Lauren's Big Early 30th Birthday Trip Report (with Bob)

Thanks all! We just counted the tattoo compliments on holiday cause there were so many! It was lovely. As far as I know, the waffles are made with Bob's Red Mill gluten free pancake mix, not sure which form of non-dairy milk they use. They were yummy though and I'm glad we can get them as Mickey Waffles are my favourite! And the BBQ was so good too! Xx

YAY thanks! We loved POR. The Bayou was really peaceful and out of the way. But I'd still quite like to stay at Magnolia Bend next trip as it looks really pretty. Will hopefully get more TR done tonight. Waiting on photos and also trying to coordinate updates round work and life. Not long till your trip now! I've already started planning next year.

Hey guys! So sorry for the delay in getting this next update to you. I've been overwhelmingly busy this week with work, family and college, and also waiting for Bob to get more pictures uploaded. But we are finally ready to bring you Day 3 & 4 of our magical trip. So here goes...

Day 3 (Hollywood Studios):
We woke up and were eager to hit HS nice and early as we had a nice full day planned there. I wore my shell top because we would be doing the Little Mermaid show.

We were hungry but couldn't be bothered going for proper breakfast, so we had coffee and some Nakd snack bars we'd brought with us, in the room. We were very grateful for the coffee machine in the room! It helped out in a pinch. When we were ready, we headed down to the food court and bought some snacks to eat quickly. We got hummus & pretzels, and bananas, and ate it outside in the sun.

These packets with hummus and pretzels were really tasty and filling. We had them a few times to keep us going till lunch. After we'd eaten, we got the bus to Hollywood Studios. This was our first taste of Christmas in the parks as it'd still been F&W time when we were at Epcot. So we got a picture of the tree!


And I got a photo of Bob at the entranceway, as this is his favourite Disney park.

We took a bunch of pics inside as Bob loves the aesthetic of this park.




Hollywood Studios selfie!

There were Christmas touches all over the park.


After we'd taken a few photos, it was straight onto the Great Movie Ride. That's my favourite ride at HS because I love the classics.


Bob wanted a queue selfie. We have a selfie addiction. I got tattoo compliment #4 from a little girl in the queue.

I got some not so great pictures of the costumes and posters because this is probably my favourite queuing experience in WDW.


I tried to get a photo of Humphrey Bogart but it changed too quickly, so I got Clark Gable instead, but that's okay cause I love him too! The ride was great as always. We were pleased to see two female CMs playing the parts, as last time it'd been two males, and diversity is important. We took some ride photos (no flash before anyone asks!)


Casablanca and Wizard of Oz are two of my favourites.

When we got off, we got some more park pictures on our way to ToT to use our fastpasses.

Bob was sad to be missing the Star Wars launch bay opening, but it gave us an excuse to come back the next year!




We grabbed a quick ToT selfie before going on.

The Paris version of this ride has spoiled me! It's a good ride, but it's not a patch on Paris imo. The Paris one has more preamble, better atmosphere, and I think the jumps are smoother than the Orlando one, though Bob disagrees on that last opinion. This ride still terrifies me. I think the only reason I can go on it is because I like being terrified a little bit. My handbag flew up in the air but was fortunately placed across my body. My skirt kept blowing up too. Not the most dignified ride.

The shop had all this cool art work. I ended up buying some Haunted Mansion art later on in the trip.
After the ride, we checked the wait for Rock 'n' Rollercoaster, but it was massive, so we sat down and booked fastpasses for later in the trip - Rock 'n' Rollercoaster, Star Tours and Indiana Jones.

Then it was onto Pizza Planet for lunch!

It's pretty cool here.


We ordered two vegetable pizzas with dairy-free cheese. There was no problem in requesting these, but they had to check if we were vegan or it was an allergy to avoid cross-contamination. The CM who served us was very knowledgeable and gave us this pager to let us know when our food was ready. There was a bit of a wait and we were starving, but we knew it was because they were taking care of our special order, so didn't mind.

The pizza came and was delicious! It doesn't look as appetizing as it was. Seriously, such a good pizza, and tasted just as good as the ones made with dairy cheese. I was happy.

They even gave us special Italian dressing for our salad because it normally comes with Caesar salad.

Bob had a quick game in the arcade, then we moved on for a wander round Streets of America.

Santa!

Animal is my favourite Muppet. This picture is cute cause you can see my reflection.

Took a pic with this cute Animal hat in the store.

And all this good muppet stuff.

We were a little confused by this. What even is this guy?

Bob took pictures of the switched-off Christmas lights, just because.


And a picture of the crossed light sabers in the window. It made me a bit sad to think that this was all going to go soon.

Then it was time to use our Frozen fastpasses.


This was our first time on this attraction. It was cute. Anna was particularly strong, I felt.



I sang along to every song, Bob didn't, and most of the adults around me weren't singing so I probably seemed really odd.

