Trip Report Beauty & The Beards Reunited: LIVE! Sponsored by Smoked Turkeys

And it has begun! :D

Ok so if you didn’t see our pre-trip report which explains the title and everything about the trip, here’s the first post:

A long time ago in a magical galaxy (and something something darkside) there were two Disney Twins who were separated at birth and kept apart by the evil Atlantic Ocean (darkside!). They grew up not knowing of each other’s existence, yet their twin-ness continued on. They both grew up loving all that is Disney and knowing Walt Disney World was there home. Both got a tattoo of their favourite line from Beauty & The Beast and dreamed of Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere. Both fell in love with their bearded, tattooed soulmates and then one day, by a miracle created by Walt himself, they met on WDW Magic and noticed their similarities. They also realised that they both had upcoming trips at the same time. A meeting of fate was about to occur in December 2017...

Ok so we weren’t quiiiite separated at birth! :joyfull: Seeing as our birth dates are a couple years apart also... but that bit doesn’t matter! Alisa ( @dclfan ) and I are Disney Twins! Literally from the moment my husband Russ and I met her & her fiancé Jerome for a drink at La Cava del Tequila, we got on like we’d known each other for years. I was nervous to meet up as I can be a bit socially anxious but it wasn’t awkward at all. I even messaged Alisa 5 mins after we’d met to say how much fun it had been and about how I’d been nervous. And she replied straight away saying exactly the same, she has social anxiety too! But we’d both felt comfortable straight away. That never happens for the both of us. Disney magic! :happy:

It’s crazy. We have the most ridiculous amount of similarities and things in common. Interests, general likes and dislikes, dreams, outlook on life, right down to tv shows and other little things. Even stuff from our childhood and things we did and liked back then is similar! Let alone the fact we both have the same tattoo in the same place and both fell in love with guys who have beards and tattoos.
Alisa’s also getting married to Jerome in a small wedding abroad this year, in December- aged 29. The same age I was when I got married to Russ in December in a small wedding abroad- when I was 29! :jawdrop:
We still keep finding stuff that we’ve both done, or like, or our other halves have done or something they like that’s the same and being like “OMG we did that/we like that/that happened to us too!” It’s so much stuff now we kind of just shrug it off when something new pops up, like “Well, of course. We’re twins! Duh!”

And even better- Russ and Jerome got on like a house on fire too! In fact at first, those two were chatting away more than us! It was the best trip in December last year. We ended up meeting another 4 times and hanging out. We had such a blast. It really was like we were all old friends. When we said goodbye it was as Alisa & Jerome were going to the Galactic Nights in DHS & it was about 15 mins till the park closed to the public (Russ and I didn’t have tickets) and we all just group hugged in the middle of Hollywood Blvd for like 5 mins ha ha! :joyfull: We didn’t want to say goodbye. People must have been like what are these bearded guys & girls with Minnie ears having a giant hug about?! It’s crazy now thinking how we technically have only met for a total of about 6-8 hours. As Alisa and I have literally messaged back and forth every day since we got home. We all Skyped each other on New Year’s Eve for hours (and several times since then too) and have been totally hyped and pumped about meeting up again. We feel so far apart!! Finding a new best friend that lives in America when you’re from the U.K. is noooooo! :cry:

And so with that... this is what this pre-trip report is all about! WE’RE GOING TO BE REUNITED!!!!

I am SOOOOOOO excited to see you again Alisa!! These are the only photos of us (I don’t know how we were so lame in the photo taking over 4 days- we were having too much fun I think!) but I love these photos as they show the fun we were having.

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And the one group shot of us all!

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And a couple Skype shots :joyfull:

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Note to selves. Lots more photos this time!! Ha ha I bet we’ll now be the total opposite and take waaaay too many photos!

