Engelhardt - October 2005 • WDW Trip Reports

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Englehardt - October 2005

Me- Carri (27), DH- Steve (27), DSIL- Jen (32), DBIL- Brandon (33), DNiece- Rachel (3), BIL's Mom- Nancy (50 something), BIL's Dad- Dan (50 something)

After about 3 hours of sleep, DSIL, DBIL, and DN picked us up at 4:30 a.m. in a white stretch limo for the 5 minute drive to Midway Airport here in Chicago, Il. We were flying Air Tran for the 1st time. DN had new light-up Princess shoes for the trip and was rearing to go! We got to the airport, and check-in and the security check were pretty quick. We stopped for bagels for breakfast, met up with DBIL's DM and DD and made our way to the gate. I gave DN a little bag I had made up of a trip journal of the pages on the TMFL webpage, princess markers, princess stickers, a Cinderella crown and earrings and a Sleeping Beauty purse and necklace. That kept her busy until we boarded. We all caught a quick nap on the plane. My only complaint about the flight is that the airline attendant yelled at me!!! She had come by with the drink cart and asked what I wanted, and when I asked what types of juice they had, she yelled at me to consult the magazine. When I explained that that page had been ripped out of my magazine, she demanded to see it, and then rolled her eyes when she saw the page missing. She grabbed a book out of another person's seat and handed to me, and I saw like 4 juices listed-really, she couldn't just tell me?? Oh well. We landed 20 minutes early, and Fabio from Quicksilver was there waiting for us. We snagged all of our luggage except one of BIL's parents' bags were missing. It turns out that they had accidentally put the Magic Express tags on their bags, even though they were only using the service to go back to the airport. We left hoping that the bag would show up later.

Our driver was very nice and had to do a lot of heavy lifting, as our bag alone weighed 65 lbs.!

We got to the Wilderness Lodge, and it was just beautiful. It was a slow check-in, but our rooms were already ready. We found out that we had connecting rooms with DSIL, BIL, and DN, but BIL's parents were down the hall. However, DSIL commented that she was very disappointed by the view, as we had paid for an upgrade to a woods view. Our room numbers were 4085 and 4087.

We unpacked and while the rest of the group went to Whispering Canyon Café, DH and I left for Epcot to get our first shot at the Food and Wine Festival. It ended taking 40 minutes to get there! Waiting for transportation became a theme at the WL, and one of the major downsides to staying there.

We got to Epcot, and had to give our fingerprints at the gate. This was the first time we had seen this at Disney and were kinda taken aback. DH and I have a big thing for Spaceship Earth (it's one of our favorites, we love the smell of the Dark Ages ?) so we got a quick ride in. It was strange to see the exit all boarded up since AT&T pulled their sponsorship.

We then hightailed it over to the World Showcase as we were now starving. We passed the booths for Cocina de Tortilla, Puerto Rico, and Mexico as there was nothing that we wanted. We stopped first at Chile for the Carmen Chardonnay. By this point we realized that Epcot was crazy-packed. It was hard to walk down the main walkway! I don't know if it was because it was Saturday, but it was insane. We passed Ireland (the potato soup sounded good but it was almost 90 degrees) but stopped in Scandinavia, where we had smoked mackerel, meatballs and mashed potatoes (very good), rice cream with strawberry topping (yummy!!) and the cherry Kijafa wine (excellent!!). We flew passed China but stopped in Singapore where DH got Laksa Lemak (coconut soup) and Hogue Gewurztraminer, which was a pretty good white wine. We also spoke with the 2 women in front of us who told us to try the lemon lager at the Puerto Rico booth, and explained that the wines offered at not necessarily wines from that region, but wines that accompany the food well. In Australia I stopped for a shrimp on the Barbie, and DH stopped in Germany for Graff Piesporter Goltropfchen Spatlese-yet another good wine. We wanted to stop in Italy, but the line was so long we decided to go back later. We were running out of time as we were meeting up with the rest of the group at 3, and I was now pretty tipsy from all the wine, so we skipped all the way to India for samosa and kheer (rice pudding). Unfortunately they were out of red curry chicken.

We finally met up with the rest of the group after some confusing walkie-talkie conversations and took a spin on Journey into Imagination. We played in Innovations for a bit and stopped to see the House of the Future. I will have that bathtub some day. It was so hot, it was good to be in the air conditioning for awhile. After checking out the entrance to the Living Seas for a quick picture with Nemo, we went over to the Land for Soarin'. The bad news was that it was a 3 hour wait and there were no fastpasses left. The good news was that right outside Tiger Woods was filming some sort of promotional video or commercial! We were able to get pretty close, but of course the area they were filming at in front of the Land was closed off.

We also found that Mission Space and Test Track had hours of waiting and no Fastpasses, so we started back towards the World Showcase to ride Maelstrom. Even that was a 30 minute wait! We rode the ride and raced to the bus stop. After waiting a bit, a bus came and proceeded to take us in the wrong direction! We backtracked and made it back to the hotel and to Artist Point for our ADR. We were seated after a 5 minute wait. At first, I was disappointed by the lack of choice. However, once I tasted my meal, I declared Artist Point one of my new favorites. I had the beef tenderloin and substituted for the mashed potatoes and green beans instead of the corn chowder pudding and asparagus as listed on the menu, and it was incredible. DH had the 4 course meal which included portabella mushroom soup, fricassee salad, buffalo steak, and bread pudding with a crème brulee-and everything was incredibly delicious. I can't remember was everyone else had, but everyone was pleased. Our bill was $86 without tip for the 2 of us, but it was well worth it. Our server Osiris was also incredible. She explained that her name is Egyptian but she is from Venezuela. She was great with DN as well and even gave us a free dessert.

We finally trudged up for some much needed sleep. However, it was so noisy from the restaurant right below us that we had to wait until it closed to actually be able to go to sleep. We also were able to catch some of the MK fireworks from our balcony before we finally fell asleep.

Magic Kingdom day! Stitch called at 7:55 and said "No sleeping" so we bounced out of bed and got ready to go. We met everyone at 8:30, and DSIL said that because of all the noise from Whispering Canyon, DN didn't go to sleep till after 11 (she usually has a bedtime of 8 p.m.!!). So DSIL had already gone to the front desk to see if it was possible to change rooms, and they said they would call us later.

We ran to the dock to catch the boat. After about a 15 minute wait, the boat came. We made our way through the gate and noticed that the train station is being renovated. We walked onto Main Street, and it was like coming home. You all know the feeling I am talking about. The castle looks so beautiful all decked out in gold. I don't know how long it is going to stay that way, but how pretty. We stopped for some pics and walked through to Snow White-we were pleasantly surprised that DN handled it like a pro! We then headed over to Dumbo, pretty sure that we could fit it in before our 9:45 Cinderella Breakfast. However, we cut it pretty close!! DSIL changed DN into her Cinderella costume while we waited in line, and the wait was 20 minutes for that 30 second ride!

