Of Mice, Dolphins and Other Wildlife

[mandymouse]

Another lovely day Corinna I love your sunset photos.

I look forward to your next installment

 

[natalielongstaff]

Love the new pics you've added

 

[Latte Lover]

I've just caught up and I'm really enjoying your reports, Corinna.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Day 7

We had shot ourselves a little own goal that morning. Before we went to bed the previous night, we had to put the clock one hour back. Because we had enjoyed the sunrise so much the previous day, we decided to set a wake up call for 6:45 to go up to deck 9 to watch the sunrise. On the Disney Magic Mickey Mouse calls you if you request a wake up call. He rang us at the requested time. We got up and got dress, went up to deck 9 - and found that the sun was already high in the sky. It had not occurred to either of us that because we had put back the clocks, the sunrise was an hour earlier. Still, there was hardly anybody around and it was a beautiful morning so we sat down outside the Cove Café, got some coffee and enjoyed the view.
Once Lumieres opened, we went down to get some breakfast. I had Eggs Benedict and those were as good as ever. DH had some French Toast with grilled pineapple, which he also enjoyed. After our leisurely breakfast, we both went our way. DH went to get some more exercise and I went to a scrap booking party at Animators Palate.

Scrap booking is something I always wanted to try, but never had quite got around to. One of the main problems was that I was not really sure where to start. So this was a welcome opportunity for me. There were loads of people there, but people came and went throughout. We were each given two scrapbook pages and they had put various brochures plus some letterheads out to cut up as well as foam letters and sea creatures. I am not very artistic, but this is one of those crafts where I can achieve a great result with minimal skill. I had a great time. Unfortunately I never got around to actually buying a scrapbook. This is on the "To Do List" for my next cruise. There were some other people from our Cruise Meet thread at the scrap booking party as well and it was nice to chat while we were working on our pages.

I had half an hour before the next thing I wanted to attend so I went up to deck 9 for something to drink and some fresh air. I then headed down to Diversions to attend the DVC Group Presentation for prospective members. They had encouraged us the day before to attend those and as there was a draw for a $300 On Board Credit and I had nothing else planned, I decided to go. I was very surprised when DH showed up as well as he did not even come for the Member Celebration. Of course, we did not win anything, but it was informative and I found out some things I had not known before.

After the DVC presentation, I went back to deck 9. I had made an appointment the previous day to have my hair braided. I had considered to have it done at Seaworld, but they wanted $55 plus tax for a half head of corn rows. On the Magic I ended up paying $18 for the same thing and it looked great. I was surprised on how little time it took. The only slight problem was that the hair braiding station is right across from the gazebo that they use for some of the character Meet and Greets. Just as I sat down, Stitch came out. Since our cruises last year, he is one of my favourite characters and I had not seen him up to this point. Unfortunately he went in just as I was finished.

Once I was all done, I went down to the cabin to get changed. We had High Tea at Palo booked and Palo is really the only place on the Magic where a dress code is enforced. Once I was changed, I joined DH who was attending a detox seminar. Having done nutrition for three years at college, a lot of it made sense to me. However, I rather suspect that it went straight over the heads of most people. It turned out to be just one giant sales presentation where they tried to sell their very expensive detox remedies.

After the seminar, we headed up to Palo for High Tea where we proceeded to eat and drink all the things that we now knew that they are bad for us ;-) We got a table by the window and had a gorgeous view. We were surprised how empty Palo was. When I asked our server about this, he said that they only allow 30 people per sea day to come to tea and that there had been some last minute cancellations as well.

I had read a lot of very rotten reviews about the High Tea at Palo which ranged from not enough food to the food being inedible. Our table mates from last year also advised that we should avoid this at all cost. I was torn about this for a long time. In the end I could not believe that any meal at Palo would be truly awful and figured that even if it was, I was happy to pay $5 per person just for the atmosphere and the view.

We had not been lucky enough to get any meal at Palo on the Magic last year, but had both dinner and Brunch at Palo on the Wonder. So we kind of knew what we were letting ourselves in for. Our server was Stan from France. He previously worked at Chefs de France at Epcot. He was frightfully efficient. As soon as we sat down, he swapped the cloth napkins on the table for some that matched the colour of our outfits. He then offered us tea. DH went for English Breakfast Tea, and I had the Chai. I was expecting tea bags, but no it was proper loose leave tea. We both got a tea pot and a strainer each. My tea was lovely and DH seemed to enjoy his team, too. Shortly afterwards, a plate of sandwiches was brought out. The sandwiches were small in size, but big on flavour. We got cucumber sandwiches, salmon and cream cheese, prawns with Marie-Rose Sauce and my favourite, Prosciutto with grilled vegetables and shaved Parmesan Cheese. Next up were scones that were crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. They were served with proper clotted cream and strawberry jam (or jelly for those of you in the USA). Our server offered us more scones, but we declined and I am glad that we did as there was more to come. Next up was an old-fashioned silver cake stand with mini chocolate éclairs and fruit tarts. By that time we were pretty stuffed, but there was still some sherry trifle to come. We really enjoyed it. Yes, it was maybe not as leisurely as some of the high teas available in the UK, but all the food was delicious and there was plenty of it and for me it was just the right length.

When we left Palo, we took a walk around the ship. DH had somehow found out about the “secret” area on deck 7 aft and we decided to check this out. When we got there, we were the only people there and it was really peaceful just sitting there and watching the ocean all around us. As the sunset approached, some more people joined us. The sunset was very different from Key West, but just as pretty.

Once the sun had set, I went back to the cabin to get ready for formal night. I had bought a new evening gown for the occasion and had some custom jewellery made. The show that night was Golden Mickeys, one of the production shows. I had seen this last year on the Magic and it was my least favourite of the production shows. So I decided to give it a miss.

On Formal Night, the Captain’s Reception takes place. For about 45 minutes they serve free cocktails and there is an opportunity to have your photo taken with the captain. I could not tell you what the cocktail was that I got handed as soon as I entered the atrium, but it was tasty and as I am still alive and well, it obviously did not contain banana.

The captain on that cruise was the same as on our cruise on the Magic last year. Well, Captain Tom is probably about the best in the industry, but you would not describe him as sociable unlike his counterpart on the Wonder. It is fairly obvious that he does not exactly look forward to mingling with the “cargo”. I think I start to understand why. There was only one family in front of us waiting to have their photo taken with Captain Tom, but when I turned around I noticed that the line to have your photo taken with the Helmsman Mickey statue snaked halfway down deck 3. I think I would be a little bit unhappy about this as well.

When it was our turn, we were introduced to the captain and we even exchanged a few words. He told us that this was the roughest that the sea has been in over a month. As the sea was still as smooth as a millpond most of the time with very little movement at the other times, I found this hard to believe. We had our photo taken with Captain Tom. This might well become a collector’s item. Unbeknown by us, this was one of the last cruises that Captain Tom was in charge of the Magic. He is currently on holiday and then he will go to Germany to oversee the building of the Disney Dream of which he will be the master when she sets sail in early 2011.

There are always plenty of photo opportunities on formal night and we made good use of those. Once we had the photos with the backdrops taken, I headed up to deck 4 to have my photo taken with Mickey in his formal gear.

