The One Where We Got Engaged - Updated 6/14 (Be Our Guest)

[Belle83]

I got a bit behind, but I just got caught up! I really love your Universal updates because we used to go to Universal as part of every Disney vacation, but we had stopped going recently because of having DS along. We didn't think it was worth paying for us to go and for him to spend most of the day sitting in the stroller! Now that he's older, we are spending a day there on our October trip, and I'm SO excited! I absolutely ADORE Harry Potter, so it's really been killing me that I've not been able to experience WWoHP yet. I think DS will love Seuss Landing, and might be tall enough for Spiderman!

Love the photos of the Royal Pacific too. I've stayed both there and the Hard Rock Hotel, and RP is my favorite of the two. Such a pretty resort! The landscaping is great and the courtyard is beautiful! Plus, it's so great being within walking distance of both parks.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to ask, they charge for the lockers now? Or is it just for the water parks? I thought they used to be free, at least for a certain amount of time. Is that not the case anymore?

The lockers are still free, except the ones by the water rides where you get wet. We paid for a locker because we were going on Popeye's and the Dudley's.

You will LOVE Wizarding World of Harry Potter! I hope your son is tall enough to go on Spiderman, it's awesome.

I'm glad to hear that you also loved Royal Pacific. It's the only Universal hotel I've stayed at, and I want to try Hard Rock next time. My fiancé doesn't want to try anywhere else because he loved Royal Pacific so much.

Universal was nice but YOU ARE On Your Way to Disney!!

Congrat's on getting all that wedding stuff done!

Thanks, wedding planning is kind of a pain

Can't wait for you to get to WDW! I love WWHOP too, so I understand the obsession!!

I know, I can't wait for the WWoHP expansion, it will be awesome

 

[Belle83]

Part 14: Lunch at Lombard's, Universal, & IOA -
Tuesday Dec. 11th

Bet you thought we were done with Universal? Not quite! We weren't planning to drive to WDW until that evening, and we had an extra day on our Universal tickets. While I think 3 days is a great amount of time for Universal and IOA for your first trip to Universal, it was a little much for our second trip. We still had fun, but man was I dying to get to WDW.

After checking out of the hotel and storing our luggage at the front, we took the boat to Universal Studios. After a quick ride on Revenge of the Mummy, it was time for lunch at Lombard's.

I love Christmas decorations, even when you're in Florida and it's warm outside.

I ordered the lobster macaroni and cheese, which oddly came with a side of sweet potato fries. I probably could have changed the side and should have but it's a little late for that now! My food was just ok. I don't remember what my fiancé had but he liked his food. Mine was just way too heavy/rich and not in a good way. I didn't eat much of it. Our lunch was $56.51, which was a little painful considering how little I enjoyed it.

After lunch, we did a TV survey and each got paid $10 for it. That took away a little of the sting from our overpriced lunch They were screening commercials for the TV show 1600 Penn. It took about a half hour and was interesting/fun. Maybe THIS should be my new job, because I'm not crazy about the attorney thing.

Ready for something more exciting, we hit Rip Ride Rockit twice in a row. The line was pretty nonexistent, thankfully (you can't use Express Pass on it). Can't remember which songs I chose. Someday, I'll have to try to remember to write down the secret song codes. After that, we went on Despicable Me / Minion Mayhem. It's such a cute ride, but I definitely recommend watching the movie before you go on it so you're familiar with the story line and characters. We own it and have watched it multiple times, even though we don't have kids. It's so cute

After leaving Universal Studios and before heading in to Islands of Adventure, we stopped at Guest Relations again to see if they had my fiancé's sunglasses (that he lost on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey). No luck, so we moved onward to Islands of Adventure.

Before this trip, I told my fiancé that I would go on either Dr. Doom's Fear Fall or Tower of Terror. I'm terrified of falling/drop rides, but have always felt bad about not going on them and wanted to try it. I just couldn't bring myself to do it, though. I had read that Dr. Doom was much tamer than Tower of Terror as far as dropping goes and had decided that that would be the ride I tried, but I chickened out. My fiancé went on without me. He said it actually wasn't bad at all, and was kind of underwhelming.

