Happily Ever After – a Disney Wedding, Honeymoon and Cruise - Day 4 Complete!

[Thumper's Tara]

Welcome to my trip report! Our crazy adventure included a Disney Fairy Tale Wedding and time at the Boardwalk Villas, the Grand Floridian, the Contemporary, and on the Disney Wonder. So, without further ado…here’s our 12-day adventure!

Main Cast of Characters:

Me: 32, a total Disney fanatic, planner extraordinaire, control freak, and master mind of our Disney wedding and every trip we have taken.

Matt: my DH, 31, the most patient, loving and sweet man on earth.

Tessa: my step-daughter, 5, a total princess who loves wearing pretty dresses

Supporting Cast:

My parents, my sister – bridesmaid, my nephew, my grandma, his parents, his sister - bridesmaid, his sister’s boyfriend, his great aunt, my matron of honor, another bridesmaid, best man, 3 groomsmen, and about 50 other family and friends.

Day 1 – Tuesday, January 15 – We’re Off!

At 5:15 am, the alarm clocks on both sides of the bed went off . Matt and I groaned and sluggishly pulled ourselves out of bed…not exactly the way I thought we would start our wedding trip.

I wanted so badly to have all of the packing finished on Sunday. I tried so hard, but the list of wedding to-do’s kept growing and it wasn’t until 1 am Tuesday morning that we finally finished packing. So, when the alarm clock went off, I didn’t exactly spring out of bed. After a few minutes, I remembered what was so special about this morning. Matt and I were leaving for Florida. I couldn’t believe that it had finally arrived.

Matt’s father was picking us up at 5:30, so we quickly dressed and headed downstairs. We said goodbye to all of the fur babies (3 bunnies and 2 cats), piled 4 suitcases, 2 backpacks, and my wedding dress into the Prius, made a quick stop for coffee, and headed off to the Westchester airport.

We were super early for our flight, but I am glad we were. We were able to upgrade to business class for $120. I love that Airtran offers this. More leg room, free drinks and more room for my wedding dress! It was well worth it. After checking in, we had breakfast in the little café in the airport.

Finally, it was time to board the airplane and really start our journey! I must admit that I did have a bridezilla moment. When we got on the plane, I had lovingly placed my wedding dress into the overhead compartment. As we were in business class, we were the only people “allotted” to use the overhead compartment space above our seats. Well, a couple minutes after sitting down, this large man wanders up from coach. I sat there for a moment watching him place something into the compartment, but then I couldn’t take it. I made Matt get up and see what it was. I was honestly trying not to panic and from my seat I had no idea if he was putting a giant suitcase on top of my wedding dress. I wasn’t worried about the dress getting wrinkled, but I didn’t want it ripped. I started to get a little agitated until Matt told me it was only a cardboard poster box. Phew. I know I totally overreacted and I am sorry for it now, but I was extremely nervous about my wedding dress arriving in Florida. Wedding dress safely tucked away, we sat back and enjoyed an uneventful flight to Orlando.

After arriving in Orlando, we picked up our rental mini-van and headed off.
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As it was only 12 noon, we decided to head to Target and Costco to pick up supplies for the Welcome Bags. We quickly finished our non-Disney shopping and decided to head to Downtown Disney (DD) to pick up some last minute Disney items. As we entered the magic gates, I felt a little bubble of excitement well up. We were in WDW and we would be getting married in a few short days…

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While shopping, we were both starving, but we wanted to hold out for Earl of Sandwich. As soon as we entered DD, we headed off to Earl of Sandwich for some yummy sandwiches. Did I mention that we love this place? Here's our review -http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=23166614#post23166614

Tummies no longer grumbling, we headed into the World of Disney to purchase some bride & groom ears, and a few last minute presents. While picking out our ears, a nice Cast Member saw us and asked when we had gotten married. We explained that we were getting married on Saturday in the Wedding Pavilion. Excited, the Cast Member asked us to wait where we were and ran off. When he came back, he had two buttons that said “Congratulations!” He was so sweet and excited for us – it was very cool.

All of our shopping completed, we headed to the Boardwalk to check in. Thankfully, our room was ready. Prior to this trip, I had stayed at the Boardwalk Villas twice before and I had read reviews complaining about long walks from the elevator to the room. I never really understood what the complaints were about – now I do. Our 1-bedroom, #3026, was a really long walk from the elevators! Honestly, it had to be in the next zip code.

My first trip to the Boardwalk Villas is the reason that we are Disney Vacation Club Members (DVC Members) now. While we actually purchased our points at Animal Kingdom Villas, the Boardwalk will always have a special place in my heart. Our 1-bedroom was beautiful and very clean. Here are a few shots of the room…some of the shots include Matt being silly ;)

Views from the balcony…
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The kitchen, dining area and part of the living room…
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The bathroom…
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The bedroom...
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And, the little towel person our mousekeeper left for us...
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Just as we finished inspecting the room, the bellman knocked on the door with our bags. Minutes after getting all the bags in our room, another knock at the door told us that our packages had arrived. I just want to say that I am very glad that we had shipped a bunch of wedding stuff using FedEx Ground. We would never have fitted everything into our suitcases! We had five boxes crammed full of goodies, programs, and assorted wedding items.

After we opened all of the boxes to make sure everything arrived alright, we settled down to assemble our Welcome Bags. We decided to do each a bag for each family unit and included enough treats for each person. Each Welcome Bag included a folder with a personalized itinerary, maps, and transportation directions, a personalized water bottles, home-made Disney Characters chocolates, pretzels, and granola bars.

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The water bottles were made using labels we had purchased on the internet. Matt designed and printed the labels. Here is a picture of Matt putting the labels on the water bottles:
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And here is a picture of me organizing and stuffing the Welcome Bags
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Here is a picture of the final product – about 25 Welcome Bags color sorted by hotel!
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Welcome Bags assembled, we dressed for dinner, and then, headed off to deliver the bags to the different resorts before our dinner at Artist Point. The deliveries were not too difficult – we had guests staying at All-Star Movies, Coronado Springs, the Boardwalk Inn & Villas, and 2 resorts off-site. We managed to get all of the bags delivered expect the Boardwalk and 1 off-site resort. As we were late for our dinner reservation, we decided we would drop those off the next day and headed to the Wilderness Lodge.

By the time we got to dinner, we were a little punch drunk! The lack of sleep the night before was getting to us and we were a bit giggly. We walk up to the check-in desk and tell them we have a reservation for 2 at 7 pm. The nice young man looks and looks for it and can’t find it. Talk about a buzz kill! Finally, he asks me for the phone number the reservation was under. I give it to him and he finds the reservation. Apparently, I made the reservation for 6:10, not 7! Whoops – I had meant to print out a detailed itinerary for ourselves, but skipped it when we started to run out of time. After all, I would remember every detail, wouldn’t I? Apparently not. Luckily, the restaurant was not busy and they were able to fit us right in. It was a wonderful meal - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=23166614#post23166614 - this is our review of our wonderful meal!

After dinner, we headed home to our villa. We were both ready for a good nights sleep!

Up next…Day 2 – Turn Left Here

[racheljessicasara]

Congratulations!
I am enjoying reading this!

[ILMICKEY]

I can't wait to hear all about it!!

[Thumper's Tara]

Matt and I are well matched in almost everything. One of the few areas where we are polar opposites is sleep. I am an early to bed, early to rise kind of gal. Matt is more of a creature of the night. If I let him, he would stay up until 3 am, then sleep until noon.

At 7am, I was wide awake and ready to go. One look at Matt told me he was not ready to get up! Taking pity on my man, I let him sleep and went out to the living room to do some organizing.

