REVIEW: Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL Honeymoon (11/17-24/08)

B]Airline: Delta in and out of LGA.
I loathe LGA but since we were flying first class (thanks to MIL) it was bearable! We had a separate line to be screened and we able to board the plane in no time. Our flights were very comfortable. I'm officially spoiled! lol.



Hotel: (Off Property)Marriot Grande Vista
We used FIL's timeshare for our hotel to save $. We had a one-bedroom villa. Full kitchen, dining room, living room, king size bed, jacuzzi, etc. It was a very nice room. We had 2 issues with it though. First our room phone didn't work for half the week. Not the hotel's fault the phone company's. Second, we woke up one morning to a party of ants on our kitchen counter. They came and sprayed, no issues after that. The hotel is around the corner from Sea World/Discovery Cove. Its really quite beautiful. I'd definitely stay there again.



Yes I went shopping at the Orlando Outlets as soon as we landed! lol


The KEY to a happy marriage!


View from our screened in patio




Rent a Car: Prius from National Car Rental
This was the most painless car rental in history. We were out of the airport in record time. We had a Prius and it was really great for the 2 of us.





Day 1: Disney Photoshoot at Grand Floridian & dinner at Victoria & Albert's
GF is my new favorite hotel. We walked into the lobby and I was floored with the vision! Its so beautiful and old-time elegant. lol.



Life sized REAL Gingerbread house



I am a photo addict so we took A LOT of them! We had a private 1 hour photo session on property and it was very sweet. The GF is a breathtaking backdrop. Here are some of the pro-pictures:









Dinner at Victoria and Albert's may have been my absolute favorite part of the whole trip. Its a personalized 7 course meal. You are given a personalized keepsake menu with each course's selections. They call you a week before your reservation to go over your intinaery and to see if you have any food allergies, etc. All of the courses are small but not 'We are paying a lot where's my food' small. You eat A LOT! I did a wine pairing with my meal and they do a fabulous job of complimenting each course. My tip if you eat there is to same room for dessert b/c its off the charts! I couldn't have been happier with this!! I HIGHLY recommend it for honeymoons.


My dessert: Carmelized Bananas with a custard in a sugar cone and 'sugar rain'


DH's dessert: Chocolate Pryamid (a mousse, souffle and pastry)



Day 2: Disney's Honeymoon Photoshoot, EPCOT and Illuminations Fireworks Cruise
First thing I HIGHLY recommend for honeymooners is to do the Disney Photo Pass CD. Its a flat rate for unlimited photos taken in the park! Its totally worth the cost.

Ok, so the first thing we did when we went to EPCOT was a private photo shoot in World Showcase (before it was open to the public) with a Disney Photographer. We spent an hour taking very sweet pictures in France, Italy, Japan and Morocco. It was VERY cold (for me.. DH was fine) so you'll see the beginnings of a cold in my face! lol. We were sent the link to view our proofs in about a week. Our printed proofs came in about 2 weeks. You are about to pick 20 photos and they create a book for you. So we are waiting for that to come.

For now, you can view the pics at: http://www.collages.net/disneyweddings
Username: Fascianella Honeymoon
Password: 1971
Once I get a free moment I'll scan a few of the proofs in.

Next we spent the day in EPCOT which is our favorite park. DH and I are self-proclaimed geeks! lol. We did basically everything because the park was rather empty. The one snag we ran into was with our lunch reservation.

Let me start off with saying DH was 'on the ball' when it came to planning our honeymoon. I made suggestions but the final planning was all DH. He truly did a fabulous job. We researched when we should make reservations the restaurants we wanted to eat at and he called at 7:30am the morning of each reservation recommendation. For example, they suggest you make a reservation 180 days before your desired date for a few restaurants. Others are 90, 60, 30 days. So DH called way in advance of our trip for all reservations.

So as I was saying: lunch. There is a restaurant in the Land Pavilion called Garden Grill. Its a Character Meal and when DH and I went in 2004 the meal was delicious. DH made the reservation in advance for LUNCH, got the confirmation number and all. When we got there 10 mins. before our reservation to check in, we were told they stopped running a lunch serving months ago and that our reservation was for another restaurant and an entirely different park. We weren't happy. We changed the reservation to a dinner and ate at the cafeteria style eatery downstairs. When we finally had dinner it was no where near as good as we remembered.



