Too much time in Disney??

[mousewardbound]

This may not be the right place for this (or hopefully its the perfect place- I need help!) My DF and I are going on our honeymoon in Nov - 3 weeks. We're booked for a few days at universal, but otherwise we are primarily disney (we were part of the CBR bumpees). Friends/family are now making me have second thoughts about such a long time in Orlando/specifically Disney.

Background: my DF is a lifelong WDW fan (as a non-traveler/poor flier its the one place he loves and feels comfortable at). I am a frequent flier/fan of exotic travel. He hasn't had a real vaca in like 3 years, so I gave up my visions of honeymoon in Bali/Hawaii etc to insure that we'll both have a great time/relax etc. But now people are making me worried, that 3 weeks is too much (tho I disagree w/those who say- "you'll only need a couple days at Disney" at least I know enought to know THAT isn't true!)

Any suggestions for filling the time? Is it too much - I was thinking maybe we should throw in a week down in the Keys?? Or am I just so mired in pre wedding jitters etc that worrying is all I know how to do anymore??

Thanks in advance for any advice....

 

[Willowwind]

Oh what I'd give for 3 weeks at Disney!!

I think that the two of you will be fine... relax and enjoy everything. You're going to need downtime after the wedding, and you're going to want private time. 3 weeks will allow you to be able to relax *and* take in all the fun stuff without having to worry about time constraints.

Don't listen to what other people tell you, just follow your heart.

 

[hmp2z]

Hi! We had 10 days at WDW, and I would have given anything to stay for another 10 It's one of those places where we never get bored; there is always something new to do. Are you staying on a package? We were on Deluxe Magic, and took advantage of the recreational activities included, so went parasailing. There are lots of things like this outside of parks that you could do - horseback riding, carriage rides, fishing, parsailing, windsurfing, sailing, surry bike rides, etc. etc. etc
Cheers!
Heather W
P.S. What resort did you get bumped to?

 

[mousewardbound]

thanks for the encouragement- I think part of the problem I'm having is I'm hearing too much from non-Disney people and not enough from people who know better! I'm sticking w/the "follow your heart" reminder. Its my new mantra.

Of your 10 days, how much time did you spend actually at the Parks? Did you do full days? Though I salivated a bit over them, we don't have a package (3 wks is already a bit more than we can really swing!) I think we'd both really love to try parasailing and windsurfing - is that something I should be booking now? (He got kicked off a horse as a kid so I won't even suggest that!) Did you do any offsite things? Have you done the backyard BBQ? He's going to do the Petty speedway thing - that's my wedding present to him (and his to me is the honeymoon photoshoot- though I'm a little concerned b/c I read a couple posts where people complained about the photo quality etc).

I had booked CBR just 4 days before they stopped taking reservations for it- just days before I read on this board that it was closing! And if it wasn't for what I learned from others on this site, I don't think we would have done as well at all in our move (I was one of those too nervous to wait for the call from the special team). We got bumped initially just to Animal Kingdom (savannah), but on discussing it decided we really couldn't pass on the chance to stay at the Polynsian at least part of the time. It wasn't available for the whole time, so we're splitting it about half and half. I initially had some concerns that the AK wouldn't be "romantic" enough, though I've read enough from the resort board to believe it will be a great place to be. And I can't wait to try Boma!

btw, I really got a kick out of looking at your wedding pix and reading the recaps- you are such a beautiful couple and you look SO happy together. I think you have a wonderful life in front of you- Congratulations!

 

[cord]

You ARE soooo lucky! We were there for our honeymoon for 8 days. I can't imagine how much fun we could have had with 3 weeks. You will have time to see everything AND relax. We didn't have too much relaxing time since we wanted to get the most out of our package. I would have loved to have spent a day at the pools at the Polynesian, but didn't want to *waste* any time. We pretty much spent a good part of each day at a park, we had PS for nearly every meal and planned what park to be at that day by where that days PS for lunch was. Usually, we would go back to the resort and cool off/shower before going out to dinner. We spent a lot of time at Epcot because we had picked out several restaurants there.
My husband parasailed, but I was too afraid. He had fun, but was ready to come down! He got some good pictures from up there and said he had an amazing view of Magic Kingdom! Also, since it was included in our package, he took out the Water Mouse boat several times. I never got brave enough to do that either!
If you can swing it, and like to be pampered, schedule a spa treatment at the Grand Floridian. I had an aromatheraphy massage and a pedicure. It was sooooo relaxing. Some days, looking forward to that massage were what got me through those last few hectic weeks before the wedding.
Anyway, we enjoyed Pleasure Island. Our regret is that we didn't discover it until our last night. We could have easily spent several nights there.
One thing I would have liked to do that we didn't have time for is see more resorts. We were staying at the Polynesian and had meals at both the Grand Floridian and the Contemporary, but those 3 resorts were all we saw.
I think you are going to have an awesome trip! Really, you are getting the best of both worlds...you will get to see it all, but won't be so rushed that you don't get to relax too.

