Eatin' & Cruisin' 2012 - Update 10/30 - Trip cancelled :(

[hurleysweety]

​

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we've had to cancel this trip, just one day before we were scheduled to leave. For those who followed along, thanks for reading. Needless to say, no TR will be written.

Table of Contents are HERE

Oooooh man! Can't believe I get to write another one of these! I am pretty bad at finishing TR, and even worse at finishing dining reviews. But I am GREAT at starting PTRs. I apologize in advance for my overly-dramatic writing, over-explaining the least important details, and my use of parenthesis and emoticons...sorry! (not really...)

We are headed back to WDW in 2012 for Food & Wine, Free Dining, and a Cruise! We didn't think that would be happening so both DH and I are beyond excited!! We don't have kids so its just the two of us on this little magical escape.

We're headed to CBR for 4 nights, with free dining, and lots of F&W fun.

Then we're off to our first cruise on the Disney dream. A four night cruise with stops in Nassau and Castaway Cay, plus a day at sea.

Then we're back to WDW for two nights. Location TBD. Hoping for a room only discount and checking out somewhere new.

Me - I'm 26, going on 6. (and look like I'm 16. A blessing, a curse? Depends on the day. ) I work as a graphic designer at a small agency that allows me to constantly develop new skills. I'm a techie nerdy girl at heart! Oh and like eeeeveryone else reading this, I love, dream, and wish for all things Disney all the time.

DH - He's 28, going on, well, 28, and looks, maybe 18? (Yes, we are used to that look, waiter/hotel receptionist/random people at airports. No, we didn't run away from home to go to WDW. ) Anyway, he works for my parents doing very boring insurance type stuff. He also has two more jobs that feed his passion for sports (runs spring training for an MLB team) and leadership (works in the athletic dept of a college). Seems like a lot, but he is very organized and on top of things unlike someone else I know...hehe, that would be me.

US - We got married in May 2008. Took our honeymoon to WDW and we've been hooked ever since. We've been in May 2010, May 2011, and October 2011. (What about 2009?!) From May 2009-May 2010, we had DLR APs and went 4 times. In 2011, we were fortunate enough to snag ourselves premier passes and went to both parks. We keep saying, "this will be the last trip for awhile..." and then we just go again. In fact, almost all our BIG vacations since we've been married have been to a Disney park. Ya, we're weird.

Here's a pic from our Wedding:

And then, our honeymoon!

And now, our most recent trip, Oct 2011 - yup, 4 years pass and we look the same...

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We also both have quite a passion for high school students and have been leaders in our church's youth group for awhile. I often refer to them as, "my kids" or "our kids" (started with them when they were 11, and now that group has just started their sophomore year of college!) My second group just started their sophomore year of high school. The college girls still come over and hang out and occupy my living room until midnight or later some nights - but I wouldn't change a thing! Some even like Disney as much as we do!

Oct 31 - Arrive at MCO, Checking into Caribbean Beach Resort
Nov 1-3 - WDW @ Caribbean Beach Resort with FREE dining
Nov 4-8 - Leave on our FIRST ever cruise on the Disney Dream (4-night Bahamas)
Nov 8-10 - Spend two last days at Coronado Springs Resort in WDW before heading home EDIT: Spending last two days in a studio at OKW

That's all for now (wow, that was a lot!).

 

[hurleysweety]

1. The Cruise Story

2. Dreaming or Polynesian-ing?

3. Scorpions & Saturdays - very OT

4. Online Check-in for Cruise - DONE!

5. Got our schedule figured out!!

6. More Updates - and Hunger Games, hahahaa

7. Learning to Sew & My New Beach Safe!

8. Passports and Poopy Discounts

9. DDP vs DxDP - The Math Says it All!

10. The Crazies and the Car Rental

11. My Top Picks for Food at F&W!

12. Just an Update - and feeling better too!

13. Delicious Dining Plans are Here!

14. "Upgrades? I love upgrades, drinks all around!"

