If not by land… then by sea… and maybe land!

[PrncessA]

When life gets tough, the kids are arguing and Netflix randomly deletes your favorite series two episodes before you finished… what are you going to do? PLAN YOUR NEXT DISNEY TRIP!

Notice I said “Disney” trip and not Walt Disney World Trip, and that is a very important distinction, because we are not just going to WDW we are going to CRUISE. I am over the moon about this, not only does that mean we get to take a once in a lifetime Disney Cruise vacation, but I know nothing about Disney Cruise Line. Nada… squat… zilch. So I get to research!!! (You can’t see me but I am dancing with excitement over this!!!) I have never cruised and I have an intense fear of heights, and dang those ships are TALL, but I know that our family is going to LOVE DCL as much as we love WDW!!

Who are we? Well let me tell you if you don’t know….

This is our family!



Our normal faces I swear!

First there is me (Sara), Disneyaholic!



Let’s state the obvious…. I am a bit obsessed with Disney, anyone surprised? I work as a secretary to a church, so I have a lot of down time between answering the phone… I use it to plan Disney Trips (real and imagined). I am also in college studying meeting and event planning, I love details! I love cooking (not doing dishes), sewing, watching my kids play sports, and collecting Disney kitchen supplies! My first trip to Disney World in 2009 was a lifetime in the making, a dream that I had dreamt for 20+ years. Our next trip in 2014 was just a perfect! Now it is time to add to our Fantasy!


Next up is hubby, Erik. Or now referred to as Señior Disney World Snob!



He is a recent Disney convert, he fell in love with Disney World in 2009 and is now convinced that all other Disney parks and vacations are “A poor man’s Disney World”. This trip is going to change his mind! He works very hard and long hours as a production planner for a company that builds train engines. He loves movies, all movies, but for Disney he is a special fan of Nightmare Before Christmas, Pirates of the Caribbean, Monster’s Inc. and Toy Story. He took a lot of convincing to agree to sign on for this trip… when will he learn that I know best?


Then our kiddos!!





First up we have Ethan who will be 10 this month.



E LOVES Disney World, but isn’t a big movie fan at all. Unless it is watching endless hours of YouTube videos of Minecraft simulations. (Which I just do not get!) He is not excited to switch from a WDW vacation to a cruise. I think out of everyone, he will enjoy the cruise the most in the end. He is a bundle of energy and a HOOT. He drives us crazy with his non-stop talking and keeps us laughing with his straight faced one liners. Oh and if he isn’t playing Xbox, you can find him with either a basketball or a book in his hand. He has ADHD, doesn’t like situations he hasn’t experienced yet, but adapts quickly after he has a chance to acclimate himself. He is a huge fan of Disney’s #1 Duck!

Last, but not least in any way is Lorelai, who couldn’t be more girly and princess-like if she tried, she is 8 going on 18!



Lorelai, or Rory as she now is requesting to be called by her friends, is my Disney planning protégé. I didn’t have to say anything more than, I want to go on a Disney Cruise and she was on board and online watching the planning DVD! She is a princess through and through and is the most stubborn and strong willed child I have ever met! She is a movie lover (she will watch anything) like her dad and a Disney lover like me! She loves the Princesses but Ariel is her reigning favorite and that isn’t going to change anytime soon. She loves making people feel special and I am so proud of how she treats her friends.


So now the details… (New plans in RED BOLD)


So where are we going? On a 7 Night Disney Fantasy Western Caribbean Cruise with stops in Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Castaway Cay!!!10 Nights At WDW at Coronado Springs Resort


So when are we going? November 28th, 2015! November 17-27th

As a surprise to Erik, I am hoping to add a couple of days at WDW!!! Let’s see if I can figure that out! WE DID!!


Updates:

Planning 101 http://www.disboards.com/threads/if-not-by-land…-then-by-sea…-and-maybe-land.3388418/#post-53537112

Where to Stay http://www.disboards.com/threads/if-not-by-land…-then-by-sea…-and-maybe-land.3388418/#post-53562002

If There Wasn't a Big Change, It Wouldn't Be My Trip http://www.disboards.com/threads/if-not-by-land…-then-by-sea…-and-maybe-land.3388418/#post-53608426

Coronado Here We Come! http://www.disboards.com/threads/if-not-by-land…-then-by-sea…-and-maybe-land.3388418/#post-53646723

Dining Plans and Flight Decisions http://www.disboards.com/threads/if-not-by-land…-then-by-sea…-and-maybe-land.3388418/page-2#post-53742354

ADR Dramahttp://www.disboards.com/threads/if...…-and-maybe-land.3388418/page-2#post-53796429

 

[mickeystoontown]

Woo Hoo! Another trip to Disney with that cute little family of your's! Can't wait to hear all about the plans!

 

[KatMark]

I'm here...great intros. I can't wait to read all about it.

