphins! The first little while to me was nice but not spectacular, I fed seagulls and swam, but then it happened, out of the corner of my eye, could it be? A double look and yes, yes it was, DOLPHINS! Two adorable, happy and free dolphins jumping and playing in the distance! I squealed, I jumped, I ran as close as I could (which wasn't close at all). I would love to know what the rest of the beach thought of me because not one other person seemed to care in the slightest. 

  After about 20 minutes of intensely scanning the waters in hopes of seeing more dolphins it was time to head to actual Tampa to see the Tampa Bay Lightening's vs. The Florida Panthers. Yes we Canadians took time in Florida outside of Disney to go see a hockey game. Want more?  The arena has Tim Hortons! That has to be marketing to snow birds for sure because there didn't seem to be any other Tim's anywhere. I actually don't really drink Tim Hurton's when I went vegan they didn't have non-dairy options , although some locations now do. Still despite not drinking it and despite them being sell outs I still feel a cultural connection as sad as that sounds.

  This NHL game was actually my first professional sporting event and I have got to say it was pretty rad. The energy really was electric, the played fun music whenever the puck wasn't on the ice and when someone scored they made real lightening, I know its kind of like a grade 10 science project but it really was cool I don't know why more teams don't use this simple technology to boost crowds. The game was really fun and I did not regret buying a 35$ t-shirt even though Tampa did lose. 

   By the end of the game I was totally exhausted and slept the whole way back.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

I'd say there's something 
magical in the air, wouldn't you?
Why it's the spirit of the season,
a season that sparkles with its own
magic and memories. -Holiday Wishes

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party also known in short form as MVMCP for those whom may not know, as I mentioned this event deserved it's own entry, so here we are. MVMCP is a hard ticket event, meaning that a regular park ticket will not get you in. People with party tickets can begin entering the park at 4pm and the party starts officially at 7pm. My bff Shell and I had already been in the parks all day, since about 10-11am minus a slight separation for separate dinners when we met up for the party a round 7 for the start. When I arrived it was already snowing on Main St. and WOW being from Canada the sight of snow in and off it's self really isn't that special. Yes it's beautiful watching the first snow of the year, or on Christmas eve,Christmas, even New Years but those are about the only times your happy too see it, because when it snows here its also around -20 degrees Celsius which for American readers would be about -4F so yea, it sucks. But walking down Main St. and looking at the castle lit up in ice through a light flurry while warm and in a t-shirt was more than magical it was awe worthy. 

      I was late so we hurried over back to Shell's family who were sitting in the viewing area waiting for the parade to start. Before the parade there was the Frozen lighting of the castle mini show, unfortunately due to the ABC filming our view was totally eclipsed by fake bushes( or at least temporary bushes) that were set up to hide the filming equipment. After the Frozen show it was time for the Christmas parade! Our spots for the parade were perfect, right on the curb, full view.
The parade was everything you'd expect bright colors, magical characters, fun themes and sounds, with a little extra Disney touch which was SCENT! The flouts were pumping out themed scents! This for sure took the parade too a whole other level, it's said that Disney also pumps certain scents throughout the park during the day, I personally tried really hard to notice it and couldn't but I do have a very weak sense of smell. All and all though I still would say Festival of Fantasy parade wins for best Disney parade.

  After Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas Parade we headed to Adventure land to meet my favorite Captain Jack Sparrow. We arrived quickly so the line was still quite short we probably waited around 10 minutes  not because of line length but because he spent so much time with each person. Personally I'd rather wait longer and actually get an interaction than get in quickly but only get a quick snap and then being hurried out. Jack was a hoot! After our turn we waited too watch the girl in line behind us go because we had talked in line and she was also hilarious! When you meet Jack it is on a little stage so people walking by can watch. After meeting Captain Jack we walked right on to The Jingle Cruise not only did we walk right on there were only 2 other people on our boat. Our skipper didn't let that stop him though! He gave a performance as if the boat was loaded. I wish I had gotten his name so I could give him a shout out because he was a riot! I rode it again a few days later and while my second skipper did use some of the same Jokes both did also add original material.
    After Jingle cruise we ran over to the Circus to meet Sandy Claws ( Jack Skellington) who is a special meet and greet only there during Christmas and Halloween parties. The wait for Sandy Claws was by far the longest meet and greet, probably the over all longest line I waited in the entire trip (understandably) I would say it was at least 35 minutes. By the time we meet Sandy Claws , who was also hilarious, we were extremely tired and sore it was about 11 pm so we abandoned ship and headed back to our resorts after that.
   I would probably do MVMCP again, I would definitely do it differently there were other shows and experiences I wanted to do and see but it wasn't my day so I didn't push and also having already been in the park all day I was in too much pain to really care. In the future a party day would definitely be a day when we stayed at the resort for the morning and headed over in the afternoon. We didn't capitalize on the free snacks but info for vegans the cookie stations have Enjoy Life chocolate chip cookies we can eat. They don't have a free vegan hot coco however if you want some you can order starbucks hot chocolate with soy and there ya go!
   All in all if you plan a head so you can make the most of special party events,meet and greets and goodies, I would say it's still worth the price too attend. If in the future the prices go up or you don't plan then it probably wont be worth it in all honesty. So consider that while deciding, the party is only as good as you make it.

