Disney's Magic Fulfilled Its Promise – a report of a wonderful journey *UPDATE* 1/10

[purplepeg]

great report. Keep it coming

 

[CruisinEars]

subbing too. I read Craftymouse's report last night so I was glad when I saw yours. We get 2 perspectives of the same cruise. Fun!! We are taking our 1st cruise in May so I love reading tr's from newbies.

 

[tksbaskets]

I'm enjoying your trip report! Your sons looked great on formal night

 

[Gerweniel]

Greetings and thanks for hanging on this long, drawn out journey. Having reread the trip report thus far, I’d like to clarify a few things that I’ve sort of neglected. Firstly, we saw every show and I’m sure you’ve read in other reports how wonderful they are – well, the reports are true! A small private joy I had was sitting with my sons and secretly watching them with sparkly eyes laughing out loud. This happened often. Disney never fails to justify the expense by creating moments like that and I’ll truly remember them always. The Walt Disney Theater rivals or exceeds the Broadway theaters I’ve been to. Every moment spent there was magical.

Secondly, the ship offers a plethora of activities and I had planned on doing many of them. The reality for me was I needed and enjoyed a lot of quiet time on this trip. I never made it past 11:00 PM and never sampled the nightlife, but I don’t feel slighted at all. The early mornings on the Magic and the down time were rejuvenating for me. Other single parents may be relieved to know that the Magic has special meets for them almost every day!

Last of all, our servers (Joyce and Bomin) and Room Hostess (Rosa) were excellent. Wait a minute. I must elaborate. EVERY CM I met on the ship was excellent (except perhaps for the head waiter – a guy who became a running joke for our table because he had a big belly that was about eye level to me and kind of spittled on me when he talked with his Italian accent) – again I have not elaborated on them too much as I am guilty of rambling in my writing. The way the barkeeps and servers remember your name and favorite libations is very mysterious. You know I almost felt guilty at how good they treated us. I would have tipped them 100% if I could have afforded it.

Ok. See I’ve gone off on a tangent again. I think we left off after leaving Cozumel and the boys not wanting any authentic Mexican food. At the pier, there were these traditional Mayan dressed folks that looked like guys out of Apocolypto (one of my favorite movies – rent it!) I wanted a picture of the boys with them, but they adamantly refused.

OH – that reminds me of one more clarification….. Shutters and pictures.
My sons were 14 and 13 at the time of the trip and they pose just fine with the characters at character meals at WDW, but they just would not stop and pose with them on the ship. Also, as incredible as some of the pictures are, I did not budget properly for shipboard photos. If your finances are tight, squirrel away some extra cash for those Shutters pics!

We returned to the ship without pics from the Mayan guys and I reminded the boys that Enchanted was playing and we were going together to watch it. We arrived at the screening early and they were handing out some commemorative buttons! The movie was fun, had catchy music and was plain “enchanting”. We loved it.

Tonight was Pirate Night and this was another event that I had planned on for months. Our costumes however were less than memorable and consisted of pirate tee shirts and a few hats. Unfortunately our table mates were not there and I was hoping that they were ok.

We enjoyed the food and frolicking but about midway through the festivities I started feeling a bit odd. By the time we returned to our cabin I was downright not feeling well. It was not a flu-like sick, but a way-too-much-rich-food sick. I took a few Rolaids, but it was a Zantac moment and of course I had none. Now, you have to understand that I packed every DIS recommended OTC remedy, cure, preventive, anti, bio…etc…. I had a “cruise condiment staging area” at home. I could have dressed a puncture wound, treated jungle fever and prevented malaria with all the stuff I had, but I didn’t have a super antacid.
I blame it on the Gin and Tonic I had delivered to me by a handsome young man at the Walt Disney Theater.

Whatever the reason, while I was laying on the bed in the stateroom on Pirates night, I had the realization that I was not going to see the fireworks or Jack Sparrow. I was pissed.
The boys left.
I missed Pirates Night.

The next day was a sea day and I didn’t want to think about the night before because I had watched the bloody thing on YouTube and missed it in real life. I was not feeling 100 percent, but got up early and retreated with my book to Deck 10. I told the boys to meet me when they got up for a late breakfast and we’d go to Topsiders.

The Wandering Omelet Incident

This was the only time I had a problem aboard the ship. We went to Topsiders at the time everyone on the ship decided to go. There was not a seat to be had. Of course, I wanted to try my first omelet of the trip and went to the omelet station. The guy was sweet enough and took my order and gave me a number. He asked if we are inside or outside. I told him outside even though we did not have a table yet…….we never found a seat outside, we watched for our server but I never got my omelet. J

The rest of the day I spent in the SUN, SUN, SUN, SUN. I was to meet my son in the cabin at 2:00pm but I missed it due to falling asleep in the SUN, SUN, SUN, SUN. By the time I woke up I was a particularly violent shade of RED, I felt like I had a temperature and was nauseous. Delightful. I went to Disney Dreams, but had to leave early. I was fried.

I was in no shape to eat at Lumieres and the boys didn’t want to eat there without me, so I sent them to tell Joyce and Bomin that I was sun sick. The had a blast eating at Plutos and went to their clubs. I went to sleep.

Now, I am going to interject a bit about my boys. They are not outgoing. They had concerns about the clubs, the CMs and the kids. They didn’t like the idea of dances, organized activities etc…….Well, Disney has created 2 boys that will accept nothing else than Disney Magic. They loved everything…….All the CMs, the activities and get this…. The night I was sick, my older son got back into his tuxedo by himself and went to a formal….OMG!! He actually hung it back up when he returned. I think he may have been possessed.

Next a rainy Castaway Cay and the guy with the turtle.

 

[tksbaskets]

We enjoyed the food and frolicking but about midway through the festivities I started feeling a bit odd. By the time we returned to our cabin I was downright not feeling well. It was not a flu-like sick, but a way-too-much-rich-food sick. I took a few Rolaids, but it was a Zantac moment and of course I had none. Now, you have to understand that I packed every DIS recommended OTC remedy, cure, preventive, anti, bio…etc…. I had a “cruise condiment staging area” at home. I could have dressed a puncture wound, treated jungle fever and prevented malaria with all the stuff I had, but I didn’t have a super antacid.
I blame it on the Gin and Tonic I had delivered to me by a handsome young man at the Walt Disney Theater.

Whatever the reason, while I was laying on the bed in the stateroom on Pirates night, I had the realization that I was not going to see the fireworks or Jack Sparrow. I was pissed.
The boys left.
I missed Pirates Night.

Oh I feel for you. On our 10-day Christmas Cruise DH was similarly afflicted and he missed pirate night too. It's four years later and he still talks about missing the festivities. He LOVES smoked turkey legs and that was the only opportunity the entire cruise...I'll remember to pack the Prilosec for our June cruise

Now, I am going to interject a bit about my boys. They are not outgoing. They had concerns about the clubs, the CMs and the kids. They didn’t like the idea of dances, organized activities etc…….Well, Disney has created 2 boys that will accept nothing else than Disney Magic. They loved everything…….All the CMs, the activities and get this…. The night I was sick, my older son got back into his tuxedo by himself and went to a formal….OMG!! He actually hung it back up when he returned. I think he may have been possessed.

ROTFL! I about spit my pop out when I read this! Having teenaged boys myself I would have wondered what pixie dust was a work too. I'm glad your boys liked their clubs. Disney Quest seems to be a great addition for the tweens.

Waiting for more.....

 

[Hypermommy]

Now, you have to understand that I packed every DIS recommended OTC remedy, cure, preventive, anti, bio…etc…. I had a “cruise condiment staging area” at home. I could have dressed a puncture wound, treated jungle fever and prevented malaria with all the stuff I had, but I didn’t have a super antacid.

So sorry to hear about this.... what a bummer!

