"I brushed my teeth, and I don't have cooties." An August DFTW and Disneymoon TR

[Happiest.Haunt_999]

I'm joining in! How nice to meet you Meghan!! I love the ideas for your wedding and I can definitely tell you have the awesome Canadian sense of humor (I want to be Canadian so bad ).
I can't wait to hear about the wedding/see your pics/and hear about the giraffes (I'm a huge giraffe fan too)!

 

[vamassey1]

Technically, my road trip included four days of driving.

That's a lot of driving!

Turns out, they have to worry a lot about people sneaking over to the states to get married, having no ties to Canada when they leave (e.g. I had no job, and N was a travelling artist) and just trying to stay and never come back home!! And they thought I was trying to sneak into the country!!

I was really getting worried for you. Thank heavens they let you in.

Inside was a note from the main mice, our "something blue" magicbands with bride and groom decals, ears for me and a grape soda pin for N, and a couple sets of matching couple's shirts for us both!

How neat! I love all the little touches they do to make it special.

We were in the far-right lane, and the vehicle in front of us suddenly veered into the guard rail beside us, bounced off it, and started rebounding back toward us into traffic. N acted fast and swerved around him to the left just in time

That was scary!

"Welcome to New Jersey." We dissolved into laughter

The next morning we got gas, and I was going gaga over the US gas prices:

This is about what we're paying now. Before Hurricane Harvey it was under $2.

Love all your pictures at the welcome center.

 

[Steppesister]

Hi friends! I swear I haven't forgotten about you! School and work are just kicking my tush and sucking my free time. And just when I think I'm caught up on the Dis...this happens...

Uggh.

Welcome to my life. UGH is right!

I promise that I'll be back (hopefully soon!) with an actual real-live update!

And you did too!!

I guess it must have looked strange for the border guards. I get that. I got a little flustered as he got more and more confused as I tried to explain that I live in Halifax, Nova Scotia (which is what my license plate says,) N lived in NB (at least that was his permanent address, which he was about to change after we got married and he moved into our place in Halifax full time), his parents lived in NB, and they were travelling with me to pick N up in Mass, take his truck and drive it home, we would continue to Florida together...for our wedding! They were confused...why weren't the parents coming to the wedding?? Well, they were, but later. Why was my car from Nova Scotia if we were crossing in NB? Where did I live again? Where did N live again? (At one point I actually looked over to N's mom in the passenger seat, mortified, to confirm that he did, in fact, live where I said he lived! And I know his address! I'm his wife!) What was he doing in the states? What did he do for a living? What did I do for a living? ...and that's where I made the next mistake...and said I was UNEMPLOYED!

Well, this was certainly not a GREAT start! Oy!! The hassle o'meter is off the dial here!!!!

I mean...I'd love to live at Disney World...don't get me wrong...but that wasn't the plan. At least not this time.

Don't we all...?

It was getting dark soon after, but we wanted to get as far as we could that night. That's when the crazies started to emerge from their caves, and the roads got wild! We had so many near misses avoiding potential accidents with insane drivers who were passing in traffic through nonexistent spaces, crossing four lanes at a time, zooming past us and then immediately slowing to nearly a stop, etc. It was nuts. N has done the drive many times on his own and said he'd never seen anything as bad as what we went through that night. The worst one was actually in fairly dense, slow-moving traffic somewhere around Connecticut: We were in the far-right lane, and the vehicle in front of us suddenly veered into the guard rail beside us, bounced off it, and started rebounding back toward us into traffic. N acted fast and swerved around him to the left just in time, but if there had been someone in the lane beside us we would have been in an accident, and the folks behind and to the side of us would have been, too. To this day I have NO IDEA what caused the car to turn and hit the guard rail. There was NO REASON that I could visibly perceive for it happening. I thanked N for saving our lives, and we continued on! (PTR readers, you'll remember that I was very recently in a lousy car accident that totalled my old car, so I had some intense flashbacks in that moment!)

