Never Too Late For a TR - Our Disneymoon Jan 2008 (w/ lots o' pics)! *07/23 - Day 5*

[MrsDanielle]

~***See Index in Post 2***~

This is my first attempt at any sort of travelogue so please be patient and kind - I'm learning as I go!

My DH and I met at work in December of 2005. My first impression of him was quite poor, he seemed reserved and horribly arrogant. My feelings toward him changed after a few months of working together as we began to discover all the things we had in common! First we both had similar tastes in music, movies, and importantly religious beliefs! He soon began to drive me home after work, and we'd sit in the car and talk for hours. Eventually the talking turned into kissing, and less than a year later he proposed to me in December 2006!

We both agreed that since we both absolutely loved Christmas, we should marry in December! So our wedding date was set for December 8, 2007! Thinking back it feels like 2007 zoomed by in a blur! Naturally, there were so many things to prepare for, and we were both under a tremendous amount of stress! DH was promoted (yay!) to a different department at his place of employment, and I was a recent university graduate who had just begun a research position at a university. On top of that I was dealing with a whole host of health problems (which have only recently improved, but not 100%) which were affecting my daily life!

Moving along, so after a year of planning, stress, and heaps of excitement our wedding day finally came, and it turned out beautifully! The day itself was brutally cold, perhaps in the region of -30 Celsius, but we had a beautifully blue and clear sky! Our wedding celebration took place at the lovely St. Boniface Cathedral (my parish since I was 14!) and our reception was held at the tasteful Larters Golf Course in St. Andrews, Manitoba.


Oh oh oh, before I go any further, I suppose I should officially introduce myself! I'm Danielle, a French-Canadian from Manitoba. Like most people from my province, I've been condition to handle temperatures ranging from +30 Celsius in the summer to -40 Celsius in the winter months. I have gone camping in the winter, and loved it! I hold a degree in Environmental Studies, and studied Environmental Law and Policy, which basically makes me a glorified tree hugger! I'm currently unemployed. I love to travel (especially to Europe, and hopefully to Africa one day), enjoy literature, and love animals!

DH is a wiz with numbers (I'm envious of his gift), disturbingly obsessed with Harry Potter (he he he!), and has a great sense of adventure, at least when it comes to trying new foods! This man of mine is definitely a foodie, and luckily for me enjoys experimenting in the kitchen! I don't mind doing the washing following our meals, but I'm all thumbs when it comes to cooking, I'm only capable of making desserts! Anyway, here are a few photos from our happy day!

It was a heavy dress!

The day was so cold that we were only outside for about 15 mintues, but they are my favourite shots of the day!

Family time! (minus my sister)

This is what I like to call our Sears photo (taken at the reception)

Dancing the night away

 

[MrsDanielle]

My TR will begin shortly!

Introducing the characters.
Day 1 - Going to Orlando.
Day 1 - California Grill.
Day 2 - Kisses and yetis: Our day at Animal Kingdom .
Day 3 - We don't need your Fastpass! Our day at the Magic Kingdom.
Day 3 - I'll never eat again - Kona Cafe and an evening in the Magic Kingdom.
Day 4 - Around the world in 5 hours, or however long we were there: Our day at Epcot.
Day 4 - Chefs de France.
Day 5 - We Finally saw a Dream Winner! Our day at MGM Studios.
Day 5 - Fantasia Gardens.

 

[whogirl'smom]

I love honeymoon stories! Your pictures are beyond gorgeous, especially the one of you and your new hubby with just the sky behind you!

I'm looking forward to hearing about your trip.

 

[MrsDanielle]

A bit of background before I begin:

Neither one of us had ever gone to WDW as children, so when deciding on a honeymoon destination it quickly became one of our front runners. Having been to Europe a few times, I thought it would be a great idea to holiday in the region I love best! To my dismay, we quickly determined this was unfeasible as we could only vacation for about 7 days, and on top of that our budget was fairly limited. Neither one of us wanted to spend our week lying on a beach at an all inclusive in the Caribbean, so we decided that WDW would be our honeymoon destination!

