A Little Disney Magic

[ALMPeters11-11-11]

Welcome to my pre-trip/trip report!

This is my first report on DISboards and I am very excited to be a part of this awesome community!

Cast of Characters:
Amanda (me)
Scott (DH2b...will be DH on 11/11/11)

We are complete Disney-a-holics! We have just about every Disney movie on VHS and DVD and we are slowly building our Blu-Ray collection I have been to WDW 3 times and DL 5 times (which can be found in my signature). My DH-2b has been to WDW once (with me in 05) and Disneyland twice (with me in 06 and 07). Neither of us have ever been on a DCL cruise...actually, we have never been on ANY cruise

We are currently planning our Disney Cinderella Themed Wedding which will take place on November 11, 2011 aka 11/11/11. No, it will not be at a Disney park but it will be magical nonetheless! For our honeymoon, we will be taking what Disney calls a Land and Sea Vacation.

On November 25, we will drive from our home in Louisville, KY to Cocoa Beach, FL to stay at a little hotel on the beach the night before our cruise on the Disney Magic! Those of you realizing the date as the day after Thanksgiving...yes, I am sacrificing my Black Friday shopping for our honeymoon But I personally think it is a fair trade-off. We are driving because it is SO much cheaper! The money we are saving from not flying is actually paying for our "land" part of our honeymoon. I love to fly, but sacrificing flying for a trip to WDW is totally worth it

We will be setting sail on the Disney Magic on November 26! Because we are newbies to DCL, we cannot book anything until September 12...75 days before the cruise But we do have plans for the cruise, including participating in our cruise group's FE!!

Our itinerary is as follows:
November 26: Port Canaveral, Florida
November 27: Key West, Florida
November 28: At Sea
November 29: Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
November 30: Cozumel, Mexico
December 01: At Sea
December 02: Castaway Cay
December 03: Port Canaveral, Florida

We have decided to do one shore excursion per port:
Presidents, Pirates, and Pioneers at Key West
Seven Mile Beach Break in the Grand Cayman
Cozumel Highlights and Maya Ruins in Cozumel
Parasailing in Castaway Cay

Once we deboard the cruise on December 3rd, our honeymoon is not over yet! We will drive from Cocoa Beach (after we get our car back LOL) to Orlando and stay at the All-Star Movies for 6 days/5 nights to continue our honeymoon with 5-day park hoppers to WDW!!! When we leave the magic of Orlando, we will drive home, stopping in Atlanta to visit the World of Coke Museum. My DH-2b is a Coke-a-holic We have several plastic totes filled with memorabilia!

Back to the wedding planning and present day...One very exciting perk that Disney has created for their honeymooners is the Disney Honeymoon Registry! As soon as the honeymoon was booked, I signed up for it. Here is the link if you would like to see what we have selected http://honeymoonregistry.disney.go.com/honeymoonregistry/en_US/modules/render/ffRegistry/ffRegistryPageRender?swid={3099A731-F5CC-400F-B848-2621C6B63F53}

Well, that is all I can think of for now I will continue as more excitement comes along

 

[Tanzanite]

Welcome to my pre-trip/trip report!

This is my first report on DISboards and I am very excited to be a part of this awesome community!

Cast of Characters:
Amanda (me)
Scott (DH-2b...will be DH on 11/11/11)

We are complete Disney-a-holics! We have just about every Disney movie on VHS and DVD and we are slowly building our Blu-Ray collection I have been to WDW 3 times and DL 5 times (which can be found in my signature). My DH-2b has been to WDW once (with me in 05) and Disneyland twice (with me in 06 and 07). Neither of us have ever been on a DCL cruise...actually, we have never been on ANY cruise

We are currently planning our Disney Cinderella Themed Wedding which will take place on November 11, 2011 aka 11/11/11. No, it will not be at a Disney park but it will be magical nonetheless! For our honeymoon, we will be taking what Disney calls a Land and Sea Vacation.

On November 25, we will drive from our home in Louisville, KY to Cocoa Beach, FL to stay at a little hotel on the beach the night before our cruise on the Disney Magic! Those of you realizing the date as the day after Thanksgiving...yes, I am sacrificing my Black Friday shopping for our honeymoon But I personally think it is a fair trade-off. We are driving because it is SO much cheaper! The money we are saving from not flying is actually paying for our "land" part of our honeymoon. I love to fly, but sacrificing flying for a trip to WDW is totally worth it

We will be setting sail on the Disney Magic on November 26! Because we are newbies to DCL, we cannot book anything until September 12...75 days before the cruise But we do have plans for the cruise, including participating in our cruise group's FE!!

