UPDATED:How to turn a budget honeymoon into a budget busting Disneymoon of dreams

[DaniDownUnder]

Howdy all...this is my first dis travel report, chronicling my July 9-15th honeymoon stay at the Wilderness Lodge....

Cast:
Me 33, long time WDW fan having spent time growing up living in Orlando
Hachiman 39, 2nd trip to WDW, Aussie who must love me lots to let me drag him to Disney for our honeymoon

Pg. 1: the background story or how my budget honeymoon blew out by over $2000!!
Pg. 1: Arriving at WL
Pg. 1: Day 1 - Going to the Hoop de Doo, Riding on a Kangaroo


Our story begins in March, when my mum in the US (I'm an American by birth, just living in Australia atm) and I began to put the final touches on Hachi and my July 4th wedding in North Carolina. As my 3 year old niece is 'princess mad', and my hubby-to-be and I had no money, my mum was originally going to plan a 'family' honeymoon to WDW, to include my brother, sil, niece, mum, new hubby and me. Hachi and I loved the idea of sharing our honeymoon AND getting to see my niece on her first trip to WDW. However, after moving house over Easter and seeing the horrendous fits and tantrums of my niece, my mum changed her mind.

Being the Disneyphile I am, I was somewhat heartbroken...but when all hope of a honeymoon seemed lost, my future in-laws stepped in with a gift of $1000. With this money I originally started planning an 'on-a-shoestring' Disneymoon, staying in el-cheapo no-tell motel, eating fast food all the time, etc... After coming to my senses and realizing that I didn't want to run the risk of spending my honeymoon in a cheap motel room that might be mould or bug ridden, I sat down and realized that for what it would cost me to book us into a decent but cheap motel, we could actually stay on site at one of the the All-Star resorts....thus...our Disneymoon idea was REALLY born into being!

Being the net-junkie I am, I arranged with a dear friend, for them to book online a 5 night stay at ASMu with park hoppers for me and my hubby-to-be (I didn't have a credit card at that point...which was probably a good thing!) Cost...roughly $1400....

But wait...what's this???? Ohhhh....Disney Dining Plan...only $38 a day. Hey!! What a deal, we could actually eat a nice sit-down meal each day, AND if we play our snacks right, we could have brekkie, lunch AND dinner on the plan! No need to cart extra money around....what a novel idea! Okay, so that bumped the cost up a bit to $1600 or so...but hey, it's a great deal.

This package was booked for about 3 days, but reading the dis boards began to make me nervous about our choice of resort. Hmmm.... I'd stayed at ASMu before, and while it was neat, it just didn't seem the right sort of place for a romantic honeymoon. Doubts abounded until....just 'out of curiosity' I told myself, I began to peruse the moderate resorts. Lo and behold, it would only cost about another $30-50 a night to upgrade our resort. Ohhhh....now that was a nice idea. BUMP....$2150.

I rang my dear friend with the credit card, they okayed the upgrade and BOOM before my dear fiancee` got home that night, I'd booked us into POFQ, because it looked lovely, romantic and I thought he'd enjoy the New Orleans atmosphere. Originally, I wasn't going to tell him...keep the upgrade a secret until we arrived...then SURPRISE...But, when I'm plotting what I feel are cool treats, I get so excited that I just can't keep things to myself. I blurted out the whole plot as soon as he got home (sigh...it's a wonder I can keep ANY secrets!!!). Luckily, he loved the look of POFQ and was very happy with the upgrade.

But, once again, the dis board began to give me doubts. I read numerous complaints (and for the record, lots of good comments) about POFQ and I was worried. I waffled greatly until....a post that pointed out something that sounded WAAAAAY too good to be true. Someone posted that during the time my new hubby and I would be a WDW, while the value and moderate resorts would be in their holiday/peak ratings....some deluxe resorts would actually be in their VALUE periods. Oh my goodness???? Could such a thing actually be true????? Frantically I began checking and YES...not only COULD it be true...it WAS!!! Oh be still my heart....I could upgrade yet again to a DELUXE resort (a dream come true) for a paltry $50 more a night! Granted, I couldn't upgrade to one of the u-beaut deluxe resorts like the GF (my dream resort), the Poly or the CR...BUT...I could upgrade to a savannah room at AKL or a Water View room at WL.

