The One Where We Got Engaged - Updated 6/14 (Be Our Guest)

[wiigirl]

Beautiful pics!

 

[Belle83]

I haven't been to Yachtsman's since my honeymoon. I cannot show those pics to my DH cause he'll be begging me to go back! Maybe one day when we go without kids

My fiancé would loooove to go back. I hope that we do because it was delicious.

Beautiful pics!

Thank you!

 

[khertz]

I applaud you for making it across the park with your pizza and not having one of those super aggressive birds try to steal it from you!

I love the animal trails at AK. Those animals are just so beautiful, and I could watch the tigers for hours.

Sorry your entree at Jiko was a disappointment. Hopefully the next time you have a meal there it will be better!

 

[Belle83]

I applaud you for making it across the park with your pizza and not having one of those super aggressive birds try to steal it from you!

Hahaha, thank you! It was not easy carrying all that food through crowds either.

 

[Belle83]

Part 22: Port Orleans Riverside - Thursday Dec. 13th


The nice thing about Animal Kingdom closing earlier than the other parks is that it sort of forced us to eat an earlier dinner and then relax at our hotel. My fiancé's knee was getting to him, and we had laundry to do.

I got a little lost looking for the laundry room/quiet pool between Acadian House and Magnolia Terrace, but it was actually not that far from our room.

If anyone is curious what the laundry room looks like, here you go.

I decided to kill some time over in the gift shop while waiting for the laundry. I love these chairs outside the lobby. I wish I had a front porch to put these on.

In case you forget where you are

I heard some noise and quickly realized that Yeehaw Bob was performing! I had heard great things about the show but didn't plan on arranging our schedule around it.

I only caught bits of the show, but the parts I saw were good.

Don't these Christmas snacks look good? I love the buttermint/peppermint things, but didn't feel like paying more for them because they have Mickey on on the bag.

I love Disney Christmas ornaments!

More pictures of things I didn't buy but wanted to.

I DID buy these ornaments (the ones one the middle shelf next to the hat), even though we already have so many Disney ornaments.

We also have a ridiculous amount of Disney coffee mugs at our house. So I just took a picture of these too.

We are big Scrabble players so this seemed like a good souvenir. It was crazy expensive though, so I passed.

I took a picture of this because it's so...unique (not in a good way). I had to show a picture to my fiancé. It sort of reminds me of those green icons above characters in The Sims.

After I'd done enough browsing in the gift shop, I went back to the room. The quickest way to our room was over Ol' Man Island. This isn't a great picture of the main theme pool there, but the pool area was pretty cute.

Next Up: Epcot

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[wiigirl]

Awesome pics!

 

[Belle83]

Part 23: Epcot - Friday Dec. 14th

Oh boy, where did I even leave off with this? It's been so long! I'm pretty sure it's time for some Epcot pictures!

On Friday, we didn't arrive at Epcot until about 1pm. We tried to get there earlier, we really did, but you have to remember that we flew from a different time zone and are just not morning people.

First stop was to try to get Fast Passes for Soarin'. I was shocked that they still had some! I had to take picture as proof that these things actually exist, lol.

It was such a beautiful day! Yay for Disney and sunshine.

We had planned to eat lunch at Tangierine Cafe. Neither one of us had been there before. The little Morocco area of World Showcase is so cute, I'd never really spent time there before.

Our lunch! I didn't really care for the baklava but everything else was delicious. I highly recommend using this place for a quick-service credit, you get so much food. My fiancé wanted to have dinner there that night too, lol.

We sort of just wandered around that area of World Showcase for a bit after lunch.

Some clouds rolling in? Nooo.

Off to the UK next.

My new engagement ring and the Princess Diana/Kate Middleton replica ring.

So very British. Love!

After the UK, we went to Canada so I could see the waterfall in person. In all my past trips to Epcot, I didn't know that thing even existed. It's very pretty.

I'm from the Pacific NW so I had to check this store out. I loved all the Christmas decorations.

I also bought this shirt, lol. I know it really has nothing to do with WDW, but I love Canada! Growing up just a few hours from the US-Canadian border, I've made numerous trips to Canada and just love it.

More Epcot is next



Next Up: More Epcot

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[ksromack]

You will LOVE Wizarding World of Harry Potter! I hope your son is tall enough to go on Spiderman, it's awesome.

I'm glad to hear that you also loved Royal Pacific. It's the only Universal hotel I've stayed at, and I want to try Hard Rock next time. My fiancé doesn't want to try anywhere else because he loved Royal Pacific so much.

