Robin Goble/Larry Wilmot - Belated Wedding Trip (September 2006) - Grand Floridian

[LarryFmScotland]

Hi all. Sorry for the lateness of this trip report. We had some requests for it, however, so we thought we'd post it anyway. We hope you enjoy it even a fraction as much as we enjoyed the trip!

The first few days are written by Larry, with remarks by Robin in bold print. A few days into the report, we reverse the procedure with Robin writing the bulk of the report and Larry commenting.

Robin Goble and Larry Wilmot’s Disneyworld and Disneyland Wedding Tour.

Prologue

Once upon a time, there were two Trip Report Writers called Robin and Larry, and they lived on separate continents. They fell in love and, after a long and both happy and painful time for them and others, they decided to get married and they chose the only sensible place for trip report writers to tie the nuptial knot, they decided to get married at Disney. This is the story of the wedding, so that you dear readers can know how magical it can be.


Cast of Characters

Robin Goble – Bride.
Larry Wilmot – Groom.
Bill Goble – Bride’s Father.
Paula Hanna - Bride’s Sister and Bridesmaid.
Wes Hanna - Brother in Law (Paula’s husband)
Clive Hamilton - Best Man. (Dashing English Military Sort.)
Karen Hamilton - Friend and Clive’s Better Half.
Michael Arroyo - Nephew.
Sue Holland - Friend and Trip Report Writer, of much fame.
Floyd Rayford - Sue’s SB.
Tom Burroughs - Friend and Wedding Guest.
Leanne Burroughs - Friend and Wedding Guest.

Planning

As you know, Trip Planning is for wimps. But even I (Larry that is, Robin is going to be kind enough to join in later.) know that when you have a wedding there is a wee bit of planning necessary. Fortunately for me Robin disagrees about the planning is for wimps theory and she is quite good at the old planning department, and I have to confess that she pretty much did most (OK All) of the planning. All I had to do was to get on an airplane and get myself to Orlando for the Wedding. Though life is very rarely as simple as that, and this little magical fairytale was no exception.

You see for those of you who don’t actually know who Larry and Robin are a little word of explanation is in order. Larry lives in Scotland and Robin lives in Texas. Getting married is only part of this story, Robin decided to come and live in Scotland with Larry. This means getting a resident’s visa for Britain. So we thought, no problem, after the wedding, we will pop into the British Consulates Office in Orlando, or Miami and pick one up. Sadly not. There is no British Consulate in Orlando, or anywhere in Florida for that matter. No, if you happen to live in Texas then you have to go to Dallas? Nope too easy, you have to go to the British Consulate in LA.

So we thought, well if we have to go to LA, let’s stay at Disneyland, whilst we are there. So this is the rather unique, Two Trip Report Writer, Two Disney Resorts Trip Report. Wow do you boys and girls get a bargain or what. This is not just any Trip Report; it’s a Marks and Spencer, four times as creamy Trip Report. (Joke for the British TR Readers).

Robin here—I’ll try to keep my comments in bold so you can tell who’s talking/writing at the time. Don’t worry; I won’t be so rash as to bore you with all the planning details for this trip. First of all, I don’t think you have the stamina to wade through them all and, secondly I know I don’t have the stamina to write them all down! Suffice it to say that this trip was the mother of all planning! What with having to make travel/accommodation arrangements for myself, my family, Larry, and Karen and Clive; planning a wedding; planning a reception at home for family and friends that weren’t invited to WDW; planning a honeymoon; planning a trip to Los Angeles; and planning a WDW/Disneyland vacation; there wasn’t a day that went by from the time we set the date to the day the trip started and beyond that I didn’t do some kind of planning for the trip/wedding.

Don’t let anyone try to tell you that planning a small, intimate wedding at WDW is easy. Sure, Disney goes out of it’s way to make things easier for you and they do a great job of stepping you through the process but, at the end of the day, there’s still a hundreds decisions to make, a thousand things you haven’t even thought of, and a million things that need to be done RIGHT NOW. After all, it is a wedding and there will be times when you’re stressed out and questioning why you’re even thinking about going through all this trouble. Having said that, however, I wouldn’t have done it anywhere else or had it any differently (except wishing that my mom could have been there). The wedding was beautiful, magical, a fairy tale…all those adjectives that they use in their brochures. And it was definitely worth any and all hassles.

Day One. Friday 22nd September.

Day one was one of some significant flying for everyone, but particularly me (Larry). Originally the plan was for me to fly to Lubbock, where Robin lives, famous for Prairie Dog Town, The windmill museum, Texas Tech Red and Black sporty teams and well that’s pretty much it. (Oh Buddy Holly came from there, but there’s other things too so we’ll mention that last for a change.) Then we were to go to Orlando the next day. However, there was an exam Michael had to take, and I won’t bore you with details of that, (There’s plenty of time for me to bore you later, believe me.) anyway the thing is, because of the exam, we had to change flights so that I flew, Inverness, to Gatwick, Gatwick to Dallas, Dallas to Lubbock, Lubbock to Dallas, Dallas to Orlando that day. Or how to get your bottom 4000 miles in a day by actually flying 7000 of them.

Actually the flying wasn’t as bad as you might think, the first flight from Inverness to Gatwick, was quite nice because I met a lady that I used to work with a couple of years ago, in the lounge. And we passed the time waiting for the flight to board, chatting and me eating breakfast of a Cheese and Ham Croissant, rather soggy due to it being warmed in a microwave, and a much better cup of coffee. On the plane, she was sat about five rows behind me, and during the flight she came up to me and gave me a nice tea towel, our first official wedding present, I thought that was awfully sweet of her, after we landed we walked through the “International Connections” corridor till we got to the pre area to the lounge or should I say shopping mall, where we went our separate ways, she was going to Hamburg to meet her husband, I had to check in with AA and then I had to go to gate 63, where my AA flight was already almost ready to board. (Which was good, because I wasn’t an AA Platinum Member then, so I couldn’t swank around in the posh lounge, like I can now. (He says in a swanky and not remotely modest way at all.))

The 10 hour flight was pretty un-eventful, I was sat with a pretty quiet guy, who despite the fact that I sat with him for 10 hours, I have very little recollection of, except that he was reading a book about Teddy Roosevelt. I asked him if he was the president that had set up the National Parks with Mr Muir the Scottish Guy, but he just kind of grunted at me, so I shut the something up for the rest of the flight. I think I watched X Men the Final Bit, but other than that I have little recollection. I’m pretty sure that the meal choice was Chicken or Beef. I’m pretty sure that all six transatlantic flights that I’ve made this year from Gatwick to Dallas were Chicken or Beef. And if I was you I wouldn’t bet against me that the next six won’t be Chicken or Beef either.

