A Magical Disney Honeymoon Part One

This time last year my husband and I were on our magical Disney World Honeymoon. Wishing that I could be back there today instead of stuck in bed at home with the occasional trip to the bathroom to throw up, I thought my next post in my series of wedding posts, it would be good to reminisce and look back on the amazing time that we had in Orlando, FL. This post is actually going to be the first of two as we spent 7 days in Orlando and that would be a bit much to recap in just one blog post.

When my husband and I were trying to decide on a honeymoon location it was basically a given that we were going to go to Disney World. Our whole relationship has been pretty much built around our love and obsession for everything Disney. As previously mentioned our first date was to the movie theater and we viewed the Star Wars movie "The Force Awakens". That same night we went back to his apartment and cuddled up on his couch watching "Tarzan". The first love song he played me that I consider our song is "You'll Be in My Heart" by Phil Collins. He even originally planned on proposing to me at Magic Kingdom in front of Cinderella's Castle on our first trip to Orlando together but I knew he had the ring and basically tricked / trapped him into giving it to me early. While my husband used to work for Disney World at Epcot, I had never been before, and what better place was there to make all of our honeymoon dreams come true?

So if you didn't already know, Disney World is expensive! We knew we wanted to visit all 4 parks and stay in Orlando for at least a week but visiting Disney all of those days was going to be way too expensive and also exhausting. So we were in Orlando for a total of 7 days and 8 nights. We mixed it up and visited one Disney Park a day but made sure to do something else every other day to conserve our energy and get some relaxing in. We really wanted to stay in a Disney Hotel but our budget just wouldn't allow for it and since my husband works for a hotel he gets amazing discounted hotel room prices all over the country. We couldn't pass up staying at a nice hotel for just $39 a night compared to a Disney Hotel at $150 + a night. Next time we visit we totally plan on staying at one of the Disney hotels though in order to get the entire Disney experience.

DAY ONE

Day one of our honeymoon we spent at Seaworld and Seaworld's water park Aquatica. We split the day in half and went to Seaworld in the morning and then went to the water park in the hotter afternoon. Seaworld was truly an experience and it was amazing to get to see so many different animals and aquatic life. It was all very interactive as well with free shows to see both the dolphins and orcas, we got to feed and pet the mantarays, we fed sea lions, and we got to pet some smaller sharks as well. There are also a couple of roller coasters that you can get on as well, but we opted out of those so we could have time to go to the water park. The water park was a ton of fun as well. They have a water slide that takes you through the middle of a dolphin tank with a glass tube so that when you are going through it you are able to see the dolphins swimming around you. Their lazy river goes underneath a cool little cavern where on the sides of the cavern is a giant fish tank so you can see a ton of fish swimming around. We didnt take any photos at the water park because we were having too much fun but here are some photos from Seaworld:

We ended day one of our honeymoon with a fancy dinner and fun at Disney Springs. We ate at a restaurant within Disney Springs called Paddlefish. Little did we know that we weren't meant for expensive food. The restaurant itself is basically a giant boat / yacht out on the water at Disney Springs. We ordered the crab cakes which were very good but they were also $20 for just two small crab cakes. When it came to our meals we both decided to save our vacation money and spend it at Disney so we went with salads. We both regretted that choice and called it quits after only a couple of bites of some salads with toppings and dressings that we had never heard of before. We ended the night at our favorite dessert place Ghiradelli and were not disappointed by the entertainment, ice cream, and service we received.

DAY TWO

On Day two of our honeymoon we decided to relax by Cocoa Beach all day. We played in the ocean's waves, tanned on the beach, and explored Cocoa Beach's boardwalk. It was a much needed relaxation day after the busy day at SeaWorld before and we were resting up for Day three of our honeymoon at Magic Kingdom. The boardwalk was small but cute with just a couple small stores to look through. My husband thoroughly enjoyed the waves and on our way back to Orlando for the night we stopped by the Kennedy Space Station to take a look at the outside. We didn't go in but we plan to visit it one day.

DAY THREE

Day three was by far the best day of our honeymoon because we spent it at Magic Kingdom. We stayed the whole day at the park from open to close and even though we were exhausted by the end of it, every second spent at the park was completely worth it! We rode all of the rides, met Tinkerbell and Ariel, ingested dole whips, and ended the night watching the fireworks play out above Cinderella's Castle. If you plan on visiting Magic Kingdom with little ones it will take at least two days in order to experience everything the park has to offer. I can't even really describe how amazing the whole experience was and how much I look forward to going back in the next year. It wasn't even the rides that made it great because let's be honest, most of them are made for little kids. It was the overall experience and magic that I think can only be experienced in order to understand. I was finally able to understand and realize that Disney truly is the most magical place on the planet.

This was only one half of our honeymoon adventure to Disney World. Stay tuned for the second half and a follow up post with my advice for planning your own honeymoon.