The Search for Stitch w/Pics: "Grown-Ups" on Land/Sea 1/16-1/24/08

[SeattleGirl]

The Cast
Me (Chandra) - 25 y/o, from WA, lives in Seattle, has been to DL several times but never to the World, has traveled a lot around the U.S. (but is still fascinated by the South)

DBF (Antonio) - 27, from MN, lives in Seattle, has never been to DL or WDW before! Was talked into this trip after watching the Travel channel a zillion times.

This is my favorite picture from our trip:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/epcot.jpg

Our anniversary is on 1/18, but we decided not to do anything big to celebrate it (I feel like a lot of people don't consider it an anniversary unless you're married and it makes for awkwardness). We did get the buttons though:).

Accommodations
We booked an actual land/sea package with an extra resort day added on. Our land room was at Port Orleans Riverside and our room on the ship was a Cat. 10. Briefly, both were perfect (but we drooled over the GF).

ADRs
Brown Derby - lunch
Le Cellier - lunch
Jiko - Dinner

I'm going to post the entire trip report here, then maybe put the sea part on the cruise trip report forum. Enjoy:).
More to come soon!

[TKDisneylover]

Hello!:wave2:

I'm jumping on board! Happy Anniversary! I say their real whether your married or not! Especially since DH & I dated for 6 years before we were married and celebrated our "started dating" anniversary every year! And that photo of the two of you is a great pic!:thumbsup2

Looking forward to your next installment!

[earthfaries]

Hi:goodvibes Count me in! I can't wait to hear about your great trip and your cruise! We just got back from our WDW trip last week too!

[SeattleGirl]

Now that I have at least one reader, I feel motivated to add at least a quick entry:). In the future, I'll try to post days together (I hate when you get to that point in a trip report when you've just settled in and then it stops!).

We packed everything in kind of a rush because Antonio was just getting over the flu and had been in bed for several days. I was so afraid that I was going to get the flu that I quarantined him and took about a thousand Airbornes and multivitamins prior to the trip. In fact, I think I overdosed on all the supplements I was taking because I started to feel "weird" (which I mistook for the beginning of the flu). Luckily, it all worked out by arrival day.

The plane ride into Orlando was cramped and terrible - and there was no food:(. When we finally got to the airport we took a shuttle to the Enterprise rental shack and got a Prius, which ended up being the greatest thing all trip. We drove over 350 miles during our 8 days and the car only needed $20 of gas that whole time.

I was soo excited to be heading to WDW. I have always wanted to go to Orlando and I knew Antonio was going to be thrilled with his Disney experience. Port Orleans was just beautiful. We got a room right next to the lobby in the Oak Manor mansion. Here's a pic during the day of our building:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/OakManorourroom.jpg

And the lobby:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/RiversideLobby2.jpg
Our room had a view of the river and at night, around 9PM, you could watch the fireworks from Epcot down by the water. We got all checked in and discovered that our room was impeccable (no picture, sorry, but you can find them elsewhere). I checked for bed bugs immediately! (none found) We then wandered over to the food court and had some pretty gross pasta (too much oil) and a chicken burger. I really wanted to walk around or go somewhere to watch an evening show, but we were both beat, so we stopped by the River Roost lounge for virgin pina coladas (the real stuff could wait until the flu was gone for sure) and saw Bob Jackson. As a warning, he is a funny guy and I had heard tons of great stuff about him, but I really think you need to be high energy and awake to enjoy him (drunk would probably do it, too). Neither of us are really into audience participation in the first place, and after a long day, it was just too much. We snuck off to bed shortly.

I should also mention that we could not check into our cruise when we arrived - we had to wait the next day. And, they are in the process of updating the KTTW cards so you have to go back to the cruise desk on the morning of embarkation to get a cruise KTTW card. I was kind of irritated because they wouldn't give us the cards until 10:30AM on Sunday and I had planned to be at the Port already by then because we needed Palo ressies! You'll have to keep reading to find out how that turned out...

[TKDisneylover]

Yikes, the flu!!:sick: Hopefully he was feeling better as the trip progressed and that you did not get it too.

I love Port Orleans Riverside, we had actually stayed there when it was called Dixie Landings. I would love to stay there again and I just may try to convince DH to do that just for the romance factor.

Looking forward to your next installment!

[SeattleGirl]

I'll update soon. I got really behind in paper writing for school and it's consuming me! (well, procrastination is consuming me) Anyone know how to get more people to read your trip report? It's a little lonely here:).

[UGAFan0829]

Hey, I'm onboard!
Great start, can't wait to read more!
Port Orleans looks really nice...I've always been afraid of staying there for some reason, but your pics have kinda convinced me otherwise!

[SeattleGirl]

The best photos of the resort (and what convinced me to stay there) are here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/Photos/Port_Orleans-R/index.htm

It really was beautiful.

[TKDisneylover]

Anyone know how to get more people to read your trip report? It's a little lonely here:).

