We're back! That's Magical...our 1st Annual Couples Trip! Almost finished...

[MainStMandy]

Lauren then needed a potty break...to which I offered to hold her camera

This is Lauren's give-me-back-my-camera look

Heading back to World Showcase, Pat pretends he's a photographer...

We were now headed to find a seat for Illuminations. We parked ourselves on the first bridge after the UK and we saw this!!!

Now Eric and I had already decided on a Disney wedding but we still unsure of the details. We were so excited to see this party unfold!!

Where was the bride and groom????!?
Unfortunately Lauren didn't have right equipment but here she is!!!

We finally settled in for the show:

It was time to head back. The Boardwalk is my second favorite place at night...right after the MK!!!

Lauren and I took pictures in the photobooth...I wish I had them scanned because they are really fun!!

We stopped and watched this guy for a few minutes before heading to the car:

 

[MainStMandy]

We found out during Illuminations that the shuttle was scheduled to take off the next morning. We debating driving to Cape Canaveral but instead decided to get up early...Well 3 of us did!! Eric decided it wasn't exciting enough to get up that early...if we only knew how right he was!!

No one else was up either!!

We finally gave up and when I got back to the room I found out the launch was delayed! Oh well.

I don't remember what we did during the day since neither Lauren or I have pictures...maybe we didn't do anything

We had reservations at the Wilderness Lodge so we headed there in the afternoon. After exploring the resort a bit, we headed over to the MK for a bit before dinner!

Don't hold back Pat...

We didn't stay at the MK long and before we knew it, we were back at the Whispering Canyon Cafe. I think I can easily say this was the boy's FAVORITE meal!!

First up...bottomless milkshakes!!

The boys ate so fast Lauren didn't catch a picture until this!!

Lauren was so dehydrated that she kept asking for more water. Finally the waitress gave up

I guess I had mentioned a birthday on our reservation but when our waitress found out we were celebrating Eric AND Pat's birthday, well that was much more fun! She announced to the restaurant that it was two BFF's were celebrating

I don't know how they had room for dessert after TWO milkshakes EACH, plus the skillet, but they did!!!

The boys unfortunatley couldn't make it to the car, so we left them on the steps outside as we got the car. Apparently Pat was so "uncomfortable" he laid down on the steps. And older gentleman walked past and asked if he was ok...they stated we just left dinner. The man then said..."Oh...the skillet...That was me last week" Silly boys!!!

The weather didn't look that great outside but it seemed to be holding off so we went to play mini-golf. There are a ton of pics so I will try and hold back...

The boys goofing off again!

I think this was my favorite hole!!

I think it was Pat's favorite hole too!

This golf course was so amazing...we will definitely be back!!

 

[MainStMandy]

Those were just a few of Lauren's pictures...they were all amazing!!
Merry Christmas!!!

We were still looking for something to do so we headed over to POR...we were so surprised at how much fun we had when we met Bob...

That night was one of those spontaneous, unplanned moments and we had a blast!! We had some drinks, we sang and danced. Afterwards we explored the resort and it was so beautiful at night!! We just loved it!!!

The next morning we were off to the MK!!!
Today we planned on getting some pics in our matching Mickey ears!!

Again I'm bummed since we also did Character pics today but our photopass pisc are gone

We did some rides and then stopped for breakfast at Sleepyhollow. I never knew we could get waffles there!!!

Soooooo yummy!!

Waiting for our turn to take pictures!!

Let's just say this was the highlight of their day...

Here's one of the group...meeting the princesses went to Eric's head a bit!!

A few castle shots!

And of course Pat couldn't go without getting a turkey leg!!

I'm a bit mixed up on what we did after this...Lauren's pics show us going to EPCOT for our dinner at Coral Reef but my next pics are Wishes...oh well!!
UP next, EPCOT and Coral Reef!!

 

[MainStMandy]

I just realized that we also had a great group shot in front of the Castle and we lost that one too That was the whole point of going to the MK with our ears!!

Anyway, next up...we got to try out Segways!!

Next up was dinner at Coral Reef. We were kinda disapointed with our seats here. We showed up early and requested a tank view...we even said we would wait. They told us it would be an extra 30-45 minutes and we said ok. About 5 minutes later we were called to our table...at the top of the restaurant. I understand it's not a guarantee but don't tell me I can wait and then seat us anyway. Not a huge deal but still...

