So, when you’re travelling around Asia and America for 3 months and getting married somewhere in the middle, what else is there to do as a massive Disney fan… other than try to throw in as much Disney along the way as possible?! And so that’s exactly what we’re doing!
Ok. So my fiancé and I love travelling- we’ve constantly got itchy feet! And when it came down to planning our wedding, we thought, why spend so much money and planning on one day, with too many people and family politics… when we could use those resources on a smaller wedding and a load of travelling?! I’ve always kind of imagined a wedding overseas/on a beach anyway and we both love Florida- plus an overseas wedding (we’re from England!) would mean an intimate ceremony with the people who matter most. So it all kind of fell into place!
We thought about all the places we wanted to see and decided on Asia and America because being from England, we’ve been to a fair bit of Europe so far and it’s also very easy to get to. Asia however, neither of us have been to and we thought that it would probably be off the cards for a good while when we (hopefully) have kids and settle down after the wedding. We also both love America and wanted to return to some cities/states we have already visited as well as a lot of new ones!
So with a travel plan decided, of course we were going to add in some Disney! Originally we thought it would just be WDW after the wedding- with family- and a revisit to Disneyland when in California. Then I realised we could fit in a Disney Cruise too, which we haven’t done before- and since we were visiting Tokyo anyway, why not make a day or so for Tokyo Disney too?! So that’s how we have incorporated so much Disney into our travels!
Don’t worry though, I’ll only be posting the Disney parts here (and maybe a few photos from Universal- we will be taking a day to visit!) and won’t be posting about the rest of the travels- there’d be way too much in between all the Disney awesomeness! If anyone wants to see any of that though, I will be posting on Instagram (my name is @WanderingPrincess86 ) along with a separate account that is just the Disney parks and the Disney Cruise (to save filling my friends’ newsfeed up with the bazillion Disney pics I’m bound to take lol!) that will be under @Disneymoon2015 .
So… when is this all happening? Well, it already is! We spent November travelling around Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan before flying to America via Hawaii and we arrived in Orlando on Monday 7th December. We’ll be in Orlando until this Friday December 11th when my two sisters and brother in-law arrive and we head down the coast to Vero Beach (no, not the Disney resort though- ha!) for 5 nights… for the wedding! My Dad, Stepmum and little brother arrive the following day, and my Mum and Stepdad already arrived in Orlando back on December 1st. And that is the whole wedding party!
Whilst in Orlando for 4 nights we have a few wedding things to finalise, but apart from that we just plan to chill- there’s no Disney Parks yet- that’s after the wedding. We have taken a wonder down to see how Disney Springs has taken shape and just today we have visited Universal!
So… on to the Who, Where and When!
Well, the two main players in this traveling game are me, Sam and my fiancé/soon-to-be-husband Russ.
The other members of the party joining us for the wedding and then the first 5 nights we’re in WDW are: My elder sister Vicky and her husband Nader, my younger sister Annie, my Mum & Step-Dad and my Dad, Step-Mum & little brother Archie.
Now, here is the first part of INCREDIBLE Disney Magic! We were meant to be staying at Coronado Springs (our favourite resort so far) for 8 nights, with two further rooms for Vicky, Nader, Annie and my Mum and Stepdad for the 5 nights they are staying.
However, back in September we got an email from our travel agent to let us know that a huge convention was happening there during our stay and Disney intended to move us- most likely to Riverside or Animal Kingdom Lodge. I was SO panicked and upset about this as Coronado is our “home” resort and we love it- and we had really wanted to share it with my family. We just love the atmosphere it creates, especially with the lights and ambience on the lake. Even the thought of Animal Kingdom for this trip didn’t seem right! If it was any other trip it probably wouldn’t have mattered- and AKL would have been great. We definitely didn’t want to stay at Riverside either as we had had a not so great experience at Port Orleans before. So we emailed back and forth a few times, I asked for our great disappointment to be expressed and our agent asked if there was a top three of other resorts we would prefer- and that she would try (no guarantees of course) to see what they could do. Completely not expecting to get moved to there, I suggested two Deluxe’s and then Animal Kingdom (thinking that’s probably where they would send us).
