Oh, cool, do we overlap at all? Only a few more months and we'll be on vacation!!
I don't blame you at all. I may have had a few overlapping ADRs at one point in our trip planning process. Disney kind of brings that problem about themselves when they make you commit to when and where you want to eat 180 days out when they haven't even committed to their hours or schedule yet. If you don't leave some options for yourself, there's a good chance you might miss out on one of those prime ADR's you really wanted if it conflicts with something else that you want to do once they release more detailed info. It's the blessing and the curse of being able to book ADR's so far out.
Yup - I think that qualifies as a disease. 8 days and 17 ADRs. Good luck with that! 
I look forward to seeing how you sort them out and pare them down!
Thanks! I can't believe how shy she got around those princesses!
Still cute, though.Aw, thanks!
Oh, yeah, just a tiny bit of overlap! As our plans unfold, let me know if we'll be crossing paths!
I agree - I saw some threads debating doing the parks before or after - who needs those kinds of tough decisions!?Wow... Epic trip!!! I've never been on a cruise, but I've considered something like this. Forget the debate of whether it is better to do parks before or after the cruise, just do them before AND after.
Both, please! 
That's exactly the case! I'm finding that Star Wars Weekends REALLY complicates the planning, as 90% of the info (celebrities, shows, etc.) is announced very late in the game (i.e. not yet) and Dug has SWW as a high priority, so I need to give us ADR options that we can choose from once he knows the days/times that he plans to be at DHS - I can hardly plan which parks we go to which days until we get more info. Just have some general ideas. It's tough for planners like us DIS-ers.I don't blame you at all. I may have had a few overlapping ADRs at one point in our trip planning process. Disney kind of brings that problem about themselves when they make you commit to when and where you want to eat 180 days out when they haven't even committed to their hours or schedule yet. If you don't leave some options for yourself, there's a good chance you might miss out on one of those prime ADR's you really wanted if it conflicts with something else that you want to do once they release more detailed info. It's the blessing and the curse of being able to book ADR's so far out.
Now good luck cutting them down...
Oh, that would be cool to see the ship all decorated for the holidays! I think the mix of the parks and the relaxation will work well for us. We're not big sitting-around-on-vacation people, but we do like the way you can relax on the cruise, but still have lots of activity options. I think our park time will be a bit crazy, though. We'll probably be happy to get on the ship and slow down. And, hopefully, that "slower" time will refuel us for another crazy park spree.We are so hoping the ship will be decorated for Christmas
I can't wait to see how you guys feel about relaxing and then hit the parks for a couple of days! This is our plan as well but concern about doing it, will it spoiled the "relaxing" vacation.
Are you doing a fish extender group???
I know! I need all the luck I can get with this disease!ADR hoarder?
I suppose the first step in my recovery is admitting that we actually have 4 of the same ADR on different days - for something really desirable that people are stalking cancellations for. 
(Not to mention several with two ADRs...
) Again, OOPS.Yeah, our RC verandah sold us on always having one. And it's easier to justify with Izzy being young enough to need naps and an early bedtime - so we can, in theory, sit out on the verandah and relax during that time.
I know, such a perfect combination of so many fun things, right?!Hooray for your PTR!
Your vacation sounds like it will be so fabulous! How fantastic that you get a Disney cruise bookended by two LONG weekends at Disney World! Also, the BWV, Flower and Garden, AND Star Wars Weekends?! How fun!
It may be our last Disney World trip for a while, with Izzy turning 3 a few months later (no longer free 
), so we might as well make the most of it. (And then maybe go to Disneyland later in the year?!? We'll see).Glad I'm not the only one!17 ADR's? We must be long-lost relatives.
I'm so antsy to pare them down, but I just can't do it until we know where we need to be each day. It's driving me nuts having them all, though. But I'm such a pack-rat that I NEED them for now. Oh, awesome, please let me know if you'll be around! I know that I was jealous last May when it seemed like all the TR DIS-ers were overlapping, but this May is shaping up to have at least a few potential DIS-meets, so that's exciting!
Ha, very true! Either that or she was like, "Uh, Mommy, don't you know these are impostors?"Cute videos! I think she knows what a big deal Anna and Elsa are right now and was justified in her shyness!
That's what I hear...I keep reading about a great dessert buffet on Pirate Night that everyone is too full to eat because of dinner...may need a to-go on that!
Especially because I actually do have a ton that I want to write about. Between being sick, putting in long hours at work for our year-end close, and the DIS conversion throwing me off, I’ve been in a holding pattern. 
Time to break that, though!. Because we need to buy a ticket for Dug, I think I am going to do that very soon. I had wanted to wait ($$$), but I don’t want to miss the cut-off and overpay. So, I guess that is where some of the money in our Disney Vacation Account is going. (For those that don’t know, the DVA is a real thing run by Disney – basically a "savings account" that you can use to make payments on your trip. For me, it’s handy because I pay in Disney Gift Cards (discounted 5% from Target) and it allows you to deposit those. Therefore, I only have to make one payment versus reading off 8 or 9 gift card numbers to buy a ticket. Plus, they give you bonuses for spending certain amounts, so that will be nice too)., then make sure we get our Palo reservation and nursery time and port arrival time squared away. I know that I saw a great what-to-expect-at-check-in primer with screenshots, so I need to study up on that come March! 
There will be a max of 15 families in our group and they are a mixed bag of adults w/o kids, parents and toddlers, parents and older kids, and more. Oh, and dogs at home – someone wanted that info for gifts too 
. I don’t want to go too crazy, as getting something for each member of 15 families can add up fast, but I also want to give something nice. I thought of maybe decorating picture frames with cruise-related stuff. But I don’t know how that would work, as each person has their own pocket on a Fish Extender (I think), so I don’t know how I’d give a “family” gift. I also had thought of picking up some things in WDW - maybe some snacks from Goofy's Candy Company or small things from Downtown Disney? I’m sure there are TONS of great ideas out there, though, so you pinteresting folks feel free to brainstorm for me! 
I mean, Star Wars and bacon all at once?! 
She knows all the names of the Disney princesses in her storybooks now! I think she’d get a kick out of this! Again, Dug may want to be at DHS early if there are celebrities he wants to meet for SWW. So maybe just Izzy and I will go to this. Or there’s still the possibility of cancelling it. But I think it might just be a keeper, at least for two of us.
So many of them depend upon other ones and they ultimately can’t be decided until Dug knows which Star Wars celebs will be there and on which days, so he knows when he wants to be at DHS early. Ugh. 
But Izzy also loves Chip and Dale (and Mickey and Pluto), so what a perfect way to start our trip (arrival night). And it’s the only day that I can confidently say we’ll be in Epcot. Of course, the timing isn’t great, because we’ll have been munching from the F&G Booths that afternoon, so may not be hungry for a family-style meal. 
So, I’m a bit conflicted on this. (Man, I feel so wishy-washy on ADRs compared to normal 
). Again, this meal is a must-do for us. I like having the Fantasmic package this day, as 1.) We have not seen Fantasmic in forever (since 2010, I think?) 2.) Friday is supposed to be the least crowded day of SWW and 3.) That might give us a chance of leaving Fantasmic and finding a spot to watch the Star Wars fireworks right after. And, if not, we have plenty of other nights to do so. I hope to keep this ADR. But, if we have a SWW planning conflict, I have a few alternatives…(this is the point where any ADR police lurking should close their browsers and forget they ever saw this ). And I hear they have a yummy grilled cheese and tomato soup combo. Mmmmm. I think it’s probably late enough to be unlikely to conflict with SWW plans, but it could .
) Seriously - it's that good. We haven't done a cruise under 7 days, but I have to believe it will be just as amazing as our cruises with DCL have been. Hey - if you are interested, I and DIS'er Shannon have a PTR going to for our summer trip (10 days at WDW with our best friends we've never met (from the DIS) and then a 7-night cruise on the Fantasy); so far, it's pretty dang slow, but we are starting to amp up now. Anyway, the link is in my signature. I hope to see you there! Of course, they better give us another place to meet Belle in her gold dress if they are going to replace her with A&E. ) Izzy will love it!!!!
Thanks? I think?
Haha, 4 really, but who's counting?
Once I weed out the duplicates and maybe a couple more, this should look much better. I hope.Lauren and I actually did almost entirely character meals in June, including the Garden Grill, and it went pretty well! (That's when it wasn't spinning). Izzy LOVED Chip and Dale - and still does - so, I'm thinking that would be a nice way to start the trip and get her warmed up to the characters. We also went once pre-kid and had a great time! (when it WAS spinning)
That's really our issue - not knowing the schedule yet has made my packrat side come out.
I feel like I need to cover all my bases with so much uncertainty at this point. Both of those special Star Wars meals are super expensive (and don't take any discounts), but they are such unique opportunities and will save us time waiting in line for character meets, so worth it to do each once, I think. It's pretty awesome that we overlap the tail end of Lauren's trip and can meet up for a bit again! Hey, you're getting around pretty good lately!Hey, hey! I'm finally here!
Wow, that sounds like high praise coming from Willow! I wish we could go for a longer cruise, but it just gets so much more expensive. But, that's okay, we'll console ourselves with WDW instead.I can't wait to hear more about your trip. I'm so excited for you to cruise with DCL for the first time! You are going to love it! Willow and I are doing our third DCL cruise this summer (and, I think you know enough about Willow now to know how much this means, I asked her recently which she would rather do if she had to choose - the parks or DCL. I knew she would say the parks because she hasn't cruised since 2013 and she LOVES rides. And she immediately with no hesitation said DCL.
Do you have any TRs on your cruises? (ETA - Looks like you do - I will have to peek at those sometime). You know, I remember actually peeking over at that PTR when you first joined into my TRs and I watched the video of the reveal - super cute! I will have to get over there soon. The DIS is a pretty cool place to make friends and travel companions (I did a girls trip last summer with a fellow DIS-er...TR still pending).Okay, that's good to know about Akershus. It was one that I wasn't initially looking for, but saw available and grabbed on a whim for the early park entrance. But now that I have a princess maniac, I think it could be a blast (I think she is getting better at naming Disney princesses than naming her relativesI totally understand your ADR dilemmas. They are so hard! And then throw in SWW? Yeesh!!! I think the only advice I can offer is: KEEP AKERSHUS. We have never had a bad experience there (breakfast every time we have been to WDW), and the princesses are great! I guess there is some info that they have Anna and Elsa at times now, so maybe they are heading to a more Frozen theme, but I don't think that's a bad thing! (We LOVE Belle, but why is she in Norway????
). I did see something about Anna and Elsa maybe being there. I think we will be okay with whichever, as she likes them and Belle a ton, but wouldn't know what she's missing.Yay, I'm even more excited now too! I will bounce along with you!Can't wait to hear more about your upcoming trip. Seriously - I am so excited that you are trying DCL for the first time!!!!
Same here - it was always on the list, as everyone seems to love it so much. It was kind-of hard to pull the trigger, though, since we had a really fantastic experience with Royal Caribbean back in 2008 and they have much cheaper options (though, I have to say, I priced out the equivalent to our cruise on RC's site and it was about the same price as we paid). Knowing that DCL is so good with little ones was a big justification, though.
Oooh, sounds like it's good that Olaf wasn't there! And a bald Kristoff?!
Wow, good thing that toddlers don't have great attention to detail. We waited maybe 15 minutes for Anna and Elsa - not terrible, especially since we got a song! We once did a "princess cruise" on the Mississippi and they have "princesses" that don't even really try to be authentic-looking, but are clearly certain ones. It's funny, but Izzy didn't seem to mind. Totally made me wonder what Disney would think, though. 
. We will be there at the same time for our first F&G and SWW. I am with you on the ADR hoarding. I didn't plan it but there is just so much up in the air with SWW. Hopefully, we can both make some decisions once they announce everything.
I'm really excited to eat there - it was on Anika's short list of "must-do's" as it's always fallen off the list. We'll likely be leaving for the dark side shortly after we finish our meal, but perhaps if you have a mid-day break at the Boardwalk (or even better, the Beach Club if you waitlist comes through!) we should see if our paths can cross. 
