Jenna and Alex's Fairytale Wedding: 08/26/12 WP/GF- DAY 3 *Updated 9/12/12*

[sunkist867]

Hi everyone!

My name is Jenna and my (now) husband is Alex. We had been planning our wedding for the past 2 years and just recently got married in Walt Disney World. It was definitely one of the best days of our lives!
During our planning, I used the disboards religiously to help me plan and gain information/ideas. I wanted to write a trip report to share our day with you as well as vendor reviews for other brides who rely on them as heavily as I did. I also hope it helps with the post wedding blues(it's not a myth, the blues do happen!)!
I never did a planning journal because we had several elements of our wedding we wanted kept as a surprise and we both come from very computer literate families
With all that being said, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy reading about our wedding!

 

[MEK]

Congratulations. Looking forward to reading more and seeing pictures of the big day!

 

[sunkist867]

August 21, 2012
We woke up very early on Tuesday morning to leave for Disney. Or I should say, Alex woke up and I just got out of bed after staring at the clock for 5 hours! I was absolutely estatic and could not wait for my mom and grandma to arrive at our house so we could all go to the airport. My mom, grandma, sister, Alex, and I do a lot of traveling together. So naturally for the wedding we all went down together and came back together. The only difference this trip is my sister was already there working at Disney! After we loaded the cars up and kissed the dogs goodbye, we headed to the airport.
We arrived at about 6:45am and we weren't scheduled to depart till 8:10am. Alex and I each had one suitcase and we also had 2 large totes to check. For any brides considering flying with their ceremony and reception items, I can vouch that with Air Tran it was super easy. We had the rubbermaid totes and we tapped them shut with packing tape (if they need to get inside, they retape them for you). As we approached the ticket counter, my mom surprised us by upgrading us all to first class so our bags flew free! I was so happy, we had never flown first class before! It wouldn't have been possible but with Air Tran, when you check in for your flight if any business class is available you can upgrade for a lot cheaper then booking business to begin with.
Armed with our boarding passes we headed through security with our carryons. In our carryons we had all our materials for assembling our welcome bags. We carried them on because we were using Magical Express and wanted everything with us when we arrived at the hotel. We were fortunate that we could fit it all in two large carryons, otherwise we would have checked it and then picked it up at baggage claim. We got through security relatively easy, then headed to McDonalds for breakfast , then to the gate.
We boarded first and got settled in our seats. Alex is 6'4 and couldn't believe the leg room, it was the first time he's flown that his knees were not in his chest! I kept thanking my mom because it was so nice. We were then surprised that some other family was on our flight that were attending the wedding. It was so fun to see them because they have two young girls who were super excited to be on the plane to Disney.

After a great flight, we landed at MCO and went on my favorite ride in Orlando, the tram between the terminals! LOL I always say it's preparing my for Disney, it's like the intro ride. We hopped right on the Magical Express for the Grand Floridian. We had never stayed at the GF (and probably won't again, we stayed for convience for the wedding,it was amazing but we usually are more value resort people money wise!) but I was so excited to see the rooms and explore the hotel. When we arrived, someone greeted us right at the bus and brought us to the check in desk. The service was immpeccable! I kept talking about our wedding, dropping mega hints hoping for a pixie dust upgrade, LOL. We weren't upgraded though but I think it also was because we were part of a wedding block and requested adjoining rooms. She handed us two Happily Ever After pins and we were off!

We then headed to our rooms in Sago Cay, very close to the convention center and quick service which was awesome. The room was beautiful! I loved the set up and it was very spacious. We had a mini fridge which came in super handy throughout the trip.

Quickly I gathered everyone to start assembling welcome bags so we could get them done before we headed to MK, followed by EPCOT for the night. We created an assembly line and got right to work. Alex and my family were super helpful! In each box (purchased from etsy), we put trail mix, granola bars, cookies, door hangers, park maps, celebrate buttons, and event timeline cards. We closed each box up and attached a label at the top with the reservation name, number, resort, and check in date. They looked so cute! We sorted them by resort and decided based on time, we would deliver the GF bags right away, and my mom and grandma would deliver to the Contemporary while Alex and I went to TTC to exchange our AP vouchers.

