Whoo Hoo and Boo Hoo! Our Magic'al Trip Report for Oct 8-15th!

[sullins5]

Whoooo Hoooo! Can I just say this cruise met EVERY expectation that we had! What fun! What great Cm's!!! What a great ship! Our cast is: myself, my dh, my 24ds, 23dd, 12dd, and the inlaws. If you've been following my excitement in my PTR for a Magic'al cruise, you'll know how excited I was. So here I go with our first Disney Cruise Trip Report. Hope this helps someone or adds to your excitement of your upcoming cruise!

Oct 7th...

Head out to the Memphis airport on Friday 6:30am. Think 7 people, 13 pieces of luggage, something like a flash mob gone wrong. Trying to coordinate all that was exhausting. And it took every bit of 2 hours to get it right! Land in MCO at 11:30. Grab a porter. Paid him $$$ well, so not a bad haul for a 10 min trek to the Budget Rental Kiosk outside. Next up, trying to fit all of us in a Stow n Go Grand Caravan... It CAN be done! Though sardines are a good picture. Might want to make sure all the Stow n Go compartments work before booking next one though.

Make our way to the Hilton DTD. We were pleasantly surprised at this one. Nice room, friendly hotel staff and comfortable room. Disney shop, Ice cream shop, Restaurant or two, great pools, work out room, and of course Disney busses.

Next, as a sweet surprise the staff sends the inlaws a celebratory bottle of sparkling champagne and white chocolate wine glasses! How cool is that?

Then, I get to my room, and they've delivered a Birthday cupcake! Let the Magic begin!

We then head out to DTD where we have Rainforest Ressies. Quick help for others...I had tried to get reservations through Disney for DTD and no availability months out when I remembered the week before last that I was a Rainforest Cafe Club member. So I called the restaurant, said I was a member, he said when would I like to come and booked it! All because they give club members priority. Who knew? So join those freebie memberships, because you may get more benefits than the free appetizer!

Our next stop was shopping at DTD and then back to Hotel.

Saturday October 8th...

Get up, decided we forgot one or two things, head out to McD's and the local grocery store. Drop 23dd off at the grocery store, tell her we'll be back after driving through McD's and will pick her up. Mistake was McD's..half of the world was there and it was raining 's and 's. Poor dd thought we forgot her. So we pick her up and head to PC. Tell everyone better take a Bonine, due to knowing I have a dh that doesn't do well with some rides, 12dd used to get car sick all the time, and the inlaws had packed theirs. So we all take a chewable one. Just to make sure. Not a bad drive though the rain was getting worse. Did we miss a tropical storm report?

Dh drops us off at port at 11:15 (we have 11:30 arrival time). Our first taste of the Magic is our porter...see his sweet smile?

All while handling 13 bags!

Our first kink of the trip...Dh doesn't return from Budget for an hour and a half!!! Not kidding! We head to check in...

.
We check in, even dh, as all they needed was his passport, he had his drivers license. We had boarding number 6 which they called within 20 minutes of us being there, then we heard, 1-7, 1-10, 1-14...This chik was getting worried! Finally dh calls, said he was on his way, had to wait for 2 other shuttles before they could bring him. Not sure I'd use them again...will tell you more on that later...

Get on, go to guest services, sign up for the tea party and galley tour. Nope, no galley tour this time. By this time, the rain is ridiculous. We head to eat (of course inside), and 12dd is pumped over what's for lunch...

Keep noticing wet people coming in, so decided to head quickly to rooms at 1:45. Wanted to see if those 3 boxes I had shipped made it. They get there at about 2:30, so I start decorating our door.

And our fish extender..

Got to love the sideways rooms. When you walk in, the TV, steamer trunk and desk/vanity are on the right with bed in front of vanity.

Head out to Muster drill. Wonder..where are we going? Down a long stairway or two, then to deck 4. Outside..portside. Guess which way the rain was headed? OMG..I've never gotten so wet, so fast!!! So needless, to say, had to go to the room and freshen up with the rest of the Magic port side folks doing the same thing. Head to the Sail Away party. A little disappointing being inside due to the crowds and 12dd not being able to see. Next time will get there earlier or go up a deck or two. But the excitement is building. A shame we didn't hear the horn..don't really know when they did that!

