Celebrating 21 Years of Mickey Ears

[IceSk8ersMom]

The back story: My DD will be 21 this June, so we had to decide on how to celebrate it.

What do you do for the only child who has had a Premium Pass to Disneyland her whole life?


Who is your princess?


Who fell in love with DCL when she was ten?


Who watched her grandparents celebrate 40 years of magic on the Magic?


Who spent a magical Christmas and a wondrous Thanksgiving aboard DCL?


Who has visited the holiest place for her religion on DCL?


My DH and I had to deliberate for awhile, and the conclusion was a Disney Cruise !
This will be our 8th Disney Cruise, but wait, my DS and my DBIL decided to go on the cruise too. My DBIL suggested since he has never been to DW, we should do that too. Great idea! I knew I always liked him.

The Game Plan:
First, since 2012 Hurricane Isaac decided to change our itinerary from western to eastern, selecting the itinerary was easy. We made our reservations on the Fantasy for June 25, 2016 on its Western itinerary C. We reserved a Category 5E, deck 10 aft. Next up, my DH and I exchanged our timeshare for a two bedroom condo at the Mystic Resort and Golf Club in Celebration, Florida. That means starting June 18th, we will be spending a week at DW. My BIL also had enough points to fly all 6 of us to Orlando for FREE! He was a bit disappointed that he could not fly us all first class. I told you I have always liked him. Car rental or Limo, DW tickets, golfing, and so much more will be worked out, and you, my friends, will have a front row seat.

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

Who are the players in this Disney celebration?


The starting line up: First and foremost is the birthday girl, my DD, Raven. She is a junior in college and a Disney geek, and then her DBF, Adrienne, is also a junior and a Disney geek. Next up are my DS, Cheryl, and DBIL, Scott; they are the cool auntie and uncle. We travel a lot with them, and we always have a great time. My DH and DBIL have a true bromance; they love to golf, and the only people that laugh at their jokes. Finally, my DH and I have been married for 21 years, and I love Disney; he tolerates it because of the women in his life.

This is Raven and Adrienne at DL.


This is my DD, my DH, Mike, my DS, Cheryl, my DBIL Scott, and me in 2012 - Disney Fantasy Inaugural Cruises.

That’s right; it is an adult only Disney adventure. This is the first time that we will be childfree on DCL and at DW. It will be a whole new experience. Instead of standing in line for Peter Pan, we will be drinking around the world at Epcot; instead of standing in line for princess’ autographs, we will be participating in Mixology or Martini Tasting. Another huge change is that like Adrienne, I too am gluten-free. I have started my research on eating gluten-free on the cruise and at DW. It is exciting that this trip is going to be a lot different.


I need to mention our second string, who will not be traveling with us. They are my DD, Joe and Cheryl, DM. They have been on 6 of the 7 cruises that we have taken. Unfortunately, at this time, they are unable to travel far from home.

This my DD and her grandparents on our 2011 Thanksgiving cruise on the Wonder.

Finally, there is our third string. They are cute and loveable, our puppies. They get along and love to play with each other. Our dog walker will be supervising their workouts while their family is away.

Here they are with DD, DH, and DBIL: Sweet Pea, Latte, Sam, Scrappy, Baxter, and Zooey (missing from picture) in their football costumes last Halloween. I am trying to figure out this year's costumes.


That is it; that is our team. Unofficially knew as the Princess Drinking Crew.

Cheers to 21 years!

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

I have not been on in awhile, and we have accomplished a lot. First, I am proud to announce our family is growing with the arrival of another fur child. Her name is Hazel. She is all puppy and is the perfect addition for us empty nesters.
Below is a picture of Hazel and DD.

Originally, my DD, her DBF, my DH, and I were in one cabin, but we exchanged our 2017 week for an inside stateroom. Now, my DD and her DBF have their own stateroom, and my DH and I do not have to share our verandah with two college students. Hooray!
Another biggie we made our final payment in January, so we did the

In addition, we have crossed off several items from our list: transportation to the port: Done; we are going with Happy Limo. Dining ressies while we are at WDW made; the most exciting ressie is Be Our Guest at MK. Also, DD talked us all into Disney Bounding as characters from Beauty and the Beast.

Until next time...

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

Update: Called DCL to inform them that 50% of our party is gluten free and to request ERAERRA dining rotation. We also paid in full this week. On March 12th, we were able to start online check-in, scheduling port excursions, etc. Since we live on the West Coast, we were able to log on and start the process at 9 pm on Friday night. We got our 10:45-11:00 am PAT. As far as adult dining, we got reservations for Remy dinner and Palo brunch and dinner. In addition, we are scheduled to take a Beach Break in Cozumel. We decided not to do any excursions in Jamaica and the Grand Cayman. Unfortunately, we were unable to get a cabana to accommodate a party our size. In the past, we have tried and tried with no luck, but this is the first time that two cabanas were available at Serenity Beach for parties of 2. We are getting closer, and it is a perfect reason to go on another cruise to get that platinum status. We also reserved parasailing for my DD and her DBF. It is a birthday surprise. Another birthday surprise is we purchased 2-day Universal Studios tickets for them.

I received our Cheers to 21 Years embarkation shirts, and I found some great birthday magnets for our stateroom doors.
In regard to cruise shopping, I decided to let Stitch Fix (a personal online shopping service) do all my cruise shopping. My first cruise fix came this month. Wow, it my personal shopper nailed it!

What is next on my to do list? Few more matching shirts for WDW, decision about petsitting, purchase WDW tickets, and planning to plan. It is confession time...I am proud to admit it. I suffer from vacation planning OCD.

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

Yesterday, my daughter was accepted into the Disney College Program at Walt Disney World. This is a picture of her at her first visit to Disneyland.