"It All Started With A Mouse" UPDATED 6/1/09 CASTAWAY CAY PT 2

[tiggersam00]

Just caught up on your updates Shannon!
I am in shock about the kids at AK!!! That is ridiculous! I am glad they got asked to leave. AT least you had the awesome WL to go back to! Dave and I are staying there for 3 nights before our wedding now!
Love the lists!
The top 5 are awesome, I havent done the dolphin tour but from your TR it sounded great! All the rest I am in complete aggreement on

The one thing from your top 5 missed that I can totally aggree with is missing Goofys Candy Co! I am making sure I visit this soon!

 

[ariel1025]

Just caught up on your updates Shannon!
I am in shock about the kids at AK!!! That is ridiculous! I am glad they got asked to leave. AT least you had the awesome WL to go back to! Dave and I are staying there for 3 nights before our wedding now!
Love the lists!
The top 5 are awesome, I havent done the dolphin tour but from your TR it sounded great! All the rest I am in complete aggreement on

The one thing from your top 5 missed that I can totally aggree with is missing Goofys Candy Co! I am making sure I visit this soon!

I know this response is a million years late (do you see a trend with my thought process today ) but I wanted to respond anyway. I can't wait to hear how you and Dave like WL after your planning session trip, in fact I'm anxious to hear how Jen will like it too I also can't wait to hear about your Goofys Candy Co experience that you will get to have in just a few short days

I am working on an update to finally finish up this TR now, hopefully you will stick around...I promise not to take so long to update anymore

 

[ariel1025]

First, my most sincere apologies to everyone for taking so long to do an update. I know that it drives me nuts to have to wait on updates when I read through my subscribed TRs and it was awful of me to do that to you guys

However, I am determined to finish this TR by the time our one year anniversary arrives. I have to admit I am shocked in how quickly that is coming. Less than 2 months away!!!!!!!

Ok, now on with the show....

I believe the last I had left off we had just been fallen asleep after what we considered the perfect ending to a spectacular honeymoon at WDW

Well, the next morning we had to be up bright and early...we hadn't finished packing up our suitcases and we had to meet the bus for our departure to the Disney Cruise Line. I just want to stop here and say that, yes I know it cost extra to use their bus system, but it is SO worth it. If you rented a car that would cost, if you got a taxi it would cost etc, etc. To me there is just something magical about the Disney buses and this was no exception. But, now I'm getting ahead of myself....

Well, the alarm went off extremely early and when I picked up the phone and knew that was the last time Stitch would be waking me up I started crying and I couldn't stop. The more I tried to calm myself down the worse it got. I know this all sounds silly but I felt extremely sad that we were leaving Disney World that day. I decided to go take a bath to try to relax which was starting to help but then...Candi walked in and said "I can't believe this is the last time we will have a jacuzzi tub" ... yep, the waterworks started all over again. He felt awful and I know he didn't realize I had woke up crying because he was still sleeping, but he was right and it made me sad. I pretty much cried the entire morning...while brushing my teeth, while packing ... you get the picture. After we finished packing we headed downstairs with our luggage to wait for the cruise bus. Now, I understand that it is pretty selfish to be crying when we have this wonderful cruise ahead of us, but it all went by so fast...you ladies understand right? Well, we are sitting there with our luggage when Candi tells me he forgot his hat in the room and he will be right back.

Well he returns about ten minutes later with two plates of food and a Diet Coke (yes, I drink Coke for breakfast ) and tells me to join him in front of the fireplace. He knew how much I loved getting the concierge breakfast for us every morning before I woke him up and so he decided to be the one to bring it to me on our last day I hadn't even thought about getting breakfast because I was so upset. This is why I love this man so much

After we finished our breakfast we knew that it was about time to leave so we took one last picture before we headed outside

But don't let the smiles fool ya...they were fake...this is how Candi looked when he didn't realize the camera was taking his picture

Yep he was just as sad as me

Well, after our final pictures in the lodge we followed our bus director outside with the other guests that would be joining us on the cruise and prepared for the next portion of our honeymoon....

 

[teddygurl28]

yeye! your back! i found your trip report about a month ago and i fell in love reading it. im so excited you were able to update some more. i feel you about having to leave..no matter how long you are there its never long enough ...haha.....and ps coke for breakfast is always good!

 

[ariel1025]

yeye! your back! i found your trip report about a month ago and i fell in love reading it. im so excited you were able to update some more. i feel you about having to leave..no matter how long you are there its never long enough ...haha.....and ps coke for breakfast is always good!

