When you wish upon a star

From the time I was in about middle school, my parents decided to give us an incentive for our grades. Since we always enjoyed our outings to the little bookstore in the Village, (the main tourist shopping area in Big Bear, ca.) my parents chose to reward us with a book for every A that was earned. My whole family is comprised of avid readers, so this was a great idea! My sister, forever the straight A student, knew she would always make her goal and max out on book rewards. I on the other hand, had to work my butt off for every A. I still never achieved all A status, but I earned enough to keep myself semi stocked in books until the next report cards rolled around. I would supplement my other books from allowance and inventive begging. Judging by the amount of books I owned, I was pretty inventive!

During middle school I discovered the Baby-Sitters Club books by Ann M. Martin. I believe my sister was the one that got me started on them. We used a lot of the ideas from the books such as the Kidkits we brought when we babysat together. The Kidkit was a box of fun toys and color books that all the kids we baby-sat for loved and looked forward to. Many thanks to Ann M. Martin for this idea, you made me a very popular baby-sitter. Eventually my sister grew tired of the series, but I really enjoyed it and kept reading. By around #9 or #10 in the series, the amazing Ann M. Martin wrote her Super Special #1 about - you guessed it - Disney! A Disney cruise to be more specific. Baby-Sitters on Board. She had all the Baby-sitters, some of their family and a few of their charges embark on adventure to the high seas with Mickey and friends. The book was written I believe right before "The Big Red Boat" otherwise known as Disney Wonder was introduced to the world. On a side note -when her Baby-sitters cruised, they cruised on the Premier Cruise Line boats commissioned by Disney in their early trials of Disney cruising. Of course at the time of reading these books, I was unaware of this little fact. Reading the book again recently, I put this all together. I was surprised to figure out that interesting little bit of information and the fact that I now could never really go on "that" cruise. Anyway, I was in 8th grade when I got my hands on that amazing tale for the first time. I read that book cover to cover in one day! Then I read it again. All told I believe I read that book at least 20 times in my youth. I loved the story of being on a cruise with Disney fun, fantasy and characters. I loved the adventures the Baby-sitters had on-board, including a few romances.......I also thought it was so amazing that after the cruise, as part of the cruise package, they also went to the parks for a few days! (Which you now have to book separately, but now you also get longer cruises.) It was more than one at such a young age could imagine, two vacations in one? You could say I was hooked.

Now after reading such an inspiring vacation adventure, I wanted more than anything to pester my parents so relentlessly that they had no choice but to book our own family Disney cruise. Yeeeaahhh. So not gonna happen folks. All kids figure out what things that you might have a chance of  your parents saying yes to. Then there are the things you know you just might as well save your breath on. This definitely fell into the latter category. First of all, my Dad hates crowds. Being locked on a boat with a giant crowd for a few days clearly wasn't going to enter into the realm of "I'll think about it." Of course then there are the crowds at the parks, even worse! There was also the fact that the cruise leaves out of Florida. My parent's don't fly. We lived in California. They are clearly not going to drive that far just to let me meet the Mouse on a boat.  Another point against my crusade, my Dad isn't good in the sun. He crisps up better than bacon. It's not pretty folks, trust me on this one. Beach vacations were never on the itinerary for our Funny Farm Family. Then of course there was the money aspect. Maybe I could figure out a way to make and save money. Of course! That's it! Then they would have to say yes! Unfortunately, Big Bear is a resort community. We had no neighbors- just vacation homes around us, no lawns, no cars to wash, dogs to walk..... I baby-sat with my sister, so that money was already cut in half. Ugggh! By the time I saved up enough for the cruise, I would be able to take it by myself! It was tough being a such an inspired, adventuresome kid with no proper Disney outlet for my magical seed sprouting spirit.....

The most crippling buzz kill on my Disney cruise plotting was that Disney wasn't the type of vacation my family took. Ohhhhhhhhh no. That would be too much fun, and not the right kind of adventure. The fun on that trip is easily had and implied. Fun was just layed right out there for you, waiting to be enjoyed.  It wasn't earned fun or adventure, so clearly not a Funny Farm Family vacation. You see my parents are um, unique and a bit....oh, I'll just say it, ODD. I am sure you have already guessed that by now with my beating around the bush and all. I know, I know, apple not falling far from the tree....The Funny Farm Family adventures were always off the beaten path and loads of enjoyment for my parents. My sister and I wilted and suffered in silence in the back seat of an old brown Subaru; Walkmans playing the only four tapes we had trying to drown out the blaring Pavarotti my parents so enjoyed. Hours and HOURS. I can appreciate his music now. Why in fact, while at the ball feilds today with Thing 1 and Thing 2, I actually found myself humming Funiculi, FuniculA! (Eeek! Brainwashing does work!) When I hear it, it brings back the nostalgia of those Funny Farm Family vacations. Hearing it for hours on end when you are a young adolescent, well bring on the water torture for a change of pace please. We road tripped for ALL of our vacations. I have driven in a car to all the states west of the Rockies. Once again, as an adult I appreciate these learning adventures my parents scouted out for us. As a kid, not so much. Our best entertainment was the burping contest held in the car. Yes Ma'am, may parents were very concerned with raisin' us to be ladies! By the way, I won the burping contest. I believe I am still the family's reining champ. Point of pride that one burp on one Funny Farm Family road trip still is holding strong. It's amazing what a Whopper and a Coke can produce. What? Don't look at me like that. I am sure your family has it's "off" moments too. My father, in his "off" moments, also created his own entertainment. We will say he has a bit of a flatulence problem to put it mildly. Of course the only window in the Subaru that worked, was his. He would slightly giggle, roll up the window and then bask in the afterglow of what he just expelled and the impending doom wafting through the car. My mother, sister and I would groan, beg, plead, gag, turn green and call for mercy........yes, hours and hours spent in that car on family road trips. My Dad of course thought this great fun and felt the need to "rinse and repeat" as often as possible. It really is amazing and breathtaking what a Whopper and a Coke can produce. On our road trips, the Funny Farm parents preferred that we earn our fun on vacations by visiting map dot towns and checking out the smallest historic sites and museums ever made. "Come on kids! This is fun and interesting! Think of how much you are learning!" (insert adolescent groans, eye rolls, and fake hangman's noose.) I think I will blame those vacations, the hours of free time in a car, and the oh so interesting and fun-filled points of (non)interest for my creativity. Despite our surroundings and the situation, we somehow always ended up amusing ourselves with odd and off color Funny Farm Family humor. The last Funny Farm Family vacation was the summer before my sister was a Senior in High School.... thinking back now, man, I kind of miss those vacations. Don't get any idea's Dad, I'm NOT going on another, just being nostalgic.

