PeaJay's Late Late Honeymoon Trip Report

[PeaJay18]

Here's my better-late-than never TR. :blush:

We've been back 3 weeks now, but work & family commitments have prevented me from getting this done earlier, so I apologise if seems a bit out of date.
On the plus side, the delay means that out Photopass CD has turned up so I am able to include some of those pictures.

Some quick background: we've been to WDW twice before
(2001 & 2003) and twice to DLRP, but these trips were as part a larger family group.
We were married back in July, but the combination of work, costs, weather and crowds helped us decided to delay the honeymoon until early October
(and, as you'll see, it really paid off)

Warning - photo heavy and needlessly wordy.

So here we go...:thumbup:

[PeaJay18]

DAY 1 - Checking In & The Kingdom By Night

The trip was 2 weeks - Sat 6th Oct until the 20th.
We stayed at Gatwick airport the night before our flight and it was a wise choice.
The flight wasn't unreasonably early (11.15) but it meant no panic over possible traffic delays etc.
Both of us were feeling a bit under the weather, so the less stress the better.

We'd decided to splash out on seat upgrades for our return trip when we originally booked
(we reasoned that pure excitement would see us through the outbound journey in cattle-class),
but we had saved more than we anticipated so decided to fork out for better seats at the airport.
No such luck - the flight was completely full!

So, full of head-cold we both suffered through the 8 hour flight.
Landed on time with no major delays, picked up our car with ease and by 3.30pm local time we were greeted by...

Checking in the CM asked us if we were celebrating anything.
As we answered "our honeymoon" he announced he was just testing us and opened his hands to reveal 2 "Just Married" pins!

It was a great start, and we briefly checked out this beautiful resort.

Armed with our Keys To The World and proudly wearing our pins, we dragged our tired selves up to the room - building #6 room 6329.

We had paid for a water view and loved what we ended up with -

Happy with the room and with heads feeling like they were full of cotton wool, we unpacked quickly and decided to sleep.
I'd been organised enough to know that the MK was open until midnight,
so a couple or three hours of sleep, a shower and a change of clothes later we caught the bus at 8pm for the trip to the Magic Kingdom...

[PeaJay18]

DAY 1 - Checking In & The Kingdom By Night continued

So the bus pulled into the MK at approximately 8.30pm, and the excitement builds as we see the Halloween Pumpkin Mickey in front of the train station.
Once through the gates the gates the full effect hits us - Main St decorated for Halloween looks amazing by night!

Kathryn (my lovely wife) poses for our very first MK photo of this trip.

But as we walk towards the hub something else hits us - this place is busy.
Busier than I have ever seen any park before.
From Casey's to the castle and all around the hub, it's chock full of people and strollers.

A view of Main St that doesn't convey just how crowded it was behind me.

Maybe this was a bad idea! Reasoning that everyone is packed in like sardines to watch "Wishes"
we fight our way slowly through the crowd and stagger into a very quiet Adventureland.
Iguess everyone really is watching Wishes.

We walk on to the Jungle Cruise - this is the first time I've ridden it at night and it's a completely different experience.
Our skipper was great too - everyone joined in for "backside of water"!
As we exit JC we notice that there's no line for the Magic Carpets.
I'm a big Genie fan, and couldn't pass up a chance to ride - the lack of any line made it an easy decision to hop on board.

An arty shot of the Magic Carpet's central lamp, with Wishes smoke in background.

Next it's off to Pirates for our very first meeting with Captain Jack Sparrow...

[PeaJay18]

Re: PeaJay's Late Late Honeymoon Trip Report

Next up we took a stroll over to Pirates - again a walk on.
People are gearing up for the second SpectroMagic parade of the evening, and it means they're not queuing for rides. Fine by me!

This the first time I've seen any PotC with a Jack Sparrow AA and it's amazing -
the movement is so life like - particularly the one hiding in the barrel.



The obligatory Pirates sign shot - but by night! Oooohhhh.

We check out the Mansion wait time and, unlike the rest of the park, it's pretty high (at least for us),
so we stopped by the Columbia Harbour House for food as our stomachs don't really know what time of day it is.
We have the fish & chicken, but the portions are too large for us and we end leaving almost half.

In to Fantasyland to hit Smallworld, as it's the only attraction here without a big wait (Peter Pan is crazy busy!)




The lovely Mrs.PeaJay18 rocks out with the clock out.

