A Whole New World of Disney ~ Lia's Birthday Shore & Sea Dream Trip! UPDATED 6/24!!!!

[__disneygirl]

APRIL 12, 2014
Day 6, Part 1 In Which We Gather With Princesses

This morning, we got up early because we had quite a big day ahead of us! Today was CASTAWAY CAY day!

So this was the view from our state room:

Yeah, I'm not joking when I tell you that you need to spring for the verandah. Verandah life is no joke, you guys.

I mean yes, Jess's camera has an exceptionally fabulous zoom, but this is essentially what you wake up to when you get a verandah. Not to sound like a travel agent, but seriously, you roll out of bed needing a serious teeth brushing and are refreshed and awakened by these amazing views.

Call now to book your Disney Cruise!

Before we enjoyed countless hours of island fun, we had a date with a few princesses. To be exact, we were going to visit Tiana, Rapunzel, Belle, Ariel, Snow White, and Cinderella. I don't really know why they limit it to these six or why they specifically made the cut, but they were all wonderful so it KIND OF ALMOST made up for the lack of Jasmine but not really.

Obviously since my soulmate Rapunzel was there, I was doing okay.

Just like with the Character Gathering we attended the day before, there's one queue and your party moves down the queue of princesses, meeting them one by one.

This was the second and final Princess Gathering of the cruise, and it was packed. GET THERE EARLY. We did, and we were still one of the last groups allowed to line up. I can't imagine how disappointed the kids were after learning this was the last time to meet princesses and they came too late. Jess and I would have cried, and we're adults with jobs.

This is probably one of my favorite princess pictures ever. Good job Jess!

We waited a pretty long time to get to the first princess, the lovely Tiana! They were taking a good amount of time with each family.

Tiana is so cool because she didn't judge us for eating everyone on the ship out of house and home. That girl understands the importance of a good meal (or seven, in our case).

Lovely Belle!

Ariel was very concerned when she saw Vanessa's shell around my neck, but I assured her this was NOT the same one that her voice was stored in. I think she believed me... muahahaha, on with my evil plan!

Just kidding.

Or am I?

You decide.

PUNZ!!!!!!!!!!!

Ugggh, that glorious hair! I don't like the new way they style Rapunzel in the parks, with that much skinnier braid that's braided all the way down. I mean, trust me, I get it. As a dear friend of Rapunzel, I understand how things often get... tangled. But the old hair looks so much nicer!

You remember the amazing Snow White from our first night, don't you?

You probably don't since I wrote about that 23 years ago. To summarize, this is the best friend of Snow's I have ever met and possibly one of the most talented princess friends Disney has ever seen. Trust me, being a friend of Snow's is not easy! In fact, I think she is the most challenging for me because of one reason: her completely saccharine voice! It's a very hard sound to imitate without sounding totally ridiculous, but this girl, wow.

Cinderella was also overly sweet (in a good way) and very soft spoken.

"Through it all, Cinderella remained ever gentle and kind..."

Overall, these character gatherings are the business. Really really exciting for anyone who enjoys meeting the characters as long as you GET THERE EARLY! Don't make me tell ya twice. I already did!!!

Right from there, it was time to head to CASTAWAY CAY!!!!! I was SO READY for the Disney Island Experience. You guys have no idea. I was pumped.

We went down to disembark and had to go through security like at the airport. As soon as I walked outside, I fell in love. First of all, the sheer size of the ship is awe-inspiring. If you ever want to feel small, stand beside a ship that's sitting in the ocean. Um, yeah.

I took a selfie with the ship because that is what I do. Accept me.

Of course, the first thing we did upon getting off the ship was meet characters! Even though we were hungry to see the island, they were literally right there as soon as you disembarked. We couldn't pass up Daisy in her FAB BEACH OUTFIT!

Seriously, has anyone ever looked so FLAWLESS???? Imagine being Daisy's stylist. That hat! Pure perfection.

Next up was Hook and Smee again! Meeting them on the beach just seemed appropriate.

