HIS and HERS trip report for the ages: Disneymoon 1/8/07-1/13/07- Completed!!!

[Kimberly815]

HIS and HERS trip report for the ages: Disneymoon 1/8/07-1/13/07

This trip report will be written by both me and my new hubby. We decided that there wasn’t enough ‘couples’ point of view. So we figured: why not give it a shot ourselves? I will be doing the majority of the reporting, with Joe constantly chiming in to give his own 2 cents . . . although in his case, it might be more like $1.50.

We actually arrived in Florida on 12/29 and spent the week doing last minute wedding stuff on the Gulf Coast of Florida, and gearing up for the big day on 1/7/07 in Punta Gorda. My folks live in the area, and we spent most of the week with them.

There are several moments where this trip report could start, including the actual wedding day. There are so many moments that day that I will never forget: How I felt waking up and realizing it really was finally here. The smile my mother gave me when I when I put on my grandmother’s pearls as my something borrowed. When my father turned to me with eyes welled with tears, and asked me if I was ready and told me that he loved me, just before walking me down the aisle. The tears I shed as soon as I saw Joe for the first time, waiting for me at the end of the aisle. The way the rain (which forced our outdoor ceremony inside) stopped, and the clouds parted to provide stunning beams of light for beautiful photos and an incredible sunset. The love I felt as our best friends made their unforgettable toasts. The laughter I heard as we danced (and sang along) like no one was watching. But mostly how happy and filled with joy such a perfectly imperfect day could be surrounded by the people we love the most.

But, I don’t think I could make it through that. Heck, I couldn’t make it through that last paragraph without shedding a few tears. So I think I will start it on Monday morning. The first morning as husband and wife. The first day we would actually set foot on Disney property. Here are a few wedding photos, because I know someone is bound to ask for them! (The disney photos later won't take as long to load as these ones, cause I was able to resize them!)

Me and Joe

The bridal party

The bridal party again

My parents and siblings

Joe’s parents

So the cast is as follows:

Joe (The New Husband and The_Grim here on the disboards): Former closeted Disney fanatic that has since ‘come out’. (I guess that’s just what happens after 5 or so Disney trips!)

Jen (Best Friend, Maid of Honor, and Jennifer48 here on the disboards) and Dan (Very Good Friend and Boyfriend to Jen, and he has a disboards name, I just never remember it!!): They will be joining us for the first couple of days at Disney.

The Callahan Clan (my mother’s side of the family): Making a guest appearance as a group early on.

And then there is me! This is about the third trip report I have written so far. Hopefully I am getting better!

Next time on ‘His and Hers Trip Report for the Ages’: The Adventure Begins a little later this afternoon!!

 

[The_Grim]

...boy, there were lots of tears! I even shed a few myself, but then again I'm a big softy when it comes to weddings. However, since this was my own, I figured I could get away with it...Despite the fact that the only time all week it decided to rain was the exact hour in which we were supposed to be marrired, the ceremony was beautiful. Truthfully, I was so excited to marry Kim, that I would've had the ceremony in the buffet line in the next room over if I had to!

 

[Jennifer48]

YAHOO!! I'm so excited that this trippie has finally started! I can't wait to read how the rest of your week went after we left (even though I know the BIG things )

Lets get this party started again!

Btw, you picked awesome pictures to post. I love them all! Even the ones that I'm in

Oh and Dan's disboards name is Squall55. I'm sure he'll be here to post sooner or later.

 

[Kimberly815]

Monday, January 8th 2007: Part I

The plan was to get up, pack, say goodbye, check out of the hotel, and drive to Orlando. We were planning to meet Jen and Dan up there. They were leaving a couple of hours before us, because they were taking Michelle (Matron of Honor) and her husband back to MCO to fly home.

The alarm went off at 8:00 AM. I had no desire to get up that early, but I knew that we had a lot of stuff to pack up before checking out, and that we would be distracted by a lot of people stopping by to say goodbye before they hopped on flights home. So we got up and showered.

Packing was a little tricky. Michelle was taking one of my larger checked suitcases home with her, filled with wedding stuff, so I wouldn’t have to tote it around Orlando with me. So there was a LOT of shuffling around to do. Plus we had to find a few people to take some things home as carry ons: the cake top, the toasting glasses, a beautiful plate wedding gift, and a very large signing frame. The logistics were exhausting.

