A Little Trans-Atlantic Magic - The (somewhat) LIVE TR! -updated 07/03/13 - Page 25 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Once they were back, Meri saw Chip and Dale and HAD to go meet them! She gave them both kisses, and ended up bonking her mouth on Chip’s nose… which REALLY loosened her already somewhat loose tooth! At this point she was BEYOND excited, because she knew it meant that she would probably lose her tooth within the next 24 hours! Oh the joy!
The big bonk! LOL!
After that, they went to the sports area to play some ping pong and shoot some baskets, and then they came right back to us again. And promptly noticed Pluto! Well. Meri HAD to tell Pluto all about her loose tooth, so off they went! Meri didn't want me to come this time, lol, but I took pictures from across the deck anyway, because they were so cute. There was no line for Pluto so they dominated his time for about 5 minutes until a couple came up, and then they moved on! Later in the trip I met the couple and they told me she was so excited, and they were so charmed! LOL!
Before long it was time for Meri to get into her Alice dress, because the Alice Tea Party was about 45 minutes away. We said goodbye to Timothy and headed down to the cabin to change! On the way back up, we ran into Timothy and Katrina again in the promenade lounge, and since we had some time to kill, we let the kids dance while we had “boring grown up talk” as Timothy called it.
After a little while, Meri and I headed up to the gift shop to browse... and of course came out with a toy. Meri decided she wanted to purchase a pirate telescope! And then we had to test it out!
Finally it was time for the tea party!! The tea party was cute. The tables were all set up for tea, and when you went in, you just chose a table.
The "main table" for Alice and the Mad Hatter was set up on the dance floor.
When everyone was seated, Alice and the Mad Hatter came out. Alice said she was going to teach everyone how to properly serve and enjoy tea. First, however, she needed a March Hare, and then I think she needed the White Rabbit (even though he wasn't at the tea party as I recall). So she chose two children from the party.
Of course, whatever Alice taught, the Mad Hatter did wrong, and made it very silly.
The only thing that kind of disappointed me was that this was a very limited-seating event, and I’d say about 1/3 to 1/2 of the tables were just adults with no kids along. And the majority of the seating in front of the dance floor (where the main table was) was dominated by tables with just adults, relegating the children to sit further back, and not be able to see as well. While I agree fully that adults traveling alone have paid for their cruise, and therefore for all entertainment, I guess I feel like the adults should have maybe sat towards the back area, letting the children sit up close to be able to see. But maybe that’s biased because I’ve got a kid, so I’m more sensitive to it. I don't mean to be unfair to adults travelling without kids, of course. I just felt bad for these kids that were stuck in the back with no real way to see anything that was going on.
Anyway, we were fortunate enough to get good seats, so Meri was able to see, but my gosh, most kids were really out of luck if they wanted to see anything much! Also, I talked to a few parents throughout the cruise that expressed disappointment that they weren't able to get tickets for the tea party, so if nothing else, Disney should have maybe had a couple of opportunities for this throughout the two weeks. I could understand on a shorter cruise that they'd have to limit it, but gosh, with ten at-sea days, I'm pretty sure people would have gone!
At the end, they had a photo op with The Mad Hatter and Alice, which I thought was nice. The Mad Hatter was really crazy, and so Meri decided she didn’t want to take a picture with him and Alice, so we skipped out on that, unfortunately. I wasn’t going to force the issue – she was really adamant about not taking a photo. I notice that as a rule, she doesn’t like really obnoxious and loud characters, and she tends to shy away from them. I admit I kind of don’t blame her. He really was loud, and I guess it kind of freaked her out. Oh well! She enjoyed the tea party, at least!
After the tea, we headed back to the cabin to relax and get ready for dinner. Tonight dinner was the French menu at Lumiere’s, and I wanted to make sure to have a good appetite!
Meri actually got something slightly different tonight for dinner...
My shrimp appetizer - which was so good I'd have licked the plate if I were alone, lol! Grilled Jumbo Shrimp with White and Green Asparagus, Micro Greens and Lemon-Dill Dressing with Horseradish Cream
French onion soup - which was a must-do on French night!
Mom got the sea bass tonight - she was really excited about it being on the menu. Triton's Seared Sea Bass - topped on a Mushroom Herb Risotto, Sweet Onion Marmalade and garnished with a potato crisp.
My Aged Angus Grilled Beef Tenderloin on Olive Oil Smashed Potatoes, Bacon-wrapped Green Beans and a Mustard Madeira Sauce
I could carry on for hours about how good this menu was!!!
The kids played with napkins for a while... crazy little beasts...
Then Kadek did the mouse-napkin for the kids... and that was a hit again!
Then, lo and behold it happened! The event that the entire world now knows about! Meri’s tooth came out while she ate her ice cream!!! Needless to say, she was VERY excited, and of course a huge production was made of it!
This was the night they did the Beast show, and I admit, we were all thoroughly unimpressed. We were seated way back at the far table, and we couldn't see a thing. It was all so fast that before we even realized what was happening, it was done.
