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?):

 

[prfctlyximprct]

Ah I'm hysterically laughing at that woman's face in the picture! She has some serious issue with your family taking a photopass picture! It looks like someone just passed gas or something and she is catching a whiff. LOL

 

[FlaggNL]

Great report! Following along!! And thanks for the share!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Once on SSE, I thought I'd be cool and wear my sunglasses for the picture. It came out as two big white spots where my eyes should have been...I looked like an alien! So I ruined it for myself, but it's much more disappointing when someone else ruins it for you!

 

[mrdrift]

Great day at Epcot. Glad to see that everyone is having a wonderful time. The pictures are great. Love the family picture of your sister, nephew and brother in law. What is with that lady? What is on the back of your sister shirt that made her look like that? Enjoying the report.

 

[SharonD]

Enjoyed the updates, looking forward to more

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Ah I'm hysterically laughing at that woman's face in the picture! She has some serious issue with your family taking a photopass picture! It looks like someone just passed gas or something and she is catching a whiff. LOL

Right?! It is such an odd yet amusing picture! Glad you enjoyed it too

Great report! Following along!! And thanks for the share!

Thanks! I feel like there's so much trip left, lol. Day 3 is almost done, but then there's like 7.5 more days! This is gonna take awhile...

Once on SSE, I thought I'd be cool and wear my sunglasses for the picture. It came out as two big white spots where my eyes should have been...I looked like an alien! So I ruined it for myself, but it's much more disappointing when someone else ruins it for you!

That must've looked so weird, lol! A few times I rode SSE solo, it made me the dude in the cartoon. I was somewhat offended by this, and thought it was because of the side I sat on, so I moved. Still the guy. What the heck?! Technology is imperfect, lol.

Loving this!!!

Thanks

Great day at Epcot. Glad to see that everyone is having a wonderful time. The pictures are great. Love the family picture of your sister, nephew and brother in law. What is with that lady? What is on the back of your sister shirt that made her look like that? Enjoying the report.

There isn't anything on the back of the shirt, lol. Idk what she could possibly be looking at...it is a mystery we shall wonder about for eons!

The rest of her shirt says, "Trust me, I'm a superhero." Maybe it's because she's a girl wearing a super hero shirt? In which case, that lady is so not cool, cause cool girls like superheroes (I'm just sayin!).

Enjoyed the updates, looking forward to more

Thanks! I'm working on the rest of Day 3 now

 

[BurleyGirl]

I'm enjoying your report!

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Day 3 - Finale

So, I left off with us heading back to the BW for some pool and relaxing time. After some nice R&R, it was time to head back to Epcot - Todd’s parents had arrived, and we were taking them to Via Napoli for dinner (mmmmm, Via Napoli….).

I insisted to Todd’s mom that we were paying, which was my mistake - I should have insisted after the meal! Todd’s mom and dad both split a pizza and didn’t order any wine or anything. I know they only did that because we were paying! Lesson learned on that one, lol.

I ordered the cantaloupe and prosciutto pizza - omg it was so delicious! Todd and I had pepperoni and sausage last May, but this was a completely different set of flavors. Amazing! So amazing that I forgot to take a picture, lol.

Todd and Brandon each ordered pepperoni pizzas, and Todd’s parents split a large one. Brandon is typically a light eater - he eats, but a lot of times he doesn’t finish his fries or whatever. He actually ate all but one slice of that pizza - more than me! I had been raving about it for months at home, and I thought maybe he was just saying it was the best pizza he ever had because he knew how much I liked it…the sheer amount of pizza he ate was enough to convince me he really liked it, lol!

So, my other favorite thing at Via Napoli is the tiramisu martini. Omg, tiramisu martini! I am a sucker for dessert-y drinks (I am such a girl, lol). I had two last May (which crushed me - I am such a lightweight) and was going to get them again, but then I spotted the cannoli martini…dare I venture from my favorite?! Should I get one of each?!

I decided to start off with the cannoli martini - here it is in all its glory:

I ate the chocolate and practically licked the bottom of the glass, lol. I have no shame! And instead of going with my favorite, the tiramisu martini, for my second, I amazingly had a second cannoli martini instead. It was that good. So for next time, I apparently need to build my drink tolerance if I’m going to be able to have everything I want!

I did remember to take a picture of dessert - pistachio gelato. It was good, but I would have rather hand another martini!

Todd’s parents were tired after dinner, so they headed back to unwind at the Boardwalk. We, on the other hand, had a mission. A top secret mission from Major Monogram and Carl! I love Phineas and Ferb, as you may have noticed on DHS day, so I was super pumped to finally give the Agent P Adventure a try.

It is SO much fun!

