Our October 2012 Honeymoon (PTR)

[DWHoneymoon]

Table of Contents:
The Cast
The Honeymoon Propsal
The Bare Bones (Outline)
Where We Sleep
Where We Eat

 

[DWHoneymoon]

US:

I'm Whitney, the one with the weird face and the red hair, and glasses over there is Corey. We're getting married on October 13, 2012 and have planned our honeymoon in Disney World shortly after.

I am the goofy, fun loving, tell-it-how-I-see-it type. I became obsessed with Disney World the moment I found out we were going as a family in October of 1996. I have since been there again in August of 2005, though I have never stayed on the property. Both trips were 10 and 12 days respectively. It's safe to say that I am a Disney Addict and would move to Florida if I had any choice in the matter. I'm looking forward to just about everything. Hard to pick a favorite!
Favorite Disney Character? Toughie. Mulan or Tinkerbell
Favorite Muppet? Pepe the King Prawn, Closely followed by Animal

Corey is less goofy but equally as fun loving. I don't think he knew what an imagination was before he met me. He has always been a Disney fan, and has been to Disney Land as a small child, but never to Disney World. I can't say that he is an addict, but he's getting more and more excited as each day passes. I keep telling him, "Disney World is so much different than Disney Land (or so I've heard)!" He's looking forward to The Tower of Terror and Mission Space most.
Favorite Disney Character? Donald Duck
Favorite Muppet? Gonzo

OUR STORY:​

In the beginning there was a mediocre junior high school and two middle of the pack students. It was grade seven, the year of the zit-faced kid, and I was but an angry adolescent female laying a verbal smack down on anyone who crossed me or my friends. He was a egotistical wing nut with a penchant for pissing me off. It was a match made in heaven, don't cha know.

Somehow, this glasses-wearing punk weaseled his way into our inner circle of friends within a year. I could no longer outwardly scream at him for saying stupid things about my friends (or not saying them, as it were... I got a reputation for landing a verbal assault before a crime was committed). Now part of our motley crew, I began to spend more and more time with The Ego. He was an interesting species to observe, trying to hit on you in a slightly deprecating way, you know how it is with junior high boys, they can't just tell you that you are pretty, they have to tell you that you WOULD be pretty if you didn't have two hairy caterpillars for eyebrows, that kind of thing. So, of course, he began dating a friend of mine.

The next few years of our friendship was tumultuous as best. He would flirt with me in the most awkward and atrocious of ways, I would get confused. He would log on to MSN and call me a ***** and then block me and log out. Oh yeah, it was soft, romantic love at first sight. I think I wanted to beat the ever living tar out of him with a pillowcase full of hammer heads after that one. But I didn't... and here we are.

The boy broke up with my friend. They both disappeared off of my radar (for different reasons) for several years afterwards. I graduated high school (we had parted educational ways by that point as he chose to attend a different school), started university working towards my Kinesiolgy degree. Suddenly "POP!" The Ego appeared back in my life. A different mutual friend of ours held a mini house party and low and behold, The Boy was there. It was a neat kind of thing, that rekindling. He had grown up so much, I guess I had too, and suddenly here we were, back in some chick's basement talking about stupid irrelavant crap, both while thinking, "wow, time has been KIND to her/ him."

We hung out in a group format several more times before he decided that I was the bees knees and he better get his act together in order to snag a date with me. He always drove me home, no matter where we went, and we would sit and talk for hours in my driveway, sometimes until 3 AM in the morning. He eventually had the stones to ask me out, to which I replied, "I'll have to think about it." I know... I'm cruel. I had known my answer, I was already day dreaming about our date nights together, but I wanted to make a head decision (for once in my romantic life) as well as heart decision, so I took an evening to think about it before telling him I was game.

Life kind of took off from there. We moved out together, got engaged (April 14, 2011) and have been living life like two crazy love birds ever since. I knew I loved him within weeks. I thought about living the rest of my life with him within months. We knew this was it almost instantaneously. Sometimes, it really does happen like the movies.

