Rob's Visit

As I mentioned before, I thought Rob's visit deserved it's own post, because it's actually interesting and there's tons to talk (well, type) about! Warning, this is really long, but that's only because I had so much fun, and there's so many pictures!

Thursday I slept in, cleaned up my apartment, and pretty much relaxed until I went to pick him up at the airport. I was pretty early for his 1:50pm flight, so I had to wait for it to arrive, watching the big screen for updates. Fortunately, it was on time! I got to wait for him just past security, and then I got to meet the person he sat beside, Steve, who was super nice guy from England! From the airport we wanted to go straight to his hotel, but didn't have the correct address it. Instead of just driving around aimlessly (like we did for awhile) we went to Commons, and I got to show him my apartment. We checked into the hotel and went for dinner at the Olive Garden... delicious! Since it was a Thursday, we then headed off to Bennigan's so Rob could meet everyone. He wasn't the only non-Cast Member there, Casey's friend from home, Shaun, and his brother were also there... which was cool because they actually knew each other from high-school... weird, huh? I guess it really is a small world!

Friday we got up early to get to Epcot! You can see from this picture we were quite tired, but still really excited! Yep, I definitely brought the Minnie ears out!

It looked like it was going to rain, so we had to make sure Mickey was prepared, wearing his poncho for the first time!
We took the shuttle from the hotel, and got there just after opening. It was kind of rainy, but we went on Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land, The Seas, Journey into Imagination, and Soarin' pretty quickly! We then decided to grab a snack, so of course we went to Edy's ice cream for the gigantic hot fudge sundaes! This time I got mine with mint chocolate chip ice cream. It was delicious, but incredibly filling.

During our ice cream break my mom called my cell, just to see how I was doing... it was really so cute that she wanted to check up on us! After the "snack" we were ridiculously full, but still decided to head for Mission Space, the intense version. The line wasn't very long, but gave us around 15 minutes to digest before travelling to Mars. Next we rode Ellen's Energy Adventure, and Test Track!

Since we'd done pretty much everything in Future World, we headed to Mexico and Norway for their rides. As we entered Mexico, a mariachi band started playing with violins, trumpet, guitar and bass guitar! It was incredible!

Finally, it was time to show Rob where I work! I took him around the pavillion, showing him the shops, the movie, and finally, the restaurant! It was still only 3:30 (when we're closed) so Rob and I went to watch Off Kilter, and wander aound the UK before heading back to eat. Dinner was delicious. We both had the Chefs Selection Menu, which comes with an appetizer, entree and desert. I don't know how anyone is supposed to eat an appetizer (ie: a chicken sausage and sweet corn polenta), 10 oz of prime rib, potatoes, AND dessert. I took my dessert (the Chocolate "Moose") home with me because I was too ful to even eat chocolate!

After our feast we attempted to wander around the rest of the countries, but couldn't move very well, so we went to watch the movie in France. Then we continued to wander around, taking pictures, until it started raining so we went inside to see the amazing child acrobats in China. Then we grabbed a Margarita and headed into Mexico to wait out the rain. It must have rained a lot, because when we came out to go grab a spot for Illuminations, there was a puddle, sorry, a lake in front of the Mexican pavillion.

We watched Illuminations in front of Canada, by the popcorn cart (not behind it), but since it was rainy the globe didn't come out, which kind of sucked. Rob never got to see the full fledged, amazing, Illuminations! After the fireworks, we waited for the bus back to the hotel, and called it a night.

Saturday we were up early again, this time for the Magic Kingdom! I decided to drive to the Ticket and Transportation Centre, because I thought it would be faster. We took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom so Rob could hear "Please stand clear of the doors, por favor matengase alejado de las puertas". That saying will never get old. Once in the park, we went to guest services to get a 1st visit pin. The Cast Member almost gave us two, but when Rob explained this definitely wasn't my first visit, the CM went to get special, "Citizen of the Walt Disney World Resort" pins! It definitely made my day! Rob and I took some pictures in front of the castle, and then headed to the Dumbo's, to ride them first thing. It's just like my mom and I used to do, and I haven't done in a really long time.From the Dumbo's we rode Peter Pan, and then made our way to Splash and Thunder Mountain.

