Trip Report Happily Ever After.....A Honeymoon to Remember

Welcome, welcome, welcome! To all that come to this happy place, welcome!

So where do I start? I guess I'll explain this TR a little bit. I did previously write and post this TR on disboards.com, but in the last few months I've found that I've connected with some many people on these boards that it has now become my go to - sorry disboards! I thought it would be nice to share my first and so far only TR here with all of you since you've all been so kind to share yours with me.

This is a report from my fairy tale Walt Disney World Honeymoon from 2015 - eek, I know a bit late, but hopefully it will still be entertaining for those of you who decide to join in. I am just working on the plans for my next trip (hotel and ticket booked and purchased), but I still feel it's a bit too early to share those details for a pre-trip report. I thought I'd relive one of the most amazing weeks I've ever had in WDW to get excited (like I need anything MORE to get excited) about my next trip.

So here we go!

Day 00
August 29, 2016 - THE day

I won't spend too much time recapping this day (better known as THE day) as that is not the reason for this trip report. That being said, our wedding was the whole reason for this trip so it has some importance!

The girls as I had a sleepover the night before the wedding (as did the boys somewhere else!) and it was amazing. It was so low key (which I wanted!), filled with love, laughs and some corny chick fliks....like every good girls night. Before we knew it, it was time to head to bed because we had an early morning.

The day started EARLY. I'm talking 4:45 am early....yikes! But for once the sound on my alarm clock didn't send me into an uncontrollable rage. I was getting MARRIED today! We quickly packed up what we needed for the day, dropped some items off at the hotel we would be staying at that evening, made a quick pit stop for some coffee and headed to my dad's house where we would be getting ready.

We all got ready at my dad's house while (now) DH Ryan got ready with his family and guys at his parents house. What a lovely sight to walk in on!

While we had some breakfast and mimosas - let me be clear, everyone else had breakfast while I focused on the mimosas, our beauty team arrived. We had arranged for hair and make up to come to us which is exactly how I wanted the morning to go.

Eventually it was time to get our beauty on. The team we worked with was freaking amazing - not only did they do an AMAZING job, but they were so much fun and really helped to keep me calm throughout it all. If anyone out there is from Ontario GTA and wants to know more about these vendors, please contact me! While we were having our hair and makeup done, our photographer (again, another supercalifragilisticexpialidocious vendor!) arrived and began taking photos of us getting ready, our dresses and in general just captured the general commotion and excitement of the morning.

FINALLY, it was time to go. It was time to get MARRIED! "Going to the chapel and we're gonna to get married."

Everything ran as smoothly as I had planned and dreamed. Before I knew it....we were Husband and Wife - officially the Ellie to his Carl. It took 13 years, but we were finally officially Mr & Mrs.

We had an AMAZING day. So much love, so many people there to share in our joy and excitement of a new life together. Ugh, I wish I could do it all again or relive it somehow. Just magical.

Things did get a bit weird later that night though

*Sorry, I had to share that one. I absolutely love it. For those who may not know, Jurassic Park was a BIG part of mine and Ryan's relationship. In fact, Ryan walked down the aisle to the Jurassic Park theme song played by our amazing Harpist (again, another vendor I'd love to share with anyone interested)*

The night felt like it was never going to end. So many people, so much food, drinks and dancing. Unfortunately, like all good things it must come to an end. Before we knew it, it was time to pack up and head to the hotel for the night.

Low and behold, our friends had a surprise in store for us. An after party.....that lasted until 5:30 am . All we wanted to do was get to bed, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend some more time with some amazing people and enjoy this day. We ended up going to bed REALLY late, but it didn't matter. We had a blast.
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[mlegerto]

Love this!!

Right? Such a little thing - it seriously happened in a blink of an eye, but it's these little things that create ever lasting memories. THIS is why I love and continue to return to Disney.

I'm so happy to hear how much you loved Cali Grill! I also have the palette of a 5 year old so knowing that I can substitute things is a huge relief! That was the one thing I was worried about when I booked our ADR!

I know exactly how you feel. My friends actually make fun of me because some of their 5 year olds actually eat better than I do (as in more variety and will try new things, etc.). Please take comfort in knowing that ANY of the signature restaurants (and I believe really any of the restaurants) will allow you to make substitutions to ensure you get the meal you will love. This was something I was scared of, but it was so good! I'm so glad that I didn't let it stop me from booking! I hope you have an amazing meal at Cali Grill!

Really enjoying your TR and it sounds like it was a "honeymoon to remember" so far! Thanks for taking us along and for sharing the pictures of your wedding, they are beautiful - you and your hubby are an adorable couple

Thank you for your kind words! We had an amazing wedding and honeymoon - this was only part 1 of our honeymoon really...our "real" honeymoon was to Thailand for 3 weeks a few months after the wedding (needed to save up a bit more money LOL). Both trips were epic, but as you can imagine VERY different than each other. Thanks for following along!

I have yet to try Tonga Toast... I cannot be a full fledge Disney addict until I try! LOL.. you make it sound good!

