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Disney ICP 2015: Day Seventy Five (July 25th)

Aly and I had decided to make today a chill day, so we both slept in and then headed down to a salon near Panera to get our nails done. It was my first ever manicure, so I was a little bit nervous. It also was a little boring because I had to pick a colour that was “Disney look…” So nothing fun, obviously. I had spotted a colour I liked called “Put it in Neutral” by OPI but then the guy doing my nails insisted on one called “Bubble bath” that was more pink. It was kind of weird but I just went with it. I’m a pretty tense person (my family can attest) so it was kind of hard to let my wrists relax while the guy did my nails, but it was pretty fun. I also managed to chip the polish almost as soon as I got to work, so maybe that’s a sign that I’m just not cut out for manicures! Plus I worked at Sports and backboard fell on my head, so that’s fun.

Photos: Day Seventy Four

Last three photos courtesy of Aly Sf!

Photos: Day Seventy Four

Disney ICP 2015: Day Seventy Four (July 24th)

This morning I headed off to Magic Kingdom with Aly. I’d booked a couple of Fastpasses for stuff I still needed to get done, like meeting Rapunzel! As we were headed through Fantasyland to Princess Fairytale Hall, both of us heard a familiar voice behind us. It turned out to be Drumlin…and he was with Kaysie, one of my really good friends from my last program, and her husband Alex! I knew that she was coming to visit but wasn’t sure if I would get to see her, so it was awesome! Both groups had packed park schedules ahead, though, so we headed in separate directions after a quick chat. Meeting Rapunzel and Cinderella was fun, though I always find it kind of awkward doing character meet and greets with princesses I don’t really like. I also don’t really realize how tall I am until you put me next to a Disney princess. After the princesses, we had a Fastpass for Peter Pan’s Flight, which Aly agreed to go on because she’s a good friend. Then we were both starving so we booked it for Tomorrowland Terrace, where I had a chicken caesar salad. I wish that the Terrace was open during the off season too, because they have some pretty good food! After our lunch break, we got in line to meet Merida. This was my first time meeting her EVER, even after my program last summer, and it was really fun. We talked about having brothers, though hers are definitely more of a handful than mine! Then Aly and I got down to our main mission of the day: we had both gotten Tomorrowland pins from Epcot, and wanted to take a picture with it on Small World, which was the entrance to Tomorrowland in the movie. (We’re massive nerds, I know.) Aly’s picture obviously turned out better than mine, but we both got pretty good pictures for Instagram! It was raining pretty hard in the Kingdom by the time we got off the ride, and unfortunately Space Mountain (our next Fastpass) was shut down. We wandered around a couple of shops waiting for it to hopefully reopen, but it wasn’t looking good that it would before we had to leave for work. So we used the Fastpass at Haunted Mansion as a replacement, which I obviously can’t complain about! Then it was off to work where I was at Music…and of course the rain couldn’t stick around for my shift.

Photos: Day Seventy Three

Disney ICP 2015: Day Seventy Three (July 23rd)

Today was a pretty exciting day, because it involved good food! Haily, Darien and I were off to Epcot for a reservation at the Coral Reef. I’ve been there with my family for dinner, and with my mom for lunch a couple of times, but not recently, so I was very excited about it! Unfortunately it rained on our way in to the park, so my cute outfit was a bit soggy, but the restaurant was still as beautiful as always. We asked for a table right up near the tank, and since we were one of the first reservations of the day we got one! During the meal we saw almost every fish on the little spotting guide they give you. A HUGE shark swam straight towards our table, which was a little terrifying, but my favourite part was seeing the sea turtle swimming around in the background. He didn’t get too close to us, but I got some okay pictures. For lunch I had the lobster soup with tarragon and brandy, which might be one of the best things I’ve eaten all summer, and then I had the mahi mahi, which came with jasmine rice, hearts of palm, “laughing bird shrimp” (which were just teeny, tiny little shrimpies) and a coconut-lime sauce. It was also amazing, and coupled with the view it was just a great lunch overall. After lunch we went over to the World Showcase so that Darien could finally meet Belle, and then we walked around the entire Showcase to work off our lunch. We stopped in at Japan because we all think the store in there is pretty cool, and I bought a little Alice in Wonderland purse that I’ve been eyeing a while. On our way out of the Showcase we all split a cronut with ice cream on top...which we totally demolished. It was so good, and I can’t believe it took me this long into the program to get one. Silly me. Unfortunately I then had to leave for work, and it was off to Movies for me, so obviously there is nothing to report.

