Tales from A December to Remember--Day 5, Monday, December 5, 2011

After a good night’s sleep thanks to the rocking of the boat, I was up early to raring to go. The ship was docked in Nassau, Bahamas today. I was debating heading over to Atlantis to walk around and gamble a bit, but wound up staying on the ship the entire day instead.

I got out of bed and finished getting my fish extender exchange gifts ready for delivery. For those of you who aren’t familiar with a fish extender exchange, let me explain.

The staterooms on all Disney ships have metal fish message holders outside the door so that the crew can leave messages and Navigators (the schedule of activities) for the passengers. Some DIS members put pouches (i.e. fish extenders) outside their doors, and join groups on the boards to leave small gifts in the fish extenders of the other people in the group. (I was recently told that the Fish Extender idea originated with my Disney friend Debbie a.k.a. EpcotKilterFan). I found a group to join in the Disney cruise meets section of the DIS, and had about 18 staterooms to bring gifts for.

I purchased neck wallets for everyone in the group, and personalized them with a business card with the person’s name and/or DIS name, and a Disney character. I always wear a neck wallet in the parks--it’s a great way to keep my park ticket, fast passes, and some cash handy. I decided this would be a great gift for the exchange as I thought it was something that everyone could use when they were at Disney World.

I also gave each cabin a small bottle of Bath & Body works hand sanitizer with holder, a pocket package of Kleenex (I found “Cars” packages at Target), a Little Mermaid Magnet, and a Goofy magnet I made with the date of the cruise on it. I found the neck wallets and Little Mermaid magnet cheap at an online website. My gifts cost around $3 per stateroom with two people in it.

Fish Extender gifts

I gave the kids in our group age appropriate gifts. I didn’t take pictures of these, but amongst the items I gave out were: Disney socks, Disney coloring books, Star Wars notepads and pens, pirate cups, and pirate bracelets. Each item cost 50 cents or a dollar, and were purchased at either Target, Walgreens, or iParty.

Before leaving home for my trip, I separated my gifts into three grocery bags for the staterooms forward, midship, and aft. The last time I did a fish extender exchange, we had organized our gifts by floor, and it seemed to take forever to deliver everything--we were constantly going from forward to aft. This time, I thought it made the most sense to delivery by section of the ship. Since my room was all the way forward, I started with the forward of the ship, and walked from deck to deck to deliver the items.

I then went back to my room and picked up the bags for midship and aft. I then delivered the midship gifts. I took the elevator up to deck nine, and then delivered the gifts for the aft. It took me about a half hour to deliver my gifts, and by the time I was done, I had walked a mile and a half.

I then headed up to grab a mini chocolate chip muffin and a soda at Cabanas to get something in my stomach before going on my morning walk on deck four. The mini chocolate chip muffins were excellent. They were moist and tasty (and addicting).

After making a few laps around deck 4, I headed up to Enchanted Garden to get a real breakfast. I wasn’t going to be dining in the Enchanted Garden, as we would be going to Palo the night it came up on our rotation, so I decided to go to breakfast here so that I could see it. The meal was a buffet, and I wasn’t overly impressed by it. It was just your typical buffet offerings, and the only things that stood out were the Mickey Mouse waffles and the ham and cheese croissant.

After breakfast, I put on my bathing suit, and headed up to the Aqua Duck, the water coaster on the ship. Unfortunately, the Aqua Duck was closed. I found out later that someone had gotten sick on it, so they had to recycle and refilter all of the water in it, which would take several hours.

I ran back down to my room and changed back into regular clothes, and decided to check out the Mid-Ship Detective Agency. This was a fun little scavenger hunt type game that you could play. You received a badge, and you used the badge to interact with some of the artwork on the ship to get clues to solve a mystery. There were two options to chose from--looking for paintings, or looking for puppies. I decided to look for the paintings.

Using the map provided, I went to each of about 12 pieces of artwork to get clues that helped me rule out some of the suspects, who were listed on the pamphlet. At each piece of artwork, you would step on an emblem on the floor, and hold your badge up. The artwork would come to life to give you a clue, or instruct you to do something like pop balloons or wash a window to find something behind it.

I saw a few families trying to solve the mysteries while I was doing it. Most of the families seemed to be doing it by deck, but I decided to do it by forward, midship, and aft. I would start on the highest deck in each section, and work my way down using the stairs, which definitely saved a lot of walking. It took me about a half hour to find the criminal. It was a lot of fun, and definitely worth checking out.

I then went up to the Goofy Sports deck to play some mini-golf. There is a small nine hole mini-golf course on the ship where you can golf from either the Goofy or Max tees. It wasn’t a difficult course, but it was a fun way to spend a half hour on the cruise.

I then headed down to the atrium to meet Jiminy Cricket. In all of my years of Disney trips, I had never had a picture taken with Jiminy Cricket, so I was happy to see him listed on the character schedule on the ship.

I then reached Masayo on the Wave phone, and made plans to meet her a bit later for a round of mini-golf. I really liked having the Wave phone,  a portable phone that is only usable on the ship or Castaway Cay. It was great to be able to call my friends to make plans to meet up, or let them know if I was running late when we had plans.

When I was heading up to meet Masayo, I grabbed a banana ice cream cone. I also ran into Janice and Mark, who were relaxing on the ship, so I stopped to chat with them for a few minutes.

