A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes: A March 2011 Disney Wedding/Honeymoon Trip Report

It’s official! Brett and I are finally married and I couldn’t be more excited. We had the most perfect wedding day ever, at our most favorite place in the whole entire world. And of course, as expected, it went by all too quickly. I’m not going to lie, coming down off the high that was our Disney wedding/cruise/honeymoon has been tough. In fact, I'm hoping that writing up/posting this trip report will help me work through some of that. However, I’ve spent much of my spare time in the last few weeks staring at a blank word document... writer’s block? Never heard of it! :lol:

For the first time ever, in all my trip report writing, I did a pre-trip report. It lays out most of the wedding-related details, but for those of you out there who are like me and rarely read pre-trip reports, here’s a quick rundown of events:

Wednesday, March 16, 2011: Drive down, check in offsite for the night
Thursday, March 17, 2011: Check-in, Disney’s Polynesian Resort
Friday, March 18, 2011: Wedding Day, Sunset Pointe
Sunday, March 20, 2011: Board Disney Dream for a 4 night Bahamas cruise
Thursday, March 24, 2011: Check-in, Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Sunday, March 27, 2011: Check out and head home

We kind of saw this trip as having three legs: Wedding/Cruise/Disney!

A look back at our Disney trip reports: September 2008 (Contemporary), December 2008 (Old Key West), January 2009 (Port Orleans Riverside & Disney Marathon), July 2009 (Wilderness Lodge Villas/Animal Kingdom Lodge), December 2009 (Beach Club Villas), March 2010 (Pop Century & Princess Half), June 2010 (Coronado Springs), August 2010 (Polynesian & Engagement), December 2010 (Kidani Village)

This was our first time on DCL, however, we’ve cruised a handful of times before. So if anyone is interested, those trip reports can be found here: May 2009 (Carnival Liberty), December 2009 (Royal Caribbean Monarch of the Seas), May 2010 (Emerald Princess), June 2010 (Norwegian Sky)

Oh dear. I feel like I’m embarking on what will be the longest trip report EVER (and I’ve written some long ones). My apologies in advance, as it will likely take awhile to get this report up in its entirety. The good news though, is that I’ve completed the text all the way up through the wedding, so we’ll get to that part fairly quickly!

With all that said, let the memories begin...

 

[WDWFigment]

First of all, congratulations on the wedding! I think it's safe to say this is a trip report for which a lot of people have been waiting; glad to see it posted already, and can't wait to read the rest!

That's awesome about Daisy and Donald signing your wedding flip flops, great idea there. The only time we've been to the Studios when they've been out, their line was really long and we were with my parents, who were not especially keen on meeting characters. Hopefully on our next trip!

If I recall correctly, the Sigma 30 is a new acquistion. How do you like it? Ours inexplicably broke last week at Disneyland, so I had to quickly order a new one. I always find it funny when I hand the camera off to the "professional" PhotoPass photographers, and they're perplexed at how to zoom out on the lens.

Your action photos from Indy are excellent!

Oh, and it looks like our next trips overlap (not stalking you guys, I just saw Brett post in the Pixar Weekend thread); if we see any other childless-adults camped out in line for rare Pixar characters (hooray!) we will be sure to say hi!

Can't wait to read the rest of this report!

 

[lisak09]

Can't wait for the rest of this report especially the wedding photos! What a cute idea with the flipflops!

 

[meganw1985]

Omg FINALLY!!! I feel like I've been waiting for this report FOREVER! :ROFLOL: I was hoping you would get it going before my wedding!!! (which is in 20 days btw!)

Love the flops! Such a cute idea! And I love love LOVE the garment bag!

Keep it comin girl! The anticipation is killing me!!!

 

[skeletor1990]

Hi Holly! I have been an avid reader of all of your reports and like everyone else I have been waiting for this report with much anticipation. I've never posted on any of your previous reports but it seems fitting now, so congratulations!!! I'm a 20 year old girl so I have always found the relationship you and Brett have to be very romantic. I'm so happy that you had such an amazing Disney wedding and honeymoon and can't wait to read the rest of the report! -Eleanor

 

[Fashionista007]

WOOHOO!! Congratulations Holly & Brett! I'm so happy the TR is finally here I can't wait to hear about the entire wedding day and your experience on DCL. I just booked the WDW Radio Cruise in Nov. 2012 on the Dream a few weeks ago and it will be the first cruise for both Jason and I. Also our first international travel experience so we'll be getting passports after we get married in September :sohappy:

Tear count: 1. I got teary at your first picture at MK with your bride and groom ears! Keep it coming!!

