Trip Report COMPLETED! Our First Family Trip...Oh, and My Disney Wedding! A PeoplemoverTTA Trip Report.

Okay, we’ve been back for two weeks now, so I guess it’s time to get started on my TR. I’ve been feeling the post-wedding blues, so this might be some good therapy

For a rundown on the trip and my Disney wedding, here’s my wedding planning thread. There are lots of details over there! Also, Todd and I went to WDW for a long weekend to celebrate our 1-year dating anniversary. If you’re bored and love TRs, you might enjoy it

But here’s a really quick rundown anyway:

Who
Me - 33 y/o VP of a marketing firm (I just merged my social media marketing company with a full service firm, effective August 1 - lots going on this summer!)
DH - 40 y/o healthcare employee
DS - 10 y/o stepson who has never been to WDW before (or anywhere, really)

When
Friday, July 11 through Monday, July 21

Where
Disney’s Boardwalk Villas (we rented points through DVC Rental Store)

The Wedding
Oh yeah, so the wedding was on Tuesday, July 15 at the Walt Disney World Swan. Right smack dab in the middle of our trip (it was designed that way, so we could enjoy a family trip with my new stepson, enjoy the wedding festivities, then have a short honeymoon - it worked out perfectly!).

So, our trip kicked off on Friday, July 11. Our Southwest flight from BUF to MCO left at 6am, so that meant a bright and early, 2:30am wakeup. My brother in law took us to the airport, and we checked in at about 4am. Ugh.

Still, my boys were feeling pretty chipper - we were heading to WDW!

Moving walkways are an adventure:

Checking out the plane outside:

Brandon was nervous about flying for the first time, but he did very well, and was cool as a cucumber as soon as we were comfortably high in the air:

Just in case we had long lines for DME, I scheduled a town car pickup with Tiffany Towncar. We had used them back in 2004 (before DME) and had a great experience, and we weren’t disappointed this time either. Our driver, Abdul, was a really friendly guy and was waiting for us at baggage claim as we came down the escalator. We quickly gathered our luggage and hopped into our Lincoln. Todd is a car guy, so he was excited to ride in one

Even loading luggage is fun - we’re in Orlando!

Todd wanted to ride shotgun and explore the Lincoln, and he was snapping pictures the whole way.

He was so excited to get this shot (isn’t everybody?):

 

[mouse_luv]

following along, love your trip report so far!

 

[SharonD]

Brandon really seems to be loosening up as the day went on. Taking your family trip before the actual wedding was such a nice way to do it.

 

[Jae99]

Those are going to be some great family memories. Especially loved the big hug you got in the Lego Store. Brandon must be one happy kid.

 

[MerMom1981]

Yay! So excited to read this report! Congratulations!
I love your line "we are the perfect family for each other" So sweet!

My 4yo son is crazy for Star Wars, loves Legos & Phinneus & Ferb, so I'm really loving your day at DHS!

 

[mrdrift]

Great report, the pictures are really cute even without big smiles. My son is the same way when it comes to pictures so I understand. Following along

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Loving your report...Brandon sure is a lucky kid! We were there the same time you were!

 

[minnie2000]

Great report, and I'm looking forward to the wedding photos!

We were there the same time as you!

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Following along, enjoying the report so far. Looks like Brandon is loving his first time trip to WDW!

Thanks for following along! I hope it doesn't take me too long to update - I'll try my best Brandon really did have a good time - we're actually breaking up when we look at our pictures from the trip to stretch out the happy memories for him. It's tough because he spends most of his time at his mom's, so we try to make every day he's with us as special as possible.

YAY! So excited for wedding day!!

Almost there!

LOVING the many faces of Brandon!! Especially the ones at Star Tours and the funny faces. See, he really was having fun, lol!
The non smiling face is the typical "I'm too cool for pics, Mom" face. We get that all the time!

Lol, that makes me feel better - I'm a little nervous for our official wedding pictures, but he constantly says how much he enjoyed the wedding (I think that he is genuinely excited that Todd and I are married), so I think he has some genuine smiles from that day

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

I've really enjoyed the report so far! I hope you had a great trip!

Thanks! We had an amazing trip

following along, love your trip report so far!

Thanks for following along - I hope the rest of our trip is fun to follow too!

Brandon really seems to be loosening up as the day went on. Taking your family trip before the actual wedding was such a nice way to do it.

