The Drive, the Dream and DVC - A March 2011 Birthday Surprise TR(NEW 11/9 p. 32 END)

[jenseib]

I like St Johns bay, they usually fit me better than other brands...thanks

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Wow Sheree, great update!! Lots of wonderful photos! You took tons! I love that. The pictures from the beach are my favorite. How gorgeous are those?!!!

 

[manntra]

Caught up and ready for my cruise!! I agree that when I was on the Wonder...it all went by too quick and I feel like I missed out on so much. Not so now....I would eat at Palo and Remy's and spend a lot of time getting to know the ship!
Great updates...your girls look like they are having the time of their lives!!

Tracy

 

[nowellsl]

We'll have to get ourselves over just to see that ship from the outside someday, if that can be done by non-cruisers.

I have a friend that has a condo on Cocoa Beach and she took us down to where the locks are that let the ships in and out. You could drive right up to them (the locks) almost. It was really neat, there several manatees in the area. You could easily see the ships. I wish I could tell you how we got there, but I have no idea I'll be sure to ask next time I see her!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Awesome update!!!! Looks like a wonderful place to be!!!!!

Yeah, I wish I was there about every other day!

I like St Johns bay, they usually fit me better than other brands...thanks

You're welcome! I like their stuff too.

Wow Sheree, great update!! Lots of wonderful photos! You took tons! I love that. The pictures from the beach are my favorite. How gorgeous are those?!!!

It's funny, I wish I had taken more in other areas of the island too. I'll just have to go back! It's a fabulous beach!

Caught up and ready for my cruise!! I agree that when I was on the Wonder...it all went by too quick and I feel like I missed out on so much. Not so now....I would eat at Palo and Remy's and spend a lot of time getting to know the ship!
Great updates...your girls look like they are having the time of their lives!!

Tracy

Yeah, those three day cruises are just kind of mean! I swear it's a Disney teaser to get you to go again!
The girls have just loved that beach - they're not good swimmers, but they always love being in the water!

I have a friend that has a condo on Cocoa Beach and she took us down to where the locks are that let the ships in and out. You could drive right up to them (the locks) almost. It was really neat, there several manatees in the area. You could easily see the ships. I wish I could tell you how we got there, but I have no idea I'll be sure to ask next time I see her!

Cool place to watch the ships I bet! We were at Ron Jon's Cape Caribe resort last summer and saw a bunch of cruise ships going out, including the Wonder.[/COLOR]

 

[Mndisneygirl]

So we were all dressed up, had a picture taken, had some packing done, and were ready for dinner with plenty of time to spare. So we wandered around a bit and took a few more pictures!

Look who was hanging around?

I think we saw him on our Dec. 09 cruise too. He was in the little alcove between the elevators (on the Wonder) and he laid on the floor propped his head on his elbows for pictures with the kids next to him! Very cute.

Ready to eat!!

The Royal Palace is a beautiful dining room with pictures of the princesses all around and all these cute details. We sat in a section with Belle artwork, which was perfect, as she is Paige's favorite. Always has been. The window treatments look like a crown, there are carvings on the back of the chairs like a rose, a glass slipper etc. Very elegant dining room for sure!
Because our assistant server was leaving the ship the next day (his contract was up and he was going home) we only had our main server working. The poor guy was running all over the place and while he was very nice and apologetic, dinner did move a lot slower that night!

A lousy picture of the back of the chair

They had a big roll/bread in this cute bread basket!

Sarah's plate - she loves everything on it, except that cauliflower! They always poured ketchup for the girls in the shape of the Mickey head! They ask us to do it at home sometimes too! Of course we oblige!
I think these were cupcakes. Sarah was not that impressed.

Paige got pizza

and a banana split for dessert!

I ordered escargot, an avocado citrus salad and a filet. I also got the Grand Marnier souffle for dessert. That, my friends, is a VERY good meal! Although the filet was just okay - I sort of remember it was a little tough for a filet.
DH had duck appetizer, Wild Boar (!) and creme brulee for dessert. Must have been feeling like eating game! He had asked the server about the Peanut Butter mousse, and he told DH that it wasn't superb, but he brought one out anyway to try!
Apparently, I did not take any pictures of my or DH's dinners! I'll have to check again because that seems odd.

As you enter Royal Palace:

Of course, I took it on the way out!

Cool light fixture! I love the details and the glass slippers!