 

[MrsWhiffo]

Congratulations!

Like everybody this has been the TR I have been waiting for!!

 

[harveyt0206]

Sooooo excited for this trip report. Congratulations to you both. Can't wait to read the rest.

 

[HollyBelle]

First of all, congratulations on the wedding! I think it's safe to say this is a trip report for which a lot of people have been waiting; glad to see it posted already, and can't wait to read the rest!

That's awesome about Daisy and Donald signing your wedding flip flops, great idea there. The only time we've been to the Studios when they've been out, their line was really long and we were with my parents, who were not especially keen on meeting characters. Hopefully on our next trip!

If I recall correctly, the Sigma 30 is a new acquistion. How do you like it? Ours inexplicably broke last week at Disneyland, so I had to quickly order a new one. I always find it funny when I hand the camera off to the "professional" PhotoPass photographers, and they're perplexed at how to zoom out on the lens.

Your action photos from Indy are excellent!

Oh, and it looks like our next trips overlap (not stalking you guys, I just saw Brett post in the Pixar Weekend thread); if we see any other childless-adults camped out in line for rare Pixar characters (hooray!) we will be sure to say hi!

Can't wait to read the rest of this report!

Thanks, Tom! I love the fact that Donald and Daisy are doing meets together now. Had we been willing to spend the crazy amount of money necessary to have characters at the wedding, they were at the top of the list.

I love the Sigma 30... it rarely leaves my camera now that I have it. Although, other than the cheap 50 1.8, it's the only lens I have with such wide aperture capabilities. And once you get used to that, it's incredibly hard to give it up. I'd love to get some longer ones, like maybe an 85 or 135 prime; however, I'm afraid I'd constantly be wanting to take it off while in the parks because they're not convenient for taking pictures of us at close range, or pictures with characters. I'm guessing you don't have this problem as much because you and Sarah both carry cameras? I always tell the "pro" photogs that it doesn't zoom and yet I still see them moving the manual focus ring back and forth.

So, Disneyland last week and Disney World next week? That is AWESOME! Will you be participating in the D23 scavenger hunt? I've got to say, that is the first D23 event I've seen that has me wishing I was a member. It looks like an absolute blast.

Can't wait for the rest of this report especially the wedding photos! What a cute idea with the flipflops!

Thanks, Lisa! I was really happy with how the flip flops turned out with the signatures.

Omg FINALLY!!! I feel like I've been waiting for this report FOREVER! :ROFLOL: I was hoping you would get it going before my wedding!!! (which is in 20 days btw!)

Love the flops! Such a cute idea! And I love love LOVE the garment bag!

Keep it comin girl! The anticipation is killing me!!!

YAY!! 20 days until your wedding.... sooooo exciting. :sohappy: Have you started having minor freak outs yet?! My apologies for the long wait, but I'll definitely get through the actual wedding this week!

Hi Holly! I have been an avid reader of all of your reports and like everyone else I have been waiting for this report with much anticipation. I've never posted on any of your previous reports but it seems fitting now, so congratulations!!! I'm a 20 year old girl so I have always found the relationship you and Brett have to be very romantic. I'm so happy that you had such an amazing Disney wedding and honeymoon and can't wait to read the rest of the report! -Eleanor

Eleanor... first, I've just gotta say, I LOVE your avatar! Thanks for taking the time to post, I really appreciate it. The relationship Brett and I have feels very romantic, so I thank you for that comment... it makes me smile!

WOOHOO!! Congratulations Holly & Brett! I'm so happy the TR is finally here I can't wait to hear about the entire wedding day and your experience on DCL. I just booked the WDW Radio Cruise in Nov. 2012 on the Dream a few weeks ago and it will be the first cruise for both Jason and I. Also our first international travel experience so we'll be getting passports after we get married in September :sohappy:

Tear count: 1. I got teary at your first picture at MK with your bride and groom ears! Keep it coming!!

