You know the story by now...up way too early...coffee and danish to kick off the day.
Our day did not start at Hollywood Studios. It started at the place I had been looking forward to since I started making plans for this trip. We had breakfast with Chef Mickey in the Contemporay Resort!!!
I gotta tell ya...if you have never done this, go to it! It is not just for kids. All the character, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto will make you feel like one. I expected this place to be loud...but it came from the squeals and laughter of the kids (some of the adults, too) when the characters appeared.
But first we received a special place mat that had the autographs of the characters on them. I understand they probably give away thousands of these every year...but the way they are presented makes you feel special...like it was signed just for you on your special day. Our other special occasion gift was a cupcake each that had a lit candle in them...pink for Donna, blue for me. A very nice touch from Disney.
Our server, Robert, was so cheerful. He actually seemed to be enjoying himself. He gave us directions to the buffet, and I went the wrong way anyway, he was quick to refill our coffee even tho there is a carafe on every table that wants coffee, was not intrusive but we knew he was there. The food was...well...buffet food. But who cares...we had breakfast with Mickey!
When the characters come into the dining room, the place explodes! What impressed me was the amount of time each character spends at each table...taking as many pictures as you want...signing as many autographs as it takes. We took pictures with each one...unfortunatly by ourselves and not together. I have a suggestion for that too. My special moment was Minnie sneaking up behind me and kissing me on the cheek...Donna saw her coming, Minnie hushed her, and I had my kiss!!!
Of all the restaurants we ate at during our trip, this is definately one place we will come back to.
After breakfast, it was off to Hollywood Studios. It seemed very crowded...sky was overcast and windy. I think the crowd has more to do with the size of the park more than it has to do with the number of people that are actually there.
First stop was the Tower of Terror. There was a line, but not bad...it moved pretty quick. Because Donna had never been on it, I was not about to give away the surprise...altho there were 4 or 5 teen age boys behind us who tried their best to. But I think she was surprised anyway. She sure screamed like it was! And because it is never the same twice, it was a surprise to me too!
Over to the Rock N Roller Coaster. This was new to me too, altho I had heard a lot about it. We waited in line for about thirty minutes...FastPass was like 2 1/2 hours away. Who knew where we would be in 2 1/2 hours? Anyway...this is a roller coaster that will take your breath away. Upside down in the dark is a very strange feeling. The only thing I missed was the music. I thought it blared the whole time the ride was going...I could barely hear it. I have a couple things to say about the new rides later.
We also caught One Man's Dream. This is a remarkable story about a remarkable man...but we all knew that. It is worth the time to go in and see all that Mr. Disney did. I cannot imagine how is brain worked...how did he ever sleep?
The other two shows we saw were the Indiana Jones Stunt Epic...kinda corny but fun to watch! And we saw Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show...these guys are good. Very entertaining and I like the way they explain things while the show is going on.
Because I am not a fan of all the shows they put on in the middle of the park, it makes it a little difficult to get around. But it was fun nontheless. This was another park we did not see a lot of the shows. Lots of them were closed for refurbishing/remodeling. But that was OK...another excuse to go back.
Dinner was at Brown Derby. Again, we got a couple 'freebies' because we were on our honeymoon. The first was a free appetizer. It is not part of the dining plan...but our CM, Kristie, said because we were on our honeymoon, the restaurant was throwing it in. The second was a flute of champagne for each of us that arrived at the end of the meal.
My dinner was the Grouper and Bananas Foster. These wuz good eats. The fish was very good, hot, flakey...just like fresh fish should be. I also had a glass of Fess Parker Chardonney...one I have always wanted to try. Donna got a wonderful glass of Greg Norman Chardonnay...another one I wanted to try. They were both so good. And what can you say about Bananas Foster? It was wonderful!
