Our Great Escape - Morocco/Canada/Attic/Sago Cay TR *DisneyWeddingBlog Nomination*

[Boardwalk_bride]

Hi Karen,

I'm so glad you posted your pictures again. I'm enjoying the TR and all the photos. My favorites are your AK Bridal Portrait and your TTD pictures. All of your pictures are very nice. Sago Cay looks like a wonderful location for a reception party or dessert party. I like the way you had it decorated with the checkered table clothes.

I'm interested in doing the DisBride TTD! I'll get a dress online just for the occasion.

Thank you so much! I really loved Sago Cay so much. I would love to do a VR there someday!

I was kind of kidding about the Disbride TTD, but I remember seeing pictures of friends doing it together, and they are gorgeous and kinda hilarious. So my point is, I'm starting to be serious about this idea!

WoooooooHoooooooooo! Another interview! Awesome! Pixie dust that you get both jobs and get to choose the one you want!

Thanks! My interview today went well! The one on thursday is closer to home, but I am not really sure what the exact details are for it (It wasn't an advertised job, I just sent them a resume since I had met people from there before). If I get offered all of them, I'll just see who will let me off to go to WDW nov/dec J/K!

I'm loving your TR, you look like you had so much fun. If I get half the photos that you got with your guests then I'll be happy, I think that's one of the main things I want to do.

Thankyou for reposting your pics!! I missed them the first time round, so I'm glad to be able to see them

Good luck with getting your job!

Oh, thank you so much We got so many great photos, but I just didn't want to post a lot since 1) uploading to photobucket is so time consuming, and 2) I didn't want close ups of people who haven't agreed to be on here. DPS really did do a great job, despite the problems I had actually getting the pictures after (not the photographers fault).

Alright, I'm going to try and finish up my TR before our at home reception!

 

[Petals & Pixie Dust]

YEAH! glad to hear the interview went well...Now, go send a hand written thank you note and seal the deal!

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Day Seven – Animals Everywhere!​

We decided to sleep in since we were up so late at MK the night before. When we woke up, we made some tea and had some tea and breakfast we had brought from home. We started talking about what we wanted to do, since we didn’t have anything booked until 4:00pm. We decided we wanted to check out Kidani Village, so we called over and made a ressie for Sanaa to enjoy while we were there.

The walk between Jambo and Sanaa is quite short, less than 10 minutes for us (but we are fast walkers). It isn’t really that scenic, but not awful at all. Kidani is so much smaller than Jambo. There isn’t a CS restaurant (just a pool bar I believe) and the gift shop is really small).

We decided to go out onto the observation deck, where there were two cast members waiting to talk to guests. Luckily for us, there were quite a few animals out at that time, so we got some cute pics.

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If you are ever at Kidani or Jambo, I highly recommend going to the viewing areas and talking to the cast members. They are so knowledgeable and friendly and they really enjoy answering questions.

After starring at giraffes for awhile, it was time to go to Sanaa (where the windows look at the Savannah so we could still watch the giraffes). The restaurant is so beautiful, and we had excellent service there and a really tasty meal. DH got the Tandori Chicken and I had the vegetarian sampler. Unfortunately, I can’t bring myself to take pictures of food in restaurants (although I appreciate those who do), so here are the only pics I have:

Although I did get pictures of our drinks:

We headed back to our room after our meal, and soon enough it was time to get ready to go on the Wanyama Safari!

We met at the Jiko podium with our tour guide, and about 8 other people to begin the tour. We were escorted to our Safari vehicle, which first brought us over to the Savannah entrance at Kidani.

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It was raining really hard during the first bit, so a lot of the animals were hiding under trees, but as the rain slowed, they started to come out. The tour was fantastic! We learnt so much about all the animals from our guide, and we got to get up so close to many of them! I would highly recommend this to everyone! Here are a few of the pictures I took (at actual distance):

I guess the giraffes like to walk in the vehicle paths, because we had to stop for them a few times. It is crazy how close we were allowed to get to them. I was actually a bit scared at times!

After our safari, we had a family style meal at Jiko which was nothing short of amazing! The dinner started out with the “Taste of Africa” breads and dips, all amazing! We were then given some kind of curried soup (I can’t remember what) but it was also so amazing! We also had wine pairings with each course as well, although I cannot remember what we had at all. They were all good though!

Next, three appetizers were brought out: Crispy Savannah Roles, BBQ Chicken Flatbread (which were so amazing we went back the next night for more) and some kind of pork appetizer that I didn’t like, but DH loved it. We were then served an intermezzo of something that tasted like a virgin mojito.

