Honeymoon rush...heh

[zuba07]

Hey all. Great forum you have here. Anyways, I am getting married to my wonderful future-wife on Oct 13, 2007. I have always been a fan of Disney, and have been a 1/2 dozen times. My fiance hasnt really experienced it, and as of this week we decided to be kids again, instead of doing the usual caribbean cruise, etc. Any I proposed to her on a cruise(Royal Caribbean; Keywest, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel).

So, I am trying to plan a honeymoon for October 16th-22nd. Nothing is booked yet, but I want to get things booked asap, and start making my dinner reservations. I want to make this vacation/honeymoon magical for my fiance.

The current plan is 6 nights, 7 days. Giving us 5 days in the parks, and two travel days. My theory is get a 5 day park hopper(I'd get the 10 day no expiration if money wasnt an option, but thats life). My parents are still using the 10 day passes we got when we were last at Disney in 1994. My general park plan is, get there on Tuesday morning, get settled into the Hotel around noon-1ish, then goto one of the parks/explore a bit. Then hit up the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM, Animal Kingdon, and then squeeze a day at one of the water parks.

I am getting Airfare from Detroit Metro to Oakland for a better price than AAA or any Disney(Airtran) package can get me. $294 each for Airtran, or I get Northwest for $168.

My big hessitation is where to lodge at. Since I want to stay on Disney property, where to stay. Ive been to the Dolphin before, but nowhere else. My parents were at the Wilderness Lodge last winter, but the current prices are out of my budget. So that leaves me with the Swan or one of the moderate resorts. We are leaning on Port Orleans or the Carribean resort. What would you all recommend? Also, the Dining plan is new to us. I think it is a great idea, and this partly weighs in on our lodging plans.

Any recommendations for the hotels, swan/dolphin v. Port Orleans v. Caribbean?( I get AAA discount, but this is my first time planning such a vacation.)

At the parks I want to do a couple of the sit down resturants. I remember a place with cars, etc at MGM. Beyond that I really have forgotten some of the nicer places to eat. Is the dining plan worth it?

Trying to go over an Itinerary due to the varying hours. Trying to make the most of our time there. We will most likely need a vacation from our vacation. Fortunately we are there during the Halloween event, so I am debating about if we should spend an entire day there till 11pm for the Halloween Event, or hold out to the 1am night. What do you suggest there? Are all the rides open on the Halloween night?

Is there a better night for fireworks at Epcot? Magic Kingdom? Since it is the Wine Festival during that time, I'm thinking this is a great time for me and the honey to have a nice glass of wine while watching fireworks.

Also, are there certain events you all recommend a must see? My dad gave so-so reviews about the indiana jones stunt show the last time we were there, is it the same as it has always been? Anyways, I could go on for hours. Wish there was an IRC chat room so I could pick your brain.

Any suggestions are welcome, very excited to be going back to Disney, and excited to see what you all have to say.

Cheers

 

[Glorydaz]

first off, congrats! wow, you have lots of questions , I don't think I have all the answers you are looking for though.. as for where to stay, I would pick POFQ for the moderates , small, charming, romantic. they also offer carriage rides on the property ($35 for 30 minutes?)...the dining plan is excellent as many of the higher end restaurants will cost you substancially more!

I suggest you go to allearsnet.com and check out their site. ...it's fabulous!! reviews and photos of ALL the resorts, menu's and reviews of ALL the restaurants and tons of info on absolutely everything you can think of! you can also check out RESORTS and DINING sections here on the DISboards - tons of valuable info here...

my favorites for eating: Le Cellier in Canada, Wolfgang Puck's in DTD, Kona's at the Poly, Rose and Crown in England and definitely Earl of Sandwich in DTD!

as for what to see - everything!! lol... in Epcot, Soarin' and Test Track are incredible, in the Magic Kingdom -Haunted Mansion, Pirates ride, Splash Mountain and tons more!, in Animal Kingdom , Expedition Everest is fabulous! as are the Safari and Dinosaur .... and to answer your question, yes the rides are all open on Halloween, just hard to get around the candy lines to get to them!

good luck, let us know how it goes!!

