Magic Your Way to the Magic Kingdom...sounds like a good idea! COMPLETED

[ukintheus]

Would you have been more tempted if you could've taken your drink with you ?

Of course I considered it. If there had been a way to keep it cold while I was gone, I probably would have tried it. He was very convincing.

 

[cforsythe]

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your report. I am so sorry you felt under the weather!! Hopefully you will get to feeling better by the next morning.

Do the shuttles to WDW leave several times a day? I was wondering if you had an option to return to the ship before the parks closed...

 

[ukintheus]

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your report. I am so sorry you felt under the weather!! Hopefully you will get to feeling better by the next morning.

Do the shuttles to WDW leave several times a day? I was wondering if you had an option to return to the ship before the parks closed...

Thank you for following along. Yes, the buses started heading back to the ship fairly early in the afternoon. I think they ran frequently, but of course if you'd just missed one, you had to wait for the next one, then wait for it to fill up a bit etc. It was all very organized though.

 

[cforsythe]

Thank you for following along. Yes, the buses started heading back to the ship fairly early in the afternoon. I think they ran frequently, but of course if you'd just missed one, you had to wait for the next one, then wait for it to fill up a bit etc. It was all very organized though.

Thanks for the information. My sister and I have been considering doing one of these types of cruises in 2014 if they have them.

 

[ukintheus]

Thanks for the information. My sister and I have been considering doing one of these types of cruises in 2014 if they have them.

It was a long day, but so much fun to get a day at WDW in the middle of a cruise.

 

[ukintheus]

We had all booked the 7:15 am departure to Magic Kingdom and so it was an early start to the day. We were told the night before to allow about 30 minutes to disembark and go through customs. The G-family and ourselves all ordered room service for breakfast by hanging the order on our doors the night before. We ordered for 6:00 am. Ours arrived at about 6:15 am, but unfortunately the G-family didn't get theirs until 6:45, so they were literally trying to grab and run while they were leaving their stateroom. Although it was a big inconvenience at the time, they were left a fruit gift basket from guest services that evening to apologize for the delay.

Getting through customs & immigration was a breeze, I would say it took us about 5 minutes. The motorcoaches were all lined up outside and it wasn't long at all before we were heading away from the Port.





About 40 minutes into the journey J-bug got sick from the motion sickness & lack of breakfast - poor little thing. Thankfully she had moved to sit next to her Dad! The other good thing was that as soon as we got off the bus she was fine for the rest of the day.

It was raining when we got to WDW...


Thankfully as we got off the bus, it was barely sprinkling, and had pretty much stopped raining. We got to the Magic Kingdom at about 8:30 am and the park opened at 9:00 am.

We all waited patiently for the opening ceremony...the kids were very excited as this was their first ever trip to WDW, but the wait almost killed them! LOL



Mickey and the gang arrived at the train station, and we were off and into the park. Obligatory castle picture...


Everyone else headed towards Tales with Belle and I was the FP runner, so I hastily headed to Peter Pan for FP, meeting them back in Fantasyland.

First time for everyone at Enchanted Tales with Belle and it was great, I was glad that we decided to do it, as it was a toss up for a little while because of the lines.





Once inside J got chosen to be the Prince/Beast and J-bug was a set of silverware...LOL












The kids loved it, but I think "A" loved it the most...she said it was a perfect way to start their day.

Our FP window for PP was up, so while everyone headed that way, I grabbed FP for Journey of the Little Mermaid and we all met up back at PP.



Next was It's a Small World as it basically had no line...(note to self, blue gum stands out pretty badly! )





We went around to Haunted Mansion...again no line..it was a walk on...the park wasn't very crowded at all.





The kids weren't so keen on HM but they were brave about it.

Next up...back to Fantasyland...

 

[ukintheus]

While the others headed back to Fantasyland for potty stops and photo ops, I dashed over to Space Mountain and grabbed FPs meeting them back by Voyage of the Little Mermaid.

The crowds in Fantasyland were quite large compared to the rest of the park and were much bigger than at 9 am. Seeing the line for Belle, the G-family all of a sudden became very interested in learning how Fastpass worked!

