How does this thing Float??

So if everything in the Disney Parks was jacked up on Disney Steroids... how would a cruise on the Disney Magic be??  Even better!!!  after too many days of squeezing everything into our Park visits, it was time to relax for a while on the Magic... and it was the highlight of the trip for so many reasons!!  Being our first Cruise... it's amazing to see the size of these boats.... and how much fun they can squeeze onto them!!!  5 different restaurants, 2 full sized theatres with Broadway style performances every night, a basketball court, 3 pools, waterslides, an arcade, a small casino and 3 Clubs.... there was everthing you could ask for...
Oh and did i mention.... more food than you can "Dream" about!!!!

A Spectacular Boat that was our home for 4 days... amazing views, amazing hospitality, too much food, too much to do and we barely noticed the movement in the 20ft swells on the last night...

just a sample of the Entertainment Deck.... Fun-a-palooza!!!

Disney starts the cruise with a Character Dance Party.... great music, tons of Entertainment Staff, the fresh air, Florida disappearing in the distance.... "Keep Sailing... I don't want to go home!!"

There was also different character "Parties" each evening for the kids.... a great chance to see / meet all the characters and have some fun with them.... we walked Right Past the Princess Banquet!!!

My 2nd favorite Red Head...

Our Nightly Routine of "We've eaten too much - we need some fresh air and moderate activity..."

Our Cabin Cleaner started making us Towel Animals.... and when we told him how impressed we were, he continued to step it up a notch!!!  Snake to Elephant to Cool Monkey...

One of our fantastic Servers who not only kept up happy and fed, but entertained the kids with magic, oragami, trivia, math challenges and fun stories.... their personalities rivalled the taste of the food...

the Aqua-Dunk waterslide.... stand in a "coffin" style tube, listen to the countdown and then the floors drops out, sending you down into the darkness that hangs Over the side of the boat.... Mommy screamed again!!

Sad to have to leave but all good things must come to an end... but another Disney Cruise is definately on our Future List!!!

Disney's Typhoon Lagoon

so the weather finally warmed up in Florida... and just in time!!  We have been holding off on enjoying the water park attraction because of the weather, and the last day before taking off on our Disney Cruise, the sun finally warmed to a pleasant 22 degrees.  Not quite Florida weather (the locals still had pants and coats on) but we had a great day at the Park!!!

yay sunshine!!!  Let's have some fun!!!

a long, fast tube ride that made mommy scream so loud that the attendant laughed out loud!!!

snorkels always make you look more attractive!!!!

a neat attraction where you get to snorkel in a huge tank that has many fish... and cool Sharks!!!!

the wave pool was amazing!!!!  every minute a MASSIVE wave comes rolling down the length of the pool... crashes you into the bottom and then creates an undertow that pulls you back for more... 

OK.. seriously... the wave is like 20ft high!!!!  take a big breath before being tossed around like cast off Band-Aid.... 

the Tube Rides were amazing too.... they have water jets that actually push you back UPHILL so you can ride even further...

Family Tube ride was tons of fun too.... although it was like Russian Roulette for who got soaked under the big waterfall!!!

Another (final) great day in the World of Disney.... before packing up the room and preparing the Cast Off on the Disney Magic.... more pictures / updates of that to follow!!!

And that's all she wrote...

A final weekend in the arena and then time for warmer (?) weather activities. Both Luke and Jakes teams made it to the "A Final" at the end of it all. Jakes team was in first or tied for first for the entire season, so no surprise there. They dominated the first of the Double Header Final games winning 4-0. He had a good strong showing on D and had a couple good chances on odd man rushes. They won the second game 1-0 and were crowned Champions!!!

Luke's team had a slow start, a great middle of the season and then tapered off before playoffs. Thankfully they found their legs and the net for the playoffs and finished second overall. A tight first game had them them tie 2-2 which made it a 1 game final. We were hoping for great things but the team let in a few Mistake Goals that took the wind out of their skates. They finished up losing 4-0... But still finishing with a silver medal is nothing to be upset about!!!

As much as I hate the early morning practices and hours at the rink... We will still miss the routine of all. Both kids had a great year and improved a lot... But now it's time to trade the hockey helmets for bike helmets and get outside!!!

Breakfast and a few giggles...

Hit another Character Breakfast at the Polynesian Resort with Lilo and Stitch (everyone's favorites...) for some well deserved fun before an entertaining day at Hollywood Studios.

a nice Meat Lovers Breakfast .... they couldn't wait to dig in...

Joined the Lilo and Stitch Parade.... 

Everyone loves Stitch and his crazy antics....

"Hey Dad.... a Monkey Butt!!!!  Hee Hee Hee....."

we got Really Close to a giraffe on the Tour Bus through the Animal display... had some really cool animals and very well set up with few fences and lots of freedom....

Not sure What we are doing here.... but it looks fun!!

the Tower of Terror was everyone's favorite ride.... very well done with the Lead Up Line Entertainment, videos, costumes and Basement Theme waiting area.... and then scares the Be-geezus out of you when it drops you straight down 3 times in the dark.... "The Twilight Zone" spin off was fun...

Quite possibly our favorite park with lots of really interesting rides and great entertainment for the kids... and an amazing fireworks display to finish the night....

the Chevrolet Test Track was very cool... we got to design our own cars and then test them out for performance, handling and aerodynamics... and had fun building a few extras!!!

another great day at Disney.... but what else would you expect!!!!

Epcot was Excellent

In our attempts to do EVERYTHING at Disney is 6 days, we hit Epcot for our 2nd day.... and it was tons of fun.  The weather wasn't quite what we were looking for, but that kept the other people away and the lines nice and short.  Character Breakfasts with your favorite Disney-ites was a great way to start the day and get everyone's "signature".... funny to see them hold the books right up to their eyes / mouth / nose so they could see what they were writing!!

along with Far too much food we had a good time watching the characters roam around and took part in a few Character Parades... and we all learned the words to the Mousekateers song!!

everyone's favorite breakfast item... Mickey Waffles!!!  not only were they sweet, crispy and delicious, but how can you not love biting off Mickey's ears?!?!?!?

Quick!!!  Now's our chance.... Run!!!

Wonderland could learn from this... amazing to see that Disney rides aren't just rides but "experiences"... the Everest Ride included a museum along the sides of the line that had artifacts, stories, photos and information about the area... and as someone with general knowledge about Everest - they weren't making it up!!!  made the time go by much quicker than standing in a zig zag line watching the steel structure ride.... they made it Oh So Disney...

With unpredictable weather, we had a chance to see a lot of live and 3-D shows.... Jake wanted to steal these glasses but the Guard caught him at the exit....

almost fooled by that rascally Coyote...

Day 2 was another great one... busy busy and it's amazing how tired you can be at the end of a day when all you do is eat, stand in line, eat, walk around, eat, go on rides, eat, watch shows, eat, ride a bus....