PARK-CRUISE-PARK in Nov. 2012: Another Thanksgiving with Mickey! (7/7/14 UPDATE!!)
- Thread starter kittylady1972
- Start date
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
Some how - I missed your entire report!!! It's great to see you! I will be back later to read!
D~
Well this is an old report that I still need to finish, so you didn't really miss much! I am so far behind! I'm not awesome like you getting your reports all done! I just started your August TR yesterday and I think I am about halfway through it now! Hoping to finish soon and I see you have a PTR for next August already. I'll keep up with that too!
I don't even have my next trip planned yet...and that makes me sad! Our plan is to return next Thanksgiving right now, which seems soooo far away but I'm always looking for a chance to return sooner. I got an email this week and my first time EVER PIN CODE and I'd love to use it. Probably won't but I can dream!
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
I am looking forward to seeing you finishing it... But I understand that life gets in the way.
I hope you get a chance to get back to Disney sooner - and it would be nice if you could use that PIN code.
D~
I never did respond to this D, even though I meant to, but thanks!
Oh and the PIN code...as it turns out it was just for my SIL. See I booked her trip for her LAST Thanksgiving using my own account. So since that was a new account and it shows up as the only trip, I guess Disney keeps trying to get her back. She will be returning, but it will most likely be next year with us at Thanksgiving and not before that time.
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
Since this is my oldest trip report that still needs to be completed, I supposed I should do a quick update in case anybody still glance over this one.
It seems these days I am spending more time helping other people plan out their trips and less time planning my own. I can't believe that as of RIGHT NOW I do not have any kind of vacation planned in the future. That is unless you want to count the trip I have planned around the holidays to visit my family in NC, but I'm not sure that really counts since I do that just about every year. It's sorta like a vacation since we spend a lot of time doing fun and tourist-like things in the Myrtle Beach area of SC since my parents live very close to there. However, we stay with my parents and there are no amusement parks involved, so really not our typical vacation.
I am planning a trip to Orlando for June, but I am trying hard not to tell the kids about it. We are going to take them to the Universal Parks this time, since we haven't been to those since about 2011 and I'm hoping all of the kids will finally be able to do almost all of the rides. Last time the two younger ones missed out on Harry Potter, which I know they would have loved! As much as I don't want to spend a fortune on a hotel, I think we are going to splurge and staying in one of the Universal Resorts, but we may compromise and just stay in the one that isn't open yet...Cabana Bay Beach Resort. We know it won't give us the FOTL access, but in all honesty I think we can manage most of the rides that we want to ride there with 3 days in the parks and perhaps one of the cheaper one-day in-park FOTL passes. I like that it will be a pretty new resort and very close to the parks, making it easier for us to take midday breaks and then return to the parks at night.
Other than that, I'm jealous that my in-laws are actually returning to WDW this February. They are going for their wedding anniversary, first time doing the parks all by themselves. I think they will have a GREAT time and I think they'll do just fine navigating the parks despite the fact that it will be a busy time. They will go on President's Day but will stay through the following Friday. I don't know HOW busy that whole week will be, but since they have managed June and Thanksgiving Week crowds I think they will be okay. My FIL has already even done their dining reservations online as well!
So I have until Friday to decide if I go ahead and use our DVC points to book a resort for us for next Thanksgiving, or if I go ahead and book a CASH resort this time for Thanksgiving, most likely at Shades of Green Resort, and then save our points for a future trip in 2016 instead where we could accumulate enough to book a 3BR Villa and maybe take more family with us. That is the way I am leaning right now. Or maybe we'll return in Thanksgiving 2015 with the whole group on the other side of the family (mine) instead. At that point my brother and his wife should have 2 kids ages 1.5 years and 3.5 years so they may be up for it.
That is where we are today. I should make a decision by this Friday for big Thanksgiving 2014 trip.
