Our first cruise period....but not our last! Magic Western 1/23/10-1/30/10

[Shell427]

Hello all! We sailed for the very first time, and I can't imagine a better cruise line than Disney! We are: Michelle, Terry, and our son - Kolten (9 years) from Wisconsin.

Not only was it a great time, but we picked the perfect time of the year to get the heck out of dodge.....very cold temps (negatives) and some snow hit our area while we were away.

Arrival to Florida (1/22/10)
We decided to arrive the day before from all the tips from DISBoards and Passporters book! Great tip! We arrived at Orlando around 11:00 a.m. and decided to just head to Cocoa Beach where we were going to stay. We rented a car from Budget and were on the road lickety split! Now as the main driver in our family, I wasn't the least bit nervous about Florida's freeways, etc. and it didn't disappoint me. I will say the only downside are all the tolls! Oh well, we were on vacation so who cares, right?!

We decide we need some food and stop in Cape Canaveral at Cici's (a pizza buffet place). Good food and once we stuffed ourselves (hey, we are on vacation, remember ) we head out to find a mini golf course. While we were at Budget in Orlando, DH picked up a pamphlet with ideas of things to do. So we find a mini golf course and get ready to play. I don't recall the name of the place but it boasted to have crocs (or was it alligators) there so that is why we picked it. In reality, they had baby crocs in a penned area and charged for feeding them. Nothing spectacular so we pay and get our clubs and balls.

It is a 18 hole course and it was fun up to hole 10. That is when I thought for sure we were going to have to cancel the trip and head back to cold Wisconsin

A little visual before I continue: the course is volcano related, so as the holes go up in number, you are climbing upwards towards each hole to a certain point. Okay, so on hole 10, Kolten and Terry make their shots and I was left. Terry was stepping backward to make room, and as he did so, his leg hit the outcropping of fake rock that was on the path. Well he must of been moving backwards a bit faster than what he thought because when his calf hit the rock, his body was still going backwards.....yep, he fell. Not only did he fall, he (as a 6'3" man) went completly backwards, dropped about 4 feet to the path leading to the next hole and landed on his head on the cement path!!! I almost had a heart attack! I saw it all in slow motion, but couldn't do a darn thing! In retrospect, if I had grabbed him or he grabbed me, we both would have gone over. Yes, he actually landed on his head, and did a somersault and finally rested on his back. I ran down there and asked if he was okay and he was conscious (thank God). He was disoriented and sat up very slowly. He eventually stood up and leaned against the rocks he fell over but his eyes were going wacko! This lasted a couple of seconds. I told him we needed to go to a clinic, he was totally, and I mean totally against it. So we headed back to the office of the mini golf and told them what happened. They grabbed some ice for his head (he had a big bump, but no headache) and we sat there for a while. I filled out an accident report, they gave us a rain check to use at one of their courses and we went to the car so he could cool off (it was a warm day). He refused to go to a chiropractor and a doctor and just wanted to go to our room.

We head to Cocoa Beach, check into our motel (Luna Sea Motel) and I run to Walgreens to get thermacare items for his back. That was what was really bothering him, his shoulders and his back/lower back.

We ended up getting Taco Bell (we were planning on going to Fish Lips, but will have to do that next time) and that was our first, very first night ever, in Florida!

More later.........

 

[DisneyDaddio]

Whoa, talk about a rocky start! Hope to read that everything turned out OK for your husband.

 

[PURTYPAT1]

Hello all! We sailed for the very first time, and I can't imagine a better cruise line than Disney! We are: Michelle, Terry, and our son - Kolten (9 years) from Wisconsin.

Not only was it a great time, but we picked the perfect time of the year to get the heck out of dodge.....very cold temps (negatives) and some snow hit our area while we were away.

Arrival to Florida (1/22/10)
We decided to arrive the day before from all the tips from DISBoards and Passporters book! Great tip! We arrived at Orlando around 11:00 a.m. and decided to just head to Cocoa Beach where we were going to stay. We rented a car from Budget and were on the road lickety split! Now as the main driver in our family, I wasn't the least bit nervous about Florida's freeways, etc. and it didn't disappoint me. I will say the only downside are all the tolls! Oh well, we were on vacation so who cares, right?!

We decide we need some food and stop in Cape Canaveral at Cici's (a pizza buffet place). Good food and once we stuffed ourselves (hey, we are on vacation, remember ) we head out to find a mini golf course. While we were at Budget in Orlando, DH picked up a pamphlet with ideas of things to do. So we find a mini golf course and get ready to play. I don't recall the name of the place but it boasted to have crocs (or was it alligators) there so that is why we picked it. In reality, they had baby crocs in a penned area and charged for feeding them. Nothing spectacular so we pay and get our clubs and balls.