All that happened was that Belle and the Beast, along with two other fancily dressed couples (extras, as I call them) were announced, came in, did a little quick waltz-type dance, and then bowed and waved and left. The least they could have done was parade around the entire loop of the restaurant, so everyone could see them. Oh well. Anti-climactic at best, but I'm sure the tables in the middle were jazzed about it, lol!
Then Taner did another trick for us - this time with cups! He'd pour a little water in a cup, then shuffle them all around, then we'd have to guess which cup had water in it. None of them did, at any point! We think we figured it out, though, lol.
After that, I shuffled all four kids off to the Oceaneers Club – but before I could stop her, Meri had gone to the Guest Services desk to tell them about her tooth! They gave her a big button, and she was very proud of herself! Then we went off to the club, where I dropped them all for some event or another!
I went back down to enjoy my crème brulee and coffee – yummy!
My delicious creme brulee
Mom's chocolate dessert
We had another challenge issued by Taner... and this time I'm the one that figured it out. But to be fair, I'd seen it before. You have to get the butter on the outside of the design, keeping the same design, and only moving two crayons - not the butter.
I liked these sconces
We adults chatted a while again, and then figured we’d better get out of the way so they could set up for the second seating!
I loved that Tina had quickly picked up on the fact that I was using the extra blanket on my half of the bed, and she started making the bed with the extra cover only on my side. Extra brownie points for her, for sure!
I picked Meri up at a little after 8, and barely recognized her – they had painted her face to look like the Cheshire Cat (on her pin), and she was so cute!
We headed back to the room for a while, to relax before going up to meet Pinocchio at 9:30pm and Mickey at 10pm! We skipped the show tonight – I just didn’t feel like going. At 9:15pm we headed up to Preludes to meet Pinocchio, and on the way we ran into this guy in the stairwell!
You know she was telling him about her tooth...
Then we continued on our way to Preludes. The line wasn't long here, which was nice!
Yep. She's telling him about the tooth...
Then we sat down to watch other kids meet Pinocchio while we waited for Mickey to come out at 10. At one point, a little kid got Pinocchio’s face dirty, and the “handler” wanted to wipe his face, but Pinocchio wanted none of it, trying to wiggle away, etc. It was hilarious, and reminded me exactly of Meri when I try to wipe dirt off of HER face! Finally the dirt came off and all was well again. But it was a cute little interlude.
Before long, Pinocchio was gone, and Mickey came out! Meri was so excited to tell him all about her tooth and how it came out! I know, shocking, right?
Once we met Mickey, it was back to the room, where I washed Meri’s face, had her brush her teeth, and then I stuffed a very excited little girl into her bed. I hopped into the bath tub (amazingly, I fit well enough to soak in the tub!) and read my book a while, and then got out, set the clock ahead an hour (to midnight) and climbed into bed!
Then I remembered I had Meri’s tooth fairy gift in the safe – a stuffed baby Minnie that she was admiring in the shop – and I got it out and tucked it into bed with her before tucking myself back in! It was definitely an extravagant tooth fairy gift (usually she gets $1) but I figured Tinkerbell would be generous on a Disney Cruise, so I just went for it! Of course, Meri has since been telling everyone exactly how much it cost... sigh.
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Great start to the day! I must admit I did look at those pictures of the water level in the pool and I wasn't sure about that. I know you said it was calm, but was it choppy at all at this point?
I was surprised by the rocking and rolling in the pool, because it didn't FEEL choppy at all. It definitely calmed down by the late afternoon though. You'll see in the next day's update, the seas were perfectly flat.
Love how Meri is just so exuberant ! I'm sure she'll always remember losing that tooth
I think it's a shame that Alice's tea party wasn't offered more than once, there's no shortage of sea days to fit them in. Another wonderful day at sea..
Love how Meri is just so exuberant ! I'm sure she'll always remember losing that tooth
I think it's a shame that Alice's tea party wasn't offered more than once, there's no shortage of sea days to fit them in. Another wonderful day at sea..
I do think they should have offered another tea party. It was cute enough (though nowhere near the caliber of the princess tea party) and I think they would have no shortage of people wanting in on it!
Oh well! It really was a great day at sea. I could easily relive this day and be very happy!
Have just read through your cruising portion, but wanted to say how much I enjoyed your Live Reporting. Disney should use your report as a marketing tool - made me want to book a Trans-Atlantic Cruise on the Magic right now!
Love the last two updates! I'm glad the rocking of the ship didn't bother any of you much. Very graphic to see the pool levels like that. Meri is just too much! LOVE the lost-tooth photos and how she went around the ship telling everyone. I absolutely agree that the tooth fairy would give a bigger gift on a Disney cruise-- that's a special lost tooth!
I always skipped the Alice party because it never seemed right to do it without kids. I can't really see why an adult would want to go just with other adults, anyways! I'd rather have tea at Palo! Meri looks so cute in her Alice dress. I agree, on a long cruise like that they surely could have done this twice.