Several months ago, one of my bridesmaids found a wonderful favor idea for us – castle frames. They were absolutely perfect, but a bit more expensive than I had hoped. I decided to do some searching myself and found the same frames on eBay for a fraction of the cost. Instead of simply giving our guests the frames, we decided to use the frames as place cards. My sister, Matt and I had printed place cards and stuffed the frames at home. To insure their safe shipping, I had repackaged each frame in its original bubble pack and box.

This seemed a good place to start organizing, so I unpackaged each frame and alphabetized them, and carefully stacked them in a box top. An hour later, I finally had all of the frames unpacked and organized. Even though they were labor intensive, the frames turned out beautifully.

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After getting the frames done, I spent a few minutes organizing the remaining wedding items. Everything for the reception needed to be organized together and brought with us to the rehearsal. I quickly organized all of the remaining items into three piles – the stuff for the rehearsal, the welcome party favors, and everything we would need to get ready the morning of the wedding.

By now, it was almost 9 am. I decided that I would make some coffee and lovingly wake my sleeping beauty. I started to prepare the coffee when I realized we didn’t have any half and half. I had forgotten to buy some the day before. No problem, I would run down to the Boardwalk and pick some up. I threw a sweatshirt on and ran down. As I have stayed at the Boardwalk before, I headed right to the store, right to the cooler, opened it up and stopped.

Where’s the half and half?

Maybe they aren’t keeping it by the milk? I quickly scan the other coolers. YIKES. They don’t have any half and half. Not one to panic, I wander over to the nearest CM.

“Excuse me,” I said, “can you tell me if you have any half and half.”

Of course they do, the woman assures me. She walks right over to the cooler opens the same door I had and stops.

“Oh,” she said, “I guess we are out.”

Okay, now we have a problem. While I can make due with any form of caffeine, Matt really needs his coffee in the morning. Neither one of us really cares for the powdered “milk” they give you in the hotel packages. I suppose that I could have picked up a container of milk, but I really prefer half and half.

I had mentioned room service for breakfast the night before, but I hadn’t necessarily been serious. It was a nice thought, but I knew we had a lot to do. It was probably better to save room service for a morning we could really enjoy it. However, the lack of half and half made the decision crystal clear. Room service it is. Yippee! I love room service – a guilty pleasure that I rarely get.

I returned to the room to wake Matt up. He hadn’t even moved since I had gotten up. It took me a few minutes to wake the sleeping beast. I honestly believe that a herd of elephants could have marched through and he would have slept right through it. Hoping to motivate him to get up, I mentioned room service. He slowly started moving and eventually made it to the kitchen table. After a few more minutes, he was finally somewhat coherent and was able to order our breakfast.

While waiting for breakfast, we took turns showering and getting ready for the day. Our breakfast arrived fairly quickly and was very yummy – here’s our review - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1719968

Our first task of the day was to finish delivering the Welcome Bags. We still had a bunch bags for our guests staying at the Boardwalk and one bag to be delivered off-site. There were too many bags for us to carry to the front desk on our own, so we called bell services for help. Our bellman arrived quickly and helped us pile the bags onto a cart. We spent a few minutes talking to the front desk manager to arrange for the bags to be delivered, and then, we headed out to drop the final bag off.

As Matt and I had quite a bit of driving to do in Orlando, I had ordered a GPS navigator for our mini-van. In addition, I had created a complete list of every possible location in Orlando where we would potentially need to go – including the location of the Ramada Inn Eastgate, the last hotel we needed to drop off a Welcome Bag to. As we were settling into the car, I started to pull out the address list to enter in the Ramada Inn’s address. Matt stops me and tells me that he had entered in all of the addresses into the GPS while I was in the shower. Cool! We are all set…

So, off we go. Our little GPS leads the way – turn right here, turn left there. We sit back and put our faith in the fact that the GPS Lady knows where to go. After a few turns, she gets us to US Hwy 192. Turn left here. Check. We drive. We drive some more. And a bit more. It must have been 10 miles. As we keep driving, I mention that the hotel seems very far away from Disney and that the neighborhood was becoming more residential. It just didn’t seem like the place for a hotel. However, our faithful GPS Lady told us to keep driving and so we did.

Eventually, after a fairly complicated maneuver that has us go around a block, turn left and then right, GPS Lady says, “You have arrived at your destination.” Matt and I look around, then at each other, then around again. We are in the parking lot of a boarded up building. We are looking around – is the hotel behind the boarded up building? We drive a bit further into the parking lot. Nope, no hotel.

Hum. Matt decides to call the hotel using the GPS. “We’re sorry. The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected.”

Okay. Something is not right. I pull out the address list to double check the phone number. The number I have on the list is different. Hey wait…the address is different too.

Honey…did you use the list to input the address into the GPS?

Uh no…he used the GPS’s search feature to look for the Ramada. I check the address – it was the right road, but wrong number…the wrong number by several THOUSAND. DUH!

We head back the way we came. And we drive, and we drive, and we drive. At the very corner where we had originally turned onto W. Hwy 192, we see the Ramada Inn Eastgate. DUH!

Finally arriving at our destination, we pull into the parking lot and I head into the lobby. I explain to the woman behind the counter that we are getting married here in Orlando, and that two of my guests were staying at the Ramada. I ask her if we could leave the Welcome Bag for our guests. Sure – what are your guests’ names? I tell her. She can’t find them. She tries again, but still can’t find them. She then asks me to wait for the manager.

After a few minutes, the manager comes over and tries to find my guests. No luck. Well, my cousin had recently married – can you check under her maiden name? No one under that name either. The manager asks if I was sure that it was the Ramada Inn Eastgate. I am positive of this – my cousin had not only given me the name of the hotel, but the address as well. Finally, the woman printed out a list of everyone checking into the hotel over the next few days. She gave me the list to check – my cousin was definitely not on the list. I thanked the woman for all of her help and went back out to the car.

I didn’t feel right leaving the bag at the hotel without proof that they were actually staying at the hotel. The welcome bag wasn’t filled with anything valuable, but it did have specific directions for the dessert party in Epcot. With all of this in mind, Matt and I decided that we would give the bag to her father at the Welcome Party the following evening. My poor cousin never did get the bag though – in all the confusion, I forgot to bring the bag to the Welcome Party. Oh well, I tried…

Somewhere during our tour of US Hwy 192, my sister called to let us know that she, my nephew, my parents, and my grandmother had landed and they were on there way to the Boardwalk. Matt told the GPS Lady to take us home – thankfully, she knew where she was going this time

As soon as we walked into the lobby, we saw my family. They were waiting to check in. It was great to see them! After they checked in, we spent a few minutes catching up while we waited for Randy’s Mobility to bring the two scooters my family had rented. The man (Randy?) who dropped the scooters off was wonderful. He spent a few minutes showing all of us how to use the scooter, and giving us little tips about using them in the parks. Renting from Randy’s Mobility was one of the BEST decisions we made. My mother is recovering from two broken legs and my grandmother can walk small distances, but isn’t up for long walks. The scooters gave them independence and made the trip much more enjoyable for everyone. I highly recommend Randy’s.

After getting the scooters, we all headed upstairs to check out the rooms. I am glad to say that their rooms were super close to the elevators. My nephew, Rylie, really enjoyed exploring the rooms and the scooters. Here is a picture of him exploring…

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Rylie has a fascination with wheels and he was very interested in figuring out how the scooters worked. A couple of times during the trip, he surprised us all by either turning up the speed on the scooter or by pulling the trigger when we weren’t looking and making the scooter go.