 

[PrncessA]

Woo Hoo! Another trip to Disney with that cute little family of your's! Can't wait to hear all about the plans!

I am so glad your here! I hate that we are missing you in WDW this year, but this is going to be an adventure!

I'm here...great intros. I can't wait to read all about it.

Hi Kathy!! I am so glad you are here!

 

[jchurch0409]

Joining in! I recently found your last TR and I am really enjoying reading it! I am excited to follow along with your PTR!

 

[PrncessA]

Sorry I haven't updated this for a while... in fact I almost considered abandoning it because I couldn't get into it... but I decided that with a trip so far away that I needed some Disney planning to hold on to!

We tend to book trips pretty close to travel time, or in the case of the last trip, we booked very far out and decided we couldn't wait and moved it closer. I am not going to lie, it has been very tempting to cancel the cruise and do a WDW trip now! November seems sooooo far away and Disney is always calling our name.... but alas the call of the sea has us ensnared. That isn't to say that I haven't ran the numbers over and over for another trip....

Since our last and only trip update we have made a few decisions and a few are yet to be made...

We will be flying! That much we know for sure. We really thought hard about driving, saving money is important, but we were NOT feeling it. Then I got a great offer from American Airlines in the mail with enough bonus miles to fly all 4 of us one way. I crunched the #'s and if we moved all of our automatic payments to the card and did our monthly spending on the card then we would make the minimum spending to get the bonus. Plus our household budget wouldn't be affected. Now we will just need to buy one way tickets, there or back depending on which was is cheaper. We are waiting for Southwest's prices to come out since they will most likely be cheaper. So we will be flying but the exact times and airline configuration is up in the air.

So far we have made a little progress on our agenda...


Day One, Thanksgiving
We (namely I) considered flying down the day before so we can wake up at Disney on Thanksgiving... Erik shot that down. He does not want to fight the crowds that will inevitably be at the airport that day. So we will be flying down on Thanksgiving, as early as possible to appease me.

One change from our normal routine is that we will be renting a car instead of taking ME, so that we can drive to Port Canaveral.

I haven't decided where we are staying yet, but I really hope to stay at POR to start our vacation in the Disney "bubble". I know it is VERY unlikely that any discounts cover Thanksgiving, but a girl can hope. Considering the cost and that it is only one night, we will probably *gasp* stay off site.

Depending on when we get in we might do Downtown Disney and the kids would love to eat at TRex or I thought it would be fun to do HDDR. Erik on the other hand is heartbroken that he doesn't get turkey on Thanksgiving... so that being said, we are thinking of heading over to Trail's End for their Thanksgiving meal. Me? I could take turkey or leave it, I'm at Disney, I could eat PB&J for Thanksgiving dinner and be happy!

Day Two, Friday

Bye bye Disney World... hello Port Canaveral. We discussed staying at WDW for the morning and doing DTD, but both Erik and Ethan would really enjoy Kennedy Space Center, so that is where we are heading. It is so expensive though. I would prefer to explore Cocoa Beach with Lorelai and let the boys go themselves, but Erik wants us all to go.

We have a meet up planned with other cruisers at Fishlips that evening. The Disney Dream sails out during dinner, so that will be exciting!

We are staying at the Country Inn & Suites that night, so no surprises there. A hop skip and jump away from the port the next morning!


Coming up: Port adventures!

 

[KatMark]

I'm with your hubby on this one...I wouldn't want to be anywhere near an airport the day before Thanksgiving!

Plans are coming along nicely.

 

[MissMaryQC]

How did I not see this before?!

Plans look good; I'd love to do a cruise, convincing my SO will not be easy.

I do agree with DH traveling the day before Thanksgiving will be awful, I know from experience.

I'm surprise HDDR doesn't have a thanksgivingy menu...

The Space Center will be fun, it's not disney but it's cool.

Can't wait yo see the rest of your plans!!

 

[HSMndLKfan92]

Joining in on the fun!

 

[PrncessA]

I'm with your hubby on this one...I wouldn't want to be anywhere near an airport the day before Thanksgiving!

Plans are coming along nicely.

I guess he has won that one! I guess don't really want to fight stressed out holiday travelers either, but spending an extra night in Disney is just so tempting.

How did I not see this before?!

Plans look good; I'd love to do a cruise, convincing my SO will not be easy.

I do agree with DH traveling the day before Thanksgiving will be awful, I know from experience.

I'm surprise HDDR doesn't have a thanksgivingy menu...

The Space Center will be fun, it's not disney but it's cool.

Can't wait yo see the rest of your plans!!

Glad you followed over from my TR!!!

I still don't think that DH is completely convinced about taking a cruise, but I know it will be a hit. I considered changing our plans and doing a few days at WDW and short 3-4 day cruise, but I think doing a 7 day cruise the first time is better since you can really be immersed in the cruise vibe.

