A Grand Dream of a Honeymoon - June 2011

[Missish]

Just joining in to say I'm really enjoying your TR so far!

Your cruise looks incredible; I definitely have to go on one some day! I've always been a little nervous because the one cruise I've ever been on (when I was 8), I was horrifically sea sick and would cry because I didn't want to get back onto the ship But hopefully the Disney ships are so huge I wouldn't feel anywhere near as bad!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[disneybarbie]

How sweet (and funny!) that you both planned surprises for each other on the same day!!! Can't believe how much you accomplished that day and still had time to relax!

Thank you - I wonder if the Disney Florist wondered what was going on, two deliveries to the same room in one day!
I think having a break in the day has become quite a big part of our Disney touring now! It was great having the dvd library to use - quite a few afternoons we'd get a movie to watch, which I think Steve preferred to me just leaving the tv on the channel with Stacy and the 'must dos' programme!

I thought I had posted a reply to the latest updates, but I guess not. I think I might have been reading it when my cable went out.

That fainting episode was scary! I was already a bit worried about getting dehydrated myself, I'm glad I did not read this before going.

It's great how you visited three parks in one day AND went mini-golfing, yet it does not feel rushed at all!

Thanks Mel! I think this was our busiest day, we didn't do any more morning EMH I don't think glad you were ok with the heat on honeymoon, really looking forward to reading about your trip!

Just joining in to say I'm really enjoying your TR so far!

Your cruise looks incredible; I definitely have to go on one some day! I've always been a little nervous because the one cruise I've ever been on (when I was 8), I was horrifically sea sick and would cry because I didn't want to get back onto the ship But hopefully the Disney ships are so huge I wouldn't feel anywhere near as bad!

Can't wait to read more!

Thank you very much for reading!
I was all prepared for the cruise with travel sickness wristbands and medicine, but we didn't need it at all! Like you say, the ships are so big and have stabilisers so there's very little movement
(Btw I notice your from Southampton.. I went to uni there! )



Emma x

 

[kollerbear]

I just wanted to say hi and not be such a lurker. Your trip report is SO incredible and you guys are just such a beautiful and loving couple. Thanks so much for sharing your experience!! Your laid-back touring style is exactly what I'm hoping to achieve for my far-distant trip with my DBF who does not love vacation craziness, so you're really inspiring and giving me lots of good ideas.

I think having a break in the day has become quite a big part of our Disney touring now! It was great having the dvd library to use - quite a few afternoons we'd get a movie to watch, which I think Steve preferred to me just leaving the tv on the channel with Stacy and the 'must dos' programme!

Do you know if DVC properties let guests do this too?? (I seem to remember my parents mentioning it offhandedly at one point.) We stayed at a B&B in Montreal a few weeks ago where the owners let you sign out movies, and we watched one or two every day! Taking the time to sit down and watch movies together felt like such a luxury--like we had all the time in the world. It was very relaxing and I know that's something the BF would really enjoy.

 

[disneybarbie]

I just wanted to say hi and not be such a lurker. Your trip report is SO incredible and you guys are just such a beautiful and loving couple. Thanks so much for sharing your experience!! Your laid-back touring style is exactly what I'm hoping to achieve for my far-distant trip with my DBF who does not love vacation craziness, so you're really inspiring and giving me lots of good ideas.



Do you know if DVC properties let guests do this too?? (I seem to remember my parents mentioning it offhandedly at one point.) We stayed at a B&B in Montreal a few weeks ago where the owners let you sign out movies, and we watched one or two every day! Taking the time to sit down and watch movies together felt like such a luxury--like we had all the time in the world. It was very relaxing and I know that's something the BF would really enjoy.

Thank you so much for reading along & your comments! after we saw the dvd library at the GF concierge desk.. I remembered that DVC offers the same thing - my sister and I used it back in 2004 at the Boardwalk, I think we went to the Community Hall to rent them?