With a bunch of errands to run, we decided to divide and conquer. My sister, Rylie, and I would go to Costco’s, my dad and Matt would go pick up the tuxes, and my mom and grandma would rest. Costco’s was uneventful, but the tuxedoes turned out to be a challenge.

The first tuxedo call came as we pulled into the parking lot at Costco’s. Stephen’s (groomsmen) tuxedo had not arrived and they would have to go back on Thursday to pick it up. Okay – not great news, but we could work that into the schedule.

The second call came while we were shopping. Matt’s shirt didn’t fit and my dad’s pants looked like a major flood was expected. Two weeks before the wedding, I had learned that the tuxes are not actually stored in Orlando. They are stored in Houston, TX. Yes, Texas. After I learned this, I tried to remain positive about things not going wrong. After all, Men’s Warehouse is a solid company and I believed that they would measure and record correctly. This turned out not to be the case. The Houston location presented a major problem – they would be able to get replacement tuxes for my father and my groom, but the groomsmen were not arriving until Friday afternoon. If the tuxes didn’t fit, there would be no way to get a replacement tux in time for our 10 am wedding.

The third call came as we were leaving Costco’s. Matt had reviewed the measurements and he believed that everyone else’s tux would be fine. Sweet man that he is, he was trying to calm my fears. As there was nothing I could do about this, I tried not to stress about it.

At this point, we were cutting things close for our dinner reservation at Chef Mickey’s. With no time to change or run back to the room, we agreed to meet everyone at the valet stand to head over to the Contemporary.

Chef Mickey’s was so much fun! When booking our reservations, I thought that we would be a larger party than we actually were. Because we were a considered a “grand gathering”, our only choice was an early reservation. Our reservation was set for 5:20. We arrived on time and were seated almost immediately. Of course, we had our photo taken before being seated…

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The best part of this meal was the character interactions. This was Rylie’s first experience with characters. His eyes were like saucers as he took in all of the commotion. Almost immediately after we were sat, they started the celebration song. He loved that – especially because Donald Duck was near. Rylie kept saying “duck, duck, duck” while looking at Donald. He definitely knew who Donald was!

I think that Rylie enjoyed looking at the characters from afar, but he really didn’t know what to do with them when they were up close. He was a bit hesitant to interact, but he definitely enjoyed them. The first character to visit us was Mickey.

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The next character was Minnie…again, Rylie wasn’t too sure what to make of her… He seems more interested in his apple juice than Minnie.

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Goofy was next. He was really excited to see our ears! He pointed to me, looked at Matt and gave him the thumbs up. Then, he decided tried to pull Matt’s sweatshirt hood over the ears…

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When that didn’t work, he took the hat off Matt and put it on my dad…

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Then, he got the hood up…

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…then he got my mom to smile ;)

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And got a picture with Rylie…who wasn’t interested!

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After Goofy, Donald came by. I was really looking forward to seeing Rylie with Donald. He loves ducks and I had hoped that Rylie might interact. Again, he enjoyed looking, but wouldn’t touch or interact…

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Donald then stopped at my dad…

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…and then, he insisted that I get up and join him and Matt for a photo…

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While seating us, the hostess had given us special place mats in celebration of our upcoming wedding. Shortly after Donald left, our server brought us a special cupcake, lit it, and told us not to blow it out just yet.

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Just after she left, they started the celebration song again. Donald came back to our table to celebrate with us. He also posed for another picture …

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…our server told us we could blow out our candle! Celebration complete, Pluto finally made his way over to us.

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Completely stuffed and having enjoyed our dinner, we headed out.

Prior to our trip, my sister spent 10 days at our house helping us with wedding stuff. She was amazing…she spent three days helping me make chocolates, tied every single bow on the programs, kept my step-daughter entertained when I was preoccupied with wedding things, and even helped stuff the place cards into the frames. Most importantly, she did not kill me when I got snippy with her and she listened when I needed to vent. For all of her hard work, I had arranged for us to have pedicures together at the Grand Floridian. We sent the rest of the group back to the hotel and hopped on the monorail to the Grand Floridian.

Amy and I spent the next hour blissfully enjoying the peace of the spa. It was incredibly nice to be off my feet and having someone pamper me. I don’t remember everything that they used, but I loved the warming mud stuff and the eucalyptus stuff they used. They even gave Amy a little cup full to sniff to help her cold! I really enjoyed the spa – it smells wonderful, it is really peaceful, and every cast member wants you to truly enjoy your experience.

As part of our pedicures, they had given us little plastic flip-flops to wear while our toenails dried. We briefly debated taking the monorail back to the Contemporary, but it was almost closing time at Magic Kingdom. I just didn’t have the energy to deal with the masses, so I splurged and paid for a cab back to the Contemporary. We took the cab to the mini-van, and the mini-van to the Boardwalk. Looking back on it, we should have taken the mini-van to the Grand Floridian in the first place…I have no idea why we didn’t do that, but live and learn!

When we arrived at the Boardwalk, I found Matt sitting in the lobby waiting for his parents, sister, and Tessa to arrive. Amy was ready for bed, so we said good-night and I sat down with Matt to wait. We waited for quite a while, but eventually his family arrived. We were both very glad to see Tessa! We gathered all of her belongings and headed up to the room. We quickly got Tessa settled for the night and went to bed ourselves…tomorrow was going to be a busy day.

Up next…Day 3 – We’re walking, we’re walking, we’re stopping.

[Thumper's Tara]

When I was in high school, the movie “Dave” was released. In the movie, there is a scene that has stayed with me for a very long time…a blond tour guide is conducting a tour through the White House. In the true tour guide fashion, she is walking backwards leading her group, gesturing to her group to follow. As she is walking, she says, “we’re walking…we’re walking…we’re stopping.”

On the third day of our trip, I was that blond tour guide…well, a brunette version…I did the walking backwards. I did the gesturing. I even quoted her. Yes, I was the fearless tour guide leading my little group through the happiest place on earth!

Unfortunately, when we planned our trip and itineraries, the park schedule had not been released. When it was finally released, little Tessa’s ONLY day to spend in the Magic Kingdom was an Extra Magic Hours Morning…and it was not a green day! However, it was what I had to work with and I was determined to make it a magical day for my little pumpkin.

Extra Magic Hours meant that the MK opened at 8 am – so, the plan was to arrive at MK by 7:45 am and enjoy the opening show. Alas, the best laid plans…because of the tuxedo dilemma, Matt would be driving the mini-van over to MK, while I herded my parents, Amy (my sister), Rylie, my grandma, Meredith (my SIL), Ben (SIL’s boyfriend), Helen (bridesmaid) and Tessa onto the bus. Now, you will remember that both my mother and my grandmother had scooters. I really didn’t count on it taking 10-15 minutes each for loading and unloading…we were cutting it close, but we were still doing okay…until the bathroom bug hit.

What is the bathroom bug? The bathroom bug is the evil virus that runs through large groups…as soon as one person has to go, everyone has to go! We had just passed through security when Tessa started the pee-pee dance. We get Tessa taken care of…and then my grandma has to go. We get that taken care of…and then, I get a case of what I thought was wedding nerves, so then I needed to go. I swear we spent 15 minutes just dealing with the bathroom!

Between the unloading of the scooters and the bathroom bug, we had missed the opening show; however, we were still only five minutes behind schedule. As we were making our way down Main Street USA, I learned that being a tour guide is a lot harder than it looks. Somehow, our group had become a long, winding string of people. In the lead was Matt, Tessa, Amy, and Rylie – Matt knows the importance of the Dumbo Dash and Amy knew that I had Matt well-trained – so, they were both booking it for Dumbo. The rest of the family…not so much…you had my father stopping to take pictures of everything…my grandmother and my mother putting along on their scooters…Ben, Meredith, and Helen were enjoying their coffee and the sites…and then there was me…worried that I was going to lose someone!