DH is not into the characters and stayed downstairs and waited for me.
Dinner that night was in my favourite restaurant Lumieres. This has a Beauty and the Beast theme and is truly beautiful.

Because of formal night, the same menu was served in all three restaurants. The menu for the night was the Golden Mickeys Menu. I had Double-Baked, Aged Reggiano Parmesan Cheese Soufflé with Gorgonzola, Spinach and Mascarpone Sauce (I normally don’t like blue cheese or spinach, but this was yummy), Sangria Bisque and Roasted Fillet of Beef Wellington with Fingerling Potatoes, Baby Vegetables and a beautiful Cabernet and Black Truffle Sauce. The whole meal was absolutely divine. I passed on dessert that night. DH had ordered the New Zealand Rack of Lamb. Somehow our server had got his wires crossed and instead of the Rack of Lamb, he had brought DH the Beef Wellington as well. When DH told him, he initially was going to take the plate away, but then told DH to eat and enjoy and he went to get him the Rack of Lamb as well. To my immense surprise, DH polished off both main courses and there was not a crumb left over. He even managed Ricotta Crème Brulee for dessert as well. What is really unfair is that he still managed to lose weight on the cruise.

On our way back to the cabin, I spotted Minnie in her formal dress. So I sent DH back to the cabin and had a photo taken with Minnie.

As part of our Romance package, we got a Romance Turn Down Service one night and that was scheduled for this night. We had the best intentions to open our bottle of champagne, but we were both so stuffed that we never did. The bed looked so pretty. Our stateroom host had sprinkled real rose petals all over the covers and there were two kissing towel swans and two cute little washcloth chicks. It look all so beautiful that it was a shame to destroy it, but we were ready for bed and we knew that we had a busy day ahead of ourselves, so the rose petals were gathered up and the assorted towel animals carefully moved to the sofa.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Day 8

We had set another wake up call and Mickey called us bright and early. I had set the wake up call a little earlier on purpose as it was DH’s birthday and I wanted to congratulate him and give him his present before we went down to breakfast. He liked his digital camcorder, but because we were going on an excursion that involved sand and seawater and he had not had time in any case to read the instructions, the camera stayed in the cabin.

Breakfast was again at Lumieres where I got my Eggs Benedict and DH had a full cooked breakfast. After breakfast, we did not have far to go as our meeting point for our excursion was at Studio Sea, which is right above Lumieres. We had given ourselves plenty of time. When we came out of the restaurant, I spotted Lilo and Stitch just outside. As the line was not too long, I decided to have my photo taken with them. I have quite a few photos with Stitch, but I never got one with Lilo. As Stitch is one of my favourite characters anyway, this was too good to pass up.

Once I had my photo taken, we headed upstairs to the meeting point. We got there a little early and I really wish we had not. Our meeting time was 9:20, but it was about an hour later until we were finally off the ship.

To my immense surprise, there were loads of families with babies and toddlers there. Considering that this was an excursion that was heavily water based, I did not really expect this. This proved to be interesting in a number of ways. First of all, babies and toddlers don’t take kindly to just having to sit around in a room full of people, with nothing to do and not even any windows to look out of. So the noise level soon became quite high. Fortunately the cast member who had been put in charge of getting us organized, had a microphone. That part was actually quite well organized. We were encouraged to help ourselves to towels, which were provided. Then one member from each family was to come up to check in with the excursion tickets, ID and the room key for every member of the family and the inevitable signed waiver. had been collected, you were then given a character sticker for each member of your family. That in itself took a while. However, once everybody was checked in, we still did not go anywhere. Grand Cayman is a tender port and we were advised that the tender lobby was congested, because a lot of excursions were meeting at the same time and we would have to wait until they have a tender boat ready for us. Eventually this call came and we had to head from deck 4 midship to deck 1 forward in a fairly large group. Remember all those babies and toddlers that I mentioned? Well most of them had buggies and had to wait for the lifts. Everybody else went down the stairs.

Once we got to the tender lobby, this was well organized. There was a minimal wait to have our room keys scanned and then we were on the boat. I use this term loosely. Essentially the tender boat was a floating platform with three levels. I love the ocean and I love ships, but my love does not really extend to boats at the best of times and I was definitely less than impressed with this boat. Still, the sea was calm and a beautiful deep turquoise, the trip was short and we got a really good view of the three cruise ships (two Carnival ships and the Magic) that were anchored at Grand Cayman that day. Getting off the boat was a different matter. The gangway was quite steep and considering how calm the sea was, bounced around an awful lot.

Once we were safe and sound on dry land, we were met by a cast member, who pointed us towards yet another meeting point. This was in the shade and we waited there until everybody was off the tender boat. Once we moved, I thought that we were finally on our way. However, we moved all of 200 yards where we were met by staff from the tour operator. They came to check everybody’s ticket stub and game us a wristband and our lunch ticket, which was a bit of a surprise as we were not aware that lunch was included. The whole process again seemed to take forever and the sun was burning down on us and there was no shade.

Eventually we headed for the buses. Our driver was a real character and told us a bit about the various landmarks we passed and the history of Grand Cayman. After about 20 minutes, we arrived at Boatswain’s Beach Marine Adventure Park. We were given a guided tour when we arrived. Boatswain’s Beach is the location of the Grand Cayman Turtle Farm. We had a look at the breeding lagoon and the various turtle holding pools and then we were given the opportunity to hold some of the younger turtles. We also had a look at the education centre, the turtle hatchery/ nursery, the predator lagoon and the aviary and then we were let loose on the beach by the snorkeling lagoon.

Once the tour was over, we spent some time just sitting in the aviary observing the birds. I was given some food to hand feed the Scarlet Ibises. We saw most of the birds that we had come to see, but the Blue-Gray Tanager, who we had been particularly interested in, was nowhere to be seen. By that time, the water was calling me. They have a big snorkeling lagoon with numerous islands and little waterways. I have never got the hang of snorkeling, but I got a life vest (compulsory) and had a leisurely swim. The water was very clear and even without mask and snorkel; I saw plenty of fish and even a few turtles. Of course, as soon as I was in the water, I saw the elusive just Blue-Gray Tanager who was just casually flitting backwards and forwards between the restaurant and one of the islands. Unfortunately DH was not with me at the time, but he saw one of them in roughly the same spot later. I also saw plenty of iguanas, who were sunning themselves on the islands.

I had met up again with DH and we were considering getting out of the water, when something long, thin and striped was swimming right in front of us. My first reaction was that this was a snake and I started to panic. I am deadly scared of snakes. Suddenly I noticed that there was something more to this snake as the whole body surfaced. It was not a snake at all, but the tail of an iguana that had decided to go for a swim. Neither of us was aware that iguanas can even swim. We kept at a respectful distance and watched this beautiful animal.

Once the iguana went back on land, we decided that it was time for us to leave the water as well. We were the only people left in the lagoon and the beach was empty. We tried off and went to get some lunch. We had the choice between cheeseburger with various salads and Jerk Chicken with Rice and Pea. DH had the burger and I went for the chicken. The food was quite tasty. We also got a free soft drink each.

