Summer & Steven's Fairytale Wedding TR, 20th Aug SBP Baby Pics!!! [Archive] - Page 5 - The DIS Discussion Forums

Summer-Caitlin

07-23-2009, 05:20 AM

I had been looking forward to having dinner at Kona since I organised our trip to Disney. Kona seems to consistently get rave reviews and after trying out the breakfast there, I was really excited about dinner:banana:

The atmosphere of Kona is great. The décor is great and the warm tones welcome you with open arms. Our reservation was at 7.30pm and we were greeted promptly at this time by our host and taken to our table.

She wished us Happy Honeymoon and showed us a nice secluded table in the corner decorated with Mickey confetti. I swear this stuff never gets old  Our waitress was really nice and was excited it was our honeymoon.

We took some time over the menu and although I already knew what I would order, Steven was being indecisive.

He eventually settled on the Sticky Chicken Wings after some prompting from me while I went for the Pot Stickers. For our main we both chose the Coconut Almond Chicken. The waitress said we could go for a smoothie as part of our Dining Plan, so Steven ordered the Raspberry smoothie and I took the Strawberry-Banana.

Now I am not that into fruit, I do love bananas and grapes, but that’s pretty much where it ends. I hate berries of any kind, I just find them really sour, however if they are in a dessert I can almost get past them. I do like raspberry/blueberry muffins though, so go figure! The waitress assured me that I would love the smoothie I ordered so I thought I would give it a go.

Well, she wasn’t wrong! It was absolutely gorgeous:cloud9: I tasted the banana first and we are talking really ripe, sweet bananas and there was just a hint of tartness which was obviously the strawberry but it did work really well together. I urged Steven to try it and he agreed it was nice, but maybe a bit too sweet for him. He loved his raspberry smoothie though and I could have easily drank this too. I wonder what they put in them to make them more palatable than the fruits themselves?

So up were the appetisers. Pot Stickers, I just love the name! I thought these sounded intriguing. I love duck and ginger so I definitely had to give these a go. I had four on my plate with some side salad, nicely presented and the smell was beautiful. On first bite they felt a bit wet, and the flavours were really strong. There was a good amount of duck in the parcels but I found the texture a bit of a miss for me. I can’t stand wet tasting food (other than soup ;)) and this felt like it should have been drier. It kinda sat like a mushed lump in my mouth and although the taste was quite nice, the texture wasn’t. Steven tried it, but he didn’t like it, for him it tasted uncooked. I ate 3 of them though so they couldn’t have been that bad. It was a pity though as I had high hopes for them.

However, Steven had started on is chicken wings and I had urged him to order them, as I also wanted them but couldn’t decide between the Pot Stickers or the Wings. Steven isn’t fond of sesame seeds, I on the other hand love them! There were about 8 on the plate which was a really good portion. There was a small drizzle of mustard and they looked uber sticky! Now these were perfect, crispy and gooey and the taste was as expected…fab! :lovestrucI could have eaten all the chicken wings myself but reminded myself that this wasn’t really my appetiser. Steven agreed that they were the best chicken wings he had tasted, he had 6 to my 2, mainly because there were an awful lot of little drummers, you know the kind I mean? They look like little drumsticks but are actually wings! Well I don’t like these, I think they mainly consist of fat, but Steven likes them. I prefer the other flat ones, so I ate those.

We didn’t have to wait too long for our main meal and noted that this always seemed to be the case in all the Disney restaurants. So we both had the Coconut Almond Chicken which was a lovely golden colour, encrusted with almonds and the smell was just wonderful. It was served with greens, pineapple and strawberries and I quickly took the fruit off my plate and passed them to Steven, who just rolled his eyes! The greens were tossed in a beautiful honey lime dressing which was both sweet and tangy, they weren’t drenched either and every mouthful was a pleasure. The chicken was sweet, crunchy and moist and although Steven didn’t think it was anything special, I thought it was a very unique taste and to this day I have never tasted anything quite like it. I now have the recipe so I am thinking of making it soon. The portion was large as always and I must say I struggled to eat it all. Steven was very happy with the extra fruit he received and ate everything, including the “not so special” chicken!:rolleyes:

Now you all know by now that even though I was full, I will not pass up the chance to have dessert. I very rarely take advantage of the doggy bag philosophy and believe me, next time I will (all desserts I can’t manage will be coming back to our resort) so as this didn’t spring to mind I decided to give it a go and order the cheesecake. As I am a bad influence on Steven and his eating habits, I convinced him to try the cheesecake too. We were both full but cheesecake goes down pretty easily if it’s good!

So they both came in record time and funnily enough I felt able to eat the whole thing. It was a beautiful dense cheesecake with a side of berries, again I didn’t eat this part, but fully enjoyed the rest. The biscuit base was crumbly and not too thick and the vanilla flavour of the cheesecake itself was divine. Topped with cream which paired well, I was fully satisfied! The portion was just enough, any more and I am pretty sure I would have had to be rolled out the door:rotfl:

We finished our drinks and our plates were collected. As we waited to sign the slip our waitress came out with a large plate filled with profiteroles decorated with chocolate and cream, scrolled across the bottom were the words Happy Honeymoon! We were so surprised and were also a bit daunted at the thought of having to actually eat it:eek:We thanked her and she gave us a round of applause as we settled in to eat our display. We whispered that it would be rude to not eat any of it and as Steven isn’t a big profiterole fan, I was left to eat most of it. I managed to eat 4, and these were not small, about half the size of a tennis ball. I actually didn’t even know they did profiteroles. Still pixie dust is pixie dust and I will not complain. Steven ate a few after scraping most of the cream out and we left 5 but I cut up some of them and swirled it round in the sauce, so it actually looked like a lot less. We thanked the waitress once again and told her we couldn’t possibly manage anymore and she laughed and said she understood.

We left Kona and hopped on the monorail to go back to our resort, thankfully we were staying at The GF as I don’t think I could have done any more travelling. It was still quite early but we wanted to relax on the balcony and people watch. It was a really nice night and after another hour I went upstairs to see what free food was on offer, I know I am terrible! I brought down a few mini cheesecakes and chocolate desserts and we both sipped coke (very elegant choice of drink I know:rolleyes:) while indulging on more calorific desserts. The view was stunning, the perfect end to another perfect day:cloud9:

Kirsteen

07-23-2009, 07:52 AM

Summer - sorry to hear about your Grandmother - I agree life is too short not to make the most of every moment :goodvibes

Lost interest?!! Are you mad? Of course we haven't lost interest in yoru report - I loves to see a message from you as it means we are off on another Summer-Steven adventure :banana: I can't believe that you are planning your 3rd anniversary trip! Times flies!! You'll have a great time.

I'd say try to finish your report - I ran out of steam with mine and ended up piecing bits n pieces together recently as I wanted to finish it but I couldn't remember very much at all :rolleyes1 I really love re-living the days that I did write - I am gutted I didn't finish it properly.

Another lovely update, I can just imagine sitting on that balcony - bliss :goodvibes

29apr00

07-23-2009, 08:30 AM

Hi Summer! So sorry about your grandmother. How is the house coming?? Are you still planning on moving to Canada too??

Lovely update! I can't believe after almost 2 years (Happy soon-to-be Annviersary!!) that you can still give such a wonderfully detailed report! It's great!

DisneyLaura

07-23-2009, 09:35 AM

Summer - I check your thread often to see if it's updated. I will be here until the end. :goodvibes

I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother :hug:

Kona sounds wonderful and all of those desserts - believe me I would have forced them down LOL.

Summer-Caitlin

07-23-2009, 09:41 AM

Thanks ladies

I must admit I was a bit apprehensive about returning after being away for such a long time, although I do still love to read TR’s no matter how old they are! My memory has always been great, so I have absolutely no concern about whether or not I can still provide the details that you all crave. I know Steven thinks its nuts that I can still remember what we ate, let alone how it tasted!

The move to Canada is off indefinitely just now, with the recession and the housing crash it just isn’t the right time for us, although I would love to go still, it may not be in the cards at the moment. We had a flood in May and it has taken two months to get things back to normal. Had to sort out our insurance and redecorate 3 rooms completely, everything was ruined.

So we have decided to go back to Disney next September and we are going to take that time to reassess what we want, whether it is that we still push ahead with the move to Canada or we concentrate on having family. At the moment I am at a crossroads, am unsure where my priorities lie, hopefully Disney will make it all clearer!

Thanks for sticking with me

Summer xx

MUDisneyCouple

07-23-2009, 07:38 PM

Welcome back! Glad to see you back and to see you are planning a return trip to WDW! Sorry to hear about your grandma...take care.

meryll83

07-24-2009, 03:11 AM

Welcome back Summer! :wave:

Kirsteen

07-24-2009, 05:34 AM

Hi Summer, giving yourself some time to think about what you want is a great idea and a Disney trip is a great, great, great thing to have to look forward to woop woop. Can't wait to hear more on your honeymoon :goodvibes

dizneyfreak

08-02-2009, 09:11 PM

Summer is back!!! :dance3: Summer is back!!! :banana: Summer is back!!! :cool1: Happy dances all around!!! I was worried you forgot all about us over here on this side of the pond...I should have known you wouldn't do that! I'm so glad that you decided to finish your report and I have to say that I love, love, love your descriptions of everything...however, I think I speak for everyone when I say...we want pictures too girl!!! Let's see that beautiful face of yours!
I am very sorry about your grandma. I lost mine a long time ago, but still feel the pain frequently. My prayers are with you.
I'm also glad to hear that you get to head back to Disney soon. It's good to give yourself time for the move and family and all. My husband and I are in the middle of giving ourselves time as well.
I can't wait to hear more! We missed ya! :hug:

Anna Marie

Summer-Caitlin

08-03-2009, 03:36 AM

Thank you ladies for the kind thoughts, it has been a pretty horrible year but we are trying to look on the positive side and think of Disney (our happy place):lovestruc

I definitely didn't forget about you, I just knew I had left it so long that I thought it might be best not to post, I didn't want to offend anyone and as my wedding was almost 2 years ago, I thought people may have lost interest! Shame on me!

So my return trip to WDW is booked but as usual I am having second thoughts on the accommodations. We had wanted to book POFQ, but it works out cheaper with the DDDP to book either SSR or OKW. We have booked OKW but I now think that SSR might be the better choice. Location to DTD, newer resort, spa on site and better food court options. As we have the DDDP we will be travelling quite a lot to different resorts for meals and I like the fact I could use DTD as a hub and just get a bus to a resort from there if I wanted. Plus I had been told that SSR has a lot of winding paths through the resort which would be very romantic at sunset:cloud9: So girls, give me your opinions, is OKW better for us or SSR. I am going to call later today to change my booking if SSR has the winning vote.

As for my next instalment, I am currently working on it. Unfortunately I don't have many pictures at all in the next instalment as coming up we have...

Disney Quest and PIRATE AND PRINCESS PARTY:banana::banana:

I do have quite a lot of pictures of the fireworks, and yes I will even post a picture of me in my pirate outfit...you have been warned!

dizneyfreak

08-03-2009, 09:22 PM

Hello darlin!
IMO you are making the right choice with switching to SSR. The resort is absolutely beautiful and it's so close to DTD. It's really located right in the middle of everything. OKW is really off to one side and takes forever to get to. Plus, you were right in thinking that SSR is new and looks a lot nicer. It's not so dated. It is so nice to be able to take a boat to DTD and just stroll and shop or EAT!!! Just think of all the late night stops you could make to the Ghiradeli shop! :woohoo: Plus, did you know that there is now a hot air balloon ride you can take at DTD...so cool! You will love SSR...good choice girl!!!

Anna Marie

Kirsteen

08-04-2009, 03:37 AM

SSR gets my vote to just because it's so handy for DTD. Looking forward to your next installment Summer - can't wait to see your P&P photos. :thumbsup2

zalansky

08-04-2009, 08:13 AM

Summer - SSR is definitely the way to go! We're members so we have stayed at both a few times now. For all the reasons you mentioned SSR to be the better choice, you're right. The decor in the rooms is definitely dated at OKW, its nice having newer rooms at SSR. The pools are wayyyy better at SSR as well as the food court. You will appreciate that food court. And yes, there are many winding paths that are very relaxing and romantic throughout SSR. OKW is very pretty but its not the same. Trust me, you will adore it!

Sorry about your grandmother. Losing a loved one does put things in perspective.

You and Steven will have adorable kids - so I hope thats the plan for you both when you come back from your next Disney trip! :)

Summer-Caitlin

08-04-2009, 09:35 AM

zalansky - Glad to hear I have made the right decision:goodvibes As for kids, our plan is that this is our last big vacation just us two so I intend to make it count. I am hoping that we come back with a disney souvenir, but at the moment I am trying to get myself into shape so that is possible. Back on my healthy eating plan, well after our anniversary anyway;)

Eeyore's Tailfinder

08-04-2009, 05:25 PM

Hi Summer! It's great to see you again :) No way have we lost interest! I always think of you as one of my 'friends' from when I first came on the boards and lurked on the wedding forum! I'm so so sorry to hear about your Grandma :(

It's great that you are planning another WDW visit - I can't believe it's your 3rd anniversary... I remember *almost* bumping into you in Raglan Road in 2007! Crazy. It looks like we'll just miss each other! We'll be there Aug 8-30 I think - our wedding is hopefully on August 11, I find out a week today!

Hopefully it'll make things more clearer with what you want! Hope your studies are going well! It's exciting to think that this might be your last vacation, just you and DH!!

pjstevens

08-11-2009, 09:05 PM

Summer, so glad to see you posting again. I also did not lose interest in your TR. I love how detailed you are. So excited you've booked a return trip. I've heard good about both of those resorts, but I do think SSR may be the better one for you with the dining options and DTD so close. Can't wait to hear about the Pirate and Princess Party!!!

Pooh_Girl

08-12-2009, 04:29 PM

Welcome back Summer!!! Can't wait to read more!!

The Charmed One

09-22-2009, 07:35 PM

Hi Summer, It's great to see you back posting on your TR, I enjoyed catching up and I'm looking forward to reading more, as if we'd lose interest, your a great writer and we love reading all about your trip.

