Our Magical Journey....to Brent-land and Back..

[CastleCreations]

Hello Fellow Disney Lovers...I had been thinking about writing a trip report, even before I booked the trip.. but honestly didn't think anyone would read it. Well I'm taking the plunge...are you all still with me? and decided to give it a go..
I had been waiting to go on another Disney cruise since our last cruise on the Wonder... since I would be traveling alone with the girls, I decided to book the Wonder again for October 19th, 2008. I booked the trip 26 weeks out and we had a LOOOOONNNNNGGGG wait. As the time grew near the girls got really anxious....
I guess I should introduce all of us..
Me...Mommy,(Elisa) 32..nurse, seamstress and baggage packer and carrier
Girl #1 Ireland, age 7, socialite, wanna-be Disney employee
Girl #2 Alexis, age 5, going on 2, shy but talkative, thinks she's the boss

That's all of us..LOL not a long list huh? LOL

Anyhow, usually we travel with my mother, Ma-Ga to the girls, but this trip, she didn't want to go... since it was only the 4 night, I decided what the heck...I can take them by myself and we'll make out okay. I only live about 40 minutes from the port so no flying is involved. I take them to Disney alone all the time and stay in the hotels, so I figured it would be pretty much the same. Well the good thing about living in Florida is the Florida resident rates for the cruise...so about a month before we were getting ready to sail....Florida resident rates opened up for the 7 night Western Cruise...and the price would be 500 dollars less than the 4 night that I booked. Well I didn't have to think twice...I did have to pay the penalty for cancelling so close to the cruise date, but who cares...we were now going on the Western for 7 nights!!!
Wait!!!! Stop the presses... WE...ARE....NOW..GOING..ON...THE...SEVEN NIGHT!!!! 7 nights? ALONE!! WITH THE KIDS!!! Okay...panic set in....I can do this, right? I'm their mother, surely nothing terrible could happen...wait...now I need to make more outfits, plan excursions, and I only have a month to do it....Panic, Panic.....
I had bought the girls gifts that I planned to leave in the room each night, but as time grew closer I knew that they just wouldn't fit in the suitcases,
Well the night before the cruise was Halloween, so after the trick or treating and quick showers for the girls, I gave them one of their gifts. Ireland got her Tinkerbell that she wanted and Lexie got Belle.

The loved them and slept with them that night.
Well the last cruise we took, we were the first ones at the terminal and had a very long wait, so this time we decided to leave around 10:30am and that would put us at the terminal at 11:30 or so, I knew we were going to stop for a snack and drink. I laid out their clothes, for the next day and headed to bed.

We got up about 7:30 and got ready and after a quick photo

left right on time...
The ride to the port was uneventful, until we got to the little bridge where you can see the ship, and we all screamed!! It was finally here, it brings tears to my eyes now as I type this, all of the planning and packing, and getting ready, and it was finally here. All of the wishing time would go faster, I kept praying to myself for time to slow down so I could enjoy every minute...I couldn't believe we were finally here and it was finally happening..another dream vacation!!

Okay...where was I....okay, parking was a breeze, and when we got into the port...I was a little anxious...it was PACKED!! We got boarding card number 11. Last time we had 2. But we got into the castaway club member line and only had to wait a few minutes, we got all checked in and headed to the kids area to get them checked into the kids club, this is were I lost a little of the Disney magic....I got into the line and was rudely poked in the back, and heard EXCUSE ME! ARE YOU JUST GOING TO CUT ALL ( insert big, wavy, too dramatic hand gesture by the fat man, here) OF THESE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN WAITING? I was like...um...okay am I not at the back of the line...apparently I wasn't.....so sorry....not really but whatever, before I have never seen a line like that. We waited about 30 minutes to check in, if I had known how long it would have been, I would have checked them in at the kids club.
Anyway, they got their wristbands and we got our pager and it was time to board, but hey....there's Pluto...gotta get our first photo with a character...