We FINALLY made it to Dumbo. Thankfully, the crowds were not too bad and we only had to wait for one ride before it was our turn.

Tessa is an interesting age – she is at an age where she sometimes likes a given ride and sometimes she is scared of it. Dumbo is a ride she has had problems on before, so I thought she would choose her daddy to ride with her. In a surprise move, she choose to ride with Auntie Meri…

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…as you can see from her face, Dumbo turned out to be a scary ride for her this trip. I think she really doesn’t like how high up it goes. On the other hand, Rylie loved this ride…

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As Tessa was less than thrilled with her first ride, we decided to head over to the Indy Cars. Definitely not the most “Disney” ride, but she loves them and I have found that if we ride them right after Dumbo then the line isn’t too bad! I had never ridden the Indy cars, so I passed my camera off to Helen and joined everyone else. Unfortunately, Helen wasn’t able to get my camera to work, so the only pictures I have look like this…

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After riding the Indy cars, my grandma and Amy really wanted to ride the teacups! Yes, my grandma was the driving force behind the teacups! I wasn’t really sure about Tessa reaction to the teacups, but she really liked them…

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It was at this point that I was able to get us back on “plan” – we headed over to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. As I had mentioned before, my mom was/is recovering from two broken legs. Several days prior to leaving, she was given permission to walk short distances and would be able to transfer from her scooter. Pooh was the first ride she choose to ride and it was our first experience with the wheel chair entrance.

We did not have a guest assistance card and I didn’t want to take advantage of my mom being in a wheel chair. I was more than willing to split the group up and wait in line; however, I did want to make sure that we all got to ride in a group.

At Pooh Bear, we were all allowed in the wheel chair entrance together. I did tell the CM that those of us able to walk were willing to wait in line, but she ushered us all through. In order for my mom to ride, she needed to transfer from her scooter to a MK wheelchair. We then pushed the wheelchair up through the wheel chair entrance. When it was our turn to ride, they paused the ride to allow her the extra minutes she needed to transfer. In general, I think that we did pretty well on Pooh bear!

Here is a picture of my mom on her first ride! The rest of the party includes my dad, my grandma, Rylie, and Amy.
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2845.jpg

As soon as I snapped a picture of my family, Tessa was begging me to take her picture.

http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2846.jpg

After Pooh bear, we headed to Peter Pan’s flight. My mom wanted to ride this one as well. I have to admit that the transfer on this ride really scared me. My mom wasn’t that used to being vertical and the conveyor belt moves fast. I had visions of her falling and breaking another bone. As if I needed anymore wedding stress ;) Thankfully, she was able to transfer without any issues.

In August, Tessa wanted nothing to do with Peter Pan. She really, really, really didn’t like the ride. In fact she cried through the entire thing. This time, she was willing to ride it (I think the fact that Rylie was riding it made her feel she had to) and she actually looked around. She thought it was too cool that anything white glowed in the dark. Phew – I was hoping that she would enjoy it more this time around.

Up next was It’s a Small World. My mom choose not to ride this one – the step down into and out of the boat was just too much. My mom and dad decided to chill out while the rest of us enjoyed the demon children…oh wait, I mean the beautiful dolls.

At this point, Matt and I decided to divide and conquer – Matt went to get fastpasses for Space Mountain and I tried to get the group to the Judge’s Tent. Matt was successful. I wasn’t so successful – we got to Goofy’s Barnstormer and everyone scattered. My mom and grandma (both diabetics) needed something to eat, Meredith and Ben needed coffee, my dad wanted to take Rylie on the Barnstormer, and I just sat there dazed as my entire group wandered off!

Oh well, it was one of those moments where everyone needed to sniff the roses! After about 15 minutes, Matt had returned and the group came back together…so we headed off to see the main mouse. Mickey was really sweet – he spent some extra time with our group.

Here is Tessa getting her autograph
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/image007.jpg

Then a picture of Tessa, Rylie, and Amy
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/image012.jpg

Then Rylie meeting Mickey…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/image014.jpg

Then Matt, Tessa, and I
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/image015.jpg

Then Matt and I…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/image018.jpg

Then Mickey congratulating me on our wedding…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/image019.jpg

Then Mickey congratulating Matt…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/image020.jpg

Then a group shot…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/image023.jpg

Finally, he gave my grandma a hug…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/image025.jpg

[Thumper's Tara]

As we were leaving the Judge’s Tent, we ended up finding character heaven. Right behind the Judge’s Tent there was about 10 characters chilling out with no one around them. We headed over and started making our way around the circle of characters…

First up was the evil guy from Pinocchio…hopefully someone knows his name.
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2867.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2871.jpg

Then Friar Tuck…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2880.jpg

Then Tessa met the Sheriff of Nottingham…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2885.jpg

Next up was Prince John. We had never met Prince John, so Matt and I got our picture taken too…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2890.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2891.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2892.jpg

Then Ghepetto…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2898.jpg

Then Pinocchio…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2900.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2901.jpg

Then Lilo…
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Then Meredith and Tessa met with Stitch
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/image027.jpg

Then Rylie and Amy met Stitch
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2910.jpg

Then Max…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2917.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2913.jpg

After Max was Rafikki
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2923.jpg

At this point, Rylie was done with big scary characters…but there was still one left – Perla! He wanted nothing to do with Perla…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2930.jpg

Tessa liked Perla though…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2935.jpg

[Thumper's Tara]

I am glad that we had met the characters when we did, because as we were finishing up it became really crowded. We were all ready for a rest, so we decided to take a ride on the train. Rylie loves trains! I think this made up for too much character time

After the train, it was time for lunch – we had several picky eaters and a vegetarian in the bunch, so we headed to Cosmic Rays. I figured it had the most choices. At lunch, Tessa decided to steal my ears…

http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2939.jpg

When we were finished, we split up – those who wanted to ride Space Mountain and those who didn’t. There were 6 riders, so we were able to get our own car and I was in the front. I have to admit, I squealed like a little girl. I love Space Mountain!

The non-riders were supposed to go ride Buzz Lightyear; however they weren’t able to go on it until 1 pm, because the CM wasn’t allowing anymore wheelchairs until then. It was 12:20 and the line wasn’t 40 minutes long, so I really don’t understand the reasoning. As I wasn’t there, I am not sure if there was something more to it or not.

When we were done riding Space Mountain, Matt and my dad headed off to pick up the tuxedos. The rest of us headed to Buzz Lightyear to rejoin our group. It was still a few minutes before 1 pm, but there was a different guy at the gate. He let us in the wheelchair entrance, but didn’t really tell us what to do. We headed through the line. It was very confusing –eventually, we met up with a CM and she ended up taking us back to the exit of the ride to get on.

Getting everyone onto this ride turned out to be a nightmare. Because her daddy was gone, Tessa was clingy. Rylie choose the exact moment we were trying to get my mother into the car to wander off. As I ran to get him, Tessa started a complete melt-down. Crocodile tears and everything. We did manage to get everyone onto the ride and then off of the ride. Tessa calmed down as soon as I returned to her, but her melt-down had my nerves a bit frayed.

After the ride, we stopped to check out our pictures and Tessa wanted to get a picture of herself in “jail”…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2940.jpg

At this point, things started to go crazy. I didn’t want to go on some of the rides until my dad and Matt returned. Also, Matt’s parents and Aunt Alice were supposed to be joining us at some point. With this in mind, I was trying to plan what we were going to do…but it was difficult, because I had no idea when everyone was going to join us. To give myself a few moments to think, I sent all of the mobile people on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority while my mother and I took a break.

