The Spa Twins take on the Atlantic

[tinker1bell]

This is first time I have written a trip report. My Best Friend Forever, Stephanie and I have traveled many times and have had fun times, but I just never got around to writing about our trips. Since this is such a long trip, we knew we had to write about it. Too many funny things happened and we have so many memories to share.

CAST:

Me……. Terry married to a wonderful guy for over 41 years. We have three grown children and five handsome grandsons.

BFF………Stephanie she has two children and four grandchildren. Two handsome boys and two beautiful girls.

We have known each other for about 22 years. I tried to sell her encyclopedias then jewelry and after that we just kept connecting and then started traveling together. First on shopping trips, then to see plays in New York, then for about ten years going down to the shore. Those were fun trips but when a lot of the stores closed up, we decided we needed to find a different place to travel to. I knew Stephanie went to Walt Disney World but that was it. She had nicknamed me Tinker Bell when she was writing for a local newspaper and I went to town buying lots of things with Tinker Bell on them, especially t-shirts. So she had me hooked early.

When she brought up the subject of traveling down to WDW in 2005, I thought that would be lots of fun. We spent nine fun packed days wearing matching t-shirts every day. I think I surprised her because I was up for the challenge. Since then, we have gone down once a year. In 2008 and 2009, we went on a four day cruise on the Disney Wonder and loved it plus spent a few days before and after each cruise in WDW. We had a veranda and spent a lot of time on it each cruise. So when she found out about this fourteen day Transatlantic trip and we could celebrate turning 60 on it, it just seemed right. So we started planning for this trip almost two years ago.

A lot goes into planning the perfect vacation in WDW and one thing we have learned is that we cannot do everything. We got to be flexible enough to change plans if we needed to. We did a lot of price comparing so we knew when the meal plan would work and when we just needed to nosh around. This trip was going to be THE BIG ONE so we wanted to do it right.

So here we go……………..I hope you will stick around and follow The Spa Twins as we sail the Atlantic!!!!!!

 

[lovesdumbo]

Can't wait to hear about your trip!

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

This is first time I have written a trip report. My Best Friend Forever, Stephanie and I have traveled many times and have had fun times, but I just never got around to writing about our trips. Since this is such a long trip, we knew we had to write about it. Too many funny things happened and we have so many memories to share.

CAST:

Me……. Terry married to a wonderful guy for over 41 years. We have three grown children and five handsome grandsons.

BFF………Stephanie she has two children and four grandchildren. Two handsome boys and two beautiful girls.

We have known each other for about 22 years. I tried to sell her encyclopedias then jewelry and after that we just kept connecting and then started traveling together. First on shopping trips, then to see plays in New York, then for about ten years going down to the shore. Those were fun trips but when a lot of the stores closed up, we decided we needed to find a different place to travel to. I knew Stephanie went to Walt Disney World but that was it. She had nicknamed me Tinker Bell when she was writing for a local newspaper and I went to town buying lots of things with Tinker Bell on them, especially t-shirts. So she had me hooked early.

When she brought up the subject of traveling down to WDW in 2005, I thought that would be lots of fun. We spent nine fun packed days wearing matching t-shirts every day. I think I surprised her because I was up for the challenge. Since then, we have gone down once a year. In 2008 and 2009, we went on a four day cruise on the Disney Wonder and loved it plus spent a few days before and after each cruise in WDW. We had a veranda and spent a lot of time on it each cruise. So when she found out about this fourteen day Transatlantic trip and we could celebrate turning 60 on it, it just seemed right. So we started planning for this trip almost two years ago.

A lot goes into planning the perfect vacation in WDW and one thing we have learned is that we cannot do everything. We got to be flexible enough to change plans if we needed to. We did a lot of price comparing so we knew when the meal plan would work and when we just needed to nosh around. This trip was going to be THE BIG ONE so we wanted to do it right.

So here we go……………..I hope you will stick around and follow The Spa Twins as we sail the Atlantic!!!!!!

I'm in! Can't wait to read more!

 

[BoosGram]

I'm onboard! How's Chucky? We've got a few photos of the two of you.

 

[tinker1bell]

This is a picture of me from one of our trips. I am so happy waiting for our plane.

This is Stephanie, she looks so happy. This was from our first trip.

We call ourselves twins because we are ten days apart in age. We think alike, we finish each others sentences; it is amazing how we end up doing the same things without knowing the other has done it until we either post it on the DIS or talk about it later. My hubby calls Stephanie Wifey Too and she calls him Hubby Too. Hubby is the only one that Stephanie trusts to help move her computers since they are both proficient computer people. Thank goodness he understands us!!!

In planning our trip, I did not want to pay for a round trip plane ticket if we didn’t have to. We decided to get our own air fare since we knew there were deals out there for the picking. One day ReannSt posted about a sale on US Air and it was one way, non-stop from Philadelphia to Barcelona for about $459 per person. We jumped on that right away. That we bought back in January and knew we would be able to find a good Ding fare with Southwest for our trip home.

We had so much planning to do. What to pack?? How to not exceed 50 pounds for each checked bag. I knew that I needed two bags. There was no arguing that point. Too many fancy clothes, my Pirate Costume, the Fish Extender gifts,,,,etc,,blah, blah. I just sucked up and paid the extra $$ for the second checked bag.

The Monday before our trip, I really got my bags together and kept packing and taking things out and then repacking until I felt I was ready to go. Then it was the trip to the hairdresser. Then fingernails and toenails had to be pretty. So many final details. Making copies of our passports and other forms of identification. Making sure we had enough Euros. Finalizing our door magnets was very important. I never finished a second Fish Extender, but was happy with the one we had. It was a beacon in the night when finding our room!!!

