See what a little Wishin' can do? A very ENGAGING January 2015 trip! *COMPLETED 10/9*

[Cando86]

Just joined in. Congratulations on graduating and getting engaged!

and THANK YOU!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!! By my calculations, that puts you exactly 1 week behind me. Then again, I will still have a little left to do for another couple of days.

But yeah, that free dining was crazy nuts. I just stuck with the room discount which is fine by me. It'll be my first All Stars stay as well (Music... And Spa), so I'm hoping it'll be ok.

Aw man, we'll just miss you! Bummer! Music and spa Ya know, I've heard great things about the signature restaurants at the All Stars now that I think about it!...

Free dining was a hot mess this year. I think they're trying to get rid of it. Making it such a pain to book, such limited availability, and the requirement of PHs or the Water Park and More option are making it seem far less valuable than in the past.

Darnit, I actually did sing that out loud.

This I did not sing out loud, just for the record.

This cracked me up You may not have sung it out loud...but it was stuck in your head all day.

WOW, those are some sick wait times for early morning January 8 one would think. Don't they know you just got engaged????

THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYIN'...don't they know we deserve SPECIAL TREATMENT, I mean come on, I'm DONE with Disney.

Awww, Minnie has the mumps. Or maybe you were just going for a Minnie/Chip & Dale hybrid? Gotta store them nuts somewhere.

A hybrid Minnie/Chip & Dale with the mumps who can't stay away from the Dole Whips...Minnie is riding the struggle bus.

AHHH, I might be eating there this September.

YOU SHOULD!!! I think you'd LOVE it. Hopefully you'd get a good server because that can really make or break your experience. But I actually love the food anyway!

Holy cow that line for RnRC sounds crazy. You wouldn't expect it to be that bad right at opening ...

Yay for Joe getting to be the Rebel Spy! And he should have gotten the shirt ... I hope he gets it in September!

I'm with you on Frozen - I love the Sing Along! The historians really are hysterical (although ... not always so appropriate, I've noticed)

I love awesome CMs ... and Jae sounds so great! And Disney stickers really are awesome ... I got like 8 of them on one trip ...
Joe's Minnie looks a little angry. Just saying.

Even though you called it a day early, it sounds like you had a pretty good day!

Isn't that RnRC line nuts?! It must've had technical issues which caused the line to grow...I think it was a fluke but still. It was crazy!

I was SO happy he was the Rebel Spy...he'll randomly say to me "remember that time I was the Rebel Spy?"...I think he was happy too

I can't wait to do the Frozen sing-a-long again! Did you know they're moving it to the theater where American Idol used to be? I JUST read that this morning!

Joe's Minnie was angry about Aloha Isle not serving vanilla ice cream anymore, 'Ohana getting rid of the chicken, the privacy violations of MagicBands and not being able to get a BOG reservation...hehehe

So I am back a few posts but just wanted to say how much your engagement post meant to me at the time I read it

I happened to have just read a story about a young woman who seemingly had everything going for her but was struggling on the inside - feeling that she had to be perfect all the time and that no one else felt "no ok" like she did at times, etc. Eventually she wound up taking her own life and as a father to three (two of whom are girls) the story hit me hard ...

... and then I read your post about Wishes and Disney and how it is a place you can "just be" and it hit me that the other young woman didn't seem to have that place where she could always "just be" and to think about how the Disney parks aren't just amusement parks and what Walt created is so much more than that. How, no matter your age or race or gender or if you are traveling solo or in a group of 50 or as a couple that just got engaged you can just enjoy being. So obviously I needed that.

and Obviously CONGRATULATIONS! What a great story! And if Joe reads this I hope he takes note that you never mention how big the ring is or anything like that but rather how much thought and effort he puts into it ... and that 20 years form know he should always put the same thought and effort into you

Wishing you both nothing but happiness!

Ok, back to nice comments and whitty remarks

Your story brought tears to my eyes. Wow. That makes my heart hurt.

Disney is such a special place for that reason. There's been some not so fun stuff I've dealt with in the past and ALWAYS Disney was the sanctuary for me. I love that it has that effect on all of us. And it's a good reminder to be thankful that we all have such a special place to return to...I only wish everyone had a place like that. Phew...those damn onions today.

.... good, good ... everything is proceeding as you had foreseen

Glad you were able to get Free dining - sounds like it was a disaster this year. Like they didn't even really want to do the promotion so decided to do it really limited like with little to no warning and not increase staff to handle the calles

I love how Joe has gone from not really being into Disney to now wanting to stay at every single resort! See what a little Wishin' can do?

Wow, that's amazing the woman in line with you at RnRC worked with Joe's mom! It's a small, small world! (apologies Rob)

Ah, the true Disney fan bliss of "GETTING THE COWBOY SCENE OMG!!!!!"

I so loved the Frozen sing along. I loved the historians and how they had jokes that were definitely meant more for the adults. I do think that the level of enjoyment depends on how into it the crowd is. When we went we had a crowd like yours with tons of people (including about 2,367 little girls in Elsa dresses) signing their hearts out and it was great. I've read reports of other shows where the crowd isn't really into it and it takes away from things a bit. Glad you both enjoyed it!

