I read many trip reports before our cruise, so I thought I'd try to relive the vacation a little bit by trying to write one of my own. I hope this is the right place for a combined WDW and Disney cruise vacation trip report!
TRIP BACKGROUND:
This was kind of a last minute trip - we booked it in November 2008 when we were able to get a special rate for this sailing. I knew I wanted to do a few nights at WDW before and/or after the cruise (how could we go to FL and not go to WDW?!), so I had to make those plans quickly too.
Ideally, I wanted to spend 3 nights at WDW after the cruise. But DH was going to be on a business trip until 1/2, so instead of having him fly home then jump back on a plane the next day, I decided that he would meet us at WDW on 1/2. And I decided that since we were already spending 2 nights at WDW before the cruise, that 2 nights after would be enough, especially since I had to make non-DVC reservations due to lack of availability using points.
I made a Beach Club Standard Room Club Level reservation for 1/8 to 1/10, we'd never stayed there before and I wanted to be close to Epcot. I then made an Animal Kingdom Lodge reservation from 1/2 to 1/4. DS #2 is really into animals and we've never stayed at AKL. But when I started to look at Southwest flights from Denver to Orlando on 1/2, it was about $50 cheaper per person to fly out on 1/1 instead. But AKL wasn't available on 1/1, so I switched us to the Contemporary for 1/1 to 1/4.
I started looking into transportation to and from the port, and ultimately decided that I wanted to use DCL transfers. I didn't want to do one way rentals because I wanted to avoid car seats and having to drop off the car at Port Canaveral. We briefly considered a town car but it was going to cost more than DCL transfers. Next time we go, DS #2 will be older so a town car will end up being cheaper for us. And the appeal of the luggage transfer from the WDW resort to the stateroom was a big plus. But then I found out that DCL didn't pick up at the Contemporary! So I called again and found availability for a studio at AKV (non-DVC), switched to that. Then another week later, made our final change to the Wilderness Lodge Club Level, as I found a pretty good deal, spending about $35 more per night over the AKV studio. I had some people on the boards tell me that DCL did not pick up at WL, but DCL ensured me that they did (and they do!). Phew. Lots of changes, but that's half the fun, right?!
This was going to be a pretty brief trip to WDW, but that was okay with us since we have been on many (at least a dozen) WDW and DL vacations since 2003. There were 3 things that I wanted to do at WDW though: Make sure to do Splash on 1/3 (because it'd be closed after we got back from the cruise) and 1/2 was out as DH wouldn't be there yet to watch DS #2, watch Philharmagic, and ride Test Track. I all of those and always try to do them at least once per trip.
FINAL ITINERARY:
1/1 - Fly in from Denver to Orlando, check into the Wilderness Lodge
1/2 - DH flies in to Orlando
1/4 - DCL transfer to Port Canaveral
1/8 - DCL transfer to Beach Club
1/10 - Fly home
I guess this would be a good time to introduce the cast, DH, DS #1 and I have all been on 1 cruise before (Carnival - I know, I know but they were CHEAP!) when I was pregnant with DS #2 back in March 2006.
Me: 30-something Disney geek along with many other DIS-ers, need I say more?
DH: 30-something hubby of a Disney geek, basically enjoys Disney but would probably be thrilled with a non-Disney annual vacation. Sailor at heart.
DS #1: 6 yo, turned 7 in mid-January. Loves Disney but is getting to be a "big" kid and likes the more "mature kid" parts of Disney. Cruise/WDW is partially his Birthday gift
DS #2: 2.5 yo, loves Disney and doesn't remember his WDW trips (when he was 8 weeks, 8 months, and 1.5 yo) but loved Disneyland last October and November
Pre-trip:
We didn't tell the kids about the cruise/WDW until right before Christmas. It was supposed to be part of the Christmas surprise but DS #1 saw some cruise documentation out one day. I forgot he could read (well enough to figure out a cruise anyway)!!! So he asked me if the Christmas surprise was a cruise and I said oh darn it. So the cat was out of the bag about 5 days before Christmas, which actually made getting ready a wee bit easier.
