Wedding Crasher: Lurkyloo’s 4 Parties in 3 Nights with 2 Cameras and 1 Fabulous Hat

[lurkyloo]

Is that the kind of tooting I'm thinking about?!

Yes. Yes it is.

Woo-hoo! It begins....
...and I am totally subscribing! I missed out on the "live" portion of your blog - I was shooting in LA with your DH ;-) and had to catch up later. THIS I won't miss. Prepare to be pestered for updates!

Speaking of which.....

Hi! I'm gonna try to update every day, but it may be later in the evening....

Ok I want an iphone!! lol

Loving it so far.

More power to you for going alone. I couldn't do it.

You know, that's what I thought, but then I was having so dang much fun, it didn't bother me anymore! ...Don't tell DH

Oh I am so glad it has begun! I am in awe that the room was ready for you that early! That is amazing. And how nice of Lori to make you a welcome bag.

The iphone has an ambience app?? I so want one!!

Yes! It's called "Ambience" and it's a HUGE download. I think you have to hook up to your pooter and download it through iTunes it's so big. But they have a ton of sounds, including, I think, user-generated ones. Of course the iPhone speakers are kinda tinny, but if you had any kind of travel speakers, I think it would sound fabulous.

Yay! Found your TR! Fingers crossed that there's cake!

Speaking of, I was all set to have some Coca-cola cake at Jestine's Kitchen in Charleston yesterday, but they were closed.

Shame on them! I wanna know what Coca-Cola cake tastes like!

ETA: after posting the above, I went back to read, and clicked on the link to Patrick's company. Conner was sitting in my lap, mesmerized. This kid loves puppets. (BTW, he's almost 10 months.) If Patrick ever does a video of his puppets, let me know. I might have to buy stock in them.

Aw, thanks! I think Swazzle should sell videos too! I guess, though, that their thing is that it's *live* puppetry (apparently a lot of the library/school performers do puppets to a taped track).

OMG - Your first post and I can't see your pictures. Stupid firewall! I just about died reading about the "tooting" lady in front of you on the plane. My coworker got a big laugh out of that, too. That would have been enough to keep me awake all night!

And how! But I wish I'd been able to sleep through it, none the wiser.... Now what's this business about a firewall blocking my pictures?! They aren't THAT bad!!!

VERY nice first installment---hilarious as always. The tooting lady was...uhhh....funny and horrifying all rolled into one.

Now onto my question--we have never stayed at POP but booked one night on the beginning of our stay at the BWV this year. We booked the 80's section---is it really that far from everything?? We stayed at ASSp Tennis in 07 which I believe was the furthest building, and it didn't seem too bad. Hopefully POP isn't worse. I guess I could always change my room selection though.

It's not horrible. I think most of the buildings at the Moderates are way farther from the action than '80s at Pop is. You just have to walk around a couple other wings and cut through the parking lot to get to the Classic Hall the shorter way. And the drive to the '80s parking lot is a lot farther from the entrance than the '50s lot is. But hey, you're driving!

I looked at the All-Star Sports Map and Pop Maps, and it looks to me like '80s is farther from Classic Hall than Tennis is from Stadium Hall, but see what you think:

Pop Map!

All-Star Sports Map!

love the gift bag...what a great idea. We did a small gift bag for out of town guests (which was most of the wedding guests) for my brothers wedding but just some waters and some breakfast foods...though now thinking back on it we should have added some exederin (sp??) because the reception was in the hotel everyone was staying at so we all were there til the reception ended and everyone drank alot!

I have to say, I was very anti-gift bag as a bride, but I am completely pro-gift bag as a guest!

Great start!
I bet u wish u had gotten a mask to protect u from the swine flu on that flight!
POP looks pretty nice & soneone was smiling on u to have a room ready so early!

Totally! And it felt like the whole wing was empty at that hour - so peaceful!

We are back and I am now officially subbing to your TR!!!

Thanks for "crashing" our DP!!!

Stay tuned for my TR...(really, I swear I will do one this time!)

Hi!!! Can't wait to read your report. It was so nice of you to let me come to your party! And to not call security when I stalked your wedding!