I really enjoyed Animation Academy! BTW - you can e-mail guest relations about a great CM. I did that after our last trip and got a note back saying thank you for the feedback and they would make a note in her (or his) record

I was going to say your Minnie looks like she just had her wisdom teeth removed ... but too many Dole Whips is way more fun!

I am still trying to get my daughter to ride TOT - the drop part she is fine with she just has no interest in seeing anything about ghosts, so if we could skip that first part I think she would go

I can see everything catching up to you - especially with the late night before (for a good cause obviously) It's tough at the time but calling for an early night when you need it almost always works out for the best in the end. Glad you at least had another opportunity to see Fantasmic! though!

Hehehe everything is going just as I planned...muahahaha



Free dining was a complete mess this year. I said before, I think it's Disney's way of getting rid of it and making it seem like less of a value. It's working on me.

I knew only people on the Dis would understanding THE COWBOY SCENE OMG Joe will get it ONE DAY. It's all part of my evil plan...

I'm so glad to hear so many people love the Frozen sing-a-long. I wondered if my loving it so much would turn the anti-Frozen'ers off. It really is such a great show though. And you're right, I never even considered how different our experience would have been if the crowd wasn't as into it!

I am going to send an e-mail to guest relations about Jae. She was that awesome. Just one of those CMs who just ooze that Disney love.

Maybe Minnie had just gotten her wisdom teeth removed..and was eating too many Dole Whips since that's all she could eat.

I was like your daughter except afraid of the ghosts AND the drop. So, hey if you're only batting 1-2 I think there's a chance! Just keep not so gently nudging her...peer pressure can be a good thing in some cases.

Hey, we're staying at the All Star Sports in November for the second time and we're really excited! Trust me, you'll love it! The All Stars are great and get so much more flank then they deserve. You'll enjoy yourself.

Sorry you had to wait so long to get on the ride but how cool that you ran into those ladies!

What?! I didn't know there was a secret to being the rebel spy. I will keep that in mind.

That makes me feel so much better! Ah, I keep searching the website and both Pop and CBR finally came up for free dining the other day and I frantically called Joe and he was like "let's just stay, we save a little money and if we want to stay at every resort we have to do it at some point!" Which doesn't really elicit excitement lol. I'm so glad to hear you both like it! Do you have any recommendations on which building to request?

The Rebel Spy secret WORKS! Definitely try it next time - and then come back here and tell us all about how you were chosen

 

[Cando86]

Friday January 9, 2015 - Nice work, pal.

That early night last night turned out to be a great call. It was still kind of hard to wake up this morning and I was definitely glad that I had planned an "off" day for us tomorrow. But today - it was onward to EPCOT!!!

We made it to the bus stop by 8:10 and inhaled our granola bars. Once we made it to Epcot, we had a few minutes to wait before 'rope drop.' So we spent it calling each other fiance on repeat. Which then turned into calling each other Beyonce. Which is what we now call each other.



Have you guys met Joe?

Anyways...

We were pretty far back in the line to get into the park when an angel from above started waving his hands at us to direct us into a line that had just opened which resulted in us being some of the first in the park! LET'S GO TO EPCOT!!!

I *love* Epcot. It was my second favorite park until AK crept in this trip and tied things up. Still, I was SO HAPPY to be back in Epcot!!!



Let's gooo!!!

We headed STRAIGHT to one of the two that you have to head to at rope drop.

To Figment it was!



I kid. We were on our way to one of my FAAAVORITE faavorite FAAAAVorite attractions...SOARIN!!!

Oh I was so excited. The SB line was posted at a hearty ten minutes so we hopped on in. The lovely CM directed us to a row where we didn't have to Soar over California with feet in our faces - FRONT ROW BABY! Joe hadn't been on Soarin and I was so excited for him to experience it. I think his favorite part was the pre-show video and I don't mean that to say he didn't like the ride...he just REALLY liked that pre-show video

And now I present to you Joe's favorite part about Soarin...

"If smaller aviators don't measure up to the height indicator on the seat, just put the belt through the loop in the center strap before buckling..."



"Nice work, pal."

Can't say I blame him.

After our awesome flight, we glanced at the SB line expecting it to have increased a lot. But we were greeted by a beautiful ten minute SB wait and so we hopped in line again to tell the little boy "nice work, pal."

By 9:30 we were done with our two rides on Soarin and decided to head to another attraction I love but didn't think Joe would feel the same about...LWTL!

I'm pretty sure LWTL pictures are as easy to come by as Kilimanjaro Safari animal pictures on Trip Reports so I'll spare you my pictures of nine pound lemons and hybrid Tilapia.

But I will tell you Joe ended up enjoying this one! I thought he would give me as much crap about this one as he gave me about Figment later...spoiler alert, Joe won't be on Figment anytime soon again. Or ever.

Anyway, LWLT was a walk on obviously and we were done by 9:50. Joe was getting hungry at this point - guess that granola bar this morning wasn't enough - so we headed to ... STARBUCKS IN DISNEY WORLD WHAT. I know most people hated this and honestly I did too in the beginning. Especially when I heard it was replacing the Main Street Bakery. I will admit, that part of it still bums me out a little bit but I AM happy to have good, necessary refueling available in the parks!



