Ring & Rain & Roses, Memory Maker Poses, Disney, Disney, Then We Came Home! COMPLETE!

[Raven0207]

Festival of Fantasy parade so far is maybe my favorite parade out of all of the parades at WDW. Highly recommend it.

 

[MidnightParade]

Ooooh the parade looks so pretty! I really do love the costumes, just so bright and vibrant!

Love your Buzz pic! lol! Its been so long since I have been there I'm sure I have forgotten where all the photo spots are so ours will be boring!

Yay afternoon tea!! Love love love it! Piece of honeycomb with the honey? How cool is that?! Definitely something I will be keeping in mind for our next trip!

Boo to the rain but yay to being under budget! I knew it would happen!!

 

[disney meema]

Great pictures of the parade and your right the fire breathing dragon pic is the best : ) yeah for your buzz light year win and love the picture of your husband all pouty lol funny! We are heading to Disneyland in two weeks for a 5 day trip with our twin grandsons who just turned 14 yrs. and they are looking forward to buzz, toy story mania and of course the entire Carsland at CA. Something about boys shooting guns and getting a score? Must be like a video game to them which at 14 they love.
I've been to the tea several times with my daughters and granddaughters (( love it so relaxing )) taking my husband for the first time in November and looking forward to seeing if he loves it too ... Will see!

Once again enjoying your adventures, pictures and fun as well as looking forward to your anniversary day : )

 

[annegirl]

Just found your PtR and TR. really enjoying reading along! I love all of your outfits. They are subtle and so cute.
I really need to play infinity. One of my friends is an artist for the game but I have yet to try it out.
I also love your trip report title.

 

[AAshleySEG]

Ooooh the parade looks so pretty! I really do love the costumes, just so bright and vibrant!

Love your Buzz pic! lol! Its been so long since I have been there I'm sure I have forgotten where all the photo spots are so ours will be boring!

Yay afternoon tea!! Love love love it! Piece of honeycomb with the honey? How cool is that?! Definitely something I will be keeping in mind for our next trip!

Boo to the rain but yay to being under budget! I knew it would happen!!

Afternoon Tea is definitely something we really enjoy, especially when it is hot outside, it is a quick easy place to get to from MK to sit and relax in the cool for some down time!!
And that honey is delicious!! It is a local honey they get from Florida which I think is pretty awesome!

It was so exciting being under budget at that point in the trip! I was very proud of myself already at how closely I had come to how much everything would cost!

 

[AAshleySEG]

Great pictures of the parade and your right the fire breathing dragon pic is the best : ) yeah for your buzz light year win and love the picture of your husband all pouty lol funny! We are heading to Disneyland in two weeks for a 5 day trip with our twin grandsons who just turned 14 yrs. and they are looking forward to buzz, toy story mania and of course the entire Carsland at CA. Something about boys shooting guns and getting a score? Must be like a video game to them which at 14 they love.
I've been to the tea several times with my daughters and granddaughters (( love it so relaxing )) taking my husband for the first time in November and looking forward to seeing if he loves it too ... Will see!

Once again enjoying your adventures, pictures and fun as well as looking forward to your anniversary day : )

I can't wait until we get out to Disneyland to see Carsland! I have seen such wonderful things about it! We went to Disneyland on our Honeymoon, so we have not been back since 2007. We have a tentative trip planned to go out there in January, but not sure whether we will be able to do it. We did book the room though through DVC so we would have it in case we decided it was a definite!

I hope your husband really enjoys the afternoon tea!! That will be your first step toward going to V&A, if he likes the tea atmosphere, I think you guys would definitely enjoy going upstairs too!

 

[AAshleySEG]

Just found your PtR and TR. really enjoying reading along! I love all of your outfits. They are subtle and so cute.
I really need to play infinity. One of my friends is an artist for the game but I have yet to try it out.
I also love your trip report title.

Awesome! I am glad you found us! We definitely enjoyed doing the outfits this time, it may become something we do more often! I think they make the photos looks so much better than wearing our usual t-shirt looks

We really enjoyed playing Disney Infinity! Its really cool because for me, it spans ages really well, like really young children can play without feeling like it is too hard, and adults can play without it feeling to juvenile! They did a great job with it! It is kind of like Disney World itself how anyone can do it and have fun!!