After Dr. Doom, Spiderman, and Jurassic Park, we headed back to Wizarding World of Harry Potter to go on Dragon Challenge since it was closed the day before. We went on both tracks (so much fun!), and then got in line for Ollivander's.

Ollivander's was cute, but the guy that was picked didn't speak English very well and was just not in to it. Awkward! After that, we went to the Owl Post and picked up some postcards to send back home.

We had to send one to our pets to let them know the good news. I know it's super corny but we refer to ourselves as mommy and daddy when we talk to them, which is why the postcard says what it does...

We did some shopping and I took random pictures of Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Soon enough, it was time to leave for the day. That didn't stop us from doing more shopping on the way out.

I bought this cute Grinch ornament. Don't mind the Hufflepuff lanyard in the picture, lol. I bought that on our first day at Universal. They are just so handy!

He's a mean one...

That officially wraps up the Universal/Islands of Adventure portion of our trip.


Next Up: Port Orleans Riverside

​

 

[Belle83]

Part 15: Port Orleans Riverside - Tuesday Dec. 11th

DISNEY!!!

The drive to WDW felt so slow, but it's really a quick drive. We checked in at Port Orleans Riverside around 7 p.m. The lobby wasn't too crowded, I didn't have to wait in line. I love the pink chandelier.

Can you tell I'm obsessed with Christmas decorations?

Of course, I had to ask for the buttons.

After a quick check-in, we were off to find our room. We got so lost looking for it, it was ridiculous. I think we must have walked around several of the buildings by the time we found our room.

I couldn't really complain though, because they gave us every room request! We booked a king bed room, and then requested one with a water view and one in a mansion building. Our room (#8416) was on the third floor of Acadian House (Building 80), overlooking the river. The best part about it was that it was right next to the elevator area and stairs. This was great considering my fiancé's knee issues.

I've stayed in moderates before, but never with a king bed. It definitely made the room feel larger.

I loved all the storage space in the bathroom area.

My only complaint was the lighting in the room. It was pretty mediocre, at best.

I'm so happy the rooms were recently refurbished, and that they had new TVs.
The little seating area and table actually came in handy.

It wouldn't be a trip report without a picture of the Mickey towel.

This was the fountain we passed on the way from the parking lot to/from the room.

We were so excited to finally be in WDW. We spent a few minutes getting settled in our room, but tried to hurry because we had tickets to MVMCP for that night.


Next Up: Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

​

 

[DisneyFreak06]

I love POR! It's such a beautiful resort. I would love to see it during the Christmas season! Thanks for sharing pictures of it.

 

[marDgreen88]

YAY, you're finally at Disney!

 

[Belle83]

I love POR! It's such a beautiful resort. I would love to see it during the Christmas season! Thanks for sharing pictures of it.

I have more of the actual resort decorations coming up

YAY, you're finally at Disney!

Yeah no kidding!

 

[khertz]

Looks like a fun last day in Universal (except for that overpriced lunch!). You're right, 3 days at Universal can end up being too much especially when it is a slow time of year or you have Front of the Line privileges and it doesn't take you long to ride everything. 2 full days is plenty.

We did one of those tv surveys too when we were last there. DH was actually trying to get the survey TM's to come over and ask him so he could do it! And he didn't even know you were given $10 each, he just wanted to watch it. We watched an episode of Community. He spent so long tying up his comments about the show that I had a nice conversation with the lady who paid us about the then upcoming WWoHP. He took the job very seriously!

Love your WWoHP pics! We always buy DS a postcard from every vacation, so we will definitely have to get one there to commemorate his first trip to UO/IoA!

The Port Orleans resorts are SO beautiful! We had a king room for the first time ever on our honeymoon at POFQ, and you're so right, it does make the room feel more spacious! The room pics are beautiful. Love that headboard! And the Christmas decorations...LOVE those too!

 

[Belle83]

Looks like a fun last day in Universal (except for that overpriced lunch!). You're right, 3 days at Universal can end up being too much especially when it is a slow time of year or you have Front of the Line privileges and it doesn't take you long to ride everything. 2 full days is plenty.

We did one of those tv surveys too when we were last there. DH was actually trying to get the survey TM's to come over and ask him so he could do it! And he didn't even know you were given $10 each, he just wanted to watch it. We watched an episode of Community. He spent so long tying up his comments about the show that I had a nice conversation with the lady who paid us about the then upcoming WWoHP. He took the job very seriously!

