Our 8th Anniversary Trip Report *UPDATED 9/30 - Day 3* About This Page:

[TheThomasFam]

What a wonderful trip report so far. I that cake!! What flavor was it?? Maybe I'll order one special for my DD (3) when we go in May. It will be her first visit to WDW.

Can't wait for your next installment.

[Jillybean]

Now that was a great day! Amazing how many different things you did and they all sound wonderful and memorable!

Jill

[DyanKJ130]

Sounds like an absolutely magical day!!! More please

[DoraDoug]

What a wonderful day! The afternoon tea sounds incredible and very romantic too. I have to put that on the list for our 2nd honeymoon trip next year.

[DrDolphin]

Sounds like a wonderful day!!

[Lemap760]

I can't believe that guy who said that he didn't like staying in the castle because he had to be on Disney's schedule. For a prize like that I would be on anyone's schedule

Sounds like you're having a great anniversary trip.

[MickeyMAC]

Great update. Beautiful anniversary cake.

[Tiggerbelle]

Wow, you've done a lot in only two days! Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the trip.

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you had a great time at the tea DD and I just discussed doing this as a mother/daughter thing And what a cake

How fantastic you got to see La Nouba Sounds like a great day overall

More please

[PrincessSharon]

Glad you enjoyed your tea. And the cake is beautiful. And sadly, I CAN believe what Mr. A said. Unfortunately, Disney doesn't give out prizes like that to people who actually deserve it. More, please.

[vfair]

Originally Posted by KimM

Day 1

I was up at 5:30 a.m. making final preparations and trying hard not to wake DH too early. I was mostly packed, but was getting together all our “Disney” stuff – all my pins, most of my collection of Disney travel guides, etc. DH woke up around 7 a.m. and made breakfast and . I had a physical therapy appointment at 8 and was planning to get on the road right after. After PT and a quick stop for gas, we were on the road by 10. We didn’t hit any traffic, so we were at ASMu a little before noon.

I sent a fax requesting a room close to Melody Hall, the pool and parking because of my knee injury. I am mobile, but I wasn’t sure how all the walking in the parks would affect it. While I was checking in, the CM said our room was ready. She showed me the map and we were in the Country building. Two reasons that this didn’t work for us…

1. WAAAY to far from Melody Hall.
2. DH HATES country music (I don’t) and I knew he would be weird about staying there. (I know, it’s ridiculous, but what can I do? I him!)

So, the CM went back to try to find another room. She was very nice about it and, after a short wait, was finally able to find us a room in the Jazz section, which was more to my liking. Unfortunately, it wasn’t ready yet, so we headed over to the Yacht Club for early registration at the Where Dreams HapPin 2007 Pin Celebration.

We drove over to YC and easily found the convention center. Registration opened at noon and we arrived around 12:40. There was a long line to check in and I knew DH was starving and wouldn’t go for me waiting in a long line before some lunch. I suggested Beaches & Cream. DH didn’t remember eating there, but he was game. I was concerned about the wait, but was pleasantly surprised when we arrived to be seated immediately at the counter. The host who seated us was from Uzbekistan and I happen to have visited there a few years ago on a trip for work. Imagine his surprise when I said I had been there! He asked where I stayed, which of course I didn’t remember, as he used to work for the Sheraton there. I wish I remembered more about the country so we could talk more, but he was busy anyway, so our conversation was short.

DH and I both enjoyed a burger and fries. We opted not to have dessert (I know – CRAZY , right!?!) but we had an ADR at Crystal Palace about 4 hours later and I wanted us both to be hungry.

After a satisfying lunch, we headed back to the convention center so I could check-in at the Pin Celebration. The line was considerably shorter, for which we were both grateful. Because it was the first day and they weren’t checking event credentials at the door, DH was able to go in with me. I picked up my pins and was able to get one of my pin sets signed by the artist while we were there. I’m not big on the trading, as most of what I can afford to buy, I like to keep, so we didn’t stay terribly long.


Pin traders in action


One of the beautiful pin sets, which I definitely could not afford!

SIDE NOTE: I just have to share this, as it really upset me. After I got my pin set signed, I “borrowed” the edge of someone’s trading table to put the set back in the packing materials so nothing was broken. I overheard a conversation between two traders. They were discussing one of the prizes some of the event attendees received, which was a visit to the “dream room.” No one knew what it was at that point, as it wouldn’t be revealed until Friday or Saturday. One of the men received this as his prize (we’ll call him A to make the story telling easier). The other (he’ll be B) was speculating on what the “dream” might be…pin sets or maybe a YOAMD prize like a night in the castle. So A says, “Oh, yeah, we already did that. It sucked! Well, I mean we got good pictures and everything, but it really stunk being on Disney’s schedule and all, you know being in the parade and eating when they want you to. I hope it's not THAT again.” Needless to say B was stunned and really didn’t respond, just kind of shook his head and said “Oh.” It took everything in me not to say something, but what can you say to someone who seems ungrateful for a prize that I would give my left arm for? DH, who would normally rather die than even comment on something like this, shot me a look that told me he felt the same as I did. We were both shocked and left the table quickly after my pins were secured. I wonder if there are others out there that feel this way?

OK, I’m off my soapbox now, so on with the TR!

I called ASMu as we were leaving YC and was informed that our room was ready. We headed over and unloaded our gear. We were greeted by a Mickey on our bed, which was sweet. The refurbished rooms at ASMu are nice. We hadn’t stayed here before and our location couldn’t have been better. We were in room 9663 – on the 3rd floor, pool side, right between the two pools and not far from the elevator. Melody Hall was only one building away, so not too much of a walk.


Our three Mickeys - the towel, the pal and my pin bag

We rested in the room a bit before heading to MK for dinner. First stop was City Hall to pick up our anniversary buttons. Next was a little shopping at the Emporium to find a hat for DH. He has a nice hat that we bought at AK last year but he said he left it at home so he’d have an excuse to buy a baseball cap this trip! We called our friends, who were already at MK, to say we’d arrived and decided to meet in front of CP around 5:10. We wandered around to a few more shops looking for hats and Jibbitz for my Crocs. I had seen the MK Castle Jibbitz on ebay and read that they are exclusive to WDW. I didn’t really want to pay almost $10 for one there. I checked in quite a few stores at MK and came up empty. We headed over to Fantasyland and I made a good pin trade with a nice CM. We headed over to CP and had a short wait for our table. When we were seated, there was a heart made of Mickey confetti, which our friends’ 6 year olds practically dove in to. The waitress put it back together so I could take a picture and then I told them to dive back in. It was fun watching them – they had the confetti everywhere…the table, the floor, their hair. This was our first time having dinner here; it’s a favorite for breakfast. We thought the food was very good. I especially enjoyed the Salmon and the Adobo Pulled Pork. The desserts were good too. After diiner, the server presented us with a Magical Moments certificate signed by all the characters. It was so nice! It got a little bent it my bag, but I think I’ve since gotten it mostly flattened out again.


The boys enjoying the confetti!

After dinner, our friends headed to Buzz and then off to put the kids to bed. We made our way to PotC and there was NO wait! Yippee! Afterwards, we headed over to Carousel of Progress and TTA. By that time, it was dark and DH and I were getting tired. We decided to go back to ASMu for a swim before bed. The pool was nice, but there was a slight breeze and it was a little cool getting out of the water. We got a bedtime snack at the food court (chocolate chip cookie for me; brownie for DH), picked up our refillable mug and then headed off to bed.

It was a great first day!

Up next: Day 2 - AK, High Tea and La Nouba!

Wonderful Day 1! And that guy "A" didn't know what he was talking about! He didn't deserve Disney. Will catch up with more of your report tomorrow!

[lablady]

Great TR so far! Sounds like you had a great time! That was so nice of that CM to stop her golf cart and pick you up. What a wonderful surprise! And that was a very nice picture of your cake. That girl has obviously done that set-up before! It always amazes me that the CMs can provide such great service, considering the number of people they serve every day!

[ArielsMomto2]

What an amazing way to spend your anniversary. The tea sounds wonderful. Hurry back with more.

[KimM]

Sorry for the delay in getting Day 3 up! DH and I were both sick after our trip and had a terrible cold that hung on for over a week! I promised myself I would see this TR through to the end. I hope you all enjoy reading!

