A Cause For Celebration: A Wedding, A Marathon & A 30th Birthday - January 2018 Update:12/28

I'm SUPER excited about doing this, too!! Of course the only night it worked out in our schedule with everything else we have planned is the night before the 5K...oops!! Poorly timed, but should still be incredible!


I'm sure you will have a great time, even if you do have a super early wake-up the next day! I was talking about Highway in the Sky to some co-workers the other day, and they all thought it sounded awesome - I'm so excited for it!

I'm dying to get more info on how everything works for a runDisney weekend---this being our first, I have no clue what to expect besides what I have read in other people's TRs. I know the event guide is typically emailed. How much longer before we actually receive that for this Marathon weekend??

I remember being so overwhelmed by the entire thing the first time I went with Luke in 2016 - especially the Expo. But, it's really not that bad. Every resort will have coach buses transporting people to the ESPN Wide World of Sports where the Expo is located, and everything is really well signed! Just prepare yourself for a lot of people and some lines!

I think I'm in love.

I'm a Maritimer, I find most of us have very simple taste haha.

I have the odd Harley Davidson T.
As in, several.

Lots, actually.

My step-dad owns a Harley as well, and also has an impressive collection of tshirts...

Ah. So skippable then.

I've made so many of our friends/family excited about that poutine and cheese soup haha

Or that make me feel like crap for an hour.

That's my concern, and why I've never gone on the orange side!

::yes:: Ya gotta do what the bride says. It's a rule.

Exactly! It's the one day of my life I get to be the boss :)

Ugh. If you just walk around later, you'll probably cover 5K. I suggest sleeping in.

On the day we did the 5k at Disneyland a few weeks ago, my Fitbit says we covered over 22k by the end of the day. I was pretty sore the next day.

Cool! Heard of it. Wasn't sure if they were still doing it.

I'm so excited for this! It's super expensive, but the dollar value actually works out if you estimate the cost of everything you get to eat/drink.

I love the shirts!

Thanks! I'm really happy with how they turned out, and I actually ordered a few more couple-y shirts for us to wear while we're there :)

And I can't wait to see more pictures from Disneyland!

Same! I was talking to the photographer the other day - normally I would have my pictures back by now, but she had a car accident so she's been busy dealing with insurance stuff and has fallen a bit behind on editing pictures.

Zack is so upset by this. I'm curious to see what he thinks after riding it when we go to Disneyland in April.

Hopefully he loves it! It's a little more intense than Tower was - since it now shoots up up really fast too.

Fun! I can't wait to hear. This seems so neat :)

I'm excited!

Ugh, those runDisney wakeups are the worst. Kinda worth it, though, because the races are awesome.

The 5k in January will be my 3rd runDisney race, so I'm good with taking a break for awhile. Those early morning just kill me.

I'm so excited that you guys are doing Highway in the Sky. When I first heard about it, I thought that was so cool. I'm excited to hear what you think!

It was announced last year right before our January trip, but it sold out within an hour or two. We kept checking online for a time to open up, but it never happened - so it was close to the top of our list for this trip!

Hollywood Studios/MK day sounds great too!

Thanks! We've actually never park hopped at WDW before, so this will be all new for us!
 
Ooh awesome! Worth it! :) I just secretly ordered a few buttons for our December trip from Parkbound buttons for myself and the crew. I shipped them to our home address instead of our PO box in Maine, so hopefully they'll still come in lots of time.

Fun! I've looked at the buttons on Parkbound before - really cute!

It was cute! People laughed at them, but I'm pretty sure I saw a lot of people snacking on them at some point later on... haha

I'm not sure where I ended up getting them...somewhere normal like Walmart or Costco or the grocery store.

We actually found Chewbacca and Lightning McQueen granola bars the other day at Walmart, so we picked up some of those :)

I got that impression, so that's good! I'm not too worried. I've been training and doing okay. But I'm more concerned that it's at the end of our trip, and I have a habit of tiring myself out walking and getting blisters on our trips. Going to try my best to be kind to my feet/legs leading up to the race!

I was so sore in California on this last trip, I could barely bend my legs. Guess I'm even more out of shape than I thought haha.

Disney 5k's are really non-competitive for the most part (the super competitive people will be almost finished before the last people even start haha) - most people just take their time and enjoy being in the park at such an early hour, and meeting some really unique characters.
 
I'm a Maritimer, I find most of us have very simple taste haha.

Maritimers taste simple?

Huh!

I've never tasted a maritimer. Probably never will.

My step-dad owns a Harley as well, and also has an impressive collection of tshirts...

::yes:: Part of the package.

