30 Years of Magic pre-tripping!

Thanks for all the condolences. While it was expected, you really are not prepared. I miss her, but am happy that she is no longer suffering and confused.

Onward to the trip report!

Travel day " We arrived at the airport with time to spare before our flight. Yah, to say we were excited is a total understatement! We had a layover in Chicago, then an hour delay was tacked on. Total bummer. We finally arrived in Orlando at 9:30 p.m. Made our way down to Magical Express and arrived at Port Orleans Riverside around 10:30 " happy, exhausted and "too excited to sleep"! Our room was in Alligator Bayou, Building 24, pool view and close to a bus stop. YAY! We were home!

Day 1 " All trips must start at Magic Kingdom, so that is exactly where we went when we finally got up around 9 a.m. (this was NOT part of the plan, but hey, it worked just fine). Yes, there were tears when I caught my first glimpse of Cinderella's castle. It still just takes my breath away. Then you have that wonderful smell from Main Street USA " sweet, familiar, the things you remember from childhood. We took our time strolling along and, like always, headed toward Adventureland. First up was the Jungle Cruise. We had a fantastic skipper " all the silly jokes at all the right times! I even got a picture of "the backside of water"! Next, we hit up Pirates. I love this ride! We had a reservation at Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge for lunch, so we headed that direction next. We had never been to this resort before, so we got there a little early and did some looking around. It is really gorgeous and is now on my Disney bucket list! Lunch was good and our server did bring ketchup, ketchup, and more ketchup when Tim asked for some! Headed back to MK just in time for Festival of Fantasy. Love that fire breathing dragon! After that we took a trip on the People Mover " one of my favorite ways to relax at MK. Next up was Philharmagic and then Small World. We went Under the Sea with Ariel and finally rode Dumbo! I think Tim felt silly until he saw another couple, no kids, doing the same thing. Fun times! It was finally time for our 7 Dwarfs Mine Train FP. This was a really fun little coaster " so glad we had an FP! (The wait time was around 2 hours!) Big Thunder was next and then we rode the train to the front of the park. Getting off the train, we watched "Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It" on the train station platform. Wandered through the Emporium for a while and decided to grab supper at Cosmic Ray's and listen to Sonny Eclipse for a little bit. Wandered back over to the castle and took a bazillion pictures and then decided to head to the Haunted Mansion. We visited the Hall of Presidents, because we were in the neighborhood and then I spent some time in the Christmas store. I buy an ornament every time we go on a trip and found the cutest little Santa hat with ears! Love that I can have my purchases delivered to our resort! It was getting about parade time, so we headed toward Main Street. Armed with Starbucks we melted into the crowd and watched the Electrical Parade, Celebrate the Magic, and Wishes. We were wiped out! It had been a fantastic first day and when we got back to our room, there was an anniversary card from Mickey and Minnie. Magical ending to a magical day!

Day 2 " Today we had a magic cookie bar for breakfast and it was everything I was hoping for and more! I think every day should start this way!

Hopped on a bus to Epcot around 10. Our first FP was for Spaceship Earth, which had a healthy wait time, so was glad we had an FP! Spent some quality time watching the Fountain of Nations from the Fountain View terrace. A lovely family was pressed up against the railing by the fountain when a gust of wind sent water their direction and soaked them. The mom was not amused, the dad was trying not to be amused, and the kids thought it was awesome!

Headed over to Club Cool and had a shot of Beverly for my nephew, who is 10 and loves the stuff! Had a FP for Test Track, which I have not been on since 2006. It was a hoot! Visited Crush and The Seas next and then we spent quality time at the Character Spot meeting Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy.

Next we headed to World Showcase to check out the flowers and topiaries. OH MY GOSH " "beautiful" doesn't even begin to describe the flowers during Flower and Garden! Wandered through Canada, UK (got to meet Tigger quite by accident!), stopped in France for a grey goose slush (yummers!), looked around in Mitsukoshi (had a request for some rice paper candy), wandered around Morocco and was really starting to get hungry! Finally it was time for our reservation at Via Napoli! This had to be the best pizza we have ever had! My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Our waitress was awesome and brought us an anniversary desert and several of the staff sang to us.

We slowly walked around World Showcase while we waited for Illuminations. Just had to stop at Karamell-Kuche and pick up a snack for later " I love good caramel! Found a good spot to watch Illuminations by Norway. Great show as usual! Wandered a little more, enjoying the park after dark, made a stop at Mousegears and then headed back to POR for the night. Another fantastic day!

