A Road Trip Engagement...The End...Updated 1/31!

[Disneychix]

You're in luck with Space Mt. Looks like it is getting an overhaul this year!

Very cute pictures at the party. The last one is especially nice by the beautiful castle.

 

[wdwgirl03]

I just found your TR and am enjoying it so far. That is awesome you got to stay at AKL...we stayed there in May for the first time and it was amazing. Also, congrats on your engagement.

I am loving your pictures too and you looked very festive in your holiday attire at MVMCP!

 

[Jennifer48]

You're in luck with Space Mt. Looks like it is getting an overhaul this year!

WOOHOO! This deserves a happy dance! I just read that online too!

Very cute pictures at the party. The last one is especially nice by the beautiful castle.

Thank you!

I just found your TR and am enjoying it so far. That is awesome you got to stay at AKL...we stayed there in May for the first time and it was amazing. Also, congrats on your engagement.

I am loving your pictures too and you looked very festive in your holiday attire at MVMCP!

Thanks for reading! I see that you went in December too, I'm going to go hit up your TR!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Where did you get those fab sweaters???? Well that just solidified that I HAVE to go to MVMCP at some point!!! It looks so fun!!!! And it answered a questioned that I've always wondered...what do they use the Galaxy Theatre for ??????? Thanks for solving the mystery.

 

[happybratpack]

You two look adorable in your holiday wear! Really enjoying your report, keep it up!

 

[Jennifer48]

Where did you get those fab sweaters???? Well that just solidified that I HAVE to go to MVMCP at some point!!! It looks so fun!!!! And it answered a questioned that I've always wondered...what do they use the Galaxy Theatre for ??????? Thanks for solving the mystery.

I bought them off disneyshopping.com. They might have them discounted now that Christmas is over. You should check it out!

I know!! I have ALWAYS wondered the same thing about that theater. Its so tucked back and most people at the party didn't even know where it was!

 

[DisFamily01]

Congratulations!! What a great trip

 

[NeverlandClub23]

Great TR!!! I'm loving everything so far! And congratulations!

TTA is my favorite WDW ride and I've converted my bf to love it as much as I do. A great way to relax, see the park, and there's never a line!

 

[mejkjj97]

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Great trip report and awesome pictures! I have always wanted to go to Disney in December to see the decorations. The castle looks awesome.

Also, I love your avatar, where ever did you find that. I love the Red Sox!

Can't wait to read more

 

[Jennifer48]

Congratulations!! What a great trip

Thank you!

Great TR!!! I'm loving everything so far! And congratulations!

TTA is my favorite WDW ride and I've converted my bf to love it as much as I do. A great way to relax, see the park, and there's never a line!

Thanks for reading! I think the TTA is now unofficially my favorite ride at MK. I can't get enough of "paging Mr. Morrow, Mr. Tom Morrow. Your party from Saturn has arrived. Please give them a ring."

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Great trip report and awesome pictures! I have always wanted to go to Disney in December to see the decorations. The castle looks awesome.

Also, I love your avatar, where ever did you find that. I love the Red Sox!

Can't wait to read more

Thanks for reading! I have to say you should try to get down there in December. The decorations are gorgeous and like I said, the icicle lights on the castle MUST been seen in person. Pictures just do not do them justice!

I actually made that avatar. I just took a background of the Green Monster and pasted the baseballs on it in the shape of Mickey! I'm a huge Sox fan!

 

[dort]

Congrats on your engagement!!
Looking at your pictures of the castle makes me want to go there in December to see all the decorations.

 

[MistyMoss]

Here's the ring!

Well, I finally made it over here!! Your pics are sooo cute. I'm somewhat jealous, I got engaged over too many margaritas!! Not exactly the most romantic way to do it.

I love your ring Jen, it is so pretty. I always knew if the two of you got engaged it would be at WDW. Soooo, when is the date or have you not got that far yet? Enquiring minds want to know.

Oooh, I just noticed your ticker says the cruise is your honeymoon cruise. I guess that means we won't be seeing you guys much on this cruise!!

