*I'm Back!* We're getting married..at Disney World!!! Jeff & Kathy's PJ! UPDATE: Let's Party! (9/18)

[LadyD]

That rehearsal/dessert party dress is amazing! What an awesome find and how fortuitous that they had it in your size! Enjoy your trip and all the wonderful food

 

[kanadar]

Safe travels! Your dress looks great on you!

Thanks! It was interesting getting here but we made it! Just finished out planning session!

That's about right with how I felt! It's been great so far!

Have fun! Enjoy the cake tasting and, of course, the menu tasting! The best parts!

Thanks! Menu tasting is next! Cake tasting was so good!

Have a blast, enjoy every minute, photograph everything, and can't wait to hear all about it!!

Thanks! It's been fun so far! I kept trying to remember to take pictures but I forgot a few time, that's ok though the stuff I forgot I'll see again in less than 4 months!

Enjoy your trip!!!!

Thanks! We are having lots of fun so far!

Have a great trip! Eat cake and have fun

Thanks! The cake was super good of course! Time for some food in a little over an hour!

That rehearsal/dessert party dress is amazing! What an awesome find and how fortuitous that they had it in your size! Enjoy your trip and all the wonderful food

Thank you! I was very glad they had it in my size! That seems to keep happening, find something I like and it's the last one or it's just my size! Guess you know it's meant to be then! We've enjoyed the planning so far!

 

[kanadar]

Well, we are on our way back to Illinois now. It's very sad leave Disney but we are looking so forward to October now!

Our planning session was fantastic! We all LOVED Carol. There were many laughs and lots of jokes throughout the session. We all had a great time, including Carol! I took several pictures of things we are planning, but there are a few I forgot to take. I'll have to look online and see if I can find some pictures to put on here

Our tasting was equally as fun! We got a few gifts including something super new that they are giving brides!! But I'll make you all wait to see what it is until I get there! I hope to start my TR tomorrow, if not early this week!

 

[twinkybel81]

Well, we are on our way back to Illinois now. It's very sad leave Disney but we are looking so forward to October now!

Our planning session was fantastic! We all LOVED Carol. There were many laughs and lots of jokes throughout the session. We all had a great time, including Carol! I took several pictures of things we are planning, but there are a few I forgot to take. I'll have to look online and see if I can find some pictures to put on here

Our tasting was equally as fun! We got a few gifts including something super new that they are giving brides!! But I'll make you all wait to see what it is until I get there! I hope to start my TR tomorrow, if not early this week!

Have a safe trip home!

 

[Alexsandra]

Looking forward to your TR. Happy you had a great trip. Safe travels!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Drive safely! Can't wait to read

 

[kanadar]

Have a safe trip home!

Thanks! We made it home safe, sound, and tired!

Looking forward to your TR. Happy you had a great trip. Safe travels!

Thanks! We had a fantastic trip!

Drive safely! Can't wait to read

Thanks! I'm getting ready to start now!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

 

[kanadar]

Pre-trip/Travel!

We just returned from our planning session! We had a great time planning our wedding, meeting Carol, who is one of our new favorite people, and enjoying some Disney magic along the way. I’m going to break this up as a mini trip report to tell you about all we did. Hope you enjoy!

Before our trip I had a list of all the errands and little projects I wanted to finish before we left. You know, shopping, packing, laundry all those boring things you have to do before you leave. Well, of course, life stepped in and those plans changed. My friend Charley called to see if I could babysit her daughter. Of course! I was more than happy to! It was just for the morning so I planned on doing some shopping and errands in the afternoon. She's such a cutie, how could I say no!

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Well, as I was leaving from lunch with her, DF Jeff texted me and asked if I could come help at work till close. I reluctantly said yes, knowing that left Tuesday fully packed with things to do. We were flying out of Indy early Wednesday morning which meant we were driving over Tuesday night. Usually we just fly out of our local airport, but Mary takes the red eye which stops in Charlotte and she had found a flight for us that would meet her there! We decided to try it since it would get us to Florida at about 9:15 am! So much Disney time!

We were all very excited for this trip because it would be our first time staying at the Polynesian DVC! The Polynesian has always been a family favorite of ours and was the reason we hadn't bought into the DVC yet. So as soon as they announced they were building DVC, we knew we had to buy in! For this trip we had already booked the Boardwalk, but my dad decided to just check for fun to see if the Polynesian was available. When he saw how many points it would be and that it was available he decided to book it! Since it's within walking distance of Franck's we knew it would work out perfectly


My Tuesday was spent dropping dogs off at the kennel, creating some awesome magic bands, shopping, packing, and a load of laundry. Somehow, I got it all done! My morning was spent making these beauties!

Jeff's Magic Band. He's a big Everton soccer fan!



My magic band, I decided to go for a tropical feel.



Mary's magic band. She went tropical too since we were staying at the Polynesian!



Dad's magic band. He chose orange and since we are big University of Illinois fan's he went with an Illini magic band!



