The Epic Disney Honeymoon!

DAKOTADISNEY · Jun 8, 2008

Wow! What a preview of things to come! I can't wait to hear the details of your land/sea/land trip. Because you are a former CM your perspective will be very interesting.

myhappyplace · Jun 8, 2008

I remember reading your last TR, and glad that you and your new wife had a good time. I can't wait to come home tomorrow after work and read your new report.

OhioDisneyLover · Jun 8, 2008

I remember your trip report. Looking forward to this one too!

Congratulations on your marriage. :sohappy:

Ravenclaw87 · Jun 9, 2008

I remember your last trip report, too, and I must say I was quite a fan.

I'm glad that this honeymoon trip was much better, and can't wait to read the details!

LetsGoAgain · Jun 9, 2008

Congrats! I am new here so I just read your trip report from last year. WOW!!! That was an adventure, huh?? Did you ever post pictures?

I can't wait to hear how the Honeymoon turned out!

Jungle Skipper · Jun 9, 2008

First of all good afternoon and thanks for dropping by! It is great to see some kind words of anticipation as I start up this little recap of our EPIC Disney Honeymoon!

So I thought that today's installment would be a nice introduction to why we so desperately needed our honeymoon vacation! So...here we go!!!!!

On April 1st of 2007 I proposed to the love of my life at a local park overlooking the Ohio river. This romantic moment almost immediately kicked off a whirlwind year filled with excitement, planning, and ultimately exhaustion! We quickly picked the date of May 17, 2008 and the wedding planning ball was rolling within a week of the engagement.

There was so much stuff to do -- caterers, reception halls, wedding locations (she wanted an outdoor wedding more than anything!), DJs, etc. We tried to get all of the majoy planning done during the summer months as I have been finishing my bachelors degree. In fact, we needed ALL of the planning done by Jan 2008, because I would begin student teaching. For the most part, we were successful in this venture.

As a personal escape from the hectic wedding planning, I found solace in planning the honeymoon! I had always wanted a Disney honeymoon and luckily I found a bride who was more than happy to play along -- her only stipulation was there must be a cruise. I initially booked a 4 night carnival cruise out of Jacksonville, FL, but that plan was quickly changed when Carnival sold out boat. Leaving us without a cruise -- and leading my Disney-fanatic nose sniffing at a long-time dream: a Disney Cruise!

After a whole week of toiling over what to do, I twisted my own arm (yeah right, like I really had to talk myself into this one :ROFLOL: ) into a 3night cruise on the Disney Wonder -- more on that in coming installments. Oh, and as gas prices rose, I decided it would be cheaper to fly Southwest -- needless to say, I redid my budget a few times during the planning process.

In January 2008, student teaching enveloped my life and our time together quickly diminished. I was in bed by 10pm, and she would be getting off from work at 9:30pm. Not to mention I had to work every weekend and 3 nights a week to pay my own bills.

Fast forward to May 2008 -- I finished student teaching, landed a job as a long-term subtitute through the 19th of May. I graduated from college on May 10th, interviewed for several teaching positions and having to choose one of several job offers during the week leading up to the wedding, then the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, and eventually came the big wedding day!

May 17th is a blur -- I don't remember a lot of the details, but it was a hectic and wonderful day. We spent the evening at a local bed and breakfast then spent Sunday relaxing and enjoying the day together. We then both went to work for two days before heading on our EPIC Disney honeymoon adventure!

On Tuesday May 20th, we finished laundry and packing our bags. Ran some last minute errands, and had a nice dinner out (yeah for gift cards!). As we were about to go to bed, I received a phonecall from work -- and instead of ignoring it, I ended up back at the movie theatre (my regular, non-teaching job) working on the new Indiana Jones movie until about 3:30am. Oh well, we needed the cash -- not that I would've slept anyway...not with Disney awaiting right around the corner!

Tune in tomorrow, when I'll try to squeeze in a few more installments.

In the morning I'll tell you all about her first time flying and our first night at WDW as guests at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Then in the afternoon, I'll take you with us as we venture to Port Canaveral for the beginning of our 3-night Disney Cruise!

Thanks for reading...let me know your thoughts! I look forward to sharing our trip with you!

Cheers,
Josh :wave:

PoohBear119 · Jun 9, 2008

I can't wait for more... plus as a fellow teacher, I completely relate to student teaching, in bed by 10pm and working forever to pay bills during student teaching... Congrats on the wedding and teaching career... live it up!