To be honest, everything after the TTA is a blur. I know that we rode the Flying Carpets, saw the Country Bears, some people rode Pirates (Tessa didn’t like that one ;) ), and saw the Woody’s round-up show – but, I have no idea in what order we did them in. We never did use our fastpasses for Jungle Cruise or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Somewhere after Pirates, Matt’s parents and aunt joined us, and Matt and my father returned during Woody’s Round-up.

After Woody’s round-up, it was time for our dinner reservation. As a vegetarian, Helen wasn’t interested in joining us at the Liberty Tree Tavern, so she headed off on her own. The remaining 13 of us headed into LTT for dinner. Both Matt and I had horrible headaches at this point. Being a total gentleman, he offered to go buy us some Advil; however, I was ready for a grown-up time out! I waited until we had ordered drinks and then headed out to find some Advil. Let me tell you, the ten minutes that I was alone was blissful!

Anyway, here are some picture highlights of our meal…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2944.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2949.jpg

Can you tell my head is about to explode in this one?
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2951.jpg

Some more highlights…
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Dinner was great. I always enjoy eating at the Liberty Tree Tavern. I love the turkey, stuffing, and the salad. Everyone seemed to like it – I didn’t hear any complaints!

After dinner, we all headed up to the Haunted Mansion. Honestly, I had completely forgotten that I was supposed to call Helen when we were done eating. I was halfway to Haunted Mansion when I realized it, so I sent everyone off to ride while I met up with Helen. Helen was nearby, so it didn’t take long for us to return to the HM. We found a nice spot to sit down and had a nice chat.

While we were waiting, the skies opened up and it started pouring! Thankfully, the rain did not last long and we hid under the awning until it stopped. For the rest of the evening, the rain would start and stop!!

After HM, we decided to split up – my mom, dad, Amy, Matt, Tessa, Rylie and I held our parade spots, while everyone else enjoyed (well, they watched) Hall of Presidents. It is funny. We really didn’t need all of us to hold the spots, but the rest of us weren’t really interested. Honestly, I am not sure if the others were interested in seeing it either. They may have just wanted to get out of the rain.

After Presidents, different portions of the group would hold our parade spot while others would go to the bathroom, buy popcorn, etc. The kids were quite content. We had put ponchos over their strollers, so they enjoyed a nice dry cocoon while they waited. They were ready for some quiet time too.

As always, the parade was wonderful. I was too tired to take too many pictures, so I only have two! One of Donald Duck…

http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2970.jpg

And a bad one of Jiminy Cricket…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2971.jpg

After the parade, we somehow all made it from Liberty Square over to the Rose Garden. In the Rose Garden, I have a spot that I really enjoy watching Wishes from. While it isn’t a straight on view of the castle, it is always fairly empty. It was a great spot for us all to enjoy Wishes!

My favorite memory of the day was Rylie watching the fireworks…or not watching them. Right before the fireworks started, he discovered a whole gaggle of ducks right behind us. All during Wishes, he would look behind us and say “duck”. Then, he would turn forward and watch the fireworks for a few minutes. While watching the fireworks, he would say “On”, “on”, “uh oh”, and “oh nooooo.” Then back to the ducks, then back to the fireworks. It was so much fun to watch and listen to him as he sat with grandpa!

Here is a picture of Rylie and my dad watching Wishes…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2972.jpg

When Wishes was over, we gave the crowds a few minutes to clear out and then headed out ourselves. Matt, Matt’s parents, Aunt Alice, Ben, and Meredith headed back to the hotel in the cars. My mom, grandma, Rylie, Tessa, Dad, Amy, and I headed back on the buses.

Now, the bus ride home was one of those moments where I almost totally lost it. We had two scooters and two sleepy children to get back to the Boardwalk. We got in line for the bus to the Boardwalk and started to wait for our turn. After a few minutes, a CM came up to us and told us to get out of line because we would need to wait at the wheel chair entrance. We are partially out of line (we were trying to get out of line and people were passing us in line), when she tells us that only one extra person per scooter was allowed. There were seven of us, so at least three of us had to get back into line. My dad, Rylie, Tessa and I ended up getting back into line, but we ended up losing about 40 spots in line. If we hadn’t had the kids, this probably would not have bothered me so much. But, the kids both wanted to be carried, and we were all exhausted. If only the CM had given us the complete story BEFORE we had gotten out of line! We ended up having to wait for two more buses. I was not happy Bob. Not happy. Okay…enough venting! We lived through it.

Eventually, we returned to the Boardwalk. When Matt, Tessa, and I got back to our room, we decided to put an exhausted Tessa to bed in the bedroom. I am so glad we did…we ended up having a bunch of people stop by that night. First, my bridesmaid Helen and our friend Janis came by. We ended up opening a rather large bottle of wine and talking ourselves silly! We finished the first bottle of wine and opened a second – part way through that bottle, Stephen (groomsmen), Stephen’s wife Terri, Chris (groomsmen), and Chris’s girlfriend showed up. Needless to say, we finished the second bottle of wine and half a case of beer! About 1 am, everyone finally headed off. Matt moved Tessa back onto the pull-out couch, and we headed to bed.

Up next – a bachlorette party, a nail appointment, a rehearsal, and a Welcome Party!

[ProudMommyof2]

Can't wait to read more!!

[ang38]

You said you flew out of Westchester Airport...how was it? We are flying for the first time out of there in May and on Airtran...How early did you have to get there? Do you live in the area? We're from Yonkers.....

[Thumper's Tara]

My first thought Friday Morning was yuck. I woke up desperately thirsty and with a slightly pounding head. My tummy wasn’t feeling so hot either. Figuring this was just remnants of the wine, I drank a bottle of water and took some Advil.

Matt, Tessa and I would be splitting up today. Matt was taking his groomsmen and their partners to Magic Kingdom for the day. Princess Tessa Rose, Nonnie (Matt’s Mom), Aunt Alice, Meredith (Matt’s sister), and two of Nonnie’s friends would be attending the Perfectly Princess Tea Party. My bridesmaids and I would be doing a girls only morning at Epcot.

Matt’s day went well. Being the controlling Disney freak that I am, I had laid out a touring plan for them. From what I heard, they mostly followed the plan and had a good time. They must have! For the rest of the weekend, all of the guys would go off with “the wildest ride in the willllderrrness” – Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was a big hit.

One of the groomsmen, Stephen, is a big Mickey fan – so, I made sure that a stop at Mickey’s Judge’s Tent was on the plan! Here is a picture…

http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/image056.jpg

Princess Tessa had a fabulous time at the Perfectly Princess Tea. From what I hear, she was a bit shy and wouldn’t go up with the other little girls to do the singing and dancing. However, she enjoyed meeting Rose Petal…

http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_0169.jpg

And Princess Aurora…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_0161.jpg

As part of the tea, the little girls get a tiara, a bracelet and a My Disney Doll. The Disney Doll comes dressed as Princess Aurora. Princess Aurora is one of Tessa’s favorite princesses because of her name, Briar Rose. Tessa’s middle name is Rose and she loves the fact that the names “match”. Here is Tessa meeting her Disney Doll and enjoying the tea…

http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_0145.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_0156.jpg

My girls out morning at Epcot was interesting. My sister’s back was bothering her, so she begged off; however, my Matron of Honor, Tiffany was able to escape from her three little darlings for the morning. As the proud stay at home mama of a 3 year old, a 1.5 year old, and a 5 month old, she really deserved a morning off! In addition, my bridesmaid Helen, and our friend Janis joined us at my “bachlorette” party.

