Could the Dream Turn the Grump into a Believer? Charleston Update 10/13

[Charleston Princess]

Yes, yes, I need a do-over! There is an absolutely fabulous training offer for a 7 night Mexican Riviera cruise with a one night stay at DL out for TAs right now. I almost jumped at it, but it's right after I get back from WDW next month and I just can't ask Don to make sure his schedule keeps him in town that long.

That would be so fun! Too bad you can't take advantage of it.

Don doesn't normally fall asleep in the movie theater, I guess a bottle and a half of wine was just too much to keep him awake

He did have a busy day playing with the dolphins, too.

 

[dmwang9]

I just found this TR and got caught up. Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[Disneygrl36]

Another great update.
I am really excited to see Villains Tonight. We used to love the Hercules show so I am excited to see the characters back in another show.
In other exciting news........my documents came this weekend.

 

[Pinkocto]

Hope Jared's birthday went well!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

That dinner with the Filet & lobster looked great! I would have to pass on the snails. All that I can think of would be garden slugs, no way I'm eating them! Stepping on them is as far as I wil go!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Wow Michelle, I've been missing for awhile and have missed some great updates! It looks like you and the family are very much enjoying your cruise. Cannot wait to read more!

 

[jenseib]

Love the Villians pictures. You got some really great shots there.
Dinner was very close to the same as what I had too.
When people ask me about escargot, I tell them very buttery and garlic and like a mushroom texture.
I love them too. I ate all mine and my Mom actually asked to eat one...ORDER your Own lady!

 

[snowsue1]

I am getting ready to buy a new camera and would like to know what kind of camera did you use on this trip. The pictures are great.

 

[SoonerGirl]

That would be so fun! Too bad you can't take advantage of it.

I know!

He did have a busy day playing with the dolphins, too.

Yeah, we'll blame it on that......

I just found this TR and got caught up. Can't wait to read the rest!

Thanks for reading!! I got the next day's pictures uploaded today, so I'm hoping to get another update up tomorrow. I'm determined to finish this thing before my next trip - in 3 weeks!!!

Another great update.
I am really excited to see Villains Tonight. We used to love the Hercules show so I am excited to see the characters back in another show.
In other exciting news........my documents came this weekend.

I have a soft spot for Hercules, it was Justin's favorite movie when he was about 2. We watched it over, and over, and over again. Special memories cuddling with my little guy on the couch

Yay for Mickey mail!!

Hope Jared's birthday went well!

We didn't do a whole lot - threw together a quick family celebration between games, but it was good, thanks!

 

[SoonerGirl]

That dinner with the Filet & lobster looked great! I would have to pass on the snails. All that I can think of would be garden slugs, no way I'm eating them! Stepping on them is as far as I wil go!

Great, now I'll never be able to eat escargot again without thinking of garden slugs

Wow Michelle, I've been missing for awhile and have missed some great updates! It looks like you and the family are very much enjoying your cruise. Cannot wait to read more!

Hey Kelli! You've been missed around here!

Love the Villians pictures. You got some really great shots there.
Dinner was very close to the same as what I had too.
When people ask me about escargot, I tell them very buttery and garlic and like a mushroom texture.
I love them too. I ate all mine and my Mom actually asked to eat one...ORDER your Own lady!

Thanks for the compliment on my Villians pics - that means a lot coming from you since your pics are fabulous!

Yeah, I guess a mushroom would maybe be the closest thing. Too funny that you wouldn't share with your mom Well, she could have ordered her own for free, so I don't blame you!

I am getting ready to buy a new camera and would like to know what kind of camera did you use on this trip. The pictures are great.

Thanks! I mostly used my DSLR, it's an older model Canon, a Rebel xsi. The pictures from Blue Lagoon Island and the ones around the pools and such were taken with my waterproof camera, it's also a Canon, a Power Shot D10.

 

[PirateKate]

We had fun on our Nassau day. We went to Atlantis and it was a really great afternoon. We briefly walked through the straw market, but it wasn't really our kind of thing. Atlantis, on the other hand, was the sort of thing we enjoy.

The Villains show looks amazing and I usually am not a big Villains fan. I guess it really is best to give every show a fair chance.

Your TR always makes me want to go on another cruise. Everything looks so relaxing and fun.

