figmentfan814
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2007
- Messages
- 2,953
We headed down for our menu tasting from September 5-9. We stayed at Port Orleans. My parents and I went down a day earlier than Kris. Since it was right after Labor Day he couldn't take off the same day as us. We stayed at Port Orleans-Riverside; one of our favorite resorts.
I had to call the airline in advance to make special arrangements since I'm still having some trouble getting around from the accident. I needed more leg room for the flight., so the airline seated me right behind business class so there was plenty of space. I can walk short distances, but to save time we got a wheelchair at the Orlando Airport. We flew out of a relatively small airport near our home with only 15 gates, so walking wasn't an issue up here.
Here we are wheeling through the airport
We let our bags go with the Magical Express and rented a car from National, so we could hit up the 3 Disney Outlets on our way to our resort. We were looking for some items for our gift bags. I will take pictures of all my finds and post them tonight (hopefully).
We went to the Prime Outlets off of I-Drive to the Character Warehouse and then to the two Disney outlets in Lake Buena Vista. It was definitely worth the trip. We went to the Character Warehouse first and it had been redone since we last went there. It is definitely worth the drive to hit up this outlet. Here are pictures of me with the bags at the Prime Outlets.
After leaving there we were starving so we went on property to check-in and to get lunch. First, we went over to Fort Wilderness for lunch at Trails End Buffet and I stopped in to get the details for our Welcome Hay Ride.
We then decided to check-in before heading out to the other outlets. However, we ended up having some problems with our reservation. We had called in advance because we had requested a room in Alligator Bayou, but since I can't get around as well we wanted to make sure we had a first floor room since there aren't elevators in this section.
Needless to say we had been stuck on the second floor. At first they offered to move us to a building further away on the first floor then we would have to be moved the second night. My mom and I started getting a little upset because we have never had an issue like this before (on several trips we have traveled with people that need accomodations for disabilities and Disney is usually great about handling these issues.) We also told them that we're having group of around 40 people staying at this resort in March and don't want to encounter similar problems.
After about 30 minutes of going back and forth with the girl at the desk she went in the back room to talk to someone. When she came out she magically had a room for us in a building up front on the first floor
I also went over to the concierge and got a wheelchair to use for the days where we would be doing a lot of walking. This definitely came in handy at the parks and for our engagement pictures.
The other two outlets weren't that great this time around. I'm glad I made the trip though because I probably would have second guessed myself if I hadn't went. The car rental perfect because we were able to turn in the car at the Car Care Center right by the Magic Kingdom that night and there was a free shuttle to our hotel afterwards. (Although a piece of advice... the shuttles stop running at 8 p.m. We called to check on our shuttle at 7:30 pm and had to rush to make it in time.) You have to rent through Alamo or National because they are the only ones right on property. It was great to get all the information because we have some guests that are venturing to other areas in Florida and had asked us about car rentals. In the past we always rented off property, so it was great to be able to go right by the Magic Kingdom.
The next morning we met up with my cousin at the Magic Kingdom. He is a cast member at Epcot and got us in the parks for the day. My cousin had to work that afternoon, so he only hung out with us for a while. While he went in search of coffee with my dad my mom and I came across this Jim Shore castle. Im going to have it incorporated into my cake table.
The castle is around 12 inches tall, so not too bad. I have wanted something to use on the cake table instead of just buying the chocolate castle and this was perfect. Even though it is pretty lightweight it is still a little heavy to be on top of the cake, so my planner said it would be okay to use one of these tiered stands.
I'm only have 3 layers of cake, so the top stand would hold the castle. (My actual cake won't look anything like this; it's just the picture of the stands that I got online )
Back to the trip report . I took the wheelchair this day because I knew that I wouldn't be able to handle that much walking. Unfortunately, my therapists told me that I couldn't do any rough rides or rollercoasters, so I missed out on Space Mountain and Big Thunder two of my favorites.
It was a lot of fun to have some time at the parks because in May when we came down for the planning session we never went into any of them! We got to do the new Laugh Floor with Monsters, Inc. and I was surprised how much fun this actually was even for adults. We walked right on Buzz Lightyear several times and this was the first time my mom and I ever beat my dad on the ride.
Since we were on the free dining plan we had decided to try new restaurants. We went to Tony's that night. It was pretty good, but I wasn't that amazed with anything. I'm not sure if I would ever really go back, but the atmosphere was nice. It was funny because it was so cold in there they were handing out tablecloths to the women to use as blankets! Lady and the Tramp fountain in the center of the restaurant:
That night we rushed back to the hotel to meet Kris when he got off the Magical Express. We ended up heading to bed shortly after Kris arrived. We met him in the main building and he grabbed a bite to eat before we headed back to the room.
The next morning Anna from Makeover Majic called at around 7 am. I have to admit I was still sleeping, but I think my mom was already up and in the shower. Anna was coming over at 8:15 am for my trial; we had to get out of our room by 9:15 am to meet Marion at Franck's by 10. I have this in the hair and makeup section, but for any of you who didn't see it here is the recap:
She came in and was done with my hair and makeup in around 30 minutes. I showed her a few pictures for general inspiration and she did the rest.
