KellyJo18's Planning Journal - WP/LS/UK - June 21, 2007

[KellyJo18]

Day Five - Back to Disney

It was finally Saturday which meant we were driving back to Orlando to meet up with my mom, sister, and Mike's mom. They were flying in for the planning session and decided to come a couple days early so they would have time to enjoy Disney. Mike and I got on the road around 10:00 am so we could be at the hotel when their Magical Express bus was pulling up. With the way Florida residents drive the flow of traffic varied between 80-90 mph and we made it back in about an hour and a half! Although we did see lots of cops along the way .

Luck would have it, just as we are approaching Orlando we start to see detour signs for WDW. So after 10 minutes since the first (and last) sign we started to worry but we kept going... and fields kept rolling by. I kept trying to figure out where we were on the map but had little luck . Finally instead of just seeing fields some trees began to pop up... we weren't really sure if that was a good sign though. Typically when there is a detour don't they continue with signs so you know where to go?? All of a sudden I see a mountain top behind some of the trees and I get all excited (Mike claims I need to stop doing this because he thinks we're about to get in a car accident). It's Mount Everest!!! errr... Expedition Everest . My only guess is that the detour was sending us in the back way and that all the bare land is what Disney owns for future parks (I'm crossing my fingers anyway because that was a lot of land and it would take a lot of parks to fill it up ). Mike claimed all of the land must be where they really grow food and that the Land at Epcot is staged . I thought if they were growing anything it'd be food for the animals at AK since that's what we were near. I felt like I was playing a car game "spot disney landmarks" (although Mike wasn't joining in so I don't know if I can consider it a good car game ). After passing Expedition Everest we finally saw a sign that told us we were going the right way!

Yay! We were officially at WDW!! I called my sister (Mandi, 27) to find out where they were. I figured even with the detour we would beat the bus. She said that they were pulling up to All-Star Music and that our hotel was the next stop. Opps... maybe they would beat us. Mike and I were pulling in and didn't see the bus anywhere and figured it had come and gone. After checking the lobby and not seeing them we figured it was taking them longer than Mandi had claimed. The line was huge in the lobby for some reason so Mike trying to be sly again told me to get in line. His plan didn't work out so well this time because no one else got in line before our families arrived and both of our mom's were confused about why I didn't meet them out by the bus with Mike... opps, oh well...

We decided that during this part of our trip I would stay with my mom and sister in one room and Mike and his mom in another. When we made our reservations we asked to have connecting doors but when we had both finished checking in we realized we were on completely different floors of the same building . **NOTE: During our planning session our EM told us to make sure our guests request connecting doors, not adjoining, because for some reason that is the only way those requests are typically followed** FMIL and Mike's room was ready but ours wasn't so we went to see their room and drop off everyone's luggage before heading to Downtown Disney to find some lunch. After staying there last week we knew not to wait around for our room to be ready.

We got into the Downtown Disney line while it was still empty which most likely means we just missed the bus. After waiting awhile we finally got on and found seats. We seemed to have a very energetic bus driver, one lady on the bus even quietly asked the man she was with if he thought the bus driver was sober. He finally got the bus loaded, or so we thought. Apparently he decided to see how many people can actually fit on one Disney bus. He kept screaming "oooohh yeah! that's it, keep it moving" into the microphone. The people that were standing were literally on top of each other. Talk about hoping you remembered to wear deodorant. I kept looking for elderly people that were going to get stuck standing in what felt like a mosh pit but it seemed to be all teenagers and young adults. It felt like MTV Spring Break on the bus, I thought it was pretty entertaining but FMIL was a little worried about it always being like that (her mom is in a wheelchair and this wouldn't have been a good situation for them). I really wish I would have taken a picture of the amount of people on the bus because it was crazy!

When we finally arrived to Downtown Disney we headed toward Wolfgang Puck Express which is our absolute favorite restaurant at WDW, if you've never tried it you really should. I've always wanted to try his restaurant on the West Side. After refueling I could tell my mom and Mandi were ready to hit the shops but Mike and his mom looked like they could use a nap. I felt like this could become a problem. We started off by going into the Christmas store because it is my mom's favorite but Mike and his mom just browsed a little near the door and just kind of stood around waiting for us to finish. I was feeling really bad and unsure what to do . I told Mike him and his mom could head back to the hotel and we could just meet up later for dinner at 'Ohana's but they claimed to be okay. I went to see what my mom was up to and came across some mints that I thought would make great favors for the wedding since we were holding the reception at the Living Seas. We bought one tin and asked the woman working at the store how long they had been carrying them for and if it would be possible to buy 80 of them. She said that they just started selling them so they should be around for awhile but not to wait until June if we really wanted to use them.

Nemo's Lucky Fin Shark RepelleMints (it says on the tin, "Sharks hate fresh breath!")

I thought they would be cute and something that people could keep for awhile although I don't want anyone to be offended and think we were telling our guests to freshen their breath. Our friend Ana also suggested a good favor being light up ice cubes with a note that said something like "Add a little fun to your drink!" but I think that could get messy (with people trying to transfer them from one drink to the next. They also make light up straws that has color move up and down it when you take a sip.

I for sure want to use glow in the dark necklaces at our dessert party and found the ones Disney sells in the parks online for $1.75 each instead of the $5 you get them for there. I don't want to go overboard with glowing items so I think the mints might be a good choice.