Joe got a breakfast sandwich and we just hung out on a bench outside for a few minutes which was really nice. I know that quiet, calm, relaxing moments are easy to come by in Disney...HA...but this one in particular was very relaxing.

Next we were headed to Sum of All Thrills! The wait was posted at 30 minutes but we were in the briefing room in 20 minutes and done with the whole thing by 11. Here is where we came up with by far the greatest name for our ride that anyone has every thought of...

We were kind of rushed by the end of creating our ride, so we both just kind of absentmindedly clicked on two random words when it asks you to pick two for your ride's name.

And came up with...CLOUD SNAKE. Which we deemed to be the best name you could come up with. Obviously.

We spent the rest of the day randomly yelling CLOUD SNAKE in an intimidating voice. Because Cloud Snake is very intimidating. And making up theme songs for CLOUD SNAKE.

Trademark coming.

After all that excitement, we decided we were huuungry. And headed to Morocco for Tangierine Cafe! One of my favorite QS locations. I think we both got the chicken and lamb combo here. The chicken kind of weirded me out so I didn't touch it but everything else was wonderful. It's an insane amount of food and there was no way I was finishing it. But I gave it my all.

We decided to meet Jasmine and Aladdin since we were near their land and all. I'm pretty sure if Joe could've proposed to Jasmine during Wishes instead of me he would have.

I'm only half kidding.

Jasmine and Aladdin were great! I wish I could remember what we talked about because I know it was cute. Something about Joe wearing a Detroit Tigers hat and Rajah...maybe Joe can jog the memory later.



Onward to Japan where I got to do something I've wanted to do for a long time!



Pick a Pearl! This was such a fun experience and I would definitely do it again. Except I would buy the setting online before the trip. I ended up spending more than I wanted to on this after buying the necklace...plus the chain...plus the jewelry box. They're good salespeople, that's for sure. But I love the necklace and still wear it!

Next up...our attempt at drinking around the world/we're cheap dates

 

[Cando86]

Friday January 9, 2015 - Drinking Around The World/We're Cheap Dates

At 1:15 we headed to ANOTHER..."attraction" I guess you could call it?...I hadn't experienced but knew I needed to.

Voices of Liberty!!!

While we were waiting for the show to start, we were just sitting on a bench, probably talking about Cloud Snake and making up new theme songs...when an older gentleman approached us. He was a CM and asked us to come with him. A piece of advice...don't follow strange men places anywhere but Disney. But we happily obliged and he took us into his office where he asked us all about the proposal and then presented us with this...



It was so sweet! Check out that handwriting too.



We were happy people.

And then the Voices of Liberty emerged and proceeded to WOW me like crazy!!! If you haven't seen them, run, do not walk, do not pass go, do not collect $200, GO TO THEM.

There's a little museum inside the America pavilion where you see VOL and we browsed it for a bit. There were some neat little interactive things inside.



And while most people like to see the World Showcase films or browse inside the country pavilions to escape the heat, we were partly motivated to do so to escape the COLD. It was chilly today. Like, hats and gloves chilly.

And then it was time. To "Drink Around the World." And I put that in quotes not because it's a proper name but because we drank around about three countries.

First up was Italy where we went to the Tutto Gusto wine cellar which was a very neat space. It's super intimate and dark and cozy. We got a spot on a couch in front of a fireplace (SO NICE) and ordered a wine flight called Under a Tuscan Sun to split. We were trying to take it slow since we had many hours of drinking ahead of us...

They had a food menu here too but we were just in it for the ah ah ah ah ah alcohol.



I would definitely return here. It was a nice escape from the cold and was quiet, intimate and relaxing.

Joe and I, being in our late twenties, have turned into slight beer snobs. It's a late-twenties right of passage apparently.



Needless to say, we were excited to drink in Germany! We went to the beer cart near Biergarten and stood in a LONG line. After we ordered, we discovered a beer cart closer to the entrance of Germany, near the lagoon that had the exact same menu and no one in line. Next time.



As beer snobs, I completely forgot what we ordered. Naturally.

I was veryyy excited to make a trip to Karamell-Kuche! Joe got a chocolate caramel cookie and I got the Werther's chewy caramel bar. And, once the CMs saw our "just engaged" buttons, we also got a free bag of caramel corn which actually ended up being the favorite!





Now...I loved my caramel bar. But after Joe took a bite his response was...

"first bite kinda tastes like butt"

He really should have been a food critic.

Mission: Space was next and this was quite the experience. I was back and forth on whether I was going to ride this or not. Maybe if they didn't post this 15 million times before you board, the decision wouldn't have been so difficult:



After MUCH prodding from Joe who was VERY excited to ride...I did it. Not only did I do it, I did the ORANGE SIDE. Would I do it again?



That warning about anxiety? LISTEN TO IT.

 

[kde175]

Hi there,

I'm a little late to the party as usual, but have really enjoyed reading along. Congratulations!!! I, too, am a Main Street bride. My DH proposed to me right after the Share a Dream Come True parade asking me if I'd be his dream come true. Of course!!! I'm a little sad that the little bridge that were on at the time isn't there anymore because of the hub expansion, but we still celebrate the moment with a kiss by estimating where it was. 12 years and one small person later...he's still my dream come true....and went to U of M for grad school.

