Vanessa- figmentfan814 ~ Happily Ever 3/3/08- MK & DHS Shoot Photos Added [Archive] - Page 5 - The DIS Discussion Forums

figmentfan814

11-18-2008, 03:24 PM

We pulled up to Wilderness Lodge and ran inside since we were getting really close to our reservation time. I always love going to Wilderness Lodge! We checked in at the counter and were given a beeper to alert us once our table was open. I started snapping some pictures while we were waiting.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/9.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/16.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/7.jpg

After about 10 minutes our beeper went off and we were seated. I was starting to get a little nervous at this point because I wanted to make it to the MK before it closed at 10 p.m. Kris thought that was a good idea too and we started talking about what rides we would be able to hit up. We also agreed to challenge each other to a ride on Buzz Lightyear (I almost always lose on it!)

I decided on the meatloaf and Kris ordered the chicken; our food took quite a while to make it to our table, so I was starting to get nervous about making it the MK before it closed.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/11.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/12.jpg

During the meal it was fun watching the kids interact with the staff riding the horses, etc. I always enjoy seeing the ketchup gag too. This was Kris’ first time in the restaurant in several years and I don’t think he really remembered the ambiance inside. When he suggested it I think he thought it was going to be a little more romantic! :lovestruc

Our waitress was really nice and had quickly noticed our wedding pins (which I insisted on digging out of our bags when we officially entered back into the World) and asked how long we had been married. Kris said only 5 days and quickly started telling her about our wedding in Epcot.

She asked if we would mind having the restaurant congratulate us on our wedding. I was a little worried that she was going to make us ride around the wooden horses or something! Kris said, “We don’t mind, she loves that kind of thing. As long as it’s not too embarrassing.” She then quickly got everyone’s attention and made us stand up. She ended up just having the crowd yell, “Congratulations!” which was a huge relief!!!

After that, we decided to share a dessert before heading out for the evening. We shared the apple dessert.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/10.jpg

Finally, we were done and I told Kris our best option was to take the resort bus from the Lodge. I rushed him out to the bus stop where we saw the MK bus pulling away. I was so disappointed that we had just missed it! We sat down to wait for the next one which didn’t arrive for over 25 minutes. At this point, it was already 9:50 pm. Once we loaded on the bus, the driver didn’t take off right away which I think is because we were the only ones on it :headache:

Finally, Kris looks at me and then looks at the digital clock on the bus which read 9:54 pm. He then says, “Do you think we’ll honestly make it on anything at this point?” I started to pout a little and said, “Probably not, but I really wanted to go do something Disney since we came all the way back here.” :sad2:

He reminded me that we had a nice dinner and that we still would have some time in the morning. He promised that we would come back to the MK too. I finally consented and we trudged off the bus. As we were getting in the car, I had an idea and suggested heading to DTD and he said sure no problem!

At DTD we considered visiting Ghiradelli since we hadn’t made it there yet that trip, but we were both too stuffed! As we were walking around I decided to make a detour into the pin station; while I was there Kris wandered off and started talking to the DVC rep. Kris ended up coming to get me and asked if we could schedule a tour for the next morning. I asked how long it would take (since I didn’t want to miss out on precious park time) and agreed when I found it we could go first thing in the morning. It was actually pretty exciting to talk to the rep because it’s always something that I’ve wanted to look into doing. My parents checked it out years ago when they first opened at Boardwalk and just never got around to buying.

It was pretty cool that Kris had actually brought up the tour on his own though! As we walked away I realized that I was super excited to check out DVC! (Disclaimer* I’ll get to that portion of the TR soon, but we didn’t end up buying that next day, we decided that we need to be responsible and had to pay off the wedding first!)

figmentfan814

11-20-2008, 03:19 PM

After spending a little more time at DTD we called my parents to see where they were since we were going to be staying in their room that night. They were actually heading back to their room after spending the evening with my cousin who works at Epcot. We told them that we would meet them there.

Once we arrived at the room at POR we helped my parents pack up the remaining remnants for the wedding that had ended up stashed in their room. My cousin decided to stick around and visit with all of us while we were working on packing. He took some cute shots of us with things piled up everywhere with the remaining disposable cameras from the reception, but I don’t have those on Photobucket yet.

Finally, around 1 am we all fell into bed. Kris and I had to be up bright and early the next morning for our DVC tour.

The next morning we juggled getting ready with the one bathroom. I grabbed one final piece of wedding cake that was in my parent’s refrigerator as we were rushing out the door to meet the DVC van in front of POR. Along the way we dumped our suitcases into the rental car, so my parents wouldn’t have to worry about them when they were checking out.

We stopped at the food court to refill our mugs and I grabbed a fork for my cake. We got outside just in time because the DVC guy was just getting out of the van. I still had my cake with me and ended up eating it on the way over to the preview center at Saratoga Springs. The salesman we met with there was really friendly and we chatted about our wedding and how much Disney meant to us. We also got a much better understanding of how the DVC system works. I loved the preview area and couldn’t believe they had built full rooms from AKL right inside the center.

He gave us some time alone to talk things over, but in the end we decided that we really needed to pay off the wedding before we could buy into it. We also wanted to check into some of the resale options and wanted to try renting points first too. Plus, even though AKL is beautiful and the rooms looked amazing, I really am not a fan of Animal Kingdom and would prefer to stay closer to MK or Epcot. I’m a little glad we waited now with the addition at the Contemporary, I’m hoping we can buy into them while they are still available. We have since checked out the resale ones too, but I’m not sure how comfortable I feel about that option. If anyone has had experience with a resale please let me know.

The salesman told us he understood and didn’t pressure us into anything. He walked us outside to the van which he had arranged to take us over to the Animal Kingdom at our request. Kris wanted to ride Everest again and I wanted to see Lion King.

We arrived at AK around 10 am and headed straight back through Dinoland. We decided to get a fastpass for Everest and wanted to get a bite to eat while we were waiting. When we were at the fastpass kiosk a castmember came up to us and wished us congratulations then hit a button and two extra fastpasses came out. He wished us a Magical Day and was off. It was so cool that we would be able to ride it two times in a row!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/2.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/15.jpg

After getting our fastpasses I checked the sheet for the next Lion King show and we had just enough time to make it over there. Once in Camp Mickey we didn’t have to wait in line long before they let us into the show. I always take so many pictures in this show I decided to enjoy it without the camera this time. I just snuck one shot when Simba was right next to us. We were near the front and had a great view of everything :simba:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/14.jpg
Somehow this was Kris’ first time ever seeing this show. He really liked it and said it was better than the Broadway version of the Lion King that we had saw in Detroit. I just think he liked it better because it was shorter :rotfl:

We ended up going over to Pizzafari to grab food since we still had time to wait for the fastpasses. The best thing was our Disney Dining Experience (now Tables of Wonderland) discount for 20% off!

After lunch we headed over to Everest and used our 2 fastpasses; it was a blast!

Since it was still relatively early; only a little after 1 pm we decided to head over to the Magic Kingdom since we never made it the night before. We went out to the bus stop, while we were waiting Kris stole my bride ears and was goofing off with them.

Finally the bus arrived and we were off, I know we took a resort bus, but I don’t remember which one.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/4.jpg

When we got to the Magic Kingdom it was packed! We walked down to the board and saw that there were long waits for almost everything. We knew that day was going to be the start of the spring break crowd, but I didn’t realize it would be that busy. There had also been a big snowstorm in the Midwest that had delayed a lot of flights and had shut down several airports, so some people were stranded too. In fact, we ended up calling Airtran to check on Kris’ flight that afternoon because Ohio was hit pretty hard. Thankfully, he didn’t have any delays.

Anyway, we decided that we would get a Dole whip and then would head to ride the paddle wheel boat and then possibly go to Tom Sawyer island. On our way over to the Dole stand we ran into another Disney couple from Michigan that I had met on this board. They got married the day after us. We chatted for a few minutes and then parted ways. While we were in line at the Dole stand I heard someone say, “Figmentfan?”

I turned in line and saw dizneyfreak and she said are you the one that was in the car accident who was getting married at Epcot (Anna Marie- I know this isn’t the full conversation, so please fill in any holes for me)

We were up next, so after getting our float we stood to the side and waited to talk to Ann Marie and her mom. It turned out she had the week off because she was supposed to go on a business trip with her husband. He ended up not going, so her and her mom came to Disney instead! She told us all about her wedding which was in October 2007 including the almost rained out dessert party and then we shared about our wedding.

They were supposed to have left the day before, but got stranded because of the weather. They told us how a manager at the one hotel had helped them out and that they were enjoying a little extra time at Disney even though they didn’t even have their luggage back! During our conversation we saw a couple other girls walk by with the bride ears on and Ann Marie yelled out “Congratulations!” :bride:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/3.jpg

We had such a great conversation and then as we were staring to head out they offered us two fast passes for Buzz Lightyear! They were heading out and weren’t going to be able to use them. We were so excited and grateful that they were sharing them with us.

We decided to head straight over to Buzz since it was getting close to the time that we would have to leave the park too. I don’t remember my final score, but it was the first time that I had beaten Kris! Thanks, Anna Marie!!! :jumping1:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/6.jpg

29apr00

11-20-2008, 03:51 PM

Funny you mentioned 5 guys! Our restaurant just opened last week and we went on tuesday. I really liked them! but the fries were a bit too salty for me.

UGAFan0829

11-20-2008, 05:35 PM

Great update! How awesome is it that you were able to go BACK to Disney after leaving the first time!!!! I hate it that you didn't get to make it to the MK after your dinner at the WL!

Is it just me, or is there writing from an airplane (sorry don't know what it's called) in the picture below:

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/2.jpg

bridetobe789

11-20-2008, 05:54 PM

:rotfl: Gotta love your husband posing with the bridal ears!!

DisneyLaura

11-20-2008, 06:25 PM

Yeah EE twice. You scored big time that day with fast passes didn't you.

figmentfan814

11-21-2008, 12:03 PM

Funny you mentioned 5 guys! Our restaurant just opened last week and we went on tuesday. I really liked them! but the fries were a bit too salty for me.
I agree on the fries, I opted for the cajun ones on our next visit, of course you have to like things spicey if you get them :thumbsup2

Great update! How awesome is it that you were able to go BACK to Disney after leaving the first time!!!! I hate it that you didn't get to make it to the MK after your dinner at the WL!

Is it just me, or is there writing from an airplane (sorry don't know what it's called) in the picture below:
I was disappointed about the MK too, but was happy that we at least we made it the next day. I think there might have been extra magic hours that night too, but we wouldn't have been able to stay since we were technically not checked in anywhere.

You are correct, the writing spelled out "Jesus" :) I've seen this done on several other trips there, I'm not sure if there is a church group that promotes it or just a random person.

:rotfl: Gotta love your husband posing with the bridal ears!!
I know he would kill me for sharing that picture :rotfl:

Yeah EE twice. You scored big time that day with fast passes didn't you.
It was a great surprise for our final day in the parks. Those "Just Married" buttons really did the trick :woohoo:

Donald'sGirl

11-21-2008, 02:33 PM

figmentfan814

11-21-2008, 02:36 PM

Vanessa that is a great update! That is too funny that Kris posed with your ears! :lmao: Craig would never do that!

I am so glad you got extra time at Disney before you headed home! You got 2 sets of extra fastpasses out of it! :cool1:

He was holding them for me while I was digging something out of my bag and he did it on his own:rotfl2:

I enjoyed the extra time at Disney even more because I knew those were days that I might not have had any other way :goodvibes

Mama of Indybride

11-23-2008, 07:11 PM

irisbud

11-23-2008, 08:45 PM

Great update Vanessa! It sounds like you had a fun day and lots of fun meeting up with other brides!

pjstevens

11-27-2008, 10:18 PM

Vanessa,

Wonderful update. I'm always a little behind. How awesome you were given the extra fast passes, right for something you wanted, each time! And meeting another disbride, how fun is that?! It was so nice you were able to have this extra time at Disney. :goodvibes

dizneyfreak

11-29-2008, 10:54 AM

Yea! The post I have been waiting for! I didn't realize that I looked that bad without makeup...dang the airlines for loosing my luggage! I was so glad that I got to meet up with you that day. As Humphrey would say "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" :hug:
I didn't know that you guys were wanting to ride Buzz that day...how perfect with all the long lines! Gotta love the Disney magic...even when it come from another Diz bride and not the CM's!
Sorry its taken me so long to respond. I had my wisdom teeth removed on Monday and I had quite a bit of down time from it :sad2:
This is definitely my favorite post yet...I'm not biased or anything! :rotfl:
Oh yes and one more thing so the girls don't think I'm terrible. I was to go on my husbands business trip with him to California and at the last minute 9after I had already put in for vacation and couldn't take my time back) his work said that I couldn't come anymore. So, what else to do but grab my Momma and head out for a girls trip to the world!

Anna Marie

dizneyfreak

11-29-2008, 10:58 AM

Darling Vanessa,
I tried to PM you back...but your box is full. Just thought I would give you a quick shout to let you know :goodvibes

Anna Marie

figmentfan814

12-01-2008, 12:05 PM

Great Update!

So much pixie dust came your way!

I had to control myself and forced myself to wait to buy into DVC as well.

Of course, the Grand Cali villas are not for sale yet, so that certainly helped, but it is very difficult not to do it when you see those beautiful rooms!
I think that's the hardest thing I've ever had to say no to buying :rotfl: Villas at the Grand Californian sound great; I loved that hotel- especially being able to walk right into the park!

Great update Vanessa! It sounds like you had a fun day and lots of fun meeting up with other brides!
It was so neat to recognize people as we were walking around the parks :earsgirl:

Vanessa,

Wonderful update. I'm always a little behind. How awesome you were given the extra fast passes, right for something you wanted, each time! And meeting another disbride, how fun is that?! It was so nice you were able to have this extra time at Disney. :goodvibes
Don't worry I missed all last week because I was sick two days before the holiday and then after that the week got away from me :goodvibes The fastpasses were definitely great bonuses. I loved having the chance to meet other DisBrides. It would be great to go to formal meet some day.

Yea! The post I have been waiting for! I didn't realize that I looked that bad without makeup...dang the airlines for loosing my luggage! I was so glad that I got to meet up with you that day. As Humphrey would say "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" :hug:
I didn't know that you guys were wanting to ride Buzz that day...how perfect with all the long lines! Gotta love the Disney magic...even when it come from another Diz bride and not the CM's!
Sorry its taken me so long to respond. I had my wisdom teeth removed on Monday and I had quite a bit of down time from it :sad2:
This is definitely my favorite post yet...I'm not biased or anything! :rotfl:
Oh yes and one more thing so the girls don't think I'm terrible. I was to go on my husbands business trip with him to California and at the last minute 9after I had already put in for vacation and couldn't take my time back) his work said that I couldn't come anymore. So, what else to do but grab my Momma and head out for a girls trip to the world!

Anna Marie
Darling Vanessa,
I tried to PM you back...but your box is full. Just thought I would give you a quick shout to let you know :goodvibes

Anna Marie
Don't worry I totally understand. I was sick on Monday and Tuesday of last week and we had people over to our place for Thanksgiving plus we were out of town over the weekend, so I'm way behind too. It was so great meeting you and your mom! It is amazing the people that you can run into in the World :hug: My PM box isn't full now; I finally got some messages cleared out :goodvibes

figmentfan814

12-11-2008, 11:07 AM

Here are the shots as we were leaving the Magic Kingdom; it was so much fun to have a few extra hours in the parks that day:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/image238.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/image243.jpg

As we were heading towards the bus I gave my mom a call to see when her and my dad would be back at the hotel. They had been at Epcot that day with my cousin and his family watching my other cousin (a musician at Epcot) playing in Norway. My cousin who works at Disney got my other cousin and dad into the show :rotfl:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/100_1035.jpg
My cousin Bob is the guitar player on the right:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/100_1026.jpg

They had all ran to DD afterwards to pick up a few more things. They were waiting for a bus and weren’t sure when the next one would be arriving. I told her to keep me posted since I knew my cousin had to meet the Magical Express soon.

Once we got back at POR we pulled the car to the front building and decided to get a drink in the food court. My parents were going to ride with us to take the rental car back, so they didn’t have to mess with Magical Express. We had already checked our baggage that morning, so there wasn’t much to do except wait. Around that time I got a panicked call from my mom, they had finally headed to the boat since the buses were MIA. My cousins were supposed to have left on the Magical Express bus that left 5 minutes earlier!

I told them that I would go over to guest services to see what I could do to get things straightened out. I was kind of given a hassle by the cast member at the desk, she said that since MEARS contracted with them, there was nothing she could do for me. I told her wait a minute, I just had 50 guests stay in their hotel and my cousins were only late because the buses weren’t running on time.

Finally, she agreed to patch me through to a MEARS operator. I really couldn’t believe that they wouldn’t be able to find a place for them considering those buses run like every 10 minutes! After being on the phone for a few minutes I was able to get them another ride. The person on the phone was a little hesitate too because she said that their contract requires them to pick people up 3 hours early to guarantee their arrival before their flight. Needless to say, I wasn’t very nice on the phone, but I did get everything arranged :mad:

A few minutes later my family arrived and my cousins went out to meet the bus. My cousin joked with me because I still had my bride ears on, I said, “you wouldn’t believe the things these ears have gotten me this week!”

My parents and Kris and I then headed out too and made our way to the airport. We had no problem getting the car turned in and we ended up hitting up the Disney store one more time since we already had our boarding passes. My cousins also showed up around that time and we made our way to the AirTran terminal.

Kris’ flight to Ohio was still leaving a little bit before us, so he would be leaving in another 45 minutes. At that point it hit me that my husband was going to be going back somewhere different than where I was going home to that night. It was a sad realization. I knew it was only temporary (he still had to be at that job for a month until we went on our honeymoon to Hawaii) but it was still hard to deal with at that moment :sad1:

A little while later as I watched his plane leave it was pretty surreal. Our beautiful Disney wedding was officially over and my husband was going to be 300 miles away from me for the next month. Once he had left we discovered that our flight to Michigan was delayed by nearly 2 hours and I had no way to let him know since they were already in flight. Besides the weather in the Midwest, there had been some delays because of a suspicious bag in Atlanta or something.

We decided to get dinner in the terminal and I grabbed something at the Outback to go counter. Waiting for our flight.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/100_1050.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/100_1053.jpg

The rest of the night and flight home was pretty uneventful. Here I am in the airport back at home around midnight. I ran into someone I knew from my time at the University of Michigan, her niece had been on our flight home. I can only imagine how much we would have spent in luggage fees if they had been in effect at that point. Between, Kris and my parents we had 8 bags total plus carry-ons! :scared1:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/Bonus%20Disney/100_1055.jpg

So, this is the close of our Disney Fairy Tale wedding! I am so happy that I decided to have our wedding there despite the complaints of other people; it was amazing and I would not have changed anything about it!

Despite everything we had gone through that year- my car accident, his dad passing away, and problems with his family we had made it through it all and are happily married!

Stay tuned for photos from our at-home reception and the Hawaiian honeymoon!

bridetobe789

12-11-2008, 11:45 AM

Great update Vanessa!! I love your sweatshirt.. where did you get it?? Can't wait to see pics from the honeymoon!!!

figmentfan814

12-11-2008, 11:51 AM

Great update Vanessa!! I love your sweatshirt.. where did you get it?? Can't wait to see pics from the honeymoon!!!
I got it fron Disney shopping at the beginning of '08. It ran really small though and I had to ship it back to get a bigger size. It was definitely one of my favorite shirts for the trip :)

irisbud

12-11-2008, 11:52 AM

Jennifer48

12-11-2008, 01:49 PM

Aww so sad to see the wedding portion of your trip over! It was super to read all about it though. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us! I can't wait to hear about Hawaii! :goodvibes :flower3:

figmentfan814

12-11-2008, 01:55 PM

Great update! I also can't wait to see the honeymoon pictures! I bet that was a long month for the two of you!

BTW, that closeup pic of you and Kris in front of the castle shows your eyes very well. They are a really pretty color!
It was definitely hard to wait to be together, but in the end it worked out. We had signed for our condo the week before the wedding, so I was able to work on painting and getting other things settled which was nice. We met up one weekend in Toledo, OH for Kris' birthday and he came up to MI once too, so it helped pass the time.

Thank you so much! The color comes from my uncle :cutie:

Aww so sad to see the wedding portion of your trip over! It was super to read all about it though. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us! I can't wait to hear about Hawaii! :goodvibes :flower3:
I'm a little sad too, especially after working on it for 9 months! I figured that since I'm already planning our 1st anniversary trip that I better get the wedding report done!

29apr00

12-11-2008, 02:50 PM

Awww..can't believe it's over!! But excited for the at home reception and HAWAII!! Woo hoo!!

figmentfan814

12-11-2008, 03:02 PM

Awww..can't believe it's over!! But excited for the at home reception and HAWAII!! Woo hoo!!
I know I can't believe it either. I'm going to keep Hawaii and the reception down to mainly photos to make sure that it doesn't keep everyone in suspense as long :goodvibes

Pooh_Girl

12-11-2008, 04:06 PM

AWWWW...Vanessa I can't believe it's over. It's so sad. I absolutely loved your TR though. Thanks for sharing it with all of us. Can't wait for more pics of Hawaii!!!!

DisneyBrideToni

12-11-2008, 07:05 PM

What a great TR Vanessa!!! You know, I was there when you were there...I think. I went to Disney from the 7th to the 14th in March.

WithDisneySpirit

12-11-2008, 08:16 PM

I, too, loved your trip report, Vanessa!! You did a fabulous job throughout! I have been slacking on mine and need to get busy again! My DH loves to read mine and he keeps asking when the next installment is! :rotfl:

dalepool

12-11-2008, 09:04 PM

I would like to say "Thank You" to you and Chris for sharing one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever seen. ( I almost feel I could say, "was invited to" -- as you made me feel like one of your invited guests :) ).

You have one of the most smilingest-- wait is that a word-- oh well to late gonna use it--- family members I have ever seen.

Patty

figmentfan814

12-13-2008, 11:52 PM

AWWWW...Vanessa I can't believe it's over. It's so sad. I absolutely loved your TR though. Thanks for sharing it with all of us. Can't wait for more pics of Hawaii!!!!
:upsidedow It is definitely surreal to have it finished. I'm so glad that I was able to relive all these fantastic memories with all of you wonderful ladies. I have been uploading photos to Photobucket, so I will have Hawaii things up soon. I have some great things from our at-home reception too :)

What a great TR Vanessa!!! You know, I was there when you were there...I think. I went to Disney from the 7th to the 14th in March.
Thanks, I wasn't sure that I would ever get through the wedding stuff ;) There were several of us Disney brides there at that time then- we ran into 3 other brides during our trip! :bride: We were there Feb. 29-March 9. Were you already engaged at that point?

I, too, loved your trip report, Vanessa!! You did a fabulous job throughout! I have been slacking on mine and need to get busy again! My DH loves to read mine and he keeps asking when the next installment is! :rotfl:
Thank you so much, I really enjoyed going back over each and every moment of that week. I definitely agree, it's time for another installment :rolleyes1 But, I know how long it can take after all it's already been 9 months for me :guilty:

I would like to say "Thank You" to you and Chris for sharing one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever seen. ( I almost feel I could say, "was invited to" -- as you made me feel like one of your invited guests :) ).

You have one of the most smilingest-- wait is that a word-- oh well to late gonna use it--- family members I have ever seen.

Patty

:hug: Patty, that is so nice, thank you for your kind words. After so many months of planning it was so wonderful to see the wedding and the entire week come together, it was one of the best times of my life! I loved having the chance to share it with all of my wonderful friends here on the Dis.

Even if it's not a word, I definitely like the sound of it :)

dizneyfreak

12-14-2008, 10:47 AM

figmentfan814

12-15-2008, 11:53 AM

Ok, so I know I have so been slacking on catching up. My work has me going 6 days a week with 10 hour days until Christmas and I can't find the time to do anything I WANT to do. Unfortunately I always have just enough time to finish the things I need to do. :headache:
I'm so sad that the wedding part of your report is over. :sad1: It was a beautiful journey though and I thank you for sharing it. I can't wait to see the at home reception pics! From the way you described it...it so sounds like something I would have done myself! I also can't wait for the Hawaii portion of your report...it is so beautiful there.
On one small note...I just noticed your ticker. When exactly are you going to Disney for your 1 year? My Mom and I are planning a return trip around that time and I'm so excited that we may get to see you again! Let me know :hug:

Anna Marie
Sorry to hear that things are so hectic at work. I know it's finals week for my students (I teach a couple of classes at a community college on top of my job) and I'm about to go crazy, but that doesn't sound nearly as stressful as having to work 6 days up until Christmas. I hope you get a break soon :hug:

Hawaii will be up next, so definitely stay tuned. I finished getting all my at-home reception pictures uploaded too :cheer2:

We're going to be down Feb. 7-13, does that coincide with your trip at all? :smickey:

dizneyfreak

12-15-2008, 06:54 PM

figmentfan814

12-23-2008, 09:03 PM

I can't wait to see all of your pictures! We aren't sure when we will be coming yet. My company may have some workers striking soon and if that takes place I have to cover for some of the positions that go on strike. I am one of the unlucky people that are non-union :sad2: As soon as I find out if and when they will strike I can make final arrangements, but that is around the time we were thinking of going. Did you get the $200 gift card and the 3 days free deal?

Anna Marie

I'm sorry I didn't realize that I never replied to your response. We actually booked the annual pass rate, so we did pretty good on our room rate. The cost was only $89 per night for the moderate :yay:

I hope things go better at work during the first of the year. Coming from a huge labor town I know how hard it can be for people when strikes happen :hug:

I wanted to let all of you ladies know that all my photos are updated and I will have Hawaii coming up soon after Christmas :santa:

Here's a sneak peek; this was when we arrived at the Honolulu airport after traveling for over 22 hours :faint:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/IMG_4537.jpg

DisneyBrideToni

12-23-2008, 11:01 PM

:
Thanks, I wasn't sure that I would ever get through the wedding stuff ;) There were several of us Disney brides there at that time then- we ran into 3 other brides during our trip! :bride: We were there Feb. 29-March 9. Were you already engaged at that point?

