A Grand Dream of a Honeymoon - June 2011

[OhMari]

Did you have to pay for transportation to and from the Cruise? I can't remember.
What day was your last day of the Cruise.
I sailed on "Freedom of the Sea" and we left on a Sunday afternoon and returned Sunday morning.

My dh uncle/aunt stayed at the GF and got upgraded to conciere'. My dh uncle told us, it was amazing.

 

[disneybarbie]

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After dinner, we popped back to our room to get Steve’s camera – and the maid had been to turn down our room!

Video of the lobby from the second floor..



And very soon we were on the monorail, heading to the Magic Kingdom.

I love walking down this walk way from the monorail to the main entrance!

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[disneybarbie]

.. just wanted to share another video.. this was of the Grand Floridian Orchestra from the concierge level



Please let me know if these are working!



Emma x


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[disneybarbie]

Did you have to pay for transportation to and from the Cruise? I can't remember.
What day was your last day of the Cruise.
I sailed on "Freedom of the Sea" and we left on a Sunday afternoon and returned Sunday morning.

My dh uncle/aunt stayed at the GF and got upgraded to conciere'. My dh uncle told us, it was amazing.

Hi, we paid around $70 each for the return transfers to Port Canaveral - we got back there on Sunday June 26th ... I had heard about people getting upgraded on arrival (I think DISer Sambycat had this happen to her when they checked in for their wedding!) - so I had been day-dreaming that it might happen to us, but then our travel agent managed to make it happen anyway!

I can't get over the size of that room! How lovely!

the room was so big! there were so many chairs and sofas as well as two huge beds, the coffee maker was in a separate cupboard with a sink and huge cupboard.. so much space

What an amazing room! The view is beautiful.

Citricos looked wonderful - I've never been there but we may have to rethink

we really enjoyed Citricos - would definitely go there again, we didn't get to try Narcoossees this trip but that is on the 'to try' list!

Wow! Your room looks stunning! I can't believe they had all those spare chargers! That's a great thing to know about, and so considerate!

I'm looking forward to reading more!

The room was amazing, apart from the suite we had for our wedding, it was the biggest room I've ever stayed in!
I was completely surprised by all those chargers.. guess it must happen a lot at hotels that people forget them lol.

Wow I loved reading about your snorkelling experience and then the meal at Remys! That is soo nice of them to send a thank you card and box of truffles - you def don't get many restaurants doing that!

I read on to see that you had posted about your journey to GF resort! What a lovely greet and that room looks amaazing! It was also nice to read about all the help the CMs were providing esp the camera charger being given to you. What a magical way to start your stay at Disney World!

Thank you! The last day & night on the cruise were fantastic and we had a great morning once we got to the GF!

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

your videos are working. Not only am I TOTALLY jealous about your cruise but then you ALSO get to spend time at WDW! Which, just the time you spend at WDW is already longer than ANY vacation I've ever taken! SO JEALOUS! Not to mention ALL the pixie dust you're getting in this trip! It's all so fabulous!

 

[ariel_]

Wow! I've just read through your entire honeymoon TR - it looks like you have had an amazing time! I am totally in awe of anyone who can commit to updating a report so thoroughly and regularly Maybe one day I'll get round to one! I especially loved seeing all your photos from the Dream, I'm off on the Dream next month (my first cruise) and I CAN'T WAIT! Looking forward to reading any more about your trip

 

[Dugette]

Sounds like a great day! The GF concierge level sure is providing amazing service...greeting you upon arrival, doing the check-in in your room, the huge room, the complimentary charger, etc. Wow!! What a great honeymoon!

 

[cindianne320]

Remy looks absolutely amazing!

We had our 5 year anniversary dinner at Citricos and were surprised with the personalized menus, champagne, and a complimentary whipped cream dessert after we declined to order anything! Love the Disney touch, and would definitely eat there again.

Intrigued about the mishap that is to come- I hope it wasn't too bad!

