The Impossible Possibility -- A Last Minute Disneymoon! ♥ PTR: Nov / Dec 2016

[Minkishly]

Hi all! I'm Mink and I've set out a pretty crazy mission -- to plan a Disneymoon in 2 months from across the globe. And I've got wedding planning going on at the same time, so it's going to be quite a crazy ride. I'm a little horrified thinking about it; but if Disney's the goal, let's (try and) see it done!


Who is this crazy chick?

I hail all the way from Singapore -- which on a good day is about a 24 hours non-stop flight. Count in stopovers and it might well become a 30 hours sojourn to the Mouse. I think my longest clocked took 33 hours in total, which included an 8 hours transit in LA. And that was before they had those mini individual screens on plane seats so I basically soldiered my way through on naps and books.

All worth it.

I've loved Disney since I was a child. My first move experience was The Little Mermaid and Ariel still vies with Belle as my ultimate Disney princess. I've been to Disney World 3 times before - twice as an adolescent and once when I was in my twenties. I've also been to:

- Disneyland, California
- Disney California Adventure Park
- Tokyo Disneyland
- Tokyo DisneySea

But nothing beats the World. [DisneySea is gorgeous though, and possibly second to WDW for me.]

Favorite WDW park: Magic Kingdom / Animal Kingdom
Favorite Disney attraction: Tower of Terror
Favorite Disney thing to do: Fantasmic
Favorite Disney movie: Beauty and the Beast

Who is her crazy love?

I met my fiance (let's call him The Fox) about 10 years ago at a mutual friend's birthday party and it's been magic ever since. Unlike me, he wasn't exposed to Disney much until he was an adult -- specifically, not until he met me.

We went on our first trip together to WDW 6 years ago, which was incidentally was also his first WDW trip ever. When he came back, the first thing he did was to acquire the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack off iTunes and he played it on loop for weeks. After that, it was Aladdin. ♥ I think I did a good thing there.

Favorite WDW park: Animal Kingdom
Favorite Disney attraction: Rock n Roller Coaster
Favorite Disney thing to do: Fantasmic
Favorite Disney movie: Up

So here's the situation:

I'm getting married to the love of my life on November 19th, 2016. Initially, the plan was always to have our honeymoon in Tokyo. Things changed however, and suddenly Tokyo wasn't that viable an option anymore. So I decided to slyly revisit an old dream that I had kept away and looked into the possibility of a WDW honeymoon. Surprisingly, the plane ticket wasn't too expensive and suddenly it seemed like it could happen. I roped my fiance in, and we did more research.

It seems like we could do it.

So right now, I'm researching the trip based on these preliminary details. Nothing's set in stone yet, because we're so uber busy with the wedding and new house preparations. We've got new furniture coming in right and left, it's crazy.

But here are the (tentative) deets:

When are we going?

27 November 2016 - 14 December 2016 [17 nights]


Where are we staying?

A wedding is a really expensive dinner treat for a really big number of guests, so we'll most likely be doing WDW on a budget (or as best we can). Which means that we're looking for a no-frills resort (since we'll probably be out all day anyway) which offers a shuttle service to WDW and Universal Studios (so we can save on transport and use the money for fun things).

Right now, I'm looking at these places as possibilities:

Old Town Celebration Suites
The Point Orlando Resort

Basically, this is what we're looking for in a hotel:

- Free Shuttle to WDW and Universal Orlando
- WIFI and laundry amenities available
- Supermarket / Grocery Store / Restaurants nearby
- Preferably an easy way to get to Orlando Premium Outlets

WHY THE BUDGET HONEYMOON?

Distance, distance. :< Living halfway around the globe means that even getting to Disney requires quite a fair bit of moolah. The cheapest plane ticket sets us back around USD $1k each so it means that we have to cut back on certain trimmings here and there.

And also, it's because I believe that a pauper's day at WDW is still more magical than a princess' day anywhere else. With a fraction of the cost, we could go to Bali and live like kings... but it's not Disney.

It also means that I don't have to worry about ADRs because we're most likely going to be skipping the table service restaurants. Romantic picnics every day!


===============================

That's kinda all I have for now so I'm going to hit "pause" and continue working on this some time later.

 

[Minkishly]

Chapters

Chapter One - Deciding on a Place to Stay!
Chapter Two - Disneymoon Bucket List (aka the awesomeness we've planned) - last updated: Sept 30
Chapter Three - Fighting the fight for last minute ADRs! -- coming soon ​

​

 

[fallonkendra]

This sounds great! Can't wait to read more!

 

[Minkishly]

This sounds great! Can't wait to read more!

Thank you so much! I'm in the midst of intensive research, so hopefully I'll be able to update more soon.

 

[Minkishly]

Chapter One - We've decided on a place to stay!

So this has been keeping me up at night for a while -- where are we going to stay?

First off, we decided that we'd be staying off-site. If we're going to conquer WDW on a budget, something has to give; especially since our air tickets cost USD$1k+ each. In our currency, that's a cool $1.5k per person just to get to Disney soil. Since we wouldn't be spending much time in our rooms anyway, we decided that the sensible thing to do was to cut back on accommodation and put the money towards other things.