Love your WWoHP pics! We always buy DS a postcard from every vacation, so we will definitely have to get one there to commemorate his first trip to UO/IoA!

The Port Orleans resorts are SO beautiful! We had a king room for the first time ever on our honeymoon at POFQ, and you're so right, it does make the room feel more spacious! The room pics are beautiful. Love that headboard! And the Christmas decorations...LOVE those too!

That's hilarious about your DH. We took it pretty seriously too.

 

[Belle83]

Part 16: Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party -
Tuesday Dec. 11th


That's right, we went to three theme parks in one day. Neither one of us had been to WDW during the holidays before, so we were both really excited about Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party! We didn't really know what to expect, but we heard there was fake snow and free hot chocolate. The party started at 7 p.m. but we didn't get there until about 8:15 p.m. Of course, everyone had lined up for the parade. We didn't realize there was another parade later that night, so we found a spot to watch it.

You get a cool exclusive wristband, so you know it has to be fun.

The parade was really cute. They pipe out scents as parade floats go by, it was very Disney. I'm going to spend a little moment ranting and complaining about parade etiquette and the women shoving their cameras in our face to get better pictures of the parade. OMG our patience was wearing thin. Why can't they wait the extra two seconds it takes for the float to be closer to their line of sight? I think what made it worse was that they were also the adults who stand on the curb, rather than sit, so others behind can't see as well. I realize they got there first and probably saved that spot for over an hour, but I still think it's inconsiderate to other people (especially those of us who are 5'1", lol). I certainly didn't expect or feel entitled to a great viewing spot because we sort of just walked up to the parade, but I still find it weird that adults want to stand on the curb and not sit. Aaah, parade politics. We were officially in Disney though! We still enjoyed the parade, it definitely put us in the holiday mood.

SANTA!! I KNOW HIM! Sorry, a little Elf reference.

After the parade, we decided to have dinner at Pecos Bill's. It was my first meal on the dining plan so it took a minute to figure out how it all worked. When they gave me a taco shell with just meat in it, I looked at the CM and asked where the rest of my taco salad was? lol. I didn't realize you added the toppings yourself.

As we were eating, we could hear the fireworks going off so we rushed outside to see them. It was so foggy out that night, none of my fireworks pictures turned out very well. I'm still not sure if Holiday Wishes is exclusive to MVMCP, does anyone know? After Wishes, we went on Pirates of the Caribbean and then headed to Tomorrowland in search of hot chocolate.

Yay for free stuff! It was actually pretty chilly that night, so this was nice. We should have saved a QS credit and just had cookies and hot chocolate for dinner. Perfectly acceptable right?

After riding Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear, New Fantasyland was next on our list. More specifically, LeFou's Brew. I liked it, but it was really sweet and I was so not hungry at that point. It was a good use of a snack credit, but after drinking about half we got in line for the Little Mermaid.

The line area was honestly the best part of the Little Mermaid ride, and it looked especially cool at night. There really wasn't a wait at all (we walked on, despite the 20 min. posted wait time), so we didn't get to pay too much attention to the line area. I'm not complaining though, the lines for the Little Mermaid were out of control later in the trip. I really love this movie so much! The ride was cute, just not very impressive. I was also surprised and annoyed by how many people were taking flash pictures during the ride. Unfortunately this is something we encountered several times throughout our trip.

We went on Peter Pan next to take advantage of the shorter wait time, and last but not least Haunted Mansion. Haunted Mansion is probably my favorite ride at MK, so this made me happy. Definitely not as happy as THIS beautiful sight made me though.

Sooner rather than later, it was time to leave for the night. I think it was around 12:45 a.m. at this point, and it was still pretty crowded.

Do you think the little light on this was out by accident or intentionally? Doesn't seem like something Disney would overlook.

Overall, we enjoyed MVMCP but we didn't really take advantage of anything except for the parade, hot chocolate, decorations, and the shorter lines. We walked by and overheard some of the other holiday shows and saw some sort of character dance party going on inside one of the dining areas, but we're not really into all of that. I'm not sure we would spend the $ to do this again, but I'm glad we tried it.