After lunch, we headed towards the entrance of the park and had a quick look at the gift shop. We had been told to be back at the bus at 2 PM as we were going to visit “Hell” on the way back to the port. When we arrived at the bus, our driver was sporting horns and a trident. Neither of us was particularly looking forward to this side trip. I had read that this is just a tourist trap and best to be missed. However, we were rather impressed by what we saw. Hell is a limestone formation that is coated in algae and therefore looks charcoal grey instead of the normal white.

After the stop at Hell, we headed back to the port. A tender boat was already waiting for us and this time round it had actually deserved the name “boat”. Even though the sea still looked very calm, it was quite a bumpy ride. I was more than just a little nervous getting off the boat and onto the ship as the boat was rocking quite a lot. Fortunately there were two cast members helping people to get back onto the ship.

Once we were back on the ship, we dropped our stuff in our cabin and then headed up to the Rainforest Room. DH did the rounds of the steam rooms and the sauna and I relaxed on a heated tile lounger with my book.

One of the production shows was shown that night. I had missed Twice Charmed last year, as I was too busy getting ready for formal night. So this time round I really wanted to see it. It starts where the Cinderella story ends, but an evil Fairy Godfather appears and turns back time. The glass slipper gets broken and the whole story develops differently. The show was absolutely fantastic and it was a definite bonus that I ended sitting with one of the families from our Cruise Meet thread.

Once the show was over, I headed down to the atrium to get my photo taken with Sorcerer Mickey. Minnie dressed up as a princess was there as well and the opportunity was too good to resist.

Soon it was time to get changed. DH had made it very clear that he did not want his birthday to be celebrated in the dining room. As it turned out later, he was not even on their list of celebrations. Still, to play it safe, I had made a reservation at the adult only restaurant Palo for us for that night. The cost for the meal was included in our Romance package and we also got a bottle of wine from the premium wine list.

Our server was Stan again and he welcomed us warmly as soon as we arrived. We had a really wonderful dinner at Palo on the Wonder last year and were really looking forward to this. We were not disappointed. As soon as we sat down, Stan brought various breads with three different dips (roasted sweet pepper, tapenade and a white dip that I still have not figured out what it actually is, but it is very yummy) and an antipasti platter with Prosciutto, Bresaola, Parmesan and marinated olives. We then shared a Pizza Al Prosciutto. Palo is famous for its pizza so we wanted to try at least one. DH had the Fish and Seafood Soup for his appetizer and I had Polenta with Portobello Mushroom and a divine Roasted Shallot Sauce. I had this last year as well on recommendation of our server and it was heavenly. It was just as good this year. Then DH went with the Lobster and Mascarpone Ravioli. Last year our server brought this out as an extra dish for us to try. I don’t eat seafood so DH had it all to himself and he said that this was the best food he had all week. So he decided to order this for his main course. I had the fillet, which came with a potato gratin and a lovely wine sauce. When it came to dessert, I think we upset our server a little. Palo has a chocolate soufflé that is pretty famous and the servers just expect that everybody will want this. They need about 30 minutes advance notice to prepare this. So when he server our main courses, he asked us if we wanted the soufflé. Our answer was a resounding “no”. DH is allergic to chocolate and I simply did not care for it last year. To be honest, after trying it last year, I don’t understand what the hype is about. Instead DH had the Panna Cotta with fresh berries and I had the Gellato. I got two flavours – Chocolate Hazelnut (which tasted like Nutella, just nicer) and Pistachio and both of them were gorgeous. The whole dinner was washed down with a bottle of Fairy Tale Cuvee, which is produced exclusively for Disney. Last year we had to pay a little extra for it, but this year it was covered by our premium wine credit. The whole meal was absolutely beautiful.

After dinner, we headed back to our cabin, where our stateroom host had left us a towel turtle.

 

[TotallyAngelic]

wow wow wow wow wow

I have loved every minute of your installments - fantastic reading !!!
Beautiful photos Corinna!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Day 9

Although we did not have to meet for our excursion until 10:45, Mickey called us for our wake up call nice and early. As part of our Romance package, we got breakfast in bed one morning and this is the morning we had chosen. Breakfast through room service is available every day, but for anybody but people staying in categories 1, 2 or 3, only continental breakfast is offered. A cooked breakfast is only available for people staying in the top 3 categories every day or once during the cruise for the people who have booked the Romance Package. We had received a door hanger menu on the first day on which we could make our selections and we had to have this hanging outside the door the night before we wanted the breakfast. We ended up getting Eggs Benedict, Sausages, Hash Browns, a fresh Fruit Platter, orange juice, coffee and a glass of champagne each. What a civilized way of starting the day.

The port for that day was Cozumel. When I booked the cruise over a year ago, this was the port I was looking forward to the most. However, I had heard and read many reviews that Cozumel is essentially Nassau on steroids. As I hated Nassau last year and refused to even get of the ship on our second stop there, I had some misgivings about Cozumel. This time would be different in so far that we had booked an excursion whereas we did Nassau on our own.

Once we had our breakfast, I filled out the waiver and we gathered our belongings and headed to the meeting point. This was a completely different experience from the previous day. The meeting point was Diversions (the sports bar) on deck 3 forward). Apart from a cast member, multiple members of staff from Dolphin Discovery were present. It turned out that three different excursions were all meeting at the same place: Dolphin Encounter, Dolphin Discovery Observer and Push, Pull and Swim. I started to get this sinking feeling, but there was no need. Again, towels were given out at the meeting point and the cast member and a member of staff from Dolphin Discovery were checking waivers, IDs, room keys and gave out stickers (a different sticker for each excursion). Once everything was checked, they asked you to take your whole party to the opposite end of the room, where two other members of staff from Dolphin Discovery were giving out the wristbands. Everybody got two wristbands, one for admission to Chankanaab National Park, where Dolphin Discovery is located and one for the activity booked. There was only a minimal wait until we were told that it was time to get off the ship. We were escorted down to the gangway on deck 1 forward and off the ship by the cast member and were then met by Cesar from Dolphin Discovery. He quickly introduced himself and then escorted us to the exit of the port. There he explained that we would be going to Chankanaab by taxi and asked us to form groups of 6 to 8 people. DH and I joined a family of 4. Once the groups had been sorted out, he explained that he would pay the taxi drivers and that we were to refuse if they asked us for money. He then escorted us through the shopping centre that is part of the port complex and to the taxi rank. Considering how many people were on those three excursions combined, the whole process was incredibly smooth and soon we were on our way.

The taxi journey to Chankanaab took about 20 minutes and we had been given instructions to wait for Cesar, who was in the last taxi. They had all kinds of animals at the entrance to the park including an iguana and various parrots. Once Cesar got there, he showed us the meeting point for the return journey and explained that he would be waiting there on the half hour and on the hour to organize the taxi journey back and that the last taxi would be leaving the park at 4 PM. He then took us to the lockers so that we could get changed. Years ago we had bought shorty wetsuits, but never had used them. As I normally burn my shoulders, I decided to take my wetsuit on the cruise. DH had first shook his head, but then packed his as well. As I managed to burn the previous day, I decided that I would take my wetsuit. DH did likewise. Once we were all changed, Cesar explained that the Observers could stand on the boardwalk on top of the interaction areas and take photos. He then divided the remaining people into two groups (one for the Dolphin Encounter and one for Push, Pull and Swim). The Dolphin Encounter is just a shallow water interaction, but I had booked the Push, Pull and Swim. We met the trainers and had our induction, which was much the same as I am used to from Discovery Cove. Then it was time to get a life vest and mask and head over to the interaction area.

