Chapter 8 Disney Dreams
I apologize for the delay. Ive had some pretty serious work issues to deal with, and my daughter is in Indiana Universitys production of the Nutcracker, so she is expected to be at practice every day for 140 hours or so, AND Ive been lazy.
I was also trying to think of another creative way to finish this off, and folks, I got nothing. The Slideshow idea worked pretty well I thought, but then I painted myself into a corner, and NO ONE paints Baby into a corner.
Wait, that reference didnt work, did it?
See, what Im saying?
OK, no more whining.
I let my ladies sleep for bit while I continued to clean sand out of my water shoes.
Yes, I did shower and clean off before I re-entered, but I had been standing ankle deep in a sandbar while being told I was ankle deep in fishpoop (Yet another great band name. Tonight at the EnourmoDome: Showerbeer, Halberd Hostess, and Fishpoop!)
I roused the crew and got Samantha back to the OC so she could get ready for the graduation ceremony.
Everyone has a picture of their loved one in front of these portholes, and I am nothing if not a conformist.
Cheryll and I strolled over to look at the photos in the boiler room, crap, I mean Shutters.
We had vowed to each other that we wouldnt be getting too many of the
DCL pics since they were so pricey and we needed booze money.
Well, as you may have noticed from the pictures already posted, we did indeed purchase quite a few of the well done DCL pics.
We even bought one of the packages.
See the DCL Photo Team is ingenious (or evil depending on your perspective).
They take gorgeous photos of your child and dare you not to buy them.
Go ahead, look. Weve already printed it out for you. You dont have to buy.
Ah, she IS cute. Well, she was so adorable that we had to take 60 or so photos. Ah, look how shes looking at you in that one. She must really love you.
We got out of there under $200, but just barely.
We made our way to the WD Theatre of the Celebrate the Journey presentation.
We actually caught the tail end of Christian our Cruise Directors lecture entitled, Get off the Ship Early Tomorrow, No Really, We Want You Out of Here Early, oh and, We Want Your Luggage Out of Your Room in Five Minutes. What do You Mean you Havent Packed Yet? Its 4:30PM. Start Panicking.
It was a very informative and casual talk that sent my darling wife into a momentary panic. I assured her that I had read all the packing-in-a-hurry-on-the-last-night horror story Trip Reports (Hi Zweihund!) It would be no problem. Ill fill out the forms, have the luggage tagged, and make sure we are ready. Let me handle it.
This didnt have the calming affect I had hoped.
The Stinger I bought her at the bar did, however.
The graduation ceremony was very cute.
They went all out with the production too.
They had special graphics and lighting effects to set the scene.
Some smarmy infomercial lady came out and pretended this was an actual graduation.
Then the paraded the kids in and put them on the stage.
We had a hard time finding Sam at first, but soon saw the girl with her cap pulled over her eyes.
Our Angel!
They showed pictures of the kids at play on the big screen and then Mickey and Minnie joined them for a small talk.
They moved their tassels and off they went.
It was really cute, and the Blubber Town Express arrived just as Samantha saw me videotaping and broke into a huge smile and began waving.
We picked her up at the OC and found that not only did she get a T Shirt, but she also got to keep her Mouse Ears Mortarboard Cap.
Cool.
She loves that shirt.
Next stop was dinner at Parrot Cay.
I had my tip envelopes ready, and our table was next to a porthole.
A lot of reviews have listed PC as the least of the dining options, but truth be told, we liked PC the best.
Maybe it was because it was the last night, and we were giddy, but we had a ball here.
The food was good. The wine Cheryll picked was delicious (it was a Cab Sav from somewhere). I especially loved the Lemon Meringue Pie.
Donovan brought Samantha an ice cream sundae with side bowls filled with cherries and sprinkles.
She thought that was incredible.
He remembered I liked cherries and sprinkles!
I didnt have the heart to tell her that liking sprinkles and cherries might not be exclusive to her as he served a lot of kids. Its like a politician telling voters that he wont raise taxes. Its kind of a no-brainer.
Samantha and Cheryll danced in the Conga Line.
A good time was had by all.
