Aprincess72 Wedding TR! SBP/Raglan Road/Illuminations DP -Complete! Photo link added!

[aprincess72]

The Players
Bride’s Team
The Bride
The Mother
The Father
The Brother
The Grandfather
The Aunt
The Uncle
The Trio – MOH, 2 Best Friends
The Great Aunt
The Great Uncle
Groom’s Team
The Groom
The Mother
The Father
The Brother
The Brother’s Girlfriend
The Trio – 3 college buddies
The (original) itinerary
Wednesday
MK with FILs, my brother, father, & 2 best friends
Thursday
Groom’s day at IOA
Bride’s day
9:00 – 4:00 AK
5:00 - manicure / pedicure appt for me & MOH
8:00 - ‘Ohana for dinner
Friday
Wedding day
9:00 - Bride’s breakfast at 1900 Park Fare
2:30 – Ceremony
5:00 – Dinner at Raglan Road
8:00 – Illuminations Dessert Party
Saturday
MGM with everyone, 50s PTD for lunch, fantasmic
Sunday
MK & EPCOT photo shoot, farewell breakfast

 

[Belle1981]

Loving this TR so far I can't wait to hear more!!!!!

 

[aprincess72]

Tuesday, April 24th
Getting ready to leave!
I was totally laid back about all the planning for this wedding. No rushing, no worries, but very organized! However, I left way too much until the last minute! I did plan this whole thing in under 4 months so all in all it worked out ok! I'm really going to miss my wedding spreadsheet...

The FILs arrive from SC with lots of wedding gifts! DF has to work one last day and I run around like a mad person trying to wrap up all my loose ends. We have a quick dinner, open gifts (DFs favorite part of this whole thing), finish packing, and go to bed early! I could barely sleep. As many times as I have been to WDW I have never been able to sleep the night before! We are like two little kids up all night giggling.

 

[aprincess72]

Wednesday, April 25th
6:30 am – My dad bails on meeting us early and my brother is running late (shocker). DFs parents arrive at our house from their hotel ready to go!
They follow us to WDW which is about 130 miles from our house. We can make it in 2 hours during off times but today we are hitting Orlando morning traffic so it takes just under 3 hours.
DF driving!

First stop - the Grovesnor first to drop off welcome bags for DFs friends who are staying there. They did not call Disney in time to get rooms at POFQ with the rest of our party!
Second stop - POFQ because DFs parents bought tickets with their room.
I also wanted to drop off our welcome bags with the front desk. I made prior arrangements to do this with the front desk manager. They invited us to go ahead and check in because our room was ready.
When I made my reservations I wanted a water view king room. They reserved a water view and then noted a king size. They said we should have reserved a king and noted a water view so we ended up with two doubles. No big deal except that DF is 6’5” and hates double beds.

Lesson learned: reserve first what is most important to you!


Then we hit another snag – POFQ doesn’t show tickets on FILs reservation. It takes a good 45 minutes for them to get this figured out. We went ahead and unloaded everything and took it to the rooms. I was glad to get that done so we could enjoy the rest of the day!

Lesson learned: print everything and bring it with you!

11:30 am – We finally make it of to MK! My little brother shows up just in time to hang with us.

YAY! We're here!

We head to lunch first. We decided to eat at Cosmic Ray’s since it is quick. I was hoping we would go to the Plaza! I love their french fries and turkey club!
After lunch I get a text that my 2 best friends from NC are in the park. One BF used to work for Disney and had not been to the park in many years so he was a little ADD running all over trying to see everything. We decided not to try and keep 7 people together all day so they went and did their own thing. DF, FILs, and I needed to leave early anyway to meet up with the rest of our guests. We had a great time in the park and the lines were very short. FILs had not been to WDW in many years so they were having a blast!

FILs, little bro, & DF on the Jungle cruise:

Us in one of our not so rountine photo poses (a trend that will forever and always be)

6:00 pm – We head back to POFQ to get cleaned up and ready to meet the rest of our guests. I stop by to see the rest of my family but find out they went over to SBP and then to Spoodles for dinner (darn! I like that place!)
8:00 pm – We jump on the boat to DTD with FILs. This is such a nice ride and FILs really enjoyed it. They are very impressed with everything!
We meet up with DFs college buddies who came from DC, Atlanta, and Columbia, SC. He’s very excited that they are here! They were super excited about their gift bags. Fabulous! We then head over to Earl of Sandwich for a light dinner. The guys all opt for a beer dinner (not me! I’m a big fan of the BLT & tomato soup here!). After dinner FILs head off to do some DTD shopping. FMIL has caught our Disney merchandise buying bug and practically buys out the World of Disney store.

