Day 1: We have arrived in Disney World!

This post is part of a series of journal posts meant to chronicle what actually happened on our Disney wedding and honeymoon trip. Did all of our planning pay off? Read on, and find out!

It took a cross-country redeye flight, but we finally made it to Disney World. We arrived at MCO at about 6:10 AM, but by the time we retrieved Girl Scout Wife's dress and my suit from the overhead bins (luckily, they had bins all to themselves due to a group of students on the plane traveling light) and found our way down to the check-in area for the Magical Express (down on the first floor, B side, for reference) it was almost 7 AM. We were surprised that, after checking in, we boarded a bus and the driver took us (and no one else; the bus was otherwise completely empty) straight to the Boardwalk. We got checked in, dropped off our bags at the bell service desk (our room was not yet ready), and then headed out in search of breakfast.

Smiling, despite dragging this giant bag through the airport.

We ended up going to Kouzzina, which was a ghost town, and so we only had to wait long enough for them to set a table for us. This was a great decision, as it turned out, because the food was amazing. While there is some very traditional American fare on the menu, we both opted for something a little less safe. Girl Scout Wife got the sweet potato hash with turkey, while I got the Kouzzina stack (I think that's what it was called), which was the same sweet potato hash, with a poached egg on top, which was in turn topped with an artichoke spread. It all combined into something simultaneously sweet and tangy, and was just what I needed.

First look at the Boardwalk.

After that, we headed to the main pool at the hotel, and decided to get some sun on our pasty Seattle bodies. We spent a couple of hours sunning ourselves, took a dip in the pool, and moved over into the shade to keep ourselves from burning too much. I grabbed a much-needed beer from the pool bar, and life was good. When we left the pool, we headed out on a walking tour of Crescent Lake, walking all the way around the loop so Girl Scout Wife could get the lay of the land.

Starting the trip off right: pool, and beer.

We had a couple of minor hiccups, though. First, our room wasn't ready until after noon, which is still  sooner than they normally promise, but left us with some morning time to kill. Then, when we got into our room, we discovered that we'd been given a room with two queen-sized beds instead of a king-sized bed; fortunately, the front desk was able to move us to a room with a king bed, but unfortunately our room got a significant downgrade in the view--now facing the traffic loop at the front of the hotel, when before we had a partial Boardwalk view.

The other issue was the packages we shipped to Disney World. While our wedding coordinstor gave us all of the information we needed to make sure our packages got here, she neglected to tell us that the business center, where the packages go, is closed on Sunday. Fortunately, a manager was able to get into the business center and get two of our three packages for us.

Dinner was at Giordano's, and it also marked the first time our families met. Girl Scout Wife and I were in the middle of the table, but on the booth side, meaning we were kind of stuck in one place and were a bit limited in who we could interact with. Still, it was great to see everyone, and things are kicking off well. Plus, we ended the night with ice cream from the candy shop on the Boardwalk.

And they gave us a weird balloon hat.

Takeaways

Here's what I learned that could potentially help other folks planning Disney weddings:

• Use a hanging suit bag to carry more than just your wedding outfit. A single hanger can easily hold a pair of dress pants, a shirt, multiple vests, and a jacket, all without wrinkling any of the items. I brought every dress shirt, pair of dress pants, vest, and jacket I would go on to wear on the trip in my hanging suit bag, and put my wedding shoes, belt, belt buckle, socks, an undershirt, bow tie, and a few other items in the bottom of the bag, too.
• Call your airline in advance to ask about their policies for carrying on a wedding dress and hanging suit bag. We called Alaska Airlines in advance to confirm that it would be OK, and when we arrived at the gate we spoke to gate personnel to let them know what we were bringing on. Even then, the first-class cabins' closets were full, but the flight attendants were kind enough to store them in the overhead bins for us.
• The redeye flight gives you an extra day in Disney World, but don't plan to be a commando that day. Our lack of plans was perfect, as it gave us lots of flexibility and meant that our first few hours in Florida were spent enjoying each others' company, not running around trying to stick to some schedule. It really set the tone for the whole two weeks.
• If you want a King-size bed, make sure that the King-size bed request is noted on your reservation. Apparently, whoever booked our rooms only put the wedding/honeymoon note in there.
• Plan a welcome dinner. I'm really glad we did this, as it gave our families a chance to interact a little before the wedding, something that's crucial if your families don't live in the same region.