Dancing On Over to Our Happy Place - 01/30-02/06/2015 PTR ***UPDATES 01/21***

[Off to Neverland 7]

Hello DISer's! This is my very first pre-trip report. I've been learning more and more everyday on the boards with anticipation for our upcoming trip and thought, "what the heck, I might as well write one up since I'm here everyday."

The Cast:
DBF: Kevin (25)
Myself: Dea (26)

A little bit about ourselves:
We're dancers, teachers and choreographers. We teach every level of hip-hop dance from ages 4-adults and aside from teaching at our "home" studios, our job requires us to travel to teach international conventions and workshops. Check out this dance video we made at AoA in the Elephant Graveyard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_BzgCymF8I



DBF and I are Disney enthusiasts (okay, myself more than DBF but he goes with it) and absolutely love giving experiences for gifts rather than material things. We were longtime Disneyland Annual Passholders but recently stopped renewing to make annual trips to the world instead (way better value in my opinion and more exciting to make one big trip instead of a lot of mini trips). This Christmas/Valentine's, we've decided to splurge on our 4th trip to the world and very first cruise on the Dream. This is definitely going to be a different trip for us as we always go in late September/early October for F&W with the free dining. We're excited for possibly cooler temps and are foodies so the cruise is going to be extra exciting for us.

A little bit about our trip:
We've had this booked since March 2014 so as the days get closer, we can barely contain our excitement and anticipation. Our vacation dates: January 30-February 6. We'll be staying 3 nights at our "home" resort, Pop Century, in a Preferred Pool Room with QS dining. We'll then be on a 4-night cruise on the Dream in a 7A Navigator Verandah Room stateroom 7022. We chose a 4-night cruise to see how we like the cruise experience (I'm sure we're going to LOVE it.. already looking to book another one.) We splurged on a Navigator Verandah (being that this is my first cruise and I'm prone to motion sickness, I wasn't sure how I'd do with the rocking of the ship. Quick access to fresh air was key.... and a great excuse to get a verandah )

I also learned about Fish Extending on the boards and was immediately hooked! We joined the group and got our gifts in order 6 months ahead.. excited much? YASS. I'm not too crafty but found a cost effective way to be not so crafty but thoughtful all at the same time through the boards.


The Plan:
January 30 - Travel day from SAN > MCO. Check in to Pop. Dinner & drinks at DTD to celebrate our first night.
January 31 - Park day. MK and Epcot. 1:30pm BOG FP. EMH @ MK (12a-2am).
February 1 - Fantasia Gardens. Beaches & Cream. Disney Quest. DTD & Wolfgang Puck.
February 2 - Check out of Pop. 9am Limo pick up & pick up another Fish Extender family we met on the boards to share the ride and excitement to Port Canaveral to embark the Dream 2:30pm FE meet and greet.
February 3 - Nassau Day: 10am Palo Brunch. Walk off the ship and explore a bit (kind of iffy after reading about the people trying to sell things every few steps but DBF insists on the experience for ourselves)
February 4 - Castaway Cay: We have the Castaway Cay Getaway Package (C05) - Does anyone have experience with this? Not sure if its worth the price we paid, esp with the new Bahamian tax ($41/person). 7pm Palo Dinner. Pirate Night.
February 5 - Sea Day: no reservations but considering getting the rainforest pass and participating in mixology.
February 6 - Disembarkation day: sad day back to reality


Thoughts to surprise DBF:
Since this is our Christmas/Valentine's gifts to one another, I've been looking for ways to surprise DBF and add some extra pixie dust to our trip (and I'm not particularly good with surprises because I get so excited and tell him EVERYTHING.) Tell me what you think..
- Romance for 2 package: is this a good value? I read that we can get FREE robes at the Gym locker room
- Rainforest Day Pass: not quite sure when we'll have time to use this other than the sea day.. though, I've read that it's most crowded on sea days.


We love traveling together and making new memories as a couple since we know our vacations will change the day we start a family. We're only 32 days away from leaving! If anyone has any suggestions for making this trip more magical, please share because we love trying new things


Disneyland Resort 1993-2000 & Passholder 2004-2014 Caribbean Beach Resort July 2001 Paradise Pier Resort 2009, November 2014 Grand Californian April 2010 Pop Century Sept 2012 & Sept 2013 Disneyland Hong Kong July 2013 Animal Kingdom Villas & Universal's Cabana Bay Sept 2014 Pop Century & Disney Dream Feb 2015!!

