3 Boys and 20 Hours in a Minivan,I Must Really Love this Place!*New4/22 TR LINK

[wdwgirl03]

That's awesome you'll get to go to the baseball game! Obviously I'm really excited about our trip to Disney World but a little part of me is bummed we'll have to miss Brewers opening day since their home opener is on the 1st (same day we leave!). Though Dad said he might get the in-flight Wi-Fi that Southwest offers on his iPad so we can watch it.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Love the countdown chain!

That's great that you'll be able to catch a baseball game on your trip too!

We are so excited to start taking links off of our chain...we start on Friday! And the baseball game is a nice surprise addition!

That's awesome you'll get to go to the baseball game! Obviously I'm really excited about our trip to Disney World but a little part of me is bummed we'll have to miss Brewers opening day since their home opener is on the 1st (same day we leave!). Though Dad said he might get the in-flight Wi-Fi that Southwest offers on his iPad so we can watch it.

We were hoping to catch the Orioles game on the radio...but this is even better! I hope you are able to catch the Brewers game. Opening Day is so exciting!

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Yup it definitely is exiting The Rogers Centre here in Toronto is sold out and the first series against the Red Sox is also close to selling out right now too. There's a lot of excitement about the Jays here and also people want to give John Ferall a nice warm Toronto welcome for leaving the Jays to go to his "dream" job in Boston.

 

[indimom]

For any of you who have followed any of my previous reports, you know that we are a baseball family. Two of my sons play, and the rest of us (barring Isaiah who doesn’t like most sports in general) love the game. Our summers are spent at the ball field and we go to as many minor league games as we can fit in our schedule. We have also been to a few major league parks… Toronto, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Needless to say, we are excited about the upcoming season. The beginning of Spring Training is almost a holiday around here!

That being said, we were discussing Opening Day and the fact that we would be home that day to watch the games. It is the day before we leave on vacation, April 1. The conversation turned to who was playing on Opening Day and whether or not our favorite teams had a game that day. So, Jeff went to look up the Orioles’ schedule. They certainly are playing that day, but not in Baltimore. They play the Tampa Bay Rays. And…because baseball is played in series of games, that means that the Orioles will be in Tampa when we are headed to Florida. Naturally that led to checking the time of games, how far Tropicana Field was out of our way, etc. I’m sure you all know where this is headed…..

We have officially changed our travel itinerary to include a trip to this place….

The game is at 7:10 which gives us plenty of time to leave our hotel in South Carolina and be in Tampa/St. Petersburg for the first pitch! We did look at the fact that this will now put us on a time schedule that was not in play before adding the game. We were planning to drive as far as we could the first day (shooting for Walterboro, SC) then travel to Cocoa Beach the next day and have a leisurely evening at the hotel. Now we really need to reach SC on Day 1 and we need to be in Tampa/St. Petersburg by 6:00. And we will have to drive the 2 ½ hours to Cocoa Beach after the game, so we won’t arrive at the hotel until midnight or so. It shouldn’t be an issue, but it does add a time factor that was not originally a concern. But, weighing all the factors, we decided that to be able to see a MLB game on opening weekend in Florida was worth it. Also, to save on our budget which was already in place, we purchased cheap seats. We may be up high, but we’ll be there!

PLAY BALL!!

Up next….more changes????

That's great that you will get to make a game!! What fun!!

 

[Angies1274]

All caught up again!!

It looks like you had a great birthday!! Your new Vera Bradley Hipster is very pretty! Ooohhh...I love monkey bread...so yummy!

What a cute countdown chain!! I think I remember seeing it on Pinterest. I'll have to check to see if I pinned it so I can make it when we get closer to our vacation.

Your to-do list is coming along nicely! Yay for being able to catch a baseball game while you are in Florida!!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Yup it definitely is exiting The Rogers Centre here in Toronto is sold out and the first series against the Red Sox is also close to selling out right now too. There's a lot of excitement about the Jays here and also people want to give John Ferall a nice warm Toronto welcome for leaving the Jays to go to his "dream" job in Boston.

Warm welcome...LOL!

That's great that you will get to make a game!! What fun!!

This little side trip is very exciting! What a happy coincidence that the details all worked out!

All caught up again!!

It looks like you had a great birthday!! Your new Vera Bradley Hipster is very pretty! Ooohhh...I love monkey bread...so yummy!

What a cute countdown chain!! I think I remember seeing it on Pinterest. I'll have to check to see if I pinned it so I can make it when we get closer to our vacation.

Your to-do list is coming along nicely! Yay for being able to catch a baseball game while you are in Florida!!

Thanks Angie! I have been steadily crossing things off the list for the past few days. The last 30 days before at trip are like torture! So close, yet so far away!

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Warm welcome...LOL!

Yup he got some interesting reactions when he was at a Jays Spring Training game against the Red Sox.

 

[lsenquiz]

What fun first day plans and a great motivator to power through the 20 hour drive

 

[mommytothreeboys]

What fun first day plans and a great motivator to power through the 20 hour drive

Thanks!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Before I get into the details of this post, let me give you a little back story. When Jeff and I went on our first cruise in 2010 we cruised with Royal Caribbean. It was a 4 night cruise with port stops in CoCo Cay (RC's private island) and Nassau, Bahamas. We had the BEST time and couldn't wait to go again and take the boys.

