Excuse me, you'll need to see security. What has Mickeystoontown done? Update 3/25x2

[Bridora]

We may be headed to Arkansas in a few weeks. I think we're going to Hot Springs the weekend of August 10th.

Fun! We haven't been down that way in several years now, but have been talking about taking the kids to Magic Springs sometime before school starts back.

Sounds like you had busy weekend!

 

[jcchicago]

Subbing!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Subbing!

Welcome aboard! I hope you enjoy!

Fun! We haven't been down that way in several years now, but have been talking about taking the kids to Magic Springs sometime before school starts back.

Sounds like you had busy weekend!

We try to get to Hot Springs at least once a year. I love camping at Lake Ouachita but it's too hot to camp so we'll stay somewhere downtown.

Magic Springs has some great concerts going on this Summer.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Just an FYI; there are other cruise lines besides Disney. They're much cheaper and just as much or more fun. YMMV.

If I'm ever going to get John back on a cruise, I'm sure the only way he'd do it would be a Disney cruise. I may check out the competitor's prices though.

You McBride's are such busy little beavers! Cleaning, canning, selling....you go girl!

So excited to hear that you are considering another cruise! Jeff and I so enjoyed ours and can't wait to take another. Looking forward to hearing the good, bad, and the ugly of your experience though!

Busy beavers! We certainly are!

We are thinking about it. I priced out the Alaska cruise and would go next year if Mama would completely commit to going. But, with her having to have eye surgery in three or four months, she won't commit to anything. And, I'm sure not going to Alaska without her. That's her lifelong dream.

Looking at your sail away party update, boy am I itching for a cruise!!

I think all the plexi glass helps with that afraid of heights feeling. Grumpy is afraid of heights too and he's always been fine on the cruise ship.

I hope you can work on your boss and convince him that 2 weeks off is a good idea!

I think talking about the cruise and seeing the pictures have made us forget the "bad and the ugly".

I couldn't believe that I did so well with my heights "issues".

Sent you a PM! Thanks for sharing, I love me some tasty shrimp....

I'll check my messages.

All caught up!!

I'm loving all your pictures on the ship! Your cabin was very cute!! Sorry about the smell though...

The sail away party looks like fun! But..wow look at those crowds!!

Congrats on booking next year's trip!!

I was very surprised at the size of the cabin. I think the size of the porthole made it appear much larger than it was.

The crowds were a bit bad around the pools and during the parties but we dealt with it okay.

TinksThree- which ruin did you climb?

We did Coba in February 2011 and that was pretty intense. Heights don't normally bother me but being at the top of the pyramid freaked me out!

Sorry for the hijack, Lisa!

No need to apologize! I remember you being freaked out on top of that pyramid.

They are on facebook

I would love to see the new living room where did you find the pictures. I must have missed them:-(

I need to put them here so all can see. I'm pretty proud of the new room.

Great Update!! Yay for booking your 2013 trip. We are still trying to decide what resort we want to stay in. We are torn between CBR and POP. Hopefully we will decide soon. I am so ready to start planning.

I'm excited to have our 2013 trip planned. I always waiver on whether or not to chose another resort or just go with what we know we like. I hope you can decide soon so you can get the planning rolling.

Your not alone on being afraid of heights. The tower of terror about done me in ! Wow looks like there are a lot of people on that ship !

Heights are one of my biggest fears! I get all wobbly feeling and my head gets swimmy.

for new furniture! I sure could use some but I'm afraid to buy new stuff with my cats

I hope mama doesn't have to have eye surgery and can come with you! Your sister too!

I know you say you are not cruise people but its exciting reading about your cruise and seeing all the pictures. I would love to be able to take River on one. Of course it would have to be a Disney one!

If our cat Tiana was still around, we'd not have gotten new furniture either. Cats can ruin the back of a couch in no time at all.

Mama is going to have to have eye surgery. We just aren't sure when yet. The surgeon is booked up for at least three months so we don't know when they will schedule it for.

Read my latest update for an update on our "we aren't cruising people".

I remember the muster drill on our cruise...I understand why they do it but it was brutal!! Difference in ours was we were heading out of New Orleans in February and a massive cold front had come through so it was 42 degrees on the Mississippi River!! I was so ready to get back indoors where it was toasty warm!!

The Sail Away party looks like so much fun but i know Keith would take one look at that crowd and tell me he'd see me in the room!!

I understand the fear of heights issue! I was fine on our cruise but on land at the top of a Mayan Ruin was a different story entirely!

Oh gosh! I don't know which would be worse...a muster drill in the cold or in the heat.

John wasn't too keen on the crowds and handled them better than I thought he wold.

I was okay with the heights as long as we were outside on the cruise but when I looked down at the atrium, I felt that weird feeling again. I guess I thought falling to my death outside would be lots better than falling to my death on the inside.

I`ve been away for a bit but I`m glad to see I havn`t missed too much I hope to find time to do my own update tomorrow but tonight is for catching up on other TR`s first.