We gathered our stuff and headed out to the monorail. I have to say, being on the monorail was almost worth the extra money of staying at the GF alone. It was so convinent! My mom and grandma got off at Contemporary and we continued on to TTC. We got to the window and the man took our vouchers. He tried to make small talk during the process but it was so hard to hear him because of the background noice behind us. I felt really bad because I kept going "WHAT???"! We finally got our cards (very strange for me because I am so used to having my pass tied to my room card!). We then asked about the Tables of Wonderland card and were told we could buy it at MK guest services, so off we went to the monorail. We decided to go quick service and purchase the Tables of Wonderland card this trip. Due to how we booked our room, quick service was the only package available, otherwise I probably would have went delux. The Tables of Wonderland card was good because it covered alcohol, but usually the discount just ended up covering the cost of gratuity.
At MK we used our new AP's and I felt so official, like somehow having AP's made me a bigger, better Disney fan lol. We headed right to guest services because my family wasn't back yet. We went in and showed our AP's to receive the discount on the TOW. It was very simple and within minutes we were back on Main Street! The reason for going to MK so quickly was my sister who is a CM on the College Program was working in Frontierland right then. We hadn't seen her in over a month so we wanted to surprise her and go right away. My mom and grandma arrived and off we went. It was so hard for me to go directly to Frontierland and not stop along the way to look at shops or ride rides! Almost immeditately as we crossed the bridge into Liberty Square it started to rain. We ran over to Frontierland and found sheltered under a closed hot dog cart. We knew that because the hot dog cart was closed that meant MK was 101, which was due to lightening in the area, so my sister would be waiting it out in either Westward Ho (right next to us) or Outpost. Lucky for us, right then she was coming out the back of Country Bear Jamboree to Westward Ho and spotted us! We all started crying (except for Alex, lol) and gave her big hugs. She had to move on quickly so she wouldn't get in trouble but soon she was able to converse as she brought back ice for the churro cart and the 101 was lifted. I asked her if she would show me her lassoing skills and then she taught me, it was a lot of fun. I was so proud of her seeing her at her job and how happy she is. My sister is a disney fanatic and this job is an awesome fit for her. We started to say goodbye and made plans to see her in EPCOT after her shift. As we were leaving my grandma informed her to "change her pants because she would never catch a man in those shorts"

We headed back out to the monorail and rode over to EPCOT. We got there around 3:30 and headed right to Spaceship Earth. It is a tradition to ride that first! It was great and I love the soothing voice of Judy Dench lol. After that, we headed to Finding Nemo. I was on the look out this time for the dolphins because I had no idea on our previous trips that they were there (I know, I know). I was so excited when I spotted them at the end of the Nemo ride! We stopped right outside the exit to watch them for a few minutes.
Next we headed to The Land to ride the ride. I love this ride, I have no idea why but seeing how they grow things is very cool to me. It also made me stop and realize another reason why I love Disney so much. My 81 yr old grandma who was using a wheelchair at times throughout the trip was able to do everything with us and having a great time. We have an amusement park back home and she can only watch the shows, which can get rather boring.
After The Land we headed upstairs for our 6:45 reservation at the Garden Grill. We saw Pluto, Mickey, Chip and Dale. Chip and Dale were HILARIOUS. I love when the characters really joke around with you. He kept pretending to be love struck by my grandma, which of course she was thouroughly enjoying, lol. The food was amazing. It was family style of salad, chicken, beef, tilapia, mashed potatoes, vegetables, rice, bread, and harvest berry cobbler with ice cream. I absolutely stuffed myself!

When we were all done, we headed out to MouseWorks to wait for my sister. Alex and I went on the Imagination ride while my family waited for her. I hadn't been on it in awhile and was surprised at how different it was then I remembered. Am I losing it or did it change?

After that, we met my sister and headed to Alex's favorite Mission Space. We did the green level, which is all I can handle! We had a lot of fun but we were spent after that, having been up since 5am. We headed back to the GF via the monorail and collapsed into bed! We had to gear up for more family arriving the next day!

 

[MEK]

What a great start to your trip. I love the welcome gifts that you assembled. What a great surprise for each of your guests.

It's very cool that your sister is a CM and your grandma's comment about her shorts was too funny!

