Would You Like a Little Sweat with Your Free Dining?! Update 9/29 - Day 2 Continued

[Lynn5700]

Cute pics of you two Em!!!

I love the ravioli from Cali Grille!!!! Soo good. Oh the cake too, and the filet! I love it!!!

You got some great shots from up there.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Looking forward to your next update.

 

[shordiebecka]

Those are such cute pics! I am tempted to go to the California Grill to get a picture with my dbf like that..you have got the wheels turning for places to eat in november!!! Love all the castle pictures

 

[twenty3curls]

Just tuned into your TR, I leave in 18 days so your trip report is getting me excited!!

One question; I saw that you requested a window seat at California Grill, did you just do that when you got to the restaurant and checked in at the front desk/podium thing?

Welcome!! How exciting your trip is so close! Are you taking advantage of free dining?

When you get to the Contemporary you will check in at a desk on the second floor (before heading up the private elevator to the 15th floor.) When we were checking in, I asked if it was possible to request a window seat. She said she couldn't guarantee anything, but she would note our request on the computer for the hostesses upstairs. You then get a buzzer and head upstairs to wait. (They have a bar and lounge, plus the catwalks.) The hostesses upstairs see your request on the computer when they're filling tables. Honestly, I think it helped that we checked in about a half hour early. Plus, our reservation & check-in times were well over 2 hours before Wishes started. Had our ADR been closer to 10, I think it may have been tougher. But ask!! Someone has to sit near the window...might as well be you!!

Cute pics of you two Em!!!

I love the ravioli from Cali Grille!!!! Soo good. Oh the cake too, and the filet! I love it!!!

You got some great shots from up there.

Thanks, Lynn!! Oh man, that ravioli was gooood! We actually bought the Disney cookbook later in the week because it had the recipe for the ravioli in it....and the cake, too! Now I just need to find some time to cook.

Looking forward to your next update.

Thanks! Doing one in a few minutes.

Those are such cute pics! I am tempted to go to the California Grill to get a picture with my dbf like that..you have got the wheels turning for places to eat in november!!! Love all the castle pictures

We really enjoyed the Cali Grill. I was a bit nervous because we were spending to TS credits on it, so I was hoping it would live up to the hype and it absolutely did - not just the food, but the overall experience! We had such a wonderful night.

 

[twenty3curls]

My Photopass CD came last Friday. Unfortunately, the mail came about 20 minutes before I left for a weekend in northern Michigan with my best girlfriends for a bachelorette weekend. doh!

I uploaded them last night and will post the ones from day one here, so we're caught up, before moving on to day two.

There are some repeats because I was fooling around with borders and stuff. Thought I'd show you some of the current options, if you were not aware or haven't done Photopass before.

For my Spanish speaking readers...

Jeff will KILL me if he knew I posted the following pic...but I think it's hilarious (in a good way!) He was such a sport about these pics, even though he really hates getting his picture taken.

This is how I normally react when Jeff kisses me...

Up Next: Day Two - Epcot, Sweat and Me!

 

[Lynn5700]

AWWWWWW love the kiss on the cheek pic, and the Tink reaction pic!!!! So cute.

I need to get some cute photpass pics next time. I feel like it's the same pose over and over and over!!!!!!

 

[ScrappyRN]

Best of luck to the 2 of you. I love your photopass pix.

 

[disneychick0412]

I was just going to lurk, but thought I would say Hi!!

You two are such a cute couple and how exciting to be getting married
at Disney!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[LilAnn]

Hi! I read your title and just had to tag along for the ride. We were there around the same time frame and those were my thoughts exactly! You two are also such a cute couple. Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[shordiebecka]

Love your photopass pictures! Especially love the one of him kissing you in front of the castle how cute!

 

[onelilspark]

The last photopass picture is adorable!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Your photopass pictures are adorable!

 

[twenty3curls]

AWWWWWW love the kiss on the cheek pic, and the Tink reaction pic!!!! So cute.

I need to get some cute photpass pics next time. I feel like it's the same pose over and over and over!!!!!!

I like them, too! We're not getting e-pics done, so I was hoping we'd get some cute ones in the parks. Although, I will not be allowed to use the Tink pic anywhere! But I like it!

This was our first time doing the CD, so the poses were new to our collection. But, I definitely noticed at the end of the week that we were starting to get a lot of dupes. If it hadn't been so hot, I would have worked harder to find more photogs and do different stuff.