15. Pattern for my FE - DONE!

16. Cruise Docs and Weekend in Disneyland!

17. Back from Disneyland! And we got Mickey Mail!

18. BIG surprise - We changed resorts, AGAIN! DVC, here we COME!

19. Food and Wine Drinks! YUM!

20. Packing up the Suitcase!

21. We leave in FIVE DAYS!


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[DLR29]

Found you over here! And I'm definitely subbing. Are you gonna do a mini dining review too? Have you got your ADRs?

This kind of trip (WDW followed by DCL) is something that my mom really wants to do in 2 years with our whole family because we have lots of celebratory events that summer. I'll be graduating college, my brother and cousin will graduate high school, my mom turns 50, my parents have their 25th anniversary...ya basically we're using all of those as excuses to have an awesome family vacation...and where else but Disney?

Also I think it's really cool how you've followed the same group kids for a long time. From someone who didn't really have that spiritual leadership in the church until college, I would have really benefited from having that much earlier.

 

[reyasmommy]

Hi,
Your trip sounds a lot like ours. We'll be at Disney for a few days, followed by a cruise on the dream, then back to Disney for a few more days. I'm so excited... What days are your cruise?

We'll be just starting our vacation, when you end yours.

We say the same thing year after year. "This is our last trip for a LONG time" then we end up going back a year later. Our friends think we're insane for going back to Disney instead of trying someplace new. We keep telling ourselves we're going to skip Disney one year and finally do something new but we never do for some reason. Disney just has a hold on us??

I'm looking forward to reading more. Will be nice to see how our trips compare. Have fun planning.

 

[hurleysweety]

For over a year, I have been consistently trying to convince my DH that a cruise would be an awesome vacation. My parents went on a cruise (with my dad's company) when I was 10 (and about 3 more since then, one company one and two on their own) and my sister recently went on one for her honeymoon. I would look up cruises like most people would check their email! At one point I didn't care where we went or what cruise line we went on...or if it was five years from now.

But then, one day on August 3rd, Southwest hosted a MAGICAL 50% off sale and DH booked a trip before I could even ask for more details! Our original trip was over the included 50% off dates which were randomly selected dates through Sept, Oct, and Nov, mostly on Tuesdays & Wednesdays. So we booked Oct 31-Oct 6.

I immediately started to check rates for the three Disney cruises and any others that I knew left out of PC. Disney Dream 3 and 4 night, and Disney Fantasy 7 night as well as RCL Freedom of the Seas 7 night. RCL left my plans quickly because the only RCL ship I really want to experience is Oasis or Allure of the seas. But their port is much father away, and their prices almost identical to Disney. Enough opinions have warned me that Carnival might not be the experience we would want, so Disney was chosen!

At first the three night sounded the best. It meant no changes in our current itinerary, and it was the cheapest. I think I was even looking into a 9D at one point to save the most $$. But after consulting the experts on the cruise forum, I learned we would appreciate that extra day on the 4 night. I also learned that the 7 night cruise was just not going to work for us this time. It was the eastern carribbean, which is most definitely my "fantasy" cruise vacation - but it will have to wait. Plus, I'm hoping this cruise serves as a trial run and that we love it! Really really hoping we love it!

So before I knew it, I was booking with Dreams Unlimited travel. I started getting quotes for a 9A and 8C, and then settled for 7A. That was until a few nights ago when I realized that 7A could have an undersized veradah too. I was fine with obstructed, but not with undersized. So then I moved onto 6 only to see that it was at the back of the boat - no thanks. And then decided that we needed a cat where we could pick our room. Since this cruise will be mostly about convincing DH that cruising is the way to vacation and see the world (I'm a travel lover!!) - I wanted to make sure we had smooth sailing. I discovered that the best is midship. So I just kept going until I could actually get a room - and finally, we found one more forward than directly mid, but right by the elevators. Finally. And even though its obviously more than we originally thought - that peace of mind is worth it.