Sometimes it helps to put a link in your signature line directing people to your trip report. That way when you post on other threads people will see the link. Plus it also helps to post on your TR to bump it back to the top of the TR thread. Also notice that you will have lurker readers (people who read but do not post), you will see their count on the "views" where your TR is posted. Look at that at you will see that many people are reading. Hope this helps! I'm sure that as you start posting more of your TR your readers will start posting!:)

Looking forward to your next installment!:banana:

[earthfaries]

Great start! I love POR, it's really beautiful.

Glad you got there good and got a great economical car.

I am looking forward to your next day and the cruise!!!

[SeattleGirl]

I just got a new printer, so I've been occupied printing off vacation photos. But, here it is, day two:

Of course we had to go to the Magic Kingdom first. I wanted Antonio to see how "magical" everything in Disney World is. As an example, here's some people that jumped out of a trolley and started dancing and singing right when we got there.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/MagicKingdomTrolley.jpg

We headed first to Space Mountain. The ride queue was EMPTY. It took more time to walk through the empty ride queue than it did to get on and ride. We got to the front and Antonio almost bailed. He hates roller coasters. I swore to him that nothing in the Magic Kingdom would scare him (which turned out to be true), but he didn't believe me. I guess "everyone is screaming because it's fun" doesn't sound so convincing?

You know, I think part of what makes "headliner" rides so popular and exciting is the anticipation that builds while you're waiting to get on them. After Space Mountain, Antonio was like, "That's it? That's Space Mountain?" I kind of felt the same way. Another day, when we came back to the Magic Kingdom during EMH hours, we had to wait a while for rides and the same rides seemed more fun.

In about two hours we managed to do Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder, Haunted Mansion, Small World and a few little things in between. Hands down, my favorite thing about the Magic Kingdom is Mickey's Philharmonic. I hesitated to go to another 3D show, but I'm so glad we did. It's just amazing.

Before we left for lunch we had our picture taken by a girl who was actually from our area of town. Inadvertently, we packed a lot of "Seattle" clothing and people stopped us a lot to tell us about how they used to live there, their parents lived there, etc.:).
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/magickingdom.jpg
We headed to MGM (yes, I know it's Hollywood Studios now, but that doesn't work for me, so I'm sticking with MGM) for lunch at the Brown Derby. Here we are at MGM:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/mgm3.jpg
Oh, the Brown Derby. I think it was our greatest dining disappointment (though still good). It was almost completely empty and we sat down and were served and ate within about 30 minutes. Both of us ordered the Cobb salad and we shared the grapefruit cake (sorry, I don't really take pictures of food, but I know there's pictures of this stuff on the board). The Cobb salad was good, but if I ever order it again, I'm going to beg for less dressing, or maybe dressing on the side, because they used SO MUCH. Neither of us are salad dressing/liquid fat fans, so it kind of ruined all of the tasty and fresh ingredients. The grapefruit cake was tasty, but dry. Antonio doesn't like grapefruit unless it's sweet. I prefer grapefruit in its natural state so I was pleasantly surprised that the cake is still tart and a bit bitter.

After lunch, we headed to the Indiana Jones Stunt Show. Here's a quick pic of that:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/IndianaJonesStuntShow.jpg
It was really cool (we never did get to see Lights, Motors, Action) but it started raining partway through and they announced that they wouldn't be able to do all the stunts (aww). This was a good place to be in crappy weather, though, because the stadium is all under cover.

We stayed in MGM until early evening. I did the Tower of Terror...and it's not really terrifying. Well, at least compared to most drop-tower rides I've been on. I still couldn't convince Antonio to try it out.

Then came the toll saga... We went to Walmart in Kissimmee to get some dinner and breakfast foods. On our way back, we took the Osecola Parkway (I think that's what it's called). Anyways, at the entrance, you pull directly into a toll booth. There's no warning or any way to exit. And, there's no person. So we scrounged and found enough money. It was a 75 cent toll and after 1.75 it still said we owed 25 cents! So, we drove off and sirens sounded and lights flashed and we were really embarrassed. I should mention that tolls are a rarity in Washington...in fact, I think I can name maybe one toll bridge in the state. We thought for sure the police were going to come after us!

We hung around the resort and went to bed pretty early...next up, Epcot!

[SeattleGirl]

Just realized I forgot to write about our funny night at DTD/PI. I'll get that up soon!

[CPer'sMom]

Just found your report ~ nice job so far :)

So, since it says "Baby Lawyer", are you in law school? Where in Seattle do you live? -- If you don't mind me asking...

[SeattleGirl]

CPer'sMom: Yup, I'm in my last year of law school. My boss calls us baby lawyers, since we have licenses to practice (under supervision), but haven't taken the bar:). I actually live on the edge of downtown Seattle. If you're familiar with the area, it's called First Hill. It's pretty great to be able to walk downtown whenever you want!

I'll update more soon. Law school is a little time consuming:goodvibes .

[earthfaries]

Great update:thumbsup2 and pics:goodvibes

Looks like you guys had a great morning at MK with low crowds and nice weather.