Up next, we had 3 man courses to choose from: Filet with Mac and Cheese, Tanglewood Chicken, and I believe some type of Halibut that I cannot find on the allears menu. I didn’t try the fish, but the chicken was good, and the filet was great, although we all agreed it was a little too well done. For dessert, we were given Pistachio Creme Brule, Flourless Chocolate Cake , Lavender Ice Cream, and some kind of mousse (I cannot remember). I loved the crème brule, I had never had it before, and now I will have to have it again!

We ended up being really lucky that our group was full of nice people, so we enjoyed getting to talk to other people and we definitely enjoyed being able to try so much of the food.

Next up…back to MK (in daylight this time!)

 

[disneybarbie]

Sounds like a lovely day at AKL!
We went to Sanaa last year and loved the restaurant

For the first night of honeymoon we're planning to stay at AKL - just a relaxing evening & morning before heading off on the Disney Dream!
Would you say Kidani Village or Jambo House is more relaxing? we'll be using DVC points for the stay there


Emma x

 

[Bethany66]

First off let me say I love your TR and all the information. We're getting married in October in Canada so seeing all the photos is really great. We're staying at AKL for the wedding week then the Wilderness cabins for our honeymoon week. Anyway-I would love to see all your DPS photos. I can't seem to find where or if you posted your DPS name & password(1971) to access the site. I know you mentioned about not having your guests photos posted, so I wasn't sure if you were just posting photos here and there. I would really love to see more. Love the cake!!! Very cool. So thank you for taking the time to write out all this information for us. Cheers!!!

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Sounds like a lovely day at AKL!
We went to Sanaa last year and loved the restaurant

For the first night of honeymoon we're planning to stay at AKL - just a relaxing evening & morning before heading off on the Disney Dream!
Would you say Kidani Village or Jambo House is more relaxing? we'll be using DVC points for the stay there


Emma x

That is great you are going there for your honeymoon! I really thought it was a romantic hotel, just because it is dim, pretty quite, and all the ambiance!

It is a toss up for me on whether Jambo or Kindani is best. You can use all the features at both (you are even allowed to pool hop) so it depends what you want more access to (better pool at Kidani, or close to more food options at Jambo). I would probably pick Jambo again, just because I liked being able to just grab a glass of wine whenever I wanted

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

First off let me say I love your TR and all the information. We're getting married in October in Canada so seeing all the photos is really great. We're staying at AKL for the wedding week then the Wilderness cabins for our honeymoon week. Anyway-I would love to see all your DPS photos. I can't seem to find where or if you posted your DPS name & password(1971) to access the site. I know you mentioned about not having your guests photos posted, so I wasn't sure if you were just posting photos here and there. I would really love to see more. Love the cake!!! Very cool. So thank you for taking the time to write out all this information for us. Cheers!!!

I'm glad that the pics are helpful to you! I am so happy to see someone else planning a "Canada" wedding Staying at the cabins sounds like so much fun! DH and I were just talking about how we want to do that one a future trip! I do have some extra pictures on a private website that I created for my family, so I can send you those. There are just so many close ups of my guests, and I wouldn't want them to stumble upon this site and see their face displayed for everyone to see

Have you thought about who you might request for DPS? I don't think many photographers have done that area, so if you want someone with experience there, I would highly recommend Joe and/or Regina!

 

[Bethany66]

I'm glad that the pics are helpful to you! I am so happy to see someone else planning a "Canada" wedding Staying at the cabins sounds like so much fun! DH and I were just talking about how we want to do that one a future trip! I do have some extra pictures on a private website that I created for my family, so I can send you those. There are just so many close ups of my guests, and I wouldn't want them to stumble upon this site and see their face displayed for everyone to see

Have you thought about who you might request for DPS? I don't think many photographers have done that area, so if you want someone with experience there, I would highly recommend Joe and/or Regina!

My email is: wetta35@hotmail.com-Thanks! I wasn't sure if as an Escape Wedding if we got to make a request for a photographer. I really like Regina's work, but they all look nice on the DPS website. We are having DPS for the Ceremony, EPCOT shoot & the Trash the Dress. I take horrible photos-deer in the headlights eyes & smile-so I told Rosie to get someone who has a sense of humor, likes to take "fun" & "cool" pics and will remind me to relax! Groom takes awesome photos. Plus I keep reminding myself that "flat arms mean fat arms!" Argh. You had both Joe & Regina and said they were both good-so I hope we'll have great photos no matter who we get. It seems that DPS has really been improving, which is great for Disney and for all the Disney Brides! Thanks for sharing. And by the way-your weight in the photos looks perfect. So I wouldn't stress the weight thing. We women are very hard on ourselves, so reach and stay at a healthy weight, but you looked great!

