My first time TR- from May 2008 our MOST MAGICAL trip to WDW!

[Self_resqing_princz]

Preface:
Before my DH and I got married, his parents wanted to go on a family vacation... including me. His parents, his sister and brother in law (b.i.l.) and his niece (Disney Niece (DN)) and nephew (Disney NW), he and I. We were getting married in September and they wanted to go on one last "family vacation" before they're "little boy" left the house-- "little boy" here being 27.
I have to say, I've been to Disney World two times before: once when I was 4 with my parents (I was an only child at the time), and once my senior year of high school for band (when I (and everyone else I was with) thought we were too cool for Disney. So, I've never seen or felt the 'magic' of WDW.
I don't remember everything from the trip, but my TR is mainly highlights (that I remember anyway.

My boyfriend.. Mike.. and I had been dating for 4 1/2 years and his family decided since he was moving out of the house and on his own, they wanted to go on one last family vacation and invited me along.
They decided to go for his niece, Laura's 5th birthday. They scheduled it for May- her birthday,and got us rooms at Wilderness Lodge. Having never stayed on property, I was kind of excited... until I found out Mike and I were not only sharing a room with his parents... (HELLO.. DATING FOR 4 1/2 YEARS, I'M 22 HE'S 26!) AND the room conjoined with his sister and bil's room. Sharing (basically) a room with 8 people for 7 days. OMG! His sister is a DISNEY HOLIC (which she has now infected me with) and had planned our whole trip!

introductions: (names have been changed to protect the identities of the innocent)
Me- Me
DB (boyfriend.. now husband)- Mike
his mom- Lisa
his dad- John
his sister- Leena
his bil- Alex
his DN- Laura (5)
his DNW- Hank (3)

This is the beginning of the story: The First Magical thing that happened, I guess you could say, wasn't really magical-- but.. it started a whole new chain of things that happened, that when I saw them.. they WERE magical.

We got up around 6 a.m., our day to leave was here! Mike and I met his family at the airport- Indianapolis International. Our flight was early.. I think around 8:30 or so. We checked our bags, walked to our terminal and waited for our flight. We went and got snacks during our waiting. Our plane arrived and the passengers disembarked and the sealed up the plane to refuel and whatever else it is they do...
About 5 minutes before our flight was supposed to take off, they said they were having engine problems and then flight was canceled. Leena was upset- traveling with two little ones, with a pre-planned itinerary that was now going to be hours behind!
I was pretty okay with it, because I am an anxious flier. And when they said there was an issue with the plane, I was happy knowing I wouldn't have to get on the broken tin can!
Everyone at the gate went all the way back up to the ticket counter and we were all booked on different flights. Ours was from Indy, to JFK (NY) to Orlando... which didn't leave until almost noon! What are we going to do at an airport for nearly 4 hours?! Read EVERY magazine in EVERY store there.

We went to the gate, set up camp and EVERYONE napped. When we were finally able to board, we got to JFK without a hitch.. but it was my first time being anywhere near NY after 9/11. When we circled over Mike said he could see Ground Zero. He said it was really weird from above because there were huge buildings everywhere and all of a sudden, there's a huge hole in the ground. John and I were the only two who had ever been to NY, but we weren't staying long enough to do or see anything. The lay over was 2 1/2 hours-- long enough to do nothing. So we all got lunch and played cards and listened to iPods and watched tv while we waited for our flight to Orlando. When they finally boarded us, Leena and the kids literally danced onto the plane.
After some turbulence, we were there - remember how I said I'm an anxious flyer? Yeah- not pretty.

So, we got to Orlando, took the tram thing (really cool) and Leena made a mad dash for the baggage claim. Once we got there everyone's luggage showed up except for John's. Now, how does that happen-- 8 people, all on the same flight, all checked the bags at the same time... and 1 goes missing? He went to alert them that his bag was missing-- and suddenly it showed up with some other flight's baggage... it was the FIRST "Disney magic" of the trip!
We took a van taxi to the Lodge and it seemed like it took FOREVER!

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

We pulled up to Wilderness Lodge, got out and when I walked in to the lobby, I realized how HUGE this place way. Of course everyone had tried to describe to me what it was like.. the kids took turns giving me details on the plane.


