"It All Started With A Mouse" UPDATED 6/1/09 CASTAWAY CAY PT 2

[ariel1025]

Ok, so really it started with a proposal but that led us to the mouse :goodvibes Unfortunately, I did not get married at Disney World, but I had a great wedding nonetheless and it was followed by a perfect Honeymoon in Disney World.

Now, first I have to admit that I'm a little late with writing this, our honeymoon ended six months ago, but sadly I did not know these boards existed until recently. You can bet they are now my "bible" for planning our upcoming Anniversary trip :woohoo:

Ok, with that out of the way, I guess some introductions of the cast are in order:

We will start with myself. My name is Shannon and I am 26 years old. I have an increasing love for Disney and wish every day that I was back in the "world" instead of being stuck in reality. We all feel that way right? My favorite movie is the Little Mermaid followed closely by Beauty and the Beast. I am a sucker for the sappy love story.

Next is my Husband. His name is Candido but everyone calls him Candi for short (yes, like the kind of sugary stuff you eat). He isn't exactly what you would call a Disney Lover, but had a great time on our trip and it was his idea to go back for our Anniversary. He claims not to have a favorite Disney movie and holds his "soft spot" for the villians :scared1:

So that you can have a face to put with the names here is one of our engagement pictures:

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/scan0001.jpg

Ok, now to the good stuff. Our Honeymoon was spent at the Wilderness Lodge from May 26 - June 1 followed by a Disney Cruise from June 1 - June 5. We know we were very blessed to be able to do both and I look forward to sharing all the fun with all of you. I just hope I have some readers :rotfl:

Throughout this trip report I will cover the following:

May 26 - Arrival Day, Downtown Disney, Shula's Steakhouse
May 27 - Morning at Magic Kingdom and CRT, evening at Hollywood Studios
May 28 - Epcot
May 29 - More Epcot
May 30 - Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios
May 31 - Epcot and Magic Kingdom
June 1 - Embarkation Day
June 2 - Castaway Cay
June 3 - Nassau, Bahamas
June 4 - Castaway Cay
June 5 - Debarkation, go home:sad1:

So, hopefully you guys will enjoy the "ride" with me as I re-live my favorite memories.

I hope you don't mind but I am going to end with a couple of my favorite wedding pictures

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0004.jpg
A little side story about why I love this picture. That morning getting ready was a nightmare. I spent the entire morning hearing people tell me that they didn't like my dress, my hair etc etc. When I was posed for this picture was the first moment I truly felt happy and knew that it didn't matter what everyone else thought. It was MY day and I was going to be marrying the man I love.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0201.jpg
I just had to post this one. Our flower girl is my husband's cousin and Goddaughter. And right before this picture she leaned over and whispered in my ear "after we leave church today you get to be my cousin too" Talk about turning on the waterworks for me. So precious!

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0637.jpg
My absolute favorite picture of us, my heart melts every time I see it :love:

Ok, that's it for now. I will start the first "chapter" soon!

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Hi......subscribing!

By the way your dress was lovely:goodvibes

[Keira1387]

Your pictures are beautiful!! Can't wait to hear more!

[trudy88]

And you were a beautiful bride!

[mindy5648]

I cant wait to hear all about your trip..I hope it will come with more pictures!!!!!:banana:

[ariel1025]

Hi......subscribing!
by the way your dress was lovely:goodvibes

Yay my first subscriber...this is exciting :cool1: And thank you so much for the compliment on the dress!

Your pictures are beautiful!! Can't wait to hear more!
Thank you for the kind words. First "chapter" is coming up today, thanks for reading :)

And you were a beautiful bride!
Oh my goodness, thank you, thank you, thank you :flower3:

I cant wait to hear all about your trip..I hope it will come with more pictures!!!!!:banana:
No worries, I am completely addicted to pictures so there will be tons! I'm not a professional by any means of the word but they keep things fun! Thanks so much for reading

[goodmorningirl]

Beautiful pics! Can't wait to hear about your Disneymoon! :)

[JennisSilly]

I'm new to the board as well- thus the lack of pictures and um fun items, but I can't wait to read all about your honeymoon!!

Your dress and hair were LOVELY I don't imagine why anyone told you differently!

[ariel1025]

Ok, so just to give you guys a little background before the start of our trip. We got married on Saturday and agreed that we wouldn't leave for our Honeymoon until Monday. We figured this would give us all day Sunday to rest and recuperate from the wedding....yeah right. You all saw that coming right?:rotfl: Our wedding ended at about 2:00 am and we had already thought it would be wise to meet everyone for breakfast at the buffet at 8:00 am. Yeah, smart thinking Hubby....don't worry I still love you:laughing: So less than 6 hours later I pull my tired, aching body out of bed and had a fantastic breakfast with all those who were able to pull themselves out of bed too. Truly, in the end I was super glad we did it (a lot of guests were from out of state and were heading home that afternoon). So, I guess the Hubby is smart after all :idea: Anyway, as I'm sure you all can guess that entire day was filled with last minute "to do" lists before leaving for the Honeymoon. After packing, buying last minute things, repacking, going back to buy the things we forgot the first time, and packing again....well, when my parents showed up at 4:00 am on Sunday morning to take us to the airport our heads had yet to hit the pillow.

Well, one layover and 7 hours later we made it :woohoo: And, I wasn't even tired...hello, I was on my way to Disney World. However, DH didn't quite share in the same wide awake excitement as me. He was tired, hungry and GRUMPY! So, we get off the plane and start trying to figure out the darn ME map to find the counter to check in and board the bus. Now, maybe I need to go to "map reading" school but I could not find this darn place. This was not making my grumpy hubby any happier. It might be smart to note, that he wasn't very excited about the idea of leaving the airport without our luggage in hand and sharing a big Disney bus with lots of other people to start with:scared: Finally, about 30 minutes later (and I so wish I was kidding) I saw the most miraculous thing in the whole world at that minute

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010006.jpg
That sign seriously might have saved my marriage at that very moment :rotfl2:

So, I grab DH's carry on and he joins the sea of people in line to check us in...ok, I might be slight exaggerating here. He walked straight up to the counter and we were escorted to our bus in less than 5 minutes. Who's the smart one now hubby :laughing:

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010005.jpg
This is the "you were right, I will never doubt you again" happy face.

So, we go outside and load onto this super exciting "lead me to paradise" vehicle
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010009.jpg
I have to stop here for just a second and say, I know there are a lot of mixed reviews on here about the Magical Express. But, we loved it, we didn't have any problems and received our luggage within an hour or so of checking into our hotel.

Ok, I think at this point with the super happy bus driver and the little video you watch my DH started to let his excitement kick in. WAHOO, he was starting to see that this was going to be great. However long later, I seriously don't remember I was too excited, we pulled up to our beautiful resort and Hubby actually says to me "this is going to be perfect":cloud9:

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010054.jpg

We were both in complete amazement from the moment we pulled up to the Wilderness Lodge. There are just not words for how beautiful I thought this place was. I guess I should give credit to DH as this was his choice of hotel. It took a little bit of bribing to get me to agree, can we say honeymoon suite anyone?:rolleyes1 Anyway, I realize he made the perfect choice and we go up with a sweet CM to the concierge level to check into our room. I have to say from start to finish all of the WL CM's were absolutely incredible and only added to the magic of our honeymoon. So, we get checked in and we are shown to our room. Of course, I run to look at what really matters to me in this room:
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010067.jpg

Yes, I have a strange addiction to whirlpool tubs. Hey, my tub in my apartment is barely big enough for me to sit in (and I'm only 5' tall). So, we look around the rest of the room and decide on plans for the rest of the evening.....

[ariel1025]

Beautiful pics! Can't wait to hear about your Disneymoon! :)

Thank you very much! I am super excited to be writing this and so glad people are joining me for the ride.

I'm new to the board as well- thus the lack of pictures and um fun items, but I can't wait to read all about your honeymoon!!
Your dress and hair were LOVELY I don't imagine why anyone told you differently!

Yay for the newbies :woohoo: I have been having so much fun learning how to add all sorts of fun stuff to my signature and such. Glad you joined in for the fun! Thank you for the nice comments. Unfortunately, I learned that certain people in our families feel better about themselves by putting others down. I let it get to me at first and then realized it wasn't their choice how I did my hair and stuff it was mine. But, if I could change it I would have only allowed my sister and Mom to get ready with me :rolleyes1

[bridetobe789]

Great start !! You look amazing in your dress ! Can't wait to read more!

[ariel2007]

Loving your report so far. And CONGRATULATIONS.

[ariel1025]

Great start !! You look amazing in your dress ! Can't wait to read more!

Thank you and Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. Do you have a planning journal up?

Loving your report so far. And CONGRATULATIONS.


Thank you for reading and for the Congrats! I will try post an update soon!

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Whoever said they didn't like your dress was out of line, wrong & it sounds like me a bit jealous. Just remember there is always a "Debbie Downer" in the crowd.

I look forward to more of your report.:thumbsup2

[bridetobe789]

Yes I do I'm not terribly good at keeping it up working and going to class online but that'll be over in dec!! soo ..

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1906895

[ariel1025]

Whoever said they didn't like your dress was out of line, wrong & it sounds like me a bit jealous. Just remember there is always a "Debbie Downer" in the crowd.
I look forward to more of your report.:thumbsup2

It's funny because even as they were saying those things I knew it was dumb, but it was such a stressful morning to start with....oh well, as soon as I saw the tears in DH eyes I knew I made the perfect choice (shhh, don't tell him I told his secret :rotfl: ) Thank you for continuing to read, I should have an update posted today:surfweb:

Yes I do I'm not terribly good at keeping it up working and going to class online but that'll be over in dec!! soo ..

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1906895

Yay for almost being done with classes :woohoo: I just went over and read through your journal. I love what you have decided so far. Super cool that the location is a surprise to your guests!

[ariel1025]

Ok, so last time I left off we had just checked out our room and the super exciting whirlpool tub :woohoo: The only question we had was, "what do we do now?"

Well, being the super great wife I am I offered to let DH take a nap :hug: Of course I had ulterior motives, I knew he would be grumpy all night and we couldn't have that for our first night at Disney could we? Not to mention I had been stuck on a plane for 7 hours and needed a shower!! But, why take a shower when there is a whirlpool tub calling your name :rotfl2: So, we made an agreement that he could nap while I unpacked and took a bath. But, that he could not be grumpy when I woke him up to take a shower while I got dressed and such for the night. I honestly don't think I finished my offer before I heard him snoring, so I took that as him saying it was a deal :rolleyes1 Well, about 2 hours later (hey, it was a relaxing bath) I woke up DH so he could shower and we could venture out for a while before our dinner reservation at Shula's Steakhouse. After getting ready for the evening we decided to roam around Downtown Disney before dinner.

Now, I had been slightly worried about how bad the bus system would be as I heard other people I know say they always waited FOREVER. But, luckily for us we never had any issues, YAY:cheer2: In fact, on this particular night a bus to Downtown pulled up as soon as we got to the bus stop. We saw this a sign of luck for the rest of the week!

One bus ride and 3 stops later we made it to Downtown Disney and I easily spot this little slice of heaven :cloud9:

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/HPIM0823.jpg

However, I restrain myself from running straight in there and we wander around all the stores we encounter along the way to my desired destination. I found it quite enjoyable to watch this guy work for a little while

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/HPIM0818.jpg
If only I were so talented. I make a toddler's scribble look like a work of art :laughing:

I have to admit that even though we weren't really doing anything, it was very relaxing and nice to just be wandering around hand in hand with my husband. Back at home we are always so "go go go" all the time that we don't get a lot of time to enjoy doing "nothing" together. We just strolled along walking in and out of stores and admiring all the little things and the simple but beautiful things such as this

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/HPIM0845.jpg

Well, eventually we made it to my little slice of heaven, hey it was calling my name, and did a little bit of souvenir shopping. I just loved all of the figures hanging from the ceiling. This was one of my absolute favorites

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/HPIM0829.jpg

Well, after a couple hours and too much money later I heard a rumbly in the Hubby's tumbly and we decided we would see if we could check in for our reservation a little bit early. Originally we had reservations for 8:00 thinking that that's about when we would get hungry since that's only 6:00 our time, but I guess the day of traveling changed all that. So, we hop on over to the Dolphin and check in for our reservations at

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/HPIM0875.jpg

They were super nice and promised to get us a table as quick as possible. Man, they weren't kidding, my bum barely hit the seat in the lobby when they were saying "Mr and Mrs ***" I can show you to your table now. I have to admit it was super fun to hear people calling us like that :yay: Now, I am not exactly a die hard steak lover by any means but I knew DH would love to eat here, I mean steak, football and me, what else could he ask for:lmao: . However, this dinner was absolutely "to die for" delish. I ate every last bite without any problems. It was worth every last penny, and as expected DH loved it. He loves sports and thought it was great that I picked a place owned by Don Shula (sadly, I had to look up who that was when I made the reservation :confused3 ). Also, he is a MAJOR steak person (who grew up on a ranch) so he was double thrilled with the choice. Of course, we had to get the obligatory picture with the football menu

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/HPIM0879.jpg
Not my finest moment in pictures but my hair freaked out from the humidity and I still hadn't been to sleep yet. Hey, I was in Disney World sleep could wait!

Well, after what is currently our best meal EVER, DH asked if I would like to go back Downtown since we had only gone to half of the stores, I guess that meal worked wonders! So, that is exactly what we did. Now, I know many people have to hit the parks on their first day, but I quite enjoyed just relaxing and walking around all the stores. Of course, we had to go into the Harley Davidson shop. I am way to scared to let DH get a motorcycle (don't hate me, he has broken his ankle twice just by walking from our apartment to his car...shhh, don't tell him I told you he's clumsy:rotfl2: ). Of course we had to stop and pose on the choppers in the window

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/HPIM0840.jpg
Sorry babe but that's as close as you'll get to riding:rolleyes1

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/HPIM0841.jpg
I was in a skirt so I did what any girl would do and took my 10 seconds of fame as a "model" HA HA

After roaming around for a while longer we decided to call it a night to get some rest because the "real" Disney started tomorrow....Magic Kingdom here I come. So, we load the bus and 3 more stops later we make it back to the hotel. Well, I decide I need a snack so we stop at roaring forks for some sodas and carrots and ranch...don't ask :confused3 but they always sounded so good. That darn Roaring Forks made a killing off me during this trip :scared1:

After picking up my late night snack we head back up to the room and see a letter from concierge on the bed.....

[ariel1025]

Sorry for the delay everyone. The holidays have been keeping me pretty busy. I hope somebody is still reading :confused3

Ok, so last I left you we had just got up to our room after the end of a perfect first night in Disney World. I walked through the door armed with my yummy snack of carrots and ranch :laughing: all ready for a good night's sleep...finally. Remember, I hadn't slept in almost 48 hours at this point. Well, I walked in to see balloons and a picture signed by Mickey Mouse and a letter. Hmmm, what on earth could that letter be. Well, when I read it I started jumping up and down and screaming random shrieks of laughter (sorry for all the people I might have accidentally woke up at that point :rolleyes1 ). Now, my Husband has often accused me of being a bit of a dork (and rightfully so) but the last time he saw me act like this is when he proposed so he was completely dumbfounded. In between my laughing and jumping I finally was able to tell him that concierge had just informed us that they were able to squeeze us in for a reservation tomorrow morning at

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010113.jpg

Now, you can call me crazy if you must for getting so overjoyed about this. Yes, I realize it gets not so great reviews. Yes, I know that it is intended for little girls obsessed with the Disney Princesses. But, I had been trying to get this reservation starting at 180 days out and had no success. Until now, even concierge had not been able to do this for me. I was truly on :cloud9: I mean, hello, it was eating in the castle...and on our very first day at the MK...to me it was absolute perfection! My Husband, however, looked at me like I was slightly crazy, but played along in the excitement, because he is such a good husband:flower3:

So, after that little burst of excitement and knowing that we were finally going to a park tomorrow. Not just any park, but THE park, do you really think I could sleep? Yeah, not so much LOL. I tried, I mean I really, really tried. And I felt tired but I was just too excited :banana: I think I finally drifted off to sleep at about 4 am and yet I felt so awake when the alarm went off at 7. Funny how Disney World can do that to a person isn't it? Well, being the good Wife that I am, I let Candi sleep for an extra half hour while I got ready. Then I very carefully woke him up by....jumping on the bed screaming "Time to go to Cinderella's Castle, Time to go to Cinderella's Castle" :jumping1:

Oh, darn it....Hubby needs the computer...hopefully I will add more later...

[goodmorningirl]

I am so happy that you updated! How wonderful that they were able to get you a ressie at the last minute, can't wait to hear all about it.

[ariel1025]

I am so happy that you updated! How wonderful that they were able to get you a ressie at the last minute, can't wait to hear all about it.

Thanks for continuing to read! Update coming up right now.....

[ariel1025]

Ok, last time I left you I had just (not so subtly) woken up Candi to get ready for our first day at MK!!!! I have to admit he was such a good sport about all my early wake up calls, never complained once (and he is NOT a morning person). So, we finish getting ready and walk (ok, more like run) to the bus stop when Candi asks a brilliant question. "Hey babe, don't they have boats that go to the Magic Kingdom?" Gosh, I knew I married him for a reason :rotfl: So, off to the boat dock we went. And, this became our choice of transportation when at all possible. It was so relaxing, not to mention WAY less crowded than the buses.

After our five minute boat ride (which by the way, one was waiting for us when we walked up) we see the second most beautiful site in the world

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010107.jpg

I was beaming with excitement. We were here, we were finally here! Even, Candi's steps seemed to get lighter as we made our way through the entrance.

**Side not, I'm not sure if I mentioned that this was his first time ever at Disney World***

Well, he looks at me smiling and says "it IS better than Disney Land." I was both thrilled and laughing at the same time. I mean, hello, you've only seen the entrance, but SO glad you agree with me about it being better.

So, we do the little fingerprint/card entry thingy and make our way down main street and see the (number one) most beautiful site in the world

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010112.jpg

I have to admit at this exact moment all the emotions of everything (the stress of the wedding, getting married, being in Disney World) caught up with me and I secretly cried a little bit. Of course, that was followed by more shrieks of excitement "we're eating in the castle, we're eating in the castle."
We make our way up to the podium to check in for breakfast and we are told "it will be a little bit of a wait, since you were squeezed into this reservation, go ahead and check back in about 15 minutes."

So, we just stood off to the side talking about how perfect everything had been so far (and it had) and how lucky we were (and we SO were). I never in a million years would have thought that everything I had dreamed of this wedding and honeymoon to be would play out so perfectly. I knew I was blessed in so many ways.

A little less than 15 minutes later the same hostesses called us back over and gave us our little card to get our picture taken. So into the castle we went and I immediately turned into a little girl obsessed with the Disney Princesses. It just all seems so real, the details and the setting and the magic....Anyway, we got in line to take our picture with Cinderella (sorry, I don't have a scanner to scan in that picture). She was very sweet, telling us Congratulations and telling Candi how lucky he was to have married such a beautiful Princess :flower3: After we were finished with Cinderella we were led upstairs to the main dining area, where we were again asked to wait just a moment so they could check on an empty table. So, we waited on the staircase for a couple of minutes

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010144.jpg
This picture makes me laugh because you can tell that admist all the excitement Candi is getting the "I'm hungry, feed me now" face :laughing:

Within a few minutes we were retrieved and ANNOUNCED into the dining room as newlyweds. I know it's cheesy but it brought me back to a couple nights back at our wedding reception when we were "announced for the first time as Mr. and Mrs." And, then the most magical part happened we were led to our seats which were right here.....

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010122.jpg

I seriously could not believe our luck. I didn't even think we would get the reservation and not only did we, but we got treated like royalty and the best seat in the house overlooking the most magical place on earth. Candi looked across the table at me and said "this is amazing, they even decorated the table."

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010125.jpg

I responded by continuing to have the cheesiest smile EVER on my face. I really thought that nothing could get better than this. Within seconds our waiter came to get our drink orders and ask if we wanted the hot or cold selection. And, let me tell you when Candi realized it was all you can eat and it was served and not buffet line style he was in his own little heaven :rotfl2: We both chose the hot selection and were immediately brought our drinks and the fruit cup...YUM!! Not very long later our main plate of food came out

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010135.jpg
Unfortunately, this is the only "food porn" I have of the whole trip, but I thought I would share it anyway.

As, we ate our meal the Princesses came around and took pictures with us and signed our celebration certificate. They were all very nice, but some more social than others.

First was Jasmine
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010140.jpg
She was very sweet and I was super excited because Aladdin is one of my all time favorite Disney movies. She told us something like "isn't being married just A Whole New World."

After Jasmine was Princess Aurora
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010141.jpg
Out of all of them, she seemed the most rushed. She took the picture and moved on. But no biggie, because my all time favorite Princess was on her way to the table....

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010142.jpg
She was absolutely the sweetest and talked to us for quite a while before moving on to her next table. She asked us about our favorite books and if we would be living in a town or in a castle and so many other things.

The last Princess to visit our table was Snow White
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010143.jpg
Let me tell you, she played the part perfectly. She was so full of energy and excitement. And when she saw that we had just gotten married she said "oh, I knew one day your Prince would come." It was so cute and I loved talking to her.

After an hour and a half or so, we had finished our food and met with all the beautiful Princesses and made our way out of the castle , which I have to admit was a little sad.

However, I have to tell you this funny story...
On our way out of the castle Candi needed to stop for a restroom break so I waited outside of the restrooms for him. He was in there for quite a while and I got kind of worried, I was hoping he wasn't getting sick. After what seemed like forever he pokes his head out of the door and says "hey, come in here I need your help." I am like "WHAT? I can't go into the men's restroom, what are you doing?" And then he explains that his wedding ring fell into the trash can while he was drying his hands :scared1: and the trash can was so tall his arms didn't reach down far enough to get it so he needed to lift me over the trash BY MY WAIST so I could reach down and get his ring. My lordy, what a way to start this trip, thank goodness no one walked in before we got it :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2:

Well, that's all I have time for now. I will update after the holiday festivities.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

[ariel1025]

First I just want to say that I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and HAPPY NEW YEAR!! At first I was almost sad because I remember at midnight last year for New Year's I was thinking "I'm getting married this year." But, this year it was all over and I was kind of missing the planning part then Hubby leans over and whispers "this year we celebrate our one year anniversary." Yep, you guessed it...I cried.