I was engaged actually and planning a wedding in New Jersey. We stayed at the poly. our room faced Sunset point. (I think thats the place at the poly) and I saw a wedding going on. I just thought it was amazing so when I came home we changed our plans and now here I am! :rotfl: Bobby wasn't with me. I went on vacation with my parents and Bobby couldn't get off work.

Goldeelox9

12-24-2008, 12:03 PM

What a great Trip Report. I enjoyed every bit of it and can not wait to hear about your Honeymoon and reception!

dizneyfreak

12-27-2008, 11:09 AM

Sweet! That is a good deal! I remember when Brad and I got to get that rate...it seems so long ago :rotfl: I will let you know about the dates as soon as I know myself. I can't wait to see the honeymoon pictures...the teaser pic was beautiful even with the sleep deprived looks on your faces :lmao:

Anna Marie

Flurbee

12-29-2008, 03:20 PM

Vanessa,

What an awesome Trip report!! I have enjoyed every second of it!! :goodvibes I can't wait to see and hear about Hawaii and your at home reception!!

figmentfan814

01-15-2009, 10:09 AM

:beach: Hawaii - Day 1 & 2 Arriving in Honolulu and Hiking Up Diamondhead

For many of you that might not know, our honeymoon was originally scheduled for the week after the wedding. Because of some issues that arose after Kris' dad passed away we had to delay it until the end of April/beginning of May. Since its not even our 1st wedding anniversary yet, I don't feel so bad not finishing the honeymoon since I still have 5 months until we reach a year on it :rotfl:

The first day of our honeymoon was basically spent traveling. We had two layovers on our way to Honolulu . Our first stop was in Minneapolis where we had a little bit of time to walk around and enjoy the shops; I love this airport it is really nice! We also bought a couple of pops for the flight since our airline only served Pepsi.

Our layover in LA was a lot longer, so I had made reservation at the restaurant that is outside in the center of all the terminals, The Encounter. There was some construction going on with its arches, but it was still pretty cool. We just had burgers, but the food was pretty good. Plus, how else would we have killed 5 hours at that place. LAX is the worst airport I’ve ever been to in my life. The terminals are so small and aren’t connected to each other. I’ve had several bad experiences there over the years and try to avoid a stop in LA whenever possible!
With such limited options inside the terminal at LAX and a 5 hour layover I thought what the heck! It actually wasn't too bad. We just had burgers, but they were tasty and the atmosphere is cool too. Here are a few pictures:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Hawaii604.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Hawaii606.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Hawaii611.jpg

Finally after nearly 20 hours of traveling we landed in Honolulu around 5:30 pm local time. The open air airport terminal reminded me of Jamaica.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/IMG_4530.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/IMG_4537.jpg

Since daylight savings time had just kicked in back in Michigan we were dealing with a 6 hour time difference which was killer! We were met by a guide from our travel company who was a college kid who lead us outside to where our van would be picking us up to take to our hotel in Waikiki. He was really friendly and tried to keep us from falling asleep while waiting for the van.

The drive to Waikiki was pretty uneventful and we checked into the Outrigger: Waikiki on the Beach without any problems. Hotel lobby:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Hawaii801.jpg

We trudged up to our room which was really nice and decided to crash for a nap.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/IMG_4541.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/IMG_4538.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/IMG_4542.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/IMG_4545.jpg

After a few hours I got up and was starving; Kris wasn’t too happy about getting up but I convinced him to walk around a little and to get some food before turning in for the night. It was around 8:30 pm their time so it was pretty seeing the streets all lit up. I was surprised how commercial the Waikiki area is nowadays. I remember seeing pictures from my parents honeymoon 30 years prior and it was nothing like that back then. We walked to a few shops and finally headed back to the hotel. I decided to get takeout at the restaurant. I just got a quesadilla and then we headed back to the room. We fell asleep by like 10:00 pm.

With the time change we were wide awake by 7:00 am, so we decided to go ahead and get an early start. View from our room:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/IMG_4553.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/IMG_4551.jpg

We were out the door by 8 and headed to breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant on the beach.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/IMG_4557.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii657.jpg
Afterwards we headed out to explore the area.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii670.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/IMG_4573.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/IMG_4576.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii677.jpg
Inside a hotel’s lobby:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/IMG_4571.jpg

Only a few stores were open, but we managed to find a few things to buy including a new swimsuit for Kris. After a while we headed back to the hotel walking along the beach. In the distance we spotted Diamondhead and decided that it was the perfect chance to climb it that day since we didn’t have any definite plans.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii558.jpg

We went inside to the concierge desk to find out about the bus schedule to get there since it was several miles away and then headed up to the room to pack appropriately. We grabbed more sun block and bottled water then headed out. The bus ride took us through some neighborhoods and past the Honolulu Zoo before dropping us off at the bottom of a hill. We didn’t realize that we had to hike like ½ mile up the hill just to enter the park!
We finally arrived at the entrance:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/IMG_4582.jpg

Let’s just say the hike up was pretty brutal. When you see people who are coming down looking like they’re reading to pass out; you realize that you don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into :lmao: There was a snack truck near the base of the climb, so we bought a couple of bottled waters for the hike up.

It took us over 2 hours to get to the top if I remember correctly. The path zigzags up the side of the crater. Sometimes you literally have to pull yourself up some of the paths since the stairs created in the dirt are pretty steep. I really don’t have a lot of pictures from this climb. It was the middle of the afternoon and extremely hot. I ended up taking a pain pill halfway up because of my hips and back and Kris had stripped off his shirt because he was so tired.

As you get towards the end of the climb, there are staircases of cement. This area was used as a lookout during WWII.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii681.jpg

After you finish climbing 3 or 4 sets of these stairs you go through a series of tunnels and then end up in a small room. You actually have to crawl through this opening to go up to the top. Some people couldn’t get through because you really had to stoop down, almost on your hands and knees, so they just peeked through the crack at the view.

figmentfan814

01-15-2009, 10:10 AM

From the summit; at the top you can actually purchase a certificate that says you made the climb. We got one of course for the scrapbook! You can see some of the paths below me in this shot.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii701.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/IMG_4594.jpg
You can tell we’re a little tired in this shot!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii696.jpg

It was at this point we realized we had to make the climb back down!

Finally, we made it back to the base and rode the bus back to our resort where we took a nap again! About two hours later we headed to dinner at a place called Shoreline Grill. It was really nice. You get to pick whatever meat you want and then you grill it on an open grill on the side of the restaurant. It took a lot longer than we expected, but it was still wonderful. I tried my first and last mai tai too, not really my cup of tea although I don’t really drink at all anyway :drinking1
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii713.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii710.jpg

We walked around and watched some of the street performers :rockband: I was amazed how many performers there were there. It was interesting and disturbing at the same time if that makes sense. There are also a lot of homeless and people handing out flyers for gun places. They have all of these shooting gallery type places set up. Apparently a lot of the foreign tourists love to go to them. I’m sure some of the Americans go too. It reminds me of when you’re given the brochures for ladies revues when you’re walking in Las Vegas.

A shot of me with Duke one of the famous surfers of Waikiki.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii714.jpg

We also stopped at one of their ABC Stores to pick up some snacks for the room including my necessary Diet Coke and then called it a night. It was the end of our first full day in Hawaii!!!

irisbud

01-15-2009, 10:22 AM

Lynn5700

01-15-2009, 10:24 AM

Vanessa Hawaii is gorgeous!!! I love your photos!!!

figmentfan814

01-15-2009, 10:31 AM

It looks like Hawaii is beautuiful! I don't think Df and I would have made the climb! I'm sure it was worth it, but it sounds brutal! Then knowing you have to go back down...

Can't wait to read more!
Amy, it was so hard; I really don't think I would ever do it again. But, once we were halfway up and I realized how bad the hike truly was going to be I just couldn't give up after already suffering that much :rotfl: Thanks for reading, I know how busy you are right now :goodvibes

Vanessa Hawaii is gorgeous!!! I love your photos!!!
Lynn, it really was so beautiful. I'm trying to just select a few shots to post because I literally took over 1,500 shots while we were there. Stay tuned for when I get to Maui; it really is breathtaking!

Pooh_Girl

01-16-2009, 08:46 AM

Jennifer48

01-16-2009, 08:57 AM

Props to you for climbing Diamondhead! :thumbsup2 What great photos! I don't know if I could do the long flights though. I would need to make some full day stops in order to get out there with my sanity! :lmao:

figmentfan814

01-16-2009, 04:25 PM

Vanessa you are a brave woman for climbing Diamondhead!!!! Good Job!!!!! :thumbsup2 There's no way I could have done it. My inlaws have been to Hawaii 3 times and go to Diamondhead everytime, but I don't think they've ever made it to the summit. I'll have to tell them I know someone who could do it!!!! :rotfl: Your pictures are stunning though and that makes it totally worth it.
That doesn't make me feel so bad after all. I felt like it took us forever to get to the top and it seemed like so many people were flying past us (there was actually 2 guys running/jogging to the top :scared:). I feel like we accomplished a lot now :)

Props to you for climbing Diamondhead! :thumbsup2 What great photos! I don't know if I could do the long flights though. I would need to make some full day stops in order to get out there with my sanity! :lmao:
It was definitely a long trip, I was surprised that so many people were attempting it. I don't know if I would have done it if I knew what I was getting myself into :rotfl:

WithDisneySpirit

01-17-2009, 07:22 AM

DH and I love to hike - Diamond Head sounds so interesting! Kudos to you both for making it to the top :thumbsup2

dizneyfreak

01-17-2009, 09:24 PM

Vanessa,
WOW! You are a brave brave girl and I admire you. There is no way in heck that I would have climbed that thing and to top it all of it was done the day after traveling for 20 some hours...can you say jet lag? :faint: You are crazy woman!
Your pictures are beautiful. I can't wait to see the Maui ones...I am beginning to wonder if you took any of my tips! :lmao:
I'll be waiting for more...
Oh yes, and by the way, are you getting excited about your next Disney trip??? I am still waiting to see if my company is going to strike. :rolleyes2

Anna Marie

Donald'sGirl

01-18-2009, 04:48 PM

Vanessa WOW I am impressed! I would never have been able to climb Diamondhead! Awesome job!! :thumbsup2

The pictures are beautiful! I have an aunt and uncle that live thee and absolutley love it! We are thinking of going there in 2010 to see them and to see the new DVC opening that year as well.

figmentfan814

01-19-2009, 09:51 AM

DH and I love to hike - Diamond Head sounds so interesting! Kudos to you both for making it to the top :thumbsup2
I highly recommend visiting Diamondhead if you are both into hiking. There are actually a lot of beautiful places to hike both on Oahu and on Maui :thumbsup2

Vanessa,
WOW! You are a brave brave girl and I admire you. There is no way in heck that I would have climbed that thing and to top it all of it was done the day after traveling for 20 some hours...can you say jet lag? :faint: You are crazy woman!
Your pictures are beautiful. I can't wait to see the Maui ones...I am beginning to wonder if you took any of my tips! :lmao:
I'll be waiting for more...
Oh yes, and by the way, are you getting excited about your next Disney trip??? I am still waiting to see if my company is going to strike. :rolleyes2

Anna Marie
It probably wasn't the best choice the day after arriving, but we really didn't know what we were getting ourselves into :upsidedow

Actually, we did check out some of the things you mentioned on Maui including Bubba Gump shrimp company in Lahaina :goodvibes The weather was a little stormy on one of our days there, so we didn't get to do everything we wanted.

Sorry to hear that you still haven't been able to book your Disney trip yet. Here's some pixie dust pixiedust: sent your way for a quick resolution, so you can make it to WDW again soon!

Vanessa WOW I am impressed! I would never have been able to climb Diamondhead! Awesome job!! :thumbsup2

The pictures are beautiful! I have an aunt and uncle that live thee and absolutley love it! We are thinking of going there in 2010 to see them and to see the new DVC opening that year as well.
I definitely recommend making it out to Hawaii; it is so beautiful. Plus,having Disney resort to visit makes it all the more exciting!

Flurbee

01-23-2009, 03:05 PM

DisneyLaura

01-23-2009, 06:23 PM

and past the Honolulu Zoo before dropping us off at the bottom of a hill.

I went to this zoo. My DH got sick the day before (stomach bug for a day, not so nice on your honeymoon) and we walked to the zoo from our hotel.

Yeah for you and Kris climbing Diamond Head. Me and my DH on Maui did something like that but it was a drive to the top, kind of scarey at times. I forgot what the name was but it translated to Red Mountain or something like that.

Stay tuned for when I get to Maui; it really is breathtaking!

I loved Maui as well. We went there first. Very much more relaxing I thought.

figmentfan814

01-26-2009, 01:32 PM

Vanessa,

Wow, Congrats on climbing Diamondhead!! I definitely would NOT have been able to do that!! Especially after your long journey. Your pics are beautiful though. I have always wanted to go to Hawaii. I am hoping we will get there sometime soon. :)
Its definitely worth the trip! I hope you're able to make it there someday; it really is a trip that everyone should get to take at least once in their life. Thanks for reading :goodvibes

I went to this zoo. My DH got sick the day before (stomach bug for a day, not so nice on your honeymoon) and we walked to the zoo from our hotel.

Yeah for you and Kris climbing Diamond Head. Me and my DH on Maui did something like that but it was a drive to the top, kind of scarey at times. I forgot what the name was but it translated to Red Mountain or something like that.

I loved Maui as well. We went there first. Very much more relaxing I thought.
Despite your DH being sick for the day (Definitely not something you want on your honeymoon :faint: ) how was the zoo?

I wonder if you drove up the same place that we went on Maui too. It was the Haleakala National Park where it looks like the crater is actually on another planet because of how different everything looks there. Stay tuned, I wonder if it was the same place.

figmentfan814

01-26-2009, 01:35 PM

The next morning we had to be up early to catch a bus to the Polynesian Cultural Center which is on the other side of the island. We just had to walk a few blocks to another hotel to catch the bus over. We actually purchased a package through them which included the chartered bus to the Center, all day admission, and a luau that night. I have to admit this was one of the best days of our trip. Our bus:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii721.jpg

The ride over was really interesting, we passed through a lot of residential areas and some other sites. Our bus guide pointed out various things including the Chinaman’s Hat which is just off the coast:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii729.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii735.jpg

We also went through several areas where a lot of movies have been filmed and even passed near where Lost is done.

I know some people say this is a really commercial place, but we both really enjoyed it. It is ran by Brigham Young University’s Hawaii campus. They bring in students from all over Polynesia that work there while they’re going to school. They then have different sections set up (much like the different lands at Magic Kingdom or the countries at Epcot) to represent the culture of that particular country.

You had the option to tour with a guide or on your own and we went ahead with the guide since there is so much area to cover in one day. The only downside was that it rained off and on most of the day. I wanted to just get some ponchos (which is what we always use in Disney) but Kris insisted on buying this really expensive umbrella. I told him not to waste the money and I died laughing when he opened it up and it was already broken! Thankfully, they exchanged it for him, but I kept reminding him all day that we could have just gotten the $2 ponchos!

The architecture is all native to each region and they have the students that are actually from all of these islands perform/educate in each area. In fact, they didn’t have any students from the one country that year, so that area was closed. Country that was closed:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii775.jpg
Kris and I posed for our picture on their empty stage since no one was around here.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii773.jpg

I was even asked to come on stage to dance with the one group. Kris only videoed it though, so I don’t have any photos. These are the dancers though which I photographed before being called on stage :dance3:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii174.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii173.jpg
Everything was really interactive and they loved getting the audience involved. Kris is here with a rain tube (totally the wrong name!)
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii766.jpg

I don’t remember what these were called, but we had a blast trying them out:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii176.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii177.jpg

We also got to make these fish out of palm leaves in one area too:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii759.jpg

Random shots from the day:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii167.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii746.jpg
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http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii182.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii776.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii777.jpg

At the end of the day, they take you on these large boats through the river to the area where the dinner show will begin :boat: On the boat:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii191.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii196.jpg

We were actually treated to two shows. One was during dinner (only for people that bought this package) and then they walked you over to another area where they had the big show for the night that everyone could go to no matter what dinner package they had bought. The entire day was both educational and extremely fascinating. We also met a really nice couple that was honeymooning from Ireland and spent most of our day with them and were even seated together at dinner. Here are shots from the dinner portion of the show:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii212.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii199.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii210.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii198.jpg

figmentfan814

01-26-2009, 01:36 PM

My food which was a little too authentic to me, but it was still an interesting experience. If any of you have done the hula dance at O’hana you know how they have one area about mixing the poi. Apparently no one really likes it even though it’s a traditional Hawaiian food, but Kris and I still tried it. The funny part was that it didn’t taste like much of anything, but we were joking about the O’hana dance because it reminded us of Disney:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii209.jpg

The big finale show in the huge amphitheater (reminded me of Fantasmic’s area only with an awning.) This show was phenomenal; words can’t describe it. There were people of all ages that did the dances for the different regions; it was amazing! They had the show divided by country- Fiji, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Tahiti, etc.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii213.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii217.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii227.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii232.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii234.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii236.jpg

By the time we got back to Waikiki we were pretty exhausted and headed back to the room for the night :faint:

Pooh_Girl

01-26-2009, 02:43 PM

Great update Vanessa!!! Looks like you guys had a lot of fun. That dinner show looked amazing!!!

figmentfan814

01-26-2009, 09:47 PM

Great update Vanessa!!! Looks like you guys had a lot of fun. That dinner show looked amazing!!!

Thanks! It really was a lot of fun, I highly recommend visiting the Center.

Crown_princess

01-27-2009, 09:29 AM

Good post!:beach:

camara381

01-27-2009, 10:07 AM

Wow it looks like so much fun!!! Love the pictures!!!! GR8 update!

DisneyLaura

01-27-2009, 10:18 AM

Despite your DH being sick for the day (Definitely not something you want on your honeymoon :faint: ) how was the zoo?

I wonder if you drove up the same place that we went on Maui too. It was the Haleakala National Park where it looks like the crater is actually on another planet because of how different everything looks there. Stay tuned, I wonder if it was the same place.

Hi Vanessa - acutally DH was sick a whole day and then the following day we went to the zoo and it was really nice, not too many animals that we are used to but it was fun.

That place in Maui sounds familiar (it's been 12 years), it was great. You acutally drove up to the top and then you were able to get out and walk around (does that sound the same). It's name in hawaiian means "red something". I can't wait to see pictures and see if it's the place, I'm sure it is.

The next morning we had to be up early to catch a bus to the Polynesian Cultural Center which is on the other side of the island.

The ride over was really interesting, we passed through a lot of residential areas and some other sites. Our bus guide pointed out various things including the Chinaman’s Hat which is just off the coast:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii729.jpg

We went here too! I have that same picture of the island called "Chinaman's hat". For the Polynesian Cultural Center when we went we just walked on your own throughout each country and then we went inside to have dinner, a traditional hawaiian feast and then the show in the theatre. Wasn't that cool. It's so nice to relive my honeymoon through you that we took so many years ago.

dizneyfreak

01-27-2009, 11:19 AM

Wow! That looked like a lot of fun. I'm sorry I missed that one while I was there. We just went t the show in Lahina, which was also very cool by the way. I can't wait to see more!

Anna Marie

Donald'sGirl

01-27-2009, 03:20 PM

Vanessa that sounded like a lot of fun!! The dinner show reminded me of the one at Disney (which I love!!). The food looked delisicous!

DisneyBrideToni

01-27-2009, 04:16 PM

Wow Hawaii is beautiful!!! You look like you had a fun experience that day!

If I ever get over my fear of flying I may be able to make it to Hawaii. For now the closest thing I will get is the poly in Disney. :rotfl2:

Speaking of which.....See ya real soon! :cool1:

figmentfan814

01-27-2009, 09:27 PM

Good post!:beach:

Wow it looks like so much fun!!! Love the pictures!!!! GR8 update!

Thanks ladies :cool1:

Hi Vanessa - acutally DH was sick a whole day and then the following day we went to the zoo and it was really nice, not too many animals that we are used to but it was fun.

That place in Maui sounds familiar (it's been 12 years), it was great. You acutally drove up to the top and then you were able to get out and walk around (does that sound the same). It's name in hawaiian means "red something". I can't wait to see pictures and see if it's the place, I'm sure it is.

We went here too! I have that same picture of the island called "Chinaman's hat". For the Polynesian Cultural Center when we went we just walked on your own throughout each country and then we went inside to have dinner, a traditional hawaiian feast and then the show in the theatre. Wasn't that cool. It's so nice to relive my honeymoon through you that we took so many years ago.
Definitely stay tuned for the Maui pictures, I'm curious to find out if it was the same place. I'm glad that you're able to relive some of your memories too. Its funny because my parents went there on their honeymoon, but it had been 30 years, so nothing looked the same. We went to the area where their hotel had been and it was tore down! The Polynesian Cultural Center was definitely one of my favorite things from the entire trip! You still have the option to go on your own, but we just opted to stay with the group tour to maximize our time.

Wow! That looked like a lot of fun. I'm sorry I missed that one while I was there. We just went t the show in Lahina, which was also very cool by the way. I can't wait to see more!

Anna Marie
I've heard tons of great things about the show in Lahaina, so you definitely made a great choice there. Oahu just catered to tourists so much, there was tons of extra things to do to keep us busy :goodvibes

Vanessa that sounded like a lot of fun!! The dinner show reminded me of the one at Disney (which I love!!). The food looked delisicous!
The show really was great; the food was yummy except I wasn't big on the pork (but I love everything at Disney's show;) )

Wow Hawaii is beautiful!!! You look like you had a fun experience that day!

If I ever get over my fear of flying I may be able to make it to Hawaii. For now the closest thing I will get is the poly in Disney. :rotfl2:

Speaking of which.....See ya real soon! :cool1:
I know when you decide you're ready, you will be able to make it anywhere you want to go in the world :goodvibes

I can't wait to meet up, I'm so excited to be able to hear some details about the wedding too!

dizneyfreak

02-01-2009, 12:32 AM

irisbud

02-02-2009, 11:18 AM

Hawii looks like so much fun! Have a great time at WDW on your anniversary trip!

figmentfan814

02-05-2009, 10:00 AM

Vanessa,
I wanted to make sure to wish you a great anniversary trip! :wave2: I hope you two have an awesome time and I am so jealous that you get to meet up with another Disbride! I hope you and Toni have a blast!
Unfortunately, it looks like my company will strike after all...and me being the non-union portion of the company...I get to work 12 hour work days 6 days a week to cover for the union workers until an agreement is reached. No Disney for me until everything is settled. :sad:
Have an awesome time...and by the way, I can't wait to see the trip report on that one as well! :goodvibes

Anna Marie

Anna Marie~ So sorry to hear that you're stuck working so many extra hours, but on the bright side that always leaves extra money for your next Disney trip :thumbsup2 You're definitely in my thoughts :grouphug:

Hawii looks like so much fun! Have a great time at WDW on your anniversary trip!

Amy, thank you so much. I'm so excited because we have several special things planned. This morning when I got in my car my dash said that it was -9 degrees here (yes, that's a negative not adding in the wind chill!) so I can't wait for the warm Florida sunshine :beach:

dizneyfreak

02-08-2009, 12:46 AM

Ok, so I know you are gone on your anniersary trip to see the mouse and you won't be answering this or even looking at this any time soon, but I had to tell you that I was thinking about you and your honey and I hope you are both having a trip of a lifetime soaking up that sunshine! I'll talk to ya when ya get back! Wishing you pixiedust:

Anna Marie

figmentfan814

02-20-2009, 09:45 PM

figmentfan814

02-20-2009, 09:59 PM

:car: The next morning we headed out towards the North Shore of Oahu. Now, the funny part was that we had our maps laid out and thought this was going to be an all-day drive. Well, coming from a large state, like Michigan, it really did look pretty far, in reality it was less than an hour! Anyway, we planned a stop along the way at the Dole Pineapple Plantation so we could have a Dole Whip! So, we navigated out of Waikiki, through Honolulu and within about 35 minutes we had arrived at the Dole Plantation. I highly recommend the plantation. It is very touristy, but also a lot of fun.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4774.jpg

Its not directly off the highway, so you have to take a two lane road to get there which was a little backed up, but we got there without too much hassle. When we arrived it was family day so there was a lot of activity going on and a lot of kids. We decided to do the Plantation Garden Tour and to ride the Pineapple Express Train. Because of the special event we got a discount on the tickets and a free CD, “Pineapple Express” by Na Leo (which I have playing right now to get me in the Hawaiian mood!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4775.jpg

Okay, here are some shots from the garden. It was so beautiful, I love taking flower pictures so I literally have at least 50 shots, but I’ll just share some highlights that include Kris and I too. :flower2:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4824.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4820.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4818.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4800.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4801.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4785.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4777.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4781.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4835.jpg
Look at the bark on this tree; I thought it was so cool!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4776.jpg

They also had some areas directly behind the gardens that we weren’t sure we were supposed to walk right into that had displays that showed the equipment used on pineapple plantations.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4836.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4843.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4834.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4830.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4840.jpg

The garden really was amazing; we wandered through here for almost an hour. Towards the end it had started to get cloudy even though the sun had been out shining when we entered the garden :sunny: After walking around for a little while we decided it was time for a snack and I was so excited to get Dole Whips! After all where else can you get them besides Disney (WDW or Disneyland, right?) or Hawaii? The funny thing is that I never liked Pineapple until I went to Jamaica with my friend who is from there. There’s definitely something different about getting the fresh stuff right from the fields!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4839.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4838.jpg

We then headed over to the Pineapple Express. Before you got on the train they took a picture of you in front of the engine and then offered it for sale after the ride- very capitalistic and of course we bought into it! Shortly after loading on the little train a torrential downpour started and we began to get wet because the plastic on the sides was not pulled down in our section. Heck, we opted not to have it pulled down since it hadn’t actually started raining when we got on :upsidedow
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4841.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4846.jpg

figmentfan814

02-20-2009, 10:00 PM

Notice the rain coming down over the fields:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4848.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4854.jpg
Runoff for the fields:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4862.jpg

After we got off the train we decided it was time to head in the gift shop and then head out. I wanted to do this Pineapple Maze thing that they have, but it was still pouring. Side note, I made DH run over to the photo stand in the rain to buy our picture.

