When You Wish Upon A Star...POOF your teens vanish!

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 4, 2013

DisneyWall-e said:
@sweetpee_1993. I love reading your trip reports. They make me even more excited for my future cruise. Pics are awesome. And by the way did anyone ever tell you that you kind of look like a strawberry blonde Keira Knightly. JMHO

No but thank YOU! I was told after Titanic was the ginormous hit it was that I looked like Kate Winslet by my brother-in-law which really made me blush some kinda scarlet considering her...uh...undressedness in that movie.

Back then I wore my hair in spiral curls and didn't highlight it so it was still the gorgeous auburn color. As I've gotten older my once strawberry blonde hair has darkened considerably...and greyed...so I do blonde highlights and copper lowlights now.

But wow! You totally just made my day!!!!

flynnibus · Feb 4, 2013

sweetpee_1993 said:
Certainly! Personalized ornaments are our favorite souvenir dating back to our first family trip in January 2004 as can be seen here and here. The little Christmas shop in the Magic Kingdom does the custom painting, too. Since we were only there the 1 day there was no way we would be able to get our customizations done same day so we had them shipped to our house when complete. We got them in the mail just last week. This is the one that is ours, the other I can't show you because it's in a box on it's way to UPS. Perhaps the recipient will be so kind as to come here and share a pic of it when they receive it since I was a dipstick and didn't think to take a pic. LOL!

Over the years, the glass Mickey icon balls have gotten smaller and the prices bigger. I may have to start making my own artist originals in the future since it's not going to be common for us to be in the parks. LOL!

Intriguing.. I ask because I like getting dated ornaments for each of our trips, but its getting harder and harder to find dated ones. Presumably just getting cheap so they can recycle goods if they don't sell.

What's the order of magnitude in cost?

CinderellyKelly · Feb 4, 2013

LOOOOOVE Lilly!!!! Almost all of the patterns have "lilly" hidden in the pattern!

I found an awesome Lilly bikini at Tjmaxx last year! It was an awesome find!!!
I hope you wore the outfits on the trip! I want to see pics!

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 4, 2013

Back onboard the Disney Magic we were quite famished. On our way up to our stateroom Tracey and I decided neither of us was willing to bet against Brian still being in bed where we left him. We were sure he'd still be there dead asleep. No clue why but for some reason I decided to take a picture of our stateroom door and Fish Extender when we got back to our room. Okay. So here's those pictures. Beats more words to read, huh?

We went inside but the bed was empty. What?! I stepped out of my flip flops and immediately noticed the floor was soaking wet. I walked around the stateroom and it was wet all over. WTH?! We checked both bathrooms and neither had plumbing issues. Remember last May when we had a hyperactive toilet flushing??? Tracey called down to Guest Services to let someone know then stepped out in the hall to say something to Sean. He returned with a great little story! Get this:

Sean had seen us all leave the room to go to breakfast early. He greeted us and asked if we were going to live it up on Key West for the morning. Yep. Being the head of housekeeping on deck 8, he gave the maintenance folks the all-clear to steam-clean our carpeting since we said we'd be out. Well, that was before Brian opted to stay on the ship. Sean didn't see us return or leave again without 1 person. So at some point the steam-cleaning crew went into our stateroom and started about their steam-cleaning when Brian sat up in the bed (it's a loud business) then went into our bathroom to relieve himself. Sean said the cleaning guys came running back out in the hall in a panic, "Someone's in there!!!! He just got out of the bed!!!!" Sean said youda thunk they had seen a corpse rising from the grave! LOLOLOLOL!!! I'm sure Brian did look like a corpse rising from the grave with so little sleep!!!! Anywhoo, Brian got up and left the stateroom to go see what was kickin' in the Vibe. If I remember correctly, he found a quiet place to lay down up there and went back to sleep for a few more hours. The floors were all wet because they had been cleaned and we were a little early returning from the island. Two mysteries solved! Isn't that hysterical?!

Tracey and I were seriously hungry so we made a bee-line for Topsiders. Chandler was off to see what was shakin' in the club.

Food ! Well, only if you're an anti-seafood picky-petunia like me!

The left bowl was couscous salad (Does anyone have this recipe?!), the right bowl was a salad bar salad, the plate was carved roasted turkey, cranberries, slice cheese, pasta, and some sort of wrapped sandwich. And ice water. Gotta stay hydrated!

Tracey was totally rushing me on dessert because he wanted to be up on-deck looking around. Anywhoo, here's what I had:

Peanut butter cheesecake (not very peanut butter-y), carrot cake (the frosting was sorta whipped and not cream cheesy enough for me), key lime pie (best thing I got), and the side dish of chocolate pudding cake with chocolate sauce which was good but not great.

