Day 13- Dapper Day at Hollywood Studios

Best day ever!!  We headed for Hollywood Studios for Dapper Day.  It was so much fun to so many people in their vintage finery!  When we arrived in the early afternoon, the parking lot was already filling up!  There were Dapper-Dressed Ladies and Dapper Men everywhere you turned!  So fun!  We boarded the tram and headed towards the park entrance, chatting with a bunch of people around us about what Dapper Day is about.  You can read more about it at www.dapperday.com. Oh, look!  We got photo bombed by a really great couple!

As we walk down Hollywood Boulevard, we see more Dapper Day Ladies!  The park is beautiful and I love the deco buildings.

The first ride is Toy Story Mania, one of my favorite rides!  The whole time you are walking through the line, it is like you are walking beside giant toys.  You get to wear 3D glasses, which look great with my Dapper Day dress.  Tooti won the game today, Twinkie came in second, and I came in third place.

The Citizens of Hollywood were gracious as always, and we took a picture beside Mimi Kaboom in her beautiful car.  Our next destination was the 50s Prime Time Café!  We called ahead so we could have Gluten Free Fried Chicken!  We were seated and the people eating in that area were so funny; we had a blast!  The décor there looks a lot like Great Grandma’s kitchen did.

We went to the Star Wars section and found the Speeder Bike for pictures!

The Streets of America were so amazing with Dapper Ladies and Gents posing with groups of people.  We were stopped several times as we were invited to take pictures with curious onlookers.  It was just so fun!  As we headed for the Studio Backlot Tour, we saw the perfect picture: a lovely lady and her brother-in-law talking next to the fountain!  Cute! (Later, we saw her and her husband on the Backlot Tour, too!)

Waiting across from the Studio Backlot Tour was a Dapper Day meetup as it neared 4PM.  We joined the gathering as we waited to go into the ride.  You see, the Studio Backlot Tour is closing after today, so we had to get a final ride to say goodbye.  You go through the building where they sew costumes, build sets, and keep cool old vehicles from previous productions.  Then you go past the stunt area, my favorite is you get to see the back of the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show.  The cars were racing into the staging area and it was awesome as they showed their driving skills.

On our way to grab coffee at the Writer’s Stop, what’s that we see?  Oh, look, a Chevy outside of the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater!  After continuing on to the Writer’s Stop, we took a coffee break before we headed over to the Dapper Day meetup at The Great Movie Ride!  We even saw a girl that we actually know… it was so fun to see her!

We strolled around the park and enjoyed the evening.  The Frozen Fireworks were absolutely fabulous, beyond words.  We sat outside of the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular as we watched the Frozen Fireworks; they are so overwhelmingly beautiful, I found my eyes were tearing up!  The last night for Frozen Fireworks is tomorrow, Sunday.  I am truly going to miss them.

Day 12- AMC Downtown Disney 24 and Epcot

We need to go to Downtown Disney and go to the movies to celebrate our 12th day!  Downtown Disney is full of restaurants, shopping, bowling and a movie theatre!  AMC Downtown Disney 24 with Dine-in Theatres!  What? Dine-in Theatres?  Next time we are doing that!  Anyway, we saw Guardians of the Galaxy; loved the detail and the story.

Speaking of stories, I loved the movie Saving Mr. Banks!  I loved the way they showed the kind tenacity of Walt Disney.  He had a dream to produce Mary Poppins, and the patience to wait in order to see it happen.  Then, I also love the movie As Dreamers Do.  It tells the story of Walt Disney’s early years in life.  Walt went through tough times in his early years, tough years; he had such determination.  At the last, he made a move across the country and got into the right place to make his dreams come true.  It is a beautiful and tough story.

After Guardians of the Galaxy, we were off to Epcot. We went to grab a bite to eat. The park is so full of people; it looks like a summer evening! The Food and Wine Festival is bustling. We decide we will go to Sunshine Seasons for supper. It is a good place to eat, the lines are good, the food is good, and it is quick.

After dinner, we headed for the America Pavilion for the concert. The park is really busy, so we decide we are going to forgo the “Eat to the Beat” concert and backtrack and watch Off Kilter play in Canada. It is really cool to hear this band and the kilts are really unique! They will be here until the end of September.

