The Tale of the Grow Walk ….Hunh? DCL Magic and WDW Review

[jenseib]

Hello! And welcome to my latest trip report!

For those that don’t know me, I am Jen.

I am a mother to 3 beautiful children, 2 of which are grown, one just had her own little Princess in Oct, and my youngest, who is 9, Claire, who typically joins me in my travels.

I love Disney and try to make it to Disney World at least once a year. Some years that has not happened, but then other years I have been able to go more than once or at least to another Disney Destination. My last trip to the World was in Nov. of 2012. That was also my last Disney Cruise.

I was lucky enough this year to have gone on my first trip to Disneyland in Feb, just a month prior to this vacation. That one was for business and I traveled alone and met up and had fun with a co-worker.

This trip to WDW & DCL was a family trip…meaning my parents were going as well …..and had actually had its beginning stages started about a year prior to going.

I had traveled with my parents to Williamsburg, VA in April of 2013 and we stayed at their Marriott time share. Mom said that next year she wanted to go back to Orlando and Claire and I could come, so of course that got the wheels going. We decided that we would do it over Claire’s spring break. I was not looking forward to going at that time because of the crowds, but it would be better to have her not miss school if we could help it. And a busy trip is better than no trip at all right? I got those dates from her school soon after we returned from Williamsburg, and Mom then reserved her time share for that week.

Of course we tweaked things and decided to fly in a day early (with Claire missing a Friday before spring break) and then my husband, Skip, decided he would like to come at the end of the trip and try out a Disney cruise. Yes, Claire and I have now sailed Disney a few times, but Skip has yet to be on one…so the trip was extended a few days for that and a little extra fun after as well.

What started out as a 7 night trip…. turned into 11 nights. March 21-April 1! (Yeah…. I wasn’t thrilled about coming home on April Fool’s day)

Plans were made and of course we had a few arguments about things…..nothing ever is smooth here.

First Skip was mad we were going and never told him. Well at that point it was so far off yet and I really hadn’t planned anything. I wasn’t hiding it from him, I just wasn’t talking about it in general.

Then he decided he did want to come, but not stay with my parents nor did he want to go for as long.

So we finally compromised and he would join us later in the trip and do the cruise portion with a day at Legoland at the end.

The thing that drives me crazy is that I am a planner and he likes to do everything last minute. So even though I knew what the plan was, he wasn’t in any hurry to book the cruise. I told him more than once about the prices rising and his reply ….”I don’t care, I want to pay full price”. LOL!

He also had this “idea”….he wanted to come down to Florida on a Greyhound bus. He said he would have a years’ worth of stories to tell if he did that. It would take him about 28 hours to come by greyhound and for one who has limited time off, this was not a smart idea in my book, but he insisted this was what he wanted to do. Luckily in the end, we talked him out of it and he did fly down on Allegiant.

All was pretty much set by mid Feb (I actually booked the cruise on my birthday in Feb.) and we just had to wait. Of course I went to Disneyland in between that time which meant when I got home I had to do catch up work along with extra work to be sure all was taken care of before I left. It was a busy few weeks and I was happy to see March 21 come!

This review is pretty detailed with all the things we did and I take A LOT of pictures. I will review the whole trip, even the Disney World portion before the cruise, since so many DCL cruisers often go to the parks or stay in Orlando before or after their cruise. I have all the Disney portion written up, so I will try to post that part fairly fast so I can get to the Magic Review for all of you.

[jenseib]

March 21, 2014, Friday Day 1

Today is the day! Claire, of course was very excited NOT to be going to school this day. Originally, I had thought I would take her to school for about 1 ½ hours and then pick her up, but the more I thought about it, I figured an extra hour of sleep for her would do her good. She goes to a Catholic school, and on Fridays the first thing they do is go to church, so really all she would be doing if she went was going to Mass.

We had a 2:30 flight out of Detroit, which is about an hour away from us. My sister, Gail and her youngest daughter Abby were taking us to the airport that day, as she has a van and could fit all of us, plus luggage. We want to arrive at the airport 2 hours ahead of time, which meant we would have to leave around 11 or so from Gail’s house.

