Honeymoon advice: one vet, one newbie!

[Blue Fairy in Training]

First, I’d like to establish that this is my first post on this site and I am still getting used to its conventions. I hope that I’m doing this correctly. I would like to warn that I can be very long-winded also, so I hope you can bear with me!

I’d been blessed with many opportunities to visit WDW in my childhood, and the resort is my autistic special interest first love. Admittedly, though, I’ve really only experienced the parks themselves and haven’t touched the resort as a whole—so I’m only now figuring out things like the bars and the restaurants outside the parks.

My lovely future wife (10 days out from our wedding as of this writing), has only been once when she was too small to remember any of it—so we’re calling our honeymoon her first real visit. Bless her soul for enduring my ramblings about park snacks and how rides work. I am incredibly lucky. She does enjoy Disney movies and has a favorite princess, but it’s safe to say it’s not an obsession for both of us. She wanted to go to WDW with me because it is my lifelong dream to take the person I love most with me once I’m married.

All that aside… what do you do for that person who may not exactly “get” it the way you do? If you went on a Disney honeymoon/had a Disney wedding and your partner’s eyes opened to the magic, what did it? Do you think there are surprises I could show or give her that would help sprinkle some extra magic on things? It’s okay if she doesn’t end up becoming a die-hard like I am—but I want to think of special ways to sprinkle some extra magic on her.

Specifically, she likes Ariel, Moana, all things ocean (seeing a pattern here?), Mulan, silly black and white monster movies, animals, and learning about other peoples and their cultures (hellooooo, Epcot!).

These are my current ideas:
• Fireworks cruise (she’s claustrophobic so I’m saving her the chaos of Main Street)
• Meals at Jiko, Sci-Fi, and maybe another spot or two
• Taking her to meet at least one character she likes, to see if she likes doing it
• Getting her something to sneak up to our room as some surprise pixie dust (which I will totally deny was my doing)

I do love the often collaborative attitude of our community and hope that I can find some ideas that I haven’t considered before! I would be interested to know if you have partners you roped into the magic with you, or little ways you made their visit with you special. At risk of being extremely corny, she is everything to me and all I want is to be her Blue Fairy and help all her dreams come true!

 

[lurkyloo]

This is amazing! What a thoughtful partner you are. I think those ideas sound good.

I would also consider what she likes most about vacations in general and see if you can incorporate that. For example, my husband really loves seeing new places and having unique experiences, and while I like that too, I also love having mellow "read a book by the fireplace in the cabin" days on a vacation too (for some people this might be "lounge on a beach with a fancy drink" or "spend a day at the spa.") So on our Disney World honeymoon we alternated go-go park days with pool days and resort-exploration days—if you haven't been to the resorts, it can be really fun to explore them and try their food options! That way we had a chance to recharge between park days.

 

[Blue Fairy in Training]

I didn’t reply correctly, please disregard this edited message!

 

[Blue Fairy in Training]

This is amazing! What a thoughtful partner you are. I think those ideas sound good.

I would also consider what she likes most about vacations in general and see if you can incorporate that. For example, my husband really loves seeing new places and having unique experiences, and while I like that too, I also love having mellow "read a book by the fireplace in the cabin" days on a vacation too (for some people this might be "lounge on a beach with a fancy drink" or "spend a day at the spa.") So on our Disney World honeymoon we alternated go-go park days with pool days and resort-exploration days—if you haven't been to the resorts, it can be really fun to explore them and try their food options! That way we had a chance to recharge between park days.

I really appreciate your thoughts!

The truth is that we’ve never been on a full “vacation” with each other before, other than on short day-trips nearby! I don’t think I’ve had a genuine “vacation” since before the pandemic, when we moved in together. Her family didn’t get to vacation much, either. She does enjoy rides like I do, though; she’s no coaster chicken! Just no spinning or anything too tight like Mission Space (and, frankly, I’m not sad to miss that).

I think your reasoning was my rationale in picking a deluxe resort near Epcot. I used to slam parks from opening to close all the time, but I don’t want her to be miserable. I suspected she’d like Epcot best because of her interests in culture, so I wanted to give her the freedom to have a short walk back to the comfort of a bed, if the crowds or the walking is too much. (My own stamina probably isn’t great anymore, either. Haven’t been in four years and not as in shape as I’d care to be. I’m not exaggerating that I have bought a step machine to prepare for this honeymoon.)

My current plan is spacing out our days—we have holiday parties planned that will serve as cushion days. Good days to sleep in, visit the pool during the day, maybe go casually stroll through and look at deluxe resort Christmas decorations!

Thank you again for replying. I appreciate your advice!

(I realized I did not actually reply to you and just posted. I’m still figuring out the site! So sorry!)

 

[fla4fun]

My dad liked Disney, but wasn’t a super fan like me. When I got my first job, I booked our first on property stay and paid for everything for the family. We stayed at CR. In the months and weeks leading up to the trip, he talked a lot about how it was a waste of money to stay on property, and to stay for two weeks. I told him about things on property that I thought he might enjoy, like fishing and renting watercraft. We went on the trip and he loved it! He was the first one to ask when we were going back and never complained about the time or the cost again.

I think it’s important to make sure you are making plenty of time for things that she wants to do, even if those things aren’t part of the dream trip you have been thinking about. I am not saying you have to give up all the things you really want to do, but strive for a balance between activities she enjoys and activities you enjoy. After all, a honeymoon is all about spending time with each other, not ticking off boxes on a checklist. You have a vision for this trip, and certain expectations, but at Disney, sometimes the best magic comes in the ways and timing you didn’t expect. Involve her as much as you can with the planning (except for your little surprises) so she feels like she has a voice.