Next Up: POR & Lunch at Mama Melrose's

​

 

[Belle83]

Part 17: PO Riverside & Lunch at Mama Melrose's -
Wednesday Dec. 12th


After our late night at MVMCP, we slept in and didn't leave our room until about 12:30 p.m. I woke up a few hours before my fiancé so I took some pictures of Port Orleans. This is the view from right outside of our room.

Our room was on the top floor of Acadian House, right on the left of the stairs opening. The location was very convenient.

Port Orleans Riverside is very peaceful and serene, we liked it a lot. The only thing I wasn't liking was the weather.

We obviously took our time getting to Hollywood Studios that day. By 1:00 p.m., we were finally on the tram in the parking lot.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

After stopping at Starring Rolls Cafe for some much-needed coffee, we arrived at our lunch destination.

We had an ADR, but I think we still waited about 30 minutes or so for our table. I know it doesn't look like it in this picture, but they were packed.

We were on the Fantasmic Dining package, so I thought we had a separate menu but was happy to find out that we didn't. One of the appetizers (the antipasto) was supposed to be for 2 people, but the waitress was nice enough to let us order that in addition to another appetizer (the mozarrella and tomatoes). It was all sooo good!

This was my lunch. I'm not sure exactly but I think it was the penne a la vodka? My fiancé ordered the strip steak, which he was really impressed with (and he's picky about steak). People don't seem to rave about Mama Melrose's here on the DIS, but we loved it.

Here's the dessert plate that came with the Fantasmic package. We hardly ate any of it, but the parts we did eat were good.

Overall, we are picky about Italian food and honestly really enjoyed our lunch here. It definitely exceeded my expectations and we're planning to eat here again during our next trip (mostly because we actually missed Fantasmic that day, but I'll get to that soon enough).


Next Up: Hollywood Studios

​

 

[Belle83]

Part 18: Hollywood Studios -
Wednesday Dec. 12th


After our lunch at Mama Melrose's, we were ready to explore Hollywood Studios. We only spent a few hours there during our last trip at night during evening Extra Magic Hours. My fiancé had never been during the day time and hadn't seen much of the park.

We went on Star Tours first, I love that ride! We had grabbed fast passes for it before lunch, so it worked out well. After Star Tours, we made our way to Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. I think we had to wait in the standby line because we had grabbed fast passes for Star Tours earlier, but it less than 30 min. if I remember correctly.

It started POURING soon after. Even though we had ponchos, we had to hide out under an awning for a little bit.

After the rain let up a little, we raced over to the Lights Motor Action show. Neither one of us had seen it before, and it was the last show of the day. We saw a really pretty rainbow during the show. We liked the stunt show, and liked it even more because we were sitting undercover.

AFter LMA, we stopped at Pizza Planet so my fiancé could grab a beer. I wanted to go see Muppet Vision, since it's right there, but we decided to go check out the wait for Tower of Terror instead.

The wait was pretty minimal. Remember how I told my fiancé I would try Tower of Terror or Dr. Doom's Fear fall at Universal? Well, I chickened out again. I really wanted to want to go on Tower of Terror, but just looking at it gave me such anxiety. I sadly told him I couldn't do it. He had never been on it before, and went on it without me. He said that it wasn't that bad, that the drops were smooth and it was more like swaying. He also said that he sat next to 4-year-old twins and thought that it was a little sad that I couldn't go on it but they managed to do it! Thanks hon

In the grand tradition of running back and forth across the park, we then went back to Muppet Vision 3D. My fiancé loved the Muppets as a kid, so I knew he would like it (and he did).

So, remember how we had the Fantasmic dining package at Mama Melrose's? Well, they tell you to arrive at a certain time. I told my fiancé we would be fine showing up late, because I thought I had read somewhere on the DIS that it wasn't an issue. I was definitely wrong and they told us to go to the regular line, which was for standing-room only. Oops. That marks another trip to WDW without seeing Fantasmic. Someday I will see it!! We decided to go on Rock 'n' Roller Coaster again instead, since the lines weren't that bad.

Before long, it was time to check out the Osborne Lights! I knew this would cheer me up about missing Fantasmic.

It was so ridiculously crowded, aaaaaah. Don't even want to think about what this is like as it gets closer to Christmas.

