WELCOME TO MY TRAVEL BLOG

I have always enjoyed traveling, even if it meant sleeping in a tent when I was younger. I prefer hotels and cruise cabins now, but the motivation is the same...an adventure waiting to happen. Sometimes you will find me traveling with my husband and/or family. Sometimes I will travel alone, and sometimes I will travel with friends. I hope you find it entertaining to keep up to date with me as I explore the world around me. Warning...I like to take pictures of food so don't read if you're hungry. More adventures await...see ya soon...Amy.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Last Day at Disney



Yummy lunch at Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney. Not too fond of the brownie with the peanut butter. I will get the one with chocolate frosting in the middle next time.

Beast's Castle for our Be our Guest Meal







the Main Ballroom early in the day was where we ate our meal for supper





If we were eating lunch here, we would order at these stations

we had rose folded napkins

steak and frites

yummy chocolate cupcake

the lemon cupcake was just as delicious as the chocolate

the array of desserts

Beast waiting to entertain his visitors in the study

Sorceror's of the Magic Kingdom
Today was a very relaxing and great way to end our vacation. We slept in a little later this morning and arrived at Magic Kingdom to quite a crowd of people about 10 in the morning. We were surprised that there were so many, but we were just as surprised with the crowds on Wednesday. We rode Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion, walking on both rides without waits. We pin traded our way around the park and also registered our Sorceror's of the Magic Kingdom card and received additional cards. We left the park to go to Downtown Disney which is difficult to get to when you are in a park. You have to go to a resort and take the Downtown Disney bus from there. We got there by walking to the Contemporary and then taking the bus from there. We ate lunch at Earl of Sandwich which is a favorite of both of us. The line was to the door, but we had read that the line moves fast and it definitely does. We were only in line for about 10 minutes. We wandered and pin traded around Downtown Disney and went back to the Magic Kingdom for an early dinner reservation at Be Our Guest, the newest restaurant there. We were early, and we went to Mickey's Philharmonic which is a 4D movie attraction that I really enjoy. We also played a couple of Sorceror games which are a lot of fun. Dinner at Be Our Guest was magical. We ate in the "ballroom" which is where Belle and the Beast danced. In the middle of dinner, the Beast walks through the ballroom and into the West Wing and then back through the Ballroom to the Study. Once in the Study, he settles to "receive guests" which actually means a photo opportunity with him. We thought it was neat that there is snow falling behind the windows in the Ballroom. We really enjoyed our meal there and the cupcakes for dessert were delicious. We left the park early to avoid crowds after the fireworks. We had a little trouble settling our hotel bill, but all worked out just fine. We are back in our room with our bags packed and ready to head home tomorrow.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Day Four: Hollywood Studios

Up early and made it to rope drop!

Hollywood Studios

Toy Story Mania. No line and rode it twice before the line started!

I hope noone takes a picture of me in one of these things and puts it on the internet!



Christy wins...and wins...and wins!

split breakfast at Starring Rolls

sucked it up and rode this thing...absolutely terrifed me!


Beauty and the Beast





New item at Starring Rolls







Split lunch at Starring Rolls and chose the Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcake, our favorite

this thing is huge and stuffed with chocolate fudge inside





Entertainment...we watched a lot more entertainment on this trip

This group was really really good





One of several optical illusions...that's not a street ahead

sometime around this parade was when we realized the temperature was dropping fast!

















The Great Movie Ride

I won...I won! I think Christy was worn out!

New York Strip Steak

Angel Food Cake and Strawberries

Delicious Chocolate Cake

Bonus Macarons!



Today was an interesting day. We went to Hollywood Studios and our plan to arrive earlier than we had arrived at the other parks was executed perfectly. We were at the front of the line for rope drop. Because we are staying at a resort hotel, we were put in a separate section to use the new RFID poles that they are putting into place. They opened our side earlier than everyone else (about 8:40) so we had a head start to TOY STORY MANIA!!! We walked quickly, pulled a fast pass and got on the ride. We completed the ride by 9:00 a.m., turned around and went right back on it. It was literally a walk on ride for the first two rides. Christy beat me on both of those games, but I was just warming up...lol. We left Toy Story Mania to ride Rockin' Rollercoaster. I have always said that I was not a "roller coaster person" even though I have only ridden maybe two rollercoasters in my life. One of those would be Space Mountain which is probably why I became a non "roller coaster person" because I wasn't told that it was a roller coaster IN THE DARK! I decided on this trip, with the encouragement of my young nephew Ryan, that I should try it just once, that maybe I have changed and now would like rollercoasters, that maybe my husband would finally have someone to ride rollercoasters with him. Well I can honestly now state that I am definately NOT a "roller coaster person". I believe the word "terrifying" is what came out of my mouth when I got off of it. I was literally shaking I was so scared, and this was not only in the dark, but we went upside down!! We were asked when we arrived back at the unloading dock if we would like to ride again right away and Christy did it but not me. I went to the gift shop instead to purchase the picture of my terrified face riding it. We left there and went to Toy Story Mania with our fast pass. Christy beat me on that game also but we were close. She also had the best score for our set of cars. We were laughing that our arm was hurting from pulling the knob too fast. We were hungry but not ready for lunch so we went to Starring Rolls where they offer a pastry, yogurt (or fruit), and a drink for a counter service meal....perfect for splitting. The Beauty and the Beast show was next and I watched the whole thing while Christy left at the end to secure another fast pass for Toy Story Mania. We went to Voyage of the Little Mermaid which Christy had never seen and we both enjoyed it. The fact that it is indoors and cool would make it a great stop on a hot day. Not to be confused with the ride at Magic Kingdom, this is a show with puppetry and a real Ariel person. Our breakfast left us quickly and we went back to Starring Rolls for lunch which we would also be splitting to use our second counter service credit for the day. We split one half of a well stuffed turkey sandwich on focaccia bread, chips, a drink, and a GIANT chocolate peanut butter cupcake. After lunch we did some pin trading before we pulled our last Toy Story fast pass and rode Toy Story again and I won that time! I don't think I've ever beaten Christy. I also had the highest score for our set of cars. I'm not sure in what order we did the rest of the afternoon because we seemed to wander around quite a bit. We watched a really good "band" in the street called Mulch, Sweat, and Shears. We also went to Muppets 3D and the Great Movie Ride. By this time, we realized that the weatherman had completely missed the forecast for the day as the temperature dropped about 20 degrees in less than 30 minutes. There was misty rain and wind and we were COLD!!! We found a sheltered area to watch the afternoon parade and then headed with all of the other park participants to every gift store in the park to try and find a sweatshirt or jacket to wear. The shop workers were pulling things out on racks from the back of the store to try and accommodate everyone. By the time Christy and I made it through the shops twice looking for a good deal (which there were none), we ended up with pink minnie mouse hoodie jackets. Not our first choice, but certainly warmer. We really wanted to see the new Jack Sparrow attraction, but the line was a 30 minute wait for a 12 minute show and we were convinced the wait was longer than 30 minutes. We decided instead to use our last fast pass and play Toy Story one more time. Christy must have been getting tired, because I won again!!! It's so much fun and I think we both enjoy it more than anything else in the park. We left the park and rode the boat over to the Yacht Club to eat at Captain's Grill. It was a delicious meal and after dessert they gave us two little macarons. When I asked about whether the kitchen made them or not, the waitress went to the back and came back with four more and told me that they don't make them, but they order them. They really are delicious. We are back in our room now and ready to relax for tomorrow. Tomorrow is our last day and we will spend it at Magic Kingdom.  Until then....