Surprise! We're NOT going to Disney! 9/18-9/25 <<Update 3/24 Page 21>>

[Chicago Mo]

I really want to see how you packed everything in that little-- umm--- Car? is what we are calling it? At least they refunded you!!! we drove with 5 people in my Aspen so i understand having luggage EVERYWHERE! i am officially inviting you to my trip report (in my signature)..

Oh that is great news the tests numbers came back with great numbers!!! I didn't know and will keep Juliana in my thoughts and prayers for you!!!

1am?? Yeah i would have been a zombie the next morning!!!

CRUISE!!!!!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Finally caught up! Sounds like getting to the airport and dealing with the rental company was a huge pain. Hopefully the trip got better from there. I'm sure it was great once you actually got to Florida!

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Mind if I join in?
I missed where you started this one off but I’m caught up now.
Nice job on the abbreviated mini TR from the last trip.

A bit of a rough start on this one. Traffic is always unpredictable, but businesses that can’t or won’t do what it takes to properly look after customers (especially ones that they’ve already made promises to and received payment from) do not deserve patronization. Not the first time I’ve read bad things about Hertz or Priceline for that matter. It’s also not the first time I’ve heard of decent deals through Costco so I’ll need to keep them in mind for future reference.

Looking forward to the start of the cruise and the young’es reactions to that bit of the surprise.

 

[afwdwfan]

I hate renting cars. The rental counter is always one of the biggest PITA's of traveling. I'm glad you got a little bit of a refund, but having an actual SUV rather than some mini crossover thing definitely would have been better.

 

[dekkerdisneydreamer]

First off, WELCOME TO THE DVC FAMILY!!!

We went through re-sale as well, and it was beneficial for sure. I'm happy for you all!

Traffic, what a total pain in the butt. How sweet of your mom to offer to help you out.

That car wouldn't even fit my family of three!! Yikes! They should have given you a complete refund.

I'm so happy that Ana has remained in good health! It's such a blessing that her scans come back clean!

 

[petals]

Yay you made it to Florida in one piece

The kids are to cute. It's nice that the guy smiled in the photobomb picture as well for you

 

[that's nice]

At least you got a credit...but that totally sucks. I tell you we had so much trouble with them at the counter in March and will never work with them again or recommend them to anyone....and I have family that works for them. BUT, when I brought the issue to her to fix it, she refused to and that ticked me off as well.

You know when you deal with family in these instances you may as well forget it.

I'd need to get one hell of a deal to consciously book Hertz ever again.

Glad you made it to the cousins and the kids look like they had a ball together.
So at this point your kids just think you are staying with the cousins for a week?

Honestly, they (meaning Juliana) never asked. I think she just thought we were staying with them. We didn't even tell her how many days we were staying in Florida.

I really want to see how you packed everything in that little-- umm--- Car? is what we are calling it? At least they refunded you!!! we drove with 5 people in my Aspen so i understand having luggage EVERYWHERE! i am officially inviting you to my trip report (in my signature)..

You know, I never took a picture of the packed car. I was so frustrated when I finally had everything packed, I was in no mood to be picture taking... I forgot to mention one other thing that was packed in that crappy car was a double stroller.

I'll pop on over to your TR. I will try to keep up but you can ask some of my other readers here, I go missing for days at a time.

Oh that is great news the tests numbers came back with great numbers!!! I didn't know and will keep Juliana in my thoughts and prayers for you!!!

Thank you.

1am?? Yeah i would have been a zombie the next morning!!!

CRUISE!!!!!

Melody threw in the towel a bit earlier than that... maybe 12:15 or so, but the drinks were flowing and I wasn't gonna cut my night short.

Finally caught up! Sounds like getting to the airport and dealing with the rental company was a huge pain. Hopefully the trip got better from there. I'm sure it was great once you actually got to Florida!

I read an update of your TR but didn't have time to post. Bad DISer I know.Hopefully I'll have some time to spend over there tonight after I'm done working.

The travel to Florida was a little stressful but we had adrenaline and excitement in our corner.

 

[KatMark]

I'll pop on over to your TR. I will try to keep up but you can ask some of my other readers here, I go missing for days at a time.

Days??????

 

[schmass]

So sorry about the car ordeal - sounds like a nightmare.

I'm excited to hear about your cruise!!

 

[that's nice]

Mind if I join in?
I missed where you started this one off but I’m caught up now.
Nice job on the abbreviated mini TR from the last trip.

Rob! Great to have you here!

