Recaps #1-5 are in the Weddings & Honeymoon Board, but thought we'd put the rest here, as they seem more applicable, since aren't wedding related:
Tuesday, August 6, 2002
We woke up at 9:00, took a shower, put on our wedding ears (of course!) and got breakfast at the concierge lounge, then grabbed a bus to the Animal Kingdom. When we got there, the park seemed pretty empty. We went straight to Dinosaur, and only had to wait about 10 minutes to get on that. We then went to the Primeval Whirl, and it had a 40 minute wait, so we grabbed a fastpass to that. While we were waiting, we rode the Triceratops Spin ride I think it might be called Dinorama? It was just like the Aladdins Magic Carpet ride and the Dumbo ride, but the line wasnt too long, so we tried it out. When we were done, it was time for our fastpass, so we got onto the Primeval Whirl. That ride was a lot of fun, and wasnt too jarring.
Then we went to the Tree of Life, to see Its Tough to be a Bug. There was only a 5 minute wait there, so we saw that show right away. We were getting lucky with the lines!
After that, we walked over to Kali River Rapids and got a fastpass. This was a smart move, b/c by the time we used our pass, they were all sold out of fastpass times, and there was a 60 minute wait! You can tell the day was a pretty hot one.
While we were waiting to use our fastpasses, we went to get lunch at the Tusker House. They were all out of tables, except for one with only one chair, so I went around asking, until I found a table that had a chair to spare. I had the grilled salmon, with yellow rice and some AWESOME green beans on the side. I dont particularly care for green beans, so I dont know what they did to these, but they tasted AMAZING! There were some other veggies mixed in like carrots and mushrooms, but these tasted just like salt, I guess b/c theyd absorbed too much. Andy had a turkey wrap in a spinach tortilla with corn and lettuce inside, that he said was pretty good.
After lunch, we walked over to the safari ride, which had a 40 minute wait. We stood in line here, and were seated in the front row of the truck. The driver was so nice, and got the whole truck to clap and cheer for us, since we were newlyweds! It was early afternoon, but quite a few animals were out we saw hippos, elephants, gazelles, rhinos (walking really close to the truck!) and quite a few other animals.
After the safari, we walked through the Pangani forest and saw some gorillas, meercats, gazelles, and some white mole rats that were so cute one kept trying to climb and falling down the tunnel.
After that, our fastpasses were ready, so we rode the Kali River Rapids. We both got absolutely soaked a huge wave came right over our seats and drenched us. It felt good to be cool, for a while, so we walked along the trail there, seeing bats, tigers, and lots of birds.
At this point, the nice cool feeling from the water had turned into a sticky discomfort, so we decided to go back to our hotel room. We took a shower, watched some of our videos from the wedding day, and just relaxed for a while. Then we went out to the concierge lounge, where they were serving wine, cheese, and some hors doeuvres. We got some spring rolls, with shrimp and translucent noodles inside and a sweet peanut sauce, and both tried some vegetarian California rolls and garlic hummus. It was so nice to just relax! We each had a glass of wine and some cheeses, and we just sat at a table near the window, enjoying the lovely view and reminiscing about the day before, while listening to the orchestra play. It was a very peaceful, perfect moment, one that convinced us that from now on, we will ALWAYS stay concierge level at the Grand Floridian.
Then it was time to leave for our 8:00 dinner at the Flying Fish. We took the monorail to Epcot, then walked through to get to the Boardwalk. When we got there, they had special instructions about our billing. Due to a scheduling mistake by V&As, for our Chefs Table dinner, they were going to bill the Flying Fish dinner to Deluxe Magic, even though we didnt start the package until the next day.
We were seated, and ordered our meals and a Madonna Kabinett Riesling. Right after the wine was delivered, another waiter walked over to us and said that the table next to ours had bought us each a drink, so he wanted to know what wed like. He told us that they were celebrating their 15th anniversary, and bought us a drink b/c they saw by the ears that we were on our honeymoon. I thought it was so sweet, I wanted to cry! We went over to their table and thanked them. On the whole trip, Andy and I kept remarking how amazing it was that everyone, not just cast members, went out of their way to be nice to us. We kept talking about the kindness of strangers.
