Just Engaged: An August 2010 Trip Report!

As the title suggests, this was an especially exciting trip for us and I can’t wait to share all of the fun details. Seeing as how I am lucky enough to write one of these every few months or so, I’m going to forego the normal introductions. Instead, why don’t I share five non-Disney things you might not already know about the two of us? Let’s see... non-Disney stuff?! This might be hard!

1 – We love live music! Seriously, aside from Disney, this is what we spend money on. Some of our favorite artists we’ve seen live include David Gray, Ben Folds, Brandi Carlile, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, KT Tunstall, She & Him, Jack Johnson, A Fine Frenzy, Counting Crows, Nickel Creek, and Jimmy Buffett to name a few.

2 – We name inanimate objects and refer to them as such... this is especially true for electronics, and oddly enough they really do take on personalities. No,seriously! For example, our laptops are Petunia (mine) and Frances (his); our Garmin’s are Neville and Navi; and my camera is more affectionately known as Ginger. Weird? Maybe just a little bit. :ROFLOL:

3 – As much as I hate to admit it, we are complete and utter TV junkies. We LOVE our TV. And if I had to pick the one show we are jointly most excited to see this fall season it would have to be Dexter. Bring on the creepy.

4 – We are totally one of those couples who met at a bar. It just so happened that we both worked there while in college. Ahhh... everyone loves a good cliché, right?! :lookaroun

5 – We have a standing tradition of buying one another a book to celebrate each holiday. And when I say holiday, I mean every holiday you can think of from St. Patrick’s Day to Christmas. Usually the only time we stray outside the lines is on birthdays. We’ve built quite an impressive collection so far ranging from popular fiction to non-fiction, children’s books to biographies and we throw in some Disney “coffee table” books and “Art of’s” for good measure every now and then. Amazon is our friend! As are the myriad of used book stores we come across in the different places we visit. We already have enough to fill our own library when we buy a house!

Of course, no introduction is complete without the requisite photo, but for the heck of it, let’s go “old school.” Here we are with the elusive Rescue Rangers in 2004:

Nov04040.jpg


We started planning this trip sometime after the Princess Half Marathon and eventually booked when the AP rates came out earlier in the summer. To be more precise, while I was in the midst of a quick weekend trip with my mom, Brett called and made the resort reservations, solidifying our stay at Caribbean Beach from August 13-August 17. And then, as per usual, we decided we would drive down after work on Thursday, so we booked a hotel through priceline for the night of the 12th.

Just the other day I realized that we haven’t repeated a resort since I began writing trip reports... so here’s a look back:
The Contemporary – September 2008
Old Key West – December 2008
Port Orleans Riverside – January 2009
Wilderness Lodge/Animal Kingdom Lodge – July 2009
The Beach Club – December 2009
Pop Century – March 2010
Coronado Springs – June 2010

We were both incredibly excited for this trip because we felt like it was our first truly “us” trip in a long while that spanned a decent amount of time and didn’t include some kind of endurance event to focus on. :eek: Okay, so I’m not gonna lie... I went into this trip “hoping” there’d be a little something special, but not really expecting it. There was one small detail that tipped me off ahead of time. I ALWAYS maintain the reservations and type up a minimal list of our dining plans/confirmation #s and before I could do it for this trip, Brett told me he typed it up at work one day when he had some free time. Hmmmm... interesting. I started wondering if he’d made some changes to the dining. And then I started thinking, why would he have any reason to mess with our dining?! I tried to dismiss this thought though, mostly because I didn’t want to be disappointed if it turned out he wasn’t planning on proposing. Thankfully, he did! So let’s get to it…
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We made our way around the old Odyssey building and to World Showcase.

IMG_7297.jpg


IMG_7301.jpg


We spent the rest of the evening with some adult beverages in World Showcase. I got a bellini and immediately asked myself why I’d waited so long to indulge in such a delicious peach concoction. Oh, wow, sweet nectar of the gods, I didn’t even mind the $10 price tag!!

IMG_7304.jpg

We watched Illuminations from Morocco, which is the same place my mom and I watched from earlier in the summer. It’s a decent viewing spot and both times we arrived 10-15 minutes early and had no problem getting a nice spot along the wall. After the fireworks were over we booked it back to the monorail, and I mean BOOKED it. We were weaving left and right and back and forth. We made it all the way back to the Poly in time to grab some drinks from the room and find a lounger on the beach. Woohoooo… we managed two fireworks shows in one night! SCORE!

