The Incredibles' Disney Magic Cruise 11/4/06 [THE END, FINALLY!! posted 7/2]
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lindaso
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- May 24, 2001
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Sun. Nov. 5th, continued
At halftime I run up to deck 9 to get some drinks b/c it was hurting me to buy soda from the bar. This is actually the first time Ive stepped outside all day its humid and unbelievably windy. I get my favorite drink station concoction half unsweetened iced tea and half lemonade, yumm!!
Im all decked out with a walkie clipped to one pocket and the Boots pager on the other. Im walking balancing 3 drinks in my hands when Chuck pipes in on the walkie that Steph paged us and wants to be picked up. Im almost back at Diversions so I just keep walking, not having anywhere to put down 3 drinks. He keeps talking, saying:
Lin, are you there?
Steph wants to be picked up
Can you hear me?
Lin are you there?
And there I am walking and answering him in the air because I have no free hands to press the talk button, yeah, I can hear you, I just cant answer you.
He says again, can you hear me?
Again I feel the need to speak out loud, cant explain why I can hear you, Im almost there, stop talking to me and wait a second
Then comes, aw, this things a piece of sh*t!
Now Im walking in to Diversions when he says this so Im cracking up and he sees me and my predicament and gives me this sheepish grin now realizing Ive been laughing at him the whole time.
So its back up to the Lab to see what Stephanie wants. She comes over and tells me shes hungry. Oh, yeah, its 2:30 and the child hasnt eaten since breakfast. I look over at Alyssa who looks a bit sad so I ask her if shes hungry. She says yes and jumps up.
I wait to get them checked out. In front of me is a woman checking out someone elses child. I hear her say, well, I dont know her password, her mother didnt tell me.
Oh crap! Psst Alyssa!! Whats your password? said as inconspicuously as possible so we dont get caught. Alyssa whispers it to me and I say it proudly and knowingly 5 seconds later.
The girls and I hurry back to Diversions cause halftime is clearly over and Im missing the game. They load their plates with hot dogs they really are hungry! Of course they dont want to go back to the Lab when theyre done eating so I send them over to the foosball table where they entertain themselves and Kevin for quite some time.
Keith and Christine meet us in Diversions just as the game is ending. Hes gushing about the chocolate covered key lime pie on a stick and how we have to get off the ship and get some. Still having wings and nachos fighting in my belly, I pass.
Feeling a little mommy guilt for ditching the kids, Christine and I ask them if they want to go swimming. The 3 of them say yes and the girls pipe in with do we have to get the boys? Too bad girls, we have to at least give them the option.
So we all head up to the club to ask the boys. It feels weird that the CM just lets us in to find them Im so used to Fort Knox Elementary where you never have access to your child! Its now free time and we find them in groups on the floor making a project with foam stickers. Im surprised to see Tommy and Kyle in different groups.
I kneel down and say, Tom, do you want to leave to go swimming? He yells YEAH!! Just then a little boy in his group looks up at me with the sweetest and widest eyes and says, No, you cant go swimming. My mom said all the pools are closed.
I have to look away because Im starting to laugh and I feel so tempted to say no honey, thats just what your mommy told you to get you in here. Of course I cant actually say that so I just keep looking the other way. By the time I turn back, hes refocused on his project so I grab Tommy and get the heck out of there before he can ask any questions!
Up to the Mickey Pool. I cant recall if we got chaises that day or not. The guys eventually get Daddy guilt and leave Diversions and come find us at the pool.
They swim for about an hour until its time to get ready for dinner. Tonight is Lumieres.
We make sure Kevin is seated next to us (or Chuck in this case) so we can cut his chicken. We see Glenn and Melroy again, hoping for a better meal. Looking at the menu were excited because theres shrimp! Tommy is happy and orders it from the adult menu. We also order the escargot for the table b/c Keith and I want to try it.
We are feeling a little more friendliness from Glenn but Melroy is still not happy. Chuck has to ask for a coke refill every time his glass is empty and we get the sense that Melroy is bothered to get it. Glenn seems to be trying but theres just something missing.
Glenn brings the escargot to the table and Chuck is the first one to dig in. Im shocked by this as hes never told me hes eaten snails before. He reminds me that he has to go to fru-fru dinners with clients and, besides, they taste like clams. Keith and I try one and agree they do taste like clams, albeit very salty ones. Christine wont try one no matter how many chicken sounds we make.
For the main course I have the beef tenderloin, which is cooked perfectly. Chuck isnt as happy with his but it winds up being my best meal of the week. Steph also ordered the tenderloin from the adult menu so 2 out of my 3 kids ate real food tonight. Kevin of course ordered chicken fingers and is breaking off the ends of each French fry and only eating the middle. Weird. We have to ask for ketchup again tonight and for some reason it takes a long time for them to track it down. I dont know it seems to me that when you serve French fries to 5 children, the ketchup should be automatic especially since they used it the night before.
For dessert I tried the crème brulee since Ive never had it before. After many viewings of High School Musical, I thought we should find out if we like it. The answer is no, nobody liked it, but now weve tried it! Tommy is the only one not to order dessert and he did not receive a plate with nothing. He would have loved that. Im getting really disappointed we are not having a magical dining experience.
