snow_white725
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2008
I love the update!
Tricia & Reuben 4.29.08 WP/Narcoossee's/Grand 1 TR - Day 8 - Our trip is at the end
- Thread starter disprincessatheart
- Start date
disprincessatheart
I was a Disney Bride 4.29.08
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
Glad it wasn't just me thinking that was wrong!
In their defense, that was the plan the whole time, Mom and Dad paid for everything else, DH and I paid for dinner, but they could have at least waited until I paid before they all headed out to the Grand 1!
disprincessatheart
I was a Disney Bride 4.29.08
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
From dinner we went straight across the Grand Floridian grounds to the Grand 1. On our first day of our stay at the GF, I dragged DF over to the Grand to see it up close - come on, it was docked out our window, I had to go see it! They had been very sweet and let us go onboard and check everything out. I was really glad we did that becuase I'd been wanting to wear my dress, but getting on the boat in it would have been a nightmare, and I would have been very limited in where I could go and would have taken up WAY too much room! Anyway, I already knew some of the magic we were in for, but besides us no one else had seen it in person and most didn't know that "fireworks cruise" from the invite meant cruise on a yacht!! 
We got to the marnina right on time, DH came over with my change of shoes and a jacket 
and my dad and I went over to the little window where you check in and pay. As we were walking up, several other groups were boarding pontoon boats for their Wishes cruises that night. And now I have to share the story that was told at least 100 times the rest of that week and probably more since then. (sorry if I already mentioned this elsewhere) While my dad is paying, my aunt comes over and thanks my dad for getting us the BIG boat for our cruise and laughs. My dad and I both say, "You're welcome". She replies with "No, I mean that big one over there". I don't think she actually belived us until I headed down the dock and DH and I got on board. It was pretty funny at the time, and apparently funny after the fact for most of our guests. I guess they all assumed that we were doing a pontoon too, so it was very cool that we had the Grand 1.
The crew were great, we drove all over the 7 seas lagoon and Bay Lake. We went out from the marina, took a right and went down in front of the GF, the WP, the Poly, then over the water bridge to the WL, saw the back of the CR, then back over the water bridge and around to finally park in front of the MK, dead center with the castle about 5 minutes before Wishes started. Here are the shots I have digitally, including some where apparently my sister and her kids explored the boat!
The entire evening was perfect. It was so relaxing and a nice way to really take in the day!! I love Wishes so it was also really nice to get to see it from a different perspective and to have a comfy seat, not fighting a crowd with the music just right so you could hear all of it!!
We stayed out there for the start of the electric water pagent too, which everyone thought was cool as well! Then we headed back in. We were the last boat to return and it really felt like we got more than the 1 hour we had paid for! Everyone loved it and the coolest thing was that even for the guests who had been to Disney a bunch of times (my one aunt and uncle are owners at SSR I think, and my family has been at least 10 times) it was something totally new and that you wouldn't get at ANY other wedding! And for us, it was so much cheaper than an Illuminations DP!
Once we got off the boat, DH and his brother ran back to our room (it was in the adjacent building) and got all the extra cake for everyone. We decided to walk them all back to the WP to get their cars and say our goodnights. I really didn't want the night to end!!!
DH and I walked back to our room slowly to take in the night. We considered a dip in the hot tub (as we do every night on every trip, and never seem to do it) but we were both starting to feel the excitment of the day turning to exhaustion!! WE went back to our room, opened a couple of cards and spent some time talking about how perfect our day was. DH told me that after he'd dropped me off in the morning he'd gone to the GF pool and read the paper for a while before heading up to the room to get ready (a very relaxing thing for him!) For a couple of months prior we'd been discussing how he would get to the WP for the ceremony. He wanted to walk
so he could arrive early, but I was insisting that it was too far to walk in the Florida heat in a tux and that he neede to let the limo pick him up from the GF lobby. Everyone else agreed with me, though he never gave in. When I finally had to give Tanis our schedule for the limo, I had it pick up DF's family from Coronado, then go to the GF lobby to pick up DF and drop them all at the WP before coming for me. I told DF that he could just call his family and tell them if he was already on his way to the WP on his own. He told me that night that he was planning to walk, but the walk from our room to the lobby was so warm that he decided to wait for the limo. I was happy to hear that I was right 
and that he was already accepting that his wife knew what was best for him!
Ok, after that story, he helped me take out all my bobby pins and we went to bed exhausted but SO happy!!!
Next up: MK as a married couple!!
We got to the marnina right on time, DH came over with my change of shoes and a jacket and my dad and I went over to the little window where you check in and pay. As we were walking up, several other groups were boarding pontoon boats for their Wishes cruises that night. And now I have to share the story that was told at least 100 times the rest of that week and probably more since then. (sorry if I already mentioned this elsewhere) While my dad is paying, my aunt comes over and thanks my dad for getting us the BIG boat for our cruise and laughs. My dad and I both say, "You're welcome". She replies with "No, I mean that big one over there". I don't think she actually belived us until I headed down the dock and DH and I got on board. It was pretty funny at the time, and apparently funny after the fact for most of our guests. I guess they all assumed that we were doing a pontoon too, so it was very cool that we had the Grand 1. The crew were great, we drove all over the 7 seas lagoon and Bay Lake. We went out from the marina, took a right and went down in front of the GF, the WP, the Poly, then over the water bridge to the WL, saw the back of the CR, then back over the water bridge and around to finally park in front of the MK, dead center with the castle about 5 minutes before Wishes started. Here are the shots I have digitally, including some where apparently my sister and her kids explored the boat!
