Diary of an Aussie Disney Honeymooner

[zanzibar138]

A compromise

I know I said I had talked myself into being ok with a late arrival at WDW, but after a few weeks, it still wasn't sitting well with me. Ben agreed that we should prioritise getting there sooner, but at the same time was unwilling to take any more days away from Vegas. After going through all the possible options, and getting input from my parents as well, we've decided to take the red eye with Spirit We will now be departing from Vegas at 11:45pm, which will give us plenty of time to have a last dinner with his friend, and get us into Orlando just before 7:30am.

If you've read the rest of my PTR, you will know that I normally flatly refuse to fly overnight unless there's a lie-flat seat involved, but I'm willing to be tired and uncomfortable for 4.5 hours to get our money's worth from the Poly We were able to cancel our final night's accommodation in Vegas, so I was able to justify splurging on Spirit's 'large' seats to hopefully provide a bit more comfort.

We'll keep our plans pretty open for that day so we can just do whatever we feel up to doing at the time. Definitely open to suggestions (including potential napping locations!) if anyone wants to share their tips for a post-red eye arrival day.

 

[AnnaS]

I have never taken a red eye. I have tried to nap/sleep on a long flight - but I don't sleep too easily/quick. Dozed off maybe and took a Tylenol PM once

I don't have advice but definitely try to close your eyes and rest even if you are not "sleeping"/no TV. You might be a zombie next morning.....just take it easy anyway that day.

 

[zanzibar138]

The rough plan for Vegas

We met up with Ben's friend yesterday to go through the plans for the road trip and Vegas part of our trip.

Road trip day 1 (LA to Death Valley): We agreed that we'll just get up at a reasonable time, have breakfast and then hit the road (we'll pick up the hire car on arrival the day before). Our specific route from LA to Death Valley will depend on the weather - if there's any chance of snow/ice, we'll have to avoid the higher altitude areas. We'll aim to arrive in time to enjoy sunset in the park.

Road trip day 2 (Death Valley to Boulder City): We'll plan to book a sunrise horse riding tour to start the day, and probably just drive the scenic route on the way out, stopping wherever looks interesting. Death Valley is quite a high priority for all of us, so we'll be happy to spend most of the day there. We'll just keep in mind that we've got about a 2.5 hour drive to the next stop, and aim to arrive before dark. If we've got time to check out Red Rock Canyon on the way through we will, but it's not going to be a high priority.

Road trip day 3 (Boulder City to Vegas via Route 66): We'll get going straight after breakfast this morning to be able to fit in as much as we can. Ben expressed interest in a rafting tour at Hoover Dam, as well as the actual dam tour, but we decided we'll probably just stick with the dam tour since it will be a fairly big day. From there we'll be driving down to Route 66 and through Oatman - we'll probably have lunch in Kingman or Oatman depending on the timing. Ben's friend has also expressed interest in stopping in at Laughlin on the way back into Vegas. We'll drop off the hire car near the airport, then get an uber from there to the hotel. We're planning to kick off our time in Vegas with the medieval dinner, probably followed by drinks at one of the nearby rooftop bars.

Vegas day 1: After a few early starts, this will be our first no alarm day! We'll plan make our way down to the old part at our leisure and spend the afternoon/evening there.

Vegas day 2: Another leisurely start day, we'll probably spend this day checking out some of the hotels/casinos along the strip, and do dinner at the Eiffel Tower. Ben and his friend are keen to check out the Sphere and we might do the big wheel as well.

Vegas day 3: It'll be check-out day for us, but we'll have the full day and most of the evening. I freaked out a little bit when Ben's friend said he'd already booked tickets for the ice hockey that night, but apparently it finishes at 8pm, so will be early enough for us to still get to the airport in plenty of time. We don't really have ice hockey in Australia, so it'll be something different for us and should be fun! For the day, we'll probably just check out anything on the strip that we haven't got to yet or wanted to go back to.

 

[zanzibar138]

And in other news

Honeymoon:

• I've gotten a travel card for USD, which I was able to try out for the last instalment of our AKL accommodation. All went smoothly. Ben has gotten a no international transaction fee account so we can withdraw cash fee-free while we're over there.
• Very pleased to say that just yesterday AA advised that our flight out of Orlando has been rescheduled, and is now scheduled for departure just before 8am, which is a VAST improvement on 6:30am!
• We've been discussing the plans for our arrival day in Orlando and our day between flights in LA. We think it's probably worth booking a hotel for a few hours on each day, however we're also considering just hiring a car in LA and driving to Universal to check out Nintendo World.
• Still considering which days to do what at WDW but information is starting to come together. Still waiting on the MK CM appreciation thing to be announced, as we'll definitely plan to visit MK that day and then hop to another park in the evening.
• I should get in touch with our photographer for the wedding shoot to confirm what day/time that will be before making too many plans.
• Also still thinking about cute outfits for some of our park days, and considering buying a camera. I generally take hundreds of photos a day on a Disney trip, so not sure my phone will cope.

