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).