Trip Report Our Fairytale Wedding

Hello! Several months have passed since we said "I do" at the most magical place on earth, but we are just finally wrapping up all of our post-wedding tasks and have gotten all the photos and videos back etc so I think it's finally time I put it to a trip report!

When: December 9-18, 2021
Where: Walt Disney World
Why: Wedding!!
Resorts: Saratoga Springs, Bay Lake Tower, Contemporary Resort and Beach Club Villas
Main Characters: Maci & Jimmy (bride and groom to be!)
Supporting Cast: Our four kids, Jimmy's family, Maci's family, Wedding Party, childhood friends, distant relatives - it's a big wedding y'all!

I'll start with some backstory. We got engaged on my 30th birthday trip to WDW back in 2019. It was a picture perfect moment, just the two of us in a near empty Epcot. My now-hubby always knew how important Disney was to me and that we'd be getting married there, but other than that I was open to most of the other details. After enjoying the rest of our trip for my birthday with our friends (there were 12 of us in total, it was great!), we looked at calendars and planned a date of 2/12/21, giving us over a year to save and plan for our perfect day. As you all well know, 2020 threw the world for a loop and Disney got hit hard, in October of 2020 we had to make the tough call to postpone our wedding due to all the intense restrictions on weddings through Disney Fairytale Weddings and social distancing protocols. Our new date was 12/12/21 - a new month, a new season, but thankfully, not a new year!

Our initial plan was to get married at the Yacht Club Wedding Gazebo since I used to work at Yacht Club it was special to me, and then we'd move to a ballroom there for the reception. But with December weather potentially being cold, we wanted an indoor ceremony location and with more time to save, we upgraded our reception location as well! So our wedding in December 2021 was honestly nothing like we planned and pictured for the first year of our engagement. We changed just about everything

My hubby has four kids and quite a large family, so around our wedding events we also made a little Disney vacation for them and did our best to split time between wedding stuff and family vacation stuff, so there will be a bit of both throughout this TR.

Welcome along, and I look forward to sharing it with you all!

 

[MagicalMaci]

I don't think I've ever seen Gertie and the tree from this vantage point - GREAT shot!!

Aww thank you!

Just binged all your updates so far, and I am SO jealous! We did our engagement trip at WDW, doing photos at the Poly and GF and loved it so much. After our tropical honeymoon... we looked at each other and wished we had just gone back to WDW for the honeymoon too and I totally agree with you - I also got more recognition and conversation out of my birthday buttons over my engagement button!!

We did our engagement photos (a year later) at the GF as well, so pretty there! This is just our "mini-moon" after everyone left. We did our actual Honeymoon a few weeks later on a RCCL Cruise - wanted even MORE relaxation and true separation from everyone else lol!

 

[MagicalMaci]

Our Fairytale Wedding Day 8 Part 1: An Easy Day Ahead

Today we had Epcot planned. We originally had a Via Napoli reservation for around 3 but cancelled it a few days prior. We wanted to just go with the flow and take it easy. I was up first and decided to investigate the cake situation. We only had plastic silverware so the slice I was able to get myself was messy and ugly, but thankfully it still tasted fine and I didn’t get sick after eating it

our top tier was the almond cake with amaretto crunch filling, Jimmy's favorite. It was the perfect little breakfast for our mini-moon!

Once we finally got moving it was basically lunch time but Jimmy wanted breakfast food so we decided to try to do a walk in at the Creperie. I definitely missed the memo that they started taking reservations and they weren’t taking any walk ups. A very nice couple checking in behind us invited us to dine with them if they were able to sit at a four top, and they were! We had a great time chatting with them and having our crepes. However, the crepes definitely were less impressive than my trip here on opening day. The classic with the egg was our favorite. It will probably be a while before I venture back here, not because it was awful, just because there's so much great food at Epcot!

With some fuel in our bellies we headed off to explore the park and hit everything we had missed the prior Epcot day. I stopped in the tea shop at the UK as that’s where the “booth” was this year and enjoyed my drink quite a bit. I love the tea selection (I LOVE TEA) they have but didn’t make any purchases this trip since I have quite a bit at home to get through from a trip to London in 2019.

Next up was Joffrey's for some more spiked caffeine and their doubles are great here and a great deal if you enjoy libations. We stopped for a break by the stage in Canada to enjoy our drinks and were surprised that a show was about to start! I enjoyed the Canadian Christmas carols and we were under an umbrella when the rain started to drizzle and it ended by the time it was over. Perfect timing! We have since decided that on our next trip, we really need to be more deliberate about catching some of the entertainment around World Showcase, as we really love it!

We headed over to Test Track and Jimmy designed the car but I got to pick the color

we didn’t win any awards for our car design though. Since we were close we popped over to the Donut Box and tried an eggnog donut. It was pretty good but not amazing.