We raced over to the castle to get into the waiting room. DN took some pictures with "her" Fairy Godmother. DN later said that the Fairy Godmother whispered to her that she looks just like Cinderella. Our name was finally called, and we went up to our table. David was our server, and again another excellent server. He spoke with an English accent and called all the women "princess." Cinderella came up to us as we were sitting down. She took a quick pic with DN and signed her book. Belle was shortly behind and did the same routine, followed by Wendy. Wendy was.strange.She spoke in this high-pitched fake voice, and chastised BIL's DD for not asking them to turn to take a pic as "the princesses cannot read minds." Luckily DN waited for her to leave before she innocently said, "But Mom Wendy is not a princess."

She left and the food came, and we all tried to shove in a few bites before Princess Aurora came. She is DN's favorite, and DN couldn't speak, it was like she was in shock. Aurora spent a lot of time with DN, signing her book, a doll, a picture, and then taking pictures. During their interaction, David our server came around to DBIL who was video taping, and gave a play-by-play of the action like he was a sports commentator- and then slipped right back in to his English accent. Mary Poppins stopped by and we were finally able to finish eating. The food is good, but you feel so rushed by all of the getting up to take pictures and sign autographs you barely remember what you ate! DSIL was trying to get DN to change from her "glass slippers" back into her gym shoes, but DN was refusing. David came by and told her that little princesses need to listen to their mommies and daddies, and DN made the switch. DBIL's DM asked if David could then talk to her son (my DBIL who is 33) as he doesn't listen either! So David responded by telling her no, but that he would make her a deal- if she could answer 3 questions correctly he would giver her $100 and pay for all of our breakfast, but that if she lost she would have to give DBIL 3 wishes. DH encouraged her to do it, so David said that DH should take him up on it. So he did, and got the first question wrong ( I don't want to spoil David's game as he said he uses the questions a lot, so I am not going to post them). They then went double or nothing, and DH lost again. So I got 6 wishes from DH!

We left and went to Philharmagic, which I absolutely loved. DN deemed it her favorite. Next was IASW, which DN said was her new favorite. We skipped Winnie the Pooh and headed to Toontown for Goofy's Barnstormer. We walked through Mickey's house, and since DN was rapidly getting crabby, her grandparents brought her back to the hotel while the rest of us stopped to shop. We stopped in Tink's shop and Sir Mickey's where I bought a 2005 scrapbook. I then got a Mickey bar in Fantasyland, which I have done every time I have ever been to WDW. We stopped in the Christmas shop where I got an orange Mickey ornament personalized for the trip (it was expensive!) and the guys stopped for Dole Whips. We stopped in the Emporium and caught the boat back to the hotel.

When we got back to WL we stopped at the desk to see if we were going to be moved. The CM kept arguing with us that our rooms were actually an upgrade from what we had, which is fine, but the problem was the noise. She replied that most people don't mind the noise. Ok that may be true, but our 3 year old did and she didn't sleep the night before and was crabby now! So finally we got our rooms switched to 2004 and 2006, which were closer to the snack shop and much much quieter.

Tonight was the night we were attending the Mickey's-Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, so we changed into our costumes and left. I was Alice in Wonderland, and DH was the MadHatter. I little boy in the hotel stopped him and asked him if he was Jiminy Cricket! DN was Sleeping Beauty, DBIL was Prince Phillip, and DSIL was Maleficent. We took the boat over and walked right into Tony's for our ADR. We were seated by the window and the mass exodus of people out of the park was amazing. The wait staff were mostly costumed which was fun. The food was good, but we were anxious to get out and enjoy the party!

As we walked through the park, DN had to stop to say hello to every little girl dressed up as a princess. This was the theme for the week, so we constantly had to stop for her to say "Hello Jasmine, Hello Cinderella." We rode the Haunted Mansion, which DN surprisingly liked, and then got a spot in front of the funnel cake spot to watch the parade. Now all these times I have been to WDW, I haven't seen a parade since I was 4! I don't like crowds, and I'm short, so I get pushed around a lot. However, we had a nice spot up at the front and the crowd was not a pushy crowd, so it was good. The parade was incredible!!! For the rest of the week, we kept singing the music from it. The Haunted Mansion float was the best. And when the Queen of Hearts walked by, DH bowed to her, and she saluted back. But when she saw me, she glared at me and made a gesture of a slashing motion at my neck-gulp, off with my head!!

We had to do IASW again, and Peter Pan. For Peter Pan DN wanted to ride with me as Tinkerbelle is my favorite. We finally rode Pooh and everyone else did the Teacups (I get motion sick). We then waited in line FOREVER to get pictures with the princesses. In Toontown, there is a small area set up to take pictures with characters, but they rotate through the night. We were in line for over 30 minutes and ended up getting our pics taken with Cinderella and Prince Charming, Minnie in her witches' costume, and Perla. While we waited in line, Goofy was there to entertain, doing magic tricks. Actually he was pretty good- he was able to shuffle cards with those big hands!

We caught the end of the firework show, and it was awesome-360 degrees of fireworks. I have never seen anything like it. We split up for the adults to go on Space Mountain while DN went with her grandparents on Buzz. However, Space Mountain was broken down, so I suggested we hop on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority to see Space Mountain in the light- it was neat to see it, but it looks so tame with the lights on! We then wanted to ride Buzz, so DN waited with DSIL while the rest of us rode Buzz. We broke down in the middle, so our final scores were really really high (and unfair). DN was starting to crash then, so her grandparents took her back for bed while the rest of us went back to Space Mountain, which was now working. We then walked all the way over to Thunder Mountain, where we saw my favorite costume of the night-the Hamburgler!! The guys then went on Splash Mountain, while us girls refused, as we didn't want to get our costumes wet (even though it was still soooooo hot out). DBIL and SIL then left, and DH and I went on POTC, where we literally walked right on.

As we exited the ride, a lady dressed as the Queen of Hearts said she had seen us get on the ride and wondered if we would take a picture with her! Of course we did, and then decided it was time to go. We caught the end of the villain show in front of the castle as we left, and stopped for ice cream at the Plaza. We got gigantic scoops of ice cream. We left and were able to catch the boat right away. We collapsed into bed, and at 12:30 our friend back in Chicago called to let us know that the White Sox had just won and were going to the World Series (we're Cubs fans, but supported the Sox as a Chicago team). We then got some sleep.