Sorry to hear about your grandma and your move to Canada.

Great news about your anniversary trip next year and I love the disney souvenir bit hasn't time flown since you got married, my dh and I are just under 2 weeks away from our 3rd wedding anniversary, we're spending Christmas and New year at disney and were also hoping to come back with a little souvenir ourselves.

Take care, it's been lovely reading and seeing you both again.
Wendy xxx.

AbbyPan

09-23-2009, 09:44 AM

Summer-Caitlin

03-12-2010, 04:55 PM

Hi everyone

I haven't been on this site for a long, long time. I also let my TR slide and have only just started on it again. I thought that it had been so long that there really wasn't any point in finishing it, but I had promised myself that I would as I really do hope to get it published as a memento.

I can't access this site at my work andthat is where I used to do the majority of my posting and ummm surfing, so that has made it difficult for me to find the time to continue.

However for those that are still interested I will continue to post my TR as I would just love to see it finished. I have set myself a target and I aim to stick to it.

Now that our anniversary trip is less than 6 months away, I am really looking at getting this finished asap as I have so much planning to do.

I apologise profusely to those that followed this TR, I had not intended for this to continue for so long, I mean I am not writing Lord of the Rings here...

Summer-Caitlin

03-12-2010, 04:57 PM

We awoke to a glorious day and although I had planned for us to go to Disney Quest this day, one look out the window and I could literally see the Magic Kingdom calling! As you all know by now my plan is almost always set in stone, but I decided that as we were so close to MK we could always go for a few hours and then go to Disney Quest if the mood took us.

I didn't have anywhere booked for breakfast and had pretty much always thought we would go to Gasparillas again while staying at The GF. However because we were staying in the concierge, we decided not to waste our CS credits and instead go upstairs and see what was on offer.

It didn't disappoint! There was fruit galore, melon (honeydew, cantaloupe and watermelon)kiwi, apples, oranges, pineapple, grapes and bananas. There were assorted yoghurts, cereals, danish, croissants, fruit juice and coffee and the best thing about it was you could go back for more if you wanted to!!!

Steven grabbed himself a big bowl of fruit and poured the yoghurt over it, I on the other hand grabbed myself a couple of Danish pastries and a croissant (not all for me I assure you). Although I do like fruit, I am not a fruit sort of girl, I do really love soft melon, bananas and grapes, but when there is a choice between cinnamon Danish or a piece of fruit, well this girl has to follow the cinnamon trail.

The Danish was huge. It was soft, flaky and sweet, exactly as I had hoped and although I did offer Steven some, which he did take, I kinda wished I hadn't LOL. I could have gone back for more but I didn't want to start my day off with being too full. I had a few cups of coffee as this stuff was da bomb!

Steven loved his bowl of fruit and said he could have eaten it on a daily basis, it's a pity that fruit is so damn expensive in the UK (decent fruit anyway). He loved the cheese Danish but he didn't get to try the cinnamon one, what I had the whole thing? No way!:rolleyes1

Steven mentioned that as we had saved on credits, it always meant that we could go to Peco Bills. Yes dear, I guess it does! I started running through the CS restaurants in MK and tried to work out whether there would be anywhere else worth visiting. I didn't think that anything would come close to Peco Bills, well not for Steven anyway, although now I come to think of it, I was supposed to go to Casey's Corner at some point during our trip (this didn't happen). So Peco Bills it would be.

After a wonderful breakfast we gathered our things from our room and headed out towards the monorail station to make our way over to MK. The sun was high and I could already see this was going to be one hot day!

Coming up...

The Enchanted Tiki Room... who was taking what when they made this??? I demand to know!

DisneyLaura

03-12-2010, 05:20 PM

Summer-Caitlin

03-12-2010, 05:33 PM

We arrived at MK and it was already pretty busy. I thought today we could leisurely walk around MK, try and convince Steven to go on Splash Mountain and Big Thunder, and of course visit Peco Bills again. Our dinner tonight was going to be at California Grill and this was one meal I was not willing to cancel. I had read wonderful reviews of California Grill so I was really excited to be eating there during Wishes so I hoped it would live up to my expectations.

It was nice to be able to stroll, not power walk around MK and to actually take in the sights.

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/DSCF1370.jpg http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/DSCF1371.jpg

There was a show going on but to be honest I didn't really find it of interest. Steven got a few pictures though before we made our way to Adventureland.
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/DSCF1375.jpg

So I saw that a show for The Enchanted Tiki Room was going to start in 10 minutes. Figuring this was luck we decided it would be worth having a look. We were the first ones to arrive so Steven tried to get a few pictures of me with the waterfall in the background. It was quite dark so I don't think the photos turned out to be much good.

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/DSCF1376.jpg http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/DSCF1379.jpg

We waited for what seemed like forever for the waiting area to fill up, in hindsight I think this might have been a clue!

Now I knew that this show included a cast of over 150 talking and singing birds, flowers and inanimate objects so I don't know what I thought I was going to see really, I just hoped it would be worth the wait.

We took our seat along the benches as the place grew dark. It was nice to be out of the heat but when the show started I would have gladly walked out in a heavily padded coat and boots, anything to escape the show.

It seemed to be neverending and I had to laugh as I couldn't get over the fact that I actually stayed to watch it, well that and they actually shut us in here with what appeared to be no escape. I am not sure if it was the singing, the dancing, the storyline or the noise that I particularly disliked, I just didn't get it and I whispered to Steven that whoever thought of this show must have been smoking something that night, and we are talking the hard stuff here! Maybe I didn't enter with the right frame of mind, but all I knew is I would have gladly kicked one of the many parrots off their perch if I could just to shut them up.

As you can quite clearly gather, this 'attraction' is not one of my favourites and when the doors opened I actually ran out! I vowed to never step foot in there again, it was 30 minutes I was never going to get back.

So to rid myself of the images of fluffy parrots, I decided to go on something I knew we liked. We headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean. As we visited this attraction with mum, I won't describe the ride in detail again. However we enjoyed this just as much as the first time and I will say it still remains one of my favourite rides at MK.

We approached Frontierland so the begging from me started. I really wanted to ride Splash Mountain and I honestly thought Steven would like it. The stupid drop at the end was the thing that was the deal breaker however and no amount of begging or promises could get him to try it. I mean come on, this is a guy that went on Jurassic Park ride at Universal in Hollywood, THAT is a huge and fast drop, Splash Mountain in comparison was tiny AND it had the Jungle Book characters (something I thought might convince him, but didn't ). I stared at Splash Mountain and sighed longingly and although he said he would wait for me if I wanted to go on it, it just wasn't the same to not share it with someone. I decided to pass and start begging for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad instead. This ride on the surface didn't look as scary, but to be honest I knew it was faster and Steven would like it less than Splash Mountain. However I was willing to try to get him on any of them so if happened to choose the faster of the two, then that wasn't my fault! Still, even after all my pleading, puppy dog eyes and pouting, he would not budge and I said goodbye to Thunder Mountain too. I am pretty sure if people hadn't been screaming above us, he might have said yes!:sad2:

He mentioned that we could maybe go to Peco Bills as we were in the area and I looked at him as if he were crazy. It was only a couple of hours since we had breakfast and I couldn't understand how he could be hungry already, the fries were on his mind apparently, but I said we should go see a couple more things before we sat down for lunch.

We ventured over to Tom Sawyer Island but there isn't that much to say about it. I could imagine it being great if you had kids with you, well if you didn't mind losing them of course, but for two adults it was just a cute walk. We spent about 30 minutes here though .

Peter Pans Flight didn't seem to have that long a wait so Steven agreed that we could do that and then we would get a burger! W had been on Peter Pans flight before at Disneyland and I don't know why but I always had a soft spot for this ride. I know there are no great special effects and the ride itself isn't even that good, but I just love riding high above the city and looking down at the lights.:cloud9:

The queue moved steadily and we were on in less than 15 minutes. The queuing area wasn't great as for a while we were just standing in the sun, but it did move quickly and soon we were in our flying ship.

I find this ride quite romantic too. It was nice to be sitting alone with my husband staring out over moonlit London. It isn't a long ride and actually seemed a lot shorter than I remembered it, but it was nice all the same. We reached Neverland and met some residents and before long we were back to reality. This will always be an attraction that I will make time for when I visit in the future.

So as it was nearing lunch time we headed back to Frontierland and into Peco Bills. We ordered exactly the same as we had before, burger and fries and the peanut butter brownie dessert and paid for them with our CS credits. I must admit the fries here were the best I had ever tasted, they were so crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, I wish I knew the secret recipe!
As I was still quite full from breakfast I didn't manage to eat all my burger or fries. Steven seemed to like that and helped himself to the remainder of my meal. He polished it all off and still managed to eat most of his brownie, despite him not even liking peanut butter. I could only manage half of mine, despite my love for it!!!

There was a parade due to start and Steven wanted to get some photos of it. Although I am also not a parade person, I thought we might get some good photos so we headed towards Main Street USA.

We found ourselves a good spot towards the entrance/exit to MK, it was getting really hot and we spoke about possibly going on the speedboats again after the parade. Being near the exit was a good idea as people do tend to leave after parades I noticed.

We sat down for about 20 minutes before the music started up.
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/1.jpg

I thought this was a cute photo...
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/2.jpg

Pinocchio, a movie I am yet to see
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/3.jpg

Snow White another movie I...ahem...am yet to see
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/5.jpghttp://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/6.jpg

I want to say Ariel, but I am actually not sure, yup, you guessed it, it's another movie I have not seen
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/9.jpg

Ummm, wicked people from a selection of Disney movies that I too haven't seen, you noticing a trend here?
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/8.jpg

Awww Pluto
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/10.jpg

I enjoyed the parade but it is so hot out there that I was really glad when it was over. We headed back to The GF as it was still early enough to have one more go on the Sea Raycers!!!
The water was calm and although we didn't get it for free this time, it was well worth it.

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/speed.jpg http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/speed2.jpg

A view of the GF from the water
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/11.jpg

We paid for an hour again and had a wonderful time. This was the last time that we went on the Sea Raycers during our stay but if I could I would have loved to do it every day. It was one of the most relaxing things I did all vacation. We have said that it is something we bank on doing when we go back. I note OKW has a marina so roll on September!!!

Coming up...

Dinner at California Grill

Summer-Caitlin

03-12-2010, 05:37 PM

Yeah Summer's continuing!

I'm back on the bandwagon for your TR for sure. We had a rough last year as well, my mom got sick and passed away in October from Pancreatic Cancer. We were supposed to go to Disney in December 2009 but then she got sick so we canceled it. But we're going in April, only a couple of weeks now.

Welcome back to the boards Summer. Missed you.:goodvibes

Aww Laura I am so sad to hear that your mother passed away last year:hug:. Last year just seems to have been awful all round. I hope your mother didn't suffer and went peacefully. I am sure she is watching over you and your family all the time, she willalways be with you in your heart.

I have missed coming here too, I am glad I haven't lost everyone.

Maddiesmum03

03-13-2010, 04:41 AM

Hey, Summer, it was good to see your name pop into my inbox again after so long, please finish your report, I for one will be reading.
I must admit I haven't been on the wedding boards for ages, last time it was just to copy and paste my report so I can keep mine for ever and ever!!!

blondie7

03-13-2010, 11:48 AM

Welcome back Summer. Great to see you are going to finish your report. It has been a year of changes for me aswell. I am now living in the UK. For how long is still to be determined. I am getting married in October at SBP so I may be asking you some questions about planning a wedding from the UK in the near future. I am really glad you are back!

Hugs
Debbie

Summer-Caitlin

03-13-2010, 04:46 PM

Maddiesmum03 - Yay you are back here too, it is so nice to see all the familiar names pop back up in my TR. I hate not being able to access this site everyday like I used to. I never did get around to reading your report. I will have to copy and paste it so I can read it when I am supposed to be working, LOL. :hug:

blondie7 - Yay you too, it is like a little reunion, I feel like I have missed a lot. CONGRATULATIONS on your wedding, wow, October isn't far away at all. I can't believe you are in the UK is your fiance from here or Canada? Our Canada plans are on hold indefintely as the recession hit us pretty badly, especially when we tried to sell the house. Hope you are enjoying it over here though. Feel free to ask me questions if you need to, I will do my best to help out if I can. :hug:

Summer-Caitlin

03-13-2010, 04:51 PM

So we both had plenty of time to shower and it appeared that I had managed to get a bit burnt while out on the boats, luckily it wasn't too bad as we had our honeymoon photo shoot in the morning and I didn't want to appear red in the photos!

We decided to dress up a bit more than usual for our meal at California Grill. My expectations were really high for this restaurant as all the reviews I had read had been fantastic, this was one meal I had never considered cancelling. I was disappointed that my mum didn't get to eat here, but in one week there was only so much I could do. I had initially reserved California Grill on a day my mum was still with us, but the 2 TS credits it required was too much out of her daily allowance (well had I known she was going to go to the Food Court one day, that would have helped)

Anyway I had looked at the menu months ago and had pretty much decided what I was going to have, I had pretty much decided what Steven was going to have too LOL.

We arrived at The Contemporary Resort after hopping on the monorail from our resort. I was excited to be going to the top and couldn't wait to see the view over MK. As soon as we got off the elevator a nice gentleman welcomed us to the California Grill and took our names. We were offered to sit at the bar for a drink if we wanted but as neither of us drink much (well coke maybe), we just declined. We only stood for about 5 minutes and the hostess showed us to our table. Unfortunately we didn't get an exact window seat, but we did have a view so I was quite happy where we had been seated.

There was confetti all over our table and the hostess came over and asked if she could take our picture. We said okay, a bit surprised however as she didn't use our camera...

California Grill is much bigger than it appeared online, much bigger and much louder! It was really crowded and although this didn't bother me much, it didn't have a very adult feeling about it, which had always been my initial impression of this place.