Claire and I loaded up the car and Skip drove us in and dropped us off at her house. He gave us kisses and was gone. He was on a mission to go to the store nearby that had roasted peanuts in a shell in large bags. Yeah…see how we compare? He only was willing to take us to Gail’s house so he could go stop off for shuck peanuts. LOL!

Mom and Dad were leaving their car at Gail’s house. They were coming home sooner than I was and Gail would be picking them up from the airport.

We loaded Gail’s van and soon were on our way up. All of us excited. Abby, who is now 4, watched a movie the whole way up and couldn’t give 2 cents on what we were talking about, or where we were going.

We got dropped off and said our goodbyes to Gail. We went in and dropped our luggage off. We were flying Delta down as it was actually cheaper than Southwest and it was direct, which again, SW didn’t have when I stalked the site.

Then off to security. Claire is becoming a pro at this and it really is helpful that she at least has an idea what she is doing, though of course I still have to prompt her at times. Dad, however, will never become a pro at this, no matter how many times he goes through. Mom was specially selected to go through a special and quick line. Dad started to panic. I had to instruct him on what to do and where to go. All the while, reminding Claire what to do as well. And because I am with Claire, we go through the old scanners instead of the new ones, which Dad had to do. Too bad they wouldn’t consider him a child as well, it would’ve been easier on me. LOL!

Once we got through, we gathered our things and Dad was just so worried about where Mom was. I told him we would find her eventually and to just grab his things and get his shoes on.

Soon we found her and we headed off towards the gate, which of course was at the other end of the terminal.

We needed a bathroom and planned to eat lunch before getting settled down at the gate. There was a fake monorail going towards our gate, but you could also walk. The line looked long and you had to go upstairs to catch it. We decided to walk and look for a bathroom and a place to get some food.

Again, this did not fit in Dad’s plans….. Why are we walking? We are walking away from the monorail! Why are we going this way?.... You get the idea. You can only repeat “I am looking for a bathroom” so many times before you are ready to kill someone.

We found bathrooms and a Coney Island type place and decided this would be perfect for lunch and went inside and took a seat.

I was actually impressed that the prices were not too terribly inflated at all for an airport diner.

I don’t remember what my parents got, but I know they both got a side salad and they didn’t have French dressing. This is another thing that sends my Dad into a tizzy. He only eats French dressing on a salad. He refuses to go to Olive Garden because of the salad…even though if you ask, they do have French dressing. Now I understand it to a degree…I am a fan of French dressing as well, but I am open to eating other kinds when need be, but I do prefer French in most cases.

He did settle for Thousand Island and seemed somewhat happy then.

I think my parents then shared a burger and fries as well.

I went for the Patty Melt. I am a big fan of Patty Melts and this one did not disappoint.

Claire went for the…..hot dog…..big surprise there.

Claire’s meal came with fries and the waitress told me it came with quite a few, so instead of me ordering another side for myself, to just share with her, and that worked out great. Just enough for the 2 of us.

After our lunch we made our way to our gate and took a seat.

Claire, of course pulled out her kindle and I was on my phone, surfing facebook and emails.

As time got closer to our flight, I think I made some wise crack about going to the bathroom, something men don’t do till the flight is actually boarding,…..though I don’t remember how I said it, it was pretty funny and the older lady sitting across from us just started laughing and her husband said he had no comment on that.

We then chatted with them a bit and they were super nice. They were fairly newly married, and you could tell she was so in love with him, which was so cute.

I guess he has been to Disney something like 18 times, and goes at least once yearly and she said when he started dating her he told her if she wasn’t into Disney, then it wasn’t going to work out between them! My kind of Man!

We discussed where we all were staying and I believe they were heading to Key West later in their trip to stay at a Time share he has.

Soon it was time to board and we all lined up and guess what…..Dad had to use the bathroom. LOL.

I think he had a nervous stomach as he used it twice on the plane as well before we even took off.

We settled in our seats with Claire in her window spot…a must for her, and I was in the middle, and Mom next to me and Dad across the aisle.

