The Tale of the Grow Walk .Hunh?

[rndmr2]

Nice updates! I love the close up pics of the train

So sad that it was your last park day but great that you are now getting ready for the cruise part. Crazy how there wasn't a place to park and wait for Skip.

I hear you about the passenger seat driving! My DH does it all the time.

Looking forward to the next update

 

[dolphingirl47]

What a busy day you had. I absolutely adore the train shots. What a shame that you hit a few roadblocks when you picked up skip.

Corinna

 

[canyoncam]

I too love the train shots.

I think it was neat you were there the day The Middle was shooting because I love that show. Also neat to see the terrace open as I always go during "slow" times. Looked like good food.

I understand how when you picked up Skip it changed the dynamics of the vacation. Of course since you are heading to the cruse next it was changing anyway

 

[KatMark]

Cute pictures with Daisy and Minnie.

We've never been to the Sanford Airport. It sounds like a nightmare on this particular evening.

Skip cracks me up. Why didn't he just drive if he "knew" where to go?

Can't wait to hear about the cruise and how much daddy and Claire do together.

 

[LuvEeyore]

Love the pics with Minnie. I know Claire is glad to see her Dad...Now after sleep, off to the sea. Cant wait to hear about the cruise.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Every single time that I see pictures of the parade at the Animal Kingdom I wonder why we didn't stop to watch. Now, it's gone and I'll never get to see it all.

I'm sorry but I was laughing outloud at Skip and his "hunh"s. The man was so excited to see you two that he couldn't stop babbling like a brook.

 

[JKSWonder]

Just downloaded one of those headbandz games to my phone. Looks like just the thing to keep my kids occupied in line!

 

[jenseib]

Nice updates! I love the close up pics of the train

Thanks

So sad that it was your last park day but great that you are now getting ready for the cruise part. Crazy how there wasn't a place to park and wait for Skip.

I really would love to do about 10 days at the parks and resorts THEN do a week cruise.....I guess I need to become rich before thats gonna happen.

I hear you about the passenger seat driving! My DH does it all the time.

Looking forward to the next update

I don't get why my husband has to tell me how to drive all the time. he would be furious if I did it to him.

What a busy day you had. I absolutely adore the train shots. What a shame that you hit a few roadblocks when you picked up skip.

Corinna

The biggest roadblock was HIM!

I too love the train shots.

I think it was neat you were there the day The Middle was shooting because I love that show. Also neat to see the terrace open as I always go during "slow" times. Looked like good food.

I never did see them there myself and I was kind of disappointed. But it was neat that they were there and many friends and family saw them.

I understand how when you picked up Skip it changed the dynamics of the vacation. Of course since you are heading to the cruse next it was changing anyway

Yes, it's very different when he is around. At times it was like I had to keep watch out for another child.

Cute pictures with Daisy and Minnie.

We've never been to the Sanford Airport. It sounds like a nightmare on this particular evening.

It's usually very easy in and out, but it was so crazy that night. I am not sure if more was going on that I wasn't aware of but I have never seen police patrol around like that there before.

Skip cracks me up. Why didn't he just drive if he "knew" where to go?

Um...yeah...I ask him that every time we get in the car. I tell him I am not stopping him from taking over in the drivers seat.

Can't wait to hear about the cruise and how much daddy and Claire do together.

Coming up...slowly but surely!

Love the pics with Minnie. I know Claire is glad to see her Dad...Now after sleep, off to the sea. Cant wait to hear about the cruise.

YES! I know several people have been waiting for the cruise portion. I have put that off long enough now.

Every single time that I see pictures of the parade at the Animal Kingdom I wonder why we didn't stop to watch. Now, it's gone and I'll never get to see it all.

it was a great parade. Go watch it youtube!

I'm sorry but I was laughing outloud at Skip and his "hunh"s. The man was so excited to see you two that he couldn't stop babbling like a brook.

He was. He won't admit it but I know he misses me or both of us when I/we are gone. He's not as bad as my dad, he can actually survive without me...but he does miss me.
Claire was just a ball of excitement to have her dad down there again. Our last trip with him to Florida was in 2012 I believe so it had been a few years.