 

[liquidsky88]

Three weeks sounds fine. I'm getting married and honeymooning in DisneyWorld next July. We'll be staying for 2 1/2 weeks. My DF and I have something different to do everyday. Just because you're staying in Disney doesn't mean you have to go to their parks. We are visiting Universal, Sea World and Busch Gardens. If you break the days up between Disney and outside parks, you'll be fine. I do think every single day in Disney can be much. A change in scenery is always nice. Plus it gives you the chance to miss Disney a little.

 

[f7prez]

You should have no trouble at all filling your time. Like others have said, go to Sea World (one of our favorites), Universal or Bush Gardens. When my wife and I go we try to make every other day a relaxing day. By this I mean instead of going to a theme park we will hang out at one of the water parks, go back to the hotel and then spend the night at Downtown Disney or Citywalk, Church Street Station etc. Enjoy a relaxing massage at the Disney Institute Spa. Play miniature golf, rent a bike at Wilderness Lodge and ride the trails around the campground. Tour the other resorts. hang out by the pool at your resort.
You had mentioned you may be staying at the AKL. I hear they have special tours of Animal Kingdom you can sign up for that includes a nice breakfast buffet. Go on any one of the many behind the scene tours Disney offers.
I am willing to bet that a couple could stay at WDW for four weeks and still not do EVERYTHING that there is to do.
And like I mentioned earlier, one of my favorite things to do is just relax and enjoy The World.

 

[mousewardbound]

OK! I am getting psyched again that this was the best decision we could have made for the honeymoon (planning and researching it certainly has been the one bright spot to help get me through the rest of the wedding stuff- we both wanted to elope but went w/the traditional wedding to please the families). I am so glad I found this board- in the few weeks I've been on it, it has been completely invaluable and has really helped to get me excited about the trip. I like the day on/ day off concept- I think that would work well for us. And I guess I better getting going on getting some PS reservations in...the Illuminations cruises were already filled when I checked on that.

Thanks again for the encouragement and help!

 

[ZPT1022]

I'm sure you'll have a great time- I wish we could find a way to stay that long! I think it will be great to have enough time to really explore without feeling a time constraint. Our problem is feeling like we have to rush around and see everything and having 3 weeks would allow you to have some time to explore other resorts, have more time for water parks, etc..more than just rush around the parks trying to do it all! Good luck, I definitely agree with you about the trip being the most exciting part of the wedding, right about now I tend to agree!!

 

[ReneeQ]

I think three weeks would be perfect! BUT if you really think that's too long, and you can afford it, why not break it up with a Disney Cruise? Talk about relaxing! We went on the 7 day cruise for our 11th anniversary and can't wait to go back.

Whatever you decide, do what the TWO OF YOU want! You're already having the wedding to make the family happy (as you said) so make the honeymoon all yours! Who cares what others think, they won't be there! Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

 

[elaine181000]

When we were married at WDW (October 2000), we were there for 3 weeks. We had unlimited magic passes for the whole 3 weeks, and boy did we use them!

We saw all we wanted to see in the parks, rode our favourite rides so many times we'd lost count, saw all the shows we wanted, and best of all - we had time to meander around, soaking in the atmosphere.

We also did Universal (both parks), Seaworld, Busch, Discovery Cove, got married and had some time on I-Drive to play Pirate's Cove (it's a pilgrammage we have to make!). We also did MNSSHP.

3 weeks will not be too long - honestly. We loved it, and finances permittine, will do the same next time.

Elaine & Martin

 

[hmp2z]

Hi! Thank you for the kind words about our recaps & pictures
For our 10 days there, we spent every day in the parks except for our wedding day. It was nice staying at the GF, because we could leave and take a nap at our hotel in the afternoons For some reason, there's so much to do there that we get worn out...
If you want to book the parasailing, I would recommend doing that ASAP - they were booked solid on the day we did it, and we had to wait an extra 1/2 hour, because they were running behind. We saw a steady stream of people who kept getting on the parasailing boat, as others would get off.
We didn't do anything off-site, since we love staying in the Disney fantasy too much to leave property. We wouldn't want to have to worry about traffic or anything like that; Disney does a great job of totally wrapping you in fantasy.
That is so awesome that you were able to get AKL & Poly instead of CBR! Congratulations on the great deal!
Cheers!
Heather W

 

[lillykat]

I don't think you will be there too long. You will have plenty of time to relax and it will give you the opportunity to see and do absolutely whatever you want and not be rushed.
The AKL is a great choice for a honeymoon. My now DF and I are planing on somehow working disney world into our honeymoon and we will stay at the AKL because of our amazing experience with it this past jan. I have pics I could send to you if you would like to see the hotel.
I would also be happy to let you know anything about the hotel as well