Magicians, Hypnotists and Gaga Ball on the Magic

[MrsKP]

Enjoying your report and all the photos. Sailing the Magic in June. Will be our first time on her. What category cabin did you have?

 

[ASJMom]

Enjoying your trip report as well. My family along with my sister and some of her family are going next month (22 days). I have a son with many issues; autism, OCD, and sensory issues to name a few. So I'm really interested in hearing how things go for you, your family and your son.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[jjje]

Enjoying your report and the pictures!

Thanks!

Great report....can't wait to hear more!

Thanks! I'm working on more right now instead of making dinner. Trip reports are more fun.

So fun reading your report and look forward to hearing more, especially about Edge.

I have lots more to say about the Edge.

Great continuation of your report! yay! We've not been on the Magic since 2007, we are long over due to visit her in April

I hope you'll find her as lovely as we did!

Enjoying your report so far. Can't wait to read the rest. My DH and I are sailing on the same 8 night cruise on April 26th. Woo hoo!

Woo hoo indeed!

Enjoying your report and all the photos. Sailing the Magic in June. Will be our first time on her. What category cabin did you have?

10c I believe. It had a split bath and was 214 square feet. And we used every inch of it.

Enjoying your trip report as well. My family along with my sister and some of her family are going next month (22 days). I have a son with many issues; autism, OCD, and sensory issues to name a few. So I'm really interested in hearing how things go for you, your family and your son.

Spoiler alert: We had an awesome cruise and it's now my son's favorite type of vacation!

 

[denamo]

Enjoying your review. We will be on Magic 's last cruise from Texas before their repositioning. Can't wait for more!

 

[jjje]

After we were all situated in our slightly warmer clothes we slowly made our way to the our muster station in the Walt Disney Theater. This was the thing my son was the most worried about and I think you can see his tension in this picture.

We took a detour out on to the deck to check out the port again. While it's not exactly a pretty place it is kind of interesting to see everything that is going on there.

My husband swears he saw a dolphin here and I really hope he was wrong because the idea of a dolphin swimming in this water sort of makes me sad.

After our brief stop on deck we headed into the theater. As we stood outside the theater helping J feel comfortable about going in we saw a crew member and asked him to describe the drill for us. He ran through the procedure and explained what would happen. J was still pretty nervous but he felt a little better once he knew all the steps. We paused for a quick photo.

Do you know what has been edited from this picture?

We were one of the first groups to check in to our muster station so we settled in and watched as the theater filled up. It was here that we found out my daughter thought we were at a mustard drill. When the alarm went off it really wasn't very loud at all. In fact J even laughed and said "That is what I was so afraid of?" In fact the real noise in the muster drill came from the crew member giving everyone instructions over the bull horn. That's probably because we were sitting in the front row and were three inches away from him.

I was so eager to do the muster drill right that I accidentally raised my hand when they were calling out the cabin numbers of people who hadn't checked in. I thought they were doing a roll call! Residents of 2037, I almost took the fall for you. I was surprised by how many people just hadn't bothered to show up for the drill. I hope they made them do a longer, louder, more boring make up drill.

Now it was time to go to the Adventures Away party. We got there just in time to snag some standing room right by the stage. The kids were also excited to be handed streamers to wave around.

It was crowded!

While we were waiting for the show to start we were surprised to see how many people kept letting their little kids run up on to the stage. Like, repeatedly. Crew members kept gently shooing them off but then they would run right back up. I don't know if their parents weren't watching or they just didn't care that their children were not supposed to be on stage but I thought it was a little inconsiderate.

Before we knew it though it was time for the crew members to come out and dance. I was impressed with how energetic they were.

They really danced for a long time. We enjoyed it from our primo standing room.

Ear plugs firmly in place.

See how everyone around us is all bundled up? we Minnesotans were actually pretty warm and toasty out in the sun with everyone around us acting as a wind break.

So, more dancing, dancing, dancing and then all of the sudden Simon started pointing to someone in the audience.

Who could it be?

It's Jesse, my poor put-upon husband!

This, Jesse later informed me, is exactly why he hates being up front at shows. He does have a tendency to be picked for things. He's a sport though so he jumped right in and did the sprinkler.

Even Simon was shocked by his moves.

