We're going to Disney World for our Honeymoon!

[MarknTara]

Hi Everyone!

I had written up a post and then when I tried to post, it said I wasn't logged in so I lost everything I'm going to keep this one shorter.

My fiancee and I are getting married on November 5, 2011. We are both huge Disney fans so we decided that Disney World would be an awesome Honeymoon that we would both enjoy. We both went when we were kids and went again as adults last year in June. We originally intended on going to Universal Studios last June for an entire week but we ended up splitting it- 3 days at Universal and 3 days at Disney and managed to do a park a day (Magic Kingdom, EPCOT and Hollywood Studios) which was awesome. This time we want to spend it at a Disney resort.

We have not booked the trip yet but intend on booking either this weekend or sometime next week. Below is a little information about what we intend on doing. If anyone has any advice please let us know. Any advice is greatly appreciated! We want to make our trip as magical and memorable as possible!

- We are flying in from NJ and intend on using Disney transportation while there. Do the buses run late enough if we end up staying out late?
- The Animal Kingdom Lodge was where we intended on staying. We thought the Savannah view would be nice. We were debating a couple other resorts to stay in, such as the Port Orleans. We weren't totally sure on which would be the best for a Honeymoon.
- We are going to do all 4 parks- Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Are the park hoppers worth it? Last time we went down, we did one park a day and managed to do everything we wanted to within that day and more.
- Dining. I found out that we could make reservations well in advance for restaurants. Could anyone recommend any nice places to go to? Is it worth it to get the meal plan?
- We have never gone to Downtown Disney. Is that worth visiting? I need to do some more research on this but thought I'd ask you all
- We intend on spending at least one day in Universal Studios. Has anyone gone from Disney to Universal for one day? Last time we used Mears and they were on time and got us there in good time.
- Mickey Mouse/Minnie Mouse ears- We need to order (?) these from what I've read. Do these ears make the trip feel that much more special? I was reading some stories that the cast members really go out of their way to say congrats or do little things for you on your Honeymoon.

Wow the list got big, sorry guys Any and all advice/tips/tricks/dining locations would be greatly appreciated. We cannot wait to go!!
Thanks so much for any advice you guys possibly give

 

[JKMJ441724]

Congrats!

 

[SheilaHeartsDisney]

congrats!! I just wanted to say that Animal Kingdom Lodge savanah view is awesome. I would highly recommend getting that room. Even if you can't get savanah view any room at Animal Kingdom Lodge is great.

 

[MarknTara]

Thanks! If we can't get the savannah view, we probably are going to look for an alternative. I probably should not of posted a zillion questions in my OP but if anyone else has any tips or advice please share. I'm looking for anything which would help us

 

[herb102211]

Congrats on your wedding and HM! FI and I are getting married 10/22 and will be honeymooning in Disney for a week and then heading back in December for our Disney cruise!

If you budget allows, I would definitely go for a deluxe resort if you can. Our favorite deluxe is the Beach Club. The location is perfect (5 minute walk to Epcot, walk or take the boat to HS, and if you have a park hopper, take the monorail from Epcot to MK). The Beach Club also has the best pool in Disney, Stormalong Bay, IMO. They also have a fake beach. You can also walk on the Boardwalk at night, which is right across the lagoon from the Beach Club. I’ve never been to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, but I will tell you that it’s one of the furthest resorts from all of the parks (other than Animal Kingdom).

I would do the park hopper passes. We used to just do the one park per day pass, but found that we can do a lot more in the day with a park hopper. We like to go to one park during the day and then head over to whatever park has the extra magic hours that night, later on.

If you, get the dining plan. You will save a lot of $$ ,especially if you eat some of the more expensive restaurants. Here’s a few you should check out-California Grill (Contemporary), Grand Floridian Café (GF), Yachtman Steakhouse (Yacht Club) Tutto Italia, Via Napoli and LeCellier in Epcot, 50’s Prime Time and Sci Fi Diner in Hollywood Studios, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Tony’s and Crystal Palace in MK and the Tusker House in AK.

Downtown Disney is fun. They have a bunch of cool shop and restaurants. We usually plan on spending a half day there. It’s opened pretty late at night, so maybe head there on a day that you go to a park that’s closing early.

We’ve never been to Universal, but we did go to Discovery Cove on our last trip while staying at the Beach Club. There is a shuttle from WDW hotels to Universal/SeaWorld/Discovery Cove. It’s from Mears and I think its $18pp roundtrip. We ended up taking a cab though last minute which cost us $65 round trip, so if you can, take the shuttle.

The Bride and Groom ears! You can order them from the Disney Store website or get them at WDW. A bunch of places throughout the parks and hotels sell them.

