Rachel's Sort-of MouseFest Trip Report

[Keasmom]

Wow, great start to the trip report. And the photos are awesome. Looking forward to more.

[fungus_01]

Thanks for all the great comments folks!

So when we planned our day with mom, we knew we wanted to end up at the Hollywood Studios so mom could see the Osbourne Lights. So we went ahead and parked at the Studios and took the Friendship boat to EPCOT. Along the way we saw this lovely location by the Boardwalk:



It'll become of more importance later in our story

So we arrived at EPCOT and entered through the International Gateway. Mom was getting hungry so she stopped for some fish and chips in the UK pavilion then we got to see one of my favorite people!



We made our way to Future World and made a bee line for Soarin'. It was showing an 80 minute wait time, but since we knew we'd have to be back at the Studios that evening we couldn't do Fast Passes so we jumped in line and got ready to wait. It actually wasn't that bad, mom had a chance to make friends with an older couple, and Chauncey and I would sit and rest until the line moved. The wait turned out to be only about an hour and Soarin' was definitely worth the wait. After riding Soarin' we made our way back to the International Gateway and walked the path back to the Studios since the weather was so nice.





We arrived at the Studios and made another bee line, this time for Tower of Terror. I love ToT, especially at night. The view at night when the doors open right before the drop is awesome! After ToT be did Rockin' Roller Coaster, another awesome ride then made our way to the backstage area to see the Osbourne Lights.















I love the Osbourne Lights and are one of my favorite things about the holidays at WDW. We wandered around and admired the lights for a while then hit the Great Movie Ride before heading back to the condo.

[StarsNStripes]

Rachel, the pics are great! Loving your report thus far. I wonder what that beautiful pavillion could have in store for later in the story

[fungus_01]

Rachel, the pics are great! Loving your report thus far. I wonder what that beautiful pavillion could have in store for later in the story

Hmmmm, well I think we're about to find out

So Tuesday we got to sleep in, which was nice after hitting all 4 parks the day before We had surprised my mom with a ticket to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at breakfast the previous day, so Chauncey and I decided to save a day on our park hopper tickets and do other stuff until we could all get into the MK with our party tickets.

So after getting up in the late morning we headed out to visit a few of the WDW resorts to check out the holiday decor. We started out at the Animal Kingdom Lodge which I had never visited before. I have to say that this resort is just gorgeous! Mom loved taking photos of the animals (of course) and Chauncey and I had fun looking for hidden Mickeys.

[DissyLove]

can't wait for more!!!

[fungus_01]

So after leaving the AK Lodge we went over to the Boardwalk. I've visited the Boardwalk before and was excited to show my mom and Chauncey the gingerbread gazebo. We tried finding the hidden Mickeys, but we could only find 3 of the 5.





After looking at the gazebo we wandered out onto the Boardwalk area. Now this particular venture was to serve two purposes (well, it turned into 3 but we'll get to that ) One to go check out the ESPN Club because we were planning on eating there later that week, I'm a HUGE sports fanatic (especially NASCAR and football) and wanted to eat there on Thursday so we could watch the Colts-Jags game. I love all the sports memorabilia they have there (some of it would look great on my walls )

The second reason we were out on the Boardwalk was to check out the gazebo I showed on the previous post. Chauncey and I had talked about getting married and we both love the idea of a Disney wedding. So we had been looking into the Escape weddings and the locations available and we both fell in love with "Sea Breeze Point", the gazebo at the Boardwalk/Yacht & Beach Club. So when we were planning our trip to WDW we knew we'd have to stop and look at the location, and this was our opportunity. So we walked from the ESPN Club over to the location, which I loved even more after seeing it in person.

As we stood there enjoying the view (it was about 5 o'clock so the sun was starting to go down) and Chauncey reaches into his bag and pulls out this book. It turns out to be this scrapbook that he's been working on since we started dating. Every page showed a different thing we had done together (movies, band competitions, a fondue party at his place, etc.) After we had looked through the entire book (and my mom was snapping pictures the entire time) Chauncey said that he had something else he wanted to give me. So he got down on one knee and pulled a ring box out of his pocket, opened it up and asked me to marry him! I had an idea that he might propose, I was still surprised and amazed. Of course I said yes and then after mom took more pictures we called/texted everyone we knew to tell them the wonderful news!