So now we're working towards achieving some exciting life goals together. We are planning a wedding, we are searching for our first home, and we are planning out ever minute detail of our precious Disney World Honeymoon (or Disneymoon). Stay tuned for more updates as the planning continues, reservations are made, and the 14 days begin to take shape.

 

[DWHoneymoon]

Well it didn't take long for my imagination to run rampant once the word "disneymoon," was found floating on the breeze of possibility. I've been hopelessly obsessed with Disney World since a few weeks before our first family vacation there, in October 1996. Once experiencing the magic and excitement, I was hooked. Carrying with me the memories of two family vacations (the second being in 2005), I knew that I wanted a Disney honeymoon, and not a "lounge on the beach and sleep away the days," honeymoon. I had my fingers, toes, eyelashes, you name it, crossed when I asked Corey if he would be interested in the same. I knew that I could be asking a lot. While getting to know Corey, I heard stories about his misadventures at various amusement parks. He was not a ride junkie. My only hope was that he too carried cherished memories from a past family vacation (his to Disney Land).

I held my breath after throwing out the question, "What do you think about Disney World for a honeymoon... I mean, if we can afford one?"

He stared at me silently for a moment and I could see every Disney World conversation we had ever had in the past, flash behind his eyes.

"What is your happiest memory, Whitney?"
"Disney World."

"I'm sorry that you're sick. How can I make you feel better?"
"Disney World."

"If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you-"
"Disney World. Times a thousand. Europe doesn't even come close."

I saw his eyes glance over to our DVD collection where stacks of Disney movies were lined up in alphabetical order. Sitting on top of them, stacked one on top of the other, Disney vacation planning DVDs from the past 15 years, ordered online to "tide me over" until my next adventure there. All I could think in my head was, "If he says no I'll be crushed... but I don't want him to feel like I am coercing him into this! I want him to want to go!"

Finally the silence broke. "Disney World? Really? That doesn't sound very relaxing."

My heart didn't even sink. If that was the reasoning I could work around it!! I began talking about the great hotels, pools and spas, the luxurious dining opportunities, the fireworks. I told him that if he didn't want to go to a park everyday that we didn't have to (or that I could go while he stayed in bed... I just can't waste a vacation like that). I ended the schpeel with, "I'm not trying to pressure you, I'm just saying that it doesn't have to be crazy. Don't you remember the magic of Disney Land?"

"Whitney," he said with a laugh, "I was eight. How could I remember?"

I was confused by this statement. I was nine when we went to Disney for the first time and I remember it perfectly. I made a side note to address the importance of journaling about substantial life moments... like Disney trips. "Of course we can go!" he said before I could blurt out another well thought out argument on the side of a disneymoon, "I would love to go there with you."

Score!! The first hurdle of our Disney adventure has been jumped, no scrapes or bruises either. Now it was just a small matter of the financial backing... With the social yet to come, I was blindly optimistic that we would make enough money to allow us a honeymoon. If we had to pay a little more out of pocket, so be it... it IS Disney World after all. One could argue that there is no better place for that spending to go to.

It wasn't an hour after I got the okay from, "the boss," that I had a rough draft outlined of the vacation, the dates, the length of stay and an approximate cost. I think Corey was slightly bewildered when I showed it all to him. Do you think he picked up on the notion that I had this planned to the nth degree already before I asked?

I downloaded an app for my Iphone that counts down to you Disney vacation, I posted it on Facebook, I giddily talked about it whenever I could, with whomever would listen. It was a done deal in my mind. And I still wonder if Corey knew JUST what he was getting himself into.

 

[DWHoneymoon]

Thanks to some seriously special work done my a close friend of ours who is a travel agent, we were elated to find out that we could afford a 14 day honeymoon. You could not imagine the excitement when that possibility was unwrapped. My mind raced with new restaurant ideas, extra special plans to fit in and all kind of extra Disney fun that could be held with the additional days (we had originally thought we could only do 10 days). So here is the basic outline that we have managed to "rough out" for our trip.