Anyway, back to the trip! We’ve been planning and trying to make this happen since the day we left WDW. Russ and I have a trip booked for October but we couldn’t stay away that long- and Alisa wouldn’t let me! Originally we tried to make this happen for May, as my birthday is May 29th and over in the UK we have a holiday week at the end of May (in schools & I work in education so I get this too) and also Alisa & Jerome would be in their new Florida home & settled by then, so it was looking like the best time to plan a trip. But timing & finances just didn’t quite work out for May. Boo. So, we kept looking at another time soon that we could go & when Jerome would be home from touring. And it started to look like July could work. Seeing how much Russ and I LOVE America and that we have never been in July- let alone been there for AMERICA'S BIRTHDAY- a trip around July 4th became the plan! We're going to be visiting Alisa & Jerome in Tampa for July 4th before going to Disney World after! We are ridiculously excited. I am pumped to be there for July 4th which is new for us- and to finally be reunited with our Disney Twins! :inlove:

So... the details!

Who: Well I think you know by now- 4 crazy best-friends-within-hours Disney fans! And multiple Smoked Turkeys.

Russ & I (Sam):

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Alisa & Jerome:

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A smoked turkey:

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When: July 5th-10th (Alisa & Jerome)
July 5th-14th (Russ & Sam)

Where: Caribbean Beach! Yep, we know about all the "magical enhancements" currently happening there (as the CM called them upon booking!) but it's such a good rate and we know what we're heading into. Plus we're going to be spending so much time in the parks and hanging out, it's not about the resort this trip. But Alisa stayed there not too long ago anyway and said it's not really that bad if you're prepared. The newish rooms seem great anyway and we're really liking the look of the new QS at one of the pools! The menu looks great.

So you may also be wondering what all this Smoked Turkey talk is about. Well, back in December we discovered (of course) that this was Jerome & Russ' favourite Disney drink. On our last day hanging out this was what we decided to drink. But as detailed in my last trip report we went from bar to bar on the Boardwalk and no-one was serving them! It felt like a hidden quest to try and find one. So the guys never got to have their drink together. I mean, many other drinks were consumed (of course ;)) but no Smoked Turkeys! It's like all they talk about together now! :joyfull:

So this trip, MANY Smoked Turkeys will be found and consumed! Russ and Jerome are coming for you speciality cocktail menu, be warned! :cool:

So I think that's everything! We have a few ADR's booked and Alisa and I have already planned a years worth of plans to fit into our 5 days together in the world, so it's going to be a crazy, awesome adventure! AND WE CAN'T WAIT!

FP+ window is Sunday so that's the next step!

64 Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaays!!!! :eek::D:D:eek:

And the link if you want to read anything else in the pre-trip report!

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/beauty-the-beards-reunited-sponsored-by-smoked-turkeys.940357/

And on to right now... we’re going to DISNEY WORLD! TOMORROW!!!! :eek: :D

So today Russ and I have headed to the airport to stay overnight at an airport hotel before we fly tomorrow. I woke up at 6am today when we didn’t need to leave until the afternoon! I’m just too excited!

On our way! Waiting for the train to London.

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Making our way across the city!

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Bye London!

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And hello airport hotel!

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We’re currently watching the planes take off (runway view from the hotel!) with drinks in hand. That will be us tomorrow!

We’re on our way Jerome and Alisa!!
 

Ariel1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So we’re at Disney Springs for our final morning. Grabbed some Starbucks and awaited Jock Lindsey’s to open for a round of drinks! They even opened the boat for us when we asked. It felt like an opening ceremony! :cool:

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Russ still hasn’t recovered from the steak yesterday... :joyfull:

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Ariel1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Today is too sad a day :cry: Alisa & Jerome have now left Disney! :cry: But I will continue to report...

After Polite Pig we shuffled ourselves back to Jerome & Alisa’s car to drive to AK for our final FP’s together. Look at this awesome car’s Toy Story decoration we saw on the way! :D

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It was SO HOT today!! And in AK oh my god. I’ve never felt this hot in Disney! I think we spent about an hour wondering around dissoriantated before deciding we needed to find a ride before our FP for shade and sanity. I think we all thought we hallucinated this chameleon on one of the bridges too, but no, it was real and awesome!

