Brett & Katie's 10Yr Anniversary- 8 days in Disney, Sept 2010 (POR & Waldorf Astoria)

[ktjohn]

Time for a calorie burning swim!! (actually we didn’t burn any calories, because we just floated around in a lazy stupor. It was awesome... hee hee)

Ok, it was dinner time and we weren’t hungry. CRISIS!!!! So we went over to Winter Summerland for a cut throat game of mini golf.

I loved this golf course (which makes sense, since I’m a Christmas fanatic). I’m definitely taking my kids here when we go back!!

This is Brett having a great deal of trouble getting his ball to go through the toboggan... (let us note for the record that I got it in one shot, and he got it in 5 shots! Let us also note for the record that he still won. hahaha!)

It was distressing to me, as a lover of Christmas, to find Santa stuck in the chimney!!! “Don't worry, Santa!!! I'll save you! Hang on!”

Annywhooooooo….

After that, we both agreed that maybe we had a tiny bit of room in our stomach now. We were ready to stuff it with some dinner! We went to Big River Grille at The Boardwalk. I thought it was fantastic!!! Brett said so too!! Of course, I found out 3 months later that he was LYING!!! He didn’t really like it at all. I think he was just trying to appease me. Oh well. I thought we’d found a keeper. I guess we’ll skip it on our next trip.

We walked around the Boardwalk for awhile, did some shopping and then went headed back to our resort. As I laid in bed that night, I started getting that feeling of sadness when your vacation is ¾’s of the way done, and you can’t make time slow down. Only two days left! *whimper*

 

[Shannon84]

Love the picture of the ponies...how can you not think those guys are adorable!!!

I have always wanted to check out the mini golf at WDW...but last time we didnt have a car there and it seemed a little confusing how to get there by bus (we give up easily obviously )

Good thing he fessed up later before you planned that restaurant in another trip!!

 

[ktjohn]

I wonder if a mini pony would fit in my livingroom?? Hmmm...

We always take our car to Disney, so we have the freedom to come and go wherever and whenever we want. I feel bad for all the people who have to take the bus. Because I know I would get utterly confused with the bus system and end up lost. LOL!!!

Good thing he fessed up later before you planned that restaurant in another trip!!

Yes!! It's definitely a good thing, since we are taking the kids back to Disney in only 3 weeks! He fessed up just in time!!

 

[Disneychix]

Wow, I was really behind! Your pics are excellent! There isn't one bad one!

I think it's really nice of you to brave the TOT for your DH! I personally love it but couldn't imagine going on it if you have a fear of free-falling.

We love Mama Melrose too, but we haven't been in a few years. Next trip we might have to go back.

I didn't realize you are going back in less than 3 weeks!!! When did that happen! Awesome!!

Oh, and you are totally allowed to take food out of the CS places. Some, if not all, will even give you to-go type containers. I walked around with a taco salad from Pecos Bills which probably wasn't the best food to get to-go but was oh so tasty!!

 

[ktjohn]

Wow, I was really behind! Your pics are excellent! There isn't one bad one!

Thanks!!! After coming home with about 3,000 pictures, there just had to be a handful of good ones. LOL!!!

I didn't realize you are going back in less than 3 weeks!!! When did that happen! Awesome!!

We grabbed the free dining promo and booked a trip for January. We surprised the kids for Christmas! Now they are DYING to get through the next 3 weeks. haha! (we felt only slightly guilty for not bringing them on this trip, so we are going back for a family trip. haha!)

This was how we surprised them...
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2620727

Oh, and you are totally allowed to take food out of the CS places. Some, if not all, will even give you to-go type containers. I walked around with a taco salad from Pecos Bills which probably wasn't the best food to get to-go but was oh so tasty!!

YES!!!!!! 1 vote for Katie!!!!!

 

[JerilynPearl]

What a great Trip Report! Thanks so much for sharing, I love all the pictures you posted.

 

[ktjohn]

What a great Trip Report! Thanks so much for sharing, I love all the pictures you posted.

Thanks!! So glad you are enjoying! I see a honeymoon is coming up for you this year!! How awesome

And welcome to the board! I noticed you just joined. Prepare to get addicted really fast

 

[Disneychix]

What a great Christmas surprise!!

