A Whole New SOLO World: A July 2015 WDW TR - My 1st! (complete)

[bamacmac]

Wow, your pictures are gorgeous! I can never get fireworks pics to come out right.

Thank you!!!

Do you use your phone for pics? If so is it an iPhone? I'm just asking because that's what I have experience with, but I have discovered that using burst mode is the only way I can get decent fireworks pictures. I didn't know what that was, so in case you don't either, its just holding it down when you take the pic and it will take multiple shots very quickly. Then later you can look back through them and pick out the ones you like. Usually every time I took a shot, the bursts would have 10-20 pictures in them for me to choose from. A lot of them weren't that great, but I got lucky with a few almost perfect ones! For a phone anyway! And then I love the filters on instagram...they work well for me for boosting colors and such.

 

[bamacmac]

Ahhh…. you saw Eugene! I'm SO hoping that I spot him during my solo trip in 23 days!!! Love your, TR!!

I KNOW right? I was so excited to see him! From what I have been told and what I have seen, he is usually in that little area in Fantasyland. So if you are going to see him it would likely be there!

Thanks! 23 days...woo hoo! So close! I just noticed you are staying at FQ...you will have to let me know allllll about it! I am staying there solo in December!

 

[bamacmac]

Day 6: Thursday, July 23rd


Part 1

I’ll go ahead and tell you this one will have a LOT of pictures. This is due to 4 big things that happened on Day 6: the Orlando Eye, Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, One Man’s Dream (for what will likely be the last time!) and the Frozen Fireworks (my first time seeing fireworks at DHS!).

So this was going to mostly be “explore Orlando beyond the parks” day. I didn’t accomplish quite as much as I wanted to because I slept much later than I had planned. I guess my body needed to get caught up on some rest after the last few busy days. Plus that king size bed at the Fairfield Inn was about the most comfortable hotel bed I had ever slept in. So they had that going for them for sure.

But a delayed start is better than no start at all.

So I headed to an area I hadn’t been to since…oh, 1992ish I believe. Some of you weren’t born then. Don’t talk to me. (I kid…kinda…lol.) I-Drive 360 was to be the first stop of the day. If you aren’t familiar with this, it is on International Drive, between Sea World and Universal Studios.



This “$250 million entertainment destination” (as it is referred to on their website) opened in the spring of this year. Since this was such a new thing, I was very excited to check it out. I bought a combo ticket for all 3 attractions: the Orlando Eye, Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum and the SeaLife Aquarium. The cost of the combo ticket is $49.00 if you buy it the day of. You can save $10 though by purchasing it online at least one day in advance.





Love this that that was in the main area as you entered the building. This display was designed and assembled by the Master Model Builders at LEGOLAND Florida. It was 9 feet tall and 10 feet wide, containing over 60,000 LEGO bricks and taking 160 hours to build. How cool is that?

First up was the Orlando Eye.




I was most excited about this! I was so happy that the weather was good when I arrived. I had been worried that it would be yucky and I wouldn’t be able to see anything. But I got lucky and it was a beautiful day. Slightly cloudy and in some of the pictures they look like dark clouds, but it was mostly really nice. And I was even more lucky that there weren’t many people there at all. The first thing you do is stop for a little photo opp. From there you head into a short 4-D film that is quite cheesy, but short. And then it is time for your ride! I was very happy to get a capsule all to myself! I definitely wasn’t expecting that to happen. I’m generally not exactly scared of heights. But sometimes in certain situations it can bother me to realize how high up I am. Usually I’m good though if I have a solid floor below me and I don’t look straight down. I wasn’t totally sure how I would handle this little trip 400 ft in the air. But it was actually completely fine. There is a small bench with a pole in the middle of the capsule in case you need to sit down or hold on. (When it got to the very top I did choose to have a seat for a moment.) This thing was incredible! I LOVED how much you could see. It moved so smoothly. And it was nice and cool inside. Each capsule has 2 tablets that you can use to find out more about what you are looking at in each direction, and each side of the capsule is also labeled with the direction you are facing, for those that are directionally challenged. Lucky for me I am not though. I quickly found all the major things you would want to look for up there. Downtown Orlando, Universal, SeaWorld, each of the Disney Parks, etc. It was beyond cool to see so much. The “flight” lasts 30 minutes from start to finish and I enjoyed every second of it. I would most definitely do this again! I was told later by someone who works near there that I should try to get on it next time right at sunset or right as the fireworks are about to go off at one of the parks. Ah! Can you imagine? They even have a thing where you can book a “private capsule” and have champagne during your flight. Um, hello romantic. A sunset flight in a private capsule at sunset with champagne? Or during the fireworks? Perfect engagement moment if you ask me. Not that you did. I’m just saying.