Day 1:
We arrive in sunny Orlando, Florida, pick up our rental car and zoom over the the Walt Disney World (henceforth known as WDW) resort. We check into our hotel, giggle like mad when we call each other husband and wife and head over the the Boardwalk to celebrate at Jellyrolls.

Day 2:
Hop in the rental car and head to Kennedy Space Center, where we spend the day learning about the NASA Space Program, rocket ships and space shuttles and pretend to be bad *** astronauts prepping for a mission to save the human race. We return to WDW for an evening meal at the Rainforest Cafe. It's a blast from the past for me, my family has eaten there on BOTH of our Disney family vacations. It's a fun and unique way to kick off the next several days park hopping.

Day 3:
This is it people, it's MAGIC KINGDOM DAY! I likely will suffer from uncontrollable excitement this day. I already have apps telling me the wait times of rides, the expected crowd levels, etc. We're planning a lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern, which is said to have some of the best pot roast around, and will grab a quick service dinner from wherever looks tasty. I have been told that a Dole Whip is a must, so we will be stopping at Aloha Isle for some tasty Hawaiian infused ice cream goodness. This will be a full day for sure. We won't leave any ride out. The Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, the Jungle Cruise and so many awesome other attractions will fill the day.

Day 4:
Epcot is on the docket for day four, and along with it comes some sweet rides and good eats. We're chowing down at the Coral Reef restaurant for lunch. Dinner is at the Rose and Crown. We hope to blast off to Mars on Mission Space. I wonder if Corey's stomach can handle Soarin' ... he doesn't do well with heights.

Day 5:
We're hoping the weather is nice, as we're planning a day to Blizzard Beach water park to rest after two park filled days. We'll float around their castaway creek and enjoy a water slide or raft ride or two, but we'll soak up the sun or nap in the shade most of the day. For dinner we are headed to the Whispering Canyon Cafe. The milkshakes are supposed to be incredible and the serving staff apparently have wild ways of making your dinner extra special.

Day 6:
Hollywood Studios. There are some big thrill rides to prepare for on this day. Corey has already insisted that I suck it up and ride the Tower of Terror with him. Yes, the boy who is scared of heights wants to go up 13 stories and plummet faster than the speed of gravity, up and down... who knows how many times. I didn't even go in the lobby on our first family Disney trip, on the second, I made it to the elevators before I chickened out. Maybe this will be the year. I'm looking forward to rocking out on the Rockin Roller Coaster again. I rode it so many times in a row on our last trip that I felt dizzy afterwards. There are other classics that have been revamped too, like Star Tours and The Great Movie Ride. We're eating at the Sci Fi Dine in theater for dinner, celebrating our one week anniversary in style!

Day 7:
Animal Kingdom. We're hoping to get our "wild" on at this park. Interspersed with the rides are walking trails filled with wild animals. Gorillas, Siberian tigers, you name it. We're hoping to catch sight of some lions, hippos and maybe even a giraffe or two (they are Corey's favorite animal) on the Kilimanjaro Safaris. We'll get drench on a raft ride and then head out to watch a show or two before tackling Mount Everest and the mysterious yeti!! This day is going to be full of fun and excitement, and good food two. We're having a sit down lunch at the Yak and Yeti, followed by dinner at Flame Tree BBQ. Yumm!

Day 8:
We have another relaxing water park day to Typhoon Lagoon next. We're planning on surfing around the wave pool, snorkeling with some sharks and enjoying the nice weather. These water parks are far from ordinary. For dinner we head to the Port Orleans resort for Corey's special request dinner, Boatwright's. We're having New Orleans inspired food followed by a romantic horse drawn carriage ride alongside the river. It's going to rock.

Day 9:
We're at the original Universal Studios park this day. And can you believe it, they have closed down Jaws! For good! There is still quite a lot of fun to be had. Many new rides have popped up since my last visit. We come back to WDW for dinner though to enjoy dinner at an Irish pub called Raglan Road. They apparently have some fabulous celtic dancing later on in the evening.