 

[Stefy]

Yay you're at Disney World Great start to your land portion Dinner at Citricos looks delish

I love that the CM gave you a charger for your camera, only in Disney

 

[disneybarbie]

your videos are working. Not only am I TOTALLY jealous about your cruise but then you ALSO get to spend time at WDW! Which, just the time you spend at WDW is already longer than ANY vacation I've ever taken! SO JEALOUS! Not to mention ALL the pixie dust you're getting in this trip! It's all so fabulous!

thanks for letting me know about the videos and for your comments! I'd planned this trip for such a long time, hoping it was going to be wonderful - and then we were so lucky that everything turned out perfectly, there were so many extra special little moments and sprinklings of pixie dust too!

Wow! I've just read through your entire honeymoon TR - it looks like you have had an amazing time! I am totally in awe of anyone who can commit to updating a report so thoroughly and regularly Maybe one day I'll get round to one! I especially loved seeing all your photos from the Dream, I'm off on the Dream next month (my first cruise) and I CAN'T WAIT! Looking forward to reading any more about your trip

Thank you for joining in and for your comments! Not long until your cruise - I hope you love the Dream

Sounds like a great day! The GF concierge level sure is providing amazing service...greeting you upon arrival, doing the check-in in your room, the huge room, the complimentary charger, etc. Wow!! What a great honeymoon!

Hi! We were so impressed right from the start with the concierge level, I had no idea that check-in took place 'in room' - I thought there'd be a separate check-in desk, but not to be met outside the hotel!

Remy looks absolutely amazing!

We had our 5 year anniversary dinner at Citricos and were surprised with the personalized menus, champagne, and a complimentary whipped cream dessert after we declined to order anything! Love the Disney touch, and would definitely eat there again.

Intrigued about the mishap that is to come- I hope it wasn't too bad!

Thanks for your comments! We really enjoyed Citricos, the restaurant didn't seem very busy either so everything was nice and quiet, relaxed meal
Lol the mishap isn't too bad - it probably just sticks out in my mind because it was the one and only bad thing that happened the whole time! hehe

Yay you're at Disney World Great start to your land portion Dinner at Citricos looks delish

I love that the CM gave you a charger for your camera, only in Disney

Thanks for reading Stefy - I was so impressed about the charger, I didn't mind using Steve's point & shoot camera but I really do love my new one and was disappointed I'd not packed the right charger for it! Especially since I'd started the packing list months in advance hehe.
Maybe Disney collects up the chargers that people leave behind if they're not claimed.. but the box seemed to be a pretty complete collection of every phone & camera charger possible! Like you say, only at Disney



Emma x

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I've had so many wonderful updates to catch up on, Emma! Your last full cruise day sounds like it was amazing! That is too funny about your room service breakfast - I always order to much whenever I order room service, too! I love all of the underwater pictures from your snorkeling adventure. I've only done it once, and I really enjoyed it, but it was pretty difficult to get the hang of it! I felt like I was going to drown for a while! Oh my goodness, Remy sounds absolutely amazing! I wish more places in Disney were like that. I really like for dining to be an experience, and not just a meal, so it would be nice if you could really take your time at more places.

Yay! So glad you're finally at Disney! We got called Mr. & Mrs. my maiden name many times on the trip, too! Love that gold KTTW! Concierge level looks amazing. I can't believe how big your room was! And that view! What an amazing place for your honeymoon! It sounds like you had a really relaxing first day in the world. Can't wait to hear about your dessert party experience!

 

[disneybarbie]

I've had so many wonderful updates to catch up on, Emma! Your last full cruise day sounds like it was amazing! That is too funny about your room service breakfast - I always order to much whenever I order room service, too! I love all of the underwater pictures from your snorkeling adventure. I've only done it once, and I really enjoyed it, but it was pretty difficult to get the hang of it! I felt like I was going to drown for a while! Oh my goodness, Remy sounds absolutely amazing! I wish more places in Disney were like that. I really like for dining to be an experience, and not just a meal, so it would be nice if you could really take your time at more places.

