Lorana
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2001
- Messages
- 3,292
DAY 2: SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2001
- Tonga Toast, Ice Cream, and DisneyDollarless
Despite my exhaustion and lack of good sleep the nights before, being
in a new bed in a new place - and DisneyWorld of all places! - made
it so I did not fall asleep easily. It was close to 2am when we
finally crawled into bed, and I am probably glad I never looked at
the alarm clock to see what time it was before I fell asleep.
Dawn came all too soon... though morning grogginess was soon replaced
by the excitement of being in Disney, and by the first Disney delight
I was going to partake in: Tonga Toast at the Kona Cafe! Still, I
confess to a few groans getting out of bed when the alarm went off.
John opened the curtains, and we went out onto the balcony for a few
moments to look at "our baby" - the Wedding Pavilion. (We have two
"babies" in Disney: The Castle and the Pavilion). It was beautiful
sitting there on the lake in the early morning light, softened by
dawn into an ivory glow. It almost seemed like a dream... were we
really here? Were we really only a few short days from our wedding?
Finally we showered, dressed, and trudged outside. I forgot to
mention - how could I forget! - that Fiji is only a quick walk from
the main building, but that you pass the marina along the way... and
thus have a perfect view of the castle. Last night it was lit in the
Goodnight Kiss, fading from purple to blue to pink and back again.
One of the reasons I love Disney so is because of the way I feel when
I see Cinderella's Castle. It is a feeling of joy and contentment
and excitement all rolled up into one... the memories of a child
first gazing on it with her family, of times spent in fun and
happiness with family and with her fiance, of a young woman being
given a ring and a promise of love and a life as one forever... it is
the feeling of COMING HOME. That is what Disney is to me, and the
Castle is that summation... Home. I am home.
So naturally, we stopped to gaze at the castle for a while, and I was
brimming with joy even as my eyes filled with unshed tears. This
place was like home to me, and home to so many wonderful memories.
And now it would become the place where John and I pledged our love,
and years from now when we bring our children and the voice on the
monorail mentions the wedding pavilion, we can point at it and say,
"That's where your mommy and daddy got married."
There is a special kind of magic to Disney... and it is a place that
gives life to the magic within all of us, to the magic and love we
create.
So we gazed and hugged and then I practically skipped to the Kona
Cafe. John, to say the least, was chuckling over my antics.
I fell in love with Tonga Toast back in 1997, when I had it for the
first time. I tried it on a recommendation, and I've been addicted
since. And I had been waiting since 1998 to have it again. LOL.
We lounged over breakfast - breakfast food is John's favorite kind of
food - and I had several cups of tea. I love tea. Sadly, I have yet
to try the High Tea at the Grand Floridian... next time, though!
After we had finished eating, we took the walk from the Polynesian to
the Wedding Pavilion. We just had to go and look at it. The weather
was hot, but not nearly as hot and sticky as it had been in Boston
during the recent heat wave, and so we weren't uncomfortable yet. We
walked along, holding hands, looking at the castle and talking of the
future. As we approached the Pavilion, I couldn't help but sigh at
the special Wedding Bricks and wish I could have one... lol!
There were no weddings or rehearsals going on, and so we walked up to
the Pavilion and through the gates, walking slowly so as to soak up
every moment. How beautiful this place was! We opened the doors to
the Pavilion itself, and the music to "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart
Makes" came floating out. The pavilion was even more beautiful than
I remembered it being, and even John's eyes were teary as we looked
all over it, and gazed at the Castle framed perfectly in the glass
window over the altar. He made me wait at the door, and went down to
the altar, and then had me walk to him. LOL. I took lots of
pictures, and one of the housecleaning staff took our picture at the
altar. A little while later, a young woman and her mother walked in.
She was planning a wedding in November of 2001, and was looking over
the pavilion.
John and I walked around the entire area, and I showed him the
Bride's Vestibule, since he would not be seeing it at all on the
wedding day. It was there that we noticed a curious feature of the
Pavilion that we had not noticed before... standing inside the glass
doorway of the Bride's Vestibule, you can see straight into the
Wedding Pavilion. The inside doors were open (normally these are
closed during a ceremony, so the people inside cannot see the bridal
party (and above all the bride!) before she enters. So looking
straight down the Bride's Vestibule, you could see the Castle, and it
looked HUGE. It filled up almost the entire window.
