eurojenny

Disney World in the Spring

17-21 April

Staying at Art of Animation. 50% off hotel is too good to pass up!

Worst flight day! 90 minutes late taking off. Tiny plane that had everyone scrambling. No snacks or water on board. We had to land and refuel in Tulsa. Got to Orlando more than 3 hours late! I missed my cosmic rewind and doing reservations 😥

So I went to magic kingdom and rode big thunder twice then had pineapple upside cake with dole whip 🙂

Caught haunted mansion. Took this for my bro

Cutest tangled section of fantasyland on my way to Peter Pan and Mine Train 😊

Started the day early on Tuesday. Took some beautiful shots on the way to the skyliner

Park hopping is really park slogging here but the skyliner at least doesn’t involve any lines. And the breeze is really nice

Staying at a resort hotel gives you early access. Usually they hold you at a rope until 30 minutes before but not at Hollywood studios apparently. Walked in at like 7:30 and directly onto Tower of Terror

The coolest and creepiest time was when I actually had a whole elevator to myself

Cast members started noticing that I kept going. Got my seventh ride free (the cast member just walked me up) and my 10th was a free lightning lane. My button here says 9 times but I kept going. Met TJ, the only original CM left.

Walt Disney Presents,,,cool museum, excellent movie at the end

Got the fantasmic package…delicious swordfish,

Frozen singalong was a good time. The hosts were great. Very funny.

When I went back to the tower, TJ took me on a personal hotel lobby tour. He told me about all the antiques and some cool hidden things like this period magazine that actually had a reference to Disney!

Antique bone china, complete with painted on food stains and lipstick prints on the goblet…

…and the napkin. And people don’t even see this stuff!

The chandeliers came from an old theatre in Seattle

TJ sent me on my 11th trip after the tour. When I got done, Kim took me directly up to the elevator twice. She suggested that 13 would be the appropriate number. She was correct. 😊

Ate at the 50’s Prime Time Cafe. Tomato soup with croutons, fried herb and garlic cheese with raspberry sauce

The apple crisp was actually disappointing (apples not sweet enough and topping tough and crumbly – not enough butter). The chocolate peanut butter cake make up for it. Perfection

Went over to Epcot to ride cosmic rewind

Brontë in guest relations at magic kingdom hooked me up with this since I missed my boarding group on Monday

Went back to HS for Fantasmic! It was so cool

Their steamboat isn’t nearly as cool haha

Early entry at magic kingdom. This is the line behind me for rope drop. I couldn’t even see the end. Crazy! only waited 20 minutes for mine train

Breakfast -Nutella and fruit waffle from sleepy hollow

Lunch at Tony’s. Look at the cute silhouettes in the window 💚

I slept for a couple of hours. When I woke up I had the worst chills of my life and my back hurt. I had already been experiencing possible UTI symptoms so this seemed like an infection gone insane. The instacare sent a driver. I developed nausea in the van. Sure enough, upper UTI/kidney infection. They gave me antibiotics which I took and then slept a ton

Next day I still felt somewhat crummy. Slept more. Worked some. Felt a lot better by the afternoon

Headed to Epcot for a slow-paced afternoon with lots of water and bathroom breaks 😊

Dinner at Le Cellier was amazing! Swordfish and the most amazing bread

I love this venue with the trees growing right in the seating area. Instant shade!

Tempura shrimp. Love the festivals at Epcot!

Took the monorail over to magic kingdom for fireworks and a few rides

And Whitley, Edgar, and his mother Blanca. Had a lovely time

We had a good time playing while the others ride cosmic rewind. I went by myself while they did turtle talk

Riding ratatouille. Except that it broke down while we were in line

The second time it broke down while we were on it 🙁

Ate lunch at Coral reef where we got to look at the aquarium animals while we ate them we did Nemo and visited the aquarium

Third time was the charm. Finally got to ride!

We had fish and chips and watched the fireworks from the England pavilion

Whit gave me a shirt. Had the greatest time!

So I just happened to be there on earth day and the 25th anniversary date of the park

Came in for early entry and went straight to avatar. What a great ride! Then enjoyed an apple pear lime slushy

The last time I was here the tree of life trail was closed so this was my first real look at it

Yak and Yeti is the best restaurant here. The miso salmon and garlic noodles are out of this world!

Enter the frosting on top of the lunch cake…mango key lime cheesecake 😊

Caught this on the way out! I love what the custodial staff does

Disney with Ada, Alex, and Robyn

14-15 April 2023 They drove down on Thursday night, stayed in cedar, and we spent from 3 on at the parks.

Ada’s first time down since I started working here! And only Robyn’s second time ever! We had a blast.

This was our first photo but it was too sunny. Ada and I are rockin serious squints haha

Ada with the spread about her favorite ride

I love taking people up into the wheelhouse!

