Bahamas Cruise
Disney Wonder
January 2007
Sunday, January 14th - To the boat!
Early in the morning we got up and drove to Port Canaveral to board the Disney Wonder. We were off to our Disney cruise and very excited! The kids had been hearing about 'the Disney Boat' for a couple of months and were ready to go. The drive from Saraotsa took about 2.5 hours, including a stop for gas and pottying, not to mention the endless tolls that seem to crop up around the Orlando area (we had to drive through Orlando to get there). But soon enough, coming over a rise on the highway we saw the boat in the distance! It's very distinctive with the red and black. There was a Carnival ship in port next to the Wonder, and in comparison it looked boring and unexciting.
The parking process was very smooth and we quickly managed to get into the Disney terminal.
View from our car to the ship/terminal.
Our tickets said that boarding did not begin until 1 pm, but as with other cruise lines Disney began boarding early. We arrived in the terminal just before noon and they were already boarding Group 4, so they must have started at 11:30 am or even earlier. We were assigned Group 13, so we had to wait a bit. To pass the time we got the kids' wristbands for the Oceaneers' Club (Kids' Club). I had pre-registered the kids online so this was very easy, and I appreciated that we could get this done before we boarded. It was an early example of how Disney Cruise Lines (DCL) really puts kids first.
After getting wristbands Dave waited with our luggage while the kids waited in line to see Goofy, who was hanging out in the waiting area. Oops, nope, it was Pluto. They kept switching out the characters so you never knew who was actually going to be there when you got to the front of the line.
The time actually passed relatively quickly and we were onboard at about 12:30, partly because we bypassed the 'embarkation photo' line. But it turned out the staterooms weren't going to be ready until 1:30 pm. Disney was serious about this: they had roped off the areas to the cabins. So we headed up with our pile of luggage to the pool deck/buffet area.
The kids' pool was open and there were already a number of kids playing in it. We ate lunch looking at it and our kids were asking the entire time if they could go swimming. I saw a few people who were unpacking their suitcases on nearby tables to find their kids' suits. So here's my tip: if you plan on boarding a DCL ship early, have your kids wear their swimsuits underneath their clothes.
We managed to hold off the kids with lunch and dessert until it was time to get to our cabin. As soon as we were there the kids got into their suits and headed for the Mickey pool while Dave and I took turns watching them and exploring the ship.
I admit that I was very curious about a Disney cruise. I have been wanting to take one ever since Disney first began cruising, but have always been put off by the cost. For the price of our four day cruise, we could have taken a seven day cruise on Princess in a bigger cabin. Generally I have found that Disney Cruises cost 20% to 50% more, and are almost impossible to find last minute deals on. So I was on a mission to find out if it was worth the extra money.
The ship was beautiful and well-maintained, and had some differences with other cruise ships we had been on. There was no casino (which we welcomed, especially because it meant that there was less smoke) and the kids had the entire Mickey pool in which to play, instead of having to use the adult pools.
The Mickey pool has been changed with the recent renovations. It no longer has a splash pool in one ear. Instead, both ears are now wading pools that flow into the 'head' part of Mickey, and there is a small splash area for babies wearing diapers behind the water slide. The kid loved the water slide, but of course for safety reasons it took a long time to cycle children through, which usually meant that the line was much too long for our kids to try it.
Mickey pool.
The major difference we saw (other than Disney theming) was in the areas designated for child/youth activities. While other cruise lines have a fun play area and organized activities for kids, DCL blew them away. They had designed the kids' programs and areas as if children were the paying customers (and not the adults). The Oceaneers' Club (the play area for kids ages 3 to 7) was incredible. It was themed in Peter Pan/pirate style and features a giant replica of Captain Hook's ship, including rope nets, a crow's nest, and a ship's wheel!
There were also a number of other themed play areas in this room. Off to the side was the 'Captains Closet' which had a number of computer game terminals, a fantastic reading area, and a giant dress up trunk. My son took to the Captain Hook coats right away and to my surprise, my tomboy daughter decided that she liked the Tinkerbell costumes. There were a number of Hook/Peter Pan/Tink costumes, plus a couple of more generic princess costumes thrown in for good measure.
The bathrooms were separate for boys and girls and had multiple stalls. They were the same except for colors, and the fact that one row of potty stalls in the boys' bathroom was replaced with a row of 'weeinals'. My four year old son just loved these and had a great time using the 'wall potties'.
The Oceaneers' Lab was also nicely themed for kids age 8-12. Our daughter's group (age 5-7) had a couple of activities in there every day as well. There was a full science lab where fun activities took place, as well as a Buzz Lightyear-themed computer area. I think she actually got the best of both worlds, since her age group had activities in both of these areas.
Unlike other cruise ships we have been on, the children's programs run continuously and there is never any extra charge, even for late night supervision or on port days. The staff give the kids meals and rotate among some terrific activities. Our son's age group (3-4 year olds) almost never left the main 'Neverland' play area, but our daughter's age group went to a number of places on the ship, and ate meals inside the ship's restaurants and buffet.
There was also a great teen area on deck 10 (near the top of the ship) and the Flounder's Reef Nursery.
We found that the buffet was pretty standard, and similar to other cruise ships, except that at lunchtime they had a 'children's buffet line' which meant that half of the buffet was filled with kid-friendly foods. Our major score was discovering Goofy's Galley. This little spot, right next to the Mickey Pool, had gorgeous fruit (including wonderful, large strawberries) and delicious paninis. I wish I could have one right now... yum!
At breakfast time, Goofy's Galley had pastries and the same wonderful fruit.
Our stateroom was beautiful, and similar in degree of theming to Disney hotels on land. The room was obviously meant to accommodate a family of four (and not a couple of adults, as on other cruise ships).
Our stateroom in the day.
Our stateroom at night.
There was a split bathroom. One room had a sink and toilet, the other had a sink and tub/shower. This was slightly annoying for me, since I never knew where to leave my toiletries bag! It always seemed to be hanging in the wrong bathroom when I needed it!
One thing that disappointed me about the room was lack of mirrors. Every other cruise ship we have been on has had at least one full wall mirror across from the main bed. This makes the room appear bigger and lets you see yourself better when you are getting dressed. There was one very skinny mirror on a corner of the wall, but that was it. I think this made the room feel more cramped than it really was.
The other major problem we had with the stateroom was that it creaked. Loudly. So loudly I had a hard time sleeping. Whenever the ship was moving it creaked. We have never had this experience before on any other ship. I am frankly very surprised by this because the Wonder is not an old ship. I don't think too many other cabins had this issue, and we just had bad luck in being assigned to this one.
We went to the sailaway party, but my son conked out and slept in my arms the entire time (and you wouldn't believe the amount of noise going on) while our daughter got up and danced with the characters. As soon as it was over, it was almost time for dinner.
Sailing away from Port Canaveral.
We had the earliest dining time, which was 5:30, which worked out perfectly for us. We had just enough time to meet Mickey, Minnie and Donald before dinner.
That first night we went to dinner at Triton's, which is the Wonder's 'fancy' restaurant. On the Disney Magic ship this restaurant is Lumiere's. We really enjoyed the food at Triton's and found it to be better than we expected. The escargot were a little strange because they had a strange kind of rubbery bread coating, but everything else was excellent.
The kids' menu was the same every day, except that they would put on two 'meal of the day' choices that varied, depending on the day of the week. These menus were the same all day, so if you dined in the dining room for lunch and dinner you would get the same kids' menu.
After dinner the kids were begging to go play 'on the pirate ship' (i.e. at the Oceaneers' Club) so we dropped them off and snuck up to the hot tubs at the adults only pool. It was a nice getaway, and we had enough time to soak for almost an hour before getting dressed and going to the magic show. Frankly the magic show was okay, but not spectacular. I had been expecting to be wowed by Disney entertainment, and this was far below my expectations.
After the show we picked up the kids. I noticed that there were a bunch of sleep mats out on the floor for kids who were tired, and no one minded if they just wanted to drop and sleep. Not ours though. They were dressed in the Hook and Tink costumes again and having a ball! An aloha luau with a Lilo & Stitch theme was just winding up so they were at a good point to leave. We took them to a 'spy party' where two of the cruise staff wore trench coats and hats and helped the kids learn how to give secret handshakes and dance like secret agents.
It had been a great first day onboard.
Monday, January 15th Nassau, Bahamas
Dave was tired and wanted to sleep a bit late, so I took the kids to the breakfast buffet, and then we went down to meet Peter Pan and Aladdin. My daughter has apparently given up her fear of characters, because she was very excited to meet them on this trip! Aladdin was especially nice, and asked the kids if they had seen his genie. He told them to look in the water and the sky for him (I guess because he's blue). She remembered this and kept looking in the water for the genie the rest of the day.