Ok, now back to the trip...

So, after our "Mission Impossible" ring retrieval :lmao: we decided that we had to start the trip off right and go straight to:

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010156.jpg

Both times we had been to Disney Land together Space Mountain had been closed for refurbishment (which I can't wait to experience, by the way) however, that meant that neither of us had ridden it in about a decade (and sadly that is not an exaggeration). So, off we went to our desired location. We saw the sign and thought that the wait time wasn't too bad (only 30 minutes) and we knew that no matter what the posted wait time was we were waiting anyway. Well, I am so glad we did because we didn't wait more than 10 minutes and we were off on our trip into space. Now, I know that it isn't even close to a "thrill" ride, but the experience of it was well worth it and I loved it just the same. After, we returned back from Space we decided we were just going to walk and ride whatever we ran into. We agreed that we would not skip anything unless it was closed (duh) or had a wait time of more than an hour. On the way to our next ride I noticed these cute little fellas and realized they must had followed us back from outerspace :rotfl: They were so cute I had to get their picture

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010166.jpg

Our next stop was a first for both of us

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010167.jpg

I thought it was super cute and the guy that was chosen from the audience was super funny and played along really well (kudos to the gentleman picked from the audience).

After we walked out of Laugh Floor Hubby saw the little race car thing and decided he needed to put the "pedal to the metal" (I mean hello, you can go a whole 10 miles an hour on those things :rotfl2: ). Actually he loves them because when he was younger and his family would go to DL all the time him and his brother didn't realize that the track controlled the car and they were super competitive about it. Of course I obliged and we went over to those instead of making the circle we had agreed on.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010178.jpg
Here he is with his "game face" on. I guess he forgot that since I had the car in front of him there wasn't any way he could win :laughing: I of course was a graceful winner (by declaring that I got to pick the next ride).

Now don't hate me (I know a lot of people despise this ride) but I chose

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010179.jpg

Like I said, I know a lot of people are not fans of this ride. But last time I was in WDW it was the alien attack ride (or whatever it was called) and I LOVE Stitch, I think he is hilarious. Plus the ride was in seeing distance and we wouldn't be skipping anything by riding it. Again, the line was very short (we only had to wait for the pre-show group ahead of us). At this time my cell phone was ringing so I looked to see who it was. Now, we had promised that we would keep the phones on for emergencies, but that we would not answer them because it was our honeymoon. Well, when I looked at the area code it was a (407) area code. Ok, I had made enough calls for reservations and things to know that it was a FL area code. However, I didn't answer in time and when I tried to listen to the message it was our turn to go into the pre-show. I just blew it off and knew I could listen to it when the ride was over. After the pre-show we get strapped into our seats to enjoy the ride. Ok, I know, I know it is awful but I enjoyed it!! We both laughed at all the people grossing out about the smell and we didn't hear any freaked out little kids or anything and well, we just like it. Call us crazy if you must. The only bad thing that happened is we were in such a hurry to get outside to listen to the message that Candi accidentally left our photo package from this morning on his seat. Now at this point I was both laughing and crying. I was crying because I really liked my Cinderella package but laughing because when I came with my family and we rode this ride (but Alien Attack version) my Dad lost his wallet on it (no worries, it was returned). I then and there declared it to have a secret property stealing force within :rotfl2: Yes, I'm a nerd but I was trying not to be upset about the potential loss of our pictures. So, we decided to wait until the current ride was letting out to see if we could sneak back in to check for them. The second the doors opened a very nice gentleman runs outside and looks for us to return the package (thank you very nice gentleman who had our seats on his ride).

So, enough about Stitch it was time to head on to

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1010171.jpg

YAY! I was really excited about riding the Space Ranger spin, the ride description was totally something up our alley and I knew Candi would enjoy just as much (if not more than) I would. We hop in line and again wait about half the time the posted wait times said. Of course, we both love it (and of course Hubby kicks my butt). By this time we are getting kind of hungry and decide to get a snack. I suggested getting french fries or a pretzel or something and Candi agrees. But as we are walking towards a stand I see him limping.

** Side note, Candi has broken his foot and ankle and knee (all on the same leg) a total of 6 times combined. He used to play basketball and the last time he broke his foot was playing college ball and the entire foot was shattered. He had to have titanium plates and screws put in his foot so he had problems with walking for extended periods of time. **End side note

I knew that he wasn't going to say anything because he was having a great time (and he knew I was too). But, I didn't want him to be in tons of pain so, I said "Hey we paid extra money to stay concierge let's go back to the room and see what they have in the concierge lounge." I never told him that I saw him limping and he did the "nice arguing" for a minute...You know the "no, I don't want to miss anything and you are having so much fun....." So, I made a deal with him. If we could ride Phillharmagic (Sp??) on the way out then we could go relax for an hour or two. It was agreed, and I LOVED,LOVED, LOVED Philharmagic. It is the best 3D show I have ever seen, and the extra scents and everything make it absolutely wonderful. After that we grabbed the boat back to the Lodge and went back up to the room.

In the lounge they had lots of snack type foods (goldfish crackers, veggies and dip, small sandwiches, cokes etc). It was more than enough to hold us over until dinner. After the snacking we decided to take a quick nap. Well, Hubby took a nap, I watched TV. After about an hour or so we headed to our next destination to finish up our first day.....

[tiggersam00]

Love your trip report! The part about the unexpected reservations was such a great honeymoon surprise!
Good move about letting your DH rest his foot, I broke my foot in 07 on the 1st day of our WDW trip and walked on it for a whole week because I wouldn't tell my DF (then DBF) how much pain I was in! I wish he had noticed me limping and maybe I wouldn't jhave had a boot on my foot and Physical therapy for 3 months!
Cant wait to keep reading :)

[ariel1025]

Love your trip report! The part about the unexpected reservations was such a great honeymoon surprise!
Good move about letting your DH rest his foot, I broke my foot in 07 on the 1st day of our WDW trip and walked on it for a whole week because I wouldn't tell my DF (then DBF) how much pain I was in! I wish he had noticed me limping and maybe I wouldn't jhave had a boot on my foot and Physical therapy for 3 months!
Cant wait to keep reading :)

First of all, thank you so much for reading my TR. It has been so much fun being able to "re-live" all the moments again through writing about them. Secondly, Congratulations to you are definitely in order...I am on my way to start reading your PJ now :goodvibes Oh, and I am so sorry about your foot. Unfortunately (or fortunately I guess) I don't understand how painful it is but I hate seeing DH looking miserable and there was no way I was going to let him walk around like that any longer. Thanks again for reading!!

[ariel1025]

Hey Everyone,

I just wanted to say that it will be a while before I can post anymore updates. My computer crashed (I'm using a borrowed laptop right now) and all my pictures are on my computer. I should have known better than to not back them up right away, but I didn't. Please cross your fingers for me that when I take the computer to the tech guys they will be able to fix it (or at least retrieve my pictures). I know it is super cheesy but I starting crying just thinking that all my honeymoon pictures are lost forever. So everyone send some pixie dust my way please!!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful start to the New Year

[DISNEYMAGIC2005]

I'm loving your TR!!!!! Keep it coming!

[Keira1387]

Here's some pixie dust for you! pixiedust: I'm sorry your computer crashed!

[ariel1025]

I'm loving your TR!!!!! Keep it coming!

Thanks so much for reading. I am hoping to have a honeymoon update soon (it all depends on when I can get my computer fixed. However, I am going to start a mini wedding report (as I have those pictures on disc) I hope you will stick around for that. Also, good luck and best wishes planning your wedding :goodvibes

Here's some pixie dust for you! pixiedust: I'm sorry your computer crashed!

Thank you, thank you, thank you:) Also, I was wondering how did you make the picture display in your signature? It is very pretty!

[ariel1025]

Hello! I hope you guys don't mind but since my computer is down and I don't have my honeymoon pictures at the moment, I was going to do a mini wedding report. I know I didn't get married at WDW (though I wish I could have) but I thought it might help pass the time until my main computer gets up and running. Thank goodness I backed up the wedding pictures on a couple...or 10 discs :rotfl: Guess, I should have done that with the honeymoon pictures huh?

Ok, enough dwelling and on with the report....

Just a little background into our relationship...

We are in many ways your cliche (make you want to vomit) couple. We met in a small college in Kansas where I was on a cheerleading scholarship and he was on a basketball scholarship. He had an early morning class with my roommate and would come get her before class every morning (otherwise she never would have made it on time :laughing: ). However, we weren't exactly friends in the beginning. I worked at a hospital and often had hours that were not fun (i.e. 5pm to 2 am) so I often would get home from work, take a "nap" then shower and go to cheerleading practice at 5 am. Needless to say after practice all I wanted to do was shower and sleep until I had to get ready for class. Well, on one particular morning (during mid-terms) my roommate, Heather, got up and went to class early. However, she failed to tell Candi she was doing this so he still came knocking on our door (keep in my mind this was at 7 am). At first I figured he would go away, but instead he proceeded to knock harder and harder until I finally opened the door and (not so nicely) told him she had already left and slammed the door in his face :scared1: Now, I know this wasn't very nice of me (ok it was completely rude) but I did apologize later. For some reason he didn't care for me too much for a while after that though :confused3 Anyway, fast forward to the following semester when Candi and I got paired for volunteer work at a local fair. Needless to say, he wasn't too happy about it. But we ended up having a ton of fun together and hit it off really well. The only problem was that's pretty much where it all ended until....fast forward to the following school year....my same roommate, Heather, was going on a date and didn't want to go alone so she begged me to find someone to "double" with them. For some reason I decided to ask Candi and he said yes, but we called it a "pretend" date (I was too chicken to ask him on a real date :lmao: ). We ended up having a GREAT time and have been inseparable ever since...

Our first picture together
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/s732948470_161561_309.jpg

Bring about the road block.....

During our second year in college Candi shattered his foot and lost his basketball scholarship. Now, for most people this school is EXPENSIVE and he couldn't afford to stay. I cried for days and knew that I couldn't end things. So, I decided to move back home (his home, I'm from Kansas) with him. Now fast forward FIVE years (yes we dated for a very long time) and that brings us to...

THE PROPOSAL

It was October 1, 2006 and we were waiting for my parents to get to town (they always visit during this time for the annual balloon fiesta)http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/s732948470_161550_4749.jpg when Candi says that he needs to run to the store to buy some things to make for dinner that night. I told him I would stay home and finish picking up the house (I found out later he wouldn't have let me go if I tried :rotfl2: ). He returns from the store and I start helping him put away the bags of groceries when he says, "oh wait I left a bag in the car." I am still organizing the pantry with all the food he bought when I hear him behind me. When I turn around he has a dozen roses http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/s732948470_161581_2054.jpg and a ring http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/s732948470_161582_9776.jpg in his hand and says "be mine forever." Ok, that was more a statement than a question, but he followed it up with "Will you marry me?" Of course I said yes and that brings us to the wedding....

[ariel1025]

So, it looks like it will be the beginning of next week before I will know if my computer is repairable or not:sad1: But, to avoid dwelling on that let's get on with the mini wedding report

We had our rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, but this was quite a challenge. The Deacon at first said we were required to have it on Thursday (our wedding was on Saturday), however, many people were coming from out of state and would not be getting in until late Thursday or early Friday. I wouldn't have cared too much, but then he said anybody not present for the rehearsal could not take part in the wedding itself. I basically got down on my hands and knees to beg for it to be changed to Friday and in the end he let us...thank goodness. The rehearsal went very smoothly...everybody found the church without any problems and everybody was early!!! Of course this might have something to do with me bluffing a little bit on the start time. I know that's mean, but in my defense half of them would have been late if the bluffed time was the real time:laughing: We ran through the sequence of events twice (both times I cried) and then we headed over to the rehearsal dinner.

We decided to hold the rehearsal dinner at the same hotel that our wedding reception was going to be held at the following night. However, we used a different room, had a mexican food buffet (the reception was going to be plated dinners) and used different decor. The one thing that I am really sad about is that I forgot my camera. My Dad had brought his but he spent the first part of the rehearsal dinner...umm I don't want to gross anybody out so we'll just say sick. The decor was very simple but very pretty. All the tables had white linen table cloths and we alternated the overlays between sheer white and black. The centerpieces were very simple, just a hurricane candle with red rose petals scattered around them. It sound plain but it was exactly what I wanted and I loved it. The only problem we had with the rehearsal dinner is that one of my cousins (her two daughters were in the wedding) got lost on the way over. I'm not sure why she didn't follow somebody :confused3 but by the time they arrived everyone had already eaten. However, the staff was excellent and brought them plates of food from the restaurant with no additional charge.

Now for some pictures...I LOVE pictures

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1000124.jpg
This is my sister and I. She is honestly my best friend and so of course was my Maid of Honor. Unfortunately, because of her work schedule she wasn't able to come into town until Thursday night, but she worked her butt off helping me with all the last minute things. She helped me put together all 400 favors :scared1: , wrap attendant gifts, make verification calls to all the vendors, pack for the honeymoon, pick up Candi's ring from the jeweler (sadly I got a red light ticket doing this) and the list goes on. I would have been so lost without her and there are not enough ways to thank her for everything she did. Though I'm sure she'll return the "favor" when she gets married :lmao:

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1000128.jpg
This is Candi and his brother. He only lives about half an hour from us so he had been helping all along, or at least helping with any "man duties" :rotfl: He also paid for the limo as our wedding gift :hug: He was our Best Man and loves me so much that he did not try to convince Candi to get "plastered" the night before...such a good brother-in-law. He also was my "run around" guy the morning of the wedding. Unfortunately, there were a few flukes that morning and he came to the rescue for us.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1000141.jpg
This picture is of Candi and I with my side of the family that was in the wedding....we had a HUGE wedding party by the way. All of them came in from Kansas and, except for the little boy in the front, I used to baby-sit each of them at some point. Their parents basically employed me for many summers until I turned 16 :laughing: Of course I feel really old that they were babies when I used to watch them....

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1000139.jpg
Ok, now this is us with Candi's side of the family that was in the wedding...can you guess who's family caused us to have such a large wedding party:rolleyes1

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1000143.jpg
Finally, these are our friends that were in the wedding. The guy on the far left (in the white shirt) has been Candi's best friend since they were in kindergarten!!! And the girl on the far right (in the polka dot dress) is Heather, she is the one that had class with Candi. If it wasn't for her, Candi and I might never have met...thanks Heather:goodvibes

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1000145.jpg
This is a picture of Heather holding up the baskets I made for all the female attendants. In them was a mani/pedi set, a mini bath set from Bath and Body Works and the jewelry for them to wear the next day. I also included individual cards (with a picture of us) on the front and a personalized message inside about why I chose them to be part of our wedding. Needless to say there were many tears for a minute or two.

So that is pretty much the evening. Afterwards, I stayed in my sister's room at the hotel and Candi stayed with his brother. Even though we had dated for 6 years and lived together for almost 4 years we still decided to spend the night before apart. I know it's corny but I'm glad we did it. It left a lot of anticipation for the next day. Plus, my sister and I had to finish up a lot of last minute details....oh, and eat lots of junk food and tell secrets:lmao:

I will end with the last picture of Candi and I taken before we became "Mr. and Mrs."

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/P1000136.jpg

Next up: THE BIG DAY!!

[Keira1387]

I was wondering how did you make the picture display in your signature? It is very pretty!

Thank you! A friend made it for me using photoshop.

[tiggersam00]

love the engagment report! Such great pics! Cant wait to see pics of the wedding

[ariel1025]

love the engagment report! Such great pics! Cant wait to see pics of the wedding

Thank you...working on an update right now:)

[ariel1025]

Sadly not much good can be said about the getting ready portion of the day. I basically didn't sleep the entire night before...my sister was a trooper and stayed awake with me until about 3:30. She tried so hard to stay awake until I fell asleep because she could tell how stressed out I was. As I said previously we did a lot of last minute things that night (finished the favors, did the programs, finished the slide show etc). Then at about 3:00 or so she gave me a gift basket of goodies (bubble bath, candles, face mask and lotions) and so I went to try to relax in the bathtub. When I came out she was a goner :rotfl: . I tried and tried to go to sleep but I kept waking up every few minutes double checking on things.
Finally at 5:30 am the hair stylists came knocking on the door. The plan was supposed to be for them to get there and set up at 5:30 and then do me and my sister's hair and make-up first, at about 6:30 my Mom was going to show up to get her hair done and then I told everyone else to be there at 7:15 to start their hair. In total there were 11 people getting their hair and/or make-up done by the two hair stylists. Well, wouldn't you know that the only time EVER that anybody came to anything early was that morning. By 6:30 all 11 of us were crowded into my sister's hotel room and it sent my stress level into over drive :scared: I know that I should have been relieved that people had made it on time, but unfortunately I knew that several of these people were overly critical and I did NOT want them there while I was getting my hair and make-up done. I actually had to start kicking people out (which made me feel awful). But as an example, while I was getting all "prettied up" my Mom went down and got me breakfast. It wasn't anything major just fruit and yogurt (my favorite breakfast combo) well I took about two bites and then I needed a potty break when I came back out everybody had taken it upon themselves to eat my fruit :headache: My Mom went and bought me more, but seriously?!?! Sorry, I just think it was incredibly rude to not even ask me. And then the comments started...."your tiara is too small"..."you don't look good with your hair down" and the worst one of all Candi's cousin looked at me after my hair was finished (tiara and veil in place) and she tells me "my cousin is going to be so disappointed when he sees how you look." I ended up leaving the room and going to Heather's room (my sister followed behind with my make-up and dress in her hand).

Ok, enough venting....so we went to Heather's room and my sister (Erica) and Heather start doing my make-up (which we had to re-do at least 3 times because I couldn't stop crying). Then they start to put my dress on me. Well...I'm standing in between the two beds (my sister is standing on one and Heather on the other to put my dress over my head without ruining my hair) so I'm standing there in my super cute blue personalized booty short style undies and my arms in the air with them standing above me and we hear the door.........:scared1: :scared1: :scared1: Heather forgot to latch the door and her fiance came walking in....oh lordy...talk about embarrassing:rolleyes1

Well after all the morning fiascos (which by the way I had to call Brian 4 times to go into my sister's room to get all the different things I had left in there...my earrings, my garter etc - the only reason Erica or Heather didn't go is because they would get yelled at every time they walked in and one of the times Erica went in there, she was getting yelled at when Brian came in to pick up my wedding gift to Candi and he told her "if Shannon needs anything else call me you guys don't deserve this"...sorry about the super run-on sentence there :lmao: )

By the way, the wedding gift I got Candi was a Movado watch that he had been eyeing for a VERY long time but couldn't justify paying the price for. I had the inside engraved with our personal little thing we say to each other. I swear I could hear him screaming in excitement when he got it (his room was directly above Heather's room). Unfortunately, after me, my sister and Mom left the room the hotel had delivered my gift from him. It was a dozen chocolate covered strawberries and the earrings to match the necklace I bought for the wedding. I had planned on just wearing pearl studs because I couldn't really afford to buy the matching set. Well, one of his cousins brought me my card and earrings (which I cried about...this time happy tears though) but I didn't find out about the strawberries until after the wedding....THEY ATE THEM (my sister found the stems in the trash can that night). Ok, I'm really done complaining now.

So, Heather and Erica get me into my dress and I am not kidding it was like everything else in the world just disappeared. The second the dress was zipped up I couldn't stop smiling and I forgot about everything that had happened that morning. My sister, my mom and I went downstairs to get into the limo and go over to the church. I am so glad that it was just the 3 of us because it was so nice to be able to have that last minute "girl time." We pulled up to the church and I saw the photographer setting up and I just lost it emotion wise. These were happy tears though, I couldn't believe that everything I had dreamed of and planned for was finally a reality.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0002-1.jpg
My sister takes my train and leads me over to the garden area where we are taking pictures and helps me fix my veil and everything for my bridal shots. I was really pleased with a lot of these shots so I wanted to share a few with you

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0034-1.jpg
We started with close up shots and I love how the wind was blowing the veil in my face in this one

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0055.jpg
My bouquet...I absolutely LOVED it! It was simple and classic...exactly what I wanted.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0061-1.jpg
I like this one because it shows off the entire dress

The photographer was amazing, she had so many ideas and listened to everything that I wanted. She did shots of me with each of my girls individually and also took individual shots of them as well. I will only share the one of me and Erica though ... she is after all the most important :goodvibes

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0078-1.jpg

We ended with the group shots where we did the traditional shots as well as tons of different fun shots as well

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0238-1.jpg
I, of course, like the fun shots better!

Then the girls helped me get inside because Erica got the phone call from Brian that the boys were around the corner waiting to get there (I didn't want Candi to see me before the wedding)

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0258-1.jpg

To be continued....

[Goldeelox9]

OMG look at all of those red dresses, your wedding party was HUGE! You were a beautiful bride and I can't wait to read more!

[tiggersam00]

You know what, even though those haters made you feel bad. I think you showed remarkable strentgh and character to just walk away (I still cant beleieve those comment though, I would hit someone lol!!!!) You def had your :cool2: hater blockers :cool2: on that day! You looked beautiful and I cant wait to hear more:goodvibes

[ariel1025]

OMG look at all of those red dresses, your wedding party was HUGE! You were a beautiful bride and I can't wait to read more!

Hello and thanks for reading!! Thank you for the wonderful comment. I have started reading your TR from the beginning and I am completely addicted!!!

