Two Disney Newbies on their Honeymoon! (MK day added, lots of pics!)

[brookelizabeth]

On June 1st, 2006 the love of my life asked me to be his wife. I replied with a Yes, and on October 21st, 2006 we vowed our lives to each other.

Sometime between June and October we debating on where to go for a honeymoon. Portland? Hawaii? Colorado? My then roommate mentioned that her parents went to Walt Disney World for their honeymoon. My breath caught in my throat...Walt Disney World...it has been my wish on every birthday cake since the age of six. A wish that never came true. Could we? Joe, my love, immediatly agreed that it was a great option and the research began. The moment we looked at the resorts we were hooked! Yes, my dream would come true. I was marrying my love and going to Disney World!!!

After some back-and-forth we opted to splurge a bit, stay at a deluxe resort on Disney properly and Animal Kingdom Lodge became our focus. A decision I will NEVER regret!

Day One - Sunday, October 22, 2006

Cast of characters

Me
Joe-my DH​

After having a gift opening/brunch with our family, we said our good-byes to them and we focused on trying to get all the last minute things done and packed. This was an interesting feat because my belongings were in boxes and bags spread throughout the house, as I hadn't had time to unpack my things in my new home! However, we figured it all out and eventually we pulled out of the garage

and were on the road headed to Minneapolis where we were planning to stay a night in a hotel near the airport, then leave our car there for the week to escape the high costs of airport parking.

Our trip down to the hotel was smooth, we could see the hotel from the highway-figuring out exactly how to get into their parking lot was an interesting task, but after turning around a few times, we finally pulled into the hotel and checked into our room. This room was what I'll call "less than fabulous." Veryyyyy basic, but clean, and hey, we were only staying there one night! After relaxing for a bit, we headed back out to our car and drove over to the Mall of America. An excellent way to spend the evening! I needed sunglasses and Joe needed headphones. We also decided to grab some dinner and catch a movie.

I was exhausted and dozed off just a tad during our movie, but it was a cartoon-Open Season-so I didn't miss much! It was a cute flick, but I was VERY ready to be in bed by the time we got back to the hotel. We set our wake-up call for 5:00 am...

[more to come soon!]

 

[pumba]

Happiness to you both........

and our son and his wife and then our daughter and her hubby all honeymooned in Disney.......we made some disneyholics out of them all

 

[bekkiz]

Yippie! Congrats on the wedding and I can't wait to hear more about the honeymoon (we also celebrated ours at WDW in 2003!)

 

[brookelizabeth]

Day Two-Monday, October 23, 2006

We woke up at 5:00 am without trouble, we were too excited! We got ready and headed down to the lobby at 5:45 to meet our shuttle bus to the airport. The number one reason we chose the hotel that we did is because of the continental breakfast the offer--it's amazing. It includes Belgian waffles! However, at 5:45 it was closed...didn't open until 6:00 am we discovered, and that is just when our shuttle was to be leaving the hotel. I was slightly bummed (and very hungry) so I snuck into the dark dining room and grabbed some coffee---MUST HAVE MY COFFEE! Just before our shuttle bus pulled up they opened the breakfast, so I darted back in and got a mini muffin to go. Off to the airport! YEA! Finally so close to Disney World! We got through security with no troubles, very smooth-found our gate, waited about 20 minutes which included a bathroom stop, and we boarded the plane. And lo-and-behold the first touch of magic on the trip, a Northwest flight took off ON TIME. When that happened I knew this was the beginning of a beautiful trip...

We landed in Orlando and were impressed by the geekiness of their airport (we are both computer/techie nerds).

We found Dinsey's Magical Express without problem and, I guess it was pretty obvious we were newlyweds and Disney newbies-the CM at the gate of Disney's Magical Express instantly asked us "Honeymoon, first time?" to which I responded "Yes" and we got our first of manyyyyyy "Congratulations!" We boarded the bus after just a few moments of waiting and excitedly commented on how "Disney-esque" even the bus was. We waited for quite a long time before the bus finally pulled out, but we didn't mind really-we were just excited that we were sooooo close!

Finally we were on our way. Our bus stopped at Pop Century, then at Coronado Springs-which we both oooooh'ed when we pulled up. Very pretty resort! Then OFF TO AKL! We cruised along and before I knew it I saw what I've been looking at in pictures for months and months--let me tell you this, the pictures DO NOT do the lodge justice! It's breathtaking. Incredibly HUGE and beautiful! I couldn't get over the detail in everything. Even the cement is designed with paint and impressed leaves and tracks and such! Incredible!

