A DIS stalker's first pre-trippie...It's D-Day (Disney Day)!!

[Disneyolic]

Mental note to self:

Never promise the next installment within a certain time period because that is when Internet Explorer decides to close down on you and your hubby comes home and gives you the evil eye for being on the computer.

I'm working on the next installment...it will be out soon.

 

[Disneyolic]

We were married on a Friday evening so we decided to relax on Saturday and leave early Sunday morning for our honeymoon. In retrospect, I wish we had left on Saturday. Oh well, maybe next time .

Now, we made all our honeymoon travel arrangements through Liberty Travel and I don't think the DISboards were even around in 1996 (anyone know?). I am positive we paid rack rate. I had no idea there were such a thing as codes out there until I started to frequent the DISboards. We included length-of-stay passes and the Disney Dining Plan then which consisted of 2 TS meals a day. Now, that was quite a lot of food and we did our best to stuff ourselves silly.

We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort in the Jamaican section. On arrival we were upgraded to a king room. That was nice . We loved this resort as every morning we would get up and cross the bridge over to Parrot Cay which had piped in calypso music. It really put smiles on our faces each time we did this. Here is a picture of the bridge looking back at the Jamaican section.

I was just so happy to be in Disney World. Ah....feeling the sweltering heat. I loved it, I really loved. What did we decide to do first? Grab a bite at the food court, of course.

I'm sure we went to Epcot next but I can't remember all the details of every day so I'll just go with what pictures I have to show you. This week was incredible. I made sure Rob got a posed picture of me in the morning before my hair was all over the place...

I remember we had lots of fun at the Magic Kingdom. I tried to take a lot of pictures but I really didn't take nearly as much as I should have. Hey Rob, turn around so I can get your picture with the castle. Great huh?

We rode Splash Mountain for the first time and this was start of our buying a Splash Mountain picture everytime we went there. We are sitting in the way back and I have no idea who all the rest of these people are...

Of course, we had the park photographer take our picture in front of the castle. Later when we went back to purchase the photos they were not ready when they were supposed to be and we had to get to Epcot for lunch that day (more on that story... later). They asked if we could stop by later to purchase them. I told the CM that we would be going to Victoria & Albert's for dinner that evening and could "pop in" to the Magic Kingdom for that. Well, you all probably know how fancy V&A's is. Here I was in a very nice dress with heels walking through the turnstiles and to the place where I could purchase our photos. The CM at the counter gave us two 5x7 pictures of us for free at that point. Now that was a wonderful surprise!

We ate dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern one night and they gave us these souvenir glasses for free. How cool is that?

So back to the story about our lunch in Epcot. We had a PS for Alfredo's at around 12:30 and had to get on the monorail from the MK to get to Epcot. Now, I pride myself in that I am extremely good with maps and the general knowledge of how to get someplace in the quickest of time. That just wasn't the case that day. Stupid stupid me. We get to Epcot and head toward World Showcase. We are rushing now to make that PS. I say head toward Canada. Rob says wrong way. I totally insisted I was right about this. Well, guess who wasn't right this time? Yup, me. It was quite a lengthy walk to get there just in time. To top it all off, our meal really stunk so I wish we had just stayed in the Magic Kingdom.

....continued on the next post....Disney World honeymoon...part deux

 

[CourtneyandRyan]

Keep going DM-olic! Great job so far!!!!

You are mighty dressed up for those parks!!!!! You look cute though! And I understand that you had a fancy dinner!

 

[tnmomof4]

I'm just subscribing...

I have enjoyed your pre-trip report. I love your pictures!!

 

[Crazy Kanga]

Better late than never. I finally made it over to you pre trippie and now I know what you look like. I was thinking for our AK meet we could go to the first showing of the new Finding Nemo show which should be at 11:30. Will that work for yous guys? I crack myself up trying to do some New York talk.

 

[twob4him]

Mental note to self:

Never promise the next installment within a certain time period because that is when Internet Explorer decides to close down on you and your hubby comes home and gives you the evil eye for being on the computer.

I'm working on the next installment...it will be out soon.

I hate that evil eye!

 

[twob4him]

Disneyolic - (We gotta make up a shorter nickname) - I just love the beautiful wedding pics! That was so cool you included them. Its wonderful to hear all about other people's love stories . It just warms my heart! Keep posting...

 

[karibritt01]

I hate that evil eye!

I don't get the evil eye... more like the eye roll and the exagerated sigh!