This was a new experience for me. I have done plenty of dolphin swims and interactions before, but always in an artificial pool or lagoon. Dolphin Discovery uses as fenced off area of the ocean. We were asked to leave our shoes on the boardwalk and then went down some stairs to the interaction platform. This was metal and quite slippery. Add to that the waves and the fact that the life vest makes you more buoyant and it was a pretty scary proposition. Our trainer introduced us to Titan, our new dolphin friend, and brought him past us a few times so that we could give him some rubdowns. I was holding onto the back fence with one hand for dear life. There were four behaviours that everybody got to experience: a kiss, a flipper shake, a ride on a body board while being pushed along by Titan and a belly ride. At any time, two people swam out to opposite sides of the interaction area, one for the body board ride and one for the belly ride. When Titan had brought one of them back to the platform, he did the kiss and the flipper shake with somebody before swimming out again to bring the next person back. I kind of panicked during the shallow water interaction. It was simply too slippery for me and I was worried that I would slip and fall. I did not go right up to the edge and the fact that the trainer was pushing me, did not help either. In the end he abandoned the exercise and send me out for the body board ride. Now, I can swim, which I think came as a bit of a surprise to the trainer and once I was properly in the water, I was perfectly happy. Once I got to the spot where I was supposed to wait, I was asked to lie on the body board with my legs behind me and the knees straight. When Titan started to push on my foot, I was unprepared and my knee buckled a little so Titan swam back without me, but he came back and this time it worked fine. It was not as painful as the foot push that I had experienced at Discovery Cove either. After a while that I stood on the platform and observed the others, I was sent out again for the belly ride. I had been lucky enough to experience this once with a dolphin, who was still in training for full interactions at Discovery Cove so I knew what to expect. This was just as enjoyable, but there was quite a difference in sheer power and strength between a juvenile female dolphin and a fully-grown male dolphin. Once everybody finished their interactions, the trainer asked me to repeat the kiss and the flipper shake and this time round I felt more comfortable. We then all swam out and were encouraged to put our masks on so that we could here the dolphin vocalize. We then gave Titan various signals for jumps, breeches and tail walks. I was a little disappointed in that part of the programme. It had been advertised as free time during which you can freely swim and interact with the dolphin. We most certainly did not get this.

Soon it was time to say goodbye to Titan and after a couple more rubdowns, we left the interaction area. We were then shown to a viewing room, to watch the DVD. I had every intention to buy this, but rather than covering the whole interaction, they had just filmed the body board ride and the belly ride. So most of the DVD was taken up with footage of the other people in the group. Needless to say, I did not get the DVD. We then went to the gift shop, where they had our photos. I really liked two of them, but DH had the locker key and was nowhere to be seen. So I asked if I could come back later and they agreed to that.

I then went off in search of DH. He was not in the freshwater Pool or the swimming lagoon, but I eventually found him in the sea. So I decided to join him. The water was very clear and very warm. The first thing I noticed was that DH was absolutely surrounded by colourful fish. Soon the same happened to me. I could not quite understand what was happening, but DH soon explained it to me. They offer various snorkeling activities as well as Sea Trek at Chankanaab. So that the tourists have something to see, they feed the fish. The staff just happen to wear black and blue wetsuits. As or wetsuits are black and blue as well, the fish thought that we were staff coming to feed them and crowded around us. It was absolutely fascinating. I happily just floated in the warm water and watched the fish. Once we had enough of this, we swam over to the dolphin area and watched the dolphins. The trainers did not mind this at all and some of the dolphins came over to have look. Once we got out of the sea, we had a quick did in their freshwater pool and then we got some lunch. We both had Nachos, which were very yummy and some soft drink. We had hoped to get a Margarita, but they only server beer. After lunch, we got changed and got the photos and then headed over to the meeting point to go back to the ship. Most people in my dolphin swim group went back as soon as the interaction was finished, which I could not understand. Cesar was already there, but asked us to wait for a few minutes to see if somebody else would turn up. Eventually a young man turned up and Cesar called a taxi for us. It turned out that the young man was from the UK as well and that he had just joined Disney Cruise Line as a cast member and was going to work at the private island Castaway Cay.

When we got back to the port, we had a look if we could get a Margarita there. However, the only possible place that we found was Senor Frog, which did not look particularly appealing. This was just a typical tourist trap. So we walked back to the ship. In the shopping centre, a number of people tried to convince us to come into their shops, but they were nowhere near as aggressive as in Nassau last year and most of them would take “no” for an answer.

We both had burned quite badly despite the wetsuits. As Chankanaab is a National Park, no sunscreen is allowed. So we decided to keep out of the sun for the rest of the day. We decided to stop at the Promenade Lounge and have a Margarita there. They also had corn chips with various dips and brought us some water and we were set for the rest of the afternoon. We were on our second drinks (Margarita for DH and a rather mediocre Caipirinha for me), when they started to set up for pirate trivia. DH mumbled something about this being the end of peace and quiet, but to my immense surprise decided to join in. We did really well and got 23 out of 25 questions correct. That made us the winners by some stretch and we each got a rather nice baseball cap with “Winner” on the front and the Disney Cruise Line logo at the back.

We were heading back to our cabin, when I spotted Stitch in his pirate costume. So I had to get my photo taken with him first. Afterwards I met up with DH in our cabin before heading up to the Rainforest Room where I just relaxed on a heated tile lounger.

There was no show that evening, but they showed Toy Story 3D instead. This was rather tempting, but as I had to get changed for Pirate Night and wanted to make use of some of the photo opportunities, I passed. I got a good haul of photos including Pirate Minnie and Pirate Mickey plus a lifestyle photo. When I got up to deck 4, I spotted poor Stitch all by himself. So I had another photo taken with him and had some one on one quality time with him.

Soon it was time for dinner. Last year, I was not too impressed with the Pirates In The Caribbean Menu, but this had an overhaul as well and was absolutely delicious. I had Pirates Golden Pot Stickers (fried oriental pork dumplings with a dipping sauce), Chilled To The Bone Honeydew and Watermelon Soup, The Dutchmen’s Dijon-Crusted Sirloin of Beef with roasted sweet potato and the trio of desserts (Shiver-me-Timbers White Chocolate Cheese Cake, Rum Barbossa and Walk The Triple Layered Chocolate Gangplank Cake). After dinner, our tablemates headed up for the Pirates In The Caribbean deck party, but we were just tired and headed for bed. In three cruises, we never managed to stay up for this. We quickly said high to our latest room mate, a towel Monkey and then fell into bed.

 

[mandymouse]

Wow, what a great few days since I last caught up with your trippy Corinna. I love the sound of Palo High Tea, I can't believe how much food was offered, hubby & I would love it We're not into the famous Palo Souffle either, we both love the Panna Cotta, it's so much lighter than the souffle, but my new fave dessert is the Tiramisu (Mmm)

Once again fab photos Corinna, you looked like you were having a great time

 

[Ware Bears]

I am so enjoying reading this and your photos are fantastic.