 

[Jennifer48]

Congrats on your engagement!!
Looking at your pictures of the castle makes me want to go there in December to see all the decorations.

Thank you! You should try to get there once. The decorations are so beautiful and pictures just don't do them justice.

Well, I finally made it over here!! Your pics are sooo cute. I'm somewhat jealous, I got engaged over too many margaritas!! Not exactly the most romantic way to do it.

I love your ring Jen, it is so pretty. I always knew if the two of you got engaged it would be at WDW. Soooo, when is the date or have you not got that far yet? Enquiring minds want to know.

Oooh, I just noticed your ticker says the cruise is your honeymoon cruise. I guess that means we won't be seeing you guys much on this cruise!!

Yey you made it! I can totally see you 2 getting engaged and even married on too many margaritas! It suits you

We don't have a date set yet but are looking at Labor Day weekend this year. Since the cruise was already booked, we decided to just keep that as our honeymoon. I'm sure we'll be bumping into each other plenty! We just might not be at all the dinners!

 

[Jennifer48]

Wednesday December 3, 2008

Phone alarm went off at 7:30a today but we didn’t actually get out of bed until 8a. We are not morning people. It hurts to get up that early. We were showered and out the door by 8:45a.

Today’s plan of attack was Disney Hollywood Studios/MGM Studios. I know it’s going to take time to call it that but I don’t mind the new name. You never saw much MGM advertisement before so I don’t know why people are all up in arms about the change.

We arrived shortly after rope drop and of course, headed straight for Toy Story Mania.

The stand-by line was already 55 minutes so I went to grab FASTpasses for us. I don’t know if this happens to anyone else but no matter how long/short the line is it always STOPS when I get in. Seriously. I picked the shortest line and sure enough, the guy 4 people in front of me was getting passes for all 65 members of his family and in the process, broke the machine. Thankfully they had about 2-3 CM standing by and quickly fixed the machine. I was in there so long, the return time increased 30 minutes while I was waiting. Dan took pictures of the awesome job they did with theming. It was so cool.

Muppet 3-D was next and there was no one in that area. Usually around Pizza Planet it gets a bit crowded but everyone in the park was in line at TSM! It was a great show as always. I wish they would update the end though. You know, the part where the fire truck breaks through the wall and the park visitors are peering through? They have their 80s style shorts and tees on. Always makes me laugh. If they want us to believe that that’s real, update it!

Be Careful Santa!

When we got out of the show, Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater were taking pictures at Luigi’s (formally Al’s Toy Barn). We hopped in line since it wasn’t very long. The woman behind us was saving a spot for her family. Looked like dad was at something else with one of her son’s. As dad and son were approaching, mom says “look, its Ta Mater!” Dan and I cracked up laughing. The whole time she kept calling him Ta Mater. Not Tow, TAH!

Besides TSM, my other goal for today was to hit up the Art of Animation.

I have never been and have read so many fun TRs of people learning to draw their fav characters. We headed that way and there was also a short wait. Our CM who was introducing us to Mushu, was very unenthusiastic. He was very monotonic and at one point, I do believe he fell asleep for a bit!

Dan and I took the test to see which character fits us. I think it did a good job:
Me

Dan

I wanted to wait in line for the Incredibles but it was getting long and I was hoping there would be a Photopass photog but there wasn’t. I had my Incredibles t-shirt on too! Guess they’ll be on my list for next time.
We joined a group of people waiting to get into the animation drawing class. I feel so bad but I didn’t get the animators name. It was a woman and she was really good. She looked like my friend Brenda from the DIS (oybolshoi). LOL. We got our seats in the 2nd row, dead center. Great view. When I sat down she says “well this is a great surprise. Everyone, Elastigirl/Mrs. Incredible has joined us today. Thank you for coming!” Too cute. We drew Mickey Mouse. She said the next class will be Mickey also but they’ll be changing it later that afternoon. We tried to make it back for another class but never did. Another thing to add to the ‘next time’ list!

So what do you think of the drawings?