I totally would have been lost on that big ship too!! DH would have totally known where he was tho so as long as I had him with me I`d be ok. LOL. I`m sure that by the end of the trip you were a complete PRO at knowing what was there.

I would have been a bit bothered by the drill thing and the party I think. I can`t STAND crowds like that!! Not to mention SWEATY crowds!! I guess I`d deal with it to enjoy a lovely cruise tho. haha

Glad to see you again! I got so turned around on the ship and was lost half the time.

Being smooshed into that small space for the muster drill wasn't my idea of a good time, that's for darn sure.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Muster Drill, I just see"in my head" people smushed together, hoping the person stuck to them don't smell!

You better believe I'd be paying close attention though, I'm just a bit scared of drowning, so this is good info!


The sailaway party looks fun, I think I'd want to be up on a balcony vs the stage area, better view of it all.

I hope that nobody gets offended by what I am about to say because I don't mean to....

There was a family next to us that was of obvious Indian decent and they did have a slight odor to them. We have friends who are Indian and they always smell like the spices she cooks with and sometimes they are strong!

Oh yeah, being up on the top deck was lots better than being down there with the other people. It was packed down there!

Thanks for reminding me to go and look at your new living room! I had saw that you had posted the pictures, but didn't have the time to look at it- looks great!!!

Muster drill sounds like… well… let's just leave it at NOT FUN. Helps confirm that we won't be doing a cruise anytime soon- not until my girls can stay close and quiet… which may be a while!

I love my new living room!

There were two little girls beside us who were 6 and 7 and their Mama said this was their 5th cruise and they hated the muster drill every time. It is pretty boring.

Wow this new disboards app has me discombobulated. Anyway I found your trip report and love it so far! I finally had to say something when you mentioned EOS vs WPE. We LOVE WPE and eat there every trip we make it to DD. I know we need to try EOS but we love pizzas and my DD is kind of a high maintenance pizza eater - she wants Alfredo or olive oil/garlic with cheese. And I love gourmet pizzas so this place is PERFECT for us. Well, after I put in my 2 cents I'm ready to eat back to reading the rest of your TR.

Welcome! I'm glad to have you along! We were super happy that we tried Wolfgang Puck's and have already said that we are going back in 2013!

We were really lucky because we were in Evolutions for out Muster Drill, so we found a table and sat down....but I was so tired I had to work at staying awake. It's not my favorite activity, but after seeing some cruise tragedies this year, I do know it's important.

I can't wait for the sail away party this year. Last year it poured the day we boarded so we got the party insdie in the Atrium. It was crowded, but I still had fun.
I really love cruising though and last year, being on the Dream after so many years since my last cruise of any kind really brought back how much I do love it.

You WERE lucky! We were outside. I hope that ya'll get to have a "real" sail away party next time. I think we are coming around to the whole cruising thing.

Forward - the front obviously
Aft - the rear of the ship
Port - the left side
Starboard - the Right side

Thanks!

 

[MEK]

Woo Hoo for making some extra Disney money! I love that!

I know what you mean about taking two weeks off. It really puts a crimp in the amount of work you have to do when you get back. I do hope you will be able to arrange in 2014.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Woo Hoo for making some extra Disney money! I love that!

I know what you mean about taking two weeks off. It really puts a crimp in the amount of work you have to do when you get back. I do hope you will be able to arrange in 2014.

I love me some Disney money! Lacey was super excited that I sold the Vinylmation for her. I think she pocketed about $57.00 after the ebay and paypal fees.

Come June, 2014, I'll have been at my job for 6 years. I've been in the legal field for 29 years now so I'm not settling for starting from the ground up again. But, I also don't want to put him in a bind either. We'll see what 2014 holds.

 

[eacosper]

We did a 4 day cruise with Disney for part of our honeymoon and had a blast. Everything but the first 24 hours (we were stuck in port for 14 hours because of a really bad storm) was fantastic especially the spa and Castaway Cay. I have done other cruises with other companies and imho Disney is the best bang for your buck. I am really enjoying reading about your adventures and can't wait for more!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Is that a.....? Look over there! Isn't that a sign of good luck?

We found a spot along the deck that wasn’t crowded and waited for the ship to officially set sail. The wind was blowing and the streamers that the castmember had given us for the sail away party were blowing in the breeze. The breeze sure did feel nice after having been in the direct sunshine during the sail away party.

Very soon, we felt the ship shudder and we looked down to see that we were leaving the dock. We had officially set sail! John, Hunter and I stood at the railing looking down at the water and soon we spotted a dolphin! I tried taking a picture but he’d go down and I wouldn’t get the picture. He’s in this next picture but you can barely make him out.

There were several other dolphins swimming around the docks but I was so fascinated with watching them that I didn’t even attempt to take pictures. I told John and Hunter that seeing dolphins as you are cruising is supposed to be a sign of good luck. If that were the case, then we were in for a real treat ‘cause we saw at least a half dozen.

