Today is an extra special day! As I type this Jason and I are celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary and I'm preparing to preserve and share memories from our 23rd spent at Walt Disney World! I am grateful beyond what words could begin to convey for God's good gift of marriage and for these years of life with the husband whom I adore! I could go on and on gushing over the goodness of my favorite guy, but I'll try to simply sum up my heart on this sweet day in a few lines. Jason and I started dating as teenagers and married six months after our first date, each having just freshly entered our twenties. It's beautiful looking back at our lives from 19 years old until here in our forties. We've grown up together and built a life and family we love, all by the grace and mercy of the unspeakably good God who brought us together and has sustained us through it all. It hasn't always been easy, but we've seen God use even the darkest days to strengthen and grow us, working all things together for our good. I'm incredibly thankful that I get to spend "as long as we both shall live" with my best friend and forever favorite, Jason! As I tell him pretty much daily, he's the best husband in all of husbandry. :) And with a happy sigh as I think of my favorite guy, I'll get on to the details of this day! Thank you for being here to help me celebrate!
Day 5 - Sunday, November 14, 2021
"What day is it?"
"It's today," squeaked Piglet.
"My favorite day," said Pooh.
- A. A. Milne
Another plexiglass queue of the past
From Pooh Bear in the tree to the Little Mermaid in the sea...
I'm going to use the caption of this photo to share a song I occasionally sing,
"Oh, what a guy, Ja-son!" Too fitting of a day not to include that here! :D
It's a Small World is a forever fave of mine for both Disney history and personal history reasons. I love that this attraction was overseen by Walt Disney himself and I'm a huge fan of Mary Blair's artistry. It was also my mom's favorite ride when we visited here as a family when I was a little girl, so thinking of Walt, Mary Blair, and my mom with each ride over the years has tucked it into a special spot within my heart. It's also easily one of the attractions I most adore at Disneyland. (Theirs is much better yet, and at Christmastime with the holiday overlay - I would seriously travel to California just for that! Amazing!) All that being said, while the parks were closed in 2020 this attraction got freshened up so I was pretty snap happy while aboard the "happiest cruise that ever sailed" capturing and swooning over it all!
If by chance my dear friend Chrissy catches this post, thank you again for my favorite Christmastime ears (which I've enjoyed on many a Nov./Dec. trip) and for making the mask requirement cuter with this fruity fun one you handmade for me! You're a gem of a friend and I'm thankful for you!
Next up, the wildest ride in the wilderness!
Around this time a dole whip was sounding mighty fine!
"Sometimes," said Pooh, "the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."
Over to Tomorrowland for a family fave that's often repeated and each time enjoyed, the Peoplemover.
Lastly, Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate's life ride for me!
The girls stuck around at Magic Kingdom and grabbed lunch with Sonny Eclipse at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe while Jason and I boarded a bus back to Animal Kingdom Lodge. From there we'd hop in our rental car and make our way to our anniversary lunch date.
While we waited for our bus I snapped pics of the current bus wraps. Always fun to see the variations of adorableness.
We got the best bus of the bunch, a celebratory coach for us on this extra special day!
I spied some 50th signage as we made our way to lunch.
We had lunch reservations at one of our favorite spots in Disney Springs, The Boathouse.
If you care to take a look around The Boathouse's interior a bit more I invite you to click through to this previous post from our lunch there during our 20th anniversary trip. On this fine day we dined outdoors and I only quickly snapped one photo with the garlands in view as we made our way through and to our waterside table.
Delicious carbs
Jason's firecracker shrimp
Truffle fries for two
Dockside Shrimp Boil for my handsome hubby
I'm a steak and potatoes kinda girl. Yum!
What a scrumptious meal and sweet time together!
After lunch I savored the stroll through the Springs with a full tummy and an even fuller heart holding the hand of my favorite man!
The Moana themed Christmas Tree
Back to our home sweet vacation home for a bit of relaxation.
Why, hello there handsome! Care for some company?
We never take a spacious savanna view balcony for granted, sitting outside every chance we get!
Although it may be hard to make out from a zoomed in phone photo, if you look closely you may be able to make out both the peak of Expedition Everest and the floating mountains of Pandora. Such a fun bonus to have a park view beyond the savanna!
While there weren't many animals in view during this time it was still incredibly peaceful out there and the sunsetting skies were spectacular!
We had anniversary dinner date reservations at Sanaa. We'd heard rave reviews for this restaurant in the Kidani Village building of Animal Kingdom Lodge for years and were excited to check it out!
The lovely lobby of Kidani Village
I spy with my little eye, a Hidden Mickey!
We checked in for dinner and were told they'd text us when our table was ready. Always eager to make the most of our time, we stepped outside to take in the savanna after dark. Normally AKL offers night vision binoculars to view the animals after dark. However, during this time the binoculars weren't available for use. So instead I took in the beautiful Christmas tree peering out of the large lovely lobby windows as we relaxed near the savanna.
Dinner date time!
Sanaa is known for their bread service and as soon as we dug in I could see why! The menu details this offering as:
Indian-style Bread Service
Five Bread and with all Nine Accompaniments -
Traditional Naan, Garlic-Ginger Naan, Spiced Naan, Onion Kulcha, or Paneer Paratha.
Accompaniments - Cucumber Raita, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Mango Chutney, Coriander Chutney, Garlic Pickle, Red Chile Sambal, or Spicy Jalapeño-Lime Pickle
While you can make it out in the photo above, there our two pieces of naan tucked beneath the three you see.
For our entrees the only thing I remember was the butter chicken (which we sampled in the club level lounge earlier this trip). I'm not sure what the other options we chose here were to be honest, but it was all very delicious.
At the conclusion of our feast a cast member brought us out a complimentary celebratory dessert to share.
Back to Jambo House and ready to call it a night, a very sweet night!
This was such a special day to share!
Thanks for caring to hear all about it, friends.
Lord willing, I'll be back with another pixie dusted post tomorrow. Hope to see ya then!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Previous Trip Reports from this Vacation:
Happy anniversary! I love It's A Small World too and in Disneyland I love the hidden Disney characters throughout the ride. The sky this day looked amazing!
ReplyDeleteA sweet day for sure! I love that you got to celebrate, once again, in the Most Magical Place on Earth!
ReplyDelete