I get a call from my mom who says the front desk could not locate the gift bags but it is noted on everyone's reservation that they have one. WHAT???
I panic and call POFQ immediately. As you may have seen in my planning thread DH and I got a bit carried away with the while gift bag thing! So I had mucho dinero sitting somewhere that no one could find! I basically demanded that they find them and deliver them immediately! They arrive about 10:30 pm that night. I can breathe now...

So we are hanging out at PI having some cocktails and I get a text from my 2 friends who say they are too tired to make it to AK tomorrow. My MOH couldn’t get off work until Thursday morning so she isn’t making it to AK either. Then I find out my mother talked my father, my aunt, and my uncle into not going either. DF sees I am upset and starts insisting I come with him and the guys to IOA. The guys start insisting as well but I promised FILs I would show them around. I love FILs to death but I didn’t really intend to hang with just them on my so called bride’s day while DF parties with his buddies ya know?

Lesson learned: don't expect everyone to follow the itinerary! Be flexible!

We hang out on PI until around midnight with DFs friends and my little bro.
Then we jump on the bus back to POFQ.

 

[Kashmir104]

Subscribing...

I cannot wait to hear more and see the pictures! (Especially the ones you were able to take in your MK photo shoot at the People Mover!)

I'm sure you were a beautiful bride!!

 

[lurkyloo]

Yay - can't wait to read more! We were at Disneyland that Sunday and I thought I might see you on your honeymoon, but it looks like you were still at WDW that day.

 

[MickeyAnne]

Great TR so far. I always keep a list of "lessons learned" after every trip. I make mistakes every time! Can't wait till you get the the wedding days.

 

[Eeyore3838]

great TR! would love to hear the rest!

 

[buf68]

subscribing, sounds great so far

 

[myprincessgirlisa]

ENJOYING reading ypur tr very much

i love your "lesson learned" blurbs......nice touch to help others out

cant wait to hear more!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[imnotaprincess]

Great report so far! Sounds like a good group! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Glorydaz]

AWESOME! absolutely loving your TR!!! and your photos are fantastic! looking forward to more....

Michelle

 

[karentan]

cant wait to hear more!!!

 

[TexasCourt]

Subscribing....loving your TR!

 

[aprincess72]

Yay - can't wait to read more! We were at Disneyland that Sunday and I thought I might see you on your honeymoon, but it looks like you were still at WDW that day.

We just missed you!!
We did DL & CA Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday!
I will be doing a TR for that too!!!

 

[aprincess72]

Thursday, April 26th
Let me first say that I am the queen of agendas. I love them. Anyone who knows me, travels with me, or comes to visit me knows they are going to have an agenda. DF said I couldn’t give people agendas so I made itineraries! ( I made a vacation agenda on our first trip to WDW together called "Maximize the Magic") Anyway, I made fancy Photoshop documents and put those in everyone’s welcome bag. However, I also emailed the itinerary prior to their arrival!

The plan for Thursday is to kiss DF goodbye and send him off on a groom’s day outing to IOA. With him should be his brother, his brother’s girlfriend, his 3 college buddies, and my brother.
I decided I didn’t want to leave anyone out so in addition to my 2 best friends, I invited my parents, FILs, and my aunt and uncle to go to AK for the day and ‘Ohana for dinner. Like I mentioned above, the night before my plans started falling apart. I wasn’t THAT upset Thursday night but for some reason I woke up upset about the whole ordeal. So I decided to call my daddy and ask him to go to AK with me. I really wanted him to go in the first place but I did not realize that my mother was undermining my itinerary all along!
Side note – my parents have been divorced for almost 25 years. Neither is or has ever remarried and we all still hang out. It’s weird I know but we put the “fun” in “dysfunctional”!
So my dad says sure but what’s going on??? At this point I start crying and all I can think to say is “Someone from my family should at least spend a little time with me this week!” So my dad, FILs, and I head off to AK. We mapped out the day since I needed to leave early and I wanted them to see everything they were interested in.
About two hours later I get a text from my brother asking where we are. He missed the trip to IOA with DF since he stayed out too late last night! He is at AK looking for us. We were heading to the LK show so I tell him to meet us there. We walk in and there is my brother, mother, aunt, & uncle. Someone apparently sold me out and told them I was upset. I guess they got quilted into coming to AK. Gotta love that!

