Mickeystoontown's Gang hits the Bahamas & WDW! Who gets choked or stuck this time?

[mickeystoontown]

I think that sounds like a perfect day going to the island and just see what you feel like doing. It sounds like paradise just laying on that beach!

I'm hoping that I can, literally, make myself just lie there and soak it all in. You know that I'm not very good at staying still for long.

I think I would be happy at CC just sitting in a lounge chair looking at the view! Sounds like a paradise-like day!

If I'm ever going to just laze around, then I think Castaway Cay is just the place to do it.

I thought I had fallen way, way behind but I only missed two updates! Not too bad! I remember tryign to choose excursions and there were so many options! Chris already knows what he wants to do on his senior cruise so I guess we will not have to worry about decisions too much! I love snorkeling! We went in Cozumel and it was so much fun! And I am not sure of Bahama's rum cake but the rum cake from Grand Caymans is pretty good!

I fully empathize with you having to pick the time and place for the discussions with John! Keith is the same way...as you have read! And Hunter's response was classic Chris! I love when they say whatever when I really want them to make the decision for me!! I believe the play it by day plan is awesome! That is what I would choose at Castaway Cay! Oh...and the dreaming too of course!!

Where are ya'll going on the cruise? I can't remember.

We know our husbands well and know how the pick and choose our times to discuss things. I have also found that when we are in the pool, working in the garden or sitting on the back porch are all good times too.

We are not shoppers! I don't like taking the time out of my vacation to go into stores and I don't like parting with the money. Especially when my son wants a $4 box of Angry Birds candy that I am sure we could find for about a buck around here! But the candy never made it out of the Bahamas.

So seriously, the only thing on that customs declaration was the rum cake.

And I'm not so lucky! I didn't get to have any of it!

I can understand your way of thinking. For this trip, I am sure I won't be in the stores too terribly much since we will have limited time.

Well, I think you need to plan another trip just so you can get your rum cake. LOL! Or, if you really want one, just let me know and I can pick one up for you.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Awesome choice not to book anything for Castaway Cay. It looks like such an amazing island with beautiful beaches and plenty to do!

You should all practice snorkeling in the pool and then rent the equipment (or bring your own since you are driving...). Snorkeling is truly one of my favorite things to do!!! I never know what I am going to see, but I am always blown away by the undersea beauty.

Since you get a lot more traffic on your TRs than I do, I'm gonna plug your backsacks over here in my new- Where in the World is Lisa's Backsack? segment.

ignore the goofy look on my face

I love mine for travel- so handy!

Do you have any on display on your ebay site? Or is it mostly custom orders?

.

All of your amazing pictures and the youtube video are the driving forces behind me wanting to give snorkeling another try.

I'm so happy to hear that the backsack has made another trip with you! I've said it before and I'll say it again....backsacks are the way to go. I can cram so much stuff in them.

I have a few for sale on ebay but have several more already sewn. Just have have to take the time to put them on ebay. I do take custom orders for the backsacks if anybody is interested.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I wouldn't mind sharing my cabana with Captain Jack either!

I'm so loving your idea of relaxing! I need a lounge chair. I'll sit in my backyard and dream!

There's just something about Jack Sparrow that can make a girl shiver.

Hmmm… That is some nice dreaming!!!

Heck yeah!

I think you made the right choice with CC. There is so much to see and enjoy there that you don't want to have your whole day booked up with stuff to do. The only thing we did there was rent the snorkeling equipment. It was the first time we had ever snorkeled and it did take some time to get used to it. After you get the hang of it though, it is so worth the trouble.

And I think practicing in the pool is a great plan. That's what my DD did over the summer to get the hang of it. With her being so young, I knew she needed to practice so she wouldn't freak out on us when we got there. After I got out in the ocean, I wished I had practiced too.

I'm glad you enjoyed that youtube video. That's not even all the stuff on the trail either. There's lots of cool stuff out there to see. I can't wait to get back and try again to see what else we can find. And don't forget to check the tides schedule before you sail or ask a CM b/c it is much easier to snorkel at low tide if you can. I can't wait to find out what you guys do that day! You'll have a WONDERFUL time no matter what!

I didn't remember that being your first time snorkeling. From the sound of it, you picked up on it pretty easily.

I'm writing down "check tides schedule" on my list.

