The UnDisney family's unintended grand(ish) slam trek to Alaska - July 27-Aug 3, 2015

[Conorama]

WOW! Thank you so much! This is a great TR.

Thanks! I hope it continues to be helpful to you.

 

[RedHatDisney]

You've provided some valuable information.....like veggies being available. Plus I like your style.

 

[Conorama]

Day 4 - Skagway - Where we try out the "trains and automobiles" part of the saying

(EDITED TO ADD: In fixing the photo situation, I had to reduce the number of photos to 10... but fear not - I picked the best!)

Astute readers will remember that we had decided to ditch the Mouse for Skagway and we booked our own trip with Chilkoot Charters, based on several other TRs. We picked the "White Pass Summit Rail & Bus" trip, because we didn't want to be gone all day - this would allow us to get to the famous train and still leave plenty of time to explore, and not rush back to the ship (we usually have a "NO RUSHING" rule on vacation). As morning people, we could handle the 8:30 start time without rushing (or at least, Conor and I could, and we just shuffle DH along).

Of course, the night before, I checked the email, and remembered that I forgot to remember (you know that feeling???) to print the voucher. Fortunately, DH had noted this could be done easily at the internet café next to the Promenade Lounge, so he took care of that. (This is why I always check the night before...)

We had agreed to order room service for the morning (helps with the NO RUSHING) rule, for 7:00 a.m., and that worked nicely with one of the grown-ups making a run to the Cove Café to supplement with preferred caffeine products.

Based on the non-DCL forecast, we planned one layer less than the day before - although there would be rain, we would not be out in it much, so we just brought umbrellas. Basically, it was 13 degrees (Celsius!) in the morning with rain, and going up to 16 and mostly sunny in the afternoon. We all wore long pants, hiking boots, and layers, which you'll see in future pics.

Essentially, you get off the ship, and wander over to the parking lot to wait for your bus ... which was there at 8:15 a.m. (We were early. We're usually early.)

Chilkoot Charters - White Pass Summit - Rail & Bus - or rather, Bus & Rail

A very well-marked tour-type bus (medium-sized) pulled up, and Stanley, our driver, introduced herself. Yep, her - we learned later it was a nickname that stuck. She was great- had adopted Skagway as her town having abandoned working on cruise ships after one contract or other, because of her passion for camping and hiking. She was just about perfect - knowledgeable, funny, good with kids, and kept things moving. My kind of guide.

We did have our passports- you need them, regardless of your citizenship, I think, because you cross into Canada (yippee for the Yukon!) and then back into the US on this trip - and she checked them before we got on the bus. Conor was keen to sit right at the front, so, perks of being early, we went along with it. And, mother-of-the-year-am-I - I remembered to give him a Gravol, as I had read this was a twisty, turn-y trip.

And then, we headed off. The short version is that this is a trip up the mountain, and at the top, after the nice Canadian border guards clear you (no sarcasm there- our guy was hilarious) , you get on a train, and go back down. This is much better described by photos.

On the way up ....

First look-out, over Skagway (population 900) and ships





An awesome waterfall - that might be called the Bridal Veil Falls? There was a nice spring nearby to taste yummy glacier water.




Lovely rocky area, where Conor built an Inukshuk - and this is about when it stopped raining, and within about 30 minutes, the sun actually came out, and it was a beautiful day, as you'll see.





Fireweed - you can eat these. We did.



The train we would be taking down on the other side of the valley- with some of the scenery that we saw all day - wow.




We passed into the Yukon along the way but you don't meet the border guards until you get to where you board the train. We did have to wait there for about 15 minutes, before the nice young man came on. As noted, he was hilarious. Our instructions had been to hold our passport ups next to our faces, so Conor and I arranged things so that we were ready ... but DH had his upside down, so the guard tried to look at it upside down. Then, someone behind us didn't have their passport ready (REALLY???? We were only told 3 times about this) and he led people through what Conor was taught were "Yoga breaths" so that there was no stress.

After a bit more waiting (so say, 30 minutes total), we were able to board the train- you can't choose your car with Chilkoot Charters, but I had checked, and the deal is "Sit on the right going down", so that is what we did. You sit on the right, that is, if you want to be able to look down, down, down, down. We ended up in the first car - some prefer the very back but even DH, as designated photographer, was happy in the front.

Again- photos tell the tale. One of many awesome views from the train:



Not the bridge we took. Honest.





Someone is not scared to be out on the platform - or rather, someone finally decided to brave it, and decided he LOVED IT out there, and I had the seat to myself, as we used to say back in elementary school for most of the rest of the trip.






Most of these photos were DH's taken with the fancy Rebel-whatever. With my little camera, though, I think I captured best the, well, "EEK" factor of how high up we were and how steep it was if you looked down.




Wrapping up our time in Skagway

The whole morning was quite amazing. We got back to Skagway a bit before 1:00, and were met by the former owners of Chilkoot tours, who still help out the current owners (their kids!) - they were happy to drop people off where they liked in town (which is tiny), and based on Stanley's recommendation, we went to the Skagway Brewing Company, since DH is a craft brewery fan. There was about a 20 minute wait, so but they said we could just wander around the town and come back, which we did.

We found the post office (this is not difficult!) so we mailed a few post-cards. Conor bought himself a wee little matryoshka (Russian nesting dolls), hand-painted with, of all things, the Winnie the Pooh characters. I'm not sure where he has stashed them (many places for precious items in his life) but if I find them, I'll post photos, as they are lovely and a great souvenir.

Lunch to me was OK (not a pub food fan, but I sacrifice myself periodically), but DH rated the flight of beer very highly, and was inspired to buy the t-shirt, literally. Raw veggies were provided, which was a thrill, I will admit, and I stole some of my child's carrot sticks.

To get back at DH, Conor and I insisted on visiting the Christmas store, and procured some ornaments (that were NOT made in China- my one criteria) and, as we were all a bit tuckered out, we headed back to the ship. This was about a 10 minute walk, so not onerous at all.

I'll just mention here that when we decided to go on the cruise despite the disastrous Canadian dollar, we had made a pact (the grown-ups anyway) that we would be very disciplined re: spending on excursions and on extra. This tour wasn't cheap (you can all just check on their website), but was absolutely worth every dollar - right from the pick-up at port, Stanley's great guiding skills, the incredible train ride, and being dropped off where you liked at the end by friendly folk. We then behaved ourselves with our souvenirs, keeping to budget.

I have just paid the post-trip Visa bill and am relieved to report it wasn't a big surprise, and it was less than usual for us after a cruise, even with Vancouver hotel prices (and, to be fair, Ottawa hotel prices). Not taking DCL excursions really helps. Not going on helicopters, cool as they are, also goes a long way!

As a reward for our restraint, when we boarded the ship at about 3:00 p.m., long before all aboard, and they asked us if we wanted warm chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate, we could but answer yes! YUM.

Up next: The tail-end of Day 4.

 

[Conorama]

You've provided some valuable information.....like veggies being available. Plus I like your style.

Yes! I mean, they are available without special requests, even on the kids meals, but there aren't many. 3 pieces of broccoli is about 1/3 of what Conor usually eats in terms of veggies at a meal. The vegetables with the main courses were always great, but again, not plentiful compared to the rest, so unless you ordered a vegetable-based salad or soup, there wasn't what we are used to ... but they are there, for the asking.

Thanks again - my style is honest, so let's hope that keeps working! More tomorrow, I hope, though we have old friends stopping by for supper, and I have this pesky work thing to tend to, so we'll have to see. I will meet your deadline!

 

[bcwife76]

What beautiful, beautiful photos!!!

I am also making little notes as I read along with your TR;if we do end up doing Alaska next year (or in the future) your tips will come in very handy (from bringing our own binoculars to bringing our own Bailey's onboard to top up the hot chocolate lol)

 

[AngelDisney]

Love your Skagway photos, especially the ones of the flowers! I also am a victim of the CAD-US exchange and regret not paying it up earlier when CAD was a bit stronger ...

By the way, what time and date was your pixar character meet ticket? I remember you mentioned you had it cancelled. I wonder whether Pixar meet and greet is only offered on the Juneau day. If it is, I may try to move my Juneau excursion to an earlier time. Or I can un-Disney for a day and just skip it! TIA!!

 

[Conorama]

What beautiful, beautiful photos!!!

I am also making little notes as I read along with your TR;if we do end up doing Alaska next year (or in the future) your tips will come in very handy (from bringing our own binoculars to bringing our own Bailey's onboard to top up the hot chocolate lol)

Credit for the vast majority of the photos goes to A) Alaska and B) DH, with some important kudos going to the weather gods, who allowed us to have sun on the way down.

Because we've always left via PC, we never did the 'bring your own bottle' thing on DCL, because it would have involved changing how we get from MCO to port- but now we're wondering why we didn't before. It think partly it's because we're not big drinkers, so we weren't sure it was worth the hassle in Florida. All we did, though, was bring on 3 bottles of wine and the small bottle of Bailey's. DH brought his precious single malt from home in a flask.

I didn't mention before, but the wine we brought on was all BC wine - a huge favourite of ours. Our assistant server was quite interested in them.

Love your Skagway photos, especially the ones of the flowers! I also am a victim of the CAD-US exchange and regret not paying it up earlier when CAD was a bit stronger ...

By the way, what time and date was your pixar character meet ticket? I remember you mentioned you had it cancelled. I wonder whether Pixar meet and greet is only offered on the Juneau day. If it is, I may try to move my Juneau excursion to an earlier time. Or I can un-Disney for a day and just skip it! TIA!!

Thanks! DH is getting really good with macro photography.

No- the exchange rate wasn't fun at all --- but at least paying the Visa last night wasn't as bad as I had thought since we made a conscious effort on the little stuff. We still splurged on important things (crab in Juneau, as you'll hear soon!), but souvenirs stayed in the realm of $10 Christmas ornaments, and t-shirts.

The Pixar character meet was at something like 9:15 on Juneau day. We cancelled (vs. trying to move it later in the day because we were planning on being off the ship early) because Conor wasn't very interested, and there was NO WAY we were going to go unless he was jumping up and down with excitement, à la Olaf. There was a Pixar party that we sort of attended (you'll see!) and we were glad we didn't try to do the character meet.

Juneau was an UnDisney day for us, as you'll see, and a pretty special one for us - but maybe not for everyone. Stay tuned!

 

[AngelDisney]

Thanks! DH is getting really good with macro photography.

No- the exchange rate wasn't fun at all --- but at least paying the Visa last night wasn't as bad as I had thought since we made a conscious effort on the little stuff. We still splurged on important things (crab in Juneau, as you'll hear soon!), but souvenirs stayed in the realm of $10 Christmas ornaments, and t-shirts.

The Pixar character meet was at something like 9:15 on Juneau day. We cancelled (vs. trying to move it later in the day because we were planning on being off the ship early) because Conor wasn't very interested, and there was NO WAY we were going to go unless he was jumping up and down with excitement, à la Olaf. There was a Pixar party that we sort of attended (you'll see!) and we were glad we didn't try to do the character meet.

Juneau was an UnDisney day for us, as you'll see, and a pretty special one for us - but maybe not for everyone. Stay tuned!

Thanks! I am planning to have crabs in Juneau too!!
Can't wait to read about your Juneau day!!!

 

[jeffbear]

Day 3 - Tracy Arm - and, in my opinion, Big Mouse's best day EVER on DCL

And the naturalist we had on was, um, well, let's just say, (long pause here) .... BORING. I'm sure he had lots of interesting info to share ... but it just didn't come out. If you had trouble falling asleep, now, you were golden with him. Nice guy, but not a scintillating speaker.


But mostly - what was amazing was the hush on the ship during the quiet times (where they don't do any announcements). You can hear the water, bird songs, and you can practically hear individual leaves brush up against one another (or so it feels like).

These two points both sort of amazed me ... for completely different reasons.

1. Naturalist guy ... Richard Brigman? I think that's right ... I was so surprised at how flat and dull he was on the commentary because I had actually met him on the sea day and found him to be delightfully engaging during a roughly 15 minute conversation about bears in public places with me and one of my dinner tablemates. I was looking forward to his commentary because I was certain he would be as conversational as he was in that impromptu talk ... and bang. Flat as those pancakes on the breakfast buffet. Maybe flatter. VERY disappointing.

2. The weird quiet on the ship was soooo weird. I've been on enough DCL cruises to know that there's never really any down time when it comes to folks running around having at least semi-noisy fun, but whoah. Tracy Arm day once the ship got withing sight of Sawyer Glacier was almost funeral home quiet. And I was glad for it too. The occasion deserved a bit of awed reverence, IMO.

 

[bcwife76]

Boo, now that DCL is changing their booze policy I won't be able to bring Bailey's to Alaska.....grrrrrr lol

 

[afyoung]

Preparations & fun with airlines

Other than booking things back in the summer (flights & hotels) and April (PTA & excursions, most of which we cancelled), we did, um, nothing in preparation for the cruise until June. Once I had figured out that the FE could be done well, but reasonably easily, I just cruised. (Well, I was working like no one's business, to be honest, but we'll go with cruising).

Once we hit Canada Day, though, I dusted off my spreadsheets, and got going.

Packing planning

I have to admit I was amused by all the packing for Alaska threads. I read them, to make sure there was nothing critical I was missing, but really, it amounted to packing just like we usually do when we head off to our second home- Newfoundland.

Here's what greeted us a few years ago when we landed ... that is in degrees, Celsius - so that is how many degrees above freezing it was... in JUNE.



So, we haul out the layers. Easy peasy. We all have them, so we weren't worried. Note the approach in Newfoundland back in June 2012.Yes, that's June. No, he wasn't hot. It was about 7 degrees Celsius.



We didn't pack a lot of the things on various lists, but we did pack the following things that turned out to be helpful, so I will mention them here:

• Insulated mugs/thermos-type things for each of us (just one each)- keeps one's hot chocolate/coffee/mulled wine nice and warm.
• Umbrellas - we had rain gear too, but sometimes, it was easiest to just use an umbrella.
• Back packs for all - much more useful in Alaska than the beach-type bags we often use (with a backpack) in warmer climes.
• Extra bag (fold-up duffle bag), because we had better luggage allowances on our return flights than on the way there. Yippee!

Otherwise, we just had one or two warm layers for all of us (think Hoodies, or fleeces), rain gear, one puffy jacket for Conor (in the Alaska photo), hats, gloves. We had long underwear but didn't need it. We all had hiking boots. Then, we had a mix of long & short-sleeve tops, light-weight pants and some jeans, and a few shorts for our days in Vancouver.

Oh, and we packed some reasonably nice clothes, but I decided to trust the reports that formal night was a bit less formal on the cruise.

All in all, when we were fully packed, we had 3 suitcases, 2 carry-ons, 1 camera bag, and my lap-top back-pack (as carry-on) and we were always well within the weight allowances on our flights. VICTORY WAS MINE.

And, yes, for anyone who has read my previous TRs, I did the luggage shuffle, where I made sure that we all had at least 3 outfits in each checked bag, and extras in carry-on. This was highly motivated by Air Canada's evil machinations, which I will describe next.

Why do the airlines hate us so? And why is Air Canada so unpleasant?

When you book flights months in advance, you need to know that there is a decent chance the flight will change. I get this. I accept this. I don't complain. I don't like it - but I don't complain. Except when Air Canada staff are rude about their issues.

However, I'm not sure why both of our legs of our journey were changed, for the worse. Did I offend the travel gods? I offer up small sacrifices regularly.... oh well.

First, West Jet contacted us - and by contacted, I mean they emailed me, and then they phoned to check that we were OK with the changes ... which amounted to leaving at 3:30 p.m. (vs. noon), and stopping in Calgary vs. Winnipeg. This meant we would get in at (gulp) midnight Ontario time, 9:00 p.m. Vancouver time. They were, however, very pleasant and we said we'd manage.

Well, what can you say? There were no better options. Fortunately, I had booked off the Tuesday, so no need to rush back to work, and we checked that our hotel could take us at 1:00 a.m., which is when we were likely to get there, after picking up our bags, etc.

Air Canada was a different story. (Insert evil glares here.) On the Sunday night before we were to leave, DH checked our flight status on the Air Canada website, to see that we were still leaving at the same time (4:30 p.m. or so) .. but that we would be flying to Montreal, then doing a super-fast turnaround, to get on a flight to Vancouver.

Now.... for those of you who are not familiar with Canadian geography... this involves us driving 2 hours East of where we live, to then take a plane FURTHER East - like an hour East. This drives me nuts as it's going the WRONG way. (Yes, I know we get in at the same time ... but it feels so very wrong...) It also defeated our purposeful plans of having a stopover at the midway point to help puke-boy out, and the quick turnaround had us very worried about our luggage travelling with us to Vancouver.

(At this point, I got extra obsessive about planning lots of clothes in lots of places for all family members ... playing the odds that something would get to Vancouver with us, and we would not be walking around in 2 day old clothes...)

Oh, and we didn't have assigned seats anymore. Great. We pay whatever is needed to pick our seats. DH is 6'6'' and we don't want to subject puke-boy to other passengers if we can avoid it.

So, I called Air Canada. They say they emailed me. I don't doubt they did ... but I didn't see the emails. Checked my trash and all. Nope. Checked my spam. Nope. Now- I might have deleted it by accident (theoretically possible). However, all I ask in life is for a pleasant human being to help me on the other end. She was completely unsympathetic - from her perspective, we were getting in at the same time, so what did it matter? I finally convinced her to make sure we had seats together, but it wasn't pleasant.

When we called WestJet about the same thing (sorting out seats) - they were super-pleasant and efficient. They had the wrong info on their website, but the right info on their app - and they laughed and said they would let the right people know.

Anyhow- we got over our temper tantrums, and then turned our attention to....

What to do in Vancouver for an awkward chunk of time after the cruise?

Thanks to the boards, I knew that the Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotel had day rooms. We looked it up, and for about $120 we could have the use of a room and the hotel for 4 hours. Not cheap, but we decided it was worth it for sanity purposes, as we have already done the "let's sit around in an airport for hours on end, with our luggage that we are not allowed to check in, and everyone can get progressively more cranky". (MCO....!) Since we would be getting in quite late by our standards, we thought it was $120 worth spending.

I considered doing something in Vancouver, but again, we'd have to find some place for our luggage, and by then, I figured we'd have enough of other humans, so solitude was sounding very, very appealing.

We booked it.

Final countdown

Otherwise, we were ready. DH checked that our insurance would cover the rental car - check! He called the various hotels and made sure there would be a bed for Conor - check! He let them all know about late check-in times - check! We located our passports, and other paperwork we like to have (things proving we are Conor's parents). We looked into roaming plans for our phones and figure out a few options.

I did my usual scramble at work to get out at a reasonable time on Friday, complicated by needing to get to Conor's performance at theatre camp, mid-afternoon (he was playing Chris Hadfield in a play written by 6 to 8 year olds...)

And then ... it was departure (for us) day!

MCO has day rates also at their hotel. I just researched this for my upcoming trip. Something to make note of for your future trips.

 

[Conorama]

These two points both sort of amazed me ... for completely different reasons.

1. Naturalist guy ... Richard Brigman? I think that's right ... I was so surprised at how flat and dull he was on the commentary because I had actually met him on the sea day and found him to be delightfully engaging during a roughly 15 minute conversation about bears in public places with me and one of my dinner tablemates. I was looking forward to his commentary because I was certain he would be as conversational as he was in that impromptu talk ... and bang. Flat as those pancakes on the breakfast buffet. Maybe flatter. VERY disappointing.

2. The weird quiet on the ship was soooo weird. I've been on enough DCL cruises to know that there's never really any down time when it comes to folks running around having at least semi-noisy fun, but whoah. Tracy Arm day once the ship got withing sight of Sawyer Glacier was almost funeral home quiet. And I was glad for it too. The occasion deserved a bit of awed reverence, IMO.

I think that was his name. He really seemed like he would make for a lovely dinner companion, but had not figured out how to project that to a larger audience. The narration on the TV was fine for us. It's really too bad- Conor usually loves that kind of thing -he wants to be a scientist, specifically an "everyologist" (his word) when he grows up, so he would have been very interested with a more engaging speaker, but we couldn't blame him for asking if he could play on my phone when I had a hard time staying engaged.

The quiet contributed to that surreal effect. It was very appropriate, and part of what made it all so special. I took some videos just to record HOW silent it was, which didn't turn out visually, but it's amazing that you can just hear the sounds of the water and the birds. I'm overusing the word, but in the true sense of it ... awesome.

Boo, now that DCL is changing their booze policy I won't be able to bring Bailey's to Alaska.....grrrrrr lol

I may have friends, who might have told me about things that exist to, well, disguise, liquids in checked luggage. I forget what they are called, but DH was also told about them when he was looking for a new flask for his scotch.

If I'm asked, though, I know NOTHING.

MCO has day rates also at their hotel. I just researched this for my upcoming trip. Something to make note of for your future trips.

I was aware of it - but we've always flown out of MCO at about noon, and that's in our home time-zone (thus, we don't have to contend with jeg lag), so not usually worth it for us- but if we ever got stuck with a later flight, we'd definitely take it! Thanks for reading.

 

[bcwife76]

Hrm......I don't know nothin' about sneakin' in alkeeeholl and will deny deny deny ;-)

 

[jeffbear]

Day 4 - Skagway -
I'll just mention here that when we decided to go on the cruise despite the disastrous Canadian dollar, we had made a pact (the grown-ups anyway) that we would be very disciplined re: spending on excursions and on extra. This tour wasn't cheap (you can all just check on their website), but was absolutely worth every dollar - right from the pick-up at port, Stanley's great guiding skills, the incredible train ride, and being dropped off where you liked at the end by friendly folk. We then behaved ourselves with our souvenirs, keeping to budget.

I have just paid the post-trip Visa bill and am relieved to report it wasn't a big surprise, and it was less than usual for us after a cruise, even with Vancouver hotel prices (and, to be fair, Ottawa hotel prices). Not taking DCL excursions really helps. Not going on helicopters, cool as they are, also goes a long way!

As a reward for our restraint, when we boarded the ship at about 3:00 p.m., long before all aboard, and they asked us if we wanted warm chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate, we could but answer yes! YUM.

We went the opposite direction in Skagway budget-wise ... throwing all our chips in on the big helicopter/sled dog excursion. This is where you pick up some savings on scale when it's just you and the Missus on the trip, but we did want to blow it out at least once on a big excursion. And since by day 5 away from home, my wife was in serious dog snuggles withdrawal, I figured this would be a hit with her. Plus ... who doesn't love the helicopter trip up to the glacier? That part was breath taking. The dog sledding? Pretty cool, I must say. It's tourist faire to be sure, but pulling up in the truck to what amounts to a small town of dogs that happens to be located atop a glacier is impressive for dog folks. They ALL wanted to get the tap to join the sled team too ... so much over-excited dog action. The actually sledding is only a big loop that takes 20 minutes or so, but you get to interact with your team of dogs and then play with the puppies when you're done. Holding the sweetest little 9 month old husky was the highlight for my wife. It was a big budget splash, but when it's that enjoyable you don't really mind. We also got luck with the weather because the cloud cover was a bit heavy to start the day and the next group after us got grounded and had to wait until after lunch. We certainly enjoyed spending some time with a couple of Wonder cast members who were on our sled team group. They both worked on the live entertainment crews and were delightful companions.


After we got back on the Wonder at about 3:30, we got down to the daily ritual of stretching time until our bloody 8:15 dinner seating. That's soooooooo much later than we normally eat, but since we were a couple on our own I couldn't even bring myself to ask for a change to the earlier seating. Kids come first, even when they aren't your own. This night we stretched our appetites with some popcorn and a viewing of Inside Out at the Buena Vista Theater. It was our second time seeing that movie and we still got emotional in the same places we did the first time through .... BING BONG, NO. A mix of the live shows and the movies made it easy to fill the time gap until 2nd dinner seating. But we ended up eating so much popcorn for late afternoon snacks that it's not even funny. I mean ... better for ya than stretching it out with candy or basically having an extra meal at Goofy's, but still.

 

[Conorama]

We went the opposite direction in Skagway budget-wise ... throwing all our chips in on the big helicopter/sled dog excursion. This is where you pick up some savings on scale when it's just you and the Missus on the trip, but we did want to blow it out at least once on a big excursion. And since by day 5 away from home, my wife was in serious dog snuggles withdrawal, I figured this would be a hit with her. Plus ... who doesn't love the helicopter trip up to the glacier? That part was breath taking. The dog sledding? Pretty cool, I must say. It's tourist faire to be sure, but pulling up in the truck to what amounts to a small town of dogs that happens to be located atop a glacier is impressive for dog folks. They ALL wanted to get the tap to join the sled team too ... so much over-excited dog action. The actually sledding is only a big loop that takes 20 minutes or so, but you get to interact with your team of dogs and then play with the puppies when you're done. Holding the sweetest little 9 month old husky was the highlight for my wife. It was a big budget splash, but when it's that enjoyable you don't really mind. We also got luck with the weather because the cloud cover was a bit heavy to start the day and the next group after us got grounded and had to wait until after lunch. We certainly enjoyed spending some time with a couple of Wonder cast members who were on our sled team group. They both worked on the live entertainment crews and were delightful companions.


After we got back on the Wonder at about 3:30, we got down to the daily ritual of stretching time until our bloody 8:15 dinner seating. That's soooooooo much later than we normally eat, but since we were a couple on our own I couldn't even bring myself to ask for a change to the earlier seating. Kids come first, even when they aren't your own. This night we stretched our appetites with some popcorn and a viewing of Inside Out at the Buena Vista Theater. It was our second time seeing that movie and we still got emotional in the same places we did the first time through .... BING BONG, NO. A mix of the live shows and the movies made it easy to fill the time gap until 2nd dinner seating. But we ended up eating so much popcorn for late afternoon snacks that it's not even funny. I mean ... better for ya than stretching it out with candy or basically having an extra meal at Goofy's, but still.

I'm really enjoying your perspective.

DH initially campaigned for a helicopter ride, but even before the dollar crash, we realized we were not 100% sure that Conor would go for it- he is really anti-flying these days, though he puts up with it to get to a desired location, like a Mickey boat. It's staying on the bucket list for somewhere, when he's older. Given that he is phobic about dogs, anything to do with dog sledding was also out of the question (unfortunate dog incidents - 2 near bites and recently being knocked over by a huge lab puppy... it's frustrating!)

And, as someone who just about views not getting early dining as a deal-breaker, may we thank you for staying at late dining. There is just no way, especially with the time-change, that we could have managed it.

DH saw In and Out (maybe that night, actually) and really enjoyed it. I listened to my friends and I'm waiting until I can watch it and bawl in the privacy of my own living room. And Conor still refuses to watch most Disney movies, so we didn't even attempt it.

I should get us to supper and to bed here on Skagway night. Back at it!

 

[Conorama]

Day 4- Wrapping Up - Dinner and a (non-Disney) show

I left us indulging in hot chocolate and warm cookies. As I write this, it's 35 degrees with the humidex (95) at 7:30 p.m. so I am very much wishing I was somewhere where I could have a hot chocolate and not melt.

Conor asked to go to the club, so we left him wherever it was secure programming (club or lab - can't recall). The boards are right- there are a lot more open houses - fortunately for us, it's not a big deal as the boy is happy in either place, but I can see it being a challenge for some.

DH and I chilled out in our cabin mostly, reading, sipping hot chocolate (avec supplement in some cases), and reading. In my world, this is glorious.

For supper, we were back in Animator's Palate, which was about 1/3 empty, because in Skagway, the all aboard time was well after the first MDR sitting - both of our sets of neighbors were gone- though one set came in late, with apologies. Perhaps because it was less busy - Julie gave Conor some extra attention - and she made him a nifty origami bird that appeared to fly ... with his menu. The boy was amazed ... as were other people (including us) who were watching her in action. She was great.

Back in the room, I was out on the veranda, again, while Conor was having a bit of quiet play time before his bath, when I noticed we had friends in the harbour- Harbour seals! We had a bunch, but this guy was enjoying his supper, mightily, while others were a bit jealous, we thought. It was fascinating to watch, so that's what we did for about 20 minutes.

(I kept this family-friendly, so chose not to post the ones with the fish all covered in blood... it's not a quick, smooth, dining process ... Conor was fascinated!)







We had another early day planned for Juneau, so we stuck to our routine - except that once again, we all stared at the scenery as we sailed away from Skagway. Conor the photographer (pictured above) took about 30 photos from INSIDE the cabin - this is the best of the lot. Sailaways in Alaska are amazing.






A perusal of the app showed us that breakfast was available early at Beach Blanket, so we decided to aim for that as there was more variety than with room service.

Final thoughts on Skagway coming up - after I get crayon out of the laundry. And yep - I know how to do it, because nope, this isn't the first time.

 

[RedHatDisney]

Yay!!! Give Conor a hug from his ungrandma! He's a fantastic lad. My youngest grandson, Asher, is his age and is a rock fan, too.

 

[Conorama]

Day 4 - Did you think I forgot about Frozen night or The Grand Finale (in UnDisney fashion) to the Frozen Scavenger Hunt?

The attentive reader may note that I did not report on day 3 of Anna's-hunt-for-Frozen-ovals and I have not mentioned Frozen Day (which was day 4). You may think I forgot.

You would be correct. I remembered just now because I was checking something else on Facebook, and found a reference.

Clearly, Frozen day was a big deal for us (not). Here's how it played out.

Morning: DH and I had seen the decorations on Deck 9 and in the Atrium that had been set up the night before. We warned Conor. Because we were just doin' our own thing in the morning, we were able to slip off the ship with minimal complaining.

Afternoon: We returned to the Lobby, where Conor exclaimed, exasperatedly: "Elsa exaggerated!!!" when confronted with icy decorations. (We giggled. We did not take photos.)

Supper: Frozen-a-palooza could not be ignored at supper but Conor was further annoyed by all the references in the menu (his parents told him to get over it!), and the servers amused by our anti-Frozen stance. We were not offered an Olaf cup, and Conor didn't notice them, so we didn't pursue it. Conor did enjoy the light-up snowflakes, because "snow is not just about Frozen".

Final clues (SPOILER ALERT): At supper, we had figured out all but the last clue, and I had a pretty good idea what that one was. We tracked down clues 7 and 8 quickly, were pleased to actually know what they were (I do recognize chocolate when I see it). Clue number 9 referred to helpful people and cousins. Since the clues were meant to refer to locations, I had guessed we were talking about guest services, and I figured that even if we weren't, Conor could ask them about the clue.

This, of course, meant going back into the Atrium, and confronting all Frozen-a-paloooza in its full glory. Being strong, we persevered. As we were standing in the mercifully short line, Conor looked over and saw the final clue, which we dubbed an ice cube, but I have since been told is an ice BLOCK. It was just then our turn (and no one else was behind us in line), so I could not deprive Conor from the opportunity to discuss clues with the nice Guest Services man, who explained (or rather, tried to explain) that they (the people at guest services) WERE the cousins. He was then a bit stunned to hear from Conor how this meant nothing to us, because he hates Frozen, and I shrugged and agreed. To this day, I have no idea what he was talking about. It's amazing I can fall asleep at night, really, not knowing these clearly essential things.

DH and I had agreed to not subject the boy (or us) to Deck 9, so I have precisely nothing to say about it or the Frozen party. It happened, I assume?

With this, we made our way back to the cabin, where we met up with the hungry seal above, and enjoyed that a whole lot more.

You'll have to wait until I report on Juneau to see how the whole scavenger hunt saga ends. And I still need to reflect on Skagway.

 

[jeffbear]

And, as someone who just about views not getting early dining as a deal-breaker, may we thank you for staying at late dining. There is just no way, especially with the time-change, that we could have managed it.

DH saw In and Out (maybe that night, actually) and really enjoyed it. I listened to my friends and I'm waiting until I can watch it and bawl in the privacy of my own living room. And Conor still refuses to watch most Disney movies, so we didn't even attempt it.

A. You're welcome :0)

B. If you don't at least FEEL like crying at a Pixar movie, I'm pretty sure you're officially stoic. They probably issue laminated cards on the way out of the theater.

 

[jeffbear]

Day 4 - Did you think I forgot about Frozen night or The Grand Finale (in UnDisney fashion) to the Frozen Scavenger Hunt?


DH and I had agreed to not subject the boy (or us) to Deck 9, so I have precisely nothing to say about it or the Frozen party. It happened, I assume?

Wait.

There was a Frozen Party?

Another advantage to an adults only trip. We passed on that so very hard that I really did forget it happened on the Skagway day. Plus, if I remember correctly, the party started right as we were coming out of the late dinner and just ... no. I think we watched Lion King in our room while reading up on Juneau ahead of the next port day. Second dinner seating combined with early excursion times make for pretty truncated evenings.