Bob got some pictures of the best bits!









This is going to sound so petty and silly, but I never feel Elsa is cast well in anything. She's supposed to be really pale and the CMs they get to play her never are. I just wasn't feeling Elsa here at all. Which is a shame, because she's one of my favourite characters.



After Frozen, we wandered over to TSMM to use our fastpasses, taking pictures on the way.







The stand-by queue was 95 minutes, and even the fastpass queue was huge! We were so glad we'd booked fastpasses!

The only issue with fastpassing this ride is that you miss a lot of the interactive queue stuff.





I tried SO HARD this time. I know I'm terrible at these rides but I am determined that one day I'll beat Bob. Unfortunately he still beat me by quite a margin, but I managed to get the bunny instead of the bird! Progress! However, I did injure my hand slightly in the process, which made Bob laugh lots. He was like, 'You're such a Slytherin, you're so determined to win, you don't mind doing yourself a mischief!'

Then it was onto Voyage of the Little Mermaid. I got tattoo compliment #5 from a girl in a Buzz Lightyear hoody. Her partner had a Yoshi backpack. They were awesome. I wanted to be friends with them.




I love this show. Ariel's voice was very quiet though. It was difficult to hear what she was singing as she was so softly spoken.



Ursula is still terrifying.





Sorry this day is so image-heavy! Hollywood Studios is really photogenic!

After the show, we realised we had about five minutes till the next Beauty and the Beast showing, so we made a beeline over there. I felt quite sad going in as I knew it'd probably be the last time I'd see it if the rumours are true, and they're swapping it for a villains show. This is such an old favourite of mine and still brings a wee tear to my eye.

Belle was great, but not QUITE as amazing as the Belle we saw last time. tbh I kind of feel the whole cast was better last time, but this may have just been because we were on Honeymoon, and everything was extra magical. It's worth saying that this trip was a very different one to our first trip. I see what everybody means about constantly trying to recreate the magic of the first time. We had a great time, but it didn't have the same 'everything is magical all the time' quality that our Disneymoon had. However, there are definitely benefits of not being first timers. We felt more knowledgeable and prepared this time, and we noticed a lot of little details we'd probably missed the last time.

I will never not swoon over Gaston. We didn't meet him this time around, as we were busy concentrating on other characters/experiences, but he's still my biggest Disney crush!



I love the three ladies in the pretty dresses. They were really good. The talent in this show is extraordinary.


Seriously, those dance moves!


And of course, cake lady is still my favourite.




During the show, water dripped all down Bob's back from the seat. We couldn't work out where it was coming from. His back was wet for ages after. After the show, we popped over to Hollywood Scoops for some dairy-free ice cream. We got some chocolate flavoured tofutti. It was delicious!

Then we wandered around some shops and I bought a Dory pin that I liked.

I got a compliment on my outfit when we were buying the pin.

Then we decided to go do Muppets 3D.


It might have been because I was ill last time, but I preferred the show this time around. I think I remembered why it was originally great, and still had a place here.
It was getting later, and we still had ages to kill before our dinner ADR. I was feeling very tired, so we popped into Writer's Stop for an espresso each. I had never taken the time to come in here before, but I loved it. It was nice and quiet, a good respite from the business of the park that day.


We had a look at the map to decide what to do next, and realised we'd done pretty much everything except the things we had fastpasses for later on. Then we remembered about One Man's Dream, so we decided to try that.


This was interesting. Lots of cool props and nerdy Disney details that superficial fans might overlook.











I liked the quotes.

My guy Figment. Oh, the love I have for him.


There was a preview of The Good Dinosaur. It looks good.

We still had over an hour till our ADR, so we had a seat outside Dockside Diner and Bob went to get us some beers. He had to queue a long time, but that was okay cause we weren't in a hurry. It was a nice place to sit and reflect.

We had some kind of Samuel Adams, and chatted about future trips. It started to get cold and I regretted not bringing an extra layer. There was a massive crowd headed to the Osborne Festival of Dancing Lights switch-on. We were planning on doing that later so we just sat and chilled. Finally it was time to head down to Sci-Fi Dine In for our ADR.

I was excited because I'd always wanted to eat here!

It was really busy with people trying to get last minute tables. While we were waiting to be seated, one of the CMs was asking Disney trivia questions, which was fun and interactive. The family next to us were on their first trip, and were interested in my pins.

We got seated pretty soon, and I bonded with the CM who seated us. Her name was Rachelle and she admired my Figment pin, and complimented my Powerpuff tattoo! We ended up adding each other on Instagram, and she showed me her Figment Halloween costume. She wasn't meant to have her phone out but she showed me the case as it had Figment on it!

Bob was freaking out over the sci-fi B movies. He was absolutely in his element here, taking a million photos.


