7 Day/6 Night Land and Sea Adventure with 2 control freaks and a toddler? Here we go!

[DisWishes720]

Hello everyone!

Welcome to my PTR! Did the title scare you as much as it scares me?? You must be thinking, who are these crazy people who are shamelessly dragging their young child by plane, bus and boat to experience all that is Disney? Let's start with the intro's...

Myself: J
I am a 26 year old wife and mother to a beautiful little guy. Life has been CRAZY for my husband and I the past few years, but the one constant (besides of course our love for each other ) is my absolute obsession with Disney. We go every year to WDW, sometimes twice a year so of course the visit to WDW at the end of our cruise was my doing. I am a brand new cruiser and a true control freak. I have our trip itineraries planned months in advance down to the minute...which will be a challenge for me this trip. My biggest fear is that of the unknown and traveling with an 11 month old along with cruising are two VERY big unknowns for me. Here goes nothing!

DH: T (Hubs, Dada)
Hubs is also a 26 year old Disney fanatic. We have been married for almost two years and together for 5 and in that time we have been to WDW 6 times. He is extremely hard working and the reason for this trip. A normal day for this man is working 8 hours then heading off to Law School at night (I.WOULD.DIE). He is starting his big "lawyer man" job the week after we get back from the trip. So the first part of this celebration is celebrating his hard work....love this man . Ok I promise no more sappy stuff from me! He LOVES the disney cruise and has been a few times when he was younger. He convinced me that I would love it too and since this trip is partially for him...I went along with it.

DS: TJ (Little Man, Bubs)
TJ is our amazing little guy. He is currently 9 months old, but will be a few weeks shy of one year at the time of our trip. He was a HUGE surprise (just three months after the wedding...SURPRISE, YOU'RE KNOCKED UP ), and truthfully we weren't sure how we were going to manage my husband's long hours, law school and raising a baby, but he has been the most amazing blessing. We could seriously not love this little guy more. He also loves Disney. Every time he sees Mickey Mouse he screams and claps his hands. We will be celebrating his first birthday on this trip too! I can't wait to see his face when he meets Mickey for the first time...

Meeting up with us is WDW...my parents! They will be headed down to Disney a few days before we get there (leaving my brothers at home) for some anniversary celebrating! My parents are a HUGE part of our lives. They have very graciously taken us in after the baby was born while the hubs finishes law school. We could not imagine celebrating TJ's birthday with out them!

Mom: Queen Bee
My mom is probably the reason we all love Disney so much. She is amazing. Her favorite ride is Splash Mtn. and her favorite resort is The Contemporary.

Dad: Money Bags, Scroodge McDuck, Teddy-Bear
My Dad is the biggest "opposer" of Disney in the family. For the sole reason that it is expensive. Once he is there he is like a big kid again. He literally fights us every time we plan a trip with the usual, "you know we could go to Italy for this amount of money", or "they charge you how much for a shivas on the rocks??". He always gives in at the end and enjoys every second of it. He is a big softy at heart


So that's us! Up Next...The Plans!!

 

[DisWishes720]

A major thing for me is planning. When I do Disney trips I like to have every minute detail planned out. From what time we are arriving at the airport to the amount of time allotted for naps...I am a freak. When we decided we were going to do a trip we first thought about possibly not doing disney (whattt??? ). We always say that we are going to go through the years of our life with out seeing the world and the next trip we will go somewhere different. So we play the, well this place could be nice game. It goes something like this...

Hubs: We should really go somewhere to relax and unwind. What about an island?
Me: Oh yeah, that sounds nice. Is there anywhere safe for the baby that's an island though? I don't want to go somewhere not safe with bubs.
Hubs: Yeah, what about Atlantis.
Me: Atlantis is nice, how much?
Hubs: $3000 for three nights
Me: Couldn't we go to Disney for a week for that?
Hubs: *Sigh*

I also have a huge fear of islands because of our honeymoon experience. We went all out and stayed at Cap Jaluca in Anguilla, and what did it do all week?? RAIN. We had been in Disney before Anguilla so of course all I kept saying was, "Why did we ever leave Disney??" I mean the hotel was gorgeous but those rain clouds...terrible.

