Pre-Trip Report: Our Dream Disneymoon (12/16-23) COMPLETED - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Epcot (Half) Day Plans Travel & Check in Lunch at Sunshine Seasons or Tangerine Café Dinner at Les Chefs de France (ADR) Illuminations
For starters, we'll be leaving the house super early for our flight ... I'm a bit nervous about that ... but we'll pack something small to eat on the plane and some granola bars if we start to fade before we're able to have lunch at WDW.
I am absurdly excited about taking DME to get to the park. I keep telling FDH, "once we check our bags at the home airport, we won't have to touch them again until we're ready to leave WDW ... how amazing is that??" It doesn't take much to make me excited.
We should arrive at Pop around 1:30. As soon as we check in and get our KTTW (and hopefully our "Just Married" buttons), we’re heading to Epcot! We don't even intend to check out our room if it's ready. Straight to the parks!!
I think we’ll probably tackle Future World until dinner. We definitely want to try Soarin, if we can get a FP that late in the day. I'm thinking, Soarin FP, then lunch at Sunshine Seasons, since it's right there and we will likely be starving.
Figment is also a must do on this first day. I was so in LOVE with Figment when I was a child (I wanted to marry him ), and I didn’t get to see him when I visited in 2001. I will see him this time!!!
We're both really looking forward to dinner at Les Chefs. Yum!! After dinner, we hope to enjoy a romantic stroll around World Showcase. How amazing that we get to see Illusions on our first night in the World while wearing our Just Married ear hats!?! We are planning to be shmooppy. (Just talking about it makes us a little schmoopy!)
If there's the time and the inclination, we also want to try some tequila at El Cava Del Tequila in the Mexico Pavillion, check out the maze and gardens in the UK, see if we can find a talking water fountain, and (if there's room in our bellies) enjoy green tea ice cream (my fav!) in Japan. If we're REALLY lucky, we'll catch a British Invasion show.
Okay, let's be real. Epcot closes at 9:30 ... with only about 7 hours in the park on Day 1 (and at least 1.5-2 of those spent dining), we probably won't get to do all of this stuff, but it's good to have goals!! We plan to 'do' Epcot again later in the trip, so whatever we don't get to this day, there'll (hopefully) be plenty of time to get to it later!
And, though you only honeymoon once, this won't be our only chance to experience the World! We've agreed not to obsess over things we're "missing," and instead enjoy the moment we're in (I fully admit that this isn't going to be easy for me, but FDH promises to keep reminding me if I need it.)
Let me know what you think of these plans / way of approaching our trip. We are planning to go in with something like this for each day--all of our meals planned out, plus a list of 2 or 3 things we 'must' do and several other things we'd like to do. I'm hoping this method will allow us to react to crowds as we need to and also keep us open for magical experiences that we may not have appreciated with a strict touring schedule.
Also, let me know if you think we're missing anything HUGE in Epcot ... or even something small and deliciously romantic. I loooove feedback!
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Epcot (Half) Day Plans
And, though you only honeymoon once, this won't be our only chance to experience the World! We've agreed not to obsess over things we're "missing," and instead enjoy the moment we're in (I fully admit that this isn't going to be easy for me, but FDH promises to keep reminding me if I need it.)
i had a hard time with this too. the only way i could accomplish that was to make my hubby promise that we'd come back someday.
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Sorry for the delay in this, folks!! It's been a nutball week!!
Day 2 – A Hodge Podge Adventure Breakfast with at Everything Pop Mini-golf at Summer Winterland Lunch at Artist’s Palette (SSR) Shopping at DDT Dinner at Boma (ADR) Exploring at AKL
Our morning will start bright and early with breakfast with fellow PPer Chanti and her family at Everything Pop!! We’re so excited about meeting up with friendly faces … in fact, if anyone else wants to meet up while we’re in WDW, PM me!
After breakfast, we’ll probably play in the arcade or explore the grounds for awhile.
FDH and I are big mini-golf fans, and we plan to play both WDW courses during our stay. As Summer Winterland is closer to Pop, it gets first dibs. Looking forward to a nice, leisurely morning.
From there, we plan to make a quick stop at Saratoga Springs for lunch … and a spa treatment!! FDH and I are going to get Swedish massages together! So looking forward to that ...
From SSR, we plan to go on to Downtown Disney for some shopping in the afternoon. We are Mad Hatters, so we’ll definitely try on a few hats , but we’re also planning to pick up gifts and souvenirs. We don’t have too many plans or ideas about this. In fact, I’ve barely researched DTD at all! (Something to do as our trip draws nearer … though if anyone has any "must visit" stores, let me know!)
Following our mad shopping spree, we plan to spend the entire evening in the Animal Kingdom Lodge, exploring, listening to the African storytellers, checking out the animals in night vision and enjoying dinner at Boma.
We're hoping for an enchanted (and low key) evening!
Day 3 – Check, Check, Check Check out of Pop
Check in to Contemporary
Lunch at The Wave (ADR)
Dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s (ADR)
Cirque du Soleil La Nouba
Once you start reading about this day, you'll understand why we plan to take it easy the day before ... it is going to be a BUSY one!!
After a quick breakfast of whatever’s around (leftovers from dinner or granola bars), we plan to spend a little bit of time saying "goodbye" to Pop. And then we’re going to check out and head to the Contemporary (DCR).
We plan to spend the rest of the morning and early afternoon at DCR, having lunch at The Wave, exploring the grounds and generally oohing and ahhing. When we tire of that, we’re off to the Magic Kingdom for 3 or 4 hours.
When we talked about our must-dos for this first few hours in MK, we agreed to keep it pretty low key. I’d like to see if the line isn’t too long for Santa. And maybe get a Dole Whip (there’s a hefty break between lunch and dinner, perfectly designed for those DDxP snack credits).
In terms of rides, if we can sneak in Pirates and Haunted Mansion, awesome. If we can grab some time at TS Island, even better. And if we get our butts into the Hall of Presidents ... I will likely die of shock. We'll see what we can accomplish.
Honestly, if we do nothing but wander around Main Street with our mouths hanging open, it’ll be worth it (as long as we’re holding hands).
After MK, we’re headed to DTD for dinner at Wolfgang Pucks (yum!) and then La Nouba!!! I can’t even begin to describe how excited FDH is about Cirque. I want to see it, sure … but he’s like a kid in a toy store whenever I bring it up. I can’t wait to share it with him!
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), and I didn’t get to see him when I visited in 2001. I will see him this time!!! 
We plan to 'do' Epcot again later in the trip, so whatever we don't get to this day, there'll (hopefully) be plenty of time to get to it later! 
but your DisneyMoon is the perfect chance.
PassPorter Guide Author
, but we’re also planning to pick up gifts and souvenirs. We don’t have too many plans or ideas about this. In fact, I’ve barely researched DTD at all! (Something to do as our trip draws nearer … though if anyone has any "must visit" stores, let me know!)
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