Hi everyone! Thought I’d share a quick RL update since exciting things are happening around here! First of all- JAKE AND I ARE OFFICIALLY GOING TO OOGIE BOOGIE BASH!! I am SO excited!! I was really trying to not get my hopes up, since I had heard horror stories about how cutthroat and crazy the ticket-buying process was for this. But, one of my good DISfriends, @Lesley Wake helped us out and I was able to snag these tickets today! THANK YOU, LESLEY!! I only had to wait in the virtual queue for about a half hour- not bad at all! We are going to OBB on Tuesday, October 29th. Any ideas for a couple’s costume for us??? I think we’ll do a big family costume for MNSSHP, but we’re stuck on what to wear for OBB! Think I can convince Jake to squeeze into a pair of tights? In other news, one week from today, Jake and I leave for a long weekend vacation to Colorado! We will be gone from July 3-7, staying for 3 nights in Estes Park and 1 night in Vail. We booked this trip right before leaving for WDW back in May, and it came up so fast!! Jake has been to Colorado a couple times before, but never Estes Park or Vail. I went on a Colorado trip back when I was 7 and visited Estes Park, but I don’t remember a thing! So, I’m considering this my first time. Overall, our plans for this trip are VERY chill. No need to make ADRs or anything We totally dropped the ball and forgot to get passes to Rocky Mountain National Park and Bear Lake ahead of time (they use a reservation system in the summer months, and tickets drop the month before)! D’oh! But, another set of passes drop 24 hours in advance, so we’re hoping to snag ourselves a pass then. These are our (estimated) plans- but we’re really planning on being spontaneous and flexible this trip! July 3rd- Work all day, flight out of Milwaukee leaves at 8:00 PM, landing in Denver at 9:45 PM. Grab a super late dinner in Denver, drive to our hotel in Estes Park and check in.
Jake and I are so pumped to check out the Halloween festivities on both coasts (we are also doing MNSSHP on September 27th)!!
We rented a Jeep Wrangler, and we’re so excited to drive all around Colorado in our sweet ride!
July 4th- Spend the holiday exploring Estes Park! I think they have a fireworks show that night too 
July 5th- Morning/afternoon at Rocky Mountain National Park (fingers crossed), evening and dinner in Boulder.
July 6th- Check out of our hotel in Estes Park, drive to Vail and check into our hotel in Vail. Spend the day in Vail and Lionshead Villages!
July 7th- Check out of our hotel, spend the day exploring Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Golden. Explore the Denver area if time allows, flight to Milwaukee leaves Denver at 6:00 PM.
I know that a couple of you (@SimplyGoofy and @ambula603 ) commented with some recommendations on my PTR (thank you!). If anyone else has any CO recommendations or tips, I would GREATLY appreciate it! We feel a little out of our element traveling to a place that’s non-Disney related. Onto the TR update!
Day 2 (The One Where Molly Faces Her Fears, And the Poison Control Center is Called!) - Part 4
Well, friends, it was the moment I had been anxiously waiting for. Our boarding group for Cosmic Rewind finally got called! This was where I started to get pretty quiet. I’m not going to re-hash it over here, but I posted a long and annoying post on my PTR basically just word-vomiting all of my insecurities about Cosmic Rewind. Basically, the only thing keeping me sane and somewhat excited for riding was trying to guess which song we were going to get. For the entire time leading up to the trip, Jake and I had been really hoping to get “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire for this ride. “September” is a very special song for Jake and I! Our rehearsal/rehearsal dinner was on September 21st, 2023, and we were singing this song all night long. Throwback picture to our rehearsal dinner Then, on our wedding night, “September” was the first song that the DJ played when he opened up the dance floor. So, we were really hoping for that pixie dust today! We got in line at 4:35. I was NERVOUS! It didn’t help that, even with the virtual queue, this line is long, with a VERY unnecessarily long pre-show. Both Jake and I didn’t like the pre-show; it seemed forced and out of place. I had mentioned before that we are not fans of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies (or any movies the Marvel franchise, rather). There was just wayyy too much jargon and over-explanation of this ride. “WE HAVE TO ENABLE THE TESSERACT TO ESCAPE THE HYDRO-SHIELD TO STOP EMPEROR GALAXON FROM CAPTURING THE NOVA-RING.” Why can’t it just be a fun, music-filled ride through space? I was mostly worried about #1. Getting motion sickness and potentially ruining my first full day at Disney World, but also a bit worried about #2. Seeing someone ELSE get motion sickness and being grossed out/anxious because of this. I was considering taking some preventative medicine, but I couldn’t find any Bonine OTC, and I don’t like how this kind of medicine can make you drowsy. So, I was just going to wing it!
(“Do you remember? The 21st night of September?”)
The only way that they can save this pre-show is to bring in Patrick Warburton.
We were on-ride by 5:15! I made sure to listen to advice given to me, and sit on the left side of the car. We also got a middle row, which I was grateful about!
As the ride was building up, I could start to feel my nerves melt away. We sat in the dark for a moment, when I heard Chris Pratt say, “Wait, I think we’re jumping back…”
Then, Jake and I heard the beautiful opening chords of “September” start.
