Mary & Dan's TR- WP/BW 6/22/07-Getting ready

Thank you my princessgirllisa!

June 13, 2007

Chapter 2…
“Ahhh the pearly gates”


So finally we managed to pack everything back up and shove it into my mother’s minivan. Now we did not do this with precision because we knew we would not be driving so far this time!

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ahhh there is nothing like the site of those gates after a long journey!

We arrived at the Boardwalk and checked in. Originally we had booked the first few nights in a standard and then the last few in the garden suite. No we didn’t get upgraded to a garden suite for the whole trip because apparently they were solid booked lol but we did get a very beautiful room overlooking the garden. It was great because we were right down the hall from the lounge and a 2 min walk to the pool.

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A very happy couple

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Our room

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Our beautiful and quiet view – and I mean quiet. I have never stayed in such a quiet Disney resort. I didn’t even know there were people there at some times. It was so relaxing which for us is an unusual Disney experience. Usually we stay at AKL or WL which are beautiful resorts but always bustling. We just loved the Boardwalk! That night we ate dinner at Brown Derby and I must say it was fantastic. I have rediscovered this place. I had a Salmon dish over creamy polenta that was so yummy! We all loved the Brown Derby plus just walking through MGM at night is always so nice.
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The next day we just hung out at Downtown Disney and did a ton of shopping. We had lunch at Fulton’s which used to be a family tradition but I have to say we were a bit disappointed. Plus an employee was being arrested as we ate lunch! I have to say it was a weird day in DTD. After more shopping we left and we saw a guy in the process of trying to steal a car and the police approaching him. I have never experienced these things at Disney before so I was a bit shocked- but I did grow in nyc so I wasn’t that shocked lol.

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The guys were troopers- even though my mom and I were doing some serious shopping they played along! Now that only happens in Disney lol!


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That night we had ressies at Jiko. This is place is tied with California grill as my favorite Disney restaurant!

We started with the Kenyan BBQ chicken flatbread and the tomato and cucumber salad with watermelon vinaigrette. We had a wonderful pinotage but I forget the name. Followed by……
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I have been to Jiko a few times but this was the first filet experience- oh my gosh that stuff is delicious!
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Dan’s Moroccan style chicken

Unfortunately we were way to stuffed for dessert but we were very happy customers:
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Up next in chapter two- Magic Kingdom, and the race to deliver all the welcome bags and poor Dan struggles to assemble our place cards!
 
Chapter 2…
“7 days and counting”


On Friday we decided we would go to the Magic Kingdom in the morning and then take a break and go back to the hotel and relax in the evening. We had ressies for Citricos at 7:00pm. Early in the morning we head over to MK and we had decided to do Crystal Palace character breakfast. Now let me just add in the fact that when we were making plans for this both my brother and Dan where not to into this. They didn’t mind the character thing but well let’s just say Winnie the Pooh is not their favorite! Still I made the ressie because it was just most convenient and we hadn’t been there since we were kids!


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The castle of course
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Dan and his idol!
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The new show at the castle- I forget the name but I wasn’t a fan. I guess I am acheese ball because I really liked cinderellabration!

We head over to crystal palace and waited only a few minutes for our table. We were great with a “congratulations” and cute decorations on the table. I guess the girl who made our ADR made a note!

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How cute!
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Yum Yum- I just love breakfast!
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So in the end we all had a good time and the guys not wanting to admit it loved it! The food was great! After that we hung out in MK for the day and rode some of the obligatory rides. Around 5pm we head back to the BW to shower and change for Citricos.

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More shots of the Boardwalk INN garden- just because I am in love lol!

That evening we had dinner at Citricos which was a bit disappointing. Now I will say I have eaten here before and loved it but this time it was just so-so!
The best part of the meal for me….
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The next day (Saturday June 16…6 days and counting) we had scheduled a park free day. Tomorrow was Sunday and that was when a lot of our family and friends would begin to arrive. So we new we would need a day to get it all together. First we worked on getting all of our table numbers and place cards together. All we had to do was take the handles off the buckets, slip on the place cards, reassemble and add tafy. So I figured this was an easy enough task for Dan as I put together and arranged all the welcome bags and labeled all of the stuff for Diane. Well I was wrong!

Dan TRYING to be productive…
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Finally with my guidance he gets it together and figures out a system!
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So we deliver all the welcome bags which was a cinch. I had created a sheet for each resort with the guest’s names and confirmation numbers. We handed them the sheet and the concierge just entered the info in the computer and we handed them the bags. To my knowledge everyone got one. Then we dropped off all of our stuff at Franck’s and head back to the BW.