The new Fantasyland expansion is beautiful. We had seen it when Dumbo and Barnstormer had just opened, but the new area is really wonderful. The theming is unbelievable even to those of us that have been to WDW so many times it just stood out as being so "Disney" if that makes any sense.


Be Our Guest..










The G-family loved Voyage of the Little Mermaid...Scott and I weren't sold as we thought it was too similar to the ride in Epcot...but it was cute all the same.







The Beast's castle is just an awesome addition...


We wandered our way back towards Space Mountain...


J-Bug wasn't tall enough to ride, so A, J Scott and I all rode. It was J's first ever rollercoast. His verdict..."ummmm...not sure if I would ride it again". But he did.

G and J-bug found something to occupy them while we were all riding.




We then rode Buzz, which the G-family absolutely LOVED I kicked Scott's behind on the score but couldn't get a picture of the scores fast enough... We love that ride just because we are so competitive against each other.

By now it was about 11:30 am and we decided that we were hungry. Seeing as the G-family had barely eaten, I'm suprised they weren't hungry sooner! We decided....well, I decided...LOL to eat at Columbia Harbor House. It's about our favorite CS as the food is a little different from the standard fare, and the upstairs is nice and quiet and a great break from the park.

Heading across the hub...


While everyone went in and ordered FP runner extraordinaire (aka me - LOL) headed to BTMRR to grab FPs. Lunch was the Hummus sandwich for me, I think it's called the Lighthouse, but I'm forgetting. Lunch was a little distracted as my pet sitter called to say that our cat (who has lymphoma) wasn't doing well at all. This resulted in most of my time at lunch calling the vet, back to the petsitter etc. The vet agreed to come and get him and see what they thought of the situation. I am SO lucky to have such an awesome vet. So as to NOT keep any animal lovers in suspense....he is still with us.

So after managing to bring the entire group down with the doom and gloom lunch (I was in tears at one point ), I put on my best smile and off we went to BTMRR. This was J-bugs first rollercoaster....



Her verdict...NO! Did not like it!

Splash Mountain was down...so the crowds in that whole area were large. We decided to go and ride Pirates instead, which barely had a line and is one of our favorite rides. G became the new FP runner and went and got them for Jungle Cruise right before we went into Pirates.

After we had ridden POTC Scott and I decided that we'd pretty much given the G-family a whirlwind tour of all of the highlights and so we left them contemplating whether they wanted to do the Magic Carpets or the Tikki Room and we headed off to Epcot.

 

[ukintheus]

We caught the monorail and enjoyed a nice ride over to Epcot. It was starting to warm up and my cold was kicking my butt but I was determined to make it through the rest of the day. Flower & Garden was in full bloom...





We wanted to see the refurbished Test Track but FPs were already out to gone 7 pm, so we hopped into the single rider line instead. I knew that this would bypass all of the pre-ride new stuff, but we decided it was better than nothing. I'm not sure I really like the new version all that much. I kinda liked the older version where at least there seemed to be a purpose...the new one just seemed exactly like the old one to me...but with no real storyline or purpose. Maybe if we do the pre-ride it will be better.

World Showcase was calling us...




Or should I say, the Rose & Crown was calling us. We headed straight there and got a nice shady spot in the beer garden. There are two Disney places that are our true Happy Places. One is Serenity Bay on CC, the other is the beer garden at Rose & Crown. We can sit here for hours...



Probably because they serve these....Stella for Scott, Strongbow for me..


Peter Pan has made an appearance on the top of the gift shop...


View across the lagoon...


While we were sitting there the vet called about my kitty, Simba. She said that all of his vitals were fine, and she thought that maybe the petsitter (who I should mention is my friend's 70+ year old Mum) was just a little over anxious. They agreed to keep him anyway until we got home so that they could monitor him and make sure he got all his medicine. Ahhh...sigh of relief...and now I could really relax about it.

After about an hour of people watching we decided to go and check out some of the F&G booths around World Showcase. I never really did find anything that sounded good to eat or drink but really that was just due to the cold....we took these along the way...





