Disneymoon PT report *1/8-1/15* 8 Days before the World!!!! Final Budget is up!

[Alarose]

Readers, lurkers, and especially commenters welcomed!

Easy Clickey Links

Yes...that is what I am calling them. Even though they aren't so easy to make....at least I had a HORRIBLE time figuring this out. LOL, thanks again Christine! Anyway, I always think it is so clever when people put those handy dandy links in their trip report threads for easy navigation through their thread….so I thought I’d practice with my pre trip report


Easy clicky links
That’s here silly! Doesn’t matter how many times you click…you will always be taken back here
]
Cast: Husband-Steve, Wife- Tessa (me), and us
A little bit about Steve, a bit about Tessa, and some about us

Our Magical Wedding
A few snapshot photos from our magical day

Our wonderful and spectacular AAA agent Tracy A.K.A. Dsnymoners!
Thanks to Disboards, I found a wonderful AAA agent named Tracy A.K.A. Dsynymoners

A Bit About Our Budget
How to stay in our budget??? Where to splurge??? Where to cut???

The Plan: When?
I choose January 8th-15th? Why???

The Plan: Hotel?
What value hotel will we choose? Hmmmm

The Plan -Meals
What will we be doing for that thing we call FOOD? Will I end up cutting corners herre too?

The Plan- Transportation
How will we be getting to our magical vacation? Car, plan, air balloon?

The plan- Tickets
What package will we end up choosing for this trip? Park hop or no park hop? Water park or no water park?


Mickey Kicked us Out of Disney World!!!!
What in the world???

Day 1
Finally! We are coming to the fun stuff! Hmmm…we are getting to Orlando at 2:00 Let's go to MK! Why??? Come look!

Day 2
Our first full day at Magic Kingdom


Day 3
Today we are going to go to my least favorite park. Epcot...mayber this year will be different?

Day 4
Now, on to one of my favorite parks! Animal Kingdom!

Day 5
Now...on to Hollywood Studios...well, kind of.

Day 6
Finally! A full day at Hollywood Studios...no wait it isn't...

Day 7
On to day 2 of Epcot!

Day 8
Departurer day. No...don't look! It is too sad!

Our Honeymoon Overview
Ok...so I made some changes to the above. I don't think I'll have time to update above, but look here to get a general idea of what our week is going to loo like!

Our Final Budget
Our goal was to stay under $2000 for this trip for everything! Did we make it???? Is that even doable???

 

[Alarose]

Part 2: Cast: Us! Steve and Tessa

If you would like, hit the link to read about our Walt Disney ’themed’ Fairy Tale Wedding. The wedding was NOT at Disney world, but it was Disney themed. It was a beautiful day!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2004218

“WE WANT MORE!!!”

Alright, alright!

Steve and I met April 2007 at an all-boys party that my friend and I crashed. My friend and Steve actually semi-dated for a few weeks, but it didn’t work out. She said Steve was too ‘nice,’ and she knew we would be perfect together. It took awhile, but they (our friends) finally got us together, and we have rarely been apart since.

We dated for over a year, and then on April 12 Steve took me out on a motorcycle ride and proposed out in the middle of a park. I laughed, I cried, I yelled yes, and jumped up in down. It was a wonderful day!

More about this man I call husband

Steve is my husband! Yes, he is already my husband. We got married on October 25th, 08. Because of work reasons, we couldn’t take our official honeymoon until January. He is hard-working and a mechanic at a nice sized shop where we live. He is a manly man…well, at least he thinks he is. Don’t tell him, but he is a child at heart…he loves watching a good Walt Disney movie at times, likes playing card and board games, and on occasion he chases my cat Meeko around the house.

All of this makes dh (my husband Steve) a perfect specimen for Mickey Man,

but “GASP” he has NEVER been to Walt Disney World, or anything Disney, before! Steve is from a largish family (3 other brothers and a sister) and they were farmers. I come from a farming family also…more abut that later, but they had different priorities.

The journey of getting husband to agree to go to Walt Disney World for our honeymoon…

I just had to mention that the original honeymoon plan was just to go to a nice place somewhere sunny in January. It would have still been a nice trip, but I wouldn’t be near as excited as I am now.