That was such a sweet surprise and cute way to treat your hubby to a spa! I love that you both had little surprises for one another, shows how much you are meant to be!

I can totally relate to the "day off". I can't imagine trucking through the parks for a week after a wedding! I think that was a smart decision! Time always seems so limited in the world, but you really have to take a breath at times and just slow down! It makes you appreciate everything even more.

Love love love your wedding photos! I am having a harpist... trying to find songs I want! LOL

Nic, you NEED to try it on your next trip! If you don't have time (or don't wish) to book a breakfast reservation at Kona, you can go to Captain Cooks the quick service location at the Poly and get it on your way to the parks! The only difference is the quick service one doesn't come with the strawberry compote, but you can get by without it! DOOOOO it! Maybe we can go on our NYE trip LOL.

I love it when hubby surprises me - it's something special we like to try and do for one another when we travel. It makes the trip that much more exciting!

Yes, we totally needed a break. Now, looking back it was the right decision. At the time, I was a bit dissapointed because I wanted to get over to Uni, but we've already got our next trip booked and Uni is on the to do list, so no harm done! The break was MUCH needed!

Our harpist was amazing. She asked us questions about what we loved (movies, sound tracks, etc.) and just went with it. We gave her a list of songs we had on our Must Play list (really it was only Once Upon a Dream for me to walk down the aisle and Jurassic Park for Ryan) and she just created her playlist around sounds she knew we would like from our likes and dislikes. She was amazing - I cannot say enough good about her! Can't wait to hear more about what you come up with for your wedding - make sure you keep me informed LOL!

 

[mlegerto]

Day 4
September 3 2015 - Lay in, poolside, breathe and take it in, eat
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We didn't set an alarm for ourselves today, which is ridiculously uncommon for us on a Disney vacation! We naturally woke up around 8:30 AM, which may seem early, but it actually quite a lay in for us - at home we are up at 5:45 AM every morning. I swear, even when you don't sleep in super late, waking up on your own and not to an alarm clock is such a satisfying feeling. Anyone else feel like that?

We made some coffee and sat on our balcony and took in the sights, sounds and hustle of those rushing towards the TTC to get their day started. We also snacked on some fruit while we decided what to do today. As you know originally we had planned to go to Universal today, but when we ditched that plan last night we didn't come up with a new one and thought we'd just see where the day takes us.

A late morning and early afternoon in the pool seemed like the perfect plan so we packed our beach bag, put on our swimsuits and covered ourselves in sunscreen.

We claimed our seats for the day - of course under an umbrella to escape the sun when we wanted to. This would be our oasis for the day.

Jumped in the pool to cool down.

Went down the slide a few times. We were glad that most people decided to head out to the parks and weren't there to crowd "our" pool haha. How tempting is this water - side note, we are in the middle of a winter snow storm here at home so looking at how warm and sunny this day was makes me want to cry and increases my desire to go back home to WDW (minus 16 degree weather just isn't fair!!!!!!!)

We went ahead and grabbed a few drinks from the Barefoot poolside bar and laid in the sun reading and listening to music for a little while. I would take this view over my office any day of the year - even more so the view of snow from my office right now!

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Pina CoLAVA - Bacardi Black Razz Rum blended with Pina Colada Mix and Raspberry Puree $9.25​

Around 2:00 PM we decided to head back to the room to get showered and changed.

I have a love for mini golf so we thought this easy going afternoon would be a perfect time to get in a round or two. Typically we go to the Fantasia course, but today we decided to head towards the Winter Summerland course at Blizzard Beach.

Jumped in the car and we arrived very quickly.

We first played the Winter course - ugh, Ryan won. Then decided to play the Summer course - we tied, of course haha. Usually I kick butt at mini golf, but I guess today wasn't my day. Oh well, we had a lot of fun!

After golf, we went back to the room and I ended up falling asleep for just under 30 minutes, I guess the sun had taken a lot more out of me than I thought. When I woke up, we still had some time so I decided to draw a bubble bath with one of the bath bombs I grabbed at Downtown Disney earlier in the week. I guess this is one of the perks of taking in slow on your honeymoon

We the showered and got dressed for dinner.​

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[mlegerto]

At 6:20 PM we left our room and headed down to the car to drive to dinner. ​

We shortly arrived at Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom Lodge for our 7:05PM dinner reservation at Saana.

We were still a bit early so we decided to head to the bar and grab a drink - surprise, surprise I know. I had a Pimms Punch - Pimm's No. 1 Liqueur, Hendrick's, Odwalla Lemonade and wild strawberry. It was REALLY good. I can't recall what Ryan got, but I believe it was a whisky based drink. He didn't enjoy it very much though.

