We left NC Thursday night after work & drove a little over halfway, stopping in GA for a good night's sleep. We jumped back on the road first thing Friday morning & headed for the downtown Orlando Clerk of Courts to obtain our marriage license. Boy - that was an experience! First of all, getting into the building is like getting on a plane - you have to wait in line, empty your pockets & put your belongings into a scanner, then walk through a metal detector. They wouldn't allow me to take my tiny bottle of lotion or hairspray in - told me I needed to take it back to my car. Well, we were downtown (super busy) & we had to park what felt like a million blocks away. Therefore, they kept my lotion & hairspray :( But I understand, they're just trying to be cautious!
When we finally got through security, we headed to the 3rd floor (this place was huge) to the marriage license & passport office. That was entertaining! We met 2 children named Chocolate & Cocoa (no joke) who were there to get passports with their mother, along with a number of rather interesting weddings. Anyway, we have our marriage license now. Yippee!!
Then we headed to Disney's Wilderness Lodge Villas for a 2-night stay, got there shortly after lunch. The villas are so quiet & peaceful, plus the Magic Kingdom is just a boat ride away (or bus if you prefer that route). So far it's our favorite DVC resort! We were able to check-in right away, which is always nice, so we grabbed lunch in the onsight cafe then headed to the room for a little rest.
We had dinner that evening at Narcoossee's, which is located at the Grand Floridian resort. The restaurant sits right on the Seven Seas Lagoon, and our table had a perfect view of the Magic Kingdom. It's a shame our reservation was at 5:30pm instead of 9 or 10pm when the fireworks are shot off! Oh well, it was still beautiful. Oh, and I forgot to mention - we met our Reverend right before dinner to go over final details for the wedding.
After dinner we hopped on the monorail en route to Epcot. Epcot's Extra Magic Hours went from 9pm-12am for Disney resort guests. We were able to ride all the attractions, except Mission Space...I'm not brave enough to conquer that one! We waited for Soarin' the longest, and that was only about 30 minutes - not bad at all.
Saturday morning was Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios. We were able to ride Rockin' Rollercoaster & Tower of Terror twice each, plus The Great Movie Ride & Toy Story Mania. We also caught the Beauty & the Beast show. A very exciting day at Hollywood Studios, topped off with a Chocolate Butterfinger cupcake. OMG, Freddy & I shared the cupcake & could barely finish our halves. It was very good, but extremely rich!
After a quick nap that afternoon, we headed for Magic Kingdom Saturday evening. All that running around can be exhausting! We rode Pirates, Big Thunder Mtn, Haunted Mansion, Space Mtn, Carousel of Progress, and caught the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor show - they used one of my jokes!! :) Then we topped off the evening with the Electrical Parade & Wishes fireworks. Absolutely my favorite fireworks show at Disney!
We hit the road Sunday morning for good ol' NC, but stopped to see Freddy's sister in St. Augustine, FL first. Got home around 10:30pm, and believe it or not had enough energy to wash a load of laundry from our trip.
After a restful night's sleep, we're back to normal - whatever that is :) Working on some things around our new house. Grateful for Labor Day!
Such a great weekend - lots of fun & many memorable moments! Can't wait to get back down there in October to say I DO :) Yay!!!!!!!
Sounds exciting :) Glad you guys had a safe trip--all this Disney talk makes me want to go before this baby comes! A girl can only wish :)
ReplyDeleteAlex- Sounds like a great trip. I can't wait to be down in DISNEY!!!!
ReplyDeleteAshley- you should plan a trip!!!!