Inching My Way Closer to the Castle Final thoughts/future trips 4/2p90 The End 4/4p92

[MEK]

I edited and uploaded some more pic so I should be able to update later with Chapel pics and the rest of GF. Meanwhile, my spring choir performance is interfering with my ability to take a May WDW trip... grumble, grumble....

D4D

I was going to try for an update myself, but I am pretty exhausted now. I may need to wait.

 

[Ducky4Disney]

MEK went on ahead and got the good shots, but I'm glad I went back for my camera.

Here it is!

It screamed "Come and see me! Come and see me!" so we did.

I never EVER thought I would want to be married here. From the outside and faraway it seemed unappealing, but up close and personal - WOWIE! It was truly breathtaking. N-O-N-E of the pics we took do it justice; it was beyond awesome.

The Brides Vestibule...

And the real-deal!

This was as good as it got for me. There were people in there touring so I missed seeing the inside, but just seeing it from the door was amazing. The castle is RIGHT THERE! BAM! Smack in the middle of that beautiful glass archway! I'm renewing my vows here one day, I don't care what it costs!

We also did some walking around outside, and there are some great views.

Here is a quick lesson on perspective. Watch how the Castle moves away and the arch remains basically the same.

The top pic has a focal length of 28mm, next is 14mm, and the bottom one is 6mm. The shorter the focal length, the farther back the background goes. It's deceiving how close the Castle really is and how far away it looks!

Back to reality... sort of. Back to the Grand Floridian!

We wandered deeper into GF and came upon the *real* pool!

Ahh... so there was a time when these resort pools were more than just puddles and they had a real deep end. My DH is 6'7" and he always has to sit on the bottom of the pool in order to get remotely wet. Not here!

And in case you forgot - the Castle is RIGHT THERE!

Peek-a-boo!

What a cool resort! It's on my to-stay list now. Never thought that would happen.

D4D

 

[brookelizabeth]

STUNNING GF PICS!!!! Wow-oh-wow. So amazing. I haven't seen many pictures of it, and not like the ones you two were able to capture---I gotta spend some time exploring there I think!!!

I think I also need a new lens for my camera.

 

[MagicShell]

Thanks for sharing your wonderful wedding chapel photos. I can not imagine a more perfect view for a wedding. You would certainly feel like a princess.

 

[MEK]

I completely missed this!!!!! Very Cool! And talk about stealth - you managed to get right in there a snap a picture during the tour! Nice, but no wonder they locked the chapel after that!

STUNNING GF PICS!!!! Wow-oh-wow. So amazing. I haven't seen many pictures of it, and not like the ones you two were able to capture---I gotta spend some time exploring there I think!!!

I think I also need a new lens for my camera.

Thanks! We had a lot of fun taking all the pictures. We spent a couple hours doing it. I love Jen's shots - they are fab!

Thanks for sharing your wonderful wedding chapel photos. I can not imagine a more perfect view for a wedding. You would certainly feel like a princess.

Agreed! I felt like a princess just opening the door! It really IS the most perfect backdrop for a wedding. Beyond Perfect!

 

[MEK]

After Jen and I had exhausted our time at the wedding pavilion, we head back to the main GF pool. Honestly, if we hadn't got locked out of the the chapel, we probably would have stayed there all afternoon. You know - set up camp, take turns standing at the altar, take close ups of the stained glass, take bets on how far away the castle really is. You know - all the things a crazy, obsessed Disney fan would do.

So thanks to a click of the lock, we drug ourselves back to finish our visit at the Grand Flo.

One more look at the quiet pool

Cool Roof

The "real" pool!

Jen and I were both pretty thirsty at this point and we had hoped there would be a drink fill station near the main pool, but in actuality we were so close to the counter service area, Gasparillas???, that we ducked in there for some refreshment. We knew we wouldn't get back to our room until well after 2pm, so we decided to head out. Believe me, leaving the GF was the last thing I wanted to do. I already told you, I wanted to live there. There had to be an empty room somewhere?????

So I went to the GF with only the intention of visiting a new pool. I left wanting to stay there. Like Jen said, I never expected that to happen. But the Grand Flo is sneaky. Stuffy and pretentious from the exterior, but welcoming and gracious once we were embraced by her interior.

Like I said - really hard to leave. I wanted to explore every nook and cranny, but there was no time for that. We had a date with Kim Possible and a dinner ADR to get to.


Continued in Next Post.......

