WDW/DCL Western Caribbean Honeymoon Extravaganza!! 7/19-8/1 PTR

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Hello!! I started this TR on the general Trip Reports board but I really wanted to put it on the cruise board, too!! And with a little encouragement from Podsnel, here I am!! I'm just going to copy and paste the same posts from my other thread (hope that's ok ). There'll be a little bit of cruise, a little bit of WDW and even a little bit of wedding. Here we goooooooo!!!

Okay, a little background info:
Here's our engagement picture! And by that, I mean the picture that I took of us after we got engaged. I've become really good and taking pics of us by holding out my arm! It's easier if I'm on the left side of him, but this one came out pretty good!

Me: Nikki - Disney girl, born and raised! My first trip was when I was 18 months old. My parents drove in a station wagon from NJ with me and my 5 year old sister. Apparently we also went to the World's Fair in Tennessee on that trip, but I don't remember it. Since then, we went every four years until I was 13, then I've been at least once a year since then.

DFi: Tom - WDW virgin until he met me! Tom likes to draw and is really good at it. He even went to animation school for a while and was always into Disney and Disney movies, he just never went to Disney World before. Now we are both Disney fanatics from parks to movies, history and everything else Disney related.

We started dating in 2003. Our first trip to Disney World was in August 2006 and we had a blast!! He was instantly hooked...thankfully! Or I don't know if this wedding would be taking place! Our second trip was August 2007, where we engaged on a bench on the World Showcase lagoon. We went once again for a long weekend in the winter of 2008.

Tom after his first day ever in Disney! He's exhausted, but notice the smile on his face!

So of course, our honeymoon had to be a DISNEYmoon. At first, we batted around the idea of of going to London and Paris...so we can go to Disneyland Paris. But I'm too much of a control freak to go to a place I've never been before (if that makes sense). So how could we switch it up so it's not just a regular WDW trip? ADD A DISNEY CRUISE!!!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

THE HONEYMOON!
Our wedding is Saturday night, July 18th and we have a 6:30AM flight out the next morning! Crazy, you say? Maybe we are but our thinking was, let's just get there! Like I'm really going to sleep that night anyway! I can never sleep the night before Disney. We'd go straight from the reception to the airport if there was a redeye.

The Resort: We stayed at the WL on our 2007 trip and Tom loved it. It's my favorite resort, too, so that's where Tom thinks we're staying. A long time ago, I asked Tom, "If you could stay anywhere in Disney, where would you stay?" His answer, "The Polynesian, but I know we'll never stay there because it's too expensive." At that moment, I decided we're staying at he POLY!!! Luckily, because I'm in charge, he still has no idea and I can't believe I've kept it a secret for so long. We were able to take advantage of the Buy 4, Get 3 free deal...but we're only staying 6 nights, so really we're getting 2 free. We can't stay the extra night because we leave for the cruise that morning!!! We also had to get 1-day base tickets since we have APs. I'm still thinking an AP discount may be released and we'll switch back to a room-only reservation but we'll have to just wait and see...

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Dining: We LOVE to eat! But we tried the dining plan when we went on our 4-day trip last winter and we ended up with FIVE counter service meals leftover! I think part of our at-home eating habits comes from boredom and in Disney, we just don't think to stop and eat unless we are hungry. We even sometimes split counter service. At home, I like to get nice and full when I eat, and then lay down in front of the TV for a while...but July is too hot to be walking around Disney with full belly! So we probably won't do the dining plan again.

Here's my tentative list of where we want to eat.
* need ADR

7/19 -
lunch: Pecos Bill
dinner: 'Ohana*

7/20 -
breakfast: Kona*
lunch: Flame Tree

7/21 -
lunch: Chefs de France* (I just switched this with Mexico)
dinner: Rose and Crown *(hopefully outside for Illumintations)

7/22 -
breakfast: pastries and coffee at Royal Anandapur Tea Co. AK
lunch: Beaches and Cream

7/23 -
lunch: Liberty Tree Tavern*

7/24 -
lunch: Beirgarten*

7/25 -
breakfast: we'll try to hit up Kona for breakfast again (if we like it the first time) before we leave for the cruise but don't want to commit to an ADR at this point so if we can't get in, maybe we'll order room service

All other meals, we'll just play by ear. We want to be able to snack a lot which is why we're doing mainly ADRs for lunches so we don't have to worry about "saving room for dinner" all day! Also because lunch is usually less expensive and in case of the buffets, most likely the same food. All of our ADRs are places we've never eaten at before and I'm excited to try new places. (We had dinner at LTT but never lunch. And once we had the AK breakfast I'm planning totally by accident and it was awesome to just chill and peoplewatch, while listening to the monkeys scream! I want to recreate it!)