We leave tomorrow for a long weekend to check out Star Wars Weekends for the first time. So...since I can't possibly concentrate on real work...I'm biding my time with your report. Thanks!!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I love EPCOT - if I could only go to one park it would be EPCOT .... well, that is probably a lie as with 3 little kids we kinda have to go to Magic Kingdom - but if I could ever shake the kids, EPCOT it is.

The pre-loading video with Patrick is such a great part Soarin'. My favorite line is "these little beauties". I actually used that part as the intro to the video I did from our last trip (you can find it in the TR in my signature *cough* cheap plug *cough*)

Cloud Snake - I think they might have opened for Poison and Antrax back in '88

Pick a Pearl is a lot of fun! You are right that some of the settings, etc. can start to add up - but the Pearl Picking itself is a pretty reasonable price and makes for a good souvenir!

I learned in another TR I follow to not use the word "snob" but rather you are a "selective beer drinker" I too very much fall into that category - and am actually glad to see the improvement Disney has made when it comes to their beer offerings. They still have a ways to go (too much InBev) but points for the effort!

Well, at least you can say you did Mission Space

 

[amberg93]

Personally, I'd request the Touchdown section because it's really the closest after the Surfs Up preferred section but none of the buildings are badly located. We were in the Hoops Hotel section, top floor, end of the building and still had no complaints. This time around we went preferred (Marie's TA discount only had preferred left) but the resort is fairly compact.

Winning with that Epcot CM.

Patrick is an angel. I hope when they change the film they get him to do the safety announcement again.

You need to trademark Cloud Snake before someone makes it into a super cool ride by themselves

That is an awesome surprise! And that CM has killer penmanship.

Hey, escaping the cold is as legit as escaping the heat.

Beer snobs can forget what they order, it's okay

Free stuff!! I'm all about that.

Eeek. I always opt for the less intense training on Mission:Space for that reason. But at least you can say that you've done it!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

OK, I love the title before even going any further. One of my fav Disney quotes. I bust every single time.

So AK has tied Epcot???? Wow.

OK, I might have to steal Joe away now Candace because of his fav pre-show part. Just sayin'.

I am not really a fan of Sum of All Thrills, but CLOUD SNAKE? Yeah I'd be down with that... obviously.

At 1:15 we headed to ANOTHER..."attraction" I guess you could call it?

YES YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN CALL IT THAT!!!!!

Oh wow, how lovely.

And then the Voices of Liberty emerged and proceeded to WOW me like crazy!!! If you haven't seen them, run, do not walk, do not pass go, do not collect $200, GO TO THEM.

Um... YAH!!!! Also, since the video cut off before it, "You're supposed to let go". :rotfl2

. And, once the CMs saw our "just engaged" buttons, we also got a free bag of caramel corn which actually ended up being the favorite!

I might have to get one of these buttons just for the free stuff.

 

[HumblePie]

I am so enjoying your report! Congratulations!!

 

[SarahDisney]

We headed STRAIGHT to one of the two that you have to head to at rope drop.

To Figment it was!

That's always my first choice for Epcot too ... the line gets way too long too fast!
(kidding!)

Oh I was so excited. The SB line was posted at a hearty ten minutes so we hopped on in. The lovely CM directed us to a row where we didn't have to Soar over California with feet in our faces - FRONT ROW BABY!

Awesome! I have yet to experience that awesomeness, but I hope that one day I can ... who wants to see feet in their face when you can see California!

I know most people hated this and honestly I did too in the beginning. Especially when I heard it was replacing the Main Street Bakery. I will admit, that part of it still bums me out a little bit but I AM happy to have good, necessary refueling available in the parks!

I'm one of those people who got super excited as soon as I found out ... but I also don't drink unknown coffee (I've been burned too many times before by crappy coffee), so hearing that I could have coffee I like in the parks was exciting for me.

And came up with...CLOUD SNAKE. Which we deemed to be the best name you could come up with. Obviously.

I actually laughed out loud when I read this. Awesome name! And I love the theme song too!

Pick a Pearl! This was such a fun experience and I would definitely do it again. Except I would buy the setting online before the trip. I ended up spending more than I wanted to on this after buying the necklace...plus the chain...plus the jewelry box. They're good salespeople, that's for sure. But I love the necklace and still wear it!

Yeah, Pick a Pearl is definitely one of those things where you want to come prepared, or it'll add up.
(Of course, that's part of the reason I have yet to do it - I need gold because my pearl earrings are gold, I don't want to pay through the roof for a gold setting & chain there, and I can never find a cheap gold setting online...)

This. Is. AWESOME!

And then it was time. To "Drink Around the World." And I put that in quotes not because it's a proper name but because we drank around about three countries.

So you drank about 1/4 of the way around the world? I guess that almost counts ...

And, once the CMs saw our "just engaged" buttons, we also got a free bag of caramel corn which actually ended up being the favorite!

Awesome! Free food is always nice (especially when it's good food!)

"first bite kinda tastes like butt"

He really should have been a food critic.

Because that's exactly what I like to read when I see a food review...

Sounds like a good day at Epcot! And I'm definitely impressed that you went on Mission: Space ... I refuse to do it. Even without having to see the warning ...