Our waiter came over and asked us if we wanted drinks (2 diet cokes) and then left us with our menus. I glanced at the menu to see if everything I had wanted was there (it was) and waited to see what Steven would order.
We both chose the Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli for our appetiser and ordered the Oak-fired Filet of Beef for our main. I was quite surprised by this as I half expected Steven to order chicken again but he said the last few steaks he had ordered had been great so was going for another tonight.

We people watched while we waited and tried to have a conversation, but the restaurant was really loud so most of the time we felt we had to talk rather loudly to be heard. Luckily we didn't have to wait too long for our appetisers.

As we both chose the same I can clearly state both our impressions of this ravioli. I had been hoping this was going to be amazing and I wish I could say that, but unfortunately it was very wet. Let me explain...

The ravioli itself was gorgeous, the sharpness of the goats cheese worked really well with the mushrooms and basil but the sun dried tomato sauce did not appeal to me and made the whole dish taste soggy:eek: My bowl/plate seemed to be full of this sauce and the poor ravioli was drowning in it. This made the actual ravioli taste wet and the flavours didn't stand out. When I realised that the actual sauce was destroying this dish, I scraped the sauce off and ate the ravioli alone and this is when I could actually taste the different flavours and textures. Steven didn't really like his dish at all:sad1:, he agreed that it was wet and didn't attempt to salvage it. I on the other hand wanted to like it so I was damn well going to try and fix it. So once I had scraped all the sauce off, it tasted much better but to be honest it hadn't lived up the hype. Maybe there isn't normally that amount of sauce, I certainly hope not, so I am willing to try this dish again on our return.

We waited a long time for our main meal and as we waited so long we were able to take a time out and go and see Wishes from the outside balcony which our hostess came over to let us know about. This was the highlight of this restaurant for us. Seeing Wishes from the top of the Contemporary Resort was wonderful. It was a beautiful sight:cloud9: and I wish we had taken some pictures of it as we were so close to the action. There was a beautiful breeze that night and the balcony filled up quickly, we struggled to get a good viewing position as so many people wanted it too, but luckily most places gave a good view of the fireworks below. It was nice to hear the music being piped in as it does add to the enjoyment of the show. Again this was my favourite show but I was yet to see it from the ground. Once it was over we made our way inside and hoped that our main meal would soon follow.

After another 10 minute wait our main meal found its way to our table. The filet was beautiful and had a slight smoky taste, perfectly cooked and cut like butter. Ordering medium seemed to be the way to go for us, even Steven didn't complain. I LOVED the teriyaki sauce which added a slightly sweet but tangy taste to the dish. The mash potato was so creamy and I think Steven would have happily had that alone. The portion was large and before long I was feeling pretty full. This worried me as I refused to leave without having or at least taking my dessert! It was getting late and I didn't particularly want to eat something so sweet this late, but needs must! I cleaned my plate bar some vegetables and although it wasn't the best steak I had eaten at Disney it was certainly up there.

Ten minutes after we finished our plates were cleared and we ordered our dessert to go after much pleading with Steven. In the UK I don't know if it is commonplace to order a dessert to go, to be honest I have never even asked if this was possible, I haven't seen anyone do it and I wouldn't want to be looked at like I was weird! However in the US, it seems normal to do this and containers do exist to house dessert and even complete meals to take home, WOW! :rolleyes:

So for both of us I ordered the Bananas and Caramel as I thought it sounded gorgeous. We didn't have far to travel so I hoped it would be okay to take back to the resort and eat on the balcony. I can't say I gave it much thought and if I had I probably would have ordered something a bit easier to take away. When the dessert arrived it was clear that the mascarpone mousse wasn't going to take to the heat very well so it was probably going to be a foamy mess by the time we got back.

Just before we left the hostess came over with a card, inside was our photo and a picture of the Magic Kingdom during Wishes. The card wished us a Happy Honeymoon and was signed by the chef. I was touched and I thought this was a really nice gesture.:lovestruc

Now, I will say while our waiter wasn't rude to us directly, his waiting skills left a lot to be desired, so did his chat up skills if I'm honest. For the majority of our meal he was TRYING and I emphasise the word TRYING, to sweet talk a little redheaded waitress. He was so caught up in this that he barely remembered he had tables to wait on. I did hear some of his lines, and they needed much improvement if he was going to get anywhere with her or anyone for that matter, but he persevered, much to our disappointment. This was the worst service we had on property and had the food not been up to much, I probably wouldn't consider coming back here.

California Grill had really nice food and the view was stunning, but it was a bit loud and the service from our waiter was terrible. I did see other tables get better service from other waiters, so I will put this down to just being unlucky. I wouldn't agree that it was worth the 2 TS but I am eager to give it another go as I think it may have been an off night, I would however make our reservation after Wishes.

When we got back to the resort our dessert was indeed a foamy mess and if presentation of food normally gets the taste buds going, then it would have mine going in the opposite direction. Although it didn't look pretty, it certainly tasted pretty and you could tell that it would have been lovely had it been eaten at the restaurant. The caramel was smooth and creamy and the caramelised banana was oh so sweet but oh so moreish. The mascarpone unfortunately had melted, probably with the heat of the bananas, but it too would have been nice. I was full, but I had to sample it and once I started it was hard to put down. Steven had a bite but wasn't that impressed. I didn't finish it and threw the rest away as our fridge was slowly getting filled up with mini desserts from the previous nights LOL.

We stayed on the balcony for a little longer and chatted about what the next day would hold. We had an early morning ahead of us as we had the Epcot honeymoon shoot. We looked out at the night sky and sighed contentedly.

Coming up...

Epcot honeymoon shoot

mla1977

03-13-2010, 05:57 PM

Wow! Not only did you come back to us with updates, but we get 3 in one day! I'm so glad to have you back Summer!

pjstevens

03-13-2010, 06:00 PM

Summer,

I am so glad to see you posting. I've thought of you often. Love that you are continuing your TR. How is the economy over there? Are you still doing updates to your house? I see you have a trip coming up? Can't wait to hear some more.

meryll83

03-14-2010, 08:09 AM

Summer!!!!! You MUST catch up on your Disney films!!!!! :eek: ;)
I too, must get back into writing my trippie, I just seem to be lacking the motivation at the moment...

Kirsteen

03-14-2010, 09:31 AM

Hey Summer, it's lovely to see you back continuing with your TR. Can't wait to see the piccies from your EPCOT shoot. No big news from me but my little man is 17 months old now - how time flies! :goodvibes

Summer-Caitlin

03-16-2010, 06:42 PM

mla1977 - Yup, I figured that I better try and be good and give quick updates as I know I have promised before and not delivered. As I sai I have set myself a target and I seem to be doing quite well, Glad to be back actually I have missed everyone on here.:grouphug:

pjstevens - Awww you are sweet:hug: The economy is slowly getting better over here, not so great that I can actually justify our holiday to Disney, but we figure we may not get the chance again for a long time. We are hoping to start a family when we get back from Disney, so this may be our last holiday in a long time:rotfl:So you know me, I am planning loads of surprises! We are still doing work on our house, the lounge, kitchen and hall are all done and we are in the process of getting new heating installed. It looks 100 times better than it did, but we had a bad winter and the roof in the lounge started leaking:scared1:That will have to be patched up soon. How about you? Any news, any new trips planned?

meryll83 -Hiya chick, did you start a TR? You must give me the link. I know what you mean about motivation. I was fine when I started it, but I had no idea it would take me so long to complete. I should have known that I can never write short segments:lmao: As for Disney movies, I know, I am terrible. I can't believe I am yet to see so many greats. One day I will sit down and watch them, after I finish seeing Star Wars which was lent to me 3 months ago, yup haven't seen that either.

Kirsteen - Wow, how time flies. I can't believe your little man is 17 months now, I see your pic of him, he is a little cutie! So when will his first trip to the world be? Glad to see you back on board for my TR.

I must say that I am very grateful that you ladies have come back to this TR after so long. I try to be as detailed as possible so I can bring you along for the ride so I apologise that I have taken so long with updates. I am doing well though so far and hope not to slack again.

So here you go, the next instalment...

Summer-Caitlin

03-16-2010, 06:47 PM

We were due to meet Paul Looper from Disney Photography this morning in the World Pavillion, International Gateway for our Honeymoon Shoot. We were able to have this shoot as a direct swap because we didn't use Disney for our wedding photos. Photography was included in the standard package but after seeing Randy's photos from many other brides, I knew we had to go with him.

So as I had been slightly burned the day before we both decided it would be best to put on suntan lotion. I didn't look red but I could feel it on my skin and thought it best to be safe than sorry (big mistake...) I could feel it was already hot outside so I was sure I had made the right decision. I showered, covered myself in suntan lotion, put on a casual top with capri pants and we headed upstairs to concierge to get us some breakfast.

The offerings didn't really change for breakfast so I settled on the same food as I had the day before. Cheese danish, cinnamon danish and some coffee. Steven had his usual fruit with yoghurt and eventually convinced me to have some fruit too. I chose melon and while some of the pieces were very nice (soft and juicy) some were hard and tasteless. I am not fond of the texture of hard melon so started showing my spoon into all the pieces before I bit in to them. I bet Steven was kicking himself for convincing me to get fruit!
We didn't have long to eat so ate quickly and made our way over to Epcot.

As usual we were running late, I started panicking thinking that Paul would leave if we weren't there on time. However when we came running round we saw him standing there with the huge camera and tripod. He grinned at us as we apologised for being a bit late.

He explained that he thought it would be best to go from country to country to get better shots and as long as we didn't mind walking, neither did he. This sounded great to us so we quickly agreed.

When I had set up this shoot I was asked which two lands I wanted the shots to be in. I chose Japan (for my love of all things Japanese) and Italy (because of my heritage and the romance of the place). However that didn't mean I found it easy to choose. I thought several of the countries had great photo opps so I spent a while pondering the options before finally deciding. So when Paul suggested that we go from place to place I was excited as I knew I could get most of the world, :lmao:

I was already starting to get hot. Running to meet Paul hadn't been a good idea and my hair was already starting to curl. I looked down at my arms and noticed beads of sweat had appeared all over, I felt like I was covered in cling film. The back of my neck was soaking and my face was boiling. I realised, as I touched my skin, it was the damn suntan lotion, it was like wearing a second skin!!!! I felt horrible and I knew I must have looked terrible, great way to start a photoshoot.

I complained to Steven how hot I was and that I could actually feel my face melting, literally, and he agreed that I did look a bit flushed. I was so tempted to call off the shoot, although I didn't, looking back I probably easily could have as the photos we received weren't very good.

Anyway our first stop was Morocco. This was one of the showcases that I had actually fallen in love with, it really did seem much more realistic than some of the others and I was glad I could get some pictures here. We got three but they were all the same sort of pose:

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/mor.jpg

We then moved to my favourite, Japan and got a photo on the bridge:
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/003882-0099.jpg

While we were up here some tourists were watching us (strange as the showcase was closed) they were asking Paul if we were celebrities or something? He told them we were and they were excited to see us, they waved and smiled like they recognised us!

We got a couple more pictures in Japan

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/003882-0103.jpg
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/003882-0105.jpg

It was then time to move on to Italy, however by this point I was so hot I had no alternative but to put my hair up in a clip. I was annoyed that I had to do this as I hate having my hair up and not having a mirror to actually see what I looked like was even worse.

We did manage to get some nice photos though, probably cause they aren't close ups and you can't see how hot I actually was:

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/003882-0114.jpg
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/003882-0115.jpg
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/003882-0116.jpg

Our last destination was France where we got a couple of shots sitting at a cafe table:

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/003882-0134.jpg
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/1-1.jpg

That is it, I have looked through the photos and there isn't any more that I like and most of them are just duplicated poses. I was very unhappy with the honeymoon shoot for several reasons.

Firstly it was very rushed, we had to actually run from country to country and I felt that the poses were forced as we had to be quick. There was no time to set up the shots and compared to the MK Shoot, which was the same photographer, it just felt like it was something that was being done as he was contracted too. I was really hot and felt uncomfortable so wasn't in the mood to get my picture taken either, so that didn't help. I was so glad that we hadn't paid for this an extra as I would have been upset. I have came across many other brides who have felt this way, but maybe we were just unlucky.

I am happy to say that Steven and I went back to Epcot on our last day in Orlando and did the shoot the way you are supposed to. We took our time and got some great photo opps and I hope to do that again when I go this year. It's amazing the unique places you can find to get some great photos.

Anyway we said goodbye to Paul but just before we did he handed us the 2 large photos of our MK Shoot. One was us beside the wishing well and the other was the arch shot that I absolutely loved. It was the first time that we had seen any of our wedding photos and I was amazed. It was a true fairytale photo and I was almost in tears. He said that it was the best arch shot he had ever seen and knew he had to enlarge it for us. I decided that even if there were no other pics from the MK shoot that were any good, that I would be happy just to have that one, it was exactly as I had dreamed it would be, utterly magical:cloud9:

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/arch.jpg

Coming up...

A few rides at Epcot and a load more pixie dust...

pjstevens

03-16-2010, 10:09 PM

Summer, I am glad to hear that things are starting to turn around over there. It's been a scary time for so many people, so many losing their jobs, their homes, so much. We've been blessed as we've not had to deal with too much (hubby did have to take a cut to keep his job last year); but we have our home, our family and our jobs. Our granddaughter turned on the beginning of January, just can't believe how quickly the time has gone by.

I am so sorry to hear about your honeymoon shoot, but the pics you posted did come out well. Love the one at the cafe table.

I absolutely loved that photo from your MK shoot! Truly fairy tale magical!!!! Can't wait to hear more. Love how you make me feel like I'm right there.

We are going back in December for a short trip, just hubby and I. We were just there in January for the 1/2 marathon (and it was so cold, that it actually sleeted and snowed that morning)!

Looking forward to your next installment.

meryll83

03-18-2010, 07:41 AM

meryll83 -Hiya chick, did you start a TR? You must give me the link. I know what you mean about motivation. I was fine when I started it, but I had no idea it would take me so long to complete. I should have known that I can never write short segments:lmao: As for Disney movies, I know, I am terrible. I can't believe I am yet to see so many greats. One day I will sit down and watch them, after I finish seeing Star Wars which was lent to me 3 months ago, yup haven't seen that either.

