catyanna
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2009
Hi Everybody!
This is my first time doing a pre-trip report so here goes nothing...
First I will give you a list of the crazy characters.
I am Elise.
A stay at home mom who will be the BIG 4-0 in August!
My amazing hubby Yair
who is an engineering tech for an awesome company (more on that in a bit) & a full time college student!
Our 18yr old daughter Arianna
She doesn't know what she wants to be when she grows up!
Our 4 yr old son Noah
. He swears he's a pirate. But there are days that he thinks he's Michael Jackson, or a cowboy, or maybe a waiter? (He walks around in a tuxedo sometimes 
)
My mom
. We'll call her Mimi since that's what Noah calls her. She's a high school teacher. Very brave of her!
My dad, Mike
. He's retired so he pretty much hangs out w/ me on most days!
So, 5 years ago we were blessed when my husband started working for an amazing company. This place is very family conscious & looks after its employees! Upon getting his employment contract we read it & realized that one of the "perks" was that on his 5 year anniversary he gets a certain $ amount. But that this money can only be used for a family vacation!!!
As you can imagine, we thought of all the places we could maybe go. Well, in January we hit the 5 year mark & I started really thinking of where we could go. Because we have a young child, Disney has always been our choice for vacations. Plus the fact that we live in SW Florida is a plus because we get lots of great discount! We've always wanted to do a Disney cruise but it is just too expensive for us. So of course I thought... Here's our chance!
We have always celebrated our son's birthday at Disney. It's in October & we love the MNSSHP. We always take my parents because honestly, it's just not the same w/o them. So imagine the disappointment on my parents faces when we told them that this year we would not be able to be at Disney for our son's birthday.
. Of course no questions were asked as they always look at our trips as a gift.
A few days later, I happened to find a cruise planning video I had received about a year earlier. I added it to a stack of dvd's my son was taking to Mimi's house. When we get there, he asks her to put it in. As always, both my parent sat on the couch to watch it w/ him. Obviously they had no idea why he wanted to watch that video. But never the less, they watched.
As they were watching, my mom makes comments about how she wishes she could take Noah on a Disney cruise. While my dad responds w/ some wise crack like "sure let me go rob a bank first"!
Well needless to say, I could NOT hold in my excitement any longer! I told them of our plans & I think my mom may have fainted
! All my dad could say was "No Sh*t!". Mind you, my father never curses. So when they asked us how & why we were taking them, being my father's daughter I simply replied " Because we want you to experience all the things we couldn't as kids!" As you know we were all 
!
That was 3 months ago & w/ the exception of $600 ( hubby's job pays for spouse & kids so we paid the difference) our trip is completely paid for
!!!! Now I am just trying to plan our Disney stay for before & after our cruise! our sail date is October 14,2012!
I will be back w/ updates as I go along planning
This is my first time doing a pre-trip report so here goes nothing...First I will give you a list of the crazy characters.
I am Elise.
A stay at home mom who will be the BIG 4-0 in August!My amazing hubby Yair
who is an engineering tech for an awesome company (more on that in a bit) & a full time college student! Our 18yr old daughter Arianna
She doesn't know what she wants to be when she grows up!Our 4 yr old son Noah
. He swears he's a pirate. But there are days that he thinks he's Michael Jackson, or a cowboy, or maybe a waiter? (He walks around in a tuxedo sometimes )My mom
. We'll call her Mimi since that's what Noah calls her. She's a high school teacher. Very brave of her!My dad, Mike
. He's retired so he pretty much hangs out w/ me on most days!So, 5 years ago we were blessed when my husband started working for an amazing company. This place is very family conscious & looks after its employees! Upon getting his employment contract we read it & realized that one of the "perks" was that on his 5 year anniversary he gets a certain $ amount. But that this money can only be used for a family vacation!!!
As you can imagine, we thought of all the places we could maybe go. Well, in January we hit the 5 year mark & I started really thinking of where we could go. Because we have a young child, Disney has always been our choice for vacations. Plus the fact that we live in SW Florida is a plus because we get lots of great discount! We've always wanted to do a Disney cruise but it is just too expensive for us. So of course I thought... Here's our chance!
We have always celebrated our son's birthday at Disney. It's in October & we love the MNSSHP. We always take my parents because honestly, it's just not the same w/o them. So imagine the disappointment on my parents faces when we told them that this year we would not be able to be at Disney for our son's birthday.
. Of course no questions were asked as they always look at our trips as a gift. A few days later, I happened to find a cruise planning video I had received about a year earlier. I added it to a stack of dvd's my son was taking to Mimi's house. When we get there, he asks her to put it in. As always, both my parent sat on the couch to watch it w/ him. Obviously they had no idea why he wanted to watch that video
. But never the less, they watched.As they were watching, my mom makes comments about how she wishes she could take Noah on a Disney cruise. While my dad responds w/ some wise crack like "sure let me go rob a bank first"!
Well needless to say, I could NOT hold in my excitement any longer! I told them of our plans & I think my mom may have fainted
! All my dad could say was "No Sh*t!". Mind you, my father never curses. So when they asked us how & why we were taking them, being my father's daughter I simply replied " Because we want you to experience all the things we couldn't as kids!" As you know we were all !That was 3 months ago & w/ the exception of $600 ( hubby's job pays for spouse & kids so we paid the difference) our trip is completely paid for
!!!! Now I am just trying to plan our Disney stay for before & after our cruise! our sail date is October 14,2012!I will be back w/ updates as I go along planning
surprised me w/ a quick weekend trip to my 2nd favorite place om earth... St. Augustine! We had a great time & on our way home we stopped at Disney's Boardwalk for dinner!!! We were able to see one of their room & I fell in love w/ it. We will be definitely staying there for a few nights after our cruise! Now I'm just waiting for the FL Res rate to come out so I can reserve it!
. But he will love it all the same. I requested some balloons to fly out from the moon roof when they pull up to get us! If I didn't mention it before, this will be my 1st "real" vacation. So I'm gonna make the most of it. 
This means that we have $2000 left over for our 3 days at Disney before & after our cruise! I am so excited! we are less than 40 days away!!!! 
looks when we introduce each other to others. He husband is my ex husband's brother. Thank goodness that somehow we managed to stay close through a "not so friendly" divorce because I love her, her husband & my 2 nieces. 