Here's an idea of what our room might look like - thanks to wdwinfo.com

I think once we know more about cruising and become more comfortable, it will be easier to say, GTY, I don't care, just get me back on that ship!

 

[hurleysweety]

Hi,
Your trip sounds a lot like ours. We'll be at Disney for a few days, followed by a cruise on the dream, then back to Disney for a few more days. I'm so excited... What days are your cruise?

We'll be just starting our vacation, when you end yours.

We say the same thing year after year. "This is our last trip for a LONG time" then we end up going back a year later. Our friends think we're insane for going back to Disney instead of trying someplace new. We keep telling ourselves we're going to skip Disney one year and finally do something new but we never do for some reason. Disney just has a hold on us??

I'm looking forward to reading more. Will be nice to see how our trips compare. Have fun planning.

Welcome reyasmommy!

So, you're telling me people will still think I'm nuts when we have kids? Do we have the same friends??

I think Disney has a hold on us. And if you look up my past PTRs and TRs, I always say, "well this might be the last one for awhile..." and then the next one begins with, "well I guess I was wrong..." Open mouth, insert foot, shyly tell boss, parents, friends, that we're headed to WDW...again. Such a horrid problem to have? Right? LOL

Whenever I get sad on our last night of vacation or checking out of the hotel, I look around and try to be happy for other families. I also like to pretend that the kids are seeing it WDW for the first time (usually true) and look forward to that with my own kids someday! So I'll have to remember that when we leave our ship, you'll be getting on it soon - and think of that instead! Haha.

 

[hurleysweety]

Found you over here! And I'm definitely subbing. Are you gonna do a mini dining review too? Have you got your ADRs?

This kind of trip (WDW followed by DCL) is something that my mom really wants to do in 2 years with our whole family because we have lots of celebratory events that summer. I'll be graduating college, my brother and cousin will graduate high school, my mom turns 50, my parents have their 25th anniversary...ya basically we're using all of those as excuses to have an awesome family vacation...and where else but Disney?

Also I think it's really cool how you've followed the same group kids for a long time. From someone who didn't really have that spiritual leadership in the church until college, I would have really benefited from having that much earlier.

Thanks for following me over here! So far, we have booked Les Chefs de France - last time we weren't on the dining plan so we skipped dessert. This time, I cannot wait to gain 10lbs in free dining dessert. I think we want to do a new signature, but we haven't decided on anything. In fact, we still haven't officially decided when we are coming home...! Airfare keeps changing so we'll see. Our current tix are for Nov 6th because of the SW promo. But since we'll be at Castaway Cay that day, I don't think we'll be flying home.

Its been a wonderful journey to watch students grow up - and a blessing that I'm still able to continue each year. At the beginning of each year, I think, this might be the last, so lets make it the best. And then before I know it, things work out and I get to still be a part of it.

That is so cool you'll have so many things to celebrate - and two years to figure out exactly what you want to do, and when (and 2 years to save $$ for it!)! You'll have a reason to order a cake to your room each night, and to try something new and fun like parasailing or swimming with dolphins, or some other ultimate adventure. For those celebrations, the extra things are worth it!!

 

[hurleysweety]

Dreaming or Polynesian-ing?
During the days the followed booking airfare, DH gave me a choice to stay at the Poly from Oct 31-Nov 6, keeping our original dates and then not cruising.

THE POLY??? AHHH

(from wdw vacation planning . com)


This was after I priced out everything and did my Disney math and saw how much extra $$ for the extra days and cruise But nope, I wanted a cruise - more important that my all-time favorite resort (well, besides Beach Club during F&W, of course, like any other food-loving addict). Guess I don't love the Poly as much as I thought? And thanks to the WDWtoday podcast for making me think and truly believe that my best WDW vacay will be at the Poly. Haha. Annette loves that place!