Scandalous!!!

Here's the link to my not so finished trippie :rolleyes: - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2379947
Are you on Facebook, I can't think if you'll have even seen my pictures yet?!!

Sorry your honeymoon shoot didn't go so well, I thought ours seemed really short and I don't especially like me in the pictures either, but at least we managed to get the shoots, they don't offer them any more, if you don't use the package for the wedding photography, you don't get to substitute :sad2:

Anyway..... more, more!!

MUDisneyCouple

03-18-2010, 10:04 PM

I was so happy and surprised when I saw a little reminder email pop up in my inbox to tell me you were back!! Great to see you back on the boards and thanks for sticking with the TR!!! Looking forward to hearing the rest :goodvibes

Summer-Caitlin

03-20-2010, 08:00 PM

pjstevens - I am glad things are starting to pick up worldwide, apparently we are officially out of the recession but job wise things aren't too great here either. I love your photos in you sig btw.
Our Honeymoon shoot wasn't great though, it was hard to get excited about it when we both felt so hot and rushed. I was lucky to find that handful of pictures really, glad we didn't pay for it.
I would love to go to Disney for Christmas one day, I bet it looks amazing. We had considered going in January but as you say the weather wasn't great. There is no way I am travelling all that way for it to snow! A short trip is better than no trip though!

meryll - I am not on Facebook but will go have a look at your TR now. You need to get writing, look at me, over two years has passed and I am still writing it, you don't want to fall behind like me do you:lmao:
It is horrible that you can't get a substitute. I heard that you could no longer book outside photography, is that still the case? That is terrible if it is. More coming up

MUDisneyCouple - Thanks for the warm welcome back. I was really nervous to post again on my TR but I so want to finish it as I have put so much work into it and a lot of people have stuck with me. I am glad everyone is enjoying reading it again. How are you?

Thought all of my lovely readers would like to know how much you have all read to date in my TR. I just finished copying and pasting the whole thing so I could keep a copy for when it comes to publishing it and I had to do word count out of curiousity, so I am opening this up to guesses, I would just come out and tell you, but you should all know by now that I like to keep you hanging. You will be surprised though, I tell you that...

Summer-Caitlin

03-20-2010, 08:03 PM

Our plan for the rest of the day had been to spend the majority of our time walking around Epcot again. I had no idea what sort of time our photo session was going to end so didn't really plan, yup, I didn't plan this day in detail! It was awkward to be holding on to two large photos and we didn't have any bag to put them in. As I didn't want to get them damaged we decided to have a relaxing day and not go on any rides that might cause them harm.

We decided to head to Mission Space. I figured as it was still early we might be lucky and catch it at a quiet time. The orange line was moving very quick indeed and once again I found myself wondering whether or not I could take the spinning (if that is indeed what happened). I normally talk myself out of these sorts of things and don't need Steven to step in and advise me. On this day however Steven was actually trying to convince me to give it a try. I knew there is no way he would ever do the orange line and I quite frankly I didn't like the idea of flying and co-captaining my rocket with complete strangers, I mean what if they had never flown before, or worse, didn't press the right buttons!!! Safety was paramount and I didn't want to put my life in the hands of strangers! So as I was saying, talking myself out of these sorts of things come easily to me.

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/space.jpg

The wait on the green line wasn't that bad and again our honeymoon badges, which we had quickly put back on after our photo session, came in handy. We were quickly ushered to the beginning of the line by a friendly CM who said a mission was due to take off any second and they were looking for two more crew members who would fit the bill. Us of course!

It was explained to us that our mission to Mars was going to be a difficult one so I looked our crew up and down and hoped that they would be reliable. Gary Sinise appeared on the screen above us. Don't ask me why but he is one of those actors that I have always kind of secretly thought was quite nice... Well not secretly as such as Steven often goes on about my strange tastes, don't know what that says about him LMAO. Anyway Gary Sinise, David Caruso and Benton from ER are among that list. I think it may be to do with the characters they played, voice and expressions, I dunno, just another slightly discoloured window into my mind:rolleyes:

So we listened to Gary Sinise and were given jobs to do, yup, this was not going to be a mission where you could just sit back and relax, we had to push buttons and everything, I mean our life depended on it! Steven was given the title of navigator and I was the engineer, hmm, I would have preferred if I was Captain, after all I do like my control, but okay I will take my role seriously.

We were soon seated in our spacecraft and I noticed that there was another spacecraft right next to us. Unfortunately someone had obviously not succeeded in a smooth landing as a cleanup crew were busy cleaning up chunks...literally:sick:

I wasn't bothered by this and sat down in my comfy chair and awaited further instruction. I leaned over and put the two photos in the compartment in front of me that was supposed to house all personal items. I hoped that no one would feel the need to be sick and if they did I prayed that they would direct it somewhere else. I noticed that sick bags were provided but I am pretty sure when you need to go there is no warning!

I was a bit concerned that my claustrophobia might dictate whether I could do this mission, but when the capsule closed and we were all strapped in, I actually felt okay. I did feel a little restricted as I could barely move, but I knew it wouldn't be a long mission so I calmed down by telling myself I would soon be on Mars. I had to expect a certain amount of restriction for that privilege! So we were ready for takeoff.

A large screen is in front of us and begins to flicker. The craft begins to shake and a countdown begins... As it counts down I can see, what can only be described as the track of a rollercoaster and the sky. We start shaking and slowly rise, we lift off and smoke appears at either side of the screen indicating we have left the ground. The shaking becomes stronger and I look over at Steven to make sure he is okay. He is normally bothered with motion sickness and I didn't want him to be the one to ruin our wedding pictures. He seems fine and I tell him to remember his instructions and that he is the Navigator, don't want him to get confused now do we?

We are in the air and are hurtling towards Mars at quite a speed, we bypass clouds and soon enter blackness. We then see satellites and the earth below us and our carrier stops shaking and glides smoothly through the sky. For a second all seems well and we see millions of stars, a truly beautiful sight, but we all know this never lasts.

An alarm sounds stating there is a problem and we all need to band together to land safely on Mars. This is where our Pilot has his first instruction which he carries out perfectly. Our Commander does not do so well and when asked to hit the button, she ignores the command completely, I decide to give her the benefit of the doubt but she is soon asked to hit the button again and she ignores it and keeps her hands in her lap. I look over in her direction and frown. I am sure she didn't see me as I could hardly move my head. Press the c**k-a-doody button I thought, but no amount of mind control would get her to move her hands. Luckily our auto-pilot took control and we didn't crash. Steven and I were called upon to perform our tasks and we executed our moves perfectly. Too bad our Commander let us down or we might have had a perfect flight. We manoeuvred through small gaps and over rock until we finally landed. We teetered on the edge as the ground broke below us but we managed to control it and the words we had all been hoping for appeared on our screen, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.:woohoo:

We sit for a while longer before our capsule opens and the restraints lift. We then exit on the left (who knew we could actually walk on Mars in everyday clothes?) which takes us to the shop where we can purchase loads of things that we will never use. We bypass this and head outside to make our way over to Electric Umbrella for an early lunch.

Coming up...

Electric Umbrella

MUDisneyCouple

03-20-2010, 09:46 PM

I have to admit, Mission: Space is the only Disney ride to have made me a little ill.

Things are great here! We've had a great year...we were blessed with a little girl - Alice (after many years of trying and being told it would never happen) and we are so HAPPY and planning her first trip this Sept :cool1: Thanks for asking, Summer :goodvibes

My guess for words is: 851, 799

pjstevens

03-21-2010, 01:15 PM

Thought all of my lovely readers would like to know how much you have all read to date in my TR. I just finished copying and pasting the whole thing so I could keep a copy for when it comes to publishing it and I had to do word count out of curiousity, so I am opening this up to guesses, I would just come out and tell you, but you should all know by now that I like to keep you hanging. You will be surprised though, I tell you that...

Summer, since I did mine in Word (you got me thinking); mine is shorter than yours, but word count was not as high as I thought it would be, but I am not as good at remembering all the details and you had a much longer trip than I did; so with that, my word count guess is 50,000 words (truly no clue though) :)

pjstevens

03-21-2010, 01:22 PM

Summer, I have motion sickness problems and did Mission Space once with my kids (the tamer side, is that the green or orange?). I still felt yucky afterwards. Sounds like you had a great 'journey' except for the comander! Can't wait to read some more.

dizneyfreak

03-23-2010, 12:41 AM

SUMMER IS BACK!!!! :banana::banana::banana::cool1::cool1::dance3: :dance3: :dance3: It's happy dance time!

I'm so glad to see you working on your trippie again. I was very sad when I thought you abandoned it...but it's all good now sista!

Sorry I am so late in joining in. I was actually at Walt Disney World for a week with my Momma when you started writing again and I didn't check my email until today. Imagine my suprise to find a post with little miss Summer's name on it! Whoop whoop...made my day!

Your picture at the castle archway is pure magic...they could use that one in the DFTW ads. I also really liked your honeymoon photo shoot shots. I know you are more critical because its you...but they were really cute.

I am guessing 71,000 words. Don't know why...just showed up in my head so that is my guess.

I can't wait to read more...keep it coming girl...and I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad you are back. :hug:

Anna Marie

Summer-Caitlin

03-23-2010, 03:27 PM

MUDisneyCouple - Awww I am so happy for you. Alice is a beautiful name, how old is she? You must be excited to plan her first trip. You say you are going in September? We will be there in September too, are you staying onsite?
We are hoping to try for a family after this vacation. We may have problems too as I have PCOS so it isn't as straightforward for us either. I am hoping though that we will be blessed as you were:hug:

pjstevens - I was very surprised Steven didn't get motion sickness as he normally does and he often refuses to go on things like that in case. He felt really ill on Jimmy Neutron at Universal:sick: It is the green side that is the tamest. I am unsure if I have the guts to go on the orange side.

Anna Marie - I did wonder wherer you were, normally you post so soon after I do, I thought I may have lost you for good:eek: Ooh a trip to WDW, hope is was good for you and your momma!
I just love that archway pic, it really is one of my favourites that isn't on my wall yet *shock* I still haven't got around to getting it up!
So what is new with you, any trips to WDW in September planned by any chance?:hug:

So the word count, well I am quite surprised by your guesses, MUDisneyCouple I am assuming you don't really mean 851, 799 , I mean I know I can talk, but not even I can make my TR THAT long:lmao:pjstevens 50,000 where have you been? I think you have missed half of my report:rotfl:
Anna Marie not bad at 71,000 but the grand total is (to date)

......

100782 WORDS (including today's post below)

I am shocked myself to be honest. I mean I knew my TR was probably one of the longest but it really didn't feel like I had written that much. I mean you have all read a novel of my wedding/honeymoon and I'm not even finished yet :rotfl:I still have a couple more days of The GF, the cruise, Seaworld, Cirque de Soleil, Universal and our last day at Epcot, I mean how much bigger is this thing going to get????

Might as well get on with it...

Summer-Caitlin

03-23-2010, 03:29 PM

We thought it best if we try for an early lunch at Electric Umbrella. We had an ADR for Artist Point later that evening and I just had to go back to the resort and shower that horrible suntan lotion off.

Before I booked my ADR’s, I researched all the counter service options and wrote down places in every park that I wouldn’t mind trying. After the disaster at Sunshine Seasons, which I had expected to have been much better, I was a bit apprehensive about going to Electric Umbrella. I figured it would be hard to screw up a cheeseburger though and there weren’t many other places close by that might be able to serve up a good feed.

The place itself is kinda funky looking with modern décor a busy carpet and a bright red seating area. It was air conditioned for which I was thankful. We looked at the menu but there wasn’t a huge choice and we both went for the double cheeseburger served with fries, a diet coke and 2 cheesecakes for dessert. Service was really quick and we found a corner table beside the window.

The burger was huge and the side of fries didn’t disappoint. They were crispy on the outside, fluffy in the inside and generously salted. That is something I noticed in the counter services in Disney, I never felt the need to salt any fries. If I were to go to a McDonalds in the UK or any burger joint for that matter, I always have to salt my fries. I don’t know whether Disney add some seasoning to them are they are already salted before I get them, but they are so tasty. I wonder if this is to encourage you to buy more drinks???

The burger itself was huge. I decided to tuck into my burger first and see how much of it I was going to leave Steven ;) It was juicy, meaty and hot, the melted cheese was gooey, mild and oh so tasty! I have never thought myself to be that into burgers, I mean I do love a McDonalds, but as there isn’t one on my doorstep tend not to get my fix that often. However the burgers at Disney, other than the one at Sci-Fi, let’s not forget about that gross thing, had all been fantastic. I don’t know if it’s the seasoning or just the meat is better, but I just find the burgers here very moreish!

Although I was quite hungry I didn’t want to finish my whole meal, well lets say my whole burger as I intended to finish the cheesecake, but our Artist Point reservation was reasonably early so didn’t want to fill up on fast food. There was a piece of buffalo sirloin with my name on it and it was going to be all mine!

I left a quarter of my burger and Steven happily polished this off, I did eat all the fries much to his dismay. Our cheesecakes were very similar to the ones at Backlot Express except they had a sweet strawberry sauce swirled through it. I would normally attempt to scrape out sauce like this as you remember my dislike for anything with berries, but there wasn’t a huge amount and it was baked into the cheesecake with no pulpy bits, so I didn’t mind. It was thick and creamy. I am not one for these fluffy, light sorts of cheesecakes. I like cheesecake that is going to make it difficult to talk for the next minute or so, one where you actually have to move your mouth before you swallow and more importantly one that each mouthful brings with it a huge intake of calories :) That is how you know a good cheesecake!
Anyway it wasn’t the best cheesecake I had tasted, but Disney does tend to excel in desserts, for a counter service option this was pretty good and the portion was very generous.

All in all our meal at Electric Umbrella was great for counter service, much better than Sunshine Seasons and I would easily come here again if I needed a CS option in Epcot.

Coming up...

What, not more pixie dust?

