Cakes and Napoleons and F&W, oh my! Planning our Disney wedding!! UPDATED 9/15!!!

[Curiouser&curiouser!]

Lovely locations! That will be just a perfect day! And we knew there had to be something Epcot related!

 

[Disneybuckeye]

Sounds like things are coming together nicely. Can't wait to read more!

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Lovely location choices....

Um are you going to Epcot next...?

 

[scottny]

WHAT?? How did you get free chocolate??? The only chocolate I saw had price tags along with it

There was a guy handing them out. He had a little basket like at DTD.
Wow it was really dark when you got going this morning.
I love Kona for breakfast. Vinny not so much.
No you are not the only one to decide weeks in advance and then be torn of a menu choice.
Have you seen the décor for the rooms in GFV? Yuck!
Can I just say if the U.S. ever does allow gay marriages federally and not just in states I will have a recommitment ceremony here.

Great update and pics.

 

[shan23877]

Love your location choices! They all seem perfect for the two of you.

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Aww reading about your site visit makes me all nostalgic lol Having a DFTW was the best decision we could have made. You picked some wonderful locations!

 

[glennbo123]

Your plans are looking great Stringbean (and Wingnut)!

 

[danimaroo]

I'm all caught up, hooray!! Your banana joke made me laugh out loud, especially at Wingnut's parents' reaction, hahaha.

I really enjoy JetBlue! They have to be my favorite airline. I so wish they flew from Seattle to Orlando directly... buuuut they don't. If we flew them we'd have to do Seattle-New York (or Boston)-Orlando.. It'd end up being like 9 hours and 50 minutes or something wonky like that.

YAY FOR EPCOT! I can't wait to go back there! That will be our first park during our trip since we'll be a 5 minute walk from it. I do adore that park a lot.

Okay, the sticky toffee pudding is making me regret not getting an ADR there. We always do Raglan Road, one of these days we'll have to check out Rose & Crowne!

Your breakfast at Kona is making me so excited!! I am stuck between the Macadamia nut pancakes and the Tonga toast though... I've never had either but they both look so good!

Oh my gosh, those wedding sites look BEAUTIFUL! If I were to get married in Disney World, I would've totally chosen the same thing! How exciting that must have been to start to visualize it all! AHH!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[HeatherNJNC]

Just came across your trip report! I think I'll vicariously live my wedding again through you! We were married at Sea Breeze Point and it was amazing! Good luck with your planning!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Great update! At first I thought you were visiting the GF to possibly get married there, and I thought "no way, they have to have an Epcot or Epcot resort wedding"! Ahhh seeing this update makes me wish SO much that we had a Disney wedding! But at least we had a Disneymoon!

I think all of your choices are wonderful, it sounds like your wedding will be amazing!

Happy Holidays!

Haha yeah, it was definitely going to be an Epcot-area location for us!!!

Thank you!!

YAY for wedding stuff !!! I have always wanted to stay at Grand Floridian and this DVC addition is my chance !!! It looks bigger at the ground level than it does from the monorail, I think.

It looks like it's going to be really big! I'm interested to see what it looks like when it's all completed!

How excited to see your ceremony, reception, and dessert party locations!! Is Sea Breeze Point the site at the far end of Boardwalk before you get to the bridge to Epcot?? It all looks so lovely!!

This all makes me want to drag my man back down the aisle and make him declare that he still loves me after all these years with a vow renewal!

Wishing you and Wingnut (ok, not Joe apparently!), planty, and Hoot a wonderful Holiday as well!!

Yes, it's the gazebo right before the bridge!

Hahaha awww a vow renewal sounds like a fun idea!

Thanks!!

Your wedding is going to be SO magical! I knew you'd choose an Epcot location, and the dessert party is a great idea! It's fun living vicariously through you guys as you plan!

Thank you!!!

I am so impressed with how your plans are already coming together! It is going to be amazing!!!

Thanks!!!

Did you know I actually went in the wedding pavilion once? Yup. True story. Several years ago I was on a girls' trip and we were pool hopping at the GF. So we decided to walk down the beach towards the chapel. A force just pulled me in and I kept getting closer and closer until I was at the door. I pulled on the handle and *bam* it opened. Queue the hallelujah chorus. It was gorgeous. O.M.G.

