Jilian & BT's VR 3/24/12 Crescent Terr/Il Mulino - Last of the Randy Chapman pics up!

[belle2211]

Happy VR day!

 

[DisneyEverAfter]

Happy VR day! hope you had a fab day & can't wait to read your TR!!!

 

[jessiegirl84]

Happy VR day!! Hope it's perfect day!

 

[Jilian]

We're back home now after a dream-come-true vow renewal. It was more than I could have hoped for. I'm still basking in the afterglow and on pins and needles waiting for my pics from Randy.

I still have to upload my pics and get my stuff together but I hope to start my TR soon. I mentioned this on the Swalphin FB group but wanted to mention it for anyone who is not in that group: they added a lot of new pretty plants to crescent terrace. Tons of potted trees and flowers and greenery. It is so much more beautiful, it looks like an enchanted forest. I took some pics...

I thought they were so pretty, they showed up the day before our ceremony. They really make crescent terrace look less concrete and blah.

I also told Karen how much she is loved in the Swalphin community and she laughed. She's awesome, I told her she has a cult-like following and it made her smile.

 

[Jilian]

I don't know how I missed the last 10 or so posts but I just saw the pictures that you posted Sarah, thanks They are really pretty, how sweet of you.

Teresa, its ok, I know you didn't mean any harm. The atriums really are pretty but they are basically hallways where lots of people walk by. I was most scared that I'd get stuck in a conference room like the girl in the PJ. After meeting Karen I know that there was nothing to worry about, she was so great.

 

[Jilian]

My DIY Mickey head candles blogged by a fellow DisBride http://disneyweddinginspiration.blogspot.com/2012/03/diy-mickey-votive-candles.html#more

BTW, these were a huge hit at the reception!

 

[DoomBuggy0922]

Welcome home, Jillian!!! I can't wait to read all about it!!

 

[MrsDuck]

YAY for being home!! I can't wait to read your TR!

PS. love the potted plants-- definitely adds to the charm of CT!

 

[2dogmom]

Welcome back. Great votive tutorial!

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Oh my sweet Jilian!! I am absolutely thrilled that everything went well for you!!! I am so looking forward to hearing all about it!!!

 

[BethieTink]

Welcome home, Jillian!

I hope you day was everything you hoped it would be and can't wait to see the TR!

 

[Jilian]

OK, here we go with the trip report!

Day 1
We packed up our van and car the night before and spent the morning doing last minute stuff like filling the cooler and cleaning up our house. We had to take 2 vehicles because we were bringing a ridiculous amount of stuff! Around 10:30 we left to grab our boys at school. We stopped for a quick lunch and then we were off to Disney! We were all sooo excited. We hit a little bit of traffic and arrived at the Caribbean Beach Resort around 2. Check-in was really easy and I was happy to see that we got our first choice room request (Jamaica 45). We also got a ground level floor like we requested AND they put us just outside of a courtyard which was awesome. The courtyard became the MVP of the VR trip because all of our family members were around the courtyard and it became our official meeting place.

So we got to the room and unpacked a bit. I have to say that I love CBR the best out of all the moderates because of the amount of storage space in the rooms. We had 5 of us jammed into the room but everything fit nicely. H took the kids outside and I decorated our room window and finished unpacking. By the time I was all done it was 4:00 and we had a 5 pm reservation @ the T-Rex Cafe in Downtown Disney so we washed up and grabbed a bus to DTD. Evan made his best tough guy face at the bus stop:

The T-Rex was pretty cool. You walk in and this guy is there to greet you:

They have seperate sections with different theming. We ended up in the ice age and as we arrived they were having a meteor shower which means that it is super loud, all the dinosaurs roar at once and the room flashes in different colors. DD (Abigail) was not a fan. It was like armageddon to her. The boys thought it was the coolest thing ever. So Abigail cried and clung to us for a while and the boys went nuts and pretended to be dinosaurs.

We were right in front of a little dinosaur that randomly roared at us.

