Well first let me introduce my family...
Im Mindy(28), my DH Brandon(32) and my two children Cecily(6) and Kaden (3). We are from Arizona where the weather is hot but a dry heat! We are all Disney lovers. I had gone many times to Disneyland as a kid but never to Florida's Disney. It was always a wish. DH not so much a Disney fan till he met me. Now I will look over at him and catch teary eyes when it comes to catching the Disney magic. My daughter could already pass as a Disneyland tour guide. She knows where a lot of hidden mickeys are and that is one of her favorite things to do, is find them. Kaden, well he cant stay focused! His little thoughts are on overload when it comes to Disneyland. Especially WDW & DCL. He had a blast. We travel to Disneyland a lot and after the DCL came out we were bound to go. It was a dream vacation to us, but DH at 25yrs old got very sick. Dr. said he would need to have a major surgery (remove entire colon) or he may not survive. Between all of that and the unkown, we booked our first cruise in 2003. DH and I just went, but after that I bacame a DCL addict. To the extremes of getting the logo right on my ankle. Sentimental value to add. He survived his surgery and hey its cool! (pics to follow)
After that we knew we would go and make it a way of life for us. Well 5 years later, (we wanted to wait for Kaden to be 3 so he could go to the clubs) the anticipation and loooong waiting arrived. We had even talked my family in joining us on this trip. My Mom and Dad, Sister and her husband and Maddie their little girl. As well as my other sister and her boyfriend and Aunt and uncles family. For a total of 15 of us!
We booked the package together being Disney has it extreme superior customer service and the simplicity of booking the package was and could not be passed up. We did however add an additional day onto our package to give us more time in the parks. We decided to again stay at POR and that was not a bad choice. Infact we love that resort. The meandering walkways and the landscaping is enough to take your breath away. The majestic manors and bayou themed resort is what I picture to be wonderful.
Anyhooo,
on with the vacation.... OUR 4 DAY LAND AND 4 DAY SEA TRIP BEGINS
We had a scheduled flight on Continental at 5 am from Phoenix so we woke up at 3 and got the kids up and ready. I could not sleep. The excitment was enough to keep anyone awake all night. I couldnt help but say "We're finally going on our disney cruise!" Cecily doesnt do so well in the mornings. She is the night owl So waking her up was tough but the rest of us were up in a matter of seconds. Loaded up our bags and we were out the door we went at 3:30am. We got checked in at the airport when Cecily began to say her tummy hurt. (early morning bug I guess. Remember, she is our night owl) Stopping for drinks, Kaden and I were full of energy despite it being before sunrise. He knew he was going on an airplane ride (or as he called it BIG JET) Just as we sat down at the terminal to wait with our drinks & banana in hand,
Cecily threw up all over the place. And it began. The thoughts of oh no were going to be quarintined quickly entered into my thoughts. But we did have 4 days to get better. No fever, no signs of sickness, just the flutter bug I guess. She got sick again on the plane and during our layover but after leaving Houston she was fine! She had gotten a little motion sick.
Well 2pm and we made it. We headed down to the transportation floor at MCO and the simplicity of the transfers were flawless. We were down there and in a matter of minutes directed to our line to load the bus to POR. We went out side were our transportation met us. "This is it", I thought, as the cute DCL bus (you know the one, with the round port holes for windows) rolled up my eyes started to get teary eyed while trying very hard to swallow the lump in my very excited throat. We had made it to Florida! And no sickies. Cec was better by then, and excited as ever. As we stood in line she was the highlight of attention as we harrassed her about her "SNAGGLE" tooth in the front that was sooo loose. ( It was so loose, it had started to go sideways) "com'on cec, lets get it out! But no one could touch it. She was waiting for the Blue Fairy on the cruise to come if it fell out on the ship. The tooth fairy was on vacation I guess.
Our bags were going to meet us in the room so all we had with us was a stroller and two carryons full of entertainment for the kids. I had even packed a small travel sized pillow, which came in handy many many times during this trip. If you have small kids, I highly recomend one! And we began to walk up the steps of the red portside painted bus that would take us there. We settled into our seats an waited as our journey awaits....
more to follow........