He did the pony too but I promised him I would never show people that picture. It was pretty epic. The kids and I got a big kick out of watching him on stage. After Jesse got off stage it was time for the real characters to come out.

Mickey's captain costume is adorable.

More dancing

I really admired the stamina of these costumed characters. This part of the show just seemed to go on and on. Our cruise director, Peter, came out for a while to talk. We really liked Peter and the kids always wanted to give him high fives when we saw him around the ship.

More dancing!

How cute is Minnie?

After this they called kids up on stage to join in the dancing. We were just about knocked down in the stampede as about 1000 kids ran up on stage. This was just a little too much for J (and frankly me as well) so we escaped for a little breathing room. If I remember right I think we moved up to deck 10. We still wanted to watch the ship sail away.

Port. Blech.

After a little while the started the count down to sailing away. We loudly joined in and when it got to one they played the ship horn and I cried. (Sometimes we watch youtube videos of the Magic and every time I hear that horn I get weepy.) We went to the back of the ship to watch the port slip away.

I just liked the way this looked.

I liked this little boat.

We had sailed away! It was just the start of our cruise. What adventures lay ahead? More food! That was pretty much always the answer.

 

[jjje]

Enjoying your review. We will be on Magic 's last cruise from Texas before their repositioning. Can't wait for more!

Awesome! You'll love it!

 

[nunzia]

Loving your report! We are on this same cruise, leaving April 26. I've never been on the Magic but have sailed on the Wonder and loved it. I have a grandson with Aspergers so am interested in reading about your son's perceptions. ( I know what was removed from the picture at the Walt Disney Theater..do I get a prize? )
Looking forward to the next installment.

 

[LisaHK]

Great report so far. We are sailing on Magic in August and cannot wait.

 

[wgeo]

I'm really enjoying reading your report! We're taking our very first cruise on the Magic next October and love reading another report from a first time cruiser. Thanks!

We're from WI (although I was born and raised in MN) and we're just like you when we go south, everyone is bundled up and we're in shorts!

Gina

 

[beccafish3kids]

Yes, yes, yes, we were up there center back (we're in your picture, ha!) watching your dear husband do The Sprinkler and The Pony... and I thought to myself, "This dad is seriously awesome!" I'm glad he jumped right in there; he made us all feel comfortable by his willingness to be part of the magic. Yay, Jesse!

 

[Luv2Diz]

Enjoying your TR! Can't wait for more....we are doing this cruise in May.

 

[Linda67]

Just wanted to say how much I am enjoying your TR

Well done DH for being such a good sport!

 

[jjje]

Loving your report! We are on this same cruise, leaving April 26. I've never been on the Magic but have sailed on the Wonder and loved it. I have a grandson with Aspergers so am interested in reading about your son's perceptions. ( I know what was removed from the picture at the Walt Disney Theater..do I get a prize? )
Looking forward to the next installment.

Yes, you do get a prize! Here it is:

Great report so far. We are sailing on Magic in August and cannot wait.

I'm so jealous of all the people that have a trip on the magic to look forward to. It's a beautiful ship!

I'm really enjoying reading your report! We're taking our very first cruise on the Magic next October and love reading another report from a first time cruiser. Thanks!

We're from WI (although I was born and raised in MN) and we're just like you when we go south, everyone is bundled up and we're in shorts!

Gina

Have you ever been to Disney World in winter? One day we went when it was 50 out and the cast members were dressed in winter parkas. We enjoyed that.

Yes, yes, yes, we were up there center back (we're in your picture, ha!) watching your dear husband do The Sprinkler and The Pony... and I thought to myself, "This dad is seriously awesome!" I'm glad he jumped right in there; he made us all feel comfortable by his willingness to be part of the magic. Yay, Jesse!

I wondered if I was catching any other Disboard folks in my pictures. Jesse really is a good guy. (And brave!)

Enjoying your TR! Can't wait for more....we are doing this cruise in May.

Can you fit one more person in your luggage?

Just wanted to say how much I am enjoying your TR

Well done DH for being such a good sport!

Would you believe that this moment was not the one he described as the most embarrassing of the whole trip? It gets better/worse!

 

[dallastxcpa]

I am loving your trip report. It will really help me get through the next two weeks until our cruise.