The view


Us looking through the scrapbook

[DissyLove]

OMG this is so wonderful!!!! Congrats, and what a GREAT start to your life together...he sounds so romantic.

[fungus_01]

By then we were all excited and ready to go to MVMCP! So we got back in the car and drove to the TTC. We took the boat to the MK and made our way through the gates and got our party wristbands. Mom waited while Chauncey and I went to City Hall to get a couple of "Just Married" buttons and used a marker to cross out the "married" part and wrote "engaged". We made it up Main Street just in time to see the castle lighting then hit Casey's Corner for something to eat. We spent the rest of the evening enjoying some of the attractions (mom hadn't seen the Haunted Mansion referb yet), Holiday Wishes (my favorite fireworks ever!) and our complimentary servings of cookies and cocoa. We stumbled sleepily back to the car late that evening with smiles on our faces, happy that we had just enjoyed a great day!

My mom waiting for the boat


The MK off in the distance




The castle, it's just gorgeous!

[eeyoregirl13]

Wonderful trip report!! Absolutely gorgeous pics!! And most of all, CONGRATULATIONS on the engagement!!! There couldn't be a more beautiful spot to propose!! How awesome!

[lilo88]

Great TR Rach!!

[lilo88]

Congratulations Rachel!!

[disneydreamer98]

Might I add that we got to watch the American Adventure with the newly engaged couple last Thursday and they were both beaming with happiness!!!! I was on the telephone when I turned around and saw the two of them walking inside the American pavillion and I spotted their "Just Engaged" buttons immediately and screamed across the room...."You two got engaged?!?!?!?!?!" Rachel had failed to mention the fact that they had gotten engaged during our 20 or so previous text messages.

[lorilovestigger]

I just cried!!! But it was a happy cry!!

Do you have a date set yet?

[fungus_01]

Might I add that we got to watch the American Adventure with the newly engaged couple last Thursday and they were both beaming with happiness!!!! I was on the telephone when I turned around and saw the two of them walking inside the American pavillion and I spotted their "Just Engaged" buttons immediately and screamed across the room...."You two got engaged?!?!?!?!?!" Rachel had failed to mention the fact that they had gotten engaged during our 20 or so previous text messages.

I wanted to surprise you, and I think it worked!

I just cried!!! But it was a happy cry!!

Do you have a date set yet?

Not an exact date yet, but we're hoping for early/mid-December next year

[fungus_01]

So Wednesday we got up and decided that we'd spend our day at the Studios and EPCOT. I had yet to see both Fantasmic and Illuminations, so we were going to try and catch both in one evening. We parked the car at EPCOT and then took the Friendship Boat to the Studios. We were going to try and get Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania since we knew the wait times were pretty long. We arrived at the Studios and made a quick walk to Pixar Place. We were just about to get in line to get our Fast Passes when this older lady cast member stopped us and told us she saw our "Just Engaged" buttons and handed us 2 Fast Passes for the current time! We happily took them and thanked her and jumped in the Fast Pass line and before we knew it we were riding Toy Story Mania! Chauncey and I both worked on 3D effects while we were in school so we loved the effects of TSM. Chauncey beat me score wise on everything, but that's ok, I'll get him next time









After TSM we hopped back on the Friendship Boat and went back to EPCOT to meet up with Amanda and her DH. We found them near Mexico and got lunch at Cantina de San Angel. Then we did the Gran Fiesta Tour inside the Mexico pavilion, which proceeded to get backed up so we were stuck on for a few minutes at the end. After that we did The Maelstrom in Norway. By then it was almost time for Amanda and her DH to leave, so we headed up to Future World and did Spaceship Earth before parting ways. I hadn't seen the SE referb yet so I was pretty excited. I personally liked Judi Dench's narration, but I've always thought she has a pleasant voice. I do agree the decent is lacking something, but at the same time it gives everyone a chance to do the "create your future" thing without distraction. Overall I liked it, and Chauncey did too. So after we said our good-byes to Amanda and her DH, we did Test Track which I always love.





Then after a stop at the car to grab the video camera, Chauncey and I went back to the Studios. We still had some time before going to get a seat for Fantasmic, so we did the Animation Courtyard and got to see Mickey! Then we did "One Man's Dream" which we both found fascinating.