Let me start Part II of our Cruise Report with what I left out in Part I.

Check in at Port Canaveral” went rather quickly. I would guess less than 30 minutes. ” As Castaway Club Members, (returning DCL travelers), we had our own line to check in at the Port. A very nice perk.”  There is no charge to become a Castaway Club member.

The first night of the cruise, we ate at Animator’s Palate, which had the best food and the most fun dining experience. The room transforms from black and white to full color by the end of the night. The food was amazing.

The next day we were in Nassau and went on the Discover Atlantis adventure. ” It was ok.”  On past cruises we had tried the Harbor Cruise (which we don’t recommend) and the Ardastra Gardens and City Tour, which was pretty good. Here is a”  photo from Ardastra Gardens (from 2004), with our good friends Trey and Stephanie in the background. We got to feed the birds:

The next two nights we ate at Parrot Cay (pronounced ‘key’) on board the ship. ” The food was good, but not the best we had or would eat on the last night. We did take a picture of dessert and Caden with our servers (that were great!). Since Caden is 2 years old, and my child, he is a picky eater.

The servers were able to find something he would eat each night (if nothing else, the Mickey ice cream was always a hit).

The show the second night was Toy Story the Musical and it was spectacular to see the characters from the Toy Story movie come to life in front of us.

The next evening there was no live show, but the Princess and the Frog was shown in the theatre.”  We decided to attend the Deck Party instead.

Toward the end of the Party, it started raining a little and Caden was tired, so we returned to the room before the fireworks (fireworks at sea, pretty cool, even if we missed them this trip).

For breakfast, each morning we at the Beach Blanket Buffet. The food was wonderful and there was plenty. There was an omelet station at the end of the buffet so I had made to order omelets two of the three mornings we ate at the buffet.

While Nassau was ok, Castaway Cay (again, pronounced ‘key’) is the sensational! It is Disney’s Private Island.”  We had not been to the island since 2000.”  In 2004, it was too windy to dock to the island, so we had a day at sea.

Later this day, I talked to the Captain about our 2004 trip.”  We were riding the elevator with him. I ask him if the inability to dock with the island still happens occasionally and he said yes it does. He added that if it is too windy to dock, then it is too windy to really enjoy the island.”  On the 4 day cruise, there is another day to try and dock with the island.”  It was good to hear this statement. Our last two cruises were for 3 days, this one was for 4 days. We were already liking the 4 day cruise better, this was one more reason to like it better.

On Castaway Cay, we rented bikes and went for a 1.5 mile ride (very flat terrain). The entire ride was enjoyable except for one part of the runway (airstrip) where it was really windy.

We ate lunch on the Island (provided as part of the cruise at no extra cost), then picked up a beach pale and shovel for Caden to play in the sand.”  The water was too cold (for us) to get in although it was in the 70’s.

On the way back to the ship, we stopped and took some photos of the Flying Dutchman (from The Pirates of the Caribbean movies).”  They are working on a 4th movie, I hear!

Once back on the ship, we let Caden try out the kiddie pool. It was a hit with him.

Our last day on the ship, we went to see the Princess and the Frog in the on board movie theatre.”  Disney has a stadium style movie theatre on the ship which plays first run movies that would normally only be seen on land in a movie theatres.”  Of course, there is no charge so it was a great opportunity to see how Caden would react to sitting in a movie theatre. The verdict, he liked the live musicals better.”  We did make it through the whole movie but we won’t be taking him any time soon to one on land. Disney also shows 3-D movies (and says they are the only cruise line showing 3-D movies).

Other dinning areas we tried on the ship included Goofy’s Gallery, which as some of the best panini sandwiches I’ve ever had, and Pinocchio’s Pizzeria, our evening snack, ha!

Although we didn’t try it, room service is included in the price of the cruise, which we though was neat.”  Something new this cruise (for us, since it had been 2004 since we had last cruised) was that the fountain drinks were free throughout the ship. In the past, we had to buy a refillable mug.

Our last night we ate at Tritons and the food was very good. I also got a surprise birthday cake (my birthday was actually the next day, so I wasn’t expecting it).

We are Disney Vacation Club (DVC) members which allowed us to go on this cruise by using our points.”  We missed the DVC member meet and greet because Caden (and his parents) were taking naps. The meet and greet was for DVC members that were on board and although we didn’t make it there, we did meet some on the bus ride to the port.

On the second day of the cruise, however, we returned to our room to find a DVC magnet on our door welcoming us “Home.”

