Karli and Mark's Previous 2010 Trip Report! Lots of Pictures!

Day 1: Animal Kingdom

We woke up early in the morning on the 4th of July and headed straight for Animal Kingdom, the park that we knew would be the least crowded.

We walked in and my boyfriend had his first glimpse of magic, the Tree of Life

We decided to head straight for DINOSAUR. My boyfriend was not a huge fan of rides, and I figured that this would be a good way to ease him into them.

We then headed for Expedition Everest where my boyfriend experienced his FIRST rollercoaster EVER. He wasn't thrilled with it immediately afterwards, but now likes to brag about how he conquered the Yeti!

Afterwards we decided to explore several of the trails throughout the park... Viewing various animals and taking in the sights and sounds.

Next up! Kilimanjaro Safari!

I couldn't really get too many good photographs because they sat us right in the middle of the tram and everyone kept sticking their heads in front of my camera lol.

After the Safari we stared at the Gorilla's for quite some time. They are so amazing.

We then visited the Affection Section where I was able to pet farm animals! Yay!

It started to rain so we bought some panchos and headed for Dawa Bar for some drinks. I had a delicious Pina Colada and Mark had one of the authentic African Beers, which he liked, but I can't remember the name of it for the life of me!

We then ventured over to the Tree of Life to check out It's Tough to be a Bug! Mark LOVED this and is still his favorite, next to DINOSAUR and Soarin'.

And lastly, we decided to check out the Lion King before leaving the park. We liked this, but I don't feel like I have to do it again... We will probably skip this in February and do Nemo instead. The singer's were great though, and I would definitely recommend seeing it at least once.

We had dinner reservations at Narcoosee's. Since it was the 4th of July we wanted a prime location for fireworks... Which I had heard this was... The food was decent, and our server was excellent. We were there really early, and he let us take our time so that by the time we were finished we could walk out onto the porch and watch the fireworks. I don't have any pictures of our dinner's but I did snap one of my favorite, Cheesecake! Yum!

View of the castle from Narcoosee's

View of MK from Narcoosee's

The BF bought me some light up Mickey Ears!

And then the fireworks began....

And after this we took a stroll through the Grand Floridian and then headed back to our hotel for some rest for the next day.

Day 2: EPCOT, coming soon...

Day 2: EPCOT

We woke up early the next morning to visit the big:

Being that we only had 4 day passes, we had a lot to cram in on this day.... We didn't spend to much time in Future World. Not knowing how incredibly popular Soarin' was, we booked it to Test Track. My boyfriend (now hubby) was warming up to the rides and was up to something fast in the morning. We were still so tired from the day before, and the pictures show it! lol

We then headed for Living with the Land.. This was a ride that I had never been on before, so I was excited to find out what was in store. I was amazed at the size of the lemons and that they were growing tomato plant trees!
(I work with plants, so this ride was exciting for me lol) We managed to grab some fast passes for Soarin', so this was a great time killer.

Afterwards we walked over to Captain EO. Mark and I are huge fans of Michael Jackson's music, so we really enjoyed this. I love that the floor moved along with the music and sound effects. It was very cool.

Then it was time to head back to Soarin' which we found out, was flipping awesome!! We both were in complete awe at this ride. As soon as we got of we ran and grabbed more fast passes... However, the wait was now almost 6 hrs compared to when we received our earlier passes..

After Soarin', for some reason we decided to do Ellen's Energy Adventure... Which I have done before in the past... And will not be doing again in the future!! Unless it's really hot, but I doubt it will be in Feb. I will spare you the Energy ride pictures, and give you this magical moment instead...

Only in Disney would you capture a magical moment, like a bird in flight!

We then headed to the World Showcase where we decided to start going right instead of left. Our first stop was Canada. We picked up a beer, and explored the beautiful land!

The Moosehead was SO good that by the time we got to England we were ready for another beer! So we stopped into the Rose and Crown to grab 2 Guinness's and then explored with beer in hand!

Off in the distance we were starting to get glimpses of France. We decided to snap some pictures from the bridge before you enter this country.

And then inside of it...

Next up, Morocco, and we were STARVING. We decided to get a quick bite at Tangierine Cafe. We split a falafel pita platter, and it was yummmmmy.

It was time for another drink, so we stopped in Morocco and grabbed some frozen goodies. I believe we both got the Margarita's (we have a thing for those)... But i'm not completely sure.

Next country, Japan. We looked around here for a little while. I took a lot of interest in the CM's opening oysters and finding pearls. I think I have to do this in February.

We then passed through America, Germany, Italy, and China... Taking in everything all around us... And of course grabbing a beer in Germany, which I don't have a picture of... We then boarded Maelstrom in Norway. It was nice to get off of our feet for a little while.

Continuing on we located the Margarita's stand in Mexico, where we each got one more Margarita.

We hung out in Mexico and took the Gran Fiesta tour... And then headed to Rose and Crown for our dinner.. For some reason... probably due to the amount of alcohol consumed, I stopped taking pictures... We had a nice evening watching Illuminations from our outdoor seats at Rose and Crown. Dinner there is always great in my opinion. You can't go wrong.

At this point, Mark started realizing how romantic WDW really is, and started acting a tad strange... We had the next day off... We planned on just relaxing by the pool and grabbing some local eats that I knew of from when I went to College in Winter Park... So my next post will be a combo of that day and....