My DS keeps asking to "go to Disney please" (even though he was just there in Oct!) and I keep telling him "after baby brother is born." (we are expecting in Feb) I just know that after the baby is home for 1 day he's going to think we are getting on a plane and going to Disney! We don't have a trip planned yet but I'm hoping next Nov. It'll be a long wait for DS!!

 

[ktjohn]

My DS keeps asking to "go to Disney please" (even though he was just there in Oct!) and I keep telling him "after baby brother is born." (we are expecting in Feb) I just know that after the baby is home for 1 day he's going to think we are getting on a plane and going to Disney! We don't have a trip planned yet but I'm hoping next Nov. It'll be a long wait for DS!!

OMG!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!! You must be very ready for Feb. haha! I remember being that pregnant. Oh, Lordy! I was Mrs. Cranky Pants!

I think each new child brings another chance to re-live the Disney magic for the first time... through their eyes.

 

[ktjohn]

Day 7- Epcot
This is the day I’d been waiting for the whole trip!!!!! Epcot is my FAVORITE!! I’ve been in love with Epcot since I was 8!! (Which is oddly strange, since most 8 year old's get very bored in there). I always thought it was so beautiful and romantic. And on this trip, I’d been waiting to go to Epcot and be romanced!

Unfortunately, the past 6 days had completely wiped me out. So I had to dig deep to find some energy. We decided to take our time, do some laundry, and hang out in the pool for awhile. When we finally got our act together and headed out, we kept pausing to take pictures of the resort. You know the feeling…. When you’ve only got a day and a half left… and even though you’ve taken 2500 pictures, you suddenly feel like you haven’t taken enough pictures!!! Ok, maybe I’m the only one who feels that way.

Now that that was out of the way (I took way more pictures than that, but I’m sure nobody wants to see a bazillion pictures of POR. ), we headed off to Epcot. We always drive our car everywhere, but we agreed on this day to take the bus. We were going to stay all the way through the EMH and have a few drinks around the world. Our own personal rule we have with each other is that even one small drink merits not driving. Brett and I don’t take chances. Ever. And since we wanted to drink together, neither of us would be driving. This was our first experience with the WDW bus system. I kept asking the bus driver how late they’d be picking people up after EMH. I was suddenly panic stricken that we’d be stranded there with no more buses (can you tell I’m a control freak??). The bus driver assured me that they wouldn’t leave anyone behind.

Ahhhhh, Epcot…..

I felt like I was home.

Well, we’d spent so much time in the resort pool and taking pictures that we didn’t get to Epcot till noon. We had an ADR at LeCellier at 2, so we skipped FW and headed straight for WS to look around and kill 2 hours. We spent some time walking around Canada (which I personally think is gorgeous)…

We walked around back to the waterfall, which felt really nice in the blistering heat. I stood next to it and let it sprinkle me. That’s the problem with getting to the park at noon in the summer… you arrive just in time for the worst heat of the day!

We headed over to England to look in the shops and get out of the heat.

P.S. I wanted this tea set. I should have bought it!! (I always talk myself out of buying stuff and then regret it)

We didn’t want to stray too far from Canada, so we headed over to LeCellier and sat in their air conditioned waiting room for 30 minutes (sweet relief). I’d never eaten here, so I was pretty excited to try it. I see so many glowing reviews and equal amounts of scathing reviews, so I had no idea what to expect. I must be easy to please, because I thought it was outstanding.

As you can see, it wasn’t very busy, which I thought was odd. People have so much trouble getting ADR’s here! Why was it so empty?

Anyway, might I just say… LeCellier’s strawberry smoothie…. YUMMY!!!

Brett had the mushroom filet, and I had the NY Strip. We tried each other’s and decided they were equally awesome.

We also had an appetizer. I don’t know what the exact name of it was, but it was basically cheese fries in a skillet. Annnnnnddd we had dessert! So you get the idea that when we walked out of there into the blistering heat, we were so stuffed. I think when you’re so full, the heat feels much worse.

We lumbered through WS like grumpy bears in the summer heat. After awhile, we had digested a little bit and got some life back in us.

We made it to Mexico.

I read here that one of the best drinks in WS is the strawberry margarita, so we got that as our first drink. Then we turned around and started heading back through WS for a second pass (I hadn’t taken enough pictures on the first pass. Haha!).