The girls met me in my room at 8:30 and we headed to the International Gateway. Our first order of business was Soarin’ – I had collected all of the girls tickets, so I swung by to get Fastpasses and then we rode Soarin’ for the first time. Everyone loved Soarin’, but I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I normally do. Hopefully, it was just the hangover…not that Soarin’ has lost its charm.

After our California adventure, we decided to grab a bite to eat at Sunshine Seasons. Tiffany and I each got a giant chocolate chip muffin and a coke. We split the muffins between the four of us. Halfway through the muffins, Helen realized that she had left her purse underneath the seat on Soarin. She hurried off to find her purse. Tiffany, Janis and I enjoyed our muffins while we waited.

All of a sudden, my tummy decided that it needed a restroom and it needed it NOW. I hurried off towards the restroom, but part way there I ran into my uncle and his wife. Of course, they were excited to see me! We chatted for a while, but then I couldn’t wait any longer. I excused myself and ran to the restroom. Again, I chalked up the tummy issues to nerves, but as I found out later this was not the case!

On the way back to table, I ran into Helen returning. The cast members had helped her find her purse. Whew. By this time, our return window for Soarin was open and we returned for another ride.

After riding Soarin, we headed over to Test Track to get some Fastpasses. Somehow the morning had totally escaped us and it was 11 o’clock. Yikes! We had lunch reservations at Chefs de France at 12 noon. It didn’t look like we would actually be able to use the Fastpasses.

With very little time left, the girls decided they wanted to ride the big golf ball…oh wait, I mean Spaceship Earth. The line looked a little long, but it moved quickly and we were soon enjoying our trip back in time. I really enjoyed the new twist.

SPOILER ALERT – don’t read if you don’t want to know ;-). So…here is the new twist. As the ride starts, the “voice” asks you to look at the camera for a picture. In front of each two-person seat is a computer screen. At the end of the ride, guests use the screen to answer questions about what themselves and what they would like to see in the future. Then, the ride spends a few minutes computing…when it is done, the screen uses your picture to present a future scenario based on your answers. It is a lot of fun!

SPOILER OVER!!

After our ride through time, we headed back to the World Showcase to grab a margarita before lunch. On our way, we found a photo pass photographer…

http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/image061.jpg

We enjoyed our cool margaritas while quickly exploring our way to France. We arrived in France right on time. I went to check in with the host. While checking in, I ran into a bit of a language barrier. The poor man said something to me about waiting. To be honest, I am still not sure what he said. I figured he said wait here and someone will call you. So, we waited.

A few minutes later, a man who likes like a manager calls my name. He asks where we had gone, because they had called our name once before. We hadn’t left the area, so I am not quite sure what happened – maybe, they called from the door to the restaurant? We were standing outside, a little ways from the podium, but we should have been able to hear them. Anyway, after I apologized (not sure why I apologized, but I felt like I must), the manager brought us to our table.

Our table was beautiful. It was next to a window overlooking Epcot. I think that the Chefs de France would be a great place to go on a “date night.” The ambiance is very romantic.

Originally, I had grand plans on how my bridal lunch would be! I imagine us ordering champagne and being decadent with our lunch choices. Reality was a bit different. My tummy was still upset. The margarita had gone over okay, but the thought of a bottle of wine made my tummy turn. We were not very decadent either – salads, flatbreads and crepes. I love dessert, but we didn’t even have dessert! I think everyone was a bit off…

Also, Helen, Janis and Tiffany were a weird mix together. Helen and Janis are vegetarians and Tiffany is a pure meat eater. Tiffany has trouble understanding people who don’t eat meat. Both Janis and Tiffany are stay-at-home moms, but have totally different beliefs in child-raising. Also, Janis isn’t really into the whole Disney thing and really had a hard time understanding people who are. Don’t get me wrong, we had a good time, but the conversations were strange and sometimes awkward.

After lunch, we split up. Helen and Janis were going to spend the afternoon exploring Epcot. Tiffany needed to get back to her family. And, I needed to change and head over to Periwinkle’s for my nail appointment. I headed back to the Boardwalk and quickly changed into my dress for the rehearsal. I was cutting it very close for my nail appointment, so I put my sneakers on over my stockings and walk/ran over to the Beach Club.

Ahhh…my nail appointment. When planning my wedding, I never imagined that my nails would be one of the more challenging things to arrange. I am a nail biter. Several months prior to our wedding, I had fake nails put on to break me of the habit and to give my cuticles time to heal. I really wanted pretty hands for the wedding.

Originally, I was going to get my nails filled the morning we left and then have them repainted on Friday. Then, AirTran cancelled our PM flight and our plans changed. Instead of leaving Tuesday night, we were now leaving Tuesday morning.

Okay…plan B. I called up the Dolphin and arranged to have an acrylic fill done Wednesday evening and a repaint done Friday morning. Then, I found out that I didn’t actually have acrylic nails, but actually had silk wraps.

No problem…plan C. I would change my appointment at the Dolphin to wraps. I call to change my appointment and learned that they don’t do silk wraps. So…plan D…I cancelled my appointment at the Dolphin and started calling around. No one does silk wraps in the area. Ugh. After way too much time on the phone, I settled on plan E. I had a fill done at home on Sunday and scheduled a repaint for Friday.

The repaint was scheduled for 1:45 pm at Periwinkle’s at the Beach Club. I walked in the door at 1:50. I felt so bad! I hate to be late. Thankfully, the CM was really understanding and was still able to do my nails. She did a great job. Also, she was understanding when I messed up my thumb in the middle. My cell phone rang and without thinking I reached into my bag and pulled it out. I ended up with a smudged thumb. No worries – the CM fixed it without blinking an eye.

While my nails were drying, I spent an enjoyable 15 minutes talking to the CM’s young daughter. The daughter didn’t have any school, so she was spending the day at work with her mom. I wish I could remember her name. She was adorable. She was about 13 and was enthralled to meet a Disney bride. She was very polite and really fun to talk to.

By the time my nails were dry, I was running late (again!) for our rehearsal. I debated for a moment on walking back to the Boardwalk or trying to catch a boat. I ran out and headed for the boat dock. I had just reached the dock when I saw a boat pulling up. I put it into high gear and get to the end of the dock just as the boat lands. Thank goodness. I made it in time.

The CM slides open the door and tells me, “This is a training boat. Another boat will be here 15 minutes.”

I almost cried. Purely out of desperation, I begged the CM, “Is there anyway you can bring me over to the Boardwalk? I would never ask, but I am getting married tomorrow and I am late for my own rehearsal.” My eyes were tearing up and I was shaking with anxiety.

The fantastic CM agreed and allowed me on the boat! All three CMs were extremely charming. The trainer told me to remain seated throughout – they were training and it might get bumpy. It wasn’t a problem though – the trainee smoothly landed the boat. I thanked all of them over and over again. It is the little “extras” like this that make me glad that I choose Disney for our wedding…

Up next…the Rehearsal and Welcome Dinner!

[Thumper's Tara]

You said you flew out of Westchester Airport...how was it? We are flying for the first time out of there in May and on Airtran...How early did you have to get there? Do you live in the area? We're from Yonkers.....

