Reflections of the 9/9/06 Magical Journey

[captchris]

I have been contemplating doing a live thread from my cruise. Verandah Man and his updates were awesome, and I guess he indirectly encouraged me to give it a try.

I will do this without a computer with me. I am hoping the Residence Inn has a business center where I can get on, and then I will hop on and type as fast as I can when I am on the Magic. I have thought about taking my laptop, and still might, but that will be detemined in the next few hours.

I am hoping that my reports will be informative. I will try to do the best I can in getting the information and excitement of our cruise transmitted to the DIS. In any case, I will be buying a notebook to jot down notes to later put onto the live thread. That way I don't have to rely on my memory!

More to follow...

 

[RoyalVizier]

Yay! That'll be fun...

Trip reports rock!

 

[WDWLVR]

Love live reports. Have a great time. I believe you are sailing with a good friend of mine named David (DIS ID Foxxboys). Please tell him and his partner hello from me. Wishing you all a MAGICal week!

 

[captchris]

Love live reports. Have a great time. I believe you are sailing with a good friend of mine named David (DIS ID Foxxboys). Please tell him and his partner hello from me. Wishing you all a MAGICal week!

Yes...I recognize that name from our cruise meets thread. I will be sure to say

I am thinking I will take my laptop to download pictures onto each night. Are they a pain in the neck to take on a plane??? I have never flown with my computer. My DD will be happy, she can maybe watch a movie on the plane!

 

[lillygator]

Have a great time!

 

[curlybop]

Have a great trip! I always love the live reports.

 

[JDBlair]

Yes...I recognize that name from our cruise meets thread. I will be sure to say

I am thinking I will take my laptop to download pictures onto each night. Are they a pain in the neck to take on a plane??? I have never flown with my computer. My DD will be happy, she can maybe watch a movie on the plane!

The only difficulty with a lap top on the plane is you have to remove the lap top from it's bag to go through security and you have to carry the heavy bag. Other than that - it's a huge benefit to have for things like movies and - trip reports!!!

 

[winotracy]

I have been contemplating doing a live thread from my cruise. Verandah Man and his updates were awesome, and I guess he indirectly encouraged me to give it a try.

I will do this without a computer with me. I am hoping the Residence Inn has a business center where I can get on, and then I will hop on and type as fast as I can when I am on the Magic. I have thought about taking my laptop, and still might, but that will be detemined in the next few hours.

I am hoping that my reports will be informative. I will try to do the best I can in getting the information and excitement of our cruise transmitted to the DIS. In any case, I will be buying a notebook to jot down notes to later put onto the live thread. That way I don't have to rely on my memory!

More to follow...

Can't wait to see you onboard I opted to not take the laptop this time. But in the past usually have. Other than what has been mentioned, flying with it is fine. I was checking in with work last year (and again this year) so it was a hassle going to the cabin, getting laptop, going to a "hot spot", going back to the cabin, dropping off laptop all the time. This year I'll just get unlimited access. I was planning to do my trip report as I go since this will be our first back to sorta back cruises

Tracy

 

[captchris]

Just a quick update...

I checked in with Southwest as soon as I was able to. I got A boarding passes and not only that, boarding passes, 1,2,3,4!!!! I was the first to check in on my flight!!!!

Just a little background information. Our travelling party consists of myself Chris...32 years old, DW Elaine 30 years old, DD Samantha 6 years old, DS James(Jay) 4 years old. My parents and sister joining us. I won't share my parents ages, but my sister is 21.

My parents and sister arrive at MCO around 11 tomorrow. Our flight arrives at 12:50. We will then meet up at the Residence Inn and spend the afternoon on the beach in Cocoa. We are used to the ocean in the Northeast so we are very excited to feel that 85 degree water! As my dad says, there is no shock entering that warm water.

After that, we are going to Grills for dinner. My father thinks it looks like a very family friendly restaurant. My kids may be just a little wired knowing that they are in Florida and will be boarding the Magic the next morning.

I am hoping the Residence Inn has a business center as I don't think I will take my computer. We have enough luggage and bags! With small children, I usually get stuck strapping our luggage together and negotiating the airport!

More to follow...