BTW - what do you teach?

NewfieFan · Jun 9, 2008

I'm excited... can't wait for more!

(And I do remember reading your last TR - it was quite the story!)

Jungle Skipper · Jun 10, 2008

Finally time to go!

"Pressure, pushing down on me..pressing down on you...."

"I can't believe it! 8am already??" I think as I stop the alarm clock on my cell phone. I start to roll over and catch another priceless five minutes when I realize what day it is! Wahoo! We're going to Disney today! I wake up my wife before hopping into the shower to start my day -- that's when the super late night at work caught up with me. My oh my was I tired! But it didn't matter, I wasn't going to let that get me down! Not today!

We had about one hour to get ready before my Father-in-Law arrived at the apartment to drive us to the airport. We dragged our ridiculously overpacked bags to his car and somehow squeezed four suitcases and two carry-ons into the vehicle. Why someone felt the need to pack three outfits for every day of the trip is still a mystery to me, but who am I to complain? We're going to WDW!!!!!!

The airport is about a 2-hour drive from our apartment and we chatted away about the wedding and our upcoming trip on the way. I can tell DW is nervous though -- she has never flown before.

At the airport, we park in THE FARTHEST parking spot from the terminal on the top level of the parking garage. The three of us drag all of the luggage to the SWA checkin desk and get settled in. We say our goodbyes and DFIL heads to his next destination. We wade through security and wait about 45 minutes before finally boarding. DW is now really nervous, clutching my hand as we taxi down the runway and finally take off. As a travel professional, who used to fly 3-5 roundtrips every month....I had to chuckle. Of course she wasn't chuckling when I nodded off 10 minutes before we started to land at MCO -- and neither was i when her deathgrip on my hand woke me up! :ROFLOL:

We landed safely after the somewhat bumpy flight and managed to grab all of our luggage at the carrousel. We checked with the DME attendant and asked her what to do. She tells me that we should've tagged our luggage and they would have picked it up for us, but SWA in Nashville had told me the exact opposite. So we somehow manage (and with great difficulty) to drag all of our luggage to the other side of MCO and eventually to the DME checkin station. Here we pretty much walk straight on to the bus and begin our journey to Disney's AKL.

This is our first time using DME, and I wish I'd known to just tag my luggage, but nonetheless, it worked pretty well. The video was cute and even teased what to do for our cruise on the next day! It sure helped pass the time on the trip to AKL! We stopped at Pop Century and Carribbean Beach (? -- I think that was the other one, but don't quote me on that) before finally pulling up to the beautiful AKL. We've both visited before, in fact we ate at Boma on our trip last year, but this is our first time staying at AKL. When we arrived, no one offered to help with the luggage -- I immediately flash back to last year, but shake it off and decide to just do it ourselves.

DW waits with the bags while I check us in -- only to find out we've been upgraded when right as we're done, the CM says "oh..and you'll be able to see animals from your room" :sohappy::sohappy:

We drag the bags to the room and finally get settled in and head straight for the balcony! We have a view of the new DVC construction and there are all kinds of animals to see....there is a giraffe, some wildebeast, some cattle, an ostrich....it was really neat!

Next we freshen up and head to the bus stop. We have a late dinner reservation at Nine Dragons in Epcot. We LOVE that place and were ecstatic when they pushed the refurb back into late May!

We arrived at Epcot with time to spare, and headed straight for my favorite shop -- the Art of Disney. Here we spoke with an artist who was visitng for the F&G Festival, who tells us that one of our FAVORITE WDW artists, Larry Dotson, is also at the festival near Mexico. We make a beeline for his stand and have a nice little chat with Larry and his wife. We stroll through his art displays and I fall in love with his new Epcot print. We make sure he will still be at this location when we return from the cruise and then make our way to Nine Dragon.

DW orders the Hot and Sour Soup (her favorite) and General Tsou's Chicken. I order my old favorite -- the Honey Sesame Chicken! :slurp:

As we finish eating, Illuminations lights up the sky! We relax and soak up the magic of our first night at WDW. We wonder around the lagoon while the park empties out and eventually make our way back to the bus stop. We ride to the AKL, spend some time on the balcony watching a couple of animals wonder, then head for bed. There is a note slipped under our door saying that DCL will pick up our luggage at 7am...ugh....so we eventually settle in to our King bed and fall asleep!

