A Honeymoon TR (Overdue!!)

[DisneyDoll10/28]

Welcome to the newlywed trip report that is about 6 months overdue

The cast is simple, me, 26 year old Dis freak, former WDWCP Cast Member, and all around crazy and my new DH, 25, not so much a Disney freak, would've rather been on a beach in Tahiti .

Small Backstory on how WDW became my honeymoon destination : We had been planning our wedding non stop and finally I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to think about the fun vacation that would take place immediately afterward --- THE HONEYMOON!!! I had hinted that I thought going back to Disney would be amazing for our honeymoon and I would get the same response "I don't know... wouldn't you rather be on a beach, not having to do anything.... no kids??". I could tell he really wasn't into it so I dropped it and we looked into cruises to the Carribean.

One day while in the mall, I went into the Disney Store, per usual, just looking around, smiling like a child at Christmas. There were these really cute matching adult vacation shirts.... the red ones that were a Hawaiian print like with a screen on the back (remember those??) and the flipflops and matching bag. I just gushed over these and kept saying how cute it would be to get those and go to Disney on our Honeymoon. This lasted for about two weeks... everytime we went to the mall (a few times a week) until finally as I was engrossed with the sing along on the big TV screen in the back of the store, my future DH came up to me and said "Okay... just promise me that one day we'll go on a cruise" as he had the Disney Store Vacation information in his hands infront of me. I went crazy in the store

Immediately that night I started to look online at Disney.com and googling Disney Vacations and found the Disboards!!! Obession began right there and then.

The information I found on here was a bit overwhelming, even for a former cast member . I read so many TR, resturant reviews, what to pack, what to leave home, real crocs or payless fake ones, ME or happy limo....AHHHHH . Finally I started to form a plan and started to figure out what I wanted, especially since this was going to be my DH first trip to the World... and first plane ride. I wanted everything to be as magical as possible .

..... So does my DH come over to the dark side or will I have to plan future trips minus the Hubby?? Stay Tuned!!........

 

[DisneyDoll10/28]

So after long arduous hours infront of the computer , Disney.Com gave me a great vacation package complete with itinerary and a $3000.00 price tag . Surely I can get us there cheaper! I know its expensive but seriously...so I started lurking the Budget Boards and found out about the DVC.... so I moved to the DVC boards where I started to understand about renting and the amazing albeit scary process that is.

Sidenote of Randomness :
I also learned that in order for me to become a true Diser I had to frequent my local Home Depot and convertly steal any and all Alien Green Mickey Head paint chips and decorate everything with them.....my husband thought I'd gone off the deep end but him being a semi crazy too, was very much into the whole Mission Impossible-ness of it all.... matter of fact I'm sure that theme song was hummmed as I took stack after stack of those precious paint chips and hid them in my purse

After lurking for awhile, I finally got the courage to PM someone about renting their DVC reservation. It was at the BoardWalk Villas and it was a one bedroom. After looking at the pictures online, I knew that this was the only resort I could stay in that would get my DH hooked on Disney. He's huge into nautical stuff and LOVES being near water. I have to say that the woman I rented off of was about the sweetest thing ever, she answered all of my questions (THOUSANDS of them) and made me feel very secure about this process. She also pointed me towards SouthWest for airfaire and after I patiently waited and waited (and watched the Budget Board) I got my airfaire for 120.00 pp round trip. Our room, tickets, and airfaire cost us 1700.00. And from that moment on, it was lots o'love for the Disboards .

I should mention that we got married on October 28, so our Honeymoon was the end of October, beginning of November. Since Halloween is both our fave holiday, it made sense to do MNSSHP. I loved it when I was a cast member there and couldn't wait to go back. That was the only thing really planned out because DH didn't want this to be a "we must go here NOW" vacation.... not that I have a tendency to overplan things at all....

Mmmhmm... We are finally at the airport. I could tell you all about the wedding but thats not what this is for. It was great and the highlight was my cookie table (over 2500 cookies-- its an eastern ohio thing) and my cupcake cake. So we are at the airport and DH is a bit stressed at all the hoops one has to go through to get to the plane. I've been traveling for 20 years so this is all second nature to me. I help him out, he chats nervously to the guy behind him while waiting to go thru security and then I realize, he hasn't emptied his pockets! I rush thru trying to un-techno him. Has anyone seen Night at the Museum?? When Ben Still makes fun of the new hubby because he's got so much on his belt?? Well thats my husband. Only I wish he had some sort of important high paying job that requires him to have all of RadioShack on his belt, but he doesn't. He got thru it like a trooper, except having to take his shoes off, wasn't too pleased at that. We fly out of Pittsburgh and you have to take a metro to the terminals. Again, he was amazed at all this and all I could think of was "wait till I get you on the monorail bub!".

