A 16 day, 1st b-day, 30th b-day, WDW, F&WF, DCL, 40 person b-day party, PTR! UPDATED 9/8

[MissMet]

I'm already exhausted just writing that title!!

Hello DISers! I'm back after quite the hiatus to share with you the most insane WDW/DCL celebration. Before I even try to begin to get into the details, I'll first start with the introductions. Well, at least introductions of my immediate family, then we'll explain a little about the trip, then a few more introductions, probably a little chit-chat, hopefully a few "subscribing" posts and then, well, you know how this works.


I'm Lisa. The head planner of this here insanity. From NY, and if you're wondering what part, well that all depends on where you're from. To the city, we're upstate, to upstate, we're the city. I never know what to tell people. We are a 40 minute drive from Times Square...Westchester County. Been going to WDW since 1988, I was 3, so if you do your math, I'm the gal turning 30 on this trip. I worked nearly full time all through high school & scrimped and saved to purchase a membership in DVC on my 18th birthday. Been on countless WDW trips over the years with family, friends, & obligations (yes, I said it). This will be my 6th Disney cruise. I am a stay at home wife, mom & aunt- I watch my nephew full time. I am also a die-hard NY Mets fan. Had season tickets for the final two seasons at Shea stadium and my brother & I attended 69 home games and 3 away games in the 2007 season alone. It was a blast!!


My husband Matt. He's a Jersey boy who hates all things Jersey Shore, Real Housewives of New Jersey, Jerseylicious...... You get the idea. He's a real Jersey guy. He works in Manhattan and is the outgoing one in this relationship. I'm the introverted, writer and he's the insane, life of the party. He didn't have Disney experiences until I came into his life and thankfully he really enjoys it. His favorite is Epcot's World Showcase & I spoiled him with his first trip during F&WF so he now only can go to WDW during F&WF. He's a real beer snob. You know, the craft beer connoisseur who would never be caught dead drinking a Bud. So F&WF is his happy place. (Mine too if we're being honest, just minus the beer) He is a NY Yankee fan which makes life for me very difficult. Seriously. It's a problem.


Finally our little reason for waking up at 3am, Benjamin, aka Benji. He's our first...and only...so far. This will be his first WDW trip and first cruise... if you don't count our Babymoon on the NCL Breakaway when I was nearly 6 months pregnant. He's the star of the show that will be turning 1 at WDW. We are throwing a huge b-day party at WCC since a ton of our NY/NJ family has already migrated to central Fl. It's like some unwritten rule to living in NY/NJ, I guess. You all end up in the same town of Fl that's a comfortable drive to WDW for the Grandkid's visits. I digress. Like his shirt? Benji's middle name is Bruce and our last name may just start with a "W". No joke.

Well, that's the immediate family introductions. After my next post explaining how this trip came to be and the initial details I'll get into the other introductions- don't worry not all 40 people at the party, just the family traveling with us for both WDW & DCL.

 

[MissMet]

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[MissMet]

photo hosting

 

[MissMet]

I had some unexpected free time today and figured I better capitalize on that. When you have two 7 months olds around, free time is like a NY Mets World Series win...few and far between. I digress.

After spending most of last year in a very difficult pregnancy, I was ready to have some fun in 2015. I knew I wanted to get back to WDW since I didn't get to go in all of 2014. That was rough. Not to mention, I've always dreamed of bringing my kids to WDW and now I had that opportunity since I'm a mom now. (Well, that's still weird to say 7 months in.) Also, we hadn't been on a Disney cruise since 2012 and I had the itch...especially since our Babymoon on the NCL Breakaway made us remember why we love DCL so much.

*Rabbit Trail*
Can I just stop here and say, this fact was crazy to me. Now I am an obsessed Disney person who would be quite happy only vacationing on a Disney ship, at a Disney resort, eating Disney foods for the rest of my life. I'm one of *THOSE* types- not that there's anything wrong with that. My husband on the other hand is a guy's guy. He likes Disney but I always feel he enjoys it FOR me. He didn't grow up going with fond childhood memories. He'd never admit to WDW being magical or just how much better popcorn tastes at WDW. If it were up to him he'd go to whoever promises him to be flung through the air, at an ungodly speed the most. So you see, while I have traveled quite a bit before meeting my hubby, he waited until he met me to start. So when he loved his first cruise, which was DCL, in the back of my head I felt that as soon as he saw what a "real" cruise was like, i.e. a more adult type, on a mega ship, I thought I'd lose him to the dark side. So off we go on NCL's newest mega ship, the Breakaway, and boy did it have all the guy's guy's bells & whistles. Ice Bar, rock wall, ropes course, bars, nightclubs, tons of other 20 & 30 year olds to mingle with, Brazilian steakhouse, Carlos Bakery, dueling piano bar, crique du soleil style show, comedy clubs.......etc......etc......etc....you get the idea. Well, I'm happy and still shocked to report the entire cruise he kept comparing it to Disney and saying, "DCL did this better....I miss DCL....on DCL this was free....I miss DCL's room service....the tv options were much better on DCL...." Talk about foreplay!! I was thrilled to see that my hubby was bitten by the Disney bug. I'm still quite shocked about it. Now I'm not knocking NCL in any way, it was a beautiful ship and I've been on just as many NCL cruises as DCL, but they're just not the same. Anyway.

Now let's regroup and continue...After realizing that I needed to go to WDW/DCL this year, I also realized that my 30th Birthday was coming up. So I decided I'd love to go on a DCL cruise for my 30th. I knew I'd also like to go to WDW, aaaaaaaand Benji's first birthday happens to fall on the week before mine, sooooooo it ONLY made sense to tack on a week at WDW. Am I right or am I right? I mean really. So I started mentioning it to Matt, who is always so eager to appease me, and he seemed to like the idea. Yes! So I told my mom about my idea and of course she was on board. She wasn't missing her daughter's 30th or her grandson's 1st birthday, but really, let's be honest...she wasn't missing WDW & DCL! My parents are just as hooked as I am. Who do you think I got it from? So they were in, especially since their last DCL cruise was our WB transatlantic back in 2010, before I met Matt. They haven't even sailed the newer ships yet and my dad is BIG into cruising.

Now we couldn't go on about our plans without at least telling my brother and his wife, since the last time we went to WDW was with all of us back in 2013. So of course they wanted in on this trip. Now it's a party. So that's 6 adults, a nearly 4 year old and two 1 year olds, headed out on a massive vacation. No other way I would want to spend my 30th.
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This adventure will take place:
October 9-24, 2015 ​

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Who are these people traveling along? Where will they stay? Where will the cruise go? How can that many opinionated people make any decisions?

Find this all out, as I do! Stay tuned!​

 

[Benchley]

Hi there. Looking forward to reading about your planning. We're 431 days out from our trip at the moment, so I think we're a little early for ptr

 

[MissMet]

Well, THAT was quite the break! I'm finally back after some ups & downs that have me more than ready for this vacation that is now only 58 days away! Without getting too dramatic, we've gone through quite the roller coaster with health issues, but I'm happy to report everyone is fine and we're moving forward! Now let's talk about this grand vacation...last I left you I was going to introduce the other characters joining us.


My Parents: Don(67) & Rose(65)
Obsessive DVC Members & Obsessive Grandparents...that about sums them up these days.

My brother & his family.
Donn-Eric, we'll refer to him as "DE"(31)
Shanna(36)
Austin(3)
Brayden(will be 1)

Austin went to WDW with us when he was just about to turn 2 & still remembers that trip and asks us DAILY...I mean DAILY...if it's time to go to Mickey's house and on Mickey's boat. It's gonna be a long 58 days! Brayden, obviously, has never been to WDW. He is only 20 days older than my little guy & they're like twins. I stay home with Benji & Brayden. So yes, I basically have twins 45+ hours of the week.

Our last WDW trip, Oct 2013

That's our main group. These nut jobs will be with me the entire trip. Additionally, we have LOTS of family that live near WDW that will be joining us as well. Mainly my mom's two sisters that are twins, my uncle & my MIL. My mom's sisters are obsessive about not having their picture taken let alone having it posted on the world wide web, so you'll only hear of them. My Uncle & MIL will probably make some appearances, though. There's more family, but we'll get into that later.

That's all for this post. Next up, I'll be posting about where oh where will we be calling home for the week at Disney World. NO cheating!!! I see you peaking at my ticker. Until next time...

 

[MissMet]

Hi there. Looking forward to reading about your planning. We're 431 days out from our trip at the moment, so I think we're a little early for ptr

Welcome! Sorry for the delay. We'll get this ball rollin so you have something to keep your mind off your countdown.

 

[Alex Aymar]

Reading can't wait to hear about the rest of your planning then hoping you have a great trip!! Can't wait to hear how that goes.

 

[MissMet]

Reading can't wait to hear about the rest of your planning then hoping you have a great trip!! Can't wait to hear how that goes.

Thanks! And welcome to the PTR. This is going to be a crazy trip.

 

[MissMet]

Back again for an update. See, I promised I'd be back much quicker this time. I'm here to serve you.

The Digs:

WDW: October 9-17, 2015
Since this trip is basically in honor of your's truly, since it started out as my 30th Birthday trip and really, you're reading a PTR written by me, so you're reading from my point of view(the only point of view), we will be staying at MY absolute FAVORITE Disney resort. Like I had mentioned earlier both my parents & myself are DVC members. Well, my parents own at SSR, a resort I HATE, no loath, & I own at SSR (boo! hiss!) and AKL. Like I stated, I am not a fan of SSR at all. Feels like a giant apartment complex & doesn't feel "Disney" at all to me. Not to mention, I love staying in hotels, I want to feel like I'm in a hotel. I want to walk through the lobby every day, not take a bus to it. Therefore, AKL is our usual resort, mainly because of the animals for my nephew & the bus system is the best. I have stayed at all the DVC resorts but GF. I think they all have their pros and cons. My favorite by a long shot though, is BWV.

Do you hear the angels singing when you look at that picture? I mean, really. It's heaven on earth right there in front of you.

Now, if you know anything about DVC you know these main facts... that I will not list for those who know nothing about DVC. 1. One of the most busy times for DVC members is the fall. 2. DVC members can only book at their home resort 11 months in advanced. At 7 months any DVC member can book at any DVC resort...wait for it...depending on availability. 3. BWV & BCV are the hardest resorts to get in the fall due to Epcot's proximity during F&WF. Now lets add... 1+2+3= we won't be able to stay at my favorite resort this trip. Bummer! I know what you're saying, "But Lisa, your trip countdown ticker clearly says, 'Boardwalk Resort'..." And to you I say, "Correct!". Here's where the Disney magic comes in. Unbeknownst to me, my mother was talking to her accountant & by some crazy chance that never happens with two women, they began to chat about their kids, grandkids, vacations, etc. I know, that totally never happens when two women get together over coffee. Well, turns out my mom's accountant is a DVC member as well. Crazy. But wait, there's more. She also just so happens to own at...OKW. Just kidding. It was too obvious. YES! She owns at BWV!!!!! And she OFFERED to swap points with my mom so that my mom could surprise me with not just a studio for my family at BWV, but also a two bedroom for the rest of those characters I recently introduced you to AND she called the second Member Services opened on our 11 month window to secure us a BOARDWALK VIEW. Happy. Birthday. To. ME!!! So if my typed sarcasm & silliness lost you, lets recap. We had no way to secure both a studio & 2 bedroom at BWV for our trip, but an awesome accountant swooped in and saved the day, so we are staying at BWV in a boardwalk view room.

DCL: October 17-24, 2015
Our Disney Cruise will be my 6th, my parent's 5th, my husband & brother's 2nd & first for my SIL, nephews & son. Though, we all have been on many other cruise lines, DCL is our favorite, of course. The service, extras & ships can't be beat. For this cruise we have secured three balcony staterooms in a row. We have me & my brother's stateroom as the connecting staterooms so we can put all the kids to bed & my mom can stay with them while we young-ins gets to have some fun. We are on deck 6 in category 4d staterooms. My parents insisted on us getting the "big boy" cabins since babies come with so much stuff. We have already requested the playpens & diaper genies for our staterooms.

So that's where we'll be calling home for this two week Disney Extravaganza.