Looking forward to more!

[CPer'sMom]

Yup, I'm in my last year of law school.
Law school is a little time consuming:goodvibes .

Where?

"little time consuming"? :rotfl2: My DD graduated in 2006 and I know the kind of hours she put in! But it was all definitely well worthwhile. She's now an associate with a large firm in downtown Seattle and loves it :) (well, most of the time anyway ~ the hours can be real-l-l-l-ly long!)

If you're familiar with the area, it's called First Hill. It's pretty great to be able to walk downtown whenever you want!

Yep, I know the area! Downtown Seattle is great, isn't it?

[SeattleGirl]

What a coincidence! I go to UW. I decided not to take the big firm route. Looking to work in a small/medium firm or defense (crossing my fingers that I will make enough money to survive!).

[CPer'sMom]

What a coincidence! I go to UW. I decided not to take the big firm route. Looking to work in a small/medium firm or defense (crossing my fingers that I will make enough money to survive!).

Big firm money makes it easier right now to pay off Georgetown loans! Good luck with your job search :)

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip ~

[TKDisneylover]

Loved your second installment, and the pics turned out really nice! Can't wait to hear how Downtown Disney/PI was for you. We never made it into PI during our most recent visit. I was a bit disappointed, but there's always next time.

Thanks for sharing your trip!:thumbsup2

[SeattleGirl]

Okay, I lied, we did not go to bed early. I totally forgot our trip to Downtown Disney!! We took the boat from POR to DTD after we got back from Walmart. We hit World of Disney and the Christmas store (where we got a really cute ornament personalized with our names. I'll try to add a picture of it later). Then...Pleasure Island.

I should note that we are not "club" people, so we were a little uncomfortable with the scene at PI. That said, we decided to skip the clubs (cover charges = ick) and get a drink at one of the little drink shacks in the street. We don't have stringent liquor laws here, but I can say it was pretty strange to be able to walk around outside with a drink! Here is the drink we shared (for your amusement):
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/DrinkatPleasureIsland.jpg
When I went to get my drink in a bucket, I suddenly recalled why I don't go to clubs. An extremely drunk guy FELL into me while I was waiting in line (Antonio was saving us a table). He apologized profusely (slurring his words). Then, he started asking me if I had any friends as cute as I was that he could come share a drink with! Charming. I told him I planned to share my drink with my boyfriend, and nodded Antonio's way. The guy asked if I was sure! :scared1: He offered to pay, too. Wow. I was kind of sad that they kept serving this guy.

Anyways, we didn't stay too late. Next time, I think we might just skip PI altogether (although the Adventurer's Club looks cute).


Day 3 in about 5 minutes!!!

[SeattleGirl]

I have a new found respect for people who write trip reports. This is a lot of work. I feel like I have to sacrifice eloquence and humor just to get it all in!
That said, look at the pretty pictures and forget that I'm too tired to sound interesting!

Okay, finally onto the third day. We were super excited for Epcot (since it's supposed to be "more adult" and all). Turns out, it was too adult for us! We got a little bored (with terrible waits for rides). First, we hit up the Coke place. Antonio was dying to try Beverly. Funny enough, he liked it. What he didn't like was the veggie-flavored soda:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/VeggieCoke.jpg
I liked everything. Beverly was just kinda bitter. Like tonic water maybe? We're really adventurous eaters/drinkers, so I guess very little fazes us.

Next up was Test Track. Loved this ride. Here we are in the line (which was only 30 minutes):
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/TestTrack4.jpg
Here we are on the ride:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/testtrack.jpg
We rode it again during Extra Magic Hours, but took the single riders line. I recommend it. Riding together was fun the first time, but getting to ride 100% faster than anyone else (by using the single rider's line) is so great.

We did the weak version of Mission Space. We should have done the normal version, but after reading about people dying after doing that, we were a little scared! (That is, until I saw a fairly old grandmother escort two young boys out of the "real" one - she was fine!)

We had lunch at Le Cellier (and if we go back to Epcot, it will be for this alone). Our steaks were AWESOME. We each had a steak, an appetizer, and a beer or two and it came out to a little under $100. Well worth it. Make ADRs, though, because we heard the guy tell a walk up that they were booked for the next month! Our waiter was such a nice guy. It took maybe 20 minutes to get our entrees after the appetizer and he apologized about a million times (even though we didn't mind). He gave us a fastpass for any ride when we left. :woohoo: I thought that was so sweet of him because we weren't really inconvenienced at all, but he said he didn't want us to miss out on any "magic" in the park by taking so long at lunch (really, it just wasn't long at all).

When then made our way through the World Showcase. I took a zillion pictures, but I'll just put a couple here.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/WorldShowcase2.jpg
World Showcase Lagoon
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/FranceatWS.jpg
France Bakery!
We were kind of disappointed that most of what there is to do is shop and eat (love both, but was hoping for a bit more culture). Our favorite attraction was the (albeit politically incorrect) Tres Caballeros ride at Mexico. Antonio just loved Donald Duck chasing around the dancing Mexican ladies. I also liked the tin toys exhibit (I think in Japan). I'm so sorry we didn't get to see the lady who makes candy art. I was really looking forward to that, but she wasn't around.

