"Step right up and come on in! Here is where the fun begins!"

[jenseib]

Great day. Jack looks so cute in his pirate costume. I love the Champagne get together. What a neat idea.
You got a lot of stuff in your FE. Looks like some people went way overboard.
Gotta love alone time. I get that feeling too though...like OK, I am alone, what I always wanted...but what should I do? Wait, can't do that, Claie would like that. LOL!
What is Real Steel?

 

[stephielela]

Great day. Jack looks so cute in his pirate costume. I love the Champagne get together. What a neat idea.
You got a lot of stuff in your FE. Looks like some people went way overboard.
Gotta love alone time. I get that feeling too though...like OK, I am alone, what I always wanted...but what should I do? Wait, can't do that, Claie would like that. LOL!
What is Real Steel?

Reel Steel is that Disney movie that recently came out about the robot boxer and the guy and his son. I'm fuzzy on the details because it's not something I was too interested in seeing, but it's an awesome examply of how Disney can show first run movies at sea since they own them

 

[jenseib]

Reel Steel is that Disney movie that recently came out about the robot boxer and the guy and his son. I'm fuzzy on the details because it's not something I was too interested in seeing, but it's an awesome examply of how Disney can show first run movies at sea since they own them

Ok, I don't remember seeing it advertised...but if it didn't catch my interest...which sounds like it wouldn't...then I can see why. LOL

 

[TheLanes]

Great trip report, thanks! Where is the rest? Am I missing something, or are you working on it?

 

[jenseib]

Great trip report, thanks! Where is the rest? Am I missing something, or are you working on it?

I see you are new.....Welcome to Dis. She is just getting it started...and actually going pretty fast at updating it. Trip reports take a lot of time to write up and post and many take several months (some up to a year) to post the whole trip.
Part of the fun of reading them is the anticipation of what is coming up next.

 

[TheLanes]

I see you are new.....Welcome to Dis. She is just getting it started...and actually going pretty fast at updating it. Trip reports take a lot of time to write up and post and many take several months (some up to a year) to post the whole trip.
Part of the fun of reading them is the anticipation of what is coming up next.

I see you post an average of 9 times a day, holy cow!

I hadn't read where stephielela's plan of attack on writing the report, that is why I asked her if I was missing something, or if she was still writing it. Something this good (her trip report) must certainly take time!

 

[jenseib]

I see you post an average of 9 times a day, holy cow!

I hadn't read where stephielela's plan of attack on writing the report, that is why I asked her if I was missing something, or if she was still writing it. Something this good (her trip report) must certainly take time!

I didn't know my average....but thats funny, but probably right. I am on here a lot. Plus I have been on two Disney trips this year, so I have been trying to update them regularly when possible. (Well one is done now, but the other is going slowly)

Stephanie just got back not too long ago (We are travel agents from the same agency), and I think she is planning on kind of making the trip linger by writing slowly.

 

[marhs]

subbing! We cruise the Wonder in Feb. Your TR is great! Excited to read more!

 

[Leshaface]

Haven't been on much lately so just got caught up.

Great updates! Wow, I can't believe how much FE stuff you got! Incredible. Also, how neat to be able to view the Roy Suite! That would be so cool to see.

Question: what is that pastry next to your french toast?? That looks good! Was it?

 

[jedijill]

Great report! I recognize the seating areas of both my airports, MCI and Denver! Your son is so cute!

Can't wait to hear more about the cruise!

Jill in CO (formerly of KC!)

 

[stephielela]

Great trip report, thanks! Where is the rest? Am I missing something, or are you working on it?

Thanks! As Jen said, it is still a work in progress. I am kinda long winded, so it takes me a little bit to get updates ready, but I will *hopefully* have day 3 done this week! The holiday set me back a bit!

Haven't been on much lately so just got caught up.

Great updates! Wow, I can't believe how much FE stuff you got! Incredible. Also, how neat to be able to view the Roy Suite! That would be so cool to see.

Question: what is that pastry next to your french toast?? That looks good! Was it?

Take your time, I am moving slower than I intended! All this holiday stuff has me super busy!

