Jess & Ben's Wishes Wedding 11/18/14 Sea Breeze Point/Backstage Prop Shop

[Gracefulskinny]

The Dapper Dans are a go! Repeat, The Dapper Dans are confirmed.

YAY!!!! I am so glad that worked out for you guys. I've been saying some prayers for you that it would! Glad to hear that y'all made into the states safe and sound. Looking forward to updates throughout your trip.

 

[LadyD]

Yay on the Dans!!! That is so exciting!!! Sound like the two of you are off to a wonderful start on an amazing trip. I hope everything continues to go well for you two

 

[EpicBilynn]

I can't believe you're in the States and that the wedding trip has begun! It's so exciting! Congrats on the Dans! I was even crossing my fingers for you and trying to send happy thoughts your way in regards to the Dans.

 

[elphie101]

Welcome back to the USA Ben & Jess!! I'm so glad you're posting from the States, I was so bummed as I was catching up on your updates that I had missed you!!

HOORAY FOR THE DANS!!! I am so excited for you both and cannot wait to see more of your pre-honeymoon and of course, the eventual Most Important Day.

 

[Disneyducks12]

So glad you guys made it safely over! I hate long flights and what a plus to make it early and start your pre-honeymoon trip off right LA is finally having some nice weather you guys came at a great time and I am so glad you got the dans! and our parks over hear are no where near as awesome as the Orlando Parks but still fun I hope your having a blast so far and I am so jealous of your month long fun!
Can't wait for more updates

-Melissa

 

[alyaki]

I have no clue how I missed your last couple updates - especially since I was looking forward to them so much! Yay for the additional characters (Donald is awesome!!!!!!!)! Sounds like you had a little bit of a rough start (hope you've caught up on sleep a bit), but you two look so excited. Enjoy your trip, and if you update in between at points, we'll always be here to say "hi" and read along!

Also - yay for the Dans being confirmed!!!! That is so awesome, since you've been waiting on that.

 

[Aschenputtel]

Great you had a good flight and arrived safely! I think it's a smart thing to already wear the rings - they could be forgotten or lost so easily- especially with you two traveling around!

I'm already eager for updates! Keep us posted!

 

[edeneye]

(Written last night, but then I couldn't access the site to post)

Another long day, but clearly not quite so big as yesterday was! Today we got a cab into Burbank and went on the Warner Bros Studio Tour. We really enjoyed it, we've even talked a little bit about going back again! The Batman & Harry Potter stuff in there was awesome and as film students, getting to see a real working studio - one with so much history no less - was fascinating. Also, at the end of our tour there was someone there from Conan O'Brien's show handing out tickets so we went to a taping of that which meant we were at WB from 9am-6pm today! Highlight of today for me would be the Batman 75 Exhibit, I'm a huge Batman fan and they had some incredible pieces on display covering the last 25 years of Batfilms. Jess said I was like a little kid on Christmas, particularly when I activated a screen-used Batsignal.

Besides that we just visited Citywalk again (since we're staying basically right next to it), had dinner at the Hard Rock and a relax in the hotel jacuzzi. Jess is now FAST asleep, we're still catching up on sleep and tonight will be another short one but tomorrow should be more relaxed. We have our first hotel change which will see us leave Universal behind and go Downtown LA to stay in the Hotel used in Ghostbusters. It's also our last day in LA before we go down to Anaheim to go you know where.

YAY!!!! I am so glad that worked out for you guys. I've been saying some prayers for you that it would! Glad to hear that y'all made into the states safe and sound. Looking forward to updates throughout your trip.

Yes! We're so happy we got them! Really appreciate your prayers! I already feel like the trip is going by way too fast but fortunately we don't head home for another 27 days.

Yay on the Dans!!! That is so exciting!!! Sound like the two of you are off to a wonderful start on an amazing trip. I hope everything continues to go well for you two

Yes it's been great so far! The Warner Bros tour today was something we umm'd and ahh'd about right up until the last minute but we loved it and got lucky with the Conan tickets (which is something I always wanted to do anyway). We've had great luck so far and are enjoying taking some time out from thinking about the wedding and just having some carefree fun for the first time in forever!

