northernmouse
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2001
- Messages
- 199
Greetings all DIS-ers, and particularly the wonderful group aboard the Magic May 3 sailing! I hope you'll enjoy the following report. I must warn you, though, many of the locations will sound familiar! 
(The DH teases me about my 'cult' membership -- he thinks it's funny that we all read and write and rave about trips to the same place. I always gently remind him that the lads he 'talks' to regularly on his VW site are much the same -- all comparing notes about fixing the same car!)
Our trip began last year, when we booked aboard a much too short 3 day Wonder cruise. We three, (self 41, David 36, and Tanner 11) thought that we had none of the characteristics of potential cruise addicts. Hah!
For those who've not yet cruised, Disney should carry a warning label -- call it Reef(er) Madness if you want. One good snootful, and you're hooked. An entire underground of chat lines, travel forums, brochures, videos and excursion sites pulls you into a sunscreen-scented grip. There is documented evidence of ordinary couples requiring a Disney Cruise fix not once, not twice, but multiple times a year. In spite of your beliefs that "it won't happen to me", remember -- anyone is just one trip away from becoming a DCL junkie.
Here we were, one year later after only one small cruise, in spite of the questionng of family and friends, determindly packing for a return trip to the tropical zone.
David (DH) and I set out at 6:30 a.m. April 30 for a 3-hour drive to Calgary, Alberta which had experienced a record-breaking, unusually late snowfall only a few days before. We were already gleeful about the trip -- to leave with snow on the ground made the trip all the more wonderful.
We picked up Tanner at his mom's and made our way through security. Tanner had brought his own backpack, which he usually uses for school. At security,we were reminded that he is 11, as the guard worked his way through a small library of school texts; a notebook; 15 varying stubby pencils; 2 forks, a spoon and a plastic knife; 2 rulers; camera; metal pencil case (empty); and, at the bottom, a painted 2 pound rock. He hadn't, however, brought a book we had given him to read. I asked why. "Because you told me to pack light"!!
The security guard was almost amused. So off we went, David, Tanner, the rock and I. (Tanner has no idea the rock has become an important part of my scrapbooking theme. His dad and I took pictures of the rock at our hotels; in the stateroom; on the verandah; enjoying a drink and napping on various pillows beside Tanner. It's not the usual Disney mascot, but it will do!).
So began what was to be a perfect trip. We met a nice family from Calgary on the leg to Denver who were also on the way to Orlando and knew little about WDW. So, I did my best to share the 'best of DIS' learned on these boards. I hope they had a good trip!
In Denver, we were able to shorten our trip by 2 hours by catching an earlier flight standby to Orlando. We were warned our bags would arrive on the later flight. Through happy circumstance, we ended up helping out a young mom who's husband had missed their flight because of an e-ticket problem. She had all their bags, two small children in strollers, all the family's luggage -- and none of their travel info. While David was helping her get her bags to get her to her hotel -- lo and behold, there were our bags, which had somehow made it onto the same standby flight. Which only goes to further reinforce our belief that what you do for others always comes back to you. So, with Stacy and her remarkably well-behaved kids safely off to their hotel, and secure in the knowledge her husband was coming in on the flight were supposed to be on, we loaded our own bags into the rental car and headed off to the Radisson Parkway, where we arrived at 10:45 pm would spend two nights (and a day at Islands of Adventure) before heading to Port Canaveral and the Radisson at the Port.
(We had a great day at IOA -- but this is about Disney!) The Radisson Parkway was a nice hotel, very well-priced and well-located with a kid-appealing pool and adult-appealing hot-tubs. I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for good option on their next trip to Disney who isn't planning to stay on site. As a nice bonus, our package included breakfast, and Tanner ate free. So we were really pleased with the value.