This is a good compromise restaurant for us, because I love vintage and Bob loves sci-fi! We both agree this place is amazing and we'd definitely come here again.




We got asked if we wanted to colour! I was like, 'YEAH OF COURSE WE WANT TO COLOUR.' It was really cool.

We ordered some Lunar Long Island Iced Teas. Delicious but VERY VERY STRONG.

Too dark to get a proper picture of the food. We had Malibu veggie burgers, with some kind of tasty relish and sweet potato fries. I've read a lot of negative comments about the food here, but we really liked it. Yeah, it's standard burger and fries, but our burgers were really nice, and the sweet potato fries were super yummy too. We would definitely eat here again. Great staff, really informed and helpful with swapping out options for vegan ones, good at keeping people entertained while they wait, and the atmosphere is perfect. When I went to the restrooms, some guy spotted my Belle tattoo and commented, 'You don't like Belle just a little bit, do you?' It made me smile.

After dinner it was onto the Dancing Lights. I'd been told this was great but you definitely need to be there to appreciate the full majesty.



This was a really magical Christmas experience. They were playing lots of amazing covers of Christmas songs and we were totally feeling the Christmas magic, dancing around Streets of America.













Sorry for all the images, again guys!

It was quite sad that this is the last year they are doing this, but we were just so thankful to get to catch it. If you haven't seen it, you really must see it if you've got the chance. Completely spectacular, and kind of sums up the magic of Disney at Christmas.

After we'd walked through, we popped into a shop to buy me a shawl as I was feeling the cold.


I got this lovely shawl with lots of princesses on it. I look so wistful here because it was such a magical night. I kept saying to Bob, 'this is why we came back here.' We got the bus back to the resort. I felt a bit sick on the bus ride home - watch out for the rum in those iced teas folks! They're crazy strong! We went to sleep as soon as we got in.

And I'm gonna wrap up there as that was excessively long. Day 4 to follow when I have had a bit of a break, I think.

Day 4 Daytime (Animal Kingdom):
We got up early and wandered down to the food court for breakfast. On the way, we saw a squirrel hopping about, and I took a picture of it. There were lots of squirrels just hanging about POR, obviously unfazed by humans.

Then we went to Riverside and got some Create-Your-Own-Fruit-Bowls for breakfast.

Bob popped back to the room after breakfast to drop off our refillable mugs. He took some pictures of the water from the bridge.


I sat in the sun and took a selfie.

Then we got the bus to Animal Kingdom for the day.


The Christmas tree at AK is my favourite as it has lots of animal stuff incorporated into its design.

I got this photo of Bob outside the entrance. We observed how everyone seems to know there's an unspoken Animal Kingdom dress code - khaki, brown, animal print.


I like this picture.

And this one because it looks really natural. Bob took this to show me my hair colour because he said it looked really golden that day. Then we powered on up to Everest. We had fastpasses but not till late afternoon, and we were hoping to get on now and save time later.




I like this artwork of Shiva, one of the Hindu Gods.

And some obligatory Yeti art.

The queue for this ride is actually really culturally interesting.

Wow, this is still my favourite rollercoaster in WDW. We snapped a cheeky ride shot (sshhh). My face is a picture. My favourite bit is when it goes backwards. This was an intense start to the day.


I was now thoroughly woken up, so we meandered over to Africa next.


The crowds weren't too bad at AK that day.

I bought a Jessica Rabbit pin that I'd had my eye on. Then we tried to get Pineapple Whips from Tamu Tamu, but it turns out they only do them with the non-vegan soft serve, so we gave them a miss.

We decided to pop into Flights of Wonder. I was feeling quite chilled on this day so we were taking things quite slowly.

We met this nice owl called Tuesday outside Flights of Wonder, and learned a little about her habits and breed.

Flights of Wonder was nice. We liked getting to see all the pretty birds and learn about them, but I hoped they were well taken care of and happy.





Oh my, these vultures were wicked cool. I loved them.

And this guy had a funny haircut.


Bob managed to get a picture of the bald eagle just as it had its wings outstretched. He is very proud of this picture.


After Flights of Wonder, we had some time to kill till lunch, but I was getting peckish, so we picked up some edamame, and ate it on a bench outside Festival of the Lion King.

Then we realised we were just in time for Lion King, so we popped in to see the show.

I got a compliment on my pins, which led onto a compliment on my tattoos, from a nice family in the queue.

We were in the Simba section. This is probably my favourite show in WDW. The talent is incredible. And I totally cried during Can You Feel the Love Tonight? and Circle of Life. We took some photos but it's hard to get good ones as there's so much movement in the show.








This is the bit that always makes me cry.

When the show was over, it was time to head for our Tusker House ADR.



Had to take a picture here as it had Bob's name.

