Go on take the money and run, pre-trip report 5/17 - 5/21 Disney Wonder About This Page:

[sueh818]

Although this is both a land and sea vacation, I decided to post the pre-trip report here since the sea portion was longer, and it all started with the cruise.

Update 9/20/2009. I've finally begun my trip report.

You'll find the land portion here.


Cast: Sue (38) Theo (39)
What: Saratoga Springs May 15 – 17, Disney Wonder May 17 – 21.
Celebration: Our 15th Wedding Anniversary




How it started
Last Summer when the Disney Magic was on the West Coast, we fulfilled a dream, taking our four young daughters on one of the 7-day Mexican Riviera cruises. This was our first ever real vacation -- one that was fun for everyone and truly relaxing for everyone. Before the cruise we had anticipated that our family would love cruising and want to go again, so we set aside some funds to rebook on board to take advantage of the on board savings.


Several days into the cruise Theo and I were bemoaning the fact that we wouldn't be able to swing a trip this big for a couple of years, especially if we have to pay for airfare to the East Cost (we are from California) on top of the price of two staterooms. We really didn't want to wait that long! Grasping at straws I pondered aloud What if it were just the two of us? What if it was just a 4-day? Would that be too cruel to do the kids? Then a sudden inspiration, You know what, Hey! It's our 15th anniversary in April! That would totally justify a kid-free trip! We could take the money we had set aside for the deposit and that would cover most of a trip for the two of us! Hee, hee, hee, hee!


So we looked into some dates and called the future cruise desk, which was very busy. We played phone tag with the future cruise rep a few times and in the meantime, Theo suggested we attend the DVC presentation to see if that was a good fit for our family.


We very quickly realized that if we took the money we had set aside for the trip and used it as a down payment for DVC, we could go on our Anniversary trip, plus many more in the future.


Back home we considered all options and decided that instead of going on the actual day of our Anniversary in on April 30, that we would wait until mid-May when the girls would have state testing at school and a whole week with no homework. No homework would be much easier for Gramma.


So I contacted DVC reservations and booked a Category 9 stateroom for the May 17-21 cruise on the Wonder. Theo and I talked and decided it made sense to fly out the day before so we wouldn't have to worry about delays and having the ship sail off without us. Then we though that if we're flying in the day before, why not try out and stay at our new home resort, Saratoga Springs? Then we went on, Shesh! We're flying all the way out to Florida and staying at the WDW resort (where we've never been before, BTW) with no time at all to check out the parks?! That's just silly! Yet we still didn't want to leave the girls for too long or overburden Gramma, so we decided to add just one more day so we could at least have a chance to see Epcot. So I called DVC and booked a Studio at Saratoga Springs for two nights, May 15-16.


Next I started researching flights. We thought we should try to get an early flight so we'd have time to relax at the resort that evening. That's when I saw an overnight flight that left at 10 pm Pacific time on May 14 and arrived at 6 am Eastern time May 15. And that got me thinking. I reasoned that if we were leaving early on Friday, then Gramma would already be spending the night at our place on Thursday, and if she was already spending the night, would it make much difference if we left after the kids were in bed on Thursday night vs. Friday morning? That would give two full days at the park! Sure, we would be tired, but hadn't we survived plenty of sleepless nights when the twins were little? I was pretty sure that DH wouldn't want to take a red-eye, but he surprised me and said, “Go for it!”

The next few months there wasn't a ton going on trip-planning wise. I watched the air fares, and pored over my Passporter Guided to WDW, researched restaurant ideas, and made a few door signs. For Christmas I asked for and received a compact travel camera that was durable and waterproof. (On the last trip I didn't take as many pictures as I'd have liked because I didn't want to carry our big expensive camera around with me everywhere.)


Then as the 90 day mark approached the air fares went on sale and I was able to get our plane tickets for $238 each (down from $404 a few months ago). A couple days later ADRs opened up for our arrival dates and I finalized our plans for our WDW stay. Two days later we hit the 90 day mark for our cruise and I was able to get all the reservations we wanted for that. Here are the rough plans:


Day One, Friday, May 15
Arrive 6 am
Magical Express to Saratoga Springs.
Check in and drop off our carry-ons.
Head to Disney Hollywood Studios.
9 am Brunch at Hollywood and Vine.
5 pm Dinner at Brown Derby.
We wanted to do “dinner and a show” and were disappointed to find out that Fantasmic would not be showing that night.

Dav Two, Saturday, May 16
Epcot all day
11:30 am lunch at Coral Reef
5:30 dinner at Tutto Italia


Day Three, Sunday, May 17
9 am breakfast at the Grand Floridian Cafe
11 am take the Disney Ground Transfer to Port Canaveral.
All aboard the Wonder!


Day Four, Monday, May 18
Nassau – Stay on the ship.
6 pm dinner at Palo.


Day Five, Tuesday, May 19
Castaway Cay
10 am Parasailing


Day Six, Wednesday, May 20
At Sea
10 am brunch at Palo.


Day Seven, Thursday, May 21
Back at Port Canaveral.
Disney Ground Transfer to MCO.
12 pm flight home.


Now just a quick three months and it will be here!


...And that's how I managed to turned a 4-day cruise into a 7-day land/sea vacation.

[chezp]

What a great start - and what wonderful plans! I can't wait to hear all about it.

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Sue!!

[stacyconway10]

Looking forward to joining you on the big boat and look forward to more pre-trip updates!

[lauriep]

Sounds great! Looking forward to the report.

[I live with a 'Stitch'!]

I love your Disney math! Way to make the most out of your anniversary trip! Can't wait to read all about it!

[cburke]

great start

[DyanKJ130]

Great start and plans! Looking forward to hearing all about your trip!

[sueh818]

Thank you everyone for your encouragement.

Originally Posted by I live with a 'Stitch'!

I love your Disney math! Way to make the most out of your anniversary trip! Can't wait to read all about it!

"Disney Math" I didn't know there was an official name for it

Looking forward to joining you on the big boat and look forward to more pre-trip updates!

I wish I had something to update! These times in between are the hard parts.
P.S. I have a door magnet all ready for you. I guess I could update with the door magnets I've made.

[sueh818]

Here is a sign I made for my door:




Here are some signs I made for the fellow passporters who will be on the same cruise.

For stacyconway10:




For cmliberty:



For her daughter and son-in-law to be:



Now that I'm in between things to do with this trip I should probably work on my photo journal from our Disneyland visit last month.

[chezp]

Love those signs!

[Colexis Mom]

Great stuff!!

[DyanKJ130]

the signs!

[stacyconway10]

Your magnets are wonderful!! Very creative and I hope you both had fun making them.
Definitely a good way to spread some magic!
Time is going so slow-but I am enjoying all the updates on the message boards and learning a lot!
I typically try to give my room hostess/hostesses & servers a little extra something the first day of our journey so I am brainstorming on that idea right now. ...

[Kenny]

Another "Sue" Cruise to read about! But leaving the kids with Grandma and going Disneying without them?.. SHAME on you! (but I love it!)
Sounds like some good plans, I was glad to see Palo brunch. Great signs, BTW!