A Disney Filled Spring Break-4 Parks & a Magical Cruise! New 12/11- Completed!

Suziannie · Aug 25, 2014

Ok that photo gallery is genius! So no hunting through stacks of people's photos to find yours?

That alone may have sold me on a Disney cruise!

Your tour photos are helping too! They brought back the Disney boats to Galveston for a few more cruises. I should really check the dates and see if I can make one work. Would love to try it out!

scrpbookr · Sep 13, 2014

First off I need to apologize for being away for an entire month! I work at a school and mid-Aug to mid-Sept is my busiest time of the entire year. Add that to getting Reagan settled into a new grade and routine plus my mom was also visiting for a few weeks. All my time away from work was spent trying to squeeze in quality time with her and keeping up with the routine changes. I just haven't had much Disboards time. I've missed it! In less than two weeks Nanny and I will be back together again IN PARIS!! I'm so crazy, excited!! I cant wait to take in all the Disneyland Paris details! That said I need to get back to trip reporting! In addition to this trip I also have a summer trip to post and the Paris trip will be here before we know it. So much Disney fun!

I left off just about where we got off the ship to explore Castaway Cay. I loved the entire cruise but this was my favorite day by far. Right after breakfast we got off the ship. Nanny was read to go!

Reagan is all set, too!

In usual Disney style there are great details everywhere!

A big hula Olaf was welcoming at the Post Office...

There was another friend at the post office as well. Reagan and Nanny had a seat while I got in line to meet the #1 Duck...

Looking back at the beautiful Magic from Donald's line at the Post Office...

Donald!

Goofy was already hard at work painting on the back of the Magic...

I have a thing for nautical themed items in general. I was adoring all the signage!

The sign to the right will make you want to jump right in!

*boat crush!*

We came to an area where you could take a tram to the further beach areas on the island. I wanted to walk and photograph my way along but Reagan and Nanny opted for the tram. We made plans to meet up on the beach shortly....

Welcome to Castaway Cay!

One of the first beaches was just a bit ahead...

Disney details entertained me along the way.... (and made sure I was headed in the right direction!)

Options....

This first beach had rentals, rays, etc...

Scuttle's Cove was the kid's club area...

Look who I found along the way!!

I should have taken a close up of my sundress/ cover up. It has a Disney travel theme print on it....

Lots of good signage letting you know what is where....

First Aid... which thankfully we did not need....

Ooooooh! Shopping!

The store is very cleverly named She Sell Seashells and Everything Else....

I'll stop here and pick up with part 2 in the next entry...

scrpbookr · Sep 13, 2014

I continued to enjoy my walk from the ship to the beach. Meeting friends like Pluto (with no line!!!) really made the walk the best!

Since there was no wait behind me I asked him for a solo pic as well. He's adorable! And I love the backdrop!

Pretty Hibiscus flowers always make you feel like you're on vacation!

This looks like a perfect place for a rest!

....or this...

Keeping us safe!

This is another lifeguard who is stationed out in the middle of the snorkel lagoon area....

Aaaaaahhhhh! The beach!

In Da Shade is a outdoor game room type area...

mini golf holes...

ping pong....

A perfect hidden Mickey!

Foosball and Chess....

Checkers, Billiards and Hoops!

Some eating areas...

Concked Out Bar...

Self serve, soft serve! Looks like strawberry, pineapple, vanilla and chocolate!

More eatery options...

I remembered to bring my new Fish Extender cup along with me so I filled it up as I passed one of the eating areas. There were self serve soda fountains in these areas.

More shopping... This area had Bahamian items rather than Disney branded items....

Another beach entrance with good signage to keep you from getting lost...

Flippers and Floats is the place where you can rent float tubes or snorkel equipment. When Nanny and Reagan arrived at the beach Nanny got Reagan a tube for the day. Later in the day we rented snorkel equipment.

A view of the Magic from Heads Up bar...

Alright... I'm about out of picture space here again. Part 3 coming up...

Suziannie · Sep 13, 2014

It looks deserted! Was it empty or did you just happen to take photos when no one was there?

scrpbookr · Sep 13, 2014

Suziannie said:
It looks deserted! Was it empty or did you just happen to take photos when no one was there?

I did this initial photo walk pretty early in the day. It filled up some as the morning continued but it never felt crowded. It is pretty spread out. It's much larger than the ship we all got off of.

If you can make sailing out of Galveston work you should go for it!

Suziannie · Sep 14, 2014

scrpbookr said:
If you can make sailing out of Galveston work you should go for it!

I don't know that we'll be able to-but it's not off the table.

They've pulled a lot of the sailing from Galveston, I think there's only like 6 this year total, all in the late fall/early winter if I recall correctly. Next year I'm not sure there are any at all from Galveston.

