Imagine, Just One Birthday Every Year ~ October 2018 ~ Day 1 ~ Birthday at HS and MK

[DisneyDaffodil]

"Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten." Lilo, Lilo and Stitch

Index here

The quote we've chosen for today will make more sense once you've read the morning part of the report. It's definitely not something we will forget
We woke up very early this morning, at around 5:30am. We'd both expected to be awake this early as we were excited, had an early ADR on the Boardwalk and it was my birthday! We sat in bed and Georgia opened her cards, while we drank a coffee from the coffee machine in our room.

We got ready and left our room at 6:50am. We had planned to catch a Lyft to the Boardwalk but as it was the early ticketed event at Hollywood Studios, we could catch the bus there and then walk to the Boardwalk. We were surprised to see how dark it still was outside, as to us it still didn't feel that early because of the time difference. Catching the bus was a great idea, as the driver had asked if we were going to the ticketed event. We explained that we were using the bus to get to the Boardwalk and she dropped us off at the entrance to the walkway to Boardwalk and directed us on how to get there. We thought it was very helpful of her to stop at a different place just for us.
The walk to the Boardwalk was very simple and was incredibly relaxing and beautiful. We watched the sun rise as we walked and the only thing that broke the relaxation was me worrying because of the signs warning us of alligators and snakes

There was barely anyone on the Boardwalk when we arrived so it was the perfect time to take some photos!

It was now time for our ADR at Trattoria Al Forno. We checked in and waited only a few minutes before we were called through to our table and given menus.

We were sat in the corner of the room, as we often were throughout the trip because there was just two of us. This wasn't a bad thing, as our server still visited us often and topped up our drinks regularly. For drinks, we both had refillable coffee and orange juice. My speciality drink was the alcoholic Italian Iced Coffee. I could only drink half of this as it had a lot of alcohol in it. I had the non-alcoholic iced coffee, which was delicious and refreshing.

We were then brought out the pan of pastries and a small bowl of fruit each. I ate one piece of each of the melons and then left the rest of the fruit. Oops but I had to prioritise the pastries The pastries were really delicious and I even enjoyed the fruit.

Not long after, the food we had ordered arrived. I had chosen the Golden Frittata. I don't usually like large breakfasts, so although this tasted nice, I didn't eat a lot of it. I had the Royale Breakfast which was AMAZING. This was one of the best steaks I'd ever had and I love steak. It had a different flavour to it, almost smoky I think but it was delicious!

Whilst we were eating, we had regular visits from Flynn Rider, Rapunzel, Prince Eric and Ariel. The interactions we had with these characters were great, even as two adults. Ariel was so funny and when we told her we were from Wales, she asked could we speak whale and started to speak whale herself. It was so funny and she was very quick with her responses

I have to admit, I was very nervous when meeting Flynn Rider. When I had the photo taken, my hand was shaking a little. This could be why I don't have a boyfriend I did laugh at Georgia blushing while having her photo taken with him. I prefer meeting the talking characters as it's so much easier to interact with them.
Towards the end of our meal, the cast members started to sing a Celebration song to everyone who was celebrating that day. After the song, our server brought a birthday cupcake over to Georgia. Which I wasn't expecting as I was busy eating my steak.

We paid the 18% tip from our meal but without the Dining plan it would have cost us around $90 plus tip. We were about to ask our server for a box to take Georgia's cupcake and a couple of the muffins we hadn't eaten with us, when the fire alarm went off. We waited around outside for about ten minutes afterwards but it didn't stop so we carefully placed the muffins in our bag and hoped they wouldn't squash too much. We caught the friendship boat back to Hollywood Studios. We got back to Hollywood Studios by 9:15am. It was really sunny by now and we were excited to go into the park. So excited that we made our first mistake of the trip So, as Mum had the bag, she had to go through the bag search and I didn't. We agreed to meet on the other side but not go into the park. I sat down on the wall behind the security scanners and waited. And waited. And waited. Meanwhile, I had been waiting quite a while in the line for my bag to be checked as the park had only just opened. It started to feel like a really long time that I'd waited for Mum and I didn't even have my phone with me, as I'd left it in the bag, which was with Mum. I didn't panic yet but stood up and started to walk around the area, looking to see if she'd come through and just not noticed me. No,she wasn't there and this is when I did slightly start to panic. I didn't know how long it had been but I guessed she should have been there by then. So, without thinking, I tapped the first security guard I saw (who just happened to be a huge, muscular man about twice as tall as me) and said 'Excuse me, I've been waiting for my Mum to come through bag check and it's been a really long time and she isn't here yet.' He looked like he had no idea what to do but asked me if I had my phone, or her number, which I didn't. He then offered to walk me into the park to see if she'd gone in or take me to guest services. As we walked towards the entrance, I was looking around and just past the Magicband scanners was Mum. I frantically told the security guard that I could see her and thanked him before rushing off to meet her. Meanwhile, I had looked for Georgia after bag check and being unable to find her, had gone into the park to check if she had misunderstood and gone in. I'd gone back out again when I'd realised she hadn't before finally asking a CM if he could go and look for my daughter who was 18 and wearing bright pink Mickey ears We were so relieved to find each other, as 30 minutes had passed. We learned our lesson though and Georgia never entered the parks alone without her phone again. I couldn't believe I'd managed to get lost on my 18th birthday!
With that over, we excitedly went to explore Toy Story Land. This wasn't near our first FP and we didn't have any plans here but we had been looking forward to seeing it for so long and couldn't wait any longer. We were blown away by how wonderful the theming was here. There were so many little details that you could totally believe you'd shrunk down to the size of a toy. I changed my t-shirt before going here, as I wanted to wear the Tangled one to breakfast and my Groot one to HS.

