Monday, January 19, 2015

Results- WDW January 2015 Bucket List

I'm home!!!  Ok, so we've actually been home since late Tuesday night.  (More like super early Wednesday morning!)  These past few days have flown right by!  If we haven't been at work, we've been sleeping.  I think I need a vacation from my vacation! This weekend we're finally getting back into the flow.  I confess that I'm still unpacking my luggage as we speak. Hopefully that will be taken care of before the day is over!

We had a great trip to Walt Disney World!  It was a lot of fun, but it was so exhausting. I really don't know how those Dopey runners survive running all of the races AND getting so little sleep the entire week!  I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

Anyways, you probably remember my trip bucket list that I posted before we left!  I love making these and it's a fun way to branch out and try new things.  It's also a good way to make sure I experience my Disney favorites!  (As you may recall, I also made a trip bucket list for my October 2014 KeyCon trip to WDW.) Here's how we did this trip! 

Melissa's January 2015 Disney Trip Bucket List:

°o° Finish the Walt Disney World Minnie 10K
This was my biggest personal goal of the trip.  However, this was not something I accomplished.  I'm not going to go into great depth in this post- I'll save it for the trip recaps.  Long story short: I did not train as much as I should have and one should not be stubborn about going to see the doctor when they have a foot injury.  Someday I'll cross the finish line.  This year just wasn't the year.


Watch Eliot, Jeremy and Dad cross the finish line at the Half Marathon
This was definitely a lot of fun.  My Mom and I saw the guys at the Transportation and Ticket Center, at Main Street and Cinderella Castle inside the Magic Kingdom AND at the 13 mile marker in Epcot just before the finish line.  I'm so glad we went to cheer them on.  I think it was uplifting for them to see us while on the course!

°o° Watch Eliot during the full marathon
I did not get to see Eliot during the full marathon.  We changed hotels Sunday morning so I was packing up all of our luggage and checking out while he was running.  I was planning to go over to Epcot to cheer him on but by the time we were ready to go, he was calling us to come pick him up!


°o° Try LeFou's Brew in New Fantasyland
I did get to do this!  My Mom, Dad, Eliot and I went into the Magic Kingdom Saturday night.  Eliot went home to get sleep before the marathon but Mom and Dad stayed with me.  They ended up taking me for a snack at Gaston's Tavern.  I got to try LeFou's Brew, a cinnamon bun and they even bought me the souvenir glass!

°o° Eat Favorite Sweets- ice cream, candy apple, Dole Whip, Mickey Bar, etc.
I ate a few of my favorite Disney sweets and treats!  I brought a candy apple home with me.  I had a Mickey ice cream sandwich.  I tried a cinnamon bun- yum.  I didn't get ice cream or Dole Whip this trip.  It was pretty cold outside so I wasn't craving them. Next trip, Eliot and I plan to get those.  I'd love to try an Olaf cake pop... and an Olaf candy apple... and a marshmallow pop...


°o° Go to Chef Mickey's for Breakfast
Done!  Eliot and I ate with Jeremy while Mom, Dad, Nana and Papa had a reservation a little later than us.  We all had a ton of fun!  My Mom said Nana and Papa really enjoyed it.  I'm glad we got to share this experience with my family!


°o° Have More Waffles from Sleepy Hollow
I got my Nutella and fruit waffle from Sleepy Hollow.  I didn't convince everyone to eat there, but Eliot did get a fried dough.  He loved it and wants another.  I'm planning another visit in October!

°o° Get drinks at the Contemporary Hotel (must have another glowy drink!!!)
We didn't have time to get drinks at the Contemporary!  This is something I really want to do though.  I'll get there.  Eliot and I are adding this to our October list too!

°o° Go on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride for the first time
Another thing we ran out of time for.  The line was so long that it wasn't worth waiting. We're planning to set up FastPasses next trip so Eliot and I can do this together.


°o° See the Frozen Sing Along
I'm SO glad we went to see this!  Eliot and Jeremy went with me and we all agreed that it was a lot better than we expected it to be!  The show was funny for adults and kids. Of course, I loved the sing along part.  The ending was really cute with the snow during Let It Go.  I give it two thumbs up!!!


°o° See the Festival of Fantasy Parade with my Family
My family did this as our first attraction of the Magic Kingdom.  I wouldn't even let them walk down Main Street.  We grabbed our seats so we'd be able to see the parade well. I'm glad we got front row seats because everyone thought it was amazing.  They've heard me rave about the costumes and the float designs from my trip last October.  It was well worth the hour plus wait for the parade!


°o° Watch A Frozen Holiday Wish and See the Cinderella Castle Ice Lights
We did see this the night before my race.  I wanted to see it again with better viewing, but we never got a chance.  At least I got to see it!  It was pretty cool watching Elsa light up the castle.  And I got to see Olaf!!!  (Who still really needs to become a meet and greet character at WDW!!!)

°o° Go back to the Animation Academy
Eliot and I planned to do this our last day but we literally ran out of time.  I made him swear that we'd go to it twice during our next trip.  We're also going to try to go first thing when they open!  Maybe we'll get to suggest a character to draw?

°o° Go on the Characters In Flight hot air balloon ride in Downtown Disney
Another thing we really didn't have time for this trip.  Next time!

