"Say Hi to Mickey for Me" - A Disneymoon Two Years in the Making! *3/4 Second MK Day!

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

Woohoo you're in Disney! Very cute shirt you had on! We had a Mr. Know It All on our ME bus too, luckily he wasn't talking to us but the family he kept talking to looked like they just wanted him to shut up! It was funny though and my bf kinda was listening to him and I guess he was trying to write a book about Disney trivia or something like that and my bf just leaned over to me and said I bet you know more than him!

 

[Mickey_Mom]

I didn't say before how beautiful your wedding photo is.... just lovely. Stinky breath is not cool but I love the Stewie clip! That would soooo be me!

 

[DisneymoonJess07]

YAY!!! You're in Disney World! So sorry about the plane situation. I don't have a very high tolerance for stinky breath...I probably would have gagged And sorry for Mr. Know It All. Isn't it funny how people automatically think you want tons and tons of Disney tips? Can't wait to see how you like POR!!!!

All in all, the trip was just kind of - quirky. Not bad - just quirky.

YAY! You're finally at WDW!!

Can't wait to see your pics of POR and hear how you liked it.

Update coming later today!

grrrr i'm on my worklaptop and cant view the photos! i'll have to go in the other room later and check on my home laptop!

ok i switched computers for a little bit so I can see the photos I love Bubbly by colbie!!! Great song. Never saw the Stewie clip either, that's totally me! hahahahaa!

Doesn't that Stewie clip totally describe it?!?!

Woohoo you're in Disney! Very cute shirt you had on! We had a Mr. Know It All on our ME bus too, luckily he wasn't talking to us but the family he kept talking to looked like they just wanted him to shut up! It was funny though and my bf kinda was listening to him and I guess he was trying to write a book about Disney trivia or something like that and my bf just leaned over to me and said I bet you know more than him!

Oh man - gotta love that kind of thing. We actually met a guy later on who does reviews of Disney restaurants, and he actually did know a couple of things we didn't, but then again, he wasn't all in our face with it. I think when you actually know things, you don't worry about "proving" it!

I didn't say before how beautiful your wedding photo is.... just lovely. Stinky breath is not cool but I love the Stewie clip! That would soooo be me!