We get out of Lumieres a lot faster tonight. Tommy and Kyle want to go to the club to make cookies so I take them up there. I will meet the rest of the crew at Who Wants to Be a Mousketeer. I get the boys to the club and the line is really long. We wait a long time and it looks like theyve already started. I ask the CM is they can still get in to make cookies and make the 8:30 show and she said the project takes an hour. That puts us past 8:30 and were nowhere near the desk for check-in. I ask the boys if theyd rather make cookies or see Gary and they both shout GARY. Gary it is.
The 3 of us go down to Studio Seas and find the crew at Mousketeer...not an empty seat in the house. Our number doesnt get picked but its just as well as I seem to get every big money question wrong. Thats what I get for playing Harry Potter Scene It instead of Disney Scene It.
The ship has left Key West and has started rocking and rolling again. Hopefully Chuck has enough Bonine in his system hes stuck now that he didnt get off at Key West!
After the show we head over to the theatre for a full 45 minutes of Gary Delena. Another great show, again he gets Kevin laughing. Our favorite song is the one about the soccer dad getting kicked out and sent to the parking lot...not that we have personal experience, we've just witnessed it! The kids love it when Gary plays Who lives in a pineapple under the sea and they got to shout you know what.
We play another game of Hidden Friends and tonight Steph is successful and runs over to her friends. I call after her to find out if they are going to the Girls Chill in the Lab. You see, the Girls chill and the High School Musical Family Dance party are happening at the same time and is causing a bit of distress in decision making. She finds out that they are indeed going to the chill so the decision is made. She will see them there. They tell Steph to wear her pjs good tip.
We go back to the room to get the boys ready for bed. Another spectacular job by Elsa, the room is spotless, our towel animals are adorable and the chocolate is plentiful. Steph finds suitable pjs for public viewing, ie. T-shirt and volleyball shorts. Alyssa decides she wants to go too so we leave to get them checked-in.
After dropping the girls off, Christine and I head to Shutters to find our embarkation photo. We look at the Christmas card selections and pick up the form showing the packages. We head back to the rooms to find Keith gone and Kyle sleeping next to Tommy & Kevin. Chuck carries him back to his room as Kyle wakes up noisily at 6 am so leaving him there is not an option.
I write some notes for my trip report (yup, I take notes for this my problem is I only have notes through Tuesday I may have to make something up after that!). Christine and I meet in the hall after 11 to go pick up the girls. We peek in and see them making tiaras. The place reeks of nail polish. They dont look ready to leave so we go out and sit on the stairs. Were sitting and chatting and all of a sudden we hear 30 preteen voices shouting, EWWWW BOY, EWWW BOY, EWWW BOY!!!! Hilarious.
We watch a poor unsuspecting father go through the doorway to pick up his daughter and right on cue EWWWW BOY, EWWW BOY, EWWW BOY!!! The guy walks out beet red. Now this is entertainment!
We go back in at 11:20, the lab boys are back and are complaining about the nail polish smell it is strong! Alyssa is ready to go but Steph isnt sure. Again the CMs invite me in to talk to her. She wants to stay with Chey and Rebecca but it is getting late. The girls come over to say hi and I ask them if theyre staying. They both say their parents should be coming for them soon so Steph decides to leave.
We take the midship elevators, which is still her favorite thing to do. We walk past Ocean Quest and peek in to see what it looks like. We meet the nicest CM who tells us about it and encourages us to come back for family time (which we never got around too). It looks really cool.
Its really late now and weve had a busy day. But tomorrow we can sleep in. I soon realize this is the biggest difference between the cruise and Disney World. No sleeping in at the World. The cruise is a lot more relaxing.
Up next B11, BE11, formal night h*ll, all dressed up and no where to go
At halftime I run up to deck 9 to get some drinks b/c it was hurting me to buy soda from the bar. This is actually the first time Ive stepped outside all day its humid and unbelievably windy. I get my favorite drink station concoction half unsweetened iced tea and half lemonade, yumm!!
Im all decked out with a walkie clipped to one pocket and the Boots pager on the other. Im walking balancing 3 drinks in my hands when Chuck pipes in on the walkie that Steph paged us and wants to be picked up. Im almost back at Diversions so I just keep walking, not having anywhere to put down 3 drinks. He keeps talking, saying:
Lin, are you there?
Steph wants to be picked up
Can you hear me?
Lin are you there?
And there I am walking and answering him in the air because I have no free hands to press the talk button, yeah, I can hear you, I just cant answer you.
He says again, can you hear me?
Again I feel the need to speak out loud, cant explain why I can hear you, Im almost there, stop talking to me and wait a second
Then comes, aw, this things a piece of sh*t!
Now Im walking in to Diversions when he says this so Im cracking up and he sees me and my predicament and gives me this sheepish grin now realizing Ive been laughing at him the whole time.