 

[DisneyCP08]

Looks like a fun first day. Df is 6'3, so we def. understand how exciting it would be if his legs weren't so squished. Loved the welcome boxes! And congrats to your sister! Df and did the college program a couple of yrs back and loved it! Can't wait to here more about your trip and see pics of your big day

 

[sunkist867]

The plan for Wednesday was to wake up early and head to AK for extra magic hours, that did not happen lol. I realized that we were treating this trip like every other disney trip where we push ourselves to do as much as we can while we are there. At this pace, come Sunday I would be dead and not be walking down the aisle! So much to everyones relief, we slept in and took our time getting ready.
We headed over to Gaspirilla Grill and I had my first Mickey Waffles of the trip. I love these things!! After that, we went back to the room where Alex and my Mom grabbed welcome bags for the Pop Century, and Caribbean since we had guests arriving that day at those resorts and they took off to deliver them. I kept trying to convince my mom just to take a taxi and not deal with bus transferring, but she didn't want to spend the money which I kind of understood (when she got back she said she should have just taken a taxi!).
During this time my grandma and I started unloading the totes we had brought down and making sure the right items were in the right totes to be taken to Franck's on Friday. At this time bell services knocked on our door and brought in my aisle runner! I had it shipped directly to the resort due to time constraints. I also realized then how big it was and was really glad I didn't try to fly with it! I didn't open it because it was packaged so securely and I didn't have tape to put it back together. My grandma and I then got to work tying bows on the fan prgrams. I left this job to do down in Disney because the seller I bought them from packaged them so nicely for shipping, it was great to transfer them right into the totes. Once we added the bows, they didn't lay flat and took up more room so I was glad I waited. It was nice being able to take the time and just sit and chat with my grandma as we cut ribbon and tied the bows on, it was a special moment for both of us that I won't forget.
Pretty soon my mom and Alex came back and we were all set to head to Hollywood Studios to meet up with my aunt, uncle, and cousin (who was also a bridesmaid) for a day in the parks. We were very excited to see them because my aunt had never flown before. She was so nervous to do it! When we got off the bus, they were just getting off their bus and we ran over and gave lots of hugs. My aunt enjoyed her plane ride and kept saying she was suprised at how fluid it was, I think she thought they did a lot of nose diving or something!

We went through bag checks and got into the parks and it was really fun to see the look on their faces, taking in what Disney is all about. We went first on the great movie ride. We got to sit right up front next to the cast member and it was a lot of fun. Right as we got to the part where Mugsy takes over, Alex and I exchanged a look and whispered we hoped it was better than last time! In January, we came down for our planning session and when we went on this ride, Mugsy was horrible. It was a girl and her attempt at the accent was terrible. She had to speak so slowly to stay in character it was painful. I'm sure shes a great CM and maybe would be good as the regular "host" but as the gangster, not even close. Much to our horror, the minute we encountered Mugsy on this trip, we realized it was the same girl. What are the chances?!?! I let out a huge groan and Alex put his head in his hands. Our family had no idea why we look so distressed and it cracked everyone up. We suffered through Mugsy, giving her props that she was able to talk a bit faster with the accent but not much else had improved. Mugsy, if your reading this, I apologize but I can't take it!
After that we headed over to Toy Story but as usual, the wait was 90 minutes. We moved on to the Backlot Tour and the wait said 20 minutes, so not bad. We had reservations at 4:15 at the Sci Fi and it was 3:00. I figured we'd be ok. The line started moving and we thought we'd be getting in soon. Luck wasn't on our side though because we didn't make it in by 3:20 and we remembered the ride takes 45 minutes. So we apologized up and down as we got out of line and slowly made our way to Sci Fi. We actually had one more guest in our party than I had made the reservation for so we asked if they could accomodate us. They said as long as we could still fit in one car it was fine. There were 7 of us and the car usually seats 6 so we said no problem. I don't suggest anyone ever does this, unless the 3 sitting together are small children. Alex, my mom and I sat in a seat together and poor Alex was half on the seat! He was a good sport though.
Pretty soon Alex's Uncle, Aunt, and two cousins showed up because they had reservations at 4:20. It was great to see them, they are a lot of fun and we always enjoy spending time together. We all sat around takeing turn going to the restrooms until we were called to be seated. The meal was delicious and i love the short movies and clips that are played. I had the Smoked Turkey Breast Sandwich, Alex had the Picnic Burger, and my mom had the Angus Burger. We each sampled each others and they were all delish. Other family got the shrimp pasta, grilled chicken sandwich, and the vegetable burger. Everyone loved everything.

