Trip Report At Long Last - A 4-Day Anniversary TR

I used to be so good with my TRs, but I guess I’ve fallen off the wagon! I didn’t even write one for my past few trips, and this one comes nearly 3 months after getting home! Ah well, it’s fun to have a little separation from the trip and relive it a bit. So much has happened since then, reliving the magic is a good thing

For a brief intro on me and my BF, here’s my Pre-TR: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/a-sure-why-not-ptr-5-31-6-3.864676/

I think our story is pretty romantic…the first post might be worth a quick read, lol.

Here’s the uber-light basics, though:

Dates: 5/31-6/3/2013
Airline: Southwest, BUF-MCO
Hotel: POR (First Time)
Celebration: Our 1-Year Anniversary
Extra Notes: My BF hadn’t been to WDW since 1992, and hadn’t flown since 1999 (I can’t even imagine…)

Our flight left really early on Friday morning…6am, to be exact. So, we of course couldn’t sleep the night before (I haven’t had that feeling in awhile. I’ve been going so much as an AP the past few years, those pre-trip jitters haven’t come around in awhile. It was kinda nice to have them again…except for the whole, “slept for 2.5 hours thing!”).

My countdown app proved that it was finally time for our trip!

I helped BF pack, since he was new to all the fluid requirements and other post-9/11 changes. Luckily, we were through security and to our gate in less than 20 minutes. We were off to a good start!

I paid extra for Southwest priority boarding, and we ended up as the first or second group after business class, so we lucked out and got exit row seating – nice and comfy for the two of us

Noooo, we don’t look tired at all!

BF was enthralled with the plane and flying in general. It was so cute! I travel a lot for business and in general, so it was cool to live it through his eyes.

A view of the sunrise (and another Southwest plane) from our seats:

BF loved playing with the “free” parts of in-flight WIFI. Here’s our flight tracker…almost there!

At long last (really, only 2 hours, lol) we arrived at OIA. I’m used to hightailing it over to DME, but BF was so excited to see a Kennedy Space Center store. I was prepared to slow down my usual pace so that he could enjoy himself, and it was so awesome to see things through his eyes. He loved checking out that store! When we take his son to WDW next year, we’ll definitely be stopping at Kennedy Space Center.

Then it was off to DME. These new podiums made it easier to see which lines go where. It used to be total chaos! These were new since my last trip in January, so I had to take a picture

At this point, we were so excited to be in Orlando and on our way to WDW.

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Wow backstage LMA pics! Love them!!! You were privileged!! Keep on going please

Thanks - it was such an amazing surprise! Mystery Tweeter was an awesome guy to do something like that for strangers. It was the highlight of our trip

That is so, so awesome. I love your TR (you two are a gorgeous couple) and this really had to be amazing for you.

Thank you so much

Such a great report!! Love your behind the scenes tour of LMA!!

What is Foursquare? I'm going to have to google that.

Thanks! Foursquare is a social media app (not really like Facebook, although it integrates with it). It basically allows you to "share" with your friends where you are and what you're doing. I pretty much only use it when I'm in WDW or someplace cool. Within the app, people put reviews or comments, and some businesses offer specials if you "check in" there. If you have an Android phone or iPhone, it's a free download in the app store.

You left us hanging! Does he get on TOT? and does he enjoy it? Great report so far! Can't wait to read more!

Lol, I'm sorry! It's been a crazy busy weekend, but I'm going to post more of day 2 in a few minutes. Thanks so much for enjoying my TR!

How awesome that you got that tour! I too own all seasons of the Golden Girls, I can't get enough! I was so bummed when they removed it from the backlot tour, that's so cool they honor where it used to be!!

Yay, another Golden Girls fan! I used to love the Backlot Tour when it went down Residential Street...still a shame that it's gone

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Day 2 - DHS (Continued)

Heading out of LMA, we spotted these guys. I never get sick of Storm Troopers, or SW for that matter. I’m not a Star Wars “geek” (I mean that as a compliment), but I like and appreciate Star Wars, for sure:

BF has to pose under the Chevy sign, which is kind of funny since he owns a 1976 Cobra II Mustang (the one from Charlie's Angels)!