The lowest gas price we saw in the south was around 1.95 a gallon. This is very exciting for someone from eastern Canada who typically pays over a dollar a litre (1/4 of a gallon!) It usually takes $40+ CAD to fill my tank, and we were filling it for $15-20 USD everywhere.

Free market economy FTW!!!!

Okay, Lady, I'm all caught up for now. And you've made it to FL!! Super excited for the rest of the story.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Arrival Day (Finally!)
Disney Day 1

We're finally here! (In the report...and this is also how I felt after 4 days of driving...) We had hit the Florida welcome center around 2pm, and after some OJ we made good time getting to the Orlando area, and we pulled in to the Grand Floridian at about 6pm. And let me tell you, after driving for days and staying in less expensive hotels, arriving at the GF felt like driving straight into an oasis...

Backing up here: If you didn't follow my PTR, you should know that this trip would involve A LOT of resort hopping. Originally we'd had no plans to stay at the GF. It was out of budget since we were also staying at the Poly for a few days. BUT THEN! We got a free night from Disney Fairytale Weddings as a reward for how many nights our guests were spending on property, and we could spend it anywhere...so of course we chose the swankiest place they had! Originally we didn't anticipate the Grand would be our style...but...well, we got spoiled here...and it felt pretty good!

We had an entire vehicle full of wedding stuff and luggage, so we gave all our stuff to bell services, and then we parked and went inside to get our magic bands (the first of many.) Our room was in building 5 on the ground floor. I tried not to have any expectations about rooms, but I knew that often these free wedding rooms would get upgrades...not the case for us. We had two queen beds, and no upgrades. And the door handle in the bathroom was in poor repair. Other than that though, I had no complaints! We felt like we could definitely get used to this place...

I loved the little touches staying deluxe, like the nice toiletries:

As soon as we arrived, I made N turn on the TV and find the "Stacey" channel for a good dose of must-do's while we waited for our luggage:

We also had a tiny patio where we could watch the monorail go by! I never got it photographed/videoed, but it felt so magical!

Soon enough we got a knock on our door with our luggage from bell services. Our bellman was the most amazing cast member!! His name was John and he was from New York. He told us that he was sent for us specifically because he had JUST returned from a trip to Atlantic Canada, and he has just been in Halifax—he had a brother who lived in the area—as well as some areas in New Brunswick very close to where we grew up. We had the most amazing chat with John, and he took us both from feeling kind of grumpy and tired after our long drive, to feeling thoroughly dusted with magical pixie dust! I have no doubt that this special experience influenced what would become a love affair with the GF.

After John left we were deciding what to do next. Originally we'd thought we might spend our evening resting and enjoying the Grand for the one short night that we were there...but on our first night at Disney and being on the monorail...the call of the Magic Kingdom was just TOO STRONG! We also had our annual passes, so we never felt like we couldn't pop over to a park for just a few hours without wasting a ticket. We decided to head over...

...but first! It was now around the later-end of supper time and we were starving, so we got quick service before leaving the GF. N got a flatbread pizza, and I got my Disney comfort-food dish: allergy-friendly chicken tenders and fries!

Even though it was simple food, we were both really pleased with the quality. Everything was cooked just as it should be. After eating so much from gas stations and food chains, it tasted like manna from heaven!

After filling out a comment form for John from NY, it was time to get our first taste of the Magic Kingdom...

Now if you read my May TR, you'll know that I learned that I am NOT bagless people...but since the GF was just a monorail ride away and we were only going for a few hours, we didn't bother taking bags. It felt pretty freeing!

I had booked FP for Mine Train and Splash for this night just in case we decided to go to a park, so that's exactly what we did next! N hadn't ridden any of the mountain range rides in the dark before, which is one of my favourite experiences at the MK, so I wanted to rectify that this time.

First, 7DMT:

Then we went over to Splash. It was SOO warm, even after the sun had gone down, and I sent my mom a selfie to show how hot and tired I was, waiting in a backed-up FP line for Splash...

Before the drop, N and I discussed what to do for our ride photo, and we both decided on deadpan bored faces. So did it work out?

Hmm...let's push in on that...

