The Epic Disney Honeymoon

[ImagineerM]

Greetings everyone and welcome to my trip report!

Some of you may remember me from my last trip report, The Last Hurrah.

Well, it is my pleasure to return details from my latest Disney experience, which I can gladly say, turned out with much more positive results than my last experience.

The Players
Me -- A 26 year old former WDW CM. I worked as a WDWCP on Main Street USA in early 2001, then moved to the Fast Pass team, and eventually lived out a dream as a Part-time Jungle Skipper. I've been to WDW more than I like to admit, and still share an amazing connection with this wonderful place -- although, this trip report will share how this connection has changed over the years.

Dear Wife (DW) -- Yes, that's right, I said wife. I'm married now to my beautiful bride, who stuck with me despite all of last summer's family drama. A veritable WDW newbie, she's 25 years old and this will be her second Disney Vacation, with only occasional day-visits prior to last summer.

The Setting
May 21 - June 1, 2008

1- night at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
3-night Cruise on the Disney Wonder
6-nights at Disney's Wilderness Lodge
1-night at Disney's Polynesian Honeymoon Suite

This trip report will officially kick off on Monday -- but I wanted to set the stage and get you all primed for the epic tale of Disney fun that my wife and I experienced on our wonderful Disney honeymoon!

In the coming days you'll read about our wonderful dining experiences, relaxing on the DCL, fantastic shows, beautiful WDW accomodations, outstanding WDW service, some terrifying bus rides, and the transition of Disney nostolgia in this Disney fan's heart.

I look forward to sharing our experiences with you. So feel free to catch up on last years TR and check back in Monday afternoon for the first real installment of The Epic Disney Honeymoon: The Wedding, Fear of Flying, and Arrival at AKL!

Cheers,
Josh

 

[Disney Sweetie]

Cant wait to read your Honeymoon Trip Report. It was so good to have had the chance to meet you and your wife on the cruise. Glad to hear that you had Wonderful time!

Pam

 

[SunnieRN]

Can't wait to hear about your disney honeymoon!!!
Congratulations!!!!

 

[OhMari]

Welcome back Josh, and Mrs. Josh.
We better at least get one picture.
Looking forward to your latest TR!!!

 

[ImagineerM]

First of all good afternoon and thanks for dropping by! It is great to see some kind words of anticipation as I start up this little recap of our EPIC Disney Honeymoon!

So I thought that today's installment would be a nice introduction to why we so desperately needed our honeymoon vacation! So...here we go!!!!!

On April 1st of 2007 I proposed to the love of my life at a local park overlooking the Ohio river. This romantic moment almost immediately kicked off a whirlwind year filled with excitement, planning, and ultimately exhaustion! We quickly picked the date of May 17, 2008 and the wedding planning ball was rolling within a week of the engagement.

There was so much stuff to do -- caterers, reception halls, wedding locations (she wanted an outdoor wedding more than anything!), DJs, etc. We tried to get all of the majoy planning done during the summer months as I have been finishing my bachelors degree. In fact, we needed ALL of the planning done by Jan 2008, because I would begin student teaching. For the most part, we were successful in this venture.

As a personal escape from the hectic wedding planning, I found solace in planning the honeymoon! I had always wanted a Disney honeymoon and luckily I found a bride who was more than happy to play along -- her only stipulation was there must be a cruise. I initially booked a 4 night carnival cruise out of Jacksonville, FL, but that plan was quickly changed when Carnival sold out boat. Leaving us without a cruise -- and leading my Disney-fanatic nose sniffing at a long-time dream: a Disney Cruise!

After a whole week of toiling over what to do, I twisted my own arm (yeah right, like I really had to talk myself into this one ) into a 3night cruise on the Disney Wonder -- more on that in coming installments. Oh, and as gas prices rose, I decided it would be cheaper to fly Southwest -- needless to say, I redid my budget a few times during the planning process.

In January 2008, student teaching enveloped my life and our time together quickly diminished. I was in bed by 10pm, and she would be getting off from work at 9:30pm. Not to mention I had to work every weekend and 3 nights a week to pay my own bills.

Fast forward to May 2008 -- I finished student teaching, landed a job as a long-term subtitute through the 19th of May. I graduated from college on May 10th, interviewed for several teaching positions and having to choose one of several job offers during the week leading up to the wedding, then the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, and eventually came the big wedding day!

May 17th is a blur -- I don't remember a lot of the details, but it was a hectic and wonderful day. We spent the evening at a local bed and breakfast then spent Sunday relaxing and enjoying the day together. We then both went to work for two days before heading on our EPIC Disney honeymoon adventure!

On Tuesday May 20th, we finished laundry and packing our bags. Ran some last minute errands, and had a nice dinner out (yeah for gift cards!). As we were about to go to bed, I received a phonecall from work -- and instead of ignoring it, I ended up back at the movie theatre (my regular, non-teaching job) working on the new Indiana Jones movie until about 3:30am. Oh well, we needed the cash -- not that I would've slept anyway...not with Disney awaiting right around the corner!

Tune in tomorrow, when I'll try to squeeze in a few more installments.

In the morning I'll tell you all about her first time flying and our first night at WDW as guests at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Then in the afternoon, I'll take you with us as we venture to Port Canaveral for the beginning of our 3-night Disney Cruise!

Thanks for reading...let me know your thoughts! I look forward to sharing our trip with you!

Cheers,
Josh

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

It will be really fun to hear about a Disneymoon from a husbands point of view. Especially since you were the Disney fan to begin with. Sounds like a great plan for your honeymoon and I can't wait for the next installment.

 

[noahdove]

I can't wait to read more

 

[SunnieRN]

Wow that was a stressful year!! Looking forward to more!

 

[ProudMommyof2]

Signing on- can not wait to hear more!