Okay, our FPs for RnRC were almost up by this point, so we headed back down Sunset Blvd to use them. I was stoked to ride RnRC again. I usually don’t ride if I’m with my sister or someone else who doesn’t want to ride.

Besides cars, BF’s other favorite thing is the band Chicago (in their early days they were called Chicago Transit Authority). We noticed this poster while waiting for the preshow – nice find!

We waited an extra two cars, I think, for the first row. Totally worth it! I rarely buy on-ride pics, but this one is a classic. I have never seen BF make this face before, and I imagine I never will again, lol. My expression is pretty amusing as well :

It was now time to do ToT (probably not the best idea for him right after RnRC but oh well!). The line was only 20 minutes so we made our way down. We actually walked right into the preshow, and I spotted a prop from the Twilight Zone episode “Nick of Time,” which was cool (we watched it after we got home so BF could see the prop).

Does he look nervous to you? Uh yeah…

The prop from “Nick of Time”:

There was something up, though, because the preshow let out into that incredibly tight hallway you usually breeze through…but traffic was at a dead stop. We ended up waiting there 15 minutes which didn’t matter because we were expecting 20 and had walked right in up until that point. I never thought I was claustrophobic, though…never had any problems in my life. That hallway is extremely narrow and air doesn’t circulate, though. And there were hundreds of people packed in. I started getting a little lightheaded, lol. Once we moved I was fine, though.

I didn’t buy the picture, but I will tell you this – I heard BF yelling a word that he NEVER uses. Twice. In a family theme park (luckily we were in the front corner, so I don’t think anyone but me heard him!).

I was so proud of him for riding, though…that was tough for him! He said that it wasn’t “too” bad (sure), but he doesn’t want to do it again, lol. It was so sweet of him to ride with me, and I’m glad he survived

 

[Zipadeelady]

kodos to BF, so proud!!!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Day 2 - DHS (Continued)
I was so proud of him for riding, though…that was tough for him! He said that it wasn’t “too” bad (sure), but he doesn’t want to do it again, lol. It was so sweet of him to ride with me, and I’m glad he survived

That is exactly what my daughter said when she rode it for the first time!! She has already said that she won't ride it again when we go back next June! Like you, I'm just proud she rode it once!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

How awesome that you got to tour LMA!! I'm so jealous! I'm not a huge car buff but I do like that show.

Glad to see BF went on ToT. Props to him for trying it at least once!!!

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

THAT TOUR LOOKED AWESOME! I would love to see how they do all that stuff! Just another part of Imagineering So thank you for all of those pictures! I loved all of them and appreciated all of them!

And you're running the Princess Half too? You might have told me and I forgot LOL. I'll be down from the 21st until the 24th short weekend no park time. When are you planning on going???

And props to the BF for riding ToT!!!! Proud of him for going on once because its the best themed ride out there!

 

[LindsayLoves]

Hi there, loving your TR so far. It is great, the things that people will do outside of their comfort zone when they are on vacation. I also think its super sweet that you are saving certain things to experience with your son when you all go together. I also love that Epcot shirt that you are wearing I got one for my husband in January and he is not a Disney guy but he loves that shirt so I get a kick out him wearing it on a weekly basis.

I have two burning questions for you
1. so your BF if from Buffalo but wearing a Dolphins jersey?!?! What gives? (p.s. I grew up in Buffalo and know the hatred Bills fans have for "the fish")
2. Did I read somewhere on these boards that you are doing the Lucy Town Half? I really, really, really want to do that race especially after they just released the medal photo which is amazing!

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

I'm sorry, guys! I was chosen for jury duty and actually ended up on a trial, so I'm at court during the day and working at night (I'm self-employed, so the only way my work gets done is if I do it!). I'll put up another update soon

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

How awesome that you got to tour LMA!! I'm so jealous! I'm not a huge car buff but I do like that show.

Glad to see BF went on ToT. Props to him for trying it at least once!!!

I've learned to really appreciate cars thanks to BF. And that tour was fascinating and super cool, even without any "real" knowledge of cars on my part, lol. I am very proud of him for ToT...I think he may actually do it again someday, too...we'll see!

THAT TOUR LOOKED AWESOME! I would love to see how they do all that stuff! Just another part of Imagineering So thank you for all of those pictures! I loved all of them and appreciated all of them!