Thanks - we hoped it would work out well to have some time for the three of us before the wedding. It really did turn out perfectly

Those are going to be some great family memories. Especially loved the big hug you got in the Lego Store. Brandon must be one happy kid.

He's not a big hugger, and he did that a few times this trip - just ran up and hugged me. It totally melted my heart

Yay! So excited to read this report! Congratulations!
I love your line "we are the perfect family for each other" So sweet!

My 4yo son is crazy for Star Wars, loves Legos & Phinneus & Ferb, so I'm really loving your day at DHS!

Thanks We had a blast at DHS - it was not my typical day there at all (hitting way more rides, plus ToT and RnRC and GMR, but it was super fun to do things we all enjoyed together.

Great report, the pictures are really cute even without big smiles. My son is the same way when it comes to pictures so I understand. Following along

Thanks! I noticed the smiling thing before, but just assumed WDW would bring out all big grins. I learned the hard way, lol.

Loving your report...Brandon sure is a lucky kid! We were there the same time you were!

Thanks! I really wish there was a way to know who's in WDW at the same time - it would have been cool to say Hello!

Great report, and I'm looking forward to the wedding photos!

We were there the same time as you!

Thank you See - we should have all known so we could say Hi and have a Dole Whip, lol!

 

[prfctlyximprct]

Congrats!! Loving your report so far

 

[LisaBelle]

Loving your report! Can't wait for the wedding!

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Congrats!! Loving your report so far

Thank you!

Loving your report! Can't wait for the wedding!

Thanks, me too! I am looking forward to "reliving" it through this thread.

I'm sorry that I've slowed down so much - work is crazy, and we have our wedding picnic tomorrow (a low key party for our family and friends who couldn't make it to Florida). I promise to get one or two more days done next week!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

YAY!!!! You started your TR!! How awesome!!!

I'm assuming all went ok with renting points for BWV? I think I told you before, but we rented at BWV in February and LOVED it!! Such a great resort and an even better location!

Can't wait to read about the wedding!!!

 

[Maggie Mae]

Loving the report! How fun, Congrats on your nuptials and being a new step mom!

 

[LisaBelle]

I forgot to add that we were there at the same time, July 13-21. We were celebrating our 25th anniversary, which happens to be July 15! We honeymooned at WDW and wanted to be there for our 25th.

 

[acrab3t]

I am loving your TR! We had our first family trip at DW with our blended family. My DH is my DS's stepdad. My DS was 10 at the time also. Wonderful family memories and good bonding time. Your DS is so adorable, looks like he had a wonderful time. I can't wait for the rest of your TR, especially the wedding part! Congrats!!!

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Day 3 - Sunday, July 13

Woo hoo - it’s Epcot day! I was excited for this day for a few reasons: 1) Most of the rest of our families were coming (except for my cousin plus my friend and his guest on Monday) and 2) We were eating at Via Napoli. I’m kind of obsessed with Via Napoli. I can’t help myself!

We walked to the International Gateway and again had a fascinating journey. There are some MASSIVE spider webs in the trees along the Boardwalk, and Brandon noticed them all, lol. We were fascinated, and the walk took a little bit, but we had a nice, easy stroll to start the day again. I seriously love walking to two parks. LOVE it!

I don’t quite remember our order of operation here on Sunday (man, I’m getting old), but I’ll wing it as best as I can. Apparently I didn’t take a ton of pictures in the morning!

I know that we used our E-Ticket FP+ for Test Track (of course), so we waited Standby for Soarin. The line said 40 minutes, I believe, and knowing that Brandon had patience issues in the past (although he was great so far in the trip), Todd and I explained that this would be our longest line of the trip, but that we would chat and make it fun, and that he’d enjoy the ride. He was surprisingly chill about it!

And lo and behold, we only ended up waiting about 20 minutes - go figure!

This was Todd’s first time on Soarin too, and both boys loved it. I did too, as usual I love that everyone can ride Soarin together. My dad has back and neck problems but can ride, and my grandma was in an ECV and could barely walk, but she could also ride through her last WDW trip. This is such a winner, although I wish they’d clean up or digitize the film and treat it a bit better.

My first pictures of the day are over at Imagination, so I guess we went there next. No, I’m positive we did (where’s my ginko?!). Todd’s favorite ride memories as a child are of Journey Into Imagination and while he didn’t love the new ride (hello - who does?!) when we rode on our anniversary trip last year, he wants his dose of Figment, and it was important to both of us that Brandon finally understand why we love Figment so much, so on we went.