You know what, even though those haters made you feel bad. I think you showed remarkable strentgh and character to just walk away (I still cant beleieve those comment though, I would hit someone lol!!!!) You def had your :cool2: hater blockers :cool2: on that day! You looked beautiful and I cant wait to hear more:goodvibes

:rotfl: :rotfl: LOL...I definitely had the double strength prescription hater blockers :rotfl: Seriously though, it was extremely difficult to keep my cool...I definitely said not so nice things in my head. If it wouldn't have been for my sister and my best friend "kidnapping" me and taking me to Heather's room than I probably would have completely lost it. Thanks for continuing to read...I have another update coming up soon:)

[ariel1025]

Last time I left you I had been heading inside with my "entourage" :rotfl2: so that the boys could take their pictures. I know that it is kind of cheesy but I really didn't want Candi to see me before the wedding. Every time I pictured the wedding I pictured seeing his face for the first time at the end of the aisle. So anyway, after we were safely inside (in the bathroom :confused3 the church didn't have a bridal room or anything of the sort) the boys took their turn at being photographed

Here is my favorite shot of Candi
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0333-3.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0354-1.jpg
This picture always makes me laugh because I found out later that after this shot was taken the photographer told Brian, "It's smart that you are holding onto the real rings instead of the ring bearers, you don't know how many weddings I have photographed where we are searching for the "lost" ring right before the ceremony." Now wouldn't you know that she had barely finished her story when Brian dropped both rings into the grass :rolleyes1 Well, as soon as they found them he took his keyring out and attached them to the caribeener (that little rock climbing metal clip thing). I laughed so hard when he pulled out his keys during the ceremony to "release" our rings:lmao:

And of course the fun group shot (don't get me wrong the traditional shots are nice too but the fun shots always bring a smile to my face). Not to mention in this shot he said everybody was slapping him on the back saying "it's about time you made this happen" (remember we had been dating for 6 years already)

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0429.jpg

I just want to jump in here and say that I am SO glad we did all the pictures we did before the ceremony. Even though I had to get up super early that left for more time to do pictures of just the two of us after the ceremony. We only had the church for a certain amount of time and there was no way we could have done everything after the ceremony. Plus, we didn't want to leave everyone waiting at the reception hall while we took pictures and this helped with that too.

Ok, so after all the pictures had been taken that didn't include the two of us together. Everybody lined up for the ceremony to start. Candi took his place up front (with Brian by his side) and I waited in the hallway with my sister until it was her turn to walk down the aisle

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0432-1.jpg
This is one of my favorite pictures because I remember exactly how I felt at this moment. There aren't really words to describe it, it didn't matter anymore what had happened that morning, at that moment the world had stopped for me and everything was perfect. My sister saw her cue to get in line and as she walked by me to walk into the church she whispered "I've never seen anybody look more beautiful than you." After she walked into the church the doors closed and I walked over to take my Dad's arm and we both started to cry....

[tiggersam00]

such a great pic of you and your sis!

[ariel1025]

such a great pic of you and your sis!

Awww, thank you so much! It is one of my absolute favorites of us :goodvibes

[Keira1387]

Your wedding was beautiful! I love the picture of you with all your girls! Very pretty.

[ariel1025]

Your wedding was beautiful! I love the picture of you with all your girls! Very pretty.

Thank you so much! It's been a ton of fun thinking back on the day...so many little things happened that I forget about sometimes.

[ariel1025]

Ok, this is it...finally...the moment of truth...THE CEREMONY :goodvibes

So, as stated at the end of my last post, my sister had to leave me to take her place right behind our flower girl

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0453-1.jpg
It cracks me up that she is waving to everyone...and apparently she did this the entire way down the aisle :rotfl2:

As soon as the doors to the church closed behind my sister, I took my place with my Dad and we both started to cry a little bit. It was the first time he had seen my all morning and I think it just hit us both that he was really "giving me away" that day. Don't get me wrong, he LOVES Candi, but I have always been very close to my Dad and it was a bittersweet moment. Sadly, this is also where the only glitch of the ceremony happened. After my sister got to her place at the front of the altar they were supposed to end playing "Jesus, Joy of Man's Desire" then the doors were supposed to open and they were supposed to start playing Chopin's "Canon." Well, they played the correct song for the bridal party entrance and then they started to repeat it. We waited and waited and waited and they never ended it. So then the church coordinator thought, maybe the pianist would switch songs if she saw the doors open...no such luck :sad1: Well, I just wanted to be married so I said "oh well, let's just enter."

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0456-1.jpg

I was actually really sad because I had ALWAYS wanted to walk down the aisle to Chopin, but I knew if that was the worst to happen all day, I was in good shape. The pianist did switch to Chopin....when my Dad hugged me and shook Candi's hand :sad2: Oh well, something is better than nothing right?

The rest of the ceremony was absolute perfection. I went go into all the details because it was long (Catholic ceremony with a mass). But, here are some of my favorite pictures:

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0495-1.jpg
This is while we were exchanging vows. Of course I cried, and for some reason my Kansas twang really kicked in...guess I spent too much time with my family beforehand :rotfl:

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0510-1.jpg
This is when his godparents were giving us the arras (coins for luck). I hate to say, but I honestly don't remember what was said during this time. We were both just lost in the moment of each other. And, I love his face here...truly happy.

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Getting the rings blessed by the priest before exchanging them. Quite a scene when Brian pulled his keys out of his pocket to take the rings off his caribeener thingy :lmao:

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The best part of the ceremony :goodvibes

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Being officially announced by the priest...I AM A WIFE!!!!!!!

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Leaving the church (only to enter it again from the "secret" door to take pictures at the altar...we only had 30 minutes to take pictures after the ceremony ended).

[tiggersam00]

amazing! The pics of you two are what true happiness looks like! I know you two will be happy forever just by the expressions on your faces! Totally hooked!
I am actually walking in to Canon too, at least they played it sometime! At least it didnt stop you from getting married:cool1:

[ariel1025]

amazing! The pics of you two are what true happiness looks like! I know you two will be happy forever just by the expressions on your faces! Totally hooked!
I am actually walking in to Canon too, at least they played it sometime! At least it didnt stop you from getting married:cool1:

That is one of the sweetest things ever, thank you very much!

Yay for another bride choosing "Canon" I think it's such a classic and elegant song.

[ariel1025]

Well, we are officially husband and wife :goodvibes and now we are entering (with our entire wedding party) through the secret door to enter the church again for pictures. Unfortunately, we didn't get to do a receiving line after the wedding. I know that lots of people probably found this to be rude and I, in a way, agree. However, we had to be out of the church within 30 minutes after the ceremony ended and it would have been impossible to do the receiving line AND take pictures inside. So, I chose to do pictures. Don't worry we made up for our "rudeness" later.

The rest of this post will mainly be pictures...hope nobody minds:)

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0567-1.jpg
This was our Priest and our Deacon. We had actually only met the Priest that morning...well, Candi met him that morning, I met him when I walked down the aisle :rotfl: All of our marriage classes and everything were done with the Deacon. They were very sweet and after the wedding pictures Decon Palmer tells us "I hope to see you soon to baptize your baby." :goodvibes


http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0580.jpg
My new family

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Candi's new family...my sister is very happy to be getting herself a brother...can you tell?:rotfl2:

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0610-1.jpg
Our entire bridal party...I loved all the red

After the group shots were done we walked everyone outside and took the last few shots that we didn't get that morning

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0255-1.jpg
This is one of my absolute favorite pictures EVER!! As I've said my Dad and I are very close and I think this picture portrays us perfectly. Plus, I think you can see how much I look like him in this picture too.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0245-1.jpg
Mom, Dad, Sister and Me. This was one of the only pictures we didn't get a chance to take before the ceremony started and I love the way it turned out.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0613-1.jpg
The last picture before everyone else took off to the reception hall. I can't remember who said what but we clearly all found it to be funny. Now if only somebody could remember what it was :confused3

[tiggersam00]

Wow, your bridal party is huge! I love all the red too, it really make it all seem very dramatic and romantic, and I do not mind pics in any way, keep em coming!:cheer2:
Was that a church you grew up in, or did Candi grow up in? It's so pretty

[ariel1025]

Wow, your bridal party is huge! I love all the red too, it really make it all seem very dramatic and romantic, and I do not mind pics in any way, keep em coming!:cheer2:
Was that a church you grew up in, or did Candi grow up in? It's so pretty

Actually, neither one of us grew up in that particular church. I'm from Kansas and it just wasn't an option to go back there and get married. And Candi is from a small town here in New Mexico about an hour from where we live. But, it didn't make sense (or seem practical) to have the wedding there and then make everyone drive an hour to get to the reception hall. So, we originally looked at the church we have been going to by our house, but they wouldn't marry us because I'm not a (confirmed) Catholic. Candi is and I always go to church with him but I never went through the classes. So, that led us on a big hunt to find a Catholic church that would marry us. That's how we ended up with this church. They treated us extremely well (for the most part) and they never judged me for being a different religion, which was the most important to me. Plus the church was breathtaking!! Sorry for the long drawn out explanation to such a simple question :rotfl2:

[ariel1025]

Alright, after we got a good laugh out of our system we bid everyone farewell for a little while. They were all going over to the reception hall (where we had a cocktail hour going on to keep everyone occupied) while the two of us had our pictures taken.

And of course here are my favorites :thumbsup2

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0569-1.jpg
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture...the pose and the altar in the background and my train on the steps...now if only Candi was looking at the camera...what the heck was he looking at :confused3

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0576-1.jpg
Kissy, kissy....I loved when the photographer "made" us do that :rotfl:

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0649-1.jpg
Another one of my absolute favorites...I know I have a lot, but I really love this one

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Sneaking in another kiss ;)

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We stopped on the way out of the foyer area of the church entrance to take this one...I loved the stained glass windows!

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The obligatory ring shot

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I just love my train so I had to post this picture :laughing:

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0663.jpg
Of course you have to do the "head out the sunroof" picture. Ok, so maybe that's so high school prom, but I never got a limo for high school prom. In fact this was my first time in a limo...ever (I mean besides that morning with my Mom and Sister:) )

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0668-1.jpg
Off to the reception we go...the long way around of course...by golly we needed to have a little bit of alone time!!!

Now, one of the only things I regret (for lack of a better word). Remember that Movado watch I bought Candi, well he set it to the time his cousin told him it was. However, his cousin is from Arkansas so it was set an hour ahead of where we live...doh! Not really a big deal except if time allowed we were going to go over to this beautiful area where we could do some shots of the two of us with the mountains in the background (so pretty). Well, I asked Candi what time it was and based off of the time he had we were late to the reception. See, we scheduled a cocktail hour in the atrium of the hotel so people wouldn't be bored waiting for us to show up after our pictures. Then at 5:00 they would lead everyone into the ballroom for the reception and we would be announced in. So, I thought oh crap it's already 5:00 we can't do the pictures. Imagine my confusion when we got to the hotel and everyone was still in the atrium....oh well, I guess. It wasn't anybody's fault and I'm not mad, just wish we would have realized. However, we did get to spend the last 30 minutes of the cocktail hour talking to all our friends and family and that was nice as well. Plus, it made up for our "rudeness" of not having a receiving line afterwards...our guests don't have to know it wasn't intentional that we showed up for the cocktail hour right?:blush:

[tiggersam00]

Thats totally something DF and I would do with the time! I think these pics are the 1st time I have got to see your dresses whole train, so pretty, how long was it?
That is cool how you found a church who is willing to do a catholic ceremony for you. The reverend we are looking to have for our wedding will do a catholic ceremony outside the church (I am Catholic but DF is episcopalian) which is cool because he told us the readings for the catholic and episcopalian ceremonies are the same (just no communion and stuff) so I think we may do that. Thats crazy how even when you go to a church all the time you cant get married there,the catholic church can be so unfriendly sometimes, I'm gld you found a nice welcoming church in the end:goodvibes

[ariel1025]

After being super bummed out that we didn't have time to take mountain pictures I decided that we would still take the long way around to the reception hall. In reality the hotel where we held the reception at was only 10 minutes away from the church (if you took the highway). However, I wanted some alone time with my new Hubby so we kindly asked the limo driver to take the side streets and luckily we hit all red lights :rotfl2: I promise you I will never be grateful for that again in my life. But, in this situation it rocked because it made the ride last almost 20 minutes. After I pull myself (and my dress) out of the limo and we did all the last minute paperwork with the driver I called Erica to meet me in the room so she can bustle my train. We both end up at her room at the same time and then I hear mariachi music?!?!?:confused3 I told my sister "I thought we were the only rooms that rented any ballroom space today." She tells me, "I think you are, they are playing for you." WHAT??? I didn't pay for mariachis. I found out later that Candi's goddaughter's parents hired them as part of our wedding gift. She got all the information out of me she needed without me even having a clue...I was SO grateful. As we went back downstairs I saw the atrium was still full of people (the elevators were the glass ones) and I was really confused...ok, more like agitated. Why weren't these people in the ballroom waiting for us to be introduced. That's when I figured out that we had the wrong time all along on Candi's watch. Oh well!

Candi was waiting for me outside the elevator and we took off to roam the atrium and talk to our guests.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0690.jpg
Oh yeah, and eat yummy hors d'oerves (sp??). I was starving!!!

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0681.jpg
We also stopped in front of this rock/waterfall to take some pictures..too bad the water wasn't running right that day...oh well again :upsidedow

Even though I was upset that we missed out on the pretty pictures it was really nice to have a chance to mingle with our guests. As I stated early it just wasn't possible to do a receiving line and take altar pictures. Plus, this was a lot more personal than a receiving line. We made sure to talk for a few minutes to as many people as we could before the cocktail hour ended. We were very blessed and had a ton of guests at our wedding to celebrate with us.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0713.jpg
Candi's Goddaughter also made sure that she got the first dance :rotfl: too cute!!

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0673.jpg
We also had the guest book table set up in the middle of the atrium and then moved it to outside the ballroom when the people moved in there. This gave people a chance to sign it without being rushed (we had it at the church too of course). We had this entire collection for all our wedding things (guest book, serving set, toasting glasses, picture frames). It's the Lenox Forevermore collection, my parents gave it all to us the Christmas following our engagement and we both LOVE it. All of it now sits on display in our living room.

We did sneak away for a couple of minutes to check out the ballroom before everyone entered and I was completely awestruck at what I saw when I walked in

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0723-2.jpg
It was exactly what I wanted and so much better than what I had pictured all at the same time. I was so happy I cried, even though the morning was a rough start, everything else had worked out so perfectly. I knew that I was a lucky, lucky girl! Just as a side note, we didn't order floral centerpieces for each individual table...only half of them. So the floral and candle centerpieces were rotated with a hurricane and candle centerpiece. To me this worked out perfectly. We loved the look, the candlelight helped set the ambiance and we saved money (the candles and hurricane holders were supplied by the hotel).

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0724-1.jpg
Our head table..I think it's so cute how they have our "birds of paradise" napkin folds kissing at our seats (top center, do you see it?)

After about 30 minutes or so they guests were led in (by the mariachis) to the ballroom. Once everyone was seated we made our big entrance

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We made a big circle around the entire ballroom before taking our seats at the head table. It was so much fun with the mariachi music and everyone standing and clapping along. Then it really hit me "I am Mrs. ****" And then I started to cry...yes, again...this was an ongoing trend, I am such a sap.

And yes I know I look like a big cheeseball with the super big grin on my face in the last two pictures. I was laughing and smiling and crying all at the same time..I was just that happy!

After we took our seats the mariachi band played us a song by request and then the yummy food started coming.

We started with our favorite salad. I don't know the technical name for it but it is basically lettuce, green apples, walnuts, gorgonzola cheese and dried cranberries with a vinaigrette dressing ... yummy. In place of the salad the kids had fresh fruit cup, which looked super delicious too. They also had several different types of dinner rolls and breads with the salad. For our main course we had parmesan and bread crumb crusted chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables. I know that chicken is pretty ordinary but we either had to choose the least expensive meal or cut the guest list. We chose the cheaper food and it was actually extremely good.

During the first 30 minutes the Mariachis roamed around the ballroom playing at everybody's table and then they bid us farewell. This worked out perfectly because the dinner was an hour and a half and we had created a slide show that lasted exactly one hour to play during the dinner. Victoria (the cousin who hired us the Mariachis knew this when she booked the times for them to play...sneaky, sneaky).

So, after the Mariachis left the slide show began. The reason we decided to make the slide show is because we wanted to give everyone an "inside look" to our life and relationship. I grew up in Kansas and Candi grew up in NM and then we moved to NM together after dating for only 9 months. So, my family especially, didn't know as much about him and our relationship. The slide show began with pictures of Candi (one for each year from birth to when he met me) and then was followed by the same but with pictures of myself. His pictures were set to the song "La Bamba"...apparently when he was little he wanted to grow up and become Richie Valens and would create a concert and play it to everyone and everything. There are pictures of this and of course I included one in the slide show (he didn't know this picture was included until it came up on the screen :lmao:). His entire family started cracking up when the song came on, it was super fun. After the pictures of us individually we included tons of pictures of us together starting with our very first picture ever taken together and ending with our engagement pictures. We played a bunch of our favorite songs and throughout the different pages I put some of our favorite quotes. My all time favorite quote is "You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep, because reality is finally better than your dreams" it's by Dr Seuss and I think it's so true.

The slide show was a big hit and a lot of fun. We included all the pictures we could find (silly, serious, professional, self portraits, photo booth..you name it, if I had it we included it). People laughed and cried and laughed some more. We had a ton of people tell us how much they enjoyed it and it was a great conversation starter at the tables. I am very glad we did it and would recommend it to everyone.

The slide show ended at the exact time the band was to start playing...

[ariel1025]

Ok, I just want to try to get a quick update in before Candi's Goddaughter gets here. We are keeping her for the weekend and I am sooooo excited :cool1: We are going to take her ice skating and then make pizzas and cupcakes (her request). It should be tons of fun:thumbsup2

***On quick sidenote: During the dinner we had the photographer go around to each of the tables and take a group shot. It may not be the most unique idea, but I am really glad we did it. Now we will have a way to look back and see who was at the wedding. Originally we thought of doing the disposable cameras on the table for this type of purpose, but we had to cut back money wise and we decided to do away with them. We didn't end up with all the candid shots, but this was a great compromise to us. I would recommend that everyone request this from their photographer. When we sent out thank you cards we put a wallet size picture of us and then a 4x6 image of their table shot!***End side note

Alrighty, so as I said the slideshow ended at exactly the same time the band was set to start playing. I let Candi pick the band because he is very in to music and he used to play trumpet in a spanish band and in mariachi bands. He ended up picking Tobias Rene (yes, I realize if you aren't from NM you probably have no clue who he is). Anyway, the band was wonderful, they played a huge variety (spanish, oldies, country....).

We actually had two "first" dances...the first one was a ranchera (to help the band get warmed up). For those who don't know (don't worry I didn't until I moved here :rotfl: ) a Ranchera is a fast paced spanish song, usually a love song and very similar in style to a mariachi style song.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0802-1.jpg

I love the way my bustle turned out. I had decided to go with the European bustle even though a lot of people tried to talk me into the traditional (I don't know what it's called) style. I'm glad I stuck with what I wanted, I think it looks beautiful on this dress!

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0806-1.jpg

Another picture during our first "first dance". I love how the dress moved with me when I was twirling and stuff. I felt like a little girl playing dress up.

After the Ranchera we invited everyone onto the dance floor with us.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0822-1.jpg

These two didn't waste anytime at all getting the groove on. Too cute!!! They danced together all night long. I think they are both going to be heart breakers when they get older...uh oh:rotfl2:

Ok, time to go ice skating! Everyone have a great weekend!!

[ariel1025]

Well, Candi's Goddaughter has left to go back home. We had a great time and her brother ended up staying with us too...so it was double the fun. We went ice skating, it was my first time and I loved it. Sophia fell a couple of times but it didn't freak her out a bit, she just said "the ice makes my bum very cold Shannon :lmao: ." Her brother, however, fell very hard and hit his head pretty good on the ice. In the end he was ok but it definitely scared him. Later that night we made homemade pizzas and then Sophia and I made cupcakes...definitely makes me want to have a little girl...shhhh, don't tell Candi I am talking about wanting babies :rotfl2:

Anyway, back to the wedding report....

After a few songs with everyone dancing we did the father/daughter dance.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0836-1.jpg
We danced to Tim McGraw's "My Little Girl." I actually didn't know what song we were going to be dancing to, I let my Dad pick and told him to surprise me with it. I honestly never would have guessed this would be what he picked...he is definitely not a country music fan:confused3 While we were dancing he said that he knew there were probably a million brides using this song but that this line told him it was perfect: "I"m gonna tell you how much I love you though you think you already know." He then proceeded to let me know how lucky he was to have a daughter and to be able to share this dance with me.

Just a backstory, as to why that statement was so emotional for us...when my Mom and Dad were first married my Dad got into a terrible accident. He lost control of his car and ended up in the oncoming traffic lane. To avoid hitting another car he swerved and ended up sending his car off a bridge. He rolled the car several times and they had to dig him out of the metal pile that his car turned into during the crash. He wasn't considered to be alive when paramedics got to him and they had to revive him twice on the way to the hospital. They finally were able to stabilize him but said that he would be paralyzed from the waist down from the injuries. This meant that he would, of course, not be able to walk again, but it also made it impossible to have children. Well, my Dad is not one to admit defeat and endured painful therapy everyday to try to walk again. He wasn't making very good progress and was getting extremely frustrated and then my Mom found out she was about 8 weeks pregnant (based off of the math my Mom got pregnant two weeks before the accident). My Mom said as soon as they found out he told the doctor's that no matter what he would be walking by the time I was born...and he was. He had to have braces on his legs for almost two years and then he was walking on his own. This means two things...my sister was truly a miracle baby (she's younger than me) and that he seriously thought he would never be able to dance at his daughter's wedding.

I know that I am so incredibly lucky, I have the best parents, they are so supportive in everything I do. They were extremely sad when I moved away but they never questioned me about it, even though Candi and I hadn't even been dating a year when I did it. I truly believe that even though life can sometimes throw you a curve ball, it's how much you enjoy the game that matters.

