A Wedding, A Honeymoon and a runaway Grandma - Updated 6/6 Finally Finished!

[not_Joanna_eggs]

As Usual… DH is more into the "machinery" than the actual attraction. When I try to tell him it's fake, he just says that it makes it even more cool, because it's so real looking and all the details.

Uh…Oh… Catastrophe… Who would have guessed?

This is where grandma leaned over to me and said "peanut, I love you but if I get wet - you're dead meat!"

Uh Oh…

Fortunately, she didn't get wet, and was still smiling

Then we went behind Catastrophe Canyon and DH almost wet himself with glee….

After all it had been like 4 hrs since we had last seen machinery…

Then we headed out past some more props…

And then into the prop museum. Grandma and Sally were ready to hit the road, but DH was still snapping away…

We thought it was funny, so we snapped this, to make fun of him…

 

[wdwgirl03]

LOL, good thing grandma didn't get wet!!! Great pictures from Catastrophe Canyon. I do have to admit I do not like the new narration for this ride.

 

[wisblue]

Hey, I was at DHS the same afternoon with my wife and one of my daughters. We rode the boat from Epcot after being there for rope drop. We went on the Backlot Tour just BEFORE the Toy Story parade.

 

[RachelNinja]

So happy you posted pics of the Backlot Tour. That was the one thing that we couldn't do because we didn't realize it closed at 7pm that day! Haha, especially love that picture of the road.

Hope your DH didn't actually "wet himself with glee"! Although out of all rides, I guess that's the one where it'd be less noticeable ... haha.

 

[Hayley94]

hiya! fantastic trip report!!! also, I read the wedding section of your trippie and you were and absolutely beautiful bride! on the steam-machines front, my dad loves steam operated machinery and as a result many of our family holiday pictures resemble yours from the steam boat!!!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

LOL, good thing grandma didn't get wet!!! Great pictures from Catastrophe Canyon. I do have to admit I do not like the new narration for this ride.

She was so funny. When we got off the ride she was still looking all over trying to see if she got any water on her at all. She really wanted to scold us for getting her wet

Yeah, the new narration did nothing for me. I was not impressed at all.

Hey, I was at DHS the same afternoon with my wife and one of my daughters. We rode the boat from Epcot after being there for rope drop. We went on the Backlot Tour just BEFORE the Toy Story parade.

Woah! cue the creepy dolls singing... "it's a small word" We probally passed each other and didn't even know.

So happy you posted pics of the Backlot Tour. That was the one thing that we couldn't do because we didn't realize it closed at 7pm that day! Haha, especially love that picture of the road.

Hope your DH didn't actually "wet himself with glee"! Although out of all rides, I guess that's the one where it'd be less noticeable ... haha.

Bummer you misssed it. I wouldn't have guessed it closed early either. Though I do know you can hold private events in the prop warehouse, so maybe someone had an event there that night... I think that would be so cool!

No, DH was able to control himself, and all accidents were averted

hiya! fantastic trip report!!! also, I read the wedding section of your trippie and you were and absolutely beautiful bride! on the steam-machines front, my dad loves steam operated machinery and as a result many of our family holiday pictures resemble yours from the steam boat!!!

Welcome. Thanks for the compliment!

I'm gald to know my DH isn't the only person obsessed with steam machines. Too funny that your dad is the same way!


Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Life's been really crazy. Crazy hours at work, and DH got really sick this week and ended up in the hospital. He's doing better now and work is calming down, so I'm hoping to get the next installment up tonight though.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

We were all hungry, so we headed to Backlot Express.

Now this following sequence happened a lot on the trip (hence the title of the TR) but this time we caught it on film. You need to know that grandma hasn't been to WDW in about 30 years and has no clue where she's going.

DH: "Grandma, Joanna, Stop, Sally had to tie her shoe, I'll take your picture…"

(Grandma is wearing red and in the scooter)

DH: "Does she know where she's going? GRANDMA"

We're probably 20 - 25 feet back at this point… and grandma's still going…

Grandma on the loose…

Finally, after she took a wrong turn….Sally Starts Running and uses her loud dog training whistle.

"What?? You can't keep up?"

This happened countless times, she's not used to having a scooter and therefore being able to move quickly. So she doesn't usually pay attention to where everyone else is because she knows we'll keep up with her. But she had a motor this time…

So we would say "Grandma's on the run again" and just let her go….

We had lunch at backlot express. I mean what can you say? It's counter service fare. It's okay. Not great or even good by any means, but the pickings are slim in DHS - and ABC was closed!