 

[Cando86]

Hi there,

I'm a little late to the party as usual, but have really enjoyed reading along. Congratulations!!! I, too, am a Main Street bride. My DH proposed to me right after the Share a Dream Come True parade asking me if I'd be his dream come true. Of course!!! I'm a little sad that the little bridge that were on at the time isn't there anymore because of the hub expansion, but we still celebrate the moment with a kiss by estimating where it was. 12 years and one small person later...he's still my dream come true....and went to U of M for grad school.

We leave tomorrow for a long weekend to check out Star Wars Weekends for the first time. So...since I can't possibly concentrate on real work...I'm biding my time with your report. Thanks!!

Thank you so much for reading!!! It's been a lot of fun to write - definitely helps with the Post Disney Depression!

A fellow Main Street bride! I love hearing these stories! Your story is WONDERFUL!!! We sure picked a couple of good ones! That's a bummer that the bridge is gone .

AND he went to U of M for grad school! So much in common!

Are you back from your trip?! Joe is dying to go for SWW one year!

I love EPCOT - if I could only go to one park it would be EPCOT .... well, that is probably a lie as with 3 little kids we kinda have to go to Magic Kingdom - but if I could ever shake the kids, EPCOT it is.

The pre-loading video with Patrick is such a great part Soarin'. My favorite line is "these little beauties". I actually used that part as the intro to the video I did from our last trip (you can find it in the TR in my signature *cough* cheap plug *cough*)

Cloud Snake - I think they might have opened for Poison and Antrax back in '88

Pick a Pearl is a lot of fun! You are right that some of the settings, etc. can start to add up - but the Pearl Picking itself is a pretty reasonable price and makes for a good souvenir!

I learned in another TR I follow to not use the word "snob" but rather you are a "selective beer drinker" I too very much fall into that category - and am actually glad to see the improvement Disney has made when it comes to their beer offerings. They still have a ways to go (too much InBev) but points for the effort!

Well, at least you can say you did Mission Space

I feel the same way about Epcot! I imagine it would be tough to revolve a trip around Epcot instead of MK with little ones but I am right there with you with the Epcot love!!!

I REMEMBER YOUR TRIP REPORT! I think it was when I was too shy to post and I was a hardcore lurker but I read it! And your video is AMAZING! It starts with the best scene of any Disney attraction!!! Your daughter with Anna and Elsa is absolutely adorable

Joe cracked up when he read your Poison and Antrax comment hahaha

Hehehe selective beer drinker I am then I like that term much better! And I agree about Disney's craft beer selection - it's pretty good! Trois Pistoles and La Fin Du Monde in Canada anyone?!

Mission: Space was a one and done. Oh my. Joe is already talking about riding in September...I'll be in Canada with my Trois Pistoles.

Personally, I'd request the Touchdown section because it's really the closest after the Surfs Up preferred section but none of the buildings are badly located. We were in the Hoops Hotel section, top floor, end of the building and still had no complaints. This time around we went preferred (Marie's TA discount only had preferred left) but the resort is fairly compact.

Winning with that Epcot CM.

Patrick is an angel. I hope when they change the film they get him to do the safety announcement again.

You need to trademark Cloud Snake before someone makes it into a super cool ride by themselves

That is an awesome surprise! And that CM has killer penmanship.

Hey, escaping the cold is as legit as escaping the heat.

Beer snobs can forget what they order, it's okay

Free stuff!! I'm all about that.

Eeek. I always opt for the less intense training on Mission:Space for that reason. But at least you can say that you've done it!

Thanks for the ASSp recs!!! It looks like no matter where you end up, you're pretty centrally located. Not like at Pop or AoA where you participate in one of Disney's running events to get to the buses in some cases

Patrick is my favorite. I don't know if you watch Family Guy but he does the voice of one of the characters and everyyytime I hear it, I get this pang of missing Disney!

Cloud Snake TM

Ugh Mission: Space. I don't get it. I guess I get why people like it but it is NOT FOR ME!!! NEVER AGAIN.

OK, I love the title before even going any further. One of my fav Disney quotes. I bust every single time.

So AK has tied Epcot???? Wow.

OK, I might have to steal Joe away now Candace because of his fav pre-show part. Just sayin'.

I am not really a fan of Sum of All Thrills, but CLOUD SNAKE? Yeah I'd be down with that... obviously.

YES YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN CALL IT THAT!!!!!

Oh wow, how lovely.

Um... YAH!!!! Also, since the video cut off before it, "You're supposed to let go". :rotfl2

I might have to get one of these buttons just for the free stuff.

Ahh Patrick That voice! Makes me miss Disney SO.MUCH.

We really fell in love with AK this trip! I had been there before and I think it was Joe's second time but this time just did it for us. And I LOVE me some Epcot!

Hehehe "nice work, pal" is probably why Joe will insist we ride Soarin next trip.

Ah, no Sum of all Thrills for you?! I can see why someone might not like it. The wait can get pretty ridiculous and if you're prone to motion sickness at all, I can see steering clear. I know the version at Disney Quest is called something else but thankfully they had it there because if not, that Disney Quest day would've been even worse than it already was...story coming.

