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!

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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!
 
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MagicalMaci

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In the Parks
Yes
Our Fairytale Wedding Day 6 Part 1b: The Results!

Since I waited so long to share this TR, the photos are in. We just got them a few months ago. It took 19 weeks for Disney to "edit" and release them to us. Thankfully, I was mostly happy with the results. Here are a few (10) of my favorites!

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MagicalMaci

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In the Parks
Yes
Okay nope can't help myself, here are a few more :) I've got to pick some to print and for an album, so feel free to let me know which are favorites because I'm indecisive! There were def some that didn't come out great (my veil was cut off in some for example) so that helped narrow down a little, but since we did two parks we ended up with quite a few!

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cgersic

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Agreed, that's a hard task for sure! But the kissing by the wishing well with the castle next to you and the strolling through France smiling at each other are my 2 top picks!
 

MagicalMaci

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In the Parks
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I love the red Mickey balloon with the castle, you on the carousel and black and white with castle but honestly- all of them are wonderful!
Thank you! I was so happy we chose to get the balloon, it really popped in the dark!
UGH, how do you choose? I'd pick them all!
RIGHT? This was already me narrowing it down too!
Agreed, that's a hard task for sure! But the kissing by the wishing well with the castle next to you and the strolling through France smiling at each other are my 2 top picks!
Honestly I forgot we even went to the Wishing Well until we got the pics back! But so happy with it!
 

MagicalMaci

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In the Parks
Yes
Our Fairytale Wedding Day 6 Part 2: The Best Breakfast!

Did I do the smart thing and go back to the hotel to sleep after our photo shoot? Nope! We had them drop us off at Riviera for our breakfast reservation at Toppolino's Terrace. This was my solution to the stupid rules and expenses they had for having characters at the wedding.

I had requested to be in Chris’s section after he took such great care of me and and my friend back in October. We had to wait a few minutes for him but it wasn’t too long at all. We waited at the bar and started with some mimosas. I actually ended up in the exact same table as a few months prior! I pointed out that I told Chris I’d be back in a wedding dress and he remembered me! He brought us champagne to celebrate. This is probably the biggest thing Disney did for us all week having been “just married” you get more attention for your birthday
😩


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The quiche didn’t have crust today so I opted for the waffles with a side of eggs and Jimmy went with the steak, also with eggs. My gosh this steak was so much better than the night prior! What a world of difference. My waffles were incredible as well. Everything is just so good here, definitely a fast favorite of mine since it opened.

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Chris tried to be at our table every time the characters came by so we could get photos together which was so nice. Characters still had to be distanced, but we made the best of it. They are some of my favorite photos of the trip!

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When we were wrapping up he got slammed so it took a little for our check which was disappointing cause sooooo tired at that point. But we settled up and headed to get a Lyft back to the Contemporary where we would finally get some more sleep!

The rest of the character pics are on Jimmy's phone which I swear I had air dropped to myself at some point but can’t find them now
🤷🏻‍♀️
 

MagicalMaci

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In the Parks
Yes
Our Fairytale Wedding Day 6 Part 3: Great friends and Epcot!

We got back to the hotel and put on pjs and immediately fell asleep. We had plans to meet up with friends in Epcot around two. Our alarm went off and we ignored it. Finally we have slept!! But it was still short lived as our friends got to Epcot at opening and we wanted to see them before they left. So we snoozed and then got up and got ready for the rest of our day.

We hopped on the monorail and away we went!

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So we finally made it to Epcot around 3pm, so not too bad really given our 2pm goal! We just missed our Soarin' return time but the family had their lightening lane now too so we tried to join them and were able which was very nice. We asked for the middle and were given the second row in the middle bay so it was perfect viewing. I really love Soarin' Around the World. The kids stayed with the grandparents for more rides. They had a virtual queue for Remy (so did we but we cared a lot less since we did it in October) so we split off after our quick family time.

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We couldn’t let our friends wait on us any longer. They had made it from Mexico to America already so we headed back to the middle to meet up with them. I think Morocco was our first stop and as always, it’s so good and I love that they’ve moved the booth inside here because the food just feels so fresh and delicious. Two of my cousins were supposed to join us today as well but we never found them which was disappointing.

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As with the rest of the week, even though it was a Tuesday, Epcot was super crowded. So we ended up having to divide and conquer a lot. We kept making our way back towards future world stopping at pretty much every booth along the way. We were all also attempting the cookie stroll so we had a mix of sweet and savory at pretty much every booth. The donuts and black and white cookie from La Chiem were both delicious. I loved wearing my bride ears in the park :)

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MagicalMaci

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Original Poster
In the Parks
Yes
Our Fairytale Wedding Day 6 Part 4: Crowds can't stop us now!

