A Grand Dream of a Honeymoon - June 2011

[Missyrose]

What an amazing day! I can't wait to try California Grill myself in about a month!

That was a lovely spot to watch Wishes from.

 

[Stefy]

I'm back and all caught up Thank you for the wedding card, was very sweet of you to think of us

Love your portrait session, you got some great shots Is so much fun doing those, me and Dave love doing silly poses, serious poses etc

CG dinner looked yummy, so glad you enjoyed it is a fantastic restaurant

 

[Leshaface]

Terrific updates!

I've always wanted to do a photo session at one of the resorts. Are there certain packages you can choose from, or is it one package at one set price? Your pictures turned out TREMENDOUSLY great! You guys are one good lookin' couple!

Isn't the sushi from Cali Grill amazing?! Sigh, so fresh and clean tasting.

I love that you include video in your TR...had no idea you could upload it to PB...i'm going to try and find out how I can do that before our cruise in December. Is the video that you took from an actual video camera or from a camera?

 

[disneybarbie]

Aww, it sounds like you two had an amazing day! I'm so glad you mentioned getting some breakfast at the Writer's Shop. I always seem to be hungry in the morning at DHS (no time for breakfast since we're rushing to get to TSM!), but none of the breakfasts that I've tried there have been very good. A bagel sounds like it would be though. I will have to keep that in mind for the future.

The photographer got some great shots of the two of you! I love the dress you chose to wear. I would have been like Steve - nervous about people looking at me! I especially love the one that you used in your thank you cards.

All of your pictures from the Cali Grill are amazing! I love how you captured all of the different parts of Disney. How sweet of you two look for Miguel and I! Our final evening ended up changing a bit. I'll be sure to tell all about it in my TR!

Hi Courtney! Yes the Writer's Stop was perfect for a quick breakfast.. we always seem to have busy mornings at the studios - so many great attractions to get to The thing they are famous for there are the carrot cake cookies - I didn't get one (I know sometimes carrot cake has walnuts in it and didn't want to risk it! ) but they did look good, huge though!

Ooh I'm intrigued what happened on that evening for you guys then.. we also saw the pontoon boats out on the lagoon when we were waiting for Wishes

Love the pictures from the photo session! Was it expensive?

Also, for some reason, the video you posted won't play.

I've never been to the California Grill, but the views look amazing! Maybe we'll go next time.

Hi!

Thanks for your comments... I will check my photobucket account - it might be I need to put the videos in a public folder so that everyone can see them? thank you for letting me know! We really enjoyed California Grill and would go again - spectacular views all over WDW too

The photo session was about $140, for 30 mins with the photographer and a cd with all the images on it - I'd read it was more like $99 originally when I'd thought about book one; but the info I found was probably out of date.. it was really hard to find out much about it, I only really knew about them because of reading other people's TRs on the DIS

Here are some info at Stitch Kingdom.. http://www.stitchkingdom.com/disneysphotopass/ (scroll down a bit..)

What a great day Emma! Loved how much you got done at DHS in the morning. And what an experience to be by the building that got hit by lightening!!

Your pictures from the photo session came out so great! I would've hated those forehead-together poses too! On our honeymoon, a few photopass photogs had us touch noses and do stuff like that. Just so weird! Haha!!

Hi Nikki! It was a really fun morning at DHS - and the lightening strike was quite an experience hehe

I think we were the same with the kissing/posing in some of the photos.. we were told to kiss a few times by the PP photographers this trip but the pictures come out a bit awkward, it's like "should we be kissing in public, in a Disney park?!"

Wonderful update! You got some beautiful shots with your photographer. I love you and your DH with the old car, just perfect.

Thank you!

We didn't really know what type of shot the photographer was taking for the car one.. she told us to hug & lean against the car, then she ducked down at the end and started shooting away.. I didn't realise that the licence plate had 'Grand Floridian' on it.. such a lovely idea!

What an amazing day! I can't wait to try California Grill myself in about a month!

That was a lovely spot to watch Wishes from.

Hi! Hope you enjoy California Grill.. we'd definitely go back, so much more to try on the menu!

I was glad we watched Wishes from the boat launch that night - it was a bit off centre (I guess Polynesian beach is the best place across the lagoon) but great to be able to watch outside of the park, and then just walk back to our room!

