"You're The Best Dad In The World" Land & Sea Christmas TR (W/ Pics)

[The Disney Fanatic]

"You're The Best Dad In The World" Christmas Trip Report (with pictures)

(Moved from another forum)
Disney Fanatics!

Yes, this is my first Trip Report and I hope I will not bore you too much. If it turns out to be 1/10 as good as Tokyodisneydad's TR I will consider this to be a great success. Also, please let me apologize in advance for not having great pictures. We took a bunch of pictures but a lot of them did not turn out that good. As a matter of fact, I had to borrow a few pics from some PROFESSIONAL photographers (that I give the credit to) to complete this TR. Well, here is the cast for my TR;

Me - 39 Year Old Disney Fanatic
DW -
DS8 - Star Wars Fanatic / Disney Fanatic
Topaz - 45 lbs. Female Dog (Huskie/Shephard Mixed)
Co-Coa - 65 lbs. Male Dog (Topaz's son)


Why are my dogs part of the cast? They are part of the cast because I can not began without a story about our dogs. Topaz gave birth to 9 puppies in February 2007. We kept one of the puppies after my son and wife out voted me ( I thought a DIS Dad's vote counted as 3 votes ). The puppy we kept is a male that my son named Co-Coa.

Fast forward now to October 2007 about 11 weeks away from our vacation. My DS8 was doing his homework in the dining room and noticed that Topaz and Co-Coa were doing something that he had never seen before. "Daddy why is Topaz giving Co-Coa a piggy back ride?" "What?" As I looked out of the sliding glass door to our back yard I screemed, " NO CO-COA!!! THAT'S YOUR MOMMY!!!!!! " Yes...my dogs, who are mommy and son, were ......uh ... doing mature doggy things.

As for now my DS8 thinks that the dogs were just giving each other piggy back rides and we will leave it at that. This DIS Dad is not quite ready for that talk yet.

Now what does all of this have to do with our Disney vacation? All I could think of at the time was that I just paid $$$$$$$$$$$$ for a WDW / Disney Cruise vacation and I was not going to be able to go because we were going to have a yard full of PUPPIES! There was no way that I could afford to give them all shots and put them in the kennel if we could not get rid of them all in time for our trip.

Now some of you may have had a simple solution to this dilema but it was seriously stressing me out. As it turned out Topaz did not have any puppies and both dogs were put into the pet resort for the duration of our trip. Oh, by the way, both dogs have appointments in the morning to be fixed.

Part 2 will be"The Announcement."

 

[The Disney Fanatic]

The Announcement
When my DS was 6 years old, he and I were watching the Disney Cruise DVD and he became very excited. "Mommy...Daddy can we go on Mickey Mouse's Cruise Ship? Please, please, pleeeeeease?" "I'll tell ya what," my DW said. "We can go on a Disney Cruise when you turn 8 years old O.K.?"

YEEEAAAAAAA!!! My DS was so excited that he started dancing. He knew then and he knows now that when mommy or daddy make a promise, we do everything within our power to keep that promise.

In December of 2007 we had a Star Wars themed birthday party for our DS who turned 7. We played laser tag, ate cake and ice cream, opened presents and then THE ANNOUNCEMENT came. "Thank you guys for my gifts and coming to my party...and next year we will have my birthday party on the Disney Cruise Ship!" All of the kids and I started dancing while all the adults in a melodic chorus said, "What?"

(My brother, my Mom, DS, DW, and Me at the Star Wars Birthday Party)

I looked at my DW and asked her if she remembered the promise we made to him that when he turned 8 we would go on a Disney Cruise. Now, every since I was a kid I wanted to see the Christmas decorations at WDW. I figured since we would be in Florida in December to go on the Disney Cruise that we might as well go to WDW for a few days too. I asked DW what she thought and before she could get any words out of her mouth I began planning with all the relatives and friends at the party.

This was going to be the most fun! I had just planned our family reunion in WDW (see us in my avatar) and now this!

Next we fast forward to day 1 of WDW / Disney Cruise Trip 2007 and The Airport Surprise!

 

[The Disney Fanatic]

Day 1 - Airport Surprise!
As I think back about our trip I remember day 1 feeling like two days. That might be because I only had about three hours of sleep. I was too excited to sleep!

We arrived at the Raleigh/Durham Airport at 6:30am and passed through airport security with no hitches. As we sat waiting to board our VERY SMALL Delta Jet I told my DW and DS that I had a surprise waiting for them in Florida. "What is it daddy? Tell us, tell us!" "Oh, it's just a litte something to let you guys know that you are special and that I love you," I answered. Plus, it was my son's 8th birthday celebration and none of the friends and family that we invited came with us for one reason or another. I had to make the little guy feel special. "Let's go. It's time for us to board the plane."

DS and I before getting off of the plane in Orlando December 18, 2007.

DW and DS before getting off of the plane in Orlando.

"We're finally here!" The adrenalin rush from being excited kicked in to over ride being sleepy. DW was excited too and began to thank me for the vacation and we were not even out of the airtport yet.

Monorail ride to baggage claim area.

We stepped off of the monorail system and shopping fever hit my DW as soon as we saw all of the airport shops. "No baby we don't have time for that right now. I have a surprise for you and DS." We took the escalator down to baggage claim and what did we see? "Hey daddy that man has the same last name that we have." "That guy is our driver son." "You got us a limo honey?" After I gave myself a big pat on the back we picked up our bags and we were off to our chariot which was waiting for us outside.

(If you look real close you can see my DW and DS being showered with Pixie Dust We were escorted to Disney World By Tinkerbell !)

Up next...Day 1 continued at Magic Kingdom!

 

[The Disney Fanatic]

Day 1 (Continued) Magic Kingdom
We arrived at the Animal Kingdom Lodge in our limo and I did not get the reception that I expected. I thought that when we pulled up people would stop and stare at the limo and try to figure out who were the famous or important people in there. I guess people don't do that anymore or maybe it's just because I'm not that important .

