OK, this is part 7 and I'll TRY to get part 8 up and posted later this evening, but no guaruntees! If the rest is not posted tonight, expect more Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning - it is HOT, HOT, HOT and 2morrow is all day at local water park!!! Tuesday we have relatives coming in, but I'll try to "escape" for a while to write the rest of my TR for you guys!!!
Anyway, here's Ship of a Million Dreams, Part 7: "Well, I promised you folks a party . . ."
OK, so where had I left off? Oh, yeah - Incliment weather on Castaway Cay caused the ship's schedule to slightly change, and a round of Mickey Mania was held (which 6-year-old family member won!), and now we're off to meet Captain Hook, my all-time favorite Disney character (besides Mickey, off course!), whose meet n greet had been relocated from the ship gangway to Deck 4 midship, on the balcony just across from Studio Sea.
So, we exit Studio Sea and head over to the balcony, where a deep line had already formed (Cap'n Hook must be popular!), so we head to the back of the line near the entrance to Mickey's Mates . . . not a too terribly long line, but longer than I had expected. Oh well. He's coming! He's heading this way! And he's brought a friend! Mr. Smee!!!! Oh, boy!
So, while we're waiting in line, we talk w/some fellow pin traders, who wanted to know where I had gotten my Expedition Everest pin - the answer was WDW, but I thought I had also seen it in the onboard shop as well, which I thought was odd. Our camera (a disposable one) decides to act up right before the most important shot of the entire cruise! It starts making a weird popping noise, and the Flash light keeps going on and off, and the camera gives off a weird burning smell. NOOOOOO! Not before my pic w/Cap'n Hook! Oh, well I can just purchase the photo Disney takes of us for this one, I'll just buy it in Shutter's tonight . . . only there's no Disney photographer on hand for this meet n greet! NOOOO! Then the lady in front of me gets mad for continuously making the popping noise, but I swear I wasn't making it, or at least not intentionally! Anyway, the camera eventually kept making the popping noise, but still worked out fine and took a decent (yet somewhat blurry) pic of me w/Cap'n Hook. I was so afraid the camera would explode in the CM's hand b/c it was making the weird noise! Hook complimented my many Hook pins, which I had on display just for him
Mr. Smee kept playing with his hat, that was funny.
So, now it's off to the room for our daily recuperation. We chill out, relax, turn on Charlotte's Web which is on TV - it's certainly not the most cheerful movie in the world.
We decide to head out from our room a little early, so we can get down to the atrium in time to meet Pirate Stitch before dinner. We arrive before he gets there, and in a few minutes Stitch arrives in pirate garb, and -SURPRISE!- so does Mickey! Neat! Two characters for one line! We got Mickey to sign our Castaway Cay license plate. Mickey was perplexed at first as to where to sign on the license plate (scratching his head and everything), but he persisted and eventually signed it! Hooray for Mickey! Stitch was cute, too. We hadn't seen him yet in the trip and he was great.
We head one deck up to Animator's Palate. Tonight we arrive and everything is already in color, because it doesn't do the whole black&white/color transformation on your second night there. Tonight is Pirate Night, hence Pirate Mickey and Pirate Stitch in the lobby.. Everyone gets complimentary pirate bandanas, a special pirate menu, and all the waitors are dressed up too. About midway through the meal, a dance remix of "Yo Ho a Pirate's Life for Me" fills the air (it sounds a little "Disney Mania"-ish to me), and everyone gets up and dances. We also do the limbo w/the waitors.
Again, our early dinner seating messes us up - we can go to a "Walk the Plank" party thing in Studio Sea at 7:30, and then arrive at Golden Mickeys w/lame seats, or we can skip Walk the Plank and get good seats for Golden Mickeys. Well, we really wanted to do both, but we wanted to do Golden Mickeys more - we were NOT getting bad seats like last night at Herc. So, we just hung out until 8:00, where we went to WD Theatre and got really good seats, about 6th or 7th row in center. Once the red carpet arrivals had begun, one of our family members just said "I'm gonna go be on TV". A few minutes later, there he was! So neat!!! Although I'm certainly glad we opted to go ahead and get seats for the show right as the theater opened 30 minutes before showtime, this meant that we didn't really get to experience the preshow. Sure, we got to see the red carpet arrivals on TV, but we didn't get to walk the red carpet or see any of the photographers outside.