The entire evening was perfect. It was so relaxing and a nice way to really take in the day!! I love Wishes so it was also really nice to get to see it from a different perspective and to have a comfy seat, not fighting a crowd with the music just right so you could hear all of it!!
We stayed out there for the start of the electric water pagent too, which everyone thought was cool as well! Then we headed back in. We were the last boat to return and it really felt like we got more than the 1 hour we had paid for! Everyone loved it and the coolest thing was that even for the guests who had been to Disney a bunch of times (my one aunt and uncle are owners at SSR I think, and my family has been at least 10 times) it was something totally new and that you wouldn't get at ANY other wedding! And for us, it was so much cheaper than an Illuminations DP!
Once we got off the boat, DH and his brother ran back to our room (it was in the adjacent building) and got all the extra cake for everyone. We decided to walk them all back to the WP to get their cars and say our goodnights. I really didn't want the night to end!!!
DH and I walked back to our room slowly to take in the night. We considered a dip in the hot tub (as we do every night on every trip, and never seem to do it) but we were both starting to feel the excitment of the day turning to exhaustion!! WE went back to our room, opened a couple of cards and spent some time talking about how perfect our day was. DH told me that after he'd dropped me off in the morning he'd gone to the GF pool and read the paper for a while before heading up to the room to get ready (a very relaxing thing for him!) For a couple of months prior we'd been discussing how he would get to the WP for the ceremony. He wanted to walk
so he could arrive early, but I was insisting that it was too far to walk in the Florida heat in a tux and that he neede to let the limo pick him up from the GF lobby. Everyone else agreed with me, though he never gave in. When I finally had to give Tanis our schedule for the limo, I had it pick up DF's family from Coronado, then go to the GF lobby to pick up DF and drop them all at the WP before coming for me. I told DF that he could just call his family and tell them if he was already on his way to the WP on his own. He told me that night that he was planning to walk, but the walk from our room to the lobby was so warm that he decided to wait for the limo. I was happy to hear that I was right and that he was already accepting that his wife knew what was best for him!Ok, after that story, he helped me take out all my bobby pins and we went to bed exhausted but SO happy!!!
Next up: MK as a married couple!!
snow_white725
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2008
Did they play the music for you on the cruise?? I have been wondering that. Also, how crowded was it with 18 people on the boat??
alissa2008
I'll take two.
- Joined
- May 6, 2008
Everything looks great! I'm bummed to hear about Chef Mickeys -- that's where we're doing our RD!! 
any advice to avoid the long wait? There's like 30 of us too... 
any advice to avoid the long wait? There's like 30 of us too...
disprincessatheart
I was a Disney Bride 4.29.08
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
Yes, on the Grand 1 and some of the pontoons, they play the music from Wishes. We were just fine with the number of people on the boat. There was actually more room where we could have squeezed in more people (would have been a squeeze to all be outside for Wishes, but not to just be comfy on the boat), but they're limited by boating regulations.
Everything looks great! I'm bummed to hear about Chef Mickeys -- that's where we're doing our RD!!
Yeah, it really wasn't what I expected at all! I would say make sure to tell everyone 30 min ahead of time so that you're all there in plenty of time to check in. My other tip is to make sure you're sitting on the OUTSIDE (many of the tables are booths) or somewhere else that you can get out to the characters easily so you can get some character pics too! Oh, and don't try to bring gifts there, there's nowehre to keep them and we were falling all over them!
disprincessatheart
I was a Disney Bride 4.29.08
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
It was one of the best decisions we could have made! It holds 18 people plus the crew. It was $425 or $450, can't remember for sure and the music is included. We thought it was a good price for that many people! We've already said we'll do it again the next time we have a group going to WDW.
disprincessatheart
I was a Disney Bride 4.29.08
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
The morning after the wedding DH and I decided to sleep in just a little. I had wanted to get up and see the MK opening ceremony, but we were tired and decided to put it off until Friday. When we did get up, DH went down to Gasparillas and got us drinks and forks so we could have wedding cake for breakfast Our top tier was chocolate with chocolate ganache and rasperry filling, so I was psyched to finally dig in. When he got back we opend up the cake and 
it was the middle tier in the box, not our anniversary layer!!! When we passed out cake at the end of the night, DH naturally left the smallest bakery box in our room and we handed out the other 2 to family. Well, apparently the server didn't use our same logic, and just put each layer in the first box she grabbed I knew my parents were already up, and they were already coming on property that morning to pick up tuxes and take them back for us, so I called them to see if they by chance got our layer - they did!! They were just about leaving to do the tux run, so they stopped by the GF to do a cake swap with us. 