Thanks again for reading along!!

 

[evcollins]

Enjoying your trip report!!

 

[Teetah]

I loved this update so much! Your pics from the parade were great! I am a bit of an extremely amateur photographer, so I am always obsessing (in a good way) over other people's photos! And the tea looks so fun! Even though you were rained out, it seemed like a lovely day...and rest is a good thing...even at Disney!

 

[dramadrew]

Following along! I am sorry you had an odd Chip. That happened to us with King Louie and Baloo. They decided to switch them a couple guests before us. These two were very energetic, but I did notice by the end they seemed to be a tad antsy. However when they came back, Baloo was off and didn't seem very welcoming. King Louie was good though.

 

[AAshleySEG]

Enjoying your trip report!!

Thank you so much! I am glad you are enjoying it!! Thank you for reading along!

 

[AAshleySEG]

I loved this update so much! Your pics from the parade were great! I am a bit of an extremely amateur photographer, so I am always obsessing (in a good way) over other people's photos! And the tea looks so fun! Even though you were rained out, it seemed like a lovely day...and rest is a good thing...even at Disney!

I am the same way with other peoples photos!! I love looking at them! I don't even think I could call myself extremely amateur...LOL I am probably more of a beginner than even that, I do have a camera that I love though, and I feel like I can actually use most of the settings on it now...

The tea is a really nice relaxing thing to do on a break from Magic Kingdom, you guys should try it sometime!! The rain doesn't really "rain on our parade" anymore, we have a much more relaxed and casual attitude when it comes to that...LOL We used to stay out in it, and if we only had one trip this year we probably would have, but the rest was definitely nice. We enjoyed staying in the room watching the rain outside at Animal Kingdom Lodge, it made us feel like we were in the rainy season in Africa...

 

[AAshleySEG]

Following along! I am sorry you had an odd Chip. That happened to us with King Louie and Baloo. They decided to switch them a couple guests before us. These two were very energetic, but I did notice by the end they seemed to be a tad antsy. However when they came back, Baloo was off and didn't seem very welcoming. King Louie was good though.

Awesome! Thanks for joining me!! Yeah, the Chip incident of 14' was definitely sad. It makes me a little sad to think that others are having interesting character interactions as well

I noticed that you have a countdown to your 30th birthday! My 30th birthday is this year too!! I am both dreading and looking forward to it Dreading the calling myself 30 part, and looking forward to a vacation I didn't have to plan, Jeremy is planning the entire b-day trip himself! It will be interesting to write a TR about a trip I didn't plan, maybe I can get Jeremy to do one as well and have one from two different perspectives...LOL Hmmmm

 

[AAshleySEG]

Today is our 7th Wedding Anniversary!! We had already pretty much packed everything the night before considering we got back so early because of the rain. The only things we left out were the things we needed to get ready this morning. Once we had on our attire, Jeremy as Prince Ferdinand, White Shirt, Gray Pants, Black Shoes, Red Belt, Blue Magic Band...

I was Snow White on this day!

It was quick and easy to get everything out into the car to drive over to the Villas at Grand Floridian! We made a quick pit stop by McDonald's and picked up a quick breakfast and then finished the drive over. Our plan was to just go and check in quickly, we knew the room wouldn't be ready this early in the morning, we just wanted to get the car parked over there so when we got done with our tour it would be easy to just hop on the monorail back over and get our stuff out of the car!

I walked inside and sat down to check-in and received the shock of a lifetime...our room WAS ready! I tried to call Jeremy to let him know so we could bring the luggage in before we went over to MK, but he didn't answer his phone until he made it inside the lobby already. So we went ahead and walked up to the room to see where it was, sat down our welcome packet and headed back out to catch the monorail so we could make it over to our tour!