 

[ImagineerM]

"Pressure, pushing down on me..pressing down on you...."

"I can't believe it! 8am already??" I think as I stop the alarm clock on my cell phone. I start to roll over and catch another priceless five minutes when I realize what day it is! Wahoo! We're going to Disney today! I wake up my wife before hopping into the shower to start my day -- that's when the super late night at work caught up with me. My oh my was I tired! But it didn't matter, I wasn't going to let that get me down! Not today!

We had about one hour to get ready before my Father-in-Law arrived at the apartment to drive us to the airport. We dragged our ridiculously overpacked bags to his car and somehow squeezed four suitcases and two carry-ons into the vehicle. Why someone felt the need to pack three outfits for every day of the trip is still a mystery to me, but who am I to complain? We're going to WDW!!!!!!

The airport is about a 2-hour drive from our apartment and we chatted away about the wedding and our upcoming trip on the way. I can tell DW is nervous though -- she has never flown before.

At the airport, we park in THE FARTHEST parking spot from the terminal on the top level of the parking garage. The three of us drag all of the luggage to the SWA checkin desk and get settled in. We say our goodbyes and DFIL heads to his next destination. We wade through security and wait about 45 minutes before finally boarding. DW is now really nervous, clutching my hand as we taxi down the runway and finally take off. As a travel professional, who used to fly 3-5 roundtrips every month....I had to chuckle. Of course she wasn't chuckling when I nodded off 10 minutes before we started to land at MCO -- and neither was i when her deathgrip on my hand woke me up! :ROFLOL:

We landed safely after the somewhat bumpy flight and managed to grab all of our luggage at the carrousel. We checked with the DME attendant and asked her what to do. She tells me that we should've tagged our luggage and they would have picked it up for us, but SWA in Nashville had told me the exact opposite. So we somehow manage (and with great difficulty) to drag all of our luggage to the other side of MCO and eventually to the DME checkin station. Here we pretty much walk straight on to the bus and begin our journey to Disney's AKL.

This is our first time using DME, and I wish I'd known to just tag my luggage, but nonetheless, it worked pretty well. The video was cute and even teased what to do for our cruise on the next day! It sure helped pass the time on the trip to AKL! We stopped at Pop Century and Carribbean Beach (? -- I think that was the other one, but don't quote me on that) before finally pulling up to the beautiful AKL. We've both visited before, in fact we ate at Boma on our trip last year, but this is our first time staying at AKL. When we arrived, no one offered to help with the luggage -- I immediately flash back to last year, but shake it off and decide to just do it ourselves.

DW waits with the bags while I check us in -- only to find out we've been upgraded when right as we're done, the CM says "oh..and you'll be able to see animals from your room"

We drag the bags to the room and finally get settled in and head straight for the balcony! We have a view of the new DVC construction and there are all kinds of animals to see....there is a giraffe, some wildebeast, some cattle, an ostrich....it was really neat!

Next we freshen up and head to the bus stop. We have a late dinner reservation at Nine Dragons in Epcot. We LOVE that place and were ecstatic when they pushed the refurb back into late May!

We arrived at Epcot with time to spare, and headed straight for my favorite shop -- the Art of Disney. Here we spoke with an artist who was visitng for the F&G Festival, who tells us that one of our FAVORITE WDW artists, Larry Dotson, is also at the festival near Mexico. We make a beeline for his stand and have a nice little chat with Larry and his wife. We stroll through his art displays and I fall in love with his new Epcot print. We make sure he will still be at this location when we return from the cruise and then make our way to Nine Dragon.

DW orders the Hot and Sour Soup (her favorite) and General Tsou's Chicken. I order my old favorite -- the Honey Sesame Chicken! :slurp:

As we finish eating, Illuminations lights up the sky! We relax and soak up the magic of our first night at WDW. We wonder around the lagoon while the park empties out and eventually make our way back to the bus stop. We ride to the AKL, spend some time on the balcony watching a couple of animals wonder, then head for bed. There is a note slipped under our door saying that DCL will pick up our luggage at 7am...ugh....so we eventually settle in to our King bed and fall asleep!

Thanks for joining me for this installment. Later this afternoon I'll get AT LEAST one more in....

Next up: 7am luggage call, transfer to the port and sailing away on the Disney Wonder!

OhMari -- I'll do my darnedest to get pics this time...it may be a few days, but I'll get you something!

Cheers,
Josh

 

[SunnieRN]

Woo hoo! Love the update and am anxiously awaiting pictures!!! Sounds as if everything is off to a most wonderful start!! And an upgrade besides! Woo hoo!!!!

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

I'm so envious....A Savanah view at AKL AND a Disney Cruise. How perfect can it be! Looking forward to your next update.

 

[Amy7979]

I'm in! I'm having a WDW/DCL honeymoon, too!

 

[tinkerbellmom1]

Congrats Josh and DW! I am enjoying your TR so far and am looking forward to more!

 

[Villainess]

Congrats to you and your DH!!!! Great start and looking forward to more!

 

[sandybobandy]

Signing on!

 

[ImagineerM]

hello all...sorry for disappearing for a few days....DW and I are moving and we don't have internet in our new apartment yet. I will be back on Monday with another update from our TR....don't give up on this TR! I promise to be back Monday.

Sorry for the delay!

Cheers,
Josh

 

[SunnieRN]

Looking forward to in Josh.

 

[KatMark]

Signing on and loving every minute. Congratulations on your wedding.

 

[wdwgirl03]

May 21 - June 1, 2008

1- night at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
3-night Cruise on the Disney Wonder
6-nights at Disney's Wilderness Lodge
1-night at Disney's Polynesian Honeymoon Suite

WOW, what a honeymoon!! Sounds amazing. Can't wait to hear more about it, and congrats on your marriage!