I've made so many of our friends/family excited about that poutine and cheese soup haha

:laughing:

Exactly! It's the one day of my life I get to be the boss :)

Well.... once you're married... you'll always be the boss.

On the day we did the 5k at Disneyland a few weeks ago, my Fitbit says we covered over 22k by the end of the day. I was pretty sore the next day.

:faint:

I'm so excited for this! It's super expensive, but the dollar value actually works out if you estimate the cost of everything you get to eat/drink.

Good! That's so cool!
 
The past few weeks have been busy! We went to see Coco - loved it! I went to an Oilers game with my best friend, Luke and I bought brand new phones with better cameras for our wedding trip, I went to a Christian concert with my mom, I went to a turkey supper with my mom at her church, I finally took my dress to a seamstress to have it fitted (ugh, $350 for that since it was so big!), I typed up personalized itinerary’s for everyone traveling to Disney with us, and we finished paying off the Disney portion of our wedding!

I also went to Michael’s one night while they had some great sales, and picked up stuff to make centrepieces for our reception at Homecomin’ - they told me I was more than welcome to bring decorations like that, and for a long time I wasn’t going to, it’s pretty enough there. But, I felt like I needed something. I knew I wanted colourful and fun and whimsical, so I think these turned out pretty good! There are only 3 vases in the picture below, but I have the stuff to do 4 of them. I also have black rhinestone ribbon which I’ll attach in a band around the bottom of the vase. This was so cheap too, I think each centrepiece worked out to under $8.

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We have very happy kitties, we bought them another cat tree haha. Hero immediately claimed the new one as soon as we brought it in the house - he wouldn’t even let us move it upstairs to it’s current location for hours, so it just sat in the middle of the floor with him purring and rolling around on it haha.

You can also see a bunch of our RunDisney medals in the back of this picture:)

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Luke’s Christmas party was at a local dinner theatre this year. The food was good, the drinks were ok, but I thought the show was terrible. It did give me a reason to wear my Tiki Room dress from the Dress Shop in Doentown Disney though!

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We also went to see Disney on Ice :) It was really cute, as always. I actually have a cousin who has been skating for Disney on ice for years, but he’s never a part of the show that comes to Edmonton, boo.

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I LOVE decorating for Christmas, and usually put up multiple trees. This year, however, I decided to not put up a single one :( I’m a little sad about it, but since we leave for our trip on December 30th, I figured I would be stressing out trying to get everything taken down and put away, while stressing out about packing everything we need for a wedding and a 2 week trip. I did put out our Disney train that my mom bought us from Hallmark last year though - and Pita attacked it haha. She’s fine with it when it’s just sitting there, but as soon as we punch he button to make it move/sing, she bites the head of one of the characters. Crazy cat.

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Remember how I had a car accident last February? I had hit a patch of ice and slid into the ditch, causing enough damage to write off my car. I received a nice bill in the mail last week from the City for $133 - their fee for sending someone to ‘inspect the damage done to trees which were City Property’ (insert eye roll). Where I went into the ditch was almost out of the city limits, on a road barely better than a dirt road. The trees/ditches grow wild, they are not perfectly manicured and maintained trees like downtown. Also, this bill came almostv10 months after my accident! In case you couldn’t tell, I’m a little upset over this. It’s currently being reviewed by my insurance company.

Oh, due to my car being a total write-off in February, I had to buy something else to drive. I figured I might as well get exactly what I wanted, and purchased a 2017 SUV at the end of February- #treatyoself haha. Well, that had issues lately - I was driving home one night and stopped for gas, then it wouldn’t turn back on. Luke had to come with his 16 year old car to give me a boost. It was extremely cold that day, so I chalked it up to that. Two days later, Luke and I are leaving the pet store, and again - won’t start. My mom car to boost me, and I called the dealership and was able to get an appointment to take my car in that day. They call a few hours later telling me there’s nothing wrong with it, I just dont drive it enough - what? I drive it everyday, and it’s our primary vehicle on the weekends. Anyways, a week goes by with no issues - then it won’t start in the parking lot of Walmart so I had to call roadside assistance since my mom was out of town. Almost an hour later, we get a boost. That night, we drove it over an hour (over half an hour each way) with no issues. We come home, park it in our garage and the next day - won’t start again. So Luke gives me a boost so I can get to work (where I allow it to run for 35 minutes). I had called the dealership again while broken down in the Walmart parking and made an appointment for the next day. So, I go out at lunch time to take my car to the dealership- and again, it won’t start. I could have easily asked a co-worker for a boost, but I was fed up with it so I simply called a tow truck and had it towed in to the dealership dead. They replaced the battery - and it’s working, but I guess time will tell if there is a more serious issue. It was a giant pain in the butt though - I shouldn’t have had these issues with a brand new car with 7000km on it.
 


We actually found Chewbacca and Lightning McQueen granola bars the other day at Walmart, so we picked up some of those :)

Ooh good choice!

The past few weeks have been busy! We went to see Coco - loved it! I went to an Oilers game with my best friend, Luke and I bought brand new phones with better cameras for our wedding trip, I went to a Christian concert with my mom, I went to a turkey supper with my mom at her church, I finally took my dress to a seamstress to have it fitted (ugh, $350 for that since it was so big!), I typed up personalized itinerary’s for everyone traveling to Disney with us, and we finished paying off the Disney portion of our wedding!

Holy cow! Do you guys ever stop!?

I knew I wanted colourful and fun and whimsical, so I think these turned out pretty good! There are only 3 vases in the picture below, but I have the stuff to do 4 of them. I also have black rhinestone ribbon which I’ll attach in a band around the bottom of the vase. This was so cheap too, I think each centrepiece worked out to under $8.

Pretty! I really like the colours. And the price was right!

I did put out our Disney train that my mom bought us from Hallmark last year though - and Pita attacked it haha. She’s fine with it when it’s just sitting there, but as soon as we punch he button to make it move/sing, she bites the head of one of the characters. Crazy cat.

Baha your cats are hilarious!

I could have easily asked a co-worker for a boost, but I was fed up with it so I simply called a tow truck and had it towed in to the dealership dead. They replaced the battery - and it’s working, but I guess time will tell if there is a more serious issue. It was a giant pain in the butt though - I shouldn’t have had these issues with a brand new car with 7000km on it.

Oh my gosh! How frustrating!! I, too, am dealing with a vehicle that's threatened not to start quite a few times, but it hasn't quite given up yet. I also wrote off my car (I think we talked about this...) and I got a 2012 Nissan Juke. It was supposedly in perfect shape when I got it, and it had somewhere under 90 000kms. So not brand new or anything, but should have been in good shape. So far I've replaced the battery and all the spark plugs and done a fuel injection, and it still hasn't fixed the issue. It turns over a bunch of times before it starts...and I just keep waiting for the time it won't start at all...UGH.
 


I love those centerpieces!

That bill from the city is ridiculous. First of all, what? And second ... why would it take so long to generate a bill? This seems like complete bureaucratic stupidity. Sorry you have to deal with it.

My mom has had the same issue with her car - except that with her, it always happened after she hadn't driven it for a while (like when she came back from a vacation). And it didn't start until the car was 10 years old. There's definitely something screwy if it's happening with a car that's almost a year old. I hope it was just a defective battery and you don't run into this again!
 
Your centerpieces are TOO cute!!! :) I think they'll be just enough of a pop of color--so fun!

Sounds like you've been super busy and it's almost time for the trip!!!! aaahh!!!
 
I knew I wanted colourful and fun and whimsical, so I think these turned out pretty good! There are only 3 vases in the picture below, but I have the stuff to do 4 of them. I also have black rhinestone ribbon which I’ll attach in a band around the bottom of the vase. This was so cheap too, I think each centrepiece worked out to under $8.
I love it! I love when Michael's has sales... They'll be so cute on your tables there!
Hero immediately claimed the new one as soon as we brought it in the house - he wouldn’t even let us move it upstairs to it’s current location for hours, so it just sat in the middle of the floor with him purring and rolling around on it haha.
Our cats (outdoors) got an old kitchen cabinet turned into a house with bedding in the bottom, and a hole in the top so we could put a heat lamp on there for winter. If you ever try to move it around the garage - how dare you...
It did give me a reason to wear my Tiki Room dress from the Dress Shop in Doentown Disney though!
Yay!
We also went to see Disney on Ice :) It was really cute, as always.
I used to have a Chip cup from seeing this when I was young. They've been advertising it around us, I'm tempted to get tickets. I don't think Zack has ever been. Maybe I should get them as his Christmas gift :rotfl:
I did put out our Disney train that my mom bought us from Hallmark last year though - and Pita attacked it haha. She’s fine with it when it’s just sitting there, but as soon as we punch he button to make it move/sing, she bites the head of one of the characters. Crazy cat.
Pets are funny. That train is so cute! My favorite decoration growing up was Mickey's Clock Shop... unfortunately, I think my dad and sister might have pitched it this summer, and if they didn't, they probably wouldn't let me have it out of spite. They'd also have to talk to me for that to even be asked... :scratchin I might just buy one on Ebay...
Remember how I had a car accident last February? I had hit a patch of ice and slid into the ditch, causing enough damage to write off my car. I received a nice bill in the mail last week from the City for $133 - their fee for sending someone to ‘inspect the damage done to trees which were City Property’ (insert eye roll).
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It was a giant pain in the butt though - I shouldn’t have had these issues with a brand new car with 7000km on it.
That's upsetting. That's why I ended up with my car being new... I didn't want issues and I couldn't find what I wanted in a car only a couple years old. I hope the battery does it!!
 
