'Lorne's Magical Milestone Birthday' Trip Report

[retiredkid]

Actual Trip Report Starts on Page 3, Post 34
Here is my Pre Trip Report:
I’m so excited I just can’t wait. I think I will begin a little pre trip report so that I can expend some of the pent-up emotions before leaving on this trip. And I have them all. Excitement, frustration, worry, anticipation. Just know that I am not the writer that most of you are. I spend WAAYYY too much time reading other’s TRs and I am just awed at the talent here. So, if you still wish to follow along, please do

The players: Going on this little adventure are myself, Cathy, 58 & retired 1 year and my DH Lorne, 64 and retired for 11 years. He will turn 65 on our sailing date and this trip is my special gift to a special guy for his special birthday. I must confess that I am the Disney nut and he is the good sport who goes along with it all and admittedly has a whole lot of fun doing so.

This shot is taken in Toronto airport on our way to WDW in Sept. '07

We have been to WDW a few times, usually several years apart. Our last trip was this past September, traveling with DD & DSIL. We had an absolute BLAST at POP with free dining. I got such a grrreat deal. For less than 800 pp including air fare from Toronto. WOW! It was during this trip that I got ‘BIT BY THE DISNEY BUG’. I even considered purchasing DVC, but given our ages, and having no grandchildren, I talked myself out of it. (I may (read, probably?) talk myself into it again after this trip)

So…..DH is having a milestone birthday next year. What can I do for him that is really special???? I KNOW…. I KNOW a Disney cruise !!!!! Yeah! That’s the ticket!!!


Next up…. Let the planning begin!!

 

[retiredkid]

The date was easy enough to pick. Turning 65 on the sailing date?? Reason enough for me!! Now, we have only been on one other cruise. A Bermuda cruise back in 2004. But that cruise was two days at sea, three nights in Bermuda and another two days at sea. This time,we are really looking forward to having the different ports to explore (or not) as we choose. ‘Cause it sounds like staying on the ship is a whole lot of fun too! So off to the CAA travel agent to book the cruise. As it turns out, because we are in Canada, Disney could not include the airfare. So we booked the cruise only and were really excited. Our agent suggested that I try to find airfare online as that may be a little cheaper than her booking it. Too bad this is right smack dab in March/Spring break. But, NP, I’ll give it a shot.
Even though we are young a heart, we are a little bit ‘long in the tooth', (as evidenced by his 65th coming up), so we really do want to have a non-stop flight. Transfers do not appeal to us. At all. So I begin checking for non-stop flights. WHAAAAAAAAAAT???????? YOU HAVE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing under $1000 per person??? And that didn’t include taxes. Stooooopid March Break. It is a little less than 3 hours to fly from Toronto to Orlando. Many times they advertise $99 (plus tax) flights, so this just floored me. I tried all of the different sites. Tried to see, what if we left from Buffalo. (This was indeed cheaper, but not enough to make us want to drive there and back. March weather is so iffy in both Toronto and Buffalo. ) What about leaving on the Thursday and returning on Sunday. Still high. Signed up for every airline fare alert possible. Nothing worthwhile. DH said to just keep trying, he was so sure the price would go down. WRONG!! Up, Up, UP it went. I could not believe it. At one point, it was anywhere from $1700-2000 pp!! ***?? CRAZY !!! Now I’m beginning to second guess myself.. should we do something else? Go somewhere else? ANSWER?? NOPE!! So I started to think about booking a couple of weeks either later or earlier, (cheaper?, yeah) but I really wanted Lorne to have his birthday on the ship. Besides, he's worth it, I just want as much bang for my buck that I can get. Everyday, checking..checking..checking. We could get it for a little less than 800.00 pp if we wanted to take 8 hours to travel. Like I said, we don't do transfers. For weeks I checked. Nothing looked promising. I was going NUTS!! wait and check, wait and check, wait and check..then I get an email that Westjet has a special rates to Orlando. Only certain dates in March, (of course) blackout periods do apply…..yadda yadda yadda.. Couldn’t hurt to look. Right? Fly on Wednesdays for the best deal? In-ter-est-ing……. After a whole lotta fiddling and f*rting around on the site, I saw that I could book one way tickets for 239pp going on the Wednesday before the cruise and the same 239pp returning on the Monday after. Less than $500 pp? SHE SCORES!!! Still more than it should be, but I'm not gonna get any better than that for March break. Take it…take it….take it!!! YAY!

Now I know some of you are thinking…..yeah, goof. You still hafta book hotels and buy food and ‘stuff’. I know. But I would much rather spend the same money and have more time at Disney than to just hand it over to the airlines.. Right? Right!! Is that Disney math???? I think so.

Cruise is booked, flight is booked… Now what will we do for those 3 days prior and 2 days after the cruise? Plan, plan, plan.
Where will we end up?

 

[retiredkid]

I only found these (and other) boards fairly recently, when preparing for our Disney trip this past September. Up until then I was amongst ‘them’. The unknowing. So I joined. Which meant there were many weeks of lurking and occasionally posting, but always learning. The WWWW&Ws of Disney. So, armed with a head full of numbers, facts and knowledge, I planned the best trip to Disney we ever had. As I said, that’s when I got bit by the ‘bug’. So I found myself with another trip to plan.

Alas, I have discovered that I am nowhere near the planner I thought I was. I have changed my plans so often. And sometimes it cost me the deposit. Not much, but still.
I wonder if I will ever stick to the original plans? Only time will tell. I guess I need more practice. More trips! Someone enable me, please!!

So, when I first booked this cruise back in October, I thought that we would be traveling to Florida the day before the cruise and returning to Toronto the day after. Because of everything I have read on these boards, I booked the Radisson at Port for the Friday.
For the return trip, I booked POP Century for one night. Remember, all of this was before the 'airfare saga' of my previous post. And now that I have finally got our flights, things have to change. (for the better) Two extra nights before the cruise and one more night at the end of our trip. Oh well, if we really have to……… lol. So I call the Radisson Hotel directly to add another two nights. No problem. I then asked the girl just on the off chance if I could book the shuttle. She said of course!! She went and got the book, then told me that I could have my choice of times. They start at 10:00 and run every ½ hr. I asked for the 10:30 shuttle. She confirmed it right then and there.
(when I originally booked at the toll-free number, I was told that I had to book the shuttle whenever I checked in. A different story when I called the hotel direct. Just so ya know.)
I then went online and rented a car from Budget. I was going to pick it up at MCO and then drop it off on Friday night at Cape Canaveral. I got a pretty good price for it, too.

So herein, my friends, lies the problem..........It became apparent when planning out those three pre-cruise days that anything we wanted to do was mostly on Disney property. Yup, its okay……steal my thunder!
WE NEED TO STAY ON DISNEY PROPERTY!!! Right? Riiiight. And another thing, AFTER the cruise, staying at a value may be a bit of a letdown. Right? .
Don’t get me wrong. I LUV the values too, just not right after a cruise. SIGH.. Back to the drawing board. After careful thought this is what I did:

Cancel car rental – no charge. Cancel Pop Century – no charge. Cancel Radisson -- $25.00 ( not too bad. )
Since we like the values and want to get Disney-fied before the cruise, I booked the 3 nights at All Star Movies. For after the cruise, I went to a moderate resort, and again going by the good things heard on the various boards, I decided the last two nights we would spend at POFQ!! YAY! Done!!
Now for the down-and-dirty planning. What to do with all that time?????????

 

[retiredkid]

Im a little sad that it appears that I don't have any readers. I have a love/hate thing with writing trip reports anyway. And for a while, I was having a lot of trouble with this board. However, the problems are fixed now, so I can give it another shot.

Sooooo… I spent the next several days planning some more. I can tell you that I kept changing my ‘to do’ list so many times, my head was spinning. I surfed a lot on the DCL site, going through the ports of call, the excursions and the like. And, I asked a lot of questions on these boards. And I actually made a couple of decisions.
I called DCL and ordered the ‘celebration’ package as a surprise for Lorne’s birthday.
He actually turns 65 on our sailing date!! The stateroom is going to be decorated with: A Happy Birthday banner, a table centerpiece, a cascade, a door magnet and a birthday cake. The CM that I ordered it from was very nice. She asked me “since it is a special birthday, would you like Captain Mickey too?” Of course, I said “SURE”. Now, I don’t even know what Captain Mickey means….. a figurine?? A toy?? A man?? LOL!! I really dunno. But anything called Captain Mickey just HAS to be good. She also said that she would note his birthday on our file (I thought our TA would have done that) and she would have ANOTHER birthday cake for him on our second night at dinner. How nice!!
OMG how much weight are we gonna gain???? Oh well, cross that bridge whenever.
As for excursions, again, after a lot of questions, I found that I am most looking forward to Key West and of course Castaway Cay . Those two are a definite MUST DO. Possibly Grand Cayman, and lastly Cozumel. Since we will have a balcony, I think we will be spending a bit of time on it. Either watching the ocean on the days at sea, or people watching while we are in port. All of it appeals to us. Breakfast on the balcony, perhaps one afternoon an ‘adult beverage of choice’ along with the cheese and cracker plate often mentioned here and maybe even an occasional nightcap on the balcony . Yup,, I could get used to this. In reading that back, it sounds like we are a couple of lushes…..nothing could be farther from the truth. When the time came, I was able to book Palo brunch on our Key West day. The brunch time is 11:00 and as I understand it, it’s a little passed Noon when we would be docking. This gives us enough time to have brunch and then walk some of it off in Key West. Sounds like a plan, Stan. I hemmed and hawed about when to plan the dinner at Palo. I was scared of missing out on something in the dining rooms. So I booked it for our Grand Caymen day, (day 4). That way I will see all three restaurants first and also not miss out on the Pirates night. Did that make any sense? Hope so.
Some of this is coming together, but I still wanna line up some neat stuff for us to do. While not exactly on a budget, the money is still not coming from bottomless pockets, IYKWIM. But I do plan on making this trip one he will always remember. (HE’S GETTING REALLY BAD AT REMEMBERING. (‘CUZ HE’S GETTING REALLY….. REALLLLLLY…. OLD) Please don’t tell him I said that.

Next….What else can I get ourselves into?

 

[charpie127]

Hi Cathy,

I am reading your posts and you know we will be with you on sail date!

I like what you said about the drinks, we are not lushes either, but there is just something about getting the drink of the day and sitting on the deck and watching the waves go by.....relaxing. we went on a carnival cruise in November 2006 and learned an important lesson. one day the drink of the day was a blue margarita....yuk so now we buy one and if we like it, go get more ...if not take turns chugging it and go get pina coladas ha ha

See ya soon!!!!

Helen

 

[stagemomx3]

I love that you HAD TO add more days before your trip at Disney, and that you HAD TO stay at a moderate after your cruise. When is your sail date?

 

[retiredkid]

Hi Cathy,

I am reading your posts and you know we will be with you on sail date!

I like what you said about the drinks, we are not lushes either, but there is just something about getting the drink of the day and sitting on the deck and watching the waves go by.....relaxing. we went on a carnival cruise in November 2006 and learned an important lesson. one day the drink of the day was a blue margarita....yuk so now we buy one and if we like it, go get more ...if not take turns chugging it and go get pina coladas ha ha

See ya soon!!!!

Helen

Thanks for reading, Helen. Boy!! that sounds like a plan......Have Pina Colada as a back up Hope we cross paths. Don't forget there is a Dis meet.

 

[retiredkid]

I love that you HAD TO add more days before your trip at Disney, and that you HAD TO stay at a moderate after your cruise. When is your sail date?

Hi Chel.... I think thats the Disney Math working its magic
Our sail date is March 8th. We leave for ASMO two weeks today
Thanks for reading and posting.

 

[mkmommy]

Cathy

I found your pretrip report, look forward to meeting you on the cruise. I know about the Disney magic and the Toronto airfare, you lucked out, we are flying out of Buffalo as I need to return on the Sunday, and never saw anything less than $900 pp. We were not going to go to DW but my daughter said we had to go, I really lucked out on that, I decided to downgrade to an inside room and use the savings to spurlge on the Poly before the cruise, and then I found out we got upgraded to the same Category I first booked so we are really excited, got the Poly and a room with a window and stayed under budget.

Only 15 days till we leave on March 6 packing I guess needs to start.

Lisa

 

[retiredkid]

Cathy

I found your pretrip report, look forward to meeting you on the cruise. I know about the Disney magic and the Toronto airfare, you lucked out, we are flying out of Buffalo as I need to return on the Sunday, and never saw anything less than $900 pp. We were not going to go to DW but my daughter said we had to go, I really lucked out on that, I decided to downgrade to an inside room and use the savings to spurlge on the Poly before the cruise, and then I found out we got upgraded to the same Category I first booked so we are really excited, got the Poly and a room with a window and stayed under budget.

Only 15 days till we leave on March 6 packing I guess needs to start.

Lisa

Thanks for reading, Lisa. Isn't it crazy...the prices from Toronto? What a deal you ended up with. Sorta like getting the Poly for free!! Good for you.
My dream resort...maybe one day (sigh) I'll probably get the luggage out of storage on the weekend

 

[stagemomx3]

Hi Chel.... I think thats the Disney Math working its magic
Our sail date is March 8th. We leave for ASMO two weeks today
Thanks for reading and posting.

We check into CSR March 8th.

 

[retiredkid]

We check into CSR March 8th.

thats neat Chel... Have a blast!!! I tried to click the link to your report, but it wont lead me to it. I dont know if its my computer or not.

 

[stagemomx3]

thats neat Chel... Have a blast!!! I tried to click the link to your report, but it wont lead me to it. I dont know if its my computer or not.

I just clicked on it and it didn't work, I'll have to fix it tonight. I'm not sure why it's not working.

 

[retiredkid]

Now that Palo is booked, I can breathe. But you know……. you know…….. we really do need something else for the cruise. Now, whatever can I look at that will be a nice surprise for DH to be sure, but something that I can really look forward to as well???
Lets see now, we both really like the sauna in our condo building, so thaaaaaaaaat may be something I can check out. Hmmmmmm Here it is!! The rainforest room. That’s it!! I especially like the moist heat of a steam room, DH is not too sure. But willing to give it a shot…if not, there is always the sauna. Niiiiiiiiiiiiice. It will cost us $30 each time for the two of us. Oh, looky here….the Romance at Sea package gives you unlimited access to the Rainforest room. Sounds promising. Exclusive robes. Okay, and then? Delightful gifts upon your arrival. I love gifts. Palo whenever you want. (already done) Champagne breakfast….keep going….romantic turndown….and? and? A bottle of wine chosen from the ‘superior’ wine list when we have our night at Palo. SOLD!!!! Now, I have read good, bad, and indifferent reviews of the package. But after the (DISNEY) math…..we all know about Disney Math…right? I booked it! Really looking forward to all of it.

As for the ground transportation, I had booked the DME from MCO to ASMO, and from POFQ to MCO for the return trip. I had originally booked the transfers to and from the pier through Disney. It was okay from the pier to POFQ, but their busses don’t come near the value resorts, so we would have to schlep (is that a word?) our luggage from ASMO to the Swan resort in order to get the bus to the pier. On top of that, it was gonna be around 11:15 pickup. Too late for when I want to be there. Not happenin’ !! So I cancelled that leg of it. I am currently shopping around on the various sites and boards to find a town car service to take us to the pier. I also still gotta find sumthin’ to do before the cruise. Just because. I’ll find something, I’m sure.

But what will it be??

 

[retiredkid]