I then headed up on deck to play a round of mini-golf with Masayo. We both shot from the Goofy tees. Masayo took a quick lead in our game after I had a couple of bad holes, but then Masayo got a bit silly and started making some bad shots, hitting the ball off the course, or not hitting it hard enough to go up a ramp. I wound up beating Masayo in the game by a stroke or two when she couldn’t sink the ball on the final hole.

When we finished the game, Goofy showed up on deck dressed in his golf gear to play a round. Masayo and I (along with a bunch of kids) followed Goofy from hole to hole as he played. He was an excellent golfer (not surprising since Goofy is quite the sportsman).

When he was done with his round, Goofy stopped to pose for pictures. Masayo and I always fight over Goofy. She likes to think that she loves him more than I do, but I love him the most. We always tell Goofy this whenever we are together with him. Goofy loves both of us, but I’m sure he loves me more than he loves Masayo. 

After our round of mini-golf, Masayo headed to go see “The Muppets” and I headed down to the Royal Garden for lunch. Mickey Mouse was in the Atrium, so I got a picture with him before lunch. 

When I was seated at the Royal Garden, I started off with the apple walnut salad with a balsamic vinaigrette. The salad was excellent--the dressing was very tasty, and it had large chunks of delicious granny smith apples.

For my entrée, I ordered the glazed meatloaf, which was served with smashed Yukon potatoes, carrots, and beans. The meatloaf was fantastic. It had a lot of flavor, and was surprisingly moist for a meatloaf. The potatoes and carrots were excellent as well. This was definitely one of my favorite entrees on the ship.

For dessert, I ordered the hot chocolate cake. It was a small chocolate cupcake drizzled with chocolate and vanilla sauces. It was very light and delicious.

After lunch, I went to a scrapbooking session. I thought they would be having some kind of instruction to design a page, but it was really just a arts and crafts session for kids so I didn’t end up staying for it. I did grab a couple of sheets of Disney Cruise Line scrapbooking pages, though.

I noticed that Disney friends were scheduled for a character meet in the Atrium, so I headed over to see who was there. Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale, Donald, Pluto, and Mickey were all there, so I got in line to meet them. The characters were very interactive and playful, and it was fun watching them interact with the kids. Some kids told Pluto that he was their favorite Disney dog, so Pluto walked them over to Goofy so they could tell them, which upset Goofy.

 

When I got over to Goofy, I told him that he was the best Goofy dog because he can play hockey. Goofy also reminded me that he could play baseball, tennis, golf, and basketball too, use motions to demonstrate each sport.

After relaxing for a bit, I went on the Art of the Theme Ship tour, which began at the Meridian Bar. Our tour guide was Chris from the United Kingdom, and he was an excellent tour guide. He pointed out some hidden Mickeys in the bar, and explained the theme of the bar.

Our next stop was Palo. We were able to get a close up view of a beautiful mural in a rounded room with a large table that was made entirely out of glass beads. It was breath taking from afar, but when you got up close to it and really admired the intricacy of the beadwork it really made it a spectacular work of art. We also got to see the large private dining room with a humongous round table for a party of 12.

Our next stop was Remy.  Chris explained that Remy was the only place on the ship that didn’t feature hidden Mickeys. It featured hidden Remys instead. Chris pointed out hidden Remys in the fabric of the chairs, the napkins, and the light fixtures. He also took us to the private dining room in Remy.

Look for the Remys in the seat cushion on the right

We then headed down to one of the decks so Chris should show us some of the features in the hallways. He explained that each set of stairwells was carpeted in a different color so that guests would know whether they were forward, aft, or midship. 

Chris also explained that guests could look at the carpets in the hallways to determine if they were heading forward or aft. The carpet featured stars. If you looked at the five point star, and saw one point in the direction you were walking, you were heading forward. If you saw two points, you were heading aft.

To determine if you were on the port or starboard side of the ship, you could determine the location by looking at the message holders on the stateroom doors. If you saw a fish, you were on the portside. If you saw a seahorse, you were on a starboard side. Chris told us that to remember which message holder was port, you should remember that port has four letters, and fish has four letters, so they go together.

We went down to the kids club, and we were able to loop through all of the rooms. I have never travelled with a child on a cruise, so this was the first time I ever went in one of the kids clubs. I can understand why the kids love going to the kids programs so much! There were so many games and activities going on! I wanted to stay and play!

As our tour went through one of the upper decks overlooking the atrium, I saw Santa Claus and Pinocchio by the Christmas tree. Pinocchio seemed to be trying to communicate with Santa about what he wanted for Christmas, and he even sat on Santa’s lap.

While I was on the tour, I got to meet Joan (DonutDay) and Kevin, who were DISers who participated in the Fish Extender exchange. Joan had recognized me from my picture, so she said hello. I missed the DIS meet that was held on Sunday, so I didn’t get to meet all of the DISers on the ship, so it was nice when Joan introduced herself. I always enjoy meeting DISers. A few other DISers stopped me during the cruise as well.

After the tour, I went back up to the soda station to get something to drink. I noticed that the Aqua Duck was now running, so I went down to my stateroom and changed into my bathing suit so I could go for a ride. I waited in line for about 20 minutes to ride on the Aqua Duck. It was a fun little ride that went pretty fast. There were no big drops or real sharp turns. It was fun, but not something that I would wait in line to do again, although it would probably be more fun with another person. 