And you're running the Princess Half too? You might have told me and I forgot LOL. I'll be down from the 21st until the 24th short weekend no park time. When are you planning on going???

And props to the BF for riding ToT!!!! Proud of him for going on once because its the best themed ride out there!

I'm hopefully still doing the Princess Half. I ended up with mono last month and threw off training for a half I was doing in October, my first. I wanted to get a good time to move up for the Princess race, but it's definitely not happening now. Hopefully I can still swing February, though!

Hi there, loving your TR so far. It is great, the things that people will do outside of their comfort zone when they are on vacation. I also think its super sweet that you are saving certain things to experience with your son when you all go together. I also love that Epcot shirt that you are wearing I got one for my husband in January and he is not a Disney guy but he loves that shirt so I get a kick out him wearing it on a weekly basis.

I have two burning questions for you
1. so your BF if from Buffalo but wearing a Dolphins jersey?!?! What gives? (p.s. I grew up in Buffalo and know the hatred Bills fans have for "the fish")
2. Did I read somewhere on these boards that you are doing the Lucy Town Half? I really, really, really want to do that race especially after they just released the medal photo which is amazing!

Glad you're enjoying the TR - thanks so much! I love my Epcot shirts...like 2/3 of my shirts are retro or retro-inspired WDW..what can I say?

Yup, that's a Dolphins shirt alright, and we are definitely from Buffalo! BF gave up on the Bills after the second of four lost Super Bowls in the early 90s. Dan Marino was amazing then and he just made the switch. He's a diehard Dolphins fan now. Luckily that rivalry isn't what it used to be (pretty much the entire league...at least the AFC East, is a rival of the Pats now...the evil empire! Sorry, Darolyn!

I was doing the Lucy Town Half That's the race I was training for when I got mono. Of all the things! I didn't even know adults could get it...ironically, my doctor believes strongly I picked it up at the gym, either from a drinking fountain or a dirty machine/free weight. It can be transmitted by saliva, which includes someone coughing on a machine or piece of equipment, or sneezing. It's worse for adults too...let me tell you, I felt like I was going to die - it was so awful. BF had to carry me into the ER - I had a 103 fever and had shooting pains throughout my entire body. They took bloodwork and that's how I found out it was mono. So, I was on bed rest for 2 weeks, and I can't even run for another 3-4 weeks (I go back to my doctor on 9/25 and may get the greenlight). I bike too, and I've been taking short walks and literally 10-minute rides a few times a week to build my endurance back up. But still no running

I was so excited to get my Lucy medal...and to get a half marathon in before the Princess Half. It is so depressing! I'm going to see about deferring until next year to save money, though. Hopefully they'll let me.

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

I am so sorry this has taken so long! I'm sure no one cares anymore, lol, but here, at long last, is the conclusion of Day 2 (and I'm going to go ahead and go right into Day 3, since I have a little free time in my work schedule ).

After our excitement on ToT, we decided to get a bit more tame and head to one of my favorites:

First, we stopped to look at the hand and footprints outside. In 40+ trips to WDW, I never really looked at these - another example of me rediscovering details thanks to BF

He is a huge Hulk Hogan fan:

Comparing BF’s hands to Hulk Hogan’s, lol…quite a difference:

While we were walking around like Lucy and Ethel about to steal John Wayne’s footprints, Darth Goofy came out – love him:

One of my guilty pleasures is “Murder, She Wrote,” so BF had me pose here:

And the Golden Girls. But what the heck, Bea Arthur, you couldn’t put yours there too?!

After GMR (the gangster scene…I’ve only had the western scene once in the past 10 years, when I was on a solo trip in 9/12), we headed back to the hotel for one of the romantic little adventures I booked for us, something I’ve never done before in WDW (or anywhere, really). A horse-drawn carriage ride across POR:

The picture didn’t turn out great, but I still like it

I wanted to get the perspective from inside the carriage. I know it looks odd, but oh well!

The carriage ride was so romantic – we loved it! Our driver was polite, but not chatty or anything…which was actually perfect. The ride was a half hour, and we went across the entire property. People were smiling and waving at us, it was really cool. Right toward the end we heard a report come through his walkie that rain was coming, so I think we technically headed back about 5 minutes early, but not a big deal – we saw lightening toward the end, and you can’t be too careful with safety!