Robyn loved pixie hollow and meeting Tinker Bell

At the end of the second day…surprisingly they rallied and we did another hour! 😊

Disney Spring Visitors

Gary 30 March- 1 April

Haymonds Apr 4-6

Atlanta NSTA March 2023

I got to present 2 workshops for GSLC and one of my own (about my songs!) so off I went!

My first stop (direct from the airport) was the carter presidential library. What an incredible man!

Dinner that night was delivery from The Busy Bee. Fried catfish and all the fixings and berry cobbler. Yummo!

On Friday I spent some time at the conference in the morning but then took off in the afternoon. Went the the Harry Potter Exhibition

There were costumes and artifacts from the movies and play…

…recreations of scenes where you could pose for photos …

Reliving the epic H v V wizards duel

…plus some interactive elements, like seeing yourself on the marauders map,

activating a port key,

and seeing your face appear in the Pensieve.

So it was fun sitting in Hagrid’s big chair and all, but honestly it wasn’t as cool as it sounded and not really worth what I paid for it. They didn’t even have any of the good treats like peppermint frogs and butter beer. 🙁

Rented a scooter and zipped around the city on a quick scenic tour of the Capitol,

the National Center for Human Rights (closed unfortunately),

On Saturday I checked out and walked with my suitcase to the conference center. Got to hang out with April some which was fun

Took a scooter (with my suitcase even) out to dinner at Paschal’s

Where I had Soul Food Dinner Number Three. Mmm. Mmm. (Dinner 2 was also delivered to my hotel from restaurant 10). Then I got an Uber to the airport and flew back to Utah to visit my family for a few days 😊

Beach Camping/Road Trip

6-7, 10-11 March 2023

Went camping at Doheny Beach. Lovely as usual. Too cold to paddleboard but I enjoyed walking the beach.

And sitting in my camp chair watching the waves.

Had an incredible dinner at Harpoon Henry’s

Took a road trip up along the Malibu coast. First stop…Reagan presidential library

Oval Office replica, complete with jelly bellies 😊

Next I drove out to Solvang. I had planned to beach hop but it was pouring rain all day!

Camped at Malibu creek state park (slept in my car)

Found a random Hindu temple tucked back incongruously in the mountains

The plant-based dog wasn’t great, but excellent fries!

Incredible view from Baldwin Hills scenic overlook

Disney Visitors Jan-mar 2023

31 Jan-1 Feb 2023 My cousin Melisa Karns and her daughter Kaitlin were down for a couple of days so I came in and and spent some time with them.

17-18 Feb 2023 Laurie Mathis came down and stayed on my floor for a few nights. We went to the parks with my free 100th anniversary comps and the free tickets I won for the celebrate gospel event.

After I picked her up from the airport, we went to the Jazz Kitchen for dinner. The Gulf shrimp a la creole is incredible! Has catfish in it as well. Yum!

My roommate Mackensie came with us the first day. So much fun!

What I normally do but I’m casual clothes. Haha

My friend Hannah took us up. She’s so sweet!

My friend Elwin gave us our own Pirates boat 😊

Mackensie didn’t join us the second day 😔

We got 3 trips on Pooh thanks to friends there!

20-22 March. Echo came down and stayed with me for 3 days. We went to the temple on the last day. It was lovely 😊

Went to Disney on Tuesday. She used one of my comp tickets. It’s definitely not her thing but I think she enjoyed it

Crazy short line at cars. It had just come back up and we basically walked on.

I thought it would be fine but was a bit much for her 🙁

Disney World for Free!

23-27 January 2023

I took a red eye but didn’t sleep as much as I would have liked. Child. My shuttle bus was delayed but they gave me a gift card in apology 😊

You can use your magic band to activate each of the 50th anniversary statues. They play some audio when you do. And your band lights up and vibrates.

I collected them all week at the 4 different parks and earned the achievements in the Play app

I Lava You float from Sunshine Tree Terrace beautiful and tasty

I took a short video to show people who haven’t seen the show what those weird animal heads hidden in the Winnie the Pooh ride are

Rode their steamboat. It was pretty different!

Had lunch at the Diamond Horseshoe. No entertainment in theirs and it’s a sit-down reservation place

Apple cake and Ooey Gooey toffee cake. I really just came for the desserts 🙂

Came back to the hotel for a rest. Port Orleans Riverside…beautiful!

Splash closed for good a week before I came 🙁

Dinner at Columbia harbour house was delicious clam chowder, salmon, and a blueberry shake

First time they did projections on the Main Street buildings. We do it all the time!

We would never have done pyro with flats flyin like this!

For the 50th anniversary, each icon gets lit up every night in this cool way

Pressed penny silk pie and mint julep frozen lemonade from Casey’s corner

Wednesday started at Hollywood Studios. I got a walk-in for the Sci Fi Drive-inn

Ate at Boatwright’s at my hotel. Amazing cornbread!

Peach cobbler with blackberry ice cream. Dang!

Pretty much exactly the same as ours inside. Our queue is more fun 😊

Only got to ride this once. And that only because I begged a guest relations CM. Didn’t ever get to fantasmic 🙁

Went back to magic kingdom. Was almost on Pooh when it went 101. Lame.

