"No, We're Not Getting Married at Disney!" a 2018 tripS report - update 10/25 AKL food + DHS Day

pepperandchips

[melinda]
Joined
Mar 16, 2014
Hey howdy hey! I'm Melinda! It's nice to meet you if we haven't been acquainted before, and nice to see you if you've joined any of my reports in the past. (links in signature if you're interested)

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I'm from Atlanta and one of those Disney fans who got re-obsessed as an adult. I had a handful of childhood trips to Walt Disney World and a one-day glorious return to the Magic Kingdom in 2006.

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Anyone remember this castle promotion? I loved it, actually....

And here I am in a 2006 throwback with my friend Jules, she figures in to this report later :)

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Anyway, back to my long-winded history... I became interested in the Food and Wine Festival in 2013 and started planning my glorious return to Walt Disney World for the following October. Of course, before I got around to embarking on my epic food and wine trip, I managed to find the Disney Tourist Blog and then the Disboards, get totally obsessed with planning, and buy my first annual pass. How's that for an eager beaver? :rotfl:

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My first few trips were all with my mom and sister, and between 2014 trip number 3 & 4, I met the love of my life and started hauling him along as well. I will call him either R or DH in this report, even though he wasn't my DH until a month and a half ago or so.

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Which is where the trip report title comes in, because everyone knows how much I am obsessed with Disney and I was asked probably dozens of times if we were getting married at Disney! :cool2: Then I had a lovely bachelorette party trip to Disney earlier this spring and I got asked if we were having a Disney wedding EVEN MORE times then! Not that I wouldn't have loved to have a Disney wedding, but it just wasn't for us. I am planning a wedding post later, so more on that to come...

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We still travel with my mom quite a bit, so I will introduce her here too. Leslie works hard and plays harder and is a great travel buddy. When we travel with my mom (and sometimes sister, who's now moved to Oregon, so I doubt she will appear in this report) we usually stay offsite, but I am excited to say that we have a trip coming up next month where we'll all be on site at Coronado Springs. She loves Morimoto Asia, shopping, California Grill, Rock n Roller Coaster, and the Grand Floridian.

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Sooooo, what brings me to start this report, you might ask? well.... I have a DR/TR/Disney problem and I can't finish what I've started without getting excited about something new, so I've decided to kinda bake all my reporting into one thread and start my epic...
YEAR OF REPORTING!

I spend a lot of time on the dining boards, so this may be a glorified dining report with extra details thrown in. My dining reports have probably always leaned more toward TRs anyway, so maybe they belonged over on this forum all along. My first BIG Disney trip report is in progress over on the Aulani forum, but it's definitely still a work in progress. Where I last left off, we are about to enjoy our last day on Kauai before heading off to Disneyland!!!

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DH and I have been to Disney together now more times than I can count. We love to travel, and I love Disney, so by extension, R has been forced to love Disney too. He does enjoy it, but wishes we went other places besides Disney more often :confused3

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We both love Animal Kingdom, the Canada beer cart (UNIBROUE, UNIBROUE, UNIBROUE!), tiki culture, signature dining, thrill rides and Epcot festivals. I love Spaceship Earth, the Peoplemover, Country Bears (yes, all the best thrill rides :laughing:) Burudika band, Disney podcasts, and wall selfies. R probably falls somewhere on the scale between "hates" and "tolerates with some occasional enthusiasm" most of those things, but I'll let you be the judge as the report evolves.

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So this trip will cover my and/or our 2018 Disney adventures, including a long weekend stay at the Dolphin for Festival of the Arts, my bachelorette trip in April (also at the Dolphin), a one-night whirlwind splurge resort-only stay after our wedding at the Polynesian - club level (!!!!), an August trip with my mom staying at Coronado Springs, and a Thanksgiving Week trip, also with my mom, also at the Dolphin (wow are we sensing a theme here, or what?)... and maybe more. We'll see what happens when that AP kicks in for R.

So pop in, say hi, pack your patience :thumbsup2 and join in as we experience a whole year of Disney trips... and no we don't get married there! :rotfl:
 
Post Index:

Trip One: MLK Day Long Weekend for Festival of the Arts - Walt Disney World Swan - January 13-15, 2018 - "Mexico, you *fooled* us again"

January 13: Epcot Morning and Festival of the Arts
January 13: Geyser Point and DHS, Il Mulino Dinner
January 14: The Pink Coat Goes to Walt Disney World
- Breakfast at Grand Floridian Cafe and a brief trip to the Magic Kingdom
- Snacks and Attractions at Animal Kingdom
- More Snacks at Epcot, the Pink Coat Meets a Princess, and Dinner at Il Mulino... AGAIN!
January 15:
Magic Kingdom and a Fond Farewell Lunch at Sanaa

Trip Two: Mindie Mouse Bachelorette at Walt Disney World! April 5-9, 2018 - Walt Disney World Dolphin and Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village

April 5: Travel, Epcot, and More, girls night at the BoDWalk
April 6: Animal Kingdom Photopass Overload, the one in which we learn the facts of life from Pocahontas, and an evening at Disney Springs!
April 7: Fancy Grandma Gets Sparkles for Days, Das Sauerkraut!
April 8:
Double Trouble! Two visits to Sanaa, Two Friends do DHS, and Two Nighttime Spectaculars!

