Disney Honeymoon Help

cathyanddavid · December 2011

My fiance and I want to go to Disney for our honeymoon. We are talking about driving down from Ohio (allowing us to take our time and have a bit of adventure). How many days do you think we should spend at Disney for our honeymoon? Should we do the Park Hopper Option? What about the Meals Option?

cupcakewarfare · December 2011

We spent 4 full days and left on the 5th morning. I would definitely suggest the park hopper because we switched parks almost every day. However, we've been there multiple times and knew exactly where we wanted to go within each park. I also suggest the regular dining plan. You get a snack, a quick service meal, and a sit-down meal. The snacks are excellent because you can get ice cream or water for those hot days. We also shared a quick service meal as a mid-day snack to tide us over before the sit-down. It's well worth the cost, as sit-down meals add up very quickly.

cathyanddavid · December 2011

We would be going in early October. Any recommendations about hotels?

MelissaC315 · December 2011

Personally, I don't think either (park hopper or meal plan) are necessary but they are nice options if you want them. FI and I have traveled to Disney 3x together and we've done without both but we are NOT big eaters at all so we would not have gotten our money worth with the food. As far as the park hoppers, it depends.... FI and I like doing a park each day and staying in that park for the whole day and doing it all. Then we switch to a different park the next day and do that all day, etc. We've found that hopping between the parks takes up too much time and we'd rather not do it. But I know that many of our friends like getting the park hopper because they can go between parks to visit their favorite rides, etc. It's definitely just a personal preference and you'll be happy either way

strlzfan11 · December 2011

I think a lot of it depends on what time of year you are going. I would recommend the park hoppers in a heartbeat, especially if you are only going to be there a short amount of time. I have mixed feelings on the dining plan. I don't think I would pay out of pocket for it, but if it was being offered on a promotion I would probably get it as long as there wasn't a room discount promotion that would get me a better deal.

You really have to PLAN in order to make the most of your dining plan. ALl of the restaurant menus can be found at allears.net. Price out your meals and see if it's cheaper to pay out of pocket or get the dining plan. Remember that most gratuities and alcohol are not included in the cost of the DP.

cupcakewarfare · December 2011

I guess it all depends on your budget. I saw it as our only honeymoon and I wanted to make sure it was special. I honestly set the budget for the honeymoon before I started pricing out the wedding, but that's because that's what's important to us.

I believe the dining plan is roughly $46 per person per day. Once, we ate at Tutto Italia and the bill came to over $80 before gratuity. That same day, we also got a bottle of water (typically $3 or $4), a bowl of fruit (I'm going to guess around $5 or $6) and 2 breakfast platters (about $13 each). That's just one day. I'm not saying that all of your sit-down meals are like that, but it's very possible.

If you guys want a full restaurant experience, go for the dining plan. If you don't mind ordering a burger and fries (and those fries are mighty delicious), then you might not need it.

October is a fantastic time to go! It's warm and you can go swimming, but you're not constantly sweating. Plus, you get to see the Halloween decorations!

We've stayed at All-Star Movies twice and Animal Kingdom Lodge twice. Our next trip is currently planned for the Polynesian. OP, what are your thoughts on where you want to stay?

sweetcanadian1979 · December 2011

I think you first need to figure out what you want from disney. We are having the park hopper as well as the water park & more option because we will have a teenager with us who will want to do disneyquest & we want to go to the water parks, 2 days of doing either of these cost more than it does the whole time we are there.

We are leaving the parks after lunch everyday to escape the heat & crowds (august) so the park hopper is worth it, if we have done what we wanted we can go somewhere else when we return.

We are going for 10 days but i would love for 2 weeks, because of all the walking we are taking a day off in between. We will miss a day the day we get there so we will probably do downtown disney then, we are also international so we totally miss a day the day we are leaving so really we only have 9 days.

We have free dining but if not we would not be doing the dining plan as it would only be worth it for my fiance. It all depends what you want for meals, make sure you book restaurants 180 days out if they are popular.

www.disboards.com has lots of threads all related to disney.

Cynthia1207 · December 2011

I also recommend the park hopper option. You might want to fit in more than one park a day so it's definitely worth it. I never took the dining option but I think it might come in handy.

As for hotels, I've been twice to the All-Stars (Sports and Movies) and around 7 times to Caribbean Beach. Both of them were very nice. It depends on your budget and what you're looking for. All-Stars are very kid-friendly resorts and are the cheapest option.

dazyabbey · December 2011

I would get the park hopper option as well. And if you are going to have extra time in Orlando you should check out Universal Studios too. Harry Potter World is awesome. :-)

parrothead84 · December 2011

It's on the expensive end, but the Yacht Club Resort is amazing! It's my favorite hotel on the grounds.