Anyway, this is where I must throw in another apology because none of our arriving photos came out that good. I am still kicking myself for not bringing the video camera and not purchasing a digital camera before we left NC. The Animal Kingdom lodge was breath taking all dressed up in it's Christmas holiday attire. I had to take five minutes just to stare at the Christmas tree in the lobby before we checked in. It was stunning. The AKL lobby is beautiful all by itself and to add the Christmas tree to it was just amazing.

By now we are all grinning from ear to ear and swimming in pixie dust. I have wanted to see Disney Christmas decorations every since I was my DS's age. Now I am right in the middle of all the Disney Magic with my beautiful family and the Christmas celebration was an added bonus.

Oh yeah, it was my DS's 8th birthday celebration but the upcoming Disney Cruise was his birthday present. But then I hear, "Daddy, you're the best daddy in the whole world! I love you!" He gave me the most sincere hug and I fought back the tears so that nobody would notice a big 300 pound man crying. "Oh no, we are going to celebrate his birthday the whole trip! Excuse me Miss, but do you all have any birthday buttons that my son can wear while he is here? We are celebrating his birthday!" The lady behind the check in counter asked what his name was and gave him a big birthday button with his name on it. All the cast members recognized the button and treated him like royalty.

We didn't even unpack after we checked in and went to our room. We just slung the bags in the room and broke the glass in the sliding glass door to the balcony! "Oh no! Did any animals get hurt? We are going to get kicked out of Disney World!" O.K. it wasn't quite like that. We had food that we bought from the grocery store that our limo driver allowed us to stop at before arriving at AKL (we didn't get that Star treatment reception there either). We took time to eat and refresh ourselves. As you will see from the food stains in the pics below on my shirt and my DS's shirt that we ate pretty good!

Now we were off to Magic Kingdom via the Disney bus system. I heard people complaning about the buses at the AKL but we had no problems and we were there during a pretty busy time of the year. We waited no more than 15-20 minutes for any bus.

When our bus passed under the Magic Kingdom signage my DS was grinning and singing and we were giving each other high 5s. Once we entered Magic Kingdom we soaked up the moment by using our Photo Pass to take pictures.

(That's not grey hair on my head. That's some pixie dust that I needed to brush away.....Yeah..right! )

My DS took this picture while he was sitting on my shoulders.

After we took a few pictures we tried to do everything that we were not able to do our last trip. We went to the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor and loved it! My Ds still talks about that (along with thanking me everyday for the best birthday present ever and telling me that I'm the best daddy in the world ). Before we went to eat at O'Hanas at the Poly we rode the Magic Carpet ride! This is my DS's favorite ride. It was even more special this time because the fire works were going off while we were riding. It felt like we had the best seat in the park for the show riding the Magic Carpet ride.

We went to eat at O'Hanas before the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party began. Let me tell all of you something now....that was one of the best meals of our entire vacation!!!! I know that the place received some bad reviews from Kevin on the DIS Unplugged Pod Cast but we really enjoyed it. The steaks that came off of the skewers were tender and flavorful. The appetizers were plentiful and yummy. The atmosphere was very family / kid oriented and was not loud and annoying at all. As a matter of fact a wedding party was having their wedding reception in the back part of the restaurant. We LOVE O"HANAS and can't wait to go back!!!!!!!!!!!!

MVMCP was simply awesome! I saw the Christmas parade on Samantha Brown's show and could not wait to see the toy soldiers. When I saw them I literally felt like I was 8 years old again.

(Toy Soldiers, Goofy, and Santa Claus Photos Courtesy of Linda Mac at http://allearsnet.com/tp/mk/holidays...timeparade.htm)

My DS was sitting on my shoulders yelling and trying to get Goofy's attention and Santa Claus' attention.

​

This was a tear jerking moment for me. By now I couldn't hide the fact that I was tearing up and just let them flow. My DW seemed to think that it was touching and just smiled and kept dancing. She knew that I was in my happy place and let me enjoy the moment.

Sorry, no pics of the party but the ones I borrowed above. They all came out to dark. If anybody was at the MVMCP on December 18, 2007 and has pictures could you please post them here? We all would love to see them!

Stay tuned for Day 2 at Animal Kingdom!

 

[The Disney Fanatic]

Day 2 - Aromas At Bomas
Day 2 of our Disney vacation we planned to be in Animal Kingdom. We also planned to eat breakfast at BOMAS!! WE had not been to Bomas in 6 years! As my DW and I were getting ready for breakfast DS was writing down his thoughts from day 1 of our vacation in his journal.

Before we left NC we put together a Disney vacation journal so that DS could write down his memories of the trip.

Now it's time for our reservations at BOMAS! DS put his birthday button back on and we headed on down to eat. The cast members said happy birthday in an African language to DS but I do not remember how they said it. All I know is that it sounded beautiful and put a smile on DS' face. I guess I should have wrote things down in a journal too. The cast members at Bomas made my DS feel very special. They treated him as if the buffet was set up just for him.

We were seated and we thanked God for the food we were about to receive (I repented in advance for my gluttonous ways). We tried to display some self control and restraint but the sights and smells overtook us. DW told me to use my Offensive line skills from football and clear the way so that we could attack the food! There was a 250 lb. man blocking the isle to the eggs and I tossed him out the way like a horseshoe. "Here, take your kid too and stay out the way! Can't you see we're hungry?" O.K., it didn't go down like that but the Aromas at Bomas were getting to us.

I didn't journey too far away from the following station. If I'm not mistaken one of these dishes is called Bobota. Well, all I know is that it was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!!

After we were good and full the cast members spread some more Disney Magic our way and brought our DS a Birthday Breakfast Cupcake.

Nobody does it like Disney!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Up next..........our day at Animal Kingdom!

