October 27, 2007 - Cruising around the Moon - A Magical All Hallows Eve

[*love*2*shop]

WE ARE NOT COMING IN ANY EARLIER THEN FRIDAY OCT 26..TOO MUCH FOR ALL OF US AND THE KIDS..... so we will be flying in hopefully before Noon on friday .. Southwest opens Bookings VERRYYYY late, like not until may/june 2007, for oct!

We will have a Rental car booked from the airport, we'l drive to the hotel and stay over night( I lIKE being CLOSE to the PORT , as god knows with the traffic etc, I would STRESS out to
stayat Disney or at MCO that NIGHT!!! this qworked out best for us and Since we had the Car VERY LITTLE Each time, we were charged *VERY LITTLE!!!! ( we will have the car less then 12 hrs fri/sat and then only 3 hrs sat..so a GREAT bargain and works best $$ wise for us!)

Next day on sat oct 27, hubby will drive to bring back the rental car( its 2mins away) and then they will bring him back to the hotel and then WE ALL will go together to teh port in the HOTELS Supplied shuttel....WE want to be to the port for 10am ( But i do understand that since we cruised before and have a Suite we dont need to rush as much? BUT ill be too excited!!! )

WE when dock the sat after, well take the rental car shuttle to the rental car, drive oursleves to the airport......we were BACK AT MCO by @ 9am lats time!!! and caught an early flight home...we wont be doing DISNEY WORLD at all, Just the Cruise !

all in all so far:

Cruise for 3A, 2c in a cat 3: 9700.00....BOOKED....
Hotel suite for 1 night fri oct 26/27 near port: 135.00...BOOKED.....
shuttle from hotel to port: 2.00 p/p is 10.00.......BOOKED.....

rental car friday/sat oct 26/27 and nov 3.....@50.00 + or - total!...not booked yet...

Airfare...southwest Nonstop for 5 of us..dates not open yet..Not Booked...
usually its @200.00 per person....

ONBOARD charges: last year..halloween 2005 we spent 1700.00

Misc charges...Shopping and BLING BLING......PRICELESS
2,0000.00+ I think we spent on st maarten and st thomas...


GOSH< I need a RAISE@@@

 

[vital]

WOW! A lot of new folks while I was away! Welcome everyone!

OK, now for the low-down on the weekend.

We arrive in Orange Beach around 1000. Check in as planned. Same hotel I've stayed at before so it was like coming home. Sleep....sleep....ALARM! 0600!

