It really has been a long time in the making. It has been roughly two and a half years since I first reported our Engagement during Christmas Wishes! on the Beach of the Polynesian. During that time, we have taken four additional trips to WDW in August 2008,
November/December 2008, August 2009 and October 2009.
For those unfamiliar with us, here are the characters to the Story. I'm Tom, the male. Sarah, female, is my beautiful fiancee.
The planning began almost immediately after we returned from that engagement trip with the first inquiry being a substantial one: Walt Disney World wedding? This question was one that we really struggled with. If we did a Disney wedding, that would effectively preclude many family members from attending, either as they wouldn't or couldn't fly, or that it would be too expensive for them to attend. Conversely, the wedding is about us, and Walt Disney World is definitely the location that best represents us. Me being the selfish one, I was slightly leaning towards the WDW option, while Sarah was leaning towards the other option, a wedding at our college, which is also conveniently halfway between Indianapolis, Sarah's hometown, and Plainwell (Michigan), my hometown. When we went on the August 2008 trip, we met with a Disney Fairytale Wedding planner, which sealed the deal. Although there are options priced for all budgets, the value for our money we could get in Valparaiso far exceeded Disney's comparable offering. Thus a Valparaiso wedding it would be.
The only other planning detail to which I can speak is the photographer, as that was my main task. My requirement here was that we find someone better than me. While that might sound arrogant, there are a surprising number of terrible wedding photographers out there. It seems these days anyone who buys a DSLR immediately fancies themselves as a professional. That is not the case. (Let this be a word of caution to any of you about to get married...make sure you do your homework and get an actual wedding photographer, not some cheap-o fly-by-night hack). It took a little while, but I ultimately found a great guy, who also happens to be a stunning photographer. Certainly miles above my ability, so I have no worries there.
If you have other questions about the planning details (I know that stuff might appeal to girls, and I suppose is a proper subject for a pre-trip report!), pose them here, and maybe Sarah will stop out of the shadows of lurkerdom, and post to answer them. Anything else you want to find out about the wedding can be found at our Wedding Website, AyresBricker.com.
Okay, enough actual wedding details--after all, this is a pre-trip report! Let's get discussing that minor detail that seems to follow the wedding...THE HONEYMOON!
Since we couldn't do a WDW wedding, we decided we had to do a WDW honeymoon! We started planning this at around the same time wedding planning began, with the fitting resort destination being the Polynesian. After all, it was where we got engaged, and our "dream" resort. Then we saw the price tag. Unfortunately, being a student doesn't pay as well as it might seem, so that was difficult to stomach.
Still, it would be our honeymoon, and we thought we deserved a little luxury. I started tossing around ideas, and one that I kept coming back to was Disney Vacation Club. We had already done several DVC tours (mostly for the free swag) both in WDW and at the Doorway to Dreams store in Chicago, and were subscribed to several resale emails, so much of the homework there was already done. I began pricing it out, and for only about $1,000 more than it would cost to stay at the Poly (assuming a reasonable discount on the Poly for our stay) we could buy a DVC contract that, if we banked all of our 2009 points and borrowed all of our 2011 points, would be enough to stay at Beach Club, BoardWalk, or Bay Lake Tower (three other "dream" resorts) for the duration of our stay. Even though the contract would cost $1,000 more, it was much more palatable given that it would have a great amount of residual value after our honeymoon. So we did it. It cost a substantial amount of the money we make with our summer jobs, and since we've made a lot of sacrifices during this school year and have been on a tighter budget, but we are both pretty happy about that decision.
With DVC, as you may know, you may book your non-home resort 7 months in advance. This meant that early one morning last December, we both got up and made the call to DVC at exactly 9 a.m. to book BoardWalk (first choice), Beach Club (second choice), or BLT (third choice). Sarah got through first. I watched with much eagerness. I saw her eyes light up. They BoardWalk! Woo hoo, 7 days at BoardWalk!!!
Our excitement at that point probably couldn't be much higher. Until a couple of days later, when Sarah convinced me that we should stay 10 days. I was reluctant about this at first, as I will be taking the Bar Exam in July, and I should be studying for long portions of the day everyday from May until July. Taking seven days off already has me a little nervous. But like I said above, it's our honeymoon--what the heck...and it's Disney! I can always retake the Bar! :ROFLOL:
Unfortunately, we did not have enough points to book the additional days at BoardWalk, nor was there any availability even if we did, so Sarah booked the additional three days at Old Key West. Not too shabby!!!
