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Old 12 May 19, 04:32 PM  
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soraia
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Happy Birthday To...Me! April/May 2019 - Day 1: MK, Sanaa & DS

Happy Birthday To...Me! - Day 1
27th April 2019 - Magic Kingdom, Sanaa & Disney Springs

Today was my birthday!

The rest of the gang were going to be flying in today as unfortunately they couldn't take the Friday off work, but I knew I actually wanted to be in Orlando on my birthday so that's why I decided to fly in yesterday.

Lauren was flying with Norwegian from LGW and was due to land around 14:30. We had tentatively agreed beforehand to go to DS for a wander and some food so she said she'd keep me updated when she landed, passed through immigration etc but we'd probably meet at around 17:30.

Bernie & Tig were flying in from Copenhagen and had a connecting flight via Amsterdam so were only due to land at 19:45. We knew they'd likely only arrive at CSR late so had just agreed to meet in reception to say a quick hello and make plans for the following day.

That meant I pretty much had the whole of my birthday to myself to do whatever I wanted. I think my plan for this day changed about 12 times as I just couldn't decide what I wanted to do but in the end I decided to spend the morning at Magic Kingdom (with a breakfast ADR at BOG), then do something that has always been on my WDW bucket list and visit AKL and Sanaa for lunch before heading back to CSR, meeting Lauren and heading to DS for the evening.

Getting back to the actual trip...I had a pretty broken night's sleep as is common on the first day. Sodding jet lag I think I woke up at 03:30, 04:30 and 05:30 before finally getting out of bed at 06:00 to get showered and dressed. Despite the bad sleep, there's nothing quite like waking up on your first morning, is there? You know you have the whole holiday ahead of you and excitement levels are at an all time high!

Today was going to be Dapper Day at MK so I had decided I wanted to dress up a bit (without overdoing it and still being comfortable). I often see threads here on the dibb about what people wear to the parks so figured I'd add a pic with my outfits each day.

Dapper Day Birthday outfit


I left the room at 07:00 and waited less than 5 minutes for a MK bus. We got to the park at 07:30 and there were already lots of people waiting to be let in at 08:00 (it was EMH at MK this morning). I got directed to the special line at the very far left for people with breakfast ADR's or tour bookings, and they let us in first at 07:45.

It was a beautiful morning and it was lovely to see the castle and get some PhotoPass pictures without any queue!





Picture overload...sorry


I got to BOG just before 08:00 and they hadn't opened yet so there was a bit of a queue outside but we didn't wait long. Only long enough to take this snap!


They officially opened BOG and all the staff were outside clapping us in. It was so cute I realised I had completely forgotten to pre-order on MDE even though I knew what I wanted to eat. D'oh. Luckily I didn't have to wait long to order.

I ordered the Croque Madame and since it was my birthday I also ordered a Peach Bellini (Yes yes I know - it was 08:00! Don't judge me!) they told me I could also get a drink from the soft drink tea/coffee/water station (which was good to know) and to find a seat anywhere.


I just love the main dining room so always try to get a table there if I can. The food didn't take long to arrive and it was just as tasty as I remembered. The peach bellini went down nicely as well


I got a whole tray of pastries to myself and managed about half. Just like last time I was here there seemed to be some inconsistencies in the pastry tray as I also saw tables of 2 and 4 with only 1 tray, but then I also saw on my way out another table of 4 with 2 trays so who knows how they work it out?

I had another lovely meal and will definitely be back for breakfast. Don't rate BOG so much for lunch but I think for breakfast it's a great use of a QS credit.


I spent the next couple of hours doing some rides (Little Mermaid, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Buzz, Winnie the Pooh, Carousel of Progress and the People Mover) and generally soaking up the atmosphere. It was an absolutely glorious morning!





I've heard great things about Sanaa but in all my trips have never managed to make it there so decided to book an ADR for my birthday lunch there. I left MK at 12:30 and luckily an AKL bus arrived shortly after.

Kidani Village has such a nice relaxed vybe to it. I absolutely fell in love with the outside balcony just off the lobby where there are loads of rocking chairs and you can stare down at the animals below.




It was actually one of my favourite moments of the whole trip sitting on that rocking chair - there was a lovely breeze and I was just watching the world go by

At 13:45 I headed downstairs for my ADR at Sanaa.


The hostess was lovely and chatty and wished me a happy birthday. She said there would only be a short wait, gave me a buzzer and invited me to go outside to see the animals. I had no idea they had a viewing area with rocking chairs outside Sanaa but I loved this as well!



I don't think I was out there for longer than 5-10 minutes and the buzzer rang so I went back inside and was shown to my table and introduced to the lovely Jessica who would be my server.




I was really undecided. I've heard great things about the bread service but knew I'd never be able to eat all of it on my own, and Jessica suggested I get one of the "open sandwich" options as they came with a naan bread the same as what is given in the bread service. I went with her suggestion and chose the "Boerewors Braii" (Grilled South African Sausage with onion jam and confit tomatoes served open faced on a traditional naan) and then also got a cocktail to drink (I promise I'm not normally such a lush - it was my birthday!)