As part of our dining package, we also got tickets to Fantasmic. What a spectacular show this is! Be careful tho...you will get wet. Because they use water as the backdrop for the laser show, and it was breezy, we got wet...but not uncomfortably so. I had never seen Fantasmic before, so I was really impressed. This has to be one of the most spectacular shows in Disney IMO.
I think what really made this day so special was all the attention we got for being newlyweds. Seemed that CM's went out of their way to make sure we knew they were glad we were there and spending our honeymoon with them. Not to say we didn't get attention everywhere we went...just seemed more special today.
Donna sez... I was thrilled with the breakfast at Chef Mickey's. I have a few of the pictures, but not all. We started out with the other camera and Mike was so excited that he took a picture and forgot to wind the camera, so it didn't work the next time. I used the digital from then on out.
I thought Mike was going to faint when Minnie kissed him. I was laughing so hard I almost couldn't work the camera. It was so sweet to see Mike's inner child react. The characters all congratulated us on our marriage in their own special way, especially Goofy, who tapped Mike's just married pin and gave him a thumbs up. The little perks made it all so good.
I enjoyed the shows and the sights in this park. The One Man's Dream show was so good. I left the theater with tears in my eyes. I just think of how sad it is that he didn't get to see what his imagination brought to the world. When you step into WDW the rest of the world doesn't exist. You are in a dream world of fantasy and amazment and all thoughts of what is outside of it fade into the background just for a little while.
Our dinner at The Brown Derby was very good. I had the New York Strip, which was nice and tender. The desert was a simple scoop of vanilla icecream on top of a cookie with .....yes .....chocolate.on top. I was impressed that we got more perks here than anywhere else. I think the decor is amazing. I kept looking at the sketches to see how many stars I could recognize.
Our cupcakes at Chef Mickey's
Our placemats
Mike and Mickey
Me and my Man Goofy
Mike and Minnie
Me and Minnie
San Francisco
Mike in front of the Camera Man statue
The plaque for the statue
Although it was difficult to get pictures in Fanasmic, I was able to get these just to show how unique the show is. All the others I got were nothing more than water spots.
Our day did not start at Hollywood Studios. It started at the place I had been looking forward to since I started making plans for this trip. We had breakfast with Chef Mickey in the Contemporay Resort!!!
I gotta tell ya...if you have never done this, go to it! It is not just for kids. All the character, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto will make you feel like one. I expected this place to be loud...but it came from the squeals and laughter of the kids (some of the adults, too) when the characters appeared.
But first we received a special place mat that had the autographs of the characters on them. I understand they probably give away thousands of these every year...but the way they are presented makes you feel special...like it was signed just for you on your special day. Our other special occasion gift was a cupcake each that had a lit candle in them...pink for Donna, blue for me. A very nice touch from Disney.
Our server, Robert, was so cheerful. He actually seemed to be enjoying himself. He gave us directions to the buffet, and I went the wrong way anyway, he was quick to refill our coffee even tho there is a carafe on every table that wants coffee, was not intrusive but we knew he was there. The food was...well...buffet food. But who cares...we had breakfast with Mickey!
When the characters come into the dining room, the place explodes! What impressed me was the amount of time each character spends at each table...taking as many pictures as you want...signing as many autographs as it takes. We took pictures with each one...unfortunatly by ourselves and not together. I have a suggestion for that too. My special moment was Minnie sneaking up behind me and kissing me on the cheek...Donna saw her coming, Minnie hushed her, and I had my kiss!!!
Of all the restaurants we ate at during our trip, this is definately one place we will come back to.
After breakfast, it was off to Hollywood Studios. It seemed very crowded...sky was overcast and windy. I think the crowd has more to do with the size of the park more than it has to do with the number of people that are actually there.
First stop was the Tower of Terror. There was a line, but not bad...it moved pretty quick. Because Donna had never been on it, I was not about to give away the surprise...altho there were 4 or 5 teen age boys behind us who tried their best to. But I think she was surprised anyway. She sure screamed like it was! And because it is never the same twice, it was a surprise to me too!
