The Pay It Forward PTR - Concierge on Disney Fantasy Eastern January 26, 2013

My update is a bit overdue, but I have lots to report this time around. First, and most importantly, we have only 19 sleeps left before we leave for our trip!!! That calls for happy dances! :cool1::cool1::cool1: I am bursting at the seams with excitement, and I think Jayden can tell something is up. Her "mickey boat" comments are increasing. Jeremy and I are talking in code, but not very well...we also had a couple minor slips. For example, I was telling him in the car today how packed the islands are going to be because there are so many other ships in port at the same time. My code went something like, "I'm happy we picked the E-X-C-U-R (he got it so I stopped spelling) we did because there are going to be a ton of people at the same places we will be." Him: "huh?" :confused3 Me: "Well, you know that thing we will be on to get there....there will be a lot of those in addition to ours." Him: "Oh, but not Disney boats." :rolleyes1 No noise came from the backseat, so she either wasn't paying attention, or just thought quietly..."I knew we were going on the Mickey Boat!!!" popcorn:: Either way, she will be surprised and SO excited! We have finally nailed down the surprise plan, but more on that later.

My parents informed us that they booked their vacation this weekend. They leave on Thursday, so they will not be joining us in San Juan. :( It would have been fun, but we finalized plans for a trip to WDW in December with them. :woohoo: I need to get past this vacation before even trying to plan that one, and I know I will need to do lots of research. WDW seems so overwhelming to me!

In other news, I called The Perfect Gift on Friday to order our baskets. I just have to say that those folks are about as nice as they come, and they are incredibly busy. I ended up ordering two baskets -- one for Jayden and one for Jeremy and me to share. For Jayden, we requested sand toys (so I don't have to pack them) and all of her favorite candy aka "parental bribery tools," her favorite cookies and crackers, and some princess bling. I saw their baskets online and knew that the snacks/food we were requesting would not fit into their categories, but they had no problem at all customizing for us. For Jeremy and me, I ordered snacks that are not available on the boat and of course, his Dr. Pepper. She asked what I wanted it put in, and I told her I didn't care if they put it in a plastic bag as long as she didn't forget my Reese's! :scared1: The nice lady taking my order assumed that I was ordering a basket for Jayden and Jeremy only, and she laughed a little when I said the second basket was for both Jeremy and me. I quickly followed it up with, "there is no way Cinderella would forget Mom!!" One more item checked off....woohoo!!

While researching the December WDW trip, I came across the Creative DISigners board and decided to do an autograph book for the cruise. What a project! It took me two times downloading all of the images because I did it the wrong way the first time, and then I had to research to figure out which characters were onboard. I ordered the autograph book through Shutterfly. It took me a couple tries to get it to work the way I wanted, but in the end, I think it will be good. It should arrive at our doorstep this week, so I suppose if it isn't very good, I can figure something else out. Then again, we don't even know if Jayden will get near the characters, so I may not need it for anyone other than the princesses and Captain Jack Sparrow. Because...um...er...I'm sure Jayden will definitely get Jack Sparrow's autograph, right? ::yes:: :rolleyes1

And, finally, the big surprise. We have changed our plans for this a few times, but I think we finally settled on what we are doing. We have a noonish flight that day, so while one of us is waking sleeping beauty up, the other is going to be putting a package/present on our front door step and ringing the doorbell. We are going to have her open the door to find that someone left us a package. :wizard: The package is going to be an invitation from Mickey Mouse himself and our coordinated shirts for the first day of the cruise. For this cruise, I went with "throwback" Mickey/Minnie shirts for all of us. They don't match per se, but they won't look too bad together in a picture. I made the invitation from Mickey with assistance from milliepie -- I started with one of her "blanks" and added the text in myself.
CruiseInvitation_Blacktext.jpg

I still need to make the envelope, but that part should be easier! So, after Jayden finds out we are going on a cruise, our hope is that getting her ready and out of the door will be easier. We plan on stopping at one of our favorite places to get breakfast, and then will head to the airport.