After, we finished our dance Candi and his Mom shared a dance as well.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0845-1.jpg

I hate to sound mean, but I don't remember what song they danced to. I know it was a Spanish song and I know people cried again...lol. If you consider me to be a "Daddy's girl" then Candi is most definitely a "Momma's Boy."

Anyway, after the dances with our parents were over, the band played for everyone again. It was definitely a full house and we had a blast. Then the band took their first (of two) breaks. During this break we did the toast and cake cutting. My sister and Candi's brother gave the toasts.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0796-1.jpg

Brian shared a story about when he first met me that was hilarious and then talked about how much he loved having a brother like Candi, even though he secretly always wanted a sister...but now he has both :goodvibes . My sister was super nervous (she hates talking in front of people) so she kept it short and simple, but it still meant a lot to both of us.

Then it was time for cake. Our cake was not exactly a traditional cake, we needed enough for 400 people and I was worried about having a leaning tower for a cake to make it big enough so we decided on this

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0669-1.jpg

You can't tell in the pictures but the frosting had edible glittery stuff and I loved how it turned out. I know it doesn't really look like a wedding cake, but it was my wedding cake and I loved it. Half of the cakes were white cake with strawberry filling and the other half were chocolate with raspberry filling. They were both very good and there wasn't a slice of cake left when the night was over!

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0892-1.jpg
Cake kiss!!!

Oh and because I haven't had any Disney fun in a while

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0742.jpg
These were part of the decoration on our cake table :goodvibes

I also had a Groom's cake made for Candi

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0719-1.jpg
He is a HUGE KC Chiefs fan, has been ever since he was a little kid. Unfortunately, this isn't the cake I ordered. It was supposed to be in the shape of a KC Chief's helmet, but what can you do. This cake was tres leches (which translates to three milk) I think it's absolutely disgusting but Candi LOVES it, in fact it's the only cake he will voluntarily eat (he didn't even taste test any for the wedding, because he truly doesn't like cake).

After the cake was cut the band resumed playing....

[tiggersam00]

ariel1025: This cake was tres leches (which translates to three milk) I think it's absolutely disgusting but Candi LOVES it, in fact it's the only cake he will voluntarily eat (he didn't even taste test any for the wedding, because he truly doesn't like cake).

Hey there,
I couldn't help but laugh at this, my grandmother was Cuban and ALWAYS used to make this and insisted that it was "my favorite"... now I could never stand this stuff, but she insisted I loved it! So I can relate to your feelings about the cake lol:rotfl: !
I LOVVE your wedding cake(s). Such a great idea and it looked so pretty all arranged on the table.
You have me tearing up the story of your dad, that is such an inspirational story! I love that he picked a song and you had no idea, I wouldve cried for sure :)

[ariel1025]

Hey there,
I couldn't help but laugh at this, my grandmother was Cuban and ALWAYS used to make this and insisted that it was "my favorite"... now I could never stand this stuff, but she insisted I loved it! So I can relate to your feelings about the cake lol:rotfl: !
I LOVVE your wedding cake(s). Such a great idea and it looked so pretty all arranged on the table.
You have me tearing up the story of your dad, that is such an inspirational story! I love that he picked a song and you had no idea, I wouldve cried for sure :)

Well, at least now I know I'm not the only person that doesn't like it. Everyone here loves it and I was starting to think I was too "Kansan" for soggy cake :lmao:
Thank you for the comment about the cake. I actually didn't know if I liked it at first, but his cousin got married a year before us and her cake was so tall that it was leaning over by the time they cut the cake..I felt so bad for her...and I didn't want the same thing to happen to us. In the end I loved it because it was so different from what you typically see :thumbsup2
Well better get back to my housewife duties :laundy: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[ariel1025]

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp53435nu323848662329486.jpg

That's a sneak peak honeymoon picture which means.....MY PICTURES HAVE BEEN RETRIEVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!:cool1: :goodvibes :cool1: :goodvibes :cool1: :goodvibes :cool1: :goodvibes

I am hoping to finish the wedding report and get back to the honeymoon report over the next day or so.

By the way, I see that many people have looked at the thread, don't be shy, come out and say hi :wave2:

[Mrsdisneyb2b]

I AM so glad you commented on my page because Now I get to read everything from your's!!

I just finished and I Have to say...I love every aspect. The cake, the dress, the dresses, your adorable fg, the rings, just everything!!

And of course... I CAN NOT wait to hit that whirlpool!!!!!!!!!

What room did u have?

[ariel1025]

So after we cut the cake we had our second "first dance" hee, hee. I know it's crazy that we had two but we were trying to combine his Hispanic culture with my "white girl" culture. So we decided we would do our very first dance to a song of his choosing and then after the first band break we would do a second first dance with a song of my choosing. Marriage is all about compromise right?:thumbsup2

The song I chose was George Strait's "Cross My Heart."

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0825-1.jpghttp://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0828-1.jpghttp://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0835-1.jpg

I absolutely love this song, to me it's such a classic love song. My favorite line is the one that says "you will always be the miracle that makes my life complete." I know it's incredibly cliche, but we really are two halves combined as a whole. Our "theme" for the wedding was "Two hearts united as one" and I believe it with everything in me. We just fit together. I am peppy and outgoing, he is a little more shy and laidback, he is athletic I am...well not :lmao: , I am organized and an over planner, he is cluttered and lives in the moment...it all just works!!!

Following our final first dance :rotfl: we were once again joined on the dance floor by all our family and friends. I don't think we left the dance floor a single time all night, we used the second band break to mingle with everyone, but other than that we were dancing maniacs!!

Somewhere in the middle of us shakin our money makers, we did the bouquet toss

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0897-1.jpg
Is it mean that I was slightly sad that I didn't actually know the person who caught my bouquet??? :confused3 I mean it was an invited guest, a family friend, just not one that I knew

Then we did the garter toss
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0912-1.jpg

Sometime after that his family decided to do the "kidnapping of the bride." Now, I had never heard of this until I moved to NM but apparently everyone does it here. Maybe I was in the country too long, but for anyone else who may not know...basically a couple of people "steal" the bride and take her to a secluded location and the groom has to take up ransom to get her back. I was actually really not wanting to do this before the wedding and actually threatened to beat whoever tried to steal me with my high heel :lmao: Well, the only second the whole night that Candi wasn't by my side (I figured it was wrong to follow him into the restroom :rotfl2: :rotfl:) I was wisked away before I knew what had happened to me. They were, however, sweet enough to do it during the beginning of the band's second break so that I wouldn't miss any of the band playing, which I really appreciated. I was only torn away from my wedding for about 15 minutes and in the end it was pretty fun. Candi even sang to collect money...now that's love...the boy can play instruments like there's no tomorrow but....well let's just say people may have paid more for him to quit singing than to get me back :lmao:

Like I said earlier we spent the remainder of the break mingling with our guests. Then the finally set started with La Marcha (a wedding march). This is a super fun tradition that I was not going to miss out on. For anybody who's confused (no worries, my whole family was :rotfl: ). You pick a couple to lead the whole thing, behind them is the Bride and Groom followed by the wedding party, then the parents and grandparents and then anybody else who wants to join in. All the guys are on one side and all the girls on the other. It starts out with you dancing along as a couple, pretty much in a "follow the leader" sort of way like this:

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0925-1.jpg Along the way you just have a good time, dancing around the whole ballroom and waving and laughing and just having a good time

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0926-1.jpghttp://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0938-1.jpg

Then at a certain point the lead couple starts to form a "bridge" of sorts and one by one the couples go under and continue the "bridge" like this

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0946-1.jpg

As people go under you can do a "london bridge is falling down" and trap them like this

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0958-1.jpg

After the last person goes under then the first person goes under the long windy bridge and pretty much everyone traps the Bride and Groom along the way. You then make a big circle all holding hands and over time the Bride and Groom are in the center of the circle dancing together with all their friends and family surrounding them. It is super fun!!!!

Now, we were not planning on doing the dollar dance since the Kidnapping of the Bride took place but all of a sudden at the end of La Marcha everybody started pulling out dollar bills. We couldn't deny our guests of their wishes could we?:rotfl2:

So we immediately went into the dollar dance

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0981-1.jpg

I am really glad we did it, not because of the money, but because it gave us a chance to talk to almost all of our guests.

Following the dollar dance the band played a few more songs. The last song they played was my favorite Tobias Rene song which Candi asked them to dedicate to me and then it was all over and of course I started to tear up a little bit :sad1:

After saying goodbye to all of our guests we went up to our room (we got the honeymoon suite for free for booking our wedding with them :thumbsup2 ). There was champagne and strawberries waiting for us which I enjoyed while taking a bubble bath :rotfl2:


And They Lived Happily Ever After...

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/0634-1.jpg

So, that brings us full circle, back to the beginning of this Trip Report

I appreciate all of you allowing me to share my wedding day with you even though it wasn't a Disney Wedding!!!

Now as promised I will continue our Honeymoon Report (all our wishes and prayers were answered and the IT guys were able to retrieve all my pictures from our crashed computer...thank goodness).

[ariel1025]

I AM so glad you commented on my page because Now I get to read everything from your's!!

I just finished and I Have to say...I love every aspect. The cake, the dress, the dresses, your adorable fg, the rings, just everything!!

And of course... I CAN NOT wait to hit that whirlpool!!!!!!!!!

What room did u have?

Thank you so much for the sweet comments!!! Sadly, I don't remember our room number. I can tell you that it was the room in the corner behind the food lounge (not the one right behind it but the very last room behind it). The kids corner was right beside it and when you stepped out of your room into the hallway you could see the lobby of the WL....so pretty!!!

[tiggersam00]

your posts always make me tear up Shannon:sad: ! Cant wait to hear about the honeymoon too ! Gotta love WDW!

Where did they kidnap you to? I havent heard of this before. It was great to incorporate all the fun traditions from his family (well now your family too :yay: )

Also, what is the dollar bill dance?
I love how sentimental Candi is dedicting songs to you, singing for your freedom lol! So sweet!

Your wedding honestly looked like pure fun! Thats what a wedding should be, good times, yummy food, and family and friends! party:

[ariel1025]

your posts always make me tear up Shannon:sad: ! Cant wait to hear about the honeymoon too ! Gotta love WDW!

Where did they kidnap you to? I havent heard of this before. It was great to incorporate all the fun traditions from his family (well now your family too :yay: )

Also, what is the dollar bill dance?
I love how sentimental Candi is dedicting songs to you, singing for your freedom lol! So sweet!

Your wedding honestly looked like pure fun! Thats what a wedding should be, good times, yummy food, and family and friends! party:

Awww, thank you. My hope when I started sharing about the wedding was that, well first I would stop stressing about my honeymoon pictures being retrieved :lmao: but secondly, that I could inspire people who are still planning their weddings. I mean yes, they are stressful and yes, they cost a lot of money, but they should be about what YOU want and what makes YOU happy. Unfortunately, too many people think they get to control your day and it just isn't fair. Also, I'm so happy about how you said our wedding looked like pure fun. It truly was:goodvibes I had always pictured my wedding to be a great big celebration because it should be. I've been to so many weddings that were all "high class" in a "stuffy" sort of way and I didn't want that for ours. Even though the morning getting ready royally sucked the rest of the day more than made up for it. I was completely blessed!!

Ok, a dollar dance is a tradition that I've actually seen a lot of people do. What you do is the Bride and Groom stand on different sides of the dance floor. Then two people (usually the MOH and BM) take the first dance with them and then afterwards they stay by their side and "offer a dance" to anybody who will pay a dollar, hence the name dollar dance. Throughout the whole thing the MOH and BM (or whoever you choose) stays by your side and collects the money for you. Some people actually have the dollar bills pinned onto their gown but I didn't (personal choice). Depending on how many people there are, each person spends about a minute dancing with you. It's actually a lot of fun and gives you a chance to talk to a lot of your guests. Like I said we weren't going to do it because we did the "kidnapping." I didn't want to look like I was doing all these things to get money, because I wasn't, But people just started getting out their dollar bills and waving them in the air. Super fun!!!!:cool1:

[ariel1025]

Ok so 3 million years ago (ok, maybe it was 3 weeks ago, but it felt like at least a million :lmao: ) when I last left off with my Honeymoon report we had gone up to the room to take a nap. Well, DH took a nap I, of course, couldn't sleep. So, I decided to raid the lounge for food. That is why we paid for the concierge level right? I loaded up my plate with lots of yummy snacks and then made one for Candi too, I knew he woulds be jealous when he woke up and saw my super yummy brownie, and well, I just can't share when it comes to chocolate :rotfl2: . Then I grabbed a couple of cokes and went into the room to watch TV. Well, when I walked into the room it was a site to be seen. Candi had managed to take up the whole bed and was already SNORING!!! I mean seriously, it took me like ten minutes to get the snacks!! My poor baby was pooped, but in a hilarious sort of sleeping fashion. He was laying on his back, but was sideways on the bed with one foot on the footboard and the other stretched out to the side. He was using 3 pillows for his head and had one arm hanging off the side. Now why exactly I didn't get a picture of this I will never know:confused3 Oh yes, because I was laughing too darn hard to find the camera:lmao: I actually didn't mind that he was taking up the whole bed, I wanted to go out onto the balcony anyway. But first, I figured I better help him get into a better position so every bone in his body wasn't aching when he woke up! I helped turn him to where the bed was long enough for him and then helped him get off his shoes (that's right, he did not even take the time to take off his shoes) and that's when I saw it ...............

HIS ANKLE WAS SWOLLEN UP TO TWICE IT'S NORMAL SIZE!!!!!!!!:sad2: :scared:

Like, I said before, I love him for not complaining, but this was not good. I instantly ran out of the room and asked concierge for a ziploc baggie to put ice in. They asked me what I needed it for and said they would be back in five minutes. I waited in the lobby and when they came back up, I started crying, they came back up with a real ice bag (not just a baggie), an ace wrap, ibuprofen, and a tinkerbell pin (magical pixie dust of course, he said). I know it sounds silly to be crying over that, but it made me realize why Disney makes all the difference. I know at so many other places they would have, maybe, gotten the ziploc baggie, but more than likely, acted like it was a huge ordeal for them. I thanked him profusely (I wish I could have remembered his name, next trip I am making note of people's names) and proceeded to the room to "doctor up" Candi's foot. I took the two pillows he wasn't using and propped up his foot and molded the ice bag around his ankle and then wrapped the ace bandage around it to hold it in place while he slept. Now, if somebody put freezing cold ice on my foot while I was sleeping I would have woken up screaming. But no, he just went "mmmmmmmmm" and started snoring again :lmao: :rotfl2: :rotfl: After, I tended to all that I went out onto the balcony to eat my snacks.

Oh my goodness, everything is so beautiful about the Wilderness Lodge, I cannot stress it enough. Here was the view off the balcony

If you looked to the righthttp://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp5365nu329389WSNRCG3234.jpg

And if you looked to the lefthttp://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp53656nu329389WSNRCG323.jpg

I loved all of the trees and feeling so secluded. Now I kid you not at that very moment I was thinking to myself "this is so romantic if only Candi was out here with me" and out hobbles Candi going "when did I put ice on my foot?" Oh geez babe, it was Tinkerbell :lmao:

I asked him how he was feeling and he said he was sore. I gave him the Ibuprofen and his brownie and told him we would just stay in the rest of the night. He wasn't having it, he said it was only swollen because he hadn't been on it so much in a very long time. This was very true, after his last surgery he was put on bed rest for three months!!!!!!!! I double checked and he said he was positive, that we just had to take it easy tonight. I told him I promised as long as he promised to let me know if it got to be too painful. He agreed and we got ready for the second half of our first full day in WDW. This evening we once again had dinner reservations so off we went

We got downstairs and the bus we needed was pulling up, SCORE!! We hopped on and talked about everything that had happened so far. Only halfway into our first full day and already so many magical things had happened. After a couple of stops at other hotels, which I enjoyed by the way. I know it sounds silly, but I loved checking out the other hotels. Anyway, after two other stops we pulled up to

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp53433nu323835296232-1.jpg

Of course I had to explain to Candi how when I was there a decade ago (literally) it was called Disney's MGM Studios and then I had to try to explain to him why they changed it. He decided Hollywood Studios sounded better:rotfl: Tonight we had the Fantasmic Dinner package. My Aunt had purchased this for us off of our registry (thank you Aunt Kathy:goodvibes ). We were early for our dinner reservation so we started walking around and then I spotted them...I had been looking for them all morning and there they were.....

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp5343nu3238486623294867.jpg WEDDING EARS!!!!! These were also purchased for us on our wedding registry...man, I loved that registry!!!!!!!!

After getting our wedding ears we went exploring the park. We decided that we would stay on the same side of the park that our reservation was on. So we stopped and talked to this guy

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp53438nu323835296232935.jpg

Then Candi saw this

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp53436nu323835296232935.jpg

But we had missed the current show and would be eating during the last show. We agreed to come back later in the week and try to catch it then but he was still very sadhttp://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp5343nu3238352962329352.jpg

Then Candi's cell phone started ringing (but remember the promise about not answering) so he let it go to voicemail and then we checked it to make sure it wasn't an emergency. Well, it was the limo company we used for the wedding saying that the card we had given them was declined....WHAT?!? That constituted as an emergency and we went and sat down to call them back. While Candi made the phone call I explored and decided that I wanted this in my backyard

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp5343nu3238352978232-1.jpg I love me some Dopey...he is just too cute!!!

Candi got off the phone and let me know that it was all taken care of. See as a wedding gift Brian (Candi's brother) gave us the money to book the limousine. When we booked the limo they took our card number to put on file and said that we would be charged the Monday following the wedding, to include all the hours we ended up using plus the tip we had left. Well, we forgot the bank card we left on file had been lost and we had to replace it. The new bank card had a different number and we had forgotten to call the limo company to tell them....oops! Oh well, all was fixed now. Then the High School Musical parade thingy started coming by and Candi ran away :rotfl2: I'm not kidding either...he HATES HSM and grabbed my hand and took off in a mini jog to get away from it...MEN!!! We decided we would attempt one attraction before our reservation and Candi decided to go into this

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp53684nu329389WSNRCG323.jpg The Drew Carey, Sounds Dangerous show. After we got out he tells me "if I would have known this was here, I wouldn't have needed to go back to the room to nap:lmao: " Seriously, we thought it was that awful...don't waste your time...that's my opinion anyway. The good news though, was that it was time to eat. Due to the reservation times available we chose to eat at

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp53432nu323835297823-1.jpg Now, I am not normally one to complain, but I have to speak my mind on this one. I understand that it is a buffet and I don't expect 5 star cuisine from a buffet, but this experience was all around bad. We went up to the podium to give our name and I (out of habit) gave them my maiden name (oops, sorry babe) when she said she didn't have it I realized my mistake and gave her my married name. Well, this lady seriously tried to accuse me of just seeing that name on her list and saying it was mine...WHAT?!?!? Luckily, I had the printouts of our reservation confirmations. Then she said that the wait would be 45 minutes....ummmm, what's the point of a reservation then? I could have understood if it was 10 minutes or so, but 45??? Well, we were hungry and we already had the package so we waited. Well, it took about the whole 45 minutes and then we were seated. I knew Candi was starving by this point, so I told him to go get his plate of food and I would wait to order our drinks. He fought me, but I threatened him with another viewing of Sounds Dangerous:rotfl: so he obliged. He got back from making his plate and there still hadn't been anybody by to take our drink order. So I went up to get my food, and by this time a line had formed so it took me a good ten minutes to get through the line (no biggie) but when I got back we still hadn't had our drink orders taken. Finally, I saw a waitress walking by and asked her to which she rudely said "we are very busy but I will try to find your waitress." Finally, our waitress came out and got our drink orders. I was kind of upset that she didn't apologize for taking so long, I'm not going to lie. Well, then it took her ten more minutes to bring us our drinks....they were an iced tea and a diet coke...nothing difficult. She brings them out and I ask for a straw (I'm sorry but I have to have a straw at restaurants) and she stomps off all mad because she didn't have any straws in her apron. She brought our straws and then we never saw her again. Now, if the food had been good I would have brushed off the service but, it wasn't. Half of it was cold and the other half wasn't edible. I ended up going back to get the kids mac and cheese and chicken fingers (now those were good). Finally we hit the dessert buffet and those were delicious!!!! Then we had to flag somebody down for our check. When (a different) waitress brought our check she asked for our payment immediately so they could give our table to somebody else. Ok, the place was busy, but it wasn't like we had been there for hours or anything and half the reason it took so long was because we could never find our waitress. At that point Candi asked to talk to the Manager (who I admit came right away) but he basically told us we needed to understand that it was busy and to expect that the waitresses would feel rushed. Rushed? Fine. Rude? NO!! In the end he took 10% off of our bill, which I kind of didn't feel like was enough, but I wasn't really trying to get a free meal. I just wanted them to know how rude their servers were...this was Disney not a school cafeteria for gosh sakes.

Ok, enough complaining, we were lucky and it was the only bad experience we had the whole rest of the trip (well, the WDW part anyway).

After we left the Hollywood and Vine we realized there was plenty of time before we had to give our little passes to get into Fantasmic! So we made a plan......

[tiggersam00]

Dave sleeps during the drew cary ride too:rotfl2: ! It really is boring, and being in the dark is the perfect spot to catch a quick nap lol!

You hotel is amazing! We are going there for 2 nights in august for out planning session horray!! Was concierge level as awesome as it sounds? Was there just tons of food out all the time like I imagine? So cool, and great veiws from the room!

Thats too bad his foot hurt, as I told you before I can totally relate to his pain :sad2: ... no fun, but he's a true disney trooper for keeping going!

Wow, I cant believe what happened at H&V! Thats just not ok, i mean it's disney! I will def be staying away!

[ariel1025]

Dave sleeps during the drew cary ride too:rotfl2: ! It really is boring, and being in the dark is the perfect spot to catch a quick nap lol!

You hotel is amazing! We are going there for 2 nights in august for out planning session horray!! Was concierge level as awesome as it sounds? Was there just tons of food out all the time like I imagine? So cool, and great veiws from the room!

