And God Blessed the Broken Road, Part 5

To catch up, you can read Our Love Story here.

Where we last left our fearless actress heroine and adorable hero, they were on a quest for dinner in a date-not-date scenario in the student union.

Future-husband was hungry that evening and so was I, so rather than the coffee we had planned on grabbing, we ended up in the on-campus Mexican restaurant in the student union. We ordered our food and then found a table, and then had that first real conversation. That was when I realized we were on a date. Yup, I realized on the date that it was a date [to be fair, Husband has a different version of events – which I might have him tell you at some future date. But not now].

We were talking about our backgrounds, and somehow past girlfriends came up. I have no idea how. Husband said that he had only dated three girls and all three of them were the daughter of lawyers, so he only knew how to date lawyer’s kids. I laughed and said, well, “I guess that makes four, since my parents are attorneys too!” We both had that awkward look at each other because I had mentioned the elephant in the room – the fact that we were on a date. I am sure that I looked like a deer in the headlights, but the moment passed, and then we settled into the traditional first date conversation.

And that’s how I realized that we were on a date, while actually on the first date – I put my foot in my mouth. But then again, if I hadn’t done that, we might not be together. Which would be really sad.

Flowers Make Me Happy

When my plane landed back in St. Louis after my long weekend in Walt Disney World earlier this month, I knew that things would not slow down for the rest of the month - and that has proved to be true!

We had a HUGE event at work - multiple locations within one venue, with multiple parties going on simultaneously and then a huge theatrical presentation with lots of audio/visual elements to coordinate on top of it! There were also issues with parking and RSVP lists, but we won't go into that here.

All in all, it went really, really, really well. :) Everyone was pretty pleased. And that makes me happy.

To reward myself, I picked up some gorgeous fall flowers at Costco last week, per my 101 list goal of having fresh flowers in the house once a month. Every time I do this, I remember how much I love having them.

The Most Magical Place for a 28th Birthday Celebration, Part 5

Sunday morning and it was finally my real birthday! In Disney World! Don’t worry, I had been wearing my birthday button all weekend long and probably had about 50 cast members wish me a happy birthday. That’s the neatest feeling!

We started the day with a trip on the railroad around the park, something we hardly ever do. It’s nice to just be taken around and know that you’ll end up where you started, and can continue your trip down Main Street.

I love spending the day in the Magic Kingdom. It’s my favorite park by far. I love the fantasy, I love the magic and I love the imagination. I could spend every day there if they would let me!

That afternoon, we headed over to Epcot and ate at Via Napoli. I had the most amazing quatro formagio pizza – seriously the best pizza I ever had in my life. Wow.

 

After lunch, I got to chat with my mom on Skype back in the room. I love that technology allows me to see her smiling face wishing me a happy birthday when I was on vacation. She and the in-laws and husband gave me my birthday present which I’m keeping a secret for now – someday soon I can reveal it, I hope!

There’s something so much more special when Cinderella Castle is lit up at night.  I made sure that we got to see it after dark on this trip. I also made a requirement of the Main Street Electrical Parade. It replaced SpectroMagic, the only nighttime parade I had ever seen, and I had to see the classic original for the Magic Kingdom.

Tinker Bell leads it off, after all!

We tried to find a space on Main Street but with so many people there on Sunday night of a holiday weekend, it was almost impossible. We ended up in Frontierland and there were a few spots up front. Hubs was standing on something up behind me to get this picture – see me in the middle, right under the “e” in my ears? :)

The Fairy Godmother was with Cinderella, of course, and saw my birthday button as she went by. She waved, smiled and said Happy Birthday, princess! I grinned from ear to ear the rest of the night.

This parade was amazing. The lights, the song, all the cast members that participated. I love Spectro but I can see why people wanted this one to come back so much!

On the way out that night, a cast member had grabbed a broom to doodle a Mickey on the ground in the remaining rain from earlier in the night. It’s just one of those extra touches that make this place more than a theme park. Sorry. I’m starting to sound like a brochure! 

It’s so hard to say goodbye to this place. It’s my favorite place to visit. I’m even more excited to come back this time around - I’ll be taking my mother and brother for the first time in recent memory. We visited when we were kids, but this time? I know how to get around the crowds, which rides to avoid, and how much fun we can really have. Mom will have a better time because she won’t be dealing with a 7 and 12 year old and all the stuff that goes along with that. I’m hoping that they both have an awesome time – brother is already getting excited, and helped me picked out some dining reservations.

But we had to say good bye to the King Kamehameha Club, the concierge loge at the Polynesian. We’ll be back someday when we have another big thing to celebrate.

We had to say goodbye to the Polynesian, which has become our favorite hotel to date.

We had to say goodbye to the monorail, perhaps the most awesome mode of transportation.

I made a wish in the wishing well and I know it will come true… in December! 

I can’t wait to go back!