Is there a thread that talks about the medicines that one should take on a cruise? Like a shopping list kind of thing?

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Sorry to hear you got sick!

 

[Gerweniel]

What strange phenomenon causes vacation days to speed by and work days to crawl along at a snail’s pace? I was pondering this as I woke up on our last morning – several miles away from Castaway Cay. This was a day that the three of us were looking forward to. The boys had a half day teen only excursion “The Wild Side” from 9-1 and I was planning on going to Serenity Bay in the morning and meeting up with the boys in the afternoon for banana boat rides and the search for Captain Mickey under the waves.

As we approached Castaway Cay, I could tell the weather was quite unsettled. The deck was soaked and there was a stiff breeze with dark rain clouds blowing all over, but the sun would peek through occasionally. The boys having spent a late night “out on the town” were reluctant to get up, but they had to be out by 8:45. We had a quick Topsiders breakfast (sans omelet) and there was a steady, persistent drizzle as I shooed them off the ship.

I was in no hurry to leave the ship in the rain, but I bumped into CraftyMouse’s friend Pam who told me the crew were handing out nice Mickey Mouse ponchos for all the passengers so, I took that as my queue to leave. As I walked down the gangway and took my poncho it was steadily drizzling, but warm and the sun was becoming more persistent. I walked to the post office to get stamps and mail the postcards I’d written and by the time I left there, it was clearing up just fine.

The island is so clean, so pretty and so organized it is very impressive. It was becoming a perfect day. I took the 2 trams over to Serenity Bay and snagged a comfy lounger. After awhile, the folks next to me started to make a bit of a commotion and I heard the gentleman exclaim “oh look at the baby turtle!” I was totally intrigued and opened my eyes to look at the little critter and when I saw what he was pointing at, I almost laughed out loud. It was a fiddler crab. LOL!

The water was very shallow at Serenity Bay but there were many folks snorkeling and from the shrieks of a few ladies, I heard there were small sting rays and other fish in the area. Time speeded up again and before I knew it, it was noon so I got a quick bite and some ice cream and made my way back to the family beach to get a spot for the 3 of us.

I knew from reading trip reports that the snorkeling area would be murky at the time I was entering the water, but determined to find that Mickey I went in anyway. After about a half hour of nothing, I found him and I could head back to meet up with Ian and Devin. By that time, they had finished their excursion and had eaten lunch. Devin exclaimed “I had 6 ice creams today!” Yikes.

We headed over to the boat beach for our banana boat rides. I spoke with the check in lady and because of a neck problem I couldn’t ride, but she offered the boys a second ride in lieu of mine. They were happy, I was disappointed but I didn’t want to hurt my neck further. (I had found out 2 weeks before the cruise I have 2 herniated discs).

After their rides, they dried off and as shadows lengthened we reluctantly dragged our feet back to the ship. While in the cabin we watched Brent several times on the TV giving his disembarkation spiel. I had started packing earlier and we had everything organized (I mean rolled up and squashed into the suitcases) in no time. Ian and Devin had plans at the clubs so they left again.

I went to use the internet to print our return flight boarding passes and on the way there I was accosted by a CM selling pins.  Another guest was there and told me to check out the limited edition Enchanted pin which I purchased along with a Steamboat Willie for Ian and a DCL Mickey pin for Dev. We all met up again for the last dinner aboard and we were happy to see our tablemates. I had gone to Guest Services on Wednesday evening to get our tip envelopes and was all prepared. Goodbyes on the ship were very hard, but I knew we’d see them all in the morning. The boys and I took our last jaunt around deck 4 and they of course wanted to return to the clubs for their goodbyes. I had full intention to go to one of the adult venues, but it was so nice to sit up on deck, I lingered there until I went to bed, giving our Room Stewardess Rosa a big hug before entering the cabin.

The next morning we all woke up and dejectedly made our way to breakfast and then to disembark. I had tears welled up in my eyes most of the time. I would have liked to have lingered on the ship longer as our flight was not until 2pm, but there was so much activity and I knew the CM’s really needed us to leave to prepare the ship for the …ehem…next set of cruisers.

