The Happiest Trip on Earth
I’ve lived life long enough to know that it is a gift to find a good friend, to end up with a good roommate, and to have a good travel buddy. But to have all three in one? That is an absolutely miracle of nature. But that’s just the kind of treasure E is. The happiest trip doesn’t happen because you go the happiest place on earth – it happens because you go with the best people. But the location does help.
people kept on asking me what the numbers on my cap meant and it was hilarious because i had no clue, i just stole it from A’s closet to wear on the trip – for your information, i have since discovered that it is the zip code for aspen, colorado
there were so many crazy things about the trip to florida. instead of landing in the evening of sunday like we were supposed to, delays led us to an extra flight leg, and an overnight stay in the airport. this unfortunately meant that we would miss out on getting passes to the elusive new star wars ride (yes, we were going to be those crazy people outside waiting in line hours before the park opened), but this is us changed into our duffy/shellie mae costumes, still excited for day one disneyworld!
because we arrived so late that morning, we decided to save time by going straight to the park from the airport. i was met by an extremely crabby security guard who kept making very sarcastic and aggressive comments about having to check through every piece of my baggage. it was so hard because there was so little empathy for my situation, but i wished i could’ve done a better job of stepping into her shoes as well and responding with compassion and grace. instead i was super sassy right back. sigh, still so much to grow.
also, right after we got into the park, we almost couldn’t figure out the locker situation with our bags and that was probably the most stressful part of the trip where we almost just gave up on everything. thank goodness for not giving up and asking staff questions.
star wars land – wow. the replicas of all the ships and characters and locations, spot on!
i love how this guy accidentally photobombed us haha
edna mode was so fabulous. whoever played her character did a fabulous job of conveying her character with movement only.
one final meeting with buzz in the evening – to infinity and beyond!
day 2 – animal kingdom really took us surprise. first off, pandora was so out of this world, and they managed to make a ride that was worth an over two hour long wait, aka flights of passage. dude. so good.
they had an eight month old hippo baby in their exhibit!! watching this sweet, stumbling little guy figure out how to walk under water was so precious
but hands down, the achievement of the day was running around from one place to the next trying to collect all of our wilderness explorer badges before they closed shop at 5pm. we somehow managed to collect all 31 badges with the help of a ton of helpful guides (one even gave us one of the stickers we were missing because we were short on time!), and we are now officially senior wilderness explorers!
so thankful for disney employees who for the most part seem to really genuinely love their jobs and make the experience all the more fuller with their enthusiasm and dedication to their work.
can you guess who we are today? the cat ears and missing third kitten might give a hint as to this classic disney film we picked our characters from.
i just wanted to post this photo even though it’s basically the same as the one before, because we asked a random girl to take some photos for us and she nailed it with the lighting and everything. i love it when you pick the perfect person to take a photo for you
day 3 – fantasyland. it’s so interesting to see how different parks have their rides differently arranged. it’s a small world was definitely tucked into a small corner at fantasyland instead of having the entire backside of the la park
so much 💕 for this one
ingenious addition to fantasyland – they added different activities in the wait lines like a replica of eeyore’s home, interactive screens, and a playground area simulating rabbit’s garden. WELL DONE!
when the sweetest employee ever makes your day by taking photos in the best angles for you even though he’s been working all day without a chance to eat yet. thank you, michael!
day three was disney princess day for us, but if you ask A, i was dressed up as the fairy godmother (this boy does not know his disney princesses)
day 4 – disney outdid themselves with epcot! so much attention to detail in their depiction of different nations in the world showcase, and all the educational rides were phenomenal. it is decided that i will never be an astronaut though because mission space advanced level was extremely nauseating and we both died.
many of the stations had native artisans working on their craft, like this individual painting alebrijes in the Mexico showcase. just that final touch of disney detail to make each place come to life
norwegian school bread is THE BEST! cardamom bread with light and creamy pudding topped with toasted coconut flakes – why didn’t i get this in school?
china – how much time must it have taken to put this together??
