Mr. and Mrs. Potts Take a Honeymoon Holiday - Finished 8/5 Final Thoughts

[Sunstar]

We had been able to get a 8 pm ADR at Akershus and we were killing time until then. I’m not sure why I picked Akershus, when there were lots of other (and much better) places we could have eaten at.

But we headed back to Norway, going the long way. I checked in around 7:45 and we proceeded to wait. And wait. And wait. And wait. We went into the store and looked around.

Kellan battled a troll.

To kill time, I took a bunch of pictures.

And then we waited some more. We were finally called at almost 9 pm. At this point, we’re both cranky because we’re hungry and expected to be eating an hour earlier. We were also cranky because we had to deal with the other cranky families around us with dozens of kids who should have been in bed long before then.

We were called in and had our photo taken with Belle. She was also having a cranky day. She was putting off some serious “don’t touch me” vibes and really looked uncomfortable in the photo.

Be our guest? Not today!

Our waitress was Henriette. She explained how the meal worked and took our order, before directing us up to the cold board. There wasn’t much up here Kellan wanted to eat. There were some cold cuts and tossed salad, but much of what was there had mayonnaise or cheese involved in some way.

For our mains, I ordered seared herb-dusted beef tips in wild mushroom sauce served with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables. The beef was tough and tasted like pine needles. The mushroom sauce was overly sweet and pretty gross. Kellan got the grilled pork tenderloin with rutabaga mashed potato, hericots verts, and caramelized onion sauce. The green beans were good, but the rest of the meal was inedible. The pork was super dry and there was a strange sweetness to the sauce as well. I do have photos of this but they are truly unappetizing so I’m not going to put them up.

Dessert was a sampling of chocolate mousse (very good), a puff pastry with mascarpone mousse and berries (not bad) and rice cream with strawberries (eww). The texture of the rice cream was too slimy for me, but the other desserts were ok.

While we were eating we saw Snow White, Ariel, Cinderella and Aurora. Turned out was the same Aurora we had seen in the castle and at Town Square. She was sort of abrupt, even asking “you don’t need another photo with me do you?” My answer was, of course we do. I might have said no if she had been nicer about it. There was a really nice family sitting behind us who offered to take photos of Kellan and I with the princesses which was nice, since we’re not in photos together much. Lol.

Snow White was as delightful as always.

As was Ariel.

And Cinderella. I also finally stopped doing the princess hand with Cinderella.

And our cranky Aurora.

It was well after closing when we left the restaurant and Epcot was nearly empty. This meal was pretty terrible and I was very sad that our last supper in Disney wasn’t a good one. :-( We took our time walking back to the entrance, knowing this would be the last time we’d see Epcot for a while. *sigh*

Good bye Epcot.

There was a bus pulling into our stop just as we got there and we boarded. We got lucky and found seats for the ride home.

When we got home, I finished packing up everything we didn’t need for the next day. I was very worried our one bag was going to be overweight, but there was nothing we could do about it.

Steps: 29,529

 

[Karabee]

Just finished reading your report and makes me want to try HS again - I've skipped it my last 5 trips (or more)!
I also cannot believe how rude the chef at Yachtsmen was!! I would have written to Disney and complained even after complaining to the manager!

 

[Sunstar]

Just finished reading your report and makes me want to try HS again - I've skipped it my last 5 trips (or more)!
I also cannot believe how rude the chef at Yachtsmen was!! I would have written to Disney and complained even after complaining to the manager!

A lot of people don't think it's as good as the other parks, but we love it. Some of our favorite rides are there and I just love the atmosphere.

I probably should have complained further about the chef, but I just didn't think about it when we got home. I was so disappointed with the Yachtsman, especially since it gets such good reviews here and we're big steak people.

Thanks for reading!

 

[smile4stamps]

Hi!! Just wanted to pop in and say I've been reading!!

So sorry the Askerhas (I can't ever spell it!!) was SOO BAD! And a cranky Aurora At Disneyland I ran into the same Belle (I think it was Belle, I'd have to check my photos) 3 times and she was so cute about it! She was actually apologizing that I kept finding her and not other princesses. I was like oh its okay... Another photo doesn't hurt anyone! I just love the character interactions at DL. Some of the ones I've seen at WDW just don't seem as good! On our '09 trip we didn't do a lot of characters. Hoping to stop for more in October!