And I had to get into the spirit while packing! Gotta make that fun too!​

After Jeff got off of work, we loaded the car and headed towards Indianapolis. It’s about a 2 hour drive and we arrived at the hotel around 10:30. We needed to get settled in and get to bed because we had an early wake up in the morning...3:30 a.m.!!! We were in bed a little after 11.


Wednesday morning we got up and drove over to the airport. Luckily, it was only 5 minutes away. We arrived to an empty airport.

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They didn't even have Pre-check open yet! We made it through security and sat and waited for our flight. We waited and waited and waited. Our boarding time came and went. I was starting to get very nervous at this point. Those of you who have read about my trip to the Wedding Expo may recall that getting delayed after scheduling an early morning arrival has been something of a pattern for me! They came on the intercom and said they were waiting on maintenance to come and install an oxygen mask and they would board as soon as they could. Our layover was originally scheduled for about an hour anyway, so I was not feeling good about things.


Finally, they slowly started boarding. We got on the plane...and waited some more! Time for a flight selfie! I love you all enough to post a no make up, glasses picture of myself!

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Now I was really feeling nervous. I kept saying we weren't going to make it. At this point we were at 45 minutes past our departure time! Jeff just kept telling me it would be ok and just believe (he says this a lot lol). But, I was preparing for the worst. Finally we were off! We landed on Charlotte with about 10 minutes until our next flight was supposed to take off. We were texting Mary who was already on the plane. Luckily we were near the front of the plane so we grabbed our bags and BOOKED IT Home Alone style through the airport. We make it to the gate to see the sign saying Flight Closed but the door still open!! The gate worker asks if we're on the Orlando flight, then tells we will have to gate check our bags. That's fine because we made it!! I purposely didn't text Mary just to see the look on her face when I got on, it was priceless! But I didn't get a picture, I was still a bit winded from my sprint through the airport!


Next time: we have arrived!

 

[elphie101]

Oh my goodness, I thought you were going to leave off on a cliffhanger regarding your connection and I was about to go full Darth Vadar NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I'm so glad that you guys made it! It does seem like you have rotten luck trying to fly to WDW first thing in the morning!

Can't wait to see the Poly DVC! We ate at Kona during our trip (so bummed we missed you!) and Kevin absolutely fell in love with the new lobby. Now that they have studios, I'm thinking a point rental might be in our future.....

 

[KathyM2]

OMG I'm so glad you made it! I can't imagine how stressful that must have been!! Ugh!!! Can't wait to hear about your trip!

 

[kanadar]

Oh my goodness, I thought you were going to leave off on a cliffhanger regarding your connection and I was about to go full Darth Vadar NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I'm so glad that you guys made it! It does seem like you have rotten luck trying to fly to WDW first thing in the morning!

Can't wait to see the Poly DVC! We ate at Kona during our trip (so bummed we missed you!) and Kevin absolutely fell in love with the new lobby. Now that they have studios, I'm thinking a point rental might be in our future.....

Haha I wouldn't do that to everyone! It was stressful enough for me in the moment! I fly out early from our local airport allll the time and have no issues, its those darn big airports that seem to not like me! But it's not the first time I've had to race through the airport and probably won't be the last haha.

The Poly DVC was fantastic! We absolutely loved it! We also went on a tour of the bungalows so there are pictures of those! I keep joking that maybe we'll be upgraded to one of those for our comp night at the Poly but I know that'll never happen haha

OMG I'm so glad you made it! I can't imagine how stressful that must have been!! Ugh!!! Can't wait to hear about your trip!

It was super stressful! When it comes to traveling I'm a bit of a "negative nancy" as I would rather expect the worst with things like that so I'm not disappointed. DF was great through just telling me it'll be fine, and it'll work out. I don't know that I've ever run faster! We had our bags with us which made it a little more difficult. I'll try to get another update done tonight!

 

[mlegerto]

I love your rehearsal/dessert party dress. It's perfect! Glad you got the chance to go back in the end.

I am SO excited to read all about your mini TR for your planning session. Great start.

1. I LOVE that you stayed at the Poly DVC as DF and I will be staying there in August/September for our honeymoon. Can't wait to hear your opinions on the renos they have done so I can get myself more excited (always a little bit of selfishness in there right haha)
2. Oh man...I would have been FREAKING out about the delay in your first flight. I'm so happy that you guys made it. That would have been a terrible start to the trip. haha...I can only imagine Mary's face and excitement when you finally arrived on the plane haha.

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[kanadar]

I love your rehearsal/dessert party dress. It's perfect! Glad you got the chance to go back in the end.

I am SO excited to read all about your mini TR for your planning session. Great start.

1. I LOVE that you stayed at the Poly DVC as DF and I will be staying there in August/September for our honeymoon. Can't wait to hear your opinions on the renos they have done so I can get myself more excited (always a little bit of selfishness in there right haha)
2. Oh man...I would have been FREAKING out about the delay in your first flight. I'm so happy that you guys made it. That would have been a terrible start to the trip. haha...I can only imagine Mary's face and excitement when you finally arrived on the plane haha.

Can't wait to hear more!

Thank you so much! I love the dress too! I can't wait to wear it.