We ended up all the way back around at the Mexican pavillion, and who were we kidding....we really were just waiting to go to La Cava and have one of these...

Jalepeno Margarita...


We enjoy sitting in La Cava just because it's cool and dark(ish) and just a nice change of pace. After our delicious drink and munching on some chips and salsa we meandered our way back to Rose & Crown and by now it was looking like it was going to pour down rain. We decided to hang out in the beer garden for a bit to see if was really heading our way.



It sprinkled a little, but not enough to worry about. We had dinner reservations here for 6:30 pm. I had the curry and mushy peas. The mushy peas at R&C are the bomb!

For the evening we had reserved the Illuminations Dessert Party as an excursion from the ship. Really, the only reason we booked this was because I had read that afterwards they take you back behind the American Pavillion and you get right onto a bus back to the ship.

The Dessert Party started at 8:15 pm and we were supposed to meet by the Friendship bridge close to France. When we arrived someone was there to guide us over to the American Pavillion instead, as they had cancelled the outdoor party due to the weather (although it never rained again). The desserts all looked really nice, we both had a bite or two of a couple (and I forgot to take photos ) but we were SO tired by this point, and also very full. Of course we had grabbed these on our way....

Kir Royal for me and a beer for Scott...Kronenburg maybe??....


I can say that at this point we were both really feeling the long day, and if I hadn't already paid for this excursion, which was pricey at a penny or two under $50.00 per person, we would have skipped Illuminations altogether and just headed back to the ship at about 8 pm.

Right before 9 pm they led us out to a roped off area right infront of Italy where we could watch. They also gave us some 3D glasses, which we forgot to put on.





About 10 minutes after Illuminations ended we were taken back to 2 motorcoaches waiting for us back stage behind American Adventure. The journey back was uneventful, but it seemed VERY long because we were tired. They played Disney cartoons all the way back but people were tired and trying to sleep, plus I think our coach had a lot of CM's that were off for the day and heading back to the ship, so they were all either sleeping or engrossed in their phones. LOL We got back to port at about 11 pm and they basically just walked you back on board, no passport needed, just swiped your KTTW card. I wish I'd have been awake enough to have thought to have taken pictures while we were in an (almost) empty cruise terminal! Usually when we sail from PC it's jam packed, but it was almost a ghost town this time through. We saw on our whiteboard that the G-family were already back and had gone to bed.

We literally went straight to bed....I'd say 5 minutes tops before we hit the pillows! LOL It was SUCH a fun day though. Not many people can say that they SAILED from Texas to WDW. And now I wish I could do it all over again!

Up next....another at sea day...

 

[mandymouse]

What a fun but exhausting day

We weren't impressed with the new Test Track either, what a let down

Loving all your pics, wish I was wandering around World Showcase with a Kir Royale or cider right now (and it's only just after 8am here now )

So glad that your cat is OK, what a worry

 

[nunzia]

We were at the Illuminations party also! And we didn't know where the "Friendship Bridge" was and couldn't guess since there was no set up since the setting had moved and when we started searching there was no Cruise CM around and we asked several CMs and called the cruise line twice trying to figure things out. But..once we got to the pavillion it was very nice. You should have put on the glasses! They added Mickey heads to every point of light. So cool.
And yes..what a tiring day I can't sleep in a car since I have to 'monitor', but DH certainly did. What a tiring day. We may have left during the super muggy hot time if we didn't have the Illuminations tickets, but in the end I was glad we stayed (and even gladder they had that bus waiting for us so close)

 

[ukintheus]

We were at the Illuminations party also! And we didn't know where the "Friendship Bridge" was and couldn't guess since there was no set up since the setting had moved and when we started searching there was no Cruise CM around and we asked several CMs and called the cruise line twice trying to figure things out. But..once we got to the pavillion it was very nice. You should have put on the glasses! They added Mickey heads to every point of light. So cool.
And yes..what a tiring day I can't sleep in a car since I have to 'monitor', but DH certainly did. What a tiring day. We may have left during the super muggy hot time if we didn't have the Illuminations tickets, but in the end I was glad we stayed (and even gladder they had that bus waiting for us so close)

I'm glad you found where it was eventually! They left an Epcot map in our stateroom the night/day before that had a sticker on the map (you had to unfold it to know that) that showed where the Friendship Bridge was - I'm guessing you didn't get that? I don't think it would have been worth the money at all if they didn't have the bus so close to take you back - that was definitely the bonus for doing that particular excursion. Interesting about the 3D glasses that's pretty cool.