The boat was docking at Nassau and Dave and I planned on going to see Fort Charlotte (a historic British fort that protected the island during the pirate days).
Docking at Nassau.
, I really tried to get the kids interested to encourage them to come with us, and promised that we would come back to the boat for lunch. I mean, what kid would give up a chance to go to a real fort with a moat, cannons, a dungeon, and secret escape tunnels?
Apparently, ours. All they wanted to do was go back to the Oceaneers' Club. So after taking them to breakfast at the buffet, we did that. Then Dave and I went into Nassau.
Fort Charlotte was really interesting, and I do think the kids would have had fun, had they gone. We love forts and castles, so it was right up our alley.
Dave and myself at Fort Charlotte. You can see the ship and the Atlantis resort in the background.
Although you can take a taxi, we walked right from the ship (it took about 10-15 minutes each way). As we were leaving, we ran into one of the DCL shore excursions. Hating those crowds we took that as our signal to go. We got back to the ship for an early lunch at Triton's, checked on the kids, and were off again to head to the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island. We took a water taxi, which was very slow. For $6 (for the two of us) it wasn't worth it, given that we had limited time in port.
The resort is beautiful, but frankly I'm not sure why people get that excited about it. The cruise ships are just as nice, and if you want gambling, Las Vegas is just as fun, if not better. We went through the aquarium area and it was okay, but not as spectacular as I've been led to believe.
We took a taxi back to Nassau and up to Fort Fincastle. Although it is an old fort, there isn't much there and basically what we got was a gorgeous view of the city and the harbor. We walked back down to the port and made it back just in time to pick the kids up and go to dinner.
While we had been gone our son had participated in King Triton's Court, a scavenger hunt entitled 'Where's Tink', a dancing lesson with Sebastian, and a Heffalump hunt. Our daughter had learned how animation works, made chocolate chip cookies from scratch, played trivia and participated in all kinds of pirate games.
This night our restaurant was Animator's Palate. I had heard a lot about the way the restaurant turns from black and white to color, and was a little disappointed with the actual result. Some of the things turned color, but then went back to black and white. It was very confusing, and would have been much more effective as a one-way, gradual transformation, rather than going back and forth all the time.
I had looked up a lot of information on Disney Cruises before we left, and had read that there was no formal night on 3 and 4 day cruises. So imagine my surprise when we learned that this night was 'dress-up' night. About half of the guys in the restaurant were in suits and ties. We just put on the nicest clothes we had and were okay, but I was surprised that no one had mentioned this online.
The food at Animator's Palate was good, but not fantastic. We let the kids go back to the Oceaneers' Club for an hour or so while Dave and I went back to the adult hot tubs. Our son learned how to dance with Snow White (yes, she was actually there, and Dopey too) while our daughter spent time in the science lab learning about gases.
We got the kids just in time to take them to the show: Hercules the Muse-ical. As you might guess, this is essentially a musical version of the Hercules movie. And at first it was really good. But then they started skipping over big chunks of the movie by filling it in with a couple of lines of dialogue. My daughter was very disappointed. She kept complaining that Hercules wasn't 'fighting the monster with all of the heads', and we were all disappointed that the big fight scene at the end was completely eliminated. It was a big let down and ruined the show for us. Yet again, I was disappointed by the night-time entertainment.
We went to bed to rest up for our next day at Castaway Cay.
Tuesday, January 16th Castaway Cay
We knew that we were going to spend the day at Castaway Cay, so we got up early and sunscreened and went onshore in our bathing suits and cover-ups. Along the way we ran into Donald, Minnie, and Jack Sparrow. Jack was quite the popular character, and you should have heard the roar from the crowd as he drove up in a golf cart. Not very much in theme, now was it?
The children's programs had moved to the island for the day, but for once we didn't use them. Instead we went to Monstro's Point and had fun digging up whale bones from the sand. The kids had a blast, and for some reason no one else showed up for the first half hour, so we had the entire thing to ourselves.
After this Dave and our daughter went snorkeling while our son and I played in the sand and went swimming. Dave and our daughter joined us for a brief swim too, before Dave went off for more snorkeling and the kids proceeded to make big sand castles. When they got bored with this, I buried them in the same multiple times.
My daughter tests out her snorkeling gear.
Dave and our daughter decided to rent one of those big floating tricycle things, but our son and I went back to the ship. I got our son showered and changed into his Captain Hook costume, because it was pirate night! I had heard about this before leaving home, so after Halloween I had picked up some pirate costumes for all of us to wear. The Captain Hook costume, however, was from our last two Halloweens. Both of my kids have worn it.