This is the necklace

Anyway, back to the trip... After going in a couple more stores I could tell that Mike and his mom really weren't enjoying themselves so I suggested we take a boat ride over to Port Orleans Riverside to see another one of the wedding resorts. Everyone seemed to think this was a good idea and it gave us a good chance to relax.

Leaving Downtown Disney

Docking at the French Quarters to let off some fellow boat riders gave us a chance to kind of see this property - Mike decided that we would have to resort hop during the wedding trip so we could try out the dragon slide

When we first got to the resort we decided to check out the gift shop to see if we could find something special to put in the bags of guests staying at this resort. After looking around awhile and not seeing anything that jumped out at us we decided to go see the pool.

My family stayed at this resort a couple Christmas's ago and I was surprised to see they had a life guard on duty during this trip. I swear I remember there being signs out when we had been there before warning parents to watch their kids because there were no lifeguards.

After seeing the pool we walked over the bridge and headed toward one of the buildings to see if we could sneak a peak of one of the rooms. Mike's family had been having issues about where to stay during the wedding. Almost my entire side is staying at Port Orleans and his mom really had been hoping to stay there also but her brother in law refuses to pay more than necessary for a room that they will barely be in (which I totally understand since it's true, when you're at Disney you are rarely in your room). Anyway... her mom is coming with her sister and brother in law and they were all wanting to stay at the same resort so she gave in and made reservations at All-Star Movies (which is why we were staying there during this trip, to check them out). I kind of felt bad after we got to Port Orleans though because I could really tell she was wanting to change their wedding plans. Mike had already been bugging her about changing resorts because he doesn't want the colorful bedspreads at ASMo to be in the background of all of his getting ready pictures. Plus after he gets ready he's going to have to drive over to POR anyway because I asked Randy to take pictures of us there before the wedding. I love wedding drama .

Walking over the bridge

Mike's mom, Mike, Mandi, and my mom walking around the resort

While we were walking around we noticed a maid cleaning some of the first floor rooms. Mike's mom kept asking if we thought we could peak our heads into a room so my sister, who has no fear of anything, walks up to ask if we can look around the room. Well... this maid did not speak English and started to hand us all extra towels for the pool. Mandi tried to ask again and used a little bit of Spanish to clarify things. The woman asked us to wait one minute and she left. We thought maybe we scared her off. Mandi speaks Spanish pretty well and I was teasing her about not just asking the entire question in Spanish but she claims she is "rusty" and didn't want to end up asking something completely off the wall or inappropriate. So we wait around for about five minutes and the maid comes back with another lady who speaks English. They had no issues about letting us see the rooms so Mike's mom could see what they were like.

After that we headed back towards the bus stop to wait for the Downtown Disney bus. The boat ride had been fun but it takes a lot longer than the buses do. While we were on the bus I called to see if our room was ready but it wasn't. I didn't have very good luck with hotel rooms during this trip. After we got back, Mike and his mom went to take a nap and my family and I hung out in the gift shop and food court wasting time until we could get into our room. It was around 3:30 when we got back and we ended up having to wait until 5 again before our room was ready. My sister started to get fed up and decided that if we were going to be waiting so long they could at least put us closer to Mike's room. So after spending some time on the phone we had our room and it was just around the corner from Mike's.

Next up... Dinner at O'hana's

 

[KellyJo18]

Downtown Disney and Dinner at Ohana's

We decided to head back to Downtown Disney before going to dinner since it was our last chance to shop there before our trip was over. Mike and his mom has a couple hours to lay around resting and said they wanted to go with us. I made sure to point out to Mike's mom that this was what the bus was typically like so she wasn't freaked out about how crowded it had been before.

We decided to go check out Disney's Magical Store of Memories first. For some reason I always think of it a scrapbook store and am always surprised by how small the scrapbook section is, although they do always have neat Disney items. During our last couple of trips my mom has really wanted to buy the Mickey Mouse scissors they sell there but never can because we typically don't check luggage. We figured we'd end up having to throw them away at airport security but we actually checked luggage this trip. We were expecting to buy a lot for the wedding while we were there and thought we'd need big bags - my mom was extremely excited she finally got to buy her scissors.

We went into Goofy's Candy Co. next. Not the best store to go to just before dinner - way too many yummy things to tempt you when you're hungry (or at least they tempted me). I love the drink toppers they offer now, soooo cute!!

We were all hoping we'd come across something really cute there to use as our wedding favor but didn't really have anything stand out. I did think that the chocolate covered mickey pretzels would be fun but with having cake and a dessert party I don't want people to be overwhelmed with sweet things. I'm not sure if I like the mints the best or if the ice cubes or pretzels would be better. What do you think? I need help deciding.

We didn't do as much shopping as my mom and sister would have liked but we only had about 30 minutes before we needed to get back to the bus stop and head toward the Polynesian Resort for dinner. We quickly walked through the ESPN store to see if we could find any cute sport Mickey shirts for our ring bearer. I was disappointed they only had official team clothing and nothing really with Disney characters. Although to be honest I didn't look extremely hard - I was distracted trying to find the Michigan State score on the tv's they had in the store. It was hard to be at Disney during March Madness - I kept forgetting when MSU games were being played (although we didn't last long in the tournament so I didn't miss much ). After that we briefly walked by the lego structures which are always impressive before heading toward the bus stop.

