Travel plan idea blog

I had a great Christmas day

I hope everyone who celebrates had a very merry Christmas as I did with my family. Sadly, some travelers were not so lucky. And other are even less lucky. As I was feasting tonight, I thought about a woman I met recently who escaped from North Korea. The stories she told about living hungry are just heartbreaking. I'd better stop before I start trying to give this blog a moral or something. Just appeciate what you have.

Hotel award points losing value

Here's an interesting New York Times article about hotel award points losing value as major hotels increase the number of points you need to spend in order to get a free night. Personally, I'm not particularly loyal to any one hotel chain so this doesn't mean much to me. However, it could be bad business if it causes people who have been loyal to a certain chain to consider alternative hotels.

By the way, I'm not sure how much I'll be posting between now and New Year's. On the one hand I have nothing to do but hang out with family, but on the other hand, hanging out with family tends to keep me pretty busy... So in case I don't post for a couple of days, merry Christmas!

What to do and where to stay in Miami Beach/Miami

I'm thinking about visiting Miami Beach/Miami for New Years so I'm looking for any recommendations regarding things to do (esp water sports), places to shop, places to eat, and things to sightsee? I've collected a little information from friends, but if you know anything, please leave a comment below.

Answer 1: I lived there a few years after college. Watch out for the late night walks on the beach heading into unlit areas. Overall the area is pretty safe so long you don't go off the beaten path and be aware of your surroundings. Regarding what/where to go, water sports are easy to access, you can get info through the hotel or just walking down the beach.

Answer 2: Upstairs at the VanDyke on Lincoln Rd is a great jazz club with live jazz 7 nights per week. And you should definately stay at one of the boutique hotels in SoBe. there's a place called "The Hotel" rooftop upscale bar -neat rooms and walk to everything.

Answer 3: Speaking of Lincoln Road, go for a walk there. Check out Pacific Time for Asian fusion. I'm too old and married for the club scene anymore. One thing is for sure, the clubs don't start kickin till late. After 12. Prime 112 is also a great restaurant. Nobu at the shore Club. This sounds stupid but you will enjoy Parrot Jungle. I'm not joking.

Answer 4: If you're willing to stray away from SoBe in Miami, swing by Coconut Grove or Bayside for a night. The Grove is more of a party atmosphere while Bayside is more event/mall/boardwalk driven. Good times - Love me some SoBe.

Answer 5: If you're into the whole club thing check out Blue on Espanola Way. And for a good party just hop in a cab and tell him to take you to Pawn Shop its like a 10 min ride. You won't be sorry; a lot of locals there love the place. The VIP room is a school bus and the DJ booth is the inside of a truck. Enjoy!!

I'm in New York after another good JAL experience

We flew from Busan to Tokyo (1 hour 20 minutes) in business class seats. Apparentl Japan Airlines had decided to sell a section of business class seats as economy fares and we (possibly because we checked in early) got lucky and flew in the big comfy seats.

We arrived in Narita around 4:00 or so and made it to the Nikko Narita Hotel by 5:00 or so. We had just missed a shuttle into town and the next one was an hour away so we took a cap to Aeon shopping Center (2100 yen or so but not complaining when the hotel is free). Here we had an interesting shopping experience and I don't even like shopping. But Japanese malls are colorful and filled with wild boots. The food mall was good too - they call it the picnic area. I put my yen in the machine, got my card and my change, handed in the card, and a couple minutes later got my pepper steak and bean sprouts. Good stuff.

We got the last free shuttle back to the hotel and went to bed. The next morning we had an excellent free breakfast buffet. My breakfast included eggs, noodles, ham, Swedish meatballs, bread, miso soup, tofu, yogurt, cereal, and fruit.

The plane ride from Tokyo to New York was more like 11 hours but we checked in early enough to request seats on the second level by the emergency exit. We had lots of legroom and a big area for standing up and stretching right in froont of us. Plus getting into and out of our seats was easy. If you have to fly economy, these are my favorite seats.

The flight was painless, the service excellent, and the food good; it was a typical JAL flight. Tomorrow I'll blog about New York a little bit but right now it's 11:00 PM and I'm exhausted. But I was able to resist the temptation to nap today so hopefully I'm overcoming my jet lag...

I fly home in a few hours

Pretty soon I make my way to Busan, fly to Tokyo, spend the night, and then fly to New York on JAL. My vacation begins! It may be a few days before my next post.