Day 3 was really action-packed for us. In the late afternoon we decided to tour the monorail resorts. Well, we didn't make it to the Contemporary. We went to the Poly and drank these:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/DrinksatPoly1.jpg
And sat on the beach to enjoy the view:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/GrandFloridianfromPoly.jpg
My mom had been to the Poly back when it opened in the 70s. She desperately wanted me to buy her some of the tiki glasses, so I did. They're very similar to the ones she had back then (only back then they came free with a drink and had "WDW" engraved on them, which made them quite a bit cooler).

We scooted over to the Grand Floridian. My pictures didn't turn out so well there because of the low lighting. One of our food highlights of the trip was Gateau of Crab. You MUST get the gateau of crab - I think they have it at Citricos, but we got it in the lounge. It's fresh crab, fennel, and some other yummy things all stacked together. I could have eaten three of them. Easily.

It was starting to get late, so we headed to the Magic Kingdom for Wishes. We rode Big Thunder again while we waited. The line had gotten really long - darn holiday weekends!

After Wishes (lovely as always), we took the monorail to Epcot to watch Illuminations (yeah, we're quick!). It would have been super, but this family of larger people shoved in front of us right before the show. I am sure I am guilty of blocking peoples' views sometimes, too, but I was pretty irritated.

Then, we had Mickey bars and headed to Finding Nemo (we saw Soarin' earlier, I should add). We loved the aquarium. It was the highlight of our Extra Magic Hours. Needless to say, we were just worn out by the end of the day!

[SeattleGirl]

Another update soon, I promise! Too busy planning our next trip I guess. :cool1:

[pjstevens]

Chandra,

Just found your TR and loving it. Can't wait to hear more. We'll be taking our first Disney Cruise in September so I want to hear all about that.

[SeattleGirl]

pjstevens - Glad you found this! I was thinking my readership had all but disappeared. I already have the next installment written, just need to upload the pics and things. I have a pile of papers due between now and early March, so it's been tough to write for fun. :goodvibes

[Hedy]

Can't wait to hear more!

[TKDisneylover]

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/FranceatWS.jpg
France Bakery!


All I can say is YUM-O! This bakery shot looks sooo good! And I'm not a big bakery eating person, this pic makes me reconsider!

Enjoyed your latest installment! Antonio looks cute tasting the Veggie soda.

Looking forward to hearing more, I especially can't wait until you get to the cruise part.:thumbsup2

[serendipity]

Loving the trip report!

[SeattleGirl]

The last day of our land vacation came far too quickly. We felt like we just hadn't seen enough of anything, so we woke up early and headed to AK. I should mention that we are very lucky to have a beautiful zoo with open savannas here in Seattle. With that in mind, AK (the animal part) wasn't as new and exciting as it probably is for people who don't have access to lush landscapes and modern, humane, open zoos. This is us at Tree of Life:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/animalkingdom3.jpg

We drove to AK because it's kind of "out there" on property and we wanted the ability to come back to the resort for a little rest in the middle of the day. Even though we arrived shortly after opening, the parking lot was already getting cozy. We entered and walked as fast as possible to Expedition Everest.

EE was a real hit with us. We only waited about 15 minutes (and I wish it had been longer because there is a lot to see in the ride queue!). The mistake we made was in not grabbing fast passes on the way in. I would have loved to do this ride twice. It's not super scary, but the detail is great and the track is very unexpected (even though we'd seen it on the Travel Channel before!). Here's part of the queue:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/ExpeditionEverestEntry.jpg

I think next up was Dinosaur. I did not like Dinoland. Period. I think it looks like a tacky roadside amusement park and everything that Disney tries to avoid in their design. We kind of ignored the decor and headed straight for the ride. Dinosaur was a blast! No wait, we walked right on. We really should have purchased the photo because the look of terror on my face was hilarious (I hate things jumping out of the dark at me).

Then, we went to It's Tough to Be a Bug. Well, let me tell you, it is tough to watch that show after waiting for an hour in the claustrophobic holding area. The sign said 5 minutes. We got down there and there was a technical issue with the show. There was no way out of the holding area or we would have left (I've seen the show at CA). Hopper was still broken when we eventually got to see the show (and I think he's the best part!). So, Antonio was left thinking that ITTBAB is the worst show ever! We were so happy to finally get out of that theater.

Antonio ate a turkey leg and I had a sundae for lunch (there is a severe lack of cheap counter service food in AK...and I wasn't on a diet...though I should have been - see the upcoming cruise portion for why!). I would have gone to Restaurantasorous (aka McD's), but the line was worse than it was for any of the rides!