Yay! So glad you're finally at Disney! We got called Mr. & Mrs. my maiden name many times on the trip, too! Love that gold KTTW! Concierge level looks amazing. I can't believe how big your room was! And that view! What an amazing place for your honeymoon! It sounds like you had a really relaxing first day in the world. Can't wait to hear about your dessert party experience!

Hi Courtney! - I was really glad we bought the waterproof cameras for snorkelling - Steve took all those pictures though, as I had to concentrate on breathing/swimming/de-steaming my mask most of the time! hehe

Lol I think with the breakfast room service menu we just kept ticking all the boxes on the card! Especially on the cruise as it's all inclusive, just gratuity to add on

I guessed that we might get 'Mr and Mrs' maiden-name a lot on honeymoon since I'd booked everything in my name! never mind, from every trip going forward it'll be the right name hehe

 

[lilsqueakrr]

Emma, everything looks wonderful! I cannot wait to see more!!

I can't believe you got all of that stuff for free! It's craziness! I guess it's really worth that price you pay! =]

 

[disneybarbie]

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It was nice to use our annual passes again (bought them for our trip in December 2010) and get through the turnstiles into the most magical theme park..

The park felt quite busy, a lot of people were waiting on Main Street for the Main Street Electrical parade, even though it was nearly an hour away!

We stopped for a photopass picture – the CM offered to take one with Steve’s camera as well as with her’s..

And decided to have a look at the times board to see how long the ride wait times were. Unfortunately, all the times had been erased! So we decided to wander over to Adventureland and see what was what.

About then, we heard another guest shout “wow…that’s Kobe Bryant!” .. and sure enough, I saw a CM in the VIP plaid uniform escorting Kobe and his family around the park! I’m not much of a sports fan, but even I knew who he was they were also walking to Adventureland and we were about 20 yards behind, it was funny to listen to the ripples of ‘that’s Kobe Bryant!” from other people as they recognised him!

A very blurry photo Adventureland and Kobe Bryant up ahead lol..

We got to Pirates of the Caribbean, and the wait time was only 10 minutes – this is one of our favourites so it was the perfect first ride to go on.

We were stopped just before we got on our boat, as Kobe Bryant and his family were led onto their own private boat with their tour guide! It was fun to see how excited the Cast Members got about seeing a celebrity too.

We wandered back to the hub..

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[disneybarbie]

.......
By now it was about 8.30pm and we had to be at the Tomorrowland Terrace for 9pm to check-in for our dessert party – Steve suggested we got over there a bit earlier, which turned out to be a good idea because there was already a queue forming.

We waited for about 20 minutes in line, CMs walked up and down the line checking people of the guest list and handing out wristbands.

Around 9pm we were allowed into the area, a lot of people rushed for the desserts but we decided to sit and wait at our table for the crowd to clear! We had a great table on the front row, several people walked by and said “that’s the best table!” – however I’d read on other trip reports and Disney websites that people tended to stand up once the fireworks began, which did turn out to be true!

(another thing that had my surname on rather than our married name, hehe!)

We got some glasses of lemonade, and our first plate of desserts..

The second plate looked quite similar – there was so much to choose from and we enjoyed everything we tried. I’m not sure we’d do this event again but it was nice to have some space to watch the fireworks and sample so many different desserts.

We got quite a good view of the Main Street Electrical Parade….

I had seen this once in the 1990s but could only remember the Pete’s Dragon float, so it was lovely to see it again! I love Spectromagic but enjoyed this one too.

We moved up to the railings at this point because most people were leaving their tables to find a place to stand.

Next up was the incredible ‘Magic, Memories and You’ pre-show to Wishes – I’d deliberately not watched videos of this on the internet because I wanted it to be a surprise, and we were both blown away by it! The projections are breath-taking.. we sort of wished we’d seen this from Main Street as the base of the castle wasn’t visible from the Tomorrowland Terrace.