The lady behind us in the line (and subsequently the boat) was kind enough to take this pic -



I'm a great believer in "no flash photography"on attractions.
The bespectacled shadow on the right is me.

Next up we take in a never-before ridden Toontown attraction, meet the reason behind all this,
bite the bullet and hit the Mansion and have a hunny-based momentary lapse of judgement.
All this and a photo where you can clearly see my face!

[Hakuna Makarla]

Re: PeaJay's Late Late Honeymoon Trip Report

Here's my better-late-than never TR. :blush:

We've been back 3 weeks now, but work & family commitments have prevented me from getting this done earlier, so I apologise if seems a bit out of date.
On the plus side, the delay means that out Photopass CD has turned up so I am able to include some of those pictures.

Some quick background: we've been to WDW twice before
(2001 & 2003) and twice to DLRP, but these trips were as part a larger family group.
We were married back in July, but the combination of work, costs, weather and crowds helped us decided to delay the honeymoon until early October
(and, as you'll see, it really paid off)

Warning - photo heavy and needlessly wordy.

So here we go...:thumbup:

woooooo hoooo I am all for a trip report thats heavy with pics!! I do hope you got the inside of the castle, so far I have not gotten to see inside! I am off to read your report

[NeverNeverland]

Re: PeaJay's Late Late Honeymoon Trip Report

Loving it so far!
Not heavy enough with pics, I say! :judge:

[jane2073]

Re: PeaJay's Late Late Honeymoon Trip Report

Enjoying the trip report!
Can't wait to read the rest!!

[BigPigletFan]

Re: PeaJay's Late Late Honeymoon Trip Report

Keep them coming PeaJay! I can't wait to hear how the rest of your Honeymoon went.

[Oswald the Rabbitt]

Re: PeaJay's Late Late Honeymoon Trip Report

Congrats and great pics so far

[mikeland]

Re: PeaJay's Late Late Honeymoon Trip Report

Really nice! Thanks.

[DonDuck]

Re: PeaJay's Late Late Honeymoon Trip Report

Congrats and great report. Lots o' pics is fine by me, bring it on.

[Mnemorath]

Re: PeaJay's Late Late Honeymoon Trip Report

Nice pics. and Congratz.

3 weeks late is not too bad....

I STILL have not finished mine from Januarary...............................

[PeaJay18]

Re: PeaJay's Late Late Honeymoon Trip Report

So after a Smallworld visit it's time to put the motto of this trip into practice "Do stuff we've never done before!"

With that in mind, we head on over to Toontown to hit the Barnstormer,
only stopping to grab a FP for *shudder* Winnie The Pooh - another attraction we'd successfully avoided so far.
Barnstormer was a good little ride that I'm glad we did, but it helped a lot that there was almost no line.

Side note - the CM at Goofy's Barnstormer entrance spotted our "Just Married" pins and congratulated us (as had most CMs that evening),
but she also noticed my Silver Surfer t-shirt and told us that her boyfriend had proposed to her during Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer. :unsure:

I managed to talk the Mrs into a quick look around Mickey's house, and we ended up waiting all of 5 mins to meet the mouse himself -



This is our first Photopass pic - note the added autograph.

Back over to the Hunny Hunt - I have a vague dislike for all things Pooh,
but it's hard to hate this attraction when it unexpectedly starts bouncing!

Time is ticking now - it's getting on for quarter to midnight, so what better time to head back over to the recently refurbed Haunted Mansion.
The wait was posted as 10 mins, but we walked straight into the stretching room, stopping only for this...



Leota woke up as we passed. Had to be quick on the shutter button!

The Mansion was great - you could tell that everything had been re-touched,
there was something different to look at every time in the staircase scene
and the bride/attic sequence suitably creepy. Note - the husbands portraits effect was working fine on all our visits. :clap:



The Ghost Host sound enhancements worked brilliantly - I just wish the floor moved when the "body" falls.

By now it was getting close to closing, so we took a quick ride on Snow White
(with a brief stop in the final scene, where the kids in the car with us continued to wave bye to Dopey as we sat there for a couple of minutes.
:wave:

So then we made out way back to the hub and got a couple of handy Photopass CMs to take these -





We walk straight on to a bus and are back in the room by 1am.
So what did we learn today?

a) It pays to stay the night before at the airport.
b) Even jet lag & a head cold can't diminish the excitement of finally arriving at the MK.
c) It pays to ride whilst others wait for fireworks/parades.
d) Photopass is a life saver if you actually want pictures with everyone in.