We get to the campsite as the others are cooking breakfast I sit to read the instructions on my tent. I guess I looked really helpless b/c 2 dads came over and put it up for me. I notice that the sides are mesh with no zipper window covers. I'm told that they are made like that sometimes now. Then I see we put a cover over it apparently called a "rain fly" it covers the sides so I'm happy. I throw all of our stuff in there and off we go to eat. After we eat it's off we go to Pensacola Naval Air Station! To see who? who? BLUE ANGELS! We get there and park, no problem. If you've ever been to an airshow you know that a lot of things happen. This one is the 60th anniversary and there are some special planes flying. The older bi-wings make me nervous so we head off to look at all of the ones on display. We take some silly pics of us getting "sucked" into the engine of a cargo plane and things like that. I hear music to my ears being announced, "Now we will demonstrate an F-15 for you this afternoon." I almost scream like a girl at a Backstreet Boys concert! I have been in love with those planes since Top Gun! I grab Ethan and RUN to the runway. I hear it coming and almost cry I'm so excited. Now, I don't get really excited over too many things, but this is one of those things. It was freaking awesome. I'm glad I bought E earplugs. I don't like them, the noise is part of the experience for me. This plane is incredible. It screams by, Ethan ducks and I'm laughing like a mad woman. I look at E and say, "Now that's what I'm talking about!" and that becomes the phrase of the day. It does a few more things and lands. So we eat and go back to our chairs. We decide to go walking again and I hear some more magic words, "FA-18 hornet". Those are the planes the Blue Angels fly but not one of them. This is a solo. Let me tell you all about it They (the pilot and navigator) take off almost vertically. I look at Ethan and he says, "That's what I'm talking about".
This plane actually hit supersonic and you could see the shockwaves coming off of the wings. Looks like vapor puffs and then a BOOM! OOPS! I thought they weren't allowed to break the sound barrier, maybe just this once. Ethan's face lit up. Now for the really exciting part, when they landed, there was a loud BOOM and the announcer comes on and says they blew a tire and have to do an emergency procedure. The pilot had to put the plane in the grass and spin it around to stop it before it goes out of control. I thought dude was going to flip the plane. He kinda did a spin in the grass like the burnouts after car races. Was kinda scary. That delayed the show for about 45 min so they could change the tire and get it out of the grass. I didn't realize it was dangerous until later. Not for us, for the pilot and navigator. Finally the Blue Angels fly and it was awesome as usual. When they were flying a cold front is blowing in and the temp goes from 82 to 57 in about an hour. Miserable. Did I mention the wind was blowing about 15mph. That may not seem like a lot, but when you are dressed for 82 and slightly sunburnt, it's cold.
On the way back to the camp site, Ethan decides he wants shrimp and I want a LOTTO ticket. We stop to get my ticket. I buy a LOTTO one and 2 scratch offs. I doubled my money on the scratch offs so I stop there. We go eat and head back to camp. I drive up and my tent looks like it's going to blow away. One of the dads comes to help and I'm not so sure about sleeping in it with the wind blowing like it did. We blow up the air mattresses anyway. Ethan has the idea to park the car in front of the tent to block the wind. Helps a little, but not enough. We go to dinner and I tell everyone if my car isn't there in the morning, not to worry. We will be at the hotel LOL! We try the tent out for about 45 min. It's getting colder and the wind isn't stopping. I wanted to try, but E looked at me and said, "hotel". I called my "home" and they only had 3 rooms left. Before I knew it , "Book it" came flying out of my mouth. I put all of our things in the car that I didn't want blown away and try to find someone awake to tell. Lights were out so we left. We stayed in our warm room watching football. I felt guilty, but E said it, not me . The next morning we go back to camp to break the tent down and cook breakfast. Lo and behold, another family was right down the hall from us at the HOTEL! They couldn't do it either so I didn't feel bad anymore. Some of the wives said if they were without a husband they would've filled the hotel up! LOL! Yet another advantage of being a single mom .
We broke camp after breakfast, went to the beach and got a bucket of sand *don't ask*. We went to the zoo at Gulf Shores. If any of you watch Animal Planet, it's the "Little Zoo that Could". AP followed their rebuilding after hurricane Ivan and still film there. I was so hoping they wouldn't be there today, and they weren't. We got to feed camels, ducks, deer, goats and an unknown furry animal. We were able to pet a chinchilla, feret, snake, alligator and various other animals. We got attacked by geese b/c we were finished feeding them but they weren't full!
Gosh, I didn't mean to give y'all a play by play of my weekend. We had so much fun though! All of this and I'm off tomorrow for Veteren's Day.

I hope I didn't bore you with my minivacation!

Happy Veteren's Day to all and THANK YOU to any veteren and family reading this!

 

[Kimmielee]

Sounds like you had an incredible mini-vacation and I'm so glad for you and Ethan! Welcome home!

 

[Babs417]

Thanks for your report I wish I could write like that.

 

[Brianne&Sami'smom]

Just a quick correction. My youngest daughter is Sami (Samantha) and she is 4 (i.e. DD4).

 

[dmonroe]

Just bumping back up so I can find it easier! LOL

 

[Babs417]

Love to seeeverybody posting. I tried to book our room for night befor cruise but not until 330 befor. Its raing and nasty in N.J.

 

[Kimmielee]

Just a quick correction. My youngest daughter is Sami (Samantha) and she is 4 (i.e. DD4).

My apologies! I've made the correction.... I think I was so excited with all the new families that I wrote down the wrong thing! Thanks for letting me know!

 

[*love*2*shop]

Gosh, we'll need an ARK if it doesnt stop raining!~~ there is NO way I will last 11 more months..........................without a DISNEY FIX........

 

[rer1972]

WOW! A lot of new folks while I was away! Welcome everyone!

OK, now for the low-down on the weekend.

We arrive in Orange Beach around 1000. Check in as planned. Same hotel I've stayed at before so it was like coming home. Sleep....sleep....ALARM! 0600!