Meanwhile, I was able to see The Holiday, which has Arthur Frommer gushing about the greatness of this money-saving vacation tactic. The movie itself was OK - I'm a sucker for happy ending love stories I guess.

Speaking of holiday romance, here's an article on blind dates in the most natural element possible, the airplane. Someone needs to tell me if this works better in economy class where you're all scrunched up (shouldn't be too hard to make a move look like an accident) or in business class where you can relax a bit and turn to face each other without spraining your neck... Of course maybe on a shorter flight than the one I'm about to take it wouldn't be so bad.

Vacation in Minnesota's International Wolf Center

Here's an article about meeting a wolf in Ely, Minnesota near Canada and learning about them in Minnesota's International Wolf Center. The author had an amazing experience that included getting growled at by Shadow, an Arctic white wolf. They went out into the wild to try to howl with wolves but had no luck (there's a 50% chance that the wolves respond to your howls).

I heard wolves howling in the Singapore Night Safari (included in this travel plan) and it was a magical experience. I'd be willing to take my chances in Minnesota and hope I can hear that music again.

Removing landmines in Cambodia

Here's a vacation experience from Bill Morse (who has contributed a Kilimajaro /safari itinerary, his Kilimajaro experience, plus organized a Mekong River cruise).

This one involves AK47s, mines, mortar rounds, and police raids. Talk about an eventful vacation...

Niche Cruise.com

A few smaller cruise operators have gotten together on nichecruise.com. However we don't seem to be talking about the types of niche cruises I've blogged about here (the political cruise, the MacMania cruise, etc.). Instead we're talking about smaller ships and more unique destinations:

Although the journeys provided by our niche cruise members may be different, they do have several common traits. First and foremost is that they provide more intimate experiences than the larger cruise lines. Smaller ships can also cruise to remote destinations that the larger cruise lines cannot venture to. For example, cruise lines like Seattle-based Cruise West can take passengers to some of the most secluded and pristine locales in the Sea of Cortez and Alaska's Inside Passage - cruising through hidden inlets rich with wildlife and natural beauty.

Cruises for wine lovers

This article for wine lovers seems to be aimed at wealthy travelers who can't take a vacation from expensive wine and has some interesting cruises mentioned:

...food-and-wine expert Fred Plotkin, author of the upcoming Wine 101 and frequent Smithsonian cruise lecturer, is also a draw. “I love experiencing these wines with Walla-Walla onions, Washington apples and local cheeses,” says Plotkin. “I want guests to return home with some dirt under their fingernails; we’ll stop off and buy a bottle of wine along the side of the road. We have the freedom to be spontaneous.” Look for Plotkin on another Smithsonian Journey, June 2007’s “Opera Tour of La Scala,” which, in addition to world-class opera, includes coffee tastings in Verona, chocolate tastings in Turin, and many pours from the Piedmont region.

A pair of timeshare articles

I'll try to write something more substantial tomorrow, but it's 5:00 AM here and I want to go to bed. We were busy all day running errands and all night meeting friends since we're leaving for New York soon. So what I do have for you are these Washington Post articles on timeshares. This one describes the different kinds of timeshares (as well as a few non-timeshare ideas like condo-hotels). This one is just a list of "what you need to know" about timeshares. There's nothing new here for people who read this blog.

I'm collecting some information on Italy and the Amalfi coast, so my next entry should be a bit more original than this one. It will come after I get some sleep and grade some more student papers...

If you are looking for fantastic timeshares for rent, there are many great spots you can go. How about Orlando timeshares? Many major hotel chains have also begun developing time shares to keep the time share costs to you low.

Things to do in Phoenix & Scottsdale, Arizona

Here's an article for Oklahoma football fans about what to do in Arizona (the Oklahoma Sooners play in the Fiesta Bowl in Scottsdale, Arizona on Jan. 1). However we can all appreciate air tours (hot air balloon rides), spas, golf (Scottsdale is ranked the 8th top golf destination by Golf Digest), and the desert:

The Sonora Desert, which covers 120,000 square miles in Southwest Arizona and Southeastern California, is home to many of the country’s best landscapes. The Saguaro National Park, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Lake Havasu State Park, Kartchner Caverns State Park and Picacho Peak State Park offers outdoor sightseers a feast for the eyes.

To get up close and personal with the Sonora landscape, 360 Adventures and ABC/Desert Biking Adventures offer guided rock climbing trips, mountain biking excursions, canyoneering adventures and hiking as part of their special packages.

