Dreams Do Come True! A Disney Fairytale Wedding & Honeymoon TRIP REPORT! - WEDDING PICTURES!

[AllThingsMickey4]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pre-trip Report: Arrival Day April 26th
Pre-trip Report: The Day Before the Big Day April 27th
Pre-trip Report: The WEDDING DAY PLANS
Pre-trip Report: Park shoot day! April 29th
Pre-trip Report: Honeymoon April 30th - May 3rd

TRIP REPORT: ARRIVAL DAY APRIL 26TH
TRIP REPORT: EPCOT AND HOOP DEE DOO APRIL 27TH
TRIP REPORT: WEDDING DAY PART 1: UPDATED WITH PICTURES
TRIP REPORT: WEDDING DAY PART 2 RECEPTION!
TRIP REPORT: WEDDING DAY PART 3 DESSERT PARTY!
TRIP REPORT: PARK SHOOT PART 1 APRIL 29TH
TRIP REPORT: PARK SHOOT PART 2 APRIL 29TH
TRIP REPORT: APRIL 29TH PART 2
TRIP REPORT: APRIL 30TH A FULL DAY OF MAGIC ​

The Who, The What, The When, The Where... and other semi-interesting facts

Helloooo Trip Report Boards!!

I feel a little out of place. I'm not a very frequent poster, and when I do post it is on pretty much every other board except this one I do lurk a lot here and there are some talented trip report writers here.. so I hope to follow in you guys footsteps and hopefully keep you entertained I'm also hoping that a trip report will help me get over the inevitable post Disney wedding and honeymoon blues that I will soon be experiencing

Without further ado.. I guess it's time for the introductions!


The Who:

Seeing as this is our Disney wedding and honeymoon trip, the travel party will consist of future DH and I:


On our Very Merry Christmas Cruise this past year!


A couple of engagement pics in the MK last May!

I'm Meredith and my fiancé is Chad.. who I will refer to as future DH probably from here on out. He isn't a big fan of posting his "business" on the internet (he barely has any social media), so I'll try to leave his "real" name out of most of this

We are young twenty-somethings (well I guess future DH will be classified as a mid-20 something in August ) that have been together since our early high school years.. we've actually been together for 7.5 years

We have two Australian Shepherds that are 2.5 years old:



They are included because they will be making the trip with us to stay at Best Friends Pet Care! Since most of the family is coming to the wedding we don't have anyone at home to watch them. And this way we can visit them throughout the trip!

The What:

As the title suggests, the purpose of this trip is our Disney Fairy Tale Wedding and Honeymoon!!! I have a planning journal over on the Weddings board if you want all the nitty gritty wedding details, but I'll fill you in on the locations for itinerary purposes. The ceremony will be at 9:30 AM at the Wedding Pavilion with a reception following at the GM Lounge in Epcot. Then we will have a DP later that night at U.K. Lochside in Epcot!



My reception won't look nearly this cool since it won't be dark but I still love this picture

This will be my first time staying at the beautiful Grand Floridian!!! For two nights anyway, we can't afford many more there our room block coordinator did upgrade our rooms to Lagoon View from Garden View at no extra charge!! I'm hoping we magically get a room with a glimpse of the castle!

We will be moving to the Yacht Club after the reception. Our first time staying Club Level!!!

We will also have 5 glorious nights of the Deluxe Dining Plan, so be prepared for a FOOD HEAVY itinerary and we will be prepared to gain at least 5 pounds

The When:

Our trip runs Thursday April 26th - Friday May 4th with our wedding on the 28th. We will be driving 8 hours (4 hours on Wednesday night after work and then the rest Thursday morning). Like I mentioned above, we will spend the first two nights at the Grand and then switch over to the YC on the 28th. I just added a night onto our stay last week. The only thing left was Lagoon View Club Level (we are in standard view the rest of the time), so I put a request in with our room block coordinator to let the front desk know we would be fine staying in the same standard view room the whole time if possible. I don't want to switch rooms for our last night!

Now to the fun part! The "favorites"

Me:

Favorite Disney Movie: Tangled and the Princess and the Frog. (I feel like neither one of these gets enough love in the parks!)
Favorite Character: STITCH!!!
Favorite Princess: Rapunzel, of course
Favorite Disney Parks snack: Mickey Rice Krispies (why do they have to be so unhealthy )
Favorite Disney restaurant: this changes frequently but I think right now it is Tiffins
Favorite Ride: Tower of Terror for the thrills, Space Mountain for the thrill and nostalgia
Favorite park: MK and Epcot (can't decide)

Future DH:

Favorite Disney Movie: He's actually agreed with before that Tangled is one of the best Disney movies
Favorite Character: Not sure if he has one, but "talking" Mickey made him crack a smile
Favorite Princess: Don't think I'd ever get this answer out of him
Favorite Disney Parks snack: Anything with Oreos
Favorite Disney restaurant: his favorite from last trip was Spice Road and Tiffins
Favorite Ride: He's somewhat of a thrill seeker so I would say RnRC
Favorite park: Definitely Epcot for him

I'll start with our plans next!
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[SuperNEMOfan]

I just read your PJ. Man that was intense!! Its so close now you can do it!!!

