How do a Princess & Pirates go from Wilderness Lodge to a Disney Cruise PTR

[2BoysMom]

Were you able to stay for EMH? Because of participating in the half? I thought you were staying offsite...so I'm confused. I know you didn't stay for the whole thing...

Getting CM on short notice is really good I think!

You are absolutely right Rabbit. Because I ALWAYS stay on-site, I could not get it out of my head that I could not do EMH's. So, you are correct, we left around 10pm, not 11, because we couldn't stay late. I can be such a knucklehead sometimes. But like I said, the boys have a 7:30 bedtime, and 10 to them is very late.

And about getting Chef Mickey's... Yes, I considered that quite a coup. We just couldn't make the early Tusker House breakfast, b/c now my fatigue was demonstrating itself. I called CM's with a little pixie dust and we were able to get in. That was another first for us. Of all the times I have been to WDW in the past, I have never lucked out with a CM ADR.

So, even though our trip was greatly abbreviated due to my DH's work schedule, we did end up with several FIRSTS, as mentioned in the early days of my PTR. It was a short trip, and participating in the Princess Half was a memory I will have forever.

 

[Happydog]

Um WAITING.... Patiently, no, NOT SO PATIENTLY, for that trip we are not talking about yet ....
There is ONLY so much popcorn a girl can eat... I already overate today...

No just kidding (not about the overeating part ), I totally enjoyed your pics of your boys and the race, and phillharmagic, tea cups, etc. We have never done phillharmagic. yes, I know, I hear the gasps of disbelief through my laptop, but its true... So I am excited to finally try it...
I especially love the fact that we are having a game of name that random stone wall in the MK ... UHmazing. Equally amazing is that Lurkyloo and Rabbit can actually cite a location with confidence. I am clearly behind the times... or the wall such as the case may be. Maybe I will fall off the wall... quick! Name THAT character?!?!? Okay, so you are saying ENOUGH of these random late night prattles? WELL.... I go back to my popcorn munching start: I wannahearaboutthetripthatisntbutisbutwearenottalkingaboutbecauseithasntyetbeenrevealed....................

 

[2BoysMom]

Here are some Chef Mickey pictures from Monday morning after the big race.

My boys with Goofy.

Boys with Pluto.

Dave with Pluto. One thing about Dave, he does enjoy the "childlike" things I encourage him to do on our Disney trips. You can tell he's having real fun.

The boys and I.

Mickey was very sweet to me. He made me hold up the medal before he would allow Dave to take the pic. (ignore the bad hair)

Minnie and my little boys.

Minnie with my big boy. This turned out to be very funny, I wish I had it on video. When Minnie came over, and after she had her picture taken with A & N, she gave a flirty wave to DH. I said "Ok, now Miss Minnie, don't you start flirtin' with my man..." And then she got very funny, with going over to him and kissing him and making kissing noises to go with them. It was very funny and Dave is blushing in the picture. One of my faves.

OK. That's it for CM pics. I won't show you the pics of Alex dancing in the middle of the restaurant with his flying napkin. He decided he didn't need to wait until the "official" swinging the napkin moments. He has really gotten into dancing lately, and didn't hesitate to dance for the other restaurant patrons... Such characters I live with.

Because we had such a wonderful morning with the characters we decided not to hit any of the parks. We went back to Caribe Royale, had a late checkout and enjoyed some time in their very nice pool. This was just as fun for the boys as anything else. More relaxing for DH and I as well.

After this we headed North back to the state capitol, while looking forward to our big WL trip for May.

What could possibly happen to change that???

 

[Happydog]

VERY VERY cute Chef Mickey pickies! We are trying it for the first time this trip. Looks so fun! You wear your medal very well

 

[2BoysMom]

OK Guys.

Since I have shared with you my mini-trip for the Princess Half Marathon, I thought I might explain why my signature now has a little boat floating in it.

As you know, we have had a big WL trip planned. First for March, but b/c of my DH's work schedule, it had to be moved to May. This turned out to be OK, after a little marriage-drama, and we were all set for our May vacation.

So, what could have possibly happened? I received an e-mail. That's it.

A little background.........

