A Very Merry December Trip Report with an Exciting Surprise!

hello everyone!! :wave: i hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! i just returned from my trip to the world on the 17th and have finally found some time to get started on my trip report! its been an eventful month but very exciting.

here is a little background on this trip: the trip was originally to include myself, the boyfriend, my parents and my aunt and uncle and we were all going to stay at the yacht club with the deluxe dining plan (i got a 40% off resort stay pin code so i couldn't pass it up!). well, the family had to back out because my dad got a new job and couldn't justify taking a week off work when he had just started. so, now it was just me and wes (the boyfriend) booked in a resort that we normally wouldn't pay for and on the deluxe dining plan. since we had already been planning on paying all that money, i convinced wes that we treat ourselves and not switch to a less expense resort. since the next time i go with the fam we will most likely stay at the yc, i decided we should switch to the boardwalk instead. so after many emails to tammy, our wonderful kingdom konsultants agent, our trip was booked, dining reservations were made and we were ready for disney!

after booking our trip, we found out that wes' parents, grandma and grandma's boyfriend (yes, i said grandma's boyfriend :lol: ) would be in disney for part of our trip. originally we were going down dec. 12 - 17th but wes' dad suggested we come down 2 days early and stay with them for free. well i can't say no to 2 extra days at disney world! so our trip was now dec. 10 - 17th, with the first 2 nights at old key west and then on to the boardwalk.

i think that's enough explanation. now on with the trip report!


Day 1: Traveling to the World and Lots of Time Spent Waiting at DTD

so on friday december 10th, wes and i woke up around 5:15am to get ready to head to the airport. we said goodbye to our dog daisy and my aunt gave us a ride to the airport. we left the house at 6am, got to the airport at 6:08 and were sitting at our gate at 6:28am. i love living so close to the airport! :lol: we took off at 7:40am and had an uneventful flight. i basically slept the entire flight. i did manage to wake up in time to get some peanuts though! we landed a little early and were in line for dme at 9:27! we walked up to the line and a cast member came over immediately to let us on a bus.

you can see the cast member in the background coming over to let us on the bus. :lol: funny lady. we got to the okw at 10:05 and called wes' parents to see if they had checked in yet. it turns out they were still at the waffle house eating breakfast, so wes and i got in line to see if we could check in. it took us about 20 minutes to check in but we actually got there right in time because the line behind us was crazy long. our room wasn't ready so wes and i walked around the main building of the resort while we waited for his family to arrive.

 

[harveyt0206]

I am so happy that the surprise was exactly what we were all hoping it would be. Congratulations to you both. My hubby and I honeymooned at WDW and we loved it. I hope you can convince Wes to do the same. :ROFLOL:

Best wishes to you both!!

~Tracy

 

[plaz10]

Congratulations!!! Can't wait to see pictures of the ring and you guys celebrating your engagement all over the world!

And props to Wes for 1) picking out a ring you love and 2) not doing it when you were staying w/his family...so NOT romantic! :lol:

 

[BookwormxBelle]

Congrats on your engagement! That is so exciting! :]

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Yay!! Congratulations! How sweet!

And I'm loving all the food pics!!!

thanks jenn! it was wonderful! we had some great food on our trip! tons more food pictures to come!

Congratulations on your impending nuptials! :sohappy:

And the Osborne lights are indeed amazing!!!! :xmas:

I agree with you about Mama Melrose's. I had the flatbread too, and I think a salad, and they were just okay. Most of the food I've had at WDW has been between "very good" and "just okay". The only "just awful" food I had was at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. I got the ribs (no hot dogs? No hamburgers? And they call this place a drive-in? :animwink and they were terrible. But fortunately my dining experiences have mostly been enjoyable. My fave places to dine at the World so far are the Brown Derby and the Rose and Crown. (Bangers and mash, yum!!!!)

Thank you so much for all of the pictures, and I love the report - how I envy you, going to WDW with family! I'm the only one in mine with a passion for the parks, so I usually go alone. Oh well. I suppose my trips are less complicated, and I can go anywhere I want when I want.