I bought tons of pineapple treats- salsa, sauce, ornaments, etc. Just watch if you go there half the stuff was from Taiwan and not Hawaii!!! After a slight disagreement over whether to buy the fresh pineapples which they send directly to the airport we headed out. (I ended up getting some later in the trip.)

We were going to continue towards the North Shore and had plans to make a side trip to Matsumoto Shave Ice in Haleiwa which had been recommended to us. This was a little hole in the wall place but it is well-known in the islands. I have to admit before going to Hawaii I thought shaved ice was just like a sno-cone. This is not true, it is soooooooo much better!!!!! http://www.matsumotoshaveice.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/lang,en/
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4867.jpg
The board with all the flavors:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4868.jpg
You can have ice cream or beans added to it. Now, we thought the beans would be like what you find in bubble tea (tapioca type things) we were so wrong~ they were real red beans. This is definitely something we would do without next time. It was yummy until we got to the bottom where the red beans were hiding, not our taste.
The workers scooping out the delicious ice:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4869.jpg

I absolutely loved the shaved ice, it was so delicious. Just remember to skip the beans! I plan to get ice cream added next time! Also, pay the extra for the plastic containers (I think it was like 50 cents) they definitely help with melting ice.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4871.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4870.jpg

I couldn’t resist and bought a shirt here. To be honest, we didn’t buy too many souvenirs on this trip. Mainly, food items, scrapbooking pages (which were specific to the sites) and the souvenir pictures.
http://www.matsumotoshaveice.com/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,24/category_id,7/manufacturer_id,0/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,26/lang,en/

We then walked around the town for a few minutes which was full of neat little shops since the rain was starting to subside. Then we decided to continue on towards the area near the Turtle Bay resort where all the surfers go :beach:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4873.jpg

DisneyLaura

02-21-2009, 07:49 AM

figmentfan814

02-21-2009, 11:04 AM

Vanessa we must be twins separated at birth. We went to the Rhode Island zoo while on vacation last summer and they had a butterfly exhibit - while there were beautiful flowers in there for the butterflies and I kept taking pictures of all the butterflies that landed on the flowers. But I will hvae to admit your flowers where much prettier. I wished would have went on to The Dole pineapple place. I guess next time ;) . I remember when we checked in our hotel, the girl asked me while I was waiting to check in if I would like some pineapple juice so me and my DH said sure. Well she went over to the side and squeezed it for us, I was hooked from that moment on. I love pineapple too. We had one of those shaved ices every day. There was always a guy selling them right off the beach from our hotel.

:butterfly That's really neat how you love getting the flower shots too. I know I drive Kris crazy sometimes taking so many flower pictures. There is a large estate near us from one of the General Motors executives that is open to the public several times a year and I will spend hours there taking photos. Thankfully, he's pretty patient with me about unless he's waiting to do something else :rotfl:

Not seeing the Dole place just gives you another excuse to return ;) The fresh stuff is definitely much better than what we get around here! Shaved ice really is the best, I don't think I can really compare it to anything I've had before. Its a big step above the sno-cones I have at home.

irisbud

02-21-2009, 09:58 PM

figmentfan814

02-22-2009, 09:27 PM

The pineapple plantation looks fun and beautiful too. For some reason, I thought pineapples grew on trees :confused3 You learn something new everyday :rotfl:

I like taking pictures of flowers too! I do this a lot at Disney as well, though my DH is not very patient about it :rolleyes1

I honestly didn't know how exactly they grew either until I visited, so you'er not alone :goodvibes I love taking shots in the rose garden at Epcot and at Magic Kingdom, you can really get some pretty pictures in the parks with all the beautiful flowers.

princess22

02-22-2009, 09:32 PM

figmentfan814

02-22-2009, 09:41 PM

What a great update. I'm loving your honeymoon report so far. It looks like you had a blast! You two are an adorable couple by the way! The dole plantation looks like fun! If I ever make it to Hawaii, that will be on my to-do list!

Thank you for following along with my TR. We really did have a great time and I'm hoping to get the whole trip completed soon. We didn't go until May last year, so I figured that I still have a little time before I will have let a year pass by. I highly recommend going to the plantation; we had a great time and they have a lot of cute things to do there, plus it was nice to have a Dole Whip :goodvibes

DisneyBrideToni

02-22-2009, 09:51 PM

Ohh those dole whips look yummy!!!!!!!!!!!

Your flower pictures were so pretty! You took some great shots!

figmentfan814

02-22-2009, 09:53 PM

Ohh those dole whips look yummy!!!!!!!!!!!

Your flower pictures were so pretty! You took some great shots!

Thanks, Toni :) When I found out that you could get the dole whips in Hawaii I knew I had to plan to make a stop there no matter what :rotfl:

Mrsdisneyb2b

02-23-2009, 08:20 AM

OMG
I want to go to the Dole plantation. I am so jealous!! So so muchfun!

dizneyfreak

02-23-2009, 03:57 PM

Yea for Dole whips!!! I so did not know you could get one there...I would have made that a stop on my trip. Your pictures were beautiful and it looked like you two had a blast. That little train was so cute! I can't believe you are back and posting again...that flew by. How was the weather and the crowds?

Anna Marie

jenny08

02-23-2009, 04:58 PM

I love your TR! The pictures of Hawaii really take me back. We got shaved ice from that store too. The beans were so gross!!

figmentfan814

02-23-2009, 09:19 PM

OMG
I want to go to the Dole plantation. I am so jealous!! So so muchfun!
We really did have a great time there, despite the rain that afternoon. :goodvibes

Yea for Dole whips!!! I so did not know you could get one there...I would have made that a stop on my trip. Your pictures were beautiful and it looked like you two had a blast. That little train was so cute! I can't believe you are back and posting again...that flew by. How was the weather and the crowds?

Anna Marie
I was pretty excited when I found out about the dole whips too, a prior Disney bride told me about them before we left :) The whole plantation was on Oahu, so it was definitely built to attract families.

The weather turned out to be pretty fantastic. It had been rainy and cold the week before we arrived, but it started warming up the day we got there. It started getting warmer each day of our trip- 65 and up finally all the way to 85. Did you see my post on our anniversary dinner at the GF? (At least I don't remember you responding on it :confused: ) If not, I'll post the link for you to check it out.

I love your TR! The pictures of Hawaii really take me back. We got shaved ice from that store too. The beans were so gross!!
I was totally thrown off by the beans, definitely not what I was expecting :upsidedow Thanks for stopping by over here, it was so nice meeting up at Kona Cafe :goodvibes

tiggersam00

02-23-2009, 10:00 PM

figmentfan814

02-23-2009, 11:52 PM

I've been a lurker on your PJ/TR for a while and I had to say that everything in the wedding was amazing! Your honeymoon looked like you guys had a blast, how funny that you had dole whips in Hawaii, they are my favorite treat ever.... I ever ordered the dole whip mix and bought an ice cream maker to have it at home when I am missed WDW... I am a total dork huh:lmao: ?

Anyway, your wedding is one of my very favorites I have seen on here, just wanted to let you know that :) You have def helped me with ideas and inspiration for my wedding next year:flower3:

Samantha, thank you so much for following my wedding journey even though its taking me a while to get through everything ;) I'm so glad that I was able to help you with some ideas for your wedding, definitely let me know if you have any questions. I know I would have been lost without the advice of prior Disney brides :bride: So, I must know where can you get the Dole Whip mix? I must know; that would be so great to have it at home.

I've seen your posting on so many other threads, I must go track down your PJ journal now to read about all of your exciting plans :goodvibes

tiggersam00

02-24-2009, 10:01 AM

Samantha, thank you so much for following my wedding journey even though its taking me a while to get through everything ;) I'm so glad that I was able to help you with some ideas for your wedding, definitely let me know if you have any questions. I know I would have been lost without the advice of prior Disney brides :bride: So, I must know where can you get the Dole Whip mix? I must know; that would be so great to have it at home.

I've seen your posting on so many other threads, I must go track down your PJ journal now to read about all of your exciting plans :goodvibes

Dole Whip Mix (http://www.unifiedenterprisescorp.com/products2.html) When it is made it looks a little more yellow then in WDW, but it tastes exactly the same! Totally gives you the "disney" feeling at home :goodvibes

figmentfan814

02-24-2009, 09:49 PM

Dole Whip Mix (http://www.unifiedenterprisescorp.com/products2.html) When it is made it looks a little more yellow then in WDW, but it tastes exactly the same! Totally gives you the "disney" feeling at home :goodvibes

Thank you so much, I have to order some soon. Plus, I already have an ice cream maker, so I just need to get the mix :mickeybar

Flurbee

02-24-2009, 09:51 PM

Vanessa,

Those Dole whips looked so good!!! I am loving hearing about your honeymoon so far....Can I have the link to the post about your anniversary dinner at GF too?? :)

figmentfan814

02-24-2009, 09:58 PM

Vanessa,

Those Dole whips looked so good!!! I am loving hearing about your honeymoon so far....Can I have the link to the post about your anniversary dinner at GF too?? :)

Thanks for following along, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far :)

Maure, here's the link to our anniversary dinner :goodvibes
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2094394

figmentfan814

03-11-2009, 02:01 PM

After heading out, we drove for another 30 minutes passing by some houses and quite a bit of farmland. We saw some cool turn offs along the way and made some stops to check out the waves. Surf boards abounded and it was cool to see them strapped to people’s cars as they passed us on the road. From what we were told this is the area that the surfers head because of the great waves!

The rain had pretty much stopped by the time we made our first turnoff, but it was still pretty overcast. I absolutely loved the rocks jutting out along the shore, it created such a cool effect with the waves.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4890.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4886.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4894.jpg

These were the coolest looking birds because they were like morning doves, but a lot prettier!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4883.jpg

A few miles down the road we came to a public beach area and even saw some buses pulled over, so we decided to check it out. We didn’t have our suits with us, so we had no real plans to get in the water. The waves were huge though and Kris seriously considered going in, but decided against it in the end.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4920.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4918.jpg
I love this shot, that’s Kris in the background contemplating whether or not he should go in the water.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4928.jpg

We had no real plans for the day which was actually great for exploring. We also came across the Waimea Falls Park which is ran by the National Audubon Society. We pulled in to explore and were excited because in the guidebook I had it said that you could actual swim and climb around the falls. It was already around 4 pm in the afternoon and the park closed at 5 pm, so we decided not to pay the entrance fee which was around $15 if I remember correctly. We did spend some time wandering their gift shop and a pavilion area near the front. They had things set up for a wedding reception, so I took some time to poke around and be nosey.

Here is Kris near the front of the park:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4909.jpg
There were a ton of peacocks around and I got some pretty good pictures. I only uploaded two to Photobucket for some reason though.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4906.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/IMG_4907.jpg

The only disturbing part about this area is that you would drive by several roadside parks and there were like tent cities set up everyone. I know they have a high rate of homelessness on the island, but it was very surreal to see it up close like that in such a beautiful paradise.

Around this time we decided to start heading back towards Waikiki. We were already getting hungry too. A few miles down the road we spotted a shrimp truck and Kris decided to stop off. Even though I’m not a seafood fan I told him that he should at least get something. The prices were outrageous, so he decided to suffer along with me. About 10 minutes later we came across this hole in the wall place that I had read about in several of my Hawaii books. It looked like a little party store inside and you just walked up to the counters to order. All of the tables were outside on the patio. The thing I remember was all the people going in and out without shoes on. I kept thinking to myself of the signs back home, “No shoes, no shirt, no service!” Definitely a little different in Hawaii.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/Hawaii396.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/Hawaii395.jpg

Since we had not gotten the traditional Hawaiian plate lunch which includes some type of teriyaki meat, rice, and macaroni salad we decided to indulge ourselves.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/Hawaii399.jpg
Oh, my goodness this dessert- chocolate haupia pie- was out of this world! It is a chocolate cream pie that has a layer of cream below the white whipped cream that is made out of coconut milk. It was so creamy and it melted in your mouth! ::mickeybar
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/Hawaii397.jpg

After we finished our meal we packed up and headed back out. Here is a shot of Kris goofing around while he was driving. There is a story behind this stupid looking hat jester: We had been advised that the Polynesian Cultural Center where we had been the day before can be quite sunny (even though it ended up raining on our day there!) so you were advised to bring a hat. I don’t own any hats and look ridiculous in them, so decided the night before we were going that I needed to purchase one since I didn’t want a burnt scalp! (Which happens a lot since I am so fair skinned and have lighter colored hair.)

Anyway, I made Kris go in and out of shops with me for over an hour trying to find a cheap hat. This was the best that I could come up with since everything was so expensive in Waikiki.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/Hawaii392.jpg

On the way back I asked Kris to stop off at the Dole Plantation again because there were some pictures that I didn’t get earlier because of the rain. I was also a little irritated that Kris had told me not to buy pineapples to ship home earlier that day :furious: I told him that I was just going to buy them anyway when we returned, but the store had just closed! I was mad, but at the end of the trip I ended up getting some anyway! We spent about 20 minutes here just checking out the grounds a little more that we had missed earlier in the day.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/Hawaii407.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/Hawaii410.jpg
A real closeup of a pineapple, finally!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/North%20Shore/Hawaii405.jpg

Up next, our last day in Oahu before heading to Maui spending time in Honolulu exploring Pearl Harbor and more.

Mrsdisneyb2b

03-11-2009, 03:51 PM

OMG vanessa you have me drooling right now!!!
I had to go grab a cadbury caramello to stop from drooling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

irisbud

03-11-2009, 04:58 PM

That pie looks wonderful!

Your TR is really making me want to go to HI. DH and I have been talking about how to use some of our DVC points, and we know we want to do HI at some point, we just have to figure out when. :goodvibes:

I would have been irritated about the pineapples too ;) . Then I would have gloated when I got my way in the end :rolleyes1 Did I say that?

princess22

03-11-2009, 08:24 PM

Oh yay an update. Another great one at that! Everything looks so beautiful. You have a lot of great pictures. Maybe I should consider Hawaii for our honeymoon.

figmentfan814

03-11-2009, 11:10 PM

Oh yay an update. Another great one at that! Everything looks so beautiful. You have a lot of great pictures. Maybe I should consider Hawaii for our honeymoon.
Thank you so much, I love taking pictures and sometimes go a little crazy. Its a good thing I'm only sharing highlights on here ;) Honeymoon is definitely a great honeymoon spot. We love doing a lot of stuff and had plenty to do while people who just want to lay back at the beach have that option too!

That pie looks wonderful!

Your TR is really making me want to go to HI. DH and I have been talking about how to use some of our DVC points, and we know we want to do HI at some point, we just have to figure out when. :goodvibes:

I would have been irritated about the pineapples too ;) . Then I would have gloated when I got my way in the end :rolleyes1 Did I say that?
:rotfl: My lips are sealed. It wasn't a serious fight or anything, but Kris knows that when I have my mind made up he better just let me get my way :laughing:

It will be so exciting for the Hawaii resort to open through DVC. Do you know when its officially scheduled to open? I think you will both really enjoy it. After going on your cruise it will be a refreshing change. Kris has never been to the Caribbean and I told him that there is definitely a different atmosphere when you're still on US soil.

OMG vanessa you have me drooling right now!!!
I had to go grab a cadbury caramello to stop from drooling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Carmello, now that sounds really yummy right now! The pie was out of this world, I wonder if I could find a recipe somewhere that is close to it.

irisbud

03-12-2009, 12:08 PM

Kris knows that when I have my mind made up he better just let me get my way :laughing:

It will be so exciting for the Hawaii resort to open through DVC. Do you know when its officially scheduled to open? I think you will both really enjoy it. After going on your cruise it will be a refreshing change. Kris has never been to the Caribbean and I told him that there is definitely a different atmosphere when you're still on US soil.

:laughing:
I think the DVC is supposed to open in 2011 or 2012. We can use our points to trade into other resorts though and we might do that if we can find availibility. I have a feeling the DVC will be booked solid for a while :cutie:

tiggersam00

03-12-2009, 12:27 PM

Oh I am loving your Honeymoon TR so far! The dole plantation looks great, thats too funny about the pineapples... sounds like something my DF would say to me lol, must be a guy thing!
The food you ate looks so yummy, that pie is making me very hungry:goodvibes

dizneyfreak

03-17-2009, 10:29 PM

I turn my back for two seconds and you put up another awesome installment! I'm glad its coming slower now though because I really really don't want it to end...:sad1:
On a brighter note: My Mom and I rescheduled our trip to Disney for the second full week in May...and my Mom is pondering upgrading our room to the GRAND!!! Woohoo!!! :banana: I'll let ya know how that one turns out...but until then I will be looking forward to seeing more of your honeymoon!

Anna Marie

starrzone

03-18-2009, 09:59 AM

Wow Vanessa and Kris, looks like you had a fabulous trip! :cool1: I know what you mean about the poverty on the Islands; I was in Hawaii in 2004 and was kind of shocked at the derelict areas near Waikiki Beach.

Isn't that climb up Diamond Head torture, but sooooo worth it? My friend and I were dumb and did NOT take water for the climb...needless to say, I spent a couple hours in bed when we got back with what was probably heat exhaustion! My own fault though! :rotfl:

How did you find that Hawaiian plate lunch? My friend is very...picky (to put it mildly!) so we never tried any of them. Yours looked soooo good though. Would you say that the roadside stands were reliable in general? I'm gathering info in case I make it back to Hawaii again someday (which is possible, seeing as my friend works for an airline, but difficult due to where in Canada I live and finances!). :)

figmentfan814

03-18-2009, 08:43 PM

:banana: :dance3: :yay: :woohoo: :cool1:
I finally got my laptop back today after having it out for repairs for 2 weeks! I don't have to fight Kris for his computer anymore.

Oh I am loving your Honeymoon TR so far! The dole plantation looks great, thats too funny about the pineapples... sounds like something my DF would say to me lol, must be a guy thing!
The food you ate looks so yummy, that pie is making me very hungry:goodvibes
Sorry I missed your note, I was always trying to catch up on everyone else's PJ and TRs when I could steal away the computer and missed out on mine. The food was delicious and I wish I could find that type of pie somewhere on the mainland~ lol. The pineapple thing was pretty funny. Kris ended up eating some of them, so he must not have minded me carrying them after all :rotfl:

I turn my back for two seconds and you put up another awesome installment! I'm glad its coming slower now though because I really really don't want it to end...:sad1:
On a brighter note: My Mom and I rescheduled our trip to Disney for the second full week in May...and my Mom is pondering upgrading our room to the GRAND!!! Woohoo!!! :banana: I'll let ya know how that one turns out...but until then I will be looking forward to seeing more of your honeymoon!

Anna Marie
Definitely stayed tuned, I'm going to do my Pearl Harbor installment over the next couple of days. I am going to upload the pictures to Photobucket tonight. I can't believe its taking me this long to get it done, but I'm determined to finish and to show some pictures from our Michigan reception too.

I'm jealous, we used to always go in May. I love the Flower & Garden Festival at Epcot. They also have free concerts in the American Garden theater outside the AAR. They are 60's and 70's groups, but the shows have always been pretty good :dance3:

An upgrade to the Grand, how exciting! It was so cool just to stay there for 2 nights, I can't imagine an entire vacation :woohoo: Definitely let me know what you two end up doing!
Wow Vanessa and Kris, looks like you had a fabulous trip! :cool1: I know what you mean about the poverty on the Islands; I was in Hawaii in 2004 and was kind of shocked at the derelict areas near Waikiki Beach.

Isn't that climb up Diamond Head torture, but sooooo worth it? My friend and I were dumb and did NOT take water for the climb...needless to say, I spent a couple hours in bed when we got back with what was probably heat exhaustion! My own fault though! :rotfl:

How did you find that Hawaiian plate lunch? My friend is very...picky (to put it mildly!) so we never tried any of them. Yours looked soooo good though. Would you say that the roadside stands were reliable in general? I'm gathering info in case I make it back to Hawaii again someday (which is possible, seeing as my friend works for an airline, but difficult due to where in Canada I live and finances!). :)
I really was shocked about the areas around Waikiki. I have seen some reality shows that depict that area, but never realized how bad it really was there.

We didn't have any water either, but decided once we saw the faces of people that had just finished the climb to buy one from the vendor van sitting in the parking lot and I'm so glad we did or we probably would have been sick too. We only had one, so we rationed it between the two of us. I can't imagine not having anything that definitely must have been tiring.

The only stand that we ened up eating at was the Ted's Bakery that I showed in my last post. We went there on the suggestion that I found in the Frommer's Oahu edition. I'm not sure about some of the other stands. I would think that they should generally be pretty good. I know when we were in Jamaica (not exactly the same thing I know :goodvibes ) we got a lot of fresh fruit and seafood from them and it was fantastic!

Hopefully you get to go back soon. I know we said we would love to go back again. I think it would be fun with a group of friends. Plus, Disney is building a DVC resort there too!

ariel1025

03-25-2009, 10:31 PM

figmentfan814

03-26-2009, 10:03 PM

I was really looking forward to this day because we were going to Pearl Harbor. Kris and I love visiting historical sites and this was a place that I had always wanted to go to at some point in life. This was also our last day in Oahu before we flew to Maui for the remainder of our trip. We got our rental car out of the insanely expensive hotel valet service at a relatively early hour shortly before 9 a.m. and headed to breakfast at a hole in the wall placed called “Eggs and Things.” I came across it in one of my books and even though it was on the outskirts of Waikiki it was well worth it and was one of our better meals in Oahu.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii417.jpg

We had to park in a residential area and walk a few blocks over, but we saw a police car along the way and figured our car was safe. When we arrived there was a really long wait since the restaurant area is pretty small. I read that if you asked for a counter seat you could get seated quicker, so we opted to go this route and still ended up waiting about 30 minutes but was much less than the hour we had expected from what I had read. You have to wait outside for a seat.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii418.jpg

Inside the little restaurant:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii420.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii422.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii421.jpg

The food was fantastic here. I ordered pineapple pancakes with pineapple syrup. It was a little overkill on the pineapple, but still so yummy. I will remember next time to just get regular syrup. I don’t even remember what Kris had because I was concentrating on my food.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii419.jpg
We sat next to a nice man who is a pilot that is in Hawaii a lot. He says that his family lived there for a short time, but the costs were so outrageous and the schools horrible so they moved back to the mainland. He said he loves that restaurant and tries to visit on most of his extended trips.

After our meal we cleared out right away and were on our way to downtown Honolulu. Seriously, I couldn’t believe how small this place was in relation to each other. I know it’s an island, but you don’t really truly understand its size until you’re there. To get to Pearl Harbor you get off the freeway in a kind of sketchy part of town and all the tour books say not to leave anything in your car including in the trunk! This made me a little nervous and since you can’t take bags on the ferries over to the memorial we decided to pay for the bag holding service that is ran by volunteers.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii423.jpg

Basically, you go into the welcome center and then sign up for the ferry that takes you out to the memorial. This is inside (or I guess you’re still outside since its open air) the center.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii424.jpg
Right inside is this huge mural and they have the bell from the USS Arizona.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii425.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii426.jpg

There is a video that you watch before going over on the ferry. The memorial is free, but you can pay $5 for the audio tour that goes along on the boat ride and memorial. This is definitely worth the little extra cost; we both did it and really enjoyed the added effect. Since you can’t speak when you’re at the memorial it’s a good way to get a sense of the scene. They also have interviews of actual survivors which makes the experience all the more surreal. We only had a short wait before it was our turn to watch the film, so we had a bathroom break then started the audio tour.

After we were called into the theater and watched the film we headed out to the docks where we were taken across to the memorial. Both of my grandfathers fought in World War II, so it was emotional to think that this is where it all began for our country. We also have a cousin on my mom’s side that died at Pearl Harbor, but my mom didn’t know the name off hand, so I couldn’t look them up on the memorial.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii429.jpg

Arriving at the memorial:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii433.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii437.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii436.jpg

Looking back at Honolulu:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii432.jpg

They also have these large cement blocks which show where all the other ships were that were docked in the Harbor.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii434.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii435.jpg

There are ships across the bay that are docked.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii431.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii446.jpg

figmentfan814

03-26-2009, 10:05 PM

As you enter the memorial this is how it looks:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii438.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii480.jpg
Straight to the back wall all the way in the other room is a wall which lists all the victims of that day. Its amazing to see all the names that are on there. It really is moving to see how many people actually died. The wall is really tall probably at least 20 feet tall.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii449.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii450.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii454.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii452.jpg
Looking up through the memorial:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii463.jpg
It is kind of eerie since they ask you to be quiet out of respect for those that lost their lives. Since we had our audio tour that was still going, but it was so strange to be surrounded by all these strangers who weren’t saying anything. There are parts of the Arizona on both sides of the memorial plus there are some areas in the center where you can look down into the water.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii439.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii440.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii474.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii441.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii476.jpg
This was the direction that the Japanese would have flown in from during the attack over the mountains:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii461.jpg
Plus, there is still oil that is leaking today. There are only a few quarts a day, but you can still see it on the surface of the water in a few places.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii443.jpg
We were only there a short time before it was time for us to head back to the visitors center. Once we got back we went to check out the museum. It was so interesting some of the items that were in there. One thing that I didn’t know was that the federal government didn’t provide the funding for the memorial. Most of the money was raised through fundraisers and finally the last amount was allocated by Congress. Here is a brochure of a fundraising concert that Elvis did for the memorial.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii506.jpg
There was a music competition scheduled between the men on the different ships that was supposed to be held on December 7. They gave the trophy in honor of the band from the USS Arizona.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii501.jpg
Here is the size of the torpedoes that were also launched at our ships:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii500.jpg
There were also personal effects with stories about individuals who had served on the Arizona at different times during its history.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii490.jpg
After visiting the museum we went to the back which overlooked the water.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii515.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii512.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii507.jpg
The anchor from the Arizona which is outside the visitor’s center.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii517.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii518.jpg
Finally, it was time to leave. They are supposed to be building a new museum and visitors center by 2010. It will be exciting to see what they build. Adjacent to the center there is the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum. I would have loved to have had time to visit here too, but our time was running short and we still wanted to make it into downtown Honolulu.
After piling into the car we decided to head over to the swap meet at the Aloha Stadium. It was massive and circled around the entire stadium. It is only certain days of the week and vendors from all over come to sell their goods.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii521.jpg

figmentfan814

03-26-2009, 10:06 PM

We didn’t have a ton of things that we were shopping for that day, so we just spent time walking around enjoying the sites. I did buy one purse though; I have a total purse obsession and own at least 75 of them.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii519.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii522.jpg

Up next the only royal palace on US soil and our sunset cruise that was supposed to be a romantic end to our stay on Oahu.

figmentfan814

03-26-2009, 10:13 PM

Hi Vanessa :goodvibes I finally had a chance to follow you over here from my Pre-TR....actually, I came over a few days ago but spent all this time reading through your wedding :rotfl: I decided to wait and reply when I got all caught up :)

First....your wedding was absolutely incredible!! It looked just like a fairytale...absolutely perfect in every way!!!