After my ride on the Aqua Duck, I went up to my room to get ready for dinner at Palo. I met Masayo in the Meridian Bar shortly before our reservation time, and we were seated within a few minutes. We had a table by the window, and Felice was our server. I joked with him about joining us for dinner, so he sat down at our table for a minute. Felice was a wonderful server. He was attentive, personable, and flirty.

Felice started us off with some antipasto. He made us a plate of Italian meats, cheese, and vegetables. The meat and cheese were excellent. I didn’t like any of the vegetables offered, so I left those for Masayo.

I started off my meal with the arugala salad with balsamic dressing and parmesian cheese. The dressing was excellent, and I enjoyed the salad. I wish I could say more about it, but really, what can you say about arugala and dressing to make it sound exciting?

As he was taking our appetizer plates away, Felice asked us if we were planning on having the chocolate soufflé for dessert, as that had to be ordered early so it would be ready in time for dessert. Both Masayo and I told Felice we wanted the soufflé. Felice told me that he has to have the chocolate soufflé every night when he is working at Palo. I said, “You eat chocolate soufflé every night and you look like this?” Felice said, “I’ll show you my secret.” He lifted has shirt and snapped the girdle he was wearing. Masayo and I just about lost it. It was one of the funniest unexpected things I’ve seen lately.

I was stuck between the Chianti Braised Beef Raviolis and the Palo Beef Tenderloin in gorgonzola sauce for my entrée. I asked Felice what he recommended between those two entrees, and he told me that he recommended the beef tenderloin. He also offered to bring me a small portion of the raviolis so I could try those as well, so I ordered the tenderloin.

And I was glad I ordered the tenderloin. It was one of the best steaks I’ve ever had. It was cooked perfectly, and very tender. There wasn’t a speck of fat on it. It was served with mashed potatoes and spinich. The potatoes were the best potatoes I had on the ship.

The raviolis were fantastic as well. They were served in a tasty light wine sauce with carrots and celery in them. The meat in the raviolis was very tender and the entire dish was just bursting with flavor. If I ever go back to Palo, I would definitely order the exact same meal again.

While we were waiting for our dessert, the head server came over to see us. I had noticed the head server from a far early in our meal, and thought he looked like a server I met on the Disney Wonder a few years back. For those of you were on the Mousefest 2008 cruise, you may remember the server Niko who pulled his hand away when I went to give him a high five, and continued to joke around with me the rest of the cruise. He even brought his friend Dragan into the joke, getting him to pull his hand away as well. The entire cruise, I was playing this game with Niko and Dragan.

Well, when the head server came to our table, I saw that he was Dragan for Croatia, so I asked him if he had been a server on the Wonder, and he said I was. I told him that I know he sees many guests on the cruise, but he was involved with a situation that was probably just crazy enough for him to remember. I started telling him about Niko getting him to play a trick on me, and before I could even finish, he put his hand up for a high five. He told me that he knew he saw me on a cruise before, but didn’t want to come over and ask me about it. It was pretty funny to have him remember that. It was nice to see Dragan again because he is really a great guy.

Felice then brought our chocolate soufflé. He dug a hole into it at the table, and poured some delicious chocolate and vanilla sauce in it. The soufflé was excellent. It was very gooey, and I added extra sauce in it. It was served with an delicious vanilla gelato. I could have eaten two of them.

After dinner, Masayo and I met Janice and Mark for the Villains Tonight show. The show was absolutely positively terrible. It’s right up there with the Toy Story stage show that I saw on the Disney Wonder a few years back. I thought “Did You Ever Know That You’re My Hero” was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen on stage (and I’ve seen some bad theatre). I would have walked out except I was in the middle of the row, and I didn’t want to disturb people. Masayo, Janice, and Mark all agreed that it was awful. It’s 45 minutes of my life that I will never get back. When I filled out my survey at the end of the cruise, I rated it poor and said it was just terrible.

After dinner, Masayo and I went to meet Goofy again. Once again, we were fighting about who loves him more. Goofy signed that he loved me, and even after he told Masayo that he loved her too, he came back to tell me again. I told Goofy that’s a good thing, because Masayo is married and I’m single. So, no matter what Masayo thinks, I love Goofy the most, and he loves me the most.

Masayo and I then went to Evolution for the Match Your Mate game, which is Disney’s version of the Newlywed Game. It was hosted by cruise entertainment cast member Max. One of the couples had been married for over 50 years, and the husband was hysterical. Max asked the husbands what they found most attractive in their wives. The old husband said, “I like when she puts on her stockings.” When the wife came out to answer the question, Max asked her the same question, and she said,” My boobs.” Max then asked the old man what he had answered, and he smiled and said, “Boobs.” It was hysterical.

After the show, I said good night to Masayo and headed up to my room to get some sleep.

Tales from A December to Remember--Day 4--Sunday, December 4, 2011

Sunday morning, I was up bright and early. I was like the little boy in the Disney commercials a few years back. I was just too darn excited to sleep! I was heading for a four night cruise on the Disney Dream, and I just couldn’t wait to get on board that ship!

But I wasn’t going to be picked up by the Disney bus until 12:30, so I had six hours to kill until it was time to head to the ship.