To our complete amazement (and excitement and gratitude!!) they upgraded all of our three rooms to our top choice- The Polynesian!! I had suggested it as it seemed the only place that would be romantic and create a tropical atmosphere, like how Coronado Springs creates a Mexican/Beach atmosphere… but of course the Poly’s atmosphere is on a much higher level! And we got it! We’re still pinching ourselves, it’s almost been a running thing where one of us will stop and go- are we actually staying at the Polynesian?! We’ve never stayed there before or at a Deluxe so this is a really magical Honeymoon treat!!
So here is where I also have to give a MASSIVE shout out and THANK YOU to Carissa (aka @sissa216 ) at Kingdom Konsultants!! You have made all of the booking and planning processes for both WDW, Disneyland and the cruise seamless! Thank you so much for all your help and answering my endless questions! Seriously anyone planning a trip- give these guys a go! They can take over the planning as little or as much as you want. Really came in handy! Especially with all the other planning I was doing. I cannot recommend them and Carissa’s services enough! Every step of the way Carissa was helpful, understanding and efficient- and she was happy to answer any questions with great detail. I don’t know what I would have done without your help Carissa- organising, reminders, discounts, free dining and help as a cruise newbie! So THANK YOU!!
And now back to WDW lol! My Dad, Stepmum and Archie will be staying for 3 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge. They’re actually checking in one day before us so will only be there for two of our days. If they’d have stayed longer I probably wouldn’t have minded being moved to AKL ourselves as much- but I am SO glad I persevered with a different option in the end!
So we’ll have 5 days with family and then Russ and I will have 3 further days to ourselves before our cruise. Hopefully that might make a nice balance of family/alone time! I’m so excited to be there with my family though as it’s been 15 years since I have been with my elder sister! I was 14 and she was 19 the last time we went. My Dad, Stepmum and Annie have been in recent years so Archie (he’s 6) has also been before- but he was 2 and 3 at the time, so I am excited for him to experience everything properly now- and at a great age for it too! My Mum hasn’t been for 15 years apart from one day trip to Epcot last year along with my Stepdad.
So, to the next part- Russ and I will then be taking a 4 night Bahamian Cruise on the Disney Dream! Soooo excited about this, it’s our first cruise! Shout out too to @prfctlyximprct as I was quite inspired by your cruise trip report last year!! It really made me excited about a cruise and helped me make some decisions! The photos of Castaway Cay you took looked like a dream world- and I’ve had that image of the beach in my head on long cloudy days here in England, knowing at some point I will be there and everything else will be a distant memory. Cannot wait to experience Castaway Cay and everything a Disney Cruise has to offer!
So, after our cruise… we still have another 3 nights at WDW! Yep Russ and I just had to have a few more days, it being the Honeymoon and all! And this is the funny (but amazing!) part… As a treat as we’ve never stayed Deluxe before, we decided for just three nights to book one (obviously this was before our amazing upgrade) so we booked the three nights at… The Contemporary in a Tower Theme Park View Room!! So whilst before we were thinking we’d have 3 nights in a Deluxe as a Honeymoon treat… it has now turned out to be our second Deluxe of the trip, both of which are in the MK Resort Area!! SOOOOOO excited about this!!
And soooo excited to stay at The Contemporary! We loved California Grill when we tried it on our last trip- and the view! And we loved the feel of The Contemporary so we booked this to round off the Florida based part of our Disney trip. We’ll also be there for the 30th December, so we are planning to have a pre-New-Year’s-Eve-New-Years since they show Fantasy in the Sky at Midnight on the 30th as well as the 31st! So we get two New Year’s Eves as we’ll be leaving on the 31st to spend actual New Years in a different state! I’m really looking forward to seeing Fantasy in the Sky as I never have before. And with an easy walk to The Contemporary and the park staying open until late it should be quite a fun evening!