It seems these days I am spending more time helping other people plan out their trips and less time planning my own. I can't believe that as of RIGHT NOW I do not have any kind of vacation planned in the future. That is unless you want to count the trip I have planned around the holidays to visit my family in NC, but I'm not sure that really counts since I do that just about every year. It's sorta like a vacation since we spend a lot of time doing fun and tourist-like things in the Myrtle Beach area of SC since my parents live very close to there. However, we stay with my parents and there are no amusement parks involved, so really not our typical vacation.
I am planning a trip to Orlando for June, but I am trying hard not to tell the kids about it. We are going to take them to the Universal Parks this time, since we haven't been to those since about 2011 and I'm hoping all of the kids will finally be able to do almost all of the rides. Last time the two younger ones missed out on Harry Potter, which I know they would have loved! As much as I don't want to spend a fortune on a hotel, I think we are going to splurge and staying in one of the Universal Resorts, but we may compromise and just stay in the one that isn't open yet...Cabana Bay Beach Resort. We know it won't give us the FOTL access, but in all honesty I think we can manage most of the rides that we want to ride there with 3 days in the parks and perhaps one of the cheaper one-day in-park FOTL passes. I like that it will be a pretty new resort and very close to the parks, making it easier for us to take midday breaks and then return to the parks at night.
Other than that, I'm jealous that my in-laws are actually returning to WDW this February. They are going for their wedding anniversary, first time doing the parks all by themselves. I think they will have a GREAT time and I think they'll do just fine navigating the parks despite the fact that it will be a busy time. They will go on President's Day but will stay through the following Friday. I don't know HOW busy that whole week will be, but since they have managed June and Thanksgiving Week crowds I think they will be okay. My FIL has already even done their dining reservations online as well!
So I have until Friday to decide if I go ahead and use our DVC points to book a resort for us for next Thanksgiving, or if I go ahead and book a CASH resort this time for Thanksgiving, most likely at Shades of Green Resort, and then save our points for a future trip in 2016 instead where we could accumulate enough to book a 3BR Villa and maybe take more family with us. That is the way I am leaning right now. Or maybe we'll return in Thanksgiving 2015 with the whole group on the other side of the family (mine) instead. At that point my brother and his wife should have 2 kids ages 1.5 years and 3.5 years so they may be up for it.
That is where we are today. I should make a decision by this Friday for big Thanksgiving 2014 trip.
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
Monday November 19th - Disney Dream (cont'd)
(I realize I am a year behind on doing this, so I'll do the best I can to remember the highlights)
We arrived at our first port this morning...The Bahamas! I'm sure we probably headed out for breakfast first on the ship and then we had to report to our group location for our excursion...which I believe was in one of the Theaters. All seven of us gathered here dressed in our attire for the adventures on the water that were ahead this day. We were given stickers that corresponded to our group, plus wristbands that also indicated our planned excursion. We were able to pick up some towels on our way out as well to take with us.
We followed our designated group leader off the ship and were headed to a boat that was nearby. We boarded that boat that would take us to the Blue Lagoon. I think it was about a 45 minute trip and it was a bit warm on the boat but not too bad.
Here is a boat shot:
And another one:
One of those may have been on the way over and the other on the way back.
Our ship in the distance:
Anyway before long we arrived here:
Everybody participating in the dolphin SWIM or the dolphin EXPERIENCE all started out at the same place. This worked out well because I had already told my kids they were only doing the EXPERIENCE and not the SWIM due to the price difference, though I think they started to catch on a bit looking at their wristbands.
We were all given a presentation about dolphins and dolphin safety overall, which was actually very informative. It wasn't too long before we then were split up into groups and we had to had to our designated areas, at which point I'm sure I had to tell my kids that they would, in fact, be swimming with the dolphins!