We get to the campsite as the others are cooking breakfast I sit to read the instructions on my tent. I guess I looked really helpless b/c 2 dads came over and put it up for me. I notice that the sides are mesh with no zipper window covers. I'm told that they are made like that sometimes now. Then I see we put a cover over it apparently called a "rain fly" it covers the sides so I'm happy. I throw all of our stuff in there and off we go to eat. After we eat it's off we go to Pensacola Naval Air Station! To see who? who? BLUE ANGELS! We get there and park, no problem. If you've ever been to an airshow you know that a lot of things happen. This one is the 60th anniversary and there are some special planes flying. The older bi-wings make me nervous so we head off to look at all of the ones on display. We take some silly pics of us getting "sucked" into the engine of a cargo plane and things like that. I hear music to my ears being announced, "Now we will demonstrate an F-15 for you this afternoon." I almost scream like a girl at a Backstreet Boys concert! I have been in love with those planes since Top Gun! I grab Ethan and RUN to the runway. I hear it coming and almost cry I'm so excited. Now, I don't get really excited over too many things, but this is one of those things. It was freaking awesome. I'm glad I bought E earplugs. I don't like them, the noise is part of the experience for me. This plane is incredible. It screams by, Ethan ducks and I'm laughing like a mad woman. I look at E and say, "Now that's what I'm talking about!" and that becomes the phrase of the day. It does a few more things and lands. So we eat and go back to our chairs. We decide to go walking again and I hear some more magic words, "FA-18 hornet". Those are the planes the Blue Angels fly but not one of them. This is a solo. Let me tell you all about it They (the pilot and navigator) take off almost vertically. I look at Ethan and he says, "That's what I'm talking about".
This plane actually hit supersonic and you could see the shockwaves coming off of the wings. Looks like vapor puffs and then a BOOM! OOPS! I thought they weren't allowed to break the sound barrier, maybe just this once. Ethan's face lit up. Now for the really exciting part, when they landed, there was a loud BOOM and the announcer comes on and says they blew a tire and have to do an emergency procedure. The pilot had to put the plane in the grass and spin it around to stop it before it goes out of control. I thought dude was going to flip the plane. He kinda did a spin in the grass like the burnouts after car races. Was kinda scary. That delayed the show for about 45 min so they could change the tire and get it out of the grass. I didn't realize it was dangerous until later. Not for us, for the pilot and navigator. Finally the Blue Angels fly and it was awesome as usual. When they were flying a cold front is blowing in and the temp goes from 82 to 57 in about an hour. Miserable. Did I mention the wind was blowing about 15mph. That may not seem like a lot, but when you are dressed for 82 and slightly sunburnt, it's cold.
On the way back to the camp site, Ethan decides he wants shrimp and I want a LOTTO ticket. We stop to get my ticket. I buy a LOTTO one and 2 scratch offs. I doubled my money on the scratch offs so I stop there. We go eat and head back to camp. I drive up and my tent looks like it's going to blow away. One of the dads comes to help and I'm not so sure about sleeping in it with the wind blowing like it did. We blow up the air mattresses anyway. Ethan has the idea to park the car in front of the tent to block the wind. Helps a little, but not enough. We go to dinner and I tell everyone if my car isn't there in the morning, not to worry. We will be at the hotel LOL! We try the tent out for about 45 min. It's getting colder and the wind isn't stopping. I wanted to try, but E looked at me and said, "hotel". I called my "home" and they only had 3 rooms left. Before I knew it , "Book it" came flying out of my mouth. I put all of our things in the car that I didn't want blown away and try to find someone awake to tell. Lights were out so we left. We stayed in our warm room watching football. I felt guilty, but E said it, not me . The next morning we go back to camp to break the tent down and cook breakfast. Lo and behold, another family was right down the hall from us at the HOTEL! They couldn't do it either so I didn't feel bad anymore. Some of the wives said if they were without a husband they would've filled the hotel up! LOL! Yet another advantage of being a single mom .
We broke camp after breakfast, went to the beach and got a bucket of sand *don't ask*. We went to the zoo at Gulf Shores. If any of you watch Animal Planet, it's the "Little Zoo that Could". AP followed their rebuilding after hurricane Ivan and still film there. I was so hoping they wouldn't be there today, and they weren't. We got to feed camels, ducks, deer, goats and an unknown furry animal. We were able to pet a chinchilla, feret, snake, alligator and various other animals. We got attacked by geese b/c we were finished feeding them but they weren't full!
Gosh, I didn't mean to give y'all a play by play of my weekend. We had so much fun though! All of this and I'm off tomorrow for Veteren's Day.

I hope I didn't bore you with my minivacation!

Happy Veteren's Day to all and THANK YOU to any veteren and family reading this!

