Disney Magic Trip Report- Getting there

Hello friends and family!  I wanted to update everyone on our trip, but truly, doing so in anything other than small doses or the completed scrapbook just seemed impossible.  So I improvised and will be giving little parts out as I can over the next two weeks or so.  All in all, we were gone 13 days so there is a lot to tell. 
"I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse." 
~Walt Disney

I thought I'd start by explaining some of what we did to get ready... since a lot of Disney cruisers are cruising with kids, here are some things we did to get ready for the trip:

- Sign up for the Fish Extender (FE) exchange on the disboards forums.  This was something the kids helped me with by putting together the treats for each cabin and could easily start to get excited for the trip itself.

- Schedule all our activities ahead of time on the Disney Planning website. (Palo, nursery times, etc)

- Outfit a great carry on bag for the kids.  Lots of activities, wrapped, and some packed in checked luggage for the return to reality flights back home on the other side.  Funny story about one of our games "FindIt" Preschool edition had airport security calling the bomb squad to check it out.  It came home in our checked baggage.

- I made a travel journal for each child by finding journal pages online, printing them and binding them simply in a paper prong folder.  Using paper allowed me to also bring letter stickers, character stickers, Bingo markers and crayons for them to decorate the covers.

So, on the morning of our flight, Sept 7th, we felt pretty well prepared for our journey.  I had even packed many snacks for the road which turned out to be a HUGE blessing for all of us, what with plane delays, flight delays, picky kids and picky mommy...

Some of the memories straight from my journal:

Everett, in the car on the way to the airport: "But Mommy! I'm hungry in NO minutes!"

We had a great experience with the ticketing agents at our first airport.  They checked an extra bag free (I thought we were all booked with a seat when I hadn't paid the extra for our child under 2).  They let the kids play on the weight scale and see how much they weighed and just were great.  We picked up some of my favorite cookies (Chery&Co) and were on our way through security to the gate.  We got coffee (thank you Starbucks!) and let the kids run and play in an open area to get some extra energy out.

We made it on board the second leg fine, but were delayed waiting for electricians to check out a light that came on for over an hour.  The kids were ancy and I was so glad I'd packed what at the time felt like far too much activity-wise for them, but turned out to be a lifesaver.  The favorites were the puzzle books, the little sliding puzzles and the dry erase boards (a small flip style in the $1 bin at Target!).  And they wanted to sit together in Everett's seat which was just so cute to me!

Once we arrived in Germany (one leg left to go), we were so frustrated.  They'd rebooked us after a completely unorganized disembarkation from the plane & having to ride buses a good 10 minutes back to the terminal.  The gate agent told me our new flight had no gate yet and "go get a coffee".  Then sent us back out through security, customs, etc.  So, we had to recheck all our baggage, get new boarding passes and go back through security with 2 very, very tired little ones in tow.  I was so ticked off.  Thank Goodness the last flight was pretty easy- the kids slept and finally made it about 2 hours late to Barcelona.

I always underestimate the impact of crossing time zones, especially with kids.  But, really they did fine.  And I am always relieved once we see those big Mickey hands waving us down at the airport assuring us easy travel to the boat. :)  Analiese completely melted down when one of the reps tried to give her a sticker, but she didn't hold anything against Mickey as you can tell.

And finally, we were on our way to the Port!