It is a 18 hole course and it was fun up to hole 10. That is when I thought for sure we were going to have to cancel the trip and head back to cold Wisconsin

A little visual before I continue: the course is volcano related, so as the holes go up in number, you are climbing upwards towards each hole to a certain point. Okay, so on hole 10, Kolten and Terry make their shots and I was left. Terry was stepping backward to make room, and as he did so, his leg hit the outcropping of fake rock that was on the path. Well he must of been moving backwards a bit faster than what he thought because when his calf hit the rock, his body was still going backwards.....yep, he fell. Not only did he fall, he (as a 6'3" man) went completly backwards, dropped about 4 feet to the path leading to the next hole and landed on his head on the cement path!!! I almost had a heart attack! I saw it all in slow motion, but couldn't do a darn thing! In retrospect, if I had grabbed him or he grabbed me, we both would have gone over. Yes, he actually landed on his head, and did a somersault and finally rested on his back. I ran down there and asked if he was okay and he was conscious (thank God). He was disoriented and sat up very slowly. He eventually stood up and leaned against the rocks he fell over but his eyes were going wacko! This lasted a couple of seconds. I told him we needed to go to a clinic, he was totally, and I mean totally against it. So we headed back to the office of the mini golf and told them what happened. They grabbed some ice for his head (he had a big bump, but no headache) and we sat there for a while. I filled out an accident report, they gave us a rain check to use at one of their courses and we went to the car so he could cool off (it was a warm day). He refused to go to a chiropractor and a doctor and just wanted to go to our room.

We head to Cocoa Beach, check into our motel (Luna Sea Motel) and I run to Walgreens to get thermacare items for his back. That was what was really bothering him, his shoulders and his back/lower back.

We ended up getting Taco Bell (we were planning on going to Fish Lips, but will have to do that next time) and that was our first, very first night ever, in Florida!

More later.........

Wow, that must have been very scary for you I hope his back is ok

 

[Shell427]

Thanks for the concerns with my DH. He is fine and dandy now, but it was a very scary experience for both myself and our DS.

 

[Shell427]

Sorry for the delay with the TR....work just gets in the way of this!

Before I start Day 2, I do have to add one more thing to Day 1.....don't you just love the injustice our children feel for having to do homework of all things!?! Well that is precisely how DS reacted when we told him to hit the books our first night in FL at the Luna Sea Motel. I will never understand why it doesn't make sense to: Do homework before the actual vacation starts vs. doing it during the vacation and miss out on some activities.

Well we finally got him to do about 85% of of the homework, but you know what, that was fine by me. I figured he could do the rest on one of the days at sea.......his choice, not mine!

Day 2
We get up early to finish packing up. DH's back is really sore so he pops a pain reliever and puts another ThermaCare on his back. That seems to relieve some of the soreness for him. Thank Goodness!

I head to the motel office to pick up our vouchers for a free breakfast at Sunrise Diner. This was included in the price of the room. We get to the diner, it is getting very busy by now, and are seated. We receive a pre-printed menu with about 5 or 6 options to choose from. The portion sizes are actually bigger than I would think. We finish eating and head out in our rental - destination: Budget Rental.

When we get there, there are a number of families already there waiting for the shuttle. I turn the keys in and proceed to wait outside with everyone. We didn't have to wait long and before we know it, we are on the shuttle heading for the Port!!! I am sooooo excited!!! I wanted to be there by 10:00 a.m. and we made it there right around that time.

A Disney employee is there waiting for everyone and quickly explains what is going to happen with our luggage....it should be outside of our stateroom by 4:00 p.m. but sometimes delays do occur. The one thing I thought was strange is that he came right out and asked for tips! I have never experienced that before. We were planning on tipping him, it just felt weird to be told that they rely on tips....maybe it is just me.

We get in line to enter the port and again do not wait long to show our IDs and get inside. My excitement is bubbling over by now! When we enter Disney's Port area (not sure what it is called), I am overwhelmed. It is so much larger than I expected and I didn't know what to do at first. Well, you know, Disney employees are so very welcoming and helpful, so it wasn't long before someone directed us where to go.

Once we check in and receive our boarding pass (#2), we check out the model of the ship and then have a seat to wait for the children's activity sign up area to open up. I had already registered DS on-line (highly recommend this) so I just needed to pick up the beeper and get his "bracelet" on.

When our boarding number was called, I will admit, it was a bit frustrating to get to where we needed to be. So many people milling around, chatting and creating a bottleneck! We finally make it through and enter the ears..........so cool!