Our itinerary is as follows:
November 26: Port Canaveral, Florida
November 27: Key West, Florida
November 28: At Sea
November 29: Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
November 30: Cozumel, Mexico
December 01: At Sea
December 02: Castaway Cay
December 03: Port Canaveral, Florida

We have decided to do one shore excursion per port:
Presidents, Pirates, and Pioneers at Key West
Seven Mile Beach Break in the Grand Cayman
Cozumel Highlights and Maya Ruins in Cozumel
Parasailing in Castaway Cay

Once we deboard the cruise on December 3rd, our honeymoon is not over yet! We will drive from Cocoa Beach (after we get our car back LOL) to Orlando and stay at the All-Star Movies for 6 days/5 nights to continue our honeymoon with 5-day park hoppers to WDW!!! When we leave the magic of Orlando, we will drive home, stopping in Atlanta to visit the World of Coke Museum. My DH-2b is a Coke-a-holic We have several plastic totes filled with memorabilia!

Back to the wedding planning and present day...here are some photos from our planning:

The background image to our Save-the-Dates

My tiara...very Cinderella-esque, I think

The front of my dress (shh, don't tell DH-2b...thank goodness I know he will never look at this blog )

My gorgeous cathedral train

Columns for our aisle and altar (we will have six of these total)

Our unity candle column (which will have a round mirror on top for the candles)

One very exciting perk that Disney has created for their honeymooners is the Disney Honeymoon Registry! As soon as the honeymoon was booked, I signed up for it. Here is the link if you would like to see what we have selected http://honeymoonregistry.disney.go.com/honeymoonregistry/en_US/modules/render/ffRegistry/ffRegistryPageRender?swid={3099A731-F5CC-400F-B848-2621C6B63F53}

Well, that is all I can think of for now I will continue as more excitement comes along

your wedding dress is georgeous you will look beautiful.

 

[missj1975]

I love love love your dress. It is so beautiful. And your tiara is awesome too.

Wow a two week Disney honeymoon...Jealous!!!

You will have so much fun at the Coke Museum, especially if they have a taste testing area..which I am sure they do. Las Vegas has a huge Coke store and we have fond memories of trying 21 different coke flavors from around the world. Epcot has something similar called Club Cool but I think they only have 6 or 7 different flavors of coke (plus Epcot's coke is free, the Coke store's samples weren't but still tasty).

Anyway, so excited for your trip

 

[ALMPeters11-11-11]

I love love love your dress. It is so beautiful. And your tiara is awesome too.

Wow a two week Disney honeymoon...Jealous!!!

You will have so much fun at the Coke Museum, especially if they have a taste testing area..which I am sure they do. Las Vegas has a huge Coke store and we have fond memories of trying 21 different coke flavors from around the world. Epcot has something similar called Club Cool but I think they only have 6 or 7 different flavors of coke (plus Epcot's coke is free, the Coke store's samples weren't but still tasty).

I think I remember us checking out Club Cool in '05...but that was nearly six years ago I do know the World of Coke has a full FREE tasting room that has something like 30 different flavors...don't quote me on that LOL I bought my tiara on ebay...total steal considering it's Swarovski. And my dress...trunk show! I am all about finding deals

 

[newmommy_2010]

Can't wait to hear more! We live about 1 1/2 hours from Louisville!

 

[mrbudyhed]

This is a very exciting pre wedding/trip report! I love hearing about wedding plans. I have been know to sit and watch videos of friends of friends (i.e. essentially people I don't even really know! ) 11-11-11 is a very big day with the national cordouroy appreciation club. I think you might be stealing their thunder a little. I, like other Disers, can not wait to hear more.

 

[Planetneutral]

Sounds like a great story in the making. FWIW, I work for the public library in Louisville. Nice to see Kentuckiana represent on the DISboards.

 

[ALMPeters11-11-11]

11-11-11 is a very big day with the national cordouroy appreciation club. I think you might be stealing their thunder a little.