When Hachi got home that night I shared what I'd found out and we poured over the websites for AKL and WL....drooled over them is more like it. We looked at room and area photos (courtesy of MouseEars.Net) and debated the pros and cons of the two resorts. Finally, we decided that we adored the look of WL...and so it was that we upgraded ....once more .....to a deluxe resort. This bumped our honeymoon cost up to $2600...roughly $3200 Australian...$2200 MORE than we had to spend.

Luckily my dear friend is happy to let us pay him back in installments and finds the whole WDW Honeymoon thing rather funny to begin with.

Mind you...the honeymoon/wedding expenditure ballooned by another $6500 US due my emergency room trip in Tampa (3 weeks prior to the wedding) at a cost of $6000 (which I'm still fighting to get my travel insurance to pay) and the $500 we spent on Disney souveniers and misc. items (like sunscreen, 2 swimsuits for Hachi, a WDW scrapbook for our honeymoon photos, etc....).

Due to the emergency room trip, our Disneymoon nearly didn't happen! I nearly cancelled our honeymoon in order to pay most of the hospital bill...but then was ordered by my mum's GP to "GO ON OUR HONEYMOON!!!!" Apparently he was a WDW fanatic too, loves the WL and said it would be just what I needed, a chance to relax...so he told me to take my pills and GO TO WDW. Now, I couldn't ignore the doctor's orders....so the honeymoon was on (tho my mum made me ask him if I could ride roller coasters while on blood pressure meds to which he laughed and said that I'd better!!!).

2 days after this conversation, things came to a halt again, as my mum cancelled my wedding venue due to the fact that 3 weeks out and they hadn't organised some rather crucial things...like the CELEBRANT/Minister!!!! She questioned (quite rightly) why she was paying them to coordinate a wedding when they hadn't even coordinated the items that were part of our wedding package (celebrant, flowers, cake, minister, hairdresser) by 3 weeks out, when the contract had been signed and with them for 3 months!!! They said if we didn't like what they had done, they didn't want our business and would refund the deposit. Mum said "Yes thanks". Next day their story was "Sorry, can't give you any back as it's all been spent"...Like DUH...on WHAT??? You haven't actually DONE or BOOKED anything yet!! Needless to say, mum is now taking them to court.

Essentially, that left us with 3 weeks to figure out another place to hold the wedding, other accomodation (the wedding/accomodation were originally at a B&B near Asheville, NC...which I would REALLY like to name since they were so horrible, but I'll refrain). Luckily my brother is pretty good and finding vacation rentals via the 'net...and he found us a gorgeous cabin on top of a mountain in Highlands, NC (this one I WILL name cuz it's great...Blue Valley Lodge!!!).

Then from this point we had other non-Disney wedding/honeymoon issues that nearly threw everything into a tailspin....the groom nearly didn't get to the US (due to a passport issue), the grooms luggage (and wedding clothing) got lost (but did turn up in time to go to NC), the groom threw his back out 2 days before the wedding (and it stayed messed up and VERY sore until we got back to Australia and sent him to the chiropractor, 2 days ago!!), a bear tried to break into the cabin in NC, the best man couldn't find the cabin and got lost (as did the maid of honour, but they both found it on the day, as did the minister), and my mum lost her electronic car keys (and the bouquets and other wedding necessities were still IN her car)...luckily the spare keys were found.

The wedding went off without a hitch on the 4th....then we pottered around NC for a few more days before heading back to Fla. on July 9th...WILDERNESS LODGE HERE WE COME!!!!

 

[schoen]

Wow! It sounds like you really needed your honeymoon! I am excited to hear more about it!

 

[DaniDownUnder]

After driving from NC to Fla. on July 9th, we finally hit Orlando. I was so excited to be close to WDW that I felt like my skin was buzzing. With the maps in my trusty 'Unofficial Guide' I proceeded to get us off the interstate at the right exit, then got us lost for the next 45 minutes as we couldn't see the sign for 'World Drive' and kept driving past it. At one point we ended up at Animal Kingdom, then AKL, etc.... I adore WDW but I *really* wish they would provide better lighting for their purple signs at night...they are SOOOOOO hard to read!