So after a month of deliberating Hubs finally convinced me to consider the Disney Cruise. I have always been scared of cruises but after a lot of research on the boards we decided it was a great first trip with our son...as long as we can go to Disney for at least one night after. Yay!

So here's the plan:

Disney Land/Sea for Lovers con Bebe
Cruise: May 18th - May 23rd 5 Night Bahamian Cruise
Room Type: Standard Inside State Room (hoping to upgrade when we get there but I'm not too confident about this one)
Stops: Key West, Nassau, Castaway Cay
Special Events: We have booked the Palo Brunch for the morning before Key West and Palo Dinner for the night after Castaway Cay. We also plan on doing a wine tasting on our day at sea.

We get into port at 7:30am on the 23rd. We plan on being the first ones getting on this magical mickey bus (as the little bro used to call it...and heading here!!!! (only for one night, but it's better than nothing!)

Wed, May 23rd: Meeting up with Queen Bee and Scroodge in EPCOT.
Dinner: ADR at California Grill
Heading over to MK to watch Wishes and do Fireworks
(then hopefully dropping off the bubs with the parents for the night and grabbing some alone time with hubs!)

Thursday, May 24th: Magic Kingdom!
Special Events: TJ's First Haircut on Mainstreet!
Lunch: Crystal Palace
...our flight leaves at 9:10pm so that means we'll be headed home around 6:00. Hopefully it will be enough time until we meet again...

On a side note, this will not be TJ's first time in Disney! Although the first time he was a little more cozy in mommy's tummy on the plan than he will be in a few months.

At least this time my legs won't swell up to the size of tree trunks! Here's us last February at the Polynesian at almost 7 months preggo...holy belly!

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

Looking forward to reading!

Have you booked nursery hours yet? We are cruising on a 5-nighter in June and I'm still up in the air about which hours to book. Our youngest will be 20 months old.

 

[Toria]

Joining in! Make sure to check for recent Navigators before you leave. There is so much to do onboard, that it can be overwhelming. I too am a planner, but I learned quickly to just go with the flow for our first cruise. We did not make it to one show while onboard. Maybe we will attend one in July. Happy sailing!

 

[DisWishes720]

Looking forward to reading!

Have you booked nursery hours yet? We are cruising on a 5-nighter in June and I'm still up in the air about which hours to book. Our youngest will be 20 months old.

Hi there! I have booked a few nursery hours. I was so nervous about doing it!! We booked the times that we're eating at Palo and I booked an hour around the times I researched they have the wine tastings on our day at sea. I'm sure I'll have to change that though. I have never left him alone with anyone other than family so it's a littler nerve racking for me (my parents are also very old school Italian and worry about EVERYTHING). So exciting about your trip too!!

Joining in! Make sure to check for recent Navigators before you leave. There is so much to do onboard, that it can be overwhelming. I too am a planner, but I learned quickly to just go with the flow for our first cruise. We did not make it to one show while onboard. Maybe we will attend one in July. Happy sailing!

Thanks Toria!! Where can I find these Navigators?? I've been searching everywhere! So good to know there is another planner out there (or a reformed planner ), I'm hoping to be that way once this is done! Did you use the nursery services??

 

[DisWishes720]

So I did mention before that we will be celebrating our son's first birthday on this trip. His actual birthday is the first weekend in June, but we figured what better way to celebrate the little man than a bunch of birthday cakes, mickey ears and strangers singing to him?? We really thought we might get away with not doing a party since my parents were coming along for the ride...boy were we wrong. So after much deliberating and wondering how to keep the cost to a minimum (and also to appease my in-laws) we decided to have a small gathering at my parent's house a week after we get home.

For anyone who is Italian or knows Italian people, a "small" gathering can mean a lot of different things. For us, it's 50 people in the back yard with more food than could ever be consumed and wine at 11am on a Sunday. My mom and I are crazy party planners. We like to make every detail beautiful...which means a ton of work...

