Disneymoon with the Besties - May 2017 - Pre-Trip Report

[tracey1302]

Good afternoon all!

Welcome to my fourth pre-trip report here on the Dibb. I often wonder what I did after I'd been on holiday to Florida before I found this place. It's like group therapy between bookings and departures!

For those that know me and my trip reports, please feel free to refresh your memories of our previous visits to the USA and to the magic.

Zip a dee do dah - The Bagley/Mollet Family Trip - May 2011
Tracey & Neil's EPIC California Trip - June 2012
Disney with the Dufflers - July 2014

And my current wedding and honeymoon planning journal. Though most of the honeymoon planning will now be going in here.

Tracey & Neil's UK Wedding & Disneymoon PJ - Nov '16 & May '17


About us - The Cast

Neil and I are both 29 and have been together for seven and a bit years now, though we have known each other since we were three years old. We went to Playgroup together We live in Halifax, West Yorkshire. I am a lecturer in Media and Communication at a well known university in West Yorkshire and Neil works in Mortgage Complaints at Lloyds Banking Group.

We are getting married on the 5th November this year in Ripponden, West Yorkshire at a lovely venue called The Fleece Inn.



As long as I can remember, I wanted to get married at the Wedding Pavilion at the Grand Floridian, but when Neil and I got engaged two years ago, it suddenly became clear that we wouldn't be able to get married abroad. I still have two grandparents who are in good health and who I couldn't imagine not being there on my big day. We also have a lot of friends here at home, who wouldn't have been able to make it, so it was really important that we stayed local.

So, as a compromise (hardly a bad compromise ) we are having our honeymoon over in Walt Disney World instead. And what's more, our best friends are joining us

Allow me to introduce the other two members of the cast...

Ben and Olly (Also both 29)

Ben and Olly are our best friends. Ben will be Neil's Best Man when we get married in November and Olly is one of my bridesmaids. We spend a lot of time (perhaps too much time ) with these two. We see them, either for a drink or for a meal, most weekends and we have been away for the weekend with them before.

Ben and Neil talk football constantly and always like to take the mick out of each other all the time, as men do (!) and Olly is my best friend in life. I text her every day and she is the one person I tell everything to.

We feel very lucky to have such special friends in these two and personally, I envisage that this trip will be the first of many holidays with them. They're the sort of friends that I imagine we will still go out with when we are ten/twenty years older than we are now and have a litter of misbehaving children

As two couples in our late twenties, with no children, who are lucky enough to be home owners and have good jobs, we can't wait to go on this holiday and have an amazing time!


The Decision

Truth be told, I don't actually remember the exact date when we decided they would come on honeymoon with us. It was a combination of them really loving all the things Neil and I were saying about our 2014 trip; them getting the America bug after getting engaged in New York in 2014; Olly wanting to go back to Disney after having not been since she was a young teenager and Ben wanting to go for the first time!

All of these factors, in combination with a few meals out, a few takeaways in, fuelled by prosecco, Olly saying that she wanted to do Disney 'like you do Disney' led to them booking their Disney holiday the week after we booked ours. They have let me take full responsibility for the booking and planning of the holiday. I will take Ben's recent meme to convey this sentiment:



Olly is a primary school teacher and Ben runs his own personal tutoring business so they are tied to school holidays. This means they are coming for 7 nights of mine and Neil's 14 night Orlando holiday.

The Trip - New York leg - 22nd May 2017 to 26th May 2017

At the beginning of our honeymoon as a cheeky extra, Neil and I have decided to spend four nights in New York. Neil has never been to New York and has always wanted to go. New York is really quite familiar to me. When I was studying for my undergraduate degree, I spent four months over in the States at Princeton University, which was just a short train ride away from Manhattan. During those four months, I saw an awful lot of New York, so this part of the trip is really for Neil to see what he wants to see of New York I'll just be happy to be there.

He has already said he wants to go and see The Book of Mormon on Broadway, so I've budgeted for those (incredibly expensive! ) tickets! He's also expressed an interest in going to see a football game (of course! ) and going to the Top of the Rock. I'll let him research the rest.

I wouldn't mind going for brunch or lunch at the Boathouse in Central Park.



