Planning Our Happily Ever After - A Disneymoon PTR! (NEW 7/13 - TR Link!)

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I love all of your purchases!

The shirts are really cute. I love the sparkly bride writing! I'm like you...I'm all about matching things, so I'm a big fan of the picture frame too!

Thank you! I really like how the shirts ended up looking. They are very sparkly!

I love the shirts. The fit is good and you look like you've lost some weight!

Thanks! I'm definitely trying! (probably not hard enough, though. )

I think you looked great in the shirt! they are soo cute!!!! The picture frame idea is awesome and would be a great souvenir from your disneymoon

Thank you so much! I was so worried it was going to look bad.

I love the t-shirts and I think it looks great!!! I love the picture frame, its so Disney! And I imagine those Save-The-Dates are going to be gorgous with the hand-writing. Out of curiosity, where did you get your grandmother's dress? Do you have a picture?

My dad sent one to Miguel and I (just got it yesterday) and the writing is beautiful! We've already had someone to comment on it.

We got my grandmother's dress at a store called Georgette's in Tampa (where my dad lives). As soon as it comes in and he ships it to us I'll definitely take a picture!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

ONE DAY AT EPCOT - Pt. 1

Sorry it's taken me so long to get these pictures up! It's been nearly two weeks since Miguel and I had our mini-vacation at my dad's and we went over to Epcot for an afternoon. It was a lot of fun and got me even more excited for the Disneymoon!

I was a little worried about crowds because it was MLK weekend, but we managed just fine. With that said, it was crowded (as you will see from my Spaceship Earth line picture - there was a 30 minute wait!) But, as always, with a little planning and knowledge of the park I really think you can visit Disney at any time and not have to wait hours for rides.

I thought for this day trip, I will mostly just post pictures with very minimal commentary. Here we go!

Arriving at Disney - thankfully it's only about an hour drive from my dad's house!

Nope, not that one!

We're going here!

First thing was FP's for Soarin' and some breakfast from Sunshine Seasons.

On to Test Track! The wait time posted was 40 minutes! Thankfully, we only ended up waiting about 20.

The little guy sitting next to Miguel was so funny! He kept saying "wow" and "awesome" throughout the entire ride! We laughed the whole time!

Next up was Mission:Space, like always!

I'm still not brave enough for the orange side!

We then wanted to take a spin on Spaceship Earth, but when we got over to it, there was a 30 minute wait! No thank you!

We took a quick break and thought about where to go next...

continued in next post.

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

ONE DAY AT EPCOT - Pt. 2

We still had some time to kill before it was time to use our Soarin' FP's, so we decided to head over to the Seas. We normally don't spend much time here, but I had an idea to try something new - Turtle Talk with Crush!

Turtle Talk was so much fun! We will definitely be doing that one again. Finally, it was time to head to the Land for Soarin' which is exactly what we did!

We of course couldn't pass up a ride on Living With the Land! We had the longest wait we had ever seen for this one - about 15 minutes.

At this point, I was pretty hungry, so we decided to stop for some lunch. We normally always eat at SS, but since we had breakfast there, we thought we'd try the Electric Umbrella. I had a cheeseburger and Miguel got a chicken ceaser salad.

The food was ok, but nothing special. We definitely prefer Sunshine Seasons! The dessert I got (a strawberry cheesecake) was great, though!

It was almost time to head back over to my dad's house, but we wanted to try out Spaceship Earth again. This time, the wait was only about 10 minutes, so we hopped in line.

It was a fun day, and I am so glad that our AP's allowed us to go!

Next up, I will finally post our itinerary for the Disneymoon! I have been working on this thing for months and I am so excited to finally share it with you all!

 

[Princess_K]

It looks like you had a great day at Epcot! Even with the crowds, you were able to accomplish a lot I'm excited for your Disneymoon itinerary!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

It looks like you had a great day at Epcot! Even with the crowds, you were able to accomplish a lot I'm excited for your Disneymoon itinerary!

We did have a lot of fun! I was definitely proud that because of my planning, we didn't let those crowds get in our way!

 

[klacey1]

Sounds like a really fun day!! You're so lucky that you were able to pop into Disney for the day. I can't believe the initial line for SE was 30 minutes! Crazy!

 

[disneybarbie]

looks like a lovely Epcot day!

We love Turtle Talk.. didn't do it in December but will definitely be seeing Crush in June! (and also when we're onboard the Dream.. he is at the Animator's Palate restaurant too! )

Emma x


(20 weeks to go!)

