Jan 08 WDW Trip Re-Visited/Day 1 Part 5

Brianne and LJ going through the gates for the first time.

We spent quite a bit of time touring the different pavilions and snapping a ton of pictures!  I won't bore you with all of them, but here are a few.

Mexico Pavilion:

It had been a long day and we were getting hungry again. The guys walked ahead to get in line for ESPN for dinner since they don’t take ADR’s. Brianne and I took a more leisurely pace and noticed a roped off area beside the bridge leading to the France pavilion. Nosy women that we are we had to find out what they were giving away.

Turns out it was Extra Magic Hour bracelets. We tried our best to sweet talk the CM into giving us bracelets for our husbands, but no dice. I was afraid that with such a long day the guys wouldn’t want to stay for EMH.

Once we made it to the ESPN club the guys were being shown to our table. Nice! I felt like we hadn’t eaten in days. Plus, we hadn’t eaten any snacks all day. 

All of the times that we have stayed at the Boardwalk this is the first time that I have actually been inside the ESPN club. I’m sorry Jordan- I know this is one of your favorite spots.

The food at the ESPN club was either some of the best ever or we were just extremely hungry. We will try it again on our next trip and I will let you know.

You would think that we would have been too full to eat another bite, but the Boardwalk Bakery was calling our names. We snagged some yummy desserts and coffee and ate it with our CM friends.

The Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake was the only dessert I managed to snag a picture of. Everything else was gone pretty quickly.

 

It was approaching 8:45 and we were all itching to see Illuminations. When we walked towards Epcot we had the intentions of just watching from the bridge and then heading back to ASM. But what we ended up doing was going into the parks, picking up EMH bracelets for the guys, and staying until close. Yikes!

Again in retrospect we should have called it a day, but smarter thinking did not prevail. We had so much fun, but our bodies paid for it later.

I had been talking to Brianne about Soarin so much that she was as eager as me to ride. When the board showed a stand-by time of 45 minutes it was unanimous that we would have to come back another time. Spaceship earth had little to no line. We walked almost right up to the door and waited about 5 minutes to be ushered into the ride.

My randy husband just had to have a kiss once we were seated in the ride. We didn’t know that this would mess up the ending for us and we know better for next time. I won’t give away what happens at the end of the ride, but I will say that I enjoyed Spaceship Earth. I know that there has been some debate about the changes to the ride and I have to respectfully disagree. Taken on its on merits and not comparing it to what it “use” to be meant that we had no expectations and was not disappointed.  

Next we got to ride Test Track. For the first time in a while we actually got to get in line, ride this ride, and there were no mechanical malfunctions.

Brianne and LJ decided to be brave and ride Mission Space while Sonny and I elected to just wait for them. We scooted through gift shop and entered the game area. I took a moment to jot down some notes for my trip report and Sonny played Space Race. His team got skunk both times! Its okay baby, you’ll get them next time.

Pretty soon we were headed back to ASM for the night.

This day was too perfect! Something has got to go wrong tomorrow.

  

Up next: Starting the day from the wrong side of the bed.

Day 1 of Our Disney trip continued

One of the nice things about this anniversary vacation was that I got to spend most of my time behind the camera. Normally when the kids are with us, I don't have a free hand for the camera or the time and attention to taking pictures. Since it was just the four of us, I had a blast snapping to my hearts content.





Once we left visiting our CM friend at the Boardwalk we headed for Epcot for the rest of the day. LJ and Sonny were so excited to be in Disney World that they decided to do a dance. This would have been a perfect time to film them for blackmailing later.

More to come...

Day 1 continued of Jan 08 WDW trip

It took a sec to get LJ to register what Sonny told him and I don’t think he every got to a point where he understood my need to take pictures of everything that we eat. At this point Sonny just takes it in stride. It is the least of my addictions and quirks.

My corn chowder

Sonny's philly cheesesteak & fries
My side salad

LJ and Brianne’s Food

We enjoyed our lunches and moved back to the room.

After checking our keys again to see if they actually worked we decided to exchange anniversary gifts with LJ and Brianne. Our personal couple gifts were going to be exchanged later in the week.

Our gift from LJ and Brianne:

I love the way that they wrapped our gift. She kept apologizing and we kept laughing. Inside was Yankee Candles, Godiva hot chocolate, peppermints, Dove chocolates, two coffee mugs, and a big fat Visa gift card!

The card they got us was too cute.

LJ and Brianne’s gift from us:

I posted most of the stuff that was in their gift bag, but I will do a quick recap. There were pajamas for LJ, a robe for Brianne, wine, chocolates, a calendar, aromatherapy candles, a set of personalized Minnie mouse gloves and hat for Brianne, and anniversary pins that we picked up on our last trip.

After the gifts were opened and thank you's were exchanged we plotted out our next course of action. We originally had planned to go to Downtown Disney, but the plans were further changed when Brianne suggested that we go to Epcot and start our tour of the World Showcase. Epcot is my favorite park, so it didn’t take long to convince me. The guys wanted to do whatever was necessary to make us happy, so they went along with no complaints.

So this is an example of things changing minute by minute. We were in the truck headed toward Epcot when Sonny suggests that we head to the Boardwalk to visit with a CM friend. Then we could go into Epcot through the International Gateway.