When I got there, I shot off the plane like a lightning bolt and dashed to immigration and customs, bowling all those rich types from Business and First Class out of the way like pesky skittles. I got into a very short queue at Immigration. Obviously being completely paranoid, I was convinced that they would find some reason not to let me into the country so I avoided saying that I was getting married. After all, knowing Officialdom like I do, there might be some kind of form I had to have completed at the American Embassy in London, a USWED 343 or something, so I said, which was true, “I’m going to Walt Disney World with my girlfriend.” This seemed to suffice, and I was in. I scooted past the luggage carrousel of slow progress. And was the first person to go through the customs bit, carrying only one small and I mean small, thanks to the luggage regulations at the time, bag. The customs lady, said, “Have you forgotten your luggage” and I said, “No, I’m travelling light, I have clothes at my girlfriends house” and that seemed to do the trick and I was in the Good Ol’ USA again.

The next flight was pretty short, and uneventful, I think I got a Hot Dog and rang Robin so she would know that I had made it in time to go to Lubbock for my flight back to Dallas later on. The plan was for me to skip the Lubbock trip, if I was late and wait for the family to arrive in Dallas to catch the Orlando flight, but if I got there in time, I’d go to Lubbock, to freshen up and get 1000 frequent flyer miles, after all they were already paid for.

I arrived in Lubbock to be met with Robin, rather pleased to see her groom arrive. (“Rather pleased” is probably the understatement of the year. While I knew that, if something went horribly wrong, we’d still have time to get Larry to Orlando by the wedding on Monday, it was still cutting things a little tight for me. When my older sister married her husband (who is from Mexico—are we an international family or what?), we were panicked when he arrived a mere two weeks before their wedding. Wimps. Try getting your groom in the country two HOURS before your plane leaves!) We drove to her house, and I had a sandwich and got freshened up. Then it was time to go to the airport again, this time with her Dad (Bill), Paula and Wes, and her nephew Michael. I picked up some luggage for the trip, and it went in her brother in law’s pick up truck. It was nice to see her Mom before the wedding; she couldn’t come to Walt Disney World due to her fracturing her leg badly a little while before.

We all got checked in, and went off to Dallas. Robin and I are Gold Card Members of American AAdvantage – (see comments above, re promotion to Platinum) so we got the nice extra leg room seats by the exit doors, and the other folks were near by.

At Dallas some people got some snacks, and Michael got a seventeen course Chinese Meal to eat on the plane. The flight was smooth, and I, unusually for me, slept for most of it, with my head on Robin. Just before landing, I swapped out seats with Michael and sat with Robin’s Dad, and we chatted together whilst we landed. I think we were arranging the dowry; I have to give him seven sheep and four goats. Bargain.

We arrived at Orlando, and I enjoyed the train ride to get the luggage, though I was surprised how tatty it all was, with foam ripped out of seats and just generally more grotty than Dallas or Gatwick. Then we picked up a great big mini van, and off to Orlando we went. I was in a bit of a daze, so don’t remember much of the ride. We were staying at the Pop Century for the pre wedding part of the trip, but more of that tomorrow. Sleep well readers, I know I did.

(Upon checking in at the Pop Century, my first course of action was to get Michael to bed, since most twelve year-olds I know don’t function very well on small amounts of sleep. Paula, Wes and Dad were in one room and Larry, Michael and I were in the other with Michael as acting chaperone.

It was 2:00am so we said good night to Paula, Wes and Dad and then I put Michael and Larry to bed. I think Michael actually beat Larry to sleep as he seemed to fall asleep before his head even hit the pillow. Larry didn’t take much longer as he had not only been up for well over 24 hours, but had been on airplanes or at airports for 24 hours as well.

I, however, as hostess and chief obsessive/compulsive wedding planner, had other things to do.

The main priority was to assemble the welcome bags for the wedding guests. I had bought bright green canvas tote bags to fill with some essentials and treats, along with an itinerary for the weekend, for all the guests. So, to the gentle hum of some deep breathing/light snoring from the men in my life, I spent the better part of an hour and a half filling bags with items such as aspirin, sun-block, insect repellent, lip balm, band-aids, sewing kits, cookies, chocolates, chips, crackers, rain ponchos, bath gel, candles, and anything else I could think of that folks might need at WDW.

With the completed welcome bags lined up in a row along the wall, I crawled into bed with Michael around 3:30 and set the alarm on my cell phone to wake me up in an hour so I could get the gift bags delivered before everyone was supposed to meet for breakfast in the food court the next morning.)

Wedding TR – Two.

Saturday 23rd September 2006.

Good Morning, welcome to Larry and Robin’s Wedding Trip Report day two, not that there was a lot of separation between day one and day two for Robin. Robin not only is a superhero, but also has the strength of ten men, admittedly ten small puny-armed men with little strength, but ten nevertheless. The poor wee lassie had only been asleep for one hour when she got up and started her trip around the whole Walt Disney World resort, carrying lime green goody bags, to Old Key West and the Pop Century. She must have looked like Kermit’s Personal Assistant during a pretty busy Muppet Convention. She did however, put so much effort into her gift bags, I was really impressed, not actually impressed enough to go with her, after all it was four thirty in the morning, but hey I’m the groom in a couple of days and I need my beauty sleep.

When she came back, I was amazed and impressed at her efforts. Well done Robin, super host.

(Actually, the hardest part about delivering the gift bags wasn’t getting up after just an hour’s sleep; it was finding my way around Old Key West at 5:00 in the morning. I had never been to Old Key West before and, since it was quite dark and rather foggy like a good old Florida swamp, I had a dickens of a time finding the guest parking and the lobby.)
After getting up we went down to breakfast at the Pop food court, where we met up with Clive (best man) and Karen for breakfast. (Michael was having a sensible lie in.) I was pretty impressed with C and K. (Maybe I should call them Calvin Kline for the rest of the TR!!!) Anyway, if I’m being honest, and frankly I usually am in my Trip Reports, much to my own personal detriment, I expected Clive to be on the grumpy side this trip. I didn’t see him as much of a Disney Guy, it’s possibly the 10 years of him teasing me about going all the time, or maybe because, well he can be a weeny bit grumpy at times, just slightly you know. But oh no, Clive is Mr Disney. That’s MR Disney to You. He and Karen were pretty much raring to go. One of the things you might not know about the Brits at Disney is that because we are five hours ahead, when we get there, we get up really early, because at seven in the morning our bodies think that its, lunch time, so we ain’t ones to be sat around waiting for our American friends to get up and stroll lazily down to breakfast we want to go and get our money’s worth and GO DISNEY.

Anyway, we had a great breakfast with CK and I explained the fastpass system to them, and went and picked up a couple of lanyards for Clive and I to put our passes in, I have no problem looking like a dork at Disney with my lanyard around my neck the whole trip and it seemed like Clive didn’t either. You may be pleased to know that I didn’t actually have it around my neck during the wedding service!! (I don’t know about you, but I was definitely pleased he took it off for the ceremony!)
We also went through the finer points of the Disney Dining Plan, that’s because, Robin the mega trip planner booked almost everyone on the DDP. (Isn’t that the German Democratic Party???) How it works, (and I’m sure Robin would put me right if I am wrong) is this:

You get three vouchers (well electronic vouchers on your room key actually) each day; one for a Sit down meal, a counter service meal, and a snack, Now each meal is separated into………………

OK I’m bored explaining this. You get to eat your way pretty much across the world, with lots and lots of food, and if you eat it all you are going to get pretty big, so be careful. The good news was that for us it was part of a special promotion, and it was FREE…….. Yes FREE, when did you last hear that, it’s FREE and at Disney…I blame global warming they must have lost their little Disney minds.