I hope you both have a great trip!

 

[Blue Fairy in Training]

My dad liked Disney, but wasn’t a super fan like me. When I got my first job, I booked our first on property stay and paid for everything for the family. We stayed at CR. In the months and weeks leading up to the trip, he talked a lot about how it was a waste of money to stay on property, and to stay for two weeks. I told him about things on property that I thought he might enjoy, like fishing and renting watercraft. We went on the trip and he loved it! He was the first one to ask when we were going back and never complained about the time or the cost again.

I think it’s important to make sure you are making plenty of time for things that she wants to do, even if those things aren’t part of the dream trip you have been thinking about. I am not saying you have to give up all the things you really want to do, but strive for a balance between activities she enjoys and activities you enjoy. After all, a honeymoon is all about spending time with each other, not ticking off boxes on a checklist. You have a vision for this trip, and certain expectations, but at Disney, sometimes the best magic comes in the ways and timing you didn’t expect. Involve her as much as you can with the planning (except for your little surprises) so she feels like she has a voice.

I hope you both have a great trip!

I’m in absolute agreement with you! I’m so glad that you and your dad had a good time and you found ways you could both have a good time.

I’m really trying to let her take the lead on our itinerary, but she’s very much the “I just wanna be with you and enjoy what you’re doing” person, which is extremely sweet and kind, but it makes planning so HARD! I need my poor wife to be a little more selfish sometimes! Lol!

I will say that, for dining and extras so far, I’ve sat her down to talk about what the places are like and what she can expect, and shown her menus she can poke around at and stuff like that. Jiko was actually her choice and I’m quite eager about it. I’ve also explained how attractions generally are so we know what to skip and what she might like to do. I’ve been lucky to go as many times as I have, so I want to try being a little spontaneous and taking it at her pace.

Thank you for the reminder about what’s truly important. I really appreciate it. I can get a little carried away with the details!

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

First, congrats on your upcoming wedding!

While not the same, last summer I brought my best friend and her family (DH, DS and DD) to WDW with my DD and myself - we are the Disney fans while my best friend had only gone once decades ago. Like you, I was excited to share something that brings my family much joy, but also didn’t want to overwhelm them.

In a nutshell, I agree with PP to not overplan. While it may not feel this way to us, having every minute of every day scheduled could be a recipe for disaster. The good news is that without even trying, you will inevitably find the magic…and I suspect that will be a much better way of making her see in Disney what you love!

I’m also in favor of ataying at an EPCOT resort - you can’t go wrong with Boardwalk, Beach or Yacht Club (maybe even consider Riviera since it’s not as heavily themed and could be a bit more sophisticated for a honeymoon). Any of these resorts will allow for breaks during the day, and easy access to multiple parks if you do end up wanting to go early/stay late.

Many of the ideas you threw out are great - fireworks cruise, nice dinners - there’s also a couples cake baking class at Disney Springs, I believe a tequila class at Coronado, a really cool night-time safari at Animal Kingdom Lodge, or Savor the Savana at AK - can’t go wrong with any of these!!

Wishing you a wonderful trip!

 

[SandyinMonterey]

We go married at WDW and honeymooned there. We've both been there many times. Some ideas that come to mind are: carriage ride Port Orleans, photo session with Disney photography, dessert party. visit the resorts on the monorail loop, ride the skyliner, visit Fort Wilderness camp grounds (doesn't feel like you're in WDW), eat in Cinderella Castle and make sure you make a wish at the wishing well, use Disney Floral & Gifts for flowers/in room celebrations. One of the best things we had done after our wedding and reception is that we all went to Epcot (specifically Italy) and had a desssert party for our guest with fireworks. I dont know if they still have fireworks there though. Make sure to wear pins "just married, honeymoon, etc" to see if you can get some extra pixie dust.

 

[zanzibar138]

My partner and I are also going to WDW for our honeymoon He is supportive of my love of Disney (the original plan was to have the actual wedding at WDW, but financially and logistically, it was getting too hard). He says he's 'done' DL. By that, he means that him and a mate spent one afternoon there 15 years ago and all he can remember is riding Splash Mountain He's looking forward to WDW, but he's nervous about it being too tightly scheduled and fast-paced for him, so I'm making sure we schedule plenty of downtime, and we've splurged on park hoppers and deluxe resorts to make things as convenient as possible and allow for some spontaneity. He loves animals (we both do), so we're spending a few nights at AKL, and I also plan to book the adventure type tour at AK. Plus we plan to hire a car one day and go see the manatees since it'll be peak viewing season for them.

I've also travelled to various Disney parks with my parents and ex. They weren't sure about it going in, and were just coming along for my sake really, but they all thoroughly enjoyed it and went back for several further trips. I didn't have to do anything special - they just felt the magic

 

[mary_jones]

Thank you for the info)

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Specifically, she likes Ariel, Moana, all things ocean (seeing a pattern here?), Mulan, silly black and white monster movies, animals, and learning about other peoples and their cultures (hellooooo, Epcot!).

To me, this just screams "Disney Cruise!" It's a more upscale but relaxed version of Disney with a higher level of service. Also you get to go to real places and experience the culture, food, etc firsthand and return to the ship for some more Disney love. Given the date of your post, my point is moot but hopefully your honeymoon there has secured her love of Disney and she would be willing to consider DCL for a future trip.

I'd love to hear how your honeymoon turned out. Hopefully the hurricanes didn't affect your visit too much.