Awww, thank you for the sweet comment I'm glad to know that I still have at least one reader out there!! See, I knew Coke for breakfast wasn't weird

I see you have a wedding ticker up...congratulations Where are you going to be having your wedding? Do you/will you have a pre-TR?

 

[ariel1025]

Well, our time at Wilderness Lodge had come to an end and it was now time for the second part of our wonderful honeymoon escape. We were going to be boarding the Disney Wonder for our 5 Day cruise. So, we followed our bus director out of the Wilderness Lodge and into the bus. Just like with the Magical Express they loaded up all our luggage and told us to take what we needed now because we wouldn't be seeing it again for a while. We were assured that it would appear in our stateroom before dinner that night. Luckily, I had done my research and knew this already so we held onto the same carry on that we use for flights and handed over the rest of the luggage. Unfortunately, several people either forgot or were not aware of this and began digging through their suitcases for anything they couldn't bare to part with for more than a couple hours. Once again, Candi told me how glad he was that I spent so much time preparing for this trip Now, why oh why hadn't I found the Dis before then

Anywhooo.....we loaded up onto the bus and sat across the aisle from a very friendly couple who were also celebrating their honeymoon. We talked to them for a few minutes and then I proceeded to take a little nap on Candi's shoulder while we traveled to Port Canaveral. I have no idea how long this drive was because I was asleep before we left WDW property I was woken up by Candi screaming "Shanz {that's his nickname for me} hurry!! wake-up, you don't want to miss this" And he was right...when I opened my eyes this is what I saw

Oops, I was still so tired that I didn't even pay attention to the fact that I might actually want a picture of the ENTIRE ship Oh well, that was the important part of the ship anyway

Finally, I started to feel that much anticipated, so excited, little kid feeling about the cruise. In many ways I feel sad that I didn't feel that right away when we left for the cruise. But, it was just one of those bitersweet situations.

After leaving the bus we stood in line for security check and all that good stuff. We were given strict instructions not to take any pictures or our cameras would be confinscated Needless to say I didn't take any chances! The line moved rather slow but we had a nice chat with a couple behind us. Or at least the Husband of the couple behind us. He noticed our "Just Married" pins (yep, we wore them on the cruise too) and started asking us about the wedding. Well, for whatever reason this made his Wife start nagging at him about how embarassing he is. That you shouldn't just start a conversation with anybody you run into and that he was probably ruining our day Because of her statements I continued our conversation with him but made sure to have increased enthusiasm about the conversation...crazy lady, can't a guy just be nice, it wasn't like the line was going anywhere anyway

Well, we finally come upon our turn to go through security and as I start to walk through the metal detector one of the security guys screams "Ma'am what do you think you're doing?" Oops, I forgot to take my pin off my shirt and I guess he thought it was the end of the world I stepped back, took it off and put it on the conveyor belt and proceeded back through the metal detector. On the other side I made sure to put the pin back on...in front of the same security guy I guess I was just feeling a little testy that morning

After making it through security we proceeded into the "lobby" of the cruise registration building...what the heck is that building called???

Anyway, I went to go stand in line to get our room keys and such while Candi sat with our carry on baggage. I figured it was only fair since he stood in line at the airport for Magical Express. The only difference.....he walked straight up and I stood in a line about 100 people long

Well, finally it was my turn and I give the nice lady all of our documents and she asks me "Did you receive our phone call about your time with us?"

Now, do ya'll remember WAY back in the beginning on the first day of our time at WDW when I received the super-secret phone call while waiting in line for the Stitch ride? Ya know, the one that caused us to leave our CRT pics on our seats when we left the ride because we were in such a hurry to hear the message? Come on...you remember don't ya? Think about it...think about it...there...ya got it right?

Well, that is the phone call this nice CM was talking about........

I replied "yes ma'am I did" and we continued the check in process. She let me know that we would be in the third boarding group and when they called our letter to head on over to the much anticipated tunnel entrance thingy (that's a technical term just so ya know ).

After getting all of our documents and room keys and such, I met Candi over at his seat to wait. While we were waiting for our boarding number to be called we talked about our time at WDW. This is the point where we decided what the best and "worst" memories were so far and how lucky we had been with everything. Then we started talking about the cruise and how amazing we knew it was going to be .... and I tried not to dwell on the fact that in five days everything would be over and we would have to go back to the "real world."

