December 6th - Rehearsal Day! - Part 3
At first I was trying to slow down my trip report while we waited to get our wedding photos, but since we now have our full gallery (see my previous post, if you haven’t already), I can go full speed ahead! Especially considering I’d like to get more done before we go on our next vacation. To help combat the post-wedding depression, we’re going on a cruise on the Disney Wonder in February. Woohoo!
Anyway, where I left off in my last post, we had just found out that our room was ready in time to move our stuff in there and then head out to our rehearsal dinner. I texted or emailed our room number to the Roots, Trinity, LeJeune Artistry, and our wedding planner Janice, and then we headed down to the Beach Club lobby to meet with our friends and family.
For our rehearsal dinner, we had booked the 4:00 showing of the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue. We’re big fans of Hoop Dee Doo, and we loved the idea of doing the “dinner and a show” idea for our rehearsal dinner. We purposefully chose the 4:00 show, so people could drink all the free sangria they wanted but hopefully wouldn’t be hungover the following morning.
Originally I figured we would have enough cars that everyone could drive to Hoop Dee Doo, but then I got worried about people drinking and driving. So in the end, we chose to use Disney transportation, even though we knew it would take longer. There were 15 of us traveling together: Jeff and I, each of our parents and siblings, my bridesmaid Haley, Jeff’s groomsman Jay, Jay’s parents, our officiant/friend Leah, Jeff’s aunt, and another friend of ours (also named Jeff) who was able to join us last minute when my grandma wasn’t able to make it. My uncle was also joining us, but he met us there since he drove from home.
We met in the lobby, and after making sure that everyone was there, we headed to the bus stop at the Beach Club to wait for a bus to Magic Kingdom.
There are going to be some unflattering pictures in this post, but I’ll include them so you can get the full trip report experience.
A bus for the Magic Kingdom came relatively quickly, and our whole group got on. Once we arrived at the park, we made a beeline directly to the Fort Wilderness boat. Standing in line for the boat was starting to make my feet hurt (darn heels), but soon the boat came and we got on.
Now the Fort Wilderness boat and the Wilderness Lodge boat both go to both resorts, so the only difference between the two is which resort the boat visits first. We got onto the boat that was supposed to go to Fort Wilderness first, but for some reason, our boat went to Wilderness Lodge first. I was starting to get concerned that we would be late for the show, but thankfully we left Wilderness Lodge and got to Fort Wilderness just in time.
It must have been less than ten minutes from when we got there to when they opened the doors to let us into Pioneer Hall. Our party of 16 was split into a table of 10 and a table of 6. We split up so that Jeff and I were with our wedding party at one table, and everyone else was at the other table. Our tables were right next to each other, but between the food and the show, there wasn’t much time for talking anyway.
The table with us and our wedding party
If you’ve never been to Hoop Dee Doo, I highly recommend it. The show is so fun, and the food and drinks are unlimited and delicious.
They give you a menu when you sit down, but you don’t order food. All the food comes to you family style. You can order drinks from the alcoholic or non-alcoholic selections, which are all included. Anything you order from the “For Your Additional Enjoyment” section is an additional cost.
A few minutes after you sit down, the show begins on the stage.
The show is a lot of fun, and the performers come all around the restaurant and interact with the crowd. At one point, someone at the other table told the performers that Jeff and I were getting married the following day, so they had us get up and dance.
Forgive the blurry photo!
Then the food and sangria came, which I have no pictures of because we were all too busy scarfing it down. At any time, you can ask your server for more of any item. We had so many ribs and so much mashed potatoes!
Soon it was time for dessert: strawberry shortcake!
Also pictured: cornbread.
Then they put on a big finale about Davy Crockett, and they bring people up from the audience to act in the skit. They brought up Jeff’s brother Jon to play a part, which we all thought was quite funny.
Then finally, they do one last song where everyone gets to make noise on a washboard with a spoon!
The whole thing was a blast, and we all loved it. It was such a great rehearsal dinner!
After we left Pioneer Hall, Jeff’s family wanted a picture of us in front of the Christmas tree outside. It was pretty dark, so all of our friends gathered around us and shined their phone lights on us. It was pretty funny.
Then we waited what felt like forever for a boat back to Magic Kingdom. It had gotten quite cold since the sun went down, but most of us didn’t think to bring jackets since it was so warm when we left. We all froze waiting for that darn boat. Not to mention my feet were killing me from the heels.
Thankfully the boat came soon, and we rode to the Magic Kingdom. I sat next to an adorable crying toddler and her dad. I tried to talk to the toddler to distract her, but she got shy and hid her face from me. Her dad thanked me because her shyness eclipsed her sadness, and she stopped crying.
Soon we were at the Magic Kingdom to wait for a bus back to the Beach Club. While we waited, Jeff’s family wanted a picture of our bride and groom ear hats kissing.
The bus came, and we all sat in the back singing songs from Hamilton. (We’re all very into Hamilton right now.) We all went back to our respective rooms when we got back to the Beach Club, agreeing to meet in the Martha’s Vineyard lounge around 8.
I was able to charge my dead phone when I got back to the room, and I saw that all of our vendors had responded to let me know that they had received my room number messages. This is also when I realized that I had missed a vendor, and I had forgotten to let Carolyn Allen’s know which room to deliver my dress to in the morning. Thankfully Sue had given me her cell phone number, and I was able to call and give them our room number.
After a few minutes of relaxing in the room, we headed down to Martha’s Vineyard to meet with everyone. This was basically our low-key, informal welcome event. We told everyone that we would be there at 8, and anyone who wanted to join was welcome.
Jeff’s mom and I at Martha’s Vineyard
Unfortunately, there was a very loud guitarist playing music in the bar, and it was kind of hard to hear each other. Regardless, we spent a while there socializing with everyone. Many people drank alcohol, but I only drank water. I wanted to be hydrated and feeling my best in the morning.
At one point, Jeff and some of the other guys decided to break off of our group and head to Disney Springs for an unofficial bachelor party. I am told that they went to Jock Lindsay’s Hangar Bar and hung out there for a few hours.
I stayed at Martha’s Vineyard for a while, until many of my friends had left. At that point, my friend Erin and I were alone at a table, yelling to each other since the guitarist was so loud. I wanted to catch up with her somewhere that I could actually hear her, so we said goodbye to those that remained at Martha’s Vineyard and headed to the Solarium.
I’m not really sure what the official purpose of the Beach Club’s Solarium is, but it’s a nice quiet lounge where Erin and I were able to talk at a normal volume. We chatted for a bit, and we were able to see Illuminations from Epcot through the window of the Solarium. Erin said to me that the next time we saw Illuminations would be 24 hours from then, and I would be married. My only response was “s*** just got real.”
Soon Erin was ready to leave, and I was ready to head to bed. So we said our goodbyes until the following day, and I headed back up to the room. I took a shower and then made a list of everything that I couldn’t forget to bring to the wedding in the morning (MagicBand, wallet, the iPhone with the music on it, rings, marriage license, etc.).
I got into bed and started drifting off to sleep. Jeff walked in a few minutes later, which woke me a bit. Then he got into bed, and we both tried our hardest to sleep. We were getting married in the morning!
Cant wait to read more!
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