Love your taste in dreamin'! hubba hubba..

Ain't he purty!

CC looks like so much fun! Aww heck who am I kidding, the whole cruise looks awesome. After you finish practicing snorkeling, make sure to spend some time practicing daydreaming too---you want to make sure you can visualize him perfectly and not wasting precious time out on CC

Amen to that! I'll snorkel a while and then float around on an air mattress. Gotta practice both so I won't mess up when I get to Castaway Cay.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Your description of approaching John with plans made me laugh - it's a very similar process to some of our vacation discussion!

I think practicing snorkeling is a fantastic idea! The first time I ever went snorkeling, it took me a long time to finally get used to the equipment and everything, it wasn't until the very end of our session that I was FINALLY able to relax and enjoy it! (That's just me though...pretty much everyone else in our group had absolutely no trouble whatsoever! )

I'm always the one who trips over something, runs into somebody, bumps into walls, etc. so I think I'll need the practice.

We did go to the Pirate museum in Nassau. We enjoyed it, but we are total museum people. I think it cost about $12 and it only took a couple of hours to walk through. It has some interactive stuff, traditional exhibits, and a pirate ship you walk through. Plus...it's air conditioned and cool! They had costumed "castmembers" (for lack of a better word) who were in character.

I highly recommend the snorkeling. Jeff and I did it on our island day. I was very skeptical as I got very sick when I tried it off a boat in Jamaica, but it was fantastic! We saw a ton of fish and a huge Caribbean spiny lobster. If it's like what we did, you get the equipment for the day so you can use it for a while, lay on the beach for a while, eat, explore, then go back snorkeling. We loved it!

I did a little price checking yesterday...just starting to think about our Spring trip. Looks like doing both the cruise AND the parks is just a bit out of our budget right now, but I'm hoping some deals come out and we can manage to do both. Jeff is all about the cruise...I'm all about the parks. Our plan is to do a *GASP* non-Disney cruise so we can save some money and then do the parks for our Disney fix. But...if price is really a factor, we may compromise and just do a Disney cruise to try to get both the cruise fix and the Disney fix all at once. We'll see what happens....options are open and we have a year!

I'll keep my fingers crossed that some good deals come out. I had a set budget for what we would be spending while at Disney (before I booked the cruise). When I looked at the cruise, I knew that I had to keep the cruise and Disney vacation within that same budget. It was hard but I was able to stay pretty darn close. I do know that it's better to book the Disney World and Disney Cruise packages separately so that you can take advantage of both deals if they come out. I booked our Disney vacation package with the Spring Offer and then the cruise with the $25 onboard credit offer.

All caught up! WHen we went on our cruise it took us forever to decide between all the excursions. One of my favorites was the snorkling. I wish I had thought about trying the equipment out before our cruise. Smart thinking!

Loved reading about how you approached John about your cruise. And the upgrade button...That thing can be wonderful (and dangerous).

Hopefully, our pool will start warming up soon so we can start practicing. We've had some strong thunderstorms come through and it makes the water get cold again.

 

[natebenma]

I'm hoping that I can, literally, make myself just lie there and soak it all in. You know that I'm not very good at staying still for long.



If I'm ever going to just laze around, then I think Castaway Cay is just the place to do it.



Where are ya'll going on the cruise? I can't remember.

We know our husbands well and know how the pick and choose our times to discuss things. I have also found that when we are in the pool, working in the garden or sitting on the back porch are all good times too.



I can understand your way of thinking. For this trip, I am sure I won't be in the stores too terribly much since we will have limited time.

Well, I think you need to plan another trip just so you can get your rum cake. LOL! Or, if you really want one, just let me know and I can pick one up for you.

Thanks for your offer! We brought back a bunch of rum cakes from Puerto Rico for my neighbor who was watching my cats, my friend who was watching my sons and my son who watches tv.

Then I had to do some shopping at our local mall and what did I see on display at the Kitchen, Etc? Tortuga Rum Cakes!

We toured the factory when we went to Grand Cayman.

 

[wakica]

Good plan on playing it by ear on Castaway Cay. It looks like the perfect place to just take it easy and see what mood strikes and the dreaming part definitely is a must too.
I'd better not show DD this post or she'll be even more miffed that we aren't doing the cruise!! That play area in the water is incredible!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

It Was Just An Innocent Question!

