8/26/07 Wonder (L&S) If it is worth doing, it is worth overdoing.

[DAggiesRWe]

"Are we almost there?"

This would be our version of “are we there yet?”, and the first time we heard these words (from DS7) we were still in Virginia at mile marker 5. I didn’t answer right away because within minutes we were coming up on the State line, and I figured this would give the boys something to count down during the trip. As we passed the sign, I told him that we had one state line down and three to go.

As we crossed into South Carolina with with screaming bladders, we pulled into one of our traditional stops along the way for a quick break. As you get off, there is a nice and elegent state welcome sign suggesting class.

On the other side of the highway is one of the classic roadside monuments to the American Redneck, "South of the Border". For those who aren’t familiar with it, “South of the Border” is like a miniature version of 192 in Kissimmee (with kitschy souvenir stands, mini golf, and a couple of restaurants). The highlight is the observation sombrero.

We find the first couple of gifts for friends back home, stretch our legs and load up again. Two more State lines and a dinner stop and we soon arrive at our first day’s destination, Jacksonville. I cashed in some frequent stay points from business trips to get us a free night somewhere close, but our official stay at WDW didn’t begin until the next day so this made a good stopover point.

After being cooped up in the van all day, the kids appreciated some time in the pool before bed. I was ready for a refreshing dip, but the water in the pool was at hot tub temperatures, so the wife and I decided to skip (besides, we didn’t really want to put on wet swimsuits in the morning for our day at Typhoon Lagoon). Brushing my teeth that night, I was reminded of an observation from the DISBoards. There is no cold tapwater in Florida.

The next morning after enjoying the free breakfast at the hotel (and DS7 conning the breakfast lady into finding him the donut he wanted from the stash in back), we hit the road for Orlando. Here is a tip for those driving down: make your bathroom stop in Daytona, because there is NOTHING until you get to Orlando once you turn onto I-4.

We finally reached Orlando, and after relieving a little pent-up stress and topping off the gas tanks at the first available exit we grabbed a quick lunch by doing what the cows told us to do “Eat mor chikin”. A short drive from there and we finally arrived. We had reached the promised land, the Shrine of the Mouse, the World that Walt built, Disney World.

Coming soon...The day at Typhoon Lagoon.

 

[kaysmommie]

Subbing! I really want to try a Disney cruise next trip. You have a beautiful family! Waiting for more, hope you have lots of pictures.

 

[DAggiesRWe]

I am sorry for how long this trip report is taking, but the passport office got us yet again as I mentioned earlier, Nathaniel was back with us again. We had been checking every day looking for the passport (only to find that they had shipped it to Fort Bliss in El Paso ). That changed the focus for us to get the people in El Paso to forward the passport to us.

On October 23, my sons and I returned from our Scout meetings to discover DD sitting in my chair (she managed to come all the way from Germany without telling us that she was coming ). So we were busy visiting, and doing several Halloween parties and I fell behind on my trip report. I posted some of the sections that I had already written to keep things going. The good news is that Nathaniel's passport finally came in, and Mother and son are now back in Germany.

I have started the next report about our day at Typhoon Lagoon, and hope to have it finished and ready to post soon.

Thanks for your patience.

 

[DAggiesRWe]

Following the excellent signage within WDW, we circled past Downtown Disney and found the entrance to Typhoon Lagoon. We have been to Disney World multiple times, but we had always gone when it was too cold for the water parks so this time we were looking forward to the chance to check out Typhoon Lagoon. We chose Typhoon Lagoon over Blizzard Beach since we aren’t into the more “extreme” kinds of water park rides (although the boys are likely going to bug us to go to BB next time since they are starting to go for the more extreme stuff).

As we pulled into the parking lot we got the first pleasant surprise of our trip, FREE PARKING . After buying our tickets, we went in and found our home base near the wave pool. [tip – make sure you set up a home-base somewhere that the whole family knows to go in case a parent gets misplaced ]. From our advanced planning, we only had a couple of things we knew we wanted to make sure we did, and the rest would be bonus. First however, we had to get wet and cool off after the long walk we had just completed, so it was into the wave pool.

For those who haven’t been, the TL wave pool is different than any other one I have seen in that rather than using air pressure to set up interference waves (like you get from swishing back and forth in the bathtub), they actually pump several thousand gallons above the tank and drop it all at once to make a single large wave across the pool that is more like a real ocean wave. The up side is that you can actually body-surf these waves (if it isn’t too crowded) . The downside is that they only come along every 90 seconds, so you do a lot of standing around waiting. I managed to get a shot of DS11 just as a wave was coming in, and this gives you an idea how big the waves are. I didn't get the shot right after the wave surprised him and he came up spluttering .

After a quick dip and a couple of waves, we return to home base where DW informs me that she discovered that her “pool hat” wasn’t waterproof and that she discovered this the hard way.

