Princess Half Marathon Weekend at Walt Disney World; Part: 6

By Nick

Part 6 : Tuesday, February 23rd

The last day of a Walt Disney World vacation is rough, as I'm sure you'll agree.

I was in a happy to be going home as I missed my wife and furkids, but sad to be leaving my happy place sort of haze when I walked out of Kidani Village and onto a bus bound for Disney's Animal Kingdom completely under the misconception that they were having extra magic hours, opening at 8am.

When I arrived and realized my mistake, I decided I'd attempt to have breakfast at Tusker House, which opened at 8. After a bit of fenagiling (a full account can be found here) I was eating breakfast with Donald Duck & Friends at Tusker!

I followed this with a ride on Kilimanjaro Safaris and then a walk through Maharajah Jungle Trek.

After riding Dinosaur I headed to Epcot to meet a long time Facebook friend, Rebecca, whom I had never actually gotten to meet, and her husband Mark.

We had shots at La Cava Del Tequila. Rebecca's first Tequila shot!

We took a walk around World Showcase before saying goodbye.

 I stopped off at Jambo House just in time to catch King Pin at Zawadi Marketplace. King pin is the ... well, King of Pins!

I had a late lunch at The Mara. The African Stew is made with Beef, Turkey, Ham, Carrots, Potatoes, Peas, Chickpeas, and Raisins served over Basmati Rice. It used to be served in a bread bowl, and prefer it as it is now with rice. And Zebra Domes! What is a Zebra Dome? An Amarula Cream Liquor mousse, surrounded by white chocolate with a chocolate drizzle and chocolate shavings on top of a thin cake base.

I walked back to Kidani Village and spent the last couple of hours before my Magical Express pick-up watching the animals from the outlooks off of the main lobby.

Now, I hate to end on a down note, so will just share this last bit as a cautionary tale.

I was schedule for a 530pm Magical Express pickup. I went out at 445, hoping to get an earlier bus. My flight was 815. I like to make sure I get to the airport in plenty of time so I can get something to eat and relax. Well, there was no earlier bus. At 545pm I started to get nervous. I mentioned to a person at the bell services desk that I had an 815 flight. He said if a bus didn't show by 6 they would call me a cab. A bus pulled up 5 minutes later. I asked the driver if I would get to the airport by 645. He asked what time my flight was and I told him 815. He said I would make it no problem.

He then proceeded to make 2 more stops. Now, I'm not saying he seemed to move to very slowly on purpose, or that he gave a long speech before leaving for the airport just because he appeared to be an obnoxious jerk, but...

We didn't get to the airport until 7. And the driver made sure to get almost everyone else's luggage out before mine. 

By the time I got through security it was 750pm. If my flight hadn't been delayed by 15 minutes, I wouldn't have had time to get anything to eat (as it was, I had to carry my food on), and in fact would not have made boarding in the A group, which I was in. 

My advise. Give yourself at least 3 1/2 hours before your flight. 

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

The Disney Exchange- Episode 19 Show Notes: The Disney Cruise Line

By Nick

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

-Main Topic: The Disney Cruise Line

 -The Disney Exchange is David Hodges, Lisa Green, and me Nicholas Maglio  

-Thank you Hatbox Mouse for the topic suggestion. Congratulations on your marriage!

-Lisa answers fan mail, to herself, during the show. Just saying.

-There are 4 ships, the Disney Magic, the Disney Wonder, the Disney Dream, and the Disney Fantasy.

-Lisa talks about her upcoming trip to Norway and the Castaway Club benefits are discussed, including a special line for boarding and gifts in your stateroom.

 Photo: Lisa

Photo: Dave

-Lisa and I agree you MUST go to Alaska!

-Dave's cruises have been to the Bahamas, home of Starbucks. And Atlantis.

-Dave suggests getting off the ship in Nassau at least once and getting a rum cake at Tortugas.

Photo: Dave

-Port Canaveral, embarkation, parking and Magical Express from Walt Disney World is discussed. Tip everyone folks. Okay, not fellow passengers, but if someone handles your bags, tip them. 

Photo: Lisa

-Not surprisingly, the conversation turns to alcohol, and the fact Disney allows it in carry on.

If you check it you will lose it. 

-Cleanliness of Staterooms, and the ship in general is discussed.

 Photo: Dave

-Buffets on the ships are AWESOME!

-Be on time for your Lifeboat Drill!

-Don't miss the Sail Away Celebration!

-Booking on board perks and rules are discussed.

-We talk about dinner seating times. There are 2, the early has more children, the later, 830pm seating is quieter.

-Aquaduck! 

-Don't miss Animators Palate on the Disney Dream. We did, and I am sad.

Photos: Dave

-Like coffee? Dave and Lisa suggests the Cove Cafe for specialty coffee. I like Disney coffee. 

-Be sure to read your Navigator for information. It is a wonderful resource!

Photo: Lisa

-Look for a group on Facebook for your cruise, you can meet many friends, and get in on get group activities.

-Lisa and Dave explain the "fish extender."

Photo: Dave

-Dining rooms are discussed. It always comes back to food eventually. 

-We talk dress codes. The photo below features Lisa, her lovely family, and $20,000 worth of clothes.

Photo: Lisa

-Get your clothes laundered on the ship, especially if they are worth $20,000.

-We try to wrap it up, for 20 minutes.

-See the shows! Even if they stink! And movies! Even if they stink!