Finally, MCO!!! I could hear Mickey before the landing gear was down. The only flight i could get that didn't require us to be up at the crack of dawn the day after our wedding put is in Orlando at 3 which meant by the time we got to our resort we could just check in. Alright by me!!
I had ordered a sedan from Happy Limo (again, thank you DISers!!) and we had the best driver who chatted us up all the way about happenings at Disney in his slightly Carribean accent. A small stop at Publix for some things and then we were there!! The Boardwalk Villas. Reverent music is playing in my head "Ahhhahhh Ahhh Ahhhhhhh"

Check in was a breeze "Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Jackson, we have a surprise for you" .... and out pops the Just Married Buttons which we never took off all week. Our first pixie dust moment. And I could see, from the small glint in my DH eyes ( and the way he was walking around with his mouth open) that maybe Disney was started to hook another unsuspecting person.

.... More to come, hope everyone is enjoying!....

 

[emilyclaire]

I am hooked! Can't wait for updates.

 

[thptrek]

Great start and it sounds like fun.

 

[DisneyDoll10/28]

All checked in now. And the first of many walks down the hallway that wouldn't end to get to our room. Holy Cow!! Maybe they put us newlyweds far away from families so we could enjoy the perks of marriage but geeze, I needed a People Mover to get from the room to the elevator!!!

We unpacked and just ran around the room in awe of it. Absolutely amazing. Since I wasn't allowed to have every moment planned out our first night was kind of off the cuff. We changed into our matching disneyshopping.com personalized tees that had Mickey and Minnie in wedding gear and the phrase "Mr. & Mrs. Jackson, Est. October 28, 2006". We looked so cute! Between the shirts, the buttons, and eventually the bridal ears, we got a lot of "Congrats!" everywhere we went. It was like being a celebrity.... Almost. We decided to take the ferry to Epcot for dinner. No ADRS here... DH is pretty picky when it comes to food, however in the few months before our trip, he fell in love with General Tsos chicken. I remembered Nine Dragons having amazing food so I suggested that for our first meal. The first night we didn't get out of the World Showcase. Which was alright by me!

Unfortunately our first Disney meal was a bit disappointing. The portions had been cut (from the DDP I assume??) so there really wasn't enough food for DH to get satisfied on and honestly, I've had better Chinese food. However our waiter did help us try to use Chopsticks and after a few unsuccessful attempts, finally he said "Better try fork". Indeed!

We roamed WS and nibbled on things here and there.And I took my DH on his first ever Disney attraction..... Malestrom! Not exactly what one does when trying to win someone over with Disney but seeing as there are few rides in the WS, I thought we better get this over with (besides, I kinda like it). He was a bit unimpressed

I had forgot it was the food and wine festival! Suddenly we are in England smelling the Fish and Chips stand when a Cast Member comes up to us and asks if we are staying for the Illuminations Fireworks tonight. Of course we are!! She smiles at us and asks if we'd like to meet her back at this spot at a certain time, she's got a surprise for us. We head into France to get dessert.... I forget what we had, we ate there quite a bit and EVERYTHING was amazing. We returned to our said Cast member and she seats us right on the lagoon for the fireworks SO close to the barge that we were warmed by the fire. Ohhh yeah. AMAZING!!!! Illuminations is top on my list so I was taken away by it all. My husband however....

....... was FLOORED by it all. And though he hardly cried at the wedding, he was in tears by the end of the show. It was at that moment when I knew that Disney was going to be a staple in future vacations to come. It was by far the most magical thing that I had ever had happen to me or see a cast member do for a guest. I knew then why I loved Disney so much. We thanked the CM over and over again when we left. We were pretty much worn out by that point so we walked back to our resort. I have to say that for us, the Boardwalk or the Beach Club would definately always be our choice if money wasn't an issue because Epcot became our fave park.

While walking back we stopped and watched the Boardwalk side show.... I forget his name!! argh! And I didn't have my camera so no pics to remind me. But it was cute watching him interact with the kiddies. We stopped at the sweet shop and got some goodies and called it a night.

A very magical night.

 

[penguin77]

keep it up!!!

 

