Transatlantic Adventures
- Thread starter dolphingirl47
- Start date
I am really enjoying your report, thanks for taking the time to write it. Desperate Shipmates sounds like fun, I can't believe Disney actually went so far as to plant a character on Dis, that's amazing! If you ever have time I would love to see pictures of the jewelry you were creating at your workshops. Take care, Karyn
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Unfortunately I did not even think to take photos during the workshops and as I had a few people joining very late, I did not have enough materials to keep one of each for myself.
Corinna
TotallyAngelic
Disney Addict
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2005
The desperate shipmates thing sounds fun .. we should have done that really. I can post photos of my jewellery class items if you like Corinna.
Love the photos. I miss the peanut butter choccy pie too ( but the apple crumble was delicious!)
Love the photos. I miss the peanut butter choccy pie too ( but the apple crumble was delicious!)
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Desperate Shipmates was so much fun and I really hope that they will do something like this on the Panama Canal Cruise.
If you would be able to post photos of the things we made in the jewellery making class, I would really appreciate it.
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Loving all the character pics and the different clothes they are all wearing
Claire
Welcome back. I loved all the different costumes. I can't wait to see what costumes they will have for the Panama Canal Cruise. DH is trying to convince me that I won't need any more photos. Well, I am thinking CD again.
Corinna
Pinky166
<font color=deeppink>a little on the OCD side<br><
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2008
Thanks for the link Corinna. I have bookmarked it for next year.
Desperate shipmates sounds amazing! I can't wait to hear more about it.
I think you should call into the DISUnplugged podcast & do a little review of it, I am sure they would be interested to hear all about the sneaky Rudy Finkus. 
It was so nice of you to arrange jewellery classes for everyone & to take so much time out of your cruise to do it.
I look forward to seeing Sarah's pics of what they made.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
The cost of the CD was actually not too bad. I paid $399, which is the same price the charge for a 7 night cruise. So that seemed fair and the photos are fantastic.
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Day 7
We had set the wake up call for 7:00 AM again. There is really nothing like being called by Mickey Mouse when it is time to get up. We got changed and went up to the gym for our stretching class. We went to the Wide World of Sports area on deck 10 again, but this time we went to the far end, which was much better in terms of noise and not quite so breezy.
Time was at the essence that morning. We had signed up for a private tour that one of the people on our cruise meet thread had kindly organized. In total there were 98 people doing this tour, but this was broken down into groups of 12 to 14 people, each of which had its own mini bus and driver.
We went to Goofy's Galley to quickly get something to eat. We had a selection of fresh fruit. They also had some Stollen Bread that morning, which made me very happy. I was even able to have a Mango Smoothie. Smoothies are normally a no go area for me as they often contain bananas. I have a severe allergy to bananas and therefore cannot chance this. I asked if there's contained banana and they got the folder with ingredients out and confirmed that it did not. Being able to have a Smoothie was a real treat.
We quickly went back to the cabin to get our things and then headed down to the gangway. We were meeting up right outside the ship at 8:30. Things had been extremely well organized. Every mini bus had a group leader and a character that made identification easy. We were in group Kermit. Everybody was given a sticker with the character for their group. The group leader had a flag with the corresponding character and there was also a sign with character for the van.
Shortly after we got there, pretty much everybody from our group was there. We were just missing our group leader and her friend. One of the other people in the group took charge of our flag. Shortly afterwards, the last two people arrived and we moved off to were the mini buses were parked. We were introduced to our driver, Olivia.
Once we were all on the mini bus, Olivia gave us a run down on what to expect from the day. We were heading for the cable car first, which was not scheduled to open until 9:30. However, Olivia was wondering if they were going to open early as they knew that a cruise ship was in town. Unfortunately this was not the case. Still, the cable car station is right by the sea and I just took the time to take some photos.
We had set the wake up call for 7:00 AM again. There is really nothing like being called by Mickey Mouse when it is time to get up. We got changed and went up to the gym for our stretching class. We went to the Wide World of Sports area on deck 10 again, but this time we went to the far end, which was much better in terms of noise and not quite so breezy.