Your honeymoon in Hawaii looks like so much fun!! I love all your flower pictures...I am addicted to taking tons of pictures of nature too! What type of camera do you use? Your pictures are really pretty!!

Can't wait to read more updates...especially about Pearl Harbor.

Thank you so much, I'm so glad that you have enjoyed it so far. I was so happy with how the wedding came out, DFTW really did an amazing job and I wouldn't change a thing.

My camera is a Canon Power Shot. This year we just bought an updated version of our old camera and here is the new one. Its the same thing just the newer model. I loved my camera; I had it for over 5 years and took thousands of pictures. It isn't pocket size, but it takes awesome pictures and I love the swing around screen so you can take shots of yourself.
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=144&modelid=17630

I hope you enjoy my latest installment too :goodvibes I'm looking forward to reading your full TR when you go later this year!

dizneyfreak

03-26-2009, 10:28 PM

Vanessa,
Just looking at the pictures of the memorial made me so sad. My Daddy is a retired navy man and my uncle died at Pearl Harbor. So sad...I know I would have been balling.
On a lighter note...that swap meet looked like a blast! I love love love going to flea markets and farmers markets and things and that looked right up my alley! Yummo on the food choice by the way...those pancakes looked to good. I can't wait to see more! :surfweb:

Anna Marie

DisneyLaura

03-27-2009, 10:23 AM

Oh Vanessa how beautiful those pictures from the U.S.S Arizona Memorial. We were scheduled to take a tour bus there and my husband had gotten sick two days before and he just wasn't up to going far from the hotel. We actually never rented a car there just in Maui. Looks like you found some cool sites on your own.

tiggersam00

03-27-2009, 11:06 AM

Oh wow Vanessa, those pics are so amazing. What a great experience for you to have, especially since you have a personal connection to everything. That is pretty amazing that the USS Arizona still leaks oil into the Harbour, if you hadn't put up that pic I may not have believed it, after all this time too. Crazy!

Oh and your pineapple pancakes are making me drool right now... I think I may have to have DF experiment with how to make those lol!

irisbud

03-27-2009, 01:30 PM

That looks like a great experience. It sounds like it would be really moving to be there. I think that the silence around you would be a little eerie but would probably add to the experience. DH and I like doing things like this as well so it will probably be a stop for us whenever we make it to HI.

"supposed to be romantic" sounds a little foreboding...Can't wait to read more!

DisneyBrideToni

03-27-2009, 01:46 PM

Wow Pearl Harbor looks like an amazing place to visit. I am also very interested in historical locations so that is one that is on my list of places to visit.

ariel1025

03-27-2009, 04:35 PM

Loved your newest update! Pearl Harbor is one of the places on my "must visit" list, so it was awesome to see your pictures.

Oh and thanks for the info about your camera :goodvibes

figmentfan814

03-27-2009, 05:08 PM

Wow ladies, it was nice to see all of your responses after sitting in an all day workshop about teaching online :surfweb: I have a quick break before I teach tonight, so I was glad to have a few minutes to get on the Dis!

Vanessa,
Just looking at the pictures of the memorial made me so sad. My Daddy is a retired navy man and my uncle died at Pearl Harbor. So sad...I know I would have been balling.
On a lighter note...that swap meet looked like a blast! I love love love going to flea markets and farmers markets and things and that looked right up my alley! Yummo on the food choice by the way...those pancakes looked to good. I can't wait to see more! :surfweb:

Anna Marie
Wow, I would have been balling too under those connections. It is a very emotional place. The swap meet was unbelievable. I heard it was the best place to buy souvenirs and they weren't kidding. There was every kind of Hawaiian thing imaginable (even if they were made in Taiwan :rotfl:)

Oh Vanessa how beautiful those pictures from the U.S.S Arizona Memorial. We were scheduled to take a tour bus there and my husband had gotten sick two days before and he just wasn't up to going far from the hotel. We actually never rented a car there just in Maui. Looks like you found some cool sites on your own.
The one nice thing in Oahu is that you can definitely get around with all the tour buses, etc. I'm sorry you missed Pearl Harbor, but just one more reason to have an excuse to return. We only had the car for the two days since the parking fees were outrageous. I couldn't believe how much those hotels charge on Oahu :eek:

Oh wow Vanessa, those pics are so amazing. What a great experience for you to have, especially since you have a personal connection to everything. That is pretty amazing that the USS Arizona still leaks oil into the Harbour, if you hadn't put up that pic I may not have believed it, after all this time too. Crazy!

Oh and your pineapple pancakes are making me drool right now... I think I may have to have DF experiment with how to make those lol!
I never would have believed about the oil either. Its amazing how things like that continue to have an impact today.

The pancakes were amazing; is it sad to say that was one of our best meals in Hawaii?

That looks like a great experience. It sounds like it would be really moving to be there. I think that the silence around you would be a little eerie but would probably add to the experience. DH and I like doing things like this as well so it will probably be a stop for us whenever we make it to HI.

"supposed to be romantic" sounds a little foreboding...Can't wait to read more!
I highly recommend it when you make it to HI; it will be so cool for DVC to open there. There really are so many interesting things to do on Oahu.

Believe me the cruise was definitely not what we expected. Don't worry there were no injuries or anything like that, but we were not happy with our experience.

Wow Pearl Harbor looks like an amazing place to visit. I am also very interested in historical locations so that is one that is on my list of places to visit.
Toni~ it reminded me of when we got to visit places like Gettysburg or Ellis Island. You can just sense the significance of the site and the history that played out there.

Loved your newest update! Pearl Harbor is one of the places on my "must visit" list, so it was awesome to see your pictures.

Oh and thanks for the info about your camera :goodvibes
I definitely agree that it should be on a "must visit" list. Have you ever been to Hawaii before? If not, you're lucky as DVC to get the chance soon :goodvibes

princess22

04-01-2009, 11:30 AM

Guess where I'm going for my honeymoon Vanessa!? HAWAII! I'm super excited. My trip will probably look a lot like yours. Quick question, what package did you get at the Polynesian Cultural Center?

figmentfan814

04-01-2009, 12:08 PM

Guess where I'm going for my honeymoon Vanessa!? HAWAII! I'm super excited. My trip will probably look a lot like yours. Quick question, what package did you get at the Polynesian Cultural Center?

:dance3: How exciting, you will hava blast! Which islands will you be visiting? I'm pretty sure we had the Deluxe Ali'i Luau and we added the transportation from Waikiki. Our tour bus guide ended up giving people the option of a guided tour with him, so I'm not sure that's standard procedure or not because I know the higher package automatically include the tour :confused:

Let me know if you have any other questions, I hope my TR continues to help you out in your planning.

figmentfan814

04-08-2009, 04:29 PM

After leaving the swap meet we decided to do some exploring in downtown Honolulu. It was a Sunday afternoon though, so there wasn’t a lot of traffic. We first drove to the center of town where the Iolani Palace is located. This is the residence where the last king and queen of Hawaii lived. It is also the only royal residence that exists on American soil. The palace really is an awesome structure and I would love to take a tour of it on another visit, but for now we just took a few pictures of the outside.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii530.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii531.jpg http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii523.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii524.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii527.jpg

Across the street is a statue of King Kamehameha which I remembered seeing from my parent’s honeymoon pictures. They came during some special celebrations, so he was drapped in beautiful leis. During our trip he was bare.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii536.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii533.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii535.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii534.jpg

For any of you that have been in the Capitol in Washington DC there are statues of governors and famous people from all the states and there is a statue of King Kamehameha for Hawaii. It brought controversy because he lived long before Hawaii became a state, so it is tucked away in a little bit of an out of the way place.

I was nervous about leaving our car too long in this area because we had also been warned to keep an eye on our belongings here. There weren’t too many people around though because it wasn’t during the week, so we were able to see our car the entire time we were exploring.

Then Kris and I drove down a few streets to snap pictures of Dog the Bounty Hunter’s office. Okay, we like several lame reality shows, I admit it! We tried to be coy when we were asking the clerk at the concierge desk about where the street was where his office was located after we looked it up in the phone book. As soon as I mentioned the street, she said, “Oh, you want to visit Dog, people love to go there all the time!” It made me laugh because I thought we would be the only ones that would do something like that on a trip. Here are some pictures of the front of the building. They even have a gift shop, but it was closed since it was the weekend.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii543.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii540.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii538.jpg
Where we live this has a different meaning ;)
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii537.jpg

We then drove our car back to the rental place and then walked the couple of streets back to our hotel. Before heading up to our room we asked in the lobby about the sunset cruises that launched from the beach. They told us they were independently owned and you just walked up and paid the captain directly. We decided to go up and change then head down to the beach for a romantic evening. When we were up in our room I saw this really cool bird on our balcony.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii552.jpg

Once we got down to the beach there was already a boat there, so Kris went over to the captain to ask about the price.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii553.jpg

figmentfan814

04-08-2009, 04:30 PM

If I remember correctly it was $35 a piece for the one hour cruise that would be leaving right before sunset. We decided to go ahead and do it, so Kris paid our money and then we sat on the beach for a while. Kris ventured into the water, but I didn’t want to get wet before we headed out.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii560.jpg

We waited around for about 45 minutes while he sold seats to other people who walked up to the boat and then we set cruise on what we thought would be a beautiful sunset for our last night in Oahu. For the first 10 minutes or so it was really nice, you could see the hotels all along the shoreline and we had great views of Diamondhead.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii571.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii562.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii569.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii575.jpg

The captain even had his dachshund on board with him, which I thought was so cute.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii580.jpg

There were a few clouds rolling in, but nothing too ominous and the sunset was amazing!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii581.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii570.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii586.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Pearl%20Harbor%20Day/Hawaii584.jpg

About 20 minutes into the trip became a major disappointment and it wasn’t because of the weather, stay tuned.

princess22

04-08-2009, 07:09 PM

figmentfan814

04-08-2009, 10:41 PM

Nice update. You have left me dying to hear the rest!!! What happened!? There is apparently supposed to be a big meteor shower while we are in Hawaii and I have seen several boat trips during it. I think that would be fun!

The meteor shower sounds totally cool, I hope you get to do one of the boat trips during it :goodvibes

Sorry the update will probably happen tomorrow, we had a bunch of business stuff to catch up on and I just finished a little while ago. After working all day, I am ready to :faint:

Here's a little clue- it was more an act of the behavior of the people on the boat and surrounding it. It was not the romantic evening we had been hoping for at all!

starrzone

04-09-2009, 08:14 AM

About 20 minutes into the trip became a major disappointment and it wasn’t because of the weather, stay tuned.

Yuck...I hate when things go wrong on vacation! :headache: I'm curious to hear what happened, though!

irisbud

04-09-2009, 10:42 AM

What a cliffhanger! The sunset looks like it was beautiful, though. The palace grounds look very nice too. The more I read of your TR, the more I want to go!

Can't wait to read more!

figmentfan814

04-09-2009, 11:57 AM

Yuck...I hate when things go wrong on vacation! :headache: I'm curious to hear what happened, though!
Don't worry, I have the posted written and will be posting in just a few minutes :cool1:

What a cliffhanger! The sunset looks like it was beautiful, though. The palace grounds look very nice too. The more I read of your TR, the more I want to go!

Can't wait to read more!
I really hope you get a chance to go; it is such a neat place to visit. I'm hoping if we ever make it back that we can take one of the tours of the grounds. Stay tuned the continuation is up next.

figmentfan814

04-09-2009, 12:02 PM

Sorry not too many pictures on this point, just the tale of our last, very disappointing night on Oahu…

Everyone was having a good time on the ship. They were doing cups of margarita mix for 50 cents, but since Kris and I don’t really drink we were laughing at some of the antics of our fellow passengers who were obviously started to become under the influence. As the boat was circling out in the water, a guy came up on a Ski-Doo and started talking to the captain. Apparently he is one of the guys that works on a lot of these types of boats in the area. As he is stopped by us suddenly one of the drunk women on our boat asks him for a ride. Our captain said, “sure no problem, have a good time.” So, the guy takes off with this girl on the back of his ski-doo. Side note, the captain did give her a life jacket before she got off the boat. This was weird to me, but I wasn’t too upset yet. Kris was starting to get a little mad though because this was turning into a party night for some friends and not for the enjoyable cruise that we had all paid for that evening.

A few minutes later the ski-doo races back with a quick stop spraying most of us in the boat. The drunk girl climbs back into the boat giggling and then her friend proceeds to ask for a ride too. This time instead of taking her out further in the water the guy starting circling the boat spraying all of us in the process!

Now, we had out our video camera and regular camera, so I quickly duck and try to cover them with my body. This literally continues for 5 minutes and we were drenched. I swear the guy circled the boat 5 or 6 times. Our video camera ended up with some water on it (in the end it dried okay and works fine) but thankfully my body had shielded most of our electronics. Needless to say we no longer had these smiling faces that we had started with at the beginning of our cruise :sail:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii582.jpg

Kris was fuming at this point v If we were close enough to shore I think he would have made us jump out and wade back to the beach. Unfortunately we were still pretty far out, so we had to sit there drenching on our ride back to the beach. The captain was joking and laughing and everyone on the boat who was intoxicated was having a good time, the few of us were not and were just there for the scenery were not happy at all.

When we got back to the beach we started to walk away and then Kris turned to go back to chew out the captain. I talked him out of it and said let’s talk to the hotel to see what can be done. Normally, I wouldn’t have cared but there were like four big guys hanging out with the captain at this point (including the idiot with the jet ski) and even though Kris is a bigger guy he’s still pretty small (only like 5’8) so I didn’t think he could take all these guys

We then went up to our room where we had to completely shower and change all of our clothes since we had been drenched. Kris called to the front desk and he told them that the boats are independently operated, so they gave him the phone number of our captain. Kris called that number immediately, but got voicemail and left a not too nice message requesting him to call back the next day :boat: So, I will continue that story later.

We learned this lesson, never take these boats just on the beach. Spend the extra for one of the dinner cruises that you book in advance. I think the captains of these boats are people that can't hold a regular job, so they have no sense of how to properly do business.

Let’s just say the night didn’t get better after that incident. We walked a few blocks to this restaurant that people had said was good. It was a smorgasbord place and was packed with locals. It was super crowded and hard to find a clean table, plus the food was not good at all.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii779.jpg

After that we walked around a little bit picking up some last minute souvenirs since this was our last night on Oahu. We were flying to Maui the next afternoon. We walked down and got some photos by Duke who was a famous surfer.

We got to our room and then started to pack up our stuff for our departure. We had still been falling into bed pretty early because of the time change and were getting ready for bed around 11 pm. Before I laid down I decided that I would never get any rest and couldn’t take it any more; we could hear the word for word conversations of our neighbors plus they had music blasting in addition we could hear a baby screaming from across the hall.

I’m not kidding each and every night there we had these noise issues and at this point I had it. The first two nights it was an older couple that was screaming now it was music blaring. I’m assuming they have different building codes there because I swear there is no insulation between the walls. I’m not talking about hearing muffled voices, you could repeat the entire conversations that people were having with each other.

I called the front desk demanding a different room :mad: I told them that I couldn’t take it anymore between the time difference and the noise from our neighbors I hadn’t slept well the entire time we were at the hotel and we had a long day ahead of us tomorrow with our transfer to the other island. At first, they wanted to come tell our neighbors to quiet down. I said no, that wasn’t going to help anything we could hear anything and everything going on with our neighbors. I asked to be moved since our stuff was already packed up for Maui I knew it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.

I asked for a room without any neighbors on either side. At first he said he couldn’t find any, but after a few minutes the desk clerk was able to find one in the entire hotel, but it was several floors down and had two queens. I said that’s fine we’ll take it. One catch was that he was working alone, so we had to come to the lobby to get the keys. I dragged Kris with me and we got the new keys. They then told us it would be about 20 minutes before the bellmen could move us. Just some of our luggage piled up:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Hawaii783.jpg

By now, I was tired and getting more irritated by the minute after the evening we had just had there. When we got up to the room I said forget it we’re carrying everything ourselves. So, Kris and I proceeded to lug our three suitcases, souvenirs, carry-ons, purses, etc. all in one load. Our new room:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Hawaii782.jpg

It was so peaceful in our new room and we collapsed on the bed relishing the soothing silence.

irisbud

04-09-2009, 12:36 PM

figmentfan814

04-09-2009, 12:57 PM

From both the cruise story and the noise factor, I don't know what possesses people to think they can be so rude to everyone around them!?!

I am so sorry you had such a horrible evening. It sounds like one of those times when everything just keeps going from bad to worse. I would have been really tee-ed off too at the whole thing. I'm glad you were able to keeps your cameras and such from getting ruined! I hope you got some reconciliation for the cruise (I will stay tuned to find out).

We had a bad noise issue at a hotel once. There was a couple next to us loudly, um, enjoying each other. The police came and everything, and we didn't call so they must have disturbed someone else too! It was really bad. Worse, they did it again later after the police left! I'm glad the hotel was able to move you to another room where you could actually get some sleep!
Amy, I know exactly what you mean; I guess even in paradise people are extremely rude :confused3

That's too funny about your noise situation. Thankfully, we didn't get any of that during our trip, I probably would have been too embarassed to call if it was for that reason. The worst we had was the older couple that were screaming at each other for several nights :rotfl:

tiggersam00

04-09-2009, 02:41 PM

figmentfan814

04-09-2009, 11:22 PM

Aww no Vanessa! I hope things get better in Maui! I cannot believe how horrible the boat ride and hotel were for you guys! Dave and I enjoy a drink and a sunset but not a booze cruise spring break style! That is just crazy! The captain could have at least warned you a bit, and the jet ski was awful! Thank goodness your cameras were ok, I would have been majorly PO'ed as well!
I am hoping that Maui treated you both a little better and more relaxed then Oahu!:scared:

Maui does end up being a lot more relaxing; but we did have a few mishaps on our last day there too. Maybe there was a pattern there :upsidedow

You're exactly right it was a like a spring break cruise. Needless to say there were a lot of people that enjoyed a cocktail or two without any ill effects. It just seemed to be a small group that ruined it for everyone :headache:

Jennifer48

04-10-2009, 09:36 AM

DisneyLaura

04-10-2009, 02:13 PM

Sorry to hear that your last night was so not nice.

princess22

04-10-2009, 03:25 PM

Oh no, sorry your night was so bad. =(

Now I know what not to do on my honeymoon, but I'm sorry you had to experience that! It amazes me how people act so crazy sometimes. I swear, ryan and I are so much like you and kris. We don't drink either, so I Know we wouldn't of been happy on that boat. And I hate getting wet like that, especially with ocean water! EEWW, I couldn't imagine.

figmentfan814

04-10-2009, 11:40 PM

I'm so sorry to hear about your last night there. So rude! Were there other people on the boat as well that weren't drinking that were upset too? I would have said something then to the captain about my electronics, thats just not right.

Here's hoping for a better, quieter time in Maui!! :yay:
I know there were other people that weren't happy either. The main problem was the captain was laughing and having a good time with all the other people that were causing problems. He definitely wasn't helping at all :confused3

Maui does get much better compared to this night :goodvibes

Sorry to hear that your last night was so not nice.
I was just glad it wasn't the last night of the entire trip, that would have been a sour note to end the trip on before heading home :upsidedow:

Oh no, sorry your night was so bad. =(

Now I know what not to do on my honeymoon, but I'm sorry you had to experience that! It amazes me how people act so crazy sometimes. I swear, ryan and I are so much like you and kris. We don't drink either, so I Know we wouldn't of been happy on that boat. And I hate getting wet like that, especially with ocean water! EEWW, I couldn't imagine.
Its definitely people like this that take away the fun from everyone else! Don't get me wrong I don't mind people drinking around me, I just don't like when people's behavior (intoxicated or not) interferes with everyone else around them. I definitely recommend avoiding some of these boats. I'm sure there are some good ones, but I would probably ask for a recommendation from the hotel or something for a particular captain. Otherwise go with one of the chartered boats for a dinner cruise, etc.

DisneyBrideToni

04-13-2009, 12:34 PM

Wow I can't believe what happened on that cruise! I don't understand what is wrong with people. I mean do they really think people wanted to get soaked!? Drunk people are obnoxious. :headache: I would have asked to switch my room too. People don't have any manners.

Flurbee

04-16-2009, 06:43 PM

Vanessa,

Just got caught up on everything...sorry to hear about your romantic cruise!! Some people are just so rude!! I mean, who wants to get totally soaked, not to mention try to protect your camera and camcorder? How annoying!! Then with the noise, that would have been it for me too....At least you got moved to a quiet room!! Hey, just to let you know, I updated my PJ finally, so when you have a chance check it out....I think everyone has forgotten about it, cause I haven't updated in so long!!!

dizneyfreak

04-16-2009, 10:38 PM

I'm caught up!!! Woohoo!!! :cool1: Sorry girl, work has been sooooo crazy busy lately and I haven't had a second to check up on you over here.
I so would have gone to see the DOG! I am obsessed with that show!
I am a fan of throwing that stupid overboard, I loved his dog though...lookes a lot like my Mickey :goodvibes
I'm glad to hear your trip gets better. I can't wait to see the pics from Maui.
Oh yes, and on a side note: Disney trip update: It is for sure that Mom and I will be leaving May 12th and going to Disney for the week! Woohoo! Our trip will finally happen! According to my Mom we are still staying at the CBR, but I feel like she's hiding something from me and since it will be my birthday while we are there and all....hmmm...one can only hope for the Grand! You'll be the first to know if my wish comes true!

Anna Marie

princess22

04-19-2009, 11:00 PM

Alright, quick question (I might have more as my planning continues). Did you rent a car the whole time you were in Oahu?

figmentfan814

04-20-2009, 10:02 AM

Sorry its been a few days ladies, I took a break from the computer this weekend :goodvibes

Wow I can't believe what happened on that cruise! I don't understand what is wrong with people. I mean do they really think people wanted to get soaked!? Drunk people are obnoxious. :headache: I would have asked to switch my room too. People don't have any manners.
I was totally shocked too; especially since it wasn't a private charter or something. A few people ruined it for everyone on the boat.

Vanessa,

Just got caught up on everything...sorry to hear about your romantic cruise!! Some people are just so rude!! I mean, who wants to get totally soaked, not to mention try to protect your camera and camcorder? How annoying!! Then with the noise, that would have been it for me too....At least you got moved to a quiet room!! Hey, just to let you know, I updated my PJ finally, so when you have a chance check it out....I think everyone has forgotten about it, cause I haven't updated in so long!!!
It was definitely not the evening we had planned :rotfl: I will have to go check it out this morning :surfweb: I was wondering if we would be hearing any updates.

I'm caught up!!! Woohoo!!! :cool1: Sorry girl, work has been sooooo crazy busy lately and I haven't had a second to check up on you over here.
I so would have gone to see the DOG! I am obsessed with that show!
I am a fan of throwing that stupid overboard, I loved his dog though...lookes a lot like my Mickey :goodvibes
I'm glad to hear your trip gets better. I can't wait to see the pics from Maui.
Oh yes, and on a side note: Disney trip update: It is for sure that Mom and I will be leaving May 12th and going to Disney for the week! Woohoo! Our trip will finally happen! According to my Mom we are still staying at the CBR, but I feel like she's hiding something from me and since it will be my birthday while we are there and all....hmmm...one can only hope for the Grand! You'll be the first to know if my wish comes true!

Anna Marie
It was fun tracking down where Dog's office was in Honolulu; we figured we were already that close, why not check it out :thumbsup2 Hope things start to slow down a little for you; I know how stressful it can be when work gets super crazy. How exciting that you get to go to Disney in May :banana: That is my favorite time of year, I love the Flower & Garden Festival at Epcot and the free concerts there too. It will be so much fun to be down for your birthday. I have been a few times around mine, but its in August and is a little too hot for me :upsidedow

Alright, quick question (I might have more as my planning continues). Did you rent a car the whole time you were in Oahu?
We only rented it for the for two days we were there. We took the bus to Diamondhead and took the shuttle to the Polynesian Cultural Center then the last day we just hung out on the beach. The parking is so expensive at all the hotels we planned it where we only had to pay for one night. I think we paid $25 per night. The bus system is pretty good and we didn't have any problem catching it to Diamondhead. There are also a lot of other shuttles that you can take too :thumbsup2 We just paid for a shuttle to and from the airport too which our AAA agent booked with our hotel. Definitely let me know if you have any other questions during your planning :goodvibes

figmentfan814

04-27-2009, 12:05 PM

Just a quick post, I'm trying to finish Hawaii ASAP. After all DH and I were there exactly 1 year ago this week :cloud9:

The next morning we woke up and decided to head to breakfast at the “Pink Hotel” or the Royal Hawaiian by its formal name. My mom talked about a breakfast buffet they had eaten here on their honeymoon and I was curious to see if it was still the same.