I promise to get my next update done this weekend


Happy weekend everyone!


Emma x

 

[pinkfairy1684]

Thank you so much for reading along & your comments!

I promise to get my next update done this weekend


Happy weekend everyone!


Emma x

Not like I am trying to rush you or anything but I look forward to reading this updates so much and I am dying for a new one!!!!

 

[Leshaface]

Not like I am trying to rush you or anything but I look forward to reading this updates so much and I am dying for a new one!!!!

^THIS Emma!

BTW, pinkfairy, LOVE your default pic!

 

[disneybarbie]

Not like I am trying to rush you or anything but I look forward to reading this updates so much and I am dying for a new one!!!!

^THIS Emma!

BTW, pinkfairy, LOVE your default pic!

lol sorry girls! next update posted asap..

 

[disneybarbie]

Tuesday 28th June 2011

Magic Kingdom – Grand Floridian Spa – Victoria & Albert’s


Once again I’d made no park plans for the day, so Steve suggested we went to the Magic Kingdom for morning extra magic hours (I really hadn’t planned to do any early mornings, but it is nice to get into the parks for opening!).
Unfortunately, Steve didn’t have a very good night’s sleep – there had been some kids in the pool at 3am making a lot of noise, which had kept him awake for a while! So although I set an alarm for 7am, he said he’d rather sleep in a bit and then go into the park – he even said “if it’s too busy to do any rides, we’ll just stroll around” – guess that’s one of the wonderful things about Disney theme parks!

I got up anyway and had a shower, then popped up to the lounge to get some breakfast for us. Wimbledon tennis was happening back in London so Steve caught up on what was happening on ESPN, and then we hopped on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom about 9.45am.

I’ve not arrived this ‘late’ to a park for a long time.. strange to see a very busy Main Street USA!

We decided to go to Tomorrowland first (where we had been heading on our first night, until I nearly fainted!) – and got fast passes for Space Mountain.

Then we went on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, the wait was only about 15 minutes.
Steve loves this as he’s quite competitive, and usually beats me!

However this time, I must have hit something good because my score was..

I’ve never ever got that much before! As you can guess, my husband was not impressed with my score and said that we would have to ride it again another day so he could win

We walked back to the hub, and across to Liberty Square.

Next up, one of our all time favourites… The Haunted Mansion!

I had been trying my best not to find out anything about the new queue line & effects on the attraction, so most of it was a surprise to me – we both really liked the new queue, and that it was optional whether you walked round it or not.

After visiting the Grim Grinning Ghosts, we decided to get an early lunch – and there was only one place Steve was heading…

Casey’s Corner!

We were tempted to try some of the new speciality hot dogs (pulled pork & coleslaw etc) but went with the standard ‘dogs, adding jalapenos and relish from the fixings bar!

We got a table outside and ate lunch, while the Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It parade went by.

After eating, we walked around to Fantasyland.. and got a few pictures of the Beast’s Castle taking shape behind the construction walls!

And then we went to see Mickey & Donald at Philharmagic..

By this time our fast passes for Space Mountain were ready, so we went back to Tomorrowland to ride the rollercoaster. Even the FP line was quite long this time, we were fairly far back in the line (about another 10 minutes to queue), and I heard a Cast Member asking for a ‘party of two’ .. no one in front of us put their hand up.. so I did… and we got to go right up to the front and get straight on! This was a little awkward though as all the people in front of us didn’t know what was happening when they were asked to stand against the wall and let us through.. I heard people say things like “why do they get to go first?” .. “Did they get a faster fast pass?!”
Never mind – I was paying attention and it meant we got to ride sooner!

After whizzing around space, we made our way to the Emporium on Main Street, and did a little shopping.
While I was paying, I asked the CM if they had any ponchos (we needed new ones) – and he said yes, then looked out the windows and said “is it raining?” .. I said no but I wanted to be prepared! I guess they usually only sell them when it’s raining.
However, he must have thought I was psychic – because as we made our way out of the park minutes later… it started to pour! We ran as quickly as we could to the boat launch back to the Grand Floridian, but got pretty soaked – no time to get the new ponchos out.

