Meryll83's SBP/Citrico's/Morocco TR - And they lived happily ever after...

[meryll83]

Two countries to go, first of which was a return home to the UK for some ale. We got speaking to a guy in the UK shop, who turned out to be a Liverpool FC supporter, and once my brother wound him up as we had just pipped them to the title last year (we are Manchester United supporters) he was starting to lose that Disney sheen and was getting very agitated. After leaving the shop I found that Winnie the Pooh and, not forgetting proposing to my wife to be earlier, Tigger and I set about assaulting that bear....

Tigger and I celebrated with some bouncing....

Waving the UK goodbye we hit our last destination…Canada (Canada…Canada…my Canada – best song ever!). We were slightly late for our reservation in Le Cellier but that didn’t stop me getting that final passport stamping and dressing up photo.

We then met the girls who were searching for Groom ears for me (which I will add were nowhere to be found in Disney during our first week of our vacation). As you can tell I was less than impressed with the alternative....

Canadian wine. I bet you didn’t know Dan Ackroyd made Chardonnay! We separated into a boys and girls table to continue to stag and hen theme, although we almost had to sacrifice our table (Meryll will explain in her post!)

The dinner was gorgeous as usual. Everyone had cheese soup and steaks of some variety, although I was particularly fond of my hazelnut and coffee flavoured variety (Mmmmmmmmm….roll on September when we return).

This is me signing off from the boys only part. I hope you enjoyed reading my experiences so far and I will no doubt be back later in the trip report to talk about a little event happening in the middle of our first week!

Bye bye for now

Si x x x

 

[meryll83]

Hope you survived that little journey, I'll be back shortly to share my side of the story and continue into the later festivities...

(I couldn't convince Si to create his own account, I think he already knows how addictive the DISboards can become, so is keeping that little bit of distance!)

 

[shippedtosea]

Oh yay! I totally enjoyed that! I love that Simon came on here to post! (DF would down right refuse) I love all the pictures it looks like they had a great time. Okay so I have never done the drinks around the world and don't know that much about it. SO i'm going to ask probably silly questions. The passport is a Disney passport i'm assuming? and where do you get one? Are there actually specific passport stampers? I am so out of the loop on this one! I have only been to Disney once when we could drink and we just sat in Rose and Crown so I could have my strongbow.

Sorry for my babble. I also really love the first picture with your family and stitch! its really cute. Can't wait to read more

 

[Chilly]

Loved Simon's report!

 

[gemmybear83]

Great update Meryll (and Simon!).

We really want to do drinking around the world before the wedding too!

I could never do Universal Hallowenn Horror Night - Mickeys so Not So Scary Halloween Party is scary enough for me

 

[ChocoKat]

Merryll your DH is hilarious thanks for the updates!

 

[disneybarbie]

Wow that looked like an amazing start to the stag do... where else could you drink in 11 countries?!
My sister and I tried to drink 'around the world' in December for her 21st bday, but we didn't really make it all the way around!

Looking forward to seeing what the hen's get up to!

Emma x

 

[rachy]

Loved Simon's report of his stag do, very funny. Looking forward to reading more!

Rachel
x

 

[meryll83]

I'm glad you all enjoyed that guest appearance - I thought Simon would be able to tell his own story much better than I could invent!

....The passport is a Disney passport i'm assuming? and where do you get one? Are there actually specific passport stampers? I am so out of the loop on this one! I have only been to Disney once when we could drink and we just sat in Rose and Crown so I could have my strongbow.....

Simon's mum bought us each one of these in a shop in Future World, but I reckon you could probably find them at most shops in Epcot.
It seems to have become more of a thing for the kids now to be honest, I'm sure stamps used to be obtained in the shops, but now you need to visit the Kidcot fun stops in each country, where a CM will stamp your passport. They also write you a note in the native language of the country and you get stickers to make your passport a little more colourful too.
We each have a nice memento of our journey now, and some of the pages are personalised as the CMs wrote your name in e.g. Chinese, so that was pretty cool

 

[meryll83]

Well, I've already warned you that my side of the story will not be as picturesque nor exciting as Simon's, as we had a much slower pace with a baby in tow, however, here goes....