This was the only dining experience we had where the chef actually came to the table. She was really nice and took the time to show us around the buffet pointing out the vegan options. She also complimented my tattoos! There was so much choice on the buffet. We didn't struggle at all here, and everything was really tasty.


As you can see, we ate a lot.


Donald came round. He was so cute.

Then Mickey, who was totally flirting with me.

Then we met Daisy AGAIN. We didn't meet Minnie this time, so this sorta made up for that. I love Daisy.

She was gazing at Bob adoringly.

She really liked him.

Up last came Goofy.

The chef offered to bring us some Enjoy Life cookies for dessert, but we were already kinda full and had to get a move on if we were going to be on time for our Kilimanjaro Safari fastpasses. That was our next stop.



We saw loads of animals.













Then we went in some shops. I tried on these ears but didn't buy them.


I was kinda sleepy so we stopped for a wee espresso.

Then we watched a little of this really good band who were playing. They were really getting the crowd going!

Then we went back over to Asia and saw some monkeys.


We had a fastpass for Kali River Rapids, but when we got there, they told us it had broken down, and that we could use our fastpass elsewhere or after it reopened. We weren't planning on staying late, so we decided to use the Fastpass on Primeval Whirl instead. It had quite a long wait so that worked out well.


I have a bit of a cute story here. A little girl asked me if she could swap pins. I let her pick any one she wanted because she was so sweet. She gave me an Ariel that said Pisces. I'm not a Pisces but there was no way I was saying no to that face. She chose my Princess Jasmine pin in exchange. I was quite content as the Jasmine pin is really easily replaceable.

We got some shots of my lanyard after my first ever pin trade!




We had a quick look in the Dino shop.


Then took a turn on Triceratops Spin.


These guys are so cute. Triceratops is my favourite dinosaur! We'd swapped out our Everest fastpasses for Dinosaur as we'd managed to get on Everest, so we went over to use these.


This ride was weirdly better than last time. We appreciated it more the second time around. After that, we quickly got a bus back to POR to change for the Christmas Party. I'll do the Christmas Party in a separate comment.

Day 4 Night-time (Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party):
We changed quickly at the resort and got the bus straight to Magic Kingdom. I was excited as this was our first time in MK on this trip, and it was for the Christmas party as well! I'd never been to MK at Christmas so was freaking out. The bus journey was much quicker than expected. Bob said the driver took a shortcut he didn't know about.

Suddenly we were there!

Oh my, Magic Kingdom at Christmas! I was exclaiming to the CMs on the way in how excited I was!

Of course the decorations took my breath away and I got all emotional.

Christmas tree growing out of my head, always seems to happen.


The castle was beautiful but it was hard to get a close-up shot because of all the crowds!

We tried to get me some sparkly silver mouse ears but couldn't find any on Main St so I settled for these ones instead, still nice and festive looking.



We decided to get some dinner at Pecos Bill's as we wanted to check out their new menu and had heard good things.

We both got these veggie rice bowls, which were kind of like burritos without the tortilla. They were really good, and a vast improvement on the old veggie option, which was an average veggie burger. The toppings bar is still there too so we added lots of tasty toppings, and this was really enjoyable.

We then headed back to the Castle to see what was going on, and we managed to catch the end of Celebrate the Season.





Then we saw the Frozen Christmas Wish show.















This was okay. I liked seeing the castle with all the snowflakes. We decided to head over to Tomorrowland afterwards.


We decided to have a shot on Space Ranger Spin because there was no wait for it!


Bob finished ahead of me but we both sucked heavily. There was an amazing couple in front of us that looked like regulars, and they totally showed us up! I definitely prefer the controls on TSMM. I feel you can't see what you're shooting on this ride.


Concentrating ride face.

Then we did Space Mountain, obviously. We walked onto this. It said ten minute wait but I think it really meant ten minute walk!

Then we caught A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas.

I loved this show! I actually preferred it to the other shows we'd seen that night. Totally fun and catchy songs, fun dancing.



Buzz was so cute!



The Mike Wazowski bit was my favourite!






Yay, Stitch Santa!





After the show, we popped over to one of the places giving out goodies, and picked up some allergy friendly cookies. We then went to Starbucks on Main Street, got a couple of soy peppermint mochas, and sat at a table outside Starbucks. We accidentally ate the cookies before taking the picture, so here's a photo of the wrapper haha. They were delicious. Just ask for Enjoy Life cookies at any of the places giving out free snacks and they will gladly accommodate you. The hot chocolate has dairy in it though, which is why we opted for a Starbucks instead.


My back was really sore from walking so much, so we decided to sit back and enjoy Wishes and Celebrate the Magic from this table. Our view was slightly obscured but we knew we'd have another chance to catch the shows so we were quite happy to sit back and soak up the magical Disney Christmas atmosphere. I'm going to say controversially that I think I preferred the Christmas party to the Halloween one. Shocking, I know!