I also recommend the Park Hopper if you're staying for less than five days.

Finally, one of my favorite things to do is spend one day "drinking around the world" in Epcot. Start at either end (Canada or Mexico) and take your time enjoying an authentic drink at every country.

Highly recommend Biergarten Restaurant in Germany and Rose Crown Pub in the UK.

FutureBMay · December 2011

Definitely take advantage of the Meal Plans Disney offers. There are even times of the year they offer the meal plans for free. Like cupcake mentioned, you'll be able to have very nice meals for a fraction of the cost. This will help you to enjoy a special dinner without being concerned about the price. The park hoppers are also great. Enjoy Disney! It's the best!

herb0622 · December 2011

DH and I go to Disney all of the time (we are DVC members) and we went for our HM too. I would recommend staying there for a week (2 days at Magic Kingdom, 2 at Epcot, 1 at Animal Kingdom, 1 at Hollywood Studios, 1 at the water parks/Downtown Disney). For you, alot will depend on what you want to see and do, and how much you eat. If you want to go to multiple parks on the same days, then I would recommend the park hopper. The park hopper is only like an additional $50 pp for the week. DH and I always eat at the more expensive restaurants at Epcot and the resort, so we always get the dining plan. It saves us a lot of money. If you only plan on eating at quick service restaurants then I wouldn't bother with the dining plan. In terms of the hotel, I would recommend renting points at the DVC resorts from a DVC member. You can stay at the more luxurious hotels for pretty much the same price of a value resort there. You would buy points for the week, based on where you want to stay. Most people sell their points for $8-$12 each. Our favorite resorts are the Beach Club and Boardwalk. Feel free to PM with any questions. Have fun!

KaitlinRich · December 2011

First off, CONGRATULATIONS! Second, thats where my FI and I are going too! Park hopper is a must as it provides flexibility, I generally say one day per park as it allows you ample time without feeling rushed. And lastly, the meal plan is well worth it as it allows you to eat a variety of things at a rate much better than average!

KellyBrian2013 · December 2011

I would plan to go into the parks no less than 4 days personally, but 5-7 days is probably ideal (if you can afford it). I definitely recommend the Park Hopper option. FI and I went in March (and are talking about honeymooning there, too)... even though you could probably fill a day at each of the parks, if you're not big into shows or rides, you limit yourself.

FI and I both like rides... we're not so big into shows. When we went in March, we spent the morning at Animal Kingdom on 3 of the 4 mornings (we did the safarri ride - I highly, highly recommend it, but go in the morning when animals tend to be more active). We spent half a day at Epcot before going to Magic Kingdom, but that's because we didn't have a ton of money to spend on food & drinks around the world. We spent parts of 2 days at MGM (though its not called that anymore; now its Hollywood Studios now, I think)... LOVE Tower of Terror and Rockin Rollercoaster. We spent a full day in Magic Kingdom, as well. They have a new land opening in MK in 2013, replacing what used to be Mickey's village...

If we honeymoon at Disney, FI and I will get the meal plan people already mentioned: one snack, 1 quick service, and 1 sit down meal. We looked at sit-down meal prices while we were there in March, and holy shiznit. One restaurant was something like $60 per person for buffet style. No thank you... but as PPs have said: if you aren't really interested in sit-down meals, then you don't necessarily need to worry about a meal plan.

As for places to stay: I've stayed at the Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge, Camp Wilderness campsite, and the All-Star Movie Resort. I'd stay at any of them again in a heartbeat. To be honest, I've rarely heard complaints of any of the resorts, and even the cheapest resorts for DIsney (All-Star Music, Movies, and Sports) are decent...

FI and I priced out HM options for Disney for 8 days (we likely would not go for quite that long, though). 6 weekday, 2 weekend nights in a Disney resort (in a middle-grade room), 8 days of park-hopper passes with a meal plan came to under $5000 total. That's still a good chunk of change, but isn't as expensive as I thought it might be. A lot depends on when you are going, though - their prices do vary by season. We lucked out in that we'd be going in their slowest season, so it has the lowest prices.

cebrady89 · January 2012

Love the Boardwalk, Grand Floridian, and Yacht club!

Definitely do the park hopper - makes it so much more relaxed that you don't have to plan such a rigid itinerary in order to see/do everything.

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