Anyway, the holidays were SO hectic and packing did not happen as planned. I meant to take the Dec 25th through January 9th off from work, but ended up working from home a little bit between the 26th and 30th. Well, at least I rolled over about 1.5 extra days of vacation! I was able to get some door magnets printed up for the kids but I really procrastinated on getting everything else ready. I really just started packing the night of the 29th. We were supposed to drive up to Denver to a park and fly hotel on the 31st, and do a bit of shopping on the way, but I was still packing at 8 pm on the 31st, so I called them and asked if I could still park at their hotel and not actually stay there. I couldn't cancel since this was a pre-paid priceline reservation. They said yes so I decided we were just going to drive up at 445 am for an 820 am flight. Got the kids to bed, and got all our suitcases loaded up in the minivan by midnight. I was hoping to bring 2 or 3 suitcases max, but ended up with 4 plus DH was going to have 1 large suitcase from his business trip. Thank goodness for Magical Express!
DAY 1, PART 1: January 1st
It was surprisingly easy to get the kids ready at 430 am, we were in the van driving off by 455 am. We got to the Denver park and fly hotel ahead of schedule at 557 am. Shuttles departed on the hour and half hour, and the nice driver got us on the 6 am shuttle even though I had to stop by the front desk to get a parking permit. Did curbside check-in, and again the nice driver helped me get our bags to the curbside checkin. I had gotten A 16-18 boarding passes the morning before, so everything went smoothly. We were ready to go through security before 630, I don't think we've ever had that much time at the airport before a domestic flight before.
No lines at security, and it was really easy to go through security without a car seat! We picked up McDonald's and the kids ate at the little kids tables at the gate. Flight was uneventful, I brought DS #2's CARES restraint, and it worked SO much better than it did when we first tried it 14 months ago.
We got to Orlando EARLY! About 120 pm, just a little bit early - about 20 minutes. I love Southwest. MCO and check-in at the Magical Express counter was uneventful as well, I made sure to double check that they had DH arriving a day later, which they did. We waited for the bus for over 30 minutes though. Here's the kids waiting:
Here are the kids on the bus:
The bus dropped off at the Poly and GF first, so it was after 330 by the time we got to the WL. Here was our first mishap - I guess I was so excited to check-in that I forgot our sweatshirts on the bus. Reported it as soon as we got to the room, but nobody ever turned them in. I know, my fault for forgetting but I'm still disappointed nonetheless.
Advised bell services that we were checking in club level, and they directed us to the cartoons area. No lines at regular check-in at all but I suppose club level was busy as we waited about 15 minutes or so.
Our next mishap (and more costly one) was about to happen, but we didn't realize it happened until the next day. Here's a picture of the kiddos waiting, note the backpack, as this is the last time that we saw it.
Here's DS #1 putting the backpack down in front of the rocking chair:
The backpack (ready for this?) had DS #1's PSP, PSP games, digital camera (one of our old cameras but nice nonetheless), some toys (precious bakugans!) and stickers. We can't remember for sure if this is where we left it, as I think I vaguely remember hooking it on the stroller when the Club Level CM finally came to get us, but the backpack definitely never made it to our room. This is DS's and my fault together. He is primarily responsible for his stuff, but he's only 6 so I do take responsibility in monitoring him. I know we should've been more responsible but I am SO disappointed in whoever took it, especially as it was obviously a kids backpack (Star Wars with DS's name on it!).
I thought for sure it would turn up eventually, but no go. I checked with WL Lost and Found, Bell Services, Concierge, and I filled out their official yellow card, but no luck. I called Lost and Found again when we got home to make sure. Luckily DS's birthday was last week and he will be able to replace his PSP and a couple of games with his birthday money, especially since grandparents and aunts have sent extra $ to help his cause out. They just feel so bad for him because he really is such a sweet kid (and usually pretty responsible).
A little funny side-note story is that DH was sympathetic but was kind of upset with us for losing the sweatshirts and the backpack - well guess what? He lost his brand new hat from Epcot on the DCL bus on the way to the port, and he lost his glasses on the ship somewhere! So in terms of personal property, none of us really had a good trip.
But that's the last sob story of this trip report (well, unless you count all the times DS #2 kept tripping and falling
)!