We left Toy Story Land and went to see the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, as The Little Mermaid is probably my favourite Disney film and I love this show. It was as amazing and emotional as ever and I loved seeing this show again. I also love this show and it makes both of us cry every time.

We then went into Walt Disney Presents, as this is a must do of every trip. We love looking around here and the air conditioning is a benefit too. I was slightly disappointed, as about a month before our trip Star Lord and Groot had been doing a meet and greet here and I would have loved to have met them. We both found it very exciting to look at the plans of Galaxy's Edge that they had on display there and I sent loads of pictures back to Rob, to encourage him to come to Disney when it opens.

We then watched Muppets 3D Vision, which is a family favourite, before going back to Toy Story Land for our first FP, Toy Story Midway Mania. We loved the new queue area for this ride and as usual, Georgia won. Haha

We were really thirsty and hot by this point so we went to get some drinks. However, because the till wasn't working they allowed us to have the drinks for free (how are we ever going to use all these snack credits!? ) We also stopped here and Georgia ate her birthday cupcake while we drank our drinks. I was starting to feel exhausted at this point and was grateful to just sit down and people watch. The cake looked a bit squashed and there was icing on the inside of the bag but Georgia said that it still tasted delicious.
It was now time for our Frozen singalong FP. As per usual, this show was brilliant and we laughed out loud all the way through. And sang along loudly, even though nobody else in there seemed to be singing I absolutely love all of the cheesy jokes in this show and love that adults can enjoy it as much as children.

Star Tours time! This was our third FP of the day and we enjoyed it as usual. We aren't big Star Wars fans and don't know a lot but this ride is still fun! We always go on this ride multiple times throughout the holiday so I was pleased that we had a new sequence this time.
It was around 2:45pm now so we decided to head back to French Quarter to freshen up and relax before our evening in Magic Kingdom. We got our resort mugs and I had a Mardi Gras King Cake (as I hadn't eaten since breakfast and Georgia insisted that I needed food now, which she was right about) from the food court using one snack credit and headed back to our room. Unfortunately, the door to our room wouldn't unlock. So, both of us walked back to reception where they reset our magicbands and went back to the room. It still didn't work. I decided it would be easier if just one of us went back again, so Mum stayed at the door with our cups and her cake while I went back to reception. I explained that the door wasn't even lighting up and the CM walked back with me to unlock the door manually and said that a maintenance person would come to change the batteries in the lock. She was very friendly and we talked about the new Star Wars land and she complimented me on my ears that I'd made! Finally, we managed to sit down in our room and I was so hungry by now that we didn't take a photo of my cake. It was delicious though, possibly because I was so hungry Told you that you needed to eat. After the maintenance man came and fixed the door lock (which was only around 30 minutes later) we showered and changed and headed out to MK.
It was crowded in Magic Kingdom this evening but I was so excited to see all of the autumnal decorations.

I do love to visit Magic Kingdom on the first day, as it's completely magical and very 'Disney'. We had booked a late FP for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh so we went over to that first. I've always spent a lot of time reading Winnie the Pooh stories to all of my children, so this ride is very nostalgic for me. And Winnie the Pooh reminds me of my childhood too.
We were getting hungry now, so we decided to go to Pinocchio's Village Haus. We'd ate here last trip but Georgia had been ill and not able to eat anything and she had liked the look of the pasta I had last time. However, the menu had changed since last time (which is to be expected after nearly 3 years ) so we both had the Chicken Parmesan pasta. I had the French Vanilla iced coffee and Georgia had the iced mocha. This meal was ok, but I much preferred the pasta I had last time and the salad it came with this time was also disappointing. We paid for this with two quick service credits.