We really liked our cake, so I was very glad they did that for us, even though they really wanted chocolate cake too. Guess we should have paid more attention when handing out cake!
Once the cake ordeal was passed, we finished getting ready and headed off to Mk for the day. We were meeting DFil, DBIl and DFil's girlfriend, along with my close friend who came down for the wedding. We'd told them all we were planning on mid morning arrival to the park. By the time DH and I got there around 10:30, his family was already there, but my friend was still enroute and I had her ticket. DH and I decided to split up and I would wait while he found his family and we'd meet back up. Right about then I started to get awful stomach cramps
It took my friend a really long time to get there, but it gave me a chance to just sit down in the shade and hope my stomach got better (it really didnt') before we started our day. SHe got there a bit after 11, and we headed straight for adventure land. Now, none of our little group of guests had been to MK in WDW except DFil's GF, and for her it had been years, so we were 100% in charge of activities, and we wanted to see as much of the highlights as possible considering a later start and the park was closing at 9. We were lucky and the crowds were relatively low. The longest line we waited in was about 30 minutes for Splash mtn, but it was the first time I ever got DH to go on, so it was worth the wait! He claimed he would have gone on BTMRR too, but his dad and GF didn't want to go on either, and we didn't wnat them to sit around all afternoon waiting on us, so we skipped it - I'll be remining him of that comment for our trip in Sept! On that side of the park we managed Pirates, Tiki room, Country Bears, Splash Mtn and lunch at Pecos Bill (we never manage to eat on that side of the park, so this was a new place for us and good we though) all in about 3 1/2 hours.
After adventure and frontier lands, we headed off towards HM. We were very excited for this one as we'd just finished splash and knew this one everyone would do and would enjoy. Of course, as we walk up we see the gates are cloesed, technical difficulties!! We were trying to time ourselves to get to our CP dinner reservation, I think it was at 4, so we were thinking after HM it would be time to head that way, but no luck. We continued on into Fantasy Land. I wanted to get FP's for Peter Pan, but the return time was during dinner and I couldnt' convince DH that it didn't matter... 
Instead we crossed the street and lined up for IASW. DH loves this ride, I'd be perfectly fine to never ride it, but i don't hate it. While we were in line, DH must have looked unhappy because a CM working the entrance said something to him about being happier since he just got married. I didn't hear the entire conversation (I think we were all a bit tired at that moment) but the next thing I knew she gave him 2 anytime FP's!! 
I"m sure she didn't realize the bride and groom were there with 4 other people and we weren't about to ask for any more. I was so excited to finally get a little more 
It really did perk us all up. After that we headed off to CP via the christmas shop in LS.
Up next, Dinner at CP and some pictures if DBIL ever gets here today and remembers his camera!!!
Our top tier was chocolate with chocolate ganache and rasperry filling, so I was psyched to finally dig in. When he got back we opend up the cake and it was the middle tier in the box, not our anniversary layer!!! When we passed out cake at the end of the night, DH naturally left the smallest bakery box in our room and we handed out the other 2 to family. Well, apparently the server didn't use our same logic, and just put each layer in the first box she grabbed I knew my parents were already up, and they were already coming on property that morning to pick up tuxes and take them back for us, so I called them to see if they by chance got our layer - they did!! They were just about leaving to do the tux run, so they stopped by the GF to do a cake swap with us. We really liked our cake, so I was very glad they did that for us, even though they really wanted chocolate cake too. Guess we should have paid more attention when handing out cake! Once the cake ordeal was passed, we finished getting ready and headed off to Mk for the day. We were meeting DFil, DBIl and DFil's girlfriend, along with my close friend who came down for the wedding. We'd told them all we were planning on mid morning arrival to the park. By the time DH and I got there around 10:30, his family was already there, but my friend was still enroute and I had her ticket. DH and I decided to split up and I would wait while he found his family and we'd meet back up. Right about then I started to get awful stomach cramps
It took my friend a really long time to get there, but it gave me a chance to just sit down in the shade and hope my stomach got better (it really didnt') before we started our day. SHe got there a bit after 11, and we headed straight for adventure land. Now, none of our little group of guests had been to MK in WDW except DFil's GF, and for her it had been years, so we were 100% in charge of activities, and we wanted to see as much of the highlights as possible considering a later start and the park was closing at 9. We were lucky and the crowds were relatively low. The longest line we waited in was about 30 minutes for Splash mtn, but it was the first time I ever got DH to go on, so it was worth the wait! He claimed he would have gone on BTMRR too, but his dad and GF didn't want to go on either, and we didn't wnat them to sit around all afternoon waiting on us, so we skipped it - I'll be remining him of that comment for our trip in Sept! On that side of the park we managed Pirates, Tiki room, Country Bears, Splash Mtn and lunch at Pecos Bill (we never manage to eat on that side of the park, so this was a new place for us and good we though) all in about 3 1/2 hours.After adventure and frontier lands, we headed off towards HM. We were very excited for this one as we'd just finished splash and knew this one everyone would do and would enjoy. Of course, as we walk up we see the gates are cloesed, technical difficulties!!
