Cam's Golden Birthday Adventure **Updated 8/23** COMPLETE About This Page:

[ArielsMomto2]

What a great day. So glad you got to ride TSMM and break your score. Bad luck on the backpack. Can't wait to hear what happens with it.

[DyanKJ130]

Another awesome day!! Sounds like you're going to have to replace that backpack with a different model Congratulations on your TSMM score!! More please

[rlb38]

Great job on TSMM ! I imagine you guys will still cram lots of fun stuff on the remainder of your holiday but I imagine you will be one backpack lighter!

[piratefreak]

Great updates. I love all of the pictures. How awesome that Stef got to see her Toy Story pals. So sorry that the cell has not turned up and the zipper is not cooperating. Can't wait to hear more.

[Cam22]

So what will happen with that cute, cool backpack with the not so cool zipper? How much more can we squeeze into this vacation?

Day 11 – Wednesday, June 18

I forgot to mention in my last update that as we were getting ready for bed I made the decision to return the backpack and the matching wallet rather than try another exchange. We would be leaving on Thursday, and I didn’t want to deal with a problematic third bag. So I removed everything from my once super cool Kilimanjaro Safari backpack and put it in my Baggallini slingback messenger.

Once again I was up at 9:00 and decided to use the time to pack. Then I got hungry and stopped to eat a Pop Tart. When I finished, I went back to packing in the hopes that we’ve have very little to do later when we came back tired from a day in the parks. Once I had everything not needed back in a suitcase, I started getting ready because I could tell that Luke and Stefanie would be up soon. Around 11:30 we were all up and dressed, ready to head for Animal Kingdom to return my backpack.

I don’t remember waiting too long at the bus stop before an Animal Kingdom bus pulled up. Once at the park we headed straight for Island Mercantile. I explained the situation to the cast member working the register and had absolutely no problem with the return, though I was sad that the backpack had not worked out.

My two buddies were hungry now as they hadn’t even had a Pop Tart yet. We decided to give Pizzafari a first try. We really liked the theming here and also enjoyed some classic WDW pizza.



We hadn’t of course planned to be at Animal Kingdom today as there were quite a few attractions we still wanted to do at Magic Kingdom. But making the best of the situation, we headed to the meet ‘n greet with Pooh and Friends. Stefanie needed more autographs and always enjoys the interaction here. I like the fact that we can all get in pictures here because of the Photopass photographers.

First up was Pooh.



Then we got to meet Piglet.



Loveable Eeyore was next.



Finally, it was Tigger’s turn.



I guess, it’s easy to see that Stefanie (and her mom and dad) really enjoys time with the characters. With that done, we decided it was definitely time to head to Magic Kingdom. But we did stop outside the gate for one last PhotoPass opportunity.



A bit of a bus ride later and we were entering the gates to the Magic Kingdom again. Our plan was to get FastPasses to Space Mountain first as it was Day 11 and we had not ridden it yet. But when we got to Tomorrowland, Space Mountain had a stand-by wait of only 35 minutes. We couldn’t believe our luck. We quickly got in line and moved through most of the line before we slowed near the top. Within less than 20 minutes we were very close to boarding our cars when suddenly all the lights came on. I remembered someone else posting pictures here of that same thing happening on their trip, so I wasn’t surprised when it was announced that the ride would be closing temporarily. It really was strange seeing this ride in the lights. As we exited, each of us received a FastPass to any ride in the park, and we were told the ride would reopen later if we wanted to use them then. Then when we got to the gift shop, we realized it was raining so we decided to wait around the shop for a while.

While looking around I mentioned to Luke that we hadn’t check the sidewalk between Space Mountain and Toontown for my missing cell phone. I remembered taking some really nice fireworks shots from here the night I lost the phone. As soon as the rain let up, we headed down the sidewalk. We didn’t locate the phone, but decided to stop at the Toontown Farmer’s Market to get liquid refreshment. A couple of cokes and a frozen lemonade later, we were headed back toward Space Mountain to exit the park for dinner at Chef Mickey’s when we were someone say, “Hey you all.” We turned to see a cast member who was obviously leaving work. She said she had a bunch of leftover FastPasses that she needed to pass on to someone. Then she handed Luke 20 FastPasses to any ride in the Magic Kingdom. It was then that I realized she was dressed to work on Space Mountain. Now we had 23 FastPasses! Super cool! No phone, but great opportunities to catch a few rides when we returned after dinner.

We took the monorail to the Contemporary, arriving a little ahead of our ADR time. Once we had our pager we headed to a couch to wait, but before we could even sit down the pager went off. Weird as they weren’t actually seating anyone yet. I let Luke and Stefanie sit down and headed back to the desk. We had a faulty pager, so the cast member gave me another. I joined Luke and Stefanie on the couch, but in only a few minutes it was our turn for a photo.