Now to the best part! As we were heading back to the front of the park, we stopped by Guest Relations to upgrade our passes because we are now residents of Florida! Water Parks, here we come!!!

When we were finishing up at Guest Relations, a couple was trying to find Soarin’. We came from that building earlier this evening, so I offered to walk with them for a while and get them pointed in the right direction. I love when you can help people find their way around the park. Finally, we headed out to walk to row 50 and find our car.  What a wonderful night!

Day 11- Disney Character Outlet & Epcot

It is a beautiful, cool, cloudy day and the Disney Character Warehouse Outlet is in sight!  I love going to the outlet.  There are so many fun items and it is always changing!  The clothing, beach towels, figurines, trading pins, shoes, jewelry, and other items are a very good value.  There are two locations in Orlando- one at the Orlando Premium Outlets on Vineland Avenue (our usual stop!), only a few minutes from Downtown Disney, and another at the Orlando Premium Outlets on International Drive.

Now, off to Epcot to enjoy the beautiful day.  Epcot is busy and the tram is quick to pick us up and take us to the gate.  I enjoy the faces of those who are arriving for the first time.  The excitement and anticipation is in the air, the music is lively, and everyone is trying to get a picture as they enter Epcot.

As we get into the park, we head for the Terra booth for watermelon juice.  Patagonia has two gluten free dishes, the roasted Verlasso Salmon with Quinoa, and the Grilled Beef Skewer with Chimichurri sauce and Boniato puree.  They were both delicious.  Somehow the clouds have moved; it is 87 degrees today, and of course the humidity is high!  Shade!  Lunch is pretty busy and the crowds are pretty thick today.  Australia was next and we enjoyed the Lamb Chop with Mint Pesto and Potato Crunchies!

Mexico has a Rib-Eye Taco that is really tasty.  Now we are off to ride the Gran Fiesta Tour ride.  There you will find The Three Caballeros leading the way through the ride!  It is really fun and the line moves so fast!  I love this ride!  Located inside the Mexico pyramid, which is a good place to explore, the ride is nice and cool.  After the ride, as we leave Mexico, we see the mariachi band!  They asked where I was from, and I replied, “Texas! I saw the Mariachis when we traveled and visited Mexico City when I was 12!”  Pretty funny, that was 44 years ago.

Now off to Farm Fresh for Griddled Yard Bird with Braised Greens and House Made Habanero Sauce.  Tasty!

It was a fun day!

Day 10- Hollywood Studios, By way of Epcot

We had an absolutely fun afternoon at Hollywood Studios.  We did take the long way around, but it was a fun trip.  We started at Epcot, parked, and walked 3/4 mile to Rinse. We saw them at the Flower and Garden Festival and a few weeks later picked up some of their natural body products at the America Pavilion in Epcot. Their natural deodorant has become a favorite and it holds up to the FL heat and humidity so well. Today, we picked up some roll-on essential oils, called Thievery, and it smells amazing! Check them out at: http://www.rinsesoap.com!

We grabbed a cup of hot tea and went to catch the boat from Epcot to Hollywood Studios.  As we were walking out the gate, we saw the boat was leaving, so we walked to the Boardwalk to catch it there.  On the way, I saw a mom taking a picture of her daughters.  We stopped and I asked her name; she was so cute.  Her name was “Mae.”  Oh, my!  My daughter met them on Day 7 at Tony’s Town Square!  I love when we run into someone we’ve seen before. Then, we made it to the dock and caught the boat.

When we arrived at Hollywood Studios, we took our picture with the Olaf sand sculpture… smile!

Once inside the gates, our first ride is the Studio Backlot Tour.  We heard they will be closing it and I wanted to see it before it is gone!  The last time we went, Tooti and Twinkie were in the skit, and it was so much fun.  After the skit, you walk through movie prop storage area; it is very interesting.  Outside you catch a ride through the backlot and get to see the behind the scenes of the movie world and some Disney things like costumes and a wood shop. We had half an hour before our FastPass for the Toy Story Midway Mania ride, so we grabbed a quick meal while we waited.

Off to Toy Story Mania!  Oh, look, the Green Army Man!!!  I need a selfie with him!  Thank you!  I love the Army Men!  Toy Story Mania is one of my favorite rides.  I love the 4D ride, it is like being in an immersive video game that spins you around as you try to rack up the most points. A LOT of fun! The lines can be long, so it’s best to try to get a FastPass+ scheduled ahead of time.