 

[The Disney Fanatic]

Day 2 (Continued) - Animal Kingdom
After breakfast at Bomas I felt like I was bigger! "The walking in Animal Kingdom will be some much needed exercise," and my DW said ditto.

Once again we waited no more than 10 to 15 minutes for our bus to Animal Kingdom and the bus ride was just a few minutes from the AKL. The fun began as soon as we hit the entrance. We stopped to take pictures by the AK Christmas tree and another moment materialized that made me kick myself for not bringing the camcorder. I was snapping a few pics of the Christmas tree when I noticed my DS break out into a brisk walk towards me. He was standing next to a Palm Tree in a planter that started talking to him. "What's your name kid?" Not knowing that the tree could move DS moved very briskly away from the tree. The tree matched every move that my startled DS made. "Why didn't I bring the camcorder," I asked myself as I tried to keep from laughing too hard . DW was laughing so hard she had to turn her face away . I told my DS to stand still so that I could get a picture of him and the talking tree. He would move away from the tree three steps, stop, and smile. Then the tree would move up and stop next to him and he would stop smiling long enough to move away. After DS and the talking palm tree did this dance a few times DS stopped long enough for me to take a picture. He didn't say it but his half cocked smile indicated that he was saying to himself, "will you hurry up and take the picture already?" DS could not comprehend a moving, talking, Palm Tree in a planter and was ready to move on . Here are a few pics of that moment...............

"Hey, wait up kid. I don't bite!"

Can you see DS looking out of the corner of his eye to see how close the Palm Tree ws getting to him. The couple behind him in the red and green thought it was pretty funny too. I am just glad that we did not run into the vine lady once we got into the park because he would have really freaked out!

Here are some Photo Pass pictures that we took at the entrance.

DS was too busy making sure that The Palm Tree didn't get too close.

I know, I know....I'll have some sun shades next trip.

For those of you who have never been to Animal Kingdom let me give you some good advice. You need to PLAN YOUR DAY for this park. Especially if you are trying to see all of the shows, ride Kilimanjaro Safari, and the extremely popular Expedition Everest. We had fun but if I had planned better I would not have missed the Safari ride and the new Finding Nemo show. I also did not get to go on the Maharajah Jungle Trek and see the Tigers. We got in late the night before from the MVMCP and slept in longer than we wanted to for day 2. If we would have got to the park earlier I think we would have been able to do hose things. Oh well, more reasons ro go back right?

Now to the things that we did do. We went to Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama and I was pleasantly surprised by Primeval Whirl. I loved that ride! I didn't think it would have been that much fun just looking at it but we were all pleasantly surprised [**Just a quick note here for all the big guys... I am 6' 00" and 300 lbs. and I tend to size up rides to see if I will be able to fit in them. I had no problems fitting into any rides at WDW.**]. We also rode Triceratop Spin ( just like the Dumbo ride only with Dinosaurs) and then we took this picture....

DS wanted to go over to the Boneyard and play so DW and I rested there while DS ran, jumped, slid (now that I am writing this I realize that I have a camera missing because I know for sure I took some pictures of DS playing here. I'm also missing pics of my food at the Flame Tree Barbecue and a pic I took at the top of Expedition Everest...sorry everybody!). We headed over to the Finding Nemo Show but the line was too long so we moved on to Dinosaur. DW rode this ride and I had to sit this one out because DS was not getting on that. That darn talking palm tree had DS paranoid about just about everything in Animal Kingdom. DW said that Dinosaur was loud and scary and she was not getting back on that.

We rode Kali River Rapids and I GOT SOAKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I was wishing for some of that 90 degree Florida weather to get dry. Here is a picture we took 45 minutes after the ride and our clothes were still wet.

By now we were hungry and headed over to Flaming Tree Barbeque. I saw this place on the Travel Channel and could not wait to try it. FTB lived up to all the hype. IMO the food was excellent. DW and I both had the 1/2 Slab of St. Louis Ribs served with baked beans and corn muffin. The ribs were seasoned with Flame Tree Special BBQ Rub! They had barbeque sauce but we didn't need it. I didn't want it either! The meat was tender, full of flavor, and falling off of the bones. If we did not have reservations to eat at Jikos that night I would have ordered another 1/2 slab! DS had the Baked Chicken Wings and they were good too.

After we ate we headed over to see "It's Tough To Be A Bug." On the way we encountered these talented guys.

As we started winding around the line of The Tree Of Life, DS had this look on his face as if to say, "O.K. what's the deal with this tree?" The wait in the dark by the doors to the theatre did not help matters either because it gave DS's imagination too much time to wonder about all of the bad things that could be beyond those doors.

DS did fine until Hopper came out. For those of you who have not seen the show I will not spoil it for you but I have to tell you about this one part of the show. There was this one part of the show when the room filled up with smoke ( and DS thought it was something that was going to get him) and air was blowing , and lights were flashing, and..... "MOMMY GET ME OUT OF HEEEERRRRRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" DS put a G.I. Joe grip on my DW's left arm after he threw his 3D glasses across the auditorium and popped some other kid in the head! That kid started screaming because he/she thought Hopper did it! The kid behind us started swinging into the smoke trying to hit Hopper but hit DS in the back of his head which lead to DS swinging and................O.K. but DS did yell, "MOMMY GET ME OUT OF HEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and throw his 3D glasses off and G.I. Joe Grip DW's left arm.

One mom after the show said, "Disney ought to be ashamed of themselves scaring all these kids like that!" I personally thought the show was great but I guess it can be a little intimidating for younger kids.

From the Bugs Life Show we tried to get to the last Safari ride but got held up in the parade crowd and got there too late. This bummed me out because I knew that DS would have really enjoyed it. The last time we were on it he was two and does not remember going on the Safari ride.