Next up was the safari. We saw loads of animals. I still don't know how they keep the lions from eating everything else because I couldn't see the barrier. We actually had a hold up on the ride because some ostriches decided to walk in front of our vehicle...very slowly. I tried not to take too many pictures because I wanted to enjoy the ride. Here are some birdies for good measure:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/AKBirds.jpg

After the safari it was early afternoon and we decided to head out. There was still part of MGM we had missed and we wanted to get back. AK was my least favorite of the parks, but I can see how it would appeal to kids who are really into animals.

Back at MGM! Here we saw the backlot tour (which is a must-see) and just kind of wandered through some shows (Muppet 3D is a good one). We missed Lights, Motors, Action, so we'll have to do that next time. This was kind of an in and out stop. We were so exhausted we couldn't make it for too long. Dinner at Jiko's was at 6PM, so we headed back to POR and slept until then.

Jikos was good, but I don't think we'll be going back. I had a very interesting red wine from Africa with my dinner (which I believe was some sort of prime rib). I think Antonio had the lamb. Oh, and you must order the flatbread appetizer! Way too much food, but very tasty. The service was prompt, but I actually felt a little rushed (and it wasn't even that busy). During dinner, a HUGE thunderstorm started. A tornado warning was actually issued. Every few minutes the whole restaurant lit up with lighting! We poked around AKL hoping things would let up a little, but it just POURED. I swear, it does not rain like that in Seattle. Ever. It was raining so hard you could barely see.

I would love to stay at AKL sometime, but we just can't come up with that kind of money (and POR was great). I was sad that it was too dark to see any animals.

We ran to our car (a little scary with all the lightning). Our plan had been to go back to the Magic Kingdom after dinner for EMH and another round of Wishes. In that kind of weather, though, we just couldn't justify it. Instead, we headed back to the resort, bought two wine coolers from the gift shop ($5/a piece!!!) and watched elections news back in our room. I know that sounds like the lamest end of a day ever, but trying to conquer all the parks in just a couple days really takes it out of you. I can't even fathom how much we walked. I had such sore legs and back that I had to take Advil every day from this point on (and we have no car at home, so we walk EVERYWHERE - to school, to work, to get groceries, even when we have to buy something really heavy. I can't imagine how hard this would have been for someone who lives a more sedentary lifestyle).

[SeattleGirl]

TKDisneylover - Just so you know, the pastries didn't actually taste all that good.:guilty: They sure looked delicious, though! Next time, we'll try to bring some granola bars or something in with us so when we need a snack we don't "have" to buy goodies:).

[earthfaries]

Great updates and pictures.:thumbsup2 Sounds like you guys had a great time so far!

[michellem1118]

Chandra, I've been "stalking" your trip report for weeks now, waiting for you to get it all finished! We're doing a land/sea thing this summer, and there just aren't many trip reports that include both. I know you're busy with law school, but you really need to spend more time working on this TR!!! :rotfl2:

[SeattleGirl]

I will, I will! :goodvibes I'm already part way through day one of the cruise. Expect an update within a day or two.

[SeattleGirl]

This morning we woke up early and put some laundry in (this was a GREAT idea. Nothing like having fresh clean clothing for the second half of your vacation). I literally walked out of our room and to the laundry by the quiet pool in my pajamas. I figure if little kids can run around in their pjs, so can I:). We showered and got ready while the laundry was in. The split bath of the moderates makes it so much easier for more than one person to get ready at a time. I could brush my teeth and wash my face while Antonio took a shower (he takes monumentally long showers, too) and then we could switch.

Even with the laundry done and our bags packed and in the car it was too early to get our cruise KTTW cards, so we headed to McD's (p.s. we never eat fast food at home, so it's all the more exciting when we're on vacation). After breakfast we came back to the resort (got lost and ended up at Epcot - we got lost on property more times than I can count on this trip) and got our cards (with the current system, they make you pick them up on the day you leave the resort - hopefully this will change). With that, it was off to Port Canaveral.

We got lost on the way there (but lost in a way that just took us on a different route than the recommended one). It took less than an hour to get to the Port. I use VZ Navigator on my phone when little "detours" like this occur - it works great. The weather was getting progressively windier and darker. I was terribly afraid that the Sail Away party would be moved indoors!

When we got inside the terminal, we were directed immediately onto the ship (yay no check-in!). It doesn't even feel like you've entered a ship. It feels like you've walked into a hotel. We went directly to Wavebands to get Palo brunch. This is a really lousy way to start your cruise. If you can get reservations online (they were out of brunch online, always are on 4 day), just do it. We played musical chairs in Wavebands for about 30 minutes. But we got in for brunch, so I guess it was worth it!

Then, we bought our first fruity drink of the day and headed to Beach Blanket for food. The place was packed! The food was the worst of our whole cruise and we had to eat outside in the wind and semi-rain. We tried to make the best of it, though. We ended up bringing some food down to our room as soon as it opened and huddled up on the warm couch to eat. Here's our room:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/CruiseRoom.jpg
One half of the split bathroom:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/Bathroom1.jpg
I should warn you - many of the rooms have a "step up" when you enter or go into the bathroom. The first thing I did was trip, crash on the door, and spill my fruity drink all over myself and the door! (and I hadn't even finished one drink, so you can't blame it on the alcohol) I would have been embarrassed, but hey, we're on a cruise!