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

Pre-Wedding Plans

I think the best way to format this PTR is to split it into the pre-wedding/wedding and honeymoon plans. I'm actually really excited about our destination wedding and honeymoon being in the same place because it means less travel for us! Which means less expensive in the long run.... or at least that's how I'll justify it in my mind The only thing is.. I want as much park time as possible.. which is going to be challenging before the wedding because we have so many wedding related things to do

But all the hard work will be worth it when it all comes together on the day of

Without further ado.. here are the pre-wedding and wedding day plans! I am constantly tweaking my plans, so if you have any suggestions feel free to chime in!

We are NOT on any kind of dining plan for the first part of our stay... so we will try to dine at (relatively) affordable places, but we also like the TS experience (champagne on a beer budget ) and we eat A LOT

Just remember this image when you see our ADRs while we are on the Deluxe Dining Plan

Wednesday, April 25th

We are planning on leaving after work.. which can sometimes be late for future DH, so it might be 7 PM or so before we hit the road. I'll get home before him, so I'm going to have the car loaded and the dogs fed and we will just wait on him with anticipation I'm sure it's going to feel like forever. When we DO finally get to leave this is where we are heading:



The journey is definitely not a part of the vacation for me It's one of the few pet friendly hotels off the interstate that allow 2 dogs and is a step above the motel level. We won't arrive here until 11 PM or later, so we didn't need anything fancy anyway. This is exactly the half way point on our 8 hour drive to Disney. My future DH will probably do all the driving this night because this is what happens when you mix darkness, contacts, and headlights:

So lucky me, I get to drive us into Disney!!! Which means yay for the dreaded I-4

Thursday, April 26th Disney Arrival Day!!!

I'll most likely be up before 6 AM this morning because I can never sleep well at these interstate hotels and I'm sure our dogs will be extremely confused and will probably wake us up anyway. I want to check the dogs into Best Friends in Disney by 11 AM, so my goal is to drag future DH out of bed and leave the hotel by 7 AM I tend to drive just a tad faster than future DH, so we should make good timing

Our first stop in the World will be Best Friends Pet Hotel. I've never been, but looking at pictures I think our dogs will have a great time. They will be in a "VIP Vacation Villa" where they have their own private outside area, a TV, dog beds, and a webcam that we can watch them on. Only the best for our fur children But seriously this will be their first time being boarded. One of our dogs adjusts to any environment fairly well, but the other one LOVES his routine. He will go upstairs to bed with a toy in his mouth by 9:30 PM if we haven't already made our way up there So I felt it was necessary to spend the extra money to make sure they have individualized attention from the staff. Also, they are not "fixed," so they can't participate in doggy day camp with other dogs.. which is probably a good thing because they aren't very socialized

Their room for the week:



They have their own covered, private patio with a dog slide (what you see through the door)

We plan to spend a couple of hours here getting them checked in and settled. We might walk them around the grounds to show them the place before just taking off. I don't want them to think we are getting rid of them or anything

So that puts us leaving here around 1:30 PM to head to the Grand Floridian!!!!!!



We will have 2 Lagoon View Rooms for April 26th-April 28th. We have a request in for connecting rooms, but obviously those with children under 18 (I think?) get guaranteed connecting rooms. I would've loved to stay in a suite in the Main Building, but holy cow those prices were outrageous

To be honest, I've never really had a desire to stay at the Grand until I started planning my wedding. I think I'll have a whole new appreciation for it after the wedding, and it is a very beautiful resort. It just screams classic Disney to me.. which I LOVE

We are going to drop the wedding related things off at Franck's Bridal Studio before we check in.. then we will head over to the main building and check in and hope for our connecting rooms!!!

After we check in we have to meet my parents to get my wedding dresses (yes I have two wedding dresses, head over to my Wedding PJ to read all about the dress drama ) They are taking the dresses down so I don't risk anything with the dogs... they used to get car sick on car rides when we first got them. So I don't want any chance of dog vomit on my wedding dress(es)

Sometime between meeting my parents and all that jazz we will probably want to get lunch... the prices at the Grand Floridian Cafe are pretty high, so I'm thinking we might go to Gasparilla Grill. I've had decent pizza there before and I really want to do the build your own salad bar.. I can't go completely rogue food wise until after the wedding

By 4:30 PM it should be FINALLY time to head to the first park of our trip... the MAGIC KINGDOM!!!! Epcot has always been my first park since I've always stayed at the Beach Club, but I figured you HAVE to do the MK when you are staying at the GF just because it is so convenient. We have FP's lined up for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Space Mountain, and Big Thunder (I love Big Thunder at night!). Then we have dinner at.....