The girls ate fast and were off to the Oceaneer's Lab. We finished our food, paid our tips and went to see about any pictures we should buy. Then we went to pack up the rest of our stuff . Our luggage had to be outside our room by 10:30 or we'd be lugging it ourselves in the morning!

This was waiting for us in our room. That customs document can only mean one thing: They are making me leave the ship tomorrow!!!


We picked up the girls, but had to do some more shopping. Paige broke her flip flop!! Since it was her only pair, we had to buy her something to wear. Of course, hers had been those $2 type from Target or somewhere. What did I buy her?
A pair of $10 pink Mickey flip flops of course! She does wear them all the time still!
I was pretty sure I would go back to Shutters (the photo place) in the a.m. to buy some pictures. I guess I figured I could stay on the ship a little longer that way!
So we headed to bed around 11:15. We were scheduled for breakfast at Royal Palace at 8:00 a.m. On the Disney cruises, you eat breakfast on the last day at the dining room you had the night before.
One sad thing we had to do before bed was turn the clocks ahead one hour! It was the night of the change for Daylight Savings time! We got gypped an hour of cruise time!!!

Up next - the last morning sadness. Plus, more Royal Palace pictures!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

We got up at 7:15 on Sunday. We were a bit pressed for time so we skipped the usual showers and I went up to Shutters to buy pictures. I bought 4 of them (total $80).
So we went to breakfast in Royal Palace. It was rather chaotic.
Pedro, our assistant server was done and gone, so it was just poor Mirchea working his tail off!
The meal was good - waffles were okay. Bacon - eh...
We weren't able to get any pastries - for some reason Mirchea either couldn't find them or they were running out. Whatever. I'd eaten enough over the last two days to last me a while!
A few parting shots of Royal Palace from breakfast time - they're not the greatest - I was trying to take some pictures when we were walking out!

This is the mirror on the wall next to our table

The "crown" window treatment!

Beautiful floor!

I'm not sure what all the people were in line at Guest Services for. Maybe to pay tips?

We left the ship close to 9. I walked VERY S L O W L Y on the way off.

Gosh, I hope so!!


When you leave the ship, you go down to the terminal and there are lots of porters to help you find your luggage. The night before, the room steward gives you luggage tags that are color and character coded. Ours were purple Tinkerbell I believe. Then each area in the luggage claim is separated by signs with that color/character. Our porter helped us find our bags in a few minutes and then walked with us through the customs checkpoint. The customs agent took a slight glance at our form and passports - and I mean BARELY glanced at them - and we were on our way to the car. The agent did not ask us one question. I'm convinced it's because we had the porter with us. For a $7 tip (for our three bags) that was well worth it!
We paid our parking fee ($15 a day totaling $45) and we were on the road to WDW!!

Where are we going next??? Well we will start our WDW stay at Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa!!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Your cruise is already over??? Remind me again, did you do the three-day or the four-day? Thank goodness you are headed back to Disney for a little bit more magic!

 

[MEK]

Oh No! I hate that your cruise is over. It was so wonderful. Love the girl's dresses. They both look so beautiful!

Your dinner sounds amazing! Yum Yum Yum!!!! Too bad the filet was a little tough.

Breakfast does sound hectic. It must have been so tough to walk off that boat. But I am so glad you are heading over to SSR for a little more fun. Did you also go to Vero?

 

[SoonerGirl]

I think I had the exact same meal as you at Royal Palace, but I'll have to go back and look at my pics to be certain - my filet was very tender though.

Bummer that your cruise is over already! I agree, that was much too short!

I hate to burst your bubble, but having the porter wasn't the reason you got through customs so quickly - we had the same experience and we handled our own bags. Our agent asked for the customs form but really didn't even look at it, never opened our passports and sent us on our way, I was shocked!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Your cruise is already over??? Remind me again, did you do the three-day or the four-day? Thank goodness you are headed back to Disney for a little bit more magic!

Yup, that was it! THree nights. It really amounts to about 2 1/2 days. That's why we just HAD to have more WDW time!

Oh No! I hate that your cruise is over. It was so wonderful. Love the girl's dresses. They both look so beautiful!

Your dinner sounds amazing! Yum Yum Yum!!!! Too bad the filet was a little tough.

Breakfast does sound hectic. It must have been so tough to walk off that boat. But I am so glad you are heading over to SSR for a little more fun. Did you also go to Vero?