After the photo, we were headed onto the ship..

But when it came to announcing our names...we have a problem, we all have a different last name...Long story, but who's name should we use
Mine? the girls? and which girl
So did they even announce us at all? Stay tuned...

 

[Mom2PrincessesLinSy]

Anxiously awaiting pics of Brent.......

Just kidding. Saw the girls alot on board, loved that they took the Castaway club challenge so seriously!

Did you make all their clothes? You do beautiful work!

Let's hear some more baby!!!!!

 

[ms_mckenna]

Can't wait to read your TR! We are debating a cruise for 10 or 11! Course I want to see what all the girls wore too lol. I love the girls first day outfits!

 

[MouseTriper]

Great start to your TR....love the girls outfits for that 1st day!!! They are so darn cute (the girls, well the outfits too) LOL!!! Looking forward to reading more!!!!

 

[CastleCreations]

Yea...I have readers...thanks you guys...
About the Brent photos....good things come to those who wait...I will update later tonight...it was fab-u-lous!

 

[ibesue]

I love their outfits!!! So cute!! Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

Sue

 

[jessica52877]

I can't wait to hear more. The girls look great in their customs! You did a fabulous job!

 

[disneymomof1]

subbing, can't wait to read all about it. The girls look beautiful, and their outfits are perfection.

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

I followed you over from the Disboutiquers board. The outfits are great, what a fun trip!!!

 

[mindelmouse]

enough to see all the outfits in person and they were wonderful. Elisa is very talented and her girls are lovely.

 

[sweetstitches]

Love the girls' first day customs! You did a great job. Can't wait to "see" more.

 

[jham]

I'm so glad you are writing a TR! I'm jealous of your cruise so it will be fun to follow along with you. Those are my favorite outfits for the girls! We want photos of you too!

 

[NaeNae]

subbing. Can't wait to read more.

 

[revrob]

WOO HOO! Can't wait to read more!

 

[Miscoehill]

How cute are those outfit! Can't wait to read more..and I can't wait to move to Florida to get the FLA rates! LOL

 

[jollytammy]

Keep up the good work!!!

 

[Cherlynn25]

Great pics so far, cant wait to read more!! =)

 

[snubie]

Can't wait for more.

 

[billwendy]

Woo Hoo - been thinking about you guys and your trip!! Cant wait to hear all the details!! This would be my dream trip!!! Maybe someday!!!

 

[CastleCreations]

Okay...everyone here we go again...
I left off with us getting on the ship...well when it came time for them to announce us..I just couldn't decide which name, so I decided that we used Ireland's last name last time, so this time it would be Alexis's turn...well we walked up the gangway onto the ship, the lady leaned over and announced us as the Ireland family...LOL..oh well. maybe next time.
We went onboard and the first place I headed was to Rockin Bar D....for a drink...nope, just kidding, I needed to change my dining reservation from the late seating to the early. No problem there...off to explore...

We walked around the ship and I pointed out some places along the way to the girls that they might not remember
and we decided to have lunch at Pluto's Dog House and had our first of many plates of chicken fingers..

Just as we started eating...we saw a familiar face...another DISer...nope..it's the main man himself...BRENT!! Ha ha..just kidding...it's the other main man...

After giving Mickey a few hugs, we went off to find our room. For this cruise, we were inside...Way Inside....ick.. never again...it was a nice room, but I really enjoy the veranda..anyhow, we found the room quite easily, we were on deck 6, midship. The room didn't have the bunkbeds that I hoped for but with the one bed being so huge, it wasn't a problem for me to share with the girls, the couch folded down with a bed on the backside, so each night they took turns sleeping with me.
This was our stateroom, and it was never that clean again...