The rest of the day at EPCOT was great. We truly did have a fabulous day.

Link: Our Epcot Future Video



I recorded Test Track! lol












Another romantic thing DH planned was a fireworks cruise. We left EPCOT around 7:30pm and headed to the Beach and Yacht Club Marina were we board a private boat that took us on a tour and than docked under a footbridge in EPCOT where we watched the Illuminations fireworks show. We had the best seat in the house. It really was sweet. Again though, it was unseasonable chilly in FL the week we were there so I was FREEZING!!! I had on jeans, a 3/4 sleeve shirt over a tank top, a sweat jacket under a jean jacket and 3 blankets! DH had a sweatshirt and he was fine. lol.


On our boat trying to warm up! lol





Day 3: Universal Studios and Downtown Disney
Again it was COLD! However it worked to our advantage with the park was EMPTY! We did the entire thing in 5 hours! Saw every show, rode every ride (except Jaws b/c I just couldn't handle the cold on the water again. lol)













Later that night we went to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping.




Day 4: Discovery Cove and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party @ Magic Kingdom
This was another thing DH and I really wanted to do and recommend doing!! It was absolutely worth the cost of admission! I'm still deciding if its worth not being able to have makeup on! lol I was a little weary of being in the water when it really was chilly. I catch colds like nothing and I didn't want to be sick on our honeymoon. Thankfully - the water is heated!!!! =) When you go to Discovery Cove you need to bring - nothing. That's right - nothing. A breakfast, full lunch, unlimited snacks and beer all day. You are given a picture ID badge you wear all day. You can hook your CC up to it so any purchases in the stores you make can go right on it. Its fabulous. The wetsuits were actually comfortable. The lockers and showers are amazingly clean (as soon as you walk out, they are in there cleaning it for the next guest). Plus there are no words to describe swimming with a dolphin.







Our buddy Lester! (L=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxqqVKw3VTg]Swimming with the Dolphins Video[/L])











That night DH and I went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party @ Magic Kingdom. This is a special event that requires separate admission into the park. We had a fabulous time. I'd never been to Disney at this time so to see it all decorated for Christmas was a treat for me. At select locations you were able to get free snacks all night. I ODed on hot cocoa (again - I was chilly) and DH had his full of cookies.















Day 5: Islands of Adventure and Downtown Disney
Just like Universal was a couple day earlier, IA was empty by theme park standards. This isn't my favorite park b/c I'm not a rollercoaster person. DH is. So he went on Hulk about 3 times in a span of 30 mins. We went to the shows, had DH's favorite lunch and went on a couple of rides. Again it was a fast day.












We went back to Downtown Disney to look around some more and we ate at the Rainforest Cafe.










Day 6: Hollywood Studios
This was a bit crazier. We hit the weekend and since it was the weekend before Thanksgiving a lot families were there! It was still no where near as crowded as it would be in July/August though. We went directly to Toy Story's Midway Mania ride for a fast pass! lol Great tip from a friend who was there a month earlier.

For dinner we went to the Sci-Fi Dine-In and it was SOOOOOOOOOO adorable and the food was sooooooo good!










Day 7: Magic Kingdom
We had breakfast reservations at the Crystal Palace which is a Character meal. Its a buffet and the food is incredible! The park was extremely crowded so we basically went on things with short lines. It was a very relaxing day even though DH left me on Space Mountain! lol

For dinner we ate at Liberty Tree Tavern, which is again a Character meal. The food is AMAZING and they have the best butter in the world. Its a honey butter and I'm telling you its off the hook! (Even typing it I'm too vanilla to pull it off. lol)














Day 8: Animal Kingdom
I'm not a huge fan of Animal Kingdom so we left it for the day we were leaving Orlando. I feel a little bad though b/c DH didn't get to go on Expedition Everest since we didn't have time. We saw our favorite shows: Lion King and it's Tough to be A Bug. But we also saw the Finding Nemo Musical which was AWESOME!