The lobby was so neat and there were so many things to see: the totem poles with Disney characters were cool, the little pond thing in the lobby was amazing, the scenery was beautiful, the pools with the rock-slide thing was cool, the restaurant was cool. (I think it's called the Whispering Canyon? Everyone said it was very unique and that we had to try it while we were there.
Leena, Alex, John and Lisa all checked us in. Mike and I walked up and down the hallway and the lobby with the kids. The kids were pointing everything out the me- hidden Mickeys, the Mickey rice crispy treats in the cafe, the birds outside, the rocking chairs... everything. (I've never had a 3 yr old know more than me about anything but I found humor in it.)

Since our rooms weren't ready yet, we left our baggage there and then walked out the back door and out to the boat dock. We walked past the pool where families with children splashed around happily.
As we were walking, Mike took my hand. He pointed out to me the beach across the way.
"Remember the home movies of Leena and I playing in the sand with mom? That's the beach," he said as he pointed it out to me. I guess now you can't swim though. He told me that we would come back and sit by the late some evening while we were there and he would show me a surprise.
While we waited for the water fairy to come pick us up to take us to the Magic Kingdom the kids were telling me everything I had to ride on (as if I hadn't been there before. I think because I hadn't been with them, I hadn't really experienced Disney before (AND THEY WERE RIGHT!).
I had never asked about the itinerary so I had no idea what I was in for. Honestly, the whole first day is a blur. I remember walking down Main Street and REALLY seeing the castle for the first time. A photographer told us all to smile and squeeze in close .. and then he told Hank to hold the kids to hold out their hands while he took another picture.
I told Mike that we had to have our picture taken in front of the castle.. just the two of us. He agreed but we decided to have it done some other time when there weren't so many people.
**At this time they were still doing the Year of a Thousand Dreams giveaway. ** (Sorry, forgot to mention that).

The first ride the kids wanted to go on was Small World. Which was fine with me.. but John told me "we'll probably ride it again another 10 times before we leave. You'll be humming that tune until Christmas!"
We rode Small World, Dumbo and the Teacups. I rode in a teacup with Leena and Hank. Hank was afraid to spin, so we didn't. John and Alex were in a teacup by themselves, spinning madly, and Lisa, Mike and Laura were in one, spinning- but slowly. Next we were off to a character meet & greet at the town fair.
Snow White, Aurora, Belle and Jasmin were all there. The kids wanted all their autographs. Being a grown up, I was too "adult" for that... but I HAD to have my picture taken with Belle ... I gushed! I always thought I looked like her.
As Laura and Hank made their way through all the princesses, Laura told Aurora she was her favorite. "You're my favorite princess because you have hair like me," she said.
Then Hank jumped off Sleeping Beauty's lap and RAN FULL SPEED into Belle... and face planted into her ****s and swung his arms around her. (I guess when you're 3 you can get away with groping the princesses.)
He then looked at her and smiled He said "You're my Sleeping Beauty," he told her. Lisa and Leena both giggled over that. They still laugh about it.

Then they asked me what I wanted to do. I said I wanted to ride Peter Pan. We made our way over to Peter Pan, waited in line-- I loved all the glow in the dark stuff... and then when we got off, the NEXT magical thing happened.
As we exited the ride- we were in a boat behind Leena, Alex and one of the kids. There were two CMs standing there, with a duffel bag, waiting for us. One opened the bag and the other handed us special Mickey ears for the Year of 1,000 wishes (blue with clouds and silver ears). Each of the 8 of us got one. On the FIRST day we got special ears! I was SO excited. Leena told me "See, Disney IS magic!"

Now I knew what they meant when they said it was the most magical place on Earth.

 

[lillylynnb]

Wow Mickey EARS the first day cnat wait to read more!!!!

 

[let'sgo]

That woud drive me crazy to hear that the flight had been cancelled. Too bad it ate into your Disney time. But it sounds as if it gets better from there! Looking foward to reading more.

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

On the third morning we were at WDW, we went to Epcot and ate breakfast with the princesses in Norway. The kids once again had their pictures taken with the princesses... but this time I didn't have my picture taken with Belle.

Anyone know if they are always the same girls?

