Our Happily Ever After Begins at WDW... An August 2016 Disneymoon report! The Re-write!

[disneylove16]

OUR HAPPILY EVER AFTER
An August 20-28 Trip Report
And my first ever Trip Report!

​

Hi everyone! This is my first ever trip report, so please bear with me! Our last WDW trip was 6 long years ago, and so much has changed since we were last there!
***So, thanks to PhotoBucket, every photo I posted in my TR is now an error message. I know a lot of DISers are going through the same thing. Well, I spent all day yesterday and today resizing all my photos so I can upload directly to the DIS. I don't want to use another hosting site (ie Flickr) and have this same problem in a year or so if they do the same thing. Only problem is I have way more than the 10 photo limit in each post. So I will be spending this weekend re-writing/copying and pasting my entire TR. Hopefully it'll turn out readable. But the comments fellow DISers will definitely no longer make sense, and will be out of order! ***




Who: DH (34) and me (33)
What: A 7-day, 8 night Disneymoon
Where: Coronado Springs Resort
When: August 20-29
Why: To celebrate our marriage and our 7-year anniversary!
Since this is my first TR, I'll tell you a little bit about us.

Me:


Disney freak, introvert, and super planner. I have pretty severe anxiety, which has gotten worse since our last WDW trip, so I was a little nervous about how that would affect our trip.

I'm from NY, currently living in CA. My grandparents lived in FL, and my brother and I would go visit them for the summers growing up, with annual passes, so we visited WDW countless times. I've been back to visit as an adult in my 20's a few times, and once with DH 6 years ago. I've stayed at GF, Poly, Contemporary, Coronado Springs, All Star Sports, and offsite. My last time visiting was a one day visit to Epcot while visiting family (without DH) in Sept 2014. So there's a LOT of new things to us this trip. WDW is such a sentimental place for me. It's my happy place, and my favorite place on earth.

Age: 33
Favorite ride: Pirates of the Caribbean
Favorite park: Epcot
Favorite character: Very close tie between Stitch & Sven

DH:


He is car-obsessed, laid back, pretty much has me make all the plans, and he goes with the flow. This is a blessing and a curse. Our trip 6 years ago was DH's first trip ever to WDW. He fell in love with WDW, and with CSR. We have been trying to plan a trip back ever since. We live on the west coast, and have tried to fill the void with DL weekends, but it's just not the same. He is also my happy place, my home.
*note about DH* in every "say cheese" photo, DH looks absolutely miserable. My family and friends point it out in every picture I post. He just does not smile for pictures. But when you see the candid photos, you'll see he is happy, and smiles and laughs quite often. He just gets grumpy face when he knows his photo is about to be taken.

Age: 34
Favorite ride: Rock 'n' Roller Coaster
Favorite park: Animal Kingdom
Favorite character: Goofy

Last up, our fur-baby aka babygirl aka booty aka boopy aka bapa, aka sweet potato:
Although she did not visit WDW with us, I'm including her in my TR because I'm sure she will be mentioned a bit. Since we don't have any children, she is our baby. I am ridiculously attached to her, and have a really hard time leaving her. My in-laws doggie-sat for us, and everything went well, but it does put a stress on our vacations. We haven't left her for a week (or been on vacation for that matter!) in 6 long years. She is spoiled.


So very spoiled.


We are rope-drop, commando-type visitors. We get a lot done in the first hour of our day. We don't usually take breaks during the day (I know, I know.) And we try to stay to close, but last trip we only made it once or twice. We both love thrill rides, and love to eat. I love to try new things, while DH is more of a burgers and steak guy. Although, he did promise to be more open-minded this trip. I also don't eat beef or pork, so that will reflect in the food that I order.

Itinerary: This is pretty accurate, though we did park hop throughout the trip. We assigned a park for each day, and went from there. I'll explain when and where in the updates.
I also just noticed I keep going back from present to past tense, since I'm using a lot of the info from my pre-trip report. I'm trying to go back and correct it, I apologize if I miss any sections.

