Honeymoon Help needed

[TCO]

Hi all, me and my fiancee are getting married in March 09 and are travelling to disneyworld on 19th March for 2 weeks.

Because of the spiralling cost of other things for the wedding we tried to do it on a budget and arebooked into the Pop Century, howevr now we are thinking of trying to upgrade to a moderate or even deluxe resort.

We are from England and have decided not to drive as this is our first time in Florida. We want to visit all Disney and also Universal Sea World etc.

So the question being which Disney hotel is best for us wanting nice surroundings and easy and quick access to both Disney and other resorts via public transport or taxis.

We liked the look of the Carribean, AK lodge and Polynesian.

cheers for all the help, Tom and nikki

 

[geokeim]

Congrats!
Seeing as you are not driving, you probably want to stay on property to use DME service. If you WERE driving, I might recommend to take a look at the Dolphin or the Swan. To me they seem to be the price of a moderate, but are actually Deluxe IMO. (you might weigh the price AND the taxi fare and see what you think)
AKL is a spectacular setting and a great choice if you don't plan to leave the resort a lot
We enjoy the Dolphin as it is very close to Ept & MGM, and you do get EMH's and use of Disney transportation.
I hope you have a Magical stay no matter your decision.

Cheerio!

 

[RFrank9504]

we honeymooned in disney in 2001. Both first timers in disney, and we too were on a smaller budget as we went over the top for our NY wedding. We stayed at the Port Orlean French Quarters and it was great. The hotel is awesome, great lounge, great pool. Picturesque lake view. The hotel also has boat transportation to the parks-which at sunset and nighttime is really romantic. I defintely think you will have a great time there! Congratulations!

 

[iteachlit]

We are from England and have decided not to drive as this is our first time in Florida.

Good planning. You'll stay dry in an airplane.

 

[tiger4me2]

Good planning. You'll stay dry in an airplane.

Good point !

 

[tiger4me2]

Hi all, me and my fiancee are getting married in March 09 and are travelling to disneyworld on 19th March for 2 weeks.

Because of the spiralling cost of other things for the wedding we tried to do it on a budget and arebooked into the Pop Century, howevr now we are thinking of trying to upgrade to a moderate or even deluxe resort.

We are from England and have decided not to drive as this is our first time in Florida. We want to visit all Disney and also Universal Sea World etc.

So the question being which Disney hotel is best for us wanting nice surroundings and easy and quick access to both Disney and other resorts via public transport or taxis.

We liked the look of the Carribean, AK lodge and Polynesian.

cheers for all the help, Tom and nikki

Congrad on your upcoming wedding next year. I see that you want to see other sites in Orlando, I think you will need a car to get to those places taxis will run you quite bit in the end. Any of the three resorts you pick out would be nice. though I would go for the Poly or AKL for your trip or do a split stay. Good luck in planning !

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I just had to respond because my fiance and I are Tom and Nikki too!!! How funny!!!!

Anyway, I think you are right to want to upgrade to a better hotel than Pop. I have only stayed at two mods, Caribbean Beach and Port Orleans Riverside and I think they would both be fantastic for a honeymoon. BUT I would really recommend staying at the Wilderness Lodge if you can swing it. It's one of the most affordable deluxe hotels and is just a boat ride away from the Magic Kingdom. I've never stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge but it is also one of the more affordable deluxes. People may disagree with me here but I'd say forget the other Orlando attractions and use that money to put towards an upgrade to your hotel. I understand that you may not get back to do all those Orlando things since you are so far away but there is SO MUCH to do in WDW that you'll need 2 months to be able to see everything. Between everything they have to offer, you can easily fill 2 weeks with just Disney. But that is just my opinion on how you might save some money and use it elsewhere. Happy planning Tom and Nikki!! Haha, that cracks me up!

 

[TCO]

Hmmm we have a lot to think about now.

We hadn't previously considered Port orleans but it seems to get a lot of recomendations.

Also we hadn't previously considered the wilderness lodge but may have to take that into consideration now.

In honesty I really hope to do SeaWorld and universal etc but if its innaccesable then so be it.

 

[DisneyBugs]

Congratulations!!
We honeymooned at the Coronado Springs Resort (will be 10 years ago this September!!). We loved it. Best food court on property (if you 'have to' call it a food court). The resort was brand new back then, and the bus system was top notch. But I've read otherwise these days, don't know if they're sharing a bus w/ another resort or what -- anyhow, I'd recommend it again.
For SeaWorld and Universal, it's easiest to either just take a cab, or rent a car for those 2 days. There's a car rental spot at the Dolphin and at the Magic Kingdom parking lot. We're going for 10 days this September, and want to do SW and Univ as well -- and we're going to do one of those 2 things. I can't see renting a car for the entire vacation when we're only goign to use it for 2 days.
Happy planning!!!!