Thanks, Shelley! Oooh, having a November cruise booked is perfect timing coming on the heels of your wedding trip!! And smart to wait until then to get your passport... going through all the name change paperwork is a real pain! I've been keeping up with your planning thread and haven't had a chance to post recently, but I hope your Star Wars Weekend trip turns out to be the stress reliever that you need these days.

Congratulations!

Like everybody this has been the TR I have been waiting for!!

Aww, thanks, angelbunni!

 

[HollyBelle]

Sooooo excited for this trip report. Congratulations to you both. Can't wait to read the rest.

Thanks, Tracy!!!

 

[joanna71985]

Yay! Loving the TR so far (and just want to say Congrats again!).

Oh, and it looks like our next trips overlap (not stalking you guys, I just saw Brett post in the Pixar Weekend thread); if we see any other childless-adults camped out in line for rare Pixar characters (hooray!) we will be sure to say hi!

I'll be there! I'm going at least Fri and Sat (and maybe Sun afternoon, if I still need any characters). Can't wait!!

 

[Soaringirl]

:sohappy:I'm very excited that you've started this trip report!!! Congratulations. Loving everything so far, so happy that you got Minnie and Daisy to sign those cute flip flops. Can't wait for more......

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

yay!!! so excited to see that you started posting your trip report! can't wait to read all about your wedding and honeymoon! and i'm very excited to read about your trip on the disney dream! we will be taking a 4 night cruise on the dream for the first part of our honeymoon and i am super excited!

 

[HollyBelle]

Yay! Loving the TR so far (and just want to say Congrats again!).

I'll be there! I'm going at least Fri and Sat (and maybe Sun afternoon, if I still need any characters). Can't wait!!

Thanks, Joanna! Maybe we'll all run into each other. Epcot is going to be INSANE!

:sohappy:I'm very excited that you've started this trip report!!! Congratulations. Loving everything so far, so happy that you got Minnie and Daisy to sign those cute flip flops. Can't wait for more......

Me too, Gloria! Those signatures couldn't have come out more perfectly. Thanks.

yay!!! so excited to see that you started posting your trip report! can't wait to read all about your wedding and honeymoon! and i'm very excited to read about your trip on the disney dream! we will be taking a 4 night cruise on the dream for the first part of our honeymoon and i am super excited!

Woohoo! You're going to love the Dream. How's the wedding planning coming along?

 

[HollyBelle]

After lunch, Derek, Kathy and Danny went to the Wide World of Sports to pick up tickets for the spring training game they were going to attend the day after the wedding, and the rest of us headed back to the Polynesian. It’s definitely a good thing Brett talked me out of trying to go to the AK, because it was almost 2:00pm by the time we got back to the resort and we needed to be ready for the luau by 4:45pm.

Unlike earlier in the morning when things were chaotic, we were really able to take in all the Poly goodness when we got back that afternoon.

“Our” waterfall:

Notice Brett’s carrying the trusty umbrella we didn’t have to use. Best unnecessary purchase ever!

We’d gotten the text that our room was ready sometime during lunch; however, this wasn’t the case for my parents. In fact, they ended up having to wait until after 4:00pm to get into their room. We all strolled off towards Tahiti, stopping at Tangaroa Terrace along the way.

 

[steph88]

Love the trip report so far! Anc congratulations on the wedding! I keep telling my fiancee that we should just go to disney and get married, but he's extremely stubborn lol. And you have totally inspired me to have characters sign my shoes! :sohappy:

 

[joanna71985]

Thanks, Joanna! Maybe we'll all run into each other. Epcot is going to be INSANE!

That would be awesome! This weekend is going to be great!

 

[HollyBelle]

I may have mentioned in the pre-trip report that the rain location for our ceremony was supposed to be some random conference room at the Contemporary. I absolutely hated this idea. I’ve participated in a conference over there and there’s nothing Disney about the inside of those meeting rooms, they look like every other windowless/barren conference room across the country. The last thing I wanted was to get married in a conference room that looks like it could’ve been in my hometown. Unfortunately though, this seemed to be the only option so I simply accepted it, UNTIL... I came across some wedding ceremony shots a week before the wedding that looked like they were taken indoors at the Polynesian.

