The "I swore I'd never go to Disney and now we're honeymooning there" pre-trip report

[loislane]

Hi all!
I'm new to this - all of this. New to Disney - never been before. New to DIS. New to this whole pre-trip report/trip report concept.
But I figure what's the point of testing the waters if you aren't just going to jump in with both feet? So here I am doing my very own pre-trip report.

I found the DIS courtesy of two friends - MomofCKJ (Allyson) and 4boysrus (Melissa) that I met online while we were all pregnant at the same time. I've met both in person and they are both as lovely in person as they seem here.

Now, to tell you a little about me and my traveling partner.

I'm Traci.

37. Business reporter by day. Super mom and Internet surfer by night. I like to cook. I even like my job, most days.

Love my kids.

Love my dog.

And I love my hubby-to-be and traveling partner.....

Mark.

He's 38. I often call him grumpy. He's a computer geek by day and a sci-fi geek by night. But we like him anyway. Was on a TV show contest to win a snowmobile, but didn't win. He shocked me completely by not only agreeing to this trip, but also by seeming actually excited about it. He's never excited about anything.

This past April, after a good 3 1/2 years together, we finally decided to take the plunge and get married. Took us a few months to settle on a time of year, type of event, etc., but eventually we agreed to get married August 1, 2009 in an outdoor ceremony at our house. The event will coincide with an annual BBQ held with the internet group that I met Melissa and Allyson through.

Taken last in 2007 when we went to Georgia for a week to visit my brother.


We are delaying the honeymoon until after the kids start school again, to make it easy for our babysitter (aka my mom) and also in hopes that it *might* be a degree or two cooler in September. So our trip is scheduled for September 13-19 and we'll be staying at Pop Century.

Taken July 5 while we were in Seattle for Mark's brother's wedding. And omg, please ignore my quadruple chins!! Why is gravity so cruel to our chins?

I'm really excited about our trip and since I'm OCD about planning things, it's like I already died and went to heaven because good lord is there a lot to plan when it comes to Disney.

I am *almost* daunted by the task. Almost, but not quite.

We've already made one important decision - we changed our package and downgraded to the quick-service dining plan. We want to be spontaneous and super-flexible while we are there since we'll be kid-free. So being tied down with daily ADRs didn't appeal to us.

Now we are looking through restaurant options because we want to do one nice TS meal while we are there. But where to eat? That is our dilemma. Suggestions welcome.

 

[MomofCKJ]

Well here I am! You know I'd be here Traci! LOL!

Welcome to the DIS, sounds like you are hooked already. It is a great place with lots of interesting info and people!

As for restaurants you know my suggestions already!

Allyson

 

[CoP Luv]

How fun! I love Le Cellier or Narcosee's for a nice dinner! Pop Century is a lot of fun. We stayed there once and it was great!

 

[4boysrus]

HI!

I'm so excited for you guys, and I can't wait to read all of your updates on here. Since we've only been to Disney once before I really don't have any restaurant advice for you. We are going to Coral Reef and Ohana this time and I've heard wonderful things about each!

See you around!

 

[loislane]

Thanks everyone!

I've been going crazy reading and rereading menus at the different restaurants. We're torn between going someplace where we can eat foods we can't get here at home (so places like Boma, Jiko and Marrakesh top that list) or going someplace with more "normal" food but a unique Disney experience (with Sci-Fi, Coral Reef, and 50's Prime Time topping that list).

We still have months to decide before we need to make an ADR, which is good because it might take us that long.

I'm still surprised we are even taking this trip. We both hate to spend money, and Mark hates to vacation period. But he does seem to be getting into the spirit of the trip, which is lots of fun for me to watch. We're even talking about a family trip with friends in 2010. If we do it, we'll be off-site for that trip since our friends have a vacation condo - Sheraton Vista Villages I believe it's called.

So, let me tell you how we even wound up choosing Disney for our honeymoon - this is after I convinced Mark we needed to take one. We had a few criteria - we wanted to go someplace that was far enough from home to feel "different", we didn't want to go out of the country (neither of us has a passport and we don't feel like getting them), and it had to be a place that offered a good variety of things to do.

A million and one people suggested either Cape Cod or a cruise to us. Both ideas were rejected right away. Neither of us is interested in a cruise - although I can't really say why. lol. And Cape Cod seems like it would bore us after the first day. I can only spend so much time sitting on the beach doing nothing or looking at a light house. I need to be a girl on the go!

So, we did some research and came up with a few potentials. Myrtle Beach. Virginia Beach. And then my son suggested Disney. We totally thought it would be way too expensive becuase we had decided our travel and accommodation budget was $1,500. We thought there was no way Disney could come in at budget.

Allyson suggested we contact Jessica at the Magic for Less to at least get a price, so we did. And it came in over budget, so we said no thanks. And I started looking at VB options. But Disney keep tickling the back of my mind. And it dawned on me one day while in the shower - why do the best ideas always happen in the shower? - that yes, Disney came in over our budget, but that price included our meals and our admission to all the parks. So, our out of pocket spending would be limited to whatever few extra things we wanted to do, souveniers for the kids, and whatever snacks or whatnot we ended up buying.

So really, the only additional cost we HAD to spend for Disney was airfare. And when I started crunching numbers for VB, by the time we drove there, got a hotel for 6 nights, bought 3 meals a day, and paid for whatever things we wanted to do - well, we weren't going to come out much cheaper than $1,500 and would probably spend more than that.

And I figured in for a penny, in for a pound - if I'm going to spend the money, I'm going to Disney! And we booked the trip!

Now - we're just waiting for our free planning DVD and Passporter book to arrive. Will they be helpful or will they freak me out even more? Stay tuned!