Fun time! Then, we were off to catch the boat back to Epcot.  We met a young family whose son will be 5 in a few days and is enjoying his first time to Disney!  Got on the boat and sat at the back, it’s open and you can see all around.  A young family came out from inside the boat and I got to meet them.  We talked a little and their children were so well behaved; you could tell how much they are loved. We landed at Epcot, got off, and headed for the entrance.  Epcot was bustling and so crowded since they have extra magic hours until 11:00pm.  We got to the car and then stopped in the Magic Kingdom parking lot to watch fireworks. A very relaxing day today!

Day 9- Epcot

Yay, we are headed for Epcot!  When going to Disney, remember, no matter what day it is, there is a possible rain shower waiting to fall!  Be prepared with rain gear, we choose shoes that can get wet, umbrellas or ponchos.  It is just a way of life here, it rains, it usually clears off and it is sunny again. It is just the way Florida is.

We headed for Epcot in a full-blown gully washer.  Texas way of saying it was a monsoon!  I was told that it rains every day in the summer, but now?  It is hurricane season, so it rains a lot!  We parked in the first parking lot and walked right up to the bag check and right into Epcot.  The rain is still heavy as we get close to the Festival Center.

We looked around at the Ghirardelli Chocolate area while waiting for class to start. They had the most amazing displays (made of chocolate!) that different bakeries around Disney made. It was fascinating!  We had our class and headed out, it was once again raining cats and dogs!

No problem for me, we just headed over to Mexico for dinner. We decided to go to San Angel Inn for dinner and were seated by the water. The food was fabulous! Oh, it is nice to have a light sweater for inside dining, it can get a little chilly.  I loved watching the Gran Fiesta Tour boats glide through the water.  The kids and I got to meet an Imagineer in July for Tooti’s birthday lunch and she called us the “The Three Caballeros”.  If you get to ride the Gran Fiesta Tour ride, be sure to look for Donald Duck, Panchito and Jose’ Cariocas!

We decided to get dessert to go so we could see the fireworks!  Even with the light rain, the fireworks were beautiful.

Day 8- Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom!  Yes, it is a beautiful afternoon at Magic Kingdom.  Oh!  There is Marie, she is just coming out and going to take pictures.  We stopped for our Starbucks on Main Street and then started for the Little Mermaid ride.  As we got closer to Cinderella’s Castle, a man hollered, “Obviously there must be a Starbucks here!”  I said, “Yes, they are located in the Bakery on Main Street.”  Laughter and a shout of thanks and we continued on our way.

I took a minute to enjoy all of the flowers in the Rose Garden. If you are a flower lover, it is a nice spot to rest your eyes and take in the picturesque moment.

We stopped to see the clowns performing near Storybook Circus, then, we scanned our fast passes for the Voyage of the Little Mermaid!  I love this ride.  You sit in a huge seashell and are taken through the most magical ride; you feel as if you are seeing the whole movie in living color.

Next stop is to meet Elsa and Anna in Princess Fairytale Hall.  We got in line and in a few minutes we met the ladies behind us.  Seems we met some fellow Texans!!  The mom shared that they come to the parks several times a year and her daughter runs in the Disney races!  How fun!! I know Tooti has wanted to do a runDisney race for a while. Her daughter-in-law was with them and she had the coolest book that she brought with her for the characters to sign.  I love these ladies!  It as a storybook, and she showed us where Cinderella’s stepsisters had rewritten their part of the story and autographed their page.  I have to find that book…  New project!

 We saw some of the Citizens of Main Street, including the lovely Victorian ladies, Victoria Trumpetto and Beatrice Starr, as well as Fire Chief Smokey Miller!  They are truly a delight to get to talk to!  Mary Poppins was holding a little girl’s hand and walking near the entrance. Beautiful.

God just seems to put the right people in my path. I loved today, even on the way back to the parking lot.  On the monorail, a lady kept kind of peeking around at my kids and me; she looked like she wanted to say something.  So, I said, “Hi, how are you?”  “Fine, thank you!”  Still, she looked like she wanted to talk, so I continued, “Where are you from?”  “Canada!”  “Oh, cool, we have a friend that is from there.  When we take pictures of Canada in Epcot, he always comments!”  That made her laugh and tell me the wonderful blessing her son is.  He and her daughter-in-law are renewing their vows for their 20th anniversary and he brought everyone with them.  Also, her daughter, who is 49, just got married for the first time on Friday, and then Sunday after the wedding they came to Disney!  We got to celebrate the wonderful things that are happening in her life and it is so fun to hear people’s stories!  I love this most of all!

