Ring & Rain & Roses, Memory Maker Poses, Disney, Disney, Then We Came Home! COMPLETE!

[AAshleySEG]

Oh Charleston place!! (( love )) We stayed at Charleston place for a week while Christmas decorations were up and so so beautiful. The furniture in the rooms are amazing and the cutest balconies. Amazing rooms, horse carriage rides and to walk to restaurants was fabulous. I loved the location of the hotel and how the downtown area has the old and very new within a few stores.
It was so nice seeing your pictures of the market and your both looking good in your new hats : ) I love how you've planned to stop and enjoying your way to WDW it really makes it fun and my kind of road trip! Following along and enjoying your adventures to WDW as you can probably tell.

I would love to stay at Charleston Place, if we are ever there long enough we may have to! It is definitely very convenient to everything you would want to do in Charleston, we also want to go to Fort Sumter sometime. So who knows, maybe that will be a stopover in one of our future trips? Glad you are enjoying!

 

[AAshleySEG]

following along- you're the very first TR I am officially following. Yay! excited to read about your trip.

Welcome Welcome!!! Thank you so much for following along! I hope my trip report is a good first for you!

 

[AAshleySEG]

Nooo not King Candy!!! That sucks, what a jerk! Happened to me once in a mall parking lot and it was a senior citizen in the other car. Thankfully my big old Pontiac 6000 could handle it!

Yay hats! So cute. I want to be a hat person but I think cause I'm just not used it that it always looks weird on me.....plus I kinda have a big head. lol

Oh man, those treats and bear claw looks soooo yummy!!! I need a chocolate fix now!!

Yeah, I am glad there was no damage done to the car, I think that would have seriously made my mood the entire trip take a downward spiral!

I love our hats too! I think I may make use of mine today, we are going to the beach this morning! Jeremy has a big head, I think he wears Extra Large in Hat Size!

I seriously needed a chocolate fix too after I posted yesterday, so Jeremy stopped by the bakery and grabbed us some brownies!

 

[AAshleySEG]

So by this point we were heading toward our favorite "Quick Service" outside of Disney World, Panera Bread, aka St Louis Bread Company! We were still trying to figure out something to do when I realized that I did not have a clutch/evening bag to take with us to Victoria & Albert's. Luckily enough, Citadel Mall was in the same area as Panera. It made it very convenient for us to just go in there to find one! It also gave us a little time to look around while we were waiting for a suitable time to eat dinner.

First of all, I have recently gotten new glasses and they recently started to fall off of my face if I leaned my head down. With that in mind our first stop was Lenscrafters so they could re-fit my glasses to my head! Check! With that done we moved on walking around the mall.

There were 3 anchor stores that I would want to go in to check out the handbags, Belk, JC Penney, and Dillard's. On the way to the first of the three we saw the American Military Museum...I have never seen a museum like that in a mall before...

So anyway, we went in to Belk, and the salesperson just basically ignored us, if he would have acknowledged us in any way, I may have gotten one of the 2 bags that I liked there. Since he did not, we moved on to JCPenney. They had absolutely nothing that would have worked with my dresses at all, so that was a no go too. My last and final hope was Dillard's which luckily enough have the best selection out of all three! They had so many in fact, it took me quite a while to choose which one I wanted! I finally did choose though, we got it and headed back out to the car!

Next stop Panera Bread! It literally took us maybe 2-3 minutes to drive over there, get parked, and go inside! We were also the only ones in the line ordering, after all it was only 4:30 and therefore, a pretty early dinner. Today Jeremy ordered the 1/2 Strawberry Poppyseed Chicken Salad with a baguette.

I had the Pick 2, 1/2 Classic Grilled Cheese Sandwich, 1/2 Chicken Noodle Soup, also with the baguette as the side!

When we finished our early dinner I took the time to both take some video and write down some trip notes in my journal! Jeremy took the liberty of documenting the process!

Right before we left Panera it started to look really windy outside like a storm was brewing...sure enough it was because after we got on the road we started running into some rain!

After a little bit we finally made it out of South Carolina and into Georgia!! The 3rd state of the drive! Only one more state after that though!

