Family Vacation: We Must Be Crazy - A November PTR **11/06 - Conclusion!**

[MarieLightning]

180 Days Out = Dining!

This is gonna be a short update, because we have a very small amount of ADRs, but I figured I'd party it up a little since we did get what we wanted!

Not that it was excessively hard to get, but seeing as we're a larger group and a couple of options can sometimes be more sought out, I was definitely glad to snatch them up!

I was originally gonna be making all the ADRs, because I don't mind losing sleep to get up early so I can get it all done whereas Amber likes her sleep a bit more, but as it turns out, I had an interview at work scheduled today for another position so having to be in the office at 8, I had to leave home at 6:30. Thus, I put the responsibility of ADRs, and early wake up call, on Amber's shoulders.

In the end, she only had to make one (but I did push her out of bed right as I was leaving for it) because when I got up at 6, I checked the website just out of curiosity, and our dates were opened up!

Our first score was the first priority of the day, because although it's not the most popular dining time for that restaurant, it IS one of the more popular restaurants - Be Our Guest lunch!



We have it scheduled for 12:10 on our last park day, Saturday the 14th. We toyed between first or last day, because we had originally discussed other plans for the last, but those fell through and we figured we'd have an easier time getting that ADR for our last day than the first.

We do love the option of this because it's a slightly nicer QS meal, so we can all sit down together and relax a bit on our last park day, which will be nice.

The next ADR we made is, at this time, subject to change. It's an actual Table Service meal, so we had to run it by everyone as that would be a cost coming out of their pockets. We just figured it might be nice to have one sit down meal all together, and most everyone is in by now, but we're still waiting on a couple of answers - however, we figured we better block it off now since the odds are everyone will be in, and if not, we'll just cancel it.

At first, we'd thought of doing a pre-park opening breakfast at Crystal Palace. We loved doing that in May, and we especially loved the empty park pictures.

However, with the addition of Be Our Guest as a pre park ADR, the crowds are starting to thicken so the appeal isn't quite as much there anymore. Not to mention, I'm a little over character dining for now - don't get me wrong, I love it and I'll do it again. But being interrupted during my food time, or having to stall getting food because the characters are coming my way, isn't stellar, and with a group our size, I'm not sure it'd have been that great.

We decided to make a different suggestion instead - a Fantasmic Dining Package!

Anyone that has followed through with Amber and me before knows that not only are we big fans of the Fantasmic Dining Package, since we don't have to wait forever in line to get good seats, we get the good viewing in the reserved section, and we don't have to waste a Tier 1 FastPass on it.

And if you have followed along with our old TRs, you'll know which restaurant we went for.

Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano!



Amber has a very, very strong love for their steak, and even I'm a big fan of it although I'm usually more of a chicken eater.

So we'll be eating there on Tuesday, November 10th, and our ADR is currently for 11:45. That's a tiny bit early for my taste, but Amber likes eating lunch early since she doesn't really do breakfast, and I think the other option was 12:50, so we have to compromise at times!

Finally, our last ADR is another must do for the two of us, and Kameron will be joining in on it!

Friday, November 13th (oooh Friday the 13th!) we'll be having lunch at our favorite, Teppan Edo!



We made that one for 12:20, so we should be able to get a good amount of stuff done in the morning, split up for lunch, and then meet up with the rest of the family once we're all stuffed. Definitely looking forward to that chicken and those noodles!

So that's it for our ADRs! We do have a tentative list of quick service restaurants we're planning for, but obviously those are subject to change. I'm definitely curious to see if the newest Adventureland restaurant will be completed by the time we go, since rumors are saying it's slated to open late this year (then again, with the way Disney construction works, not holding my breath). Otherwise, we'll still have plenty of good options!​

 

[deedee2177]

Following along. I have followed along in the past on some of your TRs, but it appears there is another one I need to catch up on! We are going in November as well, but it looks like we are coming in on the day you are heading out

I have no idea how you managed to make these reservations! WOW!! I had enough stress with trying to update my reservation when FD came out and it is just me and my DH going this trip! It worked out well for us though because we were able to upgrade to a Moderate (CSR) and still save money!! Woohoo...all the stressful details are in my PTR.

Looking forward to following along on your plans!

 

[Glittercat]

Your ADRs look terrific! So happy that you got all of the ones you wanted!

 

[marabusybee]

Love your ADRs. We did Mama Melrose (fantasmic package) for our trip in February based on your recommendations. We loved it. The steak and that mac and cheese. Yummy! I decided randomly to book a solo trip for Dec! Can't wait to experience the holiday festivities at WDW.

 

[MarieLightning]

Following along. I have followed along in the past on some of your TRs, but it appears there is another one I need to catch up on! We are going in November as well, but it looks like we are coming in on the day you are heading out

I have no idea how you managed to make these reservations! WOW!! I had enough stress with trying to update my reservation when FD came out and it is just me and my DH going this trip! It worked out well for us though because we were able to upgrade to a Moderate (CSR) and still save money!! Woohoo...all the stressful details are in my PTR.

Looking forward to following along on your plans!

Yaaay thanks for joining in! I'm so glad to hear you've read some of our past TRs too We do have four completed ones by now, though that's mostly thanks to my wife - she's a lot more consistent than I am about updating!

Awww that's so unfortunate about that timing though We do love ourselves some DisMeets! Hopefully you'll be able to have some of your own regardless though! And I do see you have two trips coming up pretty close to each other, nice! And upgrading to a Moderate is always a win! That's what we did on our first trip, and that is the short version story of how we fell in love with the French Quarter!

But yes, it was pretty nerve wrecking knowing I had to secure dining for all those people with two popular restaurants on the list! Teppan Edo didn't worry us, there's so many food options in Epcot and most people prefer dinner to lunch for their Table Service meals. But Be Our Guest and Fantasmic Dining had me stressing out for sure!

Your ADRs look terrific! So happy that you got all of the ones you wanted!

Thank you! I'm definitely happy and relieved about that too! I do think we'll have some pretty fantastic meals, even keeping to Quick Service for the most part

Love your ADRs. We did Mama Melrose (fantasmic package) for our trip in February based on your recommendations. We loved it. The steak and that mac and cheese. Yummy! I decided randomly to book a solo trip for Dec! Can't wait to experience the holiday festivities at WDW.

Thanks! Ooooh I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it! I love when we recommend something and it works out great for those who try it! And that steak really is pretty darn great! I mean, I'm not lying when I say I'm really not that big a fan of steak, but that Mama Melrose meal... so tasty!

Solo trip sounds exciting! It's such a great opportunity to do things your way, but also may open up to things you wouldn't normally have done otherwise! I hope you have a blast. Holiday season at Disney is wonderful and beautiful!

 

[MarieLightning]

Slowly But Surely!

Less than four months to go! That is sooo exciting to me right now!

It still feels like forever away, granted, but considering this countdown started way more than a year ahead, we're really starting to get toward the last stretch. I mean, My Disney Experience tells me I have less than 60 days until FP+ selection and Online Check In! How cool is that?!

Being this far out still, however, does mean that the planning goes at a trickle rate. Of course, I try to do as many things as possible to keep myself busy, because I'm addicted to planning (just about anything, but especially Disney trips). I bug Amber a lot with it, too, because although she is excited, she's not the type to be SUPER excited when it's still so far away.

Meanwhile, I'm sitting here, re-watching videos of Fantasmic, singing along to Wishes, and putting myself in the mood on a practically daily basis by listening to my Walt Disney World Official Album soundtrack while I look over menus for the tenth time and double check park opening hours on each day of our visit. I mean, a girl has got to find ways to keep herself busy, right?

Now, one of the ways I had elected to keep this PTR somewhat going while Disney trip planning in itself is a bit on the slow side is to give some quick updates about some of the other stuff going on in our lives! Namely, some of the other trips we've been lucky enough to go on through the year.

I've already given you all a small insight on the first one, which was our week of resting in La Romana.

Some people may have noticed before that I used to have two tickers in my signature, one of which was a cruising countdown for a girls' trip! That ticker is now gone, because we've been back from that trip a month now!

Geez time goes by fast.

We also actually had another very short, very inpromptu trip to Michigan to visit family while we could. I'll give you a quick update on both those trips, and then it'll be back to our regularly (okay, not so regular) scheduled Disney updates, as I do actually have news on that front as well!

For those of you not interested in non-Disney updates, feel free to skip over the next few ones ​

 

[MarieLightning]

Back after May 2015, when we returned from our Disney trip with the girls, we made a decision. We had to make it a tradition.

Not necessarily Disney itself, because obviously it's not a cheap vacation, but vacationing together. So at that point, we decided that each year, we had to meet up and do something together for a week. It didn't matter what, didn't matter where - it could be expensive if we had the means, but very simple if we were on a tighter budget. We threw a few ideas around, and by now we actually have almost enough ideas to last us 25 years.

Originally for this year, we had discussed spending a week in a cabin in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. At some point, that idea got turned around, and we decided to instead go for a cruise!

Not a Disney cruise unfortunately - although that is on the list for much, much later! - but a cruise nonetheless. I looked around for things that would work with our dates, and found a nice four nights cruise leaving from Miami on the Norwegian Sky. Before too long, we were booked, with a few additional nights in Miami to round off the week.

The cruise was from the 8th to the 12th of June, and we were flying in and out of Florida from the 7th to the 14th, for the most part. Traci did have to leave one day earlier because of flight costs, but ultimately we still all had an awesome time!

On the 7th, Amber and I got up very early in the morning as we had to catch the bus from our city to Montreal downtown, then from downtown to the airport. The only bus we could catch in time was leaving at 5:35, so that left me with a very sleepy, grumpy wife. Thankfully, she cheered up before too long!

We got ourselves checked in, went through security and customs without too much trouble, and made a quick stop for breakfast at our usual pick - Burger King. Amber is not a fan of breakfast food, but she does like hashbrowns, so that usually works for her. I also got myself a frappuccino at Starbucks, because I'm not usually allowed to spend money at Starbucks ever, so I treat myself to it when we're at an airport.

Our flight went by pretty fast. Amber napped some while I watched a couple of movies (although I can't remember which), and before too long, we landed in Fort Lauderdale! From there, we met up with Traci and found a cab to head over to Miami airport, where we found Veronica and Merranda waiting for us.