I wonder if the crocodile made it all the way over to Castaway in order to stalk Hook. Hmmm.. you'll have to find that out in the next installment! Next up, our adventure on Disney's private island!​

 

[DnA2010]

Lia you're back!! You guys were my favourite TR writers! Can't wait to read more, yay! Sooooo yay!!!

 

[JaySwash]

This is my first time reading your trip report, easy to see why they are so popular.

Character meets are the best aren't they? My 4 year old is a Disney life-er now after the 10 minute meet/hideandseekgame/hug fest he had with Donald. =)

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I just love reading your reports. Thanks for the update.

 

[pagek83]

Just found your report and loving it!

 

[Mcbruns]

Why have I never had one ? Thanks for sharing. Yummmm....

Before heading to Morocco, we went back to Pineapple Promenade so I could get the glorious rum dole whip. You can get white or black rum and I chose the coconut rum.

 

[tinawv]

Can't wait to see how your day went!

 

[__disneygirl]

Lia you're back!! You guys were my favourite TR writers! Can't wait to read more, yay! Sooooo yay!!!

Thank you so much, we're so happy you enjoy reading our posts.

This is my first time reading your trip report, easy to see why they are so popular.

Character meets are the best aren't they? My 4 year old is a Disney life-er now after the 10 minute meet/hideandseekgame/hug fest he had with Donald. =)

It's nice to see new readers coming up after all these years, thanks for hopping on!

I just love reading your reports. Thanks for the update.

Thanks for reading!

Just found your report and loving it!

Thank you!

Why have I never had one ? Thanks for sharing. Yummmm....

Before heading to Morocco, we went back to Pineapple Promenade so I could get the glorious rum dole whip. You can get white or black rum and I chose the coconut rum.

Hopefully you'll be able to get one if you go during Flower & Garden. Mmmmmmm

Can't wait to see how your day went!

Thanks for reading!

 

[disney_fan383]

So glad to see more updates on your trip! Heading to Disney in 31 days as a chaperone for Senior Trip and your report is making me even more excited

 

[awdwnut]

Hello Lia,

We are so glad that you are updating this TR again, your wonderful storytelling was very missed!

awdwnut

 

[__disneygirl]

APRIL 12, 2014
Day 6, Part 2 In Which We Explore Disney's Private Island!

Before I begin, what I have to say about this day is: sigh. In a good way. If you are on the fence about booking a Disney Cruise, just do it already. Don't do it for the special character greetings or the unlimited food, don't do it for the Mickey pool or the Aqua Duck, do it for Castaway Cay, man. All those other things are great, but this is one of my favorite places in the world for sure.​

​

After meeting Daisy, Hook, and Smee, we just kind of decided to explore and see where the island took us. Of course, this meant taking tons of pictures!​

​

Check out Jess's awesome DCL shirt!​

​

Two best friends set free on Disney's private island!

Oooh, yes. I will take some coconut lotion.

All of this was very very exciting for me, because as I've mentioned before in this report, I never do island vacations! I was absolutely loving this paradise.

I took a TON of photos of the ship, trust me, this is the abridged version. I'm not even including most of Jess's island pics because I took so many that if I even touched hers, this report would be 100 more pages long and I need to get through it already! But seriously... if ship photos give you the creeps, turn back now.

Peace.

Yes, all these photos and we are only now approaching the "Welcome to Castaway Cay" sign!

This is the walkway to the main part of the island from the ship.

You can take a tram or something there, but it is such a beautiful, stunning, flawless and amazing walk that if you are able bodied, you just need to take it.

Oh look, there's that ship!

So much blue.

Once we got closer to the hub of Castaway Cay, more characters started appearing. Do you all remember about how Jess and I were kinda disagreeing on what to do? Her: chararacters, Me: Island life? Well, the reality is, you have time for it all! However, my knee was really, really killing me again, so I went to First Aid to get some more of the magic Aspirin that Disney provides. It was in a tiny little building near where most of the character greetings on the beach were taking place, and I have to tell you that it was probably the only time this whole cruise that I was disappointed in a Cast Member's behavior. I can't remember many details, but I remember the person barely spoke to me and basically made me feel like I was crazy for walking in there, like I had come into someone's home uninvited or something. It was WORLDS different from any other experience I have had with First Aid at Disney, so please don't be shy with getting help, but wow, that was so awkward!