We were trying to time ourselves to get to our CP dinner reservation, I think it was at 4, so we were thinking after HM it would be time to head that way, but no luck. We continued on into Fantasy Land. I wanted to get FP's for Peter Pan, but the return time was during dinner and I couldnt' convince DH that it didn't matter... Instead we crossed the street and lined up for IASW. DH loves this ride, I'd be perfectly fine to never ride it, but i don't hate it. While we were in line, DH must have looked unhappy because a CM working the entrance said something to him about being happier since he just got married. I didn't hear the entire conversation (I think we were all a bit tired at that moment) but the next thing I knew she gave him 2 anytime FP's!! I"m sure she didn't realize the bride and groom were there with 4 other people and we weren't about to ask for any more. I was so excited to finally get a little more It really did perk us all up. After that we headed off to CP via the christmas shop in LS. Up next, Dinner at CP and some pictures if DBIL ever gets here today and remembers his camera!!!
Ticky Toria 78
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 23, 2007
Congratulations, I love your TR and photos! We had Tanis, she was great!
alissa2008
I'll take two.
- Joined
- May 6, 2008
After all the drama on the boards the last couple days, it's nice to kick back with a bag of popcorn and read a good TR. 
can't wait for more!!!
PrincessShea
Always planning...
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2005
This was the most perfect wedding ever. You looked absolutely beautiful. I loved the hair. I want a wedding almost exactly like yours. I will die if I don't get the Grand 1 reservation. My question is this; what time did you request for the Grand 1 or did you just ask for a Wishes cruise? Also, did you feel like you had a lot of time to kill between Narcoossees and the cruise?
disprincessatheart
I was a Disney Bride 4.29.08
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
Thanks - she really was the best!
It came and went that day and the next unfortunately, but it didn't really keep us from doing anything.
can't wait for more!!!
Yikes!! I must have missed some stuff over the weekend - I think I'm glad!!
Aww, thanks!!
We really loved the entire day!! When I called for the Grand 1 at first, Wishes was not scheduled that night, so they let me pick anytime I wanted. When they finally announced Wishes was at 9 that night, I called back and they adjusted our time. We were supposed to be there 45 minutes ahead of time to depart 30 minutes ahead of time, so you can plan on that for scheduling.
Before the wedding I was concerned that we had too much down time the entire day - between the cake cutting and Narcoossee's and between dinner and the Grand 1, but we couldn't have timed it better if we tried! If I could have changed anything, I would have wanted more time in between, pretty much by the time all the cake cutting and picture taking was done, they boxed up our cake, we dropped the extra in our room and it was time to be at dinner. Dinner took a full 2 1/2 to 3 hours with all the courses. I let our waiter know as soon as we sat down that we had to be at the marina at 8:15 and he made sure we were done, otherwise I think we might have run late
disprincessatheart
I was a Disney Bride 4.29.08
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
Wow, a couple of weeks can really fly by!! DBil did bring his pictures, but sadly he hardly has any of us, so we hardly have any honeymoon pics 
Oh well, we have a few and tons of the wedding day. I'm sure we wouldn't have looked at that many honeymoon pics later on anyway, and we'll just remember to take more pics this fall when we go back!!
Ok, back to the TR....
We were seated pretty quickly at CP, which seems to be unusual for us anyway. We only had a reservation for 5, my friend decided at the last minute to do MK with us before heading back home, but they were able to modify no problem. We were slightly squished at our little round table, but no one seemed to mind. We'd done lunch at Pecos Bill around 12:30 becuase we were all hungry (first time we'd eaten there for some reason) but we'd eaten light (well, except for DBil who had a double cheeseburger and fries) so we were ready for our buffet. DH loves CP - I don't really think it's anything special, but it's decent food so I just let him have that. We did get some cute pics at the table (will post later on when I'm home) but we didn't get any pixie dust (magical moment cert, etc) that I'd seen other brides get here. I know I had that it was our honeymoon on the ressie, but our waiter was grouchy, so I didn't really expect much from him. Plus he gave us a really hard time about splitting the payments when we wanted to use the DDE card (even though it's totally allowed on the plan). I really wished there was a way not to leave him 18% gratuity (he was slow with drinks and clearing plates and then made the stink about the payment) but whatever.
Side note: I really hate eating sit down dinners when we only have 1 day in MK. As soon as we finish dinner I feel like we're rushing to try and see and do everything else before closing. This day was no different.
We left dinner and went straight to Fantasy land. We got FP's for PP, stood in line and did Dumbo, did Snow White and Philharmagic and then used our FP's. It worked out pretty well. From there we hit Pooh, did a quick walk thru of toon town and headed over to Tomorrowland around 6:30 or 7. DH knew I wanted to do Space Mtn, so my friend and I used the two gift FP's we got earlier in the day and did a quick ride. We managed to hit a lot of things just right with very minor waits so we did Buzz, COP and TTA before we left Tomorroland to find icecream and spots to see Wishes. Even though we'd done our WIshes cruise the night before on the Grand 1, I really love it and wanted to see it again, plus it's a different level of drama doing it in the park.
