WDW & RCCL ...so happy together trip report! ~~~Pictures added!

[loveysbydesign]

PRE-TRIP!!!
Let's see here.....where to start!?!?!?
Well I was to WDW in 1987 with my parents and again in 1992 for my senior class trip....great memories and a longing to go again prevailed. DH and I got married in '96 and had a honeymoon booked to WDW and a Bahamas cruise....2 weeks before the wedding the travel agency goes bankrupt and we lose the honeymoon. Our credit card fought to get our $ back but it was no use......WWWAAAHHHHHHH. Fast forward 10 years.... never had a honeymoon and our 10 yr. wedding anniversary is coming up, our kids are almost 7 and 4 and I am dying to go to WDW!!!!!

Hmmmmm the tax return will be coming soon...can I talk dh into it?

Sorry to cut it short but just realized it's time to go to the in-laws for a Memorial Day bar-b-q!!! See you later!

 

[OhMari]

Hope to find out if you are going.

 

[TLinden16]

I also hope you can talk DH into going. Not fair that you didn't get your honeymoon.

 

[loveysbydesign]

I'm Back!!! Soooooo...... sorry for the delay but between dance recitals, end of year field trips , cub scout graduation etc things have been way too crazy fro me to continue...here goes!!!

Can I talk dh into it? That's the BIG question. I start out small right after Christmas, mentioning how we should go to WDW and on a cruise for our 10 yr. anniversary. He flat out tells me we can't afford it and even if we had the $ that we have better things to spend it on-the nerve of him to mention things that he thinks are better than Disney, e.g. buying a new furnace, replacing a couple of windows, (we live in an old house, built in 1875-a few windows are still plate glass-yikes!) fixing the oil leak in my minivan-LOL! I start my resaerch, gameplan in mind. I find the DIS!!!!! Lightbulb moment! AHA...we can afford it if we live extra frugally and use our tax return and all our savings....hey you only live once right?!?!?! I talk about WDW every chance I get, figuring that if I bombard him constantly with Disney info. he will cave....it works...within a month I've got him almost totally convinced that we have to go! HOORAY!!! I start researching on the DIS...what are our options and what can we do to really afford to go? 2 weeks later my dh finally exclaims "Shut up about WDW already, just go ahead and plan it yourself, stop asking me my opinion!!!"
WOO-HOO!!! Driving him crazy with details has pushed him over the edge and given me the OK to plan, plan, plan!!
More to come later when I get back from sewing...I gotta keep up with my orders-LOL!!!

 

[loveysbydesign]

sorry for the delay
HOORAY...I've nagged him to death and now I get to plan our 1st trip to WDW!!! I am in Heaven and am researching out the wazoo about when to go, where to stay and how much can we afford to spend? Thank you DIS!!! If it weren't for the DIS we never could have afforded to go and had as much fun as we did! After hours and hours and hours of research I decide we'll go in early May (low crowds, ds bday, Mother's Day and 1 month before our 10th Anniversary) fly (thanks SW DING), rent a car (Alamo), stay off-site in a 2 bdr. condo (1st week at Windsor Hills, then cruise, then 4 days at Cypress Pointe Grand Villas-dh snores like a radioactive grizzly bear) and get non-hopping passes (thanks TGM) We left May 9 and got home the 22nd.

~~~~~OK...at 1st we were gonna fly out of Allentown and into Sanford via Allegiant Air...we really didn't want to have to drive to Philly or Newark and Allentown is only 15 minutes away. I even booked a rental at Sanford, figuring I'd buy airline tickets as sooned as I saved up the last $200 we needed for them. However as our trip got closer the prices got higher and higher for Allegiant and then I found out about "DING" !!! I download it...2 days late a DING from PHL to MCO arrives for $34 down and $39 back.....OMG!!!! I tell dh...we're flying outta PHILLY and the total for all 4 of us roundtrip was....$368...AMAZING!! I cancel ressie from Sanford and start scouting out codes for Alamo...I finally get a mid-size SUV from Alamo for May 9-22nd for...$213...WOW!!! We have our flight and I can now book our condo! We get a 2 bdr. at WH for $540 for 6 nights, a cruise on RCCL's Sovereign for $1300 and then I make a mistake...I book Palms Suites Lakeside for the 4 days after the cruise, before we fly home. HMMMMM...that last booking haunts me for months until about 2 weeks before we leave for the trip...the revies are horrible or good...what to do??? I but out 7 day non-hoppeing with pluses from ticketmania...great price! I decide 1 week before we leave to find somewhere else to stay instead of at Palms Lakeside...I findhotelkingdom (thanks to the DIS) and book CPGV..I feel much better now! I book a park-nfly package at the Comfort Inn near Philly airport...$140 to stay 1 night and park for 2 weeks and it includes cont. breakfast. Hooray!!!

Here's our cast:
Me-Tracey (31) Been to WDW 2X...1987 and 1992 and dying to go to WDW again as an adult...feel like if we don't go soon I'm gonna die! I'm a work-at-home mom (even though I hardly make any profit-LOL) to ds (turns 7 while at WDW) and dd (3 3/4 y.o. but acts like she's 16!)

DH-Jeff (34) Never been to WDW- flat out tells me he really doesn't even want to to go WDW (the nerve) and tells me I should feel very lucky that he's even letting me plan this trip...I keep reminding him that we will also be going on a cruise and that the cruise has a kids club-wink, wink- so we'll have lots of time together by ourselves after we go to WDW---this makes him happy!

DS-Richie(turns 7 while at WDW) never been to WDW and is super excited that we're going! Is upset howvere when I tell him Sea World will have to wait til the next trip!

DD-Becca( 3 3/4 y.o and she'll tell you that too!) Never been to WDW and really wants to go...however she is petrified of characters!!! I'm hoping she'lll outgrow it before we go...afterall it's not even spring yet and we're going in May (WRONG-We go and see Sesame Street Live 1 week before we go to WDW and when the characters come off the stage onto the floor where we're sitting she buried her head in my lap and cried hysterically!!!)

Coming next....our arrival in Florida!!

 

[pumba]

we had an agency that shut their doors and thank goodness we got our 2000 dollars for just air for 8 people.......back..
We didnt know about it until two months after they shut the doors but visa worked hard to get our money back....
Thanks for your report

 

[loveysbydesign]

I have to apologize if I give too many details or not enough...sometimes I think of too much to type and other times i draw a blank...it's hard for me to type while my kiddos are around 'cause they love to bug me when I'm on the computer-LOL!

May 8th...we pick up ds early from school, drop our Sheltie, Leia at my in-laws and head down to Philly to stay over night at the Comfort Inn and catch out 10:50 flight to WDW the next morning!!! The Comfort Inn was great, very clean and friendly. We ate at the Philly diner next door for dinner....the kids were so excited about leaving for WDW the next day that they were driving us nut-LOL! Food was very good and not too expensive. We go back to the hotel and chill out before bed. We get settled...me and dd in 1 bed, dh and ds in the other. Uh-Oh...dh starts with the snoring before any of the rest of us are even sleepy...I swear he zonks as soon as his head hits the pillow. DS climbs in w/me and dd to get away from dh and his snoring...now you have to realize that my dh snores no matter what way he sleeps, stomach, side, back......UGH the agony! No matter what you do he keeps snoring....1/2 hr. later my kiddos are finally asleep....3 hr's later I'm still not asleep! It's 1:00a.m. and I'm wanting to smother dh with a pillow...or at least book myself another room-LOL! The worst part is that his snoring bounces off the walls of the hotel room and encompasses me.....AAAHHHHHH...thank goodness I booked a 2 bedroom condo. and not a single room for our vacation! I toss, I turn...next thing I know it's time to get up, eat our free breakfast and catch the shuttle van to the airport. I look horrible, dh says " what happened to you? you look terrible!!" I wanna knock him out-LOL! I think I slept maybe 3 hours total the whole night...what a way to start out a vacation....especially when we've never flown before!