We had 12:30p ADRs for Sci-Fi and it was already 12:15 so we decided just to head over there. When we tried to check-in, the CM said that she couldn’t check anyone in until 10 minutes before. We were 5 minutes early LOL. So we walked next door to the store to pass 5 minutes. I didn’t buy anything, which was a good thing because it was a book store, and I love books. I think we checked in at 12:25 and we actually had about a 15 minute wait. It always amazes me how many people walk into a table service restaurant at WDW looking for immediate seating. Nevermind the fact that they don’t have a reservation but to think you’ll get seated right then and there is absurd.

We were seated in a larger car with a father and his two son’s doing the driving and a nice older couple in the rear. Dan and I were in between. I love the atmosphere in here! Michael from IN was our host and he was awesome! He got so into it, it was great. He was telling the 2 boys ‘driving’ to be safe drivers or else the rest of us wouldn’t pitch in for gas! HAHA.

Dan wanted the Crispy Onion Rings so we paid OOP for those and they were yummy!

For our meals, we both got the Italian Grilled Chicken Sandwich. I got fries and Dan got the cucumber-melon salad. Delish!

For dessert, peanut butter cheesecake!

We also both got shakes. I got the chocolate and Dan got the strawberry. Yummo!

Michael came back with the checks and apparently we had a lead-foot driver because we got a speeding ticket! I told the little boy he needs to go back to driving school. He must have only been about 4-5 because he said something like “no I don’t, I’m not REALLY driving!” So silly.

We popped into one of the stores to check for pins. Can you believe I couldn’t find any type of engagement pin anywhere? This perturbed me a bit that Disney has NOTHING wedding engagement-y. Nothing. But I did find this awesome Mary Poppins pin! I’m a HUGE MP fan so I was super excited.

Our FASTPASS time was approaching so we headed in that direction. The stand-by wait was still over an hour. We walked through the line and took some pictures. I do semi-regret just not going in the stand-by line at least once to see the queue. I wanted to see the interactive Mr. Potato Head. Oh well. *adding to my another time list.* The ride was wicked awesome. I had so much fun. Most of the time I was laughing so hard that I was missing targets all over the place so that’s my excuse as to why Dan beat me! HAHA. I think it’s my new favorite ride. It gives more reason to go to DHS as before it was my least favorite park.

Continued next post....

 

[Jennifer48]

The Block Party Bash was starting in a little over 30 minutes so we headed out to the Sorcerer’s Hat to park our behinds.

I didn’t like that spot very much because it was considered part of the Echo Lake Party Zone which meant the parade was going to stop so they could dance around. The Bug’s Life float stopped in front of us and the only thing on it was Heimlich and he can’t dance!

But it was fun watching the CM’s dance with the kids. This one girl next to us went up and danced with her mom and she was so adorable! She was mimicking everything the CM was doing.

After the parade, we grabbed some soda’s and parked on a bench on Sunset Blvd. I saved our seats while Dan ran to the bathroom. He wasn’t gone a few seconds when a vehicle pulled up for “In the Can” production company. I love the Streetmosphere in DHS, well any park for that matter. The way they interact with people and obviously some of their dialog is on the fly depending on the people that they have joining in the skit. I didn’t take any pictures because, well, I’m not sure. I think I was enjoying it too much. They were “filming” a movie and needed a stand in. They took a family of 3 out of the audience and dad was to be the leading man. Every time the actress went to slap the leading man, they had the cop stand in. Quite hilarious.

The sun was starting to set so we headed over to the Streets of America for a prime Osbourne Light spot. We ended up in front of the “road” in San Francisco. The CM on traffic duty said that this was a great spot because they would be flipping the switch at the other end so we had prime viewing. They were putting up horses to direct traffic so everyone was moving in the same direction. I wondered how they’d do that. There was a Photopass photographer that came out to set up right at the end of the road and we heard a group of Snow Birds ask if they could start a line. We jumped in behind them right when they flipped the switch.

I was hoping to have more time there to walk around when the majority of people left but we had 9p ADRs at Jiko’s and we had to get back to the Lodge to steam our clothes since there is a dress code. So we made our rounds and were back around 7:30. Plenty of time to shower, steam and dress.

