ALAAC 2018 Recap

Hi everyone! I'm back from the 2018 ALA Annual Conference and here to share a recap with you! This year my husband accompanied me for the first time. We don't always get to spend a ton of time together, so he wanted to join me in New Orleans! (Don't worry, I'm not one of THOSE bloggers - he grabbed a grand total of four books, and one was for someone who was working the convention and couldn't be there for a signing!)

We drove from Central Florida to New Orleans on Friday, arriving around 6pm and checking into our hotel. Since we had exhibit only passes and couldn't attend on Friday evening, we promptly headed out to meet up with Christina from Books & Prejudice for dinner in the French Quarter. We came across a wedding parade, which was definitely something I'd never seen before! We would see a couple more before our weekend in New Orleans ended. (I'm sorry for the vertical video!)

On Saturday, we were up bright and early at 6am. Our hotel was a mile from the convention center, which wasn't a terrible walk, especially before the heat of the day. We ran into Amber from Du Livre on the way and she pointed us in the right direction to get our badges. About 45 minutes later the exhibits were opened and we made our way inside. Saturday was the day I'd hoped to get most of what I'd set out to find and, thankfully, I did! I was able to get most of the ARCs on my Fall and Spring TBR lists. Unfortunately, Priory of the Orange Tree and Wicked Saints were not available at ALA at all. I was able to go to signings for Julie Kagawa and Neal Schusterman (after lunch with Christina and Amber), which was amazing! We don't get many authors in Central Florida for some reason.

Saturday night we were able to do a walking tour of the French Quarter - Killers and Thrillers East Ghost Tour! (It's alternative title is Bad Bitches of New Orleans.) It's advertised as the only adults-only tour of New Orleans, but honestly the only "adult" part of it was when the guide tried to hype up the gore of the first house we stopped at, the LaLaurie Mansion. Still, it was an informative and fun tour! After, we stopped for dinner and then returned to the hotel to prepare for the next day!

View from the room.

Unfortunately, this is where our trip started to take a turn for the worst. While I was brushing my teeth Saturday night, I got a text from my dog sitter letting me know that my youngest puppy had thrown up his dinner. This isn't entirely outside of normal behavior, so I told her to keep me updated. While we were getting ready Sunday morning, we got another message telling us he had been more sick overnight and in the morning. After talking to the Emergency Vet, we had the dog sitter take him over. Since we weren't sure what the word would be, we packed everything before walking to the convention center, just in case.

Sunday's convention fun began with an hour-long wait for Ransom Riggs. He was signing ALA exclusive manuscripts of A Map of Days. After, we were able to form a line for the Wicked King drop, which would be two hours later. While in that two hour line, we were in contact with the vet, who told us our dog (Kovu) was not in any immediate danger, and that he had been given a shot for nausea and pills for diarrhea. We still didn't feel good about not being home though, so we left immediately after getting Wicked King and made the 10 hour drive back home.

ALA Haul (Not pictured: Dry - I was reading it)

All in all, we missed out on most of Sunday and all of Monday at ALA, along with a couple books that were being signed those days, but I'm very happy with my decision to rush home, because my puppy was much more ill than we'd realized. He's since been back to the ER and has spent two days under the observation of his regular vet receiving IV fluids and antibiotics. He does seem to be on the mend, thankfully. Books can be read later! Puppies are much more important.

Disney for the weekend: stranded

Welcome back to Disney for the Weekend!

This feature is all about Disney and I'll be posting things from Disney movie reviews to reviews of Disney restaurants.

Today I'm sharing a mini-trip report from a partially impromptu Disney trip I ended up taking earlier this week!

For those of you who don't know, I'm getting ready to move to Orlando in the very near future. Last Friday, I went with my husband (Coda) and my brother (Michael) to look at apartments. We drove down on Friday and arrived in Orlando that evening. But before the apartment search began we had a little fun planned! That night we had plans for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!

We got to the Magic Kingdom around 6pm and headed straight into the park. Michael had only been to Magic Kingdom once before and that trip lasted only a couple hours, so I was really excited to show him the ropes! Our first stop was for dinner. Michael grabbed a meal from Casey's and Coda and I had chicken pot pie at Columbia Harbor House.

