Celebrating Our First Anniversary Contemporary Style! (COMPLETED)

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

Shuttle Launch



We then went exploring around the Contemporary grounds. We changed into some more comfortable clothes and made our way back downstairs. I've been through the resort and in the resort so many times, but had never seen the pools or the backside of the resort before! I really liked it a lot and I loved all the water activities being right outside our door. There was a bar and a little place to get snacks along the dock too!

Here is a view looking up at the Contemporary where our room was located on the 7th floor. We just loved it!

I never saw the original pool, but I heard it was just an Olympic sized swimming pool. I really thought the pool area was great! I loved how the hot tub was actually in the middle of the pool and I loved the fountain areas. There was also a large slide and another hot tub in a private area. There were play areas by the pool for the kids too! It was great the way the beach was built right in with the pool area too, so you could be in the sand and right by the pool at the same time.

One of the great pluses about the Contemporary is that there are two pools in close proximity to one another. The other pool is very unique and it is technically in Bay Lake on the dock area. How neat is that!? It actually gets deeper as you walk towards the middle of it.

It was pretty hot outside, but we decided to skip on the swimming for now because we had dinner reservations in a couple hours. We decided to just relax. We found two hammocks that were right on the beach!

We each caught a quick nap and then went back up to our room to cool off before our dinner at Chef Mickey's. We didn't have too far to go, so we had plenty of time to get ready!


We quickly remembered that the Shuttle Atlantis was going to be taking off in Cape Canaveral. This would actually be the first shuttle launch we could see, since we moved to Florida. I was really hoping we could see it! We turned on the TV to watch for the countdown, while we got ready.

There was already a nice size crowd gathering outside on the dock to watch the shuttle launch. I guess we were on the perfect side of the Contemporary for a great viewing spot!

We heard the countdown beginning on TV, so we got out on the balcony to watch the launch! We could see the Shuttle Atlantis so clearly! It was an amazing sight to see!

There were many more people, who had also gathered on their balconies to watch the launch. It was such a neat and fun experience! Everyone clapped and cheered as we saw the shuttle take-off.

It was another Magical experience for us to share on our Anniversary weekend! We were so lucky to be able to view it right from our balcony at Walt Disney World! It was a great moment!





More to Come!

 

[momofdbsdc]

Congratulations on your 1st anniversary Lindsey!!! I can't wait to read the rest of your trip report!

 

[nts4wdw]

Excellent update! We saw the Shuttle Launch from the Grand Floridian. It's an awesome experience!

 

[apirateslife4evr]

Shuttle Launch



We then went exploring around the Contemporary grounds. We changed into some more comfortable clothes and made our way back downstairs. I've been through the resort and in the resort so many times, but had never seen the pools or the backside of the resort before! I really liked it a lot and I loved all the water activities being right outside our door. There was a bar and a little place to get snacks along the dock too!

Here is a view looking up at the Contemporary where our room was located on the 7th floor. We just loved it!

I never saw the original pool, but I heard it was just an Olympic sized swimming pool. I really thought the pool area was great! I loved how the hot tub was actually in the middle of the pool and I loved the fountain areas. There was also a large slide and another hot tub in a private area. There were play areas by the pool for the kids too! It was great the way the beach was built right in with the pool area too, so you could be in the sand and right by the pool at the same time.

One of the great pluses about the Contemporary is that there are two pools in close proximity to one another. The other pool is very unique and it is technically in Bay Lake on the dock area. How neat is that!? It actually gets deeper as you walk towards the middle of it.

It was pretty hot outside, but we decided to skip on the swimming for now because we had dinner reservations in a couple hours. We decided to just relax. We found two hammocks that were right on the beach!

We each caught a quick nap and then went back up to our room to cool off before our dinner at Chef Mickey's. We didn't have too far to go, so we had plenty of time to get ready!


We quickly remembered that the Shuttle Atlantis was going to be taking off in Cape Canaveral. This would actually be the first shuttle launch we could see, since we moved to Florida. I was really hoping we could see it! We turned on the TV to watch for the countdown, while we got ready.

There was already a nice size crowd gathering outside on the dock to watch the shuttle launch. I guess we were on the perfect side of the Contemporary for a great viewing spot!

We heard the countdown beginning on TV, so we got out on the balcony to watch the launch! We could see the Shuttle Atlantis so clearly! It was an amazing sight to see!

There were many more people, who had also gathered on their balconies to watch the launch. It was such a neat and fun experience! Everyone clapped and cheered as we saw the shuttle take-off.

It was another Magical experience for us to share on our Anniversary weekend! We were so lucky to be able to view it right from our balcony at Walt Disney World! It was a great moment!

More to Come!

Lindsey, I used to have the same shuttle view that you had at the CR when I lived up off of Kirkman Road. My apartment faced the same way, and was right on the golfcourse, and I used to go out on our lanai to watch them, since there was an unubstructed view.

