This Trip brought to you by Truck Fire & Eye Surgery ~ Magic Cruise 11/24/12

[vleeth]

I've asked the Mods to move this from the WDW PTR to the DCL PTR. Earlier this month we decided to cancel WDW and do our First Disney Cruise due to yet another Eye Surgery!
I've decided to do a pre-trip report, now that I've got my trip pretty well planned out.
First the cast of characters...

There is me, Valerie 35, DH Dave 57, DD Hope 7


Us on our Carnival Cruise, Oct 2011

Hope on the cruise

We are driving on Black Friday. Not sure what time we'll leave yet, because I'm not sure if we will do any shopping. Current plan is to hit the Disney Outlets when we get there and then check into a cheap motel for the night. Our Disney vacation offically starts when we check into All Stars Movies on Sat, Nov 24. We will check out on Friday, Nov 30 and check into a Universal Partners hotel for one night.

This will be our first trip to Disney when all the Christmas stuff is out. (We caught the lights at studios on a Jan trip.)

As for the explanation of the title...this isn't the first time we planned a trip to Disney at Christmas...nor is it the first time we planned a trip to Disney this year.

In November of 2007 we decided after our Thanksgiving trip to Grandma's we would swing past Disney before we went home. On the way to Grandma's the truck caught on fire.........while I was driving...........on the Interstate. I didn't actually see the fire. DH saw it out of the side mirror. Flames shooting from the tailpipe. So DH calmly tells me that the truck is on fire and for me to pull over. What? Did you say the truck is on fire? Yes, pull over. Well let me tell you, when I pulled over the flames got bigger....they are no longer shooting a foot out of the tailpipe, they are now 6-10 ft in the air. I can see these flames throught the rearview mirror...right on the side of where my dd2 was sitting eating her lunchable (funny the things you remember.)

Thank God the flames went out when I put the engine off. Then after several phone calls and a backward trip down the entrance lane of the interstate we found a hotel. The next day we got a rental and drove to Grandmas, but the trip to Disney did not pan out. We did go to Dollywood and that was really nice...but not the same.

Fast forward to this year. We were planning on going to Disney & Universal for our 10th wedding anniversary in June. In March, DH got a detached retna. That meant eye surgery and he had to stay face down for 8 weeks. At no point did I think his March surgery would affect our June trip. Two weeks before it was time to leave his dr. told him he could go, but to not ride anything jerky. Are you kidding??? It's not just the roller coaster that are jerky...have you been on TSMM? So we canceled the trip. I think I had some Disney depression...until we scheduled this trip!

[vleeth]

Chapter Links

[vleeth]

I guess I shouldn't have said anything about having my trip pretty well planned...because I got the binder out this weekend and decided we wouldn't have enough time to do everything in 3 days, so I'm taking away our rest day and making it 4 days at Disney. Now of course, I have to replan everything.

I should also mention that I booked with a free dining pin some time back. We are going for our first quick service trip. We thought about upgrading, especially since we could get CRT at 8:00AM. But we decided to not join in the ADR craziness this time around.

My main focus this time around is the Christmas stuff. Excited about seeing NPH in CP. Also, there will be a few first for my dd7, who was 5 last trip and couldn't ride some of the bigger rides.

I also want to mention that this weekend I was hit with a desire to start packing. Someone please tell me that is crazy and no one in their right mind would start packing this far out.

[reyasmommy]

You'll be arriving a day after we leave. You're lucky you'll be missing the Thanksgiving crow. ((I'm dreading it)) However it was the only time we could go so I wouldn't be taking DD out of school for too many days.

Ummmm, yeah I think it's safe to say that packing right now is a little crazy. I understand the desire though. I start purchasing little things like sunscreen, shampo, toothpaste, etc, etc around this time.That way I'm not overwhelmed by all the things I need right before we leave. There's a nightmare I have often where I'm getting ready to leave for my vacation, with just minutes to spare and realize that NOTHING is packed. I hate this dream and it forces me to start packing about a month in advance...... It's funny talking about this though, because just last week my BFF went on a cruise. She texted me from the airport and told me that she forgot ALL of her husbands clothes. ALLLLLLL of them. I would have a freaking heart attack. Her plane didn't get into Miami until midnight and their cruise left early in the morning. I couldn't even imagine.

Anyway....... Have fun planning your trip. You're going to have a great time.

