Welcome back, sweet readers and cherished friends! I'm looking forward to recapping the second half of my youngest daughter's 18th birthday. Let's jump right in!
Day 9 - Monday, October 17, 2022
Following the fun little in-room surprise party, storms began brewing outside. Jason and I went out on the balcony and were treated to quite the show! Thunder roared around us as the downpour of rain transformed the rooftop above into a rushing waterfall. We live in the midwest and are very accustomed to nasty thunderstorms, but this was the closest we ever sat to a lightning strike. The horizontal lightning rod that sits atop the building before us caught a bright bolt! This was the most exhilarating show we caught all trip! Ha! Even Disney World has nothing on the magnificence of God's creation!
While we would've lingered longer at the resort to wait out the storm, we had some very exciting Lightning Lane passes during the 5pm hour. We headed out the door bracing ourselves for a soggy evening, but just as we exited the Tokelau building the rain ceased! We couldn't have timed that better if we planned it! It was perfection! We boarded Monorail Teal and were park bound.
From the monorail we spied a beautiful bow in the sky, a reminder of God's goodness in both small things such as the rain letting up as we headed out to the parks for a night of celebratory fun, and something of far deeper importance, the covenantal promise God made with the earth, found in Genesis 9. Every rainbow is a visible reminder of God's abundant patience with all mankind. What a lovely sight on the start of an extra special night!
"I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." - Genesis 9:13-16
It just so happened that our Birthday Girl's milestone birthday fell on the day of the week when her favorite park offered extra magic evening hours to Disney deluxe resort guests. This meant longer park hours and lower crowds for us later that night. There were so many happy little pieces to this day that came together to create a picture perfect birthday for our girl. Thinking back on it now, my heart is flooded with happiness over a Special Day well spent.
My sweet Birthday Girl posing pretty in front of the icon of her favorite park.
Time for our first whirl on a brand new, highly anticipated ride, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind!
Making our way through the queue of a newly opened ride, we were giddy with excitement, wonder, and anticipation. Would we like the ride? Would we need the sick bags that we'd heard cast members passed out to riders on its opening day? Was this going to be a new favorite or a huge disappointment? A brief wait stood between our racing minds and answers to all these questions.
I'm head over heels for this new ride! Cosmic Rewind became an instant favorite! The smiles couldn't be wiped from our faces as we marveled at the uniqueness of this attraction. During the speedy reverse launch riders are met with one of six possible songs, tunes that are definitely Peter Quill's picks. As the coaster whirled us around a full 360 degrees on its incredibly smooth track we enjoyed the stellar sights that surrounded us, while rocking out to Disco Inferno. We had the joy of riding twice more later in the trip and that song remained the Birthday Girl's favorite ride soundtrack, making it all the more special that we got it on her special night. In my opinion, this is a dark ride done right! I didn't get sick at all, in fact, I felt fantastic! I think it's the smoothest coaster I may have ever experienced and I loved every thrilling minute of it! I have no doubt that each time we ride this in the years to come my mind will return to the fond memory of the first time riding it on the evening my baby became a legal adult.
A little gift shop fun
It was an absolutely lovely evening! As the sun began to set we boarded a FriendShip for a float across World Showcase.
We loved spotting "18" on this particular day!
While planning this trip we offered the Birthday Girl the option to book reservations at any restaurant of her choosing. However, her pick didn't require any planning, booking, or hefty price tag. What she wanted most on her birthday was a good ol' Disney turkey leg!
A quick stop at Fife & Drum Tavern later she grinned ear to ear, turkey tastiness in hand!
The rest of us opted to grab deliciousness from a fam fave, Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie in France. Eating outdoors after dark, the photos didn't came out well, but trust me when I say the carby goodness of my big beautiful baguette filled with meat and cheese was scrumptious.
Comic Rewind wasn't the only thing new-to-us on this sweet night. Our Birthday Girl chose dessert from L'Artisan Des Glaces right there beside the patisserie. I have no idea why we had never grabbed frozen treats from here before! I guess the goodies at Les Halles have always pulled us in that door instead.
The Birthday Girl went with chocolate ice cream while her big sister chose strawberry sorbet. Jason enjoyed a simple scoop of vanilla, while I tried the seasonal offering of cinnamon, caramelized apple, and crumble crunch. If you ever spot this flavor when you visit, I highly recommend it! This may have been our first stop here, but by the time our spoons hit the bottom of these cold cups we all agreed that we'll be back for more!
Next birthday request, shopping at Mitsukoshi, naturally. ;) As you can see in the snapshot below Jason already had his fill of the Japanese department store that our girls would live inside of if possible! Ha!
As the shop closed the skies were set ablaze with the evening spectacular, Harmonious. The best birthdays include fireworks!
We attempted to ride Ratatouille, but when we were all set to be the next family to board those cute rat shaped buggies the ride went down. Thankfully we'd only waited a short time in line, and this left us time to check one more thrill ride off the Birthday Girl's evening ride wish list, Test Track.
Matchy matchy with my Birthday Girl standing atop our mutual favorite number. Fun little things like this added even more joy to an already practically perfect day!
She built a car that much like herself was cheery, sparkly, and fun!
Of course my hubby and our girls couldn't exit without virtually racing their cars. :)
I'm so thankful for every delightful detail of this sweet and memorable day! We chatted, laughed, rode, indulged our taste buds, screamed through thrills, and smiled 'til our cheeks hurt. Our girl was well celebrated and amply loved. My heart is full of gratitude to God for blessing Jason and I with the gift of the darling daughter who completed our family, our lives, and our hearts.
Thank you so much for being here today! It makes my heart smile that you care to hear the details of this day that was oh so special to me! I invite you to join me back here again this time next week! Meanwhile, have yourself a fabulous ending to February and marvelous start to March!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Previous Trip Reports from this Vacation: