cheerupem0kidx0x
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2012
Christmas 2017 Epic 17th Friend-aversary Cruise and Disney Trip!!
So I am starting this thread mainly so I don't drive my husband and bff nuts with my insanely overboard trip planning, and also to keep track of my plans for my own sanity! But if anyone would like to chime in with their ideas or advice that would be awesome too because I might be in over my head with this trip and also so I don't feel like I'm just talking to myself here lol.
To start I'll introduce the group for this trip. First there is me, Shayna, 30ish year old nurse from NC, lover of everything disney and harry potter, crafts, beaches, books, music, and thrift stores My husband, Tommy, is also 30ish, from NC, newly converted lover of disney (not so much harry potter...yet!), cars, music, and craft beer. We have been married 8 years, together forever before that...actually used to date back in 8th grade lol. We have 2 kids, Gabriel who just turned 15 and Chloe who will be 8 by the time of our trip. Gabriel loves music (playing/creating and listening), video games, and his very 1st girlfriend (awww??). Chloe loves music (musical family I guess!), princesses, 4wheeling with daddy, and swimming.
This is us on our Sept 2016 trip!
Also joining us is my best friend forever (seriously this is our 17th friendship anniversary trip...I'll explain...), Heather, who is also a nurse, lives here in NC and has the travel bug so bad...but not so much the disney bug. She will be bringing her 2 kids, Bayley who is 14 and Nala who is 8. So blessed to have her in my life and have our kids to grow up together
The whole gang on our June 2012 Trip for Gabriel's 10th Birthday!
So this trip originally started as a best friendship anniversary celebration. Heather has a thing with the number 17, and it is 2017, and our 17th friendship anniversary in November, so she decided we should do something big to celebrate and of course I agreed! Any excuse for vacation works for both of us lol, it doesn't take much. The only problem is we are both type A control freak super planners, so agreeing on a trip was a little tricky at first to say the least lol. Last big trip we did together was actually disney 5 years ago, and tho it was a good trip, we definitely werent always on the same page. Mainly because my disney obsession is like level 100 and hers is like level 3 haha.
Heather and I last Christmas
After some debate, we ended up deciding on a cruise. I have done one before and she has done 3, but it will be a new cruise line for both of us. We picked the MSC Divina leaving from Miami on Dec 16th and returning Dec 23. It will stop in Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, Nassau, and Cozumel. Luckily we got the last 2 inside cabins available, unluckily they are nowhere near each other on the ship :/ but we got an amazing price and an awesome itinerary! Picking excursions has proven a bit challenging as she has already been to 3 of 4 ports, and I have only been to nassau, and most of the stuff I want to do is stuff she has already done lol. But we are figuring it all out.
Chloe and Tommy dancing with a Dolphin on our 1st cruise in Feb 2013 for my birthday!
Of course it immediately crossed my mind that we would only be a few short hours from my favorite place on Earth, and somehow, someway I needed to make a pit stop at Disney a reality! After months of begging, pleading, and "nicely" insisting, I finally got Tommy to agree to brave the craziness that is Disney at Christmas with me! He really does love me I guess Ever since I was young I dreamed about waking up Christmas morning at Disney. So this is a huge bucket list thing for me! I know crowds will be insane and we won't get to do it all but just being there will be amazing. I cant get Heather on board (yet lol) but still working on it. So for now it's just us and our kids. We ended up booking Pop Century from Dec 23-26 with 2 day park hoppers and free dining upgraded to regular dining plan. It's not my usual 5-7 day marathon disney trip, but considering its following the cruise I'll take my 2 days happily! Our last trip was Sept 2016 and I really wasnt even expecting to get back down there til late 2018 or 2019. Oh, and the kids know about the cruise but Disney is going to be their big Christmas present surprise!
So that's my little intro...will post again with some basic plans I have so far and hopefully by next Monday I will have a definite plan for dining cause itll be my 180 mark!
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