CINDERELLA'S ROYAL TABLE at 8:35 PM

I know, I know... the food quality is pretty lackluster compared to the price, but I feel like it's a must-do before our wedding. I also ordered the $15 speciality dessert which is a chocolate slipper filled with mousse. I've had this dessert before when my parents used to order it for me as a surprise. Back then, they would write in chocolate on the plate.. so I asked if they could write "Forever and ever" on the plate and it was a no They only offer pre-made chocolate pieces that say Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary, or Congratulations.... so I had to go with Congratulations. I guess I'm congratulating myself

My fiancé and I did CRT for lunch last year.. he hated the princesses coming around because he feels like we are taking time away from the little kids but he actually loved the food. Honestly he likes most food that is remotely edible. I'm pretty sure he even finished my plate.. and then complained about eating too much, which was a frequent experience on our last trip

I've never dined in the castle during the fireworks. I know we won't be able to see anything, but I still think it will be magical Plus, we have the Dessert Party booked later in the week, so we will have prime viewing then, and my fiancé is one of those people that hates waiting around to do the same thing twice in one trip. So this will kind of be like doing the fireworks twice


UP NEXT: THE DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING!! Featuring our unofficial "Couple's Bach Bash" and a "Finger-lickin' Countrified Feast" ​

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

I just read your PJ. Man that was intense!! Its so close now you can do it!!!

My whole wedding planning experience has been nothing short of intense Which I THOUGHT I was avoiding by not having a bridal party and having a small wedding. Just goes to show you how stressful weddings are no matter how big or small! Thank you for the encouragement and thank you for reading!
​

 

[dvc at last !]

I am in .......

 

[AnnaS]

I am in.......will start the reading soon - can't wait!!!

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

Friday, April 27th

Unofficial couples bach bash and a finger-lickin' good time

I'm 99.99% sure this day has changed the most in my planning tweaks. Mainly because I couldn't decide on a rehearsal dinner location at all (and I'm still not 100% satisfied with the end choice). I really dropped the ball and should've reserved a location through DFTW back in June and then canceled if I didn't need it. I really thought it would just be my parents and grandparents the night before because I wasn't sure when future DH's parents would be coming in. Well fast forward and we have 14 people for dinner the night before.. which I didn't know until the beginning of March.

More on this in a minute.. I'm getting ahead of myself

So we are going to start this day by most likely visiting our pups. They open an hour before the earliest park opening, so we will be able to see them starting at 7 AM.

I have a 9 AM appointment with a steaming company for them to come to the room and steam my dresses, veil, and future DH's suit. I originally didn't want to have to get my dresses steamed in Disney because it's going to take over 2 hours which means less park time BUT if you go look in my wedding planning journal, you will see the state of my dress when I picked it up at my final fitting and lets just say it definitely needs steaming (due to dog hair and dog SMELL). Honestly it's been in so many different environments that it smells like feet

Soooo we originally had 1900 Park Fare breakfast booked at 8 AM. I really want to do this breakfast for the characters and it's so convenient since we will be at the GF, but I have no idea if an hour is going to be enough. It's not a huge deal if we don't get to see ALL of the characters. In the past we've done Cape May breakfast in like 30 minutes (we didn't wait on Donald). In case you didn't know, the Mad Hatter, Alice, Tigger, Pooh and Mary Poppins usually meet her for breakfast. I made a photo book of our engagement photos that I'm brining for the characters to sign, so I want to get as many different character meals in as possible.

I'm so torn on if I should keep it or not. I thought about doing room service, but I hate paying the high prices for room service and it being not that great Suggestions welcome!! I feel like I'm running myself in thought circles

Regardless, I'm planning on being in our room from 9:00 AM-11:30 AM while the steaming thing is going on. Luckily we have two rooms so we don't have to sit there and watch her the whole time. My future DH is probably going to be so bored. Hopefully he naps

Then we will take the monorail over to Epcot!!!! I originally had us doing MK this day, but then I realized my future DH really doesn't like the MK (I know, I know I don't understand it either), so I thought of a better way to spend the day before our wedding:

DRINKING AROUND THE WORLD

Okay, just kidding I'm a total lightweight when it comes to alcohol so there won't be that many drinks consumed, but we aren't doing the whole bachelor/bachelorette thing before the wedding, so I thought this would be something fun to do as a couple.

The number one drink on my list is the La Vie en Rose Slush from the France F&G booth. Omg this drink is amazing! It's actually one of the speciality drinks at our wedding reception. From there, I want to try an Andalusian Nights from Spice Road (our other speciality drink), the firefly moonshine drink at the American F&G booth, some kind of Italian wine, and maybe a Dole Whip with Rum


The La Vie en Rose Slush in all her glory

My future DH will probably consume my leftovers after I take a few sips

We have a lunch ADR at Via Napoli at 2 PM. I've been here before, but this will be future DH's first time. He loves pizza and can eat an entire XL takeout pizza in one sitting, so I'm assuming that's what he will get. And that's why we have to go here on a non Dining Plan day.. you can only get the small pizzas on the dining plan and I know my fiancé will want more than that. I had the chicken parm during the Food and Wine event in October and it was AMAZING. So that's probably what I will get. I hate how the service is kind of inconsistent here though

We have to be at the Beach Club by 4:45 PM for our pick-up for the one and only....

HOOP DEE DOO REVUE!



Yes, this is where I decided to have my "rehearsal" dinner. You might have noticed that we don't have a rehearsal planned. Well, my officiant has a wedding at 4 PM on this day, which is when we would need to have the rehearsal. Any other time would be awkward for our plans the rest of the day, so I decided to forgo the rehearsal. We aren't having a bridal party, so my planner and officiant thinks we will be fine. I know my fiancé would probably benefit from a rehearsal, but he will just have to wing it Plus I think a rehearsal costs as much in officiant fees as the actual wedding... and it's just not worth it.