Next time I go to WDW, it's gonna be around Christmas time and after the FLE has opened. And thanks to your report, I'm definitely staying at the Boardwalk. It's so beautiful!

thanks!! oh, i love sci-fi!! but you have to go for lunch instead of dinner. i went for dinner in sept and had the ribs and yes, they were bad! but their lunch menu has hamburgers and other great drive in food. you should give it another chance! the atmosphere alone is worth the trip!

i am glad you are enjoying the report and all the pictures! i am very lucky to have found a fiancé who loves disney and who’s family are dvc members!!

i’m happy that my report has made you decide to stay at the bw! i find tr are a great way to find out about other resorts before you spend a ton of money to stay there. and i would say that if you have the money, the boardwalk is 100% worth it!

That's the surprise we have all been waiting for! Congratulations! Funny he thought proposing there would get him off the hook for a honeymoon there, silly men. IMHO this just makes the place more special.

yay!! thanks! i was really hoping he would propose this trip but i really didn’t think he would! so i was super excited when he pulled out the ring! hopefully we can honeymoon there but if not, i guess i will survive. :lol:

Congrats! How very exciting!! I now cant wait to spend our 20th Anniversary at the BW!!! Only 226 days to wait!! I agree with you about how its hard to beleive that the WL is on the low end of the delux resorts...probley the reason we love it so much and have not been to any of the others yet!! Hope you 2 have a great time planning the up coming wedding and hopefully DISNEYMOON!!!!

thanks!! the bw was a great resort!! i think you will be very happy with the resort selection!

Yay, Ashley!!! :sohappy: Congratulations to you both. I'm so proud of Wes for picking out the ring all by himself... and for proposing to you at the beginning of your trip so you can really soak it up and enjoy it. I hope to see you wearing the "Just Engaged" buttons throughout the rest of your report!

I'm actually a fan of Mama Melrose's myself. Like you, I really enjoy the ambiance in there. And the flatbreads make for a nice lunch.

thanks holly! i couldn’t believe that he picked out exactly what i wanted without me having told him anything about what i would want. he’s such a smart boy! :lol: and don’t worry, we picked up our just engaged buttons and wore them for the rest of the trip!

Congrats!!! I too either want a proposal, wedding or honeymoon at Disney! (preferably a wedding lol)

thanks!

Congratulations. How great it must be to get engaged at WDW! Too late for me as im already married but maybe we can celebrate an anniversary there one year! I'll get working on trying to convince my hubby now.

Really enjoying the Trip Report, loving all your photos, keep them coming!

thanks lisak!! it was exactly what i wanted to get engaged at wdw! it was wonderful! i’m glad you are enjoying the report! more coming very soon!

Yay!!!! :sohappy::sohappy: That is so exciting!! What a wonderful place to get engaged!!

Congratulations!!!

thanks tammy!!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Love your trip report so far!!! Especially the Boardwalk pics, your room was gorgeous!!

Congratulations:sohappy:

i am glad you are enjoying the report! the room was really great at the bw. it was just so beautiful! thanks!

Oh how exciting.....LOVE IT! Congrats to you both! I didn't get a proposal in Disney but I am getting a honeymoon in May so I'm happy :sohappy:

thank you!! congrats on your proposal and your disney honeymoon!! very exciting!

Congratulations! I am SO happy for you!! Welcome to the "Engaged At Disney" club :sohappy:

thanks!! i am so excited to join that club, you have no idea!!

Congrats on your engagement!!! How exciting! My fiance and I got engaged just across the lake from there on the beach at the Beach Club. I too am pushing for the Disneymoon! :wave:

Loving your trip report as well, great pictures. Can't wait for the rest!

thanks! ooo congrats to you too! what a great place to propose! the beach over there is beautiful!

Are we going to get some more of your great trip report. I love it. with the pictures and all makes me feel I'm there for a little bit.:wave:

yes, i am trying! :lol: with the wedding planning i just haven’t had as much time to write my trip report. but i am working on it and day 4 is coming momentarily with hopefully day 5 later tonight.

YAY!!! Congrats on the engagement!!! :sohappy: I was hoping that's what the surprise would be. Can't wait to read more! Congrats again! :wave:

thanks!!!

Congratulations! I am very happy for you. I am really enjoying this report

thanks! i am glad you are enjoying the report!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

I am so happy that the surprise was exactly what we were all hoping it would be. Congratulations to you both. My hubby and I honeymooned at WDW and we loved it. I hope you can convince Wes to do the same. :ROFLOL:

Best wishes to you both!!

~Tracy

thanks tracy! i hope wes agrees to a wdw honeymoon. it is absolutely my favorite place to vacation so it would be wonderful to honeymoon there too!