It was very easy, after bag check we walked over to the left side of the gates where everyone was checking in for the tours, which let us walk right into the park before opening! I always feel bad walking by everyone waiting, like I am doing something wrong by getting to go in before they do

Before we went to check in for the tour we decided we wanted to take a few photos on Main Street before the crowd got heavy once they let everyone inside! Jeremy had a nice chat with Roy and Minnie!

Then we asked a Photopass photographer if he would mind taking a few photos for us on Main Street! These turned out to be some of my absolute favorite Photopass photos from the entire trip! I was just so glad that our Anniversary ones turned out to be my favs!

After we finished taking photos on Main Street we headed over to the Chamber of Commerce to Check-In for our Keys to the Kingdom Tour at 9:00am! I think we checked in maybe 20 minutes early or something like that? We also were able to pick out our lunches from the Columbia Harbour House Menu, and we were also given headset packs! Jeremy chose the Fish & Chips, and I went with the Lighthouse Sandwich! Afterwards we walked to the Garden next to the CoC building and waited until our tour started!

There is NO filming/photos allowed to be taken on the Keys to the Kingdom Tour considering some parts of it are backstage! So I have absolutely none for you guys to look at! I am going to do a completely separate post on what we remember from the tour in case anyone is interested in reading it, only because I know some people may not want the "Magic" ruined for them. So if you want to know what I remember from the tour you can read that post! I am going to put it directly after this one!

Once the tour was over it was 2:00 in the afternoon! We had plenty of time to head back to the resort and get ready for the evening! We decided this time around to take the boat over, it had just pulled up when we got there so we didn't have to wait at all!

I love the Disney boats, it is such a nice relaxing way to get back to your hotel after spending time in the parks! Once we got there we went to the car to get our luggage to bring it up to the room. Jeremy showered and got dressed first because he had an appointment over at Ivy Trellis for a haircut, our plan was to meet each other over at the entrance to Victoria & Albert's at 5:00 sharp, right in time for our dinner. I had gotten a new dress just for the occasion and I totally forgot to take a photo of it with my regular camera. I did, however, take two Selfies once I got ready, I was anxiously waiting to walk over, but I didn't want to get over there too early so I was doing things to waste time! So you can't judge these photos guys! HAHA They are just the only things I actually have of how I looked that night!

Finally about 5-10 minutes before I was supposed to be there, I started walking slowly in that direction! I was so excited to see Jeremy, and I hoped he was excited to see me! He had not even seen the dress I was wearing, let alone on me! We were also about to be in the Queen Victoria Room! The anticipation of getting up there was killing me...

 

[AAshleySEG]

WARNING!
Make Sure You Want to Read Backstage Info Before Reading! If you are going on the tour yourself, you may want to wait! Just remember, you were warned before you read it!!​

This section is reserved for a post about the Keys To The Kingdom Tour! I want to make sure that no one sees it that does not want to read it! But if you do, just read away and you will hear everything I can remember about it! If I have time on our July trip I am going to go back and take some photos of things we saw on this tour so I can put them in, onstage things anyway This is your last chance to stop reading if you do not want to!!

A few minutes after 9:00 our guide for the tour Christi cam over and introduced herself to the group! We were quickly briefed on how to use our headsets, and reminded that there were to be no photography or video while on the tour!

Off we went and started walking "right down the middle of Main Street U.S.A"...queue me singing the song that goes along with that...if you know it...anyways. The first thing she talked about was how Magic Kingdom was designed like a film or theater show. With the train station blocking your view and acting as a curtain before the main attraction which of course is Cinderella Castle. You also have the smell of freshly popped popcorn coming inside, as well as the ticket booths to get in. Another feature is how they sort of roll out the red carpet for you as you come in with the concrete being red. After talking about the show aspect she started showing us all of the windows and who most of them represented. Before we started walking down Main Street in front of the castle she told us to remember the 4 keys to the kingdom which are Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency, and asked us to look for some examples as we were walking around. We turned right down the alleyway beside Uptown Jewelers and at the end was Snow White. How funny was it that I was dressed as her today!! She instantly recognized that I was dressed at her and she started waving at me with excitement.