Cool that you got to see this one, this way......

 

[ArielSRL]

I had also ordered special matching Anniversary shirts for our Magical weekend too! You know how I love the matching outfits!

Hi Lindsay...I am joining the party a little late, but I am here! Anywho, do you have a close up of the shirts? If so, I'd love to see it; they look so cute!

 

[luvfigment]

Hey there! I'm glad you liked our shirts! I actually ordered them from DisneyShopping.com just a couple months after we got married. Just a little early planning, haha! They were on sale at the time, so I decided to go ahead and order them.

We actually had a Garden View at the Poly and just loved it! We were on the first floor, so it was neat to be able to just walk off our porch area. We had fun taking our own wedding pictures out there. We stayed in the Tokelau building.

I'm glad you've joined another one of my Trippies and thank you for the Happy Anniversary!

Thanks for the infor on the shirts and the room. I was actually thinking about requesting Tokelau, that is funny that is where you had stayed also. Whata great picture of the two of you at the Poly!

So I somehow missed the post about your room the first time around I am not sure what happend but that is awesome about the upgrade!!!

Also I never knew what the pool area at the Contemporary was like and it is pretty darn neat! You also had a great view of the shuttle launch. It is amazing how you can see that from Disney not to mention that you had a perfect spot/balcony to watch it from! I can't wait to read more of the Trippie and to see pictures from Dinner at Chef Mickey's.

 

[Disneygrl36]

How cool that you got to see a shuttle launch.
I love hammocks. How cool that you got to hang out in some at the Contemporary.
More please........

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

oh lindsey how COOL!!!!!!! i cant believe you got a free upgrade to the tower room... and what a view!!!!!!!!!! The room was AWESOME!!!! i am getting so excited just reading your report so far!!!!! I cant wait!!! I stayed there once before but it was before the rooms were remodeled i cant wait to stay now!!!!! it was in def need of a makeover!!!! its my favorite because u cant beat the convienence!!!! i cant wait to hear more!!! your weekend is def off to a magical start happy belated anniversary by the way!!!

I knew you would just love all the pictures of the room! You are just going to have a blast! It's true that you can't beat being right there on the monorail and being able to see the MK from your room pretty much. I also loved being able to watch the water parade right from our balcony! Which type of room will you be getting, view, etc? You also can't beat all the fab restaurants at the Contemporary!

Hi Lindsey!!! I've actually read ALL of your trip reports, and I don't know why I've never posted, prob b/c I read them all after the fact!
Happy (late) Anniversary!!! I am loving reading it so far, your room was BEAUTIFUL, and I'm so jealous of you getting to live so close to Disney and just go whenever you want, AND work there!!! Lucky girl!
Can't wait to read more!!!

Hi there! I am so glad you have been reading and enjoying my trip reports! Thank you for the Happy Anniversary and I am very happy you decided to post, and say hello!

Wow!! What a nice room! How cool that there was a computer in the room! You mentioned free interenet access...is that new? I've never stayed at CR, but I know at the other Disney Hotels you pay ~ 10.00 per day for Internet Access. Were you able to surf the net, or just Disney websites??

Great start!!

I've never been to a WDW resort with an actual computer in the room, so I was surprised when I saw it! I know, you have to pay at the other resorts for access if you brought your own laptop that's why I was so amazed that we actually had free access to the Internet too. We had free access to everything and anything on the Web. It was fantastic!

Congratulations on your 1st anniversary Lindsey!!! I can't wait to read the rest of your trip report!

Awwww...thank you!!!

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

Hi Lindsay...I am joining the party a little late, but I am here! Anywho, do you have a close up of the shirts? If so, I'd love to see it; they look so cute!

You'll get to see a lot more up close pictures of us in our shirts at out dinner at Chef Mickey's! Those pics are coming up in the next installment!

Thanks for the infor on the shirts and the room. I was actually thinking about requesting Tokelau, that is funny that is where you had stayed also. Whata great picture of the two of you at the Poly!

So I somehow missed the post about your room the first time around I am not sure what happend but that is awesome about the upgrade!!!

Also I never knew what the pool area at the Contemporary was like and it is pretty darn neat! You also had a great view of the shuttle launch. It is amazing how you can see that from Disney not to mention that you had a perfect spot/balcony to watch it from! I can't wait to read more of the Trippie and to see pictures from Dinner at Chef Mickey's.

We enjoyed Tokelau and thought it was in a great location! It was actually one of the only areas left that had not been upgraded yet when we stayed there last year, but we were happy about that because I love the way the Poly use to be. I was glad I was able to enjoy it before they changed it.

I know! I was so surprised and so happy about the free upgrade! Things like that usually never happen for us and they never have before, so I was shocked! We had a lot more surprised like that too! It was much more special treatment than we got on our Disneymoon!