Up next: The Boardwalk & Epcot through another’s eyes.

Jan 08 WDW Trip Re-visited/ Day 1 continued

This trip report of our Jan 08 Walt Disney World trip has been written since we came home, but I have just been too lazy to update my blog. Since we have a new trip coming up in December, I thought it would be fun to look back at our last anniversary trip.

First some more pictures from the All-Star Movies Resort.

If you revisit the itinerary I posted months ago you will note that we were planning to check in and then head to Downtown Disney to have lunch at Earl of Sandwich. We didn’t follow today’s plan at all. I should know by now that the itinerary is just a loose plan -- subject to change at any moment. This trip the plans sometimes seem to change minute by minute, but we still had a great time.

Everyone agreed that the best thing to do was to just head to the food court and eat quickly.



I don’t know about you but I actually like the hustle and bustle of the All-Star Movies food court. I don’t always like their prices, but I know what to expect. Brianne and LJ on the other hand got sticker shock. Even after months of reading, planning, and chatting the reality of the prices were completely different. They were also surprised by the generous portions. No surprises on either front for me and yet I still ordered too much food.

The crowds in the food court were sparse, so we had no problem finding a table. As we approached the table I saw Brianne open her camera case. LJ reached for his food. Brianne had already been briefed about my addiction to food porn, so she knew the drill. LJ was totally in the dark and was a bit befuddled when his hand got slapped for starting to eat.

“I said my prayer!” he exclaimed as he nursed the effected hand.

Sonny laughed at the newbie mistake and calmly told him the offense he had committed. “You can’t eat anything without taking a picture first.”

Picture taking freak say what?

Be back with another update tomorrow!

Walt Disney World for Honeymooners

Disney World for Honeymooners

by peter1402

Walt Disney World has always been known as a great place for families with children to visit, but it 's also a wonderful honeymoon destination. Due to the happily ever after theme of every fairy tale, Walt Disney World fits right in the the romantic theme with many of the activities. Many couples choose to have the wedding celebration itself right at Disney World, but it 's also known as a honeymoon destination for many. If you can't afford a round-the-world cruise for your honeymoon, you can still provide your just married interlude seem like you've visited all the romantic ports of call.

First, there are many areas at the vacation resort that are already themed internationally. The Island type accommodations at some of the hotels, the Epcot center with its emphasis on international culture and cuisine, the shopping which brings items from every part of the world are all tied to international activities, culture and cuisine. When you add to this setting the romantic atmosphere of the fairy tales, the luxurious accommodations and the exciting nightlife, you find the newly married couple can enjoy the honeymoon, as well as the repeat visits many of them plan for the next year and every year following.

The magic of the theme park in central Florida is not just for children. A different kind of magic can be enjoyed by the romantic couple. The whole concept of the park is romance and magic away from the day to day cares of life. Couples have taken advantage of the magic of Walt Disney World almost from the time that it opened. Walt Disney World is a great amusement park, but it 's also a prime location for beautiful beaches, deluxe spas, international cuisine dining and of course, the world 's greatest amusement park.

For your honeymoon location, the hotels and resorts at Walt Disney World are well aware that you want quiet time for your honeymoon and will place you when possible in accommodations which will give you peace and solitude far from noise, heavy traffic areas near the pools and elevators. The hotels which are actually located within the park will give you even more of the taste of Disney. You can enjoy your own private balcony while watching park scenery like Epcot fireworks.

If you want to soak up the atmosphere of love and romance you can visit Cinderella 's Castle, or remember Beauty and her Beast. Perhaps your taste runs to one of the other Disney happily ever after princesses.

If watching brilliant fireworks from your hotel balcony doesn't put you in a romantic mood, how about enjoying a romantic candlelight dinner in one of the famous cuisine experiences available to you as a guest at Walt Disney World. You can choose candles and romantic music at Cuban specialty restaurants, Italian cuisine, and of course American high class dining as well. It 's all found in your imaginary trip around the world to all the romantic port-of-call locations.

To heighten your romantic experience, why not schedule a special couples massage? You can enjoy each other at the same time you enjoy the soothing and relaxing experience of a therapeutic massage.

The AMC 24 Pleasure Island Theaters Complex is a great place to enjoy a movie experience for the two of you. Or, you can select an unforgettable show of acrobatics and daring physical artistry while watching the Cirque Du Soleil. This troop has been entertaining and astounding viewers all around the world. The Magic Kingdom parade features excitement, anticipation and enjoyment along with music to make sure that your viewing experience is absolutely top notch.
Maybe you'd like to take in the MGM laser show, or even use the monorail to participate in the circuit of the park by romantic train.

All in all, Walt Disney World in Florida is a wonderful and romantic place to celebrate the beginning of your married life. The stories here are romantic and magical and the activities you can enjoy promise to provide a blissful time. Not only do people celebrate their honeymoon at Walt Disney World, they like it so much that they plan to come back to the resort to celebrate each romantic anniversary as well.

About the Author

Peter Kenny has been working in the Orlando area travel industry for the past 10 years. For more information, please visit Vacation homes by owner and Orlando vacation homes

Article Source: Content for Reprint