We decided to go on our honeymoon right after the wedding, to ride the blissed out wave as long as possible, and I am so happy we did. Our first stop was Disney World! We stayed at the Port of New Orleans – French Quarter that had the magic of a Disney hotel but was relatively affordable.

We were able to bypass checkin and go straight to our room (Disney magic, friends!) via our wristbands we got in the mail before our stay. After flying Southwest, where no food was available for purchase, we were starving and needed dinner. The New Orleans cuisine offered at our hotel hit the spot.

After dinner, we grabbed a cocktail and hit up the hot tub: fully in honeymoon mode now.

The next day we blew through our plan to wake up early and slept straight through our alarms. (Maybe we were still recovering from all of the wedding festivities?!) Mike’s style is to go to theme parks from opening to closing, so it was a bit stressful that we’d already missed an hour at his favorite place, Typhoon Lagoon. Still slightly disoriented from our late start, I downed a cup of hotel coffee in the Lyft to the waterpark and slathered on sunscreen, ready for a morning of wave pools and water slides.

Next on the agenda was Epcot.

Side note: My friend Lauren gave us a ton of good information about Disney World – like making dinner reservations 90 days out and when to get our fastpasses – so a special shout out to her before I dive into our Epcot experience (her and her husband’s favorite park).

First up was the new Frozen ride, which I am glad we had a Fastpass for. The ride was cute but not worth the 2 hour lineup for it. I’m also stating to wonder… how many slow-moving boat rides can Disney make?!

Having not really eaten breakfast, we were ready for lunch quickly after. We went for tacos + margs in “Mexico” and it was really nice to just sit for a bit. Plus the water views and breeze in that hot FL sun didn’t hurt.

We walked around and went a few rides after, but were really just killing time before our next meal. 🙂

Dinner was at Le Cellier, the Canadian steakhouse. People raved about this place and, being that I married a Canadian, we had to go. Sadly we were both disappointed with the food. The experience was nice; it was cool to go to a fancier sit-down restaurant in Disney World and our server was kind (obviouslyyyy being from Canada and all), but we were more impressed with the bread basket than the filets…. Not a good sign at all.

Magic Kingdom was the next day and I couldn’t wait to go on Space Mountain. Growing up, I spent many summers driving to Disney Land with my grandparents and Space Mountain holds a special place in my heart. It is a family favorite with a background story we love to tell. It goes like this: I was with my grandparents and my mom waiting for hours to ride Space Mountain for the first time. I guess I was pretty nervous about riding a roller coaster in the dark and kept telling my Grandpa about some concerns I had. It worked out that he sat in the row behind me and I screamed my head off the entire ride. My grandpa felt terrible during the entire ride thinking, I made her go on this ride she hates and is screaming with fear.

Of course, the punchline is, when we got off, I immediately requested we go on it again, having had the time of my life on it. What a relief for my Grandpa! 🙂

Ok, back to our honeymoon! After more rides, we went to lunch at Jungle Navigation Skipper Canteen, which was one of my top 2 favorite places in Disney World. It was a nice air conditioned break from the heat and the menu had the most vegetables I saw in the entire park. Haha

Next we made the game day decision to go back to the hotel for a dip in the pool and an afternoon nap. Much needed!

Well rested, we went to dinner that night at Be Our Guest, which I heard was hard to get reservations for, so I was proud of our planning. The restaurant is in the beasts and Belle’s castle and features a 3 course prefixed menu. The big draw though is the “grey stuff” you get for dessert. It is indeed delicious, y’all.

Turns out I must have gotten my fill of Disney Land when we went a few years ago because I was ready to leave Magic Kingdom after dinner. We went to the Boardwalk in the search of souvenirs but quickly aborted mission for something a little more lively! Cue Disney Springs. Ah, this place was actual magic for this soon to be 30 year old.

We grabbed a beer and caught the last few songs of a live band. It was a bummer we’d already eaten because there were some amazing restaurants there, including a wine and oyster bar that we are still wanting to try. Next time!

Another highlight of the evening was when we caught a skipper just in time to hop on the last boat heading our way. It could have been just the excitement of perfect timing or maybe the beer but for whatever reason, Mike and I loved that boat ride home!

Our last day was spilt between Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Animal Kingdom was a jammed few hours of rides stacked on rides; between our fast passes, some short lines, and opting to go as single riders instead of together to bypass longer lines.

We had lunch at Sanaa that afternoon and.. let me just pause for a second and say loveeee. The bread service is it, people. Fly to Orlando, eat here, and you can go home right after. (Kidding) (Kind of)

On top of the amazing food and aesthetics, you get to watch different animals walk around in the courtyard while you eat. So overall, it’s just a really fun, delicious, way to spend an afternoon.

After lunch it was time for Hollywood Studios and a 85 minute line up (!) to go on the Tower of Terror. Normally fast drop-down rides aren’t my favorite but Mike loves them. Per usual, I screamed (and death griped my seat) the entire time.

We rounded out the day with a few more rides before going back to the hotel and packing for our early morning flight to the Caribbean!