We called up the hotel we'd be staying at for the night and waited for their shuttle transfer. When it arrived, there was actually just enough room for four, but two of the ladies were getting off at the next terminal, so the guy who was tagging along with the driver got kicked out of the front seat and walked over to the next terminal where he got back on after the two ladies got off. Then, we were on our way for real!

Yay for friends!

I had looked around at a few hotel options, but there weren't very many that had a room to accommodate five. In the end, the best price I found was at the Comfort Suites Miami Airport North. It was actually very nice and quite comfortable (at least, the beds. The sofa bed wasn't so much, but oh well).

We dropped off our stuff in the room while Amber took a few pictures. Which some people were not particularly appreciative of.

I love traveling with Veronica. When we do, I'm not the only one giving Amber unimpressed looks.

We were pretty much right across the street from some of the further off hangars of the airport, so pretty close!

We walked a few minutes (about 15 or so) to get ourselves lunch at IHOP, as a few of us were pretty much starving, and then returned to the hotel.

At that point, we had decided to make a short trip over to the Miami International Mall (which was mainly my suggestion because they had a Disney store), but first we headed over to Walmart to get a few last minutes purchases. Amber and I needed sunscreen, and Traci had forgotten her bathing suit so she had to get one of those.

We cozied up in a cab, which they never had vans available so we always ended up packing four in the back while the fifth sat up front.

We made it to the mall, and obviously the first stop was the Disney Store! I was very, very tempted to buy a dress for Elsye, as some of them were on sale for 15$, but Amber argued that we didn't know how much more she would grow by November and I relented. I did, however, get me three of the Inside Out tsums! Anger, Sadness and Disgust! They were all out of Joy, and I don't know that they ever had Fear. I actually really lucked out with Disgust, as I found the lone one left hiding in the back of the display. I did make a huge mistake and leave Bing Bong there, as the movie wasn't out yet so I didn't know what he would be about. Boy did I regret it after we saw it!

We stopped by Forever 21 to browse some more, but ultimately we didn't have much more to do, so we headed back to the hotel soon after that.

We passed the time by playing cards.

Grabbed some dinner at Subway, and called it a night before too late while watching re-runs of Full House!

The next morning, we were up bright and early to get things ready to go! Merranda and Veronica headed down for a short work out (they actually did that through the whole trip and the rest of us were very impressed) and then we met up for some breakfast.

The hotel offered a free transfer from there to the port, so we had signed up for that and were down in the lobby fifteen minutes before our pick up time, as we had been told we should be!

We ended up waiting over half an hour to get ready to go though, but oh well. Can't really complain when the price is free, and we obviously ended up making it to the port in time.

Embarkation was a pretty breezy process, and we didn't wait very long to get ourselves checked in. By the time we were done, we were all ready to get on the ship, so we were more than ready to go!

The port of Miami gives a pretty nice view.

Most ships don't have staterooms who will accommodate five people that are not a very expensive suite, and when they do, they are very cramped in size, so we elected to split up. Amber and I had our cabin.

And the three other girls were right next door!

They weren't very comfortable with the set up of that upper berth. It it pretty unsettling when you consider that there's really nothing holding it up on the two corners further from the wall, although those hinges must be very solid.

Thankfully, that stateroom actually had an occupancy of four, which meant there was also a single sofa bed, and Merranda decided to claim it as her own.

The carpet in the hallway has little fishes all over it. They're swimming toward the front of the ship, so if you're ever disoriented about which direction you're headed into, look down!

Atrium lobby, with elevators Amber deems as terrifying.

Dazzles Night Club, where they had most of the game show activities, so we spent quite a bit of time there.

Royal Caribbean ship getting ready to go in the distance.

Doesn't that make you miss Disney Photopass Photographers, where you just know you can easily get a full group picture?

We had to let this Carnival ship go before we could depart from the port.

Clearly, watching the ship leaves is a pretty common activity.

Continued in next post​

 

[MarieLightning]

The next few updates shouldn't be quite as text heavy as the first one!

The Norwegian Sky has two dining rooms, called Crossings and Palace, and since we had four dinners to plan, we decided to try each twice. Our first pick was Crossings!

The main, traditional food options are the same in both restaurants, but they each have their own little differences for the dishes that change daily. We were pretty happy with both, and Veronica was always good with the vegetarian option offered, so that was good!

As Merranda's birthday is June 1st, I decided to put a note on file to have it be celebrated on board! Since Norwegian does freestyle dining, they give you a birthday card in the stateroom with a small part that you can rip off to bring to the dining room with you on the day you want it celebrated. She decided to just go ahead and do it on the first night.

It was actually a pretty sizeable piece of cake! It was actually more of a small cake, as they were able to split it in five slices for all of us to share. It was pretty tasty, too.

That evening, there was the first game show happening in Dazzles, so we headed over there with a bit of time to spare. We happened upon a small activity that some of the youth group people were hosting, to get people to go sign up their kids. It was a circus activity, and we decided to jump right in!

None of it is as easy as it looks, I can assure you.

Although Veronica managed to get her plate spinning.With just a liiiiittle bit of help.

The game show of the night was Girls vs. Guys! Amber, obviously, jumped right up to participate. As it turns out, a lot of people who participated that evening turned out to be people who participated in a lot of the other activities as well!

Laughing as she realizes just how much taller she is than all the other girls, especially with her heels.