Glühwein (mulled wine) & German Christmas markets

After reading this article and checking out the accompanying photo gallery, I've added a new location to my travel dream list: German Christmas markets. It seems that most cities have them and have more than one, so there are quite a few markets. Here's a brief summary of a few of the markets:

Nuremberg's Christmas market is one of the most famous partly for it gingerbread cake and sausage (click here for more on German sausage and don't forget part 2).

Dresden's Striezelmarkt is the place to go for Stollen fruit cakes (my grandfather used to make excellent Stollen).

Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt is an upscale market with better quality goods than other markets.

Cologne's Christmas market has medieval-theme (I love that stuff).

Hamburg's St. Pauli pleasure district has an erotic Christmas market (hard to imagine actually).

Munich has a Christmas market on Marienplatz that's geared more toward presents than food. The Munich Christmas tree beneath the Munich Glockenspiel sounds good too.

Aachen's Christmas market "Aachener Printe," Lebkuchen (gingerbread) that is special to Aachen.

The article I linked to above has more details and more Christmas markets (it's several pages long). Enjoy. I'm going to go see if I can find a video on these Christmas markets for my 93-year-old grandfather. He's nearly impossible to shop for, but he is descended from Germans so you never know - he might actually enjoy watching a vide about German Christmas markets.

Catalina Island, California: activity, restaurant, hotel recommendations

I recently received the following question: Any of you people have a hotel and restaurant you can recommend on Catalina Island? I will just be there overnight in Feb. My kid is heading out for his second tour. So we are going to see him off again. Two years ago we just flew right back home that night. Bad move by me. The wife was a wreck for the whole flight back. I figure a day or two to be together to get her mind off of things for a while might help. Any suggestions?

I've already found a few answers but I hope some of you can leave comments below. You religious types might consider a prayer for his son's safety. However, if we can keep the comments travel related and make the prayers private that would be best.

Answer 1: Bring a warm jacket because it can get cold and foggy in Feb. Its either 70 and sunny or the marine layer comes in and it gets cold. I have stayed at The Mac Rae and The Vista del Mar. I would go with the second. Its much nicer. The only place I recall to eat is Armstrongs. It was a fun place. Nice deck looking over the harbor and good drinks.

You really cant go wrong. But you want to make sure you have a place right on the main drag. Some of the other hotels can be back up in the hills. Its a long walk to the main street. Catalina was know for their tile factory back in the 20's...some great tile work all over the island... It really is a great place. Enjoy!

Answer 2: I went there when I lived in RPV, take a tour on a glass bottom boat, it was surprisingly entertaining. I was able to see the Island from my parents bedroom. If you really want to do it right, take the helicopter over rather than the Express boat...It gets you there in 15 to 20 minutes where the boat takes about an hour. If you take the ferry, sit by the windows. The dolphins like to play in the surf of the boat sometimes, really nice if you get to see it.

Answer 3: Make sure you get some Moose Milk (local drink). I'm telling you 15-20 of these bad boys and you're in for some fun. Stay anywhere in Avalon. They're all kind of like motels that you would stay in down at the Jersey shore unless you step up and pay for something very nice. It is off season so you may get some better prices. Be sure to rent some jet skis if the weather is nice but get a wet suit. The water can be very cold that time of year.

And whatever you do, don't fall off. There are lots of sharks around Catalina Island. I'm not kidding. There are Blues and Mako's. A gal was hit by a Mako 3 or 4 years ago...And Great Whites have been spotted in the channel between Socal and Catalina. My ex-wife loved to scuba dive there...I would sit in the bar drinking and praying...OK now I am kidding. But seriously, in 94 a friend of a friend's husband was attack and killed by a great white.

Answer 4: Avalon is also known for the Wrigley's. He actually had a few Cubs spring training camps there. Catalina is cool, but waaay over priced. Armstrong's is a good place to eat. There is also a good Mexican place across the street. I forgot the name of it though. I think it's Mi Casitas.

Rent a golf cart and travel the island. Its pretty cool. Stay away from the Pavilion Lodge. It's real close to the beach, but a total dive.

Win a ski vacation in Switzerland

Here's a game (game will be online until 28th February 2007) where if you get the one question correct, you win one of 7 prizes. They say it's about skiing in Switzerland, but prizes sound more like spa vacations to me:

1st prize:
Seven nights for two in a double room at the wellness Hotel Castell in Zuoz, incl. breakfast buffet, access to the hamam complex and three hamam massages of your choice per person.