Around that same time, which was my finals time for the Fall semester, Sarah undertook the massive task of making our Advance Dining Reservations. Massive task is not an understatement. Since the park hours were not yet posted, Sarah made many reservations, most of which will be canceled when we get closer to the date of the actual honeymoon. Below are the ADRs we have currently. The ADR in italics is one we likely will use, bold is ones we'll definitely use, and regular font are ones likely to be canceled.
Sunday June 13, 2010:
Dinner - Kouzzina
Dinner - Garden Grill
Dinner - Kona Cafe
Dinner - 'Ohana
Monday June 14, 2010:
Lunch - Sci Fi Diner
Dinner - Sanaa
Dinner - Coral Reef
Dinner - Yak & Yeti
Tuesday June 15, 2010:
Dinner - Yak & Yeti
Dinner - Le Cellier
Dinner - Biergarten
Dinner - Coral Reef
Dinner - Sci Fi Diner
Wednesday June 16, 2010:
Breakfast - Cape May Cafe
Thursday June 17, 2010:
Dinner - Le Cellier
Dinner - 'Ohana
Dinner - Kona Cafe
Friday June 18, 2010:
Breakfast - Crystal Palace
Dinner - Victoria & Albert's
Saturday June 19, 2010:
Lunch - Beaches and Cream
Dinner - California Grill
Sunday June 20, 2010:
Dinner - Kona Cafe
Dinner - The Wave
Dinner - 'Ohana
Monday June 21, 2010:
Dinner - Sci Fi Diner
Dinner - Coral Reef Cafe
Dinner - Yak & Yeti
Tuesday June 22, 2010:
Dinner - Le Cellier
Dinner - 'Ohana
Wednesday June 23, 2010:
Breakfast - Crystal Palace
In the original post, I also had our tentative touring plan, but I think I will hold off on reposting that (it's almost bed time!) until a later date when I can be a little more thorough with it. Plus, I want to give you something to look forward to!
We have been planning on a daily basis, so I will keep updating as more details are decided upon. Until then, thanks for reading and giving me something to do as I count down the 73 agonizing days (well, 72 agonizing days since the day before should be pretty fun!!!) until the Honeymoon!
November/December 2008, August 2009 and October 2009.
For those unfamiliar with us, here are the characters to the Story. I'm Tom, the male. Sarah, female, is my beautiful fiancee.
The planning began almost immediately after we returned from that engagement trip with the first inquiry being a substantial one: Walt Disney World wedding? This question was one that we really struggled with. If we did a Disney wedding, that would effectively preclude many family members from attending, either as they wouldn't or couldn't fly, or that it would be too expensive for them to attend. Conversely, the wedding is about us, and Walt Disney World is definitely the location that best represents us. Me being the selfish one, I was slightly leaning towards the WDW option, while Sarah was leaning towards the other option, a wedding at our college, which is also conveniently halfway between Indianapolis, Sarah's hometown, and Plainwell (Michigan), my hometown. When we went on the August 2008 trip, we met with a Disney Fairytale Wedding planner, which sealed the deal. Although there are options priced for all budgets, the value for our money we could get in Valparaiso far exceeded Disney's comparable offering. Thus a Valparaiso wedding it would be.
The only other planning detail to which I can speak is the photographer, as that was my main task. My requirement here was that we find someone better than me. While that might sound arrogant, there are a surprising number of terrible wedding photographers out there. It seems these days anyone who buys a DSLR immediately fancies themselves as a professional. That is not the case. (Let this be a word of caution to any of you about to get married...make sure you do your homework and get an actual wedding photographer, not some cheap-o fly-by-night hack). It took a little while, but I ultimately found a great guy, who also happens to be a stunning photographer. Certainly miles above my ability, so I have no worries there.
If you have other questions about the planning details (I know that stuff might appeal to girls, and I suppose is a proper subject for a pre-trip report!), pose them here, and maybe Sarah will stop out of the shadows of lurkerdom, and post to answer them. Anything else you want to find out about the wedding can be found at our Wedding Website, AyresBricker.com.
Okay, enough actual wedding details--after all, this is a pre-trip report! Let's get discussing that minor detail that seems to follow the wedding...THE HONEYMOON!