Very soon, Wishes had started….

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[disneybarbie]

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Now, this is when the one and only bad part of our trip happened!! Some point during the fireworks, after Tinkerbell had flown right over us.. I started to not feel well. I got a really bad stomach ache, and then felt dizzy.. then felt really, really hot.
I didn’t say anything to Steve, as he had found a great setting on his camera and was happily snapping away at the fireworks!

Then, it was like a black curtain was sliding across my eyes.. and I panicked that I might be fainting.. I’ve never fainted before and didn’t know what to do! So I put my head down and tried to breathe slowly.. Steve noticed and asked what was wrong, he sounded miles away…

He said he’d go to get me some water – but about then I really started to faint! He grabbed hold of me and we stepped away from the railing – he said “look, we’re going to sit down, I’ll ask this Cast Member for help and then we’re leaving” … and despite feeling awful, all I could think was “no.. we can’t leave… we’re watching Wishes! Fireworks! Magic Kingdom!”
I drank loads from a water fountain and instantly felt better, just shaken up from what had just happened.. I’d felt completely fine and then suddenly been close to collapsing!

We waited for the fireworks to end and most people left.. it was EMH that night so we had planned to head to Tomorrowland next to ride Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear’s ride, but Steve was adamant we were going back to the hotel.

All I can think is that I was tired & dehydrated – Orlando was much hotter and humid than the cruise had been, so for the rest of the week we made sure to stop every hour for a cold drink & rehydrate.
I am hardly ever ill, I get a cold about once every two years! Yet I’d bought every medicine possible with us in case Steve felt ill during our honeymoon, and then it was me who almost fainted I was so pleased right then to have a caring husband who looked after me and held my hand all the way back to the Grand Floridian.



We decided to get the boat back to hotel as it’s more direct than the Monorail, which meant we got to see the Electrical Water Pageant..

Very soon we were back in our room, and managed to get a good night’s sleep.. I felt so much better in the morning too!

Emma x

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Wow! MK was really crowded that afternoon! How neat that you saw Kobe Bryant. I don't think I've ever seen a celebrity at Disney. We LOVED the "Magic, Memories and You" show! I thought it was absolutely incredible.

Oh no! I hate to hear that you almost fainted! The heat really does take a lot out of you, especially when you're not used to all of the humidity! When we were on our Segway tour, our guide told us about a man who was from England who actually fainted on the Segway because of the heat! He said that he just kind of slumped over his Segway and the thing just took off! I'm glad that you were able to get better quickly and enjoy Wishes! How sweet of Steve to take car of you like that!

 

[Stefy]

Aww hun, so sorry you felt faint during Wishes, but good on Steve for taking good care of you.

That's the thing with Florida it can get so hot that you have to remember to keep hydrated. Do you know, I drink more water on holiday then I do at home.

So cool that you saw Kobe Bryant

 

[mamaboogie]

Sorry you felt ill during Wishes!

We brits are just not used to the Florida heat - no matter how well we try to prepare for it.

With each trip I've had to WDW there has always been that 'Oh-oh' moment where I've realised I need to chug a whole lot more water down! (It happened during the Indiana Jones stunt show last time!)

It's amazing how quickly the water helps!

Steve's Wishes photos are amazing! And well done to him for looking after you so well when you were poorly.

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Leshaface]

Great updates! Your room looked GORGEOUS! The next time my DH and I go to WDW (Whenever that will be) I'd like to do the Dessert Party. Was it worth the money in your opinion?

Ugh, how scary that you almost fainted. That feeling has only happened to me once and it was when I was working for Starbucks. I had cut my finger kind of weird and it got me woozy and I started blacking out. I had to be seated and was given some cold water and felt better after a few minutes. It was the strangest and scariest feeling.

Hopefully you'll feel better in your next update!