Day 3 - 5 - The Events

As I try and catch up, I will fill in the major events over the Friday (Stone Mountain), Saturday (Disney Quest) and Sunday (Play Mobile Fun Park)

Friday - Stone Mountain

I woke to a day of great anticipation. I had run across a Stone Mountain advertisment a couple of years ago, and was thinking of incorporating it into a family trip at that time. I could not make it work and have been looking for another opportuinty to visit.

The price of admission was reasonable ($28 for an adult, and $21 for a child) and included a second day for free. (Editor's Comment) - Afterwards I would suggest that a second day of the same activities is not necessary, the afternoon of the first day may not even be necessary.

The major attractions include the Skylift (not running due to winds), the Great Barn (a multi level, cargo net, fun slide, foam shooter facility), Yogi Bear 4d Movie (10 minutes or so), and a Sky Rope Course (three levels of ropes, and platforms)

Things I liked

1) The general atmosphere of the park. Very relaxed, and very calming.

2) Sky Rope Course - Kids had a blast. Dad needed to do mental preparations before attempting (If my 7 year can do it, so can I... If my 7 year can do it, so can I...). First level was easy, Second level got into some small problems, thought I would need one of those 16 year old employees to hold my hand and help me through it... 9 year old was not impressed - could tell by the look.. it is a good immitation of her mothers look. Will  need to talk to Deb about that .

3) Yogi Bear 4D movie. However you really should just call it, a Yogi Bear 3D movie, with water being splashed on you.

Things that I didn't like

1) Could really go through the park in less than a day.

2) The Great Park is really a McDonalds playground on steroids. It has some good points, but in general is average. The kids convinced me to go down the 4 storey slide. Got about 7 or 8 electronical shocks, got another look from my 9 year old.

3) Halloween Scavenger Hunt Prize - give the kids a small paper bag that would hold $2.00 worth of penny candy, and fill it with it 9 cents worth of candy for completing the Hunt. Not trying to sound ungrateful, but what really is the sense. It just looks cheap.

Overall, its a 5 or 6 out of 10.

Saturday - Disney Quest

Again another event that I have been trying to make work the last couple of years. Cost could be best described as "Disney". It is not a discount type of attraction.

Essentially, it is a 5 level arcade with current games and games from years gone by. Their is an area for younger children, as well as older ones.

For once it was a normal type of event. No crazy stories or events, except when our oldest didn't want to play an interactive game and just left while the game was in progress, stopping the event immediately, and all the people who waited to play had to leave and re line up. We did not make too many friends at that moment. I gave her a look. The score currently is two looks by Emily, one look by Dad.

The only thing I would say is that 1 adult reliving his youth, and two kids is tough to navigate, and really, you want your kids to be at an age when you can let them loose, and meet at a certain time.

Overall a seven out of ten.

Sunday - Playmobile Fun Park

I could just see the plan for this place. A group of executives trying to figure out how to sell more product. One has the idea to get more children to play with the toys, and another saying of course that is what we want. The idea gets expanded. Lets build a giant area, where the kids can play all of our toys, for as long as they want and only charge a $1 per child. Than we will empty that play area into a store, chaos will transpire and the dollars will flow. A pure marketing genius.

So as the kids played,

I was working on carting all of our acquisitions. It is important to note at this time, that I was also purchasing for another lady in the office, and she gave me a sizable budget, which required a couple of phone call during the acquistion phase to get further approvals.

However it did not take long to pack up the purchases, squeeze the kids into the van, and complete our third straight day of activities.

Rating - Not rated - this was really a shopping trip. If you want a rating for the actual park, my comment, is that it was $1 to enter, most of us spend a dollar or a variety of things with little regards, but keep in mind, it may cost you a dollar to enter, but it will likely cost you many more to leave.

Day 1 through 3 - The Drive - Vacation #2

Well we are back at it again.

Another trip, another blog. I will do my best to try and keep it updated on a daily basis.

Overview of the Trip

Greg to leave with the two oldest and drive down to Orlando. Departing on the Wednesday and arriving on the Saturday, with a one day stop in Atlanta, to go to Stone Mountain. Deb and the youngest to leave Saturday by plane and arriving in Orlando on the Saturday. A week in Orlando, with the parents dropping by for a few days, with stops at the Playmobile Fun Park, the new LegoLand, and Mickey's Halloween Party. After the first week in Orlando, the second week to be spent on the Disney Magic. After arriving back from the cruise, Deb and Chloe will fly back, and Dad and the two girls will drive back.


Updating Rules and Concluding on a General Thought

So after travelling 2000 plus km again with 2 children, while my wife flew with the youngest, I have come to the following conclusion - I think I may need to be tested because I am likely insane.

Although I must admit I am still learning my own rules. I successfully applied Rule 12, as I ensured I had all electronic chargers packed. It only took about 3 hours into the drive to hear, "Dad I think I forgot to pack the Ipod charger."

I also learned that my crude generalization of women in Rule #11 was completely wrong. I clearly established travel time with both my daughters, and we were out on the road in advance both times. The only conclusion I can have is that the problem does not lie with Women, but rather my wife. From now on, rule #11 will be changed to, When traveling with Deb - lie about the departure time, cause it is the only way you can have a fighting chance to leave on time.

 A quick recap of the drive .

We left Hamilton a little after 5 on Wednesay morning. The girls slept, I drove. I think this is going to be the theme for the week. We made our way to I-75 and arrived in London, Kentucky at 5 in the evening. A little less than 1100 km in a 12 hour period. Impressive since I have two people who need to go to the washroom every couple of hours. The worst part is I am one of the two.

The highlight of the day came when we got to Cleveland and it started to rain, when we finished for the day about 6 hours and several hundred km later, it was still raining. There is nothing like being boxed in by a couple of transports, running the wipers at full blast, and not making a dent at the amount of water on the windshield.

Thursday started the same way Wednesday ended, with rain. The good news was the drive was only going to be a few hours and we arrived at Stone Mountain by midday. By the end of the day, the sun was out, and the drive was much more pleasent.

Got to watch a cop car chase down a sports car (that is the best description this non-car guy can give), watch the car pull into a grassy area, do a 180 and appear to have a show down with the cops. In times like this it is important to (1) not stop and watch, (2) tell the kids to hit the floor, and (3) pray that they dont open fire.

Friday, we left Atlanta mid afternoon, after a few hours at Stone Mountain, and arrived in Orlando by 9pm. The drive was not so bad, we had dinner on the road (a drive through visit to a convenient McDonalds) which I will discuss in more length later.

Correction to Rule #11, it is all women. I swear the kids were just trying to sucker me in. A good 1/2 hour of scrambling around, with a lot of, yep Dad its done... its never done.

Observations during the Drive

Open comment to truck drivers. I have come to understand the racing term called "drafting" (this is when one car sits behind another car, to eliminate any wind resistence and be able to get some additional speed). This does not apply to driving on the I-75. I swear, that an 18 wheeler, can not gain any additional speed when it is drafting behing a dodge caravan. It just is not possible (you just have to believe, similar to gravity, it just works). Should those situations arise, I would advise you to put on your signal, advance to the left lane, pass the dodge caravan, and than go back to your original lane.

Ranking Cities by Drivers

3. Orlando - It is almost like the car is being driven by a nav unit, that is just a few seconds behind.

2. Cincy - It is never too late to make a lane change

1. Atlanta - Not sure if it is pure volume, craziness, or just stupidity. Whenever I drive in this area, I just pray. It is the only area that I have seen a police chase through the highway system, and multiple accidents.

Signs and Advertisements along the way.

Deer signs can be found littered around New York, and surprisingly they all say "Caution Deer Signs - 4 miles", if Deer is always in a 4 mile group and the groups overlap, would it just not be easier to say Caution - Deer. That what they do in Kentucky, it just makes sense.
Pennsylvania - the drive was short, but the number of "Love Shop" signs were significant. It either means the love business is doing great and they are reinforcing their brand, or in these times of high unemploymet it can purchased or rented. I have no idea. Just seemed excessive.

Steak and Shake - the home of 6 meals for under $3.99. Really? $3.99?? Really?

Funniest Radio Interview heard on the Drive

Discussing with Darryl Hannah why she is part of the 99% movement. The highlights, discussing Darryl's new website, darryl hannah loves life . com. Does it mean Darryl Hannah LOVE life or Darryl Hannah LOVES life. Darryl's comment was that is was the second, the guy on the radio said he would be much more interested in the first. The interview went downhill from there. He proceeded to ask whether she was ashamed of her success, since she had money, and prestige and did she really need to spend time at the park. Well worth the 15 minutes.

US Politics

I am way over my head, but I heard that Rick Perry as part of his political movement was going to make a call to a "flat tax". Really ??  No issues that I can think of... its not like there are several professions out there that rely on complex tax laws. Its not like these groups have any significant capital for lobbiest. The concept great the reality not so great... 

