Cast:
Masonpips: Debby/me (37), dh/Chris (37), Mason (6), Lauren (4)
savsawmom: Theresa, Doug, Sav (turned 6 on 11/7) and Saw (3)
+ assorted DIS folks and other random people you'll probably never meet but their names do appear below...
(Theresa/Doug on left, Debby/Chris on right)
Day 1 Thursday, Oct 30
Departed home about 12:30. Got to airport, checked in and had to wait to board about 20 minutes due to a malfunctioning light-bulb in the emergency exit row. Got on board and sat there while two maintenance guys hung out in the cockpit. Started to get nervous as we had about 1 hour in Chicago to change planes. Captain came on and told us they might be taking the plane out of service. I told Chris to get on his cell with American to see about re-booking. There were no further flights out of Chicago to Tampa that night L. They did take the plane out of service so Chris sprinted back to the ticket counter and we were rebooked through Dallas arriving into Tampa only 45 minutes later than our original flight!
The rest of that days flights were uneventful, arrived in Tampa just after 10 p.m. Theresa met us at the security gate and our 4 bags were in the first 10 unloaded at baggage! We went to her car and were at the house with the kids in bed by 11-ish. She was appalled that I put them on the floor (lol) versus the pull-out couch. Obviously she doesnt remember Lauren sleeping on the floor in the closet in DC.
Day 2 Friday, Oct 31 (Halloween)
Friday we got up around 7:30 (?). Savannah had school so Theresa took her and stayed for the Storybook parade they had that morning. The rest of us got up/ready and re-packed (I packed and repacked constantly it seems throughout the trip). Theresa came back about 9:00 or so and Doug was ready to go by 10:30 (lol, our original plan was noon). We drove the neighborhood for a short time, got McDs for the kids, Subways for us and the guys picked up Savannah and we met at the local park and had a picnic lunch. We left Tampa around noon and drove to Port Canaveral. Theresa and I had Lauren/Sawyer. Sawyer slept about 1.5 hours, Lauren slept 10 minutes (argh!).
We checked into the Radisson (very nice, great rooms) and the kids hit the small pool for an hour or so. Mason was wigging out about something so he and I went back to the room and napped. We ordered chicken tenders and chips/salsa for a snack and then headed out to Ron Jons for shopping. We spent a good 90 minutes in there and then went to Rustys Grille for dinner. All of the adults had snow crab (YUM). We left there, dropped the guys/kids and Theresa and I hit the grocery store/drug-store. I bought our liquor supplies for the cruise this year we managed to finish 2 of the 3 bottles!
We headed back to the Radisson and set up shop at the pool area; this was our first DIS-meet. We met vacationfinatics sister (Andrea) and her family and sat talking until everyone else showed up. I think we had a total of 18 children and I think everyone had a blast. It was very nice to meet them there and see everyone randomly on the ship over the next week. It also worked out really well as a Halloween activity for the kids (ended up not taking the kids costumes with me).
We were all tired and off to bed by 10:00.
Day 3 Saturday, November 1st We board the Disney Magic!
We set the alarm for 8 and got up and ready. The kids/Chris went to McDs (with savsawmom's family) while I packed again and took my time getting ready. Once everyone got back we decided to head over to the port to see if we could get in line. I think we got there right before 10:00 a.m. and about 6 cars were in line. They let us in within 10-15 minutes and we dropped our bags with the porters and went through security. We followed in Sweetspot and her family and they were first in line while we were second. Our goal was top 50 families so we were thrilled! The kids sat in line (kind of) while Theresa and I checked in and waited for the guys to return. Chris arrived as I was checking in so that worked well. Theresa got yelled at as I had her remove all unnecessary papers from her document package (WHY would you keep them all in there? WHY would the Cast Member (CM from here on out) care?).
We hung out in line and chatted with Tracy and family and tagall4 (Teri) and family during the whole wait it seemed to go VERY fast this year. Debbie and family arrived and Mason found an immediate friend in Ryans Gameboy (lol). Within no time at all, they were opening the doors and letting us board. We went to get our pictures taken and Lauren ran behind Chris so our boarding photo showed us with one child only. We opted not to buy it. We entered the ship and were announced as Mason & Laurens family from Oklahoma. Savsawmom's family came on board as Savannah and Sawyers family from Tampa. We split up immediately and went to Rockin Bar D to make the Palo (adults only) dinner and brunch reservations. We had to wait a few moments for them to get organized and were out of there within 5 minutes with brunch on Sunday at 11 and dinner on Wednesday at 7:30 (later changed to 8:00).
We went upstairs to meet the guys at the spa and they werent open yet. We met a family there that had recognized Chris (originally) and then me from last years Halloween cruise (too funny) and they even remembered we were first in line last year! After spa reservations were made; Chris/Doug had a couples massage (we laughed about this all week) on Monday and Theresa/I had the Absolute Massage/Facial for Monday as well. Since there was no line, I made hair appointments for Theresa/I on Thursday at 4:30. Chris and I made a Surial Bath appointment but had messed up the day so we ended up canceling it and not rescheduling.
We left the spa (finally) and went to lunch. SHRIMP, SHRIMP, SHRIMP. There were other items, but do they really matter? I whipped out my weekly planner and made the updates (spa/brunch/dinner) and the guy next to me told me I love you! when he saw the organization (this is after everyone in line made fun of me). He was wondering where I got the sheet on the ship and was totally impressed that I made it (heehee). We laughed about that a lot too over the week.
We went to the kids clubs and signed up/received our pager and then headed to our rooms to change for the Mickey pool/slide. Chris took the kids up and I waited a bit to see if our luggage would arrive. Within 30 minutes I had all 4 pieces and had the first nights dinner outfits out hanging to get the wrinkles out. I went up to the pool and joined the rest of the group. We went back to the room to get ready for the lifeboat drill which was painless; port side rocks as you are in the shade and it was very windy. The guy next to us had a full beer and was a riot. After that we headed immediately upstairs for the Sailaway party. We partied with the characters until the horn sang When you wish upon a star and we were OFF! We ran over to the side and waved to the people on the dock below. We totally spaced on the DIS meet on Deck 7 it never entered out heads to go down there even after we went to the back of Topsiders on Deck 9 and looked down on the deck.
We went and changed for dinner (orginal dining time was 6:00 p.m.). About this time, the boat began to really (really, REALLY) rock our restaurant was at the very back of the ship on Deck 3. People were disappearing right and left and Theresa saw several people out with buckets cleaning the carpet.
Saw/Sav + Lauren/Mason before dinner on Sat. We took the boys in shorts and no one blinked an eye. This was the only dinner besides the last night where they ALL ate with us
We met our servers; Clive from Jamaica and Maria from the UK. They were GREAT and we enjoyed them every night. We had dinner the first night in Parrot Cay which is the tropical themed restaurant. I had the Hot Crab Newberg (ok), tried the Cold Avacado soup (good, but kind of odd), Grilled Rib-eye steak (GOOD), and the no-sugar added cheesecake (very good, last diet dessert I ate lol). Chris got the mixed grill and every once else said we needed to order what he had.
We took the kids to the kids club (thinking it would be far less rocky on Deck 5 mid-ship and it was) and went to the opening show. The show was a variety act and VERY empty. Chris kept getting water doused on him (leak?) and we sat with Debbie/Greg but Greg had to leave (paged by one of the kids) part way through the show. There were jugglers in the show and they did a GREAT job considering the waves. We left the show (and that was a HOOT getting out of the theater Deck 4, extreme front of the ship). Theresa/Doug went to get their kids and go to bed (lol) and Chris/Debbie/I went shopping for a bit. Lauren freaked when we went to get her. Im staying to watch the movie so we picked up Mason, ordered room service for him (cookies/milk) and went to get Lauren later. Luckily they had no issue with seasickness at all while onboard (the sailboat was a different story, but thats Wednesdays story) and didnt even mention the waves/rockiness/wandering down the hallways swaying from side to side or hitting the walls as you walked. We went to bed with the ship creaking above us .
Masonpips: Debby/me (37), dh/Chris (37), Mason (6), Lauren (4)
savsawmom: Theresa, Doug, Sav (turned 6 on 11/7) and Saw (3)
+ assorted DIS folks and other random people you'll probably never meet but their names do appear below...
(Theresa/Doug on left, Debby/Chris on right)
Day 1 Thursday, Oct 30
Departed home about 12:30. Got to airport, checked in and had to wait to board about 20 minutes due to a malfunctioning light-bulb in the emergency exit row. Got on board and sat there while two maintenance guys hung out in the cockpit. Started to get nervous as we had about 1 hour in Chicago to change planes. Captain came on and told us they might be taking the plane out of service. I told Chris to get on his cell with American to see about re-booking. There were no further flights out of Chicago to Tampa that night L. They did take the plane out of service so Chris sprinted back to the ticket counter and we were rebooked through Dallas arriving into Tampa only 45 minutes later than our original flight!
The rest of that days flights were uneventful, arrived in Tampa just after 10 p.m. Theresa met us at the security gate and our 4 bags were in the first 10 unloaded at baggage! We went to her car and were at the house with the kids in bed by 11-ish. She was appalled that I put them on the floor (lol) versus the pull-out couch. Obviously she doesnt remember Lauren sleeping on the floor in the closet in DC.
Day 2 Friday, Oct 31 (Halloween)
Friday we got up around 7:30 (?). Savannah had school so Theresa took her and stayed for the Storybook parade they had that morning. The rest of us got up/ready and re-packed (I packed and repacked constantly it seems throughout the trip). Theresa came back about 9:00 or so and Doug was ready to go by 10:30 (lol, our original plan was noon). We drove the neighborhood for a short time, got McDs for the kids, Subways for us and the guys picked up Savannah and we met at the local park and had a picnic lunch. We left Tampa around noon and drove to Port Canaveral. Theresa and I had Lauren/Sawyer. Sawyer slept about 1.5 hours, Lauren slept 10 minutes (argh!).
We checked into the Radisson (very nice, great rooms) and the kids hit the small pool for an hour or so. Mason was wigging out about something so he and I went back to the room and napped. We ordered chicken tenders and chips/salsa for a snack and then headed out to Ron Jons for shopping. We spent a good 90 minutes in there and then went to Rustys Grille for dinner. All of the adults had snow crab (YUM). We left there, dropped the guys/kids and Theresa and I hit the grocery store/drug-store. I bought our liquor supplies for the cruise this year we managed to finish 2 of the 3 bottles!
We headed back to the Radisson and set up shop at the pool area; this was our first DIS-meet. We met vacationfinatics sister (Andrea) and her family and sat talking until everyone else showed up. I think we had a total of 18 children and I think everyone had a blast. It was very nice to meet them there and see everyone randomly on the ship over the next week. It also worked out really well as a Halloween activity for the kids (ended up not taking the kids costumes with me).
We were all tired and off to bed by 10:00.
Day 3 Saturday, November 1st We board the Disney Magic!
We set the alarm for 8 and got up and ready. The kids/Chris went to McDs (with savsawmom's family) while I packed again and took my time getting ready. Once everyone got back we decided to head over to the port to see if we could get in line. I think we got there right before 10:00 a.m. and about 6 cars were in line. They let us in within 10-15 minutes and we dropped our bags with the porters and went through security. We followed in Sweetspot and her family and they were first in line while we were second. Our goal was top 50 families so we were thrilled! The kids sat in line (kind of) while Theresa and I checked in and waited for the guys to return. Chris arrived as I was checking in so that worked well. Theresa got yelled at as I had her remove all unnecessary papers from her document package (WHY would you keep them all in there? WHY would the Cast Member (CM from here on out) care?).
We hung out in line and chatted with Tracy and family and tagall4 (Teri) and family during the whole wait it seemed to go VERY fast this year. Debbie and family arrived and Mason found an immediate friend in Ryans Gameboy (lol). Within no time at all, they were opening the doors and letting us board. We went to get our pictures taken and Lauren ran behind Chris so our boarding photo showed us with one child only. We opted not to buy it. We entered the ship and were announced as Mason & Laurens family from Oklahoma. Savsawmom's family came on board as Savannah and Sawyers family from Tampa. We split up immediately and went to Rockin Bar D to make the Palo (adults only) dinner and brunch reservations. We had to wait a few moments for them to get organized and were out of there within 5 minutes with brunch on Sunday at 11 and dinner on Wednesday at 7:30 (later changed to 8:00).
We went upstairs to meet the guys at the spa and they werent open yet. We met a family there that had recognized Chris (originally) and then me from last years Halloween cruise (too funny) and they even remembered we were first in line last year! After spa reservations were made; Chris/Doug had a couples massage (we laughed about this all week) on Monday and Theresa/I had the Absolute Massage/Facial for Monday as well. Since there was no line, I made hair appointments for Theresa/I on Thursday at 4:30. Chris and I made a Surial Bath appointment but had messed up the day so we ended up canceling it and not rescheduling.
We left the spa (finally) and went to lunch. SHRIMP, SHRIMP, SHRIMP. There were other items, but do they really matter? I whipped out my weekly planner and made the updates (spa/brunch/dinner) and the guy next to me told me I love you! when he saw the organization (this is after everyone in line made fun of me). He was wondering where I got the sheet on the ship and was totally impressed that I made it (heehee). We laughed about that a lot too over the week.
We went to the kids clubs and signed up/received our pager and then headed to our rooms to change for the Mickey pool/slide. Chris took the kids up and I waited a bit to see if our luggage would arrive. Within 30 minutes I had all 4 pieces and had the first nights dinner outfits out hanging to get the wrinkles out. I went up to the pool and joined the rest of the group. We went back to the room to get ready for the lifeboat drill which was painless; port side rocks as you are in the shade and it was very windy. The guy next to us had a full beer and was a riot. After that we headed immediately upstairs for the Sailaway party. We partied with the characters until the horn sang When you wish upon a star and we were OFF! We ran over to the side and waved to the people on the dock below. We totally spaced on the DIS meet on Deck 7 it never entered out heads to go down there even after we went to the back of Topsiders on Deck 9 and looked down on the deck.
We went and changed for dinner (orginal dining time was 6:00 p.m.). About this time, the boat began to really (really, REALLY) rock our restaurant was at the very back of the ship on Deck 3. People were disappearing right and left and Theresa saw several people out with buckets cleaning the carpet.
Saw/Sav + Lauren/Mason before dinner on Sat. We took the boys in shorts and no one blinked an eye. This was the only dinner besides the last night where they ALL ate with us
We met our servers; Clive from Jamaica and Maria from the UK. They were GREAT and we enjoyed them every night. We had dinner the first night in Parrot Cay which is the tropical themed restaurant. I had the Hot Crab Newberg (ok), tried the Cold Avacado soup (good, but kind of odd), Grilled Rib-eye steak (GOOD), and the no-sugar added cheesecake (very good, last diet dessert I ate lol). Chris got the mixed grill and every once else said we needed to order what he had.
We took the kids to the kids club (thinking it would be far less rocky on Deck 5 mid-ship and it was) and went to the opening show. The show was a variety act and VERY empty. Chris kept getting water doused on him (leak?) and we sat with Debbie/Greg but Greg had to leave (paged by one of the kids) part way through the show. There were jugglers in the show and they did a GREAT job considering the waves. We left the show (and that was a HOOT getting out of the theater Deck 4, extreme front of the ship). Theresa/Doug went to get their kids and go to bed (lol) and Chris/Debbie/I went shopping for a bit. Lauren freaked when we went to get her. Im staying to watch the movie so we picked up Mason, ordered room service for him (cookies/milk) and went to get Lauren later. Luckily they had no issue with seasickness at all while onboard (the sailboat was a different story, but thats Wednesdays story) and didnt even mention the waves/rockiness/wandering down the hallways swaying from side to side or hitting the walls as you walked. We went to bed with the ship creaking above us .