People started stopping by around 9:00 AM to say goodbye (we propped the door open so people would know it was safe!). Joe’s Mom (who took the toasting glasses), his sisters (who took the plate and the cake top), stopped in first, because their flight was pretty early and they needed to get on the road to the airport.

My sister (who took the signing frame) came by around 10:00 AM and French braided my hair. While I was still stuck sitting getting my hair braided, Jen and Michelle stopped by to pick up the suitcase, and then were off to Orlando to get Michelle and Eric to their flight on time.

By about 10:45 AM, we loaded up all of our stuff and headed down to the lobby to check out.

We get downstairs to see pretty much all for the Callahan Clan sitting around the lobby, just hanging out.

“Um. Okay, guys. . .you know you don’t own the place right?”

Apparently, Nana (my grandmother, my mom’s mother, and matriarch of the Callahan Clan) wanted to take everyone out to breakfast.

We happily oblige, pack up the car, and met the Callahan Clan at the local Bob Evans. The 14 of us takes up a whole section of the restaurant, but everyone was on their best behavior that day! Breakfast was wonderful (mmm, I love eggs Benedict), and it was great to spend some time with the family again before running off to Disney. They even made us a beautiful “Happy Honeymoon” card on the back of one of the placemats. That will be going in the scrapbook!!

Afterward, it was a sad goodbye. My mom shed a few more tears , and we got plenty hugs from everyone else. It was hard to leave, since it will probably be a long time before that many of the Callahan Clan is together again.

And with sad hearts, we turned toward Orlando . . . Mickey in mind!

We were off!! On the road by about 12:15 PM or so . . . not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

I gave Jen a ring to see where they were. The four of them had stopped at Steak and Shake for some lunch in Lakeland, and then were heading right to the airport. We made a plan for Jen to call when they had dropped Michelle and Eric off, or when we were getting close to Disney, whichever came first.

We have done the ride from Orlando to my parent’s house a couple of times now; usually when the prices to Orlando are better than the prices flying into Ft Myers, or if we are combining a trip to visit with a trip to Disney. However, the ride seemed longer than two hours this time. I think because we were so tired from all the excitement of the previous day. I almost even fell asleep at one point. At about 2:00 PM, just as I was thinking to myself “we are almost there!” and waking up out of my semi-coma, Jen calls. Michelle and Eric are all set for their flight, and they are on their way back to Disney! The plan was to meet near the World of Disney Store at Downtown Disney.

Next time on ‘His and Hers Trip Report for the Ages’: Downtown Disney and finally getting to our resort!

 

[The_Grim]

8am came obscenely early the next day....I was not not interested in waking up, but I knew that a Disney trip was looming Thankfully, we were able to pawn off alot of stuff on our friends and family, even though, by the time we left Disney, we had already purchased another suitcase to help us bring the souvenirs home! hehehe....Everyone seemed to really have a good time at the wedding! All we kept hearing was how beautiful the ceremony was, and how they hadn't had that much fun in a long time! We were so happy that people enjoyed themselves! It was quite a relief...

Nana taking us out for breakfast was a very nice gesture, and just what the doctor ordered after a long night of partying and getting hitched. I think I actually might have ordered one of everything on the menu....except grits....we northerners don't do grits....Bob Evans was a hoot, and our "wedding card" was great! It was now on to Disney!

 

[MA pigletfan]

what a fun report!! I love the "tag team" reporting style..very unique
Glad to see another MA'er on the boards!

 

[TKDisneylover]

You guys, this is such a great start to your trip report(s), I love the "he said, she said" concept! And congratulations on your recent wedding! You are a beautiful couple and the photos truly show that!

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!

 

[Kimberly815]

Thanks MA_Pigletfan and TKdisneylover! I am glad you are enjoying it! I was hoping that the "His and Hers" version would be a good read!

A little too busy tonight, but I will have an update tomorrow!!

 

[Jennifer48]

It WAS a fun wedding and I thank you for not posting any incriminating photos of me dancing the night away!

The ride to Orlando DID seem to take forever even for me. Then again, when you are looking forward to the big arches to enter the Disney World resort, that time can't get there fast enough!!

 

[natale1980]

great idea!! My hubby would never write on my tr... and if he did it would go something like this:

ahhhh... Disney Good.... going home BAD.

Can't wait to read more.