 

[SoonerGirl]

For those of you who don't know about this - DISer extraordinaire, MeMom, is in the running to win some new Disney books for her classroom full of very deserving 2nd graders. She is about 70 votes behind right now and voting ends tomorrow.

Please click on the link and vote for Caren, #2. It only takes a second, you don't have to register or anything. Thanks!!

http://www.wdwradio.com/2011/09/my-classroom-went-disney-vote-now/

 

[markuehl]

I voted good luck

 

[Wicket's Mom]

I voted for her also.

You thought that the Straw market was bad, Jamaica was terrible. I found myself being led down a back alley by some vendor so that she could show me something. It tirned out ok, but they just swarm all over you & even try to trade you for some of your stuff.

 

[Happydog]

Hey ME tickets and such came today!! I will pop your tag in the mail!!! So fun to see a tag that says your name (and mine of course!! ) and WILDERNESS LODGE!!!!!! WOOT WOOT!!! We have to coordinate to rendezvous down by the ME desk, I guess!!! LOL!

THREE weeks!!! WOW!!!!!

 

[SoonerGirl]

We had fun on our Nassau day. We went to Atlantis and it was a really great afternoon. We briefly walked through the straw market, but it wasn't really our kind of thing. Atlantis, on the other hand, was the sort of thing we enjoy.

The Villains show looks amazing and I usually am not a big Villains fan. I guess it really is best to give every show a fair chance.

Your TR always makes me want to go on another cruise. Everything looks so relaxing and fun.

I really want to see Atlantis at some point too. It looks so pretty!

The Villains show was pretty cute. You're right, everyone needs to see or experience something for themselves before they write it off

My TR is making me want to go on another cruise

I voted good luck

Thanks, she's falling behind, about 100 votes now, so it's not looking good....

I voted for her also.

You thought that the Straw market was bad, Jamaica was terrible. I found myself being led down a back alley by some vendor so that she could show me something. It tirned out ok, but they just swarm all over you & even try to trade you for some of your stuff.

Oh, I totally would have freaked out if someone tried to lead me down an alley I'll have to remember that if I ever make it to Jamaica!

Hey ME tickets and such came today!! I will pop your tag in the mail!!! So fun to see a tag that says your name (and mine of course!! ) and WILDERNESS LODGE!!!!!! WOOT WOOT!!! We have to coordinate to rendezvous down by the ME desk, I guess!!! LOL!

THREE weeks!!! WOW!!!!!

Woo Hoo!!!!

It seems very weird to think our trip is so close, less than 3 weeks now! It almost doesn't seem real. I know it will seem more so once I get those tags - Mickey Mail always makes a trip feel more real!

How are our MNSSHP costumes coming along? I can't wait to see them!

Yes! Since we arrive within about 15 minutes of each other we'll have to meet up at the ME counter. I get in a little before you, so just text me when you land

 

[SoonerGirl]

I slept like a rock again that night, seriously, the bed was ridiculously comfortable! But I awoke and got right up the next morning because I was very excited about our day at Castaway Cay!

We got ready and met Wigd and crew at Cabana's for breakfast. Sorry, no breakfast pictures, but it was pretty much the same as the day before. I think Jared and Baylor about ate their weight in chocolate Krispy Kremes though.

I distributed everyone's cabana bracelets and then we made our way off the ship. We stopped almost immediately for a photo op

We also saw Daisy and I thought she looked so cute in her beach attire! I would have stopped for a picture, but I couldn't interest my family, so I just snapped this quick pic

And we continued on our way to the tram stop.

I busied myself taking pictures while we waited for the tram

It didn't take long for the tram to arrive and soon we were checking in and getting directions to our cabana. We could either wait for a golf cart to take us, or we could walk. It wasn't far, so we just decided to walk.

We were in Cabana 12, and there was a sign in front welcoming us

A cabana host met us there and gave us a quick tour of the cabana. We had plenty of towels, a few snacks, a bowl of fruit and a fridge stocked with water and soda. I took some pictures right away so that I wouldn't forget later.

Our cabana from the front

Jared found the hammock

Loved these loungers

View of our cabana from the back

Our view

The fridge

The little living area inside

Pictures don't really do the cabana justice, it was really nice!

After we got settled, Don, Justin, Marc & Baylor took off to go try out the slides at Pelican Plunge. Jared surprised me and pulled out the sand toys that were in the cabana. I thought for sure those would be wasted on my big boys, but Jared played with them quite a bit!

Before I sat down, I took a few more pictures

Pelican Plunge off in the distance

This was the family beach at about 10:30 in the morning

And this was the cabana beach area

And it pretty much stayed like that all day - it was AWESOME! So relaxing and peaceful.

While I was taking these pictures, Anita pulled a couple of chairs down to the water for us to sit in.

Continued in the next post

 

[SoonerGirl]

We sat like that for quite awhile, just soaking up the sun, looking for tiny shells and relaxing.

Eventually we decided that we were in desperate need of a Konk Kooler so we got up and walked back to the cabana. We pushed the call button and waited for a host to show up. And we waited. And we waited some more. We saw a couple of hosts walk past our cabana, but they didn't stop. We finally determined that they were either just really busy or that our buzzer didn't work. I needed to use the restroom anyway, so we just decided to go get our drinks ourselves. It wasn't too far of a walk to the Sand Bar anyway. The problem for me was that I also ordered a bucket of 6 beers for Don and carrying that bucket and my drink back to the cabana wasn't exactly easy!

Soon we were back though and I was enjoying my yummy Konk Kooler with this as the backdrop

Can you say paradise?

It was kinda funny though, when we got back from getting our drinks and we walked back down to the beach, we noticed that someone had put their things in the chairs that Anita had brought down to the water, therefore 'claiming' them as their own. We just had to laugh, I mean, seriously, you saw how 'crowded' our beach was, there were plenty of chairs to be had, but I guess it was too much work for someone to pull a couple of chairs down themselves, so they took ours. We didn't let it bother us though, just grabbed a couple more chairs for us to use.

Don helped Jared make a Mickey head in the sand

I'll say that again, DON (aka, The Disney Grump) helped Jared make a MICKEY head in the sand!!

The boys played a little bit of volleyball, but got bored quickly with just the two of them

At this point my crew decided that we would go pick up the snorkeling gear that came with our cabana rental and try a bit of snorkeling. I've only attempted it once, and didn't do very well with it, so I had never tried again. The boys were both very excited to try though and they wanted me to come too, so I did.

Like I said before, I'm a true novice when it comes to snorkeling and I tried to take pictures and snorkel at the same time, but it wasn't working. So, I gave the camera to Don - I think he's as bad at taking pictures as I am at snorkeling Here's a bit of his 'work'

We all actually really had fun snorkeling! I kept trying to find Mickey and Minnie, but never saw either one. At some point when we all came up for air I asked Don what time it was and he said it was getting late and if we wanted to eat lunch we better get back to shore because Cookies was only open for about another 45 minutes. We looked towards shore and couldn't believe how far out we had traveled - it was a workout getting back!

Continued in the next post

 

[SoonerGirl]

We turned in our gear and made our way over to Cookies Two, we were sidetracked though by a couple of characters - only the second, and last, character pic of the trip......

After our meet we grabbed something to eat. I don't remember what we all ate and I didn't take any pictures. Our meal was fine though, nothing great, but nothing bad either. After we finished eating, we got some ice cream and headed back towards the cabana. I still wanted to do a bit of shopping and Anita agreed to go with me. I did a lot of looking, but not much buying. Here's what I ended up with:

This great beach towel - I really love this, and it's so fun that it's shaped like a surfboard!

And a couple of pins

Mount Rustmore was right there, so I had to grab a picture

Then we headed back to our cabana for the last time. We hung out a bit longer, just enjoying the beautiful day in the beautiful location.

At around 3:30 we decided to start strolling back towards the ship. The island was pretty dead at this point as most people had already called it a day. We took our time and snapped some photos on the way back

And that ended our day at Castaway Cay. I now desperately want to take a double dip cruise, because this place is heaven on earth!

 

[MEK]

Michelle - please don't hate me for interrupting your posts (if I do), but this was too much fun to read and I have to go upstairs and practice music now.

I did vote for meMom - I hope she's back in the lead. Go meMom!

I think this is the first time I've seen the cabanas and that truly looks like the way to go, but why no service?

Are you going on the cruise again this summer with Anita and Jen. I really wanted to go but adding on those DVC points used up my cruise money.

That's OK - I'll get there and when I do I want a cabana!

The snorkeling looks like so much fun. Nice underwater pictures from the Disney grump. Nice Mickey too!