Disney ICP 2015: Day Seventy Two (July 22nd)

I decided to make today a “me” day, and headed off to the other outlet mall with Aly. She’d never used Uber before, so we were able to get back and forth for free! Score! Our first stop was obviously the Victoria’s Secret outlet, where I found everything I was looking for, and a cute new bathing suit for 7 dollars a piece! Can’t really get better than that. After that we wandered in to Sak’s Fifth Avenue because Aly wanted to look at their Wildfox selection, and I’m the one that ended up buying something: a pair of pink and blue Puma running shoes. Which, hey, is more practical than the BCBG dress I almost bought last week. Pros and cons people. We perused a couple of other random shops, one that sold makeup (which was hard to walk away from) and then a Roxy shop where I found a cute t-shirt for 8 dollars. Damn these outlets! We stopped for lunch at the food court, and I got Five Guys (no food poisoning this time!) and Aly got Subway. Then it was a final stop at Bath and Body Works for those cute little hand sanitizers, and into the Uber back to housing so Aly could get to work. I did something a little bad today and called in, I was feeling really off in the morning and I didn’t think it would be a good idea to go on stand. So I hung around with Aly until she left for work, and then I headed home to a bowl of macaroni and cheese and Kingsman. I thought about going to a resort to watch fireworks, but then it started to pour rain so it was a chill night at home for me. It was much needed!

Photos: Day Seventy One

(Is it a cute photo of me? Then Aly Sferlazza took it)

Disney ICP 2015: Day Seventy One (July 21st)

This morning Aly and I decided to go to a park together, and we discovered that neither of us had been to Animal Kingdom in a while, so off we went. We started off with pictures in front of the Tree, and then walked around to Yak and Yeti (the quickserve) for lunch. This time I tried the Korean Stir Fry barbecue chicken. It was definitely better than the Honey chicken, but I still miss the beef lo mein, and I’m not sure why they got rid of it. Bring back the noodles Disney! After lunch we got on to Everest through the single rider line, and then Dinosaur had a nice short wait so we got on that too. Then we walked back around to Africa, where Tamu Tamu now has Dole Whips (just the pineapple though.) We also did a little bit of shopping in the main area, I bought a little something for the bro. It was stinkin’ hot out so in some of my photos you’ll see Aly demonstrating her new cooling off technique. We also did a little photography experiment in front of the Tree...which either turned out very well, or very poorly depending on your perspective. Aly wanted to get photos of us in front of the Tree blowing “pixie dust” (glitter) towards the camera. I tried it first, and most of the glitter stuck to my hand (see the photo below). So when it was Aly’s turn, she put way more glitter in her hand, and blew way more forcefully...and I ended up covered in glitter. At least the photos looked cute... I had to be in to work early today because I had a “round table” meeting with the manager of recreation at All Star. Each month he picks a couple of lifeguards to come and chat about things that could be improved at the resort. It was pretty cool that I got to do it. Thankfully my shift was at Movies so it was a relaxing night. What everyone didn’t know is that I was still covered in glitter underneath my costume. If my costume covered it, there was glitter underneath.

Photos: Day Seventy

Disney ICP 2015: Day Seventy (July 20th)

Although I wish we could have stayed in the cabins for the rest of our program, we had to be out by 11, and we had breakfast reservations before that, so we were up earlier than I’d have liked to pack up and get ready for breakfast. For breakfast we headed to Trail’s End, where I got to have their fabulous bread pudding again, and the moonshine of course. (It’s just POG juice, don’t worry!) Then it was off to the pool for more relaxing!  Unfortunately our relaxing was cut short by a HUGE thunderstorm that rolled through around mid-afternoon. It always storms on my days off...we stuck around for a while watching children’s activities underneath the rain closing location, but then decided it was time to move along, got dressed, and headed to the front of the resort. I don’t remember where everyone else was heading, I think Magic Kingdom, but I was trying to get to the Polynesian, and let me tell you it was quite the to-do. It took us a while to figure out which bus would take us to the Wilderness Lodge (it’s the Yellow route, for future reference) and then because the boats weren’t running, we got to Wilderness Lodge, hopped on a Magic Kingdom bus...and it went straight back to the Fort. Sigh... I finally got to Magic Kingdom, on to the monorail, and to the Polynesian just in time to meet Joe, Allan and Joe’s friend Charlie in the lobby of the Poly. Remember Joe from my blogs last summer? The lucky bastard is back for a CRP, and it was so exciting to see him again! We got really lucky and a group were just leaving their table as we went in to Trader Sam’s, so I accomplished my goal of getting to sit inside before I left, and it was so worth it! Each drink had a special little event associated with it (I missed mine, which just means I’ll have to go back soon!) I think my favourite is when you order the Nautilus, all the servers put on floaties and goggles and the entire restaurant “goes underwater,” they blow bubbles and pretend to be swimming. I ordered the Polynesian Pearl, which is supposed to come out of a giant clamshell on the bar, but I either missed it or it didn’t happen. Boo. The drink was really good though, and it had RumChata cream liqueur, Grand Marnier, cinnamon and tropical juices in it. It also came in an adorable pearl shaped cup which I obviously chose to keep. (They give you the option of ordering the fun drinks without having to pay for the fun cup, you just don’t get to keep it. I think that’s great because I’m not sure how I’d lug a Nautilus home, but it looks like fun to drink out of!) I also got the Headhunter’s sushi roll, I’d tried a piece of Haily’s the last time we came and thought it was awesome, which is a bit weird for me since it has raw fish in it. It had salmon and tuna, and the rice was beet flavoured, which made it a nice pink colour. It also had a hibiscus sauce that according to my internet research is supposed to look like blood. Fun facts. Unfortunately Charlie and Joe had been unaware of the need to have a picture of your passport if you’re international and want to drink, so after Allan and I enjoyed our drinks, we headed back to the British boys’ room at the All Star so they could pick up their passports. We said goodbye to Allan, and then hopped on the bus to Downtown Disney for more drinks. However, jetlag must have hit Charlie on the bus ride over, because he ended up staying on the bus back around to the All Star because he was too tired. And then there were two... Joe and I decided to catch a movie, but first we stopped at the Co-op so I could pick up a replacement for my beloved Aloha Isle glass. My old one was broken in a freak cleaning accident. This is why I don’t clean... We were hoping to see Inside Out because Joe hadn’t seen it, but we also wanted to try out the Dine-In Theatre, and Inside Out wasn’t playing there. So we decided on Ant Man, which so far had been getting okay reviews, and I like Paul Rudd so how could you go wrong? Well, it went quite wrong...the movie had zero plot, I was confused a lot, and the food in the theatre was SO EXPENSIVE. I had some stuffed potato skins that were pretty good, but Joe didn’t even want to finish the chicken wrap he ordered, he said it was that bad. So I’d give the Dine-In theatre a thumbs up for a once in a while thing, but I don’t know if Joe would feel the same! We stopped back off at the Star to grab my bags, and then I headed back to housing on the good ol’ K bus.

