1 day to go--Yo Ho!

[MissDaisyofTexas]

9 Days to Go--Yo Ho!


Hello there! My name is MissDaisyofTexas and this is my very first trip report. Well, actually, it's a pre-trip report. I've never done either. I'm glad there is a new folder for pre-trip reports because I've thought about doing one but at the same time it seems that some people are annoyed with pre-trip reports and they'd just rather read the actual trip reports. Which is fine, then they won't look in this folder!


This is us! We are going on our very first Disney Cruise next week! We leave in 9 days!

Pardon our disheveled looks. This is one of the only pictures we have of all 5 of us, and we had just finished an afternoon at an indoor trampoline place.

This is me, Nancy, wife and mother of 3. I'm 39 years old.

I'm the brains behind this operation (the vacation, that is.) I'm a stay-at-home mom (I quit my job 3 years ago). Since I quit my job, I've become very passionate about personal finances and vacation planning.

I'm the reason we are going on this cruise. The story goes back to 2009...I was researching future vacation options for us and I was looking at cruises to Alaska (since one of my friends got married on an Alaskan cruise ship and I got to attend her wedding on it, but I left before the ship sailed to Alaska). And as I was googling Alaska cruise, lo and behold the Disney Cruise Line popped up. I didn't know that Disney went to Alaska! Well actually, at the time they didn't, but they were going to start cruises to Alaska and they were already advertising for it. Anyways...that got me looking at DCL videos and I was in awe!

I had been on one cruise before, about 10 years ago, it was an RCCL cruise out of Los Angeles. It was a short weekend cruise to Ensenada, and that's it. I liked it ok, the scenery was beautiful but I did not think the cruise was kid-friendly at all (I didn't have kids at the time, so that's ok). When I boarded the cruise on a Friday afternoon, most of the passenger were already stumbling around drunk! The lifeboat drill was crazy--so many drunk people! So I guess I never thought about taking my kids on a regular cruise before I saw the DCL videos.

So of course I get on the DCL website and have a heart attack at the prices, and figure it will never happen for us.

But then I had an idea. By this time we were in early 2010 and my goal for the year was to lose 60 pounds. My DH was trying to be supportive, so he suggested that I get little rewards along the way towards my goal to keep me motivated. Things like pedicures, massages, etc. So this idea popped into my head...what if my reward at the end of losing 60 pounds was a Disney Cruise? I proposed the idea to my DH and he said yes! Now I'm not sure if he said yes because he thought it was a good idea, or yes because he didn't think I'd go through with losing the 60 pounds...but either way, the deal was on!

It was the end of February 2010 and I had already lost about 20 pounds towards my goal. But then I started getting really tired, not feeling well...something just wasn't normal. Guess what? I was pregnant! A little bit of a shocker since our older two kids are adopted and, well, we were just surprised!

So needless to say, I didn't lose my 60 pounds in 2010. I gave birth to our daughter in October after having gained 40 pounds during pregnancy. I had given up the idea of a Disney Cruise because it was so expensive for 4 people, let alone 5. So I stopped researching and reading the message boards about cruising and kind of forgot about it for a while.

Then in November, I decided that I would once again get back on track with my weight loss goal for 2011. So our deal was on again. Except that I convinced my DH to actually book a cruise right then and there! So we booked a 5-night double dip on the Dream for June 10, 2012.

I did end up making my goal in 2011--I lost 61.5 lbs!

Here is my DH Brian.

He enjoys cycling and martial arts. He works from home most of the time, so he is around our kids a lot as well.

He is not as into Disney as I am. But he tolerates my hobby and has fun while we're there. He just doesn't like to hear about it for 2 years between our trips.

These are our 3 kids (picture taken just yesterday):

Our oldest son, Nathan, is 7 and just days away from turning 8.

He likes martial arts and playing with legos.

Our younger son, Joshua, is 4.

He likes everything that his brother likes, at the moment.

And this is Alyssa, the baby sister.

She is 19 months old (will be 20 months old next week).

So that is who we are and how we came to book this cruise! We are leaving in 9 days (we will be spending 3 night at WDW prior to the cruise, more on that later).

I plan on writing once a day in this pre-trip report.

Tomorrow's installment: The finances of a vacation!

 

[micworld90]

My husband was reading this and, ironically, we will also be on the Disney Dream June 10-15. We will be arriving at the Wilderness Lodge on Friday, June 8 - also a few days before the cruise. If this is your first Disney cruise, you won't be disappointed. The kids will have so much fun in the clubs, and you might get to relax! The shows and entertainment are awesome. Enjoy!!---micworld90

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

My husband was reading this and, ironically, we will also be on the Disney Dream June 10-15. We will be arriving at the Wilderness Lodge on Friday, June 8 - also a few days before the cruise. If this is your first Disney cruise, you won't be disappointed. The kids will have so much fun in the clubs, and you might get to relax! The shows and entertainment are awesome. Enjoy!!---micworld90

Hi micworld90! Woohoo, the same cruise! Sounds like you've cruised before? We can't wait!

If you are interested, we are having a DIS board family meet-up on the first day. It will be after the lifeboat drill, before the sail away party on Deck 12 near the top of the Mickey slide.

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

As a little background information....

I am a huge proponent of family vacations. HUGE. When I was growing up, my family went on a vacation every year. Now they weren't always the most extravagant vacations, most of the time we all piled in the station wagon and drove somewhere, but we got to see a lot of the U.S. and I still remember those vacations!

I think I went to Disney World 4 times as a kid, the first trip when I was just a baby. Then in 2nd grade, 5th grade and 9th grade. So my family was a big fan of Disney, but we also did other vacations.

I've been to Disney World various times as an adult. I used to work for Disney in California, so while I worked there I went to WDW a few times for very cheap. DH and I got engaged at Cinderella's Castle.

When we became parents, I told DH that I wanted to take our kids on vacations every year. And I don't think he fully understood what I meant because his family did not have the same vacation tradition that mine did. I think he went on maybe one vacation as a kid. His dad does not like to travel.

We adopted our oldest son when he was 3 years old, and we waited about a year for our first trip to Disney World. We went in September 2008, he was 4 years old and had a fantastic time! We rented DVC points and stayed at Saratoga Springs for 5 nights. It was a blast! We got an unexpected treat and were asked to ride in the front of the monorail (back when they still did that):

Then the next year, a lot happened. We adopted a 17-month old little brother and I quit my job to become a stay-at-home mom. Talk about a shakeup to our family and our finances! I still felt strongly about going on family vacations, even if meant going somewhere real close. As it turned out, my parents/brother/SIL/sister/niece/nephew were already talking about all of us going to Disney World and asked if we wanted to go. I originally wanted to wait until our younger son was a bit older to take him, but I also wanted to meet my family there (since they all lives in different states). So we said yes!

That trip to Disney World in April/May of 2010 was fairly inexpensive for us. We were able to use airline miles for our flights, and my entire family shared a 4-bedroom condo at Wyndham Bonnet Creek for 9 days. The 4 of us just used one bedroom and only paid $400 for the entire stay. So with free airfare and very cheap hotel, the trip was very reasonable.

Here were my boys at Animal Kingdom during that trip: (ages 5 and 2)

Now as much as I love Disney, I also don't want it to be the only vacation our kids ever experience. So last year, January 2011, we went to San Diego, California. We still had a few airline miles left, so 2 of our tickets were free. And we got a great deal on a timeshare, we stayed in a 2 bedroom condo at the Welk Resort for $590 for 7 nights. We cooked breakfast and dinner in our condo to save money. We visited Legoland, The San Diego Zoo, The San Diego Wild Animal Safari Park, the beach, took a harbor cruise...it was a great time! Our daughter was just 3 months old during this trip--we had booked the condo before we knew we were pregnant with her!

Here are the boys at the San Diego Zoo:

Then last summer, we took a road trip to Colorado (where I grew up). It's about a 14 hour drive. We also did the trip very economically. We used hot-wire.com to book a hotel room for the week at $49/night. It was a Wyndham with a free breakfast buffet and was a great deal for the price!

Here is a family picture in Colorado at the White Fence Farm:

So I guess my point in sharing these last few vacations is that we did them on a pretty low budget. Now the Disney Cruise, on the other hand, is a different story. No matter how you slice it, this is still by far the most expensive vacation we have gone on as a family. So before we booked it, I did a lot of research on the DIS boards and the internet to see how I could get the best deal on a cruise. I wrote an entire blog post about how to get the best price for a Disney Cruise:http://www.savingforadream.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-to-get-cheapest-price-for-disney.html

We've made all sorts of lifestyle changes since I quit my job almost 3 years ago to live within our means and be able to afford these bigger family vacations. We don't go out to eat anymore, really only once a month or for special occasions like birthdays. I buy meat when it's on sale and stock it up in our freezer. I plan our meals in advance. I shop for my kid's clothes at consignment shops. We cancelled our lawn fertilizer and pest control services. We re-shopped for cheaper car and home insurance.

For this trip specifically, we also got Disney Visa cards when they were offering $200 gift cards for opening an account. DH and I each got one, so $400 total. Then we put our cruise on the card and we also charge some monthly bills on our cards and pay off the balance in full every month. So our rewards from the Disney Visa have basically paid for 3 nights of hotel at Disney World before our cruise and our kids' park tickets!

I also got some great money-saving tips from trip reports I read on here. Somebody wrote about how they went to retailmenot.com to get a promo code for airport parking. I tried it and got 25% off our upcoming airport parking! We also read about some of the port shuttle services giving a discount for using cash, so that is what we will be doing as well.

We asked my parents to get our kids Disney gift cards for Christmas. They were happy to do that, and now my kids have their own souvenir spending money. My BIL/SIL also gave us a Disney gift card for Christmas, which we will probably use for breakfast at the Crystal Palace.

Bottom line: The cruise is expensive, we took measures to book it at the best possible price and have found other ways to save money along the way. I hope it's worth it!

Tomorrow: How we told our kids about the cruise!

 

[Sereina]

Your going to have a wonderful time! Which cruise are you going on? My family is a lot like yours, our vacations are usually very low budget, but we save up for Disneyland and visit there about every four years.

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

Your going to have a wonderful time! Which cruise are you going on? My family is a lot like yours, our vacations are usually very low budget, but we save up for Disneyland and visit there about every four years.

We are on a 5-night double dip on the Dream.

I love Disneyland! I'd like to take my kids there someday too....

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

So we booked this cruise in November 2010 but did not tell our kids about it at the time. For one reason, our cruise was about 19 months away and I think that's too far in advance to tell our kids. Secondly, at the time I wasn't quite sure if we would go through with the cruise. It was such a large chunk of money...what if DH got laid off? So I kept mum about it for over a year. Except I would talk to DH about it almost every day. I drove him crazy.

I was glad when we hit 2011 because at least then I could say we are going on a Disney cruise "next year" (instead of in 2 years!) And then finally when 2012 hit I could say we're going on a cruise this year!

So we decided to tell our kids at Christmas. We realized that this was still about 5 1/2 months before our cruise. But I think the kids enjoy the planning & anticipation just as much as I do. Before our California vacation, we looked at youtube videos of Legoland and we colored maps of California. I wanted them to experience that with this vacation.

The only problem with telling them on Christmas is that we always go to my in-laws house for Christmas, we travel 6 hours there and stay in the same house with my DH's extended family for days. And his brother/SIL and nieces are also there, and we did not think it would be fair to surprise our kids with a Disney cruise while their cousins were there and they wouldn't be going on the cruise. (His brother's family has never been on a family vacation! I think they think we are crazy for going on a vacation once a year!)

So we decided to tell them on the day before we left, December 23, 2011. My two boys have been asking for months before this where we were going on our next vacation. And I always told them that it was a surprise for now. And they didn't forget to keep asking me. So I did end up telling them that I would tell them on December 23.

In the few days leading up to that, I left them picture clues. But they were things that they wouldn't be able to guess outright. Like the chandelier, the Aqua Duck from a weird angle, the crab races.

On that morning of our reveal, I made Mickey-Mouse-shaped pancakes. They didn't make the connection. Then I sent them on a scavenger hunt around our house with clues to the next clue location. The final clue sent the kids to our spinning armoire with this taped to the mirror: (courtesy of the DISign board, poster-size printed at Walmart for free with a coupon!)

And there was some confusion because they didn't know what a Disney Cruise was. My oldest kept saying, "So, we're going to Disney World?" I guess somehow the DCL commercials hadn't gotten to them!

And under the tree, we had a treasure chest box for them filled with Captain Mickey plush, some Captain Jack Sparrow legos, the DCL DVD, DCL hats, and Disney gift cards from their grandparents.

I had timed it so that moments later, our phone rang and it was Mickey Mouse calling to tell them about our cruise to the Bahamas.

(I put more pictures/details of this day in my blog if you want to see more).

They were excited, yet still confused. We watched some of the DCL DVD and some youtube videos to give them an idea of what we were in for.

But I was relieved, because now I could finally talk about this vacation openly in our house and I had my kids to share my excitement!

Tomorrow: Keeping the Dream alive!

 

[Skyw]

My big reveal hasn't happened yet. I have to wait until he sees the ship!!!!! And he is in 2nd grade, so I can't spell when I talk to my DH about it. Or talk pig Latin. And I haven't really told many people either. Loose lips sink ships!!!!

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

My big reveal hasn't happened yet. I have to wait until he sees the ship!!!!! And he is in 2nd grade, so I can't spell when I talk to my DH about it. Or talk pig Latin. And I haven't really told many people either. Loose lips sink ships!!!!

I know what you mean about loose lips sink ships! I was so paranoid that my kids would find out about it before we surprised them at Christmas...that we didn't even tell our parents/extended family where we were going! I was so afraid that one of them would accidentally spill the beans.

So your son has no idea? How exciting!

 

[Sereina]

I really like the way you surprised them and I like how you decided to tell them several months ahead of time. Anticipating a vacation is all part of the fun, at least in my book! Oh, and they all look great in the sailor hats!

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

So the kids found out about this cruise in December, and we've had 5 1/2 months to prepare for it, get excited about it, research, etc. We haven't been living and breathing the cruise for all of those months (although I'm sure my DH would beg to differ) but every now and then we'd talk about it or incorporate a rainy day activity into our future travel plans.

For starters, for Christmas the boys each got a snorkel and mask set to practice their snorkeling. In the bath tub.

I also got a Disney waffle maker for Christmas, so we've had these a few times:

We check out books from the library regularly, and we've managed to check out several books on boats and cruising:

I think our favorite boat/cruise book was "Walter the Farting Dog Goes on a Cruise". Seriously, I have 2 boys.

Earlier this year we also made paper cruise ships. Which I got from Rob's trip report: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=41922496&postcount=36

We've also rented a lot of older Disney movies from the library and had family movie nights. And I exposed the boys to some Disney Princess movies they hadn't seen before, classics like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.

We've watched a number of videos on YouTube. Here are 2 of our favorites:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2QkeLqh9W4 (a family video from the Wonder--long but really fun! The boys like to dance to the songs.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsC65o5MCGs (a video of pelican plunge with island-themed music)

And at 20 days before our cruise, we started a countdown chain:

It is a really simple chain, with the days remaining, the date, and a Disney sticker.

Since we still have a few more days until we leave, and since school got out today, I'd like to research our destinations a little further. Truth be told, I don't know much about The Bahamas myself!

In tomorrow's installment: Magnets and the FE!

 

[Sereina]

Looks like you all have been having gun getting excited for your trip! Love the waffles.

 

[Skyw]

Your little one is adorable!!!!! And the rest is cute too!!!!

I am expecting a trip report when you get back now!!!! For those of us who have a few more weeks to go!!!!

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

I was so excited when we booked our cruise that I couldn't wait to go over to the cruise meets board and meet other people on our cruise! However, even though the itineraries had been out for a few weeks I was the first one who posted. And then somehow I got in charge of the FE exchange! LOL

We ordered our Fish Extender off of Ebay and got it last December. It has one pocket for DH and me together, and one pocket for each of our kids.

We have our FE gifts all done--we did not get crafty or do anything home made this time. I will refrain from posting pictures of them in case any one from my cruise is reading this.

Our magnets are all printed up! I love the DISign board!

Here are some of my favorites:

DH thinks our cartoon characters are a little creepy, LOL!

Thank you, DISigners!

Tomorrow: Outfitting for the cruise!