 

[TotallyAngelic]

WOW !!! Another wonderful day ! Your photos are really lovely - you must have spent a bomb in shutters! Well worth it though!

 

[dolphingirl47]

WOW !!! Another wonderful day ! Your photos are really lovely - you must have spent a bomb in shutters! Well worth it though!

I spent about $200 in Shutters, but it is well worth it. Not all the character photos are "official" photos though. The ones without the borders were taken by the character escorts with my camera. Some of them I like better than the ones taken by the Shutters photographer.

Corinna

 

[ForTheLoveOfDCL]

ok Awesome Corinna....I am on the dolphin swim day...still more to read!! Did not know Captain Tom was done on our Magic....glad we had him again...he's actually the only Captain we have had on all our cruises! Well off to take the girls to dance.....Be back later to read more!
Michelle

 

[ForTheLoveOfDCL]

Ok so I am back to read only to find that Pirate night was the last of the trip report so far. Corinna--where did you get the disney writing to put it on your photos? I feel like I am back on our cruise thru this trip report. I am a bit jealous that some people from our cruise thread got to enjoy your company and I missed out. Who do I have to chase down for hogging you all to themselves. I am really glad you are joining the 7 other Dreamers and I on the Mexican Riviera!! Well off to wait for you to post more about this awesome cruise we had!! TTFN

Michelle

 

[dolphingirl47]

Ok so I am back to read only to find that Pirate night was the last of the trip report so far. Corinna--where did you get the disney writing to put it on your photos? I feel like I am back on our cruise thru this trip report. I am a bit jealous that some people from our cruise thread got to enjoy your company and I missed out. Who do I have to chase down for hogging you all to themselves. I am really glad you are joining the 7 other Dreamers and I on the Mexican Riviera!! Well off to wait for you to post more about this awesome cruise we had!! TTFN

Michelle

The photos with the writing on are all Shutters photos. I bought quite a few. I do have a Disney font though that I used for our lanyards, which I found by just Googling for Disney font.

Hopefully there will be another installment of the trip report tonight.

Corinna

 

[dolphingirl47]

Day 10

We had a leisurely start to the day. This was our second sea day and we did not have a great deal planned. With us having a reservation at Palo for brunch that day, we did not even have to worry about breakfast.

Once we were up and about, we went up to deck 9. DH had brought the camcorder and the manual and we made ourselves comfortable inside the Cove Café. DH had his usual Latte and I had an iced Mocha. One of the drinks was even free, as we had collected enough stamps on our loyalty card. Of course, I could not resist the Stollen Bread either.

Once DH was happy that he understood the basic functions of the camera, we had a walk around the ship to film various bits and pieces. On deck 4, DH’s Winner’s cap blew off and I ended up running after it and on deck 3 we met the captain. Other than that our filming session was quite eventless.

Soon it was time to go back to the cabin to get changed for Brunch. We arrived at Palo a little early, but were seated straight away. We were welcomed with a champagne cocktail, which this time round was a Kir Royal, which was very tasty. Stan then gave us the guided tour around the buffet. The spread was fantastic as usual. They had a seafood section, an antipasti section, an area with various breads and cheeses, an area with all kinds of pastries and the dessert buffet. They also made various pizzas, egg dishes and lunch dishes to order. Once we had the guided tour, Stan brought us orange juice and coffee; and then we were let loose on the buffet. I helped myself to some olives, prosciutto, hummus and some bread. DH had some seafood. He had some stone crab claws earlier in the week and did not rate them at all, but he had some Alaskan King Crab legs at Palo and really enjoyed them. Once we had raided the buffet, we decided to order a couple of pizzas and share them. So we had a pepperoni pizza and a Tuscan Sausage Pizza and they were both lovely. Originally we had planned on ordering two main courses as well and sharing them, but a fish dish was too tempting for DH. As I don’t eat fish, I ordered Chicken Parmigiana on a bed of creamy risotto, which was absolutely divine. Once we had our main courses, we had some dessert. I had some chocolate cream and a shot of Tiramisu and DH had some mini fruit tarts.

After brunch, DH went to work off the food in the gym and I headed for the matinee of Disney Dreams. Disney Dreams is in my opinion the best of the production shows and it is also the most popular. So I knew that the theater would be very full in the evening. For the matinee it was only about two thirds full. The show was as good as I remembered. It is the story about a little girl, Anne-Marie, who is taught by Peter Pan and Tinkerbell that dreams can come true if she only believes in herself and the power of dreams. Throughout the show, stories in which somebody’s dream came true come to life. The whole show is absolutely stunning and very moving.

After the show, I headed down to the Promenade Lounge for another trivia contest. However, as the dream team from the previous day was only at half strength, I did not do too well.

I decided to head for the Rainforest Room. Unfortunately all the tile loungers were occupied. So I relaxed in the sauna for a bit until a tile lounger became free.

We also had the Exotic Rasul booked for that afternoon. We did this on the Norwegian Jade in May and thoroughly enjoyed it. So I booked this for us on the Magic as well. When we arrived at the reception, we had to fill out a health questionnaire and then were shown to the treatment suite. This is a two-part room. The first room had a stone bench with towels and bowls of scrub and mud, a table with all kinds of lotions and potions and a shower. The second room was the actual steam room with three tile benches with showerheads overhead and on the sides and a hose for each bench. This set up was very different then on the Jade. Their showerheads were on the ceiling of the steam room and they came on automatically. The steam room on the Magic was too hot for me. Part of the reason for that was probably that the steam was permanently on, whereas on the Jade, you had to press a button to start the steam and it would automatically switch off when the showers came on. The principle was the same though. We were given a bowl with a body scrub (Oat and Cinnamon instead of Ginger and Lime) and a bowl with a seaweed mud. We were told to have a shower first so that the skin was damp and then put on the scrub and go into the steam room for 15 minutes and then wash it off. Afterwards, we were supposed to try off, apply the mud and then go into the steam room for another 15 minutes. I think the longest I was in that steam room was 5 minutes and then I had to get out as it was simply too hot. Still, I did feel like I got some benefit from it. Once the mud had been washed off, we applied some of the oils that had been left for us. Outside the treatment suite is a seating area with iced water and we were encouraged to sit there and relax while drinking plenty. We definitely did that.

Once I got back to the cabin, I went and did a Fish Extender run. I had made mobile phone charms spelling out the word Magic with Swarovski crystals in the colours of the ship as accents for the girls aged 6 and older and for the women. For the boys, I had made bag charms. The younger boys got Mickeys and the older boys got skulls with Mickey ears. As I had labeled all of them, it took me forever to give them out. In the end I had to give up with the job only half done as it was time to get changed for dinner.

That night was semi-formal night and the menu was the Captains’s Gala Menu. That night is also known as lobster night. For us it was not really of interest as I don’t eat seafood and DH did not really rate the lobster last year.

When we got to the table, our server presented DH with a kid’s menu with a rather mischievous smile. Of course DH rose to the bait and ended up ordering something from the kids menu – as a side order.