Donovan once again tried to get me to take more steak back to the room.
I tipped him anyway.
Our serving team kept inviting us to a breakfast seating at 6:30 AM.
They repeatedly mentioned it, and they talked up the quality of the breakfast and how it would be their pleasure to serve us one more time.
And the most impressive thing to me was that they did it with a straight face.
I knew there was no way wed be up and ready at 6:30.
However, I lied to them and told them wed try and make it. Its like some acquaintances you have invited you to a party that you have no intention of going to, but you tell them youll do everything in your power to make be there. You quickly think of an excuse to tell them later when you see them a week or so after the event. Like: Ive had some pretty serious work issues to deal with, and my daughter is in Indiana Universitys production of the Nutcracker, so she is expected to be at practice every day for 140 hours or so
I felt guilty.
Why?
Ask my parents. They made me this way.
Back at the room, not only did we have our final towel animal:
But also Sams Pillowcase was delivered.
Now, to be honest, the pillowcase was an afterthought for us, and we had forgotten about it during the cruise.
That pillowcase is her favorite souvenir from our trip. Maybe because it was such a surprise and such a unique and personalized item.
We packed up, and I labeled the luggage.
On the way to Disney Dreams, Sam spotted the vacuum cleaner she liked so much and made me take a picture of it.
Before DD we visited the human cattle car known as the gift shops.
Honestly, DCL needs to expand the size, reduce the inventory, or expand the operating hours of the gift shops.
It was so crowded, that while we were in there, there were 2 Lost Child alerts.
Oh and just one more thing, if you are a Pin Person, please be aware that others on the ship might want to look at the pins too, or maybe even walk by them.
I wanted to get my Mother a pin. It took me 15 minutes just to get near them.
I did not have a pleasurable shopping experience on the Wonder.
Now that I think of it though, I really didnt need to spend more $.
Maybe I should thank DCL?
Fortuitously, there is a bar right outside the shops that put things in perspective for me.
DD was another well executed performance that tugged at the heartstrings
Samantha was, once again, mesmerized by the whole show, and kept asking over and over, how the characters flew. I tried the whole pixie dust and Disney magic response, but she was determined to know the REAL story.
I think she got big Santa doubts too.
Cheryll was exhausted and wanted to finish packing up.
Samantha and I went to the Till We Meet Again Character round up.
We had a lot of fun, and Sam got some very special one on one interaction.
She even got to talk to Peter Pan and ask him how he flew.
He told her it was Pixie Dust.
She then said, My Dad told me that lie too.
Then she hugged him.
(I did explain to her how it was actually done, btw)
The show ended with Christian lining all the characters up in front of Tritons and up the staircases. They sang the ending to the Mickey Mouse Club, dropped some glittery confetti (a lot of which affixed itself to Christians shaved head), and said good bye to the characters one by one.
The Train to Blubber Town arrived along with the Blubber Town Airways 747, the Blubber Town shuttle bus, the Blubber Town Submarine fleet, and the Blubber Town Gryphon and Zeppelin Fleet (insider Geek reference) all at the exact same time and tears streamed down my face. Samantha grabbed my hand, and she was crying too.
Then Stitch tried to hide from Christian, and shook his butt at him.
Tears turned to laughter.
As we walked back to our room for one last night of sleep at sea, Sam looked at me and said, Thanks for taking me on a cruise Dad. Youre the best Dad ever!
She then hugged my waist and then ran off down the hallway toward our room.
I stopped in my tracks and made a mental note to remember that moment for as long I live.
Up Next The Conclusion
My rear hurts from sitting here for an hour +, but I have truly enjoyed your trip report! My teenagers keep yelling to find out what I am laughing at! Yours is only the second trip report I've read (Erica a.k.a. Zweihund being the other); you both make me teary as I read! Thank you for sharing your trip, your emotions, your Rasul 
,and your pictures with us! 
. We're here for ya Fatherforce, you CAN do this. 
....I need to bond with my OT Sista!
Now that's just wrong! 
Hope to read more soon, but if not, we totally understand!! 
Waiting for the next installment... 
and we all no that you can't RUSH perfection. 