We started walking towards the main pavilion again, and the Castle
started to get a little smaller. We realized that from the back of
the Pavilion, the Castle looks huge, but as you walk towards the
altar, it reduces to "normal size." I assume this is a trick of the
glass? Whatever it is, it's pretty neat. So for views of the
castle, you want to be in the back.
We walked out to picture point while the woman and her mother looked
over the pavilion, and stood there under the trellace (sp?) and
looking out at the Castle. Then John caught me up into an embrace
and said, "Do you, John Mangio, take Michelle to be your lawfully
wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward? I DO!" He
was sweet I couldn't resist kissing him.
After a while, we finally continued on to our intended destination:
the Grand Floridian Resort. We wanted to buy the Disney Fairy Tale
Weddings Cake Server & Knife for our reception. Francks no longer
sold the Disney wedding stuff, but a store in the GF now carried it.
We went in to the store to buy it. I should mention that we were
VERY casually dressed, in jean shorts and a tank top (me), t-shirt
(John). The store computers were down, and so they had to do
everything by hand. Thus, the manager was also walking around. And
I felt very much under his scrutiny as we wandered around the store,
looking at many things before purchasing the cake knife and server.
LOL.
We wander around for a bit before catching the monorail over to the
Magic Kingdom. We then purchase our Premium Annual Passes, and
decide to bop into the Magic Kingdom briefly... to see if Arriba
Brothers can engrave our cake knife & server.
We enter the Magic Kingdom, and rush to the middle of Main Street to
stare at our baby, the Castle. And stare and stare we do. LOL. We
both get all teary and emotional again, and just standing there
hugging each other. Finally we notice the Florida humidity bearing
down on us. So bop over to Arriba Brothers to see about getting our
cake knife and server engraved, only to find out that the machine is
broken! Sad. So we decide to head out and go back to our room,
before going over to Epcot to make our Ice Cream Social PS
reservations at the Garden Grille.
As we are walking by one of the vendors selling the Disney Spray
Bottles with Fans, one of them sprays John who stops with an "Ahhhh"
expression on his face. The CM holds out the bottle, but John shakes
his head and starts walking away. About five steps later, he looks
at me and says, "Who am I kidding?" and walks back and buys it. LOL.
Disney marketing works so well on him. And it became his
favorite toy for the rest of the trip! He took glee in spraying
everyone. And I think the poor CMs enjoyed it in this heat! LOL.
We bopped into one of the store so John could buy a hat. The
sorcerer mickey hats were on clearance for only $9, so John bought
one for himself. He then saw the "I Am Never Growing Up" hats, and
felt it was perfect for me, and bought it for me. Who was I to
disagree? In Disney, we never grow up! Don't you know it's Never
Never Land?
As we are leaving the Magic Kingdom, we are asked by a CM if we mind
doing an exit survey. We said no, and she started in. After a few
questions, we both felt as if we shouldn't be doing it, because we're
throwing off the curve... after all, we were only in the MK for about
an hour, didn't go on any attractions, etc. etc. Oh, well! She was
very nice, and we had a lot of fun talking, and John sprayed her down
gleefully with his spray bottle before we left.
We then hopped the monorail back to the Polynesian, where I pulled
out my dreaded laptop and hooked it up to the internet. There were
some difficulties at first... darn AOL... but finally it worked. I
checked my email to see if anyone had emailed me with last minute
concerns (we had set up a YahooGroups list with all of our wedding
guests, and everyone kept in touch, made plans, etc. over the list,
so I was seeing if anyone had sent anything). I sent an email off to
all of you Disneymooners to let you know I was off to see a mouse
about a husband, and then we were off!
We walked over to the Ticket and Transportation Center - the LONG
way, as John took us through the parking lot! - and then hopped the
monorail over to Epcot.
It had been a very long time since I had taken a monorail into Epcot,
and I had forgotten it takes you through part of the park. We really
enjoyed the ride, and the bird's eye view of some of the attractions.
We hustled on over to the Garden Grille at the Land Pavilion in
Epcot, and checked in for our PS. I love this restaurant. We had
breakfast here back in 1997, and absolutely loved it. We only waited
about 5 minutes before they seated us. Our CM took our drink order
(just water!) and then went to get our Sundaes. We watched the
desert and farm and other scenes slowly drift by.
