Tink10
Always Lurking
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2000
- Messages
- 1,740
Day 4 7/23 - Friday......The Free Cruise Day!
One thing I forgot to mention about this trip was that I did all of the planning for everyone. When I asked my sister what kind of things she wasnted to do, her reply was always "You go ahead & decide....." So, with that in mind, I tried to plan special things that everyone would love.
Because my sister is going through a very messy divorce, we all thought it would be a good idea for her & my niece to have some "mom & daughter" time as well. They're going through a tough time & are going to depend on one another quite a bit. This was a perfect opportunity for them to "bond" a bit more.
On Friday, my sister was going to be meeting friends from southern Florida, who were coming up for the weekend. I really didn't make too many plans after Thursday because I knew that she would be spending most of her time with them. I made her priority seatings, but that was about it. My daughter & I pretty much wing it at WDW & this is what we did from this point on.
We agreed that we would "do our own thing" while her friends were visiting, so, my DD & I took off to Epcot that morning. I won't go in to all of the Epcot details, but we had a wonderful time!
We were pretty hot & tired by the evening, so we decided to call Mom & Dad at the Dolphin to see if they wanted to meet up at the Boardwalk to have a lite dinner.
My DD & I made our way to the Boardwalk & she was really excited to see Captain Jeff (our Illuminations Captain) from our first night. She went over to say "Hi" and he seemed very distrought. He told us that he had a Birthday Cruise booked for Illuminations & that the party hadn't shown up. He said that if they didn't arrive within 5 minutes, his supervisor told him to find another family & go.
I told him that we had no plans & would be more than happy to go if he needed a family.....
My mom & dad soon walked up & were in shock at the news......My daughter was at the pin cart when Captain Jeff said "Lets Go!", so I ran over & got her.
The boat was decorated with balloons & he had drinks & birthday cake aboard. People were yelling "Happy Birthday!" from the Boardwalk & we were all completely stunned at our luck!
We didn't have time for the cruise around Crescent Lake before Illuminations, so we headed right to World Showcase. Again, Illuminations was wonderful, but I think it was that much more special on that night because of the way that thinks happened.
I do feel bad that the family who didn't show up was charged for their cruise. I also made Captain Jeff promise that there wasn't going to be anyone waiting at the Boardwalk waiting to punch me in the nose for taking their cruise, but he told me that his manager would be the one who had to deal with it.
We did do a small cruise around Crescent Lake after illuminations. Captain Jeff had a boom box & played birthday music & again, people were yelling "Happy Birthday" from the boardwalk........
At the end, we gave Captain Jeff a very large tip & got off the boat. My daughter had 2 huge balloon bouquets & the smile on her face was worth 10 times more than the tip we gave to Captain Jeff.
We ran into my sister & niece a little later & needless to say, my sister was VERY upset. She said that we should have called her so that they could join us. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option because Captain Jeff needed to leave so quickly.
After that night, my sister didn't hardly say 2 words to me for the next 3 days..........
One thing I forgot to mention about this trip was that I did all of the planning for everyone. When I asked my sister what kind of things she wasnted to do, her reply was always "You go ahead & decide....." So, with that in mind, I tried to plan special things that everyone would love.
Because my sister is going through a very messy divorce, we all thought it would be a good idea for her & my niece to have some "mom & daughter" time as well. They're going through a tough time & are going to depend on one another quite a bit. This was a perfect opportunity for them to "bond" a bit more.
On Friday, my sister was going to be meeting friends from southern Florida, who were coming up for the weekend. I really didn't make too many plans after Thursday because I knew that she would be spending most of her time with them. I made her priority seatings, but that was about it. My daughter & I pretty much wing it at WDW & this is what we did from this point on.
We agreed that we would "do our own thing" while her friends were visiting, so, my DD & I took off to Epcot that morning. I won't go in to all of the Epcot details, but we had a wonderful time!
We were pretty hot & tired by the evening, so we decided to call Mom & Dad at the Dolphin to see if they wanted to meet up at the Boardwalk to have a lite dinner.
My DD & I made our way to the Boardwalk & she was really excited to see Captain Jeff (our Illuminations Captain) from our first night. She went over to say "Hi" and he seemed very distrought. He told us that he had a Birthday Cruise booked for Illuminations & that the party hadn't shown up. He said that if they didn't arrive within 5 minutes, his supervisor told him to find another family & go.
I told him that we had no plans & would be more than happy to go if he needed a family.....
My mom & dad soon walked up & were in shock at the news......My daughter was at the pin cart when Captain Jeff said "Lets Go!", so I ran over & got her.
The boat was decorated with balloons & he had drinks & birthday cake aboard. People were yelling "Happy Birthday!" from the Boardwalk & we were all completely stunned at our luck!
We didn't have time for the cruise around Crescent Lake before Illuminations, so we headed right to World Showcase. Again, Illuminations was wonderful, but I think it was that much more special on that night because of the way that thinks happened.
I do feel bad that the family who didn't show up was charged for their cruise. I also made Captain Jeff promise that there wasn't going to be anyone waiting at the Boardwalk waiting to punch me in the nose for taking their cruise, but he told me that his manager would be the one who had to deal with it.
We did do a small cruise around Crescent Lake after illuminations. Captain Jeff had a boom box & played birthday music & again, people were yelling "Happy Birthday" from the boardwalk........
At the end, we gave Captain Jeff a very large tip & got off the boat. My daughter had 2 huge balloon bouquets & the smile on her face was worth 10 times more than the tip we gave to Captain Jeff.
We ran into my sister & niece a little later & needless to say, my sister was VERY upset. She said that we should have called her so that they could join us. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option because Captain Jeff needed to leave so quickly.
After that night, my sister didn't hardly say 2 words to me for the next 3 days..........
Only at Disney can ANY day be your birthday! Kind of makes me want to book an Un-birthday cruise on my next trip just to hear the "happy birthdays" from the shore. Unplanned magic seems more magical, doesn't it? 