I don't even think I caught him saying "you're supposed to let go" Next trip, I not so secretly am hoping I get the chance to not let go!

I am so enjoying your report! Congratulations!!

I'm so glad you're reading!!! And THANK YOU !!!

That's always my first choice for Epcot too ... the line gets way too long too fast!
(kidding!)

Awesome! I have yet to experience that awesomeness, but I hope that one day I can ... who wants to see feet in their face when you can see California!

I'm one of those people who got super excited as soon as I found out ... but I also don't drink unknown coffee (I've been burned too many times before by crappy coffee), so hearing that I could have coffee I like in the parks was exciting for me.

I actually laughed out loud when I read this. Awesome name! And I love the theme song too!

Yeah, Pick a Pearl is definitely one of those things where you want to come prepared, or it'll add up.
(Of course, that's part of the reason I have yet to do it - I need gold because my pearl earrings are gold, I don't want to pay through the roof for a gold setting & chain there, and I can never find a cheap gold setting online...)

This. Is. AWESOME!

So you drank about 1/4 of the way around the world? I guess that almost counts ...

Awesome! Free food is always nice (especially when it's good food!)

Because that's exactly what I like to read when I see a food review...

Sounds like a good day at Epcot! And I'm definitely impressed that you went on Mission: Space ... I refuse to do it. Even without having to see the warning ...

DEFINITELY request first row on Soarin next time! It's kind of like a new experience - you really feel like you're Soarin'!

I'm with you on the Starbucks in the parks. Good coffee is SO necessary - Disney is exhausting!

Keep checking for those gold settings. You're smart for not buying them in Epcot - I couldn't believe how much my necklace ended up being! I think they trick you a little bit because the actual experience to get just the pearl is fairly inexpensive so you expect everything else to be but phew...it adds up!

Keep on refusing to do Mission: Space. You know how sometimes you do things you've always said you would never do just to say you did it? And a lot of times it ends up not being as bad as you were expecting? In this case IT WAS WORSE.

 

[kde175]

Thank you so much for reading!!! It's been a lot of fun to write - definitely helps with the Post Disney Depression!

A fellow Main Street bride! I love hearing these stories! Your story is WONDERFUL!!! We sure picked a couple of good ones! That's a bummer that the bridge is gone .

AND he went to U of M for grad school! So much in common!

Are you back from your trip?! Joe is dying to go for SWW one year!

We got back late last night. It was great! Way more crowded than when we usually go in the Fall, but manageable. I am not a huge HS fan, so I don't usually spend a whole lot of time there, but we were there open to close on Friday and pretty close to that on Saturday, too. Can't wait until I have some time to download the pictures. We did quite a few character meets, so I'm anxious to see how they came out.

 

[Cando86]

Friday January 9, 2015 - Where We're Too Excited To Sleep: Switch That - Too Sleepy To Be Excited

After all that Mission: Space madness, I needed something calm and soothing so to SE it was! That burning smell just has a real calming effect, you know?

We got a glimpse into our future which looked...frightening...



And then headed to use a FP.

During my months and months of psychotic planning, I tried my hardest to switch around one particular FP because the timing was just not going to work. We had an ADR at San Angel Inn for 6pm ... and a TT FP that started at 5:55.

I'm not the biggest fan of the "new" TT and I know that even with a FP you have to budget more than just the standard ten minutes to ride. I knew this was the worst ride to have to try to rush through.

But, alas, I was never able to switch either the San Angel ADR or the TT FP so we were stuck. I read here on these fabulous boards that you could use your FP five minutes before the start time and we actually did this on quite a few occasions. So we figured we'd do that and hope for the best.

Since we had all the time in the world, we decided/had no choice but to pimp our ride...



And pimp our ride we did.

And then proceeded to take the worst picture ever taken on TT.



That beautiful picture was taken at 6:15. So we were officially 15 minutes late for our ADR. I know it's viewed by some as being on the same level as hoarding ADRs, but we thought we'd be okay showing up late. And we were. I'M SORRY

We actually checked in at...wait for it...6:30 A full half hour after our ADR. I know it might be frowned upon and I definitely wouldn't rely on this ESPECIALLY at, say, Be Our Guest or CRT. But at good ol San Angel Inn? Ir was perfectly fine.

I have to preface our San Angel dining experience by saying we had hit a WALL at this point. I think our experience was clouded by this a bit. It wasn't that we disliked San Angel Inn, we just weren't blown away and I don't think we'll return any time soon. The food was okay and the atmosphere was nice but we were just completely wiped out. I think we could've been at Be Our Guest dining with the beast himself and we would've been like







In fact, those are the only pictures I took during dinner. The number one sign most of us on these boards know we weren't impressed is when we flip through our pictures and there are only two.

We both got the Carne Asada which was okay. Not bad but didn't blow us away either. Again, keep in mind, we could've been at Victoria and Albert's and we would've been like "meh." We were that dead. We had been going pretty hard for the last four days and were in desperate need of a break.

After dinner, we had one thing to do and that was trek back to Japan to pick up my necklace. And it was the longest trek in the World. I wanted to do this with every step...

