Waiting At The Airport....So Thought I'd Share A Bit...

Well, here we sit in the Orlando airport.  We got out of our resort and to the airport to drop off the rental car and check in for our 2:30pm flight around 11:30am (we were prepared for longer lines because it's a holiday weekend and the need to check in extra early because we're checking in for an international flight).  We were through security and sitting at our gate by 11:55am...so we were probably a little earlier than we needed to be----but that's fine.  We had to leave the resort anyway and so we'll just hang out here, have soemthing for lunch, play on the internet and watch movies and read. Hopefully the other movies we brought will be better than "Where the Wild Things Are"....and I have several books in my new phone on my kindle app.  While we were in Orlando, I actually read "The Brief Second Life of Bree Tanner"----a short companion novel to the Twilight series written by Stephenie Meyer from the perspective of the young girl vampire killed by the Volturi at the end of the Eclipse novel.  I really rather enjoyed it I must say!!  now I have another of her novels to read and have also downloaded both of Chelsea Handler's books and Kathy Griffin's, as well (two of my favorite totally inappropriate female comediennes)!

So.....here we sit in Orlando with some time to kill waiting anxiously for the next phase of our trip to begin........

....so I thought I'd take a few moments to bring everyone up to speed on what our vacation for the next few weeks is all about.........so you've probably already figured out that we are taking a Disney Cruise.  Many people have asked me before...."Why Disney Cruises?  Why not one of the cheaper cruise lines like Carnival or Royal Caribbean? Why not one of the gay cruises like Atlantis?"  Well, there's an easy short answer...and there's the more complex answer.

The short answer:  It's Disney. DUH!!  I have been a Disney fanatic for a very long time....and once I took Jason on his first-ever Disney trip shortly after we became a couple...he was hooked, too.  Disney is a magical place, as anyone who has ever been can attest....but now it is also OUR magical place...and so enjoying it together, in all its forms (resorts, parks, restaurants, cruises, etc.) is something very special for us.

The longer answer is that, in addition to the "Disney touch," Disney Cruise Line has a lot to offer a couple like us.  Most of the other cruise lines out there are far less family oriented----and, our sense (and my experience having cruised once before on another line), is that the focus is more on the party & the casino & the nightclubs----and, actually, not that there's anything wrong with that.  I'm sure lots of people really love having the ability to experience that...but it isn't our cup of tea.  We don't drink.  We don't gamble.  We enjoy broadway shows and disney characters and spending quiet time alone together....and Disney has all those things in spades to offer us (in addition to being just a beautiful boat staffed by some amazing people and on which we've had the opportunity to make some incredible friends and share fantastic vacations with each other and family members)!!

So...that's "why" Disney.....now onto "Why this specific trip?"

Back in 2007 we made the plunge and did our first really long Disney Cruise---a 14 night TransAtlantic voyage from Florida to Barcelona (Disney's inaugural crossing of the Atlantic Ocean---and the reverse of part of the voyage we're taking this year).  After that 14-night experience...we were hooked.  We always knew we loved Disney cruises...but now we knew we liked LOOOOONG Disney Cruises....and we liked the opportunity to see the world with Disney.....places we probably wouldn't venture on our own to visit (I often tease and say we've reached the point where we almost don't vacation at all without "the mouse" LOL).  So when the opportunity, in the fall of 2008, came up to book another TransAtlantic trip with Disney, we jumped at it----and we also thought, if we can make the finances work and get time away from home/work...wouldn't it be great to ALSO do the Mediterranean Cruise that is happening right before the TransAtlantic---an even LONGER cruise (24 nights total now!!) AND more ports to visit with the style that only Disney could offer us!

And that is how this vacation was born.  We had two years (fall of 2008 until now) to think about it, plan it, save up the money (so we didn't go into crazy debt-----thank heavens Jason is a wizard of finances and budgeting!! LOL)....and now the trip is here......but that isn't even the whole trip....

In addition to the two back-to-back cruises, we have added another component to our trip, as well.  I've mentioned in previous blog posts that Disney vacationing is about more than amusement parks.  In fact, when you mention Disney to "disney-virgins" most people immediately think you're talking just about the Magic Kingdom....and the Magic Kingdom is sure wonderful...but it's the proverbial tip of the Disney iceberg in my opinion!!  One other Disney vacation option that Jason and I have always been curious about is a product they have called "Adventures by Disney."  These are small group (up to 40 people) tours in a wide variety of exciting locations around the world that are led by Disney employees who know a lot about your destination and lead you on very immersive vacation experiences with lots of personal (& Disney) touches----and, best of all, Disney does all the heavy lifting in the planning department by making sure you experience some of the best and most amazing things your destination has to offer.  We've always wanted to take one of these vacations, but it's never worked out-----until now.  Adventures by Disney announced last year that they would be offering a package to people who are on the Mediterranean cruises and we were immediately curious about it---but not sure.  The PLUSES for us were:  the chance to do an Adventures by Disney trip, the more intimate feel of the vacation (a tour group of only 40 as opposed to really large ship excursions where you could be herded in large impersonal groups off to super touristy activities), the fact that we'd spend the entire trip with the same group of 40 people (so the opportunity to really connect with other vacationers) AND the fact that Disney would make sure that in each of our ports we'd see and do some of the best of the best (plus there are other "perks" like free photographs, souvenirs, etc.).  The biggest MINUS for us was the cost...but with so much lead time to prepare and with the encouragement of our AMAZING travel agent, Doris (If you're reading this----HI DORIS, YOU ROCK!!!), we decided to take the plunge as we knew it was probably a once in a lifetime way to make our once in a lifetime vacation even MORE once in a lifetime.

So all of THAT is what were looking forward to....as we sit here in the airport....thinking about what's to come....and glad that many of you reading this blog are going to be along for the ride---some of you because you will literally be on part of the journey with us...and others because you're with us in spirit and following along here in the virtual world!!