So then we made our way to the main “must-do”. As Cousin Guido would say, we were “going swimming with the fishes”, but this time was without the cement goulashes. Since I didn’t get to do Dive Quest on this trip, this would be my one chance to swim with sharks, and this time I get to take the family too. We pick up our mask and snorkel, I teach the family how to rinse out their masks so they don’t get the cleaning chemicals in their eyes. We enter quite possibly the only cold water in Florida, but on this hot summer day it feels wonderful. We see the boys off first, and DS11 races to the far end of the pool, and DS7 swims straight to the lifeguard without looking down at the fish at all. The lifeguard helps DS7 to the end, and tries to get him to look down, but he just wants to catch up to his brother.

Then DW and I take our turn across the tank. I have a waterproof camera (another tip), and am snapping pictures like mad of the nurse shark, ray and a blue fish with the ugliest face I had ever seen (it reminded me of one of those plastic doll faces that had been stepped on a few times). As I got close to the end, I looked back for DW to get a shot of her in the water, and find that she is barely halfway though the tank. I wait to get the shot while the life guard at the exit is yelling for me to exit the pool. Once she caught up to me, I found out that DW had been having a problem with her mask fogging and had to stop to clear it several times. In my worry over her, I forgot to get the picture (oh well).

From the scary shark tank to the relaxation of the Lazy River, or as the kids think of it, “the race track”. For the life of me, I don’t know why kids can’t sit back and relax, but have to turn everything into a competition. Anyway, DW and I enjoyed just floating along on the current while getting bumped and shoved by other kids racing around the river. We had barely completed our first circuit when our boys lapped us and announced that they wanted to go check out the water slides. We told them to meet us back at home base in a half hour and to stay together while we floated another lap.

As we were walking back to home base, we met DS7 heading to home base. He informed us that DS11 went on a slide he didn’t want to ride, so he was going back to home base. So the three of us headed off to do some of the water slides together, figuring we would catch up with DS11 later. [water park tip – wear bright color swimsuits, green or yellow, because everyone has black or brown and the bright color makes it easier to find each other. Lifeguards are almost always in red, so avoid that color too] As typical for Disney, the waterslides here weren’t the standard fiberglass half-pipe you see everywhere else, but actually looked like they had been carved out of the hillside.

After taking a spin on the various options, we head back toward home base to find DS11. Crossing the wave pool, we find him attempting to learn to body surf with a friend he met on the slides, so we hang out there to catch some waves. Then the four of us headed to the “Crush-n-gusher” (our other must-do of the day). This ride is the water-park version of a roller coaster, where you go down a hill on your tube and then get blasted back up the hill by a high-powered water jet. DW and DS7 were satisfied with one run on the banana run (tamest), but DS11 and I had to go for the coconut run (fastest) and we managed to get caught by one of the photographers.

By now it was getting close to closing time, and we wanted one more run on the family waterslide (four people to a tube), so a quick trip in the Lazy River with the boys pulling our tubes along (it is the “Lazy” river after all) got us to the waterslides. After a short wait we got our turn on the family slide, and through some careful maneuvering I managed to get DS11 with a direct hit from the waterfall.

From there, it was back toward home base with a quick detour while DS11 got a couple of quick runs on the speed slides. These are just like the ones back home where you end the run with a mega-wedgie, so he was the only one interested in riding. We found a discarded PhotoPass card, and figuring we would have to turn ours in we grabbed it thinking we could use it for scrap booking when we got home (even trash from WDW can be used by a creative scrap booker like my wife). On the way back to home base, I tried to cut off a corner next to this big bamboo water tank, and nearly knocked myself unconscious on a projecting piece of bamboo which the boys thought was funny for some reason (it is the piece right next to the lady's shoulder).

After collecting our things, we stopped by the photo booth and discovered our second nice surprise of the trip. All the PhotoPass systems are linked, so we didn’t have to buy pictures right then, but could combine them with pictures from the other parks during our trip. It took me a while to convince DW that we didn’t have to buy the pictures right then, but after the clerk assured her that the pictures would be available later on we left to check into the Beach Club.

 

[nezy]

So you went straight to TL from driving? I was a little confused-I thought I missed a post where you checked -in I am wondering "Where are they staying?"

...everything is a competiton w/ my 2 boya nd 1 girl too!

 

[manntra]

Wow....Typhoon Lagoon looks really fun! I haven't ever checked it out but next August when I take my 3 nephews we might go for a day or so....I am quite sure that they would like it there (two 16 and one 14 year old)

 

[DAggiesRWe]

So you went straight to TL from driving? I was a little confused-I thought I missed a post where you checked -in I am wondering "Where are they staying?"

...everything is a competiton w/ my 2 boya nd 1 girl too!

Yup, drove in from Jacksonville had lunch just outside WDW (can't give Iger all my money ) and then hit TL. We bought one-day tickets rather than adding the "plus" option because we knew we were only doing one day.

Check in had to be done after 4:00 p.m., so we just made our plan to hit TL and then go on to the Beach Club. This was a vacation, so we didn't try to throw in too much (especially during the Land portion).

