Happily Ever After Begins Here -- An Oct. 2012 TR Updated! 11/17!

[natebenma]

Ahhhh! I can't WAIT to get back to Universal this year!!! So much new stuff, and you have provided a great preview for me. I love your Hogwarts Express shirt. I saw one online recently that said I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up to No Good. WANT! I feel like I'm going to go a little nuts on HP merchandise while we are there.

This one, or another design?

I love the idea of you in the Mother of All Things shirt, totally perfect!

​

Although the "Mother of All Things" shirt may have "fit" me, I went with the one above.

 

[Pixel Dust]

Love your recent posts!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter looks sooo cool! Makes me want to read the series all over again! I am in love with your friend's tee. I can feel all the fun & joy you experienced on this trip! And I always have to comment on at least one photo that stands out (well, they all do really) but I'm in awe of how bright Franklin made the inside of Mexico appear. It's such a clean, pretty picture. Was that flash & cranking up ISO? He's truly inspiring! Oh, & I almost forgot to mention how much I LOVE that ring -- especially with your Minnie Mouse manicure!

I'm soooo excited to hear you have lots of upcoming trips planned. Good for you, & I love reading & seeing all your adventures!

Thanks! Mexico is really dark inside. I didn't use flash at all, just increased the ISO and used a slow-ish shutter speed. Vibration reduction in the lens helps quite a bit too.

ISO 1600, 1/8 second, f/4, 24mm.

​

 

[natebenma]

Argh! Had this reply all typed out and then my computer died. Mark is resurrecting as we speak, but fortunately, we have lots more computers and a decent backup system!

​

These two pictures could be representative of this trip report!

So I was scrolling through the WWoHP pictures and Mark looked over my shoulder. He could not stop saying "WOW!" So I showed him the picture of the Mexican plaza and the Space Ship Earth scenes. "Wow!"

So then I went to the BLT and fireworks pictures "These are UNBELIEVABLE"

A new fan!

Now me- the food at San Angel looked really good. We haven't been with the kids but we ate there a few times when we were there as just a couple.

About the BLT pictures- Two Words: The Colors!!!

Brilliant in every sense of the word!

 

[fabulousfive]

Thanks! Mexico is really dark inside. I didn't use flash at all, just increased the ISO and used a slow-ish shutter speed. Vibration reduction in the lens helps quite a bit too.

ISO 1600, 1/8 second, f/4, 24mm.

Wow, thanks! My camera struggles at high ISOs, but I love that you approach so many photos in a different way than I shoot. I'm taking notes to try out on our upcoming trip. You've reminded me how fun it is to go wide sometimes too. Thanks! And congrats on hearing your wedding is next month! I'm so happy for you & Missy! We all love your TRs & sweet story.

 

[khertz]

Oh my gosh, have you seen the changing mug? When you put hot liquid in it, it says "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." And when it cools, it says "Mischief managed." I really need to buy that mug one of these days.​

NO! That sounds like something I need in my mug collection. Is it from IoA or somewhere else?

This one, or another design?

It was this one. The one you posted is great too, though! Where is that one from?


Back to the update...

That photo of the Mexico pavilion is so great! It's always so dark in there, I have a hard time getting anything to come out. But it's such a pretty pavilion! Probably my favorite one. Dinner looks delicious!

Wow, you just can't beat that view y'all had of MK! Those fireworks pics are amazing, but that almost goes without saying nowadays with 3 TR's going and tons of fireworks photos being posted.

 

[natebenma]

This one, or another design?

It was this one. The one you posted is great too, though! Where is that one from?

We purchased this at the gift shop at the Entrance/Exit of Universal Studios. $26.95, I think. My son got a shirt with the Deathly Hallows symbol on it.

We initially purchased just my shirt, but when he wanted the other, we "returned" the first purchase so we could use the AAA discount (10%) since there is a $50 minimum requirement now.

 

[Missyrose]

This one, or another design?








Although the "Mother of All Things" shirt may have "fit" me, I went with the one above.

Love that shirt! I think I may be in market for a new HP shirt, so I'll keep this one in mind.

Argh! Had this reply all typed out and then my computer died. Mark is resurrecting as we speak, but fortunately, we have lots more computers and a decent backup system!



These two pictures could be representative of this trip report!

So I was scrolling through the WWoHP pictures and Mark looked over my shoulder. He could not stop saying "WOW!" So I showed him the picture of the Mexican plaza and the Space Ship Earth scenes. "Wow!"

So then I went to the BLT and fireworks pictures "These are UNBELIEVABLE"

A new fan!

Now me- the food at San Angel looked really good. We haven't been with the kids but we ate there a few times when we were there as just a couple.

About the BLT pictures- Two Words: The Colors!!!

Brilliant in every sense of the word!

Hi Mark! Glad to have you drop by! The food at San Angel was really good, I'm not the biggest Mexican fan on the planet (but even I liked it!).

We love BLT, the view of the fireworks is as spectacular as the resort itself!

Wow, thanks! My camera struggles at high ISOs, but I love that you approach so many photos in a different way than I shoot. I'm taking notes to try out on our upcoming trip. You've reminded me how fun it is to go wide sometimes too. Thanks! And congrats on hearing your wedding is next month! I'm so happy for you & Missy! We all love your TRs & sweet story.