I was a little overwhelmed at how much FE stuff we got too! By the last few days Jack would run up to see if we got anything and tell me we didn't and I would say "Thanks goodness" which I am sure he thought was strange

The Roy suite was amazing!!! And the pastry was a danish, I think cheese maybe? I saw them several times but I don't think I ate another one, it was a pretty standard danish, but very pretty!

Great report! I recognize the seating areas of both my airports, MCI and Denver! Your son is so cute!

Can't wait to hear more about the cruise!

Jill in CO (formerly of KC!)

A Chiefs fan in Denver??? That must make life difficult!

 

[Dream426]

We stayed in the Roy Suite last summer. It was AMAZING!!! I took a ton of pictures and videos of it...haha. Love the FE stuff you got. Everyone is so creative. Great update!! Love the picture of the drinks you post. : I always get the drink of the day and the Bahama Mama as soon as I get on. We have so many of those glasses its ridiculous.

 

[Donathius]

Subbing.

We're off on the MR in January and it can't come soon enough so I'm just trying to live vicariously through people's TRs. It's nice to see a few recent ones.

 

[stephielela]

We stayed in the Roy Suite last summer. It was AMAZING!!! I took a ton of pictures and videos of it...haha. Love the FE stuff you got. Everyone is so creative. Great update!! Love the picture of the drinks you post. : I always get the drink of the day and the Bahama Mama as soon as I get on. We have so many of those glasses its ridiculous.

So jealous!!! I would love to stay in a suite some time, but it will probably be a looooong while before that is in the budget! We had some amazingly creative FE stuff. I do love me some Bahama Mama's! I always save one class from each trip, and when I get home I use it to save change in.

Subbing.

We're off on the MR in January and it can't come soon enough so I'm just trying to live vicariously through people's TRs. It's nice to see a few recent ones.

You will LOVE it! I really want to do it again. I think January is still a good time to see whales right?

 

[stephielela]

The next morning was our second day at sea. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed having three sea days. I was really concerned I would get bored and restless, but I always felt like I had something to do!
Anyways, Jack and I got up early this morning. We checked outside to see what our friends had left us overnight and sure enough there were more gifts to see!

Those booklet looking things are passport holders! They will definitely be coming in handy in the future!
We headed up to the Beach Blanket Buffet again, this was what Jack wanted to do every morning, eat outside! He really enjoyed it and actually threw fits when I wanted to eat indoors!

I know you are all thinking Jack is such a well-rounded eater, with all that fruit on his plate, but he didn’t eat much of it.

That thing in the middle is supposed to be biscuits and gravy… the bottom of the biscuit was really hard so I didn’t end up finishing it. Also that sausage was Jack’s, he decided he didn’t want it, and when he doesn’t want something, it can’t stay on his plate or the world will end. Seriously.
After breakfast we had plans to go watch Winnie the Pooh in the Buena Vista Theater. Unfortunately, we got up a little too early so we had some time to kill so we wandered around a bit.
Evidently it was time to clean out the life boats. There were crew members working on several of them. Good to know they are actually maintaining them! I thought it was kind of cool to see what it looked like inside without having an emergency that required me to be in one!

Doors to the Oceaneer’s Club

Another failed attempt at getting a good shot of the chandelier…

So according to this, the movie started at 9 am, which means we must have been up and out by 8:15 or so… wow…

Along the hallway by the kids clubs, there is the alphabet illustrated with sailing terms. Jack has been learning his letters and recognized the J:

I grabbed this shot for anyone who has nursery aged kids, as a reference:

Then it was time to head to the show!

While we were waiting Jack spotted a not-so-hidden Mickey!

Much like the Gnomeo and Juliet incident, Jack lost interest VERY early on and decided he would rather go to the kids club so I dropped him off and headed back to our room. I finished up some more FE gifts and went to pass them out. Then I headed back to the room to shower and get dressed for…

Yup! You might have noticed my breakfast plate was a bit light. That’s because I had an 11 am brunch reservation here!

I was really interested to experience this despite the fact I would be eating alone. I wanted to be sure I could recommend it to clients, which means I needed to actually try it. I’m glad I did, but it was a little awkward. Well worth the extra $20 surcharge though!
When you get seated the waiter comes by and offers you either a mimosa or a glass of champagne. I opted for the mimosa. They also bring you water with lemon.