I love this ship.

Ask any imagineer what the most important part of any Disney attraction is, and what will they tell you? Story...

After I took my medicine, we met some good old friends on the beach. First was Mickey, who was meeting this adorable baby before us.

When it was our turn, Mickey did that thing characters do when they're trying to say, "I know you!" They signal this by touching their nose and sometimes pointing at you. This has been done to me before (if you remember the mysterious meet and greet from Garden Grill in 2013, you know what I'm talking about...) but I didn't get it for some reason, so Jess was like "He knows us!" and I was like well, yes, we have met him 35,000 times. If he doesn't know us by now, I'd say it's time to get the ol' noggin checked out.

What a background, huh? Jess was right about getting different character photos!

Next we got in line for Donald, but he was switching off with Mickey's lovely lady...

So we met the fabulous Minnie instead! I love her pose here by the way, and don't get me started on the beach attire. Disney is so hilarious and cute with all of this stuff.

Finally we met the Goof man himself. Check out those trunks!

What a weird life, like, oh yeah I'm Goofy's friend on Castaway Cay today. Just working, you know, my job. Goofy. Castaway Cay. Job. Normal.

If you know Jess and I, you know that the next thing on our agenda was obviously food. We actually went to the buffet, Cookies, right when they were opening.

The food is good old fashioned barbecue, and it was absolutely delicious!

The only thing with this is that it's just not fun to take full advantage of a buffet in the heat, you know? Too much water and sand surrounding you to eat 7 plates worth of food. So we ate like normal, civilized human beings instead of hogs. Peter Pan would have been proud and judged us less than he had the day before... maybe.

There of course was unlimited soft serve on the island because this is Disney and they are not going to let you go very long without encountering unlimited ice cream!

Observe the fine job I did of serving myself.

This was a running joke on our cruise. I may have mentioned this already, but that was probably like a year ago so no one even remembers anyway! Jess used to work at an ice cream parlor and so when she would make her cones at these machines, they would look absolutely perfect. Mine looked like "art". You know, not real art, but like, when you see a hanger attached to a tree trunk at MoMA and people are moved to tears but you just don't get it? That's my ice cream cone.

Up next: The very aptly named SERENITY BAY. ​

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Seeing all your pictures brings back such great memories. Disney cruising is just the best! Looking forward to your next update.

 

[BaltimoreLauren]

This whole thread has convinced me to take a Disney Cruise for my birthday in 2017. MOAR I SAY!

 

[cindianne320]

Love all the character pics on CC! Can't wait to go back someday- hopefully sooner rather than later. (DH wanted to take an Alaskan cruise next.)

 

[khertz]

Castaway Cay looks absolutely beautiful!! I am trying to hard to convince DH we should splurge on a Disney cruise. I might have to direct him to your TR as ammunition. lol

 

[EmmyL258]

Love your trip report!! Makes me want to turn one of my besties into a disney freak so we can recreate it

 

[__disneygirl]

Seeing all your pictures brings back such great memories. Disney cruising is just the best! Looking forward to your next update.

Yay, for me too! I can't wait to go on another one!

This whole thread has convinced me to take a Disney Cruise for my birthday in 2017. MOAR I SAY!

See, this makes me feel like I'm doing some good in the world! Everyone needs a Disney Cruise for their birthday!

Love all the character pics on CC! Can't wait to go back someday- hopefully sooner rather than later. (DH wanted to take an Alaskan cruise next.)

Oooh, the Alaskan cruises do look quite amazing. I hope you guys get to do that!

Castaway Cay looks absolutely beautiful!! I am trying to hard to convince DH we should splurge on a Disney cruise. I might have to direct him to your TR as ammunition. lol

Well I hope you are successful in convincing him because you guys certainly deserve it

Love your trip report!! Makes me want to turn one of my besties into a disney freak so we can recreate it

Thank you! Yes, I highly recommend this!

