Oh the places We Go, The People We see

[francis6306]

Okay, I have opened another tab to write anything up here as I caught up from page 19! I'm mostly just reading your updates, so forgive me!

Dumbo Queue- The middle part IS for babies! It actually clearly states that only under 4 is in the middle circle. There is quite a bit of stuff up higher for the kids to climb in and slide- so it's not all for babies. Cortlyn enjoyed it! She's still a little younger than Claire, but there were a lot of older kids playing in the area up in the ropes.

I had the same feeling with that area where you get the FP's in Storybook… it just seems like a really big area for nothing. But I can't think of any other character meets that would fit there…

What is up with the horrible lighting with the characters?!?! I mean REALLY!!!!

NFL is really dark… It doesn't make a lot of sense for it to be that dark!

Love the fireworks behind the Haunted Mansion! What a neat shot!!

That backsack for the candy was adorable! Lisa- you did a great job, as usual!!!

WOW! That suite of Ellen's was AMAZING!!! Ohh to day dream about staying there!

I'm fairly sure my girls would love to just go to Disney to swim!

Boo to mis-communication on the shuttle stuff! Glad you were able to "recover" quickly. There just isn't any sense getting too worked over about it- but that small stuff is really annoying and changes EVERYTHING.

OMG on the luggage!! I'm glad that you guys figured it out before you got on the boat!! And you know, I would have wanted to kill Corey if that was us! Thanks for the reminder that I should ALWAYS check the bags once more!!!

This Abby reminds me of my Catie!!! Very particular about what SHE wants in the moment! Cute!

Okay, well, you can hurry up and talk about the cruise now!!

[MEK]

Originally Posted by jenseib

How cute! I love their matching outfits and I love you T's so cute.

OMG - I can't believe your dad picked up the wrong luggage. I don't know whether to laugh or cry Those poor people from Montreal! Imagine not only having your luggage go missing but having the airliner not know where it is.

And there is a reason you have a cell phone - to keep it on! You're dad sounds like Denny. Lesson learned.

I'm so glad that you got to meet up with Rinky Tinky. Does she have a TR going for this cruise? I loved her last one.

Wow - I can only imagine how chaotic that 24 hours was for you. Sheesh.

I share you inability to sleep pre-trip. I hate it, but I have just learned to live with it.

Great updates!

[nannye]

Omg that was too funny. Was laughing out loud reading it. Your poor dad! What an update. I
Love those cruise headband hats! Please tell e where you got them!

The girls are adorable in their matching dresses.

[Beth D]

Love the days! IH ad to skip all the other comments to catch up on 13+ pages of updates!

I'm glad you got your mom's bag!

The pics with the girls in their dresses is the absolute best!

The cure for the "i'm too excited to sleep" - get up at 3:30 AM, go to airport to catch 6 AM flight. Run around MCO trying to find a darn carseat that got left in the luggage hold. Get rental car, go to DHS, and spend the ENTIRE day trying to get DS into Jedi training on standby. (Pixie dust-we did!) Leave when the park is closing, eat dinner in Orlando, and then drive about 45 min. to a hotel just south of Cocoa. Collapse into bed around 10 PM, and sleep like a light until about 7 am!

I truly don't recommend it, but that's what it took for me last year, as I'm definitely in the same category as you! Last week before I left for my trip for work, we got snow, then freezing rain overnight. DH had to wake me up to let me know it was now sleeting! Darn him! I ended up waking up every hour, and left for the airport an extra hour early!

[jodi90]

I love the shirt your wearing!! Where did you get it? I would love something like that for our upcoming cruise

Jodi

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by SunLuvr321

Your post is perfect timing. We are heading out on the Cocoa Beach Shuttle tomorrow morning for the Dream.

Have you ever stopped at the DIS Welcome center? I stopped by yesterday and had a great time. I met Pete Werner and many others. Had fun talking about the DIS and Disney. They were setting up for a video on door decorating.

Have fun!!!

I have heard of it, but not sure where it is. IOn fact someone told me it was now closed, but I guess theyre were wrong. LOL

Originally Posted by francis6306

Okay, I have opened another tab to write anything up here as I caught up from page 19! I'm mostly just reading your updates, so forgive me!

