Juli & Wayne ~ WP/WH 11/1/12: Our day was a fairytale... recap started!

[Jewl5565]

Stuff from EverAfter Printables

So adorable!
Love all the Designs

 

[CityGirlLost]

I need some ideas.

My parents were going to come to the wedding for a bunch of reasons. My dad has never been to Disney World. When my mom brought my sister and I to WDW, he'd usually go to Spain to visit his family. My parents are both retired and have an assortment of health issues. My dad is getting very forgetful in a scary sort of way. He's put on the tea kettle and forgotten it and left the house. A couple of weeks ago he parked my mom's car and got out with the keys in it, with the motor running and the doors open. My mom was not going to Florida without him and on their retirement income, they just don't have the money.

So, with free dining announced for the week of our wedding, the price of both my sister's family's trip and our family's trip dropped by a few hundred dollars each. So my sister and I concocted a plan and we're paying for my parents to come to the wedding.

Their trip will be shorter-- only 4 nights (10/30-11/3)-- but they'll have free dining as well and my sister is getting their plane fare.

I know they're going to be stubborn about it and try to say no but our plan is to tell them it's all paid for and there are no refunds so they have no choice but to go and have fun, damnit!

My dad's birthday is in a couple of weeks and that's when we're planning the big reveal. We're going to wrap a cheap toy airplane to represent the air fare and we can't figure out what we want to do for the actual Disney portion of the trip. Any ideas?

 

[CinderALLIE]

Maybe a little Disney ornament?

 

[CRdisMom]

Or check out the Disney store for a snow globe. Ya know so it will look like a dream and all.

 

[CityGirlLost]

I've been working as a temp since mid-March, filling in for someone on maternity leave. The agency through which I got the job kept telling me that the company frequently hires temps on full time. So I committed to 12 weeks and it's been 17 as of today. Almost a month ago, I applied for a full time position and my interviews went great. I was told that it was between me and an outside candidate. The VP I worked with and several other staff members gave me glowing recommendations.

Today I found out I didn't get it.

 

[Bewitch324]

Bummer! You must be so disappointed!! I am sorry that happened!

Good luck with the job search!

Brooke

 

[CityGirlLost]

Thanks Brooke! I have faith that things will work out!

Guess what I did today? I made the ribbon wands!!!!

 

[CRdisMom]

Big hugs!!

 

[CityGirlLost]

I never did finish our TR, did I?

Well, as we were strolling through Fantasyland, we decided that we were hungry for dinner. It was about 5 pm and we really wanted to go to Ohana. We decided to try just showing up at the podium and seeing if we could get a table.

Yeah, it didn't happen for us this time. We were already at the Poly and could see lots of empty tables at Kona so we decided to eat there. For dinner. So weird!

Here's Wayne as we sat in the Tambu Lounge waiting for a table.

We started with the sticky wings and pot stickers

Dinner for me was a glorified House Special Lo Mein. I forget what they called it but that's essentially what it was. It was tasty but nothing special.

Wayne had the Shrimp and Scallops and that's all it was: breaded shrimp and scallops.

 

[CityGirlLost]

After dinner we went directly to Tomorrowland. We rode Space Mountain and kind of meandered around before getting on the People Mover. I love that ride. I know it's goofy but it's a must-do for me. So of course, it stopped several times while we were on it, including one time for close to 40 minutes.

Wayne took that opportunity to call the munchkins and chat.

Luckily we got stuck in a spot where there was an amazing view of the sunset over the castle and the dance party in the middle of Tomorrowland.

We were wiped out and still slightly damp from the earlier rain and being in plastic rain ponchos all day. We caught a bit of Wishes from the top of Main Street before walking back to the bus area and being delighted that Coronado Springs was the first waiting area. When we stay at Pop, we have to drag our pathetic butts to the furthest stop so we were really happy!

When we got back to the resort, we quickly changed into our swim suits and headed over to the quiet pool in Casitas 4 and had it all to ourselves.

A couple photos I took along the way:

 

[CityGirlLost]

We woke up Saturday morning all excited that it was Epcot day because we had a reservation for LeCellier. Wooo hoo! Nothing like getting excited for dinner when it's breakfast time! I didn't take a whole lot of pictures on this day. Well, except of food.

It was hot. The sun was brutal in Epcot, but the lines weren't too bad. First things first, Wayne rushed to the Land to get Fastpasses for Soarin. I walked more slowly toward the Land and apparently we passed each other somewhere. It was funny. Fastpasses in hand, we walked back to Spaceship Earth and rode it.

Then we went to Ellen's Energy Adventure, which I love. What can I say? I'm a dork and it's 45 minutes of air-conditioned goodness!

Then it was getting close to time for Soarin so we went back to the Land. It was kind of sad seeing Test Track all closed up and fenced off. Parts of Epcot are so sad where the buildings are empty and unused. I really hope Disney Parks turns their focus to Epcot after Fantasyland is done. It's starting to feel empty and dated.

Anyway, it was getting close to Soarin time. We went back to the Land and had lunch at Sunshine Seasons. We loved it! It was the first time we'd ever eaten there and it made us excited for our rezzie at Garden Grill during the wedding week. After eating, we rode Soarin' and Living With the Land, another dorky thing I love.

Pineapples!

Tomato Tree!