Today Stitch called at 7:30, and we met the rest of the family at 8:45. We waited about 15 minutes for a bus to Epcot. We ran to Soarin' and decided to wait the 40 minute wait, while grabbing fastpasses for later- and boy was it worth it!!! It is definitely now one of my favorites! We then went to Honey I Shrunk the Audience, and DN decided she didn't like the cat that turned into a lion. We went on Journey Into Imagination again. After we left the ride, a lizard ran up my SIL's leg, and she got surprised and started shrieking. We then stopped in Innoventions and played a game called Make a Pizza, where you learn about where the ingredients that make up a pizza come from. It was time for our 12:00 ADR at Coral Reef. We loved the atmosphere of the restaurant, even though it was a bit too chilly. We got to watch 2 divers cleaning the tank, which was neat. My DN got a kick out of shark spotting! We left and split up, and DH and I went to use our fastpasses for Soarin'. We then stopped in Mousegear to get some postcards and I bought a little Sorcerer Mickey for a coworker. We then headed over to the World Showcase. We started in Canada, and was disappointed to see so much of it empty and closed. We listened to Off-Kilter a bit, and then shopped in England. I bought some shower gel for my mom and tea for my grandma, where the CM that was checking us out recommended we get some pink champagne from the Champagne booth. Outside France we stopped to watch a street performer, and DH got a frozen lemonade. I took the CM's advice and got the champagne, Rosa Regale- it was very very good, and they had bottles of it for sale in the wine shop in Italy. In Italy, we talked a bit with a CM while I bought an Italian Mickey antenna topper. The CM recommended we glue it to our car, and I said that we currently have had a Nemo on our car for over a year and it's been ok. He said we must be from a small town, and we replied Chicago, so he said "Capone, eh, you better double glue it." We went across to the other store, and the CM there called out "Salute" to me, and I was still carrying half a glass of champagne. We breezed through Japan, Germany, and Morocco, and stopped in Norway to buy the Laila perfume. However, I couldn't find a smaller size bottle, so I decided just to buy it online later. It was then time to leave the park, as we were going to the Hoop De Doo Review that night! We took the bus over to Fort Wilderness and had a table right in front of the stage. The atmosphere was great- the salads are in pails and the drinks in jelly jars, and the show was very entertaining. In the beginning the actors introduce a few families and make up a rhyme based upon the state they are from. The picked us and sang that we were here from Illinois, and the rhyme was one of the actors stood behind DH and sang "and you better watch out for this boy." Later in the show, one of the actresses also kissed DBIL on the cheek, and kept teasing him throughout the show. DN said her favorite part was when "the girl kissed daddy." Later in the show, they also pull volunteers up to act out certain parts, it was really very corny and very funny. The food was also very good, especially the strawberry shortcake.

We took the bus back to the hotel, swam in the pool for a bit, and then went to bed.

Today we got up at 6:30 and met with the rest of the family to get the bus to MGM. We waited for about 20 minutes for a bus. We got into MGM and made a bee-line for TOT. For our first ride, DBIL and his dad waited with DN while DH, DSIL, and DBIL's Mom rode first. DBIL's Mom had never been on it before, so after we had a great ride, we stopped and looked at the pictures taken of us-and it was hysterical! DH, DSIL and I all had our hands up, but the entire rest of the car looks mortified! The 3 of us are laughing, but BIL's DM looked like this-- :O So we had to buy the picture. We then went on a second time but with DBIL and DBIL's DD while DSIL waited with DN. The 5 of us then did a quick ride on RRC, which we were able to walk right on. We stopped by gigantic rice krispie treats in the candy store, and met up with DSIL and DN. DN wanted to go to Playhouse Disney, and it was just time for a show. Not having kids, I hadn't done it before, but it was super cute! We stopped for pictures with JoJo and Donald, and then went over to the Muppets 3-D show. My DN is a huge Muppet fan, so she loved this show. After each 3-D show that we had seen at each park, DN had to make sure that she collected our 3-D glasses to return them. After the Muppet show, we went over to Al's and quickly got pics with Woody. We then got in line to take pics with Buzz and Jessie, but DN was too shy to get a pic with the Green Army Man. The rest of us were curious as to how he signed his autograph, so I grabbed her book and ran over myself. He signs it "Green Army Man" ?. By this time a CM came over and stated that in 5 minutes Buzz needed to get a battery recharge and Jessie needed to tend to Bullseye. Since we knew we wouldn't make it to the front of the line in 5 minutes, we left and decided to see if we could arrive at our lunch ADR early.

As we made our way to the 50's Prime Time Café, we walked down the NY street and noticed that some of the Christmas decorations were already up. A CM later told that that since they have so many lights to put up, they start in August! We also caught a glimpse of the San Francisco street as well. We arrived at Prime Time and were lucky enough to be seated 30 minutes before our ADR time. I loved the atmosphere, just like my grandma's kitchen. Our server yelled at us for not doing our chores (setting the table). The waiter next to us noticed DH checking out the food as he brought it out, so each time after he came over to get DH's approval before he delivered the food to the guest. The server also kept teasing the lady at the table next to us for being in a daze. DH and I split the meatloaf, and it was more than enough food for the both of us. It was excellent. The chocolate malts are also excellent.

DSIL parked the stroller in some shade for DN to take a quick nap. The rest of us went over to WWTBAM, but the show was already in so we went to the Great Movie Ride instead. This was my first time seeing the wild west scene. We then made our way back to WWTBAM. I was able to make it in the top 10 about 4 times, the highest as #4, and DH made it up there 3 times. Only 2 people were able to get into the hot seat. The first contestant made it to the 1000 point level. The second contestant stated that his wife had their baby at the Little Mermaid, so he and his older daughter came to the show. His cell phone rang during the show, and it was his wife. The host answered his phone and tried to pretend he was her husband- it was pretty funny. He also got 1000 points. BIL's parents stayed with our napping DN while the rest of us went to the new stunt show, which was pretty cute. DN was up at that point, so we split up while they all went to Beauty and the Beast, and DH and I did TOT twice (it took 15 for the wait and the ride both times). We met up with everyone and waited for DSIL and BIL's DM to go on TOT themselves.

We caught the end of the Stars and Motorcars parade and headed over to Hollywood and Vine for our 4:30 ADR. When we got there, we heard the CM saying that the restaurant was already booked for the night! Many of us were still full from dinner, so we picked through the buffet and made our way out. We split up, and SDIL, DN and I went to Muppets again, BIL' s parents went to the Indiana Jones show, and DH and DBIL went to Star Tours. We met up again to go to the 7:30 Fantasmic show. We were all a little worried as to weather DN would be able to handle it, but she impressed us all! We all loved it!

After the show, DH and I stayed while everyone else went back to the resort. We rode TOT again, stopped in the Villain store where I bought my sister a Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas antenna topper and some Halloween window clings. We stopped in another store to buy a Mickey polo shirt for my dad, and then we left the park and caught a bus back to resort. Our bus driver was great- he cracked a lot of jokes and talked about how much he loves his job. We stopped in the snack shop for yummy brownies and went to catch up on the status of the approaching storm. At that time, it was still a tropical storm, and the weather forecaster stated that he would be surprised it the storm hit category 3 levels. We then got some sleep.

Today we got up at 7:00 and were ready to catch the bus to Animal Kingdom around 8:20. As soon as we arrived at the park, it was time for our ADR at Donald's Breakfastasaurus. We had to wait about 15 minutes, and while we waited a CM came around with a tarantula (which DN loved and I stayed far from!). Once we were seated, we hit the buffet that had hot breakfast items like scrambled eggs, pancakes, and sausage and bacon. The character interaction was very organized, as the CM's made sure that each character got to each table. I noticed again how the character interaction made it seem like the breakfast was so much more rushed and stressful and you race to take a bite between each character, but it was still fun.

We then went right to the safari, where we had a 30 minute wait. We were able to see watusi, zebra, giraffe, hippos, and lots of birds. It was pretty hot by then, so we walked over to the Kali River Rapids. DSIL didn't want to get wet, so the rest of us went on. At first, everyone else was getting a little bit wet here and there, but I was completely dry-until the very last drop on the ride!! I got COMPLETELY soaked!!! I was definitely the wettest on the boat, but it was OK since it was so hot outside. After we got off, we went through the jungle trek, and saw sleeping tigers. We then headed over to Dinoland so DN could ride Tricera Top while DH, DBIL and I did Primeval Whirl. I mentioned before that typical I get motion sick but I still wanted to try this ride anyway-and I found out it wasn't so bad for me. I think it was the change in altitude that made it ok.

