Resorts, Relatives & Restaurants - and a 3 day cruise!

[manntra]

Mmmmmmm those cupcakes look yummy! I am ALL about the frosting!! I must admit with muffins I only eat the tops!
for two desserts! What a great server! I love the candy bar too No calories!!

Tracy

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Great update! Your servers sound amazing. The girls look so pretty all dressed up.

I am so sad the TR is coming to an end. . .

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Maddie sleeps with every single Webkinz that she owns (definately over 30). They pretty much line the side of her bed that touches the wall. I guess I don't have to worry about her hitting her head on the wall while she sleeps! She plays with hers a lot, but most of them just sit in her bed. She's always playing with the stuffed cats though (she is a bit obsessed with cats)!

They're cute, but at our house, they are just clutter now, but for the latest ones.

I love your photos of the cruise. We took the cruise for our honeymoon and loved it sooooo much. Now that we have kids, I hope to take them someday.

Your cupcakes are cute. My DD turns 4 on thursday and I really need to come up with something to make for her. I have NO imagination however. Last she had a wall-e cake, this year I think it'll be princesses.

We really enjoyed cruising - especially with Disney!
Happy almost birthday to your DD! I've seen some really cute cupcake ideas with candy to make little animals on top, stuff like that - maybe you can find some online or in a book from the library? I sure can't come up with ideas on my own! DD9 had a princess cake from the grocery store when she turned 4 and they had 4 princess figurines on it (Belle, Cinderella, Aurora and Ariel I think). I think we still have some of them around!

Mmmmmmm those cupcakes look yummy! I am ALL about the frosting!! I must admit with muffins I only eat the tops!
for two desserts! What a great server! I love the candy bar too No calories!!

Tracy

They were good cupcakes (even I didn't eat all the frosting!).
My favorite meal on the cruise was when I got two desserts! And I don't even remember what I ate for an entree!!

Great update! Your servers sound amazing. The girls look so pretty all dressed up.

I am so sad the TR is coming to an end. . .

Thanks Shelly! They get excited to wear "fancy" dresses! They are quite the girly-girls! Especially Paige. She went through a phase when she was in pre-school where she HAD to wear dresses everyday!! Kind of tough in winter, but we found some long-sleeved ones and tights!
I'm sort of sad it's winding down too - but you know it will be a bit, because I'm so slow!!!
Plus I might do a PTR for our July trip, although I've got it pretty much set, so I don't know what I would talk about!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Today I have to change my siggie. My baby turned 7!!! I can hardly believe it. She's so excited for her day. DH bought her a HUGE purple balloon and donuts for breakfast. She took cookies to school for her class and I had to take the girls early for a science class, so I went in with her. There were a few teachers in the hall and her teacher said, "well, it's the birthday girl!!" She was grinning from ear to ear! All the other teachers wished her a happy b-day and joked that they might eat the cookies while she was at science!
Tonight we go out to eat. Her choice was IHOP. But since her school is having a fundraiser night at Perkins, we decided to go there instead. The school gets 15% of whatever the bill is. Then it's back home for cake and presents with my parents and brother.
She's having a bowling party next week with her friends. Then poof! It's Easter and I can relax again.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Happy Birthday, Paige!!! Hope you have a wonderful day!!!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Happy Birthday Sweet Paige!!!

 

[Pluto_fan]

Happy Birthday Paige! Hope it's filled with MAGIC!

 

[Dancegrl624]

Happy Birthday Paige!​

I hope she's enjoyed her day. We have a school fundraiser tomorrow night, but it's at Chuck E Cheese. I'll probably pick Madison up from school and head right over. It's usually not too busy right when it starts!

 

[Señor DonDuck]

Cruise update and food pics... awesome.

BTW, the custom candy bar is very cool. Such talented people here on the DIS.

 

[Monny2AE]

Yummy cupcakes! Happy birthday to Paige!

I have to change my ticker too. DS goes from 5 to 6 next week.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Happy Birthday Paige!! It sure sounds like you had a fun birthday!

Great update Sheree. I got a little of my mojo back today too. The girls look so pretty in their dresses. Two desserts?! You lucky duck!