°o° Go to the Pool Bar at our Resort
We did not go to the Pool Bar.  We were only at Pop Century for one night!

°o° Go to Typhoon Lagoon
We did not even think about going to Typhoon Lagoon while we were there.  Florida was actually cold during most of our trip.  It got into the 40's and 50's and that's cold for Florida.  (My friends in Maine will tell you that was nothing compared to the frigid 0-5 degrees they were experiencing at home!)

°o° Swim in the Pool at Pop Century Resort
Again, way too cold.  I didn't even put my bathing suit on the entire trip.  Eliot went into the hot tub after this half marathon to soak his muscles but that was it.


°o° Wear New Ear Headband and Ear Hat Designs by Happily Ever Hatter
I wore my Haunted Mansion Maid headband the last day of our trip!  I finally found the Maid shirt in my size at Momento Mori- the new Haunted Mansion store.  I was so excited!  Only a few guests "got" my outfit though.  (Boo on them!)  The cast members recognized it though.  One of the Main Street actors told me to get back to work and that break was over!  He he!  I also sported my new Olaf headband design that's not even online (yet)!  It's so cute!!!


°o° Get Photos of Happily Ever Hatter Designs in Park
I had a personal photoshoot at the Haunted Mansion.  There was a PhotoPass photographer there.  Eliot also took a few photos for me.  And I took a few photos with my ears and the mansion in the background!  I can't wait to see how they turned out!

°o° Take my Family to Boardwalk area
We didn't have time to go to Boardwalk either.  If I'd been able to finish my race I would have seen it, but it wasn't in the cards this particular trip!

We did do a few things we hadn't originally planned on though:


°o° Lights, Motors, Action
Eliot really wanted to go see this and we've never made the time to do it!  I mentioned it to my Mom and we decided it would be fun to show Nana and Papa.  I didn't realize how educational it was.  We learned a lot about the stunt cars that I never would have known.  I'm really glad we did this.  Totally worth seeing!!!


°o° Planet Hollywood
We actually did this by fluke.  My parents, Jeremy, Eliot and I went to Downtown Disney to poke around and once everything closed, this was the only place still open to eat!  We decided to go since we were pretty hungry.  Eliot had never been to a Planet Hollywood so he really enjoyed it.  They also had Hunger Games memorabilia there!  I had so much fun looking at the costumes!


°o° Wal-Mart Shopping
This probably sounds ridiculous, but I really love going to the Wal-Marts outside of Disney.  We had to go anyways to get race food, snacks and breakfast.  But I LOVE seeing all of the Disney merchandise.  They have a huge section up front of Disney clothes that are really cute.  I picked up some new pjs- a few Mickey night gowns and some cute Minnie shorts for next summer!  We also got some Olaf keychains and a few gifts for friends.  In fact, Eliot and I might even rent a car during our October trip just so we can go shopping here and at the Disney outlet stores.


°o° Hunt for Hidden Pascals
On our first Disney day, Eliot and I stopped at the Tangled restroom area to look for hidden Pascals!  I found out about them during my KeyCon trip and I really wanted to find more.  I found a few that I hadn't seen before.  Eliot also spotted one!  I'm determined to find them all eventually!!!


°o° See the Dapper Dans Perform
On our way out of the Magic Kingdom, Eliot and I spotted the Dapper Dans coming out onto Main Street through a door in the Emporium.  I went into spy mode, grabbed Eliot's shirt and gently pulled him in their direction.  We got front row seats to see them perform!  They were even still in their Christmas outfits!


°o° See the Sorcerer Hat One Last Time
I had heard reports online that the Sorcerer Hat was going to start coming down the day before our trip.  I wasn't sure how much of it would be left by the time we got there. Fortunately, we had one more chance to see it before it was no longer a hat.  We got one last family PhotoPass photo with it.  A few days later, the top of the hat had been sawed off and the PhotoPass photographers weren't allowed to take photos in that direction.  At least we got a chance to see it one last time... 


°o° Get Front Row Seats at Beauty and the Beast Live
Ha, that last sentence ties nicely into this point: we got to see Beauty and the Beast from the front row!  I've seen the show many times on my Disney trips, but I was really excited to see it from the front.  Nana and Papa's wheelchair section was to the front left of the stage.  I was mesmerized by seeing all of the costumes up close.  Gaston even looked at me a few times.  Hehe.


°o° See the Christmas Decorations at the Magic Kingdom
Finally, the thing I expected the least during this trip, was to see the Magic Kingdom Christmas decorations.  In fact, all of the parks had their Christmas decorations up. But there's something about walking down Main Street with the decorations and Christmas music playing in the background.  I literally started crying when Eliot and I first walked into the square and the tree was up.  I've really missed seeing the decorations during our most recent trips.  (I don't think I've seen them since 2009.)  This was truly magical and I'm so glad I got to experience it this trip.

And there you have it!  We had a great time.  And really, there's only so much time when you're main focus is to do the RunDisney events.  When you're up at 3:00 to race, taking mid-afternoon naps because you're exhausted and going to bed early, it definitely cuts into your trip time!  I think we did pretty good!  Eliot and I are planning to make another Trip Bucket List for our trip to Walt Disney World and Universal for KeyCon in September/October!!!  I seriously can't wait!!!  °o°

2 comments:

  1. So much fun to read. Thanks for your detail and your pictures!

    ReplyDelete