Wow, that is one nice gift bag! (And one nice DIS bride!)
PS - Thanks for the movie review! I avoided the spoilers for now, but I hope to see it tonight, and then we can discusssss...

Ooh, fun - I hope you love it!

I love your trip reports! Can't wait for the next installment

Me either! Oh wait... I guess that means I gotta write it...

I hope you were able to rest in the "nap" bed. And I would have gotten the uncontrollable giggles if I had a red eye flight with a tooting lady in front of me!!!

Totally, but I tried to avoid giggling or doing anything that would cause me to breathe it in!

 

[MariesMeow]

I've just finished catching up on all of your other trip reports, Your wedding was absolutely gorgeous! Can't wait to hear more of the trip report

 

[MissK]

Ooh eager to read, love your previous reports

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Hey, thanks – I’ll pass along the compliment. Hopefully one day his company will go national and you’ll be able to see a show at a library near you. But in the meantime, if you ever get out to Disneyland, you may be able to catch one nearby!

Our trip this summer ALMOST became a Disneyland trip. We have some good friends in Anaheim and they have been after us to come for a visit. But alas, the 4/3 deal was beyond my ability to resist.

Even worse, I was awake to experience the woman in the seat in front of me tooting her way across the country!

That just aint right. I'm all for firing off a round when you need to, but ariplanes and elevators are definitely off limits.

When we finally landed in Orlando, I felt surprisingly awake. I took waaaaay too many photos to document the momentous occasion of my arrival (this is when I first realized that juggling an iPhone camera to live blog and a real one for the trip report was gonna be tricky.)

Sometimes I wonder if the locals can spot us DISers. It shouldn't be that hard. Just look for the folks taking pictures of signs, food and light fixtures.

Warning! This car handles like a tractor!

Now that one had me cracking up. And reliving the moment I accidentally sawed my shoe in half with a tractor. (I aint exactly the farm savvy type)

Worst. Gate Shot. Ever. …But at least I didn’t crash while taking it!

At least you get points for technique.

You can almost dry your hair while on the toilet!

Awesome! Although I think that's against the warning label. "Thou shalt not do thine 'do while doing a doo."

Finally I made myself lie down in my nap bed (I had two beds – why not designate one for napping and one for real sleeping?) even though I still didn’t feel tired. I turned on the Ambience app on my iPhone, which is a sound machine with a bazillion different clips. I only have a rain one, and it was all I needed….

That's good logic right there.

 

[Beka]

A girl I went to hs with does this wedding blog, and it reminded me of you.

This is it.

 

[blabbermouth]

Great start!
I bet u wish u had gotten a mask to protect u from the swine flu on that flight!
POP looks pretty nice & soneone was smiling on u to have a room ready so early!

No no, that would have given her pink eye, not the swine flu! Eww ick.

I'm enjoying your blurry photos, really feels like I'm living it with you.

I stayed in the 50's section, decent enough location to me, but I like to walk, and I didn't have a car.

Oh yeah, and teehee, ham-handed.

 

[KristinAnne]

Great start! Your TRs are so entertaining. I hope there's another one coming up after this one!!

 

[DWGal210]

I read your wedding report and LOVED it so I'm here for this one!!

I have to tell you that I was reading your Pre-Trippie with all the pictures of cake....and it overcame me....I went to Target that afternoon (where you can buy individual pieces of cakes and cheescakes) and bought a delicious piece of Red Velvet Cake. Seeing all those pictures of cake made me salivate and I was CRAVING cake like no one's business!!

Looking forward to more!

 

[Angrypenguin]

Woo hoo! I always enjoy reading your reports, even though I lurk most of the time. Great job on the passporter wedding book by the way, I only saw pieces of it, but it looks fantastic.

 

[Daisybelle]

Weeeee! Another trippie to enjoy on my Diet Coke breaks!

Signed,

A dedicated lurker
(Oh! And I'd love to read more about your trips and tips for Disneyland if you ever have time!)

 

[tink1957]

I arrived late to the party, but 'm here....bring on the cake!

 

[LouDisney]

Great start, Carrie.
I can't wait to read more

 

[lurkyloo]

I've just finished catching up on all of your other trip reports, Your wedding was absolutely gorgeous! Can't wait to hear more of the trip report

Thanks! So glad you enjoyed the other reports!