(I stole this picture of the roll from Google, it’s not mine! From nightshadekills.wordpress.com)

Just a little taste of Hoop dee Doo

Photos: Day Sixty Nine

Disney ICP 2015: Day Sixty Nine (July 19th)

Because we’re really pulling out all the stops for this ICP, today we headed over to the Cabins at Fort Wilderness for our second “staycation” in less than a week. Hey, you’re not going to hear me complaining. There’s no bus that goes straight to the Fort from housing, so we took the bus to Wilderness Lodge, and stopped there for lunch. I had the roast beef sandwich with horseradish sauce and grilled red onions. It was amazing, and we got 20% off which is always a good thing! Then we hopped on the bus over to the cabins. Ours wasn’t ready yet so we dropped our bags off at Bell Services and then headed over to the Tri-Circle-D Ranch for our trail ride! I haven’t been on a horse in a while, so when they pulled up this giant beast and told me to get on it, I was a little nervous. But apparently Cooper, as my horse was named, is one of their veteran horses, and he even tends to keep the other horses in line! They also told me that he was a bit of an obsessive rule follower...so we were a good match! The trail ride was really cool. The horses are trained to follow each other in a straight line, so you don’t have to worry about much, other than not letting them eat on the trail or bite the horse in front of them. Cooper was one of their fastest horses, so I was at the front of the line right behind the guide, but the guide’s horse was very slow, so I had to watch Cooper like a hawk to make sure he didn’t take a bite out of her. We got to see some deer while we were out too which was pretty cool. Turns out that Darien’s horse is sometimes “friends with” Maximus (the horse from Tangled) in parades and other special events. Also pretty cool! Once our ride was over our cabin was ready so we took the bus to the Arrowhead Way section, which is where our cabin was. The cabins are so cute on the inside, it really reminded me of my cottage in the Muskokas. It had a little kitchen and a living room, with a murphy bed that came down from the wall, a nice spacious bathroom, and the bedroom with a double bed and a set of bunk beds. I called the top bunk! The one complaint I would have would be about the bus system; getting around the resort was confusing enough, I can’t imagine having to try to get to parks on time out of this place. We had our bags delivered to the cabin, and then set out to the boat dock to head to the Polynesian. We’d discovered that it was National Ice Cream Day, so we thought what better way to celebrate than with Dole Whips? Then we took the monorail around to Magic Kingdom to take the boat back to the Fort. We needed to work off our Dole Whips before dinner, so we took the bus out to the Meadows Trading Post, which is in the middle of the resort, and has the resort’s pool and recreation area. We get a cast member discount on canoeing, so it’s only 3.50 to rent a canoe and go for a paddle! We weren’t able to get far before we needed to turn around, but it was really fun! We quickly went back to the room to spruce up for dinner, and then it was on to another bus to the lake end of the resort to go to Hoop dee Doo. It was just as fun as the first time, even though this time we had to sit up in the balcony. They even made a joke about Tripledent gum from Inside Out! We’d packed our bathing suits with us before dinner so we went straight from dinner to the hot tub...only to discover after we’d gotten in that they didn’t have towels out on the pool deck. At least over at the All Star you don’t have to take a bus back to your room to get towels. When we got back to the room I fell asleep almost instantly in my comfy bunk.

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