Joe and I headed to the check-in desk, waited in a very short line and a wonderful CM checked us in. We weren't upgraded (I didn't even think about it at the time), but were given two buttons that read "Just Married!!" with Cinderella and her prince which we instantly put on. Our room wasn't ready, but we were fine with that, we wanted to explore the lodge a bit and we were STARVIN'. Plus our luggage was being handled by ME, so we didn't have to deal with it, a definite bonus! After a small amount of wandering we found The Mara. I walked in and was instantly drooling. This place serves a little of everything, and I was HUNGRY, so I would eat just about anything at the time. I chose the African Stew, a diet coke and a Mickey Ice Cream bar for dessert. Joe got a double-bacon cheeseburger, a coke and a chocolate chip ice cream sandwich for dessert. We took all this to the cashier, used our handy World card for our meal plan and then the CM noticed we already had our dessert. She told us we could place it back in the freezer and just come back for it when we are done eating so it wouldn't melt. I thought that was very kind of her. We headed outside to the poolside dining area-that is very nice-

and chowed down. The African soup was delicious! And Joe seemed to enjoy his burger. Our desserts were equally as tasty.

[more to come...!]

 

[brookelizabeth]

Thank you pubma and bekkiz!

 

[kimmar067]

...sure, give us 'Day 1' and '2' and then leave for Israel......SHEESH!

[...great reading so far.....]

 

[brookelizabeth]

...sure, give us 'Day 1' and '2' and then leave for Israel......SHEESH!

[...great reading so far.....]

I have a bit more written up on my lappy at home, but no access to my pictures here at work! So hopefully tonight, admist mad-packing and cleaning, I will get at least the rest of Day Two and Day Three up. Big problem is that some of my COOLEST Day Three pics are on a disposable camera and we don't have a scanner! There is an awesome reason the pics are on a disposable camera though...hee hee hee!

Then yes...I leave for Israel for 10 days...lol-leave ya'll hanging.

But hey, that means a VERY long plane ride, and lots of time to work on the report!

 

[Cass]

Okay, I'm hooked ~ I love reports done through the eyes of someone seeing Disney for the 1st time

Love that mickey bar pic, poolside - wish I was sitting there right now.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Love that mickey bar pic, poolside - wish I was sitting there right now.

Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee too!!!

 

[disneytraveler]

Great so far! Dont stop now
and Best wishes to you!

 

[ash1569]

I have enjoyed reading the first part of your trip! Cant wait to read more! Congrats and Best Wishes!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I'm back from Israel! What an amazing trip that was...but, more on that later, onward with the Disneymoon Trip Report! Here's a tad more.

After lunch we wandered a bit by the pool, checked out the hot tubs and took a million pictures of the beautiful lodge.

I couldn't get over how big it is and how striking it is. We gazed over the savnnah by the animals, went inside and wandered around by the pool,

visited the gift shop and went over our very loose schedule for the week. By that time, Joe's back was starting to ache from his heavy carry on backpack, so we sat down in the lobby and call our folks, checked on the room (still not ready), and talked about our schedule a bit more. We adjusted a few things and by this time it was past 3:00, when our room was supposed to be ready, so Joe called again. They told us their computers were down (we knew this from the check-in), but they had received confirmation the room was ready-they just needed to double-check on it. So, we waited a bit more and then finally got a call-which I missed. Because his name is not on my voicemail, they didn't leave the room number on it-which I found to be a nice thing, just in case they got the phone number wrong-so we headed up to the desk. After some questioning about the room, and checking and waiting, we were finally given our room number and we headed up to the 4th floor to room 4468. We both assumed the process is usually a tad smoother and quicker, but due to their computer problems, it was a bit rocky and confusing. Since we are computer nerds and work for a software company that deals with software problems ALL THE TIME, we realize this happens. It didn't bother us a bit.

Down the Zebra Trail we went, we opened the door to a very nice room with a King sized bed. Exactly what I hoped for. The bathroom was huge and handicapped accessable. I noticed a small couch to the right of our bed and thought that was a nice touch. Completely not needed, but proved useful later for collecting random items. I opened our shears to see the beautiful pool. We opened the door to the balcony and breathed the air in deep as we gazed out at the tropical trees and families in the pool. Ah, yes, this is as close to perfection as possible.

[i have lots more to come!]

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent ~ Congrats to you both.

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Continued...!