As we passed by Fishlips, we waved like crazy just in case my sister was watching. I had forgotten to give her the website before we left but I did text it to her while we were in the lounge chairs but I wasn’t sure if she had seen it. Better to wave like a crazy fool than not be seen at all.

More pictures as we were leaving Port Canaveral:

I looked around and most of the other people had left the railing and were off to do other things. John and I decided to stay put and take in the scenery. Hunter asked if he could go off to the sports station thing/place and we told him to go ahead.

Right after he left, John said “What’s that? Look over there!". It looked like a manatee but we weren’t sure so we kept watching. It came up again and it was a manatee! How cool! We continued watching the water and we spotted sea turtles, a couple more manatees and lots of sting ray. The sting ray looked huge even from Deck 12. I can only imagine how big they were in “real life”. Well, they were in real life but I think you know what I mean. Seeing the sea life was amazing to John and I. I think that we could have stood there forever just watching for something to appear in the water. Our stomachs, however, were telling us that they were hungry. We decided to find Hunter and then seek out the fast food windows that I had read about.

We found Hunter playing a round of mini-putt with some other guests so we told him to finish up and we’d go find something to hold us over until dinner time. I took these while waiting. It’s the section of the Aqua Duck that stuck out over the side of the ship and over the ocean.

You might be able to spot Hunter in this next pic. He was finishing up a round of mini golf with his newfound friends.

Just about that time, we looked down and saw more sting rays. This time, I tried to take pictures but you really can’t make them out too well. They were a yellowish rusty color. In the pictures, though, they look kinda like floating seaweed or something in the water. Trust me! They were sting rays!

Hunter made his way over and we were off to find some food for our grumbling tummies. I believe this was when I ran into Bridora and her daughter who was getting her hair wrapped. We said a few words and we were off again.

It wasn’t too hard to find and we were soon dining on pizza, paninis and wraps:

We sat down at the very last table and then John and I walked down to the drink station. That’s one complaint I had about the fast food windows...they didn’t serve drinks. But, the drink station was open 24/7 so you can’t really complain too much.

Our view:

We enjoyed the food...even more than we did Cabanas. I really am not sure what we did next besides go to our room to get ready for dinner. I’m thinking we walked around a little bit but I don’t have picture proof so I’m not 100% sure.

**Up next: How the name of this trip report came about! I’m a criminal! I’ve got a record now!

 

[407-W-DISNEY]

Hi Lisa, what a busy weekend you had! I had a fun one shopping for new family room furniture! Your telling us about your new furniture and how it really changed your room and made the house feel new, got me thinking about getting new stuff!! So i dragged my husband out and we picked out a wall-unit and a new couch!!! We have a tax-free day coming up in august, so we wont have to pay sales tax...so that justifies it, right???? Lol
Cant wait to read more..

 

[jenseib]

I love all the sea life you saw...with it reaining when we left and we left late at that...I didn't really get to see us sail away...somethng I hope to remedy next time.

 

[HiHoOffWeGo]

trip report is back - thanks Lisa! This is getting good, isn't it?

 

[Caretames1]

I think that would be so neat to see all the dolphins, stingrays and the matinee! I would have sat and watched them too.

Can't wait to see what a bad woman you are!

 

[francis6306]

One other thing.....for any of you who read my comment about the shrimp at Cabana's being just so-so to us and are wondering what we do to our shrimp in Louisiana, p.m. me your address and I'll send ya'll some Louisiana shrimp boil.

Hmm… I may have to message you, cause you just can't get some of that stuff out here in the midwest!!! I have a can of seasoning that is getting low, we're suppose to go to MS in October, so I'm hoping to restock then!

That panini looks amazing!! And how exciting to see the wildlife up close!!

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

is a sign of good luck when cruising, they also love playing in the bow waves of a ship.

A picture I have of some playing beside us on the Disney Magic in 2008.

 

[eandesmom]

I am SO going to be looking out from the deck as we sail away, camera at the ready! What an amazing amount of sealife! That would have made my day right there, no doubt.

I remember those panini's being quite tasty on the Wonder. Jeff's big gripe was that it was only half a sandwich but I think he just got robbed once as the next time, mine was plenty big!

 

[MEK]

Your sail away sounds lovely. So glad you got to see some many ocean critters. I was kayaking near dolphins in HHI and one actually went right up to one of the kayaks and was coming out of the water. So cool!

Your snacks look yummy! I could go for a piece of that pizza right now. Yum!

Great pictures of the aqua duck!

 

[MEK]

is a sign of good luck when cruising, they also love playing in the bow waves of a ship.

A picture I have of some playing beside us on the Disney Magic in 2008.

This is a cool pic!

 

[MHTeacher]

I would be just like you, Lisa---standing and watching all the dolphins, stingrays, and manatees. All that is just amazing to me.

Lunch/snack looks good and tasty.

Please update tomorrow!!! I don't think I can wait to hear how the title of this report came to be!

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

This is a cool pic!

Thanks