A bit of a rough start on this one. Traffic is always unpredictable, but businesses that can’t or won’t do what it takes to properly look after customers (especially ones that they’ve already made promises to and received payment from) do not deserve patronization. Not the first time I’ve read bad things about Hertz or Priceline for that matter. It’s also not the first time I’ve heard of decent deals through Costco so I’ll need to keep them in mind for future reference.

This was my first bad experience with Priceline, but I don't believe in this case it was their fault. What I should of done was just keep watching the prices through Costco (which automatically adds a second driver at no charge) and used priceline as a last resort. That is going to be my strategy when we go next year.

Looking forward to the start of the cruise and the young’es reactions to that bit of the surprise.

Coming up at some point....

I hate renting cars. The rental counter is always one of the biggest PITA's of traveling. I'm glad you got a little bit of a refund, but having an actual SUV rather than some mini crossover thing definitely would have been better.

Yea, they try to sell you everything you don't want. Car seats, GPS, insurance, gas, bottled water, open bag of chips, etc. One time I did upgrade to an SUV from a midsize car for like $50 for the week just to have a bit more room, but that was before Christopher and Gabby were around.

 

[Elevationist]

Oh MAN. What an awful experience with the car! I'm happy to hear you were able to make the best of it, but GEEZ!!!

It's nice you were able to have a little family time before the big reveal! I'm looking forward to the kiddos reactions when they find out!

 

[that's nice]

First off, WELCOME TO THE DVC FAMILY!!!

We went through re-sale as well, and it was beneficial for sure. I'm happy for you all!

Thank you!!! The DVCers are coming out of the woodwork!

I'm so glad we found resale. I doubt we would ever to be able to afford it buying direct.

Traffic, what a total pain in the butt. How sweet of your mom to offer to help you out.

We need like 5 lane highways in CT... the traffic is getting really bad.

That car wouldn't even fit my family of three!! Yikes! They should have given you a complete refund.

I agree... actually they should of gave me a 175% refund!

I'm so happy that Ana has remained in good health! It's such a blessing that her scans come back clean!

Thank you... It does get a little nerve-racking leading up to the appointment and then waiting for the results but she is doing very well.

Yay you made it to Florida in one piece

We were happy to be on the ground... vacation was starting!

The kids are to cute. It's nice that the guy smiled in the photobomb picture as well for you

The guy was proud of himself... I was gonna take another picture of me & Christopher but I figured the pic I had would be good for the TR.

 

[that's nice]

Days??????

Hours? Minutes?

I'm sure you aren't insinuating I'm gone for more than days at a time?

So sorry about the car ordeal - sounds like a nightmare.

It was but we made the best of it. Wish I just booked a minivan from the start.

I'm excited to hear about your cruise!!

Coming up soon.

Oh MAN. What an awful experience with the car! I'm happy to hear you were able to make the best of it, but GEEZ!!!

I know. Tell me about it!

It's nice you were able to have a little family time before the big reveal! I'm looking forward to the kiddos reactions when they find out!

We always fit some family time in our trips. We are planning on visiting with Mel's grandfather next year for a few days before WDW.

I have something good planned for the reveal.

 

[KatMark]

Hours? Minutes?

I'm sure you aren't insinuating I'm gone for more than days at a time?

Who me?

 

[that's nice]

Who me?

Ummmmm, yes. I believe I was talking to you.

 

[that's nice]

Thursday September 18, 2014

Christopher is a restless sleeper. He slept in between me & Melody and I work up numerous times with either a knee in my back, arm on my neck, his head on my head, or a foot somewhere I rather not talk about. Juliana and the other kids slept like babies. There wasn't a peep out of their bedroom all night. We rolled out of bed around 7:15. We had to pack up the few things we took out of the car. The cousins had to get ready for school & work.

The story was while the kids were headed to school, we were going to go to the beach for the day. It seemed logical and Juliana never questioned it except for one time when she asked if we were sleeping over her cousin's house that night. We couldn't lie and told them that we were going to relax on the beach for a few days and we'd see them on Sunday before heading 'home'. Mel's cousin let us take their umbrella stroller with us and we left our double stroller at their house. It freed up a little bit a room in the car that we desperately needed.

It was about 8:30 when we got on the road. We stopped for breakfast at McDonalds and just ate in the car. The kids had pancakes and they ate most of the 2 hash browns I ordered. We should of just went inside to eat but I guess 'someone' was a little too excited to get to the 'beach' and thought this would be quicker. When I was getting on the highway I remembered that we left the alcohol we were going to bring with us back at the house. I didn't hunk it was a big deal since we could just get some at a store before we got to the ship.

