Chantelle & Curtis' Wedding Adventure-July 14 to 21, 2007-Spa and Shopping Day

[Chantelle]

I can't seem to find the my original trip report thread so I am starting over. My apologies to those of you who already read the first day, but I promise it does get more exciting.

Friday, July 13

I am starting our trip report as of Friday the 13th because I consider it the start of our holiday as we got the day off to go golf in my company's annual golf tournament. I had originally booked this day off so I could make the 1 and a half hour trip down from Edmonton, Alberta to Red Deer, Alberta to pick up my younger brother (Dylan, 15) and sister (Kaylee, 20) who were flying with Curtis and I out of Edmonton. As it so ended up, my company golf tournament was that day and it was in Red Deer. Bonus! I could attend the golf tournament and pick up my siblings without even having to take the day off work.

So we spent the day golfing and rushed out before the steak lunch so we could get "the kids" and make the 1 and a half hour trek back in Edmonton in time to pick up my dress before the bridal shop closed. We got in around 4:30 and I finally made it to the bridal shop at around 5:00. I dragged my tired sister along and she was kind of miffed when they brought my dress out and I said I would try it on. Well I am glad I tried in on, because the top still didn't fit properly. I asked for it to be resewn so it sat flatter against my chest and the woman pinned and took it back to the seamstress. The seamstress brought it out a couple minutes later and it was even worse then before. We ended up going back and forth with the dress about three times between re-tacking the front panels of the dress and having them resew on pearls and beads where they had fallen off from their alterations. In the end I still wasn't happy with how the dress fit me at the top, but it was 6:00 and we we flying out in less then 12 hours so there was really nothing I could do.

Curtis could tell I was upset when I got home and I tried to explain to him why/how the dress didn't fit properly and finally ended up bringing it out of the bag to show him. I didn't want him to see the dress, but I didn't know what else to do. I finally just broke down in complete hysterics because it just seemed that I had spent so much time and money on trying to get the dress perfect and now my dress wasn't what I pictured. It was just so frustrating that because of the issues with them having to hire the seamstress halfway through my alterations I was left with a dress that upset me and they didn't even seem to care or apologize to me for it.

In the end, my dress was okay, but it was the last thing I needed the day before we flew to Florida for the wedding. Anyway, more to come on my anger towards the bridal shop later...

 

[lpizzuro123]

Signing in and looking forward to reading more.

Linda

 

[hmgolden]

Yikes! I hope that the dress situation got worked out!

 

[mla1977]

Oooh! Now I need to know. I hope that this is the only problem you have.

 

[lynn71092]

What happened?
Where's the rest of the story?

 

[oneyodafan]

Waiting for more....

Hoping something major didn't happen later with the dress.

 

[Missy H]

I love TR! Can't wait to see what happens.

 

[caryndisneydiva]

dress drama is the worst...can't wait to hear more!!!

 

[Chantelle]

Saturday, July 14-I'm going to DisneyWorld!!!

So after picking up my dress and having my meltdown, we finished packing (using the extensive packing list my MOH had created that included everything but the kitchen sink), moved all the suitcases by the front door and tried to get some sleep before the cab driver showed up at 4:30 in the morning to take us to the airport. I don't know if it was the excitement or the fact that we were in the middle of a hot spell, but all 4 of us had problems sleeping and didn't manage to get more then a couple hours in.

The cab driver showed up around 4:15 and we were ready and waiting. I was afraid he would have problems finidn our house because we're in a brand new subdivision, so I was glad to see him early. It was a bit of a challenge, but we managed to fit all our bags in the cab and we were off. Good thing I requested a minivan because luggage for 4 people ends up being a lot of bags!

Because my mom didn't come and my brother was only 15, I made sure we got a notorized letter stating I was allowed to take him out of the country. I was so afraid this was going to cause problems, and they never even ended up asking to see it after all the work my mom went through to get it. I am sure if I hadn't had it, though, they would have asked and then we would have been in real trouble. Other then my sisters can of aerosol sunscreen in her carry-on being confiscated, all went smooth in the airport. I even ran into a guy I knew from high school taking the same flight with us to Salt Lake City so it was exciting to catch up with him and be able to tell him I was off to Disney World to get married!