Yes, we did fly out of Westchester. We fly out of Westchester all of the time. I like it so much better than flying out of LGA or Newark. We typically get to the airport about 1 1/2 to 2 hours ahead of time. There are two reasons we go so early - (1) we are often dependent on others for rides to the airport and I like to leave extra time for the person to be late. I know Matt's family :rolleyes: and (2) when it is just Matt & I, we like to bump up. You have better luck bumping up to business class if you are there early! One thing to keep in mind about flying out of Westchester is parking. The parking lots do fill up and then there is no where to park. As I said, we normally get a ride so it isn't a problem...but it is something to keep in mind if you are planning on driving yourself.

We are in Ossining! Not too far from you. Actually, I spent quite a bit of time in Yonkers while shopping for a wedding dress! What a small world!

[pl'smama]

I am totally lovin' your tr so far! I have always wanted to be married at Disney, but that was not in the cards. So, I am living through you!! I can't wait for the next installment. Oh and congratulations!!

Suz

[Thumper's Tara]

I am totally lovin' your tr so far! I have always wanted to be married at Disney, but that was not in the cards. So, I am living through you!! I can't wait for the next installment. Oh and congratulations!!

Suz

Thank you! I will share a little secret...I read a trip report that Janet2K for her vow renewal and that is when I knew that I wanted to get married in Disney! There is nothing to say that you don't have a chance for a vow renewal there!

Cheers,
T

[Thumper's Tara]

Day 4 – January 18 – Part 2: the Rehearsal

As soon as the boat safely docked, I started running to the lobby. On my way, I ran into one of the groomsmen, Chris. Puzzled, he asked me why I was running. I said that we were supposed to meet for the rehearsal at 2:30 in the lobby and I was late. Chris just laughed at me. He said, “do you think they will do anything without you?”

Good point. I was the bride. They wouldn’t leave without me. I felt like a hypocrite though – I was very stern when I told everyone when to meet. Reverend Jack Day had an actual wedding after our rehearsal, so we could not be late. But, I had built in some extra time – I was well aware of how late some people could be. In the end, everyone was ready when I arrived and we were able to head over to the Grand Floridian.
We were split into three cars – our mini-van, my parents’ mini-van, and Matt’s parents’ car. My parents had left first in order to have a bit of extra time with the wheelchair. Our mini-van held all of the groomsmen! It was a very enjoyable ride. The guys kept going on about the “wildest ride in the willllderrrrness.”

I had confirmed with our wedding planner the location of our rehearsal before we left. I made sure that all of the bridal party had the correct location in their newsletters (yes, I am anal ;) ). When we arrived, we eventually found that we had been moved to another location. We had to wander a bit, but we found our room! Apparently, our planner had thought we would come enter the convention center from a different door. She had a sign placed at that door - unfortunately, we picked a different door!

For each event, the resort makes a personalized door tag. When we were did our tasting in August, we were pleased with this little touch. When we saw our tag here, I think we both realized it was for real. Here is a picture our door tag…

http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_0184.jpg

Shortly after finding the room, I realized that my parents’ mini hadn’t arrived yet. Odd. They had left before us. They should have arrived by now. My nerves were already frazzled, so I called them. My dad sounded a bit touchy, but said that they were finding a place to park. A couple of minutes later, everyone shows up. My sister almost throws the GPS at Matt, saying, “the next time you program this stupid thing, be sure to put in the correct address. It took us ten miles in the wrong direction before we figured it out.” She was not pleased. Neither was my dad. Uh oh. Another error caused by not using my print out. I could have said something, but thought it probably wasn’t the best time ;)

Now that everyone had arrived, we started our rehearsal! As I said above, Reverend Jack had another wedding at 5 pm, so we started with a walk through of the ceremony. During our planning, I had spent a ton of time on DIS looking at the wedding threads. My research led me to two wonderful people – Reverend Jack Day and Photographer Randy Chapman.

Reverend Jack is amazing and has a fun personality. I also really liked the fact that he allowed us to customize our ceremony. He sent us several typical ceremonies and encouraged us to mix & match to suit our needs. I blended several of his ceremonies with a step-family ceremony I had found. It was perfect!

Here we are listing to Reverend Jack run through the ceremony…as you can see, I still have my sneakers on!!

http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_0096.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_0097.jpg

As part of the rehearsal, Reverend Jack taught us how to light the Unity candle…I struggled with this one! Have you ever been so tired that you just don’t process information? That is how I was! I could hear Reverend Jack speak. I understood the words, but I couldn’t process what I had to do. During the practice, I struggled so much, that Matt was whispering what to do!

http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_0100.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_0187.jpg

One of the key things we learned is who gets to blow out the candles! the man always blows out the candle – women tend to be more flammable. Every time it was time to “blow out” a candle (candy for our practice), Reverend Jack would say, “Careful. She’s flammable.” It was too funny!

After learning how to light the candles, Reverend Jack taught us this little dance. The purpose of this dance was to get me and my train back in front of the alter without tripping. I wish I had a video or photos of us practicing this. It took us a couple of tries to get it, but we did. Although, we did practice it again that night!

Once we had completed the ceremony run through, Reverend Jack left for his other wedding and our planner, Celeste, took over. We practiced the processional…at this time, the only pictures I have are kind of blurry. My MIL got a new camera and didn’t quite have the hang of it!

My father and I walking down the aisle…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_0186.jpg

…and the boys in their line up…
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_0189.jpg

After practicing the processional, Celeste went through all of the last minute details – transportation, photos, music, etc.

At this point, I ended up in an argument with a family member! I wouldn’t even bring it up, but although I thought the matter was settled it comes up again later in the day. I was frustrated at this point, but not furious. That would come later ;)

The rehearsal finished, we head out. On our way out, we saw the most beautiful thing.



Do you want to know what it was?


Of course you do! It was Cinderella’s Couch!
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2974.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/100_2973.jpg

Cinderella’s Coach is beautiful. I almost wish we ordered it; however, the cost was just too much for us. How much was it? Cinderella’s Coach is $2700 for 30 minutes. Gorgeous as it was, I just couldn’t justify spending the money on it. Too many other things were more important to us. Plus, our theme was more about the castle and the main mouse ;)

At this point, we split up. Matt’s parents, Meredith, Ben, and Tessa were going to ride the monorail and then return to the resort. The rest of us headed back to the Boardwalk to get ready for dinner.

[Thumper's Tara]

When Matt and I returned to the Boardwalk, Matt went to check in to his new room. We aren’t super traditional, but did decide that Matt would stay in a different room the night before the wedding.

While dining in France, I had received a text message from my sister saying that my dress had been successfully steamed; however, Matt could not enter our 1-bedroom because the dress was now in the open. With this in mind, I headed up to the 1-bedroom to see my dress and to gather all the gifts and favors for the Welcome Party.

During my wedding research, I had discovered the most amazing website for party shopping – Oriental Trading Company. I love this place! They had mailed us a bridal catalog over the summer and I love what they had. In fact, OTC is where I got the cool welcome bags. The bags were $14.95 for 12. Cool, huh?

For our Welcome Party, I wanted to have a little something for our guests. I searched a bit on OTC and found some really cool ducks. I went “duck” wild and ordered 4 different types…

...pirate ducks...
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/pirate_ducks.jpg

...princess ducks...
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/princess_ducks.jpg

...fairy tale ducks..
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/fairy_tale_ducks.jpg

...and, bride and groom ducks...
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/bride_duck.jpg

I ordered the ducks prior to having a final guest count! Needless to say, Tess now has enough ducks to fill up the bathtub. For weeks after coming home, she had them all lined up on her bedroom floor!