A couple on the boat noticed my ‘Just Married’ button and said congratulations. When we said ‘thank you’ they noticed our accent, and it turned out the man was a big English football (soccer) fan, so he & Steve had a nice chat about different teams on the short journey back to the resort!


......

 

[disneybarbie]

....

On entering our room, we were greeted with yet another surprise package from the Disney Florist!

And it was from… our travel agent! I was so surprised, it was such a generous gift – a cool bag, pretzels, short bread, Mickey plush and a photo frame.

We got changed and made our way out of the hotel – this afternoon we had a couple’s massage booked at the Grand Floridian Spa.

I wasn’t quite sure where the spa was, but it was easy to locate following the signs – lovely to walk outside towards the Wedding Pavilion and under the monorail line.

We checked into the spa, and then taken separately to the changing rooms – the lady showed me around the facilities and gave me a robe & slippers, I got changed and waited for the masseuse to come and collect me. I picked up a wedding magazine from the table, out of habit.. then remembered that I didn’t need to read them anymore!

Very soon I was called through to the treatment room, and met with Steve and his masseuse – we were shown four different oils that we could choose from, and were allowed to smell each one & select the one we liked best. The massage was lovely, I’d never had one before and within a week I’d had two!
We were allowed to use the spa facilities after our treatment, but as we were in separate areas we just got showered and changed, then met in the waiting area – we paid the bill, and the CM asked if we had any discounts.. I said we had Annual Passes, and we got 15% off! She asked where we were staying, and when we said the GF, she reminded us that we could use the spa facilities and gym throughout our stay.

The couple’s massage was a lovely experience, although I think we were a little spoilt from having just had the Spa Villa onboard the Dream a week before.

Feeling nice and relaxed, we wandered back to the Grand Floridian, and popped up to the lounge to get some snacks.. they had afternoon tea with scones & clotted cream available!

We had a lazy afternoon, we rented Monsters Inc from the dvd library – and got ready for dinner… at Victoria and Albert’s!
I even ironed Steve’s shirt for him, like a good wife

....

 

[ronnmel]

Don't you just love it when being a party of two gets you on the ride quicker?

 

[disneybarbie]

.....

All dressed up, we headed down to the second floor to the restaurant – I liked how it was through a closed door, all the Cast Members were gathered there to greet us, we were the first guests there that evening!

The room was beautiful, dimly lit and a harpist was playing throughout the meal (he also plays piano during the day in the hotel lobby).

We were seated, and once again my purse got its own seat! The server also offered me a shawl in case I felt cold, I didn’t need one – but noticed other ladies in the restaurant wearing them, there seemed to be a choice between cream or black, depending on your outfit!

We were presented with our menus, a vegetarian menu & the wine list…

(now I know why they’d asked before we arrived if I was taking Steve’s surname!)

We were given a plate of four amuse bouches to begin, all using smoked salmon.

There were 3-4 choices per course, some had a surcharge, and we both chose to do the wine pairing – particularly unusual for Steve because he doesn’t normally drink wine, but decided this was a good place to try some different ones! We started with a glass of champagne each to go with the seafood, then some white wines followed by reds to go with the meat courses, then to finish my dessert was paired with an sparkling asti and Steve had port.


First course, I had Applewood smoked buffalo and Steve had Ham-wrapped shrimp with melon – I’d had the latter at Remy, but it was presented in a very different way. We got talking to our servers about our trip, and said that we’d been on the Dream and eaten at Remy – they told us that ‘chef’ had been on the ship a few weeks ago to develop the menu with the chefs onboard!

Next, Steve had diver scallop – which was the biggest scallop I think I’ve ever seen!