I never did do a trip report from this trip.....but I had to comment on Royal Pacific Hotel. We LOVED it. I don't know how Hard Rock could be better but I hear the younger crowd likes it mainly because of the pool areas? The walk to the parks is gorgeous and that boat ride....so calming, too! It's cheaper that Hard Rock too........

Okay, I'm off to read the rest. I must have gotten side tracked from reading people's TRs but I find it fun to do it now. I'm afraid if I tried to do my own TR I will have forgotten a lot (although I did take notes and took a crapload of pictures)......

We loved Universal/Islands of Adventure. We'd been to IOA before but didn't have time that trip to make it to both parks.....and I must say I enjoyed Universal more than I expected. It's a pain (and not to mention so much more costly) to try and do this side of the city AND Disney.....but WWoHP got the best of us (and to think a whole new expansion to HP will be open). We're doing Disneyland this December 2013, wondering when we'll make it back to Florida for WDW......

 

[ksromack]

We changed our dining reservations so many times before our trip. My fiancé loves steak, and since we went to Shula's during our first trip, we decided to try Yachtsman.

Apparently I take pictures of wine after I've had a few glasses. I made quite a little mess of the tablecloth.

Overall, we loved the food at the Yachtsman. I think it was my fiancé's favorite meal of the trip. Total cost? $87.19 + 4 table service credits (2 each). Ouch.

We had reservations at Yachtsman on the next night (thursday).....we arrived for our meal and felt slightly underdressed since we had come straight from Epcot......our reservations were for 7:40 and by 8:15 pm we were still not seated (and actually this was ok because our lunch that day was at Le Cellier and we weren't seated for that meal until nearly 3pm).......so several of us waiting for our table asked to be released from our reservations. Bottom line, we missed Yachtsman this trip. So your meal was $87 plus 4 table credits? Oh yeah, that wine....and tip.....gotcha. The thing about being on the dining plan and eating expensive meals is the expensive tips

I've got another page of your report to read.....I guess by now you have made another trip to the World.....and you have wedding plans to occupy your time!

 

[Belle83]

ksromack - thanks for reading! I hope your Disneyland trip is wonderful, I absolutely love Disneyland. I agree about the expensive tips! I think most of that was tip because we probably bought the cheapest bottle of wine that they had, lol.

 

[wiigirl]

Great pics!

 

[khertz]

The Morocco pavilion is one we have not spent nearly enough time in. But every time I see pictures, it looks so beautiful! Maybe this will be the year we check it out more.


Cute Canada shirt!

I was so glad to see you had updated!

 

[Belle83]

Part 24: More Epcot - Friday Dec. 14th


So, in 'real world' news I just got back from Disneyland! I spent all day yesterday at Disneyland and California Adventure (solo...eeek). I had to go to California for work and of course couldn't stay away. My feet are so sore and blistered and I'm dealing with post-Disney withdrawals. What better way to cure that than to spend time here? I left off with Epcot pictures, so back to Epcot!

One thing I should mention about our Epcot day was that it was the same day as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. As we were waiting in line to get through the turnstiles earlier in the day, my fiancé was reading the news on his phone and told me what had happened. Even though I didn't know much about it at that point, it was heartbreaking and definitely changed the mood of our day at Epcot. I was so grateful to be at WDW that day, of all days, but also feeling guilty about enjoying our day too.

When I left off with pictures, we were leaving the Canada area of World Showcase and making our way toward Future World. Specifically, Mission Space. Not really my favorite, but my fiancé likes it and I can handle it.

We stumbled upon Club Cool next. Neither one of us had been there before. I had heard about it here, but never bothered to look for it and didn't really know where it was in Epcot.

I regret going inside because my fiancé discovered and ended up buying these Coke glasses. Let me explain a little. McDonald's sometime sells similar glasses to these, and when they last did that, my fiancé stocked up. We have lived together since 2006 and these Coke glasses, along with leftover glasses from our college days, have become our 'everyday' glasses. So we don't have nice normal regular glasses, but we have loads of Coke glasses. We didn't need more. We also have zero storage in our kitchen. Regardless, we left Club Cool that day with more. Le sigh.

I wish that he could just take pictures of the things he likes, not buy them. Like I did with these Lip Smackers. I have loved Lip Smackers since before I can remember, but I knew the last thing I needed was more lip stuff.

I do sort of regret not buying this tank top. I would have only used it to sleep in, but it's so cute. I have casually looked for it in recent trips but haven't seen it.