Since we booked our rehearsal dinner at 'Ohana and Mike and his mom have never been we figured we should try them out during this trip. So we hopped a bus from Downtown Disney to the Magic Kingdom and then boarded the monorail. Mike's mom had never seen the WP in person so I tried to point it out when we went by it on the monorail but it was already dark and you couldn't see much. I didn't think it was too big of a deal since we'd be able to see it on Monday before our planning session.

We got to 'Ohana 15 minutes early. I was worried we wouldn't be seated because I completely forgot to bring our confirmation number along. Luckily they just needed our name. They told us that it would be about a 20-25 minute wait so we took our buzzer and headed toward the gift shops. The second I walked into the shop our buzzer was going off. I figured it was a mistake but we all headed back over to the restaurant. No mistake, our table was ready in less than two minutes . The man that was taking us to our table was very talkative. I forgot to warn FMIL and Mike that they call everyone cousin here and it was great to see their reactions the first time the man asked if any of us cousins had been to 'Ohana before . I explained that some of us had and that some hadn't so he went on to explain that 'Ohana means family and that we're all cousins, etc.

When we finally got to our seats I decided to ask about where they seat large groups since we were all curious where we would be sitting during the rehearsal dinner. I told him that we would have between 50-65 people attending. On the phone I was told that we had to have at least 65 people in order to make the reservation and I figure if we are a little under count we can just go ahead and pay for a few extra meals. The man, I mean "cousin", explained that they try to sit groups of 50 near the entrance of the restaurant where they have many round tables that fit about 6 people each. This is where he had just sat us. It is the area adjacent to the bar by the kitchen and further back from the entertainment and windows. My FMIL is really hoping we get to sit in this section because it is away from where the majority of people are sitting, a little more private, away from the games they play with the children, and near the bar for those who are wanting to drink. However, my mom is hoping we are put in the area further up near the windows (where groups over 50 are placed) because of the view and she likes the idea of having long tables so we can all sit together instead of spread out among the round tables. I'm glad it sounds like we are just assigned a section depending on the number of people so I don't get put in the middle the decision... luckily neither my mom or FMIL realized they had differing opinions. He also said that if our group wants centerpieces on the tables we could just drop them off beforehand and their staff would be more than willing to set them up. After we finished eating we decided that we probably wouldn't want any centerpieces on the table since they serve family style and that the food takes up pretty much all of the free space. We're thinking about possibly getting leis for all of our guests. Has anyone else done anything like that?

The dinner was incredible!! They couldn't bring out the potatoes fast enough for us, they were soooo good. I also really liked the chips they brought out as an appetizer (I can't remember what their real name was though). My mom was worried about eating here with Mike and his mom before the rehearsal dinner. She was afraid they wouldn't like it and we'd have to change our plans but luckily they loved it too .

Just as we were finishing dessert (I never thought I would like bread pudding but it was to die for) Wishes was beginning over at the Magic Kingdom. We decided since we couldn't see it from our seats that we would go down and watch it from the beach. It was fun to watch but a little cold. My mom couldn't get over the fact that there were kids in the pool. Afterwards we went back to the hotel so we could get enough rest for tomorrow's attempt to get to all of the parks.

Next... "Sneaking" into the Living Seas and our one and only day in the parks

 

[purplegirl247]

Great trip report. Your wedding favor ideas all seem great. I can see what you mean about not wanting to overwhelm your guests with sweets. I personally, would find all the sweets delicious, but that's just me.

We're doing mints as our favors as well. I bought mickey/minnie tins with mints in them, which we're using as the base of our favors (we're putting four Hershey's kisses on top, then tying it all up in tulle with a ribbon). I didn't think about the paranoia I might inspire by giving our guests breath mints. That's pretty funny. I thought they were fun because the mints are actually in the shape of the charactes.

Keep up the good work!

 

[KellyJo18]

Great trip report. Your wedding favor ideas all seem great. I can see what you mean about not wanting to overwhelm your guests with sweets. I personally, would find all the sweets delicious, but that's just me.

We're doing mints as our favors as well. I bought mickey/minnie tins with mints in them, which we're using as the base of our favors (we're putting four Hershey's kisses on top, then tying it all up in tulle with a ribbon). I didn't think about the paranoia I might inspire by giving our guests breath mints. That's pretty funny. I thought they were fun because the mints are actually in the shape of the charactes.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks purplegirl I'm the type of person who would also be fine with tons of sweets. I think that most people eat (or snack on) the favor right when they get to the reception so they would get dinner before we gave them more sweets. I just can't decide what to go with so I question little stuff like that. I love that you are giving both mints and Hershey's kisses... hmm... I might have to steal that idea . Too many decisions .

 

[purplegirl247]

If you want to know my original favor idea (that I "stole" from someone else on dis from a long time ago), I wanted to have one or two Hershey kisses somehow attached to a nice spoon (not a plastic spoon but a more sturdy one). The attached note would have said "A spoonful of sugar makes the wedding go well." Alas, I couldn't find a cool-enough spoon that didn't look cheap!

 

[JJClemson]

Great report so far Kelly! I'm really enjoying it We're having our rehearsal dinner at 'Ohana too and are considering getting leis for all our guests.

 

[KellyJo18]

If you want to know my original favor idea (that I "stole" from someone else on dis from a long time ago), I wanted to have one or two Hershey kisses somehow attached to a nice spoon (not a plastic spoon but a more sturdy one). The attached note would have said "A spoonful of sugar makes the wedding go well." Alas, I couldn't find a cool-enough spoon that didn't look cheap!