The girls did end up beating the guys 3 to 1, so it was a pretty good night.

We stopped by the welcome show, during which they introduced some of the higher up people on board (Food Manager, Hotel Manager, Captain, etc), and there was also a brief portion of a comedy show by Andrew Kennedy, who also came back later on during the cruise for two more shows.

The next day, we were at our first port in Freeport, Bahamas.

Amber got up early to walk around and take a few pictures.

We had breakfast at the dining room and then went to one of the lounges for trivia. Amber has to have her trivia time! There weren't very many people, so we ended up splitting up.

Amber, Merranda and Traci teamed up against Veronica and me. They did beat us, but not by much, so it's alright.

The girl who was hosting trivia, Jaime, took a great liking to Traci - she commented on how she made some of the best faces when she was asking the questions, because she was so confused. We did run into her quite a few more times, she was really sweet, and Traci got a picture with her at the end of the trip.

We had a towel animal waiting for us when we dropped back by the room to get ready to go out!

Freeport is primarily a shipping port, so there's really not much when you disembark. If you want to visit or see anything, it mostly requires an excursion, and since we were all pretty low on funds, we passed up on those.

They do still have a few shops here and there, so we went over to explore for a bit.

Carnival was our neighbor for the day.

Striking a pose on my lonesome.

But then other people joined in!

After the short exploration, we headed back to the ship right about lunch time.

During which we went over some of the crazy rules at Traci's Christian college, which Merranda had a hard time grasping.

We had hoped to swim after lunch, but just as we got in the pool, dark clouds gathered and there was a clad of thunder in the distance, so we thought the better of it for the time being.

We played some more cards to pass the time and had a few ice cream cones (because who wouldn't love free ice cream?)

And after a few minutes of waiting for it, the skies opened up and the rain rain rain came down down down!

Continued in next post​

 

[MarieLightning]

By the time we were done with our game of cards, the sky had cleared up again, so we decided to give swimming another try!

We did get Amber to get in for a bit of time, but she doesn't like pools where her feet can't touch the bottom, and since we were in the 'adult' pool, it was 7 feet deep. It was also salt water, to accommodate people who are allergic to chlorine.

After swimming for a bit, we tried to scope some spots in the hottubs, and ended up splitting up in two groups as there was no room for all five of us in any of them. Not too long after that though, the Cruise Director, Tyler, came out to announce that it was time for the Aqua Challenge, and Amber of course had to join in again! This time, Traci joined her as well.

They ended up on different teams. Traci was on Team Avengers, and Amber was on Team Murica. There were three challenges total - the first was to come up with the team name, team cheer and team dance.

Then, they had to do the towel challenge.

Which consisted of standing in a line and passing the towel back, over your head then under your legs, and so on, until it reached the last person. The last person had to get the towel wet in whatever original way he chose, and then pass it back forward, where the first person in line had to wring it in a bucket. First team to fill up their bucket won.

Finally, the last challenge was synchronized swimming! They had to come up with a routine, then pick up Tyler, turn him around and put him back on solid ground without getting him wet.

Although he was prepared for the worst regardless.

Team Murica was second to go up, and he tried to sabotage them by trying to drop in the water. They managed to push him back on land, but he let himself fall in anyway.

They still won though! And Amber got this snazzy shirt as a prize.

After a fun afternoon at the pool, we got ready for dinner at the Palace dining room!

This is Amber's dessert pick, which she had every night.

The game show of the night was the Marriage game! Which, on Norwegian, they refer to as the Newlywed Not So Newlywed game show.

I was a bit reluctant, but Amber pretty much begged for us to sign up, so we did, for the middle couple. It consisted of each couple playing out the following script - first person say "Tarzan, Tarzan, where is my Tarzan?" and the second person gives their best Tarzan impression. Clearly very ambiguous and friendly to any couple of any orientation to join in

We did, however, make it to the last two couples, and then the audience had to pick a favorite, which ultimately went to the other couple.

It was still very entertaining to watch though - but Amber and I would have won. Just sayin'.

We ended the night with some Cards Against Humanity, because we love being terrible people. We actually got an extension and made all the blank cards Disney related.

The next day, we had a stop in Nassau, Bahamas! We still started out our day with some trivia after breakfast, and Merranda took a nap while waiting for the host.

It ended up literally just being the five of us. Clearly, Norwegian doesn't have trivia lovers as much as Princess does. It's alright though, because we split up so it was each of us against the others, and there were four prizes to give away - which turned out to be decks of cards. Since Amber and I only needed one anyway, we figured it'd turn out perfect no matter who had the lowest score!

Again, we had a towel animal waiting when we headed back to the room to get ready to go out and explore.

Our stateroom attendant was seriously the best. He introduced himself to us on the first day, and from that moment on, he would greet us by name every single time he saw us. Sometimes, he would be in another room, cleaning up, and he'd see or hear us walk by, so he'd come out to the hallway and be like, "Hi Amber, hi Marie!". And if Amber were heading back to the room by herself to grab something, he'd see her and be like, "Hi Amber, where is Marie?". Seriously, such an awesome guy. We left a good comment card for him at the end of the trip.

We headed off and saw that we were neighbors with Carnival again that day!

We were actually nestled between two ships, with Royal Caribbean on the other side.

Atlantis hotel off in the distance!