Needless to say, this was a great chance to get some fun pictures!




Universal Studios...you can see Cabana Bay to the left and a little bit of the Harry Potter stuff in the back...and of course all the cranes! Lots going on over there.




Spaceship Earth!! And Tower of Terror just over to the left from there.







Downtown Orlando!




And I had to get one with my favorite geodesic sphere in the distance...you can barely see it. But it counts.




More Orlando Eye pics in Part 2...

 

[bamacmac]

Day 6: Thursday, July 23rd

Part 2

More Orlando Eye pics!




Contemporary! Magic Kingdom! (You can see just a little bit of Space Mountain and the castle.)






Love.





Wouldn't climb that ladder for a million billion bucks.




















On to Part 3!

 

[bamacmac]

Day 6: Thursday, July 23rd

Part 3


Next up was Madame Tussauds.



I had never been to one of these wax museums. Well maybe one in Gatlinburg if I remember correctly, but that’s definitely not the same as this place. I really didn’t spend a lot of time in there. In reality, wax figures are kind of creepy. But some of them were kinda cool. There was a very funny moment though. Two young (20 something) guys were walking through the museum just ahead of me. So when they got to the Sofia Vergara figure…well, I’m sure you can guess what happened next. Yes they took multiple pcitures of themselves groping poor Sofia. Boys. Ha. I took pics of or with all of the people I liked and was done. My favorite one of course though is the selfie with Walt. Love that they included him in this!







Dale Jr! We are tight. I've actually met him a few times! Have always really liked him.
(Yes, I'm a nascar fan!)













On to Part 4!

 

[bamacmac]

Day 6: Thursday, July 23rd

Part 4

A few more from Madame Tussauds...






On to SEA LIFE after that.











So I really went through this one fast. There just wasn’t anything overly impressive about it. I typically enjoy aquarium type places, but this was just was average. I was ready to move on. And ready for lunch.

There are lots of choices for places to eat here. I went with the Yard House. I think at some point someone from the DIS did a review of this place. Maybe Craig since it’s known for having a million different kinds of beer. Ha. Ok maybe not a million. But close enough. I liked this place. I had the turkey and bacon melt 2.0, minus the jalapeno spread. It was pretty good and so big I couldn’t finish it.



The waitress brought the check and that was when I had that moment of panic no one wants to ever have, especially not when you are on vacation over 500 miles from home. I looked in my purse to get out my wallet and…MY WALLET WAS NOT IN MY PURSE. I hadn’t gotten it out since the gift shop for the Orlando Eye. And I had covered a lot of ground since then. I panicked. What was I going to do? I’ve never not been able to pay my bill at a restaurant. How embarrassing! My waitress came back and I explained to her that I couldn’t find my wallet…that I was on vacation from Alabama and had just gone through the 3 attractions and had no idea where I had lost it. She was very nice and said she would ask her manager what she should do. The manager came over and was very nice too. I told them I could leave my car keys with them and if I could find the wallet I would obviously come back and pay it. They told me not to worry about leaving the keys, just to go see if I could find it. So I headed back over to the customer service desk and told them I had lost my wallet. None had been turned in. I was about to retrace my steps after the gift shop, when I realized that I am an idiot. Actually, I am a very smart girl. But I unfortunately tend to have some “Dory” moments. She is my spirit animal. I looked in my purse one more time. Then I saw a little key and I thought, what is that? Ah HA!! I then remembered that after the gift shop, I had decided to rent a locker for $0.50 to put the stuff I bought in so I wouldn’t have to carry it around. And that little key was to the locker. And I had the feeling that maybe I had absentmindedly stuck my wallet in the bag. I get to the locker and yep, that is what I had done. Geez. Panic attack over. Resume vacation. I went back to Yard House and paid my bill and left that waitress a big tip and thanked her for being so nice about all of it.

Whew. Major crisis averted. My parents would have loved that phone call.

Me: Hi Mom!
Mom: Hi Christy, how is your tr…
Me: (Interrupting Mom) I love you SO MUCH Mom! Any chance you could wire me some money? Like now? Please?
Mom: No
Me: Ummm…is Dad there?

(Just kidding, my Mom is beyond awesome and would have done anything and everything to help me out in that situation. )

Anyway…so after all that fun and drama, I was ready to just explore Orlando for awhile. This was fun! I just drove around aimlessly for awhile seeing where things are, taking pictures of apartment properties and neat things I saw. I went into a few leasing offices and got some information. I felt comfortable roaming around this city by myself. That was a good indication to me of what the future might hold.

