We're back...Family Trip, Cake "Tasting", and Engagement Pics with The Man! :)

[Tink143]

Hey Girls,

I've been dying to get on here since I got home Wednesday night at 9 PM, but starting two NEW businesses right after a week at WDW is exhausting. I'm gonna start my trip report officially tomorrow sometime, but I wanted to quickly vent about one of my two bad experiences on my trip.

So I scheduled my hair and makeup appointment for our engagement photo shoot with (PM me if you want to know which Disney appointed person) for 8:30 the morning of. Pics with Randy at 11 AM, perfect. Well I emailed above person two weeks in advance to confirm (AGAIN) for the 4th. Nothing. Sent a similar email to Randy...responded a week later. So I continued to check my email on my cellphone on the trip, thinking...maybe it takes a hairdresser two weeks to return email...Still nothing. I for some reason did not have her phone number in my Wedding Spiral, and it is not attached to any of her emails, so I pulled out the phone book, found her in there, called that number...Message saying please note our number has changed to xxx-xxx-xxxx, so I call that number, and then that HORRIBLE doo-doo-doo noise (you know you know the one!) this number is disconnected. FABULOUS! So I'm like whatever, I'll do my hair and makeup myself, better today that my wedding day, but still not happy about that at all.

So I'm curious, do y'all think I can get my deposit back for the wedding services which I am obviously going to cancel, and call Ana first thing Monday and hope she is available for my wedding date instead of the other person. Like I said I'm glad it was just engagement pictures, but I wanted to forewarn some of you lovely ladies that may have not scheduled their hair and makeup yet. Maybe there are extenuating circumstances in this person's case, but she should have communicated with her clients if something happened to keep her from her commitments, right?

I'll be back on tomorrow, my son is begging me to go to bed...VERY RARE occasion! Good night ladies!

 

[OceanGdss]

Wow! that is strange about the hairdresser. I would be very upset! You should definately get your deposit back. As for Randy not calling back, I waited two weeks to hear back from him, finally called him back myself today, and he returned my phone call immediately. I don't know if his secretary didn't pass on my information or something, but he said he hadn't seen anything for him to call me back and was VERY apologetic about it. I DO know that the first time I called there was a woman's voice on the recording, the second time it was Randy's voice on the recording, so he must have had his calls fowarded at one point and missed me. Who knows...but I can't wait to see pics!

And thanks for the heads up about the shady hairdresser

 

[Tink143]

I had no issues about Randy returning my correspondence! I understand how busy he is...I fully expect to wait a week to get anything back from him...mainly because for him the actual taking of the pictures is not time consuming at all compared to all the work he does afterwards. Anyways, I'll continue to gush on the wonderfulness that is Randy tomorrow. Maggie is right indeed...Randy says hi by the way!

 

[OceanGdss]

Im sorry..i thought you had said you were concerned over it...its late...my eyes stop working at 8pm lol. Randy is great though isnt he??

 

[Lynn5700]

Wow I am a hair dresser and I would never do that to a client. I would definatley call Ana and see if she can fit you in, I am using her for our makeup. Hair we are doing ourselves lol,no point in haveing her do it since I am a hair dresser and so is my friend who is in the wedding. Good luck,I hope you can book her.

 

[Tink143]

Cast of Characters (very accurate statement):
Me - Lisa, 27
DF - Travis, 35
My DS - Logan, 5
My Dad, Steve (I'll leave his age out of this )
My Step-Mom, Sherri
My Step-Brother, Brandon - 19
My Step-Sister, Erin - 16

Home Location - Houston/Tomball, TX
Resort of Choice - The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge
Arrival Date - Wednesday May 30th
Departure Date - Wednesday June 6th