Your venues for your service, reception, and dessert party are wonderful choices. What is the date again? (you know - in case I happen to be there at the same time and become an accidental lurker....). Cynthia and I saw a lovely reception set up near the cottages and the quiet pool at the BWV. We didn't stay around to see the guests come in, but the area looked beautiful and we got a sneak peek of the bride out near the boardwalk.

So there's a wedding mobile?

Fun update.

YES I remember you mentioning that before!! How lucky!!! Unfortunately, the doors were locked when we were there!

Thank you! The cottage area sounds like an awesome wedding spot!

Yes, there is!!!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Oh my goodness!!!! Yall's wedding is going to be AMAZING. You are so lucky you have a chance to get married at Disney World... and a fiance that's willing to do so!

Your own private IlluminNations dessert party? Oh my Heaven.

Thank you!!! Yes, he's so excited about it - I'm very lucky!

All of those locations look wonderful!!!!

So excited for you!!!!
A Disney Wedding

Illuminations Dessert?!? um, AWESOME!!!!! Perfect way to end the night, AND make sure you see illuminations!!!

Thank you!!! Hahaha yes, we won't be missing Illuminations then!

What great choices for your wedding venues!!! We saw a wedding taking place at the SBP one visit. It was so pretty!

I remember MEK's stealth visit to the wedding pavilion! She got some great pictures!!

Thanks!!!

I want to try to get over to GF to see the new pool area on the March trip.

So fun to be making Disney wedding plans! Thanks for letting us in on the behind-the-scenes preparation.

Oooooooh, how fun!!!

The new splash area is really cute, it's all Alice in Wonderland themed!

Thanks!!!

Not that I am biased, or anything, but Sea Breeze is the best spot! I can still remember standing there with my husband on a beautiful sunny day, with Disney blue skies (you know Exactly what I mean), a nice breeze and our family. Some of our best pictures have all of the Boardwalk buildings as a background. So excited for you! We go back every year and take a picture there together.

You're making me even more excited about choosing SBP!!! That's so sweet that you take an annual picture there - what a wonderful idea!

WOW! Your wedding looks like its going to be amazing! I shouldn't be even remotely surprised that you chose a Boardwalk area/EPCOT location. I think you made great choices and I can't imagine any better way to end a wedding than with Illuminations!

Thank you!!!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Love all your wedding location choices! Sea Breeze Point looks like a gorgeous place to have your wedding ceremony. And I've always thought the IllumiNations Dessert Parties are a great addition to a Disney Wedding. (It was number 1 on my must-have list back when I toyed with a Disney Wedding.)
And, it looks like day 1 of wedding plans ran smoothly! Always a plus.

Thanks!!! Yes, we are VERY excited about the dessert party!!

Excellant choices, i wonder which one you will go with. Not a loser in the bunch, good luck. And Illuminations to cap off the night. Perfect for you two!!!

Thank you!!!

Lovely locations! That will be just a perfect day! And we knew there had to be something Epcot related!

Thanks!!! Hahaha yes, of course!

Sounds like things are coming together nicely. Can't wait to read more!

Thanks!!!

Lovely location choices....

Um are you going to Epcot next...?

Thanks!!!

There was a guy handing them out. He had a little basket like at DTD.
Wow it was really dark when you got going this morning.
I love Kona for breakfast. Vinny not so much.
No you are not the only one to decide weeks in advance and then be torn of a menu choice.
Have you seen the décor for the rooms in GFV? Yuck!
Can I just say if the U.S. ever does allow gay marriages federally and not just in states I will have a recommitment ceremony here.

Great update and pics.

That's awesome, I wish I'd have seen that!

Yes, we left the room before the sun came up pretty much every day that week!

Hahaha yes, those menu decisions can be difficult!

I think that's a great plan!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Love your location choices! They all seem perfect for the two of you.

Thanks!!!

Aww reading about your site visit makes me all nostalgic lol Having a DFTW was the best decision we could have made. You picked some wonderful locations!

Awww yay!!! Thank you!!

Your plans are looking great Stringbean (and Wingnut)!

Thanks!!