We couldn’t pet the horse, but BF wanted me to take a good pic of him – his name was Doug. I seriously love that the horse’s name was Doug


After our carriage ride, we decided to spend the night at Downtown Disney. I was super excited to take BF to Earl of Sandwich. I hadn’t been there in so long! Since I wasn’t counting WW points, I decided to splurge and get the new meatball sandwich…it was delicious

I grabbed a table while BF was in line. Oddly enough, a man in his late-40s/early-50s came and just randomly sat down in the other chair at my table. He didn’t say a word to me…it was incredibly awkward. If you wanted to sit and wait for your wife or whatever, just ask, but to randomly sit down at a small table across from a stranger is a bit odd…I’m just sayin!

To distract me from the awkwardness, I took to my iPhone and started snapping pictures. I noticed BF at the cash register chatting it up and took this “sneak” photo:

Turns out, the cashier was a Dolphins fan and was talking football with BF. He was so excited to wear his Tannehill shirt (a Sweetest Day gift from me last year) and actually have people smile or hi-five him, versus people who scowl at him in Buffalo, lol.

Oh and random stranger got up and left when BF came to the table with our food…such a strange encounter!

Next, we went to the Lego store to look for some special Ninjago Lego set that our son wanted…they didn’t have it, but we picked up a few little things that he ended up loving .

BF was amazed by these and wanted pictures of all of them. It was so cute:


After stopping in World of Disney and Ghirardelli for a free chocolate square (lol), we decided our last stop for the night would be Planet Hollywood. I hadn’t been there since 2000, and I knew BF would like all the movie memorabilia. We sat in the bar and shared some meh cheesecake while both order a drink. I had some rum concoction that wasn’t very good (I love rum, but it was just very harsh tasting…probably cheap rum). BF had a mudslide that had no chocolate in it…is the chocolate just a TGI Friday’s thing? I thought that was random!

While at the bar, we noticed this – BF loved it:

I had half my rum drink and was completely thrown off by it, lol. We went up to all the floors to check out the props and I was literally grabbing the stairwell going up, so that we used the elevator coming down (really strange, because I really only drank half of it and I wasn’t on an empty stomach).

Here are some shots of the memorabilia BF liked (since his phone died and mine had a little juice left, he took these):

It was so dark in there and we used my iPhone 5, so pardon the blurriness!

Creepy Sly hanging above us:

I love Beetlejuice!

Overall, we really packed a lot into Day 2 – a running theme I’m going to go right into our final day of the trip – Day 3 is coming up (Epcot – finally!).

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Day 3 – Epcot

So, in my quest to find romantic, unique things for us to do, I discovered how much POR really has to offer, like the carriage ride. Another fun activity I found is renting a SeaRaycer. I have never done this, so I guess you could say it was on my WDW bucket list. We had stopped by Saturday to see if one was available but they were all out so we came back right at opening on Sunday and were lucky enough to snag a boat right away.

They gave us careful instructions about where to slow down, how to not get stuck, etcetera, and we were on our way.

Bye, POR!

Treehouse – yay!

The scenery was gorgeous and there was no one else out there so we felt like we had the entire Sassagoula River to ourselves.

I felt this cloud looked like an angry genie…thoughts?

I know I’m somewhat biased, but isn’t he handsome?

Now recall a few pictures back how I mentioned that we were given instructions on how to not get stuck? Well, coming back from Old Key West, we were about to go under one of the bridges when a Disney boat came quickly. It was right after a bend so we couldn’t see it until there was nowhere for us to go but into the marsh (is that the right term?). We were stuck, but BF was super calm and reached out to push off of the dirt. Thankfully, we were freed Who knows we would have had to wait for one of the boats to come around and save us?

Heading back to POR, I snapped some pictures of our beautiful resort – we really loved it here:

The map of our journey (we curved around to OKW and came back since we didn’t have time to go all the way to DTD):

I noticed upon our return that the dock CMs put our departure time about 15 minutes later than we actually departed. I had no problem paying for the extra time because we were having a blast, but it was so nice that they did that (I think it may have been because of our anniversary buttons). Then when we came in, the CM at the checkin put us in 15 minutes earlier, so even though we were gone for nearly an hour, they only charged us for 30 minutes. Unnecessary, but so nice!!