I WISH I could have filmed our reaction. We both just screamed at the top of our lungs and stared at each other maniacally like this...
It was honestly one of my Top 5 magical moments on a Disney trip ever. I almost cried!! We were so happy to get “our song!”
As for the ride… I *think* I liked it? It was INTENSE. Wayyy more intense than I was anticipating! As a coaster, I absolutely loved it! The backward launch was breathtaking, and I loved the speed and smoothness of the coaster. The spins took me off guard! I wasn’t expecting too much spinning, but it reminded me of a Tilt-A-Whirl at times and the G’s were strong! I only wish that it was just a classic coaster with no screens utilized.
I had made the decision to look down at my ride restraints the entire time so I could “spot” where I was during the ride and not lose perception. And, that was a 10/10 decision. Every time I tried to look around, I would get disoriented and need to put my head back down in order to not get dizzy. Also, I cemented my eyes shut during the double-helix around the moon at the end. I had heard WAY too many reports of that particular moment causing people trouble.
I didn’t feel one ounce of nausea! But, I definitely felt “sea legs” while getting off the ride. Almost like when you’ve been running on the treadmill for a long time, then you get off and you feel like you’re moving faster than you really are? Jake absolutely loved this ride, I could hear him hooping and hollering the entire time next to me!
So, my verdict? I loved the movement and the music, but sadly, the screens make it hard for me! I’m SO glad I tried it once, but it’s not a ride I would need to do over and over again! Unfortunately, keeping your head down and focusing on not getting dizzy kind of ruins the atmosphere of a ride.
Sadly, we didn’t get our ride photo 
This was a common theme throughout the trip with the “automatically linked” photos… I’m not sure if it was my MagicBand or my phone that caused me trouble?
We were both on Cloud 9 after that ride. We had a rush of adrenaline and weren’t quite ready to leave Epcot yet! I was proud of myself for being brave, and I was excited, because I could finally have a couple adult beverages. I had been avoiding alcohol up until that point to make sure I didn’t make myself dizzier than I needed to be!
We got some PhotoPass pictures to commemorate our ride!
Afterwards, we jumped in the single-rider line at Test Track. We were on it in a jiffy and got the same car!
Then, we took a quick stop at Creations to get me a new phone charger cord to connect to my Fuel Rod. Since I had gotten a new phone the week prior, my old Fuel Rod cord didn’t connect to my new phone, and my battery was at like 2%!
Finally, to end the night, we decided to take a loop around World Showcase and get a couple more snacks/drinks from Flower & Garden to end the night.
We saw an adorable Mama duck and her ducklings on the way 
My first stop was the beer cart in England that we had visited earlier. I had seen a drink on the menu that sounded glorious in this heat! Meanwhile, Jake stopped at Refreshment Port to get us a snack to share. I found us a great table next to Rose and Crown that was right on the water, and we dug into our snack!
To drink, I ordered the Scottish Thistle from the UK beer cart. This was Ford’s Gin with lemon and blackcurrant-cucumber syrup. This was WONDERFUL and probably now one of my favorite alcoholic drinks at Epcot. The blackberry flavor was nice and sweet, but the cucumber and gin made it cool and refreshing. It tasted so good, I chugged it down quickly!
To eat, Jake and I shared the Plant-Based Buffalo Chicken Tender Poutine from Refreshment Port. Once again, we were really impressed with the plant-based options from Flower and Garden Festival this year. This was loaded with plant-based chicken and sauce (they did not skimp), and the “chicken” was very juicy and tender! Jake and I are both big buffalo chicken fans, and this hit the spot.
I was starting to get a little full, but I wanted to check a couple more items off my list. In hindsight, I probably should have stopped here, but we’re on vacation, so YOLO.
Our next stop was Morocco. This (along with the PB&J soft serve) was my most highly-anticipated item of the day. I got the Mediterranean Flatbread!
OMG. This was absolutely delicious. SO flavorful and fresh! I love greek salads (the Med Salad from Noodles & Company is one of my go-to fast food meals), and this was like greek salad and pizza had a baby. The kalamata olives and artichokes gave it a nice saltiness and the feta cheese was decadent! I wish they had this at Epcot year-round! Also- this thing was BIG. Definitely more of a meal than a snack… you get a lot of bang for your buck! I had to admit defeat around ⅔ of the way through it. Overall, this was my favorite food item at Flower and Garden Festival this year.
Jake was thinking about getting some food at the Japan booth, but nothing was tripping his trigger. I grabbed a Tokyo Sunset from Garden House in Japan. This came at the recommendation of @Woth2982 on my PTR and I was very excited to try this drink!
I sent her a picture as evidence This was very refreshing! You could really taste the banana liquor- it tasted a lot like the Banana Cabana drink that they have at the pool bars around WDW! It wasn’t too strong and very sweet, which is always a huge plus for me. Great recommendation, Katie!
Jake and I speed-walked over to Italy to get one last treat. We decided on the Chocolate Cannoli with Peanut Butter Ricotta Filling from Primavera Kitchen!