Read your update. :)

Your cats are hilarious.

Haha, yeah, we like them - all 4 of them o_O

Ooh good choice!

We had to sample them - you know, make sure they were safe to serve to our guests haha - and they were pretty good!

Holy cow! Do you guys ever stop!?

It's been a busy fall :faint:

Pretty! I really like the colours. And the price was right!

I love bright colours!

Baha your cats are hilarious!

They keep us entertained!

Oh my gosh! How frustrating!! I, too, am dealing with a vehicle that's threatened not to start quite a few times, but it hasn't quite given up yet. I also wrote off my car (I think we talked about this...) and I got a 2012 Nissan Juke. It was supposedly in perfect shape when I got it, and it had somewhere under 90 000kms. So not brand new or anything, but should have been in good shape. So far I've replaced the battery and all the spark plugs and done a fuel injection, and it still hasn't fixed the issue. It turns over a bunch of times before it starts...and I just keep waiting for the time it won't start at all...UGH.

So frustrating! Luckily my car has been ok since I had it towed to the dealership and they replaced the battery and double checked all the wiring.
 
This month has been crazy! I feel like I've been going non-stop, and then of course both Luke and I spent most of last week sick, so that derailed our timeline of getting a few things done...

Christmas was pretty low-key this year, Luke and I haven't been buying presents for each other in a few years now, and we extended that to quite a few family members this year due to our upcoming trip (and that fact that most people we typically buy for are actually coming to Disney with us). I have to work today and tomorrow, and Luke works right up until Friday, so that just leaves us a few evenings to get everything in order for this wedding, since we leave early Saturday morning (I can't believe how quickly this year flew by!).

I picked up my dress from the seamstress the other day, it actually fits now which is nice :) Luke has his suit home already as well, all tailored to fit him. I also ordered more custom shirts for Luke and I, but I didn't remember to take pictures of them before packing them into a suitcase - guess you'll have to read my trip report to see them haha.

I'm determined to get through our itinerary for the rest of our vacation on here, so here we go:

Day Eight Plans - Saturday, January 6, 2018

We have a breakfast reservation at Olivia's at Old Key West for Luke, my Dad and I. We figured my Dad would want a good breakfast after spending most the day before traveling through airports and sitting on planes. From there, we will be catching a bus and heading to my Dad's first Disney park ever - Hollywood Studios. Luke and I were originally supposed to be doing a half day of parks by ourselves before anyone arrived this day, but we just modified a few things once my dad had his flight booked. My Dad's very first Disney ride ever will be one of Luke's favourites - Star Tours! We'll follow that up with a Fastpass for Toy Story. We'll then have some time to look around, maybe get my Dad to do a character meet or something. Our third Fastpass of the day is for the Indiana Jones show - I think my dad will really enjoy it (and Luke and I have never watched the full thing). We then have a late lunch reservation at 50's Prime Time - after my disappointing meal there in 2016 I'm ready to give it another try (and Luke won't stop talking about a PB&J milkshake haha). I hope our server is really into the whole theme because I haven't told my dad anything about this place haha.

After we eat, we'll leave the park and head back to Old Key West. By this point, Luke's mom, aunt and one of his sisters will have landed in Orlando and should be close to arriving at the hotel (if they haven't already). My dad's own room will be ready at some point as well, so we'll get him checked out of mine and Luke's room, and into his own for the rest of the trip. Around 3:30 that afternoon, 6 more of our wedding guests land at the airport (all on the same flight - my mom, step-dad, maid of honour and her husband, and a groomswoman and her husband). Four of them are heading to All Star Music that night, but I'll greet my mom and step-dad when they arrive at Old Key West. Another 2 guests (also staying at ASMu) arrive later that evening.

Luke is really excited about taking his family members to Disney Springs to eat at Earl of Sandwich that night - he loves that place. He will be heading to bed early though, in preparation for his full marathon the next day. I will probably also head to Disney Springs at some point that afternoon and just grab snacks from somewhere.

My Dad and I will be heading into Orlando that night - I bought us tickets for an NBA game! It's not our favourite sport, but neither of us have ever been to a game, and the Cleveland Cavaliers are in town that night so we couldn't pass up an opportunity to see Lebron James play. My Maid of Honour (Ashley), and her husband Mike are also going to the game, and I believe Groomswoman Lisa and her husband Trevor are going as well.

It'll be a late night when I get back to Old Key West, and Luke will have been asleep for hours.

Park(s) Planned:
Hollywood Studios
Fastpasses:
Star Tours 9:05-10:05
Toy Story 10:15-11:15
Indiana Jones Stunt Show 12pm Show

ADR's:
Olivia's Cafe Breakfast 8:15am
50's Prime Time Cafe 1:05pm



Day Nine Plans - January 7th, 2018

Sunday morning, Luke will be waking up at some unGodly hour so he can eat and get ready for his big race. I'll wake up to see him out the door, then head back to bed for a bit more sleep. I know how slow the buses are on this day though, so I'll try and be out the door at a half reasonable time - let's see how long it takes me to round up everyone else on my own this day :rolleyes1. The plan for everyone is to head to Epcot to cheer on Luke. I'd like to be there as close to rope drop as possible, since almost everyone will need to stop at the ticket booth to activate their park tickets (if you purchase using the Canadian discount, you have to stop at a ticket booth and show your Canadian passport). Once we get everyone into the park (and take 47,816 pictures I'm sure), we will already be in our first Fastpass window. Also - I made all the Fastpasses for all 20 people :eek: - that was a bit of work, but I actually enjoyed it and was quite pleased with what I was able to get! I thought most people should start their Disney experience with a classic - so we'll be going on Spaceship Earth to start things off right (at this point, it'll be 9 of us)! From there, we'll cheer for some marathoners (at that time of day, it's mainly the people who have done a few marathons before - the elite runners if you will). Our next Fastpass has us splitting up - I'll be going with a group of 7 to Test Track, while two head over to Frozen Ever After (they are the only two who have been to WDW recently, but they went with a large group and didn't stay on site, so they weren't able to get Fastpasses for FEA, so it was their only request).

By the time we meet up again, we'll check and see where Luke is. If he is getting close, we'll stand around and cheer on the runners, waiting for him so we can give him a hug before he finishes the last mile or so of his race. If he's still not close, we'll head to Sunshine Seasons for lunch. I tried to not make too many ADR's, since a few people requested lower-cost meals if possible - and Sunshine Seasons is a great choice both for variety of food and cost!

After we eat and see Luke, people are on their own.

Two of our guests (Devin and Larissa) only have time for 3 park days (they have two small children who they are leaving at home, so they didn't want to be away for a full week), so they will be going to Hollywood Studios for the rest of the day - they both love Star Wars! I set them up with Fastpasses for Toy Story, Star Tours and Tower of Terror.

Ashley and Mike will be spending this entire day at Universal Studios, I might have got Ashley addicted to the Harry Potter franchise while we were living together back in 2010 haha. That morning before they leave for Universal, they will be checking out of All Star Music, and checking into Old Key West that night for the rest of their vacation.

My plan for everyone else is to head out and catch the monorail, and head to Magic Kingdom. Splash Mountain will be closing the next day for a refurbishment, so I'll be trying to grab Fastpasses for that as soon as we scan in for Test Track. Since we have so many Disney newbies on this trip, I thought that Splash was an important ride to go on at least once! If people aren't interested in that, they can head back to their hotel room for a nap or stay in Epcot or head to Disney Springs (or head to Hollywood Studios/Animal Kingdom if they wanted to - I left the entire afternoon up to them).

Around noon, my two bridesmaids (Stephanie and Lauren), along with Steph's boyfriend Ryan, will be landing at MCO. Once they check in at Old Key West, they will be heading to Magic Kingdom, where I set them up with Fastpasses - Peter Pan's Flight, Splash Mountain and Haunted Mansion. Even if no one else from Epcot wants to join me in traveling to MK, I'll be meeting up with these three and enjoying some park time with them.

After his race, Luke will head back to our room at OKW and shower/nap.

We have a late supper reservation at 9:45 for everyone at 'Ohana. So I've instructed people to take the Polynesian bus if they are at a park until closing time, or take an Uber if they are at a hotel. Since I'll be at MK, I'll be there well before our reservation time - hopefully with enough time to grab a Dole Whip :thumbsup2. It'll be late by the time we finish eating, so Ubers back to the hotel will be very welcome.

Our photographer will be landing in Orlando while we are at the Polynesian, so she will just head to OKW and check in to her room there.

For the information below, I only listed my own Fastpasses to keep it simple.