N left me hanging!!!
Apparently he tried to do the blank face, but he just couldn't manage not to start screaming once the drop began! Bless his heart, he tried.

At this point we were both pretty spent, and I still wasn't quite used to the temperature yet, but the temptation won out and we decided to stay to experience Happily Ever After for the first time. We had about 15 minutes until the show, we found a decent spot right at the back of one of the taped-off sections in the hub area, and so we stopped to wait.

In the last 2 minutes before the show started, a large woman and her child arrived with another woman and child in her family, and they saw the most minuscule less-than-half-a-person-sized space between us and the people in front of us, and she started elbowing in front of us, unabashedly saying "excuse me." We looked at her and said "no." There just wasn't enough room for them, and we weren't about to get pushed out behind the tape by someone who arrived at the last minute when we'd been waiting, even if only for 15 minutes. But she just pushed through anyway and started snapping about how rude we were (talking about us loudly in the third person to her family and everyone around her, of course.) Then of course her daughter couldn't see anything, because she was crammed like a sardine in a crowd of adults. This is absolutely typical crowd behaviour at Disney, but I suspect it still put a damper on my first experience of HEA.

So...what did I think!? I liked it. But that's all. I didn't take pictures (sorry!) so I could be fully immersed in the experience. So here's a Google stock image (thanks to the Disney Food Blog!) of the show:

I thought the projections looked very impressive...what I could see of them anyway...I wish they'd done more of the important projection stuff higher up on the castle so short people could still see them! I missed a lot being short in a crowd, and the offending mother's poor daughter didn't see much of anything. I miss the number of large fireworks in Wishes. As a musician, I think the soundtrack is really excellent, and I could see myself falling more and more in love with it over time. But I think my biggest issue with it (other than the fact that I don't have any nostalgia associated with it the way I did with my beloved Wishes) was that I felt it wasn't very plot-driven compared to Wishes, or like other nighttime shows I enjoy like Fantasmic, and because of that I didn't get invested in it the same way. I liked it. I didn't love it. However, I'm very glad we went the night we did...because we ended up not getting the chance to see it again once in the nearly-two-weeks that we were there.

We rode the monorail back to the GF afterwards and crashed, ready for a busy Wedding Eve the next day!!​

 

[MeghanEmily]

This made me laugh because I can totally relate. For some reason I always get a bit nervous crossing borders in and out of the US from Canada, and always end up saying something stupid. Good thing for the rain and them not searching your car...sheesh, that would not have been a good start to the trip.

I always manage to do something stupid to make myself look as suspicious as possible at the border! Uggh!! I'm glad I'm not the only one!!

I just adore this!!!! What a cute idea to make your something blue be your magicbands!!!! Love, love, love!

I had a lot of fun putting it together! Nathan's always doing his best to do what's best for me, so once in a while when I get a chance to do something creative to surprise him it's a lot of fun!

Better yet there isn't even a wedding you've created a very elaborate lie that even his parent's are in on just so you can sneak into the U.S. and live in Disney World forever

Oh no! You figured out my elaborate scheme!! Maybe this isn't such a bad idea...

Haha I probably shouldn't even joke about things like that! Just my luck, a border guard will be trolling the boards just waiting to catch me in the act of illegal immigration!

The parts of New Jersey I've been in the roads are not great. They're quite different from the roads around here. There are so many terrible drivers everywhere and it seems like you saw all of them!

Yeah, we weren't thrilled driving there. But once you get on the NJ Turnpike it's easy driving from there. It's amazing how we managed to come across every terrible driver on the road!

Aw being car sick is awful. I can't even imagine being in a car for that long, I'd be so sick

Ugh, it's the worst! I was surprised I did as well as I did. The ride back was actually a lot better and I rarely got too sick.

Wow what an adventurous road trip! It's crazy that there was so much terrible driving all in one trip. So glad you guys made it through!!

It was wild! But totally worth it when we finally arrived.

Wow some very interesting things happening to you on your way down to the Most Magical place on earth! Good start to your report, enjoying reading all about it.

Thanks!! It was a crazy ride getting there, but so wonderful when we finally got in!