 

[__disneygirl]

APRIL 12, 2014
Day 6, Part 3 In Which I Do Not Get Fire Sea Coral Lice

After our very enjoyable BBQ at Cookies, we went to the beach for a little while, basically just sat on chairs, people watched, and talked while we digested our food.

Bye Cookies!

Castaway Cay has the main family beach where everyone is welcome, lots of hustle and bustle and activities. It was near here that the snorkling was going on, and honestly, it didn't look that exciting? It probably still would have been really cool, but it seemed to be in a very small, limited part of the water and since Jess wasn't very into it, I decided to opt out.

This beach was certainly enjoyable, cause duh, it's a Disney private beach in the freaking Bahamas.

HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is not Serenity Bay.

There are a lot of things that suck about growing up: taxes, trips to the DMV, the whole being a responsible adult and contributing to society game we're all trying to play, etc. However... there is a place that makes every single bill you pay worth being an adult.

That place is Serenity Bay, the astoundingly stunning adults-only beach on Castaway Cay. You can take a tram out there, but we decided to walk because we weren't in any hurry! We were there to explore.

Look what we found... a crate of Belle's books! How did they get from France to Castaway Cay?

Are you ready for a pun that would make even Carrie Bradshaw's head spin?

That's right, PETER'S PANS!!!!!!!!! Oh boy.

Once you get away from the main, busier parts of the island, the walk to Serenity Bay is pretty far, but since we had eaten everything on the cruise ship and they had to have special military forces called in to send an emergency food delivery in order to feed the rest of the guests on board, we decided walking was a good option for our bodies and minds. I mean, how often do you get to wander around a private island designed by Disney? If you're me, then probably like once a week. But it's still really exciting! So again, I suggest walking.

I'm not sure what flower these really are, but they looked like baby sunflowers to us!

Nature is so beautiful... especially Disney designed and cultivated nature!

Does it look really far?

That's because IT IS! It's nice to be that far away from, well, everything. It's kind of funny to be on vacation in what seems like another world, and thinking back to life at home. My friends, my parents, everyone at my job and at school in the middle of a normal day, and here I am taking a long walk into the captivating island wilderness! Vacations are a luxury I am very very grateful to be afforded, but sometimes it isn't about the cushy beds and decadent dinners... it's just feeling a little bit of distance and appreciation from experiencing a place so far from your reality. The best part is, if you're lucky, you end up appreciating that reality even more than your newly found paradise.

Finally we were coming up on the beach when this information board appeared.

Clearly we learned a lot.

There was another sign that made me appreciate the lack of terrifying facts on the previous information board.

See right away, I'm laughing that they even felt the need to name anything else after the inital warning of "sharks". I would think most people would see the shark disclaimer and think, "You know what? I'm good." However, because of this disturbing sign, I'm now aware that such things as "Sea Lice" and "Fire Coral" exist, so that's great. The "Etc" also worries me. If sharks and Sea Lice are the aforementioned, WHAT is the etc? What if the Sea Lice and Fire Coral somehow mate and form Fire Lice or even worse, Lice Fire Coral? There's just no end to the danger of the sea, even the Disney owned and operated sea!

As nice as this looks, pictures do not do Serenity Bay justice. I can not begin to explain the beauty and peace I felt here.

Like I mentioned, this place is adults-only, so if you're waiting for just the right time to pawn your kids off to Grandma, here it is! Even if you're as close with your little one as Lorelai is with Rory, you're going to want to experience this beach. Seriously, even if it's just you, your spouse, and the kids... make he or she watch the children while you kick back, cold drink in hand, staring at the wonder of nature in this island paradise. You deserve it!

I think it's pretty cool that Disney, the most family-oriented brand in the world, bans children from an entire section of guest area here at Castaway Cay. Go Disney!!! No one's gonna box your brand in, kick those kids out! I love children dearly, in fact when I'm working with them and have to leave, I sometimes cry, but not having them on this beach was a good move. I love hearing children giggle on the beach and play in the sand in places like these, but when things go south and the loud, loud, loud tears come on... kinda ruins the whole peaceful beach day thing. So yes, another brilliant move from Disney.