First Drama of the trip - The shuttle to the airport. I thought that since there were 7 of us going, and we would all have a lot of luggage (6 just between me, DF, and DS) we would have to take two vehicles to the airport, and with gas $3.00 a gallon and parking outrageous, it made more sense to spend $130 total for a shuttle for all 7 of us to the airport and back. Well, I was wrong. First let me preface my dad. Not the most patient of men, got quite a bit of a temper, and does not like to not be the one in charge.
So we have the shuttle pick us up at dad's some where between 4:50-5:10 AM , well at 5:08 the shuttle driver calls saying he's about 10 minutes away, and is asking for directions - which I went into great detail of on my reservations, but whatever. After another 20 minutes we call him, cause he should have been here by now, and he was an exit passed ours. Anyways, he finally gets there, and we pile in, get our luggage in, and we're off. I immediately felt like I was riding an out of control version of Test Track. We get to the airport, the guy is falling asleep at the wheel, and he then takes us to the opposite side of the airport from where the skycaps were, so we have to haul all of our luggage through the airport. FABULOUS! Dad was not happy, and had no problem letting the driver know it.

We finally get on the airplane and are on our way to the mouse!

Get to MCO, and check-in with DME - no Line! Get on the bus - Bus driver Dave is awesome, funny, informative, and a much smoother ride than the shuttle that morning! We were sitting right in the front - my son said he was going to be the first one on the bus, he got his first wish of the trip! always keep the 5 year old happy - especially "free" happy! We begin to hear weird stuff on the Transportation Radio - saying "Avoid this area!" Do not go this way! Stay away! We see five helicopters flying over head, then see a police officer on the side of the freeway, sniper rifle drawn...very exciting stuff. Apparently three idiots decided to knock over a bank right by a Policemen's Conference, and the Orlando Police Department got to show their stuff!

We get dropped off at WL first, I'm so excited! I couldn't wait to see everyone's faces when they saw the lobby, and I couldn't wait to smell my absolute favorite smell - Whispering Canyon Cafe! That was our first stop after checking in - That is my first we're at WDW must-do. Had lunch, delicious as always, an our waiter was great - Cousin Al was the typical waiter from there, funny and obnoxious! Great time had by all. My son's favorite was riding the stick horses around - he and DF had a race, they both cheated! BOYS!

Up Next: It'll get more exciting I promise! Lessons learned later: A five year old at WDW with only 4 hours of sleep - No Good for anyone involved!

 

[jodeeluvsdisney]

Can't wait to hear more...keep it coming!

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

Enjoying the report so far. I look forward to reading more.

 

[TexasCourt]

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Tink143]

Enjoying the report so far. I look forward to reading more.

Your tag line at the end about cleaning while your kids are growing is GREAT! Made me laugh for sure! I totally agree with that! I feel like I am perpetually doing Laundry and I only have one kid right now!

Thanks every one for reading...I'm gonna continue working tomorrow. I've been catching up on my reading on here, now I'm tired. Funny isn't it...typically I hate to read, but on disboards I'll be on here for hours.

See y'all tomorrow!

 

[Maggimus]

Wow how did I miss this?

First of all im glad you love Randy too- isnt he a doll? Just a great person to be around.

Second-- I can tell we are going to have lots in common. The first order of business when getting to WDW (other than checking in)- is eating at WCC. We love it there! We dont have kids so the atmosphere isnt the reason we go-- we love the food!! You got me all hungry now!

Cant wait for more. Im glad the entire rifle drawn thing wasnt something huge and didnt take up too much time for you guys. Wouldnt it be horrible to travel all that way and be oh so close-- only to have to be delayed by stupidity!

Cant wait for more!

 

[SRUAlmn]

Great report so far! I can't wait to read more!! It's so fun to live vicariously through everyone who's going. It's helping me pass the time until our wedding

 

[Malibelle]

Great trip report so far. Sorry about the hairdresser. I had booked a certain hairdresser, did my trial run and was not very happy so I switched to Ana. I loved what she did. You will be happy with her. All my girls looked different and great.

 

[Tink143]

Sorry Ladies, Life has been extremely hectic this week, I'm gonna try to finish the first and second day today.