I was ready for some more Disney now. Off to Hollywood Studios!!


(Continue to Part 5!)

 

[bamacmac]

Day 6: Thursday, July 23rd

Part 5

Hollywood Studios!!















I would only be spending this one evening at DHS. The biggest thing I wanted to do on this trip, that I had never done before, was the Animation Academy class. So of course that means they closed The Magic of Disney Animation attraction one week before I arrived. I was pretty bummed about that. But oh well. There were some other things I wanted to do there though. Since there were already rumors at the time that One Man’s Dream would be closing soon, I most definitely had to spend some time there. Tower of Terror is an absolute must for me. As is Great Movie Ride. And I definitely wanted to find a good spot to watch the Frozen fireworks, as I had never seen a fireworks show at DHS. So I made the FP’s I needed and at the last minute I booked a dining reservation at my favorite place there (and one of my favorite on property period), The Hollywood Brown Derby. Yum.

The first thing I did when I arrived was head straight to One Man’s Dream.



I spent way more time here than I usually would, knowing it would possibly be the last time. I read every word in that place. Took lots of pictures of everything. (You’re welcome.) And hung on every word of that movie. I noticed people that were blowing through it quickly and it made me a little sad that they didn’t care to take a few minutes to possibly learn something new. To find out a little more about how it all came to be. I hoped they had before and I hoped I was wrong. The history behind it all…the story of Disney….is something that has grown more and more important to me. I’ve recently compiled a list of books on Walt and on the parks that I want to read. It’s all just so fascinating to me right now.







More pics from One Man's Dream in Part 6!

 

[bamacmac]

Day 6: Thursday, July 23rd

Part 6

More One Man's Dream pictures...



You're totally loving this right? You should be. More in PART 7!!!

 

[bamacmac]

Day 6: Thursday, July 23rd

Part 7

More pics...




Sigh. Goodbye One Man's Dream.


On to Part 8...

 

[bamacmac]

Day 6: Thursday, July 23rd

Part 8

I realized it was almost time for my GMR FP and I almost tearfully walked away from the attraction. What a mush I was being.

On to the Great Movie Ride! I think this one is really cool. Classic movies are the best and I love all of the scenes in this attraction. The opening scene with Mary Poppins is maybe my favorite. That or the Wizard of Oz scene.


















After that it was time for dinner! Off to the Brown Derby I went.







Part 9 is up next...woo hoo!

 

[bamacmac]

Day 6: Thursday, July 23rd

Part 9

The Hollywood Brown Derby

I had eaten here once before and had really liked it. This time was even better though. I had the filet mignon, which is served over mashed potatoes and also comes with green beans. It could have spent another 2 minutes on the grill perhaps, but I was ok with it. It was phenomenal.







I had a glass of a very good Riesling with the meal, which I have recently discovered is a favorite of mine. I was very excited for dessert here as well. They had a great crème brulee the last time I ate there. They still had it this time, but the dessert menu was a little different this time. Now you choose 3 items and you get a small portion of each one. Well, obviously, I asked if I could choose 3 of the same thing and the waitress said of course. So crème brulee it was. Theirs is also vanilla bean, like the one at Le Cellier, just minus the little added touch of maple flavoring that Le Cellier adds. It was so good though. And I had ice wine with it as well. I had discovered the Inniskillin Ice Wine at Le Cellier and was happy to see they offered that one here as well. It’s unreal. Seriously so good. So this was a very pricey meal. Whew. Need to save that one for the Dining Plan in the future.

After that amazing dinner, I headed to my next FP. Tower of Terror. Yes I ate a big meal and then went on ToT. I am brave, right? Ha. It was fine though. How fun and completely terrifying is that attraction though? It is very appropriately named. I scream like a little girl the entire time, but I freakin’ love it. Excellent theming throughout. Right up there with Haunted Mansion to me.








Sunset that evening was gorgeous...from Sunset Blvd no less....






I had no other set plans for the evening. So I wandered through some shops for awhile and then found a spot to sit until time for the fireworks. I found a great place with a lamp post to lean against and the open doors of a shop right behind me. Cool air was blowing at my back the whole time. It was awesome. Almost time for the show to begin...

(Just one more post...you can do it! Head on to Part TEN for the Day 6 conclusion!)

 

[bamacmac]

Day 6: Thursday, July 23rd

PART TEN!!!! (The last one for Day 6!)

