Day 3 Part 1-Last Park, forsaking my Disney Fandom card! (Disney '21)

I'd like to say I slept in and didn't get to the bus stop until 8:42 (according to the EXIF data) because I had the most amazing birthday's ever, but, in all actuality, I could literally barely walk at this point and it just took me a long time to get ready and physically get to the bus stop: The ride to Epcot was too short (bet you thought you'd never hear me say that, but by this point, any chance I got to sit down was a good one and Epcot isn't a park for sitting). Of course, my luck being what it was, they dropped us off at one of the furthest bus stations I've ever been to: It took me quite a while just to get to Spaceship Earth (and no, I didn't ride it, so yes, it's going to be one of THOSE days): There were at lot of walls though, and Disney has only gotten worse since. It's been my reasoning for why I don't want to go back (all the changes I don't agree with), but I also have issues with Florida in general, Disney management, and a million other things, but that's for another set of posts...I'm trying not to be too negative: I did head over to The Land to ride Soarin' and Living with the Land, but I'm not sure if I road either because I have no pics. More than likely, I did ride Soarin', but not Living with the Land. If I had to guess. I could see where, at least at that time, I could walk right onto Soarin' so there wouldn't be time to take pics, but Living with the Land is a long boat ride, so there would be a ton of time for pics. I obviously didn't ride it at all, but I can't imagine I walked all the way into that building and didn't ride anything. But, since I have no proof, I'm not counting either, just to be safe. I also didn't eat breakfast at Sunshine Seasons, one of my favorite breakfast spots, because there are no pictures of it. Probably because it was getting close to time for World Showcase, which meant Food and Wine, but something was very wrong! I walked to The Seas with Nemo and Friends, but I didn't go in (there are no pics and there would be pics): I do have proof I road Figment: Mainly because here he is! And the second I could get there (World Showcase opens later than Future World does, but I'm not sure they call either land by those names anymore), I was back in search of 50th statues (although again, I missed a ton!):

I did start hitting the Food and Wine booths, apparently not until Germany though, according to these pics (it may have been 2 years, but I know my FaW booths!): Although I didn't remember to take a picture of my drink until I had finished, but I'm pretty sure it was alcohol free. It might have been pomogranate maybe?

Then Italy apparently: And Greece (and there is no use showing you the booths, the outside of those hasn't changed in years, although I did manage to photograph every single one...somehow): More walls: Canadian cheddar cheese soup and pretzel bread...my absolute favorite thing on this planet! This was supposed to be pavlova, but it was the weirdest pavlova I have ever had. I remember that at the time: I did go into the new Creations store in Epcot, which took over my beloved Mouse Gear, which I apparently never reviewed, so I need to fix that. Creations is divided into silver and a color side, which I thought I would prefer the color side, since it was very 80's, but I ended up prefering the silver side. But if this trip taught me anything, it's that tastes change, and apparently, mine definitely have! What I can remember about that day at that point was, it was about 1:30 (again, I checked the EXIF data), and I found myself back at Spaceship Earth with a choice...make the loop around World Showcase again, start riding rides, shop, or head back to the room...can you guess which way I went? Yep, you guessed it! Back to the resort I went! I was having extreme bouts between numbness and pain in my feet and legs and I just couldn't take it anymore. I needed a break. This pic was taken later, but you get the point). I rested for a bit, and by 4:45 was back at the bus stop, but waited almost an hour for the bus (this pic was timed at 5:30 p.m.). The longer I sat there, the more I just wanted to go back to the room: Given a choice between sitting at the bus stop or hurrying up at Disney Springs and being in the room for the night, I would definitely pick the room anytime. I REALLY needed to get some shopping done...there are trip necessities that I always buy that I haven't even purchased yet (a hint...I don't end up purchasing them). But that's for now, so stay tuned!

Day 2 Part 2-It's my Birthday and I'll cry if I want to (Disney '21)

Ah, welcome back to the "fun" that was my 2021 Disney trip! I did slow these down a bit because they were coming too fast, even for me! Last you left me, I was heading back from the Magic Kingdom, in pain, but it was my Birthday, so I had plans. It was noon when I left, but it took forever for the bus to arrive, so it was 12:46 p.m. when I got back to the room:

I tried to take a bit of a nap, but I think it was more of going through what I already bought, dealing with my feet, and dealing with the ant situation. By 3:30, when I headed out to Disney Springs, I looked like this (and normally I don't; a) take pictures of myself and; b) show pictures of myself, but this is important for the story narrative, so I'm allowing it...I'm tired-looking, puffy, and my goodness, the hair!). I went out in public like this people! Seriously? By the time I got just to the walkway (which was aways away from my room), I had to get to just beside where that tent is, which, as the crow flies, isn't that far, but I ain't a crow and I can't fly, so I was in for a long walk! I stopped a TON and a LOT of people passed me (people that don't seem to exist here, but I assure you, it was a pretty busy path, I was still very apprehensive about picture taking...an absolute first for me), but it was all in the guise of "taking quality pictures" when I did stop (aka resting my feet): Best signage ever!