Day 7- Beignets at Port Orleans French Quarter & Magic Kingdom

Today we headed for a snack at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter.  They have the best Gluten-Free Beignets!  What’s a beignet?  It is like a square, fried donut hole with powdered sugar sifted on top.  Best things ever!  Got to meet the chefs, including the one who created the original recipe to make these!  Too fun!

Next, we went to Magic Kingdom.  It is always new!  As we walked into the park, we were greeted with happy music as we watched the last of the Festival of Fantasy Parade.  Then, we headed off to ride my favorite ride, Peter Pan’s Flight.  It feels like you are in the movie. We three are sitting in a ship and fly over the story being told in a most unique way.  It is truly magical.

Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin: it is always a must do for fun!  See how many points you can rack up as you are shooting targets and turning your space cruiser to get optimal aim to defeat Emperor Zurg!  Nope, I am not the winner this time; Tooti and Twinkie totally know which targets gain you the most points.  I am in training.  Twinkie was helping me today, but she won today!  😀

The PeopleMover is right outside of Buzz Lightyear’s.  It is a great way to see many rides on that side of the park.  Love!

Getting hungry… what shall we do?  Oh, I think we will grab a bite at Tony’s Town Square; it is near the entrance/exit and it is a fantastic place to eat.  I love this time of the year.  We could walk up and a table was available.  (During the busier seasons, you almost always have to have a reservation.)  Right after we were seated, before our waiter could even take our drink order, the Chef was already there!  Totally surprised me!  He is a great Chef and in no time we were served GF bread.  Then, our food came and it was superb.  The waiter?  Superb.  Needed that nice dinner.

Also, the little girl next to us was named Mae.  Tooti met her and her mom.  Pretty cool since we three have May in our name too!  A nice treat to meet a Mae!

Then we were off to the Monorail and headed home!  On the road home, we were nearing the Contemporary Resort, two deer were galloping across the grassy hills near the monorail track.  We slowed to see if they were going to cross the road.  The oncoming traffic slowed too and we got to enjoy seeing them enjoy the cool evening!  Nice little treasures.

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Day 6- Animal Kingdom’s Kilimanjaro Safaris & Sanaa

Animal Kingdom!  After a good strong rain, we headed for Animal Kingdom.  The animals are so active and so fun to watch.  When you enter into Animal Kingdom there is the area called The Oasis, full of birds and various animals.  We were heading for Kilimanjaro Safaris!  Oh look!  What’s down the stairs in that cave?  I found myself looking at otters!  I love otters!  There were also some really big black fish.

We stopped to trade a pin with a cast member; if you don’t know about pin trading, don’t worry!  We can tell you later.  The cast member was telling us that it had rained earlier today, but now it is less “mushy” wet.  Perfect!  Now, on to Kilimanjaro Safaris.  This time we were on the very back seat.  I liked being seated there, it’s perfect if you need a picture of an animal, (or several!) following you.

My favorites are the giraffes, and they were really close to the road.  One was so close I could have reached out and touched it, but, “Please keep your hands and arms inside of the vehicle at all times,” is a rule I choose to follow.  The other favorite is the rhinoceros, but today, there were rhinoceroses!!!  They, all six, were galloping and running; a couple were heading for the road!  We just got past them and four began following us and watching the water on the road right behind us, it was so cool!  SO COOL!

After the safari, we headed for Yak and Yeti Restaurant in the Asia section and admired all of the detail in the building.  I love architecture and how detailed the Africa section was, and now admired Asia.  We had a good sit down snack of Gluten Free Sweet and Sour Chicken and a GF Cheesecake!  Oh, yum!

Animal Kingdom was closing early today (6pm), so we went to the Animal Kingdom Lodge- Kidani Village to eat at Sanaa. They have great Gluten-free Naan available with their amazing Indian Style Bread Service that includes 9 tasty dips. We tried to get last minute reservations and the only one was kind of late, so the only place available was the lounge. We had a wonderful visit with the bartender and a young family sitting at the bar with us. Had a blast! I love rainy days, which are most days in the summer in Florida! Be prepared.

