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Old 30 Dec 18, 05:33 PM  
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bambikate
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The 1200 Mile West Coast Adventure - August/September 2018: Day 12: Celebrate good times (come on!)

Day 12: Celebrate good times (come on!)
Friday 31 August 2018

Results Day, Plaza Inn Breakfast, Disneyland Park, Downtown Disney and Cars Land at Night

Index

Today was a very big day for me. It was results day for my final ACA exams that I had sat six weeks earlier. Today I would find out if I passed or failed. If I passed, I would be a Chartered Accountant after three years of studying ACA and three years of studying AAT. The results were being published at 12pm UK time, which meant they would be released at 4am PST.

Needless to say, I was incredibly nervous and had a very restless nights sleep. In fact, I had a really vivid dream that I had passed my exams with flying colours, so when I actually woke up to realise it was only a dream and I still had to wait for my results I was gutted

At about 3am I woke up and just couldn’t get back to sleep. Our study group chat was lighting up every couple of seconds; we were all so nervous.

I somehow managed to survive the whole hour and by the time it was a few minutes to go before results, I was physically trembling and my heart was pounding so hard in my chest.
At exactly 4am PST, a text came through… I PASSED ALL THREE! I’M A QUALIFIED CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT! Ahhhhhhhh!

Honestly don’t think I’ve ever shaken so much. Andy and the girls were still fast asleep. I was worried if I woke them all up now they wouldn’t last the day in the parks.

Clearly I was too excited to go back to sleep so I just replied to the lovely congratulations messages I got and congratulated my friends that also passed (three of them had to re-take in November but everyone is now qualified! Yay!)

I watched TV for a while then went for a shower, by the time I got out, Andy and the girls had woken up. I told Andy and the girls my news and we all hugged and jumped up and down. All that hard work had paid off!

We had a breakfast reservation for the Plaza Inn Character Breakfast in Disneyland Park for 8:40am so we headed off nice and early.

We arrived at security and the line was crazy, there wasn’t a separate entrance for breakfast reservations. We eventually got through and was then greeted with a huge queue for the park itself.

We explained to a CM we had a breakfast reservation at 8:40 and asked if there was a separate queue for breakfast reservations (like there is in WDW) and they said, yeah sure you can just join any of the queues… Ummm so there isn’t then!

It’s a bit silly really as even though our reservation was at 8:40am, the park didn’t open until 9am so there was no way to get into the park before 9am anyway!

Time soon ticked by and we were eventually let through, we got chatting to a couple of families who had spotted Andy’s Disney Tattoos. They were APs and were specifically going in just to get a limited edition Haunted Mansion item (a bag I think) that was going on sale for today only…



The crowd levels were busier than the past couple of days but not horrendous.

Inside the park, I went into the first shop to pick up an “I’m celebrating” button. The lady congratulated me and asked the girls “What are you celebrating?” Izzy said “Being at Disney!” The CM said she liked that idea and wrote up some buttons for them, along with some “First Visit” badges for all four of us!

The Dapper Dans were singing and the sun was shining, today was going to be a very good day!

After a short stroll up Main Street, we arrived at the Plaza Inn and checked in for our reservation. After check in you are led to a shaded area where you can have a picture with Minnie.



They try to sell you this later as a printed package for… $42! Ummmm no thanks! I hate this, it cheapens the experience and feels very un-Disney. I mentioned that we have MaxPass and she scanned my ticket and added a Digital copy to our account for free! Yay!

It’s very annoying that they print these and then throw them away when no one buys them - such a waste!

You are then directed up to the steps and at the front desk you pay in full for your booking - it’s a package that includes tax and tip and you get given a free Plaza badge/button, which is nice because you can just leave when you are done, you don’t have to wait for your bill.

We were then shown to our table almost straight away. Annoyingly, the light was directly behind the kids on all the pictures, so they aren’t very good quality, I’m afraid.

Our first visitor was Rafiki



There was a plethora of characters at this meal, which is one of the reasons we chose this restaurant, some really unusual ones as well as some of the regulars that frequent the character meals, so our autograph book was at the ready!

Next was Eeyore, who was particularly sad today and even went and sulked outside, longingly pressing his hooves up against the window…











Next, Captain Hook! Don’t worry, he was obviously in a good mood today and didn't make any of us walk the plank.











Next to visit was Tigger







And a photobomb by Rafiki…









Next was Gideon! It was so cool to see such a rare character





Eeyore came back for more cuddles


The buffet was really good.





Then came Dale





Then Max…






Eating between all the character visits!



Gepetto came to chat to us and pointed out the best ride in the park… Pinocchio!









Fairy Godmother was next, she was so chatty and friendly!

[



Chip!



We were thrilled with our choice of restaurant, the food was good and the character interaction and variety was fantastic.

When we came out we spotted Pluto and went over for a cuddle



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Edited at 08:31 PM.
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