I'm pretty sure Ab is still having nightmares about this. I ordered the tortellini and H got some kind of fish taco thing.

Both were just ok, kind of blah. My older son (Aiden) ordered the mac and cheese and it was soooo good. Disney seriously knows how to make a good mac and cheese!

The restaurant was really, really loud. We got sat next to a really obnoxious family too, they were laughing at something but they laughed for a good 20 mins straight. The dad had the loudest laugh ever, I thought he was joking at first. So DD cried about that. I kept waiting to see Ashton Kutcher come out and say that we were getting Punk'd or something. So we hurried through dinner and walked around a bit and took some pictures. Overall the T-Rex Cafe was just ok, I don't think we'd go back. It ended up being our least favorite dinner of the trip.

After dinner we walked around DTD a bit and the boys wanted to splash in the fountains so we let them. They had a lot of fun and got pretty soaked.

We headed back to the resort and walked around a bit.

I got a banana cabana from the poolside bar (sooo good!) and the kids played at the park for a while. Then we headed back to the room to get the kids to bed...only they had other plans. They usually go to bed at 7:30 but they were up til like 9:30 because they were so excited. It was cute. H's childhood BFF was arriving that night too so he planned to meet him at the Swan for drinks. I got the kids to bed and he headed out around 9. This is when I began obsessively checking the weather and it drove me crazy. At first it predicted rain, then no rain, then rain. I should know being a Floridian that the weather forecast means nothing but it still stressed me out. I had visions of having the VR in a conference room with ugly Disney carpets and wild curtains.

H rolled back in some time around 1, and he was soaked from the knees down. Turns out he took a little swim in the swan pond. He and his friend went to go check out crescent terrace for me to make sure it was all set (and the flower pots weren't there!) and then they walked over to the water. His friend asked if the water was warm and H thought he'd be funny and dip his toe in, only the concrete that separates the water from the grass is super slippery so he fell right in. I'm pretty sure the beer had a lot to do with it too. I made fun of him for the rest of the trip about it like any good wife would. We went to bed shortly after he got home because all of our family and friends would be arriving the next morning.

 

[Sizzle]

Your kiddos are too cute! Love the pics, and I'll be glued to this all weekend!

 

[Jilian]

I'm finally getting some pictures from my family, here is one of my mom and I

I'm waiting for my sister and aunt's pics so I can post more.

 

[DisneyShamrock]

You look so pretty! I can't wait to see more.

 

[Boston Disney Bride]

I can't wait to read more!!!! You looked beautiful!!

 

[Jilian]

Thanks guys

Here we go with Day 2...

We woke up around 8 and had breakfast in our room. H wasn't doing too hot, he grabbed a coffee and stationed himself in the courtyard outside our room.

Slowly but surely all of our family members started arriving. A bunch of family members were heading down to the pool so H took the kids so I could finish the welcome bags for our welcome party that night.

I finished the bags quickly then started packing our suitcase for the vow renewal. I was getting really anxious at this point and really sad about the stupid rain. I ended up giving up on the packing and heading out to the pool to go see everyone. All of our guests except for 2 stayed at the CBR with us, it was really great. Everywhere we walked we'd run into someone and stop and chat. It was one big family/friend reunion! We had a light lunch at Port Royale (best turkey bacon sandwitch ever!) and then headed over to the Swan to do a trial for the kids at Crescent Terrace.

When we arrived at Crescent Terrace the first thing I noticed was the plants. H was like “These weren't here last night!” and at first I thought that maybe they were there for a wedding that day. But no, the pots are heavy stone, probably a million pounds so that wouldn't make sense. Then I realized that the plants were there to stay and I started jumping up and down. YAY! Crescent terrace was so much more beautiful! H was excited too. We had the kids practice walking the aisle because we knew they'd never do it for the first time ever with a huge crowd. They surprised us and did it perfectly.

My two youngest held hands and walked slowly down then my oldest walked down with me. It went perfectly. Then I checked the time and realized that we needed to haul butt back to the CBR so I could get ready for tea!