May 9th-We take the van over to the airport and use curbside check-in...so easy. It's 8:45 and we make our way over to securtiy...the place is empty....we go through...at least the kids and I do...OH MY....my dh is stopped and taken into the little room next to the security belts...CRAP. I think to myself ...what is going on??? The kids are starting to freak out..."where's Daddy?? why's he in that room???" And I think "why's that guy putting rubber gloves on???' and tell myself don't panic, don't panic!!!!! Turns out my dh had an unopened pack of Marlboro Lights in his pocket and the foil was making the sensor go off...I wanted to smack him right then and there in front of everbody. Instead I said "What the heck are you doing with cigarettes????" as loud as I can.(He had quit last year, but does smoke one once in awhile at work when he's stressed.). Never at home, in the car etc, as I'm allergic to cigarettes. Boy did I embarress him...then the kids starting telling him cigarettes are bad...blah..blah and he turned bright red! Crisis over we head over to our gate and sit down...it's only 9:00 and we have to keep the kids entertained until 10:50....YIKES!!!
Day 2 to be continued later...the kids are fighting!!!

 

[loveysbydesign]

May 9th continued...
OK...crisis averted and time to kill before we get on the plane. After a couple potty trips and lots of snacks it's finally time to get into the preboarding line for SW. We're like 3rd inl ine, go down the ramp and gate-check our stroller (which I fastened together with 3 bungee cords and wrapped in a protective cover ( I had sewn it) and secured it with industrial stregnth velcro...i've seen too many posts about strollers being damamged so I tried to prevent it) and hop on board to pick out our seats...what a great day to fly...beautiful sunny skies! Th flight is great and its so clear outside we can even see the Chesapeake Bay bridge...really neat!

We arrive in Orlando 40 minutes EARLY!!! We sit on the runway and wait for a gate to open up for us. Hop off, get our stroller...UH OH>>>the back rear wheel is damaged and ready to snap off. Go get our luggage and use a porter guy to haul it to Alamo's rental counter...wait about 15 minutes and then we're off to pick up our midsize SUV...we opted for the Saturn Vue as I could NOT see over the steering wheel of the buick Redevous (I'm only 4'11" inches tall) I'm AMAZED at how much luggage and crap this car can hold...we had 4 large rolling suitcases, 2 small rolling suitcases, 2 duffel bags, 3 backpacks, a garment bag, a soft-sided cooler and a stroller. WOW!!!! Hop on the highway and away we go to Windsor Hills. It was easy to find, we settled in and then I went to the Winn-Dixie down the road to get groceries. WH was great!!! Clean, convenient and affordable...if we had the $ we'd buy a place there-LOL!
Coming up next...our 1st day at Magic Kingdom!!!

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoying reading your report ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[loveysbydesign]

Forgot to mention that we ate at Giordano's before checking in at Windsor Hills....the food was great and we even had leftovers to take to the condo with us to snack on the next day when we took our afternoon break!
Oh and here's a pic of my kids in their room at the condo!

May 10th...Or 1st day official day at DISNEY!

I've already got everything packed ready for our 1st day from, the night before...Kool-Aid singles, mister fans, sunblock, tickets, small soft sided cooler w/snacks, my Travelon bag (holds the imp. stuff such as our tickets, sunblock, hand sanitizer, my digital camera) my Ds's and Dd's fannypacks, kids ID bracelets, camcorder etc! The crew knows that we are gonna be up and out of the condo by 8:00a.m. No problem there, we're all so excited we're up by 7..we eat breakfast and head out the door bursting with happiness that today is THEE day! We are only about 7 minutes from the gate, we arrive at the gate, pay and head to park. We're so early that they park us in AAA Diamond Parking even though we don't have a parking pass...I thought that was strange!!! Who cares...at least we're here and no tram for us today. We take the momorail over and get through the turnstiles by 8:30...we watch the opening show. WOW...I am like totally trying not to let me dh see me get all teary!! I can hardly believe that we are here and I want to bawl me eyes out...but I hold it together! We watch the show and then head into the park to the left and follow our set itiniery. I'm practically running down Main St. Dh can hardly keep up...even though it's usually the other way around since he's 6'2" and I'm 4'11' tall-LOL! He knows though, that for us to follow our ride schedule we gotta move!!
We stop at the castle and swap cameras with another family to take pictures. My ds has all of the sudden got to do goofy things with his arms when he's getting his picture take...and yes he is almost 7 and in a stroller..it was a godsend!

I tell kids..we'll go in the castle later and we head towards Space Mtn and I grab FP for it then we hurry over to Dumbo...our 1st ride!! It's also the 1st time any of us has gone on it as on my 2 previous trip to WDW in '87 and'92 I never got to ride it. We get in line and are finally "herded" into Dumbo's left corral. The guy running this ride is like 120 years old!!! No I'm joking...more like 85! Now,my Dad is 75 and quite youthful for his age...this guy working Dumbo looked like he was gonna keel over at any moment! Hooray..it's out turn...wait...he's letting the people from the right corral go on next..the people from the right side just went...he's skipping our side...the AGONY!!! Parents are getting upset, children are crying "it's our turn....." the guy ignores us..ah-ha a new younger CM comes to help...thankfully we get to ride it next...WE CHEER! Dumbo is accomplished! Next we head to Winnie-the-Pooh and walk right on..UH-Oh...dd's afraid of the woozel,heffalump neon part of the ride-all of the sudden she's afraid of the dark!!!!!!!, then Peter Pan ( dd loves Peter Pan..however she cried and buried her head in dh's lap...I'm thinking what is with this child...the only thing she's ever been afraid of is spiders...never the dark!!!) and walk right on, then Dh takes dd on the Carousel while me and Ds go on Snow White. Next we hit PhilHarmagic....WOW...it's amazing...we love it..except for Becca, who whips off her glasses and freaks out when the 1st thing flies out at us. My ds keeps laughing and reaching out in front of himslef to try and catch the stuff...really cool! Plus it was nice an cool inside-LOL!
~~~To be continued in a bit!

 

[pumba]

thanks so much for your report so far......it sounds like your dd may not like a few of the rides her brother will like.....LIKE ME........thanks again

 

[ely3857]

Great stuff, Loving the pictures



Jodie