For dinner at the Flying Fish, I had the lobster bisque (very good, with nice lumps of lobster), oak grilled mahi mahi with heirloom tomato risotto (kind of dry, and I didnt enjoy the tomato risotto), and the valrhona chocolate lava cake (amazing! the chocolate filling came out just a little, but for the most part stayed inside so that every delicious bite had yummy chocolate filling in it). Andy had the Peeky Toe Crab Cakes (he liked them, but I thought they were a little spicy), Coriander Crusted Yellowfin Tuna (he thought it was very good, and it was nice and rare, like chewing through butter, not flaky at all), and the Trio of lychee, passion fruit & raspberry sorbets (he liked the lychee sorbet best b/c it was different).
After dinner, it was about 5 minutes until 10:00, and we wanted to see if Epcot was open still. The machines were turned off, but we just walked through, and the cast members let us go through. We wanted to cut through the park and just catch the monorail home. It was so great, walking through the World Showcase with no one around! And I got tears in my eyes when we saw the Spaceship Earth ball glowing in front of us.
While waiting for the monorail, we were speaking to one of the CMs who asked us where we got married. When we told him that it was at the wedding pavilion, he was so surprised said he had never met a couple before who was married at WDW. He said most of them say things like, West Virginia and hes always disappointed, so he was excited to meet a Disney couple.
We asked him if we could sit in the front of the monorail, and he said that hed try to get us a seat there. When the monorail came, he called us to the front, and we got into the drivers car. While we were walking to the front, two ladies asked if they could come too. The CM asked us whether we wanted to be alone, but we said that we didnt mind them coming. They were so excited to get to sit in the front, and said that theyd been trying for 11 days, and this was their last day at WDW, so we were glad that we let them come.
We got home, recorded our recaps, and started packing, because the next day, we were moving to the Wilderness Lodge. We were both so sad to have to leave the Grand Floridian, and so tired, and I got upset that we had to stay up late packing. But then Andy calmed me down, and finally the packing was done, and we went to bed.
Next day: Leaving our home, starting the Deluxe Magic plan
Tuesday, August 6, 2002
We woke up at 9:00, took a shower, put on our wedding ears (of course!) and got breakfast at the concierge lounge, then grabbed a bus to the Animal Kingdom. When we got there, the park seemed pretty empty. We went straight to Dinosaur, and only had to wait about 10 minutes to get on that. We then went to the Primeval Whirl, and it had a 40 minute wait, so we grabbed a fastpass to that. While we were waiting, we rode the Triceratops Spin ride I think it might be called Dinorama? It was just like the Aladdins Magic Carpet ride and the Dumbo ride, but the line wasnt too long, so we tried it out. When we were done, it was time for our fastpass, so we got onto the Primeval Whirl. That ride was a lot of fun, and wasnt too jarring.
Then we went to the Tree of Life, to see Its Tough to be a Bug. There was only a 5 minute wait there, so we saw that show right away. We were getting lucky with the lines!
After that, we walked over to Kali River Rapids and got a fastpass. This was a smart move, b/c by the time we used our pass, they were all sold out of fastpass times, and there was a 60 minute wait! You can tell the day was a pretty hot one.
While we were waiting to use our fastpasses, we went to get lunch at the Tusker House. They were all out of tables, except for one with only one chair, so I went around asking, until I found a table that had a chair to spare. I had the grilled salmon, with yellow rice and some AWESOME green beans on the side. I dont particularly care for green beans, so I dont know what they did to these, but they tasted AMAZING! There were some other veggies mixed in like carrots and mushrooms, but these tasted just like salt, I guess b/c theyd absorbed too much. Andy had a turkey wrap in a spinach tortilla with corn and lettuce inside, that he said was pretty good.
After lunch, we walked over to the safari ride, which had a 40 minute wait. We stood in line here, and were seated in the front row of the truck. The driver was so nice, and got the whole truck to clap and cheer for us, since we were newlyweds! It was early afternoon, but quite a few animals were out we saw hippos, elephants, gazelles, rhinos (walking really close to the truck!) and quite a few other animals.