When it was almost time for the show to begin, I walked to the middle of the street and it was a great spot. I was just beyond the Sunset Blvd intersection. It was really fun to watch fireworks in this park. And I think they did an excellent job with the Frozen theming for this fireworks show. I know so many people never want to hear the word Frozen again ever, but I have to admit...I loved the movie, I love the soundtrack and I'm not sick of it. So I really enjoyed fireworks with those songs. (Now that doesn't mean I like that whole Epcot thing that is going on, but that's another story.) I would love to be there for the Star Wars fireworks next year! I’ve watched them online and they give me chills. The music! AH! (Wow I really am a total dork.)


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I had planned to leave right after the fireworks ended because I knew I needed to get up early the next day. But at the last minute, I decided to watch Fantasmic. I had only watched this once before, so I was glad I decided to do it again. It is such a great show!





Then it was really time to leave. It still wasn’t too late when I got back to the hotel though. So that was good.

I went to bed quickly, because tomorrow would be a long day! Animal Kingdom, more Orlando exploring (including a return visit to one of my favorite little areas, Celebration!) and then heading down to Bradenton to spend the weekend with one of my best friends! So I would be saying goodbye to Orlando until December…or maybe not? Hahahaha. Stay tuned to find out what I mean by that!

Thanks for sticking with me through 10 posts for Day 6! Wow. I'm surprised it ended up being so many. So hard to choose my favorite pictures!!

 

[2golftoday]

Thank you!!!

Do you use your phone for pics? If so is it an iPhone? I'm just asking because that's what I have experience with, but I have discovered that using burst mode is the only way I can get decent fireworks pictures. I didn't know what that was, so in case you don't either, its just holding it down when you take the pic and it will take multiple shots very quickly. Then later you can look back through them and pick out the ones you like. Usually every time I took a shot, the bursts would have 10-20 pictures in them for me to choose from. A lot of them weren't that great, but I got lucky with a few almost perfect ones! For a phone anyway! And then I love the filters on instagram...they work well for me for boosting colors and such.

I do use my IPhone but I didn't know about the burst mode. Thanks for the tip. I will definitely try it for our December trip

 

[Angeejoe]

That Ferris wheel looks cool. Were you in it alone?

Loved the pic of you wil Uncle Sam, made me laugh!

Great pics of the frozen fireworks, loved the one with the white fireworks with the palm trees overhead!!!!

 

[KingLlama]

Love DHS at night, especially Sunset Blvd. I think Craig alluded to it on the show Tuesday, but the lights of the stores, ToT, etc. just give it a really nice vibe. Second-favorite WDW nighttime area, only behind Main Street.

 

[bamacmac]

Love DHS at night, especially Sunset Blvd. I think Craig alluded to it on the show Tuesday, but the lights of the stores, ToT, etc. just give it a really nice vibe. Second-favorite WDW nighttime area, only behind Main Street.

Agree! It's just hard for me give up a night at MK or Epcot for it sometimes though.

 

[KingLlama]

Right, but I know a lot of people who see DHS as a half-day(or at least not full-day) park, and I get that. But I like to stay until park closing just for that atmosphere.

Then again, I like to stay until closing at EVERY park. Feel like I'm letting Walt down if I leave early.

 

[Disneybell2015]

As you can see, Belle had tragically lost both of her hands. The sleeves of her dress had disappeared. Her dress was slightly ripped in a few places. Her hair was...well, quite a mess and pieces of her hair were found near the crime scene. But, she was still smiling and her makeup was intact. What a girl. That Belle.

Oh my goodness I laughed so hard at this Poor Belle, but I'm glad you were able to get another one. Seems like you have such a fun trip! You have taken some really great pictures!

 

[bamacmac]

Right, but I know a lot of people who see DHS as a half-day(or at least not full-day) park, and I get that. But I like to stay until park closing just for that atmosphere.

Then again, I like to stay until closing at EVERY park. Feel like I'm letting Walt down if I leave early.

While I do love so many things about DHS, sadly it's not a top priority for me. I have this need to get as much MK and Epcot as humanly possible. However, I am quite positive that once I live there, that will change and I will feel better about giving DHS the love it deserves. And I'm glad it will become even more worthy of my love in the next 3-5 years.

 

[bamacmac]

Oh my goodness I laughed so hard at this Poor Belle, but I'm glad you were able to get another one. Seems like you have such a fun trip! You have taken some really great pictures!

I'm so glad someone finally commented on that little paragraph! I was pretty proud of that one. Hahaha. Yes so glad I could get another one. She would have been so heartbroken if I couldn't. The trip was everything I hoped it would be x 100. And thank you!!!!!!!