Anyway the gist is we had a nice breakfast, Paula Wes, Robin’s Dad and Michael came to join with us for breakfast and CK got to meet the Goble Clan. (And lived to tell the tale.)

After breakfast, we all went to Epcot, Michael’s favourite park and pretty much mine too. The plan was to take CK and show them the great stuff in future world so they would know how mighty cool WDW is. As many of you regular readers know I have regarded myself as the king of the fastpass scam. There used to be several and now there are only really two. I like to brag that I was pretty good at them and I promise you it’s true, but I was pretty much regarded by Disney as the fastpass scam king too. (Mainly because I used to boast about them in my Trip Reports.) Twice I was contacted by Disney to advise them on how I cheated the system, and once I was treated to a trip behind Splash Mountain, to look at the fastpass system in operation, by a senior fastpass Cast Member. Sorry to keep on boasting about it, but it’s one of those pride before a fall things.

I wanted to impress my bride to be, by my great fastpass scamming techniques, so Robin and I went up to Mission Space and I was going to use the best technique to get 8 “free” fastpasses. Normally this works best with an accomplice, and I later in the week trained up Karen to be my Fastpass Scamming Gal, a role she took to like a Duck to water. Anyway, I go up to the machine, start to take out the “free” fastpasses, and the cast member instantly spots that I’m up to no good, comes up and demands to look at my fastpasses, tells me that she can tell that I’ve cheated to get them, (which you can by looking at them closely) and confiscates them, so I have to use our tickets to get some real ones, (which then means we can’t get any more for ages.) So I walk away with my tail between my legs rather embarrassed and hot flushed of face. Robin was very kind.

Obviously I was relieved at her understanding. I’m pretty sure she only agreed to marry me because I promised her that I would teach her my Fastpass scamming techniques. There I was down on my knee, (In a Mall in Dallas actually, proposing to her- Yup a Mall, I’m a keeper!!) saying……

“Robin, my sweetheart, I may not be able to keep you in the lap of luxury that you are accustomed to, I may not be able to give you a Cadillac to ride in, I may not be able to provide you with big diamond rings, I may not even be able to take you to eat at the finest restaurants, but I can promise you Fastpasses for Haunted Mansion, whenever you need them”

”Oh Larry, YES YES YES” (Hey, I know what the important things in life are. And, in Larry’s defense, he did actually provide me with a big diamond ring when he proposed. However, the “mall” bit of the proposal is a slight exaggeration in that we were actually OUTSIDE of the mall when he proposed.)

But I digress. Having embarrassingly failed, I was on a mission to prove my manliness so we instantly went to Test Track and “stole” eight of them there. The CM not being quite so observant as her colleague over at Mission Space. Sorry I wish I could give up doing this, but until Disney introduces a 12 point recovery plan, I’m just addicted. (Please don’t ask how you can get free ones if you don’t know, I promised Disney that I wouldn’t tell anyone how to do it in my TRs anymore.) One thing I did notice however, is that at the new Everest ride they were really on top of things there, and I wasn’t able to pinch any at all the whole trip, everywhere else though I pretty much got them at will.

We met up and went over to the Land for our first look at Soaring, we didn’t have too much of a wait and it was nice to see how the building looked compared with California, and it was a lot bigger than the queue at California Adventure, I liked the queuing area, some nice glass work and lots of interesting stuff on the walls to look at. The ride is pretty much the same, and by pretty much the same I mean pretty impressive. It was great during the ride to look over at CK and see how much they were enjoying themselves. It was also great to go and have my first rides with my new family. They are all great fun. It was the first time I had really had a chance to spend some time properly with Wes, and I think we became good friends by the end of the trip. Paula and Bill I already knew a little better. It was good to be part of the gang. The ride did have an a little optical glitch in it, and it did detract a little in the suspension of disbelief department. But you gotta admit it’s a great ride. And I know that Robin would dump me for Patrick Warburton, the Pre Show Guy. – HULLO. (No, baby, of course I wouldn’t dump you for Patrick…Is he gone yet? Has he quit reading? Good, then yep, I’d trade in a minute…just kidding, dear.)

Then we went and rode Mission Space together, using the legal fastpasses, (drat) this was CK’s first time in Epcot, and they really enjoyed the ride, It was great fun to be on the ride again, it’s such a fantastic piece of engineering, and when you think about it, there is nothing in the world that can compete with this as a piece of technology that mere mortals get to play with, basically a centrifuge. It’s cool and fun and I enjoyed showing people which buttons make the speakers squeak when you press them, and yes I did all my jobs at the right time, I think I’m Astronaut material. And if I had half a million quid or so I would without a shadow of a doubt give it to Richard Branson, the boss of Virgin so I could go on his plastic bath tub ride into space in a couple of years time. I bet you didn’t know he’s planning on sending them up from Lossimouth near Elgin, either did you???

After the ride Bill, Robin’s Dad, noticed that he has left his mobile phone in the storage bin in his capsule, and tried for ages to get it back, and the CM’s were very helpful but no joy and ringing it up didn’t do much good. Whilst Robin and Bill were with the CM’s, CK and I went over to see Space Goofy and Space Mickey, both of them seemed to find that fun, and by then Clive was in big time Disney Mode, he even went and bought a hat. Go Clive Go. So we took a few photos of Clive and Karen, with Goofy and the Big Cheese, which was fun.

Then we went and finished off the big three, by going and riding Test Track, also a pretty impressive ride. It’s looking a bit scruffy these days though and there were bits of it not working, like the cones at the start. But hey you can’t moan when you get to see “Smug Bill” in the pre show. Yes a Number 7. Everyone seemed to enjoy the ride. And I think doing Soarin’, Space, and Test Track is one decent start to a Disney Vacation.

Well it was getting a little warm, and so one of us regulars suggested that we take CK to Ice Station Cool, and so we meandered over there under the Electric Umbrella walk way where they sell those funny stiff balloons. Past the fountain, which was just in regular mode rather than in show mode, and then WHAM, one of the biggest disappointments of the trip. “Where is the Ice Station part of Ice Station Cool?” I hear myself saying, “Someone has stolen it!!!!!!” Someone in the vast empire of Disney or Coke, has stolen the best bit of Ice Station Cool, the bit where you go exploring in the ice tunnel, seeing the frozen yeti, or what ever was there, having ice drip onto your neck. All gone just a boring door into the Coke area. Apparently it wasn’t handicap accessible. Actually it was pretty slippy in there, and Kids probably ran around, falling and skinning their knees, so maybe they got rid of it for health and safety reasons, anyway whatever the reason, it’s a big loss in my book. (I may be completely making this up but I think we asked a Cast Member why the icy part was closed and they told us that they were making it more accessible. My mom went through the entrance several times when she was using an ECV and it was rather tight manuevering.)