I wish we could have gone, but even a day pass is super expensive. Maybe someday.

Downtown Nassau was a bit more easily accessible by foot, so we walked around for a little while.

Continued in next post​

 

[MarieLightning]

We got back on the ship and did some more pool side chilling that afternoon. We actually spent quite a bit of time in the hottub, and we chatted with one of the guys who had been participating in a few activities and whom Amber had been teaming up with for the Aqua Challenge.

That night, we decided to dress up for dinner - most cruiselines have a formal night, but with Norwegian they call it their Dress up or not night. Basically leaving it up to you!

We'd already talked over wanting to do it, but we ended up missing out on the official night. That definitely didn't phase us though, as we had no issue getting ourselves fancy looking one night late!

We got a couple of 'professional' shots, but we didn't end up liking any of them so we didn't buy any of those pictures.

We did have to get changed pretty much right after that though, as it was time for the White Hot Party! It's basically a dance party with everyone wearing white (well, as much white as they have) and there's black lights and glow sticks!

Amber, ready to party it up!

We actually danced for a pretty decent amount of time. Merranda and I were the first to call it quits, so we headed back to her room and chatted for a little while. Traci joined us next, and by the time Veronica and Amber got back, we were all ready to go to sleep.

The next day, our last full day, was a stop at Norwegian's private island, which we had to tender to.

Their island is called Great Stirrup Cay. I think Princess' is a bit prettier, but at the same time I like that Norwegian has several swimming areas.

Amber didn't come in the water at all, but the rest of us did quite a bit of swimming in the ocean that day.

In the meantime, Amber explored, joined group activities such as Beach Olympics, and just relaxed.

She ended up finding us a shady area not far from the buffet set up, so that was definitely nice.

Lizard!

Off to the side, there was a smaller swimming area that Merranda, Veronica and I spent most of our time in. Traci joined us for some of it as well. There was a baby stingray loose in it though, which was not appreciated by some, but you know, we made it out alive!

Amber headed back before us, and by the time we got back on the ship, she was showered and getting ready for dinner time, so we all took our own turns hopping into the shower as well before heading out to eat.

Originally, the Norwegian Sky was built to sail in Hawaii, so a lot of the decorating and theming on the ship still recalls its Hawaii days.

Our last dinner was as nice as the other ones, and we ended up each getting two desserts because we just couldn't decide between some of the offerings.

Amber also decided to get a picture of some of our drinks, because they were all very bright.

We didn't have any plans until later that evening, so once dinner was done, we basically just chilled and had fun talking in the girl's stateroom.

Traci forgot to sunscreen that day, so she got very burnt.

Once it was time for our plans, we first headed to the theater. Andrew Kennedy was giving his second show, and it was an adults only one, so we clearly wanted to be there for that.

Right after that was The Quest, which was an 18+ game show. We had played it already on Royal Caribbean, and although the set up was a bit different, Amber definitely wanted to participate. I sat it out, but everyone else joined in - and got really intensely into it! They also ended up teaming up with the guy we'd spoken with in the hottub, his brother and two girls they were hanging out with, which definitely benefitted us.

The Quest is basically a scavenger hunt - each team has a team number that they always have to have on hand when completing a quest. The host (in this case Tyler, the cruise director) gives the quests, such as, I need to see three men's belts, and you have to bring it to him, holding out your number. The first number he calls gets 3 points, the second gets 2, and all the other teams get 1 points, until the quest is closed and then whoever didn't get there in time doesn't get points.

It's a really fun, crazy, and definitely not family friendly game show. They do advertize it as not being for anyone under 18 OR anyone who gets easily offended - which is probably explained by the fact that Tyler got flashed numerous times, some challenges involved having two girls and then two guys do their dirtiest dance moves, and then also two girls making out, followed by two guys making out. There were also things like, needing to see a man wearing lipstick, or seeing two people cuddling on the ground.

My personal favorite was when he asked to see a girl doing the split, though. Veronica has taken dancing, and she's in good shape. In less than five seconds, she had grabbed the team number, made her way on the dance floor (where you had to go to complete the quest), and slid down into a full, flawless form split, before anyone else from any other team had even had the chance to think of who would be doing anything. It was pretty epic.

The last night was definitely an awesome one, and we had a lot of fun before we made our way back to our rooms to call it a night.

The next morning, seeing as we were staying in Miami for a couple more days and not flying out that night, we were able to stay on the ship a bit later. We took our time to get ready, get breakfast and then headed off the ship mid morning.

Again, customs was a breeze, and we caught a cab back to the same hotel we'd stayed at the night before. It was way before check in time though, so our room wasn't ready. We once again elected to play cards so we could kill time while waiting for a room number.

We relaxed most of the afternoon, some people napped, and then an arm wrestling competition happened because that's just how these two roll.

We had gotten a Groupon for two games of laser tag that night though, so a little past dinner time, we called a cab and got on our way! Unfortunately, the cab driver was unfamiliar with where we were going, and the laser tagging place was in a strip of buildings that looked like warehouses, so when we came close to it, he didn't think it was the right place and assumed we had to go on the other side of the lake, where the street we were on continued. As it turned out, we were in the right spot so we ended up heading back once his GPS was charged enough (as it had died down before that). Thankfully, his meter was broken so he honored the price he had told us it would be.