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

My email is: wetta35@hotmail.com-Thanks! I wasn't sure if as an Escape Wedding if we got to make a request for a photographer. I really like Regina's work, but they all look nice on the DPS website. We are having DPS for the Ceremony, EPCOT shoot & the Trash the Dress. I take horrible photos-deer in the headlights eyes & smile-so I told Rosie to get someone who has a sense of humor, likes to take "fun" & "cool" pics and will remind me to relax! Groom takes awesome photos. Plus I keep reminding myself that "flat arms mean fat arms!" Argh. You had both Joe & Regina and said they were both good-so I hope we'll have great photos no matter who we get. It seems that DPS has really been improving, which is great for Disney and for all the Disney Brides! Thanks for sharing. And by the way-your weight in the photos looks perfect. So I wouldn't stress the weight thing. We women are very hard on ourselves, so reach and stay at a healthy weight, but you looked great!

I just checked the website, and it pretty much has the exact same pics I have on here...I guess I must have gotten lazy with uploading , and I think I focused more on our vacation pictures on there. Is there anything particular you are looking for? If so, I can go back and upload some more!

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Day Eight!​

Once again, the AKL bus failed at picking us up on time, despite waiting for it over an hour before rope drop, so we missed rope drop at MK. I was really upset, since that is the one park that I really love watching the rope drop performance at. Oh well, we were at MK, the weather was gorgeous, so I cheered up quickly. We did manage to get a fun pic at the bus stop while waiting though:

We did all the headliner rides in fantasyland and adventure land with pretty much no wait. By this time, it started to get really warm, so we decided to cool off with a Dole Whip. DH than convinced me that I had to try Space Mountain (I had never been on it). The wait was only 20 minutes, and he really wanted me to go on, so I decided to go for it. It turns out I didn’t find it scary at all. I was actually just kind of unimpressed with it compared to all the other rides. We also went to the Monsters thing (I can’t remember what it is called) and had such a great time! We had never been there before, and now it is one of our favourites!

We hung out in MK for a bit longer, than decided to hit the shops on main street on the way out. In one store (name mentioned in the beginning of my TR, and I cannot remember it now), we ended up finding a large wood engraved frame with Cinderella, Prince Charming and the Coach, with free personalization, so we had to get it! The personalization was going to take 24 hours, but we knew we would be back the next night, so we paid for it and left.

Next we took the monorail to the GF. I had to go to Franck’s since I had forgotten to give my planner her gift. I have to say, up until this point, I didn’t understand why so many brides got married at the WP, I just couldn’t see what was so special about it. Well, being right there changed my mind. The location is absolutely stunning! I wanted to go in the WP and look, but there was a wedding in there at the time (that my planner was doing) so I couldn’t. We did get to look in Franck’s for awhile, which was fun (even though it was after the wedding).

After that we went back to our hotel to have a glass of wine on our balcony with our Animal friends.

For dinner, we went to the bar at Jiko, where we were allowed to order off the restaurant menu. DH tried almost every African beer on the list, and I tried quite a few of the South African wines. To eat, we split the BBQ Chicken Pizza and Crispy Savannah Rolls that we had tried during our Safari the night before. I don’t have any pictures of the food, but I do have one of us @ the bar in Jiko!

This was the dress I was supposed to wear to the welcome party, and wish more than anything that I would have! Ughh!

Up next, our last day!

Day Nine​

On our last day, we decided to spend the majority of it in Epcot, for the third time (we love Epcot). We got super lucky and ended up with a few free FPs from cast members who saw us with our buttons. We did just a few rides in Future World, than decided to head over to World Showcase to do some shopping and a bit of drinking around the world. We headed to Mexico first, but the margarita stand hadn’t opened yet, so we had some fun while waiting:

After we got our margaritas we decided to start shopping the world, and just get refills as needed (I think we only ended up having 2 drinks each, so not quite drinking around the world).

And then we returned to the best spot ever in Epcot (according to us anyway):

For dinner that night, we went to Kona. During our Christmas 2008 trip it was our last meal of the trip, and we had such a great time, so we decided to do the same this time. I had the coconut chicken (so good) and I believe DH had some type of Mahi Mahi. We also got a free dessert!

I guess I had one food porn photo!​

After dinner, we went back to MK, since we needed to pick up our frame, and I wanted to watch the fireworks with from Main Street before we left. We were there early, so we spent a bit of time walking around, and found this:

We wandered back over to Main Street to get a decent spot for the fireworks. While we were waiting, I kept staring into Crystal Arts, eyeing a set of wine glasses I had my eye on for awhile. Finally DH told me to just go in the store and look at them, and make a decision. Long story short, I bought them, and am so glad I did!

