8/26/07 Wonder (L&S) If it is worth doing, it is worth overdoing.

[DAggiesRWe]

I was late discovering the DISBoards site (only two months before our trip was to start) thank goodness or I probably wouldn’t have a job. As it was, I spent the better part of this summer keeping up with our cruise meet, and reading tips and trip reports to get fired up for our vacation of a lifetime. I dedicated an entire week to reading Sleepydoc25’s epic trip report, and came out with a goal to try to match that performance.

If you missed it (and have a lot of spare time :hourglass on your hands), Sleepydoc25’s trip report is a very entertaining read (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1246056).

But I am getting ahead of myself here. Let’s go back to the beginning to find out how we came to be on this trip of a lifetime.

It was all Nathaniel’s fault. Now, how could this innocent little one-year-old be to blame?

http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/564/nathancg4.jpg

Well, our adopted daughter, Jenny, is in the Army and is a single mom to this cute little boy. However, shortly after he was born Jenny found out that her unit was scheduled for a tour in Iraq :scared: starting shortly after Nate’s first birthday. That meant we would be taking care of Nate while Jenny was busy in Iraq.:woohoo: Now we thought we were done with diapers since our two boys were 6 and 10, but it seemed that God had a blessing (wrapped in a rather smelly joke :rotfl2:) in store for us. This is a picture we took of everyone while Jenny was home during the middle of her tour so you can see all the players in this tale.

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/7915/thehartfamilykn8.jpg

My wife and I always joke that we stopped at two kids so we wouldn’t be outnumbered. With Nathan living with us for a year or more, we would get the taste of what life would have been like if we hadn’t stopped when we did. :scared1: After a couple of months, I started thinking that we needed to do something to reward our kids for putting up with their nephew for over a year with the youngest having to share his room.

With that in mind, a nice Christmas bonus :santa: in the bank and having experienced our first cruise back in February 2005, I started looking at cruise offerings. After spending countless hours on the various cruise line websites :surfweb: looking at offerings for 2007, I almost accidentally came upon the Disney Cruise Line. The only problem was DCL hadn’t released the 2007 schedule yet, but a 7-day Eastern or Western on the Magic was high on the list of possibilities. I started checking the website every day to see when they would release the 2007 schedule. With the kids, we knew it would need to be summertime, so would the 7-nighter work?

Alas, it wasn’t meant to be since the Magic was being sent to the Mediterranean for the Summer of 2007 (10- or 11-days with travel to Europe was beyond our budget). So I start looking at options and printing out programs about the Land and Sea packages for my wife’s approval. Of course she thought that planning this far in advance was ridiculous,:confused3 but that just meant that she was willing to go along with whatever I wanted to do(you see there is a method to my madness).

After much deliberation, we settled on the 3-night land, 4-night sea package on the Wonder. So I contacted SmallWorldVacations to make my reservations (they were recommended by Mousesavers), and two days later I get an email from Leigh...for a 3 night sea/4 night land package :confused: (oops). Another email and she has a quote for 4 night sea/3 night land :mad: (almost there). Finally we get the package in the right order :cool1: (I had read on one of the websites that you should do the cruise part last rather than ending your vacation with the hectic pace of the parks) and so I put down the deposit for a trip 535 days away. Honey, they say book early to get the best prices.

All that was left was to tell the boys, “We’re going on a Disney Cruise”. “When, NOW?!?” was their reply. When I told them it was going to be August 2007 they both turned back to the TV :happytv: and put good old dad on auto-ignore.

Oh well, at least I get to spend the next 535 days dreaming about everything we are going to get to do on this vacation. :idea:

[BlueBayou]

Great trip report.. can't wait to hear more, even if it is from an Aggie.

Sher
(Daughter of UT grad - 1962)

[manntra]

Subscribing....can't wait to hear all your promised to be long TR!! I was on the same cruise as you right down the hall with my overly decorated door! :laughing: Waiting for more!

[tokyodisneydad]

I was on the same cruise to and also with an overdecorated door. I'm getting to the ship part of my own trip report, but am now on day 2 of the land part in the Disney Trip report section. Joining in as this was an amazing trip for my family.:dance3:

[granmaz]

This sounds great, looking forward to more.

Cute messy faced child there!!!:angel:

[CapnJackGroupie]

popcorn:: :surfweb: popcorn:: :surfweb: Can't wait to read more!:thumbsup2

[Dopey'sMAMA]

Great Report, I believe my DH and I were sitting next to you in Palo, in the booth to the right, found you key to the world card.

[ulstergirl]

:) Great report. We were on the Wonder 26-30th cruise. Is that the same one that you guys were on?

[DAggiesRWe]

Subscribing....can't wait to hear all your promised to be long TR!! I was on the same cruise as you right down the hall with my overly decorated door! Waiting for more!

Were you the one with the hundreds of Mickeys, or was that Wally (TokyoDisneyDad)? I almost arranged them on the door into a Mickey one afternoon :rolleyes1 , but thought that I might get in trouble.

Great Report, I believe my DH and I were sitting next to you in Palo, in the booth to the right, found you key to the world card.

That was me. The card fell out when I dug the pager out of my pocket (the Castaway Club neglected to note that we were going to Palo that evening, so we got a page from our youngest asking us to come get him. When I got there he was playing Nintendo and didn't want to leave. :mad: )

Great report. We were on the Wonder 26-30th cruise. Is that the same one that you guys were on?

That's the one.

Coming up...Part 2 - Am I the only one excited about this trip???

[DAggiesRWe]

Well, we had booked the trip and put down our deposit, so now there was nothing to do but twiddle my thumbs for the next 425 or so days and wait until the final payment was due. Riiiiiiiight. :rolleyes1

Our reservation package arrives a couple of weeks later and I immediately read everything in it and watch the entire DVD on both the player :happytv: and on my computer :surfweb: (there have to be some easter eggs on this thing. Disney always has easter eggs on their DVDs). For some reason though, I seem to be the only one who is excited about the trip (I guess the rest of my family can’t imagine that far into the future). Oh well, at least I can start considering shore excursions and onboard activities. Lots of other things were still happening, so the cruise dreaming usually was reserved for those times when I need to mentally escape.

Nathaniel turned out to be a lot of fun :yay: (grandkids are wonderful. It is a shame that you have to have children and can’t skip straight to grandkids). Other than coordinating work schedules and having to get sitters when my wife and I needed to be somewhere, Nate wasn’t really that much more work. :laundy: Of course we weren’t too far removed from the diaper stage so we still had the necessary skills. The only thing different in this situation was since he was living with us we didn’t spoil him too much. :rolleyes1 Being there between the ages of 1 and 2, we got to see the first steps, hear the first word (Josh) and a lot of other firsts (first taste of a lemon is my personal favorite).

In August 2006 (one year to go until the cruise), we took a road trip to see our family in Texas and show off our grandbaby. We had a lot of fun seeing everyone, and I even managed to get a large portion of the trip paid for by my company. That is a different trip report for a different board, but after twenty-two hours in the van with a 20 month old who wants out of his car seat NOW, :scared1: it was time for a few hours with the DCL DVD to remind myself that it would all be worthwhile.

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/3779/texasra6.jpg

Terri was wonderful at keeping track of Nate while I was busy coordinating Cub Scout activities. During 2006, my oldest was in his final year as a Cub Scout before moving up to Boy Scouts, and my youngest was just getting started. For that year, I was Cubmaster for the Pack and Den Leader for each of our sons. This, as you can imagine, kept me busier than a one armed juggler and was very happy that we made it through that year.

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/6937/cubscoutsbz2.jpg

In October I had a business trip to Las Vegas :cool2: (I went for an IT conference and learned a whole lot…Really…For instance, I learned not to follow a deep tissue massage with a 20 minutes in the steam room and I learned that playing corners in roulette can be profitable for a while). :lmao: This was the one and only time my wife has allowed our sons to call me “butthead” because she was jealous that she couldn’t go with me. I took an extra couple of days and went on a helicopter tour to the Grand Canyon West Ranch. While sitting on horseback, in the middle of the desert, all I could think about was wishing my family was there to share it with me. Again, that is another trip report for another board (hmmm. I am sensing a potential drinking game here).

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/7153/rossza2.jpg

I would like to share that our guide at the ranch was also an Aggie (class of 1954), and the horse I got to ride was named “Ross” (Aggies will understand the significance of this). :thumbsup2

Jenny survived her tour in Iraq :cheer2: with just a few bumps and bruises, and left the country in late November. We celebrated her homecoming and Nathaniel’s second birthday :party: at the same time, but she wasn’t with us. It took her almost a month to get herself settled back into an apartment back in El Paso. Just before Christmas she came for an all-too-brief visit with presents and parties and packing and then it was time for Nathan to leave us. :sad:

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/2189/nathan2ro8.jpg

Okay, Nathaniel was back with his mommy, so now can we start getting excited about the cruise?

Over the New Year’s holiday, I played the DVD for the family and show them some of my favorite places (where our room is, Castaway Cay, snorkeling with stingrays, etc.). After 30 minutes the boys ask if they can go play video games. I quickly call up the game room shots from the DVD, but they say “No. we want to go upstairs and play Xbox.” <sigh> :confused3

I was wondering if I was going to be the only one excited about the Disney cruise, and this was the case until after Joshua’s birthday in April. We went to Medieval Times in Baltimore, but that is a story for another trip report on another board. I will say that it is something that was a fun experience one time, but it isn’t something I really want to do over again.

Now we’re into May. Summer is almost here. It is time to make the final payment on the cruise and calculate the exact date we can book our shore excursions and make our Palo reservations. :dance3: Finally the rest of the family is starting to get excited about the cruise. One Saturday afternoon, they come ask me to pull out the Disney Cruise DVD so they can start thinking about the trip and I tell them…

[tokyodisneydad]

I was wondering if I was going to be the only one excited about the Disney cruise,

I know exactly how you feel. When I started planning our trip it was only me for eight months that was excited. I tried everything to get them involved, but they were involved in other things.

My Door looked very Japanese with our names, picture of Mt. Fuji and we changed our destination sign everyday. I spent TOO MUCH time making the signs and not many people got to see them because we were all the way at the front of the boat.

[Rylamouse]

Okay, whats this decorated door business? THis is our first cruise, for my husbands birthday. I ordered the party package to have our room have the sign and cake and what not, but are the doors decorated too? Or am I completely off on what I am reading?

Also, I have a packing question that needs an answer FAST! I am packing now to leave tomorrow. I have khakis for my husband and nice shirts for the dinners, but what about shoes? Do I need to bring nice shoes to go with, or can he wear his birkenstocks or leather slip ons or something casual in the footwear department??

[DAggiesRWe]

Okay, whats this decorated door business? THis is our first cruise, for my husbands birthday. I ordered the party package to have our room have the sign and cake and what not, but are the doors decorated too? Or am I completely off on what I am reading?

Also, I have a packing question that needs an answer FAST! I am packing now to leave tomorrow. I have khakis for my husband and nice shirts for the dinners, but what about shoes? Do I need to bring nice shoes to go with, or can he wear his birkenstocks or leather slip ons or something casual in the footwear department??

The doors on the ship are metal, so many people will create door signs and decorations to help them find their room (and to share the excitement with everyone walking past). Some people go a little overboard, like me:cool2:

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7501/doorallds3.jpg

This is a preview. The door sign part of the report won't come until much later.

The signs have to be magnetic, they won't let you use stickers or tape. There is another thread on the main cruise board discussing the particulars of door signs.

As far as shoes, I don't think anyone really pays attention to your shoes. I wore deck shoes at Palo, and wore sandals to the regular dining rooms. Don't worry too much about it unless you have the extra space.

[manntra]

Yes that was us guilty as charged with the Mickey Heads (free from Home Depot in the paint department...they are paint chips and then I stuck a magnet to the back.) You should have rearranged them that would have been funny!! A few times our names were jumbled around---I thought it was funny! I did it as much for me as anyone who walked by. I have actually just passed all of my signs along to a sweet girl in town that just received a make a wish for a 7 night cruise in February. :tink: I started to spread out some of my mickey heads to other doors because I could hear young children----"why don't we have a door like that?"---and I felt bad!:hug:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff177/manntra/P8260085.jpg
I too think that I could repeat verbatim the DVD and the specials on the Travel Channel. We would watch them frequently....we even had the Travel Channel show on the Beach Club Resort where we were stayed. Planning is so much fun...especially with the Dis. I think I created a little Disney monster in my niece..especially now that I bought into the DVC when we were there!

Rylamouse---you will be fine with casual slip ons for your husband. Dress was very casual and I think unless you go to Palo you should be fine. :groom: Have a great trip! You will love it! As for the door signs...the stateroom doors are metal so any type of magnets and such could be used to personalize and dress up your door.
Steve and Wally: sorry we didn't meet up....I was at "Martha's sign" but a little late so maybe I missed you. :confused:
Can't wait for more of your trip!

[tokyodisneydad]

Here sre pictures of our door. To start they also had Japanese fans, but the magnets weren't strong enough. We had 5-6 different magnets like the shopping in Nassau one. we changed them ou depending on what we were doing. Like pirate's nigh. Etc.


http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n189/tokyodisneydad/DSCN0633.jpg

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n189/tokyodisneydad/DSCN0634.jpg

[manntra]

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: We were all in the same hallway!!:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[tokyodisneydad]

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: We were all in the same hallway!!:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Yep I passed both your doorways several times a day. :3dglasses But my room was all the way to the front. So don't expect anyone saw my door:guilty: :sad2: :sad1:

[anewmac]

Well, we had booked the trip and put down our deposit, so now there was nothing to do but twiddle my thumbs for the next 425 or so days and wait until the final payment was due. Riiiiiiiight. :rolleyes1

Our reservation package arrives a couple of weeks later and I immediately read everything in it and watch the entire DVD on both the player :happytv: and on my computer :surfweb: (there have to be some easter eggs on this thing. Disney always has easter eggs on their DVDs).

SO did you find any....... if so share. PLEASE! :cloud9:

[silmarg]

Geeze, I was in the same hallway as well!

I was in 6540, but i left my magnet at home!

Here is what it was supposed to look like:

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa262/silmarg/untitled.jpg

[Tink rules]

Geeze, I was in the same hallway as well!

I was in 6540, but i left my magnet at home!

Here is what it was supposed to look like:

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa262/silmarg/untitled.jpg


I LOVE THAT ONE!!! Can I borrow????

BTW... I think one of these days I'm going to get escorted out of Home Depot for stepping over the boundaries for the amount of Mickey Heads borrowed at one time... ;)

So... Tell us more!!! We LOVE TR's!!!!

[Rylamouse]

I love all the doors, I wish I had known about that, I would have made a trip to Home Depot myself!! LOVE the nemo one!

Here is a another quick question about dining attire. Can 4 year olds wear shorts to dinner? We live in GA and have not even thought about Fall clothes yet, I don't know if his last year long pants will fit!!

[tokyodisneydad]

I saw everything from shorts to suits for dinner. so I'm sure if you want that would be fine. Especially for a kid. Dress up night I'd just dress him in a nice pair of shorts and nice shirt. My daughters found the restaurants a bit cold though. Where are you from in Ga? I'm from Savannah originally.

[Rylamouse]

We are Atlanta suburbs. I have always wanted to go to Savannah. Maybe next trip!

Thanks, nice shorts is what I was planning. DD is easy, but DH and DS a little tougher! Not as many options!

[tokyodisneydad]

Most men wore Nice Khaki slacks and a Polo shirt on every night except Dress up night. My daughters wore Japanese Yukatas (summer Kimonos):) one night

[silmarg]

I LOVE THAT ONE!!! Can I borrow????

BTW... I think one of these days I'm going to get escorted out of Home Depot for stepping over the boundaries for the amount of Mickey Heads borrowed at one time... ;)

So... Tell us more!!! We LOVE TR's!!!!

sure you can use the graphic... actually I think I picked up the base background somewhere on DIS... combined it with the graphic that others were using for the Aug cruise (to cover a Disney logo). and also slapped on a mini graphic for next years repositioning cruise (to cover another logo). The "prelude to a TOAL" line has to do with the fact that the Aug DCL was our first DCL and only if we liked it would we go for next years' "Trip Of A Lifetime" (as we are calling the repo on the other DIS board). Finally threw in the room number graphic.

And after all that, I left the magent home!

[LITTLEKID58]

TFS :goodvibes :goodvibes

[DAggiesRWe]

When we last left our adventurers, the family was finally ready to sit down and watch the Disney Cruise Line DVD at which point I said…”Let me see if I can find it.”:rotfl: :rotfl2:

My DSs and DW were finally ready to start getting excited about this trip. I showed them what our room would look like, the activities onboard and on Castaway Cay and they are now asking me 101 questions about the trip.

I would like to thank the Virginia for not starting school until after Labor Day. This allowed us to schedule our trip for the last week of summer and save almost $2,000 versus what we would have paid to go just one week earlier. This allowed us to do a Land and Sea rather than just the cruise. We had never stayed on the Disney property, so this would be a trip full of new experiences for us.:tigger: :sulley: :ccat:

I have a Scottish-Dutch background, so tend to be thrifty (my wife would say “cheap”), but I am also an engineer so I will spend money if I can prove the “return” is worth it. We had a few things to consider:

Do we need passports?

Even though the Homeland Security department relaxed the passport requirements for cruises until after this trip, I was able to justify the expense of doing passports because DD Jenny was being transferred to Germany for three years so we would need them for that. Little did I realize the fiasco getting passports would turn out to be.

My wife and I took off on Thursday of the week of Spring Break so we didn’t have to take the kids out of school in order to get all the paperwork and photos together to apply for our passports. After running around all morning to get the birth certificates from the safe deposit box, filling out the applications online and printing the necessary copies, and getting the photos taken, we arrived at the post office at 2:10 only to be told that they had already closed the passport line for the day. There were still people waiting, but the office closes at 3:00 and they apparently decided at 1:30 that there were enough people in line for the day (and they wonder where the jokes about the inefficiencies of the Post Office come from).

So we inform our respective bosses that we will have to take the morning off the next day to get this done. We arrived at the Passport Center 15 minutes before they open and we are the fifth family in line (did people camp out overnight in line like this was a Rolling Stones’ concert?). I wasn’t confident of how long this was going to end up taking because one family in front of us had at least 6 kids and a grandma and it appeared that only one of the parents spoke English. The office opened promptly at 9:30, and the first couple of families went fairly quickly and I was fairly confident that we could make it to work for at least a half day. Then the large family went in and we waited:rolleyes1 , and waited:sad2: , and waited:mad: . Various family members came in and out of the room, and at one point Grandma came out with one of the children and both were in tears.

Finally at 11:45 the big family left, and I wondered to my wife if they would close the office at noon for lunch and leave us stranded in line for another hour. Fortunately, we got in just before noon. The clerk was apologetic (and said that the office didn’t close for lunch because they were too busy), and told us that the earlier family took so long because the father of one of the children wasn’t there because he had been deported, and so they couldn’t get his passport. Fortunately we had all our paperwork in order and after writing the necessary checks and signing on the appropriate lines, we were on our way in under 15 minutes. Time for lunch and a toast to “reading the directions”. However, we weren’t done with the State Department’s Passport office, but more on that later.

How were we getting to Florida?

This was easy. We love road trips, and own a conversion van that is built for trips just like this. The boys can sit in the back with headphones on watching movies or playing video games while mom and I sit up front talking or listening to books on CD (see Part 2 of this trip report to see the van layout). Even with gas ~$3.00 per gallon, it was still cheaper for the four of us to drive than to fly. From Richmond, it is only 12 hours of road time to Orlando which is an easy day’s drive for us. This was decided even before we made our reservations, but there was one other detail to deal with.