It was time for DN's nap again, and instead of trekking all the way back to the hotel, DSIL found a shaded bench near to Dinosaur, and she surprisingly was able to nap. While DSIL waited with the napping DN, the rest of us rode Dinosaur. I had no idea what to expect, I was thinking it would be a ride like POTC or IASW-boy was I wrong!! DN was still sleeping when we got off, so we went quickly to ITTBAB. DH and I didn't go to AK on our honeymoon, so much of the park was still new to me. ITTBAB was one of the new features. I thought it was cute, but some of the little ones in the show didn't share the same sentiments with me.

We went back to Dinoland and DN was still sleeping, so we went on Dinosaur again. We then transferred DN into her stroller to try and make the last Lion King time, and she woke up about half way there nice and refreshed. She kept asking to do Kali River Rapids again, but we all really wanted to see Lion King. And I'm so glad we did! Again, another first for me. We sat in the lion section. We then left the park and caught a bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge as we had 5:00 ADR's for Boma.

We got to the AKL a little early so we could go out back and explore. We were able to see more watusi, giraffe, and other little animals. We went up to the bar, and saw on the news that the same storm that the forecaster doubted would hit a category 3 the night before had escalated to a category 5, and was the fastest growing storm in recorded history. The storm had already hit the Grand Cayman islands, and was making it's way to the Yucatan Peninsula. We were worried about both the people that were being affected by the storm, as well as what that would mean for the cruise we were supposed to be leaving on on Saturday.

We were finally beeped for dinner, which was incredible as always. I even loved the sweet potato fru fru, and I don't like sweet potatoes! This is by far my favorite WDW restaurant. Even DN, who is a picky eater, found enough to eat and proclaimed it a "fun restaurant."

We then hopped on a bus to the Magic Kingdom as it was the EMH. The bus was very crowded. We immediately got in line to get our bracelets and breezed through POTC, Country Bears, and then DN asked to go on Haunted Mansion again. We went back to the Philharmagic, and actually realized that they pump smells in there as well-where we had been sitting earlier in the week we didn't smell anything! DH and I then split from everyone else as they went to the resort for bedtime.

DH and I went on Carousel of Progress, which was another first for me. The CM was very funny and took a poll of the people on the ride as to why they were there. I thought the ride had it's charm, and the father resembled Norm McDonald to me ?

We took a quick ride on Space Mountain, and then did the Stitch ride, which was not open yet when we honeymooned in 2003. I thought it was cute, but definitely not a ride I'd repeat anytime soon. We wanted to do Space Mountain one last time, and the line was suddenly long. We got fastpasses and then got into line, hoping to do 2 rides. However, when we got off, it was already 10:30 and we wanted to do a couple of more things, and the fastpasses weren't for another 15 minutes, so we gave them to a couple that were getting a fastpass right then. We walked over to Frontierland and rode on BTMR, getting stuck behind a group of young teenage girls who kept screaming at the top of their lungs for no reason. It was actually ear piercing and I was glad when we were put in one car and they were put in another.

We stopped at the Plaza again for more ice cream, and then made our way to the boat dock. We waited in a very long line for over 15 minutes with no boat in sight. We figured that we wouldn't even be able to make the first 2 boats that came, so we went over to the bus-and walked right on the bus! We made it back to the hotel and crashed for the night.

This morning I could not get the alarm clock to turn off. I cannot see very well without my glasses and I kept hitting buttons and turning switches to get the alarm off, and when I put my glasses on I saw the time said 9:30-so I started to freak out a bit as we were supposed to meet everyone at 8! It turns out I had completely changed the time on the clock when I was trying to turn it off. We originally had an ADR for O'Hanas, but everyone else decided to cancel as they were not feeling like breakfast, so I made a quick call to the dining line. We met everyone downstairs, all of us wearing our matching Mickey tie-dye t-shirts I had made for us in Halloween colors (thanks again for your great instructions Ilene). We got lots of compliments on the shirts, and one person even stopped us to take a picture of us.

Before we left the resort, we stopped in the gift shop to make sure that we could get a box to ship all of our souvenirs home. Not only did they give us 2 boxes, they also gave us shipping materials! DBIL's parents then left for the airport to fly back home to Chicago. The rest of us, DH, DSIL, DBIL, DN and I, caught a bus for MK.

This was by far the hottest day we had there. It was only 8:30 and you could break a sweat just standing there!! We started with IASW again (guess which was DN's favorite), did Peter Pan again, and then stopped to play at the new Winnie the Pooh playground. It was really cute, but too hot to stay and run around. We stopped at the Winnie the Pooh ride again, and moved onto Adventure Land. DN wanted to ride Aladdin, then we all went to the Enchanted Tikki Room, and again DN was great even during the Tikki god scene which can be kinda scary. After that, DBIL and SIL decided it was just too hot, so they took DN and went back to the resort for a nap and for some swimming. DH and I did Haunted Mansion and noticed that the park was starting to get very crowded. We decided to leave as well. It was a MNSSHP night anyway, so MK would only be open a few hours more anyway. I stopped to buy a CD and ran to the boat dock and caught a boat. We napped a bit and then showered.

We had a 5:00 ADR for Alfredo's, but for the second time on the trip, the bus driver drove us the wrong way!! It took us almost 40 minutes to get there, and we literally had to run all the way through Epcot to get there-so much for that shower! Honestly we were all pretty disappointed with Alfredo's. I had eaten there twice before and neither of those experiences were positive, so I wasn't very pumped to eat there now, but it was DSIL's favorite. And even she was disappointed. The menu had changed so that all our favorites were missing. Our food seemed like it had been cooked and then reheated. DN asked for spaghetti with the sauce on the side, and when it came with the sauce on, our waiter yelled at our server really loudly right in front of us. We had ordered an appetizer, but it never came. We were seated right by a serving station, and the waiters kept dropping things. DN wouldn't eat her food, so I gave her some of my pasta. Overall, it was good to leave.

We decided to walk around the World Showcase, and discovered that Starship was playing! I called my mom back home in Chicago because she is a fan, and she said "are you trying to make me jealous?!" We then went on Journey Into Imagination again and shopped in Mousegear again. DSIL was trying to get Christmas shopping done and wasn't having any luck. DSIL and BIL then left with DN.

We went over to Mission Space to check the wait-only 5 minutes! I have been on it before, but it was still too close to dinner for me, so DH went on while I sent a video email home to my parents. We went to Universe of Energy as neither of us had ever been in the pavilion, but it was closed. We had gotten a coupon for a free tile on the Leave a Legacy pyramids, so we went and redeemed that right away. It usually costs $25 for 2 images, and it will be up for at least 20 years, so not a bad deal. Since we were right there, we went on Spaceship Earth. We headed over to Test Track, and got on the ride in about 15 minutes.