We have reservations at 1900 Park Fare on Friday night, but we are not going to tell Jayden until we make it to the Grand Floridian. My fear is that our flight will be delayed, and we will miss our dining reservation. If she doesn't know it is in the plans, she can't be disappointed. Once we get to the Grand Flordian, while I am checking us in, I plan to slyly pass the invitation to the person checking us in and ask them to tell Jayden they have something for her. Hopefully this will work! Either way, it will be this invitation:
1900ParkFareInvite_Final.jpg

Again, I still need an envelope.

We are hoping we will make it back to our room in time to see Wishes! Seems like a nice evening to start our vacation (of course, this is in my head, and I am more than prepared for all of the things that will not work out exactly as I want them to). popcorn::

Next up....definitely more countdown updates. I realize these are not as fun, but they are SO fun to me! I love thinking things like, "in X number of days at this time, I will be doing [fill in the blank]." I also ordered pirate shirts off of Etsy that I will share, and finally, some packing updates to keep me sane and ensure I am not forgetting anything really important! Speaking of that...the camera and video camera are going in the packing basket. :idea: I would be heartbroken if I forgot those!
 
Great autograph book and yes, Jayden MUST get Jack Sparrow's autograph :thumbsup2

I know how hard it is to keep all this a surprise, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you that it all goes as plans!
 
Wow......I love your attention to detail. We are sailing on the Fantasy in April and it will be our first experience in concierge :-) I too managed to get us a cabana but being in the UK had to get up just before 5.00 am UK time. The baskets sound lovely, just a shame you can't order on-line. Can't wait to see how your trip goes x
 
Wow Cassie - that's a lot of work!

On our end:

  • Stuff is being put into empty laundry baskets for packing, and I'm making The List(s)
  • We ordered our basket today. No special requests for us except to err on the side of healthy(ish) snacks... it's worth a shot, right? :rotfl: We started by thinking we'd just get the small sand toys thing, but... no, not possible. We are getting a tote, with sand toys, a note from Jake (of the Neverland Pirates - DS4's all-time favourite), and the healthy-ish snacks. At least, that's what I've been told ... I delegated to my husband, so he might have snuck a few other things in there that I don't know about.
  • I decided to book the airport hotel on our end for the night before our flight just in case we need to leave the day before. I'm hoping that will mean we won't need it... but we seem to be having a real winter up here in Ontario this year (last year we got a very wimpy winter), so better safe than sorry when it comes to driving 3 hours to the airport.
  • I'm mostly done with FE stuff (yippee for on-line shopping)- just need to sort it this weekend to make sure I don't need to pick up anything.
  • DS4 has deigned to try on most of his summer stuff so that I know it all fits, barely in many cases, but it will do for a week.
  • We sorted out pet-sitting, driveway plowing, and the car is going in for a tune-up tomorrow.
  • I talked to DS4's teacher about the week he's missing, and all he needs to do is a presentation for his class when he goes back (he's in French school, so some practicing with me will be needed!) He says he'll take lots of photos.
  • We have tracked down pirate costumes for us... this will be a huge night for our little pirate, so we're going WAY outside our comfort zone and dressing up for him. Watch out!

Sorry that you'll miss your parents in San Juan, but I think that might mean we're on the same excursion, if you didn't change your mind.

DS4 and I made a not-very-artistic countdown calendar, but he's happy with it. It's just Bristol board and markers, but he checks of each day with great enthusiasm. He decorated the back of the thing with a rather elaborate airplane drawing (which complements my very basic Mouse-boat drawing on the front).

I wasn't going to get an autograph book, since DS4 is virtually allergic to characters in general and princesses in particular, but I've been told about some inexpensive ones that he might like, so I'll hunt one down just in case.

OK - back to clearing up the Christmas stuff... which, sadly, must take precedence over Cruise planning.

Thx for the update!
 


perdidobay said:
I know how hard it is to keep all this a surprise, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you that it all goes as plans!

Thank you and thanks for reading along!
 
mummy lee said:
Wow......I love your attention to detail. We are sailing on the Fantasy in April and it will be our first experience in concierge :-) I too managed to get us a cabana but being in the UK had to get up just before 5.00 am UK time. The baskets sound lovely, just a shame you can't order on-line. Can't wait to see how your trip goes x

Thank you, too and thanks for reading along! Hopefully, I can get a trip report started soon after I get back in case you have any questions. I have really enjoyed reading trip reports as I count down.
 
