jagafen
Wine drinker, family CEO/CFO, uber planner
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2007
via Ocho Rios, Jamaica.
Believe it or not, this vacation started out as a week in Jamaica to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. Then, DH suggested (very much to my suprise), that we stop at Disney on our way back (in his mind, it's just as easy to stop there as it is to fly over it.....Gosh, how I
my man) just in case Chiefy (our 7 y/o DS) "doesn't like Jamaica". 
I did not argue with him. No good wife argues with her husband when, in a moment of rashness, he suggests EXTENDING our vacation by a week, just in case the one person who isn't actually PAYING for the trip doesn't like the first leg
!
So, here we are...me, the uber planner. I'm an Occupational therapist, and work with kids with special needs. I love my job...most days. I'm 36, will turn 37 on the day we fly to Jamaica, which, thanks to my MIL, is also the day we got married 5 years ago. I like to plan. I like to plan things to plan. If I don't have something to plan, DH expects me to clean house. I don't like to do that unless I have to, so I try to have a plan....I mean, something to plan. DH helps with the house.
My DH is 40 (I like em older!) He teaches high school English, teaches summer school, coaches wrestling and girl's softball at the highschool too....He likes to keep busy, and is very much inovlved in his student's success....he's not so much a disney freak, but enjoys "any time he gets to spend with his family". Did I mention that he's pretty much the perfect hsuband yet? If you're not keeping track: A-he suggested we go to Disney "just in case", B-He does housework, C-He does housework, D-He lets me plan the family vacations to my heart's content.
Then, there's our son, who just turned 7, who has a different # of teeth in his mouth, either coming or going, at any given moment. His favorite person right now is the tooth fairy. He does not have a job. Apparently, it's illegal or something, so we let him go to school instead, where he does a pretty good job considering he's only in 1st grade. He plays soccer, not well, but the kid's got a lotta heart! Oh-DH coaches that team too (I told you...I got the last good man on earth ladies!).
(You may have noticed that DS is 7, yet we've only been married for 5 years. We lived together for almost 10 years before we got married, I'm sure you can figure out that little discrepancy. I told DH (then DBF) that he's LUCKY it took me this long to catch pregnant...I knew it was only a matter of time! So we had DS, waited a few years, and THEN got married.) By that time, it was just a legality to make things official anyway!
So, now that you know just about all of the most basic facts, here are our vacation plans....the good, the bad, the ugly.
We origionally planned to go to Jamaica 8/14-8/23. That way I could finish the week out at work. DH would be finished teaching summer school on that Wednesday, and it's usually when we "go" on vacation. We were flying on Air Jamaica. That is, until November of 2009 when Air Jamaica decided to stop flying out of our airport on Saturdays....
When I called them, they suggested I extend my vacation to better fit their flight schedules Great idea!! I have a better one, how about you honor the flight for which you sold me 3 seats about 6 weeks ago!! It was a no go. No matter what angle I tried, they JUST wouldn't see things my way. So, I called the resort, found out how much it would cost to add a day, and then broke the news to DH, who took it pretty well....thank goodness we both chose recession proof careers.
So, now we're flying out on Friday, to keep Air Jamaica happy. We're also flying From Jamaica into Orlando on Air Jamaica too!! I think I forgot to mention that. I was very excited to get direct flights on both legs of our vacation trip!! Whoo hoo!!. That is, until Air Jamaica decided to not fly into Orlando anymore.. I'm serious. We are NEVER flying that airline again. I mean it too. Their solution was to fly us into Miami, have a 6 hour layover (darn it, we could pretty much DRIVE to Orlando in 6 hours) and THEN fly into MCO at almost midnight.....on VACATION! (can you tell I have a bit of a temper?). MY solution---take a refund on the tickets, suck up the fact that we will now have to pay double the baggage fees, and book airfare on domestic carriers....so now, it's US Air to Jamaica, AA from Jamaica to Miami (couldn't get out of that layover, but it's only 3 hours) and Miami to MCO, then US air to our home airport at the end of the trip.
We're doing our first all inclusive resort in Ocho Rios. I'm very excited to be doing an all inclusive. I think it's going to ruin me for all future vacations. All except Disney, of course. We're booked in a concierge level, beach front room. Not an ocean view....a beachfront room. As in, we open our patio doors, walk a very few steps, and viola!, beautiful caribbean water to gaze at. DS doesn't want to know ANYTHING about Jamaica, cause he doesn't want the suprise spoiled for him. Good thing he has no idea what "beachfront" means yet! He does, howver, fully understand "Kid's Club". When told of it, his response was, "So, does that mean I don't have to spend any time with you if I don't want to?" (Gotta love the frankness of children....the law says I gotta love him!) Of course, our response as his loving parents was, "Yes, you can spend as much time in the kid's program as you'd like. We'll make sure to pick you up for meals so you get the chance to eat once or twice while we're there. By the way, there's a waterpark there too...so if you wanna go on the waterslides, you HAVE to spend time with your parents. SO THERE!!"
