Day 2 - Key West

Gayle: Greetings from Key West! Since our last post...

Bell Service came to get the bags around 8:20am yesterday, while we were still asleep. And by sleep, I use that term loosely. I was up AGAIN at 2:30, 4:30, & 6:30am. Crazy. We slowly got ready, headed next door to the Jambo House section of Animal Kingdom Lodge, where we would catch our bus. We bought a couple of small things in the gift shop & basically ate breakfast out of our stash of snacks.

It was a boring wait for our bus to come by at noon to get us, except for the giraffes Kara photographed. There were quite a few of us, but we still had to make other stops (Boardwalk & Saratoga Springs Resorts, other Vacation Club properties). I really didn't sleep on the bus, which is usually guaranteed. :(

Arrived at the ship about 1:40pm, quickly checked-in, had our photos taken, boarded the ship, changed our dining located, dropped the carry-ons in the room (verandah room) and headed for lunch. It was too late for Parrot Cay, so we had lunch at Topsiders. As you can imagine it was packed inside, as it was too cool & windy to sit outside.

Too soon it was time for the Safety Drill, so we donned our life jackets & headed to our outside assembly station. By this time I was DONE. Lack of sleep, standing our in the "cold", moderate wind, etc. I had completely run out of any energy or motivation I might have had. Thus, in a shocking turn of events, I sent Kara to the Sail Away party & I stayed in the room. I further nixed going to the opening night show, which Kara agreed with. We never intended to go to the assigned dining (Parrot Cay), so we just stayed in all night. I know - totally boring. But both of us were completely exhausted after our respective prior month at work. Kara also cancelled her shore excursion to the Ruins outside of Cozumel.

We ordered room service - a lovely mix of soup, macaroni & cheese, lasagna, burger, & cookies. So healthy, eh?

I just couldn't take anymore, so I took a whole Dramamine to try to help me sleep. Luckily, Harry Potter 1 was on. This was the movie I wrote nearly all of my dissertation to, so it can put me to sleep in a heartbeat. :) (See, I warned everyone how boring this might be! But we'll try to be more entertaining in the coming days!)

So, now to today - Sunday, Key West day!
This morning we woke up between 6:30 & 7:30am because we went to sleep so early. We hadn't yet arrived at Key West (all ashore time was 12:30pm), so we headed to brunch at Lumiere's. We had underwhelming service, which is rare with Disney. Breakfast was eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, waffles, & apple beignets.

Back in the room by 10am. We tried to watch NCIS off the iPod Touch through the TV, but the cables would only give us sound. L In the spirit of a true vacation, we then napped until noon! LOL!

Grabbed a quick American buffet in Parrot Cay and headed off the ship to Key West. Last time we took a lovely train tour of the city, but this time we didn't book anything. Our favorite place in Key West? The CVS! No joke, as we can grab so we can grab some "beverages". Get your brain out of the gutter; we got water, Diet Sunkist, & of course, Mt. Dew (Disney is a Coke company.) Other than room service all of the non-alcoholic beverages are free, but sometimes you just want what you want in your own room. Sounds like college, eh?!

Back on the ship I engaged in a losing battle with Facebook. I CANNOT get my mobile photos to upload, about which I am still furious! While fighting the tech, I sent Kara to the Trivia session, which she WON! Ask to see her “WINNER” hat & DCL flashlight/keychain!

We then turned in our re-booking forms for the next cruises. If you do this on the cruise, you get a % off the cost and an onboard credit (for the 7 nights, it’s 10% & $200)! We’re already booked for Alaska, May 2011, but I added a trip for my mom and Kara & I added one with a fake date. We always just like to have one in the hopper! Crazy, & economically stupid, I know!

So right now Kara’s trying to nap while we listen/watch more NCIS. We’re waiting on SUPER BOWL time, as it will be televised on the jumbo screen above the pool, the bar, and the sports lounge! J We were hoping for the pool to view, but it’s still quite chilly & windy, so I guess it’s off to the sports bar/lounge for us!

Sadly we’ll have to duck out of the game to get to our dinner (French menu in Lumiere’s tonight). I’ll likely have Lobster Macaroni & two (yes, two!) of my favorite desserts – Crème Brulee & Grand Marnier Souffle! J Then we’ll go racing back to the room to change back into our Colts shirts to finish watching the game!!!

Tomorrow is a Day at Sea, so there will be no blog update. Stay tuned for an update on Tues. from Cozumel. Wishing everyone warm & safe wishes, as we hear another winter storm is on the horizon. Never has the timing of a trip been more perfect!

Kara says “Well done! Post it”

Day 1 - We're outta here!

Kara: Good evening - is it really still the same day?  As all of you back in Indiana know, the forecast as of about 11:00 p.m. last night was for 4 - 8 inches of snow through Saturday morning.  That was to begin with freezing rain/ice/snow falling at around 3 a.m., and then changing over to snow with a one inch accumulation forecast for 8 a.m.  We went to bed last night with the plan that we'd get up this morning, drive to the airport at 8 a.m., leave the car at Indy Park and Ride and then go to the airport.  I think both of us just hoped to be there by 10.  We got up and got moving around 6:30 and left the house by 7:45.  There was not a fleck of snow or a drop of moisture yet.  We got to the Park and Ride without incident and then on to the airport.  Just as we got off the shuttle bus at the airport, the first flakes of snow began to fall.  It came down in a sort of snow globe manner for a while and didn't really get going until about 11. 

