Pre-Trip Let's Try This Graduation Trip Again

Now that I finally finished the report from our July trip, let's delve into the plans for our next trip! If you recall, the last trip was supposed to be a cruise to celebrate Logan's high school graduation. That obviously didn't happen and we rescheduled it for June 2022. Let's hope it actually happens this time!! First, let me introduce my family in case there are newcomers here who don't know us.

Me (Amy), my husband Brian, and our kids, Lily (16), Owen (13), and Logan (19).

I am disappointed that we were originally scheduled on a 5 night Castaway Cay double dip cruise on the Fantasy sailing out of Port Canaveral and the only double dip this coming year was in September which is a no go with school schedules. We are now scheduled for a 4 night cruise on the Dream sailing out of Miami. We've been on the Dream before and loved it, but I was looking forward to experiencing a new to us ship.

We will be driving to Florida on Sunday, June 12. We will be staying in the Port Canaveral area as we plan to visit the Kennedy Space Center on Monday, June 13.

We will then drive to Miami on Tuesday, June 13. I am currently booked at the Holiday Inn near Port Miami, but I am open to other suggestions if anyone has them. We will have most of the day Tuesday and all day Wednesday in Miami before starting the cruise on Thursday, June 16. I am also open to suggestions for things to do in Miami on those two day. We may check out Zoo Miami, but nothing is definite yet.

We will be heading back to the Disney/Universal area after the cruise on Monday, June 20. We were originally going to stay in a Disney Springs hotel, but then I decided to surprise the kids with a deluxe resort stay for a few days since we would be able to fully enjoy the resort amenities since we won't be visiting any parks. We have talked about what resorts everyone wants to stay in, and the only one that always ends up on everyone's list is Animal Kingdom Lodge. I originally booked a one bedroom savanna view room at Kidani Village through Disney, but then I decided to check out DVC Rental Store and was able to rent points for a 2 bedroom savanna view room at Kidani for a few hundred dollars cheaper than what I was going to pay Disney for a 1 bedroom! Brian and I have decided to not tell the kids where we are staying until we are pulling up to the resort! We'll see if I am able to keep it a secret for that long! (I have my doubts!!) We plan to hit City Walk one afternoon and Disney Springs. And I want to visit All Star Movies to re-create some photos we have of the kids on their first trips. Otherwise, we will just relax at AKL and enjoy the room and the pool.

And I know all of that was really boring, so a few more photos of what we have been up to lately!

Logan was on the winning team for Canoe Battleship! (they were in canoes in the pool and threw buckets of water at the other teams and the last canoe floating won!)

Lily was inducted into the National Honor Society.

Owen finished his fall soccer season and has started indoor soccer.

And Brian and I recently celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary. Here we are way back in 1998.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

YAY! How exciting!! AKL is our FAVORITE!! I spend so much time on the balcony watching the animals. They also do have some tours and stuff at AKL too if you're looking to do something fun without going into the parks!
We've used DVC Rental Store before too. SO much better than going directly through Disney!!!

 

[TheMouseFan]

YAY! How exciting!! AKL is our FAVORITE!! I spend so much time on the balcony watching the animals. They also do have some tours and stuff at AKL too if you're looking to do something fun without going into the parks!
We've used DVC Rental Store before too. SO much better than going directly through Disney!!!

I am really excited to stay at AKL. Not sure how much Brian and the kids are going to want to have any preplanned activities, but I'm definitely looking into some of the tours!

 

[TheMouseFan]

It's been awhile since I've posted an update here. We have passed the 90 day mark until our cruise and can now book our activities. One of the big things we wanted to do and use our cancelled cruise credit for was Atlantis on our Nassau day. Too bad Disney isn't running any excursions to Atlantis right now. Now I don't know what we'll use our credit for. I do love to shop, but I don't think I'll find $1600 worth of DCL merchandise to buy!! The only other thing I could think of using it for is a cabana on Castaway Cay, which are of course already all booked.

I did book our hotel in Miami and we have decided to go to Zoo Miami on Tuesday before checking in. We contemplated doing a day trip to Key West on Wednesday, but decided we didn't want to spend that much time in the car. Instead we will check out Miami Beach.

Not much else to report on the planning front. We've been super busy here lately. Logan had spring break last week. It was so nice having him home! He's traveling to the Atlanta area next weekend for triathlon nationals. Lily just got a job. Owen is busy with track and soccer. Brian is currently in the Orlando area. His father was vacationing there and had to have open heart surgery 2 days ago. He's having some complications so we don't know when Brian will be back home. And I am going crazy trying to coordinate everything here at home and help Brian navigate everything there from afar.

On a brighter note, I conned everyone into wearing matching shirts for pirate night on the cruise and I got them yesterday!

 

[MickeyCB]

we wanted to do and use our cancelled cruise credit for was Atlantis on our Nassau day.

We've only ever done one cruise and we loved Atlantis. The kids did the dolphin swim and it was awesome!
But I didn't really enjoy the excursions because all I did was worry about being late back to the ship. My family thought I was hilarious and told me to chill.
But then, we were sitting on our balcony (back on the ship on time) and we were docked right beside a carnival cruise ship and we were watching them pull up the gangplank, I think it's called, and a young couple came running down the dock yelling "wait, wait" and it didn't! It took off and left them there! Looked at my kids and of course said, "hah!"