We didn’t know where the nearest station to pick up our Kimmunicator (I never did that one either, but what are they called now? Anyway, they had just gotten the new phones the week prior, which was cool, although the graphics weren’t upgraded to HD so they looked a little fuzzy on nicer phones). So, we walked all the way across World Showcase…to Norway, I think? From Italy, lol. And we chose a mission in France, so we had to go alllll the way back across (I had nearly 26,000 steps this day!). Why did we do our mission in France? Because I read online about a cool idea for my wedding day, and I had to make it to France before 9.

Basically, it suggests buying a brand new perfume in France or Norway, then wearing it for the first time on your wedding day. Then, every time you wear it you’ll be reminded of your special day.

Awwwwww!

The CM in France was so excited when I explained what I was doing. She helped me find the perfect scent - Miss Dior, by Christian Dior (I have literally had Rainbow High from Evita in my head for the past month since we got back…if you’re a geek like me, you will get that reference. Lauren Bacall passing away this week did the same thing!).

Okay one second, I’m literally taking a break to look it up and sing along on YouTube right now I saw that movie in high school and listened to the CDs repeatedly, lol.

And I’m back - sorry about that!

So Agent P is awesome. Todd isn’t into P&F like Brandon and I, so he just followed us and took pictures. It seriously was an adventure!

Now he won't get a fedora, but Todd says this hat is okay? He looks like my uncle. I don't know if that's bad or not, but how is that any better than a fedora?! I like how he looks in any hat, lol, but still:

We are so pumped!

Oh, so I have an embarrassing admission here, guys. See that tank top I’m wearing? I saw it on my last trip and they didn’t have my size - I was so disappointed, because I loved the WDW logo and the way Mickey was drawn. When they still had the shirt and my size at the Emporium on Friday, I had to buy it. But here’s the thing….you can totally see my bra straps in the back. Yes, I am admitting this on the Internet to many strangers. Such is life. I noticed when I put it on at the hotel before heading to dinner, and I didn’t care, lol. I love that tank top, it was hot, and the shirt is comfortable. People look a lot worse than me, lol.

However I will say that no bra in the world would work with that shirt, so what the heck are people supposed to do?! I’m just sayin. So when you see some purple sticking out in a few shots, don’t judge me. Or judge me, and don’t say it out loud (please)

It really did feel like we were special agents - and the interactivity was seriously well done:

Purple:

They told us to look up and wave, so there you have it:

I’m missing something, because Todd wasn’t in that last shot of them taking our picture, yet here he is…maybe he’s the special agent?! It was a little blurry, but considering how far away that camera was, we were impressed!

We went all over France for each step of the mission. Oh, Doofenshmirtz was trying to make an “Accent-inator” I think it was, to get rid of everyone’s accents, because some French chick he asked out couldn’t understand his accent. P&F happen to be on vacation in France with Perry, so we’re helping him out. Oh, and we were Agent B (for Brandon, of course). Forgot to give you guys the storyline!

The bookshelf thing was cool - I look very into it, lol:

In the end, Perry is freed (thanks to us!) and flies across the French skyline after stopping Doofenshmirtz - can you see him? I was honestly so excited at this point - he really flies by!

Major purple here, though…major purple:

It was getting pretty late by this point, but we made our way back around World Showcase (we did so many loops around WS!) and rode Maelstrom plus El Rio Del Tiempo (or whatever it’s called now). Did it sprinkle or something, because I didn’t take pictures of either of these rides? Ah well.

Oh wait, I found this one from Mexico

Then, we had to make a short stop in Future World to show him one of Todd’s and my favorite effects from childhood (plus it’s more recent addition):

Looks kind of trippy, lol:

The walk back to International Gateway and BW was a long one that night - like I said, almost 26k steps! Now that’s a lot for anyone, but poor Brandon, he got a little punchy walking back to the hotel, so I let him know that, oh yeah, we were all tired, but we had fun, right? Even in his tired grumpiness (and mine…and Todd’s, lol), we all couldn’t help but agree

Coming up, Day 4 - Wild Africa Trek, and our Wedding Welcome Dinner (everyone’s HERE!).

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

I'm enjoying your report!

Thanks! It's been so fun to relive it all. Todd scrolled through last night himself...the whole concept of a TR is new to him, and he likes reliving it too

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

What timing - I just got the mail, and our wedding photos are here You'll have some official shots in this TR, after all!

 

[Zipadeelady]

Great report! I can't wait for more!

 

[DisSplash]

Just read your whole trip report in one sitting! I love your commentary and your photos. It looks like you all had the best time. And yes, that is a 10-year-old photo face -- although his zombie photos really cracked me up. What a ham he can be when he wants to be!

From one purple bra-wearer to another, no judging or hating here. I am one solid fist pump of understanding. Been there! In purple, in black, in whatever color. It just happens sometimes. And definitely not on purpose!

I adored your perfume idea ... I think I may do that next time we go to WDW just for kicks.
Can't wait to see your wedding photos!