So the goal? Have everything ready for the party(except the food of course) the week before we leave for the trip. It's going to be insane!! So in the process of making packing lists, shopping and itinerary creating, I'm picking a theme, ordering materials, booking vendors and generally going insane.

So for the party. We are toying with two different themes. The first is Mickey Mouse. Since TJ loves him so much and it might be the easiest. Here are some pics of inspiration I've found...

My only concern is that we will be going to Disney World next winter, a little closer to his 2nd birthday and he might request a Mickey Mouse birthday that year.

The other theme is an "Adventures Away", Disney "UP!" theme. I love this theme mostly because of all the colors and fun stuff I can do with food. We would keep it pretty simple with tons of balloons which might make it more affordable too.

What do you guys think?? We're hopefully making a decision today since it's only 78 days until we leave which means 71 days left to plan this thing!

Stay tuned for a shopaholic's guide to vacation wardrobe shopping (also known as "How to drive your husband crazy" )

 

[mommy2mb]

Joining in!! Can't wait to read more.

 

[Toria]

Hi there! I have booked a few nursery hours. I was so nervous about doing it!! We booked the times that we're eating at Palo and I booked an hour around the times I researched they have the wine tastings on our day at sea. I'm sure I'll have to change that though. I have never left him alone with anyone other than family so it's a littler nerve racking for me (my parents are also very old school Italian and worry about EVERYTHING). So exciting about your trip too!!



Thanks Toria!! Where can I find these Navigators?? I've been searching everywhere! So good to know there is another planner out there (or a reformed planner ), I'm hoping to be that way once this is done! Did you use the nursery services??

I believe if you just put navigators in the search box, it will pull up the threads with them. I did not use the nursery, my two kids are a bit older. By the way you have a beautiful family.

 

[Toria]

So I did mention before that we will be celebrating our son's first birthday on this trip. His actual birthday is the first weekend in June, but we figured what better way to celebrate the little man than a bunch of birthday cakes, mickey ears and strangers singing to him?? We really thought we might get away with not doing a party since my parents were coming along for the ride...boy were we wrong. So after much deliberating and wondering how to keep the cost to a minimum (and also to appease my in-laws) we decided to have a small gathering at my parent's house a week after we get home.

For anyone who is Italian or knows Italian people, a "small" gathering can mean a lot of different things. For us, it's 50 people in the back yard with more food than could ever be consumed and wine at 11am on a Sunday. My mom and I are crazy party planners. We like to make every detail beautiful...which means a ton of work...

So the goal? Have everything ready for the party(except the food of course) the week before we leave for the trip. It's going to be insane!! So in the process of making packing lists, shopping and itinerary creating, I'm picking a theme, ordering materials, booking vendors and generally going insane.

So for the party. We are toying with two different themes. The first is Mickey Mouse. Since TJ loves him so much and it might be the easiest. Here are some pics of inspiration I've found...

My only concern is that we will be going to Disney World next winter, a little closer to his 2nd birthday and he might request a Mickey Mouse birthday that year.

The other theme is an "Adventures Away", Disney "UP!" theme. I love this theme mostly because of all the colors and fun stuff I can do with food. We would keep it pretty simple with tons of balloons which might make it more affordable too.

What do you guys think?? We're hopefully making a decision today since it's only 78 days until we leave which means 71 days left to plan this thing!

Stay tuned for a shopaholic's guide to vacation wardrobe shopping (also known as "How to drive your husband crazy" )

OMG! Both themes are absolutely gorgeous. I think that the "UP" theme would be a great start, it looks to be more visually stimulating for toddlers. What kid doesn't like balloons. My only worry would be is wind blowing like crazy on your event day, and your guests fighting them.

 

[DisWishes720]

Joining in!! Can't wait to read more.

Awww thanks!!

OMG! Both themes are absolutely gorgeous. I think that the "UP" theme would be a great start, it looks to be more visually stimulating for toddlers. What kid doesn't like balloons. My only worry would be is wind blowing like crazy on your event day, and your guests fighting them.