 

[Off to Neverland 7]

Happy New Year!!

I can't even begin to tell you all how stoked I am that it's 2015! There's so much to look forward to and our first vacation of the year kicks off in exactly 29 days & we'll be on the ship in 32 days!!

Sometime last week, I received my fish extender which turned out AMAZING! I had no idea how small these things were until we received it. Only issue I had was that I wrote in a request for Captain Mickey but she missed out that small detail. It would've taken a while to send it back, get it fixed, and get it back to us (we ordered back in August and received it late-December) so we just let it slide.. would rather have it for the trip than not at all.

These babies also came in the mail the other day. Yeeee! I won't post what I'm putting in the bags for my FE's until after the cruise. Don't want to spoil the surprise

Here's one more thing I started working on yesterday.. I was thinking of making a vision board for the year but didn't want to go out and buy a bunch of magazines and things for it.. so I made this cost-efficient fun little board to write all of my goals/things to accomplish this year. Hahah

Welp, so that's all for today. Wishing everyone a safe and fun New Year! Thanks for reading

 

[Off to Neverland 7]

Alrighty, so we're 17 days away from WDW and 19 days away from the cruise!

We're inching our way day by day to our Disney vacation and I can't tell you how excited I am!!! Ahh, I've been planning and planning and over planning but I think we've got our itinerary at a nice medium between planned and go with the flow

We scored FP's for BOG a late Lunch on Saturday and preordered our meals. We sadly let go of our BOG dinner ressie. It just seemed like an economical choice considering we're already on the QS dining plan and we've got both Palo brunch and dinner booked on our cruise.

We also plan on only doing one park day on Saturday. Why? Well for one thing, we scored these awesome vouchers for freeeee Mini Golf and Disney Quest in the mail, so that's what we'll be doing on Sunday. We're also coming from an intense work month and relaxing is priority number one with this vacation.

My FE's are all good to go. Reservations are all in order. Checked in to the resort and cruise. Just waiting on Magic Bands and for the next 17 days to go by yay!

 

[pierresgirl]

I need to get myself a selfie stick, cute pic of you guys! The FE turned out great and I love your idea of a vision board. I haven't done the romance package but personally think the Rainforest pass is fun. Or Exotic Rasul, I know when you try to book it it says $89 per person but I'm positive it's per couple. Dh & I have done if before. Definitely a good surprise

 

[Off to Neverland 7]

I need to get myself a selfie stick, cute pic of you guys! The FE turned out great and I love your idea of a vision board. I haven't done the romance package but personally think the Rainforest pass is fun. Or Exotic Rasul, I know when you try to book it it says $89 per person but I'm positive it's per couple. Dh & I have done if before. Definitely a good surprise

Totally recommend getting a selfie stick haha, thank you And thank you for your feedback. Ooh, I'll look more into the Exotic Rasul. It looks intriguing.

 

[Off to Neverland 7]

& 9 days until we leave for WDW!!

** Commence Single Digit Happy Dance **

I cannot even begin to tell you how AMAZING it feels to say "WE'RE LEAVING NEXT WEEK!!!" whaaattt?!? Kevin and I are giddy at the thought of leaving.. but now I just feel so unprepared..

We can't start packing until next Monday after our big dance competition on Sunday.. We purchased our Sea Bands from Walmart. Had no idea that you had to go up to the Pharmacy to have them special order the seabands and they were ready for pick up the day after we ordered them.. we're currently shopping for water shoes and I'm super stoked new swim suits are starting to appear at Target. Gonna get a new one for the trip just because

Our fish extenders are ALMOST complete. Just gotta make the tags and pretty up the baggies I put the kids gifts in (put them in ziplock baggies to save $$.. I'm sure the kids won't care about the packaging but I just want it to be presentable.) Last week, I found out that a cabin dropped out of our group and a new one appeared.. So sad, I had already made personalized magnets for each stateroom months ago and am out of magnet paper and laminating paper.. Decided to go a different route with their gifts since it's last minute..

All in all.. I CANNOT WAIT TO LEAVE!! The excitement is REAL! I feel like a child all over again.

Also, I started a trip report from our September 2014 trip just to keep my mind preoccupied.. I started overthinking things and reflecting on our last trip has given me a fun list of things we want to do again and new things we want to try. Check it out if you have time

A Tale Of Our Super Spontaneous Last Minute Trip