It turned out that Captain Hook was greeting people at the gangway so my son and I went down to meet him. My son caused quite a stir. As I'm sure you can imagine, there were lots of little girls in princess costumes who went to meet the princesses, but I never saw any other little boys dressed up in costumes. My son really enjoyed meeting Captain Hook, but was somewhat indifferent to Mr. Smee.
We all got back onboard and everyone got ready for pirate night. We were eating at Animator's Palate again, but the menu was now the Pirates In the Caribbean Dinner.
The kids loved dressing like pirates, and I took them to the kids club afterward in costume. My daughter got the prize for having the best pirate costume in her group (a certificate). She made Flubber and went on a mission for Star Command/Buzz Lightyear while my son had storytime with Belle (yes, Belle actually read the story) and played Tarzan games.
Dave and I did our usual adult hot tub thing, then went to the Golden Mickeys show. It was basically a selection of Disney songs performed by the characters. It was nice, but not terrific.
We picked up the kids, and went to bed.
Wednesday, January 16th At Sea
This was our one day at sea on this short cruise. Since everyone was up early, we took advantage of it and went to the Mickey pool. It was nearly deserted and the kids had a blast playing in there.
However soon they were eager to return to the Oceaneers' Club, so we dropped them off and went to the cooking demonstration, after which we slowly wandered around the ship, participating in various activites (trivia, vegetable car racing, etc.).
Autograph line for characters.
Meanwhile, our son had activities with Peter Pan (yes, Peter was actually there) and learned how to become a Mouseketeer, while our daughter played games on the sports deck and helped Stitch capture some of his lost experiments.
Dave and I ate lunch at Triton's, which was excellent, and then picked up the kids for the matinee showing of Disney Dreams, the big show for that evening. This show was more like what I had been expecting to see. There were fabulous sets and tons of characters appearing onstage together and performing familiar songs. It was terrific, and I can only wish that all of the other shows had been that good.
The kids went back to the Oceaneers' Club and got ready for 'graduation'. For participating in the children's activities they were now graduates of Disney Sea University, or D Sea U. They had a fun ceremony in the big Walt Disney theatre where they all wore matching t-shirts and graduation caps with Mickey Ears. Mickey came out in his own cap and gown to complete the ceremony. It was cute, and everyone had fun, although my daughter was a little nervous!
Mickey graduates the kids.
Then it was time for our last dinner, this time at Parrot's Cay. The food was mediocre and we weren't as impressed as we had been at the other two restaurants.
After dinner, our son went to the Oceaneer's Club for Buzz Lightyear games, but our daughter opted to come with us for the magic show. It was the same magician as the first night, but this show was a little more entertaining, and she really enjoyed it. We picked up our son, and went back to our stateroom for our last night onboard!
Thursday, January 17th Epcot
We had been told that people could start disembarking at 7:30 am, so we got everything ready, then had a quick breakfast at our assigned restaurant at 6:45 am, then raced back to our room for our bags. Unlike other cruise ships we have been on, the buffet wasn't open for a proper breakfast and Disney tried hard to get everyone into the main dining rooms for special assigned seating. They did not force everyone to wait onboard for certain disembarkation groups, but allowed everyone to get off whenever they wanted. All of the luggage was ready in the terminal at 7:30 am. We were very impressed with the convenience and efficiency of this system, and have never had such a smooth disembarkation process. We literally walked off the boat and were in our car by 7:35 am. We reached Epcot at around 8:40 am, and it didn't even officially open until 9 am! So yes, a day at WDW is definitely doable the day you get off of a Disney cruise.
We met my parents at the front gate and spent the day with them. First we were off to Mission: Space, which neither of our kids had ever been on before. Our son was just tall enough (44 inches) so to celebrate we took him on the 'intense' version of the ride. Both kids had a blast, and demanded to go back. However we hustled them off to Test Track, which they enjoyed almost as much. Our son especially liked it and kept calling it the 'racecar ride'. After that we stuck to the Unofficial Guide touring plan and basically saw all of the major attractions in Future World before noon. We experienced Soarin', Living With the Land, The Living Seas with Nemo, Turtle Talk with Crush, Imagination/Figment ride and Honey I Shrunk the Audience, and Spaceship Earth, before going back to the Land to see the Circle of Life movie. When I was a kid my parents had always taken us to Disney and we had waited forever in lines. They we amazed now at how little we were waiting (we practically walked onto everything) and how much we were experiencing in just a few hours!