Congratulations!!! Can't wait to see pictures of the ring and you guys celebrating your engagement all over the world!

And props to Wes for 1) picking out a ring you love and 2) not doing it when you were staying w/his family...so NOT romantic! :lol:

thanks! he did such a good job with the proposal and the ring. and thank god he waited until sunday when we were at the bw! :ROFLOL:

Congrats on your engagement! That is so exciting! :]

thanks!! it is very exciting!!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Day 4: Extra Magic Hours and Dinner at Jiko

so after the excitement of the proposal, we ended up sleeping in a little late. we got up at 7:05! :ROFLOL: i know for many people that is waking up super early, in fact its super early for me when i am not on disney time, but i wanted to get to animal kingdom in time for emh. so we got started a little late, but we had a good reason! so we left around 7:30 and arrived at the ak a little after 8. so we missed the opening ceremony. bummer. but oh well! we decided to head to the safari first.

it was very cold this morning. like 30 degrees cold. so we loaded up in our safari vehicle and we had the BEST DRIVER EVER! he was HILARIOUS! he said we were lucky that we were in his car today instead of on a hot afternoon because on those days he's ed. :lol: and since it was so cold, we knew we wouldn't see too many animals, so everyone one we saw he would stop and say "i'm not supposed to do this but its so cold you won't see many animals so i am stopping for you. take pictures. did you take a picture? take a picture." we saw the cheetahs and he stopped and said "see the cheetah. take a picture. did you take a picture lady? yes, take a picture." :lol: for every animal we saw he did that and it was hilarious. there was a back up of 3 cars behind us. then you know the part of the safari where the radio plays that songs, well he sung along for us and it was great. in fact, the rest of the trip wes and i would break into that song. he was AMAZING! :lol: i wish i remember his name because i would love to request him on the next trip.

here are some of those pictures he instructed us to take.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

it was a great first ride of the day! oh and i forgot to mention that our driver drove like we were on dinosaur. it added some fun and excitement to the ride. everyone was bouncing around the car and i had to hold on many times so i wouldn't bounce too high. :lol:

after the safari, we made our way over to asia to ride expedition everest.

the wait time said only 15 minutes and it was so cold, i didn't mind waiting in line inside a building.

it was so cold riding everest! the wind hitting my face made my teeth cold! normally, i would ride this ride over and over but it was just way too cold. we then walked over to dinoland usa for a ride on dinosaur. after dinosaur, we went over to camp minnie-mickey to see fotlk. wes had never seen this (crazy, i know!) so i really wanted him to see it. and it was another chance for us to get out of the cold.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

i loved all of the christmas trees at camp minnie-mickey! there was a line forming to get into the theater so wes jumped in line while i walked around and took some pictures of christmas trees. what a wonderful fiance! :lol:

i loved how each tree had a different theme. and it was cute how each character greeting area had a tree specific to their area. the line started moving so i had to put a pause on taking pictures. fotlk was wonderful like always! we sat in the elephant section right on the end where the floats and the performers come out.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

wes really enjoyed the show. when we left the theater, i continued my photo series of christmas trees. and we met a couple of characters along the way.

it was then time for us to leave ak and head over to epcot for our lunch reservations at nine dragons. so we said goodbye to the animal kingdom, but not before we took some more photopass pictures!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

i love the tree at the animal kingdom! it is just so pretty! i love the mickey shaped ornament with the triangular mirror pieces. very cute!

there was a bus there for the yacht and beach club so we decided to get on that bus and then walk to epcot. since it was so cold, we actually walked through the yacht and beach club as long as we could. of course, i took some pictures along the way.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

we went through the international gateway and made our way over to china. when we got there, the restaurant actually wasn't open yet since it was a little before noon, so we walked around china for a little bit.

we noticed that the restaurant had opened so we walked back to nine dragons.

our reservation was for 12:15 was it seemed like we didn't even need a reservation. we came in and they sat us without even wanting to know my last name. :lol:

for our appetizers, i ordered the chicken and shrimp egg rolls and wes got the chicken consomme with pork dumpling

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

both were very good. wes was happy to get soup on such a cold day. for entrees, i got the kung pao chicken and wes got the general tso's chicken duo.

mine was not good at all. it was not like the kung pao i am used to getting. it had sort of an odd flavor. wes' was really good. i wish i would have ordered his instead. for desserts, i got the strawberry red bean ice cream and wes got the caramel ginger ice cream.