On our only other cruise, we went out from Port Canaveral. Our group was on a tour bus to the port, but we noticed that the parking was in a deck rather than a surface lot. Our conversion van doesn’t like parking decks (too tall), so we needed to consider alternatives for getting to the port. Besides, I would be much more relaxed if I didn’t have to worry about driving and finding the port. There was always the Disney bus, but this didn’t really appeal for a couple of reasons, getting to the port at the same time as everyone else and $60 per person seemed a little pricy for a 1 hour bus ride. Other alternatives would have to be considered.

Mousesavers had a coupon for a company called Happy Limo…we might just have to look into that.

What extra stuff do we want to do?

http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/4742/scubarq4.jpg

During our last Disney vacation, I did Dive Quest at the Living Seas at Epcot (I highly recommend this to any certified divers out there). My oldest son is now 11, and I thought it would be great if I could get his Scuba certification so we could either go on Dive Quest during the land portion of our trip or do the Stuart’s Cove dive trip in Nassau. Unfortunately, with the crazy summer (more on this later), we never had a chance to get the classes and certification dives in before the cruise. Maybe next time:sad1: .

My wife and I went through all the excursions and options and finally settled on what we wanted to do on this trip. Then changed our minds, added, subtracted, went through what we thought we could afford and all the other pre-trip agonizing that everyone goes through until that final payment is made and the 90-day window (this was our first DCL cruise) opens to make the “final” choices.

Even though I have been bragging about the level of planning I put into this trip, I will admit that I did NOT log on at midnight as soon as the window opened in order to make our Palo reservations and all the other excursion bookings. I calmly waited until 6:00 the following morning to do so. Interestingly, it looked like our first three choices for Palo were already taken (next time I guess I WILL log on at midnight), so I booked what I could. It turned out not to matter, but that comes later.

Shortly after booking our reservations, while trying to look at options for getting to the port and answer some questions about what to bring on the trip, I discovered the DISBoards. Oh… My... Goodness. I now had something to fill the few remaining free moments during the summer reading trip reports, keeping up with our cruise meet and learning all the tips from the “pros” out there.

Summer started once the kids were out of school in mid-June (this is the downside to not starting until after Labor Day, but I am okay with this). My DMIL and DFIL drove up to visit us, and we went on a weekend road trip to Hershey and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This was a fantastic trip, but the details will have to be left for another trip report on another board (there’s that phrase again). There were two things that came out of this trip that will become important later on: The sale they had on Hershey Kisses, and this picture.

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/2976/1000963jg3.jpg

After the in-laws left and as July started, it was time to send the oldest off to Boy Scout camp and take the youngest to Cub Adventure camp (leaving DW with three whole days and nights with the house to herself). The story of Cub Adventure Camp is (say it with me) another trip report on another board.

Then I had to take a business trip to Texas for a week. Then the following week I had business trips to Charlotte and Harrisburg. Then at the end of the month MY parents came to spend a few days visiting with the grandkids, but fortunately they didn’t want to do any side trips. During July I spent more time in strange beds than I spent in my own (Ow! Honey that’s not what I meant).

Now we are into August. Is it too early to start packing yet?

[side note, I know this is going a lot into the background before the trip, but I am trying to convince everyone just how much we really needed this vacation to escape our busy lives. I promise that I have just one more report and then we will be hitting the road for Florida.]

[Renysmom]

Steve -

Great trip report so far. What Post Office in Richmond do you go to so we can avoid it next month when we apply for our passports? I think DH said the one by our house is doing them now by appointment only (we are in Varina) so I may have to check into that. We also always drive to WDW, easy drive from Richmond as you said.

Looking forward to more of your report

[DAggiesRWe]

Steve -

Great trip report so far. What Post Office in Richmond do you go to so we can avoid it next month when we apply for our passports? I think DH said the one by our house is doing them now by appointment only (we are in Varina) so I may have to check into that. We also always drive to WDW, easy drive from Richmond as you said.

Looking forward to more of your report

Hi Kelly,

It was the Midlothian post office, but I think the problem was more a case of us trying to do it during Spring Break week (along with everyone else) than bad service necessarily. From my understanding, things have started to level off somewhat.

BTW, the State Department's Passport Office can be partially blamed for the next installment of this TR being delayed. Nathaniel is back with us again. :lmao: DD and her new husband (both in the Army) have been stationed in Germany, but due to a mix up at the Passport Office (his name was wrong on the first one, long story and not entirely the fault of the Passport Office) Nate came to stay with us last week and we have been re-childproofing our house to be ready for him.

I have started the report, and hope to have it posted by the end of this week.

[dwonder6522]

I was on this cruise too. I know you pple! Especially you, Tracy We sat at the same table and, hung out fo the whole week. Keep in touch LOL! I was in room 6522

[DAggiesRWe]

Okay, just a few things to wrap up before we hit the road. The DISBoards added a few important things to our trip preparations. :surfweb:

First, we needed door signs (thanks to our new friends on the DISBoards, we felt that door signs were mandatory). We checked at a couple of office supply stores and they wanted ridiculous amounts of money to make the signs for us :scared1: , so after a brief search, I found a great alternative, magnetic business card blanks. These are business card size magnets with adhesive on one side. With these in hand, I printed the door signs to card stock and stuck these magnets to them. One task checked off the list.:thumbsup2

What else could we glean from DISBoards? Oooo, they have a Pirate party on the third night, and folks are talking about costumes. pirate: The wife said we were welcome to it, but she didn’t want to wear a costume. Then she comes home with these blue and white striped Capri pants and blue peasant shirt as a casual outfit for the trip (she didn’t realize it, but after I tied a red scarf around her waist she started seeing the pirate costume that was there for her). She got even more excited with the fabric I found at Walmart and some really cool accessories we picked up at Michaels. Once we started putting the costumes together, she was really getting into the idea of being a cute pirate mom.:cutie:

We finished putting together our costumes two weeks before we were going to leave for Florida. I got on the DISBoards to see what else we needed and someone was mentioning their plans to attend something called the Pirate and Princess Party. A little checking on the Disney site and our credit card a little bit lighter and we have yet another chance to wear our costumes. One more thing checked off. :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2

While dealing with this, I came across a couple of threads about how long it was taking to get passports. As you will recall, we applied for ours back in April. :headache: We are into August and I am starting to get concerned since we still didn’t have our passports. :eek: Checks on the State Department website and calls to the passport office only show that they are “processing” our applications. I knew they had changed the rules to allow you to use birth certificates on cruises, but we had submitted those with our passport application. When we applied, I never thought that 18 weeks wasn’t going to be enough time to get the passport, so I didn’t worry about getting certified copies. Now I am starting to worry, especially after I try to order myself a new birth certificate and they say it could take 30 days to get it to us. I guess it is time to call my Senator (another good tip from the DISBoards).

A call to the Senator’s office, and amazingly two days later there is a FedEx package on our doorstep with passports and birth certificates inside (just 10 days before we were to leave, and 17 weeks after we applied). Yet another thing checked off :woohoo: Just one major concern left.

We still don’t have our tickets. :scared1: I fire off a quick note to the Travel Agent, but when I check the trip meet board, I find out that everyone else is asking the same question, and a couple of the veterans let us know that the tickets usually don’t get there until the week before unless there are special circumstances. Two days later we get the magical package what proves we are really going on this trip of a lifetime. Only the packing remains before we hit the road.

Wait a minute, we can’t take these mismatched, worn out bags with us, this isn’t steerage on the Titanic. We need to get us a new set of luggage. We find a nice set, on sale, that includes a wheeled duffle bag that nests inside the largest suitcase. Better still, it is in maroon. :thumbsup2

Sunday before road day, laundry is done and we have everything we start laying out the clothes we want to bring. I dig out my tux (I saw mixed notes about bringing a tux on the DISBoards, so figured I would at least wear it to Palo), and discover that my shirt needs to be cleaned and pressed. No problem, we will get that done while we are at the resort before the cruise. After agonizing over how to pack and what to pack, we decide that since we are driving down we have the extra space so when in doubt pack it.

Two days of work, and it is time to hit the road for a well deserved vacation…

Next up...Are we on the way yet? popcorn::

[ashman]

Great Trip report so far, can't wait to hear the rest. We were going to drive as well but I was able to get two free tickets with FF miles. The good news is we got to fly, the bad news is my kids will expect it next time around! Thanks for sharing.

[manntra]

Was beginning to wonder where you were? :confused3 Can't wait for more---we did the PandP party too...wasn't that so much fun in the rain that never stopped? :mad: It was ok though....we made the best of it!:goodvibes. Have you seen that Wally has started his cruise report too? I am enjoying both! popcorn::

[tokyodisneydad]

Have you seen that Wally has started his cruise report too? I am enjoying both! popcorn::

He has? WOW--2August 26th Cruise Reports for the price of 1popcorn::

Wally

[DAggiesRWe]

He has? WOW--2August 26th Cruise Reports for the price of 1popcorn::

Wally

Yes, and hopefully it will inspire this poor pretender to quit doing unimportant things like work :surfweb: and get to the important things in life like writing my trip report.

I read your reports earlier today, and have to laugh at some of the close encounters we had not only on the cruise, but at the MK as well. I guess it really is a Small World After All (admit it, you are mentally singing the song now). :rotfl:

Hopefully I am not breaking the rules by posting the land portion of my land-and-sea vacation here rather than breaking it into two separate trips. :rolleyes1

[nezy]

Now I am hooked-
Did Nathan ever meet his mom in Germany?
Did you make it to the ship on time? :confused3
Where did you park?

These and other questions, I hope will be answered in the next instsallment of Aggie on vacation! :surfweb:

[DAggiesRWe]

After staying up until midnight Tuesday packing all our suitcases and double-checking that we had everything we needed, I woke up Wednesday morning at 8:30. When I saw this on the clock, I jumped up thinking “Oh no, I’m going to be late for work. :eek: Then the sleepy haze cleared enough for me to remember that we were leaving for Florida today. :cool1:

The morning routine followed by loading everything and everyone into the vanabago, and my imitation of Willie Nelson crooning “On the road again”, we pull out of the driveway. :moped: Two minutes later, we are pulling back into the driveway so I can put the trashcan up front so we don’t face the smell of garbage that has been steeping for three weeks in the August heat. :headache:

Okay, that job taken care of and we pull out of the driveway. Another chorus of “On the road again” :moped: and we are back in the driveway so we can run into the house and empty the dishwasher so we don’t face moldy dishes when we get home. As I get back in, my DS7 quips “Are we ever going to leave?”:sad2:

We actually start off in the wrong direction, but this is intentional so we can go to IHOP for breakfast. We tell the boys to eat up because we aren’t going to stop for lunch. After stuffing ourselves on French toast, sausage and bacon, then a quick stop at the grocery store for ice, baggies (more on this later) and snacks, we once again saddle up and sing another chorus of “On the road again”, but this time there is a hint of a question in it. :confused: :moped:

Five minutes later we are back in our driveway so I can get my belt. We don’t even bother singing this time (maybe Willie was jinxing us). :wave2: On the way out we pull through a McDonalds for a caffeine supply :coffee: for the first portion of the trip (iced tea for me, vanilla iced coffee for DW), and then we finally find the on-ramp to the freeway. DW was so excited that we were finally leaving town that she documented the time.

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/2803/1000979zd3.jpg

She also documented our drinks...

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/6803/1000975mq8.jpg

and the on ramp...

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7261/1000980jk6.jpg

A woman who is BIG into scrapbooking with a digital camera can be a dangerous thing. I can't imagine what scrapbooking was like before the invention of the digital camera. My wife takes pictures of all kinds of weird things that I know she wouldn't if we had to pay for film, but since it doesn't cost anything she snaps away. The cool part is she is so creative that they fit right into her scrapbook pages and make sense.

Coming up next..."Are we almost there?"

[jamielynn]

HAHAHA :rotfl2: I see you keep your SmartTrip card handy too. (one in MY car.. one in DH2Bs SUV... One in my desk... )

Can't wait for the next installment.

[DAggiesRWe]

HAHAHA :rotfl2: I see you keep your SmartTrip card handy too. (one in MY car.. one in DH2Bs SUV... One in my desk... )

Can't wait for the next installment.

Actually, I bought that when I attended training in Rockville, MD. The place where the classes were held has a parking deck (see earlier for problems with vanabago and parking decks) and no surface parking, but is right across the street from a Metro station. So I stay at a hotel near the end of the Red Line and parked in the Metro surface lot. After losing my first card, I just leave the second in the van all the time.

The other card is an old room key from Springhill Suites that I keep as an "extra door key". I scared my neighbor into getting a deadbolt one day when she locked her keys in her house and I was able to get in through the french doors in under 15 seconds with that card.:scared1:

[nezy]

You are a regular McGuyver ;) (? spelling)

[DAggiesRWe]

"Are we almost there?" :headache:

This would be our version of “are we there yet?”, and the first time we heard these words (from DS7) we were still in Virginia at mile marker 5. I didn’t answer right away because within minutes we were coming up on the State line, and I figured this would give the boys something to count down during the trip. As we passed the sign, I told him that we had one state line down and three to go.

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5535/ncslyu8.jpg

As we crossed into South Carolina with with screaming bladders, we pulled into one of our traditional stops along the way for a quick break. As you get off, there is a nice and elegent state welcome sign suggesting class.

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4724/scslvq9.jpg

On the other side of the highway is one of the classic roadside monuments to the American Redneck, "South of the Border". For those who aren’t familiar with it, “South of the Border” is like a miniature version of 192 in Kissimmee (with kitschy souvenir stands, mini golf, and a couple of restaurants). The highlight is the observation sombrero.

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/8514/sotbvl2.jpg

We find the first couple of gifts for friends back home, stretch our legs and load up again. Two more State lines and a dinner stop and we soon arrive at our first day’s destination, Jacksonville. I cashed in some frequent stay points from business trips to get us a free night somewhere close, but our official stay at WDW didn’t begin until the next day so this made a good stopover point.

After being cooped up in the van all day, the kids appreciated some time in the pool before bed. I was ready for a refreshing dip, but the water in the pool was at hot tub temperatures, so the wife and I decided to skip (besides, we didn’t really want to put on wet swimsuits in the morning for our day at Typhoon Lagoon). Brushing my teeth that night, I was reminded of an observation from the DISBoards. There is no cold tapwater in Florida.

The next morning after enjoying the free breakfast at the hotel (and DS7 conning the breakfast lady into finding him the donut he wanted from the stash in back), we hit the road for Orlando. Here is a tip for those driving down: make your bathroom stop in Daytona, because there is NOTHING until you get to Orlando once you turn onto I-4. :scared:

We finally reached Orlando, and after relieving a little pent-up stress and topping off the gas tanks at the first available exit we grabbed a quick lunch by doing what the cows told us to do “Eat mor chikin”. A short drive from there and we finally arrived. We had reached the promised land, the Shrine of the Mouse, the World that Walt built, Disney World.

Coming soon...The day at Typhoon Lagoon.

[kaysmommie]

Subbing! I really want to try a Disney cruise next trip. You have a beautiful family! Waiting for more, hope you have lots of pictures.

[DAggiesRWe]

I am sorry for how long this trip report is taking, but the passport office got us yet again as I mentioned earlier, Nathaniel was back with us again. We had been checking every day looking for the passport (only to find that they had shipped it to Fort Bliss in El Paso :mad: ). That changed the focus for us to get the people in El Paso to forward the passport to us.

On October 23, my sons and I returned from our Scout meetings to discover DD sitting in my chair (she managed to come all the way from Germany without telling us that she was coming :scared1: ). So we were busy visiting, and doing several Halloween parties and I fell behind on my trip report. I posted some of the sections that I had already written to keep things going. The good news is that Nathaniel's passport finally came in, and Mother and son are now back in Germany. :woohoo:

I have started the next report about our day at Typhoon Lagoon, and hope to have it finished and ready to post soon.

Thanks for your patience.

[DAggiesRWe]

Following the excellent signage within WDW, we circled past Downtown Disney and found the entrance to Typhoon Lagoon. We have been to Disney World multiple times, but we had always gone when it was too cold for the water parks so this time we were looking forward to the chance to check out Typhoon Lagoon. We chose Typhoon Lagoon over Blizzard Beach since we aren’t into the more “extreme” kinds of water park rides (although the boys are likely going to bug us to go to BB next time since they are starting to go for the more extreme stuff).

As we pulled into the parking lot we got the first pleasant surprise of our trip, FREE PARKING :love:. After buying our tickets, we went in and found our home base near the wave pool. [tip – make sure you set up a home-base somewhere that the whole family knows to go in case a parent gets misplaced :thumbsup2 ]. From our advanced planning, we only had a couple of things we knew we wanted to make sure we did, and the rest would be bonus. First however, we had to get wet and cool off after the long walk we had just completed, so it was into the wave pool.

For those who haven’t been, the TL wave pool is different than any other one I have seen in that rather than using air pressure to set up interference waves (like you get from swishing back and forth in the bathtub), they actually pump several thousand gallons above the tank and drop it all at once to make a single large wave across the pool that is more like a real ocean wave. The up side is that you can actually body-surf these waves (if it isn’t too crowded):woohoo: . The downside is that they only come along every 90 seconds, so you do a lot of standing around waiting. :sad2: I managed to get a shot of DS11 just as a wave was coming in, and this gives you an idea how big the waves are. I didn't get the shot right after the wave surprised him and he came up spluttering :rolleyes1.

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/6024/wave2za9.jpg

After a quick dip and a couple of waves, we return to home base where DW informs me that she discovered that her “pool hat” wasn’t waterproof and that she discovered this the hard way. :lmao: :rotfl2: :lmao:

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/8606/hatbk5.jpg

So then we made our way to the main “must-do”. As Cousin Guido would say, we were “going swimming with the fishes”, but this time was without the cement goulashes. Since I didn’t get to do Dive Quest on this trip, this would be my one chance to swim with sharks, and this time I get to take the family too. We pick up our mask and snorkel, I teach the family how to rinse out their masks so they don’t get the cleaning chemicals in their eyes. We enter quite possibly the only cold water in Florida, but on this hot summer day it feels wonderful. We see the boys off first, and DS11 races to the far end of the pool, and DS7 swims straight to the lifeguard without looking down at the fish at all. :lmao: The lifeguard helps DS7 to the end, and tries to get him to look down, but he just wants to catch up to his brother.

Then DW and I take our turn across the tank. I have a waterproof camera (another tip), and am snapping pictures like mad of the nurse shark, ray and a blue fish with the ugliest face I had ever seen (it reminded me of one of those plastic doll faces that had been stepped on a few times). :scared1: As I got close to the end, I looked back for DW to get a shot of her in the water, and find that she is barely halfway though the tank. I wait to get the shot while the life guard at the exit is yelling for me to exit the pool. Once she caught up to me, I found out that DW had been having a problem with her mask fogging and had to stop to clear it several times. In my worry over her, I forgot to get the picture (oh well).

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/8829/uglyfishti9.jpg

From the scary shark tank to the relaxation of the Lazy River, or as the kids think of it, “the race track”. For the life of me, I don’t know why kids can’t sit back and relax, but have to turn everything into a competition. Anyway, DW and I enjoyed just floating along on the current while getting bumped and shoved by other kids racing around the river. We had barely completed our first circuit when our boys lapped us and announced that they wanted to go check out the water slides. We told them to meet us back at home base in a half hour and to stay together while we floated another lap.

