We don't wanna go home!!! Nov 1-8, 2008 Magic Western

[podsnel]

Hi there! I'm finally starting our trip report, it has taken over a week to get over our post-cruise-blues and back into life as we know it, which as it turns out, is complete chaos! No wonder we were all so sad to leave the Magic just a week and change ago....

A little backround on us- we are a family of 5, and I am the queen in a houseful of testosterone! DH & I have been married 22 years and have 3 sons, DS14, DS11 & DS9. We love Disney. Ok, THEY love Disney. I am certifiably insane about anything and all things Disney related- drank too much of the kool-aid, I am probably just like YOU! So what took us so long to go on our first Disney cruise? We were waiting. You see, we were hoping we would all be going. Our DS14 is autistic, and we were waiting for him to be ready to spend a few days on a ship. Because he LOVES Disney. But, puberty is a crazy time, and this year he decided he would not be sleeping anywhere but his bed. Period. No sleepaway camp, no overnights at friends houses, no trips on airplanes to Grandma's in Destin. And DEFINITELY no cruises. But he's ok with that. And we're ok with that because we have our cousins, Sherree and Henry, who are so ok with that, they stayed here with him while the other 4 of us went to explore the western Caribbean!

Here we are in 2003, our first trip with all three boys-


And this is us 4 years later, Nov 2007 at the Brown Derby for lunch-


One more thing to know about me, in case we haven't met before- I LOVE food and I LOVE photos, so I promise to give you alot of both!!

I'll be back in a bit to start with our first trip home to AKV, a fast Boma dinner, and Halloween at MNSSHP!

See ya real soon,
Ellen

[E&BMom]

Can't wait to hear more!!!

[podsnel]

We are from NJ, and that means we LOVE to go to WDW the first week of November when we have Teacher's Convention, and the kids are off from school for a couple of days no one else is. We booked this cruise on Nov 29th last year, I remember this because it's my birthday! We were all excited to be going on the Western, and I spent the following year preparing by obsessively reading everything ever written on this board and sleeping with my passporter under my pillow each night- well, almost. Anyway, it dawned on me about 5 minutes after booking the cruise that we could absolutely head down to WDW the day before the cruise and coincidentally stay at AKV for the first time! And, also by coincidence, go to our first MNSSHP and trick-or-treat in the Magic Kingdom ON Halloween!!!! I couldn't WAIT to share my brainstorm with my boys!!! And their response?

"Um, that's ok. We don't want to miss the Scotch Plains candy."

WHAT??????!!!!! I offer you the Holy Grail of all Trick-or-Treat nights, and YOU turn it down???!!! Who's kids ARE these, anyway????

So I did a little research here on the DIS, and SELECTIVELY showing them only the reports that spoke of candy beyond all candyliciousness, they were convinced. THAT was a close one!

Time flew (read- dragged) by, and before we knew it, I was packing (and packing and packing) for our trip! A few days before we left, we had THIS incentive to get out of Dodge-



And DH and I got to go to this concert 2 nights before we left-



I LOVE The Who- I've seen them many, many times, but this was the first time I had such close seats that were legitimately mine! . Thanks, Tom & Evie!



OK- sorry for sidetracking...

We were flying out of JFK instead of Newark because of the $$$$ factor during NJ week- even though Newark is 20 minutes from home. But we were lucky, we hit no traffic and the whole thing was painless. PLUS we were on a very cool Delta jet that had individual tv's, and we could play trivia with the whole plane- very fun! Even better, we struck up a conversation with the nice family sitting in front of us, who were from NJ, going to stay at AKV, going to have dinner at BOMA, heading to MNSSHP, and going on the Western!!! Like sitting behind myself... Before you could say, "BOO", we were on the ME and headed to AKV. My men were totally amazed by the grand expanse of the resort! Our room was ready, so we headed up to have a look at studio #5239 on the Arusha Savanna.









Bathing suits were put on in a hurry, but first things first- we were hungry! So we made our way to the Mara. DH had some stew-



DS11 had pepperoni kids pizza-


DS9 had chicken fingers


And I had a burger-


It was all fine- nothing outstanding. EXCEPT for dessert- my kids LOVED those zebra domes!!!




At the pool in the next post-

[ReneaB]

Great start to your report....I am sooooo getting hooked on trip reports. My family is going on our first Disney cruise in January.
Love your pictures!
Renea

[Mom2PrincessesLinSy]

Yeah, El, way to add to the greatness of the EDC trip!! Can't wait to hear all about YOUR cruise, since I barely ran into you on the ship at all!!

As for DS, I thought since you gave out the Autism Awareness magnets in our Fe that DS may be Autistic, and I could sorta tell in the pictures, but I didn't want to ask and seem like a crazy loon! Its awesome your cousins' would stay with him, it is so hard for those kids to break from routines. I came home and told many of the families in our center that there were several children onboard with Autism, and they were hopeful that they too may be able to do the trip sometime. Sorry your DS wouldn't go this trip, but maybe next year? Pictures are worth 1000 words and a year's worth of preparation!!

Looking forward to hearing more! And now I'm off to update on mine! (I've been slacking!)

TTFN!

[podsnel]

Originally Posted by E&BMom

Can't wait to hear more!!!

Thanks! I'll do my best!