Everyone loved it and their sundaes from Main St icecream shop. We wandered out slowly after they were done and made our way out of the park and back over to the GF. For some reason we never did a boat to the GF all week - another thing on the list of things to do another time...
We were pretty tired from a full day of comando touring and the big day before. We wanted to do the hot tub, but it was full of kids, so we called it a night.
Up next: Day 6: EPCOT - Finally LeCellier!!! But our last park day
Oh well, we have a few and tons of the wedding day. I'm sure we wouldn't have looked at that many honeymoon pics later on anyway, and we'll just remember to take more pics this fall when we go back!! Ok, back to the TR....
We were seated pretty quickly at CP, which seems to be unusual for us anyway. We only had a reservation for 5, my friend decided at the last minute to do MK with us before heading back home, but they were able to modify no problem. We were slightly squished at our little round table, but no one seemed to mind. We'd done lunch at Pecos Bill around 12:30 becuase we were all hungry (first time we'd eaten there for some reason) but we'd eaten light (well, except for DBil who had a double cheeseburger and fries) so we were ready for our buffet. DH loves CP - I don't really think it's anything special, but it's decent food so I just let him have that. We did get some cute pics at the table (will post later on when I'm home) but we didn't get any pixie dust (magical moment cert, etc) that I'd seen other brides get here. I know I had that it was our honeymoon on the ressie, but our waiter was grouchy, so I didn't really expect much from him. Plus he gave us a really hard time about splitting the payments when we wanted to use the DDE card (even though it's totally allowed on the plan). I really wished there was a way not to leave him 18% gratuity (he was slow with drinks and clearing plates and then made the stink about the payment) but whatever.
Side note: I really hate eating sit down dinners when we only have 1 day in MK. As soon as we finish dinner I feel like we're rushing to try and see and do everything else before closing. This day was no different.
We left dinner and went straight to Fantasy land. We got FP's for PP, stood in line and did Dumbo, did Snow White and Philharmagic and then used our FP's. It worked out pretty well. From there we hit Pooh, did a quick walk thru of toon town and headed over to Tomorrowland around 6:30 or 7. DH knew I wanted to do Space Mtn, so my friend and I used the two gift FP's we got earlier in the day and did a quick ride. We managed to hit a lot of things just right with very minor waits so we did Buzz, COP and TTA before we left Tomorroland to find icecream and spots to see Wishes. Even though we'd done our WIshes cruise the night before on the Grand 1, I really love it and wanted to see it again, plus it's a different level of drama doing it in the park.
Everyone loved it and their sundaes from Main St icecream shop. We wandered out slowly after they were done and made our way out of the park and back over to the GF. For some reason we never did a boat to the GF all week - another thing on the list of things to do another time... We were pretty tired from a full day of comando touring and the big day before. We wanted to do the hot tub, but it was full of kids, so we called it a night.
Up next: Day 6: EPCOT - Finally LeCellier!!! But our last park day
chepic
I tear up whenever I hear "Welcome Home."
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2006
Congrats on your wedding!! I have enjoyed reading your report. We did the Grand 1 a few years ago and it really was a wonderful experience. The kids just thought they were the richest kids on the block, and our son wanted to know how we were going to get it home with us!!
cheryl
cheryl
disprincessatheart
I was a Disney Bride 4.29.08
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
Ok, here are a few pics to fill in the blanks from days already reported.
Pics in GF Lobby the first night there
MK
Lunch at CP - pay no attention to the fact that I look like a complete dork in all these pics...
On our way to pirates
Wishes
End of the day in MK
Pics in GF Lobby the first night there
MK
Lunch at CP - pay no attention to the fact that I look like a complete dork in all these pics...
On our way to pirates
Wishes
End of the day in MK
disprincessatheart
I was a Disney Bride 4.29.08
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
As much fun as we had on our trip, I was getting tired of being a tour guide. While I was sad our trip was almost over, and enjoying what we did, I was looking forward to some alone time with DH.
We got up on Thursday morning, ready for EPCOT. As this was our last day in the parks and we were up nice and early, I was SURE we were finally going to win some YOAMD stuff. This was our 4th week long on property trip during the promotion and other than the lanyard I won in the mail that DH wore all week as we collected some wedding pins, we hadn't even come close to winning anything. I had myself convinced that this being our wedding trip and all, we were definitely going to win a prize this time!!!
Anyway, DH and I got up and out of the room without any snags and headed off on the monorail trip to EPCOT. I really loved being on the monorail and will do my best to do another stay at a monorail resort next year for our anniversary. We got to the park and met up with DH's family without issues. They were there before us and DBill got some pics
I wanted to head straight to soarin (since it was still before 10 at this point) and DH decides this is the time to stop and see all there is to see in Futureworld. I was not amused. I wanted to get to soarin for 2 reasons, shorter wait and I have heard on the boards that lots of people win dreams on soarin and the land early in the day, so I wanted to get there ASAP!! As we're walking I see the wait times shows a mere 20 minutes for soarin - how cool is that!! We make our way there with just a few minor stops to view some flower and garden stuff as we go.