As we were walking back to home base, we met DS7 heading to home base. He informed us that DS11 went on a slide he didn’t want to ride, so he was going back to home base. So the three of us headed off to do some of the water slides together, figuring we would catch up with DS11 later. [water park tip – wear bright color swimsuits, green or yellow, because everyone has black or brown and the bright color makes it easier to find each other. Lifeguards are almost always in red, so avoid that color too] As typical for Disney, the waterslides here weren’t the standard fiberglass half-pipe you see everywhere else, but actually looked like they had been carved out of the hillside.

After taking a spin on the various options, we head back toward home base to find DS11. Crossing the wave pool, we find him attempting to learn to body surf with a friend he met on the slides, so we hang out there to catch some waves. Then the four of us headed to the “Crush-n-gusher” (our other must-do of the day). This ride is the water-park version of a roller coaster, where you go down a hill on your tube and then get blasted back up the hill by a high-powered water jet. DW and DS7 were satisfied with one run on the banana run (tamest), but DS11 and I had to go for the coconut run (fastest) and we managed to get caught by one of the photographers.

By now it was getting close to closing time, and we wanted one more run on the family waterslide (four people to a tube), so a quick trip in the Lazy River with the boys pulling our tubes along (it is the “Lazy” river after all) got us to the waterslides. After a short wait we got our turn on the family slide, and through some careful maneuvering I managed to get DS11 with a direct hit from the waterfall.

From there, it was back toward home base with a quick detour while DS11 got a couple of quick runs on the speed slides. These are just like the ones back home where you end the run with a mega-wedgie, so he was the only one interested in riding. We found a discarded PhotoPass card, and figuring we would have to turn ours in we grabbed it thinking we could use it for scrap booking when we got home (even trash from WDW can be used by a creative scrap booker like my wife). On the way back to home base, I tried to cut off a corner next to this big bamboo water tank, and nearly knocked myself unconscious on a projecting piece of bamboo which the boys thought was funny for some reason :rotfl: (it is the piece right next to the lady's shoulder).

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/5425/headbangni4.jpg

After collecting our things, we stopped by the photo booth and discovered our second nice surprise of the trip. All the PhotoPass systems are linked, so we didn’t have to buy pictures right then, but could combine them with pictures from the other parks during our trip. It took me a while to convince DW that we didn’t have to buy the pictures right then, but after the clerk assured her that the pictures would be available later on we left to check into the Beach Club.

[nezy]

So you went straight to TL from driving? I was a little confused-I thought I missed a post where you checked -in I am wondering "Where are they staying?":confused3

...everything is a competiton w/ my 2 boya nd 1 girl too!

[manntra]

Wow....Typhoon Lagoon looks really fun! I haven't ever checked it out but next August when I take my 3 nephews we might go for a day or so....I am quite sure that they would like it there (two 16 and one 14 year old):sad2:

[DAggiesRWe]

So you went straight to TL from driving? I was a little confused-I thought I missed a post where you checked -in I am wondering "Where are they staying?":confused3

...everything is a competiton w/ my 2 boya nd 1 girl too!

Yup, drove in from Jacksonville had lunch just outside WDW (can't give Iger all my money :laughing: ) and then hit TL. We bought one-day tickets rather than adding the "plus" option because we knew we were only doing one day.

Check in had to be done after 4:00 p.m., so we just made our plan to hit TL and then go on to the Beach Club. This was a vacation, so we didn't try to throw in too much (especially during the Land portion).

[DAggiesRWe]

After long and fun day in the Florida sun, we piled into the van and pulled out of the Typhoon Lagoon parking lot (did I mention the Free Parking?) :) Thank goodness for the excellent signage that allowed us to find the Beach Club resort with minimal confusion ("No dear, it is the Beach Club, not the Caribbean Beach Club.").

We pulled up to the front of the Beach Club and are met by the smiling face of the guard. As an aside here, I should explain that while I wouldn't exactly consider my family to be rednecks, we do occasionally display Jeff Foxworthy's "glorious lack of sophistication". :laughing: Keep this in mind and you will understand our fascination with little things.

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/1195/1000997og1.jpg

After Leon gave me the parking pass, we crossed the bridge and pulled up in front of the hotel. I hadn't even gotten out of the van when someone was there with a luggage rack offering to help. It only took one look at the size of this place and I knew I didn't want to wheel the bags through the hotel. (tip: Use the bellmen to get your luggage to your room. For $1 per bag, it is worth it not to have to wheel a bunch of bags down the hall). I only wish we had remembered this when we checked out :rolleyes1 .

There was so much information to get during the check in process, and the boys quickly grew bored and found a TV across the lobby playing Disney cartoons. After 20 minutes going over all the information in the packet, we walked over to the concierge desk to add the never-expire option for our 7-day passes. We had heard that some agents had objected to upgrading tickets that were included with the DCL Land and Sea packages, so I was a little nervous. I am pleased to report that this was completed without a bit of objection by the Disney reps. :banana: Ironically, we would not even use the major-park tickets during this trip.

Then we began the seemingly endless maze of corredors to find our room, and when we got there I asked DW where the cheese was. As we walked into our room, we were met by two face-cloth animals skillfully made by the housekeeping staff, including this cutie here (the one on the right).

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/9868/1001003fk2.jpg

After getting the luggage to the room, DW announces that she is in the mood for Pizza and Beer. Room service or offsite? Since we need to run to the grocery store for water, beer and other necessities we decide to do the off-WDW B&P dinner rather than ordering room service. After the grocery run, we have a cooler full of water (in both youth and adult versions) to get back to the room. I even gave the bellman extra to get this to our room.

At this point, we unpacked and settled into our room for the night. We took a quick turn through the room, tasking the boys with finding all the hidden Mickey's in the room. Once the unpacking was complete, we got the kids in bed for the night. Then we grabbed a couple of adult beverages and stepped out onto the balcony. Unfortunately the view we had from our balcony was a wooded area between the Beach Club and Beach Club Villas. While the boys fell asleep, DW and I had some quiet time on the balcony talking about plans for the next day and then turned in for the night ourselves. As we reentered the room, we heard DS11 snoring, so we knew it had been a good day. Soon we were snoring ourselves, and I had my first Disney dream. :mickeyjum

Coming soon...Friday at the Beach club.

[DAggiesRWe]

I forgot to mention that when we got to our room, we already had two messages on the phone. One was a nice (even if it was canned) welcome message from the Hotel Manager (I told you, little things impress us) and the other was a message from Betty with DCL telling us we needed to check in with her ASAP.

As another aside, the theme of this trip ended up being “God has something better in store”.

We awoke bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for a fun day at the Beach Club. After getting my tuxedo shirt to housekeeping to be cleaned and pressed, we made our way to the restaurant for breakfast. Unfortunately, we were turned away because they do a character breakfast every morning and you had to have reservations to get in :mad: . After DW calmed me down and reminded me that we were on vacation and that I shouldn’t get worked up over this, we went back to the room to see what our options were. When we get there we find another message from Betty. So we walk down to the snack-bar in the the gift shop for a quickie breakfast and our "free refill" cups. Then I run back to the room to get the cruise paperwork that I left sitting by the door.

We finished our breakfast and feeling much better checked in with Betty. I run out to the van to get my sunglasses while DW and the boys learn how to make face-towel animals from the housekeeping staff. DS7 and I head back to the room with the new collection of animals (they let you keep the animals for free :woohoo:) and to drop off our paperwork. DS7 makes yet another friend in Jeff (who is in the process of cleaning our room). DW and DS11 have been scouting out the gift shop while waiting on us but now that we are well fed, checked in for the cruise and freed of unnecessary burdens, we head out to the pool.:yay: Here is our complete animal collection.

http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/8481/tanimalsaz5.jpg

This was one of the most impressive pools I have seen on a hotel anywhere. For lack of a better description, it was a miniature version of Typhoon Lagoon (only the wave pool was missing). We set up home-base, and turned the kids loose. DS11 heads for the waterslide while DS7 makes his way to the beach to make sand castles. I end up in the whirlpool area floating in circles until I got dizzy (DW says she couldn’t tell the difference) :lmao: . The pools here are all sand-bottom, with a sharp and rough-grained sand that made it more comfortable than concrete, but not quite as nice as walking on a real beach. After about 30 minutes, the wife says it is time to put on sunscreen and asks where I put it. :rotfl:

After my walk to the room and back (it is 328 steps from our spot by the pool to the room so I figure I am doing about a quarter mile round trip each time), we put on sunscreen and rent a tube to float around the lazy river. After several circuits of the river I’m starting to find my Disney Attitude along with a bit of hunger. Lunch time, and DW and I have a hankering for a Disney Dog. We were disappointed to discover that the poolside snack bar, Hurricane Hanna’s, doesn’t carry hot dogs, so we made our way to Beaches and Cream (they have hot dogs on the menu, but they won’t let you take out food from there to the pool :headache: ). DS11 had made a friend with a boy his age from Kentucky and said he wasn’t hungry, so we gave them our tube to use in the lazy river and went looking for DS7. We found him mixed in with the kids club group as they were getting ready to do a treasure hunt game. The group leaders said all kids were invited to play, so we told him where we were going and told him to have fun while we headed off to Beaches and Cream.

After a wait, we were seated at the end of the counter where we met Ken, a middle-aged man from New York. Ken was working the take-out ice cream register while “earning his ears” :mickeyjum . Ken kept us entertained throughout the meal as we traded stories. We were curious why someone would pick up roots in New York for a job at WDW. It turns out that he had been the caretaker for an old Episcopal church, and his daughter and her husband both worked at WDW. Their descriptions of their jobs and the people they got to meet sounded like fun to him, so he packed up and moved to Florida. After an entertaining lunch of trading clean jokes and life stories, we went to find the kids who by now were getting hungry. Here is our favorite cast member:

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/1614/1001042ia3.jpg

So we made a new reservation (by now Ken had been moved outside to run the reservations line). The boys spent the 30 minute wait in the adjacent arcade and were somewhat disappointed when our table finally came available. Throughout dinner, the boys were daring me to get a Kitchen Sink (a monstrous concoction that includes a scoop of every flavor of ice cream, a whole (split) banana, a ladle full of every topping, an entire can of whipped cream and a baker’s dozen cherries on top, all served in a metal bowl shaped like (you guessed it) a kitchen sink. I refrained (they don't know how close they had me, but they gave up first :lmao: )

As we walked out of the restaurant, we heard a loud thunderclap and the lifeguards closed the pool. DW wanted to head over to the Boardwalk on the other side of the lake, so the boys were given a loaded gameroom card each and instructions to stay together in the gameroom until we got back. DW and I took our things back to the room and then walked over to Disney Boardwalk for some shopping.

We quickly found an art shop that attracted our attention and were drawn inside by the bronze frogs (we have four pet frogs, so this was our kind of thing). After examining the books that explained the fascinating process of how these frogs are made, we picked out a couple we might be interested in, but told the salesman we would have to come back later.

Then it was around the corner to the gift shop (still not raining, but the sky is very dark and noisy) where we buy several pins (including a couple that go perfect on my pirate hat) and various other souvenirs for folks back home. As we walk out of that shop, DW turns to me and says “I really want that frog”. So of course we had to go back and get it. :hug:

By now, the sky was really looking dangerous, so we trotted back to our side of the lake and got the boys from the arcade. As we walked out of the arcade to go back to the room, the sky finally opened up and rain was coming down in buckets with the accompanying thunder and lightning. Fortunately we didn’t have to come out from under cover to get back to our room. DW and I grabbed a couple of adult waters (Corona Light) and sat on the verandah toasting the really good thunderclaps. :scared1:

While enjoying a classic Florida afternoon storm, we get a knock on the door. It is housekeeping returning my cleaned and pressed tuxedo shirt. I give her one of my $2 bills as a tip and start looking for my garment bag with the tuxedo in it. Ummmm, Honey, did we forget to bring in the garment bag? Did we even bring the garment bag? I don’t remember anything hanging in the back of the van. Darn, all those trips back home and I STILL forgot something :headache: . Oh well, no sense crying over it now, I guess I have a nice clean shirt for when we get home.

By now it was getting close to time to get dressed for the pirate: Pirate and princess: Princess Party, and we were worrying whether they would cancel it because of the storms. We had paid for our tickets way in advance, and it said there were no refunds so we weren’t going to let a little rain stop us (a hearty band of pirates we). Well, we figured the only way to tell was to get our costumes on and head over to the Magic Kingdom, and by the time we got to the bus stop the rain was beginning to let up and when we got to the park, we didn’t bother with the ponchos. We saw all the wet people coming out of the park as the small group of pirates and princesses were lining up to go in (Wally, you probably saw us on your way out. Congrats on getting grand master for the daytime parade).

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/9546/p1010031mz3.jpg

Rather than a blow by blow report, let me summarize the disadvantages and advantages of the rain on the party.

Disadvantages:
- Treasure spots were moved to indoor locations, which made them a little harder to find.
- Several of the activities got cancelled (stage shows, wandering singers, etc.). We looked for the “Learn to be a pirate with Captain Jack”, but this was either cancelled or moved and we never found him. We saw a pirate at PotC, but nothing indicated this was where they were doing the “class”. This kind of spoiled the “Party” part of the evening, so we just treated it as a special night at the Magic Kingdom.
- Couldn’t see the fireworks through the clouds.
- Minor rides and restaurants were closed (we had to look all over to find a frozen lemonade).
- The park was DARK. They had special lights creating images along the ground and on buildings so I am sure this is why they had most of the other lights off, but there were several areas that were downright scary to walk through.
- The “Party” maps were lacking in detail, and really didn’t give any information on the party.

Advantages:

- We pretty much had the park to ourselves, in fact I wouldn’t bet against there being more cast members in the park than there were visitors. The longest wait we had all night was 5 minutes to get on Space Mountain. Everything else we walked right onto, and even did a couple of the things twice in order to get a better picture (Splash Mountain and Buzz Space Spin).
- The Pirate and Princess Parade was almost a private show. There was nobody within 25 feet of our special spot (right before the bridge from Liberty Square into the hub), so all the characters were interacting directly with us (Captain Jack even pointed to my hat, gave the thumbs-up and said “good one, mate”).
- At the treasure stations, we were being given handfuls of “booty” because they had so much to give and so few people to give it to. We ended up with about 5 pounds of chocolate by the end of the night.
- We got a couple of extra Pirate and Princess Party Pins to make up for the weather.

Other than a 20 minute period of mildly heavy rain (where we took the opportunity to see Country Bear Jamboree), it was only light sprinkles that stopped completely by about 10:00. As I said, we treated it as a private night at the Magic Kingdom, and we made the most of it (we closed the park and were among the last group to leave). As we walked under the railroad station, a tiny tree frog hopped off the wall onto my arm. He hopped off before I could tell anyone else or even get the camera, but I had to wonder if this was this a sign?

As we got back to the Beach Club, I was certain this was a sign as we spotted a HUGE frog on the side of the building that looked exactly like the bronze frog we had purchased that day (it was even the same size). I was able to get a shot of this one. The picture doesn’t really show it, but this guy is about 5 inches long (not counting legspan), and I would have loved to take him home with me.

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/4543/froggytx8.jpg

Coming up, Parks or resort, room service.

[manntra]

Thanks for the update! We did the PNP too on that soggy Friday night. There were friends of ours from VA Beach that were also at WDW during our stay and we kept missing them...or we would have plans to go to a different park. Well.... we arrived at MK, DN decided she needed another set of ears so I obliged and we meandered around Main street a little. I then asked her which way and what she wanted to do and Space Mountain it was. We turned right and there I spy our friends Randy and his daughter Katherine. :yay: I yell Randy! Randy! He looks around and sees me, hidden well in my poncho!! After near misses all week he decides to stay with us for the party. We went back and they got their tickets. In the meantime he had told me that it was his birthday so I told him to say something to the CM because you never know what you might get with some Disney magic :wizard: and so they gave him his button and we were off. First stop was to get them some ponchos. He got them for free because of his birthday button! :woohoo: At the treasure spots he got lots of extra candy and beads for flashing his birthday button. It was very funny! :rotfl: We rode Space Mountain soooo many times. How could you refuse? The line was so short! :yay: I am so glad you are doing your TR because it is bringing me back to that wonderful time and I am remembering everything all over again. Like we went to Beaches and Cream too....and did the same thing in the morning at the Beach Club not knowing that the breakfast was a Character breakfast! Sounds like we followed each other around for days and didn't even know it!!:rotfl: :rotfl: And then we all ended up a few cabins down from each other! Take care...have to go shovel some more snow! :rolleyes:

[manntra]

Oh and we did see the Pirate Class....it was over by the POTC entrance. It was pretty neat...they did some sword fighting and picked a few kids to go and learn from the expert himself Jack:love: pirate: :love: DN got a pirate certificate..hmmm should frame that for Christmas:santa:

[DAggiesRWe]

The next morning, we slept until 9:00 and were still in our jammies when room service brought us our breakfast at 9:30:coffee: . We got the Admiral’s Feast, and it was plenty of food for our family of four and then some. During breakfast, we came to a mutual decision that we would rather spend more time at the resort than going to one of the major parks (I know, you hard-core WDWers will think this is sacrilege, but we have been to the parks many times but had never before stayed at this level of resort). DW takes advantage of the decision and makes an appointment for a manicure and pedicure. For us this was a day to get a few last-minute errands done before the cruise and to just relax and enjoy our vacation:cloud9:.

Before we could do anything though, we had to make a trip off-site. The printer base for our digital camera wasn’t charging the batteries, so I wanted to go to an electronics store to see if we could find a charger to work with the camera. DW also had a need to stop by a drug store for some necessities. So, we loaded into the van and followed the excellent directions that the concierge desk provided for us to the local electronics store and in short order were back at the Beach Club with our new charger and sundries.

I plugged in the camera and we headed to the pool, but after an hour or so floating in circles around the pool, DW had to head off for her nail appointment so I went to play on the waterslide with the boys. An hour or so later, with a smile that rivals Minnie Mouse::MinnieMo , DW shows me her pretty painted nails. The boys aren’t ready to get out of the pool, and DW says there is no way she is getting in the pool and ruining her nails. DW and I tell the boys to behave while we run back to the room to make our thank you notes. I notice the clouds starting to build, so we change out of our swimsuits and I start on the cards while DW begins sorting our cloths into “bring on the ship” and “leave in the van” piles.

Remember that photo of the family at Hershey Chocolate World. Well, we used that photo to print up thank you cards that said “Hugs and Kisses from the Hart Family”, and with each of these we included a small bag of Hershey Kisses and Hugs. I made up some messages for the inside and use our special calligraphy pens to make them look fancy. I can’t help but brag, but I especially liked this one that I came up with for Jeff.

You cleaned our room, you made our beds
You fluffed the pillows for our heads.

You did the things we’d have to do
If it weren’t for folks like you.

We also did one for Ken (but it wasn’t as poetic).

So after finishing with the cards and putting together the chocolate packages, I check on the camera. The battery is still showing that it is almost gone, so I take it out of the camera and read “Lithium battery, not rechargeable” on the side of the pack :sad2: . Thank goodness the camera is smarter than I am and didn’t even try to charge these batteries. As it was, two AA batteries fit perfectly where the battery pack went, so DW and I stopped in at the gift shop and picked up a package to (hopefully) make it through the trip.

By now, we are starting to get hungry so we start out the door to the pool only to find our two boys coming down the hall saying “we’re hungry”. During our earlier trip, we noticed a Japanese Steakhouse along 192 and figured that would make for a fun dinner. We had a couple of bags worth of “leave in the van” stuff so we carried these out and went to a nice (and surprisingly inexpensive) dinner. :woohoo:

We returned to the Beach Club and headed to Beaches and Cream for some dessert and to give Ken his card (Jeff picked up his while we were at dinner). While waiting for our table, we charged up the arcade cards and turned the kids loose. About 10 minutes after we put in our reservation the typical Florida afternoon thunderstorm came along and they closed the pool (meaning the crowd waiting for a seat at B&C tripled in a matter of minutes). When our table came ready we went to get the boys from the arcade and discovered that they hadn’t used any of the money on their cards because when they closed the pool all games were set to free. :yay: :woohoo: :yay:

After we finished our ice cream, we let the boys go back to the arcade while DW and I headed to the room to finish our packing. A final trip to the van with the “stays” bags, and we return to the arcade and find the boys have still been playing for free. :dance3: Well, with everything else done, I join them and do my best to use up their cards for them, and all too soon the free games end and the remainder of the card balance and the boys and I make our way back to the room and find DW already asleep and dreaming about our cruise tomorrow. We quietly got into our PJs and joined her in dreamland. :cloud9:

Coming up...Let the cruise begin.

[nezy]

Who are Ken and jeff?
Are they the Disney housekeeping?

sounds like a great trip so far.

[DAggiesRWe]

Who are Ken and jeff?
Are they the Disney housekeeping?

sounds like a great trip so far.

They were introduced in Post 49 (we have a picture of Ken, but I never had the camera ready to get a picture of Jeff).

Jeff was the housekeeping person in charge of our room at the Beach Club. He was mid-20s, about 6'6" tall, blonde hair and blue eyes, from Michigan. Now that I think back on it, there was a reason I never took his picture and tried to keep DW away from the room during the day :rolleyes1 he was a very good looking young man.

Ken was the server "earning his ears" that kept us entertained at Beaches & Cream. For his card, I wrote:

Thank you for making our times at Beaches & Cream
"Extra Sweet"
As far as having the Disney Attitude,
You've already "earned your ears".

[nezy]

Ok-I remember Ken-picture helps! No picture of jeff, huh... I see how it is!!:rotfl2:

That is such a nice gesture , so personal and truly appreciated, I am sure. DHave you always given Thank You's and treats to the people who help?

we ususally just leave a tip, but not a note. I may have to start doing that!

[DAggiesRWe]

Sunday morning we got up early (with all the excitement who can sleep?), quickly showered and packed our jammies. We finish tagging the bags that are going on the ship with us and I make one final run to the van with the cooler and the last “stay in the van” bags. Hopefully by loading the cooler with ice, the chocolate will make it through the 4 days of Florida summer heat. It didn't even dawn on me until I was typing this report months later that I completely forgot about having the bellmen take the bags back out and carried that heavy cooler all the way out to the parking lot. :rotfl2: :lmao: :rotfl:

It is coming up on 9:00, so we grab the last of our bags and bid farewell to our room. We roll our bags through the halls to the lobby and find that our ride to the ship is waiting. As the title indicates, we “overdid” the trip to the port by renting a stretch limo.

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/2406/1001057pu9.jpg

This was a really great way to kick off the cruise. Our driver loaded the bags into the trunk as the boys jumped right into the car with us close behind. We found “Chicken Little” playing on the TV and sodas, juice and snacks waiting for us. We set out for the port, and I discovered one of the most enjoyable parts (aside from the fact that I didn’t have to drive) was watching the people in the cars we passed staring at us. Through the tinted windows, we could see them wondering if it was somebody famous or important in there. DS11 made himself right at home, and it dawned on me that for the boys this wasn't a whole lot different from the van.

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/7928/1001048ab5.jpg

We came across the bridge and spotted the ship just as the movie was getting to the soda machine scene :happytv: , so I turned off the DVD so the boys would get as excited as I was about seeing the ship :banana: . I was a little disappointed that the trip didn't take longer because I was enjoying the ride. We pulled up in front of the terminal and our driver informed us that we were a little early and would have to wait to check in. After unloading our things and a quick check in the back of the car, he backed up about 50 feet and loaded up another family that had apparently just gotten off the ship. After an eternity that was really about 3 minutes, the gate behind us opens and a nice gentleman verifies our tags and places our bags on one of the metal racks and directs us to the terminal entrance. We go through the standard security check.

I would like to digress a little here to wonder at the incredible illogic of an airport-style security check upon entering the port. On an airplane, once you check your luggage, you don’t have access to it until you get off the plane. On the ship, your luggage will be available to you fairly shortly after the ship casts off. Keeping this in mind, does it make any sense at all to require that you check all liquids that are in more than 3 oz containers, pocket knives or scissors, and lighters? I think this system just provides a false sense of security. Sorry, this is one of my pet peeves and it was demanding to be walked, back to the report.

After going through the cursory search, the family headed straight for the most important place in the terminal…the RESTROOM!!!

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/8909/1001058dj4.jpg

We were the third family in the terminal this morning, and by being early we got the highly coveted Boarding Pass #2. After doing our final check in at the main desk and getting the boys signed up for the Oceaneer’s Club and Lab (getting our pagers), we wandered around the spacious and nearly empty terminal building. It is hard for us to believe that in a matter of three or four hours that there would be enough people passing through here to fill up the huge ship sitting directly outside the window. We explore the corners of the terminal, get the typical photo of the family in front of the “Ears”. Then we discover a table where the kids (both young and old) can color “Finding Nemo” pictures.

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/2572/1001067fr1.jpg

We can tell when the busses arrive because suddenly our empty terminal starts getting crowded. Then Goofy and Pluto put in appearances to keep the parents from getting too unruly :banana:, and before we know it we see people starting to crowd around the end of the terminal, so we head down that way. Before we knew it, they were calling for people with boarding card #2. :yay: We've got ours.

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/1858/1001611ck4.jpg

Unfortunately we had to jostle and shove our way past all the people standing around the entrance with their double-digit boarding cards :rotfl: , but we finally got to pass through the magic door and then got to wait in yet another line as one of the people in front of us had a problem with their ticket (for some reason, dad’s name got misspelled on the tickets so we all had to wait while this got straightened out). After an eternity (while the other line was moving along) that lasted maybe 3 or 4 minutes, we got to have our boarding pictures taken and as we entered that magical lobby we hear those wonderful words, "The Disney Wonder welcomes the Hart family".

[nezy]

Did you say that the boys signed up for the Oceaneers Club PRIOR to boarding the ship? I did not know you could do that! What a time saver. Is that a new arrangenement-I have never done it before boarding.

Where did you keep the car for 4-days? Did you have to arrange something w/the resort?

Can't wait to hear more.

[DAggiesRWe]

Did you say that the boys signed up for the Oceaneers Club PRIOR to boarding the ship? I did not know you could do that! What a time saver. Is that a new arrangenement-I have never done it before boarding.

Where did you keep the car for 4-days? Did you have to arrange something w/the resort?

Can't wait to hear more.

Yes, we were able to do this in the terminal (all the way back on the right past the gift shop). They had small signs and the check-in didn't open until 10:30 or 11:00. If you weren't paying attention, or arrived with the crowds it would have been easy to miss especially once the crowds start gathering by the door. If I remember correctly, the signs said the check-in closed at 12:30 and moved on-board, so if you get to the terminal later in the afternoon it might be closed.

We left the van in the parking lot at the Beach Club (guarded, patrolled and camera monitored). It was the same as if we had chosen to take the DCL bus, and I would guess we weren't the only ones to do this. The only real difficulty was getting the limo driver that picked us up to understand that we were going back to the Beach Club and not to the Airport (these guys are hardwired to think that everyone is flying in and out). :rotfl: But I am getting ahead of myself.

I have the rest of Sunday written but need to match up some photos, and I plan to start on Monday in Nassau this weekend. I hope I have this report finished before we have to make the final payment on the next cruise. :lmao: DW beat me by finishing her scrapbooks of the trip yesterday. I'm definitely getting the most out of my vacation dollar (with a year and a half of anticipation and planning and four months - so far - writing the trip report) :laughing:

[nezy]

We will be cruising in Sept on the magic-special 5 day, 2days at CC. I'm just hoping I will be finished reading your report before then!:rotfl2: :surfweb:

JK: I am enjoying it all and the thorough detail and tidbits, like being able to sign the kids up for Oceaneers Club in the terminal before 12:30. That is a great thing to know. Also, if you don't mind I am going to put in a request--I have 3 children ages(at the time of the cruise will be) 13(DS), 12(DS) and 10(DD). The 13 year old is not sure about the teen club thing. He definately seems to be a little in between --too old for one club and too young for the teen/club, what did your sons like to do? Please feel free to add this info when you get to that part of the Trip Report;) :goodvibes

Thank You.

[DAggiesRWe]

After getting aboard, we head straight to Parrot Cay to get some lunch (quite a spread they put out for the first day). Just as we were starting on our dessert, we got a visit from Goofy’s nephew, Max (I’m glad I had the camera ready because this was the one and only time we saw him for the entire cruise). By now we are anxious to get up to the pools we had heard so much about, so we find a restroom with sufficient room to change into our suits, and fairly soon the boys have made some new friends and DW and I have a Bahama Mama by the pool.

After some discussion, DW and I have to make a quick trip to Wavebands to see if we can change our dining rotation so we wouldn’t miss Animator’s Pallette (when I set our reservation for Palo on departure night, we were on PTTA but when our tickets came in we were on APPT :confused: ). We told the boys where we were going and that they should stay in the pool area until we got back. In Wavebands, we were informed that we couldn’t change dining rotation, but there were Palo reservations available on the second night of the cruise :woohoo: . The point of this is if you aren’t happy with things, make the trip to wavebands because it is quite possible someone else has moved their reservation to open the slot you need.

On our way back to the pool, we noticed the ropes blocking access to the rooms had been dropped, so we stopped by the room to leave our carry on bag and then went back up to the pool. We found DS11 enjoying the hot tub at the family pool, but DS7 wasn’t around the pools anywhere:scared1: . The pager went off but the screen was blank, so I left DW by the pool and stopped by the room on the way to the Oceaneer’s Club to call customer service and find out why the pager was going off. When I got there, the message light on the phone was flashing and I heard a message from the Oceaneer’s Club telling us that they have DS7 there. I sprint down the stairs but end up in the Lab (the signs are very similar) where they don’t have a clue who I am talking about. Only then do I realize that the Club is hidden behind the elevators. As I get to the Club, I find DS7 happily playing video games and not wanting to leave but they aren’t checking in children until after the lifeboat drill (which is less than an hour away). I found out that having the pager not work happens a few times on each cruise :headache: (there were two others replacing theirs while I was there), but we were provided with a new pager and new wristbands for the boys. After we confirmed that this one worked properly, DS7 and I rushed back up to the pool deck to the great relief of DW (thank the Lord that everything went okay :worship: ), and we stopped by to meet our fellow DIS boarders. It was fun being able to put faces with the screen names, and it gave us some people we would recognize at various times throughout the ship (plus we got our custom designed door magnet). All too soon it was time for us to head to our room to get ready for the lifeboat drill.

The luggage had arrived by this time, so while the boys figured out the television while we got things unpacked and stowed. Then we all got into our life vests (and posed for the requisite photos) and headed to our assembly station. While waiting for the all-clear, we watched the RCCL ship at the next berth going through her lifeboat drill and DW and I wondered if the folks over there were going to have as much fun as we were. After attempting to listen to the tinny noises from the speakers that I could only assume were important announcements (I couldn’t hear anything over the babble of excited children – of all ages), we wandered back to our room where the boys began begging us to let them go to the Oceaneer’s Club/Lab. However, we insisted that they go with us to sail-away and then to dinner, especially since this was our night for Animator’s Pallette.

Not being big on crowds, we staked out our place on Deck 10 to watch the countdown festivities popcorn:: . After the blasting of “When you wish upon a star”, we wandered toward the front of the ship, and found a great vantage point to watch the Captain as we sailed away from the dock. Being the geek that I am, I got a bigger thrill out of watching Captain John ease a 10-story building down a narrow channel and out to the open sea with just a few simple controls.

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/7100/1001103fa1.jpg

Before we knew it, we had to hurry back to the room to change for dinner. We were shown to our table and met our servers, Romy (from India) and Maryana (from Argentina). I was excited because I had read about Romy and his magic tricks from other trip reports on the DIS boards. Romy didn’t disappoint, showing how to magically make 9+0=ten and how to make a glass of water upsidedown with one hand. Our tablemates were a single mom who was with her son (who quickly made friends with DS11) and a single dad who was with his daughter (18, and heading off to college when we finished the cruise). As the food arrived, we started to feel the motion of the ship (nothing serious, but it did cause a little concern about how the kids would handle the motion and the possibility of motion sickness).but by the end of the meal we are starting to get our sea legs. :woohoo:

For our meal, we had the typically delicious fare, DS7 is a bit of a ketchup nut and was impressed that Maryann had made a Mickey out of his ketchup. Throughout the meal, both boys kept bugging us about going back to the OC which somewhat spoiled the effect of the décor (combined with the fact that we were crammed into a table in a back corner and couldn’t see well).. The boys were so anxious to go that when it came time for dessert, they both ordered nothing. DW and I had a huge laugh at the boys when Romy actually delivered this to them.

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/4434/1001120dh7.jpg

With dinner over, we checked the kids into OC/OL and headed out for some mommy/daddy time. We decided to skip the opening night show (I heard later that it was a good show) and just explore the ship. We eventually found ourselves at the Cove Café where we met Gede (from Indonesia) and Christina (from Germany) who quickly became our favorite CMs. DW loves the various coffees, and over the course of the cruise ended up trying just about everything on the menu. Unlike your average coffee shop, Cove Café prides itself on a more “potent and adult” versions (although the “virgin” versions are available as well). I don’t drink coffee, but decided to try some 18-year-old Scotch and found my preferred method of “buzz generation” for this trip. :cloud9:

After two hours laughing and drinking, a couple of CMs came in and invited us down to “Studio Sea” for karaoke night. This was something I really enjoyed on our last cruise, and was looking forward to it this time :rolleyes1 . I didn’t realize it when I volunteered, but this was a family karaoke and I was one of the few adults to get up and sing (and the only guy). I still had fun, even though I didn’t know the third verse and messed up the chorus :rolleyes1 . Of course that is what karaoke is all about :rofl:

By now, it was getting late (for us, ~11:00 is late) so we went and picked up the boys and returned to our room. We found everything changed with the bunk bed and sofa bed all set up for the kids and our first towel animal on our bed.

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/3271/1001121wc6.jpg

We went through the bedtime rituals and soon we were gently rocked to sleep by the motion of the Gulf Stream.

[DAggiesRWe]

Sorry, Double Posted. See #60

[tokyodisneydad]

Just caught up with the reading. I'm sure we crossed each others paths more than a few times. Both at the MK on that wet night and definitely on the ship.
If the new job holds out Kiyomi and I are planning a Honeymoon that we have never had without kids for later this year. Reading your report has made me want to add a water park to the trip. Still not sure which one though.

[DAggiesRWe]

Just caught up with the reading. I'm sure we crossed each others paths more than a few times. Both at the MK on that wet night and definitely on the ship.
If the new job holds out Kiyomi and I are planning a Honeymoon that we have never had without kids for later this year. Reading your report has made me want to add a water park to the trip. Still not sure which one though.

Well a lot depends on if you are looking more for adventure or for relaxation. I may be partial, but I believe that giving her a foot massage while floating along on the lazy river is a great way to spend a honeymoon. :lovestruc :love: :hug:

[Tink rules]

If you want romance... go for Typhoon Lagoon... Blizzard Beach is almost all open and the theming is a bit dare I say it... "colder"... sorry I had to!!!

But I agree with the lazy river part... don't they have double floats?

[smeecanada]

Great read so far, Steve. We're were on the same cruise. DH and I met you both in the adult pool.

We booked again while on the cruise and have managed to transfer our ressie to the EB Repo in August - 15 days with DCL - can't wait.

Wally - if you manage to have your honeymoon - definitely go to Typhoon Lagoon. The lazy river is perfect for a little bit of romance. What's not to like - floating on a tube with your sweetheart under palm trees and not a care in the world. Ahh the memories.

[DAggiesRWe]

I can’t say for sure what it was that woke me up so early on Monday morning. But after checking my watch and seeing it was 6:00, I peeked through the dividing curtains to see if we were docked yet. The sky was just starting to turn light and DW and the boys are still snoring, so I grab the Navigator and a bottle of water and went out on the verandah to watch the sunrise and see if I could spot Nassau yet. Looking forward, I can just begin seeing lights appear on the horizon. So I settle in and start looking at our options for the day. Soon after, DW joins me and we notice a boat doing circles off the starboard bow (when you cruise, you have to learn these nautical terms). As we proceed closer to this boat, I watch in fascination as he pulls alongside and parallels our course, then even more impressive was seeing them pull their little boat alongside this floating building. Even more impressive was the guy who stepped off of the boat and onto a rope ladder into the ship.:scared1:

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/5867/1001124fc7.jpg

I go shower and get dressed and get back out to the verandah and now we can clearly see land as are pulling into Nassau harbor. Soon after, the ship does its pirouette and backs into our berth next to a Carnival ship. We take a moment to enjoy the view of Atlantis in the distance and all the boats going back and forth in the harbor. Then we head up to the Big Beach Blanket Bingo Bongo Breakfast Buffet (something like that) and enjoy our Mickey waffles with a beautiful view of the Nassau skyline (at least the part that isn't blocked by the Carnival Valor).

After breakfast, we drop back by the room, and the boys get involved in TMNT on one of the movie stations:happytv: . They have TMNT, Arthur and the Incredibles, Spiderman 3, and strangely Shrek 3 playing on constant loops on the in-room TV, but if you want to see the Disney movies (like Ratatouille, PotC At World’s End, or Underdog) you have to go to the Buena Vista theater or up to the main pool or deck 10 for the big screen if you want to see HSM2. Go figure.:confused3

While the boys are doing that, DW and I head to the verandah to discuss our plans for the day, and we (okay I) end up spending the next half hour leaning over the rail of the verandah watching the lifeboat drills going on directly below us (yes, I am a geek :3dglasses , and I love these behind-the-scenes things).

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/3463/1001133mu0.jpg

Finally DW :mad: tells me she is taking the boys and going to Nassau with or without me so I pack up the camera and we head out.

We take the elevator to deck 1 then go back up the steps to deck 2 because they are departing from the bow exit and the hallway doesn't connect. Soon we have stepped off the ship and as we walk along the dock and look up we realize how big this ship is. :eek: We stop at the end of the dock to help folks take family photos in front of the “Welcome to the Bahamas” sign (it didn’t dawn on me until afterwards that none of the 6 families we helped offered to return the favor and let us get a family picture :snooty: ). We get to the marketplace and DW says she wants some water, only then did I realize that I didn’t have my wallet or any cash on me :headache: , so I get to walk back to the ship to get them (I debated on titling this trip report “Forget Me Not” because of everything I forgot at one time or another).

So after I get back, I stop at an ATM in the terminal to get some extra cash in case we find something we want to buy here in Nassau. Then I find DW talking with the guy selling water (he doesn’t charge me to stick my hands into the ice to cool off after my speed walk), and he has to run off to get change when I give him the $20 for water. I have read a couple of reports from people who said that these stores will rip you off by saying they have to get change, but I have to wonder if it wasn’t just people not being patient because it took our guy about 5-7 minutes to find change for our $20 but he did come back. He even posed for some pictures with DW.

http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/6065/1001144ed9.jpg

We finally step out of the marketplace, issue a steady string of “no thank you’s” to the myriad cab drivers and carriage rides and make our way over to the Pirate Museum. DW spotted a Starbucks along Woodes Rogers Street, but she says it is too hot for coffee (I didn’t remind her about the iced frappachino until we are back on the ship :lmao: ). We get to the Pirate Museum and find a guy who is perfect for his job.