In August of 2005, when my boys were 15 months old, we took my immediate family on our first Disney cruise to celebrate my 40th birthday (yup, I'm that old). It was DH, myself, A & N, my mother, sister, my brother, his wife and son and daughter. It was a 4 night on the Wonder, and we had a great time. Because the boys were little, they had to go to the Flounder's Nursery when they weren't with us. At the time, DH and I made a promise to ourselves that the next time we did a Disney cruise, it would be for the boys 5th birthday.

Since that time, we have gone on several Disney trips and WDW has always been our primary focus when it came to family vacations. Even while we were making the big WL vacation plans, a part of me felt bad that we didn't keep our original promise to ourselves. But, if you have ever priced Disney cruises, they are quite expensive. We can usually do our vacations at WDW for cheaper, b/c of the FL resident rates, and thus, that has been the main reason for our vacation pattern.

That is, until I got the e-mail less than 2 weeks ago, from the same travel agency that we used way back in 2005. Periodically they would send me e-mails with the latest DCL rates, but they were usually deleted pretty quick after perusing. But because of the economy, DCL had just released FL resident rates, which common for WDW, is uncommon for the cruise line.

The rates for a 7 day Category 5 verandah room was just about 50% off. I was shocked by the price, and just mentioned it to DH in passing, with no ulterior motive. His response was "Let's do it!"

So there you go. I said, "REALLY??" and we decided in that moment to cancel our WL trip and book with DCL. It was amazing and I am still a little stunned. Thrilled! but I'm not sure it has completely sunk in yet, since I have been so focused on the WL trip for so many months now.

Well, since most of you are familiar with my use of family pics, I thought I would attach some here of our last DCL trip. You'll see quite a difference in the boys.

Here are the boys on our verandah.

This one is Alex. If you had any question what color eyes my boys have, this picture will make things clear.

This one is Nathan.

My three boys.

This is Dave and I.

Most of the clan. My nephew Kaden was at the Kid's Club, and the boys were asleep in strollers next to the table.

My sister and niece.

My nephew (pirate) and niece (Ariel) on Pirate night.

I hope everyone is caught up, and if you have any questions let me know. I would like to keep track of my planning for the now DCL trip, but I feel weird in that this thread was supposed to be all about the WL.

Let me know what you think.

-Captain Donna

 

[lurkyloo]

WHohooo! How exciting!!!

You have a great-looking fambly. And I love the cute pix of your boys when they were leetle.

I think you could just change the title of this thread and turn it into a DCL pre-trippie. Then future generations will get to see all the twists and turns!

 

[2BoysMom]

I think you could just change the title of this thread and turn it into a DCL pre-trippie. Then future generations will get to see all the twists and turns!

I know how to edit a post, but I've never been able to figure out how to edit the title of my thread. Do you know how?

Thanks for the compliments on the fam.

 

[lurkyloo]

Sure! All you do is go back into your first post, click edit, and then click "Go Advanced" and it'll give you the body and the title to edit!

 

[TxRabbit]

Definitely stick with this thread and just change the title!!

Maybe think about editting your first post to reflect just the slightest hint of what has been happening since you might get readers interested in the pre-cruise TR.

Your family is SOOO cute. I like the facial hair on your hubby. He looks very distinguished in the current pics. He does look like he is having a good time at CM. Your hubby sounds like he has a bit of a goofball streak. (like mine, I love it!) I love all the pics there. It sounds like you were able to have a fun weekend dispite the upset prior to it. I am so glad.

I have been on one cruise. I got to go with my parents once during the summer between high school and college. It was a good time. Royal Caribbean out of Miami.

Cruises are really relaxing in their way. You can plan for the ports of call and excursions, but on board, I'm not aware of much planning that is required in order to take advantage of amenitites. But I dont' know about Disney Cruises. I've never checked them out. It'll be great fun to hear all about yours!

 

[Happydog]

Wow what a great "reveal"! Well I must say, after being away it is nice to come back and finally get the story! After 10 days in Italy I couldn't eat any more popcorn, let alone pasta! We went on a 7 day Disney Cruise back BC (before children... ) with my DBIL. It was tremendous fun. We each got a reservation at the adult restaurant (can't remember name, starts with a "P"? I think?) so we ate there four times!!! The boat was so much fun, and I LOVE Castaway Cay!

I agree to keep the same PTR and I am glad to come back and see that you did! Look forward to hearing about your plans as you get closer to the launch of your crew, captain!