Thanks! I'm working on more now, should have it up soon! Poly is amazing! It's always been our families favorite resort. We stayed there on our very first trip and fell in love then! Of course we have a few other resorts we love but Poly will always be #1 for us. I was definitely freaking out! Being so early and tired did not help! Mary looked very excited, she was just about cheering when she saw me! It was fantastic!

 

[kanadar]

We have arrived!

I felt so much better about everything as soon as I was sitting in my seat on the airplane, although I really needed a drink of water. The flight itself was uneventful. We didn’t get a chance to greet Mary properly because she was a brat (not really) and got to sit in first class! But it was just for the flight and we all pretty much napped the whole time. Once we landed in Orlando we were able to meet up! We made our way over to the fake-orail.

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Yes that is a bag of chips in my hand...I was STARVING and that's what they gave Mary in first class haha!​

Since the three of us had to check our bags at the gate, we went down to the baggage claim to wait for them. Luckily it didn’t take too long, last on first off right!?

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Bob waiting for his bag!​

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I was showing Mary I had her magic band. Be prepared, there are many goofy pics of Jeff and I coming up. It's just the way we are ​

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It wasn’t long before we had our bags, and were picking out our rental car. We decided to stop at Wal-Mart to pick up a few things before going to the resort. We got some pop, chips, sunscreen, and band-aids for Jeff. Then we were off to the resort! We did online check-in and Mary got a message that our room was ready! We hadn’t expected to be able to get into our room this early! Not much later, we were seeing this fantastic sight!

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I was so excited! I was tapping Jeff on the shoulder going “we’re here, we’re here, we’re here!!!” I don’t think he quite realized what he was getting himself into 2 ½ years ago We hadn’t been back to the Polynesian in about 2 years with all the construction and other places we wanted to stay so we were very excited! We have arrived!

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When Mary got the text with our room number and longhouse, we found out we had gotten our favorite longhouse!! We were in Moorea, previously named Tahiti. It’s one of the closest to the Transportation and Ticket Center which we love being able to just walk over there to get where we want to go. So we knew where to park and headed straight to the room! Poor Jeff just followed us around, he had never stayed there and the Polynesian can get a bit confusing. He even said at one point he wasn’t sure he’d be able to get back to our room by himself We touched our magic band and walked in!

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Here are a few pictures from Tikiman, somehow we missed taking pictures of the bathroom and a few other things. So the next 4 are photo credit to Tikiman.​

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One of the bathrooms, there were 2! The 2 bathrooms was great! This is the one Mary and I shared. It has a rain shower head and regular one as well. Ours was flipped from this one.​

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The boys bathroom. Again ours was flip flopped from this one but you still get the idea. ​

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This is the small kitchen. It was perfect for us because we don't really eat in the room except for snacks so we don't need a big kitchen. ​

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Cute little Maui lamp. I love this cute little tiki dude ​

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The entry hall and the super cute turtle lights!​

We loved how big the room felt. Jeff and I were on the pull out couch which was a little odd, but relatively comfortable. Mary was on the hideaway bed and thought it was very comfortable, she enjoyed having her own little nook.

After settling in a little bit we were all hungry! It was time to head to the Magic Kingdom! Our tradition every year has been to stop at the same place for lunch on arrival day.

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Jeff and my dad picked the chili cheese dogs. They were both super hungry since we didn’t get breakfast so here is a picture of a half eaten one...Jeff’s was pretty much gone at this point

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Mary and I both got the regular hot dogs, and we all got fries with the yummy plastic hot cheese!

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We enjoyed some people watching while we ate, especially a family that sat behind us. They had 4 kids and this super cute little boy. He had nachos and got food ALL OVER himself. Jeff, Mary, and I enjoyed watching him! I even heard his mom tell him he wasn’t allowed to have them anymore because he was a mess It was so cute!

I'll stop here because this is getting long. So up next: An Afternoon of rain!

 

[Seia]

Love your pics of the Poly -- we bought in there on the last day of our honeymoon! Can't wait until we can actually stay there. Haha.

 

[elphie101]

Oh my goodness, the Poly looks gorgeous!! I really, really, really want to stay in one of those studios, I've heard they're the biggest (in square footage) and I love the idea of being on the monorail! Especially being able to walk to TTC for Epcot. Love love love!

 

[kanadar]

Just a quick wedding update to interrupt your regularly (sorta) scheduled Planning Session TR. I picked out a flower girl dress and my bridesmaid Shelby just sent me a couple pictures of her in it! She looks so cute and happy to be wearing her pretty dress.





How cute is she?! Haha. Shelby also said she keeps asking when the wedding is Good to know she's excited about it!

Shelby also texted me when we were gone that her son Logan was sad because Lydia gets to be by me and he doesn't I felt so bad! I've known both of them since they were born. I told her to tell him I'll dance with him all night

Back to your regularly scheduled TR next!

 

[elphie101]

Dawww she's adorable! You lucked out with such a cutie for a flower girl!

 

[Alexsandra]

OMG, she is so cute in that flower girl dress! It is cool that you got to be in your favorite longhouse. The room looks so nice. I miss the Poly so much, I love that resort!