Conorama said:
Wow Cassie - that's a lot of work!

On our end:


[*]Stuff is being put into empty laundry baskets for packing, and I'm making The List(s)
[*]We ordered our basket today. No special requests for us except to err on the side of healthy(ish) snacks... it's worth a shot, right? :rotfl: We started by thinking we'd just get the small sand toys thing, but... no, not possible. We are getting a tote, with sand toys, a note from Jake (of the Neverland Pirates - DS4's all-time favourite), and the healthy-ish snacks. At least, that's what I've been told ... I delegated to my husband, so he might have snuck a few other things in there that I don't know about.
[*]I decided to book the airport hotel on our end for the night before our flight just in case we need to leave the day before. I'm hoping that will mean we won't need it... but we seem to be having a real winter up here in Ontario this year (last year we got a very wimpy winter), so better safe than sorry when it comes to driving 3 hours to the airport.
[*]I'm mostly done with FE stuff (yippee for on-line shopping)- just need to sort it this weekend to make sure I don't need to pick up anything.
[*]DS4 has deigned to try on most of his summer stuff so that I know it all fits, barely in many cases, but it will do for a week.
[*]We sorted out pet-sitting, driveway plowing, and the car is going in for a tune-up tomorrow.
[*]I talked to DS4's teacher about the week he's missing, and all he needs to do is a presentation for his class when he goes back (he's in French school, so some practicing with me will be needed!) He says he'll take lots of photos.
[*]We have tracked down pirate costumes for us... this will be a huge night for our little pirate, so we're going WAY outside our comfort zone and dressing up for him. Watch out!


Sorry that you'll miss your parents in San Juan, but I think that might mean we're on the same excursion, if you didn't change your mind.

DS4 and I made a not-very-artistic countdown calendar, but he's happy with it. It's just Bristol board and markers, but he checks of each day with great enthusiasm. He decorated the back of the thing with a rather elaborate airplane drawing (which complements my very basic Mouse-boat drawing on the front).

I wasn't going to get an autograph book, since DS4 is virtually allergic to characters in general and princesses in particular, but I've been told about some inexpensive ones that he might like, so I'll hunt one down just in case.!

Yes, packing is definitely in progress and the basket is full now. We did not go with anything healthy...go mom! LOL...I'm sure we will have the, "no, you cannot eat that for breakfast since we are no longer on vacation" talk. I don't blame you on the hotel. 3 hours is a long drive-don't forget any bags ;)

I'm glad you mentioned talking to the teacher. I still need to do this.

Awesome that you guys are dressing up for pirate night. You will get extra, bonus, super mom points for sure!

We will be on the same excursion. I am so glad that our kiddos will get to hang out! 17 more sleeps before we leave!
 


cblack said:
Yes, packing is definitely in progress and the basket is full now. We did not go with anything healthy...go mom! LOL...I'm sure we will have the, "no, you cannot eat that for breakfast since we are no longer on vacation" talk. I don't blame you on the hotel. 3 hours is a long drive-don't forget any bags ;)

I'm glad you mentioned talking to the teacher. I still need to do this.

Awesome that you guys are dressing up for pirate night. You will get extra, bonus, super mom points for sure!

We will be on the same excursion. I am so glad that our kiddos will get to hang out! 17 more sleeps before we leave!

I misspoke - we only have 16 sleeps before we leave!!! What a nice surprise!
 
Yes, packing is definitely in progress and the basket is full now. We did not go with anything healthy...go mom! LOL...I'm sure we will have the, "no, you cannot eat that for breakfast since we are no longer on vacation" talk. I don't blame you on the hotel. 3 hours is a long drive-don't forget any bags ;)

I'm glad you mentioned talking to the teacher. I still need to do this.

Awesome that you guys are dressing up for pirate night. You will get extra, bonus, super mom points for sure!

We will be on the same excursion. I am so glad that our kiddos will get to hang out! 17 more sleeps before we leave!

The pirate costumes came today. OH MY. The things I do to make my kid happy!

