Disney in two weeks...

Andy and I in the Magic Kingdom on the TTA in March.

 Yes, in two weeks we are off to the happiest place on earth, again. :) This time it'll just be Andy and me in our first ever solo Disney trip without kids. We are just a wee bit excited. Our plans are set, our flight is booked, we have great dining reservations lined up, and all I need to do now is pack...and keep running. Here's what we've got lined up:

 We plan to conquer Everest this trip! We are running the Expedition Everest 5K Challenge so we'll be seeing lots of Asia and Africa at night. After the race they have a huge after party and you can ride Everest at night...which we hear is amazing...so we are really looking forward to that.

There will be lots of good eats this trip! My good friend Evan has a goal to eat at all the restaurants in the parks with her husband. Andy liked that idea and decided we should follow suit. (Thanks E for the idea!) Every trip we've taken we try out at least one if not more new places. So, far we've yet to be disappointed. To be honest Disney has great food. For this trip our new places we'll be The Plaza Restaurant in the MK, Mama Melroses at HS, San Angel Inn at E. All of these places are part of Disney's Tables in Wonderland program which means we'll get 20% off our total bill! If you get an annual pass I HIGHLY recommend getting a TIW card...it has saved us quite a bundle. In addition, I'm sure we'll visit a few of our favorite quick services places like Casey's for hotdogs and the Cheshire Cafe for a raspberry lemonade slush. If we get down to Downtown Disney I'm sure we'll eat at Earl of Sandwich. We ate there on the last trip and it was so, so, so good. Destined to be a family favorite.

 We also plan to ride Snow White a few times since it will close May 31 permanently to make way for the continuing expansion of Fantasyland. (It will still be alive and well out in Cali at Disneyland. We've ridden it out there also.) I'm so excited about all the new stuff they are adding in Fantasyland but this is somewhat bittersweet to me since I've ridden this since I was a little girl. We rode it once in March with the expectation to ride it a few more times in May.

We are also planning to spend some quality time at EPCOT exploring and taking in the end of the Flower and Garden Festival. It's kind of fun that we were there for the kick-off of the event and we'll be there to see it wind down. EPCOT is so massive that while we've walked everywhere we've never really had a chance to explore in the World Showcase so we are planning to spend some time really walking around in each country. (Which will be quite easy since we won't be menuvering strollers and juggling kids.) Plus, there are lots of pictures of the festival that I didn't hassle with taking in March since we were with such a large group and I didn't want to slow us down. Andy won't mind me taking pictures while we explore.

The hardest reservation to snag at Disney is Le Cellier and after eating there in March I can totally see why. It was AMAZING. Hands down the best steak I've ever eaten. For those who haven't been it's located in the Canada section of the World Showcase. It's a steakhouse and the theming is like being in an old wine cellar. The theming is warm, inviting, and quite cozy when you couple it with the food it's perfection. Right before we left in March I was  working on our May trip and I was able to snag a reservation for Friday night while we are there. So, even though we hadn't eaten there, yet, I went ahead and secured it. After our dinner in March, all we can think about is eating there, again! Ha. We are doing this meal as our special anniversary meal since our actual anniversary will have been just a few days before. It's definitely a splurge but it's worth it since we very rarely get to eat at a place like this now that we have small kids. (And we'll save 20% with TIW.)  Yum! I can not wait. 

 The first phase of the New Fantasyland opened right after we left in March. We were able to sneak a peek at Storybook Circus from the train when we rode it. We can't wait to see the new theming, ride the new Dumbo, and check out the Great Goofini. Later this year the next wave of attractions will open in the expansion and we are hoping that we'll be able to explore it when we go back in November/December.

Tentatively, I'm working on pulling together possibilities for our trip with the kids later this year. In addition Andy is planning to run the Food and Wine Half in November. We were trying to decide between a trip with the kids in the fall or at Christmas. And we've tentatively decided to opt for Christmas instead. AG really loved Christmas this year and everything to do with getting ready for the holidays. There are so many wonderful things to see at Christmas time down there. Avi-Kate will be 18months and I'm sure she'll be in love with all the lights. We aren't sure yet if this will be a surprise trip or if they'll know before we go. Andy likes the idea of sticking them in the car at night and driving all night and then waking up in Orlando. :)  More on all of this once I start to firm up our plans. For now I'm looking forward to a weekend away with my best friend at the happiest place on earth.