Mickey was reading the newspaper when we came back.

There was also a nice surprise from our TA!

Jiko’s was pretty much empty but of course they sat us, what felt like, on top of another table. There is a long row of bench seating and there are 2 person tables along there. One person on the bench and the other in the chair on the other side. I’d say there were about 10-12 tables and only one was occupied and they sat us right next to them. It was 2 younger girls, 25ish, and they were Disney CMs. All they did the whole night was talk about other CM’s in the college program. I couldn’t believe it. Such juicy gossip! Of course I heard there whole conversation because they were less than 5’ away. I wanted to ask to be moved but I didn’t want the girls to think we were being rude but on the other hand I couldn’t stop overhearing. Dan and I had awkward conversation the whole night to drown them out. And none of the other tables were occupied. We could have just scooted down. Oh well.

For dinner, of course we both had the Filet with Mac and Cheese. I was dying to try this and it totally lived up to the hype. No pictures because, like I said earlier, we felt so awkward being so close plus with it being so dark, I didn’t want to take any flash photos. I like my personal space I guess. For dessert, I had the Million Dreams dessert which was passionfruit panna cotta with roasted pineapple, spiced caramel, and coconut-curry sorbet and Dan had the Tanzanian Chocolate Cheesecake. Both delicious. We agreed though that it probably won’t be a place we’d return to. The ambiance was nice but the service was very slow especially for it being empty. I was freezing because they had the a/c cranked and of course, the tight quarters. Not really someplace I’d spend $40 for an entrée but I’m glad we tried it.

 

[Kimberly815]

I can't wait to try out Toy Story Mania. All the reviews are stellar!

The Osborne Lights look lovely! When I was there around the holidays it was just a quick 2 day thing, so we only did MVMCP and Epcot. Another excuse to go during the holidays. Hmmm, I wonder what it would take to convince DH?

That filet at Jiko sounds delicious! I have always wanted to try Jiko (we actually almost did on our honeymoon). We are pretty adventurous eaters and they have some interesting dishes. But the price tag and the reviews of very slow service have stopped me so far. Maybe someday!

 

[happybratpack]

I was kicking the idea of Jiko around for this trip but that's the second review I've read about being crammed in w/ it empty. I can't stand that, I'm with you about personal space!

Great TSM pics.

 

[Jennifer48]

I can't wait to try out Toy Story Mania. All the reviews are stellar!

The Osborne Lights look lovely! When I was there around the holidays it was just a quick 2 day thing, so we only did MVMCP and Epcot. Another excuse to go during the holidays. Hmmm, I wonder what it would take to convince DH?

That filet at Jiko sounds delicious! I have always wanted to try Jiko (we actually almost did on our honeymoon). We are pretty adventurous eaters and they have some interesting dishes. But the price tag and the reviews of very slow service have stopped me so far. Maybe someday!

I bet it wouldn't take much to convince him. Just show him all the pics! I'm glad I tried Jiko but I probably wouldn't go back unless it was on the DDP. The food was very yummy!

I was kicking the idea of Jiko around for this trip but that's the second review I've read about being crammed in w/ it empty. I can't stand that, I'm with you about personal space!

Great TSM pics.

I found this pic of Jiko on allearsnet.com. If you look over to the right of that column, thats the bench seating we were on. See how close those 2 chairs are? Thats how close DF and the CM girl were. The rest of the tables further to the right were empty all night. Just way too close for me.

 

[A's Princess]

For dessert, I had the Million Dreams dessert which was passionfruit panna cotta with roasted pineapple, spiced caramel, and coconut-curry sorbet and Dan had the Tanzanian Chocolate Cheesecake.

I think I gained a pound reading about these desserts! Toy Story Mania sounds like so much fun - you are making want to plan another trip reading your report!

 

[Jennifer48]

I think I gained a pound reading about these desserts! Toy Story Mania sounds like so much fun - you are making want to plan another trip reading your report!

I'm starting to think that Walt actually wanted WDW large enough so we could all pig out and then walk it off later