So back to the HDDR, we are having a mini bus pick all of the family up from the BC and then pick up another couple from POFQ. It will take us straight to Pioneer Hall. This was pricey, but I knew it was really my only option in order to get everyone at the right place on time. Can you imagine a first timer that is notoriously late for everything trying to navigate their way to Pioneer Hall

We have the 6:15 PM show and had to book Category 2 since we booked so late I'm really hoping we get a first floor table because my grandma cannot do any stairs.

I'm so torn on how I feel about this. I'm scared it's going to be super lame and my guests are going to think the same. Plus, I don't eat fried chicken, so I'm going to request something off the vegetarian menu. And I hate family style meals with people other than immediate family.... I never know how much food to take

But it's pretty much the only thing we could get so late. And it's a good price for 14 people, especially since it includes alcohol. Oh and it's dinner and a show, so I don't have to worry about entertaining people, which is always an introverts worst nightmare

Me in social situations.... just kidding this is a little dramatic

I almost forgot, I ordered a speciality cake for our HDDR reservation! It's a 10" yellow cake with cream cheese buttercream and fresh strawberry filling The best part is...

IT'S HAUNTED MANSION THEMED!!!

It's going to have the Haunted Mansion purple "wallpaper" print around the cake, with red icing roses, and the man and woman portrait on top. This was the inspiration picture I sent, so basically everything except the gate.



After our countrified feast, the mini bus takes us back to our respective hotels. We will probably want to visit the pups again, so we will probably get our car from the Grand and drive ourselves, that way we don't have to wait on a Minnie Van. Hopefully we get back to the Grand and are settled in by 10:30 PM at the latest.. because we have a VERY early morning the next day!!!!
​

 

[Woth2982]

Im here! Cannot wait to read all about your magical trip!

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

I am in .......

I am in.......will start the reading soon - can't wait!!!

Glad to have y'all along for the ride!!! My goal is to get this thing finished before we leave (8 days!!!) It's going to be a challenge because the pups chewed my laptop charger (for the second time ) so a lot of this typing I have do on my phone until the new charger arrives ​

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

Im here! Cannot wait to read all about your magical trip!

Yayyyy!!! I'm frantically trying to finish this before we leave ​

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

The Reason We All Are Here - The Wedding Day! Saturday, April 28th

An extremely accurate depiction of me on the morning of our wedding because the wake up call is at

4:00 IN THE MORNING PEOPLE

I really can't think of a time when I've ever got up at 4 AM on purpose. It's definitely doable, but I'm worried about looking soooo tired. I'm planning on going by the QS location (I get tired of looking up how to spell it ) and grabbing something out of the fridge and maybe a cup of coffee. They are open 24/7, right? I know they don't make fresh breakfast at 4 AM, but I really just need some fruit and yogurt. And coffee... definitely coffee.

Completely off topic, but I LOVE Gilmore Girls. Definitely my favorite long-running show of all time

Really, the smart thing to do would be to get something from GG the night BEFORE and put in the fridge. I wonder if the room fridges can keep something like fruit and yogurt cold enough... maybe I shouldn't risk food sickness the day of my wedding

Anyway, here's hoping that I'm super excited and the adrenaline wakes me up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 4 AM

Hair and Makeup arrives around 4:30 AM and boy, is she going to have a lot of work to do

I posted the results of my hair and makeup trial from November in my wedding PJ.. the cosmetologist did a great job! But let's just say the stress of wedding planning has taken a toll on my skin since then. I'm drinking at least 90 oz of water a day and I've cut my caffeine down to one cup of coffee a day I've also cut down on the dairy and switched to almond milk for my morning cereal. I've noticed a little less inflammation/redness and it's been less than a week.

One thing that is still up in the air is my hairstyle. I went with an updo at the trial, but I hardly ever wear my hair up so I know I will probably like it in pictures more if it is down. Then I have to worry about the awesome Florida humidity

I'm thinking I might just go for it and work whatever happens. I think it will be better than wearing my hair up and looking bald in pictures

The only other thing I'm slightly worried about this morning is dragging future DH out of bed. He is NOT a morning person AT ALL and he already said if we have connecting rooms he is going to lock his door He likes to wait until the very last minute to start getting ready and I don't expect anything different on the wedding day. He could care less about "getting ready" photos, so who knows he might be in his pajamas when the photographers arrive.

I'm hoping he cooperates just for ONE morning I mean he always pulls it off in the end, but I don't want the extra stress the morning of.

I am most excited about our first look but future DH is super against the first look. He decided to wait until just the other day to tell me that he wishes the ceremony would be the first time he sees me. I think it's sweet, but we really need the picture time before the ceremony. Plus, he hardly shows any emotions in front of other people, so I think the first look will be good for him... he just doesn't know it yet

So there are a lot of wedding details I would love to talk about here, but for sake of not being repetitive you can check it out in my wedding planning journal!