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/4016/1001148nf1.jpg

If you have never been, the Pirate Museum is worth a visit. It gives the real story of the Pirates of the Caribbean, and not the glamorized version from the movies. These guys worked hard, played harder and generally lived very short lives. After touring the museum (they have very good air conditioning), the gift shop is a good place to pick up a few last-minute items for your pirate costumes pirate: .

As we were walking back to the ship, we marveled at the different driving techniques that are employed in Nassau (you thought talking on a cell phone while driving was bad, these guys are leaning out of open doors on a moving car to talk to a girl on the sidewalk :scared1: ). We stopped in at a jewelry store where we bought DW an “updated” wedding ring when we were there in 2005. On that trip, the girl who helped us select the ring sang us a song and really treated us special so we were going to look her up, but it was all different people at the store so we didn’t bother spending much time there. We then stopped by the straw market to pick up some gifts for friends (can’t go to the Bahamas and not get some trinkets to make the folks back home jealous :rotfl: ).

The boys are getting hungry by now so we head back to the ship. There is a long line of folks for the Carnival ship, but thankfully there is no line waiting for us :woohoo: . I also noticed that there was a nice covered hand-cleaning station set up for the Disney folks, but Carnival had nothing similar for their passengers. This small step is one of the main reasons that DCL hasn’t had a reportable outbreak of gastrointestinal illness in the last five years :sick: .

We go back to our room to put our purchases away and look out the window. Hey! Who parked that big boat next to us and ruined our view? :mad:

[pamouselover]

subbing!:goodvibes

[Sleeping*Beauty]

Can't wait to hear more!!

[DAggiesRWe]

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/7358/dawnru4.jpg

The ship “Norwegian Dawn” is parked next to us with a life sized portrait of the Statue of Liberty painted on the side.:mad: Rather than spending too much time pondering the loss of our vista since hunger was growing. DS7 was waffling over whether he wanted to go to the Oceaneer’s Club or get lunch first. The stomach won the battle, and all four of us made our way to Billy Bob’s Baby Back Boogie for lunch. They have some really good ribs on the buffet, but shortly after we get there, we are informed that if we want seconds we need to get them now because they are breaking down from lunch, and dinner setup won’t be for another couple of hours. So we grabbed an extra plateful and ate our fill and then some.

While munching on our lunch, I have the weird sensation that our ship is moving (I didn’t think we were leaving until 2:00 A.M., plus moving that way we will crash into the dock), but I quickly realize it is the Carnival Valor just outside the window setting sail (poor schlubs only got 6 hours in Nassau, I guess Carnival wants to give their passengers more time in their casinos and bars) :rotfl2: . Their departure opened up a nice view of Nassau for us, so it was nice to see them go (now if we could just get rid of the Norwegian Dawn).

After lunch, DS11 wanted to check out the game room. We got him a game card and left him to play (with instructions to go check into the Lab when he is done. DS7 says he wants to go to the pool next but after a few minutes he announces that he is ready for the Oceaneer’s Club. We go check him in and head straight to our friends at Cove Café. DW gets some coffee drink and while Christina is making that, I tell Gede I want something with rum and he can just surprise me. He runs out to the pool bar and comes back with a delicious 5 layer drink that he just made up. He couldn't remember what was in it or how to charge for it, so he just called it Gede's drink of the day special and charged $4 :yay: . DW and I head to the adult pool for a soak and meet some DIS Boarders there. After a nice relaxing soak, and some good conversation, it is time for us to head to the spa for our couples massage (sorry, no pictures :rotfl: )

DW has never experienced a massage before, but I have a couple of times (I know, usually it is the wife talking the husband into getting a massage). I discover my masseuse will be Dacy, and am a little leery of her based on what I read in Sleepydog’s report :scared1: (she must have gotten her fill of her children because she was back and ornery as ever) and am only more apprehensive when she discusses deep tissue massage. DW has Shibo and will be getting Swedish (so I know at least she will enjoy it). The massage starts fine, but then Dacy tries to see if she can touch my femur by pushing her elbow through my hamstring and then repeating the process with the other leg. Not satisfied that I won’t be able to walk for the rest of the cruise, Dacy then pulls my arms back and tries to make my elbows touch (something I haven’t been able to do since I was 10) so now I won’t be able to lift my drink either. After flipping over, I think the torture is complete as the legs, arms and chest go fairly painlessly but Dacy has one more trick in her store as she drills her fingernail into my forehead for a full minute. Then I feel my hand being placed in my wife’s hand and we are told to lie quietly for a bit, get up slowly, dress and they will come back when we open the door. There is a description of the products they used and an offer to sell them, but no pressure when we say no thanks. We sign the ticket and ooze our softened muscles back to the room.

While walking back, we debate on seeing if the oils they rubbed into us are still slippery ;) , but discover DS11 is in the room watching Spiderman 3 :headache: (and I regretted the decision to allow him to self-check at the Lab). DW and I do a rock-paper-scissors for the shower. She wins and I head to the verandah with a bottle of water and examine the port side of the Norwegian Dawn (big tip: if you get any massage, but especially after a deep tissue massage, drink LOTS of water. All the toxins –like alcohol - that your body has been hiding in the muscle and fat tissue is pushed back into your bloodstream and if you are dehydrated you can get sick.). I listen to what sounds like a limbo contest over on the next ship when DW comes out and calls my turn. I let the hot water restore some feeling to my hamstrings, and when I get out I discover that DS has left for to the Lab :woohoo: . However there isn’t time for more than some playful grab and pinch before we have to get dressed for our dinner at Palo.

Since I don’t have my tuxedo with me, I put on a dress shirt and one of the Disney ties I brought along (this one with the Pooh gang on it). When we got to Palo, I learned that not having the tux was probably a good thing because during the entire 4-night cruise we never saw anyone who was fully formal so we fit in better (see, God knew what he was doing). Most of the people were in dress shirts and ties, and a few were wearing golf shirts and khakis.

We check in on DS7 at the Club, and they tell us he is having a great time. We remind him that we are going to a special mommy-daddy dinner and he is going to eat with the kids in the Club. Then we head up to Palo where we meet Coskun from Turkey who will be our server for the evening. We tell him we are celebrating our 20th anniversary (it was really in February, but the anniversary was one of the reasons for the cruise). He says he will make it special for us.

I have determined before this trip that I am going to try new things and take suggestions (particularly at this meal), so when Coskun asks what we would like to drink, and I ask him for a white wine recommendation and he suggests a reasonably priced wine that he thinks is better than some of the more expensive bottles (BTW, it was really good) :cloud9: . For appetizer, I go with his recommendation again and decide to try the calamari. I have never had fried squid before, but this is the chance for new things. It was okay, but not really my cup of tea. Coskun is more than happy to bring me a shrimp appetizer like DW was enjoying. :goodvibes

As my appetizer arrived, the pager goes off :headache: telling us DS7 wants us to pick him up from the Oceaneer’s Club. So I rush down and mention to the desk person at the Club that we are in the middle of dinner at Palo and she apologizes and makes a note so that we won’t be bothered again. Even more frustrating is that I discover that DS is now happily playing and doesn’t want to leave anyway. So I trot back up to Palo and Coskun also apologizes and says to relax and enjoy the rest of the meal (the nice part is he took the appetizer back to the kitchen to keep it warm and he slowed our entrees so that we didn’t feel rushed).

For the main entrée, DW goes for the lobster ravioli, and I once again follow Coskun’s recommendation and choose the monkfish :lovestruc . The lobster ravioli is delicious as expected and the monkfish tastes just like lobster but is light and flaky like a good tuna steak. I highly recommend that if you like lobster, you should give the monkfish a try.

In the middle of the entree, the pager goes off again and I ponder throwing it out the window, but it is DS11 letting us know he is checking out of the lab and going back to the room to watch a movie. (Thousands of dollars for this trip, and he spends it doing the same thing he does at home :happytv: ). Oh well, at least I don't have to leave again.

The wine and the entrée are finished together and we order our desserts. After a few minutes, Coskun brought us each one of the wonderful chocolate soufflés AND a tiramisu as well (which was the best we have ever had). All in all it was very special for us.

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/7139/1001179dg1.jpg

After this wonderful dinner, it was time to go get the boys and head to see Hercules – the “Muse”ical. There have been many reviews of this show, and I have heard a rumor that they are possibly going to replace it in the near future. I hope not, because this was one of the more entertaining shows we saw. Hades definitely keeps the humor turned to a high level without ever having to resort to “adult” jokes.

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/2274/1001189aq1.jpg

After the show, we got the boys ready for bed and convinced them to get some sleep because the next day was Castaway Cay. After tucking in the boys, DW and I head up to Cove Café for our nightcap with Gede and Christina. DW selects something new from the menu and I get my scotch (Gede had a bottle sent up to make sure he had it in stock for me). We meet up with a couple who are travel agents from Bermuda, which led to an interesting discussion over how difficult it must be to live in paradise and convince people to travel elsewhere. After finishing our drinks, we headed back to the room to settle in for a quick summer nap. When we get there, I’m not sleepy and we are still sitting in port so I head to the verandah and listen to the activities over on the dawn where it sounds like they are having a cross-dressing beauty contest :confused3 (at least they were playing some good music), and I am glad that I am on the Disney ship :cool1: .

[manntra]

Steve, I spent quite some time on the verandah that night in Nassau just watching the people on the Norweigan also! I was just amazed at the monstrosity of that ship and watching as people wandered all about. And then of course I was just oh so happy to be right where I was on the Wonder! :lovestruc

[DAggiesRWe]

Just came across this today :sad2: :

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080108/BREAKINGNEWS/80108015

Longer story:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/custom/tourism/orl-toystory0808jan08,0,5669824.story?page=2&coll=orl_tab01_layout

I wish they would have replaced "Golden Mickeys" instead. That show...well, I will tell you about it when I get to that part of the trip report.

Oh well, glad we got to see Hercules at least once before they shut it down, and now we have something new to look forward to when we go next December. :yay:

[pamouselover]

Greta Pics!
I am glad, I am not to big fan of Hercules!
But I love Toy Story!

[fairfax]

I just found this TR through the link you posted on the pillowcase thread. Great report and pictures! I have really enjoyed reading this, great writing!

[silmarg]

D'Aggies, Loving the TR. Was on the wonder with you as well. We did the day room at Comfort Suites to use the Atlantis facilities... it was a blast!

Did not get to do as many adult things as you (my DDs were much younger and my little one who was deathly afraid of Capt Hook was afraid to go to the lab incase he showed up)

Great read so far, Steve. We're were on the same cruise. DH and I met you both in the adult pool.

We booked again while on the cruise and have managed to transfer our ressie to the EB Repo in August - 15 days with DCL - can't wait.

Wally - if you manage to have your honeymoon - definitely go to Typhoon Lagoon. The lazy river is perfect for a little bit of romance. What's not to like - floating on a tube with your sweetheart under palm trees and not a care in the world. Ahh the memories.

Smee, we will be on the EB repo as well. I CANT WAIT!!!

We booked the EB on the 1st day it went on sale (1/31/2007). I wonder how your price (after discount) compares to the 1st day price? We are in a Cat 6, 2 adults and 2 kids - 6&8 and I think we are paying around $9600 (no air, no ins, no transfers).

[DAggiesRWe]

Sometime while we slept we must have slipped out of Nassau. I wake up once again right at sunrise so I head to the verandah and grab the camera because the prettiest sunrise is being given to us few early risers.

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/4461/1001191ra0.jpg

I also noticed that we seemed to be nearly at a standstill when suddenly the thrusters fire up as the ship starts it pirouette maneuver, and I call in to wake up DW and the boys because this must mean that we are coming into Castaway Cay. :banana: :yay: :woohoo: :cheer2: As the ship spins, we get this cool view of where we will be spending our day.

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/6427/1001193of6.jpg

Once the ship was docked, I trot up BBB and grab some cereal and milk for everyone's breakfast while DW starts gathering the things we will need for the day at the beach (note for next trip, use room service, duh :confused3 ). As we are eating breakfast, DS11 asks if we can put the water bottles in the cooler and bring it with us :confused3 . Uhhh, what cooler? The big blue one we left in the van? No, the one the lady brought us yesterday with the stuff in it. :confused3 :confused3

Apparently the previous day while we were at Palo, DS11 had checked himself out of the lab and was back in the room watching Spiderman when Christina brought by a surprise gift for DW and I. We later found out she was as surprised by DS as he was of her. She placed the gift on the desk with instructions to DS11 to make sure we got it (not realizing that when cathode rays are in his eyes, he doesn't remember anything :happytv: ). After the show, while DW and I were at Cove Cafe, DS7 and DS11 started going through the gift and had hidden everything in their little hidey hole under the desk :headache: .

Once they dug out everything, we found the card telling us we had been selected as a "Magical Moments Family" by the beverage staff (Gede and Christina). The gift included a soft-sided cooler, a bottle of Korbel Brut, several sodas and bottled water, cards for free drinks at cove cafe, Disney lanyards for our water bottles and several lighted drink decorations. It was still a surprise even though the presentation wasn't as originally intended :rotfl2: .

Just as we are finishing going through our gift, we hear the announcement that we are now allowed to go ashore at Castaway Cay. So we grab our things and hit the stairs to deck 1 and are among the first ones off the ship. As soon as we step off, we spot Christina selling bottled water and lanyards. We thank her for the gift and share a laugh over how it ended up being presented to us (DS11 had to endure a good German glare for not telling us about the gift) :lmao: . Christina gives us each a bottle of water, and flatly refuses to accept payment.

We continue along the walkway and pose for the photo at the stern of the ship. After crossing the bridge, we spot a CM setting up a camera for pictures with the Flying Dutchman. He tells us to wait because Captain Jack is due to arrive at any minute. I wish I had my digital camera at this point because a couple of minutes later a golf cart comes flying around a sand dune with Jack Sparrow hanging on for dear life. This guy was in character from the moment he came into view, and if I didn't know better would say it was Johnny Depp because he had all the mannerisms and even his speech to a "T".

http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/130/captainjacktd8.jpg

We had purchased the "Extreme Getaway Package ", so we headed to the shack to get our snorkel gear and find a nice shady place for home base under the trees and umbrellas. As you can see, we were close to the first ones on the beach and for a few minutes at least it seemed like we would have the place to ourselves :lmao: .

http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/1961/2925aqi4.jpg

As we settle our things, DW and I apply sunscreen to each other (she did the boys back in the room). Here is another really good tip: Don't attempt to apply spray-on sunscreen outdoors on a windy day :rotfl: . DW and I ended up with white tiger stripes between red sunburn on our backs. (I guess some of the sunscreen helped because neither one of us ended up peeling, but we had stripes for the next month :lmao: ). Once the sun protection is on, we head down to the snorkel area.

Next time I am bringing my own mask and snorkel because their mask leaks and the snorkel is too short (I feel like my mouth is stretching toward my ear). In spite of the minor irritations, it is very relaxing to glide over the artificial reefs looking for different fish. I spent an hour swimming to all of the bouys trying to find the Mickey statue, but never did spot him. DS7 finally figured out how to breath and relax enough to enjoy himself. DW shot this picture of the two of us waterbugs looking for fish.

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/6249/fathersonga5.jpg

Okay, we snorkeled, so now it is time for the next item on the list and we walk down the path and pick up our tubes. There are four of us, so we get four tubes. We get down to the water's edge, and DS7 starts hunting seashells (while his tube is blowing across the bay :rotfl2: ) so I swim out and rescue it and return to the beach where DS7 shows me the tiny crab that he found. So I carry three tubes back to home base and settle under the tree for a well deserved rest from that walk. Before I know it I have dozed off. :cloud9:

[DAggiesRWe]

I am gently awakened by my wife whispering “don’t move” in my ear as DS7 places the previously mentioned crab on my arm :eek: . I watch the little guy skitter around for a few minutes and then tell my son that he can’t bring it home with us and he should take it back to the ocean. Now that I have caught my breath DW, DS11 and I grab our tubes to go floating in the lagoon. DS11, reprising his role from the lazy river as motor for our mini-flotilla, pushes us around the lagoon and keeps us from being blown too far out. We spot one of the photographers from Shutters and pose for a shot (unfortunately, DS7 was too far away to get into the shot but we discovered later that they got a couple of good ones of him.

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/4757/cc4sf0.jpg

By now it is lunch time and we are getting hungry popcorn::. We head to Cookies BBQ and find long lines at most of the stations, but by continuing all the way around to the right we find an entire serving line with nobody there. As we step up with our trays, we find none other than Romy behind the counter. He tells us that this is the secret line, and piles our plates high with ribs, chicken and sweet corn :woohoo: . We make our way to an available table, then I head back with DS’s to get drinks. Minor gripe here because they ran out of ice in the middle of the lunch rush and nobody seemed to know what to do about it (I guess the guy with the recipe missed this trip :lmao: ). So we had tepid tea, lemonade and soda with our lunch and just made the best of it (wife told me to stop grumbling and get over it) :worship: .

After we are all well fed, DS7 and DS11 return to their seashell hunt while DW and I take another tour of the snorkeling area (still can’t find that Mickey statue). As we are swimming, we hear Ian calling the crab races with all the excitement of the Kentucky Derby (something else to look into next trip). By now, it is time to get everyone together for the long walk to Castaway Rays for the Stingray portion of our Extreme Getaway Package (maybe this will be the “extreme” part). DS7 is waiting at home base showing his seashell collection to our neighbor. :laughing: We start looking around for DS11 and see him walking down from where the crab races were being held. He says he got there just in time to watch the last race.

We hurry down the long walkway (it is a lot farther than it looked on the map to get to Castaway Rays), but we arrive just in time to catch the end of the briefing. On the way down to the water, the instructor says we were there for the important parts, and we also discuss some of the info about the program. The money paid for the Stingray encounter on Castaway Cay goes to the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund, and the care and feeding of the rays is actually paid for by DCL (as part of the upkeep budget of Castaway Cay). The rays are mostly rescues who have been nursed back to health in the enclosed Stingray area. There is an underwater fence around the area that keeps away the predators, which is why there is no danger to the ray in removing the barb.

Cameras at the ready, we wade to our assigned “racetrack” and are greeted by the velvety smoothness of these gentle creatures swimming around our ankles. As soon as the Mickey plate goes into the water, the rays know the procedure and are soon taking food from everyone’s hands in turn (everyone gets three times to the plate).

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/1130/0300alx3.jpg

Before we know it, the food is gone and the leader turns us loose to snorkel around watching the rays. I pick one ray and simply float along watching her snapping photos with our water cameras. She soon settles on the bottom (all but two of the rays are female), and I watch in fascination as she goes through her camouflage routine. I call DW and the boys over, and with a wave of my foot she moves about 10 feet and goes through the process for them to see (and I get some more pictures). I watch for a few more minutes as DW and the boys grow bored and head to shore, and in just a few more minutes it is time for us to leave. On the way out, we grab our Wildlife Conservation Fund buttons as we turn in our gear.

There is just enough time left for a quick bike ride (the final item in the Extreme Getaway Package), but DW says she is going to pass. DS7 is still struggling with riding a bike but they have bikes in his size with training wheels :thumbsup2 so he and I stay together while DS11 rides ahead along the trail. We make it down the abandoned runway, past the adult beach (another thing we need to look into next time), and along the bike trail. We stop at the water station for a very refreshing, and very cold:lovestruc , drink of water from the cooler. As we are remounting our bikes, DS11 is heading back along the trail and reports that he didn’t make it to the observation tower, but someone was walking back and said that they were closed anyway. A check of my watch and I see we need to start back (as nice as the island is, I don’t think we want to be stuck there until the Wonder returns in four days). We ride back and return our bikes to the rack.