I'm back and all caught up Thank you for the wedding card, was very sweet of you to think of us

Love your portrait session, you got some great shots Is so much fun doing those, me and Dave love doing silly poses, serious poses etc

CG dinner looked yummy, so glad you enjoyed it is a fantastic restaurant

Hi Stefy... or, the new Mrs Dave! glad you got the card ok

I was pleased we did the photo shoot.. I so nearly cancelled it when Steve first said he wasn't that keen on it (especially after the surprise sleigh ride I booked last December that he didn't enjoy at all! ), but it turned out we both had a fun time doing it! I think we'd perfected smiling and posing together on our wedding day, soo many photos!

Only a few sleeps until your honeymoon now! so excited for you both

Terrific updates!

I've always wanted to do a photo session at one of the resorts. Are there certain packages you can choose from, or is it one package at one set price? Your pictures turned out TREMENDOUSLY great! You guys are one good lookin' couple!

Isn't the sushi from Cali Grill amazing?! Sigh, so fresh and clean tasting.

I love that you include video in your TR...had no idea you could upload it to PB...i'm going to try and find out how I can do that before our cruise in December. Is the video that you took from an actual video camera or from a camera?

Thank you for the lovely comments Lesha!

This was the original info I found on the photo sessions..

http://www.stitchkingdom.com/disneysphotopass/

They do the resort photos at the Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Beach Club and the Polynesian Our travel agent booked ours for us, it was about $140 in total - I think we paid a deposit of $50 then the remainder came off my credit card the day of the shoot (I guess they do they do that in case it has to be cancelled).

Steve said that while he enjoyed his entree at California Grill, he'd have quite happily had another plate of sushi instead! It was delicious.

I just took the videos from my Canon point & shoot camera - sometimes it's a bit shaky but I was quite pleased with it!
I'm going to try and take more video on future trips, it's fun to watch the videos back and have the sounds recorded too.. like the band in the Grand Floridian lobby. I think it would be good to walk around our resort rooms/staterooms and record a video too, I wish I'd done that at the GF as our room was so big!



Emma x

 

[klacey1]

Haha, that little kid sounds too funny-- I wonder what made watching Wishes from the GF not "real life"

 

[pinkfairy1684]

Thanks for the update, Emma! We are going to the California Grill on our honeymoon. It will be the first time either of us has eaten there! I will make sure to get some sushi!!

 

[Tracy161]

Great update, Emma! Your photos from your session turned out great!!! I'm amazed at how much you could see from California Grill!!!

 

[ronnmel]

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So many great shots! These are my favorites.

I find it kinda funny that you guys did not like the touching forehead pose. It's such a natural thing for Ron and I, we do it all the time when we are hugging, kinda of our way to "connect" and just be in the moment.

 

[jenneth79]

I'm so glad you posted on my PTR, because I realized that somehow I missed your report! Finally caught up this morning and it looks like you had an amazing trip. I think you've convinced me to try out a Disney cruise next year!

We just got our call from V&A yesterday to confirm everything. I thought it was a nice touch they ask about any allergies. I had figured I would just avoid anything with pine nuts, but they said they'd make sure I didn't have to look at one. Very excited for that dinner.

Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

Jen

 

[disneybarbie]

Haha, that little kid sounds too funny-- I wonder what made watching Wishes from the GF not "real life"

hehe, he was quite funny! While we were waiting he also said "I'm sooo bored, I wish I had my Play Station with me, I could be playing Call of Duty" - he can only have been about 8!

Thanks for the update, Emma! We are going to the California Grill on our honeymoon. It will be the first time either of us has eaten there! I will make sure to get some sushi!!

Hi! Hope you enjoy California Grill on your honeymoon - yes we definitely recommend the sushi!

Great update, Emma! Your photos from your session turned out great!!! I'm amazed at how much you could see from California Grill!!!

Thank you
I hadn't thought about how far we'd be able to see from the CG, obviously I knew we'd be able to see the Magic Kingdom.. but then I guess the land is so flat, and there's not many tall buildings around! It was tricky to see Downtown Disney, Hollywood Studios and the Swan/Dolphin - but Steve has a really good zoom lense on his camera

So many great shots! These are my favorites.

I find it kinda funny that you guys did not like the touching forehead pose. It's such a natural thing for Ron and I, we do it all the time when we are hugging, kinda of our way to "connect" and just be in the moment.

Thanks Mel - I think the the 'heads together' shots did turn out better than I was imagining too!

I'm so glad you posted on my PTR, because I realized that somehow I missed your report! Finally caught up this morning and it looks like you had an amazing trip. I think you've convinced me to try out a Disney cruise next year!