I was so excited because we had caught the last viewing of Nightastic the previous evening, which meant Wishes was back, and I much prefer it. Yay! I mean, Nightastic is a great fireworks extravaganza and all, but Wishes dominates with its story!

IMG_7318.jpg


IMG_7320.jpg


When the show was over we headed off to the boat dock and over to the Magic Kingdom.
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We swam upstream to get through the gates and onto Main Street. We decided just to enjoy Main Street for awhile while we waited for the Main Street Electrical Parade. The park cleared out quite a bit while we were waiting and we didn’t have to fight any crowds for a front row view of the parade, which was nice. In fact, Alice congratulated us on our engagement over the mike as she came through. And then the Fairy Godmother got Brett to get me to put my camera down long enough so she could say “Congratulations” as well. The cast members are seriously trained to notice those buttons!

I have no childhood attachment to MSEP, however, I do have an attachment to the Spectro musical score. So, while I enjoyed the parade, it was just okay in my opinion. I'm anxiously awaiting the return of Spectro-Magic.

IMG_7355.jpg


IMG_7372.jpg


IMG_7379.jpg


IMG_7410.jpg


IMG_7423.jpg


IMG_7435.jpg


IMG_7451.jpg


We spent the rest of the evening hitting up quite a few rides, most of which were walk on. We started in Adventureland and worked our way around to Fantasyland. We ended the evening with one of my very favorites: Philharmagic! We did run into Pluto on the way out… I didn’t realize they were doing meet and greets in the evening. Maybe it’s to distract everyone from seeing the ugly walls up all over Fantasyland! :lol:

IMG_7479.jpg


Oh yeah… I just LOVE Lucifer in this mosaic. He’s so sinister, and one of my favorite Disney cats! But don’t tell sweet Marie I said so!

IMG_7480.jpg



Up next... our last full day.
 

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
Eeeek! Okay! Gotta catch up again! Ugh! I totally gotta be prioritizing better: Orthodontist appointments, grading papers, getting my sewing done (yeah right), or staying up to date on the trip reports????


PETUNIA IS BAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!! For those who may not remember, we left off at the end of Day 3 after a fantastic evening wining and dining!


Day 4: MK/Resort Time/Epcot

IMG_7035.jpg

Um...this picture is quite possibly one of my favorites ever. It just screams to my Beauty & the Beast love affair. Beautiful pic, Holly. Just amazing.


Bert was my favorite during the countdown, he was so animated!

IMG_7075.jpg


IMG_7078.jpg


I love the Bert pics! They're so ME trying to help the boys with Math &/or Pre-Algebra! I feel ya, Bert. Numbers aren't my thing, either. :animwink:



I love the "touch" in that they do not mow this grass. It does, however, leave me with a few questions. Like:

1. How many snakes have made their home in that nice, tall grass? :eek:

2. The grass doesn't get so tall that it takes over the bushes so it has to be trimmed in some way but not appear cared for. How do they do that? Walk around with little scissors carefully nipping the tops off before it gets too high??? :shrug:
 

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
I looooove the name you came up with for your dominating trivia team! Team Cobra Bubbles rocks! Y'all need t-shirts!!!! LOL!

P8150058.jpg


P8150059.jpg


A picture of our future ceremony location from the water:

P8150069.jpg


Anyone out there willing to rent a sea raycer on our wedding day to capture some photographs from this angle?! :lol:


The term “raycer” is a bit deceiving, seeing as how we couldn’t move more than, like, 10 miles per hour. Nonetheless, we still had a good time.


That speedometer makes me laugh, too. Yes, the Disney boat transportation can irk me in the lack of speed. On our kidless trip when we stayed at POFQ I had a hard time adjusting to the putt-putt speed of the pontoon to DTD. After about 5 minutes I told Tracey I was going to jump out & swim. In his boat we could've been there & back 3 times already. I think the sea raycers would irk me in that way, too. I only **wish** we could launch his boat in the Seven Seas Lagoon! Anything less than 65 mph on the GPS is just too dang slow for me now. I think he'd just like to be able to fish in his boat with his tackle on those waters. LOL!

Glad to see the raycers produced smiles and you both stayed from beneath the ferries. WooHooo!