It's mayhem getting off of Test Track.
My favorite comment of my daughter's for the entire trip was made at the end of the Spaceship Earth ride, when you are supposed to be in space, orbiting the Earth. She said, "Mom, are we actually in Space? Because I can still breathe!". I think I've got a smart one there.
We walked into the World Showcase and dawdled in the UK before heading to France for our lunch reservations at Chefs de France. All of the adults had the 'menu' of French onion soup, croque monsieur, and crme brulee. The soup was terrific, the sandwich was good (although not authentic... it was a grilled cheese sandwich and not the traditional croque monsieur with egg) but the crme brulee was horrible. Literally it was like eating clumps of cream. The one we had had in Triton's on the Disney Wonder was significantly better.
After lunch at Chefs de France, we walked around the World Showcase, seeing some of the more obscure characters. In France we saw Belle, but also the Beast. In Morocco we saw Jafar. The kids love Aladdin and at first wanted to meet Jafar, but then got cold feet. The character costume is very imposing and about 10 feet tall (with the hat).
In the USA we saw the Country Bears. We were hoping to see Mulan in China, but instead the Chinese acrobats were performing. We did manage to see the Three Caballeros in Mexico. I didn't even know they had Three Caballeros characters!
We stopped to ride the Maelstrom in Norway, and had to wait 20 minutes (our longest line of the day). When the ride was over the kids were asking to potty, and we had just missed the start of the Norway travelogue they force you to sit through. I found an attendant and asked her if there was a restroom, and she led us to an exit! So we were able to skip the Norway movie. So there's a tip for anyone else who doesn't want to wait around for that!
By this point my parents were getting tired, as were the kids (because we had gotten up so early to make park opening) so we just rode Mission: Space and Test Track one more time, and saw the show at the Energy building. My daughter was tickled to see Bill Nye in it (she knows him from some films she's seen at school). We then drove back to my parents' condo at Orange Lake and all dropped into bed.
Friday, January 18th Magic Kingdom
We got up early and drove over to the Yacht Club hotel so we could check in. Although our room obviously wasn't ready at 7:45 am, we needed to get our Key to the World cards so we could get our park entry, free parking, and access to our dining plan.
We arrived at the monorail parking lot a little after 8 am and were at the front gates to the Magic Kingdom at 8:30.
We decided to follow one of the Unofficial Guide touring plans. It was a little easier to do this given that Splash Mountain was closed for renovations. When they dropped the rope we made straight for Space Mountain, where Dave grabbed fastpasses before we went on the ride. After Space Mountain we rode Buzz Lightyear twice, then we walked into Fantasyland to do the 'dark rides': Winnie the Pooh, Snow White, Peter Pan and Small World. By now it was time for the next fastpass so we sauntered over to the Haunted Mansion while Dave ran to get tickets for the Jungle Cruise.
The kids seemed to like Haunted Mansion at first, but afterward my daughter quietly asked that we not go again, so we respected her wishes and didn't. I think she was scared by the ghosts who jumped out and screamed (in the attic).
Next we rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but not before gazing longingly at Splash Mountain. They had tarps over part of it and had drained all of the water out. It looked so strange to see it like that!
Workers renovate Splash Mountain.
Next on our touring plan was Pirates, but the lineup was 40 minutes. We looked at Aladdin's carpets, but that line was also long, so instead we used our Jungle Cruise fastpasses. The kids enjoyed the ride, although they didn't get any of the jokes. In fact, my daughter took everything the tour guide said at face value, which was in itself very, very funny. To the guide's credit, she made a bunch of jokes I hadn't heard before, and only two that I was familiar with (Inspiration Falls and 'the back side of water'). There is no way I would ever do this ride again without a fastpass. The crowds waiting to ride were just incredible.
We briefly dropped into the Adventureland store next to Aladdin's Carpets, and there was a trivia question printed on a blackboard behind the counter. Since I was able to answer it correctly, I won a certificate with my name on it.
By the time we finished the Jungle Cruise we had half an hour before lunch, so we walked through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. That made me sad because I loved it as a kid, and I know its days are numbered, given that the original one at Disneyland is gone in favor of Tarzan's Treehouse. They had taken out the waterwheel made of bamboo cups and it looked like it was permanently gone. Sniff...