As usual, everything from France was delicious and the line was quite long for this booth. It is always so popular!

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We popped into the Rose and Crown in UK because we needed some full size beverages
🤣
I hate that you can’t hang out in there anymore but it’s still such a great bar. I’m a huge fan. We got some amazing photos in the UK pavilion. Some of my fave of the trip!

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The sun was starting to set and Epcot just kept getting more crowded as people hopped over to end their night. But we pressed on, trying treats and cookies along the way :)

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MagicalMaci

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In the Parks
Yes
Our Fairytale Wedding Day 6 Part 5: an Epcot Evening

As the sun set our friends who got to the park this morning were getting tired so we just hit a few booths in the space between World Showcase and Future World so they could finish up their cookie stroll. It was a beautiful evening in the park.

The Canada booth was a real hit and we were impressed by the value of the poutines at refreshment port nearby. We tried roasted chestnuts from the nuts booth and we’re not impressed. Now we know why it’s just a song lyric and no one actually eats them
🤪
we took some Photopass pics with the tree and parted ways.

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I loved the Spaceship Earth cookie even though it wasn't in the cookie stroll!​

We found our son Joey who was studying for his final all day and finally made it into the park and headed off towards Mexico for the half we hadn’t gotten to yet. My friend also finally made it over to Epcot this evening so we found her just after Mexico and had a new little group to keep exploring the world with!

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MagicalMaci

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In the Parks
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Our Fairytale Wedding Day 6 Part 6: We will press on!

Despite being tired, our newfound friends and family gave us a new burst of energy to continue our journey. Favorites from the second part of the evening included the food from Mexico, but not the drinks. I loved the cheese bowl from Bavaria and the boys loved the sushi tree from Japan.


It was getting close to Harmonious time and we were exhausted so we decided to head out to beat the closing crowds. It was a very long day but so full of great things!

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I'm obsessed with the new lights on Spaceship Earth by the way. I love them so so much! Someone was very tired :)

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MagicalMaci

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What an awesome day y'all had! Love all the photos from your breakfast and your Epcot stroll. You look so fabulous - I would have looked like something the cat dragged in with that schedule!
The beauty of professional hair and makeup - made all the difference for sure!
 

MagicalMaci

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In the Parks
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Our Fairytale Wedding Day 7 Part 1: There’s a cake in there?

First, how am I already at day 7? All these things definitely didn’t feel like a whole week of my life. A day or two maybe!

We once again had to pack up our lives today to move to another resort for the last time finally! This time was a little different because we packed up the wedding stuff and took it over to the family. They were leaving tonight and flying Southwest so they were able to take our extra bags back with them so we had less stuff! They took 3 of our suitcases which was super helpful. They also had to pack up to get out today and were much further behind us since there are so many of them and they aren't really morning people. This was also the time we went through the reception stuff that Jimmy's mom had gathered at the end of the night to let them know what to keep and toss. This is when we learned they didn’t cut the top tier of our wedding cake and instead they had put it in the bottom of a bag and put stuff on top of it. So it was very squished and had been left out for 3 days. I would have loved if it had been frozen right away or even in the fridge. I’m honestly still sad about it. There was also still leftover chocolate cake slices but those had cream cheese filling so those def shouldn’t have been left out for 3 days and we tossed them, super disappointing. We took the top tier anyway and hoped it was still good.

We bid them “see you later” and made our way over to the Beach Club with our luggage. We had some things that needed to be in the fridge so we couldn’t use bell services for the transfer.

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We checked in and of course our room wasn’t ready so we headed out to the dock to catch a boat. We wanted to be at the park at opening but of course missed that, but we did pretty good today getting there around 11 I think? I used to work at Yacht and Beach so the lobby scents and then the views always just make me so happy!

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Since our kids were so far behind us I stopped at Guest Relations to add my friends to my DAS. They were there before opening so were able to get a lot done but Rise was down so I wanted to make that happen for them since they were so awesome for me all week. I can’t remember if we did another ride first or just got the return time and headed for a snack.

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On the way we caught a cavalcade and saw Santa! I don’t know why but I love the characters at DHS a lot!

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I knew there was a 50th anniversary treat I wanted to try on Sunset Boulevard so we headed that way.

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We were also getting actual hungry at this point so instead of just the cookie I was going for, we ordered a chili cheese dog to share as well. Mobile Order worked great and our food was ready in a few minutes. Rosie’s was crowded so we ended up sharing a table with what I thought was a dad and his son, but a few minutes later like 3 other family members joined them so it got really crowded. I did the frozen hot chocolate as well and everything except the fries was great, they were subpar at best, but the hot dog was so big we were just fine. This cookie is one of my favorite 50th treats I’ve tried so far!