Next we headed to Adventureland for the Jungle Cruise, Enchanted Tiki Room, Tree House, and of course, Pirates of the Carribean (which had no line)!After lunch at Ray's Cosmic Cafe, we went to the make-your-own-ears store, so Rob could get his own set of ears. He made an awesome, personalized pair, and then we took this photo by the castle!

We then finished up Adventureland (the Country Bears) and Fantasyland, before heading into Tomorrowland. We ate at the Noodle Station in Tomorrowland. It was absolutely delicious. I know it's not always open, but I really, really wish it were! We also went on the Carousel of Progress, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin! On one of our many rides on Buzz Lightyear I actually managed to score 999,999!!! It was incredible! I don't know what I hit, but after the first room I had over 300,000, and by the room with the battaries I had maxed out my score. As I said in the video... I am a Galactic Hero, and that is all!
Finally, we used our fast-passes for Space Mountain, and had some extra time so we decided to ride Astro Orbiter... the more grown-up Dumbo's. I remembered it being scary, and it kind of is, because you go so high you're at quite the angle! It was definitely nice to see the castle at night from the sky, though. Very romantic. Afterwards, we went to sit in front of the castle for Wishes, which was absolutely amazing. We took the boat home and were able to see the boat parade of lights, and watch the castle fade into the horizon. It was an absolutely amazing day... one of the best days I've ever had at a Disney park. Walking back to our car, we took this picture. Rob's idea,
Sunday we decided to have a relaxing day. We went to Cracker Barrel for lunch, and then headed into Disney to play Fantasia mini golf. It was a close game, I was definitely leading for some of it, but in the end, Rob won by 1 stroke. It must have been luck. Pure luck. We had a late dinner at TGI Friday's (where they made me a balloon rose!) and headed to Commons to watch a movie at Emily's.

Monday I had a class at Disney University. The morning was information on how to be a good server, and the afternoon was a class all about wine. How to serve it, the different types of wine, how wine's made... we covered a lot! When I got back, Rob and I did a little shopping and then went for dinner, and got ready for Girls/No M'am. We called a cab pretty early, but it didn't come for 45 minutes. When it did, I ended up dropping my ID in it, so we spent most of the night trying to track down the cab and get my ID back. It kind of ruined the night, since we couldn't go to the bar with the Candadians, but still, we got to relax and had a nice walk home.

Tuesday, Rob's last full day in Florida, we went to Hollywood Studios. We were there really early, so we were able to see the park opening. Immediately we went to get fast passes for Toy Story Mania, because I knew the line would be long. I was right. After we got the fast passes, the wait time was approximately 60 minutes. So we decided to wander along the streets of America... see we're in New York!
We managed to go on all the major rides, Star Tours, Rockin' Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania, the Great Movie Ride, Muppet Vision 3D, Sounds Dangerous, the Animation Studio, and we even saw both the Ligts, Motors, Action, and Indiana Jones Stunt Shows! The Animation Studio was awesome. We watched Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey interact with all of the kids (adorable), found out which Disney character's we're most like (Rob is Buzz Lightyear, I'm Tinkerbell), and recorded our voices as Belle and the Beast in a scene from Beauty and the Beast! Still, the Indiana Jones show was better. I'd been teasing Rob about volunteering as an extra, but he wasn't sure about it... until he saw the first group go through, then he was off his seat and his hand was in the air. Needless to say, since we were sitting in the front row, he was chosen. If you have me on facebook, and you haven't already you should definitely watch the video!
He made an excellent extra, and I took lots of pictures! Then we headed to the 50's Prime Time Cafe for Dinner. As usual the food was excellent! We had onion rings, pot roast, and a sundae (with carmel popcorn, m&m's, a brownie, and chocolate/caramel sauce). Incredible, but filling! Afterwards, we did the Beauty and the Beast (with 4 for a dollar!), Tower of Terror, and Fantasmic combo! It was the perfect end to the night.

Wednesday we were up early again, we packed, checked out, and I drove to the airport. Rob checked his back, and we grabbed lunch at the food court. It was so sad knowing that he was leaving soon. I think it's safe to say when we finally had to say goodbye I may have cried... a little. After watching him go all the way through security and head off to his gate, I drove to work, and worked as a PM Seater.

Overall, it was such an amazing visit. It was so much fun to do all the parks, and even more fun to do them with Rob on his first time!

I know, I'm still waaaay behind on the blog, but more updates are coming, I promise!