Once our bellies were full, we jumped right to the rides! We rode the Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan's Flight, It's a Small World, Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid, Space Mountain, and the Seven Dwarves Mine Train.

  

We also did a ton of trick-or-treating, landing an entire backpack crammed full of candy (the good kind)! We saw the parade twice and the Hallowishes fireworks show was completely amazing! We ended up leaving around 1am, not getting to our room (first time using AirBNB) and to sleep until 2 in the morning!

The rest of the weekend was spent searching for apartments (we found one) and visiting Ikea for the first time ever! We spent some time at Disney Springs having Ghirardelli ice cream and watching the street performers and just having a generally awesome time! But then the hurricane happened and completely flooded all the roads leading back home to North Carolina. We were stranded.

Michael ended up buying a plane ticket home on Monday because he had to be at work and Coda and I were able to get a room at Disney World using our timeshare since so many people had to cancel due to weather. As far as places to be stranded, Disney honestly wasn't that bad! On Tuesday, we checked into Saratoga Springs Resort. We had a great view of Disney Springs from our balcony!

Once we were settled, we went to Epcot where the Food and Wine Festival was taking place. Coda tried some kind of honey craft beer and I had a Dole Whip with rum! Delicious! We rode Test Track, Spaceship Earth, The Seas With Nemo and Friends, Ellen's Energy Adventure, and Journey Into Imagination. We grabbed a quick dinner at the Lotus Blossom Cafe in China and called it an early night. 

On Wednesday, we checked the weather and roads before heading down to the desk and booking another night, since it was apparent we couldn't drive home that day either. Then we hopped a bus to Hollywood Studios. The only rides we went on were Tower of Terror and The Great Movie Ride.

We had a salad at ABC Commissary and spent the rest of the afternoon roaming around and taking in the sights. We headed back to the room to relax (we were exhausted) and ordered pizza for dinner. The evening was spent roaming around Disney Springs, just a short walk away from our resort, before going to bed early in preparation for the next day's journey home.

We woke up bright and early on Thursday and got on the road home. We had to take a detour around the large chunk of I-95 that was closed, costing us about an extra two hours on the way home. We finally made it home and only saw one really scary river that was WAY too close to the bridge we were driving on. Our dogs were thrilled to see us and we were thrilled to be home, but we weren't too torn up over our two days stranded at Disney World!

Disney World Trip Report: Days 3, 4, & 5

Welcome back to my Disney World trip report! Make sure to catch up with days 1 & 2 if you haven't already!


Day Three
On day three I slept in a little later and didn't make it to the Magic Kingdom until 12:30! But that's half the fun of vacation, right? Getting to sleep in! As soon as I got there I met up with a couple ladies from a Facebook group to get lunch at Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe. We got to sit close to Sonny Eclipse, who sings the funniest songs! I've never gotten to sit near him before. I had the veggie burger with fries and we hung out and talked for a couple hours before heading over to Sunshine Tree Terrace for Dole Whip floats!

Source

I had to leave soon after because I had FastPass+ reservations elsewhere. I bade farewell to the Magic Kingdom and hopped a bus to Hollywood Studios around 5pm. I had some time to kill before any FastPasses once I got there so I browsed the shops for awhile. It was also really nice to get out of the heat!

My first FastPass was for the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, which is also one of my favorite rides! I noticed something new while I was in the library section of the queue. Up on the highest shelf was what I thought had to be one of the most terrifying creatures ever to exist...

It was. It was one of those stupid, tiny Twilight Zone aliens from the scariest episodes ever made!! Nope, nope! Once I escaped from that room I got a quick pass to the front of the line because I was by myself. The ride itself was great!!

I spent a little more time wandering around before I got a text from a friend who lives in the area. She invited me to dinner at the California Grill, which is on top of the Contemporary Resort. I had to really rush to get there in time, but I made it!

