Okay, I know that this post is
way over due, but better late then never. I haven't posted any pictures on Facebook yet, so for right now this post will give you a sneak peak at the many, many... MANY photos that we took while on our Honeymoon. This entry is going to be long, but it's because I want to log as much as possible so I can look back and remember the details of our trip.
Friday, June 26th we started our Honeymoon by spending our wedding night at the lovely
Harvey House Bed and Breakfast in Oak Park. Everything was planned and organized by Dan's parents! We stayed in the
Garden Suite and absolutely loved it! As an added treat Dan's parents had a bottle of our favorite dessert wine,
d'Asti Moscato waiting for us in the fridge. It was a wonderful way to start our Honeymoon.
Saturday, June 27th we had scheduled to have breakfast at 9:30 a.m. that morning. As we came down we saw that the owner and her kitchen help were all ready for us. They had a lovely spread of food for us and two other guests who had requested breakfast at the same time. Everything was delicious and it was the perfect start to our "over eating" while on vacation.
Check out was at noon, so we had some spare time on our hands before our 4:00 p.m. flight to Orlando, Florida. Dan used the GPS on his phone to find the nearest mall. It wasn't the best mall, but it gave us something to do before our flight.
Finally we made it to Chicago Midway Airport. We parked my car in the temporary lot. I called my dad and told him where the car was and later he picked it up, as planned.
Our Southwest flight was very nice. One of our flight attendants was quite the comedian. He had the whole cabin laughing anytime he was making an announcement. During our flight Dan and I played Travel Scrabble and enjoyed our free drinks (thank you, Bill) and snacks.
Since our cruise wasn't for another day, we stayed the night in a La Quinta that was near the Orlando International Airport. A nice lady from the hotel came and picked us up and took us to the hotel for free. Since it was just the three of us we got into some friendly conversation. At check-in our driver got us into some more friendly conversation with the lady who check us in. Once we finally got to our room (nothing special, kinda plain) we got a phone call almost right away. Weird, we thought. Who would be calling us? It was our friends from the check-in desk. There was a recent cancellation and they offered to upgrade us for free! So we grabbed our stuff and quickly switched rooms. Our new room was bigger, brighter, and had a few more kitchen-like features. For one night it was just right.
We tried to catch up on some sleep so we both took naps. We woke up pretty late in the evening and decided to walk to McDonald's just down the road (really, the only thing around). At first we looked like the only late night snackers, but soon things got pretty busy. I guess we weren't the only ones craving McDon's for a midnight snack.
Sunday, June 28th the hotel took us back to Orlando International Airport. There we got on a bus that would take us to
Port Canaveral, Florida. That was when we finally reached our
Disney Cruise that would take us to the Bahamas!
The whole process was a breeze! Disney is so organized and made everything so easy. We made it onto the ship with no problems... and since Disney held onto our bags once we got off the bus all we had to carry were a few personal items while we explored the ship.
When we boarded the ship there was a guy there waiting to announce your presence. So as we stepped onto the ship we heard, "Disney Cruise Line would like to welcome Dan and Karolyn!" and then everyone who was around would cheer. Not a bad way to feel welcomed.
They opened everyone's rooms at the same time. Once it was time to see where we would be staying we went to check it out. Since we added the Romance Package to our trip aboard, we decided to get a room without a window of any sort to save us some money. Really, if I had the chance to do it over, I'd do it again the same way. The Romance Package was perfect and we weren't in the room enough to really enjoy a view. Anyway, our room was the perfect size for the two of us! I'll admit that while we made this decision to do the Romance Package instead of a window I was nervous about getting claustrophobic, but I was totally fine!
Inside our room we found a bottle of chilled Champagne and our Romance Package gifts featuring chocolates, matching robes, and a travel ice bucket. We also had a special card to fill out and leave on our door so that we could get our Champagne breakfast in bed.
We also got to meet the guy who would be taking care of us during our stay. His name is Noel and he was super friendly! Right away he got our names memorized and from then on he always greeted us by name. After each conversation he would remember what we told him and what we were up to for the day. When we would come back he would ask us how our day was and wanted to hear about our plans for the evening. He was delightful!
Before we set sail we enjoyed a huge welcome buffet. The food was delicious! Then there was a launch party. Mickey and the gang joined us on deck as we got the party started. I filmed most of it - with my new HD camera! We had a great time!