Just downloaded one of those headbandz games to my phone. Looks like just the thing to keep my kids occupied in line!

I wish we would've been smart enough to do it at the beginning of our trip.

 

[jenseib]

March 28, 2014, Friday, Day 8

Morning came and we packed up everything. I did put a few things in my Mom’s suitcase for her to take home to allow us a little more room for future purchases.
We were a little slow this morning, well the other 2 were. I was busy trying to get everything situated so that we could leave in a timely manner and not leave anything behind.



Mom had some breakfast items still, so I believe we each had a little something to give us some energy for the day.

Finally we loaded the car and said our good byes to my parents. They were heading to Legoland today and then tomorrow they were flying home.
We had a nice time with them and it is nice that they don’t feel the need to do everything with us or make us feel guilty about doing what we want to do.

----

Before I go further, I will discuss why we chose the Magic and this particular cruise. I really wanted a 4 or 5 night cruise. The thing was if we were to do one that long that meant we wouldn’t sail till Sunday or Monday. Now I am all for longer vacations, but it would also mean Claire was going to miss more school days. We were trying to avoid missing too many. I looked at other lines and even put a Princess cruise on hold. That was the only one that had dates that worked and it was for 5 days. The downside was it was out of Tampa. In the end Skip said he really wanted to see what all the fuss was about with Disney.
Skip also wanted to fly out of Toledo, which means he can only fly on Allegiant, which only flies a couple of days a week. They had a Thursday flight and the Magic sailed on Friday, so it worked out perfectly in that regards. I also was interested in seeing what they did with the Magic since the refurb. I knew a lot of things had been changed, but I also knew many things that should have been updated were not. I went into this cruise knowing it wasn’t a complete makeover of the ship but many things were improved. I also knew that there had been many complaints already about many of the staterooms. Some were leaking water, some had a smell to them, and some still looked like there balconies needed painting. It was kind of like Disney put lipstick on the rooms rather than starting with a good foundation before applying the rest of the makeup. Luckily I am pretty good with going with the flow and though I may not like things I still was going to make the best of it I could. And though I touched on some of the negative things, there were many more positive things about the ship than negative.---- ---

We then headed towards the port. Again, Skip was trying to give me directions….because you know he knows how to get there even though he has never been there. He really hates that I use Siri and makes fun of me doing so many times…but she gets me where I need to go most times….or at least in the right direction.

Of course once we got going I pretty much knew the way. It’s a fairly straight shot once you get on the right road. Skip then asked me why I was driving instead of him. LOL! I know I said I always drive, but many times on vacation he actually does do the driving. I reminded him that I was the one to get the car and it was in my name, so he probably shouldn’t be driving…..Ah…good point!

Soon we were seeing the Magic off in the distance and ooh and ahhing over it. We got off at the right exit and went in and they checked our ID’s and we stopped to unload our luggage. I handed over a tip. Skip think’s it’s a rip off that you have to tip these guys. But unless you want to carry your bags on yourself and haul them around, it’s the right thing to do.
The guys were really helpful and told us where to go to park our car. This was a new one for me. In the past I have been dropped off at PC and picked up after the cruise and I have stayed at Residence Inn and used their Park and Cruise reservation and used the shuttle back and forth….but this was the first time we were parking in the garage at the port. I did do some investigating at parking offsite at a nearby lot, but in the end the savings wasn’t worth the hassle of getting there and back for us.

We pulled around and went into the garage and parked. Claire was doing the potty dance so we needed to find her a bathroom soon. We grabbed the rest of our things out of the car and made sure to put the key in a safe spot and went to find a bathroom.
Luckily there is one right there in the garage and we made use of it quickly and then proceeded to cross the street towards the terminal.



I rarely get many pictures outside the terminal because I am too excited to get in, so I did try to take a few more today.





Skip made a lot of dorky comments to us because he likes to try and rile us up. We ignored him and I knew deep down he was excited….and a little nervous about it all too.



Looking back at the parking garage.