Let me say as a native Texan you telling the truth about our ugly gulf water doesn't hurt at all. Its a good 12 hour drive to south padre for me. For that amount of time I might as well get on an airplane and go to someplace with turquoise waters.

 

[jjje]

It was only the first day of our cruise when we figured out that with late seating we were going to have to eat something before dinner to tide us over. So we became hobbits and started the tradition of Second Lunch. Sometimes we had room service, sometimes we had pizza, sometimes we had tacos (until I had a Very Bad Thing happened but more on that later) and often we would have fruit and ice cream from Goofy's Galley.

Grapes make a great Second Lunch

After getting recharged (because we were exhausted from all that dancing and cheering for dancing) we spent a little more time exploring the ship. I wanted to take more pictures but my family was in no mood for slowing down to let me fiddle with my aperture so I didn't have much success.

I did manage to get one of an empty Studio Sea.

FYI, those film canister columns are cute but if you sit any where near them you won't be able to see what is going on up front at all. We liked the games and activities in Studio Sea but the seating felt weird and disorganized. Just a small quibble though.

Next we walked through the art gallery area where I fell in love with (and took a terrible picture of) this Up oil painting.

Look at the tiny characters!

I looked my husband dead in the eye and said "I need this picture."

He looked back at me and said "You lugged all our clothes through three airports so you didn't have to pay a baggage fee and now you want to buy an oil painting off a cruise ship?"

And I never mentioned buying that painting again. But I still long for it.

It was getting close to show time for All Aboard: Let the Magic Begin so we went to the theater. Even though we were on a packed full ship we didn't have any problem finding a good seat just fifteen minutes before the show started.

If you're tall like me you might enjoy sitting in the first row of the second section. You get all the leg room you need and there's no one sitting in front of you trying to secretly film the show with their ipad. The bar in front of you doesn't get in your way at all. In fact even my small kids said it wasn't in their way.

Another tradition my family started was ordering the Drink of the Day while we waited for the show to start. If he deemed it too "girly" of a drink my husband would sometimes order a beer but I always got the Drink of the Day. This annoyed my kids to no end because they wanted to order something too but I always refused. "There's all this free food on the ship! I am not paying for popcorn and candy!" Sometimes they whined a little but I didn't care because I was sipping on the Drink of the Day. I am not a big drinker at all and in spite of my size I am a real lightweight when it comes to alcohol. In spite of that not a single thing I drank on the cruise ever made me feel the least bit tipsy. I don't know if that's because they make their drinks really weak or because all the alcohol was being absorbed by the 3 dozen tacos I ate every day but something was going on with those drinks. Still, it was fun to try a new drink every day and I thought it was worth the 5 or 6 dollars.

So, All Aboard. It was cute. There's some singing and some dancing and a few jokes and the cruise director came out and talked and it was all fine. I imagine we will skip it when we go on our next cruise because I'm not sure it's anything we will need to see twice. If I had to use a smiley to describe the show I would use this one: I will say that E really like the show because she's at the wonderful age where everything new is special and fun and makes you sit on the edge of your seat and clap wildly.

After the show we made what would turn out to be our biggest mistake during the entire cruise. We went to the gift shop.

Take it from me folks, there is no reason to visit the gift shop the minute you walk out of a show. Everyone else in the world is doing the same thing and it makes people very crabby. Huge sensory overload even for people who don't have sensory issues. By the time we realized we were fools to try and browse the souvenir selection at the same time as 600 other people it was too late and we were trapped in the store. After a lot of "Excuse me, excuse me, sir, you're stepping my my daughter, excuse me, I SAID EXCUSE ME!" we managed to wiggle our way out. Don't be like us. Don't visit the gift shop right after a show. Go during the middle of the day when you will literally be the only person in there and cast members will slip you trading pins because you are small and cute. (This works best if you are a small and cute child.)

After our retreat from the Mob That Ate the Gift Shop we made a quick stop at the bathrooms.

People don't look at you funny at all when you take pictures of the bathroom signs. No, that's not true. They do. Just enjoy my picture and save yourself from getting the looks that clearly say "Is this person a bathroom fetishist and perhaps would I be safer using the bathroom in my cabin?"