So we will get married, go the reception at the GM Lounge and eat the YUMMY brunch food.. also way too excited about this... I better get to eat at my own wedding and drink our yummy speciality drinks. There will be a few surprises from STITCH , Mickey, Minnie and Pluto!!!

Once the reception is over around 3:30 PM we will head over to the Yacht Club to check in to our CLUB LEVEL reservation! I wanted to walk over to the YC from our reception, but I will have a number of large wedding signs and a bunch of framed table numbers to carry back.. along with some throw pillows, a guestbook... you get the point so we pretty much have to take the bus back and then unload all of this at the YC.

I'm hoping to be checked in to the YC by 4:30 PM at the latest. Then we will have to call for our luggage (forgot to mention that my mom and sister will have to wait for bell services to move our luggage while we do our first look). If they have our luggage I'm hoping we get that by 5 PM.

Here's where I'm undecided. Right now, I have a 6:00 PM Beaches and Cream reservation. Brunch is at 11:30 AM so we might be a little hungry, BUT this is really the only time we have to visit our dogs on this day Another BUT is.. we won't have our car (yet), so we would have to call a Minnie Van on the way to Best Friends and back which could take some time. We have to be back at the YC by 7:15 PM to meet our photographers and head over to International Gateway for our Dessert Party.

I really like the idea of sharing a sundae in our wedding attire Of course we don't have time to eat there and visit the dogs. We could always visit them after the Dessert Party since they are open until 1 AM this night, but we have our park shoots the next morning so it will be an even earlier morning.

Maybe we'll just have to be Team No Sleep for these two days which will make for a cranky future DH

Anyway, we will either grab a snack in the CL Lounge and go see the pups or eat at Beaches and Cream. Then it's Dessert Party time!!!
Our Dessert party is at UK Lochside in Epcot. It's the patio down by the water below and beside Rose and Crown



I really wanted the smaller Italy Plaza because I like that Spaceship Earth is kind of in the middle for pictures, but for some reason my consultant thought UK Lochside was my first choice. Oh well. It is definitely very close to the action

We are having a build-your-own Nacho Bar, Jalepeno Cheese Pretzels, Zebra Domes, and Carrot Cake Cookies at the Dessert Party!!! I'm so excited.. I've never had Zebra Domes, the Jalepeno Cheese Pretzels or Carrot Cake Cookies It all sounds soooo good!

UP NEXT: PARK SHOOTS AND THE FIRST DAY OF OUR HONEYMOON!!!
​

 

[AnnaS]

Glad to have y'all along for the ride!!! My goal is to get this thing finished before we leave (8 days!!!) It's going to be a challenge because the pups chewed my laptop charger (for the second time ) so a lot of this typing I have do on my phone until the new charger arrives ​

Oh no...........that is not too expensive at least. About a year ago, I spilled hot chocolate on my 1 yr. old laptop. Could not be fixed.......I only had myself to blame. Love reading and following along. Thank you.

 

[Woth2982]

Your day of plans sound so great (except that whole wake up at 4 am thing). As for your hair, some excellent advice my hair dresser gave me (she used to be a fancy LA stylist), you want to look like yourself on your wedding day only enhanced. So if you normally don't wear your hair up, dont! Go with what you feel most comfortable. You will also figure out what to do about the dogs. It will all come together the way it is supposed to

Side bar Gilmore Girls and Friends are my two favorite shows so I love you used their gifs lol.

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

A VERY MAGICAL MORNING AND DAY 1 OF HONEYMOONING - SUNDAY, APRIL 29TH

So, I have to admit, the idea of a park shoot was one of the main reasons I decided on a Disney Wedding. I know you can do a park shoot without getting married at Disney, but it's just not the same to me. I think it's so magical to have virtually the whole Magic Kingdom to yourself before the sun even rises, in your wedding attire. This is what I picture in my mind:

This probably what I'll end up looking like, considering I'm waking up at the lovely hour of 3:30 AM:

Basically we get picked up in the lobby of the YC at 6 AM. My cosmetologist is coming back to replicate my hair and makeup from the day before. We are having videography come to the park shoot as well, so I want our video to look like everything happened on the same day. You get to choose from 3 Routes for the Magic Kingdom park shoot (you can't just go anywhere you want, which is understandable as they are trying to get the park show ready for the day). We picked the Route with The Wishing Well, The Carousel, and Mad Tea Party. Wellllll, I got an email around mid March telling me the the carousel is under a scrim and they don't know when it will be down

These were literally the photos I was looking forward to the most. I'm still hoping and praying that the ugly scrim comes down before the 29th, but I haven't had the best of luck in this wedding planning process.

Luckily we did manage to get a photographer on our top 4 list (the 4th one, but still at least it was one from our list)

We are doing Epcot right after Magic Kingdom. I haven't completely decided on which countries I want to do. I know I definitely want to do Morocco (I feel like my dress fits that country), and I'm torn on France, Italy, and Canada. We did France and Italy for our engagement shoot, so I wanted to do something different with Canada, but for some reason I don't like all of the pictures in front of the really rocky waterfall. Plus, it's further from the other countries and would take away from photo time. So really, it's down to France and Italy. We could possibly do both in addition to Morocco, but when we did the same 3 countries for our engagement shoot we ran out of time in Italy and didn't get very many pictures there.

