Disney Dream Party of Eight: 5-night Double Dip June 7-12 2011

[LissaW16]

The cast of characters

Stateroom 8018:
: Melissa (that's me): neurotic trip planner and long time DIS'er. Cruised once before on RCCL. Booked this trip the week the 2011 iteneraries were released (19 months in advance). Occupation-Nursing Informatics (I'm a nurse, I build electronic medical record software).
Tim (the husband): secretly loves all my DIS inside tips. Cruised once before on RCCL. Occupation-Aerospace engineering manager (aka rocket scientist).
Hometown: Duluth, MN

Stateroom 8020:
Trinity (the daughter): age 4 1/2, frequent traveler, first time cruiser. Occupation-full time daycare student. Hometown: Duluth, MN
Grandma Val (the maternal grandmother): widowed, frequent cruiser, first time on DCL. Occupation-Grandmother of one (the aforementioned Trinity). Hometown: Perrysburg, OH (Toledo area).

Stateroom 8014:
Chris (the godmother): my best friend from college. Cruised x2 on Norwegian, first time on DCL. Single with no kids. Occupation-Civil engineer. Hometown: Dayton, OH.
Barb (the "great-godmother): Chris' mom. First time cruiser. Left her husband at home for this trip. Occupation-Teacher (Spanish and Religion). Hometown: Toledo, OH.
June 12 is a national holiday in this family. Chris and Barb both have birthdays on June 12, and Barb & the not attending Jim will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary on June 12 2011.

Stateroom 8023:
Grandma Kathy (the paternal grandmother): First time cruiser. Occupation-Grandmother of two (Trinity and one other granddaughter, age 3).
Grandpa Terry (the paternal grandfather): First time cruiser. Occupation-Paramedic and EMT instructor, retired firefighter.
Hometown: Green Bay, WI.

 

[Toria]

Cute intro! You will be cruising in no time. June is right around the corner. Have a great time!

 

[BetzW]

Our small group of 3 will also be on cruise. First time with Disney and first cruise for DD age 7. Hope you have a blast.

 

[mrswarr]

The cast of characters

Stateroom 8018:
: Melissa (that's me): neurotic trip planner and long time DIS'er. Cruised once before on RCCL. Booked this trip the week the 2011 iteneraries were released (19 months in advance). Occupation-Nursing Informatics (I'm a nurse, I build electronic medical record software).
Tim (the husband): secretly loves all my DIS inside tips. Cruised once before on RCCL. Occupation-Aerospace engineering manager (aka rocket scientist).
Hometown: Duluth, MN

Stateroom 8020:
Trinity (the daughter): age 4 1/2, frequent traveler, first time cruiser. Occupation-full time daycare student. Hometown: Duluth, MN
Grandma Val (the maternal grandmother): widowed, frequent cruiser, first time on DCL. Occupation-Grandmother of one (the aforementioned Trinity). Hometown: Perrysburg, OH (Toledo area).

Stateroom 8014:
Chris (the godmother): my best friend from college. Cruised x2 on Norwegian, first time on DCL. Single with no kids. Occupation-Civil engineer. Hometown: Dayton, OH.
Barb (the "great-godmother): Chris' mom. First time cruiser. Left her husband at home for this trip. Occupation-Teacher (Spanish and Religion). Hometown: Toledo, OH.
June 12 is a national holiday in this family. Chris and Barb both have birthdays on June 12, and Barb & the not attending Jim will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary on June 12 2011.

Stateroom 8023:
Grandma Kathy (the paternal grandmother): First time cruiser. Occupation-Grandmother of two (Trinity and one other granddaughter, age 3).
Grandpa Terry (the paternal grandfather): First time cruiser. Occupation-Paramedic and EMT instructor, retired firefighter.
Hometown: Green Bay, WI.

So far, so good! I can't WAIT until cruise day!

 

[luv2boys]

Cant wait to be there with you!!!

 

[nicole.antonelli]

I also can't wait to be there! And we are also on Deck 8. These days cannot go by fast enough!

 

[kellyb2000]

Come June 7th, I will be working on a shout out in this TR!

 

[LissaW16]

The itinerary:
Friday, June 3rd -: Melissa, Tim, Trinity, and Grandma Val arrive in Orlando. We (Tim and I) own a timeshare property in Las Vegas, and through the parent company have some cool perks like staying in a timeshare property in Orlando for "free" (using our 2011 week, since we won't be making it to Vegas this year). Anyway, that means we're staying for 4 nights at the Mariott Imperial Palm Villas, in a 3 bed/2 bath "condo". Tim and I have the "master suite", Grandma Val has the Queen room, and Trinity gets the room with two twin beds.