When Masayo and I were ready, we headed down to Kouzzina for breakfast. I got the breakfast skillet. It was an omelet with thick pieces of delicious bacon in it and a tasty Greek cheese on top. It was served over diced potatoes and sweet potatoes. It was very yummy!

After breakfast, we headed back up to our rooms. Our bags were magically picked up and we wouldn’t see them again until the cruise. We arranged for bell services to come pick up our carryon bags and Owner’s Lockers, and soon were on our way to Disney Hollywood Studios to kill a few hours until it was time to get on the bus.

I decided to walk, and Masayo took the boat. I arrived at the park long before Masayo. It was too late to get Toy Story Midway Mania fast passes by the time we arrived at the park, so I went to grab a fast pass for Tower of Terror. I called Masayo to see if she had arrived yet, but she was still on the boat. I told her to grab a Tower of Terror fast pass, and headed over to the single riders line at the Rock ‘N Roller Coaster. I lucked up and got to ride in the front row with a nice guy named Gary from DC. 

I took this picture on my walk from the

Boardwalk to Disney Hollywood Studios.

By the time I got off the ride, Masayo was in the park, so I met her, and we headed over to take a ride on Star Tours. I really love the new version. This attraction (like many other attractions at the Studios) desperately needed an update, and they really did a great job on it. Now how about doing something about the Indiana Jones stunt show, Disney?

We then headed over to the Great Movie Ride. The line for the Great Movie Ride was a bit longer than we expected, so by the time we got off the ride, we had to chose between getting a snack to hold us over until we got to the ship or going on the Tower of Terror. We wound up opting for a snack, so we gave someone our Fast Passes.

We headed down to Rosie’s on Sunset to get our snack. I wound up getting a kids chicken nugget meal with fries, and Masayo got ribs. The chicken nuggets were OK--they weren’t the same kind of chicken nuggets that you get when you order an adult meal. But they were enough to get a little something in my stomach.

While we were eating, I couldn’t help but notice an adorable one-year-old girl who was all smiles as her grandfather gave her some water from a bottle. She just looked like a happy little girl, so I had to go say hello to her. Her name was Katie, and she really was adorable. She was also with her equally adorable brother Charlie, who was celebrating his birthday with a bag of Cheetos (and the orange fingers to prove it).

We then walked back to the Boardwalk to catch our bus. We were so excited for our cruise! When we boarded the bus at the Boardwalk convention center, our friends Mark and Janice were on the bus, which they had boarded at the Beach Club. We had met Janice and Mark at an All Ears meet last year, and realized that we would be on the same cruise. We had exchanged e-mail addresses and were e-mailing each other off and on all year.

We were soon on our way to the Disney Dream! It was nice to chat with Mark and Janice during the ride, and also watch the videos on the bus. It really made the bus ride fly by.

We arrived at port after 2:00. It was almost 2:30 by the time we checked in and got on the ship. I have to say that I didn’t like getting to the ship so late. It made the afternoon on the ship too rushed. Next time, I’ll either take a town car or stay at the airport the night before so I can get on an earlier bus.

Our first activity on the cruise was the DVC member celebration at Evolution. I was happy to see DVC cast member Michael at the check-in desk. I had met Michael at a DVC event in Boston a few years back, and have run into him in the parks several times since then. I was also happy to see my guide Amil on the ship. I met Amil on my first Disney Cruise in 2007, and again saw him at the event in Boston. I wound up asking him to be my guide a couple years back when I wasn’t happy with the guide assigned to me after my previous guide left.

The event was your typical DVC event--a sales pitched mixed into a game show with lots of prizes. I wound up winning a DVC travel blanket. They were serving some yummy mimosas, though they were very weak. I drank three of them.

After the DVC event, I ran up to my room for a bit to see if my luggage had arrived, which it had not. I spent some time to checking out my room. I was in room 8502, which was all the way forward on the starboard side of the ship. It had one large porthole overlooking the Vybe. The front wall of the room was slanted, which made the room seem more roomy than the other staterooms I’ve stayed in. The room was well designed with lots of closet space, which had some open shelving. My only complaint was that I wish that there was more drawer space in the room. There were only three small drawers in the vanity/desk area. It would have been nice if one of the three closet spaces was a chest of drawers instead of a closet.

The room featured a split bathroom, one with a toilet and sink, and the other with a tub and sink. While the tub is too short for an adult to bathe in, it was large enough to bathe a child. It was also very deep.

It was then time to head for the muster drill. I am glad that they don’t make you wear the life vests for muster anymore. It was always uncomfortable to stand there wearing them when you are crowded in with hundreds of other people who were in the same station as you.

After muster, I went up to deck 11 for the Sail Away Party. Disney really does a great job on the parties. They are so much fun. I usually walk from the deck above the party, but this time, I was on a main deck dancing and waving my streamers along with lots of other passengers.

After the sail away party, I headed back to my room to change for dinner. This was my first time doing early dinning on a cruise, and I found that I didn’t really like it. Since most families with young children try to get the early dining, the restaurants were more busy and louder. I found dining at late dining on my last two cruises to be a lot more relaxed and enjoyable.