So, onto the other parks… in Tokyo Disney Resort we stayed just for one night (so 2 days at the parks) at the Hilton Tokyo Bay (one of the Disney resort area hotels). And last but not least, for Disneyland we have booked 3 nights at Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel in a Theme Park View Room. We have been once before to Disneyland and we stayed on Harbour Boulevard, so I know there are lots of other much cheaper options there than the Disney Hotels- and that the Disney Hotels in CA are not themed in the same way as WDW’s hotels. But, I absolutely loved DCA and really Ioved the idea of being able to look out over the park from our hotel room- especially in the early morning hours and at night. So a Theme Park View Room here seemed worth it to us for this trip.
I’m really looking forward to Disneyland! Taking it all in properly this time- as last time it was brand new and a little overwhelming/confusing! We didn’t get on Radiator Springs Racers as well as several of the rides in Disneyland due to time and refurbs, so hopefully we will get to this time. World of Colour was also down for refurb so I can’t wait to finally see that! And try some more food items and restaurants! I’m especially excited that all the Diamond Celebrations will still be going on- along with the new Paint the Night Parade! So much to do. AND they have Seasons of the Force going on which we just missed the opening for in WDW! LOVE Disneyland’s Space Mountain so we can’t wait to try out Hyperspace Mountain!! Russ is a massive Star Wars fan!
So finally… onto the When!
28th November 2015: Hilton Tokyo Bay, Tokyo Disneyland Resort
16th - 24th December 2015: Polynesian Village Resort, Walt Disney World
24th – 28th December 2015: 4 Night Bahamian Cruise on the Disney Magic
28th – 31st December 2015: The Contemporary Resort, Tower Theme Park View, Walt Disney World
13th – 16th January 2016: Paradise Pier Resort, Theme Park View, Disneyland
And so those are the plans! Coming up next will be the Tokyo Disneyland Report- it’s not quite done yet but hopefully I will have it up in the next few days!
I plan to then post a few bits from our visit to Disney Springs as well as Universal… and then to post live as much as possible from WDW and the Disney Cruise! If I can keep up with it all I plan to do the same for Disneyland, but we’ll see how it goes! I will eventually get everything on here though. Plenty of train and plane rides to fill the time on after WDW, so I should have the chance to get everything written up lol!
So if you’re still reading… thanks for doing so! Coming up soon… Tokyo Disneyland Resort!
Ok. So my fiancé and I love travelling- we’ve constantly got itchy feet! And when it came down to planning our wedding, we thought, why spend so much money and planning on one day, with too many people and family politics… when we could use those resources on a smaller wedding and a load of travelling?! I’ve always kind of imagined a wedding overseas/on a beach anyway and we both love Florida- plus an overseas wedding (we’re from England!) would mean an intimate ceremony with the people who matter most. So it all kind of fell into place!
We thought about all the places we wanted to see and decided on Asia and America because being from England, we’ve been to a fair bit of Europe so far and it’s also very easy to get to. Asia however, neither of us have been to and we thought that it would probably be off the cards for a good while when we (hopefully) have kids and settle down after the wedding. We also both love America and wanted to return to some cities/states we have already visited as well as a lot of new ones!
So with a travel plan decided, of course we were going to add in some Disney! Originally we thought it would just be WDW after the wedding- with family- and a revisit to Disneyland when in California. Then I realised we could fit in a Disney Cruise too, which we haven’t done before- and since we were visiting Tokyo anyway, why not make a day or so for Tokyo Disney too?! So that’s how we have incorporated so much Disney into our travels!
Don’t worry though, I’ll only be posting the Disney parts here (and maybe a few photos from Universal- we will be taking a day to visit!) and won’t be posting about the rest of the travels- there’d be way too much in between all the Disney awesomeness! If anyone wants to see any of that though, I will be posting on Instagram (my name is @WanderingPrincess86 ) along with a separate account that is just the Disney parks and the Disney Cruise (to save filling my friends’ newsfeed up with the bazillion Disney pics I’m bound to take lol!) that will be under @Disneymoon2015 .
So… when is this all happening? Well, it already is! We spent November travelling around Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan before flying to America via Hawaii and we arrived in Orlando on Monday 7th December. We’ll be in Orlando until this Friday December 11th when my two sisters and brother in-law arrive and we head down the coast to Vero Beach (no, not the Disney resort though- ha!) for 5 nights… for the wedding! My Dad, Stepmum and little brother arrive the following day, and my Mum and Stepdad already arrived in Orlando back on December 1st. And that is the whole wedding party!