What can I say about the Sundaes you get at the Ice Cream Social?
Decadent. There is no better word to describe it. It starts with
chocolate that is drizzled across your plate. Then a very large,
very yummy, and very chocolately chocolate cookie is added to the
plate. There is a hole in the center of the cookie, and in the hole
is placed a very large waffle cone... glued to the cook and the plate
with CHOCOLATE. The cone is filled with rich vanilla icecream,
topped with tiny chocolate chips, and two slaps of Chocolate with
Mickey on it are added to the top. Tiny chocolate chips and fresh
fruit are then sprinkled across the plate.
YUM.
It defeated both John and I. Neither of us could eat all of the
cookie once we had eaten that far. We wondered if we would have room
for dinner... which was only 3 short hours away.
While eating dinner, the characters made an appearance... first
Pluto, then Chip, then Dale, and finally Mickey. We got a few
pictures with some of the characters, and had fun playing with a few.
Dale tried to steal my Mickey Chocolate. Pluto came around a second
time, and stole John's spray bottle. He then snuck up behind Mickey
and started spraying him. It was funny. Eventually, we got the
bottle back, finished eating, and left.
We were rolling ourselves through Epcot at this point, so gorged on
Ice Cream Decadence as we were. We did stop at Innoventions so we
could send a postcard to everyone back home. The line wasn't long,
but the people in front of us must have sent 16 different postcards.
We waited about 20 minutes just for them to finish!
We sent our postcard, explored a little more of Innoventions, and
then dashed back to the monorail. We switched monorails at the TTC
back to the MK, and then took a ferry to the Wilderness Lodge, where
we were meeting some of the DisneyDollarless folks for a mini-meet.
I love the Wilderness Lodge. It, like the Castle, is another place
the evokes that sense of "Home" to me, but in a different way... I
love the woods and the wild places, love to camp and hike, and the WL
embodies all of that natural beauty in a home (okay, a hotel), if you
know what I mean. I just love it. It's the only resort (so far)
that we've stayed at more than once.
We head over to Artist Point, and check in for our reservations. I
don't even get to finish my sentence before one of the CMs says,
"You're with the internet group, right?"
John and I both smile and say yes, and catch the CMs passing a glance
that says "Wow! *I* would never do that." LOL. As we walk towards
the table, the CM guiding us says, "You guys must be very brave, to
meet for dinner with people you've only ever met over the internet.
I don't think I could do that."
I smile again. I have to wonder what he is thinking... what does he
expect to happen, especially in a public setting? And do not people
meet new people at Disney - people they've never even talked to - and
make new friends? At least with meeting people from DD, I've at
least TALKED to them before, and feel as I know them a little. And
we all share the love of Disney.
We get to the table to find that Ilene and her husband Murt, daughter
Michelle, and daughter's friend Michelle, as well as Pam and her
husband Steve are there. Denise and Steve, friends of Ilene's,
arrive shortly after us. Lorna & her son Blaine were also suppose to
meet with us, but they never arrived.
We were seated in one long table, and John and I were kinda in the
middle. We shared a plate of Buffalo, Ostrich, and Lamb, and had
Venison as an appetizer. Mmmm mmm mmmm! I then had the berry
dessert. It was delicious!!
There were at least two conversations going on at all times, and I
have no idea how I kept up with both of them, since I kept jumping
back and forth between them. Pam is just one of those people who
exudes happiness and friendliness, and Ilene was so friendly and
open. It felt like I had known them forever! The guys were engaged
in heavy opinionated conversation, usually about movies, through most
of the evening. Finally, I looked at my watch and realized that it
was 9pm. Wow! How time flew!
We decided we wanted to go out to the dock and watch the Electrical
Water Pagaent. Pam's little daughter was in the Den and they brought
her out to join us. She was the cutest little girl, so full of
energy and smiles. She's the kind of little girl I want when I have
a daughter! LOL!
We all went outside and watched as the Electrical Water Pagaent came
into view. We got a double show, for there were thunderclouds off in
the distance, and lightning played on the horizon all throughout the
show. It was a lot of fun. After the Pagaent left, John and I
realized we should go back to our room... we had a lot of stuff we
still needed to finish, and had gotten none of it done this day. But
at least we had had fun!
