Day 2—Relax and Decompress
Wednesday, April 18
I knew that traveling was going to be hard on my Granny as well as our parents so we didn’t plan anything formal for our second day except for dinner reservations at the Yachstman Steakhouse. We slept in and had breakfast in the room. My Dad slept in even later and we didn’t see him until after noon. Adam and I decided to take everyone else (granny, my mom and his parents) over to SBP so they could see where we were supposed to have the ceremony (I say supposed to have, because if you have seen the pics you know that’s not where we ended up).
I had forgotten to ask have my Granny’s
scooter when checked in the day before so we went downstairs to locate it. Adam and my mom retrieved it from bell services. We rented from Walker Mobility and I would highly recommend them. The scooter was in great shape, charged up and ready to go. We decided to have my mom drive it outside the Beach Club lobby so Granny could practice driving without having to worry so much about running over small children. She took to the scooter like a fish to water and renting it was probably one of the best logistical decisions we made. While Granny was test driving, this nice lady stopped her and told her that “every princess needs a crown” and she gave her this cute little foam tiara. That’s one thing I love about Disney and about people who love Disney—where else will find such nice acts of random kindness whilst on vacation? ??
Moving on, we made the rounds at SBP…
All the ladies:
We made the complete loop around the Boardwalk to the Swan and Dolphin and back to the Beach Club. By that time my dad was up and he and my mom went off to explore. Granny was tired and took a nap; I have no clue what Adam’s parents did, lol. Adam and I decided to go to EPCOT for a bit to check out the Flower and Garden Festival.
High-fiving Lotso!
We always have to stop for a pic with our favorite Duck:
Along the way I had mentioned that we forgot to buy new perfume for the wedding day. I really liked the idea of having a scent that would remind us of the wedding in the future and Adam liked the idea too. We ended up stopping in France at the Guerlain shop. I told the clerk what we were looking for and he helped us pick out some really lovely scents. We went to check out and our total was like $300+. I knew it would be expensive, but I didn’t realize how expensive, oh well you only get married once. Turns out that Adam’s was a reasonably priced $80, but mine was like $250—it does smell so nice though. It’s called Cruel Gardenia and although I don’t normally like floral scents, this one smells very fresh and feminine and the bottle made for very pretty pictures.
I think at some point we snacked and we ended up back at the Beach Club. Adam went and hung out with his parents while three generations of our family shared wine coolers, lol:
Our Best Man, Dwayne was set to arrive that evening but not until after dinner. Our Maid of Honor, Jana, and her husband, and usher, Mark, were also set to arrive at some point that evening—they live in Tampa.
We had a really nice meal at the Yachtsman. I hadn’t ever eaten there before, but our server was so nice and the food was delicious. My Dad still goes on and on about how good his filet was. I would totally recommend it—it was very laid back and I also really liked the atmosphere of the Yacht Club. It’s so calm compared to the Beach Club.
After the meal we all headed back to the room. Dwayne was spending the night with us on the fold out couch in our room. We never added him to the reservation because he was only staying the one night, but it also didn’t occur to me that he might have an issue getting on the Magical Express. The plan was him to take a cab, but he was able to hop on the ME with no issues. The texts I received on his progress went like this:
“Landed!!” “Is my name on your reservation?” Nevermind! Taking shuttle, so easy!!” “Ew, children everywhere” After about an hour I texted asking if he was ok to which he responded: “ Exploring the whole d***** magic kingdom. Magical expressly slow.” Fortunately, he arrived shortly thereafter.
Dwayne is a mutual friend of Adam and I. He and Adam actually met in high school and Dwayne and I met in college, before I ever knew Adam. It meant a lot to both of us to have him there. In fact, our first ever vacation together was a road trip from Arkansas to WDW for spring break with Dwayne and his partner Christopher (our officiant). Dwayne and Christopher aren’t really Disney people, but we always have a great time when they’re there. Christopher wasn’t able to arrive until late on Thursday. We got Dwayne settled and then had a few drinks at the Martha’s Vineyard bar. It was great to catch up. Jana and Mark also arrived at some point, but they were beat and just went straight to bed. We went to bed somewhat early because the next day was….Discovery Cove!!!