102 days and counting… :)

The Most Magical Place for a 28th Birthday Celebration, Part 4

Saturday night was the big dinner to celebrate my birthday. The California Grill is one of Disney’s signature dining restaurants. I have wanted to eat there ever since I learned of its existence.

This restaurant is on the 15th floor of the Contemporary Resort and has the most amazing view of the Magic Kingdom, since it’s so close. We checked in at the desk downstairs and wandered a bit before our pager went off, telling us that our table was ready.

When we gave them our pager, we were shown upstairs in a private elevator to the restaurant. We followed the hostess to our table and was delighted to find our space was a table for two right next to the window, with the most perfect view of the Castle!

Unfortunately, I had a slight issue when scheduling the reservation. I thought Wishes would be held at 9 pm that night but apparently they changed it to 10 pm at some point. So we were seated at 7:45 pm and had plans to watch the fireworks from our awesome seats. I explained it to the waiter, who said it shouldn’t be a problem.

To make up for taking up one of the primo seats, Hubs and I decided to share a bottle of wine to spend the evening before our entrees arrived.

When faced with a big fancy menu, I always gravitate towards the steak. This night was no exception. Hubs and I had planned on sharing an appetizer, an entree and then a dessert. But once we got there, we both fell in love with our own entree choices and we threw caution to the wind and ordered both!

But Hubs’ dinner was by far the winner. I mean, my filet with teriyaki barbeque sauce was amazing but his pork tenderloin with cheesy polenta? TO DIE FOR. When we both professed our undying love for this dish, the waiter told us that the dish was created by the original chef for the restaurant and it is the only thing that has never gone off the menu (they change it up frequently with fresh new dishes, based on the seasons).

With such amazing food and a great bottle of wine, we were both happy campers that evening!

I was made even happier when our waiter brought me the.most.amazing chocolate cake I have ever had. They had heard it was my birthday [well, I told them that when I made the reservation!] and wanted to wish me a happy one. Hubs and I shared the cake, rather than ordering the chocolate crème brulee I had planned on getting. We will leave that for the next time we’re there.

What could top such an amazing dinner? The fireworks right outside our window. We took video on our little camera but the finale came out better than the rest. Love it. I wish the camera had got the music, but this is enough to make me remember that night!

It was truly amazing. Best view ever!

It was a most magical birthday celebration, indeed. :)

The Most Magical Place for a 28th Birthday Celebration, Part 3

Saturday morning was another early one, because Hollywood Studios had early extra magic hours and we couldn’t miss the chance to get even more done.

They do rope drop here, too, and prevent you from going to the rides until it’s really time to open up. I took pictures while we waited.

Once it was officially opening time, the cast members walked everyone slowly back to the different parts of the park – some to the adventure rides like Rock N' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror and others like us to Toy Story Midway Mania. They have the entire back of the park decorated with various characters from Pixar, in fact, it’s called Pixar Place.

I love the Toy Story ride. It’s got fun decorations in the queue and the interactive game is so much fun.

Once Hubs beat me in the game, as usual, we got to experience the new Star Tours.

We rode it twice and got the pod racer ending and Nabuu for the other one. I wanted to ride it all day long, if I could have! The 3D experience that they added – it really takes the whole ride to a new level!

I even got up my courage to tackle the Tower of Terror again. When I rode it for the first time a few years ago, I had a full blown panic attack. As a kid, I was stuck in an elevator at one point and heights have always bothered me. I really wanted to try the ride but Hubs kept needling me and by the time I got on the ride, I was so freaking out that I was sobbing when we dropped the first time. I got off the ride and had to sit down for a while, to calm down. But this time around? I actually enjoyed it! I conquered the fear and had a good time doing it.

I love the Muppets. Whenever we go to Hollywood Studios, we have to see this attraction. But this time, when standing in line, we noticed eyeballs on top of the lights!

And those aren’t Miss Piggy’s evening gowns… I’m sure those boxes are mine!

Later on in the day, we went back to the Polynesian to get dressed for California Grill that evening to celebrate my birthday!

The Most Magical Place for a 28th Birthday Celebration, Part 2

The next morning, Friday, was an early one. Why is it that getting up in Walt Disney World before 7 am is easier than doing so at home? Could it be because of what lies ahead? I think it might.

In any case, we got up early so we could be at the Magic Kingdom when the gates open. We had planned to get something to eat at the concierge lounge and then be on the monorail by 8:15 am.

We weren’t used to being so close to things, staying on the monorail line, and we ended up in front of the gates by 8 am. Since we were early, I picked up our Tables in Wonderland card for $75 that would save us 20% on food all weekend and when we come back in January. It even saves on alcohol – so worth it. We didn’t need to upgrade our park tickets since the concierge had been able to do that the night before. Things were going swimmingly well!

Hubs and I made our way to the front of the line, as far as they would let us go, to the right of this picture, to stand underneath the train tracks. We struck up a conversation with another family and chatted as we waited for the opening show to begin. Since we were so far over, though, we couldn’t see the characters show up on the train. I had seen the show before so it wasn’t a big deal.

