Cast: Me, TKD Lisa, 37, trip planner
DH, Tim, 44, along for the ride
DD, Kaylie, 10
DS, Casey 8 1/2
Thursday-Saturday, not counting the Magic Kingdom
Thursday, Day at Sea:
We woke up kind of late today (the only day we slept in the WHOLE trip!), and thankfully, I was recovered from the seasickness! Of course, late is a relative thing, since I was in the laundry room by about 7:30! Had a chat with TnRobin, and got some food from TopSiders for the family. As I was leaving the laundry after switching the clothes into the dryer, someone asked me where the character breakfasts were. OH NO! Today was OUR character breakfast!!!! OOPS! Since I had ran out of the restaurant the night before, our server didn't get a chance to remind us about it! Since it was now 8:30 (our seating time!) I left hubby to gather the last clothes out of the dryer, grabbed the camera and autograph books and the kids and headed to Parrot Cay! As has been said before, the breakfast is a bit rushed, with not much time for character interaction. We had Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Goofy visit the tables, and Chip and Dale wandering around inciting mayhem. I don't know if there were other characters before we got there, but I don't think so.
After the breakfast, we went up to Deck 9 for some pool time. We lazed around a bit, and went to get some of the GREAT seafood buffet from TopSiders for lunch. They had awesome crab claws, and more peel and eat shrimp. Tonight was semi-formal night, along with the Captain's Gala. It was also the night for Disney Dreams. We didn't let the kids stay in the club to see the matinee showing, because we wanted to be with them for this one. We got dressed for the night, went to the first hour of Harry Potter, then hit the Captains Gala on our way to the show. We were in the front row, and it was truly wonderful being right up there to see all the Disney characters. The kids really enjoyed the bubbles!
Dinner was in Animator's Pallate, and was lobster night. DD and DH had lobster (DH added a steak). I truly can't remember what I got, but I think it was some kind of fish. I do know that if you use worchestire sauce instead of A-1, it takes some doing for them to find it for you! DD ate both halfs of the lobster tail, and dessert. She really liked it! An after dinner trip up to the Goofy whirlpool, then bed for us. A pretty quite day, but enjoyable!
Friday, Castaway Cay:
Yesterday, DH (Tim) had decided to book the Disney fishing excursion at Castaway Cay, kind of to make up for the lack of fish in Cozumel. Our head server Dale said that it was a really great fishing experience, and that he had always gotten lots of fish on it. Since Tim and DS (Casey) had booked parasailing for 3:30, he took the morning excursion. So he was up early to meet at 9:15 for the excursion. The radio beeped about 9:40 with him saying that the boat was broken, so no fishing! They offered him either a free trip on the afternoon trip, or a wide variety of Castaway Cay options. Since he really wanted to parasail, we took the Castaway Cay stuff.
We used the floats, a one person kayak, and the aqua trikes. Tim paddled out on the kayak while DD (Kaylie) and I took our banana boat ride. He said that it was really tough paddling against the current with one person, so he didn't stay out long! He went out after we left for the banana boat, and was back before us.
A few comments on the banana boat ride. Our boat had 8 people on it. I think we could have taken 2-4 more people. We had 4 adults and 4 kids. Basically, you straddle a big rubber banana, holding on to a plastic bar while you are pulled behind a jet ski. There is a LOT of salt spray in your face. The little girl in front of Kaylie was crying about the salt in her eyes, and at the end, Kaylie was too! With all the bouncing up and down, it's like you're sitting on sandpaper. I'd highly recommend wearing shorts for it, because Kaylie and I both had a pretty good rash from it! It was a lot of fun, but you should be in pretty good shape (in my opinion), since it takes quite a bit of strength to hold on through the whole time.
Tim, Kaylie and I spent the rest of the day in and out of the water, as well as enjoying the BBQ. Casey spent the ENTIRE day in the kids club (Scuttle's Cove). We tried several times to entice him out with the water toys we had, but nothing doing! They did have lots of fun things for them to do. He went on an excavation for Monstro's bones, and they did a scavenger hunt and a sandcastle build. The club closed at 3, and Casey joined Tim for their parasailing. A side note here, Tim was chasing a lizard and climbed out on the rocks that specifically say "Keep off". He slipped and cut his toe pretty good, so I'd definitely keep off the rocks!!!
Tim and Casey went on the parasailing boat, while Kaylie and I ran back inside to video tape them from the top deck. I ended up taping the wrong boat!!! The sun was soooo bright that I couldn't see the people on the boat! Casey decided not to parasail, so Tim went up twice. He said that it was fun, but not as exciting as he thought it would be. We got everyone cleaned up and the kids went to the lab to practice for the show. The show started a little late because the dis-embarkation talk went long. I followed the advice on the board and skipped the talk, just watched it on tv later. The show was cute, with LOTS of pictures of the kids flashing on the screen.
After finishing packing, we went to the farewell variety show, then on to Parrot Cay for our last dinner. Again, the restaurant was noisy (we were back underway and the engine noise came through loud and clear). We said goodbye to our servers since we weren't coming to sit-down breakfast in the morning. Dinner was the small world theme. Against Boris' recommendation, I had the fish stew, which I thought was excellent. If you like Paella, try it! Tim had baked alaska which he said was great! They paraded the flaming baked alaska's around the restaurant, which the kids like.
Saturday, Disembarkation:
I went to Topsiders and got some fruit and pastries for everyone, then we got the kids up and dressed. We were out of the room by about 7:30, and waiting by the Deck 3 elevators to get off the ship. We were looking for our luggage a little before 8, and on the Hertz shuttle shortly after 8:00. After a snafu at Hertz (if you rent from them, check the car over thoroughly, including the gas gauge level since 2 separate cars we got were marked as full and had 1/2 tank each!), and a quick McD run, we were on our way to the Magic Kingdom shortly before 9. We parked and were inside about 11:00.
I may post a Magic Kingdom report on the WDW trip reports page, but we didn't do anything spectacular there, so I'll just close my report by saying that we had an overall very good time. The trip pretty much met my expectation, and any problems were overcome. I enjoyed meeting many of our fellow DIS 11 May posters, and would like to thanks Joe & Joanne for the lanyards and leis, and Vicki and Garry for the T-shirts!
DH, Tim, 44, along for the ride
DD, Kaylie, 10
DS, Casey 8 1/2
Thursday-Saturday, not counting the Magic Kingdom
Thursday, Day at Sea:
We woke up kind of late today (the only day we slept in the WHOLE trip!), and thankfully, I was recovered from the seasickness! Of course, late is a relative thing, since I was in the laundry room by about 7:30! Had a chat with TnRobin, and got some food from TopSiders for the family. As I was leaving the laundry after switching the clothes into the dryer, someone asked me where the character breakfasts were. OH NO! Today was OUR character breakfast!!!! OOPS! Since I had ran out of the restaurant the night before, our server didn't get a chance to remind us about it! Since it was now 8:30 (our seating time!) I left hubby to gather the last clothes out of the dryer, grabbed the camera and autograph books and the kids and headed to Parrot Cay! As has been said before, the breakfast is a bit rushed, with not much time for character interaction. We had Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Goofy visit the tables, and Chip and Dale wandering around inciting mayhem. I don't know if there were other characters before we got there, but I don't think so.
After the breakfast, we went up to Deck 9 for some pool time. We lazed around a bit, and went to get some of the GREAT seafood buffet from TopSiders for lunch. They had awesome crab claws, and more peel and eat shrimp. Tonight was semi-formal night, along with the Captain's Gala. It was also the night for Disney Dreams. We didn't let the kids stay in the club to see the matinee showing, because we wanted to be with them for this one. We got dressed for the night, went to the first hour of Harry Potter, then hit the Captains Gala on our way to the show. We were in the front row, and it was truly wonderful being right up there to see all the Disney characters. The kids really enjoyed the bubbles!
Dinner was in Animator's Pallate, and was lobster night. DD and DH had lobster (DH added a steak). I truly can't remember what I got, but I think it was some kind of fish. I do know that if you use worchestire sauce instead of A-1, it takes some doing for them to find it for you! DD ate both halfs of the lobster tail, and dessert. She really liked it! An after dinner trip up to the Goofy whirlpool, then bed for us. A pretty quite day, but enjoyable!
Friday, Castaway Cay:
Yesterday, DH (Tim) had decided to book the Disney fishing excursion at Castaway Cay, kind of to make up for the lack of fish in Cozumel. Our head server Dale said that it was a really great fishing experience, and that he had always gotten lots of fish on it. Since Tim and DS (Casey) had booked parasailing for 3:30, he took the morning excursion. So he was up early to meet at 9:15 for the excursion. The radio beeped about 9:40 with him saying that the boat was broken, so no fishing! They offered him either a free trip on the afternoon trip, or a wide variety of Castaway Cay options. Since he really wanted to parasail, we took the Castaway Cay stuff.
We used the floats, a one person kayak, and the aqua trikes. Tim paddled out on the kayak while DD (Kaylie) and I took our banana boat ride. He said that it was really tough paddling against the current with one person, so he didn't stay out long! He went out after we left for the banana boat, and was back before us.
A few comments on the banana boat ride. Our boat had 8 people on it. I think we could have taken 2-4 more people. We had 4 adults and 4 kids. Basically, you straddle a big rubber banana, holding on to a plastic bar while you are pulled behind a jet ski. There is a LOT of salt spray in your face. The little girl in front of Kaylie was crying about the salt in her eyes, and at the end, Kaylie was too! With all the bouncing up and down, it's like you're sitting on sandpaper. I'd highly recommend wearing shorts for it, because Kaylie and I both had a pretty good rash from it! It was a lot of fun, but you should be in pretty good shape (in my opinion), since it takes quite a bit of strength to hold on through the whole time.
Tim, Kaylie and I spent the rest of the day in and out of the water, as well as enjoying the BBQ. Casey spent the ENTIRE day in the kids club (Scuttle's Cove). We tried several times to entice him out with the water toys we had, but nothing doing! They did have lots of fun things for them to do. He went on an excavation for Monstro's bones, and they did a scavenger hunt and a sandcastle build. The club closed at 3, and Casey joined Tim for their parasailing. A side note here, Tim was chasing a lizard and climbed out on the rocks that specifically say "Keep off". He slipped and cut his toe pretty good, so I'd definitely keep off the rocks!!!
Tim and Casey went on the parasailing boat, while Kaylie and I ran back inside to video tape them from the top deck. I ended up taping the wrong boat!!! The sun was soooo bright that I couldn't see the people on the boat! Casey decided not to parasail, so Tim went up twice. He said that it was fun, but not as exciting as he thought it would be. We got everyone cleaned up and the kids went to the lab to practice for the show. The show started a little late because the dis-embarkation talk went long. I followed the advice on the board and skipped the talk, just watched it on tv later. The show was cute, with LOTS of pictures of the kids flashing on the screen.
After finishing packing, we went to the farewell variety show, then on to Parrot Cay for our last dinner. Again, the restaurant was noisy (we were back underway and the engine noise came through loud and clear). We said goodbye to our servers since we weren't coming to sit-down breakfast in the morning. Dinner was the small world theme. Against Boris' recommendation, I had the fish stew, which I thought was excellent. If you like Paella, try it! Tim had baked alaska which he said was great! They paraded the flaming baked alaska's around the restaurant, which the kids like.
Saturday, Disembarkation:
I went to Topsiders and got some fruit and pastries for everyone, then we got the kids up and dressed. We were out of the room by about 7:30, and waiting by the Deck 3 elevators to get off the ship. We were looking for our luggage a little before 8, and on the Hertz shuttle shortly after 8:00. After a snafu at Hertz (if you rent from them, check the car over thoroughly, including the gas gauge level since 2 separate cars we got were marked as full and had 1/2 tank each!), and a quick McD run, we were on our way to the Magic Kingdom shortly before 9. We parked and were inside about 11:00.
I may post a Magic Kingdom report on the WDW trip reports page, but we didn't do anything spectacular there, so I'll just close my report by saying that we had an overall very good time. The trip pretty much met my expectation, and any problems were overcome. I enjoyed meeting many of our fellow DIS 11 May posters, and would like to thanks Joe & Joanne for the lanyards and leis, and Vicki and Garry for the T-shirts!