 

[DAggiesRWe]

After long and fun day in the Florida sun, we piled into the van and pulled out of the Typhoon Lagoon parking lot (did I mention the Free Parking?) Thank goodness for the excellent signage that allowed us to find the Beach Club resort with minimal confusion ("No dear, it is the Beach Club, not the Caribbean Beach Club.").

We pulled up to the front of the Beach Club and are met by the smiling face of the guard. As an aside here, I should explain that while I wouldn't exactly consider my family to be rednecks, we do occasionally display Jeff Foxworthy's "glorious lack of sophistication". Keep this in mind and you will understand our fascination with little things.

After Leon gave me the parking pass, we crossed the bridge and pulled up in front of the hotel. I hadn't even gotten out of the van when someone was there with a luggage rack offering to help. It only took one look at the size of this place and I knew I didn't want to wheel the bags through the hotel. (tip: Use the bellmen to get your luggage to your room. For $1 per bag, it is worth it not to have to wheel a bunch of bags down the hall). I only wish we had remembered this when we checked out .

There was so much information to get during the check in process, and the boys quickly grew bored and found a TV across the lobby playing Disney cartoons. After 20 minutes going over all the information in the packet, we walked over to the concierge desk to add the never-expire option for our 7-day passes. We had heard that some agents had objected to upgrading tickets that were included with the DCL Land and Sea packages, so I was a little nervous. I am pleased to report that this was completed without a bit of objection by the Disney reps. Ironically, we would not even use the major-park tickets during this trip.

Then we began the seemingly endless maze of corredors to find our room, and when we got there I asked DW where the cheese was. As we walked into our room, we were met by two face-cloth animals skillfully made by the housekeeping staff, including this cutie here (the one on the right).

After getting the luggage to the room, DW announces that she is in the mood for Pizza and Beer. Room service or offsite? Since we need to run to the grocery store for water, beer and other necessities we decide to do the off-WDW B&P dinner rather than ordering room service. After the grocery run, we have a cooler full of water (in both youth and adult versions) to get back to the room. I even gave the bellman extra to get this to our room.

At this point, we unpacked and settled into our room for the night. We took a quick turn through the room, tasking the boys with finding all the hidden Mickey's in the room. Once the unpacking was complete, we got the kids in bed for the night. Then we grabbed a couple of adult beverages and stepped out onto the balcony. Unfortunately the view we had from our balcony was a wooded area between the Beach Club and Beach Club Villas. While the boys fell asleep, DW and I had some quiet time on the balcony talking about plans for the next day and then turned in for the night ourselves. As we reentered the room, we heard DS11 snoring, so we knew it had been a good day. Soon we were snoring ourselves, and I had my first Disney dream.

Coming soon...Friday at the Beach club.

 

[DAggiesRWe]

I forgot to mention that when we got to our room, we already had two messages on the phone. One was a nice (even if it was canned) welcome message from the Hotel Manager (I told you, little things impress us) and the other was a message from Betty with DCL telling us we needed to check in with her ASAP.

As another aside, the theme of this trip ended up being “God has something better in store”.

We awoke bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for a fun day at the Beach Club. After getting my tuxedo shirt to housekeeping to be cleaned and pressed, we made our way to the restaurant for breakfast. Unfortunately, we were turned away because they do a character breakfast every morning and you had to have reservations to get in . After DW calmed me down and reminded me that we were on vacation and that I shouldn’t get worked up over this, we went back to the room to see what our options were. When we get there we find another message from Betty. So we walk down to the snack-bar in the the gift shop for a quickie breakfast and our "free refill" cups. Then I run back to the room to get the cruise paperwork that I left sitting by the door.

We finished our breakfast and feeling much better checked in with Betty. I run out to the van to get my sunglasses while DW and the boys learn how to make face-towel animals from the housekeeping staff. DS7 and I head back to the room with the new collection of animals (they let you keep the animals for free ) and to drop off our paperwork. DS7 makes yet another friend in Jeff (who is in the process of cleaning our room). DW and DS11 have been scouting out the gift shop while waiting on us but now that we are well fed, checked in for the cruise and freed of unnecessary burdens, we head out to the pool. Here is our complete animal collection.

This was one of the most impressive pools I have seen on a hotel anywhere. For lack of a better description, it was a miniature version of Typhoon Lagoon (only the wave pool was missing). We set up home-base, and turned the kids loose. DS11 heads for the waterslide while DS7 makes his way to the beach to make sand castles. I end up in the whirlpool area floating in circles until I got dizzy (DW says she couldn’t tell the difference) . The pools here are all sand-bottom, with a sharp and rough-grained sand that made it more comfortable than concrete, but not quite as nice as walking on a real beach. After about 30 minutes, the wife says it is time to put on sunscreen and asks where I put it.