Thinking back on the four things included with the package, I think they should reconsider the name. They call it the “Extreme Getaway” package, but snorkeling, bicycles, stingrays and tubes were hardly what I would consider “extreme” activities :lmao: . Especially when we watched people riding the banana boats, parasailing and other activities that would tend to fit the name much better:eek: . In any case DW and I agreed that the package filled the day, but we would probably not do it again in the future. There are just too many other things we missed this time around.

As we are walking along the path to meet DW at home base, we see that most of the shops are closing up for the day and the CMs are starting to lower the umbrellas and stack the chairs. Looking across the bay, I see a bunch of tubes that have blown to the other side. To me they look like a bunch of giant beached jellyfish. We get back to home base and find that DW :love: has returned the snorkel gear and tubes (and DS7’s seashell collection);) and has all our things packed up. We make a stop at the souvenir stand (which is one of the few places still open) and pick up a couple of pins and Castaway Cay beach towels). As we walk back to the ship, the CMs are putting the waverunners back onto their trailers, the parasailing and banana tow boats do a drive-by sounding their horns and waving to folks on the ship, and generally making it clear to everyone that the island is going back to sleep for a few days. We take advantage of the showers at the dock to wash off as much sand as possible and we are among the last few stragglers to get back on the ship. :guilty:

We take the elevator to our room (too exhausted to walk up 6 floors) . A little redness around the eyes and nose is the only evidence of the sun exposure the boys received. Unfortunately DW and I cannot say the same :headache: as we examine the interesting sunburn patterns across our backs :rotfl2: . I look out the window and see that we are moving, so we all head to the verandah and watch as the ship sails past the breakwater back into the open ocean and we bid a “farewell until next time” to Castaway Cay. We go back inside and take our turns in the shower to wash off the salt and sand (and to cool down the sunburn). The boys watch Arthur and the Incredibles while DW and I take turns rubbing aloe lotion into each others backs and shoulders. As tired as we are, we can’t just skip dinner tonight because it is time for “Pirates IN the Caribbean” pirate: pirate: pirate: pirate: .

[Dopey'sMAMA]

I'm enjoying your TR it is reminding me of the trip:thumbsup2 We are also on the Aug. repo. so we will meet again!

[manntra]

Hi there Tracie! It's Tracy from the cruise! We met at the pool....I was on the cruise with my niece! Hope all is well and you are having a good winter! :)

[momtotanmanandraerae]

I just found your trip report! I am reading while dh is watching football. We are from Richmond too! We are going on our first ever DCL cruise in November. We have driven to WDW twice in the past year. In November, we will fly though. The drive is just a little too much for me!!

I am on page 4 and have to end for tonight but wanted to make sure I come back! I have enjoyed reading!

[dwonder6522]

Tracy I found you on Disboards LOL!!!!! You must be very excited for Disney world Animal Lodge, I am very thrilled about 2nd Disney Cruise Magic This time 7 days Mexican Riviera

[pamouselover]

Great picture! Did you think the stingray was worth it? I am wondering if my DS ans DD would like it.

[Tink rules]

Great TR!!!

Just a hint... and I know it costs a bit more... but Clinique has an incredible sun spray - it doesn't come out in a spray line... and I have NEVER burned with it. Tell DW also that it is incredible for using on her face and I never break out or anything from using it... it's @ $15 a bottle but it really does go pretty far.

They sell it in SPF 15 and 30

http://www.clinique.com/templates/products/sp_nonshaded.tmpl?CATEGORY_ID=CATEGORY4923&PRODUCT_ID=PROD588

[TyTysMommy]

I'm enjoying the TR. Please post more!

[DAggiesRWe]

Great picture! Did you think the stingray was worth it? I am wondering if my DS ans DD would like it.

I thought it was well worth it for three reasons:

1. Part of the fee you pay for the excursion supports the Disney Wildlife Fund. Which is used to support wildlife conservation projects around the world. :thumbsup2 Here's more info:

http://disney.go.com/disneyhand/environmentality/dwcf/index.html

2. It is a chance to get "up close and personal" with these totally foreign creatures, and to see them more-or-less in their environment (as opposed to a zoo or aquarium). When we first walked out the track, they were swimming around everyone's ankles like a pack of excited puppy dogs. They are very soft to the touch. After the feeding, take the opportunity to snorkel and watch how gracefully they move through the water. I could have watched them all day. :cloud9:

3. It is a great opportunity for your kids, and is about as safe as they can make it. The rays have their barb removed (their area is completely fenced off from predators, so they have no need for it), so the chance of being stung goes from minimal to non-existent. This will be an experience they will never forget. Plus if they pay attention at all, they will learn something about sea life and may just spark an interest to learn more.:laughing:

In case you couldn't guess, I highly recommend this excursion. However, I would think twice about the full "Extreme Getaway Package".

Great TR!!!

Just a hint... and I know it costs a bit more... but Clinique has an incredible sun spray - it doesn't come out in a spray line... and I have NEVER burned with it. Tell DW also that it is incredible for using on her face and I never break out or anything from using it... it's @ $15 a bottle but it really does go pretty far.

They sell it in SPF 15 and 30

http://www.clinique.com/templates/pr...T _ID=PROD588

Thanks for the tip. We will look into that next time (although I don't know how much sun we will be getting in December). The other thing we will do is make sure we put at least one coat on before leaving the room in the morning. :rotfl:

I'm enjoying the TR. Please post more!

Glad you are enjoying. I am working on the Pirate Night report. To whet the appetite, here are a few "teaser" topics:

A sleepy pirate reaches the end of his rope.
Can we do this again?
Big Bad John
Oceaneer's Graduation
Thank you, thank you, thank you
Is there such a thing as too much Disney?
Champagne, moonlight and sleeping kids.
Happy Birthday to me
Bonus day at WDW

And of course, what TR would be complete without the list of tips and hints.

[tokyodisneydad]

Glad to see you have caught up with my TR--Now we are on the same day. The end is getting close and I feel like I have left so much out.:scared1:

[kaysmommie]

I love your trip report! The cruise sounds wonderful. You have me looking at itineraries and prices for fall of 2008. Do you happen to have any pics of your stateroom set up for sleeping. I don't know if my DD would sleep on a bunk since she moves around alot in her sleep. I know the pull out only sleeps one person :confused3 . So not sure which Stateroom category would work. Waiting for the rest popcorn::

[DAggiesRWe]

I love your trip report! The cruise sounds wonderful. You have me looking at itineraries and prices for fall of 2008. Do you happen to have any pics of your stateroom set up for sleeping. I don't know if my DD would sleep on a bunk since she moves around alot in her sleep. I know the pull out only sleeps one person :confused3 . So not sure which Stateroom category would work. Waiting for the rest popcorn::


Darn. I was just looking through my pictures and realized that we never did get a photo with the beds made up. Heck, most of the photos of the room are incidental to pictures of other things, and we never got a good picture of the length of the room showing the door, etc.

Oh well, something else to get a picture of on our next trip. :rotfl:

The top bunk has rails so the only really open area is at the ladder (which is on the end away from the divider curtain. DS7 also moves a lot in his sleep and he did fine in the top bunk.

The sofa also converts to a bed (both of them are twin-sized) which gives another option closer to the floor.

[DAggiesRWe]

Before I go further, I would like to express here the same suggestion I made on the comment card and in an email to the DCL. I wish for the 4-night cruise that they would make Day 3 at sea (and then have the PItC party that night) and then have Castaway Cay on Day 4. People are so exhausted and sunburned from the day at CC :headache::sick: that they end up missing one of the highlight events of the cruise :sad2: . From reading Wally's TR, I think he would agree that this would have been a better schedule. Anyway, back to the report...

So, after we finished rubbing the cooling aloe onto each other :goodvibes , it was time to get into our pirate costumes for dinner. Tonight is Parrot Cay. We missed the regular night at PC (something for next trip), and are looking forward to seeing how done-up things will be for the dinner. On the way, we stop and pose for a family portrait. Thank goodness Shutters is there because I forgot to bring the camera.

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/9262/pnfamilyki3.jpg

DW grabs a couple of the bandanas and a menu and shoves them into her bag for her scrapbook. We don’t need the bandanas, since we are already in costume, but our tablemates do agree to wear them so they don’t feel too out of place. DW and I are still full from lunch, but we do manage to top off the tanks with our dinner and then get pushed over the top with the “Lost Banana Treasure” desert and even got in my Captain Jack Sparrow impersonation asking the server “But why are you burning the rum?” :rotfl2: . A rock/salsa version of "A Pirate's Life for Me" starts coming from the loudspeakers and Mariana comes by and grabs the boys to dance. Romy grabs me from behind and I am soon in line dancing along with the rest of the pirates while DW and the rest of our tablemates laugh along :rotfl: .

After dinner, we trudge back to the room to get the camera and then make our way down to the Walt Disney Theater for the Golden Mickeys show. Tonight we got there early to get our seats in the middle right in front of the sound and lighting desk. These seats make for a good view of the show, but if you are there early enough you should sit on the aisle near the walkway halfway down in the theater (you might get to participate in part of the show). The show itself was good and had some really great moments, but overall there really wasn’t enough of a storyline to hold it together. DW and I aren’t big fans of award shows in general so add this to our being exhausted from the day in the sun, and you can see why we voted this our least favorite show. We did enjoy the Cruella DeVille number though:

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/2232/1001204io8.jpg

Warning…less than “Disney” moment coming.

DS7 and I are butting heads from the minute we leave the theater (we are both exhausted, and probably should be in bed at this point). As tired as we are, I am determined that we are going to make it to the Pirates IN the Caribbean party. So we get up to Deck 9 and DS7 starts begging me for one of the light-up toys and I tell him no (not because I’m trying to be cheap, but because I am cranky and don’t want to deal with the crowd at the light stand). Well, he keeps begging and I keep saying no and eventually the situation turns ugly (with him in tears, DS11 actively avoiding me, DW giving me a look that says “you are going to walk the plank, even if I have to make one” :scared: ). Reality hits me in the face :guilty: (like a 2x4) and I take DS7 out of the traffic path and he and I have a well-deserved cry as I explain that I am not mad at him and am sorry that I yelled at him, and wouldn’t he rather get an arcade card tomorrow (and faster than the electrons in the machines, I go from being the world’s worst dad to the best). I have a bit more sympathy for those parents I have seen at WDW yelling at their kids(and swore that I would never let this happen again).

We return to our spots by the Deck 10 rail, and by now the music is starting to crank up for the party. DW looks down, and DS7 is getting the nods and can barely keep his eyes open, so she tells me she is going to take him to the room and that DS11 and I should let her know how the party went. Unfortunately, the batteries in the camera chose that time to die :mad: so I don’t have any pictures, but DS11 and I got into the singing and dancing, the booing of Captain Hook and the other pirates attempting to take over the ship, and cheering when Captain Mickey came swinging in for the rescue. We oooed and ahhed at the fireworks pixiedust: , and both of us agreed to head back to the room right after they were done.

We got back, DW said that DS7 was snoring as soon as his head hit the pillow and she watched the fireworks from the balcony. We decided to forego our trip to Cove Café (Gede and Christina would have to hold down the fort without us), and within minutes we had both joined our boys in dreamland.

[tokyodisneydad]

I agree that the schedule you suggested would work better. I'm happy to say that no when we go though we get two days at CC. Burned like a potato or not it was still the best part of the trip for us. I know what you mean about being burned and a bit grumpy.:headache:

[Ciciwoowoo]

I am really enjoying your trip report! Thank you for all the tips you are offering. I'm in the process of planning my first cruise right now and I'm trying to do all the research ahead of time! :goodvibes

[Dopey'sMAMA]

Hi there Tracie! It's Tracy from the cruise! We met at the pool....I was on the cruise with my niece! Hope all is well and you are having a good winter! :)

Hi Tracy! Isn't this a great TR! We are staying at the AKV this April, I'm so excited:cool1: I'm ready for Spring, we haven't really had snow, just Freezing temp:confused3

[Our2Girls&Disney]

I read you trip report from start to finish. I am soo excited. We booked the 4 day DCL trip for April of 2009 through Small World Vacations (because of Mary's recommendation). I actually know nothing about DCL. I feel lost. First thing first, I need to order that DVD. Second, How do I find about excursions? Third, I need to think about those door magnets. Anyway, great report.

[kaysmommie]

Darn. I was just looking through my pictures and realized that we never did get a photo with the beds made up. Heck, most of the photos of the room are incidental to pictures of other things, and we never got a good picture of the length of the room showing the door, etc.

Oh well, something else to get a picture of on our next trip. :rotfl:

The top bunk has rails so the only really open area is at the ladder (which is on the end away from the divider curtain. DS7 also moves a lot in his sleep and he did fine in the top bunk.

The sofa also converts to a bed (both of them are twin-sized) which gives another option closer to the floor.

Thanks anyway though. I have never seen a picture of how high the bunk is. The soaf bed will work but DS3 will proably sleep there and DD would be stuck with the bunk. She would proabaly end up sleeping in between :headache: DH and I if the bunk is too high.

Great update, love the pirate night outfits.

[DAggiesRWe]

Thanks anyway though. I have never seen a picture of how high the bunk is. The soaf bed will work but DS3 will proably sleep there and DD would be stuck with the bunk. She would proabaly end up sleeping in between :headache: DH and I if the bunk is too high.

Great update, love the pirate night outfits.

The bunk isn't too high really. It comes down from the ceiling about 3 feet or so with the area in the ceiling where the bed fits into open (DS7 was able to sit up without hitting his head). This puts the matress about 4 to 4.5 feet above the floor which is actually about a foot lower than the standard top bunk.

Heck, as exhausted as she will probably be from all the activities you probably don't have anything to worry about because she will be sleeping very soundly.

[nezy]

Thanks anyway though. I have never seen a picture of how high the bunk is. The soaf bed will work but DS3 will proably sleep there and DD would be stuck with the bunk. She would proabaly end up sleeping in between :headache: DH and I if the bunk is too high.

Great update, love the pirate night outfits.


There is a link from another trip report-this person had some pics from the cabin w/bunks. I'll try to link--but I am challenged in this area.

http://picasaweb.google.com/thebrownfamily.us/DisneyCruiseTheStateroom

[kaysmommie]

There is a link from another trip report-this person had some pics from the cabin w/bunks. I'll try to link--but I am challenged in this area.

http://picasaweb.google.com/thebrownfamily.us/DisneyCruiseTheStateroom

Thanks :)

[carone0318]

I am thoroughly enjoying your TR. Glad that you mentioned that Castaway Cay has bikes with training wheels - my ds would need them.

My kids will be the same age as yours for our cruise in Aug. Dd will be 11, turning 12 in Sept and ds turns 7 this Valentine's Day. I am a little concerned about them being in different "clubs." Dd will love it, but ds will want to be with dd. Don't know how much club time will be happening.

Anyways - great TR, sounds like a great trip!

[DAggiesRWe]

I am thoroughly enjoying your TR. Glad that you mentioned that Castaway Cay has bikes with training wheels - my ds would need them.

My kids will be the same age as yours for our cruise in Aug. Dd will be 11, turning 12 in Sept and ds turns 7 this Valentine's Day. I am a little concerned about them being in different "clubs." Dd will love it, but ds will want to be with dd. Don't know how much club time will be happening.

Anyways - great TR, sounds like a great trip!

Thanks for the nice words and welcome aboard. pirate:

You may be surprised with how much time your DS wants to spend in the club. A good amount of "Club" time was actually spent in the Lab or in some of the other areas of the ship especially with the 7-8 y.o. group. One thing that helps is to go over your Navigator each night to tell them about all the fun things they will be doing in the Club the next day. Don't let either of them miss the Graduation Ceremony (more on this in my next report).

BTW to those following this saga, I am sorry to take a little longer to get to the next installment, but I have been suffering from a stomach flu :sick: for the past few days. I'm better now, and have my Disney attitude back and want to return to the Wonder (mentally even if I have to wait until December to do it physically). :love:

Please stay tuned...

[gwcollins71]

Thanks for the nice words and welcome aboard. pirate:

BTW to those following this saga, I am sorry to take a little longer to get to the next installment, but I have been suffering from a stomach flu :sick: for the past few days. I'm better now, and have my Disney attitude back and want to return to the Wonder (mentally even if I have to wait until December to do it physically). :love:

Please stay tuned...

Please get better. I am waiting for the next installment. I can't think of anything bettert than reading more while enjoying a hot cup of cocoa during the Chicagoland blizzards today.

Gretchen

[PA Princess]

We will be cruising in Sept on the magic-special 5 day, 2days at CC. I'm just hoping I will be finished reading your report before then!:rotfl2: :surfweb:

JK: I am enjoying it all and the thorough detail and tidbits, like being able to sign the kids up for Oceaneers Club in the terminal before 12:30. That is a great thing to know. Also, if you don't mind I am going to put in a request--I have 3 children ages(at the time of the cruise will be) 13(DS), 12(DS) and 10(DD). The 13 year old is not sure about the teen club thing. He definately seems to be a little in between --too old for one club and too young for the teen/club, what did your sons like to do? Please feel free to add this info when you get to that part of the Trip Report;) :goodvibes

Thank You.

Hello Nezy! We also will be sailing on the 5 day cruise this September AND we also have two boys ages 12 and 13 (well they actually turn 13 and 14 literally a day and two days before the cruise). I just wanted to say hello since we have kids similar ages on the same cruise :cool1:

[nezy]

That's great. I am really looking forward to that cruise. There is actually a very active discussion, that I admit I can't always keep up with, on the cruise meets board. They are a very nice group of Disers who seem prepared to have a great time!

It will be nice to have some other kids the same age. I know my guys are not into the "teen scene" -whatever that is. They are sports and video games. I guess you will be taking your children out of school too. We are looking forward to 2 days at CC. we have also booked a room atthe Coimfort Suites on Paradise Island so we can go to the Atlantis. It is alot cheaper than doing the excursion.

Anyway, here is the lingk to the Discussion on the Sept 1 cruise:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1343812&goto=newpost

[jns]

Great report
Thanks for sharing

hope you are feeling better soon

[PA Princess]

That's great. I am really looking forward to that cruise. There is actually a very active discussion, that I admit I can't always keep up with, on the cruise meets board. They are a very nice group of Disers who seem prepared to have a great time!

It will be nice to have some other kids the same age. I know my guys are not into the "teen scene" -whatever that is. They are sports and video games. I guess you will be taking your children out of school too. We are looking forward to 2 days at CC. we have also booked a room atthe Coimfort Suites on Paradise Island so we can go to the Atlantis. It is alot cheaper than doing the excursion.

Anyway, here is the lingk to the Discussion on the Sept 1 cruise:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1343812&goto=newpost

I have read some on that thread, but it is a bit overwhelming in its size. I will at least pop in to say hello!

My boys like yours are not real into the teen scene either. We actually homeschool and traveling off season is a perk to that. We also are excited for the 2 days at CC. I still have not decided what we will do in Naussa. We have 4 kids (2 girls ages 7 and 3 in addition to the boys), so we would need to rooms...not sure if I want to go that route or not.

Guess I highjacked this trip report long enough - sorry OP!

[DAggiesRWe]

Can we do this again?, Big Bad John, and Can there be too much Disney?