Which I'm kind of ok with because I think, and I may be wrong, that not all the sailings from Galveston go to Castaway Cay.

Either way we've got WDW this December, then DLR for a long weekend for just Ben and I in Feb 2015.

And if that goes well we may switch WDW to DLR for Dec 2015.

But in 2016 we've got a big family trip planned with my sister and her kids as well as my mother. We're going back and forth on adding a few days at sea. But my mother is a big Carnival fan so she's having a hard time seeing the value in a Disney cruise with the price difference being so different. I may be able to talk her into a trial 3-4 day cruise with a WDW trip too, selling it on the relaxation part since WDW is kind of an adventure.

missangelalexis · Sep 15, 2014

Glad to see you back! I can't wait to hear about your trip to Paris

Great pictures. Oh I am dying to meet Minnie in that costume! And Pluto's backdrop is so nice.

Maddie2 · Sep 21, 2014

Thanks so much for doing your trip reports. It's been 3 years since we've been to both Disneyland & WDW and it'll be 2 more years until we get back to one of them, so I really appreciate the Disney fix! Our boys loved Disney when they were younger (now 20 & 17), but our vacations this past couple of years have been elsewhere. :sad1:

However, I do have them committed to a last "just the 4 of us" Disney vacation in early summer 2016 - just before our youngest goes off to college.

:tinker:

It is SO true - they really DO grow up way too fast! I look forward to reading more of your Disney adventures with Reagan!

scrpbookr · Oct 18, 2014

I've been meaning to get back here to work on this trip report for weeks! Our trip to Paris and Disneyland Paris was a huge success! We did end up squeezing in trips to London and Belgium during the trip, too. We loved every minute of it! That said I really need to spend time bonding with the DIS because I have two new trip reports to start after I finish this one! Lots of Disney fun to share!

So, picking back up where I left off in Castaway Cay....

I was enjoying exploring all the details and Heads Up Bar didn't disappoint!

I was looking forward to swimming out to this with Reagan in a bit!

I continued on my way and entered the family beach to look for my mom and Reagan....

We pretty much spotted each other right away!

My mom had set Reagan up with a tube rental when they got to the beach and he was having a lot of fun with it. Isn't the water perfect!?!

Nanny had moved a chair down by the water to keep a close eye on Reagan and was loving her beach day!

Even though I was there seeing how pretty the water is in these pictures still gets me!

The sand was just as white as the water was blue!

I had picked up a few little goodies in one of the gift shops I passed on my walk earlier..... a hidden Mickey hair clip and a couple of postcards for the scrapbook!

Our perfect little spot on the beach!

It was time for Reagan and I to conquer Pelican Plunge!

We headed out together. Reagan did have to swim out to where he couldn't touch but he had the life vest for support. They provided these just like they do at all Disney pools, etc...

We made it across to the steps up to Pelican Plunge. My little guy is growing up!

There were two slides to choose from. We each chose one. My mom was able to capture Reagan coming out of his slide!

Reagan and I took a walk after our slide adventure! We checked out Spring-A-Leak....

This is a sidewalk bubbler, water play area for little ones...

LOVE all the buoys!

Reagan made a quick stop at a gift shop....

I had an error in judgement right about now. We were on a walk but should have rented a bike...

We were walking along a bike path and it was just to hot and too far with little to see along the way.

This plane was by far the most exciting site along the way...

There were some pretty flowers along the way...

But, for the most part there was little to see and it was hot. It would have been better on bike, I'm sure. We had had enough of walking it though. The bad news was we had to turn around and walk the same not so interesting path back. We were glad to get back to Nanny! The moral of the story is to stay on the beach or rent a bike if you venture out.

Back on the beach all was happy again! More from Castaway Cay coming up!

scrpbookr · Oct 18, 2014

Things continued to look back up after the long walk.... it was lunchtime! We went to the Cookies BBQ near our spot on the beach and all found plenty of yummy choices!

The rafters in the Cookie's seating area were adorned with a lot of fun, nautical details!

With our satisfied tummies we headed back to the beach!

We had decided to try something else adventurous! All three of us headed out to the snorkeling lagoon! This might be my favorite picture of the day!

We all swam out for awhile together but didn't see a lot in the area where we began. We started on the shore in the Heads Up Bar area. Reagan had swam for awhile without seeing a lot and I think the idea that he was out pretty far from shore in the ocean hit him a bit. He was ready to head back to shore. So we took him in. He was in more of a tube mood!