Once we found the right road, we got lost again and ended up at the Transportation Center because we got right up on the turn before realizing that OUR turn went right...not the left turn it seemed the whole way coming UP to it *grrrrr*. At this point all I wanted was to GET THERE!!! Particularly as we'd spent the 2 weeks prior to our wedding and the 1st week after it, living in a cabin with my family and we were REALLY ready to be on our own for a bit. (Word to the wise: a screaming 3 year old niece does NOTHING to provide a romantic atmosphere on one's wedding night or the days thereafter!)

When we finally found the road to Wilderness Lodge I was ready to leap out of the car and RUN to the entrance, but I restrained my enthusiasm and rode like a civilized person to the drop off point.

At this point it is good to describe the driving arrangements.

First car: Mum driving her VW bug convertable, with me in the front seat and all of the wedding paraphenalia in the back seat (wedding dress, shoes, flowers, hats, etc....). The car is packed to the gunnels.

Second car: My SiL driving, Brother in front seat, 3 yr. old niece in back seat and.....new hubby sitting next to niece (poor dear...I owe him big). This car is an SUV and the back is packed so full, that opening the rear door is a precarious situation.

You might ask why I am riding with my mum and not my hubby, mainly because my brother insisted on riding with my SiL, and there wasn't room for 2 passengers in their backseat.

Back to the story.....

We pulled up to the gatehouse at WL and proceeded to confuse the guard (apparently). The conversation between the first car and the guard went something like this:

Guard - Are you checking in?
Mum - no, we're dropping off honeymooners then leaving.
Guard - How many are staying?
Mum - 2...just the newlyweds.
Guard - Are you using valet parking?
Me - NO...only TWO of us are staying...BOTH cars will be leaving shortly.
Guard - Both cars?
Mum - Yes, this car and the car behind us are together.
Guard - So the other car is staying?
Me - NO...BOTH CARS ARE LEAVING (not shouted...just said VERY slowly).
Guard - Can I see some ID.

By this point my mum was getting ticked and I was wanting to scream. We fish her ID out of her purse, which has been tucked in the backseat amongst the wedding stuff (and took a few moments to find). Meanwhile, the adults in the 2nd car are left wondering what the hold up is.... they soon found out because next it was THEIR turn...the exchange went something like this.

Guard - Are you checking in?
SiL - no, we're dropping off honeymooners then leaving.
Guard - How many are staying?
SiL - just the newlyweds.
Guard - Are you using valet parking?
SiL - NO...we aren't staying.
Guard - So you're just visiting the WL?
SiL- NO...we are dropping people off here.
Guard - Can I see some ID.
SiL and new hubby proceed to dig around to fish her purse out of the WAY back of the SUV where it is tucked...a process that takes a few minutes. Then...just as she gets her purse to the front seat to dig out her ID, the Guard says... "it's okay...drive on in".

ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

As it is nearly 10pm as we are arriving, we didn't see much of the resort upon arrival, but were in awe of the check-in/drop off area. I hopped out of the car almost before mum had stopped it and was greeted by a valet who said "Welcome Home". I was thrilled!

I explained to the valet that neither car was staying, they were just dropping my husband and I off, but that we had luggage spread across both cars and it would take a moment to sort out.

In the meantime, my SiL is releasing my niece from her restraints and running her into the lobby for a bathroom and I soooooo wanted to follow them to see what the lobby was like.

While this is going on, my brother pops the rear door of the SUV only to be greeted with the horrible shatter of glass as the smell of vodka wafts past my nose. I was sooooo embarassed! The valet got someone to clean up the glass while my new hubby and I continued fishing our bags out of the cars.

At long last, the bags were sorted, my niece was back in her car seat and we were ready to go in and REALLY begin our honeymoon. But, not before one last minor issue....we had no cash for tipping...and since living in Australia you don't tip...we'd completely forgotten about needing cash anyway. Luckily my mum came through, gave us cash for the valets and then...poof...the cars were gone and it was just us, at home, at the WL.....WHOHOOOOOO!!!!!

As we walked into the lobby, I nearly cried. It was more beautiful irl than the photos on mouseears.net! Even at 10pm it was bustling with people. Hachi's first comment was "WOW...the fireplace is huge!" I was too busy checking out the yelling coming from Whispering Canyon and the tepee chandeliers above us. "Ohh....the little bridge is actually IN the lobby, how lovely...we have to have a picture on it!"

We hopped in line to check in and were greeting with by a really nice young man (can't remember his name unfortunately) who actually tried to upgrade us to a honeymoon suite (they were all booked...curses :wink: ). A manager came up (I want to say his name was Todd) and proceeded to chat to us...we chatted for nearly 10 minutes.

