Teeny tiny chance of a DL getaway...oh, and Alaska too

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Amy
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Teeny tiny chance of a DL getaway...oh, and Alaska too

Post by Amy » May Sun 08, 2016 8:22 pm

There is the slightest chance that Figment and I will be able to get to DL this summer for a few days. My brother that lives in the San Francisco area is pushing quite mightily to get us all on an Alaskan cruise in July. Their planned anniversary trip to Ireland has been delayed due to his wife's bad knees and I guess surgery is planned before the trip possibly happens next year. So they set their sights on Alaska thinking we had already been once and would like to go again. They originally were looking to go in the first part of June and with such short notice we said no. Figment has never had a passport and mine is expired so that was a consideration in the timing as well. Mom is also unsure of being on a boat for 10 days, as well as her increasing difficulty getting around. Not to mention the expense.
Now Figment has been talking of nothing other than seeing Alaska for years now, and lately lamenting the fact that she will likely never see it, which just tugs at my heartstrings. And I had just been thinking the day before this all came to happen, about talking with my brothers and seeing if there wasn't something we could all do to get her to her dream destination, as I just don't know that I can swing that expense entirely on my own, so it seemed fateful that he contacted her when he did.
Now here is the icing on the cake. When they first talked with us, we mentioned that if we were flying all the way out to California (the cruise leaves out of San Francisco) that we would of course want to go to Disneyland. He made an offhand comment about they could maybe help us with that portion of the trip. Today he was a little more clear. They bid on, and won, a 3 night stay with 4, 1 day park hopper tickets to DL at a recent charity event :shock: He said we could fly in, all drive down (a possible nightmare there with 5+ hours in the car...did it once when they first moved up to San Fran, wasn't pretty...but at least there would be 2 less people in the car as their children are now grown), do the DL portion of the trip, and then return to San Fran for the cruise. The dates of the tickets are 7/5 - 7/8 ~ thinking that is a pretty crowded time at the DL resort :?
In my mind, I know this isn't the best idea. The house has to be painted this summer, there are other repairs that can no longer be put off, and so many other things to do that I could work 24 hours a day and possibly never get caught up, not to mention that Mom is really pushing to move to Florida within a year or two to escape the winter weather. My income has never been all that steady since becoming self employed and I obviously don't have any paid vacation time. But in my heart, there is a chance to get Mom where she wants to go, with family that can help her get around, and a bonus side trip to DL! :goofy_bounce: We had everyone together in Chicago about a year ago and it was great to have time to visit and just be together as a family again.
My brother that lives in the Chicago area is sort of like us. He wouldn't mind going, but financially it will be tight having just purchased a condo. And his daughter will be in art camp during the summer. He did say he would talk with his ex, but that never goes well. And I don't know if he would go without his daughter or not. If he would, the three of us could share a cabin on the cruise to help save on costs.
Anyhow, that's the possibility. And like Alice, I'm always curious...Thoughts? Pros and cons? Anyone with experience on Princess Cruise Lines?
:ccat:

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Re: Teeny tiny chance of a DL getaway...oh, and Alaska too

Post by cy1229 » May Sun 08, 2016 9:53 pm

Amy, this is the proverbial writing on the wall. I know it's not coincidence that you were thinking about it and then your brother came up with a plan to get your mom to her dream destination!

There will always be things a house needs. There will always be work that needs attention. There will never be a good time to spend that money. No one ever looks back and says she wished she had done more housework. But people do look back and wish they'd taken advantage of opportunities instead of being exceptionally practical. And people always wished they'd had more time and had done things. Always.
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Amy
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Re: Teeny tiny chance of a DL getaway...oh, and Alaska too

Post by Amy » May Mon 09, 2016 7:33 am

cy1229 wrote:Amy, this is the proverbial writing on the wall. I know it's not coincidence that you were thinking about it and then your brother came up with a plan to get your mom to her dream destination!

There will always be things a house needs. There will always be work that needs attention. There will never be a good time to spend that money. No one ever looks back and says she wished she had done more housework. But people do look back and wish they'd taken advantage of opportunities instead of being exceptionally practical. And people always wished they'd had more time and had done things. Always.
That's kind of the direction I'm leaning as well. Thanks for the input :D
I'm pretty much leaving the decision up to Mom. It is her dream and if she wants to go, I'll figure out a way to do it. And if she'd rather do something else, or go later, we'll figure that out as well. Still dragging her to the passport office today though ~ that will be good for 10 years at the very least!