So on our way out, saw the end of the "Jedi" academy. It was soooo adorable. At the end when Darth Vader asks if anyone will join him.. these two little boys jump in and just start wailing on him with their light sabers. So then all the kids start. Darth Vader left - then they turned on the storm troopers. Hilarious!

We look an ill-fated flight to the moon of Endor. Maybe someday I'll actually get there, but today it just wasn't meant to be.

Then we headed over to Muppets 3-D.

Leave it to DH to find machinery to take a picture of…

This attraction desperately needs an update. It's just sad and fuzzy now…

On our way out, DH discovered a new friend

We did a little shopping and then Grandma and I took a rest. My ankle was killing me!

We looked at the map to see if there were any shows she wanted to see..

This takes a lot of concentration…

Huh? What was I doing?

We give grandma the choice of Beauty and the Beast or Indiana Jones. She says "Beauty and the Beast" so I tell DH he can go ride ToT and RnRC while we watch the show if he wants to, but he says he'll stay with us. Grandma is a powerful force, if it was just us, he'd be gone in a hot minute!

Grandma loved the show! She took a tumble getting into the seat - which sent about 3 cast members running towards her. We got a lot of dirty looks from them when we were laughing (we checked to make sure she was okay first) but just at lunch she was commenting how she hadn't fallen on the trip yet, and we told her she just jinxed herself… and she was adamant she wouldn’t fall, so we told her we would laugh at her when she did - and so we did! The CMs must have thought we were awful!

After Beauty and the Beast, we headed to the Animator's Studio. This isn't something DH and I usually do, I actually hadn't been in the building since it stopped being a functioning animation studio - like a billion years ago. Wow - this place was character heaven. And it was totally deserted.

Grandma was thrilled, she loved the characters! First up Mickey!

There was no line, so we got to spend a bunch of time with him. That was cool!

So then Sally and DH went to play the games and Grandma and I went and sat down by the entrance to the class. DH had the camera, and I'm so sad, because we had tons of character interaction just sitting there. We were adjacent to the Incredibles, and there was no one visiting them, so they were goofing off, then the Genie and Mr. Incredible were having a muscle contest - and they had grandma be the judge. It was hilarious!

So they went away, and we were still sitting there, and the evil queen came out and saw my bride ears and made a comment about how great it was that my husband had already left me - but in a funny-mean kind of way. Grandma was laughing pretty hard.

Then it was time for the drawing class… we did Goofy!.

Sally's was awesome…

DH's

Even mine kind of looks like Goofy… or maybe it's that I look goofy…

On the way out, we ran into Snow White, who was so sweet to grandma…

Then it was our FP time, so we headed back to TSM.

I was ready to kick some butt!

Did you know that there is machinery controlling the ride? DH does!

So we were heading out, and DH asked me if there was anything we hadn't done. I was dreading the answer… The Great Movie Ride.
We both knew Grandma would love it, so we sucked it up and went on it…

She loved the old movie montage at the beginning…

Why DH didn't just have Sally take this picture, I have no idea…

We made it safely through the gangster hijacking of our tour..

By this time, grandma was pooped and we needed to leave for our ADRs at Artist Point… So we slowly headed out - while DH was snapping pictures along the way.

Stop taking pictures, or I will feed you to the alien!

 

[micandminforever]

Your pictures continue to be great. Grandma seems to be fun to be around.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Love the Goofy drawings! The Animation Academy is a lot of fun.

 

[RachelNinja]

Haha, it's so great that your DH caught those pictures of grandma scootering away!

One day I want to get to Muppets early enough and when it's not crowded so that I can explore that pre-show waiting area! So many gags in there that there's always going to be something new to see!

I like YOUR Goofy drawing the best!

Haha, is grandma sticking her tongue out in that first GMR pic?!?

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Your pictures continue to be great. Grandma seems to be fun to be around.

Thanks! Grandma was a blast. She said that she always wanted to take DH to Disney when he was little, but never got a chance. It was fantastic to be able to have her with us and share the experience. Definitely once in a lifetime for her.

Love the Goofy drawings! The Animation Academy is a lot of fun.

It was the first time we did the Animation Academy and it's definitely on the list for our next trip, it was a lot of fun. I usually screw up stick figures - so I was impressed that the instruction was relatively fool proof.

Haha, it's so great that your DH caught those pictures of grandma scootering away!

One day I want to get to Muppets early enough and when it's not crowded so that I can explore that pre-show waiting area! So many gags in there that there's always going to be something new to see!

I like YOUR Goofy drawing the best!

Haha, is grandma sticking her tongue out in that first GMR pic?!?

Grandma was hilarious with the scooter. He actually has one of the scooter pictures on his screen saver. So funny!