I have to say it was a very fast check-in and very friendly. We were done in 10 minutes or so and on our way to our room....still rubber-necking trying to take in the whole of the lobby all at once (I dont' think we EVER saw all of it).

We had room 3160, a refurbished room overlooking the pool at the villas. It was quite a hike from the main elevators...and the whole way I was squeaking to my hubby "ohhh...hidden mickeys in the carpets....ohhhhhh....hidden mickeys on the wallpaper"...which sparked a brief discussion of whether they can really be called hidden if I spotted them almost immediately. *lol*

I was in LOVE with the place! The little 'bear' sillohette(sp) lanterns on the walls, the black work on the fire hose boxes, the wooden beams and the views of the pool out the windows in the hall. It was more wonderful than we had dreamed.

Upon entering the room we ran like silly chooks around it checking it all out...ohhhhing and ahhhhing over the embossed leather look headboards, the wooden animals carved on the top of the headboard, the black work lamp above the mirror, etc.... we were in heaven. The room was gorgeous, plenty big enough (it had 2 double beds) and I loved opening the balcony door and listening to the mood music drifting in the window. The room was all we'd hoped it would be and the BEDS!!! Oh my goodness!!! They were firm, but had give to them, conforming to you...kinda like that memory foam stuff. They were the most comfortable beds we'd slept on since arriving in the US!

After checking out the room and having our bags delivered we made our first exploration of the resort, heading to Roaring Forks for a late supper and to get our refillable mugs! The soup was way too salty but the hot chocolate was HEAVENLY!!!!! Following this we meandered over to the Mercantile store and were in awe of the selection there...I could've spent a total bomb in there, right at that moment.

We wanted to check out the pool and the rest of the resort, but it was nearly 11pm by this time and we'd been going since 5am...and we were ready for sleep. So rather reluctantly we crawled into the comfy bed in our room...and our reluctance vanished as we sunk into a deep and happy sleep.

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Loving your report!!! Great writing, very entertaining. Just sorry about all the troubles you had along the way. Hope the rest of your trip went better.

 

[Fizban257]

We also honeymooned at the Wilderness Lodge and loved every minute of it. We promised ourselves to come back and stay there again and did so last summer for our fifth anniversary (with our three children and my parents along for the ride).

 

[KathyRN137]

Congratulations on your marriage!!

Looking forward to more TR. Love all the details!

Kathy

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I'm loving your trip report! I just love honeymoon trips to Disney!! Can't wait for more!

**Congratulations on your marriage!!**

 

[tubachick]

 

[exwdwcm]

can't wait to read the rest! oh and congrats!!

 

[roberrl187]

Great report. I'm hooked.

We also Honeymooned in WDW, but we opted for the ASMo. (Shhhh, that was before I found out about DIS and all of the stuff we were missing.)

 

[robinb]

Thanks so much for taking the time to write your report! "Resort Creep" is very common here on the DIS. We plan a budget vacation and then we read about all the cool(er) places we could stay. Moderates are "only" $50 more than a Value and then the Deluxe is "only" $50 more than than a Moderate. Before you know it you're paying 2-3 times more than you planned to! I'm glad that you were "wow"ed by the WL. It's a very nice resort.

 

[DaniDownUnder]

After crashing around 11:30, our original plan was to get up early and hit MGM...but we were so tired from travelling the whole previous day that when the alarm went off at 6am, it was a unanimous decision to TURN IT OFF!!

We got up 9am and after a bit of discussion regarding what we should do on our first full day at WDW, we decided to...SPEND MONEY...so we headed off to DTD to buy some souveniers, needed clothing and of course...BRIDE EARS (you know, just the necessities :wink: ).

Before heading out of the resort to the bus ranks, we *had* to purchase pin lanyards to hold our KTTKs, and to pin our 'Magical Wishes' honeymoon badges to. Everywhere we went we were greeted with 'Congratulations'. It was kinda odd at first, but we got used to it fast. It was our honeymoon and we wanted to let the whooooooole world know it!

After getting to the bus ranks we were surprised by how hot, humid and sticky it was outside. That settled it, we needed to get one of the mister fans we had seen others carrying around. Luckily, we only had to wait about 15 minutes for a bus to show up. Ordinarily, I would have been cranky, but hey, it was our first day at WDW, NOTHING could ruin my mood!

