Our 23rd Wedding Anniversary – Trip to the World

[pjstevens]

Our 23rd Wedding Anniversary – Trip to the World (this is my first ever trip report)

Cast – me – pjstevens, wife, mom, and administrative assistant at a small Christian school (the kids come back next week). The one who keeps everyone else organized (except myself at times).

Dh – hubby, dad and workaholic.

A little background; We have three children (four more in heaven). Our oldest ds, got married in May, our only dd graduated from high school in June and started college this week and our youngest ds is in the 10th grade (will be driving soon). All three kids have been to wdw before. We went in 1992, then in 2000. Last year, we took the younger two (oldest ds had a disneymoon this year) during the free dining and stayed for the very first time on property. We stayed at ASMo. We had a great time and save a lot of money with free food (we had originally booked a week earlier and were paying for the dining plan).

To let you know, we are not mean parents for not taking our kids to Disney this year. Hubby had wanted to do something special for my birthday back in May (but with all that was going on, couldn’t swing a trip then). When I heard about the free dining again, I ‘talked’ hubby into going the end of August…. WITH NO KIDS!!! This is our 23rd wedding anniversary on Sunday and we haven’t been away without the kids in 21 years (except for an occasional overnight retreat).

I start investigating and planning and we book through Mouse for Less. Wonderful Linda, my TA, made all my ADR’s. I planned on doing the Segway around Epcot and she booked that for me. I “was” keeping the tour and a possible Illuminations Cruise as a surprise for hubby. Well, I caved and had to tell him, I was just so excited about how things were coming along I let him know. Unfortunately, the person I was going to cruise with backed out (no hard feelings, worked for the best) so we aren’t doing that. But, with the past couple of months of reading Tourguide Mike, I think we’ll still see the Illuminations from a wonderful spot. (I’ll let you know).

This week, as the days flew by, we have been keeping an eye on Ernesto and it looks like we should be fine (as long as no delays leaving tomorrow am). I am packed; except for all those things you can’t put in your carry on anymore (i.e. shampoo, lotion, hair gel, etc). Every day I am cruising the disboards and tgm site looking for more info, like I might have missed something in my obsession here. Hubby thinks at times, I must have an online bf due to all the time I spend here (but it is just a Disney obsession, lol).

We are staying at Pop from 8/31 – 9/4. We have the earliest flight in that I could find and the latest one that I can handle (remember I have to go back to school when I return.) We have ADRs at Whisper Canyon Café (hubbys favorite), Crystal Palace (I love Pooh, even have a pooh tattoo) and Yachtsman Steakhouse for our actual anniversary dinner. I have order the mini wedding cake (they will make them at the Yachtsman also, not just the GF) for that evening. I also ordered hubby a gift bag of goodies for our anniversary from the Disney shopper on MFL. We ordered some grocery items to be delivered from gardengrocer.com so we’ll have water; juice; snacks and breakfast items.

I am decorating our Pop window (there is an actual thread for that. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1130525&page=1&pp=15

We have less than 24 hours and we should be in the air. I think I am going to go crazy with all I have to do today (mainly go to work in a few minutes). This is my first attempt at any repot and I’ll try to get it going as soon as we get back.

 

[OhMari]

I will be going in April for our 25th wedding anniv., it was actually this past August 22, but we will celebrate it then. Looking forward to finding out how the dining plan went with just you two.

I have 3 in college and my youngest is a Junior. I'm really missing the older 3 and my dd is worried she can't fly under the radar anymore and get away with to much anymore. She will be in Florida with her h.s. band when we go and I am still deciding if the others will join us, we have to see how their schedules are and if they can get decent plane reservations from their college towns. Otherwise it will just be us.

Hope you have a great Trip.

 

[pjstevens]

First,

Belated Happy Anniversary. I am sure you'll have a great time, no matter when you celebrate it. The dining plan was great for just the two of us, with one exception, dh, didn't get the idea of sharing a counter meal so we'd have more later. He thought I was trying to 'starve him'. I am just starting to write my trip report (and my first time doing this, so I don't expect to much).