We stopped by the DVC booth on our day at sea and shared that we were members and had just missed the meetings due to nap time.”  The DVC guide gave us a few gifts, including baseball hats, key chains and a photo of Walt and his wife on deck of a Cruise ship (a photo which is in all of the staterooms).

DVC had some informational meetings for guests (and members) about their current specials (which were good). They gave away a”  $300 on board ship credit at each of these meetings, so I attended the last one. I didn’t win, but the meeting is a great refresher on how DVC works and opportunities it gives us.

I really like that DVC is not a high pressure sales time-share.”  They present the information and let us decide.

There are also great deals on booking the next cruise while on board, even for DVC members, we get a price (point) break.

Debarking was pretty smooth. Our “big” suitcases were picked up the night before and taken off the ship for us the next morning.”  We picked them up, grabbed a porter who walked us through customs. I recommend this with lots of luggage and with kids. It took no time at all to go through customs.

We flew to Jackson, MS, then drove home and had snow the next day? (yes in North LA? Go figure?)

Want to see more photos from the trip?
Go here!
(there are snow photos mixed in this album also)

We just got back from a Disney Cruise and it was a blast. We flew into Orlando from Jackson, MS (about 3 hours away) the day before the Cruise and stayed one night in our second home (Disney Vacation Club), Bay Lake Tower a the Contemporary.

When we booked the trip, Jennifer and I had talked about enjoying the nice bathroom in that would be in our room. I was talking about a 1 bedroom, but she was thinking a Studio room (which has the basic bathroom). So she was very surprised to open the door and see that we were staying in a 1 bedroom. Of course, this made her want to stay longer, ha!

We dropped off our bags (just carry ons, Disney’s Magic Express was taking care of the big bags), and made it to Chef Mickey with time to spare for our 8:10 pm reservation.

After dinner, we went back to Bay Lake Tower and went to the Top of the World Lounge on the top floor. We had missed the fireworks for the night, but wanted to at least walk through the Lounge before heading back to the room for a little relaxing.

We enjoyed the Magic Kingdom side of Bay Lake Tower, if only for one night. Here was the view outside our window the next morning:

We ate breakfast at the Polynesian with our friend Stacy and her friend DeSha who had just finished up a cruise and stayed a couple of days at Disney. This Sunday was SuperBowl Sunday, as you can tell. (L to R: Jennifer, Neal, Caden, & Stacy)

After breakfast, we took a few more photos in the lobby area of Bay Lake Tower. The lobby is really small (which makes sense, since you check in at the Contemporary). The lobby had looked huge on all of the photos we had looked at before our trip.

A couple of hours later we were at Port Canaveral and aboard the Disney Wonder, Deck 7, Room 7010 (toward the front of the Ship).

As Castaway Members (Disney Cruise Line repeat cruisers), we not only had a special line to get us on-board quicker, we had a few little gifts waiting for us!

Of course, the Super Bowl was playing and we got to catch the last 7 minutes of the game which was playing on the Deck. I know many people maybe wondering why we didn’t watch the whole game.

There was a live theatre show during the game, and Caden was more likely to watch it over a Football game on TV. He did love the live musical (The Golden Mickey’s) and we got to see the end of the game.

Go to the next post!

Part III, the final installment of our Disney Trip:

Animal Kingdom:

We believe Caden enjoyed this park more than any of the others.  We think this because we heard him talk the most in this park while just wheeling him around in the stroller. Kilimanjaro Safaris, by far is the most fun, riding through the reserve seeing the animals.  Our ride was delayed because there were animals in the path of some of the vehicles in front of us.

We took our first photo with a character at Animal Kingdom, with none-other than Stich, probably one of the scarier looking characters.  Caden’s reaction… he wanted to touch his nose.

There were a number of Jungle Treks, where we just walked through and looked at birds, hippo’s tigers, etc.  We also took the Wildlife Express Train to the petting zoo, which Caden really liked.  We got Fast Passes to Everest but after a long wait in a food line, then lunch, we decided to go back to the resort to give Caden a little down time before we met friends,  Scott, Shelly, and Jackson Bokash (who live in Orlando) at Downtown Disney at T-Rex for supper

More on Downtown Disney

Our mistake with Downtown Disney was not bringing a stroller.   Caden got a little heavy to carry around, so we didn’t do a lot of shopping.  We had also been to Downtown Disney a couple of nights earlier with mom. We ate at the Rain Forest Cafe that night. On the bus ride back to the resort that night, Jennifer and Caden sat next to a couple who’s little girl was not happy about something and we could tell.  Caden started giggling some time during the trip to the resort, the full belly giggle that just makes you want to laugh, or at least smile, come on, you know you just cracked a smile?  Anyway, by the time we got back to the resort, the little girl had swapped places with her dad so she could be next to Caden and “experience” him first hand, and she was in a good mood when we arrived at Pop Century.