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Kali sounded like bliss right then but it was at 85 mins and the only thing with a short wait (still 15 mins!) and possible air conditioning was It’s Tough To Be A Bug! We all hadn’t done this for about 5 years so it was kind of fun to do again. It was packed! And there seemed to be a lot of people who had never done it- and many screaming children! But it was a fun way to pass the time until our FoP FP was ready. Hello Tree Of Life!

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So now it was time for Pandora & FoP!

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I think we walked the slowest walk ever to Pandora and basically crawled into the FP line! But- air conditioning! Those grey Pandora tunnels before the ride today were BLISS! We ended up on the second level for the first time for all of us- I feel it made the sitting position different which affected the ride experience- but it was still a great ride.

Once we were out we grabbed some waters and cheeseburger pods at Sautulli Canteen before making the long, slow, sad walk to Jerome & Alisa’s car. This was the saddest journey ever as they dropped Russ and I back to Caribbean Beach!

It was time to say goodbye... :cry: They had to go home as Jerome is off on tour for work tomorrow so they couldn’t stay any longer. So it’s a double sad time for Alisa! And super bittersweet for me and Russ. We still have a few more days but not without our best buds! :cry:

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And with that, the Beauty & The Beards trip has concluded. This was such a fun trip. I feel like I barely reported anything on this trip report- we were having too much fun the whole time to keep updating properly. There were so many laughs & jokes and stories that happened, but I know we’ll all remember them and that’s all that matters. Maybe we’ll still do a full on report later.

I will update the last few days with Russ and I still. But we miss our friends!
This was us outside their room this evening...
We were ready to evict any new tenants! It’s Alisa & Jerome’s room!

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Ariel1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So after yesterday’s goodbyes, Russ and I spent some time by the quiet pool and got some laundry done. I think we spent nearly two hours swimming & sunbathing whilst the laundry got done! Then we headed to Disney Springs for the evening to get our Homecoming visit in for the trip!

We started off shopping & grabbing some margaritas first. Love this piece! It’s got everything in it that I love! Even Interstate 4! :joyfull:

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Pretty, pretty :inlove:

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And on to Homecoming!

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As always the food was DELICIOUS! We’ve never had a bad meal here. And there’s always space at the bar where you can order the full menu. Always a great atmosphere and people enjoying food!

Devilled Eggs... :hungry:

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Russ had a Memphis Belle which was sooo good- mango habanero! I had one after as my Florida Crush was pretty sweet and not as tasty.

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We also had a moonshine flight! Pineapple, Blackberry & Peach. All were delicious- and hit hard! ;) But also delicious- the spicy pickle juice! We didn’t think we’d like it but it was the perfect palette cleanser.

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Russ had the meatloaf & I had the short ribs. Again, all delicious!

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We were too full for dessert but we grabbed a Shine Cake and Pecan Pie to go. They’re still in our fridge!

We looked around some more stores after this. We got to Disney Style and I missed my twin! I felt sad looking at the iridescent ears :( I made a little video and sent to Alisa. I’m sure we’ll be back again together one day!

I liked this top. There’s too much stuff in Disney I want!

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After this rain & winds were picking up so we walked over to the Speedyway gas station to get some cheap snacks and beers for the room and got a Lyft back to Caribbean before the rain started up.

It was a really nice evening, just bittersweet. Looking forward to some more sunshine and Disney today though.
 

dclfan

Well-Known Member
I think somewhere we have photos of us on the popsicle bench?!? Where are they? We must find them and prove our instagram worthiness. Russ is soooooo last week
 

Ariel1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I feel so behind already with this report! I think I’ll update the last few days when I’m home. Make it last a little longer! Because this was on the door this morning :cry:

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But we’ve had a really nice couple of days... and still have this evening and tomorrow. Magical Express isn’t until 4pm. And... maybe... maybe one of the other BATB crew might be making a re-appearance! :D *cough* @dclfan *cough*
 

dclfan

Well-Known Member
I feel like you HAVE to share some iridescent ear treats with @dclfan brfore you leave!!

Haha funny you said that as I had JUST text @Ariel1986 and said the only way she would be forgiven for going to Tamboooo without me would be if she bought me iridescent champagne tomorrow hahaha. But to be fair she did buy me the iridescent ears already. #besttwin
 

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