After a quick snack, it was time to go to Epcot. And we waited about 30 seconds for a bus again, of course, because BF had the magic touch!

Getting off the bus, I was greeted by my second-favorite attraction in all of WDW:

We waited in line for about 20 minutes. I never wait for SSE, and as we all do, I know how the early crowds go. But, we were only here for a day (really less than a full day now), and we didn’t know if we’d be back to ride it, so we just waited.

I was SO excited to take him on SSE, so I made him pose

I miss the old descent (glitter city *sniffle*), but I thought we looked funny anyway:

On the big wall:

We sent the video home, and actually spent some time in the post-show area: something else I never do! It was fun – BF did a racing game:

I did a Simon-like game that tested reflexes or brain patterns or something (lol). I was going on little sleep for the entire weekend, so let’s just say that I didn’t fare so well (I’m using Lumosity on my phone now so my brain should be okay, lol!).

Outside of SSE BF got very excited about a palm tree. He said that when he was a kid, all he wanted was his picture with a palm tree. Here you go:

We didn’t ride because we wanted to wait until we brought our son, but BF was very amused by “Mine!”

BF’s favorite ride as a child was Journey Into Imagination, so even though we didn’t have our son, he asked if we could ride it. I gently explained (no negativity!) that there were some pretty big changes, but said it would be fun.

He loved seeing Figment but was pretty disappointed with the ride overall…I felt bad!

We played around in the post show for a bit (I love this trend – we really took our time and enjoyed everything):

Then we went outside for another fun touch that BF remembered from his childhood:

We played here for quite some time Such great memories!

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

BF had one big request for today, and that was to ride the monorail. Since we were still in Future World, I suggested we do it now so that we don’t accidentally run out of time. It took a bit to walk back out but we hopped right onto a monorail for a round trip back to Epcot.

BF looked so cute just gazing out at everything:

After the ride, I had him pose (of course!):

BF noticed that the driver door was open, so he took this pic – he was totally fascinated, and so was I:

I rode in the front of one of the old DL monorails back in 2006, but never got to ride in one of the WDW ones

Coming down the monorail exit ramp, BF noticed a palm tree he liked better, so I took this pic:

He wanted me to pose excitedly with the tree too, so I was a dork:

Yes I know I’m strange…and yet he loves me anyway

On the way back into Epcot, we stopped for a Photopass pic. That morning we waited awhile but the line was too long. It worked out well this time!

Heading into World Showcase, we stopped at Club Cool. BF is addicted to Coke, so we knew he’d love it here

Can you see where this is headed?

Yes, yes I am doing what you think I’m doing:

So I gave my BF Beverly on his first trip to WDW – does that make me evil?! Nah, it’s a rite of passage!

He likes it…sort of…not really:

He appreciated my humor, I really think he did
Next ,we stopped in Mouse Gear for a little shopping and BF bought something he had wanted all trip, but finally decided to buy now:

He had heard me talk all weekend about how I wanted Oswald ears, so he came out with some for me – so sweet <3

We are horrible at self portraits. I never get my “head tilt” right, lol. Still, I like this one, even if I look awful!

Next, we headed over to Test Track. Being a car buff, we had to stop here even if we were holding off on riding until we could come back with our son:

I want to drive a Camaro, lol:

The 2014 Impala was actually really nice!

Spiffy concept car:

It stunk that you needed to ride the actual ride in order to play any post-show games, but someone left there’s in this racing game so BF played it (we waited and no one came back):

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Then we made the trek into World Showcase. This self portrait is a little better:

We stopped and looked at details that I usually skip again, like this one in Norway:

Some cool stuff in that little walk-through exhibit!

See, I’m not the only one who masters the goofy pose!

I am such a lucky gal

We stopped in China for a bit to relax and appreciate the details:

Although I wish they’d update it, I find their Circlevision film entrancing!

Making our way around World Showcase:

It was at this point, around dinner, that I remembered my iPhone 5 had a panorama function on the camera. Uh yeah, so I missed out on a ton of cool photo ops! Since I remembered it with about 4 hours left in our trip, I finally took one:

I love the pixilated person on the left who was cut off because of walking right in the camera’s field of vision as I was moving it for the panorama. Like she’s hopping between dimensions, lol.