The waiter takes you on a tour of the buffet, highlighting some of the items and helping you get your bearings. There is a table of breads and cheeses, a table of seafood, a table of pastry type items, a table of desserts, and a table of various items. There is also a counter where they have the various entrees on display. I decided to enjoy my quiet time and pace myself.
I started with the bread and cheese table

Starting on the left was a bread with bleu cheese in it, then brie, then a purple cheese which tastes slightly grape-y (but maybe it was the power of suggestion with the purple?) bread, and focaccia. I am not a huge cheese fan, but there were tons of other varieties to try.
Then I went to the “everything” table
Tomatoes with mozzarella, prosciutto wrapped melon, grilled veggies, white asparagus, prosciutto wrapped asparagus and… salmon mousse.

Here’s the story on the salmon mousse- I DO NOT eat seafood. It’s not a philosophical problem I have with eating animals or anything, I just don’t like it. The salmon mousse came in those neat spoons and they were stuck in this holder so you basically just pulled out the spoon by the handle. I thought it looked really neat. I also had been determined to push my boundaries a little on this trip, so I decided this was the perfect time to do it. I ate a couple other things on my plate first, then braced myself for the mousse… and hated it. Thankfully it was a small taste that was easily washed down with mimosa. So much for that experiment.
With that out of the way, I headed to the pastry table:

The cinnamon rolls were great, the rest was just bready, but not bad.
At this point you order your entrée. Yes, that’s right, on top of the never ending buffet you order a full sized entrée. I opted for the chicken parmesan on top of risotto. I LOVE risotto so if it’s ever an option, I choose it. Except for one time which will be coming up shortly…. While I waited I took some pictures of the beautiful table decor

One word. Delicious. This alone was worth the $20 surcharge. Absolutely fantastic. I couldn’t finish it all, but I wanted to…
Next up was dessert. By this point I was stuffed, but I figured I had to at least check it out…

The strawberry was delicious and the little bowl of mousse was also yummy. The chocolate covered thing was not very good, and the tiramisu was probably great, but I don’t like tiramisu and this one just confirmed that.
After I had ingested my 50,000 calories of fabulousness I thanked my waiter, signed my check and headed (waddled) out.
Once I was moving I realized just how full I was and I was waiting for the elevator and trying not to fall over from my new added weight. I took some pictures…

Finally the elevator arrived and I made it back to my room. I was just considering what to do next (I was leaning towards napping) when I got a text on my wave phone informing me Jack was ready to get picked up!

 

[stephielela]

Since my plans for immediate rest were out, I figured the next best thing was to get Jack worn out so he would need rest too. With that in mind we headed to the Mickey pool!
Jack is a water creature of some type. While he can’t actually swim, he is fearless when it comes to the water. He jumped right in and never looked back. I stood on the side and watched and eventually someone came and asked me if I would like a drink. Why yes, yes I would! I mean what goes better with an over full stomach than a fruity drink right?
After about three minutes, Jack decided he was ready for the slide. Adults aren’t allowed to go so I wasn’t sure he would go through with it. The stairs are actually partially inside so I couldn’t see him for much of the time. We had run into some of our table mates Shayna and Jack, and they watched for my Jack with me. Pretty soon we saw this

After one more ride down the slide, he headed back to the pool.

After he had splashed and played, I got him some lunch from Pluto’s and then we headed down for a much needed nap.
When we got up it was time for Minnie’s Fiesta Grande. Jack was not really interested in this so we snapped a few pictures and left.

When we got back to the room there were some FE gifts

Tonight was formal night. Typically formal night would have been the night before, but since it was Halloween they juggled the schedule a little. I get kind of excited about formal nights. I was hoping for a good picture of me and Jack, but no such luck.