Saturday, June 4th -
The 4 of us are heading to Sea World. I found a coupon code thanks to these boards, and ordered the tickets online. I got the adult's tickets for $63 each (instead of the regular $79). We've also rented a stroller from Sea World ($13 for the day). I looked into Orlando Stroller Rental, but it would be $80 for the 4 days, and we only need 3 days worth, so I will just pay for it at each of the parks (and then I don't have to haul it from the parking lot, onto a tram/monorail, etc).

Sunday, June 5th -
The 4 of us are heading to Animal Kingdom. Tim and I have been using our Disney Visa for EVERYTHING (and paying it off each month) for the last 18 months. We managed to accumulate enough Disney Reward Dollars to pay for 2 days of park tickets for all 4 of us (which was close to $700), and we'll have about $180 above and beyond that for food and souvenirs (and what we don't use in the parks we can apply toward our onboard charges on the cruise).

Monday, June 6th -
Grandma Val's birthday. The 4 of us are heading to Magic Kingdom. Around noon, the other 4 cruisers arrive. Trinity does not know that the other 4 cruisers are coming, what a surprise for her after the day at Magic Kingdom! All 8 of us are staying at the Mariott Imperial Palm Villas - which claims to sleep 10. Tim and I will move to the living room pull-out sofa, giving Grandma Kathy & Grandpa Terry the master suite (but they have to share the bathroom with us), Trinity will move to the pull out in her Grandma Val's room, and Chris & Barb will take the twin bed room.

Tuesday, June 7th - Embarkation day!
Trinity does not know we are going on the cruise. We have told her we are goin "to the beach". We just neglected to tell her how we're getting to the beach! She has seen some of the Dream "float out" videos on you tube (back in November), so she's kind of familiar with the cruise ship concept (it's like a hotel, on a boat, with restaurants and stuff - how do you explain that to a 4 year old?), but we didn't want to hear her talk about it for 6 months, so we've resorted to lying to her. Bad parents, I know!

We have our rental vehicle that we will be parking at "Park n Cruise" for $38 total (instead of $75 at the Disney port). The other 4 (who arrive Monday) are sharing a rental vehicle that they will be turning in (then catching the rental car shuttle to the port).

Here's our outfits for embarkation day, you won't miss us at the port!



: Me (left) and Chris (right)

 

[OhToodles2]

Great start nice Shirts Can't wait to read the rest of your TR. You're trip will be here before you know it!

 

[LissaW16]

How we are passing the time until our trip... Thanks Aaron for the nice writeup!

http://www.disunplugged.com/2011/04/23/building-a-disney-vacation-countdown-chain/

UPDATED WITH A LINK THAT ACTUALLY WORKS

 

[rab1974]

We'll be on that cruise too! Myself, DW, DD9 and DS5. This will be our 2nd Disney cruise. First was on the Wonder Dec 2009! We had a great time!! We've been looking forward to this for a long time. Can't wait.

 

[pixie08]

Signing up...I think I'll be leaving as you'll be getting back but I'll read from my ipad in wdw!!!

 

[iluvwdw4ever]

We will be there too!!!! Cannot wait!!!!

 

[4newtocruise]

Can't wait! See you on the ship!

 

[LissaW16]

one more shirt... from the cruiser who clearly felt the "t-shirt" style was too ordinary, so she modified the neckline and sleeves... but didn't want her face on the internet...


(sorry mom)

 

[LissaW16]

So as you can probably tell, this family is "crafty". Here's a bit of the fun we're having planning for this trip...

My mom helped me with our FE's... (I made 3, Chris made her own)


Chris' FE... (in draft form)

 

[LissaW16]

More crafty stuff... Wristlets for everyone (even the boys, for theirs I put on clips instead of wrist straps) - for my 4 year old I made them "purse style" (with a strap long enough to wear as a purse)

 

[LissaW16]

I bought this hat for less than $5 on clearance last fall... and Disney-fied it with some changeable hat bands... made from leftover wristlet & FE fabric:



I think it will make a perfect pool/beach "keep the sun off my fair Minnesota-white face" hat!

 

[Toria]

Wish I could see the pictures.

 

[LissaW16]

Wish I could see the pictures.

Can everyone else see the pics?