Honeymoon Tips for Walt Disney World

[WDWFigment]

Wish we would have known about this subforum before our honeymoon. Even though we were Disney veterans, we certainly could have improved our trip with the information here! Anyway, I've seen this thread come up a lot (or variants of it), so I thought it'd be worthwhile to post some of our Honeymoon tips!

1. Splurge On Your Hotel

This means staying on property. You could find a very luxurious resort off-property, but for convenience’s sake, stay on property. We highly recommend staying at one of the Epcot Area Resorts. These resorts are within walking (or boat) distance of two theme parks and are a walk plus a monorail ride to the Magic Kingdom. These resorts are also within walking distance of one another, and also offer exceptional dining options, including Flying Fish Cafe, Kouzzina, Yachtsman Steakhouse, and many excellent non-Disney options in the Swan and Dolphin hotels.

Most importantly, they’re within walking distance of Epcot’s World Showcase, which is a great place to spend time on your honeymoon. There’s nothing magic about a rental car on your honeymoon, unless you share a mutual love for traffic and road rage, so avoiding conventional forms of transportation on your honeymoon can really enhance the trip.

They seem expensive, but fear not. You can frequently find rates at the Swan and Dolphin for around $175/night after all resort fees and taxes. Check out Mousesavers for an overview of these discounts. If the BoardWalk Resort or Beach Club Resort are more to your liking, we recommend renting Disney Vacation Club points, which can bring the costs of these resorts down to less than $200 per night, and which also enables you to purchase the Disney Dining Plan.

2. Splurge On Meals

We are typically somewhat skeptical of the Disney Dining Plan. However, on your honeymoon, you absolutely should purchase it. The last thing you should be worried about on your honeymoon is costs, and one of the benefits of the Dining Plan is the disconnect between meal prices and the price of the Dining Plan. Now, if you’re a really light eater or vegetarian, you might want to give this some thought, but if you love steaks and desserts, just book it.

Walt Disney World restaurants are popular, and you are able to make dining reservations 180 days in advance of your trip, so make sure to avail yourself of this opportunity! Nothing would be worse than being stuck eating nothing but counter service pizza at Pizzafari because you didn’t do the proper planning. I don’t know about you, but where I come from, that isn’t exactly the epitome of luxurious. You do a lot of planning for your wedding, do a little for your honeymoon, which is easily exponentially more important than the wedding (ladies, I kid). Since dining is an integral part of any Disney vacation, it’s an important part of your honeymoon planning! Some of the best restaurants for honeymooners include those with views of the Wishes fireworks show (California Grill, ‘Ohana, and others). There are also fun restaurants like Beaches & Cream in Disney’s Beach Club Resort. See if the two of you can conquer the Kitchen Sink–we did!

The best restaurant in Walt Disney World is a great place for your honeymoon. At $125 and up per person, Victoria & Albert’s may seem overpriced, but if you ask us, it’s one of the best values on Walt Disney World property. Seriously, the food is that good. Suffice to say, it’s worth visiting on your honeymoon.

Victoria & Albert’s does not accept the Disney Dining Plan. Recognizing this, and also that two other restaurants we wanted to visit were bad uses of Dining Plan credits, we actually split our stay into separate reservations, and didn’t book the Disney Dining Plan on the days we went to these restaurants. Splitting your hotel reservation is the only work-around to not purchase the Dining Plan on particular days (as best I can tell).

3. Be Imaginative & Have Fun!

Walt Disney World is one of the few places where it’s okay for 20, 30, 40, 50, and even 90 year olds to act like they’re 6 years old. Never forget this. Let loose. Nothing is too silly or juvenile at Walt Disney World. If you think it might be fun to race around the Tomorrowland Speedway with the tykes, or fly high in Dumbo, don’t have reservations because those attractions are “for the kids.” You won’t be the first to do these attractions!

If you see a silly Pluto hat that you think would be fun to wear for some photos, buy it. Likewise, you’re never too old for customized Mickey Mouse ears, etc. Don’t be dismissive of something that you think might otherwise be fun because you’re embarrassed that you’re “too old” for it. Walt Disney World is the perfect place to let loose, and have fun. Walt Disney built Disneyland for the young and the “young at heart.” The same philosophy was carried over to Walt Disney World. Embrace the “young at heart” within yourself. Trust us, you won’t be sorry!



Those are the big three, I think. We have those 3, plus 7 others listed, if you want to read the full article: http://www.disneytouristblog.com/disney-world-honeymoon-tips/

What tips does everyone else have? Disagree or agree with the 10 tips I've listed?

 

[bhlc0121]

These are wonderful tips, this will be wonderful for my Honeymoon at WDW in January 2012. We are currently debating about the hotel... I'm leaning more towards the Wilderness (maybe even the honeymoon suite) and love the Contemporary Hotel. Hoping for the Disney Honeymoon registry site to be up and running in the next week and our honeymoon will be even better!!!

Thanks again for the advice!

 

[bhlc0121]

These are wonderful tips, this will be wonderful for my Honeymoon at WDW in January 2012. We are currently debating about the hotel... I'm leaning more towards the Wilderness (maybe even the honeymoon suite) and love the Contemporary Hotel. Hoping for the Disney Honeymoon registry site to be up and running in the next week and our honeymoon will be even better!!!

Thanks again for the advice!

 

[WDWFigment]

These are wonderful tips, this will be wonderful for my Honeymoon at WDW in January 2012. We are currently debating about the hotel... I'm leaning more towards the Wilderness (maybe even the honeymoon suite) and love the Contemporary Hotel. Hoping for the Disney Honeymoon registry site to be up and running in the next week and our honeymoon will be even better!!!

Thanks again for the advice!

Thanks! How early in January are you going? Christmas decorations might still be up at Wilderness Lodge. We love them, but I can understand if it's not what you want to see after Christmas. I think the Wilderness Lodge is the perfect resort for a winter honeymoon!

 

[Glampire31]

thanks for the info I am compiling a notebook of ideas to help with the wedding planning

 

[pinkmiss3]

Hi Tom!
My fiancé and I have followed your trip reports on the other website and we think your pictures are AMAZING! We normally stay at value resorts but for this trip we have decided on deluxe. We rented points for BLT, and will be using our free night at the Poly. We have always wanted to stay at the Poly it’s just way out of our budget. We won’t be using the dining plan for this trip but we did make all of our reservations at the 180 day mark. You are so right about tip 3. We plan on letting loose and having fun and we really don’t care who is watching. This is our first trip alone to WDW. We usually go with family and we are sooooooooooooooo excited to do what we want, when we want. Thanks for the advice we will definitely be following all seven tips!