When the alarm went off, to get up for our 8.15 breakfast appointment we thought about it for a second then just went back to sleep. We got up at 9, had a shower and went over to the restaurant to see if we could get in late. There was still a short line, but there was no problem being late. That unbelievable Castmember Dominique was there again. She is just sooooo sweet with everyone, smiles from one ear to the other while explaining the breakfast buffet and all in all is a Castmember Walt would have been proud of. She even remembered us from the day before. We quickly found a table, Tom went to get some juice and coffee and hot chocolate and we had a leisurely breakfast. Our luggage had been put into the car before we had gone to the restaurant for breakfast, so we just made a short visit to the room again to check we didn’t forget anything.

 Before we went over to the bus to the parks we stopped by to tell Dominique what an amazing job she did and handed her some chocolate. Then we were on the way to the parks. We wanted to ride Tower of Terror and the Crush Coaster, so we stopped in at the Walt Disney Studios first.

The park was already full of people, so we got in line to pick up a Fastpass for Tower of Terror and then went over to get in line for the Crush Coaster. It was a 75 minute wait before we got to board our turtle shell. The ride itself is just so much fun. It is part outside and the shell you sit in spins, so sometimes you go forward, then backward whilst you “swim” through the Australian current. Such fun!

As soon as we got off we went over to Tower of Terror. The Fastpass line was way backed up. First we thought these were people whose Fastpasses were not valid yet, but then we found out that they were having technical problems and that the line inside the building was about 45 minutes, even WITH a Fastpass. Well, we had a reservation at the Silver Spur Steakhouse at 1pm, so we did not want to get in line, especially since we had been to the Annual Passholder Pre-view in December. So we looking for two people who wanted to get into the regular line and offered our Fastpass. We then left the Walt Disney Studios and walked over to the Disneyland Park. Lines were long there too, so we tried to get onto Pirates, 40 minutes wait, no, thank you! So we just strolled the parks again, checked out the stores one more time and then went over to the Silver Spur Restaurant to have lunch. We were early so we had to wait for a few more minutes, but then were led a very nice table. We ordered some Coke and a bottle of water and were served some rolls and butter. The rolls were still warm, so they were really nice with butter. Shortly after that our starters arrived. Tom had decided on the Salmon filled Tortilla with balsamic reduction, while I had the Spring Roll filled with creamy goats cheese over a leaf salad. Both looked nice and tasted very good. We both had decided on the same main course. Entrecote with house potatoes and Sauce Béarnaise. The Entrecote was very good, the potatoes a bit on the greasy side and the Sauce Béarnaise looked and tasted as if it came out of bottle. Well, you cannot always have the best of it all.

We were waiting for our desserts when the Castmembers started singing Happy Birthday again. I thought that this was a good weekend for people celebrating birthdays and turned around to where they were. Man these people had the same taste as we had, cake and ice-cream. Oh, wait ……. They were coming to our table. Now this time we were both surprised, since I had NOT asked for this, but the Castmember who had made the reservation had made a note of Tom’s birthday and now he was presented with the cake with candles in it and the staff singing to him again. Everyone clapped and we were both in shock – I could not even focus right when taking his photo.

We discussed it and laughed about my thought that this was someone else’s birthday. We than changed desserts, since I had ordered the Soft Caramel and Chocolate Cake and Tom had ordered the Big Thunder Ice Cream Sundae, vanilla and chocolate ice-cream with brownie pieces and whipped cream. After that eventful lunch we strolled through the park towards the Adventure Isle and towards the castle and down Main Street towards the exit.

There was still enough time to take in the sounds and smells, and check for a last time if there was anything we had missed in the stores. It was around 3pm when we left and went towards the bus stop back to the Santa Fe Resort. Back at the resort we walked to the car had another drink in the car and got everything ready to go back to the airport. Thank god there was no traffic jam on the motorway, just one accident that held up traffic for about 10 minutes. We stopped at the last gas station before the airport, filled up the car and went back to the terminal. It was easy to find the Hertz counter, got paperwork on returning the car done and unloaded the car to go down to the departure terminal.

Since the self check in machines never seem to work for us, we got in line for check in. It took ages to get to the front of the line, but at least we got seats together on both flights. There was time left so we went down to the restaurant and shop level and walked around a bit, then took a seat and finished our chips, drinks and the rest of Tom’s birthday cake before we went to our departure gate.

Security control went smooth and we were soon at the right gate. The plane left on time, we were served snacks. We landed on time and were surprised to find the gate for our onward flight right next to the one we had just arrived in. Usually you have to change terminal buildings in Frankfurt and it is quite a hike to get from Terminal B to Terminal A. But this time we arrived at B 10 and the onward flight was B 11. So we just walked those few steps to the next terminal, found a seat and waited for about an hour until the second flight departed. Flight 2 was on time as well, we were fed some snacks, breadchips with tomato and basil flavour and arrived back home 50 minutes later at 10.30pm. Since we didn’t need to wait for luggage we were out of the airport and in the car by 10.45. Unfortunately this was the end of the weekend as well. We arrived at Tom’s place at 11.15 and I went home to my flat right away. There was nothing left to do that day then go to bed and dream of Disney. Well, the next Disney trip is not too far away. WDW  here we come with 2 reservations for free dining.