getting my caramel fix in the rustic and beautiful Germany showcase (i don’t know how they got all these things to be the perfect proportions so they were delicious without being overwhelmingly sweet)
we’re missing the annual festival of the arts by a day, but took advantage of these fun “pose as a painting” frames. while waiting in line, we asked what the right one was, and the couple ahead of us said, “Mona Lisa”. we were flabbergasted that we couldn’t recognize it, but really, who ever looked at the background of the painting anyway?
beautiful italia with its graceful arched bridges
you really cannot pick favorites here. each showcase was created with so much care and attention to detail that you just have to appreciate each one for its own distinctness
classic British telephone booths~
side note – can you tell who i’m disneybounding as?
morocco was insanely beautiful with these intricate tiles and designs. definitely going to add this stunning location to list of places to visit
when every night ends with fireworks, it can’t be so bad, right?
day 5 – last morning at fantasyland to finish as many rides as we can. this is me going to ride the carousel by myself while E and i took turns waiting in line at the broken snow white & 7 dwarves train ride.
getting most things done means more time waiting in lines to meet characters and get their signatures. buying an autograph book each time i go to a new park is probably the most extravagant purchase i make all year long
we forgot to take castle photos during day 3, so here is our make up session!
also, i was very vaguely going for the casual belle look, not expecting anyone to realize, but one of the workers noticed and complimented my outfit! disney, as expected.
tomorrowland had some of my favorite rides – the peoplemover, the carousel of progress, the monsters inc stand up comedy show. my choices of favorites seem to indicate that i’m quite the old fogey these days
disney travel tip – prepare your outfits beforehand! i got my minnie ears from mercari at a fraction of the cost, and they were lightly used so they’re friendly to the earth too!
my one qualm about this trip is the fact that disneyworld was pretty lazy about the quality of their foods. the churro was ridiculously stale, and the turkey leg was oversalted and stringy from being roasted too long. 😦
always ready for an adventure
thank you, E, for making this trip happen, and making it the best time ever!
i love this snap with the adorable two girls dressed up in the perfect elsa & anna costumes, lollygagging and having the time of their lives
it would’ve been nice to do some other things outside of disney world in orlando, but our days were so full that we were always too exhausted to do anything other than eat at mcdonald’s right outside the hotel (which was also glorious). on our last night, we did get a chance to stop by the world food trucks a few blocks down from the hotel and it was amazing! wish we could’ve had the energy to check it out earlier, but thankful that we did get to try this delicious food truck paella
until next time~
What’s LA without some imported palm trees?
I love walking through downtown LA, and it helped to connect the dots of many locations that I thought of as separate entities. It’s like when you’re playing a video game and as you walk through new territory, the map of the space gets revealed.
Urth Caffe – my first stop. This is one of my favorite places in LA and the perfect spot for some avocado toast and matcha latte to energize tired me who was not able to sleep much on the bus.
More walking from Urth Caffe back to the Union Station area. Across the street is the historic Chinatown district and apparently the oldest fire station in LA – Old Plaza Firehouse!
Olvera Street – Makes me think of Coco. I’ve always loved the colorful stalls and cut paper art strung up in rows and rows. Churros and taquitos galore that I wish I had another five stomaches for.
Philippe’s – I always want to try something new each time I go back to LA and it’s French dip sandwiches this time! But here are some familiar faces – my Flow boys and they’re all grown up. So thankful to be able to pick up from where we left off.
So beautiful!! I didn’t realize until way later that this is actually the church they attend (or at least the church rents this space), which makes it not only beautiful but meaningful! Only downside is that the police sirens that went off more than once during the ceremony really echo. Poor builders probably didn’t think about that one.
M – the lovely bride! I always tell people that she was the one who showed me not to depend on a man to define my identity – that God has His timing, but in the meanwhile, I need to value and care for myself as He created me. So encouraged to be a witness of God’s timing in allowing her to meet A and for them to begin a new journey together.
Korean food served at the wedding!!! – kalbi jjim and multiple types of rice cake YUM
I’m so thankful for the big family of God that comes around and supports one another. Even though it’s been a long time, and there was awkwardness mixed in, I was touched by everyone’s taking time to welcome me, catch up, and even do things like give me a ride back to Union Station so that I wouldn’t have to take public transportation at night. All acts that give me courage to respond in the same way and reach out of my comfort zone again next time.
gracerootsmovement 