Ooh eager to read, love your previous reports

Thank you! I hope this one lives up to them...

Our trip this summer ALMOST became a Disneyland trip. We have some good friends in Anaheim and they have been after us to come for a visit. But alas, the 4/3 deal was beyond my ability to resist.

Understood. Although, I think Disneyland is having a 5 for the price of 3 deal right now (just to make things more difficult for ya! )

Sometimes I wonder if the locals can spot us DISers. It shouldn't be that hard. Just look for the folks taking pictures of signs, food and light fixtures.

Totally! I'm not even embarrassed about taking food pictures anymore - even when I'm not at Disney.

A girl I went to hs with does this wedding blog, and it reminded me of you.

This is it.

Wow - she's got great taste! Is it just a hobby? Is she in the wedding biz? What a great blog!

I'm enjoying your blurry photos, really feels like I'm living it with you.

Yeah, that's it - the blurry photos are like cinéma vérité!

I stayed in the 50's section, decent enough location to me, but I like to walk, and I didn't have a car.

I really like '50s. It seems like an easy walk to the Classic Hall for the non-drivers and close parking for the drivers.

Great start! Your TRs are so entertaining. I hope there's another one coming up after this one!!

I hope so too!

I read your wedding report and LOVED it so I'm here for this one!!

I have to tell you that I was reading your Pre-Trippie with all the pictures of cake....and it overcame me....I went to Target that afternoon (where you can buy individual pieces of cakes and cheescakes) and bought a delicious piece of Red Velvet Cake. Seeing all those pictures of cake made me salivate and I was CRAVING cake like no one's business!!

Oh dear - I'm sorry the pre-trippie drove you to cake, but I have to say you couldn't have made a better choice! I wonder if my Target sells individual cake slices....

Woo hoo! I always enjoy reading your reports, even though I lurk most of the time. Great job on the passporter wedding book by the way, I only saw pieces of it, but it looks fantastic.

Thank you! I worked my patootie off on it - I'm so glad to hear that!

Weeeee! Another trippie to enjoy on my Diet Coke breaks!

Signed,

A dedicated lurker
(Oh! And I'd love to read more about your trips and tips for Disneyland if you ever have time!)

Oh yes! PM me and I'll send you my dissertation - er, I mean tips - on Disneyland for WDW fans!

I arrived late to the party, but 'm here....bring on the cake!

Coming right up! (Well, it'll be a couple more installments til cake, but it's coming!)

 

[lurkyloo]

When I woke up 2 hours later I felt worse than when I’d gone to sleep. D'oh! But I shook it off, took a shower, and got all tarted up for my big day out with Jensey! Hooray!

I’d never done one of these – before I met DH, I always went to Disneyland by myself. Now we go together or, if we're lucky, sometimes with other couples. But I feel like I've been let in on the secret of the Girls' Day in the Parks, 'cuz oh my gosh, hanging out with Jensey was SO much fun!

Note: I apologize for the copious amounts of photos I'm about to include. I'm already bad at whittling down the number of my own pix, and with the Roots' photos it's impossible to choose!

Jensey whisked us over to Epcot in the Rootmobile and we booked it to Norway. We ended up being a leetle bit late for our 11:05 breakfast ADR, but it worked out OK thanks to the baffling check-in process.

First, you check in with the podium girl, but don't under any circumstances proceed to the conga line of people creeping toward the Grip 'n' Grin Princess Photo Op that's the first stop on your way to breakfast! Instead, you must mill around in front of the entrance, blocking the door, until at least five minutes have passed. Then your name will be called and you may go wait at the back of the line. No waiting in line before your name is called, though—and don't even think of sneaking off to buy School Bread at Kringla Bakery!

Eventually we were dumped into the photo corral with Princess Aurora, who was very sweet and smiley and only once whispered "Help me!" under her breath. The PhotoPass guy took a shot with Jensey's camera first, which was nice....


I love how my troublesome lower half recedes in this picture so much as to be nonexistent - I'm the Floating Torso of Doom!

We did feel a little tricked though when the shot that PhotoPass chose for our commemorative folio and prints was the one where someone told us to pretend to be sleeping but Sleeping Beauty kept her eyes open and looked all lovely as we pantomimed drooling...