 

[FlaggNL]

Thanks! I feel like there's so much trip left, lol. Day 3 is almost done, but then there's like 7.5 more days! This is gonna take awhile...

Take you time That's the great thing about TR's.... when writing one most feelings and things come back real clear in your memory and you re-life the the trip... On the other hand it can be sad to write a TR, it means you are back from the magical world into the normal and usual world at home... But then again writing an TR wants to go back and well you already can plan a new trip

 

[mrdrift]

Great finish to Epcot. Thanks for sharing the pictures, they turned out nice. Glad to see that my family isn't the only ones that enjoy the P&F adventure. That Martini looks really delicious, I am going to have to try that next trip. Can't wait to read more from this trip.

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Great report! I can't wait for more!

Thanks!

Just read your whole trip report in one sitting! I love your commentary and your photos. It looks like you all had the best time. And yes, that is a 10-year-old photo face -- although his zombie photos really cracked me up. What a ham he can be when he wants to be!

From one purple bra-wearer to another, no judging or hating here. I am one solid fist pump of understanding. Been there! In purple, in black, in whatever color. It just happens sometimes. And definitely not on purpose!

I adored your perfume idea ... I think I may do that next time we go to WDW just for kicks.
Can't wait to see your wedding photos!

Solidarity Thank you for understanding, lol. I really wanted to wear that tank top and I just didn't know a solution, so I figured "What the heck?"

Take you time That's the great thing about TR's.... when writing one most feelings and things come back real clear in your memory and you re-life the the trip... On the other hand it can be sad to write a TR, it means you are back from the magical world into the normal and usual world at home... But then again writing an TR wants to go back and well you already can plan a new trip

So true! We're thinking of doing a 3- or 4-day trip to Universal (which might be shocking, when we get to that day later!) next summer so Brandon can take in Marvel and HP, then doing a big trip to Disneyland in 2016. We kind of haven't decided yet. But what we do know is that we have awesome family trips Of course, nothing can compare to a wedding trip, but we have set the bar high...

Of course, Brandon knows that this was a once-in-a-lifetime trip for our wedding, and we won't be staying at $500 a night hotels or doing $250 tours every trip, lol.

Great finish to Epcot. Thanks for sharing the pictures, they turned out nice. Glad to see that my family isn't the only ones that enjoy the P&F adventure. That Martini looks really delicious, I am going to have to try that next trip. Can't wait to read more from this trip.

I don't drink much, but I love to try new things while I'm on vacation - especially dessert-y drinks. I highly recommend just about every one in WDW, lol!

I wanted to do P&F again on our honeymoon, but we ran out of time, unfortunately. It really is fun!

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Day 4 - Animal Kingdom (and our Wedding Welcome Dinner!)

Okay guys, here’s where the days start getting looooong and we get way more pictures, lol. I hope I don’t bore you!

This morning was a very exciting one, because I had added a very special experience to our trip about a month prior. Brandon loves animals. When we have a bunny or stray cat in the backyard, he is enthralled (or a scary spider web, lol). So I booked us on the Wild Africa Trek as a special treat. I knew that words couldn’t describe it for him, but I tried before we left…I knew he was excited

On the way to the park entrance, Brandon noticed another huge spider web. You can barely make it out in the picture (he wanted me to take pictures of everything, lol):

To make sure we arrived on time, we took a cab to Animal Kingdom. Mears is very efficient with their cabs, and we arrived a few minutes earlier than necessary.

A ton of people did, actually. Do you remember at the end of June (approximately) when WDW changed EMH times? Apparently a bunch of people never checked the calendar or expected the change, because there were hundreds of people there at 8am, and the park didn’t open for another hour. CMs were getting roughed up by angry guests pretty badly, and I really felt for them - it wasn’t their fault!

Anyway, we found our check-in person for Wild Africa Trek, and after waiting for one more family, we made our way toward the starting area (right next to KS).

They’re tired, but excited

For some reason whenever I think about or discuss the Tree of Life, I have the jingle for the Game of Life (from the 80s or 90s) in my head. “You can be a winner at the Tree of Life!”

You’re welcome for that tiny snapshot of Life in Diana’s Head.

Oh, and an official Photopass pic (with a small smile from Brandon - woo hoo!):

Luckily we had some time to make our way to the checkpoint, because Brandon was seriously enthralled with all the animals

Now here’s the thing about Wild Africa Trek - it’s kind of expensive, like $200-250 I think. But, you get a water bottle (spiffy), and most importantly, your guides have a spiffy camera that they’re using the entire time to take pictures of you and your family, plus all the animals! When you get home, it’s very easy to download all of those pictures, plus some standard ones that they add as well. All the photos here are photos from our actual tour - the animals, as we saw them, but by a way better photographer!