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

So another reason the dining plan didn't work for us so well is that we like to fill up on drinks!! Actually, I'm usually not a big drinker at all. Occassionally I'll get a drink with dinner but I'm kind of past the "going out on the weekends and getting drunk" phase. I'd rather do without the sick feeling in the morning and I usually end up with a headache two drinks in anyway....But for some reason in Disney, I LOVE my drinks!! My favorite???

MMMMMM mmmm mmmmm! The tasty margarita! Here we are enjoying some in my favorite World Shocase pavilion...Mexico!

This is what happens after one margarita...

Here's an example of what might hapen after two margaritas.....

Here's what might happen after three or more....

NO IDEA whose stroller that was...Chip motioned for me to get in it and who was I to argue!

I've got it all planned out so that we can have three margaritas before going the rest of the way around WS. Here's how! We always start going around WS with Mexico. Get margarita #1 asap. Enjoy it while walking around the pavilion. Come out of the pavilion and get margarita #2. Enjoy this while walking around Norway. Before going onto China, run back real quick to get margarita #3. Ta Da!


Just to show you we DO enjoy other drinks...
Here we are with some frozen drinks at the Banana Cabana! Again, see how good I am at taking pics of ourselves? Who needs photopass?!

Hope you guys like pics! That's always my favorite part of other people's trip reports so I hope you don't mind...I'm probably going to put a lot of pics in here!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I have this shopping problem. It's actually quite different from most women's shopping problems. I actually very rarely shop. I'm the kind of person that goes to a store, gets what I came for and leave. I do not like to browse. I'm just too practical and I hate spending money on clothes unless I really need something.

BUT for some reason, whenever I have a trip planned, I have to buy and buy and buy!! In fact, if it wasn't for my Disney trips, I probably would never buy anything! (Okay, that's a little bit of an exaggeration.) But I didn't own a pair of shorts that fit before our first trip to WDW together and I think I bought 18 pairs for an 8-day trip. Disney trips is the only thing I get excited to buy stuff for!

I mention this now because I got some D23 merchandise in the mail today, including the red messenger bag that I thought would be perfect for future DH to use for excursions. The only problem is, I bought a personalized messanger bag a while ago when Disneyshopping had them on sale. In fact, I have about eight bags that would be appopriate for him to use but I guess I just wanted an excuse to buy something D23. Well, here it is.
http://disneyshopping.go.com/disney...s-D23-Member-Exclusive-Messenger-Bag----Small

What will I use for excursions?? This!
http://oldnavy.gap.com/Asset_Archive/ONWeb/Assets/Product/638/638031/main/on638031-02p01v01.jpg

I am on this kick of buying "cruise casual" and this bag is SOOOO cruise casual!!

 

[WDWboy]

Have a wonderful trip! We're going around same as you 7/18-26 wdw and 7/26-7/30 cruise ... not same as you.. we're on the wonder and not on honymoon lol ...less then 4 months now !!!!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Have a wonderful trip! We're going around same as you 7/18-26 wdw and 7/26-7/30 cruise ... not same as you.. we're on the wonder and not on honymoon lol ...less then 4 months now !!!!

I know! I can't believe how fast the time goes! We had a 2-year engagement and now that it's just a few months away, I just can't believe it's almost here!

Thanks for joining the TR! See you in WDW!

 

[Jennifer48]

All caught up. Post more!

I'm doing a Disney cruise for my honeymoon too but thats not until September so I'm excited to read about your trip!