Saturday, 8/20
Travel day

Sunday, 8/21
Magic Kingdom
*Early Morning Magic
Breakfast- Pinocchio Village Haus
Lunch- Columbia Harbour House
Dinner- Coral Reef

Monday, 8/22
Epcot
Lunch- Sunshine Seasons
Dinner- Biergarten

Tuesday, 8/23
AK
Lunch- Restaurantosaurus
Dinner- Boma

Wednesday, 8/24
Disney Springs
Lunch- Frontera Cocina
Dinner- Raglan Road

Thursday, 8/25
DHS
Lunch-Starring Rolls
Dinner- Cape May Cafe

Friday, 8/26
Epcot
Lunch- Rose & Crown
Dinner- Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie
*Illuminations Sparkling Dessert Party

Saturday, 8/27
MK
Lunch- Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn
Dinner- 'Ohana

Sunday, 8/28
Travel home bright and early

*WARNING* this TR is going to be was VERY photo-heavy. (Thanks, photobucket. ) As in, a bajillion photos. I came back with over 2k photos. I'm trying to sort through them now, so as not to bore everyone away from my first and only trip report. But, reading others' trip reports was one of my favorite things to do to pass time waiting for our trip. And I loved looking at the photos. So I'm returning the favor 10 fold. I did pretty good at taking photos of anything we ate (much to DH's dismay) before digging in. I think I only failed once, and stopped DH mid-bite to take photos. I also apologize in advance for photos of us being selfies. I didn't purchase memory maker, and I'm not keen on asking people to take photos for me. We did have some very nice people offer, so there are some "normal" photos of us, but we did take a good amount of selfies.

Well, I think that's it for the introductions! I hope you'll join along for this journey, and I thank you for reading along!

Prologue:
This trip report almost didn't happen. Because our trip almost didn't happen. To sum up a very long few months, my in-laws' dog (who lived with us along with my in-laws) died very unexpectedly in a very stressful and disturbing incident, about a month and a half before our wedding. Right after that, our dog had a pretty major pancreatic attack. Her vet said it could have been from the stress of losing her bff. After being mis-diagnosed at her first vet with "probable" stomach cancer , we found a new vet whom I love, and was able to treat my dog.
Due to our canine issues, we cancelled our simple backyard wedding we were planning on, since I didn't want to stress my dog out more with a lot of people in the yard. And I also didn't want to risk her getting into some food she shouldn't be eating, causing another attack.
We decided to just get married, the 2 of us, in our house, with my in-laws as witnesses. We then had major (read: expensive) electrical problems in the house come up 1 week before our trip (1 day before our "wedding" to be precise). After every one of these incidents, I was 100% positive we were cancelling our trip, I knew deep down it just wasn't meant to be.
When a family friend came and fixed our electrical problems for a fraction of the cost, and my dog's bloodwork came back perfect from the vet, I had a glimmer of hope. We may actually get to go on this trip!

2 days before our trip, I woke up with a sharp pain in my foot. Not unbearable, just annoying, and I was very aware of it. DH insisted I go to my Dr. to make sure it's ok, due to the amount of walking we would be doing on our upcoming trip. I went to my doctor, feeling quite silly, since I knew it wasn't all that bad. She said it was probably plantar faciitis, and had me sit up on the table to take a look. She squeezed and poke and prodded. OW! It didn't hurt like that before. And I didn't like the face she was making. At all. "It may be a stress fracture". Um... WHAT?! I told her we were leaving the day after tomorrow for a week-long trip to WDW. She said that's perfectly fine, but I can't walk on this foot at all. I wanted to cry. I know I was having a pity party, but I am the super-planner. And I did not plan for this. I haven't researched scooters, or wheelchairs, or anything of the sort. She wrote me an order for x-rays, and told me if I went first thing the next morning, she'd get the results that afternoon.
With fingers crossed, I went for the x-rays, trying to stay positive since I had been walking on it in the meantime without much pain. While packing, and getting our last minute things together, I got the call. No breaks. She said to still try and baby it, and keep it wrapped as much as possible. But I felt so much better knowing there was nothing broken.
I finished packing, and we were set. We planned on getting to bed by 8pm, since we needed to be up at 2 am. The airport is an hour away, and our flight left at 6 am. At around 7:30pm, DH's phone rang. He made a confused face, and handed the phone off to me. It was a recording from American Airlines, letting us know that our flight had been cancelled.

