Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Vaca recap #6- the final vaca post!

Whew! There's been a bit of a lapse since I started this vaca recap! Sorry about that! I'm behind on blogging! Here's the final Disney Cruise 2011 post for you!!!

If you missed any of the other posts, here they are
Vaca Post 1
Vaca Post 2
Vaca Post 3
Vaca Post 3.5
Vaca Post 4
Vaca Post 5

After we got back on the ship, we showered and got changed to go to the matinee of the final show "Believe". During that time we also did some packing. The crazy thing about the last night of the cruise is that while you are wanting to go do lots of fun things, you also have to get all your stuff packed up! You have to put your suitcases out in the hallway by 11p.m. for the porters to take, and keep a carryon bag behind so you can have your pjs, etc to put in there. So you are trying to get everything thrown in the bags, while setting aside the clothes for the next day and making sure it doesn't get thrown in the bags, etc. It is craziness!

It is especially crazy when they are going to take your suitcases and check them at the airlines for you. That means, with the liquid restrictions, that you have to put any of your big toiletries in the suitcase and do without the next day or just leave it behind. Fortunately, we were going to a Disney resort, so we just threw everything where it would fit, and planned to do some laundry and repacking at the hotel that night!

Anyways, so we went to the matinee of 'Believe'. This was a very sweet show. A girl wanted her scientist dad to just be silly with her and believe in magic for just a few minutes. Of course he couldn't, and she was upset. He got some help from some magical visitors... imagine if you will the three ghosts of "A Christmas Carol" being replaced with three magical figures brought to make him "Believe." At the end, the last visitor showed him a vision of his daughter all grown up and dancing with her Prince Charming. That was a good kick in the pants for the dad to go back home and enjoy the sweet young imagination of his little girl. It was really good!

The guy who played Hades the first night was the Genie in this show, and again he did a great job!


He called upon Mary Poppins to stop in and visit.


A fairy godmother of course was involved.




And at the end, a very magical Birthday party for the little girl ensued.





Then it was off for our last night at dinner. I wasn't really psyched about the menu, nor the long table service...but I wouldn't miss a chance to say goodbye to our waiters. Romy from India and Emmanuel from Mexico had taken such great care of us all week. They were so great with the girls, and you could tell they really had a desire to make us happy. Wonderful guys. By the end of the week, you kinda feel a little attached to them, so it is sad to say goodbye. I hope God blesses them 1000 times over in their life.







Our room hostess, Wana, also took excellent care of us and was so sweet. They work so hard!!







We dropped the girls at the kids club for awhile so we could finish the packing. When we picked them up, Hannah was busy playing with her friend Anna and did not want to leave! It was so cute! We said goodbye to a few other people we had met, then went back to the room.






A Disney cruise would not be complete without getting some Mickey Bars delivered from room service. We ordered those, and some cookies to pack in our carry-on to snack on the next day. Their cookies are sooooo good.



















Debarkation comes early. They need you OUT of your stateroom by 8a.m. and off the ship by 9a.m. We ran up for some breakfast around 7a.m., then came back to the room to grab our stuff and go find a place to relax in the lobby. Once the ship cleared customs, the line to get off was so long! So we just people watched and saw some friends, etc. Once we finally got off, we saw this sign. This sign always makes me sad:







We took the Disney bus to our resort for the night, Saratoga Springs. Thank the LORD that they had a room ready for us when we got there, because we had some VERY tired girls on our hands. We had planned on going to downtown Disney to spend some time, but we really needed to get Hannah a nap before my grandma came to visit and do dinner with us. Brooke went to DTD with gma and gpa, and the three of us snoozed at the hotel after lunch for awhile.






My grandma and her 'friend' john came. Hannah was in a squirrelly mood and wouldn't take a picture;






We hung out in the villa for awhile, then went down to the pool. Great Grandma and john watched the girls swim for awhile and we chatted some more. Then we had a yummy quick service dinner there at the resort. After they left, we finally got a chance to go to downtown Disney for awhile.






Waiting for the bus:






The Lego store. We let each girl fill a cannister of legos from this giant wall of bins of every lego under the sun. And then, Hannah dropped hers and legos went everywhere. I'm sure it wasn't the first time that has happened! So we picked them up, got them TAPED SHUT at the checkout, and left.




Our pool area. After we were done at DTD, we took the girls back to the pool for awhile. It was dark, and we had it nearly all to ourselves, which was so fun!









The next day, we just flew back to KC, got a rental van and drove home. It was a nonstop flight, and I can't tell you how great THAT was. I wish Wichita offered nonstop service to Orlando.








And THAT, my friends, ends the 2011 vaca recap. I would think you all want to go on a Disney cruise now too! Hey guess what, I can book that for you ;)

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