DW wanted to go into a gift shop along the parade route while DS and I watched the parade go by. I am so glad we did! DS was on my shoulders and was really getting into the parade. It was the Christmas version of the Jammin' Jungle Parade. The costumes, music, dancing, and floats were simply awesome. Disney really paid attention to detail on the floats and costumes. My DW came out of the gift shop as the end of the parade was going by and DS took this pic while we marched behind the end of the parade towards the the theatre for the Lion King Show.

The Lion King Show was my kind of show. The cast were very entertaining and IMO captured the essence of Disney. I can't wait to see that show again!! We took pictures but of course they came out very dark. I'll submit a few right here anyway just so that you can get a glimpse of our day.

Here is DS dancing with a Cast Member of the Lion King Show.

Here we are after the LK show. DRY CLOTHES!!!!!

After the Lion King Show we began our trek over to Expedition Everest because it was time to use our fast passses. On the way over DS wanted to stop and play these drums.

"Alright! It's time for Expedition Everest!" As we approached the front of the fast pass line DS asked, "Daddy is the Yeti in that mountain? I don't think I want to ride this today. You said that I don't have to ride anything that I don't want to ride and I don't want to ride this." "Honey, I'll wait here with DS and you go on. I'll ride when you get off." So DW gets on the ride while I'm sitting with DS trying to convince him that the ride is not that scary.

One of the EE cast members over heard our conversation and tried to do some convincing of her own but DS was not buying it. Then she sprinkled some pixie dust and said, "I'm going to let you do something that hardly anybody has ever done before. How would you like to see the Yeti on our security cameras so that you can see that he isn't all that scary?" "O.K.," DS said. The EE Cast Member ( I wish I could remember her name) walked us through the que and through a door into the security room that allowed the Cast Members to monitor the attraction from various camera angles. Wow! She asked the CM sitting down in front of the cameras to pull up the camera with the Yeti and she showed DS how fast the coasters go under the Yeti and that he never touches anybody. DS was fascinated but still was not getting on EE.

I thanked the CM and she pulled out another Fast Pass that would allow me and three other people to go to the front of the line anytime we wanted to that night. "Just in case he changes his mind," she said. I thanked the CM at least 10 times 10 different ways as she walked us out to the front of EE.

I really felt special right about then and I told my DW what happened when she exited the ride. I got in line and the CM at the fast pass entrance told me to keep the ticket and just go on. When I got off of the ride I had an opportunity to spread some Disney Magic myself. We were walking to the exit when we came across a family of 6 people. They were looking at the long wait to get on without a fast pass and it was too late to get one. I told my family to stop and I gave them our fast pass for four that the CM gave us, I gave them my DS's fast pass that he did not use, and the fast pass that the CM at the fast pass entrance would not take. None of the fast passes had expired. They were looking at me as if I was Mickey Mouse himself! They thanked us and ran to fast pass entrance for EE.

By now we were tired and needed to get back for our Jiko reservations and prepare to go on the Disney Wonder the next day. DW stopped in the gift shop outside of the entrance by Rain Forest Cafe and found some Disney 2007photo albums for $5.00!!!!!!!!! I'm telling you that nobody can smell a sell like my DW!

We took the bus back and got ourselves cleaned up for Jikos. I ordered the Oak-Grilled Filet Mignon with macaroni and cheese and red wine sauce. DW ordered the Berbere Braised Lamb Shank with toasted couscous, baby spinach, and berbere sauce. I don't remeber what DS had. Jikos gets two . Fabulous dinning experience and I have no complaints! I love the ambiance of Jikos! I can't wait to try this again one day so that I can try some other things on the menu.

Well, back to our room so that we can go to sleep and dream of...................................

Noooo! I didn't say have nightmares!!! I said, "go to sleep and DREAM of....................."

Up next.........Day 3 - The Disney Wonder!

 

[The Disney Fanatic]

I woke up early in the morning to because I was too sleepy the night before to do anything. Yes, I am a husband that can and will do laundry. The laundry room in the AKL was the best hotel/resort laundry room that I've ever seen. It was very clean, large, had comfy furniture, cable TV, and a view of the Kudu in the Uzima Safari when the sun came up. A laundry room with a view better than most hotel rooms. Wow!

After the clothes were all packed we had Mickey Waffles at Mara. We love those waffles! Next DW did some shopping in the Zawadi Marketplace (The Gift Shop) and then we waited for the DCL Magical Express in the Sunset Overlook facing the Sunset Savannah. While we were there my DS saw an Ostrich and tried to take some pictures of it. He actually got some decent shots of the construction of the AKL Villas that are going up.

12/20/07

We boarded the DCL Magical Express and I felt relaxed, anxious, and excited all at the same time. DS was litterally bouncing from seat to seat. His long wait was just about over. It had to have seemed like an eternity for a 7 year old to wait a whole year to go on a Disney Cruise.

On the way to Port Canaveral we saw a video on the bus of Mickey and all the Disney characters going to Port Canaveral via the Magical Express. Minnie was hillarious! We all thought it was entertaining. Here are a few pics of that bus ride.

There she is!!!!!

We were painlessly wisked through security and finished some paperwork for checking in. Before we boarded DS and DW posed for this picture.

And these photos too...

When we boarded one of the CMs made an announcement to the other CMs to welcome us aboard the Disney Wonder. The CMs lining the Atrium applauded and it made us feel real special. That is a very nice touch to be welcomed aboard like that.

The atrium was awesome and we just stood there for a moment taking it all in before we navigated to Stateroom 2564. I had one more surprise for DS and DW. When we opened the door there were birthday decorations, birthday cake, and a bottle of sparkling cider waiting for us inside. I also ordered some chocolate covered strawberries for DW but they were not there. Now that I'm thinking about it ..... that problem was never resolved by DCL. Oh well, I'll just have to surprise her with that the next time.

DS's DCL birthday cake.

After the above picture was taken DS came over to me and gave me a hug and said once again, "Daddy you are the best daddy in the world." "That's because I have the best son in the world! Happy birthday big guy! Honey, the bottle in the ice bucket is for you."