[vleeth]

Originally Posted by reyasmommy

You'll be arriving a day after we leave. You're lucky you'll be missing the Thanksgiving crow. ((I'm dreading it)) However it was the only time we could go so I wouldn't be taking DD out of school for too many days.

Ummmm, yeah I think it's safe to say that packing right now is a little crazy. I understand the desire though. I start purchasing little things like sunscreen, shampo, toothpaste, etc, etc around this time.That way I'm not overwhelmed by all the things I need right before we leave. There's a nightmare I have often where I'm getting ready to leave for my vacation, with just minutes to spare and realize that NOTHING is packed. I hate this dream and it forces me to start packing about a month in advance...... It's funny talking about this though, because just last week my BFF went on a cruise. She texted me from the airport and told me that she forgot ALL of her husbands clothes. ALLLLLLL of them. I would have a freaking heart attack. Her plane didn't get into Miami until midnight and their cruise left early in the morning. I couldn't even imagine.

Anyway....... Have fun planning your trip. You're going to have a great time.

We were looking at Thanksgiving week, but I talked to her teachers at the end of school last year and the recommended we take her out for a week. She'll be in second grade and she ended first grade with a 4.0. When she gets older, we'll have to go at busy times.

I have Disney related nightmares myself. Mine are usually that I'm in a park and I didn't plan out our day. Or that we're getting to the park and the days half over. I've even dreamed that I forgot our tickets.

I make packing list and check things quite a bit, so I don't think I'd ever leave ALL of someones clothes behind!!!

[vleeth]

And Reyasmommy, thanks for joining me...I was starting to feel lonely over here.[

[reyasmommy]

Glad to be here! I know how it feels when nobody responds to your trip reports. It's fun to look back on when you're done though. I was reading through a TR I did back in 2007 and it was so nice to reminisce. I especially love seeing my baby girls bald head. she was bald until she was 3 1/2 and I remember everyone thinking she was a boy on that vacation, even when she was wearing a dress.

I actually had a dream last week where I was getting ready to leave on our cruise. We were at the port and I realized that we forgot our passports. ((Which reminds me I REALLY need to get those))

My DD will be starting 1st grade next month. I'm at that point where I'm okay taking her out of school for a week max, but in a couple of years it's going to be summers for now on. I hate traveling to Florida in the summer. We got married at the POLY in the month of June and it was horrible. Imagine wearing a heavy wedding dress in the hot orlando sun. Luckily it rained right before we said our vows and it cooled things off a bit. Unfortuantely there were no sunny skies in my photos though. I'm hoping to renew our vows at Disney when we have our 15 year wedding anniversary. Guess I better start saving for that. Even though it's not for another 4 years.

Wow, I'm rambling, SORRY! Just drank my morning coffee and my mind is going a million miles a minute.

I look forward to reading more of your plans.

[vleeth]

My DD was bald too...not quite as long. She had her first haircut at Disney when she was 21 months. She didn't need it...we just wanted her first hair cut at Disney. We had the same problem with people thinking she was a boy. "Oh, he's so cute!" He??? Seriously??? In the hot pink onsie??? lol[/

[jenseib]

oh my word...you have had some issues....Hopefully this trip is smooth sailing.

[Smileybug]

Wishing you lots and lots of for this trip.

[mommyof3princess27]

YAY! Im here!!!!! And joining in!

[vleeth]

Yay!!! I feel so loved!!!

I'm putting old Disney pics in photobucket so I can put those in. Should have a new update, tomorrow at the latest.

[vleeth]

Because we had to postpone our June trip, I decided to wait until closer to trip time before telling DD. She actually took the news about us not going pretty well. The thing she was most upset about was missing Star Wars Weekend.

We will tell her sometime in November, not sure when yet. I've come up with a treasure hunt and clues. There are 8 total clues. Each card has a different Disney or Universal character. Anyone know how to make the edges burn (or look it) with out burning the whole card...and the house...btw...did I tell you about the time our house burned down. I really feel for the people in Colorado that are having fires...it sucks. Anyways, I have a box that I'm putting stuff in for the reveal. I just got some water balloons (the box is small) to try to fill with helium...not sure if it will work...I'll keep you posted.

Here is a pic of DD on her first birthday. We were in town for a Signs Now conference and didn't acutally go to Disney. We've made it a tradition of taking pics in front of this statue every time we go.

[Smileybug]

Your DD is so sweet.

[vleeth]

Originally Posted by Smileybug

Your DD is so sweet.

Thanks!!! Of course, she doesn't look a thing like that anymore!