So its back up to the Lab to see what Stephanie wants. She comes over and tells me shes hungry. Oh, yeah, its 2:30 and the child hasnt eaten since breakfast. I look over at Alyssa who looks a bit sad so I ask her if shes hungry. She says yes and jumps up.
I wait to get them checked out. In front of me is a woman checking out someone elses child. I hear her say, well, I dont know her password, her mother didnt tell me.
Oh crap! Psst Alyssa!! Whats your password? said as inconspicuously as possible so we dont get caught. Alyssa whispers it to me and I say it proudly and knowingly 5 seconds later.
The girls and I hurry back to Diversions cause halftime is clearly over and Im missing the game. They load their plates with hot dogs they really are hungry! Of course they dont want to go back to the Lab when theyre done eating so I send them over to the foosball table where they entertain themselves and Kevin for quite some time.
Keith and Christine meet us in Diversions just as the game is ending. Hes gushing about the chocolate covered key lime pie on a stick and how we have to get off the ship and get some. Still having wings and nachos fighting in my belly, I pass.
Feeling a little mommy guilt for ditching the kids, Christine and I ask them if they want to go swimming. The 3 of them say yes and the girls pipe in with do we have to get the boys? Too bad girls, we have to at least give them the option.
So we all head up to the club to ask the boys. It feels weird that the CM just lets us in to find them Im so used to Fort Knox Elementary where you never have access to your child! Its now free time and we find them in groups on the floor making a project with foam stickers. Im surprised to see Tommy and Kyle in different groups.
I kneel down and say, Tom, do you want to leave to go swimming? He yells YEAH!! Just then a little boy in his group looks up at me with the sweetest and widest eyes and says, No, you cant go swimming. My mom said all the pools are closed.
I have to look away because Im starting to laugh and I feel so tempted to say no honey, thats just what your mommy told you to get you in here. Of course I cant actually say that so I just keep looking the other way. By the time I turn back, hes refocused on his project so I grab Tommy and get the heck out of there before he can ask any questions!
Up to the Mickey Pool. I cant recall if we got chaises that day or not. The guys eventually get Daddy guilt and leave Diversions and come find us at the pool.
They swim for about an hour until its time to get ready for dinner. Tonight is Lumieres.
We make sure Kevin is seated next to us (or Chuck in this case) so we can cut his chicken. We see Glenn and Melroy again, hoping for a better meal. Looking at the menu were excited because theres shrimp! Tommy is happy and orders it from the adult menu. We also order the escargot for the table b/c Keith and I want to try it.
We are feeling a little more friendliness from Glenn but Melroy is still not happy. Chuck has to ask for a coke refill every time his glass is empty and we get the sense that Melroy is bothered to get it. Glenn seems to be trying but theres just something missing.
Glenn brings the escargot to the table and Chuck is the first one to dig in. Im shocked by this as hes never told me hes eaten snails before. He reminds me that he has to go to fru-fru dinners with clients and, besides, they taste like clams. Keith and I try one and agree they do taste like clams, albeit very salty ones. Christine wont try one no matter how many chicken sounds we make.
For the main course I have the beef tenderloin, which is cooked perfectly. Chuck isnt as happy with his but it winds up being my best meal of the week. Steph also ordered the tenderloin from the adult menu so 2 out of my 3 kids ate real food tonight. Kevin of course ordered chicken fingers and is breaking off the ends of each French fry and only eating the middle. Weird. We have to ask for ketchup again tonight and for some reason it takes a long time for them to track it down. I dont know it seems to me that when you serve French fries to 5 children, the ketchup should be automatic especially since they used it the night before.
For dessert I tried the crème brulee since Ive never had it before. After many viewings of High School Musical, I thought we should find out if we like it. The answer is no, nobody liked it, but now weve tried it! Tommy is the only one not to order dessert and he did not receive a plate with nothing. He would have loved that. Im getting really disappointed we are not having a magical dining experience.
We get out of Lumieres a lot faster tonight. Tommy and Kyle want to go to the club to make cookies so I take them up there. I will meet the rest of the crew at Who Wants to Be a Mousketeer. I get the boys to the club and the line is really long. We wait a long time and it looks like theyve already started. I ask the CM is they can still get in to make cookies and make the 8:30 show and she said the project takes an hour. That puts us past 8:30 and were nowhere near the desk for check-in. I ask the boys if theyd rather make cookies or see Gary and they both shout GARY. Gary it is.
The 3 of us go down to Studio Seas and find the crew at Mousketeer...not an empty seat in the house. Our number doesnt get picked but its just as well as I seem to get every big money question wrong. Thats what I get for playing Harry Potter Scene It instead of Disney Scene It.
The ship has left Key West and has started rocking and rolling again. Hopefully Chuck has enough Bonine in his system hes stuck now that he didnt get off at Key West!
After the show we head over to the theatre for a full 45 minutes of Gary Delena. Another great show, again he gets Kevin laughing. Our favorite song is the one about the soccer dad getting kicked out and sent to the parking lot...not that we have personal experience, we've just witnessed it! The kids love it when Gary plays Who lives in a pineapple under the sea and they got to shout you know what.