Dinner was totally amazing and so was the conversation!! The restaurant was beautiful! I had gnocchi and a glass of Malbec. Once we were finished eating we headed over the the Bay Lake Tower. Since I'm a Disney Vacation Club member I was able to get us up to the Top of the World Lounge, a members only area. I left her shortly after, but first got an amazing view of the Magic Kingdom at night!

Day Four

Noooo! My last full day at Disney World! I planned to spend the full day at Epcot, so I wasn't too worried about sleeping in a little (again). I got to Epcot around 12:30 and sped right over to Spaceship Earth, my favorite ride! I absolutely LOVE the ride through history!

Next I went over to Journey Into Imagination with Figment. I know that most people loved the older version of the ride and hate the new one, but I never got to see that one so I don't have anything to compare this to! I enjoy it though.

The Land was my next stop! I took a (not so quick) ride on Living with the Land where I got to take a closer look at Epcot's greenhouses! I also saw the creepy farmhouse that is the subject of this creepy story I've shared on a past Spine Tingling Saturday.

When I got off the ride, one of the ladies I'd had lunch with the previous day was on her way into the park and we decided to meet up at Sunshine Seasons for lunch. I had the vegan noodle entree and a carrot cake cupcake.

After lunch I took a quick ride with Nemo at The Seas before doing another ride on Spaceship Earth. By this time it was starting to rain so I spent some time in Mexico shopping and taking a quick boat ride!

I had dinner plans at 5:45 with a woman I'd met on a Disney forum I frequent. We met at Spice Road Table, a new restaurant in Morocco. We were seated outside and settled in for some really interesting conversation! She is from the Netherlands, but currently lives in London. We talked for a few hours before heading out of the park for the night.

Day Five

Nothing exciting happened on day five. I woke up early, had my oatmeal, and hit the road. On the drive back I listened to We All Looked up by Tommy Wallach (review to come) and hit some REALLY heavy and terrifying rain! I also saw a tiny dog at a gas station in South Carolina and called animal control. Hopefully they were able to get him somewhere safe! The nine hour drive came to an end around 6:30pm and then it was back to reality...

Disney World Trip Report: Days 1 & 2

As you may have noticed, I was pretty scarce last week. I did pop in to comment back every night (I tried to at least), but I didn't have much time for roaming around the blogosphere. This was because I was at Disney World in Florida and disconnected from the internet!

Day One

I woke up early and got on the road around 8:30am. The drive was about 9 hours and was relatively painless. There was some pretty heavy rain (check out that line in the sky!), but it was over quickly. I listened to Crown of Midnight on the way!! I really enjoyed the second book in the Throne of Glass series more than the first, but I'll be posting a full review of that soon.

The Disney World sign came into view around 5pm, so I didn't make bad time at all! I pulled into the parking lot at Saratoga Springs Resort at 5:15, checked in, and got to my room. Once I got there I was so hungry I took the boat straight to Disney Springs (previously Downtown Disney) and grabbed some dinner at Earl of Sandwich. At that point I was spent though, and headed back to my room to turn in early.

Day Two

I woke up at 9am, ate my oatmeal in the room, and got on the bus to Animal Kingdom with one thing in mind - Harambe Market, the new food and shopping area in "Africa." Dinosaur was my first stop! I love this ride! It's a dark ride with lots of twists, turns, and some jump scares. Next I got in the single rider line for Expedition Everest, a really awesome roller coaster inside of "Everest" and got on after about a 10 minute wait in the blazing sun. Finally, I went over to Harambe Market where I got the beef kabob flatbread with broccoli and tomato salad with the African milk tart for dessert! The main dish and side were fantastic, but the dessert wasn't for me.

As soon as I finished lunch I saw the clouds rolling in and basically RAN to the exit and got on the bus just before the massive downpour began. I hung out in my room to wait out the rain and then jumped on another bus for Magic Kingdom and was there by 3pm!