These were the criteria that we were looking for in a resort:

♥ Reasonable distance to both WDW and Universal Studios
♥ Free shuttle with multiple time slots to both WDW and Universal Studios
♥ Preferably quite accessible to Orlando Vineland Outlets (my secret little shopaholic demands this)

So I did a spot of research and in the end, we short-listed these resorts:

These two were unfortunately eliminated.

Radisson Resort was one of my top initial picks and it certainly has a nice array of shuttle timings to Epcot. However, there was only one shuttle slot to and from Universal Studios. We decided that it was too risky. Since this is our honeymoon trip, we want the option of having a lazy morning and sleeping in. Also, since we're planning to spend a fair amount of time at Universal, having to constantly adhere to such a strict timing would be very limiting. I could foresee us taking a lot of taxis because we missed the shuttle. It doesn't help that Radisson was the most expensive of our options due to its high resort fee per night.

Seralago was initially a favorite due to its low cost. However, it suffers from the same problem of limited shuttle timings. Also, I have to say that we weren't that fond of the somewhat dated room decor. At a similar price point, Celebration Suites at Old Town just seemed like the superior option.

So eventually, it was down to these two options:

Since these were our top two picks, I did a closer analysis of the price in our local currency (prices include air tickets). Celebration worked out to be quite a fair bit cheaper than The Point, but of course, the latter had nicer rooms. One thing I liked about The Point was the fact that although it was a lot closer to Universal Studios, according to Google Maps, it wasn't that far away from either Disney or Orlando Vineland Outlets. Also, it's on the I-Ride Trolley Route which would make Shopping Day (hooray!) much easier and cheaper.

On the other hand, Celebration has bigger rooms despite the lower price with a separate living area, dining area and kitchen. Unless we top up about USD$25 per night (which would add up to be a lot), our executive suite at The Point would be about half the size of our suite at Celebration.

Room Comparison Pictures

The Point

Celebration

After much discussion, my fiance and I decided to go with The Point. Its location on the I-Ride Trolley route actually would make it possible for us to visit both the Orlando Premium Outlets as well as the Publix Supermarket. Being able to access a supermarket makes it a whole lot easier to stock up on food. We plan to slip in some table service meals, so having some bread and eggs would help us to keep the cost manageable by preparing little picnic-esque snacks for the parks.

We haven't booked the room yet though. I'm giving myself 24 hours to regret and find a reason to pick Celebration Suites instead. But still, it's nice to know that regardless of which hotel we go with, we're going to have a good time!

 

[Minkishly]

Chapter Two - Disneymoon Bucket List

So this is a really fun chapter, and it will be updated as a constant work of art. Basically, this is a checklist for the things that we have to do before leaving Orlando.


Never to Be Missed Attractions / Shows / Activities :

Magic Kingdom

Rides / Shows

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Cinderella's Castle
Haunted Mansion
Monster's Inc Laugh Floor
Pirates of the Carribean
Peter Pan's Flight
Prince Charming Regal Carousel
Space Mountain
Splash Mountain (if I can somehow lure him on with a poncho)
Stitch's Great Escape!
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid
Wishes (yay, fireworks!)

Character Encounters

Town Square [Main Street USA] -- Assorted Characters
Pete's Silly Sideshow [Fantasyland] -- Minnie and Daisy, Donald and Goofy
Splash Mountain Exit [Frontierland] -- Woody and Jessie
The Thotful Spot - near Winnie the Pooh ride [Fantasyland] -- Winnie
Mad Tea Party [Fantasyland] -- Alice and Friends
Cinderella's Fountain [behind the castle] -- Fairy Godmother
Princess Fairytale Hall [Fantasyland] -- Cinderella, Aurora, Anna and Elsa


Table Service Meals

Be Our Guest - ADR achieved? Yes / No [but it's a very early breakfast slot, so I don't know if we'll be doing this ]
Crystal Palace - ADR achieved? Yes / No
Cinderella's Royal Table (character meal with the princesses) - ADR achieved? Yes / No


Extra things:

Personalized Christmas Ornament souvenir!


Epcot

Rides / Shows

Ellen's Energy Adventure
Frozen Ever After
Illuminations
Journey into the Imagination with Figment
Living with the Land
Mission: Space
Soarin'
Spaceship Earth
Test Track
The Seas with Nemo and Friends
World Showcase (the WHOLE place)

Character Encounters

All around World Showcase (keep an eye out!)

Table Service Meals

The Garden Grill - ADR achieved? Yes / No
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall - ADR achieved? Yes / No

Extra Things

Pick a Pearl!


Disney's Hollywood Studios

Rides / Shows

Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage
Fantasmic!
Muppet*Vision 3D
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster
Star Tours
The Great Movie Ride
The Twilight Zone - Tower of Terror
Toy Story Mania!
Voyage of the Little Mermaid

Character Encounters

Pixar Palace -- Buzz and Woody
Star Wars Launch Bay -- Chewbacca
Red Carpet Dreams -- Mickey and Minnie

Table Service Meals

Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant - ADR achieved? Yes / No (might not go for this though if we manage to get some of our other more coveted ADRs)



======== Coming Soon ==========

** Will update the rest as and when I have the time!



Animal Kingdom

Universal Studios

Universal's Islands of Adventure


Fun Honeymoon Extras

Honeymoon Photo Session @ Magic Kingdom
Photopass & Memory Maker