I was surprised that HDDR didn't have a Thanksgiving meal as well. I tried to reason with DH and that he could pretend that fried chicken is turkey... it didn't work. Right now Ethan is obsessed with fried chicken, he could probably eat he entire bucket by himself, which is a change from last time.

I am hoping that adding a bit of "education" into the trip at Kennedy Space Center will smooth a little bit over with their teachers.

Joining in on the fun!

 

[PrncessA]

Guess who woke up to an email from Disney Destinations this morning?

This Girl!!!

It offered up to 30% room rates into December! I received it twice, once on an email that I didn't even know I had connected to Disney, interestingly enough, so it must have been sent out to many people. It of course isn't good for Thanksgiving, but it is good for our post-cruise night, so I booked POR before all the promotional rooms were booked.

So now I am trying to figure out where to stay for our one pre-cruise night in Orlando. I would like to be in the Disney "bubble" but it is so much cheaper off site. We are not going to be at the hotel much that day, just to sleep in really then we are off very early the next morning.

So I need some help and opinions....

Here are my four options:

1. Stay off-site at a "motel" close to WDW with free breakfast the next morning. Cheap.. really cheap... $50+tax cheap.

2. Stay off-site at a nicer hotel on Disney property, no free breakfast... not as cheap looking at $150.

3. Stay onsite at POP, obviously no free breakfast... $165

4. Stay onsite at POFQ, again no breakfast... $254

We want to go see Yee Ha Bob, if he is playing that night, so being able to take onsite transportation sounds nice.

Opinions???? Please!!!

 

[KatMark]

What about one of the DTD hotels?

 

[PrncessA]

What about one of the DTD hotels?

Option 2 is for the Wyndham in DTD, the cheapest of those options.

 

[KatMark]

Really? Wow...they've gone up in price at those resorts.

 

[MissMaryQC]

So, blasfamous as this may sound I say go off site. Last May we found ourselves in Orlando for non-Disney reasons and between my ebates, a coupon I found online and watching the travel sites we got a very nice hotel, free breakfast and there was transport onto Disney property (we didn't use it but it was there) for like $35 a night. The savings from that one night could be out towards your stay when you guys get back from the cruise!

 

[PrncessA]

So I hope by now, anyone who read our last PTR and/or TR knows that we are not safe on plans until the day we leave for our vacation. To be honest I even am a little shocked about the turn of events yesterday. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

At the beginning of this week I decided to look into a special "magical" vacation company that I keep hearing everyone talk about. Through them we were able to book both our pre-cruise and post-cruise nights at WDW at a huge discount, much larger than the PIN code that I received.

Our plan was:

Thanksgiving: Fly to WDW, Stay at Coronado Springs, Downtown Disney/Trails End Dinner
Friday: Enjoy pool at CS, drive to Port Canaveral, Fishlips
Saturday-Saturday: Cruise on the Fantasy
Saturday: Spend the day at Magic Kingdom, Stay at POR
Sunday: Drive to Tampa to fly home (because of use of airline miles, Tampa was a better option)

We were all set. I was just waiting on Southwest to release their fares for November to compare them to American for our flight down...


But it was really nagging at me that Erik and Ethan REALLY want to spend more time at Disney World. They are really upset about only having one day there. So I came up with another option, same time frame, but instead of a 7 night cruise, we do a 4 night on the Dream and we spend a few days at WDW. It was tempting... especially to me since it is the best of both worlds. But then somehow while Erik and I were discussing option two, a third option appeared.

Right now the kids are going to be missing two full weeks of school, one week of school break and one week after. This is not ideal since Ethan will be in 5th grade, and is in an advanced math program. The math homework alone scares me!

We really would prefer to use Thanksgiving Week as our main vacation week, since I already have three days off and Erik has two, and the kid's are out of school. BUT... cruising that week is just way too expensive. So we thought... what if we put off cruising and did a trip to WDW... we ran it by the kids and ask their opinion.

Ethan: Does not want to miss a week of school, hates homework, LOVES WDW. We ask his reason why he wants to go to WDW instead of a cruise. His answer, "I want to play Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, ride all the rides and have fun. There is always something new to do and go on all the rides again and again. It's like Six Flags but more awesome." We will ignore the Six Flag reference.

Lorelai: Wants to cruise! Her answer as to why, "We've already been to Disney last year. I want to go somewhere new. We get to go to new places we have never been before!"

Both gave great answers, both had great reasons for each option. It came down to Erik and I. Erik was all for WDW, I on the other hand want both. My first love is WDW, but I really want to cruise. I KNOW we will love it as well. What finally pushed me over the edge toward one is missing the week of school. It just isn't a smart decision.

To make it a little easier on me and Lorelai, Erik suggested that maybe instead of taking a trip to Disneyland like we had planned, that maybe we should look into taking a cruise instead. SOLD

So I guess I should change the title of this thread... although it still kind of fits.... we are going to Walt Disney World!