We were starting our dining rotation at Animator’s Palate, the restaurant I was most excited about seeing. I hadn’t read much about Animator’s Palate on the Dream, but I knew it was different than Animator’s Palate on the one the Wonder and Magic. I was a bit disappointed by the theme at Animator’s Palate. It’s basically just Turtle Talk with Crush, which I have seen at both Disney World and Disneyland. It’s fun to see once or twice, and I’m sure folks who never saw it before were amazed, but when you’ve seen it several times at the theme parks, it just isn’t special.

I started off my meal with the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes, which were basically mushroom raviolis in a cheese and champagne sauce. The raviolis were very tasty--the cheese flavor definitely won out over the other flavors.

I then had the baked potato and cheddar soup with bacon bits and chives. The soup was good, but not what I expected. All of the ingredients had been pureed to a smooth liquid, and while the flavor was fine, it wasn’t the chunky potato soup I was expecting.

For my entrée, I ordered the Lemon-thyme marinated organic chicken breast with sour cream massed potatoes, roasted root vegetables, and grain mustard jus. While the chicken tasted fine, it was very dry. The mashed potatoes were smooth and tasty. The root vegetables were well-seasoned.

For dessert, I ordered the Pineapple Financier (almond cake served with whip cream), and the Cookies & Cream Sundae. The pineapple on top of the cake was very tasty, but the take itself was very dry--it had the consistency of a cookie more than a cake. The cookies and cream sundae was good, but the cookie chunks were very dry.

Overall, I enjoyed my meal at Animator’s Palate, but it didn’t knock my socks off. 

After dinner, I went down to the atrium to watch the tree lighting ceremony to watch the tree lighting ceremony. Before the ceremony started, I saw a guy standing against the wall with his backside facing out as several people took pictures of him. I said, “Do you always have people take pictures of your backside?” He said, “It’s a long story.” One of his friends said, “He just loves pictures of his assets.”

A few minutes later, I walked by the family again and the guy was getting ready to take a picture of some of the members in her party. While he was getting them ready to pose, I snuck over and leaned against the same wall as he had with my backside facing outward in the same position he was standing. The whole family was in hysterics and the guy took a picture of my backside. So somewhere out there, there is a man with a picture of my assets on his camera.

I also ran into our cruise director Clayton. Clayton was the cruise director on my last cruise in December, 2008. I went over to him to say hello, and told him that I remembered the “I’m on vacation dance” and started to do it. He laughed and told me that they still did the dance on the cruise (and he did lead us in the dance later that night at the Golden Mickeys).

I then watched the tree lighting ceremony. The ceremony on the Dream was the same ceremony I saw three years ago. They pick a boy from the audience to be the king, and he joins Mickey and Minnie to light the tree with his scepter. It’s a cute little show.

I had a few minutes until I had to heat to the theatre to see the Golden Mickeys show, so I ran up to my room for a minute. I took my key to the world card out of my lanyard, and put it in the slot to turn on the lights. When I left the room, I left the key in the slot, locking myself out of my room. I didn’t have time to run down to guests services to get another key before the show, so I went directly to the theatre to see the Golden Mickeys.

The Golden Mickeys is a fantastic show. Enson Benson steps in give out the Golden Mickeys to some scenes from Disney classic movies. It featured performances of some of my favorite songs, including “Heigh Ho,” “Out There,” “I’ll Make A Man Out of You,” and “You’ve Got A Friend In Me.” It is so much fun watching some of my favorite songs and scenes from Disney musics performed live on stage.

After the show, I went to Guest Relations to pick up a key. I asked the cast member how many keys they have to reissue each cruise after someone leaves them in the light slot, and she told me that about 150 people do that each cruise.

I then went back to my stateroom to unpack. The ship was really rocking and rolling that night. I have a strong stomach, and usually don’t feel queasy from the movement of the ship, but this night, it was getting to me a bit. I didn’t feel that I was going to get sick, but I felt like I needed a snack before bed, so I went up to grab a late night snack. I grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza and a chicken finger. The pizza was kind of nasty, but the chicken finger was very good—it was piping hot and tasted good.

After my snack, I headed back to my room and was rocked to sleep on the ship.

Tales from a December to Remember--Day 3--Saturday, December 3, 2011

Despite the late night at Jellyrolls, I was up early and ready to go on Saturday morning. I had another fun day planned with my friends, but I didn’t know when the day started just how fun my day would be! It was even more magical and memorable than I ever imagined it would be.

I grabbed an everything bagel at the Boardwalk Bakery and went back to my room to eat it. When Masayo and I were ready to hit the parks, we started walking to Epcot. We ran into a family on the bridge to Epcot. The dad was taking a picture of his wife and daughter, and his young son was sitting in his stroller. As I usually do when I see someone taking a picture of their family, I stopped and offered to take a picture so all of them could be in it. The father was grateful for my offer, and went to get in the picture with his wife and daughter, but he forgot something. He forgot his little boy! I said, “What about him?” and the father was like, “Oh yeah, I forgot.” How someone could forget an adorable toddler sitting in a stroller right in front of him is unfathomable to me, but somehow this dad forgot. So he scooped the little boy up and I took a picture of the now complete happy family. I joked with the dad afterwards that I thought I was going to have to take his son to the park with me that day.

Once through the turnstiles at the International Gateway, Masayo and I made our way to Soarin’ for a RADP meet. My friends John, Sue, Catherine, and Jack were also there. We jumped in the standby line at Soarin’, and the time flew by as we chatted and joked around. We nearly filled the entire middle section of the ride!