It continued to rain off and on the remainder of the way to Brunswick, GA! All of the sudden right around 6:30, we heard this awful siren noise, by the time we figured out what it was it had stopped. It was Jeremy's phone alerting him of an Amber Alert in the area...it literally scared us half to death because we didn't know what was going on! New phones are so crazy sometimes!! You never know what they are going to do! With that over and us calmed down, I told Jeremy that I thought it would be better for us to get gas right before we got to the hotel, that way we would have a fresh tank in the morning and not have to stop before breakfast! He agreed with me and so right near the hotel we stopped for gas!

By 8:00 we had made it to the hotel in Brunswick!! We are beginning to really enjoy stopping here, it makes the drive much more pleasant. We used to always just drive the entire 9 hours in one fell swoop, but the older I get, the more I like to take our time, I am not in as much of a hurry as we used to be! It was also great to not be on any time of time constraint with the travel down there, although once we get there...it is a totally different story!!

This is the 2nd time we have stayed at this hotel and it is perfect for what we need, just a place to sleep on the way. We have a nice king size bed, the staff is always very friendly, it is pretty quiet too! Everything is always super clean, which makes me happy, and in the morning we can just get up and start the last leg of the journey before we get to Walt Disney World!

Original Budget:
Panera Bread Dinner $20
2nd Tank of Gas $50

Actual Spending:
Evening Bag at Dillard's $70.53
Panera Bread Dinner $20.19
2nd Tank of Gas $46.19

Subtotal: $136.91

Total Spent: $214.57

Budget Status: $94.57 Over Budget!

 

[Raven0207]

Hey !!!!!!! I don't where an X-Large Hat ! That Hat was just made small !

 

[MarbleBob]

This is a fun start to your trip report. I grew up going to Charleston every year or two and have been to most of the places that you mentioned. Brings back great memories. And now I really want one of those bear claws! The room that you had in Georgia looks nice too. Looking forward to reading about your arrival at WDW

 

[MidnightParade]

Oooh my nephews would love to have a Military Museum in their local mall! How neat!

Mmmm Panera!! nomnomnom

Aww you look so cute with your note taking!!

Yay Georgia!

 

[AAshleySEG]

This is a fun start to your trip report. I grew up going to Charleston every year or two and have been to most of the places that you mentioned. Brings back great memories. And now I really want one of those bear claws! The room that you had in Georgia looks nice too. Looking forward to reading about your arrival at WDW

Now that I am back I want more stuff from Market Street Sweets too...maybe we will have time to stop by there in July

Maybe on one of your future trips to WDW you may be able to drive through Charleston! You can show Princess, Buddy, and Pickle all of those places too!

 

[AAshleySEG]

Oooh my nephews would love to have a Military Museum in their local mall! How neat!

Mmmm Panera!! nomnomnom

Aww you look so cute with your note taking!!

Yay Georgia!

There were a lot of interesting things in that mall, there was also Model Train Club with an entire store full of trains set up with vignettes and everything! It wasn't open when we were there but it looked pretty cool too!

I bet you will never guess where we go for breakfast the next day.

Yeah, me and my note taking, I took bunches of them this time, I was quite proud of myself! We even took some video of me note taking for the trip video

 

[AAshleySEG]

Friday June 13, 2014!​

I felt like I kept waking up all night long...when I finally decided to get out of the bed to look at the clock I saw that it was 4:04am. At that point I got back in the bed and contemplated trying to go back to sleep, but after a few minutes...I realized that was not going to happen! I just thought what the heck, so I got up and started getting ready. The good thing about it though, is that tonight I should want to get to sleep as soon as we get done with Victoria & Albert's. Which is a very good thing considering we wanted to be at Hollywood Studios early tomorrow.

Jeremy was still sound asleep as I kept getting ready, I tried to be as quiet as I could to let him get more sleep. By 6:30, we were both dressed in our respective Disney bounding outfits and were ready to start taking stuff down to the car. If you read our PTR you will remember that today our attire choices were from Finding Nemo!

Jeremy was Marlin...

and I was Dory!!

Jeremy must have taken at least 20 photos of me standing there like that, some of them I even made fish faces, it was almost like a mini Dory photoshoot or something! Once we got everything down into the car, we stopped by the front desk to check out, and then got in the car to start our drive to Disney World!!! We would be there before lunch!!

