Sixth Week Reflection March 14-March 21

What an amazing week! Saturday was a pain in the tookus. I had 7 check outs and 9 occupies. The rooms were filthy and all that got me through, was telling myself that my Greek family was coming from Pullman the next day. I called in to work and told them I was taking a personal day Sunday. They did not ask what for but I was going to surprise the family at the airport, when they arrived. That night I could not sleep Saturday night and ended up only getting about 4 hours of sleep.

I woke up and was ready for the week. The Magic express (the complimentary transportation that takes guests to and from the airport) was having problems loading the flight information. They explained that I could not ride the shuttle, unless I had a flight reservation. She said that she would but me coming in on the same flight as my little (in Greek life, a little is like a little sister or brother. I am like a mentor in a way). Before going to the airport, I had to go to Disney’s Art of Animation and pay for the hotel. I hopped on the G bus and off I was; so excited to see people from home. I got to the hotel, paid, and asked if there was any way to check into the room before 3 PM, the designated check in time. Not even a second after (not even being dramatic) I asked, the lady at the front desk looked for a room and *Ping* a room was available on the fourth floor just like I asked for (I asked for the fourth floor because I didn’t want kids running above us)!

I picked up my luggage and headed up to the hotel room. We stayed in the cars family suite, in the Mater building next to the pool. As I was walking into the building I looked over at the “front desk” of the cozy cone. When you walk through the Cozy cone “front Desk” building, you enter into the pool area. Around the pool, there were absolutely adorable cones, like from the movie, which, were used as pool cabanas.

Walking into the building with our hotel room, I took the elevator to the fourth floor. Once out, I went to the left, all the way to the end of the hall to the last room on the right. I walked in and thought it was so tiny! I was very disappointed and hoped that my family would not mind how small it was, given 5 of us were staying there. Because I am a housekeeper and have heard of things that housekeepers do to save time, I looked around at the sheets and in the bathrooms. As I was laying on the bed, resting sure to the lack of sleep, I heard a knock at the door. As I walked to open it, a woman and the most adorable beagle ever walked through the door. I happen to know that this was a pest control dog but the lady was very embarrassed to have walked in. She apologized and said she was told the room was vacant for the time being. Before I could tell her it was okay, she slammed the door and disappeared.

At the front desk, they told me that I was unable to take the free magic express to the airport because I did not have an outgoing flight. Instead of going on the shuttle, I called a private car company, similar to a taxi, Uber. They arrived no more than 5 minutes later. I had never ridden Uber but had heard great thing, so I was very nervous. The lady was extremely nice and talked to me the whole way there! Luckily, I had an Uber code for $20 off of a ride so, the ride only cost me $17, instead of $37.

I was so excited and had a million and one butterflies. I walked around and got a Panda bowl (Half fried rice/half chow mein) and Starbucks (Venti, chilled, raspberry, white chocolate, mocha). After finishing eating, I went to the board with all of the flights and saw when the plane was arriving. They arrived through gate 42, so I went to the terminal heading out to the general public. I waited about a half hour and hid behind a large man, so they wouldn’t see me. Finally, I saw them and walked up. JP was the first one to see me and I hugged him and Frock, then finally, my boyfriend Gabriel.

Gabriel was very excited and would not let me go. We walked to an area, in the food court, and sat down to relax. JP and Frock went to get food and Gabriel and I sat to talk about the flight and what we wanted to do while they were here.

Finally, Sarah, my little, arrived and we found her. She had checked a bag, so we had to go wait for her to get it off of the conveyer belt. Now was the most stressful part of the airport, finding the magical express. We ran here, there, and everywhere trying to find it. Up elevators and escalators and back down until we finally made it.