 

[Nermel9]

Looks like a great day in Epcot! So jealous you got to do a day trip to WDW! With all the snow and horrible weather we have been having, I've been wishing for a way to take a quick Florida trip soon, but it's just not possible!

You have to try the orange side of Mission Space, at least once! It's so much fun!

30 minutes for SE??? That's crazy!

Turtle Talk is so cute! We did it back in 2008 and haven't been back since, but I want to see it again! Just never seem to have the time!

I love Living with the Land! We didn't get to do it in November, because there was a line for it and we didn't feel like waiting!

Can't wait to see the Disneymoon itinerary!

 

[redlight]

Cool pictures. I'm glad you and Miguel were able to get to Epcot for a day! The dessert looks delicious!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Great day at Epcot Didn't notice any drinks you had in honor of my bday so I'll claim the cheesecake as mine

 

[MelMel11]

Enjoyed your trip reviews and the wedding updates. Count me in. Cant wait to hear more.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

You know you miss Disney when you see pics of the food and start to get upset lol . Looks like you had a nice time.

 

[cinderellabride2011]

FIRST DISNEYMOON PURCHASE!

Now that I can finally say that the wedding and disneymoon are this year, they have both been on my mind a lot more! I've been browsing the wedding board here, and have gotten some great ideas from all of the Disney brides, one of which was a cute set of shirts for the bride and groom from the Disney store! I thought these would be perfect for Miguel and I to wear on the drive down to Disney for the honeymoon.

I love them! I ordered them earlier this week, so they should be arriving soon. The only bad thing is I've read they run very small. I ordered up, so I really hope they fit! I also love how they sort of match the Mrs. and Mrs. mugs that we got as souvies on our January trip. I'm planning on taking these with us to have coffee in at the Poly each morning.

Another item (although not Disney related) that I keep seeing alot of on the wedding board is personalized hangers to photograph your wedding dress on. They're handmade by an Etsy seller (Lila Frances) to spell out your new last name on the hanger. I was shocked when I found out they are only $25! I had to order one! This is only the stock photo, but you get the idea...

I've also been browsing the Creative DISigns board for cute wedding related Disney designs and I found some really cute bride and groom Mickey heads that I've started a little disneymoon DIY project with. I can't wait to share it when I get finished!

And in even more wedding-related news, today I went with my grandmother and my two bridesmaids to get their dresses ordered. The dress looked great on both of them and ended up being about $40 less than we anticipated, and we got %15 off on top of that! Tomorrow Miguel and I are going to have lunch at the restaurant where we're hoping to have our rehearsal dinner. Provided it meets our expectations, we want to get that booked next week.

I hope you all don't mind more frequent wedding updates! Now that we've booked all of the big vendors I can really focus on those fun little details.

I have been looking EVERYWHERE for disney bride and groom shirts!! Just a few days ago I decided I had to make my own (which I know will be a disaster because I'm not the creative one AT ALL!) I was so excited when I found the ones on here...but they only come in XL now So I guess I'm back making my own again, at least they'll be cheaper! Hope you have fun on your disneymoon!! My fiancee and I are going on ours in May!! CAN NOT WAIT!! It'll be our first trip!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Sounds like a really fun day!! You're so lucky that you were able to pop into Disney for the day. I can't believe the initial line for SE was 30 minutes! Crazy!

I think that is always the sign of a crowded park - when the attractions that are always walk-on's have a wait! I wouldn't think twice about waiting 30 minutes in line for something like Soarin', but Spaceship Earth...no.

looks like a lovely Epcot day!

We love Turtle Talk.. didn't do it in December but will definitely be seeing Crush in June! (and also when we're onboard the Dream.. he is at the Animator's Palate restaurant too! )

Emma x


(20 weeks to go!)

Yay for 20 weeks! How exciting you're going to get to see Crush on the cruise. He was so much fun!

Looks like a great day in Epcot! So jealous you got to do a day trip to WDW! With all the snow and horrible weather we have been having, I've been wishing for a way to take a quick Florida trip soon, but it's just not possible!

You have to try the orange side of Mission Space, at least once! It's so much fun!

30 minutes for SE??? That's crazy!

Turtle Talk is so cute! We did it back in 2008 and haven't been back since, but I want to see it again! Just never seem to have the time!