I took a picture outside. Claire went to close the shade and I told her it was not allowed, as if you HAVE to have the window seat, then you have to leave it open for all of us to enjoy from afar. LOL.

We took a selfie then, which I always look so bad in, but we were excited to be on our way!

We had the Delta 80’S video spiel about safety. This cracks me up.

It only played a little bit when it was turned off and the flight attendant told us they had to reopen the doors and that something needed to be fixed on the plane. Then the Captain came out to say that a strut had to be fixed and they were working on it right now. Um, yeah, I guess we want that!

[jenseib]

Right outside of Claire’s window we could see the maintenance truck.

We had Claire as the look out to let us know when the guys got back in and drove away and she did her job and informed us and soon we were allowed to leave.

Luckily, we didn’t leave too late and soon were in the air.

Claire played on her kindle…..I must say these things are wonderful for trips…and I pulled out my laptop and worked on editing pictures from my Disneyland trip. This really makes the flight go by much faster. We also were served snacks and drinks, which is always a highlight for Claire.

Soon we landed at MCO …and the new strut held….which was a good thing…and were off our plane and making our way to restrooms and then baggage.

We found our baggage carousel and waited for the bags. Since they weren’t coming out fast, we headed outside and took in the fresh and warm Florida air. I think Claire had to use the restroom again so we made our way to those and used them again.

And then I found it!!!!! If you read my DL TR you will know that I had found free tampons being in the dispensers at the DL hotels. I had posted a picture on my company’s facebook page and it became a big running joke. Since I had been to DL, a few other co-workers had traveled and anytime someone found free sanitary products, they would post it, or list places that did not have them.

I had just found out that that the handicapped restroom near baggage claims had a few free products as well…and of course I posted it.

Claire did not see what was so funny about this by the way.

We got our bags…and we all double checked to be sure we had the right ones….for those that read my Nov. 2012 TR, you may remember my Dad pulled one wrong suitcase off and we didn’t notice it till the next day and it caused a lot of panic, but luckily we were able to make the exchange for the right one before cruising.

[jenseib]

Now it was time to pick up our rental cars. Because the majority of our trip was offsite, we had to have cars to get to and from the parks. Originally I had a great car deal with Firefly, which is a new company at MCO, owned by Hertz. When I added extra days and tried to add those dates to the rental, it tripled in price. Even though the site said it would honor my original price, it was very clear it was not doing so. I searched around and found Dollar for a steal. I had issues with Dollars counter service in 2012, but for the price, I knew I could handle them and be OK.

My Mom is (WAS) a die-hard Hertz fan. She pretty much rents from them exclusively, with a few exceptions.

My sister in law works for Hertz and we can get a family and friends discount. It used to be that I had to ask her to schedule this for us every time we wanted to use it, but then she gave me the code and told me how to enter it. I have used this a few times (though Hertz is not always the cheapest, even with the discount) and I have NEVER had a problem or issue. I reserved Mom’s car using this discount.

Once our bags were retrieved we all headed our separate ways to the car rental counters. Claire and I got in line for Dollar and the line was long. The lady monitoring the line asked if we had a reservation, and I told her yes, and she said good, because they are sold out. UGH, not what I want to hear, as that means the parks are busy as I feared they would be.

The line actually moved fast and soon we were the next in line, when Claire points out a wet spot on one of the suitcases. UGH!!!! I just knew what it was. A few years ago I had this issue. One of my hair products had leaked and got all over everything in the bag. The thing was, I had double ziplock bagged it, so I wasn’t sure how any liquid of any kind could leak out like that. Well nothing we could do now, once we got our car checked in, we would go to the side and check it out.

I was very impressed with Dollar this time. They did not do the super pushy sales pitch for insurance and the digital thing that you have to hit agree on (the one that will give you insurance anyways if you hit agree without paying attention) was set up completely different. It was such a smooth process and I was so relieved when I walked away.

I was told where to go and that I would have a Ford Focus. Sounds good to me.

