How Our Vacation Almost Went Down The Crapper (9/14 - 9/22/07) UPDATED 9/11 again

[praisehisname]

Quick Links:
Introductions, page 1, post 1
A Little Background, page 1, post 7
Land/Sea Cruise, page 1, post 14
7-Night Eastern Cruise, page 2, post 16
Booking Our Vacation, page 2, post 27
Considering An Upgrade, page 3, post 33
How My Pre-Trip Report Got Its Name, page 3, post 37
TGM, Disney Rewards, Airfare, page 4, post 50
FDM, Our Itinerary, page 4, post 56
Pre-Trip Purchases, page 6, posts 79 and 88
More Purchases, page 7, posts 96 and 105
More Purchases, page 8, post 110
More Stuff, page 9, post 125
Crocs, page 10, post 144
Two Packages, page 11, post 157
Breakfast Question, page 12, post 166
Explaining My Second Ticker, page 12, post 180
Baby!!! page 14, post 198
Baby Pictures, page 15, post 221
Matching T-Shirts, page 16, post 232
Duct Tape, page 16, post 236
Tye-Dye Shirts, page 16, post 239

Gotcha with the title, huh? Actually, it’s kinda true. But I’ll get to that later.

First, let's meet the cast:

Me (Denise): 38, stay-at-home-homeschooling mom, family organizer and plan-maker, favorite Disney movie is “Lady and the Tramp,” favorite Disney princess is Cinderella, also love Piglet


This is me at the sailaway party when Tom and I took our anniversary cruise last year.


DH (Tom): 43, leader and protector of our family, my best friend (I know it sounds corny, but I truly believe God made him just for me), the most awesome dad, loves Goofy and Mickey Mouse




DS (Lee): 13, complete Star Wars freak (I say that in a loving way!), also loves everything pirate-related, obsessed with Legos (would like to design sets someday), thankfully still thinks it’s fun to go to Disney




DD (Sarah Jo): 11, probably the most generous kid I’ve ever met, would give you her last dollar if you needed it, loves Stitch and Belle




DD (Maggie): 9, loves to surprise her loved-ones with little homemade gifts and drawings, very sensitive about others’ feelings, loves Ariel and Jasmine




Up next...a little background...

 

[oybolshoi]

I admit it ... I saw the title and thought, "Oh no, Denise what's happened now?"

Please update soon so that I'll know all is right with the world.


BTW - how is your eye doing? Any better?

 

[praisehisname]

I admit it ... I saw the title and thought, "Oh no, Denise what's happened now?"

Please update soon so that I'll know all is right with the world.


BTW - how is your eye doing? Any better?

Brenda, thanks so much for coming over and reading! The title actually has a funny origin. Everything is OK!

My eye is doing better, thanks! I have no idea how these ulcers happen, but this is the second one I've had in 6 years. I used to be a contact lens wearer, and the doctor thought the first ulcer came from wearing them too many hours per day. But I have gone 6 years now without contacts (scar tissue from the first ulcer), and now I have another one. The doctor said maybe my corneas are just weak now and prone to them. Oh, well!

I need to go eat some lunch, and then I'll be back to update.

Denise

 

[Bev1016]

I'm here! I told you people would read your posts!

Cute family! I can't wait to hear more about your trip!

 

[Goofyluver]

I'm here too! Ummmm...your title is makin' me a titch bit nervous!!!

 

[praisehisname]

I'm here! I told you people would read your posts!

Cute family! I can't wait to hear more about your trip!

Thanks for coming over, and thanks for talking me into this!

I'm here too! Ummmm...your title is makin' me a titch bit nervous!!!

It's all good. Well, NOW it is! But you'll just have to wait and read...

Denise

 

[praisehisname]

OK, you've met most of my family (there's 2 more to be introduced in a bit), but I forgot to show you my dog. Raven is a cocker spaniel, she was the runt of her litter, and we love her to pieces! She follows me everywhere and is very protective of the kids.



Bet you can guess what I'm doing in the picture....I'm DISing!

OK, back to the story...

I went on a daytrip to Disneyland right after graduating from high school (I was out there representing the state of Maryland for the Future Business Leaders of America typing competition), but it was July 4th weekend (read VERY crowded). I rode Space Mountain and shopped a little on Main Street. That’s it. I wasn’t even there long enough for the bug to “bite.”

Tom, on the other hand, was a different story. He has a son from his first marriage who is now 24 (and married and expecting his first child!).


Josh and Natalie (aren't they just too cute?!?)


Anyway, when Josh was 4, MIL and FIL took him to Disney World (Tom didn't go, had to work). They fell in love with everything and could not wait to go back. They came home talking about how much fun they had and how cool it would be if the whole family could go back together. But between finances and work, it just never happened.

