3 very excited children
7 different modes of transportation (our van, train, cruise ship, bus, monorail, ferry, NYC cab)
1 night in NYC
8 nights on the Disney Magic
2 Disney parks
2 island visits
1100 pictures taken
and finally...
1 absolutely amazing family vacation full of magical memories!
Since there are so many pictures I've done a few posts to capture all the different parts of our trip.
On the road...let the magic begin! Okay, it actually it wasn't all that magical, we started out with a sick child and a 2.5 hour drive in the van with the a/c broken. But we were on our way so it was all good.
Next up was our night in NYC...we stayed right in Times Square which was perfect for walking around and seeing all the sights.
Then it was time to board the Disney Magic for 8 nights of fun. The name says it all, our trip was full of Magical Moments.
Kyle, Jillian and Leah all enjoyed the Disney experiences onboard...meeting all the princesses (Kyle made use of the kids lab while the girls lined up to meet their favourite princesses), seeing Mickey and friends and one of their favourite disney activities, pin trading.
After 2 days at sea we finally hit land and our first stop was Nassau, Bahamas. This stop also included a pirate party Disney Style...Pirates in the Caribbean.
Next stop was Disney's own island paradise Castaway Cay where we snorkeled with stingrays, played in white sand and swam in torquoise blue water.
Our third stop was Port Canaveral where we took a bus to the happiest place on earth...Magic Kingdom. And why visit one disney park when you can visit two? We managed to hop over to EPCOT for a few hours during the day.
Breakfast for us was usually in Topsiders, a buffet located on the top deck of the ship...yummy food, great service and a view of the blue ocean as far as the eye can see...the best way to start your day.
Dinner...we loved all the restaurants onboard and it was fun having the servers move with us so we had the same serving team each night. Tiago and Leeroy made dinner fun for all of us. After dinner each night we had a broadway style show to watch (except for one night where we had a movie premiere of Brave in 3D). Evenings are a lot less exciting now that we are home.
swimming...the pool was often jam packed full but I managed to grab a picture with it empty to show the cute Mickey head...Jillian loved the slide, Leah enjoyed the splash pad area and Kyle was usually in the deeper Goofy pool
Kids programming was so much fun for the kids...Do Si Do with Snow White, hide and seek with Peter Pan and Tink, story time with Belle, Ratatouille cooking school, luau with Lilo & Stitch and learning how to be an official Mouseketeer from Mickey himself. Kyle enjoyed the lab with computers and video games. The last night the kids all put on a Friendship Rocks show on the main stage for the parents where Leah was dancing just a few feet away from Mickey Mouse and enjoying every minute.
it's windy at the front of the ship!
where else but at Disney can you get a mickey shaped ice cream bar topped with mickey shaped sprinkles!? This was my kids' dessert choice most nights.
Eventually we had to say good-bye to the Magic. Everyone who knows me knows I am NOT a morning person. But even I couldn't resist the opportunity to be on the top deck while the Magic cruised up the Hudson towards Manhattan at 5:30am on our last morning. Seeing this was totally worth it.
After a quick breakfast it was time to load up our very own Mickey, Minnie and Ariel and head to Penn Station.
we had a few hours before leaving NYC so Jillian and I decided to hit Macy's for a little shopping fun. Before long the girls were snoozing on the train (actually, we all were).
It really was the best family vacation from start to finish!
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