OK, so what I forgot to mention earlier is that after we hung out with the Roots on Saturday, I started to wish more and more that they would be at our surprise anniversary party to get pictures of DHs reaction and the food and the fireworks. Id briefly considered the idea months before, but since it was just going to be the two of us on a private patio, I thought it would be awkward to make our pals stand around snapping pictures of us eating for 2 hours.
So I began to formulate a plan whereby Nathan & Jensey could come to the beginning of the party for the surprise part and then come back just in time for IllumiNations, with a date night at Epcot for them in between. Im not sure this is actually the Roots idea of a hot date, but they graciously agreed to the plan when I emailed Jensey about the idea.
On this day (what day are we on? Tuesday?) I needed to get some shots of our dessert partys location to send to Nathan & Jensey so theyd know where to show up the next night. So after DH had had his fill of Chinese stick play and I had been duly impressed, I told him a big fat fib about needing to take reception location pictures for the girls on the Boards (who turned out to be a great cover for all the secret text messaging I did in the next 18 hours as I pulled the party together thanks, Girls on the Boards!).
The entrance, to the right of the Yorkshire County Fish Shop
Path to UK Pubside
More path (I didnt want them to get lost!)
UK Pubside Patio
From there, we decided to take a Friendship boat to DHS and look for the walkaround
Bolt characters wed heard someone mention. I couldnt wait to see how theyd managed a human-size version of a hamster in a ball!
So long, Epcot!
Our sweet ride
On the trip over, we got to talking with the captain about the previous days weather, and the conversation naturally turned toward what else but Tonis wedding! The captain was talking about how there was supposed to be a wedding at Sea Breeze Point that day, but that it was moved into the BoardWalk Conference Center, and he caught a glimpse of the bride. I was like I know her! Well, I mean, Ive never met her, but its like I know her, cuz of, um, the Internets...and... uh.... [blank stare] ...Um, we got married in Morocco! When he heard this, the captain got on the microphone and told the whole boat that we were married in Morocco and were celebrating our anniversary, and the other passengers gave us round of applause! It reminded me of when we hopped a boat from the BoardWalk to the Beach Club after our wedding reception and got a spontaneous round of applause. Pretty soon Im just going to expect one every time we get on a Friendship Boat....
We arrived at DHS and proceeded up the ramp, a horde of well-wishers following us, singing and dancing and tossing rose petals to celebrate our departure from the boat.
I guess we were self-editing, cuz neither of us took the standard pix of the gate, up the main drag, and walk over to the Character Cattle Call er, Cavalcade, er... whats that place called anyway? Ah, here it is: The Magic of Disney Animation... huh...?
We did get one picture:
Today, you ROCK!
On our way to see Bolt, we found Frozone chillin by himself (ba-da-bing!), so we thought wed give him something to do.
The Bolt characters were in the main meet n greet corral, which had been devoted to Wall*E on our last trip. This time, there was a long line snaking around behind the photo backdrop, and DH gamely waited in it for about 30 minutes while I creeped people out by standing alone at the railing watching their kids get their pictures taken with Bolt and Rhino.
When I got bored I took the Disney personality test that tells you which character youre most like.... a few times. Apparently, depending on my answer to just one question, I am either Belle or Maleficent. Who knew the line between good and evil was so fine? (Of course that line is the answer to the question Which do you prefer, to eat dinner with interesting people or to eat interesting people for dinner?)
So Bolt looked pretty dang good! I mean, its always weird to see four-legged character walking around on two, but his features were spot on. Rhino... not so much. For one thing, no ball!!! How cute would that have been, to see him inside a ginormous ball? OK, Im sure, logistically, it would have been a nightmare for the performer (and potentially deadly!). But the other thing was, his eyes and eyelids were fixed in such a way that made him look kinda maniacal. OK, maybe thats not too out of character for Rhino....
As we were leaving, we asked Rhino where his ball was, to which responded with the classic mime-in-a-box motions. Tee hee!
When we got out of the Magic of Disney Animation, having seen absolutely no animation, we wandered around for a while trying to think of something to do.
Well heres something to do!
We decided to do a photo reenactment of DHs sick day so wed have picture for the trip report.... which I forgot to put in at the appropriate day of the trip report...
Here are some other things DH took pictures of at DHS...
Heres what I took a picture of!
DH, trying to think of something to do
Finally, we had to admit we were completely bored by Hollywood Studios and took off. We got out of the gate just as a Friendship Boat was pulling away from the dock, so we decided to walk back to the Beach Club. Id never done it before I didnt even know where the path was! It was very nice.
I also caught up on my email as we walked
As it turned out, we beat the Friendship Boat back to our hotel. In your
FACE, Friendship Boat!!!!
The Friendship Boat bows its head in defeat