Epcot

We got to Epcot a little late the one day we went to the park.  We still did a lot, though!  In Living with the Land we took a boat tour  and saw some of the cutting-edge technology they are using to grow food.  This tour is one of my favorites!  It makes me want to go home and work in my green house and yard more than I currently do (which is not enough).

Imagination with Figment, Caden really loved this attraction, not the ride as much as the activities to do at the end of the ride.  Below he is walking over squares that light up and make noise when they are stepped on.  He ran around for a while in this area.

The Seas with Nemo and Friends, was a new attraction that we had not been on before. Caden took a power nap while we were in line and through the ride the first time.  The second time he rode it, we heard him say “fish” a lot.  It is a really neat ride.  We also tried the Turtle Talk with Crush, which is an interactive show, but he was too tired to sit still, so we bailed. We, wisely sat close to the doors so we could do just that in case of a possible meltdown.

Spaceship Earth had also been renovated since the last time Jennifer and I were there and it was pretty neat too.  I think Caden enjoyed it also because it moved slow and there was lots to look at through the ride.

Our only regret at Epcot is that we didn’t get to ride Soarin’ which is one of the most amazing, beautiful, relaxing rides that I’ve ever ridden.  A lady from Brooklyn we were talking to one day on the bus, put it best when she said, “If I wasn’t religious, that ride would have been a religious experience!”  We agree.  You see, smell, and even “feel”  California from a hang glider.  It by no way, is a thrill ride.  The music is beautiful as well as the scenery. Caden would not have been able to go on the ride, and since the Fast Pass machine was already empty for the day we decided to skip it.  Next trip, for sure!

Other Tips We Learned:

On past trips we usually would carry a bag with us into the parks, with water, medicine, raincoats, snacks, etc.  In truth, it was a diaper bag, but we would never admit that until we had kids.  A couple of trips back, we went with Trey and Stephanie Greer and the bag affectionately became known as “The Magic Bag.”

This trip, we decided to retire the “magic bag” and to use a really nice backpack we had received for free a while back.  It is a Kelty backpack, and I highly recommend them.  If not it, a very comfortable backpack.  This one has so many straps, that the day we had it loaded down with everything, it was very comfortable to bring with us.

Strollers — The weirdest question I was asked when I rented the stroller for the week was if I wanted to buy it, which would have been cheaper. The question confused me so much so, that I didn’t ask any more questions and we just rented.  I wish I had asked more on how did that work? Do I get to use it next time I’m there? Surely I don’t take the stroller with me?  I’ll admit, this was the first day we had gotten to the park and we couldn’t get to the attractions fast enough!

I do wish we had brought a stroller for the resort and Downtown Disney.  We know for next time!

Photos that we took are here! (just in case you missed them in the last blog, the Photo Pass photos are here.)

Part II

Magic Kingdom:

Caden really liked Pirates of the Caribbean, it was one of the slower rides that allowed him to take every thing in as we went through the ride.  We rode it three times with him.  Of course, we rode, It’s a Small World, Peter Pan (while waiting in line,  we saw Tom Cruise and family pass by on the ride), Pooh, Snow White, the Train, and the Haunted Mansion.

Buzz Lightyear (not the new one at Disney Studios, but the one in Magic Kingdom) was also a favorite of Caden’s — probable because it is interactive and we get to shoot things.  His dad loved that and beat him and his mom’s score on the ride.  He also loved the Carousel and Aladdin (much like the Dumbo ride).

My mom flew in and spend February 14th with us, which was also her 65th Birthday. Yes, she got in FREE.

Mom actually flew in on the 13th, so we ate at Downtown Disney to celebrate my birthday (which was the 11th, no I did not get in Free, we didn’t arrive at WDW until the 12th).   Mom left on the 15th, in the afternoon.

On the 14th, we arrived with mom at Magic Kingdom a little before 10 a.m.  This was the day we rode Aladdin for the first time and we didn’t think Caden liked it during the ride because he hung on to Jennifer tight the entire time. When the ride was finished, he let go and started baby signing and saying “more, more, more!”

After Aladdin, we sat down and cooled off in the Tiki Room, where he passed out and slept for about 15 to 20 minutes.   It was the middle of the afternoon.  When we left the Tiki Room, we were able to sit outside in the shade and rest and let him take a power nap.