After our meal, my mom, grandma, aunt and uncle headed back to the back lot tour while Alex, my cousin, his cousin, uncle, and myself headed to Tower of Terror. It was great, there was only a ten minute wait. I held everyones bags and walked with them all the way to the elevator and then got on the middle one which takes you to the lobby. Everyone was picking on me for standing with the little kids too scared to get on. I was also minorly freaking out that maybe they mis understood me and I was actually getting on the ride. I was so scared the whole way into the elevator lol. I waited in the lobby which was a nice break for me and watched the pictures on the monitors. Not too much longer they came through and everyone loved it.
Off to rocking roller coaster we went then. The wait was 60 minutes and it was already 6:00 so I suggested they get in line while I got in line for Fantasmic. I took everyones stuff again and headed over to the Fantasmic area and met up with Alex's aunt and other cousin. We talked and I realized my phone was buzzing. I had 3 texts from my matron of honor who was flying in the next morning. She was letting me know she was in the ER with her daughter, my flower girl, who was running a fever and may have a uti. She was so upset and nervous about what would happen and if they could fly. I told her that her daughters health was the most important thing and to let me know what the doctors said. I had a mantra the whole time that I wouldn't get upset over what I couldn't control. Alex's aunt was great and reassured me everything would be fine. We hadn't been waiting that long and Alex and the crew came over. Turns out, four people left the ride and offered them their fast passes, which they gladly accepted! It was great timing because we then began the walk up to the stadium. We were able to sit right in the middle, near the top which was wonderful. I texted my mom where we were and found out they were in Little Mermaid and then they would head over.
They changed the entertainment while waiting for Fantasmic and it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the cast members who were working the crowd. The best part was watching my aunt learn to fist pump! Fantasmic, as usual, was awesome.

After it was over, we all parted ways as my family and I waited for my sister outside fantasmic. We got to meet some of her friends she works with and then we headed over to a quick service to get her some food. On the way out we stopped in the Sweet Shop just to look around when we seemed to all spot the dessert display. We ended up with chocolate covered pineapple, carrot cake sandwich, peanut butter cup brownie, and two other things I can't remember. They were out of this world!!!!

We then headed over to the buses and went back to the
GF to rest up for MK the next day, and most of our bridal party arriving!

 

[Cmdbuddy]

Subbing! Can't wait to read more!

 

[sunkist867]

Thanks to everyone that is reading along so far, I appreciate it!