Of course, we went off to the side and opened up the wet suitcase and sure enough, it was my hair lotion that had almost completely spilled out and through TWO ziplocked bags. Luckily I pretty much pack everything in ziplock bags, so even though it had spilled out, it really hadn’t gotten on too many other things and I knew that I could just wipe down just about everything and be fine once we got to POFQ.

Now the trek out to the cars. I checked with a gal and asked which aisle to go and she pointed the right way. We could not find any Ford Focus’s at all. In fact this row had mostly vans. After walking up and down a bit, I went back to the check in hut and the guy told me again which row, and told me that any car in the economy area would be OK.

OK, that’s good, but my arms are hurting from dragging these stupid bags and I am now hot and I could feel my blood pressure rising. I have LOW blood pressure normally, like really low, where they often ask me at the Dr.s how I could possibly be living with such low blood pressure. LOL….so when it rises, I feel it and my head pounds and my face is heated and I am not a nice person. (kind of like when I need to eat!)

We found the cars and several were hatchbacks, which I really didn’t want if I didn’t have to, but did find 2 4 doors and I picked one. It was a Nissan Versa, which I have never even heard of before, but it looked decent and we started to load it and I really had to get creative to fit the 2 big bags in the trunk. I am now going to refer to this car from now on as the POC (Piece of Crap). Yeah, I am sure by that description, you can tell I wasn’t a fan of the Versa at all.

So we sit down in the car and I look over everything to familiarize myself with it and I program my phone to Port Orleans French Quarter. Something to take note of….you may not have a signal inside the parking garages. It kept telling me it could not connect. UGH! I did not print any directions out at all beforehand as I was going to rely solely on my phones GPS. Not smart at all!

So I decide to take off and will hit the gps to connect once I get outside. We stop and have the car scanned and pull out as my phone rings. It’s Mom and the line for Hertz was really long and slow and she is finally at the counter with a newbie. He won’t let her get the car at the family and friends discount. Good lord…what a freaking idiot and of course I am on the road and there is nowhere to pull over and I have no idea where I am going because I now can’t set the GPS!

He says my SIL’s name doesn’t show up in their data base and I tell my Mom that’s her nickname, her real name is this…..and I have no clue how to spell it and I am on the road and lost at the current moment.

So she hands the phone to the guy to talk to me. He is foreign and I can’t understand a word he is saying. I tell him so, and I wasn’t nice about it. In the mean time I see a ME bus and just start following it, which of course takes me to a toll road, which I was trying to avoid as I did not have my change bag out. Yep. The blood pressure is rising some more.

So I tell this guy her name and he can’t find her and asks how to spell it. I tell him I have no clue, as I never had to spell it before and he basically calls all of us liars and they we are trying to cheat them. I ask for a supervisor and this guy is just as much of a jerk as the first one. He tells me that it is impossible for me not to know the spelling of her name. Um, no it’s not, no one calls her that and I have never been asked for it before. My mom argues with him too, but they won’t relent and they end up charging her full price which is more than double what we reserved it at…..over $400 for a week. She was FUMING! And on top of that, they did not even give her the kind of car we had reserved either. The got a Chrysler 200 (which I personally would’ve loved to have as that was the car I wanted when we were car shopping last fall, but Skip wouldn’t go for it), but they had wanted a full size and something fancier, as they drive a Cadillac at home.

So I finally hang up with the idiot and click my phone to search how to get to POFQ since I am going by the seat of my pants at this point and I feel a little better, though mad that I am on a toll road and stopping constantly to pay.

It’s really hot…I mean much hotter than I expected it to be this time of year and time of day and I turn on the AC…and find out this car has absolutely no power at all if you turn on the AC. It was just puttering along and Claire and I just started laughing. It was really unreal how crappy this car was.

We follow Siri’s directions and I take a wrong turn and then she back-tracks us, which leads us way out of the way and we have to circle around for miles before we get on the right track again. I am pretty sure Claire might have heard a few select words coming from my mouth at that point.

FINALLY we arrive at POFQ and go out and park. I literally just got out of the car and stood there calming myself down for about 10 minutes. I am sure I had to dig for ibuprofen and then I also pulled out our Magic Bands and finally I was under control enough to go and check in.