I felt my legs going rubbery. I sat down, trying to make sense of the recording, and repeating everything I could to DH. They rebooked us, 6am flight, but our new flight leaving from Dallas would be 3 hours later. We now had a 3 hour layover. We had plans to see my brother, SIL, and newborn nephew the afternoon we arrived. That was our only day we had planned to see them. I didn't want our honeymoon to be a "family-visit", but I had to see them. It had been years, and I don't get to FL often. So we made arrangements to see them the night we got there, and "officially" start our honeymoon the next morning. A 3 hour layover would put us at MCO at 7pm rather than 4pm like planned. It doesn't seem like much, but we'd barely get any time to spend with my family. I didn't want to stay up too late either, since we had the Early Morning Magic even the next morning, and we had been up since 2am.
I tried calling American Airlines, to switch to an earlier flight out of Dallas. After holding 2 hours, being transferred 3 times, calling Travelocity (who I booked through), holding another hour and a half, I gave up. DH told me to just get some sleep and roll with it. He kept repeating our new mantra: "Everything happens for a reason." So at just about midnight, I gave in and went to sleep.

NEXT UP- TRAVEL DAY

 

[disneylove16]

TRAVEL DAY​

We had only gotten a few hours of sleep, so as excited as I was when my alarm went off, I was also a little delirious. A few cups of coffee later, I was in full-on excited mode. We flew out of CA on time, then had a 3 hour layover in TX:

A very tired DH and I at Dallas airport. I may look half asleep on the outside, but I was positively bursting with excitement on the inside!



More airport photos

We arrived at MCO at around 6:40pm, 20 mins early. Before we knew it, we were on the fake monorail!




We had to stop at Dunkin Donuts for iced coffee (I desperately miss their iced coffee here in central CA) and made our way over to DME. DH thought I was crazy walking up to the podium with nothing but my MagicBand. He kept telling me I needed paperwork. Something with a confirmation #. I just kept laughing him off, acting confident on the outside, but I had started to worry when I saw everyone else holding papers. I scanned my band, and good to go! So easy. There was practically no line for our bus, and we were on in no time.




Looking at texts to and from my brother, we were on the bus by 7:20ish, and to the resort before 8. DH realized he got a text while we were flying that our room was ready, in the Cabanas section 9B. I had requested a room in either Casitas or Cabanas, with no specific building preferences. So I was happy.

Before we knew it, we had arrived at the most magical place on earth! Because of where we were sitting, I couldn't get the mandatory Walt Disney World photo but I did manage to get Goofy:


And these:

 

[KnK]

Following along. Congrats.

 

[disneylove16]

Following along. Congrats.

Thank you!

 

[heaven2dc]

Congratulations!! CSR are so pretty! I keep hoping to stay there one day but our family loves the Boardwalk Villas resort. Loved that you got upgraded to business class - love surprises like that!

 

[disneylove16]

We met my brother and his family inside, and said our hellos. I ran off to registration to check in again, even though I already did online check in. I don't know why, I just feel weird not getting any paperwork or map or anything. We got room 9527, and I was informed that we were upgraded to business class! The room was in a nice quiet area, and close to the lobby, restaurants, and bus stop. The cast member mentioned a room to look for that business class could go get free snacks and drinks, but honestly, we never found the time or desire to go seek it out. We picked up our package that was delivered from Garden Grocer, and we were on our way.



My DB, DSIL, and baby walked with us to check out the resort, find our room, put our carry ons down, and freshen up. I took some photos along the way:

 

[disneylove16]

I did get better photos of the room, which I will post, but I took a few rushed photos when we got there:













We then went to Pepper Market for dinner. I have no idea what happened to my photos of Pepper Market, or the food, but I can't seem to find them.