Anyway, so we got quotes for all kinds of rooms from our TA. (Of course, I was on the Disney website getting the original prices too.) I priced us for four nights at two different values, four different rooms in 3 different moderates, and also did one deluxe room for the fun of it.

Our Previous WDW Resorts
We have stayed at Villas the last two trips because of my awesome in-laws who own a timeshare that transfers easily into Disney property. Last year we stayed a week at OKW 1 bedroom (without them), and then in October, stayed for a week at VWL 2 bedroom (with them). We have been very fortunate that way. We also added on 2 nights at Boardwalk in May. And added 1 night at All Sports (arrival night), and 2 nights at Pop at the end of our trip, in October. On our first trip with my in-laws in May 2010, we added on 2 nights at POR at the end. In fact, the only time we have not done a split stay was on our Honeymoon. Even one night is a split stay - and it means we get to stay that one extra day or two!!

In then end, as you know, CBR won out! We are also thrilled to do FREE dining. This will be our second time using the dining plan, but the first time that it is free! (well, so to speak…)

Why CBR?
CBR holds a special place in my heart because for some reason, on our first trip to WDW together on our honeymoon, without any research or knowledge, that is where I thought maybe, possibly, someday we could stay there, if we ever returned. HA! PLUS, CBR has a great tropical atmosphere which really goes along with my vacation theme - relaxing, eating, cruising, repeat. I remember driving by and saying, "Someday, hubby, someday we can stay there!"

Oh if only I knew what WDW had in store for us...

Here's a picture of our room, from the cookingwithmickey . com website:

Excited to experience a new resort and resort location. I think we're right next to Hollywood Studios, which means we are close to the Boardwalk too. The Boardwalk is maaaagical. Boardwalk Inn will hold a special place in my heart because in 1997, my family won a trip to visit there. It was one of the best vacations I had as a child. Since then, I have not been able to return with my family (not gonna complain though, every trip has been great). I hope that someday, we can all go, and I can grab a nice video of my dad going down Summit Plummit [read - we went to Blizzard Beach almost every day of our vacation during our 10 day stay!]

Ok, this post is PLENTY long. Hope I still have a few hanging in there!

 

[hurleysweety]

Can you believe our flight is still scheduled to come back on November 6th?? We'll be at Castaway Cay that day. Whoops. And did you also know that Southwest changes their airfare prices faster than you can say "Should we book it now?" Right now we are leaning towards extending our trip to Nov 10th since airfare is almost $100 cheaper (and that's $100/each!). Pretty sure that's a no-brainer!

 

[DLR29]

Can you believe our flight is still scheduled to come back on November 6th?? We'll be at Castaway Cay that day. Whoops. And did you also know that Southwest changes their airfare prices faster than you can say "Should we book it now?" Right now we are leaning towards extending our trip to Nov 10th since airfare is almost $100 cheaper (and that's $100/each!). Pretty sure that's a no-brainer!

Oh darn...more days at Disney!

Southwest's prices do change very quickly. I'll be running the WDW Goofy Challenge in January and I got a very inexpensive flight, but it took lots of checking and checking and it seems every time I found something, the price skyrocketed!

 

[hurleysweety]

Oh darn...more days at Disney!

Its official! We are booked to come home Nov 10th. So it looks like we'll HAVE to spend one more day there. Darn.

It does require a stop, which I try to avoid. But I guess its just a sacrifice I gotta make. LOL.

 

[hurleysweety]

Oh its been an interesting day in our household. Around 4 am last night, DH sat up straight in bed, mumbled a bit, let out some words of pure shock, and then said, "Wake up, I think I was just bit by a scorpion..."

We just moved this Spring, and have seen 5 scorpians so far. Four of them have been in our bedroom. This was the first in our bed.