 

[MagicalMaci]

Our Fairytale Wedding Day 8 Part 2: Will we launch into space?

Since we actually made it through so many booths two days prior, we decided to check out the walk up scene at Space 220. First, it’s a hot mess. Second, the lounge is only reservation only now as well. So if you “walk up” it is just for the bar only which has 10 seats I believe. (this is probably old news since it's now August, but it was fresh back in December, promise!)

We walked around Mission Space to find a short line that we thought was for Space 220 but no cast members to be seen. We asked people if that was the line and they said yes so we got in. It was unclear that the line was “closed” so about 15 or so minutes later a CM finally shows up and kicks us out of line. She said it’s closed and she doesn’t know when it will reopen but unofficially, “hover”. Once you are in the line it’s a 90-120 minute wait. That’s a long time but we didn’t really have anything else to do. So we did hover and sit on the ground for a little while. She reopened the line about an hour later. But, a couple had gotten out of line about 30ish mins prior? So once we got in line we were let in about 5 mins later. Not terrible when you were told up to two MORE hours. It turns out there was just a huge party at the bar, so pretty much everyone from the line got in around that time since the bar pretty much emptied out when that one party left.

The elevator ride is so cool for sure, no pictures there because I just wanted to enjoy it. We were in orbit! We grabbed our seats at the bar and looked over the menu. The bartender here was wonderful and we took his recommendations for our first two drinks. They were delicious! We were also given the option of ordering lounge bites or the full 3 course menu from the bar. We went with the short rib sliders and I asked if I could possibly have a salad and he accommodated which was awesome because I needed my veggies! The salad is actually made from all hydroponic plants grown in Epcot so that was really cool! The sliders were so so good as well. Would definitely recommend. Also I definitely had my bride ears on this morning, but apparently gave up on them by this point in the day.

Since we were having such a good time we ordered another round of drinks… and another round! We tried almost all of the specialty cocktails on the menu. The first two were the best. I know one was the red star but I forgot what the other one was. The atmospritz with the cotton candy was also a ton of fun! We enjoyed all the fun little touches in the drinks from the lovely garnishes, to moon dust and even some color changing!

We learned that the sun sets on the earth at the same time as the sun sets outside in Epcot so that was really cool to see that change while we were in there.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time here and the service was top notch. Since the sun set in space, it was dark out when we made it back down to earth. We hit the stores and I finally purchased a souvenir for this trip. I got an embossed rolling pin (which turned out to not really work like it was supposed to, major bummer), a cozy pillow and a bride and groom pin.

We headed back off into the World Showcase to knock out our few remaining booths. We made it to China which was another sort of not real booth? It was just special items on the quick service menu which was strange. They were quite delicious though!

 

[MagicalMaci]

Our Fairytale Wedding Day 8 Part 3: Waiting for Fireworks

We continued our way into World Showcase and really only had one goal for the remainder of the night, watch Harmonious.

We stopped for another holiday snack, the coconut cake topped with dole whip and a cinnamon hard cider. A delightful little treat but definitely didn’t feel holiday-like but it was warm out anyway lol!

We wanted to get a good spot and people were of course lined up super early. Our goal was to be around Italy because the view is so great from there. There was another event at Italy Isola tonight so we couldn’t go over there but we just generally hovered around.

There was a long line between America and Italy for the 8:30pm Candlelight Processional showing but we knew that would clear out so we stood by the line. The earlier show had run late so they ended up starting late as well.

Once the line clears out and they remove the queue barriers, you are allowed to go up into that area between America and Italy to watch Harmonious so that’s what we did. While we were waiting in the holding area for them to finish clearing the space, this lady was super rude to me like “we were here first” but like, there’s a ton of space that clears out there’s no way she wasn’t going to have a good spot to watch it because we were waiting for it too? It was weird.

We got our spot and I went and got us our last booth for the festival, America! I got quite a few things including the last cookie for the cookie stroll. We actually preferred the cheesecake though, it was delightful. I never did get my completion cookie because I didn’t want to power walk all the way to the other side and back and risk missing the fireworks.

We just hung out while we waited and reminisced over our week so far and our amazing wedding. When the fireworks started I put my phone away and we just enjoyed the moment together. Jimmy agrees that we both love Harmonious! This was really his first time seeing it since we did photos the whole show the wedding night and left before them our other Epcot day.

We strolled out and walked back to the Beach Club to call it a night. What a lovely and relaxing day to ourselves we had!

 

[MagicalMaci]

Our Fairytale Wedding Day 9 Part 1: Another Easy Morning.

Now that everyone was gone we were doing the parks at a totally different pace. We had a nice lazy morning and enjoyed some Minnie Waffles from the Beach Club Marketplace. We were in no major rush to get to the park.