*The digs not seen in this post is my parent's FL home about 45 minutes northwest of WDW where I will be staying for two days before we head to WDW. My parents, myself, DS, SIL, & my nephews are actually flying in on Wed, Oct 7th and staying at my parents. We wanted to get in early and do all of our supplies shopping there, rather than try to pack all that "stuff" that babies would need for two weeks.

Next up I'll post our ADRs or maybe more on the cruise. We'll see.

 

[Alex Aymar]

Can't wait for more

 

[Benchley]

Wow, the pixies have been working overtime for you. Looking forward to reading about your plans.

 

[MissMet]

Well, I'm back again for more Disney plans. Since I had started this so late I'm going to post things in the order they happened. So that means we're pretending this is the post right after I frantically attempted to get our ADRs.

Normally with any WDW trip we are obsessed with ADRs. The food is half the fun at WDW. Well, on our last trip we were traveling with my nephew who was just about to be 2 years old. At this age he was a terror in restaurants. The kid is a time bomb of uncontrolled energy. He's nonstop. So I came up with the perfect plan. Each day we had one ADR planned. I would stop by the restaurant or look at the menu online earlier in the day & tell my husband what I wanted. Then when it came time for our ADR, the whole family would head in but I would stay with my nephew in the park trying to entertain him...it was always me because I have the most patience & at the time I was watching him full time so it was just easier. They'd place their orders and once the food arrived they'd text me & we'd join them. Then whoever was the first done eating would take him back out if he was melting down before the check came. It worked flawlessly. This trip, however, we will have two 1 years olds & a nearly 4 year old. If we tried that plan again, half of us would have to be out of the restaurant, so I quickly decided, since we are spending the following week on a Disney Cruise complete with amazing meals & childcare, I would forgo all but two ADRs. It just wouldn't be worth it. Even though, Benji is excellent in restaurants my other nephew, Brayden, has even more energy than his older brother, so I can't imagine enjoying a meal with him going nuts. Plus, with ADRs I never feel like I can enjoy all the snacks & CS food I want to since I'm saving room for dinner. Plus F&WF! The idea of no ADRs was actually a joy. Only one of my trips in the past did I do the CS dining plan & I loved it! You save so much time, money & you have so much more freedom to eat what you want when you see it. I'm excited.

Well, my extended family agreed with my plan & we were all excited. Then ADRs opened up...little by little my extended family kept adding ADRs that they wanted. We got to them nearly having an ADR every day, but then they scaled some back. Basically, I've been booking, canceling, rebooking ADRs for weeks! I THINK I now have our final ADR plan. We'll see if it changes any more in the next 6 weeks.

On Sunday, the family will be going to Chefs de France which is a favorite of ours. We've all been multiple times. Myself & my husband, however, will be doing our own thing & having a date night. My mom offered to watch Benji so we could celebrate my Birthday at WDW just the two of us. I had trouble deciding on a restaurant. I wanted one I had never been to before. I had gotten it down to either The Boathouse or Narcoossee's. I decided on Narcoossee's since it's a Disney restaurant & it's near MK, so after dinner we can go over & enjoy MK just the two of us. I did an early seating so we could have time to enjoy MK and to avoid the fireworks crowds in the restaurant, which I hear really changes the atmosphere of the place. I've done the fireworks-during-dinner thing at California Grill & Ohana, so I'm good. I'd rather see them later that night on Main Street.

On Monday, the family (minus Matt, Benji & I) will be going to Sci-Fi Dine In Theater. My brother really wanted to take my nephew, Austin, to this as we frequent our local drive-in movie theater so we think he'll get a kick out of this restaurant. I made the reservation for the whole big group & then that day whoever wants to go can & whoever doesn't can hang out with Matt & I. Again, I love Sci-Fi, but it's just not worth the effort this trip. We're already going to be going at a much slower pace with a one year old in tow, so I'd rather head over to have a Mac & Cheese topped hot dog at Fairfax Fair on my own time.

On Tuesday, we will be celebrating Benji's first birthday! There is no other restaurant I would imagine doing this at than 'Ohana. That is our family's tradition. I can't remember the last trip I went to WDW & it didn't include 'Ohana. Even on the CS dining plan trip, I still went.