What is still there though is the fun of tricking people into drinking Beverly, “Hmmmm, Beverly is my favourite, you must try it Karen”. Only to see the distorted face of Karen 20 seconds later. Ha, big laugh….. Works every time!!!

Robin had written an itinerary for the first few days of the trip, and at 11am we had arranged to be at the Tip board in case any of our Floridian chums wanted to meet up with us at that time, so we went over there about five minutes before, the team all decided to join with us at a later time in the trip, but Robin and I had a good time, chatting to a cast member named “Bob” for about twenty minutes, about matters Disney.

After this we met up with the Goble’s and CK, and went into World Showcase. First stop was Mexico. We rode the Rivers of Time, and Robin knows that tune and all the words, so we had a wonderful accompaniment throughout the boat ride. (Actually I don’t know ALL the words, but I’m not above making up the ones I don’t know. Did Larry mention my lovely singing voice? No? Hmmm.) Apparently they have changed it recently and have Disneyfied the market seller’s area, which is a shame because I always thought that was the best bit. Though I have to admit that the life size mannequins on the roundabout’s pretty spooky in an oogie kind of way which is pretty impressive also. And hey fake fireworks, that’s not too bad either.

We spent some time looking at the goods on sale, I quite fancy a pottery sun on the outside of my house, but I don’t expect I will ever get around to buying myself one, but you never know, stranger things have happened.

Then it was lunch time, and we started to diversify and spread out a little, people were going at rather different speeds in the party, and Robin and I were beginning to feel like elastic bands, stretched around World Showcase. However, Wes came to the rescue with a couple of walkie talkies, and we split, up to get food choices. Clive and I went to China, and I got double fried beef. We all took the food and met up in Germany were we got some tables and ate our grub. I popped over to the Steiff shop and bought Robin a little Steiff teddy bear key ring. (Which rather proves I’m not shaping up to be much of a decent bridegroom, because if I was I would have stumped up for a decent sized one rather than one you need a microscope to see?)

(While Larry looked after Karen, Clive and Dad, I took Michael, Paula and Wes over to Japan to take a look at the menu of their counter service restaurant. Michael and I got food there and Paula and Wes decided that Bratwurst and a giant pretzel the size of my head would push their buttons, so we took our food with us to Germany where we met up with the others.)

Clive and Karen decided to go and have some free time and explore WDW together. The rest of us went back the way we had come and went to Norway, and some folks went to explore the stave church. And we all went and rode on Maelstrom, and had a very fun troll like time, not forgetting to find hidden Mickey’s in the big mural. I also noticed that the polar bears are looking great, they had gotten a little tatty, and one of the seams had gone on the bigger standing up bear, and he used to look like someone had slit his throat, which is a bit discombobulating at Disney.

After this we started to head out and we popped into Guest services, to see if Bill’s phone had been handed in but no Joy. Robin rang the number again on her mobile, and it was answered, and it was in Mission Space, so Robin, set off with Michael to pick it up, I thought that they needed some Aunt/Nephew time’s so I let them go together. Well it was either that or I was too tired to go back, either way, I got all cosy on a bench and went to sleep for 10 minutes.

Then it was time for the annual ride on Spaceship Earth, which I rather enjoyed, I always like the commentary from Jeremy Iron’s who sounds a little bit pompous, but that’s us Brits for you.

It was time to head over to Italy for dinner/tea/evening meal or what ever you call it in your part of the world. There was a small problemette, however, in that Robin had booked it for 12 people, assuming that the whole tribe would be there, but with our Floridian Chums and CK doing their own things. We were a whole lot less, and it didn’t help that Robin Michael and I arrived there quite a bit before the others. So 12 initially became 3 and it’s probably fair to say that the head waiter was slightly less than amused. It was getting a bit too embarrassing for me, so I went and hid in the toilets, to let Bill, Wes and Paula get there to bolster up the numbers so that I could look the Italians in the eye.

However, we had a lovely meal, getting lots of different menu choices and sharing between ourselves. The service in Italy is excellent, with you taking less than one sip before they are wrestling your soda off you to go and fill it up. You almost have to sit with one hand on your glass and eat with the other one just to keep the eager waiters from your table.

That was the end of the Epcot part of the day, Robin and I decided to have some time on our own, so we walked along the walkway to MGM Studios and the rest of the Goble clan went by Friendship. Obviously the walkers beat them by a good 10 minutes. (Actually when it goes the other way from MGM to Epcot, it helps to explain where the phrase, “slow boat to China” comes from.) So we went and met Clive and Karen, at the tip board. They had picked up some fastpasses they hadn’t used so Michael went and rode some stuff whist the adults sat and enjoyed some chit chat and caught up on our days. CK told us about the night before when they had received some Disney magic when they asked a bus driver how they should get to their hotel, and he said, “Oh I can take you there” and he went out of his way to give them a private trip. That’s the sort of stuff that makes Disney stand out from the crowd.

After Michael came back we all went over to Fantasmic, well us and 10,247 other people. Bill was using a buggy, so we went and accompanied him at the back of the auditorium in one of the disability bays and had a great view. The show was as great as usual, but there was a problem when the dragon’s fire didn’t work, so the petrol on the surface didn’t light, and so we didn’t see the burning lake, but we did get a great gasoline smell for several minutes. I think CK who had never seen the show before had had a great time, and I know they had enjoyed their day as had we all.

Well, that’s about it for day two. Have fun. Cheers Larry.

Wedding TR – Three

Sunday, 24th September, 2006

Hello all. Robin here. I thought I’d be nice and take up writing duties for a day in order to give Larry a little break and to avoid all those pesky medical bills when he gets Carpal Tunnel Syndrome from doing so much typing. (Read: “I need to help get this trip report done otherwise it’ll be our tenth anniversary and it still won’t be finished! (OUCH!!!! )

The only problem with me writing up a day or so is the fact that, since we had agreed in advance that Larry would write the trip report this time and I’d just make the random comment here and there, Larry took all the notes during our trip. Trust me when I say that a near-sighted arthritic doctor writing prescriptions during an earthquake would win penmanship awards before Larry would.

So, when I get to sections that, to the best of my knowledge and interpretive skills, say things like, “we twist the pickle hip hop,” or “snorkel bees on pie,” I’ll do my darnedest to make something up that kind of fits. Anyway, here goes.

We were up at the crack of dawn again this morning because Larry and I needed to go and check in at the Grand Floridian (where we’ll be spending our honeymoon) before everyone else got up, so we’d be back in time to meet up for breakfast. We actually had one overlapping night at the Grand Floridian and the Pop Century. The plan was, since its bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding etc, for me to spend the night at the Grand Floridian tonight while Larry stays at the Pop Century for his last night. That way, we wouldn’t have to find time to move all of our luggage to a new hotel on the day of the wedding and our larger room would be available for me and Paula to get ready in.