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Almost immediately after getting our drinks we were called to our table. We decided to start with the Bread Service with all 9 dips.
Choice of 3 breads and 3 accompaniments (get all 9 accompaniments for $11.99)
Breads - Naan, Garlic Ginger Naan, Spiced Naan, Onion Kulcha, Papadum
Accompaniments - Red Chile Sambal, Cucumber Raita, Coriander Chutney, Mango Chutney, Coconut Chutney, Garlic Pickle, Spicy Jalapeno-lime pickle, Roasted Red Bell Pepper Hummus, Tamarind Chutney

Ryan liked all of the dips - he really does like everything haha, but me not so much. I really only liked the hummus and Raita. But hey, this was a great way to sample different items that we typically don't eat at home - remember, I eat like a 5 year old so we don't often have any type of "ethic" foods.​

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Now, my best friend being Indian, I knew that I liked Raita. So when we went to order the bread service, I asked our server Jim if we could substitute one of the sauces with another serving of the Raita. He told me that it wasn't necessary, he would bring me out an extra serving so we could still sample all of the different accompanies. Sadly, this extra serving never arrived and our server was not very attentive at all so we were never able to ask for it.

When we ordered the bread service, we also ordered our meals because we had quite a bit of time to view the menu before our server came to greet us - see above the comment about him not being very attentive.

After we finished our apps, we had quite a bit of time sitting there waiting for our mains - our server never even came back between dropping the app off and the mains. So we took photos to pass the time haha.

****** see note at the end of this day about an update to my wedding set *******

Eventually our mains came out.

I wasn't too hungry and as I've mentioned I am not very adventurous with food (I booked this reservation mainly for Ryan since we typically don't try other cuisines because I don't like them so I thought this would be nice for Ryan), so I decided to go with the Soup of the Day which was Tomato with cheese $6.99 (I can't remember the name of the cheese cubes).

Ryan decided to order the Braaivleis - South African Braai Sampler Plate Boerewor, Lamb Chop, and Pork Tenderloin with Seasonal Accompaniments $25.99

My soup was really good, Ryan thought his meal was okay. He felt that some of the meat was a bit dry.

Jim never came back to check up on us, which was starting to annoy me. We were here on our honeymoon and were kind of hoping for a bit of pixie dust - I know it's wrong to assume you'll get something some I didn't expect it, just hoped for it after reading other trip review, and being left unattended for such a long period of time annoyed me. Either way, poor service (whether you are on a special trip or just having dinner) is not acceptable to me.

Again, Jim never came back to our table so we ended up asking another server for our bill. The other server (not our server) is the one who brought the bill to us. Total was around $70. Overall, we weren't very impressed, but I was glad Ryan had the chance to sample a different type of cuisine. I'd be willing to give Sanaa another try because it did offer different choices which Ryan would enjoy and I've read some great reviews and other experiences, I'd just hope to get a server who paid at least SOME attention to us. Oh well, que sera.

We got back to our room and discussed what to do tonight - remember, we had no plans! After being in our room for no more than 20 minutes, we decided the night was young and we should head out to get some dessert.

On our way out, we stopped by the Poly beach and watched wishes with the music piped in. We then hopped into the car and headed towards the Beach Club.

Only one place on my mind....

We decided to split a Fudge Mudslide - A gooey, chewy Brownie covered with Hot Fudge, Three Scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream, Oreos, Whipped Cream and a Cherry $8.49

MMMM so good. Not that it's hard to love ice cream haha.

When we were done with our sundae, we took a stroll around the Beach Club and take in the environment. We walked along the beach and hung out there for a bit, just talking about our trip thus far.

Eventually, we made our way back to the car and drove back to the Polynesian. We arrived home just after 1:00 am and decided to crawl into bed and watched a movie together and made our plans for tomorrow morning.

There you have it, Day 4.



***so I absolutely love my engagement ring and wedding band - what girl doesn't? However I always "joked" (you know when you are "joking", but not really LOL) that I wanted a second wedding band to have one on each side of my engagement ring. Well my AMAZING husband surprised me with one on our 1st wedding anniversary. Here is what my wedding set looks like now....I am SO incredibly in love with how balanced it looks now. What an amazing hubby I have!!!!

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[blreinsel]

So can I just go ahead and order everything you ate this day or??? I am so grateful for your TR because our taste in food and drinks seem pretty much identical! Both of the drinks you ordered look so yummy.. I'm super picky with drinks too and am terrible about knowing what to order! I have Sanaa booked for my trip and am super nervous about it.. but I just HAD to try the bread service (with all of the dipping sauces ). I'm glad that you were able to find things that you enjoyed and it makes me less nervous!

Your wedding set is beautiful!

 

[joshsprincess921]

That Poly pool is so gorgeous! I NEED to stay there. It's my #1 choice for when I bring my son for the first time. Anyways, I had Sanaa booked, but cancelled it b/c other than the bread service, nothing looks that appealing to me. We are staying at AKL so maybe we will get a chance to grab drinks and bread service at the bar.

 

[PacNWTigger]

Just as a random Sanaa note...you can get the same bread service in the lounge for a couple of dollars cheaper. I'm not always the most adventurous food wise, but I'm getting better about it. I know that bread service is going to be a must do for my next trip.