It was a quiet ride in to DTD. I pointed out Typhoon Lagoon to my hubby, as he'd never been there and I wanted to take him there later in the week. He thought it was very elaborate (poor boy...the only water park he's ever seen is the Wet'n'Wild on the Gold Coast in Australia and it is soooooo lame!!).

Once we arrived at DTD, I felt like I was vibrating ...so much to see...so much to do...so much much to BUY! First stop...the scrapbook shop for a honeymoon scrapbook. Of course, I bought a Disney scrapbook on our first WDW trip in 2003, and can't find it to put the pictures in (bummer). But hey, I was sure I'd keep the honeymoon book where I could find it (atm it's living on a bookcase, waiting for the photos to be developed).

I won't regale you with the details of our shopping expedition. Suffice it to say we didn't get off cheaply, but did get some lovely souveniers, including an engraved 'Our Honeymoon' Disney photo frame and...BRIDE EARS! Hachi tried on the groom hat and it looked perfectly ridiculous, so he decided he'd have to get by with just his honeymooners badge. That was fine, as I wore my bride ears...EVERYWHERE (except Typhoon Lagoon...but I had a 'Bride' ballcap for that day).

We decided to have a bite of lunch at Rainforest Cafe`, which was the first place we at at WDW on our first trip in Dec. 2003. The food was great and we love the atmosphere, it really put us in a 'Disney' frame of mind, being surrounded by anamatronic animals.

After our lunch we headed to the resort for an afternoon siesta. We got back around 2pm and were due at Fort Wilderness for the Hoop de Doo Revue at 5pm. We set the alarm for 3pm as I wanted to be on the boat by 4pm. Big mistake....

We got on a boat right at 4pm...and arrived at FW at 4:10. Thus we were stuck sitting outside, in the heat for nearly and hour until they opened the doors. Since it is assigned seating, it doesn't matter how early you get there, your seat won't be any better or worse. Rather, seats are assigned when you BOOK your tickets! I really wish I'd known that, we would've arrived a bit later!

They did take very nice photos out front while we were waiting. Both sets they took of us were good, but we couldn't justify the $26 price for 1 5x7, some wallets, a magnet and a photo key ring. In retrospect, I wish we had gotten them...hindsight and all that. :wink:

I was rather cranky when they seated us. My hubby had put out his back 2 days before our wedding and was still in pain on turning his body and neck...this wouldn't have been as much of a problem had we been seated downstairs, but they seated us upstairs, along a side. The swivelling chair meant he could turn to face the stage without pain...but it did nothing for me. I was seated right behind a huge upright pole and couldn't see the stage at all. Dear man that he is, my hubby offered to change places with me, but I wanted him on the end of the table so he could stretch out if needed. Unfortunately, as a result I missed any of the show that was actually on the stage.

On the plus side, we were mentioned in the show twice, once for being newlyweds, and once because we are from Australia, whereupon 2Bits announced to the rest of the audience and cast that we were "Going to the Hoop de Doo, riding on a kangaroo"...which we thought was pretty clever.

Copious quantities of sangria helped lighten my mood, as did the food. I LOOOOOOVED the ribs and chicken (makes my mouth water thinking of them now). The ribs were meaty, tender and had just the right amount of sauce and the chicken was seasoned just right. Hachi and I devoured all of he meat they placed in front of us.

The rest of the show and dinner passed without incident. It was my first Disney dinner show, and while I couldn't see much, I would attend again (just ask to be seated on the floor so I could actually SEE the show next time!). We think next time we'll try Ohana, especially if we are going in the fall.

After arriving back at WL, stuffed to the gills, but pretty happy. We decided that as it was quite early (7:15pm) we should probably do some laundry. Realllllllll romantic...the first night of our honeymoon and we spent 2 hours in the WL laundry room, washing clothes and playing gin! *giggle*

As soon as the laundry was done we decided to call it a day, as we wanted to be at MK for emh the next morning, and needed to be up very early.

While not overly adventurous or wild, our first day at WDW ws a great start to our honeymoon...it would only get better from there!

Tune in next time for Day 2...wherein I reignite my love for MK, and swear never to go to Epcot again unless it is mid-October and the temperature highs are in the 70'!!

 

[burly]

Love to hear about any honeymoon at WDW. Keep it going...