We needed to go ahead and check in because our park tickets were connected to our Grand Floridian reservation. When we booked the room at the Pop Century, we bought one-day park hoppers for Larry and me (I already had a park ticket for Michael), knowing we’d need them for Friday. Also, you had to buy some form of theme park admission in order to get the free dining plan. The tickets for the rest of our trip were on our Grand Floridian reservation.

Anyway, Larry and I were up early and drove over to the GF by 6:00. Never before have I been in the GF when there wasn’t another soul in the lobby, but at this early hour, Larry and I were the only ones there.

I think we annoyed the valet parking CM when we told him we were just checking in and it probably wouldn’t be worth his time to park the van for us. He agreed to let us leave it under the porch while we went inside.


Larry tried his best with his natural English charm on the CM that checked us in to get us a little upgrade magic on our room, but neither Larry not I got the impression that it worked very well. Perhaps his charm works better on women than men.

Charm and up-grade aside, we got checked in (our room wasn’t ready yet—shocker—and they say the Grand Flo has good service), (Swines. I mean 6.02am and they don’t even have our room ready yet, no wonder they got rid of Eisner, the place is going to the dogs.) got our park passes/room keys, and scooted back to the Pop Century to meet up with everyone for breakfast at the food court. Larry’s notes say “French toast,” so I’m assuming that’s what he had for breakfast. I can honestly say I probably got breakfast and I probably ate it, but I have absolutely no idea what it could have been. I think Larry’s cavalier planning-is-for-wimps attitude toward trip report writing and note taking are rubbing off on me and I humbly apologize to those readers who are used to getting a play-by-play account of what was eaten, what it cost, where it was eaten, and by whom.

I think that Robin has missed the point on trip report writing. I have a motto: (What’s a motto? Nothing what’s the motto with you?) “If you can’t read it make it up.” After all, very few of the readers were actually there with us, and so they don’t know.

Since we weren’t really having a rehearsal for the wedding, thus we weren’t really having a rehearsal dinner either (though I suppose the meal tonight at MGM was sort of the equivalent), I brought down the gifts that we had picked out for our attendants, Paula and Clive, this morning. Clive said that he wouldn’t open his until he had performed his duties at the wedding and given his speech at the reception (silly English honour system), so he took the present back to their room, but Paula opened hers. We had picked out some pearl earrings for Paula to wear with her bridesmaid dress.

After breakfast, we headed to the bus stop where we had a short wait for a bus to the Animal Kingdom (AK). On the bus, we had a lively discussion with Clive about tipping—the Brits not generally being accustomed to having to tip service providers. Since Clive has a tendency to be rather, um, what’s a good word for it….”thrifty,” Larry jokingly told him that it was a long-standing American custom for the Best Man to pay the preacher for the wedding ceremony. (Actually, the Best Man does usually pay/tip the officiant, but the groom gives him an envelope with the fee inside for him to present to the officiant after the ceremony.) The look of shock and horror on Clive’s face was enough to send the rest of us into gales of laughter until he finally realized we were kidding him.

Robin makes a good point here about the British character. For example, I think the excuse that we gave valet parking at the Grand Flo is a great excuse not to pay for valet parking. I must write it down in my “Book of thriftiness.” One of the things that I know Robin has discovered is that I’m a little bit, well how can I put this…a little bit challenged in the opening wallet department. So there are a few things that I find rather difficult. I have to pretend to be an American when it comes to putting out the tips to the waiters in restaurants, otherwise, I’d just leave a dollar at the side of the plate. Anything to do with Parking just brings out the worst in me, I would rather walk in 7 miles from the edge of the city rather than pay for parking, and as for Valet, oh I just don’t even want to think about it… In my defence, I do come from Yorkshire, and they say a Yorkshire man is a Scotsman with the generosity ironed out.


Once we got to the AK, we split up. Larry, Clive, and Karen took everyone’s passes to get Fast Passes (FP) for Expedition Everest, while Paula, Wes, Michael, Dad, and I went to rent a scooter for Dad. We were to meet up in front of Kilimanjaro Safari (KS) in Africa when our chores were complete.

Dad wound up not only renting an ECV, but also buying a hat to keep the sun off his head. I was anxious to get moving because I knew the others would be waiting for us.

Touring with a group is always a bit stressful and takes a great deal of flexibility and patience; not two of my better qualities. (Great singing voice, sure, but not so much in the easy-going and take-things-as-they-come categories.) People move at different rates and have different priorities as to what they want to see and do, so plans have to be constantly changed and things usually take at least twice as long as you think they will.

I was torn between wanting to spend time with my family (seeing as how I’d be leaving them to move to Scotland in two weeks’ time), and wanting Karen and Clive to feel welcome and to get the most Disney bang for their buck since their time at WDW was limited, and wanting everyone to have a good time and bond together. Oh yes, and wanting to get married too! Let’s not forget that important event. (Anyone who says that planning a wedding, even a small one, isn’t stressful is either lying or has a much better Prosaic prescription than me!)

So, all things being considered, I think I was doing quite good to only have a couple of small meltdowns during the week. Luckily, everyone was very understanding and Karen certainly earned her keep and got to use her brilliant social work skills on more than one occasion.

Anyway, knowing that the others would have been waiting on us, I herded everyone in the direction of Africa. However, when we got to KS, no one else was in sight.

Taking Paula with me as look out, I used the time (and some of Larry’s FP scam knowledge) to get us FP’s to the Safari, since Larry, Clive and Karen had our tickets.

When Larry, Karen and Clive showed up, the reason for their delay was soon explained. They had gotten the FP’s for Everest but, as the ride was a walk-on that early, couldn’t resist the temptation to take a quick ride. All, that is, except for Larry. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have a keeper in him because he knew that I’d want to ride it with him for the first time, so he looked around in the gift shop while Karen and Clive went on the ride, so he could ride it first with me. If that’s not love, boys and girls, then at least it’s a good helping of common sense!

There is absolutely no way I would have done that ride without Robin with me for the first trip on it. I just wouldn’t. I would have rather cut off my little finger with a rusty penknife. It’s a Small World, sure, but not Everest.

So, reunited at last, we headed off to Asia and the adventures awaiting us there.

We all rode Everest together and we all loved the ride and thought the theming was great. Just a few days ago, Larry and I saw part of a documentary on TV about Mount Everest and the area surrounding it. When we first turned on the TV, Larry and I, unaware of what the documentary was about, said in unison, “It’s Expedition Everest.” That’s how good Disney did in the theming.