I hated it too! The girls were excited to have "fancy" dresses for the cruise!
You know, I'm not sure what was the deal with the filet. My notes just say "ok". So I'm guessing it might have been tough. What else could be wrong with it?
No, we stayed at WDW for 5 nights. One at SSR and four at AKV.
We own at Vero, but have yet to stay there.

I think I had the exact same meal as you at Royal Palace, but I'll have to go back and look at my pics to be certain - my filet was very tender though.

Bummer that your cruise is over already! I agree, that was much too short!

I hate to burst your bubble, but having the porter wasn't the reason you got through customs so quickly - we had the same experience and we handled our own bags. Our agent asked for the customs form but really didn't even look at it, never opened our passports and sent us on our way, I was shocked!

Overall the food was good. I am usually not to fussy. Funny that we ate the same things!

Dang, I was sure that $7 saved me some hassle! But you're probably right. It didn't seem to be taking anyone all that long. They must be in a hurry to move us out of there! I still wouldn't have managed to carry our bags though!

 

[MeMom]

Where are we going next??? Well we will start our WDW stay at Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa!!!

I'm liking the idea of leaving one vacation and starting another one.

On to Saratoga!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Ain't that the truth MEK!?!


This weekend was Sarah's mid-season softball tournament. It's right here in town, so it's convenient. They played their first game on Friday night and lost - badly. They were all so down. They played their second game this morning at 9. They were GREAT! Sarah got a single, a double (on an overthrow) and a walk. She also pitched a good inning. We had a mix of sun peeking through the clouds and a few sprinkles of rain.

They were about to start their game at 11:30 and it sprinkled some rain. They were on the second batter and the skies opened up!!! We ran for cover with puny umbrellas. They thought it would pass in an hour and they could play. So I ran home to get dry clothes, a sweatshirt and towels for Sarah. The team waited it out in the dugout. I came back 1/2 an hour later and they called it off. They still have two games to play. So they will be playing them tomorrow.
You're probably wondering why I'm telling you all this.


You see, DH came home from work around 1:30 and we had NO plans for the rest of the day! He was interested in driving over to a suburb called Bloomington to look at a used truck at a dealer. (it was a good deal and a nice truck, but we didn't do anything but look).

Some of you may know, that Bloomington is also the location of the Mall of America. We shop there pretty regularly. It's about 20 minutes from our house. Some of you may also know that the Mall of America has a DISNEY STORE!!!

I was feeling the need for a Disney fix since I saw some Disney store pictures on a few of my fellow DISers P/TRs.


Guess what? They were having a sale!!!!



Guess what else? I found some bargains!!!



Wanna see what I found???? Well, I can show you what I brought home with me!

They were really pushing the Cars 2 stuff. They had these little passports and have been having events on the weekends the kids can go to and get stamps. The CM just gave them to the girls all stamped up through today (we didn't make it to any of the events though!) If you get them all stamped, you can get a free Cars2 puzzle. We'll see if we get back there next weekend. That mall is crazy on the weekends, especially in the rain (nothing else to do).
They also had something new (at least to me) a fragrance collection called Disney Imagination. They had hand cleaner, lotion, candles, room spray. I thought it smelled nice - fresh and clean. Kind of reminded me of WDW, but that might just be my imagination (silly pun not really intended!) But some other woman walked past and said "Eww". I guess it's not for everyone!! I want to say each was around $10 or more. I just don't remember!


So you still want to see what I bought?

Well, if you insist!

You will notice a lovely journal ($5.99). My family tells me that Target has some with vintage Mickeys too. They are the same price. Mine is cuter! I will save it for our London/Paris/DLP trip!
The girls got some small stuffed animals. Paige picked Marie. She had picked Marie as one of her first trading pins ever and refused to trade it. It's funny because we've hardly seen the Aristocats and only have it on VHS.
Sarah picked Lady and the Tramp. She claims she's paying for them. She had her money out, but in order to get 10% off with my Disney Visa, I had to have a few more things to get to $50. So I paid for it all. That girl always wants to spend whatever money she has, and somehow gets to keep it half the time. The plush was 2 for $15 or 8.50 each. Amazingly, we didn't get 4 to get the twofer deal on all of them!
I also purchased a cute pitcher with Mickey head ice cubes. ($9.99).
Then we picked up the two mugs - $3.99 each!! There was a cute red mug with Mickey heads sort of in a raised pattern, but that was still $8.50 and not on sale. That one stayed at the store.
A little closer look at the mugs. The Tink mug has glitter so I'm sure that will be coming off quickly. I try to only hand wash all my Disney mugs so the designs don't come off.