I mentioned to Steve even pre-engagement/pre-seriousness that someday, if I got married, I would love a honeymoon at Disneyworld. But, alas like many people, Steve was under the impression that WDW was a place only for children.

I mentioned about a month after we got engaged that I would still LOVE to go to Disney world for our honeymoon. I didn’t push him. I really did not want to JUST go to WDW for our honeymoon JUST because I wanted to. I wanted it to be something that he wanted to do.

I really didn’t think it was going to happen. I sat down with him shortly after our first discussion about DW and gave him my game plane…I just laid the information down in front of him. I basically told him that I knew he would have a wonderful time if he let himself. I also told him if he really did not want this, I would not mention it again. I would not hold it against him, and I would have a wonderful time wherever we went. I knew we were lucky to be going anywhere at all. My bubble though…my dream was popped when he said he would rather not go to WDW for our honeymoon. He told me he could see someday going, but not until we had kids and some more money worked up.

A few weeks later, we met some friends of mine for dinner…and they had some friend alongs with them that had JUST gotten back from Walt Disney World for their honeymoon. I did not know this…and contrary to what Steve believes I did not set this up. We heard all about their amazing trip. We heard all about it for over an hour. Steve was very interested, asked questions, but didn’t say much about it after. I didn’t bring it up, like I promised.

Additionally, my parents are big WDW fans and go yearly, so Steve heard about their trips too.

Now, I am not sure if it was because of the Disneymoon we heard about, or if it was hearing how wonderful Disney was from my parents, who Steve truly respects, but one day about a month and a half after we were engaged…seemingly out of the blue, Steve says to me. “You know, I’ve been thinking about the honeymoon, and I think you are right. Disneyworld seems to a great place for us. I think we should go IF you can get the trip within our budget..”

I about cried. I hugged him. I really don’t think he would have changed his mind if would have pushed him at all, but he knew how important it was to me. Most importantly, he wanted to go too. And…Ohhh….a challenge…I love challenges. Our budget was $2,500” which was really a MAX. I’ll talk about that later.


So…I talked about Steve…now I would like to share some information about the other person in our cast…me!

More about this person I call Tessa...me!

Hi!

I am currently working at a day-care (two-year old teacher in a two-year old room…eak! ). I graduated from college in 2006 with an elementary education degree and special education endorsement. I am working at a day care because the place I moved to this past July (which is where Steve is working) recently had a drop in enrollment, and a lot of teachers lost their jobs. I’m afraid it will be a few years before I will get into the school system here. For now though, the day care is working out.

So, as you can imagine…I’m also a child at heart . This January will probably be my 7th trip to WDW, but the last time I went was in 2003...so it was a few years ago.

The last trip…mother/daughter trip 2003

I have a horrible memory (got to mention now worst than most…I had a bad head injury as a child which affects my memory capacity ) and I can’t remember too much of it…so this trip will be an adventure for both of us.

I also come from a farming family, but my parents made these trips a priority. I’m sure just like most of you have experiences, if you really want to go to Disney…you can make it happen. So, instead of spending money on our house, Christmas…we went to Disneyworld. It is what we wanted. As I mentioned before, my memory is horrible so I can’t remember specifics of these trips, but the bonding was there. They were wonderful.

 

[Alarose]

"Ok...I am having trouble getting the links to go...someone please help! I am trying to search in the tech. board, but how do I get the links to link to certain posts????"

That was me before! Thank you so much 2xcited2sleep for helping me out!

 

[Alarose]

Part 3: Our Magical Wedding

Again, if you want to read some more (maybe after these teaser picks you may want to) please go up and click on the link to the wedding day journal…but I thought I’d post some pictures from this wonderful day.

Quick info.
We got married on October 25th, 2008 at our home church. The wedding was Disney Themed…we had Cinderella carriages on the tables at the reception. The cake had Mickey Mouse outlines on it and Cinderella glass slippers. It was wonderful. I’ve always dreamed of getting married at home among family and friends, and even though the day was not perfect…it was still a perfect day.