That's a very cute idea. I can imagine a spoon like that would be hard to come across. I love how many good ideas people come up with on here! I can't even begin to imagine trying to plan this wedding without this site and everyone's help . Thanks!

 

[Belle1981]

Great TR! I can't wait to hear more!!!!

 

[KellyJo18]

Great report so far Kelly! I'm really enjoying it We're having our rehearsal dinner at 'Ohana too and are considering getting leis for all our guests.

Great TR! I can't wait to hear more!!!!

Thanks I'm glad people are actually reading and also enjoying it. You can never be sure and I don't want to bore anyone with too many details .

 

[lurkyloo]

Love the details! Regarding the favor ideas, I say go with the mints - they fit the theme, they don't compete with the other desserts and everybody wiill know what to do with them!

 

[KellyJo18]

Love the details! Regarding the favor ideas, I say go with the mints - they fit the theme, they don't compete with the other desserts and everybody wiill know what to do with them!

I am starting to lean towards the mints. I have the tin I bought in my purse and every time I go to get something out I see them and think of Disney . Thanks for the advice and for reading!!

 

[KellyJo18]

Day Six - "Sneaking" into the Living Seas & our one and only day at the parks

Mike and I decided not to use our AP's this trip since we would have to go three months without using them before the wedding in June. Since we are moving to Florida we figured it would be better for us to activate them in June and be able to use them for a full 12 months. It was hard to be on Disney property for three days with only having one day in the parks but hopefully it will be worth it . My mom and sister ended up just adding an extra day to the passes they are using for the wedding with the no expiration option so they saved a bunch of money by getting the wedding discount for this trip as well as in June. I got lucky and had an extra day on a hopper pass that was from way before they started an expiration date. Mike and his mom didn't want to spend the money on getting hopper passes so our plan was to meet up with them later in the day at MGM.

We woke up bright and early to Stitch screaming at us on the phone. I forgot to mention earlier that the day of our engagement session with Randy I scheduled a wake up call... let's just say Mike doesn't find Stitch as entertaining as I do . Anyway, my mom, my sister and I got ready and headed for Animal Kingdom. We always like to go to AK in the morning so we can get a better look at the animals on the safari and beat some of the lines. When we first got there we had to wait in line to pick up my mom and sister's park tickets... when did they start giving paper ones instead of the heavy credit card type pass?

By the time we got into the park it was extremely busy - so much for beating the lines. I really wanted to try out Expedition Everest but we knew the line would be ridiculous and finally decided that it might be a fun ride to save for the wedding when we had a large group to go with. Instead we decided to head to Dinosaur to get a FastPass before getting in line at the safari. My mom and sister kept getting mad at me along the way because I was walking too fast for them but I knew how much they wanted to get done and we only had ONE day! When I got to the Dinosaur I noticed that there was no wait so we decided to ride it right away instead of getting a FastPass. My mom hates rides like this but has never complained about going on it for some reason. Usually she waits outside and shops while we ride but since AK opened she's been a fan of this ride. So all three of us start through the weaving line that is empty and get right in to watch the movie. We ended up in the back row of our "time rover" and my mom didn't have anyone riding on one side of her - she freaked out the entire ride because she felt like she was going to fall out. I thought the picture was a riot but didn't want to spend a lot of money on it and noticed other people just taking pictures of the monitors so I figured I'd give it a try too. Sorry if it's blurry! We're in the back row - I'm on the far right next to my sister who is being attacked by our mom (although she looks pretty freaked out too).

After laughing at our picture for awhile we head over to the safari and see that the wait is already at 60 minutes. We've all been on this ride a few times and figured it could wait until June so we start walking back toward the bus stop. Yup we went on one ride and were leaving. I don't know if that says we don't have a lot at AK that we like to do or if we just had sooo many other things we wanted to do at the other parks. I do really want to see the new Nemo play at AK but it wasn't starting until noon and we didn't want to wait around (apparently our theme for the day).

On to Epcot! As we are walking toward the bus stop we see the Epcot bus was just pulling away and I immediately think about how we're going to have to spend more time that we don't have to waste waiting. All of a sudden the bus stops and opens it's door when it reaches where we are walking - SWEET! I'm excited and confused at the same time but when we finally sit down I found out that my mom had been waving obnoxiously at the bus... I wasn't sure if I should be glad or embarrassed.

Once we finally arrive at Epcot we decide to go to Guest Services to see about the pins I keep hearing about on here . Instead of asking for the Just Married pins (which I kept meaning to do during our trip but forgot) we asked about 1st visit pins. We have many guests that have never been to Disney before and thought these would be great to put in their guest bags (I'll take a picture tomorrow and add it to the post). We also picked up a birthday pin since the father of our flower girl and ring bearer's birthday is the day before our wedding and a few anniversary buttons as well for two couples that have wedding anniversaries during the trip. The woman at guest services seemed to hesitate about giving us a bunch but we explained that they were for guests attending our Disney wedding and she seemed to be a little more helpful.

When we finally head toward the park I think we were a little overwhelmed about what to do first. We found ourselves standing near Mission Space which Mandi and I have never been on so we decided to go check it out. The way the signs are angled it was hard to see what the wait was - we thought it said 2 minutes (we should have known that wasn't possible) and headed to get into line after sending our mom off to some shops. When we see the wait we decide to pass and again wait until June. At least we'll be looking forward to some rides that we've never been on before when we are there for the wedding.