[DisneyDoll10/28]

~~~ Thanks to my posters! Its my first tr and you guys are making it worth while~~~

The second day started with breakfast and coffee (for me) in the room (thanks to Publix!). We decided that since we had tickets for MNSSHP on Halloween, we'd wait to hit the MK until then. AK didn't really sound like a first full day thing so we went to MGM. We ferried it again and realized that we were the first pick up and had to wait thru the Beach Club and the Swan and Dolphin. We like the ride but the unruly children were a bit much... honestly, don't parents worry their kid will go overboard?

Anyway... we walked thru the shops and headed to the sorcerers hat where my DH found the glorious world of PIN TRADING. Let me just say here that our entire souvies from this trip were pins. I had brought some with me from my last trip incase I saw any I wanted to trade for. I wouldn't have dreamt that DH would go as crazy as he did for these pins. From that moment on, whenever we saw a cart we had to stop and look. His favorites? Ones that meant something to him for that day. Example, the first day he bought a Sorcerers Hat and an Epcot one.... If I had to list all the ones we bought, it'd take forever.

Finally we got the pins he wanted and headed over to the Great Movie Ride. We both loved it, from there we had lunch at Sci Fi Diner and had a great time there, especially with the old movie trailers. The milkshake was heavenly!!! We rode Star Tours , Muppets 3D (which I had never done before) and the stunt show. By that time it was the middle of our day and we could feel nap time approaching. We headed back to the resort to sleep for just a bit.... which turned out to be like 3 hours!!! BUT another pixie dusting had been left in our room...... balloons, including one that said Just Married were tied in a classic mickey shape to a card. Inside the card was a picture of Cinderella and Prince Charming who personalized their autograph to us. It was so wonderful that I started to cry.

When we woke up I was in a panic because I knew Fantasmic was going to be done the rest of our trip and this was the only night to catch it. A mad dash back to the studios and straight to the Que.... except the Que started pretty much at the Villians Store. It was then I knew that Fantasmic was not going to happen for us. I was sad but DH said the magically words that lit me from inside out... "We'll catch it when we come back".

OOOHHH YEAHHH BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Welcome to the dark side of Disney my love.

I'm not a thrill rider so TOT and RNRC was out for me but I told him I'd wait if he wanted to go... he didn't want to leave me (but I bet next time he will!) so we headed from the studios to PI. I had heard that Raglan Road had some of the best food and I hadn't seen the new renovations. Again, no ADRS and we just walked right into Raglan Road and were sat. I must say... it was the best food! I'd eat there again in a heart beat. We sat right infront of the table the dancer uses and got to see amazing Irish Step Dancing at its finest... that is.... After the manager covered the giant Spider that rested on the steps with a table cloth. Apparently the pretty dancer was TERRIFIED of it and we watched her basically have a panic attack while trying to climb the stairs. I felt bad for her but at the same time was kinda like... get over it. The music was amazing, the food was amazing, the dancing was amazing... Can't say the same for our conversation... it was just a wee bit loud in there to talk really. But well worth it.

From there we hit my favorite bar at PI.... The Adventurers Club! I've been inducted a few times... You could tell because I knew the secret handshake and the song without flinching. DH just tried to keep up inbetween laughing at me. We stayed for a few "shows" there and then went to the Improv Club (forgive me, I can't remember the right name...)
DH just LOVED this part. He was yelling out things with the best of them. He let me get as many drinks as I wanted... whooo hoooo I definately think that he will want to make this a stop on our next trip. After that it was well after midnight and we were pooped yet again. A crazy bus trip and the walk that would never end.... (I was starting to think that maybe I was in the Shining... But no Twins sightings). On our way back to the room we did see some signs of other Disers.... we did sign one door.

Day three coming up... what the heck did we do?.... Well, you'll have to wait to find out (and pray my scrap book jogs some memories!! NOTE TO SELF... take notes for the next trippie....)

 

[wuv tigger]

We will be celebrating our 16th anniversary at WDW!

I am trying to come up with some ideas to surprise dh. Got any good ideas?

btw: the kids will be with us for the trip but will be at the Kids club on the actual anniversary.

 

[MousekaMaddi]

no sleepin, we need more

 

[DisneyDoll10/28]

We will be celebrating our 16th anniversary at WDW!

I am trying to come up with some ideas to surprise dh. Got any good ideas?

btw: the kids will be with us for the trip but will be at the Kids club on the actual anniversary.

Wow!! Congrats on the anniversary. I hope to make it that long!! Hehe. Surprises hmmm..... I read on the boards about an Illumination Cruise that sounded AMAZING! Maybe a couples spa day if your hubby is into that sorta thing. Also if you are staying at the Grand Floridian they have a service where they will bring dinner up to your room including a private butler so you can watch the MK fireworks (thats pretty pricey if I understand it).

Hope that gives you some ideas. Let me know what you come up with, I'd love to hear about it!

 

[DisneyDoll10/28]

I had to go back to remember the dates/days.... Our Third day was Halloween! How could I forget that?

MAGIC KINGDOM DAY!!!!!!!!!!!

MK and Epcot vie for positions as my favorite park. I worked in MK on Main Stree in the Chapeau so it holds a special place in my heart. We got dressed in our halloween gear which was Jack and Sally (from Nightmare Before Christmas) tees and my bridal ears.

Random Side Note :
One of my bridesmaids had gone to Disney on her honeymoon too and had her bride and groom ears from them. I told her I found out that they had discontinued the bridal ears and she let me borrow hers. All week I had other brides come up to me and ask where to get the hat with the ears and I felt soo bad breaking their hearts explaining they were discontinued.