It was getting late, and Sally-Ann had advised us that the best time to meet Jack Skellington was later on, so we headed up to the back of the park to see if we could get a meet and greet with him. When we joined the line, they gave us these postcards, as Jack doesn't sign anything. They were a really cool souvenir.

The Jack who was out was hilarious, wacky and over-the-top. We were excited about meeting him, but they swapped him out right before our turn. So we got a slightly more sedate Jack. He was still good though.

Jack said that I was dressed like Christmas, and he loved my outfit, and that Bob was dressed like Halloween, so we were just like him! He also asked us about the Loch Ness Monster. After the meet, we had a mad dash to Main Street to catch the Christmas parade. We were just there on time! Woohoo!






Oh, the parade was really good! Minnie caught a kiss I blew for her.

And the music was amazing.

I had that 'Once upon a Christmas time at Christmas' song stuck in my head for days after.


Seeing Vanellope in her car was a total highlight.

Seriously, how good is this?!

Bob loves Wreck It Ralph, so he was happy to see his fave.







The gorgeous Cinderella carriage was a highlight for me.







And of course Santa was the perfect finishing touch. There was a girl dressed entirely like a Christmas tree, smiling, dancing and singing along to the songs. She looked so happy, and was probably the best thing about the whole parade. We wondered how many times she'd seen the parade. We guessed a lot. After the parade, we were shattered and my back was sore, so we got the bus back to the resort and slept. Day 5 coming up over next few days! Thanks for reading!

Day 5 (Magic Kingdom):
I know this TR is taking forever, but I've been super busy in the lead-up to Christmas. Finally got a wee bit of time to get Day 5 written up.

We accidentally slept in later than intended, because we were exhausted from the Christmas party. We had a hurried breakfast of cereal and bananas outside in the sun.

Then we went to the bus stop to catch a bus to Magic Kingdom. I was excited about the prospect of a full day in MK!

Of course when we got there, we had to get photos on Main Street.


And castle photos.

I was Disneybounding as Smee that day.

I wanted to start the day off at Liberty Square for a change, so we headed there first.


And Tiana happened to stroll by and gave us a wave, so I got a creep shot of her. I looked like a kid at Christmas when I saw her. We never got a chance to meet her this trip, which was my one big trip regret, but we're hoping to catch her next time.

Oh yeah, and Liberty Square is such a cool place to hang out.

Country Bear Jamboree was just going in, so we started the day off there.

Bob got some pretty sweet shots of the bears. It was a fab start to the day.




Swing lady is my favourite of the Country bears.

When we came out, it was time to use our BTM fastpasses, so that was our next stop. We both really like this ride, but I like the Paris one better (I know, I know, stop talking about Paris, Lauren!)

The wait for Splash Mountain was 30 minutes so we went for it, but it definitely wasn't that long! The CM asked us if we wanted to be front row, and I said, 'yes please!', not giving Bob a choice. We got very, very wet, and established that Splash Mountain is my favourite of rides with 'Mountain' in the name. Bob's is Space Mountain, which is funny, because he hated it the first time he rode it. We also decided that my favourite thrill ride is Everest; Bob's is Tower of Terror.

Me looking quite damp.

And a post-Splash selfie.

Bob was also quite wet.

We were super hungry so we decided to head to my favourite MK quick service - Columbia Harbour House. There was a massive queue but it moved very quickly.



This lunch was so delicious. I will never ever visit without eating here, unless they stop doing such tasty things. We ordered a Lighthouse Sandwich (without the broccoli slaw as it contains dairy), veggie chilli, and a side of broccoli to share. It was so yummy. The sandwich is really nice even without the slaw, and the veggie chilli is delicious comfort food. 10/10, would recommend to anyone.

After lunch, Bob wanted a picture of the flying lanterns because he's obsessed with Tangled, and we had 'I See the Light' as my coming-down-the-aisle song, and we're secretly Flynn and Rapunzel etc.




We stopped for a restroom break and Bob cheekily took photos of these pics in the gents' - how cool!

We came into Fantasyland only to discover it was ridiculously busy.


It doesn't look that bad but you could barely move!

The only reason we were facing it at this time of day was because we had Fastpasses for Peter Pan.

Which was just as well really, as stand-by had an 85 minute wait! Even Small World was a 40 minute wait!


We got on quickly with our Fastpasses.

I had to pose at the ride because I was Smee that day. After the ride, we decided to escape Fantasyland and go back to Liberty Square, where it was much quieter! I had a weird urge to do the Hall of Presidents, especially since it was REALLY REALLY HOT outside and Hall of Presidents has air-con.




Abe is my fave.