We play another game of Hidden Friends and tonight Steph is successful and runs over to her friends. I call after her to find out if they are going to the Girls Chill in the Lab. You see, the Girls chill and the High School Musical Family Dance party are happening at the same time and is causing a bit of distress in decision making. She finds out that they are indeed going to the chill so the decision is made. She will see them there. They tell Steph to wear her pjs good tip.
We go back to the room to get the boys ready for bed. Another spectacular job by Elsa, the room is spotless, our towel animals are adorable and the chocolate is plentiful. Steph finds suitable pjs for public viewing, ie. T-shirt and volleyball shorts. Alyssa decides she wants to go too so we leave to get them checked-in.
After dropping the girls off, Christine and I head to Shutters to find our embarkation photo. We look at the Christmas card selections and pick up the form showing the packages. We head back to the rooms to find Keith gone and Kyle sleeping next to Tommy & Kevin. Chuck carries him back to his room as Kyle wakes up noisily at 6 am so leaving him there is not an option.
I write some notes for my trip report (yup, I take notes for this my problem is I only have notes through Tuesday I may have to make something up after that!). Christine and I meet in the hall after 11 to go pick up the girls. We peek in and see them making tiaras. The place reeks of nail polish. They dont look ready to leave so we go out and sit on the stairs. Were sitting and chatting and all of a sudden we hear 30 preteen voices shouting, EWWWW BOY, EWWW BOY, EWWW BOY!!!! Hilarious.
We watch a poor unsuspecting father go through the doorway to pick up his daughter and right on cue EWWWW BOY, EWWW BOY, EWWW BOY!!! The guy walks out beet red. Now this is entertainment!
We go back in at 11:20, the lab boys are back and are complaining about the nail polish smell it is strong! Alyssa is ready to go but Steph isnt sure. Again the CMs invite me in to talk to her. She wants to stay with Chey and Rebecca but it is getting late. The girls come over to say hi and I ask them if theyre staying. They both say their parents should be coming for them soon so Steph decides to leave.
We take the midship elevators, which is still her favorite thing to do. We walk past Ocean Quest and peek in to see what it looks like. We meet the nicest CM who tells us about it and encourages us to come back for family time (which we never got around too). It looks really cool.
Its really late now and weve had a busy day. But tomorrow we can sleep in. I soon realize this is the biggest difference between the cruise and Disney World. No sleeping in at the World. The cruise is a lot more relaxing.
Up next B11, BE11, formal night h*ll, all dressed up and no where to go
discruiselovers97
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lindaso
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Monday Nov. 6th...B11, B-E-11, Formal night prep
We all slept in this morning. While I love the thought of watching the sunrise up on deck 10, I love that Im actually sleeping on this vacation even more. The bed is super comfy and Kevin is actually sleeping in his own bed and heres the biggie not coughing at all! There just might be a Mickey Bar in the childs future!
We make it up to Topsiders for breakfast. I really love breakfast here. I indulge in a Krispy Kreme jelly since they closed our KK this year and I just have to have one. Definitely not fresh but good enough. I have another omelet that I dont have to stand around and wait for (can you tell I really like that?) Oh and Stephanie has confirmed that the scrambled eggs are indeed gross (and I hadnt told her anything about them, she said it all on her own).
We go over the plan for the morning. The Boots have Palo brunch so we need to coordinate all 5 kids. You see, Christine and I agreed months before that we would do Palo brunch separately as couples. This way, if one of the kids got sick or had a problem, brunch would not be disturbed. Hey, I take my title of obsessive vacation planner seriously. Plus Ill let you in on a little secret I knew Kevin wouldnt go in the club and I really really wanted to go to Palo for brunch! But I know Christine was on to me cause one time she teased me about whos going to watch Kevin?
It turns out that my services are needed after all as Alyssa is not in the best mood and doesnt want to go to the kids club which is meeting on the Sports Deck. I sense an epic mother-daughter power struggle arising so I intervene with the suggestion of Bingo. Both Alyssa and Stephanie like that idea so Bingo it is. Now I wont feel as guilty dumping my kids on her come Thursday.
The boys (including Chuck) want to go see Cars. Steph has no interest in seeing it b/c its boring in the middle. So we say goodbye to Keith and Christine and the rest of us split off by gender.
We arrive at the Promenade Lounge and get one of the last tables with a view of the number board. My view is blocked but the girls can see it. I discover that Bingo is a bit expensive so I buy a 6 pack to split among the 3 of us. Well each play 2 cards which means we have to move these huge circular chairs as close to each other as possible. I wind up following the numbers sideways.
The girls are excited when I tell them they get to keep the money if they win. Nothing like giving gambling dreams to 9 year old girls. They talk about all the American Girl Stuff they can buy with their winnings. Here they are posing for my Bingo scrapbook page (and yes I kept the cards for my page!):
[Lisa, if you're reading this, you can see Steph wearing your pins
]
Melanie starts the game and I learn the DCL bingo clichés. When B11 is called, everyone shouts B-11, B-E-11 while making touchdown gestures. I sit there thinking how lame my life is because I now know bingo clichés from 3 different locations. Play bingo at Woodloch Pines and youll hear I22 Ive got a 2,2! Play bingo in my neighborhood and youll hear all the women whoop it up at 069. Ive got to get a life!