                The shuttle was giant and so comfortable too! We got to the hotel and I apologized for how tiny it was, explaining that it was made for mice. Everyone told me I was being dramatic but I did not think so. It was a one bedroom, 2 bathroom, with 1 pull out, in the living room (this is where JP and Frock slept) and a murphy bed that was also the dining room table (this is where Sarah slept). Everyone was comfortable so , we rested for a little bit and went to downtown Disney. I had made reservations for the Rainforest Café, so that’s where we went. I checked in and we walked around the store for about 20 minutes, then they called us to the podium. We waited about 10 more minutes and then were seated. The waitress was very nice but busy. The food was delicious! Gabriel got crab dip and steak while I tried to stay cheap, and got soup. Surprisingly the soup was absolutely amazing.

After dinner, we went across the way to Goofy’s candy shop and had DM (my roommate) meet the fam. She had her friends visiting and Frocket was instantly in love with all of them because they were skinny, blonde, and beautiful. It was quite amusing watching this interaction, especially when I pointed out the stain on his shirt and he got embarrassed.  Apparent, during dinner when I went to go talk to DM, Frocket changed plates with Sarah, in order to make it look like he had not eaten all of his food. Anyways, we walked back to the bus, went home, and slept. Awaiting what the next day had in store for us.

I woke up around 6:45 AM and went out to “wake up the children”. Everyone got up but we ended up waiting on Sarah because she did not want to get up. We went to Animal Kingdom and we had fast passes to Mt. Everest and Kahlika Rapids. Mt. Everest was really fun but the rapids ride was not. Gabe and I ended up being backwards on the drop and got “swallowed” by the wave. Everyone explained us as so joyful, as they saw the wave coming to destroy us. Gabe was wearing jeans and I was wearing jean shorts so, we did not ever actually dry off. Right before we left Animal Kingdom, we went to watch the Finding Nemo show. It was more geared towards children and all of us slept during it. We got up and left for Epcot.

When we got to Epcot, we went of one ride, then I wanted to go get tickets for everyone. Gabe and Frocket were the only people that needed my discount. JP had a military discount and Sarah’s dad gave her his tickets because he works for Disney. We went to guest services and JP got his tickets but thy told me to go to the company D store to get Gabriel and Frocks. They explained that you go behind Mexico, in the world showcase, and across the street. We all walked to the Aztec temple, in the world showcase, and I went backstage and across the street to Company D. On my way, I asked 6 people directions and none of them bothered to tell me that they were closed on Mondays. I walked back and we continued to the different countries. We stopped in Italy, to eat dinner. Frock and I got the spaghetti with viel meatballs and it was delicious! After Italy, we walked around the rest of Epcot and stopped to watch the Illuminations show (Epcot’s firework show). After the show, we walked to the rides but they were both closed so we went home and slept.

For Tuesday, Gabriel and I got a private, 1 bedroom hotel so we could have a night alone together. Check in was a 4 PM, so we knew we would have to leave the park by 3:30 pm. That day, we were going to magic Kingdom, which is right across the street from the Bay Lake Tower (the hotel we were staying at). Everyone woke up and we got to the park before it opened. We had fast passes for Space Mountain and the Haunted mansion but Space Mountain was down so we got fast pass+ instead. This means that we had a choice between going on one of six rides, whenever we wanted. Because Sarah’s fast pass was booked separately, we went with her at 2:10 PM. When we got to the Haunted Mansion, we had 30 seconds left so we sprinted and luckily got on.

After Space Mountain, Gabe and I left for our time alone. We stopped to talk to Danielle and then took to bus to the Art of Animation, to get our clothes. We had reservations at the California Grill (a classy restraint, located at the top of the Contemporary Resort), so we brought our fancy clothes; I brought a black dress and Gabe brought his grey suit. We were exhausted from walking around all day so, when we checked in, we went to the room and napped because our reservation was not until 9:45 PM. We woke up and took showers, then got ready to go. At 9:15 PM, we went to check in to the restaurant on the second floor of the Contemporary Resort. From here, they reserve a private elevator, up the 15^th floor, where the California Grill is located. We were promptly seated and served water, which Gabriel described as being the best water he had ever had. When the waitress returned, we ordered and went out onto the balcony to watch the fireworks. From the balcony, you could see everything! I was freezing, so Gabriel gave me his jacket. We watched the fireworks and when the Genie talked the man next to us said “that’s the dead guy”. What the heck!? Were they stupid or something!? Gabe and I looked at each other with a look of surprise and disgust. We finished watching the fireworks and went in. We ordered sushi and for the price, honestly, it really was not worth it. I really think you pay more for the view then the food. Gabe suggested that while we were in nice clothes, we should go to the park and take pictures in front of the castle. We got dessert to go (I got pudding cake filled with Nutella and Gabe got banana fritters).

