I've been wanting to post a trip report since we got back but it's been one illness after another around here and I just haven't gotten to it. First, let me say thank you to everyone who posts on this board. I learned so much and was very organized going into this trip thanks to all of you.
My husband, who is not a Disney person, took my DD10 and I to a hotel near the Buffalo airport on a Tuesday evening. After a nice dinner at TGI Fridays and a swim in the pool we said our goodbyes and the girls only trip began. We woke to about a foot of snow. Thank goodness we had come up the night before! Our flight contained an entire high school marching band and about 8 other passengers. They were on their way to perform at the Magic Kingdom. Southwest Air was a nonstop flight to Orlando. Next we checked in to the Amerisuites near MCO. We did this so that we would not waste any of our park ticket day traveling. My mother would be meeting us at the Beach Club the next morning.
We spent 3 wonderful days at the Beach Club, where we were able to see all 4 parks in 3 ½ days! By getting to the parks early and using the "Unofficial Guide to Disney" book we were able to plan out exactly what we wanted to see in each park and get it done before the afternoon crowds arrived. The Beach Club (2nd floor) was all brand new and we could even see the high fireworks from Epcot each night from our full balcony!! This became an evening ritual actually, since we were always just about ready for bed by 9:00. Getting up early for the parks wore us out! It was wonderful to watch the fireworks and then crawl into bed. We did AK on Sun. morning and bussed to Port Canaveral from there.
Our dining rotation was PTAP, which made it harder to choose a Palo night. I wanted to skip Parrot Cay, but didn't want to miss the dining room on the first or last night. We ended up skipping Triton's and going there for a couple of breakfasts and lunches to make up for it. Wonderful food was served at each meal by Nick and George.
The sail away party was quite crowded since it was held inside due to rain. We wandered around watched the dolphins from our verandah. Parrot Cay was very noisy the first night. We had put in a very full day by dinner and that made all of the noise a little harder to handle, also the ship's rocking was very noticeable during dinner. Our tablemates were a lovely family from the Denver area. We were all very tired and a little seasick during Hercules and as soon as DD10 said she wanted to leave, we all jumped at the chance to go to bed! Im sure the show would have been more enjoyable if we hadnt been so tired.
Day 2 we went into Nassau for about an hour or two and did some shopping. Then back to the ship to enjoy the less crowded pools. My mother was glued to the TV that day. This is when the New York City area got a terrible snowstorm. She was worried about her house. We didnt discover our card to request ice service until now. It got buried under navigators and other papers on the first day. We filled it out and enjoyed 2 buckets of ice each day.
My mother and I were going to eat at Palo, so DD went to dinner with the Oceaner's Lab. She wasn't very impressed and said the girls her age were too hyper. She opted to stay in the cabin under strict orders not to leave or open the door to anyone while we had our dinner. She had been wandering around by herself with the 2-way radio earlier in the day and thought she should still be allowed to do this, but I didn't want to have to worry during our nice dinner. While dining at Palo we had a breathtaking view of the full moon rising directly above the hotel Atlantis. It was gorgeous!! After a wonderful dinner, we sprang DD from the room and enjoyed the comedy show.
Day 3 we were very excited that our bodies finally let us get off our early rising schedule and sleep in a bit! We watched them unload items from the ship to prepare for our day at CC. Castaway Cay is everything it has been described to be. We had an excellent time and when some clouds started to roll in after lunch I decided to try to make the 2:30 showing of "Chicago". I loved the movie but froze the whole time. Going from the hot beach to the air conditioned theater.....brrrrrrrr.
As we pulled away from CC I was on the verandah waving back to the Mickey gloved cast members as they yelled, "Thank you for coming" "Goodbye". I'm not sure why, but this was the most touching moment of the trip. I get teary just thinking about it!
Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer? was great fun, even though we werent chosen.
Day 4- at sea. We had breakfast in the room and DD10 had now decided she wanted to collect autographs, so she bought herself a notebook and was off on a mission to collect every characters autograph in one single day! It kept her very busy while my mother and I enjoyed some wonderful activities. The cooking demonstration had us enjoying scallops and wine at 10am and the foot care clinic in the spa was wonderful.
The 2-way radios were a great item to have along. They allowed us to continually split up and meet again so that everyone got to do exactly what they wanted to do. Also, the over the door shoe bag helped us to keep a very tidy cabin. By keeping brushes, make up, etc. in it, everything was always available even if someone was using one or both of the bathrooms. I was also glad to have my clock, which could be seen at night. Our nightlight did not work in the bathroom, so I would have liked to have had a small flashlight. I did not use the laundry soap, binoculars or extension cord that I brought, but they didnt take up much room.
Packing was depressing and hard to do in the narrow hallway, but it had to be done. The Disney Dreams show was amazing!! My daughters name is Anne Marie, so that made it even more enjoyable. After the show we went to Family Karaoke and then poked our heads in on some of the other activities that were going on. I couldnt bring myself to go to bed and end this day, so after getting the last items packed and the bags out in the hall, I spent some time out on the verandah watching the waves go by and sparkle in the moonlight. The best part was, for once, my smoking neighbor was not outside polluting my air!
Disembarkation Day- We skipped the 6:45am breakfast since we were not in an hurry to go home! After breakfast in Beach Blanket Buffet we decided to wander around and see if we could get back in our cabin to brush our teeth again and use the facilities. I expected to get a lot of dirty looks from the cabin stewards, but they were all just as full of smiles as they had been the whole trip. Our room had not been touched yet so we went in and freshened up and looked around for any forgotten items.
In the terminal we grabbed a porter who got our luggage and put us on the right bus. We were headed to MCO where we would pick up the Amerisuites shuttle for one last night in sunny FL. This all went very smoothly as had everything on our whole trip from start to finish. The Disney cast members are all wonderful at what they do!