Michelle

 

[purplegirl247]

Another vote for Port Orleans. Very romantic. Another dining option to consider is Ohanas at the Polynesian Resort. It's a buffet-style restaurant with lots of yummy food, great atmosphere, and, if you time it right, you can see the fireworks show Wishes across the lagoon at Magic Kingdom. They pipe in the music and everything!

Have you heard about the wedding ears yet? They sell them at the larger stores. (see pic below; sorry so big!) That way, everyone will know it's your honeymoon (you can also get "just married" pins from the front desk when you check into your hotel). You get lots of congratulations that way. Oh, and when you're making all your ressies, be sure to mention that you'll be on your honeymoon!

(there's also a Mickey top hat for the groom, but it didn't fit properly on DH, so we just got him that plain black hat that said "groom")

I've never been to the Halloween thing myself, but staying until the parks until 11 or 1 sounds tiring! Be sure to schedule some time at the hotel by the pool with your honey (or sipping wine, like you said). Our honeymoon was pretty scheduled, and again like you said, we felt like we needed a vacation from our vacation by the fith day!

Oh! And we took some great behind-the-scenes tours. I believe they're on allears.net. They're also in my trip report, linked below. They have them in all 4 parks, for pretty much every interest you can think of (trains, animals, gardening, Walt Disney himself, even a Segway tour at Epcot!).

Yay, Segway! SOOO much fun!

GL! Let us know if you have any other questions!

 

[mla1977]

I love the Dolphin/Swan, but if you are planning on trying the dining plan, then you can't stay there. Since they are not owned by Disney, you can't do the dining plan or use Magical Express. I would also recommend adding at least one day onto you passes. It is only a few dollars more (literally) and you would be able to get an extra half day out of the parks at least.

 

[Stucas]

Congratulations!

If you can try and arrive early in the day and leave late in the day. This way you have bonus time in the parks.

Last time Dfi and I went we arrived around 11am and they did have our room ready for us and then the day we left we checked our bags for the magical express and had a whole day in the parks. I booked our flight to leave at 9pm. It worked out fantastic!

-Lauren

 

[lpizzuro123]

My biggest suggestion at the moment would be to try to make some dining reservations as soon as possible. October will be busy with the F&W Festival going on. Some of our favorite places to eat are in the MK Crystal Palace (great buffet), in Epcot we always eat "around the world" - we get eggrolls in China, burritos in Mexico, crepes in France, fish and chips in the UK, etc. With the F&W Festival going on there will be alot more booths set up and you can try someting different from each place (we usually share something). We love Bome at the Animal Kingdom Lodge (another great buffet) and 'Ohana at the Poly - the meal is served family style where they bring unlimited food to your table.

We love all the nighttime shows, parades and fireworks. MK had Wishes fireworks and SpectroMagic parade, MGM has Fantasmic (a great show shown in an outdoor stadium). I think the place hold 5,000 people but there is always a line and a wait but it is worth it. Epcot has IllumiNations which is a light, laser, firework, water show shown on the water. There is no evening show at AK but they do have a great afternoon parade (usually around 4:00).

Port Orleans French Quarter is a great place to stay. We have never stayed there but we have friends that have and love it. We make sure go there at least once every vacation. Right off the lobby there is a little club called the Scat Kat club and most nights there is an entertainer there by the name of Elliot Dyson. He is really great and is fun to watch and listen to. He plays all different types of musical instruments and sings and really gets people into his show. He usually does 3 sets starting around 8:00 I think. He performs music for both young and old (evens some Disney tunes). It's a great place to stop on your way back to your room after a day in the park. It is also located right near the food court so alot of times we will get something from the food court for dinner and sit and listen to him for a few hours. If you let him know you are on your honeymoon I am sure he will dedicate a special song to you. You do not need to be a guest of the hotel to go there.