Next, time to get ready for dinner, decide to walk around the ship for a few before early dining at 5:45. Wow, this ship is Rockin'. No really, rocking! We're laughing about it and having a great time until we pass the big porthole windows. Oh my! 18 to 20 foot swells the captain says, and don't worry folks, though we'll have bad weather tonight and possibly some tomorrow, we'll get to the caribbean fast enough to make it out of this unpredicted storm. I'm laughing, thinking "Well, it's not so bad, it's not the Titanic", when dh reminds me that ship sunk due to an iceberg.

And then I see...we get to Parrot Cay. Where is everyone?
Our server (who we absolutely loved) told us half the people had already come and left due to being seasick. OH NO! We had no idea it was that bad. Found out later that they actually closed the port after the Magic left. That the Dream left out slightly tilted on Sunday and 350 rooms were flooded on it! I just love our captain and his wisdom!!

And none of us are sick. Isn't that too funny? First timers and we're all fine and veteran cruisers are not-so-well. Poor things. I can honestly say I've NEVER seen so many 'green' kids in all my life.

Head to the first show. Welcome Aboard I think? It was good. Not great, but that could have been because we were so tired by this point. And I'm sure some of those cm's could've been slightly 'green' as well, if you know what I mean.

Turned in early. GREAT first day for us, minus the Budget lateness, wet Muster Drill and crowded Sail Away Party...but we still thought it Rocked!!!

Will try to post day 2 soon!

 

[DisneyWhirled]

Great start!! I'm following along!

We are taking the Magic for the first time in April. It will be our third Disney cruise. We've been on the Wonder and the Dream.

Can't wait to hear about the Magic!!

 

[BusyBeesMom]

loving it so far and looking forward to hearing the about the rest of your vacation.

 

[sullins5]

Thanks y'all!

Forgot to mention one last little detail also! It was GREAT fun trying to figure out fellow 'Dis'ers' at the Port. Our meet thread disigned their own t-shirts to wear (I'm not a t-shirt wearer, so didn't order one) so it was quite interesting trying to figure out who was who when we noticed the T's.

And right before the show, in the hallway, I caught a glimpse of a new friend and another Dis'er...and it was GREAT! We all met, chatted, and continued throughout the cruise! Another great value of Disboards!

 

[iloverags2]

Strawberry soup! Yumola!!! (See that in your food porn pic. ) Excellent you were able to handle the rough seas. We have strong stomachs also...when we were on a rocky ship last year, it was amazing how many people were sick. I had no clue we were rolling that bad!

Sounds like you guys made the best of what could have been a rough start! Looking forward to hearing more about your cruise!

 

[adamsclan]

Awww, sounds like a rough first day! Glad you still had fun. I always take Bonine at bedtime, starting the night before we sail or I'd be green too!!

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

I'm here!Wow what a rainy sail away! Hope the weather got only better from there! Sounds like you guys were in great spirits though, and on the Bonine!

 

[Wadekind]

 

[sullins5]

Strawberry soup! Yumola!!! (See that in your food porn pic. ) Excellent you were able to handle the rough seas. We have strong stomachs also...when we were on a rocky ship last year, it was amazing how many people were sick. I had no clue we were rolling that bad!

Sounds like you guys made the best of what could have been a rough start! Looking forward to hearing more about your cruise!

Loved the strawberry soup! Definately a first, but loved it!!! And we weren't effected at all, which really amazed me.

Awww, sounds like a rough first day! Glad you still had fun. I always take Bonine at bedtime, starting the night before we sail or I'd be green too!!

Either the Bonine was great, or we just did fine. Whichever, I was so glad. We really did laugh about it. All of us took it the first day, and then only a couple took it the 2nd day, and then no more. So, we were thankful indeed!