DH started with Oysters Rockefeller (I did not even know that he likes Oysters and I had Grilled Vegetables and Beef Prosciutto followed by Beef and Sundried Tomato Consomme. Then it got tricky last year I had the Fettucine with Parmesan-Crusted Chicken and really liked it. However, the Panko-Breaded Pork-Envelope filled with Ham and Gruyere Cheese sounded also very nice, but I did not like the side dishes that came with that. In the end I went for Fettucine with Parmesan-Crusted Chicken, but had the pork minus the side dishes as well. DH had the Pork with the side dishes, but he had the Kid's Surf and Turf with Chips on the side. We were both pretty full, but I simply could not resist the Mango Flavoured Sundae. Lets face it, there is always room for ice cream

After dinner she spotted that they had the sunset backdrop with the Mickey-shaped cloud out on deck 4 and there was nobody in line for this. So we had our photo taken before we went back to our cabin.

In the cabin we found a beautiful towel peacock. Once I taken photos of our newest room mate, we went to bed.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Day 11

Time sure flies if you are having fun. When we woke up, we knew that this was our last full day on the Magic. When we went down to deck 3, we were already docked at Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island in the Bahamas. This is my idea of paradise. There is some construction going on as they are currently extending the dock and the facilities for the arrival of the new ships, but that does not really distract from the beauty of the island.

We had plenty of time, we had Parasailing booked, but not until 9:30. So we headed to Lumieres so that I could get Eggs Benedict one last time. DH just had a nomal cooked breakfast. We ended up being served by our assistant server Benny and we were seated with one of the couples that we were sharing a table with at dinner.

I have to admit we were both a little nervous about Parasailing as neither of us has a head for heights. We were teased mercilessly over breakfast. Soon it was time to get off the ship. We collected our towels and had our photo taken with the ship in the background before heading to the meeting point.

We had booked this excursion on both of our two previous Disney cruises and both times it was cancelled due to the weather. It was a case of third time lucky as this time round the excursion was not cancelled. We were asked to fill out the waiver and then to wait until the rest of the group had gathered and the boats had returned from the previous excursion. We saw one of the boats with somebody parasailing and I got even more nervous than I was anyway.

Soon it was time to get on the boat. The crew introduced themselves to us and explained how it would work. Due to the wind conditions, most people went up tandem, but as our combined weight would have been too much DH and I went up solo. The boat was incredibly quick and I felt a little green around the gills. Soon the first pair was in the air and it looked utterly terrifying. After a few more pairs had gone up, it was DH’s turn. They put the sitting harness and a life vest on him and then he stepped up to the platform at the back of the boat where they attached the parachute to the harness. Before you knew it, he was airborne. He had asked to be dunked as far as possible and they were only too happy to oblige. He came back to the boat with a huge smile. After he was back in the boat, one other pair went up and then it was my turn. I have to say, by that time I was very close to chickening out. Still, before I had a great deal of time to think, the harness had gone on and I was attached to the parachute and I was up and away. The experience was absolutely amazing. It is so quiet and peaceful up there. Initially I focused on the Magic, but soon I just enjoyed the fabulous view. I was probably up there for about 8 minutes. Suddenly I seemed t lean slightly forwards and the boat started to get closer. I was being reeled in. I did not even get my feet wet. I think this might have something to do with the fact that I wore long trousers to keep the sun off my skin and a long sleeved shirt. Little did they know what I would get up to later! I had a safe landing and went to join DH in the front of the boat. After me there was one more pair to go up and then we went back to the boat dock.

Once we had collected our belongings, we headed to the tram stop to the family beach and after a quick bathroom stop and a quick look at the shop, we got on the tram to the adult beach, Serenity Bay. DH offered to get me a float, but I declined. I was in the mood for swimming. DH swam a long way out, but I stayed within my comfort zone. He actually saw some nurse sharks. The fish I saw where all together smaller, but again I was surrounded by tropical fish. I had gone into the sea fully dressed, but this did not hinder me at all. I managed to just float with minimal movements and enjoyed the fish around me. Soon Dh came to join me and we just happily floated together, pointing out to each other what we had seen.

We started to get a bit hungry so we headed over to the barbecue near the adult beach. I some steak and various salads, but unfortunately they had run out of the Cookies and Cream Frozen Yoghurt. After lunch, we went back into the sea just floating and enjoying watching the fish that came by. Soon it was time to head back to the ship. We took the two trams again. Near the ship, they were giving out cups of iced water and cold face clothes. This was absolutely heavenly. We rinsed the sand of our feet at showers on the dock and then we got back on the Magic for the last time.

When we got back to ship, we did our packing as we had to put out our suitcases after dinner. I then headed up to guest services to sort out the tips as we had those added to our onboard account. I also had to give out the last of the Fish Extender gifts. DH headed up to the Rainforest Room and I joined him there as soon as I was done for a last session on the heated tile loungers. All too soon it was time to get back to the cabin to get ready for dinner.

On that evening two of the couples that had been sharing the table with us all week had gone up to Palo for dinner. So there were only four of us for dinner that night. Before I carry on with the normal broadcast, I just wanted to say that I had a fantastic cruise, still, I was ready to get off the ship, or so I thought.

The menu for that night was Till We Meet Again and we were at Lumieres that night. I had got to dinner a little late as I wanted to sort out my photo package and the lines were huge. We had decided to get a bottle of wine that night and DH was waiting for me to come back to order the wine. Well, the bottle of wine was never forthcoming. This really surprised me as there is an auto-gratuity on any alcohol so I thought they would be only too happy to sell us a bottle of wine. Still, the meal was very enjoyable without the wine as well.

I started the meal with Grilled Chicken Satays with a yoghurt sauce followed Potato and Leek Soup. This was normally served with Caviar, but I managed to get it without the Caviar. For my main course I had chosen grilled Beef Tenderloin with Williams Potato, Asparagus Spears, Baby Vegetables and Bearnaise Sauce. Unfortunately it got mixed up and I ended up with a well-done steak and one of our tablemates with my medium rare steak. This was sorted out soon enough.

During this dinner on the Magic they celebrate the cultural diversity of the crew. The serving staff come out waving flags that represent all the nationalities of the ship and they play It’s A Small World by the Baha Men. I remembered this from the Magic last year, but they did not do this on the Wonder. Anyway, this just melts me. After I had been sure that I was ready to get of the ship, I was suddenly fighting back the tears. Funny enough, this song together with my ship horn ring tone is what keeps the memories alive for me. I looked for this for the best part of a year, but I finally found it and it now has pride of place on my iPhone.

For dessert that night I had the traditional Baked Alaska. I had never had that before and did not really rate it, but I am glad that I tried it once. After dessert, the other two couples came back from Palo and we just sat and chatted for a while.

We went straight back to the cabin after dinner as we had to put our suitcases out. On the last night they have all the characters coming out after the second dinner seating and this is meant to be really lovely. However, after three cruises, I still have not managed to see this.

The towel animal that day was rather disappointing. It was supposed to be a fish, but even I could have done this and I did not even bother to take a photo. We headed for bed for our last night on the ship.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Day 12

All too soon the last morning had arrived. I had woken up in the middle of the night and there was finally some movement. I was gently rocked back to sleep. Mickey gave us our last wake up call, we packed the last odds and ends into our hand luggage, checked three times that we had left nothing behind and took our hand luggage to head for breakfast.

