Author: Guest blog from Tina de la Cruz
This winter, Disney launched their new Disney Parks and Resorts Honeymoon Registry. As soon as I heard this service would be available in time for our wedding, I knew it was what my then fiancé and I wanted. We live in a house that has been in my family for many generations, and therefore, we already have too much stuff. Though we did register a small list at a home goods store (including a juicer, a few good pots, etc) our main registry and the one we talked up with our family and friends was our Disney Honeymoon Registry.
It was easy to set up on the website and even easier to send our guests the link. We had already set up our own Wedding Website with information about our wedding, so we just linked everything over to our Disney Honeymoon Registry page. For that reason, we didn’t use all the features that the Disney Honeymoon page offers, like photos, blogging, and other great tools. Another bride could easily just use the Disney Honeymoon page as a Wedding Website and not need to have two sites.
Our guests loved that instead of just giving us cash, they gave us cash towards something. The way the system works is that they decided what “gift” to give you or they decided what amount to give you and find a “gift” that matches. I say “gift” in quotes because it is really all just money. Our guests used their credit cards to charge an amount to our account, and then we cash in on that gift and receive a check in the mail. But, really, they have given us cash towards something – that “gift” they choose. Instead of giving us $200, they have earmarked that $200 as funding for our hotel, or a special meal, or Bride and Groom Mickey Ears. Like I said before, it is really just cash, and we don’t HAVE to spend it on what they earmarked it for, but of course we will! We want those Bride and Groom Mickey Ears. We want the private Fireworks Cruise during Wishes! By picking items on the Registry that we wanted, we were able to design a more magical Disney Honeymoon than we could afford ourselves and we have an excuse to do the great extras that we probably wouldn’t have done if we weren’t given those extras as a gift.
Here is a view of our page and the dining that our family and friends gave us:
The only downside to the system was that, at this point, there aren’t that many dining options to choose from. I love to eat at Le Cellier in Canada in Epcot, but that wasn’t a choice on the Registry List. We still have a dining reservation for that restaurant, but it isn’t as special as the other reservations we have that are specifically linked to those who gave us the gift.
There are some fun and funky things that Disney could add too. One of our favorite gifts is from an elderly friend of the family who, as she says, “isn’t too good with computers” but she knew about our registry so she sent us cash in a card with instructions to the use the cash to buy ourselves Turkey Legs in Magic Kingdom because she remembers buying them with her family last time she was there. Fun items like this are lacking on the Registry list right now, and I hope Disney adds them in the future.
Overall, though, this was a perfect experience for us! The only time a wedding guest had trouble using the system, I called Disney and they resolved it right away. Other than that, everyone thought it was easy, fun, and a great way to give us Magic for our wedding.
We can’t wait to send out thank you cards to everyone, which will include pictures of us using their gifts. Some will get pictures of us eating the meals at restaurants they gave to us, some will be with silly souvenirs they gave us, but the best, in my opinion, will be of us eating our Turkey Legs!
Thank you for this terrific review of Disney’s Honeymoon Registry. It sounds like you had an overall terrific experience!