Anyway, the food was delicious and, although this was NOT a Disney inspired or produced magical thing... this breakfast was the first time I felt like part of the family. Yes, after nearly 5 years with Mike and his family, this is the first time I felt like part of it.

Laura asked if she could have her picture taken with my favorite princess and me... not just me... she said

"Can I have my picture taken with Aunt Becca and Belle?" Laura was beeming from ear to ear.

Leena said "You have to ask Aunt Becca."

Seriously... what was I going to do... say no? I was too happy! I wasn't sure Becca, Bec, or hey you... I was now Aunt Becca! Not just that... but the HARDEST person in the family to be won over had also referred to me as "Aunt Becca". That's a SPECIAL kind of MAGIC!

After we left Norway we went around Epcot. When we ended up at the oceans, we went on the Nemo ride. Nemo is my favorite Disney/Pixar movie and I begged Mike to go with me. So, we got in our shell and did the ride. Hank and Leena were in the shell behind us and Hank did NOT like the dark rides. He cried when he saw the sharks.

We went to Turtle talk with Crush, which the kids loved. And we all thought was pretty funny.

Next, we split up. John, Alex, Mike and I went to Test Track. The four of us rode it and then met back up with the other four. Leena decided she wanted to Spaceship Earth, since I had never ridden it.

On the way there, Hank held my hand. (Where's the happy tear face?)

When we got off, Mike and I had our picture taken together, on the electronic kiosk where you can put your face into a spacesuit and e-mail it to people.

Lisa decided she wanted a pastry from the French bakery, because every time they go she gets a Nepolian. We went, but the line was so long, we went to England and got our photos taken in the phone booths. (I'd post the picture here, but I don't have an electronic version.)

That was not only the most exciting trip to Epcot I ever had, but also the most moving.

That evening we went to DHS. I had never seen Fantasmic and everyone agreed I needed to see it. While it wasn't quiet time for the show, we rode RNR and TOT.

When we finally got to see Fantasmic... I thought it was the best Disney show they have!

After Fantasmic we took the bus back to WL. On the way back to the room Michael grabbed my hand and told me "remember the surprise I told you about on the lake?"
He took me out and there was already a small group of people waiting on the beach.

We sat and talked for a while and then I heard music.
"Here it comes!" he told me.
"What?! Here what comes?!" I asked.

Then there was a parade of floating movie screens that played music. The floating movie screens flashed different pictures- there was an alligator chasing Capt. Hook while the song "never smile at a crocodile" played and then they did a patriotic piece with the American flag and a John Phillips Suza song.
It was a nice way to end the day-- a special musical parade for the two of us.

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

Can someone tell me how to post pictures? I have a photo from DHS I wanted to post, but can't figure out how.

Thanks all!

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

Day Four THE MOST MAGICAL!:
The day started out unusual and got better from there.
The morning went as planned. Breakfast at Chef Mickey's for Laura's birthday. The characters came and greeted us, had pictures taken with the kids, and Alex and I decided to get "interesting" drinks. His came with a light up something-- I don't remember what his character was... and my drink came with a light up tinker bell.

Then, when we were done eating, the chef... and Chef Mickey brought out a huge chocolate cake with Sleeping Beauty on it! Laura LOVED it! Everyone in the place was singing and she was smiling SO big! It was great! Then Alex took the cake back to the room at WL and we decided to go to the Magic Kingdom (we decided to meet him at one of the rides at MK when he got back from taking the cake back to the room).

The rest of us got on the monorail and headed to the Magic Kingdom. We rode Dumbo and the carousel and met back up with Alex. We all then decided to go to Pirates of the Caribbean and then lunch.

After lunch it was time to go back to the room for a nap and a swim. But at the monorail, Mike and I split our own way. I had asked him the day before if we could go see the Grand Floridian, because his whole family talked about how pretty it was.
We took the monorail over and walked through the lobby.
As we walked in, a man opened the door and smiled, "Welcome to the Grand Floridian," he said, gesturing for me to enter.

I imagine it was where the Queen would stay if she came to Disney World.
There was a pianist playing happy Disney music and everything was plush red and gold or pristine white. There was a little girl hopping around her parents and luggage near the front desk. The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling were as big as small foreign cars. You could see balconies to rooms for stories up and the huge windows on either end of the lobby let the afternoon sunlight glow on everything.