Next: Day 1, Part 2, Wilderness Lodge and Magic Kingdom
TRIP BACKGROUND:
This was kind of a last minute trip - we booked it in November 2008 when we were able to get a special rate for this sailing. I knew I wanted to do a few nights at WDW before and/or after the cruise (how could we go to FL and not go to WDW?!), so I had to make those plans quickly too.
Ideally, I wanted to spend 3 nights at WDW after the cruise. But DH was going to be on a business trip until 1/2, so instead of having him fly home then jump back on a plane the next day, I decided that he would meet us at WDW on 1/2. And I decided that since we were already spending 2 nights at WDW before the cruise, that 2 nights after would be enough, especially since I had to make non-DVC reservations due to lack of availability using points.
I made a Beach Club Standard Room Club Level reservation for 1/8 to 1/10, we'd never stayed there before and I wanted to be close to Epcot. I then made an Animal Kingdom Lodge reservation from 1/2 to 1/4. DS #2 is really into animals and we've never stayed at AKL. But when I started to look at Southwest flights from Denver to Orlando on 1/2, it was about $50 cheaper per person to fly out on 1/1 instead. But AKL wasn't available on 1/1, so I switched us to the Contemporary for 1/1 to 1/4.
I started looking into transportation to and from the port, and ultimately decided that I wanted to use DCL transfers. I didn't want to do one way rentals because I wanted to avoid car seats and having to drop off the car at Port Canaveral. We briefly considered a town car but it was going to cost more than DCL transfers. Next time we go, DS #2 will be older so a town car will end up being cheaper for us. And the appeal of the luggage transfer from the WDW resort to the stateroom was a big plus. But then I found out that DCL didn't pick up at the Contemporary! So I called again and found availability for a studio at AKV (non-DVC), switched to that. Then another week later, made our final change to the Wilderness Lodge Club Level, as I found a pretty good deal, spending about $35 more per night over the AKV studio. I had some people on the boards tell me that DCL did not pick up at WL, but DCL ensured me that they did (and they do!). Phew. Lots of changes, but that's half the fun, right?!
This was going to be a pretty brief trip to WDW, but that was okay with us since we have been on many (at least a dozen) WDW and DL vacations since 2003. There were 3 things that I wanted to do at WDW though: Make sure to do Splash on 1/3 (because it'd be closed after we got back from the cruise) and 1/2 was out as DH wouldn't be there yet to watch DS #2, watch Philharmagic, and ride Test Track. I all of those and always try to do them at least once per trip.
FINAL ITINERARY:
1/1 - Fly in from Denver to Orlando, check into the Wilderness Lodge
1/2 - DH flies in to Orlando
1/4 - DCL transfer to Port Canaveral
1/8 - DCL transfer to Beach Club
1/10 - Fly home
I guess this would be a good time to introduce the cast, DH, DS #1 and I have all been on 1 cruise before (Carnival - I know, I know but they were CHEAP!) when I was pregnant with DS #2 back in March 2006.
Me: 30-something Disney geek along with many other DIS-ers, need I say more?
DH: 30-something hubby of a Disney geek, basically enjoys Disney but would probably be thrilled with a non-Disney annual vacation. Sailor at heart.
DS #1: 6 yo, turned 7 in mid-January. Loves Disney but is getting to be a "big" kid and likes the more "mature kid" parts of Disney. Cruise/WDW is partially his Birthday gift
DS #2: 2.5 yo, loves Disney and doesn't remember his WDW trips (when he was 8 weeks, 8 months, and 1.5 yo) but loved Disneyland last October and November
Pre-trip:
We didn't tell the kids about the cruise/WDW until right before Christmas. It was supposed to be part of the Christmas surprise but DS #1 saw some cruise documentation out one day. I forgot he could read (well enough to figure out a cruise anyway)!!! So he asked me if the Christmas surprise was a cruise and I said oh darn it. So the cat was out of the bag about 5 days before Christmas, which actually made getting ready a wee bit easier.