I had made a reservation for tea at the garden view tea room @ the GF for 2pm, so I started getting ready for that. My mom, sister and aunt joined me. We arrived a little early so we walked around the GF to scope out good picture locations and I saw a bride having her pictures done on the staircase. Then there was another bride outside. We took a few pictures of ourselves and then were seated. Right as we were sitting down my sister yelled “horses! There are horses outside the window!” and she got up to take pictures. It was Cinderella's coach ready to pick up one of the brides. It was so neat to watch and there was a huge crowd surrounding it snapping pictures. We watched it go and started our tea. I went with their own tea, I think it is called gardenview or something? My sister did English breakfast tea, my mom tried mango, and my aunt did strawberry green tea. I liked mine best and the strawberry green was good too. The mango was a bit spicy and the English breakfast was just regular tea. We ordered a fruit and cheese platter, the strawberries and cream and a sandwitch platter.

Oh yes we did get into the car! Me & my sister

Everything was really good, especially the strawberries and cream. We ate, drank, laughed a lot and then headed back out for a few more pictures. Luckily I ran into this guy...

He's so sweet. We saw them bring him over to the staircase for bride pics earlier in the day too. I just had to get a pic with him. I kept my fingers crossed that he'd be there again tomorrow when I was in my dress.

 

[Jilian]

Day 2 continued...

After GF tea we headed back to the CBR. I dropped off my mom and sis and picked up another aunt and we headed to Publix so they could shop and I could pick up the dessert and fruit/cheese platters for our welcome gathering that night. This Publix was awesome! It is at 8145 Vineland Ave and it took about 10 mins to get to. They had so many Disney souveniers for way less than you pay on Disney property. I picked up my platters and they were really beautiful. I should have taken pics but I didn't even think about it. I paid $164 for enough to serve 100+ people even though we only had 30ish people showing up. We had so much leftover that I ended up giving it to the bartenders and the people at the bar (they were psyched!). After shopping we had to hurry really fast to get back to the resort because the welcome party was starting in about an hour.

We totally showed up late to our own welcome party. Everyone left to meet us down by the pool and we had no help to bring our kids and tons of suppplies down. It took like 4 trips back and forth to the van to get everything in and I dropped the chocolate strawberry platter twice (yay for covers!). We finally got there about 10 mins after it started and I felt like such a jerk but everyone was really cool. They ran over and helped us in and the party began.

Everyone loved the food. H made a quick speech to thank everyone for travelling to be with us and then told them all to follow him to the bar for a drink. We were stationed in the area behind the bar that overlooks the water, it is nice and private and out of the way and the bar is right around the corner. Here it is:

He bought drinks for everyone and we all chatted and took pictures. Then the music started and they had games for the kids so all of the kids went over and played with the CBR staff members. We had only planned for the party to be from 6:30-7:30 but it was after 9pm when we left. It was just so much fun! Everyone stayed and CBR set up a giant movie screen right by the bar so a lot of the kids sat down and watched a movie while the adults chatted.

Finally it was time to go because we still had to give our kids baths and get them to bed for the VR the next day. We all said our goodbyes and headed back. We washed the kids up and....behold...there was a party in our courtyard!

Everyone had come over and moved the party out there so we got the kids to bed, set up the baby monitor and went out to hang out with everyone. I think we headed to our room around 11 that night. I finished the last of the packing for the vow renewal since we'd be getting ready at the Swan and I took a shower and got right to bed. I was giddy with excitement.

Next up...vow renewal day!

 

[hrhamanda]

Tea sounds great! Your welcoming party sounded awesome too! I can't wait for your VR day report!

 

[DoomBuggy0922]

Okay I am all caught up! Your trip sounds really great so far. I've never been to CBR, but it looks beautifulll--- I can't wait to try it out one of these days. And your little boys at Dinosaur were SO CUTE!!! (I am also in love with the picture of them holding hands, let me tell you.)

I also love the hats you ladies wore to the tea room. So adorable.

And EEEK it's almost VR DAY!