Once the show was done, we were let in and I got to see this!

It’s the best feeling in the world, seeing that sight again. But we didn’t have much time to reflect – we had rides to ride! Since we were so early and the lines were almost non-existent, we were quite productive in the first hour. We rode Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Dumbo, Snow White’s Scary Adventure, it’s a small world, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and a few others I think. It was awesome. We aren’t used to the lines being so short!

I hadn’t ridden on Dumbo before, so we had to get a picture of me riding it, of course.

We saw this sign all over Fantasyland and giggled every time they mentioned it. Hubs made me get in first every time, claiming he had to follow the signage.

Later that day, we took a break at the hotel and then spent the evening in Epcot. We ate at Restaurant Marrakesh and had chicken bastilla – if you have never had this dish, you must try it. The one at this restaurant is almost as good as the one we had in Morocco on our Spain trip last December. It was so good!

It was a great first day, hitting up both Magic Kingdom and Epcot, two of our favorite parks!

The Most Magical Place for a 28th Birthday Celebration, Part 1

Oh, Disney. Where do I begin?

We had been planning this trip by starting the countdown at 220 days. Then we hit the mark when we could make dining reservations. And then it was double digits. By then, it was summer and we were running all over creation for graduations and baptisms. Then school started again, Husband got on the law clinic and there we were, starting to pack because it was less than 10 days away!

And then last Thursday, off we went! I took so many pictures, and I haven’t even received the Photo Pass professional pictures that we took too.

To start off, we arrived at the Polynesian late, around 9:30 pm. We were the only ones to get off at the Poly from our Magical Express coach and there was a cast member waiting there with a clipboard. I told her our last name and she said to wait there, that she would find someone to take us to the concierge building in a golf cart. What service!

We drove around the resort and the cast member driving pointed out the other buildings, how to get to the Transportation and Ticket Center to pick up the monorail for other parks and other neat things. The tiki torches were blazing, but unfortunately, I could never get a good picture of them.

The lovely Hawaii building is reserved for club or concierge level guests. We were treated so incredibly well there – the service is beyond imagination! It was worth the extra cost of our club room, but I am sure glad we got the discount we did. Or else, we certainly wouldn’t have been able to afford it, even for a special birthday celebration.

The cast member swiped his keycard at the front door to the long house to let us in and told us that we’d have to do the same whenever we came back to our room, because the Hawaii long house is reserved for club level guests. They didn’t want other people wandering in and stealing our food! Good thing, too, I told him.

There were two cast members waiting there in the lobby for us, and offered us a seat at the desk. It was more like a personal banker’s desk rather than a reception desk at other hotels, even in the main part of the Polynesian. They said they had been waiting for us! They had our packet ready to go, with information on food serving times, our room keys, celebration pins and everything! They were even able to upgrade our park hopper tickets for annual passes so we can use them at our next trip for New Year’s. It was so incredibly relaxing, all of it was made so easy. I can see why people pay for the extra level of service!

We made our way up to the room and because our luggage wasn’t there, we didn’t have a lot to do. We dropped our carry on bags and went out the back door and to the beach outside our long house. Lo and behold, it was 10 pm, straight up, and Wishes was starting.

Standing on the Polynesian beach and seeing fireworks over Cinderella castle, hugged by my husband, at my favorite place on earth to celebrate the second birthday since my father’s death, I cried. Like a baby. It was very overwhelming. It wouldn’t be the first time I would cry at the fireworks over the long weekend.

Back in our room, we puttered until our bags were delivered and we could unpack and get ready for bed. The next day was going to be a long one, so we had to get a lot of sleep.

We noticed something on the desk when we got back – a note from the staff thanking us for being there and chocolate! Lots of chocolate! It was painted with an edible picture of some kind and we brought it home with us, because we couldn’t bear to eat it there. The mousekeeping staff had also turned down our bed with an additional mint. They would continue to do that every night and oh how nice it was!

The real celebrations would start up the next morning!

A Retrospective of Towel Art

Last week, I had the most magical birthday in a most magical place!

While I’m still trying to gather my thoughts about all the stories I want to tell you, I figured I’d memorialize all the towel decorations we received over the few days we were staying at the Polynesian Concierge level!

Hidden Mickey!

Elephant towel mama and baby complete with my sunglasses

We even found a towel figure in the bathroom that first day!

There were leis above the TV -  we were at the Polynesian after all.

Cool dog and do you see the monkey hanging in the background?!

Turtle, turtle!

Alligator spotted!

 

Our mousekeeper from the trip at the Poly Concierge was AMAZING. Every time we came back for a nap in the afternoon we had a new decoration in the room, and then after a long night in the parks, we had the beds turned down and a mint added!

I am so incredibly spoiled. I don’t know if I can ever stay in a regular room again!