Thanks for joining me for this installment. Later this afternoon I'll get AT LEAST one more in....

Next up: 7am luggage call, transfer to the port and sailing away on the Disney Wonder!

Also, to answer your questions....

LetsGoAgain: No I didn't post pictures last time -- issues with the camera, and of course issues with DS made me think twice about posting.

PoohBear: I am a middle school social studies and language arts teacher! I know, I'm crazy! :hammer: But I love those kiddos.

Cheers,
Josh

KnK · Jun 10, 2008

Enjoying a fellow KYian trip report. Definately remember the report from last year.

Looking foward to the rest of the trip report. Hope WL was as great as it was last time.

It's our favorite!

LetsGoAgain · Jun 10, 2008

Probably a good idea not to post pics of your DS. Does she even deserve the "D" in DS? Anyway, I was really hoping to see some pics of the art you got. I am also hoping to see some pics from your cruise as well. I don't think I have ever seen anyone's pis from a Disney cruise.

PoohBear119 · Jun 10, 2008

Jungle Skipper said:
PoohBear: I am a middle school social studies and language arts teacher! I know, I'm crazy! :hammer: But I love those kiddos.

I teach English at the high school level... I love it! Can't wait to hear more!

Jungle Skipper · Jun 10, 2008

LetsGoAgain said:
Probably a good idea not to post pics of your DS. Does she even deserve the "D" in DS? Anyway, I was really hoping to see some pics of the art you got. I am also hoping to see some pics from your cruise as well. I don't think I have ever seen anyone's pis from a Disney cruise.

Well, she earned the D back...for the most part...although I still say she is on D-probation. She has good days and bad...just go with the flow I say!

As for pics...I buy some art later in the week, and once it arrives here, I will photograph and get those uploaded...we're in the process of moving, so once we are settled in, pictures will soon follow. But don't worry....this is going to be a nice long trip report! So take your time, relax and enjoy. Hope to have another update later this evening.

PoohBear119 said:
I teach English at the high school level... I love it! Can't wait to hear more!

Isn't teaching AWESOME? It makes me feel like I'm doing something with a purpose.

Cheers,
Josh

PoohBear119 · Jun 10, 2008

Jungle Skipper said:
Isn't teaching AWESOME? It makes me feel like I'm doing something with a purpose.

OMG! Totally rewarding experience. I love my job! And as of September I will have the all mighty tenure!!!!
Carrie

bayoumoon · Jun 10, 2008

Wow what a great report so far....keep it coming can't wait till the next part

disneygirl1 · Jun 12, 2008

Awesome trip report so far!!! I can't wait to read the rest.

JustPlainBill · Jun 16, 2008

Patiently waiting for more as I sit in front of my computer with arms crossed. :snore:
Great report, thus far, by the way!
I remember the similar experiences we both had with the Poly's concierge rooms last year. I hope your stay there this time was much improved.
I hope there's more report coming?

Jungle Skipper · Jun 17, 2008

Sorry for the Delay....on to the Port!

Greetings all! and welcome to my next Trip Report Update.

If I might first apologize for the unexpected hiatus, we returned from out honeymoon and quickly found a bigger apartment that we couldn't pass up. So we've been moving (yuck!) for a whole week now and I've been especially busy! I've also been fighting with Time Warner Cable to get my TV and Internet hooked up at home -- and I'm still without service! But I'm off the next two days, so I'm told I should be up by the end of the week. So I am bringing you today's update from work -- shhh...don't tell the boss!

So here we go!

We slept very well in our giant King Size bed at the AKL that night, despite knowing that the next day we'd be going on our first cruise. Now this is something I'm not especially proud to admit, but the concept of going on a cruise has always kinda scared me. I remember going on this ridiculously crummy boat ride to Freeport, Bahamas when I was a kid. My parents called it a cruise...I called it a death trap. It was one of those things you get for free just by attending some sales pitch. A "cruise ship" shuttles you to the island then you stay at some hotel for a weekend then they ship you back. It was horrible. Although my parents still contend that "it wasn't that bad." I call BS.

Nonetheless, I was apprehensive about cruising, and going on the Disney Cruise Line was my way of easing in to the cruise experience. But despite being somewhat nervous, I slept like a baby! It was WONDERFUL! Then at 7am, I woke to tapping on our door. It was bell services and they were there to pick up my luggage to take to the port. I think it is a great service, but seriosuly, do they have to pick up at 7am? I crawled back in bed and caught another hour or two of sleep.