Thanks for the love on the wedding picture - we had a great time too! The Stewie clip makes me laugh with recognition every time I see it.

~~~

Anyway, very busy weekend, to be followed by a very busy week, but I promise that I'll have an update between today and tomorrow. There are a bunch of Jewish holidays coming up, so things are very busy around here, both at work and at home! Cutting into my time on the DIS!!

 

[nu2wdisneyw]

Hey Jess!! I'm here...now I have to go read!!

 

[challer]

OK, I'm here! Looking forward to hearing more. Especially your KDP (Kosher Dining Plan).

Carry on...

 

[DisneymoonJess07]

So, I committed a major Disboard faux pas and forgot to fax in our request for our hotel room. We really wanted a mansion house, but with the craziness that was the week before had meant that I hadn’t remembered to fax it in. So, as we stepped off the bus and into the lobby, I was very glad to be greeted by Louis, who started joking with us and welcoming us to the hotel. He pointed us in the direction of the check in area, and I glad to see that the large area was almost entirely empty. Back in the back was the online check in line, so we made our way back there and talked to the lady.

As I sort of expected, we had been assigned an Alligator Bayou room – and I asked very politely if she could check and see if there was a Mansion room available. She had already given us our “Just Married” buttons (apparently, they don’t have Honeymoon buttons?) and so she was very interested in getting us what we wanted. In any case, she found one for us! I was so grateful that she did and that it was easy. I’m sure the Bayou wouldn’t have been bad, but I know that Raif particularly liked that the place was so pretty. Anyway, we got 9562 Parterre Place, which turned out to really be a great location. Anyway, they sent us on what we would find out was definitely the “scenic” route, but it was still pretty close to the main building.

The Lobby:

The CM that greeted us (Louis):

Walking over the bridge to the mansions:

This was our first view of our part of the hotel.

And our traditional welcome

Plus, I just thought this was adorable.

After getting things settled a little (as much as you can without luggage!), we decided to head to our next stop – the Magic Kingdom. I have a friend whose mom owns DVC, and they don’t go to the parks the first day, and then they go to Epcot first anyway. I am one of those people for whom Disney is defined by the Magic Kingdom, with a lot of great parks all around – DHS, Epcot, AK. They are all Disney, but Magic Kingdom? That’s always where you start. It was even a little weird for me that we were going to DHS first, since I have this funny thing of like, the earlier you were built the more “authentic” you are. It’s totally silly. Anyway, we were at this point an hour ahead of my schedule, which was great.

We got on the bus and got there very quickly – I really love the Disney bus system. I also took note of how long it took to get there, trying to compare what the book said with the reality of the bus system. It seemed about right on. Anyway, we got there about 3:00 p.m., which is when I had us leaving the hotel, and we went to our first ride, as we had decided from one of the alternate plans on TouringPlans. It was the one in which you have an afternoon and then an early morning, and it worked really well for us. In fact, all the alternate touring plans we chose seemed to work well for us – so that was nice. Helped, of course, by the fact that we didn’t have a lot of crowds. But of course, we didn’t know that at this point.

The station!

The castle (look at my face in the lower right):

Our first stop was Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. However, on our way we met someone - PUSH! Here he is harassing some people

We almost walked on it – and we really liked the ride. As you can tell:

On our way out, we were stopped for a little quiz about how we liked the ride. I told the guy that I really liked it, but that I didn’t like that you couldn’t tell if you had shot something and that it was hard to steer and shoot at the same time. Raif immediately wanted to go on it again, but I saw the Carousel of Progress and really wanted to go on that, so I said, lets do that and then go on Buzz.
This guy was on our way to the Carousel of Progress:

We really enjoyed Carousel of Progress. Like, a ridiculous amount considering how old it is, and how cheesy the song is. I guess the problem is that I believe very strongly in optimism and I think tomorrow is going to be great, big and beautiful. So yeah, it stuck with me. Anyway, afterwards, we went on the Buzz ride again, and this time I steered and Raif got to shoot, which meant that his score was a lot better than mine since I was trying to drive as well.

After that, we had a little while left before we needed to head to the Contemporary for our dinner reservations, so we looked in on the Monsters, Inc laugh floor. Last time I was there, I believe it was still the Timekeeper and I remember it was really busy, and there was a bunch of Asian tourists on the floor sleeping because they were so jetlagged, and my mom explaining that they were in such a different timezone that it was the middle of the night for them. I remember thinking that Disney should provide cots somewhere for those coming from some random timezone.