That night we had our first dinner on the ship. There are three main restaurants on the ship. Each night you eat at a different one, but your dinner time, table number, and your servers remain the same. Our first restaurant was
Animator's Palate. The room started out as black and white, but as each coarse was served the colors changed. At the end of our meal there was a colorful show put on by our servers. Their black and white vests were now bursting with color!
Since it was just the two of us, we were assigned to a table with three other couples. I quickly noticed that one girl was wearing a "Just Married" tank top and I leaned over to Dan and whispered, "I think that we are sitting with all newlyweds." Sure enough we soon found out that we were! That made for easy conversation. It didn't take long for us to get buddy-buddy with our dinner mates.
For dessert our servers surprised us with these cool celebration cakes. One per couple! They also sang to us and gave us buttons to wear (buttons at Disney usually equal special treatment and free stuff). We were all so full from dinner that we barely made any dents in our cake... and our head server still asked us what we wanted from the dessert menu. We laughed and passed on the offer. "Okay then," he started, "tomorrow, double desserts for everyone!"
That night Dan and I went to the movies to see a late night showing of Disney's Planet Earth. Another couple from our table went as well, so we sat together. It was an enjoyable movie.
Monday, June 29th we had room service sent to our room since we had an early start. Room service didn't cost extra, but all you had to do was tip the person who delivered your food.
After breakfast we had to meet with a group of people who were organizing our offshore excursion:
Aquaventure Water Park at
Atlantis on Paradise Island (near Nassau), Bahamas. The weather started off rainy, but by the time we got to the hotel and finished our tour, the sun was coming out and it started to warm up. All day we dealt with occasional rain followed by hot, intense sun. Over all, it was a blast! We got a little burnt on our shoulders, but that was it. We did a lot of water slides, including one that went straight down into a shark tank. I was so nervous and I almost chickened out, but I did it and it was pretty fun. During one big rain we went inside the hotel to explore their indoor aquarium. It was huge! When the sun was out we took a walk in the clear ocean water. Our first first stop in the Bahamas was a blast!
That evening, thanks to our Romance Package, we were entitled to an evening of dinner and priority seating at
Palo (instead of our regularly scheduled restaurant for that evening, Parrot Cay). No worries, Parrot Cay was actually our scheduled "repeat" restaurant, so it worked out perfectly. Palo is an exclusive, adults only restaurant and it isn't included in the over all price of the cruise. You actually have to pay a little extra to eat there, but if you don't have the Romance Package I say it is so worth adding Palo!
We got extra dressy for our dinner at Palo. Our server was a real treat. He took very good care of us! That night we enjoyed a bottle of red wine with our dinner (another feature from our Romance Package). We also enjoyed many appetizers, a full meal, and lots of desserts. After dessert Dan and I chose to linger at Palo. I got coffee with Bailey's and Dan enjoyed a nice Port wine that was recommended by our server.
That night Noel did our romantic turn down service in our room - yes, another Romance Package feature. We were in awe of how beautiful our room looked! Each night Noel did a turn down service, but that night we had our towels folded into swans and real rose petals all over our bed and on the floor. Every night we got chocolate, but when you get chocolate with everything else I just described... wow! So much better! Ha ha!
Tuesday, June 30th we arrived at Disney's private island,
Castaway Cay. The day was off to a rainy start, but we still managed to explore the island, relax on some hammocks, eat lunch, and do a little shopping. We even got pictures of the Flying Dutchman, from Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3. That was very cool! We took lots of pictures of the Flying Dutchman, a highlight of our time spent at Castaway Cay. For me anyway.
Since it was rainy and we didn't get much time on the island we decided to splurge and treat ourselves to a couple's stone massage at the ship's
Vista Spa and Salon. Very relaxing! Neither of us had ever done a real professional massage before, so this was another first for both of us! Our Romance Package also gave us free access to the Vista Spa's workout facilities and the Rainforest room where you can shower or lay on one of their variety of saunas or steam rooms. Very relaxing and soothing place to be to unwind and distress.
Before dinner, Dan and I went to see a play, Toy Story - The Musical. It was very well done! Dan really likes Toy Story, so he made sure we worked the play into our schedule that day. I'm glad that we did.
The whole day was Pirate themed. Every day there were opportunities to get your photo taken with Disney characters, but that night Mickey, Minnie, and the whole gang were dressed up like pirates! Even Jack Sparrow, I'm sorry, Captain Jack Sparrow made an appearance! He was a blast! Aside from being slightly skinnier then Johnny Depp, this guy had Jack Sparrow's voice and mannerisms down perfectly! Very convincing and very fun! He interacted specially with everyone and that entertained everyone who was waiting in line to see him.
