December 6 - 12 Magic Western
Myself - 31
DH - 30
DD - 6
DD - 3
SIL - 20
Her fiancé - 22
Day 1 -
We left Ohio at 4 PM on Thursday for the drive down to Cocoa Beach. Traffic was light and the weather was clear. The girls were very good in the van. Very uneventful until we hit the bottom of West Virginia. I planned the drive right down to the minute using our AAA services. We were scheduled to arrive around 10 AM on Friday. I was fine with the delay for weather. We would just drive slowly and carefully. As I paid the toll attendant at the last toll in WV he informed us that the snow was coming down harder at the Virginia boarder and a lot of people were pulling off to stay the night. I think this is all a big conspiracy with the hotels because the snow wasnt really that bad. Growing up in Chicago I guess I am used to driving in it. Anyway, as we approached the snow we were informed by DHs sister that their wipers werent working on their ghetto van and that they wanted to pull over. Needless to say, I was furious. There was no problems with our van and the weather was not about to slow me down. After a not so nice discussion between DH and I we pulled off at the next exit to find a hotel. I suggested that they take the map and directions I had and they could meet us in Cocoa Beach the next morning. I lost the argument and we ended up staying at a Days Inn somewhere in WV. Now when a family of 4 and 2 extra adults decide to stay at a hotel they usually get 2 rooms right? No. Not the hicks I was traveling with. All 6 of us stayed in one room with the kids sleeping on the floor. I did not sleep well that night because the heat was not working in the room and all I could hear all night was trucks and cars driving by on the interstate. So, I had everyone up at 4 AM the next morning and on the road at 5. They were all pissed but I didnt care. I estimated our arrival time at around 4 PM Friday afternoon. So much for DD6 and DH seeing the Space Center. Oh, did I tell you we paid for the hotel because SIL didnt have the money? I thought this was supposed to be a vacation.
Well, we arrived at 4:30 and checked into the Best Western in Cocoa Beach. As DH was unpacking the luggage I discovered the tv didnt work. I was not staying in a hotel with two small children and no tv. DH went to complain and we were moved to another room. This one was on the first floor (I am sure the people below us in the first room were happy we moved) and had a kitchenette. Much nicer room although there was only one king bed. The kids were fine sleeping on the floor again. We got settled and decided to find something to eat. SIL wanted to come with but DH told them we were going somewhere fancy. We ended up at Dennys. Very fancy! Guess he only told them that because he knew they would want to spend any money. Dinner was fine but DD3 slept through it. She didnt wake up until the next morning. We stopped at Walmart and headed back to the hotel. We woke at 6 AM and took a stole to the beach. Watch some surfers and then headed to Dunkin Donuts for a healthy breakfast. We decided to take a drive to the port and check out the situation. Very easy to find. We took some pictures and returned to the hotel with DD3 yelling I want to go on Mickeys boat!. I dropped the family off at the hotel and went to visit Shirley at The Perfect Gift. I cant say enough great things about her and Norm. The nicest couple you will ever meet. I chatted with them for a while and said my goodbyes and was off to pick up the family. We all loaded into one van and headed to the port. We got in line to enter the drop off and sat for about 15 minutes. We unloaded our bags at the curb and proceeded through security while DH took the van back to the hotel. I had everything filled out and walked straight up to the desk with no problems. Checked in without DH and headed to line up to board. It was about 10:30 at this point and we were about the 10th family in line. DH showed up a few minutes later and took the kids to watch cartoons. I received a call from BearFan who was on the ship from her cruise the week before. She walked over to where we could see her and we waived. I walked over to DH to see what he was doing and ran into DisneyDebK. She had recognized the girls from their photo. We chatted and then Goofy appeared. We got in line for a couple of pictures.
