Going solo at Walt Disney World! Yes....it is fun! (Day 4)

As I began my 4th day at Walt Disney World for this solo trip, it started early once again. Rain, once again.  There were Extra Magic Hours for Hollywood Studios, and perfect timing for that, it was "STAR WARS DAY, Let the 4th Be With You."

Since I was not going to be on my trip during STAR WARS WEEKENDS, (which are going on right now) this was the next best thing.  Since I was there early, I really had not intended to pick up any merchandise not really thinking what it would be all about, but then I said, "Hey, since I am here early!", I went for it. 

I waited in line for about 45 minutes, and by the time I was done the line was over 2 hours long!  YIKES!!
 But, I did come away with a shirt and 2 pins!!

The first thing I did though was grab a FastPass for STAR TOURS.......when I went to use it, the attraction was down.  What a day for that to happen.  So, the Cast Members told us that the FastPass would be honored any time that day when it came back up, and you wanted to ride.  At that point I was able to go get a pass for Toy Story Midway Mania which was for later that afternoon.  And that was fine, as I was going to be busy the rest of the morning and early afternoon. 

I met up with my friend Brent Dodge, author of From Screen to Theme and podcaster.  We then found the other pal we were looking for, Amy Petermann author of The Relocated Tourist, and her daughter.

 We had some PhotoPass pictures taken, and headed over to STAR TOURS.  Still down!  What the heck........and what a day for this to happen!! 
A lot of people were getting ticked off, but we headed over to the character greeting area for Chewie.....line was VERY long. We then made our way over to the greeting area for Mickey Luke and Minnie Leia. Mickey and Minnie walked right past us as they were making their exit.

 They went in for their "break" so we got Goody-Vader and Storm Trooper Donald, which was fine with us!

The characters were not doing autographs, so they gave these cards out instead, which were pretty cool!

Got some great pictures there, and went back to the attraction.  Still down.  Amy was waiting for her daughter and so Brent and I went to Muppet Vision 3-D.  I have always loved this attraction. 
There were STAR WARS characters all over the place!  A moving moment for us STAR WARS fans for sure!!!

When we came out, STAR TOURS was back up and running.  Amy chose to wait for her daughter to come out as she had a FastPass as well.  Brent and I headed in, and got the surprise of a life time!  Two Jawas were going to be in our "ship"!  They interacted to great with all of us, and they were also interacting with what was going on with the ride, and it was so much fun!!!

 Brent was in heaven! 








After we were done there, we all parted ways for the day.  I went over to The Great Movie Ride which I love.

 I also called in to see about getting a reservation for a place to have dinner for Table Service as I had an extra one that I did not want to lose, since I could not attend the 1900 Park Fare dinner a couple nights before.  I got a reservation at Hollywood & Vine for 3:45. As I had not eaten all day I was starving! I finished my dinner, and it was perfect timing to head over to the PIXAR area for my FastPass for Toy Story Midway Mania. 

I did ok on my score, but not as good as my last visit in October.  After I got done there, I went to The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow.  It was ok, but didn't thrill me.

I did a little shopping and went and found Amy's other daughter who works at Hollywood Studios.  I went in and surprised her.  It was so nice to finally meet her as well as her younger sister.

I was going to try to stick around for the later evening festivities, but my feet, were totally killing me........so, I headed back to the resort around 5pm.  I went to the pool, as I had not had the chance to do that yet.  With all the rain, who wanted to do that?  Not me!  The sun was out, and I swam around a bit, and it made my feet feel better as well. Took some pictures of my resort area since the sun was finally out!

 
I went back to my room, got dressed and strolled over to Landscape of Flavors for a bit to eat around 8pm.  I turned in early as I had a big day going to EPCOT the next morning.  I wanted to get an early start, if I felt up to it.

Stay tuned for day 5 and my exciting day at EPCOT for the Flower & Garden Festival!

Going solo at Walt Disney World! Yes....it is fun! (Day 3)

Day three of my solo trip took me to Animal Kingdom.  I was up and raring to go,....so much so that I had a blond moment, and totally forget to take the camera battery off the charger and put it in my phone.  My goal was to be at AK for rope drop.....which I was minus a camera.  I had to resort to using my cell phone, which does take great pictures........and my every wonderful PhotoPass+ card!!  I did wind up with some great shots!

Waiting for rope drop!














First thing, I headed for my very favorite attraction at Animal Kingdom, Expedition Everest.  Since it was so early, there was no waiting!  I ran over and got my FastPass first, then headed for the ride.  My FastPass return time was only an hour later, so I was a happy camper!  2 times on Everest in one morning.

Being alone, my first ride was next to a guy in his 30's who seemed to be pretty subdued, until the ride photograph came out!  HA!  The guy was nuts!  Even though I love this ride....for some reason I was screaming right then! 