Seeing the Christmas decorations would have been a true delight, as we're both Christmas fanatics! But, because our wedding date fell too close to Christmas (and due to the high cost of the Christmas season, and of course crowds) we booked our honeymoon for January 10 to 17, 2008! I booked our flights well in advance (August) and it still cost us over $1000.00 for the both of us! Yikes! We tried booking POFQ through our lackluster TA, but ended up settling with POR! We both really enjoy dining so naturally we booked the basic DDP, and made our ADRs as quickly as possible! We got all our ADRs – except Tony's which was under renovations at the time.

Admittedly, being so busy with our millions of events surrounding the wedding (social, ask me about that later, showers, pre-parties, the WEDDING itself!!) that was basically all the planning we did until early in the new year. We did purchase a Frommer’s planning guide (which we dragged around the parks btw) and started reading the Disboards, but that was about it for me. DH subscribed to a couple podcasts…he’s such a cute nerd. Oh, I should mention that being first timers to the World, we thought it would be unnecessary to get the park hopper option, so we planned our park days around our dining reservations. A few days before the trip, we followed your advice, dear Disboard (our own little DD), and went to Zellers to purchase a few supplies, as well as order groceries from Garden Grocers.

Enough background, let’s get to the trip report!

Day 1 – Planes, buses, and monorails, oh my!

We were up at 3:00 a.m. that morning…….

Yes.

Once we woke up and realized that we were escaping our snow covered (and icy cold) city for the warm weather, and PALM TREES of central Florida the 8 year olds inside of us came out! After an uneventful cab ride to the airport (it was pitch black, and the streets were deserted) we breezed through customs and eventually boarded the plane! We had a brief stopover in Chicago, and quickly noticed the overwhelming number of small children (likely under the age of 2) waiting at the Orlando gate, correctly assuming that they were not going to Las Vegas; our neighbouring gate. We finally touched down in Orlando at around 2:30 we were overcome by the humid weather, partly due to us wearing our winter jackets! Keep in mind we went from -10 Celsius to about +25 Celsius in a matter of hours, so naturally we were trying hard to deal with the change!
Neither one of us had eaten that morning, so while DH stood in line for the Magical Express, I bought a DELICIOUS sandwich and a couple of Krispy Kremes. (for DH – I won’t touch the stuff) He was still waiting in the enormously long line when I came back, so I went to sit down in one of the chairs in the lobby. Oddly enough, I clearly remember sitting in one of those chairs, quietly eating my sandwich and thinking about how our week at Disney had just begun! A whole week of no deadlines, moody bosses, or cooking stood before us, and I was taking the time to let those thoughts sink in! What a moment…and not even the first of many.

Our drive on the Magical Express was pretty fun, although no cartoons were shown, only a promo video! We were the last stop of the bus’s run, so naturally we were ready to stretch our legs once it pulled up to POR! A lovely British girl checked us in, and handed us our KTTW card and assigned us to Parterre Place! Let’s just say that we went the long way by accident, which wasn’t really such a terrible thing as we got to see the resort, and had very little luggage to carry around! Our room was on the second level, and was decent by our standards. The room did have a musty smell, but overall it was clean! I’m super picky about cleanliness so I was pleasantly surprised with the condition of the room. Our fridge was unfortunately not working properly, which is essential to me as my medication must be refrigerated. I called the front desk (which I now know is answered by a call centre in Tampa) and explained the problem, a few hours later a service person repaired our faulty fridge. After traveling all day with very little food in our bellies, we were more than ready for our reservation at … CALIFORNIA GRILL!

Was our first Disney dining experience memorable? Stay tuned to find out!

 

[stagemomx3]

Your wedding pictures are beautiful.

 

[myrsfmly]

Your wedding pictures are gorgeous! I can't wait to hear about your stay at POR as I'll be staying there for the first time in August...

