Adventure In The Great Wide Somewhere

If last night were Christmas Eve , we're stuck in the "waiting for mom and dad to get out of bed" phase of things. Full of box shaking, commencing now! Meaning all of us DCL fans are congregating on message boards and Facebook groups looking at lists of best guesses (brought on by careful analysis of port calenders) and wild guesses (brought on by impatience and hopes). Personally (and entirely selfishly), I would LOVE DCL to bring a ship back to Texas. For now, though, the waiting.

'Twas the night before cruise schedule release and all through the net Not a castaway was booking for summer 2015 yet. The rumors were flung through the forums with glee,  In hopes that DCL soon would port near me.  I am SOOOO ready to find out about our big family reunion next fall and tomorrow is the day!

Dr. Dolittle, I presume. #SilentSunday

Welcome Blog Hoppers to The Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere "Shorts Saturday" Blog Hop for the week of March 22. Every week, I host this link up blog hop to share a short and sweet version of our Disney love as we answer Disney related questions. I'd love for you to grab the button and link up your post! We all love comments, so half the fun is visiting each other's blogs and commenting on their thoughts. Our short and sweets prompt this week is "5 Favorite Ways to Goof Off" 5. Marathon of Once Upon A Time ! Best. Television. EVER! 4. Train for a marathon. Just for kicks, without actually entering a marathon. I'm a little strange that way. Besides, marathons are expensive and I could use that money on other things, like, say, Disney vacations. 3. Research. I told you I'm strange. In a previous life (read, before children) I was a research assistant for neurology and ophthalmology, so yeah. Now I'm researching fun things, like ...

Welcome Wordless Wednesday Blog Hoppers! Does this count as a garden? Thank you to Focused on the Magic for hosting!   

  Welcome Tiggerific Tuesday Trivia blog hoppers. Thanks again to Jodi from  +Magical Mouse Schoolhouse , Heidi from  +Heidi's Head , Jenn from Disney Babies Blog  and  +Mike Ellis  for co-hosting! Did You Know... The Buena Vista Theatre on the Disney cruise ships takes traditional 3D movies and decides to bump them up a notch. Well before the Frozen Sing Along premiered on the main land or was even announced, it tested the waters on DCL. Unlike it's land bound premiere, those lucky cruisers sang along to this 3D spectacular complete with the addition of snow in the theatre. Ready for some 4D! Which movie would you make 4D if you could pick any film? get the InLinkz code

Since apparently 10 Things To Know Before Your First Cruise and 10 MORE Things To Know Before Your First Cruise didn't quite touch on everything...   here are another top ten things to know before your first Disney Cruise Line experience. Pin Trading Although not quite as popular as it is in the parks, pin trading is alive and well on the high seas. Servers greeting outside the restaurants often sport pin lanyards. Pins exclusive to DCL are available in the shops (ask and they may even pull out the pin book for trading). Keep an eye on your navigator for officer pin trading events.  Ready with her pins! Lanyards for everyone! (Who is old enough to carry a room card.) Yes there are lovely lanyards sold in the shops on the ship if you forget. Your dollar store probably also carries some lovely lanyards and Disneystore.com carries quite a rotating selection. There isn't really a reason to carry a purse, as your key to the world card will be accepted everywh...

#SilentSunday

Welcome Blog Hoppers to The Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere "Shorts Saturday" Blog Hop for the week of March 15. Every week, I host this link up blog hop to share a short and sweet version of our Disney love as we answer Disney related questions. I'd love for you to grab the button and link up your post! We all love comments, so half the fun is visiting each other's blogs and commenting on their thoughts. Our short and sweets prompt this week is Incredible Kid Day. Write your kid(s) a letter (current, future, imaginary...) To my princess and my darling boy, Everyday you surprise me. The ways you find to be so kind, the little moments of insight when I look at you and realize that as much as I remember you like this: Awesome hat, little dude. That just isn't you anymore. Sometime between learning to talk and learning to tie your shoes you've grown up quite a bit. Chris there are times when you stop and help or explain things and I a...