So basically I need to prioritize France and Italy behind Morocco. I'm so torn because there are features I love about both! I feel like there are more nooks and crannies in France, but I like the bridal portraits in front of the doors in Italy. Ughhhhh

Well anyway all of the photos should be done by 9ish and we should be back at the YC by 9:30 AM. I'm pretty sure we will need a nap, so nap we will!!!!

One of the reservations I am MOST excited about is CALIFORNIA GRILL BRUNCH AT THE TOP!!!! That's where we are headed at 12:45 PM. So begins our 5 days of feasting!!!!

GIMME ALL THE YUMMY FOOD

So California Grill is around $80 per person, but we will be using 2 dining credits. We have 15 dining credits total to use from April 28th - May 2nd.. and it will be quite a challenge! From what I've read, you can eat off the buffet at California Grill and order from the menu. There are also mimosas, but I'm not sure if they are bottomless? This was the first Disney restaurant we ate at as a couple, so it's all sort of coming full circle. We did dinner and we didn't love the food, so I'm sure future DH will wonder why we are going back I'm hoping brunch is a better experience.

I'm just looking forward to this amazing view! It will be awesome to get to look out over where we got married the previous day



I'm allowing around 2 hours for brunch here. Hopefully we will have gotten our car from the Grand by now ugh that dang car.. as you can tell I don't want to take the time to go and get it. Who needs to go back home anyway.. just tow it away and I'll stay here forever!

If needed, we will go get the car and drive to Best Friends to see the pups (I really hate driving "in the bubble" so this is going to be the only downside about this trip)

Then we will head back to the YC for some drinks and snacks on the Club Level. I really feel like we aren't going to "get our money" out of the Club Level offerings, just because we won't be at the hotel all that much. I've read that the evening food at YC isn't all that great.. so hopefully we won't miss out on anything too good

Next stop is Epoct.. hopefully by 6ish! I have a couple of FP's planned.. Test Track and Frozen Ever After, but I'm not sure if we will use them. I kind of just want to walk around World Showcase without a set plan. My fiancé doesn't like to have every minute planned.. so I have to act like I don't have every minute planned

Our only other real plan for the night is Flying Fish at 9:25 PM We obviously won't have time to stand in one place and watch Illuminations, but I'm planning on walking over to Flying Fish while Illuminations is going on, so we can at least hear the music

I've never been to Flying Fish, but all the signatures are on my Disney Bucket List. I've seen some recent good reviews, so I'm hoping for the best. We did Yachtsman Steakhouse last trip, and I liked it but I don't really want to repeat it when we have so many other places to try. Plus, now that the Dining Plan includes an alcoholic drink, I want to go to places with interesting cocktail choices

I don't really eat red meat unless I "have to," meaning there is nothing else on the menu (because seafood is definitely a no for me). I see there is a chicken entree on the Flying Fish menu, so that's most likely what I will get unless it's not on the menu when we get there, then it will be red meat

One of our goals on this trip is to try and stay up later. We go to bed early at home and sometimes that translates to vacation Hopefully we can enjoy some of the nightlife on the Boardwalk after dinner. I've been wanting to go to the magician themed bar on the Boardwalk for the last couple of trips and haven't made it over there.

I'm sure we will be EXHAUSTED from the morning and previous day, so we will see how late we can go, but this will probably be me at dinner

UP NEXT: A FULL DAY OF MAGIC


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[AllThingsMickey4]

Your day of plans sound so great (except that whole wake up at 4 am thing). As for your hair, some excellent advice my hair dresser gave me (she used to be a fancy LA stylist), you want to look like yourself on your wedding day only enhanced. So if you normally don't wear your hair up, dont! Go with what you feel most comfortable. You will also figure out what to do about the dogs. It will all come together the way it is supposed to

Side bar Gilmore Girls and Friends are my two favorite shows so I love you used their gifs lol.

YES so many people have told me that I want to make sure I look like myself on my wedding day, so I think hair down is definitely the right decision.. even if my curls do fall out by the reception

There are so many great one liners from Gilmore Girls it's my go to Netflix show when I have nothing else to watch

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

Oh no...........that is not too expensive at least. About a year ago, I spilled hot chocolate on my 1 yr. old laptop. Could not be fixed.......I only had myself to blame. Love reading and following along. Thank you.

OH NO!!!! I've had way too many close calls with technology and liquids So far my dogs have only cost me $160 in stuff over 2 years that HAD to be replaced (2 laptop chargers). They've definitely chewed their share of socks though... oddly just in the last few months. My future DH hates it, but I've had some of my socks for 8 years at least, so sometimes I just leave them out to give them something to do while we are at work

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

MONDAY, APRIL 30TH - A FULL DAY OF MAGIC

Today will be a full MAGIC KINGDOM DAY!!! Aka.. my future DH's least favorite park. Actually, I think he would choose Magic Kingdom over Animal Kingdom. He' s one of those people that think Animal Kingdom is automatically hotter than any of the other parks when in reality it's just the jungle flora and fauna that makes him feel that way

We are starting our morning bright and early with a breakfast at the Crystal Palace! It's at 8 AM with a 9 AM park opening.. so hopefully the park hours stay the same. A pre park opening breakfast is about the only way I can get future DH to rope drop- he hates just standing and waiting for the park to open. This will be future DH's first time to the Crystal Palace. I LOVE their breakfast - specifically Pooh's Puffed French Toast and this will be a great way to get a variety of characters to sign our engagement photo album.