I must say that I LOVE the new(is it new?) sign they have in Epcot that flashes all of the rides and their wait times, very helpful (or so we thought). We see that the wait for Soaring is only 20 minutes and we decide that is not bad at all considering it's new and we really, really wanted to try it. We had been on the original at California Adventure when we were in California in 2001 and remembered loving it. By the time we hike our way to the Land pavilion and down the stairs to Soaring the time had been increased to 70 minutes. We really debated this one but decided to come back later in the afternoon to see if it got any better.

Now what? I was getting frustrated that they didn't want to wait in line for anything so I dragged them over to the new Nemo ride. It was a 30 minute wait but I was not letting them say no! So after taking a bunch of pictures outside (since this is where we are holding our reception) we get in line.

For future reference, I started timing the line when we entered the indoor part of the line and it only took 15 minutes! Not bad at all - we're in Disney, lines are a given. Before we boarded our clamshell we saw them rotate one of the shells to load a wheelchair. I was so impressed by the engineering of this clamshell - it twisted and bent into a ramp! The ride itself was cute. I thought it might be confusing for some of our wedding guests that don't watch the new Disney movies since they had Dory asking who Nemo was which I thought was funny but some might not get it. Anyway... very cute! I loved how they made it look like the Finding Nemo characters were swimming with the real fish .

After the ride is over my sister decides she is going to find a way into the VIP room. My mom and sister have never seen it and I forgot to take pictures when Mike and I saw it on our site inspection tour. So we look all over the tank area for the elevator I remember being told our guests would take to get to the reception but had little luck. Granted I was praying we wouldn't find it because who knows what her suggestion would have been - I was pretty sure it was a locked elevator (and kept telling them so) but I did not want to get kicked out of Disney World when our wedding is just around the corner!! I suggested that we just stick our heads in the Coral Reef so they could get a feel for it that way but I had never been and quickly realized the restaurant is nothing like the VIP room. I made the mistake of leaving my mom and sister alone while I used the restroom and when I am washing my hands I hear my sister ask for the manager . What is she doing??? I hear her explain to the hostess that "her sister" is having her wedding in the VIP Saloon in June and we were wondering if we could see it.

I was almost afraid to leave the bathroom but I do... when I walk over to them I see the hostess approaching and start to worry. She says that the manager will be out as soon as possible to take us up but adds that they won't be able to give us any of the pricing or availability information. No problem! It's already booked. I think I owe my sister an apology at this point but I don't think she knows I was freaking out. So a younger gentleman comes down about 15 minutes later - I forgot to mention that we were bugging the manager of a restaurant at NOON opps. I apologized about it but he seemed excited to show it to us. He told us that he just started working at the Coral Reef and that his sister was in the middle of planning her wedding when he got the job - apparently she was mad that he now had access to such a gorgeous venue and that she already had another place booked. We took a bunch of pictures.

The entrance

They had a conference the next day (which was why we couldn't see it during the planning session) so it was all set up

The bar

The piano they can't remove

He told us that the best part of the venue was the bathrooms and told us we had to check them out... he was great!

 

[DisneyFairy19]

WOW... You took such beautiful pics.. cant wait to see what the wedding pics will be like...

 

[KellyJo18]

After leaving the Living Seas we decided to go check out our dessert party location. When we got near the United Kingdom I realized I really had no idea where the UK lower terrace was and decided to stop to ask some security guards (which I don't think I've ever seen walking Disney? ) where it was. We were in the right area but couldn't see it because it was hidden behind whatever building the security guards had been entering.

I am all excited to see the location and think it's great until my mom and sister start freaking me out about how small it is. I assume that Disney wouldn't let us book a location that won't fit our party and tell them they are crazy. Turns out they were right though and we are trying to figure out another location or also book UK Upper Terrace along with the lower.

Here is the entrance to the location. The ramp is to the left and there are stairs to the right.

To the right

The left side

The view to the right is of the French Island

The view of UK Lower from France

UK Lower is to the left in this picture

We also looked the French Island which is so pretty! but not handicap accessible

After looking around at these locations we headed towards Germany to get lunch. I noticed that they have a train garden near the Germany pavilion which I had never really looked at before. Mike's dad loves trains and I took some pictures to show him. I don't think FMIL appreciated me giving him any ideas and is worried he's going to want his own train garden now

While we were eating lunch Mike called to tell us they had just finished watching the new stunt show at MGM. I was so bummed because this is one of the attractions I used to convince him that he would love Disney and was really hoping to we'd get to see it together since neither of us ever had been. Last night Mike made me feel bad about not going with him today and I was hoping we'd at least go over to MGM to meet up with DF and his mom for a little while. I could tell my mom and sister weren't all that excited about the idea. For some reason they claim MGM is their least favorite park but I think they just haven't given it enough of a chance, there are tons of things there they have never done!

We go to check out the sign that shows wait times one last time and decide that there isn't really anything for us to do that will be fast so they agree to go to MGM with me .

I call Mike when we are on the bus to figure out where to meet. He was just about to get on the Star Wars ride and said to meet him outside of the Great Movie Ride. My mom and sister have never been on the Great Movie Ride and I think they'll really love it. Ana had taken me and Mike when we were there for our site inspection trip in November. The actors we got that time we so incredible that I really had high hopes about it this trip. Once we got into MGM we decided to hit up this guest service shop for more pins before heading toward the ride. We got to the ride entrance before them and did some shopping at the store under (near?) the hat.