The picture above the bed, is the Dream is a wish your heart makes...
That's Lexie's favorite song...Well when I saw that...you guessed it, more tears...we were actually here, I know I must have said it to the girls over and over again, Can you believe that we're actually here?
Well the luggage started thudding against the door and with each one, it was like Christmas, I couldn't wait to unpack. Yup, I'm a dork, I have to be unpacked and settled in order to relax. Well it figures, it was the last bag that held my most precious items. My jewelry? Nope. All of those custom outfits with matching shoes? Nope. MY DOOR SIGNS WERE HERE!!!

After we were done with the door decorating, I knew it was time for the dreaded life jacket drill.

I'm not sure why, but the crew didn't seem too concerned that the girls only had adult sized life jackets and not child sized... I did see a little baby in hers, and it looks like an orange snow suit..it was adorable.
After the pain and humiliation and wearing that stupid thing, and no I contained my excitement and didn't blow my whistle, unlike my youngest child.. , we headed back to the room to kick those things across the bed and RAN up the 9th deck to be in the FRONT for the sail away party.
At first, yawn...it was the traditional songs...Hey Baby, Celebration, etc...and then I saw the most beautiful sight....Was it my two gorgeous babies with their streamers?

um....well although they are cuties...NOPE...I saw the figure in white...wearing the DCL name tag....I couldn't quite make it out across the dancing and flailing arms...did it read...B-R-E-....oh darn....it wasn't him...it was my other favorite person on the planet....
It was CHRISTIAAN!!

This will be the only awful picture of him..I sware, the rest are amazing... , okay, back on track...Christian was just the tease, because he was there to introduce ...YOU KNOW WHO! Say it with me now....Introducing the Cruise Director of the DISSSSSSNEY Magggggic...
MR. BRENT DAVIES.....and the crowd goes wild....
This is Alexis saying hi to him...

Right away I started snapping photos...but the darn sun was on the wrong side of the ship and blinding me...so after a few photos, I grabbed the girls by their pigtails and hot dogged it over to the other side, where we can see the show, (ahem) better...and boy did we ever

Brent was full of hugs, and he remembered us... from our last cruise...okay okay, at least he remembered Ireland...he said that she was the only Ireland he's ever met...darn..
Okay, more Brent talk...the girls LOVED him and me too of course, and after talking to him for a few more minutes, he let the girls into the roped area so they can dance with him....

This was our first, of many magical moments...okay Ireland get your hand a little higher...LOL
After the dancing ended, we spotted our second favorite person again and he chatted up the girls for a while and posed for a photo with Brent and then again with the girls.

I discovered some interesting things about Christiaan...he always takes his glasses off for pictures, and that he lives near me in Florida, and that his wife is expecting a little boy, in January..the end of, and that he's off the Magic Jan 3rd, oh yeah and he and his wife are both dancers.
Okay, back on track...
after our Brent/ Christiaan fest, we went back to the room and dressed for our very first show.

I should have written down the names of the shows, but it was a combination variety show that featured some of the performers that would be doing upcoming shows and a Welcome Aboard show. It was great of course but the ship was really rocking, so our man on his unicycle had a little trouble getting on there, but he made it.
After the show, we went to shutters and bought our first photo...we only took one in port, the one with Pluto, but I bought the package, for 160 dollars. It worked out well. They stapled this little card onto your reciept and I kept it with my Key to the World card, and each time you pick another photo they cross it off of your card, so no ringing up or signing anything. Just in and out. and the good thing is, if you don't buy all of the pictures in the package, they refund you the additional money back at the end of the cruise. After shutters, we ran into Brent again

...LOL and I took the kids to the kids club to look around, they wanted to stay, so I gladly left them and walked around a little and did some shopping. I went back after an hour and got the kids, it was after 9 and they were hungry...so after a Lexie meltdown, we headed back to Pluto's for more chicken fingers and we tried pizza this time as well.
Then it was uneventful...back to the room, I showered and our first towel animal was a cobra...he was really cute...

Then the girls got sunggled into bed and I think we smiled in our sleep all night.

coming up...Does our Captain really know how to parallel park that ship? Is Key West just a party town? And what is a Blonde Giraffe anyway?