By 7:30 we were in Florida and nearing out breakfast location of Panera Bread which was just outside of Jacskonville, FL. We are making really great time so far on this trip! I was so excited about that because that meant we may end up getting extra Animal Kingdom Park time after all!

Once we made it inside to order our food, we were yet again the only ones in line and I ordered the Spinach & Artichoke Baked Egg Souffle, and Jeremy had his usual French Toast Bagel with Honey Walnut Spread!

We had such a great view from out seats in Panera! No parking lot view here! We are definitely going to remember this one for future trips!! We may even stop here on our way home!

We finished up at Panera and were back on the road by 7:50am! As we were making our way out the door at Panera though, the line was so long, like 10 people in it or something! I am so glad we got there when we did! There were no more stops this time! We are officially on the last leg of the journey!! Disney World is getting so close I can smell that Popcorn!!

By 10:00am we had already passed all of the familiar sights on I-4! The Holy Land, Hogwarts at Universal, the big balloon at Downtown Disney! We could see it in the distance...our exit to our favorite place in the world!!

Budget:

Original Budget:
Panera Bread Breakfast $20

Actual Spending:
Panera Bread Breakfast $10.86

Total Spent $225.43

Budget Status:
$85.43 Over Budget

 

[IheartDDuck]

I'm joining!

I like the budget portion that you're tracking. We normally track all of our spending as well, so I'm interested to hear how it all goes.

Love your Disney bounding too! You look perfect as Dory.

 

[AAshleySEG]

I'm joining!

I like the budget portion that you're tracking. We normally track all of our spending as well, so I'm interested to hear how it all goes.

Love your Disney bounding too! You look perfect as Dory.

Welcome!! Welcome!! I am glad you like the budget tracking! It keeps me in line, I already have budgets for the next 2 trips also, so hopefully this one stays in check

I was so happy with the way the Dory ensemble looked!! I am glad you liked it!! Thanks so much for reading along with me!!

 

[I_Luv_Stitch]

Following along!
You're Dory outfit is so cute! Love the Disney bounding idea!

 

[disney meema]

Love your disney bounding outfits and your both such an adorable couple : )

 

[AAshleySEG]

Following along!
You're Dory outfit is so cute! Love the Disney bounding idea!

Thanks for joining in!! We had so much fun wearing Disney styles this time, we are seriously contemplating doing it on every trip we take

 

[AAshleySEG]

Love your disney bounding outfits and your both such an adorable couple : )

Aww thank you! That is so sweet!! I thought the photo we got together at Animal Kingdom looks cute with both of our outfits next to one another, so as soon as I am 30 days out with Memory Maker I will put that one on here!!

 

[AAshleySEG]

We made it!! Right after 10:00 we were officially inside the gates of the Walt Disney World Resort!!

By 10:15 we had gone through the guard gate at Animal Kingdom Lodge, with our parking pass proudly displayed in the front dashboard. Kidani is nice because it has covered parking, which keeps everything in the car cool on hot Florida days! Our plan was to pack up the backpack with anything we may need and then head up to the bus station.

After checking the DPart app, the next bus to Animal Kingdom was scheduled to be here at 10:25. We decided to try and make this one, so with backpack in hand we walked up to the bus stop. At exactly 10:25 the bus to Animal Kingdom pulled right up!! Unfortunately at that time the rain also started to pour down!

One of the things we forgot to get...our umbrella. With it pouring down we really wanted to have it, I checked the DPart app once again and it said the next bus to AK wasn't supposed to be here until 10:55. Oh well we tried, we walked back down to the car for the umbrella and ultimately just decided to drive over since we had been given our parking pass when we went through the gate.

It was still raining when we parked at Animal Kingdom therefore all of the seats on the tram were sopping wet. We got parked in Giraffe 40 which meant it would have been a bit of a walk so we just sucked it up and sat on the edge of the tram seats for the short ride!

The first stop we made after we went through bag check was to activate our Annual Passes and get our discount cards so we could use them for any future parking or discounts that we may need while we are out and about. When we left the window it was still raining steadily..but not quite pouring. With thunder booming all around us, we started walking towards Asia. We were passing by the Disney Pals at Adventurers Outpost and noticed that it only had a 5 minute wait. We had a Fastpass for it at 2:20, but with us here early and it raining, we thought why not do it now??