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

Looks like you all have been having gun getting excited for your trip! Love the waffles.

I'm not sure how many times I will make those waffles. They sure look cute but they take forever to bake! LOL

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

Your little one is adorable!!!!! And the rest is cute too!!!!

I am expecting a trip report when you get back now!!!! For those of us who have a few more weeks to go!!!!

Thank you! Yes, I'm totally doing a trip report when we get back!

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

Since we booked this cruise so far in advance, I've had plenty of time to bargain shop for some things we need.

Last summer, I got some great bargains on summer stuff at The Disney Store.

I got this Minnie bikini and swimsuit cover-up for my daughter:

I also got a few t-shirts for the kids on sale there (this Spring, I think):

Last November during the post-Halloween sales, I bought an Ariel costume and a pirate costume for my youngest for dirt cheap!

And I found these pirate t-shirts and pirate PJs at Target for the boys:

The one clothing splurge I did was order matching tie-dye outfits for the kids. They will wear them on our Magic Kingdom day.

And I ordered these personalized autograph books with bags on etsy for each of the kids:

Seriously, if money were no object I could go crazy ordering stuff on etsy and ebay! There are so many cute things in there!

Up next tomorrow: Our itinerary for our trip

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

We are leaving on Thursday morning at 5 a.m. I got a decent deal on airplane tickets, but we have to leave at the crack of dawn and fly from Dallas to Cincinnati to Orlando. Our layover in Cincinnati is 43 minutes! (It used to be 3 hours but they e-mailed us that our flight schedule changed). I hope we make it!

We land in Orlando around 1:30 p.m. We will then hop on the Magical Express and stay at the Caribbean Beach resort for 3 nights.

I have stayed at several onsite resorts over the years (all as an adult, when my family went to WDW when we were kids we always stayed offsite). I've stayed at Saratoga Springs, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Port Orleans, Coronado Springs and Caribbean Beach. And Caribbean Beach was by far my favorite! It's been probably 15 or so years since I've stayed there. I'm not sure exactly why it was my favorite--maybe because it was the first onsite resort I've ever stayed at and I was blown away? I liked how it was centered around a lake. It was very peaceful and pretty. It felt like we were many miles away from everything, yet we were right there. I can't wait for my kids to experience it!

This will probably be our last time staying onsite. Now that we have 3 kids, once my youngest turns 3 we either have to get 2 rooms or stay with DVC point rentals. And I've found there are many cheaper and bigger options offsite (like Wyndham Bonnet Creek, where we stayed in 2010).

We have plans to meet up with friends in the area at Downtown Disney on Thursday night. So hopefully we'll get some pool time in that afternoon and then head over to Downtown Disney.

On Friday...we are splitting up. DH is taking our oldest son to Star Wars Weekend! He doesn't know about it yet! He's a big Star Wars fan and had a blast in 2010 at the Jedi Training Academy.

Here is my oldest at the JTA in 2010:

I've been reading the DIS board thread about SWW to get some tips for my DH on the best way to get around that day. They have a late lunch reservation at 50s Prime Time Cafe.

Meanwhile, while they are at Hollywood Studios, I'll be taking my younger two kids to EPCOT. My 4-year-old likes Star Wars, but I'm afraid the SWW day would be too much for him. Last time we went to WDW he was afraid of all the characters. Like he was screaming any time they came near. He might be better this time, but we don't think he'd be up for seeing the scarier characters and waiting in line.

EPCOT is my favorite park! My younger son had a blast there in 2010 (he was 2):

He loved all the fountains and the boat rides in The Land and Mexico.

Friday is EMH at EPCOT, so we are planning on being there at 8 a.m. Our kids are super early risers. I'm not kidding. They are up by 6 or 7 a.m. no matter what time they went to bed the night before.

So I'm hoping we can get a lot done in the morning before they get tuckered out. We have a lunch reservation at Chefs De France. With 2 small kids, I figured a sit-down restaurant would be easier for me to manage than trying to push a stroller with a tray at a counter or buffet restaurant.

I'm not sure how long the kids will last at EPCOT. I'd love to see some of World Showcase. I'd also love to go to Beaches n Cream for an afternoon ice cream or an early dinner. We will just have to see how everyone does with the heat.