i really liked mine. wes' had an odd flavor. probably because of the ginger. overall i thought that our experience was pretty good. i don't know if i would go back as a first choice but i think i would go back if i couldn't get a reservation somewhere else. so i don't know if that is a good thing or not but the restaurant was okay. :lol:

after lunch, we headed back to the resort. it was just so cold, we needed to go back to the resort to warm up! we got back to the room around 1:30 and called wes' parents to see if they wanted to come over to see the resort. really we wanted to tell them the good news about our engagement. well they took forever to get over to the resort! its so hard when you have something exciting to tell people and they take forever to get there! well they got there and they were super excited. they took our picture in the spot where wes proposed.

wes' family hung out for a little bit and then went back to their resort. we planned on meeting them sometime the next day over at ak before they headed back home to maryland. after his family left, we had a little bit of time to relax before our dinner reservation at jiko at 5:30. we hadn't picked up our just engaged buttons yet since we didn't want wes' parents to see them when we told them the news. so on our way to the akl, we stopped at the conceirge and asked for the buttons. you know, the cast member didn't even say congratulations. wouldn't you think that if someone asked "can we get just engaged buttons?" that your first response would be "congratulations!"?! well, it wasn't her reaction. in fact she didn't say anything except hand us our buttons. after we lef the front desk, i said "well wasn't she friendly" i thought it was so weird. anyway, we chalked it up to her having a really bad day and moved on with our lives. :lol:

we left the boardwalk at 4 and got on a bus to the animal kingdom. we were planning on then transferring to an akl bus. well our bus driver was very talkative. and he was explaining to the three of us on the bus (me, wes and another lady) that the computer tells him where to go and that his bus might be turning into an akl bus so we might get to stay on. sure enough, that's what happened and he drove us to akl. so it was nice that we didn't have to go back out in the cold. since we didn't have to change buses, we got to the akl super early.

so we looked around the akl since we had never been there before and it was a really cool resort. i thought it would be better though. i guess i had built it up too much in my head. i still would love to stay there though! we also went in the gift shop and i decided to buy one of the mickey santa hats. since it was so cold, i decided to splurge so i would have something to keep my head warm.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

at 4:45, we checked in at jiko and they gave us a little pager. we then went up to the little bar/lounge area to wait to be seated. we started thinking about the wedding and who we would want to invite and who would be in the wedding party while we waited and it helped the time go by. at 5:33 our buzzer went off and we were seated.

for appetizers, i got the taste of africa and wes got the bbq chicken flatbread.

mine was very different and i wouldn't order it again but i am glad i tried it. wes' was really good. for entrees, wes got the filet and i got the short ribs.

both were very good! :slurp: this was wes' favorite steak until a little later in the trip. we were so full by the time we had to order dessert that i didn't even care what i got because i knew i wouldn't be able to eat it. so i got the candy cane eggnog cheesecake and wes got the tarzanian chocolate, cherry and chocolate.

mine tasted just like a candy cane. :lol: i only had about two bites. wes really liked his because it was really chocolatey but he couldn't finish his either. i really enjoyed jiko and wes loved it. i think it a new must do for our future vacations. after dinner it was time to head over to the magic kingdom for emh.

we went out to the bus stop at akl, and there was a huge group of people waiting for a mk bus. as we stood there waiting, we saw every other bus drive through but not a mk bus. a bus with no sign of where it was going pulled up and the driver came out and said i'm a ttc driver but i'll take you to mk. i told wes, i don't care if we have to stand, i need to get out of the cold and on that bus. :lol: so we crowded in to the bus and a lot of the group waited for a mk bus that our driver said was on the way. wes and i had only waited about 10 minutes but we asked someone on the bus and they said they had been waiting for over 30 minutes for a bus. that's not too long on any normal day, but remember it was about 29 degrees outside! yikes.

we got to the mk around 7:30 and i was in awe of all the decorations and the castle!! it was amazing! my pictures do not do it justice.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

the msep had just finished when we got there and people were still on main street waiting for the fireworks. so we quickly tried to push past the mob of people and make our way to tomorrowland. we wanted to ride space mountain but it was a 70 minute wait. and even though it was cold outside, i couldn't justify waiting 70 minutes. then we looked at doing buzz but the line was out the door. now what should we do? we saw that the astro orbiter had virtually no line and we thought what the heck! neither of us have ever been on that ride which i think is crazy for the amount of times we have been there. so we got in line and went up the elevator to ride. did i mention it was cold?! this was me that night at the mk.