Michael pulled me out of the lobby and we walked along the beach and tried to find a hammock to rest in, but they were all taken. Kids splashed in the water, families sunbathed and read in the sand. Then he pointed out the little white chapel, on it's own little island.

We walked down the beach to the chapel. I tried to open the doors but of course it was locked, so we couldn't go in... there was a wedding rehearsal going on inside.

"How would you feel about getting married in Disney World" he asked me.
"What, you mean when my Prince Charming shows up?" I joked.
"Sure... who ever that turns out to be," he said. Then he pointed out that you could see the Castle from the bridge we were on- between the beach and the chapel. I stood for a minute and stared at the castle.
"You know, the chapel is built so that when the bride and groom stand at the alter they have a perfect view of the castle," he told me.
"You and your sister are full of fun facts." I told him. I was still staring at the castle, he turned and walked behind me.
"I've got another one," he said. "I love you."
I turned around to find him down on his knee with a ring in his hand. I was speechless. I knew it was coming.. but not now!
"Can I be your Prince Charming?" He asked.
"YES!" I yelled and fell and threw my arms around him.
He put the ring on my hand and I stood there just staring at him and then the ring and back.

I don't have a pic of the ring from that day... but here's the actual ring.

We were both smiling as we walked back to the beach and back to the monorail stop at the Grand Floridian. We held hands and smiled the whole way back to Wilderness Lodge.
I just kept smiling and wiping away tears.

When we got back to the Lodge, his sister, b-i-l and the kids were asleep. Lisa was making out postcards, when walked back into the room.
"Uhh.. Lisa, do you have a minute?" I said walking into the room. I put my purse on the bed closest to the bathroom and sat down. She was sitting at the little table, facing the window.
"Uh huh, just a second."
Mike closed the door and coughed as if to get her attention.
She looked up and looked at me and saw my face was red and the trail of tears down my face... trying to hide a smile.
"What? What's wrong?" she said.
"I did it.." he said. She jumped up and ran over as I held my hand out to show her the ring.
"AND YOU SAID YES?!?!" she said, pushing away my hand and pulling me up to give me a hug.
"I can't believe we didn't scare you away! It must be the magic of Disney!" she said.
She turned around and knocked on the door that conjoined our two rooms.
"WAKE UP AND GET IN HERE," she yelled.
She came over and sat down next to me on the bed.
"Where's dad," Mike asked.
"He went to refill his mug," she said. "He'll be back in a minute."
The conjoining door opened and in walked my soon to be sister in law.
"Do you know the kids are trying to sleep?" Leena scolded Lisa.
"Oh.. there's plenty of time to nap AFTER they see AUNT Becca's ring!" Lisa told her.
They both smiled.
"Congratulations Mikey," she said as she hugged him. "Congratulations to you too," Leena told me as she took my hand to see the ring.
Then everyone slowly came into the room, even Mike's dad.
"This calls for more chocolate cake" John said.
He got out the cake and we all grabbed a fork and ate.
When we were finished and the excitement wore off, the kids went back to their nap and Lisa laid down asking me questions about the wedding.
"Have you guys picked a date? Colors? Anything?"
"No, I said. I haven't even told my parents yet," I told her.
She picked my purse up and gave it to me.

"You'll have so much to talk about.. just wake me up when you're off the phone and we'll go to Epcot for Illuminations."
Mike and his dad went on the balcony to talk and I took my cell phone down by the pool to call my parents.

This was definitely the MOST magical trip of all!

 

[MEK]

Can someone tell me how to post pictures? I have a photo from DHS I wanted to post, but can't figure out how.

Thanks all!

Wowsa! A Disney engagement! How very exciting! How long ago was this? And when and where did you get married? Details.

It sounds like you really did have one magical trip!

To post pictures you need to upload your pictures from the computer to a hosting site like photobucket. It's free up to a certain number of pictures. From photobucket you copy and paste the IMG code which you will see underneath the picture. The most time consuming part of this process is uploading the pictures to photobucket. The rest is easy.

Looking forward to see some pics!

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

No, sadly we didn't get married in Disney World. We didn't even go there for the honeymoon...

We got married in September for 2008 in my hometown of Terre Haute, Indiana (where Interstate 70, highway 41, the Wabash River and the State line for Indiana/Illinois meet).