We had our two games of laser tag, which was really great because of the set up of the place, and also spent a bit of time playing at the arcade. Merranda used her tickets to get a bouncy ball. Veronica got a small plastic toy in the shape of a stingray, as a souvenir. Amber and I used all of ours to get laffy taffys.

The next morning, Merranda and Veronica got up and started their days off with some water aerobics in the pool. I joined them at some point, and we swam for a little bit longer.

Our room had a view on the pool, so Amber took some pictures before she came down to join us since Traci was still sleeping.

We then had to get dry so we could go have lunch. We grabbed some McDonalds', since there was one nearby, and Amber and I almost cried at how cheap it was in comparison to Canadian prices.

This was the day Traci was flying back home, so we hung out in the lobby while waiting for her shuttle to the airport. Before too long, we had to say goodbye.

We spent the rest of the evening chilling with the other girls. We ordered in pizza, got some ice cream and cookies from the convenience store right next door, and played Cards Against Humanity while watching some tv now and again.

The next morning, we had an early wake up since Merranda and Veronica's flights were early, and Amber and I had to take the train from Miami airport to Fort Lauderdale. We headed to the airport together, and then had to go our separate ways.

We had a great time with our friends - honestly, when you come across people in your life who are such amazing people, you just have to do what you can to make sure you keep them around. Sometimes it's tricky for us, because we're all busy with different lifestyles in different places. Merranda and Veronica both in Michigan, although still a couple of hours apart. Traci in Tennessee during the school year, and Amber and I in Quebec. We all have different things to do, different schedules to go by. We don't always have time to keep up with each other on a daily basis, sometimes with just a few comments in passing each week, with months that can go by between Skype calls.

And that's why these yearly trips are important to me. Because I love these girls a lot. They're great people, great friends, and basically just girls I'm thankful to have in my life. So we'll definitely keep on adventuring together for as many years as we can - and who knows, maybe someday it'll take us back to Disney!​

 

[MarieLightning]

Changes Along The Way

Now that I've gotten through our short Cruising TR, we're back to our regularly scheduled Disney planning!

Although, I will make a very short interlude to go over our brief Michigan visit. I ended up having five days off in a row from the 20th to the 24th of June, and Amber started her full time French Classes on July 2nd. It doesn't allow her to miss too many because it's paid for by the government, so we figured if we wanted to visit her family before seeing them at Disney time, it was now or never!

We flew into Chicago O'Hare, and from there took the CTA Blue line to downtown. From there, we took Megabus to Grand Rapids, and spent the few days at Amber's mom and Grandma's house. The kids were there too, so we hung out with them as well! We just kept it pretty chill, mostly. We went to the park, we took the family to see Inside Out (aaall the tears, good Lord), went out to lunch, and basically just caught up. We headed back home the same way we had come.

It was definitely nice getting to see everyone for the first time since Christmas. While we were down there, we also left something with Aunt Sarah that we got for the kids - as they are driving down from Michigan to Florida, we got each of them a small Disney coloring book and a pack of crayons. When we get closer to the trip, we'll send a letter than Aunt Sarah can put the books and everything with, from Mickey Mouse, telling them he heard they'll be visiting soon and going on a long drive to come and see him, so he sent them a little something to help pass the time!

Now, as far as changes in planning go - our numbers went up!

Not by many, just by one.

A little while back, Curtis sent a message to Amber. For anyone that remembers from my introduction post, Curtis is Kameron's ex-fiance. As said, they are still on good terms, and Curtis mentioned that if it was okay with everyone, he would still like to join us.

We did double check with everyone, especially Kameron, and as it turns out, nobody had a problem with him coming along.

Now, at that point, there was no more availability for the free dining promotion at the All-Star Sports. He was unable to book his room right away though as he was waiting for a new bank card to come in the mail, having lost the old one, so we had to wait it out. By the time he got it, the promotion was unavailable at any value resort for our dates.

At that point, we figured the best route would be to wait for a room discount to come out for those dates, and have him pay for his food out of pocket.

Then, this part week, I was playing around on my work system during my break. We still need to book our two nights before the trip is starting out, since Amber and I arrive on the 6th, so I wanted to see what it was looking like in Canadian. I don't really know why, I started looking at what the whole week was pricing out as - and I see the free dining promo!

Turns out, as a wholesaler, we have an allotment of rooms with that promo blocked. It is in Canadian currency, but converted back to USD, it's not that big a difference from what he would have paid if we'd caught it on the actual Disney website.

So now his room is booked as well, and we're once more all ready to go!

The only problem with this turned out to be, of course, dining. Our reservations were already made, and there was no remaking them. Obviously Disney can't just add a person to an existing dining reservation, and I wasn't gonna risk cancelling and trying to rebook with an extra person.

We ended up finding a reservation for 2 for Mama Melrose, 10 minutes before our other reservation. We'll just have Kameron removed from our own table, and seeing as we're eating right about opening time, we'll try to request two tables next to each other. Hopefully at that time of day, they'll be able to accommodate.

Teppan Edo was easy to remake for four, so that wasn't a problem at all. We got it for right about the time we had our reservation for three.

Be Our Guest, however, was a no go. So we'll just take it as a family meal, and tell Curtis he'll have to make do on his own for one lunch. I don't think it should be a problem.