We then went back to the World Showcase again. We went on El Rio Del Tiempo and browsed through the stands. DH got a glass of champagne and we were about to continue walking when a CM closed off the walkway. We knew that this was the extra magic hours night, so we were unsure as to what was going on. But then we saw that there was actually a bridge there being raised, and the boats that had the fireworks on them for Illuminations went under. I had never noticed that the walkway was actually a bridge, so even though we had to wait there for 15 minutes it was cool to watch. Once the gates were opened, we stopped in Germany and then rode Maelstom again. I got a cup of cheddar cheese soup at the Canadian booth (yum!) and then went on Spaceship Earth 2 more times. We then decided to call it a night and quickly got a bus back. We of course checked the news to get the update on Hurricane Wilma, and it was still battering the Yucatan Peninsula, which was almost hard to believe that such a big fast storm could stay in the same place for so long. We then went to bed.

Today we got up at 7:40 and got ready for out ADR at Kona Café. We took a boat to the MK and then hopped on the monorail, and it was a pretty quick trip. Everyone got Tonga Toast, except for DN who had pancakes, and it was excellent.

We then hopped on a bus to Typhoon Lagoon, and started in the wave pool. That is the best wave pool I have ever seen. We then went over to the family raft ride, which DN enjoyed. We then decided to try the new slide, the Crushin' Gusher, which is supposed to be like a water roller coaster. DH and I rode first while DBIL and SIL stayed with DN. We choose the banana trail, and it was so much fun. Definitely make sure that you keep your behind up though-I got mine bumped a few times on the slide! The drops were so much fun then. We then switched so DH and I stayed with DN and DBIL and SIL rode. We decided to take one more ride, so DSIL stayed with DN and DH, DBIL, and I took a 3 person raft. This time we chose the Pineapple trail, and DBIL barely stayed on the raft, we got so much air time! It was really fun. DBIL and DSIL took DN over to the kid's play area while DH and I did the shark reef. The reef was fun, but the water was very cold so I made my way across quickly. We then met up again and went back to the wave pool. This time unfortunately a wave took DN out and she scraped her knee, so she declared herself done with the wave pool. We went on the raft ride one last time, and it was a 30 minute wait. Since the park had gotten really crowded, we decided to leave, and it was just in time. Just as we got on the bus, it started to rain.

We stopped for a snack at the snack shop and then took a quick shower. This was when we got the news that the itinerary changed from the Western to the Eastern itineraries. I was grateful that we were even able to still do the cruise, as we were worried we may have to cancel that part of the trip. But the news coming out of the areas being affected was not good.

It was time for our ADR at Chef Mickey's, so we caught the boat over to the Contemporary. We had a little time to kill, so we shopped a bit and then checked in. As soon as we were seated, Dale came over and gave me a big hug. DH said "hey that's my wife" so Dale responded by trying to run away with me! For some reason Donald is the only character that doesn't move around the restaurant, so we went up to the front to take a picture with him. As soon as we got our food, Goofy came over. DH asked if he did any of the cooking. Goofy responded by pointing to the pizza and the macaroni and cheese. DH said "good, now I know what not to eat" and Goofy came and stood over DH as if to intimidate him! DSIL asked Goofy why he cooked and not Chef Mickey, and Goofy made a gesture as if Mickey is too busy posing for pictures and waving to fans. Chip came by while I was getting my food, and then Minnie breezed through really quickly. Mickey finally came by and we were finally able to eat. The Mickey ravioli was so cute!

After dinner we caught a bus to Downtown Disney where we intended to do some serious shopping. However, once we saw how crowded it was, we decided to just see what we could get done. We started in the scrapbook store where we bought some stickers and mailed postcards. We then went to the Christmas show and we could barely walk through it! It turns out Christopher Radko was there signing ornaments, so that at least explained the crowd in that store. We went over to World of Disney, and we can barely walk through it. We also were kinda disappointed in it-typically it has merchandise you can't find in other stores, but we saw a lot of the same stuff we had been seeing all week. We then tried to go to Ghiradelli's, but the line was just too long. So DBIL and DN left while DSIL, DH and I walked to the West Side. We stopped in a few stores, bought a few cigars, and went back to the hotel.

Once at the hotel, we packed up our box of souvenirs and brought it down to the front desk to ship off home. We then finished packing to leave the next day and went to bed.

Today we were up at 8:00 and finished packing up our things. We had a very easy and quick check-out, and our driver from Quicksilver was right on time. We had a pretty uneventful trip, stopping to pick up my MIL and FIL from the airport on the way. My MIL and FIL, just like DBIL's parents also put the luggage tags on even though we were not taking Disney transportation, so some of their bags were missing as well, and we crossed our fingers they would show up at the boat. Once we got off the bus, there were porters there to take luggage for $1 a bag. I have forgotten to mention the insane amount of luggage our in-laws had, plus our monstrous suitcase, so of course we turned them all over. There was a quick check of our ID's and our names were crossed of a list and we were able to enter and check-in. since it was still before 12:00, they hadn't started letting people board yet, and the check-in lines were pretty crowded. However, by the time they started to let people board, we had made it through the lines and were able to walk right through security.

They announced our names, and immediately DH and I noticed that the CM that announced our names was our Head Server from our Honeymoon Cruise! The rooms were still not ready, so we lugged our day bags up to Topsiders and had a quick lunch. Reenergized by the food, we decided to tackle the excursion line. Since we had changed itineraries, everyone had to re-book excursions. This was the only disappointment to me in changing itineraries, as it had taken A LOT of coordination amongst the 3 families to decide what we wanted to do, to work out who would have DN at what times, etc. I double checked to make sure our Palo reservations were still ok, then joined everyone else in line. After about a 30 minute wait we got up to the front and discovered our first choice, the Shipwreck Snorkel, in St. Martin was already booked, but we could be waitlisted. So that is what we did, but we also booked another snorkel trip as well in case the one we wanted didn't open up.

Our rooms were then ready, so we unpacked a bit, and then did our safety drill. This time we were in group K, which meant we got to wait outside during the check. We made our way back to the room to get ready for dinner, as we had early seating. Tonight we would be in Parrot Cay, the most casual of the 3 restaurants. We took up one whole table just to our party. Our head server was Ronald from the Netherlands, our server was Dante from the Philippines, and our assistant server was Susan from Scotland. All were wonderful! I only noted what DH and I ate. I had crab baked with cheese for my appetizer, a mixed greens salad, rib eye steak, twice-baked potato, and crème brulee for dessert. DH had the crab appetizer as well, cold mango soup (it was like eating melted ice cream-I didn't care for it), the mixed grill, and banana bread pudding. DH also purchased the premium wine package for all to share. This night he had a Merlot, which he said was just "ok" (he's not a big Merlot fan, but DFIL wanted to try it). Except for the mango soup that I didn't like, all of the food was excellent. The only complaint I had was that we were barely making it out by the 8:30 seating!!! Service was very slow, and I don't know if it was just because they were coming out of drydock, but it was amazing that DN lasted through it.