Jess and I took a bunch of pictures, talked for awhile, and then I laid down on a perfect Mickey Mouse beach chair, put my headphones on, and floated away on a cloud.

Well, maybe not literally. But we spent a lot of time here, hours actually. It had become abundantly clear that out of all the places to be on the island, this was the one I was planting my feet into. The weird thing is, I am so not a lay down on the beach all day person. I was raised going to the Jersey Shore dozens of times every summer, and I'm a go in the ocean, ride the boogie board, walk up and down the boardwalk, play in the sand, collect shells kinda gal. I always found laying in the sun boring, like I felt there was some fun to be had that everyone more concerned with getting a tan was missing. Something came over me at Serenity Bay, though, and I'm not quite sure what. It was kind of like Disney World in that a magical forcefield seems to be around the place so that when you enter, a kind of calm comes over you that you don't feel anywhere else. I felt complete and total relaxation, and that my friends, is worth the entire price of a cruise.

I don't know if Jess fell asleep too, but I certainly did, visions of Fire Coral Lice dancing in my head.
I woke up decades later and couldn't resist that beckoning ocean any longer. Jess was not in the mood to go swimming, so I took a solo trip out to the island!

I know what you're thinking: "Lia, you are already on an island. Did you go swimming out to sea looking for a bearded Tom Hanks clutching a volleyball?" The answer is no, I did not.

So off the beach in Serenity Bay is another little island of sand. You can kind of see it in the photo below:

See how it's shallow blue water, then gets deeper, then back further there is white sand again? That's my happy place. Well... my other happy place. There's Walt Disney World, and then there's this sandbar in the middle of the ocean that I needed to venture out to. COME AT ME, SHARKS AND FIRE LICE! I'm not afraid of you! You have no power over me!!

I wish I could more accurately tell you how amazing this was, but it's one of those sacred things I don't even know how to describe. It was just so beautiful. There was no one else on the little island when I was there, so I quickly dubbed it My Island. I couldn't believe I was sitting on my very own island, My Island, in the middle of the Bahamas, on Disney's private island, while on a Disney Cruise with one of my best friends for my birthday. How did I get so lucky? Why are there people starving in the world and I get to do this? Why doesn't everyone get to do this all the time? How could anything be so satisfying to look at and feel as my current surroundings are? I truly felt a way I never had before, I don't quite know how to explain that to you. I looked around and it was like everything was brighter and more sharp, like I could see better. I've never been on a sand bar in the middle of a clear blue ocean before, and I was simply in awe. I actually wish I brought my camera, because the water never got high enough that I wasn't able to, but then again I was happy not to be distracted by any electronics like I always, always am. It was true peace and, well, serenity. You have to hand it to Disney, they know how to name things.

My Island was a place I never really wanted to leave, but strangely enough, I also didn't want to stay that long. Do you understand? It was almost too special. So I drew the Hanson symbol into the sand like I do every time sand is present, and was about to swim back to the beach when I spotted a huuuuuge seashell! There weren't many shells on the sandbar, but this was a giant chunk of one of those massive clam shells. It was a good size and slightly heavy, so I kind of doubted that I would be able to get it back on the ship, especially because I'm pretty sure you are not allowed to take *anything* from the beaches, but I had to try. My mom is a huge collector of seashells, and one this interesting would definitely be the best present I could bring her from this trip!

I swam back to shore feeling fully alive and free. I tried to explain the experience to Jess but it was kind of fruitless... I was at a loss for words!

My NUMBER ONE MUST DO on a Disney Cruise is... swim out to the sand bar off of Serenity Bay. Trust me, this is one of those things in life you absolutely can not miss.

Up Next: The coolest water slide EVER, and our incredible last night aboard the Disney Dream!
​

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I've haven't made it over to the Serenity Bay side of the island yet but the pictures are just beautiful. I can just imagine the peaceful quiet you captured in the pictures. Heaven!

