by Beauty & the Beast Diva
I recently read a post by a travel journalist about why she decided to honeymoon in Disney. While I could not agree with her more, I thought I would give my two cents about why I decided to do the same. I am a Disney Junkie, my “boyfriend”, now husband, knew I wouldn’t say yes to his proposal unless it happened in Disney. (Lucky for me he is also a Disney Junkie!) So one gorgeous October day in front of the castle, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! When it came time for us to pick a honeymoon destination it was a no brainer; obviously we were going to Disney World! Then came all the “Really, but you’re adults?” “Disney, for your honeymoon?” “Screaming kids, everywhere, that’s not very romantic.” So we decided to double up- we chose to do Disney for a few days and then travel to an island, a real “honeymoon destination”. I cannot even begin to describe how much better Disney was as honeymooners and here is why.
- They have the best accommodations! We stayed at the Grand Floridian. We had a little tiny view of the top of the castle, if you looked through a tree at just the right angle. But they truly have something for every budget; you can get anything you are looking for. The deluxe hotels also come with a turn down service. There is nothing like climbing into bed with a Mickey shaped chocolate. At our island get away we had a turn down service too, but there were bugs in our bed… not quite romantic.
- The restaurants. It’s your honeymoon, get the meal plan and INDUGLE. We chose the top meal plan and ate at all the best restaurants that accept the plan. We ate and ate and ate and ate. We dined next to Robert Irvine and his family one night and it was one of the coolest moments of my life. One night we also dined at Narcoosee’s and we were seated between a couple that had been married 50 years whose children were married with their own children, and another couple that had been married 12 years with 4 children, this was the most memorable moment of our honeymoon. They both chimed in and congratulated us and gave us the most amazing and caring advice. The couple of 50 years also paid for our cocktails and wished us luck. At our island destination, we both got food poisoning on two separate occasions; Definitely an unforgettable experience, but not a pleasant one.
- The never ending list of things to do. Okay, so we splurged and got a couples massage, we relaxed by the pool, we stayed at the parks til 1AM, we shopped at Disney Springs. We did it all. Being avid Disney Goers, we both have difficult time sitting on the beach and doing nothing. This was the problem on the island- there wasn’t even music being played by the pool. We needed entertainment and there was none.
- The recognition. Everyone is happy for you in Disney World. They ask about your wedding and congratulate you with a smile. We were announced a few times as we sat down to eat or got on a ride as a newlywed couple. It was sweet and exciting. On the island we vacationed at, we were just another honeymoon couple. We weren’t special and no one went out of their way to make us feel special.
- The Disney Magic. The Disney magic is EVERYWHERE! We could feel it from the second we got on the Magical Express. We were greeted as soon as we stepped off as Mr. and Mrs. DeCola. We were whisked away to our room. We had cards, special voicemails from Mickey and Minnie, chocolates every day, balloons and confetti each and every day in our hotel room. We received free cocktails or desserts. Everyone knew who we were and why we were there.
We spent much of the island portion of our honeymoon watching the one American Airline flight that left each day. We would watch it fly overhead and count the days til we were on it. After the one bout of food poisoning and 3rd day of rain, my husband told me to pack my stuff because were going back to Disney!
Moral of this story is don’t let anyone tell you what to do with your happily ever after. This is how you want to start your life together and if you want to do it surrounded by the thousands of people in Disney World, then do it. You will not ever regret starting your fairytale with the people that brings fairytales to life!