My parents would only pay for a wedding in a Catholic church... so I chose to get married in my hometown.

This is one of my favorite photos from the wedding- Me, DH (Mike), then Hank and Laura looking over the table at us. I think they're asking us to dance with them.

Back to the magic:
The evening after we got engaged, we went to downtown Disney and ate dinner. Then we went to Girhadelli's and had a GIANT MOUNTAIN of ice cream. The before picture is really bad... but we DID eat it all! It was Leena, Hank, Laura and I... that's it. I have to admit Leena and I did most of the eating.

I have to admit, it was alot of fun eating a mountain of ice cream with the kids and Leena. It was one of my favorite memories at Disney.

 

[thelobstershanty]

Now this is what I consider a well written, romantic and believable trip report! Please keep posting this is one of most captivating trip reports I have ever read.

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

Day Five: The Pirate & Princess Party!

On the fifth day we spent the mroning at MK and had lunch there. After lunch we went back to the resort to take a nap and swim.
Leena, Lisa and Laura all wento Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique to get Laura's hair done for the party. She wore her blue Cinderella dress over to the botique. Mike, John and I stayed back and napped, knowing we'd be up a little later tonight than most nights.

Laura got her hair done up in a bone with pixie dust and a some make up. Leena took pictures (which I don't have) and in them she smiled the WHOLE time!

After that we went back to MK for the pirate & princess party. We got special maps that had black x's on them... we asked a CM (who was dressed as a pirate) what was at the x's his response..
"Argh... TREASURE of Course! X marks the spot!"
*sigh-- shoulda known that!

We went to the first x that was closest to the front of the park. Once we got there we were greeted by Hook and Mr. Smee. We got little silk black draw string bags that were filled with fake jewels and pearls and bead necklaces. Michael put one of the necklaces around my neck and gave me a kiss...
"this isn't as nice as the jewelry I gave you yesterday, but it looks just as nice on you." he told me.

Everyone else had to use the little pirate & little princess' rooms so Mike and I went into one of the shops. I found a little white and blue "daimond" tiara for $7 and decided to get it and wear it for the rest of the party.

We went on to the next treasure spot, and I met Cinderella & her prince. (You can't see it in the picture but my "just engaged" button is on my purse.

She asked who my prince was and when I pointed at Mike she said "does he treat you like a princess?"
I said, "Yes" and she said "good, because you ARE a princess and he should treat you like one."

(Well Duh... hello, OF COURSE I'm a princess, I've got a crown on my head don't I? hehehehehe)

We met several other characters, all princesses or pirates... Lisa, who LOVES the Pirates of the Caribbean, both the ride and the movie, had her picture taken with Captain Jack.

Then we heard the music for the parade and went to check it out. My FAVORITE Disney Character was in the parade. I think this is the only parade she's actually in, but you guys would know better than I.

Tink was sitting on one a HUGE treasure chest, of course giggling... when is she not?

If you've never done the Pirate & Princess party, I would TOTALLY suggest it. The kids loved going from one X to the other waiting to see what treasure, or character, awaited them. Near just about every stop was a giant street light that had a big X tarp put over it so you could actually see where the neXt stop was. (get it? X... neXt stop? hehehe)
At one stop the kids each got a few chocolate gold coins which Hank LOVED. He told eveyone it was part of his booty and that he had to "buckle the swashes" to get it.

I don't remember there being very many people at the p&p party, I think the longest we ever waited for anything was 3 or 4 families back.

I don't know why they planned it this way, but tomorrow morning was breakfast at Ohana, so we stayed until the kids could barely walk then headed back to the WL for bed. It was a great night!

 

[MEK]

Lovely pictures! Your wedding looks like it was beautiful. Are you planning an anniversary trip to Disney?

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

Lovely pictures! Your wedding looks like it was beautiful. Are you planning an anniversary trip to Disney?

YES! Although our anniversary is in September, we are going to WDW in October and we are celebrating it while we are there. We are having dinner at Nine Dragons and spend the day by ourselves in a park and just walking around holding hands and having our pictures taken by the photopass photographer EVERY CHANCE WE GET!