Ah I know!! It was so windy on my son's baptism day that we actually had to put blocks on all the plates so they would stay down! If we go with the UP! theme I'm going to definitely need balloon renforcements!

 

[DisWishes720]

So I thought before I gave a window into my sick clothes shopping/coordinating obsession I would give you guys more details on how we got to this trip and what the plans are.

As you can probably guess, as s young newly married couple in law school, with a baby...well let's just say money is always tight. We were originally in CT where my husband actually works full time and goes to law school at night. None of my family is in CT or my friends, although my in-laws all are...which is a whole other story . I kind of threw myself into work when I moved up there so I could take my mind off of being alone so much since hubs is most always gone. We always knew CT was temporary (or at least hoped it was), and we planned on moving back to NJ as soon as he got an offer at a law firm and hopefully in Manhattan. This was the ideal dream of course. We quickly learned that nothing ever goes according to plan...my first lesson in over planning things! Very long story made very short...we got pregnant before he had an offer, decided to move to NJ (and back in with my parents...) to build our savings for our house (which means literally saving every penny except for those multiple pennies we have to spend to feed our child, lol) and have hubs commute back and forth or stay up in CT with his mom 4 nights a week and hope for the best. Thankfully he DID get an offer at a NYC firm for a summer associate position and this plan may have actually worked! After he got the offer we decided to take some of our hard earned, saved cash (along with a little bit of a lovely surprise tax return ) and finally get away just the three of us (even if it is only part of the trip).

So here we are, going on a Disney Cruise and to Disney World, which will actually be the first time the three of us have been alone for more than two days! My hubs is a very, VERY fiscally responsible guy. I mean sometimes it's scary. I knew that we had to keep money in mind while planning this trip, but one thing I did not expect was the price of excursions! Holy Moly! We also knew that we wanted to go to WDW for at least a day after the cruise. Looking at the prices for a two day park hopper and hotels, I was really beginning to think it wasn't going to happen...

So that's a little background on our trip. Up next, how did we make the impossible, possible?? The planning.

 

[DisWishes720]

First step in the money saving process...booking a standard inside state room. Enough said with this one. It's cheap, no there isn't a window, and yes I have visions of being like the immigrants on the Titanic, but my husband reassured me that there are enough life boats....sigh of relief.

In the planning process I had BIG dreams of touring Atlantis, swimming with dolphins and renting a beautiful private cabana on Castaway Cay. Then reality hit !

Hold the phone...you want $600 for a cabana for the day?? Ummm, thanks but no. So the real dilemma became how do we enjoy this cruise and our ports with out breaking the bank with excursions. One very important thing to know about my husband and I is that we are MAJOR foodies. We are italian which of course goes along with the stereotype that we love to drink and eat...and I am here to tell you that that is 100% true. So the big things for us are still eating at amazing places, "getting our drink on" as my hubs would call it and spending quality time with the little man. So how do we do that with out breaking the bank??

First up was Key West. As soon as hubs found out this was a stop on our adventure he began his research. Of course this place came up first...

So we will be making a stop here for some drinks and probably a sloppy joe even though we have Palo brunch this morning. Then I NEED to have a the famous Key West key lime pie, so he did his research again and saw that we can walk to "Key Lime n-more" which is supposed to be the BEST key lime pie. This made me excited.

So we have avoided doing a Disney excursion on this stop and honestly I don't feel like we're missing out on much. I am mostly excited for Palo brunch....mmmmmmm.

Now our day at sea we were dreaming of dropping the little man off at the nursery and enjoying a couple's massage or me a facial and him...well something. Of course these were lofty dreams again. What's a girl to do? We found that the ships do wine tastings and they're reasonably priced. Done and done. I booked a nursery time around when the wine tastings normally are and we will hopefully be very dignified and taste an assortment of fine wines...or something . The last time we did any type of tasting it was only hubs doing the tasting. Our last trip to Disney he did the new tequila tasting in Mexico...

While I sipped my preggo drink...water, yum.

