Back 2 Back Magical Adventures on DCL-Completed

[pixie08]

ooh I amlike a kid- I am so excited to see twice charmed! thanks for the info and pics.

 

[Disneygrl36]

Becky,
I finally had time to get caught up here. Your report is wonderful & I love all the pictures.
I am so excited to see Twice Charmed & your photos have just increased that. It looks like an awesome show.
Thanks so much for posting the navigators. I have spent quite a bit of time pouring over those with my own spreadsheet today to see if I got things right.
And I have to say...............You look marvelous. It is so nice to see the success that you have had knowing that I have been right there with you through the journey over on our WL accountability thread.
Keep up the good work on your trippie.

 

[ReAnSt]

Becky,
I finally had time to get caught up here. Your report is wonderful & I love all the pictures.
I am so excited to see Twice Charmed & your photos have just increased that. It looks like an awesome show.
Thanks so much for posting the navigators. I have spent quite a bit of time pouring over those with my own spreadsheet today to see if I got things right.
And I have to say...............You look marvelous. It is so nice to see the success that you have had knowing that I have been right there with you through the journey over on our WL accountability thread.
Keep up the good work on your trippie.

Thank you, thank you. I know you are going to have a fantastic trip.

 

[ReAnSt]

So today we got up and headed to breakfast. We were in no rush to get off the ship as we couldn't get off until 10am, so we headed down to Triton's.

I tried the Bircher Museli-bounty. I was expecting it to be warm, it was like a cold cereal with fruits in it. It was alright, I didn't like the raisins in it. I think it would have been better warm and no raisins in it

Stephen and I also both had Eggs Benedict

We then headed off of the ship.

We were lucky that we actually got to dock, other ships were not so lucky and they had to tender in

These three were standing in front of the Carnival ship so people could take pictures

A party boat

After we walked through that shopping area we headed off in search of the mini golf course. This mini golf course is actually run by a graduate of a local high school. We realized once we were off the ship that we had forgotten the directions on the ship. Stephen thought he knew where we were going. So we walked and walked to the right of the port for a long time. In search of the Mexican flag. Well we weren't finding it. We stopped and asked a few people they didn't know. So we walked some more.

Some sights along the way

Lots of requests to come in shops and look at things

Senor Frogs

We thought this was the correct Mexican flag, nope no mini golf anywhere around here

Playground

We asked again where mini golf is, the guy said it is over under the big flag you can see from the port but to the left. He also said it is typically closed in September. So we gave up searching for mini golf, but I guess it wouldn't have mattered if we found it as it probably would have been closed.

The correct Mexican flag we were searching for. Way off in the distance, we totally walked the absolute wrong way.

 

[CraftyMouse]

You mentioned that you couldn't get off the ship until 10:00 in Cozumel. The DCL website shows the all ashore time as 9:30. Were you running late or is that the new docking time? I ask because we have an 11:00 dolphin swim booked (not through DCL) and I want to make sure we have enough time to get to Chankanaab. I think we'll still make it in an hour but I feel more comfortable with an hour and a half.

TIA!

 

[ReAnSt]

Correct flag again

and again

It was huge how we went the wrong way no one will know, this is what happens when we don't have directions

In the process of looking for mini golf we looked in a lot of stores, none of them had Christmas ornaments, we walked in and out of many shops. I was contemplating buying a key chain or something else to make into an ornament. Right before we were getting ready to head back to the ship we stopped in a store and found some ornaments. None of them said Cozumel, but I was ready to go back and settled on a Mexico ornament instead. I would settle for similar generic non-city specific ornaments other places as well, but ornaments in general were more prevalent.

Crystal clear water

 

[ReAnSt]

Heading back to the Magic

We went back to the ship and had a late lunch at Topsiders

Later today there were a bunch of people gathered on the deck of the Carnival ship watching the Beach boys perform on the Ariel view on the Magic

You could even see that flag from the Magic

Dock

Mickey/Minnie in the main atrium

Deck

Runway

Buh Bye

Decorations for the Pirates in the Caribbean Party

As I was heading to the WD Theater to see Underdog I ran into Ann (Bareacuda) and her DH Howard. I ended up talking to them for about 45 minutes. We had a nice conversation. They were our Back 2 Back buddies and we had a fantastic time with them both weeks.

I still headed down to the WD theater to watch Underdog. Well guess who was waiting outside with no line???? Cap'n Jack Sparrow He was unadvertised and not listed as being out at all. Maybe if you would call the character hotline he might be listed there. I didn't see him listed on the TV screens or in the Navigator.

Well of course I had to go talk to him and have my picture taken with him. I looked at the picture right away and turned the camera off and headed inside to watch Underdog. Well I decided to look at some pictures on my camera and couldn't find the picture with Jack. So I ran back outside and had my picture taken again. He said back for more and said I can't find the picture with you. Of course I didn't mind more time with him, I love the Pirate movies and Jack Sparrow, I do wish they would have had Will Turner for meet and greets as I love him as well but they don't.

So I took another picture with my and then headed inside and watched Underdog, I was late for the movie but I didn't like what I saw of it.

I headed back to the room to get ready for dinner.

Door designs and fish extender

In the room I discovered that all the pictures with Cap'n jack were there on my camera, I couldn't find them because my camera had rolled over from 9999, to 0001 and the last pictures were the highest number meaning that Jack was the last pictures on my camera and not the first in viewing order like normal.

Up next Pirate night dinner.

 

[ReAnSt]

You mentioned that you couldn't get off the ship until 10:00 in Cozumel. The DCL website shows the all ashore time as 9:30. Were you running late or is that the new docking time? I ask because we have an 11:00 dolphin swim booked (not through DCL) and I want to make sure we have enough time to get to Chankanaab. I think we'll still make it in an hour but I feel more comfortable with an hour and a half.

TIA!

The Navigator for our cruise says 9:45am for all Ashore. I was thinking it was 10am, what time we actually could get off I don't know. I just knew I wasn't in a rush to get off the ship. I think you will probably be OK to get to your swim.

 

[CraftyMouse]

The Navigator for our cruise says 9:45am for all Ashore. I was thinking it was 10am, what time we actually could get off I don't know. I just knew I wasn't in a rush to get off the ship. I think you will probably be OK to get to your swim.

Thanks so much! I am loving your report. We are doing a back-to-back the first two weeks of December and I can't wait. Your report is helping me pre-live our trip!

 

[ReAnSt]

Thanks so much! I am loving your report. We are doing a back-to-back the first two weeks of December and I can't wait. Your report is helping me pre-live our trip!

If you have any questions let me know. I see you are doing the cruises in the same order that I did. I loved having basically three sea days in a row, smack dab in the middle.

 

[CraftyMouse]

Thanks! If I have questions I will definitely send them your way!

We had initially booked the Eastern first, followed by the Western but had to change due to a conflict with DD's dance company. I"m really glad things worked out the way they did. I think having the more active itinerary (we're doing Stingray City and a dolphin swim) the first week, followed by the more relaxing itinerary the second week will be great! We'll also be cruising with friends and family the first week and just the 4 of us the second week, which will be great.

Thanks again and I can't wait to read more!

 

[ReAnSt]

After Underdog was over I headed outside, as I knew we should soon be leaving the port. We were just thrusting away from the dock. It amazes me how agile ships this large can be. The whirlpool shape in the water is from the side thruster

Buh Bye Dock

I headed back to the room and Stitch and Mickey greeted me with the invitation to the DVC presentation. Don't you love the invitation in a bottle look. If you haven't guessed yet tonight is Pirate night and dinner.

Stephen and I got ready for dinner, AKA we changed into our pirate costumes and then we headed towards dinner. Well we got sidetracked because Peter Pan had no line, so we had our pic taken with him

When we walked into Lumiere's we noticed that lots of people were not dressed up. We were hoping our table mates would be and all of us were decked out for Pirate night. Of course I didn't think to get a picture of all of us together

Stitch and Mickey checking out the Pirate night menu

So this is one of my favorite menus and I would seriously order one of everything but we restrained ourselves a bit, as there is a Pirate Buffet after the Pirate party.

Pearls of the Caribbean

Crab Cake

Jerk Chicken Salad

Treasure of the seas Grilled shrimp and seared scallops

Same as the above with a piece of Macadamia nut dusted Mahi Mahi

The pirate Brigade through the restaurant

Our table mates all missed the fun because they decided to not have dessert and left early to get to the Pirate Party.

We stayed for dessert and ordered

Walk the Plank Triple Layered Cake

Shiver Me Timbers White Chocolate Cheesecake

Special Surprise Brownie treat from our server

Stitch is partied out

We quick ran up to the room and found a pirate ray

OK actually he was a ray wearing glasses but we thought he needed to be pirated out. Tonight instead of square chocolates they have chocolate coins.

Then we header upstairs to go to the pirate party.

 

[ReAnSt]

So I forgot to mention at dinner tonight, Eddie the stage manager got to join us. He didn't have a show to supervise in the WD theater since they were watching a movie Underdog.

Although he did have a show to run tonight, Pirates in the Caribbean party. He talked about how much work and effort it takes to have fireworks on the Disney Magic and Wonder. They are the only ships that are able to launch fireworks. He thinks part of the reason they were granted the ability is because they are experts in the business and have so much knowledge.

Some interesting tidbits about fireworks on the Disney Cruise Line:

*They must launch all fireworks before entering back into the United States. Therefore if they can not launch them for Pirate night due to the weather, etc they will have to launch them before they enter back into the United States.

*For the New Years Eve sailing they take extra fireworks with them for several cruises prior and stockpile them at Castaway Cay. This way they can have two firework shows in one week.

*They must alert all surrounding ships that they are going to be launching fireworks and when they will be starting, how many and any changes. We had several ships nearby that were watching the fireworks.

*Starting about 5-10 minutes before they must give the coast guard 30 second updates on what is happening Plus updates on changes or if things go wrong.

*They have a system which shuts the fireworks off as soon as something goes wrong. This will come into play at a later time.

Lets just say tons of time, effort, and energy goes into the fireworks show on the sea. All of this is done to keep everyone safe and so that nearby ships do not think a war or something bad is occurring.

Here are some pictures of the buffet table before it is loaded with food for the after party buffet.

I had some concerns about not making it to the Pirate Party due to late dinner. We ended up having plenty of time before the pirate party started. If we would have sat around and lingered at dinner for awhile we might have missed the party.

 

[ReAnSt]

We headed up to deck ten to have a birds eye view of the show. We felt like being above the show.

The Ariel View made a nice addition to the Pirate Party

The party starts out with them teaching dances. These dances will be used later during the show.

Then the good characters come out. Then the evil characters come out. Then Mickey comes to save the day with the fireworks show.

Hiding out in the pirate hate, it was quite windy

Black and White Pirate Bandanas they gave out at dinner

Bright Light

Pirates are arriving

Mickey Saves the Night

Fireworks being blown away

Buffet foods- yes that is a piece of sugar decoration

A bit of everything

Headed back to the room, perhaps I went to the pool of a show at Rockin' D Bar. Honestly I have no idea. Eventually I went to bed.

Tomorrow was supposed to be our Palo brunch but we had changed it and already had it. We changed it because we were going to do Mickey's Island Jam Breakfast, well we didn't go to that either. Instead we broke into the Backstage area of WD Theater.

 

[Jennifer48]

Glad you got to eat some of the dessert buffet on Pirate Night. I was still so stuffed after late dining!

 

[disneyfan551]

I notice you have a twin bed in one of your photos... Was this from the main bed? Are they able to split them apart? I'm just curious, since my Mom and her friend will be cruising with us in December, and I'm sure they'd probably rather do that!

 

[CraftyMouse]

I notice you have a twin bed in one of your photos... Was this from the main bed? Are they able to split them apart? I'm just curious, since my Mom and her friend will be cruising with us in December, and I'm sure they'd probably rather do that!

All of the queen beds are actually twin beds that have been hooked together. That way they can easily separate them for guests needing 2 separate beds. Just have your Mom call DCL (or do it for her) and have them note it on the reservation. That way they should be in the proper configuration when they board.

 

[ReAnSt]

Glad you got to eat some of the dessert buffet on Pirate Night. I was still so stuffed after late dining!

I really didn't eat it. I was less then thrilled by the cakes and desserts at the buffet. To me they all tasted the same, with different fillings. I took a few bites and was totally done. I am not a cake person, I would have been happier with containers of the fillings.

 

[ReAnSt]

All of the queen beds are actually twin beds that have been hooked together. That way they can easily separate them for guests needing 2 separate beds. Just have your Mom call DCL (or do it for her) and have them note it on the reservation. That way they should be in the proper configuration when they board.

Exactly right! The one thing I have noticed is, if you have them split in two they don't provide you with comforters unless you ask. This also happened on our Wonder cruise. We asked and our steward forgot, we asked again and we got comforters.

I don't blame him for forgetting. I would probably have forgotten by the time I got to our room as well.

 

[ReAnSt]

Thursday, September 13, 2007

So this morning we were supposed to go to Palo, but we had rescheduled and already had brunch there on Tuesday, because we wanted to go to Mickey's Island Jam. Well at dinner the night before with Eddie, the stage manager he suggested that we do the Art of Entertaining Behind the Scenes tour.

So we got up and grabbed some breakfast. Then we headed to the WD Theater. When we arrived our table mates Pat and Linda were there.

We started with a Question and Answer session with some of the performers. Soon our other table mates arrived. Apparently no one wanted to go to Mickey's Island Jam Breakfast.

Then they gave short visual presentations from each of the departments. Lighting, audio, costuming, props, etc

They also did a presentation on switching from one scene to another. It was quite noisy and they actually had quite a bit of piecing things together. Normally the music covers it up. When I watched Disney Dreams that night I tried to listen for the sounds of them redoing the scenes, in the background behind the music.

Props from Disney Dreams

After the presentations for the departments, we got to "break" into the backstage area and check things out.

They showed us how the lifts operate

[

Tight Squeeze for all the props

View from the stage

They had some of the costumes out for us to view, boy are they heavy. Let's just say I wouldn't want to dance in them

Wedding attire from Twice Charmed

Hidden Mickey's on the wall the the WD Theater

This was seriously my favorite tour or Behind the Scenes activity. I wanted to do it again the next week but I ended up sleeping in or doing something else. It is only for ages 18 and up. I seriously recommend it for everyone. It is amazing to see what they can produce with a tiny storage space. This tour is only on the Magic.