 

[__disneygirl]

APRIL 12, 2014
Day 6, Part 4 In Which For The First Time Ever, We're Seeing It I2I

Wow SERIOUSLY guys?! It's been 3 weeks since my last update already?! I feel like I just posted the thing! Good God, Lemon. Life is just slipping away isn't it? Am I 90 years old yet? I will be tomorrow! Man.

Well, Disney is getting to me right now. I am craving a trip so bad, specifically a solo one. Don't get me wrong, my amazing trips packed with friends are priceless, but sigh... I need some alone time with the Mouse. I need to just sit quietly on the Peoplemover without getting off for a minimum of three hours, really really badly.

I think my longing has been intensified because I recently saw Jess! I miss her so much already. She and her family came to visit NYC and so we got to have some time together which was wonderful, really had a great time.

My goal is to finish this report in the next two weeks! I can't believe how long it's gone on! As for the next one, I don't know! The trip I took after this one in September 2014 was amazing and I would actually love to write a TR on it, but by now it's been over a year and I don't have any notes. I could always do a different style of TR, just picture heavy with some stories/highlights... what do you guys think? After that trip, I didn't return to Disney for an entire year plus, going back on November 6, 2015 which was my last vacation down. I think that was one of the greatest trips of my life, and obviously I can remember it more clearly, so we'll see what I decide to do.

Also, I was thinking of starting a blog! I have so many adventures traveling around the US and being a princess and I need a place to keep track of it all and share it with the world. I'm still figuring out exactly what to do, and it doesn't mean I won't post here anymore, but it's definitely in the works. Until then, you can follow my adventures on Instagram @capriamoon, Twitter @babybritney, and I recently started building a Pinterest filled with princess pictures which is also @capriamoon.

OKAY let's finish this freaking cruise already!!!!

------------------------------

After spending some more blissful moments at Serenity Bay, it was time to get walking back to the kid-full, Fire Lice Coral-free civilization on Castaway Cay.

We were tired in that specific way you can only be after spending a day on the beach, all sun burned and sandy, so this time we ended up taking the tram back to the main part of the island.

One funny thing that happened on the way back is that we discovered that Serenity Bay is THE prime hang out spot for all the off-duty Character Friends, namely the performers from the nightly shows. I distinctly remember saying to Jess, "Is he... uhh... friends with Panic?" You'd think seeing all these people not with their friends would shatter some kind of illusion but it just made it cooler somehow.

Once we got back to the main area, I was kind of in that "I am so pooped from the day that I don't care if *NSYNC has a reunion right here and now on this beach, I am still going to lay down," but I quickly got my second wind when I saw THE AWESOMEST WATER SLIDE EVER!

THE PELICAN PLUNGE!!!

Thanks Jess for those pics because apparently I was too shell shocked from the pure incredibleness of this slide to take photos! It was actually getting a little overcast at this point in the day, we were winding down, and it was even kinda windy and cold, but I did not care. As soon as I saw this slide, I was back in BUSINESS baby!

The reason this slide is so cool and one of the first things I tell people about when discussing Disney Cruise Line is that you have to go INTO the water to get to it. I grew up in the same town as a large, famous waterpark, so a lot of water rides/slides don't really impress me. Much like Orlando locals who grew up with season passes to Disney, I'm like yeah, been there, done that. So when I see something I haven't experienced before in the world of waterparks, I get very excited!

Jess agreed to watch our stuff while I ran at full speed toward the water and dove in. I swam eagerly over to the platform. I couldn't even remember the last time I had been on a water slide, nevermind one this cool!

I climbed the stairs and was delighted to see that there was no wait this late in the day. The Pelican Plunge was just as much pure awesomeness as I anticipated! It was pretty fast and really fun, WAY WAY better than the Aquaduck!
I went to go switch off with Jess, but she wasn't in the mood for a ride at this time. I want to say I went a second time... but I don't actually remember. All I do know is that it was an absolute blast and I can't wait to go on it again someday!

From there it was time to head back to our beautiful ship.

Sigh. Goodbye, amazing flawless heavenly island.

We stopped to see Olaf before boarding the Dream.