We walked over to the castle and arrived at Cinderella's Royal Table just in time. Of course, before we could be seated, there was a big line to have your photo taken with Cinderella. My daughter decided that she didn't want to have a photo and threw a hissy fit. I knew that the photo was included with the meal, and we were darn well going to get that photo, so I threatened her with no dessert if she didn't co-operate. Right up until the last second I thought she wouldn't, but when we got to the front of the line, Cinderella said, "Hello, Princess!" and held out her arms and my daughter rushed right in for a big hug. She gave a goofy smile, but at least the picture turned out half decent.
After meeting Cinderella, we walked upstairs to the dining room. I love eating in Cinderella's castle. It means so much, especially since this is something I, myself would have loved as a girl. The kids liked it too, but I think they were just as excited by the plastic swords they were given when they entered. They tried to give my tomboy daughter a wand instead, but when she saw the sword it was all over. They also each got a plastic 'wishing star'.
During the meal, an announcement was made, and the kids were asked to make a wish on their 'wishing star'. Our six year old told us that she wished that she could 'grow food and be living with the land'. Obviously the Epcot attraction the previous day had left its mark.
The food at Cindy's was excellent, and Dave and I enjoyed everything we received, even the blueberry muffin/cake they gave us for dessert.
Toward the end of our meal, the characters reached our area. First was the Fairy Godmother. Both kids have seen Cinderella multiple times, but they were confused and I don't think they really knew who she was.
The next character to visit was Jasmine. She was definitely the hit for both kids. My daughter immediately started telling Jasmine that she hadn't found the genie yet, and could Jasmine give the message to Aladdin? My son was impressed, since Aladdin is one of his favorite movies, and he was hugging Jasmine. She was apparently charmed by our little prince, and she gave him a big kiss. He had red lipstick on his cheek for the rest of the day. Everywhere we went people asked about it.
Next was Belle. Since the kids had seen her on the cruise ship they weren't as impressed, but still enjoyed talking to her. My son was still thinking about Jasmine though.
Last came Snow White, and although the kids were warming up to characters now, nothing could compete with Jasmine.
All in all, lunch at Cindy's was a blast!
After lunch we dropped into Mickey's Philharmagic, and then through Small World again. This time I noticed that the bullfighting children in Spain have been replaced with an adult Don Quixote and some windmills. Bizarre. When did that happen?
We walked into Toontown and rode Goofy's Barnstormer. Then while Dave ran off to get Buzz fastpasses, I took the kids through Minnie's House and Mickey's House.
Exiting Mickey's House (we skipped the judges tent since the kids had met Mickey on the ship) we saw the train at the station, so meeting up with Dave we hopped the train and took it over to Frontierland.
It was about 10 minutes before the afternoon parade was to begin, which turned out to be an opportune time for us. We got to ride Pirates twice and see the new Jack Sparrow segments. They have integrated him into the ride very well, but I agree with previous comments that he is just too realistic. If I didn't know better I would swear that Johnny Depp was standing there. He looks very real, and his movements are perfect and smooth. In comparison all of the older pirates look jerky and automated.
Jack Sparrow hides in town to avoid Barbossa.
Coming out of the Pirates ride, the kids were entranced by the Pirates store, and we ended up buying them a skull for $20. It had removable rubber eyes (balls) and we filled it with pirate treasure (kind of like the Potatohead parts deal). It actually held a lot of treasure and we were all very pleased.
At the checkout there were two more trivia questions. I fed the answers to my daughter and she was allowed to take one more piece of pirate treasure. She chose a gold coin.
When we were done with Pirates we saw Captain Hook and Mr. Smee outside of the ride. Since our son had been on a Captain Hook high ever since seeing the play area at the Oceaneers' Club, he was only too happy to meet them again.
After this we walked over to Aladdin's Carpets, only to find that the line was incredibly short, thanks to the parade that was happening in Frontierland only 40 feet away. So we rode twice in a row and the kids had a blast.
At this point we made our way back to Tomorrowland, stopping to ride the Teacups before descending on Buzz and Space Mountain for some last rides.
We then left to meet my parents in Downtown Disney at Earl of Sandwich for dinner. Of course we ended up parking on the wrong side of Downtown Disney, so we were 15 minutes late because we ran across the place to get there.
After hanging out with my parents for a while at dinner and the World of Disney store, we called it a night and went back to the Yacht Club to get to our room.