After our delicious breakfast with Pooh and friends I'm planning on heading to Frontierland and riding Big Thunder then Haunted Mansion and Pirates while the rest of the rope drop crowd (hopefully) heads to 7DMT and Peter Pan

Then we have a couple of FP's for the Jungle Cruise, 7DMT, and Space Mountain

Lunch will be at noon at Skipper Canteen. I've eaten here once and thought it was a nice change from the typical theme park food. Plus, it's a good value on the dining plan. The Plaza is my usual traditional lunch place, but I don't love the menu update they did a couple of years ago. When I think of the Plaza I thought of light lunch items.. not meatloaf and smothered cheese fries Plus it's not a great way to maximize our dining plan value.

After lunch we will take a break to visit the dogs. Then we get to go to one of my favorite restaurants on property:

Ohana!!! I always make a pretty early reservation here to avoid going when it's really busy as I've heard that the wait past your ADR can be pretty lengthy if they start to run behind. So we will be having dinner at 5 PM. I know it's close to our lunch time, but it is what it is I'm going to try to eat a relatively light lunch. My favorite part of Ohana is the bread pudding anyway.. and we all know about that separate dessert stomach

Am I the only one that wishes they had Stitch at Ohana dinner? Like at least have him at the front where you can take a picture with him. I just love the whole Lilo and Stitch vibe.. although I don't think I could stay at the Poly for a week. Sorry Poly fans

And you thought this day full of food was OVER?!?!? Not in the slightest!!!!

Next we have the Happily Ever Dessert Party with Plaza Garden Viewing!!!

Okay so this is definitely more for the view than the desserts, but I'm sure we will snack on a few things Future DH has never seen HEA, and we only saw Wishes from the Cali Grill last trip, so he has actually never seen a fireworks show from inside the MK! I want the best view possible for HEA since a big part of the show is the projections, so that's why I booked the DP. Oh, and we booked the "Enchanted Evenings Honeymoon Package" that included 2 wedding themed magic bands (they are super cute!), and 2 tickets to this dessert party with a special celebratory treat. Not sure what the treat is going to be, but I'm sure it will be a nice surprise.

I was initially pretty sad when they announced the end of Wishes, it had been running since my very first trip to Disney!! I thought it was pretty cool that the last night for it was my college graduation day.. sort of like the end of an era in both senses I'm also just really corny at finding coincidences like that. But anyway, I LOVE Happily Ever After!!! The music is my favorite part, it makes me tear up every time!

After our FOOD filled day, we will maybe go see the pups again and then proceed to fall into our food coma

Also, can you tell that 75% of the reason we go to Disney is for the food???? The other 15% would be the shows and fireworks and special events, leaving only the last 10% for the rides I always resist the urge to comment on threads that say 3 table meals is too much in one day. There is definitely always enough stomach space at Disney ​

 

[Woth2982]

What about Japan for the Epcot shoot? Japan has some really pretty gardens (where the koi pond is) and some hidden gems! I am hoping against all hope the scrim comes down! Even if it doesnt you can get some great photos ON the carosel without the scrim Im better....hoping...

Your plans all look great. I have never been to the California Grill so looking forward to your review! You have a lot of eating packed in this trip! I am super jealous lol. I love food (way too much). The Pooh Puffed french toast is also my favorite! DF and I are doing a "relaxed" thing for our disneymoon so no MK breakfast for us I am gonna try and get CRT though since Irma cancelled it for us last year.

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

Tuesday May 1st - A WILD Day!

If you can't tell by the title, we will be spending most of our day on Tuesday in Animal Kingdom!!!

We are starting with a pre park opening breakfast at Tusker House! I love the variety of food at Tusker House, and they have a really good cinnamon coffee bread at breakfast!

If you can't tell already, I love carbs

After our breakfast we will most likely head to the Safari to ride without a FP and then we have TWO fastpasses for Everest back to back. I love EE, but I think it freaked future DH out the first time he rode it (the going backwards part) so I'll see if I can get him on it twice

It's sort of a long story about how we ended up with double Fps, but basically my FP window didn't open online when it was supposed to I had to call and have the CM make all of my FPs individually as "special experiences," so I can't modify those FPs made by the CM. I didn't call on the day they were supposed to open because I thought I would wait and see if it had to do with my split stay... so when they STILL didn't open a couple of days later I made the call. In the meantime, I made FPs under my parents names (who also have tickets) for our AK day, since that was the only day I was really worried about (for FoP). Then I was able to transfer the FPs to our names (thanks to the help of a fellow DIS member)

Sooooo we ended up with 2 FPs for EE AND FoP!!! I'm just hoping the system allows us to use both.