After the safari, we walked through the Pangani forest and saw some gorillas, meercats, gazelles, and some white mole rats that were so cute one kept trying to climb and falling down the tunnel.
After that, our fastpasses were ready, so we rode the Kali River Rapids. We both got absolutely soaked a huge wave came right over our seats and drenched us. It felt good to be cool, for a while, so we walked along the trail there, seeing bats, tigers, and lots of birds.
At this point, the nice cool feeling from the water had turned into a sticky discomfort, so we decided to go back to our hotel room. We took a shower, watched some of our videos from the wedding day, and just relaxed for a while. Then we went out to the concierge lounge, where they were serving wine, cheese, and some hors doeuvres. We got some spring rolls, with shrimp and translucent noodles inside and a sweet peanut sauce, and both tried some vegetarian California rolls and garlic hummus. It was so nice to just relax! We each had a glass of wine and some cheeses, and we just sat at a table near the window, enjoying the lovely view and reminiscing about the day before, while listening to the orchestra play. It was a very peaceful, perfect moment, one that convinced us that from now on, we will ALWAYS stay concierge level at the Grand Floridian.
Then it was time to leave for our 8:00 dinner at the Flying Fish. We took the monorail to Epcot, then walked through to get to the Boardwalk. When we got there, they had special instructions about our billing. Due to a scheduling mistake by V&As, for our Chefs Table dinner, they were going to bill the Flying Fish dinner to Deluxe Magic, even though we didnt start the package until the next day.
We were seated, and ordered our meals and a Madonna Kabinett Riesling. Right after the wine was delivered, another waiter walked over to us and said that the table next to ours had bought us each a drink, so he wanted to know what wed like. He told us that they were celebrating their 15th anniversary, and bought us a drink b/c they saw by the ears that we were on our honeymoon. I thought it was so sweet, I wanted to cry! We went over to their table and thanked them. On the whole trip, Andy and I kept remarking how amazing it was that everyone, not just cast members, went out of their way to be nice to us. We kept talking about the kindness of strangers.
For dinner at the Flying Fish, I had the lobster bisque (very good, with nice lumps of lobster), oak grilled mahi mahi with heirloom tomato risotto (kind of dry, and I didnt enjoy the tomato risotto), and the valrhona chocolate lava cake (amazing! the chocolate filling came out just a little, but for the most part stayed inside so that every delicious bite had yummy chocolate filling in it). Andy had the Peeky Toe Crab Cakes (he liked them, but I thought they were a little spicy), Coriander Crusted Yellowfin Tuna (he thought it was very good, and it was nice and rare, like chewing through butter, not flaky at all), and the Trio of lychee, passion fruit & raspberry sorbets (he liked the lychee sorbet best b/c it was different).
After dinner, it was about 5 minutes until 10:00, and we wanted to see if Epcot was open still. The machines were turned off, but we just walked through, and the cast members let us go through. We wanted to cut through the park and just catch the monorail home. It was so great, walking through the World Showcase with no one around! And I got tears in my eyes when we saw the Spaceship Earth ball glowing in front of us.
While waiting for the monorail, we were speaking to one of the CMs who asked us where we got married. When we told him that it was at the wedding pavilion, he was so surprised said he had never met a couple before who was married at WDW. He said most of them say things like, West Virginia and hes always disappointed, so he was excited to meet a Disney couple.
We asked him if we could sit in the front of the monorail, and he said that hed try to get us a seat there. When the monorail came, he called us to the front, and we got into the drivers car. While we were walking to the front, two ladies asked if they could come too. The CM asked us whether we wanted to be alone, but we said that we didnt mind them coming. They were so excited to get to sit in the front, and said that theyd been trying for 11 days, and this was their last day at WDW, so we were glad that we let them come.
We got home, recorded our recaps, and started packing, because the next day, we were moving to the Wilderness Lodge. We were both so sad to have to leave the Grand Floridian, and so tired, and I got upset that we had to stay up late packing. But then Andy calmed me down, and finally the packing was done, and we went to bed.
Next day: Leaving our home, starting the Deluxe Magic plan