On Friday, our last full day before the cruise my mom wanted to take my nephew, Austin, to breakfast at 'Ohana since he loves Lilo & Stitch. I have no idea what everyone's feelings will be since it'll be our last day. I have that breakfast reservation scheduled for all of us, but again, we'll just play it by ear & see who will actually join my parents & Austin.

Well, can you believe it? Those are our only ADRs except for one more. Since we have a large amount of extended family in Fl we will be throwing Benji's 1st Birthday Party on Saturday with 40 people invited!! How do you plan a 40 person party at WDW, you're wondering? So am I! There is next to NO information on having a party at WDW aside from a catered event. So I will be dedicating an entire post in this PTR on the planning of a 40 person party without the help of the Disney Catering Dept.

Well, that's that. Next up we'll talk about our DCL plans. It's getting so close...only 6 more weeks!!

 

[Benchley]

6weeks to go, it will fly past. Enjoy

 

[MissMet]

28 days! 28 days until we leave for our trip! This post I'm going to highlight some of our DCL plans.

We get on the ship on October 17th after spending a week at WDW. We all have cruised DCL with the exception of my SIL, Shanna & the kids. So overall we know what to expect...and we're excited!

We are sailing aboard the Fantasy on the 7 night Western Caribbean Itinerary C.

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On our itinerary we will be visiting Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Falmouth, Jamaica, and of course, Castaway Cay. Most of us have been to all of these islands with the exception of Jamaica. None of us have been to Jamaica before and my SIL, Shanna, is Jamaican so she's really excited to visit-even if it is a very small town in Jamaica.

Excursions: We have a few excursions planned for different groups in our party, but a lot of us will just be using this cruise as a total relaxation trip. We were all over the place trying to figure out excursions that worked for everyone, but with 6 adults and three children- that's a lot of opinions!! So we all just decided that everyone will do what they want to do and meet up the rest of the time- an idea I was onboard with from the beginning, being the introverted one of the group. Others took convincing that it's okay to split up on a two week extended family vacation. That concept is strange to me...I mean I love my family, but I don't need to be with ANY of them for every moment I'm awake for two weeks straight. Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen!! I digress.

Cozumel, Mexico- My Dad & Matt will be going on DCL's snorkeling excursion, Three Reef Snorkel (CZ46). We were thinking of doing a beach day or maybe that waterpark place all together instead, but the reality is, my hubby loves the beach for the waves and in the caribbean, there are none. Also, we would pay all that money, go through all that work schlepping baby STUFF to & fro, for just a small amount of time (and fun!). We can just stay on the ship & have all the comforts of home, no sand, no schlepping, a provided nursery, changing tables, free food, empty pools, etc....... you get the idea. So Dad & Matt are headed for a 4 hour snorkeling excursion, while the rest of us are RELAXING on the ship & shopping right there in port. I'm thinking I'd love to try a Mexican restaurant right in town, but I don't know if I'll find anyone in my group that isn't petrified of the Mexican cartel, crooked police, the runs from the ice cubes in your glass.....yada, yada, yada. As you can see, I'm traveling with a bunch of worriers, so we'll see if I can get any of them to risk their life & well-being for some tacos. Last time we were in Cozumel was very similar, in that, everyone was afraid to do anything!

Grand Cayman- This port will be just like our day in Mexico. My Dad and DH will be off for another snorkeling excursion, DCL's Shipwreck and Reef Snorkel(G15) & the rest of us will be between the sip & port. We normally never do the ship's excursions, but for both Cozumel & Grand Cayman, the ship had the best options. We didn't want an excursion that included the whole stingray city fiasco since we've been there, done that, bought the t-shirt... and DCL's excursions were the only ones we could find that didn't include the stingrays. There were two snorkeling excursions we were back and forth on but we (Matt & my dad) decided on this one.

