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Wheel of Screams and World of Color
Today is our World of Color dining package! First we wander around to dry off from the drenching we got. Down to the wharf. A quick bakery tour. Look at this cute photo spot – great illusion. Onto the Pier To visit… A ‘ el’s Grotto. So disappointing to see this in disrepair. Not even a temporary sign over it. After a 20 minute wait, we are seated, and brought some sourdough rolls. Sourdough isn’t my favorite, but these were freshly baked and pretty good. The details in the restaurant were cute, but it still felt lackluster. Obligatory Mickey Head. I really liked the lemonade at WDW, so I opted…
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Mickey’s Halloween Party – Disneyland Edition
Halloween in Disneyland It’s party time!! As we walk up to the gates we see a not unexpected sign: We’ve got our tickets already though, so onward! Aren’t the carved “pumpkins” cute? Mickey has his party mask on. Mickey Pumpkin projections twirl on the ground. This huge floating Mickey ghost was so cool. Spooky eyes blinked and followed you on the buildings. Sidebar: I adore Halloween. I love the time of year, the fun decorations, the excuse to dress silly, all of it. I do however have one very severe phobia for a web-based-thing that tends to feature heavily during Halloween. It’s a deep enough phobia that we don’t even…
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We’re Going to Disneyland!!
We check out from the Queen Mary – hop in the car – and head down to Anaheim. Today starts our Disneyland adventure! I take a quick snap of the sign to send to family – and because YAY DISNEY!!! Walking up – the hotel is a little generic looking. The bronze statues are very cute though! A large castle rug in the front entrance. I adore this concept art. Even the bathroom has cute vintage poster print wallpaper. I checked in at the front desk – and the lovely Veronica said if I didn’t mind waiting, she’d give me a bit of pixie dust and get us her personal…
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Pop Goes the Century
When we last left off – we had a delicious dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse, then drove off into the sunset to check in at Pop Century. Skip to the 32:22 mark for a reminder of our arrival. The decade signs stand outside the front of the building. This caution sign was nicely lit in the dark – I don’t know what it was cautioning against, but I had to stop for a photo. We get our room – and walk through the pool area (that we didn’t have the energy to try). The room had more “fun” touches to it than our Kidani stay – with actual animal towels.…
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Melting Around the World
Welcome to Wednesday! Today we are hitting Epcot. Two park closures in a row meant I slept in. So we just had time to hoof it to the boat and ride over to the other side of the lake for our lunch ADR. The beautiful blue skies leaving the Village. Here is the full day’s video – but keep reading for the pictures and comments. Walking into Epcot. The Food and Wine Festival was going on. It wasn’t exceptionally crowded as far as we could tell though, while we were here. A quick shot of us. Unintentionally coordinated in blues – right down to the lanyard and magic bands. I…
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Thundering and Splashing In the Magic Kingdom
Now it’s time to ride! We have a Fastpass so make our way over to the other side of the park. On the way out of lunch, I spot this balloon, and boy was I tempted to get one of my own. We didn’t have time to stop to talk with Belle, but I love the sign. The windmill moves the gears which makes the candlestick ‘arms’ dance. Rapunzel’s tower is still beautiful. I managed to come around in time to catch the Liberty Belle and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad lined up. Speaking of BTMRR – that’s our Fastpass destination! I grab an awkward shot from the ride before…
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Lunch at Be Our Guest
I had heard many mixed reviews on Be Our Guest, and decided that if I got the mysterious invite email directly from Disney then I would reserve a lunch there. I did get the email, and so here we are. After checking in and confirming we had reservations (the CM was visibly relieved, she said it was so hard to tell people trying to just walk up that it basically wasn’t possible on most days to get in without an ADR) we walk along the bridge to the entrance. Such a sad gargoyle. Once inside – you walk down a hallway, and you can hear Lumiere and Cogsworth whispering. Then…
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Our Morning in the Magic Kingdom
Tuesday morning arrives – and runs off while we’re sleeping. Hey, I never pretended to be a morning person, and that 6am start wasn’t going to be a trend. Eventually we get going and head to the car. I snap a shot in the elevator. Let me take a quick moment to say THANK YOU to my ever patient husband for always toting the camera gear. It’s hard to see the size here, roughly an average diaper bag, and at least as insanely packed. He knows how much my photography profession (and obsession) means to me. The parking garage of course had Lion King theming – we were most often…
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Return to the Yachtsman Steakhouse
First fancy dinner night! After initial sticker shock over the prices (I did not yet know the beauty of a prime steak) in 2011, the Yachtsman Steakhouse fast became and stayed our favorite (and yes, most expensive) meal. Since he was our waiter each time (and a few times on my parents’ earlier visits) previously, we wanted to make sure we had the impeccable David guiding us through our meal again. I tried to call and get David’s section, but sadly only got a voicemail. Once we arrived and checked in, we had a little wait for our table, so of course that meant picture time! Yup, we’re goofs. At…
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Midwest Media Expo 2014 – After Con Report
The first ever Midwest Media Expo just ran and I was lucky enough to be chosen to cover it as Press. If some of the staff look familiar here it’s because the event is helmed by the same people who run Youmacon. It is not simply another anime convention however. As the name suggests they are highlighting a broad scope of media – film and print, comic and animation, voice actors and artists.