 

[Sunstar]

Hi and welcome!

My parents and I used to go to Akershus for dinner when it was a smorgasbord with no characters and we loved it. There was a hot side and cold side and so many yummy and different foods. We had only done breakfast since it went Princess and breakfast was good. I had no idea dinner was going to be so . Plus the wait was outrageous! We hadn't waited more than five minutes past our ADR time anywhere prior to this and here we waited more than an hour! We really should have just said forget it and went somewhere else, but for some reason we didn't.

I have always been disappointed by my interactions with Aurora. Sleeping Beauty is my favorite Disney movie and I just have to chalk it up to the fact that she's only awake for like 14 minutes in the movie so the girls just have to wing it when it comes to her personality.

We had really lovely character interactions at DL too. Sometimes I think they just train their characters better than WDW.

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

Just found your TR and love it!!!

1st things first, CONGRATS on getting married!!!

Sorry you had so many not so enjoyable meals...

And bummer about Kellan not feeling good the last few days of your trip...

Oh yeah, love your purple hair...

 

[Sunstar]

Just found your TR and love it!!!

1st things first, CONGRATS on getting married!!!

Sorry you had so many not so enjoyable meals...

And bummer about Kellan not feeling good the last few days of your trip...

Oh yeah, love your purple hair...

Thank you! I know people blame the dining plan for the meals not being as good as they used to be, but this was the first time I'd ever not had good food at Disney. My parents went a month later and loved the food.

Thanks about the hair. It's back to normal color now, but I did love the purple too!

 

[potc]

I just read your trip report! I loved it.

Congrats on getting married

We are going to Disney/Universal for our honeymoon 11/9 to 11/22! I've been many times but my fiance has never been! I'm so excited to show him everything! We are switching from Disney to Universal during our trip (Disney's Art of Animation resort to Royal Pacific). We were thinking of making that day a pool day, but were worried about not being able to change into our swim suits if our room wasn't ready yet. It sounds like you guys had no problem with that on your first day though!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[livsmom04]

Loved reading your Disneymoon Trip Report! It looks like Coronado Springs is a great place to stay. My husband and I are staying there in August for our Disneymoon and can't wait! Enjoyed reading your report.

 

[Sunstar]

I just read your trip report! I loved it.

Congrats on getting married

We are going to Disney/Universal for our honeymoon 11/9 to 11/22! I've been many times but my fiance has never been! I'm so excited to show him everything! We are switching from Disney to Universal during our trip (Disney's Art of Animation resort to Royal Pacific). We were thinking of making that day a pool day, but were worried about not being able to change into our swim suits if our room wasn't ready yet. It sounds like you guys had no problem with that on your first day though!

Thanks for sharing!

Thank you! It is so much fun to take someone who's never been to WDW. Royal Pacific has a really nice gym that has locker rooms you can use to change in. They even have showers and toiletries if you want to shower after and your room isn't ready yet. Hopefully, the pool will be more refreshing for you in November. It was literally like taking a hot bath in August.

I would love to stay at AoA. It looks so gorgeous! Congrats on your wedding and I hope you have a great time on your honeymoon!

Loved reading your Disneymoon Trip Report! It looks like Coronado Springs is a great place to stay. My husband and I are staying there in August for our Disneymoon and can't wait! Enjoyed reading your report.

CSR is gorgeous! It is big though. I would recommend requesting Casitas if you want to be close to two bus stops and the food court. Casitas is also really quiet, so you don't feel like you're in the middle of craziness.

Also, make sure to go out to the Big Dig pool at least once. The Casitas quiet pool was never quiet and it was so warm it was kinda gross to swim. Take a dip in the jacuzzi and then hop in the big pool. It will feel so cool and refreshing.

Congrats on your wedding and have a great time on your honeymoon!