I like the not-so-hidden Mickey in the tree.

This really was so cool, pictures don't do it justice. The music that they synchronize the lights with is pretty neat, too.

We went on Star Tours again before leaving for the night. Hollywood Studios closed at 8:00 p.m., and we had an ADR that night for the Yachtsman Steakhouse at 8:45 p.m. so we couldn't stick around too long.


Next Up: Yachtsman Steakhouse
​

 

[khertz]

Sounds like you had a great night at the MVMCP! The parade & fireworks are so great. To answer your question about Holiday Wishes (and the parade too), they are party exclusive until closer to Christmas when the parties end, then it is the regular nighttime entertainment. I love Wishes any night of the week, but Holiday Wishes is so beautiful!

Great picture of the rainbow over LMA!

It looks like you had a nice meal at Mama Melrose's, but what a bummer about missing out on Fantasmic after doing the package! The Osborne Lights is not at all a bad consolation though. My favorite Christmas event in WDW, by a mile!

 

[wiigirl]

Great pictures!

 

[Belle83]

Aaaah, I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated this! I've been so busy with work and wedding planning. Despite having helped many friends and family members plan weddings, I underestimated how much time it would take to plan ours even as small as it's going to be.

The good thing about being so busy is that I haven't been very focused on the fact that we are going back to WDW in a little over a month!

khertz: That's good to know about Holiday Wishes I loved the Osborne lights, I think they were my favorite Christmas thing at WDW (except for the castle).

wiigirl: thanks!

 

[Belle83]

Part 19: Dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse - Wednesday Dec. 12th


We changed our dining reservations so many times before our trip. My fiancé loves steak, and since we went to Shula's during our first trip, we decided to try Yachtsman.

This is right by the entrance to the restaurant. Just in case you didn't know what kind of food to expect at a steakhouse

We were seated in this cool area of the restaurant, overlooking the pool. I actually took this picture as we were leaving, which is why it's so empty.

The ceiling above where our table was. Very cool.

I think was the Yachtsman version of a wedge salad. It was DELICIOUS.

I ordered the filet mignon. I'm not a big steak person but I ate every last bite of this. OMG.

My fiancé had the T-bone steak, and thought it was wonderful.

Apparently I take pictures of wine after I've had a few glasses. I made quite a little mess of the tablecloth.

Dessert! Creme Brûlée.

I love sorbet, and the sorbet at Yachtsman did not disappoint.

After our dinner, I wanted to curl up on one of these and not move. Ever.

Sadly, we were not staying at the Yacht Club and had to go back to our humble little moderate hotel. Of course, I had to take a picture of the Christmas tree in the Yacht Club lobby before we left.

Overall, we loved the food at the Yachtsman. I think it was my fiancé's favorite meal of the trip. Total cost? $87.19 + 4 table service credits (2 each). Ouch.


Next Up: Animal Kingdom
​

 

[khertz]

The food looks delicious! I am a sucker for a good steak and mashed potatoes any day of the week. Too bad you couldn't just roll yourselves to your room after a meal like that! What a perk of staying at the Yacht Club!

 

[Belle83]

The food looks delicious! I am a sucker for a good steak and mashed potatoes any day of the week. Too bad you couldn't just roll yourselves to your room after a meal like that! What a perk of staying at the Yacht Club!

I know, hopefully one day I can enjoy that perk

 

[Disneychix]

I haven't been to Yachtsman's since my honeymoon. I cannot show those pics to my DH cause he'll be begging me to go back! Maybe one day when we go without kids

 

[Belle83]

Part 20: Animal Kingdom - Thursday Dec. 13th

Updates are long overdue! I've been so busy with work (trial after trial if anyone is thinking about going to law school, I will happily talk you out of it). We also just got back from WDW! Because of planning issues with this trip, we had some plane tickets that had to be used before a certain date and we decided to do quick trip back to WDW. It was really weird to be back after 4 months, but in a wonderful way.

So when I left off, I wrote about our wonderful dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse. Our plan for the next day was Animal Kingdom. We got to Animal Kingdom around 12pm and it was FREEZING. Well, not technically but it was pretty cold. This isn't the best picture but it was really cloudy. I think I may have taken this picture on the way out that day, but still.