 

[MEK]

When Jen and I got back to the room I jumped in the shower. I was a hot, sweaty mess. Despite pool hopping, I had spent surprisingly little time in the pool. Tonight was our last night and we were anxious to get back to Epcot and the World Showcase.

I looked in our frig and realized that in addition to some left over Le Cellier pretzels, we still had a couple beers in the frig. Remember my sherpa cooler? Well, I was not about to sherpa home beer that I had so lovingly packed for the trip and I was sure we wouldn't be back in the room until much later that evening, so I put my thinking cap on and decided that I would take my beer to "go". I felt a little guilty about hauling around alcohol in my resort mug, but I didn't let that stop me.

Once Jen and I were buffed and puffed, we set out for the monorail. Surprisingly, I did not take any pictures on our arrival to Epcot. Rather, we headed straight to spaceship earth, which was a walk on. This is one of my favs, but I happen to know for a fact that I can't get any pictures on this ride without using a flash. So I refrained and didn't take a single pic until we were on the way down. I am quite proud of myself for resisting the urge to take flash photograph!

Here we our.....

We didn't hang out too long before we set our sights on the world showcase. However, we found ourselves sidetracked one more time to visit Innoventions. WE decided a ride on Sum of All Thrills would be in order. I think Jen and I built a fighter jet complete with several barrel rolls. That was a hoot! Let me just say that the beer I just drank worked like magic in erasing my claustrophobia. The first time I rode this ride I started to get jumpy when the covering when came down over my head. This time I knew what to expect.

After SOAT we went and got ourselves a Kimmunicator which was conveniently programmed with a mission in Norway. Mission about to begin, we stopped for a frozen margarita. Now this is where I goofed up. I'll admit it. We should have gone into the cave for a rita to go, but NOOOOOOOOOOO - I decided the frozen rita stand would be more convenient. Not that the frozen ritas weren't good. Its just that a cave rita would have been so much better. Oh well-live and learn.

Here's some pictures from Norway

Visiting Norway was fun because our mission required that we thoroughly explore the country. In fact, our mission even required us to give a secret password to the cast members standing at the entrance to the Maelstrom. In response, they gave us a necessary clue to bring us one step closer towards saving the world.

It was a glorious afternoon. Still warm, but not uncomfortably so. It was perfect for taking pictures and enjoying adult beverages.

All too soon we had finished our mission AND our adult beverage, so it was time to set off in search of more refreshment and our NEXT mission.

Up Next....the funniest KP mission of all time (or was that the adult beverages talking?) and our new ADR!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Gee, I have never noticed those buildings in Norway before. I love that horse sign.

The FB that is spoken of is that individuals FB pages or the DIS FB site?

 

[MEK]

Gee, I have never noticed those buildings in Norway before. I love that horse sign.

This is really the first time I noticed all the detail in the buildings. Normally I just sort of pass through there to ride the Maelstrom, but our KP mission required that we really take our time and see the details. It's really a very pretty area.

The FB that is spoken of is that individuals FB pages or the DIS FB site?

I think probably both! But, how would I know since I'm such resistor!

 

[KatMark]

More great photos of GF; and love the detailed photos of World Showcase.

And why should you feel odd carrying an adult beverage in your reusable mug? I don't remember there being anything that said "not for alcohol."

 

[princessjv]

You got me at adult bevs!

I was a hot, sweaty mess.

I felt a little guilty about hauling around alcohol in my resort mug, but I didn't let that stop me.

Now that wouldn't stop me either.


Nice shots. {As always.}

I'd expect nothing else.

 

[MEK]

More great photos of GF; and love the detailed photos of World Showcase.

And why should you feel odd carrying an adult beverage in your reusable mug? I don't remember there being anything that said "not for alcohol."

True - that warning is not written on the mug anywhere! I guess it was the whole idea of having it on the monorail, although I kept the lid closed. I resisted the urge to guzzle it!

 

[MEK]

You got me at adult bevs!




Now that wouldn't stop me either.


Nice shots. {As always.}

I'd expect nothing else.

The funny thing is - I barely took any pictures of the adult beverages. The sad part is I can't even remember what the last beverage I had was! I was good till I got to the wine flight, so stayed tuned for more!!!!

 

[Ducky4Disney]

Mornings in WDW don't get much better than this one. Walking over to see the MK opening ceremony... monorailing over to eat at the Poly.... then monorailing to G-Flo and spending time on a beach, enjoying the sun, and seeing an amazing sight like the Wedding Chapel.