 

[jenseib]

Happy Belated Birthday Paige!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Before I tell you about the last night and last morning of our trip, I have to tell you about Paige's birthday. It was so much fun! When she woke up, she discovered that Daddy had bought donuts for breakfast and a HUGE balloon (purple with "Happy Birthday" all over it) We joke that if it ever pops, the neighbors will call the police because they'll think a bomb went off! She was really excited and I drove them to school early for their Mad Science class. After school/work we went to dinner at Perkins. We saw a few people they knew from school and Paige couldn't wait to go home and open presents. Grandma made a cake (Funfetti!). So we stuck 7 candles in it, sung and ate cake. She opened presents and was thrilled with all of them. She got a few new outfits (which normally would be boring, but I guess she thought they were cute!), an American Girl doll outfit and pet bed set, books, The Princess and the Frog DVD and a webkinz. She went around hugging and kissing and thanking everyone. I never thought I'd get her to bed that night she was so wound up! It was very cute. She's still darn excited to be 7, talks about it a lot!

We're having her party next Friday at the local bowling place - it's new and right by our house. They will bowl, have pizza and play arcade games. They also have lasertag there, but we're skipping that this time. It's a fun place and she's invited 6 girls from school plus her sister.

I'm getting ready to do the update of our last evening/morning on the ship! Stay tuned!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

After dinner, we had plans to meet some very special characters. We wandered up to the Walt Disney Theater lobby and waited. Luckily it's right by the shops, so some of our group did a little shopping. We talked to a CM who was working the line for Goofy (I think) and said that Mickey and Minnie would be out a bit later. We could form a separate line, so we joined that line. I think we were second or third in line. We probably hung out there for at least a half an hour, but I didn't have anything better to do before the show that night anyway.
It was totally worth it! We hadn't seen Mickey and Minnie at MVMCP, so this was our chance to see them all decked out in holiday garb and get pictures.

Sitting in the chairs behind are my MIL and SIL. We were pretty excited for this picture! I had thought we had one with me and DH, but maybe not.
After pictures, we went into the theater and got seats for the show - Disney Dreams. It is a FABULOUS show!!! Really not to be missed. My favorite of all the ones we've seen. I won't spoil it, but basically it is the story of a girl and her dreams with Disney characters and growing up and not losing your dreams. Lots of characters appear in the show and the music is wonderful. We really enjoyed it.

Another thing they do on the last night is a little "good-bye" type celebration called "Til we meet again". It was at 10:00 p.m. in the big lobby atrium. A bunch of the characters, CMs and characters and performers from the various shows come and line the steps and sing. On our first cruise, they sang and did sign language to the Mickey Mouse Club song (if you're as old as me, you'll remember it) - Now it's time to say good bye - M-I -C See ya real soon, K-E-Y, Why, because we like you! M-O-U-S-E. But this time, since it was the holiday season, they sang Let There Be Peace on Earth (and let it begin with me). They also did sign it. It was so beautiful and moving, I was practically in tears. Of course, part of that was the fact that I had to go home the next day!

After the show and we were back in our room, we were greeted by one last towel friend.

Now on the last night of the cruise, you have to pack your luggage and have it outside your cabin door by 11 p.m. I can't remember if we did this before or after the show. Since the towel animal pictures show a time of 11:44, I'm guessing we did it before the show.

So you have to decide what you're wearing the next day and what you need in the morning and put that in a day bag that you carry off with you. We had some issues with packing. DH was driving home with SIL Sharon and the girls and I were flying. But DH and SIL were driving us to the airport. So, we had to pack what we'd need at home the next two days in a carry on bag (or three) and everything else that DH was going to drive home in the suitcases. We kept the camera and our day stuff out and packed ALL that FE stuff in suitcases. Then we realized DDs would need their sneakers for school, so we crammed them into the duffle bag. They wore crocs for the plane. It took us a while to get organized, but we managed it.

That last night at sea was kind of rough. We could really feel the motion of the ship more than before. I think it was more prominent for our cabin since we were at the front of the ship. But the kids didn't notice it. We didn't know it at the time, but SIL Donna woke up and was in a panic!! She put her life vest on, woke her husband and SIL Sharon and was really freaked out. She was sure the ship was going down.She had her DH go to guest services and they gave him some medicine to give her, but warned her not to take too much or she wouldn't get up in time. Must have been a sedative. We didn't find out about this until morning. Oddly enough, we'd cruised with them on the Carnival cruise and the very first night was super rough seas. My other SILs who'd cruised often said it was the worst they'd been in. I thought this was nothing in comparison to that first cruise. SIL Donna didn't agree. She swore she'd never cruise again after this night. But she changed her tune because it was Disney, she'd do that again!

