WDW/DCL Western Caribbean Honeymoon Extravaganza!! DONE!!! - PG 51!!

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Im in!
Great TR so far, loving it.
My sister and i also spotted some of the AC crew out and about in the parks doing other things.
they need to bring it back!!!
looking forward to more.
Have had and passed kidney stones, once they drop into the bladder, not painful at all, just weird when they come plopping out.

Thanks!! Isn't that great that they've tried to keep the AC crew in the parks? I wouldn't want to let them go either! Glad to know the worst is over with the stones!

Love your report.

But, I wanna get married again and have you organize it! What a beautiful wedding. I hope my daughters will be as creative as you since we have been taking them to Disney since our youngest was 4 and the oldest 7, they are now 13 and 16. It was just absolutely wonderful. Glad your day wasn't ruined by the photographer.

Hope your DH is doing better with the stones. Looking forward to your next installment.

Thanks! I really appreciate your comments about the wedding. I worked really hard on making it very personal and reflect our personalities. I'm so glad that it can be appreciated by people on the DIS!! There were a few people that were there who appreciated it , but I knew everyone here would really "get it!"

 

[knewton64]

Okay, here is the official TR!!! For those of you following from my PRE trip report, I want to pick up right where I left off but will give a mini-summary of it all for anyone just joining. If you are just joining, please read my PTR, which I will link here!!

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2123163

My name is Nikki, Disney vet and park goer since 18 months of age. My (now) husband is Tom, Disney newbie as of 2006 and now Disney LOVER! Our wedding was the 18th followed by a week in the parks, followed by a week on the cruise and ending with a FABULOUS last day in Epcot before heading home to NJ.

So where did I leave off?? Oh yes, hair and makeup ran late...my niece is the cutest baby in the world...I yelled at my photographer....AH, me in my dress....

am reading now.

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

am reading now.

Yay!! Hope you enjoy it!!

 

[YoNoSe]

As one Staten islander to another, we'll blame those stones on the landfill, glad to see your up and around.

You can take the boy out of Staten Island, but you can't take Staten Island out of the boy.

 

[knewton64]

... I am only up to page 3 of yer trip report and I really do have to say from a personality stand point of view, you and screen name "Lurkyloo" are a total trip when I am reading yer trip reports. I like your writing style is what I am trying to say. its as if I can see your personality coming thru in your writing. I love it!
love the centerpieces and OM GOSH! YOUR DRESS ! W-O-W !!!!!!!!


still reading..........

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

... I am only up to page 3 of yer trip report and I really do have to say from a personality stand point of view, you and screen name "Lurkyloo" are a total trip when reading yer tr. I like your writing style is what I am trying to say. its as if I can see your persoanlity coming thru in your writing. I love it!
love the centerpieces and OM GOSH! YOUR DRESS ! W-O-W !!!!!!!!


still reading..........

Wow! What a compliment! Lurkyloo is like a Disboards celeb!! My "writing style" is more like, I type exactly as I would speak if I was telling about things! Good thing I'm a fast typer!!

I am soooo glad you are enjoying it!! Wasn't my dress awesome?! I was soooo happy with it. In fact, I didn't even realize how much I loved it until seeing pictures after the fact! And it was very comfortable, too. And the centerpieces really started in my imagination. All I knew was that I wanted to somehow represent a wish from various Disney movies. Everything else kind of just fell into place little by little over the months and I couldn't have imagined it any better!!

Thank you so much!!!!

 

[jasliv]

Nikki you were beautiful and the reception was awesome! My relatives and friends love the centerpieces too! Mine is still on my living room table!

 

[podsnel]

All caught up now! I'll try to remember everything I wanted to say while I was reading last night and today-

You both looked gorgeous- the close-up pics of you were great! Maybe your make-up felt goopy, but it looks beautiful in your photos!!

Love the mashed potato bar- YUM! Great idea!

Centerpieces were incredible.

My aunt used to live in the apartments next door to the Tottenville Ferry dock. It's very pretty there.

Please pm me who your baker was (he's LAZY???? Gimme a break!) and your photographer who went to the wrong cocktail hour- is that for real??? It's like Dumb & Dumber- SHEESH!

I give you a TON of credit for getting up so early the day after your wedding to get to the airport- you are one HECK of a dedicated mouseketeer!

I feel horrible for Tom!!! I hope he passes them soon, and painlessly.

And just to be clear- I am your first DISser....just sayin......

