The Twelve Days of Swinter: From Castaway 'Key' to a Partridge in a Palm Tree!

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Does that works?


Thanks for the recipes! They sound good!!!!

That's some serious drooling!

You're welcome!

Thanks for the recipes Rinky! They both sound and look yummy!!! I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

You're welcome! We did have a great Christmas and I hope you did too. I know Christmas is exciting at your house with four kids!

Hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas. Thanks for the recipes! We're hosting a Rose Bowl party this year for our Badgers and I'm going to try the bacon-wrapped little smokies.

I feel pretty sure that the little smokies will be a big hit. Men especially like them... you know it's the whole meat wrapped in meat thing!

Hi Rinky!

I've just caught up with your new TR - I remember reading your last one and really enjoying it

We went on the Dream as part of our honeymoon last summer and absolutely loved it! It was our first ever cruise & we've already booked our next one

Btw I think in your last TR, you wrote about doing 'pick a pearl' for your DD in the Japan Pavilion at Epcot? Well I wanted to say thank you as it inspired me to the same during our last trip, I love the cinderella carriage necklace I have now!


Hope you've had a great Christmas and look forward to reading more,


Emma x

WELCOME!! I'm so glad you found me again. I absolutely remember you and you planning your honeymoon. It sounds like it was fantastic! The Dream is definitely a wonderful place to spend a honeymoon! And I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed the P-A-P in Japan. I still get lots of compliments on that cage pendant too. It's probably my favorite Disney souvenir.

Hope you had a great Christmas too!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I sure hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas holiday, and I wish you all a very happy 2012!

I left off last time with our stellar Titanic reenactment up on the bow of the ship. It was so nice and quiet up there, but it was time for the show, so we made our way back down to the theater.

The adult pool was always empty.

101 Dalmations was playing on the big screen.

As you can see, the pool had thinned out, and it was even better later on.

Finally, it was time for our first show. I was really looking forward to this. No one does live entertainment like Disney.

Our show for the night was…

I loved the Snow White part! They used some kind of transparent screens to give the forest a really cool 3-D effect.

The dwarfs were kids from the audience.

Hunchback

Lots of bubbles fell on the audience during Ariel’s gig.

Continued in next post

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

The Rapunzel part was my favorite! They used the same effect that they did with Snow White and all the lanterns looked so cool.

Lion King

Can you spy a buff ape-man in a loin cloth?

Betcha don’t see that every day!

The show was FANTASTIC!! We loved it! I even got teary eyed at the end when they showed pictures of Walt Disney and talked about his dreams. It was very touching.

When we got back to the room, our first fish extender gifts were waiting for us! (I’ll show everything we got in a later post.)

It was 9:30 and for us, that’s way too early to turn in when on vacation, so we decided to see if the pools had cleared out.

Oh yes! That is MUCH better!

DH and DD went straight for the…

The flaming, lava encrusted staircase to Hades was nice and cool now!

Finally some AD footage (12 sec.)

Click on the picture

DD had a great time in the Mickey pool.

Continued in next post

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I noticed the spray area was empty so I thought it would be a good time to get some better pictures.

I love the theme in there!

DD found this glass ‘window’ in the floor that showed the ocean beneath. It was pretty cool. They had one in the bottom of the hot tub too.

I watched the end of Beauty and the Beast on the big screen while DH and DD warmed up in the hot tub.

When the movie ended, it was time to go. I planned to be up before the sun the next morning to see the ship pull into the Bahamas, so we needed to get some sleep. We got drinks to go at the fountain station by the pool. (Don’t forget about this if you are cruising soon. You can get drinks 24/7 by the pool even after all the counter service places have closed.)

We walked through Cabanas (buffet place) to get back to our room.

They have mosaic tile murals in here that are amazing! Pictures just don’t do them justice!

The time on the ship and at Disney World was…

Looking at that made me excited for the WDW portion of our trip that was to come!

I checked the TV in our room when we got back to see where we were. I loved this feature. The circle on the map shows where the ship is. We were about halfway there!

I remember us all being really tired that night. It had been such an exciting day! And believe it or not, I adjusted pretty quickly to the small room and never had that panicky feeling again. The soft, down filled bed and pillows felt so good and I slept like a baby. The mild rocking of the ship put us all out like a light!