After we got settled in we went to the Beach Blanket Buffet to eat. The food here was WONDERful. They had shrimp, paninis (is that spelled right?), decadent desserts, and ......you get the idea.

We were told that we had just missed the launch of a rocket carrying a satellite from Cape Canaveral. That would have been cool to see. After DW and DS were done eating they went back inside of the Beach and Blanket Buffet to find me. My DW was so embarresed. I had handcuffed myself to the dessert station and was kicking at all the CMs surrounding me saying, "Get Back..It's mine, it's all mine!!!!!!!!!!!! Hey, there's my wife! She'll tell ya I paid for all of this! Honey tell 'em!!!!!!!!! O.K. Again, it did not happen like that but I did grab a few more cookies as we passed by.

Now it was time to get our PFDs (Personal Floatation Devices) from our stateroom for the safety drill and go to our designated area.

Mr. Florida Sun was kicking our butts. I'm back there hiding behind my DW.

After the Safety drill was over we put up our gear and headed back up to deck 9 for the Sail Away Party. This was classic Disney entertainment. Lots of fun and interactment with the characters.

When the characters came out DS was yelling out there names trying to get their attention.

He got Minnie's attention and we snapped this picture.

The Sail Away Party was so much fun! I wish I was there right now. Here we are sailing off into the sunset. We don't look happy do we?

After the Sail Away Party I sat down to relax and enjoy the sea breeze while DS and DW played ping pong.

Our first night at dinner was at the Animator's Palate. We had great servers that interacted with the kids well. We loved the dinner show and loved the food. No complaints here. Here is my dessert plate.

After dinner the CMs sang happy birthday to DS.

I just loved the way DS was getting the royal treatment. That smile on his face made this trip worth every $$$$$ (and the fact that he told me every night that I was the best daddy in the world).

After dinner DS wanted to go to the Oceaneer's Lab (the kids club) while DW and I went to see the Hercules show. I don't know if it was because I was tired or what but I didn't like that show that much. DW said that she enjoyed it. After the show we headed back to 2564 to enjoy each others company while DS was at the Oceaneer's Lab. In a few hours I went to pick him up and I had to almost drag him out of that place. He told me that he was having the most fun and wanted to stay there the whole cruise. Wow! I was impressed with the CM's there. They really do a good job of making sure all of the kids are safe and having a good time.

Next......Day 4 in Nassau.

 

[The Disney Fanatic]

Day 4 - Nassau
Day 4 of our vacation meant that it was time for the Atlantis Excursion. We hopped on a bus that gave us a tour of Nassau and then took us to the Atlantis Resort for our tour. I will be brief about the Atlantis Resort and just say that it was huge and beautiful. We are already making plans to come back and spend a few days there and use the aquatic facilities. Here are a few pics of our Atlantis Tour.

After the Atlantis tour we ate some pizza at the resort and boarded the bus to go to the Straw Market. This is where the stereotypical husband side of me kicked in. I HATE SHOPPING! My DW LOVES to shop and stop and look at every little trinket that they have to offer. I tried very hard not to complain but I kept thinking of a 100 other things that I would rather be doing than shopping at the Straw Market.

I was already in an ill mood because some local made a pass at my DW as we were walking from the bus to the Straw Market . I heard one of the guys on the side of the street tell him that he was crazy. I guess he saw the mad dog look I had on my face and wanted to warn the flirter.

After we entered the Straw Market I heard a commotion outside the entrance facing the water. Some woman was yelling at some guy and than another guy started hitting guy #1. They fought for about 2 minutes and I waited for the police to come and they never did.

By now my feet were hurting and DS was getting very restless because I promised him that he could spend some time in the Mickey pool. I just wanted to get somewhere and relax. I did apologize to my DW for having a stinking attitude and she said, " I know that this is not your cup of tea so let's just go."

On the way back I bought a flute from one of the street vendors for DS and we headed towards the ship.

Once we were back in our stateroom DW said that she really wanted some paintings and that she saw some wood carvings that she liked. I gave her some money to buy the things she wanted and she headed back to the Straw Market. DS and I prepared for the Mickey Pool. Now everybody was in their element and happy. Below are some pics of DS at the Mickey Pool and some pics of the vendors that DW bought some things from.

DW actually bought the piece that this guy was working on.

We don't eat hot dogs at home and DS was begging to go to Plutos Dog House to get one. "Why not. We are on vacation and we are celebrating your birthday." One hot dog turned into three and I had more paninis (please tell me if I'm spelling that sandwhich right).

I looked at my watch and noticed that it was almost time for us to go eat at Parrot Cay. DS and I were full but it was getting cold so we left the pool anyway and caught up with DW in the stateroom.

DW was hungry but we were late for our dinner seating. No big deal. There's food all over the place on the Wonder! While we were all getting ourselves cleaned up I ordered a small snack from room service for DW.

After we were refreshed DS put on his Pirate gear for the Pirates In The Carribean Party and we headed to Pluto's Dog House to get DW something to eat. "Oh what the heck, I might as well try one of those burgers since we're here." By now all self control was gone when it came to food and we would all pay the price later.

We ate and headed to the Golden Mickeys show. I really enjoyed this show and I wish I had some pictures of it. I have some shots of one of the CMs interviewing DS after we walked the red carpet. Everyone inside the theatre could see the interview on the two big screens.

The Golden Mickey's was an awesome show. We had another one of those "Mommy get me outta here" moments. There was a part of the show when Ursula'a tenatcles came out of the stage floor and they were all over the people in the first row. DS was afraid that they were going to come up to where we were sitting and get him.

After the show we headed up to Deck 9 for the PITC Party. We missed Mickey Mouse flying in the air and the fireworks at sea because DS did not want to miss his time to make flubber in the Oceaneer's Lab. The times conflicted in a way that it was going to have to be one or the other. Since DS loves science he could not wait to do the flubber experiment. That flubber experiment is something that he is still talking about.