 

[MrsDanielle]

Continuted - Day 1, Part II

Our luggage arrived roughly 15 minutes before we had to leave for our 7:40 ADR. (and thankfully, as I had packed a pretty dress to wear for that particular evening) We quickly freshened up, and headed toward the bus stop. As much as we enjoyed POR, their transportation system needs to be improved. In a nutshell service to the parks was inconsistent, and we would see buses (and sometimes multiple) for every other destination other than the one we were going to. Waiting times weren't terrible though, perhaps averaging between 15 to 20 minutes. Over 80 percent of the time the majority of the people waiting were going to the same park we were, which perhaps could be blamed on a lack of communication between drivers. On a whole though, we were pleased to have this service available to us at no additional charge.

We decided that the most efficient way to get to the CR was to take the bus to the MK, and then the monorail to the resort. When we reached the MK we once again became super excited when we caught a glimpse of the castle and Space Mountain! After years and years of hearing our friends discuss this magical place, we had finally arrived! Before taking the monorail over to the resort, we took a few moments to look around the dock area. Before long we jumped onto the monorail and headed for the resort! DH btw was completely fascinated with the monorail system. As a joke, (and even then not really) I was prepared to buy him a monorail play set, but decided against it! After checking in at the CR front desk we were handed a buzzer, and rode the elevator to the California Grill. We had time to kill, so we wandered around the beautiful California Grill observation deck. It was so thrilling to finally see the MK in all its glory! The view from the deck was truly spectacular and yes, magical, especially for two first timers on their honeymoon!

Once our buzzer finally lit up, we were quickly escorted to our window side table! It was decorated with Mickey confetti, and as a special honeymoon surprise we were given two complimentary glasses of champagne! Shortly after our drinks were served, many of the patrons moved to the observation desk to view Wishes! I highly recommend making an ADR here simply for watching this marvelous fireworks display! It was breathtaking!

Since we were on the new and perhaps not so improved DDP (although in the end it worked out well for us) we knew we were entitled to a beverage, main course and dessert! I ordered chicken with gnocchi and pomegranate and DH had nori wrapped tuna with Chinese veg spring rolls! We both enjoyed our meals, but in my book the portions were fairly small. For dessert I had the pear tart, which was gigantic and delicious, while DH had a trio of apple desserts. I forgot to mention that right before we left POR, we went to the front desk and asked for our honeymoon pins, which we wore throughout the week! Oddly enough, a guy I worked with, who was also on holiday with his family at the World, walked through the restaurant while DH and I were being served our desserts! Small world! On a whole, the California Grill was quite good, although the service was not the greatest. Given the atmosphere and good food, I’d rate this restaurant an 8.5/10! It’s a must do!

After our meal, we went downstairs and browsed through the shops, and checked out the video arcade. We then caught the monorail to Epcot to catch a bus back to POR. That in itself was amazing…I’ll always recall whizzing past an illuminated Epoct! We finally caught a bus back to POR, and crashed really hard. We knew the next day would be full of surprises and excitement as we were headed for ANIMAL KINGDOM!

Champagne!

A view of the MK from the California Grill

Yummy!

 

[stagemomx3]

Wow those desserts look awesome.

 

[whogirl'smom]

I'm glad you had a good meal at Cali Grill, and I agree with you about the monorail ride to Epcot being awesome! I would love to see it at night; it was fantastic in the daytime as well.

 

[heaven2dc]

I absolutely love your wedding photos! How romantic the pictures are of the two of you walking in the snow

The view from Cali Grill is so beautiful - I'm anxious to read if you saw the fireworks from MK from there. Great job so far on your report!

 

[MrsDanielle]

I absolutely love your wedding photos! How romantic the pictures are of the two of you walking in the snow

The view from Cali Grill is so beautiful - I'm anxious to read if you saw the fireworks from MK from there. Great job so far on your report!

Wow, I completely forgot to mention seeing Wishes from the Grill! Shortly after our drinks arrived, our waiter explained to us that Wishes would be starting any minute, so DH and I swiftly made our way to the already-packed observation desk. The lights in the restaurant were dimmed, and the Wished theme music was piped in. Let’s just say that DH and I were treated to the most spectacular fireworks display we’ve ever laid eyes on! It was so beautiful and magical, and I would highly watching Wishes from the CR. Oh and we also were able to watch a bit of the Electric Water Pageant from our window seat! The dragon was pretty darn impressive! In my opinion there couldn't have been a better way to end our first day in the World.