Soon enough it was our turn to board the ship and we both skipped over to the tunnel thingy (ok, I skipped ... Candi walked behind me like he didn't have a clue who the crazy girl in front of him was ). We took our picture (which unfortunately didn't look good at all ... which was sad because I had all intentions of buying it ... guess that's what I get for crying all morning ). Then we were announced in and the staff all clapped and cheered...it was tons of fun!! We were notified that our stateroom would be ready at 3:00 pm and that we could roam the ship or have lunch at either Parrot Cay or the Beach Blanket Buffet. We opted for the buffet and decided to grab a seat outside (of which there were few to choose from). But it was worth it because we got to enjoy these beautiful surroundings

I have to admit the food was just "ok" but the desserts were amazing!! After eating we decided to roam the ship for a little while before the Bon Voyage Party began....

 

[teddygurl28]

Thanks...im going to start a pj/trip report...everything! when i start planning theres a long story behind it all, which will all be amusing at a much later time im sure......

isnt seeing the boat for the first time amazing! ive never been on a disney boat but when i cruise on carnival i love pulling up to the boat!

oh yeh--edited to add: im having a home wedding ( venue tbd), then spending 10 days at the yacht or beach club

 

[tiggersam00]

just read you latest entry... I am so wanting a disney cruise! I am super excited to hear about you adventure on the high seas lol!

 

[ariel1025]

Thanks...im going to start a pj/trip report...everything! when i start planning theres a long story behind it all, which will all be amusing at a much later time im sure......

isnt seeing the boat for the first time amazing! ive never been on a disney boat but when i cruise on carnival i love pulling up to the boat!

oh yeh--edited to add: im having a home wedding ( venue tbd), then spending 10 days at the yacht or beach club

Oooh, I can't wait until you start your pj...even though my wedding has been over for a long time I LOVE reading about everyone's planning process!!

What an awesome honeymoon to look forward to, I want to stay at the beach club one day...it looks so "homey" and romantic

just read you latest entry... I am so wanting a disney cruise! I am super excited to hear about you adventure on the high seas lol!

You definitely have to go on a Disney cruise..they are SO much fun!!!

 

[ariel1025]

With full bellies....mostly of awesome desserts we decided to head on up to the pool deck to see what was going on. We knew the Adventure's Away Party couldn't be too far away and, of course, I was super duper excited for it. Clearly, I was not the only one, the deck was booming with excitement when we got up there!!

The actual sail away party hadn't begun yet so I took the opportunity to "soak up the scenery" .... with pictures of course

Who wouldn't want to go down a water slide being held up by Mickey's hand???

I'm positive Candi was daydreaming about all the sports he wanted to watch on a TV that large

The best scenery of all IMHO

I stood there for a few minutes just watching Candi take everything in and I started crying (yes, I realize this is no longer a surprise to anyone ) but at that very minute it hit me how truly lucky I was. It didn't matter anymore about any of the negative things that had happened, how bad any of the food was, how broke we were at that point (thank goodness most things on the cruise are "free")....all that mattered is that we were together and would be for the rest of our lives

I was suddenly pulled out of my sappy state by an uproar of screams, laughter and shrieks of delight. I joined Candi by the ledge and realized this was why

The Adventures Away Party was starting!!!!

Oh my goodness, it was so much fun There were tons of characters and music and dancing and a whole bunch of the crew got on stage and just brought so much enthusiasm out of everybody. And then to set sail properly

The one and only, Mickey Mouse!!! It was happening....we were beginning the second portion of our trip...it was official!!! And, yes I needed Mickey to prove it

 

[tiggersam00]

Aww thats so cute! I cry too so I can totalllllly relate to your sappy moments, and I love it! The sail away party looks so cute

 

[ariel1025]

Aww thats so cute! I cry too so I can totalllllly relate to your sappy moments, and I love it! The sail away party looks so cute

It really was very cute...they had all sorts of characters dancing and the cruise director came out and talked to everyone, there was confetti and streamers and the all important...drink of the day YUM

 

[tiggersam00]

It really was very cute...they had all sorts of characters dancing and the cruise director came out and talked to everyone, there was confetti and streamers and the all important...drink of the day YUM

Drink of the Day you say, now your speaking my language!

 

[ariel1025]

Hi Ladies! I am feeling a little icky today, but I wanted to try and get an update posted before the end of the week. Just a warning...it may be a short one!