Park(s) Planned:
Epcot/Magic Kingdom
Fastpasses:
Spaceship Earth 9:05-10:05
Test Track 10:10-11:10

ADR's:
'Ohana 9:45pm
 
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Day Ten Plans - January 8th, 2018

This will be another early morning - Animal Kingdom has extra magic hours and I'd like to make use of them (I usually just ignore EMH, we rarely base our park for the day on those). However, this will be the only chance for a few people to even see Animal Kingdom, luckily everyone purchased park hopper tickets. We did make Fastpasses that morning - Luke will be taking one group of 7 to Flight of Passage while I take a group of 9 to Na'vi River (the 9 going on Na'vi River have FP+ for FOP later in the week). Then the entire group of 16 has Fastpasses for the Safaris :)

While we are at Animal Kingdom, Luke's youngest sister and 5 and a half month old niece will be arriving. They will head to All Star Music to drop their bags, and then head to Epcot at their leisure where I set up Fastpasses for them for Spaceship Earth, Frozen Ever After and the Character Spot.

After the Safari, we need to get out of the park and get to Epcot (I assume catching the Beach Club bus and then walking through the International Gateway will be the fastest option). For lunch, we have two reservations (a group of 8 and a group of 10), both at Le Cellier (and within 10 minutes of each other - we just couldn't get a table large enough for everyone). I'm already looking forward to that signature poutine again, mmmm.

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Luke and I also had t-shirts made for everyone, and we asked them to wear them on this day.

After lunch, we will be splitting up - Luke with a group, and I will have a group and the plan is to spend the afternoon enjoying everything the World Showcase has to offer. We will be treating this as our Bachelor/Bachelorette parties - so some drinks will be had haha.

Eventually, we'll meet up again for supper, this time at Garden Grill. We again had to split the reservation into a group of 8 and a group of 12, but they are within 10 minutes of each other. Hopefully everyone enjoys character meals haha, this is the first of a few.

We'll see how we're feeling after supper, and either call it a night or head to the Boardwalk or Disney Springs to continue the party.

Park(s) Planned:
Animal Kingdom/Epcot
Fastpasses:
Navi River 9:25-10:25
Kilimanjaro Safaris 10:25-11:25

ADR's:
Le Cellier 12:45pm
Garden Grill 7:05pm


Day Eleven Plans - January 9th, 2018

I managed to grab a pre-park open breakfast reservation on this day for all 20 people at Crystal Palace - so we'll be heading to Magic Kingdom very early. After enjoying our buffet with the 100-Acre Wood characters, people are free to explore MK as they'd like. I did set up Fastpasses, but they can use them whenever they'd like during the hour timeslot. It would be a lot of fun if we could get everyone to the first FP+ at the same time, since we have almost enough people to fill an entire train on 7DMT :) The remaining two Fastpasses were selected based on each person's likes/dislikes - Big Thunder, Space Mountain, Pirates and Peter Pan were the choices we stuck to.

We'll be meeting up again for lunch at 1pm at Be Our Guest. I was very adamant on pre-ordering our meals there, and over half the people have already told me what they want - so yay! No waiting in that terrible long line to order!

After lunch, people are free to do whatever they want. I didn't plan anything else for the rest of the day (except for my mom and step-dad, who will be going to the Happily Ever After dessert party). I figure I'll want a break from people by this point, so I actually have a reservation for a manicure at the Grand Floridian at 5pm all by myself :) I'm looking forward to some quiet time!

Once my nails are all prettied up for the wedding, I'll be meeting up with Luke and we'll go for supper by ourselves at the Wilderness Lodge - either Geyser Point or Territory Lounge. Nothing too fancy, but I wanted to have this meal alone, as our next meal together will be as husband and wife :)

Park(s) Planned:
Magic Kingdom
Fastpasses:
Seven Dwarves 10:15-11:15
Big Thunder Mountain 11:15-12:15
Peter Pan's Flight 12:20-1:20

ADR's:
Crystal Palace 8:15am
Be Our Guest 1:00pm
 
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This month has been crazy! I feel like I've been going non-stop, and then of course both Luke and I spent most of last week sick, so that derailed our timeline of getting a few things done...

Sorry to hear you've been sick. Better now?

we leave early Saturday morning (I can't believe how quickly this year flew by!).

That came up fast!!

I picked up my dress from the seamstress the other day, it actually fits now which is nice :)

Yay!

lunch reservation at 50's Prime Time - after my disappointing meal there in 2016 I'm ready to give it another try (and Luke won't stop talking about a PB&J milkshake haha).

Chicken. Get the chicken. And the onion rings. (You've already got the PB&J shake covered.)


Just trust me on this one.

Luke is really excited about taking his family members to Disney Springs to eat at Earl of Sandwich that night - he loves that place.

::yes:: I remember that.

My Dad and I will be heading into Orlando that night - I bought us tickets for an NBA game!