That night we ate at
Parrot Cay and rejoined our newlywed friends. One couple was missing that night; they were spending their time at Palo instead. We asked our table friends if the menu was the same since they all ate at Parrot Cay the night before, but they said that it was completely different.
That night there was a party on deck featuring Mickey and the whole gang. The captain was sailing around to keep us away from the rain so that this celebration could take place. As a result we even got to see fireworks! Disney Cruise line is the only cruise that features fireworks on the while sailing! It was amazing! While all of this was going on there were also tables and tables with hundreds of desserts for everyone! It was quite the spread. Everything looked amazing, but we were still stuffed from dinner.
Later that evening we went to see The Proposal with our table friends. It was hilarious! We laughed almost the entire time! I look forward to seeing it again sometime... when I own it!
Wednesday, July 1st was our day at sea. Dan and I slept in that morning. We spent the day shopping, eating, and relaxing by the pool and in the Rainforest Room. Not a bad way to spend your last day at sea.
That night we had dinner at
Triton's. Dan and I had lunch at Triton's earlier that day, but the dinner menu was completely different. Since none of us had taken up the "double dessert" offer made by our head server, we decided that tonight (being our last night and all) was the night! We all made room as we indulged ourselves in two amazing desserts each!
That night we also took photos with our head server, Dumitru a.k.a. "Dee" (from Romania), and assistant server, Szilard a.k.a. "Zee" (from Hungary). They really took good care of us every single night. The servers work so hard the whole time. Our table agreed... they must be the first to wake and the last to sleep. They deserve every penny that they make! You really have to love your job to do what they do and do it with so much enthusiasm!
After dinner we put our luggage out for cast members to pick up and organize for our return to the United States. Again, the whole process was very well organized and made the transition much easier.
Later that night all us newlyweds got together at one of the cruise's nighttime hot spots,
WaveBands. There we played a couple rounds of "Family Feud" guys vs. girls. After that a bunch of cast members came out dressed like Hollywood rock stars and movie stars. They got us all up and dancing... it was a great time!
Thursday, July 2nd we docked at Port Canaveral. We were fortunate to get the "latest" breakfast time, 8:30 a.m. We were assigned to eat at the last place we had dinner. So that put us back at Triton's. One couple was missing, they had to bounce early due to an early flight home, but the rest of us enjoyed our last meal together as a group.
Once we were done with breakfast Dan and I left the ship and found our luggage. A young man helped us bring our luggage to customs and then to our bus that would take us to the
Animal Kingdom Lodge. I must say, it was very nice to get off the ship and know that our Honeymoon was only half done! We still had so much to look forward to!
Thankfully our room was ready early at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Dan also got to add a meal plan to our room (thanks to the recommendations of a man he got to know while waiting in line to check in). In the end, the meal plan kept us full and saved us $100! I would recommend the meal plan to anyone who plans on staying at Disney.
After getting settled into our room, Dan and I took a bus to Downtown Disney. There we at lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express. The guy who brought us our food was very friendly and we got into a nice conversation. When he found out it was our Honeymoon he brought us lots of cookies for snacking in the parks. Dan and I actually used them as an on-the-go breakfast.
Back at the hotel Dan and I enjoyed our room's savannah view. There we watched the animals roam freely right outside our room! It was wonderful to watch! Later we enjoyed our leftovers on the balcony and then went to explore the rest of the hotel.
Friday, July 3rd we slept in a bit. When we got up we went exploring other Disney hotels and resorts. It was a great way to take advantage of Disney and take it easy.
That evening Dan took me to a surprise dinner. We got dressed up and he took me to
Yachtsman Steakhouse for a romantic dinner. There they even made us personalized menus with our names, the date, and a message that read "Happy Honeymoon," but we forgot it. Sad. Our server was from Chicago, so that was cool. He was a really nice guy. Our meal plan covered the dinner, so everything worked out perfectly! Our food was absolutely amazing! We both got different steaks... some of the best we have ever had!
Saturday, July 4th we began our day bright and early at 6:30 a.m. to start our time at Disney's theme parks. Being a holiday, we were expecting large crowds, but since we were staying on Disney property we were able to get into the Magic Kingdom an hour early (8:00 a.m.). For the first couple of hours we basically walked onto everything! When we went on the Haunted Mansion we were all by ourselves! Crazy!