Day 2: A Very Merry Unbirthday!

Now blow the candle out, my dear
And make your wish come true
A very merry unbirthday to you

 Day two was my best friends birthday, unlike my best friend I am a super planner. I started planning my vacation well before the 180 day mark while my friend would pick up some tips from me but barely plan at all other than booking a few ADR's (advanced dining reservations). So on this day I had too follow her lead and try not to stress over optimizing time. For her birthday we spent the day in her favourite park the Magic Kingdom. It also happened to be a Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party night which we both bought tickets for to make that her birthday party.

  On November 12th I woke up and after quick food court breakfast of vegan Mickey waffles, which are available upon request (and amazing btw) my bff was at the resort and ready to go. We both had more or less, matching Minnie themed outfits consisting of black tops, red skirts and our sparkly Minnie ears. On the bus to the Magic Kingdom the driver announced my friends birthday, told the bus to stare at her and then lead everyone in a Happy Birthday sing-a-long, Best.Bus ride.Ever. Shell was honoured yet traumatized and I was thoroughly entertained.

 

   I did have one minor plan for Shell's birthday, she hates surprises so it was very difficult to drag her along. I dragged her to the Bippity Boppity Boutique and got a quick terrified "You better not have booked us kid make overs, I wont!" After quickly assuring her I wouldnt spend 60+ dollars on a little girl make over I know she'd hate. What I did have planned was some magical pixie dust. I called over one of the fairy godmothers and explained that it was my best friends birthday and I just wanted some pixie dust. The fairy godmother happily abliged telling use both to close our eyes and make a wish in our hearts, then she waved her magic wand over us as pixie dust magically rained down over us.

   In the end Shell did love my surprise despite herself and we continued on to our fastpass too meet her favourite princess Rapunzel and one of mine Cinderella. Meeting face characters can be awkward, but honestly its usually only as awkward as you make it. If you let yourself believe in the character, believe in the magic then it wont be awkward at all. Meeting Rapunzel was adorable I embaressed Shell by talking her up to her hero , but inside I'm sure she loved it. Cinderella was a little awkward because we both blanked on what to say, I spent the whole time in line thinking of things to say to Rapunzel to make the experience special for my friend that I had nothing to say to Cinderella, poor Cinderella.

  After meeting the princesses rode the Tomorrowland People Mover with about a 5minute wait and then Stich's Great Escape also had about the same 5 minutes wait. After that we grabbed a quick lunch at Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe I wasnt hungery so I didn't order anything myself I just ate some of Shell's fries but had I wanted too they do have a veggie burger, just double check its the vegan burger and bun they switch them up frequently.

After lunch we headed back towards the castle and were treated to a surprise to us Christmas concert from Ariana Grande (vegan!) and then over to The Haunted Mansion which we also had a fastpass for. We practically walked on and it was an amazing ride, if you havent been, go! The attention Disney pays to details is beyond perfectionism. Unfortunately the ride did stall and we were stuck for a couple minutes listening to their ghoulish show tune on repeat. Within 3 minutes or so the ride continued on with all its fun and soon we returned to the land of the living.

  After The Haunted Mansion we headed to the ride I was most excited for which was Pirates Of The Caribbean! Which for no apparent reason is my all time favourite movie which I've seen over 60 times (seriously I lost count after 60). The ride has been updated to include Captain Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbosa but maintains its classic feel. After the ride we watched Jack's mini pirate tutorial show. By this time it was almost 4pm so we split up for dinner Shell going off with her family and me returning to my partner who had spent the day on The Boardwalk so we could go to our ADR at Trails End. I will do an entire entry on Trails End, so for now I'll just say WOW and move on.

  After dinner my partner Jamie, went back too The Boardwalk to watch sports at the ESPN bar and I returned to the Magic Kingdom to meet Shell for Mickeys Very Christmas Party. Despite being part of day 2 the Christmas party really does merrit its own entire and this one is getting long so I will leave it off here and hopefully you'll come back for more!