It's kind of fun to do the impossible - 32 days of fun and friends - updated December 29

[dizneeat]

to my 2018 trip report, which wasn’t quite impossible to get on the road, but it was SO much FUN!

We had a really awesome trip with a huge group of friends and it lasted for 32 days.



Let me introduce the cast, who you might already know, as they are all DISers.

First off there is pinkocto, or Pamela in real life and her mum Jeanette.

Then there are Teri1, or Teresa and her husband Mickey (and YES, this IS his first name)

And there were also franandaj, or Fran and Alison when not on the DISboards.

There was also jedijill, or just Jill for her friends.

And there was michelle9343, our friend Michelle, her husband Vito and their children Angelina and Vito jr and his fiancé Hannah.

And there is us – my dear brother and travel partner Tom and yours truly Karin.

We live in Europe, Austria to be precise and love everything and anything Disney. Tom is already retired, while I still have a few years of work/teaching ahead of me. We are stuck with my school schedule, so we have to travel at the height of summer, when it is blistering hot, but who cares when you can go and visit the Mouse.


We love to travel and even more so, to spend time and have fun with our US friends.


Now on to what this trip report is all about:


This trip had been in the making for quite a bit. After last year's short(er) vacation, which was extended by a certain Miss Irma, we had our mind set on a month long vacation, which ended up to be exactly 32 days long.

We had played around with a few scenarios, but then decided on a few days at WDW, a 7 night Fantasy cruise, followed by some more WDW time.

When we mentioned the cruise to some of our friends, they got on board (literally) one group after the other.

I played around with all kinds of resorts and things and this is what we came up with.


8 nights at WDW

5 nights Key West (the real thing)

4 nights WDW

7 nights Eastern Caribbean Fantasy cruise

7 nights WDW

makes 31 nights and 32 days.


We had lots of things planned, some of them old favourites, some of them new ones.


Here are just a few:

Disney After Hours

Monorail Dine Around

Starwars Dessert Party

Happily Ever After Dessert Party

Three Halloween Parties

Hallowishes Dessert Party

Passholder Playtime at DHS

California Grill Brunch

Savor, Sip and Sparkle

Happily Ever After Fireworks cruise

Moonlight Magic at Epcot

and then some …..


We all had a blast – wanna join us reliving it?



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[dizneeat]

Chapter links:

Day 1, August 8:
"Not the start to the trip that we had planned ..."

Day 2, August 9:
Let’s try this again! - Part 1
Let’s try this again! - Part 2

Day 3, August 10:
Let the fun begin! - Part 1
Let the fun begin! - Part 2
Let the fun begin! - Part 3

Day 4, August 11:
The perfect way to play at the Magic Kingdom - Part 1
The perfect way to play at the Magic Kingdom - Part 2
The perfect way to play at the Magic Kingdom - Part 3

Day 5, August 12:
So much food, so little time - Part 1
So much food, so little time - Part 2
So much food, so little time - Part 3

Day 6, August 13:
That IS another room with a view! - part1
That IS another room with a view! - part2
That IS another room with a view! - part3

Day 7, August 14:
A lazy day is a good day - part 1
A lazy day is a good day - part 2

Day 8, August 15:
Epcot’s Magic in the Moonlight - part 1
Epcot’s Magic in the Moonlight - part 2

Day 9, August 16:
On the way to Key West - part 1
On the way to Key West - part 2

Day 10, August 17:
Key West is calling our name - part 1
Key West is calling our name - part 2
Key West is calling our name - part 3
Key West is calling our name - part 4

Day 11, August 18:
Enjoying and exploring - part 1
Enjoying and exploring - part 2
Enjoying and exploring - part 3
Enjoying and exploring - part 4

Day 12, August 19:
Lots more to see, find and eat - part 1
Lots more to see, find and eat - part 2
Lots more to see, find and eat - part 3
Lots more to see, find and eat - part 4

Day 13, August 20:
On the road again - part 1
On the road again - part 2

Day 14, August 21:
Time for friends - part 1
Time for friends - part 2

Day 15, August 22:
Change of some plans, but not all - part 1
Change of some plans, but not all - part 2

Day 16, August 23:
Some plans need to be thrown over board today - part 1

Day 17, August 24:
Fun, an accident and a party - part 1
Fun, an accident and a party - part 2

Day 18, August 25:
Off to adventures on the high seas - part 1
Off to adventures on the high seas - part 2

Day 19, August 26:
We’re in a food coma - part 1
We're in a food coma - part 2
We're in a food coma - part 3
We're in a food coma - part 4

Day 20, August 27:
Day 21, August 28:
Day 22, August 29:
Day 23, August 30:
Day 24, August 31:
Day 25, September 1:
Day 26, September 2:
Day 27, September 3:
Day 28, September 4:
Day 29, September 5:
Day 30, September 6:
Day 31, September 7:
Day 32, September 8:

Summer 2019 - NEW trip planning

 

[Flossbolna]

What an epic trip! I am happy to hear that you intend to finish the other report, too! I hope this school year will be less stressful for you, so more time for trip report writing (I know what I am talking about, finding time is difficult!!).

I see that your next WDW ticker is over two years away, so no trip next summer?

 

[WDW Fan]

Looking forward to reading all about your new adventures!!!

 

[dizneeat]

to another one of my trip reports, Magdalene!

What an epic trip!

It definitely was. Didn't go without any hickups, but it was SO much FUN!

I am happy to hear that you intend to finish the other report, too!

I definitely will finish the last one (and the Panama one too!) - I have most of them typed out, so it is just a matter of finding the time to post them.

I hope this school year will be less stressful for you, so more time for trip report writing (I know what I am talking about, finding time is difficult!!).

I really hope so too. It's been a long stressful school year, but I will keep my fingers crossed, the next one will be better.

I see that your next WDW ticker is over two years away, so no trip next summer?

No, no trip to the US next summer for us. I hope to retire early and had to take a few steps towards that. But since I hope to retire in the summer of 2020, we are planning on a another big trip in the fall of that year or early 2021.

 

[dizneeat]

Looking forward to reading all about your new adventures!!!

Linda!
Thanks for sticking with me! This TR should be fun!

 

[Dentam]

Wow!! Looks like you had an amazing trip! Looking forward to reading all about it!

 

[Mickey.MAC]

omg, following!!

 

[dizneeat]

Wow!! Looks like you had an amazing trip! Looking forward to reading all about it!

Great to have you here. We had a great trip - even though it didn't start out like it.

omg, following!!

Happy you joined us!

 

[suse66]

Joining in as well!

 

[dromio42]

A new report. Yay!!

 

[chunkymonkey]

I’m here!! Can’t wait!!

 

[wdwnut61]

I’m here can’t wait to read about all the fun!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Excited to read all about your adventures!

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

Woo Hoo! I love your trip reports Karin. Can't wait to follow along Jana

 

[dizneeat]

Joining in as well!

Great to have you here!

A new report. Yay!!

Happy to have you here!

I’m here!! Can’t wait!!

Su-Lynn!
It was awesome to finally meet you this trip, even if it was just brief!

 

[ncc1701]

Always enjoy your reports. . Glad to join the gang.

 

[dizneeat]

I’m here can’t wait to read about all the fun!

It's wonderful to have you here after all the counting down we did together!

Excited to read all about your adventures!

So nice to have you here as well. I really hope I can pull this off on a regular basis.

Woo Hoo! I love your trip reports Karin. Can't wait to follow along Jana

Wohoo! Another one of my countdown buddies has decided to join us! So happy!

 

[dizneeat]

Always enjoy your reports. . Glad to join the gang.

Great to have you here. And welcome to the gang!

 

[dizneeat]

Day 1, August 8

„Not the start to the trip that we had planned ...“

August 8 was finally here. This long awaited vacation was going to start ……..

We got up around 7, and after taking showers and having breakfast we put out the leftover groceries for the house-sitter and left a note for her, before calling a taxi.

We closed up the house, hauled our luggage down to the street and waited. Didn’t take long and the taxi had arrived, the luggage been loaded and we hopped in and off we went to the airport.
The airport is only 20 minutes away and even with traffic through the city on a workday in the middle of the day it didn’t take much longer than the 20 minutes. We loaded our luggage onto a cart and off we went inside the airport. While we were just inside, Tom mentioned that he had gotten a text message. We stopped, he looked and then read out what had been sent to him.

Our flight from our hometown to Frankfurt had been cancelled.

Hm, what to do …. what’s next? Well, since we were at the airport, we got in line and went to the check-in counter. The agent was clearly not happy with everyone asking the same questions, so she just mentioned that we knew the flight was cancelled and there was nothing she could do. Yes, but what about our international flight. Her answer was to come back in half an hour, she might have an answer then. So we stepped aside and waited
…….. for half an hour.
Back to the agent and she was even more aggravated and told us to wait.
But while waiting I had noticed that there was a long line in front of the two airline-help phones. We decided to join that line. We waited for quite a long time until it was our turn and they finally were able to help. The lady on the phone was sorry, but there was no way we would be able to fly that day, but she had two seats on the same flight the next day.
Sure, not happy, but we’ll take those – umm …. but these seats are premium economy as that was what we had booked.
Yikes, no!
More time at the phone but about 10 minutes later we had the last two premium economy seats on the flight the next day. While on the phone we were told to head back to the agent to get us a ride back home since we didn’t need accommodations. Again we joined a long line, finally got to the agent and were told to step aside and wait for the next available group taxi. Fine.
By that time I was fuming.
But thankfully the group we were intended to join needed that whole group taxi, so we got our own taxi home. And while being driven back to where we had left just a few hours earlier I remembered that we needed to take care of a few things, like change the date on the rental car and try to change the date of the dining reservation we would have had the next day. So once at home we hauled all our luggage back,

called the house sitter that we didn’t need her that very day, then Tom decided to make us some pizza for lunch (as we had all the staples for it in the house),

while I tried to start figuring out our reservations for the first few days. In the end it took me all afternoon and several calls to the US to change the check in date on the hotel, to cancel and rebook the car, which turned out to be quite a bit more expensive for a day less since we had booked when they were offering a discount and I was finally able to change a few reservations around, so we could get everything in that we had wanted to do.
In the evening we had calmed down enough to enjoy a light dinner, watch some TV and finally go to bed a bit early after all that hassle.

To be continued .....

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