So okay, maybe I don't get the whole appeal because I'm British, but we mainly went in to see the creepy animatronic President dolls, but I got the impression people were taking it all SUPER SERIOUSLY. A woman behind me was exclaiming to her child that it was like a history lesson. I suppose it is a bit, but her child didn't seem that into it. Anyway, it killed some time. Afterwards, we tried to meet Tiana, alas to no avail. It was boiling hot, I was grumpy, and everywhere was busy, so we were starting to get irritated.

We went to use our Fastpasses for Mine Train. First time oooooh. Stand-by had a 110 minute wait! I'd never wait that long for anything! It was fun but I thought kind of overrated. I prefer Thunder Mountain, but Bob liked Mine Train more. Now all our FPs were used up, we went to a kiosk and made another one for Haunted Mansion. Then it was DEFINITELY time for a Dole Whip, because the park was too damn hot.

Everything at Aloha Isle is vegan and gluten-free, a helpful CM informed us! So happy!

We both opted for a delicious and refreshing Dole Whip float. This was so needed, and it was my first EVER Dole Whip! YAY! One to cross off the bucket list!

Then it was time to use our Haunted Mansion Fastpasses.



It was fun, but it was still too hot and too crowded when we came out.

I loved this artwork, and ended up buying it later in the trip. We really should have gone back to the resort at this point, but we decided to do one more ride. Oh, how I wish we hadn't bothered.

Pirates had a 30 minute wait, so we decided to do it. This was a mistake. We queued for way over an hour because the ride broke down several times. Everyone was hot, tired and annoyed. It broke down again just before our turn. I was totally out of mental energy. Everyone applauded when it finally started working again. And the revamped ride... well it was just okay. We decided after that it was time to call it quits for the day, as the park was just too busy, and we were hot, and I wanted to change before going to dinner.

We went back to the room, and had coffee and Oreos. We both changed before heading to The Wave for dinner.

I wore my Rapunzel style dress.

First time in the Contemporary, so we took some pictures. It was all very fancy but, a little soulless, in my opinion. I preferred POR.






Have to admit that this chocolate display was pretty cool.

The Wave was really nice though. We took a selfie while waiting for our table.

I actually like my face here.

We had an amazing server here. I wish I'd got her name. She really took the time to advise us on what was available for our dietary requirements. She recommended the curry vegetarian stew, but offered to add tofu to it! And then she also said they could make us a special dish of pan-seared tofu with veggies underneath, instead of pan-seared fish. We were very impressed and would eat here again for sure.

She brought bread to the table and even told us what was in it - flaxseed, etc, and that the margarine was soya-based. We couldn't believe how high the standard of service was here. The bread was really nice! We ate loads and she even brought us seconds!

Of course, we got cocktails. Bob had a Banana Mama, and I had a Raspberry Ginger Mojito.

I got the pan-seared tofu dish, which was ridiculously filling and good value for money.

And Bob got the curry stew with tofu. Both meals were yummy and probably one of the better meals we had on our trip.


We liked the little Contemporary resort cocktail stirrers!

Because we'd had such a great meal, we topped it off with some chocolate ice-cream (obv dairy-free) for dessert. I cannot rave enough about our experience here. We were even impressed with the cost of the meal - we'd eaten loads but it wasn't any more than some of our other sit-down meals. We had a wander around the resort shops after, and got the monorail back to MK. It went past the other MK resorts on the way, and we admired the Grand Floridian, agreeing that, were money no object, we'd stay there in an instant for our vow renewal. But unfortunately, it's well out of budget at the moment, and we're more likely to do AKL or something. That's okay though, as we love it there as well! Must look into renting DVC points. Anyway, we got the bus back to POR, and were so tired, we slept standing up and leaning on each other.

Right guys, I know I'm THE WORST because I abandoned this trip report without finishing it, and I'm super sorry. The reason it's taken us a while to update is because WE'RE HAVING A BABY. We found out just before Christmas and it's been a big focus of my attention, obviously, especially with feeling ill most days and crashing out exhausted at night. But I'm now into the second trimester (we're due August), and feel I have enough energy to start back on this report. We're obviously super stoked to be becoming parents, but it does mean we won't be at the big meet up in October. We've booked a short trip to DLP for May instead, and are planning on returning to WDW when baby is old enough. Anyway, enough ado; on with the trip report!

Day 6:
We slept in after our night at the Wave, and had a bit of panic in the morning, so took a while to get going. We started the day off with some Mickey waffles, banana and strawberries to share.


There was some weird thing going on in the food court where cast members started dancing.

After breakfast, we wandered down to the dock to get the boat to Disney Springs. It was a lovely day and we were in no hurry, so we decided a nice boat ride would be a great way to spend the morning.

Bob waiting for the boat. I got a tattoo compliment while we were waiting (number 10 I think).


After a bit of a wait, our boat arrived. It was called the Delta Lady.



This whole experience was lovely and scenic.


We sat back, enjoyed the journey, and took lots of pictures.



We went past French Quarter and thought it looked really nice. We wondered about staying there sometime.