2nd prize:
Seven nights for two in a double room at the wellness Hotel Alpenhof in Zermatt, incl. gourmet half-board, free use of the Dream Landscape as well as a hay bath and whole-body massage.

3rd prize:
Six nights for two in a double room at the Parkhotel Bellevue & Spa in Adelboden, incl. breakfast buffet and gourmet dinner, free use of the wellness oasis and a seraglio beauty bath and wellness bath with underwater massage.

4th prize:
Two nights for two at the Tschuggen Grand Hotel in Arosa, incl. breakfast buffet and a two-day ski pass and free use of the Tschuggen mountain oasis.

5th prize:
A weekend (2 nights) for 2 people at a 4* hotel in Crans-Montana, incl. breakfast and two two-day ski passes.

6th prize:
A weekend (2 nights) for two in Ticino (Lugano, Locarno, Bellinzona).

7th prize:
A weekend (2 nights) for two in western Switzerland (Geneva, Lausanne, Montreux).

I've only gone skiing once (and prefer sledding) but they all sound pretty good to me.

How safe is going on a cruise?

10 million people or so go on cruises each year. Most of them have great vacations. However, there are some high-profile cases where people vanish:

The 24 missing passengers reported by cruise lines from 2002 to 2005 are a minuscule percentage of the roughly 10 million tourists who cruise every year. The cruise lines cite the statistic to show how infrequent such disappearances are. Many cases are declared likely suicides or "man overboard" cases with no evidence of foul play.

Kendall Carver, whose daughter is one of the high-profile missing persons cases, has started a group called International Cruise Victims and says: "If people really understood the risk, the cruise lines can no longer say we're the safest vacation that there is."

Cameron Diaz, The Holiday, Vacation home exchanges

Apparently vacation home exchanges are becoming more popular thanks to the new Cameron Diaz movie, The Holiday. This movie is giving one website lots of free advertising so I might as well help the rich get a little richer:

HomeExchange.com now boasts 14,000 members with homes in over 110 countries. The most listings are in the United States with 4,700, but there are some 1,400 listings in France, 500 in England, nearly 1000 in Australia, and the list goes on.

This movie review warns moviegoers to leave their brains at home, gives a plot synopsis, and concludes:

The film gets off to a sluggish start, and it's at least half an hour too long. Fortunately, the stars are likable enough to make sticking around bearable.

Holistic health resort in the Philippines

The Farm at San Benito recently won the Medi-Spa of the Year and Spa Cuisine of the Year awards from the 2006 Baccarat AsiaSpa Awards. Sounds luxurious and healthy but I'm not so sure about the cuisine of raw foods:

Guests can enjoy a range of programs designed to suit each one’s needs. These include medical consultation, live blood cell analysis, colon detoxification therapy, psycho-emotional therapy, among many others. Doctors and nurses work on site tailoring treatment plans for guests' conditions. The Farm's proven curative approach is based on the consumption of raw foods and the detoxification of the body and the mind.

Boston trying to become more of a movie tourism destination

Here's an interesting article (though I found it when it was over a month old) about how cities are trying to attract tourism dollars by offering tours of movie scenes. Boston, for example, is getting in on the act:

Pop quiz: Name a movie or TV show shot or set in Boston. "Ah ... 'Mystic River'?" answers Matt Lambek of Cambridge, Mass., settling into his seat before a showing of "The Departed," the new Martin Scorsese juggernaut partially filmed here. " 'Good Will Hunting,' " adds his date, Alex Wenger.

Other movie patrons round up the usual suspects: "Boston Legal," "Ally McBeal," and that stranded-in- syndication favorite, "Cheers."

Boston has a ways to go before it catches up with New Zealand though:

"You can argue that 'Lord of the Rings' was the best unpaid advertisement that New Zealand has ever had," remarks Bruce Lahood, US and Canada regional manager for Tourism New Zealand. "In the last decade New Zealand has been the most successful country to benefit from movie tourism. We've been looked at and case-studied from many angles."

Marriage advice from pamela Anderson: not on vacation

I'm not sure that anyone should listen to Pamela Anderson's advice on marriage, but here it is anyway: "Now that things have calmed down - I think - I just want to say it's great to get back to normal life. We are doing great. Thanks for all the support. Don't get married on vacation!"

A 39-year-old woman with some marriage experience might be expected to know better than to get married on a whim (vacation or not isn't really the issue, is it?) and she has filed for divorce from Kid Rock (after four months of marriage because of "irreconcilable differences)."