After WCC, we rode the boat to MK. This day is somewhat of a blur, mainly because DS was tired (and cranky), which made things miserable for us. My extended family wanted to ride hop, which is specifically what we did not want to do...too tiring for DS and went totally against the plan we had the whole 6 months of planning before the trip. Whatever!

So we go toward Space Mountain...closed temporarily. Then DS saw Astro Orbiter...stood in line for that. Oh Boy! Stayed at MK for a little while longer, but nothing really exciting happened except MANY trips to the bathroom for DS and DF was frustrated. So we went in pretty early, DS slept for like 13 hours that night.

Morning #1: My dad says instead of eating the food you brought for breakfast, why don't we have a Hearty Breakfast at Roaring Fork, and I'll pay for it. OK, doesn't make sense to not use DDP, but OK. So we finally get on our way to MGM. I thought DS could see lots of characters, and that might help his mood!
EF (Extended Family) wanted to ride Tower and RRC first, of course. So we rode Tower twice, DS freaked out, after the second time he had enough of that. We went to see Beauty and the Beast - good show, hadn't seen it before.

Then rode RRC...DS liked it ok, but not a fan of flips. Not sure what's up with my eyes in this picture...DF had taken one bad shot before, I think the flash did something to me!

We went to The Art of Disney. We are huge Disney Art Collectors, so we went to check out new pieces. In November 2006 when we were there, we talked to the Artist David Klippenberg (sp?). When we went in, there he was hard at work. He remembered talking to us before, and after we bought two pieces, my dad and step-mom said you two should take your picture with him, gives all the artwork history or something like that. The "Art Guy" agreed...so here it is.

After the Art Studio, we discovered Frozone. So we took a few photos. Then went to wait for the Stars and Motor Cars Parade. This is I think my favorite daytime parade, and I knew DS would love it.
Sidenote: At some point in the day, we bought DS a Pirates Gun...not realizing it would turn out to be such a prop for the characters!

 

[Tink143]

We got to our parade spot about 30 minutes early...good time to enjoy the first Mickey Bar of the trip...

The parade finally started and made it's way down to the hat. Character interaction is great when you have a kid! Wish I knew that sooner!

Green Army Man from Toy Story trying out DS Gun...tries to offer a trade! Very Funny!

Then Darth Vader notices the gun...Challenge!

The Evil Queen saw it from across the street and comes over to DS and tells him something along the lines of "Watch where you point that thing!"

Great parade...DS is finally starting to get into this Disney World thing. I can't say I blame him. His trip to this point was 6 people telling him do this, don't do that, and scary ride after scary ride. Again...go with the plan people!

We sought out Woody and Buzz after this...the gun gets some more action!
We split up, since both lines we're kinda long. I advise this if your child is old enough to pull it off. Got Buzz first. Then went to DF to take picture with Woody. I took DS gun for his picture with Woody. Woody saw the gun, took it from me, and took off after Buzz. A gun fight insued.

It was very funny. The Photopass guy was right there snapping all the pictures for us. Very entertaining. Took "normal" pic with Woody and we were on our way.

Coming up in my next installment: Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern and "Our Own Spectromagic" Parade!

 

[Maggimus]

how fun! I love all the photos!

 

[Tink143]

To those of you who have not eaten there, I highly encourage it! The food is amazing...Family Style Thanksgiving Dinner...YUM! Delicious Salad, Wonderful Rolls, and Apple Cobbler for dessert. It includes ice cream, so how could it be bad! Not to mention the character interaction is really good. The first time I ate there it was ok interaction...but it was just me and DF (actually the night we got engaged ~ after dinner). But this time, the ADR was a little later, and there were 7 of us, so that probably made a difference. Each character came by at least twice...my favorites were Chip and Dale. Dale was very playful with my brother. Kept coming by and messing with his hat, turning it sideways, and then would keep looking back to make sure he didn't fix it. Then do the whole I'm watching you thing.

