4 Vancouverites take on Alaska! Aug 28-Sept 4 2017 *COMPLETED*

After the show we did a scavenger hunt (reallllly easy) and there was a campfire where you could roast marshmallows. The only photo I have of the campfire has a rather angry woman right in the middle of it, guess I didn't notice her and she was none too pleased to be having her photo taken by a stranger, though obviously it was not my intention. Think I'll skip posting that one.

After that it was time for gold panning, I only got a couple shots as my Dh was gold panning a bit further down with DD6 and he had the DSL camera with him and didn't bother taking any shots so I just have a couple using my phone:
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Now because it was an overcast and drizzly day, they moved the character meet and greet into the tent where the show had been. Except no 'formal' announcement was made. So many people in our group missed it. How did we know about it? While DD9 was busy digging through cold pebbles for a tiny sliver of gold I was busy nosing around the camp and happened to see the characters and CMs go into the tent so I grabbed the rest of the fam and hightailed it in there. Of course DD6 didn't want to be in this photo, other.

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Next up was lunch, which was quite tasty, followed by wandering around on your own for a little bit before heading back on the bus:

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We opted to be dropped off in town to look around, making our own way back to the ship (which was just a short walk). Did a bit of shopping as well, where DD9 picked up a new hoodie and DH picked up a new raincoat (yay for end of season sales!)
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Next up: Freezing the night away with a grumpy start and Palo dinner!
 
My husband tinkered around with various settings to get some 'artsy' photos:
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It looks like a toy!
 
So since it was Freezing the Night Away we asked the girls (months before the cruise) if they wanted to try BBB. They have never done it prior to this trip, not on any cruise and never in any park. They seemed up for it. Great. We brought our own princess dresses from home and they got the .....princess package I think? Hair, make up, glitter.

Off to a good start:
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Then DD6 seemed a little unsure....

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But judging by the smile in the mirror we thought she was having a good time and pleased with the outcome:
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But we could not have been more wrong.

Seriously.

They HATED the experience. I can't even begin to tell you the fuss they both put up. DD6 hated the hair, it was too tight, too much.....bun??? I don't know. But she was not a happy camper. And DD9 was itchy. The dresssssss is sooooooo itchy!!!! she cried.

Oh my god.

What the fairy godmothers' must've thought of us?!!! They were so great with the girls but the way my children carried on you'd think we had taken them to BBB to be murdered.

:sad2:>:(

I just can't even with these two some times.......

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:rolleyes1:sad::rolleyes2

We let them change out of their dresses and watch some tv while I ran up to Cove Cafe to get myself and DH something STRONG to drink. VERY strong. :crazy: Brought the girls back some food as well since they would be in the clubs right after the party on deck because DH and I had Palo.

After everyone had decompressed for a bit we went up to pool deck for the Freezing the Night way deck party.

I think the kids were feeling a bit better, don't you? :rotfl:

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A couple images from the show

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Now that is more like it :thumbsup2
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After the show we dropped them at the club/lab then quickly ran to get changed for Palo dinner. No food pictures, as per usual :laughing: We did have our photo taken and we ended up purchasing it; I'll post all the DCL/Shutters photos at the end of the report.

Oh and it's worth mentioning that while I washed DD9's hair and got the bun out, DD6 (who complained the most about the hair) had her bun in until the last day fo the cruise I believe :scratchin when I basically begged to wash her hair because...dude......gross :eek:
 


More beautiful photos even if the weather was a bit dreary. The excursion didn't look like it was dripping with fun, but maybe a nice relaxed beginning of the day ended up being a good thing. :rotfl: So, I guess you won't be "spoiling" the girls with BBB again? :lmao::lmao::lmao: Their faces were absolutely priceless...you have to save those for later on in life....that's just too hilarious! :thumbsup2 We have seen the Frozen show once, they had a Frozen night on one of the Galveston cruises - I thought it was cute. I'm sure Palo was a nice serene ending to your day - I hope you had an adult beverage or two, you deserved it! :goodvibes
 
Such awesome updates!! Loving all your pictures and I am SO jealous of your weather! Ours was sooo cold and raining the whole time, we weren't able to be outside and barely saw anything. Oh well, I guess that means we will have to cruise Alaska again to see things!

Omg the girls after the BBB! Did they have the option of some of the other hairstyles?

Tiana's Place looks fantastic!
 
After the show we did a scavenger hunt (reallllly easy) and there was a campfire where you could roast marshmallows. The only photo I have of the campfire has a rather angry woman right in the middle of it, guess I didn't notice her and she was none too pleased to be having her photo taken by a stranger, though obviously it was not my intention. Think I'll skip posting that one.