McDonalds

I realize there are many different parts to this machine, but the concept is simple, take the order, take the cash, give back the change, give the order. I don;t know if it just me, but it seems that everytime I order, one part of the concept goes poorly. I placed an order, was told the price was $19, gave the girl a $20, she put the money on top of the cash register, looked at me and said "How much change are you expecting back?" My expectation was the dollar. My daughter in the back of the van, busy playing nintendo DS, listening to her ipod, even piped in at a dollar, but I swear the clerk had no concept of the math. As a side note, I would strongly discourage establishments from having staff working the cash register when they either can't do the simple math, or read the results on the cash register. We will call that Rule # 20

Day 8 - December 11 - Going Home

We woke anchored back in Florida. Our week at sea is now over, and it is time to get some breakfast, head downstairs and disembark. Similiar to everything else, Disney has this process down to a tee. My recommendations for this day is simple; find a guy with a dolly, and let him take care of the bags.

Looking over the past week here is a summary of my thoughts.

Things I liked

1) The incredible service on board. I think it will be hard for us to find another place that treats their guests so well.

2) Anne from Small World Vacations - handled all our questions and was an incredible travel agent and without a doubt would recommend to others. anne@smallworldvacations.com

3) George and Eddy from Happy Limousine Inc., exceptional service, vehicle was ready when we arrived, everything promised was delivered. I would strongly suggest to anyone to look at their prices versus the price to take a bus from the airport to the cruise line.

4) Dubloon Turtle Cover Sail and Snorkel excursion. The crew was great and the excursion with worth its price.

5) Stringray feeding on Castaway Cay.

6) Nursary Staff on board the cruise. They updated us with pager comments, were great with our youngest, and eliminated any concerns we may have had.

7) Tangled - I have it as a top 5 Disney movie. Would recommend not watching a 3D movie on a moving boat, the two don't mix well.

8) Shipboard activities - Always something to do.
9) Meals - Not a single bad meal. The sit down meals are a must.

10) Character Interaction - All the characters spent a reasonable amount of time with us, were patient for all of our photo requests, and were found throughout the ship.

11) The live shows - they were all incredible.

Things I didn't like

1) Butterfly Farm excursion - its not a farm, it a shack next to a green house with a two hour bus tour.

2) Price of Pictures - $400 for a picture CD is just insane.

3) Loss of Internet - I realize that it was outside of Disney's control and they gave a full refund, but it still was a disappointment.

4) Pin Trading Night - I am being a little more picky here, but was expecting an organized trading line, it was more of a stock trading floor. It was a little tougher for our children to get in and trade.

5)  ABC Christmas Night Shopping Bag. - It was a free gift given out at events like Bingo etc. for attending. Give out one, not a box of them. We must now own a dozen of them.

Day 7 - December 10 - Castaway Cay

Our last port of call, Disney's private island... Castaway Cay.

I think my greatest surprise was that with 2400 people on board, and Castaway Cay being the last port of call, I would have expected the island to be overwhelmed with people. It wasn't. There was plenty of room on the beach, lots of chairs available, and even the barbecue lunch was not crowded.

The kids spent the morning building sand castles and swimming in the ocean. There was a surprising difference in water temperature and I would estimate a difference of about a 10 degrees drop between the water around St. Thomas and the water at Castaway Cay.

We had one last excursion planned; to feed some stingrays and go snorkeling with them.

Final Excursion

Once we had all the proper equipment it was time to feed and pet some stingrays.

Abbey's comment was that they felt snotty. Feeding a stingray was a great experience and it felt like a vacuum cleaner going over your hand. As discussed in our orientation, these animals know when it is feeding time and will begin to circle around the area.

After our feeding session, it was time to do some snorkeling. It is kinda of nerve racking that your swimming over a bunch of animals that have the ability to sting you, should you get a little too close and startle them. Disney gave great instruction, but they are still quite large creatures and blend very well with the sand.

After spending a little more time on the island, it was time to reboard the boat, go and have our last dinner on board, and get ready to depart.

Day 6- December 9 - Out to Sea

After two exciting days at Port, today was designated as a day of rest. On the good news front we got back an hour of sleep as the clocks were turned back an hour.

Disney Trivia Answer

Number of Gallon of paint used

Even though we had been on board for 5 days, there was plenty of stuff still left to be done.