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Re: Teeny tiny chance of a DL getaway...oh, and Alaska too

Post by theBIGyowski » May Mon 09, 2016 12:24 pm

cy1229 wrote:There will always be things a house needs. There will always be work that needs attention. There will never be a good time to spend that money. No one ever looks back and says she wished she had done more housework. But people do look back and wish they'd taken advantage of opportunities instead of being exceptionally practical. And people always wished they'd had more time and had done things. Always.
This is why we are taking our kids to WDW in December. Sure, there are things we want to do in our new house to fix them up or make them the way we want to. But we know there will always be things to work on at home, but our kids will only be this little for a brief moment. We'd rather spend our money on things that build memories than stuff that collects dust.
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Amy
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Re: Teeny tiny chance of a DL getaway...oh, and Alaska too

Post by Amy » May Mon 09, 2016 1:41 pm

theBIGyowski wrote:
cy1229 wrote:There will always be things a house needs. There will always be work that needs attention. There will never be a good time to spend that money. No one ever looks back and says she wished she had done more housework. But people do look back and wish they'd taken advantage of opportunities instead of being exceptionally practical. And people always wished they'd had more time and had done things. Always.
This is why we are taking our kids to WDW in December. Sure, there are things we want to do in our new house to fix them up or make them the way we want to. But we know there will always be things to work on at home, but our kids will only be this little for a brief moment. We'd rather spend our money on things that build memories than stuff that collects dust.
Smart thinking ~ and your kids are going to be such a good age to go this time around. Are you doing anything to get them ready for the larger than life characters or do you not anticipate any problems with that?

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Re: Teeny tiny chance of a DL getaway...oh, and Alaska too

Post by theBIGyowski » May Fri 13, 2016 1:42 pm

Amy wrote:Smart thinking ~ and your kids are going to be such a good age to go this time around. Are you doing anything to get them ready for the larger than life characters or do you not anticipate any problems with that?
good question

I'm not sure exactly how we will do this. We watch YouTube videos all the time of the Disney parks and they've seen videos of kids meeting Mickey and other characters. DD is ridiculously scared of men she doesn't know. So Santa Claus might as well be a giant monster even though she loves pictures of Santa. I'm not even sure when we are going to tell them about the trip. DD is too little to understand but DS would go nuts.
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1986: Offsite
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2008: Shades of Green / Saratoga Springs (WDW Half Marathon)
2009: Port Orleans French Quarter (WDW Half Marathon)
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2011: Old Key West / Bay Lake Tower
2014: Kidani Village
2015: Old Key West (5th Wedding Anniversary)
2016: Old Key West (Kids' first WDW vacation in December!)

Amy
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Re: Teeny tiny chance of a DL getaway...oh, and Alaska too

Post by Amy » May Fri 13, 2016 6:40 pm

theBIGyowski wrote:
Amy wrote:Smart thinking ~ and your kids are going to be such a good age to go this time around. Are you doing anything to get them ready for the larger than life characters or do you not anticipate any problems with that?
good question

I'm not sure exactly how we will do this. We watch YouTube videos all the time of the Disney parks and they've seen videos of kids meeting Mickey and other characters. DD is ridiculously scared of men she doesn't know. So Santa Claus might as well be a giant monster even though she loves pictures of Santa. I'm not even sure when we are going to tell them about the trip. DD is too little to understand but DS would go nuts.
You could set up a countdown calendar of some kind with the kids. I suppose you have to figure out how often you want to hear, "Are we going today?" in when you tell them ;) :lol:

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Re: Teeny tiny chance of a DL getaway...oh, and Alaska too

Post by Amy » May Fri 13, 2016 6:42 pm

Oh, definitely no trip to Alaska this summer. Mom decided it was just too short of notice and too expensive. The cruise didn't include any kind of excursions at all. Plus she wants to do some research on which cruise line she wants to take. I've hinted heavily at Disney ;)
Not ruling out the DL trip though. We might still be able to squeeze that one in on the pretense of visiting my brother and his wife before they leave on their cruise. :lol:

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Re: Teeny tiny chance of a DL getaway...oh, and Alaska too

Post by cy1229 » May Sat 14, 2016 8:48 am

Amy wrote:Oh, definitely no trip to Alaska this summer. Mom decided it was just too short of notice and too expensive. The cruise didn't include any kind of excursions at all. Plus she wants to do some research on which cruise line she wants to take. I've hinted heavily at Disney ;)
Not ruling out the DL trip though. We might still be able to squeeze that one in on the pretense of visiting my brother and his wife before they leave on their cruise. :lol:
I think your mom might be wise, in terms of really planning what she wants to do. No excursions? Crazy!

