[jk8]

I am finally getting this done after being home a week. I am trying to cheer myself up as I have a tooth that had a root canal a couple of months ago but something went wrong and it keeps hurting and I'm going to have to go through another root canal or have it pulled. I am very afraid of dental work.

Anyway!!! On to the trip report!
Cast: Me and DS6 for MK day and add DH and DstepD 18 for the cruise.

Day 1
DS and I have an uneventful flight and get right on a ME bus. But, we had to wait about 15 minutes before it left. This made the difference for not being able to make our PS for Ohana, but I was doubtful anyway since our flight was pushed back by a couple of hours before we left.

On the bright side our bus stop was first - Contemporary. We checked in and got the garden wing room we were supposed to get. I did not really feel like asking for an upgrade. It is a bit of a long walk to our room in the north wing but at least we did not have our bags - they were with ME.

We watched Wishes from the parking lot there as our room did not have a view. It was strange watching them there and took away a little bit for me. I have always watched right in front of the castle and honestly did not realize the fireworks were not directly over the castle. Thinking about this I realized that for safety reasons they would not be but it was strange to see it off center.

About ME the driver said expect 1- 3 hours to get your bags but I was really hoping it was not to be 3. I thought ahead to pack PJs for us both and toothbrush for ds but I forgot to put my toothbrush and toothpaste in my bag. So, I got to find out what watermelon flavored toothpaste tastes like using your finger to brush with. I really tried to hold out for our bags. We got on the ME bus at 8:30 so 3 hours would be 11:30. At 11:00 I put DS to bed as I know we had a big day tomorrow and got in bed at 11:15. I did not like ME only because I was very uneasy going to bed without even knowing my luggage made it. In retrospect I would have picked up my bags at baggage claim and took them to my ME bus myself for a late flight.

I woke up in the night and saw the message light blinking so I figured the bags had made it. I did not sleep very well anyway. I called in the am and found the message was left a little after 11:30 so it really was 3 hours. I called to get the bags and we were all set.

[jk8]

Day 2
We eat packed breakfast of poptart for DS and cereal bar for me. We started out to walk to MK. It was a nice walk. I really found this walk and being able to see MK from a distance the only things that stood out about the Contemporary. We had a non-refurb room which I was happy with as I’m not crazy about the sleek look of the new rooms. I just don’t know if it rates the price. But, as I said walking to MK was really nice. We got in about 10 minutes before Mickey and gang arrived on the train. I had never seen this part before. In the past we had early entry or an early PS. I liked the little show. It got us in the mood.

We went asap to fantasy land. I had convinced DS to not make Buzz our first ride due to crowd levels expected. We did the FL rides we wanted to do right away without waits – Pooh, PP, IASW (our first time due to rehabs and ds loved it and I liked it too!) and Philharmagic.

We went back to TL to ride Buzz. I grabbed fast passes and we got in line. I have to say here that taking a 6 yr old to WDW was harder for me than taking a 4 yr old. When he was 4 he did not seem to mind the lines so much. At 6 – Oh My! The line for Buzz was “too long “ whine – it was 30 min and we only waited 20. If you asked him it was the worst thing ever. This would be a pattern for him. He whined when I scored more points than he did. We rode TTA 2 times around and then did our FP for Buzz. I let him win this time – no whining yay!

We ate lunch at Cosmic Rays – this is not a place I favor put we usually eat where we are close. We went to Goofy’s Barnstormer and probably waited the longest of any ride of the day (due to FP) at 30 minutes. DS wanted to go again as that is a fun ride too short but we did not want to wait again. Checked out Minnies house and got on the train.

Splash Mt. was another main goal of the day and a fav of DS. I knew we would need a FP. Normally we would have sent a family member over to get once sooner but with just DS that could not be done. I cringed when I got the FP for 3 hours later. The stand by was 90 minutes. DS was not happy. I knew we would not go in the stand by line, but he just wanted to ride NOW- cry and whine. I said “want some ice cream” so we got Mickey Bars.

We went to rest in the Hall of Presidents – more whining- went to HM – more whining- Tiki Room (which we really like)– finally not whining. We looked around at the POC gift shop (how many more minutes Mom) . We picked up a PF for BTMRR before finally riding Splash – hooray! We got another FP for Splash that would give us our last ride right before Spectro.

I really had thought we would go back to the room to rest some time, but we just kept pushing on. After this I said we were going back for a while. DS decided he wanted to go up in the SF Treehouse so I let him by himself which he thought was cool. Then we headed to first aid because he needed a torn nail clipped. There was a fountain near there and I let him play around that while I sat down. After a while I thought we should just eat something and decided to try Caseys. It was nice. DS wanted to watch the cartoons in there so I let him for a long time. By this time I knew we were not going to make it back to the room but it was OK since ds was happy and I was resting.