We told everyone we had to leave, and before we left, Pam gave us a
bag with a gift in it. "We were at Downtown Disney today," she told
us, "and we saw this and knew it was perfect for you. It's the kind
of gift I would want if I were getting married at Disney." I was all
choked up and didn't know what to say at first. Pam and Steve were
so sweet!!! We opened the box, and it was a silver frame with little
mickey heads in the corner. It was perfect!! And so wonderful!! We
thanked them wholeheartedly, over and over. I wanted to give her a
big hug, but didn't know if she would think that too forward, and so
just said thank you again!
We then caught the ferry and headed over to the Magic Kingdom. I was
sad to leave... we had just made some great friends, and I wish we
could have spent more time with them! But we knew we would see Pam &
Steve again at the meet at Boma's the following Sunday.
We got back to the Magic Kingdom, and saw that the ferry to the
Polynesian Resort had just pulled in. So rather than take the
monorail, we decided for a nice evening ride on the small boat.
And I'm glad we did! About half-way across the Seven Seas Lagoon, we
heard the music from the Magic Kingdom and watched as the first
fireworks from Fantasy In The Sky went off. What a wonderful treat!!
The CM driving the ferry slowed down a turned so that we got a
beautiful view of the fireworks over the lake. It was wonderful, and
truly magical!
We got back to our room, to find several messages blinking an urgent
orange at us from the answering machine. We also saw that the Rose
on the table that the Polynesian had given to us, all pretty in its
vase, and the congratulations card from them. Our housekeeper had
created a towel flower with the word "Love" in towels beneath it, and
sprinkled flowers all over the floor and in the bud of the flower.
It was so pretty!!
We listened to all our messages, made some phone calls, and then got
to work. We had a message from Rev. Jack Day, saying he hadn't
gotten our ceremony. We had written an initial ceremony, and sent it
to him, asking for his advice. I guess he never got it, and like so
many other things, it got lost in the shuffle of things to do in the
final weeks. Yikes!! So I pulled out the ceremony I had written and
showed it to John, and then pulled out all the pieces of stuff that
we might want included, and we got to work. John fell asleep
sometime around 1:00am. I kept on going, determined to finish all
revisions. I lost track somewhere around 2:30am, and was awoken an
hour later by John. He both then crawled into bed, and the blessed
oblivion of sleep overtook us both.
- Tonga Toast, Ice Cream, and DisneyDollarless
Despite my exhaustion and lack of good sleep the nights before, being
in a new bed in a new place - and DisneyWorld of all places! - made
it so I did not fall asleep easily. It was close to 2am when we
finally crawled into bed, and I am probably glad I never looked at
the alarm clock to see what time it was before I fell asleep.
Dawn came all too soon... though morning grogginess was soon replaced
by the excitement of being in Disney, and by the first Disney delight
I was going to partake in: Tonga Toast at the Kona Cafe! Still, I
confess to a few groans getting out of bed when the alarm went off.
John opened the curtains, and we went out onto the balcony for a few
moments to look at "our baby" - the Wedding Pavilion. (We have two
"babies" in Disney: The Castle and the Pavilion). It was beautiful
sitting there on the lake in the early morning light, softened by
dawn into an ivory glow. It almost seemed like a dream... were we
really here? Were we really only a few short days from our wedding?
Finally we showered, dressed, and trudged outside. I forgot to
mention - how could I forget! - that Fiji is only a quick walk from
the main building, but that you pass the marina along the way... and
thus have a perfect view of the castle. Last night it was lit in the
Goodnight Kiss, fading from purple to blue to pink and back again.
One of the reasons I love Disney so is because of the way I feel when
I see Cinderella's Castle. It is a feeling of joy and contentment
and excitement all rolled up into one... the memories of a child
first gazing on it with her family, of times spent in fun and
happiness with family and with her fiance, of a young woman being
given a ring and a promise of love and a life as one forever... it is
the feeling of COMING HOME. That is what Disney is to me, and the
Castle is that summation... Home. I am home.
So naturally, we stopped to gaze at the castle for a while, and I was
brimming with joy even as my eyes filled with unshed tears. This
place was like home to me, and home to so many wonderful memories.
And now it would become the place where John and I pledged our love,
and years from now when we bring our children and the voice on the
monorail mentions the wedding pavilion, we can point at it and say,
"That's where your mommy and daddy got married."
There is a special kind of magic to Disney... and it is a place that
gives life to the magic within all of us, to the magic and love we
create.