Originally Posted by ReneaB

Great start to your report....I am sooooo getting hooked on trip reports. My family is going on our first Disney cruise in January.
Love your pictures!
Renea

I totally understand- the TR's are addictive- before your 1st cruise because you can't wait to see what it's like, and then after....so you can relive it again and again before you go on the next one. The cruise EXCEEDED our expectations, it was AMAZING- you will love it!!!

Originally Posted by Mom2PrincessesLinSy

Yeah, El, way to add to the greatness of the EDC trip!! Can't wait to hear all about YOUR cruise, since I barely ran into you on the ship at all!!

As for DS, I thought since you gave out the Autism Awareness magnets in our Fe that DS may be Autistic, and I could sorta tell in the pictures, but I didn't want to ask and seem like a crazy loon! Its awesome your cousins' would stay with him, it is so hard for those kids to break from routines. I came home and told many of the families in our center that there were several children onboard with Autism, and they were hopeful that they too may be able to do the trip sometime. Sorry your DS wouldn't go this trip, but maybe next year? Pictures are worth 1000 words and a year's worth of preparation!!

Looking forward to hearing more! And now I'm off to update on mine! (I've been slacking!)

TTFN!

Hi Jen!

Yes, i gave out those magnets as part of my FE gift because of DS14...I hope people will put them on their cars at home. They are actually a fundraiser for Autism Awareness. I do know autistic kids who have gone on DCL and had a ball- I just am not sure my DS is one of those kids. It's alot of unexpected commotion, and he might end up wanting to spend the cruise in the cabin where it's less chaotic.
Thanks for saying hi!

[Mom2PrincessesLinSy]

Originally Posted by podsnel

Hi Jen!

Yes, i gave out those magnets as part of my FE gift because of DS14...I hope people will put them on their cars at home. They are actually a fundraiser for Autism Awareness. I do know autistic kids who have gone on DCL and had a ball- I just am not sure my DS is one of those kids. It's alot of unexpected commotion, and he might end up wanting to spend the cruise in the cabin where it's less chaotic.
Thanks for saying hi!

Totally understand hon. Totally understand. Make one false move, and your world becomes a Topsy Turvy dance in trying to calm a child who can't get his system together, while staving off stares from onlookers who don't understand. Its a careful balance of Ying and Yang, but where there is alot of grey!! (((hug)) I'm sure he had a good enough time in his secure predictable world at home, while you explored! Good for all of you!

[podsnel]

We were anxious to park ourselves at the pool, so that is exactly where we headed next-





I had gotten an underwater camera (Olympus 850) right before this trip (based on recommendations made on this board, of course! Wasn't that lucky I read THAT one! I didn't even know I NEEDED an underwater camera! ). Really, I am VERY glad I got this camera, it came in very handy on the trip and it was fantastic not to worry about my camera getting wet.









After saying hi to our friends from the plane, and enjoying a frosty African beer and cocktail, we went back up to the room to watch some animals-









So funny, the white pelicans walk in formation!


As a new AKV feature, it seems they have added character visits to the rooms!


I wonder what package THAT comes with!

Observing those animals from your own balcony is priceless- the DS's were in heaven, they thought it was too cool.

Our luggage had arrived while we were at the pool, so we got ready for our big night! We dressed in our costumes, which a friend of mine who had been to MNSSHP before had suggested- we went as an all-sports team. DH-baseball, DS11 football, DS9 soccer and I was a cheerleader. Not the most elaborate costumes, but we were all a theme, and they were easy to wear on rides. Also, very easy to organize since we already had all the stuff- my kids play a ton of sports, and DH coaches alot of them. But first, we had an early ADR at Boma-



Wow, is there a LOT of food at this buffet! It probably would have helped if we had not just had lunch a few hours before....but we had a schedule to keep! I tried 4 of the 5 soups, and they were all yummy-


DS11 had fruit before the rest of his meal-


Some of everything-


Obviously, I was not yet in full-vacation-food-porn-picture-taking-mode, sorry about that- it gets better on the boat!

But we weren't here for the food- we were here for the party!
On to MNSSHP!!!

[spike417]

WOW! How awesome! Disney and the WHO! Maybe we could get the boys to play on a Disney Cruise! I have had a crush on Roger for 20+ years! Thank you for sharing!

[MAGICFOR2]

Subbing in Ellen, I'll be back to read! I'm excited to see your trip!

[karajeboo]

And I can't believe you sall ALL the "dorfs" (as Ally calls them!). That would knock out another 6 pages from her autograph book. Someday, I hope!

[Camster0307]

Originally Posted by karajeboo

And I can't believe you sall ALL the "dorfs" (as Ally calls them!). That would knock out another 6 pages from her autograph book. Someday, I hope!

I had asked a CM about seeing all the dwarfs; he said they are usually only out all together during the MNSSHP. Although, I definitley remember seeing them late one night during a MVMCP. Go figure!

[karajeboo]

Originally Posted by Camster0307

I had asked a CM about seeing all the dwarfs; he said they are usually only out all together during the MNSSHP. Although, I definitley remember seeing them late one night during a MVMCP. Go figure!

What are dwarfs? I'm talking about the DORFS! You know, the little guys with Snow White?

[wuv tigger]

It's making my recovery

[disneyfan551]

Great report! You're getting me excited about my trip this weekend!