So after EE we are going to Pandora to use our FoP FPs. This will be future DH's first time in Pandora and I'm excited of him to see it! I also want to try a drink at the little bar in Pandora because it's been really busy whenever I've been there.

At 11:30 we will go to check in for the WILD AFRICA TREK!!!

I'm pretty excited about this tour after all the awesome reviews I've seen. From what I understand, it's like a detailed version of the safari, expect you get to WALK in the safari areas instead of riding in the truck. There is also a suspension bridge involved over the crocodiles that I'm not sure how future DH is going to feel about walking across but he told me he was up for anything so we will see!

They also provide a small lunch on the Boma (there is a platform in the giraffe area you might have seen on the Safari - that's what is called the Boma)

I was honestly surprised by how much this tour cost, so I'm really hoping it's worth it!

After our tour, we have a very, very late "lunch" at Tiffins!!!!

Tiffins is one of my favorites. I love their tea.. it's a special flavored tea (blackberry, I think?) and they provide honey for sweetener.. yum!! The bread service is usually my go to app (I eat so many carbs ) and then the chicken is my favorite entree!! I can't remember the specifics off the top of my head but I think it is a pomegranate lacquered chicken with some kind of African pap/grits? All I know is I had it last May twice and it was amazing. I've tried all of their desserts and I honestly can't pick a favorite- they are all so good. I think I'm feeling the lime cheesecake right now though. It sounds like a weird combo but it tastes a lot better than it sounds The portions are relatively small, so I never leave too stuffed even eating all 3 courses.

By that time it will be around 4:30 PM, so we will leave AK and go straight to Best Friends to visit the dogs

Then it's back to the YC to change and get ready for a very, very late dinner at..

Monsieur Paul! at 9:30 PM

I'm thinking maybe we can stand on the bridge to France and catch some of Illuminations if we want, and then head over to MP for dinner. I'm still a little hesitant on this reservation. I really wanted to do Jiko here, but it's way more convenient to be able to walk back to the YC after. Plus, I think it will be cool to walk back when there is less people in WS (Epcot has EMH until 11 this night, which is probably when we will finish eating, but I don't think many people spend EMH in WS).

I've seen great reviews of MP and also some not so great. I'm not very excited about the menu, but I still want to check this one of my Disney bucket list

UP NEXT: AN ADVENTUROUS BREAKFAST!!!

*Side note, sorry about any typos in this, I had a glass and a half of wine and just got my nails done, so I'm having issues typing

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[AllThingsMickey4]

BON VOYAGE ADVENTURE AND DHS - WEDNESDAY MAY 2ND

This is the first day where we have the *option* to sleep in Our first reservation isn't until 10:30 AM and it is for the Bon Voyage Adventure Breakfast!! I've wanted to do this for the last couple of trips, but this was the first time I could get it worked into our itinerary. As you know, Tangled is probably my favorite Disney movie (or at least one of them), so I am too excited to meet Rapunzel and Flynn



Sorry Ariel and Prince Eric
I even got a Tangled t shirt made for the occasion

I've seen reviews of this breakfast and the portions look HUGE!! I also love that they pastries are served in a frying pan... Oh and more carbs



After breakfast, I'm planning on going to Epcot to use any leftover credits at the F&G booths. We might have one table credit left over if we don't eat at Beaches and Cream on our wedding night, so we will turn this into 3 snack credits so it doesn't go to waste. The only other way we could work this left over credit into our plans was to eat at the Hollywood Brown Derby for dinner this night, but I really want Mama Melrose

Then we will go to DHS. Really the only reason I'm going to DHS this trip is to ride ToT (my favorite ride!) With Toy Story Mania suspending FP service, there is really only 2 rides we want to FP.. Tower of Terror and Star Tours. We have a FP for Star Tours before dinner and then dinner at Mama Melrose!

Mama's gets a lot of mixed reviews, but I've always loved the food. Then again, remember my love of carbs... which translates to absolute lover of noodles

There are way too many gifs to describe my love of noodles

Anyway, the addition of flatbreads as apps at Mama's is a really good value on the dining plan. We will probably get a flatbread each, and then I'll get the chicken parm (which is heaven on earth) and I'm guessing future DH will get steak because I never cook steak at home

I don't think I've ever had enough room for dessert at Mama Melrose.. so I've never had any of their desserts

After dinner is our FP for ToT

Probably not the best idea timing wise, but I love riding ToT at night, so we will just have to hold the food in

And the night is not over!

I haven't seen Fantasmic in a couple of years and future DH has never seen it. With all the updates to the night shows, I want to see it again in case something happens to it in the future (not that there is any rumor, but who knows with Disney).

I was going to do the dining package, but then I read that even if you are on the deluxe dining plan, you don't get an app, entree, and dessert. You get just what is including with the dining package. Which kind of makes sense but kind of doesn't

So I signed us up for the "VIP Viewing and Dessert Package" where you get a box of "treats" and a alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink before the show and I think you get to sit in the same area as the dining package people.



This should keep future DH busy until the show starts

Best Friends is open until 1 AM this night, so I'm sure we will make a late night visit if we aren't too exhausted

UP NEXT: SOMETHING I'VE DREAMED OF SINCE I WAS 16!

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