Below are some pics from the PITC Party and the Oceaneers Lab.

For some reason the Chocolate ship was not fully decorated .

But what is there to complain about?

DS in Oceaneers Lab. HE LOVED THIS PLACE!!!!

After I tied a rope DS, 10 CMs helped me pull him out of the Oceaneer's Lab and we retired for the night to prepare for Castaway Cay!!!
__________________

 

[The Disney Fanatic]

Son In The Sun !
Day 5 - Son In The Sun!


I woke up earlier than everybody else this morning because I wanted to see The Wonder pulling into Castaway Cay. I got some breakfast from The Beach Blanket Buffet and sat outside to watch us pull in. The CMs said that we were docking a little slower than usual because the wind was blowing pretty hard.

The next announcement was that all of the water activities were cancelled because of the rough water. That meant no banana boat rides, no fishing excursions, no parasailing, etc. I took this picture before I went to get the rest of my family.

One thing that I noticed was that every time the Wonder pulled in somewhere they were testing the life boats. I use to be in the Coast Guard and conducted numerous safety inspections and was happy to see that this was being done. I took this photo out of the window of our stateroom.

After DW and DS were finished getting dressed we went to eat breakfast at Parrot Cay. I was happy to be able to go in there since we missed our dining rotation there the night before.

The funny thing about this day was that after all the water excursions were cancelled and we finished breakfast, the seas calmed down, the wind stopped blowing, and the sun came out to heat the day up to a beautiful 75 degrees! It turned out to be a perfect day at Castaway Cay! We were told that they could not do the water excursions after they were cancelled because the people that drive the boats were locals from the nearby islands. They were already told not to come to Castaway Cay.

Anyway, when we got off the ship I was not expecting this.......

Yes, the white stuff is SNOW! From a snow machine of course .

As soon as we hit shore I could smell the food that was on the grill at Cookies Barbeque. Yes, more FOOD! I couldn't even think about eating right now. I had already had breakfast twice ( I didn't tell DW that I had already had something to eat before we ate together at Parrot Cay).

On the way to the family beach at Castaway Cay we took these photos...

The Flying Dutchman from the Pirates Of The Caribbean Movie!

DS did not want to do the kid's activities on the island so I can not comment on what that was like. He wanted to go to the beach with DW and I. I was glad he made that choice because I thought that this would be great family time together. We headed over to the family beach and .........well, the pictures speak for themselves.................

We had lunch at Cookies and DS was trying to come up with a scheme to stay on the island. "Daddy, what if we hid somewhere and let the boat leave without us? What would happen?" I had to laugh but I felt the same way too. I was so relaxed and everybody was so friendly. Castaway Cay truly felt like paradise!

Once we showered off all of the sand from our bodies we caught the tram back to the ship and prepared for dinner at Triton's. After we ate dinner at Triton's I performed a magic trick that I had promised to show some of the kids from our dinning rotation. I made the salt shaker go through the table! The kids loved it and I was the hit for the night.

After Triton's we went to see The Wonder's Grand Finale... Disney Dreams. All I can say is WOW! We were later told that Disney Dreams was voted the number 1 show on the sea of any cruise line and I can see why. The CMs in the performance were awesome and the stage production was incredible to say the least! We gave them a standing ovation at the end of the show. Simply awesome!

(I borrowed this photo from http://www.wdwinfo.com/Photos/DCL_DisneyDreams/index.htm)

(Borrowed these photos too from http://www.allearsnet.com/cruise/g_wonder7.htm because these guys were the exact same cast that we saw perform on The Wonder)

After the show DW wanted to go see the premiere of National Treasure 2 and DS wanted to go to the Oceaneers Lab. We dropped off DS and went to see the movie.

I walked DW back to the stateroom after the movie because she was tired and I decided to walk around a bit because I knew that DS would not be ready to leave. I went up to deck 9 and heard people cheering. When I walked out by the pool I saw THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS playing the Rams on the big jumbotron TV! I am from Pittsburgh and have black and gold blood running through my veins. I grabbed a piece of pizza and sat down in a deck chair to watch my favorite football team play while I caught a sea breeze . It was as if the CMs of the Wonder knew that I was coming up and put the game on just for me!

After the game I went to get DS fromt the Oceaneers Lab. After I checked him out we went to the elevator and he started crying . "Son, what's wrong," I asked. "I don't wanna leave daddy!" He realized that this was going to be his last time in the Oceaneers Lab. So instead of going back to the stateroom we went back up to deck 9 and grabbed some pizza. He was so sad that he could barely eat. DW called me to find out where we were and joined us. She tried her best to console him. The fact that we were going to be back at WDW for two more days after the cruise didn't even help the matter. We ate the pizza and retired for the night to prepare for leaving the Wonder and heading to Coronado Springs at WDW.

Up Next............The Disney Fanatic Doesn't Soar.
__________________

 

[The Disney Fanatic]

Day 6 - "The Disney Fanatic" Doesn't Soar
I woke up early once again to do laundry and iron some clothes. The morning of the last day of a cruise is THE worst time to try to do this. Everybody was trying to get their things together.

We ate breakfast at the Beach Blanket Buffet and began the process of leaving The Wonder. As we boarded our van that would take us to the Coronado Springs Resort DS began to fight back the tears again. As the Disney Wonder began to fade away out of the back window I felt myself beginning to tear up too. I looked at DW and I couldn't tell if she was sad because DS was sad or because she missed the Wonder too. She said it was because of both.

We were on our way back to WDW and were sad?. The Wonder was really WONDERful! Please believe me when I say that this is a BRIEF description of what our cruise was like. There was so much that we did not get a chance to do and the things that we did do I did not take nearly enough pictures of. So this TR doesn't really do it justice. But I tried.