 

[cakesnjammom]

we stayed at the Poly on our first on-site trip and WOW you guys are going to LOVE IT....it is SOOOO peaceful. And being able to jump on that monorail is the best thing ever...it really does take some of the "shock" off your feet! We loved it and you will too....what a great DISNEYmoon. keep us posted on your plans! Surprised to see no Crystal Palace? or Le Celluer (YUM!) enjoy planning! Keep everything...neat momentos!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

All caught up. Post more!

I'm doing a Disney cruise for my honeymoon too but thats not until September so I'm excited to read about your trip!

Oh great! We can plan together!

we stayed at the Poly on our first on-site trip and WOW you guys are going to LOVE IT....it is SOOOO peaceful. And being able to jump on that monorail is the best thing ever...it really does take some of the "shock" off your feet! We loved it and you will too....what a great DISNEYmoon. keep us posted on your plans! Surprised to see no Crystal Palace? or Le Celluer (YUM!) enjoy planning! Keep everything...neat momentos!

Thanks!! Well, like I said, we wanted to try all new places to eat this trip. We've eaten at Le Cellier and Crystal Palace breakfast the past two trips. PLUS, we are going back in October for a long weekend with my sister, brother-in-law and 8 month old niece (she'll be 15 months by then) and Crystal Palace is a MUST for that trip!

Here's a Crystal Palace pic from last trip.

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

How about a little wedding info??

Unfortunately, we are not having a Disney World wedding but it will be a little bit disney! We knew we wanted a Disney theme but didn't really want it to look like a kid's birthday party. We threw around some ideas, mickey and minnie, cinderella, etc. Finally we came up with idea to base the theme of our wedding on Wishes, the MK fireworks show. Here's how we're going to do it.

Cake - We're going to get a cake with some sort of star theme on it. Haven't met with the baker yet but I printed some ideas from the net!

Wedding Song - When You Wish Upon a Star, of course!! But to make it more personal and not so cheesy, we are having Billy Joel's version from the 90's tv special, Simply Mad About the Mouse. We've seen Billy Joel in concert a couple of times and, although we didn't even know each other at the time, we've talked about how we both enjoyed that special when it was on t.v.

Favors - Instead of favors we are going to donate to Make a Wish.

Centerpieces (my favorite part!)) - We are having Disney snowglobes and each one will be decorated with star garland and tulle and a ribbon stating a "wish" from that movie. Confused yet? Here are the two practice ones that we've done so far.

This one is for Cinderella but it's not exactly done. We ran out of tulle so it will be a little more filled in.

I absolutely LOVE how they came out!! I'm waiting until school gets out to put the other ones together. I know it's going to be a total pain getting the globes and bases to the reception hall. Luckily, my friend who helped me put them together volunteered to go to the hall early to make sure they are set up properly.

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Now, I don't want to do TOO much wedding so I thought I'd get it all out of the way tonight. Here's my dress!!

OKAY! That's it for wedding for now! I just had to get it out of the way....

 

[podsnel]

I LOVE it- now you'll have twice the readers- soooo cool! And I still love the dress and the centerpieces-

Ellen

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I LOVE it- now you'll have twice the readers- soooo cool! And I still love the dress and the centerpieces-

Ellen

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

That's right! Rockefeller Center.


Okay, so Thursday was Tom's birthday. So I got us tickets to his favorite musical, Guys and Dolls, which just came back to broadway this month. Of course, we took the train into the city early so we can go to the World of Disney store!!

For those of you who don't know, it's the only other World of Disney store outside of Disney parks. They sell a park-exclusive merchandise so you get a feeling of actually being in Disney when you are there. WAY better than the disney stores in your local mall. They also have a lot of Disney/NYC merchandise, like Minnie dressed as the Statue of Liberty, clothes that say NYC with a Mickey head, or that famous I *heart* NY shirt but with a red Mickey head instead of a heart. You get the idea.

Well, apparently a few months ago they announced to the cast members who work there that it would be closing but they didn't give a date so I was very glad it was still open. The store is three floors so e spent a good hour and a half in there and it wasn't until I left that I realized I didn't buy a single thing for myself! I bought my brother-in-law a t-shirt that says New York City with Mickey dressed as a police officer (he's a cop in Brooklyn). I bought my niece tiny pearl earings. Each earing has three pearls like a hidden mickey. I bought my sister a necklace that says Mom with a little Mickey head underneath. (She's a new mom this year!) I bought my dad a money clip with a mickey head on it (he just lost his old one a few weeks ago) and Tom got Mickey cufflinks for the wedding!! That was the big find of the day!