Okay we had the usual morning with breakfast in our beautiful suite, DH donned his lanyard and pins, including the Just Married Button but not the groom ears.... its true, the groom ears are just a bit small for men. Oh well. Off to the MK. I swear I was bouncing off the walls getting there.... which would be a far far cry from how we would return that night -- but I'm foreshadowing.

We had planned on staying all day there since the MNSSHP was that night and we had tickets. Walking thru the gates of the MK and under the railway station and then emerging in the beautiful sunshine that is Florida (between crazy rain) seeing Main Street just made both of us 10 years old again.

We walked thru the Main Street shops and I showed DH where his lovely new wife became a completely Disney fanatic. I was his own personal Embassador almost! He loved it. I can't remember the first ride but we rode all the "Must Dos" and BTMRR was one of our faves! The teacups made me laugh like a hyenia. DH was all about finding the hidden mickeys.... I forgot to mention he bought a book the first day at the studios about all the hidden mickeys in the World. That was the other past time inbetween pin collecting. We rode Poohs Adventure, PPF,... I even got him on Its a Small World --- which he hummed the rest of the day . I must say I enjoyed Mickeys Philharmonic but we both kind of felt as if it wasn't all that its hyped up to be... I really hope I don't get flack for that....It was good just maybe not our thing We had lunch at Pecos Bills which is always good. We made ADRS when we arrived for Columbia Harbor House since it was PACKED that day.

We rode Poohs and PPF a few times to try to find all the Hidden Mickeys that were listed in the book. At one point there were two guys in the car infront of us on Poohs who looked to be about our age and we could just tell they were searching for the Hidden Mickeys too so we helped each other out. It was fun!!

It wasn't very hot when we were there but I knew DH would love Splash Mountain so we headed there before the park closed down before the party. There was NO LINE!! It was amazing. We walked right on. Of course, me in my ears got some attention and we got to sit in the front row in the flume.... AND GOT SOAKED. OMG, it was HILARIOUS... the first time. See the Cast Members were bored and when we came back around , they just kept us going.... After the third time the sun was setting and I was FREEZING! The party was going to start and I knew that if we went back to the resort to change and then try to get back it would have been insane. Instead we went to the Emporium and bought cute sweat pants and sweatshirts to get us thru the night. Let me tell you, the Emporium was NUTS with people. Holy Cow. I felt bad for the CM there, let me tell you!!

We did the Haunted Mansion at night which was amazing but honestly the best thing we did at the party was the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. We had such fun looking around, especially when it went thru Space Mountain. After we got off, DH wanted to do Space Mountain and I happily let him while I waited outside and watched the cute kiddies parading in their costumes. I swear I almost stole the cutest little baby dressed as Pooh. So darn cute.

We did miss a few things that I can't wait to do when we go back but we managed to fit in POTC with all the new movie changes which I felt really added to the ride instead of taking away from it. But darn it, we just caught the tail end of the Jack Sparrow character infront of it.... what I did see and hear though, it was SPOT ON! I hope they keep the character around until the next time I go back, I'd love to see him start to finish.

It was now going on 9 hours in the park and our spirits were getting..well... a little prickly. The park was sooo crowded and a CM had given us some pretty bad advice about watching the Fireworks from BEHIND the castle instead of infront of it so we missed most of them which completely bummed DH out. We rode Snow Whites Scarey Adventures and afterwards DH was completely agreeing with me that it was the scariest ride around, especially for wee little ones. That witch at the end is just Horrifying!

I have to say that four years ago when I did MNSSHP I was in complete awe. There were so many little things to do like palm readings, special crazies infront of the Haunted Mansion, face painting (there was face painting that night which we did do) Madam Leota telling people to "Hurry Back" as we exited... none of that was there this time, that i saw anyway .... we both felt that until we go back with kids, we wouldn't spend the extra money again on the Party. It just seemed like we paid extra to stay in the park with nothing really special about it. Other than the Headless Horseman ride which was still incredible! There were some big technical problems with the parade unfortunately but the floats that were stopped infront of us kept in character and just made it out to be like any other day. Such Professionals! Our fave float of the evening was definately the Haunted Mansion, especially with the grave diggers and their dance with shovels. When the shovels sparked on the ground I kept hearing DH say "Thats soo cool!"
At the 12 hour mark of being in the park, my DH and I called it quits. At this time alot of people felt the same thing and the buses of course were crowded. We had bickered for about the last hour in the park so when we boarded the bus and got split, him in front and me in back, we were pretty much okay with it!! So much for that Newlywed spirit

However I got to be in the back of the bus with the most amazing family ever! Mom was dressed as Malificent and I believe she had four kids, two strollers and a husband.... Hubby had one stroller and one pooped out wee one and mom had the other three and a stroller. They were all dressed up and the littlest girl was Tinkerbell and soooo tired she kept falling asleep on big sis's shoulder. Another family got split with half in front and half in back. Well isn't it murphys law that the chitlin wanted the parent in the front and at one point we all played "Pass the kid". We were jammed packed in there. At our stop the Malificent family was getting off as well.... which I'm sure isn't a huge problem when the four kiddies are awake... asleep.... and SOUND AS A ROCK... is another story. So I asked the mother if I could help her out and she was extremely grateful. I grabbed Tinkerbell and packages while Mom got the stroller out and one kid while dad took the other two. Just as we walked out, TinkerBell woke up and was a bit startled to see someone definately NOT her mother holding her.... Kid, I'd be scared too!! She didn't make much fuss though and i just handed her off to mom who thanked me again.