Day 4: Magic Kingdom

LOL- Totally my bad!!! I'm working on it right now, So So So sorry!!! I noticed it as soon as it posted and I was like, AWE MAN! This took me forever! Being fixed though!

It's all fixed now yay!

I did! He was such a great sport about it! When we got to the stop, after the backwards part, where you see the yeti before the big drop... I looked over at him and he had his head down... He looked up for a second and was like "Oh, that's the Yeti?" Like, oh no big thing... But then when we got off the ride and looked at our picture, his head was back down again on the way out of the mountain!! It was so funny, I love him so much.

Day 3 & 4: Relax Day and Magic Kingdom

We decided to spend the day relaxing by the pool, visiting my college town, and eating some grub. We woke up and Mark told me that he wanted to go clean out the car and that he would meet me at the pool in about an hour... So I suited up and went downstairs.

Here are some shots of the hotel pool:

Mark eventually came back, but had taken much longer than I would have suspected, but maybe the car was just THAT bad... He of course went to the pool bar and appropriately brought us back 2 Margarita's. We hung out for a bit and then decided to take the drive to a town that I lived in for 2 years about a half hour from Orlando, Winter Park. I wanted to take Mark to this Mexican food place that has an incredible selection of hot sauces... Because he loves hot sauces.

We wound up hanging out with some of my old college friends that night, at one of the local bars that I loved... It was a fun night... We made it back to our hotel around midnight and fell asleep excited for what tomorrow would bring.

Day 4: Magic Kingdom

We woke up bright and early this morning, but unfortunately not early enough to make it to the rope drop.

We parked our car and jumped on the Ferry to Magic Kingdom.

As we entered Magic Kingdom, Mark got his very first look at Cinderella's Castle.

We headed left towards Adventureland to do the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse and Pirates of the Caribbean.

It was a hot morning, so after Pirates we decided to go on Splash Mountain. Mark was still being such a great sport about the thrill rides.

This day we decided to make sandwiches for lunch and bring them into the park with us. We headed over to Haunted Mansion but were told it wouldn't be up and running for another half hour or so... And took the opportunity to eat. We sat by the entrance and ate out lunch, and by the time we were done Haunted Mansion was up and running again!

Before lunch we had grabbed fast passes for Thunder Mountain, and headed back there after Haunted Mansion.

Mark had been such a great sport about the rides, and had mentioned he really wanted to play a game, so I took him over to the shooting range...

We hung out in Fantasyland afterwards and rode a bunch of the rides.. We also people watched and saw some pretty talented musicians!

We then headed for the front of the castle to catch the show, and parade. After the parade we decided to have dinner at Tony's.. I know it doesn't get very good reviews here, but I thought the service was awesome.

Our server had us recreate the movie

Cheesecake!!

Our server gave us this pin

And told us to go outside and check out the paw prints in the cement

Stay tuned for the second half of Magic Kingdom!

Thanks everyone!!!

Ah yes, Buckeyes. One of my best friends went to Ohio State, so I know what great fans the buckeyes have! I think I even have a pair of shorts that she brought me back one time!

More to the story coming soon...

Day 4: Magic Kingdom, Part 2

After dinner we headed back down main street where we saw yet another parade!

We decided to spend the rest of our day in Tomorrowland. We ran to Space Mountain and grabbed some fast passes. To kill time we rode, Stitch, Monster's Inc, and the People Mover.

Afterwards we spotted Chip and Dale on stage and stood and watched them preform for a bit

When we felt like we had conquered Tomorrowland, Mark said he really wanted to go back on Pirates, so we walked around the park and went on Pirates for a second time.

It was almost time for wishes so we started heading back towards the castle to get a good spot

We sat and waited for wishes to begin, and when it did, we were in complete awe of what was happening in front of our eyes. Nothing had ever felt so romantic... When wishes was over, Mark asked me if I wanted to take a walk up onto the castle before the Electric parade began... And we had plenty of time to spare so of course I said yes. This was the second time they were running the electric parade so a lot of guests were leaving the park.. As we reached the entrance of the castle, I began to notice that Mark was acting a little funny... Observing the people that were walking by... Pacing back and forth... Looking in all different directions... Then he grabbed my hand and said, "Come this way, I have a present that I want to give you." He gave me a whole speech about how important I am/was to him and how he was going to take care of me and be my family.. As he reached into his pocket my heart pounded as I knew what was coming... He pulled out a ring, and asked me "Will you marry me?"

I was in such shock, and so incredibly happy, and speechless, that I nodded my head extremely hard and leaped into his arms! My fiance had just purposed to me on Cinderella's castle. It was a dream come true!

Now here is the cutest part... Remember I said that he had started to realize how romantic Disney World is? And how he left for a long time and said that he was cleaning the car? Well, he wasn't cleaning the car. He left, in the middle of our trip, to go to a jeweler and buy me an engagement ring.

I'm so so upset that I don't have any pictures of the moment... But it was very intimate and we were so overwhelmed that pictures were postponed until the following day!

Day 5 was another relax day/downtown disney day. Coming soon!

We just got married this past August, 2 years after this trip... I managed to work a Disney theme into it and as soon as I get the pictures uploaded I will share some with all of you! Thank you for your compliments!