So that was all on one side of the first floor. Clothes, jewelry, accessories, etc. The other side of the first floor is all the kitchen stuff you can find at the WOD in WDW. Cups, plates, snacks, etc.

The second floor is stuffed animals, toys, books, movies and cds. Again, a lot of toys you can only get in the parks. Lots of stuff that you can find in the POTC store, etc.

The third floor is mostly collectables and art. This is the floor that scares me because I am accident prone and am always afraid I'm going to knock over some thousand dollar statue. There was an entire wall of the Jim Shore statues, which I love but I don't do "things" around my house so I didn't get any! On this floor you can also find frames that I've seen in park stores and computers directing you to book your trip!!

But the BEST thing on this floor is the character meet and greet room. I've only seen the princesses there but I've heard they have some other characters too. They even have a photopass photographer. No one was there when we were yesterday.

Or was there.....

NOOOO! That is NOT our Mickey Mouse. He was actually just standing on the street with what looked to be Elmo and the Cookie Monster, but I couldn't be sure. If we weren't in a rush to get to the theatre, I would have stopped to take of picture of Mickey with Tom (probably giving him a dirty look) but we had to run!

Lastly, when we finally took our seats at the theatre and were waiting for the play to start, Tom couldn't help but notice that the top three dice on the stage visual looked strangely like a hidden mickey...what do you think??

See how we can find a lot of "Disney" in any day?! Other than that, it turned out to be a beautiful day and Tom enjoyed the leisurely walk from the WOD, through Rockefeller Center to the theatre. He works in Manhattan so he usually isn't jumping at the chance to go there on the weekends too. Oh, and the play was GREAT!! Tom saw it originally with Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella (Timon and Pumba in the Lion King) so it was hard to beat but he really enjoyed it too. Oliver Platt and Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls) were in it. I thought she was great...way better than I expected.

So glad just to be able to stay home today! It's been a busy month!!

 

[Jennifer48]

How did you print the Disney sayings on that ribbon? Great idea! Your guests are going to be fighting over taking home the centerpiece!

Your dress is gorgeous!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

How did you print the Disney sayings on that ribbon? Great idea! Your guests are going to be fighting over taking home the centerpiece!

I didn't print on the ribbon, I printed on vellum, which you can put right into your computer, then I cut it to fit on the ribbon and used a xyron machine to make it a "sticker" and just stuck it onto the ribbon.

Your dress is gorgeous!

Thank you !!!

 

[mousetravel]

That is NOT Mickey Mouse! Find that imposter & have him arrested!

Subscribing!

 

[CentFLCruiser]

Reading your posts has totally made my day! Thank you for that! I look forward to sharing your journey through this thread. You and your fiance are beautiful and I am so happy for you both. My DH and I are going to be on the Wonder to celebrate our 3rd anniversary on May 28 (58 days Woo Hoo!).

Our first cruise ever was a 4-night on the Wonder in 2005. We then got married on a RC cruise in 2006. It was a great wedding and honeymoon, but after the DCL cruise we were a teensy bit disappointed with the RC cruise itself. Nothing beats DCL!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

That is NOT Mickey Mouse! Find that imposter & have him arrested!

Subscribing!

Yay!! Thanks for coming along! I know, isn't that Mickey just ridiculous?! And there were kids actually jumping in to get a picture with him!!

Reading your posts has totally made my day! Thank you for that! I look forward to sharing your journey through this thread. You and your fiance are beautiful and I am so happy for you both. My DH and I are going to be on the Wonder to celebrate our 3rd anniversary on May 28 (58 days Woo Hoo!).

Our first cruise ever was a 4-night on the Wonder in 2005. We then got married on a RC cruise in 2006. It was a great wedding and honeymoon, but after the DCL cruise we were a teensy bit disappointed with the RC cruise itself. Nothing beats DCL!

Wow, you are so nice!! Thanks for all the kind words and I'm so glad you're joining in my trip report!! I've never been on a cruise before but I hear it's addicting...and certainly a DISNEY cruise!!