Dumbo Queue- The middle part IS for babies! It actually clearly states that only under 4 is in the middle circle. There is quite a bit of stuff up higher for the kids to climb in and slide- so it's not all for babies. Cortlyn enjoyed it! She's still a little younger than Claire, but there were a lot of older kids playing in the area up in the ropes.

I had the same feeling with that area where you get the FP's in Storybook… it just seems like a really big area for nothing. But I can't think of any other character meets that would fit there…

What is up with the horrible lighting with the characters?!?! I mean REALLY!!!!

NFL is really dark… It doesn't make a lot of sense for it to be that dark!

Love the fireworks behind the Haunted Mansion! What a neat shot!!

That backsack for the candy was adorable! Lisa- you did a great job, as usual!!!

WOW! That suite of Ellen's was AMAZING!!! Ohh to day dream about staying there!

I'm fairly sure my girls would love to just go to Disney to swim!

Boo to mis-communication on the shuttle stuff! Glad you were able to "recover" quickly. There just isn't any sense getting too worked over about it- but that small stuff is really annoying and changes EVERYTHING.

OMG on the luggage!! I'm glad that you guys figured it out before you got on the boat!! And you know, I would have wanted to kill Corey if that was us! Thanks for the reminder that I should ALWAYS check the bags once more!!!

This Abby reminds me of my Catie!!! Very particular about what SHE wants in the moment! Cute!

Okay, well, you can hurry up and talk about the cruise now!!

Abby is a wild child and is very stubborn. She is so different than Alexis. Gail has her hands full with that girl. On day at daycare she was caught eating food out of the garbage. Yes she had already had a good lunch, but that garbage food looked better I guess.
And then one day she stuck a bead up her nose and they had to take her the Dr. to get it out. Gail says Inusrance doesn't cover bead removal.
She will drop flat out on the ground at any moment for a tantrum if need be. But she is also the cutest thing and can be so sweet too. Just a different child.

The luggage deal was quite something. Funny to look back on, but not so funny at the moment. I remember I kept thinking, that this stuff happens to other people, not us.

Swimming has always been a highlight for Claire. My BIL across the street has a pool and Claire wants to go every single day. I usually just sit on the deck and read.

Originally Posted by MEK

How cute! I love their matching outfits and I love you T's so cute.

OMG - I can't believe your dad picked up the wrong luggage. I don't know whether to laugh or cry Those poor people from Montreal! Imagine not only having your luggage go missing but having the airliner not know where it is.

And there is a reason you have a cell phone - to keep it on! You're dad sounds like Denny. Lesson learned.

I'm so glad that you got to meet up with Rinky Tinky. Does she have a TR going for this cruise? I loved her last one.

Wow - I can only imagine how chaotic that 24 hours was for you. Sheesh.

I share you inability to sleep pre-trip. I hate it, but I have just learned to live with it.

Great updates!

The whole cell phone thing with Dad is crazy. He doesn't seem to catch on either that it should be on always. Some day an emergency will happen and no one will be able to get him.

The luggage thing is NOT something I ever want to go through again. We really lucked out.
Rinky told me she was not going to do one, but she might do a highlights post, but nothing ever happened and she is rarely ever on here anymore either.
Luckily I have enough adrenaline to keep me going for most of the day with out sleep. If I had that at home, I would be a zombie.

Originally Posted by nannye

Omg that was too funny. Was laughing out loud reading it. Your poor dad! What an update. I
Love those cruise headband hats! Please tell e where you got them!

The girls are adorable in their matching dresses.

I got it from a friend of a friend off facebook. I think she has a site, I'll see if I can find out what it is.
It is funny now, at the time, not so much.

Originally Posted by Beth D

Love the days! IH ad to skip all the other comments to catch up on 13+ pages of updates!

I'm glad you got your mom's bag!

The pics with the girls in their dresses is the absolute best!

The cure for the "i'm too excited to sleep" - get up at 3:30 AM, go to airport to catch 6 AM flight. Run around MCO trying to find a darn carseat that got left in the luggage hold. Get rental car, go to DHS, and spend the ENTIRE day trying to get DS into Jedi training on standby. (Pixie dust-we did!) Leave when the park is closing, eat dinner in Orlando, and then drive about 45 min. to a hotel just south of Cocoa. Collapse into bed around 10 PM, and sleep like a light until about 7 am!

I truly don't recommend it, but that's what it took for me last year, as I'm definitely in the same category as you! Last week before I left for my trip for work, we got snow, then freezing rain overnight. DH had to wake me up to let me know it was now sleeting! Darn him! I ended up waking up every hour, and left for the airport an extra hour early!

UGH! That sounds like a day we would have. I just think I wasn't active enough the day before, sitting by the pool is probably not included in active lifestyles.
I am ready for warm weather. It's a bummer it's till early Feb and we still have a few months of this crud.

Originally Posted by jodi90

I love the shirt your wearing!! Where did you get it? I would love something like that for our upcoming cruise

Jodi

Thanks. I got the graphic off one of the Dis threads. I think it's a magnet thread or desing thread. I think on the DCL boards. I then added the year, and ship name (though some of those people are more than happy to add that stuff for you) and then I uploaded it to vista print and ordered them I made a couple of iron ons for the 2 boys.

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by nannye

Omg that was too funny. Was laughing out loud reading it. Your poor dad! What an update. I
Love those cruise headband hats! Please tell e where you got them!

The girls are adorable in their matching dresses.

This is her facebook page, but I don't think she really uses it. you send a message if you are really interested. Also I am sure if you search on etsy you will find something. I have seen a lot of different versions on ships before.

https://www.facebook.com/magicalmemoriesbowtique

[jenseib]

Our bus driver was very friendly. The ride is very short over to the port and she announced where to go and how to find our shuttle once we got back.
And soon enough we were all gasping at our view!



Shes just so beautiful and when you pull in and see her you can just see how HUGE she is.





Parking lot shot.







Soon enough we were stopped and getting off the bus and waiting for the luggage to unload.



A shot of the terminal.



And finally we were off to get in line.



We had to stop here and show IDs.



Aunt Mary and Geoff were right behind Claire and I.



Claire and I made it through and then started walking. After a bit we noticed that Aunt Mary and Geoff and the rest of the gang was still held up. Claire and I kept going, figuring they would catch up with us shortly.







We looked back again before entering the building and they were coming, but as they reached a set of stairs they turned and went up them. I guess this is another entrance and the CM had directed them to go that way. Claire was a little worried we wouldn't find them again, but I assured her we would all end up in the same place.



We went through security and made our way towards check in.







It was very fast and easy. We got boarding pass number 6 and they were already boarding! You dont know how bad I just wanted to leave the family behind in the dust and run onto the ship! But we still had to wait for the rest of the family who still had not shown up.

I think at one point I texted Geoff who said they were just going through security. When they did arrive, Mom scolded me for going off on our own ahead of everyone.

While they all got in line, I took a few pictures.





Abby had spotted Mickey and Gail had prepared her for so long about this trip and she just kept saying I want to see Mickey MOOOOOWSE!

[dolphingirl47]

Originally Posted by jenseib

This is her facebook page, but I don't think she really uses it. you send a message if you are really interested. Also I am sure if you search on etsy you will find something. I have seen a lot of different versions on ships before.

https://www.facebook.com/magicalmemoriesbowtique

I wondered if this was from her. I have a bunch of her hair bows. Unfortunately the website has been closed down.

Corinna

[jenseib]

Soon Mom and Dad were at the check in desk. They could use the castaway club check in line since Mom has sailed Disney before.



I kept eyeing the ears doorway. I was so ready to make the mad dash there and get on the ship!



While waiting, I took a picture of my cards.





Claire is patiently waiting.



Gail’s family was the last to get checked in and once she arrived we made our way to the ship.



Abby was not so happy about this. She still wanted to see Mickey MOOWSE! I started to laugh and say how cruel we were. After all we had prepared her for this for a year and got her excited about meeting characters and then the first one she sees we say she can’t.

We made our way on the gangway towards the ship. I was so excited. This was my 2nd time sailing the Dream, but my 3rd time being on her. I was lucky enough to take a ship tour of her in Aug. of 2011.



And we stopped for a group picture, which surprisingly went well for as many people as we had. They took like 3 or 4, but only one actually showed up on the CD my sister bought.



Notice our matching shirts. This was actually my Mom’s idea. When we sailed in March 2011 I had bought us matching shirts for our boarding day. Mom said she would wear it, but didn’t seem overly excited about it. I guess she liked it, as she was excited to have us all wear them on this day. She then bought the girls their matching outfits to wear and I had the headbands made (which Abby refused to wear). Some of our family members who did not sail with us and were still back home were mortified that we were doing such a thing. LOL!

Time to board the ship! Come on you slow poke family! Let’s get a move on!

Needless to say, Claire and I were the first ones to board.

Next came Gail’s family.



And Vicki and Pete were behind them.



Mary and Geoff and Mom and Dad were slowly making their way on as well.





And finally Katie’s family made their way on as well.



This one cracks me up with this lady looking right at my camera.







We oohed and ahhed over the atrium. It is just gorgeous!
I believe they suggested we head to Enchanted Garden to eat. I said I wanted to go to Cabanas, and Mom did too.



We spotted Donald doing a meet and greet a floor up and Abby got anxious again. We decided we would head up there and see him and the rest of the family was going to make their way towards Cabanas.



The line wasn’t long at all. Mom sat off to the side with our carry ons.



And then it was announced that Donald had to take a break! I could see Gail’s eyes panic. But they announced someone else would be out shortly! Thanks goodness. We HAD to get Abby to a character or there could be a meltdown.



The girls are waiting patiently.



And I took a few shots while we waited.






And then we saw him!



Pluto was coming!!!!

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by dolphingirl47

I wondered if this was from her. I have a bunch of her hair bows. Unfortunately the website has been closed down.

Corinna

Jeanne hooked me up with her. Jeanne says she pretty much never posts there though.
Have you sailed with her at all?

[dolphingirl47]

Yes, I have done three cruises with her now. Incidentally Jeanne was on all three of those cruises as well.

Corinna

[jenseib]

The wait for Pluto was not bad at all and soon Gail’s girls were meeting him. I have given both girls autograph books last Christmas. Gail says she had no clue where she put them and search and searched, so at this point they didn’t have any. They planned to buy one when the shops opened.







Abby was not scared at all.





Then it was our turn. I handed my camera to Gail and went up towards Pluto. No I am not telling Gail she is a loser, though I am sure growing up I might’ve made that sign once or twice ….. but she couldn’t figure out how to use my camera and I was telling her to look through the view finder.







And then we headed off. I got about here when I realized I had left my carryon over by the couch where Mom had been sitting.



I ran back and got it and we headed towards the elevator. Gail, Rob and Abby made it on one and took off and we waited and waited and waited. We were a floor above the main atrium and there was just no way we were going to get an elevator that wasn’t full already. I told Mom that we should go to the aft of the ship and take those up as they go right to Cabanas. OK, that sounded good. Dad immediately said NO! (Dad says this often and it annoys the heck out of us. Usually he has no clue what he is talking about when he says it and just says no for no reason)
What? Why?
We can’t go that way.
Oh yes we can!
No, I am not taking the stairs.
I snapped a bit then. I told him that we all had been on the ship before and knew exactly where we were going. The aft elevators would lead us right to where we were going and that if we couldn’t get an elevator, we could take stairs as another option.
He said Gail and Rob would be waiting for us at the top near the elevator.
I told him that they would soon give up if they were when they didn’t see us arrive.
And then we left him standing at the elevator.
WE slowly made our way down the hall and I took a couple of shots of the girls that would not turn out no matter how hard I tried. I even tried a flash to counteract the sun coming in, but it bounced off the glass and made it 10 times worse.





Since we were going so slowly, we eventually saw that Dad was making his way behind us.
We got to the elevators but still had a little wait. Though it wasn’t as bad as the midship ones.



In the meantime, the rest of the family had made it to Cabanas and Geoff took a couple of shots off the back of the ship.



















My Grandfather was a tugboat Captain, so this is such a nice shot.

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by dolphingirl47

Yes, I have done three cruises with her now. Incidentally Jeanne was on all three of those cruises as well.

Corinna

I know they travel a lot together. How fun!

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Thank you for the major update