Well, we made it through Norway, but as we got to China, I started feeling really dizzy and sick. Note to self: don’t drink in blazing heat! I got some water, and started to feel better, but I never quite recovered the rest of the day. The sun had sapped everything out of me. I think Brett may have been overheated too, because we shuffled along in silence. My motto of “OOH! Stop! I must take a picture!” had changed to “*grunt* picture…”

I was slightly depressed. This wasn’t how my mind had fantasized about this supremely romantic day in Epcot! We’d even planned to have a little picnic under the bridge like I’d read in the “Disney for Adults” book! That didn’t happen. Lots of things didn’t happen. And I began to remember why I prefer going to Disney World in January. We can accomplish SO much in January and never feel sun sick or slowed down to a crawl. Oh well… lesson learned.

 

[ktjohn]

Anyway, after my little bout with nearly fainting, we continued our way through WS (ducking inside many shops to escape the sun).

Germany…

Italy…

America…

Japan…

Morocco…

France…

Now, one of my romantical ideas for this trip was to buy some perfume in France. So we headed over to the shop. But as we walked in, 3 sales girls immediately descended upon us with their sales pitches. I was instantly turned off. I had wanted to walk around in peace and look at all the options and ask questions if I needed to, but 2 of the girls wouldn’t leave me alone. This isn’t how I like to shop, and I hate being pressured. DH has no sense of smell, so he couldn’t really help me, and the girls wouldn’t leave me alone to just walk around and smell everything for myself. I finally gave up and walked out. Tears started pricking my eyes. This day wasn’t turning out at all like I’d planned.

Then I remembered a piece of advice I got before my wedding… “One major thing will always go wrong. Expect something to go wrong, and just roll with it. Don’t get upset. So many other things will go right and make it all perfect.” I figured that advice should apply to my 10 year anniversary too. The rest of the week had been perfect. I guess this was the one hiccup in the trip. I wiped the tear away and was determined to just enjoy the rest of the day… heat, exhaustion, crowds, and all.

It’s really all a matter of perspective. When you focus on all the bad, it will feel like a bad time. But if you focus on the good, you start to feel better.

We went over to FW and rode Soarin and did a little shopping. I began feeling better. Then we got fast passes for Test Track and Mission Space. The sun began to set, and that made me feel even better! Positive perspective and the cool of the evening make all the difference!

I'll write more soon!

 

[Disneychix]

Awe! Sorry you had a rough day in EPCOT. I'm glad you were able to turn it around!

The drinking in the heat always gets me. I'm good for about 1/2 a drink before I NEED to go to bed! This always happens on our 1st day of vacation cause we like to celebrate but usually ends up with a headache and overdoing it for me.

You still got some great pics

 

[Shannon84]

You know I really enjoyed having a margarita when we were at Mexico in EPCOT, but then I sort of felt exhausted the rest of the day (we went end of Sept.)

I really like the advice you shared from your wedding day...I think I need to be a little more like that...roll with the punches. Our EPCOT day was a big disaster and it being DBF's first WDW trip I still feel guilty we pretty much missed the WS experience as a whole

 

[ktjohn]

The drinking in the heat always gets me. I'm good for about 1/2 a drink before I NEED to go to bed! This always happens on our 1st day of vacation cause we like to celebrate but usually ends up with a headache and overdoing it for me.

I'm exactly like you. I didn't think one drink would kill me, but I couldn't even finish it. What a bummer!

I really like the advice you shared from your wedding day...I think I need to be a little more like that...roll with the punches. Our EPCOT day was a big disaster and it being DBF's first WDW trip I still feel guilty we pretty much missed the WS experience as a whole

I'm glad I got that wedding advice, because a couple things did go wrong on my wedding day, and I had to take some deep breaths and purpose not to let it bother me or overshadow my great day. Now we laugh about those things, and they are great comical tales to tell. I'm pretty sure in a few years, we'll be laughing about our afternoon in Epcot too! I'm just not ready to laugh about it just yet... hee hee

 

[DWGal210]

Awesome TR! I love it & am all caught up. I'm a Katie too!

The heat CAN really take it out of you, can't it?! At least it looks like you're having a fabulous time!!