Then Chip went to hide from Goofy in a closet right by our table, and then when Goofy went to get him out, the doorknob came off! Minnie trying to fix it! Silly Boys!

Anyways, very fun dinner experience!

 

[Tink143]

Saturday we went to Epcot, and then took the boat to Boardwalk cause DF said it would be a long walk...It would not have been a long walk at all...Just FYI. I wanted to see Sea Breeze Pointe in person. It is SO Beautiful! There were some flowers that we could tell would be gorgeous for our March wedding! We stopped by the Boardwalk Bakery to see if we could order a small cake (or two We're on vacation...Whose Jenny Craig?) to try to determine what flavors we wanted. Well we told Kristy (super nice) that we were getting married there next year, etc. She said Hang on...so she went back and got the pastry chef, Sandy...SUPER NICE! We told her our "plan" she said typically they do cake testings through your WC, we told her we were doing an intimate wedding, and we didn't get that priviledge. So she told us a few options, and then said hold on. She disappeared into the back for a few minutes, which let me smell how wonderful that bakery smells btw. She comes out with two cupcakes, and eight spoons. She cut the cupcakes into fourths, and gave us two scoops of the different fillings. DF and I were almost in tears, she was so nice! She told us to go sit outside at a table and sample the options. She said she didn't have any raspberry or strawberry mousse made. We tasted chocolate mousse, white chocolate mousse, buttercream, and amaretto mousse. I of course liked chocolate cake with chocolate mousse. DF said he'd have to have a glass of milk with that cake! (Is that possible?) He said he wanted to try the raspberry mousse. So we ordered a six inch cake with raspberry mousse. She had it ready for us the next day, so we had that for dessert on Sunday night...that story later.

Anyways, anyone that will get their cake from Boardwalk Bakery will have it made by Sandy, you are in good hands. The cake was delicious, and she was SUPER NICE!!! THANK YOU SANDY! Sorry I didn't take pictures of either cake experience, but it was GOOD!

 

[Tink143]

Lesson of the day: Trust the veterans when making ADR's!

So Sunday, step-mom calls us - they took off to Epcot, fine with us ~ Alone at last! She says she wanted to see Illuminations, so she wanted to make an ADR (if you can call it that day of!) somewhere in World Showcase...ok. The Japanese place was closed until August for refurbishment, Le Cellier (where I really wanted to eat, but was booked in March when we did our other ADR's)was booked until August - No Shock there! So she made an 8:30 ADR for the restaurant in Italy...um yeah...8:30 for a 9 o'clock show...probably not gonna work out. So we get to the restaurant after walking SUPER fast to get there "early" because the Cast Member told my SM that you could see the show from the window, so get there early to request a window table.

Well I, having not really been to World Showcase since 1989 had no idea where Italy was, let alone the restaurant. But we get there and the restaurant is about 200 yards down this "alley" and there are no windows! SO I a little frustrated at this point, not because we couldn't see the show, but because we tried telling SM that it wasn't going to work...but we couldn't have been right. Also in this whole tour the world in 2 minutes brisk walk, DF went to the Boardwalk to pick up our cake. We had all talked about it on the bus to Epcot, said we would all sample the cake as part of our dessert for that night, etc. So the rest of the family gets ahead of us at Marathon pace, and DF goes his way. I catch up to them in Italy, and they're all "Where's Travis?" Hello? We had a conversation about this I THOUGHT! I dunno about everyone else, and maybe with your families it's different, but there were a lot of moments in this trip I could have genuinely hurt someone out of frustration! And CRAZY me, I'm going back in March with the same group, plus 13 to get married. Can we say GLUTTEN FOR PUNISHMENT????

In my next installment: The Man, Randy Chapman! Engagement Pictures!

 

[Maggimus]

Yikes sorry about your family mishap. Hope that doesnt happen on your wedding trip. Was the rasberry good? I wish I had tried it-- we had strawberry and it was amazing!

Cant wait to hear all about randy and see your engagement photos!