I was never so glad to be somewhere as I was right now.

[jenseib]

I didn’t do online check in, which I should have, so I had to wait in the regular line….as I saw several people come and go in the online check in line. This really is the first time I have witnessed it being faster, but I think now that Magic Bands are in the mix, this is the way to go and I will do it for future trips.

Yep…while standing there; I took a lot of pictures to calm myself down some more.

We had a super nice guy wait on us and he made sure our bands were good to go (I can’t remember if we had my parents bands with us or not, but I know we never went back to have them looked at, so there is a good chance I had all of them with me), and told us about the resort and told us to enjoy ourselves. I was starting to feel better already. He also said he had something for me and went and got an envelope. Now I have no clue why I got this, nor really what it was, but I think it had something to do with World of Sports building. I would have to go dig them out to see exactly what they were, but I never did use them as they had an expiration date and it wouldn’t work with our plans. Again, no clue why I got these special passes and I really didn’t pay much attention to them after I asked initially as I knew I wouldn’t use them.

He then told us where to park the car to be closest to our building. Another mistake I made, I typically note that I want first floor and I did not, and of course I got 2nd floor.

A sigh of relief was made and I truly felt like vacation was finally starting. We made our way back out to the car to head over to our building.

[jenseib]

We found a spot to park the car and gathered one trip worth of bags and headed to our room.

[jenseib]

[jenseib]

Once we got all the bags in the room, we called Mom and Dad, who were also lost, and working their way here. They said to wait for them to eat, as we were all hungry by now.

I called Skip and relayed the news about the car rental issues and he was not sympathetic at all.

I also set to the task of cleaning out my suitcase and wiping down everything and letting the inside air dry. I was really lucky, as nothing really got wet clothes wise and most everything could just be wiped down easily.

Skip called a few times and said his Mom told him that I wasn’t allowed to make the Hertz reservation, that his sister had to and that is why they didn’t allow us to use it. I informed him that is not what she told me at all and that I had the code and have done this more than once and never once had an issue. He said I was wrong, and I told him I was right.

Then of course he calls back a little later and tells me his mom called his sister and said the same thing. Well I am not going to argue, but I am right. Why on earth did she give me the code if that is not how it works? I am sure she forgot she gave it to me. There is nothing else to do but put this code in…it gives you the price options and you book it. The issue was on their end that they weren’t smart enough to find her in the computer to verify…….again, we have never had to verify her in the past either. (And when I asked Skip how to spell her name, he had no clue either) He said his sister refused to go in and adjust the cost, which also really ticked me off. Now whether his sister really said this or not, I will never know and I have never brought it up since being home. I just know we will NEVER rent from Hertz again….EVER! My Mom has since wrote several letters to Hertz and they have not once replied to her, but they did send her a random survey about her experience with them and she gave the lowest score to every question….again they have not contacted her about that either. And I thought Dollar was bad before. LOL!

We were now basically settled in the room, with the suitcase airing out and everything else wiped and drying, so Claire and I decided to take a walk while we waited for my parents to arrive.

I guess I didn’t take pictures, which surprises me, but it was getting dark and I was still a bit worked up. I also was messaging back and forth with my co-worker Deb while we walked around and explored the area. I had to vent somewhere and she has a good ear. I think I was also texting my friend Janet as well, so between the 2 of them I am sure I got my frustrations out.

I found a bench and took a seat and wasn’t there for too long when Mom and Dad called and they had arrived! Yay! I didn’t have to go out and search for them.

We met them out in the parking lot and helped them with bags and then we handed them their magic bands and told them to wear them. Dad refused to wear his. I told him that he would need it to get in the room if he ever got separated from us, and his response was that he never intended to be away from my Mother the whole trip. LOL! Mom rolled her eyes and Claire and I found that pretty funny. Poor Mom! We did convince him to put it on his belt loop for now.