Time was at the essence that morning. We had signed up for a private tour that one of the people on our cruise meet thread had kindly organized. In total there were 98 people doing this tour, but this was broken down into groups of 12 to 14 people, each of which had its own mini bus and driver.
We went to Goofy's Galley to quickly get something to eat. We had a selection of fresh fruit. They also had some Stollen Bread that morning, which made me very happy. I was even able to have a Mango Smoothie. Smoothies are normally a no go area for me as they often contain bananas. I have a severe allergy to bananas and therefore cannot chance this. I asked if there's contained banana and they got the folder with ingredients out and confirmed that it did not. Being able to have a Smoothie was a real treat.
We quickly went back to the cabin to get our things and then headed down to the gangway. We were meeting up right outside the ship at 8:30. Things had been extremely well organized. Every mini bus had a group leader and a character that made identification easy. We were in group Kermit. Everybody was given a sticker with the character for their group. The group leader had a flag with the corresponding character and there was also a sign with character for the van.
Shortly after we got there, pretty much everybody from our group was there. We were just missing our group leader and her friend. One of the other people in the group took charge of our flag. Shortly afterwards, the last two people arrived and we moved off to were the mini buses were parked. We were introduced to our driver, Olivia.
Once we were all on the mini bus, Olivia gave us a run down on what to expect from the day. We were heading for the cable car first, which was not scheduled to open until 9:30. However, Olivia was wondering if they were going to open early as they knew that a cruise ship was in town. Unfortunately this was not the case. Still, the cable car station is right by the sea and I just took the time to take some photos.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Just before 9:30, the ticket booths opened and we got in line for our tickets. Once we had our tickets, we walked up a ramp to the cable cars. We were amongst the first people to get on.
The cable car links the seafront in Funchal with the suburb of Monte, which is on top of the mountain. To get there, the cable car travels nearly 4 km and covers a change of altitude of 560 meters. This is a lot for two people who don't really do heights. I did really enjoy it. The view was absolutely fantastic and I never felt that I was too far off the ground. I took plenty of photos on the way.
When we got off the cable car at Monte, we were offered photos for sale that had been taken of us at the cable car station in Funchal. We declined politely. We had to wait a little while for everybody from our mini bus to arrive. Once everybody was there, our driver took us the short distance to the start of the famous Tobboggan run.
This was something I was feeling in two minds about. I had seen some videos on You Tube and I was wondering if this was just a little too thrilling for me. I also knew that I would regret it if I did not do it.
The tobboggan ride has been going since around 1850 and it used to go all the way to Funchal. It was the idea of a British lawyer, who lived in Monte, but had to go to Funchal to work. He was sick and tired of walking the nearly 4km every in the morning and then back again in the evening. So he came up with the idea that his servants could take him backwards and forwards in a wicker basket. The tradition stuck and spread. This became the main mode of transport for the people living in Monte.
Things have somewhat changed. This is now strictly a tourist attraction. It only goes about half way to Funchal now, but 2 km is quite enough. It is also a oneway ride. At the bottom, the wicker baskets are loaded onto trucks and the men that operate them go back to the starting point in mini buses.
The average speed is 7 or 8 km/h with a top speed of around 20km/h, but it feels a lot quicker as you are quite low to the ground. The steep and windy roads add a thrill element as does the fact that the Tobboggans are sharing the road with normal traffic.
We were the first people to get in a Tobboggan and we were off. Near the start, we were overtaken by Olivia in the mini bus. I was a little taken aback when we started to slide sideways and straight towards a drainage ditch at the side of the road. Still, everything was well under control. The ride was a lot of fun. I don't have any footage of this, but I found a video clip on You Tube, that gives you a good impression what it was like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olPhb1CE59U
At the bottom of the hill, there were people trying to sell us photos and souvenirs. We headed over to where Olivia was waiting with the people that opted not to do the tobboggan ride.