I have never even heard of the Corduroy Appreciation Club We have a meaning behind our 11/11/11 date...which I think I will post here in a little bit

Sounds like a great story in the making. FWIW, I work for the public library in Louisville. Nice to see Kentuckiana represent on the DISboards.

That's great! I love when I hear or see Kentucky represented anywhere

 

[ALMPeters11-11-11]

Thanks to everyone who has been following along! It is very exciting to have followers, especially with this being my first posting on here...and honestly my first posting on any board like this!

I have decided to share the story of why we have chosen 11/11/11...

There are so many superstitions centered around the number 11, especially the one enjoyed by young folks who "wish on 11:11." Yes, 11/11/11 is a very unique date that will never happen again in our lifetime. But we have a very special reason for choosing the date.

My DH2b and I have known each other for 13 years this June. Most marriages these days do not even last that long. We have a very special and unique bond for many different reasons. We started as friends, then became best friends, off and on boyfriend/girlfriend, and finally fiancees.

At one point in our life together, I was looking at some of my DH2b's old things from when he was younger...things his mother kept from when he was in school and other little momentos. I suddenly stumbled across his birth certificate. We discovered that we have something very peculiar in common...the number 2.

My birthday is February 28th (of a certain year) and his is December 26th (of a certain year)...he was born at 6:29am and I was born at 8:31am...he weighed 8lb 6oz and I weighed 6lb 8oz...he was 19 1/2 inches long and I was 21 1/2 inches long. So, with these numbers we found that he is EXACTLY 2 years, 2 months, 2 days, 2 hours, and 2 minutes older than I am AND we were within 2lb 2oz of each other AND I was 2 inches longer than he was.

That all being said...the number 2 seems to pop up everywhere around us. We decided on the date 11/11/11 because 1 + 1 = 2. Since setting our wedding date, we have been seeing the number 11 everywhere. We are nerds when it comes to numerology But we find it to be a very unique circumstance that most likely does not happen too often and therefore believe it is cause to celebrate the number.

 

[mrsdavies2be]

That' so exciting! I'm getting married Jan 28 (taking the cruise jan 26-29) of 2012!!!

 

[yorkshire disney fan]

I am sure you will have a great time - enjoy

 

[ALMPeters11-11-11]

That' so exciting! I'm getting married Jan 28 (taking the cruise jan 26-29) of 2012!!!

Oh, wow! So you are getting married on the cruise?! That would be amazing

 

[ALMPeters11-11-11]

Now that it's been a few months since the honeymoon and things have calmed down around here, I'm going to FINALLY post my trip log!! I'll begin in a new post. Thanks, everyone, for your patience

 

[ALMPeters11-11-11]

Wow...where do I begin! Let me start by saying our Cinderella themed wedding was even better than we had expected! Here are the three highlight videos from our wonderful videographer and some of the amazing photos our amazing photographers captured:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwurKA_wupM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzvi_luyZU0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c432t8CZMMc

My Flower Girl's Basket

My Precious Flower Girl and I before the wedding

Our Rings w/my bouquet

The Ceremony (in the BEAUTIFUL Crystal Ballroom)

My Favorite Photo!

The entire wedding party (minus the flower girl)

Me With the Groomsmen

DH With the Bridesmaids

My Cinderella Photo!!

DH Putting the Slipper on my foot...It fits! LOL

Our GORGEOUS cake with the castle cake-topper

Our Introduction

Our First Dance

Our ceremony and reception took place at the historic Brown Hotel in Louisville, KY. If anyone has seen the movie "Elizabethtown" with Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst, the hotel he stays in is The Brown. The ballroom they use in the movie is not the actual Crystal Ballroom, however (thank goodness because of what happens in the movie ). It truly was a dream and the perfect fairy-tale wedding! I'll begin the honeymoon in a new update

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Your wedding was gorgeous! What a beautiful location too. Congratulations I got married and had my honeymoon in WDW so I completely understand why you chose it! I look forward to reading about your trip!

 

[luvslikepi]

Sounds like a fantastic trip. I wish we could have honeymooned at the World. Can't wait to read more about your adventures.

 

[Toria]

Your wedding looked beautiful! Your dress is gorgeous as well. The second most beautiful thing in the world is seeing a couple starting their lives together(The first is seeing a new life enter the world).

 

[ALMPeters11-11-11]

This honeymoon was the best vacation I have ever taken! DH and I made the best decision!