No, your eyesight isn't going - it's just a bad scan of the photo!

After shaking off Aurora, who was clawing at our arms and mouthing "Take me with you!" we were escorted to a table in my favorite spot—right near the busing station! I must have stamped on my forehead in code only Disney can read: "Seat this woman at the worst table in the house!"

Still we had a nice view of the proceedings. I'd heard that Akershus was a ghetto for, shall we say, inauthentic-looking princesses, but this wasn't the case that day—those ladies were all gorgeous!

True, Mary Poppins is not a princess or even Norwegian. However, she is conveniently available whenever real princesses call in sick!

Our Meta Moment:

A cheerful fellow in hose came by and told us how breakfast worked: We could go to the appetizer/pastry buffet as often as we liked, and they would bring us an all-you-care-to-stuff-down platter of hot breakfast food. We went to investigate the buffet. As I'd feared, when you get the last seating time for breakfast, the pickings are slim:


This shot pretty much encapsulates my worst nightmares of buffets...

Mmmmm! Picked-over...uh... gefiltefluügen!

Well, at least they have, um, lignionhöoven!

By the time we got back to our table, the breakfast platter was already there.


What, no Mickey waffles?!

As we were raising our first forkfuls, Belle came by and insisted on taking a picture with us. We set our forks back down and Jensey handed me her ginormous Canon EOS 5D Mach III Turbo ExXxtreme, which I gingerly hoisted like a loaded gun and then hung on to for dear life as it squeezed off dozens of shots in rapid succession (hope I didn't hit anybody!).


I took this picture! (Not pictured: shots of the floor, the wall, the table, Jensey's elbow, my nostril, etc.)

Jensey & Ricardo Montalban

We bid Belle farewell and were just about to take that first bite when... "Oh hello, Mary Poppins!"

"Well that was a jolly holiday. Now how about some grub—ooooor a photo with Snow White..."

It's a Fake-Off!

By the time Jasmine came by our stomachs were growling, the food was ice cold, and a fly had actually tasted our breakfast before we had. I didn't even bother standing up for my photo cuz I wanted to be that much closer to the food when it was over.


Whoa. I think Jasmine's torso would trounce the Floating Torso of Doom in a cage match!

At last we got to tuck into our meal undisturbed, mostly because the restaurant was now closed...

 

[lurkyloo]

The food was declared "meh" by Jensey, who is a big connoisseur of Disney breakfasts, and I concurred. I mean, for one thing, what kind of hot breakfast platter doesn't have something sweet on it, be it a waffle, a pancake or French toast? The smoked salmon I scavenged from the buffet was very tasty, but I don't even remember the other stuff.

However, one good thing about having the last breakfast seating is that you're first in line when they put out the lunch buffet!

Lunch has been open for 30 seconds and there's already dropped food?

Although we'd only just wolfed down breakfast, I insisted on trying all the least identifiable foods on the lunch buffet just because I could. The biggest mystery were the brown slabs to the right of the yellow goo in this picture.

I ate it and I'm still not sure what it was - maybe cheese?

On our way out, Jensey got a few more shots of the place - it's so pretty!

Up Next: Discovering the Fabulous Hat!

 

[lurkyloo]

Great start, Carrie.
I can't wait to read more

Thanks! Glad to see you here!

 

[ampooh]

This no internet at work policy is killing me....already on page 4.

I'm ready for the next installment

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Note: I apologize for the copious amounts of photos I'm about to include. I'm already bad at whittling down the number of my own pix, and with the Roots' photos it's impossible to choose!

Does. Not. Compute. Apologies for coupious amounts of photos?

Love your description of the check-in process. They do make it difficult... don't they?!

I can only hope for some pictures where my lower half recedes.

You were on princess overload for a while there!

Love that you got to try breakfast AND lunch. Remind me to order the brown slabs to the left of the yellow goo.

 

[annnewjerz]

Love the second installment, however, I agree that picked-over buffet is not exactly my idea of a perfect meal. The place looked beautiful though---so at least that was a plus!!

Loving the Roots' Photography---can't wait for more!

 

[inkedupmomma]

jensey is just the cutiest thing ever! and man that camera she has takes rockin pics!