The plane rides both went smooth. They had to put my dress in the cargo area under the plane for the flight to Salt Lake because the carry on space was limited on such a small plane so that stressed me a little, but I got it right as we got off and it was all good.

I wore my wedding hoodie I had made during the flight and one of the stewardesses noticed and offered Curtis and I a free drink. Yay! He had a beer and I had some passion fruit mojito that was very good. I did feel bad though because I ran into another girl near the bathroom who told me she was also on her way to get married in Florida. She was only a few seats back, but she never got the free drink.

We did manage to get some sleep on the plane.

We finally made it to Florida and made our way through the airport and onto Disney Magical Express to the Carribbean Beach Resort. We check in and everything seemed to go okay, until we tried to check into the room Curtis and I had booked for ourselves from tuesday to saturday. He was staying with his family up until that point and I would be rooming with mine. It turns out the had us booked from saturday to tuesday which was all the time before the wedding and defeated the point of us having our own room. It took a while until it was finally sorted out and I was a little upset because we went through it with the travel agent several times. In hindsight, it would have probably been easier to have booked the rooms ourselves to know things were going to be correct.

So we dropped off our bags and hopped a bus to head to MGM for something to eat and to try and catch Fantasmic. As we were walking up the main street I told Curtis "I love DisneyWorld". He gave me a funny look and asked how I could possibly know since we had only been there 5 minutes and it was my first time there. I told him I just knew. It just a feeling you get when you through those gates and I was just so excited and happy to be there.

For dinner, Curtis went for a burger and Kaylee, Dylan and I all decided to give the turkey leg a try.

It was very tasty, but I don't think I even got through half of mine before I was totally full.

Dylan managed to make it through most of him.

Then we headed over to Fantasmic and watched the show. I really enjoyed it and am glad we kind of got it out of the way so we didn't have to deal with the crowd later in the week.

Curtis and my older sister, Erin, had spent a lot of time during the summer chatting about the trip and planning out itineraries while they were supposed to be working. It definatley help bring them a little closer together and gave them something to do during the long boring work days. Because she wasn't scheduled to arrive with her boyfriend until after midnight, as we were watching Fantasmic Curtis turned to me and told me he felt kind of guilty for having fun without Erin. I thought it was very cute, and I told him I was thinking the same thing.

After browsing the shops a little, we left MGM and headed back to the resort to get some sleep. Curtis called our friend Garson and he and our other friend, Stacey (Best Man) came to pick Curtis up to take him to WorldQuest Resort. Curtis had booked a suite at WorldQuest for saturday to wednesday for himself, Garson, Stacey, his parents, his two brothers and his brothers wife. It was a beautiful resort and Curtis got the 3 bedroom suite for around $300 a night, but I was insistent that my family and I stay on Disney property since we were going to be there all week. In the end it worked out well, but it was a little tough not sleeping with Curtis for a few nights since I was so used to having him by my side.

After we said our goodbyes to Curtis. my brother and sister and I all went to bed and around 1:00am Erin and her boyfriend Chris finally showed up at our doorstep. I was glad to see they made it safe and sound and was very excited to start our Disney vacation all together!

Next up....Bachelor and Bachelorette day!

 

[BrcsDisneyPrncs]

Congrats! That picture of you wrecking that turkey leg is classic! I can't wait to hear more!

 

[jasonandlisa]

Congratulations! Sounds like things are off to a good start Looking forward to hearing more...

 

[angel*lady]

Congrats! Settling in for the rest of the TR!

 

[shasess]

Great TR!! Cant wait to read more.

 

[Chantelle]

Sunday, July 15- Part 1 - Spa and Shopping for the Girls

Curtis and I decided to designate our first full day in Florida as our bachelor/bachelorette day. While I was excited to spend the day with my sisters, it did feel a little weird to have been on the plane with Curtis the day before and to not have him there with me. It seems pathetic, but I really did miss him since I was so used to travelling with him.