On the last morning you have breakfast in the restaurant that you had been allocated for the previous evening. You also eat with your tablemates and are served by your serving team. They just serve a reduced menu, but they do a barbecue chicken omelet, which I love. So I was happy. We had a leisurely breakfast, but soon it was time to say our good byes to our tablemates and our serving team. I was a little sad, but the fact that I had rebooked on board for the Eastbound Transatlantic that would set sail exactly 6 month later softened the blow a little. I had one last look across the atrium and then I stepped onto the gangway and into the terminal building.

This year there was no hold up and we were allowed into the luggage hall pretty much straight away. We both decided to use the bathroom before we got our luggage and when I came out of the bathroom, DH had already located our suitcases. The lines for customs were huge and it did not help either that one of the cast members directed us to the wrong line. We had been told to join the line for US Residents. Another Cast Member came to our rescue and the correct line was really quite short. The customs official had actually spend some time studying in Germany in my favourite city Mainz so we had a brief chat with her.

As soon as we stepped out of the terminal building, we were directed to the check in desk for the buses. They checked our key card and directed us to a Mears mini bus. One family of three was already on there and they loaded our luggage. Then we waited for another couple to appear. I had assumed that everybody would be going to the same place, Animal Kingdom Lodge/ Villas. However, before we left, a cast member came to say good bye and explained that we would be calling at Old Key West, Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge. For those of you not familiar with the layout of Walt Disney World, Old Key West and Animal Kingdom Lodge are about as far away from each other as you get with Wilderness Lodge roughly in the middle. I remember having one last long look at the Magic and the rest of the journey is a bit of a blur until we entered Walt Disney World. I think I might have had a bit of a nap.

Our first stop was Old Key West. This was really strange for us. Old Key West is our home resort and we love it dearly, however, we were going to have 4 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge first before moving to Old Key West for 5 nights. While the driver unloaded the luggage of the people getting of at Old Key West, DH quickly used the bathroom. We dropped off the family at Wilderness Lodge and then we were finally on our way to Animal Kingdom Lodge.

It had been my dream for years to stay at this hotel and it finally had come true. I had originally booked 3 nights in a standard view studio at the new Kidani Village, but then had a change of heart and booked 4 nights in a Savannah view studio at Jambo House (the main hotel building). The top two floors are DVC accommodation.

I had been to Animal Kingdom Lodge once before last year when we had a dinner at Boma with friends. I remembered that the lobby is truly impressive, but it was even more impressive in daylight. We had a little wait to check in, but to my immense surprise, they had a room ready for us. We were at the far end of Zebra Trail overlooking the Arusha Savannah. We took our luggage upstairs. I really liked the African décor of the rooms. The studio was a little smaller than what we are used to from Old Key West, but it had a sofa instead of the second bed, which worked better for us. The balcony was nice and big. Unfortunately there were no animals out on the Savannah. Each Savannah is cleaned for two ours every day and the animals are not on the Savannah during this time. The only animals that were around were some local ducks and other native birds.

I decided to get the laptop out to make use of the free internet for DVC members to check out where DH needed to go. He was doing the 10K Race for the Taste the next day and needed to collect his things from Wide World of Sports. Unfortunately the internet did not want to work, but I rang technical support and they gave me an access code and with that it worked a charm. We were just about to leave, when the animals were let back onto the Savannah. We got our first glimpse of Zebras, Giraffes and Ankoli Cattle.

I had to pick up my annual pass and my ticket for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. My original plan had been to sort this out at Animal Kingdom and then finally ride Expedition Everest. However, as DH needed to get the bus to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and change onto a bus to Wide World of Sports there, I decided to keep him company as far as Hollywood Studios. Hollywood Studios is probably my least favourite park nowadays, but I had not done Toy Story Mania yet and I wanted to see what the hype was about.

I went to the ticket window with my will call numbers and realized to my horror that I had not brought my DVC membership card, which I needed as my annual pass was purchased with a DVC discount. I was just getting ready to go back to the hotel to get it, when the cast member asked if I was staying on property. I said I did. He checked that my key card stated that I was a DVC Member and then sent me to guest services. I had to wait a short while, but they managed to pull up my reservation and through that my DVC membership number. Soon I was on my way with both tickets.

Once I was in the park, I headed straight to Toy Story Mania. The waiting time was an hour and the Fast Passes had all gone. I decided to get in the line. I have to say, the queuing area is the most impressive that I have ever seen. I waited exactly an hour, but it seemed much shorter as there was so much to see. Finally I had my 3D glasses and was ready to get in the ride vehicle. The pull sting trigger was somewhat unusual and took me a little while to get the hang of. The ride was great fun, but I am not sure if it warrants a wait time of an hour. I am glad that I did it once, but would only do it again is the wait time was significantly lower.


Once I had done Toy Story Mania, I decided to have a look at One Man’s Dream. I had also never done this attraction before and I really enjoyed it. This is essentially a museum and I was fascinated by the models of various lands and rides. Once I had done this, I decided to head back to the hotel. I had to wait about 10 minutes for the bus and this was the only time during our stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge that I encountered a full bus. We stopped at Kidani Village first before going to Jambo House.

DH was not back yet. I sat out on the balcony for a while and watched the animals. Shortly before 16:00 I headed down to take part in the culinary tour of the hotels restaurants. I managed to get lost, but was pointed in the right direction by a cast member and made it in time.

I had read a lot about this culinary tour. It normally covers both Jiko and Boma and explains about the symbolism of the décor of the restaurant as well as the food. Well, we never entered Jiko, but we got a good overview of Boma and the food served there on that night (they have three different food rotations plus a chef’s choice day). We also got to sample a bowl of soup and a Zebra Dome each.

I headed back up to the room and sat out on the balcony watching the animals. A heavy shower moved through, but I stayed dry on the balcony. DH appeared shortly afterwards. He had decided to take the boat between Hollywood Studios and Epcot and explore the resorts that are served by the boat. We sat on the balcony for a little while longer and then headed down to Boma for dinner.

We had eaten at Boma last year and both loved it. So I had made three dinner reservations there and one for Jiko. They had a little problem finding our reservation at first. Even once they found it, it still took about 20 minutes until we were seated.

The food was fantastic as usual. I had a bowl of Lentil and Sausage Soup , followed by a bowl of Chicken Coconut Curry. The only disappointment was the beef strip loin as this was quite tough. The chicken, couscous and falafel where all very tasty though and the Zebra Domes were as yummy as ever. After dinner, we fell straight into bed as we had a very early start in the morning.

 

[ForTheLoveOfDCL]

As usual Corinna....love this report! I am having Magic withdrawl so reading this is somewhat helping and somewhat making me think I am gonna just die waiting till the Mexican Riviera for my next cruise! Waiting in anticipation for more of your trip!
Michelle

 

[dolphingirl47]

Day 13

We had an extremely early morning and were up at around 5 AM. This was the day that DH had been training for for the best part of a year: Disney’s Race for the Taste 10K. Shortly before we left for the holiday, I found out that this was going to be the last Race for the Taste and that this would be replaced by a half marathon next year. So this made it all the more special.

We had a little fun and games trying to figure out how to attach the timing tag to DH’s running shoe, but I succeeded in the end. Once you know how, it is really easy! Soon we were on our way with DH donning his new running kit that he had bought at Florida Mall. I have to say he looked rather dashing.