And I would tooootally ditch my family & run away to WDW in March to take care of those pics for ya. I'd even put up with the super-slow boats to do it. Keep it in mind! :animwink::lol:



Your Poly pics are amazing, Holly. You're so talented!!!! Just about all of them could easily be used in a magazine or brochure. I hope the Tikiman sees them. I bet he'd be impressed, too.


Sooooo, you think it'll be another Poly stay for the wedding trip??? That just has such a sweet ring to it: "wedding trip"! I'm so excited for y'all! Awesome! :sohappy:




And tell Brett I'm thinking the name Darla could work. :D
 

Kerby626

Active Member
And I would tooootally ditch my family & run away to WDW in March to take care of those pics for ya. I'd even put up with the super-slow boats to do it. Keep it in mind! :animwink::lol:
Kelly we can ditch both of them and go take pics together :D



I love all of it. I have been following but not much time to post with the kids running me crazy.
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Great update Hol!!! Glad Petunia is back up and running!!! I know the LOST feeling you had!!! It's amazing how we have come to rely so much on a computer! :lol:

I totally missed this post earlier... and, yeah, I seriously didn't know what to do with myself while Petunia was out of commission.

Can I just take a moment to LOVE that you Cobra Bubbles'd it up?

"Did you ever kill anyone?"

LOVE Lilo and Stitch. And you guys. You're my favourite couple, officially.

Thanks, Kenzie. You're making me blush!

Ok I have 2 things to say:
1) Brett is so amazingly awesome for getting a ressie where you ate on your first trip.
2) The noms-noms thing is pretty adorable!:lol:

Yeah... he's good like that. I think I should keep him. And I heart the Cookie Monster so the NOMS are even better when you use his voice!

BEAUTIFUL shots Holly!!

I started this thread this morning and left the tab open on it so that I could continue tonight. SO happy for you, and your report so far is like a dream come true!! Congratulations and can't wait to hear and see the rest :)

Thanks so much, Amber!! You, my friend, are too kind.

Eeeek! Okay! Gotta catch up again! Ugh! I totally gotta be prioritizing better: Orthodontist appointments, grading papers, getting my sewing done (yeah right), or staying up to date on the trip reports????

Um...this picture is quite possibly one of my favorites ever. It just screams to my Beauty & the Beast love affair. Beautiful pic, Holly. Just amazing.

I love the Bert pics! They're so ME trying to help the boys with Math &/or Pre-Algebra! I feel ya, Bert. Numbers aren't my thing, either.

My vote is for the trip reports, of course! And I can totally just picture you counting down with Bert and the kids.

I love that you get the Beauty and the Beast feel from that particular picture. Because that is sooooooo what I feel when I look at it.

I love the "touch" in that they do not mow this grass. It does, however, leave me with a few questions. Like:

1. How many snakes have made their home in that nice, tall grass? :eek:

2. The grass doesn't get so tall that it takes over the bushes so it has to be trimmed in some way but not appear cared for. How do they do that? Walk around with little scissors carefully nipping the tops off before it gets too high???

Oh my... why, oh why did you have to mention snakes. Eeekk. Now I'm freaked out! I never really noticed how the grass always appears unkempt. Good eye.

I looooove the name you came up with for your dominating trivia team! Team Cobra Bubbles rocks! Y'all need t-shirts!!!! LOL!

That speedometer makes me laugh, too. Yes, the Disney boat transportation can irk me in the lack of speed. On our kidless trip when we stayed at POFQ I had a hard time adjusting to the putt-putt speed of the pontoon to DTD. After about 5 minutes I told Tracey I was going to jump out & swim. In his boat we could've been there & back 3 times already. I think the sea raycers would irk me in that way, too. I only **wish** we could launch his boat in the Seven Seas Lagoon! Anything less than 65 mph on the GPS is just too dang slow for me now. I think he'd just like to be able to fish in his boat with his tackle on those waters. LOL!

Glad to see the raycers produced smiles and you both stayed from beneath the ferries. WooHooo!

Team Cobra Bubbles lives on! We plan to try out some of the trivia on the Disney cruise... so it looks like we'll be taking Cobra Bubbles to sea! And yeah, while we were out on Seven Seas Lagoon in that little thing, we totally talked about how ludicrous it was that someone actually ran into one of the ferries. Seriously.