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

All caught up now! I'll try to remember everything I wanted to say while I was reading last night and today-

You both looked gorgeous- the close-up pics of you were great! Maybe your make-up felt goopy, but it looks beautiful in your photos!!

Thanks!!

Love the mashed potato bar- YUM! Great idea!

We were VERY excited about this and apparently it was a hit!

Centerpieces were incredible.

Thank you!! And you can thank a recent poster "jasliv" for going to the hall early that day and setting them ALL up with her husband!! I finally got her to post on these boards!! Hi Jill!!

My aunt used to live in the apartments next door to the Tottenville Ferry dock. It's very pretty there.

Yes, it worked out to be a perfect picture spot.

Please pm me who your baker was (he's LAZY???? Gimme a break!) and your photographer who went to the wrong cocktail hour- is that for real??? It's like Dumb & Dumber- SHEESH!

They were both recommended and often work with the Berkeley Plaza. The baker was the one in Westfield on the corner of Broad, you know which one I mean!!

I give you a TON of credit for getting up so early the day after your wedding to get to the airport- you are one HECK of a dedicated mouseketeer!

Oh yeah, gotta get there ASAP!!

I feel horrible for Tom!!! I hope he passes them soon, and painlessly.

JUST passed!! It was painless!

And just to be clear- I am your first DISser....just sayin......

THAT is true!!!! You are absolutely right. Although...my sister was a DISer long before I was so technically.......

J/K!!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Nikki you were beautiful and the reception was awesome! My relatives and friends love the centerpieces too! Mine is still on my living room table!

Hi Jill!!

Let me just THANK YOU one more time, in front of everyone who can appreciate the work that you did for us, setting up ALL those centerpieces the morning of our wedding. I don't know how I would've been able to get it done without you!!

 

[jasliv]

It was all fun- the creating, shopping for, and putting it all together, especially since it was for someone special!

 

[jasliv]

YAY Tom!!!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

A quick snap of Nik working on the TR while Jack (AKA Mr. Browsy B.) requests some attention. She cannot be distracted!

My cat will not let me get anything done if she's around. I try to read, she cuddles with the book, I sit down on the computer she jumps up in my lap, I try and eat, she butts her head against my fork. But then when I want to pet her she's completely uninterested.

As we started back around the lagoon again, I spotted the balloon from DTD for the first time. I was not aware you were able to see it from Epcot. I'm still not sure how I feel about that...

I don't think I mind the balloon that much, but I definatly don't like being able to see it in Norway like that.

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

I'm so glad Tom's kidney stone adventure is now over...NOT fun! So glad it didn't happen while you were on vacation!

I would be right there with you and Christy and the label maker, labeling everything in sight...I need to get one of those...I've wanted one for a while!

 

[podsnel]

Congrats, Tom!! Better out than in, huh?

Nikki- I can't BELIEVE that bakery was that way- we're talking about the Italian one, right??? Absolutely shocking!!!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

My cat will not let me get anything done if she's around. I try to read, she cuddles with the book, I sit down on the computer she jumps up in my lap, I try and eat, she butts her head against my fork. But then when I want to pet her she's completely uninterested.

I don't think I mind the balloon that much, but I definatly don't like being able to see it in Norway like that.

Oh Jack is the same way!! I mean, just look at him in that picture. "Hellooooo, I'm here, start petting me now!"

The balloon was definitely...interesting. I did get a lot of nice pics of it later on in the trip. I don't think I would ever do it but it was just a shock to see it out of nowhere, popping up over Norway!

I'm so glad Tom's kidney stone adventure is now over...NOT fun! So glad it didn't happen while you were on vacation!

I would be right there with you and Christy and the label maker, labeling everything in sight...I need to get one of those...I've wanted one for a while!

I would LOVE a label maker!

Congrats, Tom!! Better out than in, huh?

Nikki- I can't BELIEVE that bakery was that way- we're talking about the Italian one, right??? Absolutely shocking!!!

I know!! Especially considering their canolis are so delicious!

 

[my3m]

I found your SR but did not have a chance to meet you in the cruise.

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

July 20, 2009
Day 2 cont.
Dinner and Beaches and Cream and DTD​

Okay, so after a few rides in Future World, we decided on Beaches and Cream for dinner. We had wanted to go there for a long time and since we were in Epcot, we figured this was the perfect opportunity.