Thats too bad his foot hurt, as I told you before I can totally relate to his pain :sad2: ... no fun, but he's a true disney trooper for keeping going!

Wow, I cant believe what happened at H&V! Thats just not ok, i mean it's disney! I will def be staying away!

That's awesome, I can't wait to hear all about your planning session!! You will love it there, it just has a whole different atmosphere that I don't know how to explain.

I think the concierge was incredibly awesome and completely worth the extra money. The way the food works (at WL concierge anyway) is that the food is set out at different times throughout the day with certain times during the day that it is closed. However, one day I went to go in and it was closed but one of the concierge staff saw me and asked me what I wanted and offered to go in and get it for me...now that's service! That's what we loved about the concierge level so much...they always went above and beyond the call of duty. Also, one thing I LOVED was that right before the 180 day mark they email you a little handbook to fill out. You list all the reservations you want (for restaurants, spa times, tours etc) and then they set them up for you. Once they are completed they email you a sheet listing all your reservations and confirmation numbers. And, as you can see from my CRT story they DO NOT give up...they keep on trying until they can't do anything else!! It was just awesome, they even knew us by name by the middle of the trip.

Do you get to stay concierge for your planning session?

[tiggersam00]

wow thats awesome! I think I may look into it for the plannng session now, its only 2 nights, but it shoul,d be a good indicator for the wedding. Plus I am dying to stay at the WL, it looks amazing and secluded and romantic! Plus the price of the WL vs the GF is a no-brainer for me, why pay extra for (in my opinion) a little stuffy atmosphere when you could have the WL:cool1:

[ariel1025]

I guess it's time for me to make a confession.....I am a HUGE Aerosmith fan...I cried when they came to town and my boss wouldn't let me off work for the concert. It's sad but true...I frickin' love them!!!

So of course my plan after dinner was to head straight to Rock 'N Roller Coaster (I guess I should also admit my obsession with rollercoasters...it's a sickness really:lmao: ). Well, we are making our way over and Candi sees Tower of Terror and I'm like..."Sorry babe, we are not passing go, we are not collecting $200, we are paying tribute to my favorite band." :rotfl2: So we make it over there and I am praying there is not a super dee duper long line and....I was in luck we didn't even have to wait in the outside part of the line!!!! We get inside and I am in love looking around

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp53432nu323835297823293.jpg
Candi says when we win the lottery and he gets a music room in our mansion he is decorating it just like this :rotfl:

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp533nu32383529782329-1.jpg
Of course I had to stop and pay silent respects to another one of my favorite bands, such a shame that Freddie Mercury is no longer with us :sad1:

Then we go through the door made out of marbles and of course like little kids we play with them until we make it into the next area.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp533nu32383529782329352.jpg
I had to take a picture of this because my Dad used to have one...he is MAJOR into music and music equipment (it's where my addiction to older bands comes from....I grew up listening to that stuff).

Then we finally get into the pre-show area...according to Candi you would have thought the band was really in front of me, I was grinning so big :lmao: Sadly, he probably isn't exaggerating!!! Then we get into the actual line area and I CANNOT wait to ride. It was at this point that I started getting antsy. Every time they would load a "limo" I would count how many people were left in front of me....yeah, did I mention I can be pathetic at times???:rotfl2:

Finally it was our turn...WAHOOOOO!!! Let me tell you I was not disappointed. I loved everything about it: the takeoff, the music, the lights...ALL OF IT!!! It completely made me forget about the crappy dinner we had. My only complaint is that it ended too soon. However, I was able to remedy that by making Candi get back in line :goodvibes

After two more Aersomith limo rides (yes two!) I finally agreed to give another ride a chance. Of course, we headed straight to

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp533nu32383529782329-2.jpg

The line here was quite a bit longer than Rock 'N so we knew that after this we would have to go get in line for Fantasmic! While we were in line here we talked about, well, a whole lot of nothing, but to me it was such an important conversation. Even though we work at the same company we honestly don't see each other very much. So it was really nice to just be together...no interruptions!!

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp5343nu3238352978232935.jpg

This is the point in line that I started laughing for no reason...seriously, out of nowhere I couldn't stop laughing :confused3

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp53435nu323848662329486.jpg

This is where I finally was able to control my giggles...aaahhh, good times!!

I have to say that the Tower of Terror is A MILLION times better than the one at Disneyland!!!! We really wanted to go back on, but we knew it was time to go turn in our pass things for Fantasmic!

I was really excited to see this show, I had heard a lot about it and hoped it lived up to my expectations. Sometimes, I build something up so much that I end up being disappointed...does anybody else have this problem? It's a bad habit I really need to learn how to break! Anyway, this is where our seats were

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp53437nu323848662329486.jpg

We realized that it was going to be a while before the show actually started and we were hungry (since we didn't have a very good dinner). I offered to go get snacks so that Candi could stay off his foot for a while. So off I went to the snack stand. It was while I was in line trying to decide what to get that I started to wish we would have done the dining plan. Has anyone else done this? What are your thoughts?

In the end I got a frozen lemonade and pretzel with jalapeno cheese for myself and a coke and nachos for Candi. When I left the snack stand I turned around and saw how PACKED the place was...holy cow....I guess the VIP pass thingy was worth it

Not too long after I made my way back to our seats people started doing the wave. There was the cutest little boy in front of us, he was probably about 3 and every time it was our turn to throw our arms up he would stand up and shout "WEEEEEEE" so cute!!

Then the show started

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp53439nu323848662329486.jpg

I really, really enjoyed it. It was a little different than what I expected but not in a bad way. After the show we were pooped....

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp53433nu323835297823293.jpg

....so we decided to call it a day! We grabbed the bus (which, once again, pulled up right as we got to the right bust stop). Then we were greeted with this beautiful site

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/2323232327Ffp53679nu329389WSNRCG323.jpg

Have I mentioned how much I loved everything at the Wilderness Lodge yet???:lmao: :rotfl:

Of course, before we went to the room we had to stop at Roaring Forks for my carrot fix...I couldn't help it. I would have gotten them from the concierge lounge, but it was always so late when we got back and they were closed:sad1:

I wish I could say I finally got some real sleep that night but I didn't. I was way too excited for......

[ariel1025]

wow thats awesome! I think I may look into it for the plannng session now, its only 2 nights, but it shoul,d be a good indicator for the wedding. Plus I am dying to stay at the WL, it looks amazing and secluded and romantic! Plus the price of the WL vs the GF is a no-brainer for me, why pay extra for (in my opinion) a little stuffy atmosphere when you could have the WL:cool1:

I have to say I agree with you completely!! I have never stayed at the GF but it just doesn't look like my kind of place..but I could be wrong :confused3 Don't get me wrong I think the outside is beautiful but the inside just doesn't give me the same feeling the inside of WL does. I think a 2 night stay is a perfect chance to test out the WL:goodvibes

[ariel1025]

Well, after another night of waking up every half hour to see if it was time to hit the parks yet :lmao: the alarm went off. I was actually already out of bed when it went off but it was super duper early so I was going to let it wake Candi up instead of me...he's a grouchy morning person. When he finally rolled out of bed I was all dressed and ready to go, so while he showered and got ready I went to the lounge for some breakfast food...yum, yum!! After we ate our breakfast we headed down to the bus stop, and what do ya know, a bus was just getting ready to close its doors when the driver saw us coming. We made a run for it and settled into our favorite seats (in the very back up the step where you could see everyone else on the bus) and settled in for the two stops before we hit our destination. Clearly other people weren't as psychotic as us because even after our final stop the bus was pretty much empty :confused3 Then we pulled up

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53437nu323848662329-1.jpg

My most favorite park in the world!!!

I thought it was very fitting that this cool dude was there to greet us...

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp533nu32384866232948678.jpg

...because today we were SWIMMING WITH THE DOLPHINS!!!!!!!!!:cheer2: :cool1:

Oh my lordy, words cannot express how excited I was to do this. Dolphins are my favorite animal in the whole wide world. I think they are just so cute and smart and I have always wanted to swim with them. Only problem is...I live in the desert where the heck am I going to do that? Why, in Epcot of course!! I actually was gifted this twice...Candi called and paid for it as soon as the dates were open for it and then, because I didn't know about it, I added it to the Honeymoon Registry and my Aunt gifted it to us. Well, my sly little Hubby contacted concierge and told them when I tried to book it to tell them it was completely booked the whole week we were there. I cried daily...poor concierge too, I called them every single day to ask them if they could try again :sad2: I found out about Candi's little plan on the plane ride and I think I scared (and irritated) several passengers when I started giggling and shrieking on the 6 am flight :lmao:

Ok, so now onto the Dolphin swim...I can't remember what time we had to be there, but I know we had to check in before the park even opened. They only allow 8 people a day to do the tour and there are two tour guides with the group. When you check in everybody introduces themselves and says why they are on the tour. After that they go around and get your wet suit, shoe and t-shirt size. Then you are led "behind the scenes" and taken on a tour through the Living With the Seas pavilion at Epcot. They talk to you about all the sea critters but, of course, primarily about the dolphins. After you go through the pavilion you are led into a dressing room. In the dressing room you are given a locker and your wetsuit and water shoes. After that you are led to the dolphin training area. First you get to watch some of a training session, which we were told varies depending on the day. When we were there they had one of the dolphins in a secluded tank and then there were three trainers sitting on the ledges and one in the middle above the training tank. The main trainer would hold up a card that had a certain shape and then the other three trainers would hold objects in different shapes. The dolphins job was to go up to the trainer who was holding the matching shaped object. If he got it right he received some type of reward (sometimes food, sometimes some affections such as petting etc) if he got it wrong they blew the whistle at him and he had to start over. We watched this for about 5 minutes (I though it was really neat, by the way) and then we were led into another room where we watched a short video. I believe the video was about 15 minutes and it talked about the dolphins natural living habitat and how they learn so well and things like that. Again, I found this to be very interesting. Following the video was the grand finale....entering the water with the dolphins!!!!!!! We were split up into two groups of four and each given to a different trainer. We were told that we would spend 15 minutes with each trainer and their dolphin and then we would take pictures. The two dolphins we interacted with were Calvin and Rainer. During the first interaction (I believe with Calvin) we were taught hand signals (each person was shown one) which made Calvin wave, make kissy noises, stand on his back fin and roll over. We were also given the chance to pet him and taught about how he regulates his body temperature (through his back fin...very warm). Then we were switched with the other group and we got to interact with Rainer (I think). In this group we were taught 4 new hand signals. Candi just so happened to be the last one in the group and he got the "special" hand signal. So when it was his turn he did his signal and Rainer goes up to do a head stand and then comes crashing down causing a tidal wave to go over Candi's head :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: I laughed so hard...before the tour I had told him how you only get in waist deep so you won't get completely wet....oops!!

After our second group we each got to take a picture with our dolphin...we chose to take our picture together instead of separate

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/IMG_02931.jpg

I apologize for the quality (the real picture is great quality) this is the "redneck" picture of a picture because I don't have a scanner. However, this is my absolute favorite picture of the entire trip!!!!!!! I will never forget this experience...I absolutely loved every minute of it!!!

So anyway, after you finish with your interaction you are led back to the locker rooms to change. The locker rooms have showers and include shampoo, body wash, conditioner and lotion. Once you are all changed you meet in a small meeting room where you are given your t-shirt, picture and a pin. Like I said, I absolutely loved it!!

After we were led back to the front gate (you don't have to pay admission to do the tour so they escort you out after its over) we decided to go back to the room for a little bit. We had originally brought a backpack full of clothes to change into but now it had our wet swimsuits in them and we didn't want the backpack to get that watery musky smell. So we grabbed the monorail to the contemporary and then took the boat to the Wilderness Lodge. We changed clothes and grabbed a snack from the lounge on our way back out to the buses.

We headed back to Epcot and had one destination in mind

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53435nu323848672232948.jpg

I had talked about World Showcase for so long that Candi couldn't wait to see it for himself. We are both in love with the idea of traveling the world and this seemed like the perfect thing for us that day. We started with the Canada side

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53432nu323848672232948.jpg

We spent awhile (just walking hand in hand) soaking up the "Canadian" atmosphere. We went in the gift shop and decided before we left we would stop to buy some real maple syrup (which we forgot to do). After we had our fill with Canada we headed to the UK and decided we were starving....

[cjordan08]

The pictures are amazing..
I hope you had a fun time. :)
Congratulations
<3

[ariel1025]

The pictures are amazing..
I hope you had a fun time. :)
Congratulations
<3


Thank you...I am obsessed with taking pictures so there will be a ton more:thumbsup2 We had a blast...hope you stick around to read the rest :goodvibes

[tiggersam00]

wow the dolphins sounds amazing! I love the pic of you two and your dolphin, such a great memory!
EPCOT Totally is the best park! Dave and I are planning to do 2 full days there in March just because there is sooo much to see there!
I think its so cute how Candi rode RnR 3 times in a row with you! What a trooper! Aerosmith in from the Boston area and I see those guys out and about from time to time. They really are a great american band, and I love that a Boston band landed there own ride at WDW1 I mean how cool is that! :cool1:

[ariel1025]

wow the dolphins sounds amazing! I love the pic of you two and your dolphin, such a great memory!
EPCOT Totally is the best park! Dave and I are planning to do 2 full days there in March just because there is sooo much to see there!
I think its so cute how Candi rode RnR 3 times in a row with you! What a trooper! Aerosmith in from the Boston area and I see those guys out and about from time to time. They really are a great american band, and I love that a Boston band landed there own ride at WDW1 I mean how cool is that! :cool1:

I definitely agree about EPCOT being a two day park - I probably could spend even longer there if I had the time :goodvibes

Oh wow, I can't believe you get to see Aerosmith just "out and about" that definitely falls in my book of awesome :lmao: I guess that's just another reason I need to make a trip to the Boston area :thumbsup2

[ariel1025]

Hey girls, sorry I haven't updated in a few days...we went on an extended weekend getaway to Arizona. We had a ton of fun and Candi got to see his favorite basketball team play the Suns (of course we got a lot of evil looks because we weren't cheering for the home team :lmao: ).

Anyway, I left off our EPCOT day with us being hungry (I know, I know nothing new...what can I say, we like to eat!). That morning at the dolphin swim on of the trainers had told us we had to try the fish and chips at Rose and Crown...well what do ya know? We were in the United Kingdom...coincidence? I think not. We went up to the stand and they said we would have about a 20 minute wait, but that wasn't a problem because we needed to make a phone call

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53432nu323848678232948.jpghttp://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53437nu323848678232948.jpg:lmao:

After our "phone call" we just looked around at the building across from the restaurant until it was time to check back in.

I thought this garden area was very pretty

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53435nu323848672232-1.jpg

Ok, I actually thought the entire building was beautiful...I love brick structures they remind me of the houses back home (in Kansas)

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53437nu323848678232-2.jpg
Also, I don't know why but when I was little I always associated this type of window with "rich people" :confused3 I guess because anytime I saw this type of window it was on a really big house, but anyway I would always tell my parents "when I am old enough I am going to be rich enough to buy a house with that window" :lmao: :lmao: Geez, I was a dork!

Then it was time for lunch at (what became) our favorite restaurant of the trip

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53434nu323848678232-1.jpg
Yummy, yummy in my tummy :goodvibes

I thought we had the perfect seat (remember this for our last night at WDW) we were in the main restaurant with pretty chandeliers like this http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53434nu323848678232-2.jpg but if we looked on the other side we could see the pub

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp5343nu3238486782329486.jpg very cool :thumbsup2

After we filled up on fish and chips (which we obviously loved) Candi suddenly became obsessed with the video camera my parents gave us

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53437nu323848672232948.jpg
This became a very familiar site for the remainder of the trip!

So, video camera in hand, Candi decided he wanted to go into the tea shop to see if they sold the tea that they served in Rose and Crown (it is now his favorite) I didn't mind checking it out because the tea shop was very pretty inside

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53434nu323848678232948.jpg

However, our search for tea was interrupted when I heard a little girl talking about how she met Pooh and Friends in the next building over...Tigger is one of my favorite characters EVER so I drug Candi out of there to go meet my furry friend. Unfortunately, there are two very sad stories that go with this experience

1. We forgot to go back and ask about Candi's tea (if anybody knows what brand and flavor it is I will be your new bestfriend)

Ok, so we went to go see Pooh, Eeyore and (my favorite) Tigger. The pictures turned out FANTASTIC...Eeyore noticed Candi's KC Chiefs hat, gave him a big thumbs up and then stole it and put it on his own head :rotfl: Then Tigger saw my wedding ring and pushed Candi out of the way and got down on one knee to propose to me...it was SO cute...

That brings us to sad story

2. I didn't know you could ask the photopass people to take pictures with your own camera and I forgot to order the photopass pictures:sad: :sad: :sad: I seriously cried for days...I am such an idiot sometimes. I logged on, loved almost all of them (those weren't the only good shots), bookmarked the page so I could order the CD on payday and then forgot all about it:sad2:

Ok, sad stories aside...onward we go with the honeymoon...

After meeting Pooh and his friends we became a little random with our touring of EPCOT. First, Candi decided he wanted to go to future world because he wanted to ride some rides. On the way over we checked out some of the pictures from

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53436nu323848782329487.jpg

Then I became addicted to taking random pictures of pretty flowers. I won't bore you with all of them but I want to post my favorite

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53432nu329389WSNRCG323.jpg

I love the bright colors of this one...so pretty!!!

I also had to stop and "quack" with my long lost volleyball teammates

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53433nu323848733923294.jpg

Then Candi had to take a "nature break" so I checked out the fountains...I thought it was really cool they way they had it set to music

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53434nu323848678232-3.jpg
While I was admiring the dancing fountains I was approached by one of the Dream Team members.....

[tiggersam00]

Ahhhhh you cant leave us hanging like that! Dream Team!!!! so cool.

I think the tea they serve is twinnings, you can get it in the supermarkets here or online... HTH

[ariel1025]

Ahhhhh you cant leave us hanging like that! Dream Team!!!! so cool.

I think the tea they serve is twinnings, you can get it in the supermarkets here or online... HTH

I didn't mean to leave it as a cliffhanger for very long...my intention was to come back and update after I watched my favorite TV show...oops:confused3

Don't ya hate when life gets in the way of the DIS?:rotfl2:

Thanks for the information on the tea...I will have to look for some...he has been craving it ever since we left!!!

[ariel1025]

While I was enjoying the fun fountains a Dream Team member came up and started talking to me. Of course my mind was going a mile a minute...possibly the Castle Suite????:rotfl2: He asked me all sorts of ordinary questions...is this your first visit?....when did you get married?....where are you staying? He probably asked me about six or seven questions and then said "well I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay at Disney World" and walked away :confused3 :sad2: :confused3

I don't know what happened? Maybe I answered wrong or he had to wait until a certain time and I wasn't chatty enough? Not sure, but I was definitely disappointed. Oh well, onward we go....

After our nice little chat we went to go get a bottle of water because I started to feel dehydrated. While the cashier was ringing us up he told us we had a phone call and then handed me the phone. I know everyone has talked about this a million times so I won't relay the message, but it was super cute and just another one of those "Disney touches" that make me want to go back.

From there we were headed to our original destination (before the multiple pit stops :rotfl: )

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53433nu323848782329487.jpg
It was time to head to Mars!!

Now, Candi knew he wanted to ride this but he didn't know about the two different sides so he was a bit confused when I requested

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53437nu329389WSNRCG323.jpg
Until he actually read his little voucher thing, I think he thought it was just part of the ride's theme to go with all the decor inside...oops!!

No worries though, all was well and we both enjoyed it. Of course, when I asked if he wanted to ride again he said "you mean now???" I took that to mean no and we headed to the next ride I knew he was most looking forward to

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp5343nu3238487949232948.jpg
It was Test Track time!!

When I was here the time before they were just beginning to build Test Track. I remember my Dad and I were looking longingly at the unfinished track wishing we could ride whatever great ride it was going to be.

Just like with everything else so far that trip our wait time was actually half of what the posted wait time was and we were in the ride in no time at all. Now, I know many people might be upset by this but I was slightly disappointed with Test Track. I'm not sure if it was because I had been building it up to be so much more because of all the hype it gets :confused3 Whatever the reason I really didn't feel any need to ride it again, so we gave the fast passes we had gotten right before getting on to a couple we saw debating if they wanted to wait in line or not. I hope they enjoyed it more than us or if nothing else, that they felt the Disney Magic we had felt so often on this trip pixiedust:

After our great race on Test Track we just started to wonder around the park. We didn't really have any particular destination in mind, just wanted to see whatever we saw.

This is one of my favorite pictures from our little walking adventure

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp5343nu3238488323294884.jpg

Somewhere along the way we stumbled upon "Honey We Shrunk The Audience." I agree with everyone that says this ride needs updating, but I can't go to either Disney park without riding it. To us it's just a classic "ride" that we have to do. Oh and just so you know, I still lift me feet during the "mice" :lmao: After we were brought back to normal size we tried to go into Figment but they had already closed it for the day. Candi was really disappointed...not because he couldn't ride Figment but because he was really looking forward to doing the orchestra thing in the Imagination pavilion. We decided for that reason alone we would have to come back to Epcot...yay!!!

After leaving the Imagination Pavilion we made our way over to the pavilion I was most excited to visit

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53436nu323848832329488.jpg
I LOVE Finding Nemo!!! It is my favorite Disney movie since Lion King!!

Of course no trip to the Nemo Seas would be complete without talking to these guys

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp533nu32384883232948847.jpg
Boy are they selfish though :lmao:

Then of course we had to have little bit of surfer talk with my man Crush

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53433nu323848832329488.jpg
Seriously, nobody can argue...he has the cutest kid ever...I love me some Squirt!!!

Then just one more (fake) character stop before going in

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp5343nu3238488323294-1.jpg
"Aww guys you made me ink" :lmao: my favorite line in the whole movie!! Ahh, I love me some Pearl too...ok, maybe I love all the Nemo characters!!!