When we arrived at the Coronado Springs Resort DS started to feel a little better and started acting like a typical 7/8 year old kid at Disney World. We checked in and quickly headed towards the bus for EPCOT. We wanted to be able to get a fast pass for Soarin'. We were told that the fast passes for that attraction go fast and early.

(Photo courtesy of Linda Mac)

We received our fast pass and ate lunch right outside of Soarin' at Sunshine Seasons. I really liked the food there! DW and I shared the Rotisserie Chicken and DS got the chicken leg with mashed potatoes and gravy. I'll have to be sure to eat at that place again in the future.

From here we walked across the lobby to Livin With The Land. DS loves science so this attraction was more interesting to him than it would be to most kids his age.

From here we went to the Finding Nemo attraction which was the beginning of things to come.

We finaly got to the front of a very long line when I here, "Daddy I have to use the bathroom!" "Can you hold it," I asked? "NOOO DADDY!" I take DS out of the line and told DW that we would be back. DS's stomach was really rumbling and making some new sound effects.

After quite awhile in the men's room we found DW who was able to have a CM save a place for us to get back in the front of the line. In short, DS loved this ride and Turtle Talk with Crush. Very nice attraction.

Next was Innoventions which was right up DS's alley. He loved the robots and the Test The Limits Lab. DW took the Segway class and loved it. It was her first time being on one.

We ran over to Test Track which I've been waiting 6 years to ride. There was a sign that said that Test Track was not operational because the computer system was down ( or something like that).

O.K. So we head on over to Mission Space and unanimously voted to go on the soft version. Once we were at the attraction door DS decided that he did not want to ride and said that his stomach was hurting again. DW took him in the area with the interactive games and I was in the Mission Space Pod all by myself. This is where I learned something new about myself... I'm Claustrophobic!!!!!!!!!
When the door shut and the control panel came down on me I started to freak out. This had never ever happened to me before! NEVER!

The attraction just sat there for a few minutes which felt like 1/2 an hour. During that time I felt like beating on the doors, screaming, and crawling on the floor. I took deep breathes and was fine once the ride started. Once it stopped I had to hurry out the door. I have no idea where this fear of tight spaces came from. I guess I am afraid of the attraction breaking down and being stuck in the tight space for an indefinate amount of time.

After that episode we left Mission Space and DS started complaining about his stomach hurting again. He was almost in tears. We took him to the infirmary at EPCOT and the nurse there let DS lay down in a bed. We let him sleep for about an hour and 15 minutes. By the time he woke up it was too late for us to use our fast passes for Soarin' and we cancelled our dinning reservations for Chefs De France.

We should have left right there and went back to Coronado Springs. This is one of those moments as a parent that I wish I could have back to do over again so that I could handle the situation differently. We went to the World Showcase and saw the nome at Norway with his Christmas presentation.

DS liked the show but was really hurting so we left there and headed back for the exit. I wanted to see the Christmas version of Illuminations but that would have to wait for another time. These pictures were taken on the way out of EPCOT.

DS was trying to hang in there. Why didn't I just leave?

On the way out I had a "BOB" sighting on his cart. Those of you who listen the DIS Unplugged will know what I am talking about. We got back to CSR and I walked to El Centro to buy some medicine and some food.

DS's stomach was hurting because of all the hotdogs I ALLOWED him to eat on the cruise ship. Was I still "The Best Dad in the World?" I sure didn't feel like it at the time. When I returned to the room with the medicine DS smiled and said once again, "You're the best daddy in the world! Thanks for getting me some medicine daddy."

I truly believe with all my heart that I have the best son in the world. God has truly blessed me. I just pray that God will give me the ability to raise him to be a man that knows God and fulfills his purpose in life.

Up Next..... Day 7 - Darth Vader Battle at MGM Studios

 

[The Disney Fanatic]

Darth Vader Day!
We started off day 7 of our Birthday Celebration / Christmas Vacation by eating breakfast at the Maya Grill at the Coronado Springs Resort. We took these pictures on our way over to breakfast.

The Pool that we did not get a chance to swim in.

The following were the menu items on the breakfast buffet at the Maya Grill. Breakfast was yummy!

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Mixed Fruit Salad[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Whole Fruits [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Cold cereals [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Oatmeal and grits [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Pastries[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]French Toast [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Waffles with syrup [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Scrambled Eggs[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Egg Burritos[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Sausage links[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ham/Bacon[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Biscuits with Gravy[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Home Fries with Onions and Peppers[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Hash Browns[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Coffee/Tea[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Selection of Juices[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Milk and Hot Chocolate[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Of course after breakfast I performed my magic trick of the salt shaker going through the table for the kids and their parents at the table next to us. My DW just shook her head as if to say, "Not again?!" DS loved it and encouraged the show to go on. When God blesses us to be able to go back to WDW, I'll record the trick and post it in another TR.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]After breakfast we caught the bus over to the formerly named MGM Studios. I love this park!! There is so much for families to see and do here. [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The very first thing that DS (THE Stars Wars Fanatic) wanted to do was...you guessed it... go to the Star Wars attraction. We had read on the DIS boards that the Jedi Training Academy, that was only there during the Star Wars Weekends, was now a permanent attraction. DS had been talking about fighting Darth Vader for weeks before our vacation. He has a total of 8 different light sabers at home and we do battle with them all the time.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]We didn't know that not all the kids were picked to be a part of the Jedi Training. My DW told me to go buy a Star Wars Jedi Academy Training ball cap from the gift store so that DS would be more noticeable. TIP: If you have kids that want to be a part of the show, have them wear some type of Star Wars T-Shirt or hat. Also, have them jump up and down very excitedly when the Jedi instructor comes on stage to pick the kids. It doesn't work all the time but it helps the CMs to know who really wants to be up there. DS was picked and realized that dreams really do come true because he was living his dream![/FONT]​

We held onto his new hat after he was on the stage.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

[/FONT]​

Ut oh!

Darth Vader getting his butt kicked!