We make our way in and yes, the wait for soarin still says just 20 minutes. I immediately drag everyone into the line. We make it thru the turnstyles and are sent left, whichever flight that is. While we're waiting in the tunnel for them to line us up in our spots, I see them, it's the Dream Squad, and they're wearing WHITE VESTS!!! 
I'm so excited I'm about to jump out of my skin. I point them out to DH who doesn't believe me that they're going to award a prize just because they're wearing white vests. Obviously I still have a lot of WDW educating to do!! Anyway, we're lined up and I keep my eye on them. The flight before us ends, and they don't go in. We watch out video and we file in to the ride and I'm dying to see what happens. All of a sudden the Dream Squad walks in our door, walks to the front and walks out the exit of the ride. I'm of course convinced now that we're going to win ears or dream fast passes when the ride ends, of course they'e waiting for us all to exit so the line keeps moving! Then the ride starts and as much as I love that ride, I'm totally distracted the entire time waiting to win a dream!! DH is in agreement with me now!
The ride ends and we file out, very excited to go claim our prize. We walk out the door and right past the dream squad. I hang back to collect up our group and redo my ears(stalling of course) and see them stop a family that comes out almost last. Apparently they must have been in the right seat to win something bigger. Of course I assume it was the castle and secretly blame DH all day for making us stop for pictures instead of arriving a minute earlier and being in that spot (they were 2 rows in front of us). I know, it makes no sense that even if we'd gone straight there chances are very small we would have been in the right spot, but it made me less sad. I did feel better that we were almost in the right place at the right time for once, but bummed that we didn't win. Of course, staying at the GF already, I wouldn't have been as excited to give up a night there for a night at the castle as I would be on one of our stays at the mods, but it still would have been totally cool!!! Anyway, no dream for me there.
After my big let down on soarin we hit the rest of the rides in that area - the land, nemo, then it was time for lunch. I have no idea why we didn't just do sunshine seasons, but we truged over to electric umbrella. During the meal DFil and his girlfriend get into some sort of fight. All week they'd been relying on us way too much. Yes, we were the tourguides, but they'd even ask us what to order to eat at CS places. Um... order whatever sounds good to you. DFil would also buy the exact same hat, shirt, mug, etc, that anyone else got. In MK the day before DH and I had split a gigantic chicken wrap for lunch at Pecos bill. We'd never eaten there before, but we had early lunch ressies and knew that some of the portions are enough to share if you're not starving, and we saw someone with one of them walk by us, so we shared. DFil is in line at electric umbrella asking us what to order and if we think the veggie wrap is enough to share. We had no idea, but I was surprised he'd order a veggie wrap. DFil is VERY country and I've never seen him eat many veggies - occasional salad that comes with dinner, maybe corn and things as a side, but not a veggie meal, but I don't think too much of it. Apparently this was what the fight was about. The veggie wrap was small and veggie and his gf was not pleased with the lunch he chose... We decided to ignore the silence and just keep going. They were adults and if she needed more to eat they'd stop. Plus, we had ressies at LeCellier at 4 and it was after 12 at this point.
After lunch we hit SE and then went back to do Figment and for some reason DH decided we would wait and see Honey I Shrunk the Audience. This attraction drives me nuts anymore. The preshow is way too long if you've already waited just for that. The 15 minute wait was to get to the preshow, then that was another 15 minutes, then by the time everyone is settled and the show is over we've wasted 45 mnutes for that DH later claimed his brother wanted to see it, but I reminded him he had no problem in MK letting them know what we were skipping and he should have done that again. Now, my impatience with this show may have also been in part because I was sick to my stomach again, but who knows.
DH decided that we'd done enough in futureworld and we headed off to WS. Most of our group wasn't big on rides, including DH and there was no time for Ellen's Energy Adventures, so it made sense I guess, even if I wanted to ride Test Track and I was sure they would have liked it.
We started off in Canada ( I like the new movie) and made it thru the France movie before heading back to LeCellier.
LeCellier was an interesting story. Every trip, DH asks me if we can eat in Canada. I don't know why he decided he wanted to, but I've never planned far enough in advance to get that ressie. In most cases I wait for park hours to plan meals, but for this trip, I knew what day the wedding was and knew it would have to be after that, so that left just a few days and we just picked one and I made the call, 180 days from checkin and I was able to get us a ressie. When I told my parents that I was going to book that, they wanted to go too, which also means my sister and her kids, so we were up to 12. Once we were that big of a group I just decided to go ahead and book a party of 20 so anyone that wanted to could go with us
We had to take the first dinner seating, but it wasn't a problem. I figured if not everyone wanted to come, I'd just reduce our number as I knew we'd have a bunch of small tables all together. On a side note, our original wedding date was going to be 2 weeks earlier, then when checking into rooms and such I discovered that we were still too far into spring breaks and we pushed it back. In that time I'd made the LeCellier ressie for the week of the original wedding. When I called back to make the new ressie I had to leave a message. I got confirmation of that one, then called back in to cancel the original and some others that I had to move. The woman on the phone in dining thought I was nuts to cancel a ressie for LeCellier for that group. She was sure I was going to change my mind later. I had to assure her that I had a new one already and she looked it up for me to confirm before she would cancel the original. It was really nice of her to be so concerned.
