~We Are Flying 1000 Miles to Run 13?!?-NEW TRIP REPORT LINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CAStevens218]

We headed on our way, and stopped to check out these guys!

Just hanging out…

We needed another ride on Everest of course!

After another wild ride through the mountains, it was food time! We decided on Pizzafari, and boy were we glad we did! Ben and I waited in line while Dad and Dan found a table. The three boys all got pizza and I got the hot Italian sandwich. The pizzas came with salads, and I ate Ben’s while he had my chips. We all got chocolate pudding for dessert. This food was so yummy! And the restaurant is so much fun to look at!

I didn’t take any pictures because, as had become the theme on this trip, we had waited until we were starving to eat, so we scarfed everything down pretty quickly!

After lunch, we decided to make our way out of the park. We hadn’t done everything (no shows at all!), but we were satisfied with our day and we were exhausted as well!

We did see this dude on our way out…

We went back to Pop to spend our last afternoon relaxing by the pool and enjoying the sunshine.

Up next: Our final night and our last day!

 

[jc040404]

EE looks so scary!! But, not as scary as those frogs. Ick! Learning the little bit about eggs in their backs is so so gross! I'm terrified, too. It seems that every time we have a bad rain, I find at least one dead frog on our patio. After that tropical storm, I've found three! Ewwww!! I'm making John get rid of them and avoiding it for now. (I thought frogs liked water? Still, yuck!)

Fun AK day! I LOVE all the pretty pictures. How lucky on the lion. I can't recall ever getting such a good look at her! Your character pics are adorable. Ben is just nuts in some of these crazy posed pics though!

I can't believe you only have less than a month to go!!

 

[CAStevens218]

EE looks so scary!! But, not as scary as those frogs. Ick! Learning the little bit about eggs in their backs is so so gross! I'm terrified, too. It seems that every time we have a bad rain, I find at least one dead frog on our patio. After that tropical storm, I've found three! Ewwww!! I'm making John get rid of them and avoiding it for now. (I thought frogs liked water? Still, yuck!)

Fun AK day! I LOVE all the pretty pictures. How lucky on the lion. I can't recall ever getting such a good look at her! Your character pics are adorable. Ben is just nuts in some of these crazy posed pics though!

I can't believe you only have less than a month to go!!

Eww, I can totally relate to making John get rid of the frogs! When I found them floating in the pool I waited for Ben to get home to get them out! Of course, he then informed me that if I waited to long they would sink, so we hurried to fish them out with the net! Thankfully, they were still floating! I didn't want to do it myself...what if they weren't dead and they jumped on me?!

It was very cool to get such a nice view of the lion. Animal Kingdom is such a pretty park. So much to look at everywhere! Yes, Ben is crazy. I've accepted it!

We are sooo close to our trip! And wedding!!!! That's why I did such a long update...slow day at work and I really want to finish before we leave! Shouldn't be a problem now...

 

[magicLAL12]

I've really enjoyed reading your TR- you add little snippets of humor and sarcasm that crack me up

Congrats on running the 1/2, you did great!
DBF and I will be running the marathon in January '13, so reading this has gotten me SO much more excited for the whole experience. I hope that we get warmer weather like you guys had this past year.

I think the very first thing that got me hooked on your TR was reading about your Dad picking up his suitcase before it was closed...

On our departure day, DBF was trying to "help" me get my suitcases in the car, so he went upstairs without telling me what he was doing. Next thing I know, my clothes are flying down the stairs and he's just looking down from the top with this look of "oops" on his face. I think I said a few choice words at this moment, but it ended up being a pretty hilarious memory.

 

[CAStevens218]

I've really enjoyed reading your TR- you add little snippets of humor and sarcasm that crack me up

Congrats on running the 1/2, you did great!
DBF and I will be running the marathon in January '13, so reading this has gotten me SO much more excited for the whole experience. I hope that we get warmer weather like you guys had this past year.

I think the very first thing that got me hooked on your TR was reading about your Dad picking up his suitcase before it was closed...

On our departure day, DBF was trying to "help" me get my suitcases in the car, so he went upstairs without telling me what he was doing. Next thing I know, my clothes are flying down the stairs and he's just looking down from the top with this look of "oops" on his face. I think I said a few choice words at this moment, but it ended up being a pretty hilarious memory.

Hey neighbor! We are in CT, about 40 mins from Westerly! I'm so glad you've enjoyed reading along!!

You must be SO excited about the marathon! You will LOVE it! I have never experience any running event that compares to a Disney race!!

Oh man, we were scrambling that morning and when he dumped his suitcase it was one of those things where he just sighed and silently started putting everything back in...while I laughed at him of course!!

Too funny about your DBF dumping your suitcase...although not in the moment, I can imagine!!

I've started to read your trip report...so I'll save the rest of what I have to say for your thread! Not sure if I'll finish catching up today...maybe tomorrow!!

 

[CAStevens218]

Good morning DISers! Let's finish this bad boy up, what do you say?