So, last we left off "Captain Mickey" was throwing an awesome party to get this cruise started on the right foot. We had decided to go one deck up and view the party from up there, which I recommend if you want to see the stage and not just the ginormous TV (which would look great in my living room). Anyway, we are up there dancing and twirling our streamers and enjoying a super yummy drink made of rum and something...does it really matter what else when there's rum involved? As I am standing there enjoying my yummy drink Candi screams, "Oh my gosh, look who's down there!!!!!" To which I say "yes Babe I see Mickey" and he goes "no loooooooooooooookkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!"

Keep in mind the area he was pointing to looked like this

So, I'm like "babe you are going to have to be more specific" And he goes "It's Juwan Howard" to which I go "babe you are going to have to be more specific " He then tells me (in much longer form) "oh my lord babe, he is only one of the best NBA players EVER!!!!"

***for this next portion of the conversation please keep in mind that at this point I might have had more than one drink of the day

So, I finally figure out he is not pointing at the crowd but at two guys off to the side of the crowd. One of them was an incredibly tall guy and then a very, very short guy and I go "well, which one is Juwan" Ooops, blonde moment...but hey, there could always be another Mugsy Bogues in the NBA right?????

Well, after Candi got over being star struck we realized it was about time for our room to become available. So, we decided to start heading that way. However, we got very turned around and lost along the way...that darn ship was very confusing for me to navigate

We finally, found the correct elevator and are getting ready to head to our deck when somebody asks us to hold the elevator...it was none other than Jawan Howard!! And, of course, Candi turns into a little kid and has this huge grin on his face but no words will come out. Juwan even tells us Congratulations (we still had on our pins) and Candi can't even get a "thank you" out....no worries I did it for him Then I realize that he never pushed an elevator button so I ask him what floor and .... it was our floor! We get off on the right deck and head to our room and I notice Juwan is right behind us all the way down the hallway.....his room was RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO OURS!!!!! Candi was in heaven....that over excitement was for him, not me, by the way Not that I didn't think it was cool, but half of me was wondering why he didn't get a suite and half of me was trying not to do anything stupid in front of a famous person

Well, Candi was still so excited and star struck that it took him almost 20 minutes to realize that our room had this

We had only paid for a regular ocean view but WE HAD BEEN UPGRADED TO A PRIVATE VERANDAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is what the super secret phone call had been about on our first day in WDW, but I had told Candi that we had gotten excited over nothing because they were just verifying our cruise dates for us....oops, I guess I lied after only being married to him for 3 days

I wasn't upset at all that it took him so long to notice though, I found it super cute that he was so excited over seeing an NBA player "in real life." I knew that it made the trip even more special for him

After jumping up and down and screaming over how great the upgrade was the announcement came on for the safety drill. So life jackets on and we were off to our designated drill area, which, for us was Animator's Palate. I know it's silly, but I was so excited to have our drill here because I couldn't wait to see what the restaurant looked like. It was just as cute as I had thought it would be, but more on that later.

Coming up next....dinner and a show!!

 

[Jenna :)]

yay!!!

omg my dh is going to be sooo freaking jealous when i tell him who you met on the cruise!!

ahhh!

 

[ariel1025]

yay!!!

omg my dh is going to be sooo freaking jealous when i tell him who you met on the cruise!!

ahhh!

LOL!! My husband was seriously like a little kid every time we saw him (he pops up later on in our TR too). I couldn't stop laughing about it, I was like, "babe he's just a person" and he goes "I can't believe you just said that, he is NOT just a person he's an NBA PLAYER" and he would always emphasize the last part...it was SO funny

 

[ariel1025]

Hey everyone, I wanted to get an update in before tomorrow because my parents are coming to town and I won't be around the boards until later next week ... I think I may go through DIS withdrawals

Alright, welp, last time I left ya we had just had a totally awesome run in with a basketball player and got to run around our ship in the totally awesome and very trendy life vests

I mean seriously doesn't everyone look like a stud muffin in this thing

Ok, ok maybe it's only my husband that can pull off that wonderful bright orange

He slightly disagreed with me on the option to wear it to dinner so he decided to make himself all snazzy because we had major big plans tonight.

First, it was off to our very first show of the cruise... "The Golden Mickeys" I was super excited...I love this type of stuff. Unfortunately, we didn't realize the importance of getting to the show EARLY so we had to enjoy our first show sitting on the steps on the far left side of the theatre I will admit, this made me slightly irritated. I mean, I understand that everyone wants to see the show, but I just thought that the whole reason they split dinner and show times was so that there was room for everyone. Oh well, but just so nobody else makes the same mistake as me, GET THERE EARLY TO GET A SEAT!!!

