Today we all woke up excited that the day was finally here! We were getting on the "Disney Boat" as the boys call it. We are straight up Disney crazy up in this family, even Todd, although he tries to act all cool and denies it.
We got ready, ate breakfast, and packed up. Here is Todd checking out of the hotel looking awfully manly with my large and in charge flower bag...he can pull it off.
We walked outside to a beautiful day! I snapped these pictures as we were waiting for a taxi to take us to the port.
We got a cab and drove to the port. It wasn't before too long that we saw the Disney Magic! Thatcher and Tagg were VERY excited, like bouncing off the seats excited, and Tate fell asleep.
We were all like totally giddy. I am dead serious. We are a bit nutso I know, but these Disney Cruises are some of the best vacations we have ever had in our lives, and we couldn't wait for a week of Disney magic, unplugged together time. I love to be able to see Todd relax, disconnect from work and getting him all to ourselves....
Checking in...
Yup, it's a Disney Cruise, tons of families and kids EVERYWHERE...it makes vacationing as a family SO easy.
The holding room where you wait for your number to be called to board the ship...
I spy Goofy! I still get giddy for the characters. Thatcher and Tagg were acting too old and too cool to go get a picture with goofy and truth be told it made me a little sad.
But they were so totally spazzy happy and excited it was so cute!
Finally our number was called and we were able to board the ship. Because I am a disney nutball I read some online forums about Disney tips and tricks. One of the well known pieces of advice is to get to the ship as soon as they start boarding, and get on as soon as you can. We got on the ship at about 11:30am and the boat didn't even leave until 4:30pm, so we had tons of time on the ship before everyone else was on!
Disney really goes above and beyond to make your vacation fun and memorable, with non-stop magic. One example is these oversized character gloves that the crew wears to welcome you on board, this one is Stitch, but they have Mickey ones too. The kids all give them high fives and Thatch and Tagg loooooove it.
Going up to the ship!
Love these two boys...
And another example of disney magic moments...look who just happened to be walking down the gangway to the ship right when we were? Yep, Goofy!
Gone was the coolness from the big boys, they loved seeing him and giving him five...which I was happy to see! Stop growing up!
Waiting to get on! They ask every family that gets onboard their family name, and then they say into a microphone...
"The Disney Magic welcomes the Bishop family!" and then all the crew gathered there claps and cheers...
Here we are just after they announced us, Thatcher and Taggy LOVE this part.
Looking up at the large entryway of the ship...
Saylor Mickey statue in the main atrium. Steamboat Mickey is one of Thatcher's favorite characters.
We were excited to be on board! Now we had a few hours before our room was supposed to be ready, so you can wander the ship, eat, and check things out. Being a member on the Disboards (the Disney freaks forum) I knew that everyone would be heading up to Deck 9 to one of the buffet restaurants for lunch because for some reason this is what the crew say to do. But, on the deck we were already on there is Carocas which is a little bit of a nicer buffett, and hardly anyone knows you can go there.
When we walked in it was pretty dead, which made me happy. Let me just say after living in London for almost 6 months we were immediately blown away by the incredible service. We were ushered over to a table, asked if we needed a high chair immediately, and quickly brought BIG drinks with ICE. I am not kidding that I was almost on the verge of tears from feeling so taken care of and spoiled!!
Tate was awake now and we all filled up on the yummy buffet.
I love these next pictures of my four guys...they all look so happy and excited at the start of vacation.
We headed out stuffed to the rafters. We decided to wander around the ship a bit...
We tried to get a picture with all of us by Steamboat Mickey, but the girl taking the picture clearly wasn't paying attention to when we were ready. Oh well.
We went up to the kids clubs open houses where you can wander around and check it all out. The boys were dying to go to the kids clubs, Disney again blows it out of the water with these, they are like a little kids dream come true. Oh Disney!!
Todd and the boys trying out the fancy-shmancy hand-washing machine as you entire the kids club.
Thatcher in heaven...
Todd in heaven meeting Iron Man...:)
At first Taters didn't know what to make of it all, especially the giant Mr. Potato Head.
Tate soon warmed up and had a great time exploring all the fun things in the big kids club...he is still too young for this one.
Thors hammer...
Tate LOVES Mickey Mouse, we watch a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse sometimes, so he is familiar with him and he has really taken to Mickey.
Tagg getting his arm bit off by Slinky Dog.
Taters in Andy's room playing with all the toys.
After playing and checking out the big kids club, we headed over to the baby kids club for Tate to look around and see if he liked it...
He did and had a blast. He cried when we kept trying to get him to leave...
Caught Thatcher watching Playhouse Disney! Ha!
We then headed up to our room to see if it was ready and it was! The rooms aren't HUGE by any means, but they are well laid out with lots of storage and practical little things to make it comfortable for families.
Our welcome gift for being Silver Castaway Club members since this is our 2nd cruise!
Going along with being a Disney Nut, I decided to just toss all my dignity and decorate our cruise door like the other crazies on board. We are really into Olaf over here, and so the boys helped me pick out magnets to put on the stateroom door.
We unpacked all our stuff and then headed upstairs to the top deck to see the sail away party, and to get some swimming in before dinner.
The big TV showing all the ports and stops we were going to be making...
The Aqua Dunk...once the boys saw it in person they were deathly afraid!
Tate chillaxing waiting for the party to start.
The sail away party is so cute, and Mickey and Minnie come out and dance and once Tate saw this he went CRAZY. He was jumping up and down on Todd's shoulders saying, "Mou mou!!! Mou Mou!" As loud as he could. He also really got into the music and was dancing away...same with the two big boys. It was totally fun.
Thatch and Tagg decided to try out the pool and the slides and so we took Tate to the little baby splash part. Tate was in heaven, and so was I watching him.
LOVE THESE BOYS!
After cooling off with the swimming and splashing, we went back down to our room and got changed for dinner. Our first dinner was in Caroca's. Disney has a great system where you change restaurants every night, but your servers go with you, so they quickly learn your likes and dislikes, and pretty soon you don't even need to ask for anything anymore...they just bring it to you or it's waiting for you when you arrive. Uhhhh, blissful. They even cut the kids food for you.
Tagg was SUPER excited about his Mickey icecream bar. He'd been waiting to have one all day!
We went to the show that night and then headed back to our room, we were all tired from a very fun day. This towel animal was waiting for us when we got back to our stateroom.
When you come in at night your room is turned down and all ready for you to put kiddos to bed and go to sleep. Disney is the BEST.
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