8/17/2008 Double Dip 4-day Wonder

[Dizzyworld]

Got home Sat. night. We're tired and sad to be home. Despite the gliteches caused by Faye, we had a great time. We got to do almost everything we had planned to do.

It was nice meeting all of you and trying to remember faces to go with real names and Dis names.

Coach Rick.....you and your family were with us in our hearts. How are all of you? Take care.

Now back to unpacking and .

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Just got home this afternoon from both cruises.

We will never ever forget the 8/17 Wonder cruise. Yes, we cannot believe the timing of doing a back-to-back cruise and that we didn't have to get up at 5am to catch a four hour bus ride back to Orlando. We got a phone call at 7am telling us to gather at 8am to depart the ship. Then that was switched to 8:30am. We had to wait in the terminal while the CMs worked to get all the laptops up and running in order to check us in for the 8/21 cruise. That took about an hour to get back on the ship.

Meeting so many of you really made this cruise so special. You are all a wonderful group and I hope we can all cruise together again.

Outside of excursions getting cancelled, I didn't think Fay really impacted us that much in terms of the weather. The seas weren't that rough when we were on the open water.

I'm glad it wasn't overly hot and sunny at Castaway Cay as none of us got sunburned. I enjoyed walking around CC in my barefeet.

The wind during the 2nd CC day was just wild. As soon as the snorkeling lagoon re-opened we went in and it was such an amazing experience swimming in the rough surf. How often do you see waves at CC?????

Yes, the visibility was zero in the water and you couldn't see any fish but it was so much fun just swimming in the waves. Wish we could have rented surfboards that day.

I have some amazing photos from that day that I will post to show how rough the water was.

I thought the food at Cookies on the 2nd CC day was fantastic!!!! Really enjoyed the changed menu.

And how about getting two pirate parties!!!!!

And the CMs were absolutely fantastic - we requested to keep our servers for the second cruise. Assistant cruise director Ray was everywhere, he's a nice guy.

DH and both my kids did not like Toy Story - they thought it was too dark. I thought it was okay. We all prefer Hercules instead because of the humor.

On 8/21, the ship was empty until about 4pm with less than 200 people onboard. The safety drill was pushed back to 7:30pm. The late dining people could eat during the early dining for that night. The sailaway party was virtually empty (I've seen wedding receptions with more people).

It poured and poured during the early afternoon of 8/21. It was so neat to watch the crew on all the cargo/container ships passing by us taking pictures of the Wonder. You should have seen their faces - probably the first time they've ever seen a Disney ship.

BTW....I will never book a mid ship room on deck 8 ever again. The overnight noise from deck 9 was the worst I've ever heard. Woke us up every night!!!!

 

[Coach Rick]

Coach Rick.....you and your family were with us in our hearts. How are all of you? Take care.

Thank you so much for all your well wishes. I was thinking of and praying for all of you that the storm would not impact you, and you would all have the most magical time. I did end up going to WDW on Monday to take care of my wife and kids. They were there without a room for Sunday to Thursday, but I had managed to make a couple of individual resies, but once dad was stable, I jumped a SWA flight down to calm my other worry, and I can't say enough about the staff at SSR, especially Mike and Thommy. They worked for almost an hour to get us one 2 bedroom for the 4 remaining nights, and was able to get the ddp added. We were scheduled to come home on the 9PM flight Friday, but I got a call from DM at 5:30 am that dad was once again in bad condition, and Southwest once again came through and got us out at 1 PM at no additional charge. Dad seems to be better, but I don't think he can ever go home again. He will most likely have to go to hospice, which breaks my heart in a million pieces. He spent a good deal of the last couple of days telling me how proud he is of me. It's doing a number on me.

Anyhow, I am so happy to see you guys checking in one at a time, and am living the cruise that wasn't for me through your reports! Thanks again.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Coach Rick....thank you so much for the updates. Wow, what a roller coaster you have been on. We thought about you and your family so much throughout the cruise.

We all agreed that during the Sailaway party it was so easy to pick us out on the big screen because those green shirts stood out so well.