I can't for the life of me remember what this was called but it was sort of like a Pina Colada with orange juice. It was lovely and refreshing!


Oops, already took a bite...


My goodness this was absolutely delicious! The naan bread was divine and the sausage was so flavourful. Even the crisps on the side had some sort of seasoning which made them taste incredible. I ate every last morsel!

It was time for dessert!



I pretty much liked the sound of everything so asked Jessica for her recommendation and she said the "Spice Trade Candy Bar" was her favourite (coconut, apricot, caramel & pistachio cashew bar coated with milk chocolate and topped with chai cream, pistachio crumb and apricot gelee). She said it tasted like a cross between a snickers and a bounty. SOLD! Jessica, you just said all the right things!




Again, this was absolutely divine! It looked beautiful and tasted delicious - very rich & decadent!

There was a great atmosphere at Sanaa and I got a very warm vybe so I'll definitely look to come back in the future.

I used a TS credit and then left a tip which Jessica took off my gift card. Incidentally I did this in every restaurant to pay for tips and it was no problem at all. They just swipe the gift card and you sign it. You get to keep a receipt which also tells you the remaining balance on the gift card which is handy

During lunch I had received a message from Lauren to say she had landed and was on the DME to CSR so I decided to head back to welcome her.

By the time I got there she had sent me another message to say she was in her room unpacking and would meet me at 17:30 in the lobby so I walked around a bit. I wanted to have a drink outside by the lake. The cheerleaders were EVERYWHERE (seriously!) and if I'm honest were being quite disruptive running around in groups making a lot of noise. I spoke to a CM who told me that they were actually competing at CSR in the convention centre which is why there were so many of them around and the competition was due to finish on Monday, but then on Wednesday a new varsity cheerleading group were arriving until the following Monday. Erm, OK then So much for peace & quiet I suppose. Apparently they have different cheerleading groups who take over the resort the last week of April and pretty much the whole month of May.

I completely forgot to show you my Magic Band in yesterday's installment - as always I ordered a skin from Magic Your Band (shout out again to Tracy - thanks for your great service!).

I love it!


I met up with Lauren at 17:30 and she had a smooth Travel Day. She actually got the whole row to herself on the plane (result!) and said the food was also pretty good. She had been allocated a nice corner room in Casitas 4 so was a happy bunny.

We decided to stick to our plan and headed over to DS. Our first point of call was World of Disney so Lauren could pick up her $200 gift card. We spent a lot of time in the Marketplace Co-op, especially in the section where they have all the dapper dresses. We love them ALL but they are rather pricey! We also spent a bit of time at Art of Disney - they have such lovely things in there!

We started to feel a bit peckish so decided on WPE for dinner and used a QS credit each. I went for the Macaroni & Cheese and Lauren went for the Salmon. We both had sodas to drink. It was a lovely evening and there was a nice breeze out so we found a table outside.




Unfortunately my mac & cheese came out stone cold, but I grabbed someone's attention and they made me a fresh one with no problems. It came out within 5 minutes and was hot & tasty. Lauren also really enjoyed her salmon. They also topped up our drinks a few times. I always say this but WPE is a great use of a QS credit. We left a few $$ tip each on the table and went for another wander to Goofy's Candy Co as Lauren wanted to use a snack credit for dessert.

I had received a message from Bernie & Tig saying they had arrived and were about to get on the DME to CSR so we decided to head back and meet them. It was so nice to see them - they were super tired from all the travel so we just had a very quick catch up and decided to meet at 08:00 the next morning.

By now it was almost 22:00 so we all went back to our respective rooms for some well deserved sleep.

A great birthday and reading this all back now I really packed a lot in!

Tomorrow we're heading to MK first thing in the morning, then going for my "official" birthday brunch to California Grill and then going to AK.

Thanks for reading

Day 2 is HERE.

Edited at 02:56 PM.
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Old 12 May 19, 05:52 PM  
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Goldia
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What a fab way to spend your birthday it sounds like you had a great time.
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Old 12 May 19, 06:26 PM  
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Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
What a fab way to spend your birthday it sounds like you had a great time.
Thanks Goldia - I had a lovely day
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Old 12 May 19, 06:26 PM  
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Happy birthday. Sounds like a great way to spend it.
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Old 12 May 19, 07:34 PM  
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Happy birthday. A lovely chilled day!
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Old 13 May 19, 01:41 PM  
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Sounds like the best way to spend a birthday - perfect. Your lunch sounded delicious.
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Old 14 May 19, 09:25 AM  
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Originally Posted by waiting4disney View Post
Happy birthday. Sounds like a great way to spend it.
Originally Posted by Michyloulou View Post
Happy birthday. A lovely chilled day!
Originally Posted by mrsdjh View Post
Sounds like the best way to spend a birthday - perfect. Your lunch sounded delicious.
Thank you, it was a lovely day
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Old 2 Jun 19, 07:34 PM  
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A fantastic way to spend your Birthday glad you enjoyed it


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