Friday morning, we had a leisurely breakfast and a swim at the Radisson Parway pool before leaving for the port Friday morning. The drive was quick. A quick shopping trip at Ron Jon surf shop (where I bought the DH a pair of trendy colourful trunks he insisted he didn't need and weren't his style that he wore every day for the remaining 11 days of our holiday), a visit to Wal-Mart for snacks where we bought 7 pairs of men's ankle socks for $3.99 which proved to be very useful as snug bottle protectors for the 3 bottles of champagne, 3 bottles of wine (2 from home for the wine-tasting, 1 for the verandah), 4 bottles of Kauluha White Russians, bottle of rum and bottle of Bailey's and 2 tins of cigars that would compose the lion's share of our carry-on luggage the next morning.
We ate dinner at Florida's Seafood, where we experienced rock shrimp for the very first time and developed an understanding of Rae and Verandahman's obsession. Then back to the Radisson where we returned our car (saved us an extra day's expense, since we didn't need the car the next morning), did a load of laundry (how is it all the whites could be dirty 2 days into a holiday??) and *finally* met up with the wonderful DIS folks (savs, peachyk, keith & co, emmak, and others I'm mortified at the moment to be forgetting) who had already met Tanner (but not his rock) who had spent the evening in the pool. Since we were late and everyone else was hungry, we missed the chance to visit for a little while on land. But it wasn't the last time we'd see members of that happy group.
David had his first holiday cigar while keeping an eye on the laundry, while I bobbed around in the pool with Tanner. (The Radisson at the Port is also a decent hotel, but dollar-for-dollar, I liked the Parkway better.)
The atmosphere around the Port Radisson pool was contagious. There's nothing like being in the orbit of strangers, all of whom seem to be in a state of anticipation. Some were looking forward to a weekend of relaxation -- it was after all Friday night -- but there were quite a few who looked like they were on the verge of something bigger -- a week on a cruise. The happiest, I'm sure, were those waiting for the morning of the Disney cruise!
We all (or more accurately, we three) moved to the hot-tub for a night-cap soak, and then off to bed. We wanted to be up early so we could get to the terminal by 11 or so. We didn't want to waste a moment when we could be on board!
Tomorrow: David discovers why the Avis shuttle line is better than the Radisson line while Cindi checks with the office and finds -- snow in the home forecast, nothing but sunshine on the Magic!
(The DH teases me about my 'cult' membership -- he thinks it's funny that we all read and write and rave about trips to the same place. I always gently remind him that the lads he 'talks' to regularly on his VW site are much the same -- all comparing notes about fixing the same car!)
Our trip began last year, when we booked aboard a much too short 3 day Wonder cruise. We three, (self 41, David 36, and Tanner 11) thought that we had none of the characteristics of potential cruise addicts. Hah!
For those who've not yet cruised, Disney should carry a warning label -- call it Reef(er) Madness if you want. One good snootful, and you're hooked. An entire underground of chat lines, travel forums, brochures, videos and excursion sites pulls you into a sunscreen-scented grip. There is documented evidence of ordinary couples requiring a Disney Cruise fix not once, not twice, but multiple times a year. In spite of your beliefs that "it won't happen to me", remember -- anyone is just one trip away from becoming a DCL junkie.
Here we were, one year later after only one small cruise, in spite of the questionng of family and friends, determindly packing for a return trip to the tropical zone.
David (DH) and I set out at 6:30 a.m. April 30 for a 3-hour drive to Calgary, Alberta which had experienced a record-breaking, unusually late snowfall only a few days before. We were already gleeful about the trip -- to leave with snow on the ground made the trip all the more wonderful.
We picked up Tanner at his mom's and made our way through security. Tanner had brought his own backpack, which he usually uses for school. At security,we were reminded that he is 11, as the guard worked his way through a small library of school texts; a notebook; 15 varying stubby pencils; 2 forks, a spoon and a plastic knife; 2 rulers; camera; metal pencil case (empty); and, at the bottom, a painted 2 pound rock. He hadn't, however, brought a book we had given him to read. I asked why. "Because you told me to pack light"!!
The security guard was almost amused. So off we went, David, Tanner, the rock and I. (Tanner has no idea the rock has become an important part of my scrapbooking theme. His dad and I took pictures of the rock at our hotels; in the stateroom; on the verandah; enjoying a drink and napping on various pillows beside Tanner. It's not the usual Disney mascot, but it will do!).
So began what was to be a perfect trip. We met a nice family from Calgary on the leg to Denver who were also on the way to Orlando and knew little about WDW. So, I did my best to share the 'best of DIS' learned on these boards. I hope they had a good trip!
In Denver, we were able to shorten our trip by 2 hours by catching an earlier flight standby to Orlando. We were warned our bags would arrive on the later flight. Through happy circumstance, we ended up helping out a young mom who's husband had missed their flight because of an e-ticket problem. She had all their bags, two small children in strollers, all the family's luggage -- and none of their travel info. While David was helping her get her bags to get her to her hotel -- lo and behold, there were our bags, which had somehow made it onto the same standby flight. Which only goes to further reinforce our belief that what you do for others always comes back to you. So, with Stacy and her remarkably well-behaved kids safely off to their hotel, and secure in the knowledge her husband was coming in on the flight were supposed to be on, we loaded our own bags into the rental car and headed off to the Radisson Parkway, where we arrived at 10:45 pm would spend two nights (and a day at Islands of Adventure) before heading to Port Canaveral and the Radisson at the Port.
(We had a great day at IOA -- but this is about Disney!) The Radisson Parkway was a nice hotel, very well-priced and well-located with a kid-appealing pool and adult-appealing hot-tubs. I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for good option on their next trip to Disney who isn't planning to stay on site. As a nice bonus, our package included breakfast, and Tanner ate free. So we were really pleased with the value.
Friday morning, we had a leisurely breakfast and a swim at the Radisson Parway pool before leaving for the port Friday morning. The drive was quick. A quick shopping trip at Ron Jon surf shop (where I bought the DH a pair of trendy colourful trunks he insisted he didn't need and weren't his style that he wore every day for the remaining 11 days of our holiday), a visit to Wal-Mart for snacks where we bought 7 pairs of men's ankle socks for $3.99 which proved to be very useful as snug bottle protectors for the 3 bottles of champagne, 3 bottles of wine (2 from home for the wine-tasting, 1 for the verandah), 4 bottles of Kauluha White Russians, bottle of rum and bottle of Bailey's and 2 tins of cigars that would compose the lion's share of our carry-on luggage the next morning.
We ate dinner at Florida's Seafood, where we experienced rock shrimp for the very first time and developed an understanding of Rae and Verandahman's obsession. Then back to the Radisson where we returned our car (saved us an extra day's expense, since we didn't need the car the next morning), did a load of laundry (how is it all the whites could be dirty 2 days into a holiday??) and *finally* met up with the wonderful DIS folks (savs, peachyk, keith & co, emmak, and others I'm mortified at the moment to be forgetting) who had already met Tanner (but not his rock) who had spent the evening in the pool. Since we were late and everyone else was hungry, we missed the chance to visit for a little while on land. But it wasn't the last time we'd see members of that happy group.
David had his first holiday cigar while keeping an eye on the laundry, while I bobbed around in the pool with Tanner. (The Radisson at the Port is also a decent hotel, but dollar-for-dollar, I liked the Parkway better.)
The atmosphere around the Port Radisson pool was contagious. There's nothing like being in the orbit of strangers, all of whom seem to be in a state of anticipation. Some were looking forward to a weekend of relaxation -- it was after all Friday night -- but there were quite a few who looked like they were on the verge of something bigger -- a week on a cruise. The happiest, I'm sure, were those waiting for the morning of the Disney cruise!
We all (or more accurately, we three) moved to the hot-tub for a night-cap soak, and then off to bed. We wanted to be up early so we could get to the terminal by 11 or so. We didn't want to waste a moment when we could be on board!
Tomorrow: David discovers why the Avis shuttle line is better than the Radisson line while Cindi checks with the office and finds -- snow in the home forecast, nothing but sunshine on the Magic!