OK my views on Everest: this is one good ride, I’ve said before in evaluations of attractions in previous TR’s that themeing is everything for me. I’m getting old enough where some Roller Coasters are too much for me. I can cope with the odd inversion and loop the loop, provided it’s a smooth track. Everest doesn’t invert you at all, but it’s pretty smooth, and pretty fast, and it has wonderful visual effects, from some fantastic forced perspective on the mountain and mountain village scenery, to some great projected visual and sound effects. I like to think of it as what would happen if Big Thunder Mountain started taking steroids and working out. A great ride: 10 out of 10.

We immediately got new FP’s for another go on Everest and then headed back to Africa for our Safari. On the way, we stopped at Kali River Rapids (KRR), which was temporarily down, to get FP’s to ride it later. Karen was schooled in Larry’s method of nicking Fast Passes and she quickly became his chief FP assistant.

Back in Africa, we used our FP’s for KS but, since Dad was on an ECV, were diverted to the disabled access line which, due to having only one loading platform and the length of time it takes to park ECV’s/wheelchairs and load folks with mobility issues and their families, took forever. I know a lot of people grumble about special queues for the disabled but I guarantee that they don’t get on rides any faster, in fact, I’d bet that they have to wait longer than most.

Anyway, it was finally our turn and we were rather squashed into two rows with a couple more families. We were so packed together that there was no chance of any of us being bounced out of the truck. In fact, there was no chance of any of us being able to move our arms! We were all glad that Little Red was safe, but we were more pleased to actually be able to draw breath after we got off the ride.

Lunchtime was upon us so, being in Africa, we went to Tusker House where, with some creative use of our dining plan options, we were able to get everyone fed. Larry’s notes say either “nice crepes” or “nice Agnes,” but, since I don’t recall crepes or anyone by the name of Agnes, I’ll have to let that one go. Maybe it’s nice grapes? Oh hang on, could it be nice drapes? No I would have written nice curtains.

After lunch it was time for our FP’s at Everest. As we walked there, we laughed that we’d spent all morning at the Animal Kingdom and had only walked up and down between Asia and Africa.

Everyone but Dad went for the ride on Everest. Karen and Clive got the first seat this time around but magnanimously gave it up to me and Larry as an early wedding present. Afterwards, Michael took Dad’s extra FP and rode by himself while the rest of us looked around the gift shop.

As Kali River Rapids was still down, we decided it was time to move on so we headed to Dinoland. The long day, the heat, and the many miles trekked from Africa and Asia and back were starting to take their toll on the group however, so we stopped to rest and regroup at the entrance to Dinoland. Larry ran off to get Fast Passes for Primeval Whirl while we waited.

Dad was hot and Paula was footsore so they decided to go back to the hotel to rest until this evening, when we were supposed to meet up with Sue and Floyd and Tom and Leanne for dinner at MGM. Dad gave up his SCV to Paula so she could rest on the way out of the park but, unbeknownst to us, Clive had sneaked off and came back pushing a wheelchair for her so she and Dad could both ride out in style.

Actually Clive is a proper English Gentle Man. He was brought up properly and spent most of his life being an officer and a gentleman in the RAF, and sometimes I might be a little bit inclined to tease him about that, but I tease because I love, and actually I pretty much admire this trait. (Please Karen when you read this, delete it, I don’t want Clive knowing how much I admire him.)

Wes claimed wheelchair pushing duties and Michael wanted to go swimming back at the Pop Century, so they all headed out of the park leaving Larry, Karen, Clive and me to continue on.

We went to Primeval Hurl (which wasn’t using Fast Passes, by the way, and didn’t have hardly any wait) and rode once on either side. Our first ride, which was on the left-hand side, was the best ride I’ve ever had on Primeval Hurl. We must have hit that first corner after they release the car to spin just right because we spun completely out of control for the rest of the ride. The second ride was okay, but not nearly as spin-tastic as the first.

Once we could walk in a straight line again, Larry naughtily told Karen that, in order to let our equilibriums settle a bit, we’d go on a tamer ride—Countdown to Extinction! “It’s a simple little ride,” he lied, “where you walk through a room with some fossil exhibits and then get on a vehicle and look at some prehistoric plants.” We kept chatting to Karen and Clive as we passed through the queue, during the pre-show, and on to the vehicle, so they wouldn’t catch on to the real nature of the ride, smiling to ourselves as we calmly set off into the Jurassic period. Somewhere between the first meteor crash and the time the You’re-My-Lunch-O-Saurus tried to have us for tea, I think they figured out that they had been purposely misled! They liked the ride, however, so we immediately rode it again.

Did I do that? I find it hard to believe.

Afterwards, we decided to see if our room at the Grand Floridian was ready yet (okay, we really just wanted to show off the resort to Karen and Clive), so we left the park and caught a bus to the Contemporary, so we could kill two birds with one stone by taking Karen and Clive on a loop of the monorail, and stop off at the Grand Floridian.

A quick stop at the front desk revealed that our room was indeed ready. We were in Big Pine Key (I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t actually give you a Big Pine Key, just a standard plastic hotel swipe card!!). I had stayed in the building once before on a trip with Paula and Wes and loved the location. We were on the third floor, overlooking the swimming pool. They had given us a room with a King-sized bed and a nice sitting area with sofa, coffee table, and small table and chairs. There was a bottle of champagne chilling in an ice bucket, a red rose, and a card from Aladdin and Jasmine wishing us a magical Honeymoon. We also had a fax from our stand-in wedding coordinator giving us her contact information in case we had any last minute questions. I had been primarily working with Juliana Acosta, but knew that she would be off the day of my wedding and that we’d have someone else assigned to us for that day.

Karen and Clive were suitable impressed with the Grand Floridian. In fact, Karen declared that, next time they came to WDW, this was the resort where she was going to stay, much to Clive’s dismay. We could actually see him doing the mental arithmetic as to how much two weeks at the Grand Flo was going to cost him.

We went back to the lobby to pick up the monorail and had a nice chat with a cast member while we were waiting. He was telling us that the blood of the Love Bugs (which were very plentiful on the bright monorail platform, since they’re attracted to white) is actually slightly corrosive so you have to scrub the dead ones off the grill of your car every day or they’ll pit the paint and chrome.

We had a short monorail ride to the Magic Kingdom where we caught a bus back to the Pop Century. On the bus I took care of some wedding business by calling everyone (hair stylist, officiant, videographer, dress steamer, wedding license service, marriage coordinator, etc.) to let them know what room I’d be in at the Grand Floridian for the wedding tomorrow. Tomorrow? Yikes.

We got back to the Pop at 5:00. Our dinner reservations at the 50’s Prime Time Café were for 6:15ish and we all needed to freshen up, so we had to scoot. Paula, Wes and Dad were all in bed taking a nap, so we roused them up. Michael was in the pool so I went to fetch him. We all managed to get ready and meet up in the lobby by 5:45.

We managed to squish all 8 of us into our 7-seat mini-van, though we only accomplished this by me sitting in the space between the two captain’s chairs in the second row of seats. Oh well, while it wasn’t quite legal, once again we were wedged in so tightly that there wasn’t much chance of anyone falling out.