-Castaway Cay is the best! THE BEST!

-The Pirate Party is not to be missed! Mickey Mouse, Captain Jack, and fireworks!

-Dress like a Pirate!

-Holidays are terrific on the ships!

-The spas are tremendous!

-Your kids won't want to leave their age appropriate areas!

-Bottom line: Disney Cruises are not cheap, but they are AMAZING!

-The Wheel of DIStany topic: Favorite Walt Disney World 3D attractions.

Thank you for listening to The Disney Exchange, the Podcast for Disney Cruise Line Lovers.

-Please share your favorite souvenir with us on:

TheDisneyExchange.com
twitter.com/disneyexchange
https://www.facebook.com/thedisneyexchange

If you'd like to drop us an email: info@thedisneyexchange  

Trip Report: October 11th-October 17th 2014 - Part 2

by Nick

Sunday October 12th

I didn't sleep as well as I would have like, but I've gotten by on less.

We headed down to Cape May Cafe with hopes of getting in without an Advanced Dining Reservation (ADR), and were told we would be called when they opened at 7:30, and we were indeed.

We were lucky enough to get a a truly wonderful Cast Member, Adrienne, as our server. She was a delight.

We'd never had breakfast here before, but everything was very good, my favorites being the French Toast.

We got photos with Minnie, Donald, and Goofy.

Stop back for a full review of Cape May's breakfast buffet in the future.

Our Magical Express pick-up for transfer to Cape Canaveral was scheduled for 11:30-11:45, and by now it was 9, so we decided to take it easy and took a walk around the resort. I contacted my friend and fellow blogger, Lisa, who was visiting Walt Disney World at the same time, and we decided to just stop by Disney's Hollywood Studios to say hello. As it was very hot already, we hopped a Friendship Boat and took a ride over to the Studios where we met and spent some time talking to Lisa and her husband Raymond.

We hopped another boat back to the Yacht and Beach Club, and met other cruisers in the Solarium, where we were brought to our bus at almost exactly 11:45. Can you tell I was excited?

 

It seemed like a fast trip, and before we knew it, we were there.

Check in was very quick. We were greeted by a Cast Member who asked if we were Castaway Club Members, meaning we had sailed previously with Disney Cruise Line. We were, so we were directed to an even shorter line, and before we knew it, we were walking through the Mickey Head entryway and onto the Disney Dream!

As a bonus, it was exactly 1:30 when we boarded, and our stateroom was ready!

We had a Category 8D stateroom, number 5016. 

We dropped off our luggage and headed up to Cabanas, the buffet, for lunch and a tropical drink.

Like Cape May's Breakfast Buffet, I'll be doing a much more in depth review with many photos of Cabanas, and the Dream in general in future posts, we took A LOT of photos.

After eating we wandered around the ship, getting to know it, while we waited for the 4 o'clock mandatory life boat drill.

Doesn't everyone look excited to be at the drill?

After the drill we went up to deck 12 to watch the Sailing Away Party. The crew comes out and asks us to celebrate with Mickey and the gang, who then join them on stage.

We returned to our cabin, showered and got ready for dinner, and headed down to the Walt Disney Theater. We were unable to get the Main seating, so we went to the 6:15 show of Villains Tonight, one of the live Broadway type shows offered on the Disney Cruise Line ships.

 

It's an...interesting show. It stars Hades and his sidekicks Pain and Panic from Hercules as well as several other Disney Villains.
Hades sends out invitations to other villains to help him to bring up the evil quotient in the Underworld, or he will be evicted as ruler.
There are some unusual and not often used villains, such as Yzma from the Emporer's New Groove, a film, I confess, I am not a fan of.
The show had it's entertaining moments, but we wouldn't bother seeing it again.

After the show, we caught a portion of the show in front of the Pumpkin Tree in the Lobby Atrium, part of Halloween on the High Seas.

Guests are invited by the Haunted Mansion's caretaker to add "pumpkin seeds" to a bucket (the "seeds" made of paper, were handed out to each person after the Villains Tonight show) to help pumpkins grow on the tree.

Our rotational dining this evening, at 8:15 was in the Enchanted Garden.

One positive of second seating, which is much later than we are accustomed to eating,  was that second seating was not as crowded or noisy as main seating.

To start, we both had the Applewood Smoked Bacon and Wild Mushroom Tart, which was very good.

We also both got the Ahi Tuna and Avocado Tower, which was excellent.

For our entrees, I got the Caramelized Sea Scallops with Asparagus and Sun Dried Tomato Cous-Cous. I really enjoyed the Scallops, but the Cous Cous, really, not good.
Barbie got Pearl Barley Cakes. They were awful, almost flavorless.

For dessert, I had the Date Pudding, which was pretty good.

Barbie, not wanting to risk being disappointed again, went with a can't fail Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar.

This had been a long day, but we decided to stay up, and at 10:30, went to see Nightmare Before Christmas in 4D in the Walt Disney Theater.

The movie was shown in 3D, the 4D was in the lighting, effects, such as fake snow, and at the end, Jack Skellington himself came up out of the stage. 

Afterwards, he took photos and signed autographs. 

It was a long tiring day, and we had no trouble at all falling asleep that evening.

Please stop back tomorrow for Part 3

Part 1 of my trip report can be found here: http://disneymusings.blogspot.com/2014/10/trip-report-october-11th-october-17th.html