So there you have it, my MAJOR Disney fantasy that I have had for 21 years now. Me, on a boat, with The Mouse. I have gone on several cruises throughout the years. My first being our honeymoon. We sailed on the Carnival Holiday out of Port of Los Angeles. My husband had gone on a work sponsored one a few years before, but since the Holiday, he hasn't been on another cruise. My second cruise was a fun long weekend cruise with one of my friends down to Mexico. It was the Holiday again, but this time out of Mobile, Al. Years had gone by since I sailed on her, and thought it so funny that she followed us down to the South. The third and last cruise I went on was a few years ago on the Carnival Conquest. I fully planned the trip as a surprise for my husband's 35th Birthday. I planned it for about 8 months. I had every detail worked out perfectly (see OCD story...). I cleared his schedule with his boss and secretary.I arranged the excursions, exclusive dining, flights, limo to Galveston and even worked my way into a San Diego station's Country Cruise tickets to see all the Country artists that they were bringing on our cruise to perform. That was an amazing piece of my handy-work there. Those performances were only supposed to be exculsive for that radio station's listeners from the San Diego area. With a little bit of finagling, and some persistent phone calling, I managed to acquire entrance into these private concerts on-board. I planned on telling my husband we were flying to Houston for a baseball game. Get him in the limo and blindfold him until we were close enough to see the boat, then "Surprise!" Well, unfortunately three weeks before the cruise, I got a call from his boss. There was a project at work that was finishing earlier rather than later and he hated to tell me but hubby needed to be there and couldn't cruise those dates. Well, three weeks out you can't cancel. I was devastated and had to tell him about the whole trip and that he couldn't go. He tried to work a few things out, but the end result was the same. After I got over my disappointment of not being here to spend his birthday with him and him not being able to enjoy all the special things I planned, I called Too Long. Too Long is my "Seester" like Spell-o-matic. Not blood related sisters, but "see-sters". The three of us are peas in a pod and trouble looking for a place to happen. Too Long (I'll have to explain the nickname later....I've digressed too long already) didn't work at the time, had a passport and really needed a vacation. So she became my +1 on that cruise. To say we had fun is an understatement. Sure, I still felt guilty about my husband not being able to go, at first. Rest assured, I got over it.

After all those cruises, I still have never made it to the Big Red Boat. My fantasy get away with my mouse. After fully immersing ourselves in the Disney World kool-aid for several vacations, we finally decided, it was time. We had previously talked about taking a Disney cruise after our first trip to the world. We decided we wanted to wait a few more years until the boys were older for them to take their first cruise. We thought they would enjoy it more, remember it more and become more involved in the kids clubs.We patiently bided our time with several more trips to the world; including one for a full marathon run for me, and another for the inaugural Disney Wine and Dine half marathon, for me. But now......now it was time. I would finally get to be on a boat with my mouse!

 ((Yay!!! Happy dance!!! Giant Mickey fist pump with a giant white gloved hand!!!!! Time to polish off the pirate tiara, we are goin' on a Disney Cruise!!))

Back in November, I met back with my old friend, kind of. Actually I think it's a cousin, but still the same family. http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ . Hello happy little magical internet world of Disney Marketing. Oh how I have missed you! This time of course I have earned my Disney ears. I was well aware of the advanced preparations that lay ahead of me, kind of. Once again I found myself in the realm of a little in over my head. "What?" you say? No. Not me. Not the Disney Momiac. How is that possible. Well, I have cruised....check. I am fully aware of all the door decorations, cruise critic meet and greets, wipe boards for the door, bungee cords for the balcony and so on. I have also Disney Worlded(yes it's a word, my word, it's a verb. my blog, my verb)....check. Clearly, I know my Mother ship and most of her secrets fairly well. I know to call first thing on the 90th day before you want your Cinderella breakfast or any other character meal. I know to TAKE THE NAP. I know line times and fast past trickery. I know to have the autograph book already open. I know to spend the extra money on the BIG pen to fit character hands and so on. What I did not know was how to combine the two. I started the preliminary exploration on ships and dates. Then we called a family meeting. Thing 1 and Thing 2 now being old enough to have an active roll in the decision making process of this trip. After looking over prices, dates, ship specs and ports of call, we decided on the Disney Fantasy. We ruled out the March 31st sailing because the price was double! Now why would that be? Inaugural Sailing? Newest ship? Still in the process of being built? What?! What's this?! When did this happen?!? How did I, the Disney Momiac NOT know this?!  AAhhhhHaaaaaaa! Then the panic set in. It stared me down with it's big yellow eyes. Giant snarling teeth and that mocking tone of "Oh how charming. Look it's a first time Disney cruise family." (evil snarl snicker, evil snarl snicker). Oh the Disney "I am unprepared and uninformed panic" my old Nemesis.  We meet again!