So we headed over to get our lifevests and drop off our towels and dry stuff. Then a group of about 12 or so of us headed to a platform like this:
And now...cue the freakout. My oldest son (12 at the time) did not like seeing all of the small fish in the water. Yes...that's right...and he couldn't see the bottom but we were wearing lifevests. No matter...it was not working well for him. After a brief presentation by our two instructors we were told to then get into the water. Yes it was a bit chilly and yes there was hesitation by my kids and then...my oldest son REFUSED to get into the water.
I watched all my money go right down the drain at that point, but there was no time to argue. I somehow managed to convince my youngest son to get into the water and then both my other two kids stayed huddled close to me for pretty much most of the time.
Unbeknownst to me, the good people at the Dolphin Encounter took pity on my oldest son. Even though he was not at the minimum age to participate in the Dolphin Experience on his own, they allowed it and gave him the chance where he could go with another group (and none of the adults with us went with him) to participate in a dolphin experience. I think my MIL did wander over and watch him and he did really enjoy it. Now I didn't get any money back since he decided on a cheaper dolphin experience, but at least it wasn't a total waste.
In the meantime, we were all enjoying our dolphin time for the most part. It was a bit chilly so we tried to stay far enough out that we were in the sun. I had a waterproof camera with me so I got some great shots too.
Up next....cool dolphin photos!
(I realize I am a year behind on doing this, so I'll do the best I can to remember the highlights)
We arrived at our first port this morning...The Bahamas! I'm sure we probably headed out for breakfast first on the ship and then we had to report to our group location for our excursion...which I believe was in one of the Theaters. All seven of us gathered here dressed in our attire for the adventures on the water that were ahead this day. We were given stickers that corresponded to our group, plus wristbands that also indicated our planned excursion. We were able to pick up some towels on our way out as well to take with us.
We followed our designated group leader off the ship and were headed to a boat that was nearby. We boarded that boat that would take us to the Blue Lagoon. I think it was about a 45 minute trip and it was a bit warm on the boat but not too bad.
Here is a boat shot:
And another one:
One of those may have been on the way over and the other on the way back.
Our ship in the distance:
Anyway before long we arrived here:
Everybody participating in the dolphin SWIM or the dolphin EXPERIENCE all started out at the same place. This worked out well because I had already told my kids they were only doing the EXPERIENCE and not the SWIM due to the price difference, though I think they started to catch on a bit looking at their wristbands.
We were all given a presentation about dolphins and dolphin safety overall, which was actually very informative. It wasn't too long before we then were split up into groups and we had to had to our designated areas, at which point I'm sure I had to tell my kids that they would, in fact, be swimming with the dolphins!
So we headed over to get our lifevests and drop off our towels and dry stuff. Then a group of about 12 or so of us headed to a platform like this:
And now...cue the freakout. My oldest son (12 at the time) did not like seeing all of the small fish in the water. Yes...that's right...and he couldn't see the bottom but we were wearing lifevests. No matter...it was not working well for him. After a brief presentation by our two instructors we were told to then get into the water. Yes it was a bit chilly and yes there was hesitation by my kids and then...my oldest son REFUSED to get into the water.
I watched all my money go right down the drain at that point, but there was no time to argue. I somehow managed to convince my youngest son to get into the water and then both my other two kids stayed huddled close to me for pretty much most of the time.
Unbeknownst to me, the good people at the Dolphin Encounter took pity on my oldest son. Even though he was not at the minimum age to participate in the Dolphin Experience on his own, they allowed it and gave him the chance where he could go with another group (and none of the adults with us went with him) to participate in a dolphin experience. I think my MIL did wander over and watch him and he did really enjoy it. Now I didn't get any money back since he decided on a cheaper dolphin experience, but at least it wasn't a total waste.
In the meantime, we were all enjoying our dolphin time for the most part. It was a bit chilly so we tried to stay far enough out that we were in the sun. I had a waterproof camera with me so I got some great shots too.
Up next....cool dolphin photos!
DMGeurts
Never open texts with the "Hand Sewn Button" attac
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2008
This looks like a lot of fun!