I was seated next to Catherine on the ride, and Jack was on her other side. Midway through the ride, I purposely back handed Catherine in the face when the golf ball was shot. Jack said afterwards that Catherine had thought that it was him who she should be worried about misbehaving, but no, it wasn’t Jack. I am the one who doesn’t know who to behave! They should know me well enough to realize this by now.

After Soarin’, we had a bit of time on our hands, so some of us grabbed a snack Sunshine Seasons food court while the rest of the group went over to ride Sum of All Thrills. I got a yummy banana nut muffin with tasty icing. I sat at a table and chatted with Masayo and Sue while we waited until it was time for the next meet.

As the group began to assemble to get in line for Living with the Land, I went to a trash barrel to throw out my muffin container. When I pushed open the trash bin, my hand got covered with maple syrup from a previous guest. So, I had to run to the ladies room to wash my hands before I got in line with the rest of the group. By the time I got back, the rest of the group got in line, so I had to climb under the rail to get in line with the group.

When our group got to the boarding area, the cast member directed our party of 23 to five rows of the boat. I don’t know what the heck that cast member was thinking when he sent he expected to fit five adults in those rows! By the time we realized that we all wouldn’t fit in the boat, the rest of the boat was full. Sue and I wound up having to ride on another boat with two other RADP people.

While I was initially a bit disappointed to be separated from the rest of the group, something happened that made it all right. Sometimes fate steps in and leads you to something so fantastic that you are grateful that a twist of fate changed your plans.

When our boat went into the greenhouse section of the ride, the four of us who got separated from the rest of the RADP folks got to witness something totally fantastic. It was unlike anything else I’ve ever seen in my life, and made riding away from the rest of our party totally worth it.

What, you may be wondering, could be so fantastic in Living with the Land? No, it wasn’t a gigantic Mickey Mouse pumpkin or a huge bunch of bananas. We aren’t talking about run of the mill fruits and vegetables, here, my friends. But I’m going to make you wait a bit for the reveal because I have a bit more to say about Living with the Land first.

Living with the Land is one of those attractions that I only visit once every couple of years—usually when I’m with a group, or people who haven’t ridden it before, or I’m trying to kill time before my Soarin’ fast pass return time. I think this ride would be a lot more fun to ride if they handed out samples as you road (“here, have a banana”).

Also, the ride was decorated for the holidays, but you could tell that it wasn’t decorated by official Disney decorators. They had dollar store decorations, bows, and garland all over the greenhouse. It was the tackiest thing I had ever seen on Disney property until I looked in front of me and saw something fantastically tacky in the row in front of us.

Tacky decoration on Living with the Land

There were two older couples sitting in the row of front of us. When our boat went into the greenhouse area, the ladies put on their sunglasses. They were bejeweled and bedazzled with flowers, and beads, and leaves. These were the most wonderfully hideous sunglasses I have ever seen in my life. This is what happens, my friend, when you leave grandma alone with a hot glue gun.

Hey, Grandma, step away from the hot glue gun!

Of course I had to point the sunglasses out to Sue and the other RADP folks. It set me in a fit of giggles for most of the rest of the ride. Sue’s wheels were turning as she was trying to figure out how she could make her own hideously tacky bejeweled and bedazzled sunglasses. I think she already started working on making sunglasses to sell at the RADP meets next year, so start saving your rhinestones and pennies now!

As our boat was approaching the dock, there were about a half dozen RADP people standing by the rail, cameras ready to take our picture. Sue and I motioned to the folks to take a picture of the ladies in front of us, who now had the sunglasses sticking out of the shirts. Hopefully someone got a full frontal picture of the tacky glasses. I also joked that the paparazzi had found me because I am a two-time Academy Award winner.

After riding Living With the Land, John, Sue, Masayo, and I went to use the Soarin’ fast passes we had picked up earlier in the day. While we were in the loading area, Sue noticed a kid wearing a shirt with the name of the small Ohio town where she grew up on it. She asked the boy if he was from the town in Ohio, or the town of the same name in Georgia. He told her he was from the town in Ohio. The boy was travelling with his parents and grandparents. Sue and John started talking to them, and it turned out that the grandmother knows Sue’s mother! Of course, that caused all of us to break into song—“it’s a small world” to be specific.

After Soarin’, John, Sue, Masayo, and I headed over to the Electric Umbrella for lunch. I ordered the meatball sub with French fries. They seemed to be having trouble with the fryolator this afternoon because we had to wait a long time for our fries. John and I watched about a dozen meals sitting on the counter waiting for their fries! Finally after close to ten minutes, the fries were done, and John and I got our food. Masayo had to wait a bit longer for hers. I guess they ran out of fries, again.

After lunch, Masayo and I said goodbye to John and Sue, who were heading over to Mexico for the tequila meet. Masayo and I took rides on Test Track and Journey into Imagination with Figment.

We then walked out to the International Gateway for the annual Big RADP meet. Of course John, Sue, Catherine, and Jack were there, but more of my friends were there, including Ray, Linda, and Deb. It was great to see so many wonderful Disney friends all in one place. It’s always great to catch up with the people I see just once a year.