The cable car links the seafront in Funchal with the suburb of Monte, which is on top of the mountain. To get there, the cable car travels nearly 4 km and covers a change of altitude of 560 meters. This is a lot for two people who don't really do heights. I did really enjoy it. The view was absolutely fantastic and I never felt that I was too far off the ground. I took plenty of photos on the way.
When we got off the cable car at Monte, we were offered photos for sale that had been taken of us at the cable car station in Funchal. We declined politely. We had to wait a little while for everybody from our mini bus to arrive. Once everybody was there, our driver took us the short distance to the start of the famous Tobboggan run.
This was something I was feeling in two minds about. I had seen some videos on You Tube and I was wondering if this was just a little too thrilling for me. I also knew that I would regret it if I did not do it.
The tobboggan ride has been going since around 1850 and it used to go all the way to Funchal. It was the idea of a British lawyer, who lived in Monte, but had to go to Funchal to work. He was sick and tired of walking the nearly 4km every in the morning and then back again in the evening. So he came up with the idea that his servants could take him backwards and forwards in a wicker basket. The tradition stuck and spread. This became the main mode of transport for the people living in Monte.
Things have somewhat changed. This is now strictly a tourist attraction. It only goes about half way to Funchal now, but 2 km is quite enough. It is also a oneway ride. At the bottom, the wicker baskets are loaded onto trucks and the men that operate them go back to the starting point in mini buses.
The average speed is 7 or 8 km/h with a top speed of around 20km/h, but it feels a lot quicker as you are quite low to the ground. The steep and windy roads add a thrill element as does the fact that the Tobboggans are sharing the road with normal traffic.
We were the first people to get in a Tobboggan and we were off. Near the start, we were overtaken by Olivia in the mini bus. I was a little taken aback when we started to slide sideways and straight towards a drainage ditch at the side of the road. Still, everything was well under control. The ride was a lot of fun. I don't have any footage of this, but I found a video clip on You Tube, that gives you a good impression what it was like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olPhb1CE59U
At the bottom of the hill, there were people trying to sell us photos and souvenirs. We headed over to where Olivia was waiting with the people that opted not to do the tobboggan ride.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Once the whole group was back together, we headed off. Olivia was a wealth of information, telling us loads about the history and the economy of Madeira. There seemed to be nothing that she did not know.
Next on the itinerary was a stop at an observation area, where I managed to get more photos. Madeira is such a pretty island.
You could see though that tourism is the main industry. Pretty much wherever we stopped there were souvenir stalls or souvenir shops.
After our brief photo stop, we went back on the mini bus to drive to the north side of the island. Olivia had explained to us that before they started to build tunnels all over the island, it would have taken about 4.5 hours to drive from Funchal to the north side of the island. Now it can be done in a little over an hour. We did get stuck in some roadworks though. Madeira was hit by some devastating floods in February and the road we were on was completely swept away. They were doing a great job rebuilding it, but for the time being it is single file traffic through the area.
While we were waiting for our turn to pass the area, Olivia gave us the menu for the restaurant that we would have lunch at and asked us for our choices so that she could phone them through. It was a set menu consisting of a choice of two soups, 6 main courses (three fish dishes and three meat dishes) and a choice of two desserts. It was traditional Portugese cuisine and sounded delicious.
Lunch choices made, we were soon on our way again. We drove through some pretty little villages and over some very windy roads and Olivia explained what we were seeing as we went along.
The next stop was another observation area and this is the only point on the island where you can see both the north and the south coast. The view was stunning.
After I had taken enough photos, I had a quick look at the souvenir shop. Apart from the usual tourist stuff, they sold local knit wear, embroidery and some local produce like a local drink called Poncha, which consists of a local rum, lemon juice and honey; the famous honey cakes, Madeira wine and tradional sweets that come in eucalyptus, banana, anis seed or passion fruit flavour. I got a bag of passion fruit sweets and they were rather nice.