 

[nunzia]

I'm glad you found where it was eventually! They left an Epcot map in our stateroom the night/day before that had a sticker on the map (you had to unfold it to know that) that showed where the Friendship Bridge was - I'm guessing you didn't get that? I don't think it would have been worth the money at all if they didn't have the bus so close to take you back - that was definitely the bonus for doing that particular excursion. Interesting about the 3D glasses that's pretty cool.

FOR CRYIN OUT LOUD! I'm am IDIOT!! I think I just stuck that in my plastic envelope of paper stuff for my scrapbook and never even looked at it knowing I could just get a map at the parks. Shhesh!

 

[BCV23]

We were on that cruise, too, so I am having great fun reliving it through your TR. Thanks for taking the time to share it.

Best itinerary ever!!!

 

[ukintheus]

FOR CRYIN OUT LOUD! I'm am IDIOT!! I think I just stuck that in my plastic envelope of paper stuff for my scrapbook and never even looked at it knowing I could just get a map at the parks. Shhesh!

I almost threw ours away, the only reason I even opened it was to see if they had the F&G booths on there. There was nothing to tell you that it was any different from the usual maps.

We were on that cruise, too, so I am having great fun reliving it through your TR. Thanks for taking the time to share it.

Best itinerary ever!!!

Hi! Thanks for following along. Yes - this itinerary just was awesome. There were so many things about it we loved - 4 at sea days, WDW and CC.

 

[ukintheus]

I don't remember what time we got up, but I do know that the ship was VERY quiet that morning. I think almost everyone was recovering from the full and long day the day before. You couldn't hear a THING from inside our stateroom! We ordered a really light bite from room service for breakfast as we had a Palo brunch reservation with A & G at 11:30 am. We got showered and hung out in the room until it was time to go. Another lazy day begins.

Palo brunch was awesome. Susana was our server again. I had a Kir Royal but I think everyone else had mimosas for their complimentary drink.



First time around the breakfast goodies and this was my plate...


We ordered a couple of the pizzas - the margherita and the gorgonzola and grape. Both were very delicious. I then had eggs benedict and several of the desserts, including the Tiramisu.

OK, so here's an interesting little snippet that I didn't know. "A" also had managed to get the head cold and wasn't feeling great, but she was determined to not let it ruin her vacation and had gone to Guest Services late on Tuesday night after WDW (as the gift shops were already closed) and they sold her some type of cold medication that contains a decongestant. I can't remember what it was, but we noticed that they didn't sell it in the gift shop. It was the type that at Walgreens/CVS etc you have to actually ask the pharmacist for, they don't keep it on the shelves. So, if you ever need that type of medication - you can buy it at guest services. Maybe everyone already knows that and I'm just behind the times.

Anyway...got totally off track there, but I remembered because A was popping them at brunch.

We waddled back to our room and decided to plant in front of the TV again and watch some movies. I think the G-family did the same thing. The ship was VERY, VERY quiet that day in general.

Mid afternoon Scott and I wandered down to Diversions as it was the one bar we'd not been to yet - LOL Anne Marie who had been the bar tender at Castaway Air bar on CC was behind the bar and very kindly offered to make me a hot lemon & honey drink as I now had laryngitis and had lost my voice. She must have gone to Cove Cafe to get it for me based on the cup. It really hit the spot and it was so nice of her to go out of her way to do that. We sat talking (well, whispering for me - LOL) to her for quite a while about the upcoming dry dock and her plans to try and avoid it! LOL

That night we went to watch the ventriloquist at 6:15 pm. G took J & J-bug and let "A" get some rest as she wasn't feeling good from the cold. The kids absolutely LOVED him. We figured his act was geared towards the kids because it was the main show, but we saw him again later for his adult show the next night and the material didn't change that much.