I will be going in April for our 25th wedding anniv., it was actually this past August 22, but we will celebrate it then. Looking forward to finding out how the dining plan went with just you two.

 

[pjstevens]

Day 1 (August 31st). Got up at 4am, of course I don’t think I got to sleep before 1am, as I was soooo excited about going to wdw (just like the kids on the commercial). My son was picking us up at 5am to head to the airport. Initially we were thinking we could leave for the airport between 6am & 6:30, but that was before the problem in London last month… heightened security meant arriving at least two hours early again!!

Well, we got to the airport around 5:40 or so… as we are walking through the terminal, dh sees a clock and says wow, only an hour… I looked at it again and realized we still had TWO hours to wait for our flight, it was only 5:50. We had already gone through security and were just hanging around near the gate. We stopped by our gate and there were others already there (so I didn’t feel so bad), but was so tired, I could of laid down somewhere and taken a nap. DH was hungry so we got a coffee and he got a muffin or something. We sat and sat and sat. When it should have been time to load the plane, someone came out and told us that there was some sort of mechanical problem. Oh great, I love to hear that! So we sat some more and finally when we were supposed to be taking off, they let us board. We finally board the plane only to sit there for what seems like forever. Turns out they let us board, just to get us out of the ‘way’ for the next flight. They were still working to fix the problem and we ‘should be ready for take off soon’. Now, we SIT on the plane, so much more fun than sitting in the terminal. Then, it happens, we finally start to move, only to be told we are like number 20 in line to take off, so more sitting. Luckily, once we take off, it was an uneventful flight and we landed in Orlando around 11:30 (only an hour and half late).

We went to the world last summer and so, stupid me, thought we knew where we were going in the terminal (following the crowd of course) to the WRONG area for Magical Express. Last year, they had someone in the terminal lobby area with that big white hand to send you in the right direction. Not now, you need to read the back of the ME paperwork to know where to go (or listen to those others going to Disney that read theirs).

After finding the right place and getting checked in, we waited for our Pop bus (probably only 10-15 minutes, since we were towards the very front of the line, we had just missed the previous bus). We got loaded onto ME, got to Pop Century in no time. As dh was doing something, I went to get in line to check in (only to have some obnoxious people go under the line instead of around it, then all of their friends come too)… Why does going away bring out the ‘worst’ in some people (oh, maybe they do that all the time)?

When we finally get to the counter, a gentleman gets us checked in (not personable at all). Never did he ask if we were celebrating anything special (as I heard other CM ask). I had two things waiting for us and he didn’t seem to know anything about those. Almost didn’t give us the ‘packet’ with all the maps and stuff in it. I was disappointed, but figure, not everyone is ‘cheery’ all the time.

I had requested and paid for a preferred view (along with a fridge). We were in the 60’s building, but on the third floor and almost all the way to the back (not a view of the lake, not a view of the pool, not a parking lot, but a view of the 50’s building)… I should of saved the money and planned on looking at the parking lot. I was decorating our window, so I had put the things that were allowed in my carry on and started right on that while we waited for our fridge to be delivered. Dh went to the front desk to see about our ‘package’ that was to be waiting for us (a box of decorations that is being passed around to POP Dis-ers). While he did that, I got a call from the front desk asking if I wanted my ‘cooler’ brought up to my room?? What cooler??? I ordered a fridge!!! I told the woman I had a gift basket that I was waiting for (this was a surprise for hubby). Then she told me another guest left the ‘cooler’ for me. OH, duh!!!! The ‘box’ I was waiting for was actually a Styrofoam cooler. I told her dh was at the front desk inquiring about it and she said she would get it right out to him. She asked when I wanted our ‘gift basket’ delivered and I said after we went to the park. This way, it would be a surprise for dh.