So glad you were able to get most of your kids in the water, and very happy that they let your oldest DS go do the experience... It's better than nothing.
Can't wait to see the dolphin pictures!
I hope you have a wonderful New YEar!
D~
So glad you were able to get most of your kids in the water, and very happy that they let your oldest DS go do the experience... It's better than nothing.
Can't wait to see the dolphin pictures!
I hope you have a wonderful New YEar!
D~
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
Hello again to my FAVORITE reader...you may probably be the only reader left at this point too, but that's not important!
I'm such a slacker, I had the best of intentions to get more of this report done...and then I dropped the ball again.
Now I'm back on the boards, hunting for information about the Disney Magic because it looks like there is a 90% chance that we are going to go on another Disney cruise...in THREE WEEKS!!!!
I was looking at the military discounts yesterday and found some great deals for our family of five. Deals that were very difficult to pass up. I mentioned them to my husband, but followed up with we really do NOT to be spending money and I'm not sure I have a lot of time from work to take right now and his response?? DO IT! In fact, he threatened to go WITHOUT ME!
So I would say in the next few hours I will most likely be booking yet another Disney cruise...our first one on the Disney Magic...for later this month.
Crazy!
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
Monday November 19th - Disney Dream (cont'd)
So I will say the that two youngest kids and I had a GREAT time swimming with the dolphins, despite the chilly water. It wasn't something I really wanted to do, more that I had to do it because the kids couldn't do it on their own without an adult, but I had a GREAT time. In fact, my daughter even had extra dolphin time since she did so well they used her to help train one of the newer dolphins there for a little bit during our session.
Ok here is my youngest with the dolphin:
And my daughter:
This is the professional one taken by their photogs:
The kids from the back:
And me and all of us:
And of course we had to buy the professional photos to see the photos of my oldest son:
And the absolute highlight of the swim was the dolphin foot push. My youngest son opted out of it, but not my daughter and she did great!
This shot was taken upon leaving the Lagoon:
We really enjoyed this excursion and felt it was worth it. Would we do it again? Probably not for a long time but for this trip...it was just great!
So I will say the that two youngest kids and I had a GREAT time swimming with the dolphins, despite the chilly water. It wasn't something I really wanted to do, more that I had to do it because the kids couldn't do it on their own without an adult, but I had a GREAT time. In fact, my daughter even had extra dolphin time since she did so well they used her to help train one of the newer dolphins there for a little bit during our session.
Ok here is my youngest with the dolphin:
And my daughter:
This is the professional one taken by their photogs:
The kids from the back:
And me and all of us:
And of course we had to buy the professional photos to see the photos of my oldest son:
And the absolute highlight of the swim was the dolphin foot push. My youngest son opted out of it, but not my daughter and she did great!
This shot was taken upon leaving the Lagoon:
We really enjoyed this excursion and felt it was worth it. Would we do it again? Probably not for a long time but for this trip...it was just great!
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
Ok, beyond those great dolphin photos...things get a little bit hazy. After all, this was over a year ago and these days I'm lucky if I can remember what I had for breakfast...today! 
I will tell you the boat ride back from the Blue Lagoon was nice. We pretty much left right after the Dolphin excursion so we could get back and get some food since we were all hungry. We did buy some snacks and drinks at the shop on the island, along with the photos but since I had my camera in the water with me I was glad that I got plenty of other photos and didn't need to spend money on the DVD they had there.
What we did not enjoy was the walk back to the boat at the Bahamas. Seems they drop us off a bit further than when we left and though it was a short walk back and through the market area, we had to repeatedly tell the kids NOT to take the stuff that people were trying to "give" them along the way. It was not FREE...and we weren't buying. We had some other confusion once in what I guess is the market building to get out and back to our ship. Some "official looking" guy was checking paperwork but for what reason we couldn't determine since he didn't need to do that...it wasn't like we were leaving the country or even getting back on the ship. A few people other than us realized this and exited out another door bypassing him and we did the same. We couldn't wait to get back to our ship!