We had a nice breakfast in Cafe Patachou - my favorite restaurant!  We also ate lunch at Champs.  We boarded our flight without problem and I think this is where I'll let Gayle take over...

Gayle: Yep - you guessed it, I was lucky to get 5 hours of sleep again. Ugh. So I feel like roadkill. Our flight left late due to de-icing. I hoped to sleep, as I often can on planes, but on the other side of me was "Noisy Newspaper Norman",  who was constantly crinkling his newspaper. Grrr. Kara & I gave up & watched an episode of NCIS :) on the iPod Touch. We landed over a half hour late.

Being on a mission, we proceeded to Disney's Magical Express for our free transfers to the resort hotel. Normally there is a line of people at least 20 deep. In peak season this line can be closer to 100. Today? We were directed to skip the desk entirely and proceed directly to our bus! :)

It was in the mid-70s, 120% humidity (just ask our crazy hair) and pouring. And by pouring, I mean forget cats & dogs, it was all 101 Dalmations plus some!

Kara: We took the bus ride (not one of the better bus rides I've ever had - the guy wasn't a great driver) over to the resorts and realized we were going to be late meeting my aunt Idris and uncle Ron.  We exchanged several texts with them to set up a plan and they said it was no problem - they'd just wait for us at Animal Kingdom Lodge.  So, about an hour after we left the airport (maybe longer - I'm a bad judge of these things) we arrived at the lodge.  And here - let me say it for Ron and Gayle - it's very "dark".  Lots of dark woods, low light, etc.  Just like I like it - not like they like it.  Oh well.

We hopped in Ron and Idris's van and they drove us over to the Yacht and Beach Club for our dinner reservation.  Gayle was disappointed in the shopping and this - her favorite of all resorts.  They had no YBC specific apparel so she was unhappy but her credit card left unscathed.  We went to dinner at the Cape May Buffet - a seafood buffet - which was very good.  We enjoyed good food and good fellowship.

Ron and Idris brought us back to Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom Lodge.  We said our good byes and headed in to check in.  We got to our room right after 8:30.  Both of us have showered, arranged our bags for tomorrow so we can hopefully sleep in a little late while the Disney elves work their magic and make our bags magically disappear from this room and reappear in our stateroom on the ship. 

Note on the pillow in our room at Kidani Village

Since we arrived after dark we can only see what we think are outlines of some of the animals on the savannah (we paid a bit extra so I could get the savannah view room).  Hopefully we'll see more tomorrow morning before we check out and get on with our cruise.

Gayle: Yep the resort is dark, but this one was her pick. I still can't believe there was no new Beach Club gear for me to buy! Guess I'll just have to hold out hope for our return trip next month. We're super tired, so we're settling in to watch NUMB3RS and do some last minute prep for tomorrow.

Bell Service will pick up our bags from our room around 8am & we can stay in bed! :) They'll then take them straight to our stateroom on the ship, just like they did from IND to our hotel room tonight! Say what you want, this is CERTAINLY worth the Disney cost!

Hopefully we'll have some good photos to post tomorrow (Sat) or Sunday, when we arrive in Key West - better know as SUPER BOWL SUNDAY! Go Colts!

Day 0 - Our strategy to outrun the snow

Hi again!  We're Kara and Gayle.  We blog together when we travel together.  Generally what you'll get is a conversation between the two of us recapping each day of our trip - so with that, here we go with ... day 0 of our Disney Cruise!

Kara:  So...I just got back from Iowa yesterday (business trip) and now - hopefully - we're leaving the four to eight forecasted inches of snow that are to begin blanketing most of Indiana early tomorrow morning through Saturday.  My dad was going to come over and get us and take us to the airport but we've decided just to drive over and park at the airport so that he doesn't have that long ride.  I'll feel much better when we get to 30,000 feet and we're on our way to Orlando.  I want to wake up Saturday morning with zebras out my window and a cruise ship just down the road.

Gayle: Work has been a break-neck pace for me the past three weeks. Although there have been some entertaining moments, it also caused a continuous case of insomnia. Sometimes you've just got to take a step back and say, "Enough!" I'm very grateful we booked this trip back in Oct. (which was actually quite late for us). This escape couldn't come at a better time. I realized tonight the office will remain a bit crazy, but it will still be crazy when I get back.

So to get you intrigued for this blog, here's the overall schedule:

• Friday - Fly to Orlando (MCO), transfer to Disney hotel, dinner with family
• Saturday - Transfer to Disney Cruise ship, Magic
• Sunday - Key West and watching the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl!
• Monday - Lazy day at sea
• Tuesday - Cozumel, Mexico
• Wednesday - Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
• Thursday - Lazy day at sea
• Friday - Castaway Cay, Disney Cruise Line's private island and operning of the Olympics
• Saturday - (sadly) return to MCO and Indy

We'll only be able to upload posts when we're near land, so updates won't be regular. We encourage you to follow our blog and send us comments while we're away. Neither of us will be checking emails or texts! That's tough for the first 24 hours, but then remember why we needed a vacation & just enjoy being "unplugged".