We are planning our honeymoon to Disney in 2019 after admitting to ourselves our previous trip was the best holiday ever (a large part thanks to this site!) so had to be our choice!!
We are looking at May 2019 from the 2nd for 14 nights at the moment.
From my reading this sounds like a good time to visit, hoping Iāve not missed anything!
Couple of questions for the experts
Is early May a good time to visit? We picked it as the wedding is November this year so we need a few months after to rally the savings again and also to spread out all the excitement but donāt want to wait too long either and May seemed the quietest/ācheapestā month that fit that bracket
Star Wars Land wont be open then right? (we are interested but rather do it once popularity has dropped).
Is it worth considering Ā£1000 more to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge, over Port Orleans Riverside (which we loved last time)? Or is this money better spent elsewhere or saved? We like getting to the parks early but returning for an afternoon break at the hotel and while we say we will have chill days we didnāt last time as there was just too much to do!
Whatās your not to be missed activity for a Honeymoon?
What are the best new things since June 2014 (our last visit)?
Whatās the best new food outlet since June 2014?
Congrats! I cannot answer all of your questions but I will give my opinion on a couple.
Early May is a great time to visit! It should be hot, but not āface of the sun hotā. It is also Flower and Garden Festival in Epcot, and that festival is beautiful.
I think you can count on Star Wars Land not being open. Toy Story Land May still bring in crowds.
Is that the price difference for a standard view room at AKL? You really cannot go wrong with either choice.
Pandora! Flights of Passage- no contestā¦
There are so many great restaurants at Disney Springs!
I am excited to see the flower and garden festival and see the sun!
Good news about star wars
I believe thatās a standard view room yes, I would expect so as its a standard room in POR. I think we are edging towards sticking with moderate and maybe doing an extra dinner show or something like that as I donāt think we will be in the room so much.
Especially with all the new restaurants in Disney Springs I think the proximity will be beneficial as well. Havenāt had a chance to see whatās there yet and which restaurants will accept the dining plan.
My first thought was that walking the POR grounds at night are so beautiful, and you could take a carriage ride, but AKL has balconies and giraffes! Really, they are both great.
I donāt want to repeat everyone elses responsesā¦ Personally I would save the money because Ā£1000 can be saved ready for your next trip! You can always visit Animal Kingdom Lodge if you want mid afternoon for a bit of a breakā¦ When we go to Disney we have a break every afternoon in my view when we go to a park in the evening its like a new day again - so we get twice the holiday!!
We got married 2nd May (long time ago) went to Disney for a 3 week honeymoon on 3rd May and had a great time - visited three years ago mid May - again great timeā¦ going again this year same timeā¦ we would go earlier but got to fit in with school breaks as wellā¦
Thanks sounds like a plan its already expensive this wedding and honeymoon business
We went to Saana for lunch during an AK day on our last trip and it was lovely so probably aim to do the same again. We were big fans of the afternoon break so definitely agree on that one!
Glad May is a good choice as well as fitting with things!
B
Early May sounds great as it will avoid most school holidays in both the UK and US. Disney will hopefully release their UK 2019 free dining this month, Iād check that out, also look into DVC, as that could make AKL the same price as French quarter.
Thanks yes we are waiting for the free dining as we loved doing all the sit down meals (will upgrade from QS if at POR) and the general ease of it all with the magic bands so that seems the best offer for us. We have miles to use with Virgin Holidays so will go with them as can upgrade flights or just turn into vouchers and they looked after us so well last time.
I must admit I know nothing about DVC but maybe thatās one for the future!
B
Forgot to say we are all booked
2nd-16th May at POR with the dining plan
Thanks for everyoneās advice and Iām sure I will have plenty more questions if I canāt find answers on the forum already!
Iām currently intrigued by all these extra trips, dessert parties etc. that everyone has been talking about they sound amazing but I donāt know how I would choose
B
Book the HEA Dessert Party with Plaza Garden viewing. As extras go, itās relatively cheap. And you get a fantastic view of HEA with no stress. Itās essential!
Thanks it certainly sounds good in terms of the viewing opportunity and I do like the dessert. I think I saw fondue for the Frozen one though so that was swaying me slightly as we are cheese addicts but sounds like the food isnāt the major draw. We havenāt been since the fireworks changes so definitely something we want to see.
My only slight reservation for this would be that I have a back problem which can mean standing is uncomfortable (so I can struggle a bit by the end of the day) so I was wondering about the seated area. However it sounds like I could end up standing anyway if other people stand in front of the table negating the advantage of the seat which i would have at the cost of a better view from the garden area (as I understand the view form the terrace is not as good). If the standing area is not too crowded I can probably manage as the main thing is to be able to stand with a bit of space and even better lean on something. Is it pretty crowded in the garden area or not too bad?
I know either option is better than trying to find a general spot so a way to view more comfortably is definitely something to look into. Last trip we saw the fireworks twice once from inside the castle while at CRT that was pretty unique!
When I went last August, there was plenty of room. And you can sit on the grass while you wait. You only really need to stand during the 17 minutes of the show itself. If you stand at the back, you can lean against the railing.
The Tomorrowland Terrace option is more expensive and ā I would guess (I havenāt done it) ā wonāt have as good a view.
Hi there, congratulations on your upcoming wedding! I was there with a group of 10 (5 adults, 5 kids, all 6 or under), and one of the things that I learned more about on this board and am recommending to you is the Disney Fine Art Photography session. You can either book a session at your hotel or even a park, but if that is too costly, we did the Mini Magic Kingdom session which allowed our group of 10 (max number) to meet in a calm garden area right by Cinderellaās Castle. Because we had a large group, we planned a few āmustā shots (my family of 4, my sisterās family of 5, and all 5 kids with Nana), and considered anything after getting those to be extras. It was money so well spent! We have photos in front of the Castle without people in them and it was a wonderful commemoration of our first family trip - and my mom (Nana) treasures her photo with her 5 grandkids!
There are limited spots and it can be dependent on weather, so Iād try to schedule it early in your trip in case you have to reschedule!
One other thing you might consider - if you like to take an afternoon break, on a Magic Kingdom day, itās a really nice to take the boat over to Wilderness Lodge and sit on the water at Geyser Point for lunch or drinks and take in all the nature. Plus it allows you to see another resort, which I always like. We stayed here for part of our December trip and enjoyed it. Donāt miss the Geyser shooting up!
Thank you
I wasnāt aware they did this sort of thing might be a nice idea to consider. We were lucky enough to get memory maker included in out package (UK) which is great as we paid last time as having nice photos of the 2 of us together was really important to us. I can see these photos have a different vibe though and would be nice not to have a crowd in the background. I bet your pics are absolutely lovely
The wilderness lodge sounds a lovely area for a break as well we do like to visit the different resorts and I think we missed this one last time but we did do Fort Wilderness for the Hoop de Doo which was fab.
B
and also to spread out all the excitement but donāt want to wait too long either and May seemed the quietest/ācheapestā month that fit that bracket