OK, back to the TR. So we finish up the movie in France just before 4 and head back. I had told everyone about the ressie in our newsletter and had said be there by 4 if you're coming, otherwise no big deal. I knew we had 10 with immediate families, and the other 10 were up in the air. My parents said a few others were coming, so I figured worst case we make some walk ins happy since i had other things to worry about that week. It was very surreal to walk up to the restaurant and find the entire waiting area filled with my family. In all we ended up with 17 people instead of 20, not too bad! One walk in couple did get our extra table. This meal really did live up to the expectations. Everyone had a great time, they sat us in a great corner where we were able to interact pretty well and the food was really good. I love pretzles, especially soft ones, and the pretzle bread was a highlight for me!! Dh and I also split the famous cheddar cheese soup and other yummy stuff! We got the small mousse dessert not realizing how small it was, but we were full anyway and that left more room for WS desserts later!! 
We did also get our last little sprinkling of pixie dust - free champagne!!
When we left there we agreed to meet back up with anyone that wanted to on French Island for Illuminations. This was sort of in honor of the original wedding we had planned where all of these people would have come to our illuminations reception there. We headed off to WS by way of Mexico to finish our day. We hit the ride there, then Malestrom (even the movie) and did some window shopping. We watched the chinese acrobats, then mostly wandered thru the rest of WS quickly. We didn't finish dinner until after 5:30, so we were short on time. In Japan we stopped and got shaved ice. Then we made our way to French Island to end our time in EPCOT.
Up next: our day at the GF, and lots of shopping
We got up on Thursday morning, ready for EPCOT. As this was our last day in the parks and we were up nice and early, I was SURE we were finally going to win some YOAMD stuff. This was our 4th week long on property trip during the promotion and other than the lanyard I won in the mail that DH wore all week as we collected some wedding pins, we hadn't even come close to winning anything. I had myself convinced that this being our wedding trip and all, we were definitely going to win a prize this time!!!
Anyway, DH and I got up and out of the room without any snags and headed off on the monorail trip to EPCOT. I really loved being on the monorail and will do my best to do another stay at a monorail resort next year for our anniversary. We got to the park and met up with DH's family without issues. They were there before us and DBill got some pics
I wanted to head straight to soarin (since it was still before 10 at this point) and DH decides this is the time to stop and see all there is to see in Futureworld. I was not amused. I wanted to get to soarin for 2 reasons, shorter wait and I have heard on the boards that lots of people win dreams on soarin and the land early in the day, so I wanted to get there ASAP!! As we're walking I see the wait times shows a mere 20 minutes for soarin - how cool is that!! We make our way there with just a few minor stops to view some flower and garden stuff as we go.
We make our way in and yes, the wait for soarin still says just 20 minutes. I immediately drag everyone into the line. We make it thru the turnstyles and are sent left, whichever flight that is. While we're waiting in the tunnel for them to line us up in our spots, I see them, it's the Dream Squad, and they're wearing WHITE VESTS!!!
I'm so excited I'm about to jump out of my skin. I point them out to DH who doesn't believe me that they're going to award a prize just because they're wearing white vests. Obviously I still have a lot of WDW educating to do!! Anyway, we're lined up and I keep my eye on them. The flight before us ends, and they don't go in. We watch out video and we file in to the ride and I'm dying to see what happens. All of a sudden the Dream Squad walks in our door, walks to the front and walks out the exit of the ride. I'm of course convinced now that we're going to win ears or dream fast passes when the ride ends, of course they'e waiting for us all to exit so the line keeps moving! Then the ride starts and as much as I love that ride, I'm totally distracted the entire time waiting to win a dream!! DH is in agreement with me now! The ride ends and we file out, very excited to go claim our prize. We walk out the door and right past the dream squad.