Shortly, we were seated at a table and even had time to fill our plates up the first time. The first character to arrive for a visit was Donald Duck.



Donald insisted on pictures with the birthday girl.



Next up was the head chef himself – Mickey Mouse.



He was very excited about the Mickey pin that Stefanie had on her lanyard.



Mickey made sure to get a picture with the birthday girl, too!



A little later, Stefanie’s favorite dog stopped by for a visit.



Then came Luke’s very favorite character – Goofy.



Finally, our favorite girl mouse arrived.



Minnie also wanted a picture with the birthday girl.



As the music picked up and napkins were unfurled, our server brought out a birthday cupcake for me and the whole room erupted into song.



When dinner was done, Stefanie felt a little shopping was in order. She had really liked the new Fantasia shop on the concourse outside Chef’s Mickey. She found one more pin for her lanyard, and I think, Luke also found two more for ours. But we didn’t stay long as we had 23 FastPasses burning a whole in our pockets.

So we headed straight for the monorail and a ride back to Magic Kingdom. As the monorail stopped at the Polynesian, I noticed lots of folks moving to board the monorail and one of them looked familiar. I looked again and then in a heart beat I was at the door of our car yelling, “Karen.” I thought I had seen Karen (mattandkatsmum), and then I saw Kat and was positive. Her whole family joined us in our car and we chatted the short trip over to Magic Kingdom. My thoughtful husband leaned over as we all got out of the car and suggested that we give them some of our good fortune FastPasses. We really were so excited to share the magic. Then I almost forgot to get a picture, but Luke thought of that as well.



Karen is as witty in person as she is in her posts. And I just love the British accent. I used to wish I had been born in England so I’d sound so much cooler when I talked.

We parted ways and we headed immediately to Space Mountain to use our first three FastPasses. Stefanie doesn’t actually ride this one and we do the parent swap. Luke rode first, and then my turn was up. When I return to the front of the line, the cast members saw my birthday button and asked if I’d like to ride in the front. I hesitated because I remembered being a little sick another time when I had ridden in the front. But when they found out I was turning 50, they dared me to do it. So this is me triumphant after riding in the front.



We still had a lot of FastPasses so we were off to new adventures: Buzz Lightyear, Mickey’s Philharmagic, Peter Pan, it’s a small world, and Haunted Mansion. Not all of those required a FastPass, but they are among our favorites. By the time we disembarked Haunted Mansion we were all exhausted. We decided it was time to return home by boat.

We decided to explore the lodge a little more before calling it quits for the night and actually discovered a lot we had missed our last visit.



We eventually headed down to Roaring Forks for some sodas, and then it was back to the room. Before bed we made some plans for our final day. We had a lunch ADR at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, so we thought if we got an early start, we might actually score FastPasses to Indiana Jones. We also had promised Stefanie that we’d visit Magic Kingdom for our only chance to ride Pirates of the Caribbean as it had been closed the rest of our vacation. And then there were 6 FastPasses left.

Will we finally be able to Indiana Jones? Will we get to ride POTC? How bad will it be when Stefanie fully realizes the vacation is over and we really do have to leave Disney World?

[B.M.]

great update! Wow, how great to get thoose fastpasses! Cant wait to hear more......

[lexiemom]

Sorry the backpack didn't work out for you!

What a magical day at MK!! And how cool that you got to spread a bit of the magic with a fellow PP!

[lauren-roxy]

What a great day!! How cool to meet Karen and her family!! How cool to get all those Fastpasses and how wonderful of you to share them!! Love the photos with the characters!!

[chezp]

Wow, what a busy day - you certainly packed a lot in. I'm glad you were finally able to get on Space Mountain.

[Colexis Mom]

Great day Cam!! Love all the character pictures from AK Sorry about the backpack And how great to get all those FPs at MK and spread the wealth with Karen and her family Dinner sounded great too!! I'm sorry it's all coming to an end

[KandJluvdisney]

great update cam
sorry you still could not find your phone but congrats on all the fastpasses - score!
hurry back with more - can't wait to hear if you get to see indy

[mcc0313]

Sorry about the bookbag but I am glad that you were able to return it without any problem...what a great time at MK - and so many FP's - so many choices to make.

Glad you had a great meal at Chef Mickey's (the pictures were great) and that you got to meet Karen and family....(I am sure her crew enjoyed some of thier "gifted" FP's)

Can't wait to hear all about your last day....

[dj1028]

Wow, major score with the Fast Passes! Can't wait to hear about your last day!

[pamcarey]

What a great day with so many wonderful character photos!! How cool that you met Karen and her family!! And how great to share your fastpasses with them!

I hope you get to ride POTC and see Indy!

[luvnwdwgal]

Holy Cow! Talk about being in the right place at the right time! 23 Fast Passes!! Space Mountain is my favorite!! I LOVE the front seat cause you can't see anything in front of you! Then again the back seat is good too cause you get some air time!