Linda

 

[MistressOfAllEvil]

.... and to answer your question, yes the rides are all open on Halloween, just hard to get around the candy lines to get to them!

Unfortuanately all the attractions are not open during Mickey's Not So Scary Holloween Party. Although, most of the popular/major attractions are... all three mountains, the haunted mansion, pirates, etc...

The Boo To You Parade is exclusive to MNSSHP and I'm torn between that and Spectromagic... I prefer Wishes fireworks over Hallowishes, even though Hallowishes has the perimeter fireworks...

I reccommend TWO nights at Magick Kingdom!! That way you can see MNSSHP and then see the park on a regular night with the regular spectro and wishes. (Maybe the day you do DAK, b/c they always close earlier... especially that time of year!)

Good luck with whatever you decided. It's really hard to cram it all in and even though I've been 8+ times and worked there for 6 months... I still try to do it all and I always need a vaction from my vacation.

And I'm sorry if I'm a little partial to MK since I consider it my home away from home

good luck!
Wendy

 

[TinkerFairy]

Welcome to someone else flying out of Detroit-Metro

Of the hotels you listed I would lean towards Port Orleans.
As others have mentioned the Food and Wine festival may make some ADR's harder to get than others, as well as restraunts in the MK nights of Mickey's Not so scary Halloween Party.
I made all of ours at 180 days, and called back just a day later to add 3 to our Le Ceilar ADR and the girl told me if I had waited just another day I wouldn't have been able to. Seems like the popular place, hope it lives up to the hype

Depending on how you want to use your tickets, you could spend the morning of the halloween party lounging around by the pool or shopping. Could be a easy way to save a park day ticket.

The restraunt with cars at MGM is Sci-Fi Dine In.

No matter what or how you plan I'm sure it will be a great trip!
I tend to over plan and make myself miserable if things don't stay on schedule, and with the wedding and everything else I kinda just let it go this time.

Let us know how the planning goes and which hotel you pick.

Just curious, are you from the Metro-Detroit area, or driving here to fly out?
We're in Southgate, so just wondering.

 

[KQAN]

Good luck with all the planning! One thing I wanted to point out - you said you were looking at flights to Oakland - you do mean Orlando right? Oakland is outside San Francisco. Hopefully that was just a typo, but I don't want you to wind up on the wrong coast!

 

[Chantelle]

We stayed at Carribean Beach resort and it was beautiful. It has a nice tropical feel and makes you truly feel like you're on vacation.

As for dining, I would definately recommend Cinderella's Royal Table for Dinner. We went and had a great meal together plus we let them know we were there on our honeymoon so we got free campagne glasses.

The Sci-Fi dine in theater at MGM is pretty cool, but the food is nothing spectacular. This is where you sit in cars and watch old movie clips.

I loved the food at O'Hanas and it was very cool to be able to watch the fireworks from afar. It is a completely different experience from being in the park and watching them above you.

We also at at the Coral Reef in Epcot and while it was good, it wasn't quite as fancy as I was expecting. It has a good atmosphere with the fish swimming in front of you, but I don't know if I would do it again since I have already had that experience.

Finally, my sister and her b/f ate at the African Buffet at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and said it was really good. They only wished they had more room to try everything so I think this might be something worth checking out.

I hope this helps. The only other tip I can give is try not to overplan because I really found we were constantly running behind and never managed to get everything in that we wanted to.

 

[buf68]

My hubbie and I stayed at POR and LOVED it.

The dining plan was WELL worth what it costs (though when we went it was free!)

My advice on meals: Ohana is wonderful and very fun. Cinderella's Royal Table was where we ate our first night and it was amazing, a very special experience (especially on someone's first night). We also did California Grill and it was AMAZING! You will have a great time as honeymooners. Just make sure you list on all your ressies it's your honeymoon Just in case

 

[zuba07]

Ok, so today has been our big day. We sat down with AAA again, booked the reservation officially, and bought our airline tickets. No turning back now. We will be there from October 16th-October 22nd. Im really excited to be there during Halloween.