The night after we got engaged, we had our picture taken in front of the Castle during EMH and it was multi-colored... I've heard it called the "good night kiss castle", where it's all different colors at night. So, I'm hoping we can have our picture taken there again.

I'm hoping every few years we can have it done (because we didn't go the first year we were married) and by the time we get to our 20th wedding anniversary ... we've decided we're going to get re-married at Disney sometime around then. I can get a Disney photo album and put them all in there in order-- with pictures from our trips obviously, and use it as a unique album for just he and I... then get a second one for our 20th re-marriage and put the professional pictures in that one... that way we can see how we've aged-- and grown together-- gray and old together, smiling with the castle.

I think that would make a great picture to blow up and put in our house somewhere when we're older.. maybe a collage.. like they do with little kids- have a picture of us in front of the castle every few years around a bigger picture of us in front of the Castle when we're in our 50s!

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

So, the last day we had breakfast (at the butt-crack of dawn!) at Ohana at the Poly. I had never been there, but Laura kept telling me I had to have the juice... it's the best juice ever.
(Apparently last time they were there she had a Mickey waffle and about 10 cups of the juice and practically made herself sick!).

We all stood in front of the Ohana display and had our picture taken together.

Then they showed us to our table. After our food came and we were eating, the characters came around to the table. The kids had their pictures taken with Lilo and Stitch.. as I remember hank was a little wary of Stitch.

The kids got all of the character's autographs and then we finished our meal.

When we finished, we went back to the MK for a few last rides. We were all a little bummed knowing it was our last day. As I was going to get a map (under the train station) at the entrance of MK, I noticed a CM come up to the rest of the family.

The CM was smiling and high-fiving Hank and just having fun with them while they stood there. When I got back over to them, where I could hear what was being said, he was asking where they we were from.

"Indiana," Lisa said.
"Oh! Is it nice up there this time of year?" he asked."
"Yes, it's very nice this time of year. Usually nice and mild," she responded.
"Nice. I've never been there before." he said.
"Lots of corn," she said. "Just about everywhere you look.. there's corn," Alex said.
"Well, you know where there isn't any corn?" he asked.
"In Disney World?" Hank said.
"Well, no... because there is some over by Mickey's Toon Town fair. But, there isn't any corn in the Castle. How would you all like to stay the night in the castle tonight?" he asked.
"OH NO!" Leena nearly yelled it. "NO NO NO NO NO! We are leaving tonight. Our plane leaves at 7 tonight." She made a sad/pathetic face.
And then Laura started to cry. "Can't we please stay in the castle?" she said, tearing up.
"No honey, we have to go home."
Both the kids started crying...

That was the rain on our parade. None of us really felt like doing anything in the park after that. But we went on Dumbo and a few other rides and went into the big shop on main street to grab a few last suvieners.

Mike and I got big suckers for the plane ride home, I got a green and yellow Tinkerbell one and he got a multi-colored Mickey one. I also got a huge picture frame, that would hold some of our pictures from our trip.

Leena, Laura, Alex, Hank and I all went downstairs to refill everyone's mugs for one last time before we left.

When we came back upstairs there were two postcards on the kids' beds. They were from Mickey, they said he was glad they got to come visit him and he was sorry they had to go home. But he knew they would be back to visit, so they shouldn't be sad.
The kids were sad to be going home, but excited to have gotten a letter from Mickey. (Mickey's handwriting oddly matched John's... but the kids didn't notice. )

We went to the front desk and checked out. As we rode in the transport van back to the airport we sang the closing song of the Mickey Mouse club.

"Now's the time to say goodbye, To all our company, Through the years we'll all be friends, Wherever we may be, M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E, Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse, Forever let us hold our banner high, M-I-C - See ya real soon! K-E-Y - Why? Because we like you!, M-O-U-S-E!!"

 

[emmysmommy]

Jumping in here... awww thanks for sharing your engagement story. My 14 year old DD told me that she wanted her future husband to propse to her at WDW. I told her don't lower your expectations!!

Disney sure is magical!

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

Dear Readers!
If you have enjoyed this trip report, please look at my next one... right now it is a pre-trip report... but I will post my trip report when I get back in a month.
I look forward to sharing our magical trip with you! I will add the link to those trs when they are posted on here. Thanks so much!
May your wishes come true!
Self Rescuing Princess