But aside from that, the ball is pretty much in his court for this leg of the holiday.

We have booked our flights out of Manchester on the 22nd May with Thomas Cook (extra legroom)

[tracey1302]

The Trip - Orlando leg Part One - 26th May 2017 to 29th May 2017

Neil and I will be travelling down to Orlando on the 26th May. We haven't booked our internal flights yet, I'm hoping to book these in the new year but I am keeping a keen eye on prices just to make sure they don't get out of budget. We will likely be taking a lunchtime flight from Newark into Orlando International.

Then, for a little treat and for the first time, we are going to stay on site at Universal

I haven't booked yet as I'm waiting for a good deal, either through Expedia or Opodo or Ebookers or Travel Republic or Low Cost Holidays (plenty of options with potential cashback!) But we are going to be staying at Loews Royal Pacific Resort.



I have literally always wanted to stay at this resort It just looks like paradise and you're in the middle of Universal. Amazing I picked this for the Express passes and the early entry to Harry Potter. Here's hoping these benefits hold, otherwise my allegiance to this hotel will quickly change

I think Neil and I will just chill at the hotel and go for a meal on Citywalk for this night and spend the Saturday relaxing as well. After four days straight walking and sightseeing in NYC, I think we will need this chill out time! I may ask Neil if he thinks we should get 3 day tickets though, just in case

Then on the Saturday, our company will be arriving! Ben and Olly's Virgin Atlantic flight should get in around 1/2ish so hopefully, they should be able to join us around tea time!

I have this vision in my head of them coming to join us for a margarita outside Margaritaville at five o clock. I'm really hoping this happens.

Then we will be taking advantage of early entry to whatever park on the Sunday and then again on the Monday. Given this is Memorial Day weekend and the parks will be pretty busy, I'll be thankful for the Express passes! I'll also be taking advantage of Olly and Ben's inevitable jetlag which will help to ensure they get up early

Let's just say they're not known for being on time

Ben is Neil's Best Man and Olly will be one of my bridesmaids. We are asking for their presence two hours before we actually need them, just in case.

Restaurants planned for our three nights at Universal Orlando:

Cowfish on the 26th, Margaritaville on the 27th and Bahama Breeze International Drive on the 28th. Neil is desperate to return to Bahama Breeze and we can't not go, it really is a massive favourite.

[tracey1302]

The Trip - Orlando leg Part Two - 29th May 2017 to 9th June 2017

After spending most of the day on the 29th in Universal Orlando, we plan to finally make the move into Walt Disney World. This will be 5 nights for Ben and Olly and 11 nights for me and Neil.

The decision of where to stay was possibly the toughest one I have had to make on the entire trip. I've only ever stayed at CBR. It's our Disney home and it's the place where I have made many happy memories with my family on numerous trips over the years.

Our decision not to go back wasn't fuelled out of any negative feelings towards this resort. I genuinely love it and it will feel very strange not to be going back. But on our honeymoon, and in the absence of my family (which will be a little bit of an emotional pang for me ) Neil and I knew it was important that we stay somewhere different. If nothing else, it would give us more options for the next time if we loved it

But where to stay?

My eyes first drifted to CSR. With a similar tropical vibe to CBR, a fabulous looking lakeside bar, the beaches, the hammocks, gorgeous looking rooms, many deluxe facilities and a cheaper/similar price to CBR, this looked like a solid choice.

But with the many new bars and restaurants opening in Disney Springs, and with CSR being a little bit isolated in terms of location, Neil and I started looking at the hotels in the Disney Springs area. Naturally, SSR was also on the agenda. With the potential of being walking distance to Disney Springs and the novelty of being the first deluxe hotel we'd ever stayed in, this also looked a very appealing option.

And then there was the PO Resorts, which I'd noticed were always highly recommended on the Dibb. With their peaceful, beautiful and romantic setting, deep South theme and being a water taxi ride away from Disney Springs (which Neil was very excited about!) these resorts were the ones that we kept coming back to.