Whilst in Orlando for 4 nights we have a few wedding things to finalise, but apart from that we just plan to chill- there’s no Disney Parks yet- that’s after the wedding. We have taken a wonder down to see how Disney Springs has taken shape and just today we have visited Universal!
So… on to the Who, Where and When!
Well, the two main players in this traveling game are me, Sam and my fiancé/soon-to-be-husband Russ.
The other members of the party joining us for the wedding and then the first 5 nights we’re in WDW are: My elder sister Vicky and her husband Nader, my younger sister Annie, my Mum & Step-Dad and my Dad, Step-Mum & little brother Archie.
Now, here is the first part of INCREDIBLE Disney Magic! We were meant to be staying at Coronado Springs (our favourite resort so far) for 8 nights, with two further rooms for Vicky, Nader, Annie and my Mum and Stepdad for the 5 nights they are staying.
However, back in September we got an email from our travel agent to let us know that a huge convention was happening there during our stay and Disney intended to move us- most likely to Riverside or Animal Kingdom Lodge. I was SO panicked and upset about this as Coronado is our “home” resort and we love it- and we had really wanted to share it with my family. We just love the atmosphere it creates, especially with the lights and ambience on the lake. Even the thought of Animal Kingdom for this trip didn’t seem right! If it was any other trip it probably wouldn’t have mattered- and AKL would have been great. We definitely didn’t want to stay at Riverside either as we had had a not so great experience at Port Orleans before. So we emailed back and forth a few times, I asked for our great disappointment to be expressed and our agent asked if there was a top three of other resorts we would prefer- and that she would try (no guarantees of course) to see what they could do. Completely not expecting to get moved to there, I suggested two Deluxe’s and then Animal Kingdom (thinking that’s probably where they would send us).
To our complete amazement (and excitement and gratitude!!) they upgraded all of our three rooms to our top choice- The Polynesian!! I had suggested it as it seemed the only place that would be romantic and create a tropical atmosphere, like how Coronado Springs creates a Mexican/Beach atmosphere… but of course the Poly’s atmosphere is on a much higher level! And we got it! We’re still pinching ourselves, it’s almost been a running thing where one of us will stop and go- are we actually staying at the Polynesian?! We’ve never stayed there before or at a Deluxe so this is a really magical Honeymoon treat!!
So here is where I also have to give a MASSIVE shout out and THANK YOU to Carissa (aka @sissa216 ) at Kingdom Konsultants!! You have made all of the booking and planning processes for both WDW, Disneyland and the cruise seamless! Thank you so much for all your help and answering my endless questions! Seriously anyone planning a trip- give these guys a go! They can take over the planning as little or as much as you want. Really came in handy! Especially with all the other planning I was doing. I cannot recommend them and Carissa’s services enough! Every step of the way Carissa was helpful, understanding and efficient- and she was happy to answer any questions with great detail. I don’t know what I would have done without your help Carissa- organising, reminders, discounts, free dining and help as a cruise newbie! So THANK YOU!!
And now back to WDW lol! My Dad, Stepmum and Archie will be staying for 3 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge. They’re actually checking in one day before us so will only be there for two of our days. If they’d have stayed longer I probably wouldn’t have minded being moved to AKL ourselves as much- but I am SO glad I persevered with a different option in the end!
So we’ll have 5 days with family and then Russ and I will have 3 further days to ourselves before our cruise. Hopefully that might make a nice balance of family/alone time! I’m so excited to be there with my family though as it’s been 15 years since I have been with my elder sister! I was 14 and she was 19 the last time we went. My Dad, Stepmum and Annie have been in recent years so Archie (he’s 6) has also been before- but he was 2 and 3 at the time, so I am excited for him to experience everything properly now- and at a great age for it too! My Mum hasn’t been for 15 years apart from one day trip to Epcot last year along with my Stepdad.