Then we went up on deck 10 to wander around and take in the sights as we waited for sailaway. This ship was in our parking spot. We were at Key West first! ((I realize that's not the way it's done but it's what I think!))

This is the marina where the jet ski tour we had booked but then cancelled because we didn't want to freeze to death (remember: thin-skinned Southerners!). Next time!

Our Pensacola friends:

There was a regatta going on today:

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 4, 2013

flynnibus said:
Intriguing.. I ask because I like getting dated ornaments for each of our trips, but its getting harder and harder to find dated ones. Presumably just getting cheap so they can recycle goods if they don't sell.

What's the order of magnitude in cost?

$14.95 for the ornament then $3 per word on the personalization. Shipping was additional. I believe the star sprinkling was free but we did have to select it on the order form. It looks like they only charged me once for the 2013 even tho it was split in half. And, in those links I provided, "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" did count as just 1 word since it is just 1 word and only cost the fee 1 time. That's why I got it. I thought it was funny.

The prices are dumb and I know Disney must love us because we don't even look at the prices of those things. Eventually they all become "priceless" so we just buy them. Our only issues are the shrinking sizes and lack of colors we don't already have.

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 4, 2013

CinderellyKelly said:
LOOOOOVE Lilly!!!! Almost all of the patterns have "lilly" hidden in the pattern!

I found an awesome Lilly bikini at Tjmaxx last year! It was an awesome find!!!
I hope you wore the outfits on the trip! I want to see pics!

I know! The patterns are so vibrant and clever! It's like finding hidden details or Hidden Mickeys in the Disney realm! It's like intelligent cool with hidden surprises. I did wear my dress but didn't keep any pics. The shirt & shorts I didn't get the chance to wear. They're hanging in my closet with tags still attached waiting for the perfect occasion. I almost wore them to my father-in-law's "ringing out" at MD Anderson today but wasn't up to the ride into Houston.

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 4, 2013

With the regatta going on there was a chaser helicopter in the air that flew rather close to the ship at least once. My crazy aviation buff hubby had me running across to that side of the ship to see it.

A character in the wild!

I Instagram'd this shot with the caption "Having a MAGICal time!"

We walked the upper decks for what felt like an eternity. It was such a gorgeous day, not more than 72 degrees with a cool breeze to counter the shining sun. I took all kinds of pics but they uploaded in a wonky order and I have no clue what came first. I just love the color of the water, the way the sun dances off the water's surface, all the little things you can see from all sides of the ship. My hubby loves that this parking spot for the ship is on the final approach for the airport and he gets to see so many planes fly over. Here's a bunch of pictures. No particular order. We're "down island". Who cares anyway?

From our verandah, Southwest is coming in:

There's a ferry that brings the residents of this island from and to with their cars:

Somebody's up in the Steerman. Somebody's down in a really big boat.

Catamaran.

I spy with my little eye Truman's Little Whitehouse:

Boats racing along to the other side of the island. I miss sailing.

This is on the front of the ship, deck 10, between the forward structure and the sports deck. I wonder what it means. Must be important, though.

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 4, 2013

It's a bird!!! It's a plane!!!! Yes, it's a Southwest plane. Exciting stuff to Tracey:

And another plane.

Oh! Gasp! It's, yes, another plane! You must be feeling what it is to be me right about now. "Kelly! Get it! Get it! Did you get it?! You missed it didn't you!!!" Nope, I got it.

Playing with panorama:

The ship is pointed this way. Bet your life is complete now that you know that, too:

Here's an interesting little morsel for you. When this fort was built a waaaaay long time ago (you can look it up same as me) it was actually out off the island in the water. But then the island was extended with all the dredged material for the ship channel which is why the Southernmost Point marker that's so famous isn't the actual Southernmost Point, it's the Southernmost naturally occuring Point.

NewfieFan · Feb 4, 2013

Oh my that dress is beautiful!!! I have never bought a personalized ornament at Disney, where have I been!?! My tree has quite the collection of Disney ornaments now, I guess I will have to get a personalized one on the next trip. Maybe I'll have to do your ornament shopping for you in the future...

I would love to see Key West again. I was 14 the last time I was there. But it sticks out in my mind, so it must be memorable.

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 4, 2013

One of the two guys on this sticky-outy is the captain:

Oh! And this was kinda interesting. There was construction to the pier going on while were were there. Unfortunately, fresh concrete had been poured right where our mooring lines were tied off. See:

So when it was time for us to cast off we watched this very careful maneuver with the concrete finishers on these boards laid across their new concrete like little bridges. They made a little line of people and carefully passed the heavy lines one to the other and tossed them each one at a time over the side to keep the lines from messing up their finish work.