I love his little grass skirt! When I am working and friends with Elsa, children often ask where Olaf is. I always say some form of, "I think he is at the beach today, because he just loves summertime so much!" I like to think Olaf's permanent vacation spot is Castaway Cay.

Near him there was this metal plate nailed to a stump, yay for the Disney details.

Captain Bob!

I love this close-up Jess got of the ship decoration. How pleased does Mickey look? He is happy with himself.

Surprise, look who we ran into on the loading dock!

Chippies!! I don't think they were listed in the Navigator, but there they were, in their beachy best.

You can see how windy it was because my hair was eating my face. Jess had the right idea with that ponytail!

Time to board!

Magically, my giant seashell from My Island made it back on the ship! I didn't think I would be able to smuggle it back through security, but I guess they are looking for drugs and guns, you know, that kind of stuff that you can get on the more sketchy areas of the island.

Disclaimer: There are no sketchy areas of the island and that was a joke. Please do not e-mail me!

Once safely back on the ship, contraband and all, we took turns taking showers. We still had quite some time before the show that night and our dinner, which was perfect because we wanted to take advantage of the room service and endless supplies of Disney Movies on our TV as well!

There's a free, on demand service on all the stateroom TVs that provides what I think might be every single Disney movie ever created. So, even though obviously when you're on the cruise you are going to be out and about doing things, this was a really nice feature. It was really hard for us to choose something! My automatic choice was Tangled because it's the greatest thing in the world, but we decided to go with a film that we don't watch all the time. Our choice ended up being 101 Dalamatians, which I used to watch often as a child but hadn't in years. I can't remember if Jess had seen it before or not, but she certainly didn't remember it.

It's rare that Jess and I actually sit down and watch a movie together since we're always out on adventures, but I would like to do it more because she is so completely entertaining and adorable to watch TV with. We only watched the film in bits and pieces cause we were showering and stuff, but her reactions were priceless. She thought the puppies were so cute and would literally cry out loud every time one of them had a line and yell something like, "I CAN'T TAKE THIS, IT'S TOO CUTE!" I agree, there really is an offensive abundance of cute in a movie that features over a hundred dogs. I'd like to take this time to state that I think 1. All TVs should feature free on-demand Disney movies and 2. All movies should have a cast of at least a hundred dogs.

So the other brilliant feature of chilling in the room, of course, is the free unlimited room service. The menu isn't actually that great or anything, but that was fine because we weren't looking for a gourmet feast when we had dinner in a few hours.

We got the cheese plate

It amused me that the crackers were literally just Club crackers from a box! Come on, you're Disney, bake your own crackers or have specialty ones or something sheesh.

The second movie we decided on was one of my all-time favorites, A GOOFY MOVIE, which JESS HAD NOT SEEN! Gina and I used to positively obsess over this movie as kids and still quote it often. Actually, one of my most distinct early memories is having my very first sleepover at age 5 with my best friend at the time, Melissa. The tape of a A Goofy Movie had just come out and we watched it in our PJs and danced around to "After Today". We thought the "I'm gonna sit on my butt" part was the most hilarious thing ever committed to film and rewound it a hundred times, cracking up over and over.

Ah, to be 5 again. And by that, I mean, I laughed just as hard watching it on this cruise as I did almost 20 years earlier... shocking.

Jess was again so fun to watch with. She kept laughing uproariously and saying, "Oh my God I LOVE GOOFY." It was cool to watch a movie that's so familiar to me with a big Disney fan who hasn't seen it before! We really enjoyed ourselves and it was good cause we were getting some rest too.

For the rest of our Room Service, I got chicken fingers and fries

Jess got a sandwich

All the food was fine, nothing particularly amazing. We also finished off with Mickey bars, which highly improved the meal.

Now think about it... unlimited Mickey bars delivered to your room whenever you want?! DISNEY CRUISE LINE IS THE BEST. Of course, we only had one each, but just *knowing* we could have as many as we wanted was really fun.

That's it for tonight guys, but stay tuned because our last night was absolutely PACKED.

Thanks so much for reading everyone!

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