So, starting one of these to me is like beginning a research paper back in college
In fact I have tried twice before on two previous trips to do TR's to no avail.
On this trip again, I took no notes.
I am a bad TRer.
I never even finished my PJ for my wedding
(so, will be using this as a substitute for wedding info for all those interested).
Basically, here's the background. We starting planning our Disney Wedding (The Escape or Intimate package) about a year ago. We were planning on staying at BW for 6 nights and then moving to AKL (our favorite) for another 6 nights. When Disney came out with the Buy 4, get 3 free, we decided to add 2 extra nights and ended up spending less $!!
So, we ended up with 7 nights at each resort.
Originally the plan was to leave April 25th on Saturday in the morning and arrive sometime Sunday afternoon (we were driving for the second-and last-time). But then the dentist appt was scheduled for Friday morning and when I realized it was stupid to take a half day to drive DF to the dentist, I decided to take the whole day off instead. So, then came the other appts. - Manicure for 9:30 (and not for me, but for DF-his first and only manicure -for photos), haircut (again, his) for 12:15. We also had to go pick up DFs paycheck as his company does not do direct deposit
and we needed to get that $ into the account before we left! I also just had so many last minute things to do (I definitely didnt plan the packing for this trip correctly and I guess I also procrastinated WAY too much!).
So, now I figured wed be pulling into WDW property late Saturday night (I figured 9ish) and would need to get a room. I wasnt going to spend the $400+ to stay at BW for that night, so I called CRO and asked about ASMovies or any of the ALL-Stars. (We stayed in POP last trip but didnt like it, and I had stayed in ASMovies before and liked it). The price they gave me was like $129 I think before taxes etc. Even with my AP-actually they said there was no AP discount because it was on a Saturday or something
I was like..Yeah, no thanks. I knew I could find a room for less than $100 if we stayed like even an hour away or whatnot. Then I remembered! I could try the
AAA site! I looked first on Travelocity and other sites and
then remembered I could use my AAA discount
(I just joined last August, so keep forgetting about it). So, ASMovies was not available, but ASMusic was available for like $90 a night. I booked it. I was a smidge nervous about ASMusic, but after reading some good on-line reviews I felt much better.
So, first we were supposed to leave by 10am (before we realized we couldnt) then it went to 2pm due to the appts. and paycheck. With everything else, we didnt leave until like really late. Like after 6, it might have even been 7 and to be honest with you, due to my lack of notes, I cant even say for sure how late it was. I know it was before 8, because the sun was not down yet though!
So, the car is packed with all of our regular Disney Vacation necessities as well as everything we needed to bring down for the wedding (my dress, my nieces-MOH dress, my moms dress). The reason we had to bring down their dresses as well was because we were having all of the dresses steamed on Thursday morning and my family was not going to be in until Thursday late afternoon. Also, we had bags and Rubbermaid containers with our champagne flutes, stuff for the welcome bags, just so much extra stuff! We had to make sure I could see out the back window of the car, which was no small feat Ill tell ya since I drive a Ford ZX2 (which,although cute and sporty is very
.small for this kind of trip with so much stuff)
So, we hit the road. Im not even sure where we stopped and again, due to lack of notes I cant give you details (unless later I find a receipt or something)
.Im thinking it was in Virginia at a Howard Johnson
at first we had planned to bring in the wedding gown and a bag or two with us, but since we were so shattered from the drive already, we just ended up wearing the same clothes the next day and we were able to park the car pretty much right outside the room
I was worried about my dress, but left it up to the universe that it would be ok while we got a few hours sleep.
I cant even remember what we did about dinner that night, Im sure we had something on the road somewhere
.
The next morning we woke up and headed over to our fave place
Waffle House. Dont laugh all you Southerners! We dont have anything like Waffle House up north and we LOVE it!!
: I first discovered it on a road trip to Memphis back in like the mid 90s. And DF had also stopped there on a move job he was doing from NYC to down south somewhere years ago.
Anyway, as I was saying, we LOVE Waffle House. I actually think the thing we like the most about it is the friendly service. We have stopped at a number of them these past two trips to WDW and every server we got was friendly and chatty.
So, after our yummy breakfast of cheese n eggs and grits and waffles and sausages (or whatever yumminess we had that morning), we continued the journey to my happy place, the place where we would be wed and dance with The Big Cheese himself and his gf. (We all know that Mickey and Minnie are not married, despite all the merchandise and print material where they are dressed as bride and groom, right?).
We arrived at ASMusic late that night. I think it was like 11:30 or so. We stayed at one of the Broadway buildings. I hadnt faxed a room request because I knew we were only going to be there for a few hours to sleep and have breakfast before moving to BW.
I have to say
I really liked ASMusic!! First of all, the landscaping and the lighting at night was very nice. I of course didnt take any pics because we really just wanted to hit the hay but I was definitely impressed. ASMusic in general, didnt seem quite as garish as ASMovies (which I actually still like and would stay at again) or POP (which was just icky and we wouldnt stay there again. I think were a couple of the only people who dont like POP.) Even the beds and sheets were nicer at ASMusic than at POP. Anyway, even with the way the room was decorated, ASMusic seemed more like it was geared to adults rather than children. And then I kind of remembered reading reviews and articles about all the All-Stars when they first opened and that they were supposed to be more geared to adults. So I think Disney were successful in that respect for sure. We would definitely stay there again. We didnt get a chance to watch the movies at the pool and DF was understandably pretty bummed about that. (We didnt know yet that they did the same thing at Y&BC for BW guests as well, and of course we didnt get to partake there either-oh well, for a future trip!)
So, although very excited, we finally went to bed to try and rest up for the next 2 weeks ahead of us which would include: tux fittings, dress steamings, DFs family arriving from Ireland, my family arriving from NY, Safari Celebration dinners, 6am Magic Kingdom photo shoots, a wedding
, an IllumiNations Dessert Party, character meals, families leaving and our
..Disneymoon.
Whew! We better get a good nights sleep!! LOL
Next up-our first Mickey Waffle of the trip and our first day at BW
.
And yes, there will be pics in future posts!
HAPPY WEDDING DAY!!!
LOL