That evening was the last evening it would just be the four of us. Starting on Sunday we would be traveling in groups of 8, 16, 30…so we decided to have a nice quite evening and go to Cali Grill. I do not have to tell you all how spectacular this place is. We had the best meal and of course the view is killer….
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Dan being his goofy self…
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Ok so do you think I like dessert? They always look so pretty to me!
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Our fabulous finale- the cheese tray!
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Up next in chapter three- Jambo! We head to Animal Kingdom and later in the evening our group grows larger!
 


The picture of Dan with the place cards is HI-larious! I love it! Sounds like you had lots of fun but with a nice laid back kind of approach to the parks before your guests arrived.

Subscribing! I am hooked on your TR!
 
I love your TR so far. I can tell my DH would love your DH-- the Titleist hat told me so! haha... cant wait for morepopcorn::
 
Thank you Luvndisney and Mo1973!

Maggimus- I think they would- Dan will not part with the hat or clubs:rotfl: Every time we go to wdw he gets the Disney Titleist hat!
 


I lurk here a lot - but had to post and tell you how much I ADORE your cake! You looked beautiful as well!

Congrats!
 
Chapter 3:
“Well hello gang!”

Cast of characters:
Mary- the bride-well you know me~! :lol:
Dan- you know him too!
Steve Mary's Bro
Toni- Mary's Mom
Roger- Dan's dad
Diane- Dan's mom
Kerry- Dan's sister
Kyle- Kerry's husband


The alarm rang very early this Sunday morning. Jambo! We had 8 am ressies at Donald’s Breakfastsourus. So we all stumbled out of bed and head to the Animal Kingdom. Breakfast was ok. The characters made it. You get the classics Mickey, Donald, goofy and Pluto. The food was just so-so. Even though the characters were great we all agreed we like Crystal Palace better. Still we had a good time!

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We fast passed EE and rode one of my favorite rides the safari!
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This giraffe got so close!!!!!
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I was so mad because the Nemo show was closed. Turns out it was closed all week and guests kept saying hey that Nemo show was closed- jeesh you would think they ran the ride just for me and Dan and we closed it down! Well whatever I saw it Jan and really liked it but still I was bummed but I guess there is always next time. Instead we saw Festival of the Lion King and a few other things. Around 3:30 pm we head back to the hotel to shower and change. It was father’s day and Dan’s parents and Dan’s sister and husband had arrived that morning. We had ressies for Tony’s Town Square at 7pm so we were meeting them at the Magic kingdom.

Us on the monorail to the MK…
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Meeting up at the MK. Us with my sister and brother in law and another familiar face..
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Tony’s Town Square was really good. We had a great time and it was so much fun having more people added to the mix. Since it was father’s day we had arranged a cake through that new cake line to be delivered to Tony’s. Rogers favorite character is socerer Mickey so we had the cake made with that theme.
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Later on we watched spectromagic and wishes which we all found very amusing! I thought it was even more fun because my BIL Kyle and my bro Steve who are not so much into Disney were just having a blast. Even though they did make the comment “Dry park???? What the $%^&&!)

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Afterwards it was extra magic evening. Now Dan and I have done this before with much success but the park was just as crowded as during the day. Even though it was already around midnight we really only got to ride Pirates! So we decided to have our own fun and ransack the MK- lol just kidding but we did make our fun!

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So around 12:30am we went our separate way and decide to meet at MGM the next morning at 8:30am.

Up next in chapter 3- Hoop de doo, hoop de dooooooo!!!!!!!!
 
Mary, you are so adorable! I love your hair. Has anyone ever told you that you look like Jennifer Aniston? Your face reminds me of hers :)

I LOVE HDD, so I can't wait for the next installment!! :cheer2:
 
MARY you look like Jennifer Aniston with that Pirate's hat on! NO JOKE!

Where do I start?....Wow, the food you had looked incredible, love your DH(he's such a sport!) and your table cards are SO NICE!!! I'm really enjoying your TR!!!

Ready for more!popcorn::

:banana:
 
Mary, you are so adorable! I love your hair. Has anyone ever told you that you look like Jennifer Aniston? Your face reminds me of hers :)

I LOVE HDD, so I can't wait for the next installment!! :cheer2:

OH, haha! I just noticed your post (I wrote the same thing about Mary looking like Jennifer Aniston, silly me!) ....she really does though...
 