Right now we are still in the early stages of planning but this we do know:

1. We are going 11/18-11/28, flying down after school and work on 11/18. The kids will miss two days of school, but it is right before a break, they won't be missing much. We know it is CRAZY busy over Thanksgiving, but we will have almost a week of VERY low crowds before we have to worry about them. And we are okay with crowds.

2. We will be staying at either Coronado Springs or Port Orleans, or a combo of both . CSR is much much cheaper, but we love POR and really want to stay there. Thoughts? In the back of my head is also the thought of renting DVC points...

3. We will be going to MVCP!!

4. We will not be doing a dining plan. We could get the free dining plan, but the only option that fit our budget was a Pirate room as CBR. While we would love to stay at CBR, I have heard awful things about the Pirate Room beds.No thank you!

Plus the dining plan doesn't really made sense for us anymore with Ethan being an "adult" who still eats like a kid. We would like the freedom to order what we want, no expectations, no desserts, and a kids meal for Ethan when possible. Because of this we are limiting the number of buffet and set price meals, since that is a HUGE waste of money on Ethan.

We are however doing at least two buffets, maybe three: Tusker House breakfast/lunch, Crystal Palace (pre-opening breakfast), and possibly 1900 Park Fare dinner. We need a princess meal and none of us are interested in CRT or Akershus.


So that is how our sea vacation has now become a land vacation! Now I have cancel our cruise and make a decision about resorts...

I would really appreciate any thoughts about Coronado Springs, we don't know a lot about it!

 

[MissMaryQC]

Loving the new plan!!

10 blissful days in WDW and then a cruise on the horizon sometime soon, sounds good to me!

Can't wait to see how things develop!

 

[PrncessA]

Loving the new plan!!

10 blissful days in WDW and then a cruise on the horizon sometime soon, sounds good to me!

Can't wait to see how things develop!

I know, I am so excited to plan all of our ADR's and parks!

It looks like a cruise might be in our future... not sure how distant... my mom and sister are all for giving up a Disneyland trip for a girls only cruise, but they want to do in soon...

 

[PrncessA]

Before I get into my Disney Planning Zone, let me brag about Ethan. We received a note home yesterday telling us he is basically a math prodigy. My words, not theirs. He actually received the highest score any 4th grader has ever received at the school on their NWEA test...ever. I looked into his score a bit more online today and his RIT score is above the norm for an 11th grader in math!! He was so excited last night to tell me the news. He gets a lot of joy out of knowing more than me in math... Plus on a positive note I am officially finished with school until next fall, I finished all of my finals last night and now I am just waiting on my grades!



So it has been a few days... and the dust has settled on our changes. And we are now booked for 10 nights at Coronado Springs Resort, November 18-28.

I am excited about staying at CSR, but I am also constantly checking for upgrades... as much as I love trying new resorts, I would love to go back to the Yacht Club. This change is very unlikely though and just a dream!! Anyway if I didn't have a plan dream trips, my life would be so boring.

On to real life!! Southwest releases their flights tomorrow and I am on the edge of my seat waiting. In reality we would like to fly out of Ohare on American both ways since it is much closer, but if Southwest offers a great deal, we will sway that way. I do have to consider the extra $12 per person for early check in though, which will be essential since we are flying on one of the busiest travel days of the year. Plus since we have a AA credit card we can check bags free on American as well.

After booking flights tomorrow, our next task is booking our ADR's, and I am not sure yet where we are going to be on each day, so I need to get to work.

So far I know that we want to go to:

T-Rex Cafe
Kona Cafe Dinner
Tusker House Breakfast
Crystal Palace pre-openning breakfast
Be Our Guest Dinner (since we had lunch last time)
Sci-Fi Diner lunch or dinner
Hoop Dee Doo Revue
Rose and Crown

and possibly:
1900 Park Fare dinner

I also need to purchase our tickets for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party for November 19th. We are all very excited about this!!

Does anyone else start planning their days at Disney and just feel like it is never enough? We are adding a day on to this trip (from our last), and possibly one more if we decide to stay until Sunday, and at 10/11 nights I still wish we could stay longer.


To add to my Disney planning fever I was ask by my boss to help them plan their trip to Disney... for their family... all of their family... 22 people! They are going over July 4, they have no idea what they are in for.

 

[KatMark]

I can't believe all these changes since I've been gone.

Coronado...it has my heart and always will. Until we started renting points and getting spoiled by DVC Villas, Coronado was our home. We have stayed there ten times and would go in a heartbeat if we were not so spoiled. In those ten stays, we had one bad trip and that had nothing to do with the resort...but with the guests. It was during Pop Warner football/cheerleading and it was them that caused the problem. Feel free to message me any specific questions on CSR...I'll be happy to try to help.