After that it was time for gold panning, I only got a couple shots as my Dh was gold panning a bit further down with DD6 and he had the DSL camera with him and didn't bother taking any shots so I just have a couple using my phone:
View attachment 326155 View attachment 326156

Now because it was an overcast and drizzly day, they moved the character meet and greet into the tent where the show had been. Except no 'formal' announcement was made. So many people in our group missed it. How did we know about it? While DD9 was busy digging through cold pebbles for a tiny sliver of gold I was busy nosing around the camp and happened to see the characters and CMs go into the tent so I grabbed the rest of the fam and hightailed it in there. Of course DD6 didn't want to be in this photo, other.

View attachment 326157

Next up was lunch, which was quite tasty, followed by wandering around on your own for a little bit before heading back on the bus:

View attachment 326158

We opted to be dropped off in town to look around, making our own way back to the ship (which was just a short walk). Did a bit of shopping as well, where DD9 picked up a new hoodie and DH picked up a new raincoat (yay for end of season sales!)
View attachment 326159 View attachment 326160 View attachment 326161 View attachment 326162 View attachment 326163

Next up: Freezing the night away with a grumpy start and Palo dinner!
I love your trip report. Thanks so much for all the info. We are signed up for the Disney liarsville as well. My kids ages 6-14 don't want to ride the train. They think it will be boring. I have said I think liarsville is geared towards younger ages. They still would rather do that. One of them LOVES chip & dale and is hoping to meet them there. Is this something you still had fun doing? Do you wish you picked something else? Any more thoughts? Thanks so much!
 


I love your trip report. Thanks so much for all the info. We are signed up for the Disney liarsville as well. My kids ages 6-14 don't want to ride the train. They think it will be boring. I have said I think liarsville is geared towards younger ages. They still would rather do that. One of them LOVES chip & dale and is hoping to meet them there. Is this something you still had fun doing? Do you wish you picked something else? Any more thoughts? Thanks so much!

I will say that the fact it was cooler and drizzly did not make for the best experience at Liarsville; I mean, it wasn't horrible I'm just not sure it ended up being the best excursion. I still do wish we had done the train, as does my DH - but we are very lucky in that we are doing Alaska again at the end of August 2019 for our 15th wedding anniversary and we are going kid-free (DD9 is NOT best pleased with us about that haha) and DH and I have already decided we will definitely do the train in Skagway as it was the only other excursion we really wanted to do. You will definitely meet Chip and Dale at Liarsville, just make sure to keep your eyes peeled so as not to miss them if it's a rainy day and they go in the tent again; it's my understanding that if the weather is good then they do the meet and greet outside in the open near the gold panning.
 
Such awesome updates!! Loving all your pictures and I am SO jealous of your weather! Ours was sooo cold and raining the whole time, we weren't able to be outside and barely saw anything. Oh well, I guess that means we will have to cruise Alaska again to see things!

Omg the girls after the BBB! Did they have the option of some of the other hairstyles?

Tiana's Place looks fantastic!

I think Alaska is a cruise/destination that definitely needs to be visited more than once in a lifetime!

Tiana's Place is fantastic and is now my fave restaurant on the Wonder!!!

Can you believe how miserable my kids looked after BBB? Oh my god I was mortified, what those CM's must've thought about us :sad2: That was pretty much the only hairstyle they offered for that package. But like I said, DD6 ended up loving it, wore it in Juneau and Ketchikan and I had to beg her to take a shower on our last day so I could take it out :rotfl:
 
I’ve always thought the BBB hairstyles look painfully tight! But I have boys so unlikely to have to ever deal with that unless one wants a pirate or prince makeover. :) I went gold panning once as a kid and enjoyed it but it seems like the DCL Liarsville excursion could stand to be shorter for what it is. Then families wouldn’t have to choose between that and the train.
 
Thanks for sharing. I am now trying to pack the last minute things into our suitcase and not freak out, because I feel that I am not prepared for the fluctuating weather. I don't want to over pack.
 
Thanks for sharing. I am now trying to pack the last minute things into our suitcase and not freak out, because I feel that I am not prepared for the fluctuating weather. I don't want to over pack.

It's easy to overpack because Alaska is so unpredictable. The first cruise that went last week, they didn't have great weather I see but this week - it was sunny in Skagway yesterday and the same temperature as Vancouver!!! And I just looked at the port cam for Juneau and it's sunny there now as well lol

It was VERY easy for us to overpack since we didn't have to fly anywhere, so we came back with lots of clothes (for the girls esp) that were never worn. You will have a great time next week for sure!!
 
I hope so :) we have more luggage now than our baltic cruise, and now we have DD18 and DD15 as well as her best friend.
 