And, again, as we waited what seemed like an eternity for our mooring lines to be cast we heard several calls for the same person go out. Uh oh. Someone didn't get back to the ship on time. It was a hispanic name. They even called in Spanish. I'm sure I heard "Brazil" in there, too. We were standing at the rail the entire time up until we sailed away. Whoever didn't make it back got left behind today.

Sailing out, we stayed up top to watch us split the buoys that marked the channel. Very interesting stuff for nerds like us:

Once we sailed out we returned to our stateroom for a nice little nap from 2:00 to 3:15. Naps at sea are DA BOMB!

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 4, 2013

NewfieFan said:
Oh my that dress is beautiful!!! I have never bought a personalized ornament at Disney, where have I been!?! My tree has quite the collection of Disney ornaments now, I guess I will have to get a personalized one on the next trip. Maybe I'll have to do your ornament shopping for you in the future...

I would love to see Key West again. I was 14 the last time I was there. But it sticks out in my mind, so it must be memorable.

Thank you, Sarah! I love it so much!

The personalized ornaments were an early tradition. We don't have them for every trip but we do for most. Those that we don't have the personalized ones for we have other dated stuff for. When we go other places, too, that's our first souvenir we'll hunt for. Our tree is literally a walk down memory lane for us. Oh! Would you do some ornament shopping for me??? I'd totally make it worth your while!

Key West is so unique. It's got a vibe all it's own. The other place it reminds me of (having it's own special feel) is the French Quarter in New Orleans. That's part of why we love that place so much, too. Jimmy Buffett once describede New Orleans as the place in the US that is most unlike being in the US. Seriously cool places to visit and immerse. I'm determined to go back for a dedicated Key West vacation. The weather was so gorgeous for us this time I'm thinking a winter trip would be perfect! Of all the cities I have in my iPhone weather app to check at-a-glance, Key West is in there! LOL!

Billy6 · Feb 4, 2013

sweetpee_1993 said:
Back onboard the Disney Magic we were quite famished. On our way up to our stateroom Tracey and I decided neither of us was willing to bet against Brian still being in bed where we left him. We were sure he'd still be there dead asleep. No clue why but for some reason I decided to take a picture of our stateroom door and Fish Extender when we got back to our room. Okay. So here's those pictures. Beats more words to read, huh?

We went inside but the bed was empty. What?! I stepped out of my flip flops and immediately noticed the floor was soaking wet. I walked around the stateroom and it was wet all over. WTH?! We checked both bathrooms and neither had plumbing issues. Remember last May when we had a hyperactive toilet flushing??? Tracey called down to Guest Services to let someone know then stepped out in the hall to say something to Sean. He returned with a great little story! Get this:

Sean had seen us all leave the room to go to breakfast early. He greeted us and asked if we were going to live it up on Key West for the morning. Yep. Being the head of housekeeping on deck 8, he gave the maintenance folks the all-clear to steam-clean our carpeting since we said we'd be out. Well, that was before Brian opted to stay on the ship. Sean didn't see us return or leave again without 1 person. So at some point the steam-cleaning crew went into our stateroom and started about their steam-cleaning when Brian sat up in the bed (it's a loud business) then went into our bathroom to relieve himself. Sean said the cleaning guys came running back out in the hall in a panic, "Someone's in there!!!! He just got out of the bed!!!!" Sean said youda thunk they had seen a corpse rising from the grave! LOLOLOLOL!!! I'm sure Brian did look like a corpse rising from the grave with so little sleep!!!! Anywhoo, Brian got up and left the stateroom to go see what was kickin' in the Vibe. If I remember correctly, he found a quiet place to lay down up there and went back to sleep for a few more hours. The floors were all wet because they had been cleaned and we were a little early returning from the island. Two mysteries solved! Isn't that hysterical?!

LOL.. Flippin' hilarious!

Disneyfalcon · Feb 4, 2013

Naps at sea are Da Bomb! Lol! Sleeping in general is. I sleep like a baby on cruises!

That is such a funny story about Brian and the carpet cleaners. He probably did scare them to death!

Love your shopping spree. Well done!!

Character in the wild!! Love it!!

sam_disney · Feb 5, 2013

Ok I have finally caught up on all of this report. One word... WOW!

I HAVE TO DO A CRUISE! I am really loving your report and everything about it. I love your goonies tshirts btw... HEY YOU GUYS! awesome!

Can you tell I've enjoyed reading this? lol

Kristia · Feb 5, 2013

Love your Key West pictures! Still bummed we were unable to go into port on our Key West day due to bad weather.

I am bound and determined to get there someday!! Although they didn't give you much time there that day did they? I would definitely want to stay a bit longer!

Disney_Belle · Feb 5, 2013

sweetpee_1993 said:
Food ! Well, only if you're an anti-seafood picky-petunia like me!