I can't believe you're in the States and that the wedding trip has begun! It's so exciting! Congrats on the Dans! I was even crossing my fingers for you and trying to send happy thoughts your way in regards to the Dans.

Thanks! It's so surreal after planning for this trip and waiting for it all this time, it has always seemed like it was so far away but it's happening right now. Wedding business will take over again briefly tomorrow though, now we've got the Dans it's time to pay up and get thinking about music selections, finalise, sign & return our BEO and practice our dance. We've been told our hotel tomorrow night isn't in the best neighbourhood so we'll be having a night in to get all that done!

Welcome back to the USA Ben & Jess!! I'm so glad you're posting from the States, I was so bummed as I was catching up on your updates that I had missed you!!

HOORAY FOR THE DANS!!! I am so excited for you both and cannot wait to see more of your pre-honeymoon and of course, the eventual Most Important Day.

Jenn! You're home! That must be bittersweet, I can't wait to hear about everything! I've seen the Roots simply gushing over your wedding and every picture I've seen so far has been amazing. We're really excited about the Dans, I sent Nate an email yesterday to let them know we had one more ceremony element (I hadn't mentioned it just in case it didn't work out, didn't want to waste their time until it was confirmed) and they haven't had a wedding before with the Dans in the ceremony so it's exciting finding something such experienced photographers haven't encountered yet!

They had a practical application too, we got to remove the $1,000 outdoor audio package from our BEO because the Dans don't need it and with our guest count, neither do we! As soon as we knew we don't need to use CD/ipod audio for the ceremony anymore we could scrap it altogether meaning the Dans essentially cost only $500!

So glad you guys made it safely over! I hate long flights and what a plus to make it early and start your pre-honeymoon trip off right LA is finally having some nice weather you guys came at a great time and I am so glad you got the dans! and our parks over hear are no where near as awesome as the Orlando Parks but still fun I hope your having a blast so far and I am so jealous of your month long fun!

LA has been amazing so far! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect climate to feel comfortable in. We're having a great time so far, we don't figure Universal is something we'd bother having an annual pass for if we were locals since I don't really connect with it much at all but we're so excited to visit Disneyland on Thursday - I've never been and Jess hasn't either since 2007. There's versions of rides there that she loves way more than the Florida ones and she's been dying to take me on them. In some ways I'm actually not looking forward to the Orlando part of our trip - I love it there so much and have been missing it terribly since last time but that means our honeymoon is halfway over! Great problem to have though, we're just loving every minute at the moment

I have no clue how I missed your last couple updates - especially since I was looking forward to them so much! Yay for the additional characters (Donald is awesome!!!!!!!)! Sounds like you had a little bit of a rough start (hope you've caught up on sleep a bit), but you two look so excited. Enjoy your trip, and if you update in between at points, we'll always be here to say "hi" and read along!

We've caught up on sleep a tiny bit! Tonight will probably be a better night for that since we've been told we probably shouldn't venture too far from our hotel after dark so we might get an early night but then it'll definitely be an EARLY morning because Jess is super keen to get down to Disneyland as soon as possible! Jess couldn't resist adding more characters, once you've already got some it's so much cheaper to add more it's kinda hard to stop!

Great you had a good flight and arrived safely! I think it's a smart thing to already wear the rings - they could be forgotten or lost so easily- especially with you two traveling around!

Yes, it's kinda weird wearing it already but not at all worth risking leaving them behind somewhere! I think when we get to Disney we'll put them in the safe in our room so our guests aren't confused when they see us already wearing them, but until we're settled we've got them on nearly all the time!

 

[LadyD]

OMG you guys get to do nightmare before Christmas haunted mansion at Disneyland!!! It is my dream to get stuck on that ride in the room that smells like gingerbread! This time of year at Disneyland is my absolute favorite! You guys will have a blast. Do you get to do DCA too??

 

[gummybear091]

I can't agree with Jess more. There are so many rides at Disneyland that put the Disney World version to shame! Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Space Mountain are better there for sure. I absolutely love DCA too! If you can be sure to eat at Carthay Circle. My fiancé tells everyone his very favorite meal ever was from there. It's a beautiful restaurant too! In general the food everywhere at Disneyland far exceeds Disney World.