Another loong walk back to the suite in exhausted silence. We woke up still in love but we definately went to bed tired and cranky!

What did we do on our Fourth Day? Well it had a LOT of eating involved....Stay tuned for our complete day at Epcot.

 

[emilyclaire]

I have to say that four years ago when I did MNSSHP I was in complete awe. There were so many little things to do like palm readings, special crazies infront of the Haunted Mansion, face painting (there was face painting that night which we did do) Madam Leota telling people to "Hurry Back" as we exited... none of that was there this time, that i saw anyway .... we both felt that until we go back with kids, we wouldn't spend the extra money again on the Party. It just seemed like we paid extra to stay in the park with nothing really special about it.

Sorry you didn't enjoy MNSSHP! But selfishly I have to say, I am glad to hear a couple with the same perspective on it that I *think* I would have. DH and I are celebrating our first anniversary in the World this October, and we both went round and round about whether or not to do MNSSHP. While I think we would have fun, I also think the money would be better spent if/when we have children. Our schedule is already so jam-packed, we decided to forego it this time.

I just love how your DH slowly but surely got into all the magic! I am really hoping the same will be true for mine. While he likes Disney, he just doesn't seem to "get" my obsession. But I'm hoping between all the tips I've researched on the DIS and TourGuideMike, I can make his vacation much more magical than his previous ones. Plus, this time he'll have me there, which should automatically make it better.

So happy to see you guys had such a great honeymoon. I can't wait to read more.

Emily

 

[awesomepinktink]

I am so enjoying your trip report. Can't wait for the next installment!

 

[LITTLEKID58]

Great TR.. TFS

 

[DisneyDoll10/28]

Hi everyone!! Just wanted to say thanks for reading!!!!

Next installment late tonight or tomorrow, its been a busy day. Hope everyone had a great day and Happy Fathers Day to all those out there.

 

[DisneyDoll10/28]

Our day in Epcot actually started on the Boardwalk.... I'd seen all these cute families driving around the boardwalk in the Surry Bikes and I really really wanted to try this....

And after one very hard, thigh burning, swearing, horrifying trip around the boardwalk I thought DH was going to annull the marriage right then and there. See I'm sure for two "average" sized people who are in relatively good shape, these tortue devices are just a great way to spend the time. For two "Pooh" sized people whose idea of exercise is just walking to the mailbox, the surry bikes were definately a cause of issues. PLUS I couldn't reach the pedals!!! I'm not a midget but I really couldn't reach the pedals at all and poor DH had to do all the work.... which really, I didn't mind.

So we ditched the bikes and walked to Epcot. In the middle of our walk, the Florida skies opened up and unleashed our only rain storm the entire week we were there. A little wet but none the worse for wear we had breakfast in France. I wish I knew how to post pictures (if anyone out there knows, please PM me!!) so I could show you all the amazing hidden mickey DH found!!
France was empty as WS had JUST opened and we headed to the pastry shop for some sugary breakfast and coffee but they weren't open just yet... so we walked around the shop across the way and when I suddenly realized that I had been babbling on and on about something to myself (DH has a way of getting side tracked and stopping without telling me, so it ends up like I've some mental deficiency and I enjoy talking to myself ). So I retraced my few steps backwards to find him standing infront of a bistro table examining it thoroughly. The exact way the two chairs were on either side of the table and the sun shinning thru them made a classic mickey with their shadow. It was sooo neat!! DH ran into the shop to ask if they had done that on purpose and the CM (Who were originally from France and at this point probably thinking "those crazy americans") said no and when DH excitedly said come look they had no choice but to and even they were amazed. Totally cool.

After breakfast we ran into our first F&W kiosk and pretty much from then on I stopped and sampled something from almost every place. I'm pretty adventurous when it comes to food but as I mentioned before, DH is not. Most of what I put into my mouth he cringed at but happily let me eat my way to Mexico without much fuss. We really enjoyed walking thru all the shops and getting to see pieces of the world we might never really get to see. We watched the drummers in Japan which were great! Often I stopped other "twosomes" who were taking pictures to see if I could take one for them so they could both be in it. Once a CM, always a CM i guess. A few times it was receprocated. We get to Mexico and since I love Mexican food I knew I wanted to try something. They choices were a quesodilla and something else I couldn't pronounce. I asked the CM which was better and definately said the unpronouncable one. I asked DH if wanted to join in and to my surprise he said YES. He however, stuck with what he could pronounce and had the queso. It was the BEST FOOD THERE!!! So good infact, DH ate there a few more times before we came back home to Ohio. I think the CM started to recognize him!!! Again, I have a picture that goes with this so please someone... how do I post them??? Although the picture makes you think he isn't enjoying it. I however did not get to partake in the maragritas... next time though...

Sidenote of Randomness:
Before we left for the honeymoon, I found these really cute pens that had Disney character toppers at a dollar store. I picked up a few hoping to spread the magic to some children thru out our time there. I kept looking for kids to share with all thru the WS but it seemed like the morning was reserved for the older kids and Adults.