We had arranged for a little later check out, so we knew that we could come back to the room before we had to leave later that day. In addition, I had a massage scheduled in the spa in the afternoon too. Since my car accident in July 2007, I have been going to therapy several times a week. One of the things that helps a lot is deep tissue massage. Thankfully, insurance covers it during my longer trips too or I don’t know what I would do being gone for more than a few days at a time. I was also excited to see that the hotel’s daily newsletter finally had us listed as honeymooners on the front cover.

I don’t think I mentioned this before, but each day the resort had a newsletter with the events for the day on the side they would list anyone that was there for a honeymoon, wedding, or anniversary. When we never appeared in it I asked the day before our departure and they said since I had kept my last name they didn’t realize we were on our honeymoon. You would think that my AAA travel agent would have made that note in our reservation when she booked it! So, finally at last we were listed. I honestly just wanted it to put in our scrapbook.

A neat thing the resort does twice a week is to offer a vow renewal on the beach for couples. It sounded really informal, you just basically had to show up to participate. I thought this was a nice touch and if our wedding had not just occurred 2 months prior I probably would have dragged Kris down there to participate. We took a couple of pictures out on our balcony and then we were on our way. We actually had a better view from our new room.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Hawaii785.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Hawaii787.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Hawaii786.jpg

We had stopped at the pink hotel briefly a few days earlier, but I was excited to see its grounds a little more. Here’s a shot from earlier in the week:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii670.jpg

We had a little trouble locating the restaurant which was all the way around the back of the hotel, but we eventually found it. They seated us with a perfect ocean front view.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/RoyalHawaiian.jpg
I didn’t have my camera on me since we had planned to go to the beach for a little while after breakfast, so I had to take some pictures with my phone.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/menu.jpg
Our waiter offered to create any kind of juice drink that we wanted so I asked for a combination that was similar to the Lilikoi juice which we had at our brunch reception. It was delicious!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/me.jpg

Let’s just say this buffet was heavenly! I think the price tipped the scales a little and we spent over $50 on breakfast after tip, but well worth it in my opinion. They made fresh to order omelets with every imaginable topping and waffles could also be made to order with fresh fruit and macadamia nuts for toppings. There were lots of wonderful pastries and an interesting array of foreign foods to satisfy the tastes of visitors from around the globe. We had superb service which was expected at such a nice hotel. The best part of the meal was the people watching since we were clearly out of our league. Another interesting thing during the meal

There were some birds that were quite aggressive that immediately stole any food that was dropped to the floor. They were perched on the extra chairs at our table ready to attack! A bird enjoying Kris’ sausage that he dropped on the ground.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/birdsausage.jpg

We decided to walk back to our hotel along the beach which turned out to be quite an experience. Since Waikiki beach is manmade; there are areas where there just isn’t any beach. Once we finally made our way out to the beach from the hotel (they have lots of areas blocked so outside people can’t just wander inside) we started following the winding path back to our hotel. Along the way though, it turned it a small sidewalk that was twisting around the hotels that jutted along the water. Finally, we were back on sand again and eventually made it to our hotel.

We went upstairs to our room to pack a small bag for the rest of the afternoon and to get the rest of our luggage ready for bell services. Around this time the captain of the boat from the night before called Kris back on his cellphone. He started off apologizing and said that he wanted to offer us a free cruise that night. Kris said sorry, but that won’t work we are flying to Maui this afternoon. The captain made a bunch of excuses how people were just having a good time, etc. I could tell Kris was fuming, but he kept his cool. He said that it was completely unprofessional the way the captain had handled it and he had completely ruined our romantic evening. The worst part is that the guy basically only offered the free cruise that night and no other compensation! I finally told Kris to just get off and forget it; it was obvious this guy didn’t have a clue or care at all about what had happened. Since its independently owned, there was really nothing else we could do beyond this point.

We wanted to go to the beach for a little while, but also needed our clothes, so I had to pack up a bag complete with beach towels and our swimsuits. We called for bell services, but there was a long wait so we took everything to the elevator and waited forever before one finally stopped on our floor (definitely a downside of being on a lower floor) and then we hauled everything downstairs.

Stay tuned for our afternoon at the beach and the trip to Maui.

Ann117

04-27-2009, 01:30 PM

I am jealous!!! I have always wanted to go to Hawaii. The view from your room is amazing doesn't look like you could have gotten any closer to the water. Sorry about your disaster at sea

spacerangerqueen

04-27-2009, 06:03 PM

I FINALLY got to read your Hawaii report! I really want to go to Hawaii now. My parents went there on their honeymoon as well. Jeff and I are going to wait a year to take a real honeymoon and just count the wedding cruise as one for now. Maybe we need to consider Hawaii.
That shaved ice place looks awesome. Red beans are popular in Japan so when I saw beans on the menu that was my first guess, I wouldn't have wanted them in my shaved ice either, and I've purposefully ordered red bean ice cream before :lmao:

I'm sorry the boat ride turned out so lousy. Really poor customer service, but I guess when you are a small operation and don't depend on repeat customers and word of mouth it doesn't really matter. At least you got some good shots of the sunset before it took it's turn for the worst.

Can't wait for more, even if it has been a year since you were there lol

figmentfan814

04-27-2009, 09:18 PM

Since we had some time to waste before my massage appointment we decided to head down to the beach. We are by no means the kind of people to lay around on the beach, but we figured we needed to spend some time there considering we were on Waikiki Beach one of the most famous ones in the world!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii790.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii789.jpg
Let’s just say after about an hour we were bored out of our mind. We just can’t sit around and do nothing!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii791.jpg
Finally, it was time for my massage appointment and since we were all checked out Kris decided to tag along and wait in the lobby at the spa. It was on the top floor of the hotel and had an amazing view.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii799.jpg
Waiting for my massage:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Waikiki/Hawaii797.jpg
While I was in there they let Kris go out on the patio deck which he said was really nice. We were both able to change out of our clothes from the beach too. My massage was amazing. Kris joked with me afterwards that he wasn’t so sure how he felt about another man having his hands all over me. My therapists at home are women! :lmao:

At this point we just had a little time before our shuttle to the airport, so we ran across the street to grab lunch. We just went to a small food court area that was nearby and had Subway. Finally, we made it back grabbed our bags from the bellhop and jumped on our van. The driver had a couple more stops along the way that were closer to downtown Honolulu. At one stop we could see the huge super ferries that had just started service again between the islands. My mom had done this 30 years earlier and apparently they had stopped it for over 20 years because of environmental concerns.

When we booked our trip the only option was to take the plane, but in the last few months they had gained approval to start the ferries again. I actually would have loved to have done the ferry, but oh well I guess next time.

We eventually made it to the airport where we checked in for our flight to Maui. I couldn’t believe that our time in Oahu was already over.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii809.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii808.jpg
As some of you might remember we were originally flying Aloha airlines that had gone out of business the month before, so now we were on Hawaiian.

Our flight over took about 45 minutes. By this time it was already dark, so we couldn’t see very much when we took off.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii812.jpg

They served us some tasty juice on the flight and before we knew it we were emerging out of the darkness to land in Maui. It is so weird flying out over the water like that at night because you literally can’t see anything until you’re approaching the island. I honestly couldn’t believe we had just spent several hours to go such a short distance!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii813.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii816.jpg

After we got our luggage we made our way to the car rental shuttle. Once we arrived there we went up to the counter where the attendant offered us a convertible. We had originally booked a jeep (there was a free upgrade) and didn’t get the convertible because the mileage wasn’t as great. Since the island is so small and you are not in Hawaii that often we decided to take the plunge.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii817.jpg

We stopped for gas and snacks a short ride away. This was before gas was over $4 at home; I think it was still a little over $3 at this point, so I was shocked at the price there. Little did I know we would all be paying this soon. From what I’ve read Maui has the most expensive gasoline in the U.S. We also paid over $2 each for 20 ounce bottles of Coke Zero!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii819.jpg

We had about a 30 minute drive to our hotel which was near Lahaina the main resort area. We wouldn’t discover until the next day during the day what an awesome drive we had just passed through. It was actually pretty scary at night because you could just see the giant rock cliffs to one side and hear the water on the other. Plus, there was tons of twisting and turning around the mountain. We made it to where we thought our hotel was and honestly we got lost. We were staying at the Ka'anapali Beach Club which was formerly the Embassy Suites.

We turned into several areas thinking they were the right one, but they ended up being some other version of the Beach Club name. We finally ended up in a more residential area with apartment buildings and Kris ran into a gas station to ask for directions. I was driving at this point and was starting to get hungry. So, after we knew where we were going I pulled through the McDonald’s drive through that was right there. Let me tell you the mango/peach pies they have in Maui are really yummy!

At around 11:30 pm we pulled into our hotel which was still a few miles away from where we got directions. After dropping me off with our stuff, Kris took the car to the underground garage and I went up to the desk to check us in to our room. It was a really nice hotel with an open air lobby where you could see the sky up 10 floors. It had been bought out by a timeshare company, so I was a little leery, but our room was out of this world. The bathroom was humongous and we had a full kitchen, living room, and the balcony branched across the living room into the bedroom.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii823.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii821.jpg
Each room had a flat screen television too!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii822.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii824.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii825.jpg
There was a full Jacuzzi tub and walk-in glass shower. We even had 2 full sinks on opposite sides of the room.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii826.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii827.jpg

We finally fell into bed watching our awesome television before we drifted off to sleep.

figmentfan814

04-27-2009, 09:43 PM

I am jealous!!! I have always wanted to go to Hawaii. The view from your room is amazing doesn't look like you could have gotten any closer to the water. Sorry about your disaster at sea
I always knew I wanted to go there eventually and am so glad that Kris picked it; its definitely somewhere that everyone should try to visit at least once! The latest view was awesome; the water was so beautiful and it was wonderful to be able to enjoy it so close :goodvibes

I FINALLY got to read your Hawaii report! I really want to go to Hawaii now. My parents went there on their honeymoon as well. Jeff and I are going to wait a year to take a real honeymoon and just count the wedding cruise as one for now. Maybe we need to consider Hawaii.
That shaved ice place looks awesome. Red beans are popular in Japan so when I saw beans on the menu that was my first guess, I wouldn't have wanted them in my shaved ice either, and I've purposefully ordered red bean ice cream before :lmao:

I'm sorry the boat ride turned out so lousy. Really poor customer service, but I guess when you are a small operation and don't depend on repeat customers and word of mouth it doesn't really matter. At least you got some good shots of the sunset before it took it's turn for the worst.

Can't wait for more, even if it has been a year since you were there lol
I think waiting a year is a great idea. I just had a friend who went on their official honeymoon around their first anniversary. At least with destination brides like ourselves we get a little bit of a vacation with our wedding itself.

I was totally confused by the beans since we were thinking about the black tapioca balls that are in Korean drinks. We used to love getting bubble tea at a Korean restaurant near where we went to graduate school. I'll have to remember to avoid the bean ice cream. It reminds me sort of like thethe unusual flavors of ice cream I had while I was in Jamaica.

You're exactly right about the captain; I think for him its just a big party and the guests themselves don't really matter. After all, there is no way to tell people not to go to him while they're there because there are so many of these random boats :confused3

I'm glad you're enjoying my report so far. I hope you make it to Hawaii too!

dizneyfreak

04-27-2009, 11:58 PM

I love your room!!! You lucked out on that one. It sucks that you drove in at night though because the views are gorgeous. I can't wait to see more!

Anna Marie

figmentfan814

04-28-2009, 09:53 AM

I love your room!!! You lucked out on that one. It sucks that you drove in at night though because the views are gorgeous. I can't wait to see more!

Anna Marie
I thought you would enjoy this portion of the trip the most. I know you had some great things to say about your trip to Maui. Stay tuned for more :goodvibes

Jennifer48

04-28-2009, 03:54 PM

Your room in Maui looks awesome! I can't wait to see daytime photos! :cool2::thumbsup2

figmentfan814

04-29-2009, 02:43 PM

The next morning we decided to head out to explore after enjoying the free breakfast in the hotel which was a full spread including a made to order omelet bar. We had heard mixed reviews about the Road to Hana. For those of you who aren’t familiar it’s a winding highway that leads up to this city in the mountains. The views are supposed to be spectacular, but it is an all day trek and the highway is really narrow at times. You can take a coordinated trip up there that will stop at waterfalls and sights along the way. Some people have said it is an awesome experience, almost spiritual. Others have told us that they turned around halfway up. To be honest since this was really our only full day in Maui we decided to opt for something else instead because we wanted to ensure that we still had some time open that evening and since the road to Hana is suppose to be an all-day ordeal.

So, in the end we headed out to the Haleakala National Park http://www.nps.gov/hale/ which also includes a trek through the mountains. The site is out of this world (literally it looks like you’re on another planet!) Here are some shots I took along the way since we had to go back the way we came the night before to maneuver our way to the roads that would actually take us to the park. http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii830.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii832.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii831.jpg

We pulled out at one of the turnoffs along the way and this is one of only a couple of shots of the two of us together the entire trip; oh how I missed Disney Photopass!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii833.jpg
The faint outline of the mountain in the background covered by clouds is actually where we were heading that day.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii834.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii838.jpg

The views were awesome. I love the video I took while we were in the car at this point; in it you can see the cliffs on the right and the water on the left; truly amazing! You can kind of see what I’m talking about in this picture of the parking lot.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii839.jpg
It had been pretty cloudy that morning, but it was finally starting to clear, so we thought we would open the top on the car. Unfortunately, Kris couldn’t figure it out and another lady who was stopped with her family helped us out.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii841.jpg

After about 30 minutes we made it to the base of the mountain. The thing about this drive is that its considered the fastest ascent from sea level up to 10,000 above sea level. So, we started our climb literally heading above the clouds. Most of the way up there are warning signs about speeds and on the way down you have to keep the car in third shift the entire time.

Something really neat that you can do here is to do a sunrise bus trip which takes you to the top at like 3 am to watch the sunrise over the crater. Then you ride bicycles down from the summit. We had considered doing this, but when we booked our trip they had suspended them for a while because several people had been hit and killed on the road. Thankfully, they had made some more safety precautions and had started them up again and we enjoyed watching the bikers at different levels along our trip up. There were some extreme bikers who actually went the opposite way and were riding up the mountain instead of enjoying the easy trip down. Once we reached the summit we saw an older man (at least mid to late 60s) who had just completed the ride up!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii844.jpg
One of the cool things about this ecosystem is that there is a type of bird, the Nene, that is only found here and a plant that is unique to the area. They are not anywhere else on the entire planet. The first are these birds which are like geese. I’ll have some pictures of the plant once I get to the point where we reach the summit.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii845.jpg
Here is a sample of the Silversword plant which was in the visitors’ center partway up to the summit. http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii847.jpg
This is a fact I got off some of the National Park Service info:
Haleakala National Park has more endangered species than any other park in the NPS, even including species that are listed as endangered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service but not native to the park.

There are pull-offs all along the drive up. The first few miles up you actually drive through several residential areas before you entire the main part of the park. It is so neat to drive above the clouds so quickly. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, but as you can see the temperature dropped more and more as we went higher above sea level.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii846.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii848.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii856.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii852.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii853.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii857.jpg

I still need to upload some more photos, so I guess I will have to stop here.

Up next, we reach the summit!

dizneyfreak

05-02-2009, 06:01 PM

So sad you didn't get to enjoy the Road to Hana, but your trip looked beautiful as well. I can't wait to see the rest! BTW...we leave in 9 days for Disney!!! Woohoo!!!! :dance3:

figmentfan814

05-18-2009, 09:48 PM

So sad you didn't get to enjoy the Road to Hana, but your trip looked beautiful as well. I can't wait to see the rest! BTW...we leave in 9 days for Disney!!! Woohoo!!!! :dance3:
I hope you are having a wonderful time on your trip :woohoo: :yay::banana: I am looking forward to hearing about it once you get home. I think you should be heading back any day now.

figmentfan814

05-18-2009, 09:50 PM

Finally, we reached the ranger station at the top. It was unbelievable that we had climbed over 10,000 feet in less than 2 hours.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii901.jpg

The ranger station:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii889.jpg
Here’s the general view from the ranger post.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii883.jpg

There is an observation deck out the back of the station. We had an interesting conversation with the ranger up there. Apparently, they rotate stations and stay up there for a couple of weeks at a time. We also had a paper stamped with the National Park Service stamp for that station. It was only in the 30s when we got up to the top; definitely a change from the warm 75 degree weather we left below.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii876.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii875.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii886.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii887.jpg
We found out that you can take donkey trips down into the crater overnight. It kind of reminds me of trips that you can take into the Grand Canyon. We were told (not sure if this is true or not) that NASA used the crater to train for the Apollo missions. They said that the surface was believed to be similar to that on the moon. Even if it’s not true, it was an interesting story. Here is what the soil looked like up there.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii906.jpg

Some views of the crater:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii881.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii885.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii869.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii872.jpg

Looking out towards the coast:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii867.jpg
Overlooking the other mountains in the area:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii894.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii900.jpg
A little further up you can see an observatory too.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii892.jpg
Here is one of the Silversword plants. There were not any in bloom while we were there. They said that the plants can live up to 50 years, but only blossom once and has up to 50,000 seeds per stalk.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii907.jpg
This is an image of the plaque with the official Hawaiian name of the plant:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii908.jpg
I was truly amazed by the crater; it was one of the most unique places that I have ever visited. I’m so glad that Kris and I decided to visit. After about 15 minutes we decided to journey back down the mountain. There are warning signs everywhere to drive in 3rd gear. We also passed a bunch of bikers on their way down. It is actually pretty scary at times because you feel like your car could just fly off the mountain. We stopped at the ranger’s station where I picked up a few stickers and postcards in the gift shop for our scrapbook.

About halfway down it was so sad because we saw a little baby Nene that had been hit on the side of the road. Kris and I saw a mom bird with three little babies on the way up and think that this must have been one of them.
Once we reached the bottom and were driving towards town we saw a zipline place and decided to check it out. However, when Kris went inside we discovered that it was almost $200 per person, so we thanked them for the information and decided that definitely wasn’t in our budget!

figmentfan814

05-18-2009, 09:51 PM

We were starving at this point. There really aren’t many food options available on Maui, especially in the area between where we were coming from the mountain back towards the resorts on the other side of the island. So, we ended up having lunch at Carl’s Junior (kind of like Hardee’s for all the east coasters). I love hamburgers though, so I didn’t mind.

We drove back to the hotel to change before heading into Lahaina that night. Here are a couple of pictures we took on our way out that night. Looking straight up in the lobby:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii912.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii915.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii916.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii914.jpg

Lahaina was about 20 minutes away from our hotel. It is the main shopping area on the island. There are all kinds of boutiques and art galleries. It almost reminded me of a mini Beverly Hills. I guess this is where all the celebrities shop. Obviously some places were way out of our price range, but there were standard gift shops mixed in too.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii920.jpg

I was on a mission looking for a picture frame. I finally found one and I hate to admit that I still don’t have a picture in it. I guess that’s motivation to order a shot now that everyone knows, lol. We also bought gifts for several people and I picked up some more post cards too. There was a really awesome gallery that had prints of celebrities and all kinds of really interesting pop art. We also came across some open market areas, but a lot of places were closing up for the night. There was the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant on a boat here and an open air Hard Rock Café.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii918.jpg

We were starting to get hungry again since it had already been several hours since our hamburger, so I suggested a plate lunch place that I had read about in my guidebook. It was on the opposite side of town, so we decided to move the car from the lot we were in because all the shops were starting to close up. We ended up having to park in a residential area because there weren’t any available spot s and then we had to walk several blocks back. There were several dark areas without any street lights that made me pretty nervous, so I was relieved when we were back on the edge of town. The restaurant ended up being closed, so we decided to look at the other options. There was a Ruth’s Chris Steak House and that was about it. So, Kris opted to get a Coldstone to hold him over and I decided to wait for some real food.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii919.jpg

Once we got back to the Kannapali beach area there weren’t many food options either (definitely a recurring theme) so we ended up at a pizza place. I had a really yummy slice though that was ham, pineapple, and Maui onion.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii922.jpg
The pizzeria was just down the street from our hotel, so we made our way back and crashed for the night.

tiggersam00

05-20-2009, 10:39 AM

mmmm I love Cold Stone, that pizza look yummy too! Too bad the food options were limited, at least you found something though!:goodvibes

irisbud

05-20-2009, 10:50 AM

figmentfan814

05-20-2009, 10:56 AM

mmmm I love Cold Stone, that pizza look yummy too! Too bad the food options were limited, at least you found something though!:goodvibes
I was so surprised with the food options. I guess you make some sacrifices to be in paradise ;)

figmentfan814

05-20-2009, 11:19 AM

Wow, the park looks amazing! You would think there would be more food options around. I am surprised at that.

What guidebook did you use and was it any good? My parents are going to Hawaii and taking my sister in late June and I wanted to get them a book. My mom tends to wing everything and often ends up dissapointed that she missed out on a lot!

The park was truly amazing, I am so glad we made the journey :goodvibes

I think in Maui part of the problem is that there isn't a huge population on the island. Our hotel and the resorts had their own restaurants, but outside fast food there weren't a lot of other restaurants in other parts of the islands. This becomes an issue on our last day there too :headache:

Which islands are your parents going to on their trip? For Oahu, I used the book "Oahu Revealed" by Andrew Doughty and Harriet Friedman.
http://www.amazon.com/Oahu-Revealed-Ultimate-Honolulu-Revisited/dp/097172797X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242831876&sr=1-1

I also just checked out the recent Frommers guide to Hawaii and the one for Maui that we took along too.
http://www.amazon.com/Oahu-Revealed-Ultimate-Honolulu-Revisited/dp/097172797X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242831876&sr=1-1
and
http://www.amazon.com/Frommers-Hawaii-2009-Complete/dp/0470285559/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242831961&sr=1-1

I know the books helped out a lot. I definitely agree that we would have missed a lot if we wouldn't have planned some out with the help of the books :thumbsup2

Jennifer48

05-20-2009, 12:52 PM

Did the stores all close early or were you just out late?

That pizza looks yumm-o!

figmentfan814

05-20-2009, 03:13 PM

Did the stores all close early or were you just out late?

That pizza looks yumm-o!

Everything on Maui closed pretty early. I had read that in my guidebooks, but didn't really believe it until we got there. Most of the restaurants were all closed by 8 pm. In Lahaina there were a few things open a little later. Definitely not a night life there like there was in Waikiki on Oahu.

dizneyfreak

05-26-2009, 10:34 PM

figmentfan814

05-27-2009, 02:59 PM

I'm baaaaaaaaack! AND GUESS WHAT!!!! My Mom upgraded us to the Grand!!! AND I'M NOT DONE THERE...the cast member in the Grand that checked us in saw that my Mom had upgraded us for my birthday and turned around and upgraded us to a conceirge level room!!!!!!!!! :dance3: I was so on cloud 9 :cloud9: ! We had such a blast! Our room had the best view and all the free food and drink for the whole week was awesome as well! I think we spent just as much time in our room and on our balcony as we did in the parks! :rotfl: I couldn't wait to tell you!

I caught up on your post as well. That park looked amazing! I am sad to have missed it. I'm sorry about your luck with the food. We always ate early and I never even realized that they closed down so early. I can't wait to see the rest of this leg of the honeymoon.

Anna Marie

:yay::woohoo::dance3:That is so cool, what a wonderful surprise! I have to admit I'm a little jealous, I only got to stay concierge for the 2 nights right after our wedding! You must PM me with links to some pictures or something because I definitely want to see some of your trip! :woohoo::yay::dance3:

I was surprised about Maui too, although maybe if we had gotten back to our resort sooner we would have had better luck. We stayed away from the hotel so much I think that was part of the issue. Only one day left on Maui to talk about before the trip home, so the end is near! :upsidedow

irisbud

05-27-2009, 03:10 PM

figmentfan814

05-29-2009, 12:24 AM

Wow Anna Marie, that is so cool! Congrats!

Vanessa, my parents are going to the big island? and Maui. I told my dad about the mango peach pies at McD's you mentioned and now he is excited. Before he wasn't sure he wanted to go, LOL.

The one park on the Big Island is where you can visit the active volcanos. I heard it is really cool to do, there is even a helicopter tour over it. I guess periodically it has to close because of lava flow and while we were there the newspaper said the park was closed.

