Barbie finds her Prince Charming- our English wedding & Disneymoon June 2011!

[disneybarbie]

Finally finished reading this PJ!

All the wedding details are great. I really love the necklace for the bridesmaid dresses, as well as their dresses. And of course your wedding dress is gorgeous! It gives off this "starry night princess" vibe.

I'm sure both the first night at AKL with the Savannah view as well as concierge level at the Grand Floridian will both be awesome.

Hi! Thank you for reading all the way through so far

Have not seen that episode - ooh it sounds interesting! Did see one where the groom decided to go for a surf before the wedding - felt for the bride that was wondering where her husband to be had disappeared to...

I'm sure you'll organise a great trip and sometimes it's good to go against tradition lol!

hehe thanks! I must look for when DTTB is on tv... add it to my Four Weddings programme that I love watching lately!



coming up.... Disney Dream cruise plans!! ...

 

[disneybarbie]

Today is a real landmark in our countdown.. it's 75 days until we set sail on the Disney Dream ship on our honeymoon!

As we are first time cruisers and not yet members of the 'Castaway Cay Club' we've not been able to book any dining reservations or excursions until the 75 day mark... frustrating when we made our Disney World ADRs over 3 months ago!

So.. in true Disney-fan-who-loves-planning style .. I knew that the online DCL website would open up for us at midnight today.. unfortunately, we're 5 hours ahead here which meant a very early wake up call for me this morning! Luckily, I was so excited though that I didn't find it a problem


The website is really well done & easy to use.. also, where I had 'saved favourite activities' previously on the website, these were highlighted on the lists so I could quickly click on them & make our bookings

So.. our cruise itinerary will be something like this:

Day 1
After a leisurely breakfast at Boma & morning at Animal Kingdom Lodge, we will be heading to Port Canaveral to board the ship..

we'll spend the first afternoon exploring this amazing ship... apparently we will be able to see all parts of the ship before 4pm so it could be fun to go see the kids & teen clubs before they are 'off limits'! I think the tween club is in one of the ship's funnels too

Check out our stateroom when it's available!..

Dinner will be at which ever restaurant is on our rotation: Enchanted Garden, Royal Palace or the Animator's Palate

Day 2

First trip to Castaway Cay! We'll probably spend the morning on the beach..

lunch at Cookies.. and then back to the ship because we have ..

I have told DF that we have a couples' massage booked.. which was the original plan, but.. last week I got an annual bonus at work, and decided to spend some of it on... a private spa villa on the Dream for us!

The "Couples Choice" includes a treatment each (massage, facial, mineral wrap etc) and:

private Mediterranean-inspired Villas. Each Villa has a private verandah off the suite with a whirlpool and comfy double loungers. Relish the calming ocean views while lounging or soak in a whirlpool hot tub outside on the private teak deck. Select from a range of spa packages providing the ultimate in indulgence—hours of soothing spa treatments, lavish therapies and relaxation rituals. Experience exquisite solitude for individuals or a shared time of blissful rejuvenation for couples.

Amenities at the Spa Villas include:
Spa treatment rooms
Couples massages
Private verandah
Personal whirlpool
Open air shower
Roman bed with canopy
Tea Ceremony
Foot Cleansing Ceremony
Pamper yourself by relaxing in a soothing whirlpool, or feel tensions melt away amidst incredible ocean views and warm tropical breezes from a canopied Roman bed treatments at the marvelous Villas range from 105-minute individual sessions to ultra-decadent 155-minute sessions for couples.

Included with every reservation are:
Tea ceremony
Bathing ritual of your choice
Foot cleansing ceremony



........

 

[disneybarbie]

After the spa, we'll probably go watch the show that is on (Believe, Villains Tonight or the Golden Mickeys!) and then have dinner at our rotation restaurant.


Day 3

This is our day at sea, originally I'd hoped to get the spa treatment this day, but it was all booked up... never mind, I'm sure we'll find plenty to do on the ship instead!

Maybe play some mini golf...

Play the Detective Agency..

go in the pool..

http://www.**************.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/5386202365_c73b5892021.jpg

maybe go to a 'anyone can cook' class, or go wine tasting!

Dinner this evening will be at Palo..

I'm looking forward to all our meals onboard the Dream but particularly the two signature restaurants.. heard nothing but praise for them!


Day 4

This will be our day at Nassau

I asked DF what he'd like to do here.. and he said "swim with dolphins!"

So we'll be going to the Blue Lagoon for the Dolphin Encounter

Neither of us have done anything like this before so it should be an adventure!