-nat

 

[Gregory]

What a great idea for a trip report. Thanks to both of you for posting. I can hardly wait for your next installment.

 

[Kimberly815]

Monday January 8th 2007: Part II

We end up arriving at almost the same time and headed right to the Guest Services Desk. The park ticket I had ordered for Joe never came in the mail, so we had to pick it up there. While the friendly guest services CM was printing out the pass, Joe and I got to talking about what things we wanted to do on our honeymoon. The CM overheard, and promptly gave us two ‘Just Married Buttons’.

We put them on and headed with Jen and Dan over to the World of Disney store to do some perusing. I don’t think Joe and I actually bought anything that day, and although I know that Jen and Dan did, I really can’t remember what exactly! We were planning on returning later in the week, so we made note of the items we might still want in 5 days and just enjoyed the wonderful ‘Disneyness’ of it all.

By about 3:30pm or so, we had about enough, and decided to head to the Wilderness Lodge to check in.

Check in went very smoothly and we got lots of congratulations. (I think those Just Married pins, and the fact that I was carrying in my bouquet of flowers helped! - I just couldn’t bear to get rid of them just yet!). We had booked a Woods View and requested a King bed. Joe and I ended up in room 1018, which turned out to be a great king bed handicap accessible room. While waiting for Jen and Dan to finish checking in, we got to talking to one of the gentleman at the concierge desk. He gave us a phone number to call once we got in our room, and said there was a message waiting for us.

Jen and Dan had no problems checking in either (booked standard and got room 5062), and we headed to their room to drop stuff off, before heading to our room (we all wanted to check out both rooms!)

I then dialed the elusive number to retrieve our message (on speaker phone of course, so all of us could hear) and it was an adorable little message from Mickey and Minnie congratulating us and telling us to have a wonderful honeymoon. How cute!!

The four of us decide to split up for about an hour or so, to unpack and get settled, and plan to meet in the lobby at 5:00pm or so to check out the gift shop before going to the Whispering Canyon Café for dinner.

Joe and I went to pick up refillable mugs for our stay, then came back to unpack. I did most of the unpacking because Joe kept taking LOADS of pictures of the room, and the view. We had a cute little pond just outside our patio, and when Joe went out to take some more pictures, a bunch of ducks waddled over and came right up on our patio. They were followed by a little family of ducks and ducklings, nipping away at the grass!

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. I run over to answer, thinking it was Jen or Dan and it was a CM with a delivery for us! I thanked her and brought in our little present. It was two chocolates shaped like the totem pole in the Wilderness Lodge Lobby and a card from Mickey and Minnie!

Time to meet Jen and Dan! So we head to the lobby and poke around. Jen tells me that after we split up, they realized that if you look real close, you can see the castle from their room. So we make plans to watch Wishes from their balcony later!

We enjoyed the lobby for a bit and checked out the store. Joe and I picked up a Wilderness Lodge pin to add to our collection. We checked into the Whispering Canyon at about 5:35pm for our 6:00pm reservation and were seated immediately.

Next time on ‘His and Hers Trip Report for the Ages’: Dinner and a Kissing Contest!

 

[The_Grim]

Ahh, the "Just Married" buttons...those babies got us alot of attention over the next week! The Wilderness Lodge was beautitful, I'd recommend it to anyone. They were doing a little bit of construction on the front, but even with that I still felt like I was far off in the woods of the Pacific Northwest (I hope that's the theme they were going for, anyways!). Our room was very nice, and handicapped accessible as Kim pointed out. I was the one who originally got the attention of the ducks. I walked outside out our balcony to take some photos of the grounds and I started hearing some quacking...I looked over and there were 4 ducks, and they all started walking towards me....So, I went back into the room and closed the slider and all the ducks walked up on our balcony and started staring into our room! They hung our there for 10 minutes or so, and I didn't have any bread to give them, so this episode of DuckTales was over. The card and the message from Mickey and Minnie were a very nice touch....the Mrs. was very excited!

 

[scottishwee35]

Hi Kimberley815

Friend of Jennifer 48

I would like to saying "CONGRATULATION ON YOUR MARRIAGE", and lovely photos and very usual photo to see the bride and groom at the ceremony.

What a beautiful photos and the hotel too.