 

[Sunstar]

Day 13: 8/28

We were up at 6am, so we could shower, finish packing, check out and get to MK for rope drop. When we were ready to leave the room, I called bell services and someone was at our door in about 10 minutes. He loaded up our bags on the cart and drove us around the luggage check. Kellan checked our carry ons, while I used the resort check in for our luggage. It was very easy. I told the one girl I was worried about our bag being overweight. She picked it up and laughed. She said it wasn’t even close and didn’t bother to weigh either of our bags. Hey, I wasn’t going to complain. We went back to El Centro and checked out, filled our mugs and headed to the bus stop. We were going to the MK for the last time.

I will admit, I was kind of hoping to get chosen for Family of the Day at MK. We were, it looked like, the first ones at the turnstiles. Alas, another family had been there for a half hour already and were the ones chosen. Too bad. We had a super entertaining CM named Michael who kept us company while we waited. He did Mickey Mouse impersonations, told us all kinds of stories and jokes, gave tips to the crowd growing around us and was just generally a really nice guy. He was exactly the kind of person you think of when you think of Disney CMs. I was still wearing my bride ears, but Kellan’s groom hat had fallen apart the night before. Between the rain and sweat, the fabric cement just stopped holding. He wanted to know what happened to Kellan’s ears and we told him. He said he’d be right back and wandered away. When he came back, he had a voucher for a free set of bride and groom ears, and the embroidery. He said he and his wife had their wedding date put on their back of their ears, which I thought was a great idea. We thanked him profusely and I made sure to write a letter of compliment when I got back home.

We went right up to the rope once we were allowed through the turnstiles and watched the show for the last time. When they let us in, I power walked to the Rapunzel line, while Kellan went to get Space Mountain FPs. There were maybe four families in front of me, all with little girls dressed like Rapunzel. It was super cute. We were in the first group to get in and they let us into the garden at 9.

The kids went to the table to color,

while the adults lined up around the outside of the area.

Pascal chilling on a lamp.

Sad Kellan is sad our trip is over.

I told him to smile because he was scaring the little ones and he did. Lol.

The lady herself came out about 5 minutes after we came in. I can see why this meet and greet takes so long. She spends a good amount of time with each group and really interacts nicely with the kids.

When it was our turn, she exclaimed over my hair, touching it and looking it over. She really liked the purple.

She wanted to know how it got that color and was that the color it turned when I cut it. It was super cute.

She shook Kellan’s hand solemnly and asked if he was my prince. I said he was and she was so happy about it.

We took photos and she waved good-bye as we left.

We decided to go back to the hat shop so we could get our ears and be able to pick them up before we left. Then we went to use our FP on SM. We rode it twice and then decided to try the Laugh Floor. This was a cute show, but it took us a while to get inside. I don’t know if there was something wrong or if this was normal, but it felt like we were in the preshow area for a long time.

Then we decided to go see if we could meet Lady Tremaine and the stepsisters. They weren’t out yet and the Fairy Godmother was just finishing up. We were second in line for the Tremaines. They were so much fun. They all oohed over our just married buttons and my rings. Lady Tremaine gave her approval on the size of my diamond. Lol. Drizella was very taken with Kellan and they were all impressed that Kellan offered his arm to Lady Tremaine. As we were leaving, Anastasia and Drizella started asking my husband if he had any younger brothers and could we put in a good word for them.

I have no idea what is happening in this photo. Lol

Admiring the jewels.

The Tremaines approve of Kellan.

I love this picture. This one is my computer wallpaper right now.

Do you have a brother? Yes, ladies, he does…

We headed into Fantasyland and Kellan tried to take the sword out of the stone, with no success.

He may not be the Once and Future King, but he's still my prince.

We walked around the castle and headed back down Main Street. Kellan wanted more corndog nuggets. I got a plain hot dog. I also used some of our remaining credits to purchase meals for a couple also on their honeymoon. We used up our snack credits in the candy shop after our lunch. On our way down the street to get our ears, we were stopped by the Dapper Dans. They wanted Kellan to sing with them. All he had to do was sing “you” when they pointed at him. Then they all sang “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” to me. It was really cool. Here’s the lyrics (It’s an old Bing Crosby song):

Let me call you sweetheart
I’m in love with you
Let me hear you whisper
that you love me too
Keep the love light glowing
in your eyes so blue
Let me call you sweetheart
I’m in love with you.