I'm all caught up, hooray!! Your banana joke made me laugh out loud, especially at Wingnut's parents' reaction, hahaha.

I really enjoy JetBlue! They have to be my favorite airline. I so wish they flew from Seattle to Orlando directly... buuuut they don't. If we flew them we'd have to do Seattle-New York (or Boston)-Orlando.. It'd end up being like 9 hours and 50 minutes or something wonky like that.

YAY FOR EPCOT! I can't wait to go back there! That will be our first park during our trip since we'll be a 5 minute walk from it. I do adore that park a lot.

Okay, the sticky toffee pudding is making me regret not getting an ADR there. We always do Raglan Road, one of these days we'll have to check out Rose & Crowne!

Your breakfast at Kona is making me so excited!! I am stuck between the Macadamia nut pancakes and the Tonga toast though... I've never had either but they both look so good!

Oh my gosh, those wedding sites look BEAUTIFUL! If I were to get married in Disney World, I would've totally chosen the same thing! How exciting that must have been to start to visualize it all! AHH!

Can't wait to read more!

Hahaha yeah, it's a fun trick!!!

Ugh that's annoying that they don't fly directly! That would be a lot of travel time!

I adore Epcot too...there really isn't much to dislike about it!

We love Raglan Road too, but Rose & Crown is great as well! You should definitely give it a try!

Ooooh they are both GREAT! It really comes down to how much of a sugar overload you want that morning!

Thank you!! It really was exciting!

Just came across your trip report! I think I'll vicariously live my wedding again through you! We were married at Sea Breeze Point and it was amazing! Good luck with your planning!

Welcome!!! Thank you!!

Your wedding was so beautiful!! (I just checked out your wedding TR!) I LOVE your bouquet!!!

 

[CandleontheWater]

Your wedding plans sound wonderful! I saw a wedding at Sea breeze point once, and it looked so romantic!

I also love the idea of an Illuminations dessert party, you will have some incredible wedding pictures!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

The four of us headed to the Grand Floridian’s bus stop, where we discovered something we’d never seen at any other bus stop before: Bus Tracking TV Screens!



(Fancy touch, GF!)

We set out with the idea of playing Bus Roulette, the first bus that arrives is the place we are going! Leave our future in the hands of the transportation CM’s! Go where the wind blows!

…except…meh. Let’s let that Animal Kingdom bus go by.

Hollywood Studios? Much better.

When we were at DFTW, we were given vouchers for Annual Passes, and so our first order of business when arriving at DHS was to exchange them for our first real AP’s! We stopped over at the ticket window, and were soon holding our AP’s (mine: Goofy; DF: Pluto, I think). I had also wanted to get a Tables in Wonderland card while we were there, but the line at Guest Services looked pretty long, so we figured we’d stop back there later.





We walked down Hollywood Blvd., all doing the polite “what do YOU want to do?” “I’m fine with whatever YOU want to do” exchange, before it was declared by someone that the Great Movie Ride was right in front of us, so why not?

There was actually a bit of a wait for the GMR (20 minutes-ish), so we were wound around the building in queues I hadn’t been in possibly ever.







But then soon we were in the usual winding movie theater queue room.





And then awaiting our tour through the movies! I noticed that we were queued up pretty close to the front of the room, and began to get hopeful that my parents would get to see the cowboy scene. I wasn’t positive though…

...until we started rolling straight through the gangster scene! Cowboys for us!











YES, I know, it doesn’t make a huge dramatic difference to the plotline, but it is a fun changeup when you usually only get the other scene.

We all know how the rest of the story goes.

"HALT."



"Tarzan??"











“Follow the yellow brick road…”



CONTINUED IN NEXT UPDATE

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS UPDATE

After the Great Movie Ride, we found ourselves on the Streets of America, being taunted by how soon the Osborne Lights would be starting RIGHT after we left.



Wah.



We saw Mulch, Sweat, and Shears pulling away after finishing one of their performances, so, sadly, I did not get the opportunity to dance with them like Lisa (Mickeystoontown) had.



After starting to do the meander politely bit again, I took the reins and declared that the Muppets would be our next stop.