While we are on the subject of Magic Bands, I’ll give you my opinion now. I was not a big fan. I knew I wouldn’t be, but I had hoped once I used them I would learn to love them. Now for many things they are convenient to use…when they work. I had issues a few times and my ticket had to be reset on the band 2 additional times after the initial linkage. (I had to pick my ticket up at Guest Services before entering the park).

I also did not like the way it felt on my wrist. I wear my watch on my left wrist and I put the band on my right. I can’t stand things on my right wrist and it drove me nuts. I didn’t like the way it felt on my skin either. And I hated the way I had to bend my wrist to scan it for everything. Later, when we returned from the cruise and stayed another additional night on property I did end up putting the band on my left wrist above my watch and that did work better for me.

Back to the current time…..We all had our bands and we set off to the food court to get something to eat. All of the adults decided a beer was really needed at this point as well.

We took a quick look around to see what we wanted.

I decided on chicken parmesan with spaghetti. On the picture it showed several pieces of chicken and a nice helping of noodles, so Claire and I decided to share. Now the portion was good sized, but there were not as many pieces of chicken as th picture showed so we did fight over the chicken part a little bit.

[jenseib]

I think the picture showed 3 and it appears that there are 2 on the plate on top of each other, but actually it was more like one as they were stuck together.

Notice the beer?

That was one darn good tasting beer too!

This was also our first experience with the new cups with the timer on the machines. It took me a minute to figure it out, but I finally got it. We filled Claire’s cup up before we left once again and headed back to the room. Claire went back with my parents and I lagged behind and did some texting. Claire wanted to be the one to lead my parents to the room, so I had to let her have that fun.

She then changed into her swimsuit and was ready for me once I got back.

And off the pool we went.

[jenseib]

When Claire saw this guy she thought he was pretty creepy.

We looked for a spot for me to sit and settle down where I could still see her.

[jenseib]

She wanted to go on the slide, but there are not any loungers near the slide.

We ended up off to the side a bit and we put her towel on the bench, but I was instructed to stand near the pool for now and watch her get in…..you know because I guess she looks different every time she gets in a pool??? LOL

[jenseib]

As she got used to the water, I walked around a bit and took a few pictures.

Finally she was ready for the slide.

And I had been instructed to take pictures of her going down it.

But I didn’t capture the perfect plunge shot and I was told to keep doing so till I got a good one. LOL.

[jenseib]

I think this one works!

[jenseib]

Every time I tried to sit on the lounger she would call me back over for something. Finally we decided that I would move over to another area where I could see better and she wanted to swim around the pool a bit anyways.

Now I had known ahead of time that several co-workers were going to be at Disney while I was there. 2 were leaving the next day for home, 1 was leaving the next day for a cruise and yet 2 more were there throughout my stay. Most of us kind of had the thought that if we ran into each other, that would be great, but if not, that was OK too. It really is hard sometimes to meet up with people who all have different plans. However, the 2 that were leaving the next day were planning on stopping off at POFQ that night as one was staying there her last night there and the other was going to drop her off there. Some of you know one of them as she writes wonderful TR’s on Disboards. That would be Ellen (Podsnel). She was hanging her last night with her friend Lonnie who lives locally and Katie, my other co-worker was going to dinner with them. Katie is also on Disboards,WDGal210.

Anyways, Katie and Ellen were there all week for a conference, which had just ended that very day. We had discussed trying to meet up a while back.

At this point the day was just too dang long and I was beat and really didn’t have the get-go to make an effort. But I didn’t want to be bad either and blow them off. So while at the pool I texted both of them and let them know that I was at the pool and that if they wanted to meet up, I would be there for a little bit…..no response. I don’t think they were being rude either, I think they were just as tired as I was, probably more after being there a week already. So I was happy I made the effort to contact them, and a little disappointed that we wouldn’t meet….though I did meet up with Ellen on my last trip to WDW in Nov. of 2012….but I totally understand how hard it is to make things work to meet up with others and fit it in your agenda.

So I sat at the pool and just took pictures while Claire swam.

After a while Claire grew a bit tired of swimming and we decided to walk around a bit and check things out.

And we made a potty stop.

Sorry, no free tampons here!