 

[ktjohn]

Awesome TR! I love it & am all caught up. I'm a Katie too!

The heat CAN really take it out of you, can't it?! At least it looks like you're having a fabulous time!!

Thanks for following along!! Yay!! Another Katie!!! It really is the best name in my humble opinion...

Yes, we had a fabulous time except for that one afternoon. Sorry I had to stop writing on such a bad note. I've had a couple busy days, but I will write more later. I'm excited to describe the rest of that evening which was very redemptive and awesome. I'll get back to it either tonight or tomorrow.

 

[ktjohn]

Day 7- Epcot (evening)

I’m so sorry for dropping off the map for awhile!! Life got crazy busy, but here I am to finish my report. (I need to finish it, since we're leaving for Disney with the kids in 5 days! LOL!!) Anyway, on with the show!

That evening, I didn’t eat. I ended up forfeiting my counter service credit for that day, because I’d been so sun sick and had no appetite. That was a bummer! I’m not a big fan of passing up free food. But it did give my stomach a much needed opportunity to take a break from the incessant gluttonous eating all week long. Hee hee!

We ended up sitting on the steps right where the black arrow points to in this picture.

We just sat there and relaxed in peace and a gentle breeze. Other people slowly started to fill up the area to wait for Illuminations. A delightful older couple sat next to us on the steps, and the man offered to take our picture. I was so thrilled, because we don’t have too many pictures of us together on this trip.

Sometimes the most romantic magical moments are not something you can plan. We just sat there together in silence waiting for Illuminations. We were together… in Disney… together. That’s an overwhelmingly wonderful feeling (especially with all the sights and sounds of Epcot around you). I was so happy. We didn’t even need to speak or have conversation. Sometimes you just love someone so much, no words are needed. By the time Illuminations started, I was so happy and in love, I didn’t even mind the sudden realization that this is not the greatest place to sit to watch the show! HAHAH! That little island is slightly in the way. (note to self: stand somewhere else next time)

After Illuminations, we took advantage of the EMH, and went back over to FW to use our fast passes for Test Track and Mission space. Test Track was fun, but not as great fun as I thought it would be. It might have just been that I was very overtired. I’m going back there next week, so I’ll try it again and see if I like it better this time!

I was truly afraid of Mission Space. I’d never been on it. When it first opened, my Dad went on it and was sick the rest of the day. I decided to be brave and try it this time. I don’t think I’ve been so scared standing in a line before! Thankfully, I didn’t have very long to be scared, because the fast pass wait time was 2 minutes. Haha! It was nice to be with another couple who was also nervous! And it sure was helpful that there was a group of teenagers nearby who explained the entire ride and exactly what to expect.

I did very well the whole time and didn’t get scared or sick! WOOHOO!!! I immediately had to update my facebook status and let everyone know I survived Mission Space

We could have stayed longer after that, but we were so tired. We decided to go back to the hotel. As we walked out of the park, we both bought Mickey Ice Creams on our way and walked hand in hand eating them as fast as we could before they melted. Another magical moment for me

The line for the bus took FOR-EVERRRR!! (thankfully we are fairly patient people in general). When we finally got on a bus, I fell asleep on DH’s shoulder the whole way back. Then we stumbled to the hotel room and fell asleep the moment our heads hit the pillow. Sweet sleep…..

 

[Disneychix]

How fun you are going back in 5 days with the kids! Did you say if you are staying onsight?

What a great evening. I love Illuminations! I also love Mickey icecreams!!

 

[ktjohn]

How fun you are going back in 5 days with the kids! Did you say if you are staying onsight?

Yes, we are staying at the POP, and then the last night of the trip at The Swan. We felt bad that the kids didn't get to go with us on this trip, so we got home in Sept. and immediately booked a bounce back deal to take the kids on a "kid" trip with the free dining promo! We gave it to them as a surprise Christmas present! That was a very hard secret to keep for 3 months!

They are absolutely dying this week and can't bear to wait another 5 days.

 

[Shannon84]

I am glad to see you guys had a wonderful night I have to tell you Mission Space makes me feel but DBF LOVES that ride!! You are much braver than me!!

How exciting you guys are going back so soon with the kids, hope its a great trip Then again its Disney, so of course it will be!