The WD theatre was full of pirates as tonight was Pirate Night. We went back to the room and sat out on the balcony for a while, then I think we watched some more TV - LOL We got ready for dinner and headed off to Parrot Cay.

The kids had costumes, but none of us adults were more adventurous than a pirate t-shirt and the bandana.







Sammy was having fun and kept trying to get us to go to the dessert buffet in Topsiders.



I think that is one drawback to being on late dining on Pirate Night - you are too full for the buffet, and the top decks are already full when you get finished eating dinner. Also, I don't know if it was because there were 6 of us (inc the kids) but we were never done before 10 pm. Tonight it was about 10:10 pm and they had only brought dessert out 5 minutes before, but we didn't have time to finish them.

Cocktail of the night for me....and I'm forgetting which one it was, but it was good!


"A" wasn't feeling good, and J started to feel off color during dinner, so they went back to their stateroom while G & J-bug, Scott & I all went up onto Deck 10 to watch the fireworks. It was PACKED and G had to pick up J-bug just so that she was not smothered or stomped on up there. I've never noticed this before, but people were holding their kids on their shoulders and standing right next to the railing on the side of the ship. It made me really nervous , in fact I had to turn around and look the other way, as it was literally making me sick to my stomach with nerves to see them so close to the railing and high enough that one stumble could send one of them overboard. Funnily, "A" told me the next day that G told her exactly the same thing.

So the pirate party was in full swing and Mickey saved the day - I just love that he ziplines on the Classic ships - that is probably my favorite part of the show.

The fireworks went off on schedule...




We headed back to our room and we sat out on the balcony for a little while before calling it a night.

Up next... Key Wet..I mean, Key West...

 

[Bonniec]

Loving your trip report! So our first cruise will be in October on a 5 night. You now have me wondering if I should just plan a palo for pirate night. I hadn't planned on any dinners, just the brunch because I didn't want to miss the MDR experiences. We have late dining. Maybe it makes sense to skip the MDRS on pirate night?

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[ukintheus]

Loving your trip report! So our first cruise will be in October on a 5 night. You now have me wondering if I should just plan a palo for pirate night. I hadn't planned on any dinners, just the brunch because I didn't want to miss the MDR experiences. We have late dining. Maybe it makes sense to skip the MDRS on pirate night?

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Do you have children going with you? If you do, then I wouldn't skip Pirate's Night in the MDR. The kids love it. If you don't, then I suppose it depends on how much you want to experience the "entertainment" part of the MDR that night. It is our least favorite menu, but it's a fun night in the MDR. We've done Palo on Pirate night and there's nothing done in Palo to distinguish it from any other night. Also, if it is just adults I think it's easier to find a spot to watch the fireworks but maybe not see the stage show part after you are done in the MDR even with late dining. HTHs and thanks for following along.

 

[NOKA06]

Just read through your report in one sitting. We were on the Jan.4 8-day and booked this cruise but had to reschedule to the Bahamas cruise on the Wonder in Nov. Loving your report. We are headed to WDW in August so you have us excited for that. Thank you for doing this TR.

 

[mandymouse]

Another great day Jenny Love your Palo photos, I would never have thought to have a Kir Royale for Brunch, I may give it a go next time

 

[franandaj]

Just found your T. It looks like you're having a great cruise despite a few health glitches. Im sorry you didnt feel well at Palo. We koved the after dinner beverage, so soothing.

We enjoyed the Martini tasting too, but had a difderent host. The day at CC looks wonderful, finally our next cruise will include a trip there!

Your day at WDW would have killed me! I can't go that long without a nap or some sort of downtime in the room!

Sounds like a very nice Brunch at Palo. We fall into that group who makes a Palo reservation on Pirate night to escape the dress up, chaos and the menu. We don't have kids and it works out that way.

We were on this cruise also and in the room next to you! 6074 Really enjoying your TR..looks like we had the same dining rotation too

Thanks for clarifying this Nunzia. I knew you boarded the day we got off the ship, I was wondering when this cruise took place.

Can't wait to hear about the rest!