HELP:How many days in WDW etc for HONEYMOON

[TomRT]

Hello Everyone,

If this post is best suited in another section, please tell me where to post it.

My fiance & I are planning to go on our honeymoon to WDW & Universal studios starting around July 23, 2012 until about August 3. These dates are flexible but the earliest we can leave is the 23rd. We are 23 years old and have been to WDL before.

I would like opinions as to how many days we should spend in each park from WDW & Universal, along with any waterparks or beaches. Here is a little info to help. My fiance had a bad back injury so we do not go on the extreme rides such as roller coasters with loops in them or big drop rides, also we take more breaks than normal so it may take longer to see the park. We will stay most nights until close time. We want to take our time as it is our honeymoon and we realize going to the parks during the week is better so it is not as busy. We would also like to do a bit of outlet shopping, maybe a day or half day at a waterpark & a day or half day at a beach. Should we rent a car? Is it best to stay at a regular hotel, disney resort or a timeshare condo? I can get my hands on a timeshare condo for pretty cheap. If you say "I need a total of for example 10 days to spend in Florida" I will assume that is not including travel days. It is a long flight so the travel days I dont think we would be doing much.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Tom

 

[danny1649]

Your post here where I feel the experts on this board can help

 

[sambycat]

Have you looked at any guidebooks? The unofficial guide to WDW is a great one. A website like allears.net and Tge park touring and DISabilities forums on this site would be good to peruse to help you get a better idea of what to expect/plan.

 

[TomRT]

Thank you,

I will look at those suggested sites / places.

 

[sambycat]

hopefully those resources can help you make some decisions! it all comes down to (like any trip) budget, time and preference. if i had my preference, i’d stay on property and not rent a car and take it easy! others would never go with out a car, it just depends. if you can and want to stay on property, i can tell you that port orleans riverside is my fave “romantic” moderate resort (request a magnolia area room) and whatever resort/dining/tour/ ANYTHING reservations you or your TA might make, TELL THEM IT IS YOUR HONEYMOON!

park touring preferences and going to universal and all that i think are more of a personal preference planning maze you can enjoy working out!

you might also try looking up specific episodes of the WDW Today podcast - google it and check out itunes, they’ve done tons (1000!) shows, have shorter planning oriented podcasts and the shows are well titled to make the info you seek searchable! also, carrie hayward has restarted her disney weddings podcast (she frequents the boards and wrote the passporters guide to DFTW and honeymoons) and her most recent episode was romantic resorts on property.

 

[redshirt]

Last year we went to Orlando for 7 days. We did 4 days at Disney and 2 at Universal. This was our 3rd Disney trip and 2nd Universal one.

I would say you could Def do Universal in two days if you get the park hopper tickets. (don't remember Universals name for them) There are not a LOT of rides at Universal which means less line waits. There are quite a few shows so you just have to make sure you are back by certain times.

Being the 3rd Disney trip we pretty much had a plan on what we wanted to accomplish. Animal kingdom can easily be done in a day even though they close early. Epcot too unless you want to extremely explore each section. If you did parks from open to close you could def accomplish all 4 in 4 days even without magic hours (you won't get to use those staying off site). A bonus for you would be no extreme rides so again you get to skip out on a few lines.

When we went for 7 days we had a day to do nothing with and took advantage to explore local area and ventured down to Tampa. I've never done water parks down there as my daughter is a bit too little. I think the time of year is going to be going against you a bit. I went in August a few years ago and it was crazy busy. But that was a few weeks before school started.

Hope this helps a bit. Enjoy your visit!!!!

 

[redshirt]

Too many sends

 

[lurkyloo]

We want to take our time as it is our honeymoon and we realize going to the parks during the week is better so it is not as busy.

Definitely check out the resources sambycat recommended for touring plans, but I can tell you that weekend/weekday does not make much of a difference at the Disney parks in Florida because most of the visitors there are on vacation, not locals. And most of them start their trip on Monday, at the Magic Kingdom. A good site like Touring Plans or Tour Guide Mike can recommends which parks to see on which days for lowest crowds.

We would also like to do a bit of outlet shopping, maybe a day or half day at a waterpark & a day or half day at a beach.

You're definitely going to need a car then! We get one even if we're not leaving Disney property just because we like the freedom to come and go as we please. The only park I would not recommend driving to is the Magic Kingdom—if you're staying at a Disney resort, the buses drop you off much closer than you'll get in your own car, and you don't then have to take a tram to a ferry/monorail.

Is it best to stay at a regular hotel, disney resort or a timeshare condo? I can get my hands on a timeshare condo for pretty cheap.

I like the convenience and perks of staying at a Disney resort, not to mention the full Disney immersion, but you may find the savings of a timeshare enable you to afford more fun honeymoons experiences that make the travel time (and rental car) worth it.

Timewise, we had 2 weeks for our Disney honeymoon and had plenty to fill our time without even going off-property, so I think you'd need at least 2 if you want to do all those other things. It is really nice to have enough time to build in breaks or leisurely days by the pool, rather than having to commando tour in order to see it all.

 

[TomRT]

Thank you everyone,

I will check out those resources and hopefully they help!