Pamela Anderson had previously described her St. Tropez wedding as "the best, most romantic wedding of all time." Maybe if you know what you're doing getting married on vacation isn't so bad after all.

Trouble with Destination Adventures in Branson, Mo.

Here's a brief complaint to one of the newspaper troubleshooters (but not the travel troubleshooter) where a woman is promised a refund that never gets delivered. It turns out that Destination Adventures in Branson, Mo. has lost its BBB membership: "the Better Business Bureau in Springfield revoked the company’s BBB membership because of the company’s failure to respond to one or more customer complaints." Sounds like one to avoid.

Vacation bargains from the Washington Post

Here's a Washington Post article from a couple of days ago that has travel deals from Hawaii, Grace Bay Beach on the island of Providenciales, Las Vegas, various cruises (Caribbean, Thames River in England), flights on AirTran and American, as well as packages to Venice and the Azores, a group of islands in the mid-Atlantic about 970 miles off the coast of Portugal.

2 emailed recommendations for St. Lucia

After publishing the Disney World honeymoon advice article I got some emails about St Lucia. Here's the information I've collected about honeymooning / vacationing in St Lucia.

You have to and I mean have to go to the Green Parrot. Ask someone from the island and they'll know where it is. As long as you're wife has a flower in her hair her entire meal is free. It's the best food I ate my whole 9 days on the island and with my wife's free meal we ended up paying I think like thirty dollars before tip for a four course meal for the both of us. It's a must.
Oh wait one more thing about the Green Parrot: The ladies free meal is only on Tuesday nights.

St. Lucia is a gorgeous island. If you are staying in the North, I HIGHLY recommend taking some trips to the Southern part of the island. We stayed near Soufriere, and man is that part of the island beautiful. Lush vegetation, Majestic Volcanic Mountains (the Pitons) amazing snorkeling right at the beach, and an amazing Rain Forest. I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Niche cruise for people who want to talk politics on vacation

I've talked about niche cruises before, including the geeky sounding Macmania cruise. But does it get more geeky than the National Review's 2006 Post Election cruise? Here's the article if you're interested.

In case you hadn't already guessed, you won't be reading about a normal vacation:

The centerpiece of the cruises are panel discussions at which the speakers offer their learning and insights on various topics. This past cruise included panel discussions on the 2006 election results, the meaning of conservativism, the war on terror, the 2008 presidential race, the media and popular culture, and others.

I found the conservatism panel to be the most interesting, as Robert Bork, Ken Starr, Dinesh D'Souza, and Ward Connerly, among the other panelists, gave different but equally impressive (and ultimately compatible) answers to the question presented.

How hard is it to climb Mount Kilimanjaro?

Here's a Washington Post article about climbing Mount Kilimanjaro:

If you're in good physical condition -- Burleson recommends doing cardio an hour a day and hiking six miles twice a month -- you should be able to master the mountain. However, climbers are susceptible to altitude sickness, which is why Burleson recommends traveling with a company knowledgeable in Western health care. In addition, when researching companies, ask the tour operator about its safety record, experience on the mountain and medical skills. Also, request references from past travelers.

Of course we have are own excellent safari Kilimanjaro travel plan and then the actual experience.

Marketing West Virginia Tourism with We Are Marshall

We Are Marshall, starring Matthew McConaughey, opens nationally Dec. 22. The movie is about how Marshall University recovered from a Nov. 14, 1970 plane crash that killed 75 people (including most of Marshall's football team).

Since Marshall University is in Huntington, West Virginia, some of the filming was done there. When the DVD comes out, it will feature West Virginia as a tourist attraction. So if you look at the special features section, you get West Virginia tourism, bloopers, and interviews with actors. Warner Brothers received state financing ($300,000 worth) while filming in Huntington.

This is an interesting tactic for promoting tourism. I went camping in West Virginia 8 or 9 years ago, but I don't know too much about vacation places there. If you know something or have some thoughts on this marketing idea, please leave a comment.

What are your thoughts on having a honeymoon in Disney World?

I have a friend who recently decided to honeymoon St. Lucia. But he almost chose a Disney honeymoon and we were curious how many out there went to Disney for their honeymoon and if they were happy with the choice.

I've already collected a few answers, but I hope people who honeymooned in Disney will comment below. If you want to write a blog entry on your honeymoon recommendation, feel free to email jtrotta@gmail.com.