 

[andeesings]

(Written last night, but then I couldn't access the site to post) Another long day, but clearly not quite so big as yesterday was! Today we got a cab into Burbank and went on the Warner Bros Studio Tour. We really enjoyed it, we've even talked a little bit about going back again! The Batman & Harry Potter stuff in there was awesome and as film students, getting to see a real working studio - one with so much history no less - was fascinating. Also, at the end of our tour there was someone there from Conan O'Brien's show handing out tickets so we went to a taping of that which meant we were at WB from 9am-6pm today! Highlight of today for me would be the Batman 75 Exhibit, I'm a huge Batman fan and they had some incredible pieces on display covering the last 25 years of Batfilms. Jess said I was like a little kid on Christmas, particularly when I activated a screen-used Batsignal. Besides that we just visited Citywalk again (since we're staying basically right next to it), had dinner at the Hard Rock and a relax in the hotel jacuzzi. Jess is now FAST asleep, we're still catching up on sleep and tonight will be another short one but tomorrow should be more relaxed. We have our first hotel change which will see us leave Universal behind and go Downtown LA to stay in the Hotel used in Ghostbusters. It's also our last day in LA before we go down to Anaheim to go you know where. Yes! We're so happy we got them! Really appreciate your prayers! I already feel like the trip is going by way too fast but fortunately we don't head home for another 27 days. Yes it's been great so far! The Warner Bros tour today was something we umm'd and ahh'd about right up until the last minute but we loved it and got lucky with the Conan tickets (which is something I always wanted to do anyway!

Ben!! If you get a chance-- buy tickets for the Warner Brothers DELUXE studio tour-- it's like, six hours long and they BASICALLY let the deluxe people do almost anything they want! We watched scenes from tv shows being filmed, played around on at least five or six sets, watched and chatting with foley artists, sound designers, editors, visiting the scoring stage, and it includes an AMAZING lunch in the commissary-- where I met George Clooney and Gerard Butler!!! BEST experience and I try to do it almost every time I'm in LA!!!

 

[andeesings]

I can't agree with Jess more. There are so many rides at Disneyland that put the Disney World version to shame! Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Space Mountain are better there for sure. I absolutely love DCA too! If you can be sure to eat at Carthay Circle. My fiancé tells everyone his very favorite meal ever was from there. It's a beautiful restaurant too! In general the food everywhere at Disneyland far exceeds Disney World.

I don't get how everyone says Space is better in DL!! No WAY! Just a lot of turns and spins. WDW is way more fun!! ;-) BUT-- Small World, Pirates, Indy/Dinosaur... WAY better in Disneyland!! (And overall I actually PREFER DL-- sacrilege!!) the food is AMAZING. Try to eat at Cafe Orleans (like the Blue Bayou, but cheaper!!) and that monte cristo is to DIE FOR!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Yay for bonus experiences that you've always wanted to do anyway! The studio tour sounds like a lot of fun. So cool that you got to turn on the Bat signal.

How neat to get to stay in the hotel used by Ghostbusters! Enjoy every minute of it that you can and don't think about how fast its going just be in the moment. Things will go by fast enough.

 

[gummybear091]

I don't get how everyone says Space is better in DL!! No WAY! Just a lot of turns and spins. WDW is way more fun!! ;-) BUT-- Small World, Pirates, Indy/Dinosaur... WAY better in Disneyland!! (And overall I actually PREFER DL-- sacrilege!!) the food is AMAZING. Try to eat at Cafe Orleans (like the Blue Bayou, but cheaper!!) and that monte cristo is to DIE FOR!

The Space Mountain at Disney World makes me dizzy! It's too jerky! That monte cristo is amaZzinnhhgg. I second that!