My husband, who is not a Disney person, took my DD10 and I to a hotel near the Buffalo airport on a Tuesday evening. After a nice dinner at TGI Fridays and a swim in the pool we said our goodbyes and the girls only trip began. We woke to about a foot of snow. Thank goodness we had come up the night before! Our flight contained an entire high school marching band and about 8 other passengers. They were on their way to perform at the Magic Kingdom. Southwest Air was a nonstop flight to Orlando. Next we checked in to the Amerisuites near MCO. We did this so that we would not waste any of our park ticket day traveling. My mother would be meeting us at the Beach Club the next morning.
We spent 3 wonderful days at the Beach Club, where we were able to see all 4 parks in 3 ½ days! By getting to the parks early and using the "Unofficial Guide to Disney" book we were able to plan out exactly what we wanted to see in each park and get it done before the afternoon crowds arrived. The Beach Club (2nd floor) was all brand new and we could even see the high fireworks from Epcot each night from our full balcony!! This became an evening ritual actually, since we were always just about ready for bed by 9:00. Getting up early for the parks wore us out! It was wonderful to watch the fireworks and then crawl into bed. We did AK on Sun. morning and bussed to Port Canaveral from there.
Our dining rotation was PTAP, which made it harder to choose a Palo night. I wanted to skip Parrot Cay, but didn't want to miss the dining room on the first or last night. We ended up skipping Triton's and going there for a couple of breakfasts and lunches to make up for it. Wonderful food was served at each meal by Nick and George.
The sail away party was quite crowded since it was held inside due to rain. We wandered around watched the dolphins from our verandah. Parrot Cay was very noisy the first night. We had put in a very full day by dinner and that made all of the noise a little harder to handle, also the ship's rocking was very noticeable during dinner. Our tablemates were a lovely family from the Denver area. We were all very tired and a little seasick during Hercules and as soon as DD10 said she wanted to leave, we all jumped at the chance to go to bed! Im sure the show would have been more enjoyable if we hadnt been so tired.
Day 2 we went into Nassau for about an hour or two and did some shopping. Then back to the ship to enjoy the less crowded pools. My mother was glued to the TV that day. This is when the New York City area got a terrible snowstorm. She was worried about her house. We didnt discover our card to request ice service until now. It got buried under navigators and other papers on the first day. We filled it out and enjoyed 2 buckets of ice each day.
My mother and I were going to eat at Palo, so DD went to dinner with the Oceaner's Lab. She wasn't very impressed and said the girls her age were too hyper. She opted to stay in the cabin under strict orders not to leave or open the door to anyone while we had our dinner. She had been wandering around by herself with the 2-way radio earlier in the day and thought she should still be allowed to do this, but I didn't want to have to worry during our nice dinner. While dining at Palo we had a breathtaking view of the full moon rising directly above the hotel Atlantis. It was gorgeous!! After a wonderful dinner, we sprang DD from the room and enjoyed the comedy show.
Day 3 we were very excited that our bodies finally let us get off our early rising schedule and sleep in a bit! We watched them unload items from the ship to prepare for our day at CC. Castaway Cay is everything it has been described to be. We had an excellent time and when some clouds started to roll in after lunch I decided to try to make the 2:30 showing of "Chicago". I loved the movie but froze the whole time. Going from the hot beach to the air conditioned theater.....brrrrrrrr.
As we pulled away from CC I was on the verandah waving back to the Mickey gloved cast members as they yelled, "Thank you for coming" "Goodbye". I'm not sure why, but this was the most touching moment of the trip. I get teary just thinking about it!
Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer? was great fun, even though we werent chosen.
Day 4- at sea. We had breakfast in the room and DD10 had now decided she wanted to collect autographs, so she bought herself a notebook and was off on a mission to collect every characters autograph in one single day! It kept her very busy while my mother and I enjoyed some wonderful activities. The cooking demonstration had us enjoying scallops and wine at 10am and the foot care clinic in the spa was wonderful.
The 2-way radios were a great item to have along. They allowed us to continually split up and meet again so that everyone got to do exactly what they wanted to do. Also, the over the door shoe bag helped us to keep a very tidy cabin. By keeping brushes, make up, etc. in it, everything was always available even if someone was using one or both of the bathrooms. I was also glad to have my clock, which could be seen at night. Our nightlight did not work in the bathroom, so I would have liked to have had a small flashlight. I did not use the laundry soap, binoculars or extension cord that I brought, but they didnt take up much room.
Packing was depressing and hard to do in the narrow hallway, but it had to be done. The Disney Dreams show was amazing!! My daughters name is Anne Marie, so that made it even more enjoyable. After the show we went to Family Karaoke and then poked our heads in on some of the other activities that were going on. I couldnt bring myself to go to bed and end this day, so after getting the last items packed and the bags out in the hall, I spent some time out on the verandah watching the waves go by and sparkle in the moonlight. The best part was, for once, my smoking neighbor was not outside polluting my air!
Disembarkation Day- We skipped the 6:45am breakfast since we were not in an hurry to go home! After breakfast in Beach Blanket Buffet we decided to wander around and see if we could get back in our cabin to brush our teeth again and use the facilities. I expected to get a lot of dirty looks from the cabin stewards, but they were all just as full of smiles as they had been the whole trip. Our room had not been touched yet so we went in and freshened up and looked around for any forgotten items.
In the terminal we grabbed a porter who got our luggage and put us on the right bus. We were headed to MCO where we would pick up the Amerisuites shuttle for one last night in sunny FL. This all went very smoothly as had everything on our whole trip from start to finish. The Disney cast members are all wonderful at what they do!