We left our home in Louisville, KY soon after dinner on Thanksgiving. I gave up my Black Friday shopping so we could drive to Florida and in turn, save a bunch of money on plane tickets. Personally, I think it was a fair trade We arrived in Florida around 9am on Friday morning. We checked into the La Quinta in Cocoa Beach and crashed for about three hours! We had not slept since Wednesday night, save for my little nap while DH drove through Georgia. When we awoke, we tried to think of something to do the rest of the day. We decided to drive an hour back up north to Daytona Beach. Here we had our first experience with Bubba Gump's. It was the best shrimp I have EVER eaten! We've been around the restaurant several times in different locations, but I was determined that we finally eat there!

Once we had finished dinner, we walked around the beach, visited some shops, and then headed back to Cocoa Beach where we went to bed early. Since we only had a few hours of sleep, the excitement of Saturday did not keep us awake!

We awoke early Saturday morning and impatiently awaited our shuttle to take us to Port Canaveral. When we arrived at the terminal, everything set in...we're on our honeymoon! We're going on our first cruise EVER!! Once we went through security and check-in (which was quick and easy), we made our way onto the ship. The welcome in the lobby atrium was amazing, but we were soon somewhat disappointed. A few families later, a couple was announced as being newlyweds...why had we not been asked if we were celebrating anything? Should we have said we were newlyweds? We shrugged it off and headed to Deck 9 Aft for Topsider's Buffet. Normally, I'm not big on buffets, but this was not too bad.

Once we had finished lunch, we made our way to our room. We were in stateroom number 8066, which added up to 20 or in numerology, 2! Again, the number follows us! Our previous stateroom from when we first booked also added up to 20, so it was coincidence when we were emailed that we had received an upgrade to a family-size veranda stateroom. We explored the room for a while and then tried to think of something to do. We decided to go to the spa tour. The end result were two massages scheduled for Monday morning There was a raffle during the tour, and yet again we felt left out. There was another newlywed couple announced. When we booked our massages we talked about how we were newlyweds but somewhat disappointed that we were not getting acknowledged even though, after not being announced as such, we were telling everyone we came into contact with! For us, we only get one honeymoon...neither of us see this relationship ending The woman in the spa told us to go to guest services and get our honeymoon buttons, which we did...for the rest of the cruise, we had people congratulating us left and right and even got some big recognition, which I will get to later.

After the tour, we headed back to our room to await the lovely drill. Our bags had arrived as well, so we began to unpack prior to the drill. Once the drill was done, we went up to the top and celebrated sailing away. Now, DH nor I had ever been on a Disney cruise, nor had we researched much about all the little "magic" things that happen. When that ships horn sounded "When You Wish Upon a Star", my eyes filled with tears. It was the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. There is something about the magic of Disney that gets to me. Every time I walk into the park and see the castle, I tear up...when I just think about that ship's horn, I tear up...Disney sparks something inside that cannot be explained!

Once the party was over and we were out to sea, we went back to the room to finish unpacking and dress in more "cruise casual" like attire. We had second seating for dinner, so we were able to see the first show of All Aboard! It was exciting to hear about all that was to come. Once the show was over, we did a little shopping:

and then made our way to dinner at Animator's Palate.

The restaurant was amazing in it's decor and changing surroundings, and the "show" at the end was fabulous and quite a surprise! The food was also wonderful:
My Lemon-Thyme Marinated Chicken Breast w/root veggies and mashed potatoes

DH's Penne Pasta w/turkey and prosciutto (reminded me of Carbonara)

We selected our desserts and then were surprised with a second dessert! A special celebration "cake" with more honeymoon buttons! The "cake" was made of chocolate mousse, one of my favorite desserts, and ganache. We were so full but were able to eat just one more thing

Once we were done with dinner, we headed back to the room to dress in some lounge wear and made our way back up to the top of the ship for WALL-E, our favorite Pixar, on Funnel Vision

Believe it or not, during the middle of the movie, we became hungry again! So we checked out Pinocchio's Pizzeria and Pluto's Dog House. We decided to split a pizza, and let me say...maybe it's just the atmosphere, but Disney has the best pizza! Overall, we had an amazing first day and were excited for Key West and our shore excursion, Presidents, Pirates, and Pioneers!