Summer-Caitlin

03-23-2010, 03:31 PM

Although it was still early afternoon I was desperate to get back to the resort to straighten my hair, yup, being a girl is problematic! Anyway Steven had no desire to stroll through Epcot again and we weren’t in the mood to take more pictures. The sun was beating down and all I could feel was the suntan lotion suffocating me, I needed a shower!

I also secretly hoped that if I talked to the concierge at The Grand Floridian that she may be able to help me with my Pirate and Princess predicament. We had tried and failed twice to go to The Pirate and Princess Party and the next night was the only night we could still manage to go. Steven had said that if it meant that much to me then he didn’t mind if we paid again, but I was hoping for a little extra sprinkling of pixie dust and wanted to see if the concierge could help.

So we headed towards the bus depot and were happy that our bus arrived within 5 minutes. Throughout our stay we were really lucky with Disney transport. I had read lots of complaints about transport from the majority of the resorts and as we had stayed in three of them I must say that there wasn’t any resort that had a problem. I had expected to wait as it was the peak season and kids were still going about, but we never encountered any major problems, in fact the transport had been better than expected. There is nothing nicer than a cool, air conditioned bus after the heat of the parks.

We arrived back at The Grand Floridian quickly and my first stop was the concierge. Throughout our stay we hadn’t had many dealings with them. They always asked how our day had been and were really friendly, but as I am an obsessive planner I didn’t have the need to ask them anything, all of our days were pretty much planned out! I took a seat and gave her our room number and explained the problems we had been having getting to The Pirate and Princess Party. She said she completely understood and the storm had actually been one of Orlando’s worst for a while. She rummaged about in her desk and handed over a leaflet book. I opened them and inside was two new Pirate and Princess Party tickets for the very next night!!! I was so happy I could scream, I didn’t however as this was The Grand Floridian and I don’t expect you scream in such a place! :banana:

She explained that on the night of the storm I had called though to the concierge and questioned whether the Pirate and Princess party would go ahead and although it did, albeit a lot later and a lot wetter, she knew we hadn’t went. She took it upon herself to provide us with tickets for the next available day as she was sure we would still want to go. I felt so lucky as I honestly thought I was going to have to purchase these tickets again and although they weren’t hugely expensive, we were already over budget for our honeymoon and I did think we would end up giving it a miss.

We thanked her profusely. She smiled and said she was glad she could help and hoped we enjoyed the party. I started telling her about my outfit and that I was excited I would get to wear it! She wished us a Happy Honeymoon and asked if we were experiencing the magic of Walt Disney World? With a big smile and a squeeze of Steven’s hand, I told her we truly were pixiedust:

pjstevens

03-23-2010, 04:03 PM

Summer, so very glad you were able to get to the Party. Cannot wait to see how much fun you had.

lpizzuro123

03-23-2010, 04:16 PM

Hey Summer - soooo glad to see you back here. I was so delighted when your name popped up in my email that you were back on the Dis.

Anyway, it is so funny how we all used each others names. Whenever we are down in Disney I always say - oh - Summer was married here or Vanessa had her reception there or Carrie had her ceremony here.

Glad you are back and it is wonderful reading your report and checking out all your pictures.

Anyway back to your report.

Linda

MUDisneyCouple

03-23-2010, 10:47 PM

Pixie dust all around!!! We really enjoyed the Pirate and Princess Party, so can't wait to see how you liked it.

We are staying at Bay Lake Tower in Sept :cool1: I don't think we'll ever go again and not stay onsite...onsite is a wonderful thing.

I also have PCOS, and we were told that without extreme intervention, we would never have a baby. I guess the joke was on them b/c 14 days after they told us that...I was preggo! Don't give up hope :goodvibes it worked for us!! Don't let whatever they say get you down. It will happen!:goodvibes

We went old-school with her name, as we wanted her to go to school without having a ton of kids her age with the same name...my name is really common, so THANKS!

Kirsteen

03-24-2010, 04:48 AM

OMG! That's 5 PhD thesis you've written already!!! :lmao: I love yoru arch photo too - it's one of my favourites. I can't wait to hear all about the party and to see your outfits!!! :goodvibes

blondie7

03-24-2010, 04:29 PM

Yeah for Pixie Dust. Can't wait to read about the party. We went to the Halloween Party 2 days after we got Engaged and loved it. I am hoping to go on our Honeymoon this year. Keep the report coming I am really glad you are back writting it.

Summer-Caitlin

03-26-2010, 01:07 PM

pjstevens - Yeah, we eventually did go to the Party and we got some great pictures of the fireworks. It was so much fun, especially collecting all that chocolate.

lpizzuro123 - Glad to see you back on board :hug:I know what you mean about referring to other brides, I do it all the time Steven actually knows who I am talking about!! So how have you been, any news?

MUDisneyCouple - Onsite is the only way to do Disney imo now. Since we stayed onsite we have never even considered returning any other way, especially with the dining plan. Oooh Bay Lake Towers, they look fab, got any ADR's plan that might clash with mine?
It is so comforting to read about success stories of ladies with PCOS. I am hopeful that it will happen, I just need to have faith. Who knows, a trip to Disney might bring me more pixie dust!

Kirsteen - YUP, I can't believe I have written that much myself. If you included all the comments that I have written too, it is probably sitting at over 110,000:woohoo: That arch photo is definitely one of my faves.

blondie7 - The party will be coming up in the next couple of sections. We both really enjoyed and it was well worth the wait for the fireworks alone. I think the Halloween party would be fab!

So I think I am doing really well, pat on the back for Summer:laughing: I am still writing my TR and my updates are every few days, that is pretty good for me. So as not to break the spell, here is another update!

Summer-Caitlin

03-26-2010, 01:14 PM

So after all the excitement of getting the tickets and telling Steven that we were most definitely going no matter what, I couldn't wait to get back to the room to shower and straighten my hair. Every day my hair bugged me, it was way too short and I cursed the hairdresser that didn't understand what "keeping the length" meant.

I put my hair up after it was straightened and curled the sides. I felt so much better afterwards and celebrated with a can of diet coke and a mini dessert! The view from the balcony never got old and we both could have sat out there all night. But that wasn't to be, as we had Artist Point booked and this was another restaurant I was really looking forward to.

I decided that we should take the monorail to MK and then hop on the water launch to get to Artist Point and as we hadn't yet visited Wilderness Lodge, I thought it might be nice to leave earlier so we could have a look around.

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/hall2.jpg
The hall from our room:

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/hall.jpg

As we were leaving we noticed the band at The Grand Floridian had started to play:

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/Band.jpg

They were pretty good and I noticed that loads of people were sitting down and listening to them. It was very relaxing.

The monorail came quickly and we got some pictures of The Grand Floridian as we turned the corner. It looked so peaceful :
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/GF2.jpg http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/GF.jpg

It was deceiving, although it was quite overcast when we got that picture, by the time we reached the boat launch it was bright again:
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/me1.jpg http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/me2-1.jpg

Ummm, I probably need to explain those pictures as yes, they are indeed blurry, BUT Steven actually made me shake my head...fast. He thought it would make for some interesting pictures, which it did, but to the untrained eye LOL, it probably just looks out of focus. I wonder what people thought I was doing while we waited, maybe they thought it was bees or something. That might explain why we were sitting alone on the boat...

When we arrived we got some pictures of the outside of the resort as it really was an exceptional looking resort. I LOVED the dark wood which made it all seem very cosy. I could imagine a cool winter’s day here, I would definitely like to stay at this resort one day:

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/WL.jpg http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/WL2.jpg

I loved the winding paths leading up to the main entrance:

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/WL3.jpg

The interior was beautiful, it reminded me of AKL but the lighting made it easier on the eye. I was taken aback by how different all the resorts were. They were all stunning in their own way and I am hard pressed to say which resort I like the best. One day I hope to stay in them all, but until then I will just have to enjoy the view:

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/DSCF1470.jpg

We wandered about the lobby for a while until we found Artist Point. We checked in and were lucky enough to be seated with a view of the waterfall! Our server was very friendly and immediately presented us with menus, wished us a hearty Happy Honeymoon and offered us drinks. We took our usual, 2 diet cokes!

The interior of Artist Point was really nice, bright with high ceilings and warm cherry wood tables. Our server returned with our drinks and wondered if we would be interested in hearing his recommendations. We were. For appetiser he suggested the Portobello soup but neither of us is overly fond of mushroom soup, and the Venison Spring Rolls. For our entrée he suggested the Cedar Plank Salmon, but neither of us like Salmon.

We both opted for the Venison Spring Rolls and for my entree I took the Grilled Buffalo Sirloin Steak and Steven took the Pork with Macaroni and Blue Cheese.

I had gone back and forth on whether or not to keep my reservation at this restaurant more than any others. Most of the time I had read great reviews, but just before we were due to leave I read a very disappointing review and as I was trying my best to make our trip perfect, I cancelled our reservation. A few days before we left I searched and searched for another restaurant to tempt me, but couldn’t find anything at such short notice, so I decided to try my luck with Artist Point and hope for the best. The menu did appeal, but that negative review really stuck with me and I was worried I might have set myself for a huge disappointment.

Our appetisers came quickly and we were presented with two large, golden spring rolls with a side salad and dipping sauce. These were by far the best looking spring rolls I had seen. They were perfectly crispy on the outside and not greasy in the slightest. I was met with a satisfying crunch as I bit into the roll. The venison within was awesome! Steven has never shown any interest in venison before but that all changed there and then. He commented, through mouthfuls of spring roll, that they were the best he had ever tasted. The dipping sauce was a hot sweet and sour which worked very well with the venison. Although we were only given two rolls each, I could have quite happily eaten another four to myself! :eek:

Our entrees arrived and I was excited to try buffalo. It was served with sweet potato and hazelnut gratin and sweet onion marmalade. I received a very large portion of buffalo, perfectly cooked. The buffalo was so tender to cut and literally melted in my mouth. The sweet potatoes and onion jam complimented the meat perfectly and I could only bring myself to offer Steven a small morsel, as I greedily wanted to save most of it for myself. Having never tried buffalo I didn’t know what to expect, it was a very meaty dish if that makes sense, not as strong as venison, but stronger than steak. The texture was great, my jaw wasn’t sore from chewing and I could taste the juices with each bite. It was like a really, really good piece of steak, tender and flavoursome, that I would definitely order when I visit again.

I needn’t have worried that Steven would go hungry as he was tucking in to his dish, tucking is the best phrase to describe it:rotfl: as that is exactly what he was doing. I was lucky he even stopped to taste the buffalo! He was practically crying his meal was that good. He said that the pork, which did look very good I admit, was slightly salty and that the mildness of the plain cheese and sharpness of the blue cheese was the best thing he had tasted. He kept pointing to chunks of blue cheese on his plate going “Look, look at the size of that chunk” I screwed my nose up, as I hate blue cheese but I agreed to try the mix and was pleasantly surprised. I couldn’t eat a whole dish, as I am just not that into cheese, but as it wasn’t my dish, I didn’t have to. Steven happily ate the rest alone and paused only briefly for air.

Our server was very pleased that we clearly loved our dishes and offered us dessert. Steven quickly decided on the Berry Cobbler and I chose the Coffee Two Ways which was a bread pudding and crème brulee.

Steven’s berry cobbler was HUGE and I am not exaggerating, he had a MOUNTAIN of berries and underneath all that was cobbler with more berries! He claimed to be full before it arrived, but his face lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw this dessert. There were blackberries, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries with black raspberry ice cream. I didn’t even get an offer of this dessert as once he tasted it, he practically picked up the bowl and poured it down his throat! I will agree it looked amazing, but as I don’t like berries at all, it wouldn’t have appealed to me.

My dessert was more understated, the mocchachino bread pudding was actually really nice. This surprised me as I didn’t think much of Raglan Road’s Bread and Butter Pudding which I know is most people’s “to die for” dessert. It was so nice I finished it all. The crème brulee was also pretty good but I was really full and couldn’t manage to finish everything. Crème brulee is still something that I don’t really get. I know many people rave about crème brulee, but it is not something I would normally order and I definitely don’t by from the store. However I was impressed with this dessert as I hadn’t expected to like either the bread pudding or brulee, but I had in fact liked both.

We paid for this using our dining plan which was 2 Table Service credits each. Steven said that this was the best meal he had ever had, here or anywhere. I will agree that overall our experience at Artist Point had been wonderful. The food had surpassed my expectations and to see Steven so taken with a meal pleased me. I was very glad I decided to keep my reservation for Artist Point. It was so well received, it is on our list to visit twice in September.

We left Artist Point fully satisfied and caught the boat back to the MK to get the monorail to our resort. We arrived to our room and couldn't help but go out on the balcony for a nightcap. It was such a beautiful evening and again that view was perfection. Another magical day over, we wondered what tomorrow would bring...

Coming up...

Downtown Disney and Disney Quest

pjstevens

03-26-2010, 02:33 PM

Summer, wow that sounds so yummy. We've never eaten at Artist Point, but you are making me rethink that one. But where are your food pics this time :) I am not a bread pudding person, nor cream brulee, but Stevens sounds scrumptious.

What does tucking mean?

Lorelei528

03-26-2010, 03:01 PM

Summer-
I haven't posted since you've been writing again, but I have been reading right along! Excellent job as usual!

Artist Point is one of our faves! It was the first place we took Eoghan's parents to on their first night and believe it or not, we just planned a whole trip with my mom around eating at Artist Point as she had never been there and I thought to myself "well, that just won't do at all!" so now my mom is coming with us for the first 5 nights of our trip in Sept! :lmao:
And it all started with Artist Point!:lmao:

We have gotten the Grilled Tenderloin the last 2 times and it was soo good! We always get the Berry Cobbler (we each get our own because we refuse to share it!)
Given Steven's reaction I might get the Pork next time however instead of the Tenderloin..hmm...hope these 6 months go by fast! LOL

There's also a salad we really like there and I like the Artisan Cheese thing which we share...

oh man, now I'm hungry! :)

Keep up the good work on the TR! I'm loving it!

Summer-Caitlin

03-26-2010, 03:17 PM

What does tucking mean?