From the outside it looked like there wasn't a line and we quickly walked in to the area with the movie playing. It was nice to get a chance to talk with Mike and his mom before we got on the ride though. I felt really bad that his mom missed out on seeing the LS and wasn't sure if I should tell her about it right away. Instead I showed them the picture of us on the Dinosaur ride and asked them about their day. Turns out that they had almost finished all of the attractions at MGM. They only had the GMR and Indiana Jones left. We quickly were boarding the ride and I heard my mom and Mandi talking about how they couldn't believe they'd never been on it before. Unfortunately the actors we got this time weren't all that great. We were in the back of the car and it was hard to hear what they were saying. The woman that hijacked our vehicle was supposed to be a cowgirl and just kept screaming into the mic. I'll have to get them to go on it again in June and hopefully we'll have better luck then.

After we got off the GMR we headed over to Indiana Jones. I hadn't seen this show since I was in the 4th grade and I had hated it then so I wasn't really looking forward to it. I was surprised though and really ended up enjoying it. I guess my taste has changed since I was 9.

My sister decided to get her husband an Indiana Jones shirt and I headed up to guest services with Mike and his mom. They wanted to make reservations at Fulton's for dinner and weren't sure where to go to do so. My mom, Mandi, and I had planned to end our day at Magic Kingdom since they were having Extra Magic Hours until 2 am!

After MGM, Mike and his mom were going back to the hotel to rest some before dinner. Our bus was boarding so we took of running and I barely got to say goodbye to them... I felt bad for ditching them again. We were so tired on the bus I was joking that we wouldn't make it until the parks normal closing hour.

Once we get to the Magic Kingdom we forget about our plan to go to guest services to get the Just Married pins and go straight for Pirates of the Caribbean . I had gone on the new version with Mike in November but my mom and Mandi were determined to go on it during this trip. They didn't care about the wait time at all so we got in line. I noticed that every little kid that was in line had to click the chains when they walked by them. Not a huge deal but it got annoying after awhile. We had a large group of high school girls in front of us and all of a sudden they started to shriek about something. Apparently they spotted someone famous in line and were extremely excited about it. Typically we don't try to listen to other people's conversations but we couldn't figure out who they were talking about. They were really entertaining and made the wait fly by. After about 20 minutes of scanning the crowd looking for some familiar "celebrity" face I decided just to ask them. Just as I was working up the nerve I saw who they were talking about. It took us awhile but I finally figured out that his name was Nick, the winner of last season's Project Runway. I don't know how I figured it out because I only watched a couple episodes and my sister watched it almost weekly. Anyway, it was our first Disney celebrity spotting. Actually, that might be a lie. When I was in the forth grade we saw Joey Lawrence (who I loved ) but he was there for a parade, not just waiting in line. We also met Ed McMann that same trip in a grocery store north of Orlando .

After they got to experience the new Pirates ride we grabbed burgers at Pecos Bills. Once we sat down we realized how tired we really were and it was only about 7pm. There was no way we were going to make it to 2 am!! We decided to head over to Splash Mountain but it was broke so we decided to get in line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. As we were getting in line we realized that large numbers of people were getting out of line... it was broke too!! We decided to go give Space Mountain a try but everyone must have had the same idea because the line there was incredibly long. My mom decided she wanted to see the Carousel of Progress and we agreed since Mandi and I both couldn't remember ever seeing it. It was pretty entertaining. Definitely a ride to recommend to my grandparents to go to during the wedding trip. My mom said that they updated it since she had been on it last as the family of the future wasn't as out of date - although my sister and I thought they could have gotten a little more creative with what a future household would look like.

We tried to make it to the next showing of the Laughing Floor with the Monsters Inc. characters but had just missed it. Since we were dragging and feeling really tired we decided we should head towards Main Street to do a little shopping before heading back to the hotel. We got distracted on the way and stopped to watch the SpectroMagic Parade. None of us had seen it in years.

I loved the fish!

We didn't have the best view and decided half way through to start looking at some of the shops. On our way out we decided to stop and buy souvenirs for the kids at my mom's daycare. We bought them each one of the flashing necklaces that they sell during parades and fireworks. As we were walking out we remembered we wanted to buy Magic Kingdom water bottle holders (the straps) to put in the guest bags for the wedding. I thought it might be good to attach one to the water bottle in the bag so people know what to do with them and will be able to carry water in the parks. With the wedding being in June I know it's going to be hot and want everyone to stay hydrated. The CM looked at us like we were nuts when we asked to buy 30 of them.

As we walked out of Magic Kingdom there were CM's standing at the top of the train station waving their Mickey hands and saying goodnight. So cute! I can't wait to go back!!!

We headed home to get enough sleep to be re energized for the planning session in the morning .

Next up... The disaster of the trip and our planning session

 

[curiouser]

Ooooooh the Living Seas room looks great!!! I've watched Illuminations from the UK lower and its a good spot. The dessert party venues are so pretty, its too bad I really don't like Illuminations!

 

[KellyJo18]

Day Seven - The Planning Session

I made sure that our alarms were set so we would have plenty of time to get ready and make it over to Franck's to meet our EM. I woke up excited and nervous about the day. I claimed the shower first so I would have the most time getting ready so that if anyone was running behind they could just meet us at the WP once they were ready. The plan was to get ready, grab a quick bite to eat, and Mike was driving us all over to Franck's in his rental car.