Steve waiting for me

Walking down the aisle with dad

Up front with pastor

“You may kiss the bridge”

“I now would like to introduce Mrs. And Mrs. Steven…”

They threw stuff at us!” I think I swallowed one…

On the bus on the way to the reception…ewwww..lol, sry another kissing picture

The carriages at the reception

Us entering the reception

The cake

Cutting the cake…and then eating the cake

Eating…and then toasts

Father/daughter and mother/son dance (with niece Lola invited to join us after a bit)

Now…the dance starts.

Hard to tell, but I believe she is having fun lol

Getting jiggy with it!

Now, time for the Karaoke! Yes, we had Karaoke…and we had a blast!

Me singing to my husband… awwww

Getting tired…time to leave

The next morning…after our honeymoon night. Do I look uncomfortable…I am! Guess who threw her back out last night? LOL, now you have to go look!

Alright, I posted a few more than a ‘few’ pictures. I really hope you enjoyed!

Here is the link again to my wedding day journal if you are interested.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2004218

 

[Alarose]

Part 4: Our wonderful and spectacular AAA agent Tracy A.K.A. Dsnymoners!

So, on May 21 I posted this thread on disboards

“Wonderful AAA agents and other questions”http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1832996&page=1&highlight=

I basically asked if anyone knew of any excellent AAA agents, and one contacted me. She has been a wonderful help from the very beginning. She has put up with my multiple emails, requests, and pickiness lol.

I had decided even before being contacted by her to go through AAA. This is something my family has done in the past, and the $15 change is worth the help we got from these wonderful agents.

Again, Tracy has been a great help. She made the change when I switched hotels. She applied the deals as they came out. She has gotten back to me when she could within hours when I’ve contacted her.

Tracy, if you read this…thank you!

 

[Alarose]

Part 5: A Bit About Our Budget
Steve is a mechanic….I’m working at a day care. We are in our mid-20s. Understandably, our budget is pretty tight. I mentioned earlier that our budget is going to be $2,500. Part of me still really wants to splurge a bit more on this trip…it is our honeymoon. The other part…the majority, knows that we really can’t afford it. So, unless we want to start out our lives together is Disney Debt. We need to make some cuts someplace.

Where to cut? The hotel???

I really always imagined…if someday I got to go on a honeymoon to Disneyworld I would get to go to one of the Deluxe resorts…Wilderness Lodge, Beach Club Resort, Contemporary…‘wistful sigh.’ My ultimate dream was to stay at my favorite Deluxe resort…Animal Kingdom lodge….’drool.’ $240 a night is just out of our budge. Now, I KNOW we may have been able to afford Animal Kingdom if we would have made cuts other places…food, how long we stayed, ticket options…. We just figured out our priorities….and right now staying at a Moderate or Deluxe hotel is not a priority. We would rather stay longer at a Value than shorter at a Deluxe.

So, Value it is.

Where to cut? The stay???

Now, this was a pretty brief discussion. If Steve was going to go to Walt Disney World, his first time I wanted him to have at least 5 or 6 full days to experience it. Also, he has a week off of paid vacation, so we decided to use it!

Where to cut? Food???

Now, I know another way we could have saved some money is if brought along our own food for meals and ate in the room, or just ate a bunch of counter serves and maybe one nice meal or two…we may have been able to afford a nicer hotel then too.

BUT, when I went to Walt Disney World with my mom back in 2003 we did the Regular meal plan and LOVED it! I know it is quite a bit different than it was back in 2003 (tipping not included…bah humbug), but this was also a fairly brief discussion.

Also, I knew Steve and I knew he would enjoy his dining experience more if it was pre-paid for.

We wanted to spurge a bit on eating…so we got the Disney Magic Your Way Plus Dining package.

Where to cut? Transportation???

We decided almost right away that we were going to fly. Driving would have taken away at least four days out of our vacation, and we only had a limited number of days we could be away from work.

So, flying we will go!

Where to cut? Tickets?

So, we decided to cut a bit for tickets. The flexibility of Park Hopper and the extra opportunities of Water Parks and more would be nice… but I decided to TRY to plan without park hopper. It saved us a few hundred bucks. Also, we are going during Januarry, so it is kind of cold for waterparks….maybe another time we can check them out.

So, magic your way package…no park hopping and no water parks.

Synopsis.

Hotel: Large cut here. We are going to choose a Value resort but on Disney property.