LMAO, it means just really going for it, another phrase for devouring really. He pretty much did that for every course at Artist Point, he still goes on about his meal there. I didn't take pictures of any of my meals, I had started but we ran out of space on the memory card so deleted all the food ones. I vow to take pics this time so I can do a full detailed report of my dining!

Lorelei528 - Nice to see you reading along, I often wonder if everyone is still on the boards that used to visit.
Isn't Artist Point fab? I had no idea it was going to be that good, I was so surprised. I have had a look at the menu and I notice the pork that Steven had is not on, neither is the exact buffalo I had although buffalo is still there with a lovely sounding chocolate sauce:cloud9:I am SO Having that! It just seems like everyone is going to WDW in September!!!
Well I really hope your mum enjoys Artist Point as much as we did, I notice the desserts look a bit strange on the new menu though, I am hoping for cheesecake by September:laughing:

Kirsteen

03-26-2010, 03:35 PM

I love looking at your GF photos Summer, it makes me feel very nostalgic :goodvibes Another great update :surfweb: I don't want it to end! :rotfl:

Lorelei528

03-26-2010, 03:54 PM

Summer-
Excuse my ignorance, but what is PCOS?

Also, what dates will you be in WDW in Sept? Are you doing a PTR at all? :)

Summer-Caitlin

03-26-2010, 04:08 PM

Lorelei - PCOS is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, it screws up my cycles and quite a lot of women with it need help to concieve. When I was younger I used to think that not having a cycle was great, but now that we do want a family it isn't so handy. I am currently on my 18th month with no visitor:confused3
We will be at WDW between the 9th and 25th of Sept. I haven't done a PTR yet, but I will do once I sort out ALL my ADRs, I am currently moving some about just now online! When will you be there?

Lorelei528

03-26-2010, 04:23 PM

Summer-
Ah, ok, I have heard of it. WOW. 18 months! I actually have uterine fibroids so I kind of understand...

We arrive on Sept. 25! We'll just miss you!! I really would have liked to have met you and Steven, if it weren't for you both, I don't know if we would have gone with Rev. Miller! So you and Steven kind of had a big part in our dream come true wedding! :goodvibes

We won't get to AKL 'till about 4 in the afternoon I think as our plane lands at about 2. I'm sure you'll be on your way back to the airport by then! :sad1:

Summer-Caitlin

03-26-2010, 04:27 PM

Aww that is such a shame, our flight is at 8.25pm that day and I am sure we need to check in a few hours beforehand. I would have loved to have met you. I wish I could extend our trip for just one day:sad2: That is very sweet of you to say we played a part in you getting your dream wedding. I hope he was as wonderful for you as he was for us. Hmmm, need to look at your TR...

Lorelei528

03-26-2010, 04:37 PM

If you're taking DME, they pick you up I think 3 hours before your flight. Where will you be staying? AKL maybe? :) LOL

WOW, we really will just miss each other, we'll be just arriving on property and you'll be leaving! Crazy!

I still have not finished my TR, but the wedding is up there. I have some of the day after the wedding up, but not the whole thing. You have totally motivated me to do more though!! :goodvibes

Summer-Caitlin

03-26-2010, 04:58 PM

Yes we have Magical Express booked. We are staying at Old Key West, that sux!
Oh you must work on your TR, I mean you can see how long it is taking me to finish it, but it is so worth it, I love the memories it brings back. Gonna check it out now

dizneyfreak

03-27-2010, 12:35 AM

Artist Point huh? I never really thought about visiting that one as I am not a fan of non-conventional meats (funny, as I ate everything from goose, to rabbit, to venison, etc as a child because my Dad hunts a lot). Maybe I got burnt out :rotfl:

My Mom and I had a great time except for the cold weather. The high was like 58 degrees while we were there and the normal temp for that time of the year was 70. We were a bit cold, but still had a very good time. We were celebrating my Momma's successful surgery...we had a cancer scare and I promised her as soon as everything came out ok we would celebrate together at Disney ;)

As of now we don't have plans to visit in September, but I always beg every year for another trip....so we'll have to see...cross your fingers :thumbsup2

Keep it coming girl...I'm excited to hear more popcorn::

Anna Marie

Summer-Caitlin

03-28-2010, 01:10 PM

Kirsteen - I know, just to think I didn't even want to get moved to The Grand Floridian:eek:, I really wanted The Poly but there was no availability. God bless the construction at AKL:lmao: I would love to stay at The GF again some time, but 7 nights concierge is not in mu budget for a long, long time.

Anna Marie - Glad to hear you had a good time (how could you not) at Disney despite the cold. Also wonderful news on your mom, what better way to celebrate than a trip to Disney. September is an awesome time to go to Disney (so I heard) ;)

I am working on the next part of my TR and it will likely be up tomorrow. I have been rescheduling a lot of my ADRs for Septembers trip today:rolleyes: I think I need to do a pre trip report, where do I post them?

Don't forget we finally get to go to the Pirate and Princess Party in the next installments (three times a charm right)

MUDisneyCouple

03-28-2010, 10:08 PM

I don't think any of our ADRs will compete since we won't be there until the 29th...we'll just miss you :sad2:

We went to Artist's Pointe on our honeymoon and LOVED it!!! I'm so glad that you guys had a great experience too.

18 months is a long time...I can SO relate. Best of luck to you and I will be wishing for extra pixie dust and a little souveniour :goodvibes

Summer-Caitlin

03-29-2010, 12:22 PM

MUDisneyCouple - Awww it's a shame that we just miss eachother, I seem to be going a bit too early as there are quite a few people that I just miss. Do you have another ADR scheduled for Artist Point. I am really excited about my ADR there. I just hope they keep the buffalo.
I would be hoping for a little souvenir too, that would be the perfect end to our anniversary trip;)

Summer-Caitlin

03-29-2010, 12:23 PM

Today was going to be a relaxing day as we had the Pirate and Princess Party that evening, so the plan was to have a look round Downtown Disney and try our hand at some gaming in Disney Quest.

Staying in Concierge was great as it meant we didn’t waste our precious counter service credits on breakfast and instead indulged in the great offerings of ‘free’ food upstairs. After showering and not putting on sunscreen after the fiasco of the day before, we headed up to grab some breakfast.

The layout was the same and while Steven headed for the fruit and healthy options, I chose a cinnamon and cheese Danish. I am beginning to think that the 3 pounds I put on during our stay is down to this alone! I still think the coffee on Disney property is among the best coffee I have tasted. I know I am bound to get challenged on this as it is probably cheap stuff, but it was really smooth and exactly what I needed on these early mornings.

Since we had arrived in Disney we hadn’t slept past 7am. I know, we are supposed to be on vacation so sleeping in should be allowed, but I found that I was never really tired in Orlando. My attitude to vacationing is that I want to squeeze in as much as possible so staying in bed all day, while in theory sounds good, is not that way I roll!

The journey to Downtown Disney was pleasant and the sun was shining again, I was excited to be just chilling for once. The next day we would be eating at Raglan Road for dinner again and we would hopefully get a chance to see Pleasure Island at its best.

We had not done any shopping as yet and although there were plenty thing in stores I liked, I couldn’t bring myself to buy them. A lot of stuff on sale was typical tourist garb and to be honest I could pick that up at my local Disney store, I was looking for something more, but unfortunately never found it at Downtown Disney. The place itself was really nice, and I found myself eyeing the boats once again, but other than that we found ourselves just wandering back and forth. After several hours of looking and not buying, we decided it was time to head to Disney Quest.

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/1-2.jpg

Steven and I both like our gaming, he is into games like Borderlands, Need for Speed, Mass Effect and recently Battlefield. I on the other hand LOVE Gears of War 2, Call of Duty, Lips and most recently Assassins Creed 2. We are quite a pair. We both play online (Xbox 360) and while I am competitive I don’t get as frustrated as Steven, think throwing the pad and screaming at the TV! Maybe it’s because I am better! As a girl I find online playing can be funny at times. I don’t talk much as when players find out you’re a girl they immediately jump to the wrong conclusion and assume you can’t play. Little do they know but I have been playing games for years! But I digress once again…

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It was wonderful and cool in Disney Quest and the first place we headed for was Virtual Jungle Cruise. I had seen this the last time we were here and I was determined to give it a go. There wasn’t a long queue and before long we were boarding our inflatable watercraft. Although this ride was fun, it was over very quickly. We started off really well, avoiding all the dinosaurs and paddling in synch, but I don’t know what happened, we lost it and seemed to take a wrong turn somewhere. It was slightly disappointing as graphically the game wasn’t up to much but I thought the duration of the game might have made it worthwhile. It didn’t.

As we were just opposite the Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Buccaneer Gold , we decided to try this, again the queue was short, but we did have to wait for some more pirates to join our team. When there were four we boarded our ship and was surrounded by screens, it was dark and although the graphics left a lot to be desired, it was a hell of a lot better than the Virtual Jungle Cruise. Three of us had control of a cannon and the other player was the Captain (not Steven or I) and steered the ship. We had to shoot at other pirate ships and fortresses in the ocean to collect our gold. This was a fast paced game and by the end of it my arms were hurting from the constant shooting. It was hilarious though, our team really got into it and we were cheering when passing by ships capsized! I would highly recommend playing this game and it is definitely something I would play again.

We moved up to the second floor where there was Cyber Space Mountain. Now I wanted to do this with Steven but he flat out refused, as he hated these things due to his intermittent motion sickness. I say intermittent as I find it strange that he felt fine on Mission Space and Star Tours but isn’t on others, go figure! So I decided to build my coaster but it took a lot longer than I thought. There were so many turns and spins available that I just wasn’t sure how rough this ride was gonna be, so I chickened out a bit and only put in some loops but built the majority of it quite straight with big drops. I stood in the queue felling quite nervous. It might have been the screams I heard, but who knows! I was eventually escorted to my coaster and was asked if I was sure I wanted to ride it. This had me worried, what did he mean? Why wouldn’t I be sure, did it look too scary? I said I was sure, even though I knew I wasn’t. The door closed behind me and it started.

There were big drops and tight twists with a few loops, but this had to be the tamest ride I had ever been on. I barely moved and that is no exaggeration. It was crap! I don’t know if my design had let it down, but I couldn’t see anyone being impressed with this. I was tempted to come out and ride one of the pre-set tracks to see if it was any better, but I was afraid I would waste 3 minutes of my time. When it finished I was asked if I wanted to purchase a video of me riding my coaster. Absolutely not, what a waste! I told Steven my thoughts and quickly left the design area. This is one ride I wouldn’t bother with again.

We didn’t try Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride as again Steven thought this might make him sick and I didn’t want to try it alone. Nothing else here interested us so we headed to the next floor. I quite liked the look of the Pinball Slam but Steven thought that it looked embarrassing and didn’t want to take part. The queue was really long too and I didn’t want to stand and wait. We had already played Buzz Lightyear’s AstroBlaster which was damn good, but the queue was huge so we went to the next floor.

Ride the Comix was a game where players donned a pretty cool looking helmet to take them into the comic book world. We decided to give this a go and we were given instructions on what we had to do while in the virtual world. It was a basic game, we had a sword and had to fight villains but it was pretty poor if I‘m honest. I like the idea of the game but it was boring and simplistic and not worth the time.

Having visited all the big things that Disney Quest had to offer, we settled on playing some racing games (very disappointing) and some shoot em up games (alright but played better). There were lots of arcade games to choose from and the only ones that were half decent were the co-op shooting games, only because it allowed Steven and I to work together. I don’t know what I expected at Disney Quest but I was very disappointed with the attractions. As we both like gaming, I thought that this would appeal to us but I could easily give Disney Quest a miss next time. It really isn’t worth the visit unless you have children, even then I would only go if it was included in your theme park tickets. With all that Disney itself has to offer, I would think that most people could think of better things they could be doing with their time.

It was now time for lunch and there were only two places in Disney Quest that we could use our CS credits. I actually wish we had left and chose to eat in Downtown Disney, but for some reason this didn’t occur to me and instead we chose Food Quest which was also disappointing.

We both had chicken nuggets with a side of fries, a diet coke and cheesecake for dessert.

It was quick service food which can never be described as gourmet, but my chicken was overcooked and chewy, to be honest I would question whether there was any chicken in it at all as I all I could taste was the breading. I was surprised as I had chicken nuggets before at other quick service places in Disney and had never received a bad batch, but this was the exception. Steven’s nuggets weren’t much better but were edible. The side of fries on the other hand were great, as they always seem to be, and this alone was quite filling.

The cheesecake was plain with dark chocolate chips and this was the same type of cheesecake that seems to be standard around the Disney parks. Very tasty, creamy and the chocolate chips just added that little something extra in my opinion. Had I not had the chips, cheesecake and drink I would have had to get something else, but I was just eager to leave and wanted to get out in the fresh air, or at least see some light!

We didn’t have anything booked for dinner that night because of the Pirate and Princess Party, but I do wish I had booked something for earlier as I had a feeling we would be hungry by the end of the night. We still had mini desserts in the fridge and we could pick up something in the Magic Kingdom if we had to. Once we arrived back at The Grand Floridian, I asked Steven if he was interested in going to see Cirque de Soleil. I didn’t know how much it would cost but it was worth checking out. I called to see what the availability was and the ticket price and was shocked to hear it was the equivalent of £130 sterling. However she did say that it was some of the best seats, 4 rows back and right in the centre. I told Steven and he agreed it would be worth seeing, so I asked for tickets for when we came back from the cruise (in 6 nights time). I was told I could pick the tickets up when we went to see the show. This was an unexpected excursion, but I was really looking forward to it.

When we came back from the cruise we would be staying at The Crowne Plaza at Universal, so coming back to Downtown Disney might prove problematic. However we had no more spare nights and although we hadn’t intended to come back to Disney after the cruise, we had no choice. We did end up spending our very last day in Epcot unintentionally, but we took our time, had a laugh and got some great pictures. It was one of the best days we had:lovestruc

We spent the next couple of hours relaxing on the balcony with our diet cokes and people watching. I did pop up to grab some afternoon snacks from concierge and put them in the fridge for later. After showering it was time to get ready for the Pirate and Princess Party. Finally we get to go:banana:

Coming up…

The Pirate and Princess Party

Summer-Caitlin

03-29-2010, 12:25 PM

So I had been waiting for this day for a long time now, it was finally here. I had debated for weeks whether I wanted to be a Pirate or Princess but the costumes were slightly better for a Pirate so I decided to be a wench. Steven however didn’t want to wear his, so he stuck with the Pirates and the Caribbean t-shirt he had bought several days ago at Magic Kingdom.