After our stop, we continued on our way to Porto Moniz, where we would have lunch. On the way we were driving over the highest point of the island. Madeira is volcanic and the highest point is essentially the crater. This felt little strange, but the very steep and windy roads to and from the highest point provided some pretty views.
We also found out that there no snakes in Madeira and no land-based predators. There are birds of prey and we saw a few of those. On the land, rabbits are the top of the food chain. There is a hunting season for rabbit, but hunting is only allowed on Thursday and Sundays.
Porto Moniz is at furthest north-western point of the island. It has a public swimming pool at the seafront that is made up of natural volcanic rock pools. When we were planning this, most people in our mini bus had wanted to swim. However, on the day, some had forgotten their swimming stuff and others were just too hungry. Graham and I still wanted to swim and it was decided that wanted to swim could for an hour and the rest would go ahead to the restaurant, which was just across the road from the pools. Unfortunately when we got to the pool, there were impressive waves and the red flag was up so we did not get our swim either.
Everybody headed to the restaurant. Lunch was one of the bargains of the cruise. It cost 11 or 12 Euros per person and included a three course meal as well as water and wine. As soon as we sat down, we were brought some traditional garlic bread to share for the table. This was soon followed by our soup. I had chosen the vegetable soup and Graham had the fish soup. For our main course, Graham had Black Scabbard Fish with bananas, which is one of the local delicacies with potatoes and vegetable. I had grilled pork steak with fries and salad. For dessert, we both had the passion fruit pudding. Lunch was lovely. It was very simple, but very tasty.
Next on the itinerary was a stop at an observation area, where I managed to get more photos. Madeira is such a pretty island.
You could see though that tourism is the main industry. Pretty much wherever we stopped there were souvenir stalls or souvenir shops.
After our brief photo stop, we went back on the mini bus to drive to the north side of the island. Olivia had explained to us that before they started to build tunnels all over the island, it would have taken about 4.5 hours to drive from Funchal to the north side of the island. Now it can be done in a little over an hour. We did get stuck in some roadworks though. Madeira was hit by some devastating floods in February and the road we were on was completely swept away. They were doing a great job rebuilding it, but for the time being it is single file traffic through the area.
While we were waiting for our turn to pass the area, Olivia gave us the menu for the restaurant that we would have lunch at and asked us for our choices so that she could phone them through. It was a set menu consisting of a choice of two soups, 6 main courses (three fish dishes and three meat dishes) and a choice of two desserts. It was traditional Portugese cuisine and sounded delicious.
Lunch choices made, we were soon on our way again. We drove through some pretty little villages and over some very windy roads and Olivia explained what we were seeing as we went along.
The next stop was another observation area and this is the only point on the island where you can see both the north and the south coast. The view was stunning.
After I had taken enough photos, I had a quick look at the souvenir shop. Apart from the usual tourist stuff, they sold local knit wear, embroidery and some local produce like a local drink called Poncha, which consists of a local rum, lemon juice and honey; the famous honey cakes, Madeira wine and tradional sweets that come in eucalyptus, banana, anis seed or passion fruit flavour. I got a bag of passion fruit sweets and they were rather nice.
After our stop, we continued on our way to Porto Moniz, where we would have lunch. On the way we were driving over the highest point of the island. Madeira is volcanic and the highest point is essentially the crater. This felt little strange, but the very steep and windy roads to and from the highest point provided some pretty views.
We also found out that there no snakes in Madeira and no land-based predators. There are birds of prey and we saw a few of those. On the land, rabbits are the top of the food chain. There is a hunting season for rabbit, but hunting is only allowed on Thursday and Sundays.
Porto Moniz is at furthest north-western point of the island. It has a public swimming pool at the seafront that is made up of natural volcanic rock pools. When we were planning this, most people in our mini bus had wanted to swim. However, on the day, some had forgotten their swimming stuff and others were just too hungry. Graham and I still wanted to swim and it was decided that wanted to swim could for an hour and the rest would go ahead to the restaurant, which was just across the road from the pools. Unfortunately when we got to the pool, there were impressive waves and the red flag was up so we did not get our swim either.