Deb spent time at the Spa, the kids went to cooking school, and even Dad got a chance to play a little golf. (at least I got to do a little chipping).

A perfect day relaxing at sea.

Day 5 - December 8 - Second Stop - St. Thomas

For the second straight morning, we woke to have our boat anchored at another port. Today's port of call was the beautiful island of St. Thomas.

Disney Trivia Answer

Here is the answer for the previous day trivia question

Similar to yesterday, an excursion has been planned, and the big activity of the day is a snorkeling adventure for the family, less Chloe, who will be spending a relaxing day on board with Ashley.

Premise

We will be leaving the ship and boarding a schooner, (similar to a pirate ship) and sailing for about 45 minutes to an hour out to a reef area, where we will anchor. From there we will snorkel for about an hour in an area known for its significant amount of sea turtles and sting rays. Once the snorkeling hour is done, we will reboard the schooner, and head back to the docks.

Morning

If you have been following our blog, it is quite evident that we have some serious issues with morning wake up. To add a little more fun for today, our meeting time today is scheduled for 7:30. Rule #11 has been thrown out the door, and once again, we arrived 15 minutes late, with breakfast in hand. However, there were some issues with our tendering boat, and we really did not leave the ship until 8:15, which meant that we were 1/2 hour earlier and could have spent a couple more minutes eating breakfast . At least that was the argument being suggested by a specific family member.

Morning Cruise

Our group from the ship was divided into two groups, and within a few minutes we were underway. The cruise was nice, with some great views of the island. However, as some found out, a smaller ship will bounce a little more than a cruise ship, and before long, we had a small group of people at the back of the boat holding buckets. Christine (our first mate) did an incredible job of keeping their mind off the sea, and we arrived at our destination with no one loosing (I don't know if loosing is correct, everyone will know where it is, just they don't want it back) their breakfast.

Snorkeling

After a few minutes of instruction, it was time to jump off the boat and get wet. I must admit that I was a little nervous about jumping in water that was 20 to 30 feet deep, but with the life vest given to us, and the buoyancy of salt water, it was not a strenuous task to stay a float. The surprise of the day for me, with the children lack of hesitation of jumping in the water. They wanted to see some sea turtles and no one was going to stop them.

Side Note

Our middle child Abbey, had talked to me in some length about wanting to take a sea turtle home with her. She had multiple arguments on why this was possible. After her swim, and seeing a couple of turtles up close, plus understanding the $25,000 fine for touching a protected sea turtle, she decided that it would be better to leave them behind.

Snorkeling Continued.

The hour went by rather quickly, and it was time to reboard the ship. Counts were done by our crew to ensure that we had everyone, and we came up short on our count, and a call out was made to the other swimmers that we were leaving. I suggested to our Captain (Chris) that if they need to leave someone behind, we could toss my wife over board. This led to two new rules.

Rule #14 - Suggesting to the captain of your ship to toss your wife overboard with her sitting next to you, will not go over well.

Rule #15 - Overhearing the above conversation, and suggesting to the captain that your wife would be a better alternative, (although funny) really does not go over well.

Captain Chris suggested for the right price, we could toss our wives overboard.

Rule #16 - Offering $20 is not enough to have your wife tossed, and although humorous to the rest of the men on the boat, is not humorous to the women.

The negotiations did not go to far, but I compromised and bought a T-shirt.

Cruise Back

After our humorous approach of throwing our wives overboard was done, we sent the trip home, snacking on chips and salsa, drinking island punch and pop, soaking up some sun, and discussing the adventure we just had.

Conclusion

This excursion was the complete opposite of the previous day. The crew was incredible, the swim was amazing, and foe me the best part, he kids had a great time. It was a 10 on all levels and a recommended must do for others who do this cruise.

Disney Trivia Question

How many gallons of paint is needed to paint the ship?

Day 4 - December 7 - First Stop St. Maartin

We woke this morning to find our boat anchored at our first destination St. Maartin. It is nice to feel a more steady ship and the family is looking forward to our first excursion and to be back on land.

Disney Trivia Answer

Here is the answer for the previous day trivia question

I thought that since the big activity of the day was the butterfly farm excursion I would focus on that for the blog.

Premise

It was described as a family tour in which we would depart from the boats, board tour buses, take a tour by bus of the island, arrive at the butterfly farm, get back on the bus, head to the downtown area, go shopping, and finally head back to the boat.