We entered the building and had to go through security check. There was a bit of a line, but it moves fairly quickly. You cannot take pictures there, but it is very similar to an airport security check.

Once we got up in the terminal we went to check in. Claire and I are Castaway Club members so we had the shorter check in line.
This line is for meeting characters, which we chose to bypass.







The ship had not started boarding yet.



But for some reason people like to hoover near the ears. I don’t know why as it makes it harder for those with earlier boarding numbers to get through.



We decided to head outside and take a look at our new home for the next few days.





There was an ashtray out there and Skip took that as a sign that you are allowed to smoke out there. I am not sure if you are or not, but I suppose you can if there is an ashtray, but I also felt it was rude. Many people are out there looking at the ship and it’s not a big area. I tried to discreetly tell him not to, but he didn’t listen. I don’t think he understood what I was saying.



The guys were sprucing up the ship.



It looks like a few CM’s were having some shore time.



A RCCL ship off in the distance.

 

[JKSWonder]

Cruise starting...yay! This is going to be my favorite part of the report.

 

[KatMark]

Good idea on putting a few things in mom's suitcase to make more room for you.

Skip didn't offer to drive the night before, but now asking why he wasn't? Gotta love men! And you are right on him not driving. A lot of the companies do NOT carry the spouse as well without an additional fee.

Nice pictures of the ship. So you had a shorter line because you are castaway members. Did Skip go with you or did he have to go in his own line?

That's one crazy long line for the characters.

 

[LuvEeyore]

Don't worry about Skip being a dork or trying to rile you up. He's a man and that is a man thing to do.(This is this woman's observation of men)
Love the pictures of the ship. Can't wait to hear more about the Magic's refurb.

 

[dizneeat]

Can't wait to hear your cruise report!

And I had to LOL on some of the comments you made about Skip! How very manly some of them are.

You are boarding my least favourite ship! Hope your experience with her was better than ours - then there is hope for our Easter cruise.
And you are completely right. Some parts of that ship were really refurbed nicely, while others were simply painted over and rust started to get through when we sailed on the Magic in August of this year.
Sounds nice that the CC line was shorter. It often is a lot longer than the regular one.
We are both so happy that we can check in with the Concierge guests now - there is usually no line at all.

 

[MEK]

Once again I was several updates behind.

Love all the pictures from the AK parade. I might have to watch that youtube video of the last performance.

Yay for a quick trip to MK before picking up Skip. I can't remember the last time I saw the Terrace opened, but I'll always remember the lady in line in front of me who totally flipped out about her wrong order and made such a big stink they gave her everything free.

Ugh to the airport pickup fiasco. That sounds very stressful!!!!!

So you are supposed to pack Skip's cigarettes? What?????

Yay for getting to the port. Denny and I are sailing on the Magic next December and I am really looking forward to it!

 

[mommy2mb]

Excited to read more of your trip report!! I'm joining in late

 

[jenseib]

Cruise starting...yay! This is going to be my favorite part of the report.

I will try to get more up by tomorrow. Today was a Gracie day and she just left, but now it will soon be time to get Claire and then dance class this evening. Tuesday are tiring!

Good idea on putting a few things in mom's suitcase to make more room for you.

I figured if she had room...why not!

Skip didn't offer to drive the night before, but now asking why he wasn't? Gotta love men! And you are right on him not driving. A lot of the companies do NOT carry the spouse as well without an additional fee.

Yeah...I was shocked he waited so long. And you are right. With dollar you have to pay an additional fee for a 2nd driver.

Nice pictures of the ship. So you had a shorter line because you are castaway members. Did Skip go with you or did he have to go in his own line?

Yes, the whole family (all in 1 room) can go through the CC Club line, so Skip came with us. If he had to go on his own I would've probably had to follow him to be sure he behaved.

That's one crazy long line for the characters.

It was crazy long. It must've been just the right time where lots of people were arriving.

Don't worry about Skip being a dork or trying to rile you up. He's a man and that is a man thing to do.(This is this woman's observation of men)
Love the pictures of the ship. Can't wait to hear more about the Magic's refurb.