I had ordered some groceries from gardengrocer.com and they called me as we were pulling into POP. He told me to call him back on as soon as we had our room assignment. I called him (he must of already been right around the corner) as he delivered our groceries while dh was at the front desk. (Side note... I wondered why when the gentleman from gardengrocer called me he had a 302 area code (which is MY area code in Delaware)... Turns out, he was from Delaware not far from us. Our fridge came a few minutes later, so I put our ‘cold’ items in the fridge. When dh got back from the front desk, I had already decorated our window and was putting some stickers on the door.

Well, we are going to the park (actually MGM), but this is taking a lot longer than I thought it would. I promise to write more tomorrow. In the meantime here is a picture of our door and our window (even though no one got to see it since we were so far up in the air, the third floor).

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Oooh, I love your window decorations! I'm working on some for the next trip!

Looking forward to the rest of your trip!

 

[pjstevens]

Still day 1 (August 31st).

We finally leave the room and head down to the bus for MGM. I remembered at that time that it sure gets HOT in Florida in August. We finally get to MGM and can let the vacation begin. Our first stop once in the park was to guest relations to see what type of button they had for celebrating our anniversary. The cm there gave us two different buttons (for each of us). The one we wore most of the times was the bride & groom one. Just about every cm we saw told us congratulations. I really wanted to get as many photo pass pictures as possible since it was just the two of us and I hate to ask others to take our picture with my camera (some just don’t get the concept).

On a side note, my son and daughter in law went to WDW/cruise for their honeymoon and didn’t have a single photo pass taken in any of the parks. Thank goodness they had pics done on the ship as neither remembered a camera (other than the one on their phones). Here they are walking around the parks with their bride and groom ears and not one photographer asked them for pics. It has been a long time since my son had been to Disney, so he didn’t know where to find these photographers since they are now pretty much look like all the other cms in that park. It was easier when they all (the photographers) ‘looked alike’ so you knew what they were doing. I remember in 2000 walking into Epcot and you couldn’t get past them without them wanting to take your pics… now you have to ask them to take them.

Ok, enough of that… We are finally at MGM! Now after weeks of planning what to do when we get there with my tour guide mike info, we start to wonder around! All this planning and I can’t get my head focused. I wanted to do TOT, but dh HATES elevators (has been stuck too many times), so we couldn’t do that. He isn’t into roller coasters much, so RRC was out since it had a loop, so we had no reason to go down that end of MGM.

We stopped at Studios Catering Co. Flatbread Grill for some late lunch. At this point, I need to give a you bit of background info on me. I had weight loss surgery done the end of January. I had something called a lapband surgery done. This is a much less invasive surgery and one where I can eat ‘normal’ food. My insides are all the same (unlike the gastric bypass where they reroute your insides) with the exception of the small band that was place around the top part of my stomach. This allows me to eat very SMALL quantities at a time (when it is properly adjusted). I had had an adjustment done the end of July, so I was pretty use to the amount of food I could eat, but if something was too dry, or I didn’t chew well enough, I would be very uncomfortable (and in some cases sick) . With this info, I ordered the Caesar chicken on the flatbread. When dh was going to order the exact same thing, I asked if he would share mine. I had told him before about sharing our counter meals so they would last, since we had five full days at the worlds but only four days of meals (nights). He looked at me like I was taking all the food he could eat for the day. This meal came with a drink and a big piece of chocolate cake. He was very reluctant (and I could tell a bit annoyed at me). I cut a one-inch piece of the flatbread and gave him the rest. I ‘tasted’ the icing on the cake and I had some of the water. I felt that gave him plenty, but I could tell he was still ‘annoyed’. I told him to get more if he was hungry, but noooo, he was in that mood now and I was going to suffer. Nice start to our anniversary vacation. As a matter of fact, I was full by this little bit of food and we would have wasted a lot (or he would have pigged and eaten too much if we both got meals).