:rotfl: Too funny about the pies, they were very tasty. Hopefully, they are a staple there that is available all year. Your dad won't be disappointed, of course it doesn't compare to some of the tasty treats at WDW ;)

dizneyfreak

05-31-2009, 09:24 PM

figmentfan814

06-01-2009, 03:48 PM

The next morning we woke up fairly early and I quickly got ready. No need to waste too much time on hair and makeup since we planned to go snorkeling that morning before we had to head for our whale watching tour that afternoon. Since we really wanted to have as much time as possible at the beach, we skipped breakfast at the hotel and headed to the equipment rental shop that was just down the street from our hotel. We had to wait a few minutes for the shop to open and then we went inside to get our rentals. We ended up with the whole thing which included a snorkel set, fish guide, and a handy little guidebook. The rental wasn’t very much, I think around $20 which I thought was fantastic. I also bought a few post cards to mail out that day since we would be leaving that night. Our equipment:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Swells%20of%20Tahiti/n2364717_47650116_9977.jpg

The lady in the shop was really nice and helpful, but warned us that the forecast calle for swells from Tahiti, so we probably wouldn’t have the best of luck. We kind of shrugged this off thinking oh no big deal, but boy were we wrong! :joker:

We then got back in the rental car and headed a few miles down the road to the Sheraton Maui where we parked in their parking garage then made our way across the grounds to the beach area. This is what the area typically looks like near Black Rock, so calm and inviting :boat:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Swells%20of%20Tahiti/BlackRock.jpg

Once we arrived we immediately saw what the clerk at the store was talking about with the swells. The waves were gigantic!!! :crazy2:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Swells%20of%20Tahiti/n2364717_47650112_9070.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Swells%20of%20Tahiti/n2364717_47650119_585.jpg

We said, what the heck it couldn’t be that bad, we would just stay close to the rock and after all since this was our last day on the islands there wouldn’t be another opportunity. Let’s just say we walked out about 5 feet and then attempted to put our heads under water before we turned around and headed back on the beach! There were a couple of other mainlanders like us that were stupid enough to try this feat, but within minutes they all declared a loss to the swells of Tahiti too. So, in the end we decided to just enjoy our time on the beach and to catch some of the waves.

Our footprints:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Swells%20of%20Tahiti/n2364717_47650118_281.jpg
I decided to recreate what Kris did during our engagement shoot at the Polynesian, which turned out a little better here because of the moist sand:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Swells%20of%20Tahiti/n2364717_47650120_879.jpg
Engagement shot:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Engagement%20Pictures/VK00783-3-08.jpg

We talked to a couple of guys who said that the snorkeling was awesome the day before and that they had seen several large turtles by the rock area. I guess there’s also beautiful coral there too. I had even brought an underwater disposable camera for the occasion. I loved when I went snorkeling at Castaway Cay several years before and had wanted to share this awesome experience with Kris. I still got some cool pictures of the waves and us enjoying them. Self-portrait:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Swells%20of%20Tahiti/n2364717_47650111_8793.jpg

Kris ventured out a lot further than I was willing to go. Just going out a little ways you could feel the undertow of the water. I finally understood what they were talking about when you hear about people getting swept away. It is so powerful!!!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Swells%20of%20Tahiti/n2364717_47650124_2110.jpg

We found the best way to catch the wave was to run parallel to it like Kris is doing in this picture:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Swells%20of%20Tahiti/n2364717_47650121_1192.jpg

Kris is actually standing up in this picture; look how tall the wave is next to him. Granted he is only 5’8, but that is still one huge wave of water! Notice you can't even see the boats in the background anymore.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Swells%20of%20Tahiti/n2364717_47650122_1518.jpg

Kris as superman in this picture, flying through the air on a wave.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Swells%20of%20Tahiti/n2364717_47650128_3344.jpg

The best part for me was sitting in the shallow water near the shore. Since the waves were coming in so fast, they would spin you in a circle like a top. Let’s just say I didn’t realize the downside of this until we were on our way and I discovered all the massive amount of sand that had made its way into the bottom of my swimsuit! :scared1:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Swells%20of%20Tahiti/n2364717_47650126_2709.jpg

The area really was beautiful and is suppose to be some of the best easy access snorkeling on Maui. In this shot you can see some more of the rock formations.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Swells%20of%20Tahiti/n2364717_47650123_1811.jpg

Looking down the beach towards the other hotels:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Swells%20of%20Tahiti/n2364717_47650131_4261.jpg

Time to head back to the hotel :love2:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Swells%20of%20Tahiti/n2364717_47650132_4592.jpg

Up next we check out of our hotel and head out for whale watching.

Tonight is one year since our at-home reception, so we've had our top layer of the cake unthawing in refrigerator for the last couple of days. We decided to save that one since we didn't have any left from the wedding; I'm excited to see if it turned out okay after following careful instructions online.

Jennifer48

06-01-2009, 03:59 PM

bummer about snorkeling! It was still a beautiful area.

Can't wait to hear how your cake turns out! :goodvibes

figmentfan814

06-01-2009, 04:14 PM

I will have to figure out how to do the whole picture thing soon so you can see some of the great pics I took! :dance3: I'm hoping to have much more time to post on here come July. My job now keeps me busy over 60 hours a week becasue I am salary and they expect me to work 10 hour days, 6 days a week. However, the government stepped in and is making my company make us hourly because they say we work too much for what we get paid! :yay: Woohoo! That means 2 days off a week and 8 hour work days. Then I can have a life again and maybe, just maybe...do a trip report from my wedding that's like almost 2 years old now! :rotfl: Cross your fingers for me!

I'm very sad to see your trippie coming to and end :sad2: and I still really wanna keep in touch...so I guess I'll have to start my report soon so we can keep these little conversations of ours up :goodvibes

Anna Marie
That definitely sounds like good news on your job, you need the well-deserved break! If you're on Facebook, PM me and we could share some pictures, etc. that way too! I hope that you can still do a report on your wedding because we would all love to hear about it :hug:

bummer about snorkeling! It was still a beautiful area.

Can't wait to hear how your cake turns out! :goodvibes
I know it was pretty disappointing, but I told Kris that's an excuse to go back again some day ;) I'll definitely let everyone know about the cake. I took pictures when we packaged it up a year ago, so I can share all the shots :goodvibes

irisbud

06-01-2009, 04:21 PM

Too bad you didn't get to snorkle, I bet it would have been beautiful. Seeing all of the turtles would be cool too. Like you said, an excuse to go back!

Hope your cake still tastes good!

figmentfan814

06-01-2009, 04:30 PM

Too bad you didn't get to snorkle, I bet it would have been beautiful. Seeing all of the turtles would be cool too. Like you said, an excuse to go back!

Hope your cake still tastes good!

It was disappointing not to get to snorkel, but at least we still had a lot of fun with the waves. I guess that's not something that you get to do all the time on a trip to Hawaii:goodvibes

Kris doesn't even want to taste it, but I told him he has to anyways :rotfl: I said we at least need a couple of pictures for the scrapbook!

ariel1025

06-01-2009, 08:43 PM

figmentfan814

06-01-2009, 11:02 PM

Too bad about the snorkeling :sad2: But, it looks like you guys made the best of the situation and Kris looks like he was having a blast "riding the waves" :thumbsup2

Curious to hear how your top layer ends up tasting. We still haven't had the top layer of our cake since we were in CA for our Anniversary. We are planning on making it a mini-celebration this weekend, but I am sort of scared :rolleyes1

The waves were pretty awesome, although some of them scared me a little :eek:

The cake tasted really yummy! We were both shocked; Kris didn't even want to try it, but in the end we ended up eating all of it :rotfl: We didn't have the whole layer since we only technically had one cake at our at-home reception, so there was about 1/4 of it left. The majority of our cake at the reception was in cupcake form :goodvibes

To freeze it last year I followed some directions I found online.
1. I put in on a plate and placed it in the freezer for a few hours to firm up.
2. I took it out then wrapped it in saran wrap.
3. Then I wrapped it in foil and put it in a sealed plastic bag.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/1st%20Anniversary/Reception087.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/1st%20Anniversary/Reception088.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/1st%20Anniversary/Reception089.jpg

To unthaw 1 year later:
1. Removed from the freezer and put in refrigerator two days ago.
2. Took out of refrigerator and placed on counter for two hours before eating.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/1st%20Anniversary/IMG_2118.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/1st%20Anniversary/IMG_2127.jpg
Kris is nervous about trying it:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/1st%20Anniversary/IMG_2134.jpg
Yummy, it still tastes fresh!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/1st%20Anniversary/IMG_2139.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/1st%20Anniversary/IMG_2142.jpg

irisbud

06-02-2009, 10:07 AM

Glad your cake was still good. I love the look on Kris's face. Hilarious!

Jennifer48

06-02-2009, 10:21 AM

How cool! Thanks for the instructions. I'm going to use them on my wedding cake :goodvibes

dizneyfreak

06-13-2009, 11:41 AM

YUMMO! It looked aweful good for being a year old! I wonder if that works if you wait two years??? :rotfl: I was very sick on our first anniversary last year and we decided to wait until this year for our second anniversary so that I could enjoy the cake. Cross your fingers for me. I still have a few months to go. :goodvibes

Unfortunately, I am not on facebook. My husband is though and I think he may have some of our wedding pictures up on there. PM me your info and I'll see if he can find you. I still want to do a trip report so badly. I will get the time one of these days. Maybe if I keep telling myself that I can will it into actually happening! :lmao:

Anna Marie

princess22

06-14-2009, 07:32 PM

Oh, I have been MIA lately and I've missed a bit on your report. But I'm all caught up now. I like looking through your pics cause it's getting me excited about my honeymoon!

Does the ferry you mentioned go to all the islands?

I'm sad your TR is coming to an end. :sad2:

figmentfan814

06-16-2009, 04:08 PM

I'm sorry that I've been MIA ladies. My laptop died on me at the end of last week after I had already been sick a couple of days earlier in the week, so I just got a chance to get on here. Its just been a crazy the last couple of weeks.

Glad your cake was still good. I love the look on Kris's face. Hilarious!
I know, I think that's one that should be framed :lmao:

How cool! Thanks for the instructions. I'm going to use them on my wedding cake :goodvibes
It really worked well, which was shocking to me! I hope your cake is just as yummy as ours was a year later.

YUMMO! It looked aweful good for being a year old! I wonder if that works if you wait two years??? :rotfl: I was very sick on our first anniversary last year and we decided to wait until this year for our second anniversary so that I could enjoy the cake. Cross your fingers for me. I still have a few months to go. :goodvibes

Unfortunately, I am not on facebook. My husband is though and I think he may have some of our wedding pictures up on there. PM me your info and I'll see if he can find you. I still want to do a trip report so badly. I will get the time one of these days. Maybe if I keep telling myself that I can will it into actually happening! :lmao:

Anna Marie
I would hope that your cake should still taste okay and if it doesn't at least you still tried it :goodvibes We didn't technically do it on our 1st anniversary either, so I think it will be cool to see how yours turns out. I will definitely send you a PM with the info because I would love to see some of your wedding shots.

Oh, I have been MIA lately and I've missed a bit on your report. But I'm all caught up now. I like looking through your pics cause it's getting me excited about my honeymoon!

Does the ferry you mentioned go to all the islands?

I'm sad your TR is coming to an end. :sad2:

I can't wait to hear about your honeymoon once it happens because it will give me a chance to relive our beautiful memories from Hawaii. Wow, check this out about the SuperFerry. They have suspended it again because of the environmental issues.
http://www.hawaiiinterislandsuperferry.com/

Welcome to the Hawaii Superferry information and discussion forums, here to help bring light to the interisland ferry of the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaii interisland superferry began running interisland ferry service on December 13th, 2007 and has shut down service effective March 19th, 2009. The Hawaii Superferry had planned on runnning routes between Oahu, Maui, Big Island and Kauai. For the present time, the Hawaii Superferry will no longer offer service in Hawaii due to a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling that struck down a new law allowing service without an Environmental Impact Report.

That's unfortunate because it seems like the service was really liked and it offered a much more affordable option compared to the flights.

I can't believe my TR is coming to an end either, although most people don't drag their feet on finishing like I have :rotfl: I plan to post pictures from my at-home reception, but won't do a detailed report of it.

Also for finishing up my report I have part of it written and all the photos uploaded so I promise to be back soon! It will probably be after I get my laptop back though since Kris doesn't like to share his at home :rolleyes:

princess22

06-16-2009, 10:43 PM

tiggersam00

06-24-2009, 12:24 PM

All caught up too now:goodvibes Your honeymoon just looked fantastic, one of my cousins lives in HI and swears he will never leave, and I can see why! Talk about paradise!

I also love the instructions for your cake! I can't believe it tasted so fresh, and it looked good too! I will be stealing those directions for sure, although Dave doesn't eat cake and I asked if he could have a wedding sandwich (DFTW was confused by this one) but they said yes... not sure if I can freeze that though lol!

figmentfan814

06-25-2009, 01:18 PM

That's a shame about the ferry. It seems like the perfect way to travel from island to island. Bummer. Thanks though.

I can't wait until I can post my TR, although, that would mean that it is over, not sure if I want that!
That's the hardest part because it is over so quickly after months and months of planning :upsidedow

All caught up too now:goodvibes Your honeymoon just looked fantastic, one of my cousins lives in HI and swears he will never leave, and I can see why! Talk about paradise!

I also love the instructions for your cake! I can't believe it tasted so fresh, and it looked good too! I will be stealing those directions for sure, although Dave doesn't eat cake and I asked if he could have a wedding sandwich (DFTW was confused by this one) but they said yes... not sure if I can freeze that though lol!
It really is unbelievable there, you really feel like you're at the end of the world because its such an isolated piece of paradise :goodvibes

That's too funny about the sandwich. What are you having on it? I'm sure if it was just the basic it should last that long. What about another type of dessert?

Thanks for being so patient ladies. On top of my laptop being out for repairs, our internet at home has been down for several days and the cable company won't be out to fix it for a few more days :headache: I promise to finish this last day soon, but it looks like it will probably be the first part of July before I can use the computer again.

figmentfan814

07-01-2009, 02:08 PM

Okay, ladies I finally have the last leg of our Hawaiian honeymoon complete. My computer was out for repair and they found out the motherboard is fried (thankfully I have a warranty) and then on top of that I couldn't even use Kris' computer to post updates since our Internet was out at home for a week. Anyway, enough excuses here is my latest posting, it's a really long one, so stick around!

Once back at the hotel we loaded up the last few things we had lying around, took quick showers, and I packed a bag with essentials since we wouldn’t be back in Michigan for almost 24 hours. I wanted some clean clothes to change into once we reached LAX the next morning. Here is the view from our hotel room; it just overlooked the hills, we didn’t pay the extra for an ocean view since we were only there 2 nights.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii925.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii926.jpg

Down in the lobby when we were checking out we wanted to use the business computers there to do online check-in. We ended up having to pay to do it, but it was worth it. We did the check-in for our flight from Maui to Honolulu and from there to LA. I took a few more pictures in the lobby on our way out to the car. I loved the open air feeling to it. I noticed the other day when I was looking at some DVC materials that this hotel is the one that you can use in the exchange program on Maui.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii928.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii930.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii929.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii931.jpg

We were taking a whale-watching tour with the Pacific Whale Foundation at 1 p.m. that day and I was so excited. Since our original honeymoon destination was going to be Alaska, this was something that kind of brought Alaska to us since the humpback whales winter in Hawaii. It was the tail end of the season too, so I was glad that we were able to add it to our itinerary. Some shots I took along the way to the port which was about 30 minutes away from the hotel.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii937-1.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii947.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii951.jpg

Once we arrived I went inside to check us in while Kris was parking. As soon as I headed towards the ticket counter I knew something was wrong. A bunch of people were standing around and I heard several people saying the word “refund.” I soon discovered that the swells of Tahiti had put yet another crinkle in our plans for the day. None of the ships were going out since the water was so rough. Kris came in around this time and could tell by the look on my face something was wrong. I told him that the ships weren’t going out because of the weather. At that point we waited in line to get a refund since we had bought our tickets online.

Afterwards I took a few minutes to glance through the gift shop and then we headed out. There is an aquarium right next to it which we thought about visiting, but then changed our mind. When we were in the car I asked Kris that if we ever come back to Hawaii that we make sure it is during whale season and schedule a tour earlier in the trip. He said of course! As we started to pull out of the parking lot I asked Kris to circle back to the building, so I could at least get a picture of the sign.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii954.jpg

We grabbed a quick lunch (fast food again!) where I started rifling through my guidebooks to find something else to do that day since our flight wasn’t leaving until 9 p.m.

I found some interesting things towards the town of Wailuku, so we headed out towards the Iao Valley. The state park there was called the “Yellowstone of Hawaii” by Mark Twain my one guidebook said, so we figured it had to be pretty spectacular.

We had to go past the town where the airport was to make it to the state park. The highlight of the park is a peak called Iao Needle which rises up out of the valley. As we got closer we drove through some beautiful scenery winding through the mountains on a two lane road. When we arrived I went to use the restroom and there were huge spider webs across the ceiling. It was very scary and I kept praying that none of them fell on me- eek! You could definitely tell this was just a state park because the facilities were not that nice, I am honestly surprised its not a National Park. It really should become one because it is unbelievable. Here is a link telling about the valley with some interesting facts.

http://gohawaii.about.com/od/maui/ss/iao_valley_2.htm
Commonly called `Iao Needle, the traditional Hawaiian name for the 2,250 foot peak that dominates the valley is Kuka`emoku. This peak is known as the phallic stone of Kanaloa, Hawaiian god of the ocean.

During periods of warfare, the peak was used as a lookout by warriors. It was here that some Maui warriors retreated from the forces of Kamehameha I during the battle of Kepaniwai.

Right adjacent to the parking lot is a small garden area with paths coming off it, but we decided to head straight for the needle and planned to visit the other areas after we were done.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii980.jpg

The needle off in the distance:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174515_2073.jpg
On our way up:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174517_2784.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174518_3162.jpg

Its kind of anti-climatic when you get to the look out point because you are really just at the base of it looking towards it (its still a ways off in the distance). Its kind of an enclosure too, so you don’t have the greatest view. You have to climb some steps to get here, but nothing like Diamondhead!
Looking back towards the garden area on our way down from the needle.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii976.jpg

Then we were off to explore the trails that came off of the main path. There is a beautiful stream which runs through the middle of the valley. The first one is looking down towards the stream in the distance.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174431_7268.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174432_7520.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174435_8277.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174426_6017.jpg

The small botanical garden area had displays about the crops that were grown in the valley and showed the farming process for the La'ua plant.

A model of a farmer’s dwelling:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53637_nu3334_387_9___-2.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp5363_nu3334_387_9___W-2.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53639_nu3334_387_9___-2.jpg

There were cats hiding everywhere in the park :cat: I tried to get a shot of them, but this was the best one.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174436_8532.jpg

figmentfan814

07-01-2009, 02:12 PM

A few random shots from the garden.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174439_9304.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174437_8785.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174433_7778.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174429_6791.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174427_6286.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174428_6560.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174430_7032.jpg

After a short while we decided to head out for more exploring. We had spotted a Japanese temple in a park on the road to the Iao Needle, so we decided to check it out. This was one of the best finds of the trip. As we pulled in we discovered it was the Kepaniwai Park Heritage Gardens. This place was so beautiful and was absolutely amazing! It had separate gardens representing the different immigrant populations that had settled on Hawaii. These included a Japanese, Koreans, Portuguese, and Filipino area. This statue representing some of the farmers was near where we first got out of the car.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174442_123.jpg

The pool as we headed towards the gardens:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174440_9607.jpg
Japanese garden:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174443_393.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174448_1755.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174451_2566.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174450_2303.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174452_2858.jpg

There was a small path off to the side that was arched with bamboo plants on either side. Please note we didn’t cut the pieces in these shots, we found them on the ground already :goodvibes
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174445_932.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174446_1196.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174447_1470.jpg

I had to send a picture message to our friend on my phone when we saw this house since he was born in the Philippines. The Filipino structure:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174453_3134.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp5363__nu3334_387_9___-6.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53636_nu3334_387_9___-3.jpg

figmentfan814

07-01-2009, 02:14 PM

The next area was the Portuguese garden which was my favorite place in the park :flower2: The archway leading to the garden:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174454_3403.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174455_3675.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53639_nu3334_387_9___-1.jpg

The Korean garden was the last area that we visited.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174456_3961.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174457_4247.jpg

There was a nice pavilion next to it that you could use for a picnic, family reunion, or another gathering. You can kind of see it in the background of this shot.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/n2364717_50174459_4808.jpg

It really was such a fantastic place, from what I’ve read online it is one of the hidden gems that a lot of people miss on their way to the Iao Needle. I couldn’t believe it was free to walk around the grounds.

We decided to head into the town of Wailuku to track down a bakery that was in my guidebook which was suppose to be really yummy. When we got there it was after 3 p.m. and they were only open in the mornings. At that point Kris wanted to find a library to charge his IPod for the return trip home. Since we were having 2 layovers and would be traveling over 22 hours I didn’t blame him. I decided to drop him off and pulled out my scrapbooking magazine I had in my carry-on to look up a scrapbooking store I saw listed in its directory. I called them and discovered they were only about 5 minutes away, so I decided to check them out. If you are ever looking for any tropical themed papers I highly recommend them. They make their own papers and I got tons of great things that were specific to certain attractions in Hawaii like the Iao Needle, whale watching, etc. You can order a lot of stuff online, so definitely check them out http://islandpaperie.com/
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53642_nu3334_387_9___-1.jpg

This was the view as you were pulling into the scrapbooking store’s parking lot. Definitely a lot different than view of the Taco Bell/Long John Silvers across from the scrapbooking store that is closest to my house.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53636_nu3334_387_9___-1.jpg

After about 30 minutes of rushed shopping I got a text from Kris asking where I was and if I was on my way back. I quickly finished up and headed out of the store. I swear on this trip all I bought was scrapbooking supplies and souvenir photos at places. But, honestly if you’re a scrapbooker you know that there was no way I was finding a Pearl Harbor kit, Dole Plantation kit, or stickers specific to the different sites we visited back in Michigan. All I would find at home would be hula girls and surfing stickers ~ lol.
When I pulled into the library there were a bunch of chickens running around the municipal buildings in the area which I thought was funny :rotfl:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53637_nu3334_387_9___WSN.jpg

figmentfan814

07-01-2009, 02:17 PM

I went inside and got Kris and then we decided to head towards Kahului where we would be flying out of later that night. On the way I asked him to stop at the Maui Plantation which we had passed on the highway since I wanted to check about getting my pineapple that I missed out on at the Dole Plantation. We still had plenty of time since it was around 4:30 p.m.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii972.jpg

The gardens at the plantation were beautiful too. They have a tour you can take of the entire grounds on trams, but we really didn’t have that much time. While we were walking around one of our friends from Michigan called because they thought we were flying back that night. It was starting to get pretty late at home, so I was surprised we got the call. It was nice to hear some familiar voices from home.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii955.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii967.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii971.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii969.jpg

There was a monkey in a cage that kept following me as I walked around it. Kris teased me that he had a crush on me.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii957.jpg
We also came across some cool colored ducks or at least they looked like they were related to ducks.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii963.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii966.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/Hawaii960.jpg

After a little exploring I went inside and bought the pineapple which was pre-inspected for air travel. I told Kris I would happily lug it around for the next day while we were traveling just to make a point! (As a reference we had a fight about the pineapple at the Dole Plantation on Oahu.)
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53637_nu3334_387_9___-1.jpg
We got back in the car and drove the short distance into Kahului.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53634_nu3334_387_9___WSN.jpg

Once we got into town we went into Kmart to buy some last minute souvenirs like candies and nuts for family back home. Kmart is the big thing in the islands, so we found tons of items at great prices. We then ventured into a Goodwill type shop where Kris found a shirt. He had this horrible shirt that I hated that said “Ship Shape” on it which was from a cruise line. It had gotten way too small (which he insisted was funny because of the words on the shirt) and I finally had him throw it out a few months before the wedding. Anyway, he found the exact same shirt there, only thankfully it was a much better fit. Honestly, what are the odds of that happening halfway across the world!

We still had several hours until it was time to check-in, so we went in search of somewhere to eat dinner. We wanted to get a nice meal since we wouldn’t be to LAX until the next morning. We drove around that town for 30 minutes before we found a small Italian restaurant in a strip mall. I swear all that we could find were KFC, Taco Bell, McDonald’s, and other fast food varieties. Honestly, these people don’t know what they’re missing! The Italian place was okay, but I don’t even remember the name and wouldn’t go back if we were there again. Here is a shot of our ravioli.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp5363__nu3334_387_9___-2.jpg

When we were leaving there was a surf shop next store that I had Kris go into because he had been saying that he wanted to buy a sweatshirt as a souvenir. We didn’t really find anything in there (they had some, just not what he was hoping for in a shirt) and I was a little irritated that he hadn’t started looking earlier in the trip. Oh well, no big deal really.

Here we are turning in the rental car; I always take shots of the license plates for rental cars in other states :beach:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53638_nu3334_387_9___-2.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp5363__nu3334_387_9___-1.jpg

We had a flight from Maui back to Oahu where we would then fly out to LA. Holding my pineapple in the airport :rolleyes1
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53638_nu3334_387_9___-1.jpg

We took a shot on every plane home to show the progression of our journey. Leaving Maui:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53642_nu3334_387_9___WSN.jpg

In Oahu, we had to grab all of our luggage and hike outside and walk over to the other terminal. Outside the airport:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53636_nu3334_387_9___-2.jpg

Once there are bags had to go through the agricultural inspection before we entered security.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53636_nu3334_387_9___WSN.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53635_nu3334_387_9___-3.jpg

It was already starting to get pretty late in Hawaiian time and once we were through security Kris staked out a spot near our gate. There were a ton of people in there, so I decided to wander through the shops. I really contemplated buying an orchid or lei to take home, but thought “what’s the point.” I did purchase us some additional snacks for the flight since I knew we would be hungry at some point. I loved the signs at the restrooms and got some funny looks while I was taking these shots.

We were a little disappointed that our trip was over, but honestly a destination that far away made me really homesick compared to a trip to Disney for instance. Plus, we were officially going to be living in the same state after over 2 years. Waiting to get on the plane to LAX:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53635_nu3334_387_9___WSN.jpg

We watched some television once we got on the flight and after about an hour tried to take a nap. I think we slept about 3 hours before I woke up to catch the sunrise:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53634_nu3334_387_9___-2.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53638_nu3334_387_9___WSN.jpg

figmentfan814

07-01-2009, 02:21 PM

After another hour we were landing in LA.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53642_nu3334_387_9___-2.jpg
I really detest this airport. We had a 4 hour layover and we were trapped in the Northwest wing which is smaller than our little airport back home. I had packed us a back with toiletries and some fresh clothes, so we took turns freshening up in the restrooms.