You will notice that the Clone Soldiers in white were about to rush DS with their weapons. I don't have a picture of it but the Jedi Instructor told my DS to use the force against the soldiers. He held up his hand and they fell back against the wall. He felt special because he was the only one in his group that had a chance to do that. The sound effects durng the battle were awesome and Darth Vader had something to say to all of the kids.

All the kids received Jedi Training Diplomas before they left the stage.

After the show DS was on ! He had that permanent surprise look on his face and it made me feel all warm inside to see that. Looking at our Fast Passes we noticed that we were right on time to ride the Star Tours attraction. I personaly loved this ride. I think it is a combination of my love for Sci-Fi Movies and seeing my DS enjoying himself so much. We even enjoyed looking at the robots in the que.

Next up was Muppet Vision 3-D . I enjoyed the show but the line for it was rediculously long. Because of that long line we missed the last showing of Lights, Motors, Action. I forgot to mention that we got a late start because we wanted to make sure that DS was fine before we left that morning.

After MV3D we were cattle herded into a line for the Backlot tour. We stood there for a little while and decided to go because we had resis for The Brown Derby. We had the Fantasmic Dinner package and were not about to miss out on that. We had never seen that show before and kept hearing great things about it.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Brown Derby was without a question the best dining experience of our WDW portion of our vacation! We ordered the Blue Jumbo Lump Crab Cake with Potato Crust, savoy cabbage slaw, dijon mustard and remoulade sauces for an appetizer and that plate had me in my seat! I have never had a crab cake with so much crab meat in it and it was PERFECTLY cooked too! For an entree DW ordered the Grilled Atlantic Salmon on soft mascarpone polenta with gorgonzola, balsamic glaze and Sicillan olive tapenade. And yes, it tasted better than it sounds. I usually order Salmon but wanted to try something different. I had the Pan-Fried Black Grouper with aged balsamic roasted asparagus, sweet onion marmalade and citrus juices. My dish was excellent but I wished I had ordered the Salmon after I tasted my DW's plate. DS had the Grilled Chicken Breast with barbecue sauce, red potatoes, and green beans and carrots off of the kids menu and was very satisfied with it.

The desserts were just heavenly and perfectly prepared. DW had the Grapefruit Cake - A Brown Derby Original! Light Layers of Yellow Cake with fresh Grapefruit Cream Cheese Icing. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It will be a tradition from now on for "The Disney Fanatic" to have this dessert every time I go visit WDW! I think I ned to go apologize to DW because I ate more of that than she did and I had my own dessert which was...Banana White Chocolate Toffee Tower on cocoa almond cookie and bananas "foster." Very good also but I liked the Grapefruit Cake better.

We left the Brown Derby very happy and saw part of the High School Musical and some funny street performers. We posed for these pictures for our photo pass before we went to see Fantasmic.

If you have never seen Fantasmic, you have to put it on your must do list when you visit WDW. I was in awe of what was being performed right before my eyes! Go to the link below in red for a complete review of the show.

Photo Borrowed from http://allearsnet.com/tp/mgm/m_fantasmic.htm

After Fantasmic we waited in line for The Tower of Terror and one side of the attraction broke down. Not a good sign but we stayed in line anyway. The line started to shorten up as people decided that they did not want to wait. Half way through the line it was announced that the ride was fully operational again. "O.K. but which side broke down because I'll be riding the other side?!"

We promised DS that we would go through the baby swap line but he still had to go through the pre-show to get to that point and he was terrified. He was already shaking from being inside of the attraction. DW and I both had our chance to ride and we headed over to see the Osbourne Festival of Lights. This was more than I expected. DW was dancing all over the place, snow was falling, and we were all in the Christmas Spirit! The lights were wonderful and were a great way to cap off our trip since we were headed back home to be with family on Christmas day.

We rode Star Tours one more time and headed back to Coronado Springs.

__________________

 

[The Disney Fanatic]

The End
Well, that's it everybody. We had a dream vacation and we can't wait to go back. DS still tells me that I'm the Best Daddy In The Whole World and it is unprovoked! Below are two pictures we took before flying out of Orlando on Christmas day. Do you see how beautiful it was that morning?

Well, when we began to board our plane it started pouring down like cats and dogs! It was the first time that it had rained the whole trip. As we sat waiting for our plane to taxi DW said, "Orlando is crying because it is sad to see us go!


See ya real soon Mickey Mouse!

THE END

 

[alwayslisad]

LOVE IT - keep it coming!! - great pics!

 

[FIREFIGHTERMICKEY]

What a Happy Family. Thanks for sharing your memories with us!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

you did a FABULOUS job on your TR and I think your a great dad for doing all this for your ds...quite emotional at times...

 

[quinnc19]

Awesome TR!

 

[The Disney Fanatic]

LOVE IT - keep it coming!! - great pics!

What a Happy Family. Thanks for sharing your memories with us!

you did a FABULOUS job on your TR and I think your a great dad for doing all this for your ds...quite emotional at times...

Awesome TR!

I just wanted to say to all of you for taking time to read my TR. We had a great time and made memories to last a life time. I am looking forward to reading some your TRs. May God bless all of you!!!!!!

 

[kalel29]

Me and the DW really enjoyed your trip report. Very entertaining. We agreed that in this day and age its nice to see a man go out and really treat his family like royalty.

 

[The Disney Fanatic]

Me and the DW really enjoyed your trip report. Very entertaining. We agreed that in this day and age its nice to see a man go out and really treat his family like royalty.

Thank you so much for reading my TR. After God, my wife and son are the most important people to me. They more than deserve to be treated like royalty. I only wish I could do it more often. Once again thank you.

 

[goofygal1975]

I really enjoyed reading your trip report!!! I really love it when you can see how happy a family is on a Disney Vacation. You all had such a great time, and I also enjoy hearing about it from a father/husbands perspective! Thank you for sharing your trip and your pictures with us!!!