When I asked my planner about this, she told me that Tangaroa Terrace is sometimes used for the cake celebration portion of a wedding if/when the weather at Sunset Pointe is too hot or too cold, but they don’t recommend it as a rain backup due to the lack of natural light. Ummm... how is a conference room any better? While I would normally trust someone’s judgment on a space I’ve never seen in person, it was really important to Brett and I that we get married at the Poly, so we asked our planner if we could make Tangaroa our back up location instead. She happily switched it for us, and surprisingly enough, this gave me some peace of mind over the weather. If it did happen to pour on our wedding day at least we’d still be getting married at the Polynesian in a space that had at least a little bit of character.

And here it is (looks like they already had it set up for us in case we needed it the next day):

I shudder just looking at those chairs... guess that’s what they look like when you don’t have slip covers! Eek.

This guy is offering up swine for the ceremony...

...which led to quite a few comments about dad giving me away the next day. :lol:

As we left I said a silent prayer to the tiki gods that we wouldn’t be back the next day.

 

[crystalight33]

Yay!!! I'm so excited you've started posting your report! I love the signed flip flops! Such a great way to have some characters at your wedding without the high $$. Can't wait for the rest!

 

[WDWFigment]

Thanks, Tom! I love the fact that Donald and Daisy are doing meets together now. Had we been willing to spend the crazy amount of money necessary to have characters at the wedding, they were at the top of the list.

I love the Sigma 30... it rarely leaves my camera now that I have it. Although, other than the cheap 50 1.8, it's the only lens I have with such wide aperture capabilities. And once you get used to that, it's incredibly hard to give it up. I'd love to get some longer ones, like maybe an 85 or 135 prime; however, I'm afraid I'd constantly be wanting to take it off while in the parks because they're not convenient for taking pictures of us at close range, or pictures with characters. I'm guessing you don't have this problem as much because you and Sarah both carry cameras? I always tell the "pro" photogs that it doesn't zoom and yet I still see them moving the manual focus ring back and forth.

So, Disneyland last week and Disney World next week? That is AWESOME! Will you be participating in the D23 scavenger hunt? I've got to say, that is the first D23 event I've seen that has me wishing I was a member. It looks like an absolute blast.

Yeah, that's exactly why Sarah and I both carry cameras. With the exception of dark rides (when I use it), the 30mm is always on her camera. I switch lenses much more frequently based on circumstances. If you're looking for a longer focal length, I would not limit yourself to a prime. Check out the 70-200mm f/2.8. The price of the Canon might be a bit much, but check out the Sigma and Tamron versions.

Yeah, DLR and WDW in the span of 3 weeks, life is rough. We weren't originally planning on doing the DLR trip, but we have research for the Unofficial Guide that we need to get done during Destination D, so we scheduled a last minute trip. The only downside to the weekend is that we have to get that done, do the Scavenger Hunt, Destination D activities, AND Pixar Weekend stuff. It is going to be one jam-packed weekend!

Love your shots at the Poly!

 

[HollyBelle]

Finally, we ended up in Tahiti. And I do mean, finally. It is a seriously long trek from the Great Ceremonial House to the Tahiti longhouse. In fact, without question, catching the express monorail from the TTC to the MK would be quicker than catching the resort monorail from the Poly any day if you’re staying in this longhouse.

That’s our room on the second floor, right above the Tahiti signage:

The light on our phone was blinking when we got in the room. It was a really cute message from Mickey and Minnie, congratulating us on our pending nuptials. Seriously, you’ve got to love the Disney touches.

I thought our view was great, considering we’d booked a standard room. At least we were overlooking a “courtyard” and not a parking lot or service area.

My super cute flip flops:

I think I forgot to mention this during the signing of the flops, but my mom totally made these. We found a cheap pair of wedge flops at walmart ($5) and she tacked on the flowers!!

The rooms in the Tahiti longhouse are definitely larger than the ones over in Tuvalu (still my favorite!), Fiji and Samoa. And that’s saying a lot because those are already bigger than the ones found at most resorts. They’re longer for sure (notice the extra chair by the window) and they may even be wider. Not to mention, the bathroom has double sinks, something that isn’t found in the other longhouses.