Here I am with two of my oldest and dearest

DIS friends:  Ray Sharpton and John (Towncrier)

Gloria, one of the RADP people who I didn’t really know, came over to Linda and me while we were chatting. Gloria was wearing a Santa shirt, and she said that everyone was saying how much they loved the shirt. So, me being me, had to be a bit of a wiseass, and I jokingly told her, “I don’t like the shirt. I think it’s the ugliest shirt I’ve ever seen.” Gloria was sweet, and she held her tongue because she doesn’t really know me, but I assured her I was just joking around. She could have given me a witty retort, and I would have had something to shot right back at her.

After the RADP meet, I went back into Epcot, intending to see some of the holiday storytellers. Father Christmas in the United Kingdom was going to start telling his story in about 10 minutes, so I made my way to the UK to see him. He was very entertaining, though I found an error in his story. He said that “Jingle Bells” was written in New Jersey, but it was actually written in my hometown of Medford, Massachusetts.

I checked the schedule to see if I could fit another storyteller in before I had to leave Epcot, but the timing wasn’t going to work for me. I had to run back to the Boardwalk to pack my bags for the cruise the next day. I had plans to meet my friend Joe and his friend Amy, and wasn’t planning on being back in the room early, so I wanted to pack my bags before meeting them.

When I got back to the resort, I grabbed a soda and a delicious S’mores cupcake at the Boardwalk bakery. The cupcake was very yummy, though it was a bit messy.

When my bags were packed, I walked over to Disney Hollywood Studios to meet Joe and Amy. I think everyone and their aunt Margaret was in the park that night, as there were wall to wall people. There was even a long line for the Great Movie Ride, which none of us really wanted to wait in since we had all been on it so many times.

We began to wander around the park. We stopped to take pictures with some of the busts near Sounds Dangerous. In all of my trips to Disney World, I don’t think I took more than a passing glance at the busts, so it was kind of neat to stop and really look at them. Joe was very willing to pose for pictures with a lot of the statues. One interesting thing was the Desi Arnez bust—it was hollow in the back, while the rest of them were pretty solid.

We continued to wander a bit, and we wound up running into my DIS friends Cheryl (CherylP3) and Todd, who were at the park with Todd’s brother. Cheryl and Todd are originally from Boston, so I had met them at meets here once or twice, but now I only see them when I’m at Disney World. It was great to see them again.

In our travels, we also saw an older man wearing a Buzz Lightyear sweatshirt. We were fairly certain that he was the real Buzz Lightyear enjoying a night in the park in honor of his retirement, but when we walked close by him at one point, I said, “To infinity and beyond” and he didn’t even acknowledge it.

We wound up heading to see “Beauty and the Beast.” I haven’t seen this show in years, and I had forgotten how entertaining it is. They did a great job staging a mini-version of the story.

We then started to walk back to New York Street to see the Osbourne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. Before we came to the Osbourne lights, we came to the blinding lights at the Disney Channel Rocks stage. Despite the fact that there wasn’t a show going on, they had the bright, blinding lights from behind the stage shining. I joked with a cast member standing next to them with a flashlight directing people to the Osbourne lights that here light paled in comparison to the stage lights.

Walk into the light!

Photo Op!

The Osbourne lights are absolutely stunning. Pictures and videos just don’t do them justice, especially when they are dancing to your favorite holiday songs. When the lights started dancing to “Feliz Navidad” I had to call my friend Jen, who was with me in December 2007 to videotape me dancing to the song with my good friends Diane and Mary Anne.

Hanging with Joe and Amy at the Osbourne

Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights

And speaking of dancing, there was a cast member named Aaron from Tulsa was dancing to the music near the Nativity Scene. So, me being me, I had to join in and dance with him. And I had to get Joe to immortalize it on my Flip cam.

While we were admiring the lights, a nice family asked a man standing near us to take their picture. I stood behind him and watched as he took the picture, and he zoomed in close on the family, barely getting any of the lights in the picture. When he handed back the camera and walked away, I told the mom that the guy didn’t get any of the lights in the picture, and offered to take another one. She was afraid that the guy might be offended if he saw them posing for another picture, but when he was far away, she let me take the picture for them.

When we had our fill of the dancing lights, we decided to find something to eat. As we walked, we spotted a woman carrying a funnel cake with ice cream trying to take a picture while she walked. I asked her if it was for me, but more than that, I was waiting for her to trip and fall into the thing. Why would anyone try to take a picture of their snack while walking through a crowd?

Our quest for food turned into a series of decisions and changing our mind on the fly that lead to one of the most perfect evenings I’ve ever had at Walt Disney World. It was one of those evenings that wouldn’t have worked out so well if we had tried to plan it.

And it all started with our indecisiveness over what to have for dinner, and where to go to eat it. Nothing sounded particularly appealing at Disney Hollywood Studios, so we decided to leave the park. We decided we would see if there was a line to get on the boat to the Dolphin so we could have dinner at Picabu. But the line was long, so we started to discuss other options. Joe suggested that we go to Downtown Disney, but I didn’t think it was a good idea on a Saturday night, especially since we would have to transfer buses to get there.