Everybody headed to the restaurant. Lunch was one of the bargains of the cruise. It cost 11 or 12 Euros per person and included a three course meal as well as water and wine. As soon as we sat down, we were brought some traditional garlic bread to share for the table. This was soon followed by our soup. I had chosen the vegetable soup and Graham had the fish soup. For our main course, Graham had Black Scabbard Fish with bananas, which is one of the local delicacies with potatoes and vegetable. I had grilled pork steak with fries and salad. For dessert, we both had the passion fruit pudding. Lunch was lovely. It was very simple, but very tasty.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
After lunch, we had just over an hour of free time. We headed over to the seafront just above the pool and watched the waves. I took some photos and Graham got the video camera out. I also had a quick look around the souvenir shops in the area.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yLhfPbPFX4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoqJYjmfHM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7V3hQNwt78
Once we got back to the mini bus, we started on our way back to Funchal. On the way, we stopped briefly by a pretty waterfall.
We also had another stop at a little village with a pretty church. Graham found himself a wall and was sitting down enjoying the sunshine. I decided to go exploring and have a look at the church, which really was pretty.
Once we were back on the mini bus, we headed back to Funchal via the express way and a lot of tunnels. We saw the effects of the floods. Some houses had been literally swept away and other houses were half standing, but the other half had been swept away by the flood waters. We got stuck in a traffic jam, but made it to Funchal in time.
We had booked a tour and tasting at Old Blandy Wine Lodge, which is part of the Madeira Wine Company. The tour was very interesting and I liked the two samples that we were given at the end. Graham was not too sure about one of the samples and a lot of people around us did not like the Madeira wine at all.
We headed for the shop to get some wine. Graham was a little concerned that they would not let us back on the ship with our haul, but I assured him that Disney allows you to bring as much alcohol as you can carry. Madeira is famous for its fortified wine, but they recently have started to make a table wine as well. This was on special offer were you could get three bottles for EUR10. I also got a bottle of sparkling wine for the Champagne Girl Party the next day. Of course, it would have been rude not to get some Madeira wine. We got a small bottle of a new type of Madeira that is made with two different types of grapes as well as a gift pack of 4 mini bottles of 5 year old Madeira with one bottle each of the four different styles (dry, medium dry, medium sweet and sweet).
After the tour, we were taken back to the ship. There was a short line to get on the ship, but as expected, nobody even blinked at our wine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yLhfPbPFX4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoqJYjmfHM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7V3hQNwt78
Once we got back to the mini bus, we started on our way back to Funchal. On the way, we stopped briefly by a pretty waterfall.
We also had another stop at a little village with a pretty church. Graham found himself a wall and was sitting down enjoying the sunshine. I decided to go exploring and have a look at the church, which really was pretty.
Once we were back on the mini bus, we headed back to Funchal via the express way and a lot of tunnels. We saw the effects of the floods. Some houses had been literally swept away and other houses were half standing, but the other half had been swept away by the flood waters. We got stuck in a traffic jam, but made it to Funchal in time.
We had booked a tour and tasting at Old Blandy Wine Lodge, which is part of the Madeira Wine Company. The tour was very interesting and I liked the two samples that we were given at the end. Graham was not too sure about one of the samples and a lot of people around us did not like the Madeira wine at all.
We headed for the shop to get some wine. Graham was a little concerned that they would not let us back on the ship with our haul, but I assured him that Disney allows you to bring as much alcohol as you can carry. Madeira is famous for its fortified wine, but they recently have started to make a table wine as well. This was on special offer were you could get three bottles for EUR10. I also got a bottle of sparkling wine for the Champagne Girl Party the next day. Of course, it would have been rude not to get some Madeira wine. We got a small bottle of a new type of Madeira that is made with two different types of grapes as well as a gift pack of 4 mini bottles of 5 year old Madeira with one bottle each of the four different styles (dry, medium dry, medium sweet and sweet).