I can tell you I felt very nervous walking through The Grand Floridian in this outfit, it was, how should I say, a bit, umm not revealing but a bit... y’know...

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I got lots of looks but I just hoped they were looks of approval. I hoped they knew there was a Pirate and Princess Party going on! As we stood and waited for the monorail it was pretty funny. I am sure people thought I was some sort of character or something as kids were going “look mommy” and pulling at their mother’s hem. When we got to the magic Kingdom I felt much better, although was disappointed to see that there weren’t actually that many people dressed up. Oh well, more fun for me. We grabbed our booty bag and treasure map so we could go round from cross to cross collecting loot. We didn’t have any intentions of going on rides, although I think Splash Mountain would have been fun in the dark! Still, I couldn’t convince Steven yet again to give this a go and we headed around the park.

We decided that we could go on Indy Speedway, as the cars go slow and I was sure I could sit down comfortably. Steven and I took separate cars and it was a strange experience driving as a Pirate, I was constantly aware of my hat and although you don’t exactly speed, as the name suggests, you can get a bit of wind behind you if you get a gap in traffic. Afterwards we walked on to get more loot which was really chocolate covered coins, Hershey kisses etc.

I don’t know how, but I managed to convince Steven to go on Astro Orbiter. I suggested that we sit together in the same ship as it would be fun. It was quite dark by now and I thought the view would be pretty cool from that height, especially with all the lights on the castle and around the park. We scrambled to our spaceship and I sat in the front and Steven was behind me. It started off gently enough, but it quickly picked up speed, moving us up and down, round and round, going faster and faster. Steven was screaming, I swear I almost wet myself as I was laughing so hard. He said it felt like we were going to fall out, I don’t think he noticed the view at all. We were getting strongly pushed to the side which I think was due to the weight of the pair of us. I felt we had to try with all our might to push ourselves back. I have never laughed so hard. Steven was screaming and gripping on to my shoulder with everything he had and I had a death grip on my hat and tears streaming from my eyes. It seemed like the longest ride ever and although I briefly saw the view, I could hold it together long enough to appreciate it. Even thinking about it now I am laughing. When our spaceship slowed down, Steven said he would never do that ride again. After I calmed down and stop myself hiccupping I told Steven how hysterical it had been. He didn’t look amused!

We walked around different areas trying to pick up more chocolate and I was often stopped by passers by and CM’s saying how great my costume was. Then the dreaded thing happened, the thing that all girls detest… someone else had my exact outfit!!!! She was shorter than me so the dress looked a lot longer on her and she didn’t have my boots as I owned them previously, but it was my outfit alright. I dragged Steven away in the opposite direction so as not to bump into her, nothing worse than walking side by side with a fashion twin.

My booty bag was filling up nicely and I was getting peckish so started nibbling on the chocolate. We decided it might be best to get a snack of some sort so we both got some pretzels which were very nice. Cinnamon pretzels, can you get any better than that? Well you can actually, cinnamon sugar pretzels which weren’t on offer, but they are awesome!

It was dark now and we headed back past Frontierland to find a good seat for the parade. Normally I don’t do parades but it was nice and cool (to begin with) and I didn’t mind sitting for a little while. My feet were beginning to hurt, as I had not wore high heels since we arrived in Disney so I was grateful for the rest. We found a good spot and waited for the parade to start. With the darkness surrounding us and the upcoming lights from the parade, I knew this would be good.

Coming up…

The parade, fireworks galore and loads of pictures

MsEsty

03-29-2010, 01:44 PM

Hello to a fellow Gears of War fan...it's how me and the DF met!

meryll83

03-29-2010, 01:56 PM

Sexy lady!
Im glad you made it to the party, you really are the Queen of Pixie Dust!

dizneyfreak

03-30-2010, 11:18 PM

HOT MOMMA!!!! Wowwee...you looked really good in that costume. I think Mr.Sparrow himself would have taken you home that night had he seen you! I'm so excited for you to get to the party finally. I do have a suggestion for you though if you go at night again...make sure to hit the Jungle Cruise at night...it's a whole different experience as everything is dark except for the captain's spotlight and it looks and feels totally different. It is my favorite in the dark ride with the exception of the haunted mansion. The mansion cast members always do their makeup up really well and they act much more "dark" and scarier if you will, for night time and there is fog and lights...also a very different experience. You must try them both on your next night time Magic Kingdom visit. :lovestruc

As for Disney Quest...I've never been impressed and don't waste my time...I totally agree with you on that one.

I can't wait to see some more pictures! You got me hooked again woman! popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::

Anna Marie

pjstevens

03-31-2010, 05:42 PM

Great costume Summer. Can't wait to see the pics from the parade and fireworks! You look awesome!

The Charmed One

03-31-2010, 07:00 PM

It's great to be reading your report again. You look great in your costume.

Pooh_Girl

03-31-2010, 08:38 PM

Summer,
I'm so excited to be reading your TR again!!! I'm really glad you are finishing it. I'm sorry you didn't like your Epcot Honeymoon photoshoot pictures. I know you are super excited you didn't have to pay for them.
So I'm sure I missed this somewhere in here, I'm sorry if you have already said this, but did you guys ever move?? If you have I hope everything is working out.
I love you Pirate/Princess costume!! I can't wait to read more about the Party!!!

Summer-Caitlin

04-06-2010, 05:42 PM

MsEsty - Ooooh isn't Gears of War fab? Do you play much online? I haven't played it since February but I was playing it daily to try and get my level up. I eventually got my level 50 and the achievements so decided to give it a break for a while. I miss it though, so might go back to it this week. LOVED Horde!

meryll - Yes, once the pixie dust started it never stopped. We were so lucky on our honeymoon. Although I am hoping we get the odd pixie dust sprinklings for our next trip, I have decided to make my own just in case. Out of curiosity, are you going to wear the Anniversary badges your whole vacation or just on your anniversary?

Anna Marie - Hmmm, I never thought of doing the Jungle Cruise at night, that would be awesome. I wonder if that would be available on Mickey's Halloween Party? I am considering going but it is an awful lot more and while I enjoyed the Pirate and Princess Party, the loot we got was tiny, not even enough to have a normal bag of sweets! The best thing was the parade and the fireworks were awesome. We didn't get to do Haunted Mansion either as it was being refurbished our whole honeymoon. I was so excited to do this too as I loved the one in Disneyland.
Mr Sparrow did see me that night, but I think he was too enamoured with his bottle of Bud to notice me:laughing:

pjstevens - That costume did me well as I used it on the cruise too. I sold it when I returned to the UK for more than I paid for it. I still wish I had lost more weight though:rolleyes1

The Charmed One - Yay another regular has rejoined. I feel terrible that it has taken me so long to write this report. How are you? I can't see your ticker right now, but am I right in thinking you are going back to Disney soon too?

Pooh_Girl - And another one comes back, YAY! How have you been, did you move? As for us moving, no we haven't yet. I say yet but it is still on hold indefinitely as we will be trying for a family on our return from Disney this year. We decided that we should try for family first and try and pay off more of the house and loans so that when we do sell we can have more money to set up house abroad. Plus the market still hasn't recovered yet so we want to make sure we get a decent price when we do eventually sell.

I have a question for all those that might know. Randy has suggested doing the Trash the Dress Shoot at Cocoa Beach but as I have never been to any of the beaches in Florida I can't give him an opinion. Has anyone been to this beach and could let me know what it's like, whether it would make for good photos in our wedding gear? He said we could use surfboards in some of the shots (hoping he doesn't mean me surfing in my dress:laughing:)

Summer-Caitlin

04-06-2010, 05:44 PM

After relaxing for a while on the now, hot ground, the music began playing and people started to muscle in on our perfect viewpoint. There were no barricades or anything, so I was unsure just how far in I could stand without getting smooshed by characters. I was amazed at just how fast people were running to the area. I guess this parade was special!

I was getting really hot as there was no breeze and my pirate outfit felt heavy. I remember hearing that we lose the majority of our body heat from our head and if that was the case then all of mine was trapped underneath my velour hat trying to get back in. I really wanted to take the hat off, but it was an amazing looking hat and I thought I should at least keep it on for the parade and fireworks.

Finally characters started to make their way towards us.

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I wasn’t surprised to see Jack Sparrow and Steven tired his best to get a good picture of him.

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He looked pretty good and had very similar mannerisms, not to sure about the voice but he spent the majority of his time swigging a beer (I assume it was water of course) and singing in his ‘drunken state’

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We saw several characters like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle and of course the princess as well

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and her entourage

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Now I am not sure what happened here as Steven and I weren’t wearing our ‘Just Married’ pins, but Dopey came over to me. I am not sure maybe he liked my outfit or just sensed that bridal glow, but it was strange to see Dopey head for me like that. He picked up my hand and started looking at my rings, this really was strange!

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He pointed at Steven and me and nodded his head. He hugged himself and then started clapping. I still for the life of me can’t figure out how he knew that we had just married. Still I enjoyed the special attention I received from Dopey even if it was unexplained.

The last character to come out was of course the head honcho, the one and only Mickey…complete with his pirate garb.

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I enjoyed the parade and it was more entertaining that most at Disney. I was grateful that it was slightly cooler than during that day and I liked the pirate and princess theme.

We headed directly for the castle as the fireworks were due to start in 30 minutes and I was determined to get a good spot. We were yet to see Wishes from inside the park and I didn’t think I would get the chance to this trip, so I was eager to see Magic, Music and Mayhem from the best viewpoint possible.

I was so excited to see the show and we managed to find a great spot. Luckily this was a huge area and even as the time plodded on, we were never bothered by anyone pushing to get in about. People were spread out on either side of the park but the majority seemed to congregate at the front of the castle.

Suddenly everything grew quiet and we all stared in awe as the castle quickly changed colours. The music surrounded us and we looked up to the sky...

Coming up...

Magic, Music and Mayhem pictures

pjstevens

04-06-2010, 05:57 PM

Summer, I think you looked great in your costume (and your entire wedding trip). We all want to lose more, but being happy is more important and you just glowed in your photos.

How very sweet of Doopey to shower you two with attention. It's possible that he remembered you from somewhere during your trip. You have such a unique look that I can think he/she would of remembered your beautiful face.

Can't wait to see the fireworks!

dizneyfreak

04-06-2010, 11:24 PM

Sounds like the party was a good time up to this point :goodvibes

You and darling Steven must go to the Not So Scary Halloween Party...I won't take no for an answer. It is always my favorite part of my fall trips and is a must do. I have been to a Pirate and Princess party and it does not hold a candle to the Halloween Party. Let me tell you why:
1st EVERYONE dresses up for the Halloween party...not just the kids and the costumes are really good and have a lot of thought put into them.
2nd You best grab two of the candy bags they hand out at the gate when you walk in because they LOAD you down with the sweet stuff if you make sure to hit all the candy stops on the map and there are a lot more candy spots than there were treasure spots.
3rd You MUST see the Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion at night...it is an experience not to be missed.
4th The fireworks and the parade are amond the best I have ever seen at any Disney park and I have been to Florida, California, and Paris so that's saying a lot!
5th It's always so much nicer to go out after the sun goes down with the glorious Florida breeze. I love to ride the rides and not sweat to death while I'm at it, plus the lines are shorter at night...BONUS!!!!
6th And most important...BECAUSE I SAY SO! :rotfl:

Ok, I'm done. I just really feel close to you after all of this and don't want you to miss it :hug:

I can't wait to hear more Miss Summer popcorn::

Anna Marie

Pooh_Girl

04-08-2010, 09:06 PM

You know I'm not going to miss a chance to miss your great TR!!!! Yours has been one of my all time favorites to read here!! :thumbsup2 DH and I haven't moved yet either. We are actually looking at the Vero Beach area now. It's about 1 1/2 to 2 hours southeast of Orlando. We went down a couple of weeks ago to check it out, and we are going back in August when DH gets more vacation time to check out the job prospects. Hopefully it will happen for us.
Good luck with paying off things and getting ready for a larger family!!

Kirsteen

04-09-2010, 08:47 AM

Great update Summer - you looked gorgeous in your pirates outfit - I can just imagine how hot you were. I haven't been to any of the beaches in Florida either but I just wanted to say that I'd love to do a trash the dress shoot - now if only I could fit into my wedding dress!!! :rotfl: Can't wait for the next installment x

Summer-Caitlin

04-19-2010, 04:04 PM

pjstevens - Awww shucks:hug:I am glad most of my photos came out the way I wanted them too, but as you say there will always be angles you don't like and shots you just wish hadn't turned out. I am sure the camera adds ten pounds don't ya think! Maybe Dopey did remember me, I just thought it was strange that he/she went straight for me, oh well, more pixie dust really.