Traditionally, the bride and groom give their attendants gifts the day before the wedding. For our groomsmen, we had gotten customized coolers and Disney Watches…

http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/cooler%20picture.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/watches.jpg

For our bridesmaids, I made matching necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of them, but they turned out beautifully! We also got all of the bridesmaids personalized totes in their favorite color…

http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/bridesmaid%20bag.jpg

For Rylie, the ring bearer, we got a personalized sports bag with a train on it (he loves trains), a personalized train bank, and a bunch of “Thomas the Train” trains.

http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/ring%20bag.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/cho%20choo.jpg

For Tessa, our flower girl, I made her a necklace, bracelet, and earring that matched the bridesmaids – except hers had a real necklace clamp and were clip on earrings. We also got her a cute little flower girl bag and bridal Minnie & Mickey stuffed animals.

http://homepage.mac.com/mfried/tara_images/flower%20girl%20bag.jpg

For my mother, Matt’s mother, Aunt Alice and my grandmother, I made them each a necklace to match their wedding day attire. We also purchased little digit picture frame key chains for the mothers – a great way for them to “brag” about our wedding! For the fathers, we found a cute little golf tag gift set that we customized to say, “Father of the Bride, 01/19/08” and “Father of the Groom, 01/19/08.”

By the time I had gathered all of the gifts, Matt had finished checking in and came up to help me bring the gifts. He was too cute – he knocked on the door. Amy had told him he wasn’t allowed in the room, so he didn’t want to come in! At all. After carefully shutting the bedroom door, I was able to convince him to come in. We gathered all of the gifts and headed down to the boat dock.

At the boat dock, we ended up running into a bunch of our guests headed over to the Welcome Party! It was great to see everyone. We had a quick ride over to the Beach & Yacht Club and walked to Cape May Café. As we walked up, we found the lobby filled with our guests!

I touched base with the host – they had reserved an group of tables for us. The rubber duckies were helpful. Our tables were grouped pretty close together, but still over a fairly large area. We were expecting 50 people for dinner, so we took up one full section and part of another. We used the duckies to highlight which tables were ours.

When the room was ready, we tried to start seating people. We had a bit of a challenge with it though. People were in little groups talking to each other. To help move people into the restaurant, I tried to personally escort everyone to their table…but after a couple of people it got to confusing. Eventually, we were able to get everyone seated.

We spent the next few minutes hopping from table to table to say hi to everyone. After a bit, we went to get some food for ourselves. Dinner was a bit of a double-whammy for me. I do not eat seafood at all and my tummy was still upset. Very few things on the buffet looked appetizing to me, so I did not end up eating very much. I did drink a ton of water and I did manage to eat a bit.

When Matt finished his meal, we decided to hand out our bridal party gifts. I wanted to see each person’s reaction. So, instead of handing them all out at once, we brought each gift to the individual and watched as they opened it. The bridal party was fairly spread out so this worked well! Everyone liked their gifts…although, I do think Chris enjoyed the duckies more than the other gifts. He somehow managed to collect a complete set!

The meal completed, we headed back to the Boardwalk. On the way back to the Boardwalk, the issue from the rehearsal resurfaces! Matt was cornered by another family member about the issue. Of course, he tells me on the way back and I get frustrated that this issue just can't be left alone.

With my blood boiling, I left Matt getting Tessa ready for bed and headed to Helen’s room. I spent 15 minutes venting about what had happened.

Feeling better after my vent, I headed back to my room to tuck Tessa in and get ready for the big day. Tessa was all snug in her bed, so I started my preparations. The hair and make-up people would be arriving at 4:30 am – way too early, even for a morning person like me! I knew that I would want a few extra minutes of sleep in the morning, so I took my shower, dried my hair and laid out every thing we would need in the morning. Then, I set the alarm, set the wake-up call, and crawled into bed.

A quick look at the clock told me it was 9 pm. Great! I would be able to get a good night’s sleep before our early morning. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. I started imagining my wonderful day. Not ten minutes after laying down, the nausea started. Okay…it is just nerves. I will be fine.

Ten minutes later, I needed the bathroom bad. I get up and use the facilities. On the way back to bed, I glance at the clock. It is now 10 pm. Okay, we are still doing okay. If I fall asleep soon, I will still get plenty of sleep. I shut my eyes. All I can think of is the family disagreement. Ugh. I am starting to get worked up. I try to concentrate on good things – my dress, the wedding ceremony, everything good. This is just nerves – every bride gets nervous before her wedding day. I can handle this.

About 10:30, my tummy has gone into overdrive. I am so nauseous that I am miserable. I seriously consider throwing up. Maybe I will feel better afterwards. I contemplated this for a few minutes, but I decided against it. I was scared that if I started I wouldn’t be able to stop. I end up with two more trips to the bathroom. Man, I can’t believe that I am this nervous. I toss and turn some more. I keep glancing at the clock. My tummy is still going and I am really nervous. I am no longer hoping for a decent amount of sleep. I am hoping for ANY sleep. Finally, about 2 am, I finally drift off…

[happybratpack]

Loving your report and can't wait to read more!

[heaven2dc]

Congratulations to both of you! The Boardwalk is so beautiful and the perfect place to stay before your wedding.

I'm sitting on pins and needles hoping you got to feeling better before your wedding day. I hope they were wedding day jitters and nothing more serious! (My mom swore I was pregnant when I was feeling nauseous on my wedding day :rotfl2: Didn't have our first child until 2 years later!

Anxiously waiting for more....:surfweb:

P.S. Your stepdaughter is adorable!

[Thumper's Tara]

Loving your report and can't wait to read more!

Thanks!


Congratulations to both of you! The Boardwalk is so beautiful and the perfect place to stay before your wedding.

I'm sitting on pins and needles hoping you got to feeling better before your wedding day. I hope they were wedding day jitters and nothing more serious! (My mom swore I was pregnant when I was feeling nauseous on my wedding day :rotfl2: Didn't have our first child until 2 years later!

Anxiously waiting for more....:surfweb:

P.S. Your stepdaughter is adorable!

Thank you! Tessa is cutey!

My MIL thought I was pregnant too! I think everyone jumps to that conclusion whenever a bride is quesy! She was pretty disappointed when I told her no!! Stay tuned to find out if I end up feeling better ;)

[pl'smama]

Wow, everything sounds so exciting, but I am sorry you felt so sick! That is the pits.

I realized we were at the GF a few days before your wedding. We were there for dinner on the 16th and saw a wedding taking place, well the dinner after. Such a great place to be wed.

I can't wait for more...

Suz

Oh, the ducks are the best! I had to google Oriental Trading Company right away to check them out!!

[ang38]

Yes, we did fly out of Westchester. We fly out of Westchester all of the time. I like it so much better than flying out of LGA or Newark. We typically get to the airport about 1 1/2 to 2 hours ahead of time. There are two reasons we go so early - (1) we are often dependent on others for rides to the airport and I like to leave extra time for the person to be late. I know Matt's family :rolleyes: and (2) when it is just Matt & I, we like to bump up. You have better luck bumping up to business class if you are there early! One thing to keep in mind about flying out of Westchester is parking. The parking lots do fill up and then there is no where to park. As I said, we normally get a ride so it isn't a problem...but it is something to keep in mind if you are planning on driving yourself.

We are in Ossining! Not too far from you. Actually, I spent quite a bit of time in Yonkers while shopping for a wedding dress! What a small world!

We are getting a ride also...I guess we'll get there atleast 90 minutes ahead of time. I figure we can grab a bite to eat before we take off.It's our first time flying in 24 years!!

Ossining isn't far at all. Been there many times. Used to have family there too. You looked in Yonkers for a dress?! That's funny because everyone here looks out of Yonkers for one!! I guess we never think there's anything where we live!

I'm enjoying your reports..keep up the good work!

[Disney Brat]

Found yout TR, and I am joining in!! Great job so far!