Thanks! I can't believe the wedding is next month. This year has flown by!

NO! That sounds like something I need in my mug collection. Is it from IoA or somewhere else?



It was this one. The one you posted is great too, though! Where is that one from?


Back to the update...

That photo of the Mexico pavilion is so great! It's always so dark in there, I have a hard time getting anything to come out. But it's such a pretty pavilion! Probably my favorite one. Dinner looks delicious!

Wow, you just can't beat that view y'all had of MK! Those fireworks pics are amazing, but that almost goes without saying nowadays with 3 TR's going and tons of fireworks photos being posted.

You can only buy the mug back in WWoHP. Unlike some of the other merchandise, they don't sell it at the bigger stores in the rest of the parks.

It's funny, we had never been inside the Mexican pavilion until our last few trips and now it's one of our go-to places at Epcot!

We might be down to two TRs after this evening is through... ​

 

[Missyrose]

We last left off with a beautiful Hallowishes nightcap at Top of the World Lounge. We had plans for breakfast in the resort. But first, we met up with Jean, Lee and John in the lobby. They were on their way out to the DME for their early flight home to Texas. It was so nice to have them along on the trip. And it was such a luxury to spend all that time with them, it had been a long time since we’d seen them for more than a day or two! We’ll meet up again at Disney when Nico is old enough for his first Star Wars Weekend!

Franklin and I had a date with the buffet that morning, Boma to be exact.
Yep, we were developing quite a Boma habit on this trip.

It was earlier than our last breakfast here before, and it was MUCH quieter.

I started with some cereal.

Then we got to the real stuff.

It was another delicious breakfast. In case you didn’t realize it before, I highly recommend Boma. Everything is just so good and the service is top notch. We headed out for the bus stop, headed for an oh-so-magical destination.

This wasn’t going to be your typical day at the Magic Kingdom. According to a few people on the Dis and on Twitter, they’d be having a soft opening of Ariel’s Grotto that day in New Fantasyland. You see, at that point, only a few select CMs had been let into the new area. So that’s where we were headed, to New Fantasyland, to see if we could get a peek at what was behind the walls (even if it was only a glimpse as they rushed us to Ariel’s Grotto). So we made our way in.

And hung a hard right.

Turns out a few people had heard about this possible soft opening. I was curious about how this would work. Would they take a few of us at a time? Would the whole walkway inside be walled off to get back to the Grotto? We didn’t have to wait to find out, they soon opened the gates to New Fantasyland and ushered us in. There were TONS of CMs milling about. Turns out, this wasn’t just a soft opening of Ariel’s Grotto, they were letting us try most of the Enchanted Forest! Enchanted Tales With Belle, Ariel’s Grotto, Under the Sea: Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Gaston’s Tavern and Bonjour Gifts were all open to us! The only thing that wouldn’t be open for us to see was Be Our Guest, but we did get our first glimpse of the bridge and gates! But let’s start at the beginning. We walked past Enchanted Tales With Belle, I wanted to see the rest of the area before stopping.

But from the outside, it looked gorgeous! Oh, the details!

Straight ahead was Beast’s Castle. And it looked spectacular.

Like I said, LOTS of CMs.

We turned the corner and saw Eric’s Castle. It was total castle overload!

We decided to make the Little Mermaid our first ride in this new part of the park.

Now you have to remember that this was months before any preview and long before Disney had released any real photos of the space. So getting to see it all for the first time, without really knowing what anything looked like was an incredible feeling. I was giddy, totally floating on air!

​

 

[Missyrose]

The cave part of the queue was amazing, there were just so many details to see!

I was one happy girl.

Time to board our clamshell.

And under the sea, we went.

Don’t mind me, I’m just singing “Under the Sea” at the top of my lungs.

Way better than Fro-Yo hair in California, right?

 

[Missyrose]

As you can tell, Franklin was pretty excited to photograph a whole new ride! These are just a fraction of the pics he took. We headed right next door to meet with the mermaid herself!

And boy can she decorate a grotto. The lights were especially cool.

Shells were scattered throughout the floor.

And places other than the floor.

It was time to meet Ariel!

She was so excited about our Just Engaged buttons! She wanted to know exactly how Franklin proposed and so we told her the story. She was so excited for us!

We headed out of the grotto and back into the sunlight. There was more exploring to be done!

And here’s Franklin’s favorite picture from that day, a panoramic of the Little Mermaid area.

We headed to Belle’s part of town next, with our first stop in Bonjour Gifts.

I love all the new CM costumes!

We stopped in Gaston’s Tavern for some refreshments next.

But first we needed to meet the man, himself!

And what a statue he built to honor himself. Time to go in and find out if he really used antlers in ALL his decorating.

​

 

[todpatcam]

Awesome - Congrats!!!!

 

[Missyrose]

We got a LeFou’s Brew and a Diet Coke in the specialty mugs.

The LeFou’s Brew is Disney’s answer to Butterbeer. But it’s got a much-more fruity taste (mainly apple, with a hint of passion fruit from the foam on top). And while it’s good, I haven’t daydreamed about it the same way I dream about Butterbeer.