So in the meantime, all the kids (5 including Tom) have now married and started familes (or divorced and remarried in Tom's case). MIL’s dream was for all of us to go to Disney together. She and FIL were even going to foot the bill! I resisted and resisted (can’t believe it now!), because all I could remember was the crowds. MIL kept working on me, and finally in May 1998 the entire family went for a week. There were 12 adults and 7 kids (plus my SIL and I were each 6 months pregnant), and my MIL planned the whole thing. We stayed at the All Stars Music and had a wonderful time (aside from the heat). At the time, Lee was almost 4 and Sarah Jo was almost 2, and seeing their faces light up when they saw the characters…well, that was all it took for me to fall in love with Disney! We knew we would be back someday, but we vowed never to go back in the peak season!

My MIL passed away a year later. You have no idea how glad I am that we were able to give her that dream.

Up next...the background continues...

Denise

 

[Goofyluver]

Ohhhh..your furbaby is cute!!! I have 2 of my own...a schnoodle and a pootalian greyhound. If anything ever happened to them, I don't know what I would do!

 

[praisehisname]

Ohhhh..your furbaby is cute!!! I have 2 of my own...a schnoodle and a pootalian greyhound. If anything ever happened to them, I don't know what I would do!

Isn't that the truth! We got Raven on Valentine's Day 2003. Tom's dad died in May 2003. Just a few weeks later, Raven suffered a pulmonary edema/pneumonia. The vet told us she would die. Well, we couldn't let the kids lose this dog right after losing their grandfather. So, $3000 later, she is still with us... Looking back, I know it was the right thing to do, but man, that's a lot of money for a doggie hospital!!!

Denise

 

[Disneyolic]

Yes, you did suck me in with that title but I also believe in being loyal to those who are loyal readers of my reports! So, I here!!! Love the intro and looking forward to more...

 

[buffy0214]

I linked over here from 2B4Him trip report. You said you took the plunge and started your own pretrip report. Then I saw the title. Intrigue around every corner

Your kids are adorable. My DD9 (10 in Sept) has the same webkinz. She named her elephant Chompy.

Looking forward to more trip reporting. Can't believe you are going in Sept, though. Super HOT! Must have been the free dining

 

[praisehisname]

Yes, you did suck me in with that title but I also believe in being loyal to those who are loyal readers of my reports! So, I here!!! Love the intro and looking forward to more...

Thanks for coming over and reading. I'll be getting to the title story shortly.

I linked over here from 2B4Him trip report. You said you took the plunge and started your own pretrip report. Then I saw the title. Intrigue around every corner

Your kids are adorable. My DD9 (10 in Sept) has the same webkinz. She named her elephant Chompy.

Looking forward to more trip reporting. Can't believe you are going in Sept, though. Super HOT! Must have been the free dining

Thanks for reading! My kids are obsessed with webkinz-- they love them!

I'm a little nervous about going in September because of the heat. We were going in September anyway, but the free dining allowed us to upgrade our resort. We'll just have to find ways to stay cool!

Denise

 

[WindyCityDisney]

OK, I'm hooked.

I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE TITLE!!!!

(where's the icon for kicking and screaming on the ground -- like a meltdown?)

 

[praisehisname]

The years went by and we heard about the Disney Cruise Line. It had always been my dream to go on a cruise—it just seemed so luxurious! But we kept pushing it off, saying we’d do it “someday.” In 2003 FIL passed away. We decided to spend some of the inheritance to do something to honor both of DH’s parents. Since they had loved Disney so much, we planned a land/sea vacation for January 2004. We had 4 nights at the Poly, and 4 nights on the Disney Wonder. This was Maggie’s first trip to the World. (I was pregnant with her last trip.) We had a great time at the parks, but really fell in love with the cruise.

















To be continued...

Denise

 

[praisehisname]

OK, I'm hooked.

I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE TITLE!!!!

(where's the icon for kicking and screaming on the ground -- like a meltdown?)

It's coming! But I have to tell the story in order, or it won't make sense!

Denise

 

[praisehisname]

When I last left you, we had fallen in love with cruising. While on board our 2004 Land/Sea cruise, we re-booked for February 2005 (this time for a whole week). We also surprised my parents by taking them with us. They had never been on a cruise, and now they, too, are hooked. We definitely decided cruising was the way to go—kids’ activities, adult activities, very little stress, etc.















Much to our kids’ dismay, we booked another cruise for January 2006, but we didn’t take them! We got another couple that we’re friends with to come along, and we celebrated our anniversaries together on Royal Caribbean’s Sovereign of the Seas. It was nice, but NOTHING compared to Disney’s ships. So we decided right then and there that we would only cruise Disney, even if it meant we couldn’t go as often.

To be continued...

Denise

 

[ChrisLei]

Great start to your report! Can't wait to read more!

 

[momtoccc]

I'm curious about the crapper too

The Disney cruise sounds really nice also...

 

[praisehisname]

I'm curious about the crapper too

The Disney cruise sounds really nice also...

Thanks for joining! If you ever get the chance to try the cruise--do it!!! It is the best!

Great start to your report! Can't wait to read more!

Thanks for reading! I'm actually having a lot of fun doing this!

Denise

 

[twob4him]

Hi Denise....Wow numerous installments and you are on page 2 already! I love all of the pics of your beautiful family! The cruise pics are so cool! Great report! Can't wait for more!