Trip Three: August 16-19, 2018 - Disney's Coronado Springs Resort (Coming Soon)

Trip Four: October 4-8, 2018 - Well, It's Not Exactly Buckingham Palace, Still It's Clean (Towneplace Suites at Flamingo Crossings)
 
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Eeek! Omg you're too cute! Love the engagement pics they are amaze. Can't wait to hear all the things!!

We pulled the trigger on a FOA trip January 2019 (WHOOP!) so I'm super pumped to follow along :yay:
 


Here! :wave2:

one of those Disney fans who got re-obsessed as an adult.

:wave:Hi! Me, too! I'm one of those, too!


Oh my goodness, models. :eek: The few photos I've seen so far have been absolutely stunning!!

so I've decided to kinda bake all my reporting into one thread and start my epic... YEAR OF REPORTING!

:scared1: Wow! You and @chunkymonkey and your years of Disney...

R has been forced to love Disney too. He does enjoy it, but wishes we went other places besides Disney more often :confused3

What a strange, silly man.

R probably falls somewhere on the scale between "hates" and "tolerates with some occasional enthusiasm" most of those things, but I'll let you be the judge as the report evolves.

:laughing:

This is Nathan when it comes to my appreciation of character meets.

a one-night whirlwind splurge resort-only stay after our wedding at the Polynesian - club level (!!!!)

Nice!! :lovestruc Treat yo'self!
 
Hi Melinda!! I'm here! Congrats on your wedding! You and your hubby are so cute together! Love the pictures, and I love your dress!

DH and I have been to Disney together now more times than I can count. We love to travel, and I love Disney, so by extension, R has been forced to love Disney too. He does enjoy it, but wishes we went other places besides Disney more often :confused3

Haha welcome to my life!!
 


Yay!!!!!

I could make a comment about being disloyal to our second home (wbc) but since I just got back from an on-site trip I’ll let it slide
 
I'm here! :)

Congrats on your wedding and I love your dress. Can't wait to follow along! :earsgirl:
 
Trying to make more time for DISing again, and acquaint myself with you ladies I've been meeting through the Steve-less group! Can't wait to read about your adventures!
 
I'm here!
:banana: You know I would be sad if you weren't!!!! Glad to have you!

Eeek! Omg you're too cute! Love the engagement pics they are amaze. Can't wait to hear all the things!!

We pulled the trigger on a FOA trip January 2019 (WHOOP!) so I'm super pumped to follow along :yay:
YAY! I have missed your reports and shenanigans. I hope you will write another one and keep me looped in on your plans in case I need to sneak in a weekend visit in January!

Oh my goodness, models. :eek: The few photos I've seen so far have been absolutely stunning!!
THANK YOU! It's nice to feel like a princess for a day!
:scared1: Wow! You and @chunkymonkey and your years of Disney...
What?! You have a bit of a year-long report going yourself, ma'am... :P and I have GREATLY enjoyed it!!!

:laughing:

This is Nathan when it comes to my appreciation of character meets.
I don't know what it is about dudes and why they don't seem to appreciate the fine art of being photographed with all our childhood idols!!!:confused3:laughing:

Good way to combat work stress!
::yes:: Yes it is. Now with less wedding research to do on my "breaks" at work I've gotta throw myself back into the Dis with full force! haha

Hi Melinda!! I'm here! Congrats on your wedding! You and your hubby are so cute together! Love the pictures, and I love your dress!



Haha welcome to my life!!
Thank you so much! We Disney-crazy ladies have to have each other if the men don't quite "get it" :rotfl:
Here I am too! :banana:
:woohoo: awww yeah! All the friends and none of the Steves!!!!

Following along! :wave2:
:hug: Welcome, friend! You set a high bar with your reports so don't judge my crappy note taking lol
Joining the party party:

Yay, so glad to have you here, Nancy!!! :wave2:

I'm excited!
:dogdance: thanks for joining me! working on updates!!!

Following along :jumping1:
:welcome: so glad to have you!!!

Yay!!!!!

I could make a comment about being disloyal to our second home (wbc) but since I just got back from an on-site trip I’ll let it slide
:laughing: I'm starting to FEEL a little disloyal, we haven't been to Bonnet Creek in nearly a year! We wanted Magical Express for R on our upcoming trip and 60 days' FP for the Thanksgiving trip so the lure of on-site has kept us from our WBC "home" but I know we will be back. I hope you had an absolutely AMAZING trip!!! I would love to hear about it!

I'm here! :)

Congrats on your wedding and I love your dress. Can't wait to follow along! :earsgirl:
Thank you so much! I am glad to have you along.... and I LOVE your username! AKL really is zen. I was looking for something non-traditional in a wedding dress... while I am TOTALLY that girl who would do a big poofy princess dress, I really wanted a PINK one! I didn't exactly go full blown pink but it turned out very "me".

Trying to make more time for DISing again, and acquaint myself with you ladies I've been meeting through the Steve-less group! Can't wait to read about your adventures!
Agreed! That's actually what inspired me to write a for real TR rather than just writing another dozen or so dining reviews. Glad to see you back on the Dis but I totally get needing to take a break! Life gets in the way sometimes...

I’m so in! I LOVE your wedding photos and can’t wait for the wedding post!
Yay, thank you Kara! I have the wedding post written but I don't want to scare off everybody that might be here actually for, you know, Disney... :rotfl: and I am waiting on my photographers to send me a couple of edited photos. I will probably write more about that later too... :rolleyes:

I'm here and ready for the adventures. Totally with ya on the work stress. This place, wine, and some disney scented candles are about all that save me most days.
Preach! Good food, good beverages, and a little Disney escapism keep my tank full!

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