We hopped on the boat over to Hollywood Studios to finish up the stuff we didn’t get to two days prior. We started off on Sunset Boulevard with some thrills. Tower of Terror is just my most favorite and I was so glad we came back to Hollywood Studios so we could ride together. We also took a spin on Toy Story Mania where I totally won and had the best in vehicle!

The park was getting quite crowded so we took a break for lunch at ABC Commissary and split the Mediterranean salad with chicken which was huge and delicious. I also had the frozen hot chocolate again and the 50th chocolate dessert here. We enjoyed the break in the AC and the healthy veggies in our system.

We wrapped up our time by heading over to Mickey and Minnie’s which is cute as ever. I hadn’t seen it with the pre show before so that was really cool for me to actually see the magic happen instead of just walk through that room.

We decided not to try to do more Star Wars because it was so crowded. We missed the return of Indiana Jones by two days which was super disappointing so we called it for the park because we had a very full night ahead.

 

[MagicalMaci]

Our Fairytale Wedding Day 9 Part 2: A new restaurant to try!​

Tonight we headed over to the Swan to try a new-to-us restaurant, Il Mulino. Since I normally have Tables in Wonderland, we never really ventured over to Swan and Dolphin for dining, but had heard great things about this Italian place so when we were able to snag a reservation same day, we figured this was the perfect time to give it a try.

I also realized we wouldn't be able to fit our wedding signs in our luggage, and was able to gift them to a future Disney bride who was staying at the Dolphin! I dropped them off at Bell Services for her. We kept our signature drink sign, but gave her all the rest!
We had dinner on the early side because we had places to be later that night. So when we arrived, it was very empty in the restaurant. The restaurant itself is spacious and upscale. A great retreat from the busy park dining options. The décor was really just lovely and sophisticated, perfect for our little date night. It did fill in as we dined but it stayed a nice retreat, never getting quite as hectic as many Disney establishments tend.

Our meal started with an eggplant amuse bouche which was a nice touch. Eggplant isn’t my favorite so this wasn't really to our taste, but still a nice touch. We got cocktails and appetizers next since we wanted to get a full experience here. We chose the Arancini which were delicious. The bread was also so good, we love good Italian bread! The food was off to a good start overall. The cocktails were good but forgettable. We switched to wine with our entrees.

For our main course we decided to get three half pastas to try a little more variety. Jimmy's choice was the Risotto al Fritti de Mare which he enjoyed but some of the shellfish was a bit on the slimy side unfortunately. My choice was the Tortellini Alla Panna which was right up my alley and delicious. And then we shared the Rigatoni con Fungi and took our servers recommendation to add sausage. It definitely had a spicy kick but was also so good.

Risotto al Fritti de Mare - Arbrio Rice with Mixed Seafood​

Tortellini Alla Panna - Meat Tortellini and Peas in a Cream Sauce

Rigatoni con Fungi -Rigatoni with Wild Mushrooms, Spicy Cherry Peppers, Garlic and Truffle Oil with added sausage​

Even though we had ordered the smaller portions, we were still so stuffed by the end of the meal so we wrapped up and headed out. All in all we had a lovely meal but I won’t be going out of my way to return here since there are so many Italian choices on property. However, if I had a larger party I'd love to try their piatti per il tavolo (family-style dining) so that's probably what would bring me back over here.

 

[erstwo]

That pic of the lobby makes me chuckle because the last time I walked in there to go to Il Mulino (July 2021) that area was FILLED with ‘Little Miss whatever-the-title-of -the-pageant-was’ and all their teen counterparts. It was like Toddlers and Tiaras gone wild.
No parents anywhere, just sequins and sparkle, massive amounts of makeup and hairspray everywhere you looked.
And I had to guide my father in law on his scooter through the masses. It was hilarious. And memorable!

 

[MagicalMaci]

That pic of the lobby makes me chuckle because the last time I walked in there to go to Il Mulino (July 2021) that area was FILLED with ‘Little Miss whatever-the-title-of -the-pageant-was’ and all their teen counterparts. It was like Toddlers and Tiaras gone wild.
No parents anywhere, just sequins and sparkle, massive amounts of makeup and hairspray everywhere you looked.
And I had to guide my father in law on his scooter through the masses. It was hilarious. And memorable!

That definitely sounds memorable!

 

[MagicalMaci]

Our Fairytale Wedding Day 9 Part 3: More new things to experience!
We headed over to the bus stop at the Swan to catch a ride over to the Magic Kingdom for our last big hurrah of our wedding trip. We booked ourselves tickets to the Very Merriest After Hours Event! This was an expensive hard ticket event, but we ended up having a great time.