At 4:10 (according to the EXIF data, meaning it took me about 40 minutes to walk that loop), I made it to Raglan Road and just sat outside for a long time taking a lot of pictures until I could even check in for my reservation...I didn't want to carry anything around just yet, so I hadn't been shopping a bunch...I just sat there: But hey, slàinte mhath! (I did use Google Translate for that, but only to get the accent graves, so to hit my Scottish blood...Co-là-breith sona dhomh, happy birthday to me! (yes, I'm digressing, it was a rough night): Of course Irish soda bread with oil: And Bangers and Mash (full Irish, meaning with cabbage), I'm learning to embrace my Irish blood: All my dark ride pic experience was going out the window with my Guinness pics:

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I sat in there for way longer than I should, but it wasn't that crowded and I was dreading the next step, picking up the cake. Before we get there though, there is some explaining to do. I did pick up the cake, and got a mini cake too, but the next section was a bit of a blur. I didn't really think about how heavy a full cake would be to carry around. Plus, Disney Springs at night is NOT fun, not even on Monday, which this was. I tried to take pictures (keep in mind, last time we were there, Disney Springs was just being converted from Downtown Disney, so a lot of this is still new to me at this point...I failed at this mission). I tried to shop, but people where just rude. I found myself not buying anything, not because there was nothing to buy, but because I found myself not wanting to get around the people to get to merchandise. I don't remember the exact number, but I know I made it out of the World of Disney Store (the largest Disney store, at one point in the world), with less than 10 items. I didn't go in the art store, the toy store, the Lego store, the bath store, I may have gone in the Christmas store, but I don't remember it. The pictures go from Raglan Road to the cake shop (and only one cake in the display window) back to the room in a matter of an hour (and keep in mind, it took me 40 minutes to get there, and by the time I ate, and walked around even more on my already sore feet and legs, that means my shopping was extremely minimal at best for me to get back in an hour). The cake bag was massive and I bought a backpack I didn't even want just to have another way to carry packages other than in my hands. I almost get the shivers remembering that walk back. To say it was rough is severely downplaying it. So let's just pick back up there, at the room with the cakes: The seven layer red velvet delight that is Amorette's! I forget the exact name of this cake, but I've had the mini version of this cake before and thought the big version was a good idea. In restrospect, it wasn't. I was literally eating this cake for a month afterwards! And even now, if I ever did go back to Disney World (which as of now, I have absolutely no desire to do in its current state), the thought of this cake makes me sick to my stomach. It is still very pretty, but ugh, how sickenly sweet it was! And my first slice:

The mini cake was just plain chocolate, but I ended up eating a lot more of it and, in the long run, ended up actually liking it better, but I think it was because I was tired, full, and wasn't in the mood for sweet stuff. This one, despite appearances, wasn't nearly as sweet: And, at this point, I stayed in for the night, reading Jane Austen's Persuasion (like I have every birthday since I was in my teens), keeping my feet as elevated as possible. They were bleeding, swollen, and almost completely numb (which I was extremely grateful for, but a bit scared about since that was a new thing). I almost finished the Haunted Mansion cake that night (the rest was breakfast the next morning), and I was seriously questioning my life choices at that point!

This was a short one (for once), but you'll start to notice my attention span drop off considerably for this trip from here. Come next post and day 3, it will be my last full day (and my last park day as it ended up).

