Back in our room we packed up my wet dress and Bryan's wet suit and tucked into some more breakfast wedding cake. Still just as delicious and moist as the first day, unbelievable!
Today we had little bit of a different plan. We packed up all our wedding attire and took a taxi over to my parents room at the Caribbean Beach. We were going to have another day showing the family around, but this morning we were starting together and leaving from CBR. My parents had agreed to take home our wedding things, so that we wouldn't need to lug it all across the country on our honeymoon. We opted for taking a taxi to avoid a mess of bus transportation and crowds getting to CBR from GF with wedding dress in tow.
Groom Here:
We arrived at CBR at about 10:00 a.m. For better or worse, the rooms were in a particularly secluded part of Aruba that backed onto some trees, and beyond those trees, a ravenous horde of blood-sucking mosquitoes. Seriously, we've never had any problems with bug bites at WDW (even having stayed in CBR before) but within two minutes we were being eaten alive. It must be all the wet weather that summer. If the bugs were busy outside, in the rooms, our guests were not, as some were still in bed upon our arrival. While we were waiting for everyone to get ready, we got a chance to see the birthday arrangement we'd had delivered:
Nicole's Aunt is from Portugal, and while Mickey Mouse is the most popular of the Fab Five in North America (not to mention the de facto leader of the group in communal endeavours such as band concerts and ghost hunting) in many parts of Europe, Donald Duck is the real Disney star.
We did get some bad news, though: the champagne we'd ordered for the previous evening's birthday dinner at The Wave had not, in fact, been delivered to the table. We tried calling the restaurant to sort it out, but couldn't get through, presumably because they were in the midst of the breakfast-time rush. In any case, we had to put that situation on the back burner and focus on the parks.
Our original plan was to spend the day at DHS due to its high concentration of must-do thrill rides, but we made a split-second decision to go to AK first. (Again we were constantly thinking about how to optimize everyone's time and tickets.)
As much as I love the theming in AK, the layout is a bit of nightmare to navigate. In any case, I grabbed the group's room keys and made a beeline for the Kilimanjaro Safari Fastpass booth while Nicole took the Thrillies to Expedition Everest. The line for EE at let's face it, almost 11:00am, was long and there was no way around waiting in it with a group of 5 hoping to ride together. While they waited for a single ride through, Ashley arrived late and managed to ride it three times via the single rider line. Nicole apparently occupied her time taking photos of all the Yeti related paraphernalia.
With plenty of time to kill, I took my fellow Queasies through the Maharaja jungle trek to see the tigers. Nicole's aunt loved getting up close with the majestic beauty of these rare creatures. Here's a picture of one pooping:
After scaling Everest, Nicole and BM Ashley volunteered to acquire Dinosaur! fastpassses while I took the group on a safari. On the way, we got predictably caught in another unpredictable rain storm. The Kilimanjaro Safari continued on after the rain broke, and the rain was a bit of a good luck in this instance, because the animals were cooled off and up and about at mid-day. It ended up being the most animal-saturated safaris I've ever been on, so I was glad Nicole's relatives were able to experience the attraction at its best.
Bride POV:
Meanwhile, as the main group were downpoured on over in Africa, Ashley and I were downpoured on over in Dinoland. We grabbed the FPs as fast as could and booked it into the terrace seating for Restaurantosaurus. Inside there was a CM preventing people from coming into the restaurant that way... no idea why? As we stood there wondering when the rain would dissipate, Goofy and Pluto ran in for cover along with their entourage and hangers-on and all hell broke loose! I deeply regret not getting a photo of this, but I'll do my best to paint a picture.
Not one second after they dashed under the terrace awning, Goofy and Pluto were immediately mobbed! Their CM handlers were shouting people back, grabbing chairs and tables and creating a line (i.e. barricade/trench!) to protect the characters as children and adults alike threw down their mac 'n cheese hotdogs and tossed aside their Coca-cola classic beverages in an autograph demanding craze! Civilization totally broke down at the Restaurantosaurus that day, and it was not inappropriate, I suppose, that it all happened in Dinoland. In the chaos of this character vs. human warzone, Ashley and I managed to sneak into the Restaurantosaurus proper and into the relative calm of the lunchtime rush.
Well, for a few minutes anyway. The rain appeared to let up so we ventured out; forever scarred by all we had seen.
Actually, despite the insanity, Ashley and I had a really nice time catching up, talking about non-wedding related things (for a change) and Disney! I can hardly imagine how it came up, but I told her I had heard about an awesome drink from the Disney Food Blog,
the Triple Yeti Blast. And so began part two, a high-octane search through Asia for the legendary Yeti with both the growing crowds and time against us! It was actually a bit of a challenge to find, because I only had a vague recollection of where this one thing was sold. Still, we managed to beat the group! We got our Yeti Blasts and made it back to Dinosaur before everyone else! Success! Also Triple Yeti Blasts are delicious and I highly recommend them.
Finally the group arrived and found us outside Dinosaur. Bryan was extremely soggy. His hat was completely ruined and his shirt was soaked through and muddy? Ruined. Anyway, we pulled out our FPs and got into our time-travel-mobiles for a prehistoric journey. Our group was so large they gave us our own ride car, which makes for a particularly awesome souvenir photo.
Groom POV:
Before leaving for DHS we stopped in at Disney Outfitters for one of the bare necessities. In this case, bare necessities meant a dry shirt, so I added yet another pie-eyed Mickey shirt to my wardrobe. For Nicole's Cousin Fil, it meant getting a legendary turkey leg. As many times as Nicole and I have been to Disney, we've never had a turkey leg before, and Fil offered me a bite right off the bone, which I greatly appreciated. Sure, it was tasty, but for me, it felt like a subtle way of saying I was part of the family.
Nicole's family was very apologetic about taking time away from our honeymoon to show them around Disney, and a few people we've talked to about it are surprised we'd spend any time with family, but in all honesty, it was the best thing we could have done. We were still able to spend plenty of time on our own, but what really made it worthwhile, for me, was the bonding experience it allowed us to have. Nicole's family has never been anything but friendly and welcoming, but at the end of their trip, it felt like I was truly a part of the family. For whom else would I have stood out in the pouring rain, ran from one side of Magic Kingdom to the other for fastpasses, and set aside a good chunk of our honeymoon? Family.
What awesome safari luck, especially with first-timers! I have to admit, my first meal at Le Cellier was amazing, but DF and I were there about a year ago right when they switched to one menu all day (instead of a lunch and a dinner) and it definitely wasn't the same (and the price tag hurt!) Oh well, there are plenty of other restaurants to try!
), but it was a little bit of a disappointment in the end. I wish we'd tried going on our first trip before all the signature and menu changes. Oh well! Maybe one day we'll give it another shot!
Plus, DF thinks we'll watch it once and never again. I would watch it every anniversary!