So we gazed and hugged and then I practically skipped to the Kona
Cafe. John, to say the least, was chuckling over my antics.
I fell in love with Tonga Toast back in 1997, when I had it for the
first time. I tried it on a recommendation, and I've been addicted
since. And I had been waiting since 1998 to have it again. LOL.
We lounged over breakfast - breakfast food is John's favorite kind of
food - and I had several cups of tea. I love tea. Sadly, I have yet
to try the High Tea at the Grand Floridian... next time, though!
After we had finished eating, we took the walk from the Polynesian to
the Wedding Pavilion. We just had to go and look at it. The weather
was hot, but not nearly as hot and sticky as it had been in Boston
during the recent heat wave, and so we weren't uncomfortable yet. We
walked along, holding hands, looking at the castle and talking of the
future. As we approached the Pavilion, I couldn't help but sigh at
the special Wedding Bricks and wish I could have one... lol!
There were no weddings or rehearsals going on, and so we walked up to
the Pavilion and through the gates, walking slowly so as to soak up
every moment. How beautiful this place was! We opened the doors to
the Pavilion itself, and the music to "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart
Makes" came floating out. The pavilion was even more beautiful than
I remembered it being, and even John's eyes were teary as we looked
all over it, and gazed at the Castle framed perfectly in the glass
window over the altar. He made me wait at the door, and went down to
the altar, and then had me walk to him. LOL. I took lots of
pictures, and one of the housecleaning staff took our picture at the
altar. A little while later, a young woman and her mother walked in.
She was planning a wedding in November of 2001, and was looking over
the pavilion.
John and I walked around the entire area, and I showed him the
Bride's Vestibule, since he would not be seeing it at all on the
wedding day. It was there that we noticed a curious feature of the
Pavilion that we had not noticed before... standing inside the glass
doorway of the Bride's Vestibule, you can see straight into the
Wedding Pavilion. The inside doors were open (normally these are
closed during a ceremony, so the people inside cannot see the bridal
party (and above all the bride!) before she enters. So looking
straight down the Bride's Vestibule, you could see the Castle, and it
looked HUGE. It filled up almost the entire window.
We started walking towards the main pavilion again, and the Castle
started to get a little smaller. We realized that from the back of
the Pavilion, the Castle looks huge, but as you walk towards the
altar, it reduces to "normal size." I assume this is a trick of the
glass? Whatever it is, it's pretty neat.
So for views of thecastle, you want to be in the back.
We walked out to picture point while the woman and her mother looked
over the pavilion, and stood there under the trellace (sp?) and
looking out at the Castle. Then John caught me up into an embrace
and said, "Do you, John Mangio, take Michelle to be your lawfully
wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward? I DO!" He
was sweet I couldn't resist kissing him.
After a while, we finally continued on to our intended destination:
the Grand Floridian Resort. We wanted to buy the Disney Fairy Tale
Weddings Cake Server & Knife for our reception. Francks no longer
sold the Disney wedding stuff, but a store in the GF now carried it.
We went in to the store to buy it. I should mention that we were
VERY casually dressed, in jean shorts and a tank top (me), t-shirt
(John). The store computers were down, and so they had to do
everything by hand. Thus, the manager was also walking around. And
I felt very much under his scrutiny as we wandered around the store,
looking at many things before purchasing the cake knife and server.
LOL.
We wander around for a bit before catching the monorail over to the
Magic Kingdom. We then purchase our Premium Annual Passes, and
decide to bop into the Magic Kingdom briefly... to see if Arriba
Brothers can engrave our cake knife & server.
We enter the Magic Kingdom, and rush to the middle of Main Street to
stare at our baby, the Castle. And stare and stare we do. LOL. We
both get all teary and emotional again, and just standing there
hugging each other. Finally we notice the Florida humidity bearing
down on us. So bop over to Arriba Brothers to see about getting our
cake knife and server engraved, only to find out that the machine is
broken! Sad. So we decide to head out and go back to our room,
before going over to Epcot to make our Ice Cream Social PS
reservations at the Garden Grille.
As we are walking by one of the vendors selling the Disney Spray
Bottles with Fans, one of them sprays John who stops with an "Ahhhh"
expression on his face. The CM holds out the bottle, but John shakes
his head and starts walking away. About five steps later, he looks
at me and says, "Who am I kidding?" and walks back and buys it. LOL.