We unpacked and took a bit of a nap. We had 6:00 pm reservtions for Artist's Point over at the Wilderness Lodge. We woke up a while later, got ready and headed out to the busses around 5:00 pm. I wasn't sure the best route to get to the Wilderness Lodge, so we just hoped on a bus going to the Magic Kingdom, knowing this park is close to WL. The bus literally pulled up as we approached the waiting area. We rode to the Magic Kingdom, ooohed and ahhhed a little bit at the wonder that peeked over the gates and then discovered that we now are to take a boat to the WL. We figured out which one, and one was just pulling up as we reached to the dock! Perfect timing. We found a seat in the back and gazed at the scernery as we chugged along.

At WL, we weren't sure where to go, but after just a couple minutes we found Artist's Point and checked in immediatly. Our table wasn't ready, so we were given a buzzer. That was just fine with us, WL was one of the tough competitions against AKL in our decision on where to stay. So we wandered the lobby a bit and we both decided that while we did like it, we like AKL a bit better. We sat in some chairs near the fire and did what newlyweds to best--cuddle, hold hands and whsiper sweet nothings to each other. Soon our buzzer went off and we were brought to our table.

The hostess must have been new or nervous or something because she could barely get out her speal about the resturant as she presented us with a certficate-it was a Certifiable Magic Moment. Very cute. Then she handed us our menus and we both noticed the "Have a Magical Honeymoon Joe & Brook!!" printed along the bottom. Our very own menues! Very cool! We thanked the woman, who looked fairly frustrated at her delivery-but really, everyone has rought moments, and it might have been her first day on the job-she did her job, we got the needed info, no worries. We opened the menu to find the most AMAZING food humanly possible. And because we were on the dining plan we got an appetizer, an entree and a dessert! Unreal! It felt like we were stealing from the place by how good the food was and how much we ate...! Appetizers-Joe, Crispy Venison Spring Rolls with hot sweet and sour sauce. Me, Duck Confit - with frisee-anjoy pear salad, apple cider vinaigrette and duck prosciutto. Entrees-Joe got the Roasted Chicken Breast - with russet potato risotto and fava beans, and I got the Grilled Buffalo Sirloin Steak - with sweet potato-hazelnut gratin and sweet onion jam.

Onto dessert! We both wanted the dessert called "Coffee Two Ways", which is Mochaccino bread pudding and vanilla latte creme brulee, because we both LOVE our coffee, but opted to get one and the other get the Flourless Chocolate Cake, which came with bourbon flavored ice cream, spiced pears and raspberry sauce.

Can we say drooooooooooooooooooool???? Let me tell you, these are some of the most amazing desserts! Coffee Two Ways-holy smokes, it's a coffee lovers DREAM! Despite being full from the meal, we easily managed to finish both wonderful, amazing, incredible (need I say more?) desserts. We LOVED Artist's Point and decided already that on our next trip we have to come back.

By the time we left WL, it was dark and cooooooold. I had a sleeveless dress on and was FREEZING. We wandered around the resort a bit, checked out the waterfall and the pool, where I snagged a towel to put over my shoulders like a shawl. I am normally NOT the type to do such a thing, but I figured we could easily return it at our hotel and it shouldn't matter-so I only felt slightly bad doing this. But honestly, I was shaking I was so cold. It was a very chilly night. We headed down to the dock and waited a few minutes for the boat. While on the boat, we caught part of the light parade that is on the water, I cannot remember the name of the parade, but it was really cool watching it go by. A nice little treat to a wonderful evening!

Back to the Magic Kingdom and then on the bus, all the way back to the AKL-a fairly quick trip, just like on the way there. A quick stop at The Mara to fill up our mugs-mine with coffee, . Back to our hotel room with our stomach's very full, and happy grins on our faces.

Our plan for the next day was to visit Animal Kingdom, followed with a dinner at Boma. We knew this park closed earlier than the others, but didn't dare set an alarm. We hadn't truly slept in a very long time with all the wedding planning, so Tuesday was our day to SLEEP IN! We went over a few things in our Passporter book, gushed about how awesome Artist's Point was and off to sleep we went...

[a big surprise awaits during our day at the animal kingdom!]

 

[Cass]

Wow, that dinner looked delicious

Welcome back from Isreal, I'm looking forward to reading more!!

 

[ash1569]

Can't wait to hear about the suprise!!

 

[luvfigment]

Looking forward to reading more! DFi and I keep going back and forth between AKL and WL so I understand about the decision making. If we do decided on AKL (which is most likely we love it there) I want a pool view King size bed also...your view from the balcony was great!