Of course, I had to buy a cute reusable bag for $2.50! I chose Minnie! The girls were pushing for Tinkerbell but since I just paid for their stuffed animals (that I really don't want more of in the house), I overruled them.

We wandered around the mall a bit, checked out the Lego store (I'd just gotten rid of all the Duplos and all of sudden they are back interested in legos!), and a couple of my favorite clothing stores, and had dinner at the food court.
Guess what I saw on the way to the food court??? A new store is coming to MOA. A good store. A really good store! Almost as good as Disney.

Guess when it's opening?

OH, that mall is getting more dangerous all the time!!!

Then I wanted to check out Old Navy, and they waited for me outside. Across the aisle from Old Navy is a DANGEROUS candy store!! Guess where I found them? Oh yeah, filling bags of random candy! Oh well! We ended up with gummies, jelly bellies and a random supply of chocolate treats!!
Funny thing is, I was at a candy shop yesterday on my lunch hour buying Father's Day gifts for DH and my dad. Luckily, we didn't duplicate anything. DH will find out tomorrow!

So, that is why I had to tell about Sarah's ball tourney. Tomorrow we will be playing the two games and then heading off (late) to the Twins game! Hopefully they will all be wins!!!
I'll let you know!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Great finds! We have a Disney store here but they never seem to have much of anything - lots and lots and lots of princess stuff and plushes, that's about it.

Good luck to Sarah on her games tomorrow!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Great finds at the Disney Store!!!

See, my dilemma right now with a Disney cruise is that there are two the week we are off for Thanksgiving in 2012. One is the three-night and the other is the four-night. Charles wants to do the four-night, but it is $1400 more than the three-night. I am pushing for the three-night, and then we can do something else -- either add days on for Disney or take a Disney trip that is separate or something like that. Decisions, decisions.

 

[jenseib]

We got a porter too. We thought it was well worht it to not to handle our bags. One was pretty heavy and I just wasn't in the mood to drag it. LOL! We went through customs very fast as well, but I have heard of others getting stopped...but the conclusion seems to be that you rarely get stopped if you have a porter.

Love the buys. I have been trying to stay away from our Disney store AND looking online too. It can be dangerous!
I sitll need to do Fathers day shopping...and yes it is the morning of Fathers day...I'm just last minute! LOL!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I'm so sad to see the cruise end! What a bummer! But your evening at RP looked really nice. We are dressing up that night too. The girls looked really pretty in their dresses!

So I am a little confused on the luggage? You have to sit it out by 10:30 the night before even if you are driving? Do they take it to your car for you the next morning? If so, that's a nice bonus! DH would very much appreciate that. And how do you get a porter? Do you have to ask in advance for someone?

So do we get to see the pictures you bought on the ship?

 

[jenseib]

I'm so sad to see the cruise end! What a bummer! But your evening at RP looked really nice. We are dressing up that night too. The girls looked really pretty in their dresses!

So I am a little confused on the luggage? You have to sit it out by 10:30 the night before even if you are driving? Do they take it to your car for you the next morning? If so, that's a nice bonus! DH would very much appreciate that. And how do you get a porter? Do you have to ask in advance for someone?

So do we get to see the pictures you bought on the ship?

I can answer some. You set your luggage out and the next mroning you find it in the terminal. You then take it theough customs with you and to your car or bus, or whatever. The porters are al lwaiting at the bottom of the stairs for you and just say yes I would like help...they will ask, believe me. they cart it through while you go through the customs line and to the agent. Once through they did cart it to the pick up spot where my Dad was picking us up and then they just drip it off there. (I'm not sure if they help load, because my Dad was still circling at that time and wasn't there at the moment. I also am not sure if they will take it all the way to the parking garage, or if they drop it off at pick up spot and someone may need to go get the car and pick it up? Sheree can tell you hat one, I'm sure.

 

[Monny2AE]

Oh my gosh..Disney Store and Vera Bradley in the SAME mall!!!! How ever is a girl to resist that!

And I know I'm not the only that immediately started wondering if this would fit in my purse without anyone noticing!

They had a big roll/bread in this cute bread basket!

 

[jenseib]

Oh my gosh..Disney Store and Vera Bradley in the SAME mall!!!! How ever is a girl to resist that!

And I know I'm not the only that immediately started wondering if this would fit in my purse without anyone noticing!

On the Maiden Voyage People were stealing these and other things left and rigt.