Bingo gets a little exciting when I only have one # left on the second game. Steph begs me to let her stand for me sure honey, have at it! Shes all smiles as shes standing there and stomps her foot every time my winning # is not called. After one such foot stomp we hear BINGO from across the room aww, its not meant to be.
We continue through the rest of the games. Alyssa got to stand once but other than that, we just lent our luck out as all the winners were sitting directly next to us on all sides. Oh well, it was fun and Im glad we did it.
The girls still dont want to go with the kids club to the sports deck so we hang around waiting for Cars to end. We sign on to the computer to check scores from the weekend. Tommys football team won but the girls softball teams scores arent posted on the website. Theres still no word about the dog so I send a quick email to my MIL to find out how Shenzi is doing. Trust me, you feel the need to do these things after paying $90 for internet access.
We head toward the gift shop where we browse and do some pin trading. Finally its time to meet the boys at the theatre. The plan is to get them fed and to flubber as early as possible. They dont want to miss this one. Up to deck 9 for chicken fingers and hot dogs. Kyle picks at his food and asks for chocolate cake. Uh OK. Off I go into Topsiders for chocolate cake. The other kids finish and go for the ice cream station. Kyle asks if he can have ice cream too. Uh OK. Hey, Im not his mother!
I try very hard to convince Kevin to go make flubber with the boys:
Its just like the science center
You wont have any to play with and they will
You can sit right next to Tommy.
Hes not having any of it and I get a Im not going in the club in return. Cant say I didnt try.
I leave with Tommy & Kyle b/c I want them signed in before the line gets too long. Im figuring if the cookie line was long, this one will be longer. I got there just in time.
We are third in line to get checked in. By the time I leave, the line is snaking out around the hallway. While Im waiting, the grandma in line behind me asks why its so crowded. I tell her theyre making flubber and its very popular. She asks what time theyll let them in and I take out my navigator to check the actual flubber prep time. She points at the navigator and says, oh its in there? I thought that was the TV guide! Uh, no definitely not a DISer.
Kevin wants to pin trade so while Im signing the boys in, Chuck takes Kevin and the girls toward the gift shop. In the lobby they see Mickey Mouse so they wait on line for a picture. The girls get their pictures taken but Kevin wont get his. I meet them just in time to take my own shots. Heres one of Steph with the head cheese:
After Kevin pin trades, we go back to the room and meet up with Keith and Christine in the deck 2 hallway where they gush about how great brunch was. I fill her in on what weve been doing and I confess to feeding her son chocolate for lunch. Seeing as how Kyle is now in the kids club, she shrugs and says not my problem.
Christine then tells me about the free pins at the gift shop. Huh? What free pins? I never read about any free pins. Apparently you get free pins as long as you ask for them at the gift shop. So back to the gift shop we go. And yes, they handed me 4 free pins, 2 for each room. Cool! The prelude area is set up for the Golden Mickeys so we take some pictures with the Mickey statues.
We spend the rest of the afternoon just hanging around the room. Stephanie doesnt want to go to the kids club, now having free time in Ocean Quest. Kevin does his homework and Steph writes in her journal. I take trip report notes and Chuck takes a nap.
Before I know it, its time to get ready for formal night. I enter the bathroom and contemplate the shower curtain. Today Ill try it out of the tub since in the tub didnt work yesterday.
Well, apparently out of the tub works even less. Theres lots of water on the floor, lots and lots of water. Three towels worth of water.
I take care of my own hair drying and straightening so thats out of the way for later. I get Kevin in the bathtub and hes happy to play in there for a while. Keith knocks and offers to take Steph up to the arcade. I wanted her to shower now but I feel bad shes been hanging around the room so I say yes.
Christine and I go get the boys to get them ready for formal night. We are both starting to feel the stress of whats to come. Pictures!! We must get good pictures!!
Keith brings Steph back from the arcade and I get her going in the shower. She asks me to fix the shower curtain. Oh honey, if you only knew! I leave it IN the tub. She complains that its pushing against her so I leave the bottom in and fan out the rest.
I return to our room where Chuck is still sleeping. Its after 4:00 and I wanted to be ready for pictures at 5:00. The left to do list:
Linda makeup
Linda dressed
Linda jewelry
Steph hair dried
Steph dressed
Tommy bath
Tommy dressed
Kevin dressed
Chuck who knows? Definitely dressed cause hes not napping in his suit. Shower? Shave? I have no idea
I feel the stress level rising. Weve done nothing substantial all afternoon and here we are running late. How did this happen? I look over at my sleeping husband.
Can you get up now?
No response.
Louder this time: I NEED HELP CAN YOU PLEASE GET UP NOW.
Snort, grunt, jump out of bed. The man knows the sound of his wife panicking and I believe he knows its not pleasant.
He takes charge of Tommy in the bath while I blow dry Stephanies hair. Why didnt I get her showered sooner? It takes FOREVER to dry her long hair.