Which was nice for us but if they weren't in the WS, that means they were everywhere else in Epcot so when we went to do the attractions there was a bit of a wait. Nothing huge really except for Soarin. That line was wicked but SOOO well worth it. Unfortunately we were sat in the last row so we weren't really high. And I had some technical difficulties with the saftey belt at which the CM kinda snickered at while helping me.... I blamed it on drinking around the world Hopefully next time we'll get to be in the first row. I bet its even better there.

I had so much fun running DH all over to Space Ship Earth, TT, MS, HISTK, Figment.... I couldn't find Push which was slightly disappointing. But I didn't tell DH about it either so maybe nextime he'll get that surprise! Or not.. as I just remembered he signed up to the Dis the other nite so he could read my trippie. DOH! Oh well.

In the middle of our day, Epcot got really crowded so DH and I decided to monorail it to the MK. We had such a good time on the monorail talking to a little boy, who we found out, loved the monorail so much they had been on it for about an hour straight. When we got to the MK our park hoppers were denied.

WHAT?!?!

So we walked to Guest Services where the CM told us that our tickets (Which we purchased at the Disney Store before we left) were NOT hoppers (even though we went over and over and over it with the CM at the store helping us out). Our budget was pretty much stretched to the max so we knew we couldn't pay to add it on and really we only had three more days left so why waist the money..... and then thats where it happened....

PIXIE DUST The CM saw our Just Married pins and comped us the hoppers for the rest of our stay. It was amazing what she did for us and I'm so thankful that Disney understands what the small things they do can add up for a lifetime. I actually cried at her window in appreciation.

So into the MK we went when DH smelled Italian... and was hungry. So we walked into Tony's to see about dinner and although it looked like it was going to be a loooooong wait, those magical little buttons worked like a charm and we were sat in about 15 minutes. In that time, they had arranged a table on the patio for us and decorated our table!! Dinner was amazing (even though I'm not a big fan of Italian) and our waiter surprised us again with a free dessert. We had such fun watching people take pictures and hear little kids take on everything.

But between dinner and our free dessert and everything at Epcot I was in a bad way!! Someone please ROLL ME OUTTA HERE!! I felt like I was going to pop a button on the jeans! So we walked around until I felt like I could ride something and not be an embarrasment. We did BTMRR at night which if you've never done, you MUST DO! We did however, skip SM... gee... wonder why.....

While walking past the tip board, we read that EMH were for Epcot that night. We decided then that after the fireworks, we'd head back to Epcot to finish our night out. We found a perfect spot to watch Wishes and to see Tinkerbells flight. While waiting there was a sweet little girl and her mother chatting about their day a few feet away from us. They were from England on Holiday (don't you just love how its not vacation, but holiday!!). I explained to the mother how we were newlyweds and thus had no children but that I had a small Disney gift for her daughter if it was okay with her. So I spread some magic of my own by giving the little girl a pen with a Cinderella topper.

Wishes brought tears to both our eyes and DH said that it was what Disney and Disney magic was all about. Don'tcha just love that man??? We hopped in the Monorail line and headed over to the ttc to get to Epcot. But it seemed everyone was going back to their resorts because the Epcot line was EMPTY. And thats when we became official Monorail Co-Pilots! I've got the license to prove it!

The EMH at Epcot was so worth it. TT at night just tickles me pink. DH did MS on his own and when he came out said that he was glad I didn't join him... I've a slight issue with small spaces and he said that I would have a panic attack. Fine by me that I can skip that. So we decided to try to do Soarin again and while walking there, a family infront of us had a baby who was DONE! The poor thing was wailing like someone hurt him. I looked at DH and said "Child meltdown! Child meltdown." Well that family decided to walk towards the exit but the group infront of them were walking the same way we were...towards Soarin.... when I hear a tiny boys voice mimic "Child Meltdown!!! Child Meltdown!!"

I thought I was going to pee myself with laughter. The mom was a bit horrified I think because I could hear her ask him where in the world he heard that! I had to stop and apologize -- thru giggle fits --that he overheard me and she just laughed and said that he was in that stage of repeat mode. It was hilarious. Soarin was crowded and the FP were out for the night so we went to see the new Nemo ride which we were practically the only ones on. That really is a cute show! Turtle Talk with Crush was closed however... another thing for the "next trip" List. A final ride of Space Ship Earth.... and some illegal photos of the inside of the ride and we headed back to the resort..... still laughing at our Child Meltdown moment. DH was starting to really chat me up about all things Disney, Mickey, and especially about when we could come back. He kept that Hidden Mickey book in his back pocket the entire trip and had a lot of fun pointing things out to me and acting like he knew more than me... YEAH RIGHT! I think that its a cool thing for men because its something they can relate to... its not a child ride and its not fairy princesses.... hits hidden and a challenge to find them all.

Sorry for the lengthyness of this installment. It was a very full day! Next up... why Theater will never be the same to two theater junkies like us.

 

[DisneyDoll10/28]

So our 5th day we decided to head to the Animal Kingdom. It was the last park to conquer before we repeated and I was a bit worried about how DH would take to it.