Once onboard there were showers and changing and beyond that I don't recall. I think that was the night we had planned for Palo so we grabbed some food for the kids at the pool area and brought it to our room for them to eat.
Since nobody was interested in the kids club I think we just allowed them to stay in the room and watch tv for the evening while we went to dinner. This seemed to work out well and they had the wave phones if they needed anything.
We went to dinner and Palo with my in-laws. It was really nice. We had some pre-dinner drinks at the bar before going inside to our table where we just enjoyed the whole meal! Our server was great and the food was outstanding. At the end my FIL offered to pay the bill...and he was shocked that it was so cheap. He didn't realize it only cost us $20 each for this meal...he was expecting much more!
After that I think we ended up back at the room. It had been a long day and we wanted to be ready for Castaway Cay the next day!
I will tell you the boat ride back from the Blue Lagoon was nice. We pretty much left right after the Dolphin excursion so we could get back and get some food since we were all hungry. We did buy some snacks and drinks at the shop on the island, along with the photos but since I had my camera in the water with me I was glad that I got plenty of other photos and didn't need to spend money on the DVD they had there.
What we did not enjoy was the walk back to the boat at the Bahamas. Seems they drop us off a bit further than when we left and though it was a short walk back and through the market area, we had to repeatedly tell the kids NOT to take the stuff that people were trying to "give" them along the way. It was not FREE...and we weren't buying. We had some other confusion once in what I guess is the market building to get out and back to our ship. Some "official looking" guy was checking paperwork but for what reason we couldn't determine since he didn't need to do that...it wasn't like we were leaving the country or even getting back on the ship. A few people other than us realized this and exited out another door bypassing him and we did the same. We couldn't wait to get back to our ship!
Once onboard there were showers and changing and beyond that I don't recall. I think that was the night we had planned for Palo so we grabbed some food for the kids at the pool area and brought it to our room for them to eat.
Since nobody was interested in the kids club I think we just allowed them to stay in the room and watch tv for the evening while we went to dinner. This seemed to work out well and they had the wave phones if they needed anything.
We went to dinner and Palo with my in-laws. It was really nice. We had some pre-dinner drinks at the bar before going inside to our table where we just enjoyed the whole meal! Our server was great and the food was outstanding. At the end my FIL offered to pay the bill...and he was shocked that it was so cheap. He didn't realize it only cost us $20 each for this meal...he was expecting much more!
After that I think we ended up back at the room. It had been a long day and we wanted to be ready for Castaway Cay the next day!
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
Tuesday November 20th
Today was going to be a fabulous day on Castaway Cay...for SOME of us.
Unfortunately at some point Monday night my youngest son woke up with a fever...and he was miserable. So much that we put him in the king bed with us to sleep. Needless to say, the next day he wasn't up for much.
As it turns out my FIL was having similar issues the night before. I think my MIL said he did not have a good night and she was also having issues preventing her from getting far from a bathroom.
Swell. I made a plan with my DH. I would take the two older kids down to Castaway Cay for an hour or two, then I'd come back and HE could go down and spend some time with them as well.
So the oldest two kids and I left the boat and headed for the beach! We found the beach area with the big slide and dropped off our stuff and headed to the water.
It. Was. Cold.
As the three of us stood there in the water, I said aloud "Maybe we just have to get used to it" and a man there answered that he'd been there for a while and it wasn't getting any better. My daughter really wanted to try the slide:
and I told her to go ahead...I'd be waiting for her right at the beach!
She swam out and went down once and then determined she was good. So we snapped a photo:
Then they wanted to try to rent the water bikes. The problem was that they weren't old enough to do them on their own.
So the best bet was for all of us to rent a paddleboat...and I even told them they could do all of the paddling! They LOVED this idea! 