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MagicalMaci

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In the Parks
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Our Fairytale Wedding Day 7 Part 2: it’s Star Wars time

I had managed to get two large reservations at Oga's Cantina so we made our way over there. We were meeting up with both friends and family as a big last wedding hoorah. They were a little confused at the bar at first but eventually got us two tables next to each other. However, they are booths set back into the walls and there are still plastic dividers on the tables so it was a little awkward to all be together. But we made it work.

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It took a while to get our order in and then our drinks (at least 20 mins if not 30) and i was maybe 1/3 into my drink when our server came back with the check and basically told us our time was up to get out. You have a 45 min limit here *from when your name is called outside* which would be fine if they would get things to you in a timely manner. So that was super frustrating but we chugged and headed out.

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It was time for Rise so we said bye to the family for now (who arrived at the park just in time for Oga's) and headed over to our ride. It was nice to see it with less social distancing measures and of course it’s a great ride! However, when we finished, it was pouring outside and there was no cover right outside the ride. So we got soaked. We got our return time to ride again but with the kids this time and that would be a few hours from now.

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MagicalMaci

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In the Parks
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Our Fairytale Wedding Day 7 Part 3: An old-school family feast!

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We headed over to our late lunch at 50s Prime Time and again we were going to have family and friends join us but despite being an off time at 2:30pm they were running so far behind to seat us. So as we waited longer and longer our friends bailed as they had other places to be. We got drinks from Tune In and some Photopass pics while we waited. Tune In no longer does milkshakes which was disappointing to learn. I was just wet and cranky at this point but the drink and the sun was helping quite a bit. Finally we were called in for our tables.

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They sat us at two tables next to each other along the same booth, but with different servers so that was super weird. The one server ended up taking over both tables which was much better because she was definitely the better server of the two. There were many milkshakes and root beer floats going around and I got my must-have Dad's Electric Lemonade (did that signature cocktail at the wedding look familiar?).

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I love the apps more than the food here so I got onion rings and fried Brie for myself but ended up having to share
🤨
the fried chicken and meatloaf were a huge hit with the family and Jimmy's parents ended up loving the meal. I got the vegetarian pasta as well to round out my meal and even though people kept stealing my food I still couldn’t finish the pasta. It had a kick to it which was surprising from this restaurant I would have expected more comfort food style pasta.

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We were stuffed so we settled up and headed out to our Rise of the Resistance with the kids. They really didn’t have time for this because they had to get back for DME but we hustled and made it work and the kids decided it was the best ride ever!! They hustled up to the front of the park to head back and we were finally on our own for the rest of the trip!!
 

MagicalMaci

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In the Parks
Yes
Our Fairytale Wedding Day 7 Part 4: Finally it’s just us!

After we said farewell to the family, our obligations to any other friends and family members were complete. Most people were already gone or flying out this evening. It was finally just the two of us to celebrate being married together! My feet were still wet from the downpour so I was a little cranky so we went over to Baseline Tap House for a little drink and people watching break. I just love the vibes there. We decided that we were just worn out so we weren’t going to try to do more in the park today, instead we switched Friday's Park Pass Reservation from AK to DHS at Guest Relations on our way out. We felt like we got enough done at AK the other day and this would give us the down time we needed tonight.

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We saw Goofy and the sun started to set on our way out of the park. It was a beautiful night but I’m so glad we made the choice to cut the day short. We got a boat back to the resort and had a nice relaxing ride.

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When we got back to Beach Club there was a little holiday shop set up in the lobby and we decided to get some adult hot chocolate which was so good! We headed over to the villas and I loved that they had their own tree in the lobby.

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MagicalMaci

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In the Parks
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Our Fairytale Wedding Day 7 Part 5: A relaxing evening at Yacht and Beach

Once we found our room and got our luggage, we broke into our charcuterie from my friend and it was so good! It was so sweet of her to put it together for me for our wedding day but honestly it was perfect for us to relax on our own and it definitely didn’t go to waste.

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After we decompressed and relaxed with our cocoa and cheese we decided to venture out for some more substantial food and a night cap. We walked over to the Yacht Club and found a seat at the Ale and Compass Lounge. We ordered a burger and a flatbread to share between the two of us. The burger was so good!! The flatbread was way bigger than we expected so we ended up taking more than half of it to go but it was also good! It was a great low-key night and I’m glad we got to enjoy the resort a bit to make all the switching around worth it.

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The holiday decor at these resorts makes me happy :)
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annienevells

Well-Known Member
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!!
 

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