Since we missed all of the events in between the seating times, DH, DBIL and I headed over to the variety show, staring Freddy Fusion, a magician type (who was awesome), and Gary DeLena, a singing comedian, who was also very good. Everyone else went to bed. DH, DBIL, and I then went over to Diversions, the sports bar, to see the White Sox win a game of the World Series 5-3!! We finally headed off to bed, where we found a towel elephant waiting for us!

Today I got up at 7:30, but decided to let DH sleep in a little, so I read until he got up at 8:30. We went up to the buffet breakfast at 9:30, where I educated the guy in front of me in line to Cream of Wheat (35 years old and from the south and he told me he didn't know what it was!). After breakfast we watched DN go down the Mickey slide a few times, and then the girls went to the ship shops. DSIL and I each bought a cruise-themed scrapbooking kit, and I was glad I did because I heard later in the week they sold out of them.

We then decided to play Pictionary. The team we were against was really competitive!! Our team still won however, when I guessed the final clue, that the CM was drawing Goofy. We received gold medals, while the other team got cruiseline keychains. DH, DBIL and I went to Diversions and played fooseball a bit, then DH and DBIL played sports trivia (they tied for 1st and got more medals) and I went to the shopping talk. The cruise shopping expert Melanie (who looks like Jessica Simpson) gave the run down on what shops to go to and what to look for. DSIL and I bought the Passporter books for $20, and it had all kinds of coupons for free stuff in the stores. Melanie also gave out some free stuff during the talk (like children's pj's and tote bags). It was a bit like a long ad after awhile, and I think the stores she endorses do pay some type of advertising fee, but I still felt better educated after I left. She kept talking about some kind of watch that block electronic pollution, that were endorsed by Oprah, which I just thought was kinda weird. Besides the free coupons in the book, which also has coupons for other islands and tropical shopping locales, you could show the book for a free bingo card during the week (which I never did).

We had a quick lunch at Topsiders, which was Italian themed that day. DH decided to take a quick nap while I did a load of laundry. After the laundry was done, we walked by the art auction to take a look at what they had and the crazy prices they were going for. We then met up with everyone else to play Scattegories in the Promenade Lounge, which we again tied for 1st! More medals (see a theme yet?) While DH was napping and I was doing laundry, DBIL also made it to the top tier in the ping-pong tournament. The entertainment crew was going to want to ban us from playing games soon! After Scattegories, DBIL, DN and I stayed in the Promenade Lounge for a quick salsa lesson, taught by David. It was really fun, and DN was actually able to pick up some steps!

It was formal night, so we left to get dressed for dinner, which was in Lumiere's. We stopped for formal pictures first, and the lines were so long. This one family took about 8 pictures themselves (and I'm not exaggerating!). I had the fruit appetizer, salad with red wine vinaigrette, 4 cheese rigatoni, and an apple tort (which I didn't like too much). The rigatoni was excellent, better than many of the Italian places around my neighborhood. DH had friend camembert cheese, beef tenderloin, and crème brulee. Today we asked Dante if we could go a little faster, and he just laughed and said he's trying. He started brining our DN's food when we were eating our appetizers, which helped.

We were able to catch 2 quick karaoke acts, but then DMIL and DBIL asked if we would go save seats for everyone in the theater for Golden Mickeys. Being good children we did, but we missed DN singing karaoke. She sand Bippity Boppity Boo from memory, and as other people recognized her all week long for her singing, I bet she was pretty cute. Golden Mickeys was very good, and I liked that we got to walk the red carpet into the theater and have paparazzi bother us. Very cute. After the show, we were all tired, so we all went to bed. Tonight, a swan towel greeted us.

Today we got up at 8:00 and again had breakfast at Topsiders. We met up with everyone else in Sessions, where they were playing Scrabble. DH and I joined in the second game, and DFIL won. DSIL and I then went to the Promenade Lounge for a talk by Melanie on gems, which was very educational. We also got a coupon for a free pendant (which actually turned out to be nice!). DSIL and I grabbed lunch at the buffet (today Oriental themed), then headed back to the Promenade Lounge. We mapped out our shopping trip in St. Martin, then stayed to play general trivia. We again tied for first, and the CM picked 2 from each tied team to come up. It was me and a big guy from the other team, and the CM said we would have to wrestle for the prize ? He then said he would give us a tie-breaker question, and the first person to hit his hand could answer first- but then he held his hand way over by me so that the other guy couldn't reach. The question was "what 2 days in major league sports are there no games." The other guy thought of the answer before me- the day before and after the all-star games (I was trying to think of holidays), so officially the other team won first, but he gave us medals too (yes we had medals all over our stateroom).

DSIL, DFIL, DH and I then had our wine tasting in Sessions. DH and I had done this on our honeymoon and had so much fun we wanted to do it again. We learned quite a bit about wine, and I confirmed that I really don't like full-bodied reds but really do like champagne. We had 3 whites (the first I really liked, the 3rd none of us liked), 2 reds (the first was good, the second was awful), and champagne. This cruise they also had other types of alcohol tasting, like tequila and martini's, but unfortunately we didn't get to try those.

We went up to the 9th deck to meet up with everyone else, and I got a quick pic with Stitch, who is one of my favorites. I watched DH play a little basketball, but it was way too hot to be running around outside. Since it was close to dinner time, we went to get changed.

Tonight we were in Animator's Palate. One thing I have forgotten to mention is how the staff really pushes everyone to use those antibacterial wipes or lotion constantly, I guess since there have been so many flu outbreaks on cruise ships. I had the butternut squash soup (delicious!), Caesar salad, roasted chicken and strawberry shortcake. DH had goat cheese and duck flatbread, the soup, veal, and although he originally also got the shortcake, he has this thing about ordering the same thing as me (he won't) so he switched with his mom who had the double fudge cake. Yum all around! And of course the show in the restaurant was excellent as well.

We all went to the show, which was Twice Charmed. It replaced Hercules the Muse-ical, which was also very good, but I had seen Hercules 3 times already. Twice Charmed was very cute and I really liked it, but they had quite a few technical difficulties and you can tell they are still working the kinks out.

DH and I then went to Sessions to watch Bobby Hamilton a bit. It was so relaxing. DH had the drink of the day, the Yellow Bird, and I had the best non-alcoholic piña colada I have ever had. We then headed over to Rockin' Bar D to watch Freddy Fusion again, and he was just hysterical. He did these cool word tricks, where he called an audience member up and ask her to pick a random word out of a book, and he would be able to guess the word. He did tricks with balloon animals, and also pulled another guy out of the audience to stand there, while Freddy stood behind him and acted as his hands (if you've ever seen Who's Line Is It Anyway, it's like the skit that Ryan and Colin often do). He also had a duck that he called a Kung-Fu Duck that can do a card trick. Of course the lady he pulled up from the audience said that she had a different card than she really did (she had the 3 of clubs but kept insisting it was the King of clubs- it was very strange) but it turned out in the end. We then went down to bed where another towel elephant greeted us.

Today we were up at 7:00, and the first thing I noticed was the huge ship outside our window- land at last! I had been taking lots of motion sickness medicine the past 3 days, as we were going at full speed to avoid Tropical Storm Alpha. We met in Rockin' Bar D for our excursion, and we ended up getting the Shipwreck Snorkel! Last minute, DSIL and DBIL decided they were not going to go, so DH, DMIL, and DFIL all went.