I hang back to collect up our group and redo my ears(stalling of course) and see them stop a family that comes out almost last. Apparently they must have been in the right seat to win something bigger. Of course I assume it was the castle and secretly blame DH all day for making us stop for pictures instead of arriving a minute earlier and being in that spot (they were 2 rows in front of us). I know, it makes no sense that even if we'd gone straight there chances are very small we would have been in the right spot, but it made me less sad. I did feel better that we were almost in the right place at the right time for once, but bummed that we didn't win. Of course, staying at the GF already, I wouldn't have been as excited to give up a night there for a night at the castle as I would be on one of our stays at the mods, but it still would have been totally cool!!! Anyway, no dream for me there. After my big let down on soarin we hit the rest of the rides in that area - the land, nemo, then it was time for lunch. I have no idea why we didn't just do sunshine seasons, but we truged over to electric umbrella. During the meal DFil and his girlfriend get into some sort of fight. All week they'd been relying on us way too much. Yes, we were the tourguides, but they'd even ask us what to order to eat at CS places. Um... order whatever sounds good to you. DFil would also buy the exact same hat, shirt, mug, etc, that anyone else got. In MK the day before DH and I had split a gigantic chicken wrap for lunch at Pecos bill. We'd never eaten there before, but we had early lunch ressies and knew that some of the portions are enough to share if you're not starving, and we saw someone with one of them walk by us, so we shared. DFil is in line at electric umbrella asking us what to order and if we think the veggie wrap is enough to share. We had no idea, but I was surprised he'd order a veggie wrap. DFil is VERY country and I've never seen him eat many veggies - occasional salad that comes with dinner, maybe corn and things as a side, but not a veggie meal, but I don't think too much of it. Apparently this was what the fight was about. The veggie wrap was small and veggie and his gf was not pleased with the lunch he chose... We decided to ignore the silence and just keep going. They were adults and if she needed more to eat they'd stop. Plus, we had ressies at LeCellier at 4 and it was after 12 at this point.
After lunch we hit SE and then went back to do Figment and for some reason DH decided we would wait and see Honey I Shrunk the Audience. This attraction drives me nuts anymore. The preshow is way too long if you've already waited just for that. The 15 minute wait was to get to the preshow, then that was another 15 minutes, then by the time everyone is settled and the show is over we've wasted 45 mnutes for that
DH later claimed his brother wanted to see it, but I reminded him he had no problem in MK letting them know what we were skipping and he should have done that again. Now, my impatience with this show may have also been in part because I was sick to my stomach again, but who knows. DH decided that we'd done enough in futureworld and we headed off to WS. Most of our group wasn't big on rides, including DH and there was no time for Ellen's Energy Adventures, so it made sense I guess, even if I wanted to ride Test Track and I was sure they would have liked it.
We started off in Canada ( I like the new movie) and made it thru the France movie before heading back to LeCellier.
LeCellier was an interesting story. Every trip, DH asks me if we can eat in Canada. I don't know why he decided he wanted to, but I've never planned far enough in advance to get that ressie. In most cases I wait for park hours to plan meals, but for this trip, I knew what day the wedding was and knew it would have to be after that, so that left just a few days and we just picked one and I made the call, 180 days from checkin and I was able to get us a ressie. When I told my parents that I was going to book that, they wanted to go too, which also means my sister and her kids, so we were up to 12. Once we were that big of a group I just decided to go ahead and book a party of 20 so anyone that wanted to could go with us
We had to take the first dinner seating, but it wasn't a problem. I figured if not everyone wanted to come, I'd just reduce our number as I knew we'd have a bunch of small tables all together. On a side note, our original wedding date was going to be 2 weeks earlier, then when checking into rooms and such I discovered that we were still too far into spring breaks and we pushed it back. In that time I'd made the LeCellier ressie for the week of the original wedding. When I called back to make the new ressie I had to leave a message. I got confirmation of that one, then called back in to cancel the original and some others that I had to move. The woman on the phone in dining thought I was nuts to cancel a ressie for LeCellier for that group. She was sure I was going to change my mind later. I had to assure her that I had a new one already and she looked it up for me to confirm before she would cancel the original. It was really nice of her to be so concerned. OK, back to the TR. So we finish up the movie in France just before 4 and head back. I had told everyone about the ressie in our newsletter and had said be there by 4 if you're coming, otherwise no big deal. I knew we had 10 with immediate families, and the other 10 were up in the air. My parents said a few others were coming, so I figured worst case we make some walk ins happy since i had other things to worry about that week. It was very surreal to walk up to the restaurant and find the entire waiting area filled with my family. In all we ended up with 17 people instead of 20, not too bad! One walk in couple did get our extra table. This meal really did live up to the expectations. Everyone had a great time, they sat us in a great corner where we were able to interact pretty well and the food was really good. I love pretzles, especially soft ones, and the pretzle bread was a highlight for me!! Dh and I also split the famous cheddar cheese soup and other yummy stuff! We got the small mousse dessert not realizing how small it was, but we were full anyway and that left more room for WS desserts later!!
We did also get our last little sprinkling of pixie dust - free champagne!!
When we left there we agreed to meet back up with anyone that wanted to on French Island for Illuminations. This was sort of in honor of the original wedding we had planned where all of these people would have come to our illuminations reception there. We headed off to WS by way of Mexico to finish our day. We hit the ride there, then Malestrom (even the movie) and did some window shopping. We watched the chinese acrobats, then mostly wandered thru the rest of WS quickly. We didn't finish dinner until after 5:30, so we were short on time. In Japan we stopped and got shaved ice.
Then we made our way to French Island to end our time in EPCOT. Up next: our day at the GF, and lots of shopping
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Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
