Honeymoon, Day 2, Part 1
Just a few notes before I start writing about this day: you know, I almost didn't continue with my trip report. Writing some of these moments down has been incredibly difficult for me, although it may not come across in my writing. In the back of my mind, there is always the thought that "When I did [fill in the blank here], my dad was alive. Now he's not." I went to the
Disney Store two weeks ago, and even doing that was difficult for me. Being there reminded me of being in WDW, and when I was in WDW, my dad was alive. I had to leave the mall to go cry in the car.
So, the knowledge that people were actually
making fun of a post in which I wrote about the last time I saw my daddy disgusted and horrified me: and, I assure you, I am a tough gal. It takes a lot to shake me, but that did it. Every single time I update this TR, she would make a comment like "can't wait to read it!!!!" What disgusts me more is that I was actually
friends with these people: I should have known better.
So, I almost stopped writing in this TR because I just couldn't handle the thought of them: even though all of their twitters are now private, I know they'll still be reading. But, you know what? To heck with them. (And, to her comment that she is "more Belle than I will ever be"? Disney princesses teach us how to be kind and loving: even Cinderella let her evil stepfamily into the castle. I think they missed this lesson, no?)
Okay. Side rant OVER! Let's get on with it, shall we?!?!
I had to be up at the buttcrack of dawn on the 8th so Jessica could come and do my hair and makeup. We were staying in one of the outer buildings, and apparently those get locked up at night: she called me just a little before 6:30 because she couldn't get in the door! Thankfully, we were already up and awake. As Jessica did my hair, Regina called to let us know she would be arriving early because of the marathon traffic, and so we could come out whenever we were done. Unfortunately, we were only done with hair and makeup right on schedule.
As I got all prettified, DH took a shower: but this took him all of 15 minutes. When he was done, he put on one of the spa robes and laid in bed. I told him he looked like Hugh Hefner: I wish I had thought to take a picture, but I don't think I was exactly awake yet. Because we were up so early, and because we were so close to the MK, we could hear the cheers and the start of the marathon. It actually helped me wake up: they sounded so excited, and I was excited too!
As soon as Jessica was done, we raced outside to go meet Regina. (Amazingly, she spotted me easily: I was the girl in the poofy white dress rushing to the car.) She had two pictures from our Dessert Party printed out to give to me, which I thought was a nice extra touch. It took us awhile to get to Epcot because of the runners, but it wasn't too much of a problem. We had decided to start in Italy, so they parked the car backstage and we got out. We weren't allowed to drive the van onstage due to the runners; apparently, Disney didn't want to run anyone over.
You know, I really wish I had purchased the rights to my pictures just so I could post them in my TR! I don't think Chris would have been too happy if I had spent $1000 just to post the pictures online though. Oh well.
Two funny things happened while we were shooting in Italy. I had wanted to go to the Italy overlook so we could get some pictures with SSE in the background. However, the women cheering the marathoners on told us we weren't allowed to cross because the "Disney people didn't allow it." So, we walked away from her and ran across to the overlook.
She told us that if they had tried to stop us she would have gone off on them because we paid so much money for our photoshoot. She also didn't understand who they thought we were: Regina WAS "Disney people!"
I have to say that being in WS with all of the marathon runners was a unique experience, and Regina told me it was different from all of the other photoshoots she had done. Usually, you get WS to yourselves, but we had music blaring and a general level of excitement and energy in the air. It almost felt like a movie-style photoshoot. While we were taking pictures in Italy, one of the runners yelled "SEXXXXXXXYYYYYYYYY!!!!!" and we all burst into giggles. After we were done in Italy and walking backstage, a group of Italians were sitting at a break table smoking, and they all broke into applause for us. It was certainly a different side of WS!
From Italy, we headed to Japan, because that was the only country Chris had requested. Nothing interesting happened in Japan.
From there, we headed backstage and drove over to Morocco...
And as soon as we walked onstage, we ran into Jasmine and Aladdin! I gave a little shriek, and asked Regina if I could pretty pretty pretty please take my picture with them. Regina seemed excited too: she didn't usually get character pictures in Bridal portraits! Al and Jaz happily agreed, and I must say, I loved Jaz's pretty blue cloak. (Yes, I am on a nickname basis with her.) Our portrait session in Morocco also marked the longest stretch of time I had ever spent there before: it's quite pretty without all of the people clogging it up!
Those of you who have looked at my pictures might have noticed a picture of Chris and me on some grass. That's the grass on the border of France and Morocco, and Chris and I are obsessed with it. The first time we went to Disney together was in July 2006: it was hot, and we were exhausted. We saw that grass, and we just laid there and looked at Epcot for about an hour. It was peaceful and lovely, and so we had to get a picture on our grass!
From Morocco, we went to Italy, and our time was almost up. But, when we came out of the backstage doors we ran into BELLE! And I gave more than a little squeal, and we took a picture, and I was so, so happy. True, she wasn't the prettiest Belle in the village, but I didn't mind.