With no port today, and after the exhausting drain the previous day, we all slept in until 8:00. DS11 told us he was going to meet up with some friends on the sports deck for basketball and he was going to grab some cereal for breakfast and would check into the lab. The rest of us got up and headed to Tritons to try out the sit-down breakfast and get a preview of the restaurant for that evening. DS7 let our server know that he was a big bacon fan, and the next thing we know pixiedust: there is a huge plate of bacon sitting in front of him. DW and I made healthier choices, but we did steal a few pieces of bacon :laughing: .

We took DS7 to the Club and checked that DS11 was in the Lab (he was once again playing the big-screen Wii baseball game). Then DW and I headed to Shutters to check out our pictures (we have been stacking them every day, but have to find our stack every time). We found our pictures from Castaway Cay including some of DS7 that we didn’t know they had taken :thumbsup2 . We sorted the pictures into “gotta have”, “would like to have” and “shred these so they don’t end up on MySpace” :eek: . We bought our package (with a few spares available for final photos) and went to check out the other shopping opportunities onboard.

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/8425/cc2fm4.jpg

While wandering around the stores, we came across a photo op with Lilo and Stitch. If you saw our door signs in post #13 you might have noticed that Stitch was Joshua’s (DS11) favorite character, so we debated whether to run up to the Lab to get him, but decided that Stitch would probably be gone before we could get back. We did the next-best thing and got our pictures with him. After that experience, we decided to check out who was doing pictures in the lobby.

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/333/liloandstitch2bf4.jpg

But before we could do that we had one other very important job to get out of the way. On our way to the lobby, we passed by the “Book your next cruise” desk and there was nobody waiting so it was the perfect opportunity for us to put down our deposit for the next cruise:thumbsup2 . We had consulted our calendar and the available dates before we even left home, so we knew we were going to sign up for the 3-night just before Christmas 2008 :santa: (nothing like planning ahead). So for the agent at the desk, we had to be one of the easiest sign-ups of the day (no questions, just take our deposit money). YAY, we get to come back again. :banana: :cool1: :woohoo: :yay:

As we wrapped up at the booking desk, we noticed that the lobby area was getting rather crowded. They were having a huge autograph blitz, with all the princesses in the lobby, Peter Pan and Wendy near the DVC desk, Alice on the deck 4 balcony and maybe a couple of others we missed. I ran around the lobby snapping pictures of as many of the people as possible for DW’s scrapbooks (since we weren’t looking for autographs or Shutters pictures, I just grabbed a quick snapshot of each one between the groups of kids so it only took a few minutes to catch some nice shots of them all.

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/3157/1001222mw1.jpg

I must say I am very impressed with the characters, especially Alice who stayed in character even when we saw her walking (skipping, actually) around the ship. Belle and Ariel were also great at staying in character (Belle seemed to know about every book that she saw someone reading and Ariel would ask people about everyday objects). I am sure these people have other jobs on the ship, which makes it that much more impressive.

After wrapping up with the characters, we headed to the gift shop to get the autograph of one of the most important people on the ship, Captain John. I tried to get him to sign a title transfer to give me the Wonder :rolleyes1 , but he convinced me that even if he gave me the ship I still couldn’t afford to fill the gas tank :eek: . I see his point, and DW and I settle for his autograph on some of the ship’s stationery for the scrapbook :lovestruc .

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/2474/1001225pa2.jpg

After running around all morning, the energy level is starting to wane and breakfast is a distant memory, so we head up to Pluto’s for chicken sandwiches and fries. We carry these back to our room for lunch and a nap only to discover that DS11 has checked out of the lab and is watching TMNT (again) :headache: . He asks why we didn’t bring him anything (because you aren’t supposed to be here? :confused3 ). We send him to get his own.

My notes at this point list something that we had been noticing throughout the trip. As DW and I sat on the verandah eating lunch, we would watch the clouds in the distance and seemed to keep seeing Disney characters. Now I’m not talking hidden Mickey if you stare real hard, but full blown scenes (like Dumbo swinging on his momma’s trunk :dumbo: , or Pooh floating up to the Honey tree pooh: ). We decided that it was either the fact that we were starting to go into Disney overload, or Disney Cruise Line has truly found a way to control the weather :lmao: :rotfl:

DS returns with his burger and fries, while DW and I lay on the bed to let our food settle. Before we know it, we are soon dozing :cloud9: (well DW is snoring, but I am still somewhat aware of the movie). As the movie ended, I vaguely remember hearing DS11 say “am I the only one awake?” :laughing: and then he left (presumably for the lab). At least he remembered to turn off the TV. I finally give into the gentle rocking and let myself sleep.

[Sleeping*Beauty]

After running around all morning, the energy level is starting to wane and breakfast is a distant memory, so we head up to Pluto’s for chicken sandwiches and fries. We carry these back to our room for lunch and a nap only to discover that DS11 has checked out of the lab and is watching TMNT (again) :headache: . He asks why we didn’t bring him anything (because you aren’t supposed to be here? :confused3 ). We send him to get his own.

I loved this part!!:rotfl:

[Dopey'sMAMA]

I'm just wondering if DW is going to post some of her scrapbook pages for us to see? I'm lovin the TR:cool1:

[jns]

I'm just wondering if DW is going to post some of her scrapbook pages for us to see? I'm lovin the TR:cool1:
yes I was going to ask the same thing

[DAggiesRWe]

I'm just wondering if DW is going to post some of her scrapbook pages for us to see? I'm lovin the TR:cool1:

I discussed this with DW last night, and we are going to take some pictures of her favorite pages (she filled two books with this trip, if we ever do a 15-nighter, I will go broke buying the supplies :rotfl2: ). I will post these as soon as we get the photos done.

[nezy]

Jackie
I see You are from donegal-the pride of all!
I have some relations in Donegal-last names of Haughey, Keeney, Timoney.

My dear friend once live in Mt. charles-I believe-her brother is still there and her family go "home" each year-Campbell's. Also know some Meehans who moved back too.

[DAggiesRWe]

I forgot to mention earlier that our towel animal on Pirate Night was a monkey hanging from a hangar on the divider curtain. I liked this one, and put him in the closet for the night. At some point during the morning, Semi (our room attendant) had pulled him back out, but added the parrot we had purchased at the Pirate Museum in Nassau and hung this back on the divider curtain.

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/442/1001227as1.jpg

We wake from our refreshing nap, and DW starts packing as I pull out the thank-you notes :love: . We turn the TV to the disembarkation channel and watch Christiaan give a surprisingly entertaining discussion of the paperwork and procedures we will be going through the next morning (it takes a special person to make government paperwork and procedures sound fun :thumbsup2 ). We are keeping an eye on the clock because the Oceaneer’s graduation is coming up, and we definitely don’t want to miss it.

Just as we are getting ready to head to the Walt Disney Theater, DS11 shows up and says he doesn’t want to do the graduation :sad2: . After some prodding, we discover that he missed the practice earlier in the day because he was in the room watching TV and is afraid that he won't know what is going on and will embarass himself. We tell him he is still going to have to come with us to see the ceremony, and on the way there he starts getting teary-eyed as he confesses that he really does want to participate in the show. When we get to the theater, we ask one of the yellow-shirts (CMs that work in the club and lab) and they tell him he is more than welcome to participate :yay: and not to worry :hug: and they show us where to sign him in :love: .

A word here about the graduation ceremony: It may seem cheesy, and your kids may not want to participate (especially if they are a little bit older), but don’t let them miss it (and don’t miss it yourself). They put together an incredible video presentation showing what the kids did in the Club and Lab. In addition to that the kids get a free (my favorite word :lovestruc ) T-Shirt and a mortar board (complete with mouse ears) that they get to keep. Both boys thought it was really cool getting to be up on stage in front of everyone, and we thought it was fun seeing them up there too.

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/5531/1001230rc0.jpg

After the ceremony, DW and I stopped by the Lab, and DS11 said he wanted to have dinner with that group rather than coming with us. Over at the Club, DS7 said the same thing. So DW and I grab our thank you cards :thanks: and tip receipts for the serving team and head off to Triton’s for dinner. I don’t really remember what we had, but I do remember that I was disappointed in the crème brulee for dessert (it wasn’t as creamy as I like it). We present Romy and Mariana with their thank-you cards, and the head server comes along with a group to sing “Happy Birthday” and present me with my cake (my birthday is actually the next day, but we are celebrating tonight) :cool1: . After they move to the next birthday victim, Romy and Mariana come back to give us hugs and say how much they liked their cards :hug: .

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/5540/1001237ea6.jpg

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/9093/1001236lb3.jpg

With dinner done, we head back to the room to continue packing (one of the down-sides to the Land/Sea package was that we spent a large amount of the vacation either packing or unpacking our luggage. We put our champagne on ice and grabbed the thank-you packages we had done for the CMs at the Oceaneer’s Club and Lab. We checked DS11 out of the Lab for the last time and gave his pal, Perry, a big bag of Hershey’s Kissables (the Hershey version of M&Ms). Over to the Club and DS7 gives his card and the Kissables to his favorite guy, Mark, who is so pleased that he brings out the Club’s raccoon for a final appearance and even lets DS7 hold him.

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/7854/1001245qm1.jpg

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/754/1001246xy1.jpg

We stop by the room so that we can all share my birthday cake. The boys seemed to like it, but I was kind of disappointed in it (spoiled by the chocolate soufflé at Palo I guess :confused3 ) plus I was hoping the Happy Birthday topper was made of chocolate, but it turns out it was plastic :rotfl2:

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/8854/1001241lq5.jpg

While the boys were finishing their cake, we did some more packing and left out the card for Semi (I used the same poem I had done for Jeff). Then it was off to the show. Up next Disney Dreams :cloud9:

[jns]

I discussed this with DW last night, and we are going to take some pictures of her favorite pages (she filled two books with this trip, if we ever do a 15-nighter, I will go broke buying the supplies :rotfl2: ). I will post these as soon as we get the photos done.
Looking forward to seeing them all :cool1: :cool1:
still have't started mine from our Oct cruise yet
Jackie
I see You are from donegal-the pride of all!
I have some relations in Donegal-last names of Haughey, Keeney, Timoney.

My dear friend once live in Mt. charles-I believe-her brother is still there and her family go "home" each year-Campbell's. Also know some Meehans who moved back too.
Hi Nezy
know quite a few people with them Names too all good Irish names
we are about an Hour north of mount charles

[Sallyc]

Love your report (and Pics!) Can't wait for our trip in 2 weeks!

[RLccweems]

I am so enjoying your trip report! Also, I can't wait to see your dw scrapbook pages. I love all the pictures as well!




lettie

[Dopey'sMAMA]

I was hoping the Happy Birthday topper was made of chocolate, but it turns out it was plastic

Wow! They use to be made of chocolate:confused3

[manntra]

Thanks for the graduation picture. I was a bad Aunt and didn't go! :eek: You had such great servers! I think ours were pretty new and they were not very interactive or engaging during service. :confused3 We had great tablemates though and have kept in touch. :) Thanks for all the great pictures and looking forward to the scrapbook pics!

[DAggiesRWe]

Now it was time for our favorite show of all, Disney Dreams. I splurged for refreshments for all of us, and was determined to close out the cruise on a high note with the family :wizard: . We got our good seats in the middle and munched our munchies waiting for the show to start. Without going too deep into things, I thought this show did a better job of tying the Disney movie themes and songs together with a good storyline. I read somewhere that Disney Dreams actually won the award for Best Cruise Line Stage Show of 2006, and it was easy to see why. The geek in me was further amazed by the fact that they put on the first performance of this show a mere two hours after the Oceaneer’s Graduation, which meant all the sets, props, etc. were completed in that short time period. I won’t spoil the ending, but make sure you stay all the way to the end of the show because there is definitely a lot of pixie dust and Disney magic in this showpixiedust: .

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/6422/1001262vw9.jpg

After we shuffled out of the theater, I took the boys up to the arcade and got them each a $25 game card. We had a blast playing the various games (although I was a little disappointed because I would have expected some newer games to be onboard and these were definitely showing some age). They did have a couple of different Star Wars games :darth: :yoda: , so the boys were completely happy to monopolize those until their cards were empty (they even let me play a couple of games) :woohoo: . While we were doing that, DW was going to the shops to pick up some surprises for the boys.

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/5687/1001264ww7.jpg

Going back to the first day at the Beach Club, DS11 found The Game of Life – Pirates of the Caribbean edition, and had been begging us for it the whole trip. DS7 didn’t really have a particular item he wanted, but DW did get him a pirate pistol that makes a realistic sound and shines a light in the shape of a skull and crossbones along with a Stitch plush that spoke several phrases (both of which drove me nuts on the drive home). DW also picked up a bunch of other mementos and stuff for her scrapbooking. The best part was when the boys and I finished at the arcade and returned to the room, their gifts were all arranged on their beds. They had a blast with these while I helped pack the last of our checkout luggage (we had one rolling bag for our carry-off and one big gift bag). We put the bags in the hall hoping we weren’t too late and DW and I took our last two thank-you cards and a bag of kisses and hugs up to the Cove Café.

Gede had my scotch ready and Christina made the one item that DW hadn’t yet tried from their menu. We gave them their gifts, took pictures, and shared a laugh over the Magical Moment gift. Christina said she sneaked down to the room and had Semi let her in so she could set up the gift, and almost had a heart attack when DS11 came out of the bathroom while she was in the room (good thing he closed the door). They told us that it is rare that they have guests who take the time to talk with them and that we made the cruise as much fun for them as they did for us. While we were sitting there talking, Gede started playing around with different bottles and playing with the machine. Next thing we know, he presents DW with a six-layer coffee concoction that he had just made up. She pronounced it fantastic and asks what he put in it. He doesn't even remember.

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/1172/1001274in1.jpg

All too soon, it was time for us to say our final goodbyes :hug: so we could go enjoy our bottle of champagne (Gede ran out to the bar and came back with two glasses for us to use while Christina made up a nice cheese and cracker plate to take with us) :love: .

We returned to the room and found both boys sound asleep, so we went to the verandah and set up our special celebration. I would like to thank the families on either side of us for leaving their verandah lights off (as we did), and would like to thank Captain John for keeping the boat heading east-northeast :thumbsup2 . As I sat there, I realized that I was now officially 43 years old :sad1: . It is hard to put into words just how I felt at that moment in the middle of the Atlantic, sitting on our balcony beside the woman I love :love: , listening to the gentle spray of the wake breaking below us, smelling the fresh salt air on the gentle breeze, sipping on my favorite beverage while watching the full moon reflect off the ocean :cloud9: . This memory will be forever burned into my mind as one of the happiest in my life. As we finished the last of the champagne, my wife held my face, said “happy birthday” and gently kissed me…(fade to black as romantic theme music builds to a crescendo).

Sorry, the rest of the evening is something that DW and I are not going to share, especially not on a family board :lmao: :rotfl2: .

[DAggiesRWe]

You asked for them, so here are a few select pages from the two scrapbooks that DW put together. I am sorry for the perspective, but I am not a professional photographer and the flash on the camera caused too much glare for the direct shots.

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/5726/roadvx3.jpg

See, I told you at the beginning that she would find a way to use those pictures. She even found a way to use a couple of shots that were taken by mistake :rotfl: .

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/4585/splasham6.jpg

Some of the Typhoon Lagoon shots.

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/505/kenix7.jpg

The picture in the lower right was from the information packet about the Beach Club that our TA sent us, and the photo of the sundae was from another pamphlet we found in our room.

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/2043/terminalhn4.jpg

The boat in the upper right has flashing LEDs when you press the button. I took the photos, but DW assembled the photomosaic of the ship model at the bottom.

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/1324/mickeynotenh1.jpg

See the note from Mickey Mouse. When we got on board, we turned in four pillowcases, a set of 24 markers, one of our Thank You cards, and a bag of Hershey Kisses and Hugs. Our last night, we got back the pillowcases signed by Mickey and Friends, the Princesses, AND a couple that you normally don't get along with this personal note from Mickey :love: . I guess chocolate attracts Disney Characters. Photo of the pillowcase will come in a future post. Also note the Mickey bottlecap at the bottom of the page. DW picked up a whole set of these caps at one of the shops, and I think they are cool. If I bottled my own beer, I think it would be fun to use these as actual caps to see the reaction to "Mickey Beer" :rotfl2: .

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/5701/captainry3.jpg

Captain John, various maneuvering photos, and the highly coveted Boarding Pass #2 :yay: .

More to come

[manntra]

Wow these look great....hmm......Can I send you my pictures and your wife can scrapbook them for me too? :lmao: I was really good about the scrapbook thing for a few trips but the last trip (the cruise) they are still sitting in various envelopes. :confused3

[RLccweems]

Very nice pages....

[Dopey'sMAMA]

WOW! I'm so jealous:goodvibes Those pages are amazing, I have just started scraping...I hope I can put some together that looks that good.

[DAggiesRWe]

Here is the next installment.

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/5896/palogy1.jpg

From our dinner at Palo. No, our server was not wearing this when he served us :rotfl:. Unfortunately none of the pictures we took of Coskun at Palo turned out, but at breakfast on the last day we ran into him at the Beach Bucket Breakfast Buffet Blowout and snapped the one good picture we got of him.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/3113/castawayue7.jpg

See, not all of her pages are busy.

http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/356/stingraygj6.jpg

Fun at Castaway Rays.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/6921/arielat0.jpg

Combined shots from the Disney Dreams show with the shot from the lobby.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/1948/birthdayts8.jpg

My birthday, celebrated on the Wonder. And she even used the card she gave me that day :love: .

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/3979/covecafetk4.jpg

DW's favorite place on the whole ship.

That's all for now, unless someone begs for more :worship: .

[Dopey'sMAMA]

:worship: :worship: :rolleyes1 I'll look at as many as you'll post, they really are great!

[gwcollins71]

Your wife's pages are great. I am still scrapping photos from 3 trips ago. Keep posting and pleeeeeeeeeeze, finish your trip report. I'm anxiously waiting the next installment.

Great job!
Gretchen

[jns]

:worship: :worship: :rolleyes1 I'll look at as many as you'll post, they really are great!
me too

thanks for sharing :hug: :hug: :hug:
love all your pages :thumbsup2

[joiev98]

Congrats to your wife for getting the pages done so quickly! And so well, at that! Great Job!

[disney100666]

Great TR! I was also on this Cruise! Can't recall if I saw you though! Scrapbooking pages are great!! I didn't take enough pics to make one myself.

[RLccweems]

I want more scrapbook pages!! I love every thing you've done so far!

[DAggiesRWe]

Sorry to take so long getting to the next installment of the TR. Gotta work to cruise (hmmm, maybe I should become a travel agent so I can cruise to work :rotfl2: ). Anyhow...

I have no reason why I woke up when I did, or more importantly why I decided to go to have a look outside when I saw it was 4:53 a.m., but as I peeked out the doors I saw that we were still moving, and in fact we were just passing the submarine base. Since we are still officially underway, I figure the cruise hasn’t ended yet and go back to bed. :cloud9:

We stayed in bed as long as possible, but finally had to get dressed and pack our last few things into the carryoff bag :sad1: . DW took the boys out to wait for the elevator while I took one last pass through the room, looking in every drawer, cabinet, nook and cranny. I found a couple of things in DS7’s bed, and closed the door for the last time :sad1: (this trip – I forgot to mention that we booked back into the exact same room for our next trip this December :yay: ) confident that we didn’t forget anything.

Romy and Mariana had invited us to breakfast at Tritons, and I thought they had said 7:45, but by sleeping in we missed one last opportunity with them because the early seating breakfast was at 7:00 (and they are not flexible with this :mad: ). I hoped that this was one more time that God had something better in store for us :angel: . Since there really wasn’t a big hurry to get to the breakfast buffet, we stopped by Shutters to round out our photo package with some final shots and settle up for what we didn’t use (thankfully, the clerk had some common sense and let us count two of the 6x8 shots as two 8x10 rather than going by the book which would have ended up costing us more :hug: ).