We got excited when we saw Disney Springs. Party in the USA was playing as we pulled in and I was singing along.







The Christmas decorations were up at Disney Springs.


We popped into the Christmas shop first.




We saw a few things we wanted, including hairclips for a Disneybound, and a decoration for a friend.


We went into a few shops and looked around.



I got excited at World of Pins.


I bought this new lanyard, a mystery pin, and an Yzma.

Mystery pin was a Pluto one. Wasn't very impressed. It says in the notes that I said 'Aw, he's rubbish.'

We sat on a bench and I moved all my pins to my new lanyard.

Then we went into the big toy shop!



We spent ages looking at Star Wars stuff. I ended up coming back for the purple Rey t-shirt.




We wandered around for a while trying to decide where to eat. We tried Earl of Sandwich but it was so busy, and we fancied a change. So we ended up at Raglan Road.


The plates are nice here.

We got a couple of beers.

And they brought soda bread to the table.


We both got Portobello mushroom burgers with chips (no cheese). At first they made them with egg brushed rolls, and then when they realised we were vegan, they were quick to swap these out. The food was good, even if the rolls disintegrated slightly. It was nice to have a proper pub lunch. We got some tattoo compliments from our server, making it 11 for me, 1 for Bob.

We went for a walk after lunch, and took some photos.


Then we went to the Lego shop!




I felt bad for the Lego Friend because nobody wanted their photo taken with her, so I got one taken.

Lego Santa!

The Dwarfs were impressive.



Then we popped into World of Disney, making sure to get a picture with Cinderella this time.



The Belle in here is gorgeous.

And of course, Nessie.

We walked around for a while longer, but it was too hot, so we stopped at Paradiso 37 for a mojito.

Then we looked at some more shops. I found this cool fox necklace - I love foxes.


We ended up going back to World of Disney to pick up some things. We bought tea, a Thomas Kinkade puzzle for Bob's Mum, and a Christmas Minnie & Mickey ornament.

We spied Edna Mode at Trend boutique.

Then we went back for my bestie's Christmas decoration (a TNBC one), and got the bus back to the resort just as it started to rain. We had a wee rest in the resort then headed out for dinner at Boatwright's. This was an awful dining experience so I'll probably skim over it, so as not to relive it too much!

Me in my Tiana dress I had printed for the trip.

Bob in Boatwright's.


We both ordered cocktails. These were nice. The food, however, was a disaster. There was clearly some kind of miscommunication about what a vegan was. We'd marked down our requirements on the reservation, and explained it to the waiting staff when we arrived, but straight away, we were brought cornbread with butter, which had to be sent back. Thinking it was just a minor error, we ordered vegetarian jambalaya and seasonal greens.


The jambalaya was okay, perfectly edible, but I was just about to start loading greens onto my plate when Bob yelled 'DON'T EAT THAT'. There were bits of meat in the greens. I nearly puked. We've deleted the photos of them because I don't want to be reminded of how close I came to eating meat. It was a thoroughly traumatic experience. I'm sure for someone who eats meat, this would have been nothing, but we are both vegan on ethical grounds and the thought of eating any animal makes me sick to my stomach now. Regardless, I shan't dwell on it. They swapped the greens for asparagus which was fine but I'd gone off eating by that point. We complained, but nothing was done about it, so we didn't tip any more than was necessary and got out of there.

After a busy day and a disappointing meal, we were pretty drained and I was feeling emotionally wobbly. Too tired to do anything, we messed around in the hammock for a while and had a giggle.



We ended up lying there for ages. A few people walked past and said we had the right idea. It was really nice, and it kind of showed me that you can have fun at Disney even after a bad experience. We ended up going back to the room, and fell asleep watching Wall-e on TV.

Right, I swore that I'd get this report finished before we go to Paris - and we're going in just over a week, so I'd better get on with it!

Day 7:

We got up and got ready to go to Hollywood Studios! Before we left, we quickly switched tomorrow's dinner ADR from Nine Dragons to Tokyo Dining - after the nightmare at Boatwright's, we weren't taking any risks and decided to play it safe with veggie sushi!

We grabbed some humous and fruit for breakfast. I was kind of addicted to these little humous pots for our entire holiday. After eating, we headed to the bus stop. The queue for Magic Kingdom was huge, so we were pleased we weren't heading there till later. We got the bus to HS and took some photos inside the park. I was Disneybounding as Rosetta that day.


I got another tattoo compliment in the restroom! Bob makes this 13 compliments in his notes.

We took some photos with these busts.

A cast member photobombed us and it was really funny! Apparently she photobombs everyone!

Then it was time for Star Tours!







The ride was good as always, and it was great getting to see the new footage!

We had a look around the shop afterwards.


Bob bought this Millennium Falcon thing.

I loved these dresses!