As much as I wanted to be (because it was a deluxe and because it was so close to Disney Springs) I just couldn't get myself excited about staying at Saratoga Springs. It was the theming. Deep South just sold me, horses didn't

And so, the more expensive of all three options... Port Orleans Riverside with the splurge of Deluxe Dining... was booked on Wednesday 20th April at 10.30pm, when free dining first went live.



It was a funny night. I'd had a few glasses of wine with Mum, and just decided to go on the Dibb, as you do I saw it had gone live.

I got the prices up, cross checked with my spreadsheet and rushed downstairs to Neil.

Me: Are we sure we're set on Port Orleans?
Neil: Yes.
Me: Even though Coronado is £200 cheaper and Saratoga is £90 cheaper?
Neil: Yes.
Me: Are you absolutely sure?
Neil: Just book it. It's our honeymoon. We're not skimping.

So we haven't.

Deluxe Dining was a must for us this time. I was desperate to try most of the Signatures on Disney property and not to have to worry about credits. This way we could have a snacky breakfast, a lunch and a Signature meal every night I can't wait to try all the restaurants we haven't tried yet.

Ben and Olly have also booked for Port Orleans Riverside for 5 nights with Deluxe Dining. I explained to Olly that it was going to be a very expensive week for them but she underlined that it was part of their honeymoon too and they wanted to do Disney exactly as we did it. So that's what they're doing.

Our itinerary keeps changing as I keep fiddling with it but on the agenda, restaurants wise...

For our 5 nights with Ben and Olly;

House of Blues, Narcoossee's, Le Cellier, The Boathouse, California Grill

For our other 6 nights,

Yachtsman's Steakhouse, Jiko, Tiffins, STK Orlando, Flying Fish Cafe, Be Our Guest, Narcoossee's (for brunch)

We fly back to Manchester with TC on Friday 9th June Premium Economy. I've never flown PE before and neither has Neil, so if we're gonna be horrifically depressed, we are gonna be depressed in PE.

So that's all we have so far... I'll update you once we book Loews Royal Pacific and our hotel in New York... both of which will probably be booked in January.

[lovemickey]

Sounds fantastic! We're taking our boys for the first time next August and have booked Rpr and Port Orleans riverside! Might be slightly biased but I think you've chosen some great hotels, we can't wait to stay at them!

[Yorkie Girl]

I don't know how I missed this Tracey! Your honeymoon plans sound amazing (and all the cool kids do New York and Orlando for their honeymoon you know )

[EJSakaAnna]

I love a honeymoon trippie! Your plans sounds brilliant .

We stayed at RPR on our honeymoon for 1 night, I wish we'd stayed longer to have some chill time. It's such a beautiful hotel!

[Elsa42]

Great trip report. We are also May dibbers so it's great to find other people writing pretrip reports for them. Your plans sound great and a lot of your meal choices are the same as ours. I look forward to reading more

[disneyme]

All sounds amazing- especially POR and the deluxe dining plan!

[tracey1302]

Mini update - booked the NYC hotel by accident...

Well, it wasn't an accident. I do a weekly price check on Trivago for NY hotels and for RPR, just in case I stumble upon a deal. And I did. Location was really important for me and Neil for NY, more so than anything else, really. And while we had looked at a range of hotels with amazing facilities, we concluded that all we really needed was a comfy bed and shower, in a good location.

And I spotted the Hampton Inn on 35th Street, coming up for £630 for four nights in a King Bed with a walk in shower. (I have only realised afterwards that what this actually means is our room is actually wheelchair accessible ) but hey!

I've put a request on the booking for a good view and stated that it is our honeymoon. I'm massively milking the honeymoon thing - I want special treatment

Our hotel is basically opposite the Empire State Building, a few blocks from Herald Square and Times Square. Massively happy.

What's more - we get a free hot buffet breakfast every day - that's money saved right there!

A few pictures of the hotel:







Just waiting on RPR - praying this comes down in price in January or that I can snag an ebookers 15% discount of some description - it's at an eye watering £300 a night at the moment. I've seen it go down to £200 a night for our dates (but I didn't have the money to book it at the time) I've budgeted £650, so if it goes anywhere near to that, I shall be booking

[Davy Crockett]

Looks like an awesome time coming up for you, great choices!