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

Dinner at Chef Mickey's




We changed back into our Fairy Tale Wedding matching t-shirts and made our way downstairs for our dinner at Chef Mickey's It was so great being able to leave our room and just take the elevator down to dinner. I just love Chef Mickey's! It is my favorite restaurant at Walt Disney World and I have been going there every since it was at the Disney Marketplace aka Downtown Disney now. I hadn't been in quite a few years though, so I was excited to be back!

We checked-in and we were right on time for our reservations. First, we went and had our Chef Mickey's photo taken that I knew we weren’t going to buy, but we decided to have it taken anyway. We ended up waiting quite a long time. That wasn't good because we were starving! We had been waiting for nearly 30 minutes and we finally went up to find out why we hadn't been seated yet. I guess it was a lot busier than they had expected or people weren't leaving their tables too quickly. Finally, our name was called and we were brought back to our table for two.

We were pretty close to the buffet, so that was good and we were each surprised with two special Chef Mickey's placemats that said, "It's my Special Day," with all the of the characters' autographs. I just love the special touches!

Goofy quickly made his way over to our table before we were even able to get up and grab our dinner. Goofy was very sweet and actually put me and DH's hands together. Then, he covered his mouth doing his little chuckle. I guess he wanted our Anniversary to be special too!

My favorite part about Chef Mickey's is all the Mickey themed food items! Anything that is shaped like Mickey is good enough for me! They actually had Mickey ravioli! How cool is that!? I had never seen it before and I thought it was hilarious and very yummy!

The Chef Mickey's music began to play! It's a cute song where everyone had to quickly twirl their napkins around over their heads. Then, I saw our waitress coming towards us with a Mickey cupcake with candles on it! She wished us a Happy Anniversary and then Minnie quickly came over to our table to do the same during her little dance routine.

It was such a wonderful surprise! I quickly blew out our candles to make a special anniversary wish for us!

Donald was the next to stop by our table and he had us quacking up! When he went over to DH for their picture, he actually covered up Mickey on his shirt! I was cracking up, but I don't think DH realized what was going on. Then, Donald had to put up his finger because, after all, Donald is #1! It was just too funny and I love that photo!

The Chef of the night, Mickey, snuck up on me right when I was in the middle of chewing. I was caught of guard and couldn't even talk because my mouth was so full! I tried to smile for a picture with my mouth full, but that didn't turn out too good! I finally swallowed and we decided we needed a group shot with the main cheese!

Our meal was fantastic! I have never been disappointed with Chef Mickey's! I just love it! It was now time for dessert and Chef Mickey's has the best! Of course, that is all Mickey themed too!

I had some carrot cake, key lime pie, and a Mickey dome! My favorite!

We also got to enjoy our yummy anniversary cupcake! I let DH have the chocolate Mickey on top!

We ended our wonderful dinner with a visit from our favorite dog, Pluto! Of course, he always greets you with a big kiss! Awww...I just love this picture!

We had a wonderful dinner and I am so glad we got to spend it with all of our favorite characters!




Our first night wasn’t over yet!

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

Electrical Water Parade




We made our way back upstairs to our room and we were just in time to enjoy the Electrical Water Parade right from our balcony.

I couldn't wait because I remember watching this as a little girl with my Dad and I just loved it! I hadn't actually seen the show in such a long time, so DH & I went out on to our balcony and got ready for the show.

We watched them align the floats up for the parade and then the music began! I just love the music and I like how it still hasn't changed after all these years.

I did like how they updated it to go along with "The Little Mermaid" theme and used the music. I thought that was really great! My favorite part has to be when they play the music from "Pete's Dragon!" It just brings me back!

The patriotic finale was really neat and DH just loved that part! I didn't remember that part at all, so it was a nice surprise for me!

What a wonderful ending to a perfect day!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Chef Mickey's looks like so much fun and I can't wait to eat there. I still have 15 months to go though.

Don't you just love being able to watch the Water Parade from your balcony I was able to catch it from my balcony at the Wilderness Lodge and thought it was very cute.

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

Some more great pictures. Chef Mickey's looked marvelous, and to see the shuttle launch; what a bonus.

 

[tinkerbell87512]

Thats so exciting you got to see the shutle launch. It looks like such a beautiful sight!

Chef Mickey's looks like so much fun! I will have to go there sometime. That picture of your DH and Donald just cracked me up. Donald of course is #1 how could you guys wear shirts with Mickey and Minnie... just kidding!

Can't wait to hear more of your weekend!

 

[Disney-Kim]

Lindsey, as usual your trippies are always fun to read

The internet in the room is a great perk...we always pay the $9.95 per day during our stays.