We missed the LMA last year and were determined we would see it this trip. By the time we got to the back of the park, the show had started and we were told to come back at 5pm for the next show at 5:30. 5PM?!?! Are they crazy, I have waited all year to see the Stars & Motor Cars parade (never saw this before). This parade starts at 5pm. I am not going to sit a half hour waiting for LMA to start. We’ll take our chances getting from the parade to that in time. We walked through some of the not busy things (i.e. Journey into Narnia; Walt – One Mans Dream and I think something else, but can’t remember right now).

I had some great index cards I got from another TGM (tour guide mike) that I carried with me each day depending on what park we were going to. It told me to sit by the brass heads for the Stars & Motor Cars Parade and to arrive so many minutes before. We head on over and there is a nice wall right there in front of the busts of famous people and we sat our buns down right there. It was a little bit shaded, so we weren’t in direct sunlight. People were lining up all over the place, some sitting right on the sidewalk, or blocking their areas with their ponchos. We took turns getting up and I walked over and got a frozen lemonade for us to ‘SHARE’…. Oh that word, why should two people who have been married 23 years share things??!! Actually hubby was better this time. We shared our nice cold drink and waited for the parade.

It was great to have a front row seat. To be able to see and take some great pics was awesome. You can see my pictures from the parade on my photobucket Stars & Motor Cars Parade.

After the parade we hurried over to LMA and walked forever to the back of the stands, then up and up and up to the top. We were luckily in the shaded area, but it was pretty hot still. This show was amazing. Really enjoyed it and took some pics of this also. Lights, Motors, Action

After the show, we were pretty beat. We were going to wait around and see Fantasmic, but we had seen it last summer and we were beat. Remember it is still day one and we were up at 4am. So, we headed back to the hotel (before the mad rush). Stopped by the Pop food court and once again debated about food. Fine, I’ll get my own meal. I got the chicken fingers w/ fries, apples w/ caramel and a bottle of water. Dh got the philly cheese steak wrap and other stuff. We decide to take our meal back to the room as we are sooo pooped out.

When we open the door to our room, our luggage has arrived (YEA) but there is also a lovely gift box on the bed for dh.

In this gift box were two Mickey etched wine glasses; a bottle of sparkling cider; bride & groom ears; celebration pins; an anniversary ornament, personalized for us; a card from Mickey & Minnie; a window cling and some candies and a balloon.

We finally ate our meal; well I ate two of my chicken tenders and saved my apples. Dh ate the rest of mine and all of his. Guess that is why he doesn’t want to share… he eats a lot at times (but doesn’t gain any weight). We then took went to the pool for a bit and finally collapsed for the night (only to have a 6am wake up call).

Up next, Epcot & Segway

 

[pjstevens]

Day 2 – Epcot & Segway around the Worlds

Boy, you can tell we don’t get out much… the phone rings at 6am (dh bright idea) and I pick it up and hang it up… didn’t even listen in case it was Mickey L. Oh well, from what I’ve read seems stitch is the only one who calls. Luckily I had the alarm set for 6:30 am so we were up and ready in no time. DH had gone down to the Pop Food Court and used yet another counter service for breakfast for himself. Remember back where I said we had groceries delivered?? Wonder why I had those delivered. There were bagels and cream cheese, energy drinks, devil dogs and all sorts of other snacks for dh. I got yogurt and string cheese (and water bottles). So he wastes another counter service on breakfast!! What a way to start the day (thinking we’ll be using up all of our credits way early). Oh, well, we didn’t pay for them, so it wouldn’t matter and I have to just realize that and let it go. We finally got out and headed toward the buses a little before 8am. We have 9:00 reservations for Segway around the Worlds Tour. We were able to get into the park before it opened (along with all the little princesses going to their breakfast). I wish there were ‘more’ of us, since I have hardly any photos of just the two of us. It was too early for the photographers to be out, was so pretty out and no people in the way to get some great shots. I do have a couple here showing how empty it was.

We really enjoyed the Segway tour. It was so much fun. The only picture I have of us two is ‘fuzzy’ as it was so humid when we open the camera I didn’t know that the lense fogged over so our picture looks awful. After we finished the training, we got to ride around the world showcase. This was still closed to the public and it was so much fun. Definitely a must do for anyone who is old enough. I had thought about it last year, buy my son was only 14, you have to be 16 to ride.