This was good! I liked the crunchy outer shell of semi-sweet chocolate, and the filling wasn’t too cheesecake-y and definitely had a strong peanut butter flavor. I don’t really remember much about it, except being realllly full at this point. But, chocolate and peanut butter can never be wrong
We were both ready to head back to CSR, so we headed back to Future World and bid goodbye to Epcot for the night!
We didn’t see much of Mexico today! I knew that I would be eating at San Angel Inn later in the week, but I felt bad that Jake didn’t get to see it.
Another picturesque night in The World! Bye Epcot!
We were out of the park by 7:25 PM, and back by CSR at 7:50.
Check out that crazy sunset!
We ran back to the room to change into our swimsuits. We were jonesing for the pool! Then, we took a peek in Panchito’s, where we browsed the souvenirs and Jake bought a bottle of water. Before heading over to the Dig Site, I also stopped by El Mercado to buy a refillable mug. Since I would be at WDW for so long this trip, I knew I’d get good use out of it! I decided on orange this time; I always take advantage every time there is a new color choice!
I filled my mug up with Cherry co*ke, and we decided to FaceTime Haley/Ryan/Nana on our walk to the pool. Nana (my mom) had driven from Milwaukee to Chicago this morning and was staying the night at Haley and Ryan’s house to help them pack/prepare; together they would fly out to WDW tomorrow. It was actually Ryan’s 35th birthday today! So, we immediately wished him a happy birthday. We asked everyone how their day was going and if they were READY FOR WDW TOMORROW!
Haley responded, “Oh, it’s fine, except for the minor issue that Evie swallowed a penny this afternoon.”
WHAT?? Jake and I were speechless. Literally, neither of us spoke for like, a minute. Haley said that she had spilled some change out of her purse during the chaos of packing, and that she thought she cleaned it all up and didn’t really think much about it (although she remembered seeing Evie holding a penny at one point).
Then, later in the day, Evie had approached her and said “I have moneys on my tongue.” Haley asked, “Where is the money? Did you swallow it?” and Evie said “Yep.” 
Haley searched everywhere for a missing coin, and Evie’s not really at the developmental age of lying yet, so we’re taking her statement as the truth. They immediately called Poison Control Center, and they didn’t seem concerned at all, which was a huge relief. Their advice was to bring rubber gloves on our trip and, for the next two weeks or so… um… check the evidence…
Of course, this made Jake and I burst out laughing. This kid has seriously bad timing. Out of all days to swallow a coin, she chooses the day before leaving on a weeklong WDW vacation?? Needless to say, that kind of dampened their Day Zero!!
We wished them smoother travels moving forward, and my mom ensured that she’d keep us posted on their flight tomorrow morning. We ended up not seeing any evidence of a coin during the trip, and haven’t seen any signs since?? So maybe it was a fib after all??
Thoughts of pennies and poop swirling in our heads ,we finally headed to the pool!
Those thoughts quickly vanished when we saw the mass of humanity awaiting us…
CHEERLEADERS. EVERYWHERE.
Ugh. It made perfect sense! We didn’t see them at the parks all day today, but what better way to cool off after grueling cheer practice than in the pool? There were hundreds of girls ages 8-14 swarming the pool, volleyball courts, playground, hot tubs… absolutely everywhere! Suddenly, the pool didn’t sound too appealing anymore.
It doesn’t look too crowded in this pic, but believe me, it was!
On top of this, the pool was FREEZING! We were so hot at Epcot earlier, but the bus ride and change in pace cooled us down immensely! And, there was no way we were fitting in the hot tub tonight with all the crowds. So, we took a 10-minute dip before calling it quits at 8:45.
Since we were now shivering from the cold pool, I decided that hot chocolate in my new resort mug sounded PERFECT!
Sipping on this brought back some sweet memories. When my mom and I first started going on mother-daughter WDW trips, we would always get hot chocolate in our resort mugs and watch a Lifetime movie in the room to end the night. I was really excited to see her tomorrow!
We were back in the room by 9:15, and it felt really nice to take warm showers and get settled in. Jake had some of his Valentina’s Cake from Gideon’s. I’m not a big fan of red velvet cake, but I took a bite (for research purposes ).
I have to say- neither of us liked this cake!! It probably would have tasted better fresh, but once again, the buttercream (cookies and cream flavored this time) was NOT good. I couldn’t put my finger on it; I think it was just way too cloyingly sweet without any other distinct flavor. Sadly, most of this went in the garbage I was super surprised, because I loved their PB&J cake last year and had plans to get another cake slice later in the week! This definitely made me pause on that for a second.
I munched on some more Gideon’s cookies and the rest of my peanut butter buttercream, and they paired fabulously with my hot chocolate! There was absolutely NOTHING on TV (an issue that Jake and I have had with Disney resorts in the past), so we watched the “Tangled” bedtime story.
I took a picture of the “Cars” bedtime story to make sure Ollie saw this later in the week!
Jake and I had an earlier night and went to bed at 10:40 PM. We LOVED our solo park adventures today, but we were super excited for Haley, Ryan, Nana, and the kids to arrive tomorrow!