The first stop once I was inside Magic Kingdom was using my first FastPass+ at the Haunted Mansion! I noticed some upgrades from the last refurbishment and the ride looked great overall! Of course, I'll always love it no matter what. Next was Under the Sea Journey of the Little Mermaid. I noticed that the Under the Sea scene has had a HUGE makeover and looks absolutely amazing. There was an annoying woman taking flash photos the whole time though... I did some window shopping until my next FastPass+ at Peter Pan's Flight. This is one of my favorites! I love the neon characters and the flyover!

Dinner was at Columbia Harbor House where I had the (best ever) chicken pot pie and read Everything, Everything while overlooking Fantasyland. Then it was time for Splash Mountain! Unfortunately for everyone else and fortunately for me, the ride broke down just as we were getting ready to go over the second small drop. Eventually the Cast Members rescued us and led us backstage where we were able to see the building the floats are stored for the parades! So cool!! We were also given extra paper FastPasses for any ride except a few of the newer ones. I used mine for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh!

As I was preparing to leave I found out that a friend of mine, Mary, had just moved to the area and was staying on property for a few days. We agreed to meet at Disney Springs where we had Ghirardelli Ice Cream and did more window shopping. I made it back to my room around 10:30 and relaxed with some Roku before bed.

Days 3, 4, and 5 will be posted next Saturday!

Disney Halloween Trip Report: Day 3

Click for days 1 & 2! 

Day Three
(again, I've included links for locations, rides, and events)
On our third day of Disney we slept in a little later, not rolling out of bed until 9am. We needed our beauty rest because... tonight was Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!! We ate some cereal and headed out to Hollywood Studios to get what we didn't realize would be one of our last looks at the BAH (you will not be missed). There was some disagreement about Coda wanting me to carry an umbrella in my backpack that stuck up three feet over my head, but I lost. I walked around all day looking like an idiot.

Our first stop of the morning was to use our Rock 'n' Roller Coaster FP+. We basically walked right on without any issues. Yes, Coda was certainly enjoying the new Fastpass system.

Afterwards we walked down to Starring Rolls Cafe to grab some coffee. This time I asked for iced and they were able to accommodate, thank goodness! While we drank our coffee we strolled through the shops - the new Frozen shop was definitely... interesting. I'm sure some people are less than thrilled with that! On our way back towards the Tower of Terror we realized that the Beauty and the Beast show was about to start! We ran in and got seats near the back.





I don't have to tell you it was amazing. When the show ended it was time for our Tower of Terror FP+ and we ran down the road to get there in time.




For the first time in my Disney World history, I saw the little girl in the drop! So creepy! I definitely hope I get that side again soon!

By now it was lunch time and the cereal was long gone! We wanted to have lunch at ABC Commissary, but stopped back into Starring Rolls to get dessert... Coda got the red velvet cupcake and I got the seasonal carrot cake cupcake.


More on that later... Before I could try it we had to order lunch! We got the Asian salad to split and found a seat. The salad was great! Unfortunately... the cupcake was gross. Some genius decided to put orange flavored frosting on the carrot cake (I'd thought it was just white frosting they'd dyed orange). I took once bite and passed it to Coda. I did eat the chocolate hat on top though! My absolute favorite thing about ABC Commissary was seeing the Revenge props on display! It's one of my favorite shows!!


Our last FP+ of the day was at Voyage of the Little Mermaid. On the way we came across something unexpected. We'd been told that the Frozen Summer was over and everything was gone. They were wrong!


We had a lot of fun hanging out in the snow! And Coda decided that we'd definitely be coming back later for the Frozen Sing-a-long. But first... ARIEL!!


I love that show! I just wish it was longer!! The silver lining? We were able to get over to the sing-a-long that much sooner!


Yeah... he was definitely way more excited about it than I was. Have I mentioned he's in love with Elsa? Haha!




With Coda vowing to come back to see it again soon, we had to head out to the Magic Kingdom for MICKEY'S NOT SO SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY!!!


Our first stop was the Seven Dwarves Mine Train which was down to about a 40 minute wait. We played around a bit in the queue where Coda was constantly irritated by adults (not kids) holding up the line by stopping at each play station for 5 minutes while the people in front of them kept going (he's not so good with the patience virtue). The coaster itself was really amazing! I LOVED the combination of thrill and dark ride. The cottage at the end was so cool! Were those animatronics from Snow White's Scary Adventure? The only downside to the mine coaster was that it was so incredibly short.

