April Showers of Happiness - my first trip report

I thought it only fitting to continue to allow other DISers the opportunity to relive the cruise vicariously through our family's experience. It probably won't be as entertaining as the tag-team trippie, but here's the first installment anyway:

Pre-Cruise Report
Thursday, April 17, 2008
I wanted to pack on the weekend before the trip. I really did. I wanted to have all of the laundry done by Sunday - all of the clothes we would need for the trip - I really did. I wanted to be sure that I brought all we needed without bringing too much luggage. I wanted to be organized and make sure that we had a little bit of everyone's stuff in each of the suitcases. I really did. But if I didn't want to be sitting in the internet cafe everyday doing work for my master's class, these best laid plans were not meant to be. Instead, I spent the night before the trip - the WHOLE night - doing laundry and packing. 

Having just zipped up the last suitcase DH and DD would be bringing with them on the morning of April 17th, I heard the alarm clock. 5am. Islip Airport is 10 minutes from our house and their flight was at 6:30. Yep their flight. I had to go teach one last day. I had gotten them great "A16 & A17" passes for their Southwest flight, so we had plenty of time to wake DD8 up - as if it would be difficult - pack up the car and get them to curbside check-in. It was bittersweet watching DD drag her little suitcase through the serpentine line as DH wrestled with the 4 other bags. I drove somberly away from the airport and was home in minutes - leaving for work at the very same time they were scheduled for take-off.

At 4:30 pm, with nothing but my ipod and a small carryon, I thanked my DMIL for the ride to the airport and made my way to the waiting area for my own flight. My own "A17" pass got me onto the plane quickly and my ipod did a superb job of keeping my ears occupied as my eyes traced the eastern coastline of the continental US. It wasn't long before I could see Daytona and knew that I would soon be "home". I made my way through the airport with the ease of a professional - that is until I got myself discombobulated with those construction walls on the "B" side of MCO. A TSA officer bellowed at me and showed me where I should have veered left. With a shrug, I headed for the moving walkways and was soon on my DME bus and on my way to Animal Kingdom Villas. 

DH and DD had called me during my lunch period earlier that day to brag about the beautiful weather and how there were so many animals on the Savannah outside our balcony. It was dark by the time I arrived, so not much to see. I was exhausted anyway - what with the marathon overnight-packing extravaganza. I gobbled down a monster sandwich DH had picked up for me at Mara and we went to bed. 

Friday, April 18, 2008
I awoke before the sun, put on a pot of coffee, and made my way to the balcony to watch the sunrise. DH and DD followed soon after and we enjoyed watching the animals before heading to breakfast. DH had picked up the rental car the day before so we could get ourselves to the port early on Saturday morning. We headed to I-drive and Denny's. It was quick - but it sure wasn't cheap. (And it wasn't that good.) "We should've gone to Boma again," DH quipped. Adding an ever-so subtle dig about how DD and he had enjoyed such a glorious full day together the day before. We needed provisions for the cruise, so a trip to Publix yielded two bottles of wine, 2 bottles of Bahama Mama mixer, and the ever-important - and VERY LARGE - bottle of Malibu Rum. There was no way we were going to be PiRANTs in the Caribbean without a fair supply of rum. We also picked up a bottle opener, which made its way through the terminal at Port Canaveral without incident. We finished our trek off property with some souvenir shopping. I had forgotten - in my pre-dawn fog - to pack the Yankee Swap gifts, so we scoured the strip for something special for our DISboard friends. We found nothing suitable, so off to Downtown Disney we went. We wound up with an apron for DMIL, a wine bottle topper for ourselves, and DH found a set of Mickey Through the Years coasters and Mickey-head re-usable ice-cubes for the swap. 

We returned to AKV with our treasures and promptly changed into our bathing suits to enjoy the Uzima pool (and pool bar) for the rest of the afternoon. All-too-soon it was dinner time and DH wanted to venture off property again to try out Crabby Bill's - unreasonably-priced, mediocre food. We would have been better off staying within Disney's boundaries. We decided to turn in early in anticipation of embarkation day...