Day 10:
This is day one of two days at Islands of Adventure. We figured with the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter, we may want two days just to fit everything in. We went online just yesterday and were picking through some of the ideas for souvenirs that we wanted. I totally want a wand. If there isn't a massive line up, I'm definitely going through Olivanders and letting my wand choose me!! We are eating lunch at the Three Broomsticks and dinner at Margaritaville. Yum!

Day 11:
Last day at Islands of Adventure! Have to make sure that we ride everything we want to and pick up all the souvineers we are looking for. No turning back now!! We are enjoying another evening of New Orleans type food at Pat O'Briens for dinner.

Day 12:
Another rest and recovery day. We have dubbed this the, "shop and swim day." We can lounge at the pool, we can explore downtown disney, we can sleep if we really need it. lol. We're eating at Wolfgang Puck Express for lunch and T-Rex for dinner, both at Downtown Disney.

Day 13-14:
These are our Disney Park Hopper days. We bounce from place to place to ride all the rides we want to ride one more time before we go. Its our last chance to buy souvenirs and our last chance to try snacks/ treats that we saw on our first round through the parks.

Day 15:
Our flight leaves at 8 PM to come home, so we're looking at ALMOST a full day to say goodbye to WDW. I can see us spending the goodbye time at the Magic Kingdom, but we won't really know what this day holds until we're there.

 

[DWHoneymoon]

Where We Are Sleeping:

Corey and I are both about a quarter century in age. We have been working in our respective careers for approximately two years now, and we are saving for a house. On top of that, we're getting married. So where does that leave our wallets filled with? Moths, that's what.

We knew we wanted to stay on property. I have never had that opportunity before and at the time of year that we were looking to go, it wasn't terribly expensive to do so. We had tossed around the idea of a Moderate Resort, it being our honeymoon and all, but decided to dedicate our money elsewhere, as we likely wouldn't be spending a lot of time in our room. We did some research, chatted with people who have spent a lot of time in DW, and came to an aggreement that we would be staying at Pop Century. I was excited to learn about the little perks of stay on property (extra magic hours, souvineers shipped to your hotel room, free parking, etc), and even more excited that for the first time ever, I get to sleep in DW! Fiance agreed that Pop Century was the way to go, especially since they have a king bed option. We've been sleeping on a double for too long...

 

[DWHoneymoon]

Where We Eat:

We're in DW for 15 days. That's a lot of food. We decided against doing the Disney Dining Plan for several reasons (and missed out of the free one by a couple of days) and so this is all out of pocket dining, but we're cool with that. We also decided against character meals. Neither of us are big on that sort of thing, and the restaurants didn't interest us particularly. If anyone has any suggestions or comments regarding our eatery choices or times, please comment!! I would love feedback!

Day 1:
Lunch: We'll be in transit from Canada, so likely airport food
Dinner: Pop Century Food Court (Easy for your first night in town)
Snack: Beaches & Cream for Ice Cream, Drinks at Jelly Rolls!

Day 2:
Lunch: Kennedy Space Center Counter Service type meal
Dinner: Rainforest Cafe (DD) @ 6 PM
Snack: ?

Day 3:
Lunch: Liberty Tree Tavern @1:30 PM
Dinner: Counter Service (Cosmic Rays perhaps?)
Snack: Main Street Bakery

Day 4:
Lunch: Coral Reef @ 12:25 PM
Dinner: Rose & Crown @ 6:30 PM
Snack: ?

Day 5:
Lunch: Counter Service @ Blizzard Beach
Dinner: Whispering Canyon @6:15 PM
Snack: ?

Day 6:
Lunch: Counter Service @ Hollywood Studios
Dinner: Sci Fi Dine In Theater @ 7 PM
Snack: Starring Rolls Cafe

Day 7:
Lunch: Yak & Yeti @ 11:30 AM
Dinner: Counter Service (Flame Tree BBQ)
Snack: Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!