So we called about an hour ago to get reservations at the resturants my fiance and I picked out. Very good success. I only had to make one change for the better, and move one from dinner to lunch.

D-Day(Disney Day, get it?): We arriving Tuesday around 11am, plan to be at our hotel by at least 1pm(We got Port Orleans : Riverside), however we got stuck with a two doubles. Im going to try to call them up to get it switched, but who knows. No worries. We aren't planning any parks, just some relaxation @ Disney Downtown. We got our reservation for Planet Hollywood(AAA Coupon). From there we going to go to Pleasure Island. A review has be curious about the Adventurers Club. So we are going to have a few drinks, and bounce in and out to the comedy club if we get bored(doubt we will).

Day 2: Because of the way the parks have their hours, we are going to the Animal Kingdom(Extra Hour PM) first on Wednesday(day 2). Using a quick lunch somewhere, then later in the evening we have reservations at Jiko's! So we are now 2 for 2 on the reservation front. Then we leave he evening up to whatever we want. Whether it be a few hours in the MK, or relaxing by the pool.

Day 3: This is going to be my favorite day. In the Magic Kingdom. It is the Extra Hours for the AM, so doors open at 7am. Lunch is yet to be determined. And in the evening, we have reservations for the Character Dinner at Crystal Palace, 3 for 3. Im sad to see that the Runaway train is scheduled to be shut-down for refurbishing. Bummer, luckily at least the Haunted Mansion is reopened(My Favorite). Ending the evening off with Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Celebration.

Day 4: Epcot! Only here can you travel the world in only a few steps. Again here, I find that Spaceship Earth is closed, it was closed the last time I was here. But on the bright side the Test track is open! It would be my first. This is where my reservation sorta fell through. In all the years past I have always wanted to eat at the Coral Reef. Well, Dinner was all full, this day, and the following. However she did have a lunch spot open! So not all is lost.
We then plan on having some Wine while watching the fireworks at Epcot, any suggestions on where we should be?

Day 5: This is our designated waterpark day. We settled on Typhoon Lagoon. We dont plan on being there too long. About 5 hrs in we are going to bail for the hotel to relax a bit for our evening segment. We had planned to goto Boatwright, located in our hotel. But when I made the reservation, it was all booked up. The Disney representative was wonderful, she asked what our plans were for the rest of that evening, I responded with La Nouba. She was excited to tell me that we could get into Wolf Puck's, which is near our destination. I could write this one up as losing a reservation, but she helped me plan the night even better, so we are 4 for 4. After La Nouba, We plan on heading back to the Magic Kingdom to watch the Wishes Nighttime Spectacular.

Day 6: Our last day. This is the day we left for Disney-MGM Studios, or the soon to be renamed to Disney Studios. This part of the park im not a fanatic about, but its been 10 years since I was last there. I did get reservations to the Scifi Diner, so thats 5 for 5.

Anyways, thats a general overview of our trip. I was happy to make all the reservations, and put the Dining plan to great use. Now we just have to go through and make sure we dont miss any of the rides we truely want to hit.

So, at the end of this I realized you all dont know anything about me, other than I am going to disney. Im 26 yr old student going to Saginaw University, Computer Science(Geek at heart), getting married to the most wonderful and loving fiance on October 13th. She just completed her Masters in Occupational Therapy this past April, and I am so proud of her.

Anyways, if there is anything special that you feel I might overlook, please dont hesitate to let us know. My DF(I think that means Disney Fiance, not 100% sure) is excited, as this is her first trip to Disney.

Less than six weeks till Disney, and I cant imagine any other way to celebrate our wedding.

Cheers
Zuba07

 

[yearbook50]

Your plans sound great!

If you are willing to change hotels, CBR has a lot of King Bed rooms in comparison to POR so you could try to get it there.