 

[gdisneyfans]

Thank you for your kind words! We had an amazing wedding and honeymoon - this was only part 1 of our honeymoon really...our "real" honeymoon was to Thailand for 3 weeks a few months after the wedding (needed to save up a bit more money LOL). Both trips were epic, but as you can imagine VERY different than each other. Thanks for following along!

Thailand too? That's awesome! And yeah, I could see them both being VERY different

 

[gdisneyfans]

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Your ring is beautiful - your hubby did a great job! I love the bands on both sides, it does look so nice and balanced

 

[mlegerto]

So can I just go ahead and order everything you ate this day or??? I am so grateful for your TR because our taste in food and drinks seem pretty much identical! Both of the drinks you ordered look so yummy.. I'm super picky with drinks too and am terrible about knowing what to order! I have Sanaa booked for my trip and am super nervous about it.. but I just HAD to try the bread service (with all of the dipping sauces ). I'm glad that you were able to find things that you enjoyed and it makes me less nervous!

Your wedding set is beautiful!

HAHA I feel your pain. What makes my "picky" eating worse is that Ryan will try and eat anything so I often feel like I am holding him back from new experiences. That's why I tried to be a bit more open minded in our reservations this trip - even if it meant I got a soup for dinner rather than a full meal. What you do for those you love right? LOL. I really did feel that if you talk to your server they will make whatever accommodations to ensure you get something you will enjoy - I've heard of people being able to order off of the childrens menu before, so go for it!

Thank you! I love my wedding set!!

That Poly pool is so gorgeous! I NEED to stay there. It's my #1 choice for when I bring my son for the first time. Anyways, I had Sanaa booked, but cancelled it b/c other than the bread service, nothing looks that appealing to me. We are staying at AKL so maybe we will get a chance to grab drinks and bread service at the bar.

The Poly had been on my list of must stay hotels for as long as I can remember, I'm so glad I finally got the chance to stay there thanks to DVC! I remember being very young and attending the Neverland Club - it was a childrens daycare, at the Poly while my parents went out and enjoyed a night out themselves. Just so many fond memories and always had the desire to stay there. IT really didn't disappoint! I hope we have another chance to stay there - not on our next trip, which I will start a Pre TR after I've completed this!

PacNWTigger mentions below that you can got the same bread service in the lounge (and it's even a few dollars less expensive!). So if you don't end up getting to Sanaa, maybe you can visit the lounge and have a few drinks or something? That sounds like an amazing night to me LOL - and not just because there are drinks involved

Just as a random Sanaa note...you can get the same bread service in the lounge for a couple of dollars cheaper. I'm not always the most adventurous food wise, but I'm getting better about it. I know that bread service is going to be a must do for my next trip.

I didn't know this, so thank you for sharing! We might have to do that on our next trip - not sure that I would book Sanaa again on my next trip (maybe in the future) so this is a great option. I really do love just having out at different resorts, having a drink and app or something so yeah! Even without being adventurous (trust me, I am not LOL), the bread service was great. Even if you only end up liking 1 or 2 of the sauces/sides, it's still worth it plus you get to say you tried more and maybe you will find something new that you love! I highly recommend it so I am glad it is on your must do list!

Thailand too? That's awesome! And yeah, I could see them both being VERY different

Yes...it certainly was an experience! We did some amazing things - white water rafting through the jungle/forest, elephant sanctuaries (no riding and cruelty free experience), visiting all of the temples, etc., and I am so glad that I got to experience it with Ryan. That being said, I am in no rush to head back LOL. It just wasn't what I was used to - which was a good experience, but I'll take my comfy Disney accommodations and life any day!

Your ring is beautiful - your hubby did a great job! I love the bands on both sides, it does look so nice and balanced

Thank you! Yes, he did an amazing job! I know my engagement ring is pretty plain, but that's exactly what I wanted! I wanted something classic, elegant and timeless. In regards to my wedding band(s) I wanted something sparkly, but dainty at the same time. Thanks for your comment! Glad to know others think it is beautiful as well!

 

[gdisneyfans]

Yes...it certainly was an experience! We did some amazing things - white water rafting through the jungle/forest, elephant sanctuaries (no riding and cruelty free experience), visiting all of the temples, etc., and I am so glad that I got to experience it with Ryan. That being said, I am in no rush to head back LOL. It just wasn't what I was used to - which was a good experience, but I'll take my comfy Disney accommodations and life any day!

Thank you! Yes, he did an amazing job! I know my engagement ring is pretty plain, but that's exactly what I wanted! I wanted something classic, elegant and timeless. In regards to my wedding band(s) I wanted something sparkly, but dainty at the same time. Thanks for your comment! Glad to know others think it is beautiful as well!

Oh wow, that sounds amazing! I have never traveled out of the country with the exception of a few ports in the Caribbean while cruising, but not sure if it's for me to go so far either. But at least you tried it and now you what it's like!