Disney marketing works so well on him.
And it became hisfavorite toy for the rest of the trip! He took glee in spraying
everyone. And I think the poor CMs enjoyed it in this heat! LOL.
We bopped into one of the store so John could buy a hat. The
sorcerer mickey hats were on clearance for only $9, so John bought
one for himself. He then saw the "I Am Never Growing Up" hats, and
felt it was perfect for me, and bought it for me. Who was I to
disagree? In Disney, we never grow up! Don't you know it's Never
Never Land?
As we are leaving the Magic Kingdom, we are asked by a CM if we mind
doing an exit survey. We said no, and she started in. After a few
questions, we both felt as if we shouldn't be doing it, because we're
throwing off the curve... after all, we were only in the MK for about
an hour, didn't go on any attractions, etc. etc. Oh, well! She was
very nice, and we had a lot of fun talking, and John sprayed her down
gleefully with his spray bottle before we left.
We then hopped the monorail back to the Polynesian, where I pulled
out my dreaded laptop and hooked it up to the internet. There were
some difficulties at first... darn AOL... but finally it worked. I
checked my email to see if anyone had emailed me with last minute
concerns (we had set up a YahooGroups list with all of our wedding
guests, and everyone kept in touch, made plans, etc. over the list,
so I was seeing if anyone had sent anything). I sent an email off to
all of you Disneymooners to let you know I was off to see a mouse
about a husband, and then we were off!
We walked over to the Ticket and Transportation Center - the LONG
way, as John took us through the parking lot! - and then hopped the
monorail over to Epcot.
It had been a very long time since I had taken a monorail into Epcot,
and I had forgotten it takes you through part of the park. We really
enjoyed the ride, and the bird's eye view of some of the attractions.
We hustled on over to the Garden Grille at the Land Pavilion in
Epcot, and checked in for our PS. I love this restaurant. We had
breakfast here back in 1997, and absolutely loved it. We only waited
about 5 minutes before they seated us. Our CM took our drink order
(just water!) and then went to get our Sundaes. We watched the
desert and farm and other scenes slowly drift by.
What can I say about the Sundaes you get at the Ice Cream Social?
Decadent. There is no better word to describe it. It starts with
chocolate that is drizzled across your plate. Then a very large,
very yummy, and very chocolately chocolate cookie is added to the
plate. There is a hole in the center of the cookie, and in the hole
is placed a very large waffle cone... glued to the cook and the plate
with CHOCOLATE. The cone is filled with rich vanilla icecream,
topped with tiny chocolate chips, and two slaps of Chocolate with
Mickey on it are added to the top. Tiny chocolate chips and fresh
fruit are then sprinkled across the plate.
YUM.
It defeated both John and I. Neither of us could eat all of the
cookie once we had eaten that far. We wondered if we would have room
for dinner... which was only 3 short hours away.
While eating dinner, the characters made an appearance... first
Pluto, then Chip, then Dale, and finally Mickey. We got a few
pictures with some of the characters, and had fun playing with a few.
Dale tried to steal my Mickey Chocolate. Pluto came around a second
time, and stole John's spray bottle. He then snuck up behind Mickey
and started spraying him. It was funny. Eventually, we got the
bottle back, finished eating, and left.
We were rolling ourselves through Epcot at this point, so gorged on
Ice Cream Decadence as we were. We did stop at Innoventions so we
could send a postcard to everyone back home. The line wasn't long,
but the people in front of us must have sent 16 different postcards.
We waited about 20 minutes just for them to finish!
We sent our postcard, explored a little more of Innoventions, and
then dashed back to the monorail. We switched monorails at the TTC
back to the MK, and then took a ferry to the Wilderness Lodge, where
we were meeting some of the DisneyDollarless folks for a mini-meet.
I love the Wilderness Lodge. It, like the Castle, is another place
the evokes that sense of "Home" to me, but in a different way... I
love the woods and the wild places, love to camp and hike, and the WL
embodies all of that natural beauty in a home (okay, a hotel), if you
know what I mean. I just love it. It's the only resort (so far)
that we've stayed at more than once.
We head over to Artist Point, and check in for our reservations. I
don't even get to finish my sentence before one of the CMs says,
"You're with the internet group, right?"