Okay, this is hilarious

I lost it! It still makes me smile when I think of NJ now.

My mom was just telling me not too long ago that they always did this when she was a kid, too! What a fun tradition!

It's a simple thing, but kinda fun! It took me back to the first time I drove with my mom and step father when I was five. I was SO excited to drink REAL FL orange juice...even though most of the OJ I drink at home in Canada is FL orange juice... It's the little things.

Can't wait to read about your adventures. How lucky to get married at the Happiest place on earth!

Can't wait to see your pictures!!!

It was really such an awesome experience, and I can't wait to share more stories and lots of pictures with you!

I'm joining in! How nice to meet you Meghan!! I love the ideas for your wedding and I can definitely tell you have the awesome Canadian sense of humor (I want to be Canadian so bad ).
I can't wait to hear about the wedding/see your pics/and hear about the giraffes (I'm a huge giraffe fan too)!

Thanks so much for taking the time to join in and read! I won't lie, I LOVE being Canadian (despite our many quirks) and totally understand why someone might want to be Canadian. Our country is pretty super, when you weigh all the pros and cons.

I'm also very excited to meet another big giraffe fan! It was SUCH a great trip for giraffe experiences!

I was really getting worried for you. Thank heavens they let you in.

It was pretty stressful! Border-crossing always is, even when you, of course, have nothing to hide. Everything they do is for our safety, of course, but you have zero control over whether you get to cross that border, and I had nightmares about not being let into the country for my own wedding!

How neat! I love all the little touches they do to make it special.

They really make your wedding sometime so special!! It's amazing! That said, this little surprise was all me...don't tell Nathan! He figured it out pretty quickly that I'd put together a surprise for him, but he played along anyway for the fun of it. He's a good sport.

This is about what we're paying now. Before Hurricane Harvey it was under $2.

Love all your pictures at the welcome center.

I remember years ago around the time of Katrina, our gas prices were also affected up here, and we paid something like $1.40 a litre, which ended up being a bit above $4 a gallon with the CAD-USD exchange rate, etc. Even now it's around $1.10. Gas is pricey. I've been doing a lot of walking and taking the bus now that I'm back in school. Every bit helps!

Well, this was certainly not a GREAT start! Oy!! The hassle o'meter is off the dial here!!!!

Nerves were pretty frazzled!! Thank goodness it didn't end up being an issue. And the border station is NOT a good place for bridezilla to try to emerge, so it could have been much worse...

Okay, Lady, I'm all caught up for now. And you've made it to FL!! Super excited for the rest of the story.

Thank goodness we made it! Everything was worth it when we finally arrived.

 

[missangelalexis]

Your room looks really nice!

Being just a monorail away from MK, I don't blame you for being so tempted to go! At least you had FPs for 2 of the big rides, and even better to experience them in the dark! I'm sorry your HEA experience was just ok. But thank goodness you decided to stay and watch since it ended up being your only chance to see it!

 

[afwdwfan]

Originally we didn't anticipate the Grand would be our style...but...well, we got spoiled here...and it felt pretty good!

Well, that might mean there's hope for me yet! I've always felt that GF is just a little stuffy and not my style.

As soon as we arrived, I made N turn on the TV and find the "Stacey" channel for a good dose of must-do's while we waited for our luggage:

You're not officially there until you're hanging out with Stacey!

We also had a tiny patio where we could watch the monorail go by! I never got it photographed/videoed, but it felt so magical!

Yep, I could just hang out there for a few hours.

After John left we were deciding what to do next. Originally we'd thought we might spend our evening resting and enjoying the Grand for the one short night that we were there...but on our first night at Disney and being on the monorail...the call of the Magic Kingdom was just TOO STRONG! We also had our annual passes, so we never felt like we couldn't pop over to a park for just a few hours without wasting a ticket. We decided to head over...

It would be hard to resist the call with an AP in your pocket!

Then we went over to Splash. It was SOO warm, even after the sun had gone down, and I sent my mom a selfie to show how hot and tired I was, waiting in a backed-up FP line for Splash...