Remember that day bag we needed for our last morning? You either want one with wheels, or a lightly packed bag. Why, you ask?? Because you need to take it with you to breakfast and lug it off the ship. The way it works is this: You eat breakfast in the dining room you had dinner in the night before. If you actually want breakfast, that is. I did. You are assigned a time based on your dinner time. Since we ate dinner at 5:45 p.m., we had to be at breakfast at Oh Dark Thirty!! (it was 6 something). Very tempting to skip it, but I knew I'd be starving and wanted to have a chance to say one last goodbye to our servers.
We were back at Tritons. It was generally a full service breakfast, donuts, eggs, fruit etc. Quite yummy. We thanked our servers again and wished them well. They gave big hugs to everyone and thanked us too. I really didn't want to rush off the ship. Our plane wasn't leaving MCO until 1:30 p.m. But DH and the in-laws were all driving a long way, so they wanted to get on the road. We gathered one last time in the atrium lobby to say our goodbyes. We headed off the ship passing CMs waving their big Mickey gloved hands. I was sad it was over.
We went down to customs, paperwork had been filled out the night before (you have to declare booze and purchases) and passports in hand. Here's a tip. Get one of the porters to help you and you can WHIZ through customs.
The night before, we had to put specific luggage tags on our luggage. They have different characters on them. When you get down to the luggage claim area, it is organized by the characters. You can tell the porter, we're in the Mickey section and we have 4 bags. We go with them to find them, the porter loads them up and leads us through the customs line. The customs people BARELY LOOKED at our paperwork and passports!!!! When we took a Carnival cruise, we had to stop and talk for 10 minutes with the customs agent! I don't think we had a porter then either. Hmmm....
So the porter pushes our cart full of luggage out in the COLD to our car. It was about 30 degrees there that morning. Keep in mind it's about 8:30 now.
We cram it all in, I crawl in the back seat with the girls, SIL in front with DH and we're off. We are done with our cruise.

We just get out of the parking lot, not sure of which way to go, and DH pulls over to set up the GPS. Not a minute later, a cop/security guy pulls up to check on us. He was nice, I think we were not supposed to stop on that road though. He told us which signs to follow to get on the highway to the airport and that was that.

Up next: Airport adventures of one mom and two kids: How much longer do we have to sit here????

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Taking notes....
Make sure morning bag has wheels. Check!
Get a porter. Check!

Birthday party sounded fun, love me some funfetti cake.....

I hope Paige had a wonderful birthday!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I wanted to thank you all for the birthday wishes for Paige - I haven't shown them all to her (she's never around when I'm DISing lately), but I know she'd be thrilled that all these people she's never met have taken the time to wish her a happy birthday. I think she views her birthday as a way to be a bit of a celebrity! I know it will make her feel even more special.
Who says you can't have friends you've never met in person??



Wigd - thank you for paying close attention and taking notes. There may be a quiz at the end. (Ha! I'm not even a teacher like so many of you are!)

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

gosh Sheree...I am sad it's over too!!!! Doesn't that feeling just drag you down? I get like that every time it's the last day...Mike gets aggravated at me,but I just can't help it. Then I am crabby because I am trying not to BURST out crying like a weirdo~ it's that strange feeling like, if I start crying out loud I won't be able to quit. How embarrassing for them would that be!!!!

 

[praisehisname]

I really enjoyed reading about your trip! Thanks so much for sharing it!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Paige's birthday sounds like a lot of fun -- I miss the days when Chelsea would get American Girl stuff!

Your last night sounds truly wonderful! Well, except for the rough seas. You're poor SIL -- I am such a Piglet type that I wonder if I would have done the same thing...

Thanks for sharing your great trip with us! It was a lot of fun to read all about it.

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

Oh - IT"S OVER????? Darn! I so loved reading about your Cruise Sheree! I am definitely keeping my eyes peeled to the DCL web page for deals to be had in the next year!! I can't believe that it was only 3 days! You guys did so much stuff in such a short time! So MUCH FUN!!! Thanks for sharing! Can't wait to hear about your plane ride home! I still CAN NOT beilieve that Dave drove straight home in less than 24 hrs!! He is SO CRAZY!!