Once we woke up, DW and I sat on the balcony overlooking the savannah and watched an ostrich and some wildebeast roam the area. It was a nice way to wake up in the morning. We then hit the showers and headed out to explore the resort for a bit.

A nice couple from Colorado took our photo outside...the first of many pictures that other people would take on our behalf this week. That's one thing about being on your honeymoon -- you need your own photographer to follow you around. You end up with a ton of closeup face pictures that you take of yourself, or you ask someone to take a picture for you.

We checked in with the DCL desk in the lobby, signing off on some papers saying we weren't sick and signed in for the transfer. We then headed to the Mara for a light breakfast/lunch snack to hold us over till we got settled in on the boat.

We then met the DCL folks in an alcove off the main lobby at Noon and then boarded a transfer bus. We were off to the port! Wahoo! DW and I sat near the front of the bus, she dove into a book and I was just enjoying the ambiance and trying not to think of the deathtrap cruise!

After a few quicky stops to pick up other cruise travelers, we were on our way and a video started on the bus to tell us all about the boarding, and the things to do once on board. I thought it was cute -- and funny that they kept pushing all of the food. The video took the edge off of my nerves, and they never really resurfaced!

Before you know it, we're there! The beautiful blue ocean on either side of the road and the majestic beauty of the Disney Wonder came into view! Wow! What a sight!

The checkin process was quick and painless...we went through security and hopped in line to check in. The whole process took maybe 30 minutes -- much quicker than I expected. We then made out way through the giant mickey ears to the boat. We took a boarding picture on the way, and we never were able to find it in Shutters. I joked that I mustve broken the camera, but that kind of suprised me that the photo never surfaced.

Once on board, we were announced and welcomed by the cruise staff -- a nice touch! We found our room....5020. A Secret Porthole room that I had booked back in October via Small World Travel. The room was beautiful! Much bigger than I had expected, and we LOVED the split bathroom! It would definitely come in handy during our 3-night sailing.

We wondered around the ship for a while, getting to know our surroundings. Headed for Deck 9 and the Beach Blanket Buffet! It was good, but we caught the tail end of the buffet and the pickin's were growing slim. I did however have a bowl of Strawberry Mint Soup -- what a delight! I really enjoyed that!

After lunch we strolled back to the room to get our life jackets and go to the mandatory safety drill. This was the most caotic moment of the trip -- I felt a little stressed with all the people milling about, not knowing exactly what to do. But 15 minutes and we were done!

next up -- the sail away party! DW and I grabbed a frozen beverage on deck 10 and tried to find a spot to view the party. The guy asked in I wanted with or without rum, and we wanted with. But I didn't pay attention to the fact that he poured the Bacardi straight on the top of the drink. So I went to take a taste from the top and got a mouth full of rum....lol. it was funny. DW laughed at me!

We enjoyed the sail away party--it was neat seeing the characters and the "When you wish upon a star" horn was FANTASTIC! A great suprise that really gave the cruise that special Disney touch.

At this point we headed to meet our DIS Cruise Meet friends across from the Jumbo-tron on Deck 10. Met some great people from all over the world! It was really neat meeting some fellow DISers! We hung out and talked for a while, before deciding to go get freshened up for the evening festivities.

Well....this seems like a good stopping point. I'll be back soon with more...hopefully on Wednesday!

Next time: The Golden Mickeys, Fish Extenders, Parrot Cay, Wavebands, and a late night dip in the pool!

Thanks again for your patience and I look forward to sharing more of our Disney honeymoon with you all! Now...back to work!

Cheers,
Josh

PoohBear119 · Jun 18, 2008

Thanks for a great report. It has helped me take my mind of things that I can't control.

The Epic Disney Honeymoon!

DAKOTADISNEY

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myhappyplace

Crazy Cat Lady

OhioDisneyLover

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Ravenclaw87

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LetsGoAgain

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Jungle Skipper

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PoohBear119

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NewfieFan

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Jungle Skipper

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KnK

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LetsGoAgain

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PoohBear119

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Jungle Skipper

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PoohBear119

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bayoumoon

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disneygirl1

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JustPlainBill

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Jungle Skipper

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PoohBear119

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