9/16-10/3 The trip that dreams are made of....

[disneyloverforchrist]

I am an addict!!! Reading this post at night is such a wonderful way to end the day and to get excited about my (very soon) honeymoon!!! Thank you so much for sharing your family with all of us. I have never been on a disney cruise so I can't wait to hear ALL about it!!!

 

[momoftriplets]

Hey, Girlfriend! It's been a few days. Hope everything is OK. Not-so-patiently awaiting the next installment.

 

[jaycns]

Hey, Girlfriend! It's been a few days. Hope everything is OK. Not-so-patiently awaiting the next installment.

Yes ma'am...DCL day one coming right up!!

 

[jaycns]

Jaycns,

Another excellent installment Can't wait to hear about the Disney Cruise. I have always wanted to go, maybe someday

You are a great trip report writer.
Just keep saying that like a mantra. Come on... I am a great trip report writer...I am a great trip report writer....There ya go

Thanks!!

 

[jaycns]

September 23 dawned bright and sunny. It was another one of those "watch the sunrise" mornings. It was also a sad sort of day...this was the day we would have to leave our new favorite resort on the planet, the Contemporary. However, it was also a very happy sort of day...this was the day we would board the Disney Magic.

Of course, I did take this last opportunity to eat one last slice of the to die for chocolate dipped chocolate cake from the Food and Fun Center...YUM YUM YUM!! After my silent sunrise (everyone else was still asleep) and my all too quickly disappearing cake, I made my way over to the door and opened it up and retrieved the check out slip This is one of the worst things about any Disney vacation...those little slips of paper hanging on the door are heartbreaking ...plain and simple, they mean it is time to leave . This is something I have never been ready to do at WDW.

Our final bathroom effects packed up, our fridge cleaned out and our sandaled feet are ready to go...we were off! Even though we were leaving to continue our Disney vacation I was very sad as we took the walk from our room to our van. I was sad as we drove out of the parking lot and off of Disney property...then the boys started to ask me questions about the ship and the islands we were going to visit and my sadness was all but forgotten.

IMPORTANT TIP...should you ever drive yourself from Orlando to Port Canaveral...don't expect a bathroom to be readily available between point A and point B. I thought I would burst by the time I got to the port however, we finally found a McDonald's about 20 minutes before you board the ship. This was a great place to relieve the pressure on my poor bladder and also to do those last minute double checks of our papers and the rest of the important stuff we didn't want to forget (or misplace). Everything settled we continued on and arrived at the port at about 10:00 AM. NOTHING prepares you for arrival...seriously, even cruising before (which we had) nothing prepares you. The ship is just so beautiful and so big and so shiny and so...well magical! The Disney Magic is flat out amazing!!

The last time we had been on a Disney cruise, "Aladdin" had been 4 years old. "Goofy" had turned 1 on the cruise and "Stitch" had been a little bump in my tummy. For all of them it was like seeing the Magic for the first time. Looking at the awe on their faces made me lose it, I just about started to cry!! The sight of their faces was so precious! And yes, I DID snap a picture, however, I fear my dearest husband had once again not correctly copied the photos to CD and I fear they may be lost for good BUT...I do have a few from our first day to share with you.

Upon arrival we unloaded, parked and cleared security. We were then given the coveted number 2 boarding pass. I was so excited about this. The rest of my family thought I was crazy for my "we need to arrive by 10:00 AM" attitude but I knew I was right...and they were later thanking me!

I try to spread my Disney obsession whenever I can. I had done a good job of this and a family of dear friends would be joining us for this cruise and for the time at the Poly afterward. How much fun is that? A Disney cruise after a week at the world with some of your family's favorite people? Follow that up with another 4 days at WDW afterward and you have my dream vacation!

So to the Castaway Club check in desk we went. It was nice to be welcomed back!! And it was GREAT that each person in our family was given their own lanyard with a card holder attached to the end and two pins on each lanyard...well...times 5 people and you've got it right...we had 10 pins to trade away! Well, really we had 6 pins to trade away since each of the boys and myself wanted to keep one.

Here is a picture of "Aladdin" (in the blue shirt) and his best friend, "Abu".

Here is my dh wondering why I made him arrive so early!!

He would soon understand. Shortly after 11:00 AM the terminal became crowded. Not only were we done with all of the line stuff...we had seats. Nice comfortable nobody else was getting them that was coming in now seats. And we did also have that #2 boarding pass.

While we waited a few of us walked around and went to visit "Goofy's" favorite dog, Pluto (yes, that's right, he acts like Goofy but loves Pluto). At this point we were so excited to be about to board and to have met up with some of our very best friends!

Shortly after this photo was taken, we heard the first boarding call made. Within two minutes of the first boarding call we heard #2 called as well...THIS WAS IT!! We were on our way!!

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[fynook12]

I'm so excited that you started your first day of the cruise!!! Can't wait to read all about it!!!

 

[jaycns]

As we walked through the giant Mickey head shape to board nobody was anything but smiles! We stopped to pose for an entrance picture (another lost photo...we really do value our photos...they are my most prized possessions, if the house were burning down and everything living was safe it would be my photos I would save HOWEVER we seem to have lost more photos on our Disney trip then anyone else even takes) and then on to the ship.

As we walked on board they asked us if this was our first Disney cruise...since the answer to that was no, they asked us how many and then to our great delight it was time to actually walk over the threshold and on to the ship and as we did we were announced as "Please welcome back to the Disney Magic the N....... family." How sweet are those words!!