I'm hoping they'll show up.
We were in bed by 11:30ish, with dreams of Magic Kingdom dancing in our heads!

NEXT UP- MAGIC KINGDOM

 

[disneylove16]

Congratulations!! CSR are so pretty! I keep hoping to stay there one day but our family loves the Boardwalk Villas resort. Loved that you got upgraded to business class - love surprises like that!

Thank you! I loved the Boardwalk, when we went to visit! It's upbeat and fun!

 

[disneylove16]

DAY 1: MAGIC KINGDOM
​

We were up bright and early for Early Morning Magic, mostly to get 7DMT and Peter Pan out of the way, so we could use our FP+ for other rides. I also liked the idea of getting an early start, and limited crowds. We're not big breakfast eaters, though we did eat to get our money's worth.

The bus arrived right away, within minutes, and we were on our way!




When we lined up for EMM, the line seemed really long. I didn't see how all of us were going to get on 3 rides, with minimal waits. But somehow, it worked.

*I just realized I'm missing some of my EMM photos, I will update later after I find them*

We were given wristbands, and were allowed into the park right on time. Walking down Main Street, I felt giddy with excitement, but it also felt surreal. After planning and looking forward to our trip for months and months, when we first got there I think I was in disbelief. Everything felt surreal for the first 2 days. Seeing the castle took my breath away, as always.












The castle at DL is pretty, and quaint. But seeing Cinderella's castle always makes me feel like a little girl again, believing that anything is possible.



We went straight to 7DMT, which we have never rode. It was cute. The theming was great. For me, it was a one and done. DH really enjoyed it, however.

 

[disneylove16]

We rode it with no wait 2 more times. We then headed over to Peter Pan, and there were cast members out letting guests know that it was not open yet. I was a little annoyed, since the EMM only included 3 rides, and 1 of them was down, but figured we'd hit Winnie the Pooh to kill some time and try back. We rode Pooh once, and when we got off we noticed the Carousel and Teacups were running.

I don't know if that was part of the event, or they were just making up for PP being closed. We headed back to PP, and were told it was still not running. They were working on it. We went to Pinocchio Village Haus and had breakfast. I was pleasantly surprised by the set up here. They had a really nice spread, with scrambled eggs, waffles, fresh fruit, some kind of frittata which DH loved, a cheese platter, sausages, coffees, teas, and juices. The cast members were beyond helpful and friendly, and just made breakfast super enjoyable. Again, I have no clue where my food photos went for this. I checked, and have photos for every other meal, I'm not sure what happened our first night/morning.


When we left, Drizella and Anastasia were out meeting guests. I checked back one more time to see if PP was open, and it wasn't. It was almost time for the park to open, so we gave
up on PP for now. I found out later that we could've used our wristbands as an anytime FP that day for PP. I wish the cast members would've told us that at the time so I could've worked it in. No matter, we did end up working PP in on our 2nd MK day, and we got to see all the new interactive queue features, so it worked out for the best.

We made our way over to Space Mountain for rope drop, and went about the rest of our day. Space Mountain was the first Disney ride DH ever rode. When I brought him to WDW in 2010, we hit rope drop and went straight for Tomorrowland. We did Space Mountain first, and I remember being so nervous about whether or not he'd like it. I felt like that first ride would make or break him as a WDW-fanatic. I remember the ride starting, and in the darkness all I could do was wonder. Until I heard it. His screaming and laughing, and howls that sounded like Goofy himself. He loved it. So now it's a ride-as-soon-as-possible-if-not-first, ride.

 

[disneylove16]

We did some other rides, and then waited to see my favorite princess. I'm not big on meeting characters, but I've never met her, and I was stoked!






She was asking what tribe my tattoos are from!

 

[disneylove16]

Time for lunch at Columbia Harbour House!

I got the fried shrimp and french fries, and substituted clam chowder for dessert. Every quick service did the DDP substitutions with no hesitation at all.






DH got the tuna sandwich.


Everything was delicious. We're never disappointed in their food, and it's a must do every trip.