After our Segway, we were ‘awarded’ the coveted Segway around epcot pin. Here goes dh, who doesn’t do anything with the pins, other than put them on his hat; He wants to know if this is a collectible so he can ‘sell’ mine on ebay (did you see that… he already put HIS on his hat and wants to sell MINE)… Get a life buddy, that is my pin, and I don’t care if it is worth something, you aren’t touching it. (Did somebody say this was supposed to be a romantic vacation).

Just about 11am we finally get to go towards the attractions. Our first stop is Soarin. Had to get a fp for later. Went over to see Turtle Talk with Crush (it was inside and cool). It was cute, but more for people with little ones (even though Crush made us laugh also). We came back and did soarin, one of our very favorite rides in all of Disney. Then had lunch at the Sunshine Season Fair in the Land Pavilion. Once again, dh doesn’t want to share, he wants his own meal. FINE, I love to throw food away. I had wanted to chicken Caesar salad and got some lovely peanut butter mouse brownie and water. Don’t remember what dh got, as I didn’t’ care at that point (lol). I ate a very little bit of my salad and of course a little bit of my dessert (I did save that for later). This was a delicious lunch and would of eaten there even if paying out of pocket. After lunch we noticed it was raining, so we decided to do the Circle of Life. Wanted to do Living with the Land, but it was closed for refurbishing. When we were done, we headed over to Journey into the Imagination (I love Figment). Walked right in to that. Then it was Honey I Shrunk the Audience. I love the pre-show for this one. No matter how many times we do this show, I still yell when I ‘feel’ the things. Our goal was to be out of Epcot and back to the hotel between 1 & 2, but that wasn’t working. We had walked over to Test Track and got our fp, then back to the character greeting (unfortunately, I looked like crap after being in the heat all day and looked yucky clothes wise). These were some of the photopass pics we had taken, but I am too embarrassed to show them to you (sorry). Finally we get to ride Test Track and it is time to leave the park. We had been there since just after 8am and my plans for relaxing during the afternoon so we’d be rejuvenated for dinner and the evening was NOT working.

On the way out, we did get our pics taken with the photopass guy. Not the greatest, but I’ll share (so I guess you can see how bad the others looked, lol).

Our Disney Photos

We went back to POP, vegged for a little bit and then it was time to go to dinner at Whisper Wilderness Café. This is my hubbys favorite place to eat (the skillet of course). I decided to get that also this time as they had so many things in it. I have got to say, this was probably the best meal of the weekend. Everything was so tender and moist (this is a big deal with me, if my food is too dry, I get sick and that in itself is not a pretty site). The meat just falls off the bone (if there is a bone) and it was YUMMY!!

To get to Wilderness Lodge from POP, we had to take one bus to a park, then another bus to the lodge. We figured that heading back, whichever bus came first, we’d take that one. Well, turns out that the MGM bus came, so when we got off at MGM we decided to go see Fantasmic (since we missed it the night before). It was already 8pm and the show was for 8:30. We walked into the park, and pretty much followed the flow of traffic into the theatre and got great seats (but I don’t think there are any bad seats there).

At some point during the show or shortly thereafter, we got THE call from home (remember we left our kids home) that no one had taken care of the dogs. We have a pug, my son has a beagle (who lives with us) and we have a cat. I had assigned each person jobs to do each day, depending on their school and/or work schedules. Well, my oldest son, calls and tells me that the youngest son DID NOT feed the dogs and wasn’t home. So, needless to say, dh is now ticked and saying ‘we should of never gone away, I knew…….” Driving me crazy. Ok, so the dogs lived, they ate late that night, and I figured we could take care of this issue when we got home.

Again, I ask, wasn’t this supposed to be a romantic vacation???

Tomorrow, Magic Kingdom (on a Saturday, are we crazy)!!