We just got our call from V&A yesterday to confirm everything. I thought it was a nice touch they ask about any allergies. I had figured I would just avoid anything with pine nuts, but they said they'd make sure I didn't have to look at one. Very excited for that dinner.

Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

Jen

Hi Jen! Thank you for joining in

Hope you do get to go on a Disney Cruise.. we had the most amazing time on the Dream

Btw I'm very jealous of your countdown ticker right now... 4 days!



Emma x

 

[disneybarbie]

Thursday 30th June 2011

Typhoon Lagoon, Downtown Disney and the Yachtsman Steakhouse


Today we slept in a little and decided to head to a water park. After a light breakfast from the lounge, we headed down to the bus stop, agreeing to go to whichever water park bus came first!

It turned out to be the Downtown Disney and Typhoon Lagoon bus… and we were the only ones onboard!

After a quick bus ride, we arrived at the water park.

We stopped at the ticket desk to buy tickets (we didn’t have premium annual passes which include water parks, but did get a 10% discount with our regular APs).

Very soon we were inside the park – I love the theming here! We rented a locker and towels, then went in search of some sun loungers.

We found a nice spot in between the wave pool and the newer area where the Crush n Gushers are; then headed off to our first flume of the day… Gangplank falls!

This was really fun, and the raft goes soo quickly with only two people in it!

I love that the waterparks have photopass photographers, these are definitely photos that you couldn’t take yourself.


Next we went to the other slides that you ride in a tube, Kellhaul and Mayday Falls – and then to the Crush n Gusher Slides!

We love these, they are similar to the Aqua Duck onboard the Disney Dream too.


We spent some time in the wave pool – I can remember how huge these waves looked the first time I came to Typhoon Lagoon in 1993, and they still look as big now!

Then we headed back to our sun loungers and snoozed/sunbathed for about an hour – it was a nice spot to be as we could hear the roar of the wave pool every now and then, followed by the inevitable screaming of swimmers in the pool!

About 12pm we went to find some lunch at Typhoon Tilly’s, Steve had a chicken wrap and I had a chicken salad.

We spent a little more time sunbathing, then decided to head out of the park to Downtown Disney – the sky was getting a little overcast, otherwise we’d have gone in the lazy river and then done some more slides!

Some pretty flowers by the bus stop..

We decided to get on a bus to Saratoga Springs, as we had stayed there a few years ago and knew which bus stop to get off at to walk over to DTD – in the end, we stayed on the bus until the West Side bus stop.. it definitely looked like a storm was on its way!

Due to the inclement weather that seemed to be on its way, I suggested to Steve that we went into Disney Quest.. he loves computer games and arcades and had never been in there before. I had been to the attraction in 1998 and 2000 with my family, and was quite interested to see what it was like inside now!

We bought our tickets (again, getting 10% off with our annual passes), and then headed inside and up the elevator – which I was a little disappointed in, as I remembered before that the walls had been animated with the genie from Aladdin? But now they were just plain.

We got a guide map and decided what to do first… this place was packed!! There were people everywhere – we decided on the Jungle Cruise attraction first, which had quite a big line..

We stood in line for about 10 minutes, and it didn’t seem to be moving.. already, I could tell Steve was getting a bit bored – he even said “shall we just give up on this and go to the market place?” I was quite surprised because I thought he’d really like this! But I said we should at least try and do one attraction, after spending $40 each to get in lol.

I was surprised how little things had changed in Disney Quest since I’d last been – nearly every attraction was exactly the same, and the way that computer games are now I thought it might have been updated… but I guess it’ll be a huge project for Disney to renovate the whole attraction, and meanwhile it was still so busy and popular!

Before giving up on Disney Quest, I suggested we went to try the Cyber Space Mountain – I remember that this had been ‘the’ attraction when Disney Quest opened, and despite being a little dated – it was quite fun!

First of all, we designed our roller coaster on a screen, with Bill Nye the Science Guy..

Steve did most of the designing and it was a pretty crazy ride… and then I realised, he didn’t know we were actually going to get to ride our coaster!

So we headed to the ride simulators, and soon it was our turn to ride our Space Mountain!

These vehicles actually flip you upside down – it was pretty realistic! I’d really like to try the Sum of All Thrills attraction at Innoventions now, because I bet that is even better with the newer technology.

We headed out of Disney Quest, a little disappointed in the experience but had enjoyed the Cyber Space Mountain. I’ll be interested to see what Disney does with this attraction in the future.

