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Celebrating Laurakah At Walt Disney World - Photo Journal
- Jan 25, 2009 at 8:27 PM
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- Comments (7) Total Views (137) Everyone can see this journal post.
Well, we just returned from our weekend trip at Disney, where we celebrated my birthday,aka "Laurakah!" Wow! What a great time!
I was hoping to get to the Magic Kingdom around 11:00 am, but we had a couple of "snags" before we even left the house. For one thing, we had to take two vehicles because Alex had to return home on Saturday morning so he could attend a funeral. (His good friend's mother passed away, and he really needed to be there for his buddy.) So I drove Alyssa in my car, while Alex followed in his. Not the most gas-efficient method of transportation, but you do what you gotta do.
Anyway, we didn't arrive until around 3:00pm on Friday, thanks to a leisurely breakfast at Bob Evans, followed by a trip to my SIL's house to drop off Alex's truck, then a few misdirections given to us by our GPS. Ah well!
Since we are passholders, I opted for the $75 non-expiring gift card. SA-WEET!!! And I was already wearing my birthday button, given to me by a cast member during our December trip. In fact, I was wearing FOUR birthday buttons: the most current one with my name written on it, and three from when I celebrated my birthday at Disney 6 years ago (one from Animal Kingdom, one from Epcot, and one from MGM/Hollywood Studios).
I forgot how much Disney ROCKS in January! As I mentioned, we walked into Main Street USA a little after 3:00pm, and still got front row seats to the afternoon parade! It started at 3:00 in Frontierland and worked its way around Main Street, so before the parade, a cast member was handing out hula hoops to the kids in the crowd. Oh, Alyssa sooo wanted one! Finally, after chasing several hula hooping children around, trying to "share," a cast member found a spare hoop and handed it to Alyssa. Too bad it was one of the bigger hoops! LOL! Alyssa cracked me up trying to spin it:
The parade itself was really fun. Alyssa was so good and stayed out of the parade route while she danced, clapped, and waved at the characters.
However, Alyssa wasn't too pleased when the Villains float came around. She immediately sat down on Alex's lap and turned her head away.
After the parade, we decided to check out a few rides and were pleased to see that the wait times for the attractions were next to nothing! The longest line I saw was a 45-minute wait for Space Mountain.
On the way to Tomorrowland, we stopped to listen to the marching band. Alyssa danced and clapped, and was invited to stand with one of the guys who played trombone. (She wasn't too sure about him.)
After their final number, we waited just 20 minutes for the AstroOrbiters, which Alyssa loved so much, she cried when the ride was over.
We did a few more rides and wandered through a couple of shops so that I could "collect" some WDW bags and Mickey stickers for Alyssa's Disney World-themed birthday coming in March. The cast members were really cool about it! All I did was ask, and they gave me a bunch of stickers and about 35 small plastic bags to use for goody bags at her party. One cast member even gave me a blank "Happy Birthday" button for Alyssa. I also grabbed a stack of Disney napkins from the counter service restaurants to use at her party.
Our dining reservations were at Liberty Tree tavern. The food was DELICIOUS! Alyssa was getting a little cranky by then, though, since she had gone all day without a nap, but she perked up when the servers came over to ring a big bell and announce "Hear ye! Hear ye!" Then they presented me with a birthday cupcake with a candle, a Disney card, and a song (sung to Yankee Doodle). Alyssa was happy to clap along and share in my cupcake as she said "happy birthday, mama!" LOL! (All day, she would point to my buttons and say "That says 'happy birthday, mama!'")
We left Liberty Tree tavern just in time to cope out a great place to watch Tinkerbell light up the castle and fly overhead. Then the "Wishes" fireworks began. Alyssa didn't want to stay for the fireworks, so we made our way to the shops on Main Street to spend my birthday gift card. Whoa! Everyone was outside for the fireworks, so it was the PERFECT time to shop!
What did I buy? Well, I spent $73 of my $75, and got a bunch of stuff! I bought:
- A silver charm bracelet with five character charms (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and Goofy)
- A silver Mickey icon necklace, with a faux sapphire
- A pretty WDW journal/scrapbook for Alyssa. (It was only $1 more than a plain autograph book, and I thought it would make a great guest book for Alyssa's party...especially after she got a few character autographs!)