I have to agree with Si that the couple from Carolyn Allens were great, friendly and got down to business, and sorted any issues quickly and easily.
Once the guys had all their clothes back on, we met all the gang at the main pool.

Thankfully, the freakishly cold weather we'd experienced the last couple of days seemed to be subsiding and the heatwave we'd been hearing about was back on it's way, and we had a warm afternoon ahead of us.
Here we are awaiting those magical green and purple buses:

Upon arrival at Epcot, we took the opportunity of using one of the PhotoPass photographers to get a photo of the whole gang of us in front of that big ole golf ball:

However, it was all down to business this afternoon, so we didn't stop for any attractions in Future World, but made a beeline for World Showcase, and here came the parting of ways.

We ladies all grabbed a drink at the first stall we spied and I had a yummy pink frozen concotion which I think was called a Dragonberry Cooler. It was almost like eating a strawberry ice-cream, perfect in the sun!
I must add at this point, we will seem like alcoholics thus far what with shots on Halloween Horror Nights and cocktails during the day at Epcot, however this was all in the "spirit" (see what I did there?!) of celebrating, and we never normally drink a great deal in WDW!!
Anna picked up a snack from the Greece stall (Souvlaki maybe?) which was a tasty little parcel of garlicky chickeness according to my educated pallate, but was a pretty decent portion, as I think we all managed to sample it!

The girls got creative whilst I headed off to get my first passport stamp in Canada:

More eventful was when I went to obtain my stamp from our good old homeland, as I had spotted Pooh and Tigger at the back of the UK shops (Pooh Bear being another of my favourites), so I ran back out to drag my girls in for a must have photo op:

I have no idea what gave me away, but Tigger must have sensed a bridal glow about me, and got down on one knee, creating another cute moment for the cameras, however you can tell by the not-so-delicate shade of red that I am, that I was slightly embarassed about this at the time!

At Tigger's public display of affection, Pooh Bear must have gotten jealous, as when we all made to leave the shop so the next family could take their turn, much to my delight Pooh took my hand and escorted me out of the back door! It was so funny, the CM who was with the characters was like "er Pooh, come back now!"

Sadly, I was pried from Pooh's clutches, and we continued along our merry way.

I honestly forget the drinks we sampled en route (no it isn't because I had too many!) but I remember trying the Orange frozen drink in France (possibly Cointreau or Grand Marnier flavoured), as last time I'd had the Grey Goose lemon. Mmmm another good choice on this warm afternoon. I must admit, my bridal ears started to annoy me a little in the heat, as the veil makes the back of your neck really hot, although I do have a lot of hair, so perhaps this was also to blame!
My bridesmaids treated themselves to a glass of champagne (After all Miss, this is France) and we sat a while enjoying our drinks, and watching the waiter who stacks chairs ridiculously high and then manages to balance on top of them all using one hand!! I love watching things like this, apparently there is something similar as one of the acts in La Nouba - which I really must go and see one of these days!!

Julie and I had a little giggle when she mis-read a sign to read "Chops and Barley", therefore we thought we'd evidence the moment to remind us. It was probably one of those things where you really had to be there!!:

It didn't take us much longer to reach the half-way point:

Things went a bit ropey from here, as Izzy started to get a bit grizzly so Anna and Liz told us to go on ahead and they'd catch up, however we then bumped into the boys in Italy, so stopped and had a brief rendezvous with them, however they were men on a mission, so soon were on their way again.
Continuing round, Julie and Jackie wanted a drink from a stall with a particularly long queue, so just my mum and I continued round to China to collect that stamp. I have a nice picture someone passing took of us, but I can't find it at the moment, maybe it's on my mum's camera.

We really seemed to dash the last few countries as I remember, it became a bit of a race against the clock to get the last stamps and get back across the far side of the lagoon to Le Cellier. This is where we had planned badly in letting the boys finish their trail in the right place and us, as far away as possible!!

Anna and Liz were waiting for us when we got back to Canada, and we had to drag the boys away from their dressing up games to get to our ADR (I'm only jealous that we didn't think of it!!).