We explored the Living Seas after dinner:

We really enjoyed the turtle!

After looking at Lauren's pics I realized we did both MK and EPCOT that night. So after the living seas we stopped by and picked up Eric's drawing...which turned out AMAZING!! He ordered a Mickey playing golf. Eddie took extra time and made it extremly detailed! We love it. Eric plans on getting a drawing every trip we take!

 

[MainStMandy]

So next up we headed back into the MK. Lauren kept taking pics of the castle which Pat didn't understand...but these are some of my favorites!!

One of my favs...the Tiki Room!! Eric suprised me...he apparently loves anything with animatronics!!

I was so excited because not only were we going to watch Wishes but Spectro too!!

All I remember from this parade is how HOT it was!! We were in Frontierland with NO breeze...it was disgusting!!

Ok I am going to TRY and not get carried away but Lauren took some amazing Wishes pictures!!

A few of mine:

We were lucky enough to witness this while Wishes was going on:

Lauren again:

We hit up a few more rides...POTC and Jungle Cruise!

Next up....Lauren's American Idol debut!!!

 

[MainStMandy]

So let's start this by saying what an obsessive freak Eric is about American Idol...I mean that with love He had been bugging Lauren about auditioning for AI since we got there. Lauren has a beautiful voice but isn't always thrilled to get up in front of people and sing.

So when we entered DHS that morning and several CM's were announcing auditions, we shoo'd Lauren over to them.

And not a surprise to anyone, she made it!

And the boys? Well they were just happy to be together

So Lauren and Patrick went off for the next audition while Eric and I grabbed breakfast.

Lauren's camera was dead so I sent Pat off with mine...this is what he took:

THAT'S IT!!! I should have gone instead, lol.

So we finally caught up with the...How'd it go? You tell me!

We went and did a few rides. It was time to say goodbye to Lauren again, so Eric, Pat and I did a few rides.

It was finally time for the show so we head back to AI. Here are a few shots before the audience was allowed in:

IT's almost time...

Up next...the results!

 

[MainStMandy]

The judges...

Now I am not just saying this because Lauren is one of my best friends in the whole wide world...but she was great!! And the judges were a bit harsh. I hate to say (I'm not the only one!) but they were definitely trying to sway the audience. Lauren was the best one up there!!!

See the kid in the middle?? Well he was allowed to bring um 100 of his closest friends...not fair. Of course he won. We were very proud of Lauren and she did amazing!! I think the most fun was when people came up to her afterwards to tell her how great she was and that she should have won!!!

Close up of hair and makeup!

Lauren and a fan!!

Love you Lauren!!!

Up next, dinner at 'Ohana!

 

[Jazzylolo]

I love reading this...it was such a fun trip!!! I am going to go home and finish editing my photos from the last 2 days of just me and Pat so I can finish my portion tonight or tomorrow

That day we got up to watch the shuttle launch we went to Blizzard Beach. You probably forgot because it sucked so much!

Oh, and my photos don't expire until the 17th so I have that picture of us in our hats at MK! I am thinking of ordering the download of it if you want me to print you off a copy

I started replying before you posted the AI photos. I agree...I should have won, but if I did I would have had to spend the rest of the day doing that and we wanted to go to 'Ohana. It is totally rigged though. I had people coming up to me for the rest of our trip telling me I should have won. I couldn't believe that 3 days later people still recognized me. It was one of the best experiences of my life...thanks for making me do it!!!

 

[MainStMandy]

I think one of the things Lauren, Pat, Eric and I all agree on is how much we love the Poly! We had planned dinner at 'Ohana and then pictures on the beach

Lauren and I wanted a picture together and the waitress informed us she had the same camera as Lauren's...um sure you do.

We already had Pina Colava's before we were seated...now it's on to Lapu Lapu's!!

Pat when he's happiest!

I think the boys learned their lesson and didn't stuff themselves!!

Did I mention I love Lapu Lapu's?

After dinner we headed out to the beach for some psuedo engagment pictures!

Lauren and Patricks turn!!

 

[MainStMandy]

We headed to DTD after our "photo session"

Patrick was so enthused by the glass blower!

Up next we decided to try out the new hot air balloon ride...this didn't go so well. First we waited almost 45 minutes to ride...next, Lauren got a little freaked out. Let's just say that was probably a first and last!