He and my mom were content on the beach but I was still hoping for a more fulfilling snorkeling experience. I swam back out and after talking to a lifeguard posted out in the lagoon I learned that there are buoys around the lagoon that mark the more interesting finds. I sort of feel like this would have been a nice tidbit to offer up when we were renting the snorkel equipment. Had I known I could have chosen more carefully where I had Reagan enter the water and which direction we swam in order to make it more interesting for him. I was able to use these instructions to find Minnie and Mickey in the lagoon. I also checked out the sunken Nemo submarine and a treasure chest. I had a nice swim around before returning back to Reagan and my mom. In spite of sunblock they both looked a bit pink from the long day in the sun and we decided to head back to the ship.

I snapped a couple of photos on the tram as we returned to the ship...

There's the Magic!

I forgot to mention that Reagan did a bit of souvenir shopping before we left, too. He got the most adorable Nemo sand bucket and a Castaway Cay beach ball. We've used both a lot over the summer during our shore trips. Reagan's shopping bag in this next pic reminded me of his stop and the gift shop....

As we made our way past the post office Reagan stopped for a quick visit with Olaf...

When we got back on the ship we all showered off the sand and salt water and got changed for dinner. These next few pictures of Reagan with the large port holes make me really happy!

I love this little guy SO much!

Dinner was at Cariocas...

I liked the lantern light fixtures!

Our wonderful waiter during our cruise...

Delicious starters...

Our assistant server helping Reagan with is ketchup hidden Mickey!

Reagan chose the spaghetti for dinner...

Mom had this really special meat trio that had a fun presentation and was so, so good!

Our server asked Reagan to join him and two other boys at a nearby table for a magic trick....

In the magic trick askew toothpicks came together to form this star...

Yummy strawberry shortcake!

I had the apple pie a la mode desert....

Another successful dinner! Yum!

scrpbookr · Oct 19, 2014

Can you imagine my excitement when I saw a pin trading event listed in the Navigator!? I was really looking forward to this. After dinner I headed to the area near the Walt Disney Theatre where this cute little popcorn cart was parked.....

There were several officers lined up with pins ready to trade! You just make your way down the line and trade away. Love it!

I was excited to trade for a few more of the character Anchor pins. I also found a Disney Magic pin from when the Magic was in Venice.

I also got a couple more of the fruit Mickeys...

I stopped back by the room following the pin trading and found this sweet note from one of the cabins we left a fish extender gift for. This was from a young teen and I was so glad she liked the necklace I made!

My next stop was the photo gallery to make our photo purchases. I chose this autographed print...

And this lovely print of the Magic at Castaway Cay...

This was our welcome aboard photo and I decided we needed to bring it home...

Look how cute the photo folders are!

I also couldn't leave this one with the character clouds behind...

This one with mom and I made the cut, too....

Looks like I made another stop back at the room where I took a picture of the swan towel animal...

This Mickey pirate bag, that was a fish extender gift, and that I took to guest services to have autographed for Reagan, was also delivered when I returned to the room. Didn't it turn out nicely!?

I wasn't in the room long before I headed back out for the night's show. Tonight was Dreams....

This was my favorite show of the cruise. I liked them all but this one was very sweet...

Dreams had received an award for being a best show at sea and I can understand why it was full of Disney magic!

The night was almost over but not until we had the chance to say farewell to all our friends.... coming up next.

scrpbookr · Oct 19, 2014

The final night of the cruise ended with a farewell gathering in the Grand Atrium. Cast members from all the shows during the sailing were there....

As well as all of our Disney favorites...

After all the characters entered the atrium they were available for greets. I was glad to get to meet Daisy in her cruise outfit...

And Donald, too...

Belle was looking stunning!

And so was Tiana....

Eventually all the characters started to say goodnight and farewell....

A goodnight kiss!

The lovely Rapunzel!

A staircase full of many of the sailing's performers!

Stitch!

Confetti was tossed and upon closer inspection it was Mickey shaped! You have to love those Disney details!

See Ya Real Soon, Goofy!

Bye, Donald....

Daisy is SO cute!

And last but not least..... Minnie and Mickey....

It was a wonderful, perfect cruise! At this point in the night I headed to bed. The next morning we were off on our next adventure! It was our Walt Disney Studios day!.... stay tuned!

missangelalexis · Oct 20, 2014

Love all the beach pics and of Pelican Plunge. Sounds like it was a great day!

A pin trading event? Sounds awesome! Those anchor pins are so cute.

Love that autographed photo so much, as well as all the others!

The farewell looks really fun.

Can't wait to hear about the next day!

scrpbookr · Oct 20, 2014

Disembarking on Monday morning went really smoothly. I've been on about 12 cruises but getting off the ship this time was one of the easiest. We carried our own luggage off and easily found the shuttle to take us to our off site parking location. Before we knew it we were on our way back to Disney World!

Reagan had decided that Duffy would be spending the day in Disney's Hollywood Studios with us.

Here they are on the tram....

After the few days at sea I was excited to be back in the parks!