And I would tooootally ditch my family & run away to WDW in March to take care of those pics for ya. I'd even put up with the super-slow boats to do it. Keep it in mind!

Your Poly pics are amazing, Holly. You're so talented!!!! Just about all of them could easily be used in a magazine or brochure. I hope the Tikiman sees them. I bet he'd be impressed, too.

Sooooo, you think it'll be another Poly stay for the wedding trip??? That just has such a sweet ring to it: "wedding trip"! I'm so excited for y'all! Awesome!

And tell Brett I'm thinking the name Darla could work.

The Poly made taking those pictures quite easy, she's quite photogenic. Thank you, though.

Yes, we will definitely be staying at the Polynesian for the wedding portion of our wedding trip! Woohooo... I'm so darn excited. I've got to get that pre-trip/planning report started. Maybe I'll start that as soon as I wrap up this trip report.

Kelly we can ditch both of them and go take pics together :D

I love all of it. I have been following but not much time to post with the kids running me crazy.

This could work. I was thinking I'd need another person in the boat to drive while I snap pictures. LOL!

Excellent. I'll have my own personal paparazzi. Hmmm... I might have to invest in a telephoto lens for you ladies!

Petunia lives! Hooray! :sohappy:

Congrats on the trivia win, you guys really know your stuff!

One small correction, Shannon: Brett really knows his stuff. My main contribution to the team was our team name. He did all the heavy lifting! :ROFLOL:
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 5: Epcot/DHS

We woke up early on Monday with a sense of urgency and desire to cram everything we possibly could into that last day. I really wanted to have breakfast at Ohana, so we decided to try for a walk-up when they opened. We arrived at about 7:20 and they told us it wouldn’t be a problem and they’d seat us after they had a chance to seat all the folks with 7:30 ADRs. Yay!

Are any of you sick of all our Poly dining choices yet? By the last day we managed to eat every possible meal at the Polynesian restaurants except for one. Seriously, we had breakfast, lunch and dinner at Kona, breakfast and dinner at Ohana, and breakfast and lunch at Captain Cook’s. Is that enough Poly for you?!

The cousins came out to “open” the restaurant right at 7:30 and it wasn’t five minutes later we were off to our table.

IMG_7493.jpg


This is Brett, excited for Mickey waffles!!!

IMG_7494.jpg


Ohana is by far my favorite character breakfast for a couple reasons. 1) POG juice. 2) Family style served at the table – I am not a fan of true buffet set ups. 3) POG juice. 4) Stitch and Pluto. And 5) Did I mention the POG juice?! :D

IMG_7497.jpg


We had a great window seat looking towards our dear Tuvalu. And shortly after we sat down our table was filled with all sorts of yummy goodness.

IMG_7499.jpg


IMG_7506.jpg


And then the fun began…

IMG_7509.jpg


IMG_7520.jpg


IMG_7516.jpg


IMG_7534.jpg


The timing was perfect with the characters and we finished breakfast in record time. It gets 3 out of 4 NOMS, mostly because even though it’s my favorite character breakfast on property, it’s still a buffet to some extent and when it comes to food I prefer the more specialized menu options. However, if I were solely ranking meals on beverage choices... there aren’t enough NOMS in this world to account for the deliciousness that is POG juice!
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After breakfast, Brett took our leis back to the room while I took some early morning shots of the pool. It’s not very often you see it looking this way.

IMG_7537.jpg


IMG_7543panorama.jpg


IMG_7551.jpg


IMG_7556.jpg


IMG_7557.jpg


We decided to make it another Epcot day and took off for the monorail at the TTC.

IMG_7563.jpg


We even made it in time for rope drop! Brett was trying to channel Kim Possible level strength to move the crowds. Didn’t work.

IMG_7570.jpg


IMG_7571.jpg
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We hit up the character spot first, because, well, that’s what we do. And Goofy felt the need to propose before sending Brett and I off with our hands clasped together in love!

IMG_7605.jpg


IMG_7597.jpg


IMG_7609.jpg


Brett ran in the Land to pick up some Soarin’ fastpasses while I took pictures outside.

IMG_7610.jpg


IMG_7616.jpg


And then we were off to Mission:Space.