We got our lifejackets and headed out on the boat:
I was enjoying not doing any work:
Next thing I know our time up was approaching and I told the kids it was time to head back...only they were TIRED already! Oh it was like pulling teeth and I was sure somebody would end up coming out to rescue us before they would get us back to shore.
They would paddle and we'd make some progress back to shore, then they would get tired and we'd drift back out.
Wow.
Eventually we did make it back and I told them we really needed to head back to the boat, so their dad would have some time on the island. So that's what we did.
Only I returned and DH really wasn't interested in leaving the boat. He decided instead that he would take the oldest son and go see a movie...and I would stay in the room with the other two kids. He did that and when he returned we figured we'd go check out the minigolf on the upper deck, so we went up to play a round:
The kids wants to play Ping-Pong but it was way too windy:
We snapped some shots of Castaway Cay in the background:
The youngest was feeling a bit better, so we thought we'd hit the pool for a while too.
And of course get some ice cream:
And watch some movies and I think they tried the smaller slide too:
Ooops...forgot another photo I took before we left Castaway Cay of the kids with the holiday decorations there:
Today was going to be a fabulous day on Castaway Cay...for SOME of us.
Unfortunately at some point Monday night my youngest son woke up with a fever...and he was miserable. So much that we put him in the king bed with us to sleep. Needless to say, the next day he wasn't up for much.
As it turns out my FIL was having similar issues the night before. I think my MIL said he did not have a good night and she was also having issues preventing her from getting far from a bathroom.
Swell. I made a plan with my DH. I would take the two older kids down to Castaway Cay for an hour or two, then I'd come back and HE could go down and spend some time with them as well.
So the oldest two kids and I left the boat and headed for the beach! We found the beach area with the big slide and dropped off our stuff and headed to the water.
It. Was. Cold.
As the three of us stood there in the water, I said aloud "Maybe we just have to get used to it" and a man there answered that he'd been there for a while and it wasn't getting any better. My daughter really wanted to try the slide:
and I told her to go ahead...I'd be waiting for her right at the beach!
She swam out and went down once and then determined she was good. So we snapped a photo:
Then they wanted to try to rent the water bikes. The problem was that they weren't old enough to do them on their own.
So the best bet was for all of us to rent a paddleboat...and I even told them they could do all of the paddling!
They LOVED this idea! We got our lifejackets and headed out on the boat:
I was enjoying not doing any work:
Next thing I know our time up was approaching and I told the kids it was time to head back...only they were TIRED already! Oh it was like pulling teeth and I was sure somebody would end up coming out to rescue us before they would get us back to shore.
They would paddle and we'd make some progress back to shore, then they would get tired and we'd drift back out.
Wow.
Eventually we did make it back and I told them we really needed to head back to the boat, so their dad would have some time on the island. So that's what we did.
Only I returned and DH really wasn't interested in leaving the boat. He decided instead that he would take the oldest son and go see a movie...and I would stay in the room with the other two kids. He did that and when he returned we figured we'd go check out the minigolf on the upper deck, so we went up to play a round:
The kids wants to play Ping-Pong but it was way too windy:
We snapped some shots of Castaway Cay in the background:
The youngest was feeling a bit better, so we thought we'd hit the pool for a while too.
And of course get some ice cream:
And watch some movies and I think they tried the smaller slide too:
Ooops...forgot another photo I took before we left Castaway Cay of the kids with the holiday decorations there:
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
Tuesday November 20th
So this was our LAST night on the ship, and we would be having dinner in the Enchanted Garden this evening. I was looking forward to this one!
Unfortunately we would all not be dining together again. Youngest wasn't up for dinner and my FIL also wasn't up for it...so we left the connecting door between the two staterooms open, FIL in his room and DS in our room, and headed to dinner without them.