My mom and sister went to grab snack's from the resort food court and I went to go get Mike and his mom from their room. His mom opens the door and just gives me this look like "you're not going to believe it". The second I see her my heart drops. I look around the room and don't see Mike and I ask what's wrong . She says that he's been throwing up since 4 am . I didn't start to panic right away. He was getting out of the shower and looked normal enough so I thought maybe he was over it but that wasn't the case. He laided down on the bed and informed me he wasn't going to the planning session . I knew we very well couldn't have him going to the menu tasting because even mentioning food made him feel sick but I was still extremely disappointed.

We had been in Florida for almost a week and he could have gotten sick ANY other day. He asks how we will get there since he can't drive us and this is when I start to panic. Typically it takes 40-60 minutes to get to the WP with Disney transportation (from where we were anyway) and by this time we had 30 minutes tops to get there. I wasn't exactly positive if we were meeting our EM at 9 or 9:30. When our EM emailed us the schedule it said to meet her at 9:30 but the confirmation email from DFTW said to arrive at 9am. The first thing I do is find our EM's number. It was her voicemail so I decided to talk to her assistant instead. I explained that Mike woke up with food poisoning or the flu and that we were running behind because of it. I asked what time we were supposed to arrive and she confirms it is 9:00 .

Mike decides that since we are in such a time crunch that we should all take the rental car without him. We quickly load our luggage into the car (since we wouldn't be back before check out) and get ready to go. I volunteered my sister to drive since I was a nervous reck at this point. Mike and I had gone to the front desk the night before to get directions to the WP. I was worried that I wouldn't remember how to get there since I had only been half listening and figured Mike would remember them himself . After a quick goodbye to Mike we all climbed in the car and tried to navigate our way.

As we were driving over my EM's assistant called to say she was wrong and we didn't have to be at the WP until 9:30 (at least it wasn't just me who was confused about it). We pulled up to Franck's at exactly 9 and we figured we could spend the extra time snooping around the WP and looking at Franck's. Mike and I were the only ones that had ever seen either in person.

We walked into Franck's to tell them that we had made it and asked if we could go take a look at the WP. The receptionist gave us the okay and told us that there wouldn't be a wedding until noon.

Walking into Franck's

My mom made sure to get a close up of the sign because my dad loves Father of the Bride and doesn't believe they named this place after it

Mike's mom, me, and my mom

I'm checking out the ceiling

The ceiling

Inside the Bride's Vestibule

I can't remember if this is the other room (there were two) in the Bride's Vestibule or if this is the groom's room

Picture Point

Next... I'll post my pictures of inside Franck's and all of the delicious food we tried at our menu tasting

 

[KellyJo18]

WOW... You took such beautiful pics.. cant wait to see what the wedding pics will be like...

Thanks I'm not the best photographer so it must just be how great the venues are It's a good thing we'll have Randy for the wedding

 

[KellyJo18]

Ooooooh the Living Seas room looks great!!! I've watched Illuminations from the UK lower and its a good spot. The dessert party venues are so pretty, its too bad I really don't like Illuminations!

I'm glad you liked that spot, I've been worried about it recently. I haven't seen IllumiNations since I was 9 years old so hopefully I'm not disappointed. I've heard mixed reviews about that particular show but I'm sure we'll have fun either way.

 

[PrettyInTink]

Great pics! The WP is just dreamy

 

[KellyJo18]

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile but our wedding invitations arrived so I've been busy putting them together and finally got them in the mail today. I'll post a picture later tonight or sometime tomorrow.

Now to the best part of the trip, our menu tasting. Since Mike was stuck back at the hotel and missing out on all of the delicious food I made sure to take lots of pictures. My sister even mentioned that I was getting lots of good food shots for the "boards I'm constantly on" . I have never had such great tasting food and am even more excited about the wedding because of it (no exaggeration!).

After taking a look at the WP we headed back to Franck's to meet Michelle. While we were waiting we took a look at all of the ideas they had setup to see if we liked anything in particular.

FMIL, DM, and me

FMIL, my sister, and me after we finished looking the DFTW photo albums - they had some gorgeous shots! I'd recommend taking a look at them when you're there.

Our EM arrived a little after 9:30 and I immediately knew I would like her. She had been out of town and had flight delays on her way home - she only had one hour of sleep before coming in to meet with us, I don't know how she stayed awake and so upbeat throughout the day. Right away she noticed that Mike wasn't with us and we had to explain to her what happened. Once we got into the van and headed over to Epcot for what she called "dinner for breakfast" she was so helpful in suggesting how to find ginger ale for Mike (which they don't sell at ASMo but of course they have behind any bar! I can't believe I didn't think of that), where to get a doctor, etc. She was wonderful and I am extremely happy that she will be the one in charge of our wedding.

After we arrived to the Epcot Catering Kitchen we were brought in to look at place settings and meet the chef.

I was so overwhelmed when they told me to look at all of the place settings and pick one out. I had no idea which one I liked and was kind of mad that Mike wasn't around. I knew he would have pointed at one quickly without hesitation but I am so indecisive. What a day for him to get sick

I ended up picking the tuxedo but am going to have it changed to the shell/fan fold. Laura from floral was excited about the tuxedo and explained they like to put flowers in the lapel and add a bow tie which sounded great (very cute) but adds to the budget.