When Regina was taking pictures of us by the fountain, she told us just to act natural and talk, and I was just telling Chris about how we had taken a picture with Belle.
One thing I need to say about Regina: I absolutely loved all of the direction she gave us. She had poses ready for us, and she knew what would work well, and what wouldn't. I just
knew I was going to love our pictures
Our ride back to the GF took awhile because of the construction, so Regina entertained us with some stories. I asked her about the most elaborate wedding she had ever seen, and she told us about this 21 year old girl who had married this extremely rich 65 year old man. She said they had created a video where he was riding on the beach on a white horse, and he came up to her sleeping a la Sleeping Beauty and woke her up with a kiss. She also told us that, two weeks after their wedding, the girl found out he was still married to his ex-wife and received an annulment: and a lot of money.
Now, Disbrides, you are going to love this one: Regina told me that the head of Disney Weddings is marrying the man in charge of the GF construction! Apparently, they met because she was so irate about what he was doing, but then they fell in love. They're marrying at Vero Beach. Doesn't that sound like a chick flick??
Regina also asked me if I had used the disboards to help plan my wedding! (Which means she must have known I did lol!) I told her she had shot some of my online buddies' weddings, and she said "Andrea??""She's my secret Santa!"
See, there was plenty of Disbride love to go around.
Regina was finally able to get to the GF, and I was sad to say goodbye to her. If it had been guaranteed, I certainly would have had Regina shoot my entire wedding. I love Randy too, don't get me wrong, but Regina is one of the best photographers I have ever seen. Just my personal opinion though.
I was starting to get sad as I walked from the GF's lobby back to our room: I knew it was time for me to take off my wedding dress, and I didn't know (and still don't know) if I'd ever put it back on. As we were walking back, I heard a mom tell her daughter that I was a "real princess." Sigh. When we got to the room, I called the GF and asked for an extended checkout: and they called me back 5 minutes later to approve it, but when I answered the phone the voice said "Mrs. Dunn?" Yes, apparently, that was me now!
I called my grandparents and told them they could come get my stuff whenever they were ready. (They were going to keep my wedding dress for the time being.) I slowly stepped out of the dress, and sighed because I was no longer a "Pretty Pretty Princess," as I had been referring to myself all morning. Chris told me I was still a princess, because even princesses didn't wear their ballgowns all of the time.
He humors me so much.
We took our belongings to the main lobby and had them transfer our bags over to BLT, where we would be spending the next week. We met my grandparents, and showed them the room (Grammy was very jealous; I still like BCV better!), and said our goodbyes: we'd be meeting up with them later that week. They also gave us our wedding cake, which I couldn't wait to devour. We hopped on the monorail, and headed towards Bay Lake Tower.
As we waited to check in, I noted to Chris how excited I was: checking into a new hotel made me feel like an entire new vacation was about to start. Our families had left WDW by this point, and I had turned off my cell phone for the week so no one could contact me. (I like being in an electronic bubble when I am in WDW.) However, just as I was voicing my excitement, Penny the Line Control Dictator tried to ruin my good time.
The line at the check in desk had begun as a straight line. After we stepped in line, the people who came after us veered to the left, making the line into a backwards-L shape. We had been waiting for five minutes or so when Penny saw us and
yelled at us! She told us that we weren't actually in line, that the people behind us had arrived prior to us, and we had to get in back of the line. Penny was rude and incorrect, but we didn't want to start a fuss so we got in back of the line and tried not to become too angry. I also heard her remark "I give up!!" to a fellow coworker: this certainly was not the magical experience I wanted to have at the beginning of my honeymoon. When we finally got to the front of the line, Penny tried to make small talk with us, but we gave short, one word responses. We just wanted out of that gosh darn line and into our room!
We were given our room, which was surprisingly ready, and I was slightly disappointed to find out it was on the fifth floor: I had requested the highest room possible, in hopes of being given a lake view with a slight view of the MK. However, it actually turned out to be for the best. The fifth floor is, arguably, the most convenient room of BLT, as it is the floor with the walkway to the main building. We were also close to the elevators, but we weren't right next door to the elevators. Even though there was nary a castle in sight, we decided we liked the convenience over the view. (It also helped that the castle was only a few steps away.)
We also fell in love with the decor of BLT:
Those comforters were plush and cozy, undoubtedly the most comfortable blankets I have ever used at a hotel. (Which is definitely an important factor on your honeymoon! Wink wink, nudge nudge.) After we were settled in and the wedding cake was safely in the fridge, we decided to take the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom: because we could!
So we'll rely on karma and know that they're hateful words will come back around and kick them in their butts one day. 
And thank you for the hugs, sisy-in-law.
I see in the picture you have some clothes in the dresser--Do you unpack and put them in, even for short stays? I'm the kind of hotel-goer that lives out of the suitcase and will maybe hang up an outfit or two in the closet. Haha, I am a loser, I know. 
Aurora was out too, but I didn't press my luck. 