Anna Marie - I like your list, it pretty much has me convinced, in fact the last reason, well how can I say no to that??:rotfl: So you going to the Halloween Party then Mrs? Oh it would be so fun if you were there when we were. I am not sure if I could convince hubby to dress up, but I certainly would, as I have already proved! I do love the idea of going on the Jungle Cruise at night, how fantastic would that be!!!! Do you get chocolate or candy, because in my world there is a HUGE difference. I like candy, but what do you class as candy? Twizzlers, Milk Duds, mini bags of cheetos, MMMMM:lmao:

Pooh_Girl - Thanks for the compliment, I have really enjoyed writing the TR. I still have a lot left so there is still plenty to go. Oh Vero Beach sounds lovely, I hope it all works out for you. I couldn't imagine being so close to Disney, that would be fab.
I am looking forward to this vacation maybe being our last one as a couple, something else to look forward to when we get back, something new to plan:banana:

Kirsteen - Thanks, I did feel good in the outfit on the night, but I sometimes think, "what was I thinking" especially the fact I walked through The Grand Floridian like that:lmao: I have wanted to do a Trash the Dress Shoot for years now, I just love the unique style you can get from them and as my dress didn't sell I am more than happy to trash it. When we do a VR it's an excuse to get a new dress anyway:lmao:

Sorry I have been away a little while but I have been really busy at work, plus I have been so busy filling out a huge questionnaire. Our wedding is going to be featured in a magazine:banana::banana: I had to contact both Disney and Randy to get their permission to publish our photos. So there should be some of the MK Shoot and our photos with Randy. I think they are also going to do a little story on it. I had to fill out the longest questionnaire EVER, well with me answering, it became the longest ever:lmao: I am just in the process of getting my photos copied on to another disc so I can send her all my photos. She will hopefully choose the best ones, but I intend to guide her in the right direction of a few;) I am really happy as I think Disney weddings aren't showcased enough, I will let you know when it's out and try my best to scan it in so you can see it.

So back to the TR at hand. Hopefully I will get this section up this evening or tomorrow afternoon:thumbsup2

Summer-Caitlin

04-19-2010, 04:46 PM

At first there was silence and then some noise erupted near the castle

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It was so beautiful to see. It was the first time I had been near the castle during any fireworks and it was definitely much better viewing them in the park.

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It was extremely loud because although we were concentrating on the castle, fireworks were going off all around us and I had to keep looking above and behind me to catch the full show.

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People were cheering and the park was filled with a wonderful wave of heat. I admit I took my hat off at this point as I really felt like I was beginning to melt and the I was really straining my neck to see all the fireworks, that brim on my hat was not designed for perfect viewing!

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This photo has to be one of my favourites!
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http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/21.jpg

I loved how there were so many different types of fireworks. The colors were amazing against the backdrop of the dark sky, everything was so clear. I kept telling to Steven to look to his left and right as they were just everywhere, no one does fireworks like Disney! There was also audio and the sound of Pirates filled the air.

The finale was approaching as the fireworks started to die down, there was a moment of pure darkness...

All of a sudden

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With one final burst

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It was all over

What can I say, it was fantastic, superb, stupendous and lastly over the top Disney style, but I wouldn't expect it any other way. It was the firework show to end all firework shows and I doubt I will ever be as impressed with any other firework show I see in the future. Come on Disney, the challenge is on!

Steven and I walked hand in hand and talked excitedly as we left the park about our night. It was a nice and relaxing and you could hear everyone discussing the magic that only Disney could provide.

Although the Pirate and Princess Party was great fun, for me especially, I doubt I would do it again. It was really expensive for what it was and I felt that I only really paid extra for the fireworks. The candy we collected wasn't the sort of things I would normally buy (Hershey Kisses are the exception) plus we didn't get very much, also we didn't take advantage and go on the rides, in hindsight we should have as the experience would have been so different. I loved the fireworks but it isn't worth paying that every time I go to Disney. However I hear that the Halloween Party is much better so I am definitely considering this as the thought of riding The Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion in the dark sounds fab!

We arrived back at our resort and I tucked into the now plentiful mini desserts I had stored, I was beginning to feel like a hamster! We sat on the balcony again, Steven in his jeans and shirt and I in my pirate outfit and the warm breeze continued for many minutes more.

Coming up...

Hmm, surely we have a plan for today? Dinner at Raglan Road again.

NYPrincess422

04-19-2010, 05:13 PM

OMG the castle looks amazing! You take some pretty great pictures :thumbsup2

pjstevens

04-19-2010, 05:27 PM

Summer, GREAT photos! Love that first one, the coloring, the castle, just beautiful!

The Charmed One

04-22-2010, 11:01 AM

Hi Summer,
Great update, loved the parade and the Dopey part very cute. Also the castle photo's were lovely.

Thank you for asking how I am in your post, I'm fine thank you, still happily married coming upto 4 years this Oct, that's what my countdown says, no WDW hols planned, lose weight and start a family is hopefully next for us.

Take Care. Looking forward to your next update, Wendy x.

dizneyfreak

06-06-2010, 12:03 PM

OK, so somehow I missed that last post. I was going through my favorite trippies today...re-reading them...and when I got to the end of yours I was like....WHAT!!! I totally missed the last one!

Your pictures were beautiful. I'm so happy for you that you got to experience the fireworks so close to the castle...it's a magical experience.

I'm glad to hear I have you convinced about Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party :banana: In answer to your question...there is a ton of different candy you get there...many different kinds of chocolate, a variety of hard candy, twizzlers, milk duds, jawbreakers, gum...etc. They even hand out raisens for those of us that like to eat healthy (that is so not me...I threw them out as soon as we got back t the room!) There were no small treat bags filled with chips, nuts, or that sort of food though. No matter on the candy you still must go! They candy is just an extra cherry on the amazing night you will have.

I hope to see your next installment soon dear...and I'm sorry to have taken so long with reading the last one...BAD ANNA MARIE! :headache:

Kirsteen

08-04-2010, 07:07 AM

The Charmed One

01-15-2011, 02:29 PM

Hello Summer - are you still around? Are you planning another trip? I can't remember. Your fireworks photos are amazing! :goodvibes I hope you are well.

The Charmed One - I :love: your signature - I want a Vampire with a Volvo too :lmao::lovestruc:cloud9:

Just checking in to see if their are any updates. I hope you are both enjoying married life.

Thank you Kirsteen he's not come yet but I'm still hoping. :cheer2:

Wendy x.

Summer-Caitlin

02-17-2011, 12:47 PM

Sorry I have been AWOL, have not been on this site in ages even though we did go back to Disney in September, was a bit of a let down if I'm honest as I was so tired the whole trip.

However as you can see from my ticker I am expecting a baby, a baby boy to be exact and he will be here in the next 6 weeks or so. So I have obviously been consumed with preparing for his arrival. I am on maternity leave as of next week though and I had planned on updating as I am still determined to get this finished.

Hope everyone is doing well, would love to hear updates from people!!!

AbbyPan

02-17-2011, 12:53 PM

Summer! long time no speak!
I'm so happy that you and steven are expecting...congrats and I hope to see pics of the new addition to the dis bride family!!

:hug:Abby

pjstevens

02-17-2011, 02:01 PM

However as you can see from my ticker I am expecting a baby, a baby boy to be exact and he will be here in the next 6 weeks or so. So I have obviously been consumed with preparing for his arrival. I am on maternity leave as of next week though and I had planned on updating as I am still determined to get this finished.

Hope everyone is doing well, would love to hear updates from people!!!

so very very happy for you!!!! :cool1:

WDBRDWLK

02-17-2011, 04:39 PM

That is fantastic news! Congrats to both of you.

MUDisneyCouple

02-17-2011, 07:33 PM

Congrats on your baby!! This is such an exciting time, best of luck and enjoy your last few weeks of pregnancy :)

Kirsteen

02-23-2011, 10:28 AM

Aw that's wonderful news Summer!! Congratulations to you both :goodvibes Little boys rock! ;)

Pooh_Girl

02-23-2011, 10:10 PM

Glad you two are doing well!!!! Congratulations on the little bundle of joy!!!!

feline figaro

07-14-2011, 03:40 PM

OMG Summer thats amazing news :lovestruc
I remember messaging you lots when i was planning my Disney Wedding which took place in May 2009 :thumbsup2
Your wedding was so inspirational to me & helped me with many decisions :goodvibes
Every time i hear Savage Garden, i think of your lovely wedding video
Hope you enjoy the next 6 weeks awaiting the arrival of your lil bundle of joy.
Lovely to see you on the boards ;)

Take care
Becca x

Summer-Caitlin

09-12-2011, 06:00 PM

Hi Girls

I thought this TR would have been long forgotten about but I thought I better come back and let you see some pics of our beautiful son Joshua:lovestruc He has kept me very busy and I just love him to pieces.

This was him when he was just born on the 26/03/11 at 12.23pm. He was 8lbs 7ozs. A very long labour of 18 hours, but worth every painful minute
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/DSCF2899-1.jpg

Joshua at 9 weeks
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/DSCF3312-1.jpg

At 19 weeks
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/P1010836-1.jpg

At 21 weeks
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/P1010884-1.jpg

http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/P1010892-1.jpg

and just recently at 23 weeks
http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/SummerJessica/P1020304-1.jpg

He has been the best thing that has ever happened to us and although the labour was eventful, I would go through it all again in a second! He is bringing joy to our lives every minute of the day and he is just such a pleasure to be around. Everyone adores him and he is such a happy baby. We are truly blessed:cloud9:

WithDisneySpirit

09-12-2011, 07:35 PM

You probably don't remember me, Summer, but I did follow your whole wedding report :lovestruc Joshua is just adorable!!! Thanks for sharing pictures of him. Don't babies just turn your life all around!!? :flower3: All my congrats and best wishes for the three of you...

pjstevens

09-12-2011, 07:55 PM

Oh my goodness Summer, Joshua is absolutely precious! Congratulations! So happy for your family. I was so tickled when I saw that you posted in this thread!

Dream426

09-12-2011, 08:25 PM

Congrats!!! We just had a baby girl in July. Isn't it the greatest feeling in the world. I can't get enough of her. Your son is adorable!!!

MUDisneyCouple

09-12-2011, 10:02 PM

So glad to hear all is well! Congrats on your little man - he is adorable! It's amazing how having a baby can make things so much more clear...our little princess will be two in two weeks and she wanted Mickey Mouse for her cake. So many things to look forward too, and the best part, seeing everything new through their eyes. Congrats again and take care :goodvibes

seaprincess

09-12-2011, 10:12 PM

Summer,

I am not sure if you remember me, I was a 2007 DisBride and we communicated after your beautiful ceremony and followed your trip report for many months to follow! Congrats to you both on the birth of your beautiful son Joshua! I am sure that you are thrilled and excited to have such a special gift! Hope life is treating you well and look forward to seeing more pictures in the future!

Seaprincess (Lisa):lovestruc

AbbyPan

09-13-2011, 08:36 AM

awe chucks, he is just adorable Summer.
Thank you for posting these pictures.

It's beautiful to see you and Steven grow as a family.

All the best to you!!:hug:

Angel16

09-13-2011, 11:18 PM

Hi Summer, Congratulations to you and Steven! :hug: Joshua is so Beautiful, what a wonderful smile and I imagine a great personality to match.

I don't imagine you remember me, however I started reading your PJ/TR back a long time ago. I had read through page 10, and you were much further along with your TR. I then wrote you how much I was enjoying each of your installments, however I was not up to your wedding yet. You ask me to let you know what I thought about your wedding.

Well....my life got really busy and I havenot been on the DIS all that much until recently. So your update about your new precious baby boy got me back to reading. Your wedding was beautiful, touching and just perfect. I enjoy your talent at writing, you bring us with you into the moment on each update. I feel like I am in WDW with you enjoying your wedding and honeymoon. That is an exceptional talent you have my dear! I have not finished your TR, don't even know at this moment if you have finished your TR. :goodvibes I am at the point where you are going back to GF to rent sea racer's for a second time.

Please update us as to how you all are doing. Are you living in Scotland (which is what is posted as your location)? Or have you moved to Canada? When do you plan on taking little Joshua for his first visit to Disney World?

Sending warm wishes to you, Steven and Joshua.

Angel16

zalansky

09-14-2011, 07:39 AM

Congrats on the baby - he is precious!!! Enjoy every second because what every little old lady tells you is true - they grow up WAY too fast! Mine are 6 & 8 now and looking at your baby's pictures brings me right back and it literally feels like they were just born. Now we're knee deep in homework and studies, gymnastics and sports, lots of activity. Its the best! :lovestruc

Are you staying home with him or are you still working? Again congrats!!!

pixie921

09-14-2011, 11:05 AM

Oh my gosh, how cute is HE! And all that hair! What a doll!! I hope you're enjoying every minute of mommy-hood ... it truly does fly by (mine is almost 19 now). Take tons and tons of pictures and video ... they'll be pricelss to you when he's grown! :goodvibes

Summer-Caitlin

09-14-2011, 11:41 AM

Awww thanks girls, you don't realise how much it means to me that you all seem so genuinely interested in how I have been doing and of course my new bundle of joy:lovestruc

I am enjoying being a mommy so much. I underestimated how much love I would feel for him and how protective I am of him. I am currently on maternity leave and will be up until the end of January. I currently still live in Scotland as the Canada thing just didn't work out due to various reasons. However since having Joshua we still want to move away as we realise that giving him a better life is so important and we don't think we can offer him that here. So it has been decided that Steven, Joshua and I will be moving back to Malta hopefully in April next year and my mom and his mom will follow hopefully about 4 months later. It isn't Canada but it will offer us a better life and whats more is it is safe. The sun shines most of the time, there are beaches and a more relaxing lifestyle and it is nice that we will have both mothers there. They can see Joshua grow up and hopefully be beside us when we decide to extend our family once again. Steven and I are both excited about this, we have both wanted to move forever. We are so close to getting the house on the market, should go up in the next few months and I will be sure to update when I get more news.

I have not finished my TR yet and I say yet as I still intend to finish it. I don't think I will have the same detail as even I, the one with the awesome memory, has lost some details, but I will do my best when I get around to it. Right now we are so busy with the house and move I am unsure when I will get round to it.

As for taking pictures of Joshua, I have almost 2000, yep, I am so enthusiastic with my pics. You can get me on Facebook if you want where I have loads of photos of him, Summer Carson-Dines, Aberdeen, don't think there will be many of us;) If you do locate me, don't mention the move abroad on there as I have work buddies and some family that are unaware of it as yet. Thanks!

Joshua's trip to Disneyworld I am hoping will be in the next few years, assuming I am not pregnant by then. I would like him to experience it as a child as I think the memories and photo opps we would get of him will be awesome. I think he would love it, his favourite toys are Disney ones, got to start him young :lmao:

Thank you to everyone who has joined me on this TR, it has been a wonderful experience sharing it with you and it has been great to be able to update you on the next chapter of our life. Will be sure to update with news soon

Summer xxx