Fast forward to late 2012 when we are finally planning our next cruise. In 2010, Carnival and RC seemed to be very similarly priced. In 2012, that was not the case. RC cruises of the same length were considerably more than the Carnival price. So, we decided to book Carnival. The whole idea of taking the 4 night cruise over the 3 night was the stop at the island. We so enjoyed the relaxing day of snorkeling and soaking up the island sun. Sadly, Carnival's 4 night Bahamas itinerary did not make a private island stop, but instead docked in Freeport, Bahamas. Ok, well, not ideal, but we'll make the best of it. I did some research and booked us a snorkeling and beach day in Freeport.

Last week, I got a very ominous (at least to me) email from Carnival. The subject line simply said "ITINERARY CHANGE." Oh no. After the Triumph incident I was worried that they had either cancelled our cruise or made changes that would not fit with the rest of our vacation plans. I was afraid to open it! After a few minutes to calm myself down and take a deep breath or two, I opened the email.....

This is what it said....
"As an enhancement to your 4-Day Bahamas cruise, we will now visit Little Stirrup Cay in place of Freeport. Little Stirrup Cay is an eco-certified private destination surrounded by the gently, translucent waters of the Bahamas. The 140 acres of white-sand beaches and spectacular surroundings is known for its environmentally friendly activities and tours. The island is a wonderland of adventures where you can explore new aquatic facilities, nature trails, snorkeling, kayaking, or just sit back, relax and enjoy a tropical drink and our island-style seaside barbecue. Welcome to Paradise!"

A private island stop!! YAY!!! After some research, I found out that Little Stirrup Cay is also called CoCo Cay and is....get this....the island owned by Royal Caribbean! So, not only do we get our island, it is the SAME island! Oh my goodness!

Needless to say, I am very excited about this change. We will get to snorkel and enjoy the beautiful beach...and save a few bucks because the ship will provide the food. For us, this is a win-win!

In celebration, here are a few shots of the island that we will be enjoying!

Up Next.....Our One and Only ADR and a 30 Day Dance!

 

[lsenquiz]

So glad you are getting the private island stop. We went there during the RC cruise we went on and it was our favorite stop on the whole 7 day cruise.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

So glad you are getting the private island stop. We went there during the RC cruise we went on and it was our favorite stop on the whole 7 day cruise.

We felt the same way....it's a great beach and small enough that you can explore without fear of getting lost! The water is beautiful! So excited!

 

[danceintherain]

That's great!

 

[mickeystoontown]

What a great surprise! It'll be so neat to show the boys the island that you and Jeff visited before.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

That's great!

What a great surprise! It'll be so neat to show the boys the island that you and Jeff visited before.

Thanks Ladies! We are very excited!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

This is our first family trip to WDW that did not include the DDP. We plan to do breakfast in our condo, eat one CS meal at the parks each day, and the other meal either at the condo or a local restaurant outside the parks. We did want to do one sit down meal at Disney though so the search began for where that would be.

Logic said that, if we were going to take time out of a park day to eat a nice meal, we would want to take that time out of the park in which we had the most time to spend. That would be Epcot. So, now our choices were narrowed to Epcot restaurants or Epcot resort restaurants. We have done Coral Reef before as well as Biergarten. We wanted someplace new. I heard a rumor that Cape May Cafe had an all you can eat seafood buffet.......SOLD!! We are big seafood fans, buffets work well for hungry boys, and the location was right.

Nick, Shawna, and Christian will be with us for our first Epcot day. We wanted to include them if they wanted to join us. They did, so we made our ADR at Cape May Cafe for 7:45 on Wednesday April 10th! We will leave the park, head to Beach Club for dinner, say good-bye to our sweet family and call it a night.

But wait.....

this update would not be complete without a well-deserved 30 day dance!!
Actually, I'm a day late so this is technically a 29 day dance....but who's counting? (Oh wait....I AM! LOL!)

Dance with me, won't you?

 

[lsenquiz]

We really enjoyed Cape May when we went last year. I lOVE crab legs so that is basically all I ate(I think I ate about 3 lbs myself). My husband was able to try much more on the buffet and loved it all.

Congratulations on 30 days.

 

[DisMomAmy]

We have officially changed our travel itinerary to include a trip to this place….

PLAY BALL!!

I have to go back & read your two most recent updates but had to comment on this one... We're going to a game at Tropicana during our trip too!! I think you know we are a big baseball family too & have been to Fenway several times & took a trip to NY to see a game at Yankee Stadium (plus lots of minor league games in NH & Maine). We decided we should see a game in Tampa during our trip & it just so happened that the Yankees were playing during that time. Tim & Alex are huge Yankees fans so it works out perfectly! Zach & I get to see the Red Sox a lot more often than they get to see their beloved Yankees. Alex was over the top when we told him this week!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

I have to go back & read your two most recent updates but had to comment on this one... We're going to a game at Tropicana during our trip too!! I think you know we are a big baseball family too & have been to Fenway several times & took a trip to NY to see a game at Yankee Stadium (plus lots of minor league games in NH & Maine). We decided we should see a game in Tampa during our trip & it just so happened that the Yankees were playing during that time. Tim & Alex are huge Yankees fans so it works out perfectly! Zach & I get to see the Red Sox a lot more often than they get to see their beloved Yankees. Alex was over the top when we told him this week!

Isn't it great when things like that just work out!? How cool that you will be able to catch a game as well. We haven't told Jonah yet...trying to make it a surprise since he is the Orioles fan (along with his Daddy). We'll see how long I can keep the secret...I'm horrible at surprises!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

We really enjoyed Cape May when we went last year. I lOVE crab legs so that is basically all I ate(I think I ate about 3 lbs myself). My husband was able to try much more on the buffet and loved it all.

Congratulations on 30 days.

I imagine that my middle son will eat at least 3 lbs of crab legs! They are his favorite! I'm looking forward to seeing the resort as well.