- A big WDW pen so the characters could sign Alyssa's birthday "guest book" more easily
- A Donald Duck charm (Alyssa's favorite character) for the children's Disney charm bracelet we bought for Alyssa's birthday during our last Disney trip.
- A set of 2 Mickey mouse icon pancake molds that I plan to use as cookie cutters for Alyssa's birthday
- A "Celebraate" trading pin to add to Alyssa's collection.
- A pretty Mickey and Minnie tapestry throw ($15 with $50 purchase)
The next day was just us girls - me, Alyssa, and Alyssa's 2 aunts. We started out in Downtown Disney, and had lunch at the new T-Rex Cafe. It was really cool, and the food was good. The lunch menu wasn't badly priced, either, for a restaurant on Disney property. Alyssa loved all the different "rooms" in the restaurant and the volcano eruptions.
After a filling meal, we explored the Boardwalk resort on the way to Epcot, which is Alyssa's favorite park. (We stopped at a counter service pizza place on the Boardwalk to get a big stack of WDW plates for Alyssa's party, too. LOL!)
Once inside the World Showcase, Alyssa wanted to try everything she saw. We spent a good deal of time letting her play the drums:
As we passed the Norway pavilion, we spotted Dopey. It was the perfect opportunity to try out Alyssa's new guest book. She was so cute handing her book and pen over to Dopey!
We finally made it to Future World, and stopped at the Character Spot which, like most of Epcot that day, was pretty crowded! (Guess Saturdays are busy Epcot days!) Anyway, Alyssa got autographs and photos of Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, and Goofy.
It worked out great, because I plan to use one or more of the pictures from this trip to make Alyssa's party invitations.
We left the park before closing so that we could grab a bite to eat at Uno pizzeria. Alyssa slept all the way there, then all through dinner, poor thing! It's exhausting being so cute all day, I guess!
The ride home with just us two was a little scary at first, but we made good time and Alyssa behaved herself the entire trip. Of course, I had a Disney CD in the player and had to listen to "Yo! Ho! Yo! Ho! A Pirate's Life For Me!" about 89 times, but it beat listening to fussing and screaming.
Tags: birthday, buzz, celebrate, mickey, photo, walt disney world
Comments:
i think that pic of her getting mickey's "autograph" would be a great pic her invitations! i'm so glad you had such a great time, disney world is always so much fun!
So cute! We loved the Liberty Tree Tavern with all the characters running around. The food was great! Alyssa is adorable. Loved the video of her trying to hula hoop! I can...but at the same time, I can't wait till my DS is older to do all that.
I am so glad yall had fun!! Can I be a member of your family, I love Disney World!!!!
FIRST LET ME SAY HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY .THANKS FOR SHARING THE PIC AND STORY .I'M SOO HAPPY YOU HAD SUCH A GREAT TIME .I WAS AT WALLMART YESTERDAY AND WENT TO THE PARTY SECTION AND I FOUND MICKEY PARTY DECORATION AND I THIUGHT OF YOU.THEY HAD PLATES TABLE COVERS CUPS PARTY HATS WELL EVERYTHING.HOPE THIS HELPS WITH YOUR PARTY DECORATION.I KNOW THE FEELING DRIVING ALONE WHEN I WENT THIS PASS NOVEMBER I HAD TO DRIVE WITH MY 15 AND 3 YR OLD I HAD NEVER DRIVEN THAT FAR WITHOUT HAVING ANOTHER ADULT WITH ME .I WANT TO GO THIS MONTH BUT HUBBY CANT GO SOO I GUESS I HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO DRIVE THAT FAR WITHOUT ANOTHER ADULT.
I love the inspection of the Mickey signature. Glad you had a great time and enjoyed the $75.
I love the pics! Looks and sounds like you guys had a blast!!!!
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Yay. Glad you had fun. I can't wait for Jade's birthday there. She is going to get one of those Princess Makeovers that they have now. Also, that T-Rex cafe was cool. We went there last weekend with my parents. They even let Jade and Liana (my niece) build one of those Build-a-Dino's.