Can I just say that we used a LOT of bathroom on the ship because E's philosophy is life is that whatever we're planning on doing is fun but certainly doing it five minutes later so we can make a bathroom stop will be even more fun. I never saw any of the bathrooms in anything less that spotless condition. I'm sure that it happens but I never saw it. None of them even had that usual tell-tale public restroom smell. I and say that as a person who spends a lot of time hanging around outside public restroom stalls while E ... I don't know, composes symphonies or whatever it is she does in there that takes so long.

After spending eternity in the bathroom we went to Studio Sea to watch and maybe play Mickey Mania. It's a family game that's sort of like Jeopardy but with teams? And without the answering in the form of a question? And with Disney questions? I don't know. I'm terrible at describing things. You can kind of see the set up in the background of this picture.

We didn't get picked to play. Sad! I will say that although I bad at describing things I am super awesome at Disney trivia. If we had been picked to play J and I would have swept the competition. Oh well. The people who were picked were good too and it was enjoyable to watch. The crew member who ran it did a nice job and kept it entertaining.

After Mickey Mania we headed to dinner. Our first restaurant in our rotation was the Animator's Palate. For some reason I kept calling it the Artist's Palate and this made my kids scream with laughter each time I did it. We made a second blunder here by arriving early and standing in line. Don't do that. There's no need. Just show up on time and you'll be able to walk right in and be seated. Standing in line is for noobs.

We were seated with another family of four. This was instantly a cause of angst for our little group. I had really debated requesting a table of our own but I wondered if we would get sick of talking to only each other every night so I decided to chance it. Jesse is a very friendly guy who can talk to anyone. I however am extremely shy and tend to say awkward things around people I don't know well. J is also uncomfortable around people he doesn't know well. E is seven and has the social skills of a seven year old which is to say that she's a sweet girl and very likeable but she really doesn't care much what's going on with you when she's got chicken fingers and broccoli in front of her.

So our first dinner was a little uncomfortable. I think none of us were sure how much we were really supposed to talk to the other family. I tried to think of a way to break the ice but all I could think of was asking "So .... do you like ...stuff?" so I kept my mouth shut and tended to my kids. This was difficult as about 10 minutes into dinner E got a major case of the I Didn't Sleep Enough Last Night And Now Everything Makes Me Cry and J was eager to get out of there and do some of the getting-to-know-you activities in the Edge.

Let me talk for just a minute about food. As I said earlier I didn't really take pictures but I do remember what I ate:

Wild Mushroom Risotto and Porcini Twist - I don't really like mushrooms but I love risotto more than I hate eating fungus so I gave this a try. I wish I had asked for a second serving. This was the bomb-diggity. It was so good that it made me say stupid things like bomb-diggity.
Ahi Tuna Tartare - Yeah, I ordered two appetizers. That's how I roll. This was pretty good but TINY. On the menu it said it should have caviar on it but mine didn't seem to. Still pretty good.
Smoked Salmon and Trout with Goat Cheese Salad - Not bad at all. I love goat cheese and salmon though so you could probably serve them on a mushroom and I would eat it.
Lemon-Thyme Marinated Chicken Breast - I will go on record and say this was my second biggest disappointment of my MDR meals. The piece of chicken I had was fatty and the mashed potatoes were somehow both runny and dry. I will say that Jesse ordered the same thing and loved it. In fact he ate mine when I quit halfway through.
I don't remember what I had for dessert. Most likely the trio of min-desserts that they offer with every dinner. I'm sure it was good but ...

At this point I was mostly trying to get E to watch the "show" going on around her. Everything was lighting up and changing colors around us. Even the servers changed from their black and white vests to colorful vests. Fun fact - Over-tired seven year olds care very little about the clothing choices of waiters. I on the other hand really enjoyed the show. It felt very Disney to me and in spite of the fact that E had fallen asleep using my arm as a pillow I really got into it. This was helped along by the fact that our serving team was awesome. They were so friendly and cheerful that they helped set the mood for me.

Finally we decided to head out of dinner. If things had been awkward with our tablemates at first I certainly didn't make it better when we suddenly got up and left without saying goodbye to them. Not my best move but my arm was asleep and both my kids had dissolved into sad, mopey piles of whine and I just needed to get them out of there.