The crew on the snorkel boat was great. They cracked lots of jokes and made it a really good time. They split us up into 3 groups, and our group leader was named Bert. They had made an announcement that visibility wasn't 100%, but I sure couldn't tell! Bert lead us around a pretty big area, and I saw all kinds of beautiful fish. My favorite was a black one with turquoise polka-dots. I of course took all kinds of under water pictures. Bert gave us food to feed the fish, so they got really close to us. I got to hold a white-spined sea urchin, which was prickly and interesting to touch. Bert then held up a black-spined sea urchin, but those sting, so of course we didn't get too close ? We saw lots of coral, and got to take a nice boat ride around St. Martin as well. It was a great excursion.

DH and I went back on the boat and showered, and then went back onto the island to shop. We took a water taxi, and although I had originally hoped to buy some ammolite jewelry, I was feeling very pressured to shop on this island, and I really don't like that. I felt like I was being " had". So I redeemed some of my free coupons, the best being for a color changing tote bag at Del Sol. It was just way too hot, and there were too many people trying to peddle us, so we went back to the ship.

We got some lunch at Pluto's, topped off with some ice cream, and then DH played ping-pong with his dad while I went back to the room and watched Madagascar (it was running on TV). DH came back and we got ready for dinner, which was again in Parrot Cay. Tonight was Pirates IN the Caribbean night, so we all wore our pirate costumes, which was great fun. We stopped for pics with Pirate Mickey and Minnie, and then made our way into the restaurant. There were doo-rags waiting for us at our table, and the servers were all dressed in pirate gear. I had this awesome pineapple, banana, coconut appetizer, bib lettuce with raspberry vinaigrette, grilled shrimp and scallop pasta, and coconut rice pudding. DH had a jumbo crab cake, the bib lettuce, beef tenderloin, and bananas flambé.

After dinner, DH, DBIL and I went to Diversions for baseball trivia. DH and I only got 4, DBIL got 10, and the winners had 23! They were hard questions!! While we were at trivia, DSIL and DN went to "So You Think You Know Your Disney Tunes," and DMIL and DFIL went to "Walk the Plank." We met up for "So You Think You Know Your Family" at the Promenade Lounge, which was a cute game. They pick 4 teams of a parent and their child (adult children count too) and they put one have of the time out of ear shot. They then ask a question about the missing person, and the missing person has to come back and say what they think the answer is. For example, the parents were asked, "what is one thing your child has tried to get away with?"

DBIL, DH and I checked the Sox game score in Diversions, and then headed up to deck 9 for the pirates party. We got to see lots of characters, lots of silly dancing, and the fireworks were great! DH and DBIL were picked to go up on stage as pirate recruits, and they had to dance in front of everyone by themselves! They are both pretty shy guys, so that was really hard for them to do-but fun for me to watch ?. We then finished the night watching the Sox game for a bit in Diversions. I was starting to fall asleep in my chair, so we went back to our room to find a towel crab on our bed. We put the game on TV, and I fell asleep with the score tied.

Today we had to report to the theater for a customs check at 7:00, so we hurried up and got ready and flew through the check. It was really nothing more than them checking our passports. We grabbed a quick breakfast at Topsiders and got off the ship. DMIL suggested that we get a taxi to see Magen's Bay, so we were directed by a CM to the organizer of the taxis, and were told it was $8 per person. We stopped downtown to drop off some shoppers (they paid $4 per person) and saw that some of the schools had gathered to have a parade that day! We continued on our route, and we had to travel up the side of the mountain to come down the other side to get to the bay- and it was great sights all the way up! There was a brief rain shower, but by the time we got there it had stopped.

It was $3 per person for admission. The sign said kids under $3 free, but they would not let my DN go in without paying! We weren't going to argue, so we kept on our way. The taxi dropped us off, and we went out to the beach-and it was so beautiful. Because of the rain, there was this gorgeous rainbow stretched across the water- it was really breathtaking. We spent a few hours walking across the sand and playing in the water. If we ever go back though, I would definitely remember to take bug spray- some of us got a little bit up.

When it was time to go back downtown, we tried to get a taxi, but all the drivers kept saying $9 a person. It didn't make much sense to us as it only cost $8 for the full trip, but again we were kinda stuck up at the top of the island, so we just paid the man and left. The taxi stopped at a lookout point for us to take some pics, and again it was just beautiful. The driver then justified the extra fare as those little extras like the stop, and he also gave us some island history. Ah I guess he has to make a living someway.

DMIL, DH, DSIL and I got off downtown, and DBIL and DN went back to the ship. DSIL continued to try on tanzanite rings. She had just fallen in love with this stone, but since she had already bought a diamond anniversary ring (it is their 10th anniversary) she couldn't buy another ring. I bought myself a Caribbean topaz ring at Cardow jewelers. It was one of the first times I didn't feel hustled or cheated. I really wanted an ammeolite stone, but they are just too expensive for me. But I really love my ring. We stopped to buy some pineapple rum for DH's best friend, and then we hailed a taxi to get back to the ship. As we got to a major intersection, DMIL notice a Harley store, and so she jumped out of the taxi and said she would meet us back at the boat!

The rest of us took the taxi back, and the driver was very nice. He told us a lot about the insurance and pension systems of St. Thomas, which was very interesting. We boarded, and went up to Pluto's for some lunch. We swam for a bit in the adult pool with DBIL, and I realized that I had just gotten too much sun. Even with the tons of sunscreen I had put on, I had gotten burnt. So I went to the room to nap for a few hours before dinner.

We got up and got ready for dinner, which was in Lumiere's and was the " Master Chef" menus. I had the fruit appetizer, tomato soup, vegetable lasagna, and a citrus sundae, all of which were delicious. DH had a tartlet, tomato soup, venison, and some kind of pineapple dessert.

We had to go to karaoke again. When DN name was called, she yelled out " here I am!" and ran up on the stage. She sang "Once Upon a Dream" and sang all the words by heart (well she can't read yet so she had to ? ). We went down to the theater to see Taylor Mason, who is a puppeteer. The best part was when he pulled people up from the audience to work the puppets. We were laughing so hard we were almost crying. DN didn't quite get it though, and kept asking why we were laughing. DSIL was feeling sea sick (the boat was quite rocky) so she went off to bed. She took DN with her, and DMIL and DFIL went to bed as well, so DH and DBIL and I went to see "Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer." They drastically changed that from the last time I cruised. Before you could win a 7 day cruise if you answered all the questions correctly. Now it is a 5 question format, and the top prize is a paperweight. You also get a pin just for getting selected. They pick contestants by assigning each person in the audience a number, and then calling random numbers. After the game, we finished the night by watching another World Series game in Diversions. The Sox won yet again! We went back to the room and was greeted by a little towel monkey!

Today we were up at 7:00 for our character breakfast in Parrot Cay. DMIL and DFIL decided to sleep in, so it was just DH, DN, DBIL and DSIL and I. It was a very fast meal, and I was not feeling well after, so I went back to the room to nap. I woke up just in time for our spa treatment- the exotic rasul!