 

[Disneyducks12]

(
LA has been amazing so far! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect climate to feel comfortable in. We're having a great time so far, we don't figure Universal is something we'd bother having an annual pass for if we were locals since I don't really connect with it much at all but we're so excited to visit Disneyland on Thursday - I've never been and Jess hasn't either since 2007. There's versions of rides there that she loves way more than the Florida ones and she's been dying to take me on them. In some ways I'm actually not looking forward to the Orlando part of our trip - I love it there so much and have been missing it terribly since last time but that means our honeymoon is halfway over! Great problem to have though, we're just loving every minute at the moment

Glad to hear your trip is going so well and that you guys are enjoying yourself! and Thursday you are going to Disneyland how fun! and I agree with Jess some rides are better over here then in Orlando but Orlando is just so big you need a few days to comb through it all and that's the best problem to have I can't wait for more updates! I am loving everything so far

Melissa

 

[TiffinyKaye]

Ben!

You'll have to give us our opinions on the Disneyland rides vs. Disney World. As someone who's been to Disneyland at least 20 times (mostly when I was younger with my grandparents) and Disney World a lot less (though coming up on it... ), I still give it to Disney World. The sheer size of having all four parks, how they treat you on property at Disney World...I just could live there. I can spend, at minimum, a week in Disney World...and max., 3 days in Disneyland (though I do have friends who take at least two week-long vacations to Disneyland every year!).

So, while Disney World has my vote for the best of the Disney properties...I will give Disneyland this: Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Alice in Wonderland, and finally, Indiana Jones Adventure. Disneyland has all those rides...and Disney World doesn't. And, if you ask me, Indiana Jones Adventure is superior to any ride in Disney World (aside from Alien Encounters...but oh, it's not there anymore either!). When you go on it, you'll notice that it's basically the SAME RIDE as "Dinosaur" in Animal Kingdom (actually, it's the other way around--since Indy came first). It's just a different story. And, because I'm partial to "Indiana Jones," I prefer that ride.

I hope you're having a fantabulous time!!!!!

Tiffiny

 

[edeneye]

Okay! This better be a short one because it is now midnight and our alarms are going off at 5:45 tomorrow morning (because we have breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen)!

Yesterday we went out to Citywalk again for a couple of hours in the morning (after some tense minutes in the lobby of our Hotel when we thought we'd lost our credit cards - they were in our camera bag for safekeeping) and did a tiny bit of shopping. Jess can't resist a Hot Topic! Late in the afternoon we got driven down to Downtown LA to the Biltmore - a 91-year-old Hotel that has been in COUNTLESS films, most prominently to us being Ghostbusters. We basically spent the evening exploring the hotel and taking pictures because the decor is just amazing. We were helped out by a friendly staff member who took a few photos of us and showed us around the lobby and one of the ballrooms, telling us all about the many film shoots there and all the different kinds of weddings they host. He was fantastic, knew just about everything there was to know about the Hotel and spent a good 15 minutes just showing us around before not accepting a tip (being Australian, we're still really unsure who we tip).

After a nice dinner at one of the Hotel's restaurants we finally got to sleep. We never actually got out and explored LA - the attraction in this case was the hotel itself. At 7am this morning we were in a town car being driven down to Anaheim to our next hotel which I found upon arrival to be IMMEDIATELY ACROSS THE ROAD FROM DISNEYLAND. Jess knew because she's been here before and been jealous of people staying here when she was getting on a shuttle but I had no idea we were going to be this close.

So naturally, we left our bags at reception and on a complete whim decided upon DCA where we spent the entire day right up until closing time. We must've rode just about everything! I'm quite prone to motion sickness as I'm sure I've mentioned but Jess pretty much dragged me onto all of it. The worst part queasy-wise would have to be the swinging gondolas on the great big ferris wheel at Paradise Pier. Urgh! When we reached the bottom one of the cast members must've noticed our discomfort (it was quite apparent for all to see) and called out "just one more turn!". Oh no.

Jess hanging on TIGHT

We did survive though, met a whole host of characters - including Oscar whom we'd never ever seen before which was exciting - and spent what must've been a good 10-11 hours solid at DCA. Fairly low crowd day from the look of things too, the longest queue I saw posted all day was 40 minutes and our longest actual wait was probably 15. Highlights were probably the character meetings, it was nice to see them again, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (Jess' favourite ride in the world, the LA one specifically), Cars Land which was new to both of us and World of Colour.