I am not going to lie...that kind of started my day off the perfect way! The last window we were show on Main Street was Walt's, next up we started heading over to Adventureland! Before we got all the way in she told us to notice how the sidewalks change as well as how the landscaping starts to change to sort of usher you into the new mood that is Adventureland. As soon as the sidewalk changes she told us to turn around. We all expected to see the castle, but alas we could not! I had never noticed that before. They specifically and strategically place trees so once you are on your way to Adventureland, that you cannot see the castle anymore! Another note that she pointed out was that if you are walking around you can definitely see what is going on in Tomorrowland with Astro Orbiter and the taller buildings. but that you cannot see anything in Adventureland until you get there. She said that they made it that way purposefully so that you would be on an adventure by not knowing what was there before you went in!

Our first restroom break of the day was next before we got to take a private tour on the Jungle Cruise, Keys to the Kingdom Style. We still had a skipper but he was only "driving" the boat, Christi was doing all of the talking! Fun facts about the Jungle Cruise! There are 3 natives that are on the left hand side of the boat and each one says something, the third one says I Love Disco! You can clearly hear it, there is debate as to whether it was because when the attraction was built it was the height of Disco in the 70s..the other explanation is they are saying "Dis Co, as in Disney Company? Which one is true...the world may never know! The hippos are affectionately known as Hippo-bottomless because what you see above the water is all there is of them, they have no bottom halfs! There are 3 canoes in the tribal village and there are 3 hidden characters faces on them, Mickey, Goofy, and Donald! Where the gorillas are turning over the jeep, the largest Silverback Gorilla was originally a red-backed gorilla until they realized that that was not accurate in nature, which mean a team of imagineers went and fixed him to have the silverback that he deserved. The face of the man "getting the point in the end" has the same face as the Caretaker walking the dog in the Haunted Mansion! When you see the backside of water, the falls actually have a purpose! The water in the Jungle Cruise is dyed and the falls churn and mix it up, so it gets spread evenly throughout the attraction. The fabric on Trader Sam's attire is the original fabric from the tops of the boats, when they changed the fabric out, they kept some and put it on him as a tribute to the original. Inside of the dark tunnel the snakes are the same snakes from the Indiana Jones scene in the Great Movie Ride, and the monkeys are the same ones from the Living with the Land attraction at Epcot. One of the funniest things to me was that the cast members who work on Jungle Cruise sometimes have to go out and scrub the elephants because stuff may start to grow on them since they are stationary, and that would definitely not be happening in the wild, so that have to put on waders and actual wade into the water to scrub them! The last piece of info I am going to leave you with about the Jungle Cruise is that the skippers do not actually steer the boats. There are pylons on the bottom of the boats that follow along a channel, however, they do control the speed and forward and backward motion of the boat, so don't be mean to your skipper and not laugh at their jokes, because they can get you wet when the elephant decides to squirt water out of his trunk!

We said farewell to the Jungle Cruise and started walking our way through the remainder of Adventureland!...What will we do next?? Stay tuned to find out!

 

[Teetah]

Awwwww, so sweet of you two to meet each other at V&As!! Just adorbs!!!

I am going to skip your KTK post...we are doing that in October and I don't want to know a thing lol!!

 

[AAshleySEG]

Awwwww, so sweet of you two to meet each other at V&As!! Just adorbs!!!

I am going to skip your KTK post...we are doing that in October and I don't want to know a thing lol!!

I hope you have so much fun on the tour! We really enjoyed going on it! We learned a bunch of things that I never knew! You are a perfect example of why I am doing a separate post about it, I know some people either don't want to know, or don't want the tour ruined for them!

 

[Raven0207]

Oh the surprise and amazement on my face when you rounded the corner to meet me. WOW! You looked amazing!

 

[MidnightParade]

Awww you look fantastic as Snow White-bound! Love the pic of you on the boat heading back to GF!

I read your tour post! Such fun and so interesting! And that is all I will say!

Your anniversary dress is gorgeous! You look fabulous in it!!

 

[AAshleySEG]

Oh the surprise and amazement on my face when you rounded the corner to meet me. WOW! You looked amazing!

I am glad you liked my dress! You didn't look too bad yourself