So, to the next part- Russ and I will then be taking a 4 night Bahamian Cruise on the Disney Dream! Soooo excited about this, it’s our first cruise! Shout out too to @prfctlyximprct as I was quite inspired by your cruise trip report last year!! It really made me excited about a cruise and helped me make some decisions! The photos of Castaway Cay you took looked like a dream world- and I’ve had that image of the beach in my head on long cloudy days here in England, knowing at some point I will be there and everything else will be a distant memory. Cannot wait to experience Castaway Cay and everything a Disney Cruise has to offer!
So, after our cruise… we still have another 3 nights at WDW! Yep Russ and I just had to have a few more days, it being the Honeymoon and all! And this is the funny (but amazing!) part… As a treat as we’ve never stayed Deluxe before, we decided for just three nights to book one (obviously this was before our amazing upgrade) so we booked the three nights at… The Contemporary in a Tower Theme Park View Room!! So whilst before we were thinking we’d have 3 nights in a Deluxe as a Honeymoon treat… it has now turned out to be our second Deluxe of the trip, both of which are in the MK Resort Area!! SOOOOOO excited about this!!
And soooo excited to stay at The Contemporary! We loved California Grill when we tried it on our last trip- and the view! And we loved the feel of The Contemporary so we booked this to round off the Florida based part of our Disney trip. We’ll also be there for the 30th December, so we are planning to have a pre-New-Year’s-Eve-New-Years since they show Fantasy in the Sky at Midnight on the 30th as well as the 31st! So we get two New Year’s Eves as we’ll be leaving on the 31st to spend actual New Years in a different state! I’m really looking forward to seeing Fantasy in the Sky as I never have before. And with an easy walk to The Contemporary and the park staying open until late it should be quite a fun evening!
So, onto the other parks… in Tokyo Disney Resort we stayed just for one night (so 2 days at the parks) at the Hilton Tokyo Bay (one of the Disney resort area hotels). And last but not least, for Disneyland we have booked 3 nights at Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel in a Theme Park View Room. We have been once before to Disneyland and we stayed on Harbour Boulevard, so I know there are lots of other much cheaper options there than the Disney Hotels- and that the Disney Hotels in CA are not themed in the same way as WDW’s hotels. But, I absolutely loved DCA and really Ioved the idea of being able to look out over the park from our hotel room- especially in the early morning hours and at night. So a Theme Park View Room here seemed worth it to us for this trip.
I’m really looking forward to Disneyland! Taking it all in properly this time- as last time it was brand new and a little overwhelming/confusing! We didn’t get on Radiator Springs Racers as well as several of the rides in Disneyland due to time and refurbs, so hopefully we will get to this time. World of Colour was also down for refurb so I can’t wait to finally see that! And try some more food items and restaurants! I’m especially excited that all the Diamond Celebrations will still be going on- along with the new Paint the Night Parade! So much to do. AND they have Seasons of the Force going on which we just missed the opening for in WDW! LOVE Disneyland’s Space Mountain so we can’t wait to try out Hyperspace Mountain!! Russ is a massive Star Wars fan!
So finally… onto the When!
28th November 2015: Hilton Tokyo Bay, Tokyo Disneyland Resort
16th - 24th December 2015: Polynesian Village Resort, Walt Disney World
24th – 28th December 2015: 4 Night Bahamian Cruise on the Disney Magic
28th – 31st December 2015: The Contemporary Resort, Tower Theme Park View, Walt Disney World
13th – 16th January 2016: Paradise Pier Resort, Theme Park View, Disneyland
And so those are the plans! Coming up next will be the Tokyo Disneyland Report- it’s not quite done yet but hopefully I will have it up in the next few days!
I plan to then post a few bits from our visit to Disney Springs as well as Universal… and then to post live as much as possible from WDW and the Disney Cruise! If I can keep up with it all I plan to do the same for Disneyland, but we’ll see how it goes! I will eventually get everything on here though. Plenty of train and plane rides to fill the time on after WDW, so I should have the chance to get everything written up lol!
So if you’re still reading… thanks for doing so! Coming up soon… Tokyo Disneyland Resort!
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Ha ha.