So there I am finishing up my packing and my DD comes over to give me my birthday present. I show her the door magnets and my FE and set them down next to me. She teases me about the things I have for my Pal Mickey. Chuckie goes with me everywhere so I just ignore her teasing. I wait for Stephanie to pick me up and just make sure I have everything. She arrives and we go thru our usual countdown of making sure we have everything.

We arrive at Stephanie’s house to wait for her friend to pick us up and start printing out my personal business cards. I suddenly get a sinking feeling that I have forgotten something and I realize that I forgot our door magnets. I call my DD and ask her if she could go to my house and get the magnets and she agrees. I also realized that I forgot our FE as well. I am calling my DD in tears and she is teasing me but she reassures me that she did in fact get that as well. By then I am a mess but am happy that she did get my FE.

 

[tinker1bell]

I'm onboard! How's Chucky? We've got a few photos of the two of you.

Chuckie is so happy to post about our trip!!!

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Wooooooo Hooooooo !!!!

Signing on for your trip report

 

[gismo1554]

Im here too! Can't wait to read more! I still remember the facebook posts about the missing items! Scary!

 

[Blueeyes101817]

cant wait to read more!

 

[dolphingirl47]

I am looking forward to reading more.

Corinna

 

[luvdamouse91]

What a great time both of you were having! Can't wait to read about it.

 

[Tammi67]

I'm in, Terry! Can't wait to read about it ALL!

 

[tmfranlk]

Can't wait to hear all about it, Terry!!!

 

[tinker1bell]

By the time Stephanie’s friend arrived and her daughter got back with the magnets and the FE after meeting up with my daughter, we were ready to go. This was going be a now or never. Once we left, anything else left was left. We were ready as we were going to be. We headed off and settled back to enjoy the ride. We did encounter rain as we headed toward Philadelphia. Finally we arrived and unloaded our luggage and were helped by a very friendly porter who made sure our luggage was weighed and not over the limit. Then we headed for security and then off to our gate. We met up with other DIS folks and settled down to wait to board the plane. There were a lot of jangled nerves. I just kept thinking please get us on the plane and let me eat the meal you present us with and then let me sleep.

We flew U S Air and their seats are very small but at least it was just Stephanie and I with no one else next to us. We get ready for takeoff but the pilot advises us that we need to wait. He will have to park on the tarmac to wait for our turn to take off. We are number six. His other option is to fly up to JFK and follow their route to Barcelona. We can tell that we are creeping along a runway so that is good. I sure don’t want to be on a plane just sitting with no power. Finally after about an hour, we are told we are flying up to JFK. It is a bit bumpy but we are off!!! We found out later that the weather delayed a lot of flights.

We arrived an hour later or so than expected, gathered up our luggage and when we went to get a taxi, no one would take us!!!! They are really picky!!!!. We finally managed to get one of the drivers to take us to our hotel. I didn’t have the address and at first he was not going to call for us but we finally persuaded him to do so. The ride ended up costing us more than we expected, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to get to the hotel. I had not slept the whole flight and was a little grumpy. Our room was not ready so we went next door to get something to eat. We went with Amy, her hubby and his mother and ate Tapas and drank some Sangria. Each of us was trying to do the face plant at the table. I knew that Stephanie wanted to go to see The Black Madonna but I was afraid we would fall asleep and end up god knows where. We finally gave up and went to check if our room was ready and it was. So we went up to the room and within seconds, Stephanie was fast asleep and I wasn't far behind.

Four hours later we found our way up to the Hard Rock Café and met up with a lot of other DISsers. What a way to start our trip. It was a great evening. Going outside we saw that it was raining cats and dogs. We both ended up buying umbrellas and started back to the hotel. We were walking in water!!! It got windy so my umbrella kept acting up and turning backwards. I even got drenched by a taxi. My sneakers must have weighed at least 10 lbs by now!!!! There was no way we were going to see the Fountain of Montjuic. We found a small fountain and took pictures of it saying we would post pictures and try to photo shop in color and music!! We did find the grocery store everyone was talking about and bought some Sangria. Yum!! After a wrong turn we finally got back to the hotel and each took a turn showering and getting warm. Since there was internet available, we spent a little time on our computers. We had hung up our clothes and they are dripping water on the floor. Went to ask for a wake-up call and no one answered so I used my phone and set an alarm for us. We needed to be up early to take a tour with Janice and her son Trevor.

 

[TotallyAngelic]

The rain was incredible that evening wasn't it Terry ... after the Hard Rock we walked down to Lynne's apartment on the harbour and got drenched wet through. I can laugh about it now but at the time it was a nightmare.

 

[tinker1bell]

The rain was incredible that evening wasn't it Terry ... after the Hard Rock we walked down to Lynne's apartment on the harbour and got drenched wet through. I can laugh about it now but at the time it was a nightmare.

It sure was!! When it started to thunder and then the lightening started, I really got scared. It took days for my sneakers to fully dry out.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Terry,
can't wait to read all of your report.
Since we had to cancel this cruise I will get to live it through your report


Keep it coming!!


Kathy

 

[bear74]

love it so far. Can't wait to hear all about it.

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

I was in bed during that rain/thunderstorm! Do you remember me asking at breakfast the next morning if it had rained?! LOL!

 

[Candy Apple]

Yeah! Another TR to help keep the Magic alive!!