Good luck with the teacher - I hope your state isn't as strict as some I've been reading about (or maybe Pre-K isn't too bad)? JK is optional in Ontario, so I knew we'd be fine. We luck out in that our travel day is one of the regularly scheduled PA days, so he's really only missing 5 days of school, with (so far) perfect attendance.

Looking forward to the excursion.. heck, maybe you WILL get to read something on the beach if they play together! :)

And, yes, 16 sleeps, with 13 days of work for me. I'll be good and ready for vacation, for sure.
 
Conorama said:
The pirate costumes came today. OH MY. The things I do to make my kid happy!

Good luck with the teacher - I hope your state isn't as strict as some I've been reading about (or maybe Pre-K isn't too bad)? JK is optional in Ontario, so I knew we'd be fine. We luck out in that our travel day is one of the regularly scheduled PA days, so he's really only missing 5 days of school, with (so far) perfect attendance.

Looking forward to the excursion.. heck, maybe you WILL get to read something on the beach if they play together! :)

And, yes, 16 sleeps, with 13 days of work for me. I'll be good and ready for vacation, for sure.

I can't wait to see the pirate costumes!!! School was no problem at all. When we signed her up, we asked about vacations and they said it would be no problem. I emailed her teacher last night and she said to have fun and not to worry about them. Unless, of course, we wanted her to go with us.

If the kiddos entertain each other really well, I might get to read. I better bring my kindle just in case!

I am down to 6 days in the office, 2 days working from home, and 2 travel days. I went through the packing list tonight and only have a few things that I need to pick up at the store. I will do that this weekend and then start getting everything in the basket in the suitcases. Since I will be traveling for work right before our trip, I won't be able to pack our larger carry on. I plan on that suitcase holding all of the things that we can't pack until last minute.

I can't believe it is getting so close...now we just need to keep everyone healthy!
 
Well your trip couldn't be timed better it would seem with the Januaray thaw so soon here. I would love to be going away in the middle of the colder weather portion. So what are the grand plans for San Jaun? My wife and I are moving are cruise to Nov of '14. There is always the chance of going there that late in the season. So I will live vicariously through you and your family!! :) Have fun!:thumbsup2
 
Hi! Sucked in to your trippie since we were just able to snag "your cabin" :goodvibes in October. Can you tell me how you came to book that cabin? It seemed rather elusive for us! We booked our cruise late, and the only concierge room left was 11002. We grabbed that since it was the last one. However, we'd been in that room before and were not happy with it. We didn't like Deck 11, & we hated the enclosed balconies. We had been checking every single day for a room on Deck 12 to open up, and sure enough the elusive 12000 became available yesterday. I immediately called our TA, and she grabbed it so we could switch. I'm wondering if that is a room they hold back from initially releasing into inventory, until they are sure the Royal Suites dont want it as a connecting room. What do you think?

Regardless, I'm very much looking forward to your pics of the room (if you post them). I know this suite's layout is a bit different, but there are not many pictures posted. Very excited for your cruise! Thanks for sharing your trip with us!
 
Fastpaks said:
Well your trip couldn't be timed better it would seem with the Januaray thaw so soon here. I would love to be going away in the middle of the colder weather portion. So what are the grand plans for San Jaun? My wife and I are moving are cruise to Nov of '14. There is always the chance of going there that late in the season. So I will live vicariously through you and your family!! :) Have fun!:thumbsup2

This warmer weather is a bit odd! I hope it cools off a little bit so I don't take the warm weather for granted. We plan to do the beach excursion offered through Disney at San Juan. I think it is called Isla Verde (but don't quote me). I am so ready to go because work is crazy, but I know I will have more fun if I can manage to get work caught up before we leave. Here's to hoping for that!

AlexandNessa said:
Hi! Sucked in to your trippie since we were just able to snag "your cabin" :goodvibes in October. Can you tell me how you came to book that cabin? It seemed rather elusive for us! We booked our cruise late, and the only concierge room left was 11002. We grabbed that since it was the last one. However, we'd been in that room before and were not happy with it. We didn't like Deck 11, & we hated the enclosed balconies. We had been checking every single day for a room on Deck 12 to open up, and sure enough the elusive 12000 became available yesterday. I immediately called our TA, and she grabbed it so we could switch. I'm wondering if that is a room they hold back from initially releasing into inventory, until they are sure the Royal Suites dont want it as a connecting room. What do you think?