After grabbing fast passes for Expedition Everest, we grabbed lunch. My fiancé wanted to eat at Flame Tree Barbecue, so that's where we went.

I love Flame Tree but it just didn't sound great at the moment. I abandoned him in search of pizza.

Pizzafari isn't exactly close to Flame Tree, but I grabbed my food and took it back to Flame Tree to join him for lunch. I ended up just ditching the disgusting looking dessert because I didn't plan on eating it anyway and there was no way I could carry all of my lunch back to Flame Tree without tossing it. This was our first time using the dining plan and it felt so wasteful throwing food away. The rest of my lunch was great, though.

We were joined by these guys during lunch, of course.

After lunch, we went on our first ride of the day!

After Dinosaur, we went on Primeval Whirl since it was closed during our first trip. The ride broke when we were on it, so we had lots of time to take pictures of this view. I was getting nervous that we were going to miss our FP return time for Everest...

...but thankfully we didn't!

After Everest, we went to the Pangani Exploration Trail. We didn't do any of the trails during our first trip, and they are great! I was excited to show them to my fiancé.

I think he enjoyed it, lol.

Hello Mr. Gorilla.

On our way to grab fast passes for Kilimanjaro Safaris, I went to check out the gift shops. Thankfully for my wallet, I take pictures of stuff that I like instead of buying (most of the time). Like these shot glasses and picture frames, how cute are these?

I know WDW will pack these bamboo plants up so they are easy to take home but it still seems like a pain. These elephants are so cute.

We tried getting fast passes but the machine broke. Here's my fiancé and the CM working on it, lol.

After finally getting our fast passes for Kilimanjaro, we went back to our favorite ride: Everest!

I love this picture from Everest, you can see so much. We ended up riding twice in a row because someone gave us their fast passes as we were leaving. Love it when that happens!

During our first trip to Animal Kingdom, my fiancé didn't know that Kali River Rapids existed and I didn't feel like getting wet so I didn't tell him, lol. This time, I couldn't get away with that. Most of the rafts were empty because the weather was not great.

The Mahajarah Jungle Trek was next, where we saw this guy.

I think the park closed at 5pm that day, and we ended up going on Kilimanjaro at 4:45pm.

Most of the animals were not out, but we did see a lot of interaction between the lions.

We also got to see the new zebras.

Leaving the park, we saw soooo many birds in the trees. I've never seen anything like it.

We eventually said goodbye to Animal Kingdom and made our way to Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner. The Christmas Tree at Animal Kingdom was so pretty, it would have been neat to see it in the dark.

Next Up: Dinner at Jiko
​

 

[Belle83]

Part 21: Dinner at Jiko - Thursday Dec. 13th


I was looking forward to our dinner at Jiko more than any other meal of our trip. Our reservation was at 6:20pm but we got there a little early. My camera sucks, but this is obviously the lobby for Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was BEAUTIFUL. I must stay here one day.

This is the window in the main lobby, it's so pretty. We wandered around the hotel a little, checking out the campfire area outside and trying to see some animals.

After we checked in at Jiko, we were seated pretty much immediately.

We ordered the cheese plate appetizer. Delicious!

I decided to try the "Chermoula-roasted Nigerian Prawns - English pea nage and saffron rice with orange and olive salad". This was pretty bad, actually. I had to force myself to even eat part of it. I don't love peas, and the spices in this were bizarre, but that wasn't the issue. The prawns were just incredibly dry and tough. Very disappointing.

My fiancé ordered the "Seared Barbarie Duck Breast - Potato and Spinach Masala, Royal Trumpet Mushrooms, and Port Emulsion". He loved his, so at least one of us was happy.

We realized that the cheese plate we had as an appetizer was also part of the dessert menu. We asked if we could just count our appetizer as our dessert (for the dining plan), which they let us do.

I had to take more pictures of the Christmas tree on the way out. It was just ridiculously pretty.

I know we'll go back to Jiko. I want to try a different entree, and my fiancé loved his food. I just wish that this dinner hadn't been such a letdown, at 2 TS each. We ended up spending $25 out of pocket for the tip I think, which wasn't too bad (we did have free dining!).

Next Up: Port Orleans Riverside
​