Day 4- Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom!  Wow, love this place.  We parked in the Dinosaur parking lot and caught the tram, a quick trip up to the gates.  First, there is your bag check, as with all parks.  Disney’s security looks through your bag and then lets you in.  Today the young man asked how I was doing, I responded with, “Great!  How are you doing?”  He stopped, almost frozen and said, “If I had called you on the phone, I would have thought you were 15!”  “Wow, thanks!!! Most people that call think I am 5. ‘Is your mom home?’  No!?!”  The people behind me couldn’t help but chuckle!

We scanned our Magic Bands and I honed in on…where is the Vine Lady?  She is beautiful, she is graceful, and she is really tall!  DeVine is my favorite meet and greet in AK!

The Kilimanjaro Safari ride is my other favorite thing to do at Animal Kingdom, but it will have to wait for another day.  We wanted to see the new baby gorilla, born on August 7th.  I love the Africa area of the park. I had to take a minute and really look at Africa, with its cracked streets, the waterway and music.  Then, a hike down the Pangani Forest Expedition Trail and see where the gorillas live and the surroundings are amazingly beautiful… like walking through the jungle.  We found the momma and baby cuddle and hoped to get a glimpse of its little face.  So very sweet!

We found a new place that we haven’t been to: Rafiki’s Planet Watch and the Wildlife Express Train.  Yes, there is a train in Animal Kingdom!  It is so cool to see it with stuff piled on top just like they would in Africa!  It takes you to the Conservation Station.  We looked at the various small monkeys, lizards, bugs, snakes, and petted the Blue-tongued Skink. Fun! They even have a window where you can watch the veterinary staff if they happen to be taking care of animals while you are there.

It was a very nice morning and early afternoon. Before we left, we stopped by the “Gardens Kiosk” where they offer many food allergy friendly treats. Babycakes NYC has a few of our favorites… including donuts! So, we grabbed a gluten-free donut and glass of iced water and hit the trail home.

Tomorrow marks the start of the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. It’s going to be so much fun!

Day 3- Epcot

We headed for Epcot today and had a perfectly wonderful afternoon and evening.  The day is cooler with cloud cover and the park was less crowded.

The first ride we went to was Maelstrom in Norway!  So, after passing through Future World, you go past Mexico and before China, you find Norway!  The line was pretty long and with the FastPass+, you just walk up, scan your magic band and walk in to ride the ride.  Best thing ever!  We took pics and enjoyed Twinkie’s favorite ride.  Maelstrom will be closing down for refurbishing and a redesign into a Frozen themed ride that will open in 2016.  We are SO excited to see what it looks like!

On the way to France, I stopped and got a strawberry shaved ice (Kaki Gori) with sweet milk in Japan.  We took pics for couple that asked as we passed by them… just a part of being at Disney.  Fun!

There are the most amazing crème brûlée in many of the restaurants, but if you don’t have a reservation, then Les Halles Boulangerie & Pâtisserie (in the France Pavilion) is a great choice!  The chef came out and made us some freshly torched crème brûlée. There are many beautiful desserts and breads to choose from, so we ask for some that have not been near any of the other bakery treats.  If you are gluten-free or have food allergies, you totally understand… The chef there is wonderful!  After great thanks and appreciation for our special sweets, we headed out!

We took a break and sat by the water fountain in France and a little girl was going to throw pennies when her mom and grandmother said they were out.  “Oh, I have some!”  So, I pulled out my change and found 5 pennies!  She readily took them and had fun throwing them in as her grandmother and I talked, she said that she usually has to give her quarter and dimes.  I told her a story, “when mine were little, we would get a roll of pennies and go to the mall.  Of course, they shared most of them with the other little kids there, but it was a lot of fun!”  She said that that was really a good idea…  we smiled and said our goodbyes.  Cute little kid!

The sun was beginning to set so we started back to Spaceship Earth, i.e. the Epcot ball.  That ride is packed in the mornings, but in the evenings you can just about walk straight up and get on quickly, just a hint if you plan on riding that ride.

We are looking forward to the opening of the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival that opens on this Friday, September 19 and runs until November 10, 2014. There will be feasting, festivities and special events, including awesome concerts.

Finally, here are some of the places to eat at around the world…