Before we left the resort, we stopped at the concerige desk to inquire about tickets to La Nouba. I'm not sure if it was the buttons or just good luck but our CM scored us front row tickets to La Nouba. I was in shock and totally excited. I have a degree in Theater and DH has a huge theater background as well so this was the icing on the cake for us. I had seen La Nouba on Bravo once or twice and knew some of the shows features... like my favorite, the beautiful flying man with red silks.... but wait, we will get there....

First however, we have to check out the AK. Our first item of business was The Festival of the Lion King. Love those monkeys!!! From there we walked over to Countdown to Extintion. I LOOVE this ride but admittedly, I've never seen the ending of it as I always have my eyes closed! DH was not so love struck with it. As I mentioned, we are Pooh sized people and DH is tall and broad so the ride was uncomfy for him. We stopped to eat at the Flaming Tree BBQ--- is that the right name??--- the food there was really good for a CS meal and we sat on the terrace overlooking the lake. Just as we started to eat, I noticed a boat heading our way that had characters on it! Yep, it was the classic five gang decked in Safari gear. I had my bridal ears on which Minnie spotted immediately and kept waving at me and blowing me kisses. It was really cute and something I didn't know even exsisted at the AK.

Walking past the stage where Tarzan Rocks! used to be I was a bit sad. I really liked that show but can't wait to see Nemo the Musical when we go back! Off to EE... where I stood infront of it for about 15 minutes trying to gear myself up to ride it. Finally I said, Okay, lets do it...and when DH looked at me and could see the tears in my eyes he just smiled at me and took my hand and lead me away from the ride.... and towards IceCream!

That man sure knows how to make me happy!

We passed a DVC kiosk on the way to the Safari and stopped to check it out. We had fallen in love with the DVC as soon as we walked into our one bedroom at the BWV so we wanted more information to owning into it ourselves. Our DVC guide said that he could have a van come pick us up to tour the SSR and get more information in about 40 minutes.... sounded good to us!! So we went to the Safari to kill time.... where the CM outside pixie dusted us with two fast passes for right then. The Safari was amazing but it was later in the after noon so there weren't that many animals out there. After we were done there our DVC van came to pick us up...

The DVC tour really was outstanding. Our guide was wonderful and really, I liked the SSR. I had read some not so great reviews on the place but the rooms really appealed to us and the fact its so close to PI is a plus. The Grand Villa had us instantly talking about taking both parents and our best friends and their little one.... and then reality hit us when we sat down to do the math on how many points we'd want and the cost. I know I know I KNOW its a great deal overall, especially with all the places you can go thats not Disney but for two people just starting out it wasn't in the cards for us. But it will be one day, that you can bet on! We were given a gift certificate for touring (and more free icecream! hehe). We realized that we didn't have that long until our time at LaNouba so we headed back to the resort, changed, and out again to DTD. For us, AK was cute and I know we missed a lot of things... but for us, it was just a zoo and not our fave park. We've even talked about not going there again on our next trip... Everyone's got their favorite, unfortunately AK just wasn't ours.

On our way.... there was a strange noise..... like a rumbling.... definatley a rumbling... IN OUR TUMMY!! Hmmm Dinner time me thinks! Where to go.... nothing at Wolfgang's looked good to DH and we've eaten at House of Blues so we didn't want that.... and I didn't want to walk to the West Side because we wouldn't get back intime (even though he did say we could go to Fultons... yummmmmmmmm.... no no no time) So we decided to take an adventure and eat at Bongos.

The atmosphere there is SO lively! The music is fun and the servers were great. I have to say that our dinner was one of the best we had. We got our picture taken and purchased it. Its hard when its just two of you to come away with pictures of BOTH of you. Warning though, the food does have a bit of a kick even though the servers will tell you Cuban food isn't as spicey as mexican.... its still SPICEY! heeh.

Off to La Nouba. As we are walking down to our seats the anticipation kept building in both of us! We could hardly believe the seats we got. We could touch the stage (and we did!). The entire night we were in awed silence of the whole event. The ritual of theater combined with charms of a circus put ontop of a musical soundtrack that rips thru you and pulls you back in with each measure just blew us away. When the flying man on red silks started I was entranced. Even now as I write this, my eyes swell up at the memory. If you've never seen La Nouba and only think that you might be interested in it, let me assure you that this one piece will have you saying it was worth it. The magestic beauty of it sticks with you long after the show ends. He ended his piece right infront of me. Truly, right infront of me where I could see every rippling muscle in his beautiful body and I bawled then and there. The entire way back to the resort was filled with conversation about the show. There is so much happening on the stage at once, you can't catch everything so it was interesting to talk about what caught our attentions and when.

That night we took advantage of our wonderful balcony and ordered dessert from room service. It truly was a magical day for us! Unfortunately, we had to start readying the room for our departure. We only had the BWV to Thursday and Friday and Saturday we were moving to the CBR. Packing everything up was a chore but each time we picked up a piece of Magic we started talking about it all over again.... and when we would return.

Next up our move to the CBR and the serenade by Main Streets Finest!

 

[DisneyDoll10/28]

When we woke up this day, we were sad to be leaving our beautiful suite. Looking back now, I think our room was bigger than our apartment! No wonder we didn't want to leave .