The next hour was spent trying to find said scorpion, which DH threw upon feeling it CRAWL ACROSS HIS FACE. The scorpion stung him on one of his fingers. We, of course, were too scared to sleep back in the bed. So, out to the kitchen we went to figure out what to do. If I had not seen someone get bit about a month ago, I would have been freaking out. But since I had, and heard from about 5 women older than me who've been stung or had their husband's stung - there isn't really much you can do. I kept asking DH how he felt, if he was numb, restless, tingly, in pain, etc. He never was - so we think he threw the scorpion before it could release a lot of poison. Thanks google for the information!

It took DH about 10 mins to find and kill the scorpion. Lucky me, DH threw it into all our bed throw pillows. Safely in the other room, I had images of him beating my pillows with a bat. Luckily, the scorpion found it's death bed in a stack of clothes to be donated.

Anyway, DH kept ice on 10 mins, off 10 mins, as recommended, and I monitored him as closely as possible before I fell back asleep on the couch. I was so tired at one point that I went back to bed.

So like most Saturdays, we spent our afternoon running errands. This Saturday was spent running errands and discussing the death of every scorpion we could find when we got home. That is where a very helpful guy from Home Depot advised us to buy this dust stuff to sprinkle around that will kill anything that crawls through it. DONE! Plus we picked up scorpion killer for when we do find them with our awesome new UV light (black light). Its a pretty awesome and scary thing. The scorpions glow when you shine the light on it. We went around the entire house, inside and out, front and back. And do you know what we found?

NOTHING!

Kinda sad, I think I was looking forward to just nailing one. LOL. Gotta get some revenge. I [read - DH, haha] will be checking our room and the backyard every night. I think its the only way I can sleep!

There are way too many ugly stories on the internet, so I'm glad we are not one of them.

Thanks for letting me share and vent.

 

[blessedmom4]

I am HERE!!!! I just realized you had a PTR and was enjoying reading about the relaxing cruise, the extra Disney Days and then I read DH was stung be the scorpion!!! I had to stop and make sure I hadn't stumbled back across my PTR, you know how strange our lives are. I am SO sorry to read about that, there is nothing like getting woken up by some creature that should NOT be inside your house! I hope you get rid of them all and had a pleasant nights sleep! Looking forward to more.

 

[hurleysweety]

I am HERE!!!! I just realized you had a PTR and was enjoying reading about the relaxing cruise, the extra Disney Days and then I read DH was stung be the scorpion!!! I had to stop and make sure I hadn't stumbled back across my PTR, you know how strange our lives are. I am SO sorry to read about that, there is nothing like getting woken up by some creature that should NOT be inside your house! I hope you get rid of them all and had a pleasant nights sleep! Looking forward to more.

Thanks for joining! Well, we slept through the night - with the lights on . DH and I found out online that scorpions are scared of light so we kept both our bedside lamps on - both have 60 watt bulbs in them. But my natural instinct tells me to wake up when its light - so I barely got any sleep. Kinda a restless sleep as I kept thinking something was crawling on me all night - YUCK! But we made it through, still haven't seen another one. We are pretty sure its related to rain, so we'll be on the look out when we get another monsoon.

Thanks again for reading - it really motivates me to keep writing!!!

 

[hurleysweety]

Oh Sunday. Sundays start at church for us, followed by housework usually. Sometimes its fun, sometimes its yard work. But lucky for me, DH does the yard work in this HOT HOT HOT AZ heat. If you have some colder weather that you would like to send our way, I will give you some heat in exchange!

I will do some couponing today. I feel like if I write it here then I have to do it! Of course, I will also spend a good part of my day pursuing the disboards and not getting anything crossed off my list. This is way more fun than cleaning, or organizing or hanging pictures. All in favor of gathering everything you can in your arms and throwing it into the nearest closet and/or drawer, say "I!"