Next step to look forward to will be the FastPass+ selection! It's definitely a little stressful, trying to plan for such a large group, but hopefully it all goes according to plan!​

 

[MarieLightning]

Gonna Have A Merry Time!

Very quick update to mention a new addition to our trip's line up!

From the moment we knew we would be going back in November, Amber and I have been going back and forth as to whether we wanted to do the Christmas Party.

We've done it once before, back in November 2012, but looking back on it, we feel like we didn't make the most of it. We only got cookies and cocoa once, for crying out loud!

We also missed the fireworks because we were too stubborn to leave the line to meet Captain Jack Sparrow, so obviously that needs a re-do.

However, this trip is obviously already costing a lot of money, so we weren't sure that the addition of an extra cost would work that well for us. We were still leaning more toward the yes though (I mean, we've done Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party three times now, it's time to set the balance back!)

So, a couple of weeks back, I went ahead and bought us some tickets!

Thursday, November 12th is the date we selected! There were three other dates available for our trip, but this actually falls on the day we planned to do a no park day so everyone could rest a bit, chill at the resort, explore Downtown Disney, do a round of mini golf, etc, so it was the perfect timing.

I didn't tell Amber just yet though. Instead I decided to wait until last night, when we were celebrating our 4th year dating anniversary (yes, we're married, yes, we still celebrate both our dating and wedding anniversary. No shame)

She seemed pretty happy, so I'm thinking she was A-OK with my spending the money without telling her

I'm definitely looking forward to experiencing Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party once more! I'm not sure what we'll prioritize, as we won't really know the line up of things until we're actually there, but I'm sure we'll still have a wonderful time!​

 

[jennerjoo]

How fun! So I'm fairly new to the Dis boards but have recently read your trip reports and loved them! Definitely helped me with lots of ideas. I am taking my family including my two small children (4 and 2) this November for the first time and am planning on attending the MVMCP the same night! I'll have to give you guys a shout out if I see you!

 

[MarieLightning]

How fun! So I'm fairly new to the Dis boards but have recently read your trip reports and loved them! Definitely helped me with lots of ideas. I am taking my family including my two small children (4 and 2) this November for the first time and am planning on attending the MVMCP the same night! I'll have to give you guys a shout out if I see you!

Hi, and first and foremost to the Dis! I'm so glad you enjoyed our old trip reports and that they were able to give you some inspiration!

That's definitely an exciting trip coming up, I see in your signature, Kidani Village looks so gorgeous!

And for sure say hi if you see us! We love meeting people, especially fellow Disers! The Christmas party was a great experience for us during our first trip, I'm sure you'll all have a blast My best advice is definitely to not be stuck in line for a character during the fireworks

 

[jennerjoo]

Hi, and first and foremost to the Dis! I'm so glad you enjoyed our old trip reports and that they were able to give you some inspiration!

That's definitely an exciting trip coming up, I see in your signature, Kidani Village looks so gorgeous!

And for sure say hi if you see us! We love meeting people, especially fellow Disers! The Christmas party was a great experience for us during our first trip, I'm sure you'll all have a blast My best advice is definitely to not be stuck in line for a character during the fireworks

Thanks! We are so excited! We were originally going to stay at a suite in AoA, but when the free dining came out we upgraded for almost the same cost! We need the extra room since there will be 3 adults (myself, my husband, and MIL) and 2 children. My husband stayed in a regular room at the AKL for our honeymoon back in 2006 and loved it.

I am excited about the Christmas Party! This will be my first experience with any party at MK. I hope my children don't crash on us though. If they do I guess we'll just let them sleep in their stroller while the rest of us adults par-tay!

Yes - I remember reading you guys were waiting on Jack Sparrow while the fireworks were going. I'll remember that advice!

 

[MarieLightning]

Thanks! We are so excited! We were originally going to stay at a suite in AoA, but when the free dining came out we upgraded for almost the same cost! We need the extra room since there will be 3 adults (myself, my husband, and MIL) and 2 children. My husband stayed in a regular room at the AKL for our honeymoon back in 2006 and loved it.

I am excited about the Christmas Party! This will be my first experience with any party at MK. I hope my children don't crash on us though. If they do I guess we'll just let them sleep in their stroller while the rest of us adults par-tay!

Yes - I remember reading you guys were waiting on Jack Sparrow while the fireworks were going. I'll remember that advice!

Definitely worth the upgrade in that kind of situation! Animal Kingdom is one of the deluxe resort my wife looks most forward to trying out, so when we've able to branch out to the fancier hotels, it'll probably be first on our list

The parties are always so much fun! To be honest, I don't remember a whole lot from our first Christmas party, and that's one of the reasons we're so excited to give it another try. I do remember it was very cold, and the parade is one of my favorites! That song gets stuck in your head something good. Good mentality for the kids, too! It does go on pretty late, so if they clock out and can nap in the stroller, there's no reason to stop yourself from enjoying hot chocolate and a cookie, or watching the holiday show

It is pretty solid advice Although, if you were to miss fireworks for a character, Jack Sparrow was a great choice

 

[MarieLightning]

So We're Waiting...

We still have a lot of things to wait for in regards to this trip. I mean, we're still a little over 3 months away - we're not even to the double digits yet.