Chuck finishes Tommys bath and goes to get in the shower himself while the boys are still in their underwear. Im still with Steph and the hairdryer. Only 1 thing on the above list has been completed in the last 15 minutes.
What are you doing? Youre going to take a shower NOW?
Chuck, understanding that now is not the time for argument, returns to get the boys dressed. He foregoes his shower, shaves and gets dressed.
Stephs hair is dry enough so I get myself ready. I remember to get the jewelry out of the safe. [Lets break for a DCL tip: I got this tip from an email that cheysdad sent me. The room safe will work on any magnetic strip. It doesnt have to be your KTTW card. We used a TGI Fridays card and hid it in the room. This way both people can get into the safe if the other person is not there with their KTTW card. Thanks Michael!]
The 5 of us are finally ready by 5:15. Behind schedule but not too bad. Christine isnt ready yet so we head out by the elevators to wait. My kids look sharp in their dress up clothes. I need to get a picture!
I tell them to line up but Kevin doesnt want to. Hes complaining his neck hurts, hes complaining his shoes hurt.
Cmon Kev, I just want to get one picture.
No
Kevin, lets go. I need to take a picture.
No
And then I said it. It just flew out of my mouth without me controlling it.
You know, I dont ask for much. I ask for one thing and you cant even do it. All I want is one picture of my kids dressed up. Thanks a lot.
Chuck sensing the world coming to an end jumps on board and coaxes Kevin with a cmon Kev, one picture, do it for Mommy. Yup, just call me the Gipper.
Kevin gets closer:
And finally cooperates:
(Sorry, I've been too busy to work on red-eye)
We head to the lobby to get some pictures. Can it get worse? Yup, it definitely can get worse.
Next up: Picture frenzy, Animators Palate, all dressed up with nowhere to go
We all slept in this morning. While I love the thought of watching the sunrise up on deck 10, I love that Im actually sleeping on this vacation even more. The bed is super comfy and Kevin is actually sleeping in his own bed and heres the biggie not coughing at all! There just might be a Mickey Bar in the childs future!
We make it up to Topsiders for breakfast. I really love breakfast here. I indulge in a Krispy Kreme jelly since they closed our KK this year and I just have to have one. Definitely not fresh but good enough. I have another omelet that I dont have to stand around and wait for (can you tell I really like that?) Oh and Stephanie has confirmed that the scrambled eggs are indeed gross (and I hadnt told her anything about them, she said it all on her own).
We go over the plan for the morning. The Boots have Palo brunch so we need to coordinate all 5 kids. You see, Christine and I agreed months before that we would do Palo brunch separately as couples. This way, if one of the kids got sick or had a problem, brunch would not be disturbed. Hey, I take my title of obsessive vacation planner seriously. Plus Ill let you in on a little secret I knew Kevin wouldnt go in the club and I really really wanted to go to Palo for brunch! But I know Christine was on to me cause one time she teased me about whos going to watch Kevin?
It turns out that my services are needed after all as Alyssa is not in the best mood and doesnt want to go to the kids club which is meeting on the Sports Deck. I sense an epic mother-daughter power struggle arising so I intervene with the suggestion of Bingo. Both Alyssa and Stephanie like that idea so Bingo it is. Now I wont feel as guilty dumping my kids on her come Thursday.
The boys (including Chuck) want to go see Cars. Steph has no interest in seeing it b/c its boring in the middle. So we say goodbye to Keith and Christine and the rest of us split off by gender.
We arrive at the Promenade Lounge and get one of the last tables with a view of the number board. My view is blocked but the girls can see it. I discover that Bingo is a bit expensive so I buy a 6 pack to split among the 3 of us. Well each play 2 cards which means we have to move these huge circular chairs as close to each other as possible. I wind up following the numbers sideways.
The girls are excited when I tell them they get to keep the money if they win. Nothing like giving gambling dreams to 9 year old girls. They talk about all the American Girl Stuff they can buy with their winnings. Here they are posing for my Bingo scrapbook page (and yes I kept the cards for my page!):
[Lisa, if you're reading this, you can see Steph wearing your pins
]Melanie starts the game and I learn the DCL bingo clichés. When B11 is called, everyone shouts B-11, B-E-11 while making touchdown gestures. I sit there thinking how lame my life is because I now know bingo clichés from 3 different locations. Play bingo at Woodloch Pines and youll hear I22 Ive got a 2,2! Play bingo in my neighborhood and youll hear all the women whoop it up at 069. Ive got to get a life!
Bingo gets a little exciting when I only have one # left on the second game. Steph begs me to let her stand for me sure honey, have at it! Shes all smiles as shes standing there and stomps her foot every time my winning # is not called. After one such foot stomp we hear BINGO from across the room aww, its not meant to be.
We continue through the rest of the games. Alyssa got to stand once but other than that, we just lent our luck out as all the winners were sitting directly next to us on all sides. Oh well, it was fun and Im glad we did it.