And I chose the ‘abalone’ which was little extra, but I wanted to try it – the server described it as a seafood similar to calamari which were caught off the Florida coast .. I really enjoyed these.

For our first meat course,Steve had duck two-ways..

And I had roasted quail with asian pairs and Serrano ham..

For the second meat course, Steve had pork tenderloin and belly..

And I had lamb…

We were served three different breads during the meal and always had full glasses of iced water… I liked between courses that they swept away crumbs using a little tool – except I always seemed to have made more mess than Steve!


Steve had the cheese course …

And I had strawberry, peach and passion fruit sorbets…

By about this time, I decided I needed the restroom (all that wine and big glasses of water!) – but it wasn’t immediately obvious where they were.. luckily, as soon as I stood up, a server wandered over and guided me to the restrooms.. which we as beautiful as the restaurant! I resisted taking a photo

While I’d been away from the table, our desserts had arrived.. and my soufflé had deflated a little, but still tasted amazing!

Steve had vanilla bean crème brulee, I didn’t get a picture of this as it is his favourite and he ate it too quickly!

We were then offered coffee and a little plate of chocolates called ‘friandises’ and asked our server to take our photo..

The maitre d’ presented me with a red rose, and we were given a gift bag that contained our menus and a chocolate-nut bread from the pastry chef (the server apologised to me that it had nuts in it! We ended up giving it to the concierge cast members the next day).

We finished our drinks and listened to the harpist – he played a lovely mix of classical music and Disney love songs.

After settling the bill (our Tables in Wonderland card paid for itself just from this one meal, worth every penny though!) – our server asked if we’d used the valet service at the hotel so that she could arrange for our car to be ready.. we explained that it was fine because we were staying at the hotel… later I thought about it and was really surprised, that after being served 7 glasses of wine each, that she thought one of us would be driving! Hehe.

The whole meal and experience were exquisite – I was worried that maybe after Remy, we wouldn’t like V&A’s as much, but it was equally as wonderful, I could get used to this fine dining! Obviously it’s not a restaurant we’d go to on every trip, but we’d definitely return for a special occasion.

We wandered back to our room, very full up from so much delicious food – at least we didn’t have far to go! We caught some of Wishes from our balcony, and then went to bed.. ready for another magical day tomorrow!


Coming up… Hollywood Studios, Fantasia Gardens, getting hit by lightening… a photo shoot & California Grill.

Emma x

 

[Leshaface]

Wonderful updates Emma!

My goodness, it seems like every day you're getting a gift in your room! How nice and special.

So the interactive queue at the HM, it's an optional line? I haven't been on the Theme Parks board in a long time (since i'm not going to WDW any time soon) so didn't know about this interactive part.

Your meal at V&A's sounds AWESOME! How come we weren't offered shawls at Remy's?! I'm jealous! Ugh, how romantic with the harpist.

 

[pinkfairy1684]

Thank you Emma! I really enjoyed reading about your experience at V&A. DF and I went there on his first trip to WDW in 2009, and honestly, it was the most AMAZING meal either one of us has ever eaten!!!!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I find that it is so hard to sleep in at Disney, even when I factor it into the plans! Even on the days where I intend for us to have a lazy morning, we end up getting up early to go to a park.

Your dinner at V&A sounds amazing! So glad you had a good time and enjoyed all of the food! Miguel and I ate there a few years ago, and I must say that your menu sounds better than ours! Ours had a lot of unusual meats that we weren't too crazy about. I did love what an experience it was, though!

Can't wait for the next update! I am wondering what this getting hit by lightening is about!

 

[Tracy161]

Great update! I was excited to eat vicariously through you two at V&A's!!! Sounds like you had a lovely day!

I was at Wimbledon in April - it was so amazing to see a place you see on TV all the time! My younger sister spent the year at Worcester College and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend a couple weeks touring around London and vicinity! Cannot wait to go back, I loved every second I was in England!!!