My dad and stepmom did a cruise to Alaska. I'll ask them which line, though I'd bet money it was Celebrity.
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Re: Teeny tiny chance of a DL getaway...oh, and Alaska too

Post by Amy » May Sat 14, 2016 9:49 am

cy1229 wrote:
Amy wrote:Oh, definitely no trip to Alaska this summer. Mom decided it was just too short of notice and too expensive. The cruise didn't include any kind of excursions at all. Plus she wants to do some research on which cruise line she wants to take. I've hinted heavily at Disney ;)
Not ruling out the DL trip though. We might still be able to squeeze that one in on the pretense of visiting my brother and his wife before they leave on their cruise. :lol:
I think your mom might be wise, in terms of really planning what she wants to do. No excursions? Crazy!

My dad and stepmom did a cruise to Alaska. I'll ask them which line, though I'd bet money it was Celebrity.
That would be great if you could ~ thanks. They are going on Princess which I think is a very nice cruise line, but no, nothing was included off the boat at all. And the base price wasn't exactly low so the price would have gone up quite quickly if you wanted to see anything in the ports.

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Re: Teeny tiny chance of a DL getaway...oh, and Alaska too

Post by cy1229 » May Sat 14, 2016 5:53 pm

Amy wrote:
cy1229 wrote:
Amy wrote:Oh, definitely no trip to Alaska this summer. Mom decided it was just too short of notice and too expensive. The cruise didn't include any kind of excursions at all. Plus she wants to do some research on which cruise line she wants to take. I've hinted heavily at Disney ;)
Not ruling out the DL trip though. We might still be able to squeeze that one in on the pretense of visiting my brother and his wife before they leave on their cruise. :lol:
I think your mom might be wise, in terms of really planning what she wants to do. No excursions? Crazy!

My dad and stepmom did a cruise to Alaska. I'll ask them which line, though I'd bet money it was Celebrity.
That would be great if you could ~ thanks. They are going on Princess which I think is a very nice cruise line, but no, nothing was included off the boat at all. And the base price wasn't exactly low so the price would have gone up quite quickly if you wanted to see anything in the ports.
Aside from leaving the ship and doing what you can to wander around on foot, most excursions are in addition to the cruise price. I thought you meant they weren't offering any. So if she wants to go to Denali, or board a smaller, whale-watching boat, that all will be extra.
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Re: Teeny tiny chance of a DL getaway...oh, and Alaska too

Post by Amy » May Fri 20, 2016 6:41 pm

Does anyone have any Club 33 connections? I know the connection I had to dine at Club 33 when we last went is unavailable now. My sister-in-law just contacted me to see if I still had connections for when they go before the cruise. I see a few people on Facebook that seem to dine there regularly, but no one I know personally.
Oh, and I'm thinking the possible trip to DL is probably a no-go as she didn't mention anything about us coming along :roll: :lol:
Le sigh...

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Re: Teeny tiny chance of a DL getaway...oh, and Alaska too

Post by Amy » May Mon 23, 2016 6:51 pm

I'm starting to feel like a ping pong ball :shock: My sister-in-law emailed my Mom and said they rescheduled their DL trip to the end of September and are really hoping we can join them. So the quandary starts anew! At least that is far enough away we could realistically start planning for it. Decisions, decisions!

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Re: Teeny tiny chance of a DL getaway...oh, and Alaska too

Post by Amy » Jul Mon 11, 2016 6:39 pm

Spoke to my brother and sister-in-law yesterday. They are really, really pushing for us to come out. Why does airfare have to be so expensive right now?!
P.S. They had a really great time on their Alaskan trip :D

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Re: Teeny tiny chance of a DL getaway...oh, and Alaska too

Post by cy1229 » Jul Wed 13, 2016 11:21 am

Amy wrote:Spoke to my brother and sister-in-law yesterday. They are really, really pushing for us to come out. Why does airfare have to be so expensive right now?!
P.S. They had a really great time on their Alaskan trip :D
I'm assuming you're using Expedia or Yahoo or whatever to look at all the fares for all the airlines, and see if one airline out and another back is the best deal.

And it's because air travel is in high, high demand right now. Which stinks royally. But I did get a pretty cheap (relatively speaking) flight to Boston for a work trip. It's just the hotels are obnoxiously expensive.

I hope you get to go!
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