And that was the end of our first day on the cruise. I can’t believe I’ve only covered one day! We’ve already done so much! The best is definitely yet to come though!

Up next: On the third day of Swinter my vacation gave to me… a heavenly blue lagoon and palm trees as far as you can see!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Wow awesome update! What a great ending to your first day of cruising. You guys did so much that day!! I am so impressed!

The show looks fantastic and riding the AquaDuck at night looks super cool. Loved the video!

Your pictures are great as always! Can't wait to hear all about the rest of your trip!!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Wow awesome update! What a great ending to your first day of cruising. You guys did so much that day!! I am so impressed!

The show looks fantastic and riding the AquaDuck at night looks super cool. Loved the video!

Your pictures are great as always! Can't wait to hear all about the rest of your trip!!

Our day did end pretty well considering that we had a bumpy start. And we did do a lot that day especially since it wasn't even a full day. We didn't even get on the ship until noon.

You have to ride the AD at night. It's really cool with the flashing lights! Your boys are going to LOVE that AD!

 

[jenseib]

Loving the updates. It sure brings back memories. We tried to ride the AD at night and they had just cut off the line.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Hi, Rinky! Hope you had a great Christmas! I am going to try and keep up better with your TR from now on!

You are so right -- nobody does live entertainment like Disney! The Golden Mickeys show looks like a lot of fun!

Hurray for being able to ride the Aqua Duck without a huge line and hot staircase!

That map is really neat -- I would really like that because I would always be wondering where exactly in the ocean we were.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Loving the updates. It sure brings back memories. We tried to ride the AD at night and they had just cut off the line.

I know. I want to be back there so bad!

I hate you didn't get to ride at night. That 3 night cruise is so short isn't it?

Hi, Rinky! Hope you had a great Christmas! I am going to try and keep up better with your TR from now on!

You are so right -- nobody does live entertainment like Disney! The Golden Mickeys show looks like a lot of fun!

Hurray for being able to ride the Aqua Duck without a huge line and hot staircase!

That map is really neat -- I would really like that because I would always be wondering where exactly in the ocean we were.

Don't worry about it. It is such a busy time for everyone. I haven't had time to post much anyway.

I adore Disney shows. They are so good!

I am a total map nerd. I love maps, weather, geography... I can look at maps for hours. I don't know what it is, but it just fascinates me to see where things are.

 

[SoonerGirl]

Hey there Rinky! Things have finally slowed down a bit around here and I'm trying to get caught up on the DIS! I'm really enjoying your report so far, but it's giving me serious Dream withdrawals!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Wow, the show photos make it look amazing! I can't even imagine what it was like in person. So, so neat! I think swimming in the evening when the crowds have died out is such a great idea Rinky. I don't do well with big crowds. Great update!

 

[sjs314]

Great update. Glad the pool cleared out so you guys were able to enjoy a nice swim that evening. The video of the AD was enough for me, you'd never get me on it Everything on the ship looks so pretty and the show you saw looked amazing.That is cool that you can see on the tv where the ship is and how cool are the windows to the sea, although knowing me I would start worrying about them leaking. All in all a wonderful 1st day.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Hey there Rinky! Things have finally slowed down a bit around here and I'm trying to get caught up on the DIS! I'm really enjoying your report so far, but it's giving me serious Dream withdrawals!

Hey Michelle! I am so glad you are back! It hasn't been the same without you!

I know what you mean about withdrawals! I've been having those too. I even think my DH is having them. He made us an Ohana dinner last night (totally out of the blue) and said he was ready for another cruise whenever I was! I was stunned. I think the cruise really impressed him!

Are you having any luck convincing your DH to do another cruise or WDW trip? I know you said he wasn't in love with WDW, but he seemed to enjoy the cruise more, so.... ???

Wow, the show photos make it look amazing! I can't even imagine what it was like in person. So, so neat! I think swimming in the evening when the crowds have died out is such a great idea Rinky. I don't do well with big crowds. Great update!

That show was awesome. It was my favorite of the 3. Pure classic Disney all the way!

Swimming at night is the only way to go for me from now on. The crowds just made it miserable in my opinion during the day. Everyone else seemed to be having a good time, but I just can't stand people all over me.