Saturday, January 19th Animal Kingdom and more
Saturday morning we slept in a bit and got to the Animal Kingdom just before they dropped the ropes to let people into the park. Dave and I had never been before, but I had gone through the Unofficial Guide thoroughly and we decided to roughly follow its touring plan, leaving out things we weren't interested in. So when the rope dropped, I took the kids over to Triceratop Spin while Dave ran for Everest fastpasses. We finished our ride, and as we were waiting for the next one to start, I saw Dave come up. I got my daughter out of the car and had her go meet him while my son and I rode again. Dave and our daughter rode Primeval Whirl, which she was tall enough for, but for which our son was too short. Unfortunately, once my son saw what his sister was doing, he was upset that he couldn't go on that ride too, and even a third time on Triceratop Spin wasn't enough to soothe him (since it was now obvious that in comparison to Primeval Whirl, this was a baby ride). When Dave and our daughter got off, I switched with Dave and took her again while Dave took our son around to look at other parts of Dinoland. I thought Primeval Whirl was fun, but there was nothing special about it. Nothing to make it stand out as a Disney ride, as compared to a ride anywhere else.
We then walked to the Dinosaur ride and picked up some more fastpasses. We enjoyed the ride, and immediately saw the connection between this and the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. Of course, the Indiana Jones ride doesn't have giant carnivorous dinosaurs popping up beside your car and roaring like they're going to eat you, but the kids enjoyed it and had no problems whatsoever.
After this we walked all the way across the park and took the Safari ride. It was practically empty, but it was pretty obvious that it would normally be quite full. I was surprised by the numbers of animals we saw, and the kids enjoyed it too. They especially liked the elephants, giraffes, and hippos. Dave was amused by the spikes pointing toward the animals that were made to look like plants. I guess this is how they keep the animals away from the tourists!
Elephants on the safari ride.
After this we ran over to Everest and used our fastpasses (and got more). Fortunately our son was (barely) tall enough to ride at 44". It is a terrific ride, and I love the abominable snowman theming, but it is way too short. It really should be twice the length. I read somewhere that the abominable snowman is only glimpsed... nope. He is there as large as life roaring down at you right at the big finale of the ride. You get very close. I guess this was added after whatever review I had read. It really is the only 'scary' part of the ride.
We cheap out on souvenirs at Everest.
After a couple of rides on Everest we went to Flights of Wonder. There was a 20 minute wait so I watched the bird preshow while Dave took the kids off to play on the bongo drums.
The Flights of Wonder show was good, and my daughter was picked as a volunteer to throw grapes into the air to have a bird catch them. She was very excited. Both kids were especially impressed with the bald eagle they brought out at the end.
After Flights of Wonder it was time for lunch. Normally I like to do our sit down meal at lunch, but the only sit down place in Animal Kingdom was Boma and we weren't too interested in that, so we did counter service at the Tusker House instead. The food was great, but I found out too late that there were no straws. Apparently there are no straws at any restaurant in the Animal Kingdom. This meant that the kids had to drink chocolate milk out of cartons and my daughter got big chocolate stains all over the front of her new dress. I washed it three times and they're still not completely out. Grrrr... So I recommend bringing your own straws when you visit Animal Kingdom.
After lunch we decided to catch the Festival of the Lion King, which we enjoyed, and the Tough to Be a Bug movie. We had seen the Bus movie at Disneyland, but enjoyed the fact that this theatre was obviously under the Tree of Life, and the theming of the theatre definitely added a little. The kids were a little freaked out by the bugs a year ago, but not this year.
We went back to Everest to ride again, then took the shortcut to Dinoland to do the Dinosaur ride one last time, before exiting Animal Kingdom.
The only thing we would have liked to have done, that we didn't, was the Nemo show, but the lines were outrageous and we didn't feel like waiting. Besides, it's a musical. How can they have a musical of a movie that has no music in it? Unless the whole show is Dory singing 'Just keep swimming...'? I guess we'll catch it next time we go.
We had dinner reservations at Epcot and had planned on doing some more rides there beforehand, but the kids were tired and when they saw the hotel they didn't want to go anywhere else. So instead we spent 90 minutes at the pool (called 'Stormalong Bay') at the hotel. It was probably the nicest kid pool I have ever seen. The water was very warm, and there was sand on the bottom, to make it nice to walk on. Large sand bars had been created and there were lots of buckets and shovels for playing with. The sand was some kind of artificial thing... it looked almost like sea salt: large grains, but was very soft, and soaked up water well to make for excellent sandcastle building. We all had a blast here.