I loved the announcement of our family as we entered the ship.....it really made it real for me and feel special. Of course we were overwhelmed once again....it is sooooo big and we had no clue where to go...so much to take in. Once we got our bearings, we found our way to Parrot Cay for lunch. It was great! Because the staterooms were not ready yet, we headed out to explore where the Oceaneer Lab was located, the theaters, and then made our way to the pool area. Found a seat and waited for our room to open up.

Around 2:30pm we head to our stateroom to see if it was available. It was so in we go. What a great surprise to see how large the room actually was! We were in a Verandah stateroom and loved it! I secretly had 2 baskets awaiting my boys and the Perfect Gift did not disappoint! I had a Large sand bucket/toys with soda, candy, and pirate stuff for DS and for my DH, I purchased the Disney Tote and in it was Bud Light, Peanut Butter (he loves PB and eats it with a spoon), and an assortment of bags of Sugar Free Candies. Honestly, I think I was more excited about the baskets then they were.....but they really liked them.

to be continued.........................

 

[DisFamily10]

Can't wait to read more

 

[Señor DonDuck]

Good read. Glad to hear that your husband got better. I can't imagine getting seriously injured right before your cruise.

Look forward to the next update.

 

[Shell427]

Day 1 on ship...continued
I remind DH and DS about the DISboard meeting in the Promenade Lounge at 3:00 p.m. Of course they are nervous, not too excited about it.....after all, I have been the one chatting with all the wonderful board members - not them.

It was really great to meet everyone over a drink at the lounge. So nice to put a face to the name on the boards. We disband around 3:40ish to get ready for the drill.

We head back to the room and begin unpacking once more, when the announcement came on for the drill. Hubby looked at me like "What the heck is this?!" Now, I did tell him about it, but I think I overloaded him with all my disney information excitement over the last few months!
We make it to the drill, not too bad, doesn't take too long at all. Once finished, we head back to our room to finish unpacking.

The sail away party was awesome....really brought the excitement to everyone, all the dancing, singing....I was in high spirits! We walk around the boat again to get our bearings where everything is located. DS wants to check out Oceaneer Lab, so we head there. Very very nice!!! I could hang out there with all the various activities! I can see why I have read reports of kids not wanting to leave the kids rooms!!!

We had second seating, so we freshen up and head to the show. We all enjoyed it and it was good to hear about what is happening on the ship for the rest of the week.

Our first dinner was at Animators Palate where we meet our servers: Dean from India and Alex from France....so cool! The food was wonderful and the service was outstanding! It took a bit to get used to the waiting "hand on foot" from them, but it was SOOOOOO nice to be pampered!

Once dinner was over, we head back to the cabin, tired from the long day and chilled out.

Day 1 verdict: two thumbs up!


Day 2 on ship
We awaken to wonderful sunshine on the verandah. I remind DH that today is Palo Brunch.......so excited! I read the navigator again to verify what he should wear - he is a jeans, shorts, and tuck in shirt guy.....doesn't like to dress up at all. I remembered on the boards about the dress code, however, the navigator does not mention jeans as a no-no for Brunch, only for dinner. I think to myself...interesting, he will be happier in jeans so he puts them on and we head to Topsiders to get breakfast for DS.

Topsiders was crazy busy.....didn't seem to flow very well for a buffet line. We finally get DS his breakfast and find a seat inside...right next to fellow DIS board PinkandProud! They noted we were not eating and thought Palo was our destination...Yep it was! Once DS finishes his breakfast we head to the Lab to drop him off. Our ressie was at 11:00 a.m. and I am PUMPED!!!

We find Palo and head inside. Oh no!! Yep you guessed it (rather knew it, right?!)....DH could not be in jeans! That did not sit well with him AT ALL! Talk about being upset. There I am, trying to calm DH down and he is stating we are not coming back!!! I was almost in tears and tell the Host, we WILL be back! DH is storming out of the restaurant, and is out on the deck, saying a few things I cannot repeat! We finally get back to our room and he is still set on not going...that is when I let him have it! Basically told him I planned the whole trip....everything...down to the last detail and I was looking forward to this brunch. I told him it is my fault because I told him he could wear jeans when in the back of my head and red flag was slapping me in the face! So, I calm him down, he agrees to go back.

We get back to Palo and get seated. Our server was THE best. Secretly, I think the host notified the server of what happened and he did his best to smooth it all out! Very prompt, very funny, excellent service!! Husband was actually smiling by the end. The food was great (loved the seafood) and the view was gorgeous!

We finish up at Palo and head to the Lab to pick DS up.....Key West here we come!

 

[nemofans]

Your trip report is getting me excited! I can't wait to hear about the excursions.