After Star Tours, we decided to go meet Buzz and Woody! We took queue selfies, obviously.

Then two really cool English girls with funky tattoos offered to take this shot for us!




Buzz and Woody were so cute! I fell in love with Woody again.

Then we went over to see Indiana Jones, as we'd missed it last time we were here.

I had to get a picture of the Splash thingy because I love that film!

And Bob thought this shop was funny!


So it was onto Indiana Jones! It was good fun and Bob took some good pictures.










Bob was very proud of that last photo! Afterwards, we decided to head for lunch at Backlot Express.

These grilled veggie sandwiches are vegan, provided you remove the cheese and swap the bread for wholegrain, so that's what we did!

These were so yummy! Bob is a bit mad for BBQ sauce, and he says the stuff here was really good.

Then it was time to use our Rock 'n' Rollercoaster Fastpasses. I love this ride, and we both agreed it's much better than the one in Paris!

My face was pretty funny. This was our last ride at HS, so we headed towards the exit, a little saddened to be leaving as we love it in this park.

We caught a little of these ladies before we left, and we dropped into Starbucks for a soya frap and to pick up a mug for a coworker.

She was so happy we found her mug!


I got another tattoo compliment in Starbucks. Then we got the bus back to the resort.

My handsome husband in the sun. We popped back to the room to change for our dinner at Be Our Guest! I got stressed getting ready because I was so excited! Then we got the bus to MK. The bus was late and very busy, so we called ahead to let them know we were running late for our ADR, and they said it would be fine. We made it to Be Our Guest 15 minutes late. Of course I was dressed as Belle.


This was all very magical for me as I'd always wanted to go, and now I was here! I felt like I was really in the movie, about to go into Beast's castle.


We took all of these while waiting for our table.


Finally we got in! I was so excited! They gave me an adorable Lumiere to carry to the table, but they took it away before I could take a picture.

We got seated quite quickly, and the server was very careful to listen to our needs as vegans.

We both ordered French onion soup without cheese and croutons to start. We were informed the bread was safe for vegans and brought dairy free spread for on it.


And then ratatouille. This was a really wonderful meal, but the best bit was the atmosphere, as it felt like we were really in Beast's castle. We paid with Bob's magic band so we didn't need to worry about cash. Our server was Ratana and he was really, really good. We'd been informed that he was the best server in the house, and we could see why! Thoroughly recommend him! After we were done, we took a walk round the castle for photos.

I couldn't believe the enchanted rose was just THERE in front of me. Beauty & the Beast is my favourite Disney film and I always identified with Belle, so I felt like crying with joy on this night.









Then came the most exciting moment of the night. The line to meet the Beast was really short, so I went straight in! I was finally going to meet my childhood hero!

The cast members greeted me with 'Hello Belle', and I fell in love again. Beast hugged me really tightly, and I almost cried, and then the CMs almost cried. It was honestly the most magical part of our whole trip.


Me getting all the hugs from Beast!

And a wee photo next to the stained glass window.

Now seemed like the perfect time to head into Enchanted Tales with Belle, as we always like to do it at night.

I got tattoo compliment 15 in the queue.


The magic didn't stop after Be Our Guest! Bob got chosen to be a suit of armour in Enchanted Tales. I was so entertained and proud but he was mega embarrassed!


Look how adorable he is!





This photo cracks me up as that child is totally giving Bob the side-eye!

I was mega jealous when he got to meet Belle, but excited for him! After Enchanted Tales, we grabbed a spot on the bridge between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland to watch the shows.

This was an interesting spot as we got to see some side views that you don't normally see.





The fireworks were obscured a little by the trees, but still spectacular.














After the show, we decided to take a spin on the teacups!

I always spin way too fast on this ride and make Bob dizzy.


Then we went on the Barnstormer, just because. I love Magic Kingdom at night!


And since we were on a roll, we went on Under the Sea too.

After that, we thought we'd go test out a LeFou's brew from Gaston's Tavern (they're completely vegan!)

These were very very sweet, but worth trying!

I loved this piece of art.

Then it was time for Small World!







I love the hippo!


Then we decided to do something we'd never done before - the Jingle (Jungle) Cruise.



Nope, sorry, didn't like it. It was weird and not my sense of humour at all. Haha don't think I'll be doing that one again, but it was worth a try. Carousel of Progress and the People Mover were both closed, so we went on Winnie the Pooh instead!


That turned out to be our last ride of the day, as we both realised we were exhausted, and got the bus back to the resort, snapping this photo on the way out.

I think this was probably the most magical night of our trip, and definitely made up for the previous night's disappointment.

Thanks, sorry it's been a while coming, I've been suffering ill health as a result of pregnancy, but I'm on the mend now. The soy milk was readily available in the fridge at Riverside, though it is vanilla flavoured so it's very sweet! They also have chocolate. Better than nothing! xx