The waiting area of the Muppets show is so fun. The detail is amazing and the little jokes all around are so well done. I wish I could just spend time in there. Too bad the actual attraction didn't really live up to the test of time. It's definitely in need of an update.

I was impressed with my goofy drawing - apparently he's one of the easiest to draw because he's - well - goofy and any mistakes are just part of his character.

Yes, grandma is sticking her tongue out... apparently being old doesn't make you mature

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

We headed out and said goodbye to Grandma and Sally, the ME was picking them up at 9 am the next day. Well, we did the long drawn-out goodbye at least. Since we were going to Artist Point, and the were staying at Fort Wilderness, we got to ride the bus with them.

It was great having them along on the trip and we were so glad we got to tour with them! It was definitely a great memory for us.

We said goodbye for real when the bus stopped at WL and we hopped off and were on our way to Artist Point. I had gone back and forth on this one, but decided to keep it. Though after the previous night's experience I was a little worried. I'd read good things about Artist Point - but not as good as Bluezoo!

It wasn't that crowded, but there were definitely other people there. I loved the look and feel of the restaurant too. I felt much less out of place here!

We skipped the appetizer because I saw a dessert on the menu that had 3 of my favorite foods in it and I was very interested in how they tasted together.


We started with bread….

And a bottle of wine… the name and label amused me, so you get a picture…

Cheers! How do you like it?

Stop taking pictures so I can start drinking!

For our entrees I got the Buffalo. OMG. Maybe it's because buffalo is the only red meat I can eat, or because this was my first time having it, I have no idea, but good gravy it was delicious! So delicious in fact that I forgot to take a picture - I was too busy eating.

I like gamey tasting things, and DH said that it was gamey which is probably why I liked it so much. But I'm desperately trying to get back to AP in July and December just for the buffalo!

DH had the filet, which he said was excellent as well.

Then it was time for dessert! I ordered the goat cheese and fig tart with huckleberry ice cream. I was so excited I’ve love huckleberries since a family trip to Yellowstone when I was 13 or 14. However, it’s hard to find anywhere else, so I was excited to see it on the menu. And I love figs and goat cheese - it was a dessert made just for me.

PLUS… it came out with glow-y toys for us since we were on our honeymoon!

They even announced it to the restaurant and everyone clapped. I bit embarrassing, but very sweet!

So Yummy! It was definitely goat-cheese-y but I love goat cheese, so I was a fan. DH – not as much…

I noticed this at several restaurants (especially those on Disney Property) they gave us the swag they give to children as an acknowledgment of our honeymoon. I thought it was cleaver and fun for them to do that.

At AP we got glow-y stuff AND crazy straws!

Full and happy, we headed out. After a brief discussion, we decided to catch the boat over to CR to catch the monorail to the Poly.

We soaked in the lovely-ness of the WL grounds

A passer-by was confused why we would be taking a picture of the falls without people in it, and offered to take a picture of us.

We hopped on the boat, and had a nice chat with some fellow passengers. We made it to the CR and eventually the Poly.

Once at the Poly, we had to pack up, with our wedding package we got 1 free night at any resort. We chose to spend our last night at the Grand Floridian! But since DH had booked the Keys to the Kingdom tour for the next morning, and we had to be at the MK by 8:00, we had to pack to give our stuff to bell services by 7:15. Ugh!

We had so much stuff since our trip was 11 days total, and we ha a bunch of extra stuff because of the wedding too. We got it all packed up and went to sleep around midnight.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

This was our last full day of the trip. SAD!

We woke up around 6:30 and finished packing and had bell services send our luggage to the GF for us.

We realized that we had been at the Poly for a whole week and not gotten any tonga toast, so we decided to fix that and headed to Captain Cook’s.

So yummy!

After breakfast, we hopped on the monorail and were soon at the MK.

As you can see I was thrilled to be up so early yet again…

We were there early, so we hung out a little bit and finished our coffees

We entered the gates, and were shocked by the number of people there compared to the day before. We were there 45 minutes earlier on Friday – what a difference that makes!

There aren’t any steam engines on this tour? I don’t know about this…

Then we met our tour guide and we started on the tour. The Keys to the Kingdom Tour is a 4 hour walking tour of the MK. By the 2nd hour, my ankle was killing me and I was not having fun at all. DH really enjoyed it, and it was very interesting. I’m glad we did it. I just may have enjoyed it more on a different trip when I wasn’t so sore and tired.

Also, this part is lacking in pictures because we couldn’t take pictures of the interesting back stage stuff, and we didn’t think to take pictures of the regular park stuff.

I’m going to be kind of vague here, because I don’t want to give too much away incase you want to do it yourself, which I do recommend, though I recommend the steam train tour more based on our experience – neither of us were fans of our tour guide or of the people we were touring with.

