B&P's VR 11/10/2012 UK/AAP/UKDP Day 1 Arrival & Epcot 6/10

[MrsSpratt]

go bruins!

 

[BethieTink]

yay you are back with us AND posting TR stuff!!!
You guys look so organized with those bags. The Tshirts - still LOVE them! Love the candy idea. That stinks about your brother & SIL. Seems that always happens. One couple or two find a reason to back out. Some look harder than others. But, like you said, gave you both more privacy & less worries, which is always a good thing.

Dee,

Thanks! I have to say that staying organized helped get us through all of this. Our planner and floral planner said it was so much easier to keep all of our events straight, since I was organized. I have more welcome bag pictures coming soon. They took over our hotel room when we got there.

My brother is very difficult to deal with. Always has been, always will be. I am very close to him, compared to our other brother, but he doesn't make it easy some days. I was really ticked for a few moments after I got off the phone (and in retrospect, I still am), but it saved us money and aggravation, which were good things. When I called my bff, who knows my family well, to say that they weren't coming, he said it best, "well, that's a whole lot of stress removed that NONE of us need".

oh yeah, almost forgot...

GO BRUINS

I am so jealous you were at THOSE games. And I am not usually a hockey fan. But to be there, that must have been insane!!!

Thanks! All of the games we have been to have been amazing, but Game 7 of the Toronto series is my #1 in person sports event ever. We'll see if a Cup Final game can top it.

I love the "savor the Flavor" bags! How cute!

You know, I am really impressed with your attitude regarding your Brother's no show. Not everyone can dust themselves off like that, so kudos to you.

And....


GO BRUINS!

Thanks! I adored those bags. Another bride, Danielle, had done them for her wedding, but none of our guests had seen anything like them, so it was great. I forgot to mention what was in all of them.

For the Beach Club, we did salt water taffy from Trader Joe's. For Coronado, we did Jelly Belly's cocktail mix. And for Pop, we did candy that came out (or represented) each decade.

Thanks! I haven't always been this calm about dealing with Kenny, as our father can attest to, but after 42 years of practice, I have gotten somewhat better. As I said to Dee, it still bothers me a bit, but it was their loss, not ours.

Keep cheering for the Bruins! It's working!

Since it is 12:27am on Thursday morning, right after The B's won #3, I can say....HAVE A BLAST tomorrow night! Fingers crossed you see the sweep!!!

We had a blast BOTH NIGHTS!!! Our Bruins ticket rep called me on Wednesday and said a pair opened up in an area she knew we liked, would we like them. I was like, YES!!! It was an amazing game to be at. So was Game 4. Can't believe we are back in the Finals. We have tickets for Games 3 and 6, so we are super excited.

go bruins!

WOOHOOO!!!

 

[BethieTink]

Our flight left Boston at 6am, so it was an early morning for us. Luckily, we were packed, for the most part, days ahead of time, so we just had to toss the last minute stuff in the bags, say goodbye to the kitties (also brutal for both of us) and wait for the car service.

Got to Logan in plenty of time and had time to have a leisurely breakfast after we got through security. Thanks to JetBlue Even More Space Seats (and the boot on my foot) we were the first ones on the plane. Flight was uneventful and we made it to Orlando probably about 20 minutes early. Less than 20 minutes after landing, we were on the Magical Express and on our way.

As we were on the bus, Walker Mobility called me to set up delivery of the scooter I rented for the trip. I am really glad that I rented one. I didn't use it everyday or in every park, since I didn't want to take it on the bus, but for around the resort, Epcot and DHS, it was fantastic and really saved me. Walker Mobility was waiting at the BC when we got off the bus. They were great to work with.

We checked in, but our room wasn't ready yet, since we asked for one on the ground floor for the scooter. We were only doing 2 nights at the actual BC, since we were moving into BCV on Wednesday. We checked our stuff with Bell Services and took off for Epcot.

Our original plan was to have lunch at the F&WF booths, but when we got there Paul decided he wanted something more substantial. We didn't really communicate this well, when we got into the park, so we missed checking for an opening at Chefs des France, one of our favorites. We were headed down the UK/Canada side and as we got to Le Cellier, Paul walked over to the hostess stand to see if we could maybe get in. Since I was trying to get used to the scooter, I waited for a signal. Surprisingly, Paul waved me in!! What a great way to start out our trip!