I love Living with the Land! We didn't get to do it in November, because there was a line for it and we didn't feel like waiting!

Can't wait to see the Disneymoon itinerary!

When we left Atlanta for that weekend there was still snow and ice here. It was so nice to get to some warmer weather!

I am so scared to try the orange side of Mission: Space! I really want to, because I'll admit - the green side isn't that exciting. But, I've read so many things about people getting sick on it and being sick for days. I'm scared to test it out!

Cool pictures. I'm glad you and Miguel were able to get to Epcot for a day! The dessert looks delicious!

The cheesecake was really good. It was definitely a surprise!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Great day at Epcot Didn't notice any drinks you had in honor of my bday so I'll claim the cheesecake as mine

Haha! We were thisclose to walking over to Mexico for a Margarita, but we felt like we just didn't have the time.

Enjoyed your trip reviews and the wedding updates. Count me in. Cant wait to hear more.

Thank you! And

You know you miss Disney when you see pics of the food and start to get upset lol . Looks like you had a nice time.

That is true! We did have a really nice afternoon.

I have been looking EVERYWHERE for disney bride and groom shirts!! Just a few days ago I decided I had to make my own (which I know will be a disaster because I'm not the creative one AT ALL!) I was so excited when I found the ones on here...but they only come in XL now So I guess I'm back making my own again, at least they'll be cheaper! Hope you have fun on your disneymoon!! My fiancee and I are going on ours in May!! CAN NOT WAIT!! It'll be our first trip!

I don't know what size you wear, but if you're normally a medium or a large you would probably be ok with the extra-large. The shirts run nearly 2 sizes too small, so they aren't true XL's at all.

Congrats on your upcoming Disneymoon! It is so much fun to plan one!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

THE ITINERARY

To say I've spent a lot of time working on this itinerary is quite the understatement! I started planning way before the June park hours were released, so I studied the June 2009 and 2010 hours and tried to make some predictions. Once I think I had it figured out, I started to build an itinerary. Of course, when the June 2011 park hours came out, there were a lot of discrepancies between my predictions and the true hours! Thankfully, only a few of our days were very specifically tailored to park times, so I didn't have to do too much changing.

That was of course until I decided that I didn't like my itinerary! My first draft was too jam packed and had us spending way too much time in the parks. One of my goals for this trip was to find the time to fit in those "special" things that we don't normally do, and to find time to relax!

So back to the drawing board I went! I thought carefully about specific plans that I wanted, and then built those in to the overall plan. From that, I was able to develop an itinerary that I am really happy with. I haven't made any major changes in about a month, so I think that means this is the one!

Just like with my November itinerary, I turned to my trusty Excel to keep me organized! Because we're planning on a total of 12 days, I couldn't capture the entire spreadsheet in one screenshot - so it will be in two parts. The first part will have Sunday-Friday, and the second will obviously be Saturday-Thursday. Here's my spreadsheet!

So just to explain a little, the top part is obviously the hour by hour plans (which I'm not too serious about, but we aren't "fly by the seat of our pants" type of people, so we like structure). I've broken the day up into five sections:
morning
late morning/lunch time
afternoon
evening/dinner time
late evening

I find it helps to think of the days as blocks of time.

Below the big box, is my DDP counter. This helps me to plan how many meals per day will be TS, CS, or OOP.

And below that is my travel times guide. It's basically my reference to what time we should leave the Poly/the parks to get to dinner, etc.

I'll of course be going into detail for each day as we go along, but this is definitely the master plan!

 

[Princess_K]

I have to say it again... you are one organized person! I love it though. I think you will have a fabulous Disneymoon

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I have to say it again... you are one organized person! I love it though. I think you will have a fabulous Disneymoon

Haha, thank you! Sometimes I think I get a little carried away with the spreadsheets, but they really do help me to feel organized.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

All those rope drops on a honeymoon???? Really???? Ok how do I put this delicately for a family board. You are supposed to schedule some "room time" on a honeymoon ya know

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

All those rope drops on a honeymoon???? Really???? Ok how do I put this delicately for a family board. You are supposed to schedule some "room time" on a honeymoon ya know

You never cease to make me laugh! I will say, I plan to make it to rope drop on every trip, and I've yet to see a single one. So, I can probably predict that we won't make it too much (if at all) on this trip either. But it's nice to at least be motivated, right?

As it stands, we've got two days to sleep in. It would be nice to fit another one in somewhere.