For the last two weeks or so, I've been telling myself..... “Lisa, you better call Disney Travel and "link" ya’ll’s reservation with Lacey and Jesse's reservation or you may be in different buildings when you get to the Caribbean Beach Resort”. Maybe I should have told myself that in between American Pickers and Gold Rush so I would have listened better and not drug around on calling.

On my way home from work yesterday, I placed the call and an incredibly nice castmember answered. Dummy me, left the reservation numbers as well as Lacey and Jesse’s zip code on my desk. However, the nice gentlemen was able to pull up our reservations and within two shakes of a lamb’s tale, our reservations were linked.

And, then....cue the dun dun dun music....he asked if there was anything else he could help me with. I innocently said, “Not unless you can upgrade my daughter and her husband from Pop Century to the Caribbean Beach and let me keep the Spring Offer I booked with.” Mr. Extremely Nice said “I can certainly check.” “Okay”. Oh please, pretty pretty please let this happen.

I could hear him tapping on the keys and then, wallah, presto, badda bing badda boom, a room at the Caribbean Beach Resort was available AND I would be able to keep the Spring Offer. All I had to do is pay the difference which was very minimal. Yeehaw! Now, there’s no need for Lacey & Jesse to change resorts and, hopefully, they’ll be able to keep the same room for the entire trip.

I immediately called Lacey and gave her the good news. We’ve decided to keep the change a secret from Jesse, John and Hunter which shouldn’t be too hard to do (well, except for keeping our mouths closed ‘cause we are talkers). As I’ll tell you more about in my next installment, John, Hunter and I will be at Epcot while Lacey and Jesse are driving to Disney. Since the turn to Pop Century is just a little ways before you turn to go to the Caribbean Beach Resort, Lacey’s thinking she can keep it a secret all the way until they are supposed to follow the sign to Pop Century. Once John, Hunter and I get back to the resort that evening, Lacey and Jesse can surprise John and Hunter.

So, now there’s not one but two surprises in store for this trip. 1) John and Hunter have no clue that we are staying at Port Orleans Riverside pre-cruise; and, 2) Jesse, John and Hunter have no idea that I’ve changed Lacey and Jesse’s first night stay from Pop Century to Caribbean Beach. I’m sooooo sneaky and I love it!

**Up next: Heading back to Disney!

 

[Caretames1]

Ohhhhh, I LOVE surprises! (not a surprise right??)


What great news, and I'm sure that's going to be a great surprise all the way around!

 

[lovethattink]

Awesome surprises!!

 

[HiHoOffWeGo]

Would you like to be my TA?

 

[mindystar]

Whee Whoo!!! That is awesome It's always nice to get some pixie dust before you even get down to Disney
And what fun to have secrets. . .good thing you can blab 'em here, it sure helps to keep them irl!!

 

[jenseib]

You go girl!

I've been having itchy fingers too. I like to "modify" things too. not with my cruise, but with WDW. LOL

 

[francis6306]

AWE!!! YAY!!!! You are such a nice momma! Wanna adopt me??? Two sweet girls are part of the package!

 

[Angies1274]

Aww...Castaway Cay sounds wonderful!! When we were looking into going it was what I was looking forward to the most.

Yay for the surprise!! I know how much you love CBR and it sounds like it works out better so they don't have to switch after their first night!! That's great news!!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Looks like somebody got an extra dose of pixie dust. That's awesome, I just love surprises.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Surprises are awesome! YAY for you!

 

[Kathy Jetson]

Yeah for the surprises! I've told River that the June trip most likely won't be happening. When I do figure out new dates I want to keep the whole trip a surprise until we leave!

 

[Woth2982]

Yay for upgrades! Your photos are making me want to go so bad. Although I cannot complain because I just got back from a trip to Europe!

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Castaway Cay is a true island paradise that only Disney can have. There are so many great things like for example mount Rust More

Plus also the great views of the ship from places like the heads up bar.

Also don't forget to check out the old school parking lot trams they brought over.

 

[amazingact21]

on being able to move Lacey and Jessie over to CBR a day early. Now the hassle of having to change resorts is eliminated and you both have a fun little secret to keep until the trip! That old saying, "No harm can come with asking" came true in your case. Glad you thought to ask!