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-   -   25 Silver yrs, Halloween and 15- Mini Special (https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=941612)

Twentyyears 26 Mar 16 09:41 PM

25 Silver yrs, Halloween and 15- Mini Special
 
Well howdy Folks!

As I explained sometime a ways back we have had a difficult year in 2015 and the June 2014 50th Birthday trip report didn't get finished as we had our Silver WA trip the same year and that took a lot of planning...

Many of you were with me at the pre trippie stage for that Oct 14 (in the title of the thread) trip and I thank you.

Peter contracted full blown RA in 2014/2015 which struck as the Oct 2014 WA trip ended and we dealt with all during 2015- managing the cruise trip (see sig) and sneaky ten days in LA and Vegas. We managed these trips on steroids and medication combos.

After a year of differing medications I am pleased to say he is back on his feet and back at work, with restrictions, and now my job is coming to an end after 11 years in July.

However as we do in the face of diversity we turn to Disney and I decided many of you had waited patiently for some of the news form our private Disney dining celebration we had in that October and some of lovely pictures from Randy Chapman.

Here is the pre trippie re the background to the event, some teaser photos and a picture of the cake we had at the family and friends party after that trip;

25 Silver Years, Halloween and 15-Oct 2015 Pre Trippie

It was a wonderful trip and we had so many fabulous memories so this is a mini special with some notes re. booking of a private Disney Dining event, our photo shoot with Randy at AOA and then the event evening. I will just mention that the pic in my sig is the Halloween 15 (minus Andy who took the photo!) so you can see we turned a few heads in the park at our MNSSHP!

So on with the show...

Our first meeting with Randy Chapman was our organised photo shoot the Tuesday of our first week. We wanted some special couple pics that showed our love of Disney so we chose AOA and then a quick stroll over to POP.

We also wanted to meet Randy before the Party Event so we got to know how he worked and so we wouldn't feel awkward on the night.We also wanted to update him with timings and organise where to meet at the BLT.

Well he is just the most lovely man;relaxed, chatty but also professional and gets the job done. He knows the resorts so well and gets you round within the time frame and asks where you want the most.

I won't give you too much of an overload and TBH I wished I had done black logo T shirts as I did not lose as much weight as I had hoped, so you get the best of the best here, lol.



















Love this one, the decade we got married in !



And now I bet you are glad to see the back of us!


Twentyyears 26 Mar 16 11:00 PM

The Dining Event!
 
Well this was a planning across the miles event via email etc.

I had kept hearing of private functions and dining as we didn't want a vow renewal but we wanted "something Disney"

We wanted to be with our friends and dress up, eat and drink and watch wishes in some way.

We could have just had a sit down at a signature but I wanted something special. I also wanted to pay for it.

So back in the Winter of 2014 I trawled websites and conference Disney sites and finally managed to email and get a reply through those channels.

You can book a private dining event for what we wanted as long as it WAS NOT A WEDDING!

So then she emailed me types of menus for sit down, bar packages buffet and room choices, minimum spends etc. And so began the emails back and forth and the lady we had, Elizabeth, was astounding, patient and fabulous. We emailed all the queries back and forth over the months until June and then agreed we could go and see the room she had in mind when we were there in the June.

We couldn't get any of the smaller function rooms at the GF so she sad it would have to be the Contemporary. As you now know this is where we managed to book all our gusts into for the one night and helped us decide to do that for them all.

It was not a big room, and internal, when we viewed it but it was going to have nice tables, chair covers, votives on glass and their background music. And it was free with our minimum spend.

We decided on a pick you own buffet menu and we kept it simple. Also we wanted a call bar as we would all be drinking and when we are together, we can drink. TBH I think the US system is fab and with the exchange rate so we got a good deal- so glad I found the emails with the details! Guess which bar service we took? ;)

Build your own Salad: Bowls of Fresh Garden Greens with Baby Lettuces and Romaine, Tomatoes Caesar and Honey Mustard dressing on the side.
Rolls and butter.
NY Strip Loin / Grilled Chicken Breast with Red Wine Sauce on the Side.
Pasta with Marinara Sauce on the Side.
Mashed Potatoes.
Seasonal Vegetables.
Mini Desserts: Key Lime Pie, Brownies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Vanilla Ice Cream

Bar Service: $100 bartender fee
Call Wine and Beer for 2 hours: $21 plus tax and service charge per guest over the age of 21 OR
Call Wine, Beer, and Liquor for 2 hours: $25.00 plus tax and service charge per guest over the age of 21
For either package, guests under 21 would receive unlimited soft drinks, bottled water, and juices for $12.50 plus tax and service charge per guest.

While we there the first week I got an email from Elizabeth asking is we would change rooms to one next door and I said I would look at the plan and get back to her. It looked smaller, and was, so I emailed back and said I wasn't very happy to change because of that and it would be even more of a squeeze but as the terms said it could be moved to a similar room, I suppose I couldn't say no.

She emailed back the next morning and said as it was their need to use the room so she was offering an upgrade to the Nutcracker Suite with some additional decor she felt would go with our theme and it had a patio with tables (you can see them in the pre trippie) The pics she sent me looked fabulous so we decided to say yes thank you very much- QUICKLY before she changed her mind!

So here goes- the day of- we drove and parked at the BLT in the morning and dropped off our luggage, got wristbands- so exciting and had a few hours in the MK.

We returned to the BLT and waited for our rooms at 3.30 pm. Well this time the pixie dust was a bit lacking and we, the main couple, got our room last; I think it may have bee alphabetical because of our group booking and because we had two nights not one. We were still waiting at 4.30!

I started to well up a bit after asking three times so the man suddenly seemed to realise this was a big deal when I said did he want to ring Elizabeth and explain why we were late were our private dining event on our Silver Wedding Anniversary!