Thursday started off with us delivering even more welcome bags. I have to say I'm torn between saying we should have done it all at once the first day or that I liked spacing it out. Either way I think it's fine and up to each person. Unlike past disbrides though, I really think having welcome bags was worth it. Anyway..
We split up again because we needed to go to Beach Club, Boardwalk, and All Star Music. Alex took All Star Music, my mom took Beach Club, and I took Boardwalk. All 3 of us hopped the bus to Downtown Disney (my sis and grandma headed to MK to meet us later). Alex got on the All Star Bus right away and my mom and I realized we would take the same bus to our hotels. We watched Alex pulled away and it wasn't too much longer that our bus came. I'm pretty sure it stopped at 1 or 2 resorts before arriving at Boardwalk. I knew the Boardwalk connected to Yacht and Beach club so my mom decided to get off with me and then we'd continue over together. We made it into the lobby, which was gorgeous. I remembered bits of it from having gone in during the Bridal Showcase in March 2011. The lady was super sweet, took our welcome bag and made a note in the computer who it was for. We asked for directions to the Beach Club and we were on our way.
We stopped at a pizzeria place an grabbed a diet coke because we were dying of thirst and I pointed out Sea Breeze Point to my mom which we also visited during the Bridal Showcase. We then discovered where the international gateway is to Epcot! I had heard of it, but never actual seen it or looked for it while in Epcot. We finally reached the Beach Club lobby, huffing and puffing! It was very pretty inside and I loved the theme. The cast member who assisted us was hilarious and kept making comments that our guests had a better hotel than us because we were at the GF and they were at the "Faaaaaaaaabulous Beach Club!". She kept joking with me saying on my next trip I wouldn't make the mistake of NOT staying at the Beach Club right? It was really all in good fun and she also made a note in the computer that our guests had a package waiting. She gave us directions to the bus stop and we headed there to catch the bus to MK.
As we were riding to MK I looked out the window and in the bus next to us was Alex! We waved like idiots and he never saw us so I called him. Turns out he still hadn't even gotten to the All Star yet! His bus had taken a really long time getting out of Downtown Disney and they were on their way. Once we arrived at MK we headed down Main Street to find my sister and grandma. They were in fantasyland so we went right there. To our surprise, when we found them in Fantasyland they were with Alex's aunt (the one from the night before) and his other aunt who flew in that morning! His cousins and uncle were at Typhoon Lagoon. His aunt informed she wouldn't wait longer than 10 minutes for a ride so we looked around and headed to...the Hall of Presidents! Lol, while not my favorite Disney attraction, I hadn't seen it in awhile or since Morgan Freeman re did the narration, so it wasn't a total bust. Plus the air conditioning was a great perk! We got right in as the show was starting and it worked out perfectly because Alex finally arrived just as it was ending.
His aunts decided to head back to their hotel for a nap and we texted my aunt, uncle, and cousin who were in the park to find out where they were. They were in tomorrow land and the parade was about to start so we booked it across the bridge so we wouldn't get caught by the parade. When we met up we all decided to go into Cosmic Ray's for lunch. This is my favorite quick service restaurant. I don't know why, but I have always loved it. I got a chicken sandwich and Alex got a burger. Everything was delicious and it was nice to sit around and talk with our family.
After that, Alex, my sister and cousin headed to Space Mountain (sensing a theme? I dislike roller coasters except for Thunder Mountain!). The rest of decided to go on the People Mover. There was a bit of a wait and when we finally got on there was some confusion because there were 5 of us and the car seats 4. We were all trying to cram in and the door got stuck on my uncle! They had to stop the ride, fit us in, then resume it. It was also shift change so we stopped for awhile. It was embarrassing but we got a good laugh out of it. So off we went, with my mom basically sitting in my lap. We rounded the first couple turns and headed into Space Mountain in the pitch dark. And then the ride stopped. We couldn't hear anything due to the screams from Space Mountain. After 10 minutes the little walkway lights came on and we could faintly hear the standard "Please stay in your car, the ride will begin shortly". Except it didn't, after another 10 minutes everyone was getting anxious. Finally after 30 minutes we see a guide fast walking up the sides telling everyone to "prepare for evacuation". Then another guide came up and started releasing the door open and we had to follow them. We Were Being Evacuated Off the People Mover. A guy in front of me started joking around about the absurdity of it and we had some good laughs as we walked. We had to be careful to only step where they told us and when we crossed over the tracks we could only step on the metal plate. I think it had something to do with the ride being run by magnets? At the end of the evacuation, we were let out in back of space mountain and given free fastpasses. Instead of being good family and waiting for the rest of our guests in space mountain, we practically ran to Buzz Lightyear.
We were able to walk right on with our fast passes, feeling like VIPs. We were having a good dorky moment I rode with my grandma, my mom rode alone, and my aunt and uncle rode together. This is my moms all time favorite ride (because we haven't been able to do Toy Story Mania yet!). She is super competitive and she has always outscored us. If you ride with her she gives you whip lash from spinning the car so fast. I offered to ride with her but I think she wanted to ride by herself to lessen the competition! We had a lot of fun and at the end of the ride my mom was fuming, we were all comparing scores and for the first time since we've ridden it my mom was the low scorer! Even my grandma beat her! It was hilarious and we all had a good laugh at her expense. The picture they take was awesome too. She was crouched down real low at the gun looking waaay too serious.
After that we went on the carousel of progress, not much had changed there! Finally Alex and the rest of the gang were done on Space Mountain. I asked my cousin how it was and they all started complaining that "it wasn't even dark, on one side there was lights on!" We burst out laughing because we realized the lights were on for us to evacuate off the people mover!
I reminded my mom and Alex that we needed to head back to the GF to change for dinner that night and pick up the tuxes being delivered by Men's Wearhouse. Well they both gave me this like puppydog look, like I was killing their fun. I decided to take the high road and I left by myself to take care of everything, but I was a little mad.
I made it to the hotel and ran into my dad and his partner who had just arrived. They went with me to the front desk to grab their tuxes and I had bell services bring the rest to my room. The rest of the guys would be coming by tomorrow to try theirs on. I said goodbye to my dad and booked it to my room.
We had dinner reservations at 7:15 at Hoop Dee Doo and I had a cute dress I wanted to wear. I was a sweaty mess so I did the best I could to touch up and get dressed. I decided to take the monorail to MK, then I took the boat to Fort Wilderness. During this time my matron of honor called and said they landed, everyone was ok, my flower girl did great on the plane and they were headed to MK. I really wanted to see them so I said we'd come over after dinner and watch the parade and wishes with them. I arrived at Fort Wilderness at about 6:45. We met two sets of my mom's cousins, and my family who was already there for dinner. We had awesome seats up near the front and the food was out of this world. Everyone was having a great time and enjoying the show. They sang to Alex and me after my uncle told them we were getting married on Sunday. The funniest part was he asked us our names, repeated them back, then during the song said "Congratulations to Alex and Brenna!". We smiled and sat down and everyone burst out laughing. I turned to Alex and said "Annnnnnd who's Brenna?". He turned bright red and that became the joke of the night!