Well, when you're hot and tired, Splash can always cool you off and wake you up!

N left me hanging!!!
Apparently he tried to do the blank face, but he just couldn't manage not to start screaming once the drop began! Bless his heart, he tried.

First of all, congratulations. You did awesome. But sorry he left you hanging.

This is absolutely typical crowd behaviour at Disney, but I suspect it still put a damper on my first experience of HEA.

That stinks. Unfortunately, you're right. That is fairly typical behavior there. Stinks when you're on the receiving end of it though.

I liked it. I didn't love it. However, I'm very glad we went the night we did...because we ended up not getting the chance to see it again once in the nearly-two-weeks that we were there.

Well, I think we've discussed this already and we seem to feel very much the same about HEA. Not to speak for you, but I know my feeling would be that I'd maybe make an extra effort to see Wishes a second time if we could possibly do it. For HEA I'm not sure I'd make any special effort.

 

[Bethislucy]

The room looks really nice. I would have had to do the same thing and jump over to MK for just a little bit.

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

We also had a tiny patio where we could watch the monorail go by! I never got it photographed/videoed, but it felt so magical!

How fun!

N hadn't ridden any of the mountain range rides in the dark before, which is one of my favourite experiences at the MK, so I wanted to rectify that this time.

The Mountains at night are my favorite!!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Well, that might mean there's hope for me yet! I've always felt that GF is just a little stuffy and not my style.

That's exactly what I thought, too. And it may still be that way for you. But I was quite taken-aback by how much I liked it and felt at home. It wasn't the first resort that I ended up feeling differently about than my original expectations either.

You're not officially there until you're hanging out with Stacey!

Agreed! I love that Disney queen! Obviously...enough to came our cat after her!

Well, when you're hot and tired, Splash can always cool you off and wake you up!

It did the job!

First of all, congratulations. You did awesome. But sorry he left you hanging.

Haha thank you! It was a challenge! Fortunately the image resolution on that ride photo is pretty terrible, so you can't see the hidden spark of fear in my eyes.

That stinks. Unfortunately, you're right. That is fairly typical behavior there. Stinks when you're on the receiving end of it though.

It really is. I know I'm not always on perfect behaviour at Disney. Nobody is. But I try my best to be a decent human to other people and not be disrespectful. It can really be a madhouse.

Well, I think we've discussed this already and we seem to feel very much the same about HEA. Not to speak for you, but I know my feeling would be that I'd maybe make an extra effort to see Wishes a second time if we could possibly do it. For HEA I'm not sure I'd make any special effort.

Yep, agree 100% It wasn't a bad show by any means, but I didn't feel the need to put in the effort to catch it again and again.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Your room looks really nice!

Being just a monorail away from MK, I don't blame you for being so tempted to go! At least you had FPs for 2 of the big rides, and even better to experience them in the dark! I'm sorry your HEA experience was just ok. But thank goodness you decided to stay and watch since it ended up being your only chance to see it!

It was really lovely! We both really liked it there, Nathan even more than me. Maybe someday we'll save up our money or catch it on a good deal like the one I got for the Poly and we'll be back someday

I'm glad we stopped to watch it when we did, too! I feel like we would have made time later if we hadn't already seen it, but it never really fit into our schedule easily again like it did that night.

The room looks really nice. I would have had to do the same thing and jump over to MK for just a little bit.

The temptation was just too strong! It was a good way to start the whole trip off on an exciting note.

The Mountains at night are my favorite!!

Agreed!! I have awesome memories of riding BTMRR or Splash with my mom after dark and/or during the fireworks, etc. It makes them that much more fun and exciting.

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

Wow what an incredibly long few days of travel! I can't imagine how exhausted you must have been - but what an amazing feeling to get to check into the GF Your room is beautiful!

I agree, the mountains are even more fun in the dark! But I am with Nathan, I can't not scream on Splash Mountain

I have watched multiple videos of HEA and I think it's beautifully done. But I can definitely see how it would be hard to view from certain areas since there aren't as many fireworks as Wishes had...plus rude people always make things worse

Can't wait to read more!