We walked inside and there was a 0 minute wait! There was no one in there at all! Well except for Mickey & Minnie of course! We spoke to Mickey and Minnie for a minute or so, had our photos taken and went back out into the rain!

It was getting about lunch time and we wanted to make sure we ate pretty early so we would be hungry for Victoria & Albert's tonight! So next up on our agenda was to eat lunch at Yak & Yeti Local Foods Cafe! We stood in the very short line and ordered a Beef Lo Mein & Egg Roll to split! We had a bottle of water leftover from breakfast so we didn't even have to purchase a drink! With our food in hand we started searching for somewhere to sit and eat. Of course all of the covered seating was taken with people trying to stay our of the rain. I didn't see hardly any of them eating, and most were wearing ponchos under cover...which makes total sense?? Luckily we did find one empty table with a big shade umbrella overhead where we could sit down to eat out of the rain. Jeremy did run back to the condiment area to grab some more napkins so we could wipe off the table and chairs.

We love the Beef Lo Mein! It is such a huge portion though, it is perfect for the two of us to share for a light lunch. Also, the vegetables are cooked but crunchy...which I LOVE!!

My poor hair in the rain, at least the Mickey & Minnie photos turned out nice, but only because it was before we really were out in it for a bit. But man are the Lo Mein Noodles slurping good!!

After we finished eating we wanted to try and find something to do! We knew that due to the lightning all of the rides were down so that wasn't an option at the moment, so since we love walking around, I asked Jeremy if he wanted to go and do the Maharajah Jungle Trek since we were right by it eating lunch. So with our umbrella overhead we walked over there...unfortunately for us...they were turning people away also. So what are we to do now...nothing is operating...LOL We passed by Kali River Rapids which was also down, and started slowly making our way over to Expedition Everest since we had a Fastpass + time from 12:05-1:05. I wanted to go over and get a photo of the mountain before we tried to get on it with our FP...even though there were no trains coming down currently.

The rain had almost stopped completely by this point, it was still pretty cloudy out and you could hear some intermittent thunder. There was also that misty rain to deal with. We were keeping our fingers crossed that we would be able to get on it pretty soon! I so wanted an Expedition Everest ride photo with our Memory Maker! Would we be able to take a ride????


Budget:

Original Budget:
Yak & Yeti Local Foods Cafe Lunch $20

Actual Spending:
Yak & Yeti Local Foods Cafe Lunch $14.36

Total Spent on Trip:
$239.79

Budget Status:
$79.79 Over Budget

 

[AAshleySEG]

So we waited to see if Expedition Everest was planning on opening back up in the near future, or anything else in the park for that matter. It took maybe 5 minutes and the rain, thunder and lightning started again. Luckily we had our trusty Blue Umbrella with us!

We waited and waited a little but longer, but still it never eased up, and the thunderstorm just kept on going. By this point we knew that since nothing was open and the sky kept growing darker, and the weather was forecasting more rain that we were just going to give up and go back to the hotel. We knew that we would have other trips this year that we will be able to go to Animal Kingdom, it was just a little sad that our first day at Disney World was a wash out. I guess that is what we get for coming on Friday the 13th

We started walking out of the park, even the board which tells the wait times was covered. There were no photopass photographers in sight, we were dodging puddles left and right The tram came right away as soon as we got out of the gates, we hopped on the wet seats again and rode back to our car.

Now we were going to check in at Kidani Village! I had done online check-in already, so it was a very quick process! The CM who checked us in gave us our Anniversary buttons and even wrote our names in Arabic on the back side of them! We thought that was pretty cool! Next we went to check out the room!

I think we have stayed at Kidani Village on 90% of our Disney trips since we became members of DVC. We just absolutely love this resort, and for the amount of points it is a no brainer, plus there is covered parking... We usually do not get the Savannah View because we aren't in the room that much and there are plenty of places to go and look at the animals all over the resort if we chose to do that!

They put so much thought and detail into these rooms, they are just such a joy to stay in! One of my favorite things are the sheer curtain panels with the animals and characters on them!