He even got the bell hop to take the luggage up for us.

We had a great room overlooking the lake the Contemporary and the monorail- standard view DVC studio.

Well I managed to get my hair done and run over to the new Party room with all the other bits and bobs; wow and wow but you can see what it looked like later. We were so pleased with the upgrade and we got to meet the wonderful Elizabeth and our serving team and pop our favors on the table. I got lots of lovely compliments about my dress (with black fit flops at this point) and then I put on my sparkly shoes (got some more compliments:blush:) and we went over to meet the others. Pixie dust was returning!

It was tight with Randy coming at 6.30. We had arranged to meet in the fountain area in front of the BLT pool and it was a great place for those first shots- all our friends I had told 6.15 so they would be there when we arrived and apparently Randy he had realised they were our group - British accents- and he had been chatting away to them before we came down. Needless to say one family was later than us and she was mortified, especially as they were the second to get their room!

Now I am not a "posey" person, I had found the AOA shots a bit strange to pose for, but Randy got some fabulous natural shots as we came out and the sun shine just hit us, and my dress, and my girlfriends all started to well up!





Randy then got us some fabulous group and couple shots and, as I said, he knows where to go to get the great Disney touches;

With our son-















It was at this oont we realised Randy's skill as he managed to get us in the right place for a sunset shot and kiss- some how this seemed to go for a long time and he kept saying,one more shot,one more--- it it seemed he just couldn't get it right so we were very relieved he said Ok turn around now and this is what greeted us and our reaction!







They had had our wedding day faces printed on masks and it was a classic and Randy loved it!Love our friends so much!





I had never told Randy that my favorite character was Sorcerer Mickey and didn't even know this was here;Peter said to me this was my pixie dust pay back from Walt for not losing my rag with the check in CM earlier on!;)



So now we were off to the room, knowing it was quite a bit larger but we reckoned the kids could run around if nothing else while we ate and drank ;)

Our friends laughed when they saw it was the Nutcracker Suite and said how at for the two of us!



You can see how big the room was!



The tables;







More to follow... the favours are coming...

Twentyyears 26 Mar 16 11:24 PM

Food, Drinks and more drinks... and something more...
 
So here are the favours (hidden Mickeys) and the extra decor she gave us were the wonderful black and white Disney serving stations and Steam Boat Willie!













And here was our WONDERFUL Bar tender- he made Long Island Iced Teas for our three main men (they love them) and they always had two in front of them. Peter had Yuengling, which he loves, and had seen it was in the bar list and I cannot say the girls and I stopped drinking either since we first got in the room- we spent every penny of the bar and as you can see later we even got take away drinks for the fireworks!

So we got drinks and relaxed and then someone came charging though the door and gate crashed the party- I thought they had double booked us! ;)



Our friends were so surprised and Randy did us proud in capturing these wonderful moments...

















The wonderful Randy Chapman!



The best selfie ever!


Twentyyears 26 Mar 16 11:42 PM

Bye Mickey, Food...
 
So then it was time for Mickey to leave... :cry::cry::cry::cry:







You can see me behind him, stalking, lol!

And then it was time for the food and it was sooo good... we ate quite a lot as it was getting on..and we needed to soak up some of that booze...









Then it was time for presents...I think my friends know me and my organisational skills too, too well...
















Then there speeches, hugs and tears...








I do have our speeches somewhere so I will post them in a later reply...

By now we were coming to then end of our time in the room and we said goodbye to our lovely servers; we were given a drink each to take away in plastic cups and we left our beautiful ballroom... :wavey:

Twentyyears 27 Mar 16 12:02 AM

Wishes and we're on Top of the World!
 
So we were a jolly crew heading off to see Wishes with Randy in tow- by now I think he was herding us but getting some great candid shots still...





I am not sure they really wanted to let us rowdy lot go up there but we were staying ...





Having a rest before the fireworks



Me and my girls..





We spread out along the front of the balcony when we got there so Randy could get the best shots for me and Peter- calling "hold the line! " Then Randy popped off to have a "call of nature" rest break and suddenly half our party all needed one too- this is us girls trying to " hold the line" - failing but laughing hysterically!





And the view from up here at the Top of the World lounge is fabulous and I love the angle so much more than at CGrill.







And then the music pipes in and Wishes starts...









And then it was one final kiss goodnight...


Twentyyears 27 Mar 16 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by floridasarah (Post 11440867)
Fantastic photos, and black t shirt? bah humbug you look lovely.:grin:

Ahh, thank you!

smithlane 27 Mar 16 08:11 AM

Wow what an amazing celebration! Beautiful photos!
I've just read your whole Coasts, Canyons and Deserts trip report and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Congratulations on all your milestones and glad your DH is on the mend 😃

Twentyyears 27 Mar 16 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smithlane (Post 11441652)
Wow what an amazing celebration! Beautiful photos!
I've just read your whole Coasts, Canyons and Deserts trip report and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Congratulations on all your milestones and glad your DH is on the mend 😃

Thank you so much!
Well that must have been a long session- it is not a short report but it was a wonderful trip! So glad you enjoyed it. I feel like it is nice to give back when I got so many tips from reading others but it is also a wonderful way to preserve your own notes and memories.

floridasarah 27 Mar 16 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twentyyears (Post 11441306)
Ahh, thank you!

I deleted my post cos it was right in the middle of yours:blush:

But you did look lovely and even more stunning in the evening photos.

Congratulations to you both :grin:

florida girl 27 Mar 16 07:57 PM

What a lovely way to spend your Silver Wedding Anniversary here's to many more happy years. Glad to hear your OH has seen an improvement in his health.


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