Anyway, we loved this one. We had three performers, but I think the first one was the one that zinged Raif. They were doing a set about geography and asking people where they were from, and then making up ridiculous things about them. So, they found Raif by saying that he looked like a younger version of the monster, after he went on the wilderness retreat. Raif was wearing an orange t-shirt about the color of the monster, and he has the beard – it was pretty awesome. It was extremely funny and a great way to head to our reservation.

 

[nu2wdisneyw]

Great start to your day!! I wish we would have wen to MK our first day...but we choose AK! I can't wait to read more!

 

[disneygirlinnj]

We always have to go to MK first too, no matter what. And we like to end with MK too but it's not as big of a need

 

[DisneymoonJess07]

Great start to your day!! I wish we would have wen to MK our first day...but we choose AK! I can't wait to read more!

We always have to go to MK first too, no matter what. And we like to end with MK too but it's not as big of a need

I wanted to end with MK too, but our schedule didn't work well enough for that. I think I would have had a hard time leaving the castle though!

 

[Mickey_Mom]

I always plan MK first too. The castle is all things Disney! Isn't Buzz fun? I thought I was hitting targets here, there and everywhere but my score sure didn't look like I did!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Ahh....POR! So beautiful. I'm glad you were able to get a room in the mansions. We always stay in AB since there are 5 of us, but the mansion side of the resort is just gorgeous!

Off to MK! YIPEEE!! Love your excited face in the corner of the castle picture!

Cool that you got to see PUSH. We've not seen him yet.

Buzz is one of our favorites as well. And despite the rude phone interruption, we also really enjoyed the COP. We still torture my oldest son by singing that song! LOL!

Can't wait to hear about dinner!

 

[DisneymoonJess07]

I always plan MK first too. The castle is all things Disney! Isn't Buzz fun? I thought I was hitting targets here, there and everywhere but my score sure didn't look like I did!

My score didn't look like I hit much either. I hear in Disneyland they have a better way of lettign you know that you scored. I don't remember exactly, but it sounded cool when someone talked about them on the board.

Ahh....POR! So beautiful. I'm glad you were able to get a room in the mansions. We always stay in AB since there are 5 of us, but the mansion side of the resort is just gorgeous!

Off to MK! YIPEEE!! Love your excited face in the corner of the castle picture!

Cool that you got to see PUSH. We've not seen him yet.

Buzz is one of our favorites as well. And despite the rude phone interruption, we also really enjoyed the COP. We still torture my oldest son by singing that song! LOL!

Can't wait to hear about dinner!

We really loved how pretty POR is! PUSH was funny - but it was a total accident we saw him. Raif thought it was pretty hysterical.

With our crazy few weeks at work, I have been singing the song and my coworker is like, you're optomistic today, aren't you. Gotta love event planning...

Re: Dinner - I have the next installment all done -but Photobucket was down when I tried to post, so I'll have to try to get the next installment in later on!

Hope all is well!

 

[stacikristine]

What a fun start to your MK day!!! I can't wait to try the Monster's Inc thing! It sounds like it's pretty funny. And woo-hoo for riding Buzz twice

 

[DisneymoonJess07]

These are the pictures we took on our way out of the MK to The Wave at the Contemporary:

On our way out of Tomorrowland:

The Hub:

Main Street:

Exposition Hall - I was so glad to find this stuff back here! I'd heard of it on the Dis, but it was great to see it in person:

They were doing the flag lowering when we came outside (around 5:00p.m.):

Okay, I promise a real update soon!!

 

[nu2wdisneyw]

It's okay...a picture is worth 1000 words...and they are making me wish I was in Disney RIGHT NOW!!!

 

[Mickey_Mom]

My thoughts EXACTLY as I was looking at your pics. They made me soooo want to be there. Can't wait for more!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

I LOVE the picture of the balloon vendor on Main Street. Something about all those balloons, the cute outfit, and the location (of course) just makes me smile!

 

[nu2wdisneyw]

I LOVE the picture of the balloon vendor on Main Street. Something about all those balloons, the cute outfit, and the location (of course) just makes me smile!

Same here Missy...there is nothing like that feeling walking in MK and seeing all those balloons!!! Magical!!

 

[DisneymoonJess07]

With the crazy eating schedule due to traveling, we were glad to be eating at 5:30. We walked from Magic Kingdom to the Contemporary, which was a hot walk, but not very long at all and the Wave was right near the entrance we came in.