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Every time I drink out of them, I remember our wedding/honeymoon, so it was worth the purchase!

Soon after we bought them, the fireworks started. Being on Main Street, with the Wishes music, all of a sudden got me really emotional, and I started to cry. The whole trip, wedding and honeymoon, completely exceeded all my expectations, and I was just so happy that everything went so well. Standing there watching wishes was just the absolute perfect end to our fairytale!

Now all that is left is the at home reception, and my TR is complete!

 

[pezaddict231]

Looks like you guys had an amazing time at Disney! I agree, we loved La Nouba, and I really wasn't sure I'd like that sort of thing, Cirque always seems so weird to me, but we loved that show.

I love AKL, we stayed in Jambo a few years ago with a Savannah view and it was amazing, plus we love Jiko!

Wow, those wine glasses are gorgeous! I don't even drink wine and I really want one, did they make other types of glasses too?

Aww, I'm so glad you had such an amazing wedding and honeymoon, I love the wishes pics at the end and I would have been crying too. Now you just have to go back and celebrate again soon!

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Looks like you guys had an amazing time at Disney! I agree, we loved La Nouba, and I really wasn't sure I'd like that sort of thing, Cirque always seems so weird to me, but we loved that show.

I love AKL, we stayed in Jambo a few years ago with a Savannah view and it was amazing, plus we love Jiko!

Wow, those wine glasses are gorgeous! I don't even drink wine and I really want one, did they make other types of glasses too?

Aww, I'm so glad you had such an amazing wedding and honeymoon, I love the wishes pics at the end and I would have been crying too. Now you just have to go back and celebrate again soon!

Hi Sara! We did have an amazing time and cannot wait to go back. I have to admit, half the reason I love AKL is because of Jiko!

There are other models of the wine glasses. There are other models of the glasses, two I beleive. There are liquor glasses (so smaller versions of the wine ones) and what I call whiskey tumblers (or just regular glasses) that had a castle instead of a mickey head (which I am so getting when I go back). Everything comes in red and blue, and we saw them in all the stores that sell the Arribas lines.

We are really hoping to go back soon! I am hoping to know about a job soon, and first thing will be asking for the time off!

 

[Chilly]

I really should finish my TR off. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

I really should finish my TR off. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for still reading And you really do need to finish off your TR..I want to read the rest!

My reception is this weekend, so I will have one last update next week!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

I loved the new pictures you posted. It looks like you and DH had a great time on your honeymoon! I am sad that your TR is pretty much over now - I enjoyed reading it! I hope that you have a great time at your home reception on the weekend!

 

[April Elizabeth]

I too am sad that your TR is over. I've learned so much from reading it and have enjoyed all the great pictures. We haven't decided on which location we are using for our TTD pictures, but I still have some time to decide. Thank you for all your help. I will be starting my PJ in the near future. Hope you will post some pictures of your at home reception. Have fun.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

I loved the new pictures you posted. It looks like you and DH had a great time on your honeymoon! I am sad that your TR is pretty much over now - I enjoyed reading it! I hope that you have a great time at your home reception on the weekend!

I too am sad that your TR is over. I've learned so much from reading it and have enjoyed all the great pictures. We haven't decided on which location we are using for our TTD pictures, but I still have some time to decide. Thank you for all your help. I will be starting my PJ in the near future. Hope you will post some pictures of your at home reception. Have fun.

You are both so sweet! I'm glad you enjoyed reading along....I am so happy I was able to share my day with people who really understand the excitement of DFTW! I look forward to following your weddings!

Like I said before, DH and I are hoping on going back to WDW for an "indulgent" vacay before Christmas, and the Med DCL in May, so hopefully I will have more TRs in the future!

I don't have time to update on the reception, since my parents will be here soon this morning, so I will post everything after! (I'll remind people to take more pics than they did at Sago Cay)!

 

[Chilly]

Thanks for still reading And you really do need to finish off your TR..I want to read the rest!

My reception is this weekend, so I will have one last update next week!

I've added a bit more.

I don't think I wrote about my at home reception, I'll add a bit at the end of the TR about that as well.

Hope you have a great time this weekend.

 

[DznyGal]

How was your reception? I hope you had a wonderful day. I think one of the best things about having a destination wedding is getting to celebrate the happiest day of our lives TWICE

Wishing you many many years of happiness together.

 

[daisygirl902]

I'm bummed out that your TR is over! I keep watching for more updates! Hope your at-home reception went well!