After leaving Everest, I went about taking some pictures with my phone. 

On my way over to Dinosaur! I ran across this guy!  Wow!

Shock, and awe on my face.......hummmm.....
All alone in the back seat!  I think that is where the Dinosaur is going to wind up on the trip back!

On my way back to Expedition Everest, I stopped one of the PhotoPass photographers to take my picture.  Here I am in from of the dreaded mountain!

My second go-round on Everest..........praying in the back seat!
Alone again!

I love taking pictures of the Tree of Life!!  It's so interesting to see and study.  I notice something different each time.

 A surprise visit from none other than Tinker Bell!

One of my goals this day was to spot Devine!  Here she is!!

If you have never seen her, please search her out.  It's such a cool experience!  She is so graceful, and so lovely!














After my time watching Devine, I headed to Harambe for Kilimanjaro Safaris.  On the way there, I ran across the African musicians the Tam Tam Drummers of Harambe.  They are awesome, and so entertaining.  As I was celebrating my birthday on this trip, I had on my birthday button.  One of the singers saw it, and pulled me up to the front, and had me up there dancing, and he was telling the people to say Happy Birthday to me.  They sang Happy Birthday in Swahili to me!  How cool was that.  The only bad thing is, no camera that I could hand to someone to take a picture of me.  I feel very uncomfortable about handing my phone to someone I don't know.  I do have the memory in my mind and heart though.........and that will last forever.

I then made my way to the Safari.  Love this attraction, love seeing the animals, love the ride......
As we made our way around the the property, I could see a group having lunch who were on the Wild Africa Trek.  It brought back memories of our Trek back last October.  It is a wonderful experience, and if it's in your budget when you are on your trip, I highly recommend it.  You need to be in pretty good physical shape though, it's not hard, but not easy either.  They do have a weight limit as well.

After my safari was over, I hopped on the train to go to Rafiki's Planet Watch.  I love that train ride, and really wanted an autograph and a picture with Rafiki.  I got what I went for!

After my visit with Rafiki, I had a lunch reservation at Yak & Yeti™

at 1pm.  Great atmosphere here, and the food was very good.  This was my first time dining here. 

My lunch date! 

My lunch, was roasted duck with an orange glaze.  Very yummy!

After lunch, I headed out for some character greetings and autographs.  Wow!  Did I hit the jackpot!

 First I found Russell and Dug from UP!  Just love these guys!!

After meeting Dug and Russell, I went over to It's Tough to be a Bug!  I love this attraction.  I know it can be a bit intense for some little ones, but to have to race your kids out of the theater before they even start crying?  It's really just that few seconds when Hopper appears that is a little frightening.....but after that, it's nothing but fun!

Next I headed over to Camp Minnie Mickey as I wanted to catch Festival of the Lion King.  While I waited I got some pictures that I had not gotten earlier.  Gi-tar Dan was playing in his spot, so I could hear him while I was waiting for pictures.  

First over at Camp Minnie-Mickey was King Louie and Baloo!

Next was Donald!

Next was Minnie!

Then, on to Festival of the Lion King!  I just love this show!  It is so very moving, and brings me to tears each time I see it.  

I headed over to Island Mercantile for my seach of a 15th Anniversary t-shirt.  Found exactly what I was looking for.  I also found 2 pins at one of the kiosks.  Besides the 2 I picked out, I got one of the mystery boxes of pins for the 15th Anniversary.  So, I got 4 15th Anniversary pins in all.

After I got my goodies, I went over to the character greeting area for Friends from Hundred Acre Wood. 

When I arrived, Winnie the Pooh was the first character I saw, and he saw me....as I was wearing my Pooh shirt, he noticed that before I even got into the greeting area!  He was waiting for me!

How sweet this was!!!

Next was on to my very favorite character, Eeyore!!

Then on to meet Tigger!

We bounced together first!!

That was the end of my exciting day at Animal Kingdom.  I took the resort bus back to the resort and rested for a little bit, then I made my way to EPCOT to meet up with some friends, Amy and Shelley.  It was starting to get very overcast as I returned to the resort, and of course right when I was walking out of my room, it started to drizzle.  I did not take my poncho as I didn't want to be bothered with it.

 A little posing for the camera never hurt anyone!!

After meeting up with Amy and Shelley, we went and had dinner at Sunshine Seasons.  I had the Ahi Tuna and noodles, and a Phineas and Ferb rice krispie treat for dessert.

Girls night!
Unfortunately with the weather turning bad, YES..........here came the rain again, and buckets of it!!!!!  We had to call it an early night.  Probably for the best, as I needed to get up early for Extra Magic Hours and STAR WARS DAY-May the 4th Be With You, at Hollywood Studios the next day!  Meeting up with more friends and fun in store!

More on day four coming up in a day or two!!