 

[CityGirlLost]

We took a long walk over to the World Showcase and browsed through shops and sights but we were at Canada way too fast. It was too early to head to LeCellier (and we'd only eaten at Sunshine Seasons like 2.5 hours earlier. We did something really crazy. We walked up to the top of the Canada Pavilion, found a nice bench in the shade next to the waterfall and we sat and chatted and relaxed for a while. I didn't take any pictures. It was relaxing and perfect. We watched the people come and go.

We went down to LeCellier about half and hour early for our ADR. They were in the process of converting from lunch to dinner. We sat in the cool darkness and got to see the staff come up from to sing "Oh Canada" to start the dinner service. It was really cute.

To start, Wayne had the soup. Good choice! I had the Poutine they list as a side on the menu. I love poutine. This one was incredible for the first few bites but then as I continued to eat, it became very, very salty. Like it left my tongue sore it was so salty. Also, it could have used more of the red wine reduction gravy.

Somehow I missed taking photos of our entrees. I guess I was too excited to dive in! I had the NY Strip steak and Wayne had Kurobota Pork, which was really incredible. I snagged a bite or two. Wayne is so kind to share!

And then to dessert! I cannot resist creme brulee if it's on the menu in any form. Wayne had the poppy seed lemon cake thing.

We didn't finish the desserts. I think that's the first time I've ever done that! I was so uncomfortably full and so hot but I was psyched to check out the Terrace De Fleurs (formerly French Island Upper!) where we're having our dessert party. In all of my other trips to the World, I don't think I paid any attention to these spots and I was eager to point them out to Wayne.

We were both so psyched that as we walked across the bridge and that location came into view, there was a wedding being set up!!!!

I wonder if the bride is a Dis Bride? I took a bunch of photos. It looks like the pre-reception was up top and the reception in the lower area,

 

[CityGirlLost]

We did the walk through of the World Showcase- stopping in stores, checking out characters and the families waiting in line to meet them. I felt particular pity for the person in the Beast costume. That sucker must be HOT inside. We also saw Jasmin and Aladdin and a belly dancer who seemed a little too R-rated for a family park.

We rode the Mexican Fiesta ride with Donald. Because it was so cool and wonderful in the pyramid, we sat on the edge of the fountain and had a brief conversation about gay marriage with some lovely young men who were enjoying some tequila from the cave. It made me want a Margarita and Wayne decided he wanted a tea schnapps slushie from the Joy of Tea. So he walked back to China and I got a tri-color Margarita and parked my butt on a bench to wait for the return of my sweetie. I was amazed by the outfits some people wear in the parks. I loved watching all of the gay couples walking around with pride shirts and holding hands (it was Gay Days!)

We rode Maelstrom and walked out toward the entrance. We were both pretty psyched to get over to the Dig Site pool at the resort.

We were both so sore and pathetic. I ended up with a ridiculous blister on the ball of my foot from rubbing on the wet leather of the cutesy sandals I wore for the menu tasting. So all I wanted was to soak in the hot tub but the chlorine was bothering Wayne.

We went back and forth. Neither of us had the nerve to try the water slide even though I really wanted to. The pool was pretty crowded and we got to watch Up from the water. All in all, a good time. Neither of us wanted to leave the next day. It was too short of a trip!

 

[CityGirlLost]

Last day and no park! Our Magical Express pick up time was at noon so we had time to sleep in and get our things together, grab some brunch and head to the airport.

We got to the Pepper Market fifteen minutes before breakfast was over, so it was basically like eating leftovers, but we cobbled together a breakfast. It turns out that at some point, someone jacked my credit card number when I gave my card over to pay for the meal and used it to buy plane tickets to the Philippines. Yay, identity theft!

One last photo of the lobby and that's it.

 

[CityGirlLost]

It's 81 days until our wedding!!!!!! So much left to do! So much left to pay for!

We made the big payment of our minimum expense last week so the bulk of the wedding is paid for! We managed to get our BEO down to the point where we actually have to add things to meet the minimum. I'll post our BEO and Event Expenditure some day this week.

On Friday I bought our airfare and that was a whole snafu where Wayne said we should Priceline our tickets to see if we could save a bit on the 6 plane tickets we needed to buy. So I did, at $150 per ticket but when the fees and stuff were added on, it was $1300 and they gave me crappy flight times and stops along the way, both ways! So I called customer service, knowing that canceling is supposed to be impossible. With a little bit of lying and some tears, I got them to cancel those tickets and refund all but $180 of the money. I was able to rebook with better flight times for about the same amount of money. I will never do the name your own price thing again.

Yesterday I made the table name signs for the wedding. We're down to 4 tables with our guest list.

 

[CRdisMom]

i love it all.....can you believe I have never been on ellen's engery adventure. I whole heartedly agree that Epcot is seeming dated. It breaks my heart know that it was Walts dream for it to be futuristic. So sad.

I'm really bummed my bump didn' work last night. You know I will be there with you in spirit on your wedding right? Are you staying AoA??

 

[BethieTink]

Juli,

Loved your TR! Glad you had such a good time.

You are in the home stretch! Good luck getting it all done!

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

Awesome TR!

Sorry about the job, though.

 

[CityGirlLost]

Thanks BethieTink and NoOrdinaryPrincess!

Today's project was the Kids Activity Book I'm giving them with some crayons and stuff to keep them occupied at the wedding.

A representative sample:

 

[BethieTink]

Juli,

I love the book! What a cool idea!

Getting closer! I am 9 days after you and starting to panic, just a bit.