Needless to say, we skipped Illuminations tonight and headed back to Pop for some MUCH needed R&R. Tomorrow we get to sleep in!!!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Glad you fit everything in - even if a bit rushed. And obviously being on time is better but I don't think it is the worst thing ever to be late to an ADR only because it isn't a reservation it just puts you next on the list ... it's not like a table with you name on it was sitting empty for 1/2 hour

There are definitely moments when on hits a wall at Disney - and honestly, probably ok for you it was at San Angel and not something you were really looking forward to that became a bit of a negative experience. Seems like you planned things pretty well though if you hit the wall right before your day you allotted to sleep in

 

[Vernie822]

I am so sorry that I am just now catching up!

It was so fun to relive the proposal! And with some of the wedding drama we have going on , it's nice to take a step back and remember what it's all about.

HEARD THAT! LOL.. it is so stressful at times. Have you chosen a date yet!?

Oh, and notice that little Mickey in my signature jumping his way to September 24...? WE'RE GOING BACK!!!

YAAAAAYYY! That deserves all the fun emojis!! Way to go on the free dining stalk, I heard it was so stressful for so many!!

About that brainwashing...I think it worked

YES!! I love it.

And then at 8:45 we told the guards to open up the gate (THE GAAATE) and we were off!

Now all I'm going to sing all day is 'THEEEE GAAAAAAATE'

when Hans says "can I say something crazy? Will you marry me?" and Anna says "can I say something even crazier? Yes!" I may or may not have had to stop singing because my voice was cracking... I had just gotten engaged the night before - is that an excuse?! No? Needless to say, I can't wait to do this again. Minus the tears. Maybe.

Omg, I would've right then and there too. When we got engaged I posted a picture saying "Don't know if I'm elated or gassy, but I'm somewhere in that zone!" ... But seriously I'm obsessed with the Frozen soundtrack and I need to see this sing-along!

 

[Vernie822]

That is SO NICE! I have never seen VOL. Sounds like it is a must do now!

I admire your 3 country "drink around the world".. That's about as far as I could've got. I always forget that there are other places other than the Bier stand to get a drink in Germany.. after I've waited 20 minutes at the bier stand.

I am envious of your wine flight. Looks lovely!

HAHAHAHA. I don't know why I found this hysterical, but I did. Good for you on getting both TT and your ADR done! I would've been just as worried. Sorry to hear you weren't overly impressed, but I'm sure being exhausted didn't help!

 

[kroseycorn]

Can I Say Something Crazy?

After our amazing dinner, we headed to watch "A Frozen Holiday Wish." I know, enough with the Frozen - I am RIGHT THERE WITH YOU!

But I do love the movie and this was my first time being at Disney since its release so I had to see what I could!

It was actually pretty neat. I took a video of some of it. It's two and a half minutes long but it's pretty cool - fast forward to the end to see Elsa light up the castle - it is actually pretty awesome.

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Next, we headed to grab a seat for Celebrate the Magic and WISHES! Wishes has always been "it" for me at Disney. By far my favorite thing in all of the World. It's always held a special place in my heart. Throughout my life, Disney has always been the place where I can come escape and just be. And Wishes just takes those feelings to a whole new level and reminds me that there is a place that I am really able to do those things. I NEVER miss it and I try to see it multiple times on every trip. My sister and I watch videos of Wishes and post on each other's facebook wall "so...watching Wishes and crying..." way too frequently. It's just always been the epitome of Disney to us.

So, needless to say, even though I already did, I was very excited. And even more excited to share this with Joe. I hoped he loved it as much as I do.

We ended up with a great seat on the curb right outside of Casey's. It was perfect.

We had had such a great day. We did so much, had so much fun and just had probably the best meal we've ever had together. AND this was just the beginning of our trip! We had our whole trip ahead of us. I just remember being so happy and thinking nothing could beat this...

I was wrong.

Something could.

But first we had to Celebrate the Magic! And celebrate we did...

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One of my favorite people and my favorite mouse.

Always tear up at all things Walt. Tearing up looking at the pictures now.

And tearing up thinking about this moment and what was to come. And I had no idea.

Now, remember I was REALLY excited to share this with Joe. I remember excitedly pointing out EVERY thing. And not really getting much of a reaction from him. Looking back, I should've realized he was distracted by SOMETHING but I was too in the zone to even think about it too much.

It kind of went like this...
Candace: "JOE! LOOK! DID YOU SEE THAT?! IT'S MICKEY!"

Joe:

Candace: "But Wreck-It Ralph!!! Did you see?!"

Joe:

Candace: "WALT!!!!!! Joe it's Walt!!!!!!"

Joe:

Oh I should also mention, right before Celebrate the Magic Joe said he had to run to the bathroom. I was like "but...but...it's about to start!!!" He would have none of it and said he'd be really quick. Okay... Didn't really think too much about it at the time except "BAD TIMING JOE."

He made it back in time. Phew.

And then...

"Starlight...star bright..."

Ugh I can't. I guarantee you the tears started right at the line...I just can't handle it. They're probably starting now.

I was standing up on the curb so I could see...#shortpeopleproblems...and Joe kept insisting I stand down by him.

And I kept insisting "no, it's okay, I can see better here"...way to help, Candace.