Length of stay: At least 6 days…which is a pretty long stay at Disney World…so a bit of a splurge here.

Meals: Splurge here…doing the Magic Your Way Plus Dining

Transportation: No cut here…going to fly! Coach though.

Tickets: A bit of a cut here…trying to have no park hopper and not doing water parks.

 

[Alarose]

Well, I really hope you are enjoying so far!

WOW! I've been working on this for over 4 hours! Opps...so...the 'in progress' items will be posted at a different time! I'll be checking in later today though...'maybe' working...but I need to do something a bit more productive lol

Thanks for reading!

 

[Alarose]

ohhh quick question for those in the know. I am looking through some pre-trip reports and people are posting their tags. We don't have these yet??? Should we? Our trip in a little over a month away...now I'm worried. Did I forget to do something...did they get lost? eak!

 

[BeckWhy]

Tessa your dress is AMAZING!

I can't wait til your trip! I know you are reading through my TR, but I love Pop. Until this trip I would not have stayed anywhere else. It's just very "Disney" for me.

I've also gone in January... and it can be cold... it would really suck to pay all that money for the water parks for it to possibly be too cold to go there.

And we never park hop... we can almost always get everything done we want to in one day.

It is pretty funny... we have a lot in common... my ex was a mechanic... I used to work in day care..

 

[Alarose]

Thank you Beck! It really was a great day.

So, you are a fan of Pop? I'm glad you have enjoyed your previous days there.

So you don't park hop? When I've gone in the past, we have park hopped. One good thing for not park hopping is you don't waste time traveling. I think we arre there plenty long, so we should have no problem seeing everything. The biggest problem I am having is picking good days at Holiwood Studios for Fantasmic...the one day there is Fantasmic it is going to be super busy. I may be using two days at Fantasmic, and that first d ay when we go see Fantasmic not spending too much time in the park (either go to DTD for the day or hotel touring)

 

[kgle]

Wow great PTR! You looked amazing for your wedding and your dress is absolutely beautiful I am excited to hear more about your trip! I am keeping my fingers crossed that you get bumped up to AKL with some pixie dust!

 

[Alarose]

Wow great PTR! You looked amazing for your wedding and your dress is absolutely beautiful I am excited to hear more about your trip! I am keeping my fingers crossed that you get bumped up to AKL with some pixie dust!

Thank you so much kgle! Pixie dust gladly accepted...and needed. It makes me want to cry sometimes seeing other people's picturres of these beautiful resorts. I've been reading about some other people's grand vacations, and mine seems pitaful in comparison. LOL I know I am super lucky just ot get a chance to go to Disney. It will be wonderful no water where we stay or what we get to do, but I would be doing this if we got magiced up to to even a moderate.

Thanks!

Ok...working on my next installment.

 

[Alarose]

Part 6: The Plan- When?

So, as I mentioned before…we had to wait until after January to go on our honeymoon because Steve’s vacation time doesn’t start until January. So, I went as early in January as possible LOL!

And…according to Tour Guide Mike (yes, I subscribed to Tour Guide Mike…loved this site! So helpful) these dates have relatively low crowd levels.

Well, one thing that put a little hick-up in our plans is I found out the 2009 Walt Disney World Marathon was going to be going on during our stay (8th-10th). So, I know that ups the crowd levels a bit, but I hope not too much. We are already stuck in our days. Anyway, it is only going on for a few days that we are there. We should be good.


So, again January 8th-15th

 

[Alarose]

The Plan: Hotel

As I mentioned before, I wish we could swing even a moderate into this trip. Part of me thinks, "well, it is our honeymoon." The other part would rather stay longer in a value hotel than shorter in a delux. My dream would be Animal Kingdom Lodge...sigh.

So, we had decided to stay at a value hotel, but which value hotel?

We were first planning on staying at an old favorite of mine All Stars Sports. All Stars has a wonderful bus system, I loved the themes, and I loved our previous two stays there (like in 1999 and 2003).