Your children's reactions at BBB cracked me up because we have 2 boys a couple of years older than your girls and when they were younger, a few years ago we took them to BBB. Big mistake. They complained every second of it. I was mortified, because there were two lovely young British women waiting on my children and all my rough American boys did the entire time was complain. I couldn't believe it!
 
Your children's reactions at BBB cracked me up because we have 2 boys a couple of years older than your girls and when they were younger, a few years ago we took them to BBB. Big mistake. They complained every second of it. I was mortified, because there were two lovely young British women waiting on my children and all my rough American boys did the entire time was complain. I couldn't believe it!

Haha, thank you for saying that, I feel a bit better about it now! :flower1: Still, could never set foot in BBB again (at least not on the Wonder :oops:)
 
Dinner that night was in Tritons. You know me, I don't usually take food photos. This night was no exception haha But youngest DD was having trouble with the time change on this cruise (1 hr behind Vancouver+late dining=dinner starting at 9:15PST) So was the kid at the next table, apparently lol Our head server was ever so lovely on this cruise, he would make the kids a bed each night if they couldn't get through dinner:
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That is pretty cute! Sometimes I want one of those at dinner!

Now because it was an overcast and drizzly day, they moved the character meet and greet into the tent where the show had been. Except no 'formal' announcement was made. So many people in our group missed it. How did we know about it? While DD9 was busy digging through cold pebbles for a tiny sliver of gold I was busy nosing around the camp and happened to see the characters and CMs go into the tent so I grabbed the rest of the fam and hightailed it in there. Of course DD6 didn't want to be in this photo, other.

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I love their outfits!

They HATED the experience. I can't even begin to tell you the fuss they both put up. DD6 hated the hair, it was too tight, too much.....bun??? I don't know. But she was not a happy camper. And DD9 was itchy. The dresssssss is sooooooo itchy!!!! she cried.

Oh my god.

What the fairy godmothers' must've thought of us?!!! They were so great with the girls but the way my children carried on you'd think we had taken them to BBB to be murdered.

:sad2::(

I just can't even with these two some times.......

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Oh gosh! Wow, they do not look happy!
 
Alright I'm back with our day in Juneau; hoping to get this trip report completed in the next couple of days - FINALLY!

So as I was going through our Juneau photos, I noticed we didn't take many. I'm not kidding :sad2: There's more photos from the Pixar Pals party included in this update :rotfl2:

We chose to do an excursion through DCL again, this time Mendenhall Glacier and Fish Hatchery tour.

It was a gloomy start to the morning; we were hoping it would burn off so we could do the Mt Roberts Tram later in the day, but it never did so we didn't feel like wasting money going up there if we were not going to get some good views.

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We grabbed breakfast then headed to meet our group for the tour. The bus ride was maybe 30 minutes? Possibly a bit less? Juneau and the outlying areas were actually bigger than we thought, it's quite populous for that part of Alaska.

We had 90 minutes to explore the glacier park and the visitors centre. We managed to avoid the rain until the VERY end so we lucked out.

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The glacier is "this big"
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Inside the visitors centre there are several exhibits and a short film you can watch. They also bring in ice samples from the glacier.

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Photo limit reached.
 
The girls met a fishy friend:
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As per usual, my youngest DD didn't feel like posing.

And here is the ONE photo I can find from the Hatchery visit on the way back into town, though I KNOW we took more:
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We chose to be dropped off into town to walk around a bit and enjoy a FABULOUS lunch at Tracy's Crab Shack!!

Do you think I have any photos from our lunch???????


:sad2::sad2::sad2::sad2:

But we did get some photos walking around

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Thrilling I know....sigh.

Don't ask me what we did once we got back on board....assume the girls got a snack and then went off to the clubs???

We decided to check out the 4:30 Pixar Pals party rather than wait until the 10:15 party later that night. Here's where the bulk of the photos were taken that day apparently!

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And a few more....
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Think we went to get a drink afterwards before it was time to see the show - Frozen!!!! It started at 6pm for the early show and we got in line around 5:30 or just before. We had amazing seats, we were centre, about row 8????

Fantastic seats.

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No photography was allowed during the show so that's all the proof we have.

This show is NOT to be missed. Even if you are 'frozened-out' do NOT miss it if you are on the Wonder. It really is so well done. My husband, who really is NOT a Frozen fan LOVED it. I can't tell you how much he loved it......we all thought it was just fantastic.

So there you go.....get yer butt on the Wonder and see it!

Haha, next up: Ketchikan!
 
Catching up! The glacier looks beautiful! Too bad the day was a bit dreary and you couldn't go and get some good views from higher up, but it sounds like you had a nice day anyway. Pixar party looks fun, and your Inside Out pals were there! :goodvibes:thumbsup2
 

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