 

[darthtatty]

if you can upgrade id go for the poly, its on the monorail so transports really easy.
then just get a cab to universal 1 day and do seaworld another, it shouldnt cost too much.
i agree with others and leave the sights of Florida for another time, i got married in Florida- my advice is to focus on your wedding then fit in what you can after. wer managed to do all the Disney parks, Seaworld and the Universal.
if you cant upgrade to poly, how about swan or dolphin? they look so beautiful- not too sure about the transport though.

good luck and happy planning

 

[Derek&Ashley]

My wife and I honeymooned at WDW and your post reminds me a little of our decisions we had to make. We also decided to stray at Pop to save some money and then considered changing to another resort. In the end, we decided to stay at Pop and we do not regret it one bit. Since our honeymoon, we have stayed at 2 different moderates and loved them both, but on our next trip, we are going back to Pop simply because we miss it. It just seems to suit us very well. We like to grab quick meals quite often because we are always on the move, and the mods and values seem to have much better counter service meals than the deluxes do. Since at Pop there are no sit down restaurants, the food court has a very very good selection of choices. If you and your fiance are anything like us in that regard, you may want to take that into account. Also, we have always been happy with the transportation at Pop. It is also located fairly near the main entrance/exit to WDW, so that could halp a little if going to other attractions around Orlando. With all that said, if you really want to stay somewhere else, then by all means, do it. But I wouldn't be so quick to get rid of Pop. By the way, congratulations.

 

[MHTeacher]

Wilderness Lodge is a great place for honeymooning. It's a beautiful resort; but if you're willing to splurge on price, the Poly is fantastic.

 

[Simba22]

Coronado Springs and Port Orleans French Quarter are both beautiful resorts! Coronado is quite large and may require some walking to and from the lobby/food court depending on where your rooms are but the resort buildings and grounds a gorgeous and it's a convention resort so the majority of the people there are there for business so the busses were not croweded at all, which was nice. Plus it was quiet and peaceful!

French Quarter is smaller and again, it's beautiful but the busses were always packed to capacity. On at least occassions, we found ourselves waiting for the next one.

Caribbean Beach is very pretty, but the grounds/buildings are even more spread out than Coronado so be prepared to do a LOT of walking. Plus, a lot of families with kids stay here, and the food court was always crowded and loud.

The Polynesian is gorgeous and since it's a a deluxe, you will get some added features not available at the moderates but if you are planning to spend most of your time out in the parks then you won't really get to enjoy it anyway. I've never stayed here but we visit at least once on every trip for a meal at Ohana and I'm always jealous of the people lodging there!

It's my dream to stay at AKL one day! It's too expensive for us at this point and the one thing I don't like about it is that it's so dark on the inside. The Unofficial Guide also says that the rooms are not very quiet. Since they are indoors, they don't need all the layers of weather-proofing materials around the doors and windows and that takes away the noise barrier so depending on where your room is, you might have noise issues.

If you haven't already, I recommend that you pick up a copy of the Unofficial Guide (only 2008 will be available now but it will give you a general idea of what you're looking at) and go through all the resorts you are interested in to compare them and see which one you like best

 

[pepe of ohio]

I might be over the top on this but I feel it's something you only do once, most people, and I would spend the money on a better resort. Wilderness Lodge as stated is the best lower priced deluxe, FANTASTIC theming and decor, right in the mix of things, Bay Lake, Seven Seas Lagoon, boat to the MK, EWP each evening, boat to FW and boat to CR to catch the monorail to transfer at the TTC or check out all 3 monorail resorts, alot of shopping and dining within WL reach. This resort is so quiet, semi secluded, great walking to be had, great pool and all under one roof. We stay here alot, USA at your door each weekday, good food, and for us nothing beats location, location, location.

 

[mmmears]

You only get one honeymoon -- you might want to consider the better resorts. Also, since you are going for 2 weeks, you might want to consider switching resorts half-way. You can spend time at AKL, which is gorgeous, by the way (and lower in cost than the monorail hotels), then switch to a monorail hotel or the WL, which is really beautiful, too, and seems really peaceful even though it is in the middle of lots of activity.

If you can afford it, staying part of the time on the monorail will save you lots of time and hassle getting to/from MK and Epcot.

Also, the club-level rooms at AKL will give you light snacks during the day and let you book the Sunrise Safari if you are interested.

We pick by location, then settle on the price and theming that appeal to us.

Enjoy your honeymoon!

 

[sherry8253]

We spent our honeymoon at the WL in one of the honeymoon suites. It was great. If you can afford it, I would highly recommend it.