Did you find BF? He’s in there!

Here he is:

BF is half German, so we took our time in Germany and picked up an ornament for his mom’s birthday.

It was about an hour before our dinner ADRs at Via Napoli, but I thought we shouldn’t keep walking and have to backtrack, especially since we didn’t have time to really do anything before coming back (we didn’t want to miss the American Adventure).

Since there were only 2 of us, they actually seated us about 5 minutes after we got there. It was around 5:30 and I think our ADRs were for 6:30.

We ordered tiramisu martinis to start…and they were flipping amazing!

Luckily, BF couldn’t finish his so I drank mine and half of his, lol. No problems like at Planet Hollywood, though!

We also ordered an appetizer of salami and provolone. No pics, but for $10 it was literally 3 pieces of cheese and 3 pieces of salami. I will say this, though – it was delicious (and that’s all that counts)!

So, um, the pizza was amazing. Simply amazing. There is no way around this, it was the best pizza I have ever had (I love the brick oven style of pizza). I’m not from NYC or any other city that claims to have the best pizza, so please don’t flame me, lol. I just adored every morsel of this pizza. Too bad we couldn’t finish it (although BF tried)!

I ate two pieces (they are huge) and he ate 3 before surrendering!

Our server’s name was Guido, and while I’ve heard negative things about service there, he was very attentive and friendly – we gave him a huge tip as a thank you. We really just had an excellent experience there. Delicious food and great service!

Luckily we could walk off some of that amazing – albeit huge – meal! Here’s another attempt at a self portrait…gosh, we stink at these!

This one’s a little better:

Oh, so backtracking a little, I have a Disney confession – I broke a rule. I am not a rule-breaker, let me tell you. But, we had to be back at the hotel in time to pick up something in the store we forgot to get for our son, and we knew that we had to keep moving. I really wanted to see the American Adventure (a Top 5 WDW favorite for me), and so did BF, but if we passed it we knew we wouldn’t be back.

We walked in like 2 minutes before the scheduled showtime (I wanna say it was 6:40 but I’m not sure) and the rope was up by the escalators. I peeked and saw people still walking up the stairs/escalators, so I made an executive decision, grabbed BF’s hand…and walked under the rope.

I know, I am an awful person.

I wouldn’t have done it if there weren’t still people on the escalator, but seriously – we were right there! We missed it by like a minute!

And we hustled without running (we follow rules, usually, lol), so that we weren’t even the last guests in the theater, and we were seated in the second row well before the show started, so I don’t feel too guilty…but I do a little!

Soooooo…..

That does it for Day 3. After AA, we made our way around World Showcase, stopping to watch the Canada Circlevision film (I love this one. Even if it’ll be dated soon, I think Martin Short is really funny in it).

By that point it was almost 9, so we hustled to beat the crowd out of Epcot, skipping Illuminations. We got a bus rather quickly and were back at POR a little after 10, leaving us enough time to stop in the store for our son’s gift before they closed at 11.

Since our DME picked us up at 5:15 the next morning, we picked up some donuts for breakfast too.

Sad, right? It felt so quick (because it was!), but I wanted to spend so much more time there with him, exploring and enjoying my favorite place with my favorite person!

So anyway, here is a lonely shot of the POR entrance while we waited for DME:

Oh, and we waited awhile! Our bus came 45 minutes late – there was apparently a problem and a guy who dropped people off picked us up. Then he stopped at literally 5 other hotels because everyone else was late too! By the time we got to the airport we had to RUN to security and we made it to our gate with only about 15 minutes to spare (luckily we each only had one small carryon and no checked bags). I am always early, especially with travel, so I was extremely nervous that we were going to miss our flight. I’m usually at MCO super early with DME, so this was a rarity, but it was nerve-wracking, for sure!

But, we made it. And since we didn’t have room in our bags for them, we wore these “little beauties” the whole flight home:

We were near the front of the plane and I paid for Southwest Priority Boarding so we had a bunch of people tell us how cute we looked, lol.

Do I look tired? Because I couldn’t sleep at all the night before…got about 2 hours total. I think I look it, lol.