We also rode the Transit Authority (what we call the “people mover”) that goes through Space Mountain as well as around Tomorrowland.  About 4:30,  we finished up at Magic Kingdom and took mom to the Contemporary to do a little shopping and surprise her with Chef Mickey for supper!  I would recommend any of the Character Dinning  after our experience at this one place.  It was a wonderful way to end the day, mom’s birthday, and take lots of photos with the characters.

After supper, we went back to the hotel and mom hung out with Caden and Jennifer and I went back to Magic Kingdom to have some “Big Kid Time” and ride the “Big Kid Rides.”

Other Good Magic Kingdom experiences:

1. What started out as a bad experience, trying to leave the park the first night we were there during the night time parade, lead to a really good evening. We couldn’t get out because of the crowds on main street were not moving.A few nights later we saw a cast member directing people a back way out of the park, so there was a way, we just didn’t see it that night.   So we went back to Camp Mickey where there was very few people.  Caden walked through both Mickey’s & Minnie’s Country House,  with no one else around except the cast member.  There also was a fun playground that we wouldn’t have let him on during the day, because of too many big kids, but there were very few kids and they were all around his age so he played and played.This area was also a great place to watch the fireworks!
2. PhilharMagic — is an amazing 3D movie. Not a good idea for Caden, he tolerated it, but we probably wouldn’t have done it if we hadn’t received FREE Fast Passes, while getting Fast Passes for Pooh.
3. Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wisearce Farm (small kids roller coaster) — We thought Caden was going to get to ride it, because someone told us the requirements was 34 inches! He is almost there, 33 1/2,  but when we go there, the requirement was 35 inches.  Next time for sure!
4. Stroller — we rented a Disney stroller which was nice because we got one where ever we were in the park. I do wish we had brought a small one for the Resort, where we ate breakfast every morning.  There was also an option to buy the stroller? I should have ask more about how that worked?

Disney Photos – Part I

I’ll end this post here, as you can see, we spent most of our time at Magic Kingdom, it had the most for Caden to do. We did go to Epcot and Animal Kingdom, but skipped Disney Studios.  Part III coming soon!

Long time, no blog!

As most of you with kids know, there is less and less time to do the things you have been doing the older they get.  I’ve also been extremely busy the last 6 months with my side web site business.  A good problem to have, but does cut into my personal computer time of blogging and producing Caden videos.  ha!

We recently went on vacation, where else, but to Disney World!  We said “pre-Caden” that we would wait until he was 48 inches, but Jennifer and I knew that would never really happen.  Hey, we made it 20 months, that is pretty good, huh?

When we arrived on February 12, it had been 3 years and 1 day to the date since Jennifer and I had last been to Walt Disney World in FL.  We booked the trip, for 5 nights and 6 days,  in September of 2008.

A month later Disney started promoting the “Book 4 days, get 3 days free” + a 200 gift card special.  I quickly called and explained we couldn’t stay the extra day, but would book it if it meant we got a better deal on the price (and the $200 gift card).  Disney came through for us and said they would give us a day free and still give us the gift card.  Never hurts to ask!  (A common motto of mine).

The transportation: We decided to drive.  We broke the trip up over 2 days (both ways) which worked really well.  We were in the car for about 15 hours for the total trip (that doesn’t count stopping for gas, food, bathroom, directions, ha!)

The resort: We stayed at Disney’s Pop Century. It was a lot of fun.  We stayed in the 80’s wing of the resort.  It was the furthermost away from Magic Kingdom, but it had its own bus line, so it didn’t stop at other resorts.

The time: As I mentioned above, the last time we were at Disney World, was basically the same time, and the crowds were great.  Not the case this trip.  While the dates were the same, the days were not.  We hit the trip President’s day weekend.  It was packed.

The Food: We tried the quick service meal plan, which included refillable drinks for the resort (only).  This meal plan included 2 quick service (counter service) meals and 2 snacks a day, per adult.   We feel like it was a good deal.

Caden just shared with us.  The meals included an entrée or combo, a drink, and a dessert or a snack (only for lunch/supper).  We usually ate breakfast at the resort, so we would use our “drink with the meal” to get bottled water and use our re-fillable mugs for breakfast.  For lunch/supper we would normally get one dessert and one fruit snack (as part of the meal) and split them between the three of us.

More to come: I will break the trip blogs up into multiple posts instead of having one extremely long post.  YES I will post photos soon!