A Look Back At Our 2007 Honemoon At Walt Disney World
19 years ago yesterday, Carrie and I were married in a wonderful ceremony in Niagara Falls, Ontario, our home at the time AND the honeymoon capital of the world.
But that’s not the honeymoon we had in mind. We decided to celebrate our marriage at Walt Disney World, a place I hadn’t been since I was a teen, and a place where she had never been. The decision to make a little magic for ourselves was the perfect culmination of the amazing whirlwind that was our wedding. The morning after the wedding, we had a wonderful breakfast with our family before being driven off to Buffalo for our flight to Orlando.
We arrived in Orlando in the early evening, settling into our hotel room at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort. Since our wedding was themed on classic films, it just made sense (and the price couldn’t be beat). We spent our first couple of hours touring the grounds and our room before heading to spend some extra magic hours at Magic Kingdom.
We got into the park just ahead of SpectroMagic, their nighttime parade and a Disney classic. It’s funny to look back on some of these old events and be able to be taken right back to the sights and sounds. Following the parade, we spent the extra magic hours (which I miss so much) taking advantage of the short lines, getting on nearly half the attractions in a very short time. It’s a great way to start a Walt Disney World Vacation
We also hit up Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It was both of our first visits to the park, as it didn’t open until 3 years after my previous trip. We were blown away at the scale of the place, with Expedition Everest and Kilimanjaro Safaris being particular highlights. We got a first-hand look at Divine, the stilt-walking plant woman who came out of the trees no less than 5 feet from us and scared us nearly to death.
This trip was also the only time that we visited Disney’s waterparks. We got in a half-day each at Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. This is where our lack of waterproof camera options really hurt us as we were limited to the Photopass photos that were taken. We loved our time there and we’re so bummed that we haven’t taken advantage of the free passes to the waterparks on the first day of your stay in recent visits, but those first days have been really cold as of late. Hopefully next time.
The most nostalgic part of our trip comes from a place that is almost completely different today than it was then, and that’s MGM Studios, now Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We took in the Stars and Motorcars Parade, an amazing piece of entertainment with cars themed to all sorts of characters, both Disney and otherwise.
Lights, Motors, Action: An Extreme Stunt Show was a show that came out of France and was one of those quintessential stunt shows that existed in so many theme parks over the years. The key difference with this one was that we got a bit of a peek behind the curtain, showing off some of the tricks of the trade. We had a blast watching it and we miss it, but where it once stood is now Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and I think that’s a good trade-off.
The park’s connection to Hollywood was never bigger than to that time, with a museum of screen-used artifacts, Oscars, a peek at costume and animation departments and so much more. The backlot tour was also a great peek into Hollywood History, with some of the larger props from movies like the Star Wars films, Pirates of the Caribbean and more. It was a fantastic collection that, in my humble opinion, was a much bigger loss than the Great Movie Ride.
But not everything at MGM Studios is gone, we finished our night the same way that most people do, taking in Fantasmic. It remains, to this day, one of my all-time favourite nighttime spectaculars, and to be able to share that with Carrie for the first time was a great joy. It’s one of those moments that I experience now and can immediately take me back to this day.
Our next day was at EPCOT, and there are a number of modern changes, like a new version of Test Track, the existence of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and a giant EPCOT sign framing Spaceship Earth. It’s the “discovery” of World Showcase that really made this part of our trip.
I’ve told the story before, but as a bit of background, when I visited EPCOT for the first time as a kid, my parents were unaware of the entirety of World Showcase and thought the park consisted of only the front park. The lack of things to do was their biggest complaint about our trip. Finding out as an adult that you not only missed a huge percentage of the park, but the most fun part for adults, was a big surprise for us.
The night ended with IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth, voiced by legendary voice talents Jim Cummings and Tom Kane. The long-lasting show, running for 20 years at EPCOT, was a wonderful show. I don’t know if it is recency bias, but I preferred Harmonious and Luminous, but, in their own way, there is never a better show than the one you are watching at that moment.
EPCOT was also our last day of the honeymoon, but the beginning of a tradition. Our final meal at Walt Disney World was at Les Chefs de France at EPCOT’s France Pavillion, and it was such a great end to the vacation that, to this day, every family trip to Walt Disney World ends with a meal at Les Chefs de France, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Our honeymoon was arguably the most impactful vacation of my life. First, and foremost, it was a celebration with my amazing wife. Carrie and I met in 2005, and nothing has separated us since. It wasn’t our first adventure together, but it was our biggest, and the one that made us want to go on adventures together for the rest of our lives. I am forever grateful for her and every minute that we have spent together in our 19 years of marriage.
The other thing that this trip did was to reconnect me to the best parts of me: My joy, my imagination and my belief that magic exists. This was my first real vacation as an adult, and you really don’t understand how much adult life tries to beat whimsy and wonder out of you until it’s met with resistance. Reconnecting with those parts of me has made me a better husband and better father than I could have been without it. It helped remind me of the adult that I wanted to be, and while it didn’t have a name then, it does now: I’m a Disney Adult.
This was also the trip that taught me the tricks to getting the most out of your Disney Vacation. Time spent at the All-Star Movies concierge desk taught me how to get the best value from my dining plan and how to make every minute at the parks count without burning yourself out. Influencers didn’t exist. There was no platform for people to teach Disney to you, so I had to learn it as we went, and I have been a teacher of those tips to anyone who would listen ever since.
I can’t say enough good things about our seven days at Walt Disney World nearly 20 years ago, but it’ll never compare to the woman that I shared that time with. Since then, we became parents twice over and started the company that lets me tell you this story. We’re pretty lucky, because everything we created together, going all the way back to our relationship which started at a Tim Hortons near the highway, has been magical. Here’s to more magic for many years to come.