We talked about our ADRs last night and I think I have at least one nailed down. That would be Les Chefs de France. We were just there last October, but not on the dining plan. So this time, we will take full advantage of their menu, and their mouthwatering dessert selection. I might also try another glass of their wine since it was so good last year. Since we only have four nights on the plan, its really hard to come up with only 4 TS meals that we want!!

On the cruise front, our balance is due tomorrow, since we booked so close. It's not really that I don't mind paying it, it's that I wish I could pay it over time. But once we are paid, it will soon be Tuesday Aug 21 and we can officially book things for the cruise!! I'm pretty sure everything will be sold out, since we are going on the cruise that a podcast is going on - estimated to have 500 people aboard that are apart of the group (WDW Radio podcast cruise). I'm hoping they schedule a lot of events that make other areas of the ship less crowded. Yes, I'm a wee bit jealous of all the fun they'll be having - but also kinda glad to not be a part of a group. It would be fun to get to know people, of course, but I would be so nervous that it might put damper on our cruise if we didn't blend in or make friends with any of them. So if we like the cruise this time, maybe we could join something like that next time. That's the attitude I'm hoping to have when I see them together!

Until next time - thanks for joining in!

 

[hurleysweety]

Cruise is paid for in full! Just had to share!

Coming up with our preliminary schedule today. Should be posting that soon!

 

[hurleysweety]

So I've never cruised before so I spend most days worrying about that part of our trip. I figure, you can throw me in WDW and I'll figure things out one way or another. I got my Tour Guide Mike green and red days (and maybe an ADR or two), so I'm all set.

WARNING: Whine-y, complain-y complaints ahead! But when it comes to the cruise, I get worried. What do I do if this happens? What do I pack? What FE gifts should I make/bring? What FE should I get for our door? Should I book an excursion? Is it worth it? Will I ever stop finding more ways to spend money on this trip?? (stupid rant over...haha)

But good news! Our 75 day window opened up last night at midnight! I first checked adult dining, and it confirmed what I suspected. Remy and Palo aren't available during our cruise - they are all sold out except for the first night. And on the first night, I want to meet our server and table mates and experience the ship. I don't want to spend 3 hours eating while everyone else gets to know each other. I suspect everyone else feels the same way and that is why those reservation slots are available. But believe me, I will most definitely be checking as we approach sailing date, and on the ship as well. I really want to do Palo Brunch. But seeing as we have one chance to do it, on our at sea day, the chances are slim. If we have to do dinner instead, I will just have to live with that.

The cabanas were all sold out for our trip. Good thing, too, I don't think I can take making anymore decisions. I'm hoping that this trip will kinda be a trial run before we go with a bigger group, or our own family someday in the future. We'll see what is important to us, what is worth spending extra $$, IMO, and what we can live without. Right now, its an endless list of choices. Yikes!

I am looking forward to one thing, we got a 11am port arrival time. I've learned that this doesn't mean much, as you should be more concerned about your boarding time. But I feel like having a paper that says I can be there at 11 is pretty cool. After all, we'll only be sleeping an hour away in WDW. I'll be there at 9am if Mickey would allow it!

We probably fit into that category of people who want to be the first ones on the ship. Granted, we are not Lou Mongello or any of his important peeps, concierge, or castaway club members. But when they get to us regular folks, we want to be the first, albeit, crazy, people there saying "Pick me, Pick me!", take that photo with captain Mickey, have our name announced on the ship (which they'll probably screw up), and then I'll act like a five year old, bounce up and down and giggle. Cuz I'm sure it will all happen like that (I can hope for it, right?!)

 

[weswife]

Great PTR! I am enjoyong it. We are doing a land/sea too and it will be our 1st cruise!!!!

 

[MrsBearcat]

Following along! I'll live vicariously through your November fun until I can have my own!

 

[DLR29]

Ok maybe a stupid question, but I literally don't know anything about DCL. You can make adult meal reservations 75 days in advance? But if everyone's in the same boat (pun intended), how did other people book the places before you? Anyway, I hope something opens up for you guys.