John and I both smile and say yes, and catch the CMs passing a glance
that says "Wow! *I* would never do that." LOL. As we walk towards
the table, the CM guiding us says, "You guys must be very brave, to
meet for dinner with people you've only ever met over the internet.
I don't think I could do that."
I smile again. I have to wonder what he is thinking... what does he
expect to happen, especially in a public setting? And do not people
meet new people at Disney - people they've never even talked to - and
make new friends? At least with meeting people from DD, I've at
least TALKED to them before, and feel as I know them a little. And
we all share the love of Disney.
We get to the table to find that Ilene and her husband Murt, daughter
Michelle, and daughter's friend Michelle, as well as Pam and her
husband Steve are there. Denise and Steve, friends of Ilene's,
arrive shortly after us. Lorna & her son Blaine were also suppose to
meet with us, but they never arrived.
We were seated in one long table, and John and I were kinda in the
middle. We shared a plate of Buffalo, Ostrich, and Lamb, and had
Venison as an appetizer. Mmmm mmm mmmm! I then had the berry
dessert. It was delicious!!
There were at least two conversations going on at all times, and I
have no idea how I kept up with both of them, since I kept jumping
back and forth between them. Pam is just one of those people who
exudes happiness and friendliness, and Ilene was so friendly and
open. It felt like I had known them forever! The guys were engaged
in heavy opinionated conversation, usually about movies, through most
of the evening. Finally, I looked at my watch and realized that it
was 9pm. Wow! How time flew!
We decided we wanted to go out to the dock and watch the Electrical
Water Pagaent. Pam's little daughter was in the Den and they brought
her out to join us. She was the cutest little girl, so full of
energy and smiles. She's the kind of little girl I want when I have
a daughter! LOL!
We all went outside and watched as the Electrical Water Pagaent came
into view. We got a double show, for there were thunderclouds off in
the distance, and lightning played on the horizon all throughout the
show. It was a lot of fun. After the Pagaent left, John and I
realized we should go back to our room... we had a lot of stuff we
still needed to finish, and had gotten none of it done this day. But
at least we had had fun!
We told everyone we had to leave, and before we left, Pam gave us a
bag with a gift in it. "We were at Downtown Disney today," she told
us, "and we saw this and knew it was perfect for you. It's the kind
of gift I would want if I were getting married at Disney." I was all
choked up and didn't know what to say at first. Pam and Steve were
so sweet!!! We opened the box, and it was a silver frame with little
mickey heads in the corner. It was perfect!! And so wonderful!! We
thanked them wholeheartedly, over and over. I wanted to give her a
big hug, but didn't know if she would think that too forward, and so
just said thank you again!
We then caught the ferry and headed over to the Magic Kingdom. I was
sad to leave... we had just made some great friends, and I wish we
could have spent more time with them! But we knew we would see Pam &
Steve again at the meet at Boma's the following Sunday.
We got back to the Magic Kingdom, and saw that the ferry to the
Polynesian Resort had just pulled in. So rather than take the
monorail, we decided for a nice evening ride on the small boat.
And I'm glad we did! About half-way across the Seven Seas Lagoon, we
heard the music from the Magic Kingdom and watched as the first
fireworks from Fantasy In The Sky went off. What a wonderful treat!!
The CM driving the ferry slowed down a turned so that we got a
beautiful view of the fireworks over the lake. It was wonderful, and
truly magical!
We got back to our room, to find several messages blinking an urgent
orange at us from the answering machine. We also saw that the Rose
on the table that the Polynesian had given to us, all pretty in its
vase, and the congratulations card from them. Our housekeeper had
created a towel flower with the word "Love" in towels beneath it, and
sprinkled flowers all over the floor and in the bud of the flower.
It was so pretty!!
We listened to all our messages, made some phone calls, and then got
to work. We had a message from Rev. Jack Day, saying he hadn't
gotten our ceremony. We had written an initial ceremony, and sent it
to him, asking for his advice. I guess he never got it, and like so
many other things, it got lost in the shuffle of things to do in the
final weeks. Yikes!! So I pulled out the ceremony I had written and
showed it to John, and then pulled out all the pieces of stuff that
we might want included, and we got to work. John fell asleep
sometime around 1:00am. I kept on going, determined to finish all
revisions. I lost track somewhere around 2:30am, and was awoken an
hour later by John. He both then crawled into bed, and the blessed
oblivion of sleep overtook us both.