The girls still dont want to go with the kids club to the sports deck so we hang around waiting for Cars to end. We sign on to the computer to check scores from the weekend. Tommys football team won but the girls softball teams scores arent posted on the website. Theres still no word about the dog so I send a quick email to my MIL to find out how Shenzi is doing. Trust me, you feel the need to do these things after paying $90 for internet access.
We head toward the gift shop where we browse and do some pin trading. Finally its time to meet the boys at the theatre. The plan is to get them fed and to flubber as early as possible. They dont want to miss this one. Up to deck 9 for chicken fingers and hot dogs. Kyle picks at his food and asks for chocolate cake. Uh OK. Off I go into Topsiders for chocolate cake. The other kids finish and go for the ice cream station. Kyle asks if he can have ice cream too. Uh OK. Hey, Im not his mother!
I try very hard to convince Kevin to go make flubber with the boys:
Its just like the science center
You wont have any to play with and they will
You can sit right next to Tommy.
Hes not having any of it and I get a Im not going in the club in return. Cant say I didnt try.
I leave with Tommy & Kyle b/c I want them signed in before the line gets too long. Im figuring if the cookie line was long, this one will be longer. I got there just in time.
We are third in line to get checked in. By the time I leave, the line is snaking out around the hallway. While Im waiting, the grandma in line behind me asks why its so crowded. I tell her theyre making flubber and its very popular. She asks what time theyll let them in and I take out my navigator to check the actual flubber prep time. She points at the navigator and says, oh its in there? I thought that was the TV guide! Uh, no definitely not a DISer.
Kevin wants to pin trade so while Im signing the boys in, Chuck takes Kevin and the girls toward the gift shop. In the lobby they see Mickey Mouse so they wait on line for a picture. The girls get their pictures taken but Kevin wont get his. I meet them just in time to take my own shots. Heres one of Steph with the head cheese:
After Kevin pin trades, we go back to the room and meet up with Keith and Christine in the deck 2 hallway where they gush about how great brunch was. I fill her in on what weve been doing and I confess to feeding her son chocolate for lunch. Seeing as how Kyle is now in the kids club, she shrugs and says not my problem.
Christine then tells me about the free pins at the gift shop. Huh? What free pins? I never read about any free pins. Apparently you get free pins as long as you ask for them at the gift shop. So back to the gift shop we go. And yes, they handed me 4 free pins, 2 for each room. Cool! The prelude area is set up for the Golden Mickeys so we take some pictures with the Mickey statues.
We spend the rest of the afternoon just hanging around the room. Stephanie doesnt want to go to the kids club, now having free time in Ocean Quest. Kevin does his homework and Steph writes in her journal. I take trip report notes and Chuck takes a nap.
Before I know it, its time to get ready for formal night. I enter the bathroom and contemplate the shower curtain. Today Ill try it out of the tub since in the tub didnt work yesterday.
Well, apparently out of the tub works even less. Theres lots of water on the floor, lots and lots of water. Three towels worth of water.
I take care of my own hair drying and straightening so thats out of the way for later. I get Kevin in the bathtub and hes happy to play in there for a while. Keith knocks and offers to take Steph up to the arcade. I wanted her to shower now but I feel bad shes been hanging around the room so I say yes.
Christine and I go get the boys to get them ready for formal night. We are both starting to feel the stress of whats to come. Pictures!! We must get good pictures!!
Keith brings Steph back from the arcade and I get her going in the shower. She asks me to fix the shower curtain. Oh honey, if you only knew! I leave it IN the tub. She complains that its pushing against her so I leave the bottom in and fan out the rest.
I return to our room where Chuck is still sleeping. Its after 4:00 and I wanted to be ready for pictures at 5:00. The left to do list:
Linda makeup
Linda dressed
Linda jewelry
Steph hair dried
Steph dressed
Tommy bath
Tommy dressed
Kevin dressed
Chuck who knows? Definitely dressed cause hes not napping in his suit. Shower? Shave? I have no idea
I feel the stress level rising. Weve done nothing substantial all afternoon and here we are running late. How did this happen? I look over at my sleeping husband.
Can you get up now?
No response.
Louder this time: I NEED HELP CAN YOU PLEASE GET UP NOW.
Snort, grunt, jump out of bed. The man knows the sound of his wife panicking and I believe he knows its not pleasant.
He takes charge of Tommy in the bath while I blow dry Stephanies hair. Why didnt I get her showered sooner? It takes FOREVER to dry her long hair.
Chuck finishes Tommys bath and goes to get in the shower himself while the boys are still in their underwear. Im still with Steph and the hairdryer. Only 1 thing on the above list has been completed in the last 15 minutes.
What are you doing? Youre going to take a shower NOW?
Chuck, understanding that now is not the time for argument, returns to get the boys dressed. He foregoes his shower, shaves and gets dressed.
Stephs hair is dry enough so I get myself ready. I remember to get the jewelry out of the safe. [Lets break for a DCL tip: I got this tip from an email that cheysdad sent me. The room safe will work on any magnetic strip. It doesnt have to be your KTTW card. We used a TGI Fridays card and hid it in the room. This way both people can get into the safe if the other person is not there with their KTTW card. Thanks Michael!]