Cool! I've never seen one, live. Then again... I haven't seen a pro baseball or NFL football game live either.

After we eat and see Luke, people are on their own.

:eek: OMG! You're going to eat Luke??????? :faint:

Luke will be taking one group of 7 to Flight of Passage while I take a group of 9 to Na'vi River (the 9 going on Na'vi River have FP+ for FOP later in the week). Then the entire group of 16 has Fastpasses for the Safaris :)

Holy tons of people, batman!

After the Safari, we need to get out of the park and get to Epcot (I assume catching the Beach Club bus and then walking through the International Gateway will be the fastest option).

Any of the Boardwalk resorts will work. I've done this. I was running late for a Beaches & Cream reservation and hopped off at Yacht Club. It was faster than waiting for the Beach Club stop.

Luke and I also had t-shirts made for everyone, and we asked them to wear them on this day.

61Kk4gZIHsL._UX466_.jpg


I managed to grab a pre-park open breakfast reservation on this day for all 20 people at Crystal Palace

Nice!!

Once my nails are all prettied up for the wedding, I'll be meeting up with Luke and we'll go for supper by ourselves at the Wilderness Lodge - either Geyser Point or Territory Lounge. Nothing too fancy, but I wanted to have this meal alone, as our next meal together will be as husband and wife :)

Awww... I really like that. Wonderful idea.
 
So close now!!!!

I also ordered more custom shirts for Luke and I, but I didn't remember to take pictures of them before packing them into a suitcase - guess you'll have to read my trip report to see them haha.
Tease ;)

Luke won't stop talking about a PB&J milkshake haha
But they're sooooo good! I wonder if I could get one to go...

I hope our server is really into the whole theme because I haven't told my dad anything about this place haha.
We didn't tell anyone much about 50s, so they were surprised when we walked in haha. Our cousin was great! We had so much fun!

We'll be meeting up again for lunch at 1pm at Be Our Guest. I was very adamant on pre-ordering our meals there, and over half the people have already told me what they want - so yay! No waiting in that terrible long line to order!
Oh man, our group would have been horrible at this. I'm glad yours is more on top of it!


Your plans sound great! I'm so excited for you guys!
 
Sorry to hear you've been sick. Better now?

Both of us still have a lingering cough that just won't go away, but we're hoping the heat and humidity of Florida will help that :) It's been so cold here that it almost takes your breath away when I go outside - and that's not helping my cough any.

That came up fast!!

So fast! Now to enjoy this trip, since it looks like we won't be back to WDW for a few years :(

Chicken. Get the chicken. And the onion rings. (You've already got the PB&J shake covered.)


Just trust me on this one.

Luke had the Sample of Mom's Favourites when we were there a few years ago, and I remember the chicken and the pot roast being really good - I plan on getting one of those two things for my meal :)

As for onion rings - I like them, I like the flavour of onions but I can't bring myself to actually eat an onion. So when I eat onion rings, I break them in half and pull out the onion, then just eat the batter. I guess I like onion-flavoured batter?


Cool! I've never seen one, live. Then again... I haven't seen a pro baseball or NFL football game live either.

Same! I keep talking about going to Toronto one of these years to see the Blue Jays, but it's just never happened. We were planning on going to see an NFL game a few years ago too, but then the Winnipeg Jets made the playoffs, so we used our vacation savings to fly to Anaheim to watch those two playoff games in April 2015 (oddly enough, that's how our obsession with Disney Parks began, it was the first time either of us had been to Disneyland - and this trip in a few days is Disney trip #7 since then :eek:

:eek: OMG! You're going to eat Luke??????? :faint:

I'm in charge of feeding a lot of people that day so you gotta do what you gotta do.

Holy tons of people, batman!

The wedding package we went with allows 18 guests at our ceremony, plus ourselves (and our photographer and 5 month old niece don't count against those numbers) - and we still have too many people. We were shocked at how many people were willing to spend thousands of dollars to travel to be with us on our wedding day!

Any of the Boardwalk resorts will work. I've done this. I was running late for a Beaches & Cream reservation and hopped off at Yacht Club. It was faster than waiting for the Beach Club stop.

Good to know!




Darn, now I wish these were the shirts I had made!


I was telling some of our guests about scoring a PPO ADR, and they just complained about how early I was making them get up while on vacation :confused3 I just shake my head at these non-Disney people - they will see once we get there.

Awww... I really like that. Wonderful idea.

At first Luke wanted to spend that evening with our family/friends, but he's really warmed up to the idea of having some quiet time before the chaos of the next day.
 
So close now!!!!

I know! I can't believe I get to check in for my flight tomorrow, and we leave the next day!