I'm here!Wow what a rainy sail away! Hope the weather got only better from there! Sounds like you guys were in great spirits though, and on the Bonine!

Yep, as stated above, not sure what helped us, but believe I'll always carry Bonine for the first day anyway! And we did, we laughed as we 'bobbed' up and down. At one point, I was in an elevator lobby waiting, had a diet coke in my hand, and felt a huge swish of the ship, so I toppled forward losing my footing. About that time, 2 men came up the stairs, saw me as I almost fell and I'm laughing, and I knew what they were thinking. So I said "Nope, this is JUST Diet Coke".. It's a ship thing...But we had a great time!

Addendum to our first Day:

Forgot to mention that we got rotation PLAPLAP...I had requested it, so I was quite pleased as I knew they didn't have to honor the request. LOVED IT!

 

[IrishCowboy]

Thanks for posting. We're B2B on the Magic next month and anxious to hear Magic trip reports.

 

[sullins5]

Well, had a great nights sleep. Felt weird with all the rocking, but hey, we were exhausted! I forgot to mention that our stateroom host made our towel animal (umm...well, towel shirt?) when we came back to the room last night..

Really cute!
We woke up and I remembered I had FE gifts for the family. Nope, the rest of our family had 'opted' out of doing the Fe's and since it was the inlaws 50th celebration, I had made them their own little bag for Fe's.

So, I had bought refillable cups for all of our family and figured I needed to rise early to put in every ones bag or cabin.

3 out of 7..and boy did we all use these!

Next, we went to Topsiders for breakfast. Wow! There was definately something for everyone! Fruit, cheeses, meats, potatoes, mushrooms & onions (what? but we loved them), oatmeal, grits (um..ewww and yes, I live in the south), danishes, cereals and everything under the sun to drink.
So after breakfast, our group each decided they wanted to do differing things. Dh headed to work out, the inlaws to bingo, ds to go back and try to rest (nope, not sick probably watched too much tv the night before), 12dd went to the Edge, and my 23dd and I were headed to pass out our main cabin gifts.
Oh my word! I had forgotten just how much stuff I had. And then I remembered how wet the 3 boxes were and the kids bags getting all wet and labels ripped. So, I decided to let all the kids bags lay out to dry and deliver them tomorrow. So dd and I head out delivering our almost 25 Mickey chalkboards.

At this point? We were very thankful for the map our fellow Fe'er (is that a word?) made to help us along the way. This took a good hour and we still couldn't find some of our cruisers due to them moving when they got to port.
So onward...It was great fun as we got to meet other Dis'ers passing out their Fe's, introduced ourselves, and voila! New friends!
After a while, we finished all but two and the brides. We would be on a mission to find these guys!
So, for the better part of the afternoon, we spent exploring, going to the Edge to see if 12 dd liked it, looking around. At 4, we remembered we had early dining and headed back to the room.

Remember I said we had sideways rooms? Well, I'm not sure how regular rooms are set up, but with sideways rooms you have a foot in between the bed and the vanity/desk area. Which was fine. If you bring a power strip (because you have no other access for powering your curling iron, straightener, phone charger, camera charger except for the 2 on the wall right there), your strip goes on the desk. W-e-l-l...with all the 'powering' going on (you really don't have much space on that tiny desk), I was going to straighten my hair after blow drying it and the hot iron falls to the floor. Can I just say "OUCHHHHHHHH!" Leave it to me, I don't DARE get a sunburn, but what do I get? A burned foot! Nope, didn't tell dh cuz he'd ban me from the hot iron! And lol, It's still there, big old burned strip on the top of my foot. What a memory!

Next, we head out to formal night at Lumieres. Love it! We see everything! Some folks go all out in tuxes and long formals, and some do the suit thing and black dresses (us), and some just do casual dressy. Our staff is great, look sharp and are very attentive. Our servers were truly the best! They presented the inlaws with this:

and then the servers came over and sang to them! Great fun! This night, I remember dd didn't care for her meal, and our server kept saying "Please tell me that, I'll get you something else, My goal is to always make you happy with everything you eat". Wow! That's a first anywhere for us! Kudos Disney!