You're welcome! So happy you got what you wanted

 

[mlegerto]

Day 5
September 4 2015 - Morning of Magic, Emergency Break and "I lost my Fiancee" moments

After a nice and relaxing down day yesterday, we were ready to get back to the parks!

We set the alarm for 8 am and hopped out of bed to great ready to enter the most magical park in the entire world. We had our minds locked on the Magic Kingdom for this morning. We got dressed, sun screened ourselves up and walked over the to TTC to catch the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom.

We arrived and it wasn't too busy at the front entrance. We had missed the Good Morning show, but that's okay we've seen it a bunch of times. However now that I am reflecting on it, I am sad that we missed it because the show doesn't exist anymore (at least not THIS show) . I loved that show - goooood morning, good morning!

The first thing on Ryan's mind was coffee so into Starbucks we went.

Thanks for carrying my bag!

All happy and content with his morning coffee, we headed into Fantasyland because I wanted to get on Peter Pan before the lines got too long (we didn't have fastpasses for MK today).

It was only 9:15 am and the line was already 25 minutes so we decided to hop in line before it got any longer. I also wanted to wait through the regular line to see the new interactive queue, so now would be a perfect time.

When we were done here, we headed towards Tomorrowland!

Space Mountain only had a 5 minute wait so this is where we headed next.

Since we were in the area, we also visited Buzz Lightyear - YEAH I WON AND WAS A GALACTIC HERO AGAIN...Ryan, not so much haha, and then Carousal of Progress - I really enjoy this ride even though it is outdated. This was Ryan's first time on CoP and he thought it was cool to get to ride something that Walt had a hand in actually developing.

After a couple of rides....I was hungry because we had skipped breakfast. Being in Tomorrowland, there was only one snack on my mind.

cream cheese stuffed pretzel. I actually hadn't tried one before, so this was on my list of snacks to try this trip.

One happy girl over here!

It was good - kind of an odd flavor. I think i prefer a Mickey Pretzel when given the choice - I mean, doesn't everything taste better when it's Mickey shaped?

While we were enjoying our pretzel...."someone" informed me that they HAD to go back to the room...it was an emergency! WHAT ? This person (who was NOT me) had been battling an upset stomach in silence all morning and at this very moment in time, NEEDED to get back to the room to take care of some things...

Ugh. I guess back to the room we go. I mean, how do you say no?

We hopped back on the monorail and were back in our room in no time - thankfully we were staying at a monorail hotel so the commute back was easy and quick (thankfully we didn't experience any monorail delays that others have reported @Tuvalu)!

Ryan spent the next 15 minutes or so in the washroom so I decided it was time for a drink while I waited - it was 5 pm somewhere and I'm on vacation right?

When everything was taken care of in our room, we made the daja vu trip back to the TTC and on the monorail back to MK. We had a very important lunch reservation to make!

We arrived with just a few minutes to spare for our 12:45 pm lunch reservation at Be Our Guest! I was SO excited for this - our first time giving this place a try.

We had preordered our meals using the online ordering system earlier this morning while still in bed (what an amazing concept!) so all we had to do was pay for the items when we arrived (I didn't want to use my credit card as we had exchanged cash). The paying process was quite painless and within a few minutes, we were walking into the restaurant to choose our dining area. Eeeeek! SO EXCITED


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[mlegerto]

Once we had paid for our pre-ordered meals, we walked into the restaurant and were able to pick a seat in one of the areas. Of course, I wanted to sit in the ballroom!​

I mean, look at it. It's fabulous!

While we waited for our meals to arrive, I sent Ryan up to fill our drinks. We were both drinking soda tonight and after it being so hot and humid out, this was so welcomed! It did take a bit of time for our meals to arrive...I'd say close to 15 minutes, but that was okay. We were just talking and taking in our surroundings. This really is a beautiful restaurant. Sorry that the photos are so dark, it's hard to get decent photos in here (IMHO).​

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We decided to share the french onion soup to start because I really wanted to try it (I LOVE french onion soup) and I knew there would be no way for me to finish it on my own plus my meal plus dessert (of course we HAD to have dessert here, it wasn't even an option LOL).

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O...M...G.
This soup was actually SO good. There was so much cheese and it was so incredibly flavorful. Word of the wise....try the soup.

For mains...Ryan went with the Carved Prime Chuck Roast Beef Sandwich - served on a warm baguette with horseradish sour cream and pomme frites.

Ryan did like this sandwhich, but he liked mine better!

I decided to get the Carved Turkey Sandwhich- served on a warm baguette with Dijonmayonnaise and pomme Frites - except I asked for no Dijon LOL.

Mine was SO good. The turkey was moist, the baguette was warm and fresh and the fries were hot and salty. Perfect!​

These meals were huge. We easily could have split a single meal - especially because I wanted to have the soup and dessert. We actually ended up getting a take home container and each taking home 1/2 of our fries and 1/2 of each of our sandwiches...so we pretty much left with a full meal. Next time I think we will split a meal and then get a snack later on in the park if we get hungry.
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Now it was dessert time...mmmmm.