Picture of our All Stars Sport room in 2003

Other pictures of the resort (got from online sources)

I didn’t change my mind until a few months ago when I was reading about Pop Century. It was a resort I did not even think about…I think it was just in production stage or brand new when we came in 2003 (I may be wrong…). I was just reading how much newer and cleaner it was than some of the other resorts. It was also a place that I have never stayed, so Steve and I can experience Pop Century the first time together. I now the cons are the bus system some people say isn’t as good as All Stars. True, POP has it’s own system…but the buses come less frequently. My mom is a huge fun of All Stars, and thinks I’m kind of nuts for switching over. I guess we’ll have to see.

When Tracy (my AAA agent from disboards) made the reservations for me, I made a preference for a room in the 70s section and a king sized bed. She also noted that this trip was for our honeymoon. I know they can’t promise our preferences, but I am really hoping that it is our honeymoon will at least secure us a King bed

So, the hotel we will be staying at is Pop Century hopefully in the 70s or 50s section with a King sized bed (fingers crossed)

 

[MiaBella05]

subscribing

 

[BeckWhy]

Tessa,

I'm a pretty big fan of POP... but when you start reading through my TR (as I post it) you'll realize I start to get annoyed there.

I decided that I want to stay in a deluxe my next trip. I'm not sure what any future discount includes, but with the 4/3 deal it'd only cost us about $500 more per person to stay at AKL. Some have tried to talk me into staying at a moderate, but if I did that I'd only stay at POFQ and I know that sells out fast when it comes to discounts. I've gotten a pretty good job now and I think I can afford the difference.

I used to park hop when I was a kid. And I'm not that worried about travel time. Most days I plan on a nap at the hotel anyways.

When it comes to Fantasmic... MAKE SURE YOU ARRIVE EARLY! At least 30 minutes early. This is the one show that I can't stress that enough. Two times we've gone and it's been dead in the park and Fantasmic filled up so fast.

Also, when you called for your room requests, did you tell them its your honeymoon? It will be the year of celebrations or whatever and marriage is a big celebration! Also, I think every time you call tell the CM first thing something like "OMG! I'm so excited to be going to WDW for my honeymoon!" or something.. not saying it will change anything... but you never know.

Thank you so much kgle! Pixie dust gladly accepted...and needed. It makes me want to cry sometimes seeing other people's picturres of these beautiful resorts. I've been reading about some other people's grand vacations, and mine seems pitaful in comparison. LOL I know I am super lucky just ot get a chance to go to Disney. It will be wonderful no water where we stay or what we get to do, but I would be doing this if we got magiced up to to even a moderate.

Thanks!

Ok...working on my next installment.

Don't look at your honeymoon/vacation as pitiful based on what other people say or do. Different things are important to different people. I mean you may spend more time in your room than we do (since its your honeymoon) but really you won't do too much in the room anyways.

I've always budgeted my vacations because I'd rather drive a $50,000 car than stay in an expensive hotel that I'm only in about 10 hours out of the day (9 of which is sleep).

Part 6: The Plan- When?

So, as I mentioned before…we had to wait until after January to go on our honeymoon because Steve’s vacation time doesn’t start until January. So, I went as early in January as possible LOL!

And…according to Tour Guide Mike (yes, I subscribed to Tour Guide Mike…loved this site! So helpful) these dates have relatively low crowd levels.

Well, one thing that put a little hick-up in our plans is I found out the 2009 Walt Disney World Marathon was going to be going on during our stay (8th-10th). So, I know that ups the crowd levels a bit, but I hope not too much. We are already stuck in our days. Anyway, it is only going on for a few days that we are there. We should be good.


So, again January 8th-15th

I've been during the marathon. Mostly only the MK is affected. We really didn't see much of the runners anyways except in the fast food restaurants. Well, at the airport they were all over.

In regards to your comments about POP's buses - Only one day did we wait more then 5 minutes for a bus. There was always multiple buses at the close of the night for Pop. And buses were coming so frequently they rarely allowed people to stand.

The only other resort that I saw a lot of buses to was Caribbean Beach Resort.

 

[Alarose]

Tessa,

I'm a pretty big fan of POP... but when you start reading through my TR (as I post it) you'll realize I start to get annoyed there.

I decided that I want to stay in a deluxe my next trip. I'm not sure what any future discount includes, but with the 4/3 deal it'd only cost us about $500 more per person to stay at AKL. Some have tried to talk me into staying at a moderate, but if I did that I'd only stay at POFQ and I know that sells out fast when it comes to discounts. I've gotten a pretty good job now and I think I can afford the difference.