Of course, afterwards we ran to the show and here's a little pic of the end of it:

Then dd wanted to change to go to the Edge with friends and we wound up (I think) watching family karaoke. Hilarious! Are there 'plants' at this? One guy was so bad, I felt so sorry for him, but surely he knew it? But it'll be our little secret!

Got back to cabin, and found this our stateroom host. :

Now, don't laugh, but due to the angle, when we walked in, I said "Awwww...an elephant! And dd said "No, mom, it's a giraffe"...and all of a sudden we hear "An elephant? A giraffe?" and a hysterical laugh from our host saying "It's a Dinosaur". See what I make you tomorrow night! We had a great time with him! What a great 2nd day to be sure!!!!

I will say, I've never seen so many people sick on board. There were still people throwing up at the shows, in the bathrooms, and in the hallways, so I hated that for them.
Hopefully tomorrow the sun will shine!

 

[iloverags2]

Oh my stars! I love those chalkboards! What a super idea...so very cute! And a great idea for your family, with the refillable bottles.

So glad you were still feeling good, and not getting seasick at all!

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Love those cups!!! Where did you buy them???????? Thanks for the TR updates - but remember, you can take your time "reporting" if you want...

 

[LuvEeyore]

Joining in on the fun.

 

[sullins5]

Oh my stars! I love those chalkboards! What a super idea...so very cute! And a great idea for your family, with the refillable bottles.

So glad you were still feeling good, and not getting seasick at all!

Thanks! We had fun making them! Took a little time, but in all honesty? I had a ball making them as I love crafts! And we used those bottles everyday!

Love those cups!!! Where did you buy them???????? Thanks for the TR updates - but remember, you can take your time "reporting" if you want...

I got those cups at Target last Feb, March, and April and haven't seen them lately. Might be worth a look-see to check out Target online and see if they have them. I know sometimes they have things online that they no longer sell in the store. HTH's. And thanks, I will be taking my time...I just had to get Saturday and Sunday done because due to all that rain, rocking and rolling, those 2 days were more of a 'blur' compared to the rest! So much so, my dd and I were reminiscing and we could remember all of the week starting on Monday, but the biggest thing we could remember of the weekend was all that rain!

Joining in on the fun.

Thanks for joining in! I'll try to post more this week.

Got home, life kicked in (and can I say we are exhausted?), next time I WILL sit down for a bit. Now it's time for priorities. Anyone else feel like that when you get back from vacation?

Before we left, a sweet friend and her husband had just gotten married in July, he was shipped out to Afghanistan. Was hit by a land mine, his partner died and he is now a triple ambulatory patient. Daily struggles. So thankful they have strong family members, thousands of folks praying for them, but the battles are ongoing. And we're still trying to figure out our role (besides praying) as a support group for them. Tough, especially when we've just spent the BEST cruise EVER and their battling life itself. If you've got time, you can pray for our sweet friends. They need it and lots of support.

Sorry for the downer, just where we're at now that we're home. Thanks for reading everyone! Truly our BEST CRUISE EVER, definately want to go back on the Magic sooner than later!

 

[LuvEeyore]

Praying!!

 

[stacys]

We are praying!

 

[sullins5]

Praying!!

We are praying!

Thanks! As of today, his fever is coming down (it's been elevated this whole time), they've moved him out of ICU, he's losing his double vision(yay!), they're still waiting on tests, and he'll have to have more surgeries. We're trusting and believing in great things for this young man...but can't imagine what he's going through! Thanks for praying!

 

[rsquared]

Enjoyed reading your PTR and so glad you are posting so quickly!

 

[sullins5]

Enjoyed reading your PTR and so glad you are posting so quickly!

Thanks! I hadn't planned too, but then as I've looked at pics, I realize how the memories fade of little moments. A-n-d the fact that 'life has kicked back in', I have a bride's meeting (I'm a wedding coordinator/designer) and seasonal decorator and it's my busy season! If I don't get this down now, it'll really be a passing thought instead of down on the boards!