The problem Simon referred to earlier, was that although I had booked two tables for 6 at 6pm, the CM at Le Cellier told me they had only one on their system
Thankfully I had a print out of the reservations with me, so they agreed to see what they could do, but I wasn't too hopeful knowing how popular the place is.
The boys agreed we should go ahead and they would take the second table, however literally a minute later we were told they could accommodate the extra table, so I could breathe a huge sigh of relief!

The boys had a great time again, my dad having the Mushroom Filet Mignon on my recommendations, and thoroughly enjoying it, although he thought the S'mores dessert was average.
The boys also commented that they had a really good server, so I was glad that all worked out. I don't know what we would have done if we couldn't have got the extra table!

The mums didn't seem so keen on our server, they thought he came over too much, but I felt sorry for him, as pass the baby seemed to keep going on across the table when he was trying to talk to us, so it wasn't easy for him. My mum thought her meal was okay, she went for the salad, chicken and creme brulee (none of my recommendations ), but most of the girls agreed with me that the steak was really good.
I had been waiting for my Cheese Soup and Mushroom Filet Mignon for 2 years, and it did not disappoint - it was divine!! I struggled to finish my steak, the truffle oil I think maybe made it almost slightly sickly to eat it all, but I was not going to be beaten when I had been dreaming about this meal for so long!! Best. Steak. Ever.

So all in all, the boys seemed to have a more leisurely and stress free day than I did, maybe it was down to my overplanning and stressing whenever we had to stop - I'm so used to Disney on mine and Simon's terms, I think I just had to get used to sharing it with others and going at their pace!!

After the meal, Adam and Anna told us they were going to go back to the resort, which we had expected given they had the little one in tow, but none of the parents (except perhaps my dad) seemed overly fussed about staying out, which I was a bit disappointed about, but they insisted us "young uns" carry on and we would make a date to take them to Jellyrolls later on in the holiday.

I'll let the photos do most of the talking for this part of the night, but let's just say I think we turned our newbies into Jellyrolls addicts and a fun time was had by all.
I was a little disappointed to find they no longer had a cocktail menu (even though it was only a small one last time we were there) so settled on Amaretto and Coke with cherries as my tipple of choice, mmmmmmm

There was a large convention group in, who obviously live by the motto "work hard, play hard", who were quite the life of the party - and we all thought they were from some gardening company, until I saw the sign at the Boardwalk a couple of days later that said the company name was Gartner, I think they were a law or finance firm, so that became a bit of a running joke!

Steve cleverly managed to avoid any audience participation by capturing the event on film (I notice Tim also seems to have gotten away with being photographed - perhaps they were in cahoots?!), so I'll end this day with a small montage of sing and dance along goodness, after which we retired back to the hotel for a well earned rest:

 

[disneybarbie]

I'm so used to Disney on mine and Simon's terms, I think I just had to get used to sharing it with others and going at their pace!!

Nice to hear the Hen's story too! Jelly Rolls looked like lots of fun.. I went there for the first time in December and loved it - it will be on my must-do list this December, especially as we're staying at the Boardwalk!

I know what you mean about changing the pace when you're with others in the World... DF & I have our 'way' of doing WDW.. but when we went with his family last July, it was soo stressful at times! they just weren't getting the magic & kept complaining about little things... although as i'd spent 6-7 months planning the holiday, I was taking the complaints personally! but had to learn to ignore it all, 'hakuna matata' and all that lol

Emma x x

 

[mamaboogie]

Hey Meryll!

Great stag and hen photos (and guest appearance by Simon!)

Looks like you all had a great time - and a lovely meal at Le Cellier - phew about the table malarkey!

Mmmmmm...that mushroom filet really is special isn't it?

Can't wait to hear more

 

[Beep]

Great TR, love it!

 

[Chilly]

How did I miss this update!

 

[figmentfan814]

I love how you were able to spend so much time with your groups in the park. Even though you ended up a little rushed it looks like you had a lot of fun traveling the World. That's a great idea to do the Passport. It would be cute to add to a scrapbook Le Cellier is definitely heavenly, I am so glad you enjoyed your meal and that the table was all sorted out.