After the tour, we were taken back to the ship. There was a short line to get on the ship, but as expected, nobody even blinked at our wine.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
On the way back to the cabin, we met our stateroom host. We asked him if he could get a corkscrew for us. He said that this would not be a problem and if we needed it straight away. We told him that there was no rush and he promised that he would leave one for us later. I just assumed that he would bring one when he was coming in to turn down the bed, which would have been plenty early enough. 10 minutes later, it was knocking on the door and it was Rodolfo bringing our corkscrew.
I got changed and went downstairs to get some character photos. This evening, there were portraits with Woody and Jessie, which was a must do for me. I also got photos with Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket. There was also one character that I did not recognize at all. It was a clown. I had to ask the character escort what this character was. I was told that she was JoJo from the Playhouse Disney program JoJo's circus. She was pretty cute, had no line and Claire was taking the photos with her so I decided I might as well have some photos taken with her.
Another photographer, Warwick, who was also from the UK and was rapidly becoming one of my favourites, was doing lifestyle photos. He did not eaxactly look rushed off his feet so I headed over there. He very diplomatically pointed out to me that those photos would require sitting down on the floor. I told him that was fine by me. Once the sitting photos had been done, he was jokingly saying that he could take some more photos, but this would require me lying down. I told him that this would not be an issue either. His face was a picture. Apparently he normally only does those kinds of shots with children and could not quite believe that I was actually up for this. I love the photos that were the result of this. What really amused me is that the next day there were a whole lot of photos in Shutters with adults lying down.
I had arranged to meet Graham by the adult pool again so that we could get a swim after all. On the way, I decided to go to Mickey's Mates. For the European cruises, they were offering Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique on the ship. This is something that the big kid in me always wanted to do, but I could never justify it at Walt Disney World. On the ship it was a different proposition and formal night seemed to be the perfect opportunity. So I went to ask if they would be OK to do this for an adult and they said that this would be fine. By this time I had lost all concept of time. I asked them when formal night was and was told it would be on 24th September. I asked if they had an early evening appointment and they told me that the last appointment was at 15:00. This seemed rather strange and I suppose this should have set off the alarm bells there and then, but you do not expect staff to give you wrong information. I even commented on the fact that it seems to be a bit weird to offer the appointments so early in the day as this would be too early even for people on early dinner. She said that she would speak to her manager to see if they could accommodate me later. She rang and the manager said no. I was fine with this and was ready to walk away. She then said that she would try to convince her manager and took my cabin number so that she could leave me a message.
I got my swim stuff and joined Graham in the pool. This time we actually had to share the pool for a bit. Once we had our swim, we spent some time in the Rainforest Room.
Dinner that might was the rotational menu at Parrot Cay. Graham ended up with Island-spiced Seared Ahi Tuna, Green Asperagus and Crab Meat soup and the mixed grill. For dessert, he chose the Lemon Meringue Pie. I had the Jamaican Chicken Tenderloins and the West Indies Romaine Salad. I was teased mercilessly by our server for this. He told me that I must prefer our assistant server to him. I had absolutely no idea where this was coming from. He repeated this again and explained as our assistant server was from Jamaica and his name was Romaine, my choices must mean that I prefer him. For my main course, I chose Braised Jerk-seasoned Pork Chop with Cornmeal Cakes. I was more than a little tempted to tell him that I had chosen this in his honour as he was being a jerk. For my dessert I decided to try the Chocolate S'More Vanilla Cake, which was extremely yummy.
After dinner we headed back to our cabin. As per usual, I looked straight to the bed to see what towel animal we had been left. There was just the Navigator and some chocolates on the bed. The towel animal was actually hanging from a coat hanger. We had received a Bird of Paradise on a towel perch.
The message light was blinking. It was the member of Mickey's Mates I had spoken to earlier to confirm that her manager had agreed to a later appointment for me and to come to the shop the next day to firm up arrangements.