Once we had all of the luggage in the room I started putting together our outfits for the rest of the time we were going to be here and setting them neatly together in the drawers, with accessories and all. Since we left the park early we had time to iron our dress clothes and anything else that got too wrinkled in the packing process. Jeremy was a little thirsty so he ran downstairs to Johari Treasures and got a Coke, water, and some cotton swabs because he forgot his at home. By the time he got back I think it was 3:00, which meant it was time for me to start getting ready for dinner. We kind of looked like wet rats being out in the rain this afternoon. While I was fixing my hair Jeremy got dressed, I had gotten dressed before the hair/makeup so I wouldn't mess it up putting my dress on

By 4:30 we were out the door and then started driving to the Grand Floridian! Then I realized OH NO!! We left the Tables in Wonderland card in the room! I did notice it before we got out of the Animal Kingdom Lodge gates, so we quickly turned around, Jeremy ran upstairs grabbed the card, and then we were on the move trying to make it to V&A by our reservation time of 5:00!

We seemed to be behind slow cars the whole way, it is always like that when you are in a hurry right? We pulled into the Porte-Cochere at Grand Floridian at 4:58, handed the keys and car over to the Valet, and walked briskly upstairs to the entrance of V&A. As you walk toward the doors of Victoria & Albert's the host/hostess usually opens it before you reach it. We made it up there at 5:01, Lana greeted us and said our table will be ready momentarily! So we had made it!! I think there were two other couples waiting to be seated before us, so we ended up not being late after all!! Which was fantastic!

A minute or two later, Lana came out and escorted us into the restaurant, Israel was there behind the host stand and told us Happy Anniversary! He also said that he knew we would be back on our actual anniversary too, but he still wanted to say it anyway! We were taken to our table which was toward the back right of the restaurant, I commented that it was really strange to be able to see out to the door, I usually can't see it from where we are seated. Our serving team for the night was a guy named Chris and his serving partner was a lady named Anita.

First things first, we ordered our bottle of wine and the first bottle of Hildon Still of the night! We didn't even need to look at the wine list or water menu, Chris said, "Excellent, people who know what they want!" With our drink orders completed we were presented with our menu for Anita to go over with us!

After we had chosen all of our options the yummy food fun began!! The Amuse-Bouche for the evening was a delicious braised octopus with crunchy prosciutto and watermelon, absolutely fantastic. Most people would hear that it was octopus and just automatically decide they didn't like it...if you put that in your mouth...you would be in heaven! Unless you are allergic to Octopus of course

For My First Course selection I chose the Pintade Fermiere Verrine with Fuji Apples and Walnuts, Pintade is just the French name for Guinea Fowl aka Pheasant. I feel like if I tried to describe all of these dishes you would hear the words delicious, fantastic, scrumdidlyumptious like way too much. Just know that we LOVED everything we had. For Jeremy's first course he chose the Jumbo Lump Crab with Cucumber Gelee. He loved it!

We had our first bread course of the evening which was a hand-rolled baguette accompanied by unsalted butter, baked by the wonderful pastry chef Erich Herbitschek and his staff! This is Jeremy's favorite bread of the night!

For our second course of the evening, Jeremy went with the Copper River Salmon with Charred Lettuce and Cauliflower. That was probably the best Salmon either one of us has ever tasted in our lives! It was THAT good. I seriously hope it is still on the menu in July...because I want it. It runs for such a short time, it isn't in season very long. So I will definitely keep my fingers crossed for that. For my seafood option I went with the Wild Turbot with Toasted Capers and Preserved Lemon. This turbot is line caught off the coast of Portugal and flown fresh and delivered here each day. If I could get turbot in Southport, I think I would try and recreate this dish at home!

The next bread was the summer Brioche which was an herbed brioche with Lemon Balm, Chervil, and Chive. The butter featured the same herbs as well! It is so light and with the butter, it just sort of melts in your mouth like a puffy bread cloud with buttery rain

For our hot appetizer course I chose the Palmetto Farms Quail with Asian Pears, Serrano Ham Jus. If you have not noticed yet, Jeremy and I tend to order different things so we can taste each others dishes. It is just a thing we do, that way, we can try as many things as possible on the menu! So since I had the quail, Jeremy of course had the Berkshire Pork, with Mustard Spaetzle. He immediately declared that he won after he had taken his first bite. My quail was phenomenal, but his pork...definitely edged out in front!

Our third and final bread course of the night is my absolute favorite!! It is an artisanal Multi-grain bread from the chef's Austrian family recipe. It is served with a salted butter from the Vermont Butter and Cheese Creamery. I am so glad that I don't know how to make this bread because if I did...I think I would eat it every day at every meal...and since I know where the butter comes from...it would be on it also!