After getting off the Nemo ride we went to go see Turtle Talk with Crush but the next show was already full and we decided we would do it when we came back. Instead we went to go see these icky guys

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53433nu323848845823294.jpg
Ok, he is real cute on the wall but the real ones creep me out. I was trying to get over having shivers every time I saw them because I knew I would be swimming with them on the cruise :sad2: so not looking forward to it.

After we left all my Nemo Pals we decided we would attempt our fate at Soarin'. This was another ride that Candi hadn't heard anything about, but I really wanted to ride it so he assumed he would too..hee,hee such a great Hubby!! The wait time was about 45 minutes but we decided to get in line anyway. Unfortunately, we were in line behind a very cranky family. I am not kidding you with this next story:

It was (I'm assuming) a Mom, a Dad and their two sons (I would guess about 5 and 10 years old). The Dad was clearly not happy to be standing in this line and he was letting his family (and half the people in line) know about it. He started yelling at his wife for forcing him to be there and told the boys that it was a stupid ride that they would regret waiting in line for. He actually made the younger one cry because he was being such a jerk. We stayed in line for about 5 minutes and (I kid you not) 18 profane words came out of his mouth during the rampage. Candi and I decided we weren't going to let some jerk ruin our night and decided to try Soarin' another time. I felt really bad for that guys family though...it's so not fair to be humiliated in public like that.

After getting out of line for Soarin' we decided that we would go find a spot for Illuminations. We ended up sitting in the very front of our chosen section right across the lagoon from here

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp5343nu3238488458232948.jpg

While Candi reserved our space I went on a hunt for some "show" snacks. I ended up getting another frozen lemonade (I love those things) and a turkey leg (Candi's favorites). This was the best darn turkey leg ever and thank goodness that I only bought one it took both of us to finish that thing!!

After the fireworks (I didn't get any good pictures :sad1: ) We decided to call it quits for the day. We were both very tired and hungry but we decided that we would just order room service when we got back. There was (of course) a swarm of people trying to leave after the fireworks so we just took our time making our way to the front. This had been my favorite day of the trip so far and we weren't in any major hurry to get to the buses.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53435nu323834952329-1.jpg
Can you see how much fun I had this day???

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53434nu323848845823294.jpg
One last shot before exiting the park.

We had to wait for about 30 minutes for a bus (the line was huge) but we didn't care. We had been so lucky with the buses every other time and we knew we had no reason to complain. Of course plenty of other people thought they had a million reasons to complain so I tried my hardest to ignore them. What was with the bad attitudes today??

When we got back to the hotel we decided that we would order a pizza and watch a movie (we had bought a couple at the Virgin Megastore the other night). And that's exactly what we did...well and get me some carrots and ranch of course :rotfl:

Another perfect ending to another fantastic day....

[tiggersam00]

wow that call must have been a good one! Super fun! I love epcot, it is my fave (Dave's too)! Was that the butterfly house during the Flower and Garden Festival? I cant wait to see it in person when we go next month!

[Mrsdisneyb2b]

I LOVE those seagulls "Mine mine mine"
I say this all the time to thekids when they are passing notes and they laugh

[Mrsdisneyb2b]

WHERE in epcot are there dolphins?!?!?
I am so lost!! I Had no idea!! I am freaking out!

[ariel1025]

wow that call must have been a good one! Super fun! I love epcot, it is my fave (Dave's too)! Was that the butterfly house during the Flower and Garden Festival? I cant wait to see it in person when we go next month!

Hee, hee it's just a cute little thing that they do for newlyweds there!

Yes, the butterfly house was during the Flower and Garden Festival. We didn't realize when we booked the trip that it would be going on, but we were so glad it was. We both really enjoyed all the different things they had set up for it. Now if only I had a house with a yard I could put my own garden in....ahhh, some day :rotfl:

I LOVE those seagulls "Mine mine mine"
I say this all the time to thekids when they are passing notes and they laugh

:lmao: Oh my goodness that is TOO funny!! I have to admit I was a note passer when I was in middle and high school...sad but true :sad2:

WHERE in epcot are there dolphins?!?!?
I am so lost!! I Had no idea!! I am freaking out!

You can usually view the dolphins in the tank at the Nemo and the Seas Pavilion. We did a special tour for the part I was talking about in the TR. It's called Dolphins in Depth and I thought it was awesome!! It was a little bit pricey but you can get a 15% discount if you have either an annual pass, a DVC membership or there is a coupon in the Birnbaums Official Guide to Disney World. Or you can put it on your registry ;) Here is the link to the official description if you are interested

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/tours-and-experiences/dolphins-in-depth/

Let me know if you have any more questions!!

[ariel1025]

Well the previous night we had ordered a pizza up to the room and watched a movie. I know, I know...why would you go all the way to WDW and watch movies?? But it was the perfect ending to that night. Everything was finally catching up to us and we were both really tired. I'm pretty sure both of us fell asleep before the movie ended because the main frame of the DVD was still on when I woke up that morning...oops:confused3

I had noticed two things the previous day that had started to upset me

1. Candi and I were both starting to get "snippy" with each other
2. Candi was starting to limp again

So, I decided that I would just let Candi sleep until he was ready to wake up. I shut off the alarm and took a shower. He still wasn't awake when I finished getting ready so I got some breakfast (with an extra plate for him of course) and found a quiet little "nook" on our floor to eat it on. After I finished breakfast I went back to the room and heard the shower running so I knew that Mr Sleepyhead had finally rolled out of bed :lmao:

Once we were both ready to start the day we headed out to the bus stop and decided that since there was already a bus waiting we would head to

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon/2323232327Ffp53434nu323848832329488.jpg

Yep...that's right, we were going back to EPCOT!!! We had said the day before that we had to go back and so we took the waiting bus to be a sign;) We decided that our first effort would be Soarin' (preferably without cranky parents:rotfl: ) and then we wanted to explore the Neverland garden. We headed off to Soarin' and of course the wait was in the hours range so we got some fast passes for later in the day and then headed over to the Neverland garden area.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp5365nu329389WSNRCG3234.jpg
This guy was my favorite...they even had a recording of a clock making the "tick tock" sound. It was really cute. In fact, I thought the whole garden set-up was very cute. I'm not sure if this is something they have all the time or if it's special for the Flower and Garden Festival, but if you get the chance I highly recommend you check it out!

After our tour through Neverland we checked out a bunch of the Flower and Garden Festival booths. Let me tell you, if I had a house and a yard of any sort we would have been hurtin' in the checkbook after I made it through those booths :lmao: Fortunately for our bank account, it didn't make any sense to buy anything since we are still in an apartment. I think that means as soon as we get a house we have to go back to WDW during Flower and Garden Festival don't you???:lmao: :rotfl: :rotfl2:

Oh, and I fell in love with these roses

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp5336nu32388423298548ot.jpg
They were everywhere and all of them were just as big and pink as those ones....so pretty!!

After our "wish shopping" through the booths we decided to grab some lunch. We had started the day pretty late and the bagel just wasn't doing it for our bellies:) We decided we would just walk (at a very fast pace) through World Showcase and just stop at whatever looked good.

I found the following story very funny

I stopped to take this pretty little picture

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp5344nu3238846232993764.jpg

and when I had finished the shot I turned around and Candi was halfway to France. I run to catch up and go "babe what are you doing?" He goes "ummm...food, hello!!" I know it was funnier if you were there but that was just proof as to how hungry he really was at that moment.

In the end we ended up stopping to eat at

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp53458nu323884232993756.jpg

We were SO glad we did. As we were eating we found out that it was their last day of service before they closed for renovation and the food was SUPER yummy. They had some sort of combo type thing made for two people so we got that. To start we both had the wonton soup and then for mains we had fried rice, honey sesame chicken (oh my goodness it was to die for) and some other meat. I don't remember what it was but it was all very good and we were very glad that we got to try it before they changed it up. We looked up the menu for our upcoming trip and it just doesn't sound quite as appetizing to us :confused3

Anyway, while we were eating we had decided that we would (speed) walk over to Mexico and then make our entire way around World Showcase. However, as we were leaving Nine Dragons they had the acrobats performing outside and so we stopped to watch them. I don't know what happened but after that we ended up just starting our tour right there in China. We never made it to Mexico or Norway, which makes me kind of sad because we didn't get to ride either of the only rides in World Showcase AND (possibly worse) I never got a margarita at the Mexico Pavilion :sad2:

So, like I said we started our tour in China and after the acrobats (which were very impressive) we went into this beautiful building

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp53453nu323884232993742.jpg

It really blows my mind how detailed and intricate everything was. Even the ceiling was extremely impressive

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp5334nu32388423299376ot.jpg
I can't even imagine how much time that must have took. Anyway, we wandered around the inside of the building for a while and then we headed in to see "Reflections of China." Candi and I both found it very interesting as I quite enjoy learning about other cultures and Candi is very into history. After the show ended we headed back outside to wander around China a little bit longer, it was just so beautiful

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp53454nu32388423299378o.jpg

Finally, we felt like we had seen everything we headed on to

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp53459nu323885623299478.jpg

To be honest, I think the Germany pavilion was the one that Candi was most looking forward to. One of his childhood friends is currently stationed in Germany and we were invited out to see them either this year or next. We are tentatively planning on visiting in the summer of 2010 and I know he is super excited about it. Needless to say, we ended up spending quite a while in this pavilion as well. Again, I have to point out how wonderful I think Disney does with all the detailing. I can honestly say that every time we would go into a different country I would forget where we actually were for a while! Along our journey through Germany I saw this sign and felt it was quite appropriate since we were on our honeymoon...

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp53459nu323884623299-1.jpg

Then I realized on the other side of the cute little sign was

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp53457nu323884623299376.jpg
THE MINIATURE RAILROAD!!!

Yes I am a nut, but I was really looking forward to checking out the mini choo choo trains!! We ended up spending quite a while looking at the little town that was built and (of course) I was impressed!!

Once we had seen enough (which, by the way, it never really was enough we just knew we had limited time for everything) we headed over to the pavilion I was most excited about

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp53453nu323885623299478.jpg

I really, really want to go to Italy one of these days. I think it looks so romantic and mythical and just wonderful!! For now this as close as we would get and I got a little picture happy. Of course, I was amazed by all the architecture and detailing...

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp5334nu3238856232994786.jpg
So pretty!!!

Candi is very into Greek Mythology so of course we had to check out Neptune's Fountain

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp5338nu3238866232995773.jpg

And then it happened (again) some outraged parent made their little girl cry because they didn't want to wait in the line for her to take a picture with Pinocchio. Now, I am not trying to judge and I don't think kids should get everything they want all the time, but seriously, there were only 3 people in line ahead of them!!! I felt really bad for the little girl and it was making me very sad to see her cry so we headed on.

[ariel1025]

THE MOST WONDERFUL NEWS EVER!!!!

Ok, so I think I mentioned that for a (3 month late) Anniversary gift we are taking ourselves back to Disney World. Well, in doing that we ended up buying into the Disney Vacation Club. When we did that they gave us "bonus" points that are good for one year at Saratoga Springs or Disneyland or through their exchange partner. Well, we used some of those bonus points to go to Phoenix. But we still have some left.

Candi just called me and said...

"Look up flight prices and see if we can afford to fly to Disneyland for four days for our Anniversary"

I am still in shock (and number crunching at the same time :teacher: )

I figured only you guys would understand how happy this news is

I now take you back to our regularly scheduled program :rotfl:

[tiggersam00]

:dance3: Shannon thats awesome!!! I hope it all works out and you can go to Disneyland for a few days for your anniversay!!!! Yay for your super cool hubby telling you that :yay" and yay for you getting so excited, Disney is a definite cause for celebration :yay:

[ariel1025]

:dance3: Shannon thats awesome!!! I hope it all works out and you can go to Disneyland for a few days for your anniversay!!!! Yay for your super cool hubby telling you that :yay" and yay for you getting so excited, Disney is a definite cause for celebration :yay:

Thanks Samantha!! Your news for today is even greater though!! I put in the request from DVC for the dates we want, now I am just crossing my fingers. I will know within three days :goodvibes Luckily I work all day tomorrow so that should help pass some time. The flights for the dates we need are actually really good ($99 through Southwest) so as long as dates are good we are going:woohoo:

[Keira1387]

Yay, how exciting! I hope it all works out and you are able to go!

[tiggersam00]

Thanks Shannon, I will keep em crossed for you. From what I have heard, DVC is very accomodating so hopefully you will be all set. Let me know how it all goes!
Those flights are awesome by the way! $99 is amazing!

[ariel1025]

Sadly our time in Italy was cut short, but I just couldn't handle seeing a little kid getting yelled at. So onward we went on our "world tour." At this point I was getting really hot and was in desperate need of air conditioning and I really wanted to sit down for a while because I could tell that Candi's foot was bothering him again. Luckily for us next stop was...

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp5338nu3238866232995776.jpg

We saw that another show would be starting pretty quickly and decided to go in and wait for it. Upon our entrance we were again requested to the telephone for that infamous phone call and then led upstairs while we waited for the show. We were also given one of these

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp5344nu3238866232995775.jpg

And got the pleasure of having these guys sing us a song

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp5336nu3238866232995775.jpg
They were actually really, really good and I enjoyed listening to them. Once they finished up their song for us we were led into the auditorium and given our choice of seats. Now I understand that this wasn't really a big deal because it wasn't at all crowded. But once again, it just shows how Disney really tries to go out of their way to make you feel special :hug:

Candi really enjoyed the presentation (crazy history lover :rotfl: ) and it gave us both a much needed break. It was probably from about this point on that we never really recovered from how tired we were from everything leading up to the trip. This made me kind of sad because I know we ended up missing a lot of stuff that we would have enjoyed, but nothing can be done about it now....except go back in September!!!

After leaving the American Adventure we talked about going back to Italy because Candi wanted to try the Pistachio gelato but for some reason we didn't. Instead we headed on and took a brief look through Japan.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp53456nu323884623299376.jpg

When we were in Japan I told Candi I wanted to go in the store because I wanted to find something for my sister. She loves Hello Kitty and I knew they would have a bunch of stuff in there. Well, out of nowhere he starts going off on me about how I've been spending all my money on stuff for everyone else and that I can't spend anymore money unless it's on me :confused3 He was really irritated about it too....I was really confused because I've never seen him react like that before. I told him to calm down that he could make me one of those "pick a pearl" things that they have in there and he seemed satisfied...crazy kid:confused3 !! Well, the line for the "pick a pearl" was really long so I started to look through the store hoping it would calm down. I ended up not finding anything for my sister but while I was looking I heard a familiar voice scream "they have it, they have it." I'm like "they have what?" and he goes "Hi-Chew" I'm all "ummm, I don't have a clue what you are talking about ya big dork." I learned that it was this candy that a Japanese exchange student he went to high school with used to bring them all the time and he loves it!! It pretty much taste like taffy but he loves it. So of course, because I'm a big brat I go "well I'm sorry that you love a foreign candy but you forgot your debit card and you forbid me to spend money on anyone else but myself" :lmao: Of course I let him buy it and it really is yummy stuff!!

After our large candy purchase we headed on to Morocco

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp53455nu323884623299376.jpg
but for some reason we just kind of walked right by :confused3

Following Morocco we headed to France
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Four/2323232327Ffp5335nu3238846232993767.jpg

This was the pavilion I was second most looking forward to. Again I really want to visit France some day (even though I've heard the people are very rude). I spent a long time looking around and then we went into the perfume shop...bad idea!!! Some crazy lady was going psycho spraying perfume and somehow it ended up in my eye. Now I've accidentally gotten perfume in my eye before but I don't remember it burning like this. I quickly tell Candi to lead me to the nearest restroom so I can clean out my eye. Once we found it he (of course) says he will wait for me outside. Well, I get outside and I don't see him anywhere. Now granted, it took me a while because after I cleaned out the left eye I realized that now only my right eye had make up on it so then I wash the make-up off my right eye so I don't look like a dork. But then I ended up smudging mascara across my cheek and yep....I ended up washing all my make-up off!! Oh well, nobody in Disney cares what I look like right? Anyway, I thought maybe he went to the restroom and then I see him walking towards me with a plate in his hand. He waves me over to a bench and says "I bought you one of those crepe things you were talking about to make you feel better, but I think they messed it up, it just looks like tortilla and chocolate sauce to me" :lmao: Now that comment made me feel better!! Of course then I had to ask him how he bought anything without his debit card and he says "umm, hello, room key" geesh !!

Well, after our (disasterous) trip through France we decided to check out our fastpass times for Soarin' and we had timed it just about perfect. So off to Soarin' we went and we both LOVED it!! After that though we decided to head out for the day.

We ended up going back to DTD for the evening to try to find something to eat. After walking around for a while we decided to eat the fish and chips from the restaurant there (I don't remember the name) but they just didn't compare to the Rose and Crown :sad2:

After our (not so good) fish and chips, we went back to the hotel to go swimming. It was the perfect decision too. There were only about four other people in the pool and the water was the perfect temperature (not too hot and not too cold). We stayed in the pool for a couple of hours and then headed up to the room for a dip in (our own) jacuzzi.

Once again, an easy but perfect ending to the night!!

[tiggersam00]

Ahhh I cant go in the perfume store b/c the smell is way too strong for me and I get a headache! Thats no fun about your eye, but your right Disney does not care about make-up lol! :lmao: !

I love walking through the world showcase, your pics make me really want to go back now... and get a tortilla with chocolate sauce :rotfl2: ! Too funny, I love it!

[ariel1025]

Yay, how exciting! I hope it all works out and you are able to go!

Thanks so much :goodvibes And thanks for continuing to follow along with my TR!!

Thanks Shannon, I will keep em crossed for you. From what I have heard, DVC is very accomodating so hopefully you will be all set. Let me know how it all goes!
Those flights are awesome by the way! $99 is amazing!

Thank you!! We have already booked two other trips through DVC (our AZ trip through their exchange program and our September WDW trip) and we haven't had any problems. So far I am stoked with our decision to buy into it. Now hopefully they come through on this one too. My only concern is that it's over Memorial weekend so I don't know how full the hotels might already be :confused3

Ahhh I cant go in the perfume store b/c the smell is way too strong for me and I get a headache! Thats no fun about your eye, but your right Disney does not care about make-up lol! :lmao: !

I love walking through the world showcase, your pics make me really want to go back now... and get a tortilla with chocolate sauce :rotfl2: ! Too funny, I love it!

Yeah, I don't think I will ever go into the perfume store again :sad2:

World Showcase is the main reason I love EPCOT so much! When you go in March you have to make sure to get tortilla and chocolate for me :rotfl:

[Kimberly815]

I just found your trip report today and I am really enjoying it! It looks like you had a lovely wedding and you looked beautiful!

[ariel1025]

I just found your trip report today and I am really enjoying it! It looks like you had a lovely wedding and you looked beautiful!

Thank you very much :goodvibes I'm glad you found it, I love meeting new people on the DIS :cool1:

[ariel1025]

If you read the title just know that you've been warned...grumpiness is up ahead :sad2:

I knew that this day was off to a bad start when we didn't wake up in time to eat breakfast in the lounge. Now, I understand that we could go buy breakfast anywhere, but it had become our thing...I would wake up, get ready, go get breakfast, wake Candi up...you know the drill....

Well, on this day neither one of us was "up and at 'em." When I finally woke up and saw the time I was really upset. I don't know if it was because I was so tired or because I knew the "world" portion of the trip was coming to an end, but I started crying. Candi woke up and (of course) freaked out because he thought something was really wrong, but nope, I was just emotional. So, we got out of bed and got ready and that's when I realized I didn't have any more clean shorts to wear. I don't know why, but I started attacking Candi about it. I knew it wasn't his fault, I just don't own that many and when we went shopping to buy some I couldn't find any in my size that weren't "hoochy mama" short :laughing: But, for whatever reason, that morning I decided it was his fault. After I calmed down we finished getting ready (yes, dirty shorts and all) we headed out for the day. And, wouldn't you know it ... that was the only day of the whole trip we had to wait for a bus. We waited and waited and waited some more (know that in hindsight I am not complaining, we had been lucky all week long, but at the time we were frustrated about it). Finally our bus pulled up to take us to

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Five/P1010524.jpg
Animal Kingdom!!

Of course, when we pulled up to Animal Kingdom my bad mood started to disappear. And then I realized that I had forgotten my sunglasses, and anyone who's been to AK knows, that park is hotter and sunnier than any of the other three at the exact same time of day...I don't get it, really I don't :confused3

Well, after buying me a pair of (not so) attractive and very expensive sunglasses we were off. We headed to Expedition Everest but (of course) the line was extrememly long so we grabbed a fastpass and headed to the Safari instead. The line at the safari wasn't too bad and we were on our jeep in about 15 minutes.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Five/P1010531.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Five/P1010535.jpg

We both really enjoyed the ride. There were lots of animals out and I love animals!! After our safari adventure was cut short by those darn elephant kidnappers :rotfl: we decided to see if we could catch one of the shows. I really wanted to see "The Lion King" and "Finding Nemo" after looking at our little pamphlet we realized we might be able to make it to see "Lion King." Of course we didn't realize how far away the theatre was from where we were (or maybe we just took the long way by accident :confused3 ). Anyway, by the time we made it to the theatre it had already started. They said we could go in anyway but I didn't want to miss the beginning. We decided that we would just come back in time for the next one.

Instead we headed over to the Kali River Rapids. I love, love, love this type of ride. I love the drops and the anticipation of getting wet and seeing people scream when they get wet...I just love it :goodvibes Once again, the line wasn't too bad so we jumped on. Well, let's just say my shorts were "washed" while on that ride :lmao: We were drenched from head to toe, I don't think either one of us had a single dry spot and I thought it was hilarious....until I realized that wet shorts equaled stretched out don't stay on shorts :scared1: I was quite the site, walking around holding up my shorts by the belt buckle. From there we went on a quest to find a replacement. We really didn't want to go all the way back to the hotel....anything would have done. But that's when it happened...just when I thought the day was finally "grump free" ........

[tiggersam00]

you are the queen of anticipation Shannon :lmao: !

I actually wore Terry cloth shorts on KRR once and I probably looked just like you did, I was holding up my pants all day long :rotfl: !
Oh well, you live and learn!