We hopped onto the monorail and entered the park, then walked to the front of the castle, where the sculpture of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse was. There was a nice College Program girl with a Disney camera right there so we figured we wanted pictures from her. Right when we wanted to take a picture, the electrical parade started. Gabe asked the girl how the picture would come out and she said that he probably wanted to wait until the light went back on. We wanted the parade and then the lights came on. I was getting frustrated because Gabe was being very picky about the people being in the background of the picture, he is just like that so I thought nothing of it. I turned around and there was a line so I said we had to go now! We took pictures and right as we were about to go, Gabe said one second. He reached into his pocket and I said “are you really going to do this now?” He knelt down and asked “Will you Marry Me?” I replied with “Of course I will marry you!” The camera lady was super sweet and said “Get back out there. This isn’t my first rodeo. Why didn’t you tell me!?” She took a lot of pictures, we left the park, and went to bed.

We woke up and met everyone at Hollywood Studios. We went straight to Tower of Terror and then the Rockin Roller Coaster. On the bus the day before, the bus driver told us to go to a specific food place and gobble like a Turkey, they would give you a free turkey leg. I looked it up online and sure enough, it was true. I went up to the counter, gobbled like a Turkey, and flapped my arms like a turkey. The lady was very rude and yelled at me saying “THAT IS SUPPOSE TO BE A SURPRISE! WE ARESUPPOSE TO PICK YOU, OTHERWISE EVERYONE WOULD BE UP HERE DOING THAT”. I was so embarrassed I didn’t even want to eat but I got pulled pork with macaroni. We didn’t have anything else to do, so we went on the Great movie ride and left to Epcot to ride Test Track and Soarin.

We got to Epcot and the line for Soarin was ridiculous, so we waited in line for Test Track for an hour instead. It was really fun but not worth the wait. We ate dinner in Japan, we got sushi and teriyaki beef and chicken. After Epcot we walked over to the Board walk. The Board walk is probably my favorite part of Disney. We walked around, went to an art gallery, watched a magic show, and watched part of Hercules on a blow up screen in the grass. We went over to the Yacht and beach club, on the other side of the pond, and sat on a swinging bench on the beach. Gabe and I sat on it, while Frocket sang “can You Feel The Love Tonight” and pushed us. When we left the beach, we tried to enter Epcot to catch a bus home but they were closed so we caught a bus to Magic Kingdom then went back to the hotel and slept.

Our last day was the best way to end a trip with the best friend. Sarah slept in because she had to leave at 2 PM and we went back to say goodbye. Gabe, Frock, JP, and I woke up and went to the park. We didn’t know that there were magic hours so, when we raced through the park, we found a long line at the mine train. We went on a bunch of rides then went to watch my favorite night time show, Celebrate the Magic. As we waited, it started to monsoon. We were soaked as we watched the show but it was worth it. We went on Splash Mountain twice in a row and did the same picture. When we went out, the guy yelled at us for an “inappropriate picture”. Gabe and I were kissing, and JP and Frock were pretending to fight. They deleted the picture and I really frustrated me because it was a great picture. Finally, we went on the mine train and went back to the hotel.

Saying goodbye to my fiancé was so difficult! Knowing it would be over 2 months till we got to hug each other again sucked. We had to rush back and pack then we literally ran to get me on my bus back to my apartment but you know what they say, “quick goodbyes are the best!”