OH, haha! I just noticed your post (I wrote the same thing about Mary looking like Jennifer Aniston, silly me!) ....she really does though...

Haha! At least you're backing me up! I hate it when I say someone looks like someone famous and everyone else goes "what kind of crack are you smoking?! no she doesn't!!" :rotfl:
 
It is so beautiful! What a great TR so far! I love how glowingly happy you *all* look in every picture (except the one where Dan is having trouble making the favors!! :lmao: Men! ) I love the pink and I loved the Tchoup Chop review! :) I can see the Jen Aniston thing, too! I also see a little of my good friend, too, except she has red hair. Anyway, keep the report coming. It's lovely!
 
Awesome TR! I dunno how I missed it before... You look gorgeous in your dress!

Can't wait to hear more! popcorn::
 
Awww thanks so much guys! it's funny you girls mention the Jennifer Anniston thing. I get it quite often and the day of my wedding as my videographer was shooting me she stops the camera and says"he you know you really look like Jennifer Anniston?" It would be even better if I had her body:rotfl: but I won't freak about that because she probably works out 7 days a week :rotfl2:


June 18, 2007

Chapter 3:
“Hoop de doooooo, hoop de dooooo!!!!!!!”


It was Monday morning at the alarm rang at 7 am for a minute I thought I was back home until I heard stitch screaming “nooooo sleeeeeeeeping”! lol! We had gotten in around 1:30- 2 am the night before because of magic hours and I was not feeling all so well. I should have taken this as the first clue that I was getting sick but I have a weak stomach so I figured it was just something I had the night before. Still, I needed to sleep some more so I had Dan call his sister and tell them we wouldn’t be at MGM until 10 am or so.

I went back to bed for another hour and I really needed it. We woke back up at 8:30 am and got dressed. We were right of the lounge area so Dan went and got us some tea and muffins for breakfast at the Bellview lounge. We headed off to MGM where we met up with Kerry and Kyle. Now they had gotten there earlier and already ridden TOT and RNR buuuuutttt the won the free fast past thing for that day at MGM. So it worked out for us because they were able to use their park passes to fast pass RnR for us so while we waited for that time to come up we decided to ride ToT. There was no line- can you believe it??? We only waited 5 mins so we rode it twice!

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Now the guys were excited but they need their coffee.
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We were scared already.

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Me getting into character

Later we met up with my bro, my mom and Dan’s parents. We saw a few shows and ate lunch. Unfortunately Dan’s dad forgot his heart meds at home so that was a big to do but luckily we were able to get his doctor to phone in to one of the pharmacies and then the pharmacy delivered it to POR!

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“the kids” in front of Narnia which was a very cool exposition. I loved the white witch.
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stunt show which everyone loved.

By this time half the day had passed and it was around 4pm. We had tickets for Hoop de Doo review that night so we all headed over to Ft. Wilderness. I will say that day in the park was exceptionally hot. We were all dying and sweating. It took a lot out of everyone so Hoop de doo was the perfect thing to do at that time.

We were all sat very quickly and we had good seats toward the back on the first floor.
The food was decent- I mean it’s not Jiko but you can’t expect that. It is more about the fun time rather than the food itself but still everyone enjoyed the comfort food and the endless sangria! Let me tell you I think we drank like 3 pitchers between the 5 “kids” My mom and Dan’s dad only had a glass and Dan’s mom doesn’t drink so needless to say we were a bit tipsy!

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They look like they belong here lol!
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my very funny and very silly BIL!
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So as I said we were tipsy and really getting into the show!! We were singing along and everything lol!

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later that evening we were going to go see fantasmic but it started pouring. Everyone wanted to just go home except Dan, Kerry and I. so we head back to MGM to do some shopping. Well we got soaked! It was such a bad idea…between being soaked and however I was feeling that morning, by the time we got back to the resort I was sick- full fledged sick. I felt like a Nyquil commercial. Stuffy nose, soar throat, fever and coughing.Yuck!

We called Dan’s parents and my mom and got some stock in Vitamin C, Echinacea and cold medicine. I just hoped for the best but I was upset. It wasn’t so much that the next day was DATW but I just didn’t want to be sick for my wedding, oh and ok the next day was DATW and all of my friends and some more bridesmaids were coming to join the fun- boooooo!

Up next- Drinking and eating around the world- well mostly drinking.
 

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