Our first Epcot pic (finally - I get to the pictures!!):

Someone offered to take our picture (the Lego bag contains our ponchos, although it wouldn’t rain…this day!):

For some reason when we stand at certain angles, I look like a giant compared to Todd. He’s actually like a half inch taller than me. Seriously, don’t I look like an amazon?! What the heck?!

Oh, we spent a few minutes playing around in the horrible shell of a post-show at Imagination too. I didn’t tell them what used to be…I just let them enjoy what little remains, and at least they had fun:

Now we get to something Brandon was extremely excited about - Captain EO. Yes, a 10-year old in 2014 loves Michael Jackson! Todd’s ex-wife is a big fan, I guess, and it was passed on to Brandon. He knows the words to literally every MJ song, and he was so pumped to see Captain EO. Todd and I got him a pin last May and he brought it to WDW, but forgot to wear it. Anyway, he was so excited!

Going for the “I’m cool” look, lol:

I sat in the middle between Todd and Brandon, and it was so adorable - at the end of the show, I could hear Brandon singing along That song from the close is on one of MJ’s greatest hits albums that Brandon listens to constantly. So cute!

Okay, if you were a child of the 80s, or if you’re just awesome, you have spent time in the next stop on our journey: The “jumping” water. We spent literally 20 minutes here! I remember doing the exact same thing on my first trip in 1986, and it was awesome doing it again. Brandon was fascinated.

Side note: I framed this shot really well, if I do say so myself! Brandon looks funny peeking in on the left, too:

Todd was trying to help Brandon line up just right to “catch” the water, and he kept missing it…poor kid wasn’t timing it right. Then…

Boo yah! Yeah kid, you get what you asked for, lol. He was soaked! And he wanted more, lol.

I decided to get it on the action:

And literally 1.2 seconds after this picture was taken…I got clocked in the face when he reached for the water. Saw stars and everything, lol. Brandon was really into catching that water! It was a total accident and poor Brandon felt awful, so I played it down, but omg my head was pounding the rest of the day, lol.

We had some great timing, because a Photopass photographer came around and captured this shot. I LOVE Brandon in this one - the kid is soaked!

I’m laughing again just looking at it, lol.

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

As I mentioned before, my husband is obsessed with trying to pet wild animals (the duck thing seriously went on the entire time)… he is also obsessed with palm trees. He is so cute <3

I mean the man has the biggest grin simply because he is posing with a palm tree. I love him

Next, it was time to amble over to the Living Seas and find Nemo. I think this is such a cute attraction, and the queue is one of my favorites, but can I share a minor pet peeve?

After nearly dying and never seeing his father again, why would that little smart aleck fish wander off again? And mock us mercilessly as we try to find him? Punk! I’m just sayin…

The three of us said “Mine” repeatedly for the entire length of the queue…I’m sure the other guests didn’t mind…

Okay, we’ve finished one side of Future World, now it was time for our Test Track Fastpass - I knew both boys were excited for this one!

Looking all casual by the fountain:

Brandon’s looking a bit stoic in this one, but he really is excited for TT!

He loved designing his own car…although I’m not sure how he knew what he was doing, since he kept his sunglasses on!

The finished vehicle:

We had an awesome time on Test Track - both Todd and Brandon were blown away (Todd and I didn’t ride last May so we could experience it with Brandon).

He he:

We spent awhile in the post show here too. Brandon made a commercial with his car, raced against other cars, we posed for pictures with various cars, and Todd got to sit in a Camaro

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Okay guys, lunch time. I had thought about eating in the Land, or somewhere in World Showcase, but we were in Future World and I knew that Todd probably wouldn’t like much in the Land (he’s a burgers, chicken fingers or pizza kind of guy…and I love him, lol).

So, we went somewhere that has very nostalgic memories for me. It was my favorite Epcot restaurant as a kid - the Electric Umbrella:

Quick Electric Umbrella story: In 2001, we had a WDW family trip with my mom, dad, brother, sister and I planned for Christmas - December 21 through the 27. After 9/11, we decided we needed that trip more than ever, so we didn’t cancel (The shoe bomber thing actually happened while we were there…such a rough time). Well apparently the rest of the world did! I remember it was December 23, 2001, and we were at Epcot. It was 12pm, and we ate in the Electric Umbrella for lunch….we were the only people in there. The only people. Two days before Christmas, in the middle of lunch rush. It was surreal. That trip was so odd. We practically had the parks to ourselves the entire time.