:ROFLOL: wes said i looked like a ninja since i was all in black. my review of riding the astro orbiter is that it was soooo scary! :lol: i was getting so dizzy and as the ride continues, i thought our little spaceship was going to detach from the ride and fly out! its crazy how you start feeling like you are going to fly off that platform but i really did. so i can cross that ride off my list and never return. :lol: once we got back down to earth, we noticed that space mountain had broken down. thank god we didn't go wait in that line and have it break down. so we decided to go ride buzz. and i beat wes! woo hoo!

and i beat him pretty bad too! here is his score.

i was surprised too since i have such a hard time finding my laser. but i just picked a far away target that was worth a lot of points and stayed with it as long as possible. a good strategy, if i do say so myself!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

after buzz, we headed over to fantasyland to ride some indoor attractions for a little bit. first stop was winnie the pooh. and i love the new queue for this ride! those honey walls were so cool! i had to take my glove off to use them but wow, if i was a little kid i would have been entertained for hours! ok, who am i kidding? i am an adult and i would have been entertained for hours! :lol: i love what they have done with this queue and i could only imagine how much a kid would love hanging out in there.

after our journey through the 100 acre woods, we decided we needed some hot chocolate. a snack credit well spent! we then walked through fantasyland trying to decide what to do next. peter pan said 35 minutes and iasm was only 10. we had just gotten our hot chocolate and i wasn't going to throw them away so i knew we needed to have a little bit of a wait. so i said, let's just get in line for pp. boy was that a mistake! that line never moves quickly! i don't get it since the ride vehicle is constantly moving how the line can go so slow! so we slowly walked through the queue and when we finally finished our hot chocolate we played the "should we or shouldn't we" get out of line game. i am stubborn so when i have invested so much time in something i can't give up! so we stayed and waited and waited. we finally got to the loading area and we had waited 42 minutes in line. peter pan's flight is in no way worth the 42 minute wait but i do love that ride! :lol: wes thinks its ridiculous to wait in line for a 2 minute ride like that but i just love it. it reminds me of childhood.

we then went over and did iasw. i got wes to agree to ride since it would be warm in the building and it was very nice to get out of the cold.

on this trip, we were using the lines app on wes' iphone and when we left iasw, we checked to see if space mountain had opened up. and sure enough it did and it said a 50 minute wait. we were so cold we figured it would be nice to wait inside for 50 minutes just to warm up. so we went back to tomorrowland. we actually walked almost all the way up to the loading area. we ended up only waiting about 10 minutes before we rode. i love space mountain. another great ride.

wes was starting to fade at this point since we had only gotten about 5 hours of sleep and we had been out almost all day. i asked if we could take some photopass pictures and then ride potc as our final ride. so we went to the hub to find some photopass photographers.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

after we took a bunch of pictures, we went to ride potc as our last ride of the night.

we began our walk to exit the park and i made wes stop at almost every photopass photog on our way out!

even though the park was open until 1am, we only made it to 10:47. we were just too cold and too tired. so we grabbed a bus back to the boardwalk for some much needed sleep.

 

[mickeysshoes]

All I can do is SMILE for you while i read your TR!!! Pictures are awesome and sounds like you made the best of the really cold weather!!! Keep it coming!!!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

First, Congratulations on your engagement!! I'm really enjoying your TR!

and the label on the rogue dead guy was really interesting

This is so cool!! Newport, Or is not far from where I live. In fact, we have a local Rogue Brewery/Restaurant right in our town! It's really good btw.

we were towards the outskirts of the resort and we were right on the water where the ferry boats take you to dtd

OK that is seriously cool!! ^^^^

...by the time we got our check, pete (the grandma's boyfriend) was also screaming VOLCANO! :lol: needless to say, it was time to go.

LOL!!

 

[foreverbelle]

OMG!! I had to sit here and read it all the way through just so I could know the surprise. That is so wonderful and so amazing!!! Congratulations. And Dec 13th is a great day, mainly because of your grandparents anniversary. Way to go Wes!!!:sohappy::sohappy::sohappy::sohappy:

Congratulations and what a great trip report. I just wish I could see the pics here at work. That will just mean I will have to come back when I make it home tonight.