Why yes, yes I am an anti-seafood picky-petunia like you! And I catch so much trouble for it because I'm from New England!

Disney_Belle · Feb 5, 2013

Oh, and Brian and the carpet cleaners is hysterical!

Gonzo79 · Feb 5, 2013

sweetpee_1993 said:
Continuing on we happened across a shop called 'Crazy Shirts'. I would never have gone in but right up in front the shop keeper wisely had a display of Disney tshirts. I'm in! We went inside and browsed a bit. The Disney collection was great but we were drawn more to the Key West shirts. These aren't run-of-the-mill 2 for $20 tees. It's nice stuff. They dye a lot of their shirts with natural things...like the Kona Coffee dyed shirts. Tracey got one and it smelled so yummy right off the shelf! We ended up with 2 shirts for Tracey and 1 for me. I'm definitely going to order more from them, too. Highly recommend Crazy Shirts. AND, you really should check out their original Disney collection, too. It's good quality stuff. We chatted up the shop keeper for quite a while. Very helpful guy with making our shirt selections and sizes. He was retired from the oil industry (something in common) and we were able to talk horrible-canes (something more in common). Fabulous guy. When we get back to Key West I will definitely get back here.

Pressing onward we finally arrived at our destination, Kermit's Key Lime Shop on Duval. I'm so sorry I didn't take any pictures but they were pressure-washing the exterior of the store. There was a worker out on the sidewalk signaling the guy pressure washing to stop whenever someone wanted to go in or come out. I was a bit focused on not getting hosed. I was on a quest for the famous chocolate dipped key lime pie on-a-stick as seen on the Food Network:

Yes, I made it in. Yes, I had the key lime pie on-a-stick. And, yes, it was incredible. I only wish I'd taken a picture! Nope, we didn't get hosed either. Woot!

Unfortunately, Kermit's on Duval didn't have a public restroom. That trenta iced coffee was punishing my bladder. I think I might have enjoyed my pie-on-a-stick more if my bladder hadn't been screaming at me. We pushed back down the opposite side of the street back towards Margaritaville where we KNEW we could rest our legs for a moment or two and relieve our coffee-aching bladders. Tracey sat at the bar & ordered us some refreshments while Chandler & I ran the maze back to the restrooms. When we came out it was Tracey's turn. So here I am sitting at the bar of the original Margaritaville Cafe (built before the mega-tourist magnets you see plastered with the over-the-top Margaritaville theming in the tourist meccas) and I had a little geek moment from way back in the day when I was totally enthralled with all things Jimmy. I was here.

Reminded me of the Myrtle Beach Margaritaville hurricane except it wasn't turning and a giant bottle of tequilla wasn't dumping out of the ceiling into a giant blender. But it brought back memories of a helluva good weekend with my cuz & his wife before his second deployment. I'm smilin' at y'all @Kerby626. Love you guys!

Then I looked down at the bar where I was sitting and thought, "Gawd, we are pathetic." Here I am sitting at the bar at the Margaritaville and all we ordered was a bottle of water, a Sprite, and a Coke.

What were we thinking?!?! Guess this means we have to go back. Right? On a side note, we purchased a bottled water, a Sprite, and a Coke then tipped the bar tender. How much do you want to guess that cost?

$25. Easy come, easy go, I suppose. It was worth it for the potty alone, though. LOL!

Onward we pressed towards the 2nd of my two goal destinations for today. Chandler's knee was starting to hurt him pretty bad (remember his bum knee from the November 2010 trip?). Tracey flagged down the next rickshaw guy that came along. The 3 of us fit perfectly on the seat and for $6 + tip we had a nice ride with a friendly German transplant right to the doorstep of our final destination. Where else did I have to go today???? I'm so glad you asked....

I am a huge Jimmy Buffett fan,aka Parrothead. Glad you got to see the original Margaritaville. Its definitly my favorite one.Man I got to get back to Key West. Love your trip report.

Jose · Feb 5, 2013

OMG! That TR was VERY COOL!!!

sweetpee_1993 · Feb 5, 2013

Sans Souci said:
I am snickering over the "Better than Sex" menu and it's prices. Hilarious!

I know, right?! If only the ship was at Key West longer! All the more reason to go back. In addition to the interesting theme, menu, concept, etc. I'm thinking seeing what the vibe is, the makeup of other patrons would be like. Ya know?

StarBurst said:
fantastic trip report...

while in key west i hope u all took the ghost tour..

we did once and during it,half the power went out in the area..*at night of course *
really spooky tour with all sorts of great stories and sights.

Nope, no ghost tour. I would love to. See? Another reason to add to the growing list of reasons to do a dedicated Key West vaca!

When You Wish Upon A Star...POOF your teens vanish!

sweetpee_1993

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