Im Mindy(28), my DH Brandon(32) and my two children Cecily(6) and Kaden (3). We are from Arizona where the weather is hot but a dry heat! We are all Disney lovers. I had gone many times to Disneyland as a kid but never to Florida's Disney. It was always a wish. DH not so much a Disney fan till he met me. Now I will look over at him and catch teary eyes when it comes to catching the Disney magic. My daughter could already pass as a Disneyland tour guide. She knows where a lot of hidden mickeys are and that is one of her favorite things to do, is find them. Kaden, well he cant stay focused! His little thoughts are on overload when it comes to Disneyland. Especially WDW & DCL. He had a blast. We travel to Disneyland a lot and after the DCL came out we were bound to go. It was a dream vacation to us, but DH at 25yrs old got very sick. Dr. said he would need to have a major surgery (remove entire colon) or he may not survive. Between all of that and the unkown, we booked our first cruise in 2003. DH and I just went, but after that I bacame a DCL addict. To the extremes of getting the logo right on my ankle. Sentimental value to add. He survived his surgery and hey its cool! (pics to follow)
After that we knew we would go and make it a way of life for us. Well 5 years later, (we wanted to wait for Kaden to be 3 so he could go to the clubs) the anticipation and loooong waiting arrived. We had even talked my family in joining us on this trip. My Mom and Dad, Sister and her husband and Maddie their little girl. As well as my other sister and her boyfriend and Aunt and uncles family. For a total of 15 of us!
We booked the package together being Disney has it extreme superior customer service and the simplicity of booking the package was and could not be passed up. We did however add an additional day onto our package to give us more time in the parks. We decided to again stay at POR and that was not a bad choice. Infact we love that resort. The meandering walkways and the landscaping is enough to take your breath away. The majestic manors and bayou themed resort is what I picture to be wonderful.
Anyhooo,
on with the vacation.... OUR 4 DAY LAND AND 4 DAY SEA TRIP BEGINS
We had a scheduled flight on Continental at 5 am from Phoenix so we woke up at 3 and got the kids up and ready. I could not sleep. The excitment was enough to keep anyone awake all night. I couldnt help but say "We're finally going on our disney cruise!" Cecily doesnt do so well in the mornings. She is the night owl So waking her up was tough but the rest of us were up in a matter of seconds. Loaded up our bags and we were out the door we went at 3:30am. We got checked in at the airport when Cecily began to say her tummy hurt. (early morning bug I guess. Remember, she is our night owl) Stopping for drinks, Kaden and I were full of energy despite it being before sunrise. He knew he was going on an airplane ride (or as he called it BIG JET) Just as we sat down at the terminal to wait with our drinks & banana in hand,
Cecily threw up all over the place. And it began. The thoughts of oh no were going to be quarintined quickly entered into my thoughts. But we did have 4 days to get better. No fever, no signs of sickness, just the flutter bug I guess. She got sick again on the plane and during our layover but after leaving Houston she was fine! She had gotten a little motion sick.
Well 2pm and we made it. We headed down to the transportation floor at MCO and the simplicity of the transfers were flawless. We were down there and in a matter of minutes directed to our line to load the bus to POR. We went out side were our transportation met us. "This is it", I thought, as the cute DCL bus (you know the one, with the round port holes for windows) rolled up my eyes started to get teary eyed while trying very hard to swallow the lump in my very excited throat. We had made it to Florida! And no sickies. Cec was better by then, and excited as ever. As we stood in line she was the highlight of attention as we harrassed her about her "SNAGGLE" tooth in the front that was sooo loose. ( It was so loose, it had started to go sideways) "com'on cec, lets get it out! But no one could touch it. She was waiting for the Blue Fairy on the cruise to come if it fell out on the ship. The tooth fairy was on vacation I guess.
Our bags were going to meet us in the room so all we had with us was a stroller and two carryons full of entertainment for the kids. I had even packed a small travel sized pillow, which came in handy many many times during this trip. If you have small kids, I highly recomend one! And we began to walk up the steps of the red portside painted bus that would take us there. We settled into our seats an waited as our journey awaits....
more to follow........