Total side note, that is only related to my personal experience… but there was a group of 4 people who obviously work or worked recently on Main Street, and everyone, including our guide were tripping over themselves fawning over them – and basically just talking to them. It was even more annoying than the pin people from the day before. The people on this tour were generally people that were just interested in the behind the scenes stuff, and were kind of obnoxious.

Where our Train tour guide was a great story teller and had a genuineness about him, our KTK tour guide had a much more reserved over thinking everything she said kind of demeanor. Just not really our cup of tea… But this was just our opinion of our specific experience and I do whole-heartedly recommend the tour to anyone.

We started out down Main Street and she explained some of the windows down main street and their placement, and then we headed to Adventureland and took a “biological break” as our guide called it, and then headed to the Jungle cruise.

We had our own boat, and we learned little facts about it, and found some hidden Mickeys. Then we headed to Frontierland, and then backstage where we saw where they store the parade floats and learned about the trash process of the park. (which was really fascinating – I swear!)

Then we went back to Frontierland and then to Liberty Square for Lunch at the Colombia Harbor House. We sat with a couple from Canada. They were super nice, and we talked a bit about weddings and honeymoons. They had honeymooned on the Wonder in the fall.

Then we headed to the Haunted Mansion. I didn’t like this part as much, because we had to remember all the stuff she was saying and the hidden Mickeys to look for, because she couldn’t go with us.

So then we headed into a “tangible memory station” a.k.a a gift shop, then backstage, the down to the utilidoors, and to find out about that, you’ll just have to go on the tour. DH was fascinated by the trash process, and was more interested in the piping in the utilidoors than anything else. He’s such a nerd!

So after the tour, we had about 25 minutes before the van was going to pick us up to take us to sign the paperwork for DVC, so I ask DH what he wants to do…

Bet you can’t guess what he said.

Ride the Train of course!

Hey good lookin’ Remember me?

Oh how I missed you!

So we ride the full loop of the train

Then he makes me take pictures of him with the train – because we don’t have enough pictures of the freaking train.

He was excited that it was the Roger Broggie, because now we know who he is!

Pimpin’

Steam power!

Then it was time to head over to the DVC van to sign the papers and get our really expensive tote bag.

 

[Hayley94]

Great update! I'm jealous of all your glowing swag from Artist Point

 

[heaven2dc]

I would love to take one of those tours sometime - maybe if the tour was shorter? It's too bad your foot was sore and you couldn't truly enjoy the tour plus if you had a tour guide who was more enthusiastic, you may have enjoyed it more. Four hours is a long time, I think.

 

[wdwgirl03]

It is kind of a bummer you can't take pictures on tour but obviously I understand why you can't. When we were on the Backstage Safari tour I really wanted to take pictures of what we saw! KTTK is definitely the next tour I want to take. I bet it is really interesting.

 

[RachelNinja]

Haha, I should somehow use "biological break" at school in between classes or something (sometimes I have a double period with one grade).

DH seems like the type of person who will wander off away from the group and get separated, but you'll always know where to find him ... by the trains!

 

[Believeinfairytales]

Great updates! I'm sad that the trip is almost over. Glad your DH got to see his new girlfriend one last time, LOL!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Great update! I'm jealous of all your glowing swag from Artist Point

Thanks. Everything is better glowing

I would love to take one of those tours sometime - maybe if the tour was shorter? It's too bad your foot was sore and you couldn't truly enjoy the tour plus if you had a tour guide who was more enthusiastic, you may have enjoyed it more. Four hours is a long time, I think.

The tour does definitely eat up 1/2 a day. I didn't really think about how it was a walking tour - but what else would it be? It was very interesting! I wish I wouldn't have been in such pain though. Oh well - guess I'll just have to do it again right

It is kind of a bummer you can't take pictures on tour but obviously I understand why you can't. When we were on the Backstage Safari tour I really wanted to take pictures of what we saw! KTTK is definitely the next tour I want to take. I bet it is really interesting.

Yeah, I mean you could take pictures during the normal park parts... but do we really need another picture of the jungle cruise? I get that they are protecting the "magic" but it would be cool. You definitely should fit it in - it's very interesting and not that expensive (especially with the AP discount)

Great updates! I'm sad that the trip is almost over. Glad your DH got to see his new girlfriend one last time, LOL!