We decided to each get a cupcake and split them so we could each try both. We decided on the Masters Cupcake - chocolate sponge cake topped with Lumiere's special grey stuff and the Lemon Meringue Cupcake - vanilla sponge cake, lemon custard filling with flamed meringue icing.

Both were good, but the Masters Cupcake was the clear winner. I love lemon meringue pie, but I felt like this cupcake sort of missed the mark - it was a bit too tart for me and the meringue wasn't sweet enough. Don't get me wrong...it was still good, just the Masters Cupcake was delicious!

We were now done our meal so we filled up our drinks up and made our way around the restaurant to check out some of the other areas. It's great that you are encouraged to check out the other areas, but it's a bit weird with everyone sitting there eating - sometimes it felt like people were giving us weird stares as we were just there to see the room and take photos. We were very cautious not to invade anyone personal space though - we've had that happen to us before at the Coral Reef when we had a window seat and it is uncomfortable and awkward! Oh well! While we are walking around, Ryan tells me that he doesn't feel great - he said his nose and head felt a bit congested and his throat had a tingle. I suggested that we go get him a tea once we leave BOG and he agrees that it's a good idea. I hope it doesn't get any worse - spoiler alert, this was wishful thinking!!!

Before we leave, we take a few photos.

Put some pants on that guy...geeeeze. What kind of show is this!

Yeah....iunno what to say about this one LOL​

 

[mlegerto]

We decide that now is a great time to move over the EPCOT as we have Fastpass's and dining reservations there this evening - already thinking about dinner right? Ah, we were already so full, but today was the only day we could get a lunch reservation for BOG so we took it!​

On the way out, we stopped by Starbucks to get Ryan a tea for the ride over to EPCOT.

We walked out of MK and jumped on the monorail to the TTC and then onto the EPCOT monorail.​

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I had my camera draped over my arm while we were on the monorail and it ever so slightly tapped the handrail (I was standing) when the monorail came to a stop. I didn't think anything of it at all because as I said...it literally TAPPED the handrail. No biggie (right?...WRONG!)

Anwyways...the trip over took very little time we we had quite a bit of time to kill before our first Fasstpass. We decided we had enough time to ride Ellen's Universe of Energy - it had been quite a while since I had last been on this ride and I don't think Ryan had ever been on it.

This ride is long, but it also got us out of the sun and into some AC for a while which was fine in my books. I really enjoy Ellen's humor. Granted it is a bit outdated and there are some questionable facts, but we had fun and we had relief from the humidity. Stupid Judy! Plus we love dinos and there are some featured here!

It was around now that we decided we needed a drink - I mean come on...Ryan hadn't had a drink yet today and it had been a few hours since I had a drink while waiting for someones bathroom break to be over haha. Kidding...we aren't alcoholics - however I am Irish and Ryan is Italian, we just enjoy indulging haha. Remember, we're on vacation....don't judge us LOL.

We went over to France and grabbed a Grand Marnie Orange slushie and took a seat by the water to people watch.

SO good and refreshing! I would LOVE one of those right now - okay, it's 9:24 am....I don't literally mean RIGHT NOW, you know what I mean!

While we were sitting there, we decided to look over some of our photos so I pulled out our camera only to realize that it wont turn on. WHAT? This is terrible! Here we are...in Disney....on our honeymoon and our camera doesn't turn on all of a sudden! We both hope that the battery died and we just didn't notice, but I'm usually pretty good about checking these things before we leave the room. Guess we will find out tonight when we get back to the room and charge the camera. Here's hoping - spoiler alert....it wasn't the battery .

All of a sudden - no really, like literally out of no where, it starts to pour. Welcome to Florida.

We run over to a covering in France and hope that it ends shortly.

*not my photo, but this is what it looked like*

What are we going to do now? It doesn't look like it' going to let up anytime soon and we JUST got here.​

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[mlegerto]

After hanging out under cover for roughly 10 minutes, we decided that it wasn't going to stop raining anytime soon and we needed to find something to do rather than wasting our time here at EPCOT. I had the perfect idea.....let's head to Italy and do some wine tasting to kill the time. Why not!​

As we ran over, the rain died down a bit, but it was still raining so we continued on with our initial plan.

We were afraid that others may have had the same idea - you always notice people dashing to restaurant when it starts to rain, so we headed over to Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar with hopes they could squeeze us in.​

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Luckily when we arrived we were seated right away. Glad we made the decision to head there when we did because no more than 5 minutes later there was a mob of people trying to get in.

We sat down and decided on just having some wine flights/samples since we had dinner plans later this evening. I cannot recall our servers name, but she was lovely and extremely helpful. She also spoke to Ryan a bit about Italy and where he was from so it was a really nice interaction.

I decided to go with the Champagne Tasting Flight, All Bubbles All the Time which consisted of Prosecco Dry, Prosecco Private Cuvee Brut and Corbinello.

Ryan went with a Red Wine Tasting Flight, Powerhouse Reds which consisted of Chianti Classico, Refossco and Primitivo.

