We woke early this day because we had promised my nephew that we would take him to Hollywood Studios for rope drop. Well we decided the best way to do this would be to just take a cab to the park. While we waited for the cab I noticed all the shell imprints in the side walk at Old Key West so naturally I just started shooting.
I had to take the following two pictures because my husband just has too fantastic of a smile for me to not take a picture. I also had to get my nephew because he is just that awesome.
My nephew was intrigued by my camera the whole trip and decided to take some pictures of Greg and I before we headed out.
I have only ever been to rope drop for a park at Star Wars Weekends so it was kind of interesting to see what they did or if they even did anything. Well this day they brought out stitch/donald and daisy. We naturally had to get a picture with Stitch (he is my favorite).
When we got in the park we had to go straight back to Toy Story and get fast passes and then of course we had to ride it. After that we went and ate at Fairfax Fare because they always have some sort of breakfast option. Nate is not a big roller coaster guy so we knew we would not be able to go on tower of terror or rock n roller coaster. We decided to of course ride Star Tours and then we headed over to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area.
I love Anty
COOKIE
We went back to Toy Story Mania to use our fast passes and I discovered that after my surgery my right arm just can not do Toy Story Mania twice in one day my muscles can't handle it. We also saw Muppetvision 3D which I had never seen before. I actually loved it and especially loved Beaker. I really wish there had been more Gonzo though.
We were very hungry at this point and we went and ate over at the Yacht Club but I do not remember what the place was called. It felt like we were on Disney transportation forever heading back to our resort.
Once we got back to our resort it turns out that my family had already arrived at Old Key West. We met up with them and discovered Disney had honored my requests to have their rooms near ours and all of us on the first floor. It was pretty awesome that everyone was so close. So we decided to wait a little while before we headed over to Coronado Springs to eat at the Maya Grill. Turns out this was a bad idea because we would end up being late to our dinner reservation by about 30 min. due to Disney transportation, bus driver trainees and the sometimes horrible bus schedule. Luckily for us though we would be meeting up with Michelle Sanchez (disbride) and she was already at Coronado and had advised them that we were running late.
Coronado Springs is such a beautiful resort and the food was actually pretty good and they are very accommodating. My nephew is only used to certain kinds of mexican and more of the tex-mex flavor so going somewhere that they did not serve chips and queso was kind of difficult for him. However, they were able to bring him exactly what he asked for. They also had an amazing guitarist!!!
One of the best parts of this section of the trip was getting to meet Michelle. She is one amazing person and I feel so blessed to have had her at our wedding. She made dinner very interesting and definitely delighted us with some wonderful stories.
My Family
My amazing mother
Best grandparents in the world
After we were done at dinner we knew that we needed to get to Fantasia Mini Golf which is not far from Coronado so we just got a cab (van) and rode over there. When we got there we had to figure out the logistics. I did not call ahead for this so we just decided to wing it. We had to figure out exactly how many people were coming and I had forgotten my spreadsheet that showed who had confirmed. We figured out that there were 19 of us total but not everyone was going to play. This was our first big encounter with all of our family together and it was slightly difficult trying to make sure that we were talking to everyone.
Greg went off to talk to the people who run the miniature golf course to figure out what the best way to do this would be and that is about the time that my Aunt Della showed up. She is so amazing and I am so glad that she was there for the wedding as well. She definitely knows who to light up any party.
Greg determined that we could use our annual passes and get everyone a discount that was going to play so instead of $12 they would play for $6. The original plan had been for everyone to pay for their own golf but last minute Greg changed his mind and he just went ahead and paid for everyone. So we set up groups of 4 I think we had 4 groups of 4 and they each had a specific tee time. Mini golf gets packed at night so we had to wait about 30 minutes for the first tee time. I grouped everyone up and I tried to mix it up so that everyone was with someone that they did not know. This way it would force everyone to get to know other people.
From the feedback we got from everyone they really loved the miniature golf they felt like it was a great way to meet the family and it gave everyone something to bond over. Here are some pictures that I took. I am sure Michelle has more from this event.
Aunt Della
Steve
Greg and Michelle
Mandi
Michelle
Once everyone finished playing we brought everyone together and announced details about the rehearsal the next day and the rehearsal lunch so that everyone would be aware. We thanked everyone for coming out and that we were so grateful.
Greg had been whispering in my ear all night that we should go to the Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic Hours that night. We decided this would be a good idea and we just kept this little outing to the younger ones of the group. So my brother Jeff, Michelle, Steve, Mandi, Greg and I all headed out to the Magic Kingdom.
My brother needed to eat first he had arrived at putt putt later because his flight was a later flight and he was hungry.
Casey's can be so good
We were actually pretty productive on the particular extra magic hour night. We managed to get Space Mountain, the teacups, haunted mansion, thunder mountain, splash mountain and the jungle cruise all done in a relatively quick amount of time.
The tea cups were very interesting because it is very hard to fit 4 adults in one teacup it really is not a great idea. Also it is not a good idea to have the boys spin the cup as fast as it will go. Also I highly suggest not trying to film the tea cup spinning from inside the cup it takes your focus off trying to not get dizzy. We felt really bad because we made Michelle VERY VERY dizzy and I don't think the rest of the night was very enjoyable for her. She does have a good video of the spinning though which I would love to see again.
Greg really wanted to stop for a dole whip before we left so we did that then made sure to get a photopass picture before we left and went home. After all I was going to need to get up early to get ready for the rehearsal so staying out late was probably not a good idea.
We had an absolute blast and I am so glad that we decided to go out before the wedding day I think it helped everyone feel more comfortable with each other.
Until next time,
Teresa
Coming Up: Day 3: The day in which we rehearse, eat and take a 2 year old to see the castle