Thanks. DH would have been heart broken if I didn't let him see "her" one more time He actually was trying to get me to go back in March because they had a special steam-train get together at WL. But "unfortunately" it didn't work out

Don't worry, we didn't leave right away on Sunday - so we're not quite done yet... PLUS... even though this trip is coming to a close, my sister and I are heading back in about a month... so another TR is on the horizon

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

*** Okay sorry this post is a little light on the pictures. I felt a little uncomfortable taking pictures at dinner at V&A's, so I didn't bring the camera. Which in retrospect was stupid, because there were 3 other people taking pictures of their food that night... but you live and learn right?***

Then we head to the DVC van. And it was our driver from a few days before, Angelo! He was so nice, and we didn’t get lost this time! So we chatted with him until we reached SSR. Then we signed our lives away and received our tote bag. Then we headed to the GF to check in.

We checked in and the woman was fawning all over us being newly weds, so I was hoping for an upgrade to MK or WP view or to Club level as many couples receive on their wedding free night, but no luck. We were in the Sago Cay building with a view of the monorail.

We really liked the room, much bigger and nicer than the Poly. But it was the only place we stayed on the trip that felt and sounded like a big hotel. You could hear children running around and crying all the time. Something I didn’t even realize, but that we didn’t experience at BLT or at the Poly.

So our luggage was delivered, but our cake was missing, so they went off on a search. Turns out it was still at the Poly – they never brought it over. So, with our cake secured, we changed for dinner, and headed out.

Tonight was the night I had been looking forward to the most – it was Victoria and Albert’s!

We’re both foodies and adventurous eaters, so we decided to splurge on this trip and go for it.

They sat us at a table in the corner, and we had a candle – no one else had a candle, our server said it was for romantic ambiance – okay.. I’ve seen other people on their honeymoons at this table as well – must be their honeymoon table or something…

We did the wine paring, because we figured if we were going to do this, why not go all the way.

So we were poured glasses of Tattinger prestige couvée (champagne) and brought the Amuse-Bouche - which was salmon 4 ways. There was little potato cake with salmon tartar and caviar on it; warm salmon custard served in an egg; Salmon mousse with salmon chunks (kind of tasted like salmon chili) and sine smoked salmon. Very delicious!

For our first course I had the Maine Lobster with Watermelon Radish, Kohlrabi and Vanilla Aioli. This came with a chardonnay. DH had the Colorado Buffalo with Fennel, Olives, Artichokes and Sherry Vinaigrette. This came with a syrah rose, which was really weird, and I was surprised they served a rose – that’s usually a fine dining no-no.

For the next course, I got the vegetarian option which was truffle gnocchi. Sadly I was disappointed, this wasn’t nearly as good as the mushroom gnocchi at our reception. DH had the Sake – Soy – marinated king salmon with bok choy. This was really good, and it was served with a really good sake. I had plate envy.

Next, DH and I both had the duck breast, duck sausage and confit with pomegranate sauce. This came with a pinot noir. And was quite tasty.

For the entrée, I had the Kurobuta pork tenderloin and belly with baby beets and sherry-bacon vinaigrette that came with a zinfandel. Really yummy! DH gave me the puppy-dog eyes and before I knew it he had upgraded his entrée to the Japanese Wagyu tenderloin – for an EXTRA $80. He said it was amazing. I can’t eat beef – so I didn’t try – but he said it was worth the upgrade.

We both got the cheese plate – which was surprisingly dull. I was expecting something a bit more adventurous… but there was parmigiano-regiano, stilton and goat cheese. Nothing spectacular, but that’s okay because I was stuffed at this point – and there was still more to come!

I had the Hawaiian Kona Chocolate Soufflé and DH had the Grand Marnier Soufflé. These came with some really tasty coffee brewed table-side in a crazy contraption.

We also got some little chocolates and a loaf of sweet bread, but took both to go as we were stuffed.

It was a really great special experience for us. We figured that this would be a once in a lifetime meal – but we’re going with my parent over Christmas, and my mom requested to go to V&As because we were raving about it – so we’re going again in December!! We keep joking that it’s our “once in a lifetime experience for the second time this year”

So we paid our bill, I got my rose, and we rolled – I mean walked – back to our room. I was so thankful that we chose to do this on the night we were staying at the GF. It would have been hard to get on a bus or even in a cab. I was so stuffed.

We tried to walk off the dinner a little bit and walked around the grounds of the GF for a bit and caught the end of Wishes. It was kind of special for us. Exactly a week before, we were across the Lagoon at the CG watching the same firework show... on our wedding night. It was kind of cool... we're usually not the mushy kind to couple, but it was a mushy kind of moment

When we returned from dinner, our message light was lit, and it was a message from Mickey and Minnie wishing us a happy honeymoon. Really cute! Totally a nice end to a really nice day.

We crawled into bed and savored our last sleep in Disney.

Definitely a great last night!