We loved our room (2605, category 10) and will be staying in a room very close to it next year on our 7-day Western.

Next up, the Sail Away Party! (out in the cold)

[earthfaries]

Great update! Looking forward to the sail away party:

[TKDisneylover]

It sounds like a rainy start to you sea vacation:umbrella: , hopefully the sun will come out soon!:sunny: I can't wait to hear how you enjoyed the cruise portion of your trip, we have never taken a Disney cruise and would like to do the land/sea someday. Your room looks pretty nice, were the beds comfortable?

Looking forward to hearing more about the cruise. Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us!:yay:

[Loriann70]

joining in on the fun! Great trip report! looking forward to reading more!

Lori

[SeattleGirl]

TKDisneylover: Our room was very nice. Actually, all the cat 6-10 rooms look the same (minus windows and balconies in our case). We were really surprised at how posh our lowly cat 10 room was (and roomy!). The beds were firm and you could kinda feel the thing that attached the two twins together into the queen, but it was very comfortable overall. Plus, we were super tired each night, so we could have slept on the floor and probably have been comfortable!

[SeattleGirl]

Hey all, it's finals week, so I need to disappear from trip report writing for just a few more days. I'll be home all during spring break, so I'll be sure to finish this up! Just wait a few days:). And I'm going to break out the scrapbooking supplies. Can't wait!!!

[schwenksvillemouse]

Subscribing

[SeattleGirl]

And...we're back!
Just finished my last final and am having kind of a lousy day, but I figured writing about our trip would cheer me up!
So, we made it through the Safety Drill at lightning speed. They literally just line you up, call for any stragglers, and let ya go within 15 minutes. Our group must have been exceptionally responsible because we were set and ready to go well before some of the others.
We threw off the life jackets (up and down the stairs again...this will soon become a theme for us) and headed up to Deck 10 to watch the Sail Away Party!
First, there was some dorky dancing:):
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/SailAwayParty3.jpg
Followed by some characters:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/SailAwayParty6.jpg
We were cold and wore jackets for probably the only time on the cruise. We did the countdown rather abruptly, but the ship didn't go anywhere! We stood over by the sports deck and watched as they took someone off the ship. I still have no idea what was going on there (or maybe they were taking them onto the ship??) but we didn't leave until about an hour later at 6:30ish. We first felt the motion of the ship while sitting at the Promenade Lounge.
The motion. The motion of the ship is like a whole separate story. I don't normally get carsick/seasick/anything sick. Neither does Antonio. But, oh my, did that ship rock and roll out of Port Canaveral! The waves got up to "very rough" on the bridge station (on your stateroom tv). By late dinner (8:30...ugh) people were losing it everywhere.
I nearly toppled over walking through the hallways. The servers told us, "No worries, as long as the boat moves side to side it's not that bad...it's when the boat moves front to back that it becomes a problem." Well, tell that to our seatmates at dinner! We had two couples and a man and his young son. The boy didn't make it to the appetizers. Our assistant server almost made it to the entrees before checking out for the night. I limped back to our stateroom after the longest dinner ever (2.5 hours - I think it was because people getting sick delayed things). I never did lose my cookies, but it sure felt good to sleep! The captain made an announcement to let everyone know that if we could just make it through the night, things would be all better by tomorrow!

[Hedy]

Not the best beginning ever....

[3dog2kidmom]

Really enjoying your report! We did the same land/sea trip last January (including an extra land day!), and had the same experience the first night with the rockiness.

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your vacation!

[irky416]

I've been lurking, but am enjoying your TR so far! I want to take a Disney cruise so badly. I want to go see the PotC ship! I can't wait to read more.

[SeattleGirl]

Yay, lurkers! I'm glad I posted on the Parks part of the board rather than the Cruise section. Hopefully I'll lure some of you over to the Dis Cruise Boards! Now, back to our regularly-scheduled programming...