When we sat down, we were both ready for a cocktail. Paul had his favorite the Blue Glow Martini.



I decided to try a Canadian Ice Wine Martini. It was delicious. I would definitely have one again.



One of the best parts of a meal at Le Cellier is the bread basket. This visit was no exception. The pretzel bread is one the best food items at Disney.



We both had the Cheddar Cheese Beer Soup as an appetizer. Paul had the bowl and I had a cup. It was incredible. We even told our fabulous server that the soup was on the menu at our upcoming welcome dinner, along with the pretzel breadsticks. She then asked us about all of our plans and we were happy to tell her all the details.



For entrees, Paul had the burger and I had the Filet with Mushroom Risotto. Both were fantastic. After a long morning of travel and finally realizing that we were at Disney for the event that we had been planning for over a year, we were thrilled to be relaxing and enjoying a good meal together, in our favorite place.





We also decided we had to try a Canadian specialty...poutine. French fries with a red wine gravy and cheese curds. They were fabulous! Wow! I see now why everyone in Canada loves this dish and why there are so many variations on it depending on where you eat in Canada. We wish that they had a CS location in Canada to offer poutine al the time. YUM!



Since we had told our waitress about our upcoming events and I was wearing a rhinestone shirt with "Renewing Our I Do's" on it and we had on buttons we had gotten from the front desk too, our waitress brought us over a glass of celebratory champagne with our dessert, the maple crème brulee.



After our fabulous, impromptu lunch we headed back to the resort to see what the deal was with our room. We were exhausted and wanted a nap before dinner. We checked with the front desk and they said it would just be about 15 more minutes. Well, 20 minutes or so went by and no notification. We must have asked 2 more times for an update and finally after sitting in the lobby for almost an hour, our room was ready. While we were waiting for our room, Shelley from Impressions came by to drop off the stuff we needed for the welcome bags. We looked like homeless people in the lobby with all this stuff around us.

We got our bags up to the room and started to reconfigure and get situated. One of the first things I did, was put up our door hanger. While I was organizing the room, Paul headed over to the Swan to pick up the rental car we needed for 2 days. We usually never rent one when we go to Disney, but to run the errands we had to run, we thought it was a good idea. Having the location within walking distance made it super convenient too.



We had dinner plans with another DisBride that night, Amanda, and her husband, Milton at Coral Reef. Amanda had done so many items for us for the VR - my shoes, the girls shoes, all sorts of tanks and tshirts, embroidered polos for me and Paul, and a robe for me. I was so excited to meet her and Milton.

Right before Amanda and Milton arrived at the hotel, another DisBride, Wendy, stopped by the Beach Club to drop off the DisBride something borrowed pin. It was nice to finally meet Wendy, since she had also done so many items for our events. I also loved hearing all about her wedding the night before. All three us were there together for a few minutes and we managed to get a picture.



I sadly forgot the camera when we went to dinner, so don't have any more photos for the day. I can say that dinner was fantastic. I had the lobster soup as an app and it was delicious. Since there was were no Paulie friendly apps available, he went after the bread basket. I had the salmon as my entrée and Paul had the steak. Both were excellent. For dessert, Paul went with their signature Chocolate Wave and I had the Bailey's Jack Daniels Mousse. I adore almost anything Bailey's and this is one of my Disney favorites. Paul really enjoyed Coral Reef, which I was so happy about, since he doesn't like seafood. He said he would definitely be open to going back again.

We walked back to the hotel with Amanda and Milton and said our good byes. It was a great dinner.

Our room overlooked the quiet pool and when we got back, we decided to have a swim as a night cap. The pool was a little chilly, but it felt good, as did the hot tub. Nice way to unwind after a long day. We needed to get to sleep though since we had a full day planned for Tuesday.

Next up...Animal Kingdom, Boma, welcome bags and more....

 

[MrsSpratt]

WOW! A Le Cellier walk in AND a Dis(bride)meet? On the first day? CANNOT wait for more!

GO BRUINS!!!!!!!!