Club Cool is right by the ice cream place at Epcot (does it have an official name?). One of my favorite things about Christmas is Dryer's (Edy's) Peppermint Ice Cream, and I had a feeling they would have it. Plus, I had lots of snack credits to use. Well, I was right! Unfortunately, I hardly made a dent in it. Without getting into too much detail, I had recently started a medication that killed my appetite. As odd as it was to not devour this stuff, I sadly only took a few bites.

We always end up in Mouse Gears at Epcot (who doesn't?). We picked all of this stuff out intending to use a discount (10%? Can't remember) from a receipt we had. We didn't notice that you had to use the discount during certain times of day, so we sadly returned everything we had picked out fully intending to buy it all later during the right time. I think I took this picture because the kid in me secretly wants to buy stuffed animals, but I just can't bring myself to do it.

One of the things we had picked out (and returned) was this cute Jiminy Cricket ornament. By the time we were ready to use our discount at the end of the trip, at Magic Kingdom, they didn't have the ornament. We ended up buying it when we went back to WDW a few months later though, thankfully.

The fountains outside of Mouse Gear are so pretty at night.

After enough shopping (and returning), we went to the Living Seas. Yay!

I also took my fiancé on Spaceship Earth. He had never been on it before. I had, but I don't remember the pictures they take? We cracked up over our pictures, it was hilarious. He really liked the attraction itself, too. He's a history buff so I'm not surprised.

I don't have many pictures from it, but after Spaceship Earth we grabbed coffee and checked out the Christmas Tree (my picture of Epcot's tree is horribly blurry, sad). Then it was time to use our fast passes for Soarin', which we happily did. We also squeezed in another ride on Mission Space before heading back to World Showcase for dinner.



Next Up: Teppan Edo & Epcot

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[ksromack]

So, in 'real world' news I just got back from Disneyland! I spent all day yesterday at Disneyland and California Adventure (solo...eeek). I had to go to California for work and of course couldn't stay away.

When I left off with pictures, we were leaving the Canada area of World Showcase and making our way toward Future World. Specifically, Mission Space. Not really my favorite, but my fiancé likes it and I can handle it

I have only ridden Mission Space once! I vow to never ride it again. I don't recall there being different levels of the ride when we rode it last. Must have been when it first opened....but I swear it took me a good 4 hours to feel "normal" again!

Yeah for the quick trip to DL/DCA! We go in 90 or so days and I'm beyond excited!

 

[Belle83]

I have only ridden Mission Space once! I vow to never ride it again. I don't recall there being different levels of the ride when we rode it last. Must have been when it first opened....but I swear it took me a good 4 hours to feel "normal" again!

Yeah for the quick trip to DL/DCA! We go in 90 or so days and I'm beyond excited!

When Mission Space first opened they didn't have the levels. I went on it with my now-ex and he got sick. This trip I actually listened the warnings and kept my head back, and brought a piece of candy to suck on during the whole thing. I think those things helped.

I'm glad I got to go to DL/DCA, it had been far too long (10 years)! You will have a blast.

Great pics!

Thank you!

The Morocco pavilion is one we have not spent nearly enough time in. But every time I see pictures, it looks so beautiful! Maybe this will be the year we check it out more.

Cute Canada shirt!

I was so glad to see you had updated!

I hadn't either until this trip, but it was really pretty. A lot of the pavilion is sort of hidden back but there's a pretty fountain and it's themed beautifully. Definitely check it out.

 

[Belle83]

Part 25: Dinner at Teppan Edo and Epcot - Thursday Dec. 14th


Our dining reservation at Teppan Edo was for 9:20. I know that sounds late for dinner but remember that we came from a different time zone (MST). We're also just late-night people anyway. Neither one of us had been to Teppan Edo before. We were seated really quickly, like within a minute or two of arriving. I honestly can't remember what we ordered. I think either the steak or the steak and shrimp. Whatever we ended up with, it was delicious! The only thing is the portion size. They are on the small side, even for non-Disney food. Oh, and the green tea ice cream. Gross.

You can't help but overhear conversations when you're eating with other people like this. So my fiancé overheard the people next to us and quickly figured out that they were attorneys (as are we). They were really nice, but my fiancé spent the whole dinner chatting with them, and with the seating arrangements it (I was on the end) it was hard to join in.