I had my head on Joe's shoulders, we were watching Wishes, in Disney World together...could it get anymore perfect? Spoiler alert: YES, THE ANSWER IS YES.

So...Wishes ended and we went home and went to bed! Great day!



So there I was up on the curb, with Joe probably cursing my stubbornness in his head...

When Joe looked at me and asked me what I wish for...

So what do you think I said?

"To be with you forever"? "To have you be mine always"?

No. I ruin the moment and say...

"TO LIVE HERE!!!"



Way to ruin a moment Candace.

Joe saved the day and said...

"well I wish for you to be my princess..."



and then he gets down on one knee...



and asks me to marry him

It was, by far, one of the most special moments of my life. I will never ever forget how I felt.

So did I say YES?!

Kind of...I said "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" on repeat... Way to go again, Candace.

Apparently there was a group behind us watching and one of the guys finally yelled "DID SHE SAY YES?!"

And Joe said he really wanted to say back "well, she said 'ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!'"



OF COURSE I said yes

If you watch the video below of Wishes (not mine, I hope it's still okay to post!) it happened right around the 3:45 mark.

And we watched the rest of Wishes with our heads on each other's shoulders, smiling like idiots.

And I was doing this internally...
http://giphy.com/gifs/excited-frozen-Oi6tJtKNThC6I

So remember all that talk about Wishes being my favorite thing in all of Disney, how excited I get to watch it, etc.? Yeah, I don't remember anything past that 3:45 mark.

After the show ended, the guy behind us from earlier came up to us and shook our hands, told us congratulations and said "well, you know you've got about 60,000 people here you have to invite, right?!" It was very cute.

We excitedly decided to go take some Photopass pictures. We were SO excited at this point. Just like back and forth "seriously?!" "omg" "WHAT!" ... okay maybe not so much back and forth. Mostly from me. Joe also took this opportunity to say to me "you have no idea how much I've lied to you over the past couple months" and then proceeded to tell me the whole story of getting the ring. Which was adorable. He put so much thought into it, it was really really sweet. And he did such a good job.

So rewind. Remember that dingy hotel we stayed at in Macon on the way down that Joe didn't like and I kind of snapped at him for not appreciating the reservation I had made? Well...he didn't want to stay in a shady place with the ring on him. Made him nervous. He ALSO told me the ring was literally sitting inches from me on the car ride down.

And remember being at the wishing well by the castle earlier in the day? He said he *almost* did it right there but knew he had to do it at Wishes.

That strange bathroom trip he took right before Celebrate the Magic? That was to take the ring out of its little pouch. That he had been carrying around with him all day. On rides. Poor guy!!! He kept saying how glad he was that he did it in the beginning of the trip...can't imagine having all that stress on my shoulders!

OKAY where were we? That was just a representation of how my brain was working at the time - it was all over the place. On to the Photopass pictures!

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The proposal pictures were obviously recreated but we had to do it!

I took about a million pictures of the ring this night but I think the best one came a few days later so I'll include it here...

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Boy did a good job.

Here's what we posted on Facebook the next day...

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It honestly was one of the greatest days/nights of my life. I mean, WITHOUT the proposal it would have been. With it? Absolutely perfect and without a doubt the most special moment of my life.

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I'm totally late to the game here... but truly . Waterfalls. Such a sweet proposal.

But yea, my husband was super weird and not chatty the night her proposed (not himself)... and then when he went down on one knee I saw it out of the corner of my eye and my first thought was that he was having a stroke and fell down (because he was acting so strangely... why else would he fall?!).

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Alas, another great example of the less than stellar amount of great FP rides at Epcot. You basically take what you get when it comes to Soarin'/Test Track. Very clever to try the 5 minute early grace period though. Clearly this was the ADR to try all this. So very glad it all worked out!

 

[APears]

Oh man after all that rushing and excitement early on in your trip, you must've really earned that sleep! Good to know about the 5 min grace period
The caramel cookie you got looks soo incredible!

 

[thehappyhours]

Love this trip report! Congrats on your engagement

 

[SarahDisney]

That burning smell just has a real calming effect, you know?

Yes, calming, that's exactly what I would call it ...

Nice! I like the colors you chose!

We actually checked in at...wait for it...6:30 A full half hour after our ADR. I know it might be frowned upon and I definitely wouldn't rely on this ESPECIALLY at, say, Be Our Guest or CRT. But at good ol San Angel Inn? Ir was perfectly fine.

Yeah, I don't worry about ADR times exactly ... maybe for the impossible to get ones, but for most ADRs, you do your best to show up on time, but sometimes you can't.

I have to preface our San Angel dining experience by saying we had hit a WALL at this point. I think our experience was clouded by this a bit. It wasn't that we disliked San Angel Inn, we just weren't blown away and I don't think we'll return any time soon. The food was okay and the atmosphere was nice but we were just completely wiped out. I think we could've been at Be Our Guest dining with the beast himself and we would've been like

I hate that feeling ... when you're so exhausted that you can't really enjoy anything. I guess this means time to call it a day ...

Needless to say, we skipped Illuminations tonight and headed back to Pop for some MUCH needed R&R. Tomorrow we get to sleep in!!!

... and call it a day you did. Yay for getting to sleep in - it's nice to get a chance to sleep in once in a while!