Right after that we headed back into line to board. As we were standing in line my cell rang again and it was Mitcam. She was near the back of the line. We boarded very quickly and were off to make our reservations. First was to Beat Street for Palo reservations. BearFan had already made them for Brunch so I got into the right line and had our dinner reservations within 5 minutes. SIL made reservations for High Tea and I was off to the spa. I stood in line for about 10 minutes and made my reservation for the Spa Taster. Met up with DH and headed to eat. Was a bit tricky getting around Topsiders with all the strollers and luggage but we managed to find a table. Sorry Rae, was not to thrilled with the shrimp or the Mango soup. It tasted too much like orange juice. We ate and then headed for some ice cream. DD6 was not allowed any dessert for 1 month before the cruise due to a freezer door being left open in our house. She was so excited to have that ice cream. We headed to the Club to register the kids. That took about 15 minutes.
It was now time to see our room. We headed to our room and the girls were very surprised with their baskets from Shirley. We unpacked our luggage as it arrived and headed off to the life boat drill. DD3 was not at all happy with the life jacket and threw herself on the ground and wouldnt get up. The CM told us she could take off her life jacket and she soon fell asleep in DHs arms. After the drill I headed up to Deck 10 with DD6 while DH and DD3 went for a nap. We were to have a meet at the Sail Away Party. It was about 60 degrees and very windy. We met up with Mitcam and family and they went down to Deck 9 to get warm. I waited for others for about 15 minutes. I headed down to Deck 9. Sorry for everyone that missed us. We were very cold! After the party we headed to change for dinner. We had PLAPLAP first seating. We were originally down for 2nd but got on the list before we left. No problem with that. We had a table for 10. Our family, SIL and fiancé and Mitcam and family. Also another thing arranged ahead of time. The kids got along great. Dinner was very good. Our servers were good but as I have heard a lot lately, we got the speech about making sure we gave them great ratings on the survey at the end of the week. Once would have been enough but we received that speech every night.
After dinner we dropped the kids off at the club and met Mitcam and husband for a drink. We were paged to pick up DD3. DD 6 wanted to stay with her new friends. We headed back to the room and ordered room service (our nightly tradition). DD6 thought it was great to get free food in our room when ever we wanted it. We were paged not too long after get DD6. She wanted to leave because her friends left. She fell asleep before the food arrived. We were off to sleep not too much after midnight. We were looking forward to warmer weather the next day!
Myself - 31
DH - 30
DD - 6
DD - 3
SIL - 20
Her fiancé - 22
Day 1 -
We left Ohio at 4 PM on Thursday for the drive down to Cocoa Beach. Traffic was light and the weather was clear. The girls were very good in the van. Very uneventful until we hit the bottom of West Virginia. I planned the drive right down to the minute using our AAA services. We were scheduled to arrive around 10 AM on Friday. I was fine with the delay for weather. We would just drive slowly and carefully. As I paid the toll attendant at the last toll in WV he informed us that the snow was coming down harder at the Virginia boarder and a lot of people were pulling off to stay the night. I think this is all a big conspiracy with the hotels because the snow wasnt really that bad. Growing up in Chicago I guess I am used to driving in it. Anyway, as we approached the snow we were informed by DHs sister that their wipers werent working on their ghetto van and that they wanted to pull over. Needless to say, I was furious. There was no problems with our van and the weather was not about to slow me down. After a not so nice discussion between DH and I we pulled off at the next exit to find a hotel. I suggested that they take the map and directions I had and they could meet us in Cocoa Beach the next morning. I lost the argument and we ended up staying at a Days Inn somewhere in WV. Now when a family of 4 and 2 extra adults decide to stay at a hotel they usually get 2 rooms right? No. Not the hicks I was traveling with. All 6 of us stayed in one room with the kids sleeping on the floor. I did not sleep well that night because the heat was not working in the room and all I could hear all night was trucks and cars driving by on the interstate. So, I had everyone up at 4 AM the next morning and on the road at 5. They were all pissed but I didnt care. I estimated our arrival time at around 4 PM Friday afternoon. So much for DD6 and DH seeing the Space Center. Oh, did I tell you we paid for the hotel because SIL didnt have the money? I thought this was supposed to be a vacation.
Well, we arrived at 4:30 and checked into the Best Western in Cocoa Beach. As DH was unpacking the luggage I discovered the tv didnt work. I was not staying in a hotel with two small children and no tv. DH went to complain and we were moved to another room. This one was on the first floor (I am sure the people below us in the first room were happy we moved) and had a kitchenette. Much nicer room although there was only one king bed. The kids were fine sleeping on the floor again. We got settled and decided to find something to eat. SIL wanted to come with but DH told them we were going somewhere fancy. We ended up at Dennys. Very fancy! Guess he only told them that because he knew they would want to spend any money. Dinner was fine but DD3 slept through it. She didnt wake up until the next morning. We stopped at Walmart and headed back to the hotel. We woke at 6 AM and took a stole to the beach. Watch some surfers and then headed to Dunkin Donuts for a healthy breakfast. We decided to take a drive to the port and check out the situation. Very easy to find. We took some pictures and returned to the hotel with DD3 yelling I want to go on Mickeys boat!. I dropped the family off at the hotel and went to visit Shirley at The Perfect Gift. I cant say enough great things about her and Norm. The nicest couple you will ever meet. I chatted with them for a while and said my goodbyes and was off to pick up the family. We all loaded into one van and headed to the port. We got in line to enter the drop off and sat for about 15 minutes. We unloaded our bags at the curb and proceeded through security while DH took the van back to the hotel. I had everything filled out and walked straight up to the desk with no problems. Checked in without DH and headed to line up to board. It was about 10:30 at this point and we were about the 10th family in line. DH showed up a few minutes later and took the kids to watch cartoons. I received a call from BearFan who was on the ship from her cruise the week before. She walked over to where we could see her and we waived. I walked over to DH to see what he was doing and ran into DisneyDebK. She had recognized the girls from their photo. We chatted and then Goofy appeared. We got in line for a couple of pictures.
Right after that we headed back into line to board. As we were standing in line my cell rang again and it was Mitcam. She was near the back of the line. We boarded very quickly and were off to make our reservations. First was to Beat Street for Palo reservations. BearFan had already made them for Brunch so I got into the right line and had our dinner reservations within 5 minutes. SIL made reservations for High Tea and I was off to the spa. I stood in line for about 10 minutes and made my reservation for the Spa Taster. Met up with DH and headed to eat. Was a bit tricky getting around Topsiders with all the strollers and luggage but we managed to find a table. Sorry Rae, was not to thrilled with the shrimp or the Mango soup. It tasted too much like orange juice. We ate and then headed for some ice cream. DD6 was not allowed any dessert for 1 month before the cruise due to a freezer door being left open in our house. She was so excited to have that ice cream. We headed to the Club to register the kids. That took about 15 minutes.
It was now time to see our room. We headed to our room and the girls were very surprised with their baskets from Shirley. We unpacked our luggage as it arrived and headed off to the life boat drill. DD3 was not at all happy with the life jacket and threw herself on the ground and wouldnt get up. The CM told us she could take off her life jacket and she soon fell asleep in DHs arms. After the drill I headed up to Deck 10 with DD6 while DH and DD3 went for a nap. We were to have a meet at the Sail Away Party. It was about 60 degrees and very windy. We met up with Mitcam and family and they went down to Deck 9 to get warm. I waited for others for about 15 minutes. I headed down to Deck 9. Sorry for everyone that missed us. We were very cold! After the party we headed to change for dinner. We had PLAPLAP first seating. We were originally down for 2nd but got on the list before we left. No problem with that. We had a table for 10. Our family, SIL and fiancé and Mitcam and family. Also another thing arranged ahead of time. The kids got along great. Dinner was very good. Our servers were good but as I have heard a lot lately, we got the speech about making sure we gave them great ratings on the survey at the end of the week. Once would have been enough but we received that speech every night.
After dinner we dropped the kids off at the club and met Mitcam and husband for a drink. We were paged to pick up DD3. DD 6 wanted to stay with her new friends. We headed back to the room and ordered room service (our nightly tradition). DD6 thought it was great to get free food in our room when ever we wanted it. We were paged not too long after get DD6. She wanted to leave because her friends left. She fell asleep before the food arrived. We were off to sleep not too much after midnight. We were looking forward to warmer weather the next day!