I started getting anxious because at about 8:20 the meal was over but the show wasn't and I knew we wanted to get to MK. I also really wanted to see the electrical parade. I hadn't seen it in years and it wasn't going to be going any other night we had available. We politely excused ourselves saying we had to go meet more bridal party members and snuck out. We were both bummed to be leaving such a good show early but we really wanted to see the parade. We got to the boat dock and it was PACKED. We decided to take the boat to the Contemporary but the captain told us it would add another 1/2 hr to our trip. We got back in line for MK, no boat in sight and finally decided to run and get a bus. Hindsight, we should have stayed. We got to the bus station and after talking to several bus drivers, realized that we needed to grab the bus to Wilderness Lodge. Ok no problem. Going on about 9:00 it finally came. At this point were starting to realize we should have stayed at the boat dock. We get to the Wilderness Lodge and it goes on 9:10. I call my friend and she says "Well that's ok, we decided to leave because we were exhausted, we'll see you tomorrow." I wasn't mad but I was really disappointed. We left the show early, only to miss the parade and our friends. We decide we still want to see Wishes so we wait for a bus. We both sat down exhausted and feeling a little defeated when Alex sees this huge white frog. It was disgusting. It was hopping close to me so I picked my foot up and it hopped in my sandal! I freaked out and flung my shoe and the frog. I was afraid it was poisonous, I'm definitely a hypochondriac. Alex was just laughing at me and I vowed there that the wedding was off lol. The bus finally came at 9:40 and saved me from the frog. At this point I get a text from my sister that they are on the boat to MK. I was so mad at myself! We finally got to MK and watched the fireworks but couldn't find my family. We ended up back on the monorail by ourselves.

We took advantage of this alone time and grabbed our bathing suits and headed to the pool. I had checked my facebook and knew that fellow disbride Lucy had gotten married that day and was on the grand yacht that night. As we got to the pool, I see a bride coming down the sidewalk! I start jumping up and down next to Alex whispering that I think it's Lucy. She starts to pass me and I finally blurted out "Are you Lucy?" she said yes and I introduced myself and we squealed like little girls and hugged. She was so beautiful! They had just gotten off the grand 1 and we chatted for a bit. She wished me good luck, and we parted ways.
The pool at the GF was so nice and relaxing. Alex and I played around a bit and then decided to practice our first dance because we hadn't yet! It was really fun and kind of romantic to dance in the pool. After I got dizzy from going in circles, we got out and headed to our room.
Tomorrow was our first wedding celebrations with Celebrating Around the World and our Dessert Party!

 

[2012DisneyWorldBride]

Just joining in!!! Cant wait to hear the rest!!