What an amazing restaurant! Our server, Ashley, was super cute, but clearly had never dealt with a kosher meal before. That was totally okay with us, but the chef knew what to do, which was awesome. What was great about the restaurant was the atmosphere – totally what we were looking for. You definitely had sort of the feel of being underwater, but they managed to do it with a color scheme of browns and pinks, not blue. It was so interesting to look at. Anyway, we had a nice meal, our first kosher one in Disney, and the only one that we didn’t have our scissors for, since they were in our luggage. That made it difficult to open the packaging, but the food was better than we expected, especially the dessert. Raif had the Ginger Salmon, I had the Honey Glazed Chicken, and then we both had the chocolate cake. Yum! We also saw, for the first time, the colored flashing cocktails. It was pretty awesome.

One of the things I liked most about it was that it really felt like a family restaurant – there was us, a couple, but on one side of us was a family with kids that were like 8 and 10, and on the other a family with kids maybe 5 and 3, and everyone was enjoying themselves, but it wasn’t child focused entirely – just very family friendly. The regular food looked really yummy as well. The family next to us traded us pictures, so we got one of us together as well.

After dinner we decided to take the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom, since this was an EMH night, and we wanted to spend more time in the parks. The monorail takes you almost all the way around the circle if you’re going to the Magic Kingdom, so I was hoping for Raif to see the lay of the land. However, he was a little tired, so he kept closing his eyes.

Back of the Castle:

Once we got there, we decided to head towards the Hall of Presidents. It was a pretty good wait until the next show, so we decided that now was the time to get one of the silhouettes. I knew my parents had gotten one when they were in Disney with my aunt and uncle in 1981, and I wanted one for us as well. She did a really nice job as well, and it wasn’t that expensive nor did it take that long to do. The timing worked out really well for the Hall of Presidents.

I really liked the show – I seriously didn’t remember it, or they have changed it a lot. I wasn’t totally sure. I also liked what Obama had to say, and everyone was really respectful, which was nice. We got a few blurry shots of him.

Afterwards, since it was getting dark by this point, we decided to do the Haunted Mansion. The Haunted Mansion and I have a history. When we first went on it, I was a little too young and got freaked out by the very beginning part. I didn’t really remember the other parts, but it would freak me out at night when I would go to bed. So when I went into it, I was interested to see what I would think. We had a great time in there – I really like this ride, in fact. I loved seeing the stone in the cemetery whose eyes open (I showed Raif) and the stretching room is really super cool. I love also the different rooms and how they used things. I also thought, fleetingly, of how cool this ride would be if they updated it with new technology. We’ll see, one day, I imagine! It was really nice to go on it, and not be scared and sort of replace those memories a little – although they are still there. Funny how the stuff from when we are little sticks around!

Soon after we got off the Haunted Mansion, we had to admit how tired we were after our long day, and we decided to cut our evening short to go to the hotel and go swimming in the pool to relax. We decided to do one more ride though – the Jungle Cruise. I don’t know if anyone here has done it at night – it’s pretty cute. Well, at least, I thought so. Raif thought it crossed the line from cute to annoying, which was unfortunate. I was hoping with his punny, corny sense of humor he would appreciate the ride, but it totally rubbed him the wrong way! Oh well. You win some, you lose some. We did snap this shot on the way to the Cruise though:

After we got off Jungle Cruise, we decided to head out to the busses. It was actually right around the time that Wishes finished, so we raced to the busses to beat the crowds, and we managed to do pretty well and got home around 10pm. We got back and changed into our bathing suits to go to the quiet pool nearby our room. There were a surprising amount of people there – a few families, including one that brought beer into the pool, which was annoying, but the pool itself was wonderful and a great way to end our day. I love swimming so that was amazing for us, and it really got rid of the kinks after a long day. We managed to get to bed at a reasonable time and ready for a brand new day at Magic Kingdom!

Oh, one thing I forgot – we also used photopass a bunch this trip, except for at Animal Kingdom (more on that later), and it’s a service we both really liked. We definitely got some really cute pictures and I’m glad we bought the CD for the trip. We didn’t get as many as I might have liked, but it still was worth it for us. We’re working on our pictures to get put on the CD, so we’re excited for that one.

Up next – our second day at MK, and our first encounter with Florida storms!

 

[heaven2dc]

Really enjoying your TR! Loved the castle pic at night - never have seen it like that before in those colors

It's been awhile since we visited the Exposition Hall and I keep reading of great things to see there. Will definitely have to visit it next trip.