Adventure In The Great Wide Somewhere

I slept like a baby that first night on the ship, actually every night on board. Something about the rocking motion and the sea air is very relaxing. I woke up bright and early and ready to run.  Mickey and Minnie I walked down past my favorite magical painting to deck four to hit the boards and run for a while.  This Is The Deck That Does Not End As I watched the sun rise, the thought occurred to me more than once that this is a significantly larger than the Magic and Wonder. First off, it took a lot longer to run a lap and second, you can hardly see one end of the deck from the other.  You sure can't complain about the view, though. Inside, it was still very quiet, so I took a couple pictures before I headed back to the room.  Mademoiselle Minnie Mouse Peacock Motif Continues Throughout the Ship's Holiday Décor The Stunning Chandelier Lovely! Then I decided a shower was in order so back up the stairs. Past The Artwork Show...

Happy National Running Day! Okay, so in honor of #RunningDay I picked up a new running shirt and guys, I'm in love! I got the White Rabbit "Cadet Equilibrium Tank" and Cheshire Cat as well from Raw Threads because they were doing some sale that popped up on my Facebook feed. I love the pocket watch on the front and the cute bow back too! Now these tops had been on my radar pinterest running wishlist for a while, but having never used an alternative to tech material for a run, I was fairly skeptical about running in bamboo. On sale, I was willing to give the tops a try. This is much more breathable than any of the C9 tops I usually get from Target. I'm thinking about collecting these and I definitely know what I'm wearing next time I do the Castaway Cay 5K. Now to save up for the white rabbit skirt. It's super cute! Side Note: Did you know before I had this Disney blog, I had a running blog? I've run a couple half marathons and my fair share...

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...

More than they care about frostbite. So I woke up extra early this morning to take some pictures around the ship of all of the cool things I’d learned about during the Art of the Theme Tour on Thursday, and of course, to put in five miles on deck four.   I really think that anyone could be a runner and learn to love it if they could run on a beautiful ship in the middle of the ocean during early morning and stretch at sunrise. I got a quick picture on the way out of our stateroom of the lovely FE that Jen of Stitches N Bows put together for us. (Thanks!   It’s exactly what I’d wanted!)   And an extra photo to show our pretty little Thanksgiving foliage inspired magnets, courtesy of me and all that free time I allegedly had since Chris was in Kindergarten. Then I headed up to deck ten for some nighttime stack pictures.     And of course a Mickey Pool picture or two…     And I also took some pictures of the...

Welcome Foodie Friday Blog Hoppers! Specialita’ Del Palo: Antipasto Freddo Prosciutto, Bresaola, Parmesan Reggiano, Marinated Olives and Sun-dried Tomatoes Location: Palo, The Disney Magic Cost: $20 per person for the brunch plus cruise fare On arriving at Palo for dinner, after seeing the kitchen and being escorted to your table, you receive a beautiful bread course (which is a Foodie Friday post unto itself.) Then, while nibbling on bread and perusing the menu, your server wheels around the "Specialita’ Del Palo" the antipasto cart.  Beautiful Antipasti Plate Selecting delicate nibbles based on your preferences, your server loads up a plate. Then drizzles it liberally with your selection of vinegars (go for the balsamic!) and olive oil, unless you would prefer your plate plain, of course.  The vegan antipasto offered generous portions of olives, artichokes, olive tampenade and artichokes.  Thankfully, most of your bread is untou...

Welcome Fastpass to History Bloghoppers! My tenth anniversary comes up in January, so I'm feeling a bit sentimental...so here is the history of how I gained my very first pair of Mickey Ears. I grew up going to Walt Disney World (repeatedly) from the age of ten onward, however due to a certain affinity I had for Goofy in middle school (who isn't Goofy in middle school?) I tended to stick to the Goofy Ear baseball hats.  Chris loves trying on daddy's ears. Once I found out that Ben planned for us to honeymoon at Walt Disney World, I recalled all the beautiful bride Minnie Ears I saw over the years and decided we could definitely pick some up. Our first afternoon after checking into our hotel, we headed to the Grand Floridian, the Chapeau, and finally lucked out at Fantasy Faire in Fantasyland...but they'd just run out of bobby pins so we trekked over to Disney MGM Studios (back before it made the switch to Hollywood Studios and stopped in Villains in...

More than any other question, this tends to crop up in my everyday discussions with people who haven't been on either a cruise at all or a Disney Cruise Line cruise. Basically this question breaks down into two parts, is it worth it to "splurge" on Disney Cruise Line as opposed to another cruise line and is it affordable compared to a theme park stay at Walt Disney World. Is it worth it compared to other cruise lines If you are a Disney person, which, if you're reading my blog I'm assuming you may be, you love the quality, attention to detail and superb customer service that Disney offers on land. Comparing Disney Cruise Lines to Royal Caribbean is similar to comparing Walt Disney World to Six Flags; although the elements of each are the same, the overall experience is very different. That magical, pixie dust element remains uniquely Disney.  Just a little midafternoon story time. Apples to Apples, this is not.  On Disney Cruise Line, Belle reads ...

So after another nice morning run, Cozumel is still out there somewhere. in which the weather seemed to finally cooperate and be cool but I ran cute little half loops back and forth as the forward section of the ship was blocked off for mooring operations… DO NOT ENTER.  Oh, Okay! I stretched on deck four and watched the various people running around preparing the ship for our arrival in Cozumel. Quiet morning. It really is dizzying to look all the way down off the side of the ship at the dock.  I don’t know how the captain docks. Apparently, it's like looking down from the seventh floor of a building to parallel park.  My hat is off to the captain. Anyway, I walked back through the ship to good old 5020 and Ben headed out for a run. I took both the kids up to the (entirely abandoned) Mickey Pool. Honestly, if you stay on board when the ship is in port, you can really make the most of things. So they splashed and fell in the pool and ran around...