Best of luck to the 2 of you. I love your photopass pix.

Thanks! I was quite pleased, too. It was our first time, so I wasn't sure how they'd turned out.

I was just going to lurk, but thought I would say Hi!!

You two are such a cute couple and how exciting to be getting married
at Disney!

Can't wait to read more!

Thanks for saying 'hi'! Always excited to meet new readers.

We are very excited about our Disney wedding! I'm actually going to talk about it a bit in the next post!

Hi! I read your title and just had to tag along for the ride. We were there around the same time frame and those were my thoughts exactly! You two are also such a cute couple. Can't wait to read the rest!

oh.my.god...it was so hot! I gave up with make-up during the day by day 3, I think! Did you guys have a good trip...where'd you stay?

Love your photopass pictures! Especially love the one of him kissing you in front of the castle how cute!

Thanks! I really like that one, too. This weekend I'm going to sift through all of my pictures and figure out which ones to print for framing and scrapbooking. I spent enough at Archiver's last month that I got a coupon for 50 free prints at Shutterfly. Might as well use it!

The last photopass picture is adorable!

Thanks! We're not very serious people, so I think it's important to cute, silly pictures to reflect that.

Your photopass pictures are adorable!

Thanks! This was our first time doing the Photopass CD, so I was a little nervous. Wanted my money's worth. I'm really pleased with how they turned out. And, honestly, if it hadn't been so hot I'd have been more motivated take more. But I just got too hot to want that look captured on film!


Update later tonight, but until then here's a preview....

 

[Disneylove1228]

Hello!!

Just joining in.... love your TR so far!!!
You and your DF are so cute!

I LOVE the TINK picture you took.. expressions are priceless!!
I know what you mean about the heat.... that is why we never go during the summer... we went in Sept a few times and even that is too hot for us

Can't wait to read more!

 

[twenty3curls]

I'd like to start this post by saying that "Toddlers & Tiaras" is just creepy. Hilarious. But, creepy.

Okay moving on. Day two!

I was all about getting up early and attacking the parks before the heat got too bad, but we just couldn't do it Monday. We'd both gotten up early on Saturday morning, drove all Saturday night, never napped on Sunday and went to bed after 2:00 Sunday night. We were pooped! I think we both slept like rocks Sunday night. I told Jeff I wouldn't wake him and we'd just hit the park whenever we woke up.

I woke up around around 9, but Jeff was still sooooound asleep. I went downstairs to Roaring Fork to refill my mug and came upstairs and read the newspaper for awhile. Finally I jumped in the shower and started getting ready. After getting out of the shower, I finally woke up Jeff. It was after 11, so I figured he'd survive.

We decided to hit Epcot on Monday because even if there were long lines for the main attractions because we got there late, there's still plenty to see at the World Showcase. We planned to do evening EMH at Epcot on Tuesday and maybe Thursday, so I wasn't overly concerned about the big stuff.

When Jeff realized we could park for free because we were staying on property, he was all over driving to Epcot. We've always driven to the parks and paid, so it cracked me up that all of sudden he wasn't planning on driving until he found out it was free.

We got to Epcot a little after noon and took some Photopass pictures when we got through the turnstiles.

'Cause kissing is funny....

Can you tell I like this border?

And this one:

After we finished posing for the cameras we headed toward Spaceship Earth. There was a very lengthy line and we didn't feel like starting our day off with a line, so passed it. We saw the digital board of wait times and realized TT and Soarin' were out, too - no big surprise. We walked over to TT to see about FPs. We grabbed two, which had a return time of 4:35. After leaving the TT area, we started walking toward the WS. We started at the Canada end, but we didn't make it far. When we got to the International Gateway, Jeff suggested we head on over and check out Sea Breeze Point. Okay!

We left Epcot and started over toward the Boardwalk. It was a gorgeous day, so definitely saw how wonderful SBP will be on our wedding day! They were setting up for a 2:30 wedding so we couldn't stay long. I actually didn't get any pictures at SBP because we were getting shoo'd out. We kept walking along the Boardwalk repeatedly commenting on how happy we were with our location choice. I was really happy and relieved. I loved the picture of SBP that I'd seen on the wedding boards, but I hoped I loved it in person. And, I was super relieved Jeff loved it as much as he had in pictures. We stopped at Boardwalk Bakery to look at the Escape wedding cake displays. We decided we were hungry, so we got a snack. We planned to eat lunch at the CS in France a little later, so we didn't want each too much. We got a caprese sandwich - tomato, mozzarella and basil with balsamic vinegar on a roll - and split it. We also got a yellow cupcake with buttercream frosting...so we could see what our cake will taste like! Both were really good...we almost went for seconds but decided to restrain ourselves.