 

[Stefy]

Great update, glad you enjoyed the couples massage

V&A's looked delish, love the little gift bag and rose

 

[k_reile]

wow...7 glasses of wine...i think I would have been passed out by the meat course! LOL! Probably a good thing I am a picky eater and probably would never try anything on the V&A menu! LOL!

 

[starann]

Joining in...I just read all 19 pages TODAY!!!! (thank goodness it was a national holiday!).


Amazing trip so far!!!

 

[disneybarbie]

Wonderful updates Emma!

My goodness, it seems like every day you're getting a gift in your room! How nice and special.

So the interactive queue at the HM, it's an optional line? I haven't been on the Theme Parks board in a long time (since i'm not going to WDW any time soon) so didn't know about this interactive part.

Your meal at V&A's sounds AWESOME! How come we weren't offered shawls at Remy's?! I'm jealous! Ugh, how romantic with the harpist.

Thanks Lesha.. hehe that was the last gift in our room.. we did keep saying "wonder what will be in our room today?!"

I guess Remy had got the temperature just right, that's why they didn't offer us shawls?

Yes the interactive line at Haunted Mansion is optional.. just before you get to the entrance (grave yard to the left), there's two paths.. one says "direct route" and the other says "scenic route"

Thank you Emma! I really enjoyed reading about your experience at V&A. DF and I went there on his first trip to WDW in 2009, and honestly, it was the most AMAZING meal either one of us has ever eaten!!!!

Hi! We loved trying out some of the signature restaurants this trip - every dish at V&A's was amazing, I couldn't pick a favourite!

I find that it is so hard to sleep in at Disney, even when I factor it into the plans! Even on the days where I intend for us to have a lazy morning, we end up getting up early to go to a park.

Your dinner at V&A sounds amazing! So glad you had a good time and enjoyed all of the food! Miguel and I ate there a few years ago, and I must say that your menu sounds better than ours! Ours had a lot of unusual meats that we weren't too crazy about. I did love what an experience it was, though!

Can't wait for the next update! I am wondering what this getting hit by lightening is about!

Hi Courtney, it's so hard to have a really relaxing day at Disney - I really was prepared to take it slow, have breakfast at the GF and not rush around, but once we're there it's too hard to resist going into the parks each morning! We do like to have afternoon breaks a lot though - miss out the busiest part of the day

Hehe.. the lightening strike was quite an event!

Great update! I was excited to eat vicariously through you two at V&A's!!! Sounds like you had a lovely day!

I was at Wimbledon in April - it was so amazing to see a place you see on TV all the time! My younger sister spent the year at Worcester College and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend a couple weeks touring around London and vicinity! Cannot wait to go back, I loved every second I was in England!!!

Hi! It was a lovely day, think we'll always remember that meal at V&A's .. sounds like a lovely trip to England - you went to Stone Henge too didn't you?

Great update, glad you enjoyed the couples massage

V&A's looked delish, love the little gift bag and rose

Hi Stefy! (Ok I know you're in Italy now getting married, but maybe you'll read this! )
The massage was a nice way to relax and have a quiet afternoon before the big extravagant meal at V&A's I hadn't heard about the rose & gift bag before we went, so it was a lovely surprise.. just a shame I couldn't try the chocolate-nut bread!

wow...7 glasses of wine...i think I would have been passed out by the meat course! LOL! Probably a good thing I am a picky eater and probably would never try anything on the V&A menu! LOL!

Hi! Lol it was about 1/3rd of a glass of wine with each course.. even so, too much to drive ourselves anywhere afterwards hehe!

Joining in...I just read all 19 pages TODAY!!!! (thank goodness it was a national holiday!).


Amazing trip so far!!!

Thank you for your comments and reading everything so far! I'll try get another update done this week



Emma x

 

[ChefDisneyLu]

What a fantastic TR! Thank you so much for sharing!

I can't wait for the rest.

Congrats on your marriage, you make a beautiful couple.

Lisa