[ariel1025]

you are the queen of anticipation Shannon :lmao: !

I actually wore Terry cloth shorts on KRR once and I probably looked just like you did, I was holding up my pants all day long :rotfl: !
Oh well, you live and learn!

Hee, hee!! I actually didn't do this one on purpose...I wasn't feeling good and had to lay down to try and ignore my headache :sick: Darn sinus infections!! Anyway, I'm (almost) good as new and an update is on its way....:goodvibes

[ariel1025]

Last I left you I was trying to find new shorts :lmao: Well, for some reason I got this weird feeling that I needed to call and check the bank account?!?:confused3

** Quick side note - we had saved up a lot of money for this trip but the day of the wedding there were several occurances that had us spending almost $1000.00 of that money:mad: Well, we knew that we would have to cut back our spending because of that but we would be ok because we both got paid (direct deposit) right in the middle of the trip *** End side note

Well, I called the bank and (if you haven't already guessed it) they didn't deposit my paycheck :mad: :headache: :mad: :headache: So we had to make an emergency call to my work. Well, the girl left in charge of the store while we were gone claims that I didn't fill out my timesheet for the entire pay period (ummm yeah, like I don't want a paycheck). I was frustrated and asked her what to do, to which she said, figure it out when you get back. Well, I was furious so Candi called his boss (the boss of all the Managers) to see what he could do. Well, she tried to say the same thing (we fill out our time sheets in the computer manually, no time clock puncher thing). Candi said this is ridiculous, clearly they got erased somehow and they tried to say they couldn't pay me until I came back to fill out a new timesheet. So...

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Five/P1010556.jpg
Candi used his "stern" voice and what do ya know?...Leslie (not the boss but the girl left in charge) miraculously found my timesheet....crisis averted.

Needless to say this put us both in a grumpy mood for a while so we decided to go pay a visit to the Yeti (our fastpass time had finally come). Well...big mistake....

The line itself wasn't too long but it felt like it took FOREVER to get through because of the group ahead of us in line. There was this school group of fourth graders (their shirts said so, that's how I know :) ). Well, I have no problem with school groups or kids in general. But these kids were out of control and the "sponsor" adults weren't doing anything about it. First, there were these three boys that were "fighting" and I got elbowed in the face (not once, but twice). The second time Candi said "you guys need to watch out" and they started cussing at him saying he wasn't their Daddy and couldn't tell them what to do. Then everytime the line would move ahead of them they would just stand there making comments to everyone behind them. And then (and this is what disgusted me the most) there were these two boys gropping all over one of the girls (kissing her neck and smacking her butt and everything)...THEY WERE IN FOURTH GRADE!!!!:scared1: We were finally just about to get out of line when one of the park attendants made all of them get out of line, but of course they cussed at her too (I think she was about to cry) and the "sponsors" said it was ridiculous that they were "just kids" and "that's what Disney Word is for" :eek:

Well, I don't know if it was because of all that but I didn't enjoy Expedition Everest and it made me really sad because I really wanted to ride it :sad1:

After our time with the Yeti we decided to go get in line for Lion King so that we would be sure to get there in time. I'm really glad we did because it cheered up my whole day...

We were in the "warthog section" which was perfect for two reasons

1. I love me some Pumbaa I think he is too funny and
2. I have this bad habit of snorting when I think something is really funny (yes it's embarassing and now you know about it :rolleyes1 )

But anyway, Candi teased me the whole time because at the beginning the section has to make warthog sounds so he said "they must have known you were sitting here" :lmao:

Beyond that I truly enjoyed the show. My pictures aren't that great but I'll show my favorites anyway

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Five/P1010566.jpg
Yay for Pumba!!!

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Five/P1010570.jpg
Of course wherever you find Pumba, Timon must be around too

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Five/P1010572.jpg
LOVED the tumble monkeys ... if you haven't seen it yet, you have to just to see the tumble monkeys!!!

Ok, so clearly The Lion King show put me in a better mood (I was still laughing when we left the theatre) but we basically had all we could handle of Animal Kingdom (it was just a bad day for us). So we decided that we would just go back to the hotel and swim, rest and get ready for dinner.

Tonight we were attending the Polynesion Spirit of Aloha Luau thingy...I was really excited ... Candi was, well ... not so much. However, he loves me and we did it anyway :hug:

We arrived 30 minutes early like they told us to and enjoyed just sitting outside with this beautiful site

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Five/2323232327Ffp53432nu323834952329-3.jpg
It is my goal on our next trip to watch the fireworks from the beach at the Polynesian!!

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Five/2323232327Ffp53432nu323834952329-2.jpg
Oh look...there's Candi playing with the camcorder again :laughing:

After all was said and done we were both glad we went. It was cheesy, but we still enjoyed it. The Pineapple was to die for and the other food was really good too. The only thing I didn't like was the dessert :confused3 Like I said, the show was cheesy but it made me laugh and the fire tricks after the show were awesome. And of course Candi didn't mind the Hula dancers :rotfl:

I think it was exactly what we needed after our (not so great) day. After the show we walked around the Polynesian for a while and then went back to the room and called it a night. Our last day at the world was the next day and we wanted to make sure we were nice and rested for it.....

[tiggersam00]

Ick, I had the flu last week and it totally knocked me out! I hope your feeling better, and that Candi is making you some chicken soup heehee:flower3:

[Jenna :)]

aw your wedding looked incredible!! i'm still waiting on my wedding cd to come in (LONG story about my photographer)

we had a disneymoon too! and were totally disney addicts now! we loved it!!

i can't wait for your next day!!

[ariel1025]

Ick, I had the flu last week and it totally knocked me out! I hope your feeling better, and that Candi is making you some chicken soup heehee:flower3:

Thanks!!! He was a good, nurturing hubby while I was sick :goodvibes

aw your wedding looked incredible!! i'm still waiting on my wedding cd to come in (LONG story about my photographer)

we had a disneymoon too! and were totally disney addicts now! we loved it!!

i can't wait for your next day!!

Awww, that sucks about still waiting on your wedding CD :sad2: When was your Disneymoon? I will have to go check out your TR :goodvibes Thanks for reading!!

[ariel1025]

Hey Everyone!! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, life has gotten in the way lately and just haven't been in a very good mood :sad2: Anyway, I am slowly bouncing back from it all and figured what better place to go to help me feel better :goodvibes

So, it looks like last time I left you we had crawled into bed after our "luau." The next morning I woke up feeling really sad because I knew it was our last day at WDW, but that sadness was also mixed with excitement because we would be heading on our cruise next :woohoo:

We decided for our last full day that we would just take it easy and enjoy whatever came our way. We started out our day by enjoying the concierge breakfast selection and then decided to explore the hotel a little bit. Even though we had been there for a week (and I absolutely loved the WL) we still hadn't really seen it all.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Six/2323232327Ffp5343nu3238349523293-1.jpg
I thought this was the cutest totem pole ever!!!

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Six/P1010583.jpg
Very romantic to just sit and enjoy life with the one you love. In fact we did sit there for a while talking about everything that the week had brought us. Of course we couldn't believe that it had all gone so fast, but we couldn't believe how extra-perfect it had been either :cloud9: That was when Candi told me that he would no longer make fun of me for saying that WDW was a magical place....he was now a believer :laughing:

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Honeymoon%20Day%20Six/P1010585.jpg
After that we crossed my favorite bridge and headed to the boats.

We decided that the best way to end our time at WDW was the same way we ended it.... at Magic Kingdom.

Unfortunately, I don't have any other pictures from this day. We just wanted to enjoy being with each other and not worry about the "perfect picture" etc. We decided that our first stop would be Splash Mountain because I couldn't leave without riding it. After that we went on BTTMR and then roamed around for a while just taking in the sites. I know that we rode a bunch of other stuff including the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Carribean. After that we had lunch at the Plaza Restaurant. That was one of my favorite meals, it was simple but delicious and we had one of the nicest servers ever :goodvibes

We spent most of the day at Magic Kingdom. That night they closed early for Pirates and Princess party, which we almost bought tickets for and then didn't :confused3

After they closed (at 7pm) we headed over to Hollywood Studios...solely to ride Aerosmith :rotfl: We were able to get right on :woohoo: and then basically walked on Tower of Terror as well. Of course I had to go back to Aersomith, the line was pretty long but we waited anyway.

Once I had enough (that word is used very lightly :laughing: ) Aerosmith we decided to go over to Epcot. We really wanted some more fish and chips from Rose and Crown....yummy, yummy, yummy.

When we got there they told us it would be about 15 minutes but promised us a meal we wouldn't forget....and they weren't kidding. We were seated in less than the stated time, outdoors in the center....just in time for Illuminations!!!!!!!! It coudln't have been more perfect...front row seats for an awesome show with our favorite food :cloud9:

It was truly the perfect ending to the WDW portion of our honeymoon....it was completely unplanned, last minute and magical!

We knew that nothing could top that moment so we headed back to the hotel for one last "dip" in our jacuzzi tub and to finish packing up. The cruise line bus would be picking us up bright and early the next morning....

[ariel1025]

Ok, before I continue on to the cruise portion of the honeymoon I wanted to take a second to list my "fives" on certain things. I have seen these on several TRs and they always help me to come up with new things to try etc so I decided I would do it too. Keep in mind, just like everything else in life, it is all a matter of opinion. Just because I loved/hated it doesn't mean you will too, but hopefully it convinces you to try something new anyway :goodvibes

Top Five Experiences:

1. Getting to eat in Cinderella's Castle....I think it was even more special because we truly didn't think we were going to be able to get the reservation

2. Fireworks Table at Rose and Crown....once again a complete surprise...love that Disney magic :goodvibes

3. Dolphins in Depth....I don't know if I would do it again anytime soon because it is pretty pricey but it was definitely worth it

4. Conceirge Level at Wilderness Lodge...everything about Wilderness Lodge...seriously you MUST stay there!!!

5. Walking down Main Street with Candi for the first time:cloud9:

Bottom Five Experiences:

1. Dinner at Hollywood and Vine...it was completely awful from start to finish and I hated that fact even more because it was a gift from my Aunt (Fantasmic Package on our honeymoon registry) so I almost felt guilty that I hated it so much :mad:

2. Sounds Dangerous Drew Carey show...seriously a waste of my time

3. The school kids in the Everest line at Animal Kingdom....again, I want to remind you I love kids but these were out of line

4. The over the top angry parents at Soarin and in World Showcase...again, I understand discipline but they took it too far (IMO)

5. Perfume in my eye at the Perfume shop :sad2:

I Can't Believe We Missed That:


1. WISHES...what were we thinking :confused3

2. Goofy's Candy Co

3. All the souveniers we meant to go back for and forgot :sad2:

4. The majority of Animal Kingdom Park :lmao: Now, I understand and still am glad that we left when we did, because it was just a rotten day, but I definitely want to spend more time there on our upcoming trip

5. knowing the DIS existed before we went on our honeymoon...I so wish I would have had ya'll when I was planning everything!!!

[tiggersam00]

Just caught up on your updates Shannon!
I am in shock about the kids at AK!!! That is ridiculous! I am glad they got asked to leave. AT least you had the awesome WL to go back to!:goodvibes Dave and I are staying there for 3 nights before our wedding now!
Love the lists!
The top 5 are awesome, I havent done the dolphin tour but from your TR it sounded great! All the rest I am in complete aggreement on:cool1:

The one thing from your top 5 missed that I can totally aggree with is missing Goofys Candy Co! I am making sure I visit this soon!:thumbsup2

[ariel1025]

Just caught up on your updates Shannon!
I am in shock about the kids at AK!!! That is ridiculous! I am glad they got asked to leave. AT least you had the awesome WL to go back to!:goodvibes Dave and I are staying there for 3 nights before our wedding now!
Love the lists!
The top 5 are awesome, I havent done the dolphin tour but from your TR it sounded great! All the rest I am in complete aggreement on:cool1:

The one thing from your top 5 missed that I can totally aggree with is missing Goofys Candy Co! I am making sure I visit this soon!:thumbsup2

I know this response is a million years late (do you see a trend with my thought process today :laughing:) but I wanted to respond anyway. I can't wait to hear how you and Dave like WL after your planning session trip, in fact I'm anxious to hear how Jen will like it too :goodvibes I also can't wait to hear about your Goofys Candy Co experience that you will get to have in just a few short days :thumbsup2

I am working on an update to finally finish up this TR now, hopefully you will stick around...I promise not to take so long to update anymore :rotfl:

[ariel1025]

First, my most sincere apologies to everyone for taking so long to do an update. I know that it drives me nuts to have to wait on updates when I read through my subscribed TRs and it was awful of me to do that to you guys:sad2:

However, I am determined to finish this TR by the time our one year anniversary arrives. I have to admit I am shocked in how quickly that is coming. Less than 2 months away!!!!!!!

Ok, now on with the show....

I believe the last I had left off we had just been fallen asleep after what we considered the perfect ending to a spectacular honeymoon at WDW :goodvibes

Well, the next morning we had to be up bright and early...we hadn't finished packing up our suitcases and we had to meet the bus for our departure to the Disney Cruise Line. I just want to stop here and say that, yes I know it cost extra to use their bus system, but it is SO worth it. If you rented a car that would cost, if you got a taxi it would cost etc, etc. To me there is just something magical about the Disney buses and this was no exception. But, now I'm getting ahead of myself....

Well, the alarm went off extremely early and when I picked up the phone and knew that was the last time Stitch would be waking me up I started crying and I couldn't stop. The more I tried to calm myself down the worse it got. I know this all sounds silly but I felt extremely sad that we were leaving Disney World that day. I decided to go take a bath to try to relax which was starting to help but then...Candi walked in and said "I can't believe this is the last time we will have a jacuzzi tub" ... yep, the waterworks started all over again. He felt awful and I know he didn't realize I had woke up crying because he was still sleeping, but he was right and it made me sad. I pretty much cried the entire morning...while brushing my teeth, while packing ... you get the picture. After we finished packing we headed downstairs with our luggage to wait for the cruise bus. Now, I understand that it is pretty selfish to be crying when we have this wonderful cruise ahead of us, but it all went by so fast...you ladies understand right? Well, we are sitting there with our luggage when Candi tells me he forgot his hat in the room and he will be right back.

Well he returns about ten minutes later with two plates of food and a Diet Coke (yes, I drink Coke for breakfast :rolleyes1) and tells me to join him in front of the fireplace. He knew how much I loved getting the concierge breakfast for us every morning before I woke him up and so he decided to be the one to bring it to me on our last day :hug: I hadn't even thought about getting breakfast because I was so upset. This is why I love this man so much :lovestruc

After we finished our breakfast we knew that it was about time to leave so we took one last picture before we headed outside

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/2323232327Ffp5343nu3238349523293494.jpg

But don't let the smiles fool ya...they were fake...this is how Candi looked when he didn't realize the camera was taking his picture

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/2323232327Ffp53432nu323834952329349.jpg

Yep he was just as sad as me :sad1:

Well, after our final pictures in the lodge we followed our bus director outside with the other guests that would be joining us on the cruise and prepared for the next portion of our honeymoon....

[teddygurl28]

yeye! your back! i found your trip report about a month ago and i fell in love reading it. im so excited you were able to update some more. i feel you about having to leave..no matter how long you are there its never long enough ...haha.....and ps coke for breakfast is always good!:thumbsup2

[ariel1025]

yeye! your back! i found your trip report about a month ago and i fell in love reading it. im so excited you were able to update some more. i feel you about having to leave..no matter how long you are there its never long enough ...haha.....and ps coke for breakfast is always good!:thumbsup2


Awww, thank you for the sweet comment :goodvibes I'm glad to know that I still have at least one reader out there!! See, I knew Coke for breakfast wasn't weird :rotfl:

I see you have a wedding ticker up...congratulations:flower3: Where are you going to be having your wedding? Do you/will you have a pre-TR?

[ariel1025]

Well, our time at Wilderness Lodge had come to an end and it was now time for the second part of our wonderful honeymoon escape. We were going to be boarding the Disney Wonder for our 5 Day cruise. So, we followed our bus director out of the Wilderness Lodge and into the bus. Just like with the Magical Express they loaded up all our luggage and told us to take what we needed now because we wouldn't be seeing it again for a while. We were assured that it would appear in our stateroom before dinner that night. Luckily, I had done my research and knew this already so we held onto the same carry on that we use for flights and handed over the rest of the luggage. Unfortunately, several people either forgot or were not aware of this and began digging through their suitcases for anything they couldn't bare to part with for more than a couple hours. Once again, Candi told me how glad he was that I spent so much time preparing for this trip:hug: Now, why oh why hadn't I found the Dis before then :confused3:sad2:

Anywhooo.....we loaded up onto the bus and sat across the aisle from a very friendly couple who were also celebrating their honeymoon. We talked to them for a few minutes and then I proceeded to take a little nap on Candi's shoulder while we traveled to Port Canaveral. I have no idea how long this drive was because I was asleep before we left WDW property :rotfl: I was woken up by Candi screaming "Shanz {that's his nickname for me} hurry!! wake-up, you don't want to miss this" And he was right...when I opened my eyes this is what I saw

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010589.jpg
Oops, I was still so tired that I didn't even pay attention to the fact that I might actually want a picture of the ENTIRE ship :laughing: Oh well, that was the important part of the ship anyway :thumbsup2

Finally, I started to feel that much anticipated, so excited, little kid feeling about the cruise. In many ways I feel sad that I didn't feel that right away when we left for the cruise. But, it was just one of those bitersweet situations.

After leaving the bus we stood in line for security check and all that good stuff. We were given strict instructions not to take any pictures or our cameras would be confinscated :scared1: Needless to say I didn't take any chances! The line moved rather slow but we had a nice chat with a couple behind us. Or at least the Husband of the couple behind us. He noticed our "Just Married" pins (yep, we wore them on the cruise too) and started asking us about the wedding. Well, for whatever reason this made his Wife start nagging at him about how embarassing he is. That you shouldn't just start a conversation with anybody you run into and that he was probably ruining our day :confused: Because of her statements I continued our conversation with him but made sure to have increased enthusiasm about the conversation...crazy lady, can't a guy just be nice, it wasn't like the line was going anywhere anyway :rolleyes1

Well, we finally come upon our turn to go through security and as I start to walk through the metal detector one of the security guys screams "Ma'am what do you think you're doing?" :eek: Oops, I forgot to take my pin off my shirt and I guess he thought it was the end of the world :rotfl2: I stepped back, took it off and put it on the conveyor belt and proceeded back through the metal detector. On the other side I made sure to put the pin back on...in front of the same security guy :laughing: I guess I was just feeling a little testy that morning :rolleyes1

After making it through security we proceeded into the "lobby" of the cruise registration building...what the heck is that building called???

Anyway, I went to go stand in line to get our room keys and such while Candi sat with our carry on baggage. I figured it was only fair since he stood in line at the airport for Magical Express. The only difference.....he walked straight up and I stood in a line about 100 people long :lmao:

Well, finally it was my turn and I give the nice lady all of our documents and she asks me "Did you receive our phone call about your time with us?"

Now, do ya'll remember WAY back in the beginning on the first day of our time at WDW when I received the super-secret phone call while waiting in line for the Stitch ride? Ya know, the one that caused us to leave our CRT pics on our seats when we left the ride because we were in such a hurry to hear the message? Come on...you remember don't ya? Think about it...think about it...there...ya got it right?

Well, that is the phone call this nice CM was talking about........

I replied "yes ma'am I did" and we continued the check in process. She let me know that we would be in the third boarding group and when they called our letter to head on over to the much anticipated tunnel entrance thingy (that's a technical term just so ya know :lmao:).

After getting all of our documents and room keys and such, I met Candi over at his seat to wait. While we were waiting for our boarding number to be called we talked about our time at WDW. This is the point where we decided what the best and "worst" memories were so far and how lucky we had been with everything. Then we started talking about the cruise and how amazing we knew it was going to be .... and I tried not to dwell on the fact that in five days everything would be over and we would have to go back to the "real world."

Soon enough it was our turn to board the ship and we both skipped over to the tunnel thingy (ok, I skipped ... Candi walked behind me like he didn't have a clue who the crazy girl in front of him was :rolleyes1). We took our picture (which unfortunately didn't look good at all ... which was sad because I had all intentions of buying it ... guess that's what I get for crying all morning :laughing:). Then we were announced in and the staff all clapped and cheered...it was tons of fun!! We were notified that our stateroom would be ready at 3:00 pm and that we could roam the ship or have lunch at either Parrot Cay or the Beach Blanket Buffet. We opted for the buffet and decided to grab a seat outside (of which there were few to choose from). But it was worth it because we got to enjoy these beautiful surroundings

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010593.jpg

I have to admit the food was just "ok" but the desserts were amazing!! After eating we decided to roam the ship for a little while before the Bon Voyage Party began....

[teddygurl28]

Thanks...im going to start a pj/trip report...everything! when i start planning :rotfl:theres a long story behind it all, which will all be amusing at a much later time im sure......

isnt seeing the boat for the first time amazing! ive never been on a disney boat :sad2: but when i cruise on carnival i love pulling up to the boat!

oh yeh--edited to add: im having a home wedding ( venue tbd), then spending 10 days at the yacht or beach club

[tiggersam00]

just read you latest entry... I am so wanting a disney cruise! I am super excited to hear about you adventure on the high seas lol!

[ariel1025]

Thanks...im going to start a pj/trip report...everything! when i start planning :rotfl:theres a long story behind it all, which will all be amusing at a much later time im sure......

isnt seeing the boat for the first time amazing! ive never been on a disney boat :sad2: but when i cruise on carnival i love pulling up to the boat!

oh yeh--edited to add: im having a home wedding ( venue tbd), then spending 10 days at the yacht or beach club

Oooh, I can't wait until you start your pj...even though my wedding has been over for a long time I LOVE reading about everyone's planning process!!

What an awesome honeymoon to look forward to, I want to stay at the beach club one day...it looks so "homey" and romantic :lovestruc

just read you latest entry... I am so wanting a disney cruise! I am super excited to hear about you adventure on the high seas lol!