 

[Summer-Caitlin]

meryll this is a great start to your TR, you need to come back right now and update this (like I can talk) I want to see wedding pics! I love how Simon came over to give his side of the story for his stag, great to have another viewpoint.
YAY to going back this year too, it looks like we just miss eachother, is that right?
BTW you seemed to have a tan in some of the pics, did you tan a bit before you left the UK? I also really like that dress you had on.

Come on girl...more!

 

[meryll83]

I am a bad bad DISbride.
When I do find the time to update my TR, I'm just never in the mood to do it! If anyone is feeling too impatient (and rightly so!) for the good stuff, you can befriend me on Facebook to see more of our photos. I don't want to use that as an easy way out though, I really must get motivated, especially as we're only one day away from the wedding day!!

BTW you seemed to have a tan in some of the pics, did you tan a bit before you left the UK? I also really like that dress you had on.

Come on girl...more!

Busted! Yes, I thought I'd get a bit of colour before we left the UK, just in case! It's a Jane Norman dress Summer, a last minute purchase the weekend before we went!
Sadly, yes, we just miss each other - would have been great to meet up!

I'll try. Soon. ish.

 

[figmentfan814]

I know how you feel about getting updates done It took me a year to get the wedding portion of my TR done and then another 6 months to finish Hawaii and our at-home reception! You still have 6 months until your 1st anniversary, so I am sure you will find time to share some more pics with us before then

 

[meryll83]

This day was a quiet one, spent checking into the Boardwalk and then we spent some time at MGM while we waitied for our room to be ready.
This was our first experience of Toy Story Mania - what an addictive ride!! It's a shame the queues were so long, we could have gone round and round forever trying to beat our scores!:

We went back to the Boardwalk once our room was ready, and then decided to go to ESPN just for some dingers (they are soooooo good!) I had mine with the BBQ sauce and Simon had Hot sauce, but he’s now been converted to BBQ too, they’re just much easier to eat without burning your mouth out!

ESPN is a funny place, it’s either absolutely heaving or there’s about 5 people in there. Today it was really quiet, and we decided to sit at the bar rather than a table. We got chatting to a couple of retired guys who were sat next to us at the bar, and it turned out that one of them had been married at WDW and was telling us about what a fantastic day he had and how great Disney were at weddings. He was a lovely man and offered to buy us a drink, but we had arranged to meet my parents for a No Way Jose at Beaches and Cream so we had to politely decline and make our way around the lake. I'm please to report this divine dessert pleased all, we shared two between the four of us after me and Simon have previously made the mistake of trying to eat one each when we were on Free Dining in 2007!

I had managed to zap nearly all of my phone credit just from a few texts and quick calls in the US over the last couple of days, so Simon and I went to investigate the Boardwalk conference centre as I’d read they had internet access there, and figured I could go online to top up my credit. When we got there, they had just closed, but told us the Yacht & Beach centre was open later, so we trekked again around to the other side of the lake and used the facilities there. There was a lot going on with the conference for the people we’d seen at Jellyrolls the previous night, as we walked past various doorways we could see presentations set up on big screens. I’m glad I went online, as I had an email from Kathleen asking me to send Rosie our table plan for Citrico’s Chef’s Domain as she hadn’t had it! I resent the plan through, and got my phone credit topped up, just in time to receive a call from Julie…

The girls were going to stay at the Boardwalk with me that night, so my bridesmaids and their other halves met up with us down on the Boardwalk (cue yet another trek back to that side of the lake!) We had originally planned we might go to MGM as a group that night, but for reasons I can’t remember this didn’t happen. We said goodbye to the boys (mine and Simon’s last singleton goodbye!) and us girls got some drinks from the shop downstairs and relaxed in the room, going out on the balcony to watch Illumi:Nations.

I think the boys also had an early night (at least that’s what they told us!) as some of our group managed to catch colds during the first few days of the holiday, and Simon had been mentioning a sore throat.

Simon and I exchanged excited texts about the day ahead and we all settled down to a good nights sleep ….

Simon later told me that as he was worried about losing his voice, he’d woken up a couple of times during the night and tried speaking out loud to make sure he still could – bless!

 

[weedee]

yay for coming back! I'm having my reception at Citricos so I'm super excited to hear about your experience there!