Morning

It appears that "Time" and after yesterday, Stitch, have become our family's nemesis. Per our tickets we were required to meet at the meeting point for 8:30. At 8:40 we arrived at our meeting place with food in hand (my fault, I did not follow Rule #11). Our hope was that our excursion group had not left. It was close, but we managed to give our group leader our tickets and followed a couple hundred people out to the buses.

To the Buses and the Tour

Within a few minutes we were on the buses and ready to head out. Our tour began, and I must admit that our driver was full of energy, and trying his hardest to provide humor to our trip. Unfortunately, he was in a losing battle. I would blame the early morning, or the fact that he had a bus load of small children, who wanted to see butterflies, not a building that survived a hurricane.

After about 15 minutes the bus stopped at one of the premier viewing areas. The first picture is the view to the left, and the proposed new hotel site.

The second picture is the view to the right.

After our quick stop, it was on with the tour. Listening to our driver, I drew the following conclusions, (1) the island is small, where everyone seems to know everyone; (2) there are a lot of casinos on the island at least on the dutch side (11 in total); (3) a bus can fit in a very narrow spot when the driver is motivated and (4) my favourite, the local hospital is called the miracle centre. No explanation was given, just that it is the miracle centre.

Local Shopping

The tour continued for another 15 minutes and we were brought to one of the tourist shopping areas. It consisted of many individuals selling their wares on a bunch of tables with a few shops and restaurants thrown in for good measure. We were told prior to leaving that we would have 30 minutes to shop and than it would be off to the butterfly farm.

Blogger editorial

Looking back I have determined that our family is not very good with the pressure of a time table. I firmly believe that it is because we have 3 women and 1 man in our family. They overwhelm me with the need to be late for everything. Short of having a cattle prog, or following rule #11, we are just not going to make it on time.

Back to the Story

We toured the various tables and the girls found a couple of necklaces that they wanted as souvenirs and the negotiations began. Asking the price, I was told "a one time special of $20 per necklace". It is my humble opinion for $20 I could buy the majority of her stock, the table and still get back some change. (My attempt at humour) I countered with $5 for both. It appears that I struck a nerve. I know this cause it is the same look I get from my wife when I tell her that we are going to be late. (Which as usually we are). The clerk went a little nuts waiving her arms and telling me in her language that I was cheap (my educated guess).  It appeared we were at an impasse and so we went to the next table, and to my great surprise (sarcasm) they were selling the same stuff. We picked out the same two necklaces and the negotiations began again. This time it was a little more quick and the final price of both necklaces for $10. We proceeded to do a little more shopping and than make a quick washroom break and back to the bus. As usual, our 30 minutes deadline was missed, and we boarded the bus a good 10 minutes late. 

Butterfly Farm

After another 20 minutes drive and tour of the island, we finally arrived at the butterfly farm. I think that it is fair to say, a farm does not do it justice, it really should be called a Butterfly Green House. The facility was approximately the size of a standard rink surface. Although we have between 45 minutes and an hour to tour the facility, it really would take you 4 minutes, 7 minutes if you wanted to take a few pictures. However, it was OK because they had filler stuff, like spending 20 or so minutes discussing the various life cycles of a butterfly.

After hearing about the different stages we, along with the other 50 or so bus mates, and the couple of hundred (my guess) of visitors throughout the morning were given a cup full of nectar and told to dip our fingers in it and slowly go to a butterfly and it would fly to your finger and lick it off.

My observations are the following:

(1) There is no such thing as slowly for a 4 year old, and there were many 4 years old in the green house, I mean farm.

(2) Like giving candy to a 2 year old, it is the same as giving nectar to a butterfly, they are all hopped up, and are not settling for anyone.

(3) The butterflies that were not hopped up on fruit juice were just plain scared and they had no intention of letting anyone touch them. If I were a butterfly, I would not want to introduce a five stage to my life cycle, having a small child rip my wings off either.

A couple of drunken butterflies managed to fly into the children and some pictures were taken.

At long last our bus driver signaled that it was time to head back and we left for the boat.

Conclusion

If I was to score the tour, I would have given the driver a strong 9 out of 10. He kept the bus moving, was insightful about his homeland, and provided good energy the entire time. The butterfly farm had knowledgeable staff but was rather small, and although the baby enjoyed watching fluttering butterflies, it was just not a top tier place. I would give the excursion a 2 and a future pass. It is excursion if you want a narrative bus riding tour, and see a few butterflies but I struggle to feel that I got my moneys worth at the end of it.

Disney Cruise Fun Facts

How many pillows are on board the ship?