 

[Disneyolic]

Better late than never. I finally made it over to you pre trippie and now I know what you look like. I was thinking for our AK meet we could go to the first showing of the new Finding Nemo show which should be at 11:30. Will that work for yous guys? I crack myself up trying to do some New York talk.

Oh, you still don't know what I look like. My hair is much shorter now, red, and shaggier. But, as I add on to this pre-trippie, you'll see...

Thanks to all of you for reading this. It's pretty fun and I really hope I'm not boring you all too much. I'm working on the rest of the honeymoon installment.

 

[Disneyolic]

Thinking back to our honeymoon...we were totally go, go, go but really got tired. We tended to poop out around 9 pm! We never even caught Illuminations that time! Can you believe that? But we were up and bright eyed and bushy tailed every morning ready to go park hopping!

In hindsight, I wish we told people we were on our honeymoon. It wasn't until after I got on the DISboards that I heard about all these honeymooners getting special things at dinners and what not. Again, something to remember next time.

So, one night we did manage to stay up late and went to Pleasure Island. Our absolute favorite place was the Adventurer's Club. Look how excited Rob looks here...

We really did have fun here and played along with some of the characters there. One of the best things in the club was a smoking face mask on the wall that talked to patrons at times. It was funny!

For all you Adventurer's Club veterans.....KONGALOOSH!

We had fun at the character meals. The Garden Grill used to be our favorite. They even gave us straw hat souvenirs.

Don't you just love when people perform acts of kindness? One day while in Epcot, Rob & I were just standing by the fountain when a super nice man (not CM) came up to us and asked us if we wanted him to take our picture. We said yes right away. We were wondering why he took so long to take our picture but he told us afterward that he was waiting until the right moment. When I got our film developed, I saw why. He did a wonderful job and this is one of my favorite pictures on our honeymoon.

Of course, there was just a bit of time that we enjoyed of the Caribbean Beach. We rented water mice one day. Here's me taking a video of Rob while he was taking a picture of me. On the video you can hear him say, "Watch out...you're heading for the shore." Too cute.

So, I really didn't take as many pictures as I should have. It seems I take more and more each year. I will leave you all with a few of my "artsy fartsy" pictures. I thought I was being quite the photographer taking these shots...

The Tower of Terror looking up at it from waiting in line...

Star Tours ride sign from within that big thing (I don't know what it is but I'm sure someone can tell me...)

So, about a month after our honeymoon, we went to Ocean City, Maryland, and sailed away on our yacht....

...at least I wish...

Next installment....We're home from our honeymoon...now what?

 

[twob4him]

I don't get the evil eye... more like the eye roll and the exagerated sigh!

Oh yeah, I probably get those too!

 

[Disneyolic]

On our honeymoon we just had to buy our dog Jake a souvenir. I found a cute stuffed Percy dog on a sale rack in MGM for only like $3 so I thought that was perfect for him. He was all excited to get a souvenir that he tore it to shreds in less than 10 minutes.

A pre-shred picture...

It's time for a Disneyland Flashback.... Back in 1980 was the one of the coolest summers ever for me. My parents let me go to California all by myself. I was 14 years old. Of course, I stayed with my Grandma but I flew all alone cross country. So, that trip I went to Disneyland with my 3 cousins. We were all "hot" teenagers. We got to see a real celebrity perform in Tomorrowland. His name was Rupert Holmes and he had a popular one hit wonder at the time called, "Escape". For those of you that don't remember the song by that name, let me "sing" you a few bars....

"If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
If you're not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
I'm the lady you've looked for, write to me, and escape."

Yup, another brush with celebrity my 2nd trip to California. First Peter Falk, then Rupert Holmes. Wow!

Anyhoo, we really did go to Ocean City, Maryland, for another vacation at the end of August. It was a nice relaxing vacation that time. Then time was passing on and I wasn't getting pregnant like I wanted to. But we kept trying and trying. Spring 1997 rolls around and my aunt, uncle, and cousins are planning a trip down to Orlando. They had plans to stay at the Vistana in a friends timeshare. My parents thought that was a great idea so they joined in. And my brother Billy and his then girlfriend Jen decided, heck, why not? My parents, Billy & Jen all rented at the Vistana too.

Well, I couldn't be left behind. No, not me. I'm going to Orlando too but I'm going to be the black sheep in the family and stay on Disney property. For me, there was no question. Rob & I decided on Dixie Landings at that time. Of course, now it is Port Orleans Riverside, but it was DL back then. We got a nice room in Parterre Place - the mansions section.

Here's a lovely view of Parterre Place from across the river...

...and another view looking out toward the river...