I forgot to take a picture with the veil and tiara held up to me. She didn't pin them in since we were getting our other pictures done later that day.
She did it up the way I wanted for the wedding then made some minor adjustments to make it look softer and more relaxed for our engagement pictures. On my wedding day the curls will be a little tighter and will be pinned in place.
The cost for the trial was $100 and was well worth the money to me. The total cost for my hair and makeup on my wedding day will be $125.
We finished up in plenty of time and headed to Magic Kingdom then caught the boat to Polynesian. We were loaded down because we bought the castle with us to show Marion and had all our clothes for our engagement pictures. I walked most that day, but used the chair to help us haul around some stuff.
Here we are waiting at Francks:
I have to admit this was the most excited I have seen Kris about the wedding planning. I think with him being so far away for most of the planning; it finally was real for him going to Francks in person.
Once Marion arrived, she pulled around a car and we headed off to Epcot for the menu tasting.
After Marion pulled around we loaded up in the car and headed to the Epcot kitchen behind the World Showcase.
When we got inside I was so excited to see that they had a full buffet set up for us. We're having the Tinkerbell Brunch menu with several modifications.
For our cocktail hour we are having a fruit display and the cheese display. We tried the fruit dip to make sure it was what we wanted. For this portion of the reception we weren't sure what type of beverage to serve, so the chef came up with a signature juice drink which included a mixture of orange, passion fruit, and papaya juices. They had it for us to taste and it was wonderful!
Instead of the penne pasta we requested the chicken Caesar pasta from the Crystal Palace buffet at Magic Kingdom. This was the favorite dish for Kris and I at the tasting.
For the potatoes we weren't sure what we wanted, so we had them prepare fried potatoes with onions and peppers & the cheese au gratin potatoes from the breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table. The cheese ones were amazing and they were what we ultimately ended up picking.
We also sampled our chicken with the fig au jus which was fantastic! Then they made us crepes fresh to order since we are having both the crepe and omelete bar at the reception (we added a few additional items to each of these bars). Our regular menu will also include a pastry display, bacon, and sausage.
Another item we requested were the peanut butter marshmallow bars for our dessert party. My planner's assistant said they don't usually let you try anything from the dessert party, so we were excited to see them there. We're both huge peanut butter fans, so we wanted to make sure that we liked them a lot.
Here are some pictures of us at the tasting :bg: :
Cake tasting and more to come....
I had to call the airline in advance to make special arrangements since I'm still having some trouble getting around from the accident. I needed more leg room for the flight., so the airline seated me right behind business class so there was plenty of space. I can walk short distances, but to save time we got a wheelchair at the Orlando Airport. We flew out of a relatively small airport near our home with only 15 gates, so walking wasn't an issue up here.
Here we are wheeling through the airport
We let our bags go with the Magical Express and rented a car from National, so we could hit up the 3 Disney Outlets on our way to our resort. We were looking for some items for our gift bags. I will take pictures of all my finds and post them tonight (hopefully).
We went to the Prime Outlets off of I-Drive to the Character Warehouse and then to the two Disney outlets in Lake Buena Vista. It was definitely worth the trip. We went to the Character Warehouse first and it had been redone since we last went there. It is definitely worth the drive to hit up this outlet. Here are pictures of me with the bags at the Prime Outlets.
After leaving there we were starving so we went on property to check-in and to get lunch. First, we went over to Fort Wilderness for lunch at Trails End Buffet and I stopped in to get the details for our Welcome Hay Ride.
We then decided to check-in before heading out to the other outlets. However, we ended up having some problems with our reservation. We had called in advance because we had requested a room in Alligator Bayou, but since I can't get around as well we wanted to make sure we had a first floor room since there aren't elevators in this section.
Needless to say we had been stuck on the second floor. At first they offered to move us to a building further away on the first floor then we would have to be moved the second night. My mom and I started getting a little upset because we have never had an issue like this before (on several trips we have traveled with people that need accomodations for disabilities and Disney is usually great about handling these issues.) We also told them that we're having group of around 40 people staying at this resort in March and don't want to encounter similar problems.
After about 30 minutes of going back and forth with the girl at the desk she went in the back room to talk to someone. When she came out she magically had a room for us in a building up front on the first floor
I also went over to the concierge and got a wheelchair to use for the days where we would be doing a lot of walking. This definitely came in handy at the parks and for our engagement pictures. The other two outlets weren't that great this time around. I'm glad I made the trip though because I probably would have second guessed myself if I hadn't went. The car rental perfect because we were able to turn in the car at the Car Care Center right by the Magic Kingdom that night and there was a free shuttle to our hotel afterwards. (Although a piece of advice... the shuttles stop running at 8 p.m. We called to check on our shuttle at 7:30 pm and had to rush to make it in time.) You have to rent through Alamo or National because they are the only ones right on property. It was great to get all the information because we have some guests that are venturing to other areas in Florida and had asked us about car rentals. In the past we always rented off property, so it was great to be able to go right by the Magic Kingdom.