View from the top:

After our little ride, we headed over to Goofy's Candy Co.

Eric insisted on getting this:

Then we all decided to get Make-Your-Own treats...let's just say Lauren and Patrick were a bit smarte than us.

Eric INSISTED On getting an apple...I really just wanted pretzel rods...here is our GINORMOUS snack...

See...Lauren and Patrick were a bit smarter:

We had so much fun that night...Eric and I couldn't for the life of us figure out how to eat that thing...and it cost us like $10!!! He thought it was great but it was impossible to cut or eat or anything!

That was our last night together. I will post next about the next morning before Eric and I left and then I will be done and let Lauren take over!

 

[MainStMandy]

I love reading this...it was such a fun trip!!! I am going to go home and finish editing my photos from the last 2 days of just me and Pat so I can finish my portion tonight or tomorrow

That day we got up to watch the shuttle launch we went to Blizzard Beach. You probably forgot because it sucked so much!

Oh, and my photos don't expire until the 17th so I have that picture of us in our hats at MK! I am thinking of ordering the download of it if you want me to print you off a copy

I started replying before you posted the AI photos. I agree...I should have won, but if I did I would have had to spend the rest of the day doing that and we wanted to go to 'Ohana. It is totally rigged though. I had people coming up to me for the rest of our trip telling me I should have won. I couldn't believe that 3 days later people still recognized me. It was one of the best experiences of my life...thanks for making me do it!!!

Ok yes definitely I want that picture. Do you have the EPCOT one too?? Let me know cause I want both!!

I am so glad you did AI. This trip really was awesome and I love that we all traveled so well together! I can't wait until we can do it again!

 

[MainStMandy]

Well this will be short since I have no photos Eric and I headed over to meet with our Wedding Consultant our last morning. We went over a lot of details and settled on the locations for the wedding...which have since changed. It was very excited and we are even more excited for the wedding and the wedding trip in general!!

After we headed to the MK. Eric was suprisingly sad to leave. I never expected him to have as much fun as he did and he really wasn't ready to leave.

Recap:
This trip was truly a blast! We had so much fun with Lauren and Patrick. I wasn't sure how it would go spending almost every day together but it was so much fun!

Eric had a great time and is hooked now! He can't wait to go back and he's even becoming a hotel snob, lol

 

[Jazzylolo]

Ok yes definitely I want that picture. Do you have the EPCOT one too?? Let me know cause I want both!!

I am so glad you did AI. This trip really was awesome and I love that we all traveled so well together! I can't wait until we can do it again!

I do have the Epcot one too! I will get them both. I like the Epcot one better actually because the MK one the photographer totally didn't center us. I can't decide if I should get the one of us where you can see the entire castle but we are off center and Eric is slightly cut off or get the one where it is horizontal and you can't see all of the castle but we are centered better. What do you think?

 

[MainStMandy]

I do have the Epcot one too! I will get them both. I like the Epcot one better actually because the MK one the photographer totally didn't center us. I can't decide if I should get the one of us where you can see the entire castle but we are off center and Eric is slightly cut off or get the one where it is horizontal and you can't see all of the castle but we are centered better. What do you think?

Have you tried cropping the off-center one and trying to recenter it?? I think it would bug me too though...

 

[PeytonSdiz]

Yay for updates! I'm going to make comments and questions as I read all of the updates.

We've never ridden Mission Space. I'm afraid it will make me sick and ruin my day. I wonder if I could handle the green side.

We've also never been over to the Boardwalk. We're definitely going to walk around over there on our next trip. It looks so cute! Do you know if they have street performers there year round or just during peak seasons?

Those dessert photos. What are the first and last ones?

Love all the cute hat photos. And the boys look so thrilled to be in those pink hats. LOL!

Lauren looks topless in the sleigh photos!!

What's Sleepyhollow? Is that a restaurant? We're trying to figure out where to eat breakfast at while on our trip.

Did Eric and Pat know each other very well before this trip?

The photo the waitress took at Ohana - sorry, but I had to laugh and show that to my husband. He said "Yeah. That's a great photo if she was trying to take a picture of the trees in the background."

That hot air balloon looks scary!!!

My husband's first Disneyworld trip was last year (but he'd been to Disneyland a million times.) I was happily surprised that he loved there too!