Sounds like you had a blast (literally). I love going to airshows. My dad and I would go every year. My two favorite aircraft that I ever saw fly were a U.S. Marine AV-8B Harrier Jet and the RAF Vulcan Bomber. Both very loud and very different from anything you usually see at an airshow.

 

[vital]

Good morning everyone! Glad you didn't mind my trip report! We had a great time. Now, I really am ready for the cruise. Being at the beach and all makes me want to go NOW *stomping feet*. I guess we'll just have to make a midsummer trip back to Gulf Shores. Ah, it's nice to live just a couple of hours from the beach! If I lived on the beach, I'd never get anything done!
Have a great Monday! Oh wait, it's Tuesday. My Monday b/c we were off yesterday!

 

[dmonroe]

Hi, Vital!
I see you are from Mississippi too. Where do you live? We are in Hattiesburg. It looks like our boys are the same age too!

Dana

 

[vital]

Hi, Vital!
I see you are from Mississippi too. Where do you live? We are in Hattiesburg. It looks like our boys are the same age too!

Dana

I grew up in Hattiesburg! I live in the suburbs of Jackson now! I've been here since 1993. Gosh, it seems like yesterday. Welcome! Are y'all driving down next year or flying? I think we are driving. It will save about 500 bucks and that is our 2 night stay at WL.

Edited to add: Did you grow up in Hattiesburg? I knew a couple of Dana's from there. I don't want to give out the last name, but her dad owned a beer company .

 

[dmonroe]

OMG! That's me--the beer company. Looking at your user name, I thought I knew who you were! LOL If you're who I think you are, I think we probably graduated together!

Yeah, I think we will probably drive too. I would really love to fly, but it would probably add at least another $1200 with airfare and transfers. We just got back from Disney, and the ride home was not pleasant at all. I expected the 2 year old to be horrible, but it was the 7 year old that was a pain!

This is so cool to see someone that I think I know on this board!

 

[vital]

OMG! That's me--the beer company. Looking at your user name, I thought I knew who you were! LOL If you're who I think you are, I think we probably graduated together!

Yeah, I think we will probably drive too. I would really love to fly, but it would probably add at least another $1200 with airfare and transfers. We just got back from Disney, and the ride home was not pleasant at all. I expected the 2 year old to be horrible, but it was the 7 year old that was a pain!

This is so cool to see someone that I think I know on this board!

This is wild! We will have a lot to talk about on the cruise!

How long did it take you to get there? I'm thinking of leaving here around 2pm and driving straight through. We will be staying at the WL so we can be close to MK. My son, Ethan, is used to driving down to Gulf Shores and New Orleans so as long as he gets that portable DVD player for Christmas he'll be good to go. We were just in Pensacola last weekend and I was thinking it was a little under half-way! I know the drive home will be worse, but is it really that bad?

 

[dmonroe]

I'll have to tell Logan that he'll have a friend already on the ship! He'll be 8 when we cruise.
It takes us about 10 hours to drive straight through. It really isn't that bad as long as they are watching TV. I think this year was the worst because Logan has a real concept of time now. He knows how long 10 hours is!
You guys will have so much fun at WL. We ate there on our last trip, and it was really pretty. I would love to stay there someday, but I am too lazy. I love BW because we can walk to Epcot and MGM.
I think we will leave that Friday morning and drive straight through too. I am thinking of staying at the Country Inn and Suites and using the shuttle. People seem to like it.

We'll have lots to catch up on on the cruise, but we'll have to keep "talking" until then!

 

[Kimmielee]

I'll have to tell Logan that he'll have a friend already on the ship! He'll be 8 when we cruise.

Logan will have more friends... Noah turns 8 just before we sail!! How awesome that you two went to school together!!

 

[dmonroe]

Cool! I think it's great that there will be several boys close to his age. I think I will probably have to beg Logan to leave the kid's club. LOL

 

[vital]

It's freaking cold here! The wind is blowing about 30 mph! BRRRRRR!

 

[1princessesmom]

Hi everybody!

We are very excited to be joining you on this MAGICal, Spooky cruise~~
THis is our 2nd Disney cruise. CAN"T WAIT!!

My DH, DD 6 and DS 5 and myself are traveling with Lynderella, who is already listed on your growing DIS board passenger list. Are we planning to do a DIS passenger trick-or-treat like was done on-board this past Halloween?

See ya on-board!!