Ok, no more whining I promise....

Back to the show...I don't want to ruin the story line for anybody who hasn't seen it so I will just post my favorite pictures...sorry for the lack of quality my camera is not the best low light camera out there.

How often do you get to see Goofy all spiffed out? I mean seriously isn't he just the cutest dressed like that?

I love me some Dopey!!!!

She was an AMAZING Cruella, I mean, she played the part PERFECTLY!!!

I really enjoyed the show (even siting on the floor ). I liked how it incorporated all the characters and the dances were really, really cute. Oh, and the theatre is really neat too...they even have people that go around all dressed up and take drink orders and snack orders and stuff...very cool. Candi said that depending on this show it would determine how willing he was to come to a show every night (so not his thing) and afterwards he said "you're in luck my love, I enjoyed it a lot." And, trust me that's saying a lot

We had some time after the show before our dinner so we did one of my most favorite things in the world

IT'S BINGO TIME!!!! I don't care how dorky it makes me, I seriously love to play Bingo. On the cruise it's even more fun. First of all, you could win some major cool stuff like Disney movies, spa passes, shipboard credits, excursions and money but even more importantly the Bingo caller had SO much energy and made it very fun. Whenever you only had one number left to get Bingo you had to stand up and do a dance that she called out. Well, I had one number left EVERY round so I got to do the twist, the mashed potato AND the sprinkler (think white people dance ). Did I mention I had a couple more drinks of the day while playing Bingo???? I might have done these dances with increased enthusiasm Sadly, I never won but I still had a ton of fun and that's all that matters to me!!!

After Bingo it was time to eat and for our first night on the cruise we had reservations at

One word for this....YUM!!! Everything was so good from the appetizer to the entree to the dessert. We enjoyed everthing...oh and they don't just bring you one of anything, they bring you lots of appetizers to try etc. It was the perfect first night to our cruise. And, we had timed our reservation perfect too because while we were enjoying our romantic night in Palo this was our scenery outside the window

Does it get any better than this???????

Well, they definitely try to make it better...with our dessert they brought us this

SO SWEET!! And it just proves that the Disney magic exists at sea AND on land

After we stuffed ourselves silly at Palo we decided to call it a night. We came back to our stateroom to this

It was the perfect first day onboard the Disney Wonder!!!!

 

[tiggersam00]

haha I was laughing at your last post Shannon, I would have had no clue who he was eithier! Oh well! I am loving your TR, it makes me really want to do a disney cruise, even though I am super scared becuase I get seasick... oh well we will see I guess

 

[Princess Sarah 92]

hello there, im a little obsessed with weddings and i stumbled across this thread not too long ago and fell in love with it lol. now im new to this site so i dont know how to do that little quote thing but just a little things i wanted to say:

1. i laughed so hard when i read about you getting ready for your wedding and your friends husband or whatever walked in

2. i gave my computer a dirty look when i read that some of the girls in your party ate your chocolate covered strawberries! personally, i dont like strawberries but if someone did that with my gift, i think i would go a little crazy

anyways just wanted to tell you i love reading this! and the cruise looks awesome!

 

[ariel1025]

haha I was laughing at your last post Shannon, I would have had no clue who he was eithier! Oh well! I am loving your TR, it makes me really want to do a disney cruise, even though I am super scared becuase I get seasick... oh well we will see I guess

OMG, Sam you really should try a Disney Cruise. The Disney Magic won't let you get seasick <--- See, look, that's the "no sea sickness genie" Have you ever done a cruise before?

hello there, im a little obsessed with weddings and i stumbled across this thread not too long ago and fell in love with it lol. now im new to this site so i dont know how to do that little quote thing but just a little things i wanted to say:

1. i laughed so hard when i read about you getting ready for your wedding and your friends husband or whatever walked in

2. i gave my computer a dirty look when i read that some of the girls in your party ate your chocolate covered strawberries! personally, i dont like strawberries but if someone did that with my gift, i think i would go a little crazy

anyways just wanted to tell you i love reading this! and the cruise looks awesome!

Hello and welcome I still laugh when I think about my friend's (now) Husband walking in on us...it was so embarassing at the time though! Thanks for reading, I hope you stick around!!