Side note - your eyebrows are so perfect! Do you do them yourself?

 

[MainStMandy]

Wow...loaded questions!!

Yay for updates! I'm going to make comments and questions as I read all of the updates.

We've never ridden Mission Space. I'm afraid it will make me sick and ruin my day. I wonder if I could handle the green side. It makes a lot of people sick. I couldn't ride it more than once in a day, but it doesn't bother me too much

We've also never been over to the Boardwalk. We're definitely going to walk around over there on our next trip. It looks so cute! Do you know if they have street performers there year round or just during peak seasons?I'm not sure...during off peak I would guess it's just on the weekends

Those dessert photos. What are the first and last ones?I think you are talking about the MYO treats at Goofy's. Ours was a carmel apple dipped in Reeses Pieces...Lauren and Patricks was a Rice Crispie Treat

Love all the cute hat photos. And the boys look so thrilled to be in those pink hats. LOL!
They like to amuse us!

Lauren looks topless in the sleigh photos!!
That's why Pat liked the picture so much!!

What's Sleepyhollow? Is that a restaurant? We're trying to figure out where to eat breakfast at while on our trip.
Sleepyhollow is Quick Service. It's right when you enter LIberty Square from the hub. They do waffels, fried dough and I think maybe popcorn or something. It was a nice, cool shaded place to stop.

Did Eric and Pat know each other very well before this trip?
Not really! They had only met a few times.

The photo the waitress took at Ohana - sorry, but I had to laugh and show that to my husband. He said "Yeah. That's a great photo if she was trying to take a picture of the trees in the background."

That hot air balloon looks scary!!!
It was, lol.

My husband's first Disneyworld trip was last year (but he'd been to Disneyland a million times.) I was happily surprised that he loved there too!
I dated a guy once who didn't understand why I went to WDW...didn't last long

Side note - your eyebrows are so perfect! Do you do them yourself?
Funny story...as a kid (and teen) I had the worst, bushiest unibrown ever!! My mom took me to get them waxed, I was probably about 10 years old. Well the wax was too hot and they burned me so bad I had blisters. For years I wouldn't go near a place like that, hence the bushy unibrow! I finally went because I wanted to look nice for high school graduation. I still get freaked out about getting them waxed so I keep them cleaned up myself just by plucking.

 

[PeytonSdiz]

Dinner was FANTASTIC...we didn't even take pics, lol. Here's dessert!!

What were all of these desserts? The look really good!

p.s. Thanks for answering all of my questions earlier!

 

[LLLBelle]

You definitely made a race for the finish. Your pictures are great . You all look like you had a great time! That's fantastic that Lauren was on the AI, I'm sure she should have won Your "photo shoot" pictures are too cute.

Reading your TR makes me wish that January was even closer, I can not wait to go, we are definately going to try Jiko and Le Cellier. I can't wait to read your next TR

 

[MainStMandy]

What were all of these desserts? The look really good!

p.s. Thanks for answering all of my questions earlier!

Ok those were
1) Smores
2) Maple Creme Brulee
3) Chocolate Whiskey Cake
4) Chocolate "Moose" haha

You definitely made a race for the finish. Your pictures are great . You all look like you had a great time! That's fantastic that Lauren was on the AI, I'm sure she should have won Your "photo shoot" pictures are too cute.

Reading your TR makes me wish that January was even closer, I can not wait to go, we are definately going to try Jiko and Le Cellier. I can't wait to read your next TR

Thanks! I was bored yesterday and thought I may as well finish our portion!! I am going to start a PTR for our upcoming trip in two weeks!!

 

[PeytonSdiz]

You definitely made a race for the finish. Your pictures are great . You all look like you had a great time! That's fantastic that Lauren was on the AI, I'm sure she should have won Your "photo shoot" pictures are too cute.

Reading your TR makes me wish that January was even closer, I can not wait to go, we are definately going to try Jiko and Le Cellier. I can't wait to read your next TR

We're going in January too! Where are you staying?

Ok those were
1) Smores
2) Maple Creme Brulee
3) Chocolate Whiskey Cake
4) Chocolate "Moose" haha



Thanks! I was bored yesterday and thought I may as well finish our portion!! I am going to start a PTR for our upcoming trip in two weeks!!

Make sure you post a link here (or in your PJ) for your new PTR! I don't want to miss it!