[jenseib]

I was still messaging with my co-worker Deb and she told me that our boss was also staying at POFQ and had just posted she was back at the resort….. which I did know, but kind of forgot about. So while we walked around, I kept my eyes open for her too.

We found where the hot tub was and it was really happening tonight.

And there is a playground across the way.

I made Claire stop for a photo.

[jenseib]

We decided to go take a look at some snack options in the food court.

[jenseib]

And right then and there I almost literally ran into Ellen. We both looked at each other and then it hit! We hugged and said hello and she introduced me to Lonnie.

She told me she had just dropped Katie off at her room and we could go back and say hello. Lonnie decided not to walk back and so Ellen, Claire and I headed back to Katie’s room.

When we got there Ellen knocked and pretended to be Bell Services delivering bags and then I jumped out when Katie opened the door. (Yeah, I know I was acting like a kid. LOL). We all talked a bit, but we were all tired. They had gotten my text and kind of had the same feelings I did….too tired to go visit, but it we ran into each other, that would be great. I guess fate was working for us.

You’ll just have to believe me that we met up, as we did not take a picture. We were all tired and I knew I look totally worn down, so I didn’t even suggest doing one. But here is some from my meet with Ellen in 2012.

Ellen left after a few minutes and I talked to Katie a little more and then Claire and I headed off on our own again.

We decided it was time for a late night snack.

Claire went with Ice-cream.

[jenseib]

I went with 3 Beignets and we had to wait for them to be ready.

Claire is happy with her choice.

I got my Beignets and we headed outside to eat. I had never had these before and it was something I had been wanting to try.

I took a bite before I remembered the picture.

And yes, I liked them. Very good, but very messy. Claire had 1 as well and we were now nice and full.

As we sat there I text my boss to let her know I was staying there too and if she was around, maybe we would see each other.

But it was late and I was tired and I figured she was too and Claire and I headed to bed.

Of course my parents were already asleep when we got back. That’s the bad thing about sharing a room with them, they don’t get up early and they don’t stay up too late, so I always feel like I have to creep around in the room.

Claire and I got ready for bed and drifted off to dream land….so happy that we were at the beginning of our next adventure!

[FloridaGram]

Do you remember all this stuff or do you take notes as you go? I am so impressed with the detail you have in your TR.

 

Signing on here for your latest adventure. I can't wait to hear about the Magic. We went on the Wonder in Sept with 2 stops at Castaway Cay. That was awesome but it was only 5 days so no character breakfast. I was bummed about that!

[jenseib]

Do you remember all this stuff or do you take notes as you go? I am so impressed with the detail you have in your TR.

 

Signing on here for your latest adventure. I can't wait to hear about the Magic. We went on the Wonder in Sept with 2 stops at Castaway Cay. That was awesome but it was only 5 days so no character breakfast. I was bummed about that!

 

I always try to take notes and fail miserably. I get about 1 or 2 days worth if I am lucky. But I take so many pictures that it usually jogs my memory, so that helps.

I had a friend on that same cruise!

I usually do short cruises mainly because I am either fitting in with a Orlando trip or I just can't get away for longer. I do love the 7 day ones though.

I went on the Caribbean Princess out of Ft. L in Sept for a 5 day. It was fun, but different than Disney. It was just my Mom and I and we had such a nice time and it was very relaxing.

[jenseib]

March 22, 2014, Saturday Day 2

As I usually do on vacations, I woke up at the crack of dawn. My body just knows there is too much to see and do to have time wasted on sleep.

I got dressed and grabbed my camera for a walk outside for more pictures. Unfortunately in March at 6:45 AM it is still dark outside.

I peeked into the arcade for a few quick shots while I was in the area.

It was so quiet while I went around and took pictures.

[jenseib]

I played the trombone many years ago, so I always like to take pictures when they have one shown.

They were set up for breakfast.

[jenseib]

[jenseib]

My walk this morning was actually pretty fast, even though I have a lot of pictures.

[jenseib]

 

 

 

And here is the entrance to the arcade from the inside.

 

 

 

I must’ve made a potty break.

 

Edited November 24, 2014 by jenseib