I put back the clock another hour, put on an extra layer and kissed Graham good night. Then I headed out again. They were opening the Oceaneer's Lab (one of the Kid's clubs) to adults that night for a session of Adult Flubber. I had never seen any of the kid's clubs before so I decided to go. I was directed to the seating area. We were first shown a clip from the film Flubber. We were then asked to sit down at the tables. At this stage, the mad scientist entered. She looked a picture and was absolutely hilarious. I definitely hope that Flubber for the kids is different as this definitely contained some humour that was strictly for adults only. To start of with, we were each given a balloon and were given instructions to blow this up to a certain size and draw a face on it. The mad scientist had a metal container about the size of a cookie jar which was partially filled with liquid nitrogen. She asked people in turn to hand her their balloons and she proceeded to put those balloons into the container. In the end, she must have had about 20 balloons in there. Once the container was full, she took the balloons out again and they slowly returned to their original size.
Once the balloon trick was completed, we started on the actual Flubber. Between two people we were given two measuring cups in different sizes, a bottle of craft glue and a wooden stirrer. We were instructed to fill the bigger measuring cup with glue up to a specified level. They then game round with water and added this to the glue and also to the little measuring cup. They also added a White powder to the smaller measuring cup, which was the cue for an awful joke. We were then asked to mix in the powder with the water as well as stirring the water and glue mixture. Food colouring was then added to this to turn it green. The last step was to mix the content of the smaller cup into the glue mixture and give it a good stir. This then turned it into a Flubber-like substance. We were told to roll it into a ball, which turned out to be a little messy, and were given a plastic bag to put the Flubber in so that we could take it with us. The whole activity was pure comedy.
I headed back to our cabin, removed the rest of the Flubber from my fingers and went to bed.
I got changed and went downstairs to get some character photos. This evening, there were portraits with Woody and Jessie, which was a must do for me. I also got photos with Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket. There was also one character that I did not recognize at all. It was a clown. I had to ask the character escort what this character was. I was told that she was JoJo from the Playhouse Disney program JoJo's circus. She was pretty cute, had no line and Claire was taking the photos with her so I decided I might as well have some photos taken with her.
Another photographer, Warwick, who was also from the UK and was rapidly becoming one of my favourites, was doing lifestyle photos. He did not eaxactly look rushed off his feet so I headed over there. He very diplomatically pointed out to me that those photos would require sitting down on the floor. I told him that was fine by me. Once the sitting photos had been done, he was jokingly saying that he could take some more photos, but this would require me lying down. I told him that this would not be an issue either. His face was a picture. Apparently he normally only does those kinds of shots with children and could not quite believe that I was actually up for this. I love the photos that were the result of this. What really amused me is that the next day there were a whole lot of photos in Shutters with adults lying down.
I had arranged to meet Graham by the adult pool again so that we could get a swim after all. On the way, I decided to go to Mickey's Mates. For the European cruises, they were offering Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique on the ship. This is something that the big kid in me always wanted to do, but I could never justify it at Walt Disney World. On the ship it was a different proposition and formal night seemed to be the perfect opportunity. So I went to ask if they would be OK to do this for an adult and they said that this would be fine. By this time I had lost all concept of time. I asked them when formal night was and was told it would be on 24th September. I asked if they had an early evening appointment and they told me that the last appointment was at 15:00. This seemed rather strange and I suppose this should have set off the alarm bells there and then, but you do not expect staff to give you wrong information. I even commented on the fact that it seems to be a bit weird to offer the appointments so early in the day as this would be too early even for people on early dinner. She said that she would speak to her manager to see if they could accommodate me later. She rang and the manager said no. I was fine with this and was ready to walk away. She then said that she would try to convince her manager and took my cabin number so that she could leave me a message.
I got my swim stuff and joined Graham in the pool. This time we actually had to share the pool for a bit. Once we had our swim, we spent some time in the Rainforest Room.