When we left the restaurant E instantly perked up and asked if she could go to the Lab to make jewelry. We agreed and Jesse went to drop her off. I took J to the Edge. I had to stand outside with him for minute and help him work up his nerve. He really wanted to go in but he needed a second to feel comfortable. I was really proud of him for going in because I know it was hard for him.

Jesse and I met up in the stairwell stairwell by the Edge. Then we headed down the hall to our cabin.

Once we got to the cabin, just the two of us, we did what came naturally. Yeah baby, that's right. We unpacked.

That's not entirely accurate. I unpacked. Jesse laid on the bed and watched Mickey Mouse cartoons.

I also ate all the chocolate our room hostess left because the rule is that for every suitcase you unpack you get a piece of chocolate. Unpacking didn't take too long because we hadn't brought that much. I was able to fit all the empty bags into the closet and still have plenty of space for hanging clothes. We had more than enough space for folded things in the drawers and the steamer trunk. The only problem I ran into was trying to find outlets to plug our various chargers into. Jesse had to rent an extension cord from guest services ($50 fully refundable upon the cord's return) so that he could plug his cpap machine in.

After I was all unpacked I went to pick up the kids. I found E in the lab sitting at a computer showing a very tiny girl how to play Peggle. I know some people worry about their older kids not wanting to be around the young kids in the Club and Lab but E really enjoyed it. I think she liked feeling like a big kid.

I also picked J up at the Edge. Kids in the Edge don't have to be checked out or picked up and are given the run of the ship but J preferred having us pick him up. He liked knowing what time we would be there because he prefers to operate on a schedule that he knows ahead of time. I found him sitting at a table coloring a picture and talking to a girl. He talked about this girl a lot over the coming days. He started off calling her "my new artist friend" and then changed that to "my new artist friend who lives in Canada" which then became "my new artist friend who lives in Canada and is Korean" and then at last "my new artist friend who lives in Canada and is Korean and I think her name is R___". (If you are reading this and that is your daughter please know that your child helped make the cruise a lot more fun and comfortable for J. He really enjoyed her company and her friendliness towards a kid who can be a little awkward and unsure of himself was a real gift. You're raising a winner!)

At the end of a long day, bed time. I don't even remember laying down. I don't often sleep well in new places but I conked out pretty much right away this night. The ship was rocking noticeably and I felt like I was being rocked to sleep. It was a nice way to end a pretty awesome day.

Coming up: What happened with the taco? Would we ever make friends with our tablemates? Did Jesse's bathroom stuff keep ending up on the floor? Stay tuned for another griping installment where a total stranger tries (and maybe fails) to remember what she ate one night several weeks ago!

 

[jjje]

I am loving your trip report. It will really help me get through the next two weeks until our cruise.

Let me say as a native Texan you telling the truth about our ugly gulf water doesn't hurt at all. Its a good 12 hour drive to south padre for me. For that amount of time I might as well get on an airplane and go to someplace with turquoise waters.

I read a ton of trip reports before our cruise too. It helps pass the time doesn't it? And I think I'm done talking bad about Texas.

 

[Wildernessbride2005]

Great reports so far. We were also on your sailing. Your husbands dance moves were very entertaining. What a good sport.

I always sleep like a baby on a ship. The rocking is so soothing and we definitely had more to come.

Hopefully you made friends with your table mates. This cruise we had the best and spent so much of our time together you would have thought we knew each other forever.

Also, my daughter is a cast member in Vibe, but she was in the club/lab some of the week. Her name is Carly. I wonder if your daughter met her.

Thanks for sharing. I'll keep looking for us in pictures.

 

[Luv2Diz]

Coming up: What happened with the taco? Would we ever make friends with our tablemates?

Please continue soon with your TR......we need answers to these questions!

 

[wgeo]

Nice update. I'm really interested to see how the table mates thing works out. I can't decide if we should request to sit by ourselves or not. My DH is not a "group" person, but I think the kids might really like sitting with other kids ...

 

[mrsoc]

Great update. Good idea about bringing an extension cord. My husband uses a Cpap machine also, did you bring distilled water or did you request it to be on board? We will be traveling next yr on the fantasy and wanted to get an idea.
Thanks