 

[DisneyMissy318]

Can't wait to hear more! Thanks for sharing your wedding pictures with us! Your dress was gorgeous! You DH actually favors Harry Potter a little - so his obsession is warranted! (I have a special Harry Potter gene too!)

My DH and I honeymooned in WDW ourselves - 1996 - pink candy castle and all! Unfortunately we didn't know about much about the special things offered by Disney at the time - can't wait to hear how it goes for you!

First night sounds great!

 

[solgent]

Your report is great so far. Your wedding photos are beautiful. Can't wait to read more!

 

[specialk2ca]

You DH actually favors Harry Potter a little - so his obsession is warranted! (I have a special Harry Potter gene too!)

Haha you don't know the half of it. I'm MrsDanielle's DH...One halloween as well as a movie release and the release for the last book, I've dressed up as the boy who lived.

 

[DisneyMissy318]

I knew I was onto something... maybe we could submit your name and picture for the filming of the Epilogue for Deathly Hallows!

I've read all of the books more than once and just finished listening to DH on CD! (I love the way Jim Dale does the character voices!)

I'm a Disney Nut - but am looking forward to see what Universal does with the new Harry Potter attraction area.

 

[MrsDanielle]

Here's DH a few Halloween's ago (this is even before we met) dressed as his idol, Mr. Potter. I'm not into HP at all, (I've read the first book only, and have seen all the movies at someone's insistance ) but I'm still looking forward to seeing this series come to life at US.

 

[MrsDanielle]

Mrs.Danielle’s Thoughts of the Day

I woke up that morning feeling completely terrible! I was nauseous beyond belief, and had pains in my stomach, which is not exactly how you want to feel the second day of your honeymoon! Before our holiday, DH and I discussed arriving at each park for rope drop at least one time per park. Today was Animal Kingdom day, and we were only planning on seeing it once! I knew I just had to get better straight away! DH was looking at me with some disappointment, but mostly with concern! I did not want to ruin our day by being sick, so after quickly showering, I dressed and decided to take a short walk around our building to 'test' myself. After walking along the river for a few minutes, the nausea suddenly hit me! I quickly ran back to the hotel room, and locked myself in the bathroom. After cleaning up I composed myself and got ready (once again) to leave for AK. Although our groceries from Garden Grocer has arrived the previous night, I decided against eating in fear of uh...getting sick again

We arrived at AK around 9:30, and headed straight in the direction of Expedition Everest! The standby line was already several minutes and we wanted to hit the Safari ASAP, so we grabbed a couple of Fastpasses! We then proceeded to Kilimanjaro Safaris, and promptly got in line. After a short wait (maybe 5 minutes) we climbed aboard our safari truck! The ride was pretty fun, although much to my disappointment, we did not see any giraffes! Where were they I wonder?? After disembarking from our trucks, we decided to walk the Pangani Forest Trail. We admired the gorillas for quite a while, and listened to a woman (possibly a biologist) discuss their physiology. The komodo dragons were amazing as well. We then headed back through Asia toward Expedition Everest! It was by far the best coaster I’ve ever ridden, and it was truly a ton a fun! The backwards segment left me a teensy bit loopy (keep in mind how I still wasn’t feeling great) so my legs felt like Jell-o once the ride was over! Somewhere between all this, we purchased our bride and groom mouse ears. Oddly enough, I was hesitant about buying them, and worse wearing them! I dislike drawing too much attention to myself, and frankly I thought wearing them was a bit silly! DH convinced me that the ears would be cute, and promised that I wouldn’t have to wear them too often! (To be honest, I only wore them a few times! The band felt tight on my head, and gave me headaches! I wore them for his sake though, and for a few photographs!)