You definitely have to go on a Disney cruise..they are SO much fun!!!

[ariel1025]

With full bellies....mostly of awesome desserts :thumbsup2 we decided to head on up to the pool deck to see what was going on. We knew the Adventure's Away Party couldn't be too far away and, of course, I was super duper excited for it. Clearly, I was not the only one, the deck was booming with excitement when we got up there!!

The actual sail away party hadn't begun yet so I took the opportunity to "soak up the scenery" .... with pictures of course :goodvibes

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010587.jpg
Who wouldn't want to go down a water slide being held up by Mickey's hand???

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010590.jpg
I'm positive Candi was daydreaming about all the sports he wanted to watch on a TV that large :rotfl:

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010591.jpg
:lovestruc The best scenery of all IMHO :lovestruc

I stood there for a few minutes just watching Candi take everything in and I started crying (yes, I realize this is no longer a surprise to anyone :laughing:) but at that very minute it hit me how truly lucky I was. It didn't matter anymore about any of the negative things that had happened, how bad any of the food was, how broke we were at that point (thank goodness most things on the cruise are "free")....all that mattered is that we were together and would be for the rest of our lives:cloud9:

I was suddenly pulled out of my sappy state by an uproar of screams, laughter and shrieks of delight. I joined Candi by the ledge and realized this was why

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010594.jpg
The Adventures Away Party was starting!!!!

Oh my goodness, it was so much fun :goodvibes There were tons of characters and music and dancing and a whole bunch of the crew got on stage and just brought so much enthusiasm out of everybody. And then to set sail properly

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010598.jpg
The one and only, Mickey Mouse!!! It was happening....we were beginning the second portion of our trip...it was official!!! And, yes I needed Mickey to prove it :laughing:

[tiggersam00]

Aww thats so cute! I cry too so I can totalllllly relate to your sappy moments, and I love it! The sail away party looks so cute:goodvibes

[ariel1025]

Aww thats so cute! I cry too so I can totalllllly relate to your sappy moments, and I love it! The sail away party looks so cute:goodvibes

It really was very cute...they had all sorts of characters dancing and the cruise director came out and talked to everyone, there was confetti and streamers and the all important...drink of the day YUM :thumbsup2

[tiggersam00]

It really was very cute...they had all sorts of characters dancing and the cruise director came out and talked to everyone, there was confetti and streamers and the all important...drink of the day YUM :thumbsup2

Drink of the Day you say, now your speaking my language!

[ariel1025]

Hi Ladies! I am feeling a little icky today, but I wanted to try and get an update posted before the end of the week. Just a warning...it may be a short one!

So, last we left off "Captain Mickey" was throwing an awesome party to get this cruise started on the right foot. We had decided to go one deck up and view the party from up there, which I recommend if you want to see the stage and not just the ginormous TV (which would look great in my living room:rotfl:). Anyway, we are up there dancing and twirling our streamers and enjoying a super yummy drink made of rum and something...does it really matter what else when there's rum involved?:rotfl2: As I am standing there enjoying my yummy drink Candi screams, "Oh my gosh, look who's down there!!!!!" To which I say "yes Babe I see Mickey" and he goes "no loooooooooooooookkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!"

Keep in mind the area he was pointing to looked like this
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010597.jpg

So, I'm like "babe you are going to have to be more specific" And he goes "It's Juwan Howard" to which I go "babe you are going to have to be more specific :lmao:" He then tells me (in much longer form) "oh my lord babe, he is only one of the best NBA players EVER!!!!"

***for this next portion of the conversation please keep in mind that at this point I might have had more than one drink of the day :rolleyes1

So, I finally figure out he is not pointing at the crowd but at two guys off to the side of the crowd. One of them was an incredibly tall guy and then a very, very short guy and I go "well, which one is Juwan":lmao: Ooops, blonde moment...but hey, there could always be another Mugsy Bogues in the NBA right?????

Well, after Candi got over being star struck we realized it was about time for our room to become available. So, we decided to start heading that way. However, we got very turned around and lost along the way...that darn ship was very confusing for me to navigate:confused3

We finally, found the correct elevator and are getting ready to head to our deck when somebody asks us to hold the elevator...it was none other than Jawan Howard!! And, of course, Candi turns into a little kid and has this huge grin on his face but no words will come out. Juwan even tells us Congratulations (we still had on our pins) and Candi can't even get a "thank you" out....no worries I did it for him:thumbsup2 Then I realize that he never pushed an elevator button so I ask him what floor and .... it was our floor! We get off on the right deck and head to our room and I notice Juwan is right behind us all the way down the hallway.....his room was RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO OURS!!!!! Candi was in heaven....that over excitement was for him, not me, by the way :rotfl: Not that I didn't think it was cool, but half of me was wondering why he didn't get a suite and half of me was trying not to do anything stupid in front of a famous person :laughing:

Well, Candi was still so excited and star struck that it took him almost 20 minutes to realize that our room had this
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010605.jpghttp://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010604.jpg

We had only paid for a regular ocean view but WE HAD BEEN UPGRADED TO A PRIVATE VERANDAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is what the super secret phone call had been about on our first day in WDW, but I had told Candi that we had gotten excited over nothing because they were just verifying our cruise dates for us....oops, I guess I lied after only being married to him for 3 days :rolleyes1

I wasn't upset at all that it took him so long to notice though, I found it super cute that he was so excited over seeing an NBA player "in real life." I knew that it made the trip even more special for him :hug:

After jumping up and down and screaming over how great the upgrade was the announcement came on for the safety drill. So life jackets on and we were off to our designated drill area, which, for us was Animator's Palate. I know it's silly, but I was so excited to have our drill here because I couldn't wait to see what the restaurant looked like. It was just as cute as I had thought it would be, but more on that later.

Coming up next....dinner and a show!!

[Jenna :)]

yay!!!

omg my dh is going to be sooo freaking jealous when i tell him who you met on the cruise!!

ahhh!

[ariel1025]

yay!!!

omg my dh is going to be sooo freaking jealous when i tell him who you met on the cruise!!

ahhh!

LOL!! My husband was seriously like a little kid every time we saw him (he pops up later on in our TR too). I couldn't stop laughing about it, I was like, "babe he's just a person" and he goes "I can't believe you just said that, he is NOT just a person he's an NBA PLAYER" and he would always emphasize the last part...it was SO funny :rotfl:

[ariel1025]

Hey everyone, I wanted to get an update in before tomorrow because my parents are coming to town :woohoo: and I won't be around the boards until later next week ... I think I may go through DIS withdrawals :rotfl:

Alright, welp, last time I left ya we had just had a totally awesome run in with a basketball player and got to run around our ship in the totally awesome and very trendy life vests

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/2323232327Ffp533nu32383495232934942.jpg
I mean seriously doesn't everyone look like a stud muffin in this thing :rotfl:

Ok, ok maybe it's only my husband that can pull off that wonderful bright orange ;)

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010651.jpg

He slightly disagreed with me on the option to wear it to dinner :confused3 so he decided to make himself all snazzy because we had major big plans tonight.

First, it was off to our very first show of the cruise... "The Golden Mickeys" I was super excited...I love this type of stuff. Unfortunately, we didn't realize the importance of getting to the show EARLY :rolleyes1 so we had to enjoy our first show sitting on the steps on the far left side of the theatre :headache: I will admit, this made me slightly irritated. I mean, I understand that everyone wants to see the show, but I just thought that the whole reason they split dinner and show times was so that there was room for everyone. Oh well, but just so nobody else makes the same mistake as me, GET THERE EARLY TO GET A SEAT!!!

Ok, no more whining I promise....

Back to the show...I don't want to ruin the story line for anybody who hasn't seen it so I will just post my favorite pictures...sorry for the lack of quality my camera is not the best low light camera out there.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010612.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010614.jpg
How often do you get to see Goofy all spiffed out? I mean seriously isn't he just the cutest dressed like that?

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010619.jpg
I love me some Dopey!!!!

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010632.jpg
She was an AMAZING Cruella, I mean, she played the part PERFECTLY!!!

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010650.jpg


I really enjoyed the show (even siting on the floor ;)). I liked how it incorporated all the characters and the dances were really, really cute. Oh, and the theatre is really neat too...they even have people that go around all dressed up and take drink orders and snack orders and stuff...very cool. Candi said that depending on this show it would determine how willing he was to come to a show every night (so not his thing) and afterwards he said "you're in luck my love, I enjoyed it a lot." And, trust me that's saying a lot :laughing:

We had some time after the show before our dinner so we did one of my most favorite things in the world

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010652.jpg
IT'S BINGO TIME!!!! I don't care how dorky it makes me, I seriously love to play Bingo. On the cruise it's even more fun. First of all, you could win some major cool stuff like Disney movies, spa passes, shipboard credits, excursions and money :woohoo: but even more importantly the Bingo caller had SO much energy and made it very fun. Whenever you only had one number left to get Bingo you had to stand up and do a dance that she called out. Well, I had one number left EVERY round so I got to do the twist, the mashed potato AND the sprinkler (think white people dance :lmao:). Did I mention I had a couple more drinks of the day while playing Bingo???? I might have done these dances with increased enthusiasm :rolleyes1 Sadly, I never won but I still had a ton of fun and that's all that matters to me!!!

After Bingo it was time to eat and for our first night on the cruise we had reservations at

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010658.jpg

One word for this....YUM!!! Everything was so good from the appetizer to the entree to the dessert. We enjoyed everthing...oh and they don't just bring you one of anything, they bring you lots of appetizers to try etc. It was the perfect first night to our cruise. And, we had timed our reservation perfect too because while we were enjoying our romantic night in Palo this was our scenery outside the window

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010656.jpg

Does it get any better than this???????

Well, they definitely try to make it better...with our dessert they brought us this

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010657.jpg

SO SWEET!! And it just proves that the Disney magic exists at sea AND on land :goodvibes

After we stuffed ourselves silly at Palo we decided to call it a night. We came back to our stateroom to this

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20One/P1010662.jpg

It was the perfect first day onboard the Disney Wonder!!!!

[tiggersam00]

haha I was laughing at your last post Shannon, I would have had no clue who he was eithier! Oh well! I am loving your TR, it makes me really want to do a disney cruise, even though I am super scared becuase I get seasick... oh well we will see I guess:goodvibes

[Princess Sarah 92]

hello there, im a little obsessed with weddings :cutie: and i stumbled across this thread not too long ago and fell in love with it lol. now im new to this site so i dont know how to do that little quote thing but just a little things i wanted to say:

1. i laughed so hard when i read about you getting ready for your wedding and your friends husband or whatever walked in :rotfl:

2. i gave my computer a dirty look when i read that some of the girls in your party ate your chocolate covered strawberries! personally, i dont like strawberries but if someone did that with my gift, i think i would go a little crazy :furious:

anyways just wanted to tell you i love reading this! and the cruise looks awesome!

[ariel1025]

haha I was laughing at your last post Shannon, I would have had no clue who he was eithier! Oh well! I am loving your TR, it makes me really want to do a disney cruise, even though I am super scared becuase I get seasick... oh well we will see I guess:goodvibes

OMG, Sam you really should try a Disney Cruise. The Disney Magic won't let you get seasick :genie: <--- See, look, that's the "no sea sickness genie" ;) Have you ever done a cruise before?

hello there, im a little obsessed with weddings :cutie: and i stumbled across this thread not too long ago and fell in love with it lol. now im new to this site so i dont know how to do that little quote thing but just a little things i wanted to say:

1. i laughed so hard when i read about you getting ready for your wedding and your friends husband or whatever walked in :rotfl:

2. i gave my computer a dirty look when i read that some of the girls in your party ate your chocolate covered strawberries! personally, i dont like strawberries but if someone did that with my gift, i think i would go a little crazy :furious:

anyways just wanted to tell you i love reading this! and the cruise looks awesome!

Hello and welcome :goodvibes I still laugh when I think about my friend's (now) Husband walking in on us...it was so embarassing at the time though! Thanks for reading, I hope you stick around!!

[ariel1025]

Holy Moly, I have to hurry up if I'm gonna stick to my promise of finishing this before we celebrate our Anniversary :eek:

It looks like when I last left off we had just drifted to sleep after our first day aboard the Disney Wonder. Now, I was slightly worried that once I laid down to sleep that I would notice the movement of the ship, but I never did :thumbsup2 I was, however, exhausted and fell asleep in about 10 seconds flat. I woke up to "When you Wish Upon A Star" being played over the intercom followed by our cruise director letting us know that we had docked in Castaway Cay :banana:

I immediately ran onto our (upgraded) verandah and saw the most beautiful sight in the whole world

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20Two/P1010666.jpg

It was absolutely breathtaking! I stayed out there for quite a while observing the surrounds while I let Candi sleep a little longer. How he slept through the intercom I will never know :confused3 Once I couldn't handle it any longer I pounced on the bed and let Candi know it was time to wake up.

We decided to grab some breakfast on the ship first because we knew we had a big day ahead of us. So, we went up to the buffet and had some Mickey waffles and juice and then proceeded out to the island :cloud9:

Our first order of duty was some snorkeling!!!!!!! I was so excited about this, but Candi was really nervous. He isn't a very strong swimmer and he was really nervous about going out into the ocean. I assured him that he would be fine (I had been trying to teach him in our pool before we left) and we came up with some hand signals for each other so we could communicate under water. As we ventured off the ship and towards the gear stand to get our snorkels and fins we, of course, had to stop and admire this

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20Two/2323232327Ffp53432nu323834952329-1.jpg

I think it's so cool that it was actually used to film the movie and now it was here for me to see!! I contemplated getting in line to take a picture with "Captain Jack" but decided I was too impatient and wanted to get into the water. We checked out our gear and were still lucky enough to grab a hammock that was empty :cool1: I had heard that the hammocks go quickly, so I figured that since we got a late start there wouldn't be anymore, but I guess it was our lucky day. We reviewed our hand signals one more time and then started making our way into the ocean.

OMG!!!!! It was so much fun!! Now, I realize if you were to do more serious snorkeling you could find way cooler fish and other sea creatures, but Disney makes their lagoon so awesome with all their underwater "treasures."

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20Two/IMG_08301.jpg
This, I believe, is from the movie 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.

They also had all sorts of sunken ship pieces, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and different plaques with different sayings on them....oh, and of course fish. Unfortunately, my underwater camera worked like poo so most of my pictures didn't come out :sad2:

I turned around to make sure Candi was doing ok

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20Two/IMG_08291.jpg

And he was :goodvibes

So, I motioned for him to go out further with me. He was hesitant, so I grabbed his hand and we went as far as they allowed (it's roped off at a certain point). Then Candi goes up above water for a minute and I continue to look around. All of a sudden he tugs on my arm so I come up to the surface to find out what's going on. Then he asks me how come everyone else's vest look "bigger" than his. I asked him what he meant and he said "ours look really flat, but some of the other people's look bigger." I told him it was because they blew theirs up......OH NO!!! He started freaking out and immediately lost control....IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN!!

*** See the life vests had to be manually inflated, but I intentionally didn't inflate mine so I could swim under the surface easier. Well, I am a BAD wife and I forgot to tell Candi to inflate his.

Anyway, just knowing in his head that his life vest wasn't inflated caused him to panic. I quickly swam underneath him and aired up his vest (very hard to blow up under water by the way) and then I flipped him over onto his back so he could float and catch his breathe. The lifeguard got there about this time and I assured him everything was ok. Needless to say Candi was kind of mad at me for a little bit. We swam back to shore and laid in the hammock while he calmed down (both of anger and panic). Now, I'm not saying that it wasn't scary what happened, but it just proves that it was mind over matter with his swimming. He was swimming GREAT until he realized he didn't have his life vest inflated, plus HELLO!! what good did you think a "flat" life vest would do? :lmao:

He calmed down quickly and we decided it was time to grab some lunch. WE went over to Cookie's BBQ and had some super yummy BBQ food. They had all sorts of foods and we chowed down. In my opinion, this was WAY better than the food from the buffet that we had for lunch the day before. After we were good and full we decided to explore Castaway Cay for a little bit.

I don't have anymore pictures for this portion of the day but Castaway Cay is beautiful. For those who may not know, it is Disney's own PRIVATE island and the only people there are the workers and the guests on the Disney cruise :thumbsup2 It's also split into several areas (family beach, adults only beach etc).

We had an amazing time just walking around enjoying the scenery. However, there were some amazing adventures coming up that would allow us to see Castaway Cay from a whole new angle!!

[disneygirlsx3]

We had an amazing time just walking around enjoying the scenery. However, there were some amazing adventures coming up that would allow us to see Castaway Cay from a whole new angle!!

popcorn::

Hello-I'm hooked and patiently waiting for me please.

Thank you for sharing your trip,
Jennifer

[ariel1025]

popcorn::

Hello-I'm hooked and patiently waiting for me please.

Thank you for sharing your trip,
Jennifer

Thanks for reading!! Sorry about the long delay, we have been out of town and then my job decided to double my workload as punishment for going on vacation :rotfl:

Update is being worked on now :goodvibes

[ariel1025]

As we were walking around enjoying the beautiful scenery of Castaway Cay (and we wouldn't realize how much we had missed until we got back home ... that place is MUCH bigger than it seems) we realized we should probably check-in for our very first excursion of the cruise. We packed up all the things we wouldn't need and headed towards our check-in building. That's when I realized we didn't have our excursion "ticket" :scared1:

*** You see, for every excursion you book they give you a "ticket" for each person participating in the excursion that you give to the check-in place so that they know you are being charged for that excursions ***

Well, we didn't have ours so I took off racing to from Castaway Cay to our stateroom to try and find it. I made it to our room in record time and start searching all over for it. I look in the last place I remember seeing it (before taking it on the island, because I am POSITIVE that I did) and it wasn't there. I checked the safe ... not there. I checked our suitcases ... not there. You get the idea right? IT WASN'T ANYWHERE!!!!!!!!!! I am getting really upset and know that there is only 5 more minutes before everyone has to be checked in for the excursion which, of course, makes me more upset. So, I race back to where Candi is waiting and he knows I couldn't find them because I am crying at this point. We decide to go the the check-in podium and ask them if there is anything we can do, to which they say we have to have the tickets to participate. Now I am crying uncontrollably at this point then right at that minute my angel walks by ... our cruise director ... he sees me crying and finds out what is going on. We explain our situation to him and he gets on his walkie talkie and fixes everything :cloud9: Apparently he had the front desk look up the charges to see what excursions we paid for and all was well with the world. I cannot think him enough. Not only was the excursion pretty pricey but it was the one Candi and I were most looking forward to!!

Crisis averted, we made our way onto our little speedboat and headed out into the open waters. We are on the boat with the two workers and then 5 of our cruise-mates (again, all Disney cruisers :goodvibes). We are all given life jackets (these were the "non flat" version :rotfl2:) and they go over safety instructions and then we are ready to go. Candi and I volunteered to go first and I ask one of our super nice cruise-mates to take pictures for me.

** Keep in mind these are scans of pictures from a disposable camera so they aren't the best.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20Two/IMG_08271.jpg
I love how you can see the cruise ship behind us :goodvibes

Let me tell you, parasailing is one of the most amazing things I have ever done! We truly felt so relaxed and free while we were in the air. It was so amazing to see everything from that viewpoint and it was also super fun when they dipped us in the water several times before bringing us back to the boat.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m276/shanz1025/Cruise%20Day%20Two/IMG_08281.jpg

All too soon they brought us back down (we were in the air for about 5-10 minutes I think). Well, the only thing Candi had been worried about is landing back on the boat (you come down with a relative amount of speed) and he was worried that it would cause him to twist his ankle. So, about 3 seconds after this picture was shot he lifted both his feet and grabbed me "piggy back" style. Oh my lordy, I thought I was going to be doing somesaults all the way down the boat. I was not expecting that extra weight, but I somehow managed to gain control and keep us from flipping into the laps of our passengers. Geez, that boy, who does he think I am? Superwoman?? :rotfl:

After, the parasailing excursion was over we decided to head on in to take a nap before dinner. We knew that we would be getting a second day at Castaway Cay and there was only about an hour left before everyone was required to get back on board anyway. It was only about 3:00, but we had already enjoyed a very full day of fun and we were both pretty tired. Once we got back on the ship we took turns taking showers and then settled in to take a quick nap ....

[disneygirlsx3]

Well, we didn't have ours so I took off racing to from Castaway Cay to our stateroom to try and find it. I made it to our room in record time and start searching all over for it. I look in the last place I remember seeing it (before taking it on the island, because I am POSITIVE that I did) and it wasn't there. I checked the safe ... not there. I checked our suitcases ... not there. You get the idea right? IT WASN'T ANYWHERE!!!!!!!!!! I am getting really upset and know that there is only 5 more minutes before everyone has to be checked in for the excursion which, of course, makes me more upset. So, I race back to where Candi is waiting and he knows I couldn't find them because I am crying at this point. We decide to go the the check-in podium and ask them if there is anything we can do, to which they say we have to have the tickets to participate. Now I am crying uncontrollably at this point then right at that minute my angel walks by ... our cruise director ... he sees me crying and finds out what is going on. We explain our situation to him and he gets on his walkie talkie and fixes everything :cloud9: Apparently he had the front desk look up the charges to see what excursions we paid for and all was well with the world. I cannot think him enough. Not only was the excursion pretty pricey but it was the one Candi and I were most looking forward to!!

Let me tell you, parasailing is one of the most amazing things I have ever done! We truly felt so relaxed and free while we were in the air. It was so amazing to see everything from that viewpoint and it was also super fun when they dipped us in the water several times before bringing us back to the boat.

HI- Your back! I know life gets busy when you are having fun.

Oh no! Did you ever find your tickets afterwards? Thank God for your cruise director! I would love to do this excursion but I will be getting married on CC that day. I might be able to squeeze it in but my hair and makeup will be done so I don't know.:confused:.

I hope all is well & look forward to hearing more.

:hippie:, :love:, & :goodvibes
Jennifer