Photos in hand, we made our way up to the breakfast buffet and managed to squeeze into a table. As we sat down our trays, we found that Coskun (our server from Palo) was working the breakfast buffet on this morning, which gave us the chance to get a good photo of him since none of the ones from Palo turned out. As we got to the end of the serving line, we discovered that the ice machine was broken (I told you before, the guy with the recipe missed the ship for this cruise). Not to be deterred, I proceeded to the drink station and picked up several paper cups full of ice and headed back to our table and enjoyed my iced tea at the proper temperature;) .

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/2618/1001279zd3.jpg

With breakfast complete, there was nothing left for us to do but get off the ship :sad1: . So we passed through the lobby, said goodbye to the crewmembers :hug: there and made our way to baggage claim. We took the advice from the DISBoards and got a porter as soon as we hit the bottom of the steps. She quickly located our bags and had us through customs in a matter of just a couple of minutes (after she got scolded by the customs officer for crossing the yellow line without permission :lmao: ). Officially back on US soil, we were dropped on the curb to sit with our luggage like some sort of refugees (albeit well fed, relaxed and smiling refugees) because our limo wasn’t there.

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/3527/1001280kb5.jpg

Of course we did end up getting out a little before the requested time of 9:00, and it was only a few minutes after 9:00 when we spotted the Happy Limo pulling into the port. I watched as the limo was maneuvered around the parking area (which seemed to take forever) and then pull up in front of us to load up. Our driver for the trip back was Chris (who is part owner of the company, which demonstrated how busy they were that day). Chris had SpongeBob movies playing in the back (figuring we had our fill of Disney :lmao: ), which made the boys happy. Since the cooler only had water and ice, we made a stop at the store for some snackage for the trip back. Chris remembered we weren't going to the airport and took us back to the Beach Club, then he pulled out the red carpet for us to get a picture (even though we weren't staying at the Beach Club any more, they didn't mind too much).

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/5969/1001282xn1.jpg

We offload the luggage to the curb, and DW waits with the boys while I run and get the van. Before too long we have the luggage loaded back in the van, and the boys hop into their seats expecting to start the trip home. I pull back into the parking space I had vacated less than ten minutes before and tell the boys that the vacation isn't over because we are spending my birthday here as well rather than on the road :rotfl2: :cool1: .

Up next, bonus day at Walt Disney World.

[manntra]

Aww that is great that you had one last day at MK! :wizard: After we got off the ship we had the pleasure of waiting for our plane departure which was scheduled at 3:30. Oh and it ended up being later than that! :eek: Not very good planning on my part! :headache: We could have used an extra day! Oh well now that I joined DVC I will always have a place to stay! :hug: :hug:

[yanceygb]

Loving your TR! I'm learning so much.

[Dopey'sMAMA]

I don't like having to travel the day we get off the ship, we are usually so tired, we head back to WDW take a nap and then enjoy the rest of the day and head home the following.

[Backstage_Gal]

subbing, great report. I am really looking forward to the cruise portion of this trip, but it is past 1 am no, so I marking my spot for now.

Going on my first first cruiise in 3 weeks. with no plans made, just chilling...........


I read Sleepydogs report, and many of the people who posted there are old friends.

[kaysmommie]

Great update, loved the surprise last day in DIsney. Your DW scrapbook pages are terrific, maybe I can pay her to do mine :rolleyes: ssince I haven't even started and our vacation was in October.

[DAggiesRWe]

After parking the van and convincing the boys to put down their video games :happytv: we crossed the bridge back to the Beach Club. We had told the boys that we were going to spend that day at WDW before we started the trip, but they were so focused on getting back to their games that they completely forgot. :lmao: I planned this day as a chance for us to catch the high points rather than trying to do and see everything.

We took the boat over to MGM, and I hoped and prayed that our old passes would still work :worship: . DW and I had Park Hopper Passes from 1998 that still had 2 days on them, and the boys would be using passes from our last trip in 2004. The bag check went very quick, and the guard was even smiling and wishing everyone a "Disney Day" as they went through. We got to the gate, and passed our cards with not a single problem (the gate attendant even thought it was neat that even 9 year old passes still worked) :banana: .

The boys are Star Wars nuts, so naturally we headed straight for Star Tours. After the ride, we spend some time letting the boys pick something at the shop. Then we get shots of the boys on the speeder bikes (thanks PhotoPass) and wait in a brief line to get the autograph of Darth Vader :darth: (DS7 even insisted on an autograph from the Stormtrooper as well).

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/5783/1001289ce1.jpg

Finally Star Warn out we went to one of my favorite shows, Muppet Vision :3dglasses 3D. Luckily we got there just as the previous show went in so we got to see the entire pre-show (which is almost as funny as the main show). I pointed out some of the fun stuff on the walls, and the boys had a good time finding funny little treasures (like the emergency tuxedos for the Emporer Penguins "open in the event of an event" :laughing:, could have used one of those on the cruise.

After finishing there, and getting photos and Autographs with Woody and Buzz, we had just missed the Extreme Stunt Show. I didn't realize that they only did two shows a day, and the next one wasn't until late that afternoon. Oh well, next trip. We decide to take advantage of this end of the park being nearly deserted (everyone was at the stunt show) and grab some lunch. This was my first post-cruise moment when I realized the best part of the vacation was over...I had to pay for lunch :scared1: . I was quite pleased to find the healthier offerings on the menu rather than the typical burger, dog or nugget choices.

After lunch, the boys went next door to play on "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" while DW and I finished our lunch (we could see the only entrance/exit from where we were sitting, so felt reasonably comfortable with this arrangement for the few minutes we would be there). After lunch we went to find the boys, and I discovered an error in the playground. They have a large film canister you can walk into and the film forms a slide to travel down, but as I informed the attendant it shouldn't be KodaChrome film in the can but EctaChrome (EctaChrome is the film you use to make slides) :lmao: . DW informs me that I truly AM a geek (as if I didn't know), we collect the boys and make our way to the other end of the park.

An aside here, from a traffic flow standpoint, MGM has a bad design that is steadily being made worse. We were fairly close to the Narnia Adventure attraction (our next goal), but for some reason there was a fence erected across the road blocking direct access :headache: . This wasn't a fenced off area for future development because I could see the attraction just on the other side of the fence. Once again, God had something planned for us as we walked back through the hub we caught the end of a character meet-and-greet (the characters were heading back for the parade), and spotted DW's favorite Disney Character, Marie from the Aristocats.

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/222/1001300nq4.jpg

We made our way through the Narnia Adventure and watched the trailer for the next movie "Prince Caspian" (I love the series, and am glad to see they are doing the stories in the order they were written rather than according to the "Narnian Chronology"). Then we make our way to our last two "must-sees" for this park, the Tower of Terror and the Rock-n-Roller Coaster.

At Tower of Terror there was no line at all :love: . We walked into the pre-show area, and as soon as we passed into the loading area we were boarding. I had my camera at the ready, and caught a great shot as the doors were closing.

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/3479/1001308ox0.jpg

I tried getting a shot out of the open doors at the top, but my timing was never right. After the ride we went to check out our picture, and were disappointed to see that I had the camera over my face, DW was looking over at DS7 who had his eyes shut while DS11 looked angry. So that meant we had to ride again (darn :rotfl2: ). As we were walking out, I discovered that during the ride the spray sunscreen in my pocket had gotten triggered, and a large portion of the contents of the can was now dripping from the leg of my shorts. DW laughs at me because it looks like I had an "accident" on the ride :mad: . After our second ride, we ended up buying the picture even though DW was still looking over at DS7.

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/746/towerofterrormg1.jpg

At the Rock-n-Roller coaster, we encountered the first line of the day (about 20 minutes), and we all had a blast on the ride (this was DS7's first ride on an inverted coaster). The pictures didn't turn out very good, so we skipped. A quick poll of the family determined that we had done and seen everything we really wanted to at MGM, and so made our way out of the park and back to the boat for the ride over to Epcot.

[poffles]

Are the bottle caps in your wife's scrapbook magnets? I think they would look fantastic on the fridge and would definitely look for them if they are.

You trip report is awesome ... sad to see it all end.

[DAggiesRWe]

Are the bottle caps in your wife's scrapbook magnets? I think they would look fantastic on the fridge and would definitely look for them if they are.

You trip report is awesome ... sad to see it all end.

She found them in a package in the scrapbooking section at the Boardwalk Village shops. They came with a foam sticky backing to attach them. You could easily attach them to a magnet.

I am somewhat disappointed to see the trip report end as well (not quite as much as I was seeing the trip end :rotfl2: ). With just a few months until our next trip, I guess I will just have to start working on organizing the Cruise Meet. :rolleyes1

[poffles]

She found them in a package in the scrapbooking section at the Boardwalk Village shops. They came with a foam sticky backing to attach them. You could easily attach them to a magnet.


Hmm ... what a good idea. Will be staying at the Swan for a week after the cruise so I will have to do some shopping. More to add to the "to do" list.

Looking forward to writing a report of my own after my trip. I'm sure I will have lot's to write about. Three adults do Disney, a beer drinker, a frou frou drinker and an anything drinker :drinking1 ... that would be me!

[DAggiesRWe]

As we start drawing this trip to a close we are stretching to get as much as possible out of it :thumbsup2 . We took the boatride over to Epcot, and DW pointed out some redness and swelling in her ankles :confused: . She is still willing to head over to Epcot, but says she will likely pass on some of the quicker rides. The boys and I head to Test Track and walk straight into the ready room because there is NOBODY in line :woohoo: . We came out and DW insists we find somewhere with air conditioning where she can put up her feet (that are now starting to hurt).

Then we walked next door to Mission: Space. DS11 wanted to ride, but DS7 has a sensitive stomach at times :sick: and said he didn't want to ride. So DS11 went in while the rest of us went around to the play area at the exit to the ride. DW found a nice comfortable place to sit and enjoy the AC :cloud9: with her feet up while DS7 and I went and played the various games. DS11 finally came out and was disappointed that he had missed some of the fun on the game, and was almost in tears before we told him we could hang out and let him play the games too (DW was comfy and didn't care to move anyway). After a couple of rounds of the space race game, we were ready to head over to the Living Seas with Nemo.

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/9517/1001312ay7.jpg

On our last visit to WDW, I actually got to go scuba diving in the Living Seas, but had to pass this time around. They had also re-themed the attraction since our last visit as well, and was looking forward to what it looked like inside. We rode the new shellmobiles and tried to take pictures of Dory, Marlin and the rest.

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/3417/1001317li7.jpg

I walked around and checked out my old friends in the tank (not much had changed there) :rotfl2: . Time for us to have our Encounter with Crush. The kids had a blast asking quesitons, while the geek in me marveled at the technology behind this attraction :wizard: . Ours was one of the last encounters of the day, and as we exited the Living Seas they were closing down the front half of Epcot for the day.

DW's ankles were getting sore again, so our plan to visit the World Showcase was going to have to wait until next trip. We walked over to the Photopass store to check out the photos collected over all our visits to the parks. After handing over the card that we had been putting our photos on since our day at Typhoon Lagoon, we discovered that we had been using the wrong card (as the two pictures of a total stranger on the waterslide demonstrated) :lmao: .

We spent the next 20 minutes going through the computer's photos and found the right ones of DS11 and I, and combined these with our Pirate and Princess Party pictures, then spent another 15 minutes or so adding borders and sparkles, then waiting another 10 minutes while our photos printed and the CD with all the original pictures was made. Meanwhile, the line kept getting longer and longer and I started hearing some grumbling about how long it was taking us. The CM didn't seem too worried (considering the amount of money we spent that day, it was worth it to them), but if you were waiting in line at the Epcot Photopass on August 30, 2007 for some moron and his family to make up their minds, tough cookies because we got there first. :rotfl: :cool1: :lmao:

We left Epcot and rode the boat back to the Beach Club (even though it was only 300 yards from the Epcot gate to the Beach Club, DW needed to sit down). I went to get the van while DW and the boys waited at the door. I picked them up and we headed out of the gate for one last time, saying goodbye to all our friends for the time being. :sad1:

I drove to a CVS to pick up some lotion for DW's legs which are now bright red, and we pick up a pizza at a little, hole-in-the-wall place next door. Then we spend the next 45 minutes driving around trying to find the hotel :confused3 . I know the road is called the Marriott Village, so I head toward the big Marriott hotel. This is next to the conference center, and I end up doing about 4 or 5 U-turns just to find the front entrance to the hotel :headache: . After walking in and talking to the nice person at the front desk :hug: , I get directions to where we are staying (and still manage to make a couple more wrong turns along the way. Maybe this was God's way of getting even for the time we took at Photopass). We finally found our hotel, checked in, ate our pizza and settled in for the night, DW barely finished her pizza and was soon snoring. I had brought in the bottle of Korbel that we had taken on and back off the ship, with the intent of having it with the pizza, but after the long, tiring day for everyone it wasn't meant to be. The boys followed DW shortly afterwards, and I finished writing my notes and joined them.

Up next, observations during the trip home and tips for others.

[gwcollins71]

I'm sad to see your trip report coming to a close. I hope all is well wth you and your family. Looking forward to seeing the rest of your story and any great tips you can share.

Gretchen

[DAggiesRWe]

We got up Friday morning. I rubbed some more aloe lotion into DW's ankles (we later determined it was a combination of sunburn and dehydration that had caused the red marks on her ankles). After getting dressed, DW and I ran down to the little cafeteria in the hotel for a little caffeine infusion while the boys got their Cartoon Network fix (for some reason they weren't interested in watching the Disney Channel :rotfl2: ). We offered the boys the option of one more day in Orlando (even if we did Sea World or Universal), but they were "vacationed out" and wanted to head home :confused3 .

After packing everything, and rearranging the van for travel mode rather than local mode (e.g., cooler and snacks accessible, blankets and pillows available, etc.), we loaded up to begin the trip home. We stopped at a McDonalds near the hotel that was billing itself as "The World's Largest McDonalds", but we went through the drive-thru for breakfast so it didn't matter. (Back in January, I saw this same place featured on a Travel Channel show and wish we had gone in. Something else for the next trip).

We were on the far side of Orlando when I realized that I had left the Korbel in the refrigerator. I did the quick math and decided that we were past the point where it would cost more in gas to go back for it. :rotfl: Hopefully the next guests in the room found it and had a nice magical moment of their own. :love:

Unlike the trip down, I will spare you the mile-by-mile updates and just list a few observations:

- Gas tended to get cheaper the further north we went (South Carolina was less than Georgia which was less than Florida). It also tends to be cheaper when you are away from the major metropolitan areas.

- Why do stores selling marital aids, "adult" videos and similar entertainment rent billboards 50-100 miles in advance? I live near I-95, and drive it every day to work. Most of the out-of-state travellers on this road are either families or snow birds, neither of which are likely to patronize this type of establishment :lmao: .

- J&R Tobacco must have a huge advertising budget or North Carolina Law requires that every fifth billboard be given to them :rotfl: .

We pulled up to the house around midnight (door to door is about 11 hours of road time, but we made several stops during the day that pushed things to 14 for the trip). We were glad to see the house was still standing, the cats greeted us at the door, and we made it home safely once again.

So for those of you who have stuck with me this long popcorn:: , let me see if I can summarize some tips to help others with their vacation plans. In no particular order:

1. Land and Sea is nice if you are looking for a sampler and can't decide between a DCL cruise or a WDW vacation. However, you never really feel like you get the chance to settle in for the vacation. If you do decide to go this route, and can afford it, pack separately for the cruise and land portions so you aren't spending a lot of your vacation unpacking and repacking the suitcases. We packed a case for each person, but would have been better taking two cases to be "cruise-only" and left them in the van while at WDW.

2. If things don't go as you planned, don't make yourself miserable worrying about what didn't happen but rather go with it and discover the magic you weren't expecting :wizard: . Some people are in such a rush to get to that next ride that they miss the cool frog climbing the wall or the beautiful butterfly sitting on the nose of the Mickey topiary.

3. Along those same lines, if you are staying on the property (or even at a resort off the WDW property), don't feel that you have to hit the major parks every day. The resorts have a lot to offer that doesn't cost extra, so take some time to enjoy as much free stuff as you can. :cloud9:

4. If driving down on I-95, make sure to take a rest stop at Daytona before turning onto I-4 because there is nothing until you get to Orlando :scared: .

5. Don't apply spray-on sunscreen outdoors on a windy day (DW says she can still see the stripes on my back :rotfl2: ).

6. On embarkation day, get to the port early (after 10:00) to board as early as possible. You pay the same whether you get on at 12:00 or just before they close the doors at 4:00 so you might as well use as much of your time aboard as possible. :cool1:

7. On the ship, take advantage of the public restrooms when possible. In most cases they have much more room than the one in your stateroom. All the ones I went into, including the ones near the kids pool, were always cleaned and well stocked.

8. Make sure your kids know where to go if they ever get separated from you. (I know many of you probably disagree with the amount of freedom we give our sons, and I will even grant that you are probably right.) This can change (e.g., at the exit from a ride), or can be a fixed location (e.g., this set of beach chairs with our stuff on them), but it is better that they know where to go than to just wander around looking randomly for you.

BTW, you should know that the episode with DS7 on embarkation day was caused by Ian (the program director) getting involved (DS7 knew where we were, where he was supposed to stay, and was upset when Ian made him go to the Oceaneer's Club).

9. Along those lines, one tip that I haven't had to use but is good training. If your child gets separated from you in a moving crowd, tell them to stop and put up their hands and stay in that spot (not jumping :yay: but just standing). In a moving crowd, a non-moving person will stand out, and having their hands in the air just adds to it.

10. Talk to the Cast Members. These are people from all walks of life and from all over the world. There are many fascinating stories about how and why they decided to go to work for Disney. Most of them love to share their story with a willing listener. You never know what kind of surprises your new friend can provide for you.

11. On the ship, if it can be latched then make sure it is latched. This includes, but is not limited to, bathroom doors, closet doors, the verandah door, cabinet doors and the drawers. If seas pick up, a sliding closet door can make an awful loud racket :eek: .

12. The stairs will almost always be faster.

13. Do a trip report. Why should the vacation be over just because you are back at work. Stretch out the trip report so you get to relive the vacation over and over again. Heck, I stretched 7 days into 7 months with this one. :lmao:

14. Don't worry about the things you didn't get to do. Walt Disney World has been there for a long time, and with a few minor exceptions hasn't had anything disappear. Unless you are coming from far away (like Tokyo - Hi Wally :thumbsup2 ), anything you missed will likely be there the next time you come back. That's why they have the Never-Expire option on the tickets.

15. Door signs, while optional, are a really fun way to add to your trip and jazz up your stateroom.

16. Watching the sunrise from the verandah is a nice way to wake up in the morning.

17. Chocolate, even sealed in a cooler full of ice, will not survive four days of late August in Florida :rotfl2: .

18. A case of water for four people for a four night cruise is too much (we brought 8 bottles back off the ship).

19. What looks like a fridge in your stateroom won't cool off anything. You have to get your room steward to bring you ice.

I will post more if I think of anything, but that just about covers it. I look forward to next time, but for now...

Now's the time to say goodbye
To all our company. :sad1:

M-I-C (See you real soon)

K-E-Y (Why, because we like you)

M-O-U-S-E. ::MickeyMo

[maiziezoe]

I'm sad to see your TR end... it was great!