The drive over was a pretty much a straight shot on 528. We were about 20 minutes away when Melody's phone rang. We put it on speaker and handed it to Juliana......

Click on the picture to watch the video.



You gotta love Juliana getting mad at the end because we weren't going to the Dollar Store for beach toys. We were only going on a 3 day Disney Cruise kid. Come'on! I was also a little disappointed with the message from Mickey & Minnie. It didn't say one thing about the cruise. I guess it didn't really matter. It was fun to finally tell them ourselves.

Think they were a bit excited?



Within 15 minutes of the phone call we started seeing signs for the port.



We got to the top of a bridge and saw the Dream in the distance....



We were so excited. We must of taken 50 pictures of the ship as we kept getting closer and closer.

Once you get off the highway you are basically in the parking lot for the port. So much for bringing on our own alcohol. It wasn't a big deal though.





We pulled up and were able to drop off our luggage before parking. The porters piled it all on carts and it was quickly whisked away. Thank goodness we didn't have to move it a far distance. There is a parking garage right across from the terminal and we found a spot on the lower level. A quick bathroom break & diaper change then walked across the street and got in line. We were so early that the gate to get into the terminal wasn't even open yet. We were probably the 20th family in line. It wasn't long before we were moving, went through security and headed up the elevator to sign in.

As the elevator doors opened, there was a DVC kiosk on the left. We stopped to say hi and the rep gave us some DVC lanyards and some other goodies. We moved on to the check in line. The line wasn't very long and before we knew it, all our documents were verified and we received our boarding group- #2!



The boarding had not even started yet so we walked over and checked out the huge replica Disney Dream cruise ship.



We really didn't know what to do until we saw Pluto come out and start meeting with people.... {oh, so that's why all those people were standing in the roped off section} We got in line and were so excited to see Pluto! The line was moving quickly and we were next to see our boy.... until the CM told us that Pluto had to go to rest for a bit- we wouldn't be seeing him. Dang. When the family in front of us was done, Pluto had to go but Donald took his place. He came right over and grabbed the kids hands and walked them to the picture spot.





You can really see how the terminal was filling up from the last time I took a picture of the Dream replica.

Gabby was not happy. She did not like Donald at all. Donald even tried to play with her to make her feel better which pretty much backfired and made her more upset.

Family shot w/ crying baby.



Melody & I got out of the picture so Juliana & Christopher could get a picture with Donald. Donald thought it was a good idea to use the kids heads as arm rests.



First character met. Now what should we do. We looked for a seat and they were pretty much all taken. OK, we can stand. Now to find a spot to be out of the way. We didn't walk far when an announcement came over the loud speaker saying boarding would be starting. Concierge was first. Which was quickly followed by group 1. About 2 minutes later group 2 was called! YEAH!

We walked up the gangway and we were announced as we boarded the Dream!

We entered the atrium of the Dream...





Our ship was decorated for Halloween and was one of the first Halloween On The High Seas cruises.





Could we get a picture of the 3 kids sitting still? Ummm guess not.



The Carnival dock was next to us...



While we were still in the atrium, I stopped at the service desk to sign up for the Castaway Cay 5K. Since I was there I also checked our account for shipboard credits, which we received from booking our cruise on our 2 day cruise to nowhere on the Magic out of NYC in the summer of 2012, and a credit from our TA.



Up next.... LUNCH!

 

[jedijill]

You're on a boat!

Doh! on forgetting the alcohol. I can't see the video (network at work is acting up today) but I'm sure the kids were very excited! Congrats on pulling off the surprise. Poor Gabby getting scared of Donald.

Can't wait to hear more!

Jill in CO

 

[petals]

Poor Gabby being scared of Donald.

I love the video. Ana I don't want to go a cruise I want to go to Disney and Christopher just smiling for the camera love it!

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Loving it Tim!! The only ship I haven't gone on is the Dream

 

[Chicago Mo]

too much to comment on! Mind BLOWN!

Disappearing for days at a time.. Yeah - i will go on a hiatus once in a while too!

The VIDEO! They are so stinkin cute! and excited! Poor kids and no dollar store!
You can see the packed car too! holy cow. your a tetris MASTER! Thanks - now that music is stuck in my head...

Poor sap who had to unload you car! just kidding. No alcohol. I have no words for this..

M&G with Donald. How sweet was that?!?!

BOARDING #2! what luck!!!! it's SO BEAUTIFUL! I'm so excited to see this all come to life! the boat is absolutely gorgeous! HALLOWEEN FUN!!!

cannot wait to see the trip unfold!