Some photos:
With Captain Mickey:
Two oldest kids:
Loved the lighting in the restaurant:
The servers made a rose:
The meal was good and we got some food to go to take back to my son and my FIL. This was also Pirate Night on the ship I think...and my daughter really wanted to go. I wasn't sure I could stay up that late but I figured we'd try it. After all, when would we ever be on a cruise again?
So she dressed up and we headed for the pool deck:
Even the characters were dressed up along the way:
The show and the subsequent fireworks were simply OUTSTANDING! So glad that we went to it. The dance party afterwards was...meh...but we stayed for a song or so. Then we heard about the buffet afterwards and I thought dessert would be great. So we headed there to get a small dessert before heading back to our room for the night.
All in all it was a fun last night. The next day we would be leaving our beloved home on the sea and heading back to the parks to continue our vacation...and surprise our kids with another family meetup!
So this was our LAST night on the ship, and we would be having dinner in the Enchanted Garden this evening. I was looking forward to this one!
Unfortunately we would all not be dining together again. Youngest wasn't up for dinner and my FIL also wasn't up for it...so we left the connecting door between the two staterooms open, FIL in his room and DS in our room, and headed to dinner without them.
Some photos:
With Captain Mickey:
Two oldest kids:
Loved the lighting in the restaurant:
The servers made a rose:
The meal was good and we got some food to go to take back to my son and my FIL. This was also Pirate Night on the ship I think...and my daughter really wanted to go. I wasn't sure I could stay up that late but I figured we'd try it. After all, when would we ever be on a cruise again?
So she dressed up and we headed for the pool deck:
Even the characters were dressed up along the way:
The show and the subsequent fireworks were simply OUTSTANDING! So glad that we went to it. The dance party afterwards was...meh...but we stayed for a song or so. Then we heard about the buffet afterwards and I thought dessert would be great. So we headed there to get a small dessert before heading back to our room for the night.
All in all it was a fun last night. The next day we would be leaving our beloved home on the sea and heading back to the parks to continue our vacation...and surprise our kids with another family meetup!
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
So for the most part this ends the cruise portion of our trip. I really wanted to get this done and trying to remember everything this late is tough. I know I got something wrong. I know there was one night where my DH and my oldest went to a movie...and the younger kids and I stayed in the room and watched one of the shows live from the room. I even brought them popcorn and drinks to watch it from our beds. It might have also been that last night...makes sense. Needless to say I don't think we ever got to see ANY of the shows on the ship live and in the theater.
This is something I am hoping to change for our next cruise...which just happens to be 16 days away!!!
If you see my siggy, I've added another link to an in-progress PTR for our next cruise. We are doing four nights on the Disney Magic...and we leave two weeks from today to make the drive to Florida!
Needless to say, our first cruise as a family did not go as well as hoped. We want to make up for that this time around and do so much more.
This will make cruise #3 for DH and myself and it will be our THIRD ship having also done a cruise on the Wonder by ourselves this past Sept/October.
That makes cruises in 2012, 2013 and 2014 so far for us...and we hope to do one in 2015 as well.
We must be crazy, but our latest cruise is happening due to a fabulous rate that we just could not pass up!
So stay tuned as I try to visit here more frequently to try to finish my other TRs and also my PTR for the Magic...which is now in progress!
This is something I am hoping to change for our next cruise...which just happens to be 16 days away!!!
If you see my siggy, I've added another link to an in-progress PTR for our next cruise. We are doing four nights on the Disney Magic...and we leave two weeks from today to make the drive to Florida!
Needless to say, our first cruise as a family did not go as well as hoped. We want to make up for that this time around and do so much more.
This will make cruise #3 for DH and myself and it will be our THIRD ship having also done a cruise on the Wonder by ourselves this past Sept/October.
That makes cruises in 2012, 2013 and 2014 so far for us...and we hope to do one in 2015 as well.
We must be crazy, but our latest cruise is happening due to a fabulous rate that we just could not pass up!