Jack was obviously tired of having his picture taken…

We headed into dinner. I was glad we were in Triton’s for formal night since it feels (to me) like the most formal restaurant.
Salad of Mixed Baby Greens- pears, pistachios and apple cider vinaigrette

Yachtsman Steahouse Grilled NY Strip with asparagus and oven baked potato topped with herb garlic butter

Golden Mickey's Sweet Temptations- Creme Brulee, Golden Chocolate Award, Raspberry Cheesecake

Again, the dessert on the right (raspberry cheesecake) was less than fabulous… weird!
Dinner was delicious, but I wasn’t all that hungry… After dinner we went downstairs to change and then headed to see…

I really liked this show and we had great seats. It really paid to get there a bit early and sit towards the front. It helped that it was just two of us. I know Disney has a strict no seat saving policy, but they don’t seem to enforce it much. I don’t have a problem with dad saving seats for wife and daughter when they go to the bathroom or something, but I do have a problem with dad leaving dinner early to stake our a row of seats while mom and kids go shop in the store. Oh well, rant over…
The show was great, as usual. Afterwards we went back to the room and watched cartoons. This is where the title of my TR comes into play. Every night when we turned on cartoons, it was Duck Tales, Gummi Bears or Rescue Rangers that was on. It was such a blast from the past and I was geekily excited that Jack was getting to watch cartoons from MY childhood. I have a very similar feeling about Toy Story, but this was even better. Me (being the go with the flow mom I am) would ask Jack if he wanted to read stories and go to bed or watch another episode instead. Invariably, he chose the shows, which was fine with me! It’s one of those little memories that make your vacation special!

 

[Kurby]

just started but glad to see another TR.

i love TR's - helps me daydream about our next trip

 

[Leshaface]

Great updates!

I'm super excited about the Palo Brunch! I forgot that you ordered an entree too Geez, we're going to be so full. Is the gratuity already included in the $20?

Jack looks SO handsome in his little tie!

 

[stephielela]

just started but glad to see another TR.

i love TR's - helps me daydream about our next trip

I know exactly what you mean!! Living vicariously until my next trip is a favorite past time of mine!

You have a beautiful family!

Great updates!

I'm super excited about the Palo Brunch! I forgot that you ordered an entree too Geez, we're going to be so full. Is the gratuity already included in the $20?

Jack looks SO handsome in his little tie!

Yes, you will be very full, make sure to plan a nap or lounge by the pool after!

I don't believe gratuity is included and I was unsure of how much to add, but I added $5... it didn't seem like much, but I didn't know what to do and I am not made of $$

Thanks, I love that tie of his! Of course that white shirt got irreparably stained at dinner, but it was almost too small anyways

 

[stephielela]

Something I forgot to add in my Day 3 update was that I did a load of laundry! See what happens when I try to write an update without notes??!!

So on the first night, the wierdest thing happened! I woke up and got up to check the time (only thing I dislike about not having a window) and then Jack woke up because he needed to go potty. I took him to the bathroom and when I turned around I noticed something on the floor... blood! I look up at his face and sure enough, he has blood on it, and it's coming from his nose and dripping EVERYWHERE! He was still half asleep and completely oblivious so I calmed down a bit since he obviously wasn't injured and let him finish going potty. Then i had to stand him up on the toilet (so he wouldn't step in the blood on the floor) and take off his PJ shirt and wipe him (and the floor) up. Then I had him sit on the toilet with kleenex on his nose while I checked out the bed... and sure enough on the lovely white comforter there was blood. Thankfully since Jack sleeps funny (most nights he ended up lenghtwise) it wasn't in a crucial place and since it was only around 2 am we needed to go back to sleep. Finally his nose stopped bleeding and everything was fine, he went back to bed. The only problem was his lovey (a little green bear blanket thing he sleeps with) had gotten blood on it, so I couldn't let him sleep with it. I had intended to do laundry the next day, but we were actually kind of busy on that second day, so I waited until after our nap on that day 3. I ended up doing all of our dirty laundry up until that point in one load. It was super easy, I just had to swipe our KTTW card. We started it before the pictures and everything and got it back out after dinner! I did feel really bad that the steward was going to have to change the comforter after only one day, and I made sure to let her know as soon as I saw her next, but she was really sweet and took care of it right away.

And in case anyone is wondering, Jack has NEVER had a bloody nose before or since. It was the strangest thing. It's better than the incident on the last cruise we went on by ourselves where he threw up the first night and ran a fever...