Olivia - More Birthdays at Disney

 

Once again I find myself at Disney World to celebrate a birthday - this time it is Olivia. It is her 19th birthday. I cannot think of a better way to celebrate with her.

Things started off with big trouble. On the seventh day prior to our arrival at the resorts I was to get our ride reservations and individual lightning lanes. However, when I was reviewing our reservation about an hour later (at work) I found that I had only ordered for Olivia - not Olivia and myself. Full panic mode, but I was able to work out some things and over the next six days and I was able to align our opening rides somewhat and had put together a master plan for the first park of the day - EPCOT.

We always take this picture but until you experience it you never know what it feels like to realize that you are here and can sink into this place for a few days.

We arrived and checked in at All-star Music (a value resort). We got an instant upgrade which basically meant that we were closer to the main desk, restaurant, and bar. We wouldn't realize how important that would  be until later. This message was on our TV screen.

We arrived with plenty of time left in the day and went to Disney Springs. Olivia wanted the eat somewhere we had never eaten before. Terralina was great. We had a great meal there.

We did a little shopping.

Back to the room to rest.

We participated in some resort activities and turned in early because tomorrow would be a very big day.

We arrived at the back gate of EPCOT and were in time to be one of the first five people to arrive. I took this picture of us in the ears that Olivia made for us to wear. I wore them most of the day and was shocked at the number of people who stopped us to ask about them - apparently they knew what they meant. The irony of course is that I did not.

People were beginning to arrive behind us - we were planning to beat them all to rope drop Ratatouille.

Success! We were on and off of the ride less than 10 minutes into our early entry

We rode this ride to open our ability to book other top tier rides in the other parks - First target Disney Studios.

Living with the Land and Soarin' were next

We made our appointment to Olivia's new favorite ride - Guardians of the Galaxy.

Park Number 2

Lunch at the ABC Commissary

Rise of the Resistance

Saying goodbye to Disney Studios

Park Number 3

Haunted Mansion

TRON

This was us worn out - we rode every ride in Magic Kingdom except Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. We rested as we took the ride home. It was here that we realized the full value of our upgraded room. When we got off the bus we could hardly walk. Fortunately, our room was less than 100 feet away - score.

The next day began with beignets. For me, these are the best beignets you can get - he at Port Orleans. They are much softer than others you might get and - though they may be a tad less authentic, to me they are the very best.

We ran into a friend at Port Orleans

We continued to tour some of the other resorts beginning with Art of Animation.

Next we went to The Contemporary. I took this picture with Olivia because it was conceived and produced by Olivia's favorite artist - Mary Blair.

Next we were on to The Polynesian Resort. We ran into more friends and found some Dole Whip.

We had the highly coveted reservation at Beaches and Cream at Beach Club for dinner

One last picture as we began our ride to the airport. If you have seen much of this blog you may ask how many times we would one want to go to Disney World. The answer is as many times as our family wants to go. As this trip wraps up I can certainly look back on it and immerse myself into any one of hundreds of memories. Also, though I do not want to think about it - time continues its terrible dance and I don't know how many more birthdays I will have the opportunity to share with Olivia one on one. So, for as long as I have these times and these moments, I will hold on tight and thank God for Olivia and for our family and embrace the moments - Always!