Day 3

Woke up this morning around 7 or 7:30. I was planning to head to EPCOT for the Pin Celebration activities and DH was either going to hang out at the hotel or possibly go to MK (his favorite park). We decided to have breakfast at Intermission food court. DH and I both had the breakfast platter. Too much food! And on the DDP, breakfast includes two drinks – one is supposed to be a juice, but the CMs seemed flexible on that – we each had water and milk. We drove over to EPCOT after breakfast and DH dropped me off up front, as he decided to drive to MK. Oh, I forgot to mention…as we were getting in the car to leave ASMu, I split the seam in the upper thigh of my pants (in my defense, they were old and had been washed many times ). You couldn’t see the tear, and I really didn’t feel like going all the way back to the room to change, so I just went with it.

Anyway, I enjoyed my morning at the Pin Celebration. I picked up some nice gifts (FREE PINS! ), toured the pavilion to see all the new pins being released over the next 3-6 months and did some trading. At the celebration, there are lines where you can trade pins in a number of different ways - mystery trades, speed trades, themed trades, etc. Mostly you're trading off of a large cork board. Disney fills the boards with cast only pins, limited editions and such – as they get picked off they refill them with the pins others trade in . Disney replenishs the boards with new pins every so often. My only complaint is that the lines for the trading are SO LONG. For example, I was in a line for Speed Trading, which means you go up, spin a table top with 5 large teacups, each containing around 10 pins. When a cup stops in front of you, you have 30 seconds to select your two pins. Seems quick and easy, right? Well, I waited in line for 45 minutes to do this! But I did talk to some really nice folks so at least the time was enjoyable. After this, I was starting to get tired so I called DH at MK. He really wanted me to come over so we could have lunch at Casey’s ( corn dog nuggets!) but the split in my pants was starting to rub a spot on my thigh (sorry if this is TMI!), so I knew I needed to go back and change my clothes before I did anything. I opted to ride the bus back to ASMu and rest, as I had been fighting off a minor cold prior to our visit. DH met me back at the room later. It was very hot and humid that day and by the time I got back to the room, I was feeling sick to my stomach and had a headache. We were planning to connect with our friends that live in Orlando that afternoon to have lunch, so I sent DH with them and I stayed in the room to rest. We had an ADR at Le Cellier that night and I was NOT going to miss it!!


This was waiting when I arrived back in the room

After a nap and a shower, I was starting to feel better. DH enjoyed his time with our friends, but said I was missed. We left for EPCOT around 5 pm so we could walk around a while before our 7:30 ADR.


Great monorail shot as we were heading towards Canada

We met up with our friends, S&S (they were without their sons that night, as grandpa lives in Orlando and had the boys for a few nights). We walked around, had a beer in the UK and viewed the new O Canada! movie with Martin Short. I found it more enjoyable than the previous film. We checked in around 7 pm at Le Cellier, hoping to get seated early. We were told they couldn’t guarantee an earlier seating, but were pleased to be seated only 5 minutes later!

Here are a few pics of the gardens outside Le Cellier that DH took while we were waiting.





We had a most enjoyable meal at Le Cellier! The ladies both dined on the beefstake tomato stack and the Mushroom Filet Mignon and the guys had NY Strip Steak; S started with the seared rare tuna and DH had the Canadian cheddar cheese soup (I enjoyed eating some of his!) We all had different desserts – I had the cherry shortcake with lavender ice cream (sooo good!), DH had the chocolate mousse, S & S both had the crème brulee sampler. S&S treated us to a bottle of ice wine as well, in celebration of our anniversary. We were all feeling mighty fine when we left. Illuminations had just started, but we opted to head out, slowly, as we would be taking an Illuminations Cruise the following night.

S&S were staying at the Polynesian. They invited us to come over to their hotel to hang out for a while. We all took a walk on the beach and we literally had the entire strip of beach from outside the Tuvalu building all the way to the Wedding Pavilion all to ourselves! Unfortunately there were no fireworks that night, as Night of Joy was taking place, but we did get to enjoy some of the music. We peeked in the windows of Franck’s – beautiful wedding cakes, china and dresses on display. The weather was wonderful; there was a slight breeze and it wasn’t hot at all. After the beach, we wandered around the resort a bit more. We didn’t get back to ASMu until almost 11:30, so we went right to bed.

It was such a relaxing way to end another great day in the ‘World!

Next up: Artist Point and Illuminations Cruise!

[tammyd_rn]

Thanks for sharing. Sorry you guys ended up with a cold when you got home.