Immediately upon boarding we had a choice to make...should we go up to Topsiders for the buffet or go to Lumière's for the buffet? Up or down...inside or out?? We chose inside. For a few reasons (if you ever cruise, keep these in mind). First, Lumière's has air conditioning (in September in FL this is a nice plus). Second, the servers bring you the drinks in Lumière's (big plus when you have three kids and all of your carry on luggage with you). Third, it is closer to Rockin' Bar D where I wanted to be ASAP to get our Palo reservations. Lastly, although Port Canaveral is exciting because the DCL terminal is there, it is not one of the most scenic ports ever and I knew we could sit out on deck at many more "picture worthy" locations in the week to come. So...Lumière's it was. And boy oh boy...the food was great! I had the shrimp (tons of it), lots of fresh fruit, rolls and dessert (I think I walked away with only two different kinds.

So, as I sent dh and the boys to Lumière's I turned right and headed to Rockin' Bar D. Upon arrival there was NO LINE (woo hoo ) so I quickly signed us up for our number one choice at Palo, brunch on a sea day. Then I quickly rejoined my family before they had even dug into their first plate of food! Our dear friends ended up at the table next to us and the kids played musical chairs until somehow they convinced all of the parents to move to one table and all of the kids were at the other. When the server came back to refill the glasses he looked a bit confused for a second but true to the awesome service that was to be ours for the next week, he took it in stride and didn't even mix the refills up (even after all 10 of us had moved seats). WAY TO GO SERVER!!

Stomachs full (maybe a bit too full ) we headed out to do a bit of ship touring. We were refreshing ourselves with the ship and sharing the "first time awe" with our friends and of course, our very own "Stitch". All of us were happy as clams to FINALLY (after an entire year of waiting) be on the Disney Magic!! During our tour, I stopped and got tickets for "Tea with Wendy" to be held later on in the week. I got tickets for 4, I KNEW dh would not be joining us for that one .

It was right about the time we walked through the main atrium of the ship that dh (and everyone else in both of our families) thanked me for the 10:00 AM arrival tip. Those who had arrived later were still boarding and their was a line to wait to board at the entrance on to the ship and the line to get into Lumierre's...that line was L--O--N--G!! Thank goodness for boarding early!!

We went to the kid's clubs and the kids got a peek at where they would be spending time throughout the upcoming week. Then we made our way down to our rooms. For this cruise we had booked two connecting rooms. We were in rooms 2622 and 2624. They were outside rooms (no verandahs...on purpose, the thought of the kids sleeping in a room with a opening to over the open ocean while I slept in the next room started my "crazy mother" mind spinning to all sorts of bad places). With the two rooms we saved money over one family suite and had more room. I think it was the ideal set up. We had a bed (I think it was a full...but it seemed bigger...more like a queen), a sofa, a coffee table and tons of storage in each room. We also had a split bathroom in each room. That was very helpful come time to get ready for dinner!!

Our friends had booked two connecting rooms right down the hall so they went down to explore their own rooms. As we entered our rooms, we were BLOWN away!! Sitting there were the gift baskets we had ordered from Shirley at The Perfect Gift...AWESOME JOB SHIRLEY!! To contact her you can email her at snelsonbrown@aol.com or call 1-800-950-4559 or take a look at her website http://www.theperfectgift.cc/ . NO...I am not getting a kick back for running a commercial... I just think she is one of the best kept secrets around! Her gift baskets were OUT OF THIS WORLD GREAT!! "Aladdin" got one from Capt. Jack and Will Turner (we had told her in advance who to make the cards out from). His was a cardboard treasure chest filled with the things we had told her he loved, Combos, Sprite, bottled water, drawing pad, colored pencils, bubbles, pirate "stuff", glow sticks, Skittles, a disposable camera, a Mickey Mouse toy, pretzels and more that I cannot even remember! "Goofy" got a huge sand bucket filled with sand toys, bubbles, glow sticks, food, drinks, a stuffed Pluto toy and some really neat trucks to drive in the sand. His basket was from "Squirt and Pluto". "Stitch" got a basket from Crush and his included tons of turtles (he loves turtles). Shirley had found a stuffed turtle, a hard plastic turtle, turtle sand toys and little soft plastic turtles. She had also included glow sticks, bubbles, a stuffed Nemo toy, other sand toys and of course, food and drinks. Of course, these pictures would be among those that were lost BUT these baskets were AWESOME!! It was money VERY well spent! The boys were all on cloud nine !! These baskets were just an extra bit of magic that really went over well with the boys. I think we paid about $130 total for all three baskets (cheaper options were available but we wanted to go ahead and really spoil them) including delivery (Disney charges $12.50 per basket...but you can tie up to 2 baskets together and they are charged just one $12.50 delivery fee).

While the boys delighted in their discoveries, dh and I had a few of our own to make. For being Castaway Club members we found tote bags full of goodies (one for each stateroom...double bonus!!). The canvas tote bags held, 1 beach back pack type mesh bag, 1 mesh laundry bag, 2 small sunscreens, 2 plastic cups with lids/straws, 1 plastic container of hand wipes and 2 Castaway Club rubber bracelets. That was all in one bag...we got double that since we had two staterooms!! Also, we had a large box with room for a photo to be inserted on top in a small frame that had a Mickey shaped picture frame and some Disney Cruise photo frame cards in it. I have NO idea why we got these (it just said thanks for sailing with us on the cards)...but we were happy to have two of those also (one in each stateroom). We now have those boxes filled with our remembrances and assorted other tidbits from the cruise. They are very handy!

After opening our many gift packs/baskets we looked out into the hall in hopes our suitcases might be there...and THEY WERE! Well, some of them...but enough to get a good start on unpacking! So we did that. Soon it was time for the mandatory safety drill. The boys thought they looked very cool in the life jackets! Our "muster" station was inside at Animator's Palate...boy was I ever glad to be inside instead of outside in those hot life jackets. However, even if we had been outside, the drill was over very quickly and it was time to head back to our room to take off our life jackets and get ready for the sail away party!!

We went up to deck 10 for the sail away party because by the time we got up there...deck 9 was already packed. As the party began and they counted down to our sail away the excitement was so thick you honestly could have cut it with a knife! The air just seemed filled with magic and wonder and the exciting times yet to come! 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...STREAMERS LAUNCHED...how much fun was that! The streamers blew back up on us and my boys scrambled about grabbing bits and pieces and enjoying the music and fun. About a minute later however, it was crowded and we couldn't see the big screen very well, much less the actual stage, so we ventured off with our friends and found a secluded area toward the back (that's aft in nautical terms mateys ) of the ship and sat down to watch the port drift away!! I made sure to point out the DCL CM's waving with Mickey hands on to the boys and our friends (another great DIS tip and touch of magic by Disney). Soon we were underway and slowly making our way out to sea. As we passed by the many boats and bars people were waving us a happy journey! It was such a neat thing to feel the good wishes in those waves!! Sitting with my feet up on the rail, a sail away frozen drink in my hand and surrounded by my family and our dear friends...watching people wave (not just small waves either but big arms over your head waving back and forth waves) to us, I felt totally happy and relaxed and just so blessed to be at the start of a great adventure! As we sat their talking about our plans for the week and how our wait was finally over the minutes just flew by!! Before we even knew it, it was time to make our way back to our staterooms and get ready for dinner.

Dinner tonight would be in Parrot Cay. With it's Caribbean theme and many parrots (don't forget to look up...they are on the light fixtures and don't forget to look down...they are on the carpets) it was a great place to start a Caribbean vacation!

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[paigevz]

Very nice. I am storing up your tips for *sigh* someday................

 

[jaycns]

Back in the room we had only minutes to get ready for dinner. Thankfully tonight was cruise casual...so the boys just threw on some jeans and polo shirts and we were out the door. I was still wearing the Disney sun dress that I had boarded in. **NOTE about that dress...EVERYONE and their cousin had one...or their husband had the matching shirt or their children had the matching kids clothes...if you get it on clearance at Disney.com you will see many others wearing it on the ship!!**

I meant to remember in detail every single meal we had. But I cannot. They were all so good but they have started to meld into one incredible dining experience in my mind. I know I had some sort of beef for dinner. I know it was great. I know dh had the same thing. I know he loved it too. I know we ate a Caribbean themed meal that night. Sorry I couldn't give a better description then that . My boys all had pizza. When it arrived I thought they were joking...two of the smallest slices you had ever seen were on the plates. Lucky for us, we were on the cruise...so we just asked for more to be brought out and waa laa...tons more pizza arrived. How awesome is it to be able to request seconds for FREE at a sit down meal??!! How awesome is it to be able to eat anything from 2 main courses and three desserts to four salads, one main course and three appetizers! The freedom to chose only what you want and all of it that you want is liberating...and also very dangerous for diets and figures!! BUT...this was my dream vacation and calories don't count on a dream vacation...at least not one I am on!!

Our server was Teddy. He was the most entertaining, happiest and all out GREATEST server you could ever imagine! Our assistant server was Theodor. He was nice. He was good at what he did...but he didn't have that special spark, that special something that Teddy did...however, in his defense, we did come to find out that it was his last cruise before he was off for 3 months...I bet his mind was already "almost home".

Teddy made us feel like royalty...we felt like VIPs the entire week! He was great when I asked for "just a taste" of three different desserts instead of a normal portion of just one! He was great when "Stitch" needed a few extra kid's menus to continue his artistic exploration on. From the first night on, "Stitch" always had a BOX of crayons and along with his kid's menu, some blank paper waiting for him. Talk about going above and beyond! Teddy was also a "master" magician! My kids LOVED the tricks he did! He was so fast with his slight of hand that I have to admit, I couldn't even begin to figure out how he did some of his tricks!! All of the kids (my boys and our traveling family friends' 3 kids) LOVED Teddy. When we get together back home he still comes up. The kids speak excitedly about his cool tricks. Us mom's speak longingly about his attention to detail and how in "real life" nobody ever waits on the mom...but on that magical ship...Teddy did!! The dad's go on and on about how good it was to be so well taken care of (umm...excuse me...doesn't my slapping down a casserole on the table live up to someone setting your napkin on your lap for you??!! ).

After the first of many wonderful dinners we took the boys to their clubs. "Aladdin" was now old enough to go to the Lab. The younger two were together in the Club. All three of them really enjoyed it. This first night was "family" night and we could have stayed in either the Lab or Club with the kids, however, they didn't want us around. . Did this really bug us?? Yeah right!! Dh and I took off faster then those skittering cockroaches back at the Days Inn (which by this point was a funny yet still skin crawling memory). We were free!! First we made our way to the show, Let the Magic Begin. It was a variety show (sort of) with a story woven throughout to pull it all together. It was a good show. The shopping afterward was even better!! I stocked up on picture frames (four!! ).

After shopping we put on our bathing suits and headed up to the adult pool and sat in the hot tub. It was romantic!! After our dip in the hot tub we dried off and got dressed and made our way back up to the topside. We grabbed some drinks from the "always on" soda/tea/milk station and headed up to the very top deck and walked around looking at the moon, the ocean and feeling the fresh air blowing gently past us. Well...I looked at all of that...dh avoided it like the plague, don't you remember his middle name by now??!! That's right...motion sick! So, he smartly kept his eyes on me!

Soon it was getting to be pretty late. We knew it was time to head for the kid's club and pick up our tired little boys. First stop was the Lab. I found "Aladdin" in the middle of a video game contest surrounded by about 7 other boys around his age laughing and screaming out directions/encouragement. Next stop was the Club to pick up "Stitch" and "Goofy". They were happily coloring away when we found them. I was surprised that they were not watching a movie...but I was told they would have some quiet time/movie time every other night of the cruise, they had just kept everything open until close this night because it was family night.

The boys in tow we headed up to deck 9 and got some pizza. We were the last ones through the pizza line before it closed. We also snagged some milk and water for the boys from the self serve beverage station and we sat eating a midnight snack and talking about how much fun our first day had been. It was a great time. Sure, we were all tired. The boys were almost ready to drop (as were their parents). Sure we were eating food we didn't really need to eat late at night. Sure it was getting cool sitting out there with rain starting to drizzle and the breeze blowing BUT...It was another one of those forever memory moments (yes, I do try and "snap" those as often as possible). I can even remember how it felt to hold "Goofy's" little hand while we sat there....it was warm and felt so tiny and so perfect! It was just one of the happiest moments of my life...for no real reason at all...OTHER THEN I WAS ON THE DISNEY MAGIC WITH MY FAMILY!!

Midnight snack packed tightly into our tummies (which were still full from dinner) we rolled back down to our cabins and found the first of many towel animals. We loved our turtles!! The boys were even more excited about the bed being pulled down out of the ceiling then seeing the towel animal! In the room they would share (we kept the doors open between the connecting rooms, but it was still nice to have a room to ourselves without toys on every surface) they had a bed made up on the couch, a bed that pulled down from the ceiling right over the top of that and then the bed itself. They took turns rotating who slept where...of course EVERYONE wanted to sleep in the pull down bed!

With the boys tucked in, the wake up call set and our clothes laid out for the next day, I quickly found myself drifting off to sleep! Tomorrow we would be at Key West.


DAY 2 -DISNEY CRUISE, KEY WEST...to be continued.

 

[mikayla73]

You guys are having such a magical vacation. I can't wait until I can talk DH into a DCL cruise!

 

[JJClemson]

I am so glad you are on your cruise! I have never been on a Disney cruise, DF says we cannot do this until after we have children I am so sorry you have lost so many pictures! Maybe they will turn up!

 

[jaycns]

We started out the day by sleeping in! Well...at least until about 9:00 AM. We ordered breakfast in our room and enjoyed some of the most tasty donuts this side of a Krispy Kreme sign!! We also had a huge serving of fresh fruit and enough big chocolate chip cookies to keep even Cookie Monster happy!

After that quick brunch we headed out and up, up, up to the outdoor basketball court. We spent a long time shooting hoops together. All four of my guys continued to shot baskets after I quit. I chose instead to watch us pull into port. Key West...here we come!!

After taking many pictures (and wondering if I should worry or be happy that we had an armed Coast Guard escort) it was time to entice the rest of my family away from the courts and out on to the island. We took the elevator down to our room on deck 2, we grabbed our money out of the safe and our day bag and headed down just one level to walk off of the ship. It was nice not to have to tender at this port!!

We met our friends next to the ship and we headed out on to the island of Key West. The first place we had on our agenda was The Pirate Soul Museum. For more information about this cool place go to www.piratesoul.com . Our group of 10 seemed like MORE then enough people to go with at once. If we had been in the huge group that Disney sent over....UGH. I couldn't imagine having to wait to see everything and do everything. It was much more fun as a "do it ourselves" kind of thing. It was also much cheaper. The museum itself was a quick walk (just a few minutes) from the ship and VERY easy to find. Not to mention how much cheaper it was doing it ourselves. Shirley (from The Perfect Gift, our gift basket provider) left us coupons with our gift baskets. She is such a sweet woman that she will mail them to anyone who asks and sends a self addressed stamped envelope!! It doesn't matter if you will be buying a basket from her or not!!

Upon our arrival at the Pirate Soul Museum we used a 2 for 1 coupon that Shirley had given us (we had multiple copies of it since we had asked her to leave enough for 10 people) and ended up paying for entrance for only 5 of us. We split that with their family...so each of our families only ended up paying admission for 2.5 people! What a great deal!! We had seen talk of a scavenger hunt on the shore excursion info and also mentioned in the educator section of the website (go here to http://www.piratesoul.com/downloads/Pirate_Soul_Educators_Guide.pdf ) for a neat educational study of pirates aimed at kids. It's great for teachers, home schoolers or parents who want to throw a touch of educational value into their vacation!! The scavenger hunt maps were free for the asking and we had a great time figuring them out in the museum.

Two of my favorite things about the museum were the sniffing mystery boxes and the audio show. The mystery boxes were set up as if on a boat and as you walked through, you could sniff the contents and make guesses. There was a "pirate" aka a guide there to let you know if you were right or way off course. My very favorite activity here was the audio show. It was awesome. You sat in a pitch dark room and wore headphones. They told you a story as if you were there (think old time radio complete with sound effects but with surround sound and earphones). It was a lot of fun. However, I cannot imagine how long it would have taken to get a chance to get a listening station if you were there with a large tour group. UGH.

After making our way through the Pirate Soul Museum, our two families each went there own way for the rest of the day. Our friends went shopping and then back to the ship. We continued on to The Key West Butterfly Observatory. We chose to walk there. It was a nice walk...but a longish one. We stopped at Walgreens and got some bottled water and some trail mix (also got some Sudafed and aspirin that we were in need of...good place to stock up before you leave the country).

Another store we stopped at was Del Sol. OH MY GOODNESS...I am a SUCKER for things that change colors in the sun. No real reason why. I cannot explain it but show me something that will change colors in the sun and I have to buy it!! I ended up with a shirt for each of the boys, 4 bottles of color change nail polish (oh so fun to watch your toe nails go from clear coat to bright red in the island sun) and got a free color change tote bag and a few plastic rings that change colors in the sun thrown in for free.

We also stopped by a jewelry shop (the name of it escapes me now ) and let the younger two boys "dig" for treasure. They had this box full of sand that the boy could dig through. They got to keep the first treasure box they found and inside there was "pirate treasure". Each boy found a "gold coin" (fake) and a jewel (which was a real semi precious stone). The woman made pirate necklaces by tying the gold coins on to string and gave them each a little treasure box to keep their jewel safe in. Our boys thought this was so much fun! They were so proud of their loot! For $5 a pop it was a great little diversion!

We loved to see the chickens roaming free on the street. I had expected this in Mexico...but it was a surprise to see this in the US!! On, on, on we walked. And finally at the end of a half hour walk we saw the Butterfly Observatory...however we passed it by...WHY you might ask? Well, because we knew that just around the corner was the marker that marked the southern most point in the continental U.S. At this point you were also closer to Havana then to Miami. Huh...it gave me pause for thought about the Cuban Missile Crisis and Cuban cigars and Havanesse dogs.... What can I say? I am was having a free association moment! **I wish I could insert the cute family picture that a very nice woman stopped to take for us so that we could all be in it...however, that photo is among the lost**

After looking at the marker we made our way back around the corner to the Butterfly Observatory. We once again used our handy dandy 2 for 1 coupons and saved a bit of money.

This place was beautiful! HOT and HUMID (temp. set for the butterfly's comfort, NOT the humans) but beautiful none the less. There were SO many butterflies it seemed as if they were everywhere. "Goofy" (who had just turned 7) LOVES butterflies. Out in our yard you can find him chasing or even just quietly observing them whenever they flutter by (which is also what he calls them...flutterby...not butterfly). He was in heaven walking through the observatory. I took a ton of pictures of him (sniff,sniff, sniff...those too are gone) enjoying the flutterbys.

However, "Stitch" is not a big butterfly fan (something we did not know before we went in). All it took was one landing on him and you would have thought that demons and aliens and Cuban missiles were all raining down on us!! He shrieked an unnatural sound out of his throat and clung to my dh like the only salvation he had from those "evil creatures" was to snuggle into his chest as far as he could get. If not for him, the entire family would have really enjoyed this place. As it was, dh took him outside while the older two and I kept exploring. I really enjoyed the birds they had flying throughout the observatory as well.

Once we had seen so many beautiful butterflies in so many brilliant colors I cannot even name them all, we made our way back out to join dh and "Stitch" who were waiting on a bench right outside. I dropped "Aladdin" off with them and went back into the gift shop with "Goofy". "Goofy" took his time picking out the perfect plastic flappy butterfly to take home with him and I asked the cashier to call us a cab. Yes, it had been a nice walk down to the Butterfly Observatory...but NO WAY in heck we were gonna take that hot long walk back with three, by then, tired kids.

The cab ride for the 5 of us from the Butterfly Observatory cost only $5!! What a bargain! Back at the port area we thought about stopped in for a quick slice of frozen key lime pie on a stick. That was a treat! Then we walked down the pier and boarded the ship.

When we got back, the boys went to their respective clubs while dh and I went up to deck 10 and sat quietly taking in the view (even dh could look since we weren't moving ). Turns out that we were able to get the younger two to their club in time to take part in the "picture this" activity. They were able to create a picture frame and then a special guest (who turned out to be the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella) came for a visit and to take pictures. Here is "Stitch's" creation:

And here is "Goofy's" creation:

After that they took part in Sliding Fun...always a favorite with them!! They love that huge indoor sliding and climbing ship!

"Aladdin" had fun having free time in the Lab. He thought it was a lot of fun to just have time to hang out after a fun day (and a LOT of walking) on the island.

Day 2 Disney Magic...to be continued **with pictures**

 

[jaycns]

Key West explored and a little bit of shipboard fun had, it was now time to once again get ready for dinner...it was another night of "cruise casual" so we threw the jeans on the boys and some different polo shirts and we were off. We wanted to get down to the lobby early enough to have time to get some pictures taken with the characters and do a family portrait session. So off we went...

First we saw a feisty pair of ducks...of course I do mean Donald and Daisy.

After we got done getting our picture taken with Daisy, we started to walk away...well four of us did...Daisy grabbed hold of "Stitch" and started to hug him and kiss him and wouldn't let go of his hand until we had taken another picture of her with just him! It was such a cute moment!!

After playing with the ducks we went over to do our a session with the photographer. She was the NICEST photographer ever! **Reminder, "Stitch" has trouble with new things...especially the unexpected** Everything was all good until we walked over to the all white backdrop for the pictures and "Stitch" saw we would have to take off our shoes...somehow in his mind you don't take your shoes off for photos (ahhh...yes, another story where my littlest monster makes a photographer "work" for that smile). Well, Jaimee (the world's nicest photographer) worked with him for a good 4 minutes promising him that it was okay to have his shoes off and helping him get in the mood to create some special family portraits. Here is a shot we bought from that night:

You will notice that "Stitch" is not quite smiling...but his expression is MUCH nicer then the look of terror he had on his face before she worked with him and won him over to at least participate!

That photo nightmare (at least for "Stitch") over we proceeded in to dinner. Tonight we would be eating at Lumière's.

We were dining off of the French dinner menu. Again, dh and I had beef...but again the details have already (sadly) gone fuzzy. The food was all great and again the service was outstanding. I love Lumière's so much! Part of it has to do with the fact that Beauty and the Beast is one of my all time favorite movies. Another part of it has to do with the beauty of the decorations. And of course, it is on the Disney Magic!

As you can see by this picture, "Stitch" had found his smile again!!

And by this picture you can see that Teddy was at it again with the magic tricks! Those looks of "huh...how DID you do that" occurred all week long!!

After dinner we saw Pocahontas. She was very sweet. "Stitch" had brought one of his turtles (delivered in the gift basket as a present from 'Crush') to dinner and when she it...Pocahontas took the time to play with the turtle and ask the boys all about it! She interacted with them for a good 3 minutes before she noticed that she still had a line and had to keep it moving.

When we got back to the room we found this stunning towel swan waiting for us. Let me admit something at this point....do you see those mint chocolates??? I am the ONLY ONE in my family that likes them...and they didn't go to waste!

After dinner we dropped the younger boys in the Lab (they were having time over there) and "Aladdin" was dropped off at the Buena Vista Theater where those in 8-12 year old age group would be viewing The Wild.

Dh and I went to see the main show for the night which was Michael Harrison, a ventriloquist/comedian. He was funny and we enjoyed the show. After the show dh and I went to check on the boys and found none of them needing or even willing to leave the kid's clubs...FINE BY US!!

This night we had plans. We wanted to see Match Your Mate (think a Newlywed Show type format). So we headed down to Rockin' Bar D, got great seats (in the second row) and ordered a few drinks. I couldn't believe some of the things people share in front of a packed room full of people!! But as long as it wasn't me up there...I thought it was ! In the end the newly married couple (married less then a week) beat out the couple married for 18 years and the couple married for 45 years! It was soooo funny! I was in stitches the entire time. My side honestly HURT I had laughed so hard for so long! If you are over 18 ( ) this is a MUST SEE show!!

Right after the Match Your Mate show, Gary DeLena was doing a stand up comedy show (again this was an adult's only show) with a rock and roll twist. He too was SOOOO funny. Really, from 10:15 PM when the Match Your Mate show started until about 11:45 when Gary DeLena finished up his act I think I might have not been laughing so hard it hurt for about 5 minutes total!! During Gary's show he kept referring to a guy in the audience as "Dick Chaney"...no matter what party you side with, you couldn't help but laughing when he would say "Now don't shoot me for saying this Dick but...". He was very good with interacting with the audience and he had us .

After the show we picked up the kids and headed back to the room for another late night snack...tonight it would be room service! YUM!! We got some cookies and ordered pizza right to our room!! The pizza was good and the cookies were great! **TIP, order the BIG ISLAND COOKIES from room service...your taste buds will thank you for it.** Dh ran up to the self serve beverage station and filled up our cups with milk, tea (I am a tea addict) and water. It was the perfect midnight snack!

Then we put the kids to bed and watched the in room movie, Glory Road on the way tiny television. It was a pretty good movie and kept us up until WAY late! Lucky for us tomorrow was to be a sea day! And we didn't have anything to do until our Palo Brunch at 11:00 AM. Well, some of us didn't, dh wanted to take part in the adult basketball shootout at 9:30 AM.

Would he wake up in time? What would we do with ourselves during our day at sea? What show would we watch? Was brunch at Palo all it's cracked up to be?? These questions and more will be answered in the next installment!

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[momoftriplets]

If you get a chance please DO post that photo! Like I said, I roll with laughter at other people getting soaked!

Here's the photo of DH getting doused at MGM back in 2003. He actually stayed pretty dry. He was wet around the neck, where the raincoat didn't close all the way. The kids loved seeing him get soaked.

Still loving your report. Keep up the good work!
Barb

 

[paigevz]

LOVED your Key West day!!! Those are JUST the things we enjoy doing with our boys..............we've done some small-scale butterfly gardens, and our kids LOVE it. They love ANYthing involving pirates or treasure...............

And FROZEN KEY LIME PIE ON A STICK????? My mouth is watering! My FAVE pie................

Still sad for you for your photos...........

But sounds like a REALLY great time on the ship too. It sounds like there's so much to do...............did you have trouble deciding??? I love all your photos from this day..............Stitch still has such a baby face (don't tell him I said so).........he's just precious.

 

[jaycns]

Here's the photo of DH getting doused at MGM back in 2003. He actually stayed pretty dry. He was wet around the neck, where the raincoat didn't close all the way. The kids loved seeing him get soaked.
Still loving your report. Keep up the good work!
Barb

Thanks for the laugh! I am so glad that was NOT me!!

 

[kaysmommie]

I will be booking a cruise as soon as Ds is old enough and potty trained fro kids club. It sound like so much fun! Love your report.

 

[jaycns]

The Cast of Characters-

Me- a 30 something mom who loves Disney.

Dh- a 30 something dad who does not love Disney but does love his family enough to humor us!

Aladdin-(aka Prince Ali aka ds1) is now 10 years old. Lucky for us, he is still a Disney addict and still loves everything about WDW...including the characters!

Goofy-(aka Goof aka ds2) turned 7 on our vacation. Loves Disney, period.

Stitch-(aka Stitchity Stitch Stitch aka ds3) is 5 years old and the magic is all still "real" for him. He loves Disney but has trouble with "new things".

Our plans- 9/15 depart for WDW drive to Valdosta, GA and stop for a quick sleep. Continue to WDW arriving early on 9/16. 9/16-9/23 stay at Disney's Contemporary Resort. 9/23-9/30 cruise aboard the Disney Magic. 9/30-10/3 arrive at Disney's Polynesian Resort.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well to answer the first cliff hanger question, yes, dh did get up in time to take part in the basketball shootout. He (along with 7 other men) lined up and got ready to shoot it out for bragging rights (and a spiffy Disney Cruise Line medal ). To hear dh tell it you would think he played Jordan one on one and beat him...but in any case, he did win the shootout and came back to the room FULL of that bragging I mentioned and holding the Disney Cruise Line medal. He was so proud of himself! He was also so in need of a shower. After the shootout he had stayed to play a few games of pick up with the guys. Back at home that wouldn't bother me...but here on the ship with our "romantic" Palo reservations just minutes (I think 20 by the time he got back to the room) away, I was getting mighty testy and I think I wounded his ego by not crooning over his little medal .

When he had rolled out of bed and into his basketball attire, I had rolled out of bed and into the shower. Then I made a quick call to room service and had some fruit, hot dogs and cookies *yes, the cookies are my new "Contemporary chocolate cake"* brought up for the boys to dine on. Boys fed, check. Mom dressed and ready for Palo brunch, check. Dad dressed and ready for Palo brunch...AHHHHHH.

When dh had gotten back to the room I was on my way out to drop the kids off at the kid's clubs and thinking of hunting my husband down and dragging him willing or not off to brunch. Thus, I was not as excited as dh would have hoped for over his victory when he got back to the room. I think I gave him "the look" and told him that he better shower faster then ever before and be dressed up and at Palo within the next *by this time we only had 15 minutes until our brunch ressie* 14 minutes or I would be happy to move his stuff into the boy's cabin for the rest of the trip. Yep, I was a bit of a ball and chain kind of wife for a few minutes...but then again...I had been planning this romantic brunch at Palo in my mind for months...our friends were to dine with us so we would have made another couple late as well and I had made him aware of the time and he had promised to "not be late"...so even now I don't feel very badly about the handling of said LATE dh!

Now credit is due to dh, he was showered, shaved, dressed up and at Palo with two minutes to spare (a minute under the deadline I had given him)...he was also contrite for getting so into a game that he almost missed the talked about for months, romantic brunch. So...he would live to see another day . Now credit is due to me for then forgiving him and talking up his little win to our friends. I can be a good wife!

All of us finally accounted for, we were seated immediately at Palo. Our server's name escapes me, but he was amazing. Flat out amazing. He was almost scary (in the kind of way that the butler in Mr. Deeds is scary "sneaky,sneaky") in that he seemed to be able to read our minds and anticipate our every need/want. Now I said "ALMOST" scary... instead of scary, he was wonderful!!

The food at Palo is well...it's more then worth the $10 surcharge per person for a meal there! The shrimp was so tasty! The entire cold buffet was so tasty that it was hard to restrain myself and not fill up on it. My favorites were the scones with fresh whipped cream and preserves on top and the shrimp. After the cold buffet (which again, I could have dined happily on and not felt cheated if it were all that was offered) it was time to order our "hot" portion of the meal. I ended up getting a half order of the spinach and cheese omelet (great) and a cheese pizza...OH MY GOOD GRACIOUS...NEVER have I had a better pizza pie! They had just elevated pizza making to a fine art! I dream of this pizza! Needless to say, even though I had almost no room left, I found room for every last crumb of that pizza! **GET THE PIZZA at PALO!!** Somehow, I even found room to taste a few of the desserts afterward. No more then taste (seriously, I was about to burst) but I did try some very good sweet treats as well!

Dh and our friends were all as pleased as I was with the food! I think all of us were thinking about asking to be rolled back to our rooms! But oh my, it was way worth it!!

By the time we were done it was almost 1:00 PM...so we went to get our kids from the clubs...however, none of them wanted to leave!! The younger kids were looking forward to creating flubber (that green goo) within a few minutes and "Aladdin" was wanting to stay and do an animation cell painting and then play bingo for prizes. So we left them there and hurried back to the room to change out of our dress clothes as we were about ready to burst and they were not our most comfortable clothes.

Upon our return to the room we found some of our little friends enjoying the view. Our boys went nuts over this upon their later return to our room.

While checking out our personal navigator (the listing of all that is to see and do for that day) I saw that a cake and plate decorating presentation was about to start. For some reason, dh skipped that and chose to take a nap. I learned how to make fondant (sp?) roses. MUCH easier then the turn and pipe method! I also saw how they made the neat patterns on the plates. Since returning home, I was inspired to grab one of my son's fruit roll ups and make a rose out of it! Does that tell you how much I miss being on the cruise??!! While the taste testing of the cakes and toppings looked good...I skipped it as I was still about to burst.

I bumped into our friends and took a walk out on deck with them and took a few snapshots of the view.
This first shot is of the view looking down...the water was such an intense and beautiful shade of blue!

And of course, I did look out too! And this is what I saw:

After a few minutes of enjoying the view, I said goodbye to our friends and went back to wake up dh. Turns out he was already awake and ready (good thing for him after his earlier stunt ) so off we went in search of some children to spend the day with...

WE COULDN'T FIND ANY!! Well, we could find out own children and did see plenty of kids...we just couldn't convince any of them (especially our own children) to leave the children's clubs and come and spend some time with us. How are dh and I supposed to compete with Lilo and Stitch? Our "Stitch" and "Goofy" were right in the middle of a luau party with Lilo and Stitch when we arrived at their club.

"Aladdin" wasn't doing anything special...but he still was not ready to leave the lab, so dh and took another little time out together and went and lounged around on some super comfy cushioned deck chairs and held hands and talked about our wonderful boys and life together. It was a sappy sweet moment and another snapshot in my forever memory book.

Sappy sweet moment passed we once again went back to our boys and asked them to come with us to go and do a family craft...in the Club...neither "Stitch" nor "Goofy" was up for leaving. But we were able to use guilt to free "Aladdin" from the Lab. This was a FAMILY vacation and I was going to have family to be with!! Even if we did have to tell him that we really missed him to get him to leave . The three of us headed off to the family craft session and made picture frames together. That was a lot of fun. It was something we could have done around a table at home...but I NEVER get dh to cut and glue and color at home. So this was a rare treat indeed. We spent about a half hour crafting together and then it was time to make one last rescue misson to the Club.

I was taking "Goofy" and "Stitch" out at that point even if I had to drag them kicking and screaming. We had tickets for tea with Wendy Darling and my boys were going to join me for it! The good part about us never being able to get our kids to leave was that they were having so much fun and that did make me VERY happy. The bad part was that getting them to leave required a strong heart on mommy and daddy's parts when they said they didn't want to go. However, this particular removal was accomplished with little more then a few "Do I really have to leaves?" and "I just got heres!". **Yeah, like 5 and 1/2 hours ago!!**

Dh went back to the room to get everything laid out for our quick change act that would take place after the tea in time to get us to the photo areas on formal night (which was to be this night) and I took the boys to have tea with Wendy.

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[jaycns]

All family members present and accounted for we made our way to tea with Wendy Darling. It may be important to note that ever since my boys were old enough to hold a cup, they have happily enjoyed tea time with mom. Especially during the cold winter months, but occasionally even on a hot summer day my boys will request tea time. We just dole out the mugs, warm up the water and they are ready to pick their own tea bags from our huge stash. They love to sit there and drizzle honey or sprinkle sugar and stir, stir, stir and (at least I hope this is true) they like to talk and spend some time with no distractions with mom. That info is important because I promise I was NOT trying to punish my boys by making them have tea with me. However, I think we were the only party of only little boys...this seemed to be mainly a little girl thing with a scattering of brothers thrown in for good measure. However, my boys didn't mind in the least. We entered and sat down at a table and listened as Wendy started in on telling her story.

After telling her story she showed us all how to properly "take tea". And take tea we did!!

Served along with the cold tea were some more of those tasty cruise ship cookies! Even though I knew I shouldn't...I had one of them and throughly enjoyed it! The boys and I had so much fun having tea and cookies together that time completely got away from us! By the time we were snapping this next picture of Wendy and the boys, we should have been in our room getting ready for dinner but it was so worth it! I enjoyed every minute of our tea and it was one of the highlights of my time on the cruise!! I am fully aware that in years to come this time will become an even more precious memory and I am so glad that I took the effort and made the kids leave their clubs and join me for tea!

As soon as that picture snapped we were off and running (okay, more like walking as quickly as possible) to our cabins. As they were changing the boys told daddy about the great time he had missed (woo hoo, they had liked tea time as much as I had). Another quick change miracle occurred and we made it in time for cocktails and pictures with the captain.

We, of course, had to take one with captain Mickey as well!

This next picture we had made into a 2-D crystal block that lights up! I LOVE IT! It is my very favorite thing I bought the entire vacation!

If I can figure a way to get a good shot of it, I will include a picture later on in the report.

After having our pictures taken enough that we started to feel like celebs and partaking of the free drinks we headed over to our dinner. Tonight we would dine in Animator's Palate.

Here we are seated at Animator's Palate with our very good family friends. It was great to have dinner together with them every night! I know some people talk about the nightmare it turns into when you vacation with another family but we all had so much fun doing it that we are planning a return cruise in 2 years with them! We made sure we planned to do a few things together everyday and we also made sure to plan time to break off and do what each family wanted. And it was always a happy surprise when we would see such friendly and familiar faces unexpectedly while on board!

"Stitch" is the little tiny piece of a head behind the princess. He had just dropped his Chip toy and was going under the table to get it at the precise moment the picture was snapped...but that is the rest of our traveling party all gussied up!

Here is a picture that was snapped of dh and myself.

Being as I had already sucked down two free drinks at the captain's reception and two iced teas thus far at dinner it was time for me to take a potty break . As I walked past the deck doors the scene that caught my eye had me in awe!! The sunset that was taking place just outside was breath taking! So, I forgot my urgent need and ran back into the dining room to grab my camera and snapped off a few pictures...my pictures in NO way do the sight justice!!

I was joined out on deck by the eldest daughter of our friends and she snapped this picture of me. Ignore the glasses...but this is a moment I never want to forget. It was like a living masterpiece painted just for my pleasure!

Scenic interlude aside we went back into Animator's Palate and enjoyed another GREAT meal! Once again, what I had fails to come to me but it was GREAT (all of the meals were). And the show that the servers put on at dinner that night was so much fun! Of course it didn't hurt that the one and only Mickey Mouse himself stopped by to help out with the festivities!!

It was also this night that we had chosen to have "Goofy's" birthday celebrated. We had mentioned to the travel agent when booking that he had a birthday this month and she had passed that on to the cruise line. Our head server confirmed the night we would like to celebrate his birthday the first night of our cruise. Again, they went above and beyond what was needed...but it was oh so appreciated! Here is "Goofy" getting a look at his birthday cake.

And a shot of the rest of the kid's joining in with the servers in wishing him a happy birthday.

"Goofy" also got a birthday button that he proudly added to his collection! He was so amazed that "the cruise knew my birthday".

After dinner and dessert were "packed away", Teddy had some more magic tricks to share.

Then it was time to head back to the room and get ready for the rest of the night...

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[fynook12]

What a great cruise so far!! I am so excited about going on one~ Hopefully within the next year!! I wanted to ask you about the "clubs" i keep reading about that your boys enjoy so much!! I have a 6,4,and 2yr old. I know the 6 & 4yr old's can probably find a "club" that they would enjoy, but do you know if there are any places like that for a toddler (2-3yr olds) on board?? Just curious. Keep your wonderful recaps coming!!!!