BF took pictures on the plane during our flight home:

This makes me think of the old show Highway to Heaven. I know, my mind is strange:

And that does it! We had such an amazing time, and it was such a magical way to spend our first anniversary together. I’m sorry it took so long for me to finish, but thank you to everyone for following along!

 

[cfry06]

Great report! Thank you for sharing!

 

[Zipadeelady]

Great trip report and you two seem like a great couple. Hope you get to take a trip with your son soon!!

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Awww I'm so happy you both had such a great time! I might have said it before, but isn't POR just beautiful??? I LOVE that resort. One of my favorites next to the Boardwalk When is the next time you're planning on going down?

Thanks for taking us along!

 

[SarahBella82]

Thank you for sharing! What a special (and fun!) trip.

 

[Tiggerish]

You certainly packed a lot into a short trip! Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed your TR.

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Great report! Thank you for sharing!

Thanks! I feel so badly that it took so long...and for such a short trip! Ah well, next time I'll do better

Great trip report and you two seem like a great couple. Hope you get to take a trip with your son soon!!

Thanks - I think we're pretty swell, if I do say so myself (at least he is!) We're planning our family trip now...I may divulge a few tidbits of that in a second...

Awww I'm so happy you both had such a great time! I might have said it before, but isn't POR just beautiful??? I LOVE that resort. One of my favorites next to the Boardwalk When is the next time you're planning on going down?

Thanks for taking us along!

Thanks, Jess! We really did love POR, and I think we want to stay here on our next trip, which, should everything go as planned, will be this summer.

I think this is probably taboo to talk about until it's official, but whatever. BF and I had already discussed this before our trip, but we know that we're both getting married. I moved into his house in July, and we discussed with his parents when telling them that we are getting married...I'm just waiting for him to surprise me now with the proposal! I've never done this before so I have no idea how normal it is to discuss marriage before becoming engaged, but you know what, I'm 2.5 weeks from turning 33 and he's 39 (plus he's been married before), so I think it was important to talk about our goals for the future ahead of time.

And so I know that the proposal is coming...hopefully soon (I've never been one of those "I have to get married" people, ever, nor have I ever been the kind of girl who always dreamed about her wedding, yet more than anything I am so excited to be his wife...makes me a bit goofy ).

And even weirder, we've talked about what we want for a wedding, lol. I have a massively huge family, and while his family is smaller, his parents have a lot of friends, etc, so that we'd have to invite probably 200 people to our wedding. And we still want to take his son to Disney World.

So I thought to myself...hm, a wedding with all those people would be at least $15k and a trip to WDW will probably be $3k when all is said and done. Plus probably another $3k for a honeymoon - so about $21k total! And we'd have to cut the wedding guest list down which would inevitably offend some people...plus I saw firsthand the stress of little details for big weddings as my sister's MOH last year (where I met my amazing BF, the best man). Funny now how I'm all thinking about a wedding that technically isn't official yet but it is. I just can't wait to start the rest of our lives together, you know?

If you haven't guessed where this is headed, I shall divulge - I realized that we could do a family trip to WDW, have the wedding of our dreams, and have a honeymoon (including the dress, travel, hotel, etc) for about $12-13k combined. Yeah, that's right, I'm saying it loud and proud - I realized that I really want a Disney Wedding!

We talked about it last week, and BF said he was thinking he'd like to do a Disneymoon anyway, and he really liked the idea of including DS. I figure we'll spend 4 days or so with him on our family trip, have our wedding midweek, and then his parents could take DS home (he lives with his mom and stepdad full time, we only get him every other weekend and every other Thursday) so that we could enjoy another 4-5 day Disneymoon. And we'd be saving probably $7-8k doing it this way! Crazy!

So maybe it's bad luck to talk about this now, but it's looking like this will be our plan. July or August (Really hot and really busy, I know...and yes, I told BF that we'd have to be engaged by the end of the year for it to work, lol. I'm not trying to be demanding, that's really not my style, but I want him to know so he understands how it would work. We have to do summer because of DS and my sister, who's a school librarian, and with the 9-month cutoff, that doesn't leave us much time).

So to make a short answer long, that will be our next trip And WDWMagic peeps are the first people to know about it

Thank you for sharing! What a special (and fun!) trip.