In Tomorrow Land there is a show called Monsters Inc. Laugh Factory. It's an interactive show where the characters on the screen actually interact with randomly selected guests in the audience. Our laughter gives their city energy. Well, I was randomly selected by one of the monsters. They put a spot light on me and my face on a big screen so that everyone could see me. From my seat I interacted with a monster who claimed he could read my mind. It was hilarious! We went to that show many times for the duration of our trip.
For lunch we went over to Epcot and ate at Coral Reef. The scenery was gorgious! A nice way to escape the fast food that was available to every corner.
After lunch we went back to the Magic Kingdom where stayed for the remainder of the day. It got crowded at times, but thanks to Disney's free Fast Pass system we still got to do a lot! We parked in front of the castle about 2 hours before their 4th of July fireworks show started. It was worth it... I got my some great footage! Disney's fireworks are the best!
Once the fireworks were over we went against the flow to go on some more rides. The park was open until 1:00 a.m. and we were planning to take full advantage! That night we got back to our hotel at 2:00 a.m.
Sunday, July 5th we got up bright and early at 6:30 a.m. to get to Epcot (which opened early at 8:00 a.m. for those staying on Disney property). Now that the holiday was behind us the parks appeared a lot more empty. Still, thanks to Fast Pass we got on all the major rides 2 or 3 times each hours before lunch! Wow! We actually had to stop and start pacing ourselves. Our feet were already starting to ache. Ha ha!For lunch we ate at Epcot's
Nine Dragons restaurant. Once again, the food was delicious!
This was the day that we actually made it to all 4 parks in one day! Yep, we did a little bit of everything at each park. It was awesome!
After watching Epcot's fireworks we made our way to the Magic Kingdom since it was open the latest. Due to a tragic monorail accident earlier that morning, the monorail system was down for the day. Disney did a great job of keeping the flow from park to park. They brought in extra coach buses to bring us from Epcot to the Ticket and Transit Center. There we saw where the monorail accident had taken place. The sight sent chills down my spine. Very sad. No matter, we still made the most of our evening and stayed super late at the Magic Kingdom.
Monday, July 6th we attempted another 6:30 a.m. start. Well, we got up but took a lot more time to actually get out the door. This morning Hollywood Studios had the 8:00 a.m. start. So that's where we began our day. We spent most of the day at Hollywood Studios going on rides and checking out various shows. We ate dinner at the
Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. We were "hitchhikers" in the back of one family's car at the drive-in. We dined on great food and amazing milk shakes. At this point we had gotten desserts with all of our meals (because of our meal plan) and lots of free desserts because we were on our Honeymoon... so when dessert time came after this meal I was actually full and didn't finish! Wow, is that a first for me? I think so. Ha ha!
Once again we ended the evening at the Magic Kingdom. They were open the latest, plus we wanted a chance to see their Wishes Nighttime Spectacular fireworks show. Always a good one!
Tuesday, July 7th we finally got to sleep in! After we checked out we handed our luggage over to the hotel and they held on to it until it was time for us to catch our bus that would take us to the airport.
That afternoon we went back to Downtown Disney. There we finally did some real shopping and picked up a couple of things that would help us look back and remember the magic of our Honeymoon. There we also had dinner at a new restaurant called
T-Rex, A Prehistoric Family Adventure. It is just like the Rainforest Cafe, only dinosaur themed... and instead of a tropical thunderstorm there is a meteor shower.
Our flight wasn't until 9:00 p.m. that evening, so we were able to take our time all day. We got on a bus at 6:00 p.m. and then took it easy at the Orlando International Airport before we got onto our plane. Our plane was slightly delayed, but in the end we got in earlier then expected. We landed at Midway just before 11:00 p.m. (Chicago time).
My parents picked us up at the airport and drove us back to their house. There we ate wedding cake while Dan and I opened our wedding gifts. We brought back all that we could fit into my car.
It was strange leaving my house that night. Kinda sad at first. I had never left my house thinking, "I don't live here anymore." Something that I am still getting used to, but I'm getting better.
Well, there you have it! The story of mine and Dan's amazing Honeymoon! Judging by the length and photos I included I think you can see why I have been putting off this post. Well, now that it's done I can move on to simpler posts and hopefully more frequent posts.
Thank you for reading! You are a true friend if you actually read the whole thing!
Our day ended around 7:00 p.m. So it was a productive day. Good luck to Dean, Michael, Laura, Brian, and everyone else who worked on this film! It was my pleasure working with each of you, as usual.