You are so right. It's in the man gene to do that.

Can't wait to hear your cruise report!

And I had to LOL on some of the comments you made about Skip! How very manly some of them are.

He thinks he is so funny all the time. I told him it's amazing my eyes have not fallen out with as many times as I roll them at him.

You are boarding my least favourite ship! Hope your experience with her was better than ours - then there is hope for our Easter cruise.
And you are completely right. Some parts of that ship were really refurbed nicely, while others were simply painted over and rust started to get through when we sailed on the Magic in August of this year.
Sounds nice that the CC line was shorter. It often is a lot longer than the regular one.
We are both so happy that we can check in with the Concierge guests now - there is usually no line at all.

We did have a good time. I knew a lot of the things that weren't redone going on, so it didn't bother me too much. My friend went on her first sailing and she showed me pictures of them still working on things even on that sailing. I had read a lot of complaints too from the early sailings.
I didn't let any of it get me down since I knew most of it going in. I will say that service was fine for the most part too. Not the best we have had on a DCL cruise, but it was fine.
Is your Spring cruise on the Magic again? I think now that you have been on her and are more familiar you should be fine. As long as you don't get a stinky room.

Once again I was several updates behind.

That's the story of my life lately.

Love all the pictures from the AK parade. I might have to watch that youtube video of the last performance.

I just loved that parade and I am still angry at Disney for taking it away from me.

Yay for a quick trip to MK before picking up Skip. I can't remember the last time I saw the Terrace opened, but I'll always remember the lady in line in front of me who totally flipped out about her wrong order and made such a big stink they gave her everything free.

That funny. It's funny to see the things people get angry about. A post on facebook recently was about how a persons trip was unmagical because she was on the 3rd floor in standard at AS Sports. She booked standard, says she didn't realize it, but made requests as if she was preferred and was mad they didn't honor it. I might be disappointed that my room request wasn't met, but it won't take away my magic.

Ugh to the airport pickup fiasco. That sounds very stressful!!!!!

It was such a pain. And a surprise as it never has been busy like that before.

So you are supposed to pack Skip's cigarettes? What?????

I guess so. I never have before. I tell him he is on his own for that. And typically he just buys them on vacation, which I think is dumb because Disney never has his brand anywhere and then he grumbles about that. You would think he would bring at least his current pack with him though.

Yay for getting to the port. Denny and I are sailing on the Magic next December and I am really looking forward to it!

Right now I have a cruise booked for the Magic again in Feb. 2016. I hope I can cruise again before then. That seems so far away yet.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Yay, you are on the Magic. I can't wait to read about this part of the trip.

Corinna

 

[JKSWonder]

I will try to get more up by tomorrow. Today was a Gracie day and she just left, but now it will soon be time to get Claire and then dance class this evening. Tuesday are tiring!

I feel the same way on the days Michael has karate or Boy Scouts. Its hard to work all day and then go do all that in the evening too. I have to take him to the Boy Scout Christmas party this Friday night, after I get home from work, a bah humbug me is NOT looking forward to it.

 

[Timon]

YAY!! You're on the ship!!!

I can't to read about your cruise adventure

By the way, I would have murdered Skip many years ago if he was my hubby

 

[jenseib]

Yay, you are on the Magic. I can't wait to read about this part of the trip.

Corinna

I am excited to write about it too. I am still editing pictures...but I just don't seem to have much time to do it these days lately!

I feel the same way on the days Michael has karate or Boy Scouts. Its hard to work all day and then go do all that in the evening too. I have to take him to the Boy Scout Christmas party this Friday night, after I get home from work, a bah humbug me is NOT looking forward to it.

Days are so long. I was virtually gone almost all day yesterday with just enought time to change in between events. Today I tried to get some wrapping and laundry done. Still have a ton of both to finish.

YAY!! You're on the ship!!!

I can't to read about your cruise adventure

By the way, I would have murdered Skip many years ago if he was my hubby

Yes...He really is lucky he is alive. Now he can be really funny and we both have warped senses of humor, but then he can be super irritating as well....thinking he is funny.