Falmouth, Jamaica- This port's planning session for sure gave me my first grey hairs. Oh. My. God. This is the only port everyone was pretty vested in. We all have always wanted to go to Jamaica, especially my SIL whose family is from Jamaica. Unfortunately, Falmouth isn't the greatest port to get a feel for Jamaica AND my SIL's family put an insane amount of fear of the island & for our safety in my travel companions' heads- this made planning VERY difficult. So we started with renting a private van for a few hours of sightseeing, but then realized how far away Falmouth is from the sights & traveling with one year olds is not always the most fun. So we turned our attention to DCL's excursions- with our safety, again, as our main deciding point. We quickly learned that nearly all the excursions included climbing the falls. With a three year old, two one year olds and my mom who is due for a hip replacement, THAT ain't happening. So we FINALLY agreed upon, 'cause remember, splitting up is nonsense, the Good Hope Estate Tour. Sounded great. A tour of an old plantation house, with a swimming pool, playground & extreme thrill-seeker attractions for my DH. Perfect. Planned & booked...for about a week. Then after further research we found out that the estate is not at all stroller friendly & my SIL was not willing to leave the kids on the ship. UGH. This is at the point that I made my plea for SPLITTING UP!!! Thankfully, they reluctantly agreed. So after further research, and enough time between my SIL's families' warnings, we planned a full day of everyone doing what they want. What a concept! My DH will have a full day at the Good Hope Estate tubing, zip-lining, ATVing, etc. My parents will be doing the Good Hope Estate Tour & Carriage Ride. Then once my parents return from their estate tour, we all, minus DH, who will still be flying through the Jamaican air somewhere, will be going on a walking food tour with Falmouth Food Tours. I found them on TripAdvisor. Thankfully, with their excellent reviews, stroller friendliness, and the fact that it's hitting my SIL's must dos, Jamaican food & sightseeing, I convinced them to go. Since we have the kids, they are putting us on our own private tour, which is nice and they're not charging for any of the kids. They've been great to work with and we really can't wait.

Specialty Dining: We are surprising my parents with Remy on our first night. My dad is NOT into "fancy food" at all and we can only imagine what his reaction would be to the sight of those tiny servings, so we booked it for later in the evening so that they can come to dinner with us and my dad can eat a small "normal meal" and then my mom will be able to truly enjoy the Remy experience later on that evening. Also, Matt & I will be going to Remy on my 30th Birthday, our last night of the cruise. On our second sea day, Matt & I will be going to Palo's brunch just the two of us and then the other four adults will be going as soon as we get out. Originally, I tried to plan all of us going to brunch together, but I am a Gold Castaway Cay member while all the rest of them are Silver, so I was able to book Matt & I's reservation ahead of them. On the day I was able to book theirs, I was able to get the same time, but then the website froze! There I was at 1am flipping out as I was locked out and feared the worst. Finally, I was able to get back in, but of course that time was taken, but the time slot after our's was open. Now, I could have changed Matt & I's to be with them, but I really didn't want to go to the brunch at 12pm, right in the middle of the day. Then I thought about it more and realized we are traveling with three children and children are unpredictable. If one of the kids gets sick, doesn't want to go to the kids club or nursery, etc. at least one of us will miss out on Palo Brunch, the highlight of our past cruises, to take care of whatever kid's "emergency". So I decided it'd be nice for DH & I to have some alone time and while we're at brunch my family could be "on call" for the kids and then once we're out and they're in brunch, we'll be "on call". That way everyone enjoys Palo brunch totally uninterrupted. Everyone wins...but especially me as I like to be alone with my hubby. Again, what a concept!

Nursery: YES! We will be taking full advantage! We have already booked our allotted 18 hours and once onboard, I'm sure we'll add more hours. The best money spent on our cruise, I'm sure. I love my son, BUT, I love vacationing in peace. We chose to book during the second half of dinner each evening. The babies will be with us when we're ordering & maybe during apps, but then we'll bring them up to the nursery so we can enjoy the rest of our meal. We're going to arrange with our waitstaff the on each prior evening what food the kids will eat, so that the food is there waiting for them when we sit. We also booked during our specialty meals and a small amount of time on our last night so we can pack up the room in peace.

Pictures: We already pre-purchased the picture CD. Normally each cabin would need to buy one but we're thinking we may be able to get away with only buying 2 CDs since Austin is in my parent's room on the reservation. So that means any of the pictures that includes Austin will be on the CD, so my brother's family pictures and my parent's pictures that include Austin. Matt & I's picture that don't include my parents or my nephew, in theory, should be the only ones not included on my parents CD, so we will buy the second CD and get the 50% off rate.

Well, I think that's all for today. My rant quota has been filled. 'Til next time...

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