We got to the park in time to catch Enchantment from Main Street! We got a great spot and just hung out and waited for the show to start. No point in heading any farther in as the Main Street USA area was already pretty crowded and hard to navigate.
What are everyone's thoughts on Enchantment now that it's been out for about a year? It is a major downgrade for Magic Kingdom in my opinion. Wishes was my favorite and I ended up really liking Happily Ever After as well, but this one just doesn't tug at the heartstrings the same way.

After the fireworks, we headed towards Tomorrowland to have some fun with Buzz! We caught Stitch out and about and got in line for the "free" ice cream treats and soda. The line for this was SO LONG. It moved pretty fast and we got some Mickey Bars to enjoy.

 

[MagicalMaci]

Our Fairytale Wedding Day 9 Part 4: A Perfect View

Since we've never done the MVMCP before, we wanted to make sure we got a good spot for the parade and headed out to scope a spot. We were heading over the bridge towards Liberty Square and asked a Cast Member to confirm that the parade does come through this way (we don't do a lot of parades). Well she was in a giving mood and let us know, "yes of course it does, why don't you have a seat in this VIP section so you have a great view!" We got to sit on benches right up close and personal with the parade. We had to wait a little while, but we were in a comfy spot to do so. The only caveat was once the parade started, we were stuck there until it completed - fine by us! I really enjoyed this parade, it had such cute holiday touches but of course some favorite Disney characters as well!

 

[MagicalMaci]

Our Fairytale Wedding Day 9 Part 5: A Festive End to our Mini-Moon!
After the parade, we got our "free" hot cocoa and cookies - these were surprisingly good! We enjoyed our holiday treats and headed over to Haunted Mansion. This ride just hits differently at night! We saw the Tangled lantern Photopass but it had quite the line, so we decided we'd circle back to that and went to scope out a spot for the fireworks.

These festive fireworks were another NEW thing for us! I love that even though I go to Disney a LOT, there's still something new for me on every trip

We got another great spot for fireworks viewing and Minnie's Holiday Fireworks (I forget what they actually were called?) lit up the skies overhead. I LOVED these fireworks! They were colorful, festive and fun! I took a few photos but also tried to put the camera down and just enjoy the moment together.

After the fireworks, we hauled booty back over to the Tangled bathrooms and got in the Photopass line. It wasn't too long yet, but quickly grew behind us. The couple in front of us said they were having a Tangled themed wedding and the photographers did some awesome things with them, so of course we also let them know we just had a Tangled themed wedding and they took lots of fun photos with us too! We went over to the Jingle Cruise next, another fun holiday happening at Magic Kingdom! We also rode Pirates and caught Captain Hook and Mr Smee!

It was getting late and the party was winding down, so we decided to head on out. The Pooh characters were out and adorable as always so we snapped a few photos there too. There was a popcorn cart near the exit so I got one more "free" snack - I do LOVE popcorn.

 

[MagicalMaci]

Thank you all for following along on this magical journey! If you need any vendor recommendations for photography, floral, officiant, hair and makeup, food, services etc - please let me know, I'd love to refer you to the amazing people I used to help them out!

I can't believe we had NINE days of wedding and Disney festivities and fun! It's been months now but honestly it still barely feels real that I had such an amazing wedding that I had only pictured in my dreams. I loved spending time with family and friends I don't get to see too often anymore, but also loved our last two days together to decompress and enjoy being newlyweds at our own pace. Our bodies were definitely exhausted but our hearts were so full after our long trip.

Once we got home, we immediately went into the holidays for a few weeks before going on our actual honeymoon on January 2nd, a Royal Caribbean Cruise! We were originally planning to go to Fiji and Australia for two weeks, but the pandemic had a pretty big impact on our lives beyond just postponing travel, so we went with the shorter and more cost-effective trip which was still super amazing and wonderful!

 

[MickeyCB]

Thanks for sharing, it was great fun following along!

 

[Katiekitten]

Thank you for sharing I have loved following along and seeing all of your pictures!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Thanks for sharing with us! What a magical wedding you had!

 

[erstwo]

I enjoyed this so much! Thanks again!

 

[cgersic]

Sooo much fun!!! Thank you for taking the time to do this - it's like getting our own private episode of Disney Weddings and getting to comment instead of talking to the TV.

 

[MagicalMaci]

Sooo much fun!!! Thank you for taking the time to do this - it's like getting our own private episode of Disney Weddings and getting to comment instead of talking to the TV.

LOL - happy to help!

 

[Laura Loves Tigger]

Thanks for sharing your wedding! It was so much fun to read! Congratulations again!!

 

[joshsprincess921]

I really loved this trip report!! I love watching the show Disney Weddings, so I really enjoyed reading about a more personal, first hand experience. Thanks so much for sharing! Your pictures are just so stunning. Wishing you many years of happiness.