Finally, into a port! We woke up early and headed up to breakfast at Parrot Cay. This is the only time we tried to eat in a sit down restaurant for a meal other than dinner. Here's why: we're in line and a CM asks each party whether or not they will sit with strangers. We say "yes" because we just don't care (and our tablemates from dinner were nice enough, so hey, why not meet new people?). Well, we are directed to a table with a family of four. As soon as we get there, the mother says to the CM, "We requested a table for four." Now, I know this wasn't the case because they were right in front of us and I heard the husband say that sitting with other people was okay. Apparently just not us? Well, Antonio was pretty offended (I was a little, too) so even though the waiter convinced them that it was no big deal to sit with others when a restaurant is crowded, we just left and ate at Beach Blanket. The experience left a bad impression with me, nonetheless.
After breakfast we walked into downtown Nassau. Some pictures:
The pier:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/Nassau2.jpg
Downtown (notice Starbucks):
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/Nassau3.jpg
Well, as we were approaching a bank, a man jumped out of a truck and pointed a gun at us and told us to stand still. This scared the living **** out of both of us. Turns out, it was a delivery of money, not a robbery. I wasn't so keen on having guns pointed at me, so we wandered back to the ship to see if we could get a ride to Atlantis.
We took a taxi to Atlantis. They are no apparent traffic rules in Nassau, so it made for an exciting ride! Atlantis was very beautiful and very large, but also a little smoky, so it bothered me to be indoors for too long. We walked the grounds for a while and had this awesome mango drink of some sort:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/AtlantisDaquiri.jpg
Here's the Dig (we didn't pay to see it, but you can watch some of it from above - it looks awesome):
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/AtlantisDigAquarium.jpg
One drink and I was tipsy! We didn't feel up to gambling and we don't have the money to shop and the weather was pretty icky, so we grabbed a taxi back to the boat and enjoyed the adult pool for quite a while. There is nothing like a nice hot tub when it's chilly out!
I honestly do not recall how we spent most of our afternoon until dinner. I do know that we ran into Lilo and Stitch and grabbed this cute picture:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/stitchgoodscan_0002.jpg
It was the only one we purchased on the cruise. The rest we just used our own camera for.
We changed into nice clothes and went up to dinner. Our server already had my name memorized - I was pretty impressed! Dinner went much more smoothly this time and there was no detectable rocking of the boat. After dinner we peeked into the bars, but, once again, just couldn't hold it together long enough to "party." Next time we are going to try naps or something so we can make it to the late night adult activities. The afternoon adult activities seemed to be sparsely attended.
In the end, Nassau was kind of a letdown. Partway through the cruise I realized that 3 and 4 day cruises are really about the boat, not the ports (and hey, that's not a bad thing!). I felt like we breezed through everything and didn't really have a time to slow down and enjoy each thing for what it was. Next up, Paradise on Earth, Castaway Cay.

[TKDisneylover]

Hi Chandra:wave2:

Somehow I lost my subscription to your TR and did not know you had updated. So glad I check my subscriptions! It sounds like the sea portion of your trip started off really rough with the rough seas and a "gun in the face":scared1: YIKES!

The pic with Lilo & Stitch is sooo cute! Can't wait to hear about Castaway Cay, I've heard it's a beautiful beach! Hopefully things start getting better!

[schwenksvillemouse]

Bump

[SeattleGirl]

I'm still here! This is a busy week, but I have most of the next update done, so it will be here soon:).

[irky416]

Well, as we were approaching a bank, a man jumped out of a truck and pointed a gun at us and told us to stand still. This scared the living **** out of both of us.

Yikes! I wonder why he had a gun if he was delivering money? And felt the need to point it at you?


I do know that we ran into Lilo and Stitch and grabbed this cute picture:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/stitchgoodscan_0002.jpg
It was the only one we purchased on the cruise. The rest we just used our own camera for.

Very cute picture!


Next up, Paradise on Earth, Castaway Cay.

I can't wait to hear what Castaway Cay is like! I want to go there so badly.

[SeattleGirl]

Sorry I have gotten so behind in this! School plus the job search is just too much (p.s. if you know anyone hiring new lawyers in Seattle, give me a holler:).

This was by far the greatest day of our whole vacation! We woke up around 8 or 9 (we're not morning people) and headed up to the buffet for breakfast. We ate breakfast out on the back deck, with a full view of the island. The weather had taken a drastic turn from crappy and stormy to totally beautiful and in the low 80s (unheard of in January, for us!). I took this opportunity to snap a few zillion photos. Here is a sampling (see that blue sky!):
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/CastawayCay8-1.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/FlyingDutchman1.jpg
We scooted off the boat and I immediately determined that sunblock would be necessary. I always wear sunblock on my face and neck, but I hadn't had a chance to expose my arms to the outside for quite some time. Please remember to bring sunblock because I think it cost me like $12 on CC! I'm so glad we got some though because I could feel my skin start to cook almost instantly. After the sunblock fiasco, we boarded the tram to the adult beach. We walked out on the beach and dragged chairs out to the edge of the water (it's cool, everyone does this). We put in an order for Konk Koolers (and tipped the poor girl who trudged back to get them for us a ton!). Antonio decided to get in the water:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/CastawayCay4.jpg
I would have joined him, but I was skeeved out about how Serenity Bay doesn't have a predator net. Actually, the threads on sea lice scared the crap out of me more than the thought of a shark getting me! Next time, we will bring water shoes because the sand here is very rocky/shelly and kinda hurts to walk through. And I will suck it up and not worry about the sea lice.

After lounging for about an hour, we headed up to the adult BBQ area and enjoyed some really yummy burgers. I am a big fan of the soft serve cookie dough ice cream, too! We weren't sure what to do next, as the adult beach was kind of lonely and quiet (and we had had our fill of just laying in the sun). So, off to the family beach! I really wish we had spent more time here, but the sun was wearing us down quickly.