Being a fan of Jurassic Park, I insisted on riding Dinosaur. It was one of my ‘must ride’ attractions, but little did I know how truly wrong wrong WRONG I was about this ride. We were given front row seats, and I was seated on the right side of the truck. *shudder* After a few seconds on the ride, I noticed that most of the dinosaurs were located on the left side of the truck. It took me no time to figure out that a massive T-REX would at some point pop out from the right – exactly where I was seated. That’s all I can tell you about the ride, because from that moment forward, being the coward I am, I buried my face in DH armpit for the duration! When I heard the T-Rex roar, I probably started trembling. I know I’m worse than a child, but I don’t care! It scared the crap out of me, and was too jarring for my tastes. I doubt that I would ever ride again! Well…perhaps I would, but only if I could be seated in the back row!

SpecialK’s Thoughts of the Day

Needless to say, MrsDanielle’s nerves were completely shot at that point, so we decided to take a break! We each grabbed frozen lemonade, had a seat and people watched for a while. We didn’t realize until it was too late that there were birds sitting in the trees directly over our heads…nuff said.

Our lunch was at the Flame Tree BBQ. MrsDanielle had a modest but delicious turkey sandwich and I had a scrumptious pulled beef sandwich with baked beans. Yummers! My key lime pie was terribly sweet but the chocolate cake made up for it. At this time we were paid a visit from the notorious Flame Tree ducks. They had no shame begging to share in our culinary delights and seemed to get upset if we ignored them. Odd that they didn’t nip though. They just stood there annoying us further .

After this, we decided to cool off by taking a spin on the Kali River Rapids. Whilst in line we were behind a couple siblings, probably in the 9-12 range; a boy and a girl. When they were asked how many were in their party they said 4 and insisted that we come along with them. That was really cute. It wasn’t as intense as similar rapid excursions but did tell a simple message of the effects of deforestation. That and I got soaked. I was by far the wettest in our little 8-person ship. But somehow my socks stayed entirely dry. The queue for this ride was great too. Really something worth checking out!

We wandered around and saw the African street performers doing their cool acrobatics (DeVine was seen in the morning as we were heading from Africa over to Asia to use our Fastpasses on Everest) and had a blast sitting amongst the crowd to be awed by the physical spectacle. The ears and buttons were a magnet for people congratulating us…mostly CMs but there were normal folk that wished us well from time to time.

We called it a day at the AK and went back to the hotel for a rest before boarding a boat and heading downtown. It was a gorgeous ride that took about 20 minutes. Downtown itself was crazy (Earl of Sandwich probably would’ve been a 2 hour wait) and we didn’t end up eating there as planned but did pick up some souvenirs at the Disney store. MrsDanielle decided to wear her sandals and what an achy breaky big mistaky. After getting back to the resort, her feet were not too happy.

Our dinner ended up being at the Riverside’s counter service area. More sandwiches! Nothing to write home about but the staff preparing our meals were very friendly and accommodating. I had a roast beef and blue cheese sandwich which was tasty but the beef was kinda tough. Highly enjoyable though. MrsDanielle doubled up on her turkey intake with a multigrain bun surrounding it. Each dish included some pasta salad and I think we both chose a Mickey crisped rice (gotta be generic here!) treat. I think we’d go back for a lunch/ dinner again (you’ll see we went for breakfast twice later in the week…).

So that’s all for today! Up next is our first experience at the Magic Kingdom (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and dinner reservations at Kona Café.

After getting our EE fastpasses

What beautiful creatures! They are so colourful!

Dancin' in the Streets

 

[ProudMommyof2]

Great update!

 

[whogirl'smom]

So glad you joined us, SpecialK! Great update that really showed your bravery, Danielle, riding EE and Dinosaur with a queasy stomach! Looking forward to the MK adventures!

 

[DisneyMissy318]

Thanks for the Harry Potter pic!

Great update! Sorry you weren't feeling well... Dinosaur can completely take you by surprise! I WISH we had bought the picture from the first time we rode - my DH's face was priceless! I have one more chance of T-Rex "surprising" someone when my parents go with us in December!