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Love Meri's enthusiasm! And I had such happy memories reading about the tooth, and all she told - Kelsey's first tooth was lost on DCl! And she showed EVERYONE! She also got an extra-special gift from the tooth fairy, as a thanks from the TF for allowing her to come hang on the Magic for awhile. LOL!
The tea party looks similar to the one they did on the Baltic cruise, just subbing Alice & Mad Hatter for Wendy & Peter. Alice really makes more sense, doesn't she? Other than being British, Wendy doesn't fit as well.
Have just read through your cruising portion, but wanted to say how much I enjoyed your Live Reporting. Disney should use your report as a marketing tool - made me want to book a Trans-Atlantic Cruise on the Magic right now!
Thanks! I think you SHOULD book one right now! You can cruise with Linny, lol!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Love the last two updates! I'm glad the rocking of the ship didn't bother any of you much. Very graphic to see the pool levels like that. Meri is just too much! LOVE the lost-tooth photos and how she went around the ship telling everyone. I absolutely agree that the tooth fairy would give a bigger gift on a Disney cruise-- that's a special lost tooth!
I always skipped the Alice party because it never seemed right to do it without kids. I can't really see why an adult would want to go just with other adults, anyways! I'd rather have tea at Palo! Meri looks so cute in her Alice dress. I agree, on a long cruise like that they surely could have done this twice.
It really was a special lost tooth. And you know, I wouldn't mind the adults attending alone so much, because really, they do deserve the right to attend, even if it's something I personally wouldn't attend as an adult without a child. I just felt bad that these adults literally rushed to the front seats (seriously, some of the parties actually ran once they got in the door) leaving little kids sitting far behind them, unable to see well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
Love Meri's enthusiasm! And I had such happy memories reading about the tooth, and all she told - Kelsey's first tooth was lost on DCl! And she showed EVERYONE! She also got an extra-special gift from the tooth fairy, as a thanks from the TF for allowing her to come hang on the Magic for awhile. LOL!
The tea party looks similar to the one they did on the Baltic cruise, just subbing Alice & Mad Hatter for Wendy & Peter. Alice really makes more sense, doesn't she? Other than being British, Wendy doesn't fit as well.
I love that Kelsey lost her first tooth on the ship! I bet that was a huge deal for her! Alice and the Mad Hatter does make more sense than Peter and Wendy, I agree. Though I think kids probably don't care at all who is having tea with them, as long as it's "someone special", if you know what I mean.
Another great day. I know exactly how enthusiastic Meri was about her teeth from personal experience and I'm sure everyone on the cruise must've heard about it.
Another great day. I know exactly how enthusiastic Meri was about her teeth from personal experience and I'm sure everyone on the cruise must've heard about it.
And everyone in Barcelona, too. She told every single person we met. And now that we're home, we have dozens of more people she has to tell!!! It's still going!!
Holy characters, Batman! There sure were a lot today. What fun! How appropriate that Chip and Dale were the culprits for her loose tooth!
I agree, that's really odd that they only ran the special tea with Alice and the Mad Hatter once! If it's that popular, they could do it 2 or 3 times over the course of 10 days. Huh.
Dinner looked delicious! Especially the dessert part.
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Great couple of updates!! Love all the character interactions you guys had. Love the string rays!! How could to be able to touch them! Can't wait to hear more.
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Holy characters, Batman! There sure were a lot today. What fun! How appropriate that Chip and Dale were the culprits for her loose tooth!
I agree, that's really odd that they only ran the special tea with Alice and the Mad Hatter once! If it's that popular, they could do it 2 or 3 times over the course of 10 days. Huh.
Dinner looked delicious! Especially the dessert part.
I did love the irony of the chipmunks and the tooth, lol...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russi01
Great couple of updates!! Love all the character interactions you guys had. Love the string rays!! How could to be able to touch them! Can't wait to hear more.
The rays were really neat and I loved petting them and swimming with them!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grammy Grumpy
I am all caught up and what a great time I've had reading! I too was "gifted" with the jumping mouse napkin on our Alaska cruise. What fun!!!
Gotta love that jumping mouse! He makes an appearance later in the TR, too!
Speaking of the TR, I hope to update today... VBS is killing me, lol. Between the actual VBS and then the setting up for the next day afterwards, and then the nighttime prep at home (stuff I took with me to do while watching tv), I'm beat! But I have so many stories and pictures to share and I wanna get TO THEM!!!
Ok big mistake, diet has started here so i had a light lunch. It is now 5pm and i am at my desk for a last hour before i go home for dinner and I'm pretty hungry. So what do i do i go and read your trip report. Sitting here drooling over that onion soup and the seabass. Man I wanna cruise. trying to persuade Graeme that a cruise home from the USA in 2015 would be so much nicer than flying. I think i would have joined Meri and cried when it was time to leave.
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I must admit I did look at those pictures of the water level in the pool and I wasn't sure about that. 
I know you said it was calm, but was it choppy at all at this point?
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and I'm sure everyone on the cruise must've heard about it. 
Especially the dessert part.
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