Day 3 " Again, we got up mid-morning and decided to head back to Epcot for brunch at Boulangerie Patisserie. Can you say "Yummy"?!?! I love quiche and this was really good!

Walked around WS and then made our way to the monorail and headed to MK for the rest of the day/night. Got there just in time to see the Festival of Fantasy parade again. A very nice CM let us stand in an area reserved for FP+!

Hit up Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Haunted Mansion. We stopped in to check out Gaston's pub and have a little drink and decided to ride the carousel and then made our way over to dinner at Be Our Guest. Now, I am a HUGE fan of Beauty and the Beast, so this was more than exciting to me. We waited a short time until the Master requested our presence in the ball room. After we were seated I just had to take a peek into the west wing! Our waitress brought us some "Grey Stuff" for our anniversary and a card signed by Belle and the Beast. The detail in this place is amazing and I am sooooo glad we got to experience it!

Decided to hit up Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, Splash and Pirates again. It was getting dark, so we found a spot to watch Wishes from " this time we were behind the castle. Much less crowded than Main Street! After Wishes we headed to Space Mountain and the People Mover. Went to the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor. It is cute! Spent some quality time in the Emporium before we decided to go back to POR " it was 1 a.m. by now!

He was HUGE! I didn't think he would be quite that big.

Day 4 " Slept in this morning and then headed to Animal Kingdom. First up was Expedition Everest " twice. What a great ride with amazing attention to detail. I could spend all day here just looking at everything! We had a late lunch at Yak & Yeti. I had orange chicken and Tim had some kind of lo mein " both were delish! This was my favorite meal during our trip, so thank you all for suggesting it! I believe this will be a "must" for us on future trips! Next we had a date at Kali River Rapids where I wore a poncho and Tim got soaked. There were 3 little girls riding and squealing " just having a blast! They were hoping to get wet and they did! I finally got to see the Lion King show and all I can say is "wow". It brought tears to my eyes " just awesome! We checked out the Tree of Life and went to Tough to be a Bug.

When we got back to POR we decided to go check out Downtown Disney and grabbed a late dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express. I tried the bacon-wrapped meatloaf. Not my favorite, but glad I tried it. Tim had a chicken salad croissant. It was really good! I was thrilled to do a little shopping in Basin and at World of Disney. So much fun stuff to look at! DTD is a lot different than it was when we were there 5 years ago!

Day 5 " Got up and decided it would be a good morning to get some laundry done. I know, it sounds super exciting, but that's what we did. We went to Hollywood Studios and grabbed lunch at ABC Commissary. A salad for me and a burger for Tim. First thing we had to do was Rock 'n Roller Coaster and since the standby was only 20 minutes we did it again! Then we "needed" a carrot cake cookie, so we headed to Writers Stop. This might be my favorite snack of all time! Stopped in to see Indiana Jones next. Haven't seen this in about 10 years. We went to Beauty and the Beast next and (as usual) it brought me to tears. Next we went to One Man's Dream. I could spend all day here. Love it! The rest of the day is sort of fuzzy, but we did have dinner at Backlot Express. Nothing too exciting, I think we both had a hot dog or a burger. Wandered the Streets of America for a bit. To finish our day we went to Fantasmic and it was wonderful. Perfect way to end the day!

Day 6 " Got up and headed to Downtown Disney for the morning. Found an adorable Mickey shirt for our little grandson who is only 9 months old right now. Love that lil fella and can't wait to take him to Disney!!! From there we went to Epcot and hopped on Spaceship Earth. I really can't remember what we had for lunch on this day or even where, so it must not have been anything exciting. Spent a majority of the day just taking our time and wandering through World Showcase. Stopped in Canada to watch the lumberjack show and in the UK we caught part of the British Revolution. In Japan we saw Matsurizato. Yes, there were a few Grey Goose slushes involved. We also met Jasmine in Morocco. On a whim, and because the air smelled sooooo good, we had dinner in Morocco at Restaurant Marrakesh. Food was good " chicken kabobs for me and couscous with beef for Tim. I totally forgot about the belly dancer, so that was fun! Was so cute when she had all of the little kids come up and dance with her! Stayed for Illuminations and collapsed when we got back to POR.