Can't wait to see what the surprise was and glad you had a great time in Israel

 

[Gregory]

Can't wait for more. Great TR.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Looking forward to reading more! DFi and I keep going back and forth between AKL and WL so I understand about the decision making. If we do decided on AKL (which is most likely we love it there) I want a pool view King size bed also...your view from the balcony was great!

Can't wait to see what the surprise was and glad you had a great time in Israel

We LOVED our pool view! AKL is a beautiful place to spend your honeymoon, I highly recommend it!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Day Three - Tuesday, October 24, 2006

We woke up around 10:00 am and got ready for the day. Headed to The Mara, Joe got a donut and some soda and I got a fruit/yogurt/honey/granola cup and, yup-coffee. We walked to the bus stop just as the bus for the Animal Kingdom was approaching. We stepped right on and headed for the park. When we arrived we

wandered through The Oasis a bit and then had a short wait for It's Tough to Be a Bug, which we both thought was really neat, but could be pretty scary for a kid. I literally screamed when the "bugs" ran across our seats under our butts-which Joe found incredibly hilarious!

From there we headed to Kilamanjaro Safrai, the wait was a bit longer this time, but well worth it. We got onto a truck and our driver was Chris, who's cousin is a pro-basketball player for the Denver Nuggets. He was a great driver who stuck the script, but added his own parts as well. We saw quite a few animals-elephants, monkeys, birds, hippos...

After the safari was over we walked over to get a Fast Pass for Expedition Everst. However, when we got there we were told they had run out of Fast Passes for the day! We were a bit bummed because the wait was 60 minutes and just as we were about to turn away and find some lunch, a guy in line leaned over and said he had two extra and handed them to us! We breezed right through the Fast Pass line and landed the last car within a minute or two!! The Cast Memeber working on the line noticed our "Just Married" buttons and asked us when we had gotten married, etc. she then gave us another Fast Pass-good for whenever we wanted to use it! We both loved Expedition Everest, it's incredibly clever and fun.

After we got off we decided to save the new Fast Pass and get lunch. Since Joe is a pizza-addict, we chose Pizzafari of course! It was pretty tasty, he got pepperoni, I got cheese. He got apple pie for dessert, I got a strawberry-lemonade frozen cup. We both got Cokes to drink. A $24 meal, but we just swiped our card! Lovin' that meal plan... We also realized this was A LOT of food-and for future meals we should get one soda and one water to share.

After lunch we were going to head back over and check out Expedition Everest again, but stopped for a picture opportunity on the bridge between Africa and Discovery Island. There two Cast Members approached us and wished us Congratulations, then procceeded to ask us the typical marriage questions-where, when, how was it, etc. Then they asked us if we were going to be around at 4:00 PM, we planned to stay until closing, so yes, we told them, we will be here at 4:00. Then they asked us to be in the parade later that afternoon! We were pretty dumbfounded, but quickly agreed! We were to meet at the gate by Kilmanjario Safari at 3:30, and we'd be told everything from there. We were going to be in Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade!!

We had about 1 hour before that, so we continued on our way to Expedition Everest where the line was veryyyyy long for Fast Pass. So we opted to head into Dionland. We got in line for Primeval Whirl and again were wish Congratulations by a Cast Member who asked us to the step to the side and boom, we were in the Fast Pass lane and hopped right on! That ride was crazy, twiriling, and twisting!! We loved it! After, we headed back toward Kilmanjario Safari because it was nearing 3:30.

We waited for a few minutes outside the gate, and then were escorted into the back-stage area and were given safari Mickey hats and vests. Joe and I were going to be on the lead Rafiki float and we were told we just had to smile and wave. The Cast Members were joking around with each other and with us, it was pretty neat to be "back stage" with them. Baloo came up and shook our hands, and several other characters came and hung out with Baloo and the other CM's near our car. We experienced most of them "out of character." They quickly switched back into character as parade time approached. We were given a disposable camera and earplugs. They encouraged us to wear the earplugs, warned us the song would be stuck in our heads, and also told us to take as many pictures from the float with the camera as we wanted-it was ours to keep. (we took all 24 pictures during the parade, but i don't have the pictures scanned yet!! hopefully by the time my TR is done, we'll have them!)