Needless to say, the entire family is very much looking forward to Jamaica. And to Disney too, but 2/3 of us are more excited about Disney than the 1/3 that suggested it. Dh isn't one of those that "gets it". Go figure!
I bet you're wondering when I'm gonna get to the Disney part, huh? It's coming, you just need the build-up first....
Ok, HERE is the Disney part. DS's only request was that we stay at AKL again, cause he LOVES Simba's club and wants to go back there. I think they brainwash the kiddos while they have them for a few hours, cause after our last trip, THAT was the one thing he kept talking about over and over and over again. So, we're booked at AKL (8/23-8/31), in a standard room, with the DDP, and 5 day regular park tickets...no extras. We won't hop until DS gets a bit older, and we won't be onsite long enought to make use of the "extras" with the WPF&M. We're planning 2 MK days, and one day each at AK, DHS, and Epcot. We'll also have 2 non-park days for pool laziness and DTD craziness. The hubby and the man-child will hit DQ while the momma gets her shop on!
So I thought EVERYTHING was planned. Cause after the airline fiasco, nothing else can change, right? Well, luckily, the Disney gods (Our Mickey, who art in Disney, hallowed be thy name...) decided to change our run of bad luck, and I ended up with a 40% off PIN one morning. Without checking with DH, I called our TA and asked her how much it would cost us to upgrade to a Savannah view room....an extra $200?? Sold!!! What DH and DS don't know, won't hurt them. You have NO IDEA how many times I've almost slipped up and told them that I upgraded our room! Now, I'm looking forward to drinking some wine and watching the elephants from our balcony.....what do you mean there aren't any elephants?? That's okay, I'll settle for kangaroo then....
As far as the Disney magic, DS is in for a treat this trip. We've booked him at Pirate's League, and we'll be doing the Pirates and Pals Fireworks cruise from the Contemporary. Oh yeah, and he's booked for an evening at Simba's club to complete the brainwashing/downloading of the Intercept while DH and I have our anniversary dinner at Jiko. The welcome Gift basket is being planned wtih Betsy's help (Thanks Betsy!
)
So that's pretty much it...the good, the bad, and the parts when I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle someone. But in the end, it all worked out. And that's the good part....that, and the fact that I was able to procrastinate with my housework while I got this little detail checked off my pre-trip to do list!
Believe it or not, this vacation started out as a week in Jamaica to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. Then, DH suggested (very much to my suprise), that we stop at Disney on our way back (in his mind, it's just as easy to stop there as it is to fly over it.....Gosh, how I
my man) just in case Chiefy (our 7 y/o DS) "doesn't like Jamaica". I did not argue with him. No good wife argues with her husband when, in a moment of rashness, he suggests EXTENDING our vacation by a week, just in case the one person who isn't actually PAYING for the trip doesn't like the first leg!So, here we are...me, the uber planner. I'm an Occupational therapist, and work with kids with special needs. I love my job...most days. I'm 36, will turn 37 on the day we fly to Jamaica, which, thanks to my MIL, is also the day we got married 5 years ago. I like to plan. I like to plan things to plan. If I don't have something to plan, DH expects me to clean house. I don't like to do that unless I have to, so I try to have a plan....I mean, something to plan. DH helps with the house.
My DH is 40 (I like em older!) He teaches high school English, teaches summer school, coaches wrestling and girl's softball at the highschool too....He likes to keep busy, and is very much inovlved in his student's success....he's not so much a disney freak, but enjoys "any time he gets to spend with his family". Did I mention that he's pretty much the perfect hsuband yet? If you're not keeping track: A-he suggested we go to Disney "just in case", B-He does housework, C-He does housework, D-He lets me plan the family vacations to my heart's content.
Then, there's our son, who just turned 7, who has a different # of teeth in his mouth, either coming or going, at any given moment. His favorite person right now is the tooth fairy. He does not have a job. Apparently, it's illegal or something, so we let him go to school instead, where he does a pretty good job considering he's only in 1st grade. He plays soccer, not well, but the kid's got a lotta heart! Oh-DH coaches that team too (I told you...I got the last good man on earth ladies!).
(You may have noticed that DS is 7, yet we've only been married for 5 years. We lived together for almost 10 years before we got married, I'm sure you can figure out that little discrepancy. I told DH (then DBF) that he's LUCKY it took me this long to catch pregnant...I knew it was only a matter of time! So we had DS, waited a few years, and THEN got married.) By that time, it was just a legality to make things official anyway!
So, now that you know just about all of the most basic facts, here are our vacation plans....the good, the bad, the ugly.