Waiting for customs clearance was a pain but we found our bags in the Daisy Gray section and made our way through in about 30 minutes. Remember that bus I was so excited about riding on? Well, I was not excited to ride it for the return trip to the airport.

We arrived at MCO without incident but check in line for AirTran was out of control and security was even longer. The three of us were pissy and tired. Our flight was on time and upon touch down in Newburgh there was snow on the ground, gray from dirt and cars and matching our mood. After dumping our luggage into the living room we drove to town for a pizza and finally the words started to flow about the wonderful adventure we had on this magical trip to Walt Disney World and the outstanding Disney Magic.

It’s now more than a month since our return. The holidays are over and the new year is 10 days old. The 3 of us are back in our routines of work, school, chores, homework. Castaway Cay seems a million light years away, but every morning I shower and write a single word in the steam of the bathroom mirror for the boys to see. The word is “soon”.

I write it to remind them and myself that someday soon we’ll start planning, book and counting down to our next magical Disney adventure.

….but with Disney it is never too soon.

Thanks for reading. Be well and have a wonderful vacation whenever it may be.

 

[CraftyMouse]

Castaway Cay seems a million light years away, but every morning I shower and write a single word in the steam of the bathroom mirror for the boys to see. The word is “soon”.

I write it to remind them and myself that someday soon we’ll start planning, book and counting down to our next magical Disney adventure.

….but with Disney it is never too soon.

Thanks for reading. Be well and have a wonderful vacation whenever it may be.
[/FONT]

...sniffle...

soon

It's a great word, isn't it.

I loved reading your report. Maybe someday we'll get to cruise together again. Someday soon I hope.

 

[Gerweniel]

...sniffle...

soon

It's a great word, isn't it.

I loved reading your report. Maybe someday we'll get to cruise together again. Someday soon I hope.

The boys and I would love it! I'll be sure to follow you to Bingo

 

[CraftyMouse]

The boys and I would love it! I'll be sure to follow you to Bingo

As would we. And as for Bingo, I'll even rub your card if you'd like!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

I really enjoyed your TR!

 

[purplepeg]

That was a great trip report I, too, will be tearful on our last day. We cruise Jan 26 and I had been reading the daily navigators for our itinerary and I was tearful reading the last day activities and I'm not even on board yet I love that "soon". It keeps it alive for you doesn't it?

 

[Hypermommy]

What an excellent trip report!!!! I was even sad at the end. I can sure understand what you mean. But remember... soon is a fantastic word!

Thanks for taking me along virtually. I really feel better about my first cruise coming up in 99 days.

 

[LITTLEKID58]

Txs so much for sharing it was awesome

 

[Gerweniel]

Thanks for the nice words! I've enjoyed sharing our trip with you.

I thought I'd share this little tidbit; Last week on a bleak, chilly evening after work, I grabbed my mail from the mail box and threw it in my tote bag. Struggling with groceries, the tote bag and a grumpy demeanor I climbed up the stairs, opened the door and plopped everything on a table. As I absentmindedly looked sorted through bills and junk mail a card slipped out from under the pile and I saw this picture. Now, how did they know we were missing them????

It was just the pick me up I needed.
I thought it might have been the ever-ellusive pin code, but, it was for DVC.
Nevertheless, it is a great marketing tool.

 

[RLccweems]

I so love your trip report....and the pics that you included.

lettie

 

[Txesquire]

Thanks so much for the great report.

We sail for 7 nights on the Magic over spring Break 15-22 March 2008.

 

[naner]

I just read your TR - wonderful job you did with that!! Makes me want to go back soon!

 

[solgent]

Thanks for a great report! We are going on our 1st cruise (3 night) in August. My 13 yo twin DDs are eagerly anticipating the teen-only area! I am fairly certain we'll enjoy it, thus I have just requested a quote for a 7 night Western in August 2009 and your TR was of special interest to me.