Comments on honeymooning in Disney:

1. I'm sure someone will advocate it but for the love of God man, if you plan on having kids, you'll get there eventually (and likely be forced to go back). Go somewhere else now that you won't be able to go later.

2. I did St Lucia - fantastic. Can't wait to bring my kids to Disney in a few years but I don't think it would be appropriate for a honeymoon. It Sounds Goofy. Sorry. But seriously, I can't see why anyone would go for a Disney honeymoon. But that's just me. I'm more the world traveler type - get somewhere that you're more than likely never to go again or highly unlikely to visit.

Florida or California? Not on the list. Not that I wouldn't ever visit them, or that it wouldn't be a fun trip, but it just doesn't say 'once in a lifetime' to me. Then again, if this is your fourth marriage and you're kicking it off in front of Elvis in Las Vegas, then go for it!

3. You do get treated more personally by the cast members when you are celebrating something (honeymoon, birthday, etc). However, if you aren't a big fan of WDW, you'll probably enjoy somewhere else better. Having said that, we went for our honeymoon--and it was great. We loved it. We wanted to do something where we could have a ton of fun. It helped that my wife had never been there and I had not been to the one in FL in 20 years. we actually stayed off property (at an Embassy Suites) and it was awesome no matter what anyone says.

4. I did it. Honeymooning in Disney worked out for us because leading up to the wedding, we were too busy figuring out how to pay for the wedding and close on a new house. We didn't book the honeymoon until about 3 weeks before the wedding, and Disney World seemed like a decent, and not too expensive, trip. Having now gone there with kids, it was actually pretty nice for just the two of us to be able to go there and not worry about anything, or anybody, else. If we wanted to go on the fast rides, we didn't have to think about kids. If we wanted to stay at the park late, or go to bars afterwards, that was OK. We didn't need to eat nutritious meals, and we could actually skip meals altogether and catch up on eating later, and cheaper, after we left the park. "Pleasure Island" is a great part of Disney World, not open to kids. You pay a cover charge to get on the Island, then there's about 20 bars there (a dance club, a comedy club, an live rock bar, a country ,music bar, and jazz bar, etc.) that you can go in and out of as often as you like. I had a great time.

5. You can have a blast in Disney. Anyone who decides to go to Disney without kids --honeymoon or not-- I highly recommend doing the "beer in every country tour" at Epcot. It is self run, but very fun! Ever go to Epcot during the Food and Wine Festival? It's from Sept-Nov every year. A lot of countries that aren't represented in Epcot have stands there as well.

6. I'd do it... I love it there. My wife and I when we first got together spent a week down there, some of the best times we've ever had. We had a blast hanging out at the English pub in Epcot for a brew(s) after daily activities. Plus you can hit Universal which is awesome. Also, my brother-in-law did the Disney Cruise thing for his honeymoon. You spend a few days on the Big Red Boat cruising the Caribean, then return to Disney World for a few days.

By the way, the Disney Cruise is where Jennifer Hudson from Dreamgirls and American Idol got started. This page is taking a long time to load, click the link now and it should be ready by the time you finish this article.

7. I'm going to Disney World for my honeymoon and I think its going to be great. 10 days of fun. We can take our time and do the park right. Check out a multitude of cool restaurants, rides, pavilions, shows, and so much more. Plus, for romance, we've got reservations at two of their best restaurants, Flying Fish Cafe and the California Grill. I'm especially looking forward to dinner at the California Grill. Its located on top of the Contemporary Hotel and while we are eating our dessert, the Disney Wishes fireworks show will be going off, right outside the window. So cool. And then we're doing the Illuminations cruise! To each their own, but I'm so looking forward to this vacation!

Just remind me to ask for a window seat at the California Grill when I check-in at the front desk. If you don't ask, you may not get one....

8. The whole point of a honeymoon is to spend some much needed downtime with your new spouse. While I won't sit here and tell you I'd agree to sitting around the house with the phones turned off and the doors locked after a wedding, to me it wouldn't matter if it was Hawaii or Disney World so long as I knew I could spend some relaxing downtime with my new spouse. (And yes, I've been to Disney several times; I went with my husband before we got married -- it was his first time and my fifth, but as we explored the different parks, it was like I was seeing them for the first time, which made it special.)

Having said that, if you go to Disney, go at the right time. Why spend your honeymoon standing in line and around kids all day? If you're honeymooning in summer, go to and all inclusive 5 star resort and just have a blast.