After our busy morning at Animal Kingdom and a relaxing afternoon at the pool, we were still pretty beat from our trip! We decided to take it easy that evening and explore the monorail resorts and grab dinner at one of them.

We took the bus from Pop Century to Magic Kingdom first.

The Grand Floridian was our first stop. This was my first time there and, man oh man, is it gorgeous!!!! We have a reservation at Narcoosee's on the first night of our honeymoon, and I fully intend to spend more time exploring! Ben wants to take a golf lesson, and I think that might also be an ideal time for me to explore and play with my camera!

We had a little bit of trouble figuring out how to get back on the monorail after we walked around the Grand Floridian, but eventually we made it!

We all enjoyed relaxing in the monorail car we had to ourselves. Did I mention we were absolutely beat?!?

The view was, of course, amazing!

Next stop?

The Polynesian!! We love it here. This is our dream resort for sure! It is the first place we went on our first morning of our first Disney trip together! We had breakfast at Kona! Hopefully we can stay here one day!

After a walk around the Poly, we were getting pretty hungry! We jumped back on the monorail and rode to the Contemporary, where we made our way to the Contempo Cafe!

We really enjoyed this place. The touch screen ordering was really cool, and they had sooooooooo mannnnyyy ammmmaaazzziiinnngggggg options in the dessert case!

I can't remember what everyone had, but I do know I had some kind of really good sandwich!

I DID take pictures of the cupcakes though!!!!

We ended up getting to-go containers for the cupcakes and headed back to the room. I know, kind of a boring last night, but we were so tired that nothing sounded better than eating cupcakes in front of the tv!!

The next morning, we took our time getting everything packed up and ready to go. We also walked around the resort a little bit. I spent some time checking out the Art of Animation construction. Of course, these pictures aren't so exciting now that it is open, but here are some shots anyway!

Here are a few more from my walk around Pop Century...

I love the Play-Doh...reminds me of my childhood! I had a HUGE plastic storage container full of Play-Doh and accessories and my Mom would spread out a blanket on the living room floor and let me go to town for hours!

Heading back to the room...

This was our view from outside the door, angled toward the right...

Our next mission was Resort Airline Check-In. I really love this service. It is so nice to be done with your bags and not have to worry about them until you land at home!

We got our bags checked quickly, had our boarding passes printed, and left our carry on bags with bell services.

We then headed straight to a bus for Downtown Disney! We had some very specific goals for the day....

1. Goofy's Candy Company

I seriously wish I could eat EVERYTHING in this place! Yummm!!! I'm not really sure how I've never had one of those giant mickey head shaped cookies dipped in chocolate but rest assured, I will consume one in July!

We stopped with a picture our friends from the Hundred Acre Woods as we continued on our way...

We also spent time in the Toy Store...

...and World of Disney. Ben and I also went into the Pin Store, where they had the big huge pin board open! We jumped in line, but right when we were next, the CM closed it up and walked away and never even said a word to us. That put a bit of a sour taste in my mouth...I mean, either close the line before people get in or at least apologize and explain yourself!! Oh well, not a huge deal the grand scheme of things.

Mission #2....Earl of Sandwich! My dad and brother absolutely LOVED this place! We all got sandwiches (I know I had Tuna this time) and sat down to enjoy our meal. We took our time and relaxed at our table for a while when we were done.

I love that both our our "missions" involved food! Typical...

We spent a bit more time wandering around and just enjoying our last afternoon.

I LOVED these displays!

When we had seen everything we wanted to see, we headed back to Pop Century to relax and wait for our Magical Express pick-up.

We set up camp at a booth in the food court (don't worry, it wasn't busy at all!) and took turns sitting with our stuff, which we had picked up from bell services. I think Dan and Ben went to the arcade for a while, I did some pin trading. We used our last counter service credits to get one of the large pizzas from the food court to eat at the airport.

Soon enough, it was time to get on that dreaded bus.

I took a few shots of the pretty sunset as we drove toward the airport.

Our bus driver was crazy, by the way. He literally talked into the speaker the ENTIRE ride...but nobody had any idea what he was saying! It was a garbled, nonsense mess! It was actually a good thing because I got to spend the whole ride laughing about it instead of being sad to leave!

Of course, we arrived at the airport too quickly. We got through security easily and found a nice table with four comfy chairs to enjoy our pizza.

When we boarded the flight, Ben and I sat directly in front of Dad and Dan. Behind them was a lady and her grand daughter, and they had one of those mickey head balloons. The flight attendants told them they could keep the balloon, but if they did, they had to sit in the back row because they couldn't have it impeding their view of the cabin.

Reasonable enough, right? The lady put up such a stink! She kept saying "It's not mine its my granddaughter's balloon." Yes lady, but you are the only adult with your granddaughter then it is your balloon my association! It took a good 5 minutes but they finally moved.

There was a big football game on that night, and since we flew JetBlue, everyone was watching it on their little tvs. The ones in our row weren't working ,and the flight attendants offered to move us but I would rather sit near my whole party than have a working tv. Ben watched the tv of the guy in front of us and I went to sleep, since there wasn't much to look at out the window:

When I woke up, we were making our descent into Providence.