 

[Coach Rick]

Just in case anyone is planning on a 4 nighter August 16, 2009, here is the link: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=27132140#post27132140

 

[disnutz]

Coach Rick -

So glad you got to have a little magic with your family! You and your family are in our thoughts. I have been there recently myself, and know how hard it is, but just know he will be in a better place.

Ski and Sea - heard the weather on the second cruise was great! Good for you! So did you love the suite - just not the location? or did you change rooms second cruise? Tell us all about it!

It was awesome getting to meet everyone, and made it a really fun trip. My family had a great time, even though we didn't get to jet ski - oh well - as I told Dh - guess we have to go back now.

Although we did not rebook on board. Did anyone else?

About Toy Story - DD thought it was only ok, I liked it, but DH and DS LOVED it. Said it was their favorite show. Just goes to show, you never know!

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

i was just reading your thread because I live about 1 hour north of Ft LAuderdale and now wished I had gone to see the ship in PE!

We did the B2B last month..cool that you had the ship to yourself even longer! We got back on about 9:30 and had till about 12 without anyone...I would do a B2B again...DCL did it very well!

 

[disneymama]

Coach Rick - Lots of prayers being sent your way from us too. I'm glad you made it to FL to spend time with the family - I'm sure it was so hard on them to not have you there.

Our feedback on "Toy Story- the Musical": I thought it was ok, DD loved it but DH really disliked it. He didn't like the whole Sid theme (very dark) or the music. We would rank it as the lowest of the 3 shows (we skipped the comedian (?) on night 2.

I don't think we'll do another cruise until the big boats come out (2011?), so I'll have to keep reading these boards to get my fix.

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

Our feedback on "Toy Story- the Musical": I thought it was ok, DD loved it but DH really disliked it. He didn't like the whole Sid theme (very dark) or the music. We would rank it as the lowest of the 3 shows (we skipped the comedian (?) on night 2.

We loved Toy Story, especially the Sid parts. It was different than the other shows and maybe that's why we preferred it. Jeff Civillico on night 2 was great, I liked the Golden Mickeys, and was a bit underwhelmed by Disney Dreams.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Its funny how people have different reactions to Toy Story.

DH and the kids thought it was too depressing and thought the Sid character was a bit overdone.

I thought it was very creative. Yes, the songs weren't that memorable but I thought it was a nice contrast to Disney Dreams and the Golden Mickeys.

One thing we all agreed on is that the show needs more humor/jokes/funny parts. There wasn't really any laugh-out-loud parts the way Hercules had.

Oh, did you all spot this? DD noticed this immediately. The gigantic tool box had the word "Binford" written on it. A clever tie in to Tim Allen's character on "Home Improvement".

We missed Jeff Civillico's performance in the theater but I did watch his night time show and we saw his "mini performance" in Wavebands the next night.

(boy, he is pleasing on the eyes)

Feeling the PCDS - post cruise depression syndrome. I've caught up on the laundry but still haven't put everything away. We bring all our own snorkel gear and I'm rinsing that out right now.

 

[disneymama]

Sea-and-Ski - you've got the laundry done already??? I'm impressed. I haven't even got all the clothes sorted yet! I did host a 25 person party on Saturday though, so I guess I was distracted a bit.

I didn't notice Binford, but I did notice that A113 shows up in a few movies. It's the license plate of the car in Toy Story, and the protocol number (?) for returning home in Wall-E. It was also in something else, but I forget what at the moment, other than it was a Pixar movie.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Sea-and-Ski - you've got the laundry done already??? I'm impressed. I haven't even got all the clothes sorted yet! I did host a 25 person party on Saturday though, so I guess I was distracted a bit.

I didn't notice Binford, but I did notice that A113 shows up in a few movies. It's the license plate of the car in Toy Story, and the protocol number (?) for returning home in Wall-E. It was also in something else, but I forget what at the moment, other than it was a Pixar movie.

We brought record low amount of clothes this trip. With the stops at Castaway Cay we just wore the same clothes over and over. Okay - DH hasn't washed his stuff, yet, but I don't count that.

Plus - all the dressy stuff is going straight to the dry cleaners.

Man, is it dry here. I don't think it rained at all while we were away. Everything is turning brown and some of the trees are starting to turn colors. I'm now got the sprinklers going to salvage what I can.

That's interesting about the A113 - I will look for that from now on.

 

[disneymama]

From Wikipedia:

A113 (Sometimes A-113 or A1-13) is an inside joke present as an Easter egg in animated films created by alumni of CalArts, referring to the classroom number used by character animation students at the school. Brad Bird first used it for a license plate number in the Amazing Stories episode "Family Dog." It has since appeared in other Disney and Pixar movies.

Pixar films
Toy Story - License plate number on Andy's mother's minivan
A Bug's Life - Code on cereal box as Flik enters the bug city.
Toy Story 2 - Airport announcement for "LassetAir Flight A113", also a reference to director John Lasseter.
Monsters, Inc. - Sign seen in the background when Sulley sees Smitty and Needleman loading the trash compactor.
Finding Nemo - Model code on camera used by scuba diver.
The Incredibles - Room number in Syndrome's lair. Also, the prison level where Mr. Incredible is held is "Level A1" in Cell # 13: A1 & 13
Cars - Mater's license plate. Also the number of the railway train which almost crashes into Lightning McQueen while he is on his way to Radiator Springs.[4]
Ratatouille - Git, the lab rat, has a tag on his left ear that reads, "A113".
WALL-E - The code for Auto's directive.

Cool.

 

[Lynda Silk]

Hi everyone!

We got back yesterday! Had a fabulous time at WDW even though it rained a lot the first 2 days. But the cruise was wonderful! It was so nice to meet all of you and you're right, the green t shirts did stand out at the Sailaway Party! We didn't wear them to the dismeet because we were late getting our suitcases into our cabin but I put mine on afterwards.

Coach Rick, as so many have already said, you were certainly in our thoughts during the cruise! Thank your wife for meeting me at Epcot the night before the cruise! What a good looking wife you have! It was so nice to meet her and your DD; again, too bad that you all couldn't go on the cruise. I'm still keeping you and your dad in my thoughts and prayers.

Sea-and-Ski, you were so right about the weather. Someone told me on the first day we were at Castaway Cay that it was so hot there the day before that the little kids were getting sick! But because it was kind of cloudy, it wasn't too hot when we were there so that worked out fine. And the 2nd day was really nice on CC; did you see that rain come in though at around 4pm? My DD and I were just getting ready to go back to the ship and we looked out at the water and you could just see the sheet of rain coming closer towards the sand. It was quite a sight to see! As my DD said, we didn't have to worry about taking a shower to remove the sand or salt water after being in that rain!

I wasn't too keen on Toy Story (didn't like the songs much) but I could tell that a lot of the children in the audience just loved it! Everytime a new character came onto the stage, I could hear the kids around me cheering and laughing...that was really cool to hear! I loved the Golden Mickeys; I'd seen it before but I found it really funny and entertaining!

Re Fort Lauderdale and the buses, I was really impressed by how organized that was. I had booked a town car but cancelled it because Guest Services said that I could take the bus directly to the CBR at no charge. There were lots of people to help you and direct you to the correct bus. And then on the bus, there was a bag with water, a Nutragrain bar and a towel wipe on each chair. I thought that was a nice touch.

I'm suffering from post-cruise depression too! I find myself itching to check out the future cruises. I loved the double dip and would love to do that again, but we'll have to replenish the old bank account first!

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

We did get caught in the downpour on the 2nd CC day. Man, that rain hurt - it felt like hail pounding on you. Boy, that storm came on fast.

My kids had a fantastic time hanging out in the clubs. This was DS's first year in the teen club and he absolutely loved it!!!! I'm sure he was hanging out with many DIS teens and I must say you all have wonderful teens.

Dizzyworld.....your DS ate lunch with us on the 2nd CC day. He is just delightful.

My kids are still talking about how much fun they had in the clubs. That says a lot.

BTW....on the last night if you happened to be watching the TV channel that showed the live shot from the front of the ship and it shows the basketball courts. Well, that was my kids playing ball as we're sailing towards a tropical storm. The wind was blowing so hard the camera was bouncing.

My first thought when I first turned on that channel was "what idiots are out playing basketball in a tropical storm?"

Then the realization hit that both my kids are out there.

Even some of the CMs said they watched that channel and got a chuckle out of the kids trying to play ball.

I'm so bummed we didn't all get to meet.

Willem.....was that you out in the water at Serenity Bay in the morning of the second CC day? The family snorkeling lagoon was shut and I decided to take the tram to Serenity Bay to check it out.

 

[Dizzyworld]

It was funny when we did the laundry my DH noticed that we had almost one full load of lime green shirts. When unpacking a few things bought fom CC....you guessed it another lime green shirt and a new lime green beach towel. Will it ever stop?

 

[Dizzyworld]

My kids had a fantastic time hanging out in the clubs. This was DS's first year in the teen club and he absolutely loved it!!!! I'm sure he was hanging out with many DIS teens and I must say you all have wonderful teens.

Dizzyworld.....your DS ate lunch with us on the 2nd CC day. He is just delightful.


I'm so bummed we didn't all get to meet.

Same here, both teens had lots of fun. They said they would rather sail than go to the parks. And I agree our group has wonderful children.

Sea-and-Ski.......My DS told me he had lunch with you. It always surprises me where he ends up. His sister on the other hand....

I too wish I would have had the opportunity to meet up with more of you. The Dis groups have always made our trips more enjoyable.

As for Toy Story, I was really looking forward to seeing it, but didn't like it as much as I thought. Sid was a little too intense for me. I felt sorry for many little children around us holding their hands up to their ears. It was very loud. If we had our choice we would have picked Hercules over Toy Story.

 

[disneypartyof4]

Hey, that is My son zac hands on head, DH kenny orange hat and me in that second picture, Josh my other DS must have been to short, we were on the big screen I don't know how many times during the sailaway party, I knew if I seen green I would see us!!! My DS josh Was picked to be one of the seven dwarfs in the golden mickey show I'm going to pick up my pictures today and I will post the picture of him, If I can figure out how to do it! This was our 1st cruise and we loved it!

 

[Willem]

Willem.....was that you out in the water at Serenity Bay in the morning of the second CC day? The family snorkeling lagoon was shut and I decided to take the tram to Serenity Bay to check it out.

Probably yes. I loved Serenity Bay sooo much. And the fact it was almost empty only made it better...

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Wow - having a pretty day here in NJ. Nice way to end the summer

(btw....I am just about to order my season passes for my local ski resort - how's that for transitioning away from the summer )

Dizzy.....we did meet your DD as well as she had some of her beach things at our chairs at CC.

I agree about Toy Story.....boy, Sid's song was incredibly loud. And that character really didn't have much of a role in the movie so it was strange to see him have that big a role in the DCL muscial.

We prefer Hercules.

Disneypartyof4.....isn't funny how people post pictures here and it turns out there are other DISers in the shot. Glad you enjoyed your first cruise as the conditions weren't ideal. That really was bad luck for us to visit CC twice and have so many excursions cancelled both days.

Willem......at Serenity Bay I was thinking about swimming out to where I thought I saw you but the water was so deep that day that I think it was over my head (I'm short) and didn't want to risk it.

You are right that SB was completely empty that day. I've got the pictures to prove it!!!!

I've got over 200 photos from the cruises. I've got great comparison shots of CC over the different days to see how the conditions changed so much. I'll post them as soon as I've uploaded them.

Weren't the CMs just fantastic!!!!! What a warm and friendly bunch. We lucked out and had great servers and stateroom host but also the entertainment CMs (Orlando, Leslie, Jenn, Shaikah) plus so many of the bar staff that I really enjoyed talking with.

Here's a great story for all of you that have teens that heard the warning from the Aloft counselors about what happens if security catches teens making out in places where they shouldn't?

Guess what happened on our 3-night cruise. Yup. Security caught two teens making out in the Walt Disney Theater. Yup, that video got played on the big video screen in Aloft. DS said he never saw the couple again in Aloft.