I chose the 4 day over the 3 day cruise to have a sea day. When I used to book cruises, I used to think that a sea day would be boring. However, it is just the opposite. There is usually so much to do, and if you don't want to do it, you can just relax!
The first thing I did that morning was go check out the nursery and kids club. They have a few limited times where they are open to the public (and not in session) for adults to check them out. The nursery was nice, had a bunch of toys for the tots to play with, but the Oceaneers club was AMAZING. They had all these areas for the kids to hang out in. My favorite was the life size "Andy's room" from toy story. It was so cool and there was so much to play with. They also had a tinkerbelle station with princess costumes and computer, a light up dance floor, a Monsters Inc lab, and something with Nemo as well. I remember thinking to myself that Aubreigh had missed out by not being left there at some point.
That morning after breakfast, I finished buying up a few souveniers in the gift shop. I got a cute Candyland Disney game, a watch for my mother in law, a stuffed Minnie and Mickey (how could you not?), and a nice Disney Cruise photo album to keep all of our memories in--because I am the obsessive compulsive camera picture taker.
Then we got in line early for the Incredibles Jack Jack Diaper Dash. It is a crawling baby contest and I knew that Michael would excel in it since he was 16 months and still NOT WALKING.
The diaper dash was a lot of fun. There were 10 babies, who were no match for Michael. He won his first heat without a problem. In the other heat, there was a twin by the name of Tobias who looked like he could give Michael a challenge. However, when all was said and done, Michael blew him out of the water and took home the medal (in the shape of Mickey Mouse of course). Definitely something for his memory box.
Then we headed up to ride the Aqua Duck. It is a water coaster on the newer ships. The line is usually pretty long and I expected it would be ridiculous on the sea day, but heck, I had to ride the Aqua Duck. I did probably wait a bit over 30 min. but the line wasn't that bad. I can usually amuse myself by people watching. I also had a good view of the ship and noticed a cute goofy mini golf course. We never got to play because there was not enough time.
The Aqua duck was a lot of fun. Not scary at all. I much preferred it to the salt water rush up my nose from the Pelican Plunge at Castaway Cay. Darren preferred Pelican Plunge, so I guess he likes a fast thrill that surely clears out the sinuses. I would have rode it again if I had another sea day or the line wasn't so long. I think you have to be 42 inches to ride with an adult. If you don't weigh enough you can apparently get stuck in the slide. My sisters had to wait forever in line because a person a head of them got stuck.
The kids played around the splash pad and in the Mickey Pool. I was a bit worried that I would be cold up on deck since it was only in the mid 70s, but I was fine--NOT CHILLED AT ALL. The pools are heated, and I believe the splash pad area was as well.
We came back to relax afterwards, pack, and get ready for our last dinner. Aubreigh and I also snuck in one last character meet and greet before dinner. They have a farewell party where Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisey, Chip and Dale, Goofy and Pluto stand around to take pics. They are only there for a brief period of time (Maybe 20-30 min), but we were lucky enough to hit all of them. We were doing mad dashes for the characters. We did miss out on Tinker Belle though. She had special time slots in a special section of the atrium with a back drop. We tried to get in line earlier that morning (were a little late because of the Diaper Dash), but they are very blunt and have a cast member who says who is the last family in line. I understand that this is needed, or the characters would be there forever! However, I think they could have longer appearances and more appearances. There is a section in the daily cruise report (the Navigator) which tells all the character times and appearances. I didn't realize Tink was so limited.
After Dinner we went to the show "Believe". It started off slow at first, but then got really good. Aubs loved it because there were princesses in the end.
Then we headed back to the room. Our signed pillowcases were waiting for us. I had taken them to guest services the first day to get signed by all the characters. Some other things people take are photo mats and t-shirts. You slip the fabric markers and pillow cases in a ziploc, along with some candy for the castmembers and they sign them for you. You can get all the characters, or just ones that you want (some boys don't like princesses, but I had Michael's pillowcase signed by them all).
One of the neat features of the Disney TV is that there are a TON of disney programs to watch. So that night I put on "The Parent Trap"--the original with Hailey Mills, not that Lindsay Lohan junk! Unfortunately I fell asleep quickly, so I never did get to finish it.
Tomorrow we were going home. My father had been released from the hospital and was going to meet us at the Airport. I was so glad that we ended up going. It really was a great trip despite all that happened. I am still super sad that my father wasn't there to experience our once in a lifetime trip, but at the same time I know that it happening at this particular time (being in Orlando at the biggest Cardiac Clinic in the nation) was not bad luck. It was fate. He needed to be there for his life to be saved.
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