I know I’ve got a big bunch of resort and restaurant reviews to talk about, not to mention parades, motorcades, rides, and attractions to dish on.  But first, some trip report disclosure:  Let’s face it – I’m just not the day-by-day trip report kind of person.  Sure, if I’ve been on a cruise I can replay it for you port by port, at-sea day, etc.  But for Walt Disney World – we did SO much of everything – park-hopping, FastPass-ing, snacking, exploring the amazing Disney details and even experiencing a tremendous variety of fun things – some  for the very first time!  It just doesn’t feel right to me to boil it all down into a daily replay this time.  But…in an attempt to get things started, I’m going to talk about what I was searching for on this Disney vacation…and it wasn’t the meaning of life.

I was, you may recall from previous posts here and on Facebook, searching for some very specific items this trip.  Namely a certain Disney pin, the perfect Earhat, and some specific Disney flavors.  I was also absolutely dying to ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – seriously, I told Raymond that after waiting more than two years for the experience, I was nearly apoplectic (and I’m not even sure exactly what that entails).  The rest of this post details my successes (and two minor failures, in the grand scheme) – so if you’re not up for it…click away now and thanks for stopping by.

In Search Of….

Orange Bird

I’m no hard-core Disney pin trader.  I enjoy it as a recreational sport versus a battle to the death/concerned with each and every detail.  I’m extremely uninterested in any pin’s particular value or official “collectability” – I just wanna have FUN!  In 2012 (the last time I was at Walt Disney World before last week), I fell in love with the reintroduction of Orange Bird (I’m old enough to remember Orange Bird from his original debut as the Florida citrus mascot in the ’70’s – he and Anita Bryant were a great team!).  So, back to 2012 – we were in Walt Disney World in May and I’d read about (or heard about) a collection of Orange Bird Cast Member pins.  Because I like a challenge and find pin trading SO much fun, I decided to see if I could collect then entire group of Orange Bird pins.  Five in all – so not a huge investment for pins to trade away for the Birds and they are ever so CUTE!  Megan and Joseph had each brought a friend on that trip and all six of us were enthusiastically in pursuit of those Orange Birds.  By the end of our vacation, I’d managed to acquire 4 out of 5 with a bonus chaser pin of the missing flying Orange Bird – how could I not make completing this set a priority for last week’s trip?

It was Raymond who found my pin.  Raymond has been married to me for 24 years and 8 months and has always been my biggest fan – he has, with amazing steadfast resolve, supported all my endeavors through the years (even the hair-brained schemes) – Orange Bird collecting being no exception.  It was early in the week – Monday or Tuesday – we were at Animal Kingdom in the building where the small animal displays are housed – the one with the Naked (say nekkid, it’s okay) Mole Rats live.  On a Cast Member lanyard – her name was Denise and she was standing next to the turtle tanks.  Raymond, calmly and in the low voice he uses when speaking to me in crowded spaces, says, “Is that your Orange Bird?”  Oh, JOY!!!!  I reached into my much-used Disney-trip-only backpack and pulled out a pin to trade with Denise.  She wasn’t quite as ecstatic about the exchange as I was, but YAY!  My Orange Bird pin collection is now complete!  (Thanks, Honey and Denise, too!)

The Perfect Earhat

I have probably 6 or more Disney caps I love to wear – and numerous plain visors I make into Disney accessories by adding pins and buttons when on a Disney vacation.  It was way past time for me to actually purchase my own Earhat.  I’ve probably tried on 50 over the years – and several even got carried around with me in a store for a while, almost making it to the check-out-counter, before being carefully placed back on their display shelves.  I wanted a hat that made me feel like a Mouseketeer, a super Disney fan, a QUEEN!  This trip, I was committed to finding and purchasing such headwear.

I tried on several models – Maleficent, Ariel, a black hat with pink skulls, even a Monster’s Inc. Sully hat – some were magically beautiful, but just not ME.  Then I spotted a unique chapeau unlike any of the others.  Special, not too “cute”, regal (yet NOT goodie-two-shoes) – the Evil Queen hat – THIS was the one for me!!!  No, I did not hear a choir of angels sing when I placed it on my head – but an evil chuckle off in the distance….    SOLD!

Dole Whip

Yes, yes – I confessed back on the New Year’s Resolution list (see #9) that I’d never eaten a Dole Whip – Don’t judge me.  Finally, last week, the time had come.  I waited in the ridiculously long, mostly devoid of shade line at Aloha Isle in Magic Kingdom – sweating, but thinking, hey – the famous Dole Whip will not only cool me off, but will be delicious and refreshing, too!  Let me mention one more time that I do NOT have a sweet tooth.  Not even a baby one.  I opted (against warnings from several Disney friends – especially Lindsay from the Geekin’ on WDW Podcast) for the classic pineapple Dole Whip-in-a-cup.  I did post a video of my experience over on the Facebook page – the conclusion?  Probably won’t need to eat another Dole Whip.  Ever.  I realize there are billions of Dole Whip fans world wide.  I’m okay with not being one of them – I hope you’re okay with that too.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

I took a dorky video on this ride – with my iPhone after the GoPro’s battery was shot for the day.  I’ll show it to you sometime.  I waited SO long – forever! – to ride this coaster.  I’ll say this (with a complete review coming up in the future) – I knew it was half as long as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and perhaps a little more than twice as long as Barnstormer.  I knew from all the spoilers, videos, and media reviews I’d seen what to expect.  There was a tremendous amount of hype over this “kiddie coaster” in the new Fantasyland.  And still….I loved it!  The smoothest roller coaster in the World, this mine train is just great!

Now – the two things I missed.  One, I can fix in October – I want to try the sweet and spicy chicken waffle from Sleepy Hollow in Magic Kingdom.  That one will be easy.  The one thing I missed that might be tricky to make up (at least for a while, maybe never) – I SO wanted to see the Symphony in the Sky fireworks spectacular at Disney’s Hollywood Studios – it was a special treat for Star Wars Weekends.  We just couldn’t pull it off.  Sunday when we arrived, we’d been up since 3:00 am to catch a plane out of Dallas and we were SO tired.  Friday, we were victims of both the slow bus system servicing Old Key West and end-of-vacation exhaustion.  I can’t be too sad, though, we did and saw (and ate) so much this trip!  There’s just no way to feel disappointed.

So that’s the rundown of the most important things I was searching for on our WDW vacation.  What will YOU be looking for on your next visit?