Anyway, so part of what made the Electric Umbrella so cool to me as a kid was eating upstairs (that and Columbia Harbour House were my favorites as a kid…I’m guessing because of the whole upstairs thing - maybe it’s because my house was only one floor? Lol, it’s kind of odd!).

Since you know how healthy I’ve been eating so far on this trip, it should come as no surprise that I ordered…a hamburger topped with macaroni and cheese. Yes, you heard that right:

And it was delicious. Seriously. Delicious. I know that a lot of people don’t care for the Electric Umbrella anymore, but this burger was awesome!

And because when you’re on the dining plan you eat dessert, whether you feel slightly ill or not, because you freaking paid for it, I had strawberry cheesecake. And it wasn’t half bad!

Todd ate his a little bit strangely…

It kind of came out as one big piece. Not exactly fresh baked, lol, but it seriously was pretty good for a counter service dessert.

We had one more ride in Future World before heading back to the hotel for a break, and that was my second favorite ride in all of WDW (after the Peoplemover, of course...which was down for refurbishment ), Spaceship Earth.

We didn’t do a family picture yet in front of SSE, which is odd, but that is one of the challenges of coming in through the International Gateway! Todd did want to take one of us from the side of SSE…but, um, he tried to fit all of SSE in with us. Do you see a problem here?

Do you see us here?

It’s like Where’s Waldo, lol!

So check this out, on SSE, the lady in front of us apparently couldn’t time her photo well, because she threw her arms up like an idiot when they were taking our picture, literally the moment the flash went off for us…and she blocked half of Brandon’s head. Poor kid. He was so upset when the video came on:

It was cute, because Brandon wanted to ride with me I was touched. I felt so badly about his picture, though.

We spent a little time in the SSE preshow too. Brandon did a nice job!

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

On the way back to the International Gateway, we stopped in a very special place for our family. Remember the one thing I said Todd loved the most, outside of Brandon and I?

My man loves his Coca-Cola!

Club Cool selfie:

Brandon and I had fun exploring:

Todd bought a really cool shirt with the 80s Coke logo on it (he’s worn in like 5 times already - it's a really cool shirt!). And of course, we drank lots and lots of pop (soda, to 80% of the US, lol)

I did not make Brandon try Beverly, lol. I had already gotten Todd last May, but I wouldn’t do it to a kid They were all seriously yummy, though. My favorites were the pineapple (where’s that one from?) and the one from Japan. Shoot, what was it??

We also stopped at Mouse Gear on the way out so we could make a very important purchase. I’ll share that in a minute, but I also bought an Alex and Ani WDW bracelet. It would be my “something new” for the wedding

We found a few Photopass photographers on our way back to the International Gateway:

At least he’s not frowning, lol.

This one is cute in theory, but do you notice a problem here?

It’s cool that they did something special for the World Cup, which was still going on (that night was the final match, and I bought a pretzel and beer in Germany to celebrate the victory, lol). But it makes zero sense that they had us pose like we’re blocking a shot…but the shot is behind us.

I’m just sayin.

Still, it’s a cute photo!

We made our way back to the Boardwalk, and the boys hopped in the pool for a swim. I took a short nap, and headed down to hang out with them. Brandon still needs swimming lessons, but he was super proud that he was “swimming” in the deep end with his life jacket on. He was so excited to show me.

Oh, and that special Mouse Gear purchase we made? Here they are, waiting for Tuesday so we could wear them

And just to tide you over until the rest of this day’s recap, I have to share this extremely amusing Photopass picture I didn’t see until I got home. Did I tell you that all my family’s photos were automatically added to Memory Maker too? Anyone who added me as a “family or friend” in My Magic Plus automatically had their photos included, which was awesome! So after getting home, I stumbled across this one:

My sister and her family were at MK on Sunday (their plane got in at 8am), and this photo is freaking hysterical. Here’s why:

• My brother in law (Todd’s best friend), looks so extremely perturbed, or constipated, or something, lol.
• My sister is famous for always having her eyes closed in pictures (Todd does it too, lol). So in this case, guess what she did again?
• The only normal-looking one in the photo is my nephew, Charlie - isn’t he adorable?
• The lady giving them the odd look just finishes it off. What her beef is, I don’t know, but her expression is perfect for this goofy shot. I love it!

My family is weird, we love bad pictures of ourselves as much as we like good ones, lol. This will be a family treasure for years to come!