Now for Nassau. I really wanted to do something fun here. We were originally planning on doing the Atlantis Beach Day, but after further investigation (or realizing that drinks were not included and you had to rent tubes and things like that) we decided to try to find our way. After a lot of research, I found an amazing deal. A day pass at the Hilton Colonial on Nassau. Heaven...

For half the cost of the Atlantis trip we get $40 pp food and beverage credit which can be used towards alcoholic beverages, beach chair, cabana and use of flotation devices...a must for me. It is also a very easy walk from port so we won't need to pay for transportation and we can see a little of Nassau on the way (or use our stroller and not have to worry about crazy cab drivers). You can literally see port from the beach...

Hopefully this works out and isn't a total rip off or a scary place. I read great reviews on tripadvisor so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. For Castaway Cay we obviously nixed the cabana and decided to get our tushies off the boat nice and early to grab a shaded spot. I did reserve tubes and rafts because it just seems like the right thing to do . We are going to Palo this night for dinner so hopefully TJ will be so tired from having an amazing day on the beach he won't even realize we're gone!

Up next...how I got the price down for WDW to actually happen!

 

[ariel1025]

Joining in! Your little guy is absolutely adorable

We are going to be on the same cruise as you, which will also be our little guy's (16 months at the time of the cruise) first trip to Disney outside of the belly

Completely agree with nixing the Disney excursions on Key West - nothing sounded appealing enough to us to be worth the price they charge We are doing the Key West trolley tour (purchasing our tickets direct when we get there)

 

[DisWishes720]

Joining in! Your little guy is absolutely adorable

We are going to be on the same cruise as you, which will also be our little guy's (16 months at the time of the cruise) first trip to Disney outside of the belly

Completely agree with nixing the Disney excursions on Key West - nothing sounded appealing enough to us to be worth the price they charge We are doing the Key West trolley tour (purchasing our tickets direct when we get there)

Hi there! Thanks so much!! He is a crazy man right now. Maybe they'll meet each other in the day care! We should definitely meet up on the cruise!

 

[DisWishes720]

So as I've already said the budget for this trip was pretty strong and slowly being eaten up by shopping and prep for the baby. My hubs knew that I would not be happy flying into my favorite airport of all time (MCO), driving in a Disney chartered bus, being surrounded by Disney for a week and not going to my favorite place in the world!! So we decided on two days, one night...but where??

I had heard and researched DVC point rentals on this board and over at ****************. It always seemed great, and let me tell you I tried for years to get dates for family trips, but it always seemed we were either picking really popular dates that book up 8 months - a year in advance, or we needed a two bedroom to fit our huge family. This time was different though. All we needed was a studio and only for one night...so we started hoping.

My husband LOVES Bay Lake Tower. On our honeymoon we stayed at the Contemporary a few nights and all he talked about was buying a vacation club there once he was a lawyer. So my hope was to find a studio at Bay Lake Tower for one night for under $200...which meant the person had to be renting their points for under market value....fingers crossed.

Here's hubs on the honeymoon pointing to his future "home"...

After weeks and weeks of emailing different renters, getting excited and then disappointed, we finally found someone who was renting to us for $9 a point!!!! She was our saving grace, and it also meant that one night at a deluxe vacation club resort was only going to cost us $162 !!

I really highly recommend doing this for anyone who wants to stay at a deluxe resort but is on a budget. So far everything has gone really smoothly, we've gotten our confirmation numbers and magical express and can't wait to go!! We also purchased our 2 day park hoppers through my Disney Visa points which I had been hoarding for a while.

We are headed to the mecca of all outlet shopping today on the east coast for some vacation diggs! Up next...yes, we'll be coordinated 99% of the trip...don't judge .

 

[Brynnie]

I am LOVING THIS! Thank you for posting such a detailed PTR. Dh and I are also on a budget for your 4 day Disney Dream cruise in May. We eloped to Las Vegas when we got married, and we never had a proper honeymoon. DH let me book when a VGT code came out and brought the cruie price down almost $400!! I been lurking around, and thanks to reading your posts, we are now staying at SSR for one night before our cruise instead of Pop Century after discovering the wonderful benefit of renting DVC points! We got a good deal as well, the rack rates are so high for Deluxe Villas! Also, we were plannig on staying on the boat for Nassau....we are now doing a day pass for the British Colonial Hilton Nassau! It looks amazing and the day pass is so cheap!