Dinner was fabulous! We planned to pay for this meal out-of-pocket but forgot so we ended up using dining credits for it. After dinner, we went on Maelstrom. This was a new ride for both of us, and I thought it was cute. Really, we were on our way to check out the new Test Track though. The line was longer than we cared to wait but we also didn't want to miss it. I think it was about 30 min. Plenty of time to check out the new queue.

The new Test Track was cute, but I don't really understand why they felt the need to completely re-vamp it. I know there was a change in sponsorship and all that, but it was fine to begin with and I don't think it was that outdated. Anyway! We decided to try to go on Soarin' one more time after Test Track. By this time, it was about 12:30 a.m. The wait wasn't too bad at that point, but I don't remember exactly. Epcot closed at 1:00 a.m. so we were in EMH by then.

The Cory and Topanga fountain!

Epcot is so pretty at night.

We left around 1 a.m. when the park closed. Our poor rental car was pretty lonely in the parking lot!

All in all, a great (but long) day at Epcot.



Next Up: Port Orleans Riverside
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[Belle83]

Part 26: Port Orleans Riverside - Friday Dec. 15th


We woke up Friday morning needing a little bit of a break. Our plan for the day was to go to Sea World, but we wanted to eat lunch at POR because we had free dining. It was a beautiful day though! These pictures are just going to be from Port Orleans Riverside.

This was the walkway heading from Ol' Man Island toward our hotel room.

I know I've posted this before, but we were in Acadian House. I had requested a mansion room with a water view (we had booked a king bed room) and that is what they gave us!

This is a bridge from the mansions over to Ol' Man Island.

I think obviously man-made, but pretty.

Our mansion section was the one right next to Alligator Bayou. I had always wanted to avoid AB, but when you are there in person I think that area actually seems nicer than the mansion sections. Next time!

Very classic POR picture! We actually ended up eating just inside that window.

While the boat to Downtown Disney looked nice, it seemed like something that would take a long time so we never tried it.

I love this picture.

Time for lunch! We didn't eat at Boatwright's, though. Just the quick-service food court.

The pasta station took forever but I liked what I ended up with. Can't go wrong with cheesy pasta, really.

I'm not sure which sandwich this is but my fiancé said it was good.

More scenery.

The main pool on Ol' Man Island. We never went swimming but it looked fun for kids.

Our home away from home. Just up the stairs to the top floor and the first room to the right (left in the picture). Very convenient!

We stopped by our room after lunch, and then headed out to the parking lot to drive to Sea World. This is the little fountain on the parking lot side of the building. Gaah, I really needed a new camera (more on that later). Look at how bright that is.

Disney details.

Off we go!

Next Up: Sea World

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[ksromack]

We actually stayed in a king room in Alligator Bayou. It was very nice. We obviously did not need the Murphy bed so that whole bench section underneath the tv served as a "catch all".

 

[Belle83]

We actually stayed in a king room in Alligator Bayou. It was very nice. We obviously did not need the Murphy bed so that whole bench section underneath the tv served as a "catch all".

 

[Belle83]

Part 27: Sea World - Friday Dec. 15th

Ok, I have a really good reason for yet another delay with this TR. We got MARRIED!! This is pretty much the only picture I have from the big day (last Sunday, 10/6/13). We just got back from our mini-honeymoon and are enjoying a few days off at home, doing pretty much nothing. Doing nothing, except spending time on the Dis and watching TV, that is.

I know I left off with this TR at our Sea World day. I'm not sure what time we made it to Sea World, but it was after lunch! I was a little worried because we had pre-paid for parking but didn't print it. They let us just show them the ticket on my phone, though. We also had to buy our park tickets for the day, but thankfully the line wasn't too bad.

I was so excited to be here! I had been to Sea World San Diego once a kid, but never the one in Orlando. Sea World's Christmas decorations were awesome. This tree was just the beginning.

The first thing we did was watch the Seamore & Clyde show. It's really cute and entertaining, even if you don't have kids.

We went through the Shark Encounter next. So cool! Sorry this pic is a little blurry.

We went to Blue Horizons after that (the dolphin show). I thought it was fabulous. It's like Cirque du Soleil meets a regular dolphin show.

See the people hanging down on bungee cords (or whatever it is that they use)? Craziness.

I took lots of picture of the show, but this is from the very end. I love how all of the dolphins are jumping together.

Another shot from the end of the show.

It's not a trip to Florida without some flamingos, right?

So this marks a very sad point in our trip. My camera BROKE. It's like my worst vacation nightmare come true. It was just a cheap little point and shoot digital camera, but still...I was freaking out. What was I going to do?



Next Up: More Sea World

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