Haha, Luke isn't thrilled about having multiple matching shirts, but he was happy that I didn't make anything too lovey-dovey. I have one shirt that says "We finish each other's" and his shirt says "Sandwiches" - he usually does finish my leftovers whenever we eat out haha. And I had another set made that says "To Infinity" "And Beyond" with Woody/Buzz symbols. I was way too excited about them haha.

But they're sooooo good! I wonder if I could get one to go...

I remember asking this question awhile ago, and I was told you totally can! You can just walk in and order one, and they will put it in a to-go cup for you!

We didn't tell anyone much about 50s, so they were surprised when we walked in haha. Our cousin was great! We had so much fun!

I'm excited to give this place another shot!

Oh man, our group would have been horrible at this. I'm glad yours is more on top of it!

I basically told them they could give me their orders, or stand in line for 45 minutes once they got there haha. Almost none of our guests have been to Disney before, so luckily they've all been trusting my information.

Your plans sound great! I'm so excited for you guys!

Thanks! I'm in shock at how close our trip is!

Also - I promise to get back to reading your report once we're back from Florida!
 
he usually does finish my leftovers whenever we eat out haha
Wait... this sounds familiar...

I remember asking this question awhile ago, and I was told you totally can! You can just walk in and order one, and they will put it in a to-go cup for you!
This is life-changing information!

I basically told them they could give me their orders, or stand in line for 45 minutes once they got there haha. Almost none of our guests have been to Disney before, so luckily they've all been trusting my information.
Our one set of guests wanted to stay at AKL. Then decided they weren't sure... and debated all of the other Deluxe hotels. Which is their prerogative, but it was like in May/June. And FP day was June 17th or something like that... They ended up at AKL, at rack rate, but just barely because most rooms were booked.

Also - I promise to get back to reading your report once we're back from Florida!
No worries - I'm still so behind and I've been back for months :rotfl:
 
Day Twelve Plans - January 10th, 2018

Wedding Day! Ideally, we would have got married at the beginning of our trip, but this was just the way it worked out. We knew we'd be going to Florida by January 2nd at the latest (Race Expo on the 3rd, 5k run on the 4th, full marathon on the 7th), and January 10th is the exact date Luke proposed - so we'll be getting married exactly a year to the day after getting engaged :)

Most couples spend the night apart, but we decided not to (unless I change my mind as it gets closer). As of right now, I'll be kicking Luke out of the room around 7am when hair/makeup arrive and my mom, MOH and two bridesmaids arrive at our room. Luke did make a breakfast reservation at Olivia's that morning for a group of 10 people - basically whoever wants to meet him there. After that, he'll get ready with his sisters, mom, groomsmen, etc.

I'll have food delivered to our room, and try to eat something while the makeup artists do their thing. Luke and I are planning on doing a first look, and some of our pictures as soon as we're ready. Our limo is picking us up a little after 11 to drive us to the Boardwalk, where we'll meet our Disney wedding coordinator and our officiant.

At noon our ceremony begins at Sea Breeze Point! Immediately afterwards, we will cut our cake, have our first dance and then take lots of pictures.

We will all make our way over to Disney Springs, where we will have our reception at Homecomin' Kitchen from 3:30-5:30. I'm so excited to eat fried chicken in my wedding dress!

Once we finish up our catered meal, the plan is to hop on the boat back to Old Key West - I'm thinking it might make for a few nice pictures :) Once we're back there, people will have a bit of time to change their clothes if they'd like, and then we will be catching Ubers back over to Beach Club/Yacht Club/Boardwalk. We are meeting an escort at the International Gateway a little after 7, who will escort us into our private dessert party at UK Lochside. We paid for a nacho bar, Werther's Caramel Popcorn and Hollywood Studios carrot cake cookies - so that will be replenished until 9pm. At 9pm, Illuminations begins and we have front row seats!

After Illuminations, our Disney event guide will lead us over to Soarin', where we are surprising everyone with a ride! I love this option, and it was well worth the per-person fee to add this on :) We haven't told anyone about this, so hopefully they all think its as cool as I do haha.

I asked our coordinator, and after our ride on Soarin' we will be escorted to the main entrance to take the regular buses back to our hotels - I don't know why I'm so excited to ride the bus in my dress haha.

And just like that, I'll be a married woman :)

Park(s) Planned:
Epcot, but no park ticket required
Fastpasses:
None, but we've paid for a ride on Soarin' in our wedding attire
ADR's:
Olivia's Cafe 8:15am
Homecomin' 3:30pm (This is not a regular reservation, we actually have the patio reserved and the meal will be all-you-can eat based on the menu we picked)

 

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