The kids were somewhat disappointed when I made then come back to the room for a shower and to get dressed, but somehow we managed to make it to Le Cellier for our 5:30 reservation. For some reason we were placed at the 'Table of the Day', complete with golden crowns and badges proclaiming us 'Honorary Canadians'. I was laughing because of course, I am Canadian, and therefore so are the kids. Dave was the only 'honorary' one among us.
The food was excellent and we all enjoyed ourselves... especially our son, who slept through most of the meal. We had the twin creme brulees for dessert and they were fantastic... much better than at Chefs de France.
After dinner we went back for another turn at Nemo and the Living Seas, Turtle Talk with Crush, Test Track and Mission: Space. Dave wanted to check out the exhibits at the end of Mission: Space, so we left him and the kids and I took the boat launch back to the hotel and went to bed.
Sunday, January 21st Magic Kingdom and MGM
Sunday morning we were back at the Magic Kingdom. We just missed the first (8 am) monorail from the parking lot, but were rewarded when we got to ride up front with the driver on the next monorail.
When the rope dropped at Magic Kingdom opening I went for Space Mountain fastpasses while Dave took the kids on the Astro Orbiter. I actually managed to get there just as the ride was starting so we all rode.
After Astro Orbiter we did a couple of rounds on Buzz Lightyear before heading to the Indy 500. I kept calling this ride Autopia since that's its name at Disneyland, and people were giving me funny looks. The kids enjoyed driving the cars as usual. After the Indy ride we did the teacups twice, and then went through Peter Pan's Flight again. We then went on Cinderella's Golden Carrousel, and when we got off we discovered that Mary Poppins and a penguin (from the Jolly Holiday sequence) had been on the opposite side from us! So we got to see Mary in her Jolly Holiday dress before heading to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. After that we wanted to go back to Space Mountain and use our fastpasses, but we only had 40 minutes until our lunch reservation at Liberty Tree Tavern. So instead we decided to go out to Tom Sawyer Island, which was an instant winner with the kids. Neither Dave nor I had been there since we were quite small, but the kids loved it, especially the air rifles. I think my son was a bit freaked out by all of the caves and tunnels though.
After that we made it right on time to the Liberty Tree Tavern for a fantastic meal. I actually would recommend lunch there over dinner (even though there are no characters at lunch) because it's cheaper, and you get to choose your own food, instead of having a pre-set menu. Everything we had was terrific, especially the desserts!
We left the Magic Kingdom and drove to MGM, where we immediately headed for the Rockin' Roller Coaster. We knew it was closed for renovations, but this was the last day of the closure, so we were hoping for 'soft' openings. Apparently it was not to be. The attendants told us that 'soft' openings had been scheduled and then cancelled. Sigh. So we missed it this time.
However we did go to the Tower of Terror, and after expressing some dubiousness about the concept of more ghosts, my daughter decided that she loved it, and wanted to go again. I think it is because the ghosts are not threatening in any way on the Tower of Terror. We grabbed fastpasses for a later ride and headed to the Backlot Tour, stopping to see the Narnia show along the way. We were very disappointed in the Narnia show, which was essentially just a big promo trailer for the film. However, they did have a great photo op outside of Narnia where it was actually 'snowing'.
After Narnia we went through the backlot tour, which was much more disappointing than I remembered. However we made up for it afterward by going to Star Tours, which the kids loved. While we were waiting to board our shuttle to Endor, Darth Vader and two Stormtroopers walked right by us. The kids were mightily impressed.
Turning the corner, we went to Pizza Planet and hung out for a short snack before heading to Al's Toy Barn. There was no one around, so we were just looking at the props when suddenly this door banged open and Buzz and Woody jumped out in front of us! The kid were really surprised, (as was I) but excited, so we stuck around to get pictures with Buzz and Woody, and a green army man.
Then we ran over to the stunt car show, which was just beginning. Dave and I had seen this at Disneyland Paris, more than a decade ago, and I remembered a lot of it. The kids liked the action stuff, but were very bored between sequences. I don't recommend this for small children who don't have a lot of patience (like mine).
After the car show we went to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, which the kids enjoyed for 15 minutes before it closed for the day. Then we made our way to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid and had a rest while waiting for the next show. The Little Mermaid show was a lot like the Hercules musical on the cruise ship: good, but it skipped over a lot of the good stuff and in the end it wasn't very satisfying.
We had one more ride on the Tower of Terror and then went back to the hotel. Dave took our daughter for a few more Mission: Space runs, and then we were done.
The vacation was over, and it was time to go home.