We got our luggage quickly and were on the road soon after that. It was super late by the time we got home, so we all hit the hay pretty quickly! We had a lot of resting up to do to recover from such a busy and amazing trip!!!!!!!!

Up Next: Wrap Up and a quick pre-honeymoon report!!!

 

[jc040404]

LOVE that first pic!

All the Goofy snacks look so good! I think some of them are just too cute. I couldn't possibly eat them! Can't wait to hear about that cookie when you get back.

Nuts that the CM didn't say a word before closing up on you like that. You are right, I guess. Not that big of a deal compared to some things. Still, I'd have been super annoyed!

How cute are those princess doll dress displays!

Fun last moments at WDW! That balloon story is just nuts.

You had such a fun trip.. and it's now almost time for the big day, and another Disney getaway. So excited for you guys!!

 

[dara00]

there was a big football game on when we were traveling too! I just remembered that. congrats on your upcoming honeymoon - and I assume wedding too!

 

[CAStevens218]

LOVE that first pic!

All the Goofy snacks look so good! I think some of them are just too cute. I couldn't possibly eat them! Can't wait to hear about that cookie when you get back.

Nuts that the CM didn't say a word before closing up on you like that. You are right, I guess. Not that big of a deal compared to some things. Still, I'd have been super annoyed!

How cute are those princess doll dress displays!

Fun last moments at WDW! That balloon story is just nuts.

You had such a fun trip.. and it's now almost time for the big day, and another Disney getaway. So excited for you guys!!

I have no idea how I managed to get that shot through the bus window, but it worked out well!!!

I was really annoyed at the time, especially because it was our last day and we had wasted time standing there for nothing. I just found it very rude and un-Disney-like.

The lady with the balloon was ridiculous. The way she was talking, it sounded like she wanted them to make her little granddaughter move (she was like 4) and leave her where she was?!?

We really did have an awesome trip. And yes, the big day is 2 weeks from today!!! And the next morning we are on the plane to Disney World!!!!!!!

there was a big football game on when we were traveling too! I just remembered that. congrats on your upcoming honeymoon - and I assume wedding too!

It was funny because EVERYONE on the plane was watching it, so you would hear everyone react with gasps and groans and cheers at the same time!

Thanks for the congrats! 2 weeks until the wedding and 2 weeks and 1 day until Disney!!!!!!

 

[CAStevens218]

Good morning!!!! I will be in Disney World in 5 dayssss!!!!! Time to finish this up with some final thoughts and our honeymoon plans! This will be a short post....but I decided to hurry up and get it done because I am busssyyy getting ready for the wedding!!!

Final Thoughts:

- Four adults in one room at Pop was really not as bad as I thought it was going to be. We certainily didn't have a ton of room to ourselves, but we weren't uncomfortable by any means. I would do it again for sure!

- Marathon weekend was extremely organized and well done! It was a great experience and a great accomplishment to run the half marathon! I'm not sure that I'll do such long distances in the future, but I'm glad I can say I did it!!!!

- We enjoyed being on the quick service dining plan. We liked the freedom of eating what we wanted, when we wanted. There are a ton of great quick service options. It was actually hard for us to decide what dining plan to do for our honeymoon because we loved the freedom of quick service so much!

- Ben and I discovered how much we love taking afternoon breaks during this trip! My dad and brother insisted on it, and boy, were we happy to experience it! It is definitely our plan for next week!

- We rented a car this time, to take a trip to the Space Coast. We really enjoyed getting out on our own with the freedom of a car for a day. In fact, I'm thinking about trying a rental car for the whole trip this time. I think it might be nice to drive ourselves to the parks, plus we are doing Clearwater Beach and Discovery Cove. Also, renting a car from the Car Care Center near Magic Kingdom was SO quick and easy!!!!!

And, with that, I end this trip report! It was a fabulous adventure, and we are ready to embark on the next one!!!!




NOW, on to our honeymoon trip!!!!!!

I hope that everyone will follow me over to my new trip report when the time comes! I can't wait to write all about our wedding and 10 night trip to Disney World!

What to look forward to:

- Wedding @ the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, CT
- Staying at the Whaler's Inn in Mystic, CT
- Split stay between Port Orleans Riverside (royal room) and Beach Club
- ADRs (subject to change!): Narcoosee's, Sci-Fi, Boma, Teppan Edo, Crystal Palace breakfast, California Grill, Coral Reef, Via Napoli, 'Ohana
- Side trips to Discovery Cove, Clearwater Beach, and possibly Sea World
- Late night EMHs!

I will be home on August 2 and hope to start my trip report shortly after that! I will talk to everyone in August!!!

 

[dara00]

congrats! have a great time!

 

[jc040404]

I can't wait to read about all of it!! Congrats to the both of you & have bunches of fun! So excited for you guys!!

 

[CAStevens218]

My new trip report is up!!!!

Come on over and read all about our honeymoon!!!!!!

NEW TRIP REPORT LINK