Mom will be flying down in 24 days, and in 25 days we start our mini vacation with Karin and Tom. To say I'm excited is the understatement of the century. I figure it's time to do a run down on all the plans.
August 23, Mom flies into Tampa at 9pm. Hopefully I won't be working too late and she has to wait for me.
August 24, HS with Karin and Tom. Lunch at the Brown Derby (a first for mom and I), FPs for TSMM, ToT, and Star Tours. Then dinner at Mama Melrose (another first for mom and I), then the Pixar concert. Star Wars fireworks if we're up for it. Mom and I will drive home.
August 25, mom and I will drop the boys off at the kennel before going to WDW because we check into the Poly for the next two nights. This will be the first time I've ever taken any of my animals to a kennel so I'm a bit nervous. Today is also the
MNSSHP! (a first for mom) FPs for Epcot, SE, Soarin, and MS. We have ordered orange MBs in honor or the Halloween party.
August 26, breakfast at Kona Cafe(a first for mom and I) FPs for AK, EE, Safari, and the new Avatar river ride. Dinner at Tiffins (a first for all of us) and then the Rivers of Light show. I have not seen Avatarland at night so I'm excited to see how that looks. It's gorgeous in the day so I can only imagine how cool it is at night.
August 27, mom and I have to go home
but not before breakfast at The Wave (another first) then MK with FPs for JC, BTMRR, and HM. I need to pick the boys up at the kennel by 4.
I work the next four days in a row, Monday - Thursday.
Sept. 1, bonus day with Karin and Tom! I would have originally been driving to Maryland to take the boys up there, but since we'll be leaving them in the kennel during vacation we'll still be in FL. So excited to be seeing Karin and Tom again. We'll meet them at Epcot where we have FPs for Nemo, Soarin, and SE. Then dinner at The Wave. Then we'll have to say goodbye because they're going to MNSSHP and we'll have to finish packing for our trip.
Sept. 2, Drop off the boys at the kennel by 11am. The flight from Tampa leaves at 2pm so we don't need to rush. I still need to find a long term parking lot but there are several to choose from. We'll land in Vancouver at 10:10, have to go through customs, so I don't anticipate us picking up the rental car before 11, and hopefully be at the AirBnb by midnight, 3am our time.
Sept. 3, Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. This looks absolutely amazing! Hopefully there will also be time to explore some of Stanley Park as well. The Airbnb is right next to the park so it's not like it's going to be out of the way. I have no idea where we'll be eating in Vancouver, there are many places near the apartment so there will be too much to choose from rather than no choices.
Sept. 4, Embarkation Day! I'll drop mom off at the port with the bags, then I'll drive to the airport, drop off the car, and then take the train back to the port. There's one that goes right from the airport, the only thing is it will be probably a 90 minute round trip. 30 minutes each way and however long to turn in the car. I need to turn the car in by noon so will be back to the port in plenty of time regardless. On the ship we'll first make sure they have us at a table for two, and hopefully honor our request for Jose as our server.
Sept. 5, At Sea, Palo Brunch! I'm sure we'll watch beautiful scenery and catch a couple movies.
Sept. 6, Tracy Arm, Character Breakfast. We missed the character breakfast on the PC so I'm hoping we'll get up in time for it this time.
Sept. 7, Skagway, Evening Wildlife Expedition.
Sept. 8, Juneau, due to low hours with work I had to cancel the 5 Glacier Sea Plane. Mom was very understanding. I just can't afford it with the other things we're doing this vacation. We'll explore Juneau a bit and enjoy the ship. I think there's a Pixar Party around 4:30. We've never had one of these so it should be quite fun.
Sept. 9, Ketchikan, Snorkeling Excursion. Very excited about this one. I think the Frozen Party is this evening.
Sept. 10, At Sea, last day of the first cruise. Palo dinner since we won't have the stress of getting off the ship the next morning.
Sept. 11, This is our first B2B but we'll be in the same stateroom both cruises so hopefully it will be painless. It will be nice getting back on the ship early and enjoy a mostly empty ship.
Sept. 12, Victoria Canada. We'll explore a little on our own. I booked another dinner at Palo tonight, not sure if we'll keep it.
Sept. 13, At Sea, enjoy the ship, watch movies
Sept. 14, At Sea, enjoy the ship, watch movies
Sept. 15, Disembarkation day
this will not be as sad as usual because we get to see Alison and Fran! First we'll take the shuttle to the airport and then the shuttle from the airport to the rental cars. Then drive up to
Disneyland. I'll drop the bags and mom off at the Grand Californian and then park. We'll leave the bags with Bell Services since there's no way the room will be ready by then. I'm thinking that will be around noon. I'll be texting Alison to let her know our progress and find them when we are all at DL. We'll have a meal together and hopefully do some rides, maybe even catch the fireworks if the weather cooperates. Mom has not been to DL in over 40 years, and has never been to DCA.
Sept. 16, The Queen Mary exhibit. I haven't bought tickets yet, and hopefully we'll be able to stick with the plan. If this becomes a pool day we'll go see the Queen Mary on Tuesday. Dinner tonight in Long Beach with Alison and Fran.
Sept. 17, Park day! Dinner with Alison and Fran in DL. See Fantasmic after dinner. (a first for mom and I)
Sept. 18, Super special park day with Alison starting at noon. WoC at night. I'm sure we'll find some dinner at some point.
Sept. 19, Either pool day or Queen Mary day depending on what happens on the 16th.
Sept. 20, park day. Plans to see Jenny today. Plans are currently for dinner. Hoping to convince Alison and Fran to join us
Sept. 21, flying home at 12:50 from John Wayne Airport. We'll get to Tampa around 11:15pm so will pick up the boys the next morning.