We didn't get far before stopping to visit Bo....

Oscar's Station...

We stopped into the Darkroom under the Hollywoodland sign so I could get an additional camera card. I was running out of photo space. Crisis averted!

Huey, Dewey and Louie were being extra cute in the Darkroom windows!

Mickey's of Hollywood....

My sweet boy found a great hat along the way that was perfect for this park! Unfortunately we decided that it is almost always way to hot in Florida for this hat. It made for a great photo op though!

As we made our way down Hollywood Boulevard we gathered for the must have sorcerer's hat pictures....

We had to be pretty strong to resist all the cute Duffy outfits available at Cinema Storage! Later in the day it did get rainy and we weren't strong enough to resist the Duffy rain poncho.

We turned left off of Hollywood to explore some. 50's Prime Time Diner was still on my Disney bucket list during this trip. It wasn't something we had a reservation for on this day but I did cross it off my list when I visited later in the year in June. Love this place!

One of the places we did enjoy a bite from this day was Down the Hatch but I'm getting a little ahead of myself....

Hello, Gertie!

Reagan found a fun Yeti hat along the way to our first ride....

In usual fashion I photographed my way along....

Any guess what the first attraction will be? Reagan and Nanny picked it.... coming up next!

missangelalexis · Oct 21, 2014

Love that Duffy came along for the day, he looks so cute sitting in the basket of Nanny's wheelchair! Lovely DHS pics, can't wait to hear more. Hmm Star Tours maybe?? My other guess is Great Movie Ride :goodvibes

scrpbookr · Oct 21, 2014

Our first real ride of the day was Star Tours. Alexis get's a gold star for guessing right! pixiedust:

This was Reagan's first time to ride. My mom was eager to ride which I was a little surprised about because I thought I remembered that she didn't like it in the past due to motion sickness. I'm game for anything and was simply excited that they were excited!

We aren't extreme Star Wars fans but it's hard not to be impressed by the theming in the area!

This scene is a favorite....

Once inside the queue continues to entertain...

Is it normal to think droids are cute?

I love this one with Nanny, Reagan and Duffy in their Star Tours glasses...

Exiting into the dump shop...

I had to try hard to resist the urge to build my own cute driod. Isn't this the best idea!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a...0140323234551835.JPG/ps=50/r=0/rx=720/ry=480/

And one last photo op before we moved on to our next attraction!

It turns out my mom did get a bit motion sick from the ride. :sick:

I probably should have reminded her that this happened in the past to her but I was so caught up in their excitement! Luckily she got over it pretty quickly.

scrpbookr · Oct 21, 2014

Our next stop was Muppet Vision 3D!

I stopped to give the fountain the extra love it deserves!

Fozzie Bear! *side note* Reagan's Cub Scout pack has so many third graders aka Bears that they had to divide them up into groups. One of the groups is the Fozzie Bears and any time anyone says Fozzie during the meeting all the bears in this group say, "Waka!, Waka!, Waka!". I love it! *end side note*

This fountain has so many great details...

GONZO!

Fun signage on the way in...

A cast member blowing bubbles for guests.... I *heart* Disney!

Entering the prop room...

Reagan and Nanny getting their 3-D glasses...

Muppet costumes!

Miss Piggy's Travel Trunks...

There is SO much to see!

Reagan and Duffy are all set!

Gonzo's plane...

Time to head into the theatre...

Such a great building!

Miss Piggy's billboard....

I think that's the end of my Muppet mania. Even I surprise myself sometimes with how I get carried away with my picture taking. :confused3

missangelalexis · Oct 21, 2014

YAYYY!!

Love that Duffy got his own glasses for the attractions!

So many great pics!

scrpbookr · Oct 21, 2014

Reagan is a big fan of Phineas and Ferb and we were all looking forward to him being able to meet them!

The wait wasn't too bad. While we waited I took in the surroundings...

A Mama Melrose ad....

Part of the Phineas and Ferb set...

Duffy waited patiently in Nanny's arms. Apparently Duffy had his own magic band? Hmmmm.....

Cute sidewalk chalk art doubling as line control. It looks like Reagan is all set with his autograph book!

Nanny is getting her autographs, too! When my mom was visiting this summer we scrapbooked her trip pictures and she included all her autographs in with her pages. She's adorable!

The whole gang!

Those poor ears of mine. Sadly they are no longer with us.... *cries*. I lost them on the drop in PotC while in Disneyland Paris the end of September. The has a burial at sea in the Caribbean. This shows a close up of my Toy Story shirt and my "To Infinity and Beyond" necklace...

As much as I try to keep up with all things Disney and especially what Reagan is into this next friend was unknown to me.... Introducing Ducky Momo... Reagan was thrilled to see him so he must be awesome...