Holidays in the parks

After the cruise Jenn and I spent a day in Animal Kingdom. We enjoyed a couple of attractions and seeing the holiday decorations.

After Christmas some friends came out unexpectedly for almost a week. We were able to spend a couple of days in the parks. At Epcot we enjoyed the Festival of Holidays. 

We also spent some time at Disney Springs. It was pretty crowded with all the holiday shoppers. 

Finally, we spent a day at Sea World. We caught a couple of animal shows and the kids rode the roller coasters. I enjoyed a couple too. The new Icebreaker roller coaster was operating, but I wasn't willing to wait in line for it, and Sea World has started construction on another coaster that will open next year.

Bahamas

  

Our first port was Nassau in the Bahamas. Unfortunately, the Hard Rock here had closed during the pandemic. Susan and Jenn looked around the shops a bit near port, then headed back to the ship.  

I walked up the Queen's Staircase to check out Fort Fincastle and the view from Bennet's Hill.  

Our other stop was at Castaway Cay, where we enjoyed a day at the beach.  

We had a really good serving crew at dinners. We especially liked talking to our head server each night.

After a day at sea, we arrived back at Port Canaveral this morning.

Merrytime Cruise

 

Monday morning, we drove out to Port Canaveral to board the Disney Wish for a four night Merrytime Cruise to the Bahamas. Susan and I had spent November working and getting stuff done, so it was nice to slow down.

This was our first time on the Wish, and it was decorated for Christmas. While still a Disney ship, it definitely has some differences from the Fantasy and Dream.  

The main dining rooms were completely different. We enjoyed the shows in the Marvel and Frozen dining rooms.  

The Star Wars Lounge was pretty cool, and we liked the greater selections of foods available around the pool.

The AquaMouse slide was also pretty cool, but the areas for lounging on the top deck seemed smaller and more crowded than on the Dream and Fantasy.

November Update

The kids celebrated Halloween with friends at Universal. 

The first Saturday of the month Jennifer attended a book convention held in a hotel near Disney Springs. She is hopes to start going to these conventions as an author soon, rather than just a fan.

The kids got some traveling done in November. Jennifer flew up to Boston to visit a friend, and while there they drove into New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Meanwhile Bryan went out to Portland. 

This weekend they drove out to Texas to attend a wedding of some of Bryan's friends.

Cozumel

 

After a day at sea, we stopped at Cozumel. Susan and Jenn shopped a bit, then went back to the ship.  

We had eaten at the Hard Rock Cafe in Cozumel back in 2017, so didn't need to go back. I did stop by the shop and bar near the port, but the bar appeared to be closed due to covid.  

Bryan and I took the ferry to the Playa del Carmen on the mainland. It took just under an hour to cross, then we spent about an hour looking around.

We had a drink at the Hard Rock Cafe (No. 33), then took the ferry back to Cozumel and reboarded the ship.

After another day at sea, on Saturday morning we cruised back into Miami, disembarked, and headed home.

Dream Cruise

Monday morning, we drove down to Miami. We had lunch at the Hard Rock near Miami Beach (No 32), then headed to the Port of Miami, where we boarded the Disney Dream for a five night cruise. This summer Susan had transferred to a job with the Cruise Line, so we are now able to get a great rate on last minute cruises.

The Dream is the sister ship to the Disney Fantasy, and we once again enjoyed a veranda stateroom, rotating through the ship's three dining rooms, and sitting by the pool and eating at the buffet.

It was a Halloween cruise, and we enjoyed the decorations and special activities. There were also three live shows in the theater: Golden Mickeys, Beauty and the Beast, and Believe.

Our first stop was on Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. We were lucky to snag a cabana for the day, and spent most of our time hanging out in it, although we did find time to swim, eat, and go for a bike ride.

Dinosaur World

At the end of September, Hurricane Ian blew through central Florida. Disney closed their parks for two days. The wind really howled the night it came through, and the next morning we found several of our plants blown over. 

Epcot celebrated its 40th anniversary on October 1st. We also spent some time at the park last week.

Jennifer celebrated the release of her second book with a trip to the Magic Kingdom.

Today Susan and I had to run out to Tampa, so we stopped at Dinosaur World on the way back. It's a rather simple place, consisting mostly of walking paths with statues of dinosaurs along them.

At about 20 acres, it took us about two hours to walk all the trails.

Coral Gables

 

We try to get out and make short visits around Florida. Last week, Jennifer wanted to attend a book signing down in Coral Gables, so we headed down for the day.

 

For lunch, we stopped at my 31st Hard Rock Cafe. This one was located inside a casino in Hollywood Florida, north of Miami. 

Next to the casino is a guitar shaped hotel.  

Although she is pretty busy writing and selling her books, Jenn occasionally spends some time in the parks. Last week she met some friends at Universal, and this week at Magic Kingdom. Last night we all went to dinner at the Yachtsman's Steakhouse. I really enjoyed it.

Earidescent Evening

Last week Susan and I attended another Earidescent Evening, this time at Epcot with Bryan and Jennifer. 

We enjoyed free snacks and rode the new Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster as well as a few other attractions.

This week we attended a special cast shopping event at ESPN Wide World of Sports and a DVC Moonlight Magic event at Typhoon Lagoon.

Jenn in Paris

While Bryan and I were driving back to Florida, Jennifer went to Paris for a convention. While there she spent some time in the city, including seeing the Eiffel Tower at night.

 

She also checked out the stores on the Champs-Élysées. 

One day she went out to the Disney resort to visit the parks with a friend. Disneyland Paris was celebrating its 30th anniversary. 

Over in the Studios park she checked out the new Avengers Campus.

Last load from Oregon

The first weekend in August Jennifer flew back to Oregon to attend the wedding of one of the kids friends from University of Portland. It was held on a ranch outside Redmond. 

Last week, I flew to Bend to bring the last of our stuff to Florida. Bryan was done working in Bend for the summer, so he drove back with me and we towed his car.

This was my 21st time driving across the country. We drove east through Idaho, Wyoming, and Nebraska, then turned south when we hit Missouri. We didn’t stop much, although we did check out a new Buc-ee’s in Leeds, Alabama.

Backstage Magic

This month I was able to attend three behind the scenes tours of attractions at Disney World. First I did a backstage tour of the Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios, with some Friendship Boat Captains.

 

The next week I learned how Rock N Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios works. I again toured the ride with some Friendship Boat Captains. 

Last night Susan and I got to do a behind the scenes tour of Ratatouille in Epcot.

Two weeks ago, Jenn went to Magic Kingdom to celebrate the release of her first novel and to be there while Susan worked her last shift in merchandise. Last week she started working for Disney Cruise Line.