Thank you! It really was such a fun getaway...we have some pictures up in the house, and I just changed my Facebook profile picture back to one of our Photopass pics. We relive little moments from that trip a lot...it will always be so special because it's our first trip there together <3

You certainly packed a lot into a short trip! Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed your TR.

Thanks so much! Once he pops the question, maybe I'll start a wedding planning thread. Guilty confession: I just re-read Shelley's wedding planning and wedding TRs...they're getting me all misty, thinking that it will hopefully be me in less than a year!

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Thanks, Jess! We really did love POR, and I think we want to stay here on our next trip, which, should everything go as planned, will be this summer.

I think this is probably taboo to talk about until it's official, but whatever. BF and I had already discussed this before our trip, but we know that we're both getting married. I moved into his house in July, and we discussed with his parents when telling them that we are getting married...I'm just waiting for him to surprise me now with the proposal! I've never done this before so I have no idea how normal it is to discuss marriage before becoming engaged, but you know what, I'm 2.5 weeks from turning 33 and he's 39 (plus he's been married before), so I think it was important to talk about our goals for the future ahead of time.

And so I know that the proposal is coming...hopefully soon (I've never been one of those "I have to get married" people, ever, nor have I ever been the kind of girl who always dreamed about her wedding, yet more than anything I am so excited to be his wife...makes me a bit goofy ).

And even weirder, we've talked about what we want for a wedding, lol. I have a massively huge family, and while his family is smaller, his parents have a lot of friends, etc, so that we'd have to invite probably 200 people to our wedding. And we still want to take his son to Disney World.

So I thought to myself...hm, a wedding with all those people would be at least $15k and a trip to WDW will probably be $3k when all is said and done. Plus probably another $3k for a honeymoon - so about $21k total! And we'd have to cut the wedding guest list down which would inevitably offend some people...plus I saw firsthand the stress of little details for big weddings as my sister's MOH last year (where I met my amazing BF, the best man). Funny now how I'm all thinking about a wedding that technically isn't official yet but it is. I just can't wait to start the rest of our lives together, you know?

If you haven't guessed where this is headed, I shall divulge - I realized that we could do a family trip to WDW, have the wedding of our dreams, and have a honeymoon (including the dress, travel, hotel, etc) for about $12-13k combined. Yeah, that's right, I'm saying it loud and proud - I realized that I really want a Disney Wedding!

We talked about it last week, and BF said he was thinking he'd like to do a Disneymoon anyway, and he really liked the idea of including DS. I figure we'll spend 4 days or so with him on our family trip, have our wedding midweek, and then his parents could take DS home (he lives with his mom and stepdad full time, we only get him every other weekend and every other Thursday) so that we could enjoy another 4-5 day Disneymoon. And we'd be saving probably $7-8k doing it this way! Crazy!

So maybe it's bad luck to talk about this now, but it's looking like this will be our plan. July or August (Really hot and really busy, I know...and yes, I told BF that we'd have to be engaged by the end of the year for it to work, lol. I'm not trying to be demanding, that's really not my style, but I want him to know so he understands how it would work. We have to do summer because of DS and my sister, who's a school librarian, and with the 9-month cutoff, that doesn't leave us much time).

So to make a short answer long, that will be our next trip And WDWMagic peeps are the first people to know about it

Well would you look at that!!!!! THAT IS GOING TO BE AWESOME. (But I'm not biased at all ) Seriously, though I figured out the same thing, I honestly know we had a cheaper wedding in Walt Disney World (with a considerably less amount of people but worth it because we're not HUGE wedding people anyways) that if we did like a 300 person wedding back at home. We ended up having a at home reception when we came back but I think total we spent probably $13K thats with the reception at home and a honeymoon. Less than $10k for the wedding down here. You will definitely not regret that decision having a wedding in FL. It was so stress free for the most part. I was more stressed out planning the reception we had at home honestly.

And it's never too early to talk marriage before being engaged. I mean you have to know what each other want. Heck, like not too long after Mike and I got together I told him I already had a wedding fund because whenever I got married it was going to be in Disney (so I was forewarning him LOL) and he still married me lol. But its very important to talk about these things before they happen because you both want to be on the same page. If you need any help with anything or have any questions about Disney Wedding, let me know I can try the best I can to help you out I am SOOOO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!!