Thanks for taking the time to share. I cannot wait to read about your trip....and to post my own TR! Have a great time!

ps...your baby is gorgeous!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Great start to your PTR! Congratulations on your little man - he is adorable I know exactly how you feel about fearing the unknown, but if you love WDW, you will love DCL! I look forward to reading more

 

[DisWishes720]

I am LOVING THIS! Thank you for posting such a detailed PTR. Dh and I are also on a budget for your 4 day Disney Dream cruise in May. We eloped to Las Vegas when we got married, and we never had a proper honeymoon. DH let me book when a VGT code came out and brought the cruie price down almost $400!! I been lurking around, and thanks to reading your posts, we are now staying at SSR for one night before our cruise instead of Pop Century after discovering the wonderful benefit of renting DVC points! We got a good deal as well, the rack rates are so high for Deluxe Villas! Also, we were plannig on staying on the boat for Nassau....we are now doing a day pass for the British Colonial Hilton Nassau! It looks amazing and the day pass is so cheap!

Thanks for taking the time to share. I cannot wait to read about your trip....and to post my own TR!

ps...your baby is gorgeous!

Thank you soooo much!!! I'm so glad that you were able to do the British Colonial excursion and use DVC rentals!! They are both really great ways to save! Have a great time and enjoy your much deserved honeymoon! Maybe we'll see you on the ship! Can't wait to read your TR!

Great start to your PTR! Congratulations on your little man - he is adorable I know exactly how you feel about fearing the unknown, but if you love WDW, you will love DCL! I look forward to reading more

Thank you . I am now crossing over into excited territory and away from fearful...hopefully this keeps up!!

 

[DisWishes720]

Soooo it turns out that one night in Disney wasn't going to be enough for hubs...and BOY AM I HAPPY HE THOUGHT SO!! We talked it over with Scroodge McDuck and Queen Bee and they happened to agree! The only slight downside is that we will have to share a room with them for our last night to keep the prices down somewhat, but it will be a Magic Kingdom view room in the Tower at the Contemporary which I'm pretty excited about.

Now that our WDW itinerary has changed I thought I'd go through the details of ADR's and such and see what you guys think!

Wednesday, May 23rd
**Hopefully we're the first ones off the boat and onto the bus to Bay Lake Tower**
Tour EPCOT
--no lunch ADR here but I'm really hoping to get a taste of one of these bad boys--

5:45pm - ADR at California Grill
-after dinner head over to MK for Spectromagic and Wishes...annnnd maybe a second dessert...I'm thinking one of these...DOLE WHIP!

Thursday, May 24th
A little bummed, but it's an AM EMH at MK this day and it's probably our only day to go here before the major Memorial Day weekend crowds come in...so we're headed here for the day.
12:30pm - Reservation at Harmony Barbershop for TJ's first haircut!!
(I am a little too excited about this)
5:30pm - ADR at Citricos (hubs favorite restaurant)
Head over to EPCOT for some "drinking around the world" and Illuminations

Friday, May 25th...last day
7:30am - ADR at Kona for some TONGA TOAST!! I can't do a Disney trip with out this!

Head over to HS for a day of fun
2:00pm - ADR at Via Napoli. We are pretty excited about trying this restaurant for the first time!
4:30pm - Magical Express comes to take us home

Here's another money saving tip to send you off with! If you have any changes in your flight, you can call the airline and have your flight time changed for free! We were originally supposed to fly out on a Continental flight at 10:40am which was making our arrival on the Cruise pretty late. Continental changed the departure time to 10:55am so we called and asked for the change, and they gave it to us! We got on the 7:00am flight for no change fee at all. Our JetBlue flight home on the 24th was also changed to a much later time by the airline. We called and they also changed our flight to THE NEXT DAY for absolutely free and we were able to have my parent's itinerary changed as well. Just some food for thought!!