Next we headed to the Emporium to grab the limited edition MNSSHP magic bands! I wish I had pictures... but I don't. Here are some stock photos of them though:


We were told they'd do something unique when we came through the gate! We later tried them and they made the magic band reader light up with multicolored lights vs. the normal green. Unfortunately, it only happened once and I'm not sure if it will ever happen again.

When we left the Emporium we noticed a line starting to form next to City Hall. When we stopped to ask about it we found out it would be Jack and Sally who were coming out early tonight! We were lucky enough to get close to the front of the line! Coda is totally obsessed with Jack Skellington.


Yay!! Oh, and as you can see, we did not dress up because my husband is a party pooper. Moving on...

By this time in the day we were literally about to starve to death (okay, not literally). We ended up settling on Pecos Bill since we'd never been. We were both very impressed and agreed it would be our new go-to place at the Magic Kingdom! Yummmm! With food out of the way, it was time for another ride.

The Haunted Mansion!! Everything worked perfectly with no stops or hangups... SIKE (yes, I said that). We got stuck for about five minutes in front of Leota.




We had a photo taken with the ghost outside but my photopass pictures expired and I accidentally deleted it from my computer. Oops.

Now, I have something rather embarrassing to admit. I spent a good portion of the night standing in a line not related to rides, characters, or candy. What line, you ask? Well, the line for the soft opening of Memento Mori, the new Haunted Mansion store.


As you can see, I was not the only one mad enough to stand in a line for two hours to get into a store that I didn't buy anything from... It was extremely cool though! There are a couple of neat hidden elements to the shop that you will either see by chance or by patience.


Following our short venture into the gift shop, we exited and went to see the ghosts out on the lawn.


She was so entertaining and a definite high spot of the night! I only regret she did not stay out longer.

By this point in the night we were beginning to think about getting a spot for the parade. On the way we stopped to meet Rapunzel (no pics because I look like a hot mess in those particular pictures). We also met Cinderella. She was probably the strangest of the face characters I've ever met. She was pretty out of character, in my opinion. Perhaps she was just having a bad day, but she seemed pretty exasperated at having to take pictures with people.


Finally, it was time to get a seat for the fireworks and parade! We got a seat close to the castle on the sidewalk. The Celebrate the Magic show was so cool! I loved the addition of the villains and Frozen characters.


I also loved the perimeter fireworks! But then it was over. We decided to hang around and wait for the parade. In the meantime, I ran down to Main Street Bakery for a cupcake that wouldn't have orange flavored frosting! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures because it quickly went into my belly.

Then the Boo To You Parade started... OMG. My life was pretty much complete when I saw the headless horseman.


I was so glad it hadn't rained! I would've been devastated if the horseman couldn't ride. The parade was AWESOME! The parade alone is totally worth paying the entry fee, in my opinion.


This picture is really interesting... Someone took a flash photo in the middle of mine so half the ghosts are lit up and half aren't:






Once the parade (sadly) ended, we decided to hit a couple rides. First was Peter Pan's Flight (no pics - it's a dark ride and, pro tip: flash photos are rude) followed by Under the Sea!




It was now that Coda decided we should start trick-or-treating. Let me tell you, waiting until the end of the night is the way to go for sure! Every station we went to filled our bags at least halfway! Pics later!

On our way out of the park we ran into Jafar!


By now the park was closing and we tried to make one last dash for Pirates of the Caribbean. The cast member at the front told us we would be the last ones of the night! We ran through and almost got lost in the process. When we got to loading, however, they told us we couldn't ride. So we turned around and walked back out.

The entire park was perfectly spooky with the fog and Halloween music (did I mention we were totally alone?). When we got back to Main Street where people were filing out, it was blue!


We left the park considering coming back the next night because our bags were so full of candy and we'd had such a great time! We got in the car and headed back to the hotel. Once there, we decided to organize our candy because we're adults.

   

Good night!