We planned to walk over to the Market Place, do some shopping and maybe get a snack.. but just then, the heavens opened and the rain was pouring down! We dashed into the D-Street Vinylmation store for shelter.

I really like the décor in this shop – there’s a few props from the Adventurer’s Club in there as well as some Hidden Mickeys.

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[disneybarbie]

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Once the rain started to ease, we dashed over to the bus stop and headed home to the Grand Floridian.


I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before, but to get up to the concierge level we had to go in a special elevator and insert our room keys into a slot to gain access!
This afternoon, we got in the lift with a mother and her daughter, who must have been about two years old, and eating one of those huge rainbow-coloured lollipops. While the four of us stood in the lift, the little girl looked at me – looked at her lollipop – and then held it up to me.. like she wanted to share it!! It was so cute, we all laughed and the lady said to her daughter that lollipops were not really suitable for sharing.

We picked up a DVD to watch from the concierge desk, and some snacks & cans of pop from the lounge – then spent a few lazy hours in our room.

We got showered and headed out of the room about 5pm – next stop.. the Yacht Club! Steve suggested we got the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, and then a bus to the Yacht & Beach Club (I think he likes planning out our bus/boat/monorail transportation options once we’re at WDW!).

We ended up on a private bus to the resorts! First stop was the Yacht Club, so we got off and walked through the beautiful lobby. Again this was a new restaurant for us to try, but we knew where it was as we’d stayed at the resort with Steve’s family in 2009.
We got to the podium and checked in, the cast member asked us if we were celebrating anything so we told him it was our honeymoon. We waited for a few minutes in the bar next door.. lovely views into the restaurant’s butchers!

And soon were led to our table, it was in a lovely little alcove off the main dining room, just us and another table for two.

Our server was a really fantastic cast member – he was so attentive, chatted to us about our trip and made recommendations.

Our menus were especially for newlyweds/honeymooners!

For appetisers, Steve had the parma ham & beetroot salad, and I had scallops – both were delicious.

For mains, I had the filet mignon and Steve had the New York strip steak – we agreed these were some of the best steaks we’d ever had!

I had chosen a white zinfandel wine to have with my meal, but at one point our server came up to our table with a sample of a white reisling for me to try.. he thought it might go nicely with my entrée! (I’m not very keen on sweet wines, but was very impressed that he’d thought to bring over a sample!).

We loved the ambience in this restaurant and had a really relaxed meal.

While the desserts looked delicious, we didn’t have any room for one (especially me who was wearing skinny cropped jeans!) – so we went for a little stroll around stormalong bay, and then stopped at Beaches & Cream for an icecream!

Steve got vanilla and I got mint choc-chip, and we sat on a table outside of the Beach Club.. we were a great advertisement for the icecream parlour, as several children that walked by us were saying “Mom… Dad… I want an icecream!!”

There was a little bit of rain still in the air, but we went for a walk around to the Boardwalk.. our home resort!

I’d booked quite an early ADR at the Yachtsman Steakhouse, in case we wanted to walk over to the Studios to see Fantasmic, but we agreed we weren’t too fussed about seeing the show – especially after seeing the long line for it a few nights before!
We hopped on a bus back to the Magic Kingdom, and then a boat back to the Grand Floridian – we watched some movies on tv, and heard Wishes taking place outside – it was nice to have an early night, as we had a full day of fun planned tomorrow!


Coming up…. Around the World on a Segway, Epcot, ‘Ohana and a Wishes fireworks cruise.


Emma x

 

[Leshaface]

So how does the Photopass Photographers work at Typhoon Lagoon? Do you give them your card before you get on a slide, and pick the card up from them after you get off your raft? That is such a great idea! Especially because your shots aren't 'staged'. They're catching you in the moment

Sounds like you had a nice, relaxing day.

Can't wait to hear about the segway tour and Ohanas!!

 

[ronnmel]

You and Steve seem to be much better than Ron and I at the whole relaxing in Disney part. Though I'm sure being able to get movies from the concierge lounge would help.

So how does the Photopass Photographers work at Typhoon Lagoon? Do you give them your card before you get on a slide, and pick the card up from them after you get off your raft? That is such a great idea! Especially because your shots aren't 'staged'. They're catching you in the moment

Sounds like you had a nice, relaxing day.

Can't wait to hear about the segway tour and Ohanas!!

I'm not Emma, but I can answer your question.