 

[WDWLVR]

Grills is a fun place for dinner. They usually have a band out on the deck on Friday and Saturday nights. They also usually have a coupon on their site so be sure and print it off before you leave.

 

[jrose529]

Have a Magical cruise!

 

[wltdsnyfan]

Have a great time Enjoy

 

[captchris]

We have arrived in Cape Canaveral. We left our home at 7:00 am this morning for Bradley. We arrived at the airport and went right through security.

Shortly after arriving at our gate, the gate agent came on and said there was going to be a delay. Apparantly, our plane was delayed on the ground in Philadelphia and would be arriving late. We were originally scheduled to depart at 10:00 am, we were wheels up at 10:23. The captain came on shortly after we reached our cruise altitude of 40,000 ft and said we would be arriving in Orlando at 1:00...only 10 minutes late. The flight was smooth. There were some rather impressive looking thunderstorms off in the distance. We made a hard bank to the right and came in over Cape Canaveral. As we passed over launch complex 39, I noticed Atlantis was still on the pad. Could it be we would be able to have "front row seats" for a shuttle launch? If all goes well we will! We landed at 1:05 and got all of our luggage at baggage claim.

We went to the Budget Fastbreak kiosk in the garage, and got a free upgrade to a Taurus. It was nice to have a bigger trunk than what we were expecting. We continued north to find some lunch...thanks to these boards, | knew where to go! We then headed toward the Cape.

We arrived and met my parents and sister at the Residence Inn, but due to the launch delay, our room was not vacated by some NASA staff that were in the area for the launch. We got our room at about 3:30 and went swimming in the very warm pool. The Residence Inn is a lovely property. I would recommend it! We have a 2 BR suite. The staff is very friendly! Just coming down here to the business center, a maintenance staff member held the elevator. No matter who we see in the halls, all of the staff greets us. Great place!

For dinner we decided to go to Grills. I have always enjoyed eating on the water, but the food was absolutely wonderful. I got the grilled chix. It was a teriyaki flavored chicken with caribbean wild rice. The food was very good! Everyone enjoyed what they ordered and we were all too filled for dessert. We can't let that happen on the cruise!

After Grills, we went to Ron Jon's to look around, then returned to the Residence. All of us are exausted, and are looking forward to a good nights sleep. We will head over to the Magic at around 10.

My next report, will come either tomorrow night or Sunday morning from the Magic.

More to follow...

 

[debster]

We continued north to find some lunch...thanks to these boards, | knew where to go! .

Please share, where did you eat?

Thanks for the live reports, I am really enjoying them.

Only 6 months til our cruise

 

[Dixielady908]

Looking forward to your reports.....have a great trip...
blue skies and smooth sailing.....

Denise

 

[captchris]

Please share, where did you eat?

Thanks for the live reports, I am really enjoying them.

Only 6 months til our cruise

LOL We ate at McDonalds and even ate in the car. We were anxious to get to the Residence to see our family. We knew we would also be eating good that night.

We are eating breakfast right now. When we are done, we will put our luggage tags on our luggage, load the cars, and head to the port.

The breakfast buffet is great at the Residence. They have just about everything. I had biscuits and gravy for a change. It was very good. Almost like my mother in laws!!!! The buffet is complimentary with the room.

Can someone possibly get a screen shot from the webcams of us going out tonight. I am hoping we can be out on the deck when we sail out the channel, but I am pretty sure we have the APL rotation, and will possibly be in Animators at 5:30.


In forty minutes we should be in the terminal. Here's hoping for a #2 boarding pass, and maybe a last minute upgrade!

 

[JOANNEL]

Have a great trip. And take care of our ship. We will be in your place next Saturday. I can't wait.

 

[Spectro is #1]

We will be on the 10:00am out of BDL on Friday, thanks for the report about the flight delay. I hate surprises and knowing you landed only 10 minutes late will lower my stress level if it happens to us.

I am looking for info on the band. Word on the street is X.O.P. is playing and they did not get good reviews. Just want to know what to expect. Like I said before I hate suprises.

 

[Verandah Man]

Have a MAGICal cruise!!!

 

[lillygator]

have fun!