While we were choosing a napkin our waitress, Kelly, came out to ask what we'd like to drink. She was very impressive, ready to fill glasses the second we were even the slightest bit low and asking what we needed. Which I'm sure they do to show you that the service at the wedding will be impeccable, plus, there are tons of Disney staff members there to see that things are going smoothly.

They wanted us to see exactly how everything would be the day of the wedding and brought each of us a dinner size portion of everything we tried!!! At 9:30 in the morning! We definitely did not need to eat breakfast! Just a warning for all of you who have yet to do the menu tasting, it's a lot of food.

They first brought out the appetizers that we had been thinking about getting at the wedding.

Bread crisp (bread lightly toasted and topped with olive oil, herbs, and Parmesan cheese) and chicken quesadillas

The bread crisps were soooo good. We are definitely having these are our pre-reception except that the chef recommended putting tomatoes on the top of some (so they'd be more like bruschetta) to give guests more of a variety with it still only being the cost of one appetizer. The quesadillas were also excellent, not any different than most quesadillas though. We have these on our menu as of right now but it depends on how much over budget we are when we get our BEO to determine if we'll be keeping them.

Next they brought out the five spice chicken and sesame seed appetizer that Mike had really wanted to try. I hate cold meat though and this is a cold item so I wasn't so excited about having to try it. If Mike had been there I would have just let him sample it but since he wasn't I felt like I had to. I was not a huge fan but the rest of our party thought they were pretty good. They had a lot of pepper and onion in them. My FMIL said that she preferred our other appetizers more because this chicken looked like it might get messy because of the shell.

After that they brought out the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup which was different than I expected. I have heard raving reviews about it so maybe I just had played it up in my head. I thought it was good but unlike any other cheddar soup I had ever had before, I still can't describe what it tasted like. Me being dumb asked the chef what kind of cheese was in it... duh, cheddar! I must say the pretzel bread that accompanies the soup was incredible. Very light and fluffy even with the toasted outside, great along with the soup. Yum... I shouldn't be writing this around dinner time.

Following the soup we had one more appetizer to try, pan-seared crab cakes with lemon dill cream. I hate seafood but I figured that our guests might like a little more variety than I do. Again, since Mike wasn't there I felt like I had to try it. I told our EM that I don't like seafood and that I had never tried crab before so she got excited I was giving it a try for them. My mom and sister were shocked I tried it, I figured that it was the least I could do since they had made it for me. To be honest I did not take big enough of a bite to really review this one. I just thought it tasted like celery . My mom and FMIL loved it though and really liked the dill sauce that topped it.

We were already pretty much decided on the Caesar salad but we also tried the field greens salad from the Epcot catering menu which was an Asian type salad with mango and ginger dressing (again one of Mike's requests). The Caesar salad was amazing! Sorry I'm not very descriptive, I'd never be hired as a food journalist. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Caesar Salad (sorry it's small, I can't get it any bigger for some reason)

Field Greens

After the salad comes the sorbet course, also called the intermezzo (if the budget allows). We first tried the tropical fruit sorbet which just tastes like mango.

After we finished tasting this they brought out Cinderella's Glass Slipper. I always commented about how I thought this was a waste of money (it's $20/person) but when she brought it out I fell in love with it! I can just imagine them turning down the lights and bringing a bunch into the reception at once. We tried the raspberry-champagne sorbet in the glass slipper, it was so good. I liked it tons better than the mango flavored sorbet (but then again, I don't like mango). It had somewhat of a bubbly taste to it because of the champagne and was very refreshing.

We were told that you can either get a red or blue glow light beneath it. Our EM said the light is fun because after people finish eating the sorbet they take the light out and wear it for the rest of the evening.

The entrees - We were pretty sure we wanted to do a dual plate with a chicken and steak. First we tried the filet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes and vegetables. I had requested a few sauces to try because the recommended blueberry demi did not sound too appealing to me and DF. The chef prepared a red wine demi, a mushroom sauce, and also a peanut sauce for us to test out. I tried the peanut sauce first. I think the chef could tell I didn't like it. They watch facial expressions so carefully so they can tell what you are thinking without you telling them. The red wine was a very thin, very light sauce that just made the filet taste somewhat juicer - very good (we ended up picking it). My mom and FMIL both like the mushroom sauce the best but Mike hates mushrooms so it was out.

Our next entree was AMAZING!!!!! I have been craving it since then and will continue to until the wedding. It was heaven. The parmesan crusted chicken . Try it and you will not regret it It was very moist and very light tasting. It had some sort of thin cheese sauce on the top that was incredible (sorry I can't remember what it is called - if you want to know PM me and I will email my EM). This plate also included yukon gold cheddar potatoes and grilled vegetables. The garlic mashed potatoes that were on the other plate were very good and we are having those instead, neither would be a bad choice though (IMO).

We were all so full even though we had only been taking one or two bites of each dish. I felt horrible that we wasted so much food but it was way too much to try at 9:30 in the morning. People need to go into a menu tasting there around dinner time without having had much to eat all day because it is a lot. I kept telling the chef that they should just bring out one plate that we could pass but he insisted that we all needed our own plates.

We weren't done yet. We had requested to try a couple items from the dessert party menus. Somehow we managed to try both the strawberry ricotta cheesecake and the chocolate pecan pie. They both melt in your mouth.

They brought so much even though there were only four of us!

Next... I'm going to go track down my notes from the planning session and let you know what I thought was important/helpful