We loved the lighting of Cars Land, we are going to use 'Life Could Be a Dream (sha-boom sha-boom)' somewhere in our wedding so it was special to hear that and watch Radiator Springs transform.

So that basically takes us up until now, tomorrow is Goofy's Kitchen for breakfast and my first visit to LA's Magic Kingdom. It'll again be another open until close day I think followed by a much needed trip to our hotel's laundromat because we are running right out of clean clothes!

Donald was so excited, I had him on my shirt and Jess' matched his! Gotta love that Duck.

OMG you guys get to do nightmare before Christmas haunted mansion at Disneyland!!! It is my dream to get stuck on that ride in the room that smells like gingerbread! This time of year at Disneyland is my absolute favorite! You guys will have a blast. Do you get to do DCA too??

Yes! We're so excited to see the Haunted Mansion's Halloween makeover! Jess has heard about it for years but never ever been here at Halloween so we'll experience it together for the first time. Jess loves Nightmare Before Christmas too and we both enjoy the regular Haunted Mansion so this will be great. As you'll see above, we did DCA all day today. We were walking to the gate and essentially just chose left over right for no good reason at all. We've got a 4 day park hopper so we'll very likely be back at DCA again real soon!

I can't agree with Jess more. There are so many rides at Disneyland that put the Disney World version to shame! Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Space Mountain are better there for sure. I absolutely love DCA too! If you can be sure to eat at Carthay Circle. My fiancé tells everyone his very favorite meal ever was from there. It's a beautiful restaurant too! In general the food everywhere at Disneyland far exceeds Disney World.

We didn't get to Disneyland Park at all today but I saw why Jess loves the Tower of Terror there so much more. It's just so unexpected when you suddenly drop (or launch!), especially for me when I'm so accustomed to the one in Orlando and was still waiting for the part where we move further into the building! And we did actually go to Carthay Circle! We had lunch there with the package that got us preferred viewing for World of Colour! We weren't too adventurous with our food choices (as usual, see our reception menu for proof) but it was great to visit and admire the decor and do something classier than the quick service burgers we typically have for practically every meal!

Ben!! If you get a chance-- buy tickets for the Warner Brothers DELUXE studio tour-- it's like, six hours long and they BASICALLY let the deluxe people do almost anything they want! We watched scenes from tv shows being filmed, played around on at least five or six sets, watched and chatting with foley artists, sound designers, editors, visiting the scoring stage, and it includes an AMAZING lunch in the commissary-- where I met George Clooney and Gerard Butler!!! BEST experience and I try to do it almost every time I'm in LA!!!

Ahhhh that sounds amazing! We loved the tour we went on but it seemed to finish so quickly. The two hours just breezed by and the nature of the studio seems to be that you never know what is gonna happen at any given time so we really didn't want it to finish. We'll definitely be doing that one next time! We'd go back and do it right away for sure if we had time but I think we'll basically be in Disney from now right up until we leave for Vegas on Sunday.

I don't get how everyone says Space is better in DL!! No WAY! Just a lot of turns and spins. WDW is way more fun!! ;-) BUT-- Small World, Pirates, Indy/Dinosaur... WAY better in Disneyland!! (And overall I actually PREFER DL-- sacrilege!!) the food is AMAZING. Try to eat at Cafe Orleans (like the Blue Bayou, but cheaper!!) and that monte cristo is to DIE FOR!

Small World is actually closed at the moment! Jess has been looking forward to taking me on Indiana Jones since 2007 when she first visited though so we'll finally be doing that tomorrow which is exciting. I'll look out for your recommendations, we're actually eating at the Blue Bayou on Friday night - it's something Jess specifically wanted to do on Halloween, I'm guessing I'll see why when we get there!

Yay for bonus experiences that you've always wanted to do anyway! The studio tour sounds like a lot of fun. So cool that you got to turn on the Bat signal.

How neat to get to stay in the hotel used by Ghostbusters! Enjoy every minute of it that you can and don't think about how fast its going just be in the moment. Things will go by fast enough.