Here's one of my new favorite blog hops today: Three Things Thursday!  (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess Who... 1.) Didn't drink coffee. I've tried. I just cannot get past the taste, even when it's covered in chocolate and cream and sugar. Mmmmm Cocoa. At this point I accept the fact that water, cocoa and tea are more my cup of, well, tea. 2.) Didn't like staying up late. It's currently 9:30 PM as I write this and I'm having serious problems nodding off as I type. I definitely am an 7 hours of sleep a night person. (EXCEPTION: Disney World and Cruising do not count!) 3.) Didn't mind being unapologetically cheerful in the early morning. In college I voluntarily signed up for 8 AM classes every single semester five days a week. Often, I was known to get dressed while playing show tunes on ...

Hello FastPass to History Blog Hoppers! Thank you, again,  Frontierland Station for hosting this blog hop. Thirteen months ago, a dear friend and I set out on a series of conversations that led to this blog! So in honor of thirteen months of slowly joining the incredible world of Disney bloggers, I would like to post a list of thirteen of my favorite Disney blogs and podcasts! Back in the day... 1.) Focused on the Magic by Deb Deb first introduced me to the regular blog hop. I loved meeting up with her on facebook and getting to know the lady behind the camera. She inspired me to take another look at photography and slowly move from terrible but enthusiastic to okay. By next year I aspire to be pretty passable and eventually good! (After all, it's a step in the right direction!) 2.) Magical Mouse Schoolhouse by Jodi Jodi introduced me to the notion that fun school could be a family affair. I'd known several homeschoolers over the years, but she is the most rece...

Welcome Wordless Wednesday Blog Hoppers!  #DisneyMP #2015Hopefuls Thank you to Focused on the Magic for hosting!   

  Welcome Tiggerific Tuesday Trivia blog hoppers. Thanks again to Jodi from  +Magical Mouse Schoolhouse , Heidi from  +Heidi's Head , Jenn from Disney Babies Blog  and  +Mike Ellis  for co-hosting! Did You Know... During harbor maneuvers a "harbor pilot" from the port will jump aboard the ship. If you happen to be up before the ship pulls into port, it's pretty interesting to watch a boat (tiny compared to the DCL ships) zip alongside and watch someone step aboard. So is the harbor pilot the one who pilots the ship into port? The DCL crew leaving port after a day in Cozumel. The harbor pilot, despite the name is mostly advisory. After informing the captain of any tides or other information that will assist with docking, he mostly stays on in an observatory capacity while the captain and his crew pull the ship into port.

In his characteristic infectiously Disney addicted style, Lou Mongello waltzes with ease through 102 Ways to Save Money For and At Walt Disney World. Covering every imaginable way to save from early in the planning stages until you say "See Ya Real Soon" to the house of mouse, each method is explained with candor and humor so uniquely Lou's that this is really a must read for any WDW Radio fan. I like that it covers each way to save in depth. Allowing for understanding which tips apply for your vacation and which will not suit your style without needing a lot of research outside of this book, it truly is a one stop shop for saving more money for (and even on) souvenirs. While some of the tips are oldies but goodies (fleshed out with helpful details, borne of experience), some are things I've never considered or heard of before clicking open the book. Lou Mongello created a go to guide for those of us who love Disney but don't want to go in to debt for a magic...

#SilentSunday #SpringForward

Welcome Blog Hoppers to The Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere "Shorts Saturday" Blog Hop for the week of March 8th. Every week, I host this link up blog hop to share a short and sweet version of our Disney love as we answer Disney related questions. I'd love for you to grab the button and link up your post! We all love comments, so half the fun is visiting each other's blogs and commenting on their thoughts. Our short and sweets prompt this week is I Budget For Disney By...brought to you in this lovely month of March by the idea of saving a little green. Living debt-free affords us with the ability to set aside money for vacations each month, while using Disney Visa cards gives us some automatic vacations (yes, free vacation ) for buying necessities. It all comes down to priorities (what we pick to spend money on) and income. Want more tips on how to budget or save on a cruise? Sail on over to this post . Now it's your turn! Link up and comment aw...