And in wedding news:

• I have found a local dressmaker to do alterations on my dress. After trying it on, the alterations list includes: adding an extra couple of ivory layers to the skirt to soften the blue, shortening the train and re-doing the bustle which wasn't functioning as required, adding the plain detachable straps to the corset, it also turned out that the corset needed taking in quite significantly around the bust. Unfortunately it's going to cost me (which I hadn't factored into the budget since it was a custom dress to start with), and I'm still not going to end up with exactly what I wanted, but I'll be a lot happier with the dress for the day.
• We've finalised the guest list and I'm just putting the final touches on the invitations to send out in the next couple of days. We're doing mostly digital invites, but will print off a couple for the grandparents.
• I've ordered and received our artificial flowers from Etsy. They are lovely real touch ones - I'm very happy with them and looking forward to working on the arrangements next.
• We bought Ben's wedding ring. While we were there, I remembered I had a birthday voucher for the store, so ended up getting 25% off the total order and thought I'd add a nice pair of sparkly earrings too!
• I've booked a coffee cart and now we're also considering whether to book someone to set up a grazing table instead of DIY catering.
• I've also booked accommodation for our wedding night - we'll be having dinner and going dancing in the city so have booked a lovely waterfront hotel for the night.

My poor credit card has really been copping a beating

 

[pkondz]

We'll plan to book a sunrise horse riding tour to start the day,

That sounds really nice.

Ben expressed interest in a rafting tour at Hoover Dam, as well as the actual dam tour, but we decided we'll probably just stick with the dam tour since it will be a fairly big day.

Sounds like a dam fine day.

Re: Vegas. I strongly urge you to take in a Cirque show. Ka was stunning and O was (IMHO) a fairly close second.

We've finalised the guest list and I'm just putting the final touches on the invitations to send out in the next couple of days.

Standing by for my invite...

 

[zanzibar138]

That sounds really nice.

Unfortunately now that I've looked into it, I can see that they don't offer the sunrise OR sunset horse riding tours at that time of year - must be too cold and/or dark. The only option for the regular 1 hour ride is 10:30am, which is probably going to eat into our day too much. Otherwise we can book a 90 minute private ride that starts at 7:45am, but that is just ridiculously expensive! Bit of a bummer, I was looking forward to that

Sounds like a dam fine day.

Re: Vegas. I strongly urge you to take in a Cirque show. Ka was stunning and O was (IMHO) a fairly close second.

I see what you did there

I'm keen for a Cirque show, but Ben is less convinced because he thinks that's something we can do at home. Not sure when we'd fit it in either! As much as I though 3 nights in Vegas was going to be heaps, I'm now seeing that 3.5 is actually cutting it pretty tight. Ben's friend has told us he wants to take us for a helicopter tour of the strip one evening too.

Standing by for my invite...

Bit of a long way for you to come

 

[pkondz]

Unfortunately now that I've looked into it, I can see that they don't offer the sunrise OR sunset horse riding tours at that time of year - must be too cold and/or dark. The only option for the regular 1 hour ride is 10:30am, which is probably going to eat into our day too much. Otherwise we can book a 90 minute private ride that starts at 7:45am, but that is just ridiculously expensive! Bit of a bummer, I was looking forward to that

Well shoot. That’s too bad.

I'm keen for a Cirque show, but Ben is less convinced because he thinks that's something we can do at home

No. It’s not. I’ve been to Cirque shows here where I live, and they don’t even come close to what you see in Vegas. The entire stage is purpose-built for the show at great expense. Much more-so than a traveling show could possibly do.
Hmmm… I have seen a couple traveling Cirque shows and was very entertained. I saw Ka in Vegas and was stunned.

Ben's friend has told us he wants to take us for a helicopter tour of the strip one evening too.

Wow! That’d be great!

Bit of a long way for you to come

I measured on a map. It’s only about 6 inches away from me.

 

[zanzibar138]

No. It’s not. I’ve been to Cirque shows here where I live, and they don’t even come close to what you see in Vegas. The entire stage is purpose-built for the show at great expense. Much more-so than a traveling show could possibly do.
Hmmm… I have seen a couple traveling Cirque shows and was very entertained. I saw Ka in Vegas and was stunned.

I definitely agree! But there's still the problem of when to fit it in

I measured on a map. It’s only about 6 inches away from me.

 

[pkondz]

I definitely agree! But there's still the problem of when to fit it in

Can’t help you there!