After leaving Boardwalk Bakery, we kept walking along the Boardwalk checking out the stores and restaurants.

But....I'll have to continue with that tomorrow. It's late and I'm pooped! Cleaning the house is exhausting...especially on a work night!

 

[SunnieRN]

Fantastic photopass pictures!! I am excited to see more!! Love your scarf also!! Very cute!

 

[LilAnn]

oh.my.god...it was so hot! I gave up with make-up during the day by day 3, I think! Did you guys have a good trip...where'd you stay?

The heat wasn't as bad as the humidity for me! I was melting by 11 each day! Once I got myself a bit tan, makeup was out of the picture for me, too. We took many midday breaks to hang at the pool, and to let my DD nap (she's almost 2yo), before we would head back to the parks and to dinner.

We had a blast, but then again, I love Disney (I guess that goes without saying since I'm here on the DIS). We stayed at the Beach Club and found the proximity to Epcot to be amazing! We were literally at the International Gateway within 2-3 minutes! It was our first time staying there and I have to admit that it definitely spoiled us. We are already trying to figure out when we can go back to WDW!

 

[wdwgirl03]

LOL about Toddlers and Tiaras! I've never seen it but it looks very interesting...

Another great update. I still think that is so cool you are getting married at Sea Breeze Point.

 

[shordiebecka]

Glad you got to check out seabreeze point and that you loved it! Where exactly is it?

 

[twenty3curls]

Hello!!

Just joining in.... love your TR so far!!!
You and your DF are so cute!

I LOVE the TINK picture you took.. expressions are priceless!!
I know what you mean about the heat.... that is why we never go during the summer... we went in Sept a few times and even that is too hot for us

Can't wait to read more!

Hi there... and thanks for the sweet words!

That Tink picture cracks me up every time I look at it. I think I might frame it and put it on my nightstand. How could I be cranky in the morning after seeing that?!

And yea, we're not really summer at Disney people either. We went last June and swore never again. But, I wanted to go down once before the wedding and with our school schedules, this was sort of it before next March. But seriously this time, never again!

Fantastic photopass pictures!! I am excited to see more!! Love your scarf also!! Very cute!

Thanks! I forgot to point the scarf out. I bought it Sunday night after we rode PotC. It was fashionable and functional!! It's made of that wicking fabric, so it helped with some of the heat/sweat. My hair is so dark that the top of my head can turn into an inferno in the sun, so having a lighter color on top helped deflect some of the heat!

The heat wasn't as bad as the humidity for me! I was melting by 11 each day! Once I got myself a bit tan, makeup was out of the picture for me, too. We took many midday breaks to hang at the pool, and to let my DD nap (she's almost 2yo), before we would head back to the parks and to dinner.

We had a blast, but then again, I love Disney (I guess that goes without saying since I'm here on the DIS). We stayed at the Beach Club and found the proximity to Epcot to be amazing! We were literally at the International Gateway within 2-3 minutes! It was our first time staying there and I have to admit that it definitely spoiled us. We are already trying to figure out when we can go back to WDW!

I agree; it was the humidity. It was so stifling. I can deal with hot, but at times I felt like I was suffocating. Plus, holy frizzy hair, Batman! After the first day, I insisted on mid-day breaks, which worked out nicely.

I would love to stay the Beach or Yacht Club. For the wedding, I think we're going to stay at Boardwalk. I loved that walk to Epcot. And if the weather is a little milder, I'd be all for a walk to DHS, too. I think it's a toss-up which is better, Boardwalk/Beach/Yacht or monorail resorts.

LOL about Toddlers and Tiaras! I've never seen it but it looks very interesting...

Another great update. I still think that is so cool you are getting married at Sea Breeze Point.

Interesting is one way to put it!

Glad you got to check out seabreeze point and that you loved it! Where exactly is it?

It's on the Boardwalk. If you're walking from Epcot/International Gateway, it's the first thing you come to after you cross the bridge. It's right on the water across from the hotel and store fronts.