Right before the show started, the CMs got the audience clapping and doing various hand movements, and then my very favorite Disney song OF ALL TIME started playing, that I thought was for sure extinct. It was "Remember the Magic", which originally played in the Magical Moments Parade during WDW's 25th Anniversary. I was so glad to see it hadn't been fully forgotten! You know, "
Remember the magic, it's time to remember the magic . . . . Your heart can just take wing, you can live out all your dreams. No matter how, no matter when, you can reach that world again. It's like a dream come true, that lives inside of you! It's time to Remember the Magic! So join the celebration, and wish upon a star! It's time to Remember the Magic!!!! I thought for sure this song had died with the parade it was featured in, and was glad to see it hadn't.
Golden Mickeys was fantastic, but I thought the selection of movies was a little odd. I liked Snow White, Toy Story, and Stitch, but why Mulan, Tarzan, and Hunchback?! Oh, well. I figured they were saving the big classics for Disney Dreams, and I was right - but that's for tomorrow night.
I think I'm making it sound like it wasn't good, but it actually was VERY good.
I recognized adult Herc/Pluto & Goofy's handler from yesterday as a couple roles in this show, including Shang, Prince Phillip, and one of Cruella's henchmen. There were a few other people who I recognized as multiple roles, too.
I had another Disney magic moment during the "Trashin' the Camp" w/ Elvis Stitch part - I was totally not expecting his appearance, and I guess Stitch, all those dancers, plus all those great Disney clips playing on the screen is the combination that really got me. (BTW what's the first thing I did when I got home? Bought "Trashing the Camp" on itunes!) "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" was also incredible - I absolutely LOVE Lion King. Of course the finale was also 100% Disney magic.
After the show was over, music filled the air again, and this time it was the music that was played at WDW's 25th Anniversary when the parade would stop in the street and have guests come out and dance. I thought this archival music was forgotten too! Glad to see I'm not the only one who remembers the words!
OK, so we get out of Golden Mickeys and, since the show ended so late, our early dining messes us up and again and we arrive late for the pirate party and there are absolutely no seats left. Luckily we had a family member in a wheelchair, meaning our family has access to the wheelchair-exclusive area in the gazebo right beside the stage, so we got to high-5 all the characters as they popped in and out of the party. I thought the party was all right, but as late as it was, and after a really big day, I wasn't exactly in the mood to dance. But I did get a chuckle out of one thing - this Party is probably the only time you can ever see Minnie Mouse get her groove on to the tune of "Sin Wagon"
Next time I would just arrive at about 10:20, just before the fireworks start, I wouldn't mind skipping the dancing. I was surprised Cap'n Jack didn't make an appearance, either. Oh well. When Mickey made his appearance, it was really great, but I won't spoil it for anyone who wants to be surprised at how he comes in. He said his great line "Well, folks, I promise you folks a party, so here's a party in the sky!" And the fireworks go off!!!!
Since we were right near the stage, when the fireworks started and the stage lights went off, we could still see the characters, and got some good interaction w/them since they weren't performing or anything during the fireworks. Goofy freaked out during the fireworks because apparantly he was scared - a CM assured him "They're just fireworks, Goofy!" The Goof still shook with fear LOL. Also during the fireworks I saw Stitch and Cap'n Hook arguing, which was hilarious. If you get a chance, honestly get a spot up waaay front to see the characters during the fireworks. They're hysterical.
We head back to the room, and go to bed. I look over the Personal Navigator, highlight things we want to do, start getting a bit sad that tomorrow is the last day
Stay tuned for the 8th and final installment! Expect it either this evening or Tuesday, more likely Tuesday. Stay tuned!
. Is it fate that I'll never get to read this book?! I explore some more, check out the Buena Vista Theatre, and go to every stairway to look at the cartoon storyboards, which took up quite some time, but was very much enjoyable 
It was just so great, especially since I wasn't expecting it. I won't spoil it for any first time cruisers or for those who haven't yet experienced AP, but it truly was magical. 
Tuesday we have relatives coming in, but I'll try to "escape" for a while to write the rest of my TR for you guys!!!