Day 8:
Lunch: Counter Service @ Typhoon Lagoon
Dinner: Boatwright's Dining Hall
Snack: ?

Day 9:
Lunch: Louis' (@ Universal Studios)
Dinner: Raglan Road @ 7:30 PM
Snack: ?

Day 10:
Lunch: Three Broomsticks (@ IOA)
Dinner: Margaritaville
Snack: ?

Day 11:
Lunch: Mythos (@ IOA)
Dinner: Pat O'Briens
Snack: ?

Day 12:
Lunch: Wolfgang Puck Express
Dinner: T-Rex @ 5 PM
Snack: Gherridelli's

Day 13:
Lunch: Restaurantosaurus
Dinner: 50's Prime Time Cafe @ 4:30 PM
Snack: ?

Day 14:
Lunch: Counter Service (Casey's Corner?)
Dinner: Le Cellier @ 7:40 PM
Snack: Food and Wine Festival

Day 15:
Lunch: Counter Service
Dinner: Counter Service
Snack: ?

 

[PuppyPrincess]

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding and your plans for your honeymoon look great! Your wedding will be on my anniversary (I was married just a few years earlier - 28) so I hope the date brings you as much luck as it did me. I will be in Disney the same time as you - except without my DH! I will be doing a girls trip starting 10/14, after celebrating my anniversary and a breast cancer walk (3 year survivor) at home on Saturday. See you at Disney

 

[OregonGirl]

Hi Whitney!

Disneymoons are very cool! DH and I did a short one just a few months ago in February right after getting married here in Oregon. Short because I was also running the Princess 1/2 during the trip, and because we had just done an extravagant WDW/Cruise trip in October of 2011 (during which we stayed at POFQ I ran the Wine&Dine 1/2), and we are traveling to DL in September for the Disneyland 1/2 AND we are traveling to WDW in December for 8 nights of Boardwalk Club Level fun with my parents, so we kept the honeymoon to a modest 6 days at Yacht Club.

But I just wanted to chime in and say HI because you remind me of how my hubby and I met, separated, and met again. We met a little over 10 years ago in college (a private arts school) and dated for a little bit, but I was 20 and wanted to be wild and crazy, and he was 30 and had already done that, so after about two years we went our separate ways and I didn't hear from him again until nearly 10 years later on Facebook, and then it was partially about business (I had become a film/video producer and he was a multimedia manager). We had our second 'first date' in January of 2011, immediately hit it off, he proposed on Christmas of 2011, and we married Valentine's Day weekend of 2012. He is the light of my life and my best friend. It sounds like you have similarly found your Prince Charming and it's SO CUTE!!!



Love your dining plans! Just a few comments:

1) Can you consider an upgrade at all in resorts? Because if so I highly recommend the Port Orleans French Quarter. It's really romantic and great for honeymoons. If not, I have heard great things about Pop Century. Good choice over the All Stars.

2) You should totally do a Grand Floridian Tea some afternoon. We did that on our honeymoon and it was very cute.

3) Some day when you are at Hollywood Studios, maybe give the Brown Derby a try. Prices aren't too bad and it has a very upscale feel.

4) Make sure you mention to any cast member that you are on your Honeymoon! Often times you will get a button, or maybe a little flower, or just a congratulations. It's not that you're seeking out free goodies, it's just great to have others wish you well in your new marriage.

5) If you can swing it, try for a Segway tour or the Wild Africa Trek. Both very cool experiences.

6) Do NOT do pick-a-pearl. It sounds fun, and yeah you'll get a pearl, but they immediately up-sell it like crazy and you loss all the fun. I don't think this is a Disney thing. I think it's a third party booth and it doesn't feel very Disney at all. They are at Beach Club/Boardwalk and DTD.

7) You will love Liberty Tree Tavern. It is SO good.

8) I was not impressed with Yak & Yeti and I have given it 3 chances now. It has a very cool interior and ambiance, but the food is not worth the price. I would suggest instead the Tusker House buffet.

Congrats! YAY for Disney!!!

- Carey


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