We headed back over to TL and rode COP. I wanted to ride Stich as it said only a 5 minute wait. That was false and I think they just put that on there to get people to ride the ride. DS did not want to but I was kind of a bad mom and made him. He did not like it and I didn’t “get it” but my curiousity was satisfied. There was a boy that looked about 4 that screamed the whole time. He was terrified.

We went back over to use our FP for Splash and it was our first ride at night – very cool. Then we watched Spectro. We started to head for Wishes but DS wanted to ride the Carpets and there was hardy anyone there. I don’t do spinning rides and he wanted to go alone but they said he had to be 7. So to make up for making him go on Stitch I rode the carpets – twice! But they were not bad after all.

We did not get a good spot for Wishes or see the beginning but it was still ok. I wanted a snack so we took our lives into our hands and crossed 100 lanes of traffic to get to the bakery. We had nice snack and then walked out of the park without the crowds. I think I would do this every time. I loved leaving MK and not getting in the bus or monorail lines!! The walk back was longer at the end of a long day but it was worth it!

Next up – We get on the Disney Magic!!
(It may be a few days before I can get to that part…)

[bali]

Oooh!!! Trip report!! I'm sorry to hear about your dental work--that's stinky!!

[lovemysons]

Yea! A trip report. I can't wait to hear about the cruise. I felt the same way about the Stitch ride, and neither of my boys liked it either.

[Andrea]

I am completely flabbergasted that there is a company out there that thinks watermelon toothpaste is a good idea.

And I'm sorry about the line whining! That's one of my fears for my upcoming trip.

[missy H]

Great TR, Can't wait for the cruise!

[Dana]

Great report! Can't wait to hear more.

[tinkerbelle24]

Great TR so far. I cant wait to hear more....

[Captgoodguy]

Hello Neighbor! Glad to hear you had a good time! Can't wait to hear more about the cruise.

[Dopey]

oh wow, you get to go on a cruise... I cannot wait to hear about it.

I am afraid of dental work myself. I feel for you.

[jk8]

Thanks everyone! It is so funny, when I was at MK that day with DS I though - ugh, we are not doing this again any time soon - because he was being so whiney. But, of course after only being back a week all of that melts away and I think "I'd take him back tomorrow if I could!"

Now, on to the cruise....

[jk8]

Day 3

Dh and DD got to our room at 1:30 am and crashed. They had to take a late flight due to Dh's work schedule. We sleep in as much as possible and order room service breakfast. It cost a bundle but at this point in the whole amount we spent I didn't care. Left our room to check out and kill a little time in the arcade before our Quicksilver car came. They did a great job for us.

We headed out to Port Canaveral. When we got within site of the boat we just couldn't believe we were really going. We were all so exited! It just looked HUGE! This was the first cruise of any kind for all of us.

We got in the terminal and checked in without much of a wait. I think the big rush had gotten there earlier. We got our picture taken and went on the ship where the annouced our names. It was a magical moment.

We stopped by Rockin-D bar to see if we could get our 8pm dinning changed to the early seating. We got that done and went to our room on deck 1. We looked at everyting and opened all the drawers, etc. It was fun. Then we went to eat at Topsiders and soaked it all up! We checked out the Oceaneers Club for DS6 and the Stack Teen club for DD18 and looked around some more. We had the mandetory boat drill which was fine and then check out the Sail away party. I had read deck 10 forward was a good place to watch the boat sail away but it was so windy up there that day. But we stayed because "I read" it was the best place.

We had our 5:30 dinner coming up at Animators Palate and that was fun. We had good servers. We went to the show that night but I did not care for the comedian and so ds and I left to go look around some more. I think we went to bed on the early side that night as it had been a short night for DH and DD.

I'll post some picture next.

[jk8]

Here we are before going aboard!

[jk8]

I'm thinking I'm going to have to hit the highlights of what I remember because I would take me forever to go on about what a great time we had on this cruise.

Sunday we were scheduled for a character breatfast and that was a nice way to start the day. Then DS went to the kids club where he pretty much stayed for most of the trip. He LOVED it there. You can take kids to the clubs unlimited once they are 3 and potty trained. On day I took DS son out to do a fun family activity and he complained. He ended up liking the activity but asked that he could just stay in the clubs when he could from then on. So, the drill went for most of the week that after breakfast as a family he would go the the club until dinner. Then back to the club after dinner. Talk about your nice alone time!

The hardest thing to decide on a cruise for me is what deck do I want to sit and relax on? Do I feel like shade or sun?

Oh, and we had to change clocks that day which was new for us since we are strange Indiana folk who had never "Sprang Forward" before.

Dh and I did an art auction that day which as waayyyy expensive. That was really the only true waste of time on the ship for us. We went to the Golden Mickey's show that night which was great.

Oh, and the ship was really rocking this day, but I had taken Bonine and no one else in the family has problems with that so we were all good.

All in all a wonderful day at sea.

[jk8]

Oh, here is a shot of our cabin. We had portholes but the curtains were shut.