It’s 62 days until the next WDW Radio Dream Cruise 2.0 and I just can’t wait! Shel and I were fortunate to be on the original WDW Radio Dream Cruise in February of 2011 and I’m looking forward to catching up with some of the friends we made on that first voyage and seeing what antics Lou and Beci have in store for us.
For those of you who may not know, Lou Mongello is the man behind the WDW Radio. I can’t say enough good stuff about Lou…. to me he is a Disney rock star! To learn more about him and his many accomplishments visit his site. Lou’s cohort in arranging this wonderful cruise for us is Beci Mahnken, owner of MEI-Mouse Fan Travel (WDW Fan Zone’s official travel agent). These two individuals have a passion for Disney that is both heartwarming to fellow Disney fans and thoroughly contagious to those who haven’t yet been bitten by the Disney bug.
My first sighting of Lou and Beci in 2011! It was soooooo exciting!
Headlining this amazing trip is special guest Richard M. Sherman of the Sherman Brothers. Richard, along with his brother Robert, is responsible for many iconic Disney songs and won two Oscars for their music from Mary Poppins. You will only be able to see Richard if you are part of the WDW Radio Dream Cruise 2.0 as he is coming on board specifically for our group! That reason alone would make taking this cruise worthwhile, but I’m sure Lou and Beci are busy planning many more events to add to the fun. Some of the (pre)cruise events already announced include a flag contest, fish extender exchange and kid’s pen pal exchange. The flags that were created in 2011 for the first cruise were truly amazing. To learn more about the cruise go to Lou or Beci’s websites both of which have a dedicated page on the cruise.
Adding to my anticipation of this event are pre and post Disney World stays. Shel is celebrating a milestone birthday this year and told me she wanted to spend it in Disney World. Obviously I jumped right onboard! Initially, we were only going to go to DW, but when the dates for the cruise were announced they kind of melded with the plan that was already forming. Well, we actually kind of made everything all fit into place!
Me, Minnie, Duffy and Shel ready for the cruise in 2011 - and yes, we were part of the Deck 7 Cool Kids!
What’s kind of fun this time around is (including the cruise) we will actually be staying in four different places. Normally I like to unpack once and be done, but this time around the trip dates centered around Jersey Week, Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, and….. holiday decorations! That made booking a DVC resort a bit challenging to say the least. Anyway, I embraced the idea and we are now staying at Boardwalk Villas, Animal Kingdom’s Kidani Village, and finally Bay Lake Tower. Kidani Village is the only one of the three we haven’t yet stayed at. I think it will be interesting to stay at all three during a two week period to really compare head to head. We already know we love BW & BLT and I’m anxious to find out how Kidani stacks up.
Two weeks is a long time for Shel and I to both be able to get away, but with everything we have planned, I’m not sure it’s going to be enough. The only thing I wish we could change would be to have the cruise at the end of the trip. I think (know) that I’m going to be pretty exhausted by the time this vacation is done. Oh well, resting will have to wait until we get home. No matter how much I think I want to build in some down time while in Disney World I always have a hard time following through. I just don’t want to miss a second of fun!!
My countdown continues. If you’d like to start one of your own make sure and check out the WDW Radio Cruise 2.0. If you’ve read previous posts of mine, you know what a huge cruise fan I am. Whether you’ve cruised before or not, the Disney Dream is an incredible ship and traveling with fellow Disney enthusiasts is a wonderful experience.
Maybe we’ll see you there!
Thanks for reading!!
Jo Scholl is proud mom to three wonderful grown children, one of whom is my fellow WDW Fan Zone columnist Shelley. Oh, and I’m also mom to a small black dog named Mickey Mouse!