Great update. Glad the pool cleared out so you guys were able to enjoy a nice swim that evening. The video of the AD was enough for me, you'd never get me on it Everything on the ship looks so pretty and the show you saw looked amazing.That is cool that you can see on the tv where the ship is and how cool are the windows to the sea, although knowing me I would start worrying about them leaking. All in all a wonderful 1st day.

The AD was lots of fun! What don't you like about it? It wasn't too much of a thrill ride. I am a major ride chicken, and I could do it... once anyway. I wasn't crazy about being in that tube though. I kept imagining it malfunctioning and filling up with water! But that's just my schitzo, claustrophobic mind going off the deep end. It really wasn't that bad.

Our first day did turn out pretty good. I really had my doubts for a while there, but it all ended up fine, well.... until the last night anyway.

 

[cyndiloveswalt]

Hi Rinky, came over from Shelly's TR. we just did a cruise on the Dream in Nov. loved it! We have cruised Disney 3 times and have never asked for private seating but have always had it, as has everyone around us. I just aasumed Disney only seated families together.
I am with you on those chairs at Animators Pallete, I was a little peeved my DH wouldn't even try to put one under his shirt!

 

[MaryAz]

Great update! The Aqua Duck at nights looks so fun! Glad the first day ended so well. Better get on that cruise planning while Hubby is excited to go!

 

[sharonW]

Rinky....so glad I saw you on FB or i'd have never know about your trip!
Am lovin your TR so far, the Dream is amazing and your pics are fabulous
Just can't wait for more, more, more!!!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Hi Rinky, came over from Shelly's TR. we just did a cruise on the Dream in Nov. loved it! We have cruised Disney 3 times and have never asked for private seating but have always had it, as has everyone around us. I just aasumed Disney only seated families together.
I am with you on those chairs at Animators Pallete, I was a little peeved my DH wouldn't even try to put one under his shirt!

WELCOME! So glad you decided to join in the fun!

It looked to me like most people were probably only seated with their own families on the cruise, but I do think they seat parties together sometimes b/c they had to change our table number to have us seated by ourselves. Maybe because we were a small party of 3, they decided to join us up with someone else. Not sure how that's determined.

Aren't they some awesome chairs! I loved the entire decor in AP. The plates, utensils, everything was just perfect!

Great update! The Aqua Duck at nights looks so fun! Glad the first day ended so well. Better get on that cruise planning while Hubby is excited to go!

The AD is really neat at night! I loved the flashing lights. It made the whole deck look cool.

I know I need to take DH up on his offer while he is still willing. I just can't figure out how to pay for it.

Rinky....so glad I saw you on FB or i'd have never know about your trip!
Am lovin your TR so far, the Dream is amazing and your pics are fabulous
Just can't wait for more, more, more!!!

Hey there! I'm so glad you were able to join in over here! Sorry I didn't have long to chat on FB the other day, but I was on my way out the door. I'm really glad you saw me and spoke up though so I could send you the link.

The Dream was awesome! One day you'll have to take those grandbabies on a Disney cruise!

 

[Moodyzblu]

Joining in !!

I have to say .. this cruise looks just amazing ! I've never cruised before and honestly never really wanted to .. but seeing the pics and hearing about it really makes me want to do it. I have 7yr old twin boys and I know they would love it. Some day .. for sure !

Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip !!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Joining in !!

I have to say .. this cruise looks just amazing ! I've never cruised before and honestly never really wanted to .. but seeing the pics and hearing about it really makes me want to do it. I have 7yr old twin boys and I know they would love it. Some day .. for sure !

Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip !!

WELCOME! Always glad to have new Dissers joining in!

The cruise is wonderful! It is well worth giving it a try. I think the 3 night cruise is a great way to start out. We had never cruised before either so that's why we chose the shortest cruise possible, and it was the right choice for us. I think 7 is the perfect age to give it a try also. They are old enough to really be able to do everything and still young enough to like the Disney aspects of it. There's lots more good stuff to come about the cruise so stick with me. By the time I get to Castaway Cay, you'll be convinced to take the cruise plunge!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Happy New Year's Dis Friends!

I hope 2012 is very good to all of you!​

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