We're waiting to be able to start our Disney movies countdown, as we do each year - and this year is gonna be a big one.

We're waiting for our FP+ selection, which is just a little stress inducing, but overall I'm good.

We're waiting to get to do our Online Check In, get to start making packing lists, get everything ready to go. Finish up the last few crafty projects this trip entails.

We're waiting for the trip itself - impatience is a constant state of being as far as that one goes though, so that's nothing new.

Basically, it's a lot of waiting at this point.

All those things though, I've just kind of accepted the wait for. It sucks, but it is what it is with dates set in stone.

What is worse though is when I'm waiting for something and I just don't know when the wait will be over. It makes me incredibly anxious. And right now, we're waiting for a small but important chunk of our vacation to get finalized.

As you may remember from the introductory post, we'll be arriving on property two days before the rest of the family. They'll be checking in on November 8th, but we're flying in on November 6th.

Originally, we had planned on spending those two nights at Pop Century - we may change that around now though, just for convenience sake. We're looking to book the All-Star Music, and request the Rock Inn buildings seeing as it's literally right across the parking lot from the Sports, so we can just walk over rather than have to deal with a transfer.

We figured we'd wait until the room discount came out. Well, it's technically been out for a little while, but the dates were cutting off in October. I knew it typically gets extended to later in the year once it gets to about late July, early August though, so I've been waiting on that to book it.

Which it did get extended recently, yay! And falls right at the dates we need, once again - double yay!

I figured this chunk, I would just go ahead and book with my employee discount at work. Might as well get a bit off but still pay in Canadian.

As is turns out, my company decided to limit that promotion for stays of 5 nights or more.

Job. You have let me down.

So now, we'll have to book it with Disney directly. Which, you know, isn't terribly dramatic.

Except that the Canadian dollar to US dollar exchange rate right now is terrible. Teeeerrible. I'm talking 77 cents to a dollar terrible.

So that means instead of paying 236$ US for the two nights, with taxes in, I'm looking closer to 300$ Canadian. It may not seem like a big difference, but when it's added on top of everything else, it just piles up a lot.

At the end of the day, odds are even by waiting for the exchange to get better, we won't save much. There's no way it'll go back to being at par any time soon, and I don't foresee it even breaching past 85 cents for a dollar. So really, waiting will save us somewhere around twelve, ten dollars at best.

Ultimately, we're probably gonna end up biting the bullet soon. I'm just hoping the exchange does get better before we have to settle the 1,600$ balance left on the other two files - 236$ converted at a bad exchange isn't dramatic. 1,600$ is a pretty good chunk of extra dollars.​

 

[MarieLightning]

Double Digits Day Has Come!

We've reached the first milestone in terms of counting down!

Today is our double digits day!

Yay!

In other news, 99 days is still forever away. Sigh.

We did, however, finally get our two pre nights booked!

Somewhere along the line of looking at calculations of exchange rates and debating how long to wait until we could make the reservation, I remembered that I have a few more travel benefits other than booking directly though my job!

So I ended up booking through an outside source to get a Canadian price with a reasonable exchange rate, plus a slight employee discount, so now here we go!

We shall be checking in at the All-Star Music on November 6th, and then early on the 8th we will just take a stroll across the parking lot to the Sports so that we can check in for the remainder of the week!

We actually ended up making the reservation for four, including Boston and Ramsey in it seeing as there's no additional charge for kids! That way, seeing as the family will be in Orlando by mid afternoon on the 7th, they can be dropped off to spend the night so that they can have a bit of extra Disney magic!

We do also have everybody else booked off property for that night, so that they can drive up to check in at the Sports on the 8th in the morning and get the day started bright and early!

We did that reservation through Hotwire, because we weren't too concerned about the hotel itself, and it allows you to narrow down location. It's not anywhere near a fancy hotel, but we got two rooms at the Quality Inn and Suites East Gate for about 75$CAD total, and it's a fifteen minutes drive from the All-Stars, so that's really the main concern!

Everything is definitely coming together, and we're starting to look at our FastPasses planning as it'll only be 41 days now until we get everything settled!

​

 

[deedee2177]

YAY! Double Digit Dance...I'm close to that dance as well...I'll be doing that next week! Your plans are really coming together. I could not imagine planning a trip for a group that size, but you make it look easy.

 

[MarieLightning]

YAY! Double Digit Dance...I'm close to that dance as well...I'll be doing that next week! Your plans are really coming together. I could not imagine planning a trip for a group that size, but you make it look easy.

Still so far out yet it's so exciting to get to that point! It's like, phew, we're no longer more than 100 days out! Falling into double digits makes it seem a lot more reasonable. So exciting that your double digits dance is coming up so soon too!

We're currently trying to do a full schedule for each day. It's a bit crazy! I've actually never done that, and I do have a feeling I'm probably being extremely ambitious. At the same time, I think planning so much isn't a bad idea either so long as we keep in mind it's more of a guideline than a *MUST DO EVERYTHING ON LIST*, because with us, the thing that happens when we don't plan is that we end up ALL OVER the park. Our very first trip to Hollywood Studios was ridiculous - we kept going left, right, front, back, all over the place. It'll be interesting to see how it all works out, though! I admittedly keep forgetting we will have a 3 year old with us who will probably need nap time every day, so who knows what'll happen!