As I had mentioned, my sister and her boyfriend got in late the night before. Her luggage showed up from Magic Express just as we were getting up, but there was no sign of his. While she called the front desk and tried to get things sorted out, the rest of us got up and showered. Front desk wasn't much help, so we left them all our information and hoped it would come in later in the day. I know he was pretty stressed over the missing luggage, but luckily he had known they were getting in late and had packed pyjamas and clean clothes for the day just in case.

When everyone was dressed and ready for the day, we headed to the food court for a little breakfast and of course I had the mickey waffles! I have the mickey waffle maker at home, but I was excited to order them in Disney World. I ordered the kids meal and ended up doing this for the entire week because it was a little cheaper and I found it was a lot of food. Plus I liked the mickey shaped container they came in!

After that, we left Dylan and Chris in the hotel room and headed to catch the bus. Curtis was scheduled to pick the guys up to go to the ball game and we had a 10:00 appointment at the Grand Floridian Spa to get to.

We made it to the spa just in time for our appointment and were promptly put in the foot baths. It was the first time any of us had gotten a manicure/pedicure so it was something fun and different and I am glad I got to share it with my sisters. It was also a very nice, relaxing way to start our day of shopping!

From the spa, we headed into the Grand Floridian and checked out some of the gift shops. There's a menswear store in there we started walking by until I remembered that Curtis wanted a mickey tie to wear for the wedding. I had talked him out of it for this wedding, but I thought I would check to see if they had anything he could wear at our second at-home wedding. The tie I found couldn't have been any more perfect. It was our wedding colors (green and champagne) and didn't have a blaringly obvious mickey print. I ended up buying one for Curtis and our two groomsmen. We also went downstairs and my sister bought us the bride and groom mickey ears. We were off to a good start!

We then headed out of the Grand Floridian to catch the monorail over to Magic Kingdom and hop a bus to downtown Disney. As it pulled up, the attendant asked if we wanted to ride in the front. Are you kidding me?! Of course we want to! So we hopped in the front and had a nice little visit with the conductor.

At the front of the monorail.

We then headed to Downtown Disney and caught a cab to the Orlando Premium Outlets. Since the guys were off at a ballgame for the day, it was the perfect time for us to indulge in our favourite activity; shopping We were excited to check out the Disney outlet store, but in the end really didn't buy too much at the outlets.

After leaving the outlet dissapointed and pretty empty handed, we headed back to downtown Disney. We all started to perk up here as we explored the different stores and perused through all the Disney merchandise. I was in Heaven! I didn't buy that much, but there was a lot I saw that I wanted. In hindsight I should have bought more because there were some items I left to pick up later and didn't end up getting them because we ran out of time.

We then headed back to CBR to get changed and ready for dinner. We were supposed to meet up with the guys and go to Pleasure Island that night so we decided to head back to downtown disney and have dinner at Rainforest Cafe. The line-up was pretty long so we got our names down and then went to check out Pleasure Island.

Rainforest Cafe.

We kept trying to call Curtis around dinner time and couldn't get a hold of him. When we finally got a text message from him around 8pm, we found out they were on the way to the airport to pick up his brother and his brother's wife. What?! As far as I knew they were supposed to have arrived sometime late last night.

Even though it wasn't their fault they missed a flight, this annoyed me to no end. I was so looking forward to going out and now it didn't look like that was going to happen. They waited forever to actually decide to come to Florida and kept giving us excuses why they couldn't come. This made it extremely frustrating to try and finalize the wedding details. Now that they actually decided to come, it figures that their flight would be the one that was missed and that my plans would be ruined because of it.