Day 2 Part 1-Morning in the Magic Kingdom (Disney '21)

Day 2 finds me starting out pretty early in the morning (about 7:30 a.m.) to the Magic Kingdom (another bad step that will bite me in the tush...apparently I was determined to cripple myself on that trip, which is probably why every night ended at dusk). I was still trying to avoid people as much as I could, and I will say, for the first time ever, I did get a good shot of certain icons without people in my way: And, of course, being late September, not only was it my birthday (literally, on that day exactly), but it was getting close to Halloween time, my FAVORITE time of year! I walked down paths I'd normally ignore just to avoid the people: Saw my first couple of gold figurines for the 50th, here's Abu:

But instead of heading directly to Haunted Mansion (as per usual), I headed to Pirates...another sign that this whole trip was an "off-kilter" for me: I will say, I was making more of an effort on my dark ride pics, and for no flash and motion rides, considering how badly I was doing in the sunlight, I was doing much better on the dark rides: And yes, I still say "we wants the red head" under my breath during this section of Pirates, stupid wokeness be damned: As far as I know, Captain Jack is still there, but I figure they will remove him eventually: Knowing that Splash Mountain was going to close, I should have ridden it one last time, but I couldn't bring myself to. I always regretted that last ride on Maelstrom because it was so broken down and old and now that's how I remember it, so I just walked by and took one last quick snap, preferring to keep my beloved memories of one of my favorite rides: While I headed over to my favorite ride of all time, The Haunted Mansion! I do have to say, guests were misbehaving worse than I had ever seen them, using flash photography on rides, talking on the cells on rides, not even paying attention to the rides at all (I mean really, why ride them if you can't even be bothered?), and my least favorite, climbing on stuff when they shouldn't be, but the hearse was clear for the first time in a few years, so I got a pic of it: This trip was a precursor to all the behavior you've been reading about for the past couple of years for Disney guests. Believe me, I saw it beginning! But I tried to ignore it and kept on with the interior ride pics (there are a lot more in the album, but here are a few samples, which would probably look better if I had Lightroom and Photoshop, but oh well, maybe I'll get it in the future and re-edit these): And then it was off to Small World (and there is a reason why I'm showing you these three rides...more in a mo-mo). I took a TON of pics in here, but here are the two most important, my two little Scottish friends, regular and the winter (I'm not entirely sure that's what they are called, but that is what I call them): The next little bit is a flicker of images, because that was what the next few hours were like...I caught a short parade: Walked around the castle and got the 50th decorations: And then started hitting up the 50th statues (and I'm not going to show you all of them, but here are a few...I'm still kicking myself for not getting a map, because I missed a lot of them, including Stitch, but at this point, I still figured I would be back in a few months at the latest, so I wasn't too worried...if only I had a clue!):

I headed over to Gaston's for some LaFou's Brew and for a "Grey Stuff" cupcake (and for those who are unfamilar, LaFou's Brew is basically frozen apple juice and toasted marshmallow syrup with a mango-passionfruit foam on top...it's pure heaven and will make you seriously ill if you have more than one, oh, and the "grey stuff" cupcake, like "try the grey stuff, it's delicious", again, basically oreo cookies, chocolate pudding and cool whip...super easy to make, but will make you super sick): I ended up walking back through the castle and inside it, something I haven't done since the mid aughts (it's usually closed off for one reason or the other). But my nervousness meant I didn't get good, evenly spaced and centered pics of the mosaics...still kicking myself over that too. I wasn't in a restricted section, but I was behaving like it. I was in full paranoia mode on this trip, I'm tellin' ya!

I was even able to walk under the portcullis and out to the stage, something I haven't been able to do in ages! And back 'round to the castle face: Where I caught another quick band: Took about a million more pictures of the castle, and then waddled my way to the bus stop at noon (yes, you read that right, noon): Remember when I said those three rides would be important? It is because I only rode three rides that entire day. But what you also may not understand is, this was my ONLY day in the Magic Kingdom...I would NOT be back, meaning I only rode three rides for an entire park...my favorite park, which I was only in for about 4 1/2 hours! So that's two parks down and three rides rode, no shows and some shopping. The shopping I was about to rectify, but the ride situation would not get better. Again, I wasn't too worried. I didn't feel like I had wasted money on an annual pass because it always pays for itself in purchase discounts, but I was still planning on being back in a few months with my sister at this point in the trip. I didn't understand the damage I was doing to my body at this stage, let alone my mental health. I still was "Disney hopeful". Poor pitiful naive me.

But hey, we're living in the moment, so next up, it's my BIRTHDAY and I'm celebrating large (and by large, I mean foot swelling size) in Disney Springs! I'm shopping, bur ironically not buying much (yes, I went to Disney and came back with practically nothing during a celebration year), eating a Birthday dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, trying to stand in line for a popular cookie store (but chickening out 10 minutes in a 30 minute line), picking up a custom cake and carrying it all back by hand (and on foot) about a hundred miles (well, maybe not that far, but it felt like it) only to discover I had a room full of ants, dealing with oozing blisters on my feet as well as sun poisoning (but I will keep those pics to myself)...Happy Birthday to me! See ya Wednesday!