Some more rides/ enjoying the park:
















Then I had a very important mission...

 

[disneylove16]

My niece came to visit us a few months ago, and on a whim went to DL with her boyfriend on 4th of July. It was their first visit ever. I told her what to expect, and that it would be packed. But she was determined to go. She didn't want to ride any rides, didn't care about the crowds, she just wanted to see Cinderella. She did end up seeing her in the parade, but I think was a bit disappointed she wasn't able to meet her (again, it was her first visit, and no research, I don't think she knew what to expect). So, I wanted to meet Cinderella and record a message for my niece.















I did get an incredibly adorable video for my niece, and now I don't know how to post videos I will try to go back and add it once I'm done.

 

[disneyAndi14]

We were there the same time as you all, we came on 8/21 and stayed until 8/29 so this is so nice to see your report. I wondered about the emm event, it looks like you enjoyed the breakfast and 7dmt, bummer about pp. We liked the que as well at pp. Your room looks nice at CSR, we stayed our first night at pop then the rest at GF, loved it. CR dinner looks lovely, we have been once several years ago and just did appetizers there and liked it.

 

[disneylove16]

Some more rides and park touring:






Then had to get one of these, of course:




Good stuff.










Then it was off to Epcot for dinner!


Next up: Coral Reef

 

[disneylove16]

We made our way out of Magic Kingdom and over to the monorail to head to Epcot. We had a 5:15 ADR for Coral Reef and allowed ourselves plenty of time to get over there. I snapped some photos along the way.








I love these attraction signs so much.












Since we were early, while on the monorail I looked at what FP+ were still available for Epcot, and I was able to snag one for Test Track! We got to Epcot, and went right over to TT.

 

[disneylove16]

DH was in Heaven. He loves anything to do with cars, so he was a happy hubby. He hadn't been on the new TT yet, either, so it was different for him.

We then made our way over to Coral Reef for our ADR.

 

[disneylove16]

We ate here for the first time on our last visit 6 years ago, and enjoyed it. We sat right next to the tank last time, but this time we were sat further away. At least we didn't have people walking up to our table while we were eating to take pictures though, so there was a silver lining. I have to say, I was worried about this reservation. I read a lot of mixed reviews on the Dis, and was really sure the food had gone downhill since we ate there last. We loved the atmosphere last time, and DH was looking forward to eating here, so we took the chance. I'm so glad we did. This was one of our favorite meals the whole trip. DH loved his steak, and my salmon was delicious. So so good.

I got a mixed drink, I think it was called a Pina Colava or something like that. It was a frozen Pina Colada with raspberry puree in it. Very good, but very sweet.



Complimentary bread



I got the Lobster Bisque, and DH got a Ceasar Salad



Salmon and Steak




We were stuffed at this point, so we got our desserts included in the DDP to-go, so we could eat them back at the hotel. We got the cheesecake and some kind of mousse (Jack Daniels or Baileys, I can't recall) to split.



Our way out

 

[disneylove16]

We were pretty tired at this point, so we headed back to the resort to relax and have an early night.






We were greeted by this cuteness when we got back to the room: (Note: I had already bought the ears, they weren't provided by Mousekeeping!)


DH went to get a beer


We walked around a bit more, I think I purchased some souvenirs from Panchitos, and we called it a night. We ate our desserts back at the room. They melted a little, but were still good. Yeah, still good.




UP NEXT: EPCOT

 

[disneylove16]

DAY 2: EPCOT
​

We made it to Epcot almost an hour before rope drop. There was a crowd already, but not too bad. Originally, the plan was to rope drop TT, since our FP+ was for Soarin. Our FP+ for our 2nd Epcot day was for Frozen Ever After. While we were waiting for the park to open, DH said "since we did TT yesterday, why don't we rope drop FEA?" I told him he was crazy, that every person waiting in front of us was doing the same thing, and I hate partaking in the stampedes. He kept reassuring me it wouldn't be too bad, and he really seemed to want to ride it. So, after taking some quick mandatory SE photos, we joined in the race.