I suggested that we go to a monorail resort for dinner so that we would be in the Magic Kingdom area for the fireworks, figuring we could watch them from a beach or something. The Magic Kingdom was opened until 1:00 a.m. this night, so we would also have the option of going to the park after dinner if we wanted to go. We decided to go to the Polynesian for dinner, so we hopped in the line for the bus that went to the Polynesian, Contemporary, and Grand Floridian. It was a long line, and we figured we’d have to wait for the second bus.

While we were waiting, the bus to the Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness showed up. The line wasn’t that long, and it was one of the older buses with lots of seats. I turned to Joe and said, “We should go to the Wilderness Lodge. We’ll definitely get on the bus, and we’ll probably get seats, too.” Joe agreed, so we got Amy off the nearby bench and went to get on the bus to the Wilderness Lodge.

When we got off the bus at the Wilderness Lodge, we started to walk into the building. When we saw the cowbells outside the building, Joe said, “We need more cowbell,” a reference to a classic Saturday Night Live skit. Just seconds after Joe said it, a little boy in front of us said, “We need more cowbell.” Joe and I started laughing because we knew this little boy didn’t hear Joe say it first, and he was far too young to have seen the skit. His mom heard us laughing and told us that she taught him to say it.

Since we were all hungry, we headed to Roaring Forks to grab some dinner. I wound up getting a Wilderness Salad, which had chicken, apples, and walnuts on it. It was made to order and tossed in a delicious vinaigrette.

After dinner, we browsed around the mercantile for a while. Although none of us bought anything, I did enjoy browsing in the shop. The Wilderness Lodge gift shop always has the most interesting merchandise.

We then headed to the boat dock to catch the boat to the Magic Kingdom, hoping that we would make it to the Magic Kingdom in time to catch Wishes. When we got to the dock, there were a lot of people already in line for the boat. The small boat wasn’t big enough to take everyone, and we wound up having to wait for the next boat. We were the second party in line.

And having to wait for the second boat ended up being a stroke of luck. We were able to watch the Electric Water Pageant from the boat dock! We stayed in line, so we didn’t have the best view of it, but it was still fun to watch it.

While we were waiting in line, we started chatting with the family in back of us. Mostly we were talking to the mom, who shall henceforth be referred to as Drunk Oklahoma Lady. Drunk Oklahoma Lady was very awed when she heard that we were from Boston. She called us the quintessential Americans, and kept on telling us how adorable and perfect we were (hmm, maybe she wasn’t that drunk, since she was obviously correct about me being perfect and adorable).

Drunk Oklahoma Lady was the mother of an adorable son named Luke. Her friend showed us a picture of her son by the pool, and said that he could be a J. Crew model. I totally agreed with them. Drunk Oklahoma Lady is going to have to fight the girls away from her son with a stick in a few years.

We continued to listen to Drunk Oklahoma Lady talk about how wonderful, and adorable, and perfect we were until the boat arrived. Once again, we realized that missing the first boat was a stroke of luck. The timing was perfect and we would now be able to watch Wishes from the boat as we made our way to the Magic Kingdom!

When the boat arrived, it was one of the large boats. I decided that I wanted to sit outside in the front of the boat. The first party took seats inside, so we had first choice of the seats outside. I sat in the front row on the right, and Amy and Joe sat in the front row on the left.

Drunk Oklahoma lady sat in the seat behind me. She continued to tell me how adorable and perfect I am. She told me that everyone loves me because I am so fun, and vibrant, and adorable, and energetic. Drunk Oklahoma Lady is really perceptive when she is drunk because she had me perfectly pegged. Drunk Oklahoma lady introduced me to her beautiful daughter Sophie and told me that she wanted Sophie to be just like me when she grew up.

Some great kids from Alabama sat with me on the boat. Their names were Zanna, Kalie, and Eli. They were very inquisitive kids, and I really enjoyed chatting with them. They really seemed to enjoy watching Wishes on the boat. When we came around the Contemporary and could see the castle, the kids were very excited to see the castle lit in different colors.

One of the crew members on the boat, Ed, instructed the boat’s captain to take the long way to the Magic Kingdom so that we could watch all of Wishes from the boat. Ed stood at the front of the boat, and even softly sang some of the music for wishes.

When Wishes ended, we still had a few minutes left in our boat ride. I enlisted Drunk Oklahoma Lady, Kalie, Eli, and Sophie to join me in trying to get everyone on the boat singing “Jingle Bells.” So, we started singing, and just about everyone on the front of the boat joined in (although Joe likes to say that only two people joined in—but he was singing along too).

When the boat docked, Joe, Amy, and I said goodbye to our new friends, and made our way into the Magic Kingdom. We arrived shortly before the Magic, the Memories, and You show was supposed to start, so we found a spot in the hub to watch from, as Joe and Amy had not yet seen it. This was my first time seeing the holiday ending to the show, and I absolutely loved seeing the castle looking like a candy cane and a gingerbread house. When I first heard about this show, I didn’t think I’d like it, but I really do love watching it.

We then made our way over to the Haunted Mansion. We took the graveyard queue, as Joe and Amy had not yet seen it. After our ride on the Haunted Mansion, I said good night to Joe and Amy. I had to be up early in the morning, as I had to have my bags ready to go for the cruise by 8:00 a.m., so I knew I had to be up bright and early the next morning.

It sure was a magical day at Walt Disney World—one that I won’t soon forget. There were a lot of laughs, a lot of memories made, and a lot of quality time with my wonderful friends.