Since we couldn't do a WDW wedding, we decided we had to do a WDW honeymoon! We started planning this at around the same time wedding planning began, with the fitting resort destination being the Polynesian. After all, it was where we got engaged, and our "dream" resort. Then we saw the price tag. Unfortunately, being a student doesn't pay as well as it might seem, so that was difficult to stomach.
Still, it would be our honeymoon, and we thought we deserved a little luxury. I started tossing around ideas, and one that I kept coming back to was Disney Vacation Club. We had already done several DVC tours (mostly for the free swag) both in WDW and at the Doorway to Dreams store in Chicago, and were subscribed to several resale emails, so much of the homework there was already done. I began pricing it out, and for only about $1,000 more than it would cost to stay at the Poly (assuming a reasonable discount on the Poly for our stay) we could buy a DVC contract that, if we banked all of our 2009 points and borrowed all of our 2011 points, would be enough to stay at Beach Club, BoardWalk, or Bay Lake Tower (three other "dream" resorts) for the duration of our stay. Even though the contract would cost $1,000 more, it was much more palatable given that it would have a great amount of residual value after our honeymoon. So we did it. It cost a substantial amount of the money we make with our summer jobs, and since we've made a lot of sacrifices during this school year and have been on a tighter budget, but we are both pretty happy about that decision.
With DVC, as you may know, you may book your non-home resort 7 months in advance. This meant that early one morning last December, we both got up and made the call to DVC at exactly 9 a.m. to book BoardWalk (first choice), Beach Club (second choice), or BLT (third choice). Sarah got through first. I watched with much eagerness. I saw her eyes light up. They BoardWalk! Woo hoo, 7 days at BoardWalk!!!
Our excitement at that point probably couldn't be much higher. Until a couple of days later, when Sarah convinced me that we should stay 10 days. I was reluctant about this at first, as I will be taking the Bar Exam in July, and I should be studying for long portions of the day everyday from May until July. Taking seven days off already has me a little nervous. But like I said above, it's our honeymoon--what the heck...and it's Disney! I can always retake the Bar! :ROFLOL:
Unfortunately, we did not have enough points to book the additional days at BoardWalk, nor was there any availability even if we did, so Sarah booked the additional three days at Old Key West. Not too shabby!!!
Around that same time, which was my finals time for the Fall semester, Sarah undertook the massive task of making our Advance Dining Reservations. Massive task is not an understatement. Since the park hours were not yet posted, Sarah made many reservations, most of which will be canceled when we get closer to the date of the actual honeymoon. Below are the ADRs we have currently. The ADR in italics is one we likely will use, bold is ones we'll definitely use, and regular font are ones likely to be canceled.
Sunday June 13, 2010:
Dinner - Kouzzina
Dinner - Garden Grill
Dinner - Kona Cafe
Dinner - 'Ohana
Monday June 14, 2010:
Lunch - Sci Fi Diner
Dinner - Sanaa
Dinner - Coral Reef
Dinner - Yak & Yeti
Tuesday June 15, 2010:
Dinner - Yak & Yeti
Dinner - Le Cellier
Dinner - Biergarten
Dinner - Coral Reef
Dinner - Sci Fi Diner
Wednesday June 16, 2010:
Breakfast - Cape May Cafe
Thursday June 17, 2010:
Dinner - Le Cellier
Dinner - 'Ohana
Dinner - Kona Cafe
Friday June 18, 2010:
Breakfast - Crystal Palace
Dinner - Victoria & Albert's
Saturday June 19, 2010:
Lunch - Beaches and Cream
Dinner - California Grill
Sunday June 20, 2010:
Dinner - Kona Cafe
Dinner - The Wave
Dinner - 'Ohana
Monday June 21, 2010:
Dinner - Sci Fi Diner
Dinner - Coral Reef Cafe
Dinner - Yak & Yeti
Tuesday June 22, 2010:
Dinner - Le Cellier
Dinner - 'Ohana
Wednesday June 23, 2010:
Breakfast - Crystal Palace
In the original post, I also had our tentative touring plan, but I think I will hold off on reposting that (it's almost bed time!) until a later date when I can be a little more thorough with it. Plus, I want to give you something to look forward to!
We have been planning on a daily basis, so I will keep updating as more details are decided upon. Until then, thanks for reading and giving me something to do as I count down the 73 agonizing days (well, 72 agonizing days since the day before should be pretty fun!!!) until the Honeymoon!