The next morning we met up with my cousin at the Magic Kingdom. He is a cast member at Epcot and got us in the parks for the day. My cousin had to work that afternoon, so he only hung out with us for a while. While he went in search of coffee with my dad my mom and I came across this Jim Shore castle. Im going to have it incorporated into my cake table.
The castle is around 12 inches tall, so not too bad. I have wanted something to use on the cake table instead of just buying the chocolate castle and this was perfect. Even though it is pretty lightweight it is still a little heavy to be on top of the cake, so my planner said it would be okay to use one of these tiered stands.
I'm only have 3 layers of cake, so the top stand would hold the castle. (My actual cake won't look anything like this; it's just the picture of the stands that I got online
)
Back to the trip report . I took the wheelchair this day because I knew that I wouldn't be able to handle that much walking. Unfortunately, my therapists told me that I couldn't do any rough rides or rollercoasters, so I missed out on Space Mountain and Big Thunder two of my favorites.
It was a lot of fun to have some time at the parks because in May when we came down for the planning session we never went into any of them! We got to do the new Laugh Floor with Monsters, Inc. and I was surprised how much fun this actually was even for adults. We walked right on Buzz Lightyear several times and this was the first time my mom and I ever beat my dad on the ride.
Since we were on the free dining plan we had decided to try new restaurants. We went to Tony's that night. It was pretty good, but I wasn't that amazed with anything. I'm not sure if I would ever really go back, but the atmosphere was nice. It was funny because it was so cold in there they were handing out tablecloths to the women to use as blankets! Lady and the Tramp fountain in the center of the restaurant:
That night we rushed back to the hotel to meet Kris when he got off the Magical Express. We ended up heading to bed shortly after Kris arrived. We met him in the main building and he grabbed a bite to eat before we headed back to the room.
The next morning Anna from Makeover Majic called at around 7 am. I have to admit I was still sleeping, but I think my mom was already up and in the shower. Anna was coming over at 8:15 am for my trial; we had to get out of our room by 9:15 am to meet Marion at Franck's by 10. I have this in the hair and makeup section, but for any of you who didn't see it here is the recap:
She came in and was done with my hair and makeup in around 30 minutes. I showed her a few pictures for general inspiration and she did the rest.
I forgot to take a picture with the veil and tiara held up to me. She didn't pin them in since we were getting our other pictures done later that day.
She did it up the way I wanted for the wedding then made some minor adjustments to make it look softer and more relaxed for our engagement pictures. On my wedding day the curls will be a little tighter and will be pinned in place.
The cost for the trial was $100 and was well worth the money to me. The total cost for my hair and makeup on my wedding day will be $125.
We finished up in plenty of time and headed to Magic Kingdom then caught the boat to Polynesian. We were loaded down because we bought the castle with us to show Marion and had all our clothes for our engagement pictures. I walked most that day, but used the chair to help us haul around some stuff.
Here we are waiting at Francks:
I have to admit this was the most excited I have seen Kris about the wedding planning. I think with him being so far away for most of the planning; it finally was real for him going to Francks in person.
Once Marion arrived, she pulled around a car and we headed off to Epcot for the menu tasting.
After Marion pulled around we loaded up in the car and headed to the Epcot kitchen behind the World Showcase.
When we got inside I was so excited to see that they had a full buffet set up for us. We're having the Tinkerbell Brunch menu with several modifications.
For our cocktail hour we are having a fruit display and the cheese display. We tried the fruit dip to make sure it was what we wanted. For this portion of the reception we weren't sure what type of beverage to serve, so the chef came up with a signature juice drink which included a mixture of orange, passion fruit, and papaya juices. They had it for us to taste and it was wonderful!
Instead of the penne pasta we requested the chicken Caesar pasta from the Crystal Palace buffet at Magic Kingdom. This was the favorite dish for Kris and I at the tasting.
For the potatoes we weren't sure what we wanted, so we had them prepare fried potatoes with onions and peppers & the cheese au gratin potatoes from the breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table. The cheese ones were amazing and they were what we ultimately ended up picking.
We also sampled our chicken with the fig au jus which was fantastic! Then they made us crepes fresh to order since we are having both the crepe and omelete bar at the reception (we added a few additional items to each of these bars). Our regular menu will also include a pastry display, bacon, and sausage.
Another item we requested were the peanut butter marshmallow bars for our dessert party. My planner's assistant said they don't usually let you try anything from the dessert party, so we were excited to see them there. We're both huge peanut butter fans, so we wanted to make sure that we liked them a lot.
Here are some pictures of us at the tasting :bg: :
Cake tasting and more to come....
It took us forever to come up with some different options to add to the menu tasting. We went through tons of web sites looking at menus from different restaurants on property. I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not, but the au gratin potatoes are from Cinderella's Royal Table and the Caesar Pasta was from Crystal Palace. I was so happy that the chef got the recipes exact!
This was definitely my favorite part of the planning!