I wish I could stop counting how long we have left! As soon as the holiday starts I'm already adding up how much we've got left. Fortunately we've still got over three weeks! I wish time at work went this FAST! We're fitting so much stuff in though and keeping this trip report is going to work as a diary so it'll be nice to look back and have a good record of what happened so I can relive it. But for now there's SO much fun to be had

Glad to hear your trip is going so well and that you guys are enjoying yourself! and Thursday you are going to Disneyland how fun! and I agree with Jess some rides are better over here then in Orlando but Orlando is just so big you need a few days to comb through it all and that's the best problem to have I can't wait for more updates! I am loving everything so far

It's definitely a different vibe here than Disney World! Reading the times guide I see things here and there that only happen on weekends and things like that bring out the fundamental difference that this one is well populated by locals as well as tourists. Lots more Australians than I'm used to as well! We expected that though, it's a 13 hour flight from there versus the 19 (or more) it can take to get to Orlando! I was really impressed to find though that even though there is probably tons of regulars, we managed to get through the entire Twilight Zone video without anyone narrating along with it.

So, while Disney World has my vote for the best of the Disney properties...I will give Disneyland this: Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Alice in Wonderland, and finally, Indiana Jones Adventure. Disneyland has all those rides...and Disney World doesn't. And, if you ask me, Indiana Jones Adventure is superior to any ride in Disney World (aside from Alien Encounters...but oh, it's not there anymore either!). When you go on it, you'll notice that it's basically the SAME RIDE as "Dinosaur" in Animal Kingdom (actually, it's the other way around--since Indy came first). It's just a different story. And, because I'm partial to "Indiana Jones," I prefer that ride.

Yes! I love Indy, I took an Indiana Jones lunchbox from Disneyland to work for years, and also really enjoy mine trains so I'm definitely looking forward to that one! The way I'm feeling at the moment - just based on DCA - is that LA is the better amusement park but Orlando offers magic made possible by its isolation and epic size. Also, we stopped right away at guest services and since then we had been walking around with my 'first visit' badge, as well as 'I'm Celebrating!' and 'Happily Ever After'. After our trips to WDW I was surprised when only two cast members all day made reference to any one of them!

For whatever reason the CMs just don't seem as committed to the little details of the guest experience here, leading me more to believe that this is the amusement park and WDW is the tourist destination. Which also helps me feel like you do where I could absolutely live at WDW and never ever leave - it just feels so welcoming when everyone is so nice, as opposed to having a good day today at DCA but not feeling like we're gonna need more time come Sunday. I'm really looking forward to Disneyland Park though, being the original, so famous and the one with the largest obvious connection to Walt Disney himself I feel like that is going to be really special. Now I'd better get to sleep so I can make the most of it!

 

[elphie101]

Yay for a Disney update!! I totally agree with you about the swinging gondolas - we love thrill rides but DH and I both HATED them. We called it Mickey's Death Wheel instead of Mickey's Fun Wheel. Blegh.

 

[LadyD]

It's interesting you mention the cast members reaction's to buttons. Diana and I visit disneyland quite frequently and we have noticed there is more of a reaction from fellow guests than cast members. However, I have also noticed that the number of people wearing some kind of button is much higher at disneyland than WDW in my experience, so I wonder if it is an over saturation type thing and CMs just not noticing since so many people have them??? Also, the people working the park are very much more likely to be locals working a job than say people who have dreamed of working at Disney world/doing the college program. It is very interesting how the guest experience is so different between the two resorts as a result.

DCA is such a wonderful park. If you're into adult beverages, I highly recommend trying the Karl Strauss beer served in the park. It is a tasty local brew. Also, in Disneyland, try the monte cristo sandwich. It is a little bit of cheesy ooey gooey heaven. Enjoy your disneyland experience!!!!

 

[gummybear091]

The Ferris wheel at DCA is the most terrifying ride I've ever been on. Last time I went we road with 2 other adults and a little girl. All 4 of us adults were not liking it at all, but all kept our cool for the child who happened to love it. I'm pretty afraid of heights and the way that it swings back and forth is just too much for me!