The music started, HOLY SMOKES IT WAS LOUUUUUUUUUUUUD, and we were off! The parade route went around the Tree of Life, and according to one CM they were going to try to make it in 30 minutes, another one debated and said 31 minutes, and another chimed in with 35 minutes. Whatever it was, our arms were sore by the end from waving, but it really was an unforgettable time! At the very end of the parade, as SOON as the float crossed the "finish line" (the gate) the music was cut and everyone was out of character. It was kinda hilarious, I could really tell how exhuasting it must be for them all to dance (especially the couple of them on stilts!) all around the Tree of Life. We got off the float and waited while the rest of the parade came in through the gate. I really didn't realize how long it was! They gave us some water bottles and we returned the Mickey Safari hats and vests, we were thanked and high-fived many times by several CM's. There were a few other people picked out to be in the parade and one family had two daughters. A few of the items in the parade were like the Chinese dragon-where it was a big animal on sticks with a CM or two under it. When these would pass by in the gate after the end of the parade, those CM's would always make their animal "lick" or bop the girls on their heads. They loved it. I thought that was really neat of the CM's. I could geninuly tell, while most of them were pretty exhausted by the end of the parade, they did enjoy their jobs. One guy, was very blunt with me. I asked him "So you have to do this everyday???" He was one of the dancers in the parade-that could NOT be easy to do. His response was "Yes, I have t---no, I GET to!" It was pretty funny, he was joking. I knew that while parts of the job weren't ideal to him I'm sure, overall, it was a good job that he enjoyed. I couldn't imagine having to be incredibly energetic, excited, smiley, etc EVERYDAY on top of dancing for a half hour. Joe and I both noticed, that at one point during the parade where no people could gather, every character just stopped-they all breathed and just walked normally. It was a nice break for them-short, but nice. And a nice break for us! Our arms were killing us!!

Oh, and the song-it didn't get stuck in my head, but I do remember part of it. "Are you ready to party? YEA! I said are you ready to party! YEA!" and another part where the CM driving would "ask" Rafiki on the float behind us what he saw up ahead..."oooooh, so many people!"

After the parade we scurried over to Expedition Everest for one last ride and walked right on with our Fast Pass. Once again, an awesome ride. After that the park was closed so we headed out toward the front gate. We walked up to the bus stop and like every other time, the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus rolled up at the same time! We headed to the Mara for a quick water break (not coffee this time!) and then rested in our room before our dinner at Boma.

We headed down to Boma about 15 minutes before our reservation time. We checked in and were given a buzzer. We wandered around the lodge a bit, and then headed outside to sit by the firepit. After a short while our buzzer went off and we were given a table fairly close to the buffet, but not too close. We got in line for the buffet and gushed about how awesome everything looked, despite not feeling that hungry. I tried almost everything that even looked remotely tasty (which was pretty much EVERYTHING). It was all delicious. I cannot remember any specific dish I didn't like, though some of them I hadn't a clue what I was eating some of the time!

Then the moment for dessert arrived.

...
...
...
...
...

It was finally time to try the proclaimed ZEBRA DOME.

I approached the tray slowly, snapped a picture of the delicacy

and then, with a knot in my stomach, I took two of the Domes. Would I like them? Would I hate them? Would I fall in love with them like everyone else???? So many questions!



(Before heading back to the table, I filled the plate with other desserts as well...)

I sat down at our table, looked at Joe with a smile on my face and took my first bite...

OH YES. THESE ARE GOOD. BEYOND GOOD!!! I can fully understand the ravings that surround these wonders! Delish!!!!

And despite not being hungry when coming into the resturant, and filling my plate(s) with a bit of every dish and eating nearly everything, I still managed to eat a plate full of desserts without trouble!

After dinner we waddled back to our hotel room where Joe brought up the idea of spending sometime in the hot tub. It was past 10:00 pm by now and it sounded like a nice closure to a wonderful day. We headed down to find the smaller hot tub completely empty. Ahhhhhh. We soaked for a while, and a few people ended up joining us-which was fine. After about 25 minutes we headed back to the room, fully relaxed, full and with a growing love for AKL and WDW in our hearts.

Tomorrow we had to set a wake-up call. Tomorrow as the day we had both been waiting for. Segway Tours around Epcot in the morning, follwed by a full-day at Epcot. Joe knew he would like Epcot, and he's already been on a Segway, but was excited to get to spend two hours cruising around on one. I had never even seen a Segway in real life, so I was a tad nervous, but more excited to experience it. Anything techy-count me in! So, a wake-up call was set and off to bed we went...

[epcot day coming soon!]