Larry drove and though he did good at staying on the right side of the road, he still managed to almost kill us all. He remembered that you could turn right on a red light but kind of forgot the teensy point about stopping to make sure no one was coming before you turned thus he turned right into the path of an oncoming Disney bus. It scared the bus driver so badly that he forgot his happy thoughts and laid on the horn (and no, we didn’t have a “honk, we just got married” bumper sticker)! All’s well that ends well however, and we made it to MGM in one piece.

We took a tram from the parking lot to the front gate thus ensuring that Karen and Clive got to ride on every form of WDW transport during their stay. (Larry—I Don’t think they went on the steam train.) (Robin—I would argue that the steam train is an attraction and not a form of transportation as such.)

Tom and Leanne and Sue and Floyd were already waiting in the bar at 50’s PTC. After introductions all around several people got drinks and we were called to our table soon afterwards.

We were actually seated at two tables, but they shared the same back booth and were right next to each other. We did have two separate servers, however (and I hate to be whiny but the other table’s was better). Paula, Wes, Karen, Clive, Dad and Michael sat at one table while Larry and I joined our newest guests, Sue, Floyd, Tom and Leanne, at the other. Tom and Leanne had brought a wedding present for us (thank you very much) and we opened that while we waited on our food.

Larry and I got appetizers with the dining plan, so we shared some onion rings and, I think, some fried cheese with everyone. I think that Robin was a bit disappointed with the Fried Cheese, because if it was proper Texan Fried Cheese, it would have been on a stick. Robin threatens to take me to the South Plains County Fair, where they fry everything including cheese, snickers and marshmallow peeps, and stick them on big sticks!!!

Larry had the pot roast and I’m sure that I had some entrée but I can’t remember what it was. Honestly, at this point, they could have brought me an old shoe with cheese on it and I don’t think I would have noticed. I was just so nervous about meeting Larry’s friends/the impending wedding the next day/everyone getting along and having a good time that I don’t remember much of the meal at all. I do remember Larry trying to hide his carrots under his napkin and having to be fed by the server and I was fed a bite of whatever was on my plate as well.

Larry had a chocolate shake with his meal as his dessert choice. I got the S’Mores (which are huge) and passed them around to everyone. See, I’m much better at remembering the important things like dessert.

After dinner we said our “see you tomorrow’s” to Tom, Leanne, Sue and Floyd. The rest of us, in our quest to not only get Karen and Clive on every form of Disney transport known to man but also to show them every night time show, were headed to the Magic Kingdom for the 9:00 showing of Wishes and then do the Extra Magic Hours. The plan was to park the van at the Grand Floridian and then take the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom.

Can I say, how nice it was to meet with some of my friends from Florida, who were kind enough to come to the wedding, it’s been a couple of years since I saw them last, as I hadn’t been out to WDW, and it was a pleasure to spend a couple of days with them at such a wonderful time for me.

Once at the Magic Kingdom, we picked up our wristbands for the Extra Magic Hour and Dad got his scooter. Wishes was just about to start so we all found spots at the entrance of Main Street and watched the fireworks.

Afterwards, we all did our best impression of salmon and swam upstream against the crowds of exiting people. We made our way to Pirates of the Caribbean (PoTC) to see the new Jack Sparrow update. Since its announcement, Paula was very much against the update and we were all anxious to see the changes. I thought they did an excellent job on the Jack audio animatronics and that the Davy Jones projection onto the mist was a great effect.

After all that swashbuckling, we decided to ride Splash Mountain. Paula and Wes didn’t want to get wet so they, along with Dad who wasn’t riding this evening, went over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (BTMRR) (one of Wes’ favorite rides). After Splash, where I got decidedly drippy, we met up with the others at Big Thunder Mountain. We were just about to get in line when my Mom called on Dad’s cell phone. I stayed behind with Dad to talk to Mom while everyone else went on the ride.

We decided it was time to leave the Wild West for some science fiction and made our way to Tomorrowland and Alien Encounter. Just like all the walks from Africa to Asia this morning, I think the death march from BTMRR to Alien Encounter just about finished half the party off.

Oh gosh you are not joking. People were well and truly cream crackered by this point. I was surprised at how well they were bearing up under the strain, and for the Brits in particular as it was like 5am our time, so well done everyone.

At the new Alien Encounter, Stitch = the monster, and Skippy = Skippy. Other than that, I didn’t see much difference from the original version.

Everyone was pretty well tired after that and we started to head back to Main Street but Michael was making puppy dog eyes at Space Mountain. Seeing as how it was his last night at WDW and his only chance to ride, I decided that I’d be the good Aunt and stay behind with him and let everyone else take the car back to the Pop Century. Larry said that he’d stay with me and Karen and Clive were up for another ride so Paula, Wes and Dad left and the rest of us had a nice ride on Space Mountain.

It was 11:58 when we got off the ride and, seeing as how Extra Magic Hour was over at midnight, we decided that was all for the night.

On our way out of the park, Wes called and said that they had to wait a long time for a monorail and that they had just gotten back to the car. Did we want them to wait for us at the Grand Floridian so we didn’t have to take a bus back to the Pop Century? Of course our answer was “yes,” so we hurried out of the park and took the monorail back to the Grand Floridian to meet up with them.

Wes drove us all back to the Pop Century where we dropped off Karen, Clive, Paula and Dad, went over the times and places for people to meet up tomorrow, and picked up my and Michael’s luggage and headed BACK to the Grand Floridian where Michael and I were to spend the night. That way, Larry got a room to himself for a night and I didn’t have to worry about Michael being ready on time for the wedding tomorrow, plus I had some company.

So much for the bride and groom not seeing each other before the wedding because it was 2:00am when I kissed my groom good night at the Grand Floridian and sent him back to the Pop Century with Wes. Bell Services drove me and Michael around to our room and, after a bit of unpacking and settling in, I went to bed around 3:00.


Wedding TR – Four

Monday, 25th September, 2006

I woke up at 7:00, too excited/nervous to stay in bed any longer. Michael was still asleep so I walked down to Gasparilla’s Grill to get some refillable mugs for us to use for the rest of the trip and to get some breakfast for Michael and anyone else who wasn’t actually getting married today and might could possibly think about eating food. I wasn’t sure what Michael would be in the mood for this morning so I just got one of everything! I think I got some eggs, bacon, toast, biscuits, gravy, hash browns, fruit, pancakes, and a muffin, plus two mugs one with diet coke for me and one with hot chocolate for Michael!

Back at the room, I woke Michael up and he had some breakfast. I knew he wouldn’t want to hang around while we got dressed, etc., so he put his swimming suit on and went down to check out the pool. Meanwhile, I got a shower, dried my hair, and got dressed in my lingerie and a robe.

The phone rang and it was Carol Allen, here to steam my wedding gown and veil, calling from the lobby. She hadn’t gotten the message that I left for her yesterday, so she didn’t know what room I was in. I gave her the room number and in just a matter of minutes she was knocking at the door with my gown, veil, and crinoline in tow (I had shipped them to her about two weeks earlier so I didn’t have to worry about them being lost in my luggage or damaged by the airline on the trip down.).