IMG_7619_1.jpg


IMG_7621.jpg


IMG_7624.jpg


IMG_7630.jpg


There was a couple in the control room off to the right of the line and we overheard them telling someone later that they were outside talking about how they’d never ridden and a CM asked if they’d like a personal tour. Then we heard them say it was their first trip to Disney. Gotta love that Disney magic!

“When you hear the words ‘Go for launch,’ you definitely want to hang on!”

IMG_7632.jpg
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Afterwards we took our usual trip through the Test Track single rider line before heading to Innoventions to build our own rollercoaster at the Sum of All Thrills “booth.”

IMG_7644.jpg


Before we knew it, we found ourselves in the fastpass return line for Soarin. LOVE this ride.

IMG_7670.jpg


IMG_7671.jpg


We spent the next hour enjoying World Showcase at a leisurely pace, starting in Canada and working our way towards Italy.

IMG_7689.jpg


IMG_7690.jpg


IMG_7697.jpg


IMG_7700.jpg
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
IMG_7707.jpg


We had grand plans for Via Napoli. I was soooo excited for this meal. We had no problem getting a walk-up reservation; granted the place is new and at the time had yet to start scheduling ADRs so it was actually quite empty. I LOVED the details in the restaurant and thought the brick ovens were genius! I was also quite fond of the large windows in the back of the place that were letting in all sorts of natural light. Noticing the natural light in Via Napoli made me realize how every other restaurant in World Showcase is solid along the back wall because, well, there’s nothing magical BEHIND all those beautiful pavilions!

IMG_7711.jpg


IMG_7714.jpg


IMG_7721.jpg


IMG_7712.jpg


IMG_7720.jpg


For lunch we ordered an appetizer and an “individual” size pizza. It was more than enough to feed us both. We had the arancini for an app, which are fried risotto balls. Seriously, I love risotto, and you’re telling me you’re going to fry one of my most favorite accompaniments... sold.

IMG_7727.jpg


Okay so the arancini was really good, but it didn’t wow me like I expected it to. It lacked a bit of flavor, maybe something as simple as salt. For the pizza, we decided on the calamari with arugula and fennel. I was so intrigued by this pizza and just had to have it.

IMG_7730.jpg


It looks delicious, even now, it makes me want to take a bite outta the picture. But... as much as I wanted to like it, it was just okay. I completely trust chefs when it comes to ingredient pairings, but something about this match up just wasn’t doing it for me (or for Brett). Therefore, we ended up giving Via Napoli only 2 NOMS. That being said, we already have plans to return on our next trip with Brett’s family. We chalk this one up to our not liking the specific combination because the dough/crust was perfect and I have high hopes that a different specialty pizza will be more to my liking.

After lunch we hit up one of the KP carts to help Kim rid the world of evil. Our mission was in Japan. We ended up going through this one rather quickly because it was just so darn hot and sticky out.

IMG_7733.jpg


IMG_7738.jpg


We picked up a few items in Mitsukoshi before saying goodbye to Epcot and exiting via the International Gateway.

Next up... we’re off to Hollywood, where we get a bit of pixie dust!
 

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
Golly! It amazes me how early y'all get up every day. And you look so chipper. How is this done???

Ohana for breakfast...love the characters and the ambiance. It'd be perfect if you could order from the Kona menu and have the Ohana experience. Yeah!

Your volcano pool pics are gorgeous. I soooo wanna touch my toes to that perfectly still water. **sigh**

Via Napoli...this one is on our list for the upcoming trip. I'm a little worried it won't go over so well. I'm intrigued and really wanna try it. I'll have to prep the guys beforehand. "Okay guys. It's not Papa John's pizza...." Do you really think it was your pizza choice?

Can't wait to hear what Pixie dust you got!!!! :sohappy:
 

Tiggerish

Resident Redhead
Premium Member
Loved the pics of the tables/chairs in Morocco and the chandelier in Via Napoli.

Maybe we'll get to try out Via Napoli this trip, although considering that we are used to NY pizza, I'm afraid it might not be worth it...

I have a new appreciation for how much work goes into these reports--you are a superhero, woman!!
 

Ariel484

Well-Known Member
Your photos of the Poly pool are really nice, especially the panorama. Do you use Photoshop to stitch your pics? I have tried (in Photoshop Elements) and it just always comes out looking weird for me :cry:

Love the series of Goofy pics! So fun!

Too bad about Via Napoli. I give you guys props for your bold (to me) pizza choice...at least they got the crust right!
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom