Cruising for Practically Free…Yep..I said Free!

[jenseib]

We then connected with J’s family and headed to the boat launch so we could head over to Disney Springs for a while.


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And off we go!!!!


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We arrived and got off the boat. J’s girls came across the water fountain and played….As in who can make it through without getting wet.


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They would watch it and time it to walk through and did pretty good.


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And then after the big kids had their fun we moved on. Hahaha.


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We shopped around and spent a lot of time in Basin where the kids all washed their hands with the scrubs and we ended up buying some bath bombs. They had a little tube you could fill with 5 or 6 small balls….and you could pick which smells you wanted. Claire and I both got one of those tubes. I really like the smaller ones over the big ones anyways.


Believe it or not…we were hungry now and looking for lunch options.


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There are so many new options now at Disney Springs that it makes it overwhelming. And then no one wanted to be the one to commit to anything. J suggested a few and I didn’t care. Claire is picky, but I figured if she didn’t like something, we would get her something somewhere else later. Well Mom eats so little that when she is hungry she gets really HANGRY and she was done with all of us hem hawing and said the Polite Pig would work and went in and ordered! LOL.


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The food was AWESOME!!!!


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My Mom is famous for only eating half of what she orders…if that….and she ate every bite she ordered. Though Claire did share fries with us.


Next it was time for dessert! J’s favorite cupcake place.



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They were good, but I still think Be Our Guest Cupcakes are better. Mom and Chloe were hot so they left to go back to the resort. Mom went swimming I think and Chloe just rested and cooled off.


We shopped around but I didn’t take pictures. It was so hot, so it was just nice walking into stores to try and cool off a little bit. Finally we were all too tired and hot to do anymore as well and we got on the boat back to the resort.


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We split off and headed our own ways.


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Claire was still hungry as she didn’t get her own food at Disney Springs, so I took her to the food court to get a pizza.


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[tammy]

We loved Polite Pig and Sprinkles. I haven't had cupcakes from Be Our Guest...something else to add to my ever growing list!

 

[disneycruise100]

Wow... After years of reading your TR... We were finally on the same cruise! Wish I got to meet you!

 

[jenseib]

We loved Polite Pig and Sprinkles. I haven't had cupcakes from Be Our Guest...something else to add to my ever growing list!

The Polite Pig was really good. I am sometimes shy about trying different places and if Mom had not said we are going here, I might never have gone. My list is always growing too...but I also like to go to my favorites so it's hard to add more.

Wow... After years of reading your TR... We were finally on the same cruise! Wish I got to meet you!

OMG! No way! did you look to see if you were in the background in my pics? LOL

 

[jenseib]

It seemed to take forever to get our food and I was tired and hot….which is probably why it seemed to take so long.


I just snapped pictures as we waited.


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Finally we got it and headed back towards the room.


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Claire ate her food and Mom chattered and I went for a nap….except Mom kept talking to me. Finally I had to tell her not to talk to me anymore as it was hard to sleep when someone was asking me questions. Hahahaa..


I needed that nap and it was great! I think Claire ended up taking a little nap too.


After the nap, I went out to the gift shop for something. I can’t remember what now, but while there decided to get a Mickey bar too.


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We decided we wanted to go to the outlet mall and go to the Disney Character store there. I have always wanted to go and we just never found the time. We headed off that way and traffic was crazy, but we made it there. J’s family decided to go too and we saw them a few times there, but we were in and out of different stores. The outlet was fun and I bought a few things, but there wasn’t much that was screaming “buy me!”


We looked around and Mom got to feeling sick, so she sat down in a cooler area. I went and got her a root beer to drink and she felt a bit better then. She said she thinks she got too hot and needed some sugar and liquid to make her feel better. After she rested up a bit, we left. It was crazy busy there as the tour groups were all over there as well.


Back to French Quarter we went.


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J and I had messaged each other, debating on dinner options. We talked about going offsite, but the traffic was so bad we decided against that. Then we thought Disney Springs, but again, we were super tired and getting there didn’t sound so fun…either by driving or by boat.


In the end, we decided the food court was where we would go. It was funny, as when we were planning our trip the 2 weeks prior to going, we had all these thoughts of things to do this evening. One being the water park party. Another Hoop Dee Doo. But we decided to save money and just play it by ear. I am so glad we did as we were all so tired. I tend to forget how the heat can beat you down fast.


Claire went with a pizza again.


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I went with noodles with chicken and alfredo.


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I also bought some beignets to share. I think Claire was the only one who really ate a whole one and we had several left, which she worked on over the next few days.


We sat and talked and had a fun dinner. We were all tired and tomorrow was going to be a busy day…and a big one for Kelsey, though she didn’t know it yet.


We went back to our rooms and then J said Kelsey lost her phone and did we see it. Nope! But Claire and I went back to the food court and dialed her number to see if it rang…and walked by the trash cans. I even asked a CM if they could listen where they store their garbage for a ring….and right then J said Kelsey found it. In a bush near their room. Hahaha. I think her and Bella had been horsing around and it must have fallen in the bush then.


We relaxed the rest of the evening and got a good night’s sleep. We had one more full day left and we were excited to see how it went.

 

[jenseib]

July 15, 2018, Sunday


We got up and ready and had beignets for breakfast! J was messaging me updates on what we needed to do. Kelsey was out jogging and she was worried she wouldn’t take a shower after. LOL. Kelsey did though…Yay! Then J said…OMG she’s wearing ratty jean shorts. Hahaha. Well we can’t push too hard or we would ruin the surprise.


The plan was to arrive at Magic Kingdom at opening and to avoid being seen by Josh and J’s friend T who Josh was staying with that night. I think he came in at like 3 AM.


Claire, who is not a morning person, was up and ready. She was so excited to see a proposal.

We took a walk and took some pictures. Mom was going to stay back and come to the park later.


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J’s family was ready so we headed to the lobby to meet up with them.


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I tried to get a lot of pictures because last time we stayed here it was just for one night and most of the time spent here had been dark….which meant my pics weren’t that great.


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[jenseib]

J’s family arrived and Kelsey looked nice…..even in her ratty shorts. We headed off to the bus stop.


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Once we arrived at MK J was a little nervous as Josh and T had not left yet to come to the MK. We went in on the far left and let them know where we were so they wouldn’t accidently bump into us.


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I was instructed to use my bossy side and start yelling out things I wanted to do. LOL.


First we stopped off to get a disability card. One of the kids has some issues with heat and lines and though not normally uses this card, it was a way to waste some time…and we scored a Mine Train time as well. Can’t beat that!


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Josh still had not arrived yet, so I went into Bossy mode and stated that I wanted to ride my favorite ride first before the lines got long….so we are heading to pirates….then I want to get a picture in front of the castle with all the kids. Poor Kelsey wanted Starbucks to start her day and we kept telling her later…later…we will get there soon. We didn’t want to be in Starbucks and have her accidently spot Josh walking up Main Street. She was polite enough not to grumble too much. Hahaha


So off to Pirates we went.


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I still think they should now say “We wants the Red Hen” at the auction. LOL


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Well that was fun! Kelsey wanted her Starbucks! Ok, let’s walk that way. Shoot! No word from Josh…so we take our time going out of the gift shop and on our way towards main street. Then J got word they were in place and says…Let’s get those castle pics before going to Starbucks. We want to do it before it gets busy.


So we headed that way and walk to the hub.


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And Josh came up behind Kelsey and she was excited to see him and so surprised! She knew he had big tests going on and was shocked he was there…..and then he went down on his knee.


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T had set up 2 photopass photographers to snap pics…and we all were snapping away too.


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And she said YES! The photographers took lots of pictures for them.


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And some with us too.


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And we walked to a few other spots for pictures as well.


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I spotted one of those fancy carriage strollers.


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After all the pictures were done we decided to head to the Mine Train. We were hungry, so while walking over we looked on the app for somewhere to eat. Kelsey stopped at Be Our Guest to see if they could get us in, but unfortunately no. We decided on Crystal Palace. I texted Mom and told her if she wanted to eat with us, she better be on her way and she was.


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We had a blast! While in line I told Bella and Chloe that now their future boyfriends would really have to step it up when they proposed. Hahaha. Chloe said she wasn’t going to get married. Hahaha.


Off to Crystal Palace.


We checked in, but Mom hadn’t arrived yet. She said she waited forever for the bus today…of course. She kept us posted and soon was walking up main street and then once she arrived they seated us.


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It was so hot out and it felt good to sit down and cool off.


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Breakfast was being served, but before we left they brought out the lunch offerings as well. Unfortunately I was so full that I couldn’t enjoy those offerings so much.


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[rndmr2]

Nice update! Nice pics around the resort, I have fond memories of staying there with my family years ago.

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There used to be the base of a cymbal on the top of that drum. I think they removed it because too many people were having their kids sit on it for pics (we did, LOL)

I think I have said before, my sister fell in this fountain taking a picture of us under the decoration over the door. She was a good sport and we got a lot of laughs out if it.

So sweet!!

 

[lorimay]

How sweet!!!

 

[jenseib]

Nice update! Nice pics around the resort, I have fond memories of staying there with my family years ago.

I do love this resort

There used to be the base of a cymbal on the top of that drum. I think they removed it because too many people were having their kids sit on it for pics (we did, LOL)

That's funny

I think I have said before, my sister fell in this fountain taking a picture of us under the decoration over the door. She was a good sport and we got a lot of laughs out if it.

LOL!!!!

So sweet!!

It was so nice and we loved being part of it.

How sweet!!!

Yes...it was such a fun thing to watch!

 

[jenseib]

The characters made the rounds.


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Actually I think they came around a couple of times as the place was pretty empty.


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Round 2.


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Claire was too cool for characters. We definitely had our fill here and it was good. Mom insisted on paying for Claire and I. Again, I told her no need as it was not even planned but a last minute meal, but she insisted.


The kids had a Space Mountain Fastpass, so they headed that way and the adults went into a gift shop to keep cool. T is getting married and was talking about that…but after a bit, my back was hurting, so I went outside to sit for a bit.


I saw these strange characters walking around…..I have no clue who they are or why they were there.


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There were at least 3 or 4 dressed up in these odd costumes.


I saw the Incredibles having a dance party too.


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Once the kids came back we headed off to the People Mover.


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We spotted more costumed people.


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We decided to shop a bit on Main Street as we worked our way to the front. Sadly, Josh was going to have to leave soon.


Mom headed back to the hotel as she wanted to swim. A few minutes later Chloe decided to leave too. I texted Mom to let her know to look out for Chloe but no reply. I gave Chloe her number and off she went. I found out later that Mom decided to ride the train around the park before leaving, so Chloe actually got back to French Quarter before Mom.


T invited us all over to Bay Lake to look at her room, which was a 3 bedroom, so we walked over there.


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Picture from the hall.


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She had cakes and snacks and served us some. Since it wasn’t someone I knew I didn’t take pictures, but it was a huge 2 story room. Super cool. I did take some view pics though.


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After a bit though, I had to go the bathroom and I felt funny about asking to use theirs, so Claire and I said we were heading back to the park. T is J’s friend and I didn’t want to intrude for too long.


We used the bathroom in the lobby and walked back over the MK.


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[lilsonicfan]

was waiting for the proposal, so exciting! they look happy

 

[bcwife76]

Oh wow, isn't that just the sweetest!!! Congratulations to them - you pulled it off nicely

 

[tammy]

Beautiful!

 

[jenseib]

was waiting for the proposal, so exciting! they look happy

She was so excited!

Oh wow, isn't that just the sweetest!!! Congratulations to them - you pulled it off nicely

It was! She was so surprised.

Beautiful!

 

[jenseib]

We saw the parade was getting ready so we found a spot and sat down. About 5 minutes later a CM came over and asked for our ticket…except I couldn’t understand what she was saying. Someone nearby said I needed a ticket. Oh, gosh…no sorry, we don’t have one. And we moved on to another spot. It was odd. I don’t know of an area with a physical ticket needed…then I thought about it and maybe it was a lunch/parade combo. Either way…the CM obviously wasn’t doing a good job since we sat there for at least 5 minutes before she asked us for one.


And I will warn you now…I took a lot of pics.


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[jenseib]

More parade….


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And as you all know…the Dragon blew up earlier this year…so we had a substitute float.


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Which was nice to finally include Sleeping Beauty in this parade.


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[jenseib]

And more parade….


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We were glad we had arrived in time to see the parade. We do love this parade.


And a walk down Main Street.


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I think Claire may have gotten a pretzel at some point for a snack.


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I believe we rode Splash Mountain, which had a fairly long wait and then headed to Haunted Mansion and then met up with J’s family….who were talking about dinner options. Kelsey was looking on the app and found a few with Whispering Canyon Café sounding pretty good to most of us. We texted Mom and Chloe and told them to taxi over to Wilderness Lodge and we would meet them over there and then we headed to the front of the park.

 

[Timon]

Great photos as usual Jen!

How awesome that you got to witness the proposal

Loved the selfie with Tigger LOL

We wants the red hen!! Best line evah

 

[jenseib]

Great photos as usual Jen!

How awesome that you got to witness the proposal

Loved the selfie with Tigger LOL

We wants the red hen!! Best line evah

It really was a lot of fun to witness the proposal. Claire was so excited to see it.

I wish they kept the red head as is/was...but they could have at least made it similar.