Sorry about all you male trip report readers but I have to be a girl here for a minute and talk about how pretty my dress was! It was an Oleg Cassini strapless satin A-line gown with a tightly-fitted, embroidered and beaded bodice. The embroidery and beading was repeated around the train of the gown which was satin with an organza overlay inset into the apron back. I liked the simplicity of the gown and thought it looked very elegant. The tiara matched the beading on the gown with crystals and beads and the veil was edged in satin and had a scattering of Swarovski crystals along the edges. Okay. Sorry. I’ll stop for now. Please come back, guys.

Carol had just gotten started when the phone rang again. It was my Mom this time, checking in to see how I was doing. While I was talking to Mom, Wes dropped Paula off with her wedding clothes and then went back to the Pop Century. He was getting to play chauffeur today and would be coming back around 12:30 with Dad. I talked to Larry for a little while on the phone as well to make sure he was up and doing okay.

Lisa Pena arrived right on time at 11:00 to do our hair and make up. Lisa was delightful—very chatty and friendly and able to put everyone at ease (Well, as “at ease” as a bride can be three hours before her wedding. Everything was starting to seem very surreal to me. How could all these people be here working for my wedding?) She started with my hair first. Michael showed back up from swimming and, after he had a bit of second breakfast, I sent him into the bathroom to get showered and dressed.

Carol Allen had finished up and gone when Lisa finished my hair. Lisa did a great job, fixing it just like I had described. She put a final shellacking of hairspray on so it would withstand the Florida heat and humidity (honestly, I think bullets would have pinged off my head!) and started on Paula’s hair and then moved on to her make-up. When Lisa was finished, Paula was very pleased with the results, I think.

Wes and Dad showed up, dressed and looking handsome. Poor Wes got to be the jack-of-all-trades today as I passed my camera to him so he could take some informal pictures during the day. He was also in charge of carrying Paula’s small sewing kit in case of any last minute popped buttons or loose threads. I gave him the room key as well, since my dress was surprisingly devoid of any pockets. Luckily, he had plenty.

Lisa was working on Paula’s make-up and I was getting a little bit antsy about the time, since I still had to have my make-up done, get dressed, and we needed to be in the lobby by 1:45. I finished prodding Michael to get dressed and then wisely spent my time pacing. I noticed the time at 1:00 and thought to myself that the limo should be picking up Larry and all the other guests at the Pop Century right about now to bring them to the Wedding Pavilion.

Lisa got my make-up done, I got in my dress, and then she helped fasten on my veil. I made a quick check: something old…my pearl necklace that I’ve had for years; something new…my dress, veil, and shoes; something borrowed…a small Cinderella charm that I borrowed from Paula and wore on the clasp of my pearls; something blue…(and this was my favorite thing!) our wedding date and Larry’s and my initials done in pave’ blue Swarovski crystals on the soles of my shoes.

My shoes were gorgeous white satin Stuart Weitzman sling backs with a cluster of Swarovski crystals on the toe—to die for—which I got in Dallas. They (Stuart Weitzman) have a program called “Something Blue” in which they’ll make, out of blue Swarovski crystals, your initials inside a heart on one shoe and your wedding date inside a heart on the other. Larry was worried that they were going to put an “L” for Larry on one foot and an “R” for Robin on the other and people would just think I couldn’t tell my Left foot from my Right foot. He was much relieved when I explained that L + R would be on the same shoe. Oops. My apologies. I seem to have gone into girl mode again.

Anyway, I was dressed and ready to go, as was everyone else, and so we left the room (with Paula in charge of not letting my train drag on the ground!) to go to the lobby.

It’s amazing wearing a wedding dress and walking through the hotel and grounds at Disney. People stop, smile, wave, watch, wish you good luck, call out their congratulations. I lost count of the number of well-wishers that spoke to us as we passed. Even the cast members working at check-in called out “congratulations” as we walked by. I’m not much on being the center of attraction, but you couldn’t help but enjoy the tide of attention and warmth that was directed at us. It really was magical.

Our limousine driver was waiting outside for us. He had everyone get into the limo before me so I’d have less scooting and rearranging to do. I think limousines are great and all, but they are definitely not conducive to graceful entrances and exits, especially when you’re swathed from head to toe in satin, organza and tulle!

It was a (very) short, and cold, drive from the Grand Floridian to the Wedding Pavilion. I guess the limo driver always cranks the air conditioning up because of the combination of the Florida heat and humidity, and the bride’s and groom’s nerves.

Stan, the videographer, was waiting for us as we pulled up at the Wedding Pavilion and he immediately began filming. Also there was Karen, our stand-in wedding coordinator. I’ll refer to her as “K” to save confusing her with our friend, Karen.

She ushered us into the Bride’s Vestibule, a lovely little waiting room right as you enter the Pavilion. Once there K passed out bouquets to me and Paula and pinned boutonnières on my Dad and Michael. Our bouquets were gorgeous and they weighed about a ton! I felt sorry for Paula having to hold onto them both during the ring exchange part of the ceremony.

We were also introduced to our photographers. I had the regular Disney photographer that was part of the wedding package and a second photographer (a gift from my co-workers) that photographed the wedding in black and white for a more photojournalistic look. The regular photographer was a young man (his name escapes me—Stephen,maybe?) and the photojournalist photographer was a woman (Amy, I think) and they were both great. It turns out that they had just gotten engaged to one another and had just started planning their (obviously Disney) wedding. In fact, Lisa Pena said that Amy had already booked her to do Amy’s hair and make-up even though they weren’t getting married for over a year. They worked very well together professionally and I hope their married life goes as smoothly.

Jack Day, our preacher, arrived and introductions were made all around. He had the marriage license for Paula to witness so after he got her signature and said a few words to me, he took his leave.

I gave my engagement ring to Paula to keep for me until after the wedding. Michael and Wes were shown to their seats and then…it was time. I could hear the music we’d picked for Larry and Clive to enter the Pavilion begin and then it was time for Paula to enter. K and her assistant closed the doors to the chapel to get me into position with Dad. K straightened my train and handed me my bouquet. The bells of the Wedding Pavilion began to chime, the doors were thrown open, and Dad and I walked down the aisle to Con te Partiro (I’ve always disliked the traditional “Here comes the bride” wedding m

 

[BabyRN]

Hey Larry, my maiden name is Wilmot too...we could be long lost relatives! congratulations on your wedding!

 

[LarryFmScotland]

Hi, My Grandfather Joseph Wilmot, Had 10 children, 4 in the US, 2 in Canada and 4 in the UK. He was married twice, so you never know, we might be related.

Cheers Larry.

 

[BabyRN]

Wow could be! My father is 75 years old. I know he's got a lot of native American in him as well as French Canadian.

 

[BabyRN]

Wow could be! My father is 75 years old. I know he's got a lot of native American in him as well as French Canadian.