We walked through the international Gateway, stopping shortly for a pic with Poppins, and made our way to The Beach Club. Once there is was kind of confusing to get to Beaches and Cream since we didn't know exactly where it was. We somehow ended up walking right through the pool area! Woops!

Finally, we made it!! There weren't many people outside waiting but we were asked if we wanted table, booth, counter or first available and were given a pager.

We were seated at the counter after about 10 minutes and I was surprised at actually how small it is inside! There were literally 3 booths, a few tables and maybe 12 counter seats. This is a picture of the ENTIRE restaurant.

Anyway, we both ordered flavored diet cokes and we decided to split a meal so we can get onion rings and ice cream for dessert! While we waited for our food, we saw the famous Kitchen Sink being made.

The onion rings were delicious!!

The hamburger was very good. I guess it was better than the ones in the parks but the way people have been talking about them, I was expecting like a Fuddruckers burger or something.

After dinner, we ordered the No Way Jose! I've had my eye on this one since I first looked at the menu on Allears!

Good thing we split the hamburger because I was going to finish this dessert if I was full or not!

After dinner, we walked back through Epcot to get on the monorail back to the Poly. We walked through the UK and then Canada and Off Kilter was playing!

I know a lot of people love them. I never really stopped to enjoy the show but I always get a kick out of when they play because I can appreciate that so many people love them. Well, I couldn't believe what I saw next! Three CMs from Canada where standing behind the seats, almost right on the walkway, dancing their behinds off, hooting and hollering and holding up this sign!! I HAD to get a pic of them because I thought it was just the funniest thing!! (I wish they had more energy in this picture! As soon as I came over and asked them if I could take a pic, they just stopped and posed. Oh well!)

So we kept on walking through and Tom snapped this pic of me with SE. I LOVE SE, can you tell!

The monorail gets off at the TTC and from there we took the walkway to the Poly...

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I don't know about you guys, but by the end of Day 2, I'm usually exhausted!! So we go back to the room and rest for a while. Eventually Tom wants to go to DTD. I would've been happy just calling it a night but time not spent out and about in WDW is time wasted, so I got up and off we went.
I have to say something about the weather before I go on any further. The first few days we were there, they were saying on the weather channel that they were having record lows overnight! So I'm sure to a lot of people, especially from the north, it seemed like it was soooooo hot that week, but it was really way more bearable than it should have been.

So that night, we both put on jeans before going to DTD. I even got a coffee at one point and I could've used a sweater....but that's just me. I'm always cold. (Remember the picture of me and my cat? Yes, I have a blanket on in the middle of August...with no air conditioner...)

We walked through some stores in the Marketplace then made our way over to Pleasure Island to see what they have done with the place since the clubs closed.

We walked passed the abandoned clubs, up the main street on Pleasure Island to find some sort of street party going on, with music and men on stilts leading some sort of contest. There weren't very many people around, just in that little area by where the West End Stage used to be.

Okay, now I'm going to get all sentimental and be sort of a whiney Disney purist here so bear with me....

Obviously, I am a fan of the Adventurer's Club, as you can tell from my sig. I have been a fan of that place since I was really too young to be going there. I remember PI back when you used to buy a ticket just to get on the island, and you had to be 18 OR be with a parent or guardian. But once you were on the island, there was so much going on. The DJ was stationed in the booth above one of the buildings on the corner, there were dancers on a small stage next to that beach club, performers were everywhere, bands were playing on the West End Stage and every night was New Years Eve, complete with fireworks at midnight.

Then they made it open to the public and made it so that you pay admission to the individual clubs. I guess I wouldn't have a problem with that, except they stopped all those fun things they used to do. No more West End Stage, no more street performers and no more New Years Eve. In fact, the streets were kind of empty....therefore, there was no attraction for the people to go there and THEN go into the clubs. So of course, attendance of the clubs went down and eventually that led to them closing the clubs to make room for more shopping and dining...


So there we are, sitting in the steps of the Adventurer's Club, watching and listening to this mini party going on and I couldn't help but wonder why they decided to bring the street party back NOW. Maybe if you kept the street party atmosphere, the clubs would have been visited more? Maybe if you would have kept admission to get ON the island, people wouldn't just walk around the streets and buy drinks from the venders without going in the clubs.

I was very confused and sad, and I sat on the steps for a good 10 minutes, just pondering all of this and trying to make sense of it.

Here are some pics I took while I was there.

Ooohh, that sneaky balloon!!

Well, anyway, PI rant over.

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I found your SR but did not have a chance to meet you in the cruise.