When they were done, they grabbed a passerby and asked them to take a photo. It was a really cool way to end our trip. We picked up our ears and had a sad face Photopass pic taken.

Super-awkward hug pose

Our last kissing PP

Sad face.

To be continued....

 

[Sunstar]

We left the MK sadly and went to catch a bus back to our resort. This was another time when we waited way too long to get a bus. Our feet hurt and we were hot and ready to get back and change into fresh clothes for the trip home.

Good-bye Magic Kingdom!

Good-bye monorail!

Good-bye ferry!

Oh, look, a bus! Oh, not our bus.

No bus here.

Still not our bus.

Cranky Kellan wants our bus! (Cranky me does too!)

Finally! Our bus.

When we got back to CSR, we had a bit of time before we had to catch the ME bus to the airport. We both changed into fresh t-shirts, filled up our mugs at Rix and I used the last of our meals to buy a kind of clueless family their lunch. They really didn’t understand what I wanted to do, so the CM at the register had to explain it to them again. Lol. I did a little last minute shopping at Panchitos before it was time to go out and meet the bus. We took a couple more sad face pics.

Many uno caballeros

The lobby dome

Such a pretty lobby.

It’s not so magical when it’s taking you TO the airport.

Sad Kellan doesn’t want to leave.

Sad Katie doesn’t either.

Boo! The airport.

Once we got to the airport, we checked and saw our flight was on time. We had time, so we took a quick look in the shops before going through security and getting on the worst ride of the trip.

Worst ride of the trip!

You’re still taking pictures?

Our gate was near the monorail, so we decided to get some dinner and relax. I saw a Famous Famiglia in the food court and decided to get us pizza. Famous Famiglia is from NY so I was hoping the pizza would be good and it was. We also got some garlic knots which were very good.

I felt bad for the masses of people around us, many of whom were stuck in the airport because their flights had been canceled. We got very lucky that our airport wasn’t shut due to the storm. When we finished, we headed to our gate. I stopped in one of the shops and bought a bottle of water and some shortbread cookies before settling in to wait for boarding.

Our plane home. :-(

Our flight was very full, which wasn’t surprising. It boarded and left on time and was totally uneventful. My parents were waiting for us on the other side of security when we arrived in Syracuse. We got our luggage and piled in the car for the ride home. The weather was good, but my parents said the news said everything was nasty just east of us. The plan had been for mom and dad to spend the night and then go home on Monday. Kellan had his first day of classes on Monday. About an hour after they left, I got a phone call from mom saying they were coming back. All the roads between us and their house were closed because of the flooding and they couldn’t get through. They ended up staying two more days before they could get through.

We had a wonderful time on our honeymoon. Sure, we had our bad moments, but there was so much good, we didn’t care. My goal of making Kellan fall in love with Disney as much as I am worked. As soon as we got home, he looked at me and said, “I want to go back.”

 

[Sunstar]

Kellan and I are so glad we decide to go to WDW for our honeymoon. We had an amazing time and are dying to go back. If we do US and IOA again, we will definitely stay overnight because Express Pass makes it so worth it. Plus, they have pretty good AAA rates and Royal Pacific is just gorgeous! We have talked about trying to stay at a deluxe resort at WDW, but I just don’t know if that will ever be possible. We have decided our next stay will definitely be at Port Orleans Riverside because we love the look of the place. We also sat down and took a look at the places we ate and if we would return to them as our final thoughts.

Breakfast
Pepper Market (Coronado Springs Resort)
Breakfast here was so bad that no, we probably won’t return for breakfast. But, I did get a couple okay lunches here one day when Kellan wasn’t feeling good, so lunch and dinner maybe. Only if it’s convenient.

Crystal Palace (MK)
Definitely yes. Fantastic selection, great interaction with the characters.

Kona Café (Polynesian Resort)
We would give them a second try. I wouldn’t order the Tonga Toast though. It wasn’t very good.