So stay tuned as I try to visit here more frequently to try to finish my other TRs and also my PTR for the Magic...which is now in progress!
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
By the time I get around to posting an update here...we will have returned from our next Walt Disney World trip....in November 2014!!
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
Just can't see me remembering the intimate details of this trip so much later. So let me try to summarize it quickly.
I recall our return to Port the next morning being uneventful. We chose to haul our own luggage off the ship, which worked very well. We didn't stay and eat at all, deciding instead to just grab some food on the way back to WDW.
I think we were on the road easily by 8am or so and we stopped at McDonald's I think to grab some food. Our plan was to head to our WDW Resort (Saratoga Springs) first to check-in and see if our Treehouse Villa was ready. If not, then we'd head to EPCOT to wait.
We did arrive at SSR and the room was not ready yet. We ended up getting our keys and a number to call when the room was ready. Then it was off to EPCOT.
Now the kids had not idea at this point what would await us at EPCOT, but my SIL had brought my nephew to WDW. They had flown in the night before and stayed at AofA the first night. We had been hauling around the rest of their luggage for most of our trip, which my kid's didn't know.
I recall there was a lot of texting to try to determine where my SIL was located during our drive to EPCOT so we could arrange for the meeting. We hopped on SPACESHIP EARTH to ride that first. Once we exited the ride, we just encouraged the kids to explore the games and such there while we waited for my SIL and nephew to also ride and meet us.
It wasn't too terribly long. I left the boys playing the shuffleboard-like game inside Spaceship Earth while my daughter and I wandered over to the exit from the ride, and soon my daughter spotted her aunt and cousin. She couldn't believe it!
Next we all walked over to where the boys were playing their game. The looked up...and also had that same look of shock to see their younger cousin and aunt standing there! Too funny!
It was definitely fun to surprise everybody that way. We would then all spend the remainder of our trip hanging out together (for the most part) and enjoying a few more Walt Disney World park days.
I'll try to include a few more photos when I get the chance of some of the things we did manage over the course of a few days. Overall it was a fun trip but we still battled with illnesses and I was administering drugs left and right to kids for our remaining few days.
I recall our return to Port the next morning being uneventful. We chose to haul our own luggage off the ship, which worked very well. We didn't stay and eat at all, deciding instead to just grab some food on the way back to WDW.
I think we were on the road easily by 8am or so and we stopped at McDonald's I think to grab some food. Our plan was to head to our WDW Resort (Saratoga Springs) first to check-in and see if our Treehouse Villa was ready. If not, then we'd head to EPCOT to wait.
We did arrive at SSR and the room was not ready yet. We ended up getting our keys and a number to call when the room was ready. Then it was off to EPCOT.
Now the kids had not idea at this point what would await us at EPCOT, but my SIL had brought my nephew to WDW. They had flown in the night before and stayed at AofA the first night. We had been hauling around the rest of their luggage for most of our trip, which my kid's didn't know.
I recall there was a lot of texting to try to determine where my SIL was located during our drive to EPCOT so we could arrange for the meeting. We hopped on SPACESHIP EARTH to ride that first. Once we exited the ride, we just encouraged the kids to explore the games and such there while we waited for my SIL and nephew to also ride and meet us.
It wasn't too terribly long. I left the boys playing the shuffleboard-like game inside Spaceship Earth while my daughter and I wandered over to the exit from the ride, and soon my daughter spotted her aunt and cousin. She couldn't believe it!
Next we all walked over to where the boys were playing their game. The looked up...and also had that same look of shock to see their younger cousin and aunt standing there! Too funny!
It was definitely fun to surprise everybody that way. We would then all spend the remainder of our trip hanging out together (for the most part) and enjoying a few more Walt Disney World park days.
I'll try to include a few more photos when I get the chance of some of the things we did manage over the course of a few days. Overall it was a fun trip but we still battled with illnesses and I was administering drugs left and right to kids for our remaining few days.
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