We also enjoy the ELP on the lake. We will be at the VWL next May and its a perfect view from their beach

 

[mt mommy]

Yet again another one of your fun trippies!! I just got done reading your DLR trip and now this. What a lucky girl you are to experience so much Disney magic in one year. We got back in Feb. from our 10th Anniversary trip to WDW and it was magical too!!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[luvfigment]

Looks like a great night at Chef Mickey's!!! I loved the Mickey Ravioli!!! Glad you had a great night and can't wait to read more about your special weekend/

 

[tksbaskets]

Happy Anniversary! I am looking forward to sharing your trippie I love the Mickey dome dessert too. YUMMY

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

Chef Mickey's looks like so much fun and I can't wait to eat there. I still have 15 months to go though.

Don't you just love being able to watch the Water Parade from your balcony I was able to catch it from my balcony at the Wilderness Lodge and thought it was very cute.

I loved watching the Water Parade from our room! That was a first for me! Disney will be here for you sooner than you know it!

Thats so exciting you got to see the shutle launch. It looks like such a beautiful sight!

Chef Mickey's looks like so much fun! I will have to go there sometime. That picture of your DH and Donald just cracked me up. Donald of course is #1 how could you guys wear shirts with Mickey and Minnie... just kidding!

Can't wait to hear more of your weekend!

You must try Chef Mickey's! I know you would love it!

Lindsey, as usual your trippies are always fun to read

The internet in the room is a great perk...we always pay the $9.95 per day during our stays.

We also enjoy the ELP on the lake. We will be at the VWL next May and its a perfect view from their beach

Thanks so much and I am glad you are here reading again!

I was surprised to have the Internet and a computer! You can't beat that! I wish we had actually brought some DVD's because we could have watched them right there on the computer.

Yet again another one of your fun trippies!! I just got done reading your DLR trip and now this. What a lucky girl you are to experience so much Disney magic in one year. We got back in Feb. from our 10th Anniversary trip to WDW and it was magical too!!

Can't wait to read more!

Thanks! Yes, I am very lucky and love being able to have the Magic right near my home. Plus, be able to actually create it for others!

Happy Anniversary! I am looking forward to sharing your trippie I love the Mickey dome dessert too. YUMMY

Thank you so much! I am craving a Mickey dome now. Yummy! Yummy!

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

It's Our Anniversary!



It was the second day of our Anniversary Weekend and it was our actual 1-year Anniversary! We slept in as late as we could! It was so wonderful to be able to actually stay at a Disney Resort, relax, and actually sleep-in. That was a first for me and it was fantastic!

We woke up and enjoyed the beautiful sun streaming into our room and then there was a knock at the door. DH had a surprise sent up to our room. It was in a Disney bag and I opened it up to find a box from Arribas Brothers. I opened it up and it was a crystal Cinderella & Prince Charming. It was beautiful and he got it engraved with our names. It also said, “Our First Anniversary." I just loved the gift and I found out DH had gone through a lot of trouble to get it.

DH had so much trouble that he had actually begun a personal relationship with the manager and the manager actually told DH that we could come to Arribas Brothers at Downtown Disney for another item for free. That sounded good to me, so we got ready and made a trip to Downtown Disney.

We got to Arribas Brothers and they actually knew we would be coming and they let me pick out any $50 item I wanted for free. DH had a lot of trouble that I won't get into, but it was so neat for me to just go pick something out. I found a very neat crystal of Cinderella Castle and I got it! I just love it and I have quickly created a good-sized Arribas Brothers' collection.

We then took our time walking around Downtown Disney and we, of course, made a stop at Goofy's Candy Co. I had to get a Goofy Glacier and I actually completed my collection of the cups! I now have all five, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Stitch, and the Princess. I decided to try the pink lemonade.

We were getting pretty hungry, so we chose to go to Rainforest Cafe for a quick lunch. We decided we'd sit at the bar because DH wanted to get a drink, plus, we love sitting on those crazy animal chairs. DH got some buffalo wings and I got a salad.

We had a nice time at Downtown Disney, but we were hot and tired, so we headed back to the Contemporary to relax before our Anniversary dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table. We drove back to the resort and then I went around and got some pictures of the view from our floor.

I walked back in our room and I saw the most amazing floral arrangement ever! It was just gorgeous! It was the most beautiful tropical arrangement with beautiful birds of paradise! It was in the Mickey vase that I love and had been wanting! I was so thrilled!

My DH had done such an amazing job and somehow had pulled all of this off without me finding out at work about the surprise. He did good! My flowers were also sprinkled with pixie dust and I had a single red rose in there for me too! I couldn't believe how heavy the arrangement was!

Of course, there was also a hidden Mickey crystal in my arrangement that is hidden in every floral design. I couldn't wait to find it in mine!

We sat back and relaxed at the Contemporary for the rest of the afternoon. I enjoyed our comfortable bed and we also took some time to soak up a little sun by the pool. I was having a wonderful anniversary and I couldn't wait to celebrate our First Anniversary dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table that evening.