...and quite a lovely shot of Rob laying on the bed.

Coming up.......How much family time do we really need?

 

[CourtneyandRyan]

That little Jake is so cute!!!!!

Can't wait to read more my friend!!

 

[twob4him]

Hey, I remember that song

 

[dddisrunner]

I am really enjoying your TR! Keep up the good work!

 

[Disneyolic]

Hey, I remember that song

Uh oh. You're aging yourself like I did. I still hear it on the radio today and sing along. It's just a fond memory now.

I am really enjoying your TR! Keep up the good work!

Thank you much for reading! I like to get positive comments. I will try to get out my next installment today providing no interruptions from the kids...

 

[Disneyolic]

Well, we were a big clan down in Orlando. Me, Rob, Mom, Dad, Billy, Jen (Billy's GF), Vick (uncle), Irma (aunt), Russell (cousin) & Jackie (cousin). My uncle is only 15 years older than I am and my aunt only 11 so I am closer in age to them than to my cousins.

We all met up in the Magic Kingdom one early morning. Of course, Rob & I were first there and were waiting around on a park bench for the rest of the bunch to get there.

Finally.

Now, I must stay a few words about Mom's picture taking. For some dumb reason she finds it necessary to take scenic pictures with the rest of our behinds in them. And as the years have passed, my behind has been growing and growing so I'm not really too keen on those pics. But, I guess I'll show you one harmless pic...

Rob & I are off to the far right. This picture really doesn't do justice on showing you how well she manages to get our butts in the pics. Now, whenever I download her pics I delete any of my big ole' butt.

This was the year that they decided to make Cinderella's castle into a big mess...I mean birthday cake. At least it didn't stay that way. Cute to look at once.

So, we rode that ride that preceeded Stitch. I thought it was funny when Mom & Irma screamed. Wussies. Then, that's it. Everyone wants to split up except Billy & Jen who decide to stay with Rob & I for the day. Good, who needs the rest?

Here is our 2nd picture of us going down Splash Mountain. This time Jen & Billy are seated in the front with Rob & I behind them. We all decide that we're gonna really play it up for the camera. I get the great idea to try to smile at the camera as we're swooshing down 6 stories... I guess I misjudged where the camera was and ended up looking quite silly. The rest of the bunch looked great, huh?

Those 2 couples behind us were hysterical. They all 4 were screaming the whole way down and were so worried about getting wet. HA!

So, we had fun at the Magic Kingdom just the 4 of us but we decided to go on over to Epcot for the Food & Wine Festival. On the way out of the MK we ran into Vick, Irma, Russell & Jackie. I guess Mom & Dad decided to go their own way too. I thought what a lucky chance it was to run into them at the same exact time they were headed to the same place. They were headed to Epcot too so we all rode together and then went our separate ways yet again.

Jen & I decide that we are going to drink ourselves around the world by having a glass of wine at every booth that sells it. Turns out, almost all booths sell wine so we were two-fisted most of the time. Rob & Billy were getting beers whenever they could find them.

We started out the Mexico side and by the time I got to Italy I was feeling pretty good. I remember looking at Italy thinking...Hmm, this is a picture postcard moment.

Funny thing is, when the pics were developed Rob says, "What the heck is this picture of?" I look at it and told him Italy. He then went on to say why the heck would I take a picture like this - was I drunk? Well, almost...

By the time we made it to Great Britain, I had to pee like a racehorse. (I always wanted to say that.) Guess who we run into at the restrooms? None other than Vick, Irma, Russell & Jackie again. Now, I thought that was really really a big coincidence. We never did run into Mom & Dad even though I heard they were in Epcot.

At the end of the night, I was feeling pretty good, and so was Rob, so we actually did just a bit of PDA...

So, we wind that day on down....do we meet up with the clan again during our vacation? Stay tuned!

Coming up next...Happy Birthday to Me!

 

[twob4him]

Another great installement, although my eyes are crossed now!
Love the pda...come to think of it, we dont kiss in public much anymore either.....awwwwww, those were the days, huh?

 

[CourtneyandRyan]

Where are you DM-olic????

Isn't it time to give us another update????

 

[Disneyolic]

Where are you DM-olic????

Isn't it time to give us another update????

BACK OFF...I'm pulling a Blayne. Seriously, the kids are home from school this week for spring break so it's been a bit busier here than normal. I had to get my resume together yesterday. I will try to get the next installment out today because tomorrow is a busy, busy, busy day. We're going to Chuck E. Cheese's to surprise the kids. Not my favorite place but they like it.