Wish you both all the best for the future.

cheer

Scottishwee35

 

[Kimberly815]

Hi Kimberley815

Friend of Jennifer 48

I would like to saying "CONGRATULATION ON YOUR MARRIAGE", and lovely photos and very usual photo to see the bride and groom at the ceremony.

What a beautiful photos and the hotel too.

Wish you both all the best for the future.

cheer

Scottishwee35

Thank you so very much for your well wishes!

 

[Jennifer48]

Yey! The Wilderness Lodge was beautiful. I would definately stay there again. Can we go back now please??

 

[happyindisney]

I am enjoying your trip report! What a great way to start off the rest of your life together!!

 

[Kimberly815]

Monday January 8th 2007: Part III

We were seated off of the main room a bit, but were still close enough to enjoy all the hoopla. Cheryl was our server and she was great. I ordered the Year of A Million Dreams inspired Martini, which came with a blue light up ice cube.

Joe, Jen and I all had the skillet, and Dan went for the meatloaf (apparently I don't have a picture of the meatloaf!). It was all delicious! Boy, do I wish I had some of that skillet to eat right now!

We skipped dessert, but Cheryl would not let us skip out so easily. She took Joe and me over to the main room, with another couple seated near us, which looked newly engaged. She got the whole restaurants attention and explained that we were newlyweds and they were just engaged and we were going to have a KISSING CONTEST!

Everyone in the restaurant was to clink their glasses and whoever kissed the longest won!

The clinking started (and boy was it loud) and it was ON!

When Joe and I finally stopped holding that kiss, we noticed that the other couple had already stopped. (Jen and Dan informed us later that they only kissed for a second or two)

Cheryl had the restaurant clap to indicate who then thought should win.

Cheryl announced: “Couple One: the just engaged”

You could hear a pin drop.

Cheryl announced: “Couple Two: the newlyweds”

THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE!!! WOO-HOO!!

We went back to our seats, a little embarrassed, but smiling. Cheryl brought us out our prize ‘wedding cake’.

After we paid, we headed out back to check out the pool area and maybe catch the geyser.

After waiting about 30 minutes or so with no eruption, we headed back in to change into our swimsuits and meet in Jen and Dan’s room for Wishes. It was weird to watch Wishes from there. There was no sound, and the fireworks pretty far behind the castle. The fireworks were beautiful, but they didn’t seem to have the same effect that Wishes usually has when you are standing in front of the castle.

We headed down to the pool, for the long awaited, long anticipated HOT TUB! Dan had been saying for the past 24 hours how he was planning on just sitting in the hot tub for 34 hours straight!! A long hot soak in a hot tub is what everyone needs after a wedding, or a day at Disney for that matter!

After about a half an hour, Joe and I headed back inside, refilled our mugs and just relaxed for the night. We had an early wake up to meet Jen and Dan at 7:45am to make it to the Magic Kingdom for the opening ceremony!

Next time on ‘His and Hers Trip Report for the Ages’: We finally make it to a park!!

 

[The_Grim]

I have to admit, I wasn't really sure what to expect at the Whispering Canyon.....for some reason I had pictured it differently in my mind. It was pretty cool though, definately a "can't miss." There were lots of little things going on for the kids, like broomstick races, etc. We were sort of off the beaten path, so we really had to stretch our necks to see anything. Now, the skillet.....MAN ALIVE! for a professional eater like me, the skillet was great! BBQ chicken...mmmm....Ribs...mmmm.....pulled pork....mmm......the beans....MMMMMMMM......the mashed taters and cornbread were both really good too! The skillet would be a bargain at twice the price!

There was no way I was losing that kissing contest! And I did sorta feel bad for the other couple who was obviously much more embarassed than we were, but that bad feeling went away when I was eating my cake! It was a little weird watching wishes with no music and with it not lining up with the castle, but it was still really fun! Wishes on a bad day is still better than no Wishes at all! .....oh, and, I wish I was in a hot tub right now......with a skillet....

 

[Jennifer48]

Mmmmmmmm that skillet was so darn delicious!

Yeah that kissing contest wasn't even a contest. The other couple were so embarrassed they gave up after a smooch.

So, I realized after the fact, that there was an AUX port in the alarm clock in our room. I had my iPod with me, I plugged it into the clock and by gosh, we could have listened to Wishes that way!! Oh well. Next time we know.

Joe, they weren't "broomstick races" they were "horse races!" Duh!