F&W? Wedding Planning? New Fantasyland? We did them all. . .(Pics updated 24 Nov)

[sleepydog25]

Hello! You may know me from my work in "Pirates of the Antarctic" or "Johnny Learns How to Count to One," or even "Peas in a Pod is Better than Most Any Other Place," but in my latest adventure, I took my lovely fiancee' to the World for rip-roaring good time of drinking, eating, drinking, planning, drinking, eating, and eventually visiting the New Fantasyland. . .and drinking. Lest you think we're bacchanalians, we only spent a few hundred dollars on food and drink. So there.

Technically, this trip was to be mostly about doing some wedding planning for our upcoming nuptials at WDW next July. If you want to read more about that and see some pics, just go to the wedding forum and then the sub-forum on "Planning Our Happily Ever After" and look for "Chris and Patrick something or other, something or other. . . (I forget the exact title--oops)" and you can follow us there. If anyone is truly interested just ask, and I reckon I can provide the link. But, on with this story. As I mentioned, the focus this trip was to talk with our wedding planning guy, visit some sites we'd like for our photos, talk to the restaurant manager at. . .you don't really think I'd tell you where, did you? No wedding crashers, you see. At any rate, we wanted to finalize a few things and just so happen to set up a time during the Food and Wine festival. What a coinkidink!

We left the coldness of the mountains of southwest Virginia for the climate of central Florida. . .where it was nearly as cold the first day and a half as what we had at home! We drove to Charlotte in order to fly into MCO so that I could experience DME, something my dearest luvvwl (also henceforth known as Loveofmylife or LOML--yes, there's a story behind that, too) had done several times. She felt we needed those shared moments of stepping onto the bus, watching the cartoons on the monitor, and leaving the driving to someone else. Of course, that means we would be at the mercy of the Disney bus system once we arrived on property. Still, I agreed that flying and busing over was the better alternative for such a short four-night stay than driving nearly 11 hours one way. What was my reaction to DME? Stay tuned to find out. Oh, and I will be providing some pics in future updates. (Run while you can.)

 

[wiigirl]

Can't wait for your updates!

 

[sleepydog25]

Can't wait for your updates!

Thanks, and soon!

 

[sleepydog25]

My reaction to DME was a good one. It was nice to begin anticipating the ol' Disney magic while waiting for a bus to take you to the Happiest Locale in the Universe (yeah, yeah, I know what the real saying is). Less than 30 minutes after boarding DME, we pulled up to our home-away-from-home, the Wilderness Lodge. We dropped off our bags at the valet (it wasn't even 11 a.m. yet, so no room would be ready), stopped in at the online check-in desk, and received our packets complete with "Just Engaged" buttons, though in truth, we had already acquired a couple and were wearing them (one of us might have been wearing hers since last Monday ).

We opted to soak up the sights and sounds of our beloved Lodge before heading to DD for shopping and lunch and shopping. We were drawn to the location at WL where our vows will be tearfully exchanged (I'm just admitting to the obvious)--the Sunrise Terrace. To wit:

Looking out from the terrace

We also wandered the grounds stalking the wild beasts whose tracks are permanently etched into the sidewalks. Don't tell me they aren't real! I know they are, and to argue otherwise is a conspiracy theory I've been working on. Here, I'll whisper it to you: *Disney doesn't like to acknowledge the dangers of staying at WL with all the moose, bear, and squirrels (hey, those suckers can be vicious) running around. I kid you not. Oh, and those dinosaurs at AK? Uh-huh sh-h-h-h-h).* It was fairly calm around the Lodge as it often is since we find it to be the most serene of the resorts, plus it was chilly for Florida, so only a small handful of folks were in the pools.

Strolling over to the bus stop, we jumped aboard a bus for DD which would also be where we picked up our APs, the vouchers for which were in the room packet. I'd never had an AP before, so it was rather exciting to think we could come again next year and not worry about tickets. The wait for the DD bus was about 20 minutes which we found to be about the average wait time for most buses this trip--not bad but not great, either. However, given that we've usually driven in past trips, waiting wasn't our strongest attribute. We weren't snarky about it, just slightly impatient even when we were in no hurry. Buses were fairly crowded this trip, no doubt owing to the fact it was the last weekend of the F&W, the half-marathon was Saturday, the PGA Classic was in town, and I believe it was a Jersey week. Still, I wouldn't classify Disney transportation as awful, just a tad on the slow side.

Next stop: Downtown Disney

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Hi I'd love to join you on this adventure. I can't wait to hear all about the wedding plans. The Wilderness Lodge is so pretty. I can't wait to stay there someday.

 

[sleepydog25]

Hi I'd love to join you on this adventure. I can't wait to hear all about the wedding plans. The Wilderness Lodge is so pretty. I can't wait to stay there someday.

Welcome aboard! Wait. That sounds more appropriate for a cruise TR. Hmm. . .well then. . .. . .hope you enjoy the ride! The Lodge is gorgeous, though again, I am a bit biased. You should stay there only if you enjoy relative peace, solitude, serenity, and expansive theming. Otherwise, I'd avoid it. Thanks for reading along!

 

[luvvwl]

Well, where's the rest? I want to know what hapened!!!

 

[sleepydog25]

Well, where's the rest? I want to know what hapened!!!

Well, missy, why don't you upload the pics off your phone like I asked a way long time ago?

 

[sleepydog25]

Now that I uploaded someone's pics--ahem--I shall continue. First, let me back up to the DME, since I know folks are all about photo evidence. Plus, it will serve as an introduction to both luvvwl and myself since I failed to do so in the first post. Some people like that, I guess.

This is us aboard DME

Oh, wait, maybe I should use this pic instead. . .

I'm assuming you can figure out who is who (or is that whom?).

Approximately 20 minutes later and, yes, first stop was WL!

Okay, now that the pictures have caught up to the story, I can continue. There we were at Downtown Disney to eat and shop. We made our way over to Cooke's of Dublin passing by Portobello along the way. We opted for the latter and were very pleasantly surprised by both the service and the food. Both were excellent. Sorry, no pics of the food. It's just as well since I wound up spilling a glass of wine. However, that incidence was handled quickly and quietly by our servers who even brought me out a new glass of wine (though I had drunk half of the original one). The atmosphere was lovely, the food tasty, and we felt this was a great start to our stay.

After the meal, we were off to shop. What, praytell, were we shopping for? Wedding stuff. Album. Small gifts. Bride's and groom's Mickey ears. Yes, we did. Need proof?

The first attempt. Clearly, I was thrilled.

It made me look like a fire hydrant. . .or a Pez dispenser. . .or maybe an Easter Island statue. . .

This was much better. . .no, really

Our final choices

I don't know that wearing a cap without a bill is a good idea for me. One prominent feature noses out the others.

Next stop: Franck's (or Frahnx to help phonetically)