One of my favourite pictures...taken in downtown Disney

So after some *****ing to my sisters about it, we found out that Curtis and his crew had made it to the boardwalk and were eating at the ESPN club. We decided to hop the bus and head down to have a drink with them, but by the time we arrived the restaurant was closing. It was my first time seeing everyone in Florida so I made my rounds and said hi to everyone. I was happy to see Curtis and our friends and his parents, but I was still a little miffed about the whole situation with his brother and his wife. I am not the biggest fan of hers to begin with and this didn't bode well.

It was extra magic hours at the Magic Kingdom that night so my younger sister and brother had originally planned to do that while the rest of us hit up Pleasure Island. No one else seemed really keen on going to PI at this point so my family all decided to head off to MK together. I hadn't seen Curtis all day and was tired and in a bad mood so I decided to stay with him. After we said our goodbyes to his parents and brothers, he and our two friends hopped in the car Curtis had rented for the day and headed back to the CBR to relax and have a beer before they headed back to their resort.


Coming up...Boys day, including the sweet car Curtis rented!

 

[oneyodafan]

Great updates!

 

[caryndisneydiva]

i'm so excited that you had your first mani/pedi at gf spa, i can't wait for mine!!! can't wait to read more!!!

 

[Chantelle]

My sisters and I joked that we wanted the "my first manicure" they offer for kids. Sure we're not kids, but it was still our first manicure and I would have much prefered paying the kids price!

Maybe someday when we have kids to take to Disney World I can treat them to a first manicure. And the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique! Those girls walking around in their sparkly hair and princess dresses are too darn cute! And you can tell some of them haven't taken their hair out or their dress off in days because the hair is smushed flat and their clothes are dirty. If only us brides could do that! I would have loved to keep my hair in the updo the next day after sleeping in it. It was not fun showering the hairspray out!

 

[caryndisneydiva]

i know...$110 for a mani/pedi is kind of steep...but i'll pay it, it's my wedding after all!!! i told my mother that i was going to send my sisters to the bibbity bobbity boutique to get ready...that would be so funny!

 

[Chantelle's MOH]

Things Chantelle forgot to mention... The ride in the front of the monorail was the coolest thing ever, and totally suprised us that we actually got to do it. I had put it on the list of cool if it happens, but highly unlikely. It helped that the guy at the Grand Floridian seemed to have some sort of weird thing for me.

For the four of us the took of to MK, the most genius move we made the entire trip! It was me, my boyfriend, and my siblings, Kaylee and Dylan. We showed up at MK at 12:00 am, just as the park had cleared of everyone except resort guests. We walked in like nieve morons (didn't even know enough to get a map) but, wow, amazing...you just can't help but get caught up instantly in the disney magic, and the castle, so pretty at that time of night! We walked aimlessly until I realized that if we were going to find the rides, I needed to ask where the heck to find them. We ended up coming upon It's a small world first, making that the first disney ride ever for my boyfriend and brother. It took some serious convincing from my sister Kaylee and I, that the rides got better from here. What an amazing time of night to go, and there were absoultly no lines, NONE! We ended up accomplishing (in the time frame of 12:00-2:00am) it's a small world, pirates of the carabbiean, big thunder mountain, and with much convincing, because what moron gets drenched at 1:30am?? splash mountain. Since it was my brothers first time doing any sort of real thrill ride, I bought the picture of the four of us getting soaked on splash moutain, and while I was for the pic, my sister, and my boyfriend Chris, took off and did another splash mountain run.

So, even if you have small kids, I highly reccommend taking advantage of those hours, so much fun!

I also wanted to warn you all about the mistake my boyfriend and I made. We arrived late, about 1:00 am at the Caribbean Resort. We had left from Calgary earlier that day, and only really had to eat some soup and a bun? seriously nothing..and then by the time we got to the orlando airport later that evening, nothing was open, and then even worse, there was nothing to have at the Caribbean resort. So, please! make sure you eat. We didn't get anything till breakfast. Which my sister Chantelle was nice enough to go get for me while I phoned everyone and their dog trying to find Chris' luggage. turned out it simply got missed and was at the airport. They had it to us priority and the magical express people were super great getting it all sorted out. Simple mistake, taken care of.

Have a magical day..