Hello everybody. Let me start out by saying that I have been a member of the boards for many years and post occasionally but have never written a trip report (gasp, I know!). I never seem to find the time to write it. But I have read and benefitted from so many wonderful trip reports over the years that I felt I needed to write one, especially for this trip of a lifetime. Warning before you start reading – this will be a very long trip report since our trip was 2 weeks (actually 16 days total) and may take me a while to complete. I will add pictures in as I go but some of my pictures may not be the best quality.
Ok, now for the introductions. There is me, Kris, self-proclaimed Disney fanatic and mother to a wonderful daughter.
And my wonderful daughter, Shallon, who is 24 and was born and raised under my Disney fascination and I think she may be even passing me up with her Disney obsession.
We are true Disney buddies. By the way, a few weeks before we left Shallon broke her foot bike riding so she is in a boot cast. It could have been a lot worse and she seemed to be moving around pretty well, although I did refer to her a couple times on the trip as hop-along-Shallon.
We have been to Disney World many times and go twice a year and usually spend a couple weeks each trip. We have been WDW Annual Passholders for quite a few years and really get our money’s worth out of those passes. A few years ago, a fellow board member and helpful planner turned me on to Disney Cruise Line. We had never cruised before and once I took the leap I was so hooked there is no turning back. So I blame (or thank) my helpful planner friend who I will refer to as “she who must not be named”. Now we have taken 5 cruises in the past 4 years which is quite a feat because I never thought I’d be able to swing taking a cruise in the first place. I have learned so much about cruising from the boards and from the trip reports that have helped me prepare in immeasurable ways. In addition, “she who must not be named” has answered so many questions for me over the years that I couldn’t have done it without her, plus she has the best trip reports ever. For those who have cruised with Disney, you probably know how addicting it can be. We have cruised on the Dream 3 times, Fantasy-Eastern Caribbean 1 time and most recently we cruised on the Wonder to Alaska. Now Alaska has always been a dream of mine since I was very little and what better way to experience Alaska than on a Disney cruise.
So once I decided to take the Alaska plunge, I figured we might as well go to Disneyland too. Since we live in Michigan and would be going all the way over to “that side of the country” we may as well go down to California too and experience our very first visit to Disneyland (makes perfect sense, right). So we spent a week cruising Alaska and a week in Disneyland, after all I didn’t know when we’d make it way over there again. This really was a trip of a lifetime. I planned the cruise 1 ½ years in advance so I had plenty of time to learn more. This was also a surprise for Shallon so as the trip got closer it became more difficult to pull things together without her knowing. Shallon has Down syndrome and is very much a kid at heart, which means I have the advantage of experiencing Disney life through the eyes of a child over and over, even though she is 24. But this is also why I can’t tell her too far in advance because she just can’t stand to wait for the next Disney fix (who can). For a seasoned WDW vet who can plan a trip there with my eyes closed, I was completely out of my comfort zone. This was a trip of firsts…. first time in Vancouver, first time on the Wonder, first time in Alaska, and first time to Disneyland. I sure did a lot of homework before this trip, thanks to all the trip reports. Even though I was very excited about this trip, there was also something completely terrifying about it. But the very things that made this trip scary were the same things that made it fantastic, discovering new territory. So let’s get started.
Ok, now for the introductions. There is me, Kris, self-proclaimed Disney fanatic and mother to a wonderful daughter.
And my wonderful daughter, Shallon, who is 24 and was born and raised under my Disney fascination and I think she may be even passing me up with her Disney obsession.
We are true Disney buddies. By the way, a few weeks before we left Shallon broke her foot bike riding so she is in a boot cast. It could have been a lot worse and she seemed to be moving around pretty well, although I did refer to her a couple times on the trip as hop-along-Shallon.
We have been to Disney World many times and go twice a year and usually spend a couple weeks each trip. We have been WDW Annual Passholders for quite a few years and really get our money’s worth out of those passes. A few years ago, a fellow board member and helpful planner turned me on to Disney Cruise Line. We had never cruised before and once I took the leap I was so hooked there is no turning back. So I blame (or thank) my helpful planner friend who I will refer to as “she who must not be named”. Now we have taken 5 cruises in the past 4 years which is quite a feat because I never thought I’d be able to swing taking a cruise in the first place. I have learned so much about cruising from the boards and from the trip reports that have helped me prepare in immeasurable ways. In addition, “she who must not be named” has answered so many questions for me over the years that I couldn’t have done it without her, plus she has the best trip reports ever. For those who have cruised with Disney, you probably know how addicting it can be. We have cruised on the Dream 3 times, Fantasy-Eastern Caribbean 1 time and most recently we cruised on the Wonder to Alaska. Now Alaska has always been a dream of mine since I was very little and what better way to experience Alaska than on a Disney cruise.
So once I decided to take the Alaska plunge, I figured we might as well go to Disneyland too. Since we live in Michigan and would be going all the way over to “that side of the country” we may as well go down to California too and experience our very first visit to Disneyland (makes perfect sense, right). So we spent a week cruising Alaska and a week in Disneyland, after all I didn’t know when we’d make it way over there again. This really was a trip of a lifetime. I planned the cruise 1 ½ years in advance so I had plenty of time to learn more. This was also a surprise for Shallon so as the trip got closer it became more difficult to pull things together without her knowing. Shallon has Down syndrome and is very much a kid at heart, which means I have the advantage of experiencing Disney life through the eyes of a child over and over, even though she is 24. But this is also why I can’t tell her too far in advance because she just can’t stand to wait for the next Disney fix (who can). For a seasoned WDW vet who can plan a trip there with my eyes closed, I was completely out of my comfort zone. This was a trip of firsts…. first time in Vancouver, first time on the Wonder, first time in Alaska, and first time to Disneyland. I sure did a lot of homework before this trip, thanks to all the trip reports. Even though I was very excited about this trip, there was also something completely terrifying about it. But the very things that made this trip scary were the same things that made it fantastic, discovering new territory. So let’s get started.
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