Adventure In The Great Wide Somewhere

Predawn running and a little room service breakfast out of the way, the kids sat and watched as the Fantasy backed into Castaway Cay. I tried to slather sunscreen onto the kids, packed the swim bag and wished Ben the best of luck as he ducked out to go join the other runners preparing for the 5K. What do you get for Fish Extender gifts? Here's our gifts for the week! Kylee and Chris dug through all of their FE gifts, amazed at all of the perfect and thoughtful gifts. (Chris still loves the Star Wars book!) All ashore called, we headed down to the forward gangway to debark. Pre-race selfie! Ben enjoyed nearly perfect racing weather for his first Castaway Cay 5K, while Kylee and Chris squinted into the sun ready to run off on the beautiful island. It is really bright out on this island. We rode two tram stops into the island to hop off right next to the Cabana Check-In desk.  Is all of this ours? After checking our names and that we ...

Welcome to those of you joining me from Disney Mamas and those of you just hopping aboard. I am the 3rd stop on our Magical Blogorail . Sometimes you just need a little push to get through the frustration of learning something new. For our (then) toddler son, swimming seemed insurmountable. Then one day, while we lazed around (because napping wasn't going to happen that day) Samantha Brown hopped off of a ship in Grand Cayman, into a whole group of stingrays. He knew, that very moment, that he wanted to learn to swim. And he wanted to swim with the stingrays. Disney Cruise Line offers two very different stingray experiences on a Western Caribbean itinerary. So what's the difference? Castaway Ray's Stingray Adventure Location: Stingray Hut and Lagoon, Castaway Cay, The Bahamas Cost: $36 ages 5-9, $45 ages 10-adults Duration: 1 hour (10 minute orientation, 50 minutes with the stingrays) Simple as stepping off of the ship and onto the dock, Castaw...

A lush tropical paradise, Castaway Cay conjures thoughts of hammocks, ocean breezes, fruity beverages and running along stretches of deserted airstrip. Wait, what? Well, for some of us anyway! After spending the beginning of the cruise lapping the admittedly beautiful views on deck four, a stop at Castaway Cay allows runners (and walkers as well) the chance to ignore the siren call of the ocean in the interest of lacing up sneakers and hitting the ground running, so to speak. Since my first cruise, back in 2010, Disney improved and altered the 5K. So here's the latest scoop on how to join in on the Castaway Cay 5K. The evening before docking at Castaway Cay, I check in my personal navigator for the meeting time and location for the 5K. Set out my running attire, ear buds, SPIbelt, sunscreen and anything else I need to run. Arrange for a wake up call or set an alarm on my phone or both. Set out and pack my beach bag for the day and try to drink plenty of water the whole...

After disembarking in paradise, many of us have enjoyed hearing the legend of the original castaways while riding the tram to the family beach or Serenity Bay.  Castaway Cay April 2013 This (Disney original) story tells of the islands supposed original inhabitants and how the various parts of the island came to look the way they do now in an elaborate and winding tall tale. These original castaways built nearly everything you see today from pieces of wreckage. Even the monstrous whale skeleton plays into the backstory. But did you ever wonder about the real history of Castaway Cay? To begin with, Castaway Cay (pronounced "Key") originally known as Gorda Cay is a relatively new discovery as far as islands go. Virtually unvisited until a chance discovery of Spanish ingots on an outlying shoal, the island played host to many in the years before 1997 when Disney bought a 99 year lease on the island from the Bahamian government. The adventures of the islands real in...