I used to park hop when I was a kid. And I'm not that worried about travel time. Most days I plan on a nap at the hotel anyways.

When it comes to Fantasmic... MAKE SURE YOU ARRIVE EARLY! At least 30 minutes early. This is the one show that I can't stress that enough. Two times we've gone and it's been dead in the park and Fantasmic filled up so fast.

Also, when you called for your room requests, did you tell them its your honeymoon? It will be the year of celebrations or whatever and marriage is a big celebration! Also, I think every time you call tell the CM first thing something like "OMG! I'm so excited to be going to WDW for my honeymoon!" or something.. not saying it will change anything... but you never know.



Don't look at your honeymoon/vacation as pitiful based on what other people say or do. Different things are important to different people. I mean you may spend more time in your room than we do (since its your honeymoon) but really you won't do too much in the room anyways.

I've always budgeted my vacations because I'd rather drive a $50,000 car than stay in an expensive hotel that I'm only in about 10 hours out of the day (9 of which is sleep).



I've been during the marathon. Mostly only the MK is affected. We really didn't see much of the runners anyways except in the fast food restaurants. Well, at the airport they were all over.

In regards to your comments about POP's buses - Only one day did we wait more then 5 minutes for a bus. There was always multiple buses at the close of the night for Pop. And buses were coming so frequently they rarely allowed people to stand.

The only other resort that I saw a lot of buses to was Caribbean Beach Resort.

Thanks for the advice for Fantasmic. This is one of my favorite shows! I've only seen it once...can't wait to see it again.

I don't know if I've read your latest installment, but what about Pop wasn't working out for yoou? Hmmmm I'll need to read

And Yes...we made sure people knew it was our honeymoon LOL. We are planning on getting pins and Mickey and Minnie Mouse wedding ears. Yeah, when I first heard about the theme being Magical Celebrations...Honeymoon= celebrations. I got to say I was a bit disapointed when the angle they went was all about b-days. Maybe there will be extra bonuses later....fingers crossed.

Glad to hear that you have been there during the Mararthon weekend and it didn't seem too bad. Oh oh though, we are planning on the MG for the first day lol.

So, no longer than 5 minutes for the busses??? that's not bad.


LOL, I had to laugh at your comment about how long we'll be in the room. LOL, we probaby won't be spending too much 'awake' time in there either. We will have been married for a few months already, so hopefully we will be out of 'that stage.' We ARE planning on going back to the room for afternoon naps. That is one peice of advice I picked up on.

 

[Alarose]

Part 8: The Plan -Meals

So, I already basically said what we are going to be doing about this. Disney Dining Plan! Yes, I know I could probably save some money here by eating in the room or even just watching where we eat, but I got so spoiled with my mom when we did the Disney Dining Plan last time. I am so excited!

I’m trying to tell Steve about how wonderful the food is, and how full he will be. There is no way he has any idea until we are there though lol

So, from January 8th-15th we (total for the two of us) get 14 Disney Dining Counter Services, 14 Table Services, and 14 snack credits. Where will we be eating? What Signature Dining place will we try? You’ll have to wait and see

 

[Alarose]

Part 9: The Plan- Transportation

Well, I already basically told you what we are going to do for this. We will fly! Northwest Airlines

We will leave Thursday, January 8th at 6:50 A.M. (ewwww….which means I’ll be moving by like 4:30). We should arrive in Orlando at 4:54 P.M. (two stops, coming from Iowa). Now, I don’t think we will get to Pop Century until at least 6:30 P.M… someone let me know if this is wrong.

Then we will leave (sob) Orlando Thursday, January 18th at 8:20 A.M. and should arrive in Iowa by 2:40 (shorter layovers). I wish we had short layovers for the trip there and not back…oh well.

 

[Alarose]

Part 10: The plan- Tickets

Yup, already told you this already too. We are going to do Disney Magic Your Way tickets. We are hoping not to do any park hopper or water parks. I am still kind of keeping my fingers crossed for the free upgrade offer they usually come out with for January, but I am now kind of doubting because of the awesome 4/3 deal (which I LOVED)