Nothing like brushing your teeth with 50 strangers standing around you! I tried to talk Kris into venturing out like we did on our stop on the way to Hawaii, but he was tired at this point and wasn’t really interested in doing that so we sat at the Burger King there for like 2 ½ hours.

I gave my parents a call to let them know we were back on the mainland and after hours of waiting we finally got on the plane. We had a flight to Detroit where we then had another 2 hour layover before our 30 minute flight back to our hometown, Flint. We didn’t have this type of layover before all the changes with our flights when the airlines went out of business.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53633_nu3334_387_9___WSN.jpg

Waiting for the plane:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp5363_nu3334_387_9___WSNR.jpg

On the flight to Detroit; we were so tired at this point:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp5363__nu3334_387_9___-5.jpg

Thankfully we had an exit row!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp5363__nu3334_387_9___-3.jpg

We slept almost the entire flight to Detroit. I know at one point we bought some snacks because we were hungry, but we slept most of the way back to Michigan. I love the Detroit airport; the Northwest terminal is very nice with tons of cool shops. Here we are after we landed excited to almost be home:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53634_nu3334_387_9___-1.jpg
Finally, after leaving Maui at 9 p.m. the night before (3 a.m. Michigan time) we arrived back in Flint after traveling for 18 hours at 8 p.m. the next night.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp53635_nu3334_387_9___-2.jpg
After we arrived home that night we ate some of the pineapple, it was so delicious! My dad cut it the way they used to serve it at O’hana’s.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp5363__nu3334_387_9___-4.jpg

I feel so blessed that we were able to spend a week at Walt Disney World with our families and then a fabulous honeymoon in Hawaii just 6 weeks later :bride::groom: It was a great way to officially start our life together in the same location. We knew the next few weeks would be crazy since we were finishing renovations on the condo we had bought, so we would be staying with my parents temporarily. Then we also had only 4 weeks to finish things for our at-home reception which was going to be on June 1.

Stay tuned because I will post some shots from our at-home reception which had a red carpet theme since we would be premiering our wedding video and because we were engaged in a theater. It was a lot of fun and all of our guests loved it, so I can’t wait to share it with all of you wonderful ladies finally!

teruterubouzu

07-01-2009, 09:10 PM

Great wrap on your honeymoon report! That pineapple looks very yummy. I'm looking forward to your report from your at home reception.

LuluLovesDisney

07-02-2009, 01:37 AM

What a dream honeymoon!

I am hoping to see pics from your ahr soon!!

figmentfan814

07-02-2009, 09:31 AM

Great wrap on your honeymoon report! That pineapple looks very yummy. I'm looking forward to your report from your at home reception.

What a dream honeymoon!

I am hoping to see pics from your ahr soon!!

Thank you so much for reading along. Its funny because looking back at the report now that its finished at the time I never really realized how much we did while we were there until I saw it all written out. We really had an amazing time and I am so glad that we were able to go to Hawaii :dance3:

I have the shots loaded in Photobucket for the AHR, so I should be able to get to that shortly after the holiday weekend :cheer2:

Laura

07-02-2009, 10:25 AM

We still had several hours until it was time to check-in, so we went in search of somewhere to eat dinner. We wanted to get a nice meal since we wouldn’t be to LAX until the next morning. We drove around that town for 30 minutes before we found a small Italian restaurant in a strip mall. I swear all that we could find were KFC, Taco Bell, McDonald’s, and other fast food varieties. Honestly, these people don’t know what they’re missing! The Italian place was okay, but I don’t even remember the name and wouldn’t go back if we were there again. Here is a shot of our ravioli.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Hawaii/Maui/232323232fp5363__nu3334_387_9___-2.jpg

I bet it was Marco's Grill and Deli (http://www.mauiinfosource.com/Activities/Dining/Kahului%20Dining/Kahului%20Area/Marcos/marcos_menu_main.htm). DH and I went to Maui on our honeymoon, too. When we flew to the Big Island for the second half of our trip, Marco's is where we stopped in Kahului for lunch before we got to the airport. They probably get a lot of business from people like us trying to find a decent lunch before a flight. :rotfl:

figmentfan814

07-02-2009, 10:39 AM

I bet it was Marco's Grill and Deli (http://www.mauiinfosource.com/Activities/Dining/Kahului%20Dining/Kahului%20Area/Marcos/marcos_menu_main.htm). DH and I went to Maui on our honeymoon, too. When we flew to the Big Island for the second half of our trip, Marco's is where we stopped in Kahului for lunch before we got to the airport. They probably get a lot of business from people like us trying to find a decent lunch before a flight. :rotfl:

Yes, that's the place! I'm glad you knew the name, now I can add it to my scrapbook :thumbsup2 It really is so hard to find restaurants near the airport there!

figmentfan814

08-24-2009, 01:01 PM

I am finally getting to the report of our at-home reception. It definitely won’t be as detailed as anything with the wedding, but still wanted to share some of it with all of you. We held our reception 3 months after the wedding on June 1. We did this for a couple of different reasons- 1) DH was moving to back to Michigan from Ohio, 2) we were going on our Hawaiian honeymoon in April/May, 3) we wanted to have our pictures and video back to share at the reception, 4) we wanted to ensure that we had nice weather and in Michigan you usually have to wait until June for that to happen! It was originally booked at a hall by Kris’ dad before he passed away about 3 months before our wedding. In the end after a few mishaps, we ended up moving the location, but thankfully it all worked out in the end. We just rented a basic hall and then decorated it to fit our theme.

We wanted to do something different and finally settled on a red carpet movie theme. DH had proposed on stage at the theater (completely private in the middle of the day, he had it opened just for us and sent me on a scavenger hunt including a stop at the spa to end up at Whiting Auditorium in Flint, MI) where we had our first date (we went to see the Opera, Barber of Seville). Here is a shot of the proposal and a link to my original PJ with the proposal story in it http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=18697747&postcount=1
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/86446-R1-10-5.jpg

The second reason we wanted to do a red carpet theme is that we wanted to “premiere” our wedding video at the party, so we thought this would be a great play on that idea. It took a while to find the invitations, but I finally came across these cute invites. They ended up coming in while we were in Hawaii, so my parents were kind enough to mail them out for us.

We ordered them from a company called Handy Kane that does custom themed items for weddings http://www.handykaneweddings.com/ They have everything from Cinderella to Western to Irish to Bikers to Victorian to Tropical and much more. It really is fun looking at all the unique themes they offer.

These are shots from the email draft, so they aren’t as great as a regular picture.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/vanessa_front.jpg
Inside of invitation:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/vanessa_inside.jpg

I know it’s a little against etiquette, but we did not do formal RSVP cards instead we had people RSVP by email or phone. We still had the inserts, but saved money by not having anything mailed back to us. I was worried people would be offended, but no one complained. In fact, a few months later when my younger cousin eloped out of state and then had a reception at home in Michigan she did the same thing.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/vanessa_ticket3.jpg

We used an image of us from our photoshoot at MGM (Hollywood Studios) in front of the Great Movie Ride to create custom labels for sealing the envelopes and for the address labels. It was so perfect that it was modeled off of Grauman’s Chinese Theater in LA.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/100_1107.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/100_1106.jpg

One of the major things that we based a lot of the decorations off of was the idea of making our own movie posters and then using them for table names, etc. Here is the main one that we used. I found a site called Big Huge Photo Labs where you can design your own movie posters http://bighugelabs.com/poster.php For a fee you can have unlimited downloads and creations within a week, so that’s what I did. We then ordered the final prints from Sam’s Club photo lab which saved us a ton of money. This particular poster is hanging in our stairwell and I love seeing it every morning as I walk downstairs.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Poster-20x30Rotunda.jpg

Most of our decorations were DYI and I was pleasantly surprised with the final products. First, I want to give a breakdown of our budget to help anyone else in their planning process.

Miscellaneous Expenses
Photography $475 which included all copyright and a few engagement shots
Hall rental $300
Invitations $185
Postage $48
Total: $1,008

Food
Catering $10 per person (no alcohol), final count 150
Total catering including gratuity was around $1,750
Beverages (2 liters of pop, ice, lemonade) $50
Cups $20
Cupcakes from Sam’s Club $50
Small layer cake for cutting $25
Total: $1,895

Snacks/Favors
Popcorn and oil $10
Chocolate candy for buffet (marked down after Valentine’s Day) $15
Mickey molds $12
Chocolate for molds and wrappings $20
Other miscellaneous candy $10
Glass Jars for candy buffet/concessions $40 Big Lots
Favor bags $15
Total: $122

Decorations
Mickey Statues $9
Playing cards, dice for guests $8
Miscellaneous printing (wish cards, table names, etc.) $10
Poster Printing $28 Sam’s Club
Poster frame $16
Decorations $19.98 Stumps, $59.76 Windy City Novelties, $40 Dollar Tree, Oriental Trading $35.55
Table Cloths $20 Great Party
Big Huge Photo Labs $10
Spray Paint $5
Christmas lights $15
Stars $5
Gossamer ribbon $10
Tissue Paper $5
Rose Centerpieces $19.88 Target
Mickey napkins $35 Invitations by Dawn
Total: $351.17

Grand Total: $3,376.17 for 150 guests

I thought the cost breakdown would be helpful for anyone who is trying to decide if they can afford to have an at-home reception. Some cost saving tips we followed - we held the event on a Sunday, so the rental and photographer were cheaper, we did the music ourselves and didn't hire a DJ, and we didn't have alcohol (although our families are not drinkers anyway). To me it was more important to hire a photographer, but you could easily have a DJ instead depending on your priorities.

More to come, so stay tuned....

tiggersam00

08-25-2009, 12:02 AM

dizneyfreak

08-26-2009, 10:28 AM

Ok, so first off I have to apologise for being MIA for awhile. Where does the time go??? Work takes it up...that's where it goes...n-e-ways...
I just caught up. I have to say that I have been waiting for this part of the report for a while now and the first bit was such a tease! I'm loving all of the ideas and I can't wait to see the pictures! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE MOVIE POSTER YOU MADE....AMAZING!!! It is so beautiful! Promise to put up lots and lots and lots of pictures!
On the home front. Our two year anniversary is coming up in just over a month and we are seriously thinking about splurging on a second honeymoon at guess where??? Yea, you got it...the GRAND FLORIDIAN!!! :banana: We want to wear our hats and our just married pins again (is that wrong? :rolleyes1) and we thought a second honeymoon would be just the ticket! We might stay at the Boardwalk though because neither of us have ever stayed there and it is so close to the FAWF. I just had to share with you! Sorry for the off topic info girls, but I just had to tell Vanessa about our plans!

Anna Marie

AbbyPan

08-26-2009, 11:03 AM

wow vanessa, I love the red carpet movie theme, especially because you could incorporate the GMR!!!:3dglasses

You just keep outdoing yourself!! Those Hawaii photos with you and Chris are so pretty (so jealous!!).

And i LOVE the pic of you too kissing, looks like you're in the clouds!

So nice to see your updates!!:hug:

figmentfan814

08-26-2009, 09:43 PM

Ok, so I know you heard that I am using this PJ as a giant piece of bait to lure DF to Hawaii for a honeymoon in July lol, so thanks for writing such a wnderful resource for me and my plotting... I swear I am more like Lucielle Ball everyday with my schemes lol!

Anyways, Your at home receptions was a great cost saver huh! I cant wait to hear more about it but the pics you have posted in the past look great. How much it probably was for all your guests too, feeling like movie stars!
I was really surprised hwo well we were able to keep the costs down. The best part was that we had a lot of people say they had a blast and that it was the most fun they'd ever had at a reception. I think people like it because it was so different.

I definitely hope you get to go to Hawaii :dance3: So, which islands are you looking at visiting?

Ok, so first off I have to apologise for being MIA for awhile. Where does the time go??? Work takes it up...that's where it goes...n-e-ways...
I just caught up. I have to say that I have been waiting for this part of the report for a while now and the first bit was such a tease! I'm loving all of the ideas and I can't wait to see the pictures! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE MOVIE POSTER YOU MADE....AMAZING!!! It is so beautiful! Promise to put up lots and lots and lots of pictures!
On the home front. Our two year anniversary is coming up in just over a month and we are seriously thinking about splurging on a second honeymoon at guess where??? Yea, you got it...the GRAND FLORIDIAN!!! :banana: We want to wear our hats and our just married pins again (is that wrong? :rolleyes1) and we thought a second honeymoon would be just the ticket! We might stay at the Boardwalk though because neither of us have ever stayed there and it is so close to the FAWF. I just had to share with you! Sorry for the off topic info girls, but I just had to tell Vanessa about our plans!

Anna Marie
How cool, I'm totally excited for you!!! A second honeymoon would be so awesome and I've wanted to go to FAWF for a long time, you'll need to share some pictures. We started making plans for our 2nd anniversary too and I think its going to be more Kris' type of trip and not Disney this time :sad1: It should still be fun though. We still need to hook up on Facebook or something.

I'm going to post some more of the movie posters after this posting, so I hope you like them too :goodvibes

wow vanessa, I love the red carpet movie theme, especially because you could incorporate the GMR!!!:3dglasses

You just keep outdoing yourself!! Those Hawaii photos with you and Chris are so pretty (so jealous!!).

And i LOVE the pic of you too kissing, looks like you're in the clouds!

So nice to see your updates!!:hug:

Abby, thanks so much for following along :cheer2: It was super cool that the GMR fit in so well. I really wanted to use more of the pictures from there, but alas the copyright CD was out of our budget until our 3rd anniversary. At least for some of the invite items the copies I had we were able to use since they were being printed small :thumbsup2

Hawaii really was a once in a lifetime experience. I feel so blessed that we were able to take that trip after spending the time after our wedding at Disney too.

figmentfan814

08-26-2009, 09:51 PM

Here are the rest of the movie posters we made to use at the reception:

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Posters/Poster-DessertParty.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Posters/Poster-Germany.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Posters/poster-FatherofBride.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Posters/Poster-LivingSeas.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Posters/Poster-Mafia.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Posters/Poster-MagicKingdomshoot.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Posters/Poster-CharliesAngels.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Posters/Poster-MGM.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Posters/Poster-Paradise.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Posters/Poster-Bridesmaids.jpg

My cousin was a musician with the band in Norway at Epcot and the two guys in the hats are my dad and other cousin:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Posters/8x10Poster-Viking.jpg

These are from our engagement:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Posters/Poster-Whiting.jpg

I found my dress after visiting 13 bridal shops:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Posters/8x10Poster-WeddingDress.jpg

figmentfan814

08-26-2009, 10:14 PM

We made a lot of the decorations ourselves to save on costs. I went through a lot of prom catalogs looking for ideas. This was my main project that I undertook. Here is the one from the catalog which sold for over $300.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/StarStumps.jpg

Thankfully, we had just gotten appliances for the condo we had recently bought, so I had large pieces of cardboard at my disposal. I just pieces from our refrigerator box to cut out the shapes. I made the outlines by hand and then used an exacto knife to cut the pieces out. After this we spray painted them black.

After leaving them to dry a few days, we punched holes along the sides and Kris used black wire ties to attach Christmas lights to the edge. They had the green wires and I thought we would need to paint those too, but once they were lit you couldn't really even tell.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Preparation/MichiganReception002.jpg

I also bought some big red stars marked down at Great Party for a few dollars. I also purchased a package of gold punch out stars from Stumps. We probably could have cut them too, but this was much easier. I would say our total cost was around $35.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Preparation/MichiganReception025.jpg

I made a second set that was smaller to match the ones in the original set in the catalog. The hardest thing was getting them to stand up. We ended up using other pieces of cardboard that we slide on to form a + on the base.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Preparation/MichiganReception027.jpg

Next up, more decorations and other preparations leading up to the big day.

dizneyfreak

08-27-2009, 12:01 AM

starrzone

08-27-2009, 09:31 AM

Vanessa, those posters are amazing! I bet that idea would work for birthday parties, or my brother's high school graduation party...hmmm...:rolleyes1

As for the decorations...you go, girl! I like how you and Kris went ahead and made them yourselves. I can't believe that you made them for 1/10 of the cost of the ones in teh catalogue! :thumbsup2

AbbyPan

08-27-2009, 10:07 AM

Viking revenge?!!?!?:lmao: These are hilarious!!! I also love the "out of the darkness one"...its so funny because its supposed to be scary, but then there's a cute little innocent turtle in the middle, no sharks...:rotfl2:

I officially love your hubby...he's such a great help with everything. The cardboard stands look great!:thumbsup2

figmentfan814

08-27-2009, 10:57 AM

Are you freaking kidding me??? Those posters are outrageous!!! What fun! I still like the one of you two in the AAR the best, but I love the one in front of the city, and the Charlies Angels one, and the one one the beach in front of the WP, and....well really all of them. They are sooooo cool! You by the way are an artist. I sooooo could not have made those cut outs myself and yours look great. I can't wait to see more!

Anna Marie
Thanks for the compliments, but I must admit that web site did most the work for me :thumbsup2 I just provided the photos and came up with the text- titles, etc.

Vanessa, those posters are amazing! I bet that idea would work for birthday parties, or my brother's high school graduation party...hmmm...:rolleyes1

As for the decorations...you go, girl! I like how you and Kris went ahead and made them yourselves. I can't believe that you made them for 1/10 of the cost of the ones in teh catalogue! :thumbsup2
I was really impressed by the posters. I think they would be great for all types of events. I did a lot of searching online before I found that site. Being able to purchase the downloads and print them somewhere locally really cut down on the costs.

I've done a lot of events in my professional career, so I knew despite the costs of some of those items they are made out of really basic stuff, so I figured what the heck we might as well give it at try. I'm really pleased at how they came out, especially the cost savings. In fact, the star arches are still in our basement, hopefully we can get use out of them for something else down the road.

Viking revenge?!!?!?:lmao: These are hilarious!!! I also love the "out of the darkness one"...its so funny because its supposed to be scary, but then there's a cute little innocent turtle in the middle, no sharks...:rotfl2:

I officially love your hubby...he's such a great help with everything. The cardboard stands look great!:thumbsup2
Its funny because I used all the tank shots I could where people weren't standing there smiling and posing. I really wish we would have had some shark shots because they definitely would have been way more menacing than the turtles :rotfl:

Yes, Kris was definitely a huge help. Although, he had just moved back to MI after living in Ohio for 2 years, so I think he was trying to be super helpful since he got out of doing a lot of the prep work for the actual wedding :lmao:

Donald'sGirl

08-28-2009, 01:13 PM

tiggersam00

08-30-2009, 03:18 PM

I agree "Out of the Darkness" rocks! That looks like one mean turtle lol! he probably just devoured a whole head... or lettuce:lmao: OK, bad jokes over!

Seriously those posters are amazing, I may have to steal that idea as a fun gifts for the folks after the wedding.

Your honeymoon looks like it ended nicely, and you got some yummy pineapple out of it, it looks so delicious! The only thing I am worried about for the honeyoon is how long it takes to get to HI from the east coast... 18 hours is a lot! Oh well, we are thinking we def want to do Oahu and maybe Maui depending on how long we stay. Any suggestions?

figmentfan814

08-31-2009, 09:58 PM

Some of the other projects that we undertook for the reception included a candy bar/ concession stand and the centerpieces. For the candy bar, we made some of the chocolates and purchased some. After Valentine’s Day I bought a ton of different Hershey kisses (all kinds of flavors) at 90% off at Target. Thankfully, they were dated for the end of the year, plus the colors fit our theme perfectly. Besides these chocolates we wanted to make some Mickey and Minnie chocolates with molds that we had originally bought to make items for the wedding welcome bags, which never happened! Plus, it was a subtle way to add Disney into part of the reception.

Since the molds only made 4 to 6 each and I only had one of each mold this was a project that we worked on for several weeks leading up to the reception. I had bought some foil and some bags with red harts for candy at a party store marked down too, so everything ended up being fairly cost effective.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Hawaii160.jpg

We even ended up with some pink and red chocolate too. It all tasted the same, so that was a plus!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Hawaii159.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Hawaii161.jpg

Instead of a guest book I wanted to make a “wish tree” that I had seen in several magazines. Original inspiration:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/WishTree3.jpg

I printed off sheets with 8 cards on them using different images from our wedding and then we used our large cutter for scrapbooking to cut them up. Finally, we punched a whole through them and added the ribbon ourselves. These were really cost effective and were fantastic to add to our scrapbook afterwards.

Instead of buying some of the fancy twigs online that they suggest for the trees, I went on the hunt in our yard instead. I found that the ones from my mom’s lilac bush looked about right, so I chopped some off and then spray painted the branches silver. I then used a plastic “popcorn” container similar to ones I ended up using for the centerpieces to place the branches inside. I filled the bottom with sand then secured the branches inside finally tucking tissue paper around to cover the sand up.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Hawaii166.jpg

I have to admit mine wasn’t as classy as the ones I have seen in magazines, but it still looked cute and it fit our theme well. I also had gold beads that I could have strung on it, but they were too much once we tried them on it.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_085.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_194.jpg

I know I have a better picture where you can see the entire tree with all the cards on it, but I don’t have it uploaded right now.

The signs on the side read:
These cards will be for our wedding book a modern twist
On the standard look.

As we begin our journey, as Mr. and Mrs.
We could surely use your advice and good wishes.

Jot down a memory, a bit of advice for the day.
Draw a doodle or picture if you’re not sure what to say.

Share with us your wisdom about marriage, love, and life,
The secret to being a good husband or a thoughtful, loving wife.

Please don't forget it would be such a shame to hang your card on the tree without signing your name.

Give us words of love or fun, write or draw your own design.
Hang it on the tree once you’re done!

Everything was DIY for this reception and it pretty much came down to my parents, Kris and I to do it all. My dad was in charge of the audio/visual equipment. Through his business he was able to get a projector for us to use and he rigged up a screen for viewing the wedding video in the hall. Here are some shots of him practicing with the equipment at home.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Preparation/MichiganReception001.jpg

Video on the wall
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Preparation/MichiganReception006.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Preparation/MichiganReception016.jpg

My mom and I worked on getting some of the wedding scrapbooks done too to document the events of the wedding week. We are the best at scrapbooking under pressure and finished 3 albums within a few short weeks.

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Preparation/MichiganReception003-1.jpg

Here is our dog Molly, tired out the weekend of the reception after all the last minute work going on around her:

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Preparation/MichiganReception004.jpg

Up next reception weekend and decorating at the hall!

dizneyfreak

09-01-2009, 02:44 PM

That looked a whole lot like fun and not too much like work woman! I sure wish I could scrapbook. I bought all the stuff to make a wedding one and it is still sitting in a drawer in my craft room! :rotfl: I suck at cute stuff...n-e-ways...you so made me hungry for chocolates after that and I ADORE the little wish tree you made, especially with the popcorn bucket at the bottom! Oh so cute! Keep it coming girl!

Warning girls....off topic here. Vanessa, guess what!?! When I came home yesterday Brad had the cutest thing set out on our bed for me. He took one of the big Mickey shaped towels we "borrowed" from our last Disney trip and set one of my stuffed Mickeys in it. Then he put a Disney planning book on one side and a heart on the other. In Mickey's hands was a reservation for 10 nights at the GRAND for our 2nd anniversary and honeymoon!!! Whoop whoop....I'll be living the dream in 3 weeks!

Anna Marie

Ann117

09-02-2009, 11:40 AM

I love all of your decorations. I am having an at home reception as well and want to make a video showing my Disney pictures. How did yours turn out?

DisneyLaura

09-02-2009, 02:19 PM

Vanessa - just caught up with your TR. I remember that L-O-N-G trip back home too from HI for our honeymoon like it was yesterday. Although we had our delay going to HI instead. Your at home reception looks so cute - love the theme - perfect!

spacerangerqueen

09-02-2009, 07:39 PM

I love those movie posters they are sooo cool!
I also like your wish tree it came out really well, even if it isn't 'classy' :thumbsup2

figmentfan814

09-02-2009, 09:42 PM

WoW Vanessa those posters you did are fantastic and the cutouts were so great! Good job for you and Kris to do those! I can't imagine trying to attempt that.

I finally caught up on your whole honeymoon and the start of your home reception - wow it was a lot! :rotfl:Your trip looked amazing! I am dying to go to Hawaii and go to the Dole plant!
The best part about doing the cutouts was that since we got the materials for free (at least the boxes) it didn't matter if we screwed up which meant we were a little more willing to at least give it a try :goodvibes

I'm so glad you enjoyed our Hawaiian honeymoon. I was so excited when I found out that we could get a Dole Whip in Hawaii, so that is one of the main reasons I planned the visit there ;) It really was neat to see how pineapples are grown too!

I agree "Out of the Darkness" rocks! That looks like one mean turtle lol! he probably just devoured a whole head... or lettuce:lmao: OK, bad jokes over!

Seriously those posters are amazing, I may have to steal that idea as a fun gifts for the folks after the wedding.

Your honeymoon looks like it ended nicely, and you got some yummy pineapple out of it, it looks so delicious! The only thing I am worried about for the honeyoon is how long it takes to get to HI from the east coast... 18 hours is a lot! Oh well, we are thinking we def want to do Oahu and maybe Maui depending on how long we stay. Any suggestions?
I was really excited by the posters. I know a lot of photographers off them, but they are so expensive. Having that site and paying to download them saved us a bundle. Plus, just getting them printed locally was another cost saving tip. My good friend is doing a movie themed party for her son and is making a poster too; its such a fun gift idea too!