Back on the ship that night should be the Pirate night.. really excited for this too..

........

 

[disneybarbie]

Day 5

This will be our second visit to Castaway Cay.. and we'll be going on a catamaran on a snorkel excursion!

you may remember from our trip to Barbados last year, DF is very keen on snorkelling - but I've never ever done it! I'm not a very confident swimmer in the sea! However I decided to be brave and give it a try - sure I'll enjoy it!

We'll be back at Castaway Cay by 12pm, so there'll be time for lunch on the island, and maybe a ride on the Aqua Duck back on the ship!

On our last night, we'll be having a very special dinner at..

Remy!

Then the next day we'll be disembarking the ship, and heading back to the most magical place on earth!

ready for a very Grand week..

Emma x

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Wow Emma! That 5 day cruise actually sounds pretty fantastic! (I really think 7 days was just too long for us, 5 sounds perfect!) How long do you get that private spa villa for? That will be amazing!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Your cruise plans sound amazing!! Making me want to book one...

Yay on booking the Private Spa Villa! Enjoy the dolphin encounter and snorkelling - will you guys be taking pictures of the excursions?

Am glad you didn't have a problem getting up so early and the website was easy to use

 

[Stefy]

Oooh everything sounds wonderful and congrats on booking the Spa Villa, can't wait to read all about it Great restaurant choices too and congrats on scoring both Palo and Remy. Two awesome restaurants that will make for an unforgettable meal

Yeah we are staying Concierge, looking forward to it as we have heard great things Bet you are excited about staying in the Sugar Loaf building too

 

[klacey1]

Emma, that spa villa sounds AMAZING!! (Although I have to admit, "foot cleansing ceremony" made me giggle, LOL!)
You guys definitely have a lot of fun excursions planned-- especially the dolphin swim!

 

[disneybarbie]

Wow Emma! That 5 day cruise actually sounds pretty fantastic! (I really think 7 days was just too long for us, 5 sounds perfect!) How long do you get that private spa villa for? That will be amazing!

Hi Nikki,
I'm really pleased we went for a 5-night cruise.. I definitely took onboard your thoughts from your honeymoon TR about whether to do land/sea or sea/land, as it's our first ever cruise! And I get the impression for other sites/podcasts that 3 nights might not feel quite long enough? we'll see.. hope we enjoy it!

The spa villa is for 2 hours

Your cruise plans sound amazing!! Making me want to book one...

Yay on booking the Private Spa Villa! Enjoy the dolphin encounter and snorkelling - will you guys be taking pictures of the excursions?

Am glad you didn't have a problem getting up so early and the website was easy to use

Hi! Yes we actually just bought waterproof disposable cameras especially for the dolphin swim and snorkelling.. also they'll be more practical to take to the water parks
I'm so pleased we're including a cruise as part of our honeymoon.. just a few months before Steve proposed, I heard about the Disney Dream and thought "wow I'd love to go on that some day..." - it still feels a bit surreal we are actually going to sail on it!!

Oooh everything sounds wonderful and congrats on booking the Spa Villa, can't wait to read all about it Great restaurant choices too and congrats on scoring both Palo and Remy. Two awesome restaurants that will make for an unforgettable meal

Yeah we are staying Concierge, looking forward to it as we have heard great things Bet you are excited about staying in the Sugar Loaf building too

Thanks Stefy, it's shaping up to be a very exciting cruise I think!!
DF loves programmes like Master Chef so I think he (and I!) are going to be in foodie heaven at Palo, Remy and then Victoria & Albert's at WDW

Trying to research a bit more about concierge at GF this week.. there are some quite good videos on You Tube actually! I think we're in the main building concierge rather than Sugar Loaf.. they are two separate lounges I think.. it's quite hard to find a lot of info online but then I guess it'll be more of a surprise!

Emma, that spa villa sounds AMAZING!! (Although I have to admit, "foot cleansing ceremony" made me giggle, LOL!)
You guys definitely have a lot of fun excursions planned-- especially the dolphin swim!

Hi! Thank you - I think the spa villa is going to be very luxurious!
I read a great review about them on passporter.com ..

http://www.passporter.com/articles/couples-choice-the-spa-villas-at-the-vista-spa.php

and that convinced me we should do one!!
(yes I'm a little unsure what a foot ceremony is.. especially since I have the most ticklish feet ever! pedicures are not enjoyable lol



Happy weekend everyone! 10 weeks tomorrow WOW!!



Emma x

 

[jenneth79]

Hi Emma, joining a bit late, but I'm hooked now!