Me leading the Elephants at the LK show

After LK we had planned to go to Tusker House for lunch. This place is soooo good! I had an enchanting conversation with a 9 year old boy who was in line in front of me. He was very excited about his mom was having a baby, riding the dinosaur ride, and that he had just met Goofy. I was completely enthralled with everything this kid had to say as he talked my ear off. He reminded me why I love WDW so much! He also reminded me to relax and enjoy everything.

Lesson learned: Children are enchanting and magical little creatures!

My mother starts asking if we can do this or we can do that. I explained the plan to her in a way that was trying to say nicely “this day is not about you!” I was then saved by a phone call from my wonderful WP, Jennifer, who was calling to check and see how everything was going and if we needed anything. Love her!

So we accomplished everything we wanted to do! Whew! My mom & aunt needed to leave to meet the party planner, Lorraine, at Raglan Road to drop off the guest book, decorations, and place cards for our dinner on Friday. My dad, brother, & I went to ride Everest before we had to leave. FILs went shopping. Everyone was happy.

Lesson learned: Always give your mom a job to do if she’s making you nuts!

My MOH calls me and she’s lost. She’s driving from Ft Myers and unfortunately she used mapquest. We have a spa appt at 5 and she arrives at 4:40! Perfect!
We check in at the Saratoga Springs Spa and they offer us robes to change into, show us around, and offer us tea. We really needed them
to offer wine! Oh well, we settled for chamomile tea.

Lesson learned: carry a flask filled with liquid happiness if you think you might need it!

First of all you should know that my MOH is a hair stylist and I used to be a nail tech. We met working in a salon about 14 years ago. So we know a tad bit about the salon industry.
The nail room at SS is ok. I expected more. It’s small, a bit crowded, and looks unorganized to me. The pedicure chairs are nice and comfy though. In the room it is just us and the two technicians which is nice. My MOH is one of those people who has good relaxed energy.
I get my manicure first and MOH is getting her pedicure. I asked for a French of course since it’s a wedding. She’s says that’s extra. Ok… whatever. I won’t go through all the details but this is the worst manicure I’ve ever had. The pedicure was ok… but all in all it’s not a $135 service. I don’t mean to sound snobby but I’ve been to some very swanky spas and I expected way more from this place. They say they rank in the top 5 spas in the country. To sum it up – she cut my wedding ring finger of all fingers because she had not softened the edges of her board and my polish started peeling at my dessert party.

Our services took way too long because the technicians were not able to talk and work at the same time. They were discussing things they shouldn't have discussed in front of clients. My tech went on a long rant about people from certain countries that don't tip well... blah blah blah! The other one answered her cell phone in the middle of my MOHs pedicure. WOW…

By this time we are running way behind to make it to ‘Ohana on time. We hustle to get my MOH checked into POFQ and then change for dinner.
We make it to ‘Ohana fashionably late.
Let the drama begin!
Background: I knew that my mother had these friends who she has known all my life that were “crashing” our wedding so to speak. I don’t know if she encouraged them to do it or if they just decided upon themselves that they were coming. I tried to discourage it all along but I’m very non-confrontational so I didn’t say it straight out. This puts me in between a rock and a hard place because DF has tons of family that we told it made no sense to come to WDW since we had to limit everything to 18 people. FMIL was disappointed that she could not invite her 3 sisters and I felt bad about that. I did not think it was at all fair for my mother to even encourage her friends to show up since both of us had other friends and family we could not invite.
Back to my story: I have an ADR for 12 people. We went to ‘Ohana a month before the wedding and I wrote a lengthy complaint to WDW about how horrible our service was. I spoke with the GM there about my upcoming ADR before my wedding and he reserved a special table for us, etc. Well my mother takes it upon herself to change my ADR so they end up splitting up my tables and putting us in a corner. I had to walk away so I didn’t totally lose my cool with her.

Can you tell I'm not amused?? The mother, one of my 2 BF, me & MOH

My table from the left- 2 BF, Dad, Me, MOH, FILs

We ended up having great service and getting done in time to go down on the Poly beach and watch Wishes. I considered taking my crew to Jellyrolls for the evening but by this time I was ready to go to bed!
We head back to POFQ where I am bunking with MOH for the night!
I cannot believe that tomorrow is the big day!!

 

[DisneyDeeFL]

thanks for sharing so far! can't wait to hear about the ceremony and dinner at Raglan Road...i love that place, so fun!!

 

[M&M126]

I love this TR so far!! I really cant wait to hear the rest!

I also must add that I LOVE the BLT from Earl of Sandwich Best thing ever!

 

[DisneyFairy19]

I love your TR....

 

[mcarthur205]

Enjoying your report! Looking forward to reading all about your big day and seeing your photos.