After food, we walked around Magic Kingdom a little and decided to ride Pirates of the Caribbean as it only had a 10 minute queue. This ride became one of the ones that we did the most this trip and we always seemed to have 'Yo, ho, Yo ho, a pirate's life for me' stuck in our heads
It was now time for Happily Ever After. We'd decided not to wait around before the show to watch it that evening, as we would see it another time on our trip. We arrived as it started and although we couldn't see the projections on the castle as there were trees in our way, we enjoyed watching the fireworks and listening to the music. I was quite emotional during this and was crying because Disney music always makes me cry. I remember thinking that this must be the perfect way to spend Georgia's birthday and feeling very emotional too.

After Happily Ever After, we decided to wait for the crowds to die down a little before leaving the park, even though we were exhausted. We went to Tomorrowland and rode People Mover for the first time (which I loved and I thought was a bit boring) and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (Which I won for the first time, however I still don't look happy in the photo)

We left the park around 10:30pm. There was a long wait for the bus and as we were both exhausted it seemed to take ages. We were both relieved to be back in our room and to go to bed. This was the best birthday I've ever had and it was such a great day in Disney. It was exhausting, especially as it was our first day, but I'm so glad that we'd been able to do so much.

Step Count:18,500

[Cinderella]

A great birthday!

[Palm trees]

What a fantastic birthday!

[caitlinsmummy]

What a fab birthday.


How lovely of the bus driver to drop you off too get to boardwalk.

A shame about losing each other at the beginning but at least you reunited. We all do it

The character interactions in Trattoria Al Forno are great aren't they 😊

Awesome day and glad you had a happy birthday Georgia xx

[minnie52]

What an amazing birthday! You managed to get some much done!

Looking forward to the rest

[Goldia]

The early morning photos of the Boardwalk look lovely. I always like wandering around when there are no other people out and about.

It's surprisingly hard to find the others after bag check, I'm glad you found each other again eventually.

I didn't realise Groot and Starlord had stopped meeting...A shame you didn't get to see them today.

Being locked out of your room was a real pain. At least the maintenance person came quickly to sort it out so you knew you'd be able to get back in after your visit to MK.

You did really well for day 1 getting up for an early breakfast and then managing to stay in MK to see HEA too! Wow, you must have been shattered by the end of all that. It did sound like a brilliant birthday, I'm glad you both enjoyed it so much.

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by Cinderella

A great birthday!

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Originally Posted by Palm trees

What a fantastic birthday!

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Thank you both! It really was magical

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

What a fab birthday.


How lovely of the bus driver to drop you off too get to boardwalk.

A shame about losing each other at the beginning but at least you reunited. We all do it

The character interactions in Trattoria Al Forno are great aren't they 😊

Awesome day and glad you had a happy birthday Georgia xx

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We really appreciated being dropped off there especially as it was such a long walk back from Hollywood Studios to the bus stop later that day.

Thankfully, we were able to see the funny side of losing each other later despite how worrying it had been at the time.

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by minnie52

What an amazing birthday! You managed to get some much done!

Looking forward to the rest

See more...

This was probably our busiest day and towards the middle of the trip we realised that we needed to relax a little more and that we had the time to do so. Thanks for reading

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by Goldia

The early morning photos of the Boardwalk look lovely. I always like wandering around when there are no other people out and about.

It's surprisingly hard to find the others after bag check, I'm glad you found each other again eventually.

I didn't realise Groot and Starlord had stopped meeting...A shame you didn't get to see them today.

Being locked out of your room was a real pain. At least the maintenance person came quickly to sort it out so you knew you'd be able to get back in after your visit to MK.

You did really well for day 1 getting up for an early breakfast and then managing to stay in MK to see HEA too! Wow, you must have been shattered by the end of all that. It did sound like a brilliant birthday, I'm glad you both enjoyed it so much.

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Boardwalk really was peaceful and we enjoyed looking around as we'd never been there before. I think on another trip I'd like to go to Boardwalk during the evening, as I think it would look really pretty then.

I think it was because Georgia was sitting down that I didn't notice her but it was already really hot and I needed to sit down.

It was disappointing that Starlord and Groot weren't there but I hope they bring them back when the Guardians of the Galaxy ride opens.

It was ironic how the fire alarm went off at the Boardwalk, we lost each other and the door lock broke on the same day but yet we had a brilliant day in the parks! It was exhausting but we were really glad that we'd stayed in and saw the fireworks. It seemed the perfect end to our first day.