A bit of a snafu on check out. See.. we had planned on paying for everything with cash (from the cards from the wedding and since we left on a Sunday, we didn't have time to go to the bank...) and we told the CM that who checked us in. No problem, he says, we just need a CC on file. The only CC I brought was my debit card so thats what was on file. Well, as we check out, we realize that they did indeed charge everything to the debit card...PANIC ATTACK . Luckily at the time, I worked for the bank where our accounts were and called to explain the situation and move money around. I however, was NOT a happy camper. The CM however did not know this because DH took care of talking to them... once I get a temper its hard for me to be nice, especially when situations have been explained as to why something has to happen the way it does.

SO we get all that figured out and Bell Services assure us that our luggage will arrive at the CBR by check in at 4. We head over to the MK to start our day. We ride Buzz Light year for probably the fourth or fifth time.... but to my memory its the ONLY time where DH scored more than I did. A trip through the Carousel of Progress and Poohs Adventure again. We really took our time to walk through a lot of the shops this day and people watch. I LOVE to people watch and DH likes to watch me watch others so it works out in the end .

After scoring some chocolate covered strawberries from the Confectionary, we head over to the Chapeau to get DH his very own set of Ears!! We had debated for a few days on which ears he wanted and finally he had decided. The blue ones with '06 on the front with characters inside the numbers. And of course, his name HAS to go on the back!! I was shocked though to see the white thread being used instead of the traditional gold thread. The woman working there actually remembered me from my CP days and she told me that now they have to sew on more than just the ears and the ears were coming out in more colors so they changed the thread to white so people could see it better... I was a bit shocked though... its tradition to have it in gold. Oh well, everything must change I suppose.

We scored prime seats for the Three O'Clock parade... and yes, we did actually watch guests go to CM and ask what time the Three O'Clock parade started!! The Main Street Band and Daper Dans came over to us and seranaded us! It was soo neat because DH used to sing in a Barber Shop Quartet so I knew he'd just fall over at the Daper Dans.... and he did. The really cute Daper Dan who used to date all the beautiful CPers was still there.... be still my heart. Hehe.

The parade was great. It was basically the same from when I worked there except they let those poor princess and princes out from under the globes! I know when they had the replicas of the snowglobes in the old parade, those poor CM were dying of heat. It was great to finally see Jiminy Cricket and Tinkerbell in a parade! The Fairy Godmother saw our Ears and waved to us, blowing kisses all the way and when she said something about finding true love, she looked directly at us and winked. Prince Charming and Cinderella Bowed to us as well..... wonder if they were the same that signed our card... Hmm..... Probably not. In anyrate, it was a great sprinkle of Pixie Dust again for us.

We headed to the CBR to check in. Everything went smoothly until we had to get on a golf cart to get to our rooms.. what?? I guess I didn't realize how spread out this particular resort was. It took forever to get to our building and we'd learn later that it would take twice as long to get there by Disney Bus Transit.

Of course going from a DVC to a Moderate room was a major shock to DH system. I had stayed at Moderates (and Values) before so I knew what the room was going to be like.... As soon as we stepped in, DH made the announcement "We are only every doing DVC when we come here". Yeah Right. We'll see about that, espeically when free dining comes around...
Don't get me wrong, the room is nice its just really spread out from everything, especially when we wanted to find the food court the next morning before we left.... I'm pretty sure that was a 15 or 20 minute walk... to get to a food court at the resort you are staying at, I find that a bit excessive. This is probably why I'm Pooh sized too though!

However we still had that night to get thru and Saturday. We went back to Epcot that night to eat around the world again for dinner and watch Illuminations one more time.

Our last full day is coming up... and what happens when you are so tired you feel drunk and a bunny crosses your path....

 

[DisneyDoll10/28]

We woke up knowing this was our last full day at the world. It seemed like we had gone at everything with full force so this day was a laid back day. We spent the time between Epcot and the Magic Kingdom.

I have to say that we did miss a lot that I tried not to be upset about... Fantasmic, Spectro, the studios Parade, ..... in retrospect I think that next trip I'd like to get to the parks earlier than what we did each day.... its just hard because we are night owls and mornings just don't agree with us.

Looking back I reall can't recall what we did on our last day or where we ate (Probably more from the Mexico F&W Stand!!) but I do know that it was the most magical time of my life.

We closed the parks down that night and I was exhausted! So much so that while walking back to the room, a rabbit skittered across the path which tickled me pink! So I ran after it, calling out "Bun Bun... Bun bunnnn".

Oh yeah, one of my finer moments!! The next morning we checked out... another looong walk to the food court for breakfast and then back to the main lobby. Happy Limo was waiting for us.

Unfortunately, we purchased a little more than what we thought (and I overpacked to begin with) so we held the line up at SWA as I frantically tried to get the weight down on our suitcases!! Once we accomplished that though, DH was ready for security this time and we talked all about our trip back on the plane ride home.

We had planned to go this October but I had a career change that has thrown a wrench into the bank account so its just long weekends for us this year. However, September of 08 (especially if the trend for free dining stays the same) we will be there!!!

Thanks for reading everyone.

FIN.

 

[emilyclaire]

I have to say that we did miss a lot that I tried not to be upset about... Fantasmic, Spectro, the studios Parade, .....

I think it's great to have a few major things left out...gives you something to look forward to for next time! Sounds like you had a great trip. Thanks for the report!