We found a nice set of hammocks by the Heads up Bar:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/Hammock2.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg146/rawkcandy/HeadsUpBar.jpg
Even though the beach was crowded and the "island" music was pretty loud, this little corner was very relaxing. I regret not going in the water here as well. I just felt more like watching other people swim than I felt like swimming (in the ocean). After a bit we changed into our swimsuits and headed back to the ship to enjoy the onboard pools all to ourselves! It was great to relax up on deck with a very sparse crowd. We still had a lovely view of the ocean and CC, but it was much less hectic. I didn't take any pictures because nobody needs to see me in a bathing suit:).

I can't quite remember if it was this day for sure, but we hit the DVC presentation in the afternoon. See, all of our dinner tablemates were DVC members. We were convinced for a while that they were plants! (I think Antonio is still convinced) Anyways, we were chatting with the DVC rep one day and some of our tablemates came up to say hello (more suspicious behavior, lol). The DVC rep mentioned that they would get a kickback if Antonio and I would go listen to the 45 minute presentation. Plus, we would be entered to win $300 in OBC. Alright, we were sold. The presentation was in Diversions. We sat and watched a DVD about how great Disney is (duh) and listened to how DVC works (the point system is pretty interesting - I had wanted to know what all these DVC people were up to for quite some time). One of our current issues is that we can't afford a house in Seattle (and likely never will). Average prices, even out of the "city" area, are around $400,000, which is just not doable for most middle class young people. Because of this, there was no way we could ever afford DVC - we knew that coming in. It's definitely on our list if we ever come into extra money, though! The rep was really nice, no pressure. And, while we didn't win the $300, I won a tote bag and a Stitch pin, so yay for that.

Before long, it was time to go shower and get ready for our Palo reservation. Palo was really lovely. We sat by a window just as the sun was setting. Our server (whose name is complicated and I can't spell it) was great. It's really cool to be in a fancy restaurant and not worry about how much everything is going to cost! I think I had a salmon entree and it was excellent (I rarely order salmon from restaurants because I think they always overcook it). We had the chocolate souffle for dessert (Antonio didn't like it, I thought it was pretty good) and tried the pineapple ravioli (which was surprisingly the best thing we ate).

Following our reservation (which I believe was for 6ish), we found ourselves with little to do prior to the Pirate party. So, we sat up on deck and drank some water (too full for anything else) and watched Hannah Montana concerts on the big screen (shh...we are secretly fans). I apologize for not having any of my own pics for Pirate Night. My old camera's inability to take pictures in low light is one of the reasons I just bought a new one. I don't want to ruin the party for anyone, but I will say that it is not what we had expected and we were pretty bored for about 90% of it. Next time, we will come up just in time for the characters and the fireworks. We essentially waited 3 hours for the party to start, so maybe our expectations were just too high!

After the party, we tried (unsucessfully) to have a martini at the Cadillac Lounge. A lot of things were working against our favor: 1) we were sleepy, 2) the singer was pretty bad that night, and 3) I hate cigarette smoke. So, we took our two-for-one martinis back to our room and promptly fell asleep, martinis on the bedside table and cartoons on the television. Next year, we are drinking red bull all day or taking a nap or something! :)

[SeattleGirl]

bump!

[SeattleGirl]

This is a link to my scrapbook of this trip (it's short). It's the first scrapbook I've ever made, so go easy on me!
http://picasaweb.google.com/chandra.carlisle/DisneyScrapbook2008

[TKDisneylover]

Hey Chandra!

Thanks so much for the update! It sounds like the beach is the place to be, I'll remember that if we ever take a Disney cruise.

I thought you did a wonderful job on your scrapbook (which reminds me I need to get moving on our Dec. 2007 Disney trip, I havn't even started scrapbooking it yet). I love the pic of you and Antonio with Tinker Bell, and the one at MGM in front of the Sorcerers hat.

Sorry to hear the Pirate party was not what you expected. And I am totally bumming that you mentioned cigarette smoke. Do they have any smoke-free areas on the ship where you can also get a cocktail?

PS: Good luck on the job search, I'm sure you will find something soon.

[TKDisneylover]

And I am totally bumming that you mentioned cigarette smoke. Do they have any smoke-free areas on the ship where you can also get a cocktail?

I just received an email from AllEars dot net and they just answerd my question with some new info on the Disney cruises, here it is:

-- New smoking restrictions went into effect for all Disney cruises, beginning with the 4/19 sailing of the Disney Magic. Smoking is no longer permitted on the port side of the ship. Guests are allowed to smoke on the starboard side, on decks 4, 9, and 10 (outside only and excluding all areas around Mickey's Pool). Because it is on the port side of the ship, smoking is also now not permitted outside Cove Cafe, however, a smoking area will be available opposite the location of Cove Cafe on the starboard side. In addition, smoking is now prohibited in ANY indoor venue, such as Cadillac Lounge, Diversions, etc.

This is good info to have for us non-smokers.