Lunch
Mythos (IOA)
Yes, absolutely. Food was great and the restaurant is beautiful.

Cinderella’s Royal Table (MK)
Kellan said ______ yes, responding with a word I wouldn’t use in polite company. I agree. Loved the food and loved eating in the castle.

Le Cellier (EPCOT)
I’d never had a bad meal until this one. My food was fine, but Kellan’s was wrong so many times. That being said, he’s willing to give them a second go. Plus, my parents had a great meal there a couple months later.

Sci-Fi Dine-In (DHS)
Yes, we would return here. The burgers are great and it’s a fun atmosphere.

Café Rix (Coronado Springs Resort)
Nothing special here. Would only come back if we were staying at CSR.

Sunshine Seasons (EPCOT)
Yup. The food is good and love the desserts.

Casey’s (MK)
Kellan says “YEAH!” He loved the corn dog nuggets. He’s still talking about them a year later. He says the next time we go, he only wants to get corn dog nuggets.

The Hollywood Brown Derby (DHS)
We liked this one. The food was good and now we know what not to order (Cobb salad, grapefruit cake).

Dinner
Bice (Portofino Hotel at US)
Yes, but probably only if we had another restaurants.com gift certificate. This place was super expensive!

Margaritaville (CityWalk)
Kellan loved it and said he would go back. My food was just meh, but I would give them a second try.

The Three Broomsticks (IOA)
Food was good here and not really what you would expect from a theme park. I would try to get something subbed for the potatoes next time.

The Wave (Contemporary Resort)
This is our first absolutely would not go back. The food sounded good, but tasted icky and the service was lacking.

Jiko (Animal Kingdom Lodge)
No question, yes, we would go back here. This was the most perfect meal I’ve ever had. Kellan said the same.

50s Prime Time Café (DHS)
Kellan says no. The food, to him, wasn’t good. I, on the other hand, still love this place, so we’ll have to see what happens for our next trip.

Teppan Edo (EPCOT)
Maybe. We liked it, but it wasn’t as good as our local hibachi place. It would depend on our mood.

California Grill (EPCOT)
We weren’t blown away here. For the cost (dollars or credits), the food and service wasn’t what we were expecting. If we wanted another fancy meal, we’d go back to Jiko.

Tutto Italia (EPCOT)
The food and service here were very good, though we had the old menu. We would go back, even if only to try the new menu.

Artist Point (Wilderness Lodge)
We liked this one a lot. The food was good, our server was great and we had a nice relaxing time.

The Yachtsman Steakhouse (The Yacht Club Resort)
We would give them another try. My parents had a great meal here and everything except Kellan’s steak was good.

Akershus (EPCOT)
For dinner, not a chance in you know where. The food was terrible, the service was meh and the princesses were kinda cranky. I might do a breakfast here, but only if we could get in before park opening.

I also would not do a custom cake again, if it was just the two of us. It was too much money and the cake just wasn’t that great. Maybe if there was a bigger group and I told the chef to use less buttercream. The chocolate slipper dessert looks just as nice for a special occasion.

Thanks everyone for reading!

 

[pooksma]

Katie-

Thanks again for your great TR! Hope married life continues to treat you and Kellan well

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

Thanks for letting us tag along on your honeymoon!!!

 

[laur roo]

I just wanted to say I really enjoyed reading about your Disneymoon! I loved the style of your wedding with all the geeky stuff, especially Firefly!!! And I recently saw your wedding on OBB, so I thought that was supercool too! Congrats on your awesome wedding and awesome Disneymoon!!!!

 

[Sunstar]

Katie-

Thanks again for your great TR! Hope married life continues to treat you and Kellan well

Thank you for reading!

Thanks for letting us tag along on your honeymoon!!!

Thank you for coming along!

I just wanted to say I really enjoyed reading about your Disneymoon! I loved the style of your wedding with all the geeky stuff, especially Firefly!!! And I recently saw your wedding on OBB, so I thought that was supercool too! Congrats on your awesome wedding and awesome Disneymoon!!!!

Thanks for reading! We were so excited when our wedding was chosen by OOB and it's amazing how many other sites picked up on the story of our wedding.