DH and I went up to the spa and checked in. They gave us each a robe, and told us to wait in our respective waiting rooms. And we waited..and waited.and waited..Finally my name was called, and I found out the original CM had not fully checked us in, so that there was no record we were there. When we got down to our room later, we found that they had left kind of a nasty message on our phone, which I didn't appreciate considering it was their mistake. Oh well. We got called and led to our room. It is like a big shower with a separate steam room. First you are supposed to use a sea salt scrub and rinse, then a mud type and rinse. At that point, it was getting way too hot for me in the steam room, and I was having trouble breathing. I had to go to the shower part just to be able to breathe again! DH however loved the steam room and spent a good amount of time there. The room also had a basket full of bath products, which were fun to try. My skin definitely felt way softer after we left, and soothed since I had sunburn.

DH and I had lunch, pizza this time. I also tried a wrap, which wasn't very good. We did even more napping then, and woke up to go to Shutters. I stopped to watch the golf chip-in competition in the main atrium, and then DBIL and I went to Diversions for more sports trivia. We ended up with 15 points. DBIL and I then met up with DMIL, DSIL, DN and DH to play shuffleboard a bit.

DH and I went back to the room and watched Bewitched, one of the movies that was looping on TV. We then got ready for Palo! Our server was named Louise, and she was from London. She has been working on the ship for over 6 years now. I found out that her best friend is the server I had on my first cruise back in 2000, Naelin from Scotland. She said that Naelin is back home in Norway and is getting married soon. She also said that my drink server from that same trip, Marco, is also still working at Palo, which I already knew since he and my sister still keep in touch via email.

Louise was very helpful and very knowledgeable, so we ended up following many of her suggestions. We all had the calamari, and DSIL declared it the best she has ever had. We all split the chef's special pizza, which was very good. DH and I had the portabello mushroom (excellent!!!!) and DBIL and DSIL had the minestrone soup. We all had the lobster with pesto, as it was lobster night on the boat. And of course we all had the chocolate soufflé. Looking back, I'm still not sure how we ate all that, but it was incredible. Dinner lasted over 2 hours, but it was a great time.

Probably because of all I ate, I wasn't feeling well again, so I went back to the room for bed, falling asleep to the movie "Man of the House". DH and DBIL went to see Taylor Mason again, and I was very disappointed I missed the show. DH said it was very funny. We also had wanted to see a preview of the movie Shopgirl at 12:00, but by that time I was long asleep. This night, there was a towel python on our bed!

Today we slept in till 8:30 and awoke to find that we were still being tugged into dock. As soon as we were able too, we got off the ship and headed to the family beach. DBIL and DSIL were going parasailing, so DH, DMIL and DFIL watched DN play in the sand and try out her new dive mask. We searched for shells and made a sand castle. DSIL and DBIL came back, declaring parasailing awesome, and we all headed for lunch-- barbeque at Cookies, which was as good as always.

DH and I snuck off to the game corner. We played yet some more ping-pong, and then DH entered a ping-pong tournament. He lost in the first round (as did all players who were on the same side of the table as him-there were some interesting winds), but had fun. I saw some cool little hermit crabs in a green shell- they were pretty neat. We shot some hoops, and then headed back to the beach to find our family gone. DSIL and DBIL had booked open cabana massages, so we guessed the DMIL and DFIL had brought DN back to the ship.

We went back ourselves and started packing up our things. We got ready for our last dinner, at Parrot Cay. It was the "Till We Meet Again" menu. I had the chicken tenderloin appetizer, a salad with watercress dressing, beef tenderloin, and the celebration cake-everything was extremely delicious. DH had the lobster and crawfish bisque (I didn't care for it but he really liked it), the seafood medallions, the seafood pasta (fishy kinda day for him) and a pineapple crème brulee. We also had the champagne for that night's wine selection- the Fairy Tale Cuvee made only for Disney. This was also the night that they did the baked Alaska, so Dante brought us a big piece of that split as well.

DN had to do karaoke again. I don't know where she gets it from, the rest of our family could never get up there and sing. She sang Bippity Boppity Boo again. Then we went to the variety show, featuring Tyler Mason again, and Randy Cabral who was a cool juggler. Now being on a Disney cruise, I am quite aware that there will be children everywhere. I don't have kids myself yet, and typically am extremely patient with them. However, sitting in the theater, the kids sitting behind us misbehaved so much it made it hard to watch the show. From kicking our chairs (and I am talking older kids, 8 or 9, not toddlers) to fighting and hitting each other, to yelling, to getting out of their chairs to go over and hit one of their siblings, and the parents just sat there. I don't get it. Anyway, sorry for the digression.

We went down to Diversions one last time, this time to see the variety show led by the entertainment crew. Now if you have been reading my trip reports, you might have noticed that we did a lot of activities led by the crew, so we got to know them. This show however made us see them in a whole new light! There was quite a bit of adult humor, in the style of Pub Nights in England. There were some sing-alongs and some of the patrons were pulled up to do a silly jig. The best part was the end when the crew sang a song about what jobs they would have if they weren't on a cruise. It was quite funny and I'm glad we went. At this time, the boat was really starting to rock, so I needed to get back for some sea-sick pills. This was my fourth cruise and I have never had sea-sickness like this trip. However, for the entire trip we were going at full speed trying to avoid storms, and on this particular night the update on television said we were hitting 12 foot swells (I don't know how bad that typically is, but it was bad enough for me!!). I had a really hard time falling asleep, but I finally did.

Today we got up at 6:00 in order to make our breakfast time. One last meal at Parrot Cay. We took some pictures with Susan and Dante, and DFIL invited Susan to come visit when she came to Chicago. They had really hit it off. We made a very quick exit off the ship and found our luggage quickly. We zipped through customs and had to wait about 20 minutes for Fabio to come from Quicksilver. We made it to the airport in no time, and waited about 3 hours for our flight. We passed the time shopping in the stores and doing crossword puzzles. The flight was mostly uneventful until the very end. Unfortunately, just as we were getting off the plane, DN got sick and threw up-everywhere..The flight attendants were actually arguing over who would clean it up. DBIL kept asking people to move aside so he could get her to a bathroom or off the plane, but no one would get out of his way. The limo came shortly after, and we were on our way home.

The new pool side TV at the Goofy pool is pretty neat. They show 1 or 2 movies a day, and it's a nice alternative form of entertainment, especially if you are up there eating lunch. It was also cool for the deck parties. New for me was that they altered the ice cream section, so that there is an ice cream dispenser station and the counter now has wraps, paninis, and fruit. We all declared the wraps "ok" but it was nice to get fresh fruit whenever you wanted. The Cove Café was also new to me. It was very quiet and comfortable, and early risers DFIL and DMIL started each day here with some coffee. Diversions was a nice sports bar, and as you can tell we spent a lot of time here. It's much better than the ESPN Club was- more room, more inviting. There also seemed to be more sports events on the ship, like the golf competition, the basketball competition. But it also could be that I just never paid attention to those before. There were a lot more different alcohol tastings than the last cruise we took- martini, tequila, etc. Having a room on deck 2 turned out nice. We were close to the restaurants and the gangway, so we were able to take the stairs a lot. The only downside was that at times it was loud, such as when we were docking or being tugged in.

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