After these flights we took a peek outside and it was now pouring again so we decided that we still had some time to kill before our dinner reservation so we went ahead and ordered and second around of tasting flights for ourselves. STOP JUDGING ME!

I went with a White Wine Tasting Flight, Anytime Whites which consisted of Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, Orvieto and Pecorino.

Ryan went with another Red Wine Tasting Flight, Soft Elegant Reds which consisted of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Barbera d'Alba and Valpolicella.

After we were done our second flights we talked with our waitress (who obviously was from Italy) about which ones we liked better and both Ryan and I decided we liked our first round of flights better.

If you ever find yourself with some downtime, time to kill or stuck in a rain storm while in EPCOT, go visit Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar. We had a great time and it allowed us some time to just sit, relax, talk and enjoy each others company in a busy theme park! This is on our must do list again for future trips, we really enjoyed ourselves.

We check time time and realize it is only 5:35 pm at this time. Our reservation is not until 6:35 pm at Via Napoli - which we are currently located right next to. We decide to head over there and see if there is anyway we can get in earlier than expected - we were expecting to be told no because it was raining and I assumed many people would be waiting to try and get in last minute, but when we arrived and explained to them we were hoping to get in early they told us no problem and we were seated in less than 5 minutes. SCORE!

We decided to continue with our wine drinking adventure and ordered a bottle of Muller Thurgau. This bottle was recommended to us by our server Luca.

It was great. Moderately priced, light, crisp and delicious!

We decided to start with the Mozzarella Caprese vine-ripened tomato, fresh milk mozzarella. The mozzarella was good, but I'd probably skip ordering this next time. It was literally two thick slices of mozzarella and two slices of tomato. Not really sure what I was expecting based on the description, but this wasn't what I was expecting.

We decided to share a large pizza and went with 1/2 Prosciutto e Melone - prosciutto di parma, canteloupe (but Ryan chose to have no melon, so just proscuitto really haha) and 1/2 Margarita for plain ol' Jane over here.

As always...pizza here was fantastic! It came out thin,but not too thin, warm, gooey, fresh and everything you want in a pizza!

Luca then offered us the dessert menu, but as we hadn't been able to quite finish our pizza (a slice from each side left which we took home for a late night snack), we decided to pass. We asked just to have the bill. It then took a VERY long time - maybe 15 minutes for him to come back with the bill. Not sure if he just got really busy, forgot about us or what happened, but it was okay. We sat and talked about what to do next as it was still raining off and on.​

 

[mlegerto]

Luca eventually brought us our bill which came to $98.00. He also surprised us with a cookie with whip cream to celebrate our marriage and being on our honeymoon. ​

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We really appreciated this gesture - even though we were full, this was the first time we had been brought anything to celebrate our honeymoon. I don't mean to sound like a brat, but I was a bit upset throughout the trip that we didn't really receive any special celebrations at our dining reservations. We were wearing our Happily Ever After pins and I was wearing my bride ears for most of the trip and had noted our honeymoon on all of our dining reservations. I know this sounds awful to complain because you CANNOT go in expecting these things to happen - which is why they are so special!, but it's hard growing up in Disney seeing these celebrations happen and waiting for your turn and then it not happening. RANT DONE....didn't mean to be a rant at all, just thought I'd mention it.

As I mentioned, it was raining off and on throughout this night, but at this time it was nice out and really sunny so we decided to continue walking World Showcase as continue with a few more drinks - remember, Ryan is Italian and I am Irish, so we enjoy indulging in a few drinks! It was at this time that Ryan mentioned that he was feeling even worse than he previously was.

I had wanted to try to catch the last Chinese Acrobat show at 7:30 (it was 7:10 at this point) so we started walking that way.

It was pretty warm out by now and the humidity had picked up again. The ground was starting to dry up and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful night.

I decided to grab a grapefruit beer in Germany as we passed, but Ryan wanted to pass on continuing to drink and grabbed an oolong tea in China from the Joy of Tea - probably the smart and responsible choice given he hasn't been feeling well.

We waited around China and then at 7:29 PM someone came out and announced that they will be canceling the 7:30 show. Wish someone had come out sooner as we had stood there - along with many other people, waiting for close to 20 minutes. They said that it was simply "too wet" for the performers to remain safe. I completely agree that they need to be kept safe, but at this point the ground was pretty dry. Everyone waiting was surprised and a bit upset with this decision - I think people were more upset that they waiting until the show was scheduled to begin to tell us.

OH WELL.

We missed most of the things we wanted to do at EPCOT - shows and fastpasses, so we decided to do something we hadn't done in ages....ride Journey into Imagination with Figment.

Oh my...yes, that's why we normally skip this ride. What kind of drugs do you have to be on to come up with this concept?! The original version that I remember from my childhood was MUCH better - or I was just younger and more easily amused, not sure which one.

Ryan really was trying to be a trooper, but I could tell that his throat was really bothering him. We had planned on staying to watch Illuminations, but I felt bad for him so I asked if he wanted to start making his way to the front of the park and doing things that we pass if we wanted to. He agreed.