As we approached MuppetVision 3D (Hi, I'm Dorothy, I'm Dinah, and I'm Max...), I noticed the little cart right by the entrance had, oh, around EIGHT MILLION OF THE MUPPETS HATS ON IT.



Of course it did.

Happily, we arrived not too far into the preshow, and so we got to watch a good portion of it.



After the show, we declared that it was high time for a snack. We couldnt decide what we wanted, and ended up on Sunset Blvd. with all of our wandering. After contemplating the menus at some of the CS areas, my mom and dad decided to go with a margarita and a frozen lemonade, respectively. (I want to say that these were from High Octane Refreshments, but I could just be making that up. It sounds plausible though, right?)

Wingnut and I went over to one of the ice cream carts, where he got a Mickey Ice Cream Sandwich, and I chose a Mickey Premium Bar.

Frozen Margarita (Mom: Eh. A good solid 5.)



(5 out of how many, I'm not really sure. Let's go with 10.)

Frozen Lemonade (Dad: Very good.)



Mickey Ice Cream Sandwich (DF: Really good.)



Mickey Premium Bar (Me: Nom nom nom...)





Alright, I know that youre not going to believe this, but this was actually my very first Mickey Premium Bar. Ever. Ever ever ever. I know that sounds crazy, but just recently has my lactose intolerance been mellowing out so that I have been able to have things like pizza and cheesecake and ice cream. I only now need to take a Lactaid for cheesecake and ice cream even pizza and other cheesy items are good to go with me now!

(Is that too much information about my digestive system? Sorry.)

Us:



After our frozen treats, we realized that the parade was going to start pretty much momentarily, and we had to decide whether or not to go to the shops across the street or head out of the park pretty soon, or be stuck on Sunset Blvd. for the duration. We decided to dash across the street into the shops, and I only briefly pretended that I was a part of the oncoming parade, waving and holding my head up high, as we crossed.

(I'd say that I only act like this in Disney World, but that would be a bit of a lie...)

A glimpse of the merriment:



As we walked around the shop, the parade blaring outside with dance music, I found this little adorable couple.



Me: Look.
DF: No.
Me: Look, they play music.
DF: No.
Me: Look, I can make the entire shelf of them play music.
DF: (walking away) This is why we cant take you anywhere.

Things are always festive when I'm around, I'll say that much.

A few minutes later, the walls of the shop stopped reverberating with the peppy dance music and we headed back outside, stopping in Sid Cahungas shop on the way to Guest Services to get the Tables in Wonderland card.

With the AP and TIW cards combined (is anyone else thinking of the Captain Planet theme song right now, or is it just me?), I now felt the ultimate power of the Annual Passholder. With both dining and shopping discounts at my fingertips, nary a purchase would be made for the duration of the trip without me asking, "do you accept this discount?"

 

[teekathepony]

Cowboy scene! So jealous!
Of course there are thousands of muppet hats now!
That Mickey and Minnie bride and groom are way too cute!

 

[jecskc]

YAY for AP and TiW discounts !!! Hahahaha on the muppet hats. Bummer that DF didn't want to buy the Micky and Minnie Groom and Bride. Isn't that an anachronism ?? I mean Mickey and Minnie aren't supposed to be married right ??? I dunno.

 

[emmysmommy]

I like the fact that you are so flexible with your park plans... go where the wind takes you at the GF bus stop ... ehh uhhh except AK! That's me... I think I'll let that bus just go right ahead and pass us by!

I must not pay attention on TGMR because I had to ask my DD if there were two different hostile take-over scenes that alternate depending... uh yes! We must usually see the gangster version. Ok.. moving along..I'll pay better attention next time.

Ahhh the power of the AP combined with having a TiW card - you practically had to spend money to see how much you could save! A woman's logic I'm sure! Sure is exciting to have both though.

Looking forward to more Stringbean and Wingnut adventures!

 

[amazingact21]

It seems like more and more people are lucking out with the cowboy scene on Great Movie Ride. Maybe Disney has realized people get sick of going through the mobster one every single time. I still have yet to see the cowboys, though, so let's hope this trend continues.


Being an Annual Passholder is fantastic. You feel so special. (And all those discounts are great! I use it even when I'm buiying an 8 dollar pin. )