We origionally planned to go to Jamaica 8/14-8/23. That way I could finish the week out at work. DH would be finished teaching summer school on that Wednesday, and it's usually when we "go" on vacation. We were flying on Air Jamaica. That is, until November of 2009 when Air Jamaica decided to stop flying out of our airport on Saturdays....
When I called them, they suggested I extend my vacation to better fit their flight schedules Great idea!! I have a better one, how about you honor the flight for which you sold me 3 seats about 6 weeks ago!! It was a no go. No matter what angle I tried, they JUST wouldn't see things my way. So, I called the resort, found out how much it would cost to add a day, and then broke the news to DH, who took it pretty well....thank goodness we both chose recession proof careers.So, now we're flying out on Friday, to keep Air Jamaica happy. We're also flying From Jamaica into Orlando on Air Jamaica too!! I think I forgot to mention that. I was very excited to get direct flights on both legs of our vacation trip!! Whoo hoo!!. That is, until Air Jamaica decided to not fly into Orlando anymore.
. I'm serious. We are NEVER flying that airline again. I mean it too. Their solution was to fly us into Miami, have a 6 hour layover (darn it, we could pretty much DRIVE to Orlando in 6 hours) and THEN fly into MCO at almost midnight.....on VACATION! (can you tell I have a bit of a temper?). MY solution---take a refund on the tickets, suck up the fact that we will now have to pay double the baggage fees, and book airfare on domestic carriers....so now, it's US Air to Jamaica, AA from Jamaica to Miami (couldn't get out of that layover, but it's only 3 hours) and Miami to MCO, then US air to our home airport at the end of the trip. We're doing our first all inclusive resort in Ocho Rios. I'm very excited to be doing an all inclusive. I think it's going to ruin me for all future vacations. All except Disney, of course. We're booked in a concierge level, beach front room. Not an ocean view....a beachfront room. As in, we open our patio doors, walk a very few steps, and viola!, beautiful caribbean water to gaze at. DS doesn't want to know ANYTHING about Jamaica, cause he doesn't want the suprise spoiled for him. Good thing he has no idea what "beachfront" means yet! He does, howver, fully understand "Kid's Club". When told of it, his response was, "So, does that mean I don't have to spend any time with you if I don't want to?" (Gotta love the frankness of children....the law says I gotta love him!) Of course, our response as his loving parents was, "Yes, you can spend as much time in the kid's program as you'd like. We'll make sure to pick you up for meals so you get the chance to eat once or twice while we're there. By the way, there's a waterpark there too...so if you wanna go on the waterslides, you HAVE to spend time with your parents. SO THERE!!"
Needless to say, the entire family is very much looking forward to Jamaica. And to Disney too, but 2/3 of us are more excited about Disney than the 1/3 that suggested it. Dh isn't one of those that "gets it". Go figure!
I bet you're wondering when I'm gonna get to the Disney part, huh? It's coming, you just need the build-up first....
Ok, HERE is the Disney part. DS's only request was that we stay at AKL again, cause he LOVES Simba's club and wants to go back there. I think they brainwash the kiddos while they have them for a few hours, cause after our last trip, THAT was the one thing he kept talking about over and over and over again. So, we're booked at AKL (8/23-8/31), in a standard room, with the DDP, and 5 day regular park tickets...no extras. We won't hop until DS gets a bit older, and we won't be onsite long enought to make use of the "extras" with the WPF&M. We're planning 2 MK days, and one day each at AK, DHS, and Epcot. We'll also have 2 non-park days for pool laziness and DTD craziness. The hubby and the man-child will hit DQ while the momma gets her shop on!
So I thought EVERYTHING was planned. Cause after the airline fiasco, nothing else can change, right? Well, luckily, the Disney gods (Our Mickey, who art in Disney, hallowed be thy name...) decided to change our run of bad luck, and I ended up with a 40% off PIN one morning. Without checking with DH, I called our TA and asked her how much it would cost us to upgrade to a Savannah view room....an extra $200?? Sold!!! What DH and DS don't know, won't hurt them. You have NO IDEA how many times I've almost slipped up and told them that I upgraded our room! Now, I'm looking forward to drinking some wine and watching the elephants from our balcony.....what do you mean there aren't any elephants?? That's okay, I'll settle for kangaroo then....
As far as the Disney magic, DS is in for a treat this trip. We've booked him at Pirate's League, and we'll be doing the Pirates and Pals Fireworks cruise from the Contemporary. Oh yeah, and he's booked for an evening at Simba's club to complete the brainwashing/downloading of the Intercept while DH and I have our anniversary dinner at Jiko. The welcome Gift basket is being planned wtih Betsy's help (Thanks Betsy!
)So that's pretty much it...the good, the bad, and the parts when I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle someone. But in the end, it all worked out. And that's the good part....that, and the fact that I was able to procrastinate with my housework while I got this little detail checked off my pre-trip to do list!