Anyway, the holidays were SO hectic and packing did not happen as planned. I meant to take the Dec 25th through January 9th off from work, but ended up working from home a little bit between the 26th and 30th. Well, at least I rolled over about 1.5 extra days of vacation! I was able to get some door magnets printed up for the kids but I really procrastinated on getting everything else ready. I really just started packing the night of the 29th. We were supposed to drive up to Denver to a park and fly hotel on the 31st, and do a bit of shopping on the way, but I was still packing at 8 pm on the 31st, so I called them and asked if I could still park at their hotel and not actually stay there. I couldn't cancel since this was a pre-paid priceline reservation. They said yes so I decided we were just going to drive up at 445 am for an 820 am flight. Got the kids to bed, and got all our suitcases loaded up in the minivan by midnight. I was hoping to bring 2 or 3 suitcases max, but ended up with 4 plus DH was going to have 1 large suitcase from his business trip. Thank goodness for Magical Express!
DAY 1, PART 1: January 1st
It was surprisingly easy to get the kids ready at 430 am, we were in the van driving off by 455 am. We got to the Denver park and fly hotel ahead of schedule at 557 am. Shuttles departed on the hour and half hour, and the nice driver got us on the 6 am shuttle even though I had to stop by the front desk to get a parking permit. Did curbside check-in, and again the nice driver helped me get our bags to the curbside checkin. I had gotten A 16-18 boarding passes the morning before, so everything went smoothly. We were ready to go through security before 630, I don't think we've ever had that much time at the airport before a domestic flight before.
No lines at security, and it was really easy to go through security without a car seat! We picked up McDonald's and the kids ate at the little kids tables at the gate. Flight was uneventful, I brought DS #2's CARES restraint, and it worked SO much better than it did when we first tried it 14 months ago.
We got to Orlando EARLY! About 120 pm, just a little bit early - about 20 minutes. I love Southwest. MCO and check-in at the Magical Express counter was uneventful as well, I made sure to double check that they had DH arriving a day later, which they did. We waited for the bus for over 30 minutes though. Here's the kids waiting:
Here are the kids on the bus:
The bus dropped off at the Poly and GF first, so it was after 330 by the time we got to the WL. Here was our first mishap - I guess I was so excited to check-in that I forgot our sweatshirts on the bus. Reported it as soon as we got to the room, but nobody ever turned them in. I know, my fault for forgetting but I'm still disappointed nonetheless.
Advised bell services that we were checking in club level, and they directed us to the cartoons area. No lines at regular check-in at all but I suppose club level was busy as we waited about 15 minutes or so.
Our next mishap (and more costly one) was about to happen, but we didn't realize it happened until the next day. Here's a picture of the kiddos waiting, note the backpack, as this is the last time that we saw it.
Here's DS #1 putting the backpack down in front of the rocking chair:
The backpack (ready for this?) had DS #1's PSP, PSP games, digital camera (one of our old cameras but nice nonetheless), some toys (precious bakugans!) and stickers. We can't remember for sure if this is where we left it, as I think I vaguely remember hooking it on the stroller when the Club Level CM finally came to get us, but the backpack definitely never made it to our room. This is DS's and my fault together. He is primarily responsible for his stuff, but he's only 6 so I do take responsibility in monitoring him. I know we should've been more responsible but I am SO disappointed in whoever took it, especially as it was obviously a kids backpack (Star Wars with DS's name on it!).
I thought for sure it would turn up eventually, but no go. I checked with WL Lost and Found, Bell Services, Concierge, and I filled out their official yellow card, but no luck. I called Lost and Found again when we got home to make sure. Luckily DS's birthday was last week and he will be able to replace his PSP and a couple of games with his birthday money, especially since grandparents and aunts have sent extra $ to help his cause out. They just feel so bad for him because he really is such a sweet kid (and usually pretty responsible).
A little funny side-note story is that DH was sympathetic but was kind of upset with us for losing the sweatshirts and the backpack - well guess what? He lost his brand new hat from Epcot on the DCL bus on the way to the port, and he lost his glasses on the ship somewhere! So in terms of personal property, none of us really had a good trip.
But that's the last sob story of this trip report (well, unless you count all the times DS #2 kept tripping and falling
)!Next: Day 1, Part 2, Wilderness Lodge and Magic Kingdom
Sorry to hear about the lost items. I can't believe someone didn't turn them in.
I was starting to wonder whether I should continue. I know, I'm still in disbelief over not getting DS's stuff back.