Regardless, I'm very much looking forward to your pics of the room (if you post them). I know this suite's layout is a bit different, but there are not many pictures posted. Very excited for your cruise! Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

That is awesome that you will be in 12000...lets call it "our cabin." I can share...obviously not on the same cruise, but you get what I mean, right? I booked it on opening day in October 2011 about 15 minutes after booking opened. I don't think they hold it back, I think it just gets booked that quickly. I am more surprised that it was booked and then opened up on your cruise...what a find! I will definitely post pictures, but be sure to read the disclaimer in post #1 ;)
 
Jeremy realized this week that he didn't have many shorts and t-shirts that he wanted to wear on the cruise, so I ordered a few items on Tuesday night. We got them today...how awesome is that? The autograph book should arrive tomorrow, the pirate shirts should have shipped today...although, I'm a little nervous about those. The communications have not been stellar from the seller, so I hope I didn't just hand someone my money and create a headache for later :/

Only 5 more days in the office...woohoo! And the countdown until we fly down.....15 sleeps!
 
It appears that I am moving into final preparation mode:
  • Dog sitter/house sitter booked and confirmed:thumbsup2
  • Awaiting four shipments for the trip (pirate night shirts, DCL Mickey plush, autograph book, and invitations) with all expected to arrive this week:goodvibes
  • Work to-do list updated with everything that must be done before leaving marked::yes::
  • All items that needed to be purchased are bought and sitting in the packing basket:woohoo:
  • Teachers notified and also notified that this trip is a surprise so as to not blow it for us :lmao:
  • Time blocked over the next several days to pack :banana:


Early next week, I will call the hotel and car service to confirm our reservations. I travel a lot for work and never do this for work, but when traveling personally, I ALWAYS confirm. If confronted with a snafu when traveling alone, I can cope...trying to convince my anxious DH and DD that it is OK is another story :love:.

Have I mentioned that we are down to 12 sleeps until we leave????? :banana::cool1::thumbsup2:woohoo::hyper: Oh...by the way, in 2 weeks, I will be getting DD ready to go to BBB! She is napping now, but definitely wouldn't be if she knew that little piece of information. BWAHAHAHAHA!
 
Oh - I'm envious. I ended up going in to work for 3 hours today to try to get ahead. At least I'm not as far behind! I didn't get to that magical list (I make the same one), but I should now be able to tomorrow.

We too call and confirm all hotel things... so I've assigned that to my husband, since today was my last day off before we leave. Hmph. (And yes, I went into work.)

I have honestly no idea what we'll be doing in 2 weeks... (well, technically, I think we'll be eating or finishing up eating), but that, in itself, is awesome.
 
Let me set the stage...driving home and talking to DH. Me: Did we get anything in the mail (anxiously awaiting 4 packages, here)? DH: Yeah, you got something in a white bag. Me: OK....what is it? DH: I don't know.

We hang up. I don't know why I enjoy asking about the mail, but this here folks, is the excitement of our daily lives! Are you sure you want to keep reading? Think hard... :lmao: I get home and see the white bag, but immediately to the left of the white bag are two orange envelopes (Shutterfly's envelopes are orange, for those of you who haven't ordered from them). WOOHOO! :banana: 3 of 4 packages have arrived! Apparently, bright orange, oversized envelopes that are found in the mailbox do not register on DH's radar as mail...just white bags. :confused3:scratchin:laughing:

We received our matching shirts for pirate night. I normally don't like matching, but I didn't want to do the costume thing and was too lazy to try to think of color combinations:
IMG_4186.jpg


We received Jayden's autograph book:
IMG_4192.jpg

IMG_4194.jpg

IMG_4196.jpg


And, we received the invitations I...er...Mickey and Cinderella :thumbsup2 made for the cruise and dinner:
IMG_4187.jpg


Just one more package that must arrive in the next week and two days, and I have not received the notice that it shipped. I am confident it will arrive, and if it doesn't, we will improvise. ::yes::

11 more sleeps until we leave! I was reminded by one of my cruisemates that we leave NEXT WEEK! How awesome is that! :cool1::banana::woohoo:
 

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