We had asked the previous day if we needed to book a taxi in advance and were told no. The bellmen said that there would be plenty of taxis at the hotel 24/7. Of course, when we stepped out of the lobby, there was not a taxi to be seen. The bellman outside Animal Kingdom Lodge was a little confused. He said that about 15 minutes ago there had been loads of taxis, but they had all left. He called us a taxi and in less than 10 minutes it had arrived. As we approached Wide World of Sports, where the starting line for the 10 K Race was, there was absolute gridlock. I have never seen anything like this at Disney. Finally we were there and the taxi driver dropped us off.

DH had ordered the special pin and a picnic ticket for me when he registered, but when we had gone through the stuff that he had got at package pick up the previous day, neither was included. Of course I wanted both. When we got there, we went back to package pick up to explain what had happened. They referred us to a different tent, where a supervisor was based. After asking what the problem was, she got us my pin, but advised that I would need to pick up my picnic ticker and goodie bag near the finishing line at Epcot. This was one of those moments when I yet again realized what made Disney so special. It is not that they never drop the ball, but how they deal with things that have gone wrong.

The atmosphere at Wide World of Sports that morning was amazing. There was music and a DJ and just an enormous buzz in the air. We had a walk around and I ended up getting the commemorative t-shirt that is rather cute. DH decided that he better goes to the bathroom before the race and the line was beyond belief. By the time he got to the front of the line, it was nearly time for the race to get underway. Near the starting line, they had set up water stations. Even that early in the morning it was very hot and the humidity was a killer. Soon it was time to kiss DH goodbye as he needed to join the start line up.

The runners lining up for the start was quite a sight to behold. The road in front of Wide World is quite wide and was absolutely packed as far as you could look. They even had fireworks just before the start. The sun just started to come up as well. The whole experience was just really moving and it was one of those moments were I had to fight back the tears.

Once I had seen DH jog past me and he had waived to me, I headed back to the other side of the complex were the busses were waiting to take the spectators. They had commandeered the Disney Cruise Line busses as the Disney Wonder was in dry dock. The trip over to Epcot did not take long and by the time we got there, the sun was high in the sky. I took a photo of all the Disney Cruise Line buses lined up before sorting out my picnic ticket.

This was really easy. They had a tent for just that purpose and they had a list with names on it. They found me straight away and gave me my ticket. This was a square of paper with 3 food coupons and one drink coupon. I also got a commemorative pint glass and some kind of strange energy paste that went straight into the bin.

I got a really good spot near the finishing line and just watched people coming in. First there were only people who had done the 3K race, but soon the first runners for the 10K race crossed the line. I started to bitterly regret that I did not enter the 3K. Seeing some people coming over the finishing line, I got the strong feeling that I could have done this as well.

After about an hour from the start, I started to get a bit nervous. During training, DH had managed to bring down his time around the one hour mark. With this being his first 10 K race and it being quite hot and humid, I was no longer sure he would finish. Soon enough I spotted him approaching the finishing line. I was so proud of him.

I tried to find somewhere were I could meet him. The area is huge and there were loads of people around. As we did not know what to expect at all, we had not arranged how and were we would meet up. I walked along the fence from the finishing line. The set up was very well organized. Straight after the finishing line, they had characters with whom the runners could have photos taken. After that, there was a station were they gave out 3 liter bottles of water, followed by racks with medals and another station were they gave out Powerade. The last station was like a market stall set up where they gave out slices of Watermelon and bananas to the runners. I positioned myself near there and soon DH came round the corner.

Once he had his breath back, we headed over to the food stations. There were a total of 4 food stations offering a different item from the Food and Wine Festival each: aple Glazed Salmon with Lentil Salad from Montreal, Canada, Arroz con Pollo (Chicken with Rice) from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Beef Empanada with Tomato Salsa from Buenos Aires, Argentina and Strawberry Shortcake from the Champagne and Dessert stall. The choice was easy. I don’t eat fish and DH did not trust the fish having been out in the heat for some time, so we both went for the other three options. They were all decent portions and very tasty. This must have been the strangest breakfast I have ever had as it was still not quite 9:00 AM. For the drinks coupons, you got a can of soft drink.

Once we had eaten, we wandered around for a bit enjoying the atmosphere. DH decided that he also wanted a Race for the Taste t shirt so we went looking for a merchandise cart, which we fortunately found. We then decided to head back to the hotel. My original plan had been to spend a few hours at Epcot and send DH back to the hotel on his own, but I soon changed that plan when I saw the lines at the turnstiles. Epcot had to wait for another day.

We had a slight technical hitch. To get from the area where the finishing line was to the buses, you have to go through bag check. That would not have normally been a problem, but I had the pint class in my bag and glass is not allowed in the parks. Even though I had no intention entering the park, I still had to go through the check. Fortunately the security guard let us through when I explained that we had come from the race were I had received a glass and just needed to get to the bus.

When we got to the bus stop, the bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge was just pulling up. We decided to get off at Kidani Village to have a look around. We had a look at the library, but could not figure out how to get to the pool so decided to head back to Jambo House. As it was not terribly obvious how to get onto the walkway, as there was some major construction in the way, we waited for the next bus.

We made ourselves comfortable on the balcony and watched the animals.

At around 2 in the afternoon I decided that I should at least attempt to head for a park for a bit. So I left DH to his own devices and headed for Animal Kingdom. I had never made it there last year and in 2007 I never did Expedition Everest. This was the sole purpose of me going. I just enjoyed all the themeing and scenery while slowly ambling towards Expedition Everest. The standby line was quite long so I opted for the single rider line and only had to wait about 15 minutes instead of nearly an hour. To say that I hated the ride was the understatement of the year. I was scared witless and came off the ride shaking like a leaf. The only ride that has a similar effect on me was Tower of Terror back in 2005. My plan had been to do this ride a few times, but there was no way I was going to get back on. So I headed over to Africa to do Kilimanjaro Safari.

I did not have much hope of seeing animals as it was the middle of the afternoon and had not planned on doing this, has I could see plenty of animals from my balcony. However, with nothing better to do and the ride a walk on, I decided to give it a go. I am so glad that I did. I saw every kind of animal that they have in that area. Not only that, but rhinos and ostriches were blocking the road in front of us and we were just sat there surrounded by rhinos for about 30 minutes until they decided to move off the road. They were so close that we could have reached out and touched them. Unfortunately I had not brought my camera. After the ride, I decided to head back to the hotel.

There the day was just gearing up for a beautiful sunset and I took some photos while sitting on the balcony and enjoying the peace and quiet.

We had another meal booked at Boma. I made two discoveries this evening. I found a new favourite soup: Chicken Corn Porridge. This is so good. I have actually managed to find a recipe for this and intend to cook this at home. The other discovery was that I hate American Cherry Coke. I love Cherry Coke over here, but don’t have it very often and tend to stick to Diet Coke. That evening I was in mood for a treat and ordered Cherry Coke. It looked very impressive being served with a cocktail cherry. I took the first sip and nearly spit it out. It tasted exactly like cough mixture.

After dinner, we headed straight to bed. DH went straight to sleep, but I read for a little bit before turning the lights out

 

[natalielongstaff]

Beautiful pics Corinna, what time did he do in the race ?