MiJo
DIS member since 1999 and DDC Member #335
- Joined
- Sep 17, 1999
Cast: Me, The Tramp and my DW of 25 years, Lady
Objective: To celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary with a leisurely vacation in Orlando
Day 3, 12/3: The weather had changed overnight; it was now cloudy, breezy and much cooler. Our plans for the day were to meet local relatives for church followed by lunch at their home; supper at the California Grill for Fantasy in the sky; and, an Illuminations Cruise. We had breakfast at an IHOP and found the church with no major problems. We spent a very pleasant afternoon visiting with my DW's cousin and her family. Her husband is a locksmith at WDW, working mainly in his favorite area, the Animal Kingdom, and one of their sons works on a Disney Cruise ship. Our lunch was a little later than we had anticipated so we had to cancel our PS ressies at the California Grill (we had some great grilled chicken!). Thanks to The DIS, we managed to get seats on an Illuminations Cruise!
Charisse (aka ChariDore) offered us seats on her cruise, leaving the BW dock at 8:30 PM. We arrived at 7:45, eagerly anticipating our cruise despite the cold temperatures (I believe the wind chill was supposed to be around 30 that night!). At 8:15, we noticed a group gathering at the BW dock; sure enough, it was our host, her busband and 2 children and another family from Scranton, PA, about a 90 minute drive from us. I can't remember the names of the second family (sorry!) but they are DIS lurkers. Anyway, 8:30 came and went and there was no sign of a pontoon boat! Panic began to set in! Had we missed it? Were we at the wrong dock? A CM assured us we were at the right place and we had not missed it. After several phone calls, it was finally determined that the boat would not arrive until 9:00. It seems that Illuminations had been switched from 9:00 to 9:30 in order to accomodate the CP. A few minutes before 9:00 a pontoon boat came speeding toward us! Our captain apologized for the mix-up, claiming he had left several messages on Charisse's phone; she had checked several times during the day but had not received them. Oh well, we were on the boat and the captain was handing out life preservers to the kids and warm blankets to everyone aboard. He was the only one that seemed to be underdressed for the cruise! We departed and headed for a short tour of the lake, including MGM Studios and a few resorts. We docked under the bridge near the UK and another pontoon pulled up and lashed onto us. We settled in for the show while our captain poured hot chocolate for the kids and adults in the front of the boat. When he got us to (we were in the rear of the boat) he had run out of the hot chocolate so we were offered hot tea. Fine with us! It turned out the tea was cold! We weren't expecting drinks anyway so we thanked him for his efforts and watched the show. IllumiNations 2000 is definitely different than Illuminations. There didn't seem to be as much laser activity from our vantage point but the globe in the lake was very interesting. This is a very nice show! On our return trip, our captain became distracted at one point and slammed our pontoon into a retaining wall near the YC/BC! No one was injured except for the boat which suffered a nice sized dent! It was all part of the adventure and we are thrilled to have been given the opportunity to join a cruise. Thanks, Charisse! We hurried to our bus at the BW and made it back to our nice warm room at CSR before freezing! We were really looking forward to tomorrow: Animal Kingdom and MVMCP!
Disneyland 1970
Off site 6/90
Dixie Landings 9/99
Coronado Springs 12/1-12/5 and Portofino Bay 12/6-12/8
Objective: To celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary with a leisurely vacation in Orlando
Day 3, 12/3: The weather had changed overnight; it was now cloudy, breezy and much cooler. Our plans for the day were to meet local relatives for church followed by lunch at their home; supper at the California Grill for Fantasy in the sky; and, an Illuminations Cruise. We had breakfast at an IHOP and found the church with no major problems. We spent a very pleasant afternoon visiting with my DW's cousin and her family. Her husband is a locksmith at WDW, working mainly in his favorite area, the Animal Kingdom, and one of their sons works on a Disney Cruise ship. Our lunch was a little later than we had anticipated so we had to cancel our PS ressies at the California Grill (we had some great grilled chicken!). Thanks to The DIS, we managed to get seats on an Illuminations Cruise!
Charisse (aka ChariDore) offered us seats on her cruise, leaving the BW dock at 8:30 PM. We arrived at 7:45, eagerly anticipating our cruise despite the cold temperatures (I believe the wind chill was supposed to be around 30 that night!). At 8:15, we noticed a group gathering at the BW dock; sure enough, it was our host, her busband and 2 children and another family from Scranton, PA, about a 90 minute drive from us. I can't remember the names of the second family (sorry!) but they are DIS lurkers. Anyway, 8:30 came and went and there was no sign of a pontoon boat! Panic began to set in! Had we missed it? Were we at the wrong dock? A CM assured us we were at the right place and we had not missed it. After several phone calls, it was finally determined that the boat would not arrive until 9:00. It seems that Illuminations had been switched from 9:00 to 9:30 in order to accomodate the CP. A few minutes before 9:00 a pontoon boat came speeding toward us! Our captain apologized for the mix-up, claiming he had left several messages on Charisse's phone; she had checked several times during the day but had not received them. Oh well, we were on the boat and the captain was handing out life preservers to the kids and warm blankets to everyone aboard. He was the only one that seemed to be underdressed for the cruise! We departed and headed for a short tour of the lake, including MGM Studios and a few resorts. We docked under the bridge near the UK and another pontoon pulled up and lashed onto us. We settled in for the show while our captain poured hot chocolate for the kids and adults in the front of the boat. When he got us to (we were in the rear of the boat) he had run out of the hot chocolate so we were offered hot tea. Fine with us! It turned out the tea was cold! We weren't expecting drinks anyway so we thanked him for his efforts and watched the show. IllumiNations 2000 is definitely different than Illuminations. There didn't seem to be as much laser activity from our vantage point but the globe in the lake was very interesting. This is a very nice show! On our return trip, our captain became distracted at one point and slammed our pontoon into a retaining wall near the YC/BC! No one was injured except for the boat which suffered a nice sized dent! It was all part of the adventure and we are thrilled to have been given the opportunity to join a cruise. Thanks, Charisse! We hurried to our bus at the BW and made it back to our nice warm room at CSR before freezing! We were really looking forward to tomorrow: Animal Kingdom and MVMCP!
Disneyland 1970
Off site 6/90
Dixie Landings 9/99
Coronado Springs 12/1-12/5 and Portofino Bay 12/6-12/8
I think it's so wonderful when fellow DISers can get together like that and share their cruises. What fun. 