When we last left off, I had decided I needed to change the ground transportation from ASMO to the pier. After checking things out, I decided to go with Wheels to Wings. I ordered up an SUV, even though there is just the two of us. DH thinks of himself as a manly man (and he is) so I thought he would enjoy it. Done.
Well, we still need things to do both before and after the cruise. As I said, I think we’re gonna stay away from the parks this trip. So, for the day before we sail, after a bit of surfing around, I decided to book the Segway tour at Fort Wilderness. DH has always wondered what it would be like to be on one of these. Now he’ll know.
From what I understand, this tour is different in a couple of ways from the one at Epcot. You apparently are on hilly dirt trails at FW. Since we have never been there, I figured this will be a really neat way to see it. The vehicles have been modified with all terrain wheels or something. Another thing for macho, macho man. Me, I just hope the ride isn’t too bumpy. I can’t remember where I read it, but someone who did this tour wrote that they saw deer only about 10 feet away. That would be cool. The very nice CM (Mushu, I think) that booked this for me made note that this is a birthday trip. She said that maybe they will decorate his Segway. Atta girl !! Keeping my fingers crossed. I booked it for 11:30 a.m., figuring that after brekki at the ASMO, we can bus it to WL and hang around there a bit before taking the shuttle bus to FW. Sounds okay to me. So at least I have something planned for one of the days before the cruise.
Then I remembered that one of our favourite meals from our September trip was at Wolfgang Puck Café in DTD. Since we are staying at POFQ after the cruise, and since you can take what I hear is a very nice boat ride to DTD from there, I decided to give it try. YAY!! I snagged a 5:30 ADR and again, its noted as a special birthday.
This is all shaping up rather nicely, I think. What do you think??

 

[MomofCKJ]

Sounds like an absolutely wonderful trip! I love the little suprises you have planned for him!

And my DH went on a cruise about 4 years ago, a Norwegian Cruise Lines one, for our 10th anniversary. We LOVED our balcony! We did all the things you mentioned and sleeping with the door open and hearing the water was just the best!

Allyson

 

[retiredkid]

Sounds like an absolutely wonderful trip! I love the little suprises you have planned for him!

And my DH went on a cruise about 4 years ago, a Norwegian Cruise Lines one, for our 10th anniversary. We LOVED our balcony! We did all the things you mentioned and sleeping with the door open and hearing the water was just the best!

Allyson

ALLYSON, thanks for reading. We are looking forward to the fresh ocean air while we sleep. AWESOME!!!
You'll be leaving soon too.....exciting, isn't it?

 

[stagemomx3]

Are you packed yet?

 

[retiredkid]

Are you packed yet?

Chel, not even close. I don't even have our suitcases out of storage yet... How about yourself?

 

[retiredkid]

OMG … less that a week until we leave !! Where did all the time go?? I’m so freakin’ excited!!!
So Anywaaaaaaays. I was looking over the plans and decided that I will probably add just one or two more things to the itinerary and the rest of the time we will play by ear. Either we will spend some time around the pool, or will check out the other resorts for future trips. Because you gotta know, there WILL BE MORE TRIPS. I was thinking that maybe on debarkation day, after checking in to ASMO, we will make our way over to the SWALPHIN area, check the two hotels out, and then go for a round of mini golf at SummerWinterland (WinterSummerland? ) We would return to POFQ for a rest in the afternoon, and then make our way by boat to DTD for ADR and Wolfgang Pucks.
And for our last day, we would just relax, repack AGAIN?? And then head over to Boatwrights for our last dinner. I know, I know, I have read mixed reviews on the place, but hope we have some MOJO goin on and some pixie dust and some plain ole fashioned good luck that we hit it on a good day. But the best part is, I have also reserved a carriage ride after dinner. The very nice CM that booked it told me that if we want to bring our own drinks, we can. Alrighty then…..sounds good to me!! That probably means we will order a nice bottle of wine with dinner and then drink the last of it on the carriage ride. I think that sound pretty nice for a last night.
For a while, DH Lorne was gonna spring for the last evening’s dinner, as a ‘thank you’ to me for this trip. I talked him out of it. What I told him was that I just wanted to do the whole, entire, complete trip from beginning to end. What I didn’t tell him is that he is going to thank me by taking me to Alaska next year for my own milestone 60th birthday.
So as much time as I spent with these plans, I know that they can change because of weather, because of timing, because of how we feel or JUST because. No matter, that’s what this trip is all about. Having a good time without goin’ commando. Goin’ with the flow.
Oh yeah, yesterday, I got the UPS package from Disney with our Magical Express luggage tags from OIA to ASMO. YAY !! I don’t think I mentioned that this will be our first time ever on ME. Looking forward to it.
I may (or not) add to these plans. But now another whole stage of my planning. Pickup up a couple of little surprise gifts for Lorne to open. Nothing big. Even though this trip is his very special birthday’s very special present, he still needs something to open. Right? Riiiiight. Stay tuned to see what I end up with.