After my walk to the room and back (it is 328 steps from our spot by the pool to the room so I figure I am doing about a quarter mile round trip each time), we put on sunscreen and rent a tube to float around the lazy river. After several circuits of the river I’m starting to find my Disney Attitude along with a bit of hunger. Lunch time, and DW and I have a hankering for a Disney Dog. We were disappointed to discover that the poolside snack bar, Hurricane Hanna’s, doesn’t carry hot dogs, so we made our way to Beaches and Cream (they have hot dogs on the menu, but they won’t let you take out food from there to the pool ). DS11 had made a friend with a boy his age from Kentucky and said he wasn’t hungry, so we gave them our tube to use in the lazy river and went looking for DS7. We found him mixed in with the kids club group as they were getting ready to do a treasure hunt game. The group leaders said all kids were invited to play, so we told him where we were going and told him to have fun while we headed off to Beaches and Cream.

After a wait, we were seated at the end of the counter where we met Ken, a middle-aged man from New York. Ken was working the take-out ice cream register while “earning his ears” . Ken kept us entertained throughout the meal as we traded stories. We were curious why someone would pick up roots in New York for a job at WDW. It turns out that he had been the caretaker for an old Episcopal church, and his daughter and her husband both worked at WDW. Their descriptions of their jobs and the people they got to meet sounded like fun to him, so he packed up and moved to Florida. After an entertaining lunch of trading clean jokes and life stories, we went to find the kids who by now were getting hungry. Here is our favorite cast member:

So we made a new reservation (by now Ken had been moved outside to run the reservations line). The boys spent the 30 minute wait in the adjacent arcade and were somewhat disappointed when our table finally came available. Throughout dinner, the boys were daring me to get a Kitchen Sink (a monstrous concoction that includes a scoop of every flavor of ice cream, a whole (split) banana, a ladle full of every topping, an entire can of whipped cream and a baker’s dozen cherries on top, all served in a metal bowl shaped like (you guessed it) a kitchen sink. I refrained (they don't know how close they had me, but they gave up first )

As we walked out of the restaurant, we heard a loud thunderclap and the lifeguards closed the pool. DW wanted to head over to the Boardwalk on the other side of the lake, so the boys were given a loaded gameroom card each and instructions to stay together in the gameroom until we got back. DW and I took our things back to the room and then walked over to Disney Boardwalk for some shopping.

We quickly found an art shop that attracted our attention and were drawn inside by the bronze frogs (we have four pet frogs, so this was our kind of thing). After examining the books that explained the fascinating process of how these frogs are made, we picked out a couple we might be interested in, but told the salesman we would have to come back later.

Then it was around the corner to the gift shop (still not raining, but the sky is very dark and noisy) where we buy several pins (including a couple that go perfect on my pirate hat) and various other souvenirs for folks back home. As we walk out of that shop, DW turns to me and says “I really want that frog”. So of course we had to go back and get it.

By now, the sky was really looking dangerous, so we trotted back to our side of the lake and got the boys from the arcade. As we walked out of the arcade to go back to the room, the sky finally opened up and rain was coming down in buckets with the accompanying thunder and lightning. Fortunately we didn’t have to come out from under cover to get back to our room. DW and I grabbed a couple of adult waters (Corona Light) and sat on the verandah toasting the really good thunderclaps.

While enjoying a classic Florida afternoon storm, we get a knock on the door. It is housekeeping returning my cleaned and pressed tuxedo shirt. I give her one of my $2 bills as a tip and start looking for my garment bag with the tuxedo in it. Ummmm, Honey, did we forget to bring in the garment bag? Did we even bring the garment bag? I don’t remember anything hanging in the back of the van. Darn, all those trips back home and I STILL forgot something . Oh well, no sense crying over it now, I guess I have a nice clean shirt for when we get home.

By now it was getting close to time to get dressed for the Pirate and Princess Party, and we were worrying whether they would cancel it because of the storms. We had paid for our tickets way in advance, and it said there were no refunds so we weren’t going to let a little rain stop us (a hearty band of pirates we). Well, we figured the only way to tell was to get our costumes on and head over to the Magic Kingdom, and by the time we got to the bus stop the rain was beginning to let up and when we got to the park, we didn’t bother with the ponchos. We saw all the wet people coming out of the park as the small group of pirates and princesses were lining up to go in (Wally, you probably saw us on your way out. Congrats on getting grand master for the daytime parade).

Rather than a blow by blow report, let me summarize the disadvantages and advantages of the rain on the party.

Disadvantages:
- Treasure spots were moved to indoor locations, which made them a little harder to find.
- Several of the activities got cancelled (stage shows, wandering singers, etc.). We looked for the “Learn to be a pirate with Captain Jack”, but this was either cancelled or moved and we never found him. We saw a pirate at PotC, but nothing indicated this was where they were doing the “class”. This kind of spoiled the “Party” part of the evening, so we just treated it as a special night at the Magic Kingdom.
- Couldn’t see the fireworks through the clouds.
- Minor rides and restaurants were closed (we had to look all over to find a frozen lemonade).
- The park was DARK. They had special lights creating images along the ground and on buildings so I am sure this is why they had most of the other lights off, but there were several areas that were downright scary to walk through.
- The “Party” maps were lacking in detail, and really didn’t give any information on the party.

Advantages:

- We pretty much had the park to ourselves, in fact I wouldn’t bet against there being more cast members in the park than there were visitors. The longest wait we had all night was 5 minutes to get on Space Mountain. Everything else we walked right onto, and even did a couple of the things twice in order to get a better picture (Splash Mountain and Buzz Space Spin).
- The Pirate and Princess Parade was almost a private show. There was nobody within 25 feet of our special spot (right before the bridge from Liberty Square into the hub), so all the characters were interacting directly with us (Captain Jack even pointed to my hat, gave the thumbs-up and said “good one, mate”).
- At the treasure stations, we were being given handfuls of “booty” because they had so much to give and so few people to give it to. We ended up with about 5 pounds of chocolate by the end of the night.
- We got a couple of extra Pirate and Princess Party Pins to make up for the weather.

Other than a 20 minute period of mildly heavy rain (where we took the opportunity to see Country Bear Jamboree), it was only light sprinkles that stopped completely by about 10:00. As I said, we treated it as a private night at the Magic Kingdom, and we made the most of it (we closed the park and were among the last group to leave). As we walked under the railroad station, a tiny tree frog hopped off the wall onto my arm. He hopped off before I could tell anyone else or even get the camera, but I had to wonder if this was this a sign?

As we got back to the Beach Club, I was certain this was a sign as we spotted a HUGE frog on the side of the building that looked exactly like the bronze frog we had purchased that day (it was even the same size). I was able to get a shot of this one. The picture doesn’t really show it, but this guy is about 5 inches long (not counting legspan), and I would have loved to take him home with me.

Coming up, Parks or resort, room service.

 

[manntra]

Thanks for the update! We did the PNP too on that soggy Friday night. There were friends of ours from VA Beach that were also at WDW during our stay and we kept missing them...or we would have plans to go to a different park. Well.... we arrived at MK, DN decided she needed another set of ears so I obliged and we meandered around Main street a little. I then asked her which way and what she wanted to do and Space Mountain it was. We turned right and there I spy our friends Randy and his daughter Katherine. I yell Randy! Randy! He looks around and sees me, hidden well in my poncho!! After near misses all week he decides to stay with us for the party. We went back and they got their tickets. In the meantime he had told me that it was his birthday so I told him to say something to the CM because you never know what you might get with some Disney magic and so they gave him his button and we were off. First stop was to get them some ponchos. He got them for free because of his birthday button! At the treasure spots he got lots of extra candy and beads for flashing his birthday button. It was very funny! We rode Space Mountain soooo many times. How could you refuse? The line was so short! I am so glad you are doing your TR because it is bringing me back to that wonderful time and I am remembering everything all over again. Like we went to Beaches and Cream too....and did the same thing in the morning at the Beach Club not knowing that the breakfast was a Character breakfast! Sounds like we followed each other around for days and didn't even know it!! And then we all ended up a few cabins down from each other! Take care...have to go shovel some more snow!

 

[manntra]

Oh and we did see the Pirate Class....it was over by the POTC entrance. It was pretty neat...they did some sword fighting and picked a few kids to go and learn from the expert himself Jack DN got a pirate certificate..hmmm should frame that for Christmas

 

[DAggiesRWe]

The next morning, we slept until 9:00 and were still in our jammies when room service brought us our breakfast at 9:30 . We got the Admiral’s Feast, and it was plenty of food for our family of four and then some. During breakfast, we came to a mutual decision that we would rather spend more time at the resort than going to one of the major parks (I know, you hard-core WDWers will think this is sacrilege, but we have been to the parks many times but had never before stayed at this level of resort). DW takes advantage of the decision and makes an appointment for a manicure and pedicure. For us this was a day to get a few last-minute errands done before the cruise and to just relax and enjoy our vacation.

Before we could do anything though, we had to make a trip off-site. The printer base for our digital camera wasn’t charging the batteries, so I wanted to go to an electronics store to see if we could find a charger to work with the camera. DW also had a need to stop by a drug store for some necessities. So, we loaded into the van and followed the excellent directions that the concierge desk provided for us to the local electronics store and in short order were back at the Beach Club with our new charger and sundries.

I plugged in the camera and we headed to the pool, but after an hour or so floating in circles around the pool, DW had to head off for her nail appointment so I went to play on the waterslide with the boys. An hour or so later, with a smile that rivals Minnie Mouse , DW shows me her pretty painted nails. The boys aren’t ready to get out of the pool, and DW says there is no way she is getting in the pool and ruining her nails. DW and I tell the boys to behave while we run back to the room to make our thank you notes. I notice the clouds starting to build, so we change out of our swimsuits and I start on the cards while DW begins sorting our cloths into “bring on the ship” and “leave in the van” piles.

Remember that photo of the family at Hershey Chocolate World. Well, we used that photo to print up thank you cards that said “Hugs and Kisses from the Hart Family”, and with each of these we included a small bag of Hershey Kisses and Hugs. I made up some messages for the inside and use our special calligraphy pens to make them look fancy. I can’t help but brag, but I especially liked this one that I came up with for Jeff.

You cleaned our room, you made our beds
You fluffed the pillows for our heads.

You did the things we’d have to do
If it weren’t for folks like you.

We also did one for Ken (but it wasn’t as poetic).

So after finishing with the cards and putting together the chocolate packages, I check on the camera. The battery is still showing that it is almost gone, so I take it out of the camera and read “Lithium battery, not rechargeable” on the side of the pack . Thank goodness the camera is smarter than I am and didn’t even try to charge these batteries. As it was, two AA batteries fit perfectly where the battery pack went, so DW and I stopped in at the gift shop and picked up a package to (hopefully) make it through the trip.

By now, we are starting to get hungry so we start out the door to the pool only to find our two boys coming down the hall saying “we’re hungry”. During our earlier trip, we noticed a Japanese Steakhouse along 192 and figured that would make for a fun dinner. We had a couple of bags worth of “leave in the van” stuff so we carried these out and went to a nice (and surprisingly inexpensive) dinner.

We returned to the Beach Club and headed to Beaches and Cream for some dessert and to give Ken his card (Jeff picked up his while we were at dinner). While waiting for our table, we charged up the arcade cards and turned the kids loose. About 10 minutes after we put in our reservation the typical Florida afternoon thunderstorm came along and they closed the pool (meaning the crowd waiting for a seat at B&C tripled in a matter of minutes). When our table came ready we went to get the boys from the arcade and discovered that they hadn’t used any of the money on their cards because when they closed the pool all games were set to free.

After we finished our ice cream, we let the boys go back to the arcade while DW and I headed to the room to finish our packing. A final trip to the van with the “stays” bags, and we return to the arcade and find the boys have still been playing for free. Well, with everything else done, I join them and do my best to use up their cards for them, and all too soon the free games end and the remainder of the card balance and the boys and I make our way back to the room and find DW already asleep and dreaming about our cruise tomorrow. We quietly got into our PJs and joined her in dreamland.

Coming up...Let the cruise begin.

 

[nezy]

Who are Ken and jeff?
Are they the Disney housekeeping?

sounds like a great trip so far.

 

[DAggiesRWe]

Who are Ken and jeff?
Are they the Disney housekeeping?

sounds like a great trip so far.

They were introduced in Post 49 (we have a picture of Ken, but I never had the camera ready to get a picture of Jeff).

Jeff was the housekeeping person in charge of our room at the Beach Club. He was mid-20s, about 6'6" tall, blonde hair and blue eyes, from Michigan. Now that I think back on it, there was a reason I never took his picture and tried to keep DW away from the room during the day he was a very good looking young man.

Ken was the server "earning his ears" that kept us entertained at Beaches & Cream. For his card, I wrote:

Thank you for making our times at Beaches & Cream
"Extra Sweet"
As far as having the Disney Attitude,
You've already "earned your ears".

 

[nezy]

Ok-I remember Ken-picture helps! No picture of jeff, huh... I see how it is!!

That is such a nice gesture , so personal and truly appreciated, I am sure. DHave you always given Thank You's and treats to the people who help?

we ususally just leave a tip, but not a note. I may have to start doing that!

 

[DAggiesRWe]

Sunday morning we got up early (with all the excitement who can sleep?), quickly showered and packed our jammies. We finish tagging the bags that are going on the ship with us and I make one final run to the van with the cooler and the last “stay in the van” bags. Hopefully by loading the cooler with ice, the chocolate will make it through the 4 days of Florida summer heat. It didn't even dawn on me until I was typing this report months later that I completely forgot about having the bellmen take the bags back out and carried that heavy cooler all the way out to the parking lot.

It is coming up on 9:00, so we grab the last of our bags and bid farewell to our room. We roll our bags through the halls to the lobby and find that our ride to the ship is waiting. As the title indicates, we “overdid” the trip to the port by renting a stretch limo.

This was a really great way to kick off the cruise. Our driver loaded the bags into the trunk as the boys jumped right into the car with us close behind. We found “Chicken Little” playing on the TV and sodas, juice and snacks waiting for us. We set out for the port, and I discovered one of the most enjoyable parts (aside from the fact that I didn’t have to drive) was watching the people in the cars we passed staring at us. Through the tinted windows, we could see them wondering if it was somebody famous or important in there. DS11 made himself right at home, and it dawned on me that for the boys this wasn't a whole lot different from the van.

We came across the bridge and spotted the ship just as the movie was getting to the soda machine scene , so I turned off the DVD so the boys would get as excited as I was about seeing the ship . I was a little disappointed that the trip didn't take longer because I was enjoying the ride. We pulled up in front of the terminal and our driver informed us that we were a little early and would have to wait to check in. After unloading our things and a quick check in the back of the car, he backed up about 50 feet and loaded up another family that had apparently just gotten off the ship. After an eternity that was really about 3 minutes, the gate behind us opens and a nice gentleman verifies our tags and places our bags on one of the metal racks and directs us to the terminal entrance. We go through the standard security check.

I would like to digress a little here to wonder at the incredible illogic of an airport-style security check upon entering the port. On an airplane, once you check your luggage, you don’t have access to it until you get off the plane. On the ship, your luggage will be available to you fairly shortly after the ship casts off. Keeping this in mind, does it make any sense at all to require that you check all liquids that are in more than 3 oz containers, pocket knives or scissors, and lighters? I think this system just provides a false sense of security. Sorry, this is one of my pet peeves and it was demanding to be walked, back to the report.

After going through the cursory search, the family headed straight for the most important place in the terminal…the RESTROOM!!!

We were the third family in the terminal this morning, and by being early we got the highly coveted Boarding Pass #2. After doing our final check in at the main desk and getting the boys signed up for the Oceaneer’s Club and Lab (getting our pagers), we wandered around the spacious and nearly empty terminal building. It is hard for us to believe that in a matter of three or four hours that there would be enough people passing through here to fill up the huge ship sitting directly outside the window. We explore the corners of the terminal, get the typical photo of the family in front of the “Ears”. Then we discover a table where the kids (both young and old) can color “Finding Nemo” pictures.

We can tell when the busses arrive because suddenly our empty terminal starts getting crowded. Then Goofy and Pluto put in appearances to keep the parents from getting too unruly , and before we know it we see people starting to crowd around the end of the terminal, so we head down that way. Before we knew it, they were calling for people with boarding card #2. We've got ours.

Unfortunately we had to jostle and shove our way past all the people standing around the entrance with their double-digit boarding cards , but we finally got to pass through the magic door and then got to wait in yet another line as one of the people in front of us had a problem with their ticket (for some reason, dad’s name got misspelled on the tickets so we all had to wait while this got straightened out). After an eternity (while the other line was moving along) that lasted maybe 3 or 4 minutes, we got to have our boarding pictures taken and as we entered that magical lobby we hear those wonderful words, "The Disney Wonder welcomes the Hart family".

 

[nezy]

Did you say that the boys signed up for the Oceaneers Club PRIOR to boarding the ship? I did not know you could do that! What a time saver. Is that a new arrangenement-I have never done it before boarding.

Where did you keep the car for 4-days? Did you have to arrange something w/the resort?

Can't wait to hear more.

 

[DAggiesRWe]

Did you say that the boys signed up for the Oceaneers Club PRIOR to boarding the ship? I did not know you could do that! What a time saver. Is that a new arrangenement-I have never done it before boarding.

Where did you keep the car for 4-days? Did you have to arrange something w/the resort?

Can't wait to hear more.

Yes, we were able to do this in the terminal (all the way back on the right past the gift shop). They had small signs and the check-in didn't open until 10:30 or 11:00. If you weren't paying attention, or arrived with the crowds it would have been easy to miss especially once the crowds start gathering by the door. If I remember correctly, the signs said the check-in closed at 12:30 and moved on-board, so if you get to the terminal later in the afternoon it might be closed.

We left the van in the parking lot at the Beach Club (guarded, patrolled and camera monitored). It was the same as if we had chosen to take the DCL bus, and I would guess we weren't the only ones to do this. The only real difficulty was getting the limo driver that picked us up to understand that we were going back to the Beach Club and not to the Airport (these guys are hardwired to think that everyone is flying in and out). But I am getting ahead of myself.

I have the rest of Sunday written but need to match up some photos, and I plan to start on Monday in Nassau this weekend. I hope I have this report finished before we have to make the final payment on the next cruise. DW beat me by finishing her scrapbooks of the trip yesterday. I'm definitely getting the most out of my vacation dollar (with a year and a half of anticipation and planning and four months - so far - writing the trip report)

 

[nezy]

We will be cruising in Sept on the magic-special 5 day, 2days at CC. I'm just hoping I will be finished reading your report before then!

JK: I am enjoying it all and the thorough detail and tidbits, like being able to sign the kids up for Oceaneers Club in the terminal before 12:30. That is a great thing to know. Also, if you don't mind I am going to put in a request--I have 3 children ages(at the time of the cruise will be) 13(DS), 12(DS) and 10(DD). The 13 year old is not sure about the teen club thing. He definately seems to be a little in between --too old for one club and too young for the teen/club, what did your sons like to do? Please feel free to add this info when you get to that part of the Trip Report

Thank You.

 

[DAggiesRWe]

After getting aboard, we head straight to Parrot Cay to get some lunch (quite a spread they put out for the first day). Just as we were starting on our dessert, we got a visit from Goofy’s nephew, Max (I’m glad I had the camera ready because this was the one and only time we saw him for the entire cruise). By now we are anxious to get up to the pools we had heard so much about, so we find a restroom with sufficient room to change into our suits, and fairly soon the boys have made some new friends and DW and I have a Bahama Mama by the pool.

After some discussion, DW and I have to make a quick trip to Wavebands to see if we can change our dining rotation so we wouldn’t miss Animator’s Pallette (when I set our reservation for Palo on departure night, we were on PTTA but when our tickets came in we were on APPT ). We told the boys where we were going and that they should stay in the pool area until we got back. In Wavebands, we were informed that we couldn’t change dining rotation, but there were Palo reservations available on the second night of the cruise . The point of this is if you aren’t happy with things, make the trip to wavebands because it is quite possible someone else has moved their reservation to open the slot you need.

On our way back to the pool, we noticed the ropes blocking access to the rooms had been dropped, so we stopped by the room to leave our carry on bag and then went back up to the pool. We found DS11 enjoying the hot tub at the family pool, but DS7 wasn’t around the pools anywhere . The pager went off but the screen was blank, so I left DW by the pool and stopped by the room on the way to the Oceaneer’s Club to call customer service and find out why the pager was going off. When I got there, the message light on the phone was flashing and I heard a message from the Oceaneer’s Club telling us that they have DS7 there. I sprint down the stairs but end up in the Lab (the signs are very similar) where they don’t have a clue who I am talking about. Only then do I realize that the Club is hidden behind the elevators. As I get to the Club, I find DS7 happily playing video games and not wanting to leave but they aren’t checking in children until after the lifeboat drill (which is less than an hour away). I found out that having the pager not work happens a few times on each cruise (there were two others replacing theirs while I was there), but we were provided with a new pager and new wristbands for the boys. After we confirmed that this one worked properly, DS7 and I rushed back up to the pool deck to the great relief of DW (thank the Lord that everything went okay ), and we stopped by to meet our fellow DIS boarders. It was fun being able to put faces with the screen names, and it gave us some people we would recognize at various times throughout the ship (plus we got our custom designed door magnet). All too soon it was time for us to head to our room to get ready for the lifeboat drill.

The luggage had arrived by this time, so while the boys figured out the television while we got things unpacked and stowed. Then we all got into our life vests (and posed for the requisite photos) and headed to our assembly station. While waiting for the all-clear, we watched the RCCL ship at the next berth going through her lifeboat drill and DW and I wondered if the folks over there were going to have as much fun as we were. After attempting to listen to the tinny noises from the speakers that I could only assume were important announcements (I couldn’t hear anything over the babble of excited children – of all ages), we wandered back to our room where the boys began begging us to let them go to the Oceaneer’s Club/Lab. However, we insisted that they go with us to sail-away and then to dinner, especially since this was our night for Animator’s Pallette.

Not being big on crowds, we staked out our place on Deck 10 to watch the countdown festivities . After the blasting of “When you wish upon a star”, we wandered toward the front of the ship, and found a great vantage point to watch the Captain as we sailed away from the dock. Being the geek that I am, I got a bigger thrill out of watching Captain John ease a 10-story building down a narrow channel and out to the open sea with just a few simple controls.

Before we knew it, we had to hurry back to the room to change for dinner. We were shown to our table and met our servers, Romy (from India) and Maryana (from Argentina). I was excited because I had read about Romy and his magic tricks from other trip reports on the DIS boards. Romy didn’t disappoint, showing how to magically make 9+0=ten and how to make a glass of water upsidedown with one hand. Our tablemates were a single mom who was with her son (who quickly made friends with DS11) and a single dad who was with his daughter (18, and heading off to college when we finished the cruise). As the food arrived, we started to feel the motion of the ship (nothing serious, but it did cause a little concern about how the kids would handle the motion and the possibility of motion sickness).but by the end of the meal we are starting to get our sea legs.

For our meal, we had the typically delicious fare, DS7 is a bit of a ketchup nut and was impressed that Maryann had made a Mickey out of his ketchup. Throughout the meal, both boys kept bugging us about going back to the OC which somewhat spoiled the effect of the décor (combined with the fact that we were crammed into a table in a back corner and couldn’t see well).. The boys were so anxious to go that when it came time for dessert, they both ordered nothing. DW and I had a huge laugh at the boys when Romy actually delivered this to them.

With dinner over, we checked the kids into OC/OL and headed out for some mommy/daddy time. We decided to skip the opening night show (I heard later that it was a good show) and just explore the ship. We eventually found ourselves at the Cove Café where we met Gede (from Indonesia) and Christina (from Germany) who quickly became our favorite CMs. DW loves the various coffees, and over the course of the cruise ended up trying just about everything on the menu. Unlike your average coffee shop, Cove Café prides itself on a more “potent and adult” versions (although the “virgin” versions are available as well). I don’t drink coffee, but decided to try some 18-year-old Scotch and found my preferred method of “buzz generation” for this trip.

After two hours laughing and drinking, a couple of CMs came in and invited us down to “Studio Sea” for karaoke night. This was something I really enjoyed on our last cruise, and was looking forward to it this time . I didn’t realize it when I volunteered, but this was a family karaoke and I was one of the few adults to get up and sing (and the only guy). I still had fun, even though I didn’t know the third verse and messed up the chorus . Of course that is what karaoke is all about :rofl:

By now, it was getting late (for us, ~11:00 is late) so we went and picked up the boys and returned to our room. We found everything changed with the bunk bed and sofa bed all set up for the kids and our first towel animal on our bed.

We went through the bedtime rituals and soon we were gently rocked to sleep by the motion of the Gulf Stream.