I know exactly how you feel about the travel all the way to Hawaii. The flights home were a lot worse than going because we had long layovers. I kind of think that if we go back we'll add a stop in LA to break it up like I mentioned above. We did Oahu and Maui to get a flavor for more of the islands and I'm glad we did it that way. Oahu has a lot more to do than Maui, so I guess a lot of it depends on how you want to focus your vacation. Two days on Maui was enough for us, but we're not into laying on the beach. However, going to Maui was neat because we got to see a lot more of the "real Hawaii" that is not so built up. I almost compare it to I-Drive near Disney compared to going to the Everglades. The everglades are way you get a chance to see the real Florida compared to the tourist destination it has become :) Definitely let me know if you have more specific questions, I would love to help in any way.

That looked a whole lot like fun and not too much like work woman! I sure wish I could scrapbook. I bought all the stuff to make a wedding one and it is still sitting in a drawer in my craft room! :rotfl: I suck at cute stuff...n-e-ways...you so made me hungry for chocolates after that and I ADORE the little wish tree you made, especially with the popcorn bucket at the bottom! Oh so cute! Keep it coming girl!

Warning girls....off topic here. Vanessa, guess what!?! When I came home yesterday Brad had the cutest thing set out on our bed for me. He took one of the big Mickey shaped towels we "borrowed" from our last Disney trip and set one of my stuffed Mickeys in it. Then he put a Disney planning book on one side and a heart on the other. In Mickey's hands was a reservation for 10 nights at the GRAND for our 2nd anniversary and honeymoon!!! Whoop whoop....I'll be living the dream in 3 weeks!

Anna Marie
:yay::woohoo:How exciting!!! I hope you have an amazing trip in a few weeks. What a fantastic surprise!!:dance3:

I have to admit my mom and I are not very artistic at all, but love to scrapbook. It doesn't take much to add the stickers to the pages ;) You should definitely take a class at a scrapbook store or something, they are all usually really helpful.

I love all of your decorations. I am having an at home reception as well and want to make a video showing my Disney pictures. How did yours turn out?
I have to admit I didn't make a slideshow myself. The video that you saw on the wall in this one was actually the regular video from STVS and a friend from work made me one with our pictures and music that we ran the rest of the time. However, I have been making one for my class reunion which is next week and I found that using the "Windows DVD Maker" is really easy. I think you just have to have Windows XP or better (I just got a new laptop and am not sure if it was on my old one.) The maker allows you to make picture slideshows too and even add music. I'm really happy with the results :thumbsup2

Vanessa - just caught up with your TR. I remember that L-O-N-G trip back home too from HI for our honeymoon like it was yesterday. Although we had our delay going to HI instead. Your at home reception looks so cute - love the theme - perfect!
I definitely think if we ever make it back to Hawaii I think it would be nice to do a stayover in California for a night or two to break up the trip some; maybe even to Disneyland :goodvibes That is the furthest I've ever flown, so I can only imagine how it would be flying to certain places in Europe. I'm glad you're enjoying shots from the reception so far. I think I have pretty much everything uploaded, so I intend to finish soon.

I love those movie posters they are sooo cool!
I also like your wish tree it came out really well, even if it isn't 'classy' :thumbsup2
Thanks so much! I know I was happy with the end result too, but I figured it didn't quite compete with the crystals on the other one ~ lol.

figmentfan814

09-02-2009, 09:49 PM

Flurbee

11-19-2009, 01:38 PM

pezaddict231

11-22-2009, 03:23 PM

Just caught up on your honeymoon report! We're going to Hawaii too so it was so much fun reading about your trip. We're doing one week on Oahu and the second week is still up in the air but we're thinking Kauai or the Big Island. Love the movie posters for your home reception, looks like it was a great time! Thanks for sharing all of this with us!

figmentfan814

11-22-2009, 10:16 PM

Vanessa,

I finally got caught up again!! I enjoyed reading about the rest of your honeymoon. It sounds like you guys had a great time! I can't wait to go there myself!! Your at home reception looks really awesome!! I LOVE those movie posters and the invitations. Can't wait to hear more. :)
Thanks so much, Maure, I'm glad you were able to catch up. Its also given me some motivation to finally update with some more pictures. Life has been really hectic lately - I've been gone every weekend for the last month and have had tons of travel during the week for work on top of that; last week I drove 1,200 miles in a week and I have been beat when I get home!

Just caught up on your honeymoon report! We're going to Hawaii too so it was so much fun reading about your trip. We're doing one week on Oahu and the second week is still up in the air but we're thinking Kauai or the Big Island. Love the movie posters for your home reception, looks like it was a great time! Thanks for sharing all of this with us!
I'm so glad you enjoyed my section on Hawaii. We just had some friends honeymoon in Kauai and they loved it. They are both outdoor fanatics and had a great time hiking and kayaking. The park on the Big Island with the volcano is suppose to be out of this world! You'll have to share pictures of your trip too.

figmentfan814

11-22-2009, 10:36 PM

Okay, here are some shots from the preparation at the hall. Our reception was on Sunday, but thankfully we were able to get in on Saturday late afternoon to get things started. We were suppose to have several people available to help, but ended up with a lot unusually things coming up. My one close friend ended up really sick with bronchitis and my bridesmaid was pregnant at the time and had a slight scare and was in the hospital, so it ended up just being Kris and my parents along with me doing the set-up.

Putting the finishing touches on the stars:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Preparation/MichiganReception025.jpg
The finished product:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Preparation/MichiganReception027.jpg
My dad setting up the screen (he ended up putting up red plastic on the edges, so it looked like a movie screen with the red velvet curtains).
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Preparation/MichiganReception026.jpg
You can see the final product in this shot while we were dancing:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Dances/Ferg_254.jpg

The thing that took the longest to do was to drape all the walls around the hall. I bought various backdrops and gossamer to drape over the walls to use as a cover to really transform the entire hall. We also had a lot of Christmas lights up everywhere (which I bought the Christmas before at 90% off!) We were at the hall until 1 am and crashed that night, only to have to go back early the next morning.

The morning of the reception was chaos. We had to bring in some of the food (drinks and cupcakes) then my mom and I ran to get our hair done at the mall.

One of several carts of pop (I know its a MI thing!):
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Preparation/MichiganReception023.jpg
Unloading cupcakes:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Preparation/MichiganReception029.jpg

I had about 6 inches cut off my hair since the wedding had occurred, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. My normal salon is closed on Sundays, but I think it turned out okay despite these differences. We had it done at a Merle Norman salon, so we could also get our makeup done too.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Preparation/MichiganReception057.jpg

We had two long tables set up with all the items from our wedding including the photos, centerpeices, and all of our scrapbooks that we had done in our marathon sessions. One of my matron of honor even brought her dress which we hung up (she would have worn it if she too wasn't pregnant at the time).
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_126.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Reception051.jpg

Centerpieces, alternating with each table. I used the movie titles that were in the posters to name the tables. Some had the popocorn boxes and others had the movie themed cascading centerpieces. I won't bore you with all of them :rotfl:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_060.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_066.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_063.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_067.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_069.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_075.jpg
Centerpiece at the head table:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_078.jpg

To be continued....

princess22

11-22-2009, 11:47 PM

Vanessa, love the new pics!!! Your at home reception looked amazing! You did a great job. Those cupcakes look so delicious, I'm craving them now!:goodvibes

figmentfan814

11-24-2009, 04:45 PM

Vanessa, love the new pics!!! Your at home reception looked amazing! You did a great job. Those cupcakes look so delicious, I'm craving them now!:goodvibes
Thanks for sticking around with me :goodvibes I figured I better finish the full report, so when I print off everything as a keepsake it will include all the wedding info. The cupcakes were super yummy and affordable~ we bought them at Sam's Club.

Flurbee

11-26-2009, 02:36 PM

Vanessa,

Everything looks really great at the reception!! Your hard work really paid off!! The centerpieces look great, and I agree, the cupcakes look yummy!!!

dizneyfreak

11-28-2009, 09:43 PM

Vanessa,
Your reception looks so amazing. It looks like you put a whole lot of hard work into it and it totally paid off! I love the way your dad set up the photo slide show and the center pieces for the tables were soooooo cute. I can't wait to see some more!

Anna Marie

figmentfan814

12-07-2009, 06:15 PM

I realized I read both of your messages in my email, but never responded. Thanks for continuing to read with me.

Vanessa,

Everything looks really great at the reception!! Your hard work really paid off!! The centerpieces look great, and I agree, the cupcakes look yummy!!!
I was really happy with how everything came out. It definitely goes to show that you can still have a nice event without breaking the bank :goodvibes

Vanessa,
Your reception looks so amazing. It looks like you put a whole lot of hard work into it and it totally paid off! I love the way your dad set up the photo slide show and the center pieces for the tables were soooooo cute. I can't wait to see some more!

Anna Marie
I really love how my dad made it looks like a screen, I just wish we would have thought about getting a picture of it. We were so busy that day I just let our photographer do everything and didn't take any shots of things with my camera. I don't have any pictures of some things like the food which I wish I would have because food was really important to us, lol. I should ask some of my cousins if they took any pictures. Thanks for still following along and I hope you're doing great! We're heading to Florida this weekend, but are only doing Universal Studios and won't be at Disney this time :sad1:

dizneyfreak

12-08-2009, 10:19 PM

WHAT???!!!???? No Disney on a trip to Flordia! I soooooo would not be able to do that...I would have to be put on tranquilizers or something...LOL!!!
Have fun (and don't think it's too late to sneak off and get some mouse time while your there)!

Anna Marie

figmentfan814

12-08-2009, 11:25 PM

I know, its going to be different for me too. Although, during one of our wedding trips we didn't do any parks, so I guess this is kind of the same thing. We are going to Disapalooza on Saturday night though, so I'll make it inside at least one park :goodvibes

figmentfan814

01-09-2010, 11:37 AM

Over break I was determined to finish this, so for all of you that have hung on with me all this time, thanks!

A few guests arrived about 40 minutes early that had traveled from about 2 hours away, so we decided it was time to get dressed; we rushed to get dressed in the bathrooms at the hall. It was much different getting ready here than in our rooms at Disney. My matron of honor was the only one of my bridesmaids who was able to make it, so she helped me get everything in place. (Two bridesmaids were living out of state and the third was pregnant and had been sick in the hospital for a few days- don’t worry she made a full recovery.) It was fun getting to wear my dress again.

Then the whirlwind began. As dozens of people filtered into the hall Kris and I did our best to talk to everyone as they entered.

We stationed our photographer by the front door where she took everyone’s pictures as they entered on the red carpet. It reminded me of an awards show where everyone gets their pictures by the paparazzi as they come into the event.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Guests/Ferg_158.jpg
Some of my cousins really got into the act!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Guests/Ferg_136.jpg

As everyone entered they helped themselves out to the candy concession stand that we had set up near the entrance of the hall.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Guests/Ferg_134.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Guests/Ferg_150.jpg

By the end of the evening, the candy display was totally wiped out. Most of the items we got marked down after Valentine’s Day since the red wrappers were a perfect match for the reception.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_086.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_083.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_080.jpg

Besides the Hershey kisses we also had several jars of Mickey and Minnie chocolates which my mom and I had been making for several weeks.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Hawaii160.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Hawaii159.jpg

We also had a basket of cards and dice for people to play games and there were quite a few cards games going on throughout the night.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_088.jpg
Near the concession stand we had our wish tree on display.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_085.jpg
These cards were perfect for our scrapbook.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_194.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_192.jpg

Next to the wish tree was the start of our wedding displays. We had two tables full of items for people to look through including a number of scrapbooks and our wedding album from Randy. To the far right you can see part of a frame that we assembled with pictures from the weddings of other family members.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_126.jpg

My matron of honor and her husband handled making the popcorn because we ran out of time to get it going. I was originally going to rent a popcorn machine, but thankfully the hall let us use one that they had there for events. As you can see she couldn’t fit in her dress anymore because at the wedding she didn’t realize she was already about 4 weeks along with her second set of twins. She did bring her dress which we put up on the display with other items from the wedding.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Guests/Ferg_133.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_153.jpg
The place was packed! We almost ran out of seats for people.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Guests/Ferg_203.jpg

figmentfan814

01-09-2010, 11:39 AM

As people arrived we had movie theme songs playing the background which we had downloaded online the week before. We also had a photo slideshow that a friend from work had done as a gift for us going on the big screen plus my dad did a beautiful PowerPoint with a story about a fairytale telling about how Kris and I had met, it was so sweet and I need to get the copy of it from him to post too.

We also had a picture slideshow that one of my coworkers made for us as a gift. He really did a great job on it and I like to pop it in every few months to watch it. If you have time and want to spend 30 minutes watching pictures of my wedding here is the link, but don’t feel obligated!
http://www.viddler.com/explore/figmentfan814/videos/3/?secreturl=98791183

Here are the members of the bridal party that were able to make it to the reception. Kris’ one groomsman was there, but somehow didn’t make it into the picture.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Guests/Ferg_207-1.jpg

We had Mark, our singer and M.C. from the wedding, host that day too. He asked if we wanted him to give a play by play on the video, but we said that was okay we would let the guests enjoy it at their own pace.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Guests/Ferg_203.jpg
Waiting to go up for food:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Guests/marquitta.jpg

Mark released all the tables by the movie title names. The food really was amazing! I couldn’t believe how little we paid for everything. I wish I had some photos of the food, but I didn’t take any pictures and relied on other people for their shots. Here is a recap of the menu which ended up being around $10 per person.
Fruit salad
Pasta salad
Tuna pasta salad
Tossed salad and all the fixings
Rolls
Homemade chocolate pudding
Corn o'brien
Macaroni and cheese
Green bean casserole
Spicy red skin potatoes with peppers
Stuffed cabbage (for the Polish in Kris kind of as a tribute to his dad since he really wanted a party up here)
Carved ham
Baked chicken

The catering service even included an ice sculpture.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_179.jpg

We had the wedding video playing the background as our guests were eating and I was surprised how quiet it got in there; people were actually watching it! I have tried to upload the video several times and it keeps cutting it off partway through, so here is the video up to the reception if you want to check it out. No DP because the video compressor has cut it off.
http://www.viddler.com/explore/figmentfan814/videos/4/

Shortly after the video finished we started the dances. Kris and I decided to redo our dance and so did my dad and I, only Kris and his mom opted to skip the second time around. Kris and I as we entered the dance floor; we were redoing our dance which we had taken lessons for and choreographed for the wedding; the only difference was that we were cutting this version a little short. We danced to “You're My First, My Last, My Everything” the folk version, not Barry White.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Dances/Ferg_236.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Dances/Ferg_239.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Dances/Ferg_243.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Dances/Ferg_249.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Dances/Ferg_263.jpg

We started laughing because the music was supposed to be faded, but my dad was talking to someone else and wasn’t paying attention.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Dances/Ferg_260.jpg

I think my dad was the most excited about doing the dances again; he wanted to show off his moves to the rest of the family. We danced to “I loved her first.”
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Dances/Ferg_265.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Dances/Ferg_273.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Dances/Ferg_276.jpg

figmentfan814

01-09-2010, 11:42 AM

They even had the disco ball going during the entire reception.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_214.jpg

We decided to do cupcakes since it was more affordable and they are such a big fad right now. We also ordered custom napkins for the cake table.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_213.jpg
The cupcakes all set up:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Cake/Ferg_090.jpg
See the movie themed pics on them:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Cake/Ferg_098.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Cake/Ferg_103.jpg
We had white with white buttercream frosting, white with chocolate buttercream frosting, and chocolate with white buttercream, and then chocolate with chocolate buttercream.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Cake/Ferg_100.jpg
The small cake we bought to cut was not perfect, but it served the purpose; it was suppose to look like spotlights with Mickey and Minnie on top. The star was actually a Star of David which made no sense! This was the cake we ended up freezing to eat a year later.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Cake/Ferg_093.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Cake/Ferg_091.jpg
It was fun having the chance to redo the cake cutting.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Cake/Ferg_223.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Cake/Ferg_222.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Cake/Ferg_222.jpg
The cake was a lot easier to cut without fondant on it!
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Cake/Ferg_230.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Cake/Ferg_232.jpg

Other little touches throughout the hall:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_124.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_123.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_128.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_117.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_115.jpg

The head table:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Decorations/Ferg_076.jpg

Shortly after we did the cake we thanked everyone for coming and people were having a good time hanging out and visiting with each other. We had music going, but no one in our crowds are much of dancers. We did get a ton of family pictures throughout the night especially towards the end of the evening. Halfway through the reception I had changed into my red satin dress which was what I was originally going to wear before I got requests for me to wear my wedding dress.

Here is a shot with my mom and dad:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Guests/vanessaparents.jpg
Kris and his mom:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Guests/Ferg_129.jpg

We also got some large family shots with each side. Kris’ family:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Guests/232323232fp53448_nu3334_387_9___WSN.jpg
My side of the family is much larger:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Guests/vanessafamily.jpg
The last shot of the night.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/At-home%20Reception/Guests/us.jpg

Our at-home reception was so chaotic and a lot more stressful than our Disney wedding. We had around 150 guests and I feel like I never got enough time to visit with everyone. I’m so glad we had a small destination wedding where we were able to spend personal time with each and every one of our guests. I enjoyed our reception in Michigan too because it allowed us to share that experience with everyone else too, but I am glad we had our Disney wedding. In the end, it was also a great way to honor the memory of Kris’ dad since he was the one that really wanted a reception back home too.

princess22

01-10-2010, 11:18 AM

figmentfan814

01-11-2010, 09:11 AM

Hey Vanessa! Great update! I loved all the pictures, your at home reception was amazing! I'm sad that everything is over now and I have no updates to look forward to! Thanks for sharing with us though. Everything was amazing and I enjoyed reading about it all!
Thank you so much, I am so glad that you were able to hang on with me throughout this very long report. I can't believe how long it took me to finish and I am sad its over too. I plan to save all the pages and get them printed as a sort of scrapbook. I know several other people who did that and I thought that was a great idea. I've really enjoyed reading all your report too. I love having the chance to share a little bit of everyone's lives by reading their TRs. Thanks again for sharing with me :goodvibes

AbbyPan

01-11-2010, 09:28 AM

figmentfan814

01-11-2010, 09:37 AM

She's pregnant with her second setof twins? Did I read that correctly? wow!

The cupcakes were fabulous! I absolutely love them!

I am so jealous that you not only still fit into your wedding dress, but you look just as pretty as you did on your wedding day! (I can't even try and fit into my dress:sad2:) And the red dress is gorgeous!!

Everything came out great Vanessa!!:woohoo:

Abby, thanks for being patient with me :goodvibes Yes, she had her second set of twins and they have a girl in the middle. They had 5 kids in the span of 4 1/2 years. Its always so crazy at their house, but also a lot of fun!

Don't feel bad about your dress, I know I am getting ready to have mine preserved and I am wanting to try it on again. I'm thinking mine won't fit anymore now :laughing: I really wasn't planning to wear the dress again but my cousins asked several times so I figured I would go ahead with it and I'm glad I did wear it. I actually wore it 3 days (wedding, MK shoot, and reception so I got my money's worth!)

I really loved the red dress, I usually don't wear red but I thought it went great with the Hollywood red carpet theme.

figmentfan814

01-21-2010, 02:24 PM

Just saw we made the pre-2009 wedding award nominations on Carly's blog. There are a lot of great weddings on there, you should definitely check them out if you have time. I was nominated for our Welcome Bags which were a lot of work, but totally worth it to see the look on our guests' faces when they opened them. Congrats to all the 2009 winners too!

http://www.disneyweddingblog.com/2010/01/nominees-for-pre-2009-disney-wedding.html

We won! Thanks to all the ladies who voted for us earlier this year!

DisneyLaura

07-14-2010, 10:08 AM

figmentfan814

07-14-2010, 10:22 PM

Vanessa for some reason I didn't see your newest posts of your at home reception. I just read it today and watched some of the videos. I loved everything about your wedding (especially the Disney part LOL).

Thank you so much, Laura. Its good to know that people are still occasionally reading :goodvibes I have done that before with people's posts too . I am so glad you enjoyed reading my story. Its good to know you enjoyed the videos too, I was so happy with how everything turned out; it really was a dream come true! The Disney part was my favorite too :tink:

dizneyfreak

07-15-2010, 12:37 PM

figmentfan814

03-29-2011, 09:44 PM

So I just came back to look at a few of my favorite weddings today and to my surprise I found that I had missed the last few at home reception posts. I don't know how the heck that happened, but I had to comment on them even though I am so very late. :upsidedow
I can't believe how cute everything was. The red carpet was an awesome touch and I love the finished wish tree. The cupcakes sooooo made me hungry and I just wanted to say that when I looked at the cake you had made I thought it was a Mickey head until you said what I thought were his ears were actually supposed to be spotlights. I wonder if any of your guests thought that too? :rotfl: Either way....it worked!
Sorry I missed it at first.....but it was WAY cool!

Anna Marie :flower3:

I know I saw this message a long, long time ago, but just noticed I never replied to you :confused: I came on looking for a link on my TR and saw your note. Thank you for following along throughout my entire report. Kris and I were at Disney World for our anniversary a few weeks ago and we talked about running into you at the Dole Whip stand while we were there for our wedding trip. I hope you are doing well and thank you again for following me through my entire wedding journey :goodvibes

belle2211

03-30-2011, 09:44 PM

We had wanted our reception in the Great Movie Ride in the Wizard of Oz set, but alas we couldn’t afford the various minimums attached; this was the closest that I could get to it. I even drag Kris to Wizard of Oz festivals and I have gotten my picture with some of the original Munchkins!:wizard:

I am just sitting down to read this PJ/TR! Great so far! I'm a couple of years behind so I know the link won't work anymore, but do you have any pictures of the Great Movie Ride in your dress? I work there seasonally and think it would be so neat to see this! (oh, and if there is a picture later on in this thread, just ignore me :) )

figmentfan814

03-30-2011, 10:47 PM

I am just sitting down to read this PJ/TR! Great so far! I'm a couple of years behind so I know the link won't work anymore, but do you have any pictures of the Great Movie Ride in your dress? I work there seasonally and think it would be so neat to see this! (oh, and if there is a picture later on in this thread, just ignore me :) )

Thank you for reading along, we just had our 3rd anniversary earlier this month and I actually get to buy my bridal portrait CD from Disney at the reduced price now :bride: Unfortunately they wouldn't let us go in the actual ride when we did our DHS shoot. The closest thing I was able to get for Wizard of Oz pictures was in front of the Great Movie Ride. Here is a picture of one of the images in my album.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/MK%20shoot/IMG_8398.jpg

belle2211

03-31-2011, 12:00 AM

Thank you for reading along, we just had our 3rd anniversary earlier this month and I actually get to buy my bridal portrait CD from Disney at the reduced price now :bride: Unfortunately they wouldn't let us go in the actual ride when we did our DHS shoot. The closest thing I was able to get for Wizard of Oz pictures was in front of the Great Movie Ride. Here is a picture of one of the images in my album.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/MK%20shoot/IMG_8398.jpg

Too bad they wouldn't let you go in! Boo!

I love this picture though!

starrzone

03-31-2011, 11:13 AM

belle2211

04-08-2011, 11:50 PM

Paul had me take some shots in front of the jewelry store because after all we all love jewelry. We got a few pictures in front of the sorcerer’s hat, but honestly I think it detracts from the Great Movie Ride itself. We walked around front and got some really cool dip shots with the theater in the background. Since we were doing a red carpet theme for our at-home reception I wanted to make sure that we got some of these shots.

I know, years late :) But had to say that I LOVE the carriage hoodie (looking for one now since that's the whole theme to my wedding!!) And I totally aggre about the sorcerer's hat! Most GMR cast members dont' like it! I wish they would have let you gone in the ride...there would have been some awesome pictures with the munchkins!

figmentfan814

04-16-2011, 09:45 PM

Hey Vanessa,

It''s so strange; I was JUST thinking about you and Kris the other day and then bam; this thread popped up again! Wow, can't believe it's been over 3 years now...happy belated anniversary! :bride: :groom:

Thank you so much, we had a wonderful anniversary. We were actually at WDW for it and had a private Illuminations dinner at Epcot on our actual anniversary :cloud9: We even had some anniversary shots taken with Randy too.

Outside AAR on our anniversary:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/IMG_1410.jpg

Dinner at UK pubside:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/IMG_1389.jpg

A couple of anniversary shots:
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/VK04933-3-11.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/VK01213-3-11.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/VK07833-3-11.jpg

I know, years late :) But had to say that I LOVE the carriage hoodie (looking for one now since that's the whole theme to my wedding!!) And I totally aggre about the sorcerer's hat! Most GMR cast members dont' like it! I wish they would have let you gone in the ride...there would have been some awesome pictures with the munchkins!
I ordered the hoodie on Disney Shopping after other brides posted it. They have so many more Disney bride items now, so hopefully you can find something close. Still a little sad to not have gotten shots in the Wizard of Oz section, but I always think maybe we can have a VR someday and have our reception there ;) Its always fun going to the Wizard of Oz festivals, they are like Disney people when we get together talking about our trips, etc.

DisneyLaura

04-16-2011, 11:09 PM

Wow it's been 3 years already - happy belated anniversary!

figmentfan814

04-17-2011, 11:34 PM

Wow it's been 3 years already - happy belated anniversary!
Thank you so much, its amazing how fast time flies by :goodvibes

figmentfan814

10-03-2011, 12:41 PM

After patiently waiting 3 years I purchased the master DVD from Disney Photography this summer to get the rights to our photos from our MK and DHS shoots. Here are a few of my favorites for anyone who stumbles across my thread again to enjoy :goodvibes
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/MK%20shoot/030581-0001.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/MK%20shoot/030581-0006.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/MK%20shoot/030581-0039.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/MK%20shoot/030581-0043.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/MK%20shoot/030581-0047.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/MK%20shoot/030581-0051.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/MK%20shoot/030581-0055.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/MK%20shoot/030581-0058.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/MK%20shoot/030581-0064.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/MK%20shoot/030581-0079.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/MK%20shoot/030581-0076.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/MK%20shoot/030581-0083.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/MK%20shoot/030581-0070.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/MK%20shoot/030581-0087.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x62/vcf81/Wedding/MK%20shoot/030581-0091.jpg
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