So very jealous of your cruise, it looks like it is going to be simply amazing. I love the idea for the costumes as well.

Congrats on the upcoming wedding, 10 weeks.... how exciting! For us that was "crunch" time, it was a whirlwind up until two days before, then, if it wasn't ready, it wasn't going to be... and we relaxed

I look forward to following along from here on out!

Jen

 

[ronnmel]

The entire cruise experience looks amazing, but the private spa villa... Wow! Just wow!

 

[disneybarbie]

Hi Emma, joining a bit late, but I'm hooked now!

So very jealous of your cruise, it looks like it is going to be simply amazing. I love the idea for the costumes as well.

Congrats on the upcoming wedding, 10 weeks.... how exciting! For us that was "crunch" time, it was a whirlwind up until two days before, then, if it wasn't ready, it wasn't going to be... and we relaxed

I look forward to following along from here on out!

Jen

Hi Jen! Thank you for reading along so far .. the last few weeks definitely feel like the plans are coming together.. we're speeding towards June 18th now! there seems to be things to do every weekend that are wedding-related

The entire cruise experience looks amazing, but the private spa villa... Wow! Just wow!

Hi! yup I cannot wait for the cruise & the spa villa.. then after that, we'll still have a week in Disney World to look forward to!


Emma x

 

[disneybarbie]

Hi all,

hope the weekend is going well.. I've had a lovely day of shopping, gardening & honeymoon planning!

While at the shops I bought a few more clothes for honeymoon, think I'm practically done now! I also found some Disney Princess kleenex tissues for my hand luggage , I also got some gift bags to put the childrens' favours in at the wedding, and ordered some extra contact lenses from my optician for the honeymoon.. I want to have plenty of spares as I find the humidity & water rides/swimming mean I get through them more quickly than normal!

I found everytime I mentioned to the shop assistants that what I was buying was for my wedding/honeymoon, they got so excited for me! maybe it's because the sun is shining & it's unusually warm in England today.. but everyone seemed in such a great mood!

I bought a folder for all our honeymoon documents..

I always seem to have so much paperwork for trips to WDW! especially this time with the cruise as well.. I like that I can split out our travel/cruise/WDW info in this file


This afternoon I designed & printed our gratuity envelopes for the town car, mousekeeping, porters & DCL bus drivers..

and I printed out our magnets for the stateroom door!

and I've made my lime-green Dis Board Mickey heads for my bag..

This evening I phoned Disney Cruise Line to book a few gifts to be delivered to our stateroom on arrival - I've ordered a 10x credit photo package, 6 pack of Evian water, 1 bottle of wine & 6 Corona beer ... the Cast Member was so friendly, I love phoning Disney!!

My parents got home today from their vacation & we had a lot of RSVP cards returned, guests numbers are looking good!

Here are the photos of our pirate costumes for the cruise party night..

and these are my flip-flops for the theme parks!

I really like Havainnas and my last pair were perfect for theme-park-walking.. they didn't rub at all.


Emma x

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Wow Emma that all looks great!!
Love the sound of the Spa Villa -very relaxing and will be the perfect antidote to all the stress of the wedding planning!!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Everything looks fantastic Emma! You have been quite busy! We're having some nice weather today too, finally! It really does put people in better moods!

 

[JMat]

Havainnas are SO fantastic... I have several pairs. They are ideal for theme park walking (and fun to kick-off when youre riding soarin') I even wore a white pair of them with Swarovski crystals to my wedding reception! They have a few pairs out now that are embellished with crystals (Bows, flowers, etc.) they are SO cute.

Its getting closer and closer... !!

 

[Stefy]

Sounds like your weekend has been really good Lovely sunshine, purchases and planning

It is nice when everyone gets that little bit friendlier when the sun comes out, esp after the winter we've just had.

 

[lilsqueakrr]

Yay! Everything looks so fun! I can't wait to see how it all turns out!

I'm definitely stealing your idea for the accordian folder next time we go to WDW. I always HAVE SOOO MUCH paperwork too. DF makes fun of me all the time. I'm just SUPER prepared. And that would just be so much cuter to carry around than my crazy folders that overflow lol.

<3

 

[klacey1]

I LOVE Havianas!! Those look very "vacation-y," lol-- the soles are so cute!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Emma, your cruise sounds absolutely amazing! That spa villa looks heavenly! That is going to be such a fun and romantic way to relax after the wedding.

It sounds like you had a really productive weekend! I love the tip envelopes. I am sure the recipients will feel so special when they receive them!