At Crush N Gusher (and I would imagine all the other slides that have a photopass photographer, which are usually only the most popular ones) they just automatically take pictures of everyone coming down, then quickly upload them on a photopass picture that they hand out to you as you exit the slide. Which means that we ended up with 4 different photopass cards around our wrist after riding Crush N Gusher 4 times.

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Do the PP photographers at the water parks give you new cards? I saw quite a few but I didn't think to bring my card with me, but then I saw some people walking around with tiny little PP cards on their wrists.

The same thing happened to us on our afternoon at DTD - it poured! Although, I guess that's a good place to be when that happens since there is lots of shopping!

Can't wait to hear about your Segway and Wishes cruise adventures!

 

[dreamerchic33]

What WONDERFUL updates!
your pictures came out so amazing!
Im already planning V+A, pictures and a water park for our next visit! Which will hopefully be Dec 2013, since we plan on doing a Euro Cruise in 2012.
Xo Christina

 

[ronnmel]

Do the PP photographers at the water parks give you new cards? I saw quite a few but I didn't think to bring my card with me, but then I saw some people walking around with tiny little PP cards on their wrists.

Yes, the card they give is the little one that has an elastic to put around the wrist. They give you a new one every time they take your picture at the bottom of a slide (not in the lazy river or wave pool, there they just use yours), so if you go down a slide several times you end up with multiple cards around your wrist.

The wrist card is actually pretty practical. We used it at all the parks so we didn't have to search for the photopass card every time we saw a photographer.

Sorry to hijack your thread Emma.

 

[Aussiesalad]

Sorry I'm a bit late but I am loving your TR! Youre such a gorgeous couple and it's so lovely to see how much you care about each other. I love all your surprises for each other
Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!

 

[disneybarbie]

So how does the Photopass Photographers work at Typhoon Lagoon? Do you give them your card before you get on a slide, and pick the card up from them after you get off your raft? That is such a great idea! Especially because your shots aren't 'staged'. They're catching you in the moment

Sounds like you had a nice, relaxing day.

Can't wait to hear about the segway tour and Ohanas!!

You and Steve seem to be much better than Ron and I at the whole relaxing in Disney part. Though I'm sure being able to get movies from the concierge lounge would help.



I'm not Emma, but I can answer your question.

At Crush N Gusher (and I would imagine all the other slides that have a photopass photographer, which are usually only the most popular ones) they just automatically take pictures of everyone coming down, then quickly upload them on a photopass picture that they hand out to you as you exit the slide. Which means that we ended up with 4 different photopass cards around our wrist after riding Crush N Gusher 4 times.

Do the PP photographers at the water parks give you new cards? I saw quite a few but I didn't think to bring my card with me, but then I saw some people walking around with tiny little PP cards on their wrists.

The same thing happened to us on our afternoon at DTD - it poured! Although, I guess that's a good place to be when that happens since there is lots of shopping!

Can't wait to hear about your Segway and Wishes cruise adventures!

Hi all - thanks for explaining the water parks PP Mel!
We got a small photopass card on a wrist band after riding Gang Plank Falls, and then when we were getting out of the splash pool after Crush n Gusher, I would hold up my wrist to the PP Cast Member and they'd scan the back of the card.. one of them said to me "oh good, you know the drill!"

What WONDERFUL updates!
your pictures came out so amazing!
Im already planning V+A, pictures and a water park for our next visit! Which will hopefully be Dec 2013, since we plan on doing a Euro Cruise in 2012.
Xo Christina

Thank you so much for your comments! Really pleased we did the photography session, and loved the meal at V&A's - hope you get to go there on your next trip! It might be a little cool for the water parks in December.. some days (when we were there) it was in the mid-70s so would be fine.. but last year it dropped down to the 30s.. record lows in Florida, brrr! hehe - we really love TL and BB though, loads of Disney theming and everything's a bit more relaxed than a day in the parks

Sorry I'm a bit late but I am loving your TR! Youre such a gorgeous couple and it's so lovely to see how much you care about each other. I love all your surprises for each other
Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!

Hi! Thank you for reading along so far and for your comments
I'll aim to get another update done this week.. lots happened the next day!


Hope everyone is having a good week, I'm getting over a cold but feeling better now.. just reading about this new Avatar land in Animal Kingdom!! Seems very sudden but I'm excited that Disney is adding to the parks.. I need to watch Avatar now though

Emma x

 

[Leshaface]

Thanks ronnmel for answering my question

Avatar Land?! Off to research!

P.S. hope you get better soon Emma