Next, we wandered over to Be Our Guest.

We couldn’t go in the restaurant, but they did have a Photopass photographer doing a new magic shot on the bridge.

Don’t worry Beast’s Castle, we’d make our way through your gate in just a few months!

We glanced at ETWB but the line was far too long for us.

Having conquered the Enchanted Forest, we made our way out.

There was one part of Storybook Circus that I was still dying to do: the character meet and greets!
Minnie and Daisy were up first.

​

 

[Missyrose]

Onto Goofy and Donald!

We stopped under the Big Top for some treats.

Our time was beginning to run short, so we decided to make the PeopleMover our last ride of the trip.

We took a few more photos as we made it through the hub.

Lunch was quick at Casey’s. One more order of corndog nuggets for me!

One of the Main Street CMs wanted to take a photo with the newly engaged couple!

Can you tell how long it takes to get me out of the parks?

Our next stop was Town Square to bid farewell to the fall decorations.

And to Goofy, of course!

But wait! Franklin, I yelled, we can’t leave. We haven’t seen Mickey since we got engaged! So into the theater we went.

Mickey was soooooo excited when he saw our buttons, he started jumping up and down and clapping his hands. Then, he wanted to see the ring!

It seems Mickey wanted to get in on the “let’s show off the ring in pictures” act.

Such a perfect way to end the trip. We said our goodbyes and I grabbed one last cupcake for the road.

We gave the castle one, last, teary-eyed look.

​

 

[Missyrose]

And we headed out of the park and to the bus stop. Why is leaving so hard?

Back at AKL, we rounded up all our stuff. And I mean ALL our stuff.

It was time to go out to the DME stop.

And before long, the Magical Depress arrived to take us to the airport.

Not exactly a full house.

Time to go. Sad trombone.

We made it through the maze of MCO security and caught some of the Yankees game before getting on our flight.

It was an uneventful flight, part of it we spent watching the Nats’ decisive Game 5 of their playoffs series with the Cardinals. A game, in which the Nationals royally blew it. Leading my whole office to declare my engagement as a jinx for that team. Thanks guys! We arrived home to two of our dearest friends (Meghan and Laura, you know them if you’re reading our May TR) having decorated our house with “Just Engaged” stuff! We then had a group Skype with all our friends who wanted to hear EVERYTHING.

Leaving Disney is always hard, but such a loving homecoming made it so much easier.

That’s it, my friends! That’s is where the story ends. Thank you all for following along all these many months. There were so many highlights of this trip, but none more spectacular than the surprise engagement Franklin planned at Cinderella’s Royal Table. It was a magical trip and one neither one of us will ever forget. We’ve still got lots of fun to share in our other two TRs (you can find them here and here). And there will definitely be a wedding/Disneymoon TR coming at the end of October. To follow along with all the wedding fun, feel free to follow me on Twitter or on Facebook. See you all soon!
​

 

[wiigirl]

Awesome update!

 

[khertz]

That is pretty amazing that you made it into NFL for some of the first soft openings! It all looks so beautiful, I just get giddy every time I think of us being there to see it for the first time so soon (49 days to go!).

Awwww, the ring session with Mickey is just pure perfection! And I am the same way, I will do anything to stall and savor up just a little more magic on departure day. Leaving WDW is just about the most depressing thing!

This was such a fun TR, and despite the fact that you have 2 more ongoing and one more coming up really soon, I am so sad to see it end!

 

[JustTinking]

Great trip report, felt like I was with you all the way. You're a great writer Missy! Congratulations, I bet the year has gone by quickly and you can't believe the wedding is in 5 weeks or so.

Next time you are in NFL do try the Roasted Pork Shanks at Gaston's Tavern. It is a meal in itself and to die for!! Never knew counter food could taste that good, but this is Disney after all!

We're on our way to F&W first week in Oct, mostly due to reading your TRs! Looking forward to all the booths, plus we booked a few special events. And oh, the BWV points we are closing on this week, that's your fault too!

Wishing you a special day in October and a wonderful Disneymoon. Enjoy Aruba as well!

 

[km77]

Loving your report, you look like you're having so much fun

 

[teekathepony]

I admit to having a Boma habit too, I really really really love breakfast there. I have two booked for my upcoming trip and one dinner!
How cool to get a sneak peek into all the NFL stuff! The LM ride is gorgeous, can't wait to see it in person!
Gaston looks like a fun meet, I'll need to find him!
The CM picture on Main St. is adorable! I love Disney Cms! But the Mickey pictures take the cake, he's so excited for you guys!
Great wrap up to a great trip, I enjoyed reading the whole thing! Can't wait to hear about the wedding/Disneymoon!

 

[Angeejoe]

I love the engagement photos, since there's actual proof of this "so called engagement" you've been talking abou, I say CONGRAULATIONS ! I'm so very happy for you! I can't wait to see wedding pics!

Off topic I have an ADR for Cali Grille on 10/28 @ 8:50p, I think this seems like a great time to catch some fireworks. This will be our 1st time there. what do you think of new menu?