Thanks for all the kind words - it's just the kind on motivation I need to get this thing done!

One day down, 13 more to go! (What have we let ourselves in for?!)
Next up - sleeping, swimming, shopping, swinging (no, not that kind)
and another late night in a park...

[Charmed-One]

Re: PeaJay's Late Late Honeymoon Trip Report

Great first day report, looking forward to the rest!, and congratulations to you both

[PeaJay18]

Re: PeaJay's Late Late Honeymoon Trip Report

Day 2 - Sunday 7th Oct - Sleeping, Shopping, Swinging

Slept in on Sunday - still not feeling 100%. Crawled out of bed at about 10am.
The weather was warm, but became quite overcast as the day went on..
We made our way over to the resort food court (Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory) for breakfast.
I enjoyed the choc chip pancakes topped with bacon.



The foodcourt had some great detail if you looked up from your plate.

Then we caught the boat to DownTown - this really is a great perk of this resort.
A very nice trip, with a great view of the famous "treehouse villas".



The wife pushes to the front of the queue to get the best seat. )



No danger of a Tarzan overlay anytime soon.

The captain kept us entertained with the full story of why the treehouses were retired
and also hit us with some little known Disney trivia.
Did you know that Huey, Dewey & Louie's mother is called Della?

We hit the shops, then stopped for lunch at the pretty empty (but very nice) Portobella Yacht Club.



Nessie is a long way from home.



"The difference between you and me is I make this look gooood."



Live glass sculpting - note the terrifying, Grudge-like ghost child.



Kathryn gives the minestrone soup the thumbs up.

TBC...

[danyoung]

Re: PeaJay's Late Late Honeymoon Trip Report

So, what is the full story of why the treehouses were retired? Great report so far - I like that you're breaking it up into smaller chunks. Keep it all coming!

[tayakaleb]

Re: PeaJay's Late Late Honeymoon Trip Report

love the treehouse pics. we stayed there with my now husband's family back in dec. 1997!!

[PeaJay18]

Re: PeaJay's Late Late Honeymoon Trip Report

So, what is the full story of why the treehouses were retired? Great report so far - I like that you're breaking it up into smaller chunks. Keep it all coming!

Thanks for the kind words!
The treehouses were retired after they were damaged in a storm.
Apparently, the fact that they are built on now protected wetland,
combined with the fact that it's practically impossible to bring them up to ADA Code standards means that they won't be available to guests anytime soon.

However, we were told that they now house cast members on the international college program.

love the treehouse pics. we stayed there with my now husband's family back in dec. 1997!!

Thanks - here's another pic for you...



Hopefully I'll get chance to post another installment tonight.
Stay tuned!

[sir clinksalot]

Re: PeaJay's Late Late Honeymoon Trip Report

Awesome pictures.

[PeaJay18]

Re: PeaJay's Late Late Honeymoon Trip Report

It's back! (Slow & steady wins the race...)

So, Sunday 7th continued -

After lunch we caught the bus back from Downtown to POFQ
(although it took ages as it went via Typhoon Lagoon and every stop at Riverside before getting us "home".)
Caught forty winks and then drove out to Fantasia Gardens Mini-Golf -



The entrance to the best mini golf on Disney property.



"You little son of a b!#ch ball! Why you don't you just go home? That's your HOME!
Are you too good for your home? ANSWER ME!"



The flowing wine is in no way responsible for the quality of our game.



Dancing Hippos, Elephants and Crocodiles do their best to get in the way.



The penultimate hole is surrounded by a water feature full of lost balls.



Yensid watches over the final hole (it swallows your ball and water erupts)

I love a well-themed mini golf course, and on my last visit I was blown away by Fantasia Gardens.
But this time something was just a little off.
It might have been that this was the only cloudy, slightly rainy time of the whole trip,
but I noticed several little problems - sporadic effects, peeling paint etc that didn't ruin it for me, but took the shine off.

Headed back to the resort and took a walk along the river to Riverside.
We tried to get a walk-in at Boatwright's (an hour wait - no thanks!),
and ended up at the Riverside Mill food court. I had the roast beef and K enjoyed the custom made pasta.
For some reason I don't have pictures of any of this...

It was another late night at the MK, so we hopped on a bus and got there for 9.15...

Coming up - thoughts on Stitch, how to walk on to 2 major attractions, midnight character meets and disaster as Peco Bill's runs out of tea!