We made a pit stop to ride Spaceship Earth though!

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When we got off, it was now dark out. I checked to see if my camera was working and it still wasn't!!! EEEK. Here's hoping its a dead battery.

Iphone 6 would have to do!
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Somehow while I was taking these photos, I lost Ryan. Like literally LOST Ryan haha. I felt like a little bit of a fool, walking around going "Ryan? Ryan? Ryan?" and didn't know what to do! HAHA at that point a cast member approached me and asked if I lost my child and need help. I laughed and told her "No, I lost my Husband" and we both laughed and she walked away....probably thinking I was crazy!
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I felt like I was living that Seinfeld episode "I lost my fiancee", but he was now my husband haha. Everything in life comes back to Seinfeld....right?

Anyways, after looking for like 20 minutes I started walking slowly towards the monorail thinking that maybe Ryan didn't see me stop and he was now looking for me too. No luck! I figured he knew the area well enough that if he was looking for me and couldn't find me he'd know we could eventually meet up at the hotel, so that's where I headed.

Got back to the poly and no Ryan. Hmmmm, I guess he will show up soon enough - sounds terrible, but really what did I need to worry about? So I poured myself a glass of wine - I swear I am NOT an alcoholic, I am perfectly functioning haha, and waited on the balcony for wishes to start!

Eventually Ryan appeared just before wishes was to start and we laughed about what happened. He had the same Seinfeld thought I did lol. Ends up that when I stopped to take photos, he told me he had to go to the washroom to blow his nose - which I didn't hear obviously, and when he came back out he couldn't find me.

Oh well....reunited and it feels so good!

I made Ryan another glass of tea in the hopes it would help him sleep and he would feel better tomorrow and plugged my camera battery in - praying that it was the battery. It wasn't.

We watched wishes with our drinks and soon after crawled into bed to watch a movie a fall asleep.

Hopefully Ryan would be feeling better tomorrow!

And that's today!​

 

[sheriffwoody]

We really appreciated this gesture - even though we were full, this was the first time we had been brought anything to celebrate our honeymoon. I don't mean to sound like a brat, but I was a bit upset throughout the trip that we didn't really receive any special celebrations at our dining reservations. We were wearing our Happily Ever After pins and I was wearing my bride ears for most of the trip and had noted our honeymoon on all of our dining reservations. I know this sounds awful to complain because you CANNOT go in expecting these things to happen - which is why they are so special!, but it's hard growing up in Disney seeing these celebrations happen and waiting for your turn and then it not happening. RANT DONE....didn't mean to be a rant at all, just thought I'd mention it.

We experienced the same thing. We had never been though, so we didn't know they even did special things. We received some kind of souvenier cup from Boatwrights in Riverside, but that's the only special treat we got. It was a nice surprise though! We've gotten more pixie dust on regular trips than on our honeymoon!

Also, that stinks about your camera! They're usually more resilient than that. I hit mine on door frames constantly, but I guess if you hit it just right it's bad. I did drop my most expensive flash right before a shoot this week from about 6 feet up, and it's broken . Why do things always break right when you need them?!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

No judgement here....one of the things my husband and I love about our WDW trips is that we can both drink because we don't have to drive!

 

[21stamps]

I didn't know about this report!! Bookmarking! Can't wait to catch up!

 

[Spectro]

What a beautiful couple and I love your trip report it's perfect

 

[mlegerto]

We experienced the same thing. We had never been though, so we didn't know they even did special things. We received some kind of souvenier cup from Boatwrights in Riverside, but that's the only special treat we got. It was a nice surprise though! We've gotten more pixie dust on regular trips than on our honeymoon!

Also, that stinks about your camera! They're usually more resilient than that. I hit mine on door frames constantly, but I guess if you hit it just right it's bad. I did drop my most expensive flash right before a shoot this week from about 6 feet up, and it's broken . Why do things always break right when you need them?!

It's so hard NOT to expect moments of pixie dust no matter how much you tell yourself not to. We didn't let it bug us/get us down, but it is something we noticed - we'd even see others getting these moments while we are there LOL #slapintheface. We are just thankful that it isn't our one and only trip and we know that there will be special moments for us in the future. At the end of the day, not getting it every time is what makes it so special!

Isn't that the way it ALWAYS works....things break/go wrong when you REALLY need them. Oh well, at least in this day and age we all have cell phones with pretty decent cameras. Could you imagine this happening like 15 years ago! YIKES! Sorry to hear about your flash, WORST timing! Technology....can't live without it, cursing it when it fails you.

No judgement here....one of the things my husband and I love about our WDW trips is that we can both drink because we don't have to drive

Exactly! Perfect place to have the opportunity to enjoy a few drinks (without going overboard, after all you are surrounded by families AND I couldn't live with myself if the mouse man banned me!).

I didn't know about this report!! Bookmarking! Can't wait to catch up!

Welcome! Thanks for joining in!