The 5 of us are finally ready by 5:15. Behind schedule but not too bad. Christine isnt ready yet so we head out by the elevators to wait. My kids look sharp in their dress up clothes. I need to get a picture!
I tell them to line up but Kevin doesnt want to. Hes complaining his neck hurts, hes complaining his shoes hurt.
Cmon Kev, I just want to get one picture.
No
Kevin, lets go. I need to take a picture.
No
And then I said it. It just flew out of my mouth without me controlling it.
You know, I dont ask for much. I ask for one thing and you cant even do it. All I want is one picture of my kids dressed up. Thanks a lot.
Chuck sensing the world coming to an end jumps on board and coaxes Kevin with a cmon Kev, one picture, do it for Mommy. Yup, just call me the Gipper.
Kevin gets closer:
And finally cooperates:
(Sorry, I've been too busy to work on red-eye)
We head to the lobby to get some pictures. Can it get worse? Yup, it definitely can get worse.
Next up: Picture frenzy, Animators Palate, all dressed up with nowhere to go
jsfein said:
The first time I went into the store, they asked if I received my pins and lanyard. What, another free lanyard? Not just one free lanyard, they gave me 2 because we had 2 staterooms. They were keeping a list in a notebook on which rooms had received them. The CM was nice enought to search through the lanyards and get me ones with different pins.
I told my mom, and she got hers. After that, I think I was asked everytime I was in there if I had received my pins. (I was in there a lot with 3 of my 4 kids!)pklein09 said:The first time I went into the store, they asked if I received my pins and lanyard. What, another free lanyard? Not just one free lanyard, they gave me 2 because we had 2 staterooms. They were keeping a list in a notebook on which rooms had received them. The CM was nice enought to search through the lanyards and get me ones with different pins.
WOW. My kids pin traded in the shops everyday and the CMs even knew their names (as my kids have Castmember name plates on their lanyards). Not once we were told about free pins or lanyards. Guess they didn't like us much.
lindaso
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 24, 2001
- Messages
- 713
Yes, they did come with lanyards, I forgot about that part. I was getting that confused with later in the week when I found out about the buy 4 pins and get a certain DCL pin for $1.
Jason, don't feel too bad, I had been there twice that day and no one said anything either. I'm not sure how Christine found out about it.
Jason, don't feel too bad, I had been there twice that day and no one said anything either. I'm not sure how Christine found out about it.
Ocean Breeze
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2006
- Messages
- 293
lindaso said:
So you use that line too! LOL
I am really enjoying your report. I also like that it comes in installments. Something fun to read every day or so. Thanks!
"The room safe will work on any magnetic strip. It doesnt have to be your KTTW card. We used a TGI Fridays card and hid it in the room. This way both people can get into the safe if the other person is not there with their KTTW card. Thanks Michael!]"
You are welcome. Great trip report but i have one burning question.
Do you think you will ever be able to get Chuck back on the ship?
Sorry but I do not know how to properly capture text from a different post.
You are welcome. Great trip report but i have one burning question.
Do you think you will ever be able to get Chuck back on the ship?
Sorry but I do not know how to properly capture text from a different post.
love2travel
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2005
- Messages
- 1,210
Linda, you have me cracking up , keep on going!!!
, keep on going!!!I was told always use a different card than your KTTW card or even in hotels don't use your room card. Room stewards can get into your safe that way. Use any other card with a magnetic strip.
Your pictures of the kids came out great! Can't wait to hear the rest of your report.
Your pictures of the kids came out great! Can't wait to hear the rest of your report.
disneylover5
<font color=blue>I am ready to go now as well<br><
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2002
- Messages
- 4,677
lindaso said:
[Lisa, if you're reading this, you can see Steph wearing your pins
You are so welcome!! We had so much fun trading pins! I think it is a great to keep something forever!! I think we have almost 2,000 keepers now...one day they will go to my grand-children....or we will sell them on ebay to pay for the next cruise!!
lindaso
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 24, 2001
- Messages
- 713
mruhaak said:I didn't know anything about this whole "pin collecting" thing... but now you have me intrigued. You just have to ask to get free pins and a lanyard?
I have my own little Kevin. His name is Alex. Isn't motherhood grand.
Just kidding.
Pin collecting is a fun way to remember your trips. We have pins from Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, their favorite rides, the resorts we've stayed in, their favorite characters, and now DCL. That's why it was so sad when Stephanie lost her lanyard...it represented so much about her.
If things work the same way as our cruise, each person will get a Castaway Club lanyard (the adult size) with 2 identical pins (one to keep and one to trade) when you check in at the terminal. And you can get another lanyard with 2 pins (Mickey, Donald or Chip & Dale in an airplane) in the gift shop...one per room.
You can trade pins with any CM wearing a lanyard. What people typically do is buy a bunch of junky trader pins and trade for better ones on vacation. You can find deals on disneyshopping or ebay. They just have to say Disney on the back.
And as far as our "spirited" children go...Kevin is getting a bum rap in my trip report but he really is a sweety. He says this trip was "the best vacation ever." Go figure. So there is hope for you
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