Then on Saturday, we are all going to the Magic Kingdom together. One of the traditions my family has had since I was a kid is eating at The Crystal Palace. We've been eating there since before it became a character restaurant. DH and I ate there when we went there as adults before kids (we got engaged later that night!):

So this time, we have an early morning breakfast reservation before the park opens. Like I said, my kids will be up anyway! I've never been to the parks for a pre-opening meal, so I'm excited about this!

We also have a lunch reservation at The Plaza restaurant where we are meeting some friends. And then we'll see how long we last at the Magic Kindgom! I see us leaving in mid-afternoon, and then maybe I will return with my oldest son after dinner to do a few more rides.

Then on Sunday....we are off to Port Canaveral for the cruise! We will be traveling by a van shuttle service. For a family of 5, that was slightly cheaper than taking the Disney bus service. And we can arrive earlier.


We have the 11 a.m. port arrival time. When we board, our plans are to eat at the fast-food places and then go on the Aqua Duck/Nemo's Reef. Then later, we will check out our room and check out the kids clubs. I'd love it if my daughter could nap. Then we have the lifeboat drill, and then our DIS meet-up, then the sail away party!

For our 5-night cruise, we have arranged to have 3 date-night dinners with just DH and I. One of them will be at Palo. I should explain that we don't have many date nights. We don't have family that lives close and babysits. We do hire babysitters once in a while but with 3 kids and then the cost of dinner it gets expensive, and we have a tight budget. I'm also a stay-at-home-mom and my husband works from home most days, so we are around our kids A LOT. So the kids' clubs and the nursery on DCL are a big draw for us!

Anyways...for the first night we've requested the dining rotation that begins in Animators Palette. That way our kids would get to experience that restaurant plus pirate night dinner with us later in the week.

I'm curious to find out if we have another family sitting with us at dinner! I hope our kids behave at dinner.

On Monday is our first day at Castaway Cay. I will be running in the Castaway Cay 5k. DH will take the kids to the beach while I do that. We'd like to ride bides either that day or the 2nd CC day. Pelican Plunge is also on the list. We have not signed up for any excursions.

On Tuesday is Nassau day. We'd like to explore the island on our own. Our plan is to take a taxi to Ardastra Zoo/Gardens and see the flamingo show. Then maybe have lunch at the Fish Fry. Then maybe go to the pirate museum. Or maybe just the boys will do that while I take the youngest back to the ship to nap. Or maybe we'll take a horse & carriage ride around. We've left our plans open and we're flexible.

We do have a backup plan for Nassau. If it was rainy the day before at Castaway Cay and we didn't get a lot of good beach time, we will consider getting day passes at the Sheraton Nassau.

Wednesday is Sea Day. DH and oldest son would like to see the Avengers. I imagine we will also do the detective game and the kids will spend time in the clubs.

Thursday is the 2nd Castaway Cay day. More of the same good stuff!

Then on Friday, we will leave the ship and we fly back to Dallas around 1 p.m.

So that's the scoop!

Tomorrow: The status of our packing

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

So we are about 75% packed. Here is what 9 days for 5 people looks like:

We are taking 2 big rolling suitcases, plus a duffle bag, plus each of us will have a backpack to carry on the plane. We can actually fit all of our stuff without the duffle bag, but we wanted to have some extra room for souvenirs or FE gifts and not be stressed about where to fit them.

I do not want to do laundry on this trip. Hopefully, we won't have to.

We have a big excel spreadsheet for our packing list and we're crossing things off as we go. We have 2 more loads of last-minute laundry to do tomorrow, and I think that's it. Oh, and I have one more quick trip to the store for a few things.

Tonight at dinner we discussed table manners with our kids. They don't go out to each much, because when we go with them we feel like we are constantly correcting their behavior and then we can't enjoy ourselves. So I'm hoping that by going over some proper manners and etiquette that it will prevent some dinner mishaps. I am a little nervous that we will scare away our table mates!

Tomorrow: Disney Cruise or BUST!

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

PS--does anyone have any name suggestions for my actual trip report? I've seen some of the names--very creative!

Texans in the Caribbean? (has that already been done?)
A Double-Dipping We Go--Yo HO! ?

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