Welcome Foodie Friday Blog Hoppers! Citrus, Dark Chocolate, Macadamia Nut Pizza Location: Palo, Disney Wonder Cost: Included with Palo Brunch The legendary Berry Basil Pizza may need to move over on my favorite foods list or at least scoot over for a tie. Last cruise, Chef Stephane introduced me to a lovely new dessert. (Side note: Wait, all of my favorite foods fall under the umbrella of dessert? How did I not notice this?) The warm, citrus-y, spicy aroma rose off of the plate. Intriguing, layered, complicated, I hesitated  before pulling off a slice. I picked at the pistachios, the candied orange rinds and the peppers sprinkled liberally among the molten chocolate chips.  Surprising! Separately each topping tasted amazing. I took a few minutes before picking at the macadamia nuts lost it's delicious appeal (and I realized I happened to be in a nice restaurant and wasn't five.) I decided to risk a bite  of the seemingly disjointed toppings....

Here's one of my new favorite blog hops today: Three Things Thursday!  (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? I guess this week will be brought to you by the Y. Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess Who... 1.) Loves BodyPump class. Being strong enough to carry around my goofball kids comes in handy from time to time. 2.) Loves BodyFlow class. I am naturally a very flexible person unless I get stressed out. Then my shoulders and legs get super tight and hurt. I take this class to "Let It Go." 3.) Cannot Zumba to save her life. Seriously, it's a thing. I can swing dance and foxtrot and waltz and all that just fine, but Zumba? If I ever got me on tape, I'd be a shoe-in for America's Funniest Home videos.

Hello FastPass to History Blog Hoppers! Thank you, again,  Frontierland Station for hosting this blog hop. If you happen to be an avid cruiser (ahem) or are just looking forward to the next release date for the Disney Cruise Line so that you can snag an opening day price, you might be hanging out on the DISboards a ton recently as we all hold tight for the 2015 release dates. The threads seem to be coated with phrases like "any day now" and "this is not normal for DCL." With that in mind what is normal?   Last year, when we all eagerly awaited the summer (for the Magic and Wonder) winter (for the whole fleet) 2014 sail dates, February 12th of 2013 was the magic day! For the first of the 2014 dates for the Classic ships were released in December of 2012. The Dream and Fantasy had their schedules released for both spring and summer of 2014 in October of 2012. Previous years involved the whole fleet releasing dates at the same time! Sometimes allowing Cas...

As I said the other day , I recently had reason to consider what I would want to know before my first cruise. Well, if something is worth doing it is worth overdoing. How about another ten? 1.) Do I Really Need A Passport? Assuming you don't need a passport to reach your port of embarkation (say heading to Barcelona for a Mediterranean cruise), is a passport necessary? Don't Leave Home Without It? Passports are recommended (as is trip insurance) although on a closed loop cruise, neither is currently required and I've cruised with friends who were perfectly happy to cruise on other approved forms of proof of citizenship. As always, things are subject to change. I wouldn't cruise without, but it's about your comfort level with risk. (The risk is if something happened and you needed to fly back to the states, how would you handle that without a passport?) So maybe you need one. 2.) Get The Pool and Slides To Yourself. If you pack swim...

Welcome Wordless Wednesday Blog Hoppers! Road Trip, anyone?  Thank you to Focused on the Magic for hosting!   

After already selecting a ship, the best date and itinerary for your dream vacation, after all of the major travel arrangements, hotels and airfare settled into place, after port adventures, spa appointments and adult exclusive dining already filled you itinerary what next? What next? A friends of mine recently spent a bit of time picking my brain on pirate night and port adventures and eventually reached a point where she asked me, "What would you want to know if it were your first cruise?" I pulled up short. What would I want to know? Where would I start? What next? I love lists, so... 1.) What do I wear? Ball gowns and tiaras? Of course! Formal, Semi-Formal, Cruise Casual, Optional Dress Up, or Pirate will be noted as the evening attire on the front corner of your Personal Navigator each day. Although Disney lists limits on dress (no swimwear in the dining rooms, etc.) here on their website, what exactly do people "normally" w...