You’re allowed to bring a camera if it’s on a strap and mine had a wrist strap, but honestly I knew that they’d take better pictures, and I didn’t want to risk losing it!

So, starting off, they give you you’re gear. Stuff so you can be tethered (is that the right phrase? ah well), a granny chain so you don’t lose your glasses (OMG, life is so much easier with them, we wore them the rest of the trip - we didn’t care how we looked! Of course, I forgot to tell you guys that I have a chronic condition - Lose Your Glasses-itis…I already lost a pair in Star Tours on Saturday.)

Next, you have to step on a scale to be sure you’re under 300 lbs and over I think 75, and we all made it.

Then, you have access to bug spray and sunscreen to make sure you’re not eaten alive on the savannah (Surprise, I have a story there as well, lol).

The guides joke about it, but the gear really, ahem, rides up. In fact, this is the first family pic they took of my gang. I find it hysterical, actually….some may be offended.

Poor Brandon, lol. You can tell it’s not very comfy for the rest of us, either! It’s worth the “suffering,” though

Group picture - here is our lovely gang of tourists.

From left to right: Lady who asked a million questions and her daughter, us, Guy Who Thought He Was Funny and his sons (aka Lynette’s boys from Desperate Housewives), and Family That Did Not Speak.

I have nicknames for everyone

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Then they had us pose with one of our guides, Stephanie, as if we were animals attacking her, lol:

So a quick note about our guides - They gave us all headpieces and radios so that we could all hear what our guides were saying at all times. This was great! We didn’t miss anything, and there was a lot to hear.

Stephanie and Davis were our guides, and they were fantastic! There’s no script here, or if there is, you certainly can’t tell. These two know their stuff about not just animals at AK, but all animals, and their passion for animals and conservation comes through. Their banter is also cute and makes the tour that much more fun. They were really awesome and were a big part of why the tour was so awesome!

First, we walked through some bird-y areas, and there were some really cool anecdotes that I didn’t retain. Enjoy my “senior” recollections, lol.

I love animals, and there are so many gorgeous, graceful ones here!

Awwwwww:

There was an interesting anecdote about these yellow birds, and how the older guys are dominant, letting new guys set up only on the outskirts of “town.” They have to earn the right to build a nest in the main area. Hey, I remembered something!

Great shot!

Not sure A) if this is out of order or B) what this is, but it’s cool anyway:

The hippos were awesome! These guys are father and son, and you can see that the son is literally taking a snooze on his dad’s butt, lol. I guess that males typically don’t get along, but these guys may be different because they’re father and son.

There is a special guide near the hippos who bangs a bucket of food to encourage them to come over, but they were way too comfy in their snooze, so they ignored us, lol. The son did perk up and turn for a second, but after serious consideration, decided his spot was comfier than fish was tasty!

Also, this is one part where we were hooked up to a pole so that we didn’t get too close to the edge. It’s really easy to tell when your harness (that’s it - harness! I’m such a dork) is reaching its limit (you feel a slight tug), so you’re always in a safe area.

Nice shot of Todd and Brandon. Don’t worry, that’s a fake skull!

We look very enthralled:

Tick tock:

In addition to the hippos, one really cool part of this tour is walking on rope bridges above a bunch of crocodiles. Seriously. Now Todd has a major fear of heights, so I worried about him here. Brandon would be fine, and he was. The thing about the rope bridges is that there are missing planks you have to walk over, but there are nets all around you. Plus you’re on a harness - you’re totally safe!

Still, when you’re walking on these things, there is a certain feeling in the pit of your stomach!

There are a series of two bridges to get to our next stop, and we were the last group. We had to “sandwich” Brandon, so I went first, then Brandon, then Todd.

Indiana Brandon, lol:

Cool as a cucumber:

He didn’t freak out at all!

A smile!:

Todd looks scared, lol:

I can feel him carefully stepping and counting in his head to be sure he doesn’t step on a hole, lol:

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

He looks so cute:

“Could you wait until I am to safety for the picture, please?” He looks so nervous!

I actually wasn’t nervous here, but I wanted to “take in” the fact that I was walking directly above crocodiles, lol. They were on both sides, about 8 or 10 total. So crazy!:

I like this shot:

I think he may have been a little nervous at this point:

Nah, he’s fine

“Oh shoot!”

*Teeth clenching*

That is one big crocodile:

Slightly disturbing! This was while our guide filled us in on crocodiles (on harnesses for sure this time!)

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-...9QkAYZs/w341-h513-no/Wild+Africa+Trek+094.jpg

Cool dude:

Once again, the angle makes me look like a giant!

Fascinating:

We filled up our water bottles and made our way to the next part of our tour - the safari!

 

[MotherofaPrincessLover]

Loving this trip report!

 

[DisSplash]

^^ Me too! That safari trek looks like so much fun, even if it is a tad pricey.