Waited for mine train in the pouring rain only to have it go down when I was on it waiting for it to take off. They did give me a lightning lane for the next day but I had to go to city hall for it.

Thursday EPCOT! I did the duck tales challenges in each land. Found this in a fortune cookie at the China pavilion

Unlocked these at the Germany pavilion

This one in Mexico D

These 2 in England

Bought Steve some of the awesome peanuts we loved in Germany

Guardians: Cosmic Rewind is the coolest roller coaster I have ever been on!

Ate at the Coral Reef restaurant for lunch. So cool!

Arts festival made for some incredible treats!

And a fun community mural painting project! They gave you a little container of paint and you found that number and painted some squares in

That’s what it should look like at the end!

They did the coolest thing shooting off fireworks from the sides toward the middle!

Early morning on Friday as I checked out of the hotel and left my bags

First stop at Animal Kingdom: Avatar flight of passage. What an incredible ride!

Had lunch at Tusker House where I met characters

Saw lots of animals and none of them in cages 💚 I still don’t like them in captivity though. Makes me very sad.

Festival of the Lion king…cool show. Not at all what I was expecting.

Beelined from there to the bus, back to the hotel to catch the shuttle to the airport. Fun trip! I’m totally going to do it again soon. 😊

Anaheim Haps 2023

I love working different places and wearing the costumes!

See?!?

Enjoyed fantasmic from center stage. Love having friends here!

There’s my boat!

My roommate got Covid so I went a hotel for 4 days. Within walking distance of work (and play!) and with a nice pool. Lovely 😊

January 6 chillin at the hotel and missin my Steve

January 7 yummy appetizers at jazz kitchen before it goes down for refurbishment

January 9 hit to go test ride Mickey and Minnie’s runaway railway after my fan shift. Rode it 3 times!

They let us pose with the toontown trolley backstage

The Disney company is 100 years old! So many fun treats and events to honor the occasion! Lemon pie to start 💚

Also lemon cake, blueberry scone, strawberry croissant, and funky Twix like thing.

SO! MUCH! RAIN! We are under what they call an atmospheric river. Perfect description. It has been dumping on us almost non-stop for a month.

Guardians has a panel that refers to the tower of terror!

Quick few days home. Robyn came down and we played rockband!

I almost got to ride Space mountain with the lights on. I waited as long as I could but had to leave before they got on to catch my flight to Orlando. But these are my friends from boats 😊 a few of us spent a few hours slamming the park beforehand. It’s 7:32…yee haw!

Stellar combo…route beer float and cookie num num

Spent part of two days in the park with my cousin Melisa and her daughter Kaitlyn. So much fun!

Birthday party for Gary was so much fun!

Jul couldn’t come so she sent her octopus for me to hug

Played the white elephant game since we missed it at Christmas

I finally got my new name tag! For the 100tg anniversary we got to choose a character. Love me some kronk!

Hat wall! The hats really make the outfit 😊

My roommate Mackensie got hired into guest relations so I went to visit her at city hall 💚

Jen Taylor Ritz. HA! Looking forward to having enough room to sleep more people than one desperate one 😊

My cousin Laurie Mathis came down and stayed at my ritz. We went to the Jazz kitchen for dinner on Thursday night when she got in. Note to self: have this shrimp and catfish creole and this blueberry cobbler again!

My roommate Mackensie came with us on Friday. Such a blast! Went up into the Twain wheelhouse

22 February. Cast preview of the magic Happens parade. Free cookie!

Beautiful show! Hung out with Mackensie.

Built the GiGi stained glass puzzle that Steve gave me

Back for round 2 of the Celebrate Gospel choirs. Just as incredible the second time!

Grand Californian Getaway

13-15 January 2023

Steve flew down for a few days. We stayed at the Grand Californian (bucket list!) on the concierge level since I had an incredible discount for the holidays.

The parks were really fun together. We just took it really slow

This is the view from our balcony. Unfortunately it was too cold to swim.

But we did take advantage of the free food they had at various points in the day. The biggest draw (free alcohol) didn’t apply to us so I don’t think we will do club level again.

Pixar Pal-a-round. Still Mickey’s fun wheel in my head

Ate at the blue bayou that night. Yummy food! We had so much good food this trip

It was pretty rainy but we didn’t mind. Raincoat and rain poncho and we are set.

We did guardians 3 times! Steve’s favorite ride 😊

That night we watched world of color from the balcony of the hotel. Such a cool view! afterward we hurried to have our last hour at Disneyland and they closed the park an hour early because of the rain! We had no idea and I was really upset.

Steve left the next afternoon so we just had a relaxing morning. We ate lunch at the Craftsman Grill. Incredible pizza and impossible meatballs!

We took separate ubers (him to the airport and me to my house) since my car had chosen the day before Steve came to need urgent and serious mechanical care. Despite that, we had such a great time! 💚