Over to the Rock N Roller Coaster. This was new to me too, altho I had heard a lot about it. We waited in line for about thirty minutes...FastPass was like 2 1/2 hours away. Who knew where we would be in 2 1/2 hours? Anyway...this is a roller coaster that will take your breath away. Upside down in the dark is a very strange feeling. The only thing I missed was the music. I thought it blared the whole time the ride was going...I could barely hear it. I have a couple things to say about the new rides later.
We also caught One Man's Dream. This is a remarkable story about a remarkable man...but we all knew that. It is worth the time to go in and see all that Mr. Disney did. I cannot imagine how is brain worked...how did he ever sleep?
The other two shows we saw were the Indiana Jones Stunt Epic...kinda corny but fun to watch! And we saw Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show...these guys are good. Very entertaining and I like the way they explain things while the show is going on.
Because I am not a fan of all the shows they put on in the middle of the park, it makes it a little difficult to get around. But it was fun nontheless. This was another park we did not see a lot of the shows. Lots of them were closed for refurbishing/remodeling. But that was OK...another excuse to go back.
Dinner was at Brown Derby. Again, we got a couple 'freebies' because we were on our honeymoon. The first was a free appetizer. It is not part of the dining plan...but our CM, Kristie, said because we were on our honeymoon, the restaurant was throwing it in. The second was a flute of champagne for each of us that arrived at the end of the meal.
My dinner was the Grouper and Bananas Foster. These wuz good eats. The fish was very good, hot, flakey...just like fresh fish should be. I also had a glass of Fess Parker Chardonney...one I have always wanted to try. Donna got a wonderful glass of Greg Norman Chardonnay...another one I wanted to try. They were both so good. And what can you say about Bananas Foster? It was wonderful!
As part of our dining package, we also got tickets to Fantasmic. What a spectacular show this is! Be careful tho...you will get wet. Because they use water as the backdrop for the laser show, and it was breezy, we got wet...but not uncomfortably so. I had never seen Fantasmic before, so I was really impressed. This has to be one of the most spectacular shows in Disney IMO.
I think what really made this day so special was all the attention we got for being newlyweds. Seemed that CM's went out of their way to make sure we knew they were glad we were there and spending our honeymoon with them. Not to say we didn't get attention everywhere we went...just seemed more special today.
Donna sez... I was thrilled with the breakfast at Chef Mickey's. I have a few of the pictures, but not all. We started out with the other camera and Mike was so excited that he took a picture and forgot to wind the camera, so it didn't work the next time. I used the digital from then on out.
I thought Mike was going to faint when Minnie kissed him. I was laughing so hard I almost couldn't work the camera. It was so sweet to see Mike's inner child react. The characters all congratulated us on our marriage in their own special way, especially Goofy, who tapped Mike's just married pin and gave him a thumbs up. The little perks made it all so good.
I enjoyed the shows and the sights in this park. The One Man's Dream show was so good. I left the theater with tears in my eyes. I just think of how sad it is that he didn't get to see what his imagination brought to the world. When you step into WDW the rest of the world doesn't exist. You are in a dream world of fantasy and amazment and all thoughts of what is outside of it fade into the background just for a little while.
Our dinner at The Brown Derby was very good. I had the New York Strip, which was nice and tender. The desert was a simple scoop of vanilla icecream on top of a cookie with .....yes .....chocolate.on top. I was impressed that we got more perks here than anywhere else. I think the decor is amazing. I kept looking at the sketches to see how many stars I could recognize.
Our cupcakes at Chef Mickey's
Our placemats
Mike and Mickey
Me and my Man Goofy
Mike and Minnie
Me and Minnie
San Francisco
Mike in front of the Camera Man statue
The plaque for the statue
Although it was difficult to get pictures in Fanasmic, I was able to get these just to show how unique the show is. All the others I got were nothing more than water spots.