We have made it to the Main courses!! I know you are thinking gosh this is tons of food, but really, they are actually all smaller portions which for some people is a bad thing, but here, it isn't a sprint race, it is a marathon, so I think the portions are perfectly sized! For his main, Jeremy opted for the Niman Ranch Lamb with Delta Asparagus and Soubise Sauce, with a tasting portion of the True Japanese Kobe Beef. I opted to get the dinner portion of the True Japanese Kobe Beef. If you have never had True Japanese Kobe Beef...I have no words to describe the flavor it possesses. My mouth is watering right now thinking about it. I sort of have tears in my eyes being nostalgic of its flavor. Which is sort of ridiculous! Let's just say, if it is on the menu again in July...it will be on my plate. Not to knock Jeremy's lamb though because it was great!! It had an ash crust on it which was just smoky and mmmmmm mmmm mmmmm good! I think Jeremy definitely did the right thing by getting the tasting portion of the Kobe with his lamb because the Kobe is just so rich, the dinner portion is just a lot to take in at one time!

Next up we had our course before dessert which was the cheese course for me! Tonight it featured the Beecher's Flagship Reserve which was really cool because when we were in Seattle back in 2012 we were able to visit Beecher's Handmade Cheese Shop in Pike's Place Market! So for it to be featured on the cheese plate at Victoria & Albert's, is just huge! I think my favorite cheese on the plate was the Sottocenere Al Tartufo, which is a Black Truffle Cheese from Italy, soft, buttery, creamy, and delicious! The Comte St. Antoine and Colston Bassett Stilton and still each very good! My plate was cleaned, so I think that means they were good! Jeremy had the Roasted White Chocolate Gelato with Candied Kumquats. I think I was so interested in my cheeses I don't even remember asking him how his gelato was? Oops!!

The dessert course is the only one of the night where we both chose the exact same thing. I knew that the Panna Cotta was on the menu in the Queen Victoria Room, and Panna Cotta is my favorite dessert, so tonight we both chose to get the Hawaiian Kona Chocolate Souffle. When they bring it out to you, they poke through the center of the souffle and pour in the melted chocolate sauce and it is just so warm and the smell...I just want to get in and wrap myself up in it!!

By this time Chris had the Cona Vacuum Coffee Brewer on the table with its flame lit for our coffee to start brewing! I don't drink coffee too much, but it is a must do for us if we are here! I always take mine with a little cream and 2 natural cane sugars, Jeremy likes his with white sugar cubes instead!

The last thing of the night was to have our Friandises which is another thing I really look forward to! Most people love the chocolates, but me, I love the Pate de Fruits! Tonight's selection for us was a Chocolate Rum Caramel with Fleur De Sel, a Grand Marnier & Marscapone Cookie, a Bananas Foster Truffle, and a Mandarin Lychee Pate De Fruit!! I think Jeremy's favorite was the Bananas Foster Truffle! I just love all of the different Pate De Fruit flavors that I get to sample, it is different every time we go. One day I will make my own at home...one day!

At the end of the night they presented us with our keepsake menus and a rose for me to take home. Anita also made sure to call down and have our car brought around for us, which is always a nice touch so we don't have to wait down at the valet stand. We said See Ya Real Soon to Victoria & Albert's and this time slowly made our way down to the car. We headed back to Kidani Village where we could get out of these dress clothes and into pajamas, I also needed to paint my toenails, they are going from Dory yellow to Boba Fett Gray! Tomorrow is Star Wars Weekends!!!

Budget:

Original Budget:
Victoria & Albert's Dinner $650.00
Valet Tips $10 (Cash)

Actual Spending:
Johari Treasures $7.34
Victoria & Albert's Dinner $650.00

Total Spent:
$897.13

Budget Status:
$87.13 Over Budget

 

[Raven0207]

Yummy ! I am sooooo hungry for this again and I am so ready to go in July ! People who choose not to go to V&A have no clue what they are missing. I think I'm drooling alittle bit.

 

[disney meema]

We've never been to V& A but the menu sounds incredible : ) my husband would certainly pass out at a $650 price for dinner lol but maybe someday we can go