 

[TheMouseFan]

We've only ever done one cruise and we loved Atlantis. The kids did the dolphin swim and it was awesome!
But I didn't really enjoy the excursions because all I did was worry about being late back to the ship. My family thought I was hilarious and told me to chill.
But then, we were sitting on our balcony (back on the ship on time) and we were docked right beside a carnival cruise ship and we were watching them pull up the gangplank, I think it's called, and a young couple came running down the dock yelling "wait, wait" and it didn't! It took off and left them there! Looked at my kids and of course said, "hah!"

That is why I wanted to do one through Disney! That is the only time they will wait for you!! I'm sure I could get us to Atlantis, but I'm not willing to take that chance! Not to mention that I couldn't use my cruise credit if it's not through Disney.

 

[MickeyCB]

That is why I wanted to do one through Disney! That is the only time they will wait for you!! I'm sure I could get us to Atlantis, but I'm not willing to take that chance! Not to mention that I couldn't use my cruise credit if it's not through Disney.

This was several years ago and we were on the Disney Dream. But, we were inexperienced cruisers and they told us about 85 times not to be late for departure so I was a little wound up most of the day!

 

[riverside]

I hope everything is ok with Brian’s dad

 

[TheMouseFan]

I hope everything is ok with Brian’s dad

Thanks, he seems to be doing well. He had a few setbacks the last couple of days, but everyone is pleased with his progress as of this morning and he is hopefully being transferred out of ICU later today.

 

[Spash007]

For the credit, does DCL still book pre- and post-stays and transfers? Maybe you could use the credit for that?

 

[TheMouseFan]

For the credit, does DCL still book pre- and post-stays and transfers? Maybe you could use the credit for that?

They do not book stays and we can't do transfers because we sail from Miami. Good thoughts though!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Yay!!! I just checked this morning and they are doing Atlantis excursions again!! Now if only someone would cancel a cabana that I could snag!

 

[TheMouseFan]

It's getting so close!!

Time has flown around here! Logan did a triathlon at the end of March.

Lily just had prom.

And Owen is still playing soccer for a few more weeks.

We go to Iowa this weekend to bring Logan home for the summer.

ADR day did not go as planned and I basically got nothing that I wanted at the times I wanted. So we are trying some new things. We have a dinner at Sebastian's and Trattoria al Forno which are both new to us. We have lunch at Whispering Canyon and breakfast at Boma which we have done both before. I keep checking, but we are satisfied with these if we don't get others.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

View attachment 638208
It's getting so close!!

Time has flown around here! Logan did a triathlon at the end of March.
View attachment 638211

Lily just had prom.
View attachment 638212

And Owen is still playing soccer for a few more weeks.
View attachment 638213

We go to Iowa this weekend to bring Logan home for the summer.

ADR day did not go as planned and I basically got nothing that I wanted at the times I wanted. So we are trying some new things. We have a dinner at Sebastian's and Trattoria al Forno which are both new to us. We have lunch at Whispering Canyon and breakfast at Boma which we have done both before. I keep checking, but we are satisfied with these if we don't get others.

I have had some
Very enjoyable meals at Trattoria al Forno. I really like the breakfast there. I think their coffee is the best on property.

 

[TheMouseFan]

I have had some
Very enjoyable meals at Trattoria al Forno. I really like the breakfast there. I think their coffee is the best on property.

We've done breakfast there before when it was a character meal and really enjoyed it! I'm looking forward to trying dinner.

 

[Tuvalu]

Our Trattoria al Forno dinner was our favorite meal from our trip in October!

And you know how I feel about Whispering Canyon….

 

[TheMouseFan]

Our Trattoria al Forno dinner was our favorite meal from our trip in October!

And you know how I feel about Whispering Canyon….

I remember reading that about Trattoria al Forno as well as hearing a couple other similar opinions, so I am excited to try it. I had a hard time finding an ADR that wasn't at 9pm though! Whispering Canyon was my must have meal for this trip!!

Hope you are feeling better today!

 

[TheMouseFan]

List making is in full swing and packing has begun because we leave two weeks from today!! In fact, we will hopefully already be in Port Canaveral at this time in two weeks! Our first round of at home Covid tests were negative, but I'm a little on edge because one of the boys on Owen's soccer team was positive this morning and they played two games yesterday. Needless to say, Owen will be tested every 2-3 days for awhile to be sure!

I updated my planning notebook with all of our reservation print outs. Yes, I know they are available on my phone through email, MDE, and the Navigator, but I'm a worry wart and like to have hard copies of everything! I even added AKL to my resort page!

And I have my full pharmacy packed @Tuvalu !! I wanted to be sure I didn't have to purchase anything before we left. No $30+ Mucinex for us!!

 

[MickeyCB]

I even added AKL to my resort page!

These sorts of things are just plain ole fun!!

 

[TheMouseFan]

These sorts of things are just plain ole fun!!

Brian and the kids laugh at me for having it, but it brings me joy and gives them a fantastic trip each time!!

 

[MickeyCB]

Brian and the kids laugh at me for having it, but it brings me joy and gives them a fantastic trip each time!!

My kids used to mock me till 2 things happened on the same day on one of our trips several years ago.
It was Thanksgiving day and I was on the bus with my daughter and a woman was complaining about not being able to get her family a dining reservation (we were going to be eating the classic Thanksgiving type meal at Liberty Tree Tavern), and I looked at my daughter and said, "umhm, you're going to be eating today, aren'tcha?"
And then later we were walking up the FP line to ride Space Mountain with a 120 min stand by wait, and my kids did the bow down thing to me and said, "ok mom, you are the bomb!"
Hah, vindicated, all of my color coated charts worth it!!