Dinner that might was the rotational menu at Parrot Cay. Graham ended up with Island-spiced Seared Ahi Tuna, Green Asperagus and Crab Meat soup and the mixed grill. For dessert, he chose the Lemon Meringue Pie. I had the Jamaican Chicken Tenderloins and the West Indies Romaine Salad. I was teased mercilessly by our server for this. He told me that I must prefer our assistant server to him. I had absolutely no idea where this was coming from. He repeated this again and explained as our assistant server was from Jamaica and his name was Romaine, my choices must mean that I prefer him. For my main course, I chose Braised Jerk-seasoned Pork Chop with Cornmeal Cakes. I was more than a little tempted to tell him that I had chosen this in his honour as he was being a jerk. For my dessert I decided to try the Chocolate S'More Vanilla Cake, which was extremely yummy.
After dinner we headed back to our cabin. As per usual, I looked straight to the bed to see what towel animal we had been left. There was just the Navigator and some chocolates on the bed. The towel animal was actually hanging from a coat hanger. We had received a Bird of Paradise on a towel perch.
The message light was blinking. It was the member of Mickey's Mates I had spoken to earlier to confirm that her manager had agreed to a later appointment for me and to come to the shop the next day to firm up arrangements.
I put back the clock another hour, put on an extra layer and kissed Graham good night. Then I headed out again. They were opening the Oceaneer's Lab (one of the Kid's clubs) to adults that night for a session of Adult Flubber. I had never seen any of the kid's clubs before so I decided to go. I was directed to the seating area. We were first shown a clip from the film Flubber. We were then asked to sit down at the tables. At this stage, the mad scientist entered. She looked a picture and was absolutely hilarious. I definitely hope that Flubber for the kids is different as this definitely contained some humour that was strictly for adults only. To start of with, we were each given a balloon and were given instructions to blow this up to a certain size and draw a face on it. The mad scientist had a metal container about the size of a cookie jar which was partially filled with liquid nitrogen. She asked people in turn to hand her their balloons and she proceeded to put those balloons into the container. In the end, she must have had about 20 balloons in there. Once the container was full, she took the balloons out again and they slowly returned to their original size.
Once the balloon trick was completed, we started on the actual Flubber. Between two people we were given two measuring cups in different sizes, a bottle of craft glue and a wooden stirrer. We were instructed to fill the bigger measuring cup with glue up to a specified level. They then game round with water and added this to the glue and also to the little measuring cup. They also added a White powder to the smaller measuring cup, which was the cue for an awful joke. We were then asked to mix in the powder with the water as well as stirring the water and glue mixture. Food colouring was then added to this to turn it green. The last step was to mix the content of the smaller cup into the glue mixture and give it a good stir. This then turned it into a Flubber-like substance. We were told to roll it into a ball, which turned out to be a little messy, and were given a plastic bag to put the Flubber in so that we could take it with us. The whole activity was pure comedy.
I headed back to our cabin, removed the rest of the Flubber from my fingers and went to bed.
ForTheLoveOfDCL
A Dream is a wish your
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2008
I love your photos..... I really hope Woody and Jessie are on our MR cruise!!! Waiting patiently for more trip report =)))
Candy Apple
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2007
Another photographer, Warwick, who was also from the UK and was rapidly becoming one of my favourites, was doing lifestyle photos. He did not eaxactly look rushed off his feet so I headed over there. He very diplomatically pointed out to me that those photos would require sitting down on the floor. I told him that was fine by me. Once the sitting photos had been done, he was jokingly saying that he could take some more photos, but this would require me lying down. I told him that this would not be an issue either. His face was a picture. Apparently he normally only does those kinds of shots with children and could not quite believe that I was actually up for this. I love the photos that were the result of this. What really amused me is that the next day there were a whole lot of photos in Shutters with adults lying down.
I remember seeing you do this photo session. You looked like you were having so much fun and it shows in the pictures.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
It was definitely a lot of fun. The irony is that I normally absolutely hate having my photo taken and they are normally not very good. I even hate my wedding photos. The photographers on the Magic are not only very talented, but they have great personalities as well.
Corinna
- Joined
- May 2, 2004
Great update Corrina, and those photos are fabulous, you look so happy in them, cant wait for more
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