Man that was a great day.

Moving on!

Epcot! I love SE, what a great ride. I love that they've updated it with the new interactive screens. MEK let me make all the choices because I hadn't played with it before. When we got off the ride I told her about the 3D anatomy game where you put the bones and organs back together like a crane game. She hadn't played that yet, so we had a go'round with that before we left.

Now MEK mentions this Sum of All Thrills and I have never heard of this! I've done the coaster sim at DQ years ago that was fun but this was WAY WAY better!

Raul or Julio or whoever the guy was in charge offered to take our pic. If I had the time and forethought I would have used a better setting to capture us and some background. Next time.

Not enough flash power to get a good shot of the capsule.

Enough crappy pictures! Norway! KP! Here we go!

More water pics for a lesson on shutter speed. My camera doesn't stop down enough for me to get really long shutter speeds in bright light.

MEK was in control of the Kimunicator this time, so I got to take lots of pics.

I love this figure head.

The KP Mission was really good. Here we are, 2 adults in WDW, with adult drinks that have salted rims, and a Kimunicator asking us to tell the Malestrom CM some code word. And we kept looking at each other like, "Really?". MEK finally got brave and went over to do the deed and we got our clue! We cracked up!

I like the shape of this building, it has great lines.

UH-OH!

Time for a refill!

D4D

 

[eandesmom]

I love it!!!! Though I am cracking up about the guilt on the use of the mugs....annoyance at sherpa-ing them after they are empty I guess but the use of them? Perfectly appropriate in my book!

I cannot wait to do a Kim Possible mission. And SOAT, both of which are never dones. But love the idea even more with adult beverages!

However, I feel I missed something. Do I spy Mardi Gras beads on Mary Ellen?

 

[SoonerGirl]

Great updates ladies!

I haven't ridden SOAT, but my DH and older DS have, they loved it. I was a bit apprehensive about the ride vehicle, I tend to get a little clautrophobic at times and looking at it just screamed 'panic attack'!

I love all the pictures from Norway, I don't guess I've ever taken the time to really look at the details there because looking at your pics was like seeing the area for the first time. Great job capturing them all!

 

[MEK]

The KP Mission was really good. Here we are, 2 adults in WDW, with adult drinks that have salted rims, and a Kimunicator asking us to tell the Malestrom CM some code word. And we kept looking at each other like, "Really?". MEK finally got brave and went over to do the deed and we got our clue! We cracked up!

That totally through us for a loop, didn't it????? All of a sudden I was like, "What, I have to go say something stupid to a CM?"

UH-OH!

Time for a refill!

Love the empty glass. Did you take any other pictures of our drinks because I absolutely can not remember what my after dinner drink was and its driving me crazy!

 

[MEK]

I love it!!!! Though I am cracking up about the guilt on the use of the mugs....annoyance at sherpa-ing them after they are empty I guess but the use of them? Perfectly appropriate in my book!

Good - because I may be doing it again in May!

I cannot wait to do a Kim Possible mission. And SOAT, both of which are never dones. But love the idea even more with adult beverages!

You will LOVE the KP missions. Seriously, I can't wait to do the ones I missed but I am also OK with a do-over as well!

Adult beverages make them that much more funny!

However, I feel I missed something. Do I spy Mardi Gras beads on Mary Ellen?

I forgot I wore my party beads. I bought them at the dollar store for MNSSHP and decided to wear them on our last night. Sort of like my own Mardi-gras!

 

[glennbo123]

Thanks for the lesson on focal length Jen! I'm going to have to play around with my camera to see what I can do with that.

Beer in a refillable Disney mug....never tried it, but I say "why not?"

Great pictures and I'm enjoying the updates, as always.

 

[MEK]

Great updates ladies!

I haven't ridden SOAT, but my DH and older DS have, they loved it. I was a bit apprehensive about the ride vehicle, I tend to get a little clautrophobic at times and looking at it just screamed 'panic attack'!

That's exactly how I felt the first time I went on the ride, but fortunately it was short lived. I think you could handle it if you kept your eyes closed for the first couple minutes, then it feels wide open.

I love all the pictures from Norway, I don't guess I've ever taken the time to really look at the details there because looking at your pics was like seeing the area for the first time. Great job capturing them all!

Thank you! It really is a cool area and I am surprised that my pics captured as much as they did.

Sorry for the individual posts. couldn't open a second window!