 

[amazingact21]

Hooray, you've officially arrived at Disney! And at the Grand! What an entrance. Your room looked gorgeous, but sorry to hear there were a few things wrong with the room. When you're staying at Disney's flagship resort, you sort of expect things like door handles to be in working condition.

I can't believe you guys had the energy to hop over to the MK after four days of driving. Whew! But I guess it was a good thing since that was the only time you saw Happily Ever After. And I'm with you 1000%. The show is good, but it's no Wishes. Relying heavily on projections does a disservice to the guests who can't see the castle.

Oh! I almost forgot to comment on that crazy border patrol story. Goodness gracious, that was a stressful time. I'm really glad you didn't end up coming here on the DIS and telling us that you missed your wedding because some folks thought you were trying to sneak into the country!

 

[Tracy161]

As soon as we arrived, I made N turn on the TV and find the "Stacey" channel for a good dose of must-do's while we waited for our luggage

Like any good Diser would

We also had a tiny patio where we could watch the monorail go by! I never got it photographed/videoed, but it felt so magical!

How neat!

THIS IS AMAZING. But yeah... little bit of a fail on N's part

I liked it. I didn't love it.

That's kinda how I felt about HEA. I really, really loved Wishes, it just felt so magical to me

 

[Raeven]

nd the people in front of us, and she started elbowing in front of us, unabashedly saying "excuse me." We looked at her and said "no." There just wasn't enough room for them, and we weren't about to get pushed out behind the tape by someone who arrived at the last minute when we'd been waiting, even if only for 15 minutes.

People are so rude!

Oh no! You figured out my elaborate scheme!! Maybe this isn't such a bad idea...

Haha I probably shouldn't even joke about things like that! Just my luck, a border guard will be trolling the boards just waiting to catch me in the act of illegal immigration!

They probably are even though you went home, they'll be waiting with Disboards print outs next time you try to cross!

 

[ashw100]

I finally had a chance to hop over here and I am so excited to read all about your wedding and honeymoon. Congrats to the Newlyweds.

What an awesome cm interaction, I love when that happens.

Sorry about the mom at HEA, I hate entitled people like that, and while yes it happens all the time, it definitely can effect your experience. Also, good for you for standing up for yourself, I am always too much of a wimp to do that and am more passive aggressive .

I feel you on HEA, I haven't seen it yet, but with just what I have seen on Youtube I have to agree.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians!!
(And Happy Columbus Day[???] to the rest of you!)
I'm thankful for all of my awesome Disboard friends!

This is what my turkey birdie looked like an hour ago. No guarantees for what it'll look like in a couple more hours...

I'm currently up to my eyeballs in the physics of sound and speech production, so our dinner is going to be a small/low-maintenance one. I've hit midterm season already, so it's hard to say whether the updates will come more slowly due to studying, or more quickly due to procrastination... ​

 

[KathyM2]

We also had a tiny patio where we could watch the monorail go by! I never got it photographed/videoed, but it felt so magical!

That must have been amazing. Though did you hear it at night?

the call of the Magic Kingdom was just TOO STRONG!

I hear ya...there were times at the CR where we should have rested but just were pulled....into MK...because it was so close...but ended up staying more than a "pop over" lol

I learned that I am NOT bagless people...but since the GF was just a monorail ride away and we were only going for a few hours, we didn't bother taking bags. It felt pretty freeing!

Bagless is really tough. I can't imagine how nice it would be though not to carry anything!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians!!

Same to you!

 

[Tracy161]

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've hit midterm season already, so it's hard to say whether the updates will come more slowly due to studying, or more quickly due to procrastination...

Oh I hear that

 

[Steppesister]

I'm currently up to my eyeballs in the psychics of sound and speech production, so our dinner is going to be a small/low-maintenance one.

Please tell me you meant physics! Right?!

I've hit midterm season already, so it's hard to say whether the updates will come more slowly due to studying, or more quickly due to procrastination...

OH how I get that! To study or not to study.... that's always the question!