Since you’re going when the Christmas decorations will be up, make sure you stop by Hollywood Studios to see the Osborne Light Display and check out Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at MK!! Also, the food and wine festival will be going on at Epcot, so be sure to go to that, too!!

Have an awesome trip!!

 

[MarknTara]

Hi Herb!

Thank you for your response! Congrats to you as well on your wedding and HM!!

I never even thought about the location of the resort in comparison to some of the other ones. I am going to discuss this with my fiancee to see what she wants to do. Thank you for recommending Beach Club, I'm going to ch eck that one out. It sounds like a great option.

Thank you on the park hoppers and the dining information. We will likely get the park hopper so we're not stuck in one park. Regarding the restaurants, are they also included in the dining plan? Are those restaurants what the parks refer to as the sit down meal?

Thanks on the rest, we're happy that we will be there in time for the Xmas parade I was hoping to catch the Universal Studios grinch parade as well but it doesn't look like they will have their Xmas decorations up at that time. Discovery Cove sounds like a good idea. We used Mears last time we went and they weren't bad at all.

Thanks so much for your response. I hope you have an awesome trip as well

 

[herb102211]

Hi Herb!

Thank you for your response! Congrats to you as well on your wedding and HM!!

I never even thought about the location of the resort in comparison to some of the other ones. I am going to discuss this with my fiancee to see what she wants to do. Thank you for recommending Beach Club, I'm going to ch eck that one out. It sounds like a great option.

Thank you on the park hoppers and the dining information. We will likely get the park hopper so we're not stuck in one park. Regarding the restaurants, are they also included in the dining plan? Are those restaurants what the parks refer to as the sit down meal?

Thanks on the rest, we're happy that we will be there in time for the Xmas parade I was hoping to catch the Universal Studios grinch parade as well but it doesn't look like they will have their Xmas decorations up at that time. Discovery Cove sounds like a good idea. We used Mears last time we went and they weren't bad at all.

Thanks so much for your response. I hope you have an awesome trip as well

Thanks MarknTara! All of the restaurants I mentioned are what Disney refers to as "Table Service" meals. Some of them, like Crystal Palace are a buffett, but they are all classified as table service. The other type of meals are quick service (think of fast food- burgers, chicken sandwiches, etc). There is the quick service dining plan which allows 2 quick service meals per day as well as 2 snacks per person. The other dining plan allows 1 table service, 1 quick service and 1 snack per person, per day. The deluxe dining plan allows 3 meals (either table or quick service) and 2 snacks. We've always done the dining plan with 1 table service and found that to be fine. All of the restaurants I mentioned are on the dining plan, but the signature restaurants (Cinderella's Royal Table and the California Grill) take 2 table service credits per person. You can also use more than one table service/quick service per day. Say you were in Epcot and wanted to eat at 2 table table service meals, but didn't want to eat at any table service restaurants the next day at AK, you can do that. You just can't go over your allotment for the week.

The park hopper is also great because if one park is too busy( which at the time of the year you're going shouldn't be a problem, but you never know! ), you can go to another park.

Have a great trip and happy wedding planning!

 

[lilbrimomma]

CONGRATS!!!! I also am planning a honeymoon! i am getting married 2/29/12 and will be spending the first week of march at the world!! There is so much to look into when planning a disneymoon trip I and my fiance both has never been to Disney so Cant really help much but goodluck and i will continue to check this out for more info to help me

 

[MarknTara]

Thanks a lot Herb

One of my coworkers here suggested California Grill to dine at during the fireworks. Have you ever eaten there?

Thanks lilbrimomma, hopefully we can both learn a lot from posters here Congrats to you as well!!!!

 

[DisneyHawkeye]

Congrats! I got married at WDW in 2009 and had part of my honeymoon there as well, it was amazing! I also recommend Beach Club, it is my DH's favorite hotel. Any of the deluxe hotels are really nice though.Wilderness Lodge is romantic too. I would definetly get a park hopper, it is fun to be able to go from park to park especially if one park seems especially busy.

California Grill is a great restaurant and watching the fireworks from the observation deck up there is really fun. They play the Wishes soundtrack on speakers up there. Also you don't have to eat there during the fireworks, they will let you watch from the observation deck as long as you have eaten there at some point that day, you just have to show your receipt or tell a CM. One of my favorite restaurants is Kona Cafe at the Polynesian. it is a one credit meal on the dining plan( California Grill